Ignatius of Loyola

Inigo Lopez de Loyola, who later took the name Ignatius, was the youngest son of a nobleman of the mountainous Basque region of northern Spain. Trained in the courtly manner of the time of King Ferdinand, he dreamed of the glories of knighthood and wore his sword and breastplate with a proud arrogance.

When Ignatius was born in 1491, the Middle Ages were just ending and Europe was entering into the Renaissance. So Ignatius was a man on the edge of two worlds. Europe of the late 15th Century was a world of discovery and invention. European explorers sailed west to the Americas and south to Africa, and scholars uncovered the buried civilizations of Greece and Rome. The printing press fed a new hunger for knowledge among a growing middle class. It was the end of chivalry and the rise of a new humanism. It was a time of radical change, social upheaval, and war.

In an attempt in 1521 to defend the Spanish border fortress of Pamplona against the French artillery, Inigo's right leg was shattered by a cannon ball. His French captors, impressed by the Inigo's courage, carried him on a litter across Spain to his family home at Loyola where he began a long period of convalescence.

During that time, he read several religious books, the only reading material readily available. These books and the isolation of the recovery period brought about a conversion which led to the founding of the Jesuits. Ignatius began to pray. He fasted, did penance and works of charity, dedicated himself to God and, after some troubles with the Spanish Inquisition, decided to study for the priesthood.

As a student in Paris he drew a small band of friends to himself and directed them in extended prayer and meditation according to his Spiritual Exercises. After further studies, the first Jesuits were ordained to the Catholic priesthood in Venice and offered themselves in service to Pope Paul III. In 1540, Paul III approved the Institute of the Society of Jesus. Ignatius was elected General Superior and served in that post until his death in 1556 at the age of 65.

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Our Way of Proceeding

Certain attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior join together to become what has been called the Jesuit way of proceeding. The characteristics of our way of proceeding were born in the life of St. Ignatius and shared by his first companions. Jerome Nadal writes that the form of the Society is in the life of Ignatius. God set him up as a living example of our way of proceeding.

General Congregation 34 considered which of these characteristics we need especially to draw upon today and the form they must take in the new situations and changing ministries in which we labor:

Deep Personal Love for Jesus Christ
Contemplative in Action
An Apostolic Body in the Church
In Solidarity with Those Most in Need
Partnership with Others
Called to Learned Ministry
Men Sent, Always Available for New Missions
Ever Searching for the Magis

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Ignatian Spirituality

Ignatian Spirituality is a way of encountering ourselves and the world that encourages us to find God in all people and things. Ignatius Loyola developed this spirituality based on various prayer experiences he had throughout his life. A key element of Ignatian Spirituality is examining one's day and seeing how God was present and how one chose to respond to God's presence. Another important element is the Spiritual Exercises, a retreat (really a method - a way of praying and thinking) that helps people to discern how to respond to God's ever present activity in their lives. A phrase that sums up this type of spirituality is: All for God's Greater Glory and Honor.

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Maryland, New England and New York Jesuits

The Maryland, New England and New York Provinces are three of ten Jesuit provinces in the United States. The Jesuits of the Maryland, New England and New York provinces serve in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. They also serve in Chile, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Jordan, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and throughout the world.

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A Vowed Life in Common

St. Ignatius of Loyola imagined religious life in non-conventional terms. His monastery was the world; his prayer, to find God in all things; his work, whatever helped people. In this setting, the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience become instruments to enable Jesuits to do the work of God's realm.

The vow of poverty is focused on using one's energies, talents, time and resources for the good of others. In an age when possessing means power over others, Jesuits take a serious promise to live in a public way as Christ did, believing that people are more important than things.

Chastity centers on one's affective, sexual life. It is a vow which orients one's energies to a love people can trust. Jesuits should be men of openness and availability. Their chastity is the willingness to be available to all, not exclusively to one person or to one family. The Society of Jesus looks for men who are capable of directing their affective life towards all people, caring for them with the integrity of Christ himself.

Obedience, the touchstone of Jesuit life, is the call to find and follow the will of God, through prayer, discernment and dialogue with one's superior. The Jesuit places his entire being at the disposal of God for the service of God's people, to do the work of God's realm as presented to him by the Society through the superior.

Jesuits serve as teachers, campus ministers, archivists, scholars, and administrators at our eight middle schools, twelve secondary schools, four colleges and five universities. Jesuits of the Maryland, New England and New York Provinces are involved in communications and publishing, using the resources of the mass media to promote the spread of the Gospel. We serve immigrant Latino populations through leadership training programs. Through our retreat ministries, we provide the opportunity for people to spend time away "with the Lord" or to receive spiritual direction. Other apostolic works include ministry to the sick, the aged, the outcasts of society, a center for social analysis and parish ministry. In this broad spectrum of apostolic outreach, we seek to be of service to our brothers and sisters and to do all things for the greater glory of God.

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Jesuit Documents

General Congregation 35

The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola

Standing for the Unborn

What Makes a Jesuit High School Jesuit?

The Struggle Against AIDS Must Be Based on Human Rights