Who was Saint Ignatious of Loyola?
Ignatious of Loyola, whose name by birth was Iñigo of Loyola, is considered by the Catholic Church to be one of the greatest saints of all time. He was the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) along with his friend Saint Francis Xavier of Navarre and was the author of the “Spiritual Exercises.” In 1622 he was canonized (declared a saint) along with Saint Francis Xavier. He is the patron saint of Gipuzkoa and of Bizkaia and his saint day is celebrated on the 31st of July. Iñigo was born in 1491 in castle of Loiola in Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa. He was in the military and during the defense of Pamplona, besieged by the French troops, his foot was wounded. During his recuperation, he did lots of reading and decided to dedicate his life to God. Once recuperated, in 1522, he went to the Monastery of Montserrat and later retired to Manresa. During that time, Ignacio conceived and redacted the main ideas of the Spiritual Exercises. In 1528 he went to study in Paris and met his friends with w
