a few associates, in 1534 he projected the new religious
order, which in 1540 was confirmed by the Pope. _The
Constitution of the Order_ and _Spiritual Exercises_ were
written by him in Spanish. The object of these comrades was
to battle for the Church in that time of religious warfare,
to stop the spread of heresy, and especially to stay the
progress of Protestantism and win back those who had
abandoned the old faith. Exempting themselves from the
routine of monastic duties, the members of the new order
were to have freedom for preaching, hearing confessions, and
educating the young.
After considering and abandoning various plans for work
abroad, the band of fathers at last decided to devote
themselves to serving the Church within its own domains, and
the first step was a visit of some members of the fraternity
to Rome for the purpose of obtaining papal confirmation.
Loyola himself, with his chosen colleagues, Faber and Lainez, undertook
the mission to Rome, while the eight others were to disperse themselves
throughout Northern Italy, and especially to gain a footing, if they
could, and to acquire influence at those seats of learning where the
youth of Italy were to be met with; such as Padua, Ferrara, Bologna,
Siena, and Vicenza. Surprising effects resulted, it is said, from these
labors; but we turn toward the three fathers, Ignatius, Lainez, and
Faber, who were now making their way on foot to Rome.
If Loyola's course of secular study, and if his various engagements as
evangelist and as chief of a society, had at all chilled his devotional
ardor, or had drawn his thoughts away from the unseen world, this fervor
and this upward direction of the mind now returned to him in full force:
we are assured that, on this pilgrimage, and "through favor of the
Virgin," his days and nights were passed in a sort of continuous
ecstasy. As they drew toward the city, and while upon the Siena road, he
turned aside to a chapel, then in a ruinous condition, and which he
entered alone. Here ecstasy became more ecstatic still; and, in a
trance, he believed himself very distinctly to see Him whom, as holy
Scripture affirms, "no man hath seen at any time." By the side of this
vision of the invisible appeared Jesus, bearing a huge cross. The Father
presents Ignatius to the Son, who utters the words, so full of meaning,
"I will be favorable to you at Rome."
It is no agreeable task thus to compromise the awful realities of
religion, and thus to perplex the distinctions which a religious mind
wishes to observe between truth and illusion; yet it seems inevitable to
narrate that which comes before us, as an integral and important portion
of the history we have to do with. And yet incidents such as these,
while they will be very far from availing to bring us over as converts
to the system which they are supposed supernaturally to authenticate,
need not generate any extreme revulsion of feeling in an opposite
direction. Good men, ill-trained, or trained under a system which to so
great an extent is factitious, demand from us often, we do not say that
which an enlightened Christian charity does not include, but a something
which is logically distinguishable from it; we mean a philosophic habit
of mind, accustomed to deal with human nature, and with its wonderful
inconsistencies, on the broadest principles.
Some diversities of language present themselves in the narratives that
have come down to us of this vision. In that which, perhaps, is worthy
of the most regard, the phraseology is such as to suggest the belief
that its _exact_ meaning should not easily be gathered from the words.
Loyola had asked of the blessed Virgin, "_ut eum cum filio suo
poneret_"; and during this trance this request, whatever it might mean,
was manifestly granted.
From this vision, and from the memorable words "_Ego vobis Romae
propitius ero_," the society may be said to have taken its formal
commencement, and to have drawn its appellation. Henceforward it was the
"Society of Jesus," for its founder, introduced to the Son of God by the
eternal Father, had been orally assured of the divine favor--favor
consequent upon his present visit to Rome. Here, then, we have exposed
to our view the inner economy or divine machinery of the Jesuit
Institute. The Mother of God is the primary mediatrix; the Father, at
her intercession, obtains for the founder an auspicious audience of the
Son; and the Son authenticates the use to be made of his name in this
instance; and so it is that the inchoate order is to be the "Society of
Jesus."
An inquiry, to which in fact no certain reply could be given, obtrudes
itself upon the mind on an occasion like this; namely, how far the
infidelity and atheism which pervaded Europe in the next and the
following century sprung directly out of profanation such as this?
Merely to narrate them, and to do so in the briefest manner, does
violence to every genuine sentiment of piety. What must have been the
effect produced upon frivolous and sceptical tempers when with sedulous
art such things were put forward as solemn verities not to be
distinguished from the primary truths of religion, and entitled to the
same reverential regard in our minds!
Loyola, although thus warranted, as he thought, in assuming for his
order so peculiar and exclusive a designation, used a discreet reserve
at the first in bringing it forward, lest he should wound the self-love
of rival bodies, or seem to be challenging for his company a superiority
over other religious orders. So much caution as this his experience
would naturally suggest to him; and that he felt the need of it is
indicated by what he is reported to have said as he entered Rome.
Although the words so recently pronounced still sounded in his ear,
"_Ego vobis Romae propitius ero_," yet as he set foot within the city he
turned to his companions and said, with a solemn significance of tone,
"I see the windows shut!"--meaning that they should there meet much
opposition, and find occasion for the exercise of prudence and of
patient endurance of sufferings; of prudence, not less than of patience.
But while care was to be taken not to draw toward themselves the envious
or suspicious regards of the religious orders or of ecclesiastical
potentates, there was even a more urgent need of discretion in avoiding
those occasions of scandal which might spring from their undertaking the
cure of the souls of the other sex. Into what jeopardy of their saintly
reputation had certain eminent men fallen in this very manner; and how
narrowly had they escaped the heaviest imputations! The fathers were not
to take upon themselves the office of confessors to women--"_nisi essent
admodum illustres_." That the risk must necessarily be less, or that
there would be none in the instance of ladies of high rank, is not
conspicuously certain; but if not, what were those special motives which
should warrant the fathers in incurring this peril in such cases? Mere
Christian charity would undoubtedly impel a man to meet danger for the
welfare of the soul of a poor sempstress as readily as for that of a
duchess or the mistress of a monarch. If, therefore, the peril is to be
braved in the one case which ought to be evaded in the other, there must
be present some motive of which Christian charity knows nothing. So
acutely alive was Loyola to the evils that might spring to his order
from this source that we find him at a later period not merely rejecting
ladies, "_admodum illustres_," but bearding the Pope and the cardinals,
and glaringly contravening his own vow of unconditional obedience to the
Vicar of Christ, rather than give way to the solicitations of fair and
noble penitents.
Soon after the arrival of the three--_i.e._, Loyola, Faber, and
Lainez--at Rome, in the year 1537, they obtained an audience of the
Pope, who welcomed their return, and gave anew his sanction to their
endeavors. Faber and Lainez received appointments as theological
professors in the gymnasium; while Loyola addressed himself wholly to
the care of souls and to the reform of abuses. To several persons of
distinction and to some dignitaries of the Church he administered the
discipline of the _Spiritual Exercises_, they, for this purpose,
withdrawing to solitudes in the neighborhood of Rome, where they were
daily conversed with and instructed by himself. At the same time he
labored in hospitals, schools, and private houses to induce repentance
and to cherish the languishing piety of those who would listen to him.
Among such, who fully surrendered their souls to his guidance, were the
Spanish procurator Peter Ortiz and Cardinal Gaspar Contarini, both of
whom were led by him into a course of fervent devotion in which they
persisted, and they, moreover, continued to use their powerful influence
in favor of the infant society.
The pulpits of many of the churches in the several cities where the
fathers had stationed themselves, and some in Rome, had been opened to
their use, and the energy and the freshness of their eloquence affected
the popular mind in an extraordinary manner; sometimes, indeed, they
brought upon themselves violent opposition, but in more frequent
instances, their zeal and patient assiduity triumphing over prejudice,
jealousy, ecclesiastical inertness, and voluptuousness, the tide of
feeling set in with this new impulse, and a commencement was effectively
made of that Catholic revival which spread itself throughout Southern
Europe, turned back the Reformation wave, saved the papacy, and secured
for Christendom the still needed antagonist influence of the Romish and
of the reformed systems of doctrine, worship, and polity.
At Rome, Loyola, by his personal exertions, effected great reforms in
liturgical services--induced a more frequent and devout attention to the
sacraments of confession and the eucharist; established and promoted the
catechetical instruction of youth; and, in a word, restored to Romanism
much of its vitality.
The author and mover of so much healthful change did not escape the
persecutions that are the lot of reformers. Such trials Loyola
encountered, and passed through triumphantly--so we are assured; but in
listening to the Jesuit writers, when telling their own story, where the
credit of the order and the reputation of its founder are deeply
implicated, it is with reservation that we follow them.
So fearful a storm--yet a storm long before descried, it is said, by
Loyola--fell suddenly upon him and his colleagues that it seemed as if
the infant society could by no means resist the impetuous torrent that
assailed it. The populace, as well as persons in authority, suddenly
gave heed to rumors most startling which came in at once from Spain,
from France, and from the North of Italy, and the purport of which was
to throw upon the fathers the most grievous imputations affecting their
personal character as well as their doctrine. These men were reported to
be heretics, Lutherans in disguise, seducers of youth, and men of
flagitious life.
The author or secret mover of this assault is said to have been a
Piedmontese monk of the Augustinian order, himself a secret favorer of
the Lutheran heresy and "a tool of Satan," and who at last, throwing off
the mask, avowed himself a Lutheran. This man, for the purpose of
diverting from himself the suspicions of which his mode of preaching had
made him the object at Rome, raised this outcry against Loyola and his
companions, affirming of them slanderously and falsely what was quite
true as to himself.
The Pope and the court having been absent for some time from Rome, this
disguised heresiarch had seized the opportunity for gaining the ear of
the populace by inveighing against the vices of ecclesiastics, and
insinuating opinions to which he gave a color of truth by citations from
Scripture and the early fathers. Two of Loyola's colleagues, Salmeron
and Lainez, who in their passage through Germany had become skilled in
detecting Lutheran pravity, were deputed to listen to this noisy
preacher; they did so, and reported that the audacious man was, under
some disguise of terms, broaching rank Lutheranism in the very heart of
Rome. Loyola, however, determined to treat the heresiarch courteously,
and therefore sent him privately an admonition to abstain from a course
which occasioned so much scandal, and which could not but afflict
Catholic ears. The preacher took fire at this remonstrance, and openly
attacked those who had dared thus to rebuke him.
Thus attacked, Loyola and his colleagues, on their side, loudly
maintained the great points of Catholic doctrine impugned by this
preacher, such as the merit and necessity of good works, the validity of
religious vows, and the supreme authority of the Church; and in
consequence it became extremely difficult on his part to ward off the
imputation of Lutheranism or to make it appear that he was anything
else than a self-condemned heretic. He, however, so far commanded the
popular mind that he maintained his reputation and his influence, and
actually succeeded in rendering his accusers the objects of almost
universal suspicion or hatred. Their powerful friends forsook them; all
stood aloof, or all but a Spaniard named Garzonio, who, having lodged
Loyola and some of his companions under his roof, knew well their
soundness in the faith and their personal piety. Through his timely
intervention the cardinal-dean of the sacred college was induced to
inform himself, by a personal interview, of their doctrine and life.
This dignitary was satisfied, and more than satisfied, of the innocence
and piety of the fathers. Nevertheless, Loyola, looking far forward, and
knowing well what detriment to his order might arise in remote quarters
from slanders not authoritatively refuted and disallowed, demanded to be
confronted with his accusers before the ecclesiastical authorities. He
would be content with no vague and irregular expression of approval--he
would accept no half acquittal. He sought, and at length obtained, an
official exculpation in the amplest terms, with an acknowledgment of his
orthodoxy on the part of the highest authority on earth, and this was
granted under circumstances that gave it universal notoriety.
In court the principal witness was confounded by proof, under his own
hand, of the falseness of the allegation he had advanced; and at the
same time testimonials from the highest quarters in favor of the
fathers, severally and individually, arrived opportunely; in a word, the
society, in this early and signal instance, triumphed over its
assailants, and thenceforward it occupied a position the most lofty and
commanding in the view of the Catholic world. Loyola and his colleagues
saw the ruin of their adversaries, two of whom, falling into the hands
of the inquisitors, were burned as heretics.
The time was now come for effecting a permanent organization of the
society and for installing a chief at its head. With these purposes in
view, Loyola summoned his colleagues to Rome from the cities of Italy
where they were severally laboring. The fathers being assembled, he
commended to them anew the proposal which they had already accepted, but
which he seemed anxious to fix irrevocably upon their consciences by
often-repeated challenges of the most solemn kind. To impart the more
solemnity to this repetition of their mutual engagements, and to
preclude, by all means, the possibility of retraction, he advised that
several days should be devoted to preliminary prayer and fasting, during
which season each should, with an absolute surrender of himself to the
will of God, await passively the manifestation of that will.
"Heaven," said Loyola to his companions, "heaven has forbidden Palestine
to our zeal--nevertheless that zeal burns with increasing intensity from
day to day. Should we not hence infer that God has called us--not,
indeed, to undertake the conversion of one nation or of a country, but
of all the people and of all the kingdoms of the world?"
Such was the founder's profession and such the limits of his ambition.
The spiritual mechanism which he had devised, and which he was now
putting in movement, intends nothing that is partial or circumscribed;
its very purport is universality; it is absolutism carried out until it
has embraced the human family and has brought every human spirit into
its toils.
But so small a band could hope for no success that should be indicative
of ultimate triumph unless they would surrender themselves individually
to a common will, which should be to each of them as the will of God,
articulately pronounced. After renewing, therefore, the vows of poverty,
of chastity, and of unconditional obedience to the Pope, the fathers
assented to the proposal that one of their number should, by the
suffrages of all, be constituted the superior or general of the order,
and as such be invested with an authority as absolute as it was possible
for man to exercise or for men to submit to. Yet to whose hands should
be assigned--and for life--this irresponsible power over the bodies,
souls, and understandings of his companions?
It had not been until after a lengthened preparation of fasting, prayer,
and night-watching that a resolution so appalling had been formed. Yet
it was easier to consent to the proposal, abstractedly placed before
them, than to yield themselves to all its undefined and irrevocable
consequences, when the awful surrender of what is most precious to
man--his individuality--was to be made, not to a chief unnamed, but to
this or that one among themselves. To whose hands could the ten consign
the irresponsible disposal of their souls and bodies? They had, however,
already advanced too far to recede. They had, as they believed, in
humble imitation of Christ the Lord, offered themselves as a living
sacrifice to God--so far as concerned the body--by the vow of poverty
and the vow of chastity. They had thus immolated the flesh, and had
reserved to themselves nothing of worldly possessions, nothing of
earthly solaces; all had been laid upon the altar. They, had, moreover
professed their willingness to deposit there their very souls. The vow
of unconditional obedience, as thus understood, was a holocaust of the
immortal well-being. Each now, as an offering acceptable to God, was to
pawn his interest in time and eternity, putting the pledge into the
hands of one to be chosen by themselves. It was debated whether this
absolute power should be conferred upon the holder of it for life or for
a term of years only, and whether in the fullest sense it should be
without conditions, or whether it should be limited by constitutional
forms. At length, however, the election of a general for life was
assented to, and especially for this reason--and it is well to note
it--that the new society had been devised and formed for the very
purpose of carrying forward vast designs which must demand a long course
of years for their development and execution; and that no one who must
look forward to the probable termination of his generalship at the
expiration of a few years could be expected to undertake, or to
prosecute with energy, any such far-reaching project. On the contrary,
he should be allowed to believe that the limits of his life alone need
be thought of as bounding his holy ambition. Provisions were made,
however, for holding some sort of control over the individual to whom so
much power was to be intrusted. The actual election of Loyola to the
generalship did not formally take place until after the time when the
order had received pontifical authentication. Meantime, all implicitly
regarded him as their master; from him emanated the acts of the body;
and to him was assigned the task--aided by Lainez--of preparing what
should be the constitutions of the society.
During the interval between the concerted organization of the order and
the formal recognition of Loyola as the general he found several
occasions highly favorable for extending and for enhancing his
influence, as well among the common people as among ecclesiastical
dignitaries. One such opportunity was afforded, soon after the
above-mentioned exculpation of the fathers, by the occurrence of a
famine during an unusually severe winter. The streets of Rome presented
the spectacle of hundreds of half-naked and starving wretches who
fruitlessly implored aid or who silently expired unaided. Loyola and his
colleagues, themselves subsisting from day to day on alms, felt
often--we are told--the nip of hunger, yet they needed no incitement
which these scenes of woe did not spontaneously supply. They were at
once alive to the claims of humanity and to the requirements of
Christian duty. They begged for the perishing, took them to such shelter
as was at their command, carefully and tenderly ministered to the sick,
and, withal, used the advantage which these offices of kindness afforded
them for purposes of religious instruction. Hundreds, rescued from death
through cold and hunger, were thus brought to repentance on the path
which the Church prescribes. A great impression in favor of the Jesuit
fathers was made upon all classes by this course of conduct. In
humanity, self-denying assiduity, and Christian zeal they had
immeasurably surpassed any who might have pretended rivalry with them.
It was now, therefore, that Loyola sought from the Pontiff that formal
recognition which his personal assurances of regard and approval seemed
to show he could not refuse. Paul III was, however, cautious in this
instance, and seemed unwilling to commit himself and the Church at this
critical moment, except so far as he knew himself to be supported by the
feeling and opinion of those of the cardinals whom he most regarded. He
referred Loyola's petition to three of them. The first of these was
Barthelemi Guidiccioni, who had often declared himself to be decisively
opposed to the multiplication of religious orders. The Church, he
thought, had too many of these excrescences already, and, instead of
adding another to the number, he would gladly have reduced them all to
four. His two colleagues were easily induced to concur with him in this
opinion, and thus it appeared as if the infant society, notwithstanding
the advances it had lately made in securing the good opinion of persons
of high rank, as well as in winning popular applause, was little likely
to receive what was indispensable to its permanent establishment--a
papal bull in its favor.
Personally, however, the Pope did not conceal his cordial feeling toward
Loyola and his companions. He seems to have perceived clearly that these
men, resolute in their punctilious adherence to the doctrine and ritual
of the Church, and committed by the most solemn engagements to its
service--deep-purposed as they were, full of a well-governed energy,
resolute in the performance of the most arduous duties, and, moreover,
highly accomplished in secular and sacred learning--were the very
instruments which the Church had need of in this crisis of its fate.
Northern Europe was irrecoverably lost; Germany and Switzerland were
held to Catholicism at points only; while France and Northern Italy were
listening to the seductions of heresy. Scarcely could it be said, even
of Spain, that it was clear of the same infection. The Church ought
then, at such a moment, to embrace cordially, and by all means to favor,
the efforts of men like Loyola and his distinguished companions.