Childhood
2. Maria and the Blacksmith
Sadly either in childbirth or soon after, Iñigo’s mother died. The baby was given to be looked after by a local blacksmith’s wife – María de Garín, in a house five minutes walk from the Loyola Manor House. The child would have been brought up speaking Basque and learning their songs, dances and culture.
Lyrics
Sing of my youth;
Sing of the people who watched over me,
All through my youth;
Taught me to see, smile true to their smiles;
Taught me to sense their laughter and happiness
Breaking through bright eyes, dancing with firelight,
All through my youth.
Sing of my youth,
Sing of the people who watched over me,
All through my youth;
Taught me to hear, attend with true ears;
Taught me to sense their goodwill and joyfulness
Breaking through rough words, rising like skylarks
All through my youth.
Sing of my youth,
Sing of the people who watched over me,
All through my youth;
Taught me to touch, to taste true delights;
Taught me to sense their joy in God’s gifts to us – –
Breaking through meadows, mountains and moonlight,
All through my youth.
A thought to ponder
Small children tend to accept their world as it is. But that’s not to say that traumas and joys don’t have an effect upon them.
Who were the most important influences on your world as a child?
Can you give thanks to God for them?
Scripture for the Day
As a way of praying today’s Scripture we suggest, Imaginative Contemplation.
Luke 18:15-17 HCSB
Some people were even bringing infants to Jesus so He might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to Me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
I assure you: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Music for Today
Let the Children come to me by Tommy Walker
Purchase more of the music of Tommy Walker
The house of Señor Garín the blacksmith and his wife Maria in Loyola, where little Iñigo spent his first seven years.
Photo: Ignatian Pilgrimage DWB