Bio of Ignatius Loyola who was BornThis Week in Christian History for the week of October 20-26th 2013

Ignatius Loyola was born a wealthy family in the Basque region of Spain. He joined the army and fought many duels, including one with a Moor that denied the divinity of Jesus, who he ended up killing. He successfully endured battles with no injury. It was when he was defending the fortress of Pamplona that things changed. The French had cannons, they did not. Ignatius argued that they should not surrender until they could withstand no more, anything else would disgrace them, this was not popular with the other troops. He was wounded when his legs were hit by a cannonball.

After the battle Ignatius was sent to one of his families castles to recover. While recovering he would spend a lot of time reading, but there were not many books on knights errant that he enjoyed since he was a boy. He only had religious texts to read. He experienced a profound religious conversion, gave away his riches, and undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He formulated “The Spiritual Exercises” which is still used today.

Upon reaching Jerusalem he was told to go home by the Franciscans there, one reason was because of his lack of education. He went to Paris University. It was there that he form what would be known as The Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits.
For more information on the Jesuits, read my blog The Jesuits were formed

My new book, would you do what they did great Christian leaders from our past is now available to order from Amazon.com here is the link: Would You Do What They Did? - Great Christian Leaders From Our Past

It is also available to order now or shortly from anywhere that sells books. It is a collection of biographies of Martin Luther, Francis of Assisi, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, and Thomas Becket.

Come, tame a wolf, flee from the wrath of the king, feel the horror of impending doom on a ship, and the uncertainty of one’s own salvation with these great heroes of the faith.

I have excepts of the book on my website williamdeanhamilton.net,

 Thank you for reading.