St. Ignatius of Loyola, as painted
by Rubens
Almost all European/Western Civilization history books cover the formation of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, as this Roman Catholic priestly order had a profound effect on the spreading of both Catholic Christianity and Western European mores. The order was founded by Ignatius of Loyola on 15 August, 1534. 15 August is also the Feast of the Assumption, which is the day Roman Catholics celebrate as the day the Virgin Mary was bodily assumed into heaven, being spared the mortal pain of death.
Ignatius was born in Spain, and started his adult life as a solider. He participated in many battles, without suffering serious wounds, but on 21 May, 1520, his luck ran out. While fighting French forces in the Battle of Pamplona, a cannonball wounded one leg and severely broke the other. Ignatius required a long convalescence, and the leg had to be broken and re-set at least twice. During this time he read The LIfe of Christ by Ludolph of Saxony. This work, which was written in a style so that the reader experienced the events of the Gospels as though he were actually present at the time, had a profound effect on Loyola’s life. As he continued to heal, he read more religious works, which led a total re-dedication of his life. After his recovery from his wound, he spent several months in a cave near Catalonia, where he practices religious asceticism. When this period of prayer and study were over, he traveled to Palestine for three weeks in 1523, then returned to Spain. From Spain he journeyed to Paris, which at the time was a city in great upheaval due to battles between Catholics and Protestants. Martin Luther’s Reformation had reached France, and the clash of Protestant theology with Loyola’s fervent Catholicism spurred him to attend the University of Paris as a theology student.
While attending university, Loyola become close friends with the following individuals:
On 15 August, 1534, Loyola and his six companions met in the crypt of the Church of Our Lady of Montmartre, and pledged themselves to a life of poverty, chastity and obedience to the Pope as the newly created Society of Jesus. The primary mission of the order was to serve as the Pope’s missionaries, so the companions traveled to Rome to seek an audience with Pope Paul III. In 1537 Pope Paul III gave his blessing to the order and had the companions ordained as priests.
The Jesuits first set out to create schools and universities in Europe, as Loyola believed that the first step in arresting the Protestant Reformation was in educating the faithful. Loyola believed that one of the causes of the Protestant Reformation was an ill-informed, illiterate Catholic priesthood. Education would be his first bastion in re-claiming the world for the Catholic Church. Since he had started his life as a soldier, Loyola formed the Jesuits along military lines. The head of the order is called the Father-General, and there are rigid guidelines and steps before a man is ordained as a Jesuit priest. The Jesuit process, which is called formation, usually takes from 10-12 years, based on the applicant’s life experience. In addition to taking the normal priestly vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, a fully professed Jesuit swears a special fourth vow: obedience to the Pope and any missions he may request. Loyola’s creed for the Jesuit’s obedience to the Pope is eloquently stated here:
That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity with the Church herself, if she shall have defined anything to be black which appears to our eyes to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black. For we must undoubtingly believe, that the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of the Orthodox Church His Spouse, by which Spirit we are governed and directed to Salvation, is the same.
As the Jesuits constructed schools and universities in Europe, they also engaged in counter-Reformation activities. Poland and Bohemia were already strong Protestant bastions, but Loyola’s Jesuits were so effective that they turned these territories into the Catholic strongholds that they are today. The Jesuits also began extensive missionary work in the Americas and Asia. Francis Xavier spread the Gospels to Japan and China, following the Jesuit model of focusing conversion on the rulers and other powerful figures. As European expansion spread in the Americas, Jesuit mission activities and school construction came along with the explorers. Today there are 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, an over 50 secondary schools. The order formed by St. Ignatius Loyola (he was canonized in 1622), had, and continues to have, a profound effect on civilization.
No comments:
Post a Comment