Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola 2022 Marks the Closure of Jesuits’ Ignatian Year

Fernando, R. (2022, July 31). Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola 2022 Marks the Closure of Jesuits’ Ignatian Year. Messenger, p. 4-5.

Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola 2022 Marks the Closure of Jesuits’ Ignatian Year

The 31st of July, according to the liturgical calendar of the universal Church, is the feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus (1540) commonly known as Jesuits all over the world. This year, the celebration of this feast is particularly important to the entire Jesuit family numbering over 15,000 members worldwide and belonging to approximately 80 provinces and regions spread across 112 countries in the world. In Sri Lanka, over 100 Jesuits are working in all but the Anuradhapura diocese in the fields of social service, education, retreat, spiritual accompaniment, pastoral care, dialogue, reconciliation, ecological awareness, and justice. The feast of St. Ignatius this year is important because this day marks the end of the quincentenary year (1521-2021) of the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola proclaimed as the ‘Ignatian Year’ (20^th May 2021 – 31^st July 2022) by Very Rev. Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, in his letter addressed to the universal body of the Society dated 27^th September 2019. 

Why was the Ignatian Year so important? 

The Ignatian year marks the cannonball moment or wounding of the founder of the 16^th-century Company known as the Society of Jesus. A noble Basque knight he was, Ignatius of Loyola was defending the city of Pamplona (Spain) against French troops when his legs were shattered by a cannonball in 1521. It was indeed a cannonball moment because with that turn, his previous dreams for worldly honor, pride, glory, and fame were also shattered. Instead, his newfound joy was to do things that would bring more honor, glory, and fame to God than to himself. It indeed marked the conversion of Saint Ignatius popularly highlighted by the three introspective questions he himself asked while convalescing on the bed: “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I do for Christ?” It is that event that changed the course of not only the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, but it is that which led to the foundation of the 16^th-century Company which in turn provoked dramatic changes in the Church as well as in the history of Catholicism.  

 

With the motto chosen as “To see all things new in Christ”, therefore, the Ignatian Year was heralded by the Superior General as an opportune time for each and every Jesuit and community a) to be renewed by God himself; b) to be in touch with and make known to others their spiritual root (i.e., Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, the Constitutions of the Society of the Jesus, and Our Way of Proceeding exemplified by the First Companions headed by St. Ignatius himself); c) to relive one’s own cannonball moment or conversion experience; d) to hear the cry of the poor, the excluded, and those whose dignity has not been respected in diverse social and cultural circumstances in which we live and work in our day-to-day life; and, e) by accompanying the youth and participating in the collective effort that seeks to heal the wounds of nature and prepare a better world for future generations.  

Closure of the Ignatian Year 

With the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola celebrated on the 31^st of July 2022, the Ignatian Year comes to an end. Once again, given the situation of the island nation, while the closure is going to be at the personal, community, or district levels, each according to its need and capacity, the Roman Curia has recommended that each of these celebrations should culminate with the renewal of the consecration of the Society of Jesus to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

 

On the 1^st of January 1872, Father General Pieter Jan Beckx consecrated the Society to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which was approved by the 23rd General Congregation in 1883. Later, in 1915, as a means of embracing the "munus suavissimum" entrusted to the Society by the Lord to promote devotion to his Sacred Heart, the 26^th General Congregation of the Society confirmed the Apostleship of Prayer (AOP), which was approved by Pope John Paul II in 1986 and developed today into the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (PWPN), as a good way to carry out this mission. On June 9th, 1972, one hundred years after Fr. Beckx, SJ, Fr. Pedro Arrupe SJ, the then Superior General of the Society of Jesus (1907-1991) commonly known as the second founder of the Society, reconsecrated the Society to the Heart of Christ. This year, Very Rev. Fr. Arturo Sosa SJ, the incumbent Superior General of the Society, will renew this consecration once again on the 31^st of July 2022 on the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola. 

 

Therefore, while celebrating the feast of its founder is a good occasion to live and share the joy of the moment with Jesuits, friends, benefactors, beneficiaries, and collaborators of the Jesuits’ mission, the recently elected Provincial Superior of the Sri Lanka Province of the Society of Jesus, Rev. Fr. Sujeewa Pathirana, SJ, in his feast day message, highlights the need for disciplining one’s spirit. Accordingly, he calls for a personal conversion of its members which includes coming to terms with evil in the world as well as in oneself and accepting forgiveness and change.