Loyola, Ignatius of, St., or, with his full Spanish name, Don Inigo Lopez de Recalde, the founder of the Jesuits, was born in 1491, in the Castle of Loyola, which was situateil not far from Azpeytia, in the Spanish prov- ince of (Juipuscoa. lie was the youngest of the eleven children of Don Bertand, Sefior d'Aguez y de Loyola, and Martina Saez de Balde. His family prided itself on belonging to the ancient, pure nobility of the coun- try, and was distinguished for chivalric sentiment. Af- ter receiving his first instruction in religion from his aunt, Dona IMaria de Guevara, a fervid Catholic, he be- came a page at the court of Ferdinand the Catholic.
LOYOLA
535
LOYOLA
But Ignatius had too great a desire for glory to be sat- isfied with court hfe, and, foHowing the example of his brotliers, who served in the army, he resolved to become a soldier. During tlie first campaign in which he took part he distinguished himself at the siege of Najara, a small town situated on the frontier of Biscaya, the cap- ture of which was partly attributed to his braverj\ The town was given up to pillage, in which he took, howev- er, no part. His life at this time, as one of his biogra- phers says, was by no means rcgidar ; " being more oc- cupied with gallantry and vanity than anything else, he generally followed in his actions the false principles of tlie world, and in this way he continued to live until his twenty-ninth year, when God opened his eyes." During tlie siege of Pampeluna, the capital of Novara, by the French, he was, on May 20, 1521, severely wounded by a cannon ball in both legs. The French, after taking the place, honored his courage, and had liim transported on a litter to his native castle of Loyola, which is not far from Fampeluna. As the first operation had not been successful, the leg had to be broken again and to be re- set anew. The extreme painfulness of this operation brought on a fever on the eve of the festival of the apos- tles Feter and Faul, which it was thought would prove fatal ; but this fever suddenly ceased, and Ignatius as- cribed his unexpected recovery to the miraculous aid of the prince of the apostles, who, as he states, appeared to him in a dream, touched him with his hand, and cured liim from his fever. But, notwithstanding this belief in his miraculous recovery, Ignatius remained imbued with a worldly spirit. The recovery proved, however, not to be complete, and Ignatius, in order to get fully re- stored, had to submit to several other painful opera- tions, in spite of all of which his right leg remained con- sideral)ly shorter than the other. While his recovery was slowly proceeding, he demanded novels for pastime ; but as no books of this class were to be found in the cas- tle, he received in their stead a Life of Jesus Christ and of the Saints. He read this at first without the least interest in the subject, and only because no other book could be found; but gradually his fiery imagination learned how to derive food from this reading, and a de- termination sprang up to imitate the spiritual combats which he found described in this book, and to excel the saints in heroic deeds. For a time the reviving thirst of glory, and a strong attachment to a lady of the royal court, continued to prove formidable obstacles, but finally he fidly overcame them, and began the new career upon which he had resolved to enter with a pilgrimage to the convent of Montserrat, famous for the immense con- course of pilgrims from all parts of the world to a mirac- ulous picture of the Virgin Mary. To conceal his de- sign, he pretended to make a visit to his old friend the duke of Najara, and immediately after making the visit dismissed his two servants, and took alone the road to Montserrat, There, during three successive days, he made a general confession of all the sins of his life, and took the vow of chastity. Bef(ire the picture of the Virgin jNIary he held a vigil, hung up his sword and dagger ou the altar, and then repaired to INIanresa, a small town situated about three leagues from Jlontserrat, and containing a convent of the Dominican order and a hospital chiefly for pilgrims. Here he desired to live unknown until the pestilence should cease at Barcelona, and the opening of the port should allow him to carry out his wish of visiting the Holy Lan<l. He first en- tered the hospital, and there practiced the austerest as- ceticism, imtil it became known that he was a nobleman, when the number of persons who came to see him from curiosity induced him to hide himself in a neighboring cave which was known to few, and which no one had yet dared to enter. The horrors of this place, and the cruel, unnatural asceticism to wliich he gave himself up, produced a state of mind in which he believed himself alternately to be attended by temptations of the devil and to be gladdened by visions of the Saviour and the holy Virgin. Gradually he began to be settled in his
mind, and resolved to labor for the conversion and sanctification of souls. He began to speak in public on religion, and made the first draft of his famous book of the Spiritual Exercises (Exerciiia Sjnritualia) , in the composition of which he claims to have had divine aid. This book has contributed more than any other to the erection of the new papal theocracy which has recently been completed by the promulgation of the doctrine of papal infallibility. It consists of meditations, which are grouped in four divisions or weeks. The first week, af- ter an introductory meditation on the destiny of man and of all created things, occupies itself with sin, its hideousness, and its terrible consequences. The second week has for its basis the meditation on the kingdom of Christ, who is represented as being in the highest sense of the word the king by the grace of God, whose call to the spiritual campaign all men have to obey, and in whose service every noble heart will feel itself inspired to noble deeds. In a life-picture of Christ it is shown how man must prove himself in the war for and with Christ. The meditation then turns to the mysteries of incarnation, to the childhood of Jesus, and his retired life in Nazareth. Here the contemplation of the life of Christ is interrupted by the meditation on the two ban- ners : the horrid banner of the prince of darkness is un- folded by the side of the lovely banner of Christ before the eyes of the soul, which is eagerly courted on both sides. Returning to the public life of Christ, which is now followed step by step, the Exercises prepare the mind for fuially determining the future course of life. During the third week the sufferings and the death of the Lord are meditated upon, in order to strengthen the soul for all the combats which a resolution to lead a re- ligious life must entail. The subjects of the fourth week are taken from the mysteries of the resurrection and as- cension of Christ. Tlie whole is concluded with a med- itation on the love of God. The book was for the first time printed in Kome in 1548, and on July 31 of the same year approved by pope Paul III, and urgently recom- mended to the faithfid. In the hands of the Jesuits this book subsequently became one of the chief instru- ments which secured the thoroughly military discipline of their order, as well as of their devoted adherents.