Pilgrim's report

Ignatius of Loyola
(1491–1556)

The Pilgrim's Report (BP) is a spiritual text by the founder of the Jesuit order , Ignatius of Loyola . Urged by his confreres to leave them a spiritual legacy, he looks back towards the end of his life and reports on the experiences of his life and faith and how God led him. The verbal communications that Ignatius made to Louis Goncalves da Câmara between 1553 and 1555 were processed by the latter with further information on the “pilgrim report”.

introduction

To the formation

The pilgrim's account is a legacy for the Society of Jesus (Societas Jesu, SJ) and is a spiritual biography ; H. a personal salvation history creed. It is not an autobiography in the strict sense of the word. According to the prefaces it should be a will , an aid to perfecting and therefore of great use to the SJ. The report is a practical text from the perspective of God's guidance using the example of Ignatius. This is why one speaks of God's pedagogy (cf. BP 7; 14; 27)

Fearing that Ignatius might soon die, his confidante Nadal urges him to leave something behind. Da Camara gives an account of conscience to Ignatius, who feels himself that things happened in his own life that could be important and helpful for others in retrospect.

The actual author is Ignatius himself. Nevertheless, Da Camara recorded and wrote the report (probably very verbatim). From this comes a compilation of anecdotes about the life of Ignatius in the so-called "Memoriale".

Memories are reported that were passed down orally at the end of Ignatius' life. That is why the report is historically not always completely accurate, for example it contains chronological errors. The design by Da Camara also contributed to this. Some parts are designed as teaching pieces. Overall, a selection of experiences has been made that Ignatius hoped would be generalizable. This explains the large time gaps that exist between individual passages. Some passages on spiritual processes like in Manresa are systematized.

Text history

In 1572 Pedro de Ribadeneira wrote an official biography of Loyola on behalf of the order. The BP flows into this. This becomes the official and only valid biography in the order and at the same time a kind of legend of saints. As a result, all other versions were suppressed. During this time, manuscripts from the BP entered various archives.

In 1731 the text was published in Latin by the Bollandists (Belgian Jesuits), but was hardly distributed. There is no reliable information to support the thesis that this early edition included a first part on Ignatius' youth. This view is improbable because a spiritual biography like this one only begins with conversion and the previous history is irrelevant.

In 1902 the Protestant researcher Heinrich Boehmer published a German-language edition under the title "Confessions of Ignatius von Loyola" (cf. Confessiones des Augustinus )

In 1904 the first scientific, historical-critical publication of the BP appeared as an original edition in the monumenta historica societatis iesu in Spanish, Italian and Latin. From this point on there was an intensive reception of the pilgrims' report within the order, which at the same time contributed to a revolution in the previous image of Ignatius: If he had previously been viewed exclusively as a brilliant strategist, organizer, ascetic and soldier, he was now also seen as a person with mistakes, a mystic and believer with a deep connection to God.

content

In the following, the content of the text is summarized and occasionally given brief interpretations. The numbers refer to the page numbers.

Sickness and conversion

The report begins at a time when Ignatius was lying on the sick bed for months. In his boredom he searches for chivalric novels, but finds only two pious books in the castle. As he reads it, he reconsiders his worldly career, which is determined by fantasies, feelings, thoughts, plans and his desires ( deseo ) (p. 6). Then God intervenes and gives him other thoughts. Ignatius reads about the deeds of the great saints, especially the aspects of asceticism in Francis and Dominic . Here, too, images, fantasies, thoughts and feelings are portrayed, and here too he forges plans (identification). Ignatius now has “two desires” in him ( dos deseos ) (p. 7). The “first distinction” follows ( distinction of spirits ). Ignatius notices the difference between the two desires. This becomes the original experience and the archetype of spiritual discernment (p. 8). He then feels the need to rethink his previous life and to repent. In him concrete plans ripen to imitate the saints. God and Jesus have not yet appeared at all. Ignatius decides to cleanse, save and redeem (p. 9). He feels the overwhelming consolation that he experiences in a Marian vision as confirmation of his decision to change his life. The inner desire changes: he suddenly feels disgust for the "things of the flesh". From this point on he has control over his sensual impulses (p. 10). After 31 years he therefore comes to the vague assumption that the vision from then was real.

Blindness and path to Montserrat

The BP reports of the "blindness" of Ignatius' soul, but also of his simultaneous desire to serve God (p. 14). He goes an inner and an outer way.

The inner path is a metaphor for Ignatius' gradual conversion process. After he decided to convert, he said goodbye to home and made a vow of chastity at the pilgrimage chapel of his family (p. 13). The encounter with a Moor causes anger and aggression in him, but also unsettles him. He made the decision to go to Montserrat , made a three-day confession about his entire life and finally kept a night watch on the mountain according to knight tradition. Other episodes (the “outer way”) are Ignatius' contact with a Charterhouse , a dispute with his brother before he left home and the settlement of his financial situation. His new clothes, an outward sign of his repentance, are begging clothes made of sackcloth.

Ignatius' "blindness" has several meanings.

He resolves to do great penance exercises, and finds all consolation in this thought. He even wants to outbid the saints in it. However, he has no precise memory of his sins. He is not aware that his sins have already been remedied by God, and he covers up his own sinfulness through external penance exercises and a simultaneous alignment with the ideal (“achievement-oriented” spirituality).

His focus is on external things and not on the internal, i.e. H. Humility, love, patience and the wisdom to deal with them. Ignatius does not face his reality and neither accepts his weakness nor the love of God. He lives in an ideal world and does not accept that growth in the spiritual life is process-like and takes time (p. 14).

In the encounter with the Moors, his ideal, standing up for the honor of the Virgin Mary, is questioned. Ignatius becomes dissatisfied and aggressive ("blind" fanaticism), afterwards he remains at a loss because he does not know how to deal with his ideals correctly. (P. 15).

These experiences have been incorporated into the rules of the Jesuits: Ignatius advises caution and gentleness in penance exercises, demands prudence and the ability to discern in candidates, the consideration of the specific circumstances of the place and a differentiated perception of reality.

Stay in Manresa

Ignatius actually wants to make a pilgrimage from Montserrat to Jerusalem. On the way to Barcelona he comes to Manresa . He stayed there for eleven months, perhaps because the plague raged in Barcelona. The time in Manresa becomes the most important spiritual maturation time for him. The pilgrim's report describes in great detail and openly his experiences in Manresa.

The first four months are a time of intense prayer and penance, as well as renouncing wine, meat, and outward vanity (p. 19). His model is the Franciscan ideal of begging monks. Ignatius attends Holy Mass every day, reading the Passion and taking part in the Liturgy of the Hours . His tendency to extremes becomes clear, a "snake vision" in front of a cross gives him false comfort. Only later does he realize that it was a "vision of the devil".

For him, Manresa is also a time of severe internal struggles, severe temptations and internal scruples that bring him to the verge of suicide (pp. 20-27a). Essentially, he experiences three challenges.

Spiritual doubts (p. 20,2) act as an invitation to discouragement and resignation, which Ignatius initially tries to force down with his will. Frequently recurring sadness and desolation shape his emotional life. His feelings of consolation and encouragement, especially with regard to prayer, have passed. Listlessness, demotivation and emptiness rule him.

There are also doubts about the completeness of his general confession. The search for help in people does not get him any further. Morally theologically, he suffers from scruples , i.e. sins that are not sins. Ignatius prays excessively, cries out in despair (p. 23,7) and turns against himself (p. 24). Only the teaching of the Church prevents him from committing suicide. He wants to force a solution by fasting hard (p. 24, 25). His confessor forbids him to do this (p. 25,3).

Ignatius' scruples are both signs of an ascetic perfectionism and the search for active self-redemption. Failure creates aggression that turns into auto-aggression.

He is tempted under the appearance of goodness: when he falls asleep he is so comforted that he lingers with them and neglects healthy sleep (pp. 26, 2–3; cf. pp. 54–55 - Ignatius as a "workaholic") ).

Ignatius settles the crisis by giving up rigorous asceticism. For example, he is eating meat again. Later he will warn against excessive asceticism. God is slowly leading him out of this crisis (p. 25, 8 God's initiative; p. 27, 4 “divine pedagogy”).

This is followed by a description of a time of inner clarification, enlightenment and consolation (pp. 27b-34), which will shape the rest of his life. The three interrelated themes are the aforementioned dissolution of excessive severity, the new inner experience of God and the apostolic life.

The report describes a shift in the mental fields of force: At the beginning, penance had an extremely large preponderance over the experience of God and the apostolate , but over time he comes to bring these three fields of soul force into balance.

The five grace experiences of Manresa (p. 28 ff.) Are systematically ordered and structured and shape the order to this day.

Trinity : p. 28
Creation : p. 29.1 + 2
Eucharist : pp. 29,3-5
Mankind of Jesus Christ : p. 29.6
Enlightenment at the Cardener near St. Paul Monastery (p. 30). This experience becomes central to his entire later life. The exact content of enlightenment remains unclear. He only reports of "a great clarity of understanding" (p. 30, 3f). Everything affective is missing, rather there is talk of a knowledge in matters of faith.

Ignatius becomes a pastor. People become aware of him and seek help from him. Mystical experiences do not lead him to a rapture into the hereafter, but to pastoral care for and with people. But Ignatius is also haunted by spiritual arrogance (p. 32, 2).

Pilgrimage to Jerusalem

First of all, the emphasis of Iñigo's conversion is only on internal aspects. From the pilgrimage to Jerusalem he began to describe more external things that were supposed to represent the way in which God intervened in the events of his life.

In 1523 the historical Ignatius made his first pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The goals that Ignatius connects with his pilgrimage are "being with Jesus" through personal devotion in the biblical places (incarnation realism). But he also wants to help the souls. The term is used for the first time at this point. Since there were hardly any Christians in Jerusalem, the expression probably refers to a missionary activity that was forbidden under threat of death. It is also said that Ignatius originally had the plan to completely relocate. It contains motifs from the medieval “crusader spirituality”, which demanded the reconquest of the “holy places”, and the ideal of the early Christian wandering apostles .

P. 35,4: Search for three virtues: faith, hope, love. Iñigo wants to trust God completely, especially when it comes to external things. That's why he doesn't take any money with him. The entire Jerusalem report is a piece of evidence that 1. he trusted in God and stuck to it and that 2. he was not disappointed by God, but led (cf. poverty experiment).

Genesis of the Jerusalem Resolution:

P. 8 dreamy fantasies on the sickbed
P. 9 serious intentions for penitential life and a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
P. 11 Resolve to be on the way - report what he gives for it.
P. 12 Intention to return from there
P. 42 Great assurance in the soul that God would make it possible for him
P. 45 Determined to stay in Jerusalem. Looks like his plan is coming true.

Human resistance to the Jerusalem pilgrimage:

P. 12 Resistance of his relatives
P. 40 Advice in Rome from people who know him.
P. 45 Guardian on Zion advises him not to stay. Iñigo's decision remains firm, he remains stubborn.
P. 46 Provincial of the Franciscans in Jerusalem threatens him with excommunication if he does not obey him. He thinks Iñigo will only cause trouble if Iñigo is there. Iñigo's decision is upset. Though he'd been preparing for it for two years. “Second cannonball”: His plans are smashed, everything is overturned, he has to completely reorient himself for the second time.
P. 50,3 first mention of the insight into God's will. Two principles in conflict: 1. subjective certainty through prayer on Montserrat and 2. objective ecclesiastical authority that prevails. Knowledge: yielding to objective ecclesiastical authority. For the future he knows that his decisions will either be confirmed or refuted by the objective church authority. In this, Iñigo recognizes the will of God, beyond his own subjective certainty (churchization of his way). [see. Letter to Teresa Rejadella (correspondence p. 27): Generalization of the approach to discovering the will of God for oneself: 1. Inner feeling; 2. Alignment with church laws and commandments, "for the same spirit is in all things" (assuming the positive and the honesty on both sides!)]
P. 50.3 Decision to return to Barcelona to study and help the souls. For the first time, the foundation of the Society of Jesus is conceptualized here.

Ignatius' years of study - overview of 10 years of study

Decision to study

“Second cannonball” in Jerusalem; s. o. BP 50.3: Justification for studying to help souls. The study was necessary because it was supposed to enable the apostolic service to develop in terms of content. Education was also useful for catechesis and preaching. Ignatius developed from a charismatic pilgrim to a trained theologian, from a begging wanderer and fool of God to a man of the church. It was unusual that, despite his old age, he still started studying, after all there were about 10 years ahead of him.

Consequences for SJ: Ignatius wanted all Jesuits to study well. This creates a new type of priest at the beginning of the modern age: intellectual and educated (cf. parallels in Martin Luther ). After the Council of Trent , this type of priest prevailed throughout the Church - u. a. because of the establishment of seminaries based on the model of the Jesuit colleges. [see. GK 34.26 Characteristics of our way of proceeding: 553: Ignatius recognizes the necessity of studying for the apostolic service. Presumption ...]

Actual course of study

1524 February: Arrival in Barcelona, stay there for 2 years. Accommodation with Inés Pasqual, care by Isabel Roser. The teacher was Jerónimo Ardevol. There he learns Latin and studies grammar. Besides all kinds of apostolate; spiritual conversations with rich women, reform of some women's monasteries. Contact with so-called Erasmians - humanistic ideas (cf. Erasmus von Rotterdam von Rotterdam).

1526 March: on to Alcalá (central Spain), living in the hospital, a poor house with a homeless asylum. Study of Artes (basic education with many subjects). Unsure how much he studied there, because he did a lot on the side, maybe had contacts with the Alumbrados and their ideas.

1527 June / July: move to Salamanca; 2 to 3 months stay. Famous university. A few days after his arrival he is invited to dinner by the Dominicans - there he is put to the test. Immediate incarceration and trial. Judgment: His teaching and morals are not objected to, but he should hold back on the apostolate because he has not finished his studies. (Judgment applies only to the Diocese of Salamanca). Ignatius does not recognize the judgment, wants to continue serving in the apostolate and moves away. 1527 September: brief return to Barcelona.

1527/1528 Winter: Travel to Paris to the most famous university in the world. 7 years there. Entrance to the college of Montegut (kind of dormitory and classroom; he also attends lectures in the city). This college was rather conservative and committed to the Middle Ages. (Former students: Erasmus and Johannes Calvin ) Ignatius is learning Latin and Humaniora again. Relocation to the St. Jaques charity, continuing to study at the Montegut College. 1529 move to the St. Barbe College - famous for literary and humanistic education. A permanent personal professor was provided for each student; for Ignatius this is Dr. phil. et med. Juan la Peña, who was only 24 years old (Ignatius around 40 years); also his personal pupils were Peter Faber and Franz Xaver , with whom Ignatius lived together. Ignatius studied philosophy at this college, and during this time came into contact with Lutheran ideas that were topical in Paris at the time. He studies for the baccalaureate and finishes with the licentiate . At the age of 44 he was a Master of Arts (in philosophy) from late 1533 to summer 1535: studied theology at the Dominican College of St. Jaques. The textbook was the summa teologica by Thomas Aquinas . Study of theology purified from nominalism and Scotism . The sentences of Petrus Lombardus were also read . Presumably he also hears some lectures from the Franciscans .

Despite the brevity of the course, it was very intensive and efficient. In 1536 he was certified to study theology for a year and a half.

Notes on the training regulations of the SJ

The entire training and study regulations of the SJ are essentially shaped by the study experience of Ignatius. From 1545 the order begins to found its own colleges, there its own training regulations. In 1599 the total order created the ratio studiorum for all Jesuit colleges in the world (at that time it also shaped the study system of the western world as a whole).

modus parisiensis : From the late Middle Ages in Paris, an own style / own pedagogy at the university: division of students into individual classes according to performance level. Students should learn yourself, learn to think, argue, repeat, ... (acquisition of this style in the study and training order of SJ )

Disorders of study time

Spiritual movements and times of prayer BP 54/55

Ignatius had violent spiritual enlightenments and movements. He notices that this fulfills him, but that at the same time he is distracted from his studies (temptation under the guise of good). Changing the spiritual lifestyle: structuring the day.

Apostolic activities

v. a. in Acalá he had started intensive apostolic activities, but he realized that this distracted him. In Paris this is almost completely decreasing (language difficulties here were more likely to have a positive effect on studying). Later also applies to the order: "Relative separation" of study and work.

Conflicts with the Inquisition See presentation

Ideal for poor poverty

First of all, try to pay for your studies by begging. But that took too much time, which he needed more for studying. Plus long travel times and hunger. Ignatius notes that his radical begging apostolate is incompatible with his studies. That is why he organizes money that he earns through begging trips to Flanders and England (rich Spanish merchants). Too radical an ideal of poverty is a hindrance for a degree and thus also for a later apostolate, which is dependent on a proper degree. Hence the following stipulation for the colleges: They may / should have benefices and fixed income so that the study is secured for the students and scholastics (Benedictine ideal of poverty).

Ignatius' First Exercise - Vows of Montmartre

Retreat- Practice of Ignatius

In Alcalá, five years after his conversion, Iñigo began giving retreats himself. He wants to pass on what he himself has experienced. People come to him who ask him. BP 57.2 People to whom he gives the spiritual exercises (GÜ) come to great knowledge and taste in him, others to temptations and other phenomena. Contents of the given retreat Iñigo describes very briefly what he did there. However, in the Inquisition's investigation protocols there are e.g. T. detailed reports about it. Maria de la Flor says in 1527 what appears approximately as a retreat picture [cf. Andreas Falkner: The easy exercises in the early practice of Ignatius and Peter Faber , volume 54 (1989) Spiritual Exercise]:

In the morning ½ hour selection of texts (e.g. 10 commandments , 7 main sins , 3 soul forces, 7 works of mercy , 5 senses , ecclesiastical commandments and rules, ...)
General research ( examen generale ) at noon and in the evening
Special research ( examen particulare ) regarding special errors
Oral prayer and recurring prayers ( rosary , Our Father , ...)
Weekly confession and communion reception
To behave correctly in the internal movements of the spirits ( differentiation of the spirits )
Approx. Lead this pious life for a month ( retreats in everyday life, cf. GÜ 18.4ff.), continue if necessary
Have regular talks during this time.

In these retreats in everyday life he more or less gives the 1st week of the GÜ : repentance, conversion, sins,…. These retreats in everyday life were then forgotten for centuries. Exercises alone in closed houses and groups. Exercises in everyday life for about 15 years.

Problems with giving a retreat for Ignatius: BP 57/58 Physical phenomena that Ignatius does not know how to deal with. Visions with the retirees and z. B. excessive fasting , which causes a stir from the outside. Ignatius' mistake: too steep a start for some and there are always people who are not up to it. In Paris Ignatius only gives such exercises that he can imagine as a companion.

Vows of Montmartre

In Paris there is a group of companions (7 men, mostly originally young nobles). Peter Faber was already a priest, the other theology students who were preparing to a certain extent for a career in the church. All had made retreats with Ignatius. Wish with them: She wanted to lead a poor life, radical conversion, change of lifestyle. As a group they had regular spiritual exchanges. On August 15, 1534 ( Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary ), they took a vow together in the Chapel of St. Dionysius on Montmartre in a mass celebration.

Manner of the vow: no text of the vow itself has survived, but almost every one of the Companions later writes a report about it. Simão Rodrigues in the most detailed way (cf. spiritual texts No. 9; On the development and growth of the SJ)

Reconstructed content:

Using life for the benefit of souls
evangelical poverty
chastity
Jerusalem pilgrimage
If 4. does not work: Go to Rome and make yourself available to the Pope

Vows form something like a focal point of the experiences of Ignatius, which he had made in the 13 years since the "first cannonball". (Repentance, helping the souls, retreats, poverty, Jerusalem, fellowship, ...)

new: The Pope will be an alternative to Jerusalem.
Fixed group with its own style and own advisory approach.
People with a long path of conversion and retreat experience.
Strong human and spiritual cohesion of the group (Ignatius as a charismatic leader, but without an organizational leadership role)
Laying down on vows
Not planning a diffuse zeal project, but a well thought-out joint approach
Certain pragmatics in the matter (studies take precedence over “helping the souls” / poverty yes, but money may be accepted for studies and Jerusalem pilgrimages / whether a pagan mission in Jerusalem has to be decided on site)
Interesting that vows were taken immediately before receiving Holy Communion (eye to eye with the sacrament)

The actual foundation of the order is not until September 27, 1540; on Montmartre there is still no hierarchy (without vows of obedience, but only missionary obedience to the Pope), but individual priests who more or less “only” combine spiritual and spiritual matters.

Home visit of Ignatius in Spain - early church of the SJ in Northern Italy 1537

1534 vows on Montmartre. Ignatius studies theology for another semester. He's getting sick. Doctors recommend him home air. He accepts small riding horses from his companions (relativization of asceticism).

Stay in Spain (Loyola - Azpeitia 1535–1536)

In the BP we meet from 87ff. a "new" Ignatius. He is returning home for the first time in 13 years. Change of relationship with his family and relatives. He had already corresponded with his brother (Martín García de Oñas; Letters 3) three years earlier. In his letter he justified his radical separation from his family:

Separation is the first remedy to be able to follow Jesus Christ radically.
Assumption that his letters would probably have been of no use to his family to increase the praise of God in them.
Because he sees that his family is too attached to the world. He himself needs a distance to allow a new value system and a new form of spirituality to grow.

He wants to live without support from his family and earn a living by begging in Azpeitia. That was, of course, a scandal in the eyes of his family. He also makes two exceptions to this: He spends one night at the castle in Loyola and he accepts a mount on his departure, but only to the border of the province. [Later on, too, he retained his aloof attitude towards his family. Proof of this can be that there are hardly any letters between him and his family.]

Ignatius' work in Azpeitia: BP 88f.

He was apostolically effective there (cf.Norbert Briskorn; AHSI 49; 1980):

Spiritual conversations: BP 88.1 Speeches about the things of God (Spiritual hunger of the people of that time. At the same time, the Church's offer more than meager)
daily catechesis for children: BP 88.2 in the market place or in small churches,
public sermon on Sunday: BP 88.4 (outside of mass; the sermon was unusual in the Eucharistic celebration at that time),
frequent confession and communion (see his activity in Alcalá),
Ban on card games: BP 88.5 (national vice, since gambling was for money) lasted for maybe 2 years,
Establishment of public welfare for the poor BP 89.2 Link to a movement as it was common all over Europe at the time, poor order is partially preserved. Important: Not he alone is committed to the poor, but he achieves that public, just structures are created.
Fight against cohabitation of priests: BP 88.6,
Introduction of the Angelus ringing: BP 89.3 ringing three times with prayer against deadly sins.

Conclusion of his time at home:

Ignatius aims both at the individual (promotion of moral life) as well as at the structural changes with the help of the authorities (cf. today: Commitment to faith and justice).

Time in northern Italy and Venice 1537–1538; BP 92ff.

March to Venice. There he lives again as a pilgrim and beggar and is also active in apostolic activities (spiritual exercises). His companions set out from Paris in the winter of 1536; break off their studies rashly because of armed entanglements and conflicts between France and Germany. Way she leads u. a. through Lutheran areas (Rhine valley and Alps; cf. S. Rodriguez 32).

In January 1537 they meet Ignatius after a year of separation. In order to be able to fulfill their vows of pilgrimage to Jerusalem, they set out for Rome and obtain the Pope's blessing there. They get in touch with rich people who also send them money for the crossing. The priests among them receive privileges; the non-priests have permission to be given.

In June 1537 they are back in Venice with all the necessary things, but for the first time in years there is no ship to Jerusalem (BP 94.1). 1 year waiting time in Venice: BP 94ff .: All companions again take the vows of poverty and chastity. All can be "consecrated". They are consecrated to the title of poverty (BP 93.10); there are no benefices associated with this, but on the other hand there is also no one who would have to provide for them in comparison to a bishop or an order.

They spread out and spend the time in small groups in northern Italy. They live outside the cities in dilapidated houses. Ignatius is in Vicenza with Peter Faber and Laínez (BP 94.3). You spend the time there, like Ignatius did in Manresa: frequent prayer; each with 40 days of withdrawn prayer time while the others beg and walk around town and the like. a. preach with great success. People keep asking them what kind of group they are and what they call themselves: Answer: Compañía de Jesús .

The year in northern Italy later becomes what is called the third in the order (cf. repetition of the great retreat = 40 days of prayer). In the course of the year it became clear that there would be no ship. Then the “substitute paragraph” of the Montmartre Vow came into force. In the spring of 1538 they set out for Rome to make themselves available to the Pope.

The vision of La Storta

The journey to Jerusalem was not possible for the companions in the given period; so they saw it as God's will. So you go to Rome and put yourself at the disposal of the Pope (as provided for in the Montmartre vow). 1537 Spring: Several groups set off for Rome. Ignatius is with Peter Faber and Diego Laínez. On this way they were visited many times by God - La Storta is just a kind of highlight of it.

Overview: BP = guidance of God

A: Ignatius' inner path (turning and radicalizing)

B: Outer way (Jerusalem, study, vows, Spain, Italy, ...) - In la Storta these two ways come together. A 16 year journey of God's guidance comes to an end, a goal. Confirmation you graduation!

What happened in la Storta (historically)

A few kilometers from Rome is la Storta with a chapel that still exists. There are several accounts of Ignatius' vision, e.g. T. are contradicting (see BP, Geistliches Tagebuch , Nadal, Laínez ) The most objective presentation is that of Laínez. In the days after, Ignatius described the vision directly, in the BP Laínez is named as a witness of Ignatius and his description is the most detailed. Laínez:

God's Word: “I will be gracious to you in Rome” / “I will be with you”. Ignatius does not know how to interpret this word of God. He suspects that they will be "crucified" in Rome.
Vision: Ignatius sees Christ with the cross on his shoulder and the Eternal Father next to him. God the Father to Jesus: “I want you to accept this as my servant!” Jesus to Ignatius: “I want you to serve us!” Direct appeal, anchored in the trinitarian way . (In the BP, God the Father places Ignatius next to Jesus.)

Historically, it is likely to be noted:

God the Father is the doer in the vision.
Ignatius is delivered by God to Christ carrying the cross.
Ignatius is to serve "US" (reference to the Trinity and apostolicity).
God announces: "YOU" to be gracious to the companions (of the group)
Ignatius suspects that the cross indicates hardship that will have to be borne in Rome.

Meaning of the vision for Ignatius personally

Ignatius was looking for what he should do (inside) and lives as a pilgrim in search of his place to follow Jesus Christ (outside). Jerusalem fails twice; However, it remains for the country as the epitome of the reality of life of Jesus, to whom he wants to be very close and in whose footsteps he wants to serve him. For him, surrendering to the Pope meant making himself available to Christ's representative. ("Jerusalem becomes Rome; the historical Jesus becomes the representative of Christ and the early church becomes the constituted church.") His search thus comes to an end, to a certain goal.

Meaning of the vision for the founding group and later for the order

1558 Laínez travels as a general to various communities and gives several lectures on the vision of La Storta. For him, three things are important:

Ignatius' spiritual leadership,
the YOU in God's Word in relation to society,
the naming ( Compañía de Jesús ).

The whole group understands the vision as confirmation of their mission: to cooperate, to make an effort to carry the cross (Jesus Christ). Service and acceptance of the cross mean apostolate with all its consequences. "La Storta" serves as the founding myth for the order, is a spiritual experience of an individual that becomes important for a group. It is interesting that Ignatius is very discreet about the interpretation and dissemination (humility and authenticity). Trinity theological character here not of a speculative nature, but very practical and concrete: the mission of God and Jesus Christ in mission.

Turn of Jerusalem

First of all, the emphasis of Iñigo's conversion is only on internal aspects. From the pilgrimage to Jerusalem he began to describe more external things. - How does God intervene and correct his life through external events? Recognizing this becomes important for him.

Jerusalem pilgrimages in general

The Eastern Church has spread to the Holy Land since the 4th century. Adoration of the holy places, there splendid liturgies. Then the upcoming Jerusalem pilgrimage, which u. a. plays an important role in the Eastern Church. Franciscan Friars Minor settle there very early and promote the Jerusalem pilgrimage in Europe and locally. The Holy Land tradition is very strong among the Franciscans to this day. In the high Middle Ages, Islam overran this tradition. In the late Middle Ages that became more and more pressing. Only a few Christians are left in the Holy Land (Orthodox Christians and Franciscans). At that time it was common in the West to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in one's life (duration usually 1 year; approval in Rome by the Pope; ships from Venice; guided tour in the Holy Land by the Franciscans).

Destinations that Iñigo associated with his pilgrimage to Jerusalem

Being with Jesus, cultivating personal devotion in the “historical” places (incarnation realism of Iñigo) Helping the souls. First mention of the term. Since there were hardly any Christians there, he probably also wanted to do missionary work there (prohibited with maximum punishment) - he actually doesn't want to go on a pilgrimage, but relocate forever. (Background: Medieval crusader spirituality: Recapturing the Holy Places / Holy Land Romanticism) Ideal of the early Christian wandering apostles [cf. Two-banner consideration EB 144ff.]

First pilgrimage of Iñigo in 1523

Dominance of Islam in the Eastern Mediterranean. Fear of attack and harm to one's own body. That is why only 21 pilgrims gather in Venice and allow themselves to be taken by merchant ships. The Zurich pilgrim Peter Füssli (Zurich) travels on the same ship as Iñigo , who left a detailed pilgrimage report (see Boehmer).

Jerusalem pilgrimage in the pilgrimage report

BP 35.4: Search for three virtues: faith, hope, love. Iñigo wants to trust God completely, especially when it comes to external things. That's why he doesn't take any money with him. The whole Jerusalem report is a piece of evidence that firstly he trusted in God and stuck to it and secondly that he was not disappointed by God, but led (cf. poverty experiment).