A Message on the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola
July 31, 2021
On this day in the year of Our Lord 1556, Ignatius Loyola died in Rome. When Ignatius was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622, July 31st was chosen as his feast day. And today, throughout the world in Jesuit communities and in Jesuit works, we celebrate the life of a visionary, a mystic and a person certainly graced by God.
St. Ignatius’ inspiration to cast aside a life of privilege and to take up a life of generous service for “the greater glory of God” has guided Saint Louis University since the first Jesuits began as teachers and administrators of the St. Louis College in 1829.
During his life, St. Ignatius and his Jesuit companions helped to lead the renewal of the Church, promoted the sharing of the Gospel with others near and far, established the foundation for what is today the largest system of private education in the world and exhorted Jesuits as well as nobles and common folk to care for and advocate for the poor and the marginalized. His Spiritual Exercises have given us a powerful method of prayer that leads a retreatant to prayerfully consider one’s relationship with God and one’s place in the beauty of God’s creation. The Spiritual Exercises reflected St. Ignatius profound experience of God and his great desire to discern what God desired of him. As Pope Francis observed in 2017, “Like Saint Ignatius of Loyola, let us be won over by the Lord Jesus and, led by Him, place ourselves at the service of others.”
I would be remiss should I not acknowledge that so many of you who are reading this message on this feast day have and continue to place yourselves at the service of others. We are also grateful for your generosity and prayerful support of the University. We all walk in the footsteps of those who have come before us and, like St. Ignatius and his first companions, we, too, seek for justice, equity and opportunity for all whom we meet. Let us take inspiration from the example of St. Ignatius and continue as pilgrims on a journey guided by faith, filled with hope and inspired by love. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
A wonderfully well-done video biography of St. Ignatius was produced by Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire ministry. You can watch it here.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us!
Fr. David J. Suwalsky, S.J.
Vice President | Mission and Identity