E TS CO NT N .
PAGE
ri i of the e I ts Co n stitutio s an d S irit . Labors O g n So c i ty . n p
f h fi s F he s o t e r t at r ,
ccessors o f St I atius S re of the Soci t . Dis Su . gn . p ad e y
i n uish ed e t g M n ,
issio s South Am eric E l Chi I ia M n Japan , a, ng and , na , nd S L C the U ite States . c ie tists r e anada , and n d n , ea n d H ol e and y M n ,
octri e s t u ht b an n iu s C o flicts b etwee the D n a g y J se . n n
esui s n se is s se ue es f s st J t and ja n t . Con q n c o Jan en i ic Teachi e suit Writers ng . J ,
E lectio of F ther Ricc i The Societ ex elle from Port n a . y p d u
al F r ce S i N les a P rm Su ressi on g , an , pa n , ap , nd a a . pp of the Socie t y ,
R - sta lishm n t of th Soci t I ts Pr s n t Status e e b e e e y . e e ,
TH I S book is intended as a compani on to
The Saints of the Society of J esus . For
’ vit s W y sake , the writer will avoid repeating hat is sufficiently mentioned in that work
A SK E TCH O F TH E
I E TY F E SO C O J SUS .
E E ITS C O ST IT I S AND O RIG IN O F TH SO CI TY . N UT O N L H E F RS F E S PIRIT . ABO RS O F T I T ATH RS .
T H E Society of J esus took its origin on the
Au 1 th 1 Feast of the Assumption , gust s , 5 34 ,
an d when St . Ignatius Loyola his companions, six in number,vowed themselves to the service
of God , in the chapel of Our Lady at M ont martre (hill of martyrs) in Paris, on whose summit a grand basilica to the Sacred Heart of
n e w Jesus is now being completed . Three members joined them before the whole bo d
proceeded to Italy, and these original mem ber
the x O rder 0 are considered the founders of ,
t. course after S Ignatius . From the begln m ng
’ the according to the saint s wish , y calle
u th themselves , thro gh a motive of humility , “ least Society of J esus . Six years later th Order was solemnly recognized by Pope Paul
O n e d s I I I . of the things which one fin s mo t
ac t1v1t striking. from the first is the y of these men 8 0 . few in number , they scatter them selves all over Europe , and produce the most i wonderful results by their m nistry . And this
IS to be a characteristic of the Society through
e m out its whole existence . The roll of its m
an 2 o o o —a m bers never at y time reached 5 , , uch smaller number than that of many other religious — orders during the Catholic ages and a great S E T C O F TH E S O CI E O F E S US ~ A K H TY j . 9 many of these were kept inside the walls of colleges . Nevertheless , from the beginning the J esuits seemed to be endowed with the gift of
: ubiquity Germany, France , Italy , Spain , Eng
o f land (then the land persecution) , Europe was too small for them they spread over Asia and
- i n America , and the travellers of to day are vestigating the mysterious wilds of Africa ex
lo red p two hundred years ago by the sons of St .
Ignatius .
The spirit which St . Ignatius breathed into his followers , both in his book of the Spiritual
Exercises and in the Constitutions of his Order, was the spirit of detachment and devotedness .
“ ! “ All for God, in a word , was his motto ; for
! the greater glory of God , as he expressed it . N othing should keep the true Jesuit back where
’ there was question of God s honor . Therefore 1 0 A SK E T CH O F TH E SO CI E O F E S US TY j .
he made obedience the distinguishing virtue of
. be his children Obedience was to their spur,
obedience their rein : so long as they were act
in g through obedience they were to go on when “ obedience said Stop , they stopped . This is
ff m - very di erent fro the spirit of the world to day,
is it not ! The world of to -day claims inde
en den c e t p , the right of every man to hink and
do as he likes . Through legitimate obedience we know the will of God . To do the will Of
God with all the i n te n sitv we possess is to love l H im with all our might . This is the idea
Jesuit . To do our own will , whatever it may
be , is to love self , in opposition to God . The most perfect example of this independence i s the devil .
The will of God is the salvation of souls . So
’ St. Ignatius heart burned with zeal for souls. E T H O F TH E SO CI E T Y O F E S S 1 1 A SK C j U .
I f the obedience of the Society proved its devo
infi n itel - tion to God , its whole history , its y varied ,
- never ending labors , showed its love for those D souls dear to Him . etachment , devotedness . t The J esui left his country , everything , to toil
where obedience sent him for the good of souls .
By vow he binds himself to go immediately,
t even without the means to pay his way , whi her
soever it be . Consequently the history of the Society is a
story of labors all over the world , of every kind ,
n to bri g souls to God . Italy , Europe , was too
’ limited a field for Ignatiu s handful of com
th 1 1 - fifth panions , and on April 7 , 5 4 , his thirty
n ! birthday , St . Fra cis avier sailed for the East ,
n ew o to conquer continents t God . Fathers Salmeron an d Brouet were sent to I reland to f encourage and strengthen its faith ul people, on 1 2 A S E T CH O F TH E SO CI E T Y O F E S US K j .
whom the storm of Protestant persecution had d Just fallen . Blesse Peter Favre with Le J ay and
Bobadilla go to Germany , where they make the
ac u15 1tlo n C an isius precious q of Blessed Peter .
an d From Germany Favre flies to Portugal ,
thence to Rome to die . It was fitting that St . Ignatius first son in religion should be the
’ Society s first martyr of obedience . H is place h in the Spanis peninsula is supplied by St .
i s D u Franc Borgia , whilom ke of Gandia and
V t iceroy of Catalonia , who has been received in o the Society as soon as he could resign all his worldly dignities.
was But St . Ignatius not satisfied with flying
his missionary excursions on the part of religious .
H e wished , for he was one of the wisest of men , that his work and that their works should be ff ! permanent . How could he best e ect this “ F H E S O I E T Y O F E S S 1 A SK E TCH O T C j U . 3
a h At th t day , as at t is day , the way to secure perm anency to any good work was to secure its
fou ndations . H e who lays a solid foundation may erect a safe building ; without the fo u n da tion there can be no building . The question of the day, then as now , was the education of
youth . Consequently Ignatius dedicated his Order in a special manner to the Catholic edu
o f cation the young. The Jesuits pledge them
al selves to be ways ready to teach the catechism . ! St . Francis avier himself taught it to the little children in India . One of the great and one of the earliest works of the Society has been the D direction of colleges . The uke of Gandia as sisted the Fathers in opening some of the first in Spain . The times needed this devotion to education and religion and catechetical i n
struction . For in many parts both the clergy I A S E T CH O F TH E S O CI E T Y O F E S S 4 K j U .
an d u n the laity , on their account , were wofully
-re instructed . This was what gave the pseudo formers the power to spread their false doctrines . Therefore the early Jesuit Fathers set to work to help to remedy this evil , which the Council of
Trent corrected finally and e ffi c ac io usly by the
i far establ shment , so as possible , of ecclesiastical
m i n ar les i se n all the dioceses of the Church .
T o t his n Council of Trent , which was atte ded
b r L a n ez an d also y Father Le Jay , Fathe s y Salmeron were sent by the H oly Father as his own theologians . The Fathers of the Council were dazzled by the lear n i n g and eloquence of
t these three young men , hen little over thirty years o f age ; though all other speakers were
L a n ez was limited to one hour , Father y allowed
to speak for three hours continuously , and during his illness the deliberations of t he Co u n c il we re A E H F H E S O I E Y F E 1 SK T C O T C T O j S US . 5
suspended . Two things God seems to have watched over in the Society : never has it as a o im body been accused of heter doxy , never of
morality . Hated and maligned as it has been ,
it has been charged with pride, ambition , lax
S ness in treating with inners , but never with the
O ur was crime of which Lord not accused . Like
H im i i t has been persecuted , but its enem es have not been allo wed to arraign it of sins against the sixth commandment . And as for
t n doc rine , the insti ct by which the J esuits have always detected false teaching is something
: really supernatural , a gift good Catholics have
always looked to the Society of J esus , in the
many controversies of the past three centuries , to know on which Side in probability truth was d to be found . Their vow of obe ience to the
t succ essor of S . Peter would not have been per t 1 6 A S E T CH O F TH E SO CI E T Y O E E S S K j U . foot if the J esuits had ever failed i n the loyalty
a of their adhesion to the f ith of Peter. The recompense of this vow would seem to be a light to direct them in guarding the outskirts of an d approaches to that faith .
i n St . Ignatius was a great revolutionist his own way . In many respects he modified the customs com mon to r ehg1o us orders to Sll lt the
! special o bject of his institute . The Jesu i ts were xto be the light artillery of the Church they Should therefore be as little embarrassed
a with accoutrements as possible , so as to be l ways ready for motion . The Fathers recited f their o fice privately , like secular priests , and wore no particular habit . The new pope wished to oblige them to say the office in common they
F o r cert i etails about the I stitut of th Societ s n i a n d n e e y, ee ote n
! i s of e Societ of esus The Sa nt th y J .
E R O F S . I A REA E SUCC SSO S T G N T IU S . S P D O F TH
Y . D M SO CIET ISTIN GU ISH E D E N .
N D E R L a n ez who U Father y , succeeded St
e Ignatius as General , the Society mad rapid progress , but at the same time began to meet
h G o n z alves wit much opposition . Father , tutor
ill- K O f Was to the fated ing Sebastian Portugal , the first of the many J esuits who were forced to Of take the charge royal consciences . Pius I V who succeeded Paul I V . , was very friendly to the Society ; nor could his friendship be Shaken h by its enemies , who tried to persuade him t at the Jesuits were endeavoring to induce his l nephew , St . Char es Borromeo , to become one
Ve n us l f n e . a t i o their umb r A F ther , n Sicily, 1 A S E C O F TH E SO CI E Y O F E S US . K T H T j , 9
had frequently befriended a fallen priest , who ,
re n t in tur for his charity , s abbed him to death . The Father refused to reveal the name of his
murderer . The man was suspected ; the J esuits
asked for his pardon . I n vain . The exhausted fugitive from justice finally took refuge in a col lege O f the Order . All persons had been for
e b ut bidd n to harbor him under severe penalties ,
him t wo the Fathers kept for days , and then
O f O f sent him to a place safety . The last letter
Father L ay n ez was penned in approval of this e Conduct . About the sam time with the Gen i eral died Father de N obrega, a great m ssionary
in Brazil . The day before his death he visited all “ a -b his friends , s ying, Good y ; I am going
! home .
O f St . Francis Borgia became General the
L a n ez 1 6 Society after Father y , in 5 5 , at the age 20 A SE E TCH OF TH E SO CI O F E S S ET Y j U .
-fi e o of fifty v . The S ciety then possessed 3 5 00
s an d 1 0 1 8 member 3 houses, divided into
was provinces . St . Pius V . elected pope in a J anuary of the following year. H e was alw ys
O f in a great friend the Order, though at first c lin e d to introduce some modifications in the
he rules . T Fathers having devoted themselves to the care of the victims of pestilence in the i c . n holy ity, St Pius , reward , promised them
' t that , in he case of a similar calamity , they should always have the privilege of attending the afflicted ! They Showed the same devotion to the plague-stricken M oors in Spain : here the ff number of su erers was so great in the hospitals , an d they were so packed , that the priests had to nf lie down by their side to hear their co essions .
I n Portugal fourteen Fathers were carried o ff by
To ff o f the fell disease . the personal e orts S O CI E O F E S S 2 1 A SKE T CH O F THE T Y j U .
O f’ ff Father Borgia , in a tour the di erent courts of Europe for that purpose, was due, in great
measure , the alliance of Christian princes which defeated and destroyed the Turkish navy in the
O f . battle Lepanto From this journey , under
in O taken bedience to the H oly Father, St.
Francis retur ned only to die . It was he who
laid the foundation of the Church of the Gesu.
Under him the foreign missions t o ok a large
a w development , gener lly ithout the shedding of b blood ; though , esides the forty martyrs of the
beatified Society who have been , thirty others
were also butchered at sea by h er etical pirates
on another occasion . The first three Generals of the J esuits were
r u M e r c u Spania ds ; the fo rth , Father Everard
rian , was a Belgian . Belgium , however, at that
time was subject to the crown of Spain . Father 2 2 A SK E T CH O F TH E SO CI E T Y O E E S S j U .
s n m lssw n aries M ercurian e t the first Jesuit ,
Fathers Parsons and Campion , to England .
M any distinguished men flo u rlshed in the Soci et : y at this time Father , afterwards Cardinal ,
' i O f Bellarm ne , the greatest controversialists, whose process of beatific atio n has been com m e n c e d T o le tus an d , also made Cardinal , Mal donatus , the one an eminent theologian , the other a great commentator on the Scriptures ;
‘ F ather aB althaz ar Alvarez , confessor of St . Te
P o ssevi n us am resa ; Father , who , having been bassado r O f to the courts Spain , France , Swe
den , Poland , and Russia , ended his days by giv ing poor country missions ; and many others .
At the death of Father Mercurian the Society
u n mbered 5 000 members .
On the death of Father Mercurian , Our Lady a D n ppeared to Father arbyshire , an E glishman , " A SK E TCH O F TH E S I E T Y F E S 2 O C O j S U . 3
an d revealed to him that She had chosen a young er Fath Claudius for the next General . Father Claudius Aquaviva governed the Society for the
- 1 8 1 1 6 1 space of thirty four years , from 5 to 5 ,
' n n a a longer period tha a y other Gener l . At
V O f this time Sixtus . , a great pope and a man
ific al o n t r. very strong will , ascended the p chai
o o smo n n earl ‘e ve r bo d d I n pp to y y y else , he eter mined to introduce radical changes in the Con
stitutio n s formed by St . Ignatius , and obliged
etltlo n SO . the General to p him to do As , how
n o f jever, changes were e fected before the death
O f O f i . the pope , nothing came this determ nation I Under Pope Clement V I I , the Fathers , while their ‘ brethren were spreading the faith in the
r no th and east of Europe , were banished for
fifty years from the republic of Venice fo r their
fidelity to the Holy See . This pope decided the 2 A S E T CH OF TH E SO CI OF E S US 4 K E TY j . famous controversy between the Jesu its and the
D o m i m c an s on the nature of the action of di vine
n grace in the soul , by declari g that each party
O . e was free to hold its own pinion The J suits, u the nder Father M olina , maintained View which is now generally considered as more com
patible with the existence of free will in man .
O f K O f The reconciliation ing Henry I V .
Fra n ce to the Church was due i n a great meas ure to the Jesuits . I ndeed the circumstances O f the times in this kingdom drew the Fathers too f much into politics , but the e forts of the General to withdraw them from courts and cam ps m e t
c o - with hearty operation on their p art . Father
es o t o . an d Auger was conf s r H enry I I I , Father n o o . C t n to H enry I V , as other Fathers co tinued to be afterwards to the kings of France ; but this was an honor which the Society submitted
2 6 A S E T CH O F TH E S O I E T Y O F E S S K C j U .
O f o thatvxthe m O f y uth in colleges , and ajority disting u i sh ed Catholic priests and lay men of the
n past three hundred years have bee their pupils .
The Sodality O f the Blessed Virgi n was estab lishe d at this time by a yo un g professor i n the R oman college . Under Father Aquaviva the
A 72m m! L CIICTS w starte d whic h of the Society ere , furnished material for its history , as well as the famo us m lssm n ary documents called L es L CM /CS
z E d z fa fl fes Ct CH I/22255 63 y . S 2 Y F S . A SKE T CH O F TH E SO CI E T O jE U . 7
: JAPA O TH A E RICA E A D C H I A MISSIO N S N , S U M , N GL N , N ,
I IA CA A A AN D T H E U IT E TAT E S . SO IE N N D , N D , N D S
T ISTS LE AR E AND H O Y M E N . , N D L
T H E most famous mission O f the Society in f O O . lden times was that J apan M uch , for our “ brief space , has been said about it in The
9, e O f esu s Saints of the Soci ty J . This mission
Vali n an i owed much to Father g , who founded the
O O f province of J apan , pened thirty the houses t here , and , so long as he lived , restrained the
u O f u f ry the pagan persec tors . As to the perse c u tio n O f r in Japan , it is one the most glo ious
O f chapters in the history the Church . It lasted
fifty years , after which such stringent measures were adopted as rendered impossible the landing 2 8 S E T CH O F TH E S O CI E T Y O F E S S A K j U .
of a missionary in these islands . In order to
ther e the t continue to trade , Protes ant merchants, to their shame , submitted to the indignity of
i trampl ng on the cross . One sad episode o c curred : a provincial of the Society renounced a e M the faith . The wondrous F th r estrilli de
voted his life for his conversion and , after all
n the missio aries had been expelled , the apostate atoned for his fault by shedding his blood for the faith . Until the Society was suppressed in 1 7 73
O f there was always a nominal province J apan , with missionaries ready to proceed to that coun
a t try , the de res perhaps on earth to the heart of a J esuit .
m I SSI O n ari es But whither did they not go , the
O f the Society of J esus P They I nvaded Tartary ; they traversed Sout h America from east to w o e t the E i an d est ; they tried t c onv r thiop ans , A S E T CH O F TH E S O CI E T Y O F E S U S 2 K j . 9 explored that Central Africa which has been r e
e discovered in our own days. The most xtr ao r din ary man and greatest m lr ac le -worker in South
e America was perhaps Fath r Anchieta, the apostle O f Brazil ; the birds O f the air and the b very wild beasts obeyed him as reasona le things .
A glorious outcome O f the missions i n that con
’ ti n e n t R edu c tzom O f were the Paraguay , founded
6 1 in 1 0 . This was the most paternal govern ment ever known in history . For a hun dred and fifty years the ferocious tribes of that l arge
country , subdued by the charity of the Fathers , lived under them in a kind O f Christian social i stic community , like the early Christians men tio n e d O f i in the Acts the Apostles , or the rel g
ious communities of the present time . The evil day came when they were scattered by the en m e o f I ia e e i s religion , and the poor nd ns r 0 A S E T CH O F TH E S O CI E T Y O F E S S 3 K j U .
lapsed into barbarism . I n N orth America the French missionaries of the Society penetrated to the prai ri es ; Father M arquette discovered the
B réboe uf Mississippi ; J ogues , de , and others watered the soil O f Canada and the United States with their blood . A bloody field for the missionary at this time ’ D ! was the land once called Our Lady s ower, or
“ ! er sec utlo n ln The Isle of Saints . The p Eng
“ O f a ra land rivalled even that J apan . It was gg v ate d by the discovery O f the famous Gunpowder
O f Plot , and renewed by the lying accusations
u Tit s Oates . The Irish Fathers shared in the sufferings occasioned by the invasio n O f their country by Cromwell ; an d the Scotch heretics invented the ingenious torture for Fathe r Ogilvy of keeping him from sleep for elght days and nine nights . A SK E T CI J O F TH E S O CI E T Y O F E S S ! j U . 3
The mission of China , on the contrary , whose
r O f conve sion was the dying aspiration St . n ! . Fra cis avier, was a peaceful one Here the Fathers succeeded in ingratiating themselves
with the emperors . Their knowledge of mat hematics and astronomy O btained for them
‘ a great reputation am o ng the learned men O f the
t h country . Fa er Ricci was buried with public
honors . Father Schall acquired an influence equal to his with the emperors of the Tartar
n O f dy asty . Father de Rhodes , the apostle
"
Tonquin , founded the French Foreign Missions , which is to - day sending missionaries all over the
world . This man evangelized all Central Asia . At the same time the Fathers commenced gath ering in the abandoned children , the great work
n n cont i ued by the H oly Infa cy . A trouble
S however, awaited the mission in China, imilar to 2 A S E T CH O F TH E S O CI E T Y O F E S 3 K f S U .
i that which disturbed the Fathers n East I ndia . Some ceremonies to which the Chinese neo phytes were attached in honor of their ancestors w ere condemned as superstitions , contrary to the
O f judgment the missionaries . This occasioned many defections and the temporary alienation of d the court , and the Chinese mission languishe
till the suppression of the Society . A great m an a eared i pp in I ndia in the person of Father
O n Rob ert de N bili . I n order to co vert the
B rahm rn s , the most influential caste in the country , he adapted himself to their austere m ode of living. For this he was called to account ,
and but the H oly See justified him , other
Fathers followed his example . Perhaps more descendants O f native converts remai n I n India
i than in any other fore gn country . Finally , the
Catholic emigrants to M aryland brought with
A S E T CH O F TH E S O CI E T Y O F E S US 34 K j .
iu s Petav . , the great patristic theologian Fathers
S é e de p , Balde the p oet , and others rendered dis ti n guishe d ser vIc e s In Germany d ur m g the Thirty
’ ‘ War the O f Years . Besides remarkable men the Society at this epoch might be mentioned others
e who were formed by them : St . Francis de
n . Sales , Cardi al de Berulle , M r Olier, founder
O f Su l itian s the p , the Blessed Peter Fourier, and the Ven . Father Eudes . F TH E SO I E T Y O F E S S A SK E T CH O C j U . 3 s
D E T C O CTRIN S AUG H T BY JANSE NIUS . O N FL ICTS S E
TWE E T H E JE S ITS AN D T H E JA SE I C N ~ N U N N STS . O E E E J JE S S ! U N C S O F AN SE N IST IC T EACH ING . U IT WR E RS IT .
W E O f may now speak J ansenism , the most
n sidio us heresy ever introduced into the Church , against which the Society of J esus combated
e literally to the d ath . A part of the doctrine of
Martin Luther, accentuated by Calvin , was that
he e man had no free will , that always r mained
O f bad , and that we were saved independently
O f any merit our own . Jansenism was Calvin ism disguised , and the art of the disguise con
O f sisted in this , that on number declarations from Rome itself could induce its upholders to admit that they were not the best and saintliest 6 A S E T CH O F TH E SO CI E T Y O F E S S 3 K j U .
of Catholics while teaching the veriest and rank
. an se n ius est Protestantism J ansen , or J , bishop Y of pres , who gave his name to the sect , taught ,
O f with Calvin , that some comman dments God
O f O were impossible bservance , that grace was irresistible (therefore that we could not help
doing what we were inclined to) , that Christ
m en did not die for all , etc . , propositions c whi h were all condemned of course , and sev i t . eral mes The Catholic doctrine , which is so reasonable , teaches that sanctifying grace is
i n fer i or an thing , by which man who is justified is made holy , though still inclined to evil ; that Our Lord died for all men that actual grace is
O ff ered to all , and that we are perfectly free to correspond with it or not , and hence our merit and the variety of merit hence also the justice
Who O f h of God , only punishes those who t eir F H E SO CI E T Y O F E S A SK E T CH O T j US . 37 own free will refuse to O bey H is command
O f O v . ments , which it is in the power all to bser e In morals the J ansenists were as rigid as they were severe in dogma . Their law was the law
O f fear. Above all things they opposed frequent
exa communion they wrote books against it , g gerating the conditions which were required to receive worthily . Consequently their nuns at — Port Royal worshipped O u r Lord at a dis
tance they exposed H im on the altar, but did
N O not receive Him into their hearts . won
S re der, then , that when Our aviour Himself vealed to the Blessed M argaret O f the Visi tati o n O f the devotion to His Sacred Heart ,
which the first apostle was her confessor, the e venerable Father de la Colombi re , and which
O f was to be propagated by the Society Jesus , the Jansenists should have risen in arms against 8 A S E TCH O E TH E S I E Y E E S 3 K O C T O j US.
what was so contrary to their harsh and gloomy
N O creed . wonder , also , that in their war fare against the champions O f the Ch u rch they Should have had for allies the corrupt
men and women O f a dissolute court ; for when
was v 1c e w not hypocrisy allied with , pride ith
! N O immorality wonder. too , that our Eng lish Protestant literature is full O f the praises O f
— O f the Jansenists for example , Pascal , the
\ c lever bu t untruthful satirist O f the Society !
“ that it should be so goes without saying .
N O n o t en m lt wonder, finally , that the y of
O f o these late Pharisees , with the help their p litic al t he d e abettors , should have compassed
O f struction the Society itself, but that they should have hastened that development O f im piety and hatred of law which has caused the A SKE T CH O E TH E S O CI E T Y O E jE S US 39
French revolution , and which troubles the agi d tate d Europe O f to ay .
It would be tedious to narrate all the wran g
ter i ve r lings with the Jansenists , and their g satio n s f . These di ficulties continued under all the successive Generals O f the Society down to its suppression . The J ansenists disappeared as
a body , though they have still two bishops in
O f Holland , who are accused lately having con sec r ated or ordained some O f the pseudo -Catholic clergymen O f the Ritualistic party in the A n
i n l c a . g Church But their evil influence , which was Wi - de spread , has lasted until our own time
n amo g the clergy of Italy , Ireland , and other
countries , as well as France . It required all
f O f the e forts a saint , St . Liguori , the founder
O f the Redemptorists , when the Jesuits were no more , to free the confessional from the 0 SKE O E E S I E T Y O E E S S 4 A TCH TH O C j U . withering influence of this most u n - Catholic and most unlovable and most discouraging and r dishea tening school of doctrine . As this is intended to be only a sketch of the
history of the Order of St . Ignatius , we shall pass over all further details of its several ad ministrations, not to be too minute ; nor shall we make any mention again O f the illustrious m en to whom it gave birth , since , on the one hand: our space will not allow us to dwell upon
u their merits, and , on the other , a mere catalog e
O f n n ames would be very dry reading , conveyi g
little intelligence to the mind . Nevertheless these distinguished men were many . Among writers only , a hundred names could be cited of authors of works on spirit uality alone who occupy the very first rank in public esteem in this most important branch ; for example ,
F R T E E ! E L E CT IO N O F ATH E R ICCI. H SO CIETY PE LL E D F RO PO RT A F RA CE PAI NAP E S AN D M UG L , N , S N , L ,
PAR A. RE S I E IE M SU PP S O N O F TH SO C TY .
I N 1 75 8 Father Loren zo Ricci was elected
O f eighteenth General the Society . The thrones of Spain , France , an d N aples were then occupied
‘ thhho use by of Bourbon . The ministers who
as governed in these countries, as well in Por
! n tugal , were what were the called philosophers , i e i n fidels . O f . , , followers Voltaire . N ow Vol taire was the enemy O f the Church of J esus
“ o Christ , which he called infamous his fav rite i ! expression be ng , Let us crush the infamous .
O f A great rampart the Church , with its mis
— sions, its colleges its preachers , its writers, its I Y F E S S A SKE T CH O F TH E S O C E T O j U .
t e spiritual directors, was h Society of Jesus .
The sons of Voltaire decreed together , like the
“ ! O f O ld sanhedrim , Let us crush the Jesuits .
: i And they did God perm tted it , as H e per m itted H is o w n Vicar upon earth to decree their — suppression , that they might give the most sublime example possible of their favorite virtue
N O O f O . bedience , by dying man can give a greater proof O f his love for his fri end than to
’ 1 R ibade n e ir a die for him . One day young saw
St . Ignatius with a smiling face . Being cross questioned by the boy , the saint told him why
Because , Peter, the Lord has assured me
that , in answer to my prayers , the Society will never cease to enjoy the precious heritage O f
! W as r e contradictions and persecutions . it vealed to him that this should be carried to the
! n extent of death itself Enmity, calum y, occa A S E T CH OE TH E S O CI E T Y O E E 44 K j S US .
u i sio al persecution , the Soc ety encountered from the beginning . It was reserved for the eighteenth ce n tury to witness a conspiracy of the govern ments O f the Catholic countries of Europe to force the head of the Church to destroy the
O f r Order , under threat a religious revolt simila f Wh to that O Germany and England . y ! B e cause these govern ments were in the hands O f
e s d the nemies of God and H is Church , who wi he ’ the iem o val of the Society only to be better
m e able to strike at the breast of its oth r, the
Church .
This pitiful story we can only hin t at ; it is as harrowing as the narration of the sufferings O f
e Ireland or the French r volution , of which w latter it was the precursor. The first blo was
had s struck in Portugal , a country which alway
a v been favorable to the F thers . Joseph Car alho £ I E S . A SKE T CH O E TH E SO C E T Y O jE S U . 15
O f O Marquis Pombal , btained his position of
O f m inister through the influence a Jesuit priest .
H e was not long in throwi n g o ff his mask of f a fection for the Society . The weak king allowed him to do as he pleased . The Fathers were expelled from the kingdom ; their missions in India an d America were broken up ; they were subjected to every ill -treatment ; the vener
M ala r ida able Father g was first mocked , then strangled to death ; two hundred J esu its lan
i hed gu s in prison for eighteen years . France was the first country to imitate Por
tugal . One thing should be here acknowledged .
ut By meddling in politics , one simple Father p
O f i n the Society in the power Pombal . By du l in g g in financial speculations , another, Father
O f Lavalette , Superior the house in the island
of Martinique , gave a handle to the spite of its 6 A SK E T CH O E TH E SO CI E T Y O E E S S 4 j U .
e n e m les I n France . Both acted against the let
the O f ter and spirit their institute . And at this time all sorts of accusations were repeated a aln st n e w O f g the Society . A edition the
' M om m Sew/em was published , an infamous book purporting to contain the secret and dis
n honest i structions given to its members, which had been refuted a hundred and fifty years
fo u a be re . Other equally absurd p blications p ne pea d . The parliament of Paris condemned the Society in 1 762 the miserable Louis ! V u rged by his minister Choiseul and his mistress
S the Marquise de Pompadour, igned the decree
O f 1 6 O f its expulsion , and in 7 7 , to the number f our thousand , the J esuits were driven from
France . In Spain the mind of the king was poisoned
’ b hrs r D A r n da against the Fathers y premie , a , S I E T Y O E E S S A SKE T CH O E TH E O C j U .
and others, through the insinuation that the Gen eral of the Society had declared him to be
illegitimate . This is the explanation generally accepted by Protestant as well as Catholic his
i n s W e to r a . ithout warning, with only th ir
i O f breviaries in the r hands , six thousand sons
St . Ignatius were expelled from the Spanish dominions . I n N aples they were driven from all their houses in one night . Parma followed , then Malta . Finally the Bourbon ambassadors presented to the H oly Father a demand that the
e O whol Society be suppressed . S long as ! d Clement I I I . live that would never be done .
r th O f 1 6 G an an elli On the o May , 7 9 , Lorenzo g ,
’ who owed his cardinal s hat to the r ec o mm en da
tion of the General of the J esuits , ascended the p o n tific al throne under the name of Clement
I V 1 s O f ! . the 2 t 1 On J uly , 7 73 , he signed the 8 A S E T CH O E TH E S O CI E T Y O E E S S 4 K j U .
brief of the suppression of the Society . The following 1 5 th of Augu st was the two hundred and thirty-ninth anniversary of its birth at M ont martre . The next day its General was a prisoner
’ and itself was no more . St . Ignatius prayer had been heard indeed . On the harm done to religion and civilization all over the world by the destruction of the Jesuit colleges and mis sions it would be useless here to dilate .
0 S E T H E S I E Y O S 5 A K CH O F T O C T F jE S U .
“ i O f of Soc ety the Sacred Heart , the other “ O f in Italy, with the title Fathers of the
Faith , which coalesced into one under the
i n latter title , with the des g and hope of being absorbed into the r e-established Society
distin uIShed of Jesus . The most g Superior
O f this body was Father Varin , to whom we owe the female communities O f the Ladies of the Sacred H eart and the Sisters of N otre
D in stitu ame , the foundresses of both which l tions have been declared Venerab e . The hope of these young priests was not disappointed .
th 1 8 1 O f O n the 7 of August , 4 , octave the Feast
re- of St . Ignatius , Pius VI I . established the
Jesuit Order throughout the whole world . The
O bedience of the Society , which had died without
a murmur, was rewarded . A great lesson and we m ay hope that that ob edien c e Will c onti nue ’ tobe rewarded in the future by God s blessi ngs e upon its works . The Fath rs of the old Society
a still living , and working as secul r priests in dif feren t rec erved parts , hastened to be into the new organization ; younger novices O ffered them
in selves plenty . Charles Emmanuel , king of
Sardinia and grand-uncle of the late Victor
Emmanuel , ended his days in it as an humble religious ; and later, Cardinal Odescalchi laid down his purple to enter the Roman novitiate .
r e- O f Shortly after the establishment the Society , the conversion of Prince G alitz in determined the expulsion of the Fathers from Russia, which
u proved to be an advantage , inasm ch as these Fathers were able to give a religious formation to the young men who were entering the Order ff in the di erent countries of Europe . The Fathers in America had been among the first to 2 S E C OE TH E SO CI E Y O F E 5 A K T H T j S US . affiliate themselves with the tolerated Society in
R u ssIa .
I n the year 1 8 2 9 the Jesuits were recalled to
Portugal . A year later they visited the church where the body of their excommunicated perse c uto r S th , Pombal , lay unburied ince the 5 of
1 8 2 M ay , 7 , and there , after an interval of nearly
of fifty years , in the presence that uninterred
offered up a M ass of requiem for his soul .
Since its r e-est ablishment the Society has pro gressed and established itself throughout the
t world . It has now about thirteen housand
n members , divided into some two dozen provi ces ,
m I SSI O n s. S with various I n the United tates , besides two provinces , and several missions
h ro vI n c es a whic may be formed into p , we h ve entire charge O f the extreme southern peninsula E H O E TH E S O CI E T Y O E E S S A SK T C j U . 53
’ o of Fl rida, and of all Alaska . St . Ignatius prayer for persecution still , however, continues to be hea rd ; if our missions and colleges and works appear to flourish in some countries, in others we are liable to be expelled at a moment ’ s
i I n not ce , others only tolerated , and in others not allowed to exist at all . The first step in the path O f persecution O f religion by modern gov er n m en ts or societies seems always to be to l suppress or expe the J esuits . This has happened even repeatedly duri n g the past three quarters
O f e in a c ntury in Spa , Portugal , France , Italy ,
Germany , M exico , and the South American
D u rm States . g quite recent years , to give one
example of the sort O f stability we enjoy ln so
called Catholic nations , the scholastics the
young men not yet ordained , who are still pur
u — O f suing their st dies the province of Venice , S T C O F TH E S O CIE T Y E E S 54 A KE H O j US.
havrn g been sent out of Italy , took refuge in / Austria ; being dismissed by the Austrians, they passed over to France told to go by the Fre n ch a o t uthorities , they retired to Spain ; n finding
a e w the clim t of Spain agreeable , they withdre W to Croatia , where they are now awaiting hat
u development the fut re has in store for them .
The Society does not exist in Russia . The
Scandinavi an governments h ave begu n to toler ate the J esu i ts as they have begun to be tolerant towards the Church ; and as the Church , so our
Order enjoys most peace an d liberty in the Eng
- lish speaking countries .
“ The obedient man shall speak victories,
a s ys the Scripture . One of the objections to the rule of the Society is that it hampers individu
a i ality . Perh ps it does so ; but d scipline is more
a I an d necess ry in an army than ndividuality , the I Y E E S A SKE T CH O E TH E SO C E T O j S U . 55
e story we hav outlined shows , if it shows any c thing , that vigorous and su cessful work for God has not failed to characterize that band of imita tors of the humility of Christ to whom their
a first leader gave the name of Comp ny of Jesus .
If any one wishes to know more about the
Society of J esus , let him procure and read the charming work in two volumes entitled “ The w J esuits , by B . published ithin recent
a ye rs .
W Y O R K P R 1N T E D BY BE N ! I GE R B R O T H E R S, NE .