Hello everyone. I hope you are well and keeping safe. Today is the feast day of St. Ignatius Loyola. I am sure you know his phenomenal story. A soldier who was wounded badly in the legs and told to prepare for his death, instead, in his recovery, he started reading about the lives of the saints and the famous book by Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ.
After being dismissed time and again for his lack of training as a cleric, he went back to school in his late thirties (I think) which was considered old back in the 16th century. With the approval of the Pope, he began the Religious Order called the Society (or Companions) of Jesus. His order was eventually nicknamed the Jesuits. The rest, as they say , is history, a fascinating history.
He died this day in 1556. His personal charism and his companions did so much to respond intelligently and fairly to the Reformation challenges of the day (Martin Luther among others were having tremendous success calling people away from Catholicism!). Ignatius primarily called people back to the discernment of their own spiritual lives. We are forever grateful to this complex saint who helped us to think and pray at the same time.
Happy Feast Day to all the Jesuits throughout the world, especially to our Holy Father Pope Francis.
Here is a quote I never heard before that is attributed to Ignatius:
In the case of those who are making progress from good to better, the good angel touches the soul gently, lightly, sweetly, as a drop of water enters a sponge, while the evil spirit touches it sharply, with noise and disturbance, like a drop of water falling on a rock.