The name of St. Ignatius Loyola may sound familiar. We can hear the name of St. Ignatius whenever the first Eucharistic prayer is said at mass .:
Who was St. Ignatius
For ourselves, too, we ask some share in the fellowship of your apostles and martyrs, with John the Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, (Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia) and all the saints.
First Eucharistic Prayer – Roman Missal
He is also very well known for his 12 Spiritual Exercises and for founding the Society of Jesus, The Jesuits!
St. Ignatius of Loyola was born in 1491 in the Basque Country of northern Spain.
He was the youngest of 13 children born into a very distinguished family. He received a courtly education and enjoyed reading about chivalry and romance. His young adulthood was a little wild and he gambled, dated, and partied a bit too much.
Eventually, he entered the military to become a soldier. He was wounded in battle by a cannonball which seriously injured his legs. Confined to a sickbed at his parent’s home he was given books of faith and piety to read, which he did out of boredom, but eventually came to enjoy them and experienced a conversion of heart. His heroes were St. Francis and St. Dominic and his desire was to become a Knight for Christ. In prayer, he promised to devote his life to becoming that Knight if he ever recovered, and eventually he did.
When he recovered his ability to walk, he started a pilgrimage to Jerusalem so that he could walk where Jesus had walked. He got as far as Montserrat, Spain when he met a poor man and gave away all of his fine clothing. At the monastery there, he made his confession and kept a vigil in front of the Black Madonna. This was the beginning of his new life.
He became a hermit at nearby Manresa, praying, studying the spiritual life, meditating on the Trinity, fasting, and doing penance. Ten months later, he emerged at peace with himself.
St. Ignatius didn’t make it to the Holy Lands that time, but he did make it as far as Rome.
Something about Ignatius – the power of prayer
Several things strike me about St. Ignatius. While living as a hermit in the cave, he learned about effective prayer and how to pray. He humbled himself to be poor and lowly. Later, when he decided to become a priest, he again had to humble himself to learn Latin with much younger students so that he could attain his true goal of the priesthood. And always he was teaching, preaching, and serving. All of these experiences lead him to write his famous Spiritual Exercises.
At age 43, he received his degree. His humility and simple lifestyle attracted many followers, including St. Francis Xavier. With his followers, he founded The Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. He did travel through Europe and eventually did make it to the Holy Lands. He died at age 65 of liver cancer in the Church of the Gesu in Rome. He was canonized in 1622.
I think that sometimes trying to live a devout life is difficult. But it can become easier and even more inspirational if we give it a try. I think that’s true even if we try to live that lifestyle reluctantly and half-heartedly at first.
It’s kind of like a diet. It’s not particularly fun being hungry, planning meals, or even exercising. But maybe that first little nudge of the bathroom scale or the first half-inch lost in the midsection is enough to “inspire” more effort, more dedication, maybe even inspiration to research more recipes and different exercises!
I think maybe Ignatius knew that. I think he also knew that it’s hard to go from Joe Couch potato to an Olympic athlete (spiritually speaking of course) all at once. Still, one must start somewhere and have a goal and a direction. The goal of Ignatius? Heaven. The guide and direction – the church.
You can read the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola FREE online here.
St. Ignatius Loyola