St. Ignatius had a deep reverence for Mary, the Mother of God. The image above of Our Lady of the Way currently resides in the Gesu in Rome. It was originally in a little church that stood where the Gesu is now. This church Santa Maria Della Strada (St. Mary of the Way) was given to St. Ignatius by Pope Paul III in 1540 upon the founding of the Society of Jesus. Jesuits around the world celebrate her feast day on May 24.
This past May 11, Mona Snider, one of our instructors and an Ignatian prayer guide, offered an opening prayer at a Board of Trustees meeting for the Ignatian Spirituality Center. She incorporated points for St. Ignatius’ life and how he relied on the intercession of Mary in all his endeavors for Christ’s mission. I offer it as a prayer exercise for the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Way.
Let’s take a moment here to bring ourselves more fully into the Presence of our Loving God...and in doing, so being aware of Christ’s love for His Mother Mary.
And we ask Our Lady to be present to us in this prayer….
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit - Amen.
On this day in May we turn toward Mary, the Mother of Christ. And we’ll do this through our own eyes but also through the eyes of St. Ignatius.
A few points as we proceed…
As we know, Ignatius’ mother died when he was very young-- and being without a mother “made way” for a devoted relationship to grow between Our Lady and Ignatius.
Our Lady, as Ignatius would refer to her, played a critical role in forming him into a man some have called, “Mary’s soldier.” Her presence in his life was consistent. She’s also been referred to as the “hidden catalyst” of St. Ignatius.
During the time of his recovery from the cannonball injury, Ignatius saw a vision of Our Lady with the Holy Child Jesus ~ and after that point, he never consented to the motions of the flesh again.
Later, during his journey to Manresa, he spent a night at the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat - this night happened to be the eve of the Feast of the Annunciation, he laid down his sword and dagger, clothed himself in a pilgrim’s tunic and made a 3 day general confession. At her shrine he surrendered his life to his New King.
Then much later in his life, in 1541, Ignatius and his first companions made their solemn vows before the image of Mary, in the Chapel of Our Lady, in the Basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls in Rome.
These are just a few of the many times Ignatius turned to Our Lady. He was never far from her. He defended her, prayed to her, loved her.
But long before any of those experiences of Our Lady, there was his first experience. Ignatius as a child, gazed upon an image, which served as his core experience of Our Lady. His sister in law and surrogate mother was Magdalena and her painting of the Annunciation, shown here, had the first place for him.
This painting of the Annunciation hung in the Loyola castle in a chapel built especially for it. Ignatius developed a very special devotion to this picture from as early as 7 years old. This picture was his first (or one of his first) touchpoints with Our Lady, bearing lasting effects.
Let’s take a few prayerful and quiet moments to look at it, to gaze into this image and simply wonder what may have touched Ignatius about it.
As you continue to look into this image of Mary, bring an intention to her. Bring your private, unshared intention to Our Lady as Ignatius would do.
Our ending words are recent words from Pope Francis:
We fly to your protection,
O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions in our necessities,
but deliver us always from every danger,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.
Amen