It is said that “the most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire”. The Pamplona event where the flames of the cannon ball turned St. Ignatius from the “Knight” in Loyola to a “pilgrim” towards Manresa, made him set the world ablaze with God’s love. Ignatius often ended his letters to Jesuits going to the missions, with this expression ite, inflammate omnia—“go, set the world on fire”. Legend has it that when Francis Xavier was to embark on his journey to India, the final departing words of the founder father to him (Francis Xavier) was—“go, set the world on fire”. As we commemorate the fifth centenary of the injury St Ignatius suffered at Pamplona (1521-2021), the Manresa experience of Ignatius (1522-2022) and fourth centenary of the canonization (1622-2022) of St Ignatius with that of St Francis Xavier, with the theme “To see all things new in Christ’, we can inquire ourselves about what St. Ignatius meant by ite, inflammate omnia?
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The author is Research Director, Environmental Scientist, and Professor at St. Joseph’s University, Bengaluru.
