Saint Ignatius of Loyola was born in 1491 in Northern Spain. His childhood was fairly simple but it wasn’t until he was an adult that he became a well known and strong solider. Ignatius was very vain and considered himself a ladies’ man! However, during a battle in 1521, a cannonball struck Ignatius on the leg and shattered his knee cap. He then spent months in bed as his leg and knee cap recuperated. It was here that Ignatius was drawn to the lives of the saints and heard his own call to follow Christ. Throughout his discernment, he found that when he thought of God and doing great things for Him, he was filled with peace; and when he thought of the success he could have as a soldier, he would end up feeling bland and dry. In 1522, he joined a monetary, laying down his life as a soldier and giving away his clothes to the poor, only keeping what was truly necessary.
Ignatius was able to recognize that any anxiety, doubt, or depression that presented itself when trying to discern was not of God. He wrote down all his experiences in a journal and it is through his experiences that many religious and lay people have received the gift of The Spiritual Exercises.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola is most known for today was the founder of the Societas Jesu (Society of Jesus), the Jesuit order. Pope Paul III acknowledged the order in 1540. He is also known for The Spiritual Exercises which is a guide to help discern and know what our human condition is, what God’s love is, and how Jesus lived His life. All in hopes of drawing all who read his works closer to God. Another important contribution from Ignatius was that he developed a type of spirituality that ‘reminds us that God speaks to us in prayer, through our emotions, our minds, our bodies, and through everyone or everything around us’. Ignatian Spiritually leads us to contemplate and search for God in our everyday tasks.
When and where can we look for God in our everyday life? What can we do differently to see Christ in our busy lives as college students?