The Ignatian Year!

Who was St. Ignatius?

St. Ignatius came from a family of minor nobility in Spain’s northern Basque region and, in his early years, had dreams of personal honour and fame.

All that began to change one day in the spring of 1521. Ignatius was 30 years old at the time, a Knight at the Spanish Royal Court. Leading his fellow fighters into a battle against the French that they were sure to lose, he was struck by a cannonball in the leg. During a difficult recovery, in his family’s house, Ignatius asked for books about chivalry, his favourite reading. But nothing was available. He had to settle for a book about the life of Christ and biographies of the saints and he found these unexpectedly riveting.

St. Ignatius had always dreamed of imitating heroic deeds, but now, the heroes had names like Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena. Ignatius also noticed something extraordinary happening to him. God, he realized, was working within him — prompting, guiding, inviting.

Over the years, Ignatius became expert in the art of spiritual direction, collecting his insights, prayers, and suggestions in his book the Spiritual Exercises, one of the most influential books on the spiritual life ever written. With a small group of friends, Ignatius Loyola founded the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits. Ignatius conceived the Jesuits as “contemplatives in action.”

Read more here

About the Ignatian Year

Ignatian Year is a worldwide celebration of the spiritual transformation of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The celebration will last for 14 months from May 20, 2021 – July 31, 2022. It marks the 500th anniversary of the conversion of Ignatius from a military man to a saint where he was injured by a cannonball and went through a lot of suffering and pain and during this time, he had experienced the love of God in his life. During this year, there will be activities for the larger Ignatian Family, other activities more relevant for our companions in mission and occasions more specifically dedicated to Jesuits that will aim to strengthen our familiarity with God and to learn more and more to see God in all things in Christ.

We celebrate a very strange event: the wounding of the founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius of Loyola at a battle in Pamplona in 1521. That event changed the course of his life; it led to the foundation of the Society of Jesus which in turn provoked dramatic changes in the Church and in the history of Catholicism.

On 20 May 1521, The Basque soldier Ignatius of Loyola was defending the city of Pamplona (Spain) against French troops. He gets hit by a cannonball. His legs are shattered. He barely survives and has to spend months recovering. His previous dreams of worldly success and fame are also shattered. He will walk with a limp for the rest of his life.

During his recovery, Ignatius has nothing to do. He is given a book on the life of Christ and a collection of lives of the Saints to read. He does so reluctantly at the beginning, but then gets inspired and wants to imitate the saints. He radically changes his life, centring it on Christ. He leaves for a long pilgrimage in Europe and the Holy Land.

On his long pilgrimage of conversion, St. Ignatius found true freedom. The cannonball moment of St. Ignatius happened 500 years ago, but we all can live a moment of change, conversion, transformation.

 

Why celebrate the Ignatian Year?

It is good to remind ourselves that the wound Ignatius suffered in Pamplona was not so much a happy ending, but rather a happy beginning. Conversion consists sometimes of great moments of change, but it is also a never-ending process. We need to put Christ in the centre every time, again and again. This process is a pilgrimage along winding roads, up and down, sometimes having to retrace our steps, sometimes feeling lost. But meeting people along the road who indicate the way and reach out their hands to us. — Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus

The Ignatian year will be a time for spiritual renewal for the Jesuits and an opportunity to share the richness of the Ignatian heritage with others. The programs will help to meet the twin objectives of renewal and communicating the Ignatian resources with those who belong to the Ignatian Family, the laity and others. — Fr. Jerome Stanislaus D’Souza, SJ, President of Jesuit Conference of South Asia

The CannonBall Moment

Saint Ignatius of Loyola was hit by a cannonball in Pamplona on 20 May 1521. This moment changed his life. It started a conversion which ultimately led to the foundation of the Society of Jesus. But this kind of experiences does not only happen to a Saint 500 years ago. It can happen to everyone, albeit maybe not in such a dramatic way.

The Official Ignatian Year Prayer

Loving God,

We come before You asking for Your special grace as we go through the year dedicated to the memory of the conversion of Saint Ignatius.

We remember the battle of Pamplona, the bravery of Ignatius, his recklessness, his ability to relate to his comrades. We remember his wound; his broken dreams; his apparent failure; the vulnerability of his health; his return to Loyola and the long days of soul searching to try to find his way in life, finally surrendering his life to You as he listened to Your voice speaking to him through his reading, his dreams, his prayers and his imagination. We remember his journey to Manresa; his inner struggles; his desire to reach out to others, helping souls to discover the consolation of Your Risen Son. We ask, Lord, that You renew, also today, Ignatius’ spirit in us.

May we grow closer to his total trust in the Holy Spirit, following Him faithfully, neither running ahead or falling behind. May we make our own his ability to discern, his courage, his vulnerability, his search for companionship; his openness to young people and his desire to share with them his wisdom. May we learn from his fearlessness in going forward even if it meant, sometimes, making mistakes. Grant, Lord, that we may be on fire with his apostolic zeal and full of love for this beautiful but broken world.

Help us, Lord to set aside our narrow views, our preconceptions of ourselves, of each other, of our world and to see everything with new eyes. Help us to live ever more deeply the Ignatian charism of seeing all things new in Christ, of seeing Your grace at work, even in darkness and suffering. May this Ignatian Year help us to know Jesus poor and humble, to love Him more dearly, and follow Him more closely.

We ask the intercession of Our Lady of the Way. May she help us journey with Your Son, Jesus, putting our hand in His, stepping out, every day, into the world with a sense of adventure, of love and hope.

Amen.

Videos of the Ignatian Year

Further Reading

Parts of the content on this page have been taken from the following external links, and we are grateful for the content.