Ignatius of Loyola
| Saint Ignatius of Loyola | |
|---|---|
_Founder_of_the_Jesuits.jpg) Portrait by Peter Paul Rubens. |
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| Confessor | |
| Born | 1491 Loyola, Guipúzcoa, Spain |
| Died | July 31, 1556 (aged 64–65) Rome, Papal States |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Anglican Communion |
| Beatified | July 27, 1609 by Pope Paul V |
| Canonized | March 12, 1622 by Pope Gregory XV |
| Feast | July 31 |
| Attributes | Eucharist, chasuble, book, cross |
| Patronage | Dioceses of San Sebastián and Bilbao, Biscay & Guipúzcoa, Basque Country, Military Ordinariate of the Philippines, Society of Jesus, soldiers, Educators and Education. |
Ignatius of Loyola (Basque: Ignazio Loiolakoa, Spanish: Ignacio de Loyola) (1491[1] – July 31, 1556) was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus and was its first Superior General.[2] Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation. Loyola's devotion to the Church was characterized by unquestioning obedience to everything said by her hierarchy.[3](reference to this would be the AP European History 8th edition)
After being seriously wounded at the Battle of Pamplona in 1521, he underwent a spiritual conversion while in recovery. De Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony inspired Loyola to abandon his previous military life and devote himself to labour for God, following the example of spiritual leaders such as Francis of Assisi. He experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus while at the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat in March 1522. Thereafter he went to Manresa, where he began praying for seven hours a day, often in a nearby cave, while formulating the fundamentals of the Spiritual Exercises. In September 1523, Loyola reached the Holy Land to settle there, but was sent back to Europe by the Franciscans.
Between 1524 and 1537, Ignatius studied theology and Latin in Spain and then in Paris. In 1534, he arrived in the latter city during a period of anti-Protestant turmoil which forced John Calvin to flee France. He and a few followers bound themselves by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In 1539, they formed the Society of Jesus, approved in 1540 by Pope Paul III, who also approved his Spiritual Exercises in 1548. Loyola also composed the Constitutions of the Society. He died in July 1556, was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1609 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622, and declared patron of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. Ignatius' feast day is celebrated on July 31. Ignatius is a foremost patron saint of soldiers, the Society of Jesus, the Basque Country, and the provinces of Guipúzcoa and Biscay.[4]
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Early life
Ignacio López de Loyola (sometimes erroneously called Íñigo López de Recalde)[5] was born in the municipality of Azpeitia at the castle of Loyola in today's Basque Country of Gipuzkoa, Spain.[6] He was baptized Íñigo, after St. Enecus (Innicus), Abbot of Oña,[5] a mediaeval Basque name arguably meaning "My little".[7] It is unclear when he started using Ignatius instead of his baptismal name "Íñigo" (Latin: Enecus; Basque: Eneko; Spanish: Íñigo).[8] Ignatius did not intend to change his name but rather adopted for France and Italy a name which he believed was a simple variant of his own, and which was more acceptable among foreigners.[9]
The youngest of 13 children, Íñigo was only seven years old when his mother died. In 1506, Íñigo adopted the last name "de Loyola" in reference of the Basque city of Loyola where he was born and later became a page in the service of a relative, Juan Velázquez de Cuéllar, treasurer (contador mayor) of the kingdom of Castile.
In 1509, Íñigo took up arms for Antonio Manrique de Lara, Duke of Nájera and Viceroy of Navarre. According to Thomas Rochford, S.J., his diplomacy and leadership qualities made him a gentilhombre[10] very useful to the Duke.[11] Under the Duke's leadership, he participated in many battles without injury to himself. But when the French army, supporting the Navarrese monarchy expelled in 1512, stormed Pamplona's fortress on May 20, 1521, a cannonball wounded one of his legs and broke the other.[11] Heavily injured, Íñigo was returned to the castle. He was very concerned about the injuries on his leg and had several surgical operations, which were very painful in the days before anaesthetics.
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During this time he read the De Vita Christi, by Ludolph of Saxony, in a Catalan edition. This work influenced his whole life. De Vita Christi is the result of forty years of work by Ludolph. It is a commentary on the life of Jesus Christ, a commentary on the Gospels borrowing extracts from the works of over sixty of the Fathers of the Church. Ludolph particularly quotes St Gregory the Great, St Basil, St Augustine and the Venerable Bede. Ludolph proposes to the reader that he place himself at the scene of the Gospel story; that he visualise the crib at the Nativity etc. etc. This is known as a method of prayer called Simple Contemplation and is the basis of the method that St Ignatius sets out in his Spiritual Exercises.[12]
Religious aspiration places
During his period of convalescence in 1521, Ignatius read a series of religious texts, on the life of Jesus[13][14] and on the lives of the saints; he became fired with an ambition to lead a life of self-denying labour and to emulate the heroic deeds of Francis of Assisi and other great monastics. He resolved to devote himself to the conversion of non-Christians in the Holy Land. Upon recovery, he visited the Benedictine monastery, Santa Maria de Montserrat (March 25, 1522), where he hung his military vestments before an image of the Virgin. He then traveled to the town of Manresa, Catalonia and spent several months in a cave near where he practiced rigorous asceticism. Ignatius also began seeing a series of visions in full daylight while in hospital. These repetitive visions appeared as "a form in the air near him and this form gave him much consolation because it was exceedingly beautiful ... it somehow seemed to have the shape of a serpent and had many things that shone like eyes, but were not eyes. He received much delight and consolation from gazing upon this object ... but when the object vanished he became disconsolate." [15] In 1523, he instituted a pilgrimage to the Holy Land on a path of self denial and sacrifice. He briefly remained from September 3 to 23 but was not permitted to stay. Twelve years later, standing before the Pope with his companions, he again proposed sending his companions as emissaries to Jerusalem.[16]
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History of the Jesuits |
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Returning to Spain, he and his companions were occupied in Alcala with the task of making disciples of women called as witnesses by the Inquisition under the direction of magistrate Alonso Mejias. Although the alumbrados [Illuminated; Illuminati; Enlightened Ones] of Spain were linked in their zeal and spirituality to the Franciscan reforms of which Cardinal de Cisneros was a promoter," the administrators of the Inquisition had mounting suspicions. These female disciples, Dona Leo, Dona Maria, and Dona Beatriz were so hysterically zealous that "one fell senseless, another sometimes rolled about on the ground, another had been seen in the grip of convulsions or shuddering and sweating in anguish." This suspicious activity had taken place while Ignatius and his companions were regularly preaching in public. Because of his "street-corner perorations" being identified "with the activities of the alumbrados," Ignatius was naturally singled out for inspection as one of these visionaries; however he was later released.[17] After these adventurous activities, he studied at the ascetic Collège de Montaigu of the University of Paris, where he remained over seven years. In later life, he was often called "Master Ignatius". This title was due to his taking a master's degree from the before-mentioned university at the age of forty-three.[18]
By 1534 he had gathered six key companions, all of whom he met as fellow students at the University— Francis Xavier, Alfonso Salmeron, Diego Laynez, and Nicholas Bobadilla, all Spanish; Peter Faber, a Frenchman; and Simão Rodrigues of Portugal. Later he was joined by Francisco de Borja, a member of the House of Borgia who was the main aide of Emperor Charles V, and other nobles. "On the morning of the 15th of August, 1534, in the crypt of the Church of Our Lady of the Martyrs, at Montmartre, Loyola and his six companions, of whom only one was a priest, met and took upon themselves the solemn vows of their lifelong work." [18] Ignatius of Loyola was the main creator and initial Superior General of the Society of Jesus, a religious organization of the Catholic Church whose members, known as Jesuits, served the Pope as missionaries. He is remembered as a talented spiritual director. He was very vigorous in opposing the Protestant Reformation and promoting the following Counter-Reformation. He was beatified and then canonized and received the title of Saint on March 12, 1622. He is the patron saint of the provinces of Guipuscoa and Biscay along with the Society of Jesus. Ignatius Loyola wrote Spiritual Exercises, a simple 200-page set of meditations, prayers, and various other mental exercises, from 1522 to 1524. The exercises of the book were designed to be carried out over a period of 28–30 days.
Father General of the Jesuits
Ignatius was chosen as the first Superior General of his religious order, invested with the title of Father General by the Jesuits. He sent his companions as missionaries around Europe to create schools, colleges, and seminaries. Juan de Vega, the ambassador of Charles V at Rome had met Ignatius there. Esteeming him and the Jesuits, when Vega was appointed Viceroy of Sicily he brought Jesuits with him. A Jesuit college was opened at Messina; success was marked, and its rules and methods were afterwards copied in other colleges.[19] In 1548 Spiritual Exercises was finally printed, and he was briefly brought before the Roman Inquisition, but was released.
Ignatius wrote the Jesuit Constitutions, adopted in 1540, which created a monarchical organization and stressed absolute self-abnegation and obedience to Pope and superiors (perinde ac cadaver, "well-disciplined like a corpse" as Ignatius put it). His main principle became the Jesuit motto: Ad maiorem Dei gloriam ("for the greater glory of God"). The Jesuits were a major factor in the Counter-Reformation. During 1553-1555, Ignatius dictated his life's story to his secretary, Father Gonçalves da Câmara. This autobiography is a valuable key for the understanding of his Spiritual Exercises. It was kept in the archives for about 150 years, until the Bollandists published the text in Acta Sanctorum. A critical edition exists in Vol. I (1943) of the Fontes Narrativi of the series Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu. He died in Rome on July 31, 1556 as a result of the "Roman Fever", a severe case of malaria that recurred in Rome, Italy at different points in history.
Famous Quote of Loyola:
| “ | That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity with the Church herself, if she shall have defined anything to be black which appears to our eyes to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black. For we must undoubtingly believe, that the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of the Orthodox Church His Spouse, by which Spirit we are governed and directed to Salvation, is the same; ...[20] | ” |
Canonization and legacy
Ignatius was beatified by Pope Paul V on July 27, 1609 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 13, 1622. His feast day is celebrated annually on July 31, the day he died. Saint Ignatius is venerated as the patron saint of Catholic soldiers, the ordinariate of the Philippine military, the Basque country and various towns and cities in his native region.
Of the institutions dedicated to Saint Ignatius, one of the most famous is the Basilica of St Ignatius Loyola, built next to the house where he was born in Azpeitia, the Basque Country. The house itself, now a museum, is incorporated into the basilica complex.
His legacy includes many Jesuit schools and educational institutions worldwide, (List of Jesuit institutions). In the United States alone there are 28 Jesuit colleges and universities and more than 50 secondary schools.
Genealogy
Shield of Oñaz-Loyola
The Shield of Oñaz-Loyola is a symbol of St. Ignatius family's Oñaz lineage, and is used by many Jesuit institutions around the world.
Lineage
Villoslada established the following detailed genealogy of St. Ignatius:[1]
Lope de Oñaz (~1180)
├ García López de Oñaz (~1221)
├ López García de Oñaz
wife: Inés, dame of Loyola – unit of families (~1261)
├ daughter: Inés de Oñaz y Loyola (~end of XIII c.)
husband: Juan Pérez (related)
├ Jaun (Basque - Lord) Juan Pérez
├ Gil López de Oñaz
├ other 5 brothers (see – battle of Beotibar)
Beltrán Yáñez (el Ibáñez) de Loyola, son of Jaun Juan (+1405)
wife: Ochanda Martínez de Leete from Azpeitia
├ Sancha Ibáñez de Loyola
| husband: Lope García de Lazcano
| married: 4 III 1413
├ heir: Juan Pérez de Loyola (d. childless, heirdom for Sancha)
├ Maria Beltranche
├ Elvira
├ Emilia
├ Juanecha
Juan Pérez de Loyola, son of Sancha Ibáñez (+ in Tolosa)
wife: Sancha Pérez de Iraeta (+1473)
├ Don Beltrán Yáñez (vel Ibáñez) de Oñaz y Loyola (+ 23 X 1507)
wife: Doña Marina Sáenz (vel Sánchez) de Licona (+ < 6 V 1508)
married: 13 VII 1467 r.
13 children:
1. Juan Pérez de Loyola (+1503 in Naples)
2. heir – Don Martín García de Oñaz y Loyola (1477 – 29 XI 1538)
wife: Magdalena de Araoz
married: 11 IX 1498
* – order uncertain
*. Ochoa Pérez de Loyola
*. Juan Beltrán de Loyola
*. Beltrán de Loyola (+ < 14 XI 1527)
*. Hernando de Loyola (+ in Panama, New World)
*. Pero López de Oñaz y Loyola (priest, + < VII 1529 in Barcelona)
*. Juaniza (vel Joaneiza) de Loyola, wife of Juan Marínez de Alzaga, notary from Azpeitia
*. Magdalena de Loyola, wife of Juan López de Gallaiztegui, notary from Anzuola
*. Sancha Ibáñez de Loyola
*. Petronila de Loyola, wife of Pedro Ochoa de Arriola
*. Maria Beltrán de Loyola, wife of Domingo de Arruado
13. Iñigo López de Loyola (< 23 X 1491 – 31 VII 1556)
Bibliography
Primary
- Loyola, (St.) Ignatius (1964). The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Anthony Mottola. Garden City: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385024365.
- Loyola, (St.) Ignatius (1900). Joseph O'Conner. ed. The Autobiography of St. Ignatius. New York: Benziger Brothers. OCLC 1360267. http://www.archive.org/details/stignatiusautobi00ignauoft.[21]
- Loyola, (St.) Ignatius (1992). John Olin. ed. The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola, with Related Documents. New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN 082321480X.
- Foss, Michael (1969). The Founding of the Jesuits, 1540. Turning Points in History Series. London: Hamilton. ISBN 0241015138.
Secondary
- Bartoli, Daniello (1855). History of the Life and Institute of St. Ignatius de Loyola: Founder of the Society of Jesus. New York: Edward Dunigan and Brother. http://books.google.com/?id=Y0IQAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=ignatius+de+loyola.
- Caraman, Philip (1990). Ignatius Loyola: A Biography of the Founder of the Jesuits'. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 0062501305.
- O'Malley, John W. (1993). The First Jesuits. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674303121.
- Meissner, William (1992). Ignatius of Loyola: The Psychology of a Saint. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300060793.
- García Villoslada, Ricardo (1986) (in Spanish). San Ignacio de Loyola: Nueva biografía. La Editorial Católica. ISBN 8422012677.
See also
- Christian mysticism
- List of Christian mystics
- List of Jesuits
- Madeleine d'Houet foundress of the Sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus
- Martín Ignacio de Loyola
- Isabella Roser and Isabel de Josa, wealthy Catalan women who were Loyola's benefactors from the 1520s onwards.
References
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Articles Early period 13-14th centuries 15-16th century 17-18th centuries 19th century 20th century |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 García Villoslada, Ricardo (1986) (in Spanish). San Ignacio de Loyola: Nueva biografía. La Editorial Católica. ISBN 8422012677. http://books.google.com/?id=MmRvpVZQrEAC&printsec=frontcover. "We deduct that, (...), Iñigo de Loyola should have been born before October 23, 1491."
- ↑ Idígoras Tellechea, José Ignacio (1994). "When was he born? His nurse's account". Ignatius of Loyola: The Pilgrim Saint. Chicago: Loyola University Press. pp. 45. ISBN 0829407790. http://books.google.com/?id=mWO8ZeN8D5sC&printsec=frontcover#PPA45,M1.
- ↑ "The Counter-Reformation". Washington State University. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/REFORM/COUNTER.HTM. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
- ↑ "Summer Fiestas". euskadi.net. http://www.turismoa.euskadi.net/contenidos/informacion/s11_folletos/en_s11/folletos/cultura/cultura_ing_fiestas_verano.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1
John Hungerford Pollen (1913). "St._Ignatius_Loyola". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. - ↑ The southern part of the Pyrenees of the Kingdom of Navarre, having been absorbed by the Kingdom of Castile in 1499, became part of the unified Kingdom of Spain
- ↑ "Nombres: Eneko". Euskaltzaindia (The Royal Academy of the Basque Language). http://www.euskaltzaindia.org/index.php?option=com_eoda&Itemid=191&lang=es&testua=eneko&view=izenak. Retrieved 2009-04-23. Article in Spanish
- ↑ Verd, Gabriel María (1976). "El "Íñigo" de San Ignacio de Loyola" (in Spanish). Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu (Roma: Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu) 45: 95–128. ISSN 0037-8887.
- ↑ Verd, Gabriel María (1991). "De Iñigo a Ignacio. El cambio de nombre en San Ignacio de Loyola" (in Spanish). Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu (Roma: Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu) 60: 113–160. ISSN 0037-8887. "That St. Ignatius of Loyola's name was changed is a known fact, but it cannot be said that it is widely known in the historiography of the saint — neither the characteristics of the names Iñigo and Ignacio nor the reasons for the change. It is first necessary to make clear the meaning of the names; they are distinct, despite the persistently held opinion in onomastic (dictionaries) and popular thought. In Spain Ignacio and Iñigo are at times used interchangeably just as if they were Jacobo and Jaime. With reference to the name Iñigo, it is fitting to give some essential notions to eliminate ambiguities and help understand what follows. This name first appears on the Ascoli brome (dated November 18, 90 B.C.), in a list of Spanish knights belonging to a Turma salluitana or Saragossan. It speaks of Elandus Enneces f[ilius], and according to Menéndez Pidal the final «s» is the «z» of Spanish patronymics, and could be nothing other than Elando Iñiguez. It is an ancestral Hispanic name. Ignacio, on the other hand, is a Latin name. In classical Latin there is Egnatius with an initial E. It appears only twice with an initial I (Ignatius) in the sixty volumes of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. This late Latin and Greek form prevailed. In the classical period Egnatius was used as a nomen (gentilitial name) and not as a praenomen (first name) or cognomen (surname), except in very rare cases. (...) The most important conclusion, perhaps unexpected, but not unknown, is that St. Ignatius did not change his name. That is to say, he did not intend to change it. What he did was to adopt for France and Italy a name which he believed was a simple variant of his own, and which was more acceptable among foreigners. That Ignacio ended up replacing Iñigo does not change his intention. If he had remained in Spain, he would have, without doubt, remained Iñigo.".
- ↑ Gentilhombre should be understood as servant of the court. By contrast, the English term Gentleman denotes a man of good family. In this sense the word equates with the French Gentilhomme (nobleman), which latter term was in Great Britain long confined to the peerage.(see Spanish Wikipedia article Gentilhombre.)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Rochford, Thomas. "St. Ignatius Loyola: the pilgrim and man of prayer who founded the Society of Jesus". Society of Jesus. http://www.sjweb.info/jesuits/ignatius.cfm. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ↑ Sr Mary Immaculate Bodenstedt, "The Vita Christi of Ludolphus the Carthusian", a Dissertation, Washington: Catholic University of America Press 1944 British Library Catalogue No. Ac2692.y/29.(16).
- ↑ "The Vita Christi" by Charles Abbot Conway Analecta Cartusiana 34
- ↑ "Ludolph's Life of Christ" by Father Henry James Coleridge in The Month Vol 17 (New Series VI) July — Dec 1872 pages 337-370
- ↑ Jesuits, A Multibiography by Jean Lacouture, p. 18, Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1995
- ↑ Jesuits, A Multibiography by Jean Lacouture, p. 24, Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1995
- ↑ Jesuits, A Multibiography by Jean Lacouture, pp. 27-29, Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1995
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 History of The World by John Clarke Ridpath, Vol. V, pp.238, New York: Merrill & Baker, 1899
- ↑ J.H. Pollen (1913). "History_of_the_Jesuits_Before_the_1773_Suppression". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ↑ Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, Rule 13 Henry Bettenson, ed., Documents of the Christian Church, 2nd ed. (London: Oxford University Press, 1963), p. 260.
- ↑ For information on the O'Conner and other translations, see notes in A Pilgrim's Journey: The Autobiography of Ignatius of Loyola Page 11-12.
External links
- "St. Ignatius of Loyola, Confessor", Butler's Lives of the Saints
- The Life of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Confessor & Founder of the Jesuits
- "St. Ignatius Loyola". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07639c.htm.
- Works by or about Ignatius of Loyola in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Biography of Ignatius of Loyola
- The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Translation by Elder Mullan, S.J.
- Letters of St. Ignatius of Loyola
- St. Ignatius Loyola and Opus Dei
- "Contemplation to Attain Love", by Ignatius of Loyola
- The Goa Jesuit Province of the Society of Jesus
- Founder Statue in St Peter's Basilica
- FamiliaIgnaciana.com - Comunidad de Ignacianos en los Estados Unidos
- Saint Ignatius' College
- Finding God In All Things
| Catholic Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by None |
Superior General of the Society of Jesus 1540–1556 |
Succeeded by Diego Laynez |
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