himself whom Manar had preacquainted with the Matter and so Michel left a Paper of the Propositions in their hands that they might Examine them at leisure But instead of Examining them they carry'd the Papers to Father Ignatius whereupon the Father doubting no longer neither of the Doctrine nor of the Intentions of Michel inform'd the Grand Inquisitor John Peter Caraffa who was afterwards Pope of the whole Matter and at the same time Expell'd the Impostor The Inquisitor caus'd him to be Arrested and after he had been kept some Months in close Prison which oblig'd him tho' unwillingly to confess the truth he was condemn'd to the Galleys This Artifice not having succeeded with the Protestants they had recourse to another which was to send to the Fathers at Rome two great Chests of Books of which the greatest part were very proper to poison Youth Oliver Manar who open'd the Chests found that those at the top were Catholick Books and all the rest Heretical he presently advertis'd Father Ignatius of it The Father at the very first divin'd whence such an Alms should come and order'd that all the Books should be burnt and their Ashes to be thrown into the Wind as if he were afraid they should infect the House nor could he according to his own Maxims otherwise do being perswaded that all that comes from Hereticks ought to be suspected and not permitting that any of their Books should be read in the Society how good soever they might be For said he when we read a good Book writ by a bad Man after having taken pleasure in the Book we grow insensibly affected to the Author even sometimes to believe that all that such an Author writes is reasonable This he particularly apply'd to Erasmus and to such like Authors a great while before their Works were condemn'd And he grounded his Opinion upon the Authority of S. Basil who says in express terms That a Religious Person ought not only to have in horror the Doctrine of Hereticks but also not to read any Books but such as come from an Orthodox Pen and are approv'd by the Church because the Words of the Impious according to the Sentiment of the Apostle are like a Gangrene which taints and corrupts by degrees all that is sound But Father Ignatius had yet more troublesom Rencounters even with Catholicks and with a principal Prelate of the Church The Archbishop of Toledo newly declar'd himself again against the Society notwithstanding the Bulls which Approv'd the Institute and Exercises His pretence was that the Jesuits whom they call'd Theatines did intrench upon the Rights of Episcopacy by the liberty which they took of Administring the Sacraments in all Places under colour of their pretended Priviledges There was but one Colledge of the Fathers in his Diocess which was that of Alcala He one day Interdicted them all and thunder'd out a Sentence of Excommunication against all Persons that should Confess to them He commanded at the same time all the Religious and Curates within his Diocess not to suffer any of the Society either to Preach or to say Mass in their Churches and that which exceeds Imagination he suspended all the Priests in Toledo from hearing Confessions who had made the Spiritual Exercise The General far from being afflicted at this violent Persecution did in some manner rejoyce at it This new Tempest said he to Ribadeneyra is a good Omen If I am not mistaken it is an evident sign that God will be serv'd by us in Toledo For Experience has taught us that to our Society Contradictions and Persecutions always prepare the way and that the more it is oppos'd in any Place the more fruit it there produceth In the mean time he writ into Spain that all Endeavors should be us'd to satisfie the Archbishop Villanova who was Rector of the Colledge of Alcala a moderate and prudent Man made to him all manner of Submission but the Archbishop grew more inflexible by how much the Rector was more submiss All means were us'd to mollifie and appease him The Friends of the Society and especially Cardinal Francisco Menâ—za who design'd to Erect a Colledge in the Town of Burgos of which he was Bishop left no means untry'd to procure their Peace When Father Ignatius understood that nothing could prevail with the Archbishop he at last inform'd Julius the Third with what had pass'd at Toledo and also order'd the Fathers of Alcala to â—â—â—sake their Complaints to the Privy-Council of Spain The Pope caus'd a Letter to be writ to the Archbishop by Cardinal Matheo Secretary of State which imported That it was much wonder'd at in Rome that the Society of Jesus should be so ill treated at Toledo since it was in so good Esteem and so well receiv'd in all other Parts of the World On the other side the King's Council having examin'd the Bulls and the Priviledges of the order and judging that the Conduct of the Archbishop did directly oppose the Holy See they made a Declaration in favour of the Fathers The â—â—â—ter from Rome and the Declaration of the Counâ—â— brought the Prelate to reason He presently annull'd his former Acts and re-establish'd the Jesuits in all their Rights As soon as Father Ignatius had news of it he sent him his most humble thanks in a Letter full of Acknowledgment and submission and the more to gain him he promis'd that the Fathers of Alcala should make no use of their Priviledges nor receive any Person among them without his Approbation At this time the Society had two great Losses Claude le Jay dy'd at Vienna in Austria and Francis Xaverius in the Island of Sancian near China They were also in danger the same year of losing Father Francis de Borgia but after another manner and they would certainly have lost him if Father Ignatius had not preserv'd him by such means as I shall now relate Borgia upon his return out of Italy retir'd himself into Biscay and made choice of the Colledge of Ogniate to consummate his Sacrifice by renouncing the Dutchy of Gandia and all the remainders of his Greatness He chose that Place in regard of its Neighborhood to Loyola whether his Devotion led him before he came to Ogniate And it is said that entring into the Chamber where Father Ignatius was born he fell down upon his Knees and kiss'd the Ground with a Religious respect and after having given thanks to the Divine Goodness for having brought such a Man into the World he made it his Prayer that since he had taken Ignatius for his Guide and his Master he might have the Grace exactly to follow his Counsels and his Example He departed from Loyola animated with a new Spirit and he liv'd so holily that all admir'd to see in him at his very entrance into Religion consummated Sanctity When the Emperor Charles the Fifth understood that Don Francisco de Borgia of a Grandee of Spain was thus transform'd into a Jesuit he sent to
Apologetick Manifesto in behalf of the new Order and his Writing stopt the Mouth of Calumny Don Francisco de Borgia on his part highly favour'd and protected the Children of Ignatius yet notwithstanding his Affection for them he plac'd great confidence in a Religious Man of the Order of St. Francis call'd John Texeda whom he had known at Barcelona and brought with him to Gandia He was a Man of austere Life and of high Contemplation wholly given to Solitude and he liv'd at Court as the ancient Anchorites did in the Desert Father Andrew Oviedo Rector of the Colledge of Gandia who had great Acquaintance with this holy Man being introduc'd to him by the Duke enter'd by Degrees into his Sentiments and became so enamour'd with Solitude that withdrawing himself sometimes from the Company of his Brethren he would abscond in some Wilderness of a neighboring Forest to attend the Exercises of an interior Life This new Spirit carry'd him so far that he asked leave of his General to give over the Government of the Colledge and to pass five or six years in an Hermitage His Motive was that he might arrive to Evangelical Perfection by flying from so many dangerous Occasions which are inevitable in the Commerce of the World Father Ignatius by his great Talent in discerning Spirits and by his long experience in a spiritual Life easily found out that this new Project of Oviedo was an Illusion He made it manifest to him by shewing him that when God had once set out our way to us we ought faithfully to follow it and not to turn aside into any other under pretence that it seems to us the straiter and the surer That a solitary Life has its dangers no less then the Apostolical Life That indeed we ought not to commit the least Fault with a deliberate purpose for the whole World but we must not renounce the Employments of Charity through the fear of small Faults which human frailty is subject to That on the other side nothing is more generous nothing more divine then to sacrifice our Repose and all our Concerns to the good of Souls As much enamor'd as Oviedo was with his second Vocation he quite lost the thought of it as soon as he receiv'd the Answer of Father Ignatius Don Francis de Borgia to whom Oviedo had imparted his Designs of Retirement profited no less then he by the Advice of the Saint This Duke had made a Vow at Granada to embrace a Religious State if he should happen to out-live his Dutchess yet in making of his Vow he was not determin'd to any Religious Order in particular and it was after that the Holy See had Approv'd the Book of Exercises that he made his choice of the Society against his natural Inclination which inclin'd him to Solitude He open'd his mind to Father Ignatius and he had no great difficulty to make him believe that his Vocation was a true one for when Peter Faber dy'd at Rome God did then reveal to him that a Grandee of Spain should supply his Place and that this Grandee was the Duke of Gandia Wherefore the Father approv'd the Design of the Duke and writ to him in these Terms Most Illustrious Lord THE Resolution which you have taken and which God has been pleas'd to inspire you with fills me with unspeakable joy May the Angels and all the Saints praise his holy Name and render him Eternal thanks in Heaven for we on Earth are not able to make any condign Acknowledgement of the transcendent Blessing which his Divine Goodness has bestow'd upon his small Society in calling you to it I hope his Providence designs hereby considerable Advantages of Spiritual Advancement not only to your self but to an infinity of Persons who will profit by so great an Example For us who are already in the Society of Jesus we shall excited by your fervor begin a fresh to serve the Divine Father of the Family who gives us such a Brother and who has made choice of such a Workman for his new Vineyard of which it has been his Pleasure that I tho' unworthy should have the Care Wherefore from this time forward I receive you in the Name of our Lord for our Brother and in this Quality you shall always be most dear to me as such a Person ought to be who enters into the House of God with so much generosity as you do only and perfectly to serve him For what you desire to know of me concerning the time and the manner of your publick Reception after having seriously recommended the matter to God both in my own and in the Prayers of many besides it appears to me that to the end you may the better acquit your self of all your obligations this change ought to be made leisurely and with a great deal of Circumspection to the greater Glory of our Lord. Thus you may by little and little settle your affairs in such sort that without disclosing your self to any Secular Person you may in a short time find your self free and disingag'd from all that may retard the accomplishment of your holy Desires And the better to explicate my self in coming to particulars I am of opinion that since your Daughters are at an Age of being Married you should in the first place provide for them according to their Quality and also dispose of the Marquess your Son if a convenient Match be offer'd For your other Sons it will not be sufficient for them to have their reliance upon their Elder Brother to whom the Dukedom will fall You must leave them wherewithal to go through their Studies in one of the principal Universities and to subsist honorably in the World And you may reasonably expect that if they prove such as they ought to be and such as I hope they will be the Emperor will bestow his favors upon them in some proportion to your services and to that good will which he has always manifested towards you I think it would be also convenient for you to dispatch those Buildings which you have begun For I would have all the business of your Family fully ended before you publish to the World your change of life In the mean time whereas you are already well grounded in Learning I should desire that you would seriously apply your self to the Study of Divinity which Science will be most useful to you for the service of God nor would it be amiss if it might be done that you took the Degree of Doctor in your University of Gandia but in regard that the World is not yet prepar'd for news of this nature I would have it done without any noise and that it should be kept secret until time and your occasions shall with Gods permission give you an entire Liberty Other matters we may settle and determin from time to time according to the diversity of occurrences wherefore intending to keep a regular Correspondency with you I shall say no more
his removal they caus'd him to be carried in a Litter to the Castle of Loyola which is not far distant from Pampelona Where he was scarce arriv'd but he felt extraordinary pain The Chirurgeons were of opinion that some of the Bones were out of their places either through the ignorance of him who first set them or by reason of the moving and jogging too soon after the setting And that to replace the Bones in their Natural scituation they must break the Leg again Ignatius readily believ'd them and being under their hand he suffered the painful operation without the least concern But in these occasions Courage cannot always support Nature and he was forc'd to yield to a violent Fever which seising him with dangerous symptoms cast him down into a languishing weakness The Physitians declar'd to him his danger and that he had not many days to live He receiv'd the Sacraments upon the Eve of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and then grew so much weaker and weaker that it was not believ'd he would pass that night But God who had his designs upon him preserv'd him contrary to all humane appearance and so order'd it that he should be cur'd by the means and intercession of St. Peter either because Ignatius had from his youth a special veneration for the Prince of the Apostles or in regard that St. Peter had an Interest in the cure of a Man destin'd by Heaven to maintain against Hereticks the Authority of the Holy See However it were the sick Man saw in his dream the Blessed Apostle who toucht him and cur'd him and the event did shew that this dream was no illusion for Ignatius as soon as he awaked found himself out of danger his pains left him and his strength suddenly return'd Tho he recover'd Miraculously his health he did not lose the spirit of the World his Leg which had been ill set at first was not so well re-set the second time but that there remain'd a visible deformity caus'd by the standing out of a Bone under the Knee which hindred the Cavalier from wearing a Boot with a good Grace He passionately affecting to appear every way compleat without the least blemish resolv'd to have this Bone cut off The Chirurgions told him the operation would be extreamly dolorous He reckon'd pain for nothing and would neither be bound nor held The Bone was cut off and Ignatius whilst it was doing hardly chang'd his countenance This was not the only torment which he endur'd that he might have nothing of deformity in his person one of his Thighs being shrunk by reason of his wound he was in mighty apprehension least any lameness should appear in his Gate which to prevent he put himself for many days together upon a kind of Rack and with an Engine of Iron he violently stretch't and drew out his Leg But with all his pains and endeavours he could never extend it but that ever after his right Leg remain'd shorter then his left The Posture Ignatius was now in did not very well agree with his Active and Ardent nature he was restrain'd from Walking and confin'd to his Bed Having nothing to do it appear'd the more irksom to him in regard he found himself perfectly in health bating only the cure of his Knee which requir'd time He therefore to divert himself call'd for a Romance Amadis de Gaule and such Books of Knight Errantry were at that time in great vogue with all Persons of Quality and he above the rest was most particularly affected with the Adventures and feats of Arms in such Books related Altho the Castle of Loyola did not use to be unprovided of such Fabulous Histories yet at that time they could not light upon any so that instead of a Romance they brought him the Life of our Saviour and of the Saints These Books he read with no other design but to wear away the time and at first without any gust or pleasure But after a while he began insensibly to relish them and by degrees took such delight in them that he past whole days in reading The first effect which this produc'd in him was to admire in the Saints their love for Solitude and for the Cross He considered with Astonishment among the Anchorets of Palestine and Aegypt Men that had been of quality and condition in the World cover'd with Hair-shirts macerated with Fastings and buried alive in Caves and Dens He thereupon said within himself These Men so much at enmity with their own flesh and so dead to the vanities of the Earth were of the same nature that I am of Why therefore should not I do what they have done Hereupon he took a resolution to imitate them and thought nothing too great for his courage nor too hard for his undertaking He propos'd to himself to visit the Holy Sepulchre and to shut himself up in an Hermitage But these good motions lasted but for a while and he quickly relaps'd into his former weakness Besides his innate passion for Glory he had a secret inclination for a certain Lady of great Quality in the Court of Castile and now instead of thinking upon his Retreat his head was full of I know not what Military exploits to make himself worthy of the Ladies favour as he himself has afterwards confest to Father Lewis Gonzales giving him an accompt of his Conversion He was possest to that degree with these fond Ideas that it would not enter into him how any Man of Honour could be happy without a strong passion for Glory and the softer entertainments of Love When his thoughts were tired with thus tumbling about for his diversion he set himself again to read and falling into fresh admiration of the vertues he found in the Saints there did appear to him something more wonderful in their Actions then in all the exploits of those Romantick Heroes which had formerly fill'd his imagination And by reading on and reflecting upon what he read he came at length to understand that nothing was more frivolous then that Worldly Glory which had so possest his fancy that God only was capable to content the Soul of Man and that he ought to renounce all things to make his Salvation sure These considerations did by degrees re-kindle in him the desire of solitude and that which formerly appear'd impossible to him consulting his nature and inclinations now seem'd feasible and easie having the example of the Saints before his Eyes But still when he was just upon the point of taking a good Resolution the World with all its Charms so powerfully assaulted him that he fell back and soon became the old Man again Many days he spent in this fluctuation of mind unresolv'd which way to determine himself still attracted by God and still held fast by the World But these his various thoughts as they were very Heterogenious in their origine so were they no less different in their effects Those which came from God fill'd him with
consolation and caus'd within him a profound peace and tranquility of mind But the others though at first they brought with them a more sensible delight yet after some continuance he found they left behind them a certain bitterness and heaviness at Heart He reflected upon it and as Carnal and Worldly as he then was he began to reason and discourse with himself upon the nature of spiritual things for God Almighty who had resolv'd to settle in him a great fund of Sanctity and to shew in his person how far Christian Wisdom can advance when accompani'd with great Natural parts would not have his conversion too easily or suddenly made He observ'd that there were two kinds of Spirits diametrically opposite the one of God the other of the World He took notice by what he found within himself that a solid joy which penetrates the Soul does infinitely surpass that light and flashy pleasure which only gratifies the senses Whereupon it was easie for him to conclude what advantage the things of Heaven have over those of the Earth in order to the contenting and satiating the Heart of Man These first Rudiments which Ignatius had of interior motions were the Ground and Foundation of those Rules which he gives us in the Book of his Exercises for the discernment of those Spirits which are in us the principles of Good and Evil. These great Truths having taken full possession of his Soul and being fortified with Divine Grace against all the suggestion of Hell He made now a final Resolution to change his Life and quite to break off with the World His first purpose was to use his Body with all the rigor it was able to bear and this he did either through a lively apprehension of the torments of Hell with intent to appease the Divine justice or else as being yet but of small experience in a Spiritual life he imagin'd that all Christian perfection consisted in the maceration of the Body He resolv'd therefore to go bare-foot to the Holy Land to cloth himself with Sackcloth to fast with Bread and Water not to sleep but on the bare Ground and to choose a wild Desert for his aboad But whereas his Leg was not yet perfectly cur'd he could not immediately execute what his love of Pennance inspir'd him to do So that for the present to satisfie in some measure his fervour he constantly rose up at midnight and being throughly toucht with a Remorse of his sins he spent that time which was free from the disturbance of company in weeping for them One night among the rest being up according to his custom and prostrating himself before an Image of the Blessed Virgin with extraordinary sentiments of Piety he offered up himself to Jesus Christ by her means and intercession and Consecrated himself to the Service of the Son and the Mother vowing to them both an inviolable fidelity When he had ended his Prayer he heard a mighty noise the House trembled all the windows of his Chamber were broken and there was made a great rent in the Wall which remains at this day to be seen It is probable that God did thereby make it appear that the Sacrifice of his new Servant was agreeable to him for Heaven sometimes declares it self by such surprizing signs in favour of the Saints witness what we read in the Acts of the Apostles of the place where the Faithful were Congregated to make their Prayers and of the Prison where St. Paul and Silas sung Hymns together It may also be that this Earthquake was caus'd by the Devils who inrag'd to see their prey ravish'd from them and foreseeing what Ignatius would one day become did their endeavour by the fall of the Castle of Loyola to put a Period to his life and to his future progress Thus whilst his Leg was still in cure he continued reading the lives of our Saviour and the Saints not as formerly for amuzement sake and to pass away the time but to the end of forming his own life according to those great Models and of corroborating his Holy Resolutions Nor did he only read them but he made them the subject of his Meditation and wrote down what he found most sensibly to affect him It is farther said of him that having Learn'd in his Youth to design he took delight with Crayons of several Colours to draw the most signal Actions of the Saints and to write down their remarkable sayings to the intent of Printing them deeper in his memory Whilst he was thus imploy'd the great Truths of Christianity took such deep root in him that he himself was astonish'd at his own transformation into another Man so that the conversion of Ignatius was finished and brought to perfection by the same means which first gave the rise and entrance to it And the reading of good Books work'd that in him which neither a mortal Disease nor the terrors of Death nor an apparition from Heaven with a miraculous cure could effect So much it imports Worldly persons and even the most obdurate sinners some times to read Books of Piety The Favours he receiv'd from Heaven did not a little serve him to forget the Vanities of the World The blessed Virgin all inviron'd with light appear'd to him one Night holding little Jesus in her Arms. At this Vision Ignatius felt his Soul replenish'd with such a spiritual Unction as ever after rendred all pleasures of the Senses insipid to him During this Apparition which lasted a considerable time it seem'd to him that his Heart was purifi'd within him and that all images of sensual Delights were quite raz'd out of his Mind These happy effects did not end with the Apparition for from that time forward he was never subject to the rebellion of carnal concupiscence nor even to those thoughts with which sometimes the most chast Persons use to be tormented But the disappearing of Jesus and Mary left him in great trouble Wherefore to comfort himself he often with flaming Aspirations look'd up to Heaven and when he did so all that was charming and tempting in the World he beheld with horror His Leg being throughly cur'd he prepar'd himself in good earnest to follow the Voice of Heaven but did it with all possible secresie being even then perswaded that the Affairs of God are to be carry'd on without noise and that no ostentation should be us'd in leaving the World And yet to see him so different from himself plunged in profound Meditations speaking little and speaking only of the vanity of worldly things always Reading and Writing it was easie to imagine that he was disgusted with the World and that he projected something very extraordinary Don Martino Garsias his eldest Brother who since the death of Don Bertram was become Lord of the Castle of Loyola one who did not live over-much according to the Maxims of the Gospel did all that he could to discover and break his Design Taking him one Day aside he began to
and the pains of his Stomack still continued He spoke in publick of the things of Heaven and to be better heard by the people which came about him he got up upon a Stone which is at this day expos'd to view before the Antient Hospital of St. Lucy His mortified Countenance his modest Aire his words animated with the Spirit of Truth inspired into his Auditors the love of Vertue and a horror of Vice But his private entertainments produc'd wonderful effects He converted the most obstinate sinners by laying before them the Maxims and Duties of Christianity and by causing them to meditate upon them in retirement Some were so toucht that they renounced the World and changed at the same time both manners and state The many reflections which Ignatius made upon the force and power of these Evangelical Maxims and the many tryals of their Operation both in himself and others mov'd him to write a Book of Spiritual Exercises for the good of their Souls that live in the World This Book has so great a part in the life which I now write and is so little known in the World that it will not be unprofitable in this place to give an accompt of it The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius are something more then a bare collection of Meditations and of Christian considerations if they were that and no more there would be nothing in them particular and new St. Ignatius is not the first who has taught us the way of raising our minds to God and of looking down into our own infirmities by the means of mental Prayer Before him were known the several heads of Meditation concerning the end for which we were Created the Enormity of Sin the Pains of Hell the Life and Death of our Saviour but this we may say that before him there was not a certain and prefix'd method for the reformation of manners To him we owe this method and he it was who enlightned by God after a manner altogether new in a methodical way reduc'd as it were into a holy Art the conversion of a sinner Knowing of one side the perverse inclinations of the Heart of Man and on the other the power and vertue which such particular truths of Christianity duly appli'd have to rectifie them he has set down a way by which Man with the succour of grace may recover out of his sin and climb to the highest degree of perfection In effect if we look near into the matter there is as much difference between the common Meditations and these Exercises as between the knowledge only of simples and the entire Art of Physick which has its principles and aphorisms for the cure of Diseases according to the constitution of Bodies the nature of the Distempers and the quality of the Remedies But to the end the reality of what I say may appear I will here set down the whole Order and Scheme of St. Ignatius his Spiritual Exercises They begin by a very important Meditation which is the ground work on which the whole Frame is built and therefore is called the Beginning or Foundation of the Exercises The scope of this Fundamental Meditation is to weigh and duly consider the end for which we are born and plac'd here upon Earth Whether it be to enjoy the pleasure of our Senses to grow Rich to acquire Glory learn unprofitable Sciences or whether it be to Serve and Obey our Lord and God whose Creatures we are And when our understanding is fully possest of this Truth that our Eternal Salvation wholly and solely depends upon loving and serving him we must then draw this consequence That the things of this World are no otherwise to be sought or enjoy'd then as they conduce to the honoring and serving God Moreover whereas such things as are only means to some end are to be considered and valued not by their own intrinsick worth but for their fitness and tendency to such End It necessarily follows that we ought to judge of Riches and Poverty of a High and a Low Condition of Health and Sickness not according to the Good or Evil which they bring us in this present Life but according to the Advantages or Hindrances we receive from them in order to Eternity Hence again it will follow That we ought to be perfectly indifferent in reference to these things so that we are not to desire Health more then Sickness to prefer Riches above Poverty Honour above Contempt nor a long Life above a short one And in the Last place we are to conclude That if we must determine our Choice on the one side more then on the other we must choose that which most directly leads to our End It is hardly credible how much this grand verity well weigh'd and comprehended doth enlighten and stir up the Soul of a sinner be he never so blind and obstinate For provided he be a little remov'd out of the noise and hurry of company and business it makes him look upon the World with other Eyes then he did and shews him the fatal mistake of Worldlings who place their happiness in Creatures and thereby throughly awakes him out of his former Lethargy Being possest and convinc'd of this Essential Principle we are next to consider what it is that puts us out of the way to our End In order to this St. Ignatius proposeth to us Meditations upon sin And first of the fall of the Angels who were cast down from Heaven into the bottom of Hell for one sin of Pride next of the Transgression of the first Man who was banish'd out of Paradice He and his Posterity condemn'd to so many Evils for his Disobedience and Lastly of so many Millions that are Eternally lost and doom'd to the Torments of Hell for sins less Enormous then our own But in regard our main business is to remedy our own disorders it is necessary for us to have a sufficient knowledge of them Wherefore the Saint leads us from the general consideration of sin to a particular Discussion and Examination of our own Conscience To the End that looking throughly into the state of our whole Life we may find out all our enormities and deviations which have set us at distance and at enmity with God but further because the knowledge of our Trangressions would have no great effect upon us if we did not rightly apprehend how shameful and criminal they are St. Ignatius directs that in the Second Meditation of Sins we should consider how ugly and infamous in their own Nature they are and would be altho they were not forbid And to the end this consideration may have its full force to shew us how infinitly Heinous they are He bids us set before our Eyes the Immense distance between the Greatness and Glory of God and our Wretchedness and Lowness These past Considerations tho Powerful and Weighty are not yet sufficient to inspire into a worldly Soul all the Compunction that is necessary There must
require That if he feels Devotion upon any Article he should not pass on to another till such time as that Pious affection be fully satisfyed That if he falls into a dryness and Irksomness far from shortning the time prefixt for his Prayer he should somewhat lengthen it beyond the usual bounds So to master his Reluctancy and to overcome himself waiting with silence and Humility the comfortable visit of the Holy Spirit That if on the contrary he be fill'd with Spiritual Gusts and consolations at that moment he should not engage himself in any vow especially if the vow be Perpetual and such as obligeth to a change of State of life That in conclusion he should open himself to his director in these Exercises and give him an exact Account of all that passes in his Interior to the end that such Director may treat the Penitent conformably to his dispositions and necessity and that he may not instil too much fear into a pusillanimous soul nor too much Confidence into a Soul inclining to presumption and least he should mistake and aim to bring a Sinner to the height of perfection before he is Purg'd of his vicious habits It follows from all that I have now set down that the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius exactly perform what they promise in the beginning of the Book which is to conduct a Soul in such manner that she may overcome her self and choose a state of Life tending best to her Salvation after she has cleans'd her self from those deprav'd inclinations which may corrupt her Judgement in making her Choice In this Book which I now speak of St. Ignatius has also inserted the particular Examen of the Conscience not to say any thing of the General Examen with the five points so common at present and so little us'd before him This particular Examen which he has invented and which he reckon'd among the surest means to reform a worldly Soul consists in taming that Vice which most raigns in us and in setting upon it singly by its self and in continual fighting against it by a Constant watch upon our selves that we may at no time yeild to it by a contrite returning to God as often as we fall by it By an exact computation of our Falls even to the setting them down by making little Marks upon so many Lines which are drawn to Correspond with every day in the week as may be seen in the Book it self to the end that comparing day to day and week to week we may easily see the Progress we have made We are not to discontinue this practise till the bad Habit which we propose to overcome be quite destroy'd and when we have compass'd it we are then to undertake another Vice in the same way I will not stop here to confute the Imaginations of a certain unknown Writer who fancying that the Founder of the Jesuits had taken his Exercises out of a Book of Don Garcias de Cisneros Religious of St. Benets Order and Abbot of Montserrat has Printed on the Subject a Libel under the Name of Don Constantine Cayetan Abbot of Mont Cassin For besides that the Congregation of Mont Cassin has disavow'd the Author and the writing in a General Chapter of the Order held at Ravenna in the Year 1644 and that the same was done in the Year following by the Benedictines of Portugal the two Books themselves are every where to be seen and they will best decide the Point that Bating the Titles there is no resemblance at all of one with the other But to return to our History the Fruits of Ignatius his Apostolical Discourses and of his Spiritual Exercises were so great in Manreza that they more and more drew upon him the praises and admiration of the People He could not endure that they should so esteem him in a place whither he had retir'd only to avoid the esteem of men Wherefore he resolv'd to Leave Manreza after more then a ten months continuance there Besides the Plague being now abated at Barcelona and the Commerce of the Sea beginning to be open he had an extreme Impatience to proceed towards the Holy Land At the beginning of his Conversion he only intended by this Pilgrimage to honor those places consecrated by the Presence and Blood of Jesus Christ But now he undertook it with an ardent desire to procure according to his ability the conversion of the Scismaticks and Infidels He did not leave Manreza with so much Privacy as he did Montserrat he declar'd his journey to his Friends but did not tell them what he design'd to do in Palestine It cannot be Imagin'd how much this news did trouble them They conjur'd him with tears in their Eyes not to abandon them They represented to him the Fatigue and the danger of so long a journey But neither their Intreaties nor their reasons could stop him a moment Many offer'd to accompany him all presented him their Purse He would take neither Companion nor money that he might have no comfort but from God and no dependance but on Providence And he said to those who were instant with him to make some Provision of necessaries for his Journey that a perfect relyance upon Heaven was all things that we are not Christians only by Faith and by Charity but also by Hope which vertue could not be perfectly exercis'd but in the want of all things THE LIFE OF St. IGNATIVS The Second BOOK IGnatius being come to Barcelona found in the Haven a Brigantine and a great Ship both which prepared for their Voyage into Italy He was upon the point of Imbarquing in the Brigantine because that Vessel was likely to part soonest but God who had a care of his Servant chang'd his Design which happen'd in this manner A very vertuous Lady call'd Isabella Rosella hearing one day a Sermon chanc'd to cast her eyes upon Ignatius who was placed at the foot of the Altar amongst the Children she thought she saw his Countenance inviron'd with light and heard a Voice which cry'd Call him call him However she contain'd her self at that time from saying any thing fearing it might be an Illusion But when she came home she spake to her Husband of it both of them were of opinion to examine what it might be wherefore they immediately sent to find out the Pilgrim who was still in the Church In design of honoring our Saviour in the person of a poor Man they oblig'd him to eat with them at their Table and to sound him they put him upon a Discourse of Piety Ignatius who was ignorant of their Design spoke of the things of Heaven so feelingly and so sublimely that they were convinc'd he was a Man of God Fain they would have had him make his abode with them but he declar'd that he was call'd by Heaven to another Place and that he only waited the departure of the Vessels to leave Spain The Lady who understood by him that he had
General of the Society he ordered that they should not read the Books of Erasmus or at least not without great precaution To keep alive his first fervour he often read the Imitation of Christ Looking upon it to be a book next to the Gospel most full of the Spirit of God But if sometimes divine Consolations with which God often favour'd him were lessen'd in him he comforted himself with the fruit which he expected from his studies and well distinguishing between Driness and Tepidity he was wont to say that the loss of spiritual gusts caus'd by study purely follow'd for the Glory of God was better worth then all the delights of sensible Devotion provided the heart be replenisht with the Love of God In this manner it t was his Principle care to maintain the interior Spirit which grows slack and is dissipated by study when it is not establisht upon solid vertue For this reason his health being now mended since his return from the Holy Land he renew'd his Austerities which the weakness of his stomack and the hardships of the Journey had caus'd him to intermit But he did nothing without the advice of his Confessor and far from permitting himself to be transported by his Devotion he retrencht part of his seven hours of prayer to have more leasure for his study Following the light which he then had that we may and ought in some occasions leave God for God Whereas he had now form'd a Model of outward Conversation conformable to that of Jesus Christ not to scare or estrange the People from him nor to distinguish himself by any extraordinary Habit he would not take to his Sackcloth again nor to his Iron chain but was contented to wear a hair shirt under a very poor Cassock of the Alms which Isabella Rosella and other devout persons bestow'd upon him he reserv'd to himself no more then was precisely necessary to live and parted the rest among the poor to whom he always gave the best of every thing Insomuch that Agnes Pascal a devout woman with whom he lodg'd and where probably he was placed by Isabella Rosella astonisht at the little Care which Ignatius took of himself reprehended him one day for keeping still the worst for his own use And what would you do Reply'd Ignatius If Jesus Christ should ask of you an Alms Could you find in your heart to give him the worst The Son of Agnes call'd John Pascal a Sober and devout Youth would rise sometimes in the night to observe what Ignatius did in his chamber and sometimes he saw him upon his knees sometimes prostrate upon the ground his Countenance always inflam'd and often in tears He thought once that he saw him elevated from the ground and surrounded with Light He often heard him deeply to sigh and in the heat of his Prayer these words usually came from him O God my Love and the delight of my Soul if men did know thee they would never offend thee my God how good art thou to bear with such a sinner as I am This is that Pascal who being afterwards Marry'd told his Children that if they knew what he had seen of Ignatius they would never leave kissing the Floor and the Walls of the Chamber where the Servant of God did Lodge And in saying this Tears would come from his Eyes he would knock his Breast and accuse himself for having so little profited by the Company of so holy a Man Ignatius while he endeavour'd his own perfection did not neglect that of his Neighbour At those hours which were not employ'd in Study he made it his Business to withdraw Souls from Vice by Examples or by edifying Discourses This his Zeal did very much appear upon an important Occasion There was out of the Town between the new Gate and the Gate of St. Daniel a famous Monastery of Nuns call'd The Monastery of the Angels this Name did not very well agree with those Religious They liv'd in a great libertinage and abating their Habit were perfect Curtisans Ignatius could not without horror see such abomination in a holy Place notwithstanding he judg'd that how violent soever the Disease was violent Remedies would have no good effect and that whereas Religious Persons who have forsaken God are more difficult to be Converted then those of the World they are to be manag'd with greater caution and tenderness In order hereunto he frequented the Church of the Monastery of the Angels making it the constant Place of his Devotions where he every day made his four or five hours of Prayer upon his Knees and receiv'd the Sacrament of the Priest who Serv'd that Church call'd Puygalte who was a Man of good life and to whom he communicated his Design The regular and constant Devotions of Ignatius with his great modesty and recollection rais'd a curiosity in the Nuns to know who he was Wherefore they desir'd to speak with him and after many idle Questions concerning his Country his Condition and the like which Ignatius endeavour'd to elude by general Answers as well as he could He at last turn'd his Discourse upon the Excellency and the Duties of a Religious state of Life He much insisted upon the Purity which Jesus Christ requires in his Spouses and represented to them the dishonor done him by their Infidelity But he spoke to them with such energy and sweetness together and gain'd upon them so much in this first Conference that they desir'd to hear him again He came to them many days together and finding them dispos'd to follow his Advice he engag'd them by degrees to meditate upon the first Verities of his spiritual Exercises In process of time they were so touch'd with Compunction that changing their Conduct they shut up their Doors and quite broke off the scandalous Commerce which they formerly had with the Men of the Town This change enrag'd some of the Youngsters who most us'd to haunt the Monastery and they resolv'd to revenge themselves on him whom they found out to be the Author of it One day when Ignatius return'd from the Monastery with the Priest Puygalte two Moorish Slaves set upon them near the Gate of St. Daniel and Bastinado'd them almost to death In effect Puygalte dy'd few days after and Ignatius was left in a manner dead upon the place But coming a little to himself after the Assassins were gone and not being able to stand upon his Legs he was reliev'd by a charitable Passenger who set him upon his Horse His Bruises and Pains had so weaken'd him that his Friends despair'd of his life Many Persons of Quality who honor'd him as the Apostle of Barcelona according to the Testimony of John Pascal came to see him as soon as they heard of his Disaster and among the rest a Daughter of the Conde de Palamos who was Wife to Don John de Riquesens This Lady no less illustrious for her Piety then for her Birth who had a particular affection for the Servant
believ'd that by their Intrigues and their Credit they had stopt the Course of Justice as fearing a bad Issue of their Cause That which the more induc'd him to sollicit for a Sentence was that he might once-for-all justifie himself also of those Accusations at Alcala Paris and Venice I know said he Writing to Signior Peter Contarini that in so doing we shall not silence bad Tongues nor am I so ill-advis'd as to pretend to it We only intend to save the Honor of Religion which is in some manner joyn'd with our own It doth not much concern us that they make us pass for Unlearned or for Men of a bad Life but that the Doctrine which we Preach should pass for Heterodox in the Minds of the People and that the way in which we conduct Souls should be esteem'd the way of Perdition is that which we cannot permit without betraying our Ministry since it is the very Doctrine and the very way of Jesus Christ Tho' this Enterprize which Ignatius laid so much to heart was very just and did not appear very difficult yet he found Obstacles on all sides The Governor a just but a weak Man who was afraid of drawing Enemies upon himself if he should shew too much favour to Ignatius neither daring to grant nor to refuse his Request spun out the matter in length On the other side the Cardinal Legat was not of opinion that the Business should be farther prosecuted and there wanted not those even among the Companions of Ignatius whose Sentiments did not agree with his upon this Matter They said it was enough for them to be found innocent and that any thing more would have an Ayre of Revenge which might disedifie the People These Oppositions did not startle Ignatius no less jealous of his Honor when the Interest of Religion requir'd it then greedy of Reproch and Ignominy in other occasions Tir'd with the put-offs of the Governor and despairing of ever obtaining any thing from him he thought the shortest and most secure way would be to address himself immediately to the Pope who return'd to Rome while these things were transacted and was gone to pass part of the Autumn at Frascati to rest himself after his Journey from Provence Thither Ignatius went to him and the Justice of his Cause gave him so much assurance that he neither look'd out for a Mediator nor an Introductor The Pope had no sooner heard the Reasons of Ignatius but he order'd the Governor to give him content The Governor obey'd and after having caus'd the Book of Spiritual Exercises to be Examin'd he drew up a Sentence according to Form which contain'd great Commendations of the Accused and intirely clear'd them Ignatius sent Copies of the Sentence round about even as far as Spain but the unhappy Destiny of his Enimies did yet farther vindicate him Navarr liv'd miserably and agitated with remorse of his Conscience Barrera dy'd a few days after of a violent Disease Mudarra and Castilla were both accus'd of Heresie the first was condemn'd to perpetual Imprisonment and the other who appear'd more obstinate to be burnt As for the Piedmont Fryar he fled from Rome to Geneva and there declar'd himself openly an Heretick and moreover wrote a violent Book against the Church of Rome Entitled The Summary of Scripture In conclusion the Impieties of this Apostate came to such an excess that falling at last into the hands of the Inquisition he ended his life at the Stake Our ten holy Strangers having recover'd their Honor began to appear again in publick and there was presented to them an occasion of succouring their Neighbour which they were careful to take hold of The Winter at Rome was at that time exceeding sharp and there was so great a Dearth that many of the Common People almost famish'd lay up and down in the Streets having hardly strength enough to ask for Relief Tho' Ignatius and his Companions who liv'd only upon Alms felt their share of the Famine however they undertook upon the Fund of Providence to relieve these poor Wretches They all set their hands to take them up in the Streets and carry'd them on their Backs into the House where of late they Lodg'd themselves They give their Beds to the weakest among them and accommodate the rest as well as they can with Straw laid upon the Ground The Providence on which they reckon'd did not fail them They receiv'd so great a Supply of Meat and Money all at a time that they had wherewithal not only to feed above Four hundred Persons but also to clothe the most necessitous who were almost starv'd both with Cold and Hunger The Charity of Ignatius and his Companions drew a great many Spectators Some who came only out of curiosity to see what they did being mov'd at the sight stript themselves of part of their Garments to clothe the half-naked who were not yet provided of Clothes And many Persons of Quality rais'd a Stock for the subsistance of three or four thousand Persons whom Famine had reduc'd to extreamest misery But the care of Ignatius was not confin'd to the relief of their Bodies he also instructed those poor Wretches in all the Duties of Christianity he made them Pray orderly every day together and engag'd them to make their Confessions While these things were doing Ignatius who had the Benedictions and Praises of all Rome and was call'd the Father of the People thought it expedient to make use of so favourable a Conjuncture for the Execution of his Design Having made an Abstract of the Institute which he and his Companions had form'd he Presented it to Paul the Third by the Mediation of Cardinal Gaspar Contarini The Pope receiv'd the Writing very satisfactorily and gave it immediately to be Examined to Thomas Badia then Magister Sacrae Palatiae and afterwards made Cardinal of St. Silvester Badia kept it by him two Months after which time he brought it back to his Holiness declaring that he found nothing in it but what was very commendable The Pope read it himself and 't is said that after reading it he cry'd The Finger of God is here Ignatius at the same time besought his Holiness that he would be pleas'd Authentically to Confirm what he had already vouchsafed to approve by word of Mouth Tho' Paul the Third stood well enough inclin'd yet he would do nothing in it without the advice of three Cardinals Of whom the first and principal was Bartholomew Guidiccione a Man of great merit and so worthy of the Papacy that when he dy'd the Pope said His Successor was dead but of so austere Vertue and so much an Enemy to Novelties of all kinds that far from approving new Religious Orders he thought that some of the old ones should rather be supprest and all of them reduc'd only to four His zeal in this matter went so far that he set out a Book with his Reasons for it which were grounded upon the
Joan as to hold forth That in this Coming of Jesus Christ which according to his Predictions was to happen in few years she should be the Redeemeress of Women as Jesus Christ was to be the Redeemer of Men and he compos'd a Book on this Subject Entituled De Virgine Veneta As we wander without end when we leave the straight Line of Truth and whereas Fanaticism borders upon Phrenzy Postel publish'd in his other Books That all Sects should be saved by Jesus Christ That the greatest part of the Mysteries of Christianity were only Fables That the Angel Raphael had reveal'd to him the Divine Secrets and that his Writings were the Dictates of Jesus Christ himself So many Impieties would perhaps have cost him his Life if he had not been judg'd Distracted He was shut up for his Extravagances and remain'd several years in Prison at last he made his escape and after having a long while roam'd about he return'd into France by the way of Geneva more Libertine and more Extravagant then ever Yet at last it pleas'd God to give him his Wits and the Grace to acknowledge his Impieties in an extream old Age and to die in the Communion of the Church It is said that he liv'd an hundred years and that about the end of his days he in a manner grew young again so that his white Hairs return'd to be black About the time that Father Ignatius Expell'd Doctor Postel his Holiness Paul the Third who ever since his Promotion still had it in his thoughts to remedy the Evils of Christendom and who had lately made Peace between the Emperor and the King of France demanded two Divines of the Society who should Assist in his Name with his Legats at the General Council to be held at Trent The Father chose James Laynez and Alphonsus Salmeron both of them indeed very young the first being Four and thirty and the other but Thirty years old but both of them so Learned and so Instructed in the Matters of Religion that the old Divines look'd upon them as their Masters Laynez whom the Venetians obtain'd from the time that the Institute was first Approv'd by the Holy See was Employ'd over the whole State of the Signiory and the chief of his Business was to preserve Venice Padua and the other Towns from the Errors of Germany where they had insensibly crept in Salmeron did the same at Modena whither after his return from Ireland he had been call'd by the Cardinal John Moron Bishop of the Town into which Place those new Heresies had also found their way Tho' Father Ignatius did much relie upon the Vertue both of the one and the other yet the fear he had least the Title of The Pope's Divines in the most August Assembly of the World should a little dazle Men so young oblig'd him to give them before their departure some Advertisements and Instructions for their Conduct After recommending to them in general to seek in all things during the Council the greatest Glory of God and the common Good of the Church without neglecting their Neighbours Souls and their own Perfection he prescribes to them in Particular these following Rules Always to give their Opinions with modesty and in those occasions to shew more Humility then Learning To observe with great attention the Sentiments and Reasons of those who first Opine that afterwards they may either speak or be silent as the Matter requires When any Points are Debated always to set forth the Reasons on both sides that they may not appear wedded to their own Judgment and never to quote any living Author for a Guarrantie of their Opinions that they may not seem to be ty'd up to any Man's Judgment To Visit Hospitals at least every Fourth day to Catechize Children to Preach Pennance to the People but without touching in their Sermons upon any Point of Controversie which may perplex their Understandings but only in general exhorting them to submit their Judgments to the Decisions of the Church Lastly to excite their Auditors incessantly to pray for the good success of the Council This farther Advertisement he gives them That as in the Assemblies where Questions of Faith are Treated a moderate and concise Discourse is most suitable so when they come into the Chair they should be more diffuse and vehement He afterwards declar'd to them that these Directions did as well regard Claude le Jay who was at that time in Germany much employ'd in making head against the Hereticks and whom Cardinal Otho Bishop of Ausburg was upon sending to Trent in Quality of his Divine and of his Legat. He added That when they should be all three together they should live in a perfect Concord without interfering in Opinions and Judgments That every Night they should confer upon what had pass'd that Day and deliberate every Morning upon what they had to do the rest of the Day That they should let slip no occasion of doing good Offices to every body and to themselves in admonishing one another of their Faults in not leaving any thing uncorrected and in mutually animating one another to lead an unblameable Life The satisfaction which Father Ignatius had to see the Council open'd at last after so many Lets and Delays was much allay'd by the Misunderstanding then happening between the Pope and the King of Portugal which arose upon the account of the famous Michael de Silva This Portuguez descended from the Illustrious House of the Counts de Portalegre and Son of Don Diego de Silva who had been Governor to the King Don Emanuel having resided a long time with the Popes Leo the Tenth Adrian the Sixth and Clement the Seventh was call'd back from his Embassy of Italy by Don John the Third Successor to Don Emanuel and provided at his return not only with the Bishoprick of Viseu but also with the Office of Protonotury of Secretary of the Kingdom He was afterwards nominated Cardinal by Paul the Third who had known him in the former Pontificates Whereas his Promotion was properly the Work of Cardinal Alexander Farnesius his Friend and the Pope's Nephew Portugal being wholly a Stranger to it it shockt the King who would not have his Subjects owe their Preferment to any but himself So that this Prince would never be induc'd to give way that the Bishop of Viseu should receive his Cap. The Bishop perswaded that Princes do not easily recede and that having lost the good Graces of his Master he had more yet to fear departed secretly out of Portugal and went into Italy whither Fortune seem'd to call him Being come to Rome he was made Cardinal with great Solemnity and his Disgrace in Portugal joyn'd with his great Merit were the occasion of extraordinary Honors done him The King irritated with the Flight and with the Reception of the Bishop began his Resentment by depriving him of the Revenue of his Bishoprick and by forbidding his Subjects under grievous Penalties to
the Pope to bestow upon him a Cardinal's Cap for which his Holiness needed no great Solicitation for he had seen Father Francis the Year before and was so edified with his Vertue that even then he had it in his thoughts to make him a Cardinal So that now he resolv'd to comply with the Emperor and the Matter was resolv'd with the general Approbation of the sacred Colledge Father Ignatius being inform'd of the Pope's Resolution thought himself oblig'd to oppose it for the Interest of the Society and for the Honor of Father Francis whom the World would not fail to reproach with having resign'd his Dukedom of Gandia to his Son in prospect of a Cardinal's Cap. But the better to find out the Will of Heaven in a Matter so nice and so important he shut himself up three days together and communicated only with God in Prayer The first day he found himself altogether indifferent without inclining more on one side then on the other The second day he felt a propension in himself rather to break the Design then to let it go on But the third day he was so convinc'd that it was not the Will of God to have Father Francis made a Cardinal that he said to an intimate Friend If all the World should throw themselves at my Feet to beg of me not to oppose the Promotion of Father Francis I would not desist In effect notwithstanding all the Intreaties of the Emperor's Ministers and of those who pretended Zeal for the Honor of the House of Borgia he would not relent He began his Solicitation by interessing those Cardinals in the Matter who were best instructed in the Nature of his Institute but finding that they more consider'd the Honor of the Sacred Colledge then the Advantage of the Society and the Reputation of Father Francis he apply'd himself immediately to the Pope and ply'd him with so many strong Arguments that his Holiness was forc'd to yield The truth is that he found an Expedient to content the Court of Rome and the Court of Spain and also to do Honor to Father Francis without doing wrong to the Society which was That the Pope should offer him the Cap but that if the Father did refuse it his Holiness should not compel him to take it The thing was Executed as Ignatius had laid it And the Cap of which the Offer was sent to Father Francis in his Solitude at Ogniate no otherwise pleas'd him then in giving him an occasion of Sacrificing to God the Dignities of the Church after his having made a Sacrifice to him of the Grandeurs of the World The Conduct of Father Ignatius and the Example of Father Francis caus'd a Resolution in Don Antonio de Cordoua to enter into the Society He was the Son of Laurence Suarez de Figueroa Conde de Feria and of Catherine Fernandez de Cordoua Being young and very well accomplish'd he made himself a Churchman only upon the Motives of Piety Philip Prince of Spain who particularly lov'd him desir'd the Emperor to procure for him a Cardinal's Cap. Charles the Fifth did what the Prince desir'd but Don Antonio resolving wholly to leave the World by the Example of his Cousin Borgia thought the surest way to avoid the Honor which was prepar'd for him would be to shelter himself in the Society of Jesus as in a Sanctuary He writ a long Letter to Father Ignatius upon this Subject in which after having laid open the Motives of his Vocation Father he said to him since God has placed you in his Church to be the Refuge of those who are out of their way I desire you to receive me into the number of your Children The young Lord was receiv'd and in time became one of the greatest Men of the Society THE LIFE OF St. IGNATIVS The Fifth BOOK WHereas Father Ignatius secluded his Order from Ecclesiastical Dignities upon the only Motive of better Serving the Church accordingly his thoughts were always watchful to observe and relieve the Necessities of Christianity and his Care extended it self even to the remotest Parts of the World But his principal Consideration was of the Northern Countries desolated by Heresie The greatest part of Germany had in a manner quite lost their ancient Piety the Books of Hereticks were every where scatter'd and every where read with Impunity And the younger sort out of those poyson'd Fountains drew their first Principles of Religion The greatest part of the Catholicks could not endure the Name of Papist given them by the Protestants and grew almost asham'd of their Profession The Priests and the Religious were in great disorder and notwithstanding the Zeal of many Bishops for the Reformation of their Diocesses they could hardly find sufficient Curates to whom they might confide the Care and Government of Souls Father Ignatius Discoursing one day upon this Subject with Cardinal Moron they were both of Opinion that the only way to remedy so many Evils was to place in all Churches Pastors found in their Doctrine and unstain'd in their Life which should be of the German Nation but that it was necessary in the first place to have them well Form'd and Train'd which could not be done without Founding a Colledge where the young Men of the Country might be Educated in Learning and Piety That Germany being generally perverted there could be no Security there for the Establishing such a Colledge and that a properer Place could not be chosen then Rome where not to speak of the holiness of the Place which would inspire Catholick Sentiments the Presence and the Liberality of Popes would much conduce to the rise and support of so good a Work The Pope to whom Cardinal Moron and Cardinal Santa Croce first open'd this Matter very much approv'd this Design which he himself had formerly conceiv'd in his thoughts and gave a beginning to it by assigning a Fund for the Maintenance of the Colledge After which he order'd Father Ignatius not only to seek out and chuse young Students out of Germany but also to Govern and to Instruct them The Father immediately gather'd together Four and twenty out of several Provinces of Germany all of good Capacity and Education He afterwards by the Pope's Order drew up Rules and Statutes for their Government He appointed Fathers out of the Casa Professa and the Roman Colledge to be their Directors and Masters but with the management of their Revenue he would have nothing to do He said that such Administrations besides the fatigue and trouble of them often give occasion of suspicions and murmurings The principal Revenue of the German Colledge failing upon the death of Julius the Third Father Ignatius was in some apprehension lest the Colledge should break by reason of the Dearth then at Rome and of the Disturbances in Italy under the Pontificate of Paul the Fourth He therefore distributed a part of these young Strangers into several Colledges of the Society abroad and the rest he
easily believ'd false Reports He himself was newly again accus'd in Spain for teaching Heretical Doctrine in his Book of Spiritual Exercises and his Accuser was an Ecclesiastick instigated by Melchior Cano who still had rancor in his Heart against the Society but hid himself behind the Curtain fearing the Displeasure of the Court of Spain where the Jesuits had Credit Tho' the Book of Exercises which was Printed with the Bull of Paul the Third ought to have been protected from Calumny by the Bull it self yet there were those who put it into the hands of the Inquisitors and labour'd to get it Censur'd Good Men thought this Proceeding neither Equitable nor Catholick The Doctors of Salamanca who were consulted upon it unanimously took upon them the Defence of the Holy See and of Father Ignatius and among the rest Bartholomew Torrez so famous for his Learning and Vertue He it was who writ a very Learned Book upon the Mystery of the Trinity and who was made Bishop of Canary after his Return out of England whither Philip Prince of Spain going to Espouse Queen Mary carry'd him with other Divines solidly to Establish among the English the Catholick Faith Torrez writ several Papers upon this Subject of the Exercises the principal of which you have here Translated God is my Witness that nothing could be asked of me more to my satisfaction then to tell my Opinion concerning the Spiritual Exercises of the Society of Jesus For I desire that all the World should know what I think of them in the sincerity of my Heart and in the Presence of God And in the first place lest any body should imagine that Interest makes me speak I declare that I am no Jesuit tho' I ought to have been of this Society or of some other Holy Order if I had a true zeal for the good of my Soul Next I declare that altho' I may be perhaps the least capable of all the Doctors yet I have knowledge enough to answer the Question propos'd to me For besides that I have formerly Entertain'd Ignatius in Salamanca I have since familiarly been acquainted with his Disciples Moreover I have attentively Examin'd the Tendency and the Spirit of this Order continually observing their manner of Life and judging of their Institute by their Actions which cannot long deceive I say therefore that from the time I first knew the Society of Jesus to this day I never have perceiv'd any Error or Crime truly such in any one Person among them I farther say that for the Spiritual Exercises no body can make a true Estimate of them who has not himself made them For whereas their Design is to establish Vertue in the Soul and to purge it of Vices they are not to be sensibly understood but by the Practice and Experience of them I have my self seen Learned Men who could not comprehend them tho' the Matter contain'd in them be clear and Orthodox and Extracted out of the Scriptures and holy Fathers and yet all those who have try'd them understand them without difficulty So that there is great difference between the Sciences learnt in Schools and the Science of the Saints which besides acquir'd Knowledge requires the Exercise of Prayer and of interior Vertues I declare that I have made these Exercises at Alcala and I speak it in the Presence of God that in the space of thirty years all which time I have spent in the Study of Divine Sciences and a good part of it in teaching Divinity I never profited so much in true Knowledge as I did in the few days of that Retirement If this shall seem strange to any Learned person who is not of my Opinion I only desire him to make Experience of it himself Let him but do what I have done and he will think what I think The Reason is clear for what I say of my self I Studyed Divinity that I might be able to teach others but I made the Exercises that I might live well my self Now there is a great deal of difference between knowing how to explicate a Question and how to practice a Vertue Moreover I have known many persons that have made these Exercises and I have ingag'd many of my Scholars both Religious and Secular to make them and I never knew one that did not reap great Spiritual advantages from them and who did not openly declare that they infinitely valu'd that little Book Might it please God that such a Treasure were esteem'd by men as it deserves for in fine whereas Prayer and Meditation are of so high a price we may in a short time advance more in them by the Method which these Exercises prescribe then we can in many years and with great Labour by any other way Now if any one desires to know precisely what these Exercises are they consist in Attentively and Sedately considering the verities of Faith the Benefits and Commandments of God the Life and Death of Jesus Christ and also in making an exact review of our Life past and in well regulating our Conscience for the future It is not to be wonder'd after all this if the Enemy of Mankind doth his utmost endeavour to abolish so holy a practice and we may judge by all these Contradictions that the work it self is Divine I also declare that the Holy See having approv'd the Exercises and his Holiness having by his Bull Exhorted the Faithful to make them no wise Man no good Christian can averr that they contain Errors And I doubt not but that if the Society which suffers contumely with Joy for the love of Jesus Christ should bring their Enemies before the Tribunal of the Inquisition that Court would severely punish them For my own part I declare that it is not lawful for any person to charge a Book with Heresie which is Printed with Approbation and Authority from the Holy See nor to prosecute the Censure or condemnation of it Such as shall find in it any thing that is difficult and obscure to them ought to content themselves with asking to have it explain'd and made clear to them But for the Doctrine contain'd in it I averr it to be Sound and Orthodox and that such Propositions as are contrary to those laid down in the Book are so many Errors The Testimony of Torrez was of great weight and gave a check to the Prosecution but the indirect proceeding of Cano finally concluded it This Enemy once so declar'd and now conceal'd seeing that the Doctors of Salamanca oppos'd his designs endeavor'd to ingage Mancio on his side one of the most famous Persons of his Order who taught Divinity in the University of Alcala That he might securely gain the suffrage of this Divine against the Exercises of the Society he put a Copy of them in Manuscript into his hands where something was thrust in which was not in the Printed Books The Divine perus'd the written Copy very exactly and declar'd that he found nothing in
of Grief In the mean time they press'd Father Ignatius to take something in hope that it might be only some faint Fit upon him but he told them in a dying Voice that there was no more occasion for it and with his Hands joyn'd and his Eyes lifted up to Heaven pronouncing the Name of JESUS he quietly Expir'd an hour after Sun-rising It was upon a Friday the last of July in the Year 1556. He was Sixty five years old He dy'd Thirty five years after his Conversion and Sixteen after the Society was Founded He saw it before his Death spread over the whole World and divided into twelve Provinces which altogether contain'd above a hundred Colledges He had the happiness to see it Crown'd with Martyrdom in the Persons of Father Antonio Criminale and of the Lay-Brothers Peter Correa and John de Sosa who were all three put to death for Religion by the Barbarians He was of a middle Stature rather low then tall of a brown Complexion Bald-headed his Eyes deep set and full of Fire his Forehead large and his Nose aquiline all Signs of Wisdom according to the Physiognomists He halted a little by reason of the Wound he receiv'd at the Siege of Pampelona but he so manag'd himself in walking that it was hardly perceiv'd His natural Temper was ardent and spritely in the highest degree and yet the Physicians judg'd him to be of a Phlegmatick Constitution for he had labor'd so long to overcome himself that he had quite suppress'd all the Propensions and Motions of his Nature In conclusion in his Person there was an Ayre so grave and so winning so noble and so modest all together that who only look'd upon him must judge him to be a great Man and a Saint THE LIFE OF St. IGNATIVS The Sixth BOOK AS dear as Father Ignatius was to his Children and as great need as yet they had of him his loss caus'd no trouble in them nor gave them any discouragement In loosing him they felt a certain inward joy springing from an assurance of his Eternal happiness which promis'd greater blessings to them then ever The day that the Servant of God departed this life Laynez was dangerously ill and in a manner given over by the Physicians yet he had his Sences perfect and by some words let fall by those about him he conjectur'd what they would have conceal'd from him For when some of the Ancient Fathers came to see him he said to them The Saint then is dead They confess'd it to him and the first thing that he did was to lift up his Eyes and his Hands to Heaven Then he pray'd to God by the Mediation of so Holy a Soul to set his at liberty that he might accompany his blessed Father and enjoy with him the happy repose which he hoped from the Divine Mercy Instead of obtaining what he ask'd he recover'd his health and probably by the means of the same Holy Saint who some years before had foretold him that he should be the second General of the Society Nor are we to wonder that Laynez in that manner did then recommend himself to Father Ignatius since even he was alive he always Honor'd him as a Saint and when he saw the Society so increase in the World in the mid'st of persecutions and every where to bring forth such good Fruits he us'd to say that Christ was so in love with the Soul of his Servant Ignatius that he could deny him nothing He was also wont to say that Father Faber a Man of great Spirit and Illumination was but a Novice and a mear Child in respect of Ignatius Faber himself was much more of the same opinion He always by his Letters open'd to him the state of his Soul as to his Spiritual Master he had recourse to him to be resolv'd in all his doubts and he propos'd him to all the World as a Model of Christian perfection His other first Companions had no less veneration for him then Laynez and Faber But the Apostle of the Indies and Japony Francis Xaverius amongst the admirors of St. Ignatius seems to challenge the first place His common way of writing to him was upon his Knees he call'd him the Father of his Soul and one of his Letters he thus superscib'd To my Father in Jesus Christ St. Ignatius All his discourse of him was in the same style and with his Companions of the Mission in the Indies the sanctity of Ignatius was the usual Theme of his Conversation So that whenever he did ingage them in any enterprize of difficulty he excited them to it by the love and reverence which they ow'd to their Father Ignatius In all his dangers by Sea and by Land he implor'd the succor of Heaven by the Merits of the holy Man Ignatius and in a Reliquary which he always carry'd about him he put the Signature of one of his Letters together with a Relique of St. Thomas the Apostle of the Indies This is what was related before the death of Ignatius by the Lay Brother Bernard of Japony who was the first Christian of that Island Baptiz'd by Xaverius and whom after he had admitted him into the Society he sent to Rome Father Lewis Gonzales who had a long and intimate Conversation with Father Ignatius constantly us'd to say that his Life was the Book of the Immitation of Christ reduc'd into practice It was not only amongst his own that the Founder of the Society of Jesus was Honor'd as a Saint all Rome gave him that Title and when his Death was known about the Town and common saying was The Saint is dead When his Body lay expos'd the People in crouds flock'd about it and he thought himself happy who could come near to see it and to kiss his Hands They all would have carry'd away with them some part of his Garment but the Fathers would not permit it He was bury'd in the Church of the Casa Professa at the foot of the High Altar on the Gospel side He had been open'd before he was laid forth and his Bowels were found in a manner dry'd up his Liver extreamly hard with three petrifi'd Cores in it which were marks and signs of an excessive Abstinence by the report of the Chirurgions that open'd him and amongst the rest of Realdus Columbus the most famous Anatomist of his time who speaks of it in his Book of Anatomy Father Benedict Palmio Preach'd his Funeral Sermon Amongst the Roman Ladies who were present the Wife of Signior Andrea Nerucci was possest during the Ceremony with a strong imagination that her Daughter who had the Kings-Evil might be cur'd by the Intercession of the holy Man whose Obsequies were then performing The Physicians after five Years fruitless endeavors judg'd the Disease to be incurable and the Lady was resolv'd to carry her Daughter into France where the Kings have the gift of curing that Malady She doubted not but if she could bring her
His Habit and Figure made them believe he was a Spie They examin'd him but not being able to draw a word out of him they stript him and carryed him in his shirt to their Captain The Remembrance of Jesus Christ expos'd naked to the Eyes of the Jews fortify'd Ignatius in an exigence of so great Humilitation But the fear of being tortur'd did a little terrifie him He began to think that if he did make himself known he could get clearly off at least that by speaking fairly and rationally to the officers they might hear reason and not treat him as a Spie But upon Reflection Judging these thoughts to be suggestions of a bad Spirit and Illusions of self Love he affected and immitated more then before the Stupidity of an Ideot He remain'd without motion in presence of the Captain casting down his Eyes and answering nothing to the Questions which the Officiers put to him He never spoke but when they ask'd him if he were a Spie then he readily answer'd No the Officer taking him to be a silly Poor Wretch was angry with the Soldiers that they could not distinguish a Spie from a natural Fool and Commanded them to give him his Cloaths again So that the semblance of an Ideot which out of the Love of Suffering and humilitation he took upon him was that which sav'd him and brought him off But the Souldiers before they parted with him us'd him very roughly both in words and blows being enrag'd for having had a Reprimand from the Captain upon his account The joy which Ignatius had in being us'd in the Camp of the Spaniards much after the same rate of Jesus Christ his usage in the Court of Herod hindred him almost from feeling the rude treatment of the Souldiers Yet among them there was one less Barbarous then the rest who out of Compassion lodg'd him that night and gave him meat Following on his way he fell into the Quarters of the French the officer to whom he was brought was a Basque a neighbour to the Province of Gypuscoa and a very Gallant Man He judg'd favourably of the Pilgrim by his Physiognomy And having learnt his Country he treated him very Civilly This diversity of entertainment confirm'd Ignatius in his relyance upon the Providence of God and in his resolution to receive from the hands of God with the same Equality comforts and Crosses At Genova he met Roderigues Portundo General of the Spanish Galleys who knew him They had seen one another at the Court of the Catholick King and were both of the same Country That which pleas'd Ignatius most was to meet a Ship ready to go for Spain in which he easily procur'd his passage by the Favour of Portundo The Pirates which haunt the Coasts of Genova gave chase to the Vessel and the Galleys of Andrea Doria who had embrac'd the French Interest did also pursue her but she scap'd both the one and the other and happily gain'd the Port of Barcelona Ignatius went immediately to see Jeronimo Ardebale who taught in the Grammar School and he Communicated to him his new design He imparted it also to Isabella Rosella who was infinitely glad to see him again and promis'd to supply him with all necessaries He was then thirty years old and had no natural propension for study for he had been train'd to Military Exercises from his Childhood as we have already seen and the love of Arms which before his Conversion had wholly possest him gave him a disgust to Latine in an Age when People of quality took Pride in their Ignorance There was little appearance of Success in beginning to Learn at that time of day a Language which is only well learnt in the years of Childhood On the other side a man wholly apply'd to the Practice of an interior life must find a great deal of difficulty to interrupt it with beating his brains about the Rules of Grammar However Ignatius fell to study the first Rudiments of the Latine Tongue and went every day to School with the little Children The desire he had of making himself useful to his Neighbour and the aim he took of Gods greater glory which he now Propos'd to himself for his only Rule made easie to him that Crabbed Task and overcame in him all his disgusts and repugnances But the enemy of the salvation of Mankind who foresaw where the Science of Ignatius would one day end us'd his Artifice to defeat the Pious design That Spirit of darkness which is sometimes transform'd into an Angel of Light continually instigated our new Schollar to Practices of Piety fill'd him with Consolations raised in him such tender sentiments for God that all the time of his study was spent in devout Aspirations Instead of conjugating the Verb Amo he made Acts of Love I Love thee my God said he you Love me to Love to be Lov'd and nothing more When he was in the School his thoughts flew up to Heaven and while his Master explicated the Rules of Grammar he was attentive to another Master within him who open'd to him the difficulties of Scripture and the Mysteries of Faith So that he learnt nothing or the little which he did learn was soon rub'd out of his Memory by other more lively and strong Idea's which he could not be rid of Had he stopt at appearances or follow'd the motions of self love he would have believ'd that God had only call'd him to the repose of a contemplative life and that study had been an Obstacle to perfection But considering the Matter according to that light which he had for the discernment of Spirits and regulating all things by the greater glory of God he had no difficulty to comprehend that the Malignant Spirit deceiv'd him He discover'd the temptation to Ardebale and carrying him one day along with him to the Church of St Mary of the Sea he fell down upon his knees ask'd him Pardon for his negligence and made a vow at the foot of the Altar to continue his studies with greater application He also intreated his Master to use him with severity when he did not perform his Task and to spare him no more then the least of his Schollars T is very marvilous that after Ignatius had in this manner combated the illusions of Hell they so absolutely vanish'd that they never return'd more Some Learned men counsel'd him to read the books of Erasmus Famous at that time over all Europe and amongst the rest the Christian Souldier as most proper for Piety and for the Purity of the Latine tongue He read him and also markt the Phrases and best ways of expression but he perceiv'd that the Reading this Author diminish'd in him his Devotion and that the more he read the less fervour he had in his Exercises of Piety By often experience finding this to be so he threw away the Book and conceiv'd so much horror of it that he would never read it more and when he came to be