He was a Basque, born in 1491 – the year before Christopher Columbus discovered America. He was a young, romantic military officer in the Royal Court at Madrid, when William Shakespeare was working in the theaters of England.
His spectacular entrance into history came when he was 30 years old. He was the commanding officer in the defense of the Castle of Pamplona, in the war against the French. Spain surrendered, but Loyola did not. He went on defending the castle. He was fighting a war of his own.
His Junior Officers wanted him to surrender, but he probably thought that, even though Spain had surrendered, the negotiations over the terms of peace might break down, and then Spain would be glad that they still held that Castle of Pamplona.
He was on the roof of the castle, at the ramparts, when a French cannon ball smashed his leg. Then, when Loyola was unconscious, his Junior Officers surrendered. He was carried to his own castle in the Basque territory of Loyola, where the doctors set the break in his leg. But it healed crooked.
Loyola said: "Break it, and set it again!" This was an heroic thing to say, because in those days there was no anesthesia. They put a rubber bit into his mouth, while they operated, so that he would not shatter his teeth. But it healed crooked. Loyola said: "Break it, and set it again". The doctors were reluctant to do this, but being in Loyola’s own castle, they did it. And it healed crooked. Loyola said, grimly: "Break it again!" The doctors said: "We are going home." And they went.
During his recovery, Loyola asked for books on romance. None were available. They gave him a life of Christ, and a collection of the lives of the saints. He was touched to the soul, and decided to follow God, rather than the King.
He went to Manresa, where he offered his sword to the Virgin Mary. He was thinking: "I want to consecrate my life to God, through you, Mary. This sword represents my life. This sword is me!" And he placed his sword upon her altar, at the feet of the Virgin. This is the statue that you see in front of the military cathedral of Bishop Arguelles, in Camp Aguinaldo.
Then Loyola went to confession. It took him three full days. At the end o the third day, the confessor said: "Stop!" So he stopped. In a cave at Manresa he wrote his "Spiritual Exercises". Pius XI described these Exercises as "the wisest and most universal spiritual code for guiding the soul on the path to salvation."
Driven by a desire to bring God to men, he began to preach in the streets. These were the days of the Inquisition. So he was questioned by the authorities about his ordination to the priesthood. When he said: "I was never ordained", he was thrown into jail. Finally he went to Paris, studied theology, and was ordained a priest.
In Paris he found Francis Xavier and a few more good men, who were also reaching out to God. He founded the Jesuits, the Society of Jesus, in 1540, when he was 49 years old. The Jesuits have no special charism. They are trouble shooters, looking only for the will of God as expressed by the Vicar of Christ, the Holy Father. They have a special vow of obedience to the Pope.
In 1540 the Protestant Reformation was raging. The great need was schools. So the Jesuits went into education. At that time the world broke open like an egg: Columbus discovered America; Vasco de Gama sailed around the tip of Africa to the East; the expedition of Magellan circled the globe – the crying need of the hour was missionaries. So the Jesuits became missionaries. Then came the Renaissance, when "enlightenment", "science" was everything. So the Jesuits went in for science.
Loyola was always trying to do things that seemed impossible, relying on the grace of God, relying on prayer. He is quoted as saying: "Pray as if everything depended on God. But work as if everything depended on you." He never said that. He was a leader of men, an excellent decision maker, realistic, both feet on the ground, but he was also a mystic.
What he said was: "Pray as if everything depended on you – knowing that you can not do it, knowing that God must do it, through you, or you will fall flat on your face. But then work cheerfully, joyously, confident that God will take care of the outcome. Work as if everything depended on God! Because with God, all things are possible."
So he sent a handful of educators to build schools in Germany; a handful of missionaries to the great continents of India, led by Francis Xavier; missionaries to the two continents of North and South America; a few scientists to set up Observatories. And they changed the face of the earth.
And he was human! A German Jesuit wrote to him in mild protest about the Minister of their Jesuit community. The Minister takes care of all things temporal: finance, food, supplies, transportation, furniture, the day-to-day needs of the men. The Jesuit said: "Our Minister is a holy man. He scourges himself every night. He does not sleep in a bed. He sleeps in a chair. He fasts almost every day. But he is very hard on the Jesuit community! When they ask for things which they really need, he is very reluctant to give them. And he speaks so harshly to the young men, that they do not want to go to him anymore. Our present suffering is this: he is putting water into the beer! He is Spanish himself, and maybe the Spanish wines can be cut with water. But you can not put water in the German beer!"
Loyola wrote to the Minister: "From now on, you will not scourge yourself. You have no permission for that kind of penance. And you must go to bed every night. And you have no permission to fast. Eat normally. Your penance is to be good to the Jesuits in your community who come to you. Whatever they need, you should supply! Remember – you are the servant of every Jesuit in the house. You are not to be a tyrant, in any way!".... He signed the letter. But, on reading the letter of complaint a second time, he added: "And please! Do not put water in the beer!"
Loyola was a soldier; he was a man. Camillus de Lellis was a soldier. Laurence of Brindisi rode into battle armed with a crucifix. Joan of Arc led the armies of France to victory when she was only seventeen years old. The soldier can reach out to God – if he tries. And when he tries, God always reaches out to him. The soldier is the servant of the people. And that is where God is – in people!