Annjanete T.

Pagdanganan

July 27, 2015

RS 55 EA
Personal Narrative of the Life of St. Ignatius Loyola

In the year 1491, St. Ignatius Loyola was born in Basque country, Spain. His real name is
Iigo Lopez de Loyola. His family were prosperous and generous. In his adolescence, he became
a page and then a soldier for the king. During those years, his goal in life solely focuses on his
own physical appearance, pride, fame, and achievements. He also created mess like a delinquent,
living a life far away from God.
A life changing event for St. Ignatius started during his battle against the French army in
1521. It was in the fortress in Pamplona were they were attacked. Only few soldiers were
designated in that area. All Spanish soldiers lost hope and prepared to surrender, except for St.
Ignatius. He stood and fought against the French army but a cannonball hit his legs, wounded
one leg and broke the other leg. The French soldiers did not arrest St. Ignatius for their
astonishment for his courageous act and allowed him to go back to the castle. He underwent
surgeries and recuperation. He was bored and found only 2 available books, Life of Christ and
book of Saints. As he read the books, he regained the purpose of his life. He started to become a
follower of Christ.
To be a priest, he studied theology and Latin at the age of 30. He met companions in a
college in Paris. They vowed chastity, poverty and obedience. They created the Society of Jesus,
a religious order. St. Ignatius became the first superior general. He instructed his companions to
spread and preach the gospel. The Society of Jesus grew and St. Ignatius died in 1556.

Reflection

As I read the life of St. Ignatius Loyola, I was reminded how great and powerful God is
to change a person. St. Ignatius in his teenage years was focusing on his own life and goals. He
focused on the things that was good for his self. To make him realized that he should not focus
on his own life, God planned to make him his follower. St. Ignatius was wounded in the battle.
While recovering, he read 2 books, the instruments God used to convert him. He became Gods
follower and created the Society of Jesus. So instead of judging and being angry to the
delinquents and black sheep, I should just pray for them to become Gods followers and become
inspirations of others.
I was amazed by how courageous St. Ignatius was. He stood and fought back against the
French army. (If I were in his shoes, I would chickened out and surrendered.) This character of
St. Ignatius encouraged me to be like him. There will be times in my life wherein I would be put
into trials. I should possess this character in order for me to pass the test and be a worthy
follower of Jesus Christ. I would be able to preach the gospel to people without hindrances and
attract people to be Gods followers.
I also learned that it is never too late to try and to never give up until you reached your
goal, like St. Ignatius who studied Theology and Latin at the age of 30 and became a priest. I
should never give up my course even though the years of my studies will be extended due to a
failed subject. I should make it as my strength and think of it as Gods way of telling me that I
should learn it again for me to understand it fully since it is fundamental for my course. I was

also reassured that sufferings will mold me. Sufferings allows me to learn things. I should never
give up when problems come because I know God never allowed sufferings that I cannot handle.