St' Ignatius of Loyola

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St. Ignatius of Loyola
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St. Ignatius of Loyola

• Born in 1491 in the Basque country
• Family belonged to provincial nobility
• Ignatius was the youngest son - usually indicated
  a career as a cleric
• Ignatius preferred a military career
• At 16 both parents died

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St. Ignatius of Loyola

• Began service as a page in the court of his
  relative Don Juan Velasquez at the age of sixteen
• Was known to engage in gambling, dueling, and
  romances with women (including Doña Caterina)
• Up to his 26th year he was a man given to
  worldly vanities, and having an overpowering
  desire to gain renown, he found delight in the
  exercise of arms

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St. Ignatius of Loyola

• Joined army in 1517
• French attacked the territory of The Duke of
  Najera in 1521 and, while much of the army fled,
  Ignatius thought it dishonorable, so he stayed to
  fight
• In this battle for Pamplona he received a serious
  leg wound
• Returned to Loyola to recuperate
• Decided to have his leg stretched for aesthetic
  purposes

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St. Ignatius of Loyola

• Read The Life of Christ by Ludolph and a book on
  the lives of the saints
• Had a spiritual conversion over the course of a
  few months at Loyola
• Decided to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
• Stopped at Manresa for a few days, which turned
  into ten months

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The Spiritual Exercises

• Structured around five themes
• Creation
• Humanity
• The Kingdom of God
• Christ
• The Trinity

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The Spiritual Exercises

• Divided into four weeks of meditations
• Week One - Purification
• Week Two - Love of Christ
• Week Three - Gratitude
• Week Four - discipleship

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The Spiritual Exercises

• Major Meditation
• The Two Standards
• The Standard of God
• The Standard of the Devil

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St. Ignatius of Loyola

• Studied Philosophy and Theology in Paris from
  1528 to 1533
• Gathered a group of six men and founded the
  Society of Jesus (The Jesuits perhaps a
  derogatory term little Jesus)
• Became teachers of the faith and contributed to
  the Counter Reformation

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St. Ignatius of Loyola

• Moved to Rome and received approbation from the
  pope in 1540
• Took an additional vow of loyalty to the pope
• Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
• Founded the Gregorian University in Rome

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Reflection

• From your reading on St. Ignatius and Dorothy
  Day, compare their two lives. How are they
  similar and how are they different? First,
  create a list of similarities and differences
  between the two. Then write a one page
  reflection indicating which of them you would be
  better able to relate to.