Ignatius of Loyola

Saint

Ignatius of Loyola

SJ
Ignatius of Loyola (c. 16th-century portrait)
Priest, founder
BornIñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola
(1491-10-23)23 October 1491
Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, Crown of Castile
Died31 July 1556(1556-07-31) (aged 64)
Rome, Papal States
Venerated in
Beatified27, July 1609, Rome, Papal States, by Pope Paul V
Canonized12, March 1622, Rome, Papal States, by Pope Gregory XV
Major shrineChurch of the Gesù Rome, Italy
Feast31 July
Attributes
PatronageSociety of Jesus; soldiers; spiritual retreats; Biscay; Gipuzkoa;[2] Ateneo De Manila University; the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland; the Diocese of Antwerp, Belgium; Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Junín, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rome, Italy; accidents and injuries.
Influences
Major worksSpiritual Exercises
Signature

Ignatius of Loyola SJ (/ɪɡˈneɪʃəs/ ig-NAY-shəs; Basque: Ignazio Loiolakoa; Spanish: Ignacio de Loyola; Latin: Ignatius de Loyola; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; c. 23 October 1491[3] – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and became its first Superior General, in Paris in 1541.[4]

Ignatius envisioned the purpose of the Society of Jesus to be missionary work and teaching. In addition to the vows of chastity, obedience and poverty of other religious orders in the church, Loyola instituted a fourth vow for Jesuits of obedience to the Pope, to engage in projects ordained by the pontiff.[5] Jesuits were instrumental in leading the Counter-Reformation.[6]

As a former soldier, Ignatius paid particular attention to the spiritual formation of his recruits and recorded his method in the Spiritual Exercises (1548). In time, the method has become known as Ignatian spirituality. He was beatified in 1609 and was canonized as a saint on 12 March 1622. His feast day is celebrated on 31 July. He is the patron saint of the Basque provinces of Gipuzkoa and Biscay as well as of the Society of Jesus. He was declared the patron saint of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922.

  1. ^ Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018. Church Publishing, Inc. 2019. ISBN 978-1-64065-235-4.
  2. ^ "Patron Saint".
  3. ^ García Villoslada, Ricardo (1986). San Ignacio de Loyola: Nueva biografía (in Spanish). La Editorial Católica. ISBN 84-220-1267-7. We deduce that, (...), Iñigo de Loyola should have been born before 23 October 1491.
  4. ^ Idígoras Tellechea, José Ignacio (1994). "When was he born? His nurse's account". Ignatius of Loyola: The Pilgrim Saint. Chicago: Loyola University Press. p. 45. ISBN 0-8294-0779-0.
  5. ^ Ignatius of Loyola (1970). The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. Translated by Ganss, George E. Institute of Jesuit Sources. p. 249 [No. 529]. ISBN 9780912422206. The entire meaning of this fourth vow of obedience to the pope was and is in regard to the missions ... this obedience is treated: in everything which the sovereign pontiff commands.
  6. ^ Nugent, Donald (1974). Ecumenism in the Age of the Reformation: The Colloquy of Poissy. Harvard University Press. p. 189. ISBN 0-674-23725-0.