May 2021 marks the start of the "Ignatian Year", as the Jesuit order celebrates the 500th anniversary of their founder, Saint Ignatius getting struck by a cannonball and turning his life towards Christ. To commemorate this event, we reflect on the life of Saint Ignatius, a Spanish soldier who gave up his pursuit of worldly glory to seek Christ instead and teach others to do the same. We go through Saint Ignatius' life, read from sections of his autobiography and discuss the Jesuit order he founded and their impact throughout the world.
The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion with oversight from Fr Symeon Kees
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Iconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these images
Prints of all of Nick’s work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.com
All music in these episodes is a production of Generative Sounds
https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com
Distribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative Sounds
Copyright 2021 - 2023
May 2021 marks the start of the "Ignatian Year", as the Jesuit order celebrates the 500th anniversary of their founder, Saint Ignatius getting struck by a cannonball and turning his life towards Christ. To commemorate this event, we reflect on the life of Saint Ignatius, a Spanish soldier who gave up his pursuit of worldly glory to seek Christ instead and teach others to do the same. We go through Saint Ignatius' life, read from sections of his autobiography and discuss the Jesuit order he founded and their impact throughout the world.
The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion with oversight from Fr Symeon Kees
Paradosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555
https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcast
https://twitter.com/podcast_saints
https://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcast
https://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcast
Iconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these images
Prints of all of Nick’s work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.com
All music in these episodes is a production of Generative Sounds
https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com
Distribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative Sounds
Copyright 2021 - 2023
God is glorious in his saints!
Welcome to the Christian Saints Podcast. My name is dr Darren Ong, recording from Sepang in Malaysia. In this podcast, we explore the lives of the Christian saints, from the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Today, in conjunction with the Ignatian year, we celebrate the life of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order.
The Ignatian year runs from May 2021 to July 2022, marked by what the Jesuits call the “cannonball moment”- when Ignatius the soldier was struck by a cannonball, and turned away from his old life to follow Christ as a pilgrim. May 20 2021 will be the 500-year anniversary of this pivotal event.
St Ignatius was born as Inigo Lopez de Loyola in 1491, in the village of Loyola in Spain. He was the youngest of thirteen children, and his family was part of the local aristocracy. At the age of eighteen, he became a soldier, fighting for Antonio Manrique de Lara, Duke of Nájera and Viceroy of Navarre. He was a very capable and successful soldier, winning many battles for the Duke, and his talent and leadership was recognised enough that he was given his own command.
In 1521, Saint Ignatius was defending the town of Pamplona against an attack by France. The Spanish forces would lose this battle, and Saint Ignatius himself would suffer heavy injuries after getting hit by a cannonball. This is the famous “cannonball moment” whose 500th anniversary we will celebrate on May the 21st. We read about it here, in the beginning of St Ignatius autobiography:
Up to his twenty−sixth year the heart of Ignatius was enthralled by the vanities of the world. His special delight was in the military life, and he seemed led by a strong and empty desire of gaining for himself a great name. The citadel of Pampeluna was held in siege by the French. All the other soldiers were unanimous in wishing to surrender on condition of freedom to leave, since it was impossible to hold out any longer; but Ignatius so persuaded the commander, that, against the views of all the other nobles, he decided to hold the citadel against the enemy.
When the day of assault came, Ignatius made his confession to one of the nobles, his companion in arms. The soldier also made his to Ignatius. After the walls were destroyed, Ignatius stood fighting bravely until a cannon ball of the enemy broke one of his legs and seriously injured the other. When he fell, the citadel was surrendered.
When the French took possession of the town, they showed great admiration for Ignatius. After twelve or fifteen days at Pampeluna, where he received the best care from the physicians of the French army, he was borne on a litter to Loyola. His recovery was very slow, and doctors and surgeons were summoned from all parts for a consultation. They decided that the leg should be broken again, that the bones, which had knit badly, might be properly reset; for they had not been properly set in the beginning, or else had been so jostled on the journey that a cure was impossible. He submitted to have his flesh cut again. During the operation, as in all he suffered before and after, he uttered no word and gave no sign of suffering save that of tightly clenching his fists. In the meantime his strength was failing. He could take no food, and showed other symptoms of approaching death. On the feast of St. John the doctors gave up hope of his recovery, and he was advised to make his confession. Having received the sacraments on the eve of the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul, toward evening the doctors said that if by the middle of the night there were no change for the better, he would surely die. He had great devotion to St. Peter, and it so happened by the goodness of God that in the middle of the night he began to grow better.
St Ignatius would survive, but he would suffer from a limp for the rest of his life.
Before his cannonball incident, Ignatius had not been a pious man, and instead was concerned more on earning military glory and wordly prestige, as a member of the minor nobility. In this former life, he was described rather unflatteringly as “a fancy dresser, an expert dancer, a womanizer, sensitive to insult, and a rough punkish swordsman who used his privileged status to escape prosecution for violent crimes committed with his priest brother at carnival time."”
During his long time of recovery, St Ignatius occupied himself by reading. And in this time God transformed him to a worldly glory seeker to a devoted follower of Christ. He mentions two books that he read in this time that had a profound impact on his thinking: the Life of Christ by Ludoph of Saxony, and a compilation of Saints’ Lives, called the “Flowers of the Saints”. Maybe think of it as a miedieval version of the Christian Saints Podcast. The Life of Christ consists of a series meditations on events of Jesus’life. This work would have a great influence on Saint Ignatius’ famous book of spiritual exercises.
He also derived much inspiration from the Flowers of the Saints, and accounts of Saint Francis, Saint Dominic, and other heroes of the faith. We continue reading from his autobiography, which details in this time with a struggle between his wordly desires, and the Godly ones. Eventually, Saint Ignatius is prompted to go to Jerusalem.
While perusing the life of Our Lord and the saints, he began to reflect, saying to himself: “What if I should do what St. Francis did?” “What if I should act like St. Dominic?” He pondered over these things in his mind, and kept continually proposing to himself serious and difficult things. He seemed to feel a certain readiness for doing them, with no other reason except this thought: “St. Dominic did this; I, too, will do it.” “St. Francis did this; therefore I will do it.” These heroic resolutions remained for a time, and then other vain and worldly thoughts followed. This succession of thoughts occupied him for a long while, those about God alternating with those about the world. But in these thoughts there was this difference. When he thought of worldly things it gave him great pleasure, but afterward he found himself dry and sad. But when he thought of journeying to Jerusalem, and of living only on herbs, and practising austerities, he found pleasure not only while thinking of them, but also when he had ceased.
This difference he did not notice or value, until one day the eyes of his soul were opened and he began to inquire the reason of the difference. He learned by experience that one train of thought left him sad, the other joyful. This was his first reasoning on spiritual matters. Afterward, when he began the Spiritual Exercises, he was enlightened, and understood what he afterward taught his children about the discernment of spirits. When gradually he recognized the different spirits by which he was moved, one, the spirit of God, the other, the devil, and when he had gained no little spiritual light from the reading of pious books, he began to think more seriously of his past life, and how much penance he should do to expiate his past sins. Amid these thoughts the holy wish to imitate saintly men came to his mind; his resolve was not more definite than to promise with the help of divine grace that what they had done he also would do. After his recovery his one wish was to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
St Ignatius would receive a vision of Mary and the infant Jesus, which confirmed to him that he should go to Jerusalem. On his journey there he stopped at various monasteries and religious sites where he spent time in prayer. At one stop, in Monsterrat, he left his sword there, symbolically leaving behind his old life as a soldier. In another stop in Manressa he prayed for seven hours a day. He experienced great joy at visiting Jersusalem, but unfortunately could no stay very long, as the Franciscans there were too overburdened to look after many pilgrims.
It was during this long pilgrim journey, particulraly that stop at Manressa where St Ignatius developed his famous spiritual exercises, as a way to grow closer in God. These exercises have beecome very popular, and are practiced by many today even outside the Jesuit order, even outside the Roman Catholic church. Ignatius applied a soldier’s discipline to the work of self-examination and contemplating God. Here is an excerpt, a part called the Daily Particular Examination of Conscience:
There are three different times of the day and two examinations involved in this practice
First, in the morning, immediately on rising, one should resolve to guard carefully against the particular sin or defect with regard to which he seeks to correct or improve himself.
(025)
Secondly, after dinner, he should ask God our Lord for the grace he desires, that is, to recall how often he has fallen into the particular sin or defect, and to avoid it for the future.
Then follows the first examination. He should demand an account of himself with regard to the particular point which he has resolved to watch in order to correct himself and improve. Let him go over the single hours or periods from the time he arose to the hour and moment of the present examination, and in the first line of the figure given below, make a mark for each time that he has fallen into the particular sin or defect. Then he is to renew his resolution, and strive to amend during the time till the second examination is to be made.
(026)
Thirdly, after supper, he should make a second examination, going over as before each single hour, commencing with the first examination, and going up to the present one. In the second line of the figure given below, let him make a mark for each time he has fallen into the particular fault or sin.
(027)
Four Additional Directions
These are to serve as a help to more ready removal of the particular sin or fault
At the conclusion of his piligrimage to Jerusalem St Ignatius went back to Europe, and sought to get himself educated. He lived in Barcelona for a while, and in 1526 enrolled at the University of Alcala. As a student he was also something of a street preacher, attracting great crowds to him speeches, but also gaining the attention of the Spanish Inquisition. They were suspicious of him, and there were rumours that he was connected to a shadowy organization called the Illuminati. Although the Inquisitors interrogated him, and even threw him in prison for a spell, he was nevertheless never charged with any wrongdoing. Nevertheless, St Ignatius decided it was better to leave Spain, so he headed to Paris to continus his studies. He would eventually earn a degree in philosophy at the University of Paris in 1535, at the age of 43.
In 1938, St Ignatius and his companions, among them St Francis Xavier and St Peter Faber would make their way to Rome. In 1940 St Ignatius would found the Society of Jesus. Ignatius wrote the “Formula of the Institute”, a document that served as a mission statement for the new society. I will quote here the first paragraph, and a portion in the middle that talks about the commitments and values that the Jesuits hold to:
1.Whoever wishes to serve as a soldier of God beneath the banner of the cross in our Society, which we desire to be designated by the name of Jesus, and to serve the Lord alone and his vicar on earth, should keep in mind that once he has made a solemn vow of perpetual chastity he is a member of a community founded chiefly for this purpose: to strive especially for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine and for the propagation of the faith by the ministry of the word, by spiritual exercises and works of charity, and specifically by the education of children and unlettered persons in Christianity. He should further take care to keep always before his eyes first God, and the nature of this Institute which is his pathway to God; and let him strive with all his effort to achieve this end set before him by God—each one, however, according to the grace which the Holy Spirit has given to him and according to the particular grade of his own vocation, lest anyone should perhaps show zeal, but a zeal which is not according to knowledge.
All should likewise vow that in all matters that concern the observance of this Rule they will obey the superior of the Society. The superior, however, should issue the commands which he knows to be opportune for achieving the end set before him by God and by the Society. In his superiorship he should be ever mindful of the kindness, meekness, and charity of Christ and of the pattern set by Peter and Paul, a norm which both he and the council should keep constantly in view. Particularly let them hold in esteem the instruction of children and the unlettered in the Christian doctrine of the Ten Commandments and other similar elementary principles, whatever will seem suitable to them in accordance with the circumstances of persons, places, and times. For it is very necessary that the superior and the council watch this ministry with diligent attention, since the edifice of faith cannot arise among our fellowmen without a foundation, and also since in our own members there is danger that as one becomes more learned he may tend to decline this occupation, less prestigious at first-glance, although no other is in fact more fruitful either for the edification of the neighbor or for the exercise by our own members of activities that combine both humility and charity. Assuredly, too, both because of the great value of good order and for the sake of the constant practice of humility (never sufficiently praised), the subjects should always be obliged to obey the superior in all matters pertaining to the Society’s Institute, and to recognize and properly venerate Christ as present in him.
From experience we have learned that a life removed as far as possible from all contagion of avarice and as like as possible to evangelical poverty is more gratifying, more undefiled, and more suitable for the edification of our neighbors. We likewise know that our Lord Jesus Christ will supply to his servants who are seeking only the kingdom of God what is necessary for food and clothing. Therefore one and all should vow perpetual poverty, declaring that they cannot, either individually or in common, acquire any civil right to any stable goods or to any annually recurring produce or fixed income for the sustenance or use of the Society. Rather, let them be content with only the use of necessary things, when the owners permit it, and to receive money and the sale price of things given them that they may buy what is necessary for themselves.
Pope Paul III would approve the establishment of this Society of Jesus, with Saint Ignatius the first Superior General. They would later be more commonly known as the Jesuits, and have an immense influence on the Christian church globally in the next few centuries. Jesuits would commonly be sent as missionaries to some of the most difficult places, particularly in Asia and South America. They have kept a focus on educaiton throughout their history, with many renowned schools and universities worldwide with current or past ties to the Jesuit order. This includes renowned institutions such as Georgetown University and Boston College in the United States. Jesuits were at the forefront of many struggles against injustice – for example, in the past century against right-wing military dictatorships in Central America. And in 2013, Pope Francis was chosen as the first Jesuit Pope.
Ignatius died of Malaria in Rome in 1556, and was canonized a Saint in 1622, with a feast day in 31 July. The Anglican church also recognizes him as a Saint.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Christian saints podcast. Look for the Christian Saints podcast page on Facebook or Instagram, or look for us on Twitter at podcast_saints. All music in this episode was composed by my good friend, James John Marks of Generative sounds. Please check out his music at https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com/
March 2021 marks the 500th anniversary of St Ignatius getting struck by a cannonball, and the start of the “Ignatian year”, where we remember the words and deeds of this great man. As we end this podcast, let us contemplate this prayer of Saint Ignatius, which he said frequently.
"Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my whole will, all that I have and all that I possess. You gave it all to me, Lord; I give it all back to you. Do with it as you will, according to your good pleasure. Give me your love and your grace; for with this I have all that I need."