Apostleship of Prayer - Saints
July 31 - ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA
Born in 1491 from the important Spanish family of the Loyolas, Ignatius was a person of many gifts: personal courage, leadership ability, strong and charming personality, and skills of diplomacy. His family had great expectations of him; however, he had his own ambitions to become famous even by the use of his dagger and his sword.
Yet he never imagined that God had chosen him for a different "fame"- to be one of the most influential religious figures of the sixteenth century and to have an effect on the Church which continues today both in religious congregations and in the laity.
God led him through a serious leg wound at the battle of Pamplona, through reading the life of Christ and the lives of the Saints, through the failure of his own plans for serving God, through studies at several universities, through persecution by the Church, to gather some like minded young university students and found the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits).
Ignatius says that God treated him the way a schoolmaster teaches a pupil. From those lessons came the ability to help others discover God's will for their own lives by the use of the Spiritual Exercises. He learnt to reflect upon the events of each day, to become aware of where God had touched him during that day. He came to appreciate very deeply the importance of the Eucharist and the place and effect of Mary on his life. Finally, he learnt how to share these valuable lessons, not only with his first companions, but with anyone who felt a desire to be more generous towards their Lord. He died in 1556 in the quietness of his own room.