By: Phoebe Meeth, Caroline Sattely, Amanda Lubben Ignatius of Loyola By: Phoebe Meeth, Caroline Sattely, Amanda Lubben

IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA Ignatius of Loyola was a soldier and noble who hunted down to create a new religious practice. Stressing compliance to the church above all, Loyola ran the Jesuits like a military organization. The Jesuits focused on education as a means of battling the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church began to regain ground against Protestantism, with such in effect administrations.

The start of the Jesuits On May 20, 1521, Ignatius was hit by a cannonball and acquired a fracture to hit left leg and damaged his right leg. This tragedy led to Ignatius turning to God. When he underwent painful surgery and was bedridden for many weeks, he read books on the life of Christs and the lives of Saints. After many considerations, he decided to imitate the rigorousness of the saints because he wanted to receive forgiveness for his sins

The start of the Jesuits In February 1522, Ignatius of Loyola left his hometown and went to Montserrat. Montserrat was a place of pilgrimage. There he spent the night in prayer. After visiting Montserrat, he went to Manresa. He stayed there for a year.

The start of the Jesuits In Manresa, he ate little and lived as a beggar. Every day he would go to mass and spend seven hours in prayer. In Manresa, he also wrote the basics of his book The Spiritual Exercises. In 1534, he founded the Jesuits. In 1548, Pope Paul III approved his book. Ignatius’ book, The Spiritual Exercises, is a set of Christian meditations, prayers, and mental exercises. He used it to give his followers, the Jesuits, spiritual retreats

The Jesuits during the Counter-reformation There were a few efforts to reform the Church from the inside. For instance, the Jesuits copied the Dominicans and Franciscans. Oddly enough, many looked to humanists like Erasmus as an importance to the Church's entire reformation. They dodged any clash with the spiritual authority of the clergy or the Pope, but Many reformers criticized abuses as had Luther. For individuals indifferent by the plea of the Jesuits and who still obeyed to Protestant heresy, the Church had to resort to more critical actions. The Inquisition, originated in the 13th century, extended its activities and heretics were issued to punishment, torture and death.

Importance of the Jesuits and Ignatius of Loyola The Jesuits were one of the main leading groups of the Counter-Reformation. Ignatius Loyola’s work was an important counter to Martin Luther and John Calvin. The entire reason Ignatius became popular and well-known is because of his work on the Jesuits. He used up most of his life on doing the work that landed him the credit he has today and rightfully deserves. Out of all the priests and followers of Loyola, he himself, set the highest expectations for the Society and how to make it better and mold it into the revolutionary order. Ignatius Loyola’s Jesuits entirely changed the Roman Catholic Church in the quality of it. The Jesuit order contributed to an important part in the Counter-Reformation and ultimately succeeded in changing millions around the world to Catholicism.

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