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The Shrine of Loyola, situated on the banks of the Urola River, in the Valley of Iraurgui, in the heart of Guipúzcoa, is an architectural complex that has developed around the Tower-House of Loyola, itself an old medieval fortress whose fortifications were demolished by the King’s order in 1497 and whose upper half was reconstructed in 1460 as a palace.
Two facts have made this Tower-House the heart of a Shrine and the center of a continuous stream of pilgrims from all over the world:
- here was born Iñigo de Loyola in 1491
- and here he was converted in 1521.
This Iñigo de Loyola, the thirteenth and last child of the Lords of Oñaz and Loyola of the time, was to becomes, once he was touched by God, into St Ignatius of Loyola, the author of the Book of the Spiritual Exercises, and the Founder of the Society of Jesus, which he governed until his death in 1556. Pope Gregory XV canonized him in 1622.
The Spiritual Exercises are not a book to be read but a method by which, through meditation and the analysis of his own spiritual experience, one seeks God’s will.
The Society of Jesus is a religious Order, approved by Paul III in 1540, which from that time, through more than four centuries and a half, has worked in most parts of the world, in young and old Christian communities, devoted to the preaching of God’s Word, spiritual guidance, scientific research and teaching of sacred and secular sciences, social action, etc.
Today it has a membership of over 21,000. It has produced 51 Saints and 151 Blessed, and its martyrology continues to grow in our own days.
All this had its origin, its primordial home, in this Tower-House which, by the way, was the object of a very careful restoration on the occasion of the 5th centenary of St Ignatius’s birth (1491-1991), tending to give back their original aspect to its chief elements.
It is no wonder that the Shrine of Loyola has developed around it. |
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