Ignatius of Loyola
Iñigo López de Loyola — better known as St. Ignatius of Loyola — was born in 1491 in the Basque region of Spain to minor nobility. The youngest of 13 children, Ignatius spent his formative years away from Loyola at court in the kingdom of Castile serving as page to the treasurer. He spent his days wooing women, fighting and gambling.
He soon found his way into the military and to the battlefield. On May 20, 1521, at the Battle of Pamplona, Ignatius and his fellow soldiers refused to surrender to the superior French forces who had laid siege to the castle. As a result, Ignatius was grievously wounded; a cannonball shattered his leg. Â Â
He spent the better part of the following year bedridden, recovering in his home in Loyola. To pass the time, he asked for books about knights and battles but instead was brought a volume on the life of Christ and one on the saints. As he read, he began to realize something: His old daydreams of winning wars and wooing women were leaving him feeling empty. But as he imagined himself living a life for Christ, he began to feel energized. He was experiencing desolation and consolation; this was his introduction to the discernment of spirits. He decided to change the course of his life; he decided to give himself to God.
In 1522, healed from his wounds, he set out on pilgrimage. He lay his sword at the foot of Our Lady of Montserrat and gave his rich clothes to someone he met in need — the last vestiges of his old life. He then took up residence in a cave outside the nearby town of Manresa. He spent nearly a year serving the vulnerable and writing about his own prayer experiences — what would eventually become the Spiritual Exercises, a guided retreat that we still use today.
Ignatius dreamed of serving in the Holy Land but was ultimately turned away by the Franciscan custodians due to the precarious political situation of the time. So, he eventually found his way to Paris where he would study to become a priest and be better able to guide people on the spiritual path.
While in Paris, Ignatius met Francis Xavier and Peter Faber. He introduced them to the Spiritual Exercises, and the three became good friends. In 1534, along with four others, these three companions took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, forming what would become the Jesuits. And on September 27, 1540, Pope Paul III officially recognized the Society of Jesus as a religious order with Ignatius as its first Father General.
The First Companions: Contemplative Icon by Julius Spradley
The Story Continues
From the earliest days of the Society of Jesus, Jesuits saw their mission as one to be lived out in the world. And so, they went to where the people were; to paraphrase another early Jesuit — Jerome Nadal — they saw the world as their monastery. This meant they served as missionaries across Europe as well as in the Americas, Asia and elsewhere. Often, they assumed the local customs of the communities to which they were missioned.
Despite envisioning the Society as a missionary order, companions constantly on the move, it soon became clear that one of the most important ways the Jesuits could serve the People of God was through education. And so, Jesuits began to found schools. They became involved in research, studying disciplines well beyond theology and philosophy.
With success came enemies. Many distrusted the Jesuits involvement in so-called secular fields; they didn’t agree with their missionary tactics; they envied the Jesuits close ties to powerful people. And so, in 1773, after tremendous pressure from a growing number of European leaders, Pope Clement XIV issued Dominus ac Redemptor, a brief that suppressed the Society of Jesus. 23,000 Jesuits were suddenly left out in the cold.
Yet, because Pope Clement relied on local leaders to enforce the brief, the refusal to do so on the part of Catherine the Great meant the Society survived in Russia. After many years and much persistence, a new pope — Pope Pius VII — came to power and fully restored the Society in 1814.
Roughly 200 years later, Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope was elected to lead the global church. And the Jesuits — renewed by the leadership of Father Pedro Arrupe, the 28th Superior General (1965-1983), who insisted on a faith that does justice — continue to work for the greater glory of God and the good of all people.
Today, under the leadership of Father General Arturo Sosa and guided by our Universal Apostolic Preferences, we read and respond to the signs of the times, seeking always to show the way to God, accompany the vulnerable, build a hope-filled future and care for our common home. Ours is the work of reconciliation: reconciling all of creation to God, strengthening relationships among friends and strangers alike, always companions together on the journey.
