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AN EXTRA SPECIAL FEAST DAY CELEBRATION!
The Feast Day of St. Ignatius of Loyola is always special, but July 31, 2024 was extra special.
Our community came together at Mass at the Church of the Holy Family. Parents and school leaders filled the pews, along with some members of the Saint Ignatius College Prep Class of 2027. They joined in the celebration after fulfilling a day of service at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The inspiration for their work that day was St. Ignatius of Loyola’s famous quote, “Love is shown more in deeds than in words.”
After Mass, Fr. Lukas Laniauskas, S.J., who had served as the Vice President for Mission Integration at Saint Ignatius College Prep, led the crowd to the school’s quad for the unveiling of a project that had been years in the making. During the Covid pandemic, Fr. Laniauskas and Saint Ignatius President John Chandler, began work on a statue. Father recalls Mr. Chandler saying, “What would it look like for us to design something that could encapsulate that which is the mission that is entrusted to Saint Ignatius College Prep?”
After Mass, Fr. Lukas Laniauskas, S.J., who had served as the Vice President for Mission Integration at Saint Ignatius College Prep, led the crowd to the school’s quad for the unveiling of a project that had been years in the making. During the Covid pandemic, Fr. Laniauskas and Saint Ignatius President John Chandler, began work on a statue. Father recalls Mr. Chandler saying, “What would it look like for us to design something that could encapsulate that which is the mission that is entrusted to Saint Ignatius College Prep?”
Fr. Laniauskas continued his story for the assembled audience. He talked about how they began to “put together a vision of what Saint Ignatius could look like…and how the statue could serve as a reminder to every student and alum and benefactor…of the person whose name the school bears.”
What follows is a point-by-point explanation of the work of art in the quad:
- At the statue’s feet, you see a helmet and a sword. Both point to St. Ignatius’ former way of life as a knight who ultimately became a servant and saint of God.
- As you study the statue, you see that his right foot is stepping forward and his back, left foot is firmly planted on the ground, symbolizing St. Ignatius was grounded in the faith and in Christ, Jesus. At the same time, he steps forward into mission to serve the world so desperately in need.
- The traditional Jesuit cassock represented on the statue has meaning, too. It’s flowing in the wind in a Baroque style. St. Ignatius lived during the Baroque period of art, and so his cassock symbolizes the drama of that time. Fr. Laniauskas explained, “The Protestant Reformation was raging, Europe discovered America in 1492 and Ignatius was born in 1491. The change in the world was significant and dramatic, symbolized in his cassock.”
- In the statue representation, St. Ignatius holds a banner or standard that reads, “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam,” which translates, “All for the greater glory of God.” Fr. Laniauskas says this is meant to show Ignatius is not lost in the world. He points to his heart, and three letters: IHS, for the name of Jesus. The statue’s upward gaze is squarely on the cross that graces the bell tower of the church. That is the direction St. Ignatius always points: to the cross; to Jesus; to the person he serves and the mission that is before him.
- Finally, the three tears you see on St. Ignatius’ face represent the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
After blessing the statue, and inviting people to do the same, Fr. Laniauskas made sure to also convey the meaning of its placement. The four benches and lights around St. Ignatius are for our freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. “They are now given the light, and after their education," explained the Jesuit priest, "they take the light to bring into the world, having received it here.”
It is the manifestation in art of that phrase you see and hear on our beloved campus: Ite Inflammate Omnia. Go out and set the world on fire.
Saint Ignatius College Prep
Saint Ignatius College Prep, a Jesuit Catholic school in the heart of Chicago, is a diverse community dedicated to educating young men and women for lives of faith, love, service and leadership.
