|
Feast
Day: July 31 
Also known as
Inigo Lopez de Loyola
Profile
Spanish nobility.
Youngest of 12 children. Court page. Military education. Soldier.
Wounded in the leg by a cannonball at the siege of Pampeluna on 20
May 1521, an injury that left
him partially crippled for life. During his recuperation the only books he
had access to were The Golden Legend
(a collection of lives of the saints), and the Life of Christ by Ludolph the Carthusian.
These books, and the time spent in contemplation, changed him.
On his recovery he took a vow of chastity, hung his sword before the altar
of the Virgin of Montserrat, and
donned a pilgrim's robes. Lived in a
cave from 1522-23. Journeyed to Rome
and the Holy Land where he worked to convert
Muslims. Studied theology @ Alcala
and Paris, receiving his degree on 14
March 1534. His meditations, prayers, visions and insights led to
forming the Constitutions of the
Society of Jesus (Jesuits) on 15
August 1534. He travelled Europe and the Holy Lands, then settled in Rome
to direct the Jesuits. His health suffered in later years, and he was
nearly blind at death.
The Jesuits today have over 500 universities and colleges, 30,000 members,
and teach over 200,000 students each year.
Born
1491 @ Loyola, Guipuzcoa, Spain
as Inigo Lopez de Loyola
Died
31 July 1556 @ Rome
Beatified
1609 by Pope Paul
V
Canonized
22 March 1622 by Pope
Gregory XV
Patronage
Jesuit Order, Jesuits,
retreats, soldiers,
Spiritual Exercises (by Pope
Pius XI)
Representation
book, chausible, communion
_____________________
Readings
Ignatius was passionately fond of reading worldly books
of fiction and tales of knight-errantry. When he felt he was getting
better from a wound he had received in battle, he asked for some of these
books to pass the time. But no book of that sort could be found in the
house; instead they gave him a life of Christ and a collection of the
lives of saints written in Spanish.
By constantly reading these books he began to be
attracted to what he found narrated there. Sometimes in the midst of his
reading he would reflect on what he had read. Yet at other times he would
dwell on many of the things which he had been accustomed to dwell on
previously. But at this point our Lord came to his assistance, insuring
that these thoughts were followed by others which arose from his current
reading.
While reading the life of Christ our Lord or lives of
the saints, he would reflect and reason with himself: "What if I
should do what Saint Francis or Saint Dominic
did?" In this way he let his mind dwell on many thoughts; they lasted
a while until other things took their place. Then those vain and worldly
images would come into his mind and remain a long time.
But there was a difference. When Ignatius reflected on
worldly thoughts, he felt intense pleasure; but when he gave them up our
of weariness, he felt dry and depressed. Yet when he thought of living the
rigorous sort of life he knew the saints had lived, he not only
experienced pleasure when he actually thought about it, but even after he
dismissed these thoughts, he still experienced great joy. Yet he did not
pay attention to this, nor did he appreciate it, until one day, in a
moment of insight he began to marvel at the difference. Then he understood
his experience. Thoughts of one kind left him sad, the others full of joy.
from the life of
Saint Ignatius, from his own words, by Luis Gonzalez
__________________
Do not let any occasion of gaining merit pass without
taking care to draw some spiritual profit from it; as, for example, from a
sharp word which someone may say to you; from an act of obedience imposed
against your will; from an opportunity which may occur to humble yourself,
or to practice charity, sweetness, and patience. All of these occasions
are gain for you, and you should seek to procure them; and at the close of
that day, when the greatest number of them have come to you, you should go
to rest most cheerful and pleased, as the merchant does on the day when he
had had most chance for making money; for on that day business has
prospered with him.
Saint Ignatius
Loyola
__________________
If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He
has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a
saint. And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat Him yourself to
give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to
kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the cross, which Christ used
for His own great sacrifice of boundless charity.
Saint Ignatius
Loyola
|
