St Ignatius of Loyola, whose feast day was last Monday, owes his conversion to being laid up for months with a badly broken leg. I have experienced a pale reflection of that this year, as a bunion operation had me confined to the house with my legs horizontal for two months, apart from rare trips out in a wheelchair. It was gruelling, and has kept me away from my beloved Paraguay. But for Ignatius his disablement proved salvific, and for me there have been benefits too.