Xavier Institute of Social Service

Description

It all began 500 years ago. In the Basque country of northern Spain a boy names Inigo was born. He lived in a very small castle because, although noble, his family was not wealthy.

Like most noblemen of his times, the boy grew up half educated, with a love for fine clothes, beautiful ladies and the glorious sound of battle. He thought of himself as a great lover, but in this regard it seems that God had different plans for Inigo of Loyola.

Wounded in the battle, he fretted in his couch, enduring much pain and boredom. So just to drive away the boredom he took on reading the lives of great saints.

Gradually the miracle of God’s grace transformed this young man. Inigo set his steps on the rocky path that lead him to Salamanca, Paris, Venice, Jerusalem and Rome. By this time he was known as Ignatius Loyola.

In 1540, in Rome he received from Pope III, a decree, proclaiming that Ignatius and his little group of nine followers would be known as the “Society of Jesus”. A new religious order was born in the Catholic Church, one that would spread throughout the world and would have profound effects on many lives.

Strangely, on that great day in Rome, the most famous of the companions of Ignatius was not present. He had already started his remarkable odyssey to Asia. He waited in Portugal for the ship that would take him to India. His name was Francis Xavier. At Goa, he was to open the first “Jesuit college” in the whole world, a college that would be forerunn