Loyola University Maryland - Evergreen / Green and Gray Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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and with the pen) on the part of the student. The Ratio exercised scholars constantly in composition, since the power of expression was highly valued in Renaissance edu- cation where the pupil was much younger than nowadays when his formal education was complete. The Council of Trent. The Ratio must be studied in the light of the ‘Spiritual Exercises.” As The Ratio Studiorum. Robert Beiiarmine. their title indicates, these latter begin all reforms of the social order from within the individual heart by self-” exercise.” If we remember this we can better understand what the ‘‘education of the whole man” insisted upon by Jesuits means. The system is not voluntaristic. It favors inquiry and broad cultivation of the intelligence where innately possible. But let us remember the emphasis of the Exercises in the contemplations, applica- tions of the senses, etc., upon the imagination, the power of recalling and seeing things as they really exist, not in mere abstract. Every tyro in psychology is aware that man chooses effectively and acts only when sufficient emotional force breaks down the dam of velleity and irresolution. But man feels deeply consequent upon realization, not mere knowledge. Insight into reality must supplement con- viction about it. Hence the stress laid in Jeusit education upon literature and imagination. The Latin and Greek classics were a staple in Jesuit education inherited from the late Renaissance. The unhealthy neo-paganism of the period was surgically amputated from education by the Society. An important educational factor was the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin, organized in Rome before Aloysius Gonzaga joined the Society and rapidly spread all over the world. It is the parent of Catholic Action. But no more, for nowadays the Sodalists are vocal not only towards Heaven but to their fellow men. We will make space to mention Robert Beiiarmine — the 16

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from that of privates, directed all obedience, not to the man, but to authority and to God. The only permanent tenure of office is that of the General elected by and ultimately responsible to the General Congregation of representatives from all Prov- inces. His men are ready for rapid detail or quiet mobilization under a military obedience. But the “regular” is expected to meet with initiative and adaptability the situation he is assigned to deal with. Ignatius, sometimes an abrupt man, had nevertheless the Odyssean, the fatherlike quality, the quality we call in America “businesslike.” He saw graft, pettiness and corruption in high places, his reforms hampered, but he never raved as a Sav- onarola did — and he got results. He died without fuss, without gesture. T M rent was the battleground where the Society first met the Reformation. Laynez and Salmeron were papal theologians at that great council of the Church. Laynez was the guiding star of its deliberations. In education meanwhile, Ignatius had started the Roman and German colleges in Rome. The Roman College is now the Gregorian University and draws its teachers as well as students from all over the world. The Educational Code of the Jesuits was formulated in several editions of an instrument entitled the Ratio Studiorum (Educational System), first appearing under Father Claudius Acquaviva, a general elected young and lasting long. The main principles of this System are the developmen t of the whole man, close personal attention to the student by his instructor, contact of the minds of teacher and taught ranging from any given subject through the whole gamut of mental experience. Its outstanding feature is its emphasis on exercise (mental 15

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Rector who loved music ’ — saint and doctor of the Church, author of a catechism that rivals Canisius’ , founder of the science of apologetics, in his “De Controversiis.” He denied the divine rights of kings — maintained the divine origin of authority but vested it, as did Suarez, the Spaniard, primarily in the multitude of men who make the state. This was madness to the absolutism and hyper-nationalism of the Reformation. Bellarmine, upon request, penned a confidential memorandum to the Holy See which in substance urged a return to simplicity away from imperial and feudal influences. -i Streamed out of Spain as well as Saints. In the realm of speculative and dogmatic theology, the genius of the Spanish Jesuits was particularly brilliant. Francis Suarez, the Society’s fore- riesT . . • . .... . . « . . . . . ... Suarez on Law. Molina most theologian, embodied the whole of Scholastic theology in his pon- Grace and Free Will. Barcelona and the fir- derous works and headed a theological school of his own. ’’Suarez ing squads. Classes” were conducted in most of the leading universities. They were later sup- pressed by a royal decree because they defined many fundamental human rights which can never be included under the jurisdiction of a temporal sovereign. Suarez is regarded too as one of the founders of international law. Luis Molina was the first Jesuit to write a commen- tary on the ’’Summa Theologica” of Aquinas. But his chief work is the ’’Concordia” wherein he presents the celebrated Molinist defense of man’s freedom of will under the influence of efficacious grace, a dif- ficulty within the pale of the Church which makes 17