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 .