Which of these universities did Ignatius study at? How Ignatius of Loyola overcame a spiritual crisis

LOYOLA IGNACIO

(b. 1491 – d. 1556)

Founder of the Jesuit Order. Developed the organizational and moral principles of the order.

Uncertainty about the strength of its own power, caused by the growth of the reform movement in Europe, forced the Roman Curia to look for new ways and means to combat this phenomenon. To combat apostates and “enemies of the Church of Christ,” the famous Order of Jesuits was created, which for a long time was the main means of political and ideological expansion of the Vatican. Its founder was the Spanish monk Ignacio Loyola, whose life story, through the efforts of enthusiastic Catholic biographers, began to resemble a chivalric romance. However, mysterious gaps in Loyola's biography suggest that the true activities of the head of the Jesuits were hidden behind a veil of legends and romantic speculation.

Ignacio Loyola was born in 1491 into a large family of a seedy Spanish hidalgo, Beltram Lopez de Recalde, from the town of Loyola, who boasted of his ancestry. He claimed that among his ancestors were the Castilian grandee Antonio Manrique, Duke of Najaro, and most importantly, a descendant of the first Asturian king Pelajo, Count of Trevignon.

The mother of the future father of the Jesuits, Marina Sone, according to legend, like the Virgin Mary, went to give birth in a stable and laid the newborn in a manger. Suddenly the baby cried: “Call me Inigo (Ignacio).” The parents did just that. And the boy’s godfather was the royal treasurer Juan Velasco.

After leaving the service, he took his godson from a family in great need and settled him in his town of Arevalo. This opened the way for Inigo to the court. When he grew up, Velasco assigned him as a page in the retinue of King Ferdinand. Over the years, the boy turned into a dexterous and graceful courtier. He successfully courted ladies and read chivalric novels, but was not averse to martial arts.

The romantically minded young man quickly became tired of court life, and he, following the example of his older brothers, decided to pursue a military career under the leadership of a distant relative, Duke Antonio Manric-Najaro. Soon, thanks to his courage and energy, he began to enjoy the reputation of the most brilliant officer in the Duke's army.

In 1520, when Spain was at war with France over Navarre, Inigo Lopez was appointed commandant of the most important Navarrese fortress of Pampeluna. Enemy troops besieged the fortress. The forces were not equal, but the stubborn officer refused offers to surrender. During the assault, he was seriously wounded in his left leg, lost consciousness, and his soldiers immediately surrendered. The French general Foix-Lespard, admiring the commandant's courage, ordered him to be taken to one of the nearby houses and provided medical assistance, and then helped him get to Loyola.

So at the beginning of 1521, after many years, Inigo Lopez again found himself under his parents’ roof, realizing that he would have to give up his military career. The leg did not heal properly, and the surgeon suggested breaking it to straighten it out. The patient agreed, although at that time such operations were performed without anesthesia. The night before this event, which could not help but frighten him, the former officer dreamed of St. Peter, who promised to cure the sufferer himself, for great things lay ahead of him. In his dream, Inigo allegedly composed a hymn in honor of the saint, which was recorded by someone in the household.

In the morning, Inigo endured the painful operation without a single groan. Lying motionless, he again returned to reading chivalric novels. When everything that was in the house had been read, having nothing else to do, he took up the lives of the saints and was delighted with the deeds of the founders of the monastic orders - St. Domenic and St. Francis. In the minds of the thirty-year-old hidalgo, novels were intertwined with religious revelations, and he decided to become an ascetic and knight of the Virgin Mary.

Relatives, seeing Inigo's exaltation, watched him. This, however, did not prevent the former officer from secretly leaving his parental home in March 1522. Inigo Lopez mounted a mule and set off along the road to the Montserrat Monastery, where he hoped to find help in his quest. On the way, he met a Moor, who spoke disrespectfully about the Mother of God in a conversation. The knight pulled out his sword and chased after the offender of his Lady, but soon cooled down and continued on his way. Ahead the road forked. It must be said that Inigo did not yet know which path to choose - whether to remain a knight or become a monk. And he decided to leave the choice to fate. Letting go of the reins of the mule, he began to watch in trepidation which way he would go. The mule moved towards the monastery, and Inigo saw this as a sign of God. From now on he decided to devote himself to religion.

In the monastery, he cleaned his armor, put it on and stood in prayer all night in front of the image of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, and the next morning he hung his sword on one of the columns of the chapel and gave the expensive armor to a beggar. Dressed in rags, belted with a rope, the former knight moved to the town of Manresa, where he settled in the monastery hospital.

The monastic brethren treated the strange newcomer with ridicule, who had paid nothing to the monastery and was poorly acquainted with church dogmas. The newcomer paid no attention to them. He earnestly mortified his flesh by fasting and sleepless nights, which he spent in prayer. This, however, did not seem enough to Lopez. From the monastery he retired to a cave, where visions began to appear to his inflamed consciousness. According to legend, it was here that Inigo wrote his famous work, “Spiritual Exercises.” He was convinced that God was leading his hand and with such a wonderful book, even the Gospel was not needed. It is difficult to say how the philosophizing hermit did not fall into the hands of the Inquisition. Most likely, it was precisely thanks to hermitism and an exclusively righteous lifestyle according to the concepts of that time.

Having completed his work, Lopez decided to go on a pilgrimage to venerate the Holy Sepulcher and convert all the Saracens to Christianity. In February 1523 he set off. Begging in the name of Christ, he reached Rome and, along with others eager to see Jerusalem, received the pope's blessing for the pilgrimage.

At that time, the plague was raging in Italy. Residents of cities and villages were afraid to let anyone spend the night. Pilgrims were no exception. As a result, Lopez miraculously reached Venice in a state of extreme physical exhaustion. And only Jesus Christ, who appeared to him, as legend says, supported the strength of the future founder of the Jesuit order.

On September 4, 1523, Lopez finally reached Jerusalem. First of all, he bowed to all Christian shrines, and then turned to the provincial (head of the local branch) of the Franciscan Order for a blessing to convert Muslims to the Christian faith. He ordered the pilgrim to go home and pointed out to him a number of circumstances that would not allow him to carry out his plans: his ignorance of languages, Muslim customs and complete ignorance in matters of theology. Discouraged, Lopez obediently left Palestine and in January 1524 set foot on the pier of Venice.

However, his restless soul still thirsted for exploits. In the city of St. Mark, he began to teach the Venetians Christianity. According to Lopez, they have forgotten the teachings of Christ. But local theologians quickly proved that a pilgrim who came from nowhere was simply illiterate and could not compete with them. Lopez, however, did not back down. At the age of thirty, he decided to study and then create a spiritual brotherhood in order to have comrades in the struggle. But, knowing little Italian and Latin, Inigo could only study in Spain.

Only a year later, he miraculously managed to return to his homeland, having overcome the lands where the war was going on between the French king and the emperor. More than once he was mistaken for a spy, and once the soldiers stripped him naked and led him around their camp for a long time, mocking the pompous speeches of the mendicant pilgrim.

In Barcelona, Lopez sat down at a school desk with his children, and at the same time began to preach and recruit supporters. Soon he was joined by three Catalans - Artiaga, Callistus, Katzers and the page Zhegan from French Navarre. Two years later, all five moved to Alcala de Genares to study at the local university. Lopez continued his preaching and mortification. Soon, penitents began to flock to him, believing in the exceptional righteousness of the strange student.

In Alcala, our hero met a certain noble lady Alienora Mascarenhas. Apparently, they had a very close relationship, since the lively correspondence between them ended only with the death of the head of the order.

Judging by the portrait, Lopez was very handsome. It is not surprising that among his fans there were many women. Two of them, having heard enough stories about wandering life and spiritual brotherhood, decided to flee home. A huge scandal broke out, and the student confessor fell into the clutches of the Inquisition. He, however, was soon released, since the inquisitors saw in him only an ignoramus. However, his frightened comrades abandoned Lopez, who soon left Alcala and moved to the famous university in Salamanca.

The same story repeated itself here. The student again became extremely popular, and when his repentant students rejoined him, the Inquisition arrested all five. The head of the inquisitors, the Grand Vicar of the Dominicans, Frias, released those suspected of heresy, declaring to the eldest that he had little skill in rhetoric and could fall into heresy. Lopez was furious. In his opinion, there was nothing to learn in Salamanca. He strove to Paris, where the oldest of European universities, the Sorbonne, was located. And the frightened students left him again. From Salamanca to the capital of France, the stubborn Lopez traveled on foot in the company of a donkey loaded with simple belongings. In January 1528, the tired traveler finally saw the gates of the Sorbonne.

At that time, the University of Paris enjoyed extraordinary influence. His rectorate even intervened in the political affairs of the state and had its representatives in the general assemblies. The main focus here was, of course, on theology. At the same time, the university has always guarded the interests of Catholicism and the Popes.

All this greatly pleased the new student, who now called himself Loyola after the family castle. On the way to Paris, something extremely important apparently happened to him. It was as if he had been replaced. Eccentric antics and teachings are a thing of the past. A thoughtful, cautious, and persistent student entered the arena, cautiously seeking to create a spiritual brotherhood to combat the enemies of the Catholic Church. The existence of some kind of secret is also indicated by Loyola’s sudden trip to Flanders and England at the very beginning of her studies. From there he returned with a rich alms, but did not say a word to anyone about where he had been and what he had seen. The mysterious student practically did not attend lectures by university professors, but received a master’s degree in theology and continued his studies with the Dominicans.

At the same time, Loyola continued to preach, showing remarkable eloquence. But his main goal was to attract students. The first three students he recruited soon left the teacher. But the rest were luckier. They were: the young priest Lefebvre from Villaret, philosophy teacher Xavier, students Lainez, Salmeron, Alphonse Bobadilla and Rodriguez.

So that these students, following the example of the previous ones, would not leave him, Loyola, on August 15, 1534, in one of the dungeons of Montmartre on the day of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, took from them a vow of poverty, chastity and an oath to go to Palestine, and if for some reason this was impossible, to give himself at the disposal of the Pope. Loyola students now had to liquidate their property. Fearing to let them leave Paris, the head of the future order insisted on going himself to carry out this delicate task. On January 25, 1535, he left Salamanca.

Loyola spent two years in Spain. There he distributed his inheritance to the poor, finished with the affairs of his comrades and for some reason went not to Paris, but to Venice. Most likely, he had with him considerable funds received as a result of the sale of property. After all, to ensure the activities of his society, money was needed, and a lot of it.

On January 8, 1537, his like-minded people joined Loyola in Venice. They reached Italy through the lands of the Protestant princes of Germany, where along the way they held disputes with Lutherans and Calvinists. Rumors about their brilliant successes supposedly managed to reach the ears of Pope Paul III, who searched in vain for ways to combat religious opponents.

The original intention of going to Palestine was forgotten. The group continued to recruit supporters and worked hard at the hospitals of St. John and St. Paul, while Loyola preached and fought with the Venetian priests who were dissatisfied with him. However, Archbishop Caraffa took his side, hoping that such skilled preachers would join the Theatine order he created. Loyola, however, had other plans. He sought to create his own order. The head of the society refused the flattering offer, and on June 24, 1537, all its members (by that time there were thirteen of them, which, apparently, was supposed to show an analogy between Christ and the apostles), with the exception of those who already had the priestly rank, were solemnly ordained priests by a bishop from Dalmatia who arrived in Venice. Loyola was afraid to contact the local churchmen.

Having sent out part of his “fighting squad” (as he called his students) to recruit new members, Loyola settled near the Abbey of Monte Cassino in the Kingdom of Naples. For some time now, he began to inspire his comrades that God was guiding him and revealing to him his secret intentions. Legends record a number of miracles associated with the visions of the future head of the Jesuits. And to the laity, members of the society began to openly say: “We have united under the banner of Jesus Christ to fight heresies and vices, therefore we form the Fellowship of Jesus.”

In the second half of 1538, Loyola, accompanied by two members of the society, went to Rome to have an audience with the pope and convince him to formalize the emergence of the new order. On the way, he announced to his companions that while he was praying, the Savior appeared to him and said: “In Rome I will favor you.”

Paul III, who had a negative attitude towards monastic orders of any kind, hesitated for a long time, although Loyola made a favorable impression on him. He also liked his ideas. Therefore, he allowed Loyola to remain in Rome and preach. And he, when his followers arrived in the Eternal City, gathered them and uttered the famous words: “Heaven closed our way to the Promised Land for the purpose of giving away the whole world.” And at the next meeting he revealed some of his goals: “We, knights, are called by God himself to spiritually conquer the whole world, therefore it is quite necessary that our partnership form a fighting force capable of existing until the end of the world,” and proposed to call the order “The Society Jesus." Loyola sent the charter of the society to the pope, who was delighted and on September 27, 1540, signed a bull that established the Jesuit order. And on April 22, 1541, in the Church of St. Paul, Loyola took the oath, establishing himself as general of the order.

The charter of the new order became known only after it was approved by society, although basically it was obviously developed much earlier. Now it is difficult to establish what exactly in the text belongs to the authorship of the first general, but it is absolutely clear that the spirit and letter of the Jesuit law belong to him. And it was thanks to him that a “black pope” appeared in the practice of Catholicism, consciously striving for absolute dominance - both political and spiritual.

Many volumes have been written about the means by which this goal was achieved, and it is not possible to present them in a short essay. Suffice it to recall the famous principle of “mental reservation”, which allows a Jesuit to lie, but mentally speak the truth to himself.

The general of the order was formally and actually a tyrant, elected for life. All Jesuits were required to keep an eye on each other. Each Jesuit made regular reports to his superior. All information flowed to the general of the order, who knew everything that everyone thought and did.

A special place in the organization created by Loyola was occupied by the Jesuit personality formation system, little known to the general public, which was an original technology that turned a person into a fanatic, obedient in everything to the orders of his superior. Loyola dedicated the already well-known treatise “Spiritual Exercises” to this, which he made mandatory for every Jesuit to study. It contains various methods for studying sins, rules of confession, prayers, advice on how to awaken pious thoughts in oneself, etc. One should evoke images of Christ and the Mother of God, the area that surrounds them, try to hear their voices and understand the words they speak , touch and kiss their clothes. There were also instructions for contemplating hell: you should imagine it in length, width and height, engulfed in flames; hear pitiful screams and moans, piercing screams, curses; smell sulfur, tar and all kinds of rot; feel the bitterest taste of the tears shed by sinners; the heat of an all-consuming flame... The exercises should have been carried out daily five times a day for an hour for four weeks. At the same time, it was necessary to engage in self-torture, but so that the wounds did not reach the bones, and to wear chains. It was possible to communicate only with the mentor. But that was not all. The so-called “contemplation of death” was prescribed - one’s own funeral, imagining the sensations in the coffin, underground, observing the decomposition of one’s own body. With such a system, very soon a person begins to see hallucinations, which ultimately makes it possible to completely enslave his psyche and replace the natural personality of a person with another, artificial one, whose aspirations will be completely subordinated to his superiors, in this case the highest ranks in the order. No wonder the former Jesuit A. Tondi writes: “This is a school of puppets and automata.” A full cycle of spiritual exercises was carried out upon entry into the order, upon completion of training for forty days, and then annually for eight days. This made it possible to keep a person in the desired state throughout his life.

From the moment of approval by the general of the order, the life of Loyola is actually part of the initial history of the order itself, which gradually won its place in the sun and achieved significant results already at this time. Almost nothing is known about the secret mechanisms of influence of the first general. More is written about the successes of his students, who penetrated all Catholic countries and even India. But it is clear that the orders of the order made them dependent on the guiding hand of Loyola.

However, even in those days the order had opponents. In 1555, Loyola's longtime enemy, Cardinal Caraffa, ascended the throne of the Roman Catholic Church under the name of Paul IV. He stopped supporting the order. This had a negative impact on the physical and mental state of the old general. And some kind of epidemic that decimated the Romans in 1556 brought him to his grave on July 31. But his brainchild continued its life and is still alive, continuing, along with charity, its secret work in the depths of states and human communities.

From the author's book

Ignacio Palacios-Huerta June 2010 If Uruguay's Diego Forlán takes a penalty against Ghana on Friday, we can see where the ball will go: in the opposite corner from his previous penalty kick. Forlan has a pattern: once he

Ignatius de Loyola, Ignacio (Spanish: Ignacio (Íñigo) López de Loyola, Basque: Ignazio Loiolakoa). Born October 23, 1491 in Azpeitia - died July 31, 1556 in Rome. Catholic saint, founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit order).

Born around 1491 at Loyola Castle in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa. At baptism he received the name Inigo (Basque: Iñigo). After his conversion, he took the name Ignatius (Spanish: Ignacio), choosing Saint Ignatius of Antioch as his heavenly patron. Perhaps he served as the prototype for Don Quixote in the novel of the same name by Miguel de Cervantes. Memorial Day July 31st.

He came from an ancient Basque family. According to undocumented data, he was the youngest of 13 children. At the age of 14, Inigo was left an orphan, and his older brother sent him to Arevallo, to John Velazquez, treasurer of the Castile court. There Inigo served as a page. Having reached adulthood, he entered military service. Subsequently, talking about his youth to Fr. To Gonzales de Camara, he described himself at that time in the following words: “Attentive to my appearance, greedy for success with women, bold in my courtship, picky in matters of honor, afraid of nothing, cheaply valuing the life of myself and others, I indulged in luxury... »

In 1521, Inigo de Loyola took part in the defense of Pamplona, which was besieged by French and Navarrese troops under the command of André de Foix. There were many Navarrese living in the city who went over to the enemy’s side, and the city authorities decided to surrender. On May 20, 1521, Andre de Foix entered the city. Iñigo, remaining loyal to his king, retreated to the fortress with a handful of soldiers. The siege began on May 21. “The attack had already lasted for quite some time, when I was hit by a shell that slipped between my legs and wounded one and broke the other,” he said many years later. Gonzales de Camara. After this, the battle ended quite quickly. Over the next ten days he was in Pamplona. The French respected his courage, Inigo was treated by French doctors, and then he was carried on a stretcher to his father’s castle, Loyola.

It soon became clear that the shaking during the journey affected his health, and the doctors were forced to perform another very difficult operation, after which he became worse and worse every day. On June 24, the day of St. John the Baptist, the doctors, who no longer believed in his recovery, advised Inigo to confess. On the eve of the day of St. Peter, considered the patron saint of the Loyola family, Inigo was given communion and unction. There was a sudden improvement during the night, and the next day he was out of danger. But the bone did not heal properly, and the operation had to be done again, even longer and more painful than all the previous ones. During the subsequent period of recovery, Inigo asked that they bring him chivalric novels to read. But there were no novels in the castle - only the “Life of Jesus Christ” by the Carthusian Rudolf and one volume of “The Lives of the Saints” were kept in the family library.

I had to read what was there. And in these books he discovered heroism: “this heroism is different from mine, and it is higher than mine. Am I really not capable of it? Inigo noticed - and was amazed - that after reading a few pages from the Lives of the Saints, an incomprehensible peace took possession of his soul, while dreams of fame and love left him feeling empty. “Two opposing spirits are at work within me. The first one confuses me: it is from the devil. The second one pacifies me: it is from God.” He sends a servant to Burgos to bring the Carthusian charter, and carefully studies this document.

In March 1522, Ignatius prepared to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But first I went to Montserrat (Spanish: Montserrat) - a mountainous Benedictine abbey near Barcelona, where the miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary is kept. On the way, he took a vow of chastity. In the city of Igualada, not far from the abbey, he bought a penitent's rags, a staff, a flask and linen shoes with rope soles. On March 21, 1522, he came to Montserrat and spent three days preparing for a full confession. On March 24 (the day before the Annunciation) he confessed, changed into rags, gave his clothes to a beggar and began the “Night Watch” (“The Night Watch,” which precedes knighting, consists of ablution, confession, communion, blessing and presentation of the sword). All night he stood in the chapel in front of the image of the Blessed Virgin, sometimes kneeling down, but not allowing himself to sit down, and at dawn he handed over his weapons - a sword and a dagger - to the monk who confessed him and asked to be hanged as an offering in the chapel. From now on, he considered himself knighted by the Queen of Heaven.

At sunrise he descended from Montserrat and stopped in the small town of Manresa. There he found a secluded grotto on the banks of the Cardener River, near a Roman aqueduct, and decided to spend several days in prayer in this secluded place. He lived on alms, observed strict fasting, went to mass in the morning, cared for the sick in the local hospital, and prayed in the cathedral in the evening. He soon fell ill and was sheltered in a Dominican monastery. Here he experienced a spiritual crisis: at first, doubts arose that at confession in Montserrat he really repented of all his previous sins, and he again tried to remember all the sins he had committed in his life. The more he remembered, the more insignificant and unworthy he seemed to himself. Confession didn't help. There was a temptation to commit suicide.

At some point, Ignatius thought about where these doubts come from and what effect they produce in his soul, and then he consciously decided not to confess any more past sins: “I realized,” he said later, “that such confession contains action.” evil spirit." Shortly after this, as Ignatius walked along the bank of the Kardener River to a distant church, he stopped, peering into the water. “The eyes of my mind began to open. It was not a vision, but I was given the understanding of many things, both spiritual and those relating to faith, as well as human sciences, and with such great clarity... Suffice it to say that I received a great light of understanding, so that, if you add up all the help , throughout my life I received from God, and all the knowledge I acquired, it seems to me that this would be less than what I received in this single case. It seemed to me that I had become a different person... All this lasted at most three minutes.” He spent the winter of 1522, which turned out to be very difficult for him, in Manresa.

On February 28, 1523, Ignatius headed to Barcelona from there to sail to Italy and make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. While waiting for the ship, he led the same life as in Manresa: he prayed, looked after the suffering in hospitals, and collected alms. On March 23, 1523, he sailed for Italy and five days later arrived in Genoa, and from there he went to Rome. Having received the blessing of Pope Adrian VI, he set out on foot for Venice and set sail early on the morning of June 15th. On September 1, the ship reached the Holy Land, where the pilgrims were met by the Franciscans, who then led them around Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Jordan for two weeks. Ignatius made a request to the abbot of the Franciscans: “Father, I would like to spend the rest of my days in your monastery.” The abbot agreed, but the Franciscan provincial refused the request, and Ignatius returned to Barcelona again.

He realized that knowledge was necessary for apostolic activity. Therefore, at the age of 33, I began to study Latin in elementary school, together with my children. Jerome Ardevol, a Latin teacher, gave him additional lessons for free, and two years later he announced to his student that he now knew enough to listen to lectures at the university. In May 1526, Ignatius went on foot to Alcala (the university was located there), located five hundred kilometers from Barcelona.

In Alcalá, as in Barcelona, in addition to his studies at the university, he taught children the catechism and instructed everyone who turned to him for help. In this regard, a denunciation was made against Ignatius, he was arrested, and after 42 days of imprisonment, a sentence was announced, prohibiting him from instructing and preaching under pain of excommunication and eternal expulsion from the kingdom. After three years, the ban could be lifted if a judge or vicar general gives permission. The Archbishop of Toledo recommended that Ignatius not remain in Alcala and continue his studies in Salamanca. However, even in Salamanca, almost immediately after his arrival, Ignatius was invited for an interview at the Dominican monastery and began to be asked about the Spiritual Exercises that he gave in Alcala. The case was referred to the church court. The judges found no heresy in his teaching, and 22 days later he was released. After this, Ignatius decided to leave Spain and went to Paris.

In 1528, when Ignatius arrived in Paris, he was 35 years old. Deciding to begin his education again from scratch and resume the basics of Latin, he entered Montagu's school and remained there until October 1529. He then entered St. Barbara's to study philosophy. In 1532, after four years of study, shortly before Christmas, he passed the exam and received an academic degree.

In February 1533, Ignatius passed another examination - in grammar, and then, having provided evidence that he had attended a course of commentary on Aristotle, studied arithmetic, geometry and astronomy, after a series of examinations and a public debate held in the Church of St. Julian the Poor , received a master's degree. From now on, he had the right to “teach, participate in debates, determine and perform all school and teacher actions... both in Paris and around the world.” All that remained was to pass the doctor's exam. But before this exam, Ignatius also took theology courses from the Dominicans. The doctoral examination took place in 1534, during Lent, Ignatius was awarded a degree and given a doctor's headdress: a black round cap with a square top, decorated with a tassel.

During his years of study in Paris, Ignatius met Peter Favre, Francis Xavier, Diego Lainez, Alfonso Salmeron, Nicolas Bobadilla and Simon Rodriguez. He taught each of them Spiritual Exercises. All of them were united by the desire to create a group dedicated to serving Christ.

On August 15, 1534, on the day of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Montmartre, in the Church of St. Dionysius, all seven of them, during the mass served by Peter Favre, took vows of non-covetousness, chastity and missionary work in the Holy Land. If it was impossible to fulfill the last vow before January 1, 1538, it was decided to go to Rome and place himself at the disposal of the Holy See. But first everyone had to finish their training.

In 1535, Ignatius became seriously ill. He was forced to leave Paris and return to Spain. Feeling better, he went on foot to Venice and arrived there at the end of 1535. Here, while waiting for his comrades, he continued his study of theology. The rest arrived from Paris on January 18, 1537. At this time of year there was no communication between Venice and Palestine, and in anticipation of better days they all decided to work in hospitals. By that time, five more people had joined the society. On June 24, 1537, Ignatius and his comrades were ordained priests.

Since, due to the outbreak of the war between Venice and Turkey, it was impossible to sail to Palestine, the vow made in Montmartre obliged them to go to Rome. In 1537, after an audience, Pope Paul III commissioned Laines and Peter Favre to teach theological subjects at the University of Rome. The people willingly listened to the new preachers, but the cardinals and aristocracy began persecution against them. Ignatius secured a personal meeting with Pope Paul III, and after a conversation that lasted an hour, the Pope decided to support Ignatius and his comrades.

On Christmas Day 1538, in the Church of St. Mary Magna in Rome, Ignatius celebrated his first mass.

In 1539, Ignatius and his comrades were faced with the question: what next? It was decided to officially form a community - a new monastic order. In the same year, Ignatius presented Pope Paul III with the Institutions - a draft of the future Rule, where, in addition to the three standard vows of obedience, chastity and non-covetousness, a fourth was added: the vow of direct obedience to the Holy Father. On September 27, 1540, the charter of the new order - the Society of Jesus - was approved by the papal bull "Regimini militantis ecclesiae".

During Lent 1541, Ignatius Loyola was elected the first superior general of the order (abbreviated as “general”).

During these years, Ignatius was involved in coordinating the activities of the order, created the “Constitution”, and dictated the “Autobiography”.

The “Spiritual Exercises” (“Exercitia Spiritualia”) of Saint Ignatius, approved by Pope Paul III on July 31, 1548, are a combination of examination of conscience, meditation, contemplation, verbal and mental prayer. The exercises are divided into four stages - weeks (the name “week” is quite arbitrary; depending on the success of the exerciser, each week can be shortened or increased). The first week is a cleansing week (vita purgativa). During this period, a person remembers the sins committed in the history of the world and by himself, in his personal life, making efforts to “achieve primary conversion”: to leave the state of sin and find grace. The second week is enlightening (vita illuminativa), it is devoted to prayerful reflection on the earthly life of Jesus: from His Nativity to the end of His public ministry. The second week is seen as preparation for a decision, an answer to the call to follow Christ, for a certain life choice. The third week is union with Christ in His suffering and death on the cross. Thus, the practitioner dies with Christ in order to be resurrected with Him. Fourth week - Resurrection and Ascension. The spiritual fruit of all weeks lies in the highest contemplation for the sake of finding love (contemplatio ad amorem), which makes it possible to love everything in God, and God in everything.

Favorite prayer of Ignatius of Loyola:

Anima Christi, sanctifica me. Corpus Christi, salva me. Sanguis Christi, inebria me. Aqua lateris Christi, lava me. Passio Christi. comfort me. O bone lesu, exaudi me. Intra tua vulnera absconde me. Ne permittas me separari a te. Ab hoste maligno defende me. In hora mortis meae voca me. Et iube me venire ad te, ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, give me drink.
Water of the side of Christ, wash me,
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me:
Hide me in Your wounds.
Don't let me separate from You.
Protect me from the evil one.
At the hour of my death, call me,
And command me to come to You,
So that with Your saints
praise You
forever and ever.
Amen.

Origin and childhood.
Ignatius Loyola was born on October 24, 1491 in the castle of Loyola - in the possession of his parents, in the city of Azpeitia, in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque country. He came from an ancient and noble family, but impoverished. It is interesting that Ignatius was the 13th child in a family of 14 and the seventh son in a row. According to the current principle of primogeniture, that is, inheritance of real estate only by the eldest son, in the future Ignatius was left with nothing. At birth he was given the name Inigo de Oñas, the surname Loyola - due to his belonging to the family castle, and he later took the name Ignatius. His father is Senor Beltran Ibañez de Oñas, his mother is Senora Maria Sanchez de Licona, also belonged to a noble family from the Basque country. It is worth noting that he spent his childhood in the north of Spain, the part of the Iberian Peninsula least exposed to the influence of the Moors. Here the Christian faith has lived and developed since the time of the Goths.
He lost his parents early. His mother died in 1506 or 1507, and his father had also died earlier.
Since his family was noble, Inigo became a page as a child; he came to the court through the treasurer of Castile, Juan Velazquez. He begins his service at the court of Ferdinand II of Aragon, husband of Isabella I of Castile. And here his service proceeded without any special differences.

Military service. Defense of Pamplona.
Time passed, Inigo already became a knight at the court of Ferdinand and also lived an ordinary life for a man of his position. All knightly entertainments were not alien to him. As he himself said, he had great success with women. And he also fought quite a lot.
By 1521 he becomes the defender of Pamplona. There is a war going on between France and Spain over Navarre, a border region. And so the defense of Pamplona, led by Inigo de Loyola, becomes a turning point in his life. There were many Navarrese living in the city who went over to the side of the French, so Inigo decided to surrender the city, and he and his troops retreated to the fortress. This happened on May 20, 1521, and the next day, May 21, the enemy began a siege of the castle in which the Spaniards locked themselves. The French superiority was overwhelming, but the Spanish soldiers, led by Inigo de Loyola, bravely held back the French onslaught. At some point, when the siege had lasted long enough, Inigo was seriously wounded. The shell flew between his legs, breaking one of them and slightly crippling the other. In the end, the castle was surrendered, but the French acted in a chivalrous spirit. Noting Inigo's bravery and courage, they gave him to their doctors, and then carried him on a stretcher to Loyola Castle.

Introduction to religion.
The severe wound Inigo received required surgery. Already in his parents' castle he undergoes this operation. All this takes months, filled with unbearable pain and suffering, no anesthesia, the medicine is very weak. The operation was unsuccessful, the bone healed incorrectly and Inigo decides to break his leg again. It is difficult to imagine what kind of torment Inigo de Loyola endured then; in addition to physical suffering, it was also the understanding that he was now a cripple. He probably could have endured any kind of physical suffering, but the realization that he was now helpless should have affected him the most. After all, he is a knight! Conqueror of ladies' hearts and brave warrior! Now all this will never be returned.
At Loyola Castle, during these sufferings, he asked to bring him chivalric novels, to read, to distract himself, to relieve boredom. But they were not there, but there was the Bible and the Lives of the Saints. Reading these books seriously captivated him. And he definitely finds a way out of this seemingly dead-end life situation. Knightly service, but not to the king, but to Christ - he sees this in the examples of saints canonized by the church. In this ministry, his courage, his bravery, and his charisma will be useful.

Pilgrimage to Montserrat.
Montserrat is a monastery in the center of Catalonia, near Barcelona, belonging to the Order of Saint Benedict. Its main shrine is the Black Virgin Mary. This statue of the Mother of God, carved from ebony around the 12th century, has attracted pilgrims throughout the centuries. The peculiarity of the monastery is its inaccessible position in the rocks at an altitude of more than 720 meters above sea level.
It is unknown how, having climbed into this monastery on his crippled legs, he performs a kind of ritual, and like knights serve the chosen lady of the heart, he takes an oath of knightly service to the Virgin Mary. He no longer looks like the knight we imagine him to be, but like a wandering monk, a traveler, in rags.
While he was there, thoughts began to ripen in him, which would later form the basis of his sermons, and later form the charter of the Society of Jesus. These are thoughts about how to achieve spiritual perfection, how to serve God and the like. He also wanted to tell everyone exactly how to serve. He doesn’t just serve himself and serve there, no, he teaches others, instructs, shows “how it should be done.” Subsequently, he would develop an entire pedagogical system, adherents of which still exist all over the world to this day.
Ignatius was constantly engaged in self-flagellation and self-abasement, observed strict fasting, cared for the sick, feared sins, and confessed. He did all this sincerely, of course, there was a large share of fanaticism in him, which originated in the suffering at Loyola Castle.
In the small village of Manresa, located near Montserrat, where Ignatius lived at the end of 1522, he had a vision and received “the great light of understanding.” Now he no longer doubts that he must defend the true faith, the Catholic Church, the Pope, as the direct representative of God on earth.

Pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
At the beginning of 1523, Ignatius goes to the Holy Land, a place where there are so many infidels - Muslims. At the same time, he is uneducated, but along the way he says that he communicates with God, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary personally. All this arouses suspicion among others. In Jerusalem, his desire to stay in a monastery on the holy land is denied. He returns to Spain. Meanwhile, his strange behavior attracted the attention of the Inquisition.

Inquisition.
He understands that he needs to get an education. Ignatius studies Latin at the University of Alcala de Henares. And at the same time, he constantly preaches and communicates with everyone who asks for it. And the Inquisition arrests him, but, not seeing heresy in his actions and speeches, releases him. Ignatius, so as not to tempt fate, leaves Alcala and goes to Salamanca. In Salamanca he again has relations with the punitive church body. As a result, he decides to go to Paris.

Paris.
It is worth noting that he walked to Paris on his crippled legs. And for this, by the way, you need to cross the Pyrenees. Ignatius’s self-flagellation does not stop. He begins studying Latin again, and at the same time something like a circle rallies around him. He attracts attention with his extraordinary behavior. Finally, he received the title of Master of Theology - he can already preach.

In Paris, people such as Francis Xavier, Jacob Lainez, Pierre Emile Lazare Favre, Alfonso Salmeron and others rallied around Ignatius, who later became one of the founders of the Society of Jesus. And after a long conversation, something happens that will bring them even closer together. On August 15, 1534, they gathered in a church in Montmartre and took vows to go to Palestine on a missionary mission, and also took vows of chastity and poverty. But for now they all had to continue their education.

Venice, Rome, founding of the Society of Jesus.
In 1537, Loyola's associates gathered in Venice in order to go from there to Palestine and devote themselves to ministry there. While they were waiting for the opportunity to sail, they worked in hospitals, helped the suffering, and preached. But the war that broke out in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea did not allow them to sail to the Holy Land. I had to go to Rome. By this time, Ignatius Loyola had already been ordained as a priest. In Rome, Loyola and his comrades begin to preach and have great success, people really like to listen to their speeches. Loyola's popularity increases - an audience with the Pope becomes possible.

At this time, the struggle between the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation was in full swing. Luther's ideas are becoming increasingly popular. The Catholic Church is rapidly losing its position. At a meeting with Pope Paul III, Loyola apparently expressed ideas about creating an order, one of the main ideas of which would be the defense of the Catholic Church. In such a difficult time, it was akin to “manna from heaven” for Pope Paul III. Ignatius of Loyola receives the go-ahead to found the Society of Jesus. It is worth noting that Loyola, who had some popularity among the people and charmed the pope, had many opponents and ill-wishers among the aristocracy and even the top cardinals. But this did not prevent the creation of his order.

Loyola wrote the charter of the order personally, and in 1540 this charter was approved by the pope. The main tenets of the order are chastity, obedience, poverty and devoted service to God and the church, uncomplaining submission to this church and its head, the pope. The strict hierarchy of the order did not tolerate any objections to members of society higher in this hierarchy. The order became militant - it defended the church from all attacks on its power.

In 1541, Ignatius Loyola was elected first general of the Society of Jesus. After his election, Loyola served in the kitchen for several days - the elements of self-abasement in him did not disappear.

Uncomplaining submission to the elders in the order became its characteristic and main feature. Loyola said that the church needs to give everything, including your mind. The ideal Jesuit, as Loyola put it, should look upon his elder as Christ himself. Despite the fact that the Jesuit Order was voluntary, there were many who wanted to join it.

Loyola devoted the next part of his life to coordinating the order and writing his works. And in 1550, he decided to resign as general of the Jesuit Order, which everyone opposed. After much persuasion, he remained in his place. So he died in this position. It happened on July 31, 1556 in Rome, where he was buried in the Church of Jesus Christ.

Life after death.
In 1622, Ignatius of Loyola was officially canonized by Pope Gregory XV.
Loyola's works became widely popular, especially the famous "Exercitia spiritvalia" - "Spiritual Exercises".
The Jesuit Order gained enormous popularity, later becoming more of a political organization than the Society of Jesus. Jesuit schools were widely used. Jesuit missionaries penetrated into many countries of the world, where they successfully preached their ideas. Subsequently, Jesuits all over the world had a huge influence on the course of history - they took part in so many things that it’s impossible to list them all. But all this had little to do with Loyola. In the minds of Loyola, he remained “the foot soldier of the Pope.”

Loyola's early life

Don Inigo Lopez de Recaldo Loyola is the founder of the Jesuit order. He was born in 1491 at Loyola Castle in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa; came from a very ancient Spanish family that enjoyed great privileges at court. Ignatius (Inigo), was the youngest of 13 children; he spent his youth at the court of King Ferdinand the Catholic, first as a page and later as a knight; here he showed military courage, zeal for the church, and courtesy to the ladies. Loyola's scientific education was very limited. An outstanding feature of his character already in his youth was excessive ambition: he always wanted to stand out, to be the first. He chose the lady of his heart from the princesses of the blood. Loyola's favorite reading was the medieval novel Amadis of Gaul. He quickly became tired of the idle life of a court gentleman, and the desire for exploits and adventure drew him into military service. Loyola showed his religious zeal, among other things, in composing a romance in honor of St. Peter, his patron.

Appeal to religious service

While defending Pamplona against the French in 1521, Loyola was seriously wounded in both legs. Sent to his father's castle, he underwent a painful operation; At first they set his leg, but since this operation was unsuccessful the first time, they had to break his leg twice and set it again, which involved cutting off part of the overgrown meat. Loyola endured all this with heroic stoicism, but remained lame, incapable of either military exploits or a knightly lifestyle. During his treatment, he began to read the lives of saints, whose sufferings - especially Dominic and Francis - received in his eyes the same value as the exploits of knights and heroes had previously had. The Lives directed his passionate and active nature towards a new goal - to serve the Holy Church as a spiritual knight. Biographies of holy ascetics captivated him with their heroism and dedication. But this was not the same religious mood that made Luther a monk a little earlier. The German reformer, going to the monastery, cared primarily about his personal salvation, and the goal of Loyola’s aspirations was to serve the church. With his characteristic ambition, Loyola now wished to acquire heavenly glory through earthly suffering; the apostolic field was pictured before his eyes. He decided to become a spiritual warrior of Christ, the Mother of God and Saint Peter, the leader of Christ’s army. This revolution in the life of Loyola occurred in the very year (1522) when the reformation movement began in Germany, and for the new knight of Catholicism, the fight against heresy was to subsequently become one of the main tasks.

In March 1522, Loyola went on a pilgrimage to Montserrat near Barcelona, where the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary was kept. On the way, he strictly observed fasts and castigated himself. Having reached Montserrat, Loyola stood the whole night with weapons in his hands in front of the new lady of his heart and hung his sword and dagger in front of the image of Mary. Having then given all his clothes to the beggars, he decided to go to Palestine in rags to convert the infidels to Christianity. The plague delayed Loyola's departure, and he settled in the small town of Catalonia, Manrese, in the monastery of the Dominicans. Here he experienced a crisis reminiscent of Luther's spiritual mood in the Augustinian monastery. Loyola ate bread and water, stood on his knees for seven hours, drove away sleep and, according to legend, even lived in some kind of cave. The more he exhausted himself, the more his imagination became ignited. The heavens opened before him, he saw St. Trinity, Mother of God, Christ and saints. It seemed to him that the devil and demons suggested evil to him, and God and the angels showed the way to salvation. A new serious illness confirmed in him the decision to replace the hermitage with activities for the benefit of the church. To restore his strength, he softened the severity of his asceticism and even began to see in self-torture a grave sin towards God, who gave him both spirit and body.

In 1523 Loyola went to Italy, and from there as a pilgrim to Jerusalem. This was the time of development of Turkish power, which threatened all of Christianity. But Loyola did not speak Turkish, was not familiar with the teachings of Mohammed, and turned out to be very weak in Christian theology. The Palestinian Franciscans treated him with great distrust and tried to send him home. Loyola returned to Europe. Convinced that he needed knowledge to achieve his goal, at the age of 33 he began to study philosophy and theology in Alcala and Salamanca and at the same time taught the children of peasants and instructed them in the law of God. The Inquisition watched Loyola's strange behavior with suspicion. He was arrested twice and was almost sentenced to be burned.

Loyola Circle of Like-Minded People

Persecution forced Loyola to leave Spain: he settled in Paris (1528), where he hoped to find supporters among university youth and, with their assistance, found a society to convert infidels to Christianity. Loyola's knowledge turned out to be insufficient for admission to the Sorbonne; he had to first take classes in grammar and philosophy. In Paris, Loyola became close friends with two students of the Sorbonne, future leaders of his order - Lefebvre, a Savoyard, and Francis Xavier from Pampeluna. With material help, Loyola also won over several of his compatriots - Lainez, Salmeron, Bobadilla and Rodriguez. He captivated them all with the idea of founding an order to convert infidels and heretics into the fold of the true church, for the Protestants were already making a lot of talk about themselves. On August 15, 1534, all members of the Loyola circle gathered in Montmartre and here, in the church of St. Mary, took a vow of chastity and poverty and vowed to go to Palestine for missionary purposes, and if the latter turned out to be impossible, then to place themselves at the unconditional disposal of the pope.

Between 1535 and 1537, Loyola traveled to Spain, where he was generously provided with funds by pious people who even then considered him a saint. The small society of Loyola was soon (1537) joined by the Frenchman Jean Codur, the Genevan Le Get and the Dutchman Pascal Brouet, so that from the very beginning the international character of the future order began to emerge. In 1537 Loyola and his comrades gathered in Venice. On the occasion of the war between the Venetians and the Turks at that time, Loyola and his friends stayed in Venice, where the people began to look at them as saints, and the suspicious authorities, on the contrary, as dangerous people. Here they performed feats of selflessness, devoting themselves to caring for the sick who suffered from the most disgusting diseases. With his exaltation, Loyola had already attracted the attention of the Spanish Inquisition, so the troubles that happened to his company in Venice were not surprising. Due to the war, sailing to Palestine became impossible, and Loyola saw in this obstacle a higher will that destined him for a different field of activity. Even earlier, he and his friends had made a vow in the event of failure of missionary work in Palestine to be at the complete disposal of the pope. They now put this vow into practice, coming to the conviction that they could best serve the church by fighting the Protestants. Their idea of founding the Jesus squad (phalanx Jesu, later societas Jesu) was then already quite mature

Approval of the Jesuit Order by the Pope

In June 1537 Loyola and his comrades were ordained to the priesthood; at the end of the year they came to Rome, and two of them were appointed professors of theology at the University of Rome. The people willingly listened to the new preachers, but the cardinals and aristocracy launched a persecution against them, which soon, however, stopped. The then pope, Paul III, hesitated for a long time to agree to their request to approve the new order. He found oddities in Loyola's behavior and did not agree with some points of the draft charter. The pope was also dissuaded from consent by representatives of other orders, who were jealous of each other. However, the future Jesuits, living in Rome, had already become so famous for their asceticism, preaching, and works of charity from collected alms that the Portuguese king asked Loyola for missionaries for India, and Xavier and Rodriguez went to Portugal to answer this call. Loyola secured a personal meeting with the pope, which lasted an hour and completely ensured his position. Presenting the project of his order to the pope, Loyola added a fourth to the three usual monastic vows - chastity, poverty, obedience - constant service to Christ and the pope. In the autumn of 1540, Paul III, who ultimately saw the finger of God in all this (“digitus Dei hic est”), approved the order with the bull “Regimini militantis”, the first lifelong general of which was soon elected by Loyola himself, who had previously been ordained a priest.

Features of the Jesuit Order

The new order soon began to receive all sorts of benefits and privileges. In 1540 the number of members of the Society of Jesus was fixed at sixty, but in 1543 it received the right to have an unlimited number of members. In the forties, members of the Order of Loyola received the right to preach everywhere - on the streets and in churches - and to perform church duties everywhere (confession and communion), as well as the right to absolution in some cases that were papal (causae papales). The Jezuts were freed from subordination to the bishops, their general was declared directly subject to the pope, in addition to any intermediate authorities. Already under Paul III, the release of members of the order from some monastic vows and duties began, which continued under his successors. The Jesuit Order allowed spiritual and secular coadjutors, that is, members who, upon joining the Order, did not make an irrevocable vow to serve it. Pope Julius III made an exception from the obligation to observe the vow of non-covetousness for those members from whom the benefit of the church required life among rich people, allowed the institutions of the order to own real estate, nevertheless retaining the privileges of the mendicant orders (1550), and then released its highest dignitaries from the vow unconditionally obey orders concerning missionary work (1555). Finally, after the death of Loyola, the Jesuits, as they began to be called around this time, were freed from monastic life, and the society ceased to be an ordinary monastic order, acquiring the character of an institution unprecedented in the Catholic Church - a vast international spiritual-political corporation, with a unique structure, discipline, methods of activity, moral and political teachings.

Loyola's Spiritual Exercises

Loyola was fanatically devoted to the Catholic Church. If, he says, the Roman Church calls white black, we must follow it without hesitation. Loyola valued practical wisdom above all else; From new members of the order he demanded blind and unlimited obedience. His organizational talent was amazing. Loyola died in 1556 and was buried in Rome, in the Church of Jesus Christ. In 1622 he was canonized by Pope Gregory XV. The “Exercitia Spiritualia” (“Spiritual Exercises”) he compiled is a combination of prayer and self-examination, imaginary conversation with God and the saints. In the first week of the exercises one should ask for alms, in the second - imagine the image and life of Christ, in the third - the story of the passion of Christ, in the fourth - the resurrection of Christ. This was followed by three stages of purification: the first stage was reflection on past sins, the second was contemplation of Christ, the third was drawing closer to God. Having reached the 3rd stage, the penitent said a prayer: everything is in God, everything is from God, everything returns to God. The last word of Exercitia is unconditional submission to the Roman Church; their goal is to turn a person entering the order into an automaton, to kill all individuality in him. Morality turned into a mechanism; people fell under the power of some kind of moral hypnotism.

Literature about Loyola

Philipson M. Religious counter-revolution in the 16th century. Brussels, 1884

Gotham E. Ignatius of Loyola and the Counter-Reformation. Halle, 1895

Early years (1491-1521)

1521 Defense of Pamplona

1528-1534 Years of study. Paris

Essays

St. Ignatius of Loyola Spiritual exercises. Spiritual diary. - Moscow: Institute of Philosophy, Theology and History.
St. Ignatius of Loyola A pilgrim's story about his life, or Autobiography. - Moscow: College of Philosophy, Theology and History of St. Thomas Aquinas in Moscow, 2002. (translation by A. N. Koval)