Before He Was A Jesuit Saint: The Death Of His Wife

The year is 1527 and the place is Alcalá de Henares, a university town just east of Madrid. Two future Jesuit saints happen to pass by each other on the road.

One of the travelers is magnificently costumed and accompanied by a grand procession; his passing through town is a rare spectacle of power and prestige. People come out of their homes and shops to gawk at the parade as it passes by. This great nobleman is 17-year-old Francisco de Borja y Aragon, the great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI on one side and King Ferdinand I of Aragon on the other. His procession leads towards the court of Charles V where young Francisco will enter into an arranged marriage with the daughter of Portuguese royalty, Eleanor de Castro Melo e Menezes.

The other traveler is considerably less memorable and appears to be a simple wayward monk in a tattered grey robe. However, this poor man is noticed by Francisco because he is being taken into custody by the Inquisition, Dominicans from nearby Toledo. He is charged with being an illuminist in league with radical charismatics, men and women who claim direct experience of God. This 36-year-old student is none other than Íñigo Oñaz López de Loyola, the future founder of the Jesuits.

Link to the full post entitled, Memorial of St. Francis Borgia, SJ
the blog is the Jesuit Vocations in the Northwest
Painting is of St. Francis Borja, S.J. at the death of his wife