Jesuits!
Objection: “The Jesuits are the Gestapo of the Pope. They were
founded to oppose the light of the Reformation and are known for
their cunning, their advocacy of dubious moral principles, and their
deceptiveness!”
On 15th August 1534, in the crypt of the church of Montmartre in Paris,
seven men renounced the world. They were Ignatius de Loyola, Francis
Xavier, James Laynez, Alphonsus Salmeron, Nicolas Bobadilla, Peter
Faber and Simon Rodriguez. Of these seven, all were Spanish except the
latter two, who were from Savoy and Portugal respectively. Little did any
one suspect at the time that a movement had begun that would profoundly
shape world history for the next five centuries.
At the same time that Martin Luther was raising the banner of revolt
against the Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church, God was raising
another individual to combat his divisiveness and impiety. That man was
St. Ignatius de Loyola. Born into the noble Loyola family, Ignatius in his
youthful manhood was caught up in the sentimental chivalrous spirit of the
Renaissance, desirous of fighting heroic wars and charming the ladies at
Court. It was while taking part in a siege of a local castle in Pamplona,
Navarre, that a cannon ball fired in the battle exploded close enough to him
to shatter one of his legs. From this physical injury that befell Ignatius, God
was to draw many spiritual blessings.
In the months of recuperation that followed, Ignatius was principally
concerned about whether he would ever walk normally again, and whether
his damaged leg would end up shorter than the other. Boredom set in, so he
commanded one of his servants to get books for him to read in order to pass
the time more easily. When the servant returned he told Ignatius that all he
could find was a book on the life of Christ and some others on the lives of
the Saints. At first indignant, Ignatius soon resigned himself and began
reading them.
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