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ST. Ignatius of Loyola

     This Catholic fine art print is centered on Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Ignacio de Loyola was born in 1491 in Spain. He was a Spanish knight, who became a hermit and priest, founding the Society of Jesus and becoming its first Superior General. Ignatius and the Jesuits became major figures in the Counter-Reformation, where the Catholic Church worked to reform itself from within and countered the theology of Protestantism. After his death he was beatified and then on March 12, 1622, was canonized. The feast day of Ignatius is celebrated on July 31 — he is the patron saint of soldiers, the Society of Jesus, and the Basque Country where he was born. From a Basque noble family, Ignatius was initially a knight, but after his leg was seriously wounded at the Battle of Pamplona during the Italian War of 1521–1526, he underwent a spiritual conversion while in recovery. Ignatius had read De Vita Christi that inspired him to abandon his previous lifestyle, to live a life of labor for God following the example of men like Francis of Assisi. He claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus at the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat, while living as a hermit in a cave at nearby Manresa.

He visited the Holy Land with the desire of reconverting the area, but was sent back to Europe by the Franciscans. Ignatius then spent seven years learning theology and Latin, firstly at three universities in Spain and then one in Paris — he arrived in the city at the same time John Calvin was leaving. After gaining a tightly knit association of followers, Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus, which received recognition from Pope Paul III. Highly disciplined, the movement's followers learned the Spiritual Exercises and Constitution. Education and self-examination were at the core. At the time of Loyola’s death in 1556, there were 1,000 Jesuits organized into eleven units.

Above the central image is a dove that represents the Holy Spirit and the tongues of fire represent the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit that inspired and made very fruitful all of St. Ignatius’s life.

Below the central image are three ovals. The one on the left contains the Jesuit coat of arms. The one on the right contains the Holy Eucharist. The central oval contains the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On top of the outer frame are seven fire-like winged shapes that represent the seven spirits (angels) of God that surround his throne in the book of Revelation.  The twenty light blue circles scattered throughout the print represent the twenty mysteries of the rosary, which is a contemplative prayer of the life of Jesus, Mary. The eighteen yellow, orange, red diamond like shapes in between the rosary beads represent the angels assigned to help St. Ignatius in his work of founding the Jesuit order, writing the Spiritual Exercises and countering the spread of the Protestant reformation.