Summer Reading Assignment Connects First-Year Students to Jesuit Tradition

WORCESTER, Mass. – A Pilgrim's Journey: The Autobiography of Ignatius of Loyola (Ignatius Press, 2001), introduction, translation, and commentary by Rev. Joseph N. Tylenda, S.J., will be the summer reading for enrolling first-year students at the College of the Holy Cross.

Every year, the first-year class dean asks all incoming students to read a common text before they arrive for orientation.

Ronald Jarret, dean for the class of 2012 and professor of chemistry, has selected the autobiography to mark the first year of Montserrat, the College’s new universal program for first-year students designed to integrate more effectively academic, co-curricular and residential experiences.

“In the book, we learn about Ignatius’ search for meaning in life through his devotion to God.  Montserrat, an ancient monastery almost a mile above sea level, was the place where he chose to lay down his soldier’s weapons and begin a new life devoted to study, teaching, service, faith, and purpose,” explains Jarret. “In time, he established a new religious order, the Society of Jesus.  Its members, the Jesuits, founded Holy Cross, shaped our mission statement, and continue to be leaders in the community.”

The autobiography of Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuit order, traces his conversion.  The transformation grew out of what he read as he recovered from a painful battle wound, but most of the account traces what followed. In his sickbed he realized that he wanted to follow God, but the years afterward were the hardest part – figuring out how best he specifically was called to do so.  The process of discernment, figuring out what God wants for each person and how to find it, was Ignatius’ great gift to all future generations.

The autobiography relates the many ways that Ignatius learned how to discern, long before he ever imagined a Jesuit order.  Teaching students how to cultivate habits of discernment is one of the key goals of a Holy Cross education, and it begins from the time students arrive at the College.