Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius, born Inigo Lopez de Loyola, was born to a noble
family in Spain in 1491. As a boy, he
was sent to a Spanish court to become a page – the first step to becoming a
court official. He embraced the life of
royalty and fell in love with the practice of chivalry and war, hoping at some
point in the future to win glory for himself.
As a young man, he was involved in a battle with the
French for the town of Pamplona, Spain.
During the battle, a cannonball the size of an orange hit him. After the battle, he was helped back to
Loyola by the French soldiers who greatly respected his courage. He had surgeries to reset his knee and to remove
a protruding bone. During his seven-week
convalescence, he read spiritual books, including one by a monk which captured
his attention describing the life of a monk as one of “holy chivalry.” By the time he was released, he had decided
to commit his life to holy living and doing penance for his sins.
Inigo walked to a small town in Northeastern Spain where
he lived in a cave for about a year, subsisting as a beggar, flogging himself,
attending Mass daily, and praying for seven hours per day. It was in this town he wrote the beginning of
his book Spiritual Exercises: a little book designed to help lay people develop
the discipline of spiritual contemplation.
He studied in Barcelona where he attracted a number of followers and
worked with them to help people walk closer to Christ. As a yet-unordained person, he fell under
suspicion of the established church during the Spanish Inquisition and was
arrested at least twice. Due to these
persecutions, he and his companions moved to study for years in Paris, then
later to Venice. In Paris, he changed
his name to Ignatius.
From Venice, in 1540, Ignatius and his followers received
the Pope’s approval to begin a religious order which they called “The Society
of Jesus” – or “Jesuits.” The Jesuits began
a ministry less focused on the trappings of spiritual life and more on
ministry. This caught on, and Jesuit
orders soon sprung up in many of the major cities of Europe, in newly-opened
areas of the world such as China, as well as many of the settlements in the New
World, including areas of Quebec, Michigan, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Arizona,
Mexico, and many areas of South America, often specifically reaching out to the
Indians.
Ignatius is known for his work Spiritual Exercises. The book is meant to lead a person through
four weeks of meditation and prayer. It
has been in constant use by Jesuits up to this day, nearly 500 years, and is
often used by lay people of all spiritual traditions.
The object of the first week is purifying one’s soul:
examining your conscience and meditating on your sins, and on Hell.
The object of the second week is a focus on the Gospels
and on Christ.
The object of the third week is freeing yourself from your
will, to follow Christ.
The object of the fourth week is releasing the heart from
worldly attachments.
Ignatius taught what was called “imaginative
contemplation” in prayer and study. In
many traditions, ‘contemplation’ means to put all other thoughts aside and have
an uninterrupted focus on what you are reading, freeing your mind of all thoughts
and images. Ignatian thought teaches ‘contemplation’
a bit differently: engage your imagination when you pray, insert yourself into
the story. When reading stories of
Jesus, for example, use your imagination while reading to smell the smells,
hear the sounds, feel the emotions, touch what is there. In short, immerse yourself in what you are
reading.
For nearly 500 years, Spiritual Exercises has been a
guide for Christians to deepen their relationship with their Creator.
131 Christians Everyone Should Know, Packer, J.I.,
Holman Publishers, 2000.
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