Ignatius felt himself confirmed personally, and felt the group confirmed, in the plan moving their hearts to place themselves at the service of the Vicar of Christ on earth. "Ignatius told me that God the Father imprinted these words on his heart: 'Ego ero vobis Romae propitius.'" But this affirmation did not make Ignatius dream of easy paths, since he told his companions that they would encounter "many contradictions" in Rome, and perhaps even be crucified.
It is from Ignatius's encounter with the Lord at La Storta that the future life of service and mission of the companions emerges in its characteristic contours: following Christ bearing his Cross; fidelity to the Church and to the Vicar of Christ on earth; and living as friends of - and thus in - the Lord in one single apostolic body.
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