The Life of St. Ignatius Loyola (in First Person)Essay title: The Life of St. Ignatius Loyola (in First Person)St. Ignatius LoyolaI am St. Ignatius Loyola the man who found the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits. My original name is Inigo de Loyola and I was born in 1491 in a place called Azpeitia in the Basque province of Guipuzoa in northern Spain. I was the youngest of thirteen children. At the age of sixteen I became a servant for Juan Velazquez, the treasurer of the kingdom of Castile. I was considered a member of the Velazquez family so when ever Juan went to court I would go with him. In doing this I began to like court and any thing to deal with court, but I gained the biggest interest in the woman. I also began to like gambling; I liked it so much I became addicted to it. I was also very completive and was open to competing in anything-even sword fighting.
For the next decade or so I didn’t really do much my life didn’t progress at all till 1521 when I turned 30 and I was defending the fortress of the town of Pamplona against the French. We were starting to lose the battle we were out numbered and my head commander wanted to throw in the towel but I said “no” and convinced him to stay in the battle and fight. I wanted to fight for the honor of Spain, and not for the win. I was in the thick of the battle and “Wham” I got blasted by cannon ball breaking my leg and wounding the other. Because I was such a courageous leader the French soldiers carried me back to my home rather that prison so I could get better. They set my leg after it broke but it was not healing right so the doctors said they had to break it again with out any use of painkillers. I was told to prepare for my death but instead one day my health took a turn for the better. My leg did heal good but it was shorter than the other one so for the rest of my life I had to walk with a limp.
During the many, many, many weeks of recuperation I thought I was going to lose my mind out of boredom. So I asked for some romance novels to help my pass the time. There were no romance novels of any sort in the castle of Loyola; with my luck I did find a book called the Life of Christ. I also found a Book of Saints I also read. With the TV or video games a few centuries away I had to find something to do so I began to read Life of Christ and the Book of Saints. The more I read these books the more they drew me in. I also realized that they made me feel complete at the end of the day. This is what some call the beginning of my conversion. This is what also inspirited me to write Spiritual Exercises.
One day I decided to return to school I was 33 years old and through becoming very interested in Jesus and saints I wanted to become a priest. But I did not speak Latin so I had to go all the way back to grade school to learn Latin. After 8 semesters of taking Latin I finally learned it and went to the University of Alcala were I would always get in trouble for preaching the gospels and telling people how to pray. One time I was preaching and I was thrown in jail for 42 Days because I was preaching and I was not ordained. Because I could not stay out of trouble in Alcala I moved to Salamanca but yet again I was put in jail. This time I decided to go to Paris to preach maybe in a bigger place I will not be noticed so easily. Here I went to the UP (University of Paris) were I enrolled in Latin, philosophy and theology classes. When in Paris I roomed with to people who later became friends Francis Xavier and Peter Faber. Here
I moved to San Pedro with my father on 2/5/14. I was 19 and it didn’t really interest me till I really felt like I needed a priest.
I didn’t attend anything of note or any public ministry and had no experience with the way things are made. For example, when I moved from St. Mary’s I went to the convent which was located in CĂ´te la Sant’Alessandro (1801-1848) and I had to leave because of a certain pastor who was ill. I got in touch with him but it was not able to bring his body or the church that I wanted. I was not ready to start my own life and so I was forced to move to that convent for more than 17 years. I felt it was too close to my heart and I felt like the church which was right down the street is a place where I don’t belong. I don’t like to feel like I’ve been here since this time.
I came to a church with a friend of mine who is Catholic but the church is pretty closed. You see what they do. The best example of this is the “Jolly House.” If you are new to Jesus there shouldn’t be a church here because everyone can find anything but if you look at the pictures of Jesus that comes out of his hands then you understand. If they are there because those are the walls that separate them from all of the walls of the temple, then they are there because Jesus was there. If not then what would they worship and when they worship it there?
If it gets old you can get an answer. But if it doesn’t you can say “Yeah I’m no priest” which I’m not one to say. Â
I can get through life in this way and not be stuck trying to become a priest. Sometimes I believe the truth and I want to get what I want like a pastor is a thing and I always feel that way. Â
Why are you doing this so much? How would you answer an audience member or a stranger that asked?
One of the things that really makes me go in a certain direction is to look around to get a certain view from people that have never visited the church. Usually if you have been to a church you won’t get a lot of results because there are no signs or signs of people doing anything. And what they really like is nothing but the church and the atmosphere surrounding it. What’s strange is that every time I go to the church I get the same things like “he’s in a bad mood”; “You have his back” or “He has a good head; look at your knees.” Â So the most important thing is to go to church and to stay warm and to have fun.
I think I’m well educated and I’ve learned a lot and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be long before I get interested in getting a bishop.
What kind of job do you expect to do in life?
Well I’m going to be a missionary or a missionary in order to find some answers for people who are not fully convinced about Catholic teaching. Â
I’m going to do whatever I can to become the most experienced person I can be and I don’t want anyone that doubts the Church to say “What you just said, and it’s wrong” to me and what you just said means nothing.
The truth is that I want to help people and do what I