 What do you notice about this statue?  What do you think this image says about St. Ignatius?

 Short video on the life of Ignatius of Loyolavideo

 What do you remember from this video?  Who was St. Ignatius of Loyola?

 Born in 1491 in Basque Region between Spain and France  Named Inigo Lopez de Loyola  Youngest of…..wait for it…….13 children  Soldier and cad

 Battle of Pamplona between French and Spanish  Captain wanted to quit  Inigo convinced him to fight on  Leg broken by cannonball.  French brought him home to recuperate

 Leg set wrong. They had to re-break it.  Leg finally set, but with bone protruding  Sawed off bone  Ignatius walked with a limp for the rest of his days.

 Only two books to read: Life of Christ and the Lives of the Saints  2 things about which to daydream: living like Jesus and the saints, and winning the love of a certain woman.  When thinking about Christ and the saints, he would feel satisfied and deeply happy  When thinking about the woman, he would feel restless.

 What do you daydream about?  How do you feel after your daydreams?  Are you inspired to make them a reality?  Or do you only daydream about things that you can’t attain?

 After his conversion, and against his family’s wishes, Ignatius left on pilgrimage to Montserrat, a monastery in northeastern Spain.  From there, he wanted to go to Jerusalem, by way of Barcelona

 Ignatius’ first stop on his pilgrimage was Arantzazu, a chapel in the mountains.  Interaction with a Moor

 Ignatius arrives to Montserrat and lays his sword and armor down at the foot of the Black Madonna

 Upon leaving Montserrat, Ignatius traded clothes with a beggar.  News of this spread, and Ignatius became known as a saintly man.  On his way to Barcelona, he stopped off in a cave for a few days in the village of Manresa  He stayed for 10 months  Extreme penance

 While praying by the Cardener river, Ignatius had a “vision” that God is in all things  Developed beginning of “Spiritual Exercises”

 Finally goes to the Holy Land  Franciscans there kick him out.  Goes to University in Barcelona and Salamanca to study and to convert souls  Twice gets thrown in jail by the Spanish Inquisition

 Goes to the University of Paris  Gives a retreat (Spiritual Exercises) to several friends  Ignatius and 6 others decided to take vows

 The newly formed Society goes to Rome, hoping to be sent to the Holy Land  Pope says no because of danger.  They ask Pope what he would have them do.  He asks them to form a religious order to teach and preach.

 Ignatius is a man of passion and extremes.  If you were making a biopic film on St. Ignatius of Loyola, who would you want to play him?  Why?  Who else do you know who exhibits these characteristics?

 A way of viewing the world and the divine.  Involves both beliefs and practices.  EG: Ignatian spirituality, Franciscan spirituality, Tibetan Buddhist spirituality.

 Family?  Soldier?  Conversion?  Manresa?  Holy Land?  Education?

Ignatius’ Moral Compass

 The human person is created to praise, reverence, and serve God Our Lord, and by doing so, to save his or her soul. All other things on the face of the earth are created for human beings in order to help them pursue the end for which they are created. It follows from this that one must use other created things, in so far as they help towards one's end, and free oneself from them, in so far as they are obstacles to one's end. To do this, we need to make ourselves indifferent to all created things, provided the matter is subject to our free choice and there is no other prohibition. Thus, as far as we are concerned, we should not want health more than illness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long life more than a short one, and similarly for all the rest, but we should desire and choose only what helps us more towards the end for which we are created.

 Why is it a good idea to have a “Principle and Foundation?”  Why is it a good idea for the coaches of Notre Dame football to have a “principle and foundation before he begins a game.”  What are your goals?  Getting into college?  What courses to take next year?  Having a girlfriend?  Glory in the classroom? Or on the sports field?  What is guiding you in these choices?

 30 day silent retreat  Talk only once a day with a spiritual director  Divided into 4 weeks  Point is to be, like Ignatius, aware of our innermost feelings and desires.  When are we in consolation?  When are we in desolation?  19 th Annotation

 Latin etymology: “Con Solari“ (with comfort )  Not just happiness, but deep, abiding peace.  A sustained feeling of joyful peace.  Like when Ignatius day-dreamed about living a life like Jesus and like the Saints.  Christmas morning, e.g.

 Latin etymology: “desolare” (condition of being ruined or wasted).  Not necessarily sadness or depression.  A feeling of frustration restlessness, unfulfillment.  Like when Ignatius day-dreamed about winning the love and admiration of the woman on the Spanish court  A feeling of “I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

 Name two times in your life when you have been a state of desolation?  Name two times in your life when you have been in a state of consolation?  Write these in your notebooks.  You will be asked to discuss one of them with your neighbor.

 Sin is disorder  In ourselves  In our world (Shadow of Hate)  Disorder is being attached to things other than God  Principle and Foundation  What are some things to which you are attached?  Facebook?  Cell phone?  Certain kind of food or drink?

 Ignatius writes about 3 classes of men, all of whom want not to be attached to things.  1.) Someone who wants to detach, but never tries.  2.) Someone who wants to detach, but only does so conveniently, without every actually giving anything up.  3.) Someone who wants to detach, and doesn’t care how that detachment happens.

 The retreatant’s spiritual life follows the life of Jesus.  What experience in Ignatius’ life would have formed his desire to explore people’s emotional responses to Jesus’ life?  What about Jesus’ life do you find inspirational?  Reading from  “Eyes on Jesus”

 The retreatant experiences what it was like to have sin and disorder overtake him, like Jesus did.  Like Jesus  When in Ignatius’ life did he experience deep sadness or pain?  Reading from “Eyes on the Cross.”

 Redemption  Consolation  When in Ignatius’ life did he experience redemption?  When in your life have you ever felt redeemed?

THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs— Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil ; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs— Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

3 ways to decipher God’s will for us

 What is discernment?  Understanding and distinguishing between the movements of one’s heart.  What does it mean?  What is God saying to me?

 Ignatius says we make decisions in 3 circumstances.  1.) When we know clearly the right decision to make.  2.) When we have strong feelings on the matter.  3. When our emotions are calm.

Lightning Bolt from God When might Ignatius have experienced clarity beyond doubt? Ignatius and meat

 What the deepest part of us wants and desires.  God speaks to us through our deepest desires.  Where may Ignatius have experienced this in his life?

 thoughts  imaginings  emotions  inclinations  desires  feelings  repulsions  attractions

 Only if the first two don’t work do we use reason and logic  But this reason/logic should still be based on the Principle and Foundation.

GOOD LOGICBAD LOGIC  Does Wal-Mart promote justice in the world?  How do they treat their employees?  Is shopping there better serving God and God’s beloved?  Wal-Mart sells the cheapest stuff and I don’t want to spend a lot.  Wal-Mart has everything in one place and I don’t want to walk a lot.  A really cute girl I know works at Wal- Mart.

 What is a decision you may have to make in your own life?  Let’s apply Ignatian principles to this decision.

 Ignatius’ life  How did his life experiences affect the way he saw God?  Spirituality  What characterizes Ignatius’ spirituality?  What are the Spiritual Exercises?  Discernment.  How does Ignatius believe we should make decisions?