Before St. Ignatius' tomb, Jesuits pray for guidance with election

Published: 2008-01-07

ROME (CNS) -- Before the tomb of their founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola, 225 Jesuits prayed that God would be present with them as they elect a new superior general and that he would make his will known to them. The Jesuits' General Congregation opened Jan. 7 with Mass in Rome's Church of the Gesu, which houses the tomb of St. Ignatius. At the end of the Mass, the current superior, Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, 79, lighted an oil lamp before the founder's tomb and led his confreres in reciting St. Ignatius' "Suscipe" prayer: "Take, Lord, and receive, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess; you have given it all to me, I now give it back to you, O Lord. All of it is yours now, dispose of it according to your will; give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me." Father Kolvenbach convoked the General Congregation to consider his request to retire, to elect a new superior and to discuss major issues facing the Society of Jesus and its more than 19,000 members.

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