Sometimes in our rush to admire saintly people we forget the circumstances of their life that brought them to holiness. Ignatius of Loyola is a great example.
Before he became a hermit, a priest, a theologian, and the first Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (which he founded), he was like so many of the gentry of his day and ours. Inigo Lopez de Loyola was an aristocrat who was a little vain, had that sense of immortality that young people seem prone to, and was always on the lookout for ways to advance himself. His favorite form of entertainment was reading the popular heroic novels of the day.
Then his life changed completely.
After surviving many battles without injury his luck changed when a cannonball wounded one of his legs and broke the other. Heavily injured he underwent several painful surgeries and a long period of convalescence. His chief concerns during this time were how his leg would look in the tight-fitting hose that were the fashion of the day, and how he would obtain something decent to read while he recovered.
His high-society friends seem to have abandoned him because all he could find to read were the Bible and various tracts on the lives of the saints. But this proved to be the spark that would fire an ambition to follow in the steps of the great monastics, and dedicate his life and labor to converting non-Christians in the Holy Land.
He hung up his military gear, as an offering to Mary, and began a life he never would have dreamed of even a few years before.
I have tried to show in this work some of the passion and zeal with which Ignatius of Loyola must have taken up this new life. This is the first in a series of small original works executed in response to requests from collectors.
“Ignatius of Loyola,” 5″ x 8″ mixed media. This original painting can be purchased in the store.