St. Ignatius Of Loyola Medal and Necklace

Sterling Silver St. Ignatius Of Loyola Medal and Necklace

14KT Gold Filled St. Ignatius Of Loyola Medal and Necklace

14KT Gold St Ignatius Of Loyola Medal

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Saint Inigo (or Ignatius) Loyola, born in the year 1491, was a son of the illustrious, ancient family of Loyola in Spain. In his youth he served as a page to King Ferdinand of Spain. Soon tiring of the soft court life he sought the life of a soldier. The Duke of Najera, a relative accepted him into his service, and Ignatius, brave and universally popular, quickly won fame in the conquests of Najera.

In the summer of 1521, a small group of Spanish soldiers were defending the city of Pamplona (formerly Pampeluna) against an invading army. Ignatius fell, wounded. An army surgeon unskillfully set the broken leg, and in consequence the wounded soldier underwent several operations, which, in the end, left him lame. During a long convalescence, it was the Will of God that Ignatius, having little else to read and amuse himself with, should have placed into his hands a Life of Jesus. and a volume of the Lives of the Saints.

Dedicating His Life to Our Lady

In consequence, one night, strongly moved by longings for higher things, Ignatius arose from his bed, and kneeling before a picture of our Lady, dedicated himself in an ardent prayer to his Blessed Mother. Soon thereafter he retired to the great sanctuary of our Lady which nestles under the crags and peaks of Montserrat. On the way he had bound himself by a vow of chastity in honor of Mary. After scaling the precipitous mountain Ignatius began his new way of life with a general confession made to a Benedictine monk, a saintly Frenchman.

Laying aside his fine clothes he spent the night in prayer before the statue of our Lady within the old church. And at dawn at Mary’s shrine he hung up his rapier and dagger before receiving Holy Communion. Later he descended the rough mountainside and sought shelter in the hospice of St. Lucy in Manresa. There he would live a life of poverty and prayer among the poor of Jesus Christ. In the cave of Manresa God communicated to him choicest gifts, and revealed that system of Christian perfection which is known as the Spiritual Exercises.

The Society of Jesus

A spiritual fire had been enkindled in his heart for the salvation of all souls. However, his plan for the evangelization of the Holy Land failed; and he now realized, in 1524, that more education was necessary He clearly saw that a new Order was needed, and he commenced to gather in companions. Realizing that he should not confine his work to Spain alone, he went to Paris in 1528 to complete his studies. At the college of St. Barbara, Ignatius met St. Francis Xavier, James Lainez, Peter Favre, Simon Rodriguez, as also others, who later joined with him when he founded the Society (Company) of Jesus to fight for the greater honor and glory of God.

On Christmas night, 1538, in the subterranean chapel of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, in Rome, where the relic of the holy crib of Bethlehem is kept, St. Ignatius said his first Mass. For eighteen years he labored unceasingly for the salvation of souls. In 1556, at the age of sixty-five, he passed away with the word, “Jesus, Jesus”, on his lips. He was canonized in 1622 by Gregory XV, and his relics lie in a sumptuous chapel within the Church of the Gesu, which was built in place of Santa Maria della Strada, in Rome.
St. Ignatius of Loyola Rosary
UPC: 617759340174
Brand: Bliss