Legendary generosity

The wolves and kettle of the Loyola family crest has a legend attached to it. The story goes that the family was so wealthy and generous that after feeding their soldiers and servants, they had enough to feed wild animals. To commemorate the family's generosity, a carving of two wolves eating from a kettle was placed over the doorway of their castle in the Basque city of Loyola. Of course, heraldic sites make no mention of the story. The legend persists, however, because generosity is one of the graces that St. Ignatius and his followers constantly prayed for. The wolves and kettle illustration over the castle door is real, however, though it is now a stone relief and not a wood carving. This is a resin replica which my former boss, a Jesuit, had commissioned as a gift to the Ateneo de Manila University's most generous donors.