St. Ignatius Loyola was born in 1491 to a family of minor nobility in northern Spain. As a young man, Ignatius Loyola was a soldier and dreamed of doing great deeds. But in 1521 Ignatius was gravely wounded in a battle with the French.
Straus, Oscar, 1870-1954. Tapfere Soldat The Chocolate Soldier. RCA Victor, [1958]
Risë Stevens and Robert Merrill, with supporting soloists, chorus and orchestra; Lehman Engel, conductor.
It makes a fellow proud -- To be a soldier An evening wasted with Tom Lehrer [words and music by Tom Lehrer]. [Burbank, CA] : Reprise, [1966]
L'histoire du soldat, [The soldier's tale, to be read, played, and danced, text by C.F. Ramuz] Philips [1964] Jean Cocteau, as the narrator; Peter Ustinov, as the devil; Jean Marie Fertey, as the soldier; with instrumental ensemble; Igor Markévitch, conductor.
L'histoire du soldat; suite. Columbia [1955] With the composer's Octet, winds and his Symphonies d'instruments à vent. The soldier's march.--Soldier at the brook.--Pastorale.--The royal march.--The little concerto.--Three dances (tango, waltz, ragtime)--The devil's dance.--Chorale.--Triumphal march of the devil. Alex Schneider, violin; Loren Glickman, bassoon; Erwin Price, trombone; David Oppenheim, clarinet; Robert Nagel, trumpet; Juliu Levine, double-bass; Alfred Howard, percussion; conducted by the composer.
After being seriously wounded at the Battle of Pamplona in 1521, he underwent a spiritual conversion while in recovery. De Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony inspired Loyola to abandon his previous military life and devote himself to labour for God, following the example of spiritual leaders such as Francis of Assisi. He experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus while at the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat in March 1522. Thereafter he went to Manresa, where he began praying for seven hours a day, often in a nearby cave, while formulating the fundamentals of the Spiritual Exercises.
Respighi, Ottorino, 1879-1936. Fontane di Roma. The fountains of Rome. The pines of Rome. Columbia [1971?] Philadelphia orchestra; Eugene Ormandy, conductor.
Respighi, Ottorino, 1879-1936. Pini di Roma. The pines of Rome. Roman festivals.
Columbia [1970] New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor.
The later years of Ignatius were spent in Rome in partial retirement, the correspondence inevitable in governing the Society leaving no time for those works of active ministry which in themselves he much preferred. His health too began to fail. In 1551, when he had gathered the elder fathers to revise the constitutions, he laid his resignation of the generalate in their hands, but they refused to accept it then or later.
In the summer of 1556 Ignatius was attacked by Roman fever. His doctors did not foresee any serious consequences, but he did. On 30 July, 1556, he asked for the last sacraments and the papal blessing, but he was told that no immediate danger threatened. Next morning at daybreak, the infirmarian found him lying in peaceful prayer, so peaceful that he did not at once perceive that the saint was actually dying. When his condition was realized, the last blessing was given, but the end came before the holy oils could be fetched. Perhaps he had prayed that his death, like his life, might pass without any demonstration.
