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
makes a Reconcilation and doth other good Works He hinders the Incorporating the Barnabites the Somasques and the Theatines with the Society He condemns the Conduct of Miron and Gonzales He reprehends Laynez and how Laynez receives the Reprimand He keeps up Regular Discipline in the Colledge of Naples Troubles in the Province of Portugal and the General 's Conduct in quieting them The General overcomes great Oppositions He sends a Visitor into Portugal He gives Advice to the Provincial He moderates the Fervor of the Portuguez The Epistle of Obedience Two Missioners accus'd and justifi'd A new Persecution in Spain A Testimony in favor of the Exercises of Father Ignatius The King of Portugal demands of Father Ignatius a Patriarch and Bishop for Aethiopia The Fathers propos'd by the General oppose their Promotion The General engageth the three Fathers to submit The Geneal's Letter to the King of the Abyssins How the General treats Rodriguez He makes a Regulation for the Visits of Women He caus'd Rules of Behaviour to be publish'd The Pope incens'd against the Society The General appeases the Pope The Affection of Popes for the Society He hinders Laynez's being made a Cardinal The Confidence of Father Ignatius in the Providence of God The Society Persecuted in France The Decree of the Faculty of Divinity at Paris against the Jesuits The General will have no Answer made to the Decree He Confers with some Doctors of the Sorbon His Care for the Advancement of Learning in the Roman Colledge His Infirmities oblige him to give over Business He reserves to himself the Care of the Sick He Institutes the Prayers of Forty hours during the three last days of Carnivall He disposes himself to die The Contents of the Sixth Book Page 347. THe Effect which his Death produced The Judgment of the first Fathers of the Society concerning St. Ignatius He is honor'd as a Saint in Rome A Miracle wrought upon the Day of his Interment The Place where his Body lies and his Epitaph Testimonies of several Persons in Praise of St. Ignatius He is Reverenc'd by the People as a Saint The Prediction and the Apparition of St. Ignatius A miraculous Cure The Saint Religiously Reverenc'd by Cardinal Baronius The Pope orders Informations to be taken of Ignatius's Life His Gift of Prayer His Love towards God His Charity towards his Neighbor His Humility His Disengagement from the World His Command over his Passions His Reserv'dness in Speaking and how weighty hir Words His Constancy in what he undertook for God and his Greatness of Soul His Confidence in God His Prudence in Spiritual Matters His Beatification His Cononization THE LIFE OF St. IGNATIVS The First BOOK THE providence of God never appear'd more visibly in the preservation of his Church then in the last Century so fatal to Germany to England and to France by the Apostacy of Luther by the Schism of Henry the Eighth and by the pretended Reformation of Calvin As the manners of Men generally grow corrupt by the same degrees that they loose their Faith so were these new Heresies followed by a general licentiousness The People after they had revolted from the common Pastor of the Faithful Rebelled also against their Lawful Princes and having shaken off the Yoke of Ecclesiastical Obedience and of Allegiance to their Soveraigns they abandoned themselves to all those disorders which Men are capable of when they are govern'd by the Spirit of Lying Thus did Impiety ravage the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and in those places where Religion had been most flourishing Altars were prophan'd the use of Sacraments abolish'd the Evangelical Councils contemn'd and all Laws both Humane and Divine trampl'd under foot Then it was that Heaven rais'd up Ignatius of Loyola to serve and relieve the pressing necessities of the Christian World and it looks as if the Divine wisdom had intended specially to declare that very purpose by a concourse of Accidents then happening which could not be the product of meer chance For in the same year that Luther publickly maintain'd his Apostacy in the Dyet of Worms and retiring himself into his solitude of Alstat wrote a Book against Monastical Vows which made an infinity of Apostates Did Ignatius consecrate himself to God in the Church of Montserrat and in his retreat of Manreze write his spiritual Exercises which serv'd to form and model his own and to re-people all other Religious Orders At the very time that Calvin began to Dogmatize and gather Disciples in Paris Ignatius who was come thither to Study did in like manner assemble his company to declare War against the Enemies of the Catholick Faith And Lastly When Henry the Eighth first assum'd the Title of Head of the Church and Commanded all his Subjects under pain of Death to raze out the Name of the Pope from all their Papers and Books Did our new Patriark whose life I now write lay the Foundation of a Society devoted to the service of the Holy See Ignatius was born in the year 1491. in the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella and in that part of the Spanish Biscay which reacheth towards the Pyreneans and is at this day called Guipuscoa Don Bertram his Father Lord of Ognez and Loyola was of the Ancient Nobility in that Country and Head of a Family which had always enjoy'd the first charges and had produc'd many eminent Persons His Mother Marina Saez de Balde was of no less Illustrious an Extraction He was the last born of three Daughters and Eight Sons well shap'd of a temper inclining to choller his Aire and his Genius lofty and above all he had an ardent passion for Glory Tho he seemed outwardly something violent and haughty he was nevertheless in his conversation affable and obliging He was naturally Wise and in his first years a certain discretion was observ'd in him which had nothing of Childishness His Father who judged him proper for the Court sent him thither betimes and made him Page to the Catholick King Ferdinand took pleasure to see a Child so lively and rational and upon occasions gave him Marks of his good liking But young Ignatius was not of a humor to lead so unactive a life the Love of Glory and the Example of his Brothers who had signaliz'd themselves in the Army of Naples soon gave him a disgust of the Court and put thoughts of War in his head at an Age in which others only mind the plays of Children He declar'd his intentions to the Duke of Naiare Don Antonio Manrique Grandee of Spain his Kinsman and a particular friend to his Family The Duke who had a Martial Soul and was esteem'd one of the most accomplish'd Gentlemen of his time did not oppose the design of Ignatius He took care to have him well taught his Exercises and delighted himself in forming and instructing him in them Ignatius under so good a Master became in a short time capable of serving his Prince He pas'd through all the
the Head how he is to be qualifi'd the Form of his Election his Authority and all that which appertains to him Lastly the Tenth sets down several Means for the Preservation and Growth of the Society He wrote all his Constitutions in Spanish and Father John Plancus his Secretary Translated them into Latin They are fill'd with the Spiritual Unction of Grace which an attentive Reader may easily feel and an Apostolical Zeal is every where so diffus'd in them that in every Page and almost in every Line these following Words are found For the Good of Souls For the Service of our Neighbour For the Honor of His Divine Majesty For the greater Glory of God Whereas Laws do not always descend to Successors with Explanations but that they have often need to be interpreted the Saint adds to his in Form of a Gloss Chapter by Chapter certain Declarations which have the same Authority with the Constitutions and have also the same Spirit Tho' before he wrote them he had read the Rules and Histories of other Religious Orders yet at the time of Writing them he never had in his Chamber any other Book but the New Testament and Thomas a Kempis During that time there was often seen a Flame over his Head not much unlike that which appear'd in Tongues of Fire over the Apostles when the Holy Ghost descended from Heaven And his Hours were spent in Tears of Devotion in holy Ardors in Raptures and in Celestial Apparitions as we read in a paper-Paper-Book written with his own Hand which Providence hinder'd from being burnt with many other Papers of the same nature which he caus'd to be cast into the Fire some few days before his Death THE LIFE OF St. IGNATIVS The Fourth BOOK WHile Father Ignatius was thus Employ'd at Rome in doing good Works and in Writing the Constitutions of his Order many Towns of Italy Spain Germany and of the Low Countries sent to him for Workmen of his own Training and offer'd him Colledges for the Forming of more They follow'd in this the Example of John thee Third King of Portugal who having sent Father Xaverius to the Indies and intending to send from time to time fresh Succors to Second him in his Apostolical Labours Founded the First Colledge of the Society in the University of Conimbria to be a Nursery of Preachers and of Apostles for the new World Alcala Valentia Gandia Collen Lovain and Padua were the first Cities which desir'd to have the Children of Ignatius In a little time they were sought for by all Catholick Countries excepting France where the Society tho' in that Place it had its Birth made the least progress whether it were that the Hereticks who were then spread about in the Kingdom made it their Business to render it odious or that the War being renew'd between Charles the Fifth and Francis the First they did not love a Society whose Head and principal Members were Natives of Spain So that far from being desir'd by the Towns of France those of the Society who Studied at Paris and were not Frenchmen were oblig'd to leave the Kingdom in Obedience to an Edict which banish'd thence all Subjects of the Emperor At the same time many Learned Men of all Nations and even French embraced the Institute of Ignatius they came to Rome to put themselves under the Direction of the Saint and to learn of him the Science of Salvation One of the most eminent was William Postel born at Barenton in Normandy and Professor Royal in the University of Paris He had in point of Learning the greatest Wit of his Age vivacious penetrating and joyn'd with a prodigious Memory an universal Genius which was ignorant of nothing and which excell'd particularly in the knowledge of Tongues Besides the Latin the Greek the Hebrew the Chaldaic and the Syriack he so perfectly knew all those that are now spoken and are the living Languages that he has been heard to say he could go the whole Round of the Earth without an Interpreter Francis the First a Lover of Learning and the Queen of Navarr his Sister not unskill'd in Literature look'd upon Postel as the Miracle of the Age. The greatest Persons and among the rest the Cardinals of Tournon of Lorain and of Armagnac were greedy of his Company and in a manner made their Court to him The most Learned admir'd him and in speaking of him it was a common Saying That there came out of his Mouth as many Oracles as Words The Reputation of the Society of Jesus all Europe over rais'd a Curiosity in Postel to see the Founder of this new Order which made profession of Learning Being come to Rome on this account and having seen Father Ignatius more then once he was so charm'd with his way of Proceeding his Maxims and with the Character of his Institute that Visiting the Seven Churches he made a Vow to enter into his Society And afterwards with so much instance he press'd his Admission and express'd so much zeal for the Conversion of Jews and Idolaters that Father Ignatius who well knew the Abilities of Postel could not refuse to receive him But the Saint soon perceiv'd that a fair out-side had dazled his Eyes whereas he knew that Science breeds Pride and that without profound Humility the greatest Wits are the least proper to do great things in the Service of God he himself took the charge of the Conduct of Postel This Novice who was about Forty years old and who before his Voyage into Italy with much Reading of Rabbins and Contemplating the Stars had rais'd Visions in his Brain concerning a new Coming of Jesus Christ could not so well contain himself but that sometimes these Extravagancies would come from him The Father who found at first that Rabbinism and Judicial Astrology had a little turn'd his Brain us'd all possible means for Two years together to set him right in his Wits After having try'd charitable Remonstrances and severe Reprehensions he put him into the hands of Laynez and Salmeron who endeavor'd to undeceive him with solid Reasons and advis'd him to read only St. Thomas He moreover Address'd him to the Pope's Vicar a Man Learned Prudent and every way Accomplish'd for the curing a distemper'd Wit But seeing that all these Remedies were unprofitable and that Postel became every day more and more Visionary to the degree of playing the Prophet he Expell'd him from his Order and forbad all those of the Society to have any Commerce with him The Event did justifie the Conduct of Ignatius As soon as Postel was Dismiss'd he set himself to Dogmatize in Rome saying for a colour of his leaving the Order That it was not to be wonder'd at if he could not agree with the holy Man Ignatius since even St. Paul and St. Barnabas were not of the same mind Afterwards retiring to Venice where he thought he should be more in safety He was so infatuated concerning a certain Religious Woman call'd Mother
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
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 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
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
along the Rock sometimes hanging upon the Shrubs sometimes upon the Stones that stood out always in hazard of rowling down to the Bottom of the Precipice which he saw under him This adventure was the most perilous of his whole Life and he was us'd to say that without a kind of Miracle he could never have come out of so great a danger The Rains then falling did almost drown the ways by which he so much suffer'd that he came very sick to Bologna Entring into that Town as he past over a narrow Bridg his foot slipt and he fell into a Ditch full of Mire out of which he came forth so cover'd with dirt that he was a frightful spectacle However he was not nice to shew himself about the Town as dirty as he was and to beg Alms But whether it were that his figure made him less acceptable or that Charity was very cold he could not all that day get one piece of Bread and he must have starv'd if the Spaniards who in that Town have a rich Colledg had not taken pity of him As soon as he had a little recover'd his strength he went forwards on his Journey and came to Venice about the end of the year 1535. From his first coming thither he employed himself in the Service of his Neighbour following the Spirit of his Vocation Two Brothers Gentlemen of Navarre the one called Stephen the other James d'Eguia were newly return'd from the Holy Land They both had sentiments of Piety and some thought of quitting the World but were held back by other humane motives Ignatius who had seen them at Alcala engaged them to make the Spiritual Exercises that so they might be well directed in chusing their course of Life They found during their retirement that God had design'd them one day to be the Children of Ignatius They promis'd to follow in due time the Grace which called them and they were so true to their engagement that as soon as the Society of Jesus was form'd they both enter'd into it There was in the Town another Spaniard of Malaga of an Ancient Family that came out of Cordova and was called James Hozez He was Batchelor of Divinity a Man of good Life and a declared enemy of the Novelties of Germany The desire of his Spiritual profit made him seek out Ignatius who had been represented to him as a great Master in the Science of the Saints But having learnt that he had been suspected of Heresie in Spain and in France he durst not wholly rely upon his Conduct However he one day resolv'd to begin the Spiritual Exercises first Arming himself with preservatives against any Poyson that he might find in them He took therefore along with him an Abridgment of the Councels some of the Holy Fathers and a great many Books of Divinity to examin the Doctrine of the Exercises by solid and certain Rules Scarcely had he ended the first Meditations but he found a Character of Truth where he was afraid he should have met Errors Going forwards he clearly saw that nothing was more Orthodox then the Faith of Ignatius But that which most of all convinced him was what Ignatius himself declared to him of his Sentiments about Religion That true Christians ought to submit themselves to the decisions of the Church with the simplicity of an Infant that in order to this we are bound to believe that the Spirit of our Saviour Jesus Christ doth animate his Spouse the Church and that the same God who in former times gave the Precepts of the Decalogue to the Israelites doth govern at this day the Society of the Faithful That far from disapproving the Customs in ure among Catholicks we ought always to be provided with reasons to defend them against Libertines and Hereticks that we must receive with profound submission the Ordinances of Ecclesiastical Superiors and when their lives should not be so blameless as they ought to be to abstain from speaking against them because such Invectives always cause Scandal and make the Sheep revolt from their Pastors that we cannot too much esteem the Science of Theology whether Scholastick or Positive That the chiefest aim of the Ancient Fathers was to excite Mens hearts to the love of God but that St. Thomas and the other Doctors of the last Ages propos'd to themselves to reduce the Principles of Faith into an exact Method for more surely confuting Heresies that we cannot be too wary in speaking of Predistination and of Grace and that Preachers ought to be very circumspect when they treat of those Mysteries that they may not seem to take away the Power of our free will and the Merit of good works in exalting Predestination and Grace nor on the other side to undervalue Predestination and Grace in raising the Power of our will and the Merit of our works that often by exagerating the Excellency of Faith without any distinction or farther explications the People are made prone to neglect the practice of Virtues In conclusion that tho' it be the part of a good Christian to serve God out of a Principle of pure love we must not neglect to recommend the fear of God nor that only which we call Filial which is most Holy but that also which is called Servile because it may help a sinner more readily to get out of his sinful state and may dispose him to that other fear which unites the Soul with God All these Articles and Rules of an Orthodox Belief as the Saint calls them in his Book of Exercises into which he has inserted them made Hozez ashamed of the distrust he had concerning the Doctrine of Ignatius to whom he made a Confession of it shewing him the Books he had Arm'd himself withall by way of prevention and now without any fear he so adheared to his Director that he embraced the same form of life with Ignatius and his Companions Many Noble Venetians did put themselves under the Direction of Ignatius as the three Spanish Gentlemen had done and among the rest Peter Contarini Administrator of the Hospital of St. John and Paul afterwards Bishop of Batto He found great advantage for a Spiritual life in the Exercises and if afterwards he did not embrace the institute of Ignatius as some of the Venetian Nobility did it was only that he might be the Protector and Father of the whole Order The World which commonly misconsters what it doth not understand could not look upon the good Actions of Ignatius without Judging ill of them They imagin'd him to be an Heretick in Masquerade and that after he had infected Spain and France he was now come to do the same in Italy some were so mad as to say that he had a Familiar which informed him of every thing and that when he was discover'd in one place he saved himself in another before Justice could take hold of him As soon as Ignatius heard what Rumors were spread of him he apply'd himself to
Rule of Gods greater Glory and as if no person had ever mention'd it to them But to draw out of this Examen the desir'd Effect he requires from those who are Interrogated a great openness and freedom and prescribes to the Superiors a profound Secrecy Lastly when after all these Interrogatories the Persons are judg'd proper for the Institute he will have them before they are received made to understand that if they sincerely desire to be admitted they must be ready wholly and intirely to Consecrate themselves to God Moreover he prescribes that the most humiliating and painful part of a Religious Profession should be propos'd to them and even that they should be ask'd whether they will be content to be admonish'd not only of all the Faults that shall be observ'd in them but that whoever shall know their Faults by any other way but by Confession shall inform the Superior that he may correct them and whether they themselves be dispos'd to inform him with the spirit of Charity of the Faults of others when he shall ask them to the greater Glory of God The Choice being thus made the Saint will have trial made of the Persons so chosen after this manner That upon receiving them into the House they enter into the Spiritual Exercise and that after a whole Month of retirement without any Communication whatsoever but with their Director they shall make a general Confession of their whole Life After this they shall take the ordinary Habit of the Society unless it be judged expedient to continue them in their secular Attire as the Saint himself order'd it in the case of Antonio Araos his Kinsman and of a Neopolitan Gentleman who had been Captain of the Castle of St. Elm. That the Noviciate shall last two years because a less time of tryal will not suffice for those who being design'd for outward employments have need of a great stock of Vertue That during the Noviceship besides learning every day something without Book to cultivate the memory which loseth its vigor for want of Exercise they shall not study at all They shall serve the Sick in some Hospital for the space of a Month the same space of time they shall also spend in making some Pilgrimage of Devotion a Foot without Viaticum begging Alms. Inquiry shall be made of the Administrators of the Hospital how the Novices behave themselves and also in the places through which they pass what their comportment was That being well instructed themselves they shall teach the Christian Doctrine to Children and to the meaner sort of People that they may betimes be accustom'd to it Lastly that they shall be only employ'd in the Practices of a Spiritual life and that their whole care must be to acquire solid Vertue particularly Humility and Self-abnegation Whereas Piety alone is not sufficient for Evangelical Functions Learning being absolutely necessary for them he Ordains that after the two years of Noviceship they shall apply themselves to Study He sets down the Sciences which they shall learn viz. The Learned Tongues Poetry Rhetorick Phylosophy Divinity Ecclesiastical History the Holy Scripture But he leaves it to the prudence of Superiors to regulate the Studies of every one in particular according to their Age and Talents so that such Wits as are capable of all shall be train'd in all the Sciences and such as are not so universal shall learn that in which they are likeliest to excel But some Rules he sets down which are to be fix'd and universal he will have them instructed in Grammar Poetry and Rhetorick before they begin their Phylosophy That they shall not Study Scholastical Divinity before they have finish'd their courses in Logick Physick Metaphysick and Moral Phylosophy nor be apply'd to cases of Conscience till they have had an entrance in Scholastical Divinity That they shall not proceed from one Science to another till they have undergone a rigorous Examen that in each Faculty they follow the best grounded opinions and the most approved Authors that in studying the holy Tongues their aim must be throughly to understand the Scripture and also to defend the version Authoriz'd by the Church The want of method which Ignatius found so prejudicial in his Study at Alcala and the danger which the reading of a suspected Author expos'd him to made him use all these Precautions He likewise remember'd how his Exercises of Charity and ill-tim'd Devotion had hindred his progress in Learning He therefore order'd that the Students of the Society should not be employ'd abroad that the time of their Prayers should be limited and that they should not receive the Order of Priesthood till towards the latter end of their Studies Moreover whereas his Infirmities and Sickness had much obstructed his own advancement in the Sciences he thought it very material to take great care of their Health that their application should not be too violent that they lost none of their sleep That they should not Study at unseasonable hours nor be longer at it then two hours together without interruption He order'd for them days of Recreation and even from that time design'd to procure Houses in the Country where they might go once every Week for their Diversion And in regard that the extream Poverty to which he had been reduc'd in the University at Paris was one of the greatest obstacles in his Studies He thought it not expedient to oblige those who Study to live upon Alms and therefore resolv'd that such Colledges of the Society should have Foundations But if on one side he hath so great consideration and Indulgence for the young Men of his Order He is no less strict on the other to have them kept close to their business He will have them take pains and labour at it always to be Exercised either in private Conferences or in publick Disputations He chargeth the Rectors of Colledges to excite and spur on those that are heavy and slothful and to withdraw such from the Study of Sciences who make no progress in them either for want of wit or application Lastly to have continually his Eye upon them and even to observe whether their Masters do their duty But to prevent least the love of Science should insensibly weaken the Spirit of Devotion he fail'd not to prescribe divers means for the maintenance and increase of it of which the Principal are to frequent the Sacraments once a Week to examin their Conscience twice a Day to make every Year the Spiritual Exercise and to renew their Vows twice in the Year with great Preparatives that is to say during three days of Retirement of Meditations of extraordinary Penance of a sincere declaration of their inward state to their Superior and a general Confession But judging it almost impossible that much Study and speculation should not in time cause some dissipation and driness in that Unction and Spirit which belongs to a Religious life he advis'd of an expedient altogether
Souls but more especially by what he himself has seen of the good done by them at Barcelona and at Gandia Whereupon he has made his Supplication to us to have them Examin'd and to Approve them if we shall find them worthy of Approbation and Commendation to the end that the good Effects of them may be made more universal and that the Faithful with greater Encouragement might make use of them We have accordingly caus'd them to be Examin'd and upon the Testimony which has been given us by our dear Son John of the Title of St. Clement Priest Cardinal Bishop of Burgos and Inquisitor of the Faith by our Venerable Brother Philip Bishop of Saluzzo our Vicar General in Spirituals within Rome and by our dear Son Giles Foscarini Master of the Sacred Palace We have found these Exercises to be fill'd with the Spirit of God and to be very useful for the Edification and the spiritual Profit of the Faithful Having also regard as we ought to have to the great good which Ignatius and the Society by him Founded cease not to do in the Church among all sorts of Nations and considering on the other side how instrumental this Book of Exercises is thereunto we of our own certain knowledge Approve by these Presents Commend and Ratifie with our Apostolical Authority all that is contain'd in that Book We moreover exhort all the Faithful of both Sexes in what Place of the World soever they be devoutly to practise such Christian Exercises and we give leave that the Book be Printed by any such Bookseller as shall best like the Author Provided nevertheless that after the first Edition neither the Bookseller whom he shall first chuse nor any other shall presume to Print the same the second time without the Consent of Ignatius or of his Successors c. Given at Rome in the Palace of St. Mark under the Seal of the Fisher the last Day of July in the Year of our Lord 1548 and the Fourteenth of our Pontificate The Approbation and the Printing of the Book of the Exercises which was Translated out of Spanish into Latin very much added to the Reputation of the Founder of the Society Since the Establishment of his Order he always made his Abode in Rome following therein his own Institution that the General ought to have a fix'd Habitation nevertheless he went forth for a short time upon a Charitable Account and his Journey had a happy Success The Inhabitants of St. Angelo and those of Tivoli their Neighbors having a mortal Feud one with the other even to a kind of open War Father Ignatius at the Pope's Desire went over to the Places themselves Having first Treated with Margaret of Austria Wife to Octavius Duke of Parma who was Lord of St. Angelo and next with the Magistrates of Tivoli he brought those two Towns to this Agreement That the Cardinal De la Cueva should be the Arbitrator of their Differences and that in the mean time they should lay down their Arms. It was upon this Occasion that Signior Lewis Mendoza who Lodg'd the Father at Tivoli made the Offer to him of a commodious House with very good Gardens and a Chappel of our Lady's which had been built out of the Walls near the stately Ruines of Moecenas's Villa This new Establishment Father Ignatius compleated upon the Nativity of our Lady which nevertheless came far short of those which about this time were made in Sicily Don John de Vega Viceroy of Sicily who had great Communication with the General of the Society when he was Ambassador from Charles the Fifth at Rome and who did nothing of Importance without consulting him according to the Order which he had receiv'd was no sooner at Messina but he took the Resolution of Erecting there a Colledge for the Society Palermo immediately follow'd the Example of Messina And these two Colledges whither the General sent Persons of great Vertue and Ability were the first after that of Gandia where Schools were open'd At the departure of these excellent Workmen of which the principal were Peter Canisius a German Andrew Frusis a Frenchman and Jerome Nadal a Spaniard he told them what he usually said when he sent forth Missions Go Brethren inflame spread about that Fire which Jesus Christ came to kindle on the Earth Before they went away he would have those who were design'd to Teach Schools make an Essay before him of their Method and their Ability He also would have them all take leave of the Pope to whom he himself conducted them The Pope receiv'd them with kindness and exhorted them in the first place to be very watchful against new Heresies But Father Ignatius before he cull'd out the twelve which he sent into Sicily gave himself the satisfaction of sounding the bottom of their Souls and of trying the Temper and the Obedience of his Subjects in Rome by ordering every one of them to tell him in Writing after three days of Prayer First Whether they were indifferent to go into Sicily and whether that which the General should determine who to them is in the place of God would be most welcom to them Secondly Whether in case they were sent into Sicily they should be ready either to Teach and perform such other Functions as require Learning and Ability or to be employ'd in Domestical Offices Thirdly If it should so happen that they were appointed for Study and Regency whether they would be dispos'd to Study what Science and to Teach what School it should please the Superior Lastly Whether they did believe that what ever Obedience should prescribe to them was most proper for them and most conducible to their eternal good They every one brought in their Writing upon the Day assign'd and there was not one of them in their whole number of Thirty six who did not sincerely declare That he was ready to go not only into Sicily but into the Indies and that he would willingly employ his whole Life in the meanest Offices whenever their good Father and their honor'd Master in Jesus Christ should give them the least intimation of his Will It was not enough for a Man who design'd to do good to the whole Earth to labor in Europe and in Asia for the gaining of Souls John Nugnes and Lewis Gonzales were sent almost at the same time into the Kingdoms of Fez and Morocco at the Instance of the King of Portugal who concern'd at the Captivity of a great number of Christians demanded some Fathers of the Society to Negotiate the delivery of the Slaves and to confirm them in their Faith A little time after the Viceroy of Sicily having Orders from Charles the Fifth to pass over into Africa with a good Army to make War upon Dragut a famous Pirate who was possess'd of a strong Place on the Coast of Barbary from whence he made his Excursions as far as Naples Father Ignatius was desirous that Laynez should leave Sicily where