Saint Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

Saint Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

1491–1556 · Reformation · Society of Jesus

Feast day: July 31

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Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve.

Biography

Ignatius of Loyola SJ , venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish 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. 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. Jesuits were instrumental in leading the Counter-Reformation. 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. Ignatius of Loyola was born Iñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola in the castle at Loyola, in the municipality of Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, in the Basque entities of the Crown of Castile. His parents, Don Beltrán Ibáñez de Oñaz y Loyola and Doña María (or Marina) Sáenz de Licona y Balda, who were of the minor nobility, from the clan of Loyola, were involved in the Basque war of the bands. Their manor house was demolished on the orders of the King of Castile in 1456 for their depredations in Gipuzkoa, with Iñigo's paternal grandfather being expelled to Andalusia by Henry IV. Íñigo was the youngest of their thirteen children. Their eldest son, Juan Pérez, had soldiered in forces commanded by Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, but died fighting in the Italian Wars (1494–1559).

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Prayers

  • Prayer to Saint Ignatius Loyola

    intercession

    Glorious Patriarch Saint Ignatius, we humbly beseech thee to obtain for us from God freedom, above all things, from sin, the greatest of evils, and then escape from the deadly disease of cholera, one of those terrible scourges with which the Lord punishes the sins of the people. May thy example inflame our hearts with an efficacious desire to labour continually for the greater glory of God and the good of our neighbour; and obtain from the loving Heart of Jesus, our Lord, the crown of all other graces, the gift of final perseverance, and eternal beatitude. Amen.

    — The Raccolta, 1910 edition, p. 310 (no. 343)

  • Novena to Saint Ignatius Loyola

    novena

    1. O glorious St. Ignatius, who, on reading the lives of saints, didst resolve to imitate them, renouncing for ever all worldly honors, and seeking nothing but the greater glory of God: obtain for us also an efficacious resolution to practise all divine virtues, and like you, free from all earthly love, to desire nothing but to see Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ glorified throughout the whole world. Glory be to the Father, etc. 2. O glorious St. Ignatius, who, resolving to imitate with perfection the poverty, the humility, and the patience of Jesus Christ, didst renounce all the comforts of your home, and didst suffer joyfully the most unjust persecutions: obtain for us the grace of living so detached from all the things of the world, and of enduring so tranquilly all its persecutions, that we may be indeed faithful disciples and true imitators of Jesus Christ. Glory be to the Father, etc. 3. O glorious St. Ignatius, who through your Spiritual Exercises and the instrumentality of your Society hast converted innumerable souls to God, and in a great measure repaired the ruin caused by heresy and evil customs: obtain for us the grace to be always ready to make any sacrifice to convert souls to God, and to promote the glory of His Church; that we also may at length share in that blessedness which is promised to those who hunger and thirst after justice. Glory be to the Father, etc. 4. O glorious St. Ignatius, chosen in the designs of God from eternity to be the founder of the Society of Jesus and the father of innumerable saints, vouchsafe to protect me, to direct me, to pray for me, and to guide my petitions, that I may ask and do only what is according to your maxim: "Ad majorem Dei gloriam," "For the greater honor and glory of God." Obtain for me, also, and for all poor sinners light and salvation through the sacred wounds of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. Amen. Glory be to the Father, etc.

    — Blessed Sacrament Book (F.X. Lasance), 1913 edition, p. 1129 (Novena to St. Ignatius Loyola)

Patronages

Sources: Wikipedia (18) · Wikidata (2). Wikipedia content used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Related saints

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