was omitted. I began to write down certain points immediately, and I afterward filled out the details. I endeavored to write nothing that I did not hear from him. So closely did I adhere to his very words that afterward I was unable to explain the meaning of some of them. This narrative I wrote, as I have indicated above, up to September, 1553. From that time until the 18th of October, 1554, when Father Natalis came, St. Ignatius did not continue the narrative, but pleaded excuse on account of infirmities or other business, saying to me, "When such and such a business is settled, remind me of it." When that work was done, I recalled it to his memory. He replied, "Now I have that other affair on hand; when it is finished remind me."

Father Natalis was overjoyed that a beginning had been made, and told me to urge St. Ignatius to complete it, often saying to me, "In no other way can you do more good to the Society, for this is fundamentally the Society." He himself spoke to St. Ignatius about it, and I was told to remind him of it when the work in regard to the founding of the college was finished. And when it was over, and the business with Prester John settled and the courier had departed, we continued the history on the 9th of March, 1555. About this time Pope Julius became ill, and died on the 23d of the same month. The narrative was then postponed until the election of the new Pope, who died soon after his election. Our work remained untouched until Pope Paul mounted the papal throne. On account of the great heat and many occupations, the biography did not make much progress until the 21st of September, when there was question of sending me to Spain. And so he appointed the morning of the 22d for a meeting in the red tower. After saying Mass I went to him to ask him if it were the time. He told me to go and wait for him in the red tower. Supposing that I should have to wait a long while, I delayed on the porch, talking with a brother who asked me about something. When St. Ignatius came he reprimanded me because, contrary to obedience, I had not waited for him in the appointed place, and he would not do anything that day. Then we urged him very earnestly to continue. So he came to the red tower, and, according to his custom, dictated while walking.

While taking these notes I tried to see his face, and kept drawing near to him. He said to me, "Keep your rule." And as I approached again, and looked at him a second and a third time, he repeated what he had said and then went away. Finally, after some time, he returned to the red tower to complete the dictation. As I was about starting on my journey, and St. Ignatius spoke to me the day before my departure, I could not write out the narrative in full at Rome. At Genoa where I went I had no Spanish secretary, so I dictated in Latin the points I had brought with me, and finished the writing at Genoa in December, 1555.

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Contents

Page

Editor's Preface

5

Preface of the Writer

9

CHAPTER I

His Military Life—He is wounded at the Siege of Pampeluna—His Cure—Spiritual Reading—The Apparition—The Gift of Chastity—His Longing for the Journey to Jerusalem and for a Holier Life

19

CHAPTER II

Ignatius leaves his Native Land—What he did at Montserrat and Manresa

30

CHAPTER III

Scruples—Heavenly Favors—Journey to Barcelona

47

CHAPTER IV

His Journey to Rome, Venice, Jerusalem, and the Holy Land

66

CHAPTER V

The Arrival in Apulia, Venice, Ferrara, and Genoa—He is apprehended as a Spy—He is despised as a Fool—His Studies at Barcelona and Alcala

78

CHAPTER VI

The Prisons at Alcala and Salamanca

93

CHAPTER VII

His Studies in Paris, and Other Incidents of his Life

111

CHAPTER VIII

His Arrival in his Native Land and the Virtues practised there—His Journey into Spain and Italy—The Famous Apparition and his Life in the Same Place

129