Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

Íñigo López de Loyola was born in 1491 at the castle of Loyola in the Basque country and grew up as a courtier and soldier. In 1521, defending Pamplona against the French, his leg was shattered by a cannonball. During his long recovery, finding no romances to read, he read a life of Christ and lives of the saints, and resolved to change his life. At Montserrat he left his sword before the image of the Virgin, and at Manresa spent months in prayer, writing the first notes of his Spiritual Exercises.

After years of study, questioned more than once by the Inquisition, he gathered companions in Paris, among them Francis Xavier, and in 1540 the pope approved their Society of Jesus. He governed it from Rome until his death on 31 July 1556. He was canonized in 1622.