July 31: St. Ignatius of Loyola

I know this is a day late, but I couldn't pass up commenting on yesterday's feast day, even if I did take a couple of days off from writing.

St. Ignatius, the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is the closest thing I have to a personal patron saint. He's by far the most personally influential saint I have ever known and in so many ways is my role model. So, if you don't know anything about him, get to know him. If you do know about him, join me in thanking him for all that he has done for the "greater glory of God."

From the Liturgy of the Hours:

Saint Ignatius was born in 1491 at Loyola in Cantabria. He spent his early years at court and as a soldier. Later he was converted to God and undertook theological studies at Paris where he attracted his first followers, and afterward at Rome he joined them together as the first members of the Society of Jesus. He exercised a most fruitful apostolate both by his written works and in the training of his disciples who won great praise for their renewal of the Church. He died at Rome in 1556.

From the Office of Readings:

From the life of Saint Ignatius from his own words by Luis Gonzalez:

Ignatius was passionately fond of reading worldly books of fiction and tales of knight-errantry. When he felt he was getting better, he asked for some of these books to pass the time. But no book of that sort could be found in the house; instead they gave him a life of Christ and a collection of the lives of saints written in Spanish.

By constantly reading these books he began to be attracted to what he found narrated there. Sometimes in the midst of his reading he would reflect on what he had read. Yet at other times he would dwell on many of the things which he had been accustomed to dwell on previously. But at this point our Lord came to his assistance, insuring that these thoughts were followed by others which arose from his current reading.

While reading the life of Christ our Lord or the lives of the saints, he would reflect and reason with himself: “What if I should do what Saint Francis or Saint Dominic did?” In this way he let his mind dwell on many thoughts; they lasted a while until other things took their place. Then those vain and worldly images would come into his mind and remain a long time. This sequence of thoughts persisted with him for a long time.

But there was a difference. When Ignatius reflected on worldly thoughts, he felt intense pleasure; but when he gave them up out of weariness, he felt dry and depressed. Yet when he thought of living the rigorous sort of life he knew the saints had lived, he not only experienced pleasure when he actually thought about it, but even after he dismissed these thoughts, he still experienced great joy. Yet he did not pay attention to this, nor did he appreciate it until one day, in a moment of insight, he began to marvel at the difference. Then he understood his experience: thoughts of one kind left him sad, the others full of joy. And this was the first time he applied a process of reasoning to his religious experience. Later on, when he began to formulate his spiritual exercises, he used this experience as an illustration to explain the doctrine he taught his disciples on the discernment of spirits.

You can also read a reflection by Jesuit Father James Martin on Ignatius here in an excerpt from his recently published book (which I am currently reading) The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything.

And so in thanksgiving let us pray the prayer that Ignatius taught us, the Suscipe:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. All I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.