Saint Ignatius of Loyola

I attended a high school that was started by the Jesuits, and continue to call a Jesuit parish my home parish.  Daily mass today was special, celebrating the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits.  Relics were even brought out to give special blessings for those who desired them.  Its an awesome feeling to hold a relic of a saint in your hand and receive a blessing.

Pope Benedict XVI addressed the Jesuits today.  Here is an excerpt from his address.

"St Ignatius of Loyola was first and foremost a man of God who in his life put God, his greatest glory and his greatest service, first. He was a profoundly prayerful man for whom the daily celebration of the Eucharist was the heart and crowning point of his day.
Thus, he left his followers a precious spiritual legacy that must not be lost or forgotten. Precisely because he was a man of God, St Ignatius was a faithful servant of the Church, in which he saw and venerated the Bride of the Lord and the Mother of Christians. And the special vow of obedience to the Pope, which he himself describes as "our first and principal foundation" (MI, Series III, I., p. 162), was born from his desire to serve the Church in the most beneficial way possible."

Happy feast day Jesuits!