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Saint Ignatius of Loyola Born 24 December 1491(1491-12-24), Loyola (Azpeitia) Died 31 July 1556 (aged 64), Rome Venerated in Catholic Church Beatified 27 July 1609 by Paul V Canonized 12 March 1622 by Gregory XV Feast 31 July Attributes Eucharist, chasuble, book, cross Patronage Spiritual Exercises , Basque country , Dioceses of Donostia and Bilbao, Spain , Jesuits , Military Ordinariate of the Philippines , Society of Jesus , soldiers , Biscay Saints Portal

Life of St. Ignatius of Loyola [8] view • talk • edit

Society of Jesus     History of the Jesuits Regimini militantis Suppresion Jesuit Hierarchy Superior General Peter Hans Kolvenbach 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 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Saint Ignatius redirects here; for the early Christian martyr, see Ignatius of Antioch.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola, also known as Ignacio (Íñigo) López de Loyola (before October 23, 1491 – July 31, 1556), was the principal founder and first Superior General of the Society of Jesus, a religious order of the Catholic Church professing direct service to the Pope in terms of mission. Members of the order are called Jesuits.

The compiler of the Spiritual Exercises and a gifted spiritual director, Ignatius has been 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. ^[1] He was very active in fighting the Protestant Reformation and promoting the subsequent Counter-Reformation. He was beatified and then canonized to receive the title of Saint on March 12, 1622. His feast day is July 31, celebrated annually. He is the patron saint of Guipúzcoa as well as of the Society of Jesus.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Religious aspiration places 3 Foundation of the Society of Jesus 4 Father General of the Jesuits 5 Canonization and legacy 6 Genealogy[5] 7 Portrayals 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links

Íñigo was born in the municipality of Azpeitia at the castle of Loyola in the Kingdom of Navarre, in today's Basque province of Guipúzcoa, Spain^[2]. The youngest of 13 children, Ignatius was only seven years old when his mother died. In 1506, Íñigo became a page in the service of a relative, Juan Velázquez de Cuéllar, treasurer (contador mayor) of the kingdom of Castile.

In 1517, Íñigo took up arms for Antonio Manrique de Lara, Duke of Nájera and Viceroy of Navarre. According to Thomas Rochford sj., his diplomacy and leadership qualities made him a gentilhombre ^[3] very useful to the Duke.^[4] Under Duke's leadership, he had participated in many battles without injury to himself. But when the French army, supporting the Navarrese monarchy expelled in 1512, stormed the Pamplona's fortress at on May 20, 1521, a cannonball shot wounded one of his legs and broke the other.^[4] Heavily injured, Íñigo was returned to his castle. He was very concerned about the injuries on his leg, and he was exposed (by his own decision) to several surgical operations, which were, at that time, very painful processes.

During the time he was recovering, Ignatius read a number of religious texts on the life of Jesus 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 of 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 and 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" in recognition of his final academic credential.

By 1534 he had six key companions, all of whom he met as students at the University—Francis Xavier, Alfonso Salmerons, Diego Laynez, and Nicholas Bobadilla, all Spanish; Peter Faber, a Frenchman; and Simão Rodrigues of Portugal.

Ignatius Loyola was the main creator and initial Superior General of the Society of Jesus, a religious organization of the Catholic Church which agreed straight service to the Pope in conditions of mission. The Members of the organization are called Jesuits. He is famous as the gatherer of the Spiritual Exercises, and he is kept in mind as a talented spiritual director. He was very vigorous in fighting 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 state of Guipúzcoa as along with the Society of Jesus.

Ignatius Loyola wrote Spiritual Exercises from 1522-1524, the publication is a simple set of meditations, prayers, and various other mental exercises. The exercises of the book were designed to be carried out over a period of 28-30 days. The book was 200 pages and was designed to enhance and strengthen a person's faith experience in Roman Catholic Church manners.

On August 15, 1534, he and the other six in St. Mary's Church, Montmartre, founded the Society of Jesus - "to enter upon hospital and missionary work in Jerusalem, or to go without questioning wherever the pope might direct". In 1537 they traveled to Italy to seek papal approval for their order. Pope Paul III confirmed the order through the bull Regimini militantis (September 27, 1540), but limited the number of its members to sixty. This limitation was removed through the bull Injunctum nobis on March 14, 1543.

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.[1] 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 1554, 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 after a long struggle with chronic stomach ailments.

Ignatius was beatified by Paul V on July 27, 1609, and canonized by Gregory XV on March 12, 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 Ignacius 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.

Lope de Oñaz (~1180)
  ├ García López de Oñaz (~1221)
     ├ López García de Oñaz
        wife: Inés, dame of Loyola – unit of families (~1261)
         ├ daugther: 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 (vel 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)

• John Donne's anti-Catholic work Ignatius His Conclave (1611) satirizes the Jesuits. In the story, St. Ignatius of Loyola is an inhabitant of Hell:

But Ignatius Layola which was got neere his chaire, a subtile fellow, and so indued with the Divell, that he was able to tempt, and not onely that, but (as they say) even to possesse the Divell, apprehended this perplexity in Lucifer.^[6]

Ignatius is subsequently ejected from Hell and ordered to colonize the moon where he will do less harm.

• St Ignatius is a principal character of the opera Four Saints in Three Acts by composer Virgil Thomson and librettist Gertrude Stein.

• Martín Ignacio de Loyola
• List of Christian mystics
• Christian mysticism
• Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola

Primary

• Loyola, (St.) Ignatius (1900). The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola, translated by Joseph O'Conner. Illustrated. From Internet Archive.^[7]
• Loyola, (St.) Ignatius (1992). The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola, with Related Documents (J. F. O'Callaghan, Trans). New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN 0-8232-1480-X.

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. 
• Caraman, Philip (1990). Ignatius Loyola: A Biography of the Founder of the Jesuits. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-250130-5.
• O'Malley, John W (1993). The First Jesuits. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-30312-1.
• Meissner, William W (1992). Ignatius of Loyola: The Psychology of a Saint. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-06079-3.

• Biography of Ignatius of Loyola
• The world of Ignatius of Loyola
• Letters of St. Ignatius of Loyola
• Article in the Catholic Encyclopedia
• St. Ignatius Loyola and Opus Dei
• Contemplation to Attain Love of Ignatius of Loyola
• The Goa Jesuit Province of the Society of Jesus

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	24 December 1491(1491-12-24)
PLACE OF BIRTH	Loyola (Azpeitia)
DATE OF DEATH	31 July 1556 (aged 64)
PLACE OF DEATH	Rome