It's the Feast of
St. Ignatius of Loyola,
3rd Class, with the color of
White. In this episode: the meditation: "The Grace of Remorse", today's news from the Church: "Eucharistic Crusade Camps 2026", a preview of this week's episode of The SSPX Podcast: "Catechism Series Episode 2 - How Not to Use the Catechism", and today's thought from the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
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Sources Used Today:
- "The Grace of Remorse" — From Trinity Sunday to the Assumption
- "Eucharistic Crusade Camps 2026" (FSSPX.news)
- The SSPX Podcast: "Catechism Series Episode 2 - How Not to Use the Catechism" (SSPX Podcast)
- The Spiritual Life — Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
Please support our new project, the Archbishop Lefebvre Biography Audiobook!
Saint Ignatius of Loyola probably never imagined that a cannonball would become the turning point of his life.
He was born in 1491 into a noble Basque family in northern Spain and grew up dreaming of adventure. As a young man, Ignatius loved the ideals of knighthood. He enjoyed military life, courtly manners, and the pursuit of honor. If you had asked him what he wanted from life, he likely would have spoken about glory, reputation, and serving his king.
Then, in 1521, everything changed.
While defending the fortress of Pamplona against a French army, a cannonball shattered one of his legs and badly injured the other. His military career was over. During the long and painful months of recovery, Ignatius asked for books about knights and heroic adventures. None could be found. Instead, he was given a Life of Christ and a collection of stories about the saints.
At first, he read them simply to pass the time.
But something unexpected happened.
He noticed that when he imagined returning to his old life, the excitement quickly faded. When he imagined living like the saints, the joy lingered. That simple observation became the beginning of one of the most influential spiritual insights in Christian history: learning to recognize the movements of the soul and the ways God gently draws us toward Himself.
After recovering, Ignatius laid his sword before an image of the Blessed Virgin at the monastery of Montserrat and exchanged his noble clothing for the simple garments of a pilgrim. He spent nearly a year in the nearby town of Manresa, where long hours of prayer, penance, and reflection became the foundation of what would later become his famous Spiritual Exercises. More than four hundred years later, those retreats are still helping Catholics hear God's voice and discern His will.
Ignatius eventually gathered a small group of companions, including Francis Xavier and Peter Faber. Together they founded the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits. Their mission was simple but ambitious: go wherever the Church needed them most. Within a generation, Jesuit missionaries were preaching in India, Japan, Brazil, Africa, and throughout Europe, founding schools, advising rulers, and carrying the Gospel farther than Ignatius could ever have imagined.
Visitors to Rome can still pray in the Church of the Gesù, where the body of Saint Ignatius rests beneath an ornate altar. Nearby is the small room where he lived and governed the rapidly growing Jesuit order. It's a surprisingly modest place for a man whose spiritual vision changed the course of Catholic history.
Ignatius often prayed, "Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will." It was a fitting prayer for a man who discovered that the greatest victories are won not on the battlefield, but in surrendering completely to God.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, master of discernment and soldier of Christ, pray for us.
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What is the SSPX Podcast?
The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.
What is the SSPX?
The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood.
Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls.
Although the traditional Latin Mass is the most visible and public expression of the work of the Society, we are committed to defending Catholic Tradition in its entirety: all of Catholic doctrine and morals as the Church has always defended them. What people need is the Catholic Faith, without compromise, with all the truth and beauty which accompanies it.
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