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 Ignatius Loyola,
founder of
the Society
of Jesus
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Ignatian spirituality offers us a way to deepen our desire and
commitment to help others, especially those in more urgent need and
less hope of help.
Ignatian spirituality is based on the spirituality of Iñigo Lopez de
Loyola, later known as Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatius was born in
the Basque region of northern Spain in 1491. He was a person of many
gifts: personal courage, leadership ability, strong and charming
personality, and skills of diplomacy.
God led Ignatius through a serious leg wound at the battle of
Pamplona, reading the life of Christ and the lives of the Saints, the
failure of his own plans for serving God, studies at several
universities, and suspicion from the Church, to gather like-minded
university students and, in time, found the Jesuits. Ignatius had such
devotion to Jesus that the order was called 'Companions of Jesus‘,
though it has come to be known in English as the Society of Jesus.
Ignatian spirituality offers us a way to deepen our desire and
commitment to help others, especially those in more urgent need and
less hope of help.
Ignatian spirituality is based on the spirituality of Iñigo Lopez de
Loyola, later known as Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatius was born in
the Basque region of northern Spain in 1491. He was a person of many
gifts: personal courage, leadership ability, strong and charming
personality, and skills of diplomacy.
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The Spiritual Exercises and the
Constitutions of the Society of Jesus
From the time he was wounded at Pamplona, Ignatius carefully noted
the movements of God’s spirit in his life and his response to them.
These thoughts of Ignatius, the layperson seeking God, were to become
the Spiritual Exercises. They are the story of his spiritual journey
and religious experience. The spirituality of the Spiritual Exercises
continues to transform the lives of women and men, Religious and lay,
who desire greater freedom to give and receive love more generously.
Under God's guidance and with communal reflection, Ignatius and his
companions translated their vision into apostolic strategies, namely:
to choose to be with Christ, as servants of his mission, to be with
people where they dwell and work and struggle, to bring the Gospel into
their lives and labours. As ‘friends in the Lord’, Jesuits are sent on
challenging missions. The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus set
down what it means to be a community on mission.
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Seeking and finding God in all things
Ignatius learned to reflect upon the events of each day and to
become aware of where God had touched him during that day. He
discovered that the whole of life was a pilgrimage in which he needed
to be attentive and sensitive to the Spirit guiding him. He learned how
to share these valuable lessons with women and men who felt a desire to
be more generous towards their Lord; a generosity characterized by love
which was manifested more in deeds than words. Today, families,
workplaces and communities who embrace Ignatian spirituality and way of
proceeding continue to be shaped by the dynamic of prayerful reflection
on experience leading to more generous and effective service.
For Ignatius, the desire to help people found two principal outlets:
helping the needy and engaging in spiritual conversation. Ignatius saw
an intimate connection between spiritual conversation and the Spiritual
Exercises. Spiritual conversation relies on an attentive heart shaped
by prayer, listening characterized by openness to the other, and
thoughtful consideration of how the fruit of this conversation might
move us, with others, to action for the greater good of self, others,
creation, and God.
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A faith that does justice
Ignatius’ desire to help people where they are remains pivotal in
the nurturing of a faith imbued with charity that acts justly. At the
international meeting of the Jesuits in 1995 (General Congregation 34)
it was recognized that faith constantly invites the promotion of
justice, entry into cultures and openness to other religious
experiences. Justice relies on communicating faith, transformation of
cultures and collaboration with other traditions. Inculturation
requires communicating faith with others, dialogue with other
traditions and commitment to justice. There can be no dialogue without
sharing faith with others, evaluating cultures and deepening our
concern for justice.
Ignatius knew that purposeful, prayerful reflection on experience
develops an awareness and desire to respond to God’s constant
invitation to act. We act with Christ’s generosity in whatever we do,
no matter the position we hold or our background and experience. With
Ignatius, we develop a realistic and grateful understanding of
ourselves and the way God is calling us to act with intelligent
compassion and forgiveness. God’s enduring love allows us to welcome
all creation imaginatively and responsibly.
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