The Founder of Jesuit Order

Inigo de Loyola was born in 1491, in Azpeitia, Guipuzcoa province, Nothern Spain, where the majority of people are Basque. He is the youngest of 13 children. At the age of 16, he started serving Juan Velazquez, heir to the throne of Spain. That time, Inigo Loyola loved worldly pleasures, such as gambling and drinking. He also had a bad personality and often settled problems with his sword.

Time passed, and on May 1521, at the age of 30, Inigo Loyola became an officer in the fortress city of Pamplona. At that time, Spain was at war with France; the French were trying to take Pamplona with a force greater than the Spanish force in Pamplona. The Spanish Commander considered surrender, but Inigo managed to persuade him to fight, at least for the pride of Spain.

In the end, the Spaniards lost and Inigo suffered injury to one leg and broke the other. The French admired his courage and loyalty to Spain and let him return to Loyola to gain recovery. After numerous surgeries, his legs recovered although one was shorter than the other.

During his recovery, he tried to fill his time with reading novels. But the only books available were books about Christ,Saints and “Following the Footsteps of Christ” by Thomas A. Khempis. The more he read those books, the more he wanted to follow the footsteps of the Saints. On the other hand, he was still dreaming of being famous, gaining glory, and capturing the heart of a princess.

On March 1522, he took an important decision in his life. He decided to go to Jerusalem and left all worldly pleasures which he had for so long dreamt of.

He went to Jerusalem to live in the city where the Lord lived. His first step was traveling to Barcelona. Before reaching Barcelona, he went into exile and prayed in the Mother Mary of Montserrat shrine for three days long. There, he confessed his sins and while kneeling, stayed up all night long in front of the altar. After that, he went, leaving his knife and sword, and then gave his luxurious robe to beggars; he himself wore clothes of coarsematerial. He continued his journey to Barcelona and rested in a city by the river Cardoner, Manresa. Finally he stayed in a cave near the city for 10 months, far from his plan of only a few days. On that period of time, he prayed and worked in a local inn. The religious experience he got in Manresa became the base of the “Religious Training”. IT is in this same location did he get a revelation from God. He received guidance to look for God in everything. This guidance to look for God in everything became the main characteristic of the Jesuits’ spirituality.

Arriving in Barcelona, he went in a boat to Rome and asked for permission to go to the Holy Land, where he was driven out while trying to stay there. In the age of 33, he tried to enter Holy Order. He started from the bottom, for he spoke not a word of Latin. After 2 years, he entered Alcala University. But after 2 years in Alcala, he could not longer help others freely. He moved to Salamanca University. The conditions were worse here and he quitted after 2 weeks. He continued his studies in Paris, France. Here, he shared room with Francis Xavier and Peter Faber. They and three others decide to form the “Societatis Jesu” (Companion of Jesus);the followers are called Jesuit. This order’s motto is Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam - AMDG - to the greater glory of our God.

Ignatius Loyola said his vows on Christmas 1538 in St. Mary Major in the Chapel of the Manger. And on September 27th 1540, Pope Paul III legalized this new order. After these events, Ignatius started to fully dedicate himself to God, writing letters to places around the world, helping the sick and teaching theology. In his life, he wrote 7000 letters to colleagues everywhere around the world. After 18 years as a priest, his health faltered. His stomach which had been degraded since the start of his service to God became worse. And on the night of July 30th 1556, Ignatius passed away. He was beatified on July 27th 1609 by Gregory XV and became a Saint on March 12th 1622.