On May 20, 1521, one man’s fate–and faith–was changed forever. Ignacio de Loyola was a soldier who was called to defend the city of Pamplona against the French. As he stood on one of the wall towers, he was struck by a cannon ball. With both legs injured, he was carried back to his home in Loyola where he spent the next few months recuperating. The rest, as they say, is history. But this ‘cannon ball moment’ effectively changed not only his life, but countless others. This marker is found in front of the San Ignacio de Loyola Basilica in Pamplona. It says “Here San Ignacio de Loyola fell wounded…
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In Search of San Ignacio de Loyola
Some months ago, my JesCom team and I found ourselves in Spain following the footsteps of San Ignacio de Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. This was part of our initial research on the great Basque saint whose life we are (bravely) putting on the big screen sometime in 2015. We wanted to walk in his shoes for a few days. By doing so, perhaps we would be able to tell his story better. In Gipuzkoa, we marveled at the beauty of his hometown, Loiola, and the grandness of the castle where he was born. We attended mass inside the room where he convalesced after being…
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An Afternoon in Montserrat
Montserrat is a Catalan word which means “serrated mountain”. It pertains to the unique rock formation of the mountain chain near Barcelona, Spain. While in Barcelona, I was lucky enough to visit the Our Lady of Montserrat Basilica which is nestled among these beautiful formations. The Basilica was built and is still maintained by Benedictine monks. It was considerably damaged during the war with the French and was only repaired at the end of the 1800s. The main attraction of the shrine is the Black Virgin of Montserrat. Also referred to as “La Moreneta” or “The little dark-skinned one,” it is a wooden statue supposedly carved by St. Luke (the…
