Roque ferriols biography of michael jordan

A reflection on how the women surrounding St. Ignatius played a significant role and brought him closer to Mama Mary.

by Francis Xin, SJ

According to Oscar Wilde, “Every sinner has a future, and every saint has a past.” The same is true for Saint Ignatius of Loyola.

The Early Days Of Ignatius

Ignatius, originally known as Iñigo Lopez de Onaz y Loyola, was born in 1491 to a noble Basque family in northern Spain, near the town of Azpetia, in the Basque province of Quipuzcoa, in the old kingdom of Castile. He was the youngest of thirteen children. Iñigo never had much contact with his mother, Dona Marina, who may have died shortly after his birth. Consequently, Ignatius was turned over to a wet-nurse, Maria Garin, and spent his first years in her modest home rather than his father’s nearby castle, Casa Torre Loyola.

Each day, Maria would have taken baby Inigo up to Loyola. In time, the boy Iñigo went to the family’s Casa Torre and lived there until he was about 16 years of age. During those days, Dona Magdalena de Araoz, who was both his sister-in-law and the one who had taken the place of his mother, tried to describe for him what the fortress of Arevalo was like. Initially, Ignatius’ father steered him toward a church career. While still a yo