From Party Animal to Saint: The Amazing Story of Ignatius of Loyola
St Ignatius might surprise you – a saint who started out as what we might call a “party animal” today. His story proves that God can work with anyone, no matter how far they seem from holiness.
The Wild Young Man
Ignatius wasn’t born “Ignatius” – his name was actually Iñigo López de Loyola, and he was born around 1491 in the Basque region of Spain. Picture this: he was the youngest of thirteen children in a noble family, and boy, did he live it up! He was obsessed with being a courtier – think of him as the 16th-century equivalent of someone chasing fame and fortune on social media.
Young Iñigo was vain about his appearance (he even had surgery to fix a leg that healed improperly because he thought it made him look bad in tights!), he gambled, he chased after women, and he was quick to pick fights to defend his honor. He was basically living for himself and worldly success. Sound familiar to some of the pressures young people face today?
The Life-Changing Moment
Everything changed in 1521 when Iñigo was 30 years old. He was defending the fortress of Pamplona against the French when a cannonball shattered his leg. During his long, painful recovery at the family castle, something extraordinary happened.
He asked for some romance novels to pass the time (yes, they had those back then!), but the only books available were The Life of Christ and The Lives of the Saints. Bored and bedridden, he started reading them. As he did, he began to notice something fascinating about his thoughts and feelings.
When he daydreamed about worldly success – military glory, winning some lady’s heart, becoming famous – he felt excited at first, but then empty and restless. But when he imagined imitating the saints, serving God, and helping others, he felt a deep, lasting peace and joy.
This was his first taste of what he would later call “discernment of spirits” – learning to recognize which thoughts and desires lead to true happiness and which ones lead to emptiness.
The Radical Transformation
Once his leg healed enough, Iñigo made a complete 180. He hung up his sword at a shrine to Our Lady, gave away his fancy clothes to a poor man, and spent almost a year in a cave at Manresa, praying and learning about the spiritual life.
It wasn’t easy – he went through periods of intense spiritual joy and terrible darkness, almost to the point of despair. But through it all, he was learning, taking notes, and developing what would become one of the most influential spiritual guides in Christian history: The Spiritual Exercises.
A New Kind of Education
Here’s where it gets really interesting for you young adults: at age 33, this former party animal decided he needed to go back to school! He sat in classrooms with teenagers, learning Latin grammar and basic subjects he’d never bothered with before. Talk about swallowing your pride!
He studied at universities in Barcelona, Alcalá, Salamanca, and finally Paris, where he earned his master’s degree at age 44. But this wasn’t just about personal achievement – he had a vision of serving God through education and helping souls.
The Birth of the Jesuits
At the University of Paris, Ignatius (he’d changed his name by now) gathered a group of six friends who shared his passion for serving God. In 1540, Pope Paul III officially approved their new religious order: the Society of Jesus, or as they’re commonly known, the Jesuits.
These weren’t your typical monks hidden away in monasteries. The Jesuits were like spiritual special forces – highly educated, mobile, ready to go wherever the Pope sent them. They became famous for their schools, their missionary work around the world, and their scholarship.
Ignatian Spirituality: Finding God in Everything
What made Ignatius’s spirituality so revolutionary? Here are the key points that still speak to young people today:
1. God Meets You Where You Are: You don’t have to be perfect to start a relationship with God. Ignatius was proof that God can work with anyone, no matter their past.
2. Pay Attention to Your Heart: That practice of noticing which thoughts brought peace and which brought restlessness? That’s still the foundation of Ignatian spirituality. God speaks to us through our deepest desires and the movements of our hearts.
3. Find God in All Things: Unlike spiritualities that see the world as evil, Ignatian spirituality teaches that you can find God everywhere – in your studies, your relationships, your work, even your struggles.
4. Make Good Choices: The Spiritual Exercises teach a method of decision-making that helps you choose what leads to life and happiness, not just what feels good in the moment.
5. Serve Others: True spiritual maturity shows itself in service to others, especially those who are struggling or marginalized.
Why This Matters to You
I know some of you might be thinking, “That’s a nice story, but what does a 16th-century Spanish nobleman have to do with my life?”
Here’s the thing: Ignatius understood something that’s still true today – we’re all searching for meaning, for purpose, for something that will make us truly happy. He tried the world’s version of success and found it lacking. But he also discovered that God’s call isn’t just about giving things up; it’s about finding what you’re truly made for.
Whether you’re trying to figure out what to study, what career to pursue, who to date, or just how to be happy, Ignatius’s approach of paying attention to what brings deep peace versus what brings restlessness is incredibly practical.
The Jesuits he founded went on to establish some of the world’s greatest universities and became leaders in science, arts, and social justice. They showed that faith and learning, serving God and serving the world, aren’t opposites – they go hand in hand.
A Final Thought
St. Ignatius died in 1556, but his influence lives on in Jesuit schools around the world, in retreat centers that offer the Spiritual Exercises, and in countless people who’ve learned to find God in their daily lives.
His feast day is July 31st, and his motto was “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” – “For the Greater Glory of God.” Not a bad way to approach life, whether you’re choosing a college major or deciding what to do this weekend.
Remember: if God could transform a vain, fighting, gambling courtier into one of the greatest saints in history, imagine what He might have in mind for you. The adventure of faith isn’t about becoming boring – it’s about becoming the amazing person you were created to be.
“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.” – St. Ignatius of Loyola