Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Feast day: July 31
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a converted soldier who founded the Jesuits, for God’s greater glory (31/07)
Who is he?
Saint Ignatius of Loyola is the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), a religious order that has sent a great many priests as missionaries and opened schools all over the world. He also wrote the “Spiritual Exercises,” which have helped countless people learn to pray and discover God’s will for their lives.
Life story
Ignatius was born in 1491 at the castle of Loyola, in the Basque Country, Spain. He was the youngest child of a large noble family. As a young man, he loved fine clothes, dreamed of worldly glory and became a soldier.
In 1521, while defending the city of Pamplona, he had his leg broken by a cannonball. During the months he lay at home recovering, he wanted to read stories of knights to pass the time, but the only books in the house were about the life of Jesus and the saints. As he kept reading, he noticed something strange: dreaming of worldly glory was exciting at first but later left him feeling empty, while thinking about following Jesus like the saints gave him peace and a joy that lasted. He decided that from then on he would serve only God.
When he was well, he went to the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat and left his sword before Mary’s altar. He stayed in Manresa for almost a year, praying and doing penance, and began writing down what would become the “Spiritual Exercises.” When he was over thirty, he even sat in class learning Latin alongside young children, so that later he could study to be a priest.
While studying in Paris, he became friends with six men, including Saint Francis Xavier. In 1534, they made vows together, giving their lives to God. In 1540, Pope Paul III approved the Society of Jesus. He spent his last years in Rome leading the order and died there on 31 July 1556. In 1622, he was canonized on the same day as Saint Francis Xavier.
Why is he a saint?
Saint Ignatius let God change his heart: from a man who dreamed of glory for himself, he became a man who looked only for God’s glory. He taught everyone to find God in all things, and to stop each evening to examine their conscience: how was God with me today, and how did I respond?
A lesson for you
- Each night before you go to sleep, take a few minutes to look back on your day: thank God for the good things, and say sorry to God for the things that weren’t good.
- When you study or do housework, do your very best “for the greater glory of God.”
- When you are sick or something bad happens, remember: God can use even hard times to lead you to something good.
Identifying marks
- A golden sun with the letters IHS: the first three letters of the name “Jesus” in Greek; this is the emblem of the Society of Jesus, the order he founded.
- An open book: the “Spiritual Exercises,” which he wrote to guide people in prayer and in finding God’s will.
- A black cassock and cloak, a high forehead, a short beard: the simple clothes of a Jesuit and the way he usually looks in pictures and statues.
- The domes of Rome: he spent his last years in Rome, leading the Jesuits.
- The letters AMDG (*): short for the Latin motto “For the greater glory of God,” his motto.
(*) Only in some pictures and statues.
The text on this page is the saint card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.
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