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St. Al's Celebrate Ignatius 500

We've had an amazing week in our Junior School celebrating the Ignatius 500 Year.

The Jesuit Institute visited us and treated us to a week of live theatre, story-telling, and group working helped us relive the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola – and experience his rich teachings which our School still follows all these years later.

Actor Henry Wyrley-Birch took us on an exciting adventure through the chivalrous days when St. Ignatius was a knight, before he was wounded in battle. We saw in this retelling of his story how he learned about the life of Jesus and the Saints through reading books while incapacitated. We saw him change his ways and devote his life to the example of Jesus and helping others.

During the play, we also saw how Ignatius dreamed of being a soldier, and talked about what our dreams are too. Henry then kindly answered some questions our pupils had about acting and shared his dream of becoming a performer while he was in school.

Jesuit Schools Coordinator Maria Neal also spent some time with us – this time in our classrooms, where we found out what happened next to St. Ignatius. We learned about his time as a preacher before he and his companions eventually founded the Society of Jesus. 

We have had a great week learning all about St. Ignatius and how his influence still carries on today and are now ready to “go forth and set the world on fire.”