St. Ignatius of Loyola was born in 1491 in northern Spain. He was one of 13 children of a family of minor nobility. In 1521 he was seriously wounded in a military battle against the French. The reading and reflection that accompanied his long convalescence led to a dramatic conversion. Out of this experience came the resolve to bring all of his life under Christ, most especially his inner life of attitudes and thoughts. As he developed an approach for cultivating and refining Christ-like attitudes, Ignatius laid the foundation for his most famous literary work, the Spiritual Exercises, which were written in 1522 and published in 1548.
Ignatian spirituality is characterized by a formative approach that stresses continued self-examination. The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) took his Spiritual Exercises as their rule for spiritual life. The essence of Christianity is understood as the imitation of Christ. Prayer, meditation, and reflection upon the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are aids to developing conformity to his image. Ignatius’ interest in the “discernment of spirits” connected the cultivation of Christian character with a person’s decision-making processes.