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As July 31, 1556, was dawning, Ignatius of Loyola uttered his last words, “O my God!” Quickly, the news of his death spread through the streets of Rome. People exclaimed, “The saint has died.”
In 1622, Ignatius was indeed proclaimed a saint. Gregory XIII’s declaration echoed what the common people knew all along: “Ignatius had a heart big enough to hold the universe” (Mary Purcell, The First Jesuit: Saint Ignatius Loyola [1491–1556], p. iv).
Certainly Ignatius had founded a new religious community, schools and universities, and institutions to serve poor people, but people most remembered his great and generous heart, which embraced women and men of all kinds and the God who dwelled among them.
Even though Ignatius lived five hundred years ago, his spirituality remains a rock of strength and wisdom. His spiritual exercises continue to guide men and women to a more profound commitment to Jesus the Christ. His story exemplifies unabashed love of God and courageous love for other people. Ignatius challenges us to follow him in doing all things for the greater glory of God.
Ignatius’s Story. The words “revolution” and “discovery” describe the world into which Ignatius was born in 1491. Within a year of his birth, the monarchs Ferdinand V of Castile and his wife, Isabella I, had thrown…
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