St. Ignatius & the Origins of the Spiritual Exercises

St. Ignatius of Loyola was born in 1491 in the Basque region of Northeastern Spain, the youngest of 13 children during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. 

At the age of 16 he served as a page for Juan Valazques and raised to be a courtier in service of the Crown.

He lived, by all accounts, a "worldly" life, concerned about his appearance, known to be an expert dancer, consumed with winning glory for himself,  and engaging in raucous behavior.  

In 1517, he served the King in the army and in 1521 at the battle of Pamplona against the French, he refused to give up even though his men were ready to surrender. The fight ended when he was struck in the legs by a cannon ball. The French were so impressed by his loyalty and valor that they carried him back to his home at Loyola. This was his "cannonball moment" when the trajectory of life would change forever.

His healing and recovery was long and painful. His leg was re-broken and reset and a protruding bone sawed off so he could wear his tights customary for courtiers at the time. He did, however, walk with a limp for the remainder of his life.

While convalescing, the only books available to him were on the lives of the Saints and of Jesus. He would still dream of serving his King and winning the hand of a certain noblewoman which filled him with feelings of satisfaction for short periods of time, after which he would feel empty and dissatisfied. He found, that when he read and engaged his imagination on the stories of Jesus and the Saints he was deeply consoled for much longer with feelings of peace and contentment. This also fed a desire to be like the great Saints in service to Christ the King. He soon aspired to be a valiant soldier for Christ and to be greater than the greatest Saints.

In 1522, Ignatius began a journey to the Holy Land, desiring to serve Jesus on the ground on which he walked. Along the way, he stopped at the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat where he laid down his sword before the Blessed Mother and gave his garb to a poor man, donning instead the clothes of a poor pilgrim.

Resting in a cave at Manresa, which was meant to be for a short time, he prayed and journaled his experiences, insights, and awarenesses. He began to notice certain "interior movements" - those that drew him closer to God and those that drew him farther from God. This was the start of what was to become the Spiritual Exercises. 

He did manage to get to the Holy Land, but his plan to remain there engaged in his missionary work was thwarted when Church authorities there sent him home. They had enough to deal with without having to keep tabs on him to ensure he didn't get into trouble.

Desiring to bring souls to Christ, he entered a public school to learn Latin with school children while in his mid-thirties. He knew he needed to do this in order to enter University. Eventually, he did, but spent a great deal of time preaching and evangelizing which brought him to the attention of the Inquisition, three times. He did not yet have education in theology and was not ordained. This led him to the University of Paris where he befriended what were to become the first "companions of Jesus" and, eventually, the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits.