The Jesuit Guide To (Almost) Everything - James Martin [7]
In 1537, Ignatius and several other companions were ordained. The newly humble man postponed celebrating his first Mass for over a year, to prepare himself spiritually for this signal event and perhaps, he hoped, to celebrate it in Bethlehem. When that proved impossible, he settled on a Mass at St. Mary Major Church in Rome, which was believed to contain the “true crib” of Jesus.
In time, Ignatius won over his critics by carefully explaining the aims of his group and also by leading a few of his detractors through the Spiritual Exercises. In 1540, the Society of Jesus was officially approved by Pope Paul III. The goal of the Jesuits was both simple and ambitious: not, as is usually thought, to “counter” the Protestant Reformation, but, rather, to “help souls.” This is the phrase that appears most often in the early documents of the Society of Jesus.
Ignatius spent the rest of his life in Rome as the superior of the Jesuits, writing the Jesuit Constitutions, sending men to all corners of the globe, corresponding with the Jesuit communities, continuing his spiritual counseling, starting Rome’s first orphanage, opening the Collegio Romano (a school for boys that soon developed into a university), and even founding a house for reformed prostitutes called the Casa Santa Marta. Ignatius continued his work on the Constitutions and his management of the increasingly large religious order until his death.
By the end, years of asceticism had taken a toll. In the last year of his life, he suffered from liver problems, high fevers, and physical exhaustion, in addition to the stomach problems that had plagued him all his life. Eventually he was confined to his room. In his final days, the Jesuit infirmarian, the one in charge of those who were ill, reported hearing “Father Ignatius” sighing during his prayer and calling out softly, “Ay, Dios!” He died on July 31, 1556.
Ignatius Among the Stars
At night [Ignatius] would go up on the roof of the house, with the sky there up above him. He would sit quietly, absolutely quietly. He would take his hat off and look up for a long time at the sky. Then he would fall to his knees, bowing profoundly to God. . . . And the tears would begin to flow down his cheeks like a stream, but so quietly and gently that you heard not a sob or a sigh nor the least possible movement of his body.
—Diego Laínez, S.J., one of the early Jesuits
Today St. Ignatius Loyola may not elicit the kind of warm affection that many other saints do—like, say, Francis of Assisi or Thérèse of Lisieux, the “Little Flower.” Perhaps this is a result of the austere tone of his autobiography. Perhaps it is because his letters are often concerned with practical matters, including begging money for the new Jesuit schools. Perhaps it is because some portraiture shows him not as a lighthearted young man but as a grim-faced administrator seated at his desk—though Peter Paul Rubens’s painting, now in the Norton Simon Museum in California, depicts him gazing heavenward, wearing richly brocaded red vestments, his face streaming with tears of joy. Rubens had better insight into Ignatius than most artists: he belonged to a group of lay Catholics organized by the Jesuits.
Contemporary accounts portray Ignatius as an affectionate man, given to laughter and frequently moved to tears during Mass or while in prayer. Still, some modern-day Jesuits persist in envisioning him as a stern father. An elderly Jesuit once said to me about the prospect of heaven, “I have no problem with Jesus judging me. It’s Ignatius who worries me!”
But his ability to gather devoted followers shows that there must have been tremendous warmth to the man. His deep compassion also enabled him to bear with some difficult personalities in the Society of Jesus. One of his contemporaries wrote, “He is mild, friendly, and amiable so that he speaks with the learned and unlearned, with important and with little people, all in the same way: a man worthy of all praise and reverence.”
In all things, actions and conversations