Born in 1491 at the castle of Loyola, he joined the army at the age of seventeen as a young man who liked to fight. He developed a reputation as a dueler and one story suggests he killed a Moor in a dispute over the Divinity of Christ. 

Ignatius fought in many successful battles for the Duke of Najera and was never injured until he was given command of his own troops and that is when his fortunes changed. 

In 1521, while defending Pamplona, he was struck by a cannonball which broke one leg and badly damaged the other so severely that doctors had to remove a portion of it for him to survive. 

During his recovery, Ignatius had a spiritual conversion. Reading extensively about the Life of Christ and the Saints, he was especially moved by De Vita Christi which requires the reader to place themselves at the scene of every Gospel. 

This book, and The Life of St. Francis, would influence Ignatius for the rest of his life and be important as he formed his spiritual exercises. 

In 1524, after seeing Our Lady in a vision, Ignatius made a pilgrimage to Monte Serrat, near Barcelona, where he took his sword and laid it before an image of The Blessed Mother. 

He remained there for ten months while working and begging for food and living and praying in a cave. 

Ignatius also had visions that would become part of his spiritual exercises. 

He went on to finish his education and, ultimately, roomed with Peter Favre and Francis Xavier, teaching them his spiritual exercises and soon others joined them. 

They went to Rome and asked permission from Pope Paul III to start a new order and that permission was granted. 

Ignatius was reluctantly elected as their leader. They called themselves, The Society of Jesus. 

By the time of his death, this new order had thirty-five schools, and one thousand members and was well on its way to educating young people around the world. 

St. Ignatius of Loyola, please pray for us.