Ignatius of Loyola
'a great and vain desire of winning glory'
Iñigo Lopez de Loyola, son of the local landowner, was born in 1491 in the castle at Loyola. Here, in Spain's Basque province, he was brought up in the cottage of the blacksmith's wife, Maria de Garín. As page at court he served first the treasurer of the Kingdom of Castille, then the Duke of Najera. Up to his twenty-sixth year Iñigo was, in his own words, a man given over to the vanities of the world, and took a special delight in the exercise of arms, with a great and vain desire of winning glory.
In the pursuit of such glory, this courtier was stirred to defend the town of Pamplona in the name of King Ferdinand of Spain from an attacking French army. The town's Governor saw the futility of resistance to the vastly superior French forces and advised surrender. But the foolhardy Iñigo rallied a handful of men to defend the town's citadel. On 20th May 1521, during this desperate action, French cannon fire smashed into both his legs; Iñigo and Pamplona fell.
Dreams and discernment
After his legs were set—badly—the invalid was carried on a stretcher to his native Loyola. For eight months Iñigo languished in bed. At his own insistence his leg was broken twice more by doctors in an attempt to correct a limp which had developed—for how could a cripple win the affections of a high born lady? This treatment brought the patient close to death, but recovery began on the feast of St Peter.
As he lay on his sickbed, Iñigo dreamt of the noble deeds he would undertake, the feats of great daring, the romance of winning the lady he admired—rumoured to be no less than the Infanta Catarina. This daydreaming brought respite for a time to the bored convalescent, but it soon left him feeling empty and disillusioned. Then he dreamt of doing great deeds for God, imitating the great saints like Francis and Dominic and walking barefoot to Jerusalem. These dreams too inspired Iñigo but, unlike the dreams of romantic gallantry, they left him feeling contented and joyful. Slowly he began to realise that joy and contentment came in the following of Christ.
From vanity to poverty
As soon as he regained his health, Iñigo left home on pilgrimage with a determination to serve Christ and the Virgin Mary. Before the statue of the Black Madonna at the shrine of Montserrat, the pilgrim renounced his former ways with all its vanities and dedicated himself to his new Master. From this time on he lived a simple lifestyle, embracing poverty.
From the Benedictine monastery of Montserrat high among the wild and jagged peaks, the pilgrim descended to the bustle of the nearby town of Manresa, and for ten months Iñigo learned to interpret the way in which God deals with the individual soul. He first punished his body. Reacting against his former tendency to vanity he gave away his fine clothes in exchange for rough sacking. He cut neither hair nor nails and took no care of his appearance. He begged daily for his meagre food. During this time Iñigo suffered from scruples. Sinner that he had been, he struggled to believe that the Lord had forgiven him.
Learning from prayer
This way of life brought him to the edge of despair, tormented as he was by guilt. But gradually he began to see that this was the work of the Tempter. So he gave up his self-punishing exercises. He was discovering for himself that the acceptance of the Lord is total, the forgiveness of the Lord is free, not bought with self-inflicted penances.
Sitting in his cave by the banks of the Cardoner river, Iñigo prayed. The fruits of his meditation laid the foundations for his Spiritual Exercises. He then put his own hard-won experience to work and sought to help others in interpreting the ways of the Lord for themselves.
Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
From Manresa the pilgrim set out on the long journey to Jerusalem. Braving the dangers of a war-torn Mediterranean, he begged his way to the Holy Land. Here he spent time devotedly walking in the footsteps of the Master.
He wished to stay in the Holy Land to convert the Muslims, but the more prudent Franciscan keepers of the Holy Places ordered him out. This dream shattered, he returned to his native Spain in order to find Christ, not in the romantic notion of converting the world, or living in the land trod so long ago by Jesus, but in the mundane events of daily life in his own country.
Return to a troubled Europe
Iñigo's great desire became to help others see the Lord working in the ordinary events of their own lives. His work was frequently looked upon with suspicion by the church authorities who saw heresy lurking behind every tree. For Europe of the time was in the throes of the Reformation.
Iñigo felt that the best way to be allowed to teach in the Church was by studying philosophy and theology and becoming a priest. So the pilgrim settled down to life as a student. In Barcelona, at the age of 33, he went back to school and joined classes of boys to learn Latin, the language of the universities.
Study and suspicion
When he had mastered the basics of this ancient language he moved to Alcalá University to study philosophy. He continued giving the Spiritual Exercises during this time of study. But Iñigo, now calling himself 'Ignatius', fell foul of the Spanish Inquisition and was imprisoned in 1527, for teaching religion before completion of the required training. Upon release from prison, Ignatius the student moved from Spain to the freer atmosphere of Paris and its Montaigu College. But academic study alone could never satisfy this man. He gathered about him young men whom he fired with enthusiasm to serve the Lord and he gave the Spiritual Exercises while continuing his studies of philosophy at the University.
To finance his studies he would spend a little time each year in Flanders begging for alms, and in the summer of 1530 he went further afield to London. The generous Londoners gave him much more than he had collected previously - sufficient, in fact, to keep him for the whole year.
The companions take vows
Ignatius gathered around him a small band of six companions. On 15th August 1534, one of their number, Pierre Favre, said mass in a chapel on the slopes of Montmartre where they all took vows of poverty and chastity and, further, promised that upon completion of their studies, they would make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The following year Ignatius took sick and so returned home to recover in his native air. Before leaving Paris, the companions had agreed to meet up together in 1537, in Venice, in order to catch a ship to Jerusalem to fulfil their vow. After four months in the land of his birth, Ignatius, ever restless, pronounced himself fit to travel. He arrived in Venice eighteen months early in the autumn of 1535. He made the most of his time and spent his wait in a thorough study of theology. The agreed meeting took place, but the companions waited in vain for a pilgrim ship to the Holy Land since to the normal dangers of wind and weather was added that of war with the Turks. But what happened during the wait was more significant than any pilgrimage could have been.
Fools for Christ
The companions became 'fools for Christ'. In July of 1537 the little group left Venice and arrived outside the city walls of Vicenza. The Masters of Theology from the most prestigious university in the world cavorted and threw their caps in the air to attract attention, and then in a hilarious mixture of languages these men from Spain and France preached in 'Italian'. But more than preach, they tended the sick and helped the poor, while they themselves lived in destitution. Each in turn was sick, all were cold, hungry, yet ecstatically happy. In bringing the love of Christ to the poor and sick, while themselves living the simplest of lifestyles, these men found the profoundest joy.
It was during this time of waiting for their transport to the Holy Land that Ignatius and those of the companions who were not yet priests were ordained on 24th June 1537, the feast of the birth of St John the Baptist. Ignatius, however, waited until Christmas Day 1538 before celebrating his first mass, such was his devotion to the Eucharist and his low estimation of his own worthiness to celebrate it.
Early in 1537, the companions, whose number had now grown to nine, decided to go to Rome to put themselves at the disposal of the Holy Father. A few miles from the city at La Storta, Ignatius had a memorable vision where God the Father 'placed him with his son' carrying His cross. Following Christ crucified, Ignatius continued to Rome.
The Society of Jesus
Ignatius and his companions considered long, hard and prayerfully whether to band together formally. Their decision was that they would be more effective together than apart and so, in 1540, with the blessing of Pope Paul III, the Society of Jesus was born.
They dedicated themselves to teaching, to preaching the word of God, to working with the poor and the sick in the slums of the cities of Europe, and to travelling to far-flung destinations, to preach Christ to people in lands new to European eyes. The new religious order had chosen to be flexible to meet the demands of the new age. Gone was the monastic meeting together many times daily to sing God's praises as a community; gone too was the requirement of wearing a distinctive habit; now each man worshipped God in the way he found best and was totally free to respond to the needs of those around him.
The Jesuit 'community' was for many maintained over vast distances by means of the pen. They were to be educated men who could debate with the reformers on their own terms; men who would not be seduced by worldly power and wealth; men who sought to convert whole nations to Christianity; willing to do anything for the greater glory of God.
The soldier becomes the General
Ignatius of Loyola, elected by his first companions as Superior General of the Society of Jesus, remained tied to an office desk in Rome writing letters to men who, like Francis Xavier, matched him in fame - letters which encouraged, which made requests, which chided; letters telling of everyday events, and of outstanding feats. The playboy, the soldier, the pilgrim had to learn to watch others doing the adventurous deeds while for sixteen years he supervised and organised the building up of the Society of Jesus and its movements across the world.
He died alone in his room save for the presence of his Lord, in the early hours of 31st July 1556 at the age of 65.
Source: Ignatius of Loyola. British Jesuits Website.
