He was a soldier before he was a saint. He chased glory on the battlefield, cared about his appearance and his reputation, and had no particular interest in the spiritual life. Then a cannonball shattered his leg, a long recovery forced him to read whatever was available, and the only books in the house were a life of Christ and a collection of saints' lives.
What happened next changed the Catholic Church.
The memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola falls on Friday, July 31, 2026. He is the founder of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, and the author of the Spiritual Exercises, one of the most influential works of Christian spirituality ever written. But what most people do not know about him is that his most central conviction is also one of the most accessible: God can be found in all things.
Who Was St. Ignatius of Loyola?
Ignatius was born in 1491 in the Basque region of northern Spain to a noble family. He pursued a military career and was stationed at the fortress of Pamplona when, in 1521, a French cannonball struck his legs. The injury was severe. His right leg was broken, and his recovery required multiple surgeries and months of confinement.
During that confinement, he began to notice something. When he read chivalric romances and fantasized about military glory, he felt a momentary excitement that left him feeling empty afterward. When he read about the saints and imagined following their path, he felt a different kind of satisfaction, one that stayed with him and grew rather than fading. This observation, that different desires leave different residue in the soul, became the foundation of what Ignatius would later call the discernment of spirits.
According to New Advent's Catholic Encyclopedia, after his recovery Ignatius spent time in prayer, pilgrimage, and study, eventually gathering a group of companions in Paris who would take vows together and form the Society of Jesus in 1540. The Jesuits became one of the most influential religious orders in the history of the Church, founding universities, staffing missions around the world, and shaping Catholic intellectual and spiritual life for centuries.
Ignatius was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV, alongside Philip Neri, Teresa of Ávila, Isidore the Farmer, and Francis Xavier, a canonization ceremony that honored five saints at once in one of the most significant such events in Church history.
Finding God in All Things
The phrase most associated with Ignatian spirituality is finding God in all things. It sounds simple. It is, in fact, deeply radical.
Ignatius believed that God is not confined to prayer times, church buildings, and sacred rituals. He is present and active in every dimension of human life: in work, in relationships, in the natural world, in art and music, in the frustrations of a difficult day and the small joys of an ordinary one. The task of the Christian life, in Ignatius's understanding, is to cultivate the awareness to recognize God's presence where it already is, rather than waiting for specifically religious moments to encounter him.
For Catholic women who live demanding, busy, and beautifully complex lives, this is remarkably good news. The commute, the work meeting, the conversation with a difficult person, the quiet moment of a morning coffee: all of it is potential encounter territory. None of it is outside the reach of grace.
This is also the spirit behind our Little Way Necklace, inspired by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, whose spirituality runs remarkably parallel to Ignatius's in this regard. Both saints found the infinite in the ordinary. Both built spiritual systems around the conviction that daily life, fully offered, is holy ground. For more on Saint Thérèse and her little way, read our blog Gifts for the Woman Who Lives the Little Way of St. Thérèse.
The Spiritual Exercises
Ignatius's great contribution to Catholic spirituality is the Spiritual Exercises, a structured program of prayer, reflection, and discernment designed to be made over approximately thirty days in silence and solitude, or in an adapted form over several months of daily prayer. According to Britannica's entry on Ignatius, the Exercises have been made by millions of Catholics over the past five centuries and remain one of the most widely used frameworks for structured Catholic retreat and prayer.
The Exercises move through four major themes: sin and mercy, the life and ministry of Jesus, the Passion and death of Christ, and the Resurrection and its implications for the life of the one making the retreat. At each stage, Ignatius asks the person praying to use their imagination to enter the Gospel scenes, to speak personally with Jesus, to feel what the disciples felt, and to respond from the depths of their own heart.
The goal is not information but transformation: a deeper freedom, a clearer sense of calling, and a more habitual awareness of God's presence in daily life.
What Ignatius Teaches Catholic Women in 2026
Three aspects of Ignatian spirituality feel particularly relevant for Catholic women navigating the pressures of life in 2026.
Discernment Is a Skill, Not a Gift
Ignatius taught that spiritual discernment, the ability to distinguish movements that lead toward God from those that lead away from him, is something that can be learned and practiced. It is not a rare charism given to mystics. It is available to any person willing to pay attention to their interior experience over time.
For a generation of Catholic women who feel paralyzed by choices and overwhelmed by competing voices, the Ignatian framework offers a practical tool. What stays with you? What leaves you feeling restless and empty? What gives you the kind of peace that does not depend on circumstances? These are discernment questions, and learning to ask them changes everything.
The Daily Examen
One of Ignatius's most practical contributions is a prayer practice called the Examen, a short daily reflection that asks: where did I experience God today? And where did I fail to notice him or respond to him? The Examen takes about fifteen minutes and can be practiced anywhere. It trains the habit of awareness that Ignatian spirituality is built on.
Many Catholic women who find formal prayer difficult have discovered that the Examen is an accessible and transformative entry point into a more consistent prayer life. It meets you where you are and asks only that you pay attention to what is already happening.
The Cross Is Not the End
Ignatius spent his long recovery contemplating the Passion of Christ. He understood suffering not as punishment but as participation, a way of entering more deeply into the love that drove Jesus to the cross. The Vintage Crucifix Necklace carries this theology in its design: not a bare cross but a crucifix, with the body of Christ still present, still giving, still offering everything.
Ignatius's life was marked by physical suffering and years of painful uncertainty. His faith was not despite that suffering but through it. For any Catholic woman in a hard season, his witness is a reminder that the cross is the path, not an obstacle on the way to one.
How to Honor the Feast of St. Ignatius on July 31
The memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola falls on Friday, July 31, 2026. Here are a few ways to enter into the day with intention.
Try the Daily Examen
Spend fifteen minutes on the evening of July 31 with Ignatius's Examen. Look back over your day. Where did you feel drawn toward God? Where did you feel pulled away? Where did you sense his presence in something ordinary? There are no wrong answers, only honest ones.
Attend Mass
Going to Mass on a Friday memorial is a simple and direct way to honor a saint. Offer your Communion for a specific intention connected to something Ignatius is known to intercede for: discernment, the Jesuit missions, those seeking clarity about their vocation.
Wear Your Faith Intentionally
Ignatius found God in all things, which means that what you wear to work, to the grocery store, and through your ordinary Thursday can be a form of witness and devotion. Put on your Eucharist Necklace or your Vintage Crucifix Necklace and let it be a small act of the awareness he taught. Also browse our new arrivals for recently added faith pieces that might belong in your devotional wardrobe.
Common Questions About St. Ignatius of Loyola
What is the difference between Jesuit and other Catholic spiritualities?
Ignatian or Jesuit spirituality is particularly characterized by active engagement with the world, finding God in ordinary life rather than primarily in withdrawal from it, the practice of discernment, the use of imagination in prayer (sometimes called Ignatian contemplation), and the integration of faith and intellect. It differs from, for example, Carmelite spirituality (which emphasizes contemplation and interiority) or Franciscan spirituality (which emphasizes poverty and creation) while sharing with all of them the goal of deepening union with God.
Do you have to be a Jesuit to practice Ignatian spirituality?
Not at all. The Spiritual Exercises were written for laypeople as much as for religious, and Ignatian spirituality has been practiced by Catholics of every vocation for five centuries. The daily Examen, in particular, is widely practiced by Catholic women with no Jesuit connection whatsoever.
What is Ignatius the patron saint of?
Saint Ignatius is the patron saint of the Society of Jesus, of soldiers and military personnel, of spiritual directors and retreatants, and of the Basque country where he was born. He is also invoked for discernment of vocation, making him a particularly meaningful intercessor for young women navigating decisions about their future.
Related Reading
- Gifts for the Woman Who Lives the Little Way of St. Thérèse
- Who Was St. Mary Magdalene? What Her Story Means for Catholic Women
- Who Is St. Kateri Tekakwitha? The First Native American Saint
- Sacred Heart Devotion: A Beginner's Guide for Catholic Women
- Who Was St. John the Baptist? What His Birth Tells Us About Saying Yes to God
Final Thoughts
Ignatius of Loyola wanted to be famous. He wanted glory and recognition and the kind of legacy that soldiers dream of in their best moments. What he got was the cannonball. And what the cannonball gave him was everything he was actually looking for, in a form he never could have imagined.
Finding God in all things is not a spiritual technique. It is a way of looking. It is the habit of noticing that grace is already present in the life you are actually living, not the spiritual life you imagine you should have.
On July 31, remember the soldier who learned to look differently. And look around you at whatever day you are in. He is there. He has always been there.
Browse the full Darling & Divine collection and find the piece that helps you remember to look.