Search Results for: de Wit

Pope Pius XII wrote the following apostolic blessing to Jean-Baptiste Janssens, the superior general of the Society of Jesus, to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Ignatius. The pope urges those in the Society to “carry forward with untiring earnestness, especially in the spiritual sphere, all your activities, your ministries and everything by […]

Wlodimir (Włodzimierz) Ledóchowski, the superior general of the Jesuits, delivered this address to Pope Pius XII as part of a celebration in Rome’s Hall of Benediction to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Jesus. Also present were people selected to represent the Society “in miniature,” individuals from the Jesuits’ various

In July 1940, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the foundation of the Society of Jesus, Pope Pius XII issued the following apostolic letter to Wlodimir (Włodzimierz) Ledóchowski. Pius notes to the superior general how the Catholic Church “is deeply indebted to your religious society for its glorious record of service.” The letter chronicles some

Mutio Vitelleschi, born to a noble family in Rome in 1563, entered the Society of the Jesus only after securing permission from Pope Gregory XIII. The Jesuits elected Vitelleschi their sixth superior general in 1615. His generalate saw worldwide expansion in missions and in membership to some 15,000 men but also an increase in the

Francis Borgia, in this letter to the Jesuits in Aquitania, in the southwest of France, provides advice on how best to preserve the spirit of the Society of Jesus. The order’s “rapid growth” reminded Borgia of how “the little grain of mustard,” once “fixing its roots” and “sending forth its branch and steam,” could become

Fluvio Androzzi was already a priest when he made the Spiritual Exercises under the direction of Diego Laínez and entered the Society. Almost immediately, he embarked upon a life of successful ministries. Androzzi was one of the Society’s earliest spiritual writers, and his works, published posthumously, appeared in many editions and translations. In this letter,

Ignatius uses this letter as a reproof to a discontented temporal coadjutor brother. Giovanni Battista Guidini was the buyer at the college of Padua, and he was agitating to study for the priesthood. Several letters between the rector at Padua and Ignatius were exchanged on the matter. On the same day he wrote to Guidini

Valentín Marín, a young Spanish Jesuit working in Sicily, was known as an excellent preacher despite having a disagreeable voice. His superior greatly praised him for his learning and his holiness. But Marín was constantly beset by scruples. Ignatius, who took a personal interest in the young man’s troubles, had earlier instructed his provincial and

With this letter written by Juan Alfonso de Polanco, Ignatius orders the Society’s rectors to ensure that the local languages were used throughout all the Jesuit houses. Ignatius had ordered this previously and repeated it at the beginning of the year. This policy sought to enable the Jesuits not only to speak to those whom

As the rector at Leuven, Adrian Adriaenssens frequently consulted Ignatius on a variety of questions. In this letter, Ignatius addresses Adriaenssens’s problem of how to provide the proper food for his scholastics who are of different nationalities and physical constitutions. While Ignatius recommends having all get used to the ordinary local diet, he is clear