As we celebrate the feast of St Ignatius, our Founder, after whom our community in Jerusalem is named, we would like to share with you a unique icon which hangs in our chapel. We also invoke his intercession in these difficult times, and his help to discern the paths to take.

The icon of Saint Ignatius which hangs in our chapel was specially written for the Jesuit community in Jerusalem. The iconographer is Alexander Deriev, a Russian who lived in Jerusalem for a number of years and frequented the Jesuit community.

In the foreground of the icon stands Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. He stands on a land mass that represents Rome and holds in his hand a scroll on which is written in Latin the prayer with which Ignatius began his spiritual manual, The Spiritual Exercises.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Permit me not to be separated from you.
From the wicked foe, defend me.
At the hour of my death, call me
and bid me come to you
That with your saints I may praise you
For ever and ever. Amen.

Behind Saint Ignatius, the Holy Land is depicted. Ignatius visited the Holy Land in 1523, from September 1 to October 3. This visit played a very important role in Ignatius’s life in which Jerusalem featured not only as a dream and a symbol but also as a desired destination. The two scenes depicted in the icon are the nativity of Jesus in Bethlehem, a place Ignatius visited on September 8 and 9, 1523, and the transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor.