The Lives of the Saints through 100 Masterpieces

Ignatius

The Lives of the Saints 118 Ignatius July 31 Francis I of France was indirectly responsible for the vocation of Ignatius of Loyola. In 1521, Ignatius, a captain of Basque origin and member of the Spanish minor nobility, had his leg crushed by a cannonball in the French siege of Pamplona. While convalescing on his sickbed, he read The Golden Legend and discovered his vocation: since a military career was no longer possible for him, he would create a chivalric order in the service of Christ. There followed a long period of wayfaring that brought Ignatius to the Holy Sepulcher. Returning to Spain, he began to preach outside of any ecclesiastical structure, which raised the suspicion of the Inquisition—and his exclusively military background was not the best suited to pastoral activity. Ignatius agreed, even while taking advantage of this period of transience to pen his Spiritual Exercises, a type of training manual for a soldier of God, following a strict hierarchical framework. He began to learn Latin and undertook theological studies which eventually led him to the Navarra College in Paris. In 1534, having received his Master of Arts degree, with some companions—including Francis Xavier—he formed the nucleus of what would become the Society of Jesus. The order of Jesuits was sanctioned by the pope in 1540. Its ambition , organization, efficiency and originality are evident everywhere, but most spectacularly so in Latin America. Beginning in 1556 and lasting two centuries, the disciples of Ignatius created the Jesuit Republic of Paraguay, in the heart of the continent—a type of total theocracy unequaled in history. The very power of the order, the jealousy and fear it evoked everywhere , brought about its suppression by the pope in 1773. It survived by taking refuge in the orthodox Russia of Catherine II, and was definitively reestablished in 1814. Jacopino del Conte (1510–1598) Ignatius of Loyola Curia Generalizia della Compagnia di Gesù, Rome ...