St. Ignatius of Loyola

A Man of Action, The Soldier Saint

By

Maurice Quindoy

St. Ignatius of Loyola was born Ignacio Lopez and was baptized as Iñigo in 1491, in the Castle of Loyola, Spain.¹ He was the youngest of his brothers. He was orphaned and educated in the Court of the Spanish nobility, where he was instructed in good manners and the strength of spirit. He was raised in a society in which the “leader” gave orders to others and was expected to have the desire to be worth more. As indicated by the mandate of his family, he had to follow the military career. 

“In 1521, while defending the town of Pamplona against French attack, Ignatius was struck by a cannonball in the legs.”² He was transferred to Loyola for his recovery. There he bravely endured operations and pain. During his recovery, he wanted to read cavalry novels, which he liked a great deal but in the castle, the only two books there were Life of Christ and Lives of the Saints. Disappointed and without much interest, he began to read, but he liked them so much that he became captivated and spent entire days reading them without stopping. They gave him the desire and inspiration to imitate the feats of the saints and to be at the service of Christ. He said to himself, "These men were of the same frame as I; why then should I not do what they have done?”³ 

One night, Ignatius had a vision that comforted him greatly, the Mother of God, surrounded by light, carrying in her arms Her Son, Jesus.

After this initial experience of conversion, he went through a stage where he was full of doubts about his vocation. Through perseverance and prayer he "gained a better understanding of God and God's plan for him.”⁴ Thus, he decided to follow the example of the saints and began to do penance for the sins of sinners as a form of surrender to God. At age 32, he left Loyola with the purpose of going on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He stopped at the Sanctuary of Montserrat, in Spain where he decided to lead a life of prayer and penance after making a general confession. He lived for almost a year retired in a cave nearby, praying. He went through a period of aridity and began to write his first spiritual

experiences. These served him for his famous book on Spiritual Exercises.⁵. Finally, he came out of this spiritual dryness and went on to a deep spiritual enjoyment, becoming a great mystic. He managed to reach the Holy Land at age 33 and on his return to Spain, he began to study devotedly. He realized that, in order to help souls, knowledge and understanding was necessary by way of studying profusely. He converted many sinners as a result. He was imprisoned twice for preaching, but both times he regained his freedom. He considered prison and suffering as tests that God sent him to purify and sanctify himself.

When he was 38 years of age, he moved to France, where he continued studying for seven more years. He begged for alms from Spanish merchants to enable him to study, as well as his friends. There he encouraged many of his university colleagues to practice the Christian life with greater fervor. At this time in 1534, “six students in divinity associated themselves with Ignatius in his spiritual exercises.”⁶ Motivated by what St. Ignatius taught and preached, they made a vow of chastity, poverty and an apostolic life with him done in a simple ceremony. St. Ignatius maintained the faith of his followers through personal conversations and with the fulfillment of simple but disciplined rules of life. Soon after, his studies were interrupted for health reasons, and he was forced to return to Spain. This time, however, he did not stay at the Loyola Castle. Two years later, he met with his companions who were in Venice and because they were unable to travel to the Holy Land due to the Turkish wars, they moved to Rome to offer their services to the Pope.⁷ They decided to call their missionary organization the Society of Jesus or Jesuits because they were determined to fight against vice and error under the banner of Christ. Pope Paul III converted two of them to become professors of the University. To Ignatius, the Pope asked him to teach and preach the Spiritual Exercises and to catechize the people. The other partners worked with them as well. Pope Paul III gave them his approval and allowed them to be ordained priests. They were ordained in Venice by the Bishop of Arbe on June 24. Ignatius celebrated his first mass on Christmas night of the year 1538.

During that time, they dedicated themselves to preaching and to perform charitable works in Italy. Ignatius of Loyola, in agreement with his companions, decided to form a religious congregation under a rule that was approved by the Pope on September 27, 1540.⁸ They added to the vows of chastity and poverty, that of obedience, with which they undertook to obey a superior general, who in turn would be subject to the Pope, and under Ignatius’ charismatic leadership, the Jesuits grew very quickly. The Society of Jesus played a very important role in counteracting the effects of the religious Reformation led by the Protestant Martin Luther and with Ignatius’ effort and preaching, he won many souls for the one true Church of Christ. Ignatius spent the rest of his life in Rome, directing the congregation and dedicating his order to the education of the youth and the clergy. He also founded colleges and universities of very high academic quality. For Saint Ignatius, all his happiness consisted in working for God and suffering for his cause. The "military" spirit of Ignatius and the Society of Jesus is reflected in his vow of obedience to the Pope, the chief leader of the Jesuits. His book Spiritual Exercises is still used today by different religious groups, especially for retreats. St. Ignatius died suddenly, on July 31, 1556. He was beatified on July 27, 1609, by Paul V, and canonized in 1622 by Gregory XV.⁹

Endnotes

¹ Butler, Alban, Herbert Thurston, and Donald Attwater. Butler's Lives of the Saints. Westminster, MD: Christian Classics, 1956. Pg. 221.

² "St. Ignatius Loyola - Saints & Angels." Catholic Online. Accessed April 27, 2018. https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=56.

³ Butler, et al., Butler’s Lives, 222.

⁴ "St. Ignatius Loyola - Saints & Angels." Catholic Online. Accessed April 27, 2018. https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=56.
⁵ Butler, et al., Butler’s Lives, 222.

⁶ Butler, et al., Butler’s Lives, 223.

⁷ "Jesuit Order Established - Sep 27, 1540." HISTORY.com. Last modified September 27. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jesuit-order-established.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Butler, et al., Butler’s Lives, 227.