15. Ignatius the Saint.
Ignatius
summed up his early life, from 1491 to 1521 by saying, “He was a man given over
to the follies of the world.” In 1555 Ignatius humbly said that he could find
God at all times in all things. This was the growth of Ignatius from a worldly
man to a saint. It was a growth in interior freedom. With God’s grace and his
own cooperation he was able to overcome all his blocks so as to give himself
fully to God. God filled him with His love and grace and made him a saint.
Throughout his life Ignatius maintained a great accountability to God, to
others and to himself. He often engaged himself in prayer to discern the will
of God. He consulted others and was vigilant against being deceived by evil
under the appearance of good. God gave him a clear vision of life’s purpose and
filled him with love and grace so that his whole life became “a zealous service
of God with pure love.”
In Part IX
of the Constitutions Ignatius described the type of a man the General of the
Society should be. Everyone who lived with Ignatius, after reading this
account, said that Ignatius unknowingly described himself for he lived exactly in
that manner. Ignatius by the end of his life was a man very closely united with
God in prayer, and intimately connected with God in his generous service. He
possessed genuine humility. He was able to balance rectitude and the necessary
severity in dealing with others. He possessed a magnanimous heart and fortitude
of soul so as to bear the weakness of others.
Ignatius’
favourite word for himself was ‘the Pilgrim’. He was very conscious that God had
led him and taught him as a schoolmaster. His singular aim was to ‘dispose
himself’, i.e., to let God assume his actions into God’s own divine action. He
sought and found God in all things.
On 27th
July 1607 Ignatius was beatified by Pope Paul V. On 12th March 1622
Ignatius was raised to sainthood by Gregory XV along with his dear friend,
Francis Xavier.
"Placed with the Son"- A short biography of St. Ignatius
By Fr. Lawrence Dharmaraj, SJ
(From the personal study notes under the guidance of late Fr. Maurice Dullard, SJ.
A special thanks to Fr.Vincent Saldanha s.j for doing the necessary corrections))
