Order of Carmelites

Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Today, July 31, is the memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.

Founder of the Jesuits (Society of Jesus).

In 1491, Ignatius was born to the Spanish nobility. He was the youngest of 12 children. He was a page in the Spanish court of Ferdinand and Isabella.

In 1517, he became a soldier. He was wounded in the leg by a cannonball at the siege of Pampeluna. The injury partially crippled him for life.

On his recovery he took a vow of chastity, hung his sword before the altar of the Virgin of Montserrat, and wore a pilgrim‘s robe. He lived in a cave from 1522 to 1523, contemplating the way to live a Christian life.

He became a pilgrim to Rome and the Holy Land, where he converted Muslims. Later, he took Theology in Spain, and in France.

His meditations, prayers, visions and insights led to forming the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus on in 1534; it received papal approval in 1541. Together with his friends James Lainez, Alonso Salmerón, Nicholas Bobadilla, Simón Rodriguez, Saint Peter Faber, and Saint Francis Xavier, Ignatius formed the core of the Jesuits.

At age 64, Ignatius died in 1556 due to a terrible form of malaria. He was beatified in 1609 by Pope Paul V. He was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV.