St. Ignatius of Loyola

St. Ignatius of Loyola
St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, was born in 1491 in the Basque Country of Northern Spain to parents of distinguished families in that area. He was the youngest of 13 children and was called was called Iñigo. At the age of 15, he served as a page in the court of a local nobleman and later embraced a military career and became a valiant soldier. Wounded in battle by a cannonball, which broke one leg and injured the other, he was taken prisoner by the French, who set his leg and eventually allowed him to go home to Loyola. He spent his time recuperating at the home of his brother. Confined to his sick bed, he was given pious books to read, which he grudgingly accepted. To his surprise, he enjoyed them and began to dream of becoming a "knight for Christ", pursuing the ideals of St. Francis and St. Dominic. During the long weeks of his recuperation, he was extremely bored and asked for some romance novels to pass the time. Luckily there were none in the castle of Loyola, but there was a copy of the life of Christ and a book on the saints. Desperate, Ignatius began to read them. The more he read, the more he considered the exploits of the saints worth imitating. However, at the same time he continued to have daydreams of fame and glory, along with fantasies of winning the love of a certain noble lady of the court, the identity of whom we never have discovered but who seems to have been of royal blood. He noticed, however, that after reading and thinking of the saints and Christ he was at peace and satisfied. Yet when he finished his long daydreams of his noble lady, he would feel restless and unsatisfied. Not only was this experience the beginning of his conversion, it was also the beginning of spiritual discernment, or discernment of spirits, which is associated with Ignatius and described in his Spiritual Exercises. He eventually promised to devote his life to being a knight for St. Peter if he recovered, which he did after nine months of convalescence. Ignatius noticed that after doing good deeds for the Lord, he felt peaceful which he termed as a consolation, but when he thought of being a successful soldier or of impressing a beautiful woman where he had initially felt enthused, he later felt dry. Through this process of discernment, Ignatius was able to recognize that God was leading him to follow a path of service. Out of this experience he wrote his famous Spiritual Exercises. After traveling and studying in different schools, he finished in Paris, where he received his degree at the age of 43. Many initially hated St. Ignatius because of his humble and austere lifestyle. Despite this, he attracted many followers at the university, including St. Francis Xavier, and soon started his order, The Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits. He travelled to Europe and the Holy Land, and then settled in Rome to direct the Jesuits. His health suffered in later years, and he was nearly blind at death. He died at the age of 65. Ignatius and a few followers bound themselves by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In 1539, they formed the Society of Jesus, approved in 1540 by Pope Paul III, as well as his Spiritual Exercises approved in 1548. Loyola also composed the Constitutions of the Society. He died in July 1556, was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1609, canonized by Pope in 1622, and declared patron of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. Ignatius' feast day is celebrated on July 31. Ignatius is a foremost patron saint of soldiers, the Society of Jesus, the Basque Country, and the provinces of Guipúzcoa and Biscay.
Sources:
http://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2007/07/st-ignatius-of-loyola-brief-biography.html
Reflection:
First of all I would like to thank St. Ignatius because may be without him the Society of Jesus may not be formed and I may not be going to a very competent and excellent school right now. For me, Ignatius of Loyola as the initiator and founder of the Society of Jesus, is the finest representation of Catholic Reformation. When St. Ignatius was hit by a cannonball and stayed at the Loyola House, Ignatius underwent a religious conversion influenced by readings about Christ and the saints, which served as his inspiration to initiate a new religious order, whose goal was to provide direct service to the Pope in terms of mission. I was deeply amazed by Ignatius’ inspirations for his transformation and the impact of his writings and actions that contributed to his being the principal founder of the Jesuits. Loyola’s two books of inspiration were The Life of our Christ, and The Golden Legend, which influenced him to imitate the lives of the Saints. His conversion was due to the recognition of a sinful past that needed to be fixed, and in his attempts to fully follow conversion. Loyola lived in prayer and penance at Manresa for approximately a year, where he started to help the poor and the sick and began to build a circle of friends and formed the Society of Jesus. The characteristics that Ignatius had was that he was humble, he had a positive attitude towards everything, he was determined in what he did, he was most definitely unselfish and also, he was trustworthy. His actions were that of helping others, or helping people to go on the religious path, and turned them towards God. He even created a group of people called the Society of Jesus, or, the Jesuits, who went around spreading the Word of God. The Society of Jesus is a Roman Catholic order of religious men, noted for its educational, missionary, and charitable works. Many regarded it as the principal agent of the Counter-Reformation and later a leading force in modernizing the church. The community that Ignatius Loyola grew up in was excellent. He was born of noble birth, so that was a great start in life for him. When he was a young man, he always wanted to be rich powerful and handsome. But after all that’s happened to him, Ignatius saw a lot of poverty and famine throughout his time, which made him even more determined to do what he did. Another devotion that was attributed by St. Ignatius is the spiritual exercises. As what St. Ignatius said the Exercises are the fountain of your spirituality and the matrix of your Constitutions, but they are also a gift that the Spirit of the Lord has made to the entire Church. It is for you to continue to make it a precious and efficacious instrument for spiritual growth of soul. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola are a month-long program of meditations, prayers, considerations, and contemplative practices that help Catholic faith become more fully alive in the everyday life of contemporary people. This spiritual exercise helps to experience a deeper conversion into life with God in Christ. I myself have experienced it during retreats and recollections and it really helps you to connect with the Lord that though he is not there physically, you can still feel his presence. St. Ignatius is an epitome of a good man and he has been a very great influence not just to the Catholic Church but also to the humanity. I continue making him as an inspiration to not lose hope in every downfall I have, and to never give up my faith to the Lord.

"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."

"Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly."

-Saint Ignatius of Loyola-