Saint Ignatius Loyola, Confessor
S. Ignatii Confessoris
Saint Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish soldier converted upon a sick-bed, founded the Society of Jesus and gave the Church his “Spiritual Exercises,” labouring in all things for the greater glory of God.
Saint Ignatius was born about the year 1491 at the castle of Loyola, in the Basque country of northern Spain, the youngest of a large noble family. As a young man he sought honour and renown in arms, and served as a soldier with courage and ambition. In the year 1521, while defending the city of Pamplona against a besieging army, his leg was shattered by a cannon-ball, and his soldiering was brought to an end.
His conversion
During the long and painful months of his recovery, Ignatius asked for tales of chivalry to pass the time, but none were to be had; he was given instead a life of Christ and a book of the lives of the saints. As he read, his heart was slowly turned, and he began to desire to do for God what the saints had done, and to follow Christ the eternal King. When he was healed he laid down his sword before the altar of our Lady at Montserrat, and withdrew to the town of Manresa, where he gave himself to prayer, penance, and severe austerity. There, enlightened by God, he set down the substance of his Spiritual Exercises, a method of prayer and self-examination by which countless souls have since been drawn to conversion of life and to the service of Christ.
Desiring to labour for souls, and perceiving that he must first be instructed, Ignatius returned to his studies though already a grown man, learning grammar among schoolboys and afterward studying at the University of Paris. There he gathered about him the first companions, men of learning and devotion, who bound themselves to God by vow and resolved to spend their lives in his service.
The Society of Jesus
From this band, confirmed by the Apostolic See in the year 1540, arose the Society of Jesus, of which Saint Ignatius was the first General. He set its members to preach, to teach, to instruct the young, and to carry the Gospel to distant lands, and he bound them by a special obedience to the Roman Pontiff for the missions of the Church. Worn out by his labours, he died at Rome on the thirty-first of July, 1556, and was afterward canonised.
The collect of his feast remembers how God, for the spreading of the greater glory of his name, strengthened the Church militant through Saint Ignatius. In him the Church honours a soldier who turned from earthly warfare to the warfare of Christ, and whose watchword — that all be done for the greater glory of God — has formed generations of those who serve the Lord.
The Collect
O God, who, for the spreading of the greater glory of thy name, didst strengthen the Church militant by the labours of blessed Ignatius: grant that, by his help and after his example, we may so fight on earth as to deserve to be crowned with him in heaven.
Deus, qui, ad propagándam maiórem tui nóminis glóriam, novo per beátum Ignátium subsídio militántem Ecclésiam roborásti: concéde; ut, eius auxílio et imitatióne certántes in terris, coronári cum ipso mereámur in cælis.
Patronage
He is venerated as the founder of the Society of Jesus and is honoured as a patron of retreats, of spiritual exercises, and of soldiers.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his memorial is observed on the same day, 31 July.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Ignatius Loyola?
His feast is kept on 31 July in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. The modern calendar likewise observes his memorial on 31 July.
Who was Saint Ignatius Loyola?
He was a sixteenth-century Spanish nobleman and soldier who, after being wounded in battle and converted during his recovery, founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) and composed the Spiritual Exercises. He died at Rome in 1556 and was later canonised.
What are the ‘Spiritual Exercises’?
They are a structured course of prayer, meditation, and self-examination, drawn from Saint Ignatius’s own experience of conversion, by which a soul is led to order its life and to choose to follow Christ more closely. They remain widely used for retreats to this day.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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