Loyola was a young Spanish soldier who was born into the military world. Loyola was the youngest child in a large family, and was in search of a reputation. Loyola took a lot of pride in being a soldier and took it very seriously. “He had, said Polanco, a reputation for never bearing malice, and for always fighting like a man of honour.”# During this particular time period there was an ongoing battle between the Spanish and the French for the Province of Navarre. Both countries believed it was theirs and only theirs. Between 1512 and 1

The Society of Jesus also played a major role in the Counter- Reformation. Of course the Counter-Reformation was directed against the Protestants Reformation under Edward VI. Originally the Protestants had success in taking people away from Catholicism. At this particular time Catholicism was struggling with its people and were losing them to the Protestants. Several different groups tried to save Catholicism, including the Jesuits, but none were more effective than the Jesuits. “Of the various reform groups, none was more instrumental in the success of the Counter- Reformation than the Society of Jesus” #

While Loyola was recovering from his leg injury he underwent an extraordinary conversion. To pass time Loyola read Christian classics, which he became fascinated with. These Christian readings triggered the conversion that Loyola experienced. “So impressed with was he with the heroic self-sacrifice of the church’s saints and their methods of overcoming mental anguish and pain that he underwent a profound a religious conversion.”# After a full recovery that left Loyola with just a slight limp he began to build on the new ideas that he had discovered earlier. Shortly after Loyola put together a series of exercises that were to followed by his people. “Ignatius applied the lessons he had learned during his convalescence to a program of religious and moral self-discipline that came to be embodied in the Spiritual Exercises.” # Even today, the Spiritual Exercises are considered the most fundamental book of the Jesuit Order. The success of the Spiritual Exercises comes from the problem Loyola tries to solve in it, “How can the individual attain inner peace?”# This particular question was a very integral part of the entire Exercises. “This psychologically perceptive devotional guide contained mental and emotional guide exercises designed to teach one absolute spiritual self-mastery over one’s feelings. It taught that a person could shape his or her own behaviour - even create a new religious self - through disciplined and regular practice.”# “The two main components of these Exercises are: An encouragement towards spiritual life and a test of aptitude for the particular kind of religious activity that Loyola wanted.” # Those who completed the exercises to the fullest felt the benefits of the exercises and “were inevitably bound together.”# The Exercises remained a top priority throughout Loyola’s years. Every member of the order must complete these at least twice in their entirety, at the beginning and at the end. These Spiritual Exercises were the foundation of what was yet to come.

One of the key and probably the most important aspect of the Society of Jesus is the educational aspect. Loyola believed that colleges offered the best possible service to the church, by moral and especially religious instruction. The Jesuits top priority was the education phase right

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