St. Ignatius of Loyola (ca. October 27, 1491
– July 31, 1556)Presbyter, theologian
Ignatius
was born in Aizpeitia in the Loyola Castle in Basque Country, Spain. He was raised by the blacksmith’s wife after
his mother died. He became a knight and
was inspired by stories about El Cid, the Knights of Camelot and Chanson de
Roland. He began challenging Muslims who
denied the divinity of Messiah killing them in duels. IN 1512 he was severely injured and during
his convalescence, read De Vita Chirsti by Ludolph of Saxony. Ludolph advocated Simple Meditation, where
one places him or her-self in the Gospel story.
Ignatius took up this method in his Spiritual Excercises.
In addition
to De Vita Christi, he also reads lives of Jesus, and the lives of various
saints, and resolved himself to converting non-Christians in the Holy Land. After
his recovery he visited the Monastery of Sta. Maria de Monteserat, and then
retreated to a cave where he practiced asceticism.. He had several visions in daylight in the
hospital, that left him disconsolate. He
undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but
was not allowed to stay but a few days.
Twelve years later he appeared to the Bishop of Rome asking to be sent
to the Holy Land once again. He and his companions. Returning to Spain, he and his companions tried
to develop a group of female Christina witnesses for the inquisition. The religious authorities found some of these
women to be questionable in some of their activities (falling senseless to the
ground and rolling around while Ignatius and his companions were preaching),
and Ignatius was detained for a time. He
also studied at the University
of Paris.
In 1534 he
gathered six companions, and they pledged themselves to be missionaries
directly under the Pope’s authority.
Ignatius was the creator and first Superior General of the Jesuits, or
Society of Jesus. They began their work
by establishing schools, colleges and seminaries across Europe
to train missionaries. In 1548 his Spiritual Exercises were
published (Ignatius once again imprisoned, but released. IN 1554 he finished the Jesuit Constitutions
which stressed obedience to authorities, and doing all for the greater glory of
God. He died July 31st from
Malaria in Rome.
The Jesuits
and Spiritual Exercises are his chief legacies.
The Jesuits were very important in the counter-reformation, and in the
Evangelisation of Latin America, Goa, Japan, and China. The Jesuits also worked hard to protect the
Indians of Latin America from slavery and set up religious communities for the
Indians. The Jesuits were frequently at
odds with Rome
and the colonial powers. At Rome, because they
demanded reform in the church, which they understood could only come from
repentant hearts, and with the colonial powers, because of the way the American
Indians were treated. At its height, the
Jesuits had more than 30, 000 members, and are still important today.
to give, and not to count the cost,
to fight, and not to heed the wounds,
to toil, and not to seek for rest,
to labor, and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will.
Collect: : Heavenly
Father, you raised up Ignatius of Loyola to found the Society of
Jesus. We pray with him, that you would
take us away from ourselves, and let us belong completely to you, take away
from us everything that keeps us apart from you, and grant us everything that
draws us closer to you, this we ask, through Yeshua, who lives and reigns with
you and the Ruach haKodesh, one God in glory everlasting. Amen. (white)
