The Life of St. Ignatius of Loyola - Book Report/Review Example

The life of St. Ignatius of Loyola The life of St. Ignatius of Loyola Biography St. Ignatius of Loyola, a native Spaniard from Azpeitia, Basque, Guipuzcoa, was born in 1491 as Inigo de Loyola. A typical young man, he learned to be found of women when he started serving the treasurer of Castile kingdom Juan Velasquez at the age of sixteen. The young Inigo who was the youngest of the thirteen children of the Loyola household was into gambling and riots together with his brother and some relatives. Apparently, Inigo was acquitted from the troubles that he encountered in his early life because of the influence of the Loyolas in the society (O'Neal). According to O'Neal, a priest who wrote the life of St. Ignatius, "Eventually he found himself at the age of 30 in May of 1521 as an officer defending the fortress of the town of Pamplona against the French, who claimed the territory as their own against Spain" (O'Neal). In addition, O'Neal described how this battle had caused an injury almost fatal as told by the doctors. Ignatius's injury was not healed in spite of his medication. It was a turning point in his life when while recovering from his injury, he spent his time reading religious material that included the life of Christ and a book about the saints. However, had there been romance novels he would have chosen to pass his time reading those of his earthly interests rather than the religious materials. But because of this, he got glued on reading the religious materials. His conversion was slowly taking place. "He noticed, however, that after reading and thinking of the saints and Christ he was at peace and satisfied. Yet when he finished his long daydreams of his noble lady, he would feel restless and unsatisfied. Not only was this experience the beginning of his conversion, it was also the beginning of spiritual discernment, or discernment of spirits, which is associated with Ignatius and described in his Spiritual Exercises" (O'Neal). Upon Ignatius's recovery, as stated by O'Neal, "The Exercises recognize that not only the intellect but also the emotions and feelings can help us come to knowledge of the action of the Spirit in our lives. Eventually, completely converted from his old desires and plans of romance and worldly conquests, and recovered from his wounds enough to travel, he left the castle in March of 1522." Ignatius decided to go to Jerusalem. As told by O'Neal, he got fully converted in Barcelona, and as he continued his journey, he had a stopover in a town called Manresa, and spent ten months working in a hospice, and pray for hours each day. O'Neal also illustrated that Ignatius's experience at Manresa resulted to the work most commonly known as the 'Spiritual Exercises'. O'Neal added that when Ignatius returned to Spain, he went to several schools and universities. He became as priest in Paris, and joined a group which later became the Society of Jesus, a community of followers of the Pope, founded by Ignatius. His correspondence Fr. Polanco had helped him in writing his letters to the Society. During his last years, Ignatius spent his time teaching the Spiritual Exercises. "Ignatius was beatified on July 27, 1609 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622 together with St. Francis Xavier. Ignatius' feast day is celebrated by the universal church and the Jesuits on July 31, the day he died" (O'Neal). The Main Themes of the Writings of St. Ignatius The main themes of Ignatius's writings had focused on how to live as Christians following the path Christ had took. The vows of obedience, charity and ministry, and spiritual nourishment were practiced and passed on to others. His writings exuded his spiritual practices in all ways as shown in all his letters to the priests, friends, and family members. He mainly wrote to communicate within the community of the Jesuits. "He was overly kind and gentle with those who gave him the most problems. On the other hand, with those who were the holiest and humblest, he seemed at times to be too harsh, obviously because he knew they were able to take his corrections without rancor, knowing that Ignatius loved them and was looking only to their greater spiritual good" (O'Neal). Selected collections of his writings, composed of fifty letters, are compiled by the Woodstock Theological Center, based on the translation of William in 1959. Ignatius was strict in following the vow of obedience. In his letter to Father Viola, Ignatius harshly scolded him when the former did not stick to his words. "But following your own ideas rather than mine, you saw fit to enter a course already two or three months in session. Judge for yourself who is the cause of your wasting time!" (Tylenda, 2002). Another letter of Ignatius addressed to the Jesuits in the Roman houses was about obedience, said Tylenda, "Ignatius personally ordered that this directive on obedience be sent to all the Jesuit houses in Rome. The obedience that he expected from his sons was to be prompt and blind" (2002). A letter to Father Diego Mir also contributed in the theme of obedience. "Ignatius would not tolerate disobedience and thus he wrote to Mir instructing him to dismiss from the Society those who refuse to obey, or to send them to Rome if there is hope the change might bring about amendment" (Tylenda, 2002). Additionally, Ignatius taught the perfect obedience with his letter to the members of the society of Portugal. Tylenda (2002) claimed that this letter was the most celebrated and most widely-read, summarizing, "obedience is to be the characteristic virtue of the Society and then goes on to speak of its fundamental principle, its three degrees, suggests practical ways of acquiring it, and ends by exhorting his sons to strive to attain it. Ignatius intended his letter to remedy the disorders in Portugal and within months after its arrival Rodrigues decided to leave Portugal and by the end of 1553 peace was again restored to the province" (25). Also, a letter to Father Giovanni Francesco Araldo was written for Fr. Araldo to humbly abide the superior's decisions. "It is clear, however, that you have gone beyond the limits of holy obedience and her mother, humility, in thus manifesting an opinion that differs from and is even opposed to that of Father Master Salmern, whose mind you wish to change as though he had made a mistake" (Tylenda, 2002). Charity was one of the spiritual exercises taught by Ignatius. To deal with poverty was one of the vows that made sure was followed by the Jesuits. The letter to Father Claude Jay was a revelation on the secret mission of charity. "The purpose of this letter, which must remain confidential, is to give you information which will help you to understand and handle this important work of charity, whose success will mean so much for God's glory. Briefly, then, a person of great charity, who is well acquainted with Fra Bernardino came to speak to me and informed me of the affair. This individual's plan was to take a middle course and provide some satisfactory means whereby a pardon could be obtained. I answered that, if I had a letter from him, without which I did not think it possible to approach the pope or anyone else, I would do everything in my power. This person, thereupon, offered to write and ask for such a letter. Taking advantage of this, you might try to visit him for some reason or other, without letting him know of this request of mine. As you say, you are close at hand, and I think it would help to make such a visit, if you think it proper, and learn what you can from him. Assure him that we should be glad to help him, in all charity, in any way possible, if he would only grasp the opportunity of making use of our help in the Lord. In addition, you might try to move him, by asking him what he is about and what he can hope for, and tell him that everything can be arranged, and offer your services to see to it that the matter is favorably arranged here [Rome]. If he manifests signs of fear, promise him the good offices of the Society, for besides myself Master Lanez and Master Salmern are also here. As to his person and all his concerns, he should think of us as of one mind with himself. Whether you get a letter from him, or whatever else you do in our Lord, he should not know that we have written you from here. Write us very briefly whatever happens. From Rome, December 12, 1545. By no means should that person know of this letter of ours" (Tylenda, 2002). Herewith, "Ignatius views this as a mission of charity of utmost importance and whose successful outcome would bring much glory to God" (p. 7). Another letter related to charity was about the effects of poverty on the letter to the Fathers and Brothers in Padua. Ignatius sent a message that "poverty is equally a gift from God and should be willingly embraced as any other divine gift" (p. 10). In line with the problem in poverty that the vow of charity had addressed, a letter about patience in practicing poverty to the members of the society in Europe was sent as well. "Though this letter of Ignatius is brief, nevertheless, it is full of affection as he exhorts his sons to embrace the grace of poverty. To help them accept it with greater readiness and cheerfulness, Ignatius reminds the Jesuits of their brothers in India" (p. 23). Another letter, which was a long one, was an instruction on how to minister to the neighbor written to Father Jean Pelletier, "In the first Ignatius deals with the preservation and increase of the Society and suggests the following means: purity of intention, obedience to superiors, regular observance, preaching, study, and spiritual conversations. The second part treats the manner of giving edification to the faithful and gathering spiritual fruit, and here Ignatius lists the principal ministries to be employed in dealing with externs. The third part tells the Jesuits to show good will to the reigning prince and recommends that they secure an endowment and a site for a house" (p. 27). Accordingly, the principles of ministry were given to those sent to minister to others. "In October 1552 Ignatius jotted down the principles that ought to guide the Jesuits in their ministries, and he divides his short instruction into three parts: principles concerning oneself, the neighbor, and the Society. Success in the ministry depends on complete purity of soul, faithfulness to exercises of piety, understanding the persons with whom they are to deal, establishing a hierarchy of values among the works they are to perform. At the same time the Jesuits are to be guided by the Holy Spirit and their superiors, and are to try to attract suitable young men to the Society" (p. 21). Another theme in the writings of Ignatius was the continuing journey in nourishing one's spiritual life. It was a very important factor to be guided with the teachings that can help someone change for the better, and strengthen his spirituality. It was evident that dealing with others was to be regarded as well. The letter to the Fathers attending the Council of Trent was the instructions [given] for the Sojourn at Trent. "Ignatius wrote an instruction for their benefit and in it he offers his advice on how to deal with others at the council, encourages them to initiate an apostolate among the people of the city, and suggests some self-helps. Ignatius clearly did not view the position of peritus as a full-time job, for, in addition to their work at the council they were to preach, hear confessions, visit the sick and poor, catechize children, and give the Exercises to those ready for them" (p. 8). Tylenda (2002) also mentioned that the letter to the Scholastics at Alcala about maturing spirituality were the general directives kept by Pedro de Ribadeneira in his unpublished work. The scholars were shaped to form a maturity in their stay at Alcala, wherein they were to maintain "purity of heart", continuously live in the presence of God, "see Christ in their superior", be humble and charitable, refrain from things that may take them away from loving their brethrens, and so on (p. 5). Another letter of Ignatius was about perfection, written to the Fathers and Brothers studying at Coimbra. Ignatius told the students the need to control their feeling as "Excess can easily lead to pride, loss of health, as well as other inconveniences and, thus, he instructs them to put an end to their practices" (p. 9). Tylenda (2002) also summarized the three parts of the letter: "(1) Ignatius praises the fervor in the young Jesuits and encourages them to continue to be fervent in their vocation; (2) he then tells them of the need to restrain that fervor, lists the harm that can arise from excessive fervor, and suggests that if they want to arrive at discretion they must practice obedience; (3) finally, he enumerates the ways that the young scholastics may exercise zeal during their years of study" (p. 9). How His Writings and Spiritual Exercises Have Been Received At Different Times & Places in Christian History Tylenda (2002) claimed that "Much of Saint Ignatius Loyola's spiritual teaching is found in his letters, and these have always been regarded by Jesuits as an important source of their spirituality. Among Ignatius' many letters, those written to his fellow Jesuits have always had a special place, for in these the Jesuit of today not only finds Ignatius' teaching on the spiritual life, but he also meets Ignatius the man, expressing his affection for and interest in those to whom he wrote. None of Ignatius' other writings so ably exhibits the love he bore in his heart for those who chose to walk with him along the path toward Christ than do these letters." According to O'Neal, because of his love to take part in spreading the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius taught catechism to children, and guided the adults as well. He had also worked in hospitals minding most of the poor who were of course in need. In light of this, he spent his remaining years "composing the Constitutions of the Society and would write thousands of letters to all corners of the globe to his fellow Jesuits dealing with the affairs of the Society and to lay men and women directing them in the spiritual life. From his tiny quarters in Rome he would live to see in his lifetime the Society of Jesus grow from eight to a thousand members, with colleges and houses all over Europe and as far away as Brazil and Japan. Some of the original companions were to become the Pope's theologians at the Council of Trent, an event which played an important role in the Catholic Counter Reformation" (O'Neal). The writings of Ignatius almost reaching a number of 7,000 letters became the unifying factor between the members of the Society of Jesuits. Apparently, it had also bridged the gap between Rome and the superiors of the religious sector. However beneficial the contribution of Ignatius to the Christian world was, there seemed to have opposing sides that would have wanted something else. In the case of Fr. James Lainez, the successor of Ignatius, he could not understand the significance of writing to Rome about the activities in their community. Another negative reaction came from a Jesuit complaining about "having trouble with overly pious people who monopolized his time for no good reason" (O'Neil). Additionally, O'Neil cited a certain Bishop Cilicio who expressed his dislike in the Society and the Spiritual Exercises, "There was a bishop who had great animosity to the Society. He refused to have this new Order in his diocese, and he excommunicated anyone who made the Spiritual Exercises." O'Neil added that "It soon became clear by requests from rulers, bishops and cities for schools that this work was truly one of the most effective ways to correct ignorance and corruption among the clergy and faithful, to stem the decline of the Church in the face of the Reformation." Contrary to the protestations of others, before 1548 Ignatius first started opening schools for newly recruited young Jesuits in Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and India. But came 1548, the magistrates of Messina in Sicily requested for a school to be built for lay and Jesuit students. Five men were sent by Ignatius to open the said school. (O'Neil). Reference List O'Neal, N. (n.d.). The life of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Retrieved May 8, 2008, from St. Ignatius, Young, W. J. (transltr) (1956). Letters of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Chicago: Loyola University Press. In N. J. Tylenda, (ed.) (2002). St Ignatius writes to his brethren: Selected letters and instructions of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Woodstock Theological Center. Retrieved May 10, 2008, from Read More