Can events five hundred years ago, and pertaining to only one person, have an influence on our present-day deci-sions and resolutions? Could the wound sustained by the young knight, Iñigo, in the battle for Pamplona really have an impact on the destinies of people in modern times? Could the strange interaction of events between Heaven and Earth, the Cross and the Sword, really decide the shape of the Church and its mission?
What would be the impact on the Christian community if it lacked that one small but precious book – Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola? Still more, what would the world be like if the Society of Jesus had not appeared in its history? And under what banner would the subsequent Millennium greet us without its intercession?
The solution came unexpectedly 20 May 1521, unexpect-edly even for a gifted knight who miraculously escaped death but, fortunately for us, was wounded. An exceptional lesson indeed creating from a knight full of earthly ideals a soldier of Jesus Christ, who from then on gazed only towards heaven.
The fascinating history of the founder of the Society of Jesus not only allows us to find the answer to the above questions, but also presents us with new ones to which we must also respond. This game is not only an adventure, but also a reflection on the essence of historical and religious problems for which we are not necessarily prepared.
In 2022 we celebrated the 400th anniversary of the canonization of St. Ignatius Loyola. For the Jesuits it was a Jubilee Year. As a conclusion to the celebrations, the Polish Jesuits in Melbourne working in the Australian Province of the Society of Jesus for the past seventy years decided to create a double-sided board game „Ignatius Loyola: Knight and Pilgrim”. Its designer is Mariusz Han SJ, and it was published with the help of Jesuits in Poland and Australia and lay people.
On the first board, the players progress towards the final goal of life’s adventure, which is heaven. Visiting each of the towns, they come to know the life of St. Ignatius Loyola, Knight and Pilgrim, with him they experience an array of adventures and earn the required points. The players will be confronted with questions testing the level of their religious knowledge and suggesting discussion topics about the modern world. However, the winner is not the one who reaches the end first but the one who earns the most points, called “AMDG”. These are the first letters of the Latin motto by which Ignatius lived: “Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam”, namely, “For the greater glory of God”.
The second side is reserved for the ‘connoisseurs’ and is much harder. Based on the game popular in Poland, ‘Wojtek the Bear’, it leads the participants through the towns where St. Ignatius lived and worked, and the winner is the one who collects the most complete sets of cards.
The game is intended to interest youth in Ignatian spirituality, as a help to become truly free and happy through prayerfulness, that is, reflection in daily courageous action.
Let’s play together! The game will allow us to become familiar with a difficult period in history five hundred years ago, but also the ever appealing spirituality of St. Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus, that is, the Jesuit Order.
Rules of play
BOARD 1
On the first board, the players progress towards the final goal of life’s adventure, which is heaven. Visiting each of the towns, they come to know the life of St. Ignatius Loyola, Knight and Pilgrim, with him they experience an array of adventures and earn the required points. The players will be confronted with questions testing the level of their religious knowledge and suggesting discussion topics about the modern world. However, the winner is not the one who reaches the end first but the one who earns the most points, called “AMDG”. These are the first letters of the Latin motto by which Ignatius lived: “Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam”, namely, “For the greater glory of God”.
BOARD 2
The second side is reserved for the ‘connoisseurs’ and is much harder. Based on the game popular in Poland, ‘Wojtek the Bear’, it leads the participants through the towns where St. Ignatius lived and worked, and the winner is the one who collects the most complete sets of cards.
BOARD 2
The second side is reserved for the ‘connoisseurs’ and is much harder. Based on the game popular in Poland, ‘Wojtek the Bear’, it leads the participants through the towns where St. Ignatius lived and worked, and the winner is the one who collects the most complete sets of cards.
BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT IGNATIUS
The following 45 paragraphs contain the most important events in the life of St Ignatius Loyola. They summarise his rich biography and his extraordinary achievements in the field of spiritual development: from becoming a 'knight of this world’, where strength, triumph and sword reign, to serving as a 'knight of Christ’, who, full of faith, hope and love, fights under the banner of the Cross for human souls.
Ask a question, find an answer
Purchase
POLAND
ANCOR Sokolik Maciej
Domeyki 15, 53-209 Wrocław
+48 603 977 874
Price: 220 PLN (GST included) + shipping cost
Australia
Mariusz Han SJ
Polish Jesuit Pastoral Centre
23 Clifton Street
Richmond, 3121, VIC, Australia
jezuici.org.au / +61 (03) 9428 1200
Price: 121 AU$ (GST included) + shipping cost
Information
CONTACT INFORMATION
Mariusz Han SJ
Polish Jesuit Pastoral Centre
23 Clifton Street
Richmond, 3121, VIC, Australia
jezuici.org.au / +61 (03) 9428 1200 / office@jezuici.org.au
CREDITS
Concept, Project Coordinator and Content Editor
Mariusz Han SJ, Tomasz R. Han
Mechanics
Tomasz R. Han, Felix Filuternowski
Illustrations
Daniel Włodarski
Game rules and instruction development
Tomasz R. Han, Felix Filuternowski, Kamil Wrzos
Visual ordering, graphic design and print layout
(excluding the p. 3)
Felix Filuternowski, Tomasz R. Han
„Questions”
Mariusz Han SJ, Tomasz R. Han
Additional „Questions” based on the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola
(see the game’s website: loyola-knight-pilgrim.com)
Mariusz Han SJ, Paweł Pasierbek SJ, Tadeusz Rostworowski SJ
English translation
Russ Williams, Sr. Hermina Widlarz CR (Q&A Sets, p. 20-23)
Game release collaboration
Polskie Gry Planszowe Sp. z o.o., Kraków
Gorema Sp. z o.o., Zduńska Wola
Australian Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
Collaboration
Maciej Sokolik, Monika Lancucki, Anna Zator
Printed by
Media Gold Sp. j., Kraków
Chroma.pl Sp. z o.o., Żary (Instructions and Appendix)
Official game website
www.loyola-knight-pilgrim.com
© 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Mariusz Han SJ
Polish Jesuit Pastoral Centre
23 Clifton Street
Richmond, 3121, VIC, Australia
jezuici.org.au / +61 (03) 9428 1200 / office@jezuici.org.au
ISBN: 978-83-965722-1-9 – 01
First printing, rules version 1.0
Wyd. I, zasady wersja 1.0
© 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Mariusz Han SJ
Polish Jesuit Pastoral Centre
23 Clifton Street
Richmond, 3121, VIC, Australia
