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The Life of St Ignatius Loyola – 16 viewsTuesday, August 15, 2006
I always shoot this statue which has its pride of place at St Peters Church Bandra , and my love for Fr Juan, Fr Gerard , Fr Lawrie , and Fr Benjie , and the parish folks that are the most amiable and kind hearted,and my friend Clarence Gomes who bought me close to them.
The Life of St. Ignatius Loyola
Early Life of St. Ignatius
Inigo de Loyola was born in 1491 in Azpeitia in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa in northern Spain. He was the youngest of thirteen children. At the age of sixteen years he was sent to serve as a page to Juan Velazquez, the treasurer of the kingdom of Castile. As a member of the Velazquez household, he was frequently at court and developed a taste for all it presented, especially the ladies. He was much addicted to gambling, very contentious, and not above engaging in swordplay on occasion. For a number of years he went about in the dress of a fighting man, wearing a coat of mail and breastplate, and carrying a sword and other sorts of arms.
Eventually he found himself at the age of 30 in May of 1521 as an officer defending the fortress of the town of Pamplona against the French, who claimed the territory as their own against Spain. The Spaniards were terribly outnumbered and the commander of the Spanish forces wanted to surrender, but Ignatius convinced him to fight on for the honor of Spain, if not for victory. During the battle a cannon ball struck Ignatius, wounding one leg and breaking the other. Because they admired his courage, the French soldiers carried him back to recuperate at his home, the castle of Loyola, rather than to prison.
His leg was set but did not heal, so it was necessary to break it again and reset it, all without anesthesia. Although he was told to prepare for death, on the fest of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) he took an unexpected turn for the better. The leg healed, but he was left with one leg shorter than the other. For the rest of his life he walked with a limp.
Conversion of St. Ignatius
During the long weeks of his recuperation, he was extremely bored and asked for some romance novels to pass the time. Luckily there were none in the castle of Loyola, but there was a copy of the life of Christ and a book on the saints. Desperate, Ignatius began to read them. The more he read, the more he considered the exploits of the saints worth imitating. However, at the same time, he continued to have daydreams of fame and glory, along with fantasies of winning the love of a certain noble lady of the court. The identity of this lady has never been discovered but she seems to have been of royal blood. He noticed, however, that after reading and thinking of the saints and Christ he was at peace and satisfied. Yet when he finished his long daydreams of his noble lady, he would feel restless and unsatisfied. Not only was this experience the beginning of his conversion, it was also the beginning of spiritual discernment, or discernment of spirits, which is associated with Ignatius and described in his Spiritual Exercises.
The Exercises recognize that not only the intellect but also the emotions and feelings can help us to come to a knowledge of the action of the Spirit in our lives. Eventually, completely converted from his old desires and plans of romance and worldly conquests, and recovered from his wounds enough to travel, he left the castle in March of 1522.
He had decided that he wanted to go to Jerusalem to live where our Lord had spent his life on earth. As a first step he began his journey to Barcelona. He first proceeded to the Benedictine shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat, made a general confession, and knelt all night in vigil before Our Lady's altar, following the rites of chivalry. He left his sword and knife at the altar, went out and gave away all his fine clothes to a poor man, and dressed himself in rough clothes with sandals and a staff.
The Experience of Manresa
He continued towards Barcelona but stopped along the river Cardoner at a town called Manresa. He stayed in a cave outside the town, intending to linger only a few days, but he remained for ten months. He spent hours each day in prayer and also worked in a hospice. It was while here that the ideas for what are now known as the Spiritual Exercises began to take shape. It was also on the banks of this river that he had a vision which is regarded as the most significant in his life. The vision was more of an enlightenment, about which he later said that he learned more on that one occasion that he did in the rest of his life. Ignatius never revealed exactly what the vision was, but it seems to have been an encounter with God as He really is so that all creation was seen in a new light and acquired a new meaning and relevance, and experience that enabled Ignatius to find God in all things. This grace, finding God in all things, is one of the central characteristics of Jesuit spirituality. Ignatius himself never wrote in the rules of the Jesuits that there should be any fixed time for prayer. Actually, by finding God in all things, all times are times of prayer. He did not, of course, exclude formal prayer, but he differed from other founders regarding the imposition of definite times or duration of prayer. One of the reasons some opposed the formation of the Society of Jesus was that Ignatius proposed doing away with the chanting of the Divine Office in choir. This was a radical departure from custom, because until this time, every religious order was held to the recitation of the office in common. For Ignatius, such recitation meant that the type of activity envisioned for the Society would be hindered.
He finally arrived at Barcelona, took a boat to Italy, and ended up in Rome where he met Pope Adrian VI and requested permission to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Once he arrived in the Holy Land he wanted to remain, but was told by the Franciscan superior who had authority over Catholics there that the situation was too dangerous. (At the time, the Turks were the rulers of the Holy Land.) The superior ordered Ignatius to leave. He refused, but when threatened with excommunication, he obediently departed.
The Return to School
By now he was 33 years old and determined to study for the priesthood. However, he was ignorant of Latin, a necessary preliminary to university studies in those days. So he started back to school studying Latin grammar with young boys in a school in Barcelona. After two years he moved on to the University of Alcala. There his zeal got him in trouble, a problem that continued throughout his life. He would gather students and adults to explain the Gospels to them and teach them how to pray. His efforts attracted the attention of the Inquisition and he was thrown into jail for 42 days. When he was released he was told to avoid teaching others. (In the eyes of Inquisitors, anyone who was teaching and was not ordained was suspect.)
Because he could not live without helping souls, Ignatius moved on to the University of Salamanca. There, within two weeks, the Dominicans had thrown him back into prison again. Though they could find no heresy in what he taught, he was told that he could only teach children and then only simple religious truths. Once more he took to the road, this time for Paris.
At the University of Paris he began school again, studying Latin grammar and literature, philosophy, and theology. It was also in Paris that he began sharing a room with Francis Xavier and Peter Faber. He greatly influenced a few other fellow students directing them all at one time or another in what we now call the Spiritual Exercises. Eventually six of them plus Ignatius decided to take vows of chastity and poverty and to go to the Holy Land. If going to the Holy Land became impossible, they would go to Rome and place themselves at the disposal of the Pope for whatever he would want them to do. They did not think of doing this as a religious order or congregation, but as individual priests. For a year they waited, however no ship was able to take them to the Holy Land because of the conflict between the Christians and Muslims. It was during this time of waiting that Ignatius was ordained a priest, but he did not say Mass for another year. It is thought that he wanted to say his first Mass in Jerusalem in the land where Jesus himself had lived.
The Company of Jesus
Ignatius, along with two of his companions, Peter Faber and James Lainez, decided to go to Rome and place themselves at the disposal of the Pope. It was a few miles outside of the city that Ignatius had the second most significant of his mystical experiences. At a chapel at La Storta where they had stopped to pray, God the Father told Ignatius, "I will be favorable to you in Rome" and that he would place him (Ignatius) with His Son. Ignatius did not know what this experience meant, for it could mean persecution as well as success since Jesus experienced both.
When they met with the Pope, he very happily put them to work teaching scripture and theology and preaching. It was here on Christmas morning, 1538, that Ignatius celebrated his first Mass at the church of St. Mary Major in the Chapel of the Manger. It was thought this chapel had the actual manger of Bethlehem, so, if Ignatius was not going to be able to say his first Mass at Jesus' birthplace in the Holy Land, then this would be the best substitute.
During the Lent of 1539, Ignatius asked all of his companions to come to Rome to discuss their future. They had never thought of founding a religious order, but now that going to Jerusalem was out, they had to think about their future--whether they would spend it together. After many weeks of prayer and discussion, they decided to form a community, with the Pope's approval, in which they would vow obedience to a superior general who would hold office for life. They would place themselves at the disposal of the Holy Father to travel wherever he should wish to send them for whatever duties. A vow to this effect was added to the ordinary vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Formal approval of this new order was given by Pope Paul III the following year on September 27, 1540. Since they had referred to themselves as the Company of Jesus (in Latin Societas Jesu), in English their order became known as the Society of Jesus. Ignatius was elected on the first ballot of the group to be the superior, but he begged them to reconsider, pray and vote again a few days later. The second ballot came out as the first, unanimous for Ignatius, except for his own vote. He was still reluctant to accept, but his Franciscan confessor told him it was God's will, so he acquiesced. On the Friday of Easter week, April 22, 1541, at the Church of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, the friends pronounced their vows in the newly formed Order.
The Years As Superior General
Ignatius, whose love it was to be actively involved in teaching catechism to children, directing adults in the Spiritual Exercises, and working among the poor and in hospitals, would for the most part sacrifice this love for the next fifteen years. From his election as superior general until his death he would work out of two small rooms, his bedroom and next to it his office, directing this new society throughout the world. He would spend years composing the Constitutions of the Society and would write thousands of letters to all corners of the globe to his fellow Jesuits dealing with the affairs of the Society and to lay men and women directing them in the spiritual life. From his tiny quarters in Rome he would live to see in his lifetime the Society of Jesus grow from eight to a thousand members. The Jesuits would found colleges and houses all over Europe and as far away as Brazil and Japan. Some of the original companions were to become the Pope's theologians at the Council of Trent, an event which played an important role in the Catholic Counter Reformation.
The Jesuits and SchoolsPerhaps the work of the Society of Jesus begun by Ignatius that is best known is that of education. It is interesting that he had no intention of including teaching among the Jesuits' works at the beginning. As already mentioned, the purpose of the first members was to be at the disposal of the Pope to go where they would be most needed. Before 1548 Ignatius had opened schools in Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and India. These schools, however, were intended primarily for the education of the new young Jesuit recruits. Ten such colleges built within six years indicated the rapid growth of the Jesuits. But in 1548 at the request of the magistrates of Messina in Sicily, Ignatius sent five men to open a school for lay as well as Jesuit students. It soon became clear by requests from rulers, bishops and cities for schools that this work was truly one of the most effective ways to correct ignorance and corruption among the clergy and the faithful, to stem the decline of the Church in the face of the Reformation, and to fulfill the motto of the Society of Jesus, "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam,"--to the greater glory of God.
This was clearly in keeping with one of Ignatius' first principles in choosing apostolates: all other things being equal, choose those apostolates that will influence those who have the most influence on others. Maybe the best expression of this idea was in a letter he wrote about the founding of colleges in December of 1551:
From among those who are now merely students, in time some will depart to play diverse roles--one to preach and carry on the care of souls, another to government of the land and the administration of justice, and others to other callings. Finally, since young boys become grown men, their good education in life and doctrine will be beneficial to many others, with the fruit expanding more widely every day. From then on, Ignatius helped to establish Jesuit schools and universities all over Europe and the world.
Ignatius the PersonIt is probably true that the picture of Ignatius that most people have is that of a soldier: stern, iron-willed, practical, showing little emotion -- not a very attractive or warm personality. Yet if this picture is exact, it is hard to see how he could have had such a strong influence on those who knew him. Luis Goncalves de Camara, one of his closest associates wrote,
He (Ignatius) was always rather inclined toward love; moreover, he seemed all love, and because of that he was universally loved by all. There was no one in the Society who did not have much great love for him and did not consider himself much loved by him.
We regard a number of saints as great mystics but never think of Ignatius as one of them. We have recounted a few of the many visions and mystical experiences in his life. His holiness, however, did not consist in such, but in the great love that directed his life to do everything A.M.D.G., for the greater glory of God.
Last IllnessEver since his student days in Paris, Ignatius had suffered from stomach ailments and they became increasingly troublesome in Rome. In the summer of 1556 his health grew worse, but his physician thought he would survive this summer as he had done others. Ignatius, however, thought that the end was near. On the afternoon of July 30th he asked Polanco, his secretary, to go and get the Pope's blessing for him, suggesting by this to Polanco that he was dying. Polanco, however, trusted the physician more than Ignatius and told him he had a lot of letters to write and mail that day. He would go for the Pope's blessing the next day. Shortly after midnight Ignatius took a turn for the worse. Polanco rushed off to the Vatican to get the papal blessing, but it was too late. The former worldly courtier and soldier who had turned his gaze to another court and a different type of battle had rendered his soul into the hands of God. Ignatius was beatified on July 27, 1609 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 12, 1622 together with St. Francis Xavier. Ignatius' feast day is celebrated by the universal Church and the Jesuits on July 31, the day he died.
This material is extracted from The Life of St. Ignatius of Loyola by Rev. Norman O'Neal, S.J. This account was written on the occasion of the Ignatian Year in order to better acquaint the lay teachers, staff, and students of Jesuit High in New Orleans with the founder of the order which has conducted that school for more than 140 years. We are grateful to him for permission to use it.
kind courtesy..
http://www.luc.edu/jesuit/ignatius.bio.html
posted by photographerno1 @ 5:41 AM
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The Last Temptation of Jesus Christ – 68 viewsNo book has ever touched me ike Nikolai Kazantakis Last Temptation of Jesus Christ, it is sheer heart rending poetry, and I have come to the 29th chapter, and Jesus is carrying the Cross helped by Simon the Cyriniac..and the endurance of a love of Mary Magdalene , a one sided internet kind of love, unresponsive, mute, and condescending in simplicity devoid of a magic in a moment..
I cried when I saw the barenness of love in the lives of Mary and Martha sisters of Lazarus, and Lazarus bought to live from the Dead , the decaying of the flesh, the putridness of a situation, and I was reminded of the tale of the Eunuch in the times of yore, who went to the Grave of the Sufi Saint ,Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti,at Ajmer he wanted to see the miraculous power of Godliness , so he humanly challenged the Saint to fertilize him with a child, the Saint told him to go up to the mountains of Chashme Nur and ask the Saints disciple Bibi Jamal..
Bibi Jamal was the beautiful daughter of Jaipal Jadugar a dreaded magician and king in those early days when the Khwaja had come to India a descendant of the family of Imam Hassan , Jaipal Jadugar had sent her to seduce the Holy Saint with her beauty and in converting him to the relgion of Hinduism, the lady failed and touched the Holy Saints feet and became his chosen disciple..and it was to her grave that the Eunuch went and pleaded his case, he became pregnant and realised his folly , begged forgiveness , as carrying the child was a task God felt needed the biology and strength of Motherhood of a Woman..he asked for death..Bibi Jamal threw a ball from the skies and told the eunuch to follow it the , the ball the story goes fell into a ravine and the eunuch and his unborn child fell to their deaths and seperated ..and they fell at the mouth of Bibi Jamals tomb..and their graves are revered and held in high esteem by the Eunuchdom of India.
Their graves I shot and have yet to see the pictures, and this was my recent trip to Ajmer.. and I posted some of the pictures at Bloggerspot and my home site..but this trek cum eunuch grave trek pictures I have yet to post and also work on, and on this trek a complete 1GB card I met a Scorpoin Baba who eats raw scorpions, his child who sleeps with scorpions about three year old.. and this was the exhilarating moment of picture taking.. the malangs I met, and scary isolated surroundings..
And somehow some festival or other came in the way from bringing those pictures alive on the internet..and these are God inspired pictures..and their continuity can be seen in my gallery Ajmer 2006 at my home site..photographer no1 in 3 pages..
I am now posting pictures of churches that I shot with Dr Friedritch the Austrian Tourist..of the churches we shot in Bandra.
Tags: ajmer, dr friedrich, eunuch saint, jaipal jadugar, khwajah, last temptation, nikolai kazantakis
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The Lady of the Mount Statue 2 – 28 views
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The Lady of the Mount Statue – 29 views
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The Lady OF the Mount – 20 viewsThe Lady of the Mount sees me from afar and always thanks me with the best of pictures, it just depends how you see her, and what you see through her, she gives a new touch to my pictures and all these cultural Indian fests gude me in my task of Unlearning Photography.
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The Jesuits of St Peters Church Bandra – 20 viewsTuesday, August 15, 2006
This is another shot I took of the statue today, and near the school hall at St Stanislaus is a liitle chapel too.
And the library is also unique in its collection..and St Peters Church remains a place that The Holy Spirit guides me to take pictures ...
What did Ignatius teach?
Tony Horan SJ
ANYONE who has made an lgnatian Retreat has been taught Imaginative Contemplation and has
met Jesus at a new, more intimate level. The Contemplation for Obtaining Love, the very last
exercise in Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, invites us to contemplate and see God present and
lovingly working for us in everything. This is easy in His creation and salvation, in the Eucharist
and the Scriptures.
But if God created everything, He is present and working in it, and the frequent injunction in
the Gospels to ‘watch, stay and awake and pray’ is an invitation to look at all reality, including
even suffering in a new deeper way and to find our way to God through it.
But Jesus combined prayer with ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so
that I may preach there too. Because that is why I came’ (Mark 1:38)
Contemplation led Ignatius from his cave in Manresa towards helping people. Compassion
seemed to motivate Jesus and Ignatius, and it will move us too, if we enter deeply into suffering
around us.
We find God then, through discovering and responding to our neighbour’s needs — having
discerned how Jesus wants us to help him alleviate them. Contemplation leads to action, and
action to contemplation. We find God making us aware, calling us and assisting us.
St. Peter's Church / St Stanislaus School, Bandra
PP Ferrao Lawrence, Arul John Bosco, Caston Owen, D’Costa Cruz, D’Cruz Henry, Fernandes Benjamin, Fernandes Jude, Jou Albert, Juan Francis, Lobo John,Menezes Callistus, Pereira Verus, Ribes Peter, Rodricks Gerard, Saldanha Anthony,Tort Joseph, Vaz Kenrick.
http://www.bomjesu.org/index.htm
posted by photographerno1 @ 6:14 AM 0 comments links to this post
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The Jesuits – 18 views
This is a board near the Church sacristy, and I shot this as a pictorial thought ...St Peters Church Bandra.
posted by photographerno1 @ 4:44 AM
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The Interior Of St Josephs Chapel Bandra Bazzar – 19 viewsDate: 03/03/2006 Time: 07:31 PM Visits: 181
The Interior Of St Josephs Chapel Bandra Bazzar
This chapel St Josephs at Bandra Bazzar Road is always shut when I pass it by but on Thursday all the shops were closed for the protest against the cartoons and the doors of the chapel were open and my old neighbour Mrs Gomes was having a talk with the lady caretaker of the chapel.. I took the opportunity to shoot 3 frames with flash ..and the caretaker was shocked when I said Opus Dei instead of Open Sesame.. I told her I had an American wife ..and she believed in Jesus Christ and she married me because I carried my own cross and walked barefeet and the only Simon who could help me a short way to Golgotha was Xris my best friend and he too is in awe of the Blog Mary Magdalene..
and I want to put a tape across my face LOCKED IN...no not me she.
And its 9am I had Seera at the Souhh Indian joint walked through Boran road,reached my shop did my ablutions washing my feet with dettol and I wish I had a Mary Magdalene doing this part of her love for me and her tears mixing into the unkempt waters in the bowl..and her head bowed..every man has a Mary Magdalene
but Mary Magdalene nowadays dont have a Jesus of Jerusalem.. times have changed and the rate of spiritual currency too..
and I havent gone to visit St Peters and Lent in the ,air.. no flesh..no meat, no pork sorpatel, no pork vindaloo with minced brain.. no not mine , my brains are globules to hide the last few coins I have hoarded and aptly named My Genius..
And fuck shoes, fuck silence,and fuck American women..I mean the Desis only ..
Buzzwords: blog mary magdalene, desis, jesus christ, locked in, opus dei, simon, st peters, xris
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the inner circle of the lady – 22 viewsDate: 09/27/2005 Time: 02:06 AM Visits: 51
the inner circle of the lady
this is the chapel interior.. we move tip toes.. all of us brothers and a sister,,,buzznet... solemnity...prayers,,, and thoughts making their way up... st peters is enjoing his moments at the mount... the lords staff is on leave... rightfully so..the mother of infant jesus... whose son will be snatched from her lap... to pay for our sins and carry a cross.. that mankind has built...
to pay in a currency of blood...much before mel gibson came in the picture.... the last temptation of the cross and the passion of jesus christ.
Buzzwords: last temptation of t..., mel gibson
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The Holy Tabernacle – 30 viewsThis is in an alcove , a side prayer room for the very intense...at St Peters Church Bandra.
Tags: st peters church, tabernacle
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The Holy Name Cathedral Interior – 19 views
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The Holy Name Cathedral Colaba – 12 views
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