Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Saint Ignatius of Loyola was born in a noble family in Spain. He then joined service in the army where at one time he got wounded seriously in a battle that was later named “battle of Pamplona’’. Afterwards, he decided to undergo spiritual convention as he was being treated from wounds that were inflicted on him during the war. He was later on inspired by Rudolph of Saxony to leave the military career and join service in the church.

Requesting petitions for the following:            

• Home protection.
• Evil spirits.
• Feast: 31-Jul
• Day: Saturday
• Candle/Emblem: White. The Book and plums.
• Matters concerning: To protect the home from intruders and evil spirits.

How Ignatius converted to Christianity

During the convalescence period, he developed interest in religious books especially those dealing with the life of Jesus. He then developed an interest to live the lives of the saint especially that of Saint Francis of Assisi. Thereafter he decided to dedicate his life to conversion of non Christians to Christianity.

Role of Ignatius among the Jesuits

The Jesuits chose Saint Ignatius as the senior figure their newly formed religious organization that was known as father general. He had a great role in the region in which he has been said to have sent various missionaries and companions all over the continent of Europe where they built schools, seminaries and colleges.

An agent of King Charles IV, Juan de Vega met Saint Ignatius in Rome. The king’s agent is then said to have honored the Jesuits and Ignatius a lot to the extent at some instance when he got appointed as Sicily’s Viceroy, he went there with the Jesuits.

The opening of a Jesuit college and the adoption of its rules by several colleges resulted created some tension in the Kingdom. After printing of a book that was associated to him, he was questioned by the government authorities before being released.

Ignatius then laid out a constitution for the Jesuits, it appealed to the authorities that it got adopted in the year 1540. In this constitution, it was stated that the pope was to be respected just like the monarch and this implied that he got the supreme authority to order and get obedience form everyone at all times. He had a motto "for the greater glory of God". Jesuits played a very big role in the process of reformation.

Canonization of Ignatius and his legacy thereafter

On 27th July 1609, Pope Paul XV beatified Ignatius while on 13th March 1622, Pope Gregory XV canonized Ignatius.

There are a large number of institutions that are dedicated to St. Ignatius and one of the most common ones is a basilica named “Basilica of St. Ignatius Loyola” which is in Asperities in Basque County, next to the house the saint was born in. The house has been integrated into a museum that has been merged with the basilica.

There are several institutions of education the world and over that have featured the saint. They are quite many and for instance 50 secondary schools and 28 colleges in the US are owned by the Jesuits and thus honor the saint.