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CUL:The beginnings of the Jesuits by Randall Hillebrand
Ignatius Loyola was the founder and first general of the Society of
Jesus, better known today as the Jesuits. Loyola was the youngest son
of eight boys of a wealthy family of thirteen children. He was born
either in the year of 1491 or 1495 in the province of Basque near the
town of Azpeitia in Spain. This area was known for its brave and hardy
race of people that excelled in its ship building, sailing and military
spirit. Loyola was a brave soldier himself who had seen a number of
battles, but on May 20, 1521, a cannon ball fractured his right leg and
injured his left. During recovery, he asked for books to read on
romance, but all that could be found was a book on the life of Christ
and a book of different saints.
With distaste he started reading them, but soon they so gripped him
that from within him a desire arose to follow the steps of Christ and
such saints as Dominic and Francis. In May of the following year after
he had finished healing it is said that he went and spent three days in
confession with a priest for his sins. After that he went to the altar
of our Lady where he spent the night in prayer and came away with the
conviction that Christ was calling him as the captain of His sacred
army. (Harvey 1, 10-14).
Soon after this Loyola went to the outskirts of a town called
Manresa to spend time in a cave for penance and prayer. The little town
accepted him and he found lodging in the hospital of St. Lucia. During
this time at Manresa, Loyola went through a time of dryness, weariness,
sadness and bitterness. Times became very hard for him and he could
find no peace. The Dominicans of the Manresa felt sorry for him and
took him into their convent. There he fasted and prayed almost till
death until he finally came to a point where his spiritual storm had
passed and he found the peace for which he had searched.
During the time spent at the convent it is said that he had many
mysteries revealed to him and that great spiritual illumination took
place. One of the outcomes of this spiritual awakening for Loyola was
the beginnings of a book. As Loyola had thoughts that he felt might
profit others, he made note of them, and these notes later grew into
his book which he called "Spiritual Exercises." (Harney 27-30). This
book is said to have a powerful appeal to one's imagination and
emphasizes greatly the obedience one is to have to Christ and to the
church (Catholic Church).
This would be the book that would become the cornerstone of the
Jesuit order. (Linder 412). A main section in Spiritual Exercises is a
four-week course that the new recruit would have to go through. The
first week dealt with purging oneself. The second week is a crucial
week in the exercise where one would meditate on the life of Christ up
to the passion week and the kingdom of Christ. This is also the week in
which one would give himself to Christ (Election stage - climax). The
third week is when the passion week of Christ from Bethany to the cross
is discussed with an emphasis on following the footsteps of their
humble Master. The fourth week is when the recruit is prepared to rise
with the risen Christ as a knight-errant roving about, ready to fight
the good fight of faith. (Harvey 27-31).
The last part of the book, which was added later, gives eighteen
rules for thinking and acting to be in conformity with the Catholic
Church. These rules were probably in response to the reformation taking
place at that time and were meant to be protection against heresy.
(Harney 62-63).
Between the years of 1524 to 1534, Ignatius Loyola studied at
Barcelona, Alcala, Salamanca and Paris to prepare for his service to
the church. (Linder 411). It was during his student days in Paris that
Loyola started the Society of Jesus. He gathered six young men together
with him, all following his example and taking a vow of poverty,
chastity and the spiritual service of their neighbors. Not only would
they make these three vows on their own, but later they would again
take the first two vows of poverty and chastity in addition to two
others of obedience to the church, and obedience to the Pope in
accordance to their involvement with the church. The first three of
these vows were typical within the church, but the vow of total and
complete obedience to the Pope to go and do whatever he said was
unknown to the church and would become a Jesuit distinctive. (Young 8)
The six men that would join Loyola were Francis Xavier, Pierre Le
Favre, James Laynez, Alphonsus Salmeron, Nicholas Bobadilla and Simon
Rodriguez. These seven men soon became well-known in Italy as
preachers, leaders of retreats and hospital chaplains. In 1539 they
formed a group called the "Company of Jesus" in Rome, which was totally
dedicated to teaching children and illiterates in the law of God.
(Catherall 531).
Because of these and other efforts to help the poor and needy, the
Society of Jesus was well accepted in Europe. They not only were
concerned with the physical being of a person, but also with their
spiritual being seen in their constant evangelization of the people.
(Harvey 42).
Many young men wished to join the Jesuits, but since they were not
as of yet a true organization within the Catholic Church, Ignatius and
his companions decided to draw up a constitution for the Society to
present to Pope Paul III. Because of the special vow of total obedience
to the Pope by each member, it was clear to Pope Paul III that this
Society would be of value to the Holy See. So on the twenty-seventh of
September, 1540, the Bull, Regimini Militantis Ecclesiae was issued and
the Society of Jesus was officially launched. One provision was made in
this Bull which was that the Society could have only sixty members in
its ranks. But by 1544 another Bull, Injunctum Nobis was issued that
gave the Society an unlimited number of members.
The Society grew rapidly and soon Loyola secured permission for the
Jesuits to preach, hear confession and to fulfill all of the other
offices of the priestly office. (Harvey 60-61, 63). Also around the
beginnings of the Society, there was no one to watch over the safety of
the Pope and to help him from straying to secularism and identification
with the government. So the Jesuits were the first group to take this
position in the church as the Pope's spiritual elite and militia.
(Peeler 420)
By the end of Loyola's death in 1556, there were over a thousand
Jesuits mainly in Spain, Portugal and Italy. They were also in France,
Germany, the Low Countries, India, Brazil and Africa. (Donnelly 413).
The Society by this time made a turn in its philosophy. No longer was
it a group whose emphasis was to the poor and needy, but now its
influences would be seen and felt among the aristocracy. This change
came about because of Loyola's dedication to the modern methods of
education of his time. Jesuit schools were founded, the first in 1548
in Messina, and the Jesuits became the teaching order and the leading
movement in Catholic higher education. They were known for having the
most effective teaching methods in contemporary Europe. They became the
Pope's strongest supporters and were the spearhead of the intellectual
attack on the Reformation. They also became the foremost Catholic
apologists. The Society became very strong, but was suppressed in 1773
by Pope Clement XIV, but was later restored by Pope Pius VII in 1814.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Catherall, Gordon A. "Jesuits (Society of Jesus)." The New
International Dictionary of the Christian Church. 1978 ed.
Donnelly, John P. "The Jesuits." Eerdmans' Handbook to the History
of Christianity. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1978.
Gontard, Friedrich. The Chair of Peter: A History of the Papacy. New
York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964.
Harney, Martin P. The Jesuits in History. New York: The America
Press, 1941.
Harvey, Robert. Ignatius Loyola. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing
Company, 1936.
Linder, Robert D. "Rome Responds." Eerdmans' Handbook to the History
of Christianity. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1978.
Young, William J. "Jesuits." Encyclopedia International. 1967 ed.
Copyright 1989 by Randy Hillebrand You are allowed to reproduce this
article only in its entirety and without additions or deletions. This
article originated on The Salvation Online Network