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

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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

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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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the arguments of those who jumped the fence seem pate and puerile by comparison. Spain was also the fatherland of the Jesuit saint, Francis Borgia. At the age of thirty-six, this honored nobleman had deserted the royal court and entered the Society to become eventually its third General. Before he accepted the poverty and humility which Ignatius had enjoined upon all his followers, Francis had been the Marquis of Lombay, the Duke of Gandia, the Viceroy of Catalonia, and the dearest friend of the Emperor Charles V, the most powerful ruler on earth. The Society is inured to official expulsions, particularly from Spain. Saint Ignatius ' s dying prayer for the Company was that it should feel plenty of persecu- tion. Studying two necrologies which fell into our hands we find that in fifteen months, from October 1, 1936 through 1937, 70 Jesuits were shot in or near Barcelona, for many ‘‘date unknown.” E ducation in France was torn between the parent and the progeny, between the University of Paris and the Jesuits. The Uni- In France, Education and the Pulpit. The University and the Jes- uits. Nationalism and Calvinism against the Society. The Bolland- ists in Belgium. Sci- entific Hagiography. versity fought them — but then, in her old age, she had fought every other movement. Despite this, the Jesuits became the educators of 17th Century Frenchmen, good and bad. The records for 1643 give in the dis- trict of Paris alone 13,000 scholars of the Jesuit schools. The Jesuits were strong for the Pope across the mountains. The Gallicans or Na- tionalists in Religion naturally opposed them by and large through the centuries and 18