Given this year is a Jubilee year with the theme of Pilgrims of Hope, it was extra special to be in Rome earlier this week and to be able to walk through a number of the Holy Doors. The number of pilgrims in Rome was extraordinary and, at times, a little overwhelming. As I walked past Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday morning, it was completely full as Pope Leo celebrated the Jubilee Mass with a focus on Marian spirituality. I chose to begin the day with a lower key mass in the mother Church of the Jesuits, the Gesu, where Saint Ignatius is buried.

We began the pilgrimage in Paris, calling to mind that Saint Ignatius studied and roomed with Saint Francis Xavier and Saint Peter Faber in this city. It was their friendship, grounded in their experience of the Spiritual Exercises and their deep love of Jesus and Mary that led them to commit themselves to each other and to God through taking vows of poverty and chastity in the Chapel of St Denis in Montmartre on 15 August 1534. This event is the focus of one of the stained glass windows in the Dalton Chapel. It was a privilege to celebrate mass in this simple chapel for the pilgrims at the beginning of our time together.

We then headed to Spain to the town of Azpeitia, about one hour south of San Sebastian. The Loyola Sanctuary can be found on the outskirts of Azpeitia. We spent time visiting the key sites of the life of Ignatius, including the family castle and the basilica built adjacent to it. Once more, we prayed together in the Chapel of Conversion, the room in which Ignatius spent nine months recovering from the wounds, both physical, psychological and spiritual, arising from being injured by the cannonball in the Battle of Pamplona in 1521. This room was a place where Ignatius suffered, and it was also a place where he experienced extraordinary grace. It was in this room that he began to understand the different spirits at play within his heart. Over time, he felt called to live a life with a greater focus on serving God and a desire to help others. Moreover, he wanted to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to walk more closely in the footsteps of Jesus.

Following this we visited the Benedictine Monastery in Montserrat. Ignatius had a deep devotion to Our Lady and he made an all night vigil before the Black Madonna on the vigil of the Feast of the Annunciation in 1522. At the end of this, he symbolically laid down his sword before the Black Madonna, gave away his noble clothes and adopted the garb of a pilgrim. There are two images on either side of the sanctuary in our chapel of Ignatius the Pilgrim and of Our Lady of Montserrat (pictured left).

Ignatius then walked down the mountain to the town of Manresa. He intended to stay only for a few days but ended up staying around 11 months. It was the beginning of a number of lifelong friendships with people who supported him and the work of the Jesuits, notably Ines Pascual. During this time, Ignatius further developed his spiritual life. After an initial 4 months of interior joy and consolation, he had a number of months in which he struggled deeply and undertook penances to an extreme. As he worked these experiences, he came to understand God more deeply and further developed various spiritual exercises. He also had a number of mystical experiences, one alongside the Cardoner River. He also spent many hours in prayer in a cave on the outskirts of the town. I was privileged to celebrate mass for the pilgrims in the cave, inviting each of us to ponder and reflect upon our own life experiences and what we can learn from the example of Ignatius.

Our final two stops were Barcelona and Rome. When Ignatius left Manresa, he went to Barcelona. He begged outside the Church of Maria del Mar and helped people in the city. It was from here that he sailed to Jerusalem as a pilgrim in 1524. We also had the opportunity to pray before the sword that he laid down in Montserrat (pictured right); it is now in the Jesuit Church of the Sacred Heart in Barcelona.

Finally, we arrived in Rome. When Ignatius and the First Companions took their vows in the Chapel of St Denis (pictured left) in 1534, they had a desire to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Over the next 4-5 years this desire was frustrated due to the wind conditions and various political tensions at the time. Consequently, they set their sights on Rome, the “new Jerusalem”. Just outside of Rome, in a small place called La Storta, Ignatius had a vision of God the Father putting him with Christ, carrying his Cross. In the vision, Ignatius felt God the Father say to him that God will be favourable to him in Rome. Ignatius was not sure what was meant by this vision, but he took it as invitation from Jesus saying to him, “I want you to serve Us”.  Consequently, Ignatius and the First Companions developed a deep devotion to the name of Jesus. So much so, the Jesuit mother Church in Rome is called the Gesu.

While in Rome, we visited the small chapel in La Storta, we celebrated the Eucharist in the simple rooms from which Ignatius governed and guided the Society of Jesus in its first 16 years and we prayed before the tomb of Ignatius in the Gesu. One of the other highlights in Rome was to visit the tomb of Pope Francis (pictured right) – the first Jesuit Pope. He is buried in the Basilica of Maria Maggiore – the church in which Ignatius celebrated his first mass on Christmas night in 1538. He had wanted to celebrate his first mass in Bethlehem, but this was not possible, so he chose this place as there is a relic of the manger there.

One of the insights of Ignatius was that God chooses to deal directly with each one of us. Over the course of the pilgrimage, each of us were granted different graces from God. We were able to revisit parts of our lives and see things anew, learning from the example of Ignatius, which in turn deepened our relationship with Jesus. Each of these reflected upon our desires and how our leadership can grow arising from this pilgrimage—ultimately seeking to be men and women who live for and with others.

As we begin this new term, may each of us be open to the blessings that God wishes to give us at this time.