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The Autobiography of St.Ignatius
Contents
EDITOR’SPREFACE 1
PREFACEOF THEWRITER 5
CHAPTER I 13
CHAPTER II 25
CHAPTER III 43
CHAPTER IV 63
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CHAPTER V 76
CHAPTER VI 93
CHAPTER VII 113
CHAPTER VIII 132
APPENDIX 149
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NEW YORK, CINCINNATI,CHICAGO
BENZIGER BROTHERSPrinters to the Holy Apostolic
See1900Imprimatur.
MICHAEL AUGUSTINE,ARCHBISHOP OF NEW
YORK.Nihil obstat.EDWARDUS I. PURBRICK, S.J.,Præpositus Provincialis Provin-
ciæMarylandiæ Neo-Eboracensis.
JACOBUS J. CASEY, S.J.,Censor Deputatus.
v
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 1899.
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EDITOR'S PREFACE
THIS account of the life of St. Ignatius, dic-tated by himself, is considered by the Bol-
landists the most valuable record of the greatFounder of the Society of Jesus. The editors ofthe Stimmen Aus Maria Laach, the German re-view, as well as those of the English magazine,The Month, tell us that it, more than any other
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EDITOR’S PREFACE
work, gives an insight into the spiritual life ofSt. Ignatius. Few works in ascetical literature,except the writings of St. Teresa and St. Augus-tine, impart such a knowledge of the soul.
To understand fully the Spiritual Exercises,we should know something of the man whowrote them. In this life of St. Ignatius, told inhis own words, we acquire an intimate knowl-edge of the author of the Exercises. We discernthe Saint’s natural disposition, which was thefoundation of his spiritual character. We learnof his conversion, his trials, the obstacles in hisway, the heroism with which he accomplishedhis great mission.
This autobiography of St. Ignatius is thegroundwork of all the great lives of him thathave been written.
Bartoli draws from it, Genelli develops it, the
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EDITOR’S PREFACE
recent magnificent works of Father Clair, S.J.,and of Stewart Rose are amplifications of thissimple story of the life of St. Ignatius.
The Saint in his narrative always refers tohimself in the third person, and this mode ofspeech has here been retained. Many personswho have neither the time, nor, perhaps, theinclination, to read larger works, will read, wetrust, with pleasure and profit this autobiogra-phy.
Ignatius, as he lay wounded in his brother’shouse, read the lives of the saints to while awaythe time. Touched by grace, he cried, “What St.Francis and St. Dominic have done, that, byGod’s grace, I will do.” May this little book, inlike manner, inspire its readers with the desireof imitating St. Ignatius.
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EDITOR’S PREFACE
THE EDITOR.EASTER, 1900.COLLEGE OF ST. FRANCIS
XAVIER,NEW YORK.
Preface of Father Louis Gonzalez, S.J., to the “Actsof St. Ignatius,” received from the lips of the Saintand translated into Latin by Father Hannibal Co-dretto, S.J.
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PREFACE OF THE WRITER
JESUS, Mary. In the year 1553, one Fridaymorning, August 4, the eve of the feast of
Our Lady of the Snows, while St. Ignatius wasin the garden, I began to give him an accountof my soul, and, among other things, I spoke tohim of how I was tempted by vain glory. Thespiritual advice he gave me was this: “Refer ev-
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PREFACE OF THE WRITER
erything that you do to God; strive to offer Himall the good you find in yourself, acknowledg-ing that this comes from God, and thank Himfor it.” The advice given to me on this occa-sion was so consoling to me that I could notrefrain from tears. St. Ignatius then related tome that for two years he had struggled againstvain glory; so much so, indeed, that when hewas about to embark for Jerusalem at Barcelonahe did not dare to tell any one where he was go-ing. He told me, moreover, that since that timehis soul had experienced great peace in regardto this matter.
An hour or two later we went to dinner, and,while Master Polancus and I were dining withhim, St. Ignatius said that Master Natalis andothers of the Society had often asked him togive a narrative of his life, but he had never as
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PREFACE OF THE WRITER
yet decided to do so. On this occasion, how-ever, after I had spoken to him, he reflectedupon it alone. He was favorably inclined to-ward it. From the way he spoke, it was evidentGod had enlightened him. He had resolved tomanifest the main points of his interior life upto the present, and had concluded that I wasthe one to whom he would make these thingsknown.
At that time St. Ignatius was in very feeblehealth. He did not promise himself one dayof life, but, on the contrary, if any one wereto say, “I shall do that within two weeks ora week,” St. Ignatius was accustomed to say:“How is that? Do you think you are goingto live that long?” However, on this occasion,he said he hoped to live three or four monthsto finish the narrative. The next day when I
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PREFACE OF THE WRITER
asked him when he wished to begin, he an-swered that I should remind him every day un-til he had an opportunity for it. As he could notfind time, partly on account of his many occu-pations, he told me to remind him of it everySunday. In the following September he calledme, and began to relate his whole life clearlyand distinctly with all the accompanying cir-cumstances. Afterward, in the same month, hecalled me three or four times, and told me thehistory of his life up to the time of his dwellingat Manresa. The method followed by St. Ig-natius is so clear that he places vividly beforeour eyes the events of the past.
It was not necessary to ask him anything,as nothing important was omitted. I began towrite down certain points immediately, and Iafterward filled out the details. I endeavored
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PREFACE OF THE WRITER
to write nothing that I did not hear from him.So closely did I adhere to his very words thatafterward I was unable to explain the meaningof some of them. This narrative I wrote, as Ihave indicated above, up to September, 1553.From that time until the 18th of October, 1554,when Father Natalis came, St. Ignatius did notcontinue the narrative, but pleaded excuse onaccount of infirmities or other business, sayingto me, “When such and such a business is set-tled, remind me of it.” When that work wasdone, I recalled it to his memory. He replied,“Now I have that other affair on hand; when itis finished remind me.”
Father Natalis was overjoyed that a begin-ning had been made, and told me to urge St.Ignatius to complete it, often saying to me,“In no other way can you do more good to
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PREFACE OF THE WRITER
the Society, for this is fundamentally the Soci-ety.” He himself spoke to St. Ignatius aboutit, and I was told to remind him of it whenthe work in regard to the founding of the col-lege was finished. And when it was over, andthe business with Prester John settled and thecourier had departed, we continued the historyon the 9th of March, 1555. About this timePope Julius became ill, and died on the 23dof the same month. The narrative was thenpostponed until the election of the new Pope,who died soon after his election. Our workremained untouched until Pope Paul mountedthe papal throne. On account of the great heatand many occupations, the biography did notmake much progress until the 21st of Septem-ber, when there was question of sending me toSpain. And so he appointed the morning of the22d for a meeting in the red tower. After say-
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PREFACE OF THE WRITER
ing Mass I went to him to ask him if it werethe time. He told me to go and wait for himin the red tower. Supposing that I should haveto wait a long while, I delayed on the porch,talking with a brother who asked me aboutsomething. When St. Ignatius came he repri-manded me because, contrary to obedience, Ihad not waited for him in the appointed place,and he would not do anything that day. Thenwe urged him very earnestly to continue. Sohe came to the red tower, and, according to hiscustom, dictated while walking.
While taking these notes I tried to see hisface, and kept drawing near to him. He saidto me, “Keep your rule.” And as I approachedagain, and looked at him a second and a thirdtime, he repeated what he had said and thenwent away. Finally, after some time, he re-
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PREFACE OF THE WRITER
turned to the red tower to complete the dicta-tion. As I was about starting on my journey,and St. Ignatius spoke to me the day before mydeparture, I could not write out the narrativein full at Rome. At Genoa where I went I hadno Spanish secretary, so I dictated in Latin thepoints I had brought with me, and finished thewriting at Genoa in December, 1555.
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CHAPTER I
HIS MILITARY LIFE—HE ISWOUNDED AT THE SIEGE OF
PAMPELUNA—HISCURE—SPIRITUAL READING—THE
APPARITION—THE GIFT OF
CHAPTER I
CHASTITY—HIS LONGING FOR THEJOURNEY TO JERUSALEM AND FOR
A HOLIER LIFE
UP to his twenty-sixth year the heart of Ig-natius was enthralled by the vanities of
the world. His special delight was in the mil-itary life, and he seemed led by a strong andempty desire of gaining for himself a greatname. The citadel of Pampeluna was held insiege by the French. All the other soldiers wereunanimous in wishing to surrender on condi-tion of freedom to leave, since it was impossi-ble to hold out any longer; but Ignatius so per-suaded the commander, that, against the viewsof all the other nobles, he decided to hold thecitadel against the enemy.
When the day of assault came, Ignatius
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CHAPTER I
made his confession to one of the nobles, hiscompanion in arms. The soldier also made histo Ignatius. After the walls were destroyed,Ignatius stood fighting bravely until a cannonball of the enemy broke one of his legs and se-riously injured the other.
When he fell, the citadel was surrendered.When the French took possession of the town,they showed great admiration for Ignatius. Af-ter twelve or fifteen days at Pampeluna, wherehe received the best care from the physiciansof the French army, he was borne on a litterto Loyola. His recovery was very slow, anddoctors and surgeons were summoned fromall parts for a consultation. They decided thatthe leg should be broken again, that the bones,which had knit badly, might be properly reset;for they had not been properly set in the begin-
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CHAPTER I
ning, or else had been so jostled on the journeythat a cure was impossible. He submitted tohave his flesh cut again. During the operation,as in all he suffered before and after, he utteredno word and gave no sign of suffering save thatof tightly clenching his fists.
In the meantime his strength was failing. Hecould take no food, and showed other symp-toms of approaching death. On the feast ofSt. John the doctors gave up hope of his re-covery, and he was advised to make his con-fession. Having received the sacraments on theeve of the feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul, towardevening the doctors said that if by the middleof the night there were no change for the better,he would surely die. He had great devotion toSt. Peter, and it so happened by the goodnessof God that in the middle of the night he began
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CHAPTER I
to grow better.
His recovery was so rapid that in a few dayshe was out of danger. As the bones of hisleg settled and pressed upon each other, onebone protruded below the knee. The result wasthat one leg was shorter than the other, andthe bone causing a lump there, made the legseem quite deformed. As he could not bearthis, since he intended to live a life at court,he asked the doctors whether the bone couldbe cut away. They replied that it could, but itwould cause him more suffering than all thathad preceded, as everything was healed, andthey would need space in order to cut it. Hedetermined, however, to undergo this torture.
His elder brother looked on with astonish-ment and admiration. He said he could neverhave had the fortitude to suffer the pain which
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CHAPTER I
the sick man bore with his usual patience.When the flesh and the bone that protrudedwere cut away, means were taken to preventthe leg from becoming shorter than the other.For this purpose, in spite of sharp and constantpain, the leg was kept stretched for many days.Finally the Lord gave him health. He came outof the danger safe and strong with the excep-tion that he could not easily stand on his leg,but was forced to lie in bed.
As Ignatius had a love for fiction, when hefound himself out of danger he asked for someromances to pass away the time. In that housethere was no book of the kind. They gavehim, instead, “The Life of Christ,” by Rudolph,the Carthusian, and another book called the“Flowers of the Saints,” both in Spanish. Byfrequent reading of these books he began to get
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CHAPTER I
some love for spiritual things. This reading ledhis mind to meditate on holy things, yet some-times it wandered to thoughts which he hadbeen accustomed to dwell upon before.
Among these there was one thought which,above the others, so filled his heart that he be-came, as it were, immersed and absorbed init. Unconsciously, it engaged his attention forthree and four hours at a time. He pictured tohimself what he should do in honor of an illus-trious lady, how he should journey to the citywhere she was, in what words he would ad-dress her, and what bright and pleasant sayingshe would make use of, what manner of warlikeexploits he should perform to please her. Hewas so carried away by this thought that he didnot even perceive how far beyond his powerit was to do what he proposed, for she was a
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CHAPTER I
lady exceedingly illustrious and of the highestnobility.
In the meantime the divine mercy was atwork substituting for these thoughts otherssuggested by his recent readings. While pe-rusing the life of Our Lord and the saints, hebegan to reflect, saying to himself: “What if Ishould do what St. Francis did?” “What if Ishould act like St. Dominic?” He ponderedover these things in his mind, and kept con-tinually proposing to himself serious and dif-ficult things. He seemed to feel a certain readi-ness for doing them, with no other reason ex-cept this thought: “St. Dominic did this; I, too,will do it.” “St. Francis did this; therefore Iwill do it.” These heroic resolutions remainedfor a time, and then other vain and worldlythoughts followed. This succession of thoughts
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CHAPTER I
occupied him for a long while, those about Godalternating with those about the world. But inthese thoughts there was this difference. Whenhe thought of worldly things it gave him greatpleasure, but afterward he found himself dryand sad. But when he thought of journeyingto Jerusalem, and of living only on herbs, andpractising austerities, he found pleasure notonly while thinking of them, but also when hehad ceased.
This difference he did not notice or value,until one day the eyes of his soul were openedand he began to inquire the reason of the differ-ence. He learned by experience that one trainof thought left him sad, the other joyful. Thiswas his first reasoning on spiritual matters. Af-terward, when he began the Spiritual Exercises,he was enlightened, and understood what he
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CHAPTER I
afterward taught his children about the dis-cernment of spirits. When gradually he rec-ognized the different spirits by which he wasmoved, one, the spirit of God, the other, thedevil, and when he had gained no little spiri-tual light from the reading of pious books, hebegan to think more seriously of his past life,and how much penance he should do to expi-ate his past sins.
Amid these thoughts the holy wish to imitatesaintly men came to his mind; his resolve wasnot more definite than to promise with the helpof divine grace that what they had done he alsowould do. After his recovery his one wish wasto make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He fastedfrequently and scourged himself to satisfy thedesire of penance that ruled in a soul filled withthe spirit of God.
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CHAPTER I
The vain thoughts were gradually lessenedby means of these desires–desires that were nota little strengthened by the following vision.While watching one night he plainly saw theimage of the Blessed Mother of God with theInfant Jesus, at the sight of which, for a con-siderable time, he received abundant consola-tion, and felt such contrition for his past lifethat he thought of nothing else. From that timeuntil August, 1555, when this was written, henever felt the least motion of concupiscence.This privilege we may suppose from this factto have been a divine gift, although we dare notstate it, nor say anything except confirm whathas been already said. His brother and all inthe house recognized from what appeared ex-ternally how great a change had taken place inhis soul.
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CHAPTER I
He continued his reading meanwhile, andkept the holy resolution he had made. At homehis conversation was wholly devoted to divinethings, and helped much to the spiritual ad-vancement of others.
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CHAPTER II
IGNATIUS LEAVE HIS NATIVELAND—WHAT HE DID AT
MONSERRAT AND AT MANRESA
IGNATIUS, starting from his father’s house, setout upon his journey on horseback. About
CHAPTER II
this time he began his habit of taking the dis-cipline every night. His brother desired to ac-company him as far as Ogna, and during thejourney was persuaded by the Saint to pass onenight of watching at the shrine of Our BlessedLady at Aruncuz. Having prayed some timeat the shrine for new strength for his journey,leaving his brother at Ogna at the house of theirsister, to whom he paid a short visit, he jour-neyed on to Navarre. Remembering that anofficial in the Duke’s palace owed him somemoney, he collected it by sending in a writ-ten account to the treasurer, and distributed itamong persons to whom he felt indebted. Aportion of the money he devoted to the restora-tion of a picture of the Blessed Virgin. Thendismissing his two remaining servants, he rodeforth alone from Navarre in the direction ofMontserrat, a mountain town of Catalonia in
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CHAPTER II
the northern part of Spain.
It will not be amiss to recall an event that oc-curred during this journey, to show the man-ner in which God directed him. Although filledwith an ardent desire of serving God, yet hisknowledge of spiritual things was still very ob-scure. He had undertaken to perform extraor-dinary penances, not so much with a view tosatisfy for his sins as with the intention of do-ing something pleasing to his Lord. He de-clared indeed that though filled with the liveli-est abhorrence of his past sins, he could notassure himself that they were forgiven; yet inhis austerities so intense was his desire to dogreat things for Christ that he did not think ofhis sins. When he recalled the penances prac-tised by holy persons, his whole mind was benton doing something to equal and even surpass
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CHAPTER II
them. In this holy ambition he found his con-solation, for he had no interior motive for hispenances, knowing as yet very little about hu-mility or charity or patience, for to obtain thesemany holy men have led austere lives. Heknew still less the value of discretion, whichregulates the practice of these virtues. To dosomething great for the glory of his God, to em-ulate saintly men in all that they had done be-fore him–this was the only object of Ignatius inhis practices of external mortification.
While he journeyed on, a Saracen mountedon a horse came up with him. In the courseof the conversation mention was made of theBlessed Virgin. The stranger remarked thatthough he admitted that the Mother of Christhad conceived without detriment to her vir-ginal purity, yet he could not believe that af-
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CHAPTER II
ter the conception of her divine Son she wasstill a virgin. He was so obstinate in holdingthis opinion, that no amount of reasoning onthe part of Ignatius could force him to abandonit. Shortly afterward the Saracen rode on, leav-ing the pilgrim to his own reflections. Thesewere not of the most peaceful nature. He wassorely troubled as he thought over the conductof his recent fellow-traveler, and felt that hehad but poorly acquitted himself of his duty ofhonoring the Mother of God. The longer hismind thought upon the matter, the more hissoul was filled with indignation against him-self for having allowed the Saracen to speak ashe had done of the Blessed Virgin, and for thelack of courage he fancied he had shown in notat once resenting the insult. He consequentlyfelt impelled by a strong impulse to hasten af-ter him and slay the miscreant for the insult-
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CHAPTER II
ing language he had used. After much internalconflict with these thoughts, he still remainedin doubt, nor could he decide what course tofollow. The Saracen, who had ridden on, hadmentioned to him that it was his intention toproceed to a town not far distant from the high-road. At length, Ignatius, wearied by his in-ward struggle and not arriving at any determi-nation, decided to settle all his doubts in thefollowing novel way: he would give free rein tohis horse, and if, on coming to the cross-road,his horse should turn into the path that led tothe destination of the Moor, he would pursuehim and kill him; but if his horse kept to thehighroad he would allow the wretch to escape.Having done as he had decided, it happenedthrough the Providence of God that his horsekept to the highroad, though the place was dis-tant only about thirty or forty yards, and the
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CHAPTER II
way leading to it was very wide and easy.
Arriving at a large village situated a shortdistance from Montserrat, he determined toprocure a garment to wear on his journey toJerusalem. He therefore bought a piece of sack-cloth, poorly woven, and filled with pricklywooden fibres. Of this he made a garment thatreached to his feet. He bought, also, a pair ofshoes of coarse stuff that is often used in mak-ing brooms. He never wore but one shoe, andthat not for the sake of the comfort to be de-rived from it, but because, as he was in thehabit of wearing a cord tied below the kneeby way of mortification, this leg would be verymuch swollen at night, though he rode all dayon horseback. For this reason, he felt he oughtto wear a shoe on that foot. He provided him-self also with a pilgrim’s staff and a gourd to
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CHAPTER II
drink from. All these he tied to his saddle.
Thus equipped, he continued on his way toMontserrat, pondering in his mind, as was hiswont, on the great things he would do for thelove of God. And as he had formerly readthe stories of Amadeus of Gaul and other suchwriters, who told how the Christian knights ofthe past were accustomed to spend the entirenight, preceding the day on which they wereto receive knighthood, on guard before an altarof the Blessed Virgin, he was filled with thesechivalric fancies, and resolved to prepare him-self for a noble knighthood by passing a nightin vigil before an altar of Our Lady at Montser-rat. He would observe all the formalities of thisceremony, neither sitting nor lying down, butalternately standing and kneeling, and therehe would lay aside his worldly dignities to as-
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CHAPTER II
sume the arms of Christ.
When he arrived at Montserrat, he passed along time in prayer, and with the consent of hisconfessor he made in writing a general confes-sion of his sins. Three whole days were em-ployed in this undertaking. He begged andobtained leave of his confessor to give up hishorse, and to hang up his sword and his dag-ger in the church, near the altar of the BlessedVirgin. This confessor was the first to whomhe unfolded his interior, and disclosed his res-olution of devoting himself to a spiritual life.Never before had he manifested his purpose toanybody.
The eve of the Annunciation of Our BlessedLady in the year 1522 was the time he chose tocarry out the project he had formed. At night-fall, unobserved by any one, he approached a
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CHAPTER II
beggar, and taking off his own costly garmentsgave them to the beggar. He then put on thepilgrim’s dress he had previously bought, andhastened to the church, where he threw him-self on his knees before the altar of the BlessedMother of God, and there, now kneeling, nowstanding, with staff in hand, he passed the en-tire night.
After receiving the Blessed Sacrament, toavoid recognition he left the town at daybreak.He did not go by the direct route that leadsto Barcelona, as he might have met those whoknew him and would honor him, but he tooka byway that led him to a town called Man-resa. Here he determined to remain a fewdays in the hospital and write out some notesin his little book, which for his own consola-tion he carefully carried about with him. At
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CHAPTER II
about a league’s distance from Montserrat, hewas overtaken by a man who had ridden afterhim at a rapid pace. This man accosted himand inquired if he had given certain garmentsto a poor man, as the latter had declared. Ig-natius answered that it was true that he hadgiven them to a beggar. On learning that thelatter had been ill-treated because he was sus-pected of having stolen the clothes, the eyes ofIgnatius filled with tears, in pity for the poorman.
Although he had fled so anxiously from thepraise of men, he did not remain long at Man-resa before many marvellous things were nar-rated of him. This fame arose from what hadoccurred at Montserrat. His reputation in-creased day by day. Men vied with each otherin adding some particulars about his sanctity,
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CHAPTER II
declaring that he had abandoned immense rev-enues, and other wonderful things withoutmuch regard to real facts.
At Manresa he lived on the alms that hedaily begged. He never ate meat nor partookof wine, though they were offered him. OnSundays, however, he never fasted, and if winewere offered him, he drank of it sparingly. Informer days he had been very careful of hishair, which he had worn, and, indeed, not un-becomingly, in the fashionable manner of theyoung men of his age; but now he determinedto cease to care for it, neither to comb it nor tocut it, and to dispense with all covering for hishead both day and night. To punish himselffor the too great nicety which he had formerlyhad in the care of his hands and feet, he nowresolved to neglect them.
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CHAPTER II
It was while he was living at the hospitalat Manresa that the following strange eventtook place. Very frequently on a clear moon-light night there appeared in the courtyard be-fore him an indistinct shape which he couldnot see clearly enough to tell what it was. Yetit appeared so symmetrical and beautiful thathis soul was filled with pleasure and joy as hegazed at it. It had something of the form of aserpent with glittering eyes, and yet they werenot eyes. He felt an indescribable joy steal overhim at the sight of this object. The oftener hesaw it, the greater was the consolation he de-rived from it, and when the vision left him, hissoul was filled with sorrow and sadness.
Up to this period he had remained in a con-stant state of tranquillity and consolation, with-out any interior knowledge of the trials that be-
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CHAPTER II
set the spiritual life. But during the time thatthe vision lasted, sometimes for days, or a lit-tle previous to that time, his soul was violentlyagitated by a thought that brought him no littleuneasiness. There flashed upon his mind theidea of the difficulty that attended the kind oflife he had begun, and he felt as if he heardsome one whispering to him, “How can youkeep up for seventy years of your life thesepractices which you have begun?” Knowingthat this thought was a temptation of the evilone, he expelled it by this answer: “Can you,wretched one, promise me one hour of life?” Inthis manner he overcame the temptation, andhis soul was restored to peace. This was hisfirst trial besides what has already been nar-rated, and it came upon him suddenly one dayas he was entering the church. He was accus-tomed to hear Mass daily, and to assist at Ves-
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CHAPTER II
pers and Compline–devotions from which hederived much consolation. During Mass, he al-ways read over the history of the Passion, andhis soul was filled with a joyful feeling of unin-terrupted calm.
Shortly after the temptation just spoken of,he began to experience great changes in hissoul. At one time he was deprived of all con-solation, so that he found no pleasure in vocalprayer, in hearing Mass, or in any spiritual ex-ercise. At another, on the contrary, he suddenlyfelt as if all sorrow and desolation were takenfrom him, experiencing the relief of one fromwhose shoulders a heavy cloak had suddenlybeen lifted. On noticing all this, he was sur-prised, wondering what could be the import ofthese changes which he had never before ex-perienced, and he said to himself, “What new
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CHAPTER II
kind of life is this upon which I am entering?”
At this time he became acquainted withsome holy persons who manifested great confi-dence in him, and gladly conversed with him;for though he had, as yet, little knowledge ofspiritual things, still he spoke with great fervoron religious subjects, and incited his hearers tomake greater progress in the way of God’s ser-vice. Among those holy persons who dweltat Manresa, there was one lady well advancedin years who had long been given to the ser-vice of God, and who was so well known inmany places in Spain that his Catholic Majesty,the King of Spain, had desired her presence onone occasion in order to take counsel with herabout certain projects that he had in his mind.This lady, speaking one day to our new soldierof Christ, said to him, “Would that the Lord Je-
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CHAPTER II
sus might appear to you some day!” Ignatius,wondering at her words, understood in a literalsense, and asked her, “What would He looklike if He were to show Himself to me?”
He always persevered in his custom of ap-proaching the Sacraments of Confession andHoly Communion every week. But herein hefound a great source of anxiety on account ofthe scruples with which he was annoyed. Forthough he had written out his general confes-sion at Montserrat, and with great diligenceand care had tried to make it complete, yethe always felt that he had forgotten somethingin his confession, and this caused him muchanxiety. Even though he should now confessit again, he received no consolation. He triedthen to find a spiritual person, who could givehim relief in his trouble, but he found no one.
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CHAPTER II
Finally, a certain doctor who had experience inspiritual things, and who was a preacher in thechurch, advised him to write down anythinghe remembered and feared that he had not con-fessed. He obeyed, and even after he had con-fessed these sins, his scruples still continuedto fill his soul, and he was constantly recall-ing minor details that he had not confessed. Inthis way he was cruelly tormented. He knewwell that these scruples caused no little harmto the spiritual life, and that it was most expe-dient to get rid of them, yet they continued totorture him. At times it occurred to him thatit would be well if he could have his confes-sor command him in the name of the Lord Je-sus not again to confess anything of his pastsins; and he inwardly prayed that his confes-sor would give him some such command, buthe could not bring himself to ask him to do so.
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CHAPTER III
SCRUPLES—HEAVENLYFAVORS—JOURNEY TO
BARCELONA
AT last his confessor, without any sugges-tion on the part of the penitent, com-
manded him to confess nothing of his past life,
CHAPTER III
except what was very clear and evident. Butas he regarded everything of the past as evi-dent, the confessor’s order did not help himat all. He was in constant anxiety. At thattime he lived in the Dominican monastery, ina little cell which the Fathers had allotted tohim. He kept up his usual custom of prayingon bended knees for seven hours a day, andscourged himself three times a day and dur-ing the night. But all this did not remove hisscruples, which had been tormenting him formonths. One day, when terribly tormented, hebegan to pray. During his prayer, he cried outto God in a loud voice: “O Lord, help me, for Ifind no remedy among men, nor in any crea-ture! If I thought I could find one, no laborwould seem too great to me. Show me someone! O Lord! where may I find one? I am will-ing to do anything to find relief.”
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While tortured by these thoughts, severaltimes he was violently tempted to cast himselfout of the large window of his cell. This win-dow was quite near the place where he waspraying. But since he knew that it would bea sin to take his own life, he began to pray, “OLord, I will not do anything to offend Thee.”He repeated these words frequently with hisformer prayer, when there came to his mindthe story of a certain holy man, who, to ob-tain of God some favor which he ardently de-sired, spent many days without food, until heobtained the favor he asked. He determined todo the same. He resolved in his heart neither toeat nor drink until God should look upon himin mercy, or until he should find himself at thepoint of death; then only should he eat.
This resolution was taken on a Sunday af-
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ter communion, and for a whole week he nei-ther ate nor drank anything; in the meantimehe practised his usual penances, recited the Di-vine Office, prayed on bended knees at theappointed times, and rose at midnight. Onthe following Sunday, when about to make hisusual confession, as he had been in the habit ofmaking known to his confessor everything hehad done, even the smallest detail, he told himthat he had not eaten anything during the pastweek. Hereupon his confessor bade him breakhis fast. Although he felt that he still had suf-ficient strength to continue without food, nev-ertheless he obeyed his confessor, and on thatday and the next he was free from scruples.On the third day, however, which was Tuesday,while standing in prayer, the remembrance ofhis sins came back to him. One suggested an-other, until he passed in review, one after an-
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other, all his past sins. He then thought heought to repeat his general confession. Afterthese thoughts a sort of disgust seized him, sothat he felt an inclination to give up the lifehe was leading. While in this state, God waspleased to arouse him as it were from sleep,and to relieve him of his trouble. As he hadacquired some experience in the discernmentof spirits, he profited by the lessons he hadlearned of God, and began to examine how thatspirit had entered into possession of his soul;then he resolved never again to speak of hispast sins in confession. From that day he wasfree from scruples, and felt certain that it wasthe will of our merciful Lord to deliver himfrom his trouble of soul.
Besides the seven hours devoted to prayer,he spent a portion of his time in assisting souls
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who came to him for advice. During the rest ofthe day he gave his thoughts to God, ponder-ing on what he had read or meditated that day.When he retired, it often happened that won-derful illuminations and great spiritual conso-lations came to him, so that he abridged theshort time he had already allotted to sleep.Once while thinking over this matter he con-cluded that he had given sufficient time forconversation with God, and that moreover thewhole day was also given to Him. Then he be-gan to doubt whether these illuminations werefrom the Good Spirit. Finally he came to theconclusion that it would be better to give upa portion and to give sufficient time to sleep.This he did.
While he persevered in his resolution toabstain from meat, it happened on a certain
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morning after rising, that a dish of cooked meatseemed to be set before him. He appeared tosee it with his eyes, although he had felt noprevious craving for it. At the same time heafterward experienced within himself a certainmovement of the will, urging him to eat meat.Although the remembrance of his former res-olution came to mind, he had no doubt aboutdetermining to eat meat. When he made thisknown to his confessor, the latter advised himto consider whether it was a temptation or not.Pondering over it, he felt certain that he wasright. At that period God dealt with him asa teacher instructing a pupil. Was this on ac-count of his ignorance or dulness, or becausehe had no one else to teach him? Or on accountof the fixed resolve he had of serving God, withwhich God Himself had inspired him, for thelight given him could not possibly be greater?
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He was firmly convinced, both then and after-ward, that God had treated him thus becauseit was the better spiritual training for him. Thefive following points will prove what he says:–
In the first place, he had a great devotionto the Blessed Trinity. Every day he prayedto each of the three Persons and to the wholeTrinity. While thus praying to the Blessed Trin-ity, the thought came of how to offer fourfoldprayers to the Divinity. This thought, however,caused him little or no trouble. Once, whilereciting on the steps of the monastery the lit-tle hours in honor of the Blessed Virgin, his vi-sion carried him beyond the earth. He seemedto behold the Blessed Trinity in the form of alyre or harp; this vision affected him so muchthat he could not refrain from tears and sighs.On the same day he accompanied the proces-
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sion from the church, but even up to the time ofdinner he could not withhold his tears, and af-ter dinner his joy and consolation were so greatthat he could speak of no subject except theBlessed Trinity. In these conversations he madeuse of many different comparisons to illustratehis thoughts. Such an impression was made onhim on that occasion that during his after life,whenever he prayed to the Blessed Trinity, heexperienced great devotion.
At another time, to his great joy, God permit-ted him to understand how He had created thisworld. This vision presented to him a whiteobject, with rays emanating from it. From thisobject God sent forth light. However, he couldnot clearly explain this vision, nor could he re-call the illuminations given to him by God onthat occasion. During his stay of about a year
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at Manresa, after he had begun to receive fromGod consolations, and fruitful lights for the di-rection of others, he gave up his former rigor-ous penances. At that time he trimmed his nailsand hair. During the time of his residence atManresa, while assisting at Mass, he had an-other vision in the church of the monastery. Atthe elevation of the body of Christ Our Lordhe beheld, with the eyes of his soul, white raysdescending from above. Although he cannot,after so long an interval, explain the details ofthis vision, still the manner in which Our LordJesus Christ is present in the Blessed Sacra-ment was clearly and vividly stamped uponhis mind. Often in prayer, and even duringa long space of time, did he see the human-ity of Christ with the eyes of the soul. Theform under which this vision appeared wasthat of a white body, neither large nor small;
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besides, there seemed to be no distinction ofmembers in His body. This vision appearedto him often at Manresa, perhaps twenty oreven forty times, once at Jerusalem, and oncewhen he was at Padua. He saw the Blessed Vir-gin under the same form, without any distinc-tion of members. These visions gave him suchstrength that he often thought within himself,that even though Scripture did not bear witnessto these mysteries of faith, still, from what hehad seen, it would be his duty to lay down hislife for them.
One day he went to the Church of St. Paul,situated about a mile from Manresa. Near theroad is a stream, on the bank of which he sat,and gazed at the deep waters flowing by. Whileseated there, the eyes of his soul were opened.He did not have any special vision, but his
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mind was enlightened on many subjects, spir-itual and intellectual. So clear was this knowl-edge that from that day everything appeared tohim in a new light. Such was the abundance ofthis light in his mind that all the divine helpsreceived, and all the knowledge acquired up tohis sixty-second year, were not equal to it.
From that day he seemed to be quite anotherman, and possessed of a new intellect. This il-lumination lasted a long time. While kneelingin thanksgiving for this grace, there appearedto him that object which he had often seen be-fore, but had never understood. It seemed tobe something most beautiful, and, as it were,gleaming with many eyes. This is how it al-ways appeared. There was a cross near whichhe was praying, and he noticed that near thecross the vision had lost some of its former
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beautiful color. He understood from this thatthe apparition was the work of the devil, andwhenever the vision appeared to him after that,as it did several times, he dispelled it with hisstaff.
During a violent fever at Manresa, hethought he was near his death. The thoughtthen came to his mind that he was already jus-tified before God. Calling to mind his sins,he tried to combat the thought, but could notovercome it, and this struggle to overcome thetemptation caused him much more sufferingthan the fever itself. After the fever had some-what abated, and he was out of danger, he criedout to some noble ladies who had come to visithim, and asked them for the love of God, to cryout aloud the next time they should find himnear death, “O sinner!” and “Remember the
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sins by which you have offended God.”
On another occasion, while sailing from Va-lencia to Italy, in the midst of a violent storm,the rudder was broken, and he and every oneon board were convinced that the ship mustfounder unless help came from above. Then,as he examined his conscience and preparedfor death, he had no dread on account of pastsins, nor fear of eternal punishment, but heexperienced intense shame and sorrow at thethought of not having made a good use of thefavors and graces which God had bestowedupon him. Again, in the year 1550, he was dan-gerously ill, and in his own judgment and thatof others he was about to die. This time, how-ever, whenever he thought of death, such con-solation poured into his soul that he wept tearsof joy. He continued in this state so long that he
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often had to divert his mind from the thoughtof death, lest he should find in the thought toomuch consolation.
In the beginning of another winter he be-came very ill, and was placed under the careof the father of a man named Ferrera, who af-terward entered the service of Balthasar Faria.Here he was very carefully attended. Severalladies of the highest rank were very devotedto him, and came every night to watch be-side him. When he began to recover, he wasstill extremely weak, and suffered from severepains in the stomach. These two causes, to-gether with the intense cold and the entreatiesof his attendants, induced him to wear shoes,warmer clothing, and a cap. He was obliged toaccept two small coats of coarse grayish stuff,and a small cap of the same color. During that
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illness his constant wish was to speak of spir-itual things, and to find some one who couldtalk upon such subjects. Meanwhile the timewhich he had determined upon for his journeyto Jerusalem was approaching.
In the beginning of the year 1523, therefore,he set out for Barcelona. Many offered to ac-company him, but he refused, as he wishedto go alone. He expected to derive great ad-vantage from placing his whole trust in Godalone. Several were very earnest, and insistedthat as he knew neither Latin nor Italian, heshould not go alone, but should take with hima certain companion whom they praised verymuch. Ignatius replied that even were he theson or brother of the Duke of Cordova, hewould not take him as a companion, as hewished only three virtues,–Faith, Hope, and
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Charity. If he took a companion, when hun-gry he would look to his companion for food;if exhausted, he would call on his compan-ion for help; and so he would confide in hiscompanion, and have some affection for him:whereas he wished to place all this confidence,hope, and affection in God alone. These wordswere not a mere expression of the lips, but theywere the true sentiments of his heart. For thesereasons he wished to embark not only alone,but even without any provision for the voy-age. When he arranged about his passage, thecaptain agreed to take him free, as he had nomoney; but on condition that he should takewith him as much sailors’ bread as would suf-fice for his sustenance. Were it not for this con-dition imposed by the captain, Ignatius wouldhave refused to take with him any provision atall.
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When he thought of procuring bread, he wasmuch troubled with scruples. “Is this yourhope and faith in God, who, you were sure,would not fail you?” The force and violence ofthe temptation were such that he was greatlydistressed. Good reasons on both sides pre-sented themselves. Finally, in his perplexity, hedetermined to leave the matter to his confes-sor. He told him first of his great desire to go toJerusalem, and to do everything for the greaterglory of God. Then he gave the reasons for nottaking provisions for the voyage. His confessordecided that he ought to beg what was neces-sary and take it with him. He went to a ladyof rank to ask for what he needed. When sheasked where he was going, he hesitated a littleabout telling his final destination, and repliedthat he was going to Italy and Rome. She wassomewhat astonished at this, and replied: “To
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Rome? Why, as to those who go there–well, Ido not like to say what they are when they re-turn.” She meant by this that as most of thosewho went to Rome did not go through motivesof piety and devotion, when they returned theywere not much better. The reason of his notopenly declaring that he intended to go to theholy city of Jerusalem was his dread of yieldingto vain glory. In fact, he was so much troubledby this fear that he was afraid to make knowneven the place of his birth or the name of hisfamily. When he had secured the bread, beforegoing
on board he took care to leave behind him,on a bench on the wharf, five or six Spanishcoins, which had been given to him as alms.
[Illustration: OUR LADY OF THE WAY-SIDE. Favorite Picture of St. Ignatius.]
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He was obliged to remain at Barcelona morethan twenty days before the ship was readyto sail. During that time, in accordance withhis custom, in order to speak with spiritualmen about his soul, he sought them out eventhough dwelling in hermitages at a long dis-tance from the city. But neither then, nor dur-ing the whole time of his stay at Manresa, couldhe find any one who could help him to advanceas he wished. He met one woman, however,who seemed to be thoroughly acquainted withthe spiritual life. She promised to pray to JesusChrist and to ask Him to appear to Ignatius inperson. In consequence of this promise, afterleaving Barcelona, he gave up all anxiety aboutfinding souls advanced in the spiritual life.
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HIS JOURNEY TO ROME, VENICE,JERUSALEM AND THE HOLY LAND
AFTER a voyage of five days and nightsthe vessel in which they set out from
Barcelona reached Gaeta, and the pilgrim dis-embarked and started for Rome, although
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there was danger there on account of theplague. After reaching the city, he found thegates closed. He spent the night in a dampchurch, and in the morning sought to enter thecity, but could not obtain permission. As noalms could be obtained outside of the city, hewished to go on to a neighboring village, butfor sheer weakness, the pilgrim could go nofarther. On that day it happened that a greatprocession came out of the city. On inquirythe pilgrim learned that the Duchess was in thethrong. He approached her, told her that hismalady was simply the effect of weakness, andasked permission to enter the city to get relief.She readily consented. He was successful andhis strength returned, and two days later heresumed his journey, reaching Rome on PalmSunday.
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Those whom he met at Rome knew he hadno money for his journey to Jerusalem. Theytried to dissuade him from his undertaking,alleging that such a journey was impossiblewithout money. He felt assured, however, thateverything needed for his voyage would beat hand when required. Accordingly, on theoctave of Easter, he received the blessing ofAdrian VI and left Rome for Venice. He had inhis possession six or seven pieces of gold whichthey had given him to pay his passage fromVenice as far as Jerusalem. He had taken thismoney with him from Venice only because theyhad convinced him that without it he could notreach Jerusalem. On the third day from thetime he set out from Rome, he realized thatthis fear had come from a want of confidence,and was sorry he had accepted the money, andwas deliberating about giving it away. Finally,
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however, he determined to spend it on thosehe met, who were chiefly beggars. The resultwas that when he came to Venice he had onlyfour coins left, and these were necessary for hislodging that night.
On this journey to Venice, on account of sen-tinels placed around the cities, he was obligedto sleep outside the walls. The dread of thepestilence was so great that one morning on ris-ing he saw a man fleeing from him in terror.Pursuing his journey, he reached Chizoa withseveral others who had joined him on the road.There he learned that he would not be allowedto enter the city. He then proceeded with hiscompanions to Padua, to get the testimony ofa notary that the party was not stricken withthe plague. Ignatius could not, on account ofhis weakness, keep pace with the others, and
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was left alone in an open field. Then Christappeared to him, as He had appeared on for-mer occasions. By this vision he was greatlystrengthened and consoled. The next morn-ing, filled with new courage, he came to thegate of the city, and although provided with nocertificate, entered unquestioned by the guard.In the same way he left the city unquestioned.His companions were surprised at this, for theyhad to present a certificate, which he had takenno pains to procure. At Venice they beggedtheir food, and slept in St. Mark’s Square. Ig-natius refused to go to the house of the Ambas-sador, and although he made no effort to getmoney for his voyage to Jerusalem, he felt surenevertheless that God would provide him withmeans.
One day he met a rich Spaniard, who asked
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him whither he was going, and having learnedhis intention, brought him to dine at his house.Here he remained for several days. From thetime he left Manresa, Ignatius, while seated attable with others, had made it a practice neverto speak except to give a brief answer to ques-tions. However, he heard all that was said,and took occasion after dinner to give the con-versation a spiritual turn. His host and allhis family were so filled with admiration forhim that they tried to induce him to remainwith them, and introduced him to the Dogeof Venice. The latter offered him accommo-dations on the government ship about to sailfor Cyprus. Many pilgrims had assembled atVenice to go to Jerusalem, but the greater parthesitated through fear, as the Island of Rhodeshad fallen into the hands of the Turks. Thirteensailed in the pilgrims’ ship, which was the first
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to weigh anchor. The government ship carriedeight or nine. About the time of departure Ig-natius was taken ill with a fever, which lastedseveral days. On the day of sailing he took theprescribed medicine, and asked the doctor ifhe could go. The doctor replied he could if hewished the vessel to be his tomb. Neverthelesshe went on board, and after a fit of illness soonrecovered.
The licentious conduct of those on board Ig-natius severely censured. The Spaniards ad-vised him not to do this, as the rest thoughtof abandoning him on an island. But thewind quickly conveyed them to Cyprus. FromCyprus they went to another port called Sali-nae, ten leagues distant. Here he went on boardthe ship of the pilgrims, with no other provi-sion than his hope in Providence. During all
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that voyage, the Lord often appeared to him,and gave him great consolation. The visionsseemed to take the form of something large,round, and golden. The travelers reachedJoppa, and seated on asses, after the custom ofthat region, they journeyed to Jerusalem. A no-ble Spanish gentleman, named Didacus Minez,as the pilgrims came in sight of the city, recom-mended silence and recollection.
All followed his suggestion, and when theysaw a monk approaching with a crucifix, dis-mounted. On beholding the city, Ignatius wasdeeply affected, and the rest affirmed that theyexperienced a sort of heavenly joy. He al-ways felt this same devotion whenever he vis-ited the holy places. He decided to remainin Jerusalem, in order to visit the holy placesoften. For this purpose he had taken with
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him letters of recommendation to the FatherGuardian. On presenting them, he said thathe intended to remain there to satisfy his owndevotion, but said nothing of his purpose ofhelping others. The Father Guardian told himhe did not see how this could be possible,as his house was not even capable of provid-ing for his own Religious, and he intended tosend some away from the Holy Land. Ignatiussaid he wished him merely to hear his con-fession, since he had come to make it. TheFather Guardian said this could be done, buthe should wait for the arrival of the Provin-cial, who was then at Bethlehem. Relying onthis promise, Ignatius began to write letters tospiritual persons at Barcelona. He had writtensome on the day before he was to depart, whenhe was summoned in the name of the FatherGuardian and the Provincial. Then the Provin-
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cial, addressing him kindly, said he had heardof his pious determination to remain in theholy places, and had given it serious thought.Many others had the same desire, some haddied, others had been taken prisoners, and tohis Order was left the work of ransoming cap-tives, wherefore he should prepare himself toresume his journey with the pilgrims on thefollowing day. To this Ignatius answered thathis resolution was very fixed, and he did notthink that anything would keep him from exe-cuting it. If the precept did not bind him underpain of sin, he would not allow any fear to keephim from carrying out his desire. The Provin-cial said he had authority from the Holy Seeto detain those he thought fit, and to even ex-communicate those who would not obey whenstopped by him, and he thought in this caseit was better for him not to remain. When he
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wished to show the pontifical papers givinghim power to excommunicate, Ignatius saidthere was no need, as he believed his word. Ifthey had the authority, he would obey.
After this, returning to where he was be-fore, he was seized with a great longing tovisit Mount Olivet again before he departed,since the Divine Will would not suffer him toremain in those holy places. On that moun-tain is a rock from which Our Lord ascendedto heaven, on which even now His footprintsare visible. And this is what he wished to seeagain. Therefore, without telling any one, andwithout a guide, although it was a dangerousthing to go without a Turkish guard, secretlywithdrawing he went to Mount Olivet alone.As the guards would not allow him to enter,he gave them his knife. After great consola-
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tion in prayer he desired to go to Bethphage.When he reached that place, he thought thaton Mount Olivet he had not noticed the po-sition of the right foot of Our Lord and thatof the left. He came a second time, and gavehis scissors to the guards to allow him to enter.Afterward when at the monastery it was dis-covered he had gone without a guide, a greatsearch was made for him. Coming down fromMount Olivet he met a girdled Christian, thosewho are bound to wear a girdle to distinguishthem from the Mussulmans; this man, pretend-ing to be very angry, threatened him with alarge stick, and approaching, firmly graspedhim by the arm. He allowed himself to be led,but the good man once he had hold of him didnot let him go. In the meantime, as he was thusled along a captive, he was visited with greatconsolation, as he seemed to see Christ walk-
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ing above him. And this continued until hereached the monastery.
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HIS ARRIVAL IN APULIA, VENICE,FERRARA AND GENOA—HE IS
APPREHENDED AS A SPY—HE ISDESPISED AS A FOOL—HIS
STUDIES AT BARCELONA AND
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ALCALA
ON the following day the pilgrims took theirdeparture, and arriving at Cyprus, were
assigned to different vessels. In the harbor ofthat place were three or four ships bound forVenice. Of these one belonged to some Turks;another was too small; but the third, the prop-erty of a wealthy Venetian, was very large andstrong.
Some of the band asked the captain of thislast to take the pilgrim aboard; but, finding thatno pay was to be offered, he refused, in spite ofthe fact that many begged him and were loudin their praises of the pilgrim. His reply was,that if the pilgrim were indeed a holy man, hemight cross the sea as St. James did.
The favor they asked was easily obtained of
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the captain of the smaller ship.
On a certain day they set sail with a favor-able wind, but toward evening a storm arose,which tossed the vessels about in different di-rections. The large ship, whose captain had re-fused to take Ignatius, was driven by the tem-pest against the Island of Cyprus, and dashedto pieces. A like fate overtook the Turkish ves-sel. The small ship, however, though for a longtime severely tried by wind and waves, finallyreached the shores of Apulia in safety.
Although the winter had set in with intensecold and a heavy fall of snow, Ignatius hadno garments save a pair of knee-breeches of avery rough texture, leaving the legs naked, ablack waistcoat open and quite ragged abouthis shoulders, a light cloak made of coarse hair,and a pair of shoes. He arrived at Venice about
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the middle of January, having spent a goodpart of the preceding month and all of Novem-ber aboard the ship which carried him fromCyprus.
At Venice, he met a friend who had beenkind to him on his way to Jerusalem. Fromhim he received alms and some cloth, which hewrapped about his body as a protection againstthe intense cold.
When Ignatius understood that God did notwish him to remain at Jerusalem, he beganto consider what he should do. The plan heapproved and adopted was to enter upon acourse of study in order to be better fitted tosave souls. For this purpose he determined togo to Barcelona, and setting out from Venice hetraveled toward Genoa.
While praying at the principal church of Fer-
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rara, he gave five or six coins to a beggarwho asked an alms. To a second beggar hewas equally generous. As soon as the beggarssaw him so prodigal of his alms, they flockedaround him, until he had spent all the moneythat he had; so when others approached to askfor assistance, he excused himself on the pleathat he had nothing left.
While proceeding from Ferrara to Genoa, hemet some Spanish soldiers, who treated himkindly, and who were not a little surprised athis choosing such a route, since by so doinghe was compelled to pass through the verymidst of the armies of France and Spain. Theyentreated him therefore to take a safer road,which they would point out to him, and towithdraw from the highway.
Not following their counsel, however, he
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kept straight on until he came to a town forti-fied by strong walls. Seized as a spy, the guardscast him into a small house not far from thegate, and, as is customary in such suspicioustimes, closely questioned him. On all points,however, he professed the greatest ignorance.Finally they searched his clothes and shoes tosee if he bore any messages, and finding noth-ing, they led him into the presence of the cap-tain. They deprived him of his cloak, leavinghim only his waistcoat and knee-breeches.
As he was compelled to go about in thiscondition, he recalled to mind the thought ofChrist led about as a captive. Although hewas forced to walk through the three principalstreets of the town, he did so, not with sadness,but feeling great joy and consolation.
In addressing others he was in the habit of
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saying ”you,” employing no other word eitherof reverence or dignity, believing that such wasthe simplicity as well of the Apostles as ofChrist Himself.
While being conducted through the differentstreets, it occurred to him that it would be wellto depart somewhat from his ordinary custom,and to show greater respect to the comman-der of the place. Such a thought was by nomeans the outcome of the fear of any punish-ment which they might inflict. He felt, how-ever, that this was a temptation; he said, “Inthat case I’ll neither address him as a person ofdignity, nor bend the knee as a mark of respect,nor even remove my hat in his presence.”
Having reached the residence of the com-mander, he was made to wait some time inthe courtyard before being summoned into his
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presence. Then, without manifesting the slight-est degree of civility, he so paused after eachword he spoke as to be taken for a fool bythe commander, who said to his captors, “Thisman is an idiot; restore what belongs to himand send him away.”
A certain Spaniard met Ignatius comingfrom the house of the commander, led himhome, just as he was, and gave him food andwhatever was necessary for that night.
The next morning he resumed his journeyuntil toward evening, when, espied by the sol-diers of a fort, he was seized and brought tothe commander of the French forces. The lat-ter, among other things, asked where he camefrom. When Ignatius answered, “Guipuscoa,”the officer said, “I also come from near thatplace;” and immediately he ordered Ignatius
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to be conducted within to supper and to betreated with great kindness.
At Genoa, he was recognized by aCantabrian, who had spoken with himelsewhere, when in the army of his CatholicMajesty. Through his influence, he was takenon a ship bound for Barcelona. He came verynear being taken captive by Andrea Dorea,who was at that time in the service of theFrench, and gave chase to the vessel.
At Barcelona, he was enabled to studythrough the assistance of a noble and very pi-ous lady, Isabel Roser, and a teacher, namedArdebal. Both highly approved his plan, Arde-bal promising to give him instruction free,while Isabel generously offered to provide himwith everything necessary.
At Manresa, there was a very holy monk, of
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the Order of St. Bernard, with whom Ignatiuswished to remain, as well for his own personalguidance as to prepare himself to direct oth-ers. He accordingly accepted the offer of histwo generous friends on condition that whathe sought could not be obtained at Manresa.Finding, however, that the monk had died, hereturned to Barcelona and applied himself tostudy. In this, however, he was destined tomeet with some difficulties. In his studies,the principles of grammar caused new spiri-tual thoughts and tastes to arise so abundantly,as to render him incapable of committing any-thing to memory, and though he strove hard,he could not dispel these thoughts.
Noticing, however, that while praying atMass he did not experience similar thoughts,he considered this a temptation. Accordingly,
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after praying for some time, he asked histeacher to come to the Church of Blessed Maryof the Sea, not far from the professor’s house,and there to listen to what he would tell him.Ignatius faithfully made known the whole stateof his mind, and why he had as yet learnedso little. “But,” he said, “I promise not to bewanting in attention in school during these twoyears, provided that at Barcelona I may be ableto find bread and water.”
Such an acknowledgment was of the great-est efficacy, and he never after experienced thattemptation. The pains of the stomach, whichafflicted him at Manresa, ceased, and, in fact,they did not trouble him from the time he setout for Jerusalem.
While studying at Barcelona, he wished topractise his former penances. Accordingly,
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making a hole in the soles of his shoes, he torethem, little by little, until nothing but the upperportion was left.
His two years of study being completed, inwhich, they say, he greatly advanced, he wasadvised by his master to go to Alcala to studyphilosophy, as he was deemed ready for it.
Before setting out, however, he wished to beexamined by a certain theologian. As he alsogave him the same advice, Ignatius, unaccom-panied, started for Alcala. Here he began tobeg and live upon alms. After ten or twelvedays, this kind of life drew upon him the con-tempt of a priest and of some others. They be-gan to insult him as one who preferred to liveon alms, although quite able to support him-self.
The superior of a new hospital, seeing him
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thus rudely treated, took him home, placedhim in a room, and liberally provided for hisneeds.
The time of his arrival at Barcelona wasabout Lent of the year 1524; and as he remainedthere upwards of two years, we do not findhim at Alcala until the year 1526. At the latterplace he spent his time in studying the works ofScotus, Albertus, Alcuin, and the Master of theSentences. He was diligent also in giving theSpiritual Exercises and explaining the Chris-tian doctrine, by which he gave great gloryto God, as very many were thereby led to aknowledge and taste of spiritual things. Many,however, fell victims to various temptations,an example of which is to be seen in one whowas unable to scourge himself, because, as hefancied, his hand was held by some invisible
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agent. Because of such affairs, and especiallyby reason of the great crowd of men comingto him when he explained the Christian doc-trine, various rumors began to spread amongthe people.
When he first came to Alcala a friendshipsprang up between him and one DidacusGuya, who lived with his brother, a painter.Through that friendship, Ignatius was abun-dantly supplied with all that was necessary;hence he would bestow upon the poor the almsthat he himself obtained, and besides threeother pilgrims stayed with him.
One day Ignatius went to Didacus to askfor alms in order to assist some poor people.He replied that he had no money. Opening,however, a chest which belonged to him, hetook from it trappings of various colors, can-
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dlesticks, and other objects, which he gave toIgnatius, who distributed them to the poor.
Many rumors, as was stated above, becamewidespread in Alcala, and reached the earseven of the Inquisitors who were at Toledo, andwho, as their host testified, styled Ignatius andhis associates, Legati or Illuminati, and threat-ened him with capital punishment.
The Inquisitors who had come to Alcala toinvestigate their actions left the entire affair inthe hands of the Vicar Figueroa, who was thennegotiating with the Emperor, and returned toToledo without having even once summonedthem. Figueroa granted them the right to con-tinue the work in which they were engaged,and the Inquisitors, after mature deliberation,discovered error neither in their doctrines norin their manner of life.
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They did not, however, favor their custom ofdressing alike, as they were not Religious. Ig-natius replied that the wish of the Vicar wouldbe obeyed, but he added: “I do not see thefruit of these examinations, since but a fewdays ago a certain priest refused holy commu-nion to one, on the plea that he had communi-cated but eight days before; and to me, indeed,he gave it very reluctantly. We would like toknow whether or not we have been guilty ofany heresy?” “None,” replied Figueroa, “elseyou would have been led to the stake.” “Andthey would likewise have led you to the stake,”responded Ignatius, “had you been convictedof heresy.”
The dress was changed according to the wishof Figueroa, who also desired that the pilgrimshould not go around barefooted for at least fif-
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teen or twenty days. This command was alsoobeyed.
Four months after, Figueroa, a second time,brought the Inquisition to bear upon them, in-fluenced, as I think, by the fact that a certainmarried woman of rank, who chanced to besingularly devoted to the pilgrim, went in dis-guise at daybreak to visit Ignatius at the hospi-tal where he was staying. But even on this occa-sion Ignatius was not summoned to appear be-fore the Inquisition; nor was any sentence pro-nounced against him.
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THE PRISONS AT ALCALA ANDSALAMANCA
AFTER the space of four months, Ignatius,who did not remain at the hospital, was
taken from his lodging by a public officer, who
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cast him into prison, with the command not todepart until otherwise ordered.
This took place during the summer months,and as the discipline of the prison was not verystrict, an opportunity of visiting him was af-forded many persons, to whom he explainedthe principles of Christian faith and the Exer-cises, as was his wont when enjoying perfectfreedom.
Many persons of rank were anxious to helphim, but he did not wish to avail himself oftheir offers. One person especially, Lady Teresade Cardena, sent frequently, offering to deliverhim from prison. He replied in these words,“He, for whose love I am imprisoned, will freeme when it may be His good pleasure.”
He passed seventeen days in prison,–yet wastotally ignorant of the cause,–when Figueroa
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came to question him. Among other things, heasked whether he commanded the observanceof the Sabbath.
Among those who had frequently come tosee Ignatius were two persons, a mother anddaughter, the latter of whom was young andbeautiful. These, especially the daughter, hadmade great progress in the spiritual life, and al-though ladies of rank, had determined to makea pilgrimage alone and on foot, and beg theirway to the shrine of Veronica, in the city ofJaen.
This occasioned so great a sensationthroughout the city of Alcala that Dr. Giruel-lus, who was the guardian of the two women,thinking that Ignatius was the cause of theiraction, ordered him to be cast into prison.
As the Vicar was willing to be fully in-
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formed, Ignatius said: “These women madeknown to me their desire of going about fromplace to place to assist the poor they foundin the different hospitals. I, however, dis-approved of their design, on account of thedaughter, who was quite young and beautiful,representing to them at the same time that ifthey felt strongly urged to assist the poor, Al-cala presented a broad enough field for theirlabors, and they could satisfy their devotion byaccompanying the Blessed Sacrament as it wasbeing carried to the sick.” When Ignatius hadfinished his account, Figueroa and the notarydeparted, after writing down what had takenplace.
Calisto, a companion of Ignatius, and whoon recovering from a severe illness had heardof the imprisonment of Ignatius, hastened from
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Segovia, where he was staying, and came to Al-cala, that he, too, might be cast into prison.
Ignatius advised him to go to the Vicar, whoreceived him kindly, and promised to send himto prison. It was necessary, he said, for him tobe detained until the return of the women. Itcould then be seen whether or not their accountagreed with what he and Ignatius had stated.
As the confinement was undermining Cal-isto’s health, Ignatius, through the interventionof a professor who was a friend of his, obtainedhis liberation.
When Ignatius had been in prison forty-twodays, the women returned. He was once morevisited by the notary, who made known to himthe condition on which he was to regain hisfreedom. It was this: He and his compan-ions should wear the same style of clothing as
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the other students, and refrain from preach-ing the truths of faith until they had finishedfour more years of study. Ignatius, indeed, hadmade more progress in his studies than the rest,yet he confessed that he had not been solidlygrounded. And this he was always wont to saywhenever he was questioned.
When Ignatius heard the judgment passedupon himself and his companions, he was ata loss what to do, for he saw very little chanceof advancing the salvation of souls, hinderedas he was for no other reason than that of nothaving completed a full course of study.
He finally resolved to trust the entire affair tothe good sense and judgment of Fonseca, Arch-bishop of Toledo, whom, after leaving Alcala,he found at Valladolid.
To the Archbishop, then, he made known ev-
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erything with the utmost fidelity, and said that,although it was not a matter pertaining eitherto his court or judgment, he determined to actas the Archbishop should advise.
The Archbishop received him cordially, ap-proving his intention of going to Salamanca,and assuring him that he would find friendsthere. Supplying him with everything neces-sary for his journey, he dismissed him.
When sentence had been pronouncedagainst them at Alcala, Ignatius promisedobedience, but at the same time observed thatthey were too poor to provide themselves withnew clothing. Hearing this, the Vicar himselfsupplied what they needed, and they set outfor Alcala.
Four of his companions had already takenup their abode at Salamanca. When he reached
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the city Ignatius went to church to pray, andwas recognized by a pious lady, who, askinghis name, conducted him to his companions.About ten or twelve days after their arrival atSalamanca, a Dominican monk, to whom Ig-natius had made his confession, pressed himto visit the convent, as some of the Religiouswished to see him.
Ignatius accepting the invitation “in thename of the Lord,” his confessor thought it wellfor him to come to dine the Sunday following,at the same time adding that many questionswould be put to him. On Sunday, therefore, aswas appointed, the pilgrim came in companywith Calisto.
When dinner was over, the Superior, to-gether with the confessor and others, con-ducted Ignatius to a chapel, and after express-
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ing his pleasure at the good account received ofhim and his apostolic zeal, manifested a desireof hearing a more full and exact account of histeaching.
He was first questioned in reference to hisstudies. Ignatius answered that he had spentmore time in studying than his companions,yet he confessed that his knowledge was notvery extensive, as he had never laid a solidfoundation.
“Why, then, do you preach?” broke in themonk. “We do not preach,” replied Ignatius;“we are wont to talk familiarly about divinethings with some, in much the same as afterdinner we converse with our host.”
“About what divine things?” continued themonk; “this is the very point upon which wewish information.”
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“About different virtues and vices,” rejoinedIgnatius, “endeavoring to inculcate a love ofvirtue and a detestation of vice.”
“How comes it,” said the monk, “that youwho are not learned should presume to con-verse upon virtue and vice? No one is wontto engage in such a task unless he has ac-quired knowledge or has been taught by theHoly Ghost. You confess ignorance of letters;it follows then that He has been your director.We wish to learn, therefore, what He has beenpleased to make known to you.”
Ignatius at first made no reply, as he felt suchreasoning was without value. Soon, however,breaking the silence, he remarked that thereseemed no reason why he should say moreupon the subject. As the monk still pressedhim, giving as a reason the fact that many
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were once more thrusting forward the erro-neous doctrine of Erasmus and others, Ignatiusanswered, “I will add no more to what has al-ready been said, unless questioned by thosewho have a right to expect an account fromme.”
Previous to the present proceedings themonk wished to know why Calisto was sostrangely clothed, for, although of tall stature,he went about almost barelegged, holding astaff in his hand, and wearing a cloak much tooshort, and a hat of enormous size. The wholecostume formed a rather ludicrous picture.
Ignatius replied that although at Alcala theywere ordered to dress as the other students,Calisto had charitably given his clothes to apoor priest.
The monk showed himself displeased at this,
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remarking, “Charity begins at home.”
But to return to our former narrative. Whenthe monk saw Ignatius fixed in his resolution,“You shall remain here,” he said, “and we shalleasily find a way of compelling you to make ev-erything known.” Immediately all the monkswithdrew, the subprior signifying his wish thatIgnatius should remain in the chapel. The mat-ter was then laid before the judges. Both Ig-natius and Calisto remained three days in themonastery, taking their meals with the com-munity, before any decision of the judges wasmade known to them. During this time theReligious frequently visited their cells, and Ig-natius never failed to speak with them in hisaccustomed manner. This caused the monks tobe divided in their opinion of him, and many,indeed, showed themselves very kindly dis-
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posed.On the third day a notary came to conduct
them to prison. They were not put with thecommon criminals, but their place of confine-ment was nevertheless very repulsive. In thecentre of the cell there was a pillar to whichwas attached a chain but a few feet in length,and so riveted to the prisoners that when eithermoved the other was obliged to follow him.They passed that night without any sleep. Onthe following day, however, the report spreadthat they were prisoners. The people then has-tened to supply them with all they needed.
Ignatius, as may readily be supposed, lost noopportunity of speaking upon spiritual thingswith those who came to see them.
They were each separately examined by afriar, to whom Ignatius delivered all his writ-
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ings. Among these were his Spiritual Exer-cises, that it might be seen whether or notthey contained any false doctrine. When askedabout his other companions, he told who andwhere they were. They were arrested also, andconfined in separate apartments from that inwhich Ignatius was placed.
Although help was offered on this occasion,he declined to accept it.
After a few days he was called into the pres-ence of the judges and professors, who madehim answer many questions, not only on hisSpiritual Exercises, but even on articles of faith,as, for example, the Trinity and the BlessedSacrament, requiring him to explain these mys-teries.
So clear and exact was his explanation thathis examiners could not find the least flaw in
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his doctrine. He was equally correct in the an-swer to the friar who proposed a difficulty inCanon Law.
In every case he said that he did not knowthe decision of the professors.
When ordered to speak on the first com-mandment, he gave so full and exhaustive anexplanation as to leave to his hearers no furtherchance of questioning him.
Although he had not completed his studies,he frequently showed the difference betweena mortal and a venial sin of thought. Whilespeaking about his Exercises, he was closelyquestioned. To their questions, however, hereplied, “What I say is either false or true; iffalse, condemn it.” The doctrine remained un-condemned.
Francis de Mendoza, afterward Cardinal of
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Valencia, was one of those who came to theprison to visit Ignatius. One day, while accom-panied with the friar, he asked him whether theprison and chains were not insupportable. “Ishall give,” said Ignatius, “the reply made to-day to a woman who bewailed my lot. For thelove of Jesus Christ, I gladly would wear allthe handcuffs and chains that could be foundin Salamanca. And if you consider this anevil, you show that as yet you are not desirousof suffering imprisonment for the love of OurLord.”
About this time it happened that all the in-mates of the prison managed to escape, leav-ing only Ignatius and his companions. Whenthis became known it caused a reaction in theirfavor, and they were placed for the time in alarge building adjoining the prison.
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On the twenty-second day of their imprison-ment they were summoned to hear their sen-tence.
Although they were declared to be free fromreproach both in their lives and their doctrines,and were allowed to continue their work ofteaching the Christian doctrine and of speakingon spiritual subjects, yet they were forbiddento draw any distinction between mortal and ve-nial sin, until they should have spent four moreyears in study.
Although Ignatius was unwilling to acceptthe sentence, because, though condemned inno respect, he was nevertheless prevented fromassisting his neighbor, he declared that hewould submit as long as he remained in Sala-manca.
Recommending the affair to God, Ignatius
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began to deliberate on his future plan of ac-tion. He considered it a waste of time to remainat Salamanca, as the restriction laid upon himprevented him from assisting those for whosesalvation he wished to labor.
He resolved, accordingly, to set out for Parisfor the purpose of there continuing his studies.
While studying at Barcelona, Ignatius was indoubt whether, after completing his studies, heshould enter some Religious Order, or go fromplace to place, according to his custom.
He decided to enter upon the religious life.His next step was to find some Order where theprimitive fervor had not relaxed, as he felt thatthere he would be more sure of satisfying hisdesire of suffering and assisting others spiritu-ally by bearing, for the love of God, any injuryor insult to which he might be subjected.
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Even while at Salamanca these desires wereever present to him. To this end he directedall his studies, endeavoring at the same time topersuade others to adopt a like course, and tostrengthen in their good resolutions those whohad already embraced it.
When he had resolved to go to Paris, hecommunicated his design to his companions,telling them to remain where they were, untilhe could find a means of helping them in theirstudies.
Many persons of rank endeavored to dis-suade him from departing, but all to no pur-pose.
Placing the few books he possessed upon alittle ass, he took leave of his companions aboutfifteen or twenty days after they came out ofprison.
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Those who met him at Barcelona sought todeter him from going to France, as at that timethe war between the two countries was rag-ing with great fierceness. Notwithstanding themany acts of cruelty inflicted by the Frenchupon the Spaniards, many of whom had beenimpaled, he persevered in his intention.
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HIS STUDIES IN PARIS AND OTHERINCIDENTS OF HIS LIFE
HE left for Paris on foot and alone, and,according to his own reckoning, arrived
there toward the beginning of February, 1528.
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While in prison, the Prince of Spain was born,and from this event we can determine the dateof what preceded and followed. At Paris helived with some Spaniards, and attended thelectures given at the College of Montaigu. Ashe had been advanced too rapidly to the higherstudies, he returned to those of a lower grade,because he felt that in great part he lacked theproper groundwork. He therefore studied ina class with children. When he first came toParis, he received from a merchant twenty-fivegold crowns on an order sent from Barcelona.These he put for safekeeping in the hands ofone of the Spaniards with whom he lived. Thislatter very soon appropriated them for his ownuse, and when called upon, could not restorethem. The result was that when Lent was overIgnatius found himself unprovided for, partlyon account of the loss mentioned, and partly on
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account of other expenses. In consequence, hewas forced to seek his livelihood by begging,and to leave the house where he lived.
Afterward he was received into the Hospitalof St. James, near the Church of the Holy In-nocents. This residence proved no slight hin-drance to his studies. The hospital was at agreat distance from the college, and while hecould not gain admission at night unless hereturned before the sound of the Angelus, inthe morning he was not allowed to depart be-fore daylight. He could not, in consequence,be present at, nor give his time to, the lec-tures with profit. He found another hindrance,also, in loss of the time needed in getting almswherewith to purchase food.
As he had not experienced interior spiritualsuffering for almost five years, he mortified
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himself by austere fasts and penances. Afterhe had spent some time in this way, living inthe hospital and begging his food, he noticedthat his progress in letters was not rapid. Hethen considered what course to follow. He hadobserved that many who lived as servants ofthe lecturers in the colleges had abundant timefor study. He resolved to seek some one whomhe might serve in the same way. He weighedthe matter well, and not without consolationthought of it as follows: “I shall imagine thatmy master is Christ, and I shall call one of thestudents Peter, another John, and to the rest Ishall give the names of the remaining Apostles.Then, when my master gives me a command, Ishall think, that Christ commands me. Whenany one else gives orders, I shall think that theorder comes from St. Peter or some other Apos-tle.” He was very diligent in seeking a master,
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and spoke of the matter to a bachelor and toa Carthusian monk, who knew many masters,and to others, but he was never able to find one.
Deprived of every resource, he was told by aSpanish monk that it would be a wise step forhim to go every year to Flanders, and there intwo months he could procure enough for thewhole year. He approved of the plan, after rec-ommending the matter to God. On adoptingthis plan, he brought back yearly from Flanderswhatever he needed for his maintenance. Onceeven he passed over into England, and fromthere brought greater alms than he had gath-ered in the previous years.
When he first returned from Flanders he be-gan to devote himself earnestly to spiritualwork. About the same time he gave the Ex-ercises to three persons,–to Peralta, to Cas-
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tro, a friend who dwelt at Sorbonne, and to aCantabrian who lived in the College of St. Bar-bara, by name Amator. A great change wasmade in the lives of these men. At once theygave to the poor whatever they had, even theirbooks, while they themselves began to live onthe alms they begged, and to dwell in the Hos-pital of St. James, where Ignatius had previ-ously dwelt, and which he left as stated above.This incident aroused a great outcry in the Uni-versity of Paris, because the two first were veryfamous men. The other Spaniards at once un-dertook to oppose them, but unable to per-suade them by any argument to return to theuniversity, a great crowd went armed to thehospital and led, or rather dragged, them away.
On coming to the university they agreedwith their captors to complete their course of
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studies, and afterward to follow out their deter-mination. Castro went afterward to Spain, andafter preaching for a while at Burgos, joinedthe Order of the Carthusians at Valencia. Per-alta undertook a journey to Jerusalem on footand after the fashion of a pilgrim. In this garbhe was seized in Italy by a military leader, hisrelative, who found a pretext for bringing himbefore the Sovereign Pontiff, from whom heobtained a command for Peralta to return toSpain. All these events did not occur then,but years afterward. Exaggerated reports aroseagainst Ignatius at Paris, especially among theSpaniards. De Govea was wont to say that Am-ator, who remained in his college, had beenbrought by Ignatius to the verge of insanity. Hetherefore made up his mind that as soon as Ig-natius came to the College of St. Barbara, hewould give him a public whipping as a seducer
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of the pupils.
Now the Spaniard who had spent the moneyof Ignatius and had not paid him, had set outto journey to Spain and fallen sick. As soon asIgnatius learned of this, he was seized with alonging to visit and help him, hoping by this tolead him to abandon the world and give him-self wholly to God. And indeed to accomplishthis he wished to make the journey barefooted,without food or drink. While praying for thispurpose, he felt himself seized with great fearuntil, entering the Church of St. Dominic, heresolved to make the journey in this manner.The fear that it might be tempting God thenleft him; on the morning of the following day,upon arising, so great a fear seized him that itseemed to him that he could not even put onhis clothes. In this interior strife he left the
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house and went out of the city, and the feardid not leave him till he was nine miles fromParis. At this distance there is a village whichthe inhabitants call Argenteuil, where the HolyCoat of Our Lord is said to be preserved. As heleft this place in great trouble of spirit, a feel-ing of great consolation and strength filled hissoul with such joy that he began to shout aloudand to talk with God as he walked through thefields. That night, having completed forty-fivemiles, he went to rest with a beggar in a hospi-tal. On the next day toward nightfall he lodgedin a straw-thatched cabin. On the third day hearrived on foot. According to his resolve, hetook neither food nor drink. Upon his arrivalhe consoled the sick man, helped him on boarda vessel which was about to sail for Spain, andgave him letters to his companions, Calisto,Caceres, and Artiaga, who were in Salamanca.
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Here we may dwell for a moment on the fate ofthese companions. While Ignatius was at Parishe often sent them letters, telling them of thelittle hope left of calling them to Paris for theirstudies. Still he urged by letter Donna Leonorade Mascarenas to use her influence with theKing of Portugal for Calisto, that he might re-ceive one of the burses which the King had es-tablished. A certain yearly aid is called a burse.Donna Leonora gave Calisto a mule and moneyto take him to the court of the King of Portugal.He set out, but never reached that place. Hecame back afterward to Spain and went to In-dia. He returned rich, to the great surprise ofall at Salamanca, who had known him in for-mer days. Caceres, after returning to Segovia,his native city, began to grow unmindful ofhis former purpose and life. Artiaga was firstmade a magistrate. Afterward, when the Soci-
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ety was established at Rome, a bishopric wasgiven to him. He wrote to Ignatius, “I wish thisbishopric to be given to one of the Society.” Butas soon as the answer came that this was notto be done, he went to India, was made bishop,and died there a strange death. While sick itchanced that two phials of liquid were placedin water to cool, one containing a medicine or-dered for him by the doctor, the other a dilutedpoison called Sollimanus. His attendant gavehim by mistake the poisoned draught, whichhe drank, and thus ended his life.
Returning to Paris Ignatius heard many ru-mors connecting his name with that of Caceresand Peralta, and learned that he had been sum-moned before the judge. As he did not wishto remain in doubt, he went of his own accordto the Inquisitor, a Dominican friar. “I heard
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that I had been sought for, and I now presentmyself.” During the conversation he asked theInquisitor to terminate the matter speedily. Hehad determined to begin his course in arts onthe approaching feast of St. Remigius, andtherefore wished all other business completedin order to apply himself to his studies withgreater profit. The Inquisitor on his part toldhim that it was true that certain charges hadbeen made against him, but he allowed him todepart, and did not summon him again.
Toward the first of October, the feast of St.Remigius, he began his course under the pre-ceptor Master John Pegna, with the intention offostering the vocations of those who wished toserve God. He intended to add others in orderthe more freely to give his mind to his studies.He followed the lectures in philosophy, and ex-
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perienced the same temptations with which hehad been assailed when studying grammar atBarcelona. During the lectures he was troubledby so many spiritual thoughts that he could notlisten attentively. Accordingly, as he saw hewas making but little progress in his studies, hespoke to his preceptor and promised to attendthe lectures, as long as he could find bread andwater enough to keep him alive. After mak-ing this promise, all these untimely devotionsceased to disturb him, and he quietly pursuedhis studies. He was at this period a friend ofPeter Faber and Francis Xavier, whom he after-ward led to the service of God by giving themthe Exercises. During the last years he was notpersecuted as at first. Speaking of this to himone day, Doctor Fragus remarked that he wassurprised that no one molested him. Ignatiusreplied: “This is owing to the fact that I do not
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speak on religious topics. But when the courseis completed, we shall act as formerly.”
During the course of this conversation amonk approached Doctor Fragus and beggedhis aid in visiting a house, in which there weremany corpses of those whom he thought diedof the plague. At that time the plague was be-ginning to spread in Paris. Doctor Fragus andIgnatius wished to visit the house, and pro-cured the aid of a woman who was very skilfulin detecting the disease. After she had enteredthe house she answered that the plague wascertainly there. Ignatius, also, entered and con-soled and revived a sick man he found lyingthere. When he had touched the wounds withhis hand, Ignatius departed alone. His handbegan to cause him great pain, and it seemedas if he had caught the disease. The fear that
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came upon him was so great that he was un-able to vanquish and drive it away, until with agreat effort he placed his fingers in his mouth,and for a long time kept them there, saying, “Ifyou have the plague in your hand, you will alsohave it in your mouth.” As soon as this wasdone, the illusion left him and the pain he hadfelt in his hand ceased.
He was not allowed to enter the College ofSt. Barbara where he was then living, for allfled from him when they learned that he hadentered a house infected with the plague. Hewas obliged to remain several days outside ofthe college.
At Paris it is customary for those who fol-low the philosophical studies to receive in theirthird year the Petra, as it is called, in order toobtain the bachelor’s degree. Now those who
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are very poor are unable to comply with thiscustom, as it costs a gold crown. While Ignatiuswas in great hesitation, he submitted the mat-ter to the judgment of his preceptor. The latteradvised him to receive it. He did so, but notwithout a complaint on the part of some, espe-cially of a certain Spaniard who had taken noteof the fact.
While in Paris he suffered great pains of thestomach for several days. On the twenty-fifthday, for the space of an hour, a very severepain seized him, bringing with it a fever. Oneday the pains lasted for sixteen or seventeenhours. At that time he had already concludedhis course, had spent some years in the studyof theology, and had collected his companions.
As the disease grew worse day by day, andthe many remedies employed brought no re-
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lief, the doctors said that the only one left forhim was to revisit his native land, as nothingbut his native air could cure him. His com-panions gave him the same advice. By thistime all had determined on their future con-duct, namely, to go first to Venice, and then toJerusalem, where they would pass their wholelife in helping souls. If, however, they shouldnot be allowed to remain in Jerusalem, theywere to return to Rome and offer themselvesto the Sovereign Pontiff, Christ’s Vicar, that hemight use their aid as he thought would be forGod’s glory and the salvation of souls. Theyalso agreed to wait one year at Venice for shipsto carry them to the Holy Land; but if duringthe year no ship were at hand, they should beabsolved from the vow, and go to the SovereignPontiff. Finally Ignatius yielded to the adviceof his companions, in order to attend to their
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business in Spain. It was agreed among them,that after the recovery of his health he shouldsettle their affairs and they should go to Venice,and there await him.
He left Paris in the year 1535, but accordingto the agreement his companions were to leavetwo years afterward on the feast of the conver-sion of St. Paul. However, owing to the wars,they were obliged to anticipate that time, andto set out from Paris in the month of Novem-ber in the year 1536. On the very eve of hisdeparture, as Ignatius had heard that an accu-sation had been made against him before theInquisitor, while no summons had as yet beenserved, he went to that official and stated whathe had heard. At the same time he told him thathe had several companions, and that he himselfwas about to travel to Spain, and requested that
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sentence should be passed upon him. The In-quisitor admitted that the accusation had beenmade, but that he did not think it worthy ofconsideration. He said that he wished merelyto see the writings of Ignatius, meaning theExercises. Having seen these he approved ofthem very highly, and begged Ignatius to givehim a copy. Ignatius complied with his re-quest, but insisted that his trial be brought toan end, and that judgment be passed. As hisrequest met with a refusal, he brought a notaryand witnesses to the Inquisitor’s house, andreceived their testimony in writing concerninghis innocence of the charges.
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HIS ARRIVAL IN HIS NATIVE LANDAND THE VIRTUES PRACTISED
THERE—HIS JOURNEY INTO SPAINAND ITALY—THE FAMOUS
APPARITION AND HIS LIFE IN THE
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SAME PLACE
AFTER the event related in the last chapter,Ignatius mounted the little horse which
his companions had purchased for him, andbegan his journey toward his native land. Evenon the way he found his health improving. Assoon as he arrived in the province of Guipus-coa, his native country, abandoning the com-mon highway he followed a road through themountains because it was less frequented. Hehad advanced a short distance by this pathwhen he saw two armed men approaching.The place was famous as the haunt of mur-derers. The men passed him a little and thenturning, hurried after him. He was not a lit-tle frightened, but still, addressing them, helearned that they were his brother’s servantssent to meet him. For he had reason to believe
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that a warning of his coming was sent to hisbrother from Bayonne in France, where he hadbeen recognized by several persons. Still Ig-natius kept on in the direction he had taken,and shortly before he arrived in the town hemet some priests coming to meet him. Theywished to bring him to his brother’s home;but their efforts were unavailing. He went toa public hospital, and afterward, at a suitabletime, begged for alms through the town.
Many came to see him in the hospital. Hespoke to them, and through God’s grace gath-ered no little fruit. Upon his arrival, he re-solved to teach the Christian doctrine to chil-dren every day. His brother objected to this,and assured him that no one would come. Inanswer Ignatius said, “One is enough for me.”However, as soon as he began to teach, many
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came regularly, his brother among the num-ber. In addition to this, on Sundays and feastdays, he also preached to the people with greatfruit, and thousands came many miles to hearhim. He labored also for the removal of manyabuses, and through God’s grace good resultswere obtained in many cases. To give an ex-ample: By his representations to the governorhe obtained an order forbidding gambling andother disorders, under great penalties. He tookmeans that the poor should be provided forpublicly and regularly, and that thrice a day,morning, noon, and evening, according to theRoman custom, a signal should be given byringing a bell for the recital of the Angelus bythe people.
Although at first he enjoyed good health, heafterward fell seriously ill. For this reason, af-
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ter his recovery, he determined to depart in or-der to accomplish the business which he hadundertaken for his companions. He resolvedto set out on foot and without money. Hisbrother was grieved at this, and looked on itas a disgrace to himself. Ignatius concluded toyield this point, and at last, toward evening, heconsented to be carried to the boundary of theprovince in company with his brother and rel-atives.
But as soon as he had left the province, hedismounted and without receiving any suste-nance for the journey he set out for Pampelunaand thence to Almazonus, the birthplace of Fa-ther Laynez. Then he traveled on to Siguensaand to Toledo, and afterward from Toledo toValencia. In all these cities, the birthplacesof his companions, he would receive nothing
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from their parents and relations, although theyoffered him a great many things, and beggedhim to accept them. At Valencia he had aconversation with Castro. When ready to em-bark at Valencia to sail to Genoa, several of hiswell-wishers dissuaded him, because, as theyasserted, the Barbary pirates were on the seawith many large ships. However, though theysaid a great deal to inspire fear, still he didnot hesitate. Having gone aboard a vessel, agreat storm arose during the voyage. This wasmentioned before, where Ignatius describes thethree occasions on which he was in danger ofdeath. On this journey he suffered a great deal,as I shall now relate. One day after landing hewandered from his path and followed a roadwhich ran along the bank of a river. The roadwas high, while far below was the river deepand sluggish. The farther he advanced, the nar-
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rower grew the road. At last he came to a spotwhere he could neither go forward nor back-ward. He then began to advance on hands andfeet and continued thus for a long time, fullof fear. For as often as he moved it seemedto him that he would fall into the river. Thiswas the greatest of all the bodily labors that heever experienced. At last he escaped, but justas he was entering Bologna he fell from a lit-tle bridge and was so wet and dirty from themud and water as to afford much laughter to agreat crowd who observed the accident. Fromhis entrance into Bologna until his departure hebegged for alms, and though he went throughthe whole city, he did not receive so much as afarthing. As he was ill, he rested for a while atBologna. Thence he directed his steps towardVenice, traveling always in the same way. AtVenice he spent his time in giving the Exercises
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and in other spiritual works. Those to whomhe gave the Exercises were Peter Contarenus,Gaspar a Doctis, Rozes a Spaniard, and anotherSpaniard named Hozes, who, like the pilgrim,was a great friend of the bishop. Hozes at firstwould not make the Exercises, although he feltdrawn to do so. At last he resolved to under-take the work, and on the third or fourth dayhe opened his mind to Ignatius. He said that hehad feared that by the Exercises his mind mightbe imbued with false doctrines. Indeed, he hadbeen persuaded by a man to be on his guard,and for this reason he had brought along withhim a book to use in case he were imposed on.He made great progress in the Exercises, andfinally embraced that manner of life which Ig-natius had established. He was the first of thecompanions of the Saint to die.
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At Venice another persecution was stirredup against Ignatius. Some asserted that hehad been burned in effigy both in Spain andin Paris. The matter went so far that he wasbrought to trial, but obtained a favorable sen-tence. At the beginning of the year 1538 thenine companions came to Venice and were scat-tered about the city in various hospitals to min-ister to the sick. After two or three months alljourneyed to Rome to receive the Pope’s bless-ing before going to Jerusalem. Ignatius, how-ever, did not go to Rome on account of DoctorOrtiz and the Theatine Cardinal recently raisedto that dignity. The companions on their re-turn brought the value of two or three hundredgold crowns which had been given to them asalms for their projected journey to Jerusalem.They would accept it only in the form of bills,and when they were unable to make the voy-
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age to Jerusalem they returned it to those whohad made the gift. They returned to Venicein the same manner that they had set out forRome. They traveled on foot and begging, di-vided into three parties, as they were of differ-ent nationalities. Those who were not priestswere ordained at Venice, having received facul-ties from the Nuncio, who was then in that cityand who was afterward called Cardinal Veral-lus. They were promoted to the priesthood subtitulo paupertatis, having made vows of povertyand chastity. That year no ships left for theEast, on account of the breach of the treaty be-tween the Venetians and Turks. When, there-fore, they saw their hopes deferred, they dis-persed into various parts of the Venetian terri-tory, with the understanding that they shouldwait one year, as they had previously resolved;when that time had elapsed, they were to re-
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turn to Rome if it was not possible to make thevoyage. Vicenza fell to the lot of Ignatius. Hiscompanions were Faber and Laynez. Outsideof the city they found a house that had nei-ther door nor windows. Here they lived, sleep-ing on a little straw which they had broughtwith them. Two of the three entered the citytwice daily, in the morning and evening, to askfor alms. They returned with so little that ithardly sufficed for their nourishment. Theirusual food was bread, when they could get it.The one who chanced to remain at home didthe baking. In this way they spent forty days,intent upon nothing but prayer.
After the forty days were over, Master JohnCodurus arrived, and the four determined tobegin preaching. On the same day and at thesame hour, in different squares, all began to
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preach, having first uttered a great cry, andhaving waved their hats with their hands tocall the people. These sermons caused greattalk in the city, and led many citizens to a de-vout life. Now the needed nourishment wassupplied to them more abundantly. While thepilgrim was at Vicenza, he had many spiritualvisions. Consolations were sent to him in greatnumber. This was especially so at Venice, whilehe was preparing for the priesthood and forcelebrating Mass. On all his journeys, he re-ceived great supernatural visitations, like thosewhich he had been wont to receive at Manresa.
While still at Venice he learned that one of hiscompanions was sick unto death at Bassanum.He was himself ill with fever, still he under-took the journey, and walked so rapidly thatFaber, his companion, was unable to keep up
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with him. On the way he received an assurancefrom God that his companion would not dieof this illness. As soon as they arrived at Bas-sanum, the sick man was very much consoled,and not long after grew better. After this, allreturned to Vicenza, and there the ten tarriedfor a while, some going about the neighboringtowns to beg for alms.
In the year that passed, as no means couldbe had of journeying to Jerusalem, they set outon their way to Rome, divided into three orfour parties. On the journey Ignatius experi-enced singular visitations from God. After hisreception of the priesthood, he had resolved toput off the offering of his first Mass for oneyear, in order to prepare himself better, and toask the Most Blessed Virgin to place him nearher Son. One day, when he was a few miles
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from Rome, he entered a church to pray, andthere felt his soul so moved and changed, andsaw so clearly that God the Father placed himwith Christ His Son, that he did not dare todoubt it. When Ignatius was told that sev-eral other details were related by Laynez, hereplied: “Whatever Laynez said about the mat-ter is true. For my part, I do not remember theparticulars; but,” he added, “I know for certainthat when I related what happened I told noth-ing but the truth.” These were his words aboutthe vision. He referred me to Laynez to verifywhat he narrated.
Once Ignatius left Rome for Monte Cassino,to give the Exercises to Doctor Ortiz, and spentforty days there. One day, at a certain hour,in a vision, he saw Hozes entering heaven. Inthis vision he shed abundant tears of consola-
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tion. He saw this so clearly that if he were tosay the contrary, it would seem to him as if hewere telling a lie. He brought with him fromMonte Cassino Francis Strada. After his re-turn to Rome, he labored for the help of souls,and gave the Exercises to two different persons,one of whom dwelt near the Sixtine Bridge, theother near the Church of St. Mary Major. Soonthe people began to persecute Ignatius and hiscompanions. Michael was the first of all to betroublesome and to speak wickedly of Ignatius,and had him summoned before the governorfor trial. Ignatius showed the governor a let-ter written by the same Michael, in which hecommended Ignatius very highly. The gover-nor examined Michael, and the result was thathe was exiled from Rome. After him followedMindarra and Berrera, who said that Ignatiusand his companions were fugitives from Spain,
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Paris, and Venice. Finally, however, in the pres-ence of the governor and ambassador then atRome, both acknowledged that they had noth-ing which they could say against them with re-gard to their doctrines or their lives. The am-bassador ordered this lawsuit to be abandoned.Ignatius objected, saying that he wished thesentence to be made clear and public. This didnot please the ambassador and the governor,nor even those who had previously taken sideswith Ignatius. A few months afterward the Ro-man Pontiff returned. While he was at Tuscu-lum Ignatius was admitted to an audience withthe Holy Father, and having given some of hisreasons, he obtained what he wished. The Popeordered sentence to be passed, and it was givenin favor of Ignatius and his companions.
Through the labors of Ignatius and his com-
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panions, certain pious works were establishedat Rome, as that of Catechumens, that of St.Martha, and that of the Orphans. Master Na-talis can tell the rest.
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ST. IGNATIUS AND HIS WORK FOREDUCATION
IN the kingdom of Navarre, in the north ofSpain, among those mountains whence the
armorers of Toledo drew their metal and forged
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for the world their trenchant steel, in a regionwhere the generous, passionate, valiant peopleseemed to have formed their character on theaustere grandeur of nature itself, St. Ignatiuswas born.
The world represents him as a man of fewand stern words, in appearance severe anddark, and yet a man in whom intellect isever prominent, but intellect elevated by thegrandeur of a soul of chivalry and by anexquisite delicacy of charity–this was the realcharacter of St. Ignatius. This will be seenin the brief glimpse given of his life and hisspirit of charity, his absorbing love for souls, inhis work of founding missions, his greatness ofmind and heart, in the work originated by him,and carried on by his followers, in the cause ofhigher education.
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His character stands prominently on thehorizon of history. He cannot be ignored, noris his existence or his work ignored.
His enemies have not passed him by withoutnotice, and his friends, the friends of God, haverejoiced that, as God sent him forth to teach andproduce fruit that the fruit might remain, thefruit has remained.
St. Ignatius sends his voice down the cen-turies as a great individuality. He has spo-ken as a man of God, as a man of ideas, aman of energy. He has made his influence feltthroughout the universe, not only in the civi-lized world, but in the uncivilized portion, tobring it into civilization, or to bear to it the ad-vantages of civilization.
Other great men have spoken and have sentforth their influence. Theirs has been a mes-
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sage to the civilized world; it has been limitedto one point of view. It has been prowess on thebattlefield or on the seas, work in the ship ofstate or in the fields of science. But Ignatius hasnot been limited to any one of these. He is thefounder of a Religious Order that has sent pio-neers into all these fields and forests of valor orresearch; he is the writer of the Spiritual Exer-cises that have won a fame gained by but fewauthors; he is the father of many saints; he isthe educator of generations; he is the inspirerof scientific, literary, theological, philosophicalinvestigation, and the promoter of discoverersand of pioneer missionaries in the Old and theNew World.
Ignatius was born, in 1491, at the château ofLoyola, and at fifteen years of age he was apage in the court of King Ferdinand, and then a
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soldier under the Duke of Navarre, his relative.The army of Francis I penetrated into Navarre,and, at the siege of Pampeluna, Ignatius, Cap-tain of Infantry, was wounded by a cannon ball.His life is given in the preceding pages.
I shall refer only briefly to it, and to his con-version. He was a young knight fond of gayetyand feats of arms, and for some time after hereceived the wound he was confined to his bedwhile his broken leg was set; and while await-ing his slow recovery he read the lives of thesaints and of Christ, as these were the booksgiven to him in place of the novels he hadasked for, as no others were in the house.
In reading the lives of the saints his heart wastouched. His eyes were opened to the vanity oflife and the reality of eternity compared withthe worldliness of the life he had been lead-
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ing. Inspired with enthusiasm at the lives ofthe saints, he said, “What they have done, I cando.” The event of his life proved the earnest-ness of his purpose.
He resolved to undertake a life of penanceand self-denial, and, while occupied with theseholy resolutions, he wrote in a book the prin-cipal events of the life of Christ and His glori-ous Mother. It was at this time that Our Lordsent him a vision to strengthen and consolehim. He beheld one night, as he was hold-ing his vigils, the glorious Queen of the angels,who appeared to him holding in her arms herBlessed Son, enlightening him with the splen-dor of glory and charming him by her sweetpresence.
To her he ascribes the inspiration of the Spir-itual Exercises, and his Order, imitating its
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founder, has shown the most unbounded affec-tion and devoted filial love toward the VirginMother of Christ.
At Alcala St. Ignatius studied, and there wonfor the Society of Jesus, Laynez, Salmeron, andBabadilla. He afterward founded there a col-lege where Vasquez, Suarez, and St. FrancisBorgia expounded the Holy Scriptures. St. Ig-natius sent Father de Torres to Salamanca tofound the famous college where the illustriousprofessors, Cardinal de Lugo, Francis Suarez,Maldonatus, Gregory of Valencia, Francis Rib-era, and many other illustrious men were pro-fessors.
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At the University of Paris, in 1534, on the14th of March, St. Ignatius received the de-gree of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philos-ophy, having received the degree of Bachelorof Arts two years before. The University ofParis had the honor of having as pupils St. Ig-natius, St. Francis Xavier, Peter Faber, Claudele Jay, Simon Rodriguez, John Codura, Pascha-sius, Brouet, Martin Olave, all honored withthe academic degree.
Among the earlier colleges founded by St.Ignatius were the following:–
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In 1542 the College of Coimbra, inPortugal, arose.
In 1546 St. Francis Borgia foundedthe College of Gandia.
In 1556 the College of Ingolstadtwas founded.
In 1552 a college was foundedat Vienna, and in 1556 one atPrague.
In 1553 the Roman College wasfully founded.
And in 1568 the colleges at Lima,Peru.
THE GERMAN COLLEGE FOUNDED IN ROME
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BY ST. IGNATIUS PRODUCED MANYREMARKABLE MEN.
From it came 1 pope, Gregory XV, 24 cardi-nals, 6 electors of the Empire, 19 princes, 21archbishops, 121 titular bishops, 100 bishops inpartibus infidelium, 6 abbots or generals of re-ligious orders, 11 martyrs of faith, 13 martyrsof charity, and 55 others, conspicuous for pietyand learning.
This was at the end of the eighteenth cen-tury. In our own time in one classroom FatherCardella counted seventeen different orders ofall different nationalities present at the lecturesof theology in the Roman College.
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The Roman College was the type of the Je-suit College. It was begun by Francis Borgia,in 1551, at the foot of the Capitol in Rome, withfourteen members of the Order and Father JohnPeltier, a Frenchman, as Superior.
The professors taught rhetoric and threelanguages,–Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therewere present there at a given time 2107 stu-dents, 300 in theology. The most eminentprofessors filled the chairs: theologians likeSuarez and Vasquez; commentators such asCornelius à Lapide and Maldonatus; foundersof national history schools, as Mariana andPallavicini; Clavius, reformer of the GregorianCalendar; Kircher, universal in the exact sci-ences, while the other colleges throughout theworld remained provided with their own re-quired forces and maintained their own pres-
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tige.
From this college came forth distinguishedmen in every line of intellectual life, and gen-eral eminence, men of elevated thought and ofnoble and generous minds. In particular threecharacters came–young men that were to fillwith admiration of their greatness the succeed-ing century.
Stanislaus Kostka, a Polish noble who died atseventeen years of age; Aloysius Gonzaga, anItalian prince of twenty-three; and John Berch-mans, a Flemish townsman of twenty-two.
Among some of the famous men educatedby the Jesuits we find Bossuet, Corneille,
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Molière, Tasso, Fontenelle, Diderot, Voltaire,and Bourdaloue, himself a Jesuit.
When Père Porée replied to the remark thathe was not one of the great poets, he said,“At least you may grant that I have beenable to make some of them.” A few otherswere Descartes, Buffon, Justus Lipsius, Mu-ratori the historian, Calderon, and Vico, theauthor of “Ideas of History,” Richelieu, Tilly,Malesherbes, Don John of Austria, Luxem-bourg, Esterhazy, Choiseul, St. Francis deSales, Lambertini, afterward Benedict XIV, themost learned of the popes, and the present Pon-tiff, Pope Leo XIII, renowned for his learningand wisdom.
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Nearly all the Jesuit writers had been Je-suit professors, with almost no exception, andnearly all had taught humanities, belles-lettres,and rhetoric. Father Southwell in 1676 num-bers 2240 authors, and Father de Backer in 1876counts 11,100.
AUTHORS
We find some remarkable authors among theJesuit writers. Foremost come the Bollandists,renowned throughout the world for their mon-umental work, the “Acta Sanctorum.” Similargigantic works were carried on by Fathers deBacker, Sommervogel, and Pachtler. In the var-ious branches of learning we need mention afew of the greater writers.
In astronomy, we find Ricci, Perry,De Vico, Secchi, Curley, Sestini.
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In mathematics, Hagen, Algué.In naval tactics, “The Jesuit’s
Book.”In archæology, Garucci, Marchi,
the master of De Rossi.In Oriental languages, Strassmaier,
Harvas, Maas, Van den Gheyn.In theology, Suarez, Vasquez, Tole-
tus, Maldonatus, Franzelin.In philosophy, Cominbricenses,
Liberatore.In moral philosophy, Busenbaum,
Gury, Toledo, Ballerini, Lay-man, Lehmkuhl, Genicot.
In asceticism, Alvarez dePaz, Gaudier, Rodriguez,Scaramelli, Grou.
The Spiritual Exercises comprise awhole library. Father Watra-
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gan has written a work merelyto record the editions and com-mentaries on these Exercises.
THE EDUCATIONAL PLAN OF ST.IGNATIUS
St. Ignatius had gathered about him a bodyof picked men. The Roman College, the type ofcolleges of Jesuit education, would have for itsprofessors only those who had been doctors ofthe University of Paris.
The outline of the course of education wasgiven by St. Ignatius. It was completed anddeveloped by Aquaviva. The work was stillmore perfected by Father Laynez, of whom itis said,–
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“St. Ignatius praised him not only on ac-count of other great merits, but particularly fordevising and arranging the system of colleges.”
As to the number of students found under aunified method of thorough teaching, it will beinteresting to take them in review.
In Rome in 1584, the twenty colleges attend-ing classes in the Roman College numbered2108 students, in Poland there were 10,000young men chiefly of the nobility, at Rome2000, at La Flèche 1700. In the seventeenth cen-tury at the College of Louis le Grand, in Paris,the number varied between 2000 and 3000. In1627 the Province of Paris had in fourteen col-leges 13,195 students.
The papal seminaries under Gregory XIII,at Vienna, Dillengen, Fulda, Prague, Grätz,Olmütz, Wilna, as well as in Japan, were di-
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rected by the Fathers, as also that of Pius V andof St. Charles Borromeo at Milan.
Taking an average, there were more than twohundred thousand students being educated inthese educational institutions.
A comparison could be made on this basis ofthe work done by the Order and that which isaccomplished by Oxford.
If Oxford spends annually a revenue of2,500,000 to supply facilities for higher educa-tion to two thousand of the nobility and gen-try, how much would be required to educatea quarter of a million students,–not two thou-sand, but two hundred and fifty thousand?
The fundamental principles in the educa-tional institute of St. Ignatius were these:–
First, solidity and thoroughness.
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The first condition of all higherstudies as well as of lower studieswas such that, as St. Ignatius said,“It was useless to begin at the top,as the edifice without a good foun-dation would never stand.”
Let literature and philosophy begone through with satisfactorily,and then theology may be ap-proached.
Literature must come first of all.St. Ignatius provides for law andmedicine, but by professors of lawand medicine outside of the Or-der; but no professors of the Or-der were sent for work outside ofJesuit institutions. If the youngermen were sent abroad, the younger
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generation would be deprived ofthat type; and if eminent men weresent forth without a permanent Je-suit College, the work would notbe that of the Order, but of scat-tered individuals, and would soonperish.
In the cause of education St. Ignatius hadplaced in his charter the watchwords “Defenceand Advance.” As a leader of a military typehe had gathered about him the flower of youthand of mature age, from college and university,from doctor’s chair and prince’s throne, and infifteen years from the foundation of the Orderleft one hundred colleges and houses in Portu-gal, Spain, Italy, Sicily, Germany, France, Brazil,and the East Indies. Xavier traveled from In-dia and Ceylon, in the west, to Malucca, Japan,
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and the coast of China on the east. Whereverthe energy and activity of Apostolic zeal pen-etrated it was with the purpose, and usuallythe result, of permanent Apostolic work in thefoundation of educational institutions. Fatherde Backer says,–
“Wherever a Jesuit set his foot, whereverthere was founded a house, a college, a mis-sion, there too came apostles of another class,who labored, who taught, who wrote.”
This is true even to our day where in theRocky Mountains, beside the mission houseof Spokane Falls, rises the Jesuit College ofSpokane.
Sixty years later than the time of St. Ignatiusthere were 272 colleges, and in 150 years thecollegiate and university houses of educationnumbered 769.
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“Looking at these seven hundred institu-tions of secondary and superior education,”says Father Thomas Hughes in his work onLoyola, “in their scope of legislative executivepower we find they were not so much a plural-ity of institutions as a single one.
“If we look at the 92 colleges in France, al-though the University of Paris was in one quar-ter of the city, and in that sense materially one,–although including 50 colleges,–yet in the for-mal and essential bond these 92 Jesuit collegeswere vastly more of a unit as an identical ed-ucational power than any faculty existing. Nofaculty at Paris, Rome, Salamanca, or Oxfordever preserved the control over its 50, 20, or 8colleges that each Provincial exercised over his10, 20, or 30 colleges, or the general of the Or-der over the 700 colleges, with 22,126 members
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in the Order.”At the present day we find the Jesuit colleges
in almost every part of the known world. InRome and in China, in South Africa and NorthAmerica, in the Philippine Islands as well as inCeylon and Egypt, in Australia and Cuba, aswell as in Syria and the city of New York.
We may glance briefly at the colleges scat-tered over the world, containing to-day 52,692Jesuit pupils.
This is a larger number than those taught atOxford and Cambridge and Glasgow and Har-vard or Yale or Princeton or in Paris and Edin-burgh.
In the Jesuit College at Rome there are 2082students.
In Brazil, 757
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Naples, 960
Denver, 100
Sicily, 376
Turin, 516
California, 850
Rocky Mountains, 72
Venice, 520
Mangalore (India), 483
Austria, 1746
Egypt, 500
Toulouse, 1581
Madura, 1800
Aragon, 1414
Manila
Philippine Islands,
Municipal Atheneum, 1123
Normal School, 680
Chili and Paraguay, 4913
Castile, 2073
Cuba, Havana, and Cienfuegos, 397
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Colombia, 766
Portugal, 560
Belgium, 6658
Bengal, 983
Ceylon, 35
Galicia, 474
Germany, 3443
Holland, 613
France, 3384
China, 122
Lyons, 2191
Syria, 608
Mexico, 684
Toledo, 782
Ecuador and Peru, 820
England, 1454
Zambesi, 64
Ireland, 883
Australia, 447
New York and Maryland, 2815
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Jamaica, West Indies, 60
Missouri, 2061
B. Honduras, 2122
Canada, 511
New Orleans, 504
Thus the total number of students–studyingwith professors of the Society of Jesus underone university system in all parts of the knownworld–is 52,692.
There has been no going back. Fifty yearsago, when the groundwork of rebuilding the700 institutions that had been destroyed bythe suppression had to be commenced all overagain, there were but 15,000, to-day there are52,692.
St. Ignatius was born in 1491. The first Col-lege of Coimbra was founded in 1542. From
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1542 to 1773 is a period of 231 years. The sup-pression lasted from 1773 to 1814 (41 years).The new work continued from 1814 to 1899, aperiod of 85 years.
Among the colleges founded in the chiefcities of the world are Loyola College, at Loy-ola in Spain; St. Omer’s College, in Belgium,the link between Europe and America; Stony-hurst College, in England; Clongoes Wood, Ire-land; Mangalore, in India, the only first-gradecollege in the district; Melbourne, Australia; St.Ignatius College, California, the pioneer of Pa-cific coast missions and of the Rocky Moun-tains; at Kansas City the only boarding collegein the far West; St. Ignatius, at Cleveland, Ohio,one of the latest Western colleges; Spring HillCollege, at Mobile, Alabama; Georgetown Col-lege, at Washington, D.C.; Holy Cross College,
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at Worcester, Massachusetts; St. John’s College,at Fordham, New York; St. Francis Xavier’sCollege, in New York City.
In the proportion mentioned above, in thesame period (that is, a period of 231 years),there will be in the Jesuit colleges 263,690pupils.
St. Ignatius died July 31, 1556. He was sixty-five years of age. At the age of thirty he hungup his sword at Montserrat, and, with readymind and heart and pen, in thirty-five years heachieved the gigantic work of the founding anddeveloping the Order. The educational workwas projected and advanced in a brief periodof fifteen years, from 1542 to 1556.
He was a man of prudence and deliberation,and of unswerving decision.
Vigilant and patient, whenever he appeared
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account had to be taken of the man; and sowith his Order, whenever it appears it is tobe recognized either by foes to oppose it orfriends to love it and forward its work. It hasits churches–its missions–its colleges. In itschurches it is faithful to the teaching of Christand His Church, loyal ever to the Vicar ofChrist; in its missions, unbounded in zeal andpersonal self-sacrifice; in its colleges, it aimsever at the solid and thorough training of com-plete Christian education. Ignatius of Loyolamade his Order to go on without him, and itgoes on just as he made it.
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