Saint of the day - July 31

Born Inigo Lopez de Loyola in 1491, Ignatius of Loyola was born in Loiola, Spain.

Inigio was the youngest of thirteen children. His mother died when he was just seven, and he was then raised by Maria de Garin, wife of a blacksmith. Inigio was an ambitious young man who had dreams of becoming a great leader.

At the age of sixteen, he began working, but for a short period. By the time he was eighteen, he became a soldier and would fight for Antonio Manrique de Lara, Duke of Nájera and Viceroy of Navarre. He had an exceptional talent for emerging unscathed, despite participating in many battles.

Seeking wider acclaim, he began referring to himself as Ignatius. The young Ignatius also gained a reputation as a duellist. According to one story, he killed a Moor with whom he argued about the divinity of Jesus.

In 1521, while defending the town of Pamplona against French attack, Ignatius was struck by a cannonball in the legs. One leg was merely broken, but the other was badly mangled. To save his life and possibly his legs, doctors performed several surgeries. Despite their best efforts, Ignatius' condition deteriorated. After suffering for a month, his doctors warned him to prepare for death.

On June 29, 1521, on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Ignatius began to improve. As soon as he was healthy enough to bear it, part of one leg was amputated which while painful, sped his recovery.

During this time of bodily improvement, Ignatius began to read whatever books he could find. Most of the books he obtained were about the lives of the saints and Christ. These stories had a profound impact on him and he became more devout.

One story in particular influenced him, "De Vita Christi" (The life of Christ). The story offers commentary on the life of Christ and suggested a spiritual exercise that required visualizing oneself in the presence of Christ during the episodes of His life. The book would inspire Ignatius' own spiritual exercises.

As he lay bedridden, Ignatius developed a desire to become a working servant of Christ. He especially wanted to convert non-Christians.

Ignatius realized that evil brought him unpleasant thoughts while God brought him happiness. He discerned God's call, and began a new way of life, following God instead of men.

By the spring of 1522, Ignatius had recovered enough to leave bed. On March 25, 1522, he entered the Benedictine monastery, Santa Maria de Montserrat. Before an image of the Black Madonna, he laid down his military garments. He gave his other clothes away to a poor man.

Ignatius then walked to a hospital in the town of Manresa. In exchange for a place to live, he performed work around the hospital. He begged for his food. When he was not working or begging, he would go into a cave and practice spiritual exercises.

Ignatius began recording his thoughts and experiences in a journal. This journal would be useful later for developing new spiritual exercises for the tens of thousands of people who would follow him. Those exercises remain invaluable today and are still widely practiced by religious and laity alike.

The next year, in 1523, Ignatius made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. His goal was to live there and convert non-believers. However, the Holy Land was a troubled place and Church officials did not want Ignatius to complicate things further. They asked him to return after just a fortnight.

Returning to Barcelona, Ignatius attended a grammar school, filled with children, to learn Latin and other beginning subjects. After completing his primary education, Ignatius travelled to Alcala, then Salamanca, where he studied at universities. In addition to studying, Ignatius often engaged others in lengthy conversations about spiritual matters. However, these conversations attracted the attention of the Inquisition, accusing Ignatius of preaching without any formal education in theology. The argument was that without any training, it was likely that he could introduce heresy by way of conversation and misunderstanding.

He was questioned three times by the Inquisition, but he was always exonerated.

Ignatius eventually decided that he needed more education. So at the age of 38, he entered the College of Saint Barbe in the University of Paris. He earned a master's degree at the age of 44.

Peter Faber and Francis Xavier were his room-mates, while he was at school in Paris. The men became friends and Ignatius led them in his spiritual exercises. Other men soon joined their exercises and became followers of Ignatius. The group began to refer to themselves as "Friends in the Lord”.

The group visited Rome. Pope Paul III received them and approved the group as an official religious order in 1540.

Ignatius was elected as the first leader of the group, though he was reluctant initially. They called themselves the ‘Society of Jesus’.

Ignatius imposed a strict, almost military rule on his order. It might be expected that such rigor would dissuade people from joining, but it had the opposite effect. The order grew.

The Society of Jesus soon found its niche in education. Before Ignatius died in 1556, his order established 35 schools and boasted 1,000 members. The order was responsible for much of the work of stopping the spread of the Protestant Reformation.

In a letter to Francis Xavier before his departure to India in 1541, Ignatius famously used the Latin phrase "Ite, inflammate omnia", meaning, "Go, set the world on fire", a phrase used in the Jesuit order to this day.

Ignatius passed away on July 31, 1556, at the age of 64. He was beatified by Pope Paul V on July 27, 1609 and canonized on March 12, 1622. He is the patron saint of the Society of Jesus, soldiers, educators and education.

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Calimerius
2. Saint Emmanuel Phung
3. Saint Firmus of Tagaste
4. Saint Helen of Skovde
5. Saint Justin de Jacobis

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