LOYOLA, ST. IGNATIUS OF [Inigo Lopez de Recalde], (1491-1556), founder of the Society of Jesus, was born on Dec. 24, 1491, at the castle of Loyola in the province of Guipuzcoa. At an early age he was sent as a page to the court of Ferdinand and Isabella ; afterwards, until his 26th year, he took service with the duke of Nagera, and followed the career of arms. He already gave indications of that courage, constancy, prudence and politi cal ability which marked his after life.
The turning point in his career came in 1521 when he was wounded during the French attack on Pampeluna, the capital of Navarre. During convalescence the reading of a Castilian transla tion of The Life of Christ by Ludolphus of Saxony, and the popular Flowers of the Saints, led to an intense mental struggle. Sometimes he would pass hours thinking of a certain illustrious lady, devising means of seeing her and of winning her favour; at other times the spiritual aspirations suggested by the books got the upper hand. During the struggle he began to note his psychological state ; and this was the first time that he exercised his reason on spiritual things; the experience thus painfully gained he found of great use afterwards in directing others. One night while he lay awake, he tells us, he saw the likeness of the Blessed Virgin with her divine Son ; and immediately a loathing seized him for the former deeds of his life, especially for carnal desires; and he asserts that for the future he never yielded to any such desires. His conversion was now complete, and as soon as he regained strength he went to the great Benedictine abbey of Montserrato, where he made his confession.
He found in use for the pilgrims a translation of the Spiritual Exercises of the former abbot, Garcias di Cesneros (d. 15I0) ; and this book evidently gave him the first idea of his more famous work under the same title. Giving away his rich clothes to a beg gar, he placed on the Lady altar his sword and dagger, and spent the night before them. In the morning he received the Holy Eucharist and left for a cavern near Manresa. Seven hours a day he spent in prayer and three times a day he scourged his emaciated body. One day, almost overcome with scruples, he was tempted to end his miseries by suicide. At another time, for the same reason, he kept an absolute fast for a week. But he assisted
others who came to him for spiritual advice; and seeing the fruit reaped from helping his neighbour, he gave up the extreme se verities and began to take more care of his person, so as not needlessly to offend those whom he might influence for good. Having recovered from a severe illness, Ignatius set out in 5523 on his long-planned pilgrimage to Jerusalem via Barcelona, Rome and Venice. On his arrival in September, the Franciscans in charge of the holy places threatened him with excommunication if he remained, for not only had they great difficulty in support ing themselves, but they dreaded an outbreak from the fanatical Turks who resented Loyola's imprudent manifestations of zeal. Returning to Barcelona in 1524, he began to learn Latin, and after two years went to Alcala to begin philosophy. There he gave to some companions his Spiritual Exercises in the form they had then taken and certain instructions in Christian doctrine. These discourses brought upon him ecclesiastical censure and he was prohibited from instructing others until he had spent four years in study. He incurred similar censure at the University of Sala manca to which he had gone in 1527. By February of the follow ing year he had become a student of the University of Paris. During the term he earned his livelihood by begging, and during his vacations, travelled in Flanders. At Bruges he met the famous Spanish scholar, Juan Luis Vives, with whom he lodged. In the summer of 153o he went to London.
At the end of 1529 he came into contact with the men who were to become the first fathers of the Society of Jesus. He won over the Savoyard Pierre Lefevre (Faber), whose room he shared, and the Navarrese Francis Xavier, who taught philosophy in the col lege of St. Barbara. Afterwards he met the young Castilian, Diego Laynez, who had heard of him at Alcala and found him out in Paris. With Laynez came two other young men, the Toledan Alfonso Salmeron and the Portuguese Simon Rodriguez. Nicholas Bobadilla, a poor Spaniard who had finished his studies, was the next to join him. The little company of seven determined to con secrate their union by vows. On Aug. is, 1534, the Feast of the Assumption, they assembled in the crypt of the church of St.