[KALKI]

Here he cites such “consciousness of illumination” or mystical revelations as experienced by Saint Ignatius:

“Saint Ignatius confessed one day to Father Laynez that a single hour of meditation had taught him more truths about heavenly things than all the teachings of all the theologians put together. One day, in orison, on the choir steps of the Dominican Church, he saw in a distinct manner the plan of divine wisdom in the creation of the world. On another occasion, during a procession, his spirit was ravished in God, and it was given him to contemplate the deep mystery of the Holy Trinity in a form and with images necessarily fitted to the weak understanding of a dweller on Earth. This last vision flooded his heart with such sweetness that, in later times, the mere memory of it made him shed abundant tears.”

Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491 – 1556) was a Spanish knight from a Basques noble family, a hermit, a priest and founder of the Society of Jesus; a male religious congregation of the Catholic Church. Members are called Jesuits. Today, the Jesuits are in engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations on six continents. Ignatius became the society’s first Superior General. The society participated in the Counter Reformation (beginning with the Council of Trent in 1545 and ending at the close of the Thirty Year’s War in 1648); a movement whose purpose was to reform the Catholic Church from within and to counter the Protestant Reformation spreading throughout Catholic Europe (See Martin Luther Part I page 31).

St_Ignatius_of_Loyola_(1491-1556)_Founder_of_the_Jesuits[1]During recovery, after being seriously wounded in battle, Ignatius underwent a spiritual conversion causing him to abandon his military career and devote himself to working for God. During this time he read the “Da Vita Christi,” by Ludolph of Saxony (the result of 40 years work by the author) and this work greatly influenced Ignatius. He also experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus following which he practiced serious asceticism and prayed for seven hours a day, often in a cave. As a result, Ignatius then composed the “Spiritual Exercises,” a set of meditations, prayers and mental exercises divided into four thematic weeks during a religious retreat. In 1662 he was canonized and declared patron of all spiritual retreats and is a foremost patron saint of soldiers.

The portrait of Saint Ignatius of Loyola was painted by Peter Paul Rubens (1577 – 1640).

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