The saint we celebrate today began his life as part of a unique group. While most Americans think of the Basque a simply a part of Spain, they are quite distinct. To this day their is great debate over the origin of their language, Euskara, which bares little resemblance to any of the languages around it. In Spanish they call him Ignacio and in English we call him Ignatius.
While in his youth he attempted to follow the common path for the son of a noble family, he was willing to hear and respond to the call of God to be unique. This courage enabled him with a handful of friends to found the Society of Jesus in 1534. He was 43 years old, not a young man in those days. By 1551 to found the Roman College, now known as the Pontifical Gregorian University, and lived only 5 years after that.
By traditional standards, he had a late start, and yet look at the impact the Jesuits have had on education around the world. He is proof that it is never to late, never to late to turn your life around, never to late to have an impact on the world around you.
