BORN 1491; DIED 1556 Taken by the French to his home, PRIEST AND FOUNDER Ignatius willingly endured multiple FEAST DAY: JULY 31 operations without being bound or �t. I�n atius o� utteringLoyola a cry. His recuperation last- F THE were just a ed for nine months, and instead of the human organization, she could nev- romance novels for which he yearned I er have survived the assaults from he had available for reading matter outside and the internal betrayals by only a life of Christ and a book on the her own sinful members for the past lives of the saints that opened with the two thousand years. But just before sentence: “A saint is a knight in ser- he left the earth, the risen Jesus had vice to his Lord.” This reading result- promised his apostles: “I am with you ed in a profound change of heart. His always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20). soldierly mentality responded to the It was during one of the saddest peri- stories of heroic sacrifice for Christ, ods in Church history, the corruption PHOTOGRAPHY CHARLES DAVID and he began to desire to rival and of the Renaissance Church and the Protestant re- even surpass the saints he read about. His con- volt, that God raised up one of his greatest cham- version was reinforced by a vision of Our Lady pions to defend and rebuild the crumbling and be- holding the Child Jesus; he began to hate his for- leaguered Body of Christ, St. . mer sins, especially those of the flesh. Ignatius was born at the castle of Loyola near Ignatius first threw himself into penance. Leav- Azpeitia, a town east of Bilbao in the Basque prov- ing home, he went to the Basque pilgrimage shrine ince of Guipúzcoa on the northern coast of of Our Lady of Arantzazu not far from home, adjacent to France. He was the youngest of thir- where he made a vow of chastity to the Blessed teen children of the aristocratic Beltrán Ibáñez Mother, and put himself under her protection. He de Oñaz y Loyola and Marina Sáenz de Licona then went on toward the Mediterranean port of y Balda. His mother died while he was an infant. , Spain, planning to use this as a start- Growing up a page in the court of the provincial ing-point for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Ar- governor, Ignatius’ family’s heroic military history riving at the Benedictine monastery of Montserrat and his reading of romantic tales of adventure in- near Barcelona, he first made a general confession stilled in him but one dream, that of worldly glory of his sins, which took him three days to write. He as a soldier. Swaggering about with daggers and hung his sword and dagger at the altar before the pistols, his life became a mixture of court life, mili- statue of Our Lady at Montserrat, put on a pil- tary service to the provincial governor, and low-life grim’s rough garb, and offered himself to God for brawls in taverns, reckless military games, wom- whatever God wanted of him. A prayer he wrote anizing, and other crimes, including possibly ly- provides an insight into his spirituality at this time: ing about having received minor clerical orders “Receive, Lord, all my liberty, my memory, my un- to avoid prosecution for a crime in Azpeitia. At derstanding and my whole will. You have given twenty-six, he became for five years an officer in me all that I have, all that I am, and I surrender all the army of his relative the Duke of Navarra. Ig- to your divine will, that you dispose of me. Give natius thus became a participant in ongoing con- me only your love and your grace. With this I am flicts between Spain and France. In 1521, when rich enough, and I have no more to ask.” he was twenty-nine, he was part of a force of about For ten months Ignatius lived in a cave near the a thousand men defending the Basque city of Pam- town of northeast of Barcelona. In soli- plona against a French army of thirteen thousand. tude and poverty, he prayed, fasted, and cared for A cannon ball tore open his left calf and shattered the sick at the local hospital, fighting a terrible siege his right knee. The loss of Ignatius caused the gar- of scruples (an exaggerated sense of sinfulness) that rison to surrender the town, and his dream of mili- nearly led him to suicide. There he first read Thom- tary glory was shattered as well. as á Kempis’ Imitation of Christ, which he cherished

The Association for Catechumenal Ministry (ACM) grants the original purchaser (parish, local parochial institution, or individual) permission to reproduce this handout. for the rest of his life. He kept a notebook of his called the Company of Jesus. The other seven fol- spiritual experiences that in time became Spiritual lowed, and the unusual nature of the group was im- Exercises, a book of spiritual training and formation mediately noted by those they served, both spiritu- full of military allusions and characterized by im- ally and through works of charity, while awaiting mense spiritual wisdom that many attribute not only direction from the Pope. The ten agreed that they to his reading and life experiences but to the special should form a religious order of men who lived in grace of the Holy Spirit and the gentle direction of the world rather than in monasteries, did not pray in the Blessed Mother. Now a soldier for Christ, Ig- community nor wear religious habits, focused on ed- natius began forming an army that would spread ucation, and vowed obedience to the Pope. In 1540 across the world, the Company of Jesus, dedicated the Pope approved the new order, renaming it the to serve under the direct command of the Pope. (SJ). Ignatius was forty-eight. Following his year at Manresa, Ignatius set out At first, the Society (begun to be called Jesuits in on an arduous journey to and the Holy Land. 1544 as a term of reproach but now generally used) Shortly after his arrival, the Franciscans responsible was asked to undertaken missions to foreign lands, for the care of the holy places told him that it was but almost immediately it also became the Pope’s too dangerous to remain and ordered him to leave. chief army in carrying out the Catholic Counter- Now thirty-two, he returned to Spain, unsure about Reformation, not only as theologians at the Council what to do next, and concluded that improving his of Trent (1545-1563) from its earliest sessions, but education would make him better prepared for more importantly as missionaries throughout Eu- God’s service. For eleven years, in Spain and at the rope to restore whole peoples to the true faith and University of , he devoted himself to study, ob- to sustain the faith of those suffering persecution. taining, after struggle, a master’s degree and licen- Very early, the Society’s emphasis on education led tiate in theology by the age of forty-three. He at- it to found colleges and secondary schools, which tracted groups of followers who became personally together with worldwide evangelization remains an attached to him, but not all these young men perse- important element of its mission today. vered. He also experienced problems with inquisi- The Society grew rapidly and became enor- tors regarding the orthodoxy of his Spiritual Exercis- mously influential, so much so that by the middle es which was eventually approved by the Pope, but of the eighteenth century it had been expelled by not before he had twice been imprisoned and once several nations. In 1773 the Pope, under extreme publicly flogged. In 1534, a band of seven men led pressure, suppressed the Society on grounds of by Ignatius, including St. Francis Xavier and Bl. prudence and peace everywhere except where lo- Pierre Favre, took religious vows with the intention cal governments allowed its continuation (which of evangelizing Muslims in the Holy Land. Three Poland and Russia did). The Society was re- more soon joined the original seven. stored in 1814, and today it is made up of over While awaiting the completion of the studies twenty thousand men. The Spiritual Exercises not of his new companions, in 1535 Ignatius returned only continues to guide the spiritual formation of home for reasons of health, and sought to make its members, but has become a classic guide to amends for his misspent youth. Living at a hospice, spiritual growth for many ordinary Catholics. he distributed alms, persuaded the town council to Ignatius was a gifted leader. He did not have a create a program of regularly helping the needy, brilliant mind, but he knew that ordinary gifts can taught children their catechism, and preached. The be used in astounding ways by God. He took un- following year, he went to Venice to prepare for the remarkable men, inspired them with the love and mission to the Holy Land. His companions arrived power of God, and formed, under the banner Ad in 1537, where they sought and obtained permission Majorem Dei Gloriam (“for the greater glory of God”), from the Pope to go to the Holy Land. But war had a new army of evangelization and education un- broken out between Venice and the Turks, prevent- equaled in daring, zeal, and accomplishment in the ing the group from carrying out its original inten- history of the Church. In giving himself to his Mak- tion. They agreed to wait a year, and in the mean- er, Ignatius was able to fulfill the unique purpose time those not already priests, including Ignatius, for which he had been created. He began life with were ordained. The war continued (it concluded in the dream of attaining worldly renown as a soldier 1540), so they instead offered their services to the in a worldly army. The stories of the saints opened Pope for whatever work he saw fit. his mind and heart to another vision, and his coura- Ignatius and two others went to Rome, and while geous acceptance of their example made him one of on the journey Ignatius proposed that the group be the great soldiers in the service of an Eternal King.

St. Ignatius of Loyola ~ Page 2