Ignatius of Loyola

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
"Saint Ignatius" redirects here. For other saints, see Ignatius.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Confessor
Born before October 23, 1491(1491-10-23)[1], Loyola (Azpeitia), Guipúzcoa, Spain
Died July 31, 1556 (aged 64), Rome, Italy
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Beatified July 27, 1609, Rome by Pope Paul V
Canonized March 12, 1622, Rome by Pope Gregory XV
Feast July 31
Attributes Eucharist, chasuble, book, cross
Patronage Dioceses of San Sebastián and Bilbao, provinces of Biscay & Guipúzcoa, Basque Country, Military Ordinariate of the Philippines, Society of Jesus, soldiers.
Society of Jesus

History of the Jesuits
Regimini militantis
Suppression

Jesuit Hierarchy
Superior General
Adolfo Nicolás

Ignatian Spirituality
Spiritual Exercises
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam
Magis
Discernment

Famous Jesuits
St. Ignatius of Loyola
St. Francis Xavier
Blessed Peter Faber
St. Aloysius Gonzaga
St. Robert Bellarmine
St. Peter Canisius
St. Edmund Campion

Saint Ignatius of Loyola (Spanish: Ignacio López de Loyola) (October 23, 1491 – July 31, 1556) was the principal founder and first Superior General of the Society of Jesus.[2]

The compiler of the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius was described by Pope Benedict XVI as being above all a man of God, who gave the first place of his life to God, and a man of profound prayer.[3] He was very active in fighting the Protestant Reformation and promoting the subsequent Counter-Reformation. He was beatified and then on March 12, 1622, was canonized. His feast day is July 31. He is the patron saint of the Basque historical territories of Guipúzcoa and Biscay and the Society of Jesus, among other things.[4]

Contents

[edit] 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] It is unclear when he started using Ignatius instead of his baptismal name "Íñigo" (Latin: Enecus; Basque: Eneko or Iñigo).[7] 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.[8]

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 city 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[9] very useful to the Duke.[10] 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.[10] 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.

During this time he read the De Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony in a Catalan edition. This work arguably influenced his whole life. The 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 arguably is the basis of the method that St Ignatius sets out in his Spiritual Exercises. [11] (See: Ludolph of Saxony)

[edit] Religious aspiration places

During the time he was recovering, Ignatius read a number of religious texts on the life of Jesus called the Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony [12][13]and the saints and became fired with an ambition to lead a life of self-denying labor and emulate the heroic deeds of Francis of Assisi and other great monastic leaders. 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 went and spent several months in a cave near the town of Manresa, Catalonia where he practiced the most rigorous asceticism. Igantius began seeing a series of hallucinations in full daylight in a hospital. This repetitive vision 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." [14] He begged his journey to the Holy Land, as a way of self denial and sacrifice. He spent from September 3 to 23, 1523 in the Holy Land and twelve years later, standing before the Pope with his companions, it was again to Jerusalem that he proposed sending his companions as emissaries. [15] Once back to Spain, he was found in Alcala with his companions making disciples of women who were 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 Inquisition was becoming more suspicious. These female disciples, Dona Leonor, 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 preaching. 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, but later released. [16] 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. [17]

By 1534 he had six key companions, all of whom he met as 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 on 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, 1543, 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 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 province of Guipúzcoa 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.

[edit] 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.

Life of St. Ignatius of Loyola [20]
v • d • e

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.

[edit] 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.

On April 22, 2006, Feast of Our Lady, Mother of the Society of Jesus, Pope Benedict XVI said that "St Ignatius of Loyola institutions, are dedicated to St Ignatius." Perhaps the most famous of them is 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.

As probably one of the most important parts of the material part of his legacy, we can find many Jesuit schools and general educational institutions worldwide: see [1], one the most popular of them being Georgetown University, along with Loyola College of Maryland, Fordham University, The College of the Holy Cross, Loyola University New Orleans, Loyola University Chicago, Boston College, and University of Scranton. In the United States alone there are 28 Jesuit colleges and universities, and more than 50 secondary schools.

[edit] Genealogy

[edit] Shield of Oñaz-Loyola

The Shield of Oñaz-Loyola is a symbol of St. Ignatius's family lineage, and is used by many Jesuit institutions around the world.

Examples of the Shield of Oñaz-Loyola used in Modern Jesuit Institutions' Logos

 Australia
Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview

The motto, Quantum potes, tantum aude, is Latin for: "As much as you can do, so much dare to do".

[edit] 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
            ├  Eish Parkash of the Legends
            ├  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)

[edit] Bibliography

Statue of Ignatius of Loyola, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Primary

Secondary

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b García Villoslada, Ricardo (1986) (in Spanish). San Ignacio de Loyola: Nueva biografía. La Editorial Católica. ISBN 8422012677. http://books.google.com/books?id=MmRvpVZQrEAC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PPA71,M1. "We deduct that, (...), Iñigo de Loyola should have been born before October 23, 1491." 
  2. ^ 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/books?id=mWO8ZeN8D5sC&printsec=frontcover#PPA45,M1. 
  3. ^ Benedict XVI (2006-04-22). "Address of his Holiness Benedict XVI to the Fathers and Brothers of the Society of Jesus". http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/april/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060422_gesuiti_en.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-23. "(...) St Ignatius of Loyola was first and foremost a man of God who in his life put God, his greatest glory and his greatest service, first. He was a profoundly prayerful man for whom the daily celebration of the Eucharist was the heart and crowning point of his day. (...)" 
  4. ^ "Summer Fiestas". euskadi.net. http://www.turismoa.euskadi.net/contenidos/informacion/s11_folletos/en_s11/folletos/cultura/cultura_ing_fiestas_verano.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-07-24. 
  5. ^ a b  "St. Ignatius Loyola". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/St._Ignatius_Loyola. Retrieved on 2008-06-28. 
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ 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. 
  8. ^ 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.". 
  9. ^ 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.)
  10. ^ a b 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 on 2007-11-15. 
  11. ^ 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).
  12. ^ The Vita Christi by Charles Abbot Conway Analecta Cartusiana 34
  13. ^ Ludolph's Life of Christ by Father Henry James Coleridge in "The Month" Vol 17 (New Series VI) July — Dec 1872 pages 337-370
  14. ^ Jesuits, A Multibiography by Jean Lacouture, p. 18, Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1995)
  15. ^ Jesuits, A Multibiography by Jean Lacouture, p. 24, Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1995)
  16. ^ Jesuits, A Multibiography by Jean Lacouture, pp. 27-29, Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1995)
  17. ^ History of The World by John Clarke Ridpath, Vol. V, pp.238, New York: Merrill & Baker, 1899)
  18. ^ History of The World by John Clarke Ridpath, Vol. V, pp.238, New York: Merrill & Baker, 1899)
  19. ^  "History of the Jesuits Before the 1773 Suppression". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/History_of_the_Jesuits_Before_the_1773_Suppression. Retrieved on 2008-06-28. 
  20. ^ "St. Ignatius in historical context". Society of Jesus. http://www.sjweb.info/jesuits/chronologyIgnat.cfm. Retrieved on 2007. 
  21. ^ 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.

[edit] External links

Wikisource has an original article from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia about:
Sister project Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ignatius of Loyola
Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Íñigo López de Loyola
Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
None		 Superior General of the Society of Jesus
1540–1556		 Succeeded by
Diego Laynez
v • d • e
Catholic Church
Organizations, Papacy, Teachings and Liturgical Traditions
History
Hierarchy
Theology
Sacraments
Mariology
Doctors of
the Church
Pope Benedict XVI
Preceding Popes
Orders & Societies
Vatican II
Particular Churches
sorted by
Liturgical Traditions
Pope Portal Catholicism Portal
v • d • e
History of Roman Catholic theology
Theologians · Teachings · Heresies
General History
Church beginnings
Constantine to
Pope Gregory I
Early Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
Mysticism & Reforms
Protestant Reformation and
Counter-Reformation
Baroque Period to
French Revolution
19th century
20th-21st century
Pope Portal Catholicism Portal


Persondata
NAME Loyola, Saint Ignatius of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Saint Ignatius of Loyola, also known as Ignacio (Íñigo) López de Loyola (December 24, 1491 – July 31, 1556), was the principal founder and first Superior General of the Society of Jesus, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church.
DATE OF BIRTH December 24, 1491(1491-12-24)
PLACE OF BIRTH Loyola (Azpeitia)
DATE OF DEATH July 31, 1556 (aged 64)
PLACE OF DEATH Rome
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_of_Loyola"
Personal tools