What Does Deus Vult Mean?
Deus vult ("God wills it") was the battle cry shouted by the crowd at the Council of Clermont in 1095 when Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade. The phrase expressed the conviction that the military campaign to reclaim Jerusalem and protect Christian pilgrims was not just a political or military venture — it was something God himself was calling his people to undertake. For a medieval Christian, this was not arrogance or fanaticism in the modern sense; it was a recognition that history has a Lord, that human action can be caught up in something larger than itself, and that a man could offer his strength, his courage, even his life in service to something genuinely holy.
Today the phrase gets thrown around a lot online — sometimes as a joke, sometimes by people with ugly motives — but underneath the meme is a serious idea worth taking seriously: that a man's energy, fight, and willingness to sacrifice are not just raw material to be wasted, but gifts that can be directed toward what God actually wills.
What Is Deus Vult?
Deus Vult is a thirty-one week period of formation in prayer and virtue for Catholic high school boys. The first twelve weeks introduce various aspects of prayer and the spiritual life while teaching participants how to speak to God and how to hear him. In the remaining weeks, participants are led through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Through this process, participants come to a deeper awareness of themselves and a deeper knowledge of the love of God. They grow in virtue. They become better men.
What Is Required of Participants?
Deus Vult is a serious obligation. It assumes that participants are mature — ready and willing to take on a man's responsibilities. It is assumed that they attend Mass weekly, that they go to confession regularly, and that they desire a deeper relationship with Christ.
Besides these, they are expected to meet with a small group every week for about ninety minutes. In addition, they are required to commit to praying for twenty to thirty minutes every day. After praying they will spend a few minutes journaling about their prayer experience using prompts found in the Deus Vult Workbook. Finally, they must watch a short video — about ten minutes — sometime during the week before the next group meeting, available at this website. Meeting all of these expectations is essential: participants who do not harm not only their own growth, but that of the entire group.
How Does Deus Vult Work?
Deus Vult unfolds over a period of thirty-one weeks. This period might extend longer if it becomes necessary for the group to repeat exercises or if the leader decides to delay meeting for a week due to school breaks, multiple absences, or other reasons. Each week, group members will begin by sharing about their prayer from the previous week. Then, for the first twelve weeks, the group leader will present a lesson about some element of prayer and the spiritual life.
Weeks thirteen through thirty-one will make use of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. In the days between group meetings, participants will pray on their own using the guided audio meditations found on this website, or they will do the meditations using their Bible.
How Can I Join a Deus Vult Group?
If you are interested in joining a group, contact your priest and ask him to look into forming and leading a group for teens in his parish. Ask him to visit this website and to contact Fr. Tyler Dennis. Deus Vult began as and remains a small initiative of Fr. Tyler Dennis to help teen guys in his area learn to pray. He can help your priest get started.