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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Spirituality: Ignatius after his imprisonment in Salamanca


Ignatius was released from his 22 days of imprisonment in Salamanca with the stipulation that he is prohibited from catechizing on certain subjects because he was not ordained and lacked formal training.

He found great difficulty in remaining in Salamanca, for in the matter of helping souls it seemed to him that the door had been closed by this prohibition....

The same desire that he had to help souls, and for that reason to study first and gather some others for the same purpose and to keep those he had, did not fail him. Resolving to go to Paris, he arranged with [his companions] to wait there while he went to see if he could find some means by which they could study.

Many important persons strongly insisted that he should not go, but they could never dissuade him. ... When he arrived in Barcelona all those who knew him advsied him against the journey to France because of the great wars there, recounting many specific examples, even telling him that they put Spaniards on roasting spits, but he never had any kind of fear.

(Olin and O'Callaghan, Autobiography, pp. 70-71)

4 comments:

  1. I am grateful that "many important persons... could never dissuade him". I suspect this was true with many issues for St. Ignatius but I thank God for the devotion and persistence of St. Ignatius.

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    1. Once he knew what God wanted, that was all that mattered. He was a reasonable man open to new ideas as long as they led to God's greater glory.

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  2. It always inspires me to read stories like this. Fortitude in the face of doubt is such a grace.

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    1. He certainly had zeal that drove him closer toward God. Such courage is too often frowned upon by authorities because it seems a person is acting out of unmet needs. I'm very grateful for Ignatius' zeal. It inspires me to go back to original sources.

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