I have been pondering why Ignatius of Loyola insists on showing up in my life. But perhaps Ignatius deems these nods as too casual. I remind him that being married to a man educated by the Jesuits I have absorbed Jesuit influences through my 32 years of marriage. I have also let Ignatius know that by now I am comfortable with my saints and Carmelite spirituality is stamped all over my life; I am not looking for a change. While wondering if these Ignatian encounters were a figment of my fancy, I found out in October that mine is not an unusual experience.
Among the recommendations given is to get to know him or her. This reflection is the token I offer to him and to the many women who cared for, befriended and collaborated with him in his ministry, who supported him financially and advocated for him and for the Jesuit order both in the Hapsburg court and in Rome.
When asked about the role of women in the life of St Ignatius and in the early days of the Society, W. Norris Clarke, S. Roccasalvo, C. A long awaited acknowledgement of their vital involvement was provided in by Hugo Rahner, S. Rahner divides the letters into five categories: 17 to royal ladies, 17 to noble ladies, 30 to benefactresses, 41 to spiritual daughters, 8 to mothers of fellow Jesuits, and 26 to women who were his friends.
The starting point of the narrative signals the role a woman played with two gifts: a painting and a book, for, as James W. Reites, Ignatius and Ministry with Women , theway. Rahner highlights the formative contrast of this early relationship between the still somewhat Romantic Pilgrim of Holy Poverty and the practical housewife of Manresa Rahner, As a wealthy Catalan widow she supported him not only at Manresa but also at Barcelona and in Paris.
His letters to her express an abiding respect and gratitude. Francis Borgia and of Isabel, consort of emperor Charles V. Worthy of mention is an interesting piece of Jesuit history. Juana comes down in history as the only woman Jesuit. She also intervened to quell the riots against the Jesuits in Saragosa and defended the Society against the attacks of the formidable Dominican Melchior Cano Rahner, Ignatius relationship with Isabel Roser is an unusual one.
