St Ignatius: The Basics

St. Ignatius and Jesuit Missions Welcome to your first lesson about St. Ignatius of Loyola (whose feast day is on 31st July). These lessons have been designed for you by Jesuit Missions. Jesuit Missions is a charity which uses the teachings of St Ignatius and brings them into the 21st Century. It does this by: Working in schools to promote education for justice (helping young people to understand how to make the world a fairer, more equal place) Providing opportunities to volunteer in Jesuit projects around the world Raising money to provide financial support To help Jesuits working around the world To help people suffering due to natural disasters and emergencies (Nepal earthquake, Philippines typhoon) To help people suffering due to war and inequalities (Syrian refugee crisis) These two opening slides are hidden – they can be shown to the students if the teacher wishes, or they can be used by the teacher to explain the background to and objectives of these lessons on St Ignatius.

St. Ignatius and Jesuit Missions We hope that you enjoy these lessons on St Ignatius and that they help deepen your understanding of St Ignatius, his life and his beliefs. We also hope that you learn more about Jesuit Missions and its work. Perhaps most importantly, we also hope that these lessons will inspire you to act more like St Ignatius did: To deepen your love and gratitude for God. To become more attentive of God’s presence in your life. To try and glorify God with everything you do in future. These two opening slides are hidden – they can be shown to the students if the teacher wishes, or they can be used by the teacher to explain the background to and objectives of these lessons on St Ignatius.

The Life of St Ignatius Complete this Cloze Activity about the life of St Ignatius…

The Life of St Ignatius Key moments of St Ignatius’ life: Cannonball and recovery time (paragraphs 1 and 2) Experiences in Manresa (paragraph 3) Studying in Paris and meeting the first companions (paragraph 4) The foundation of the Society of Jesus in Rome (paragraph 5) Ignatius the efficient General (paragraph 6) Re-read the sections and decide which moments are the most important. Rate them 1-5. Remember there is no ‘right’ answer as long as you can justify your opinion. Be ready to explain your opinions in a discussion. Alternatively, the teacher could assign five groups of students to plot and argument for a section each and then debate it in class. How to handle the discussion/ debate is left to the teacher’s discretion/ preference.

The Life of St Ignatius Now that you have decided on your most important Ignatius moments, it’s time to imagine being Ignatius at that time: Compose a diary entry from the perspective of St. Ignatius. This is your chance to get to really understand St Ignatius. Imagine what he was feeling, what he was thinking at the time you have chosen. Where is he writing from? Who is he with? Describe using his senses. It may help to use the cloze exercise paragraphs to aid students with content for their entry. Students write a diary entry for the time they think is the most important in St Ignatius’ life.

St Ignatius’ Diary: An Example Danny – a year 7 pupil at a Jesuit school – decided that the most important moment of St Ignatius’ life was studying in Paris and meeting the first companions. Here is the beginning of St Ignatius’ diary entry written by Danny. Can you do better?

St Ignatius’ Diary: An Example 27th May 1528 Dear Diary, Thanks be to God for a wonderful day. Today I moved into a new house nearby the university in Paris. My room is basic but has everything I need – a space to sleep, a place to pray and a space to study. I have no interest in luxuries so it is perfect. More importantly, my new roommates are both very interesting. Francis is a fellow Spaniard (from Xavier) so we can talk very easily and understand each other well. Pierre speaks French but his Spanish is very good – he is an extremely intelligent and holy man. He is close to becoming a priest and is already a teacher of philosophy. In fact, I am hoping he will give me lessons to help me in this subject and, in return, I will be able to share my Spiritual Exercises with him. Perhaps they will help deepen his faith and help him serve God even more in his life. Paris is a very different place to Spain… Teacher can guide students through this example, using it to pick out good practice and also areas of improvement.

Home Learning Challenge! What are the key moments of your life? How has God guided and formed you like he did St Ignatius? Students may wish to bullet-point list these ideas, create a poster, write prose. Again, this is left to the teacher’s discretion.

Optional Extension Task So far today you have considered who St Ignatius was, what happened in his life, what were the important moments in his life and how he felt during them. For our final activity today we want you to consider a mind-bending question… What would our world today be like if St Ignatius had died after he was struck by the cannonball in Pamplona?

Imagine a world without St Ignatius… Make a list of ways in which a world without the life of St Ignatius would be different. Here are a few ideas to help you: Alternatively students could create a poster. Teachers can guide students towards ideas such as the foundation of the Society of Jesus, the Spiritual Exercises, the works of the Jesuits, the Jesuit Schools, Jesuit Missions and its charitable work….

St Ignatius: The Basics

© Copyright Jesuit Missions 2016 Text by Christopher Brolly and Samantha Aidoo. All images were taken from Jesuit Missions and the Jesuit Institute London. Users are welcome to modify the material to fit their needs. jesuitmissions.org.uk education@jesuitmissions.org.uk Facebook: Jesuit Missions UK Twitter: @JesuitMissions