Saint Ignatius Of Loyola

Inigo Lopez de Loyola, who later took the name Ignatius, was the youngest son of a nobleman of the mountainous Basque region of northern Spain. Trained in the courtly manner of the time at the court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, he dreamed of the glories of knighthood and wore his sword and breastplate with a proud arrogance.

When Ignatius was born in 1491, the Middle Ages were just ending and Europe was entering into the Renaissance. So Ignatius was a man on the edge of two worlds.

Europe of the late 15th Century was a world of discovery and invention. European explorers sailed west to the Americas and south to Africa, and scholars uncovered the buried civilizations of Greece and Rome. The printing press fed a new hunger for knowledge among a growing middle class. It was the end of chivalry and the rise of a new humanism. It was a time of radical change, social upheaval, and war.

In 1521 in a quixotic attempt to defend the Spanish border fortress of Pamplona against the French artillery, Inigo's right leg was shattered by a cannon ball. His French captors, impressed by the Inigo's courage, carried him on a litter [across Spain] to his family home at Loyola where he began a long period of convalescence.

During that time, he read a Life of Christ and Lives of the Saints, the only reading material readily available. These books and the isolation of the recovery period brought about a deep conversion. Ignatius began to pray. He fasted, did penance and works of charity, dedicated himself to God.

When Inigo’s leg was sufficiently healed, he made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of our Lady of Montserrat and then visited the medieval town of Manresa. It was here that he experienced the presence of God in a profoundly mystical way. These prayerful experiences became the foundation of the Spiritual Exercises. After a longer pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Ignatius decided to study for the priesthood. His studies began in Spain and ended up in Paris. It was in Paris that he met several companions who would later form themselves into the Society of Jesus. Ignatius directed this small band of friends in prayer and meditation according to his Spiritual Exercises. After their ordination to the priesthood this small band of companions offered themselves in service to Pope Paul III. In 1540, Paul III approved the Institute of the Society of Jesus. Ignatius was elected General Superior and served in that post until his death in 1556 at the age of 65.

Timeline

1491 - Ignatius was born
1506-16 - Worked as a page at Arevalo, near Valldolid
1516-21 – Became Gentilhombre of the Viceroy of Navarre
1521 - Wounded during the Siege of Pamplona
1522 – Pilgrimage to Montserrat and Manresa
1523 - Pilgrimage to Jerusalem
1524 - Began studies in Barcelona
1526 - Examined by the Inquisition in Alcala
1527 - Arrested at Salamanca
1528 - Left Spain, for University of Pairs
1534 - Took first private vows with companions on Montmartre
1535 - Left for Rome
1537 - Ordained as a priest
1539 - Gather his companions in Rome
1540 - Founded the Society of Jesus
1541 - Elected as the Superior General of 'Society of Jesus'
1548 - 'Spiritual Exercises' approved by Pope Paul III
1550 - 'Society of Jesus' confirmed by Pope Juluis III
1551 - Offered to resign as the Superior General
1556 – Died in Rome