Today our group had breakfast fairly late – 8am – before preparing to load the busses for our journey to Loyola – the birthplace of Saint Ignatius. But, our departure was not without a little bit of drama provided, naturally, by Joey Barvir. As we prepared to load our luggage onto the bus for the 3+ hour trip to Loyola, Joey realized that his passport was…missing. Joey swore that the last place he had it was in his pocket on the day we arrived in Lourdes and that it had not been out of that pocket or room since. None-the-less, it was simply gone. We TORE his luggage and room apart searching for nearly ½ hour as the rest of the pilgrims prayed to Saint Anthony. Finally, near exasperation, the travel agent traveling with us informed us that she had it. Only thing we could figure was that it had somehow fallen out of his pocket onto the floor, it was found by the maid when she was cleaning the room and had turned it in to the reception desk. Tragedy averted, we started our journey to Loyola.
Arriving in Loyola we went to a local restaurant – both the group from Harrisburg and Fort Wayne – South Bend – where we enjoyed a very nice lunch (comida) of roasted chicken, French fries (we seem to get those a lot), and ice cream for dessert. Following lunch we walked across the street to the “Holy House” – the place where Saint Ignatius was born (1491), and where he experienced his first turning toward the Lord.
Saint Ignatius was born to a rich family and served in the military. During the battle to defend the city of Pamplona, he was struck by a cannonball which shattered his right leg and badly injured his right. He was taken home (to Loyola – to the “Holy House”) for his long recuperation. During months of bed rest, he read many books – so many that they ran out of things for him to read. He asked if there was anything else at all. All they could find was a book on the life of Christ and the Lives of the Saints. When he thought about all the glorious things he could do as a soldier, he felt momentarily happy. When he stopped thinking about these things, he felt let down and discontented. However, when he thought about the great and holy deeds of the saints, especially Saints Dominic and Francis of Assisi, he experienced exhilaration and joy. He came to realize that only doing God’s will would bring him to true peace. From then on, he redirected all his efforts and work “All for the Greater Glory of God” (ad majorum Dei Gloria – the motto of the Jesuits, which he founded).
It wasn’t long until Saint Ignatius, drawing upon his own experience while recuperating, that he wrote what we know as the “Spiritual Exercises” of Saint Ignatius – a 30-day retreat which helps the retreatant to learn themselves, interact with the Lord in prayer, and discern God’s voice in their lives (called the discernment of spirits). Gathering a group of men around him, the Jesuits became a major force in the Church and in the missions. It was, in fact, the Jesuits who brought the faith to far away places such as China (St. Francis Xavier) and North America (Sts. Isaac Jogues and John deBerubuff (not sure of spelling) – whom we commonly call the North American Martyrs – feastday in October).
Following our visit to the “Holy House” our combined pilgrim group celebrated Mass in the Basilica of St. Ignatius, right there in Loyola – a beautiful church with wonderful acoustics. Following Mass we got back on the busses and headed toward Burgos – where we had a late dinner and got some rest for tomorrow’s journey to Madrid – the site of World Youth Day.
P.S. Then tonight we went down to the Cathedral in Burgos - a BIG youth festival was going on... what a GREAT time!
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