Ignatius of Loyola was the youngest of 13 children born to a noble family in the Basque country in Spain in 1491. He grew to be a vain and ambitious young courtier and later a soldier, hoping to gain glory and honor for himself and his family through "heroic deeds."
While he was commanding Spanish troops guarding a fort in Pamplona, the French attacked, and Ignatius—whose troops were greatly outnumbered—refused to surrender lest he and his men lose their honor. Then a French cannonball shattered both of Ignatius's legs and ended his military career. He was allowed to return home to heal, nearly dying during the recuperation. In the long months spent in convalescence, Ignatius got bored and began to read the only two books in the house—one on the life of Jesus and one on the lives of the saints. Ignatius was inspired by their stories and began to question the motivations and goals of his life. This set in motion his process of conversion.
By the time Ignatius had fully recovered from his injuries, he had decided that a truly heroic life was one spent in service to God and that all his past ambitions would now be redirected toward serving the Kingdom of God and helping others. He began a long soul-searching faith journey that included renunciation of his past life, penance for his past sins, pilgrimages, and intense periods of prayer and reflection. Ignatius painstakingly recorded his spiritual journey, which eventually culminated in the first draft of his classic book, Spiritual Exercises, a principal text in spiritual direction and discernment.
During this time, Ignatius was blessed with many insights. Perhaps the greatest of these came while walking down a riverbank near the small Spanish town of Manresa. Through the Holy Spirit, Ignatius was given a vision of God's loving presence in the world. He realized that everything around him—the ordinary river, the town, the wind on his cheek, and everything in the whole world in fact—was a gift from God. And all of this was imbued with and sustained by God's loving presence. Ignatius wished to respond to God's gifts with gratitude, prayer, and service.
Spurred by this vision, Ignatius continued to pursue a life led by faith. He went to school in Spain and then went to Paris to be educated in theology and become a priest. He met several companions along the way, shared with them his Spiritual Exercises, and together these friends pledged their lives to serving God's will. Soon after, these seven men formed the Company of Jesus, commonly known today as the Jesuits, and in 1540 the Pope gave approval for this company to become a new religious order. Ignatius was elected the Jesuits' first superior and spent the remainder of his life in Rome directing the fast-growing order.
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Seal of the Society of Jesus, the religious order cofounded by Saint Ignatius Loyola. |
In addition to work teaching Catholicism, prayer, and leading the Counter-Reformation in Europe, the Jesuits answered the Church's missionary call, operated charities for the marginalized, and began the first organized system of schools for lay people in Europe. By the end of the 18th century, the Jesuits were educating nearly one-fifth of Europe's literate population.
In 1662 Ignatius of Loyola was canonized a saint of the Catholic Church, as were many of his early Jesuit companions. Ignatius is the official patron saint of spiritual exercises and retreats, and today he is the patron of many schools, universities, and parishes throughout the world. The Jesuit order he cofounded is now the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, spanning six continents and serving in hundreds of countries.
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