ABSTRACT
Ignatius of Loyola (canonized as a Saint in 1622) was the founder of the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits. Born in the Spanish-ruled Basque country, Ignatius experienced a religious conversion following a severe injury suffered in 1521 during a siege. He subsequently travelled to the Holy Land on pilgrimage and studied in Paris. Gathering a small number of followers, Ignatius decided to found a new religious order, the Society of Jesus, dedicated to active evangelization and apostolic ministry. The new religious order was approved in 1540 by Pope Paul III and Ignatius became the first Superior General of the Society of Jesus until his death. The ‘spiritual diary’ of Ignatius, written in his own hand in 1544–5, was not a diary in the sense that we might understand today. Instead, it was a series of daily notes and reflections that Loyola penned when he was wrestling with important questions affecting the future of the newly created Jesuit Order. Nevertheless, it offers a unique window into the mind of the founder of the Jesuits and the emotional turmoil and tensions that he suffered in his spiritual life as head of the Jesuit Order. These tensions were particularly acute from 2 February to 12 March 1544 as Ignatius deliberated about the kind of poverty that the new order would embrace in its constitutions. The diary is replete with references to emotions: from tranquillity to uncontrollable tears and sobs caused by love for God.
