The Jesuit Institute - St Ignatius Loyola

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St Ignatius Loyola

Feast Day

The Feast Day of St Ignatius Loyola is celebrated on 31st July.
Jesuit schools in the UK celebrate the feast on a suitable day at the end of the summer term. For most schools this will be their final and thanksgiving Mass of the school year. In Jesuit churches and schools the feast of St Ignatius is celebrated as a Solemnity.
Mass texts for the Feast of St Ignatius Loyola

Biography

Ignatius Loyola , born (1491) of a Basque noble family; chose a life of chivalry and sought fame until he was wounded at the battle of Pamplona (1521); during long convalescence he underwent a spiritual conversion; lived as a hermit at Manresa where he began to see how God was active in his life; his notes from this time became the Spiritual Exercises; with companions he founded the Society of Jesus (1540); Ignatius spent the rest of his life developing and governing this new order. Died 31st July 1556 at Rome.

1491	Ignatius born, the youngest of 13 children, at Loyola in the Basque country of northern Spain.
1506	Enters the service of the King's Treasurer as a page, at Avila.
1517	Appointed Gentleman-in-Waiting to the Duke of Nájera, Viceroy of Navarra.
1521	Battle of Pamplona, 20th May. Ignatius falls wounded. Taken home to Loyola to recover. Reads The Life of Christ and the Golden Legend. Begins to practice the discernment of spirits and chooses a new life.
1522	Leaves Loyola (February). Pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady at Aránzazu. Spends the night in vigil before the Black Madonna at the monastery of Montserrat. Travels on to Manresa in search of Paul, a hermit with expertise on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Spends 11 months at Manresa in prayer. Begins to make the notes which will become the Spiritual Exercises.
1523	18th February - leaves Barcelona for the Holy Land. Arrives in Rome on Palm Sunday. 4th September - enters Jerusalem. Ejected from the Holy Land by Franciscan guardians.
1524	Returns to Barcelona. Begins to learn Latin before pursuing higher studies in order to 'help sous' without interference from the ecclesiastical authorities.
1526	Enters the university of Alcalá, near Madrid.
1527	Arrested and imprisoned for teaching the Christian faith without authorization (this happened eight times in all over the next few years). July - enters the university of Salamanca.
1528	Enters the university of Paris. Lodges with Pierre Favre and Francis Xavier, his first companions.
1531	Journies to London to beg alms to support himself in his studies.
1534	Ignatius and six companions take a vow of poverty, decide to go to Jerusalem, and to spend their lives as 'friends in the Lord' helping souls.
1535	Ignatius grduates as a Master of the university of Paris. Visits his family at Loyola for the last time.
1537	The companions reach Venice en route to Jerusalem. They go to Rome to obtain the Pope's blessing but he encourage them to 'help souls' in Italy. The companions disperse to various towns in Italy. Ignatius has a mystical experience at La Storta, outside Rome. The companions put themselves at the service of the Pope and the Church.
1539	The Deliberation of the First Fathers - the companions decide to bind themselves in a new religious order of priests to be called the Society of Jesus.
1540	Francis Xavier set out for the far east. 27th September - Pope Pal III approves the new Order.
1541	Much againsthis will, Ignatius is elected the fist Superior General of the the Society of Jesus. 22ndApril - the first 10 companions take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience at the basilica of St-Paul-Outside-the-Walls, Rome.
1546	Laínez and Salmerón are sent as expert theologians to the Council of Trent. 1st August - Pierre Favre, Ignatius' first companion, dies in Rome.
1548	The Spiritual Exericses are approved and published for the first time (in Latin).
1550	Ignatius finishes the first draft of the Constitutions for the new Society.
1552	Francis Xavier dies on Sanchuan island, off the coast of China.
1555	Ignatius dictates his Autobiography to Luís Gonçalves da Cámara.
1556	31st July - Ignatius dies in Rome. There are already over 1,000 members of the Society of Jesus in many parts of the world.
1622	Ignatius is declared a saint by Pope Gregory XV.

Prayer Cards

St Ignatius Prayer Card 1
Image (St Ignatius Loyola by Rubens) and prayer
Copies of this card are available from the Jesuit Institute
Image © 2011 Simon Norton Museum, Passadena; used with permission.

St Ignatius Prayer Card 2
Image (St Ignatius and the Stars by William Hart McNicols) and prayer
Copies of this card are available from the Jesuit Institute
Image © 2013 William Hart McNichols; used with permission.

St Ignatius Prayer Card 3
Image (St Ignatius at Manresa by Montserrat Guidol) and prayer
Copies of this card are available from the Jesuit Institute
Image © 1991 Cova de Sant Ignasi de Manresa; used with permission.

Booklet

St Ignatius of Loyola - The Man and his Spirit
A short biography of St Ignatius and an introduction to some of the key features of his spirituality.
St Ignatius of Loyola (pdf)
Booklet © 2016 Jesuit Institute London

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Texts

Prayer for Generosity
Lord, teach me to be generous; to give and not to count the cost.

Prayer Texts and Readings for the Mass of St Ignatius
Mass Texts

San Ignacio de Loyola
A Poem by Fr James Janda (1936-2010)

Film
	Ignatius of Loyola - A Portrait by Christof Wolf SJ Loyola Productions Munich (2013) Ignatius of Loyola (7m 31s)
	The Olive Directed by Patrick Ginnetty Who better than a Spanish olive to tell the story of St Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, and probably the most famed Spanish Basque of all time! This Monty Python-esque video gives the historical details of his life in a uniquely humorous way. Written and edited by Jason Kapell. Fairfield University Media Center. The Olive on the Fairfield University website The Oive on YouTube (10m 11s)
	Ignatius Rap Directed by Patrick Ginnetty Think you know St. Ignatius? Ignatius Rap takes a unique look at the life of St Ignatius and how he became the founder of the Jesuits. Fairfield University Media Center. Ignatius Rap (3m 48s)
	In the Footsteps of St Ignatius by Michael Maher SJ and Antonio Maria de Aldama SJ A visit to the rooms of St Ignatius in Rome (Jesuit Media 2015) In the Footsteps of St Ignatius (22m 47s)
Images Click on thumbnails to open higher definition images
	Series 1 Ignatius of Loyola by Ignasi Flores (2017) A wonderful set of vibrant illustrations of the life of St Ignatius by Ignasi Flores. The images can be downloaded from the Líneas de Fuerza SJ website. Then click Recursos Ignacianos > Dibujos cómic Ignasi Flores Ignatius of Loyola book by Pedro Rodriguez-Ponga SJ and Ignasi flores 2a Ignatius as a boy 2b The Loyola family 3 Ignatius hit by the cannon ball at Pamplona 4a Ignatius convalesces at Loyola 4b Discerning the future - riches or poverty? 5 The Pilgrim sets off from Loyola 6 The forked path 7a Ignatius at Montserrat 7b Manresa - the cave 8a Ignatius at Manresa by the river Cardoner 8b Ignatius dreams shattered 1 8c Ignatius dreams shattered 2 9a Ignatius in Jerusalem - Imaginative Contemplation 9b Ignatius in Jerusalem 10 Ignatius travels around Europe 11 Ignatiusat Paris with Francis Xavier and Pierre Favre 12a Vows of the first companions at Montmatre 13 Ignatius teaches the people at Loyola 14 Ignatius preaches in Venice 15 Ignatius and companions are ordained priests 16 La Storta 17 The companions set out to preach in the towns of Italy 18 Pope Paul III approves the Society of Jesus 19 Ignatius beings writing the Constitutions 20a Design for the new Jesuit church in Rome 20b Tears while celebrating Mass 20c Ignatius in discussion with a Jesuit companion 21a Ignatius writes letters in Rome 1 Ignatius dictates his autobiography 22 The death of Ignatius
	Series 2 Life of St Ignatius by Charles Henin (2010) Images © 2010 Charles Henin and Editions Vie Chrétienne Paris Life of St Ignatius by Charles Henin
	Series 3 Life of St Ignatius by Albert Chevallier-Tayler (1904) Images © 2012 Jesuit Institute London Life of St Ignatius by Albert Chevallier-Tayler
	Series 4 Life of St Ignatius by Carlos Saenz de Tejada (1958) Images © 2012 Jesuit Institute London Life of St Ignatius by Carlos Saenz de Tejada
	Series 5 Life of St Ignatius by Peter Paul Rubens (1609) Images © 2012 Jesuit Institute London Life of St Ignatius by Peter Paul Rubens
	Series 6 Life of St Ignatius by Dora Nikolova Bittau Images © 2012 Seattle University Life of St Ignatius by Dora Nikolova Bittau in the Chapel of St Ignatius at Seattle University
	Ignatius Loyola [?] Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652) in the Rooms of St Ignatius at the Collegio Internazionale del Gesù, Rome. This painting was completed around the time of the beatification of Ignatius in 1609. 01 Ignatius
	Ignatius Loyola in the General Curia of the Society of Jesus, Rome. 02 Ignatius
	Ignatius Loyola origin unknown 03 Ignatius
	Ignatius Loyola Jacopino del Conte (1510-98) in the General Curia of the Society of Jesus, Rome. This portrait was completed shortly after Ignatius' death in 1556. Del Conte used the death mask as his model. 04 Ignatius
	Ignatius the Pilgrim origin unknown 05 Ignatius
	Ignatius in the cave at Manresa Ignasi Flores (2017) 06 Ignatius More images from this series
	Ignatius Loyola Superior General of the Society of Jesus Francisco Zurbaran (1598-1664) 07 Ignatius
	Ignatius Loyola 08 Ignatius
	Ignatius Loyola origin unknown 09 Ignatius
	Ignatius Loyola Mural in St Peter's Church, Stonyhurst, England. Image © 2018 Jesuit Institute London 10 Ignatius
	Ignatius Loyola origin unknown 11 Ignatius
	Ignatius Loyola Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) Image © Norton Simon Collection, California 12 Ignatius
	Ignatius learns Latin among schoolboys Peter Hackett SJ (1991) at St Ignatius College, London Image © 2013 Jesuit Institute 13 Ignatius
	Ignatius at Manresa Montserrat Gudiol (1991) at Manresa Image © 2013 Jesuit Institute 14 Ignatius
	Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam Jesuit Province of Ecuador (1991) 15 Ignatius AMDG
	Ignatius the soldier in the Rooms of St Ignatius at the Collegio Internazionale del Gesù, Rome. 16 Ignatius
	Ignatius Loyola origin known 17 Ignatius
	Ignatius writes the Spiritual Exercises Albert Chevalier-Tayler (1908) in the Church of the Sacred Heart Wimbledon Image © 2012 Jesuit Institute 18 Ignatius More images from this series
	Ignatius falls at Pamplona Glass by Maume-Jean workshop, Belgium (1905) at Loyola, Spain Image © 2018 Jesuit Institute 19 Ignatius
	St Ignatius in prayer beneath the stars William Hart McNichols Image © 2013 William Hart McNichols 20 Ignatius
	Ignatius Loyola Lorenzo Coullaut Valera (1867-1932) The Conversion of St Ignatius in the Chapel of the Conversion, Casa Santa, Loyola Image © 2018 Jesuit Institute London 21 Ignatius
	St Ignatius wounded at Pamplona by Joan Flotats (1847-1917) at Loyola 22 Ignatius
	The Funeral of St Ignatius by Adrianus Collaert (c.1560-1618) 23 Ignatius
	Go Forth and Set the World on Fire origin unknown These words are ascribed to St Ignatius as he sent St Francis Xavier on mission to the east. 24 Go set the world on fire!
	Signature of St Ignatius The signature of St Ignatius
	Santa Maria della Strada Medieval anonymous This was the mural before which Ignatius prayed at the church of Our Lady of the Way in Rome. It is now in the Church of the Gesù, Rome. Santa Maria della Strada image Santa Maria della Strada information
Primary Sources
	The Autobiography St Ignatius dictated his autobiography to a member of his community in Rome in the last year of his life. The autobiography provides an accessible insight into the life and conversion of The Pilgrim and into the beginnings of the Society he founded. A Pilgrims's Testament - The Memoirs of Saint Ignatius of Loyola ( Institute of Jesuit Sources 1995)
	The Spiritual Exercises St Ignatius began writing the notes that would become the Spiritual Exercises during his convalescence at Loyola in 1521. Many exercises were added at Manresa in 1522/3 and then reworked over the next years until a definitive Latin edition was published in 1548 (illustration). There are many English translations of the Spiritual Exercises. Probably the most commonly used authoritative edition is by George Ganss SJ. The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius translation and commentary by George Ganss SJ (Institute of Jesuit Sources) St Ignatius of Loyola: Personal Writings translated and edited by Joseph Munitiz SJ and Philip Endean SJ (Penguin)
	The Constitutions
	The Letters
	The Spiritual Diary Excerpts from the Spiritual Diary are included in: St Ignatius of Loyola: Personal Writings translated and edited by Joseph Munitiz SJ and Philip Endean SJ (Penguin)
Articles
	Articles on St Ignatius Loyola from Thinking Faith, the online journal of the British Jesuits Go to Thinking Faith website
Books
	Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola book by Pedro Rodriguez-Ponga SJ, illustrated by Ignasi Flores. Illustrations from this book are available online - see above.
	Ignatius of Loyola by JA Phillips SJ (1946) and updated by A Symondson SJ (2006) CTS Great Saints Series ISBN 798-1-86082-367-1 £1.95
	Ignatius of Loyola (Ignacio de Loyola b Miguel Berzosa Martinez, translated by Brian Edwards; the Australian Province of the Society of Jesus in association with ATF Press; ISBN 9781921511644) A cartoon life of St Ignatius suitable for upper primary and lower secondary pupils. 64 pages full colour. Please contact the Jesuit Institute for more information.
Mass Texts for the Feast of St Ignatius
	Prayer Texts and Readings for the Mass of St Ignatius from the Missal and Lectionary of the Society of Jesus Mass Texts