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Ignatian Pilgrimage: Introduction This spring, I was privileged to participate in the Ignatian Pilgrimage, a program sponsored by Holy Cross College, with additional funding by Leavey and Lilly Foundations. This program enables members of Jesuit colleges and universities to study the life of Ignatius Loyola (1491 -1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus, and to enrich their understanding of the heritage of Jesuit education. The pilgrimage is led by Tom Landy, the Interim Director of the Center for Religion, Ethics, and Culture at Holy Cross College. The program consists of two parts. To begin, we read and discussed three books: John W. O'Malley's The First Jesuits, Loyola's The Spiritual Exercises (edited by David L. Fleming, S.J.), and Loyola's autobiography (translated by Joseph N. Tylenda, S.J.). Then in May, we joined with other pilgrims from Loyola College (Baltimore), Xavier University (Cincinnati), and St. Joseph's University (Philadelphia) and flew to Bilbao, a city in northern Spain near the birthplace of Loyola. The following images offer glimpses of our pilgrimage, as we retraced the life of Loyola from his birth in the Basque countryside to the formal establishment of the Society of Jesus in Rome. Though the selection of images is certainly idiosyncratic to my personal journey, the following web pages should give you a sense of the places we visited and the range of experiences the pilgrimage offers--its beauty, joys, fellowship, and time for worship or reflection. (For other accounts of the Ignatian Pilgrimage, you may also wish to visit the College's web site on the program.) |