Ignatius was a brave soldier of moral character. And, as God does with all of us, He so arranged Ignatius’ life to give this good man every opportunity of becoming the amazing saint God had created him to be.

So it happened that Ignatius was wounded in battle in defense of the city of Pampeluna. A shot from a cannon sent part of a wall onto his left leg, and the cannon ball itself broke his right leg. He was brought to the castle of Loyola, not far from Pampeluna. There he was cared for during his long recovery.

As his legs healed, he had to stay lying on a couch all day. To pass the time, he asked his attendant to bring him novels or historical accounts of knights to read. But there were no such books to be found in the castle of Loyola. The owner of this castle was very devout, and all there was to offer to Ignatius was spiritual reading material.

So Ignatius spent many hours reading about the lives of Our Lord, Our Lady, and the saints. It was not his first choice. But at least it gave him something to do.

As time went on, his interest grew. He began to feel inspired by the heroic virtue practiced by the people he read about. So much so, that he said to himself:

"These men were of the same human nature as I am. Why, then, should I not do what they have done?"

He read the life of Christ over and over again, and even began jotting down spiritual inspirations for himself. God was slowly turning an idle boredom into a deep desire... and what began with a tragic accident and injury would rescue Ignatius and change his life forever.

Eventually, he recovered enough to be on his feet again. But his love for Christ continued to grow. It gave Ignatius of Loyola the strength to overcome all the obstacles that tried to stand in the way of the path to santicity. And in the end, he passed on his spiritual wisdom and bravery with the founding of his own religious order - the Society of Jesus.