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
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.