Ignatius of Loyola

Ignatius of Loyola (1481-1556) was born a nobleman in Basque, Spain. He joined the army at a young age and took a cannonball in the leg in 1521. It laid him up in bed for a year, convalescing, and he turned to reading a lot of books. He couldn't find the heroic tales of battle he loved, but instead found stories of the lives of the Saints.

During this time, he discovered God working inside him, prompting and guiding him. Possessing the zeal he had as a soldier, he moved to a cave when he got better to devote himself to God. He wrote about his inner life. Thus, he learned how to do retreats and what we now call Ignatian Prayer, which is a way of writing out your dialogue with God. You ought to consider looking into if you don't already know how.

Ignatius became a priest and founded the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. They were and are a highly educated order, a force of the Counter Reformation. They built churches and schools all over Europe and from Brazil to Japan. Ignatius died on July 31, his Feast Day. He is the patron of Retreats, one of the patron Saints of soldiers, and of course of the Jesuits. He was canonized in 1622. (Source: Jesuits.org)

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) painted the original on which this 19th Century lithograph is based. He lived not long after Ignatius and did a lot of artworks about the Saint's life. We like this charming litho because it has the beauty of Rubens' art without the weight of the Baroque style. It was printed by The Society of St. Augustine, a Catholic printer from Belgium, active in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

Just as in Reuben's painting, in Ignatius's left hand is a copy of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. It translates to "To the greater glory of God," the motto of the Jesuits.

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a white border of about 0.5" inch for 5x7", 1.3" for 8.5x11", 1.6" for 11x14" pictures, or 1.75" for 13x17" , 16x20", 18x24" and 24x36". Inquire about special printing needs. Not much needs to be trimmed of the art to go to the edge on this print.
Border sizes are Approx! Fine art printers do this because the images are almost never the same rectangular ratio of the standard paper sizes. It also gives the prints a finished look, and lets them look good in a frame without a matt.

- Acid-free paper
- Archival pigments, rated to last for generations.
- Cardboard backer
- Above story of the art
- Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag.

Thanks for your interest!
Sue & John

"In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art." ~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson - Classic Catholic.