Ignatius of Loyola

"Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and became its first Superior General, in Paris in 1541. Ignatius envisioned the purpose of the Society of Jesus to be missionary work and teaching. In addition to the vows of chastity, obedience and poverty of other religious orders in the church, Loyola instituted a fourth vow for Jesuits of obedience to the Pope, to engage in projects ordained by the pontiff. Jesuits were instrumental in leading the Counter-Reformation. As a former soldier, Ignatius paid particular attention to the spiritual formation of his recruits and recorded his method in the Spiritual Exercises (1548). In time, the method has become known as Ignatian spirituality. He was beatified in 1609 and was canonized as a saint on 12 March 1622. His feast day is celebrated on 31 July. He is the patron saint of the Basque provinces of Gipuzkoa and Biscay as well as of the Society of Jesus. He was declared patron saint of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. Ignatius was born Iñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola in the castle at Loyola, in the municipality of Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, in the Basque region of Spain. His parents, Don Beltrán Ibáñez de Oñaz y Loyola and Doña María (or Marina) Sáenz de Licona y Balda, who were of the minor nobility, from the clan of Loyola, were involved in the Basque war of the bands. Their manor house was demolished on the orders of the King of Castile in 1456 for their depredations in Gipuzkoa, with Iñigo's paternal grandfather being expelled to Andalusia by Henry IV. Íñigo was the youngest of their thirteen children. Their eldest son, Juan Pérez, had soldiered in forces commanded by Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, but died fighting in the Italian Wars (1494–1559). Ignatius became a page in the service of a powerful relative in 1506 and then a knight in 1517. His military career was abruptly ended in 1521 when he was hit in the legs with a cannonball during the siege of Pamplona by French troops. While he was convalescing at his family's castle, he read several religious books that inspired him to devote his life to God. He made a pilgrimage to Montserrat and Manresa, where he experienced a series of visions and mystical insights that shaped his spiritual worldview. He then traveled to Jerusalem, intending to stay there and convert Muslims to Christianity, but he was ordered to return to Europe by the Franciscans. Ignatius decided to pursue an education in order to better serve God and his Church. He studied Latin with schoolboys in Barcelona and then enrolled at the University of Alcalá de Henares in 1526. There he met Peter Faber and Francis Xavier, who would become his first companions. He also attracted suspicion from the Inquisition for his preaching and teaching activities. He moved to Paris in 1528 and continued his studies at the Collège de Montaigu and later at the Collège de Sainte-Barbe. He gathered around him a group of like-minded students who shared his vision of reforming themselves and serving God through apostolic work. They took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in Montmartre in 1534 and planned to go to the Holy Land. However, due to the war between the Ottoman Empire and Venice, they could not sail from Venice and instead offered their services to Pope Paul III in Rome. The Pope formally approved the new order, the Society of Jesus, in 1540. Ignatius, now approaching fifty, spent the rest of his life in Rome, directing the work of the organisation from his base at the church of Santa Maria della Strada. By his death, the order’s numbers had swelled to more than a thousand. Ignatius was a prolific writer and correspondent. He composed the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, which laid down the rules and guidelines for the governance and administration of the order. He also wrote the Spiritual Exercises, a manual for conducting spiritual retreats and exercises that aimed at helping people discern God's will and grow in their love and service of God. He wrote hundreds of letters to popes, kings, cardinals, bishops, Jesuits and lay people, offering advice, encouragement, instruction and direction. He also wrote his autobiography, which was dictated to his secretary Luis Gonçalves da Câmara shortly before his death. Ignatius died in Rome on 31 July 1556, probably of the 'Roman Fever', a severe variant of malaria which was endemic in Rome throughout medieval history. He was buried in a small chapel at the church of Santa Maria della Strada. His remains were later transferred to a grandiose baroque shrine in the Church of the Gesù, the mother church of the Jesuits in Rome. He was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1609 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. His feast day is celebrated on 31 July by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion and some other Christian denominations. He is regarded as one of the greatest saints of the Catholic Church and one of the most influential figures in Christian history."