Top 5 St Ignatius of Loyola articles
Check out our top five articles on the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the author of the Spiritual Exercises.

Check out our top five articles on the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the author of the Spiritual Exercises.
St Ignatius of Loyola
We have long said that Anti-Jesuitry is the ultimate psy-op.
Everyone knows that that “the corruption of the best is the worst.” In this case, the Jesuits were the best. Founded by St Ignatius they brought great glory to God, providing doctors of the Church, theologians, saints and martyrs.
And yet it is now trendy – very trendy – to blame them for the current crisis in the Church. They are condemned for having an exaggerated notion of obedience; for being insufficiently liturgical; for promoting an individualistic piety; and even for inventing Cartesianism.
In fact, the anti-Ignatius, anti-Spiritual Exercises and anti-Jesuit attitudes are all effectively anti-Christ, because:
St Ignatius was raised up by God,
He was given the Exercises by Heaven
His order did so much good for the Church.
We all know the Jesuit order today has become corrupt, like so much else. But tracing this corruption to the source of their order – St Ignatius – is so contrary to the mind of the Church, as well as contrary to the observable facts, that those who engage in such drivel in our day mark themselves out as clanging cymbals who should be ignored as much as possible.
Therefore, to mark the feast of St Ignatius, we are presenting a curated selection of our favourite articles on the saint and his work.
Top Five St Ignatius Articles

FIRST ARTICLE: Why should I make an Ignatian Retreat?
Fr Aloyisius Ambrizzi SJ explains the trajectory of the Spiritual Exercises, and explains how it sums up and presents the Gospel – even in its common five-day format.

SECOND ARTICLE: Pius XI: The Spiritual Exercises and modernity (Meditantibus Nobis)
Pope Pius XI promulgated several official documents on the importance and benefits of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. In Meditantibus Nobis, newly translated by WM Review, he presents them as the answer to modernity.
So much for those who think that St Ignatius was the father of modernity and of an individualistic piety.
THIRD ARTICLE: How the Spiritual Exercises prepared men for martyrdom before the Spanish Civil War
Fr Francisco Vallet promoted a five-day form of St Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises amongst Catalan men.
It is estimated that from 1923 to 1927, Vallet had given the five-day retreat to 12,643 souls. It is also estimated that 6,000 of Vallet’s former retreatants shed their blood for Christ during the Communist persecution there.
If it could do that for them, what could it do for you and me?

FOURTH ARTICLE: ‘Providential weapon' which must not be lost—Pius XII on the Spiritual Exercises
In addition to Pius XI, Pope Pius XII also praised the Spiritual Exercises on several occasion.
In this newly translated text, he specifically affirmed the 'Work' of Fr Vallet, and called for the Ignatian Exercises to be offered in every parish in the world.

FIFTH ARTICLE: Defending the Jesuits against accusations of 'tyranny' and 'servile obedience'
Many “traditionalists” claim that the current crisis in the Church is one of obedience – in particular, it has been caused by an exaggerated notion of obedience.
An oft-cited essay by Dr John Lamont blames St Ignatius and the Jesuits this (and for many other evils), based on the notion of obedience expressed in the foundational texts. This two-part essay by Fr ZeloZelavi considers whether this justified—or vacuous.

BONUS ARTICLE: The Manifesto of Father Coleridge Reader
When The WM Review’s project Father Coleridge Reader hit its milestone of 1,000 email subscribers, we took the opportunity to explain why we have poured so much effort into a project based around the writings of the nineteenth century Jesuit Fr Henry James Coleridge SJ.
It’s because readers are finding in Coleridge that “something which was missing,” which they need to live as good Christians.
You can see how far we have got through Coleridge’s 26 volume Life of Christ here:
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