{"id":117,"date":"2014-07-23T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/07\/visiting-a-saint.html"},"modified":"2016-03-25T17:36:23","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T22:36:23","slug":"visiting-a-saint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/07\/visiting-a-saint.html","title":{"rendered":"Visiting a Saint"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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Early in the morning I boarded the commuter Euskotren at San Sebastian. \u00a0Stopping often, the train slowly wound down the beautiful northern coast of Spain\u2019s Basque Country. \u00a0The deep blue sea contrasted with the rugged coast. \u00a0Unable to begin grasping the Basque\u2019s mysterious language, I sat quietly admiring the view.<\/div>\n

I got off the train at the industrial port city of Zumaia and waited for a bus. \u00a0My heavy coat, scarf and gloves did not provide a strong enough defense to keep the cold breeze from making me shiver. \u00a0After one hour of windy roads on board the bus, I reached the sleepy town of Azpeitia. \u00a0I pushed the orange button near my seat signaling to the driver I was ready to get off at the next stop. \u00a0My excitement soared, I was about to visit the hometown of one of my favorite saints.<\/p>\n

The bus stopped by some benches and I got off with my bag. \u00a0As it pulled away I saw for the first time the stark yet beautiful dome signaling the birth place of I\u00f1igo Lopez de Loiola, better known in English as Saint Ignatius of Loyola.<\/p>\n

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Born into a minor noble Basque family from Loiola in 1491, I\u00f1igo trained as a soldier and was seriously injured in 1521 at a battle in Pamplona. \u00a0As he lay in bed during his recovery at the family castle in Loiola, he read books which included a book on the lives of the saints and one on the life of Christ.<\/p>\n

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Ignatius being brought to his family castle after his injury in Pamplona<\/div>\n
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As his leg healed, I\u00f1igo experienced a deep conversion. \u00a0He decided to abandon his military career and travel to the Holy Land where he could be a soldier for Christ. \u00a0Failing in this initial desire, he returned to Europe and attended seminary in Paris. \u00a0There he gathered around himself six followers, among them future saints Francis Xavier and Francis Borgia, and founded the Society of Jesus in 1534.<\/p>\n

I\u00f1igo became known for his Spiritual Exercises, a collection of prayers, suggestions for prayer and spiritual insights that is spiritual classic today. \u00a0He traveled teaching the Exercises, sometimes getting in trouble with Church authorities who questioned the legitimacy of his work.<\/p>\n

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Pope Pius III approved the Society of Jesus in 1540. \u00a0Its members, the Jesuits, quickly began to staff universities throughout Europe, to lead missionary expeditions to the ends of the earth and to preach moving spiritual retreats.<\/p>\n

I spent my afternoon exploring the Loiola castle, the basilica and their beautiful grounds before catching a bus for Bilbao. \u00a0I prayed in the room where Ignatius had his conversion; the very same room where on July 31st, 1556 he died. \u00a0An inscription written on a wooden beam of the room stated: \u201cHere I\u00f1igo of Loyola surrendered himself to God.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Society of Jesus has grown and flourished despite being suppressed by Rome from 1773 to 1814, mostly due to political pressure placed on the Papacy. \u00a0Today there are approximately 20,000 Jesuits (one of them our well-loved Holy Father Francis) making it the largest male religious order of the Catholic Church. \u00a0All of this because one man heard God\u2019s call, had a conversion of heart and surrendered himself to His will.<\/p>\n

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Same editions of the books Saint Ignatius read while recovering from his injury<\/div>\n
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Pictures are mine, all rights reserved.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Early in the morning I boarded the commuter Euskotren at San Sebastian. \u00a0Stopping often, the train slowly wound down the beautiful northern coast of Spain\u2019s Basque Country. \u00a0The deep blue sea contrasted with the rugged coast. \u00a0Unable to begin grasping the Basque\u2019s mysterious language, I sat quietly admiring the view. I got off the train […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nVisiting a Saint<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Early in the morning I boarded the commuter Euskotren at San Sebastian. \u00a0Stopping often, the train slowly wound down the beautiful northern coast of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/07\/visiting-a-saint.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Visiting a Saint\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Early in the morning I boarded the commuter Euskotren at San Sebastian. \u00a0Stopping often, the train slowly wound down the beautiful northern coast of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/07\/visiting-a-saint.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Labyrinthine Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-23T19:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-25T22:36:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/files\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-sTyMRK6wQlU\/U9A9BMmTGhI\/AAAAAAAADb8\/I-DS9-Oy_iM\/s1600\/IMG_5247.JPG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/07\/visiting-a-saint.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/07\/visiting-a-saint.html\",\"name\":\"Visiting a Saint\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-23T19:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-25T22:36:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\"},\"description\":\"Early in the morning I boarded the commuter Euskotren at San Sebastian. \u00a0Stopping often, the train slowly wound down the beautiful northern coast of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/07\/visiting-a-saint.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/07\/visiting-a-saint.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2014\/07\/visiting-a-saint.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Visiting a Saint\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/\",\"name\":\"Labyrinthine Mind\",\"description\":\"Seeking God in the labyrinth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\",\"name\":\"Father Pablo Migone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Father Pablo Migone\"},\"description\":\"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. 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