St. Ignatius of Loyola was the youngest son in a noble family of thirteen children in Navarre, Spain (1491-1556). He began his “worldly” career as a courtier, gentleman, and soldier. In 1521, he suffered a severe leg wound while defending a fortress against French forces at Pamplona, Spain. During his recuperation, the thirty-year-old soldier experienced a profound religious conversion through extraordinary experiences of the Trinity, Christ, and Our Lady, manifested in visions and other mystical phenomena. God purified, illuminated, and transformed Ignatius from a knight in the service of a temporal lord to a knight under Christ’s banner in the service of the Trinity.
Conversion and Spiritual Exercises
During his recovery, Ignatius asked for some books to read. The only books that could be found were the life of Christ and the lives of the saints. Reading and reflecting on these lives deeply disturbed him at first, but gradually, he was transformed into a new person. He began to think deeply about his own life. Later, he spent several days in prayer at a Benedictine monastery, where he hung his sword before a portrait of Mary. From there, he journeyed to Manresa, near the shrine of Montserrat, where he led a rugged life for about a year. During this time, he began taking notes on his experiences, which formed the earliest stages of what would eventually become the famous handbook known as the “Spiritual Exercises.”
Fr Richard Mascarenhas, SJ
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