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Ignatian Year

05/20/2021

In a message to the Saint Louis University community on Thursday, May 20, David Suwalsky, S.J., vice president for mission and identity at SLU, welcomed in the beginning of the Ignatian Year.

Dear Friends,

Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J., Superior General of the Society of Jesus, announced an Ignatian Year that begins today on the 500th anniversary of the wounding of St. Ignatius Loyola during the Battle of Pamplona in 1521. This Ignatian Year celebration is not only intended as a time of reflection upon the life of St. Ignatius, it is also an opportunity to deepen our understanding of his spiritual legacy. The Ignatian Year will conclude on the Feast of St. Ignatius on July 31, 2022. Within this year is also the 400th anniversary of the canonization of both St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier on March 12, 2022. As Father General has observed:

In remembering St. Ignatius of Loyola and his conversion, we find encouragement. We realize that ‘Yes, change is possible. Yes, our hearts can be softened. Yes, our world can find new ways forward.’ We place our hands in the hands of Jesus, our brother and friend, and we go forth into an uncertain but hopeful future, confident that He is with us and that His spirit is guiding us.

While this Ignatian Year encourages all of us to reflect upon what we have received through the inspiration of St. Ignatius, it also provides an opportunity to look forward to consider how the Jesuit works of a city or region like St. Louis might work together more closely, how we might more effectively promote the spirituality of St. Ignatius at Saint Louis University and, as well, to consider, in creative ways, our response to the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus:

  1. To show the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment;
  2. To walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice;
  3. To accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future;
  4. To collaborate in the care of our Common Home.

Throughout the Ignatian Year, SLU will be offering resources for our community to participate, with the entire Ignatian family, in the many ways we might learn and understand better how “new ways forward” might bring us not only closer to the charism of our founder but also how we, with confidence, might venture forth “into an uncertain but hopeful future.” As we move from lock down and anxiety to engagement and hope, let us remember that, like St. Ignatius, we are on a pilgrim’s journey to deepen our faith, to encounter hope and to experience the love of our Creator most especially in our SLU community.

Sincerely,
Fr. David J. Suwalsky, S.J.
Vice President, Mission and Identity