Thursday, 30 July 2015

St Ignatius Of Loyola

St. Ignatius of Loyola



The Catholic Church is made up of so many men and women who started out a far cry from God but who then developed a deep passionate love for him. St.Ignatius Loyola was just such a one. He came from a noble family in Azpeitia Northern Spain. He was the youngest of thirteen children and therefore probably rather spoilt. At the age of sixteen he was sent to serve as a page to Juan Velazques. It was here that he grew to really love the high life. Wine, women and song was the order
of the day with plenty of gambling thrown in for good measure. Ignatius was also not against a good
sword fight which got him into a lot of hot water on more than one occasion.
 Eventually at the age of thirty he became a solider and found himself defending the fortress town of Pamplona against the French. It was here that he was seriously injured. A cannon ball flew through his legs, seriously wounding one leg and breaking the bones in the other. With Ignatius injured the city  surrendered and the French took command. Ignatius bravely underwent an operation without any form of anesthetic which rather impressed the French! Because of his bravery they decided he could recuperate at the castle of Loyola instead of in prison.




Coming very close to death from his injuries it appears a miracle took place on the feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Ignatius turned a corner and his slow journey to recovery began. It was during this time of convalescence that Ignatius began to  experience a deep conversion. After asking for
some lighthearted romantic novels to read he was given the life of Christ and a book on the Saints.
He became absorbed by them and though he often daydreamed about his former life he realized he did not feel peaceful when he had these thoughts, but when he turned his mind to Jesus he became filled with peace and joy, this experience became the basis for which he later began to form his spiritual exercises.



As soon as he was well enough he decided to head for the Holy Land. Ignatius wanted to live in the land that Our Lord God had lived in while here on earth. While on route to Jerusalem he visited the Benedictine monastery of Our Lady of Montserrat. It was here that he made his confession. He kept
vigil  all night in front of Our Lady's altar, and like all good knights he gallantly laid his sword and knife on the altar. In the morning he went outside and gave his fine clothes to a beggar and dressed himself in some very rough clothes and sandals and made himself a staff.




As he continued his journey he came upon a town called Maresa. Staying In a cave on the outskirts Ignatius experienced a vision from God. Not much is known about this experience but it was to have a profound effect on the young mans life. While he was there he began to formulate the spiritual exercises for which he is famous. He also undertook many extreme forms of penance, trying always to outdo those great Saints he had read about when he was recuperating.





His efforts to get to the Holy Land were thwarted by the Superior General of the Franciscans. Who
because of the many dangers in the Holy Land refused to allow Ignatius to go on with  his journey. Faced with excommunication if he violated the superiors request Ignatius decided to head back to Barcelona. He determined the need to return to school to improve his Latin so that he could help others. Begging along the way to help  collect money for his education he went to the University of Alcala. Here his zeal for teaching the gospels landed him in hot water. Twice he ended up in prison.
 He headed for Paris and it was there that he met his future companions who would help him found his order. Francis Xavier, who by all accounts was a hard nut for him to crack as he to loved the high life, Peter Faber and James Laynez. During his time in Paris Ignatius influenced a number of the students. He taught them his spiritual exercises and six of them decided to take on vows of poverty and chastity.





These six decided that they would travel to the Holy Land. If they couldn't get there they would go to Rome and offer themselves to the Holy Father so that he may use them as he saw fit. Trying to get to
the Holy Land proved impossible so Ignatius and two others, Peter Faber and James Laynez decided to head for Rome. Just before entering the city Ignatius had his second most significant experience. God told him that "he would be favorable in Rome". Ignatius, not sure what this meant met with Pope Paul III.
During the following Lent Ignatius asked all his companions to join him in Rome to discuss their future. While they were there on the feast of St. John the Baptist he and his companions were ordained priests. However it was to be eighteen months before Ignatius was able to bring himself to say his first mass.
After a number of setbacks and much debate this small band of men decided to formalize their group
 into a recognizable order, they were to be known as the "company of Jesus". But when the official documents came from Rome the title given them was "Societas Jesu".
His fellow companions voted that Ignatius should become superior general, much to his discontent. On Friday April 22nd 1541 at the church of St. Paul outside the walls the friends pronounced their vows in the newly formed order.


Ignatius loved to teach everyone their catechism. He worked hard to overcome the problems of the reformation, and he liked to be amongst the poor and sick in the hospitals. But as Superior General his time was taken up in directing the new society which was beginning to flourish throughout the world. It is known that he wrote seven thousand letters personally, however he did have to take on a secretary to help him as he could not keep up with the demands of his role.

Perhaps the best known work of the Society of Jesus began by Ignatius is that of education. Before
1548 Ignatius  had opened schools in Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, Germany and India. primarily they were for new  recruits to the Jesuit order, but before long he was being asked to open schools for everyone. Ignatius used this to stem the decline  of the Church in the face of the reformation.

Throughout most of his adult life Ignatius had suffered with stomach ailments. These suddenly developed into something much worse and becoming very ill Ignatius asked his secretary to go a get a Papal Blessing. His secretary decided to delay, as he had many letters to write, but just after midnight Ignatius took a turn for the worst the secretary decided he must run for the blessing but it was to late Ignatius went home to God before he returned.
Ignatius was beatified on July 27th 1609.






To celebrate in the family why not make some really tasty Spanish Churros, the kids will love them!

Spanish Churros

Ingredients;

50g butter, melted
½ tsp vanilla extract
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
about 1 litre sunflower oil

For the sauce
200g bar dark chocolate, broken into chunks
100ml double cream
2 tbsp golden syrup

For the cinnamon sugar
100g caster sugar
2 tsp cinnamon


Boil the kettle, then measure 350ml boiling water into a jug.
 Add the melted butter and vanilla extract.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a big mixing bowl with a big pinch of salt.
 Make a well in the centre, then pour in the contents of the jug and very quickly beat into the flour with a wooden spoon until lump-free.
Rest for 10-15 mins.

 To maker the chocolate sauce.
Put all the sauce ingredients into a pan and gently melt together, stirring occasionally until you have a smooth shiny sauce. Keep warm on a low heat.

Fill a large deep saucepan one-third full of oil.
Cover a tray with kitchen paper and mix the caster sugar and cinnamon together.

Fit a star nozzle to a piping bag, 1.5-2cm wide.
 Fill with the rested dough, then pipe 2-3 strips directly into the pan, snipping off each dough strip with a pair of kitchen scissors.
Fry until golden brown and crisp, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on the kitchen paper-lined tray.
Cook the rest of the dough in batches, sprinkle the cooked churros with some cinnamon sugar when they come out of the oil.
 Serve with the chocolate sauce.



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Wednesday, 22 July 2015

St. Bridget Of Sweden




Born to a noble and wealthy family, St.Bridget was a deeply pious child who was raised to love her Catholic faith. She began to experience mystical visions around the age of 7. Married at the tender age of 13 to one Ulf Gudmarssen the young couple went on to have a very happy marriage which produced 8 children among the St Catherine of Sweden.




The Saintly life and her generous nature soon spread far and wide and St.Bridget was known to help the many poor and needy who live in the area.

She was well acquainted with many of the learned theologians of the time with whom she would sit and debate faith matters. Later she was at the court of King Magnus over whom she would gradually acquire great influence.




In early 1341 she and Ulf took a pilgrimage to Santiago De Compeostella. Their return journey was fraught with complications as Ulf became very unwell. Having sufficiently regained his strength they made it home but it was not to long after in1344 that he died.

Now finding herself a widow Bridget devoted herself entirely to religious practices. The visions she had had as a child now became more frequent and she was sure she  was witnessing Christ. She began to write down her revelations.





Bridget went on to found the Brigittine order whose main monastery was in Vadstena. In 1249 she travelled to Rome where she remained until her death in 1391.

What I love about St. Bridget was that she sounded like many of the young sassy Catholic women I know today. Beautiful women who are not afraid to talk about their faith and love for Jesus. Bridget was not above berating the rich  aristocracy for their excesses and she was bold enough to tell Pope Urban to move the Holy See from Avignon back to Rome. It just goes to show she moved in some pretty important circles. So if you are looking for a Saint for your daughters to emulate then you won't go to far wrong in teaching them about St. Bridget.

What better way to celebrate St. Bridget's feast day (after going to mass and receiving Jesus,
obviously!!) than to cook some Swedish meatballs for tea!

You will need; 400g Lean pork mince.
1 egg beaten,
1onion chopped,and gently fried until soft.
85gfresh white breadcrumbs,
1tsp ground allspice
1tbsp finely chopped dill,
Salt and pepper
1tbsp each olive oil and butter,
2tbsp plain flour,
400 miles hot beef stock(stock cube is fine).
1/2 cup of sour cream.

  1. In a bowl, mix the mince with the egg, onion, breadcrumbs, dill and seasoning. Form into small meatballs about the size of walnuts – you should get about 20.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan and brown the meatballs. You may have to do this in 2 batches. Remove from pan, melt the butter, then sprinkle over the flour and stir well. Cook for 2 mins, then slowly whisk in the stock. Keep whisking until it is a thick gravy,  stir in the sour cream then return the meatballs to the pan and heat through. Sprinkle with dill and serve with cranberry jelly, greens and mash or on top of pasta.
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