Letter VIII. To Juan de Verdolay

Venice, July 24., 1537.

May the grace and love of Christ Our Lord ever favour and help us.

Since I passed by your part of the world and wrote to you, about two years ago, I have had no letter from you nor news of you till about three months ago, when Ysabel Roser gave me an account of your health and of the goodness and excellence of your instructions; telling me at the same time that you had written to me, and that you greatly desired to hear from me. I am sure that in this silence I am not to blame; for if I were not tied down here, however much according to my own choice, and to matters which seem to me to be of no small importance, no weariness of foot would prevent me from going in search of you. Consequently, after looking over your own affairs, and considering what might be before you here, if you thought it would be for the greater service of Our Lord, I should greatly desire that we might meet in these parts. I think I shall’ be here for a year more or less; what God Our Lord will order for me after that I do not know.

And that you may be better informed about me, and about other brethren, yours and mine, in Christ Our Lord, and to satisfy you in what you wish to know, I have determined to write this at some length, feeling certain that it will please you to have accurate news.

There arrived here from Paris, in the middle of January, nine friends of mine in the Lord, all Masters of Arts, and well versed in theology, four of them Spanish, two French, two from Savoy, and one from Portugal. 15 All passed through many troubles, what with the wars and the long joumeyings on foot in the midst of winter; they took up their quarters in two hospitals, and arranged so as to attend to the sick poor in the lowliest offices, and those most repugnant to the flesh. After two ' months spent in this work, they went on to Rome, followed by some others on the same errand, which was to spend Holy Week there; and though they were in great poverty, without money, without recommendation from anyone in the shape of either letters or anything else, trusting and hoping only

3 » in the Lord, Whom they came to seek, they found, and without any trouble, much more than they sought; for they were granted an audience by the Pope, and on the arrival of a number of Cardinals, Bishops, and Doctors they were invited to dispute with them. One of the disputants was Cardinal (sic) Ortiz, who has been very favourable to them, as well as other men well-known for their learning. The Pope was so pleased, and all who were present with him, that at once he began to grant them every possible favour; first, permission to go to Jerusalem, at the same time giving them repeatedly his blessing and exhorting them to persevere in their resolutions; then he gave them alms to the amount of 60 ducats; indeed, from the Cardinals and others present they received more than 150 ducats, so that they brought here 260 ducats in bills of exchange. Third, to those among them that were priests he granted faculties empowering them to hear confessions and absolve in all episcopal cases. Fourth, to those who were not priests he granted dimissory letters, without mentioning title of patrimony or benefice, so that within three feast days or three Sundays any Bishop could raise them to the priesthood. So, on their arrival here in Venice, on the Feast of St. John the Baptist, we completed the reception of all Orders, including the priesthood; and those of us then ordained number seven. 16 In this we found all imaginable favour and benevolence; so much so, that it was left to our own discretion whether we should be ordained ad titulum voluniariae pauper tatis, vel sufficients liiteraturae, vel ulriusque* We selected ad titu - utriusque, and we made the vow of perpetual poverty in the hands of the papal legate here, not compelled by him, but moved by our own will. For the conferring of Orders they gave us two Bishops, each of whom wanted to ordain us; and we had some trouble in satisfying one, since we could not be ordained by both. After we had thus settled all these matters both in Rome and in Venice, and all gratuitously, without use of any money at all, the legate himself gave us full permission to preach, teach, and interpret Scripture publice et pTivatim in the whole dominion of Venice; and also to hear confessions and absolve in all cases reserved to Bishops, Archbishops, and Patriarchs.

All this I have mentioned to fulfil the promise I have made to you, and to show how great would be our sense of obligation and confusion, if we did not help ourselves where God Our Lord gives us so much help, for without our asking, or even knowing, it seems as if every material requirement and every facility that we need is put in our hands. May the Supreme Goodness fill us with His Grace, that we may not hide underground the mercies and graces which He continually bestows upon us, and which we trust He will not cease to bestow soi long as there is no fault on our side. For this reason I beg of you, for the sake of the service and reverence of His Divine Majesty, that you will earnestly pray for us, and ask the same of the devout men and women in your care. For you see the great need in which we stand; for he who receives most becomes the greatest debtor.

All this year, though they have waited patiently for a passage to Jerusalem, there has been no ship at all, nor will there now be, on account of the fleet that is being equipped by the Turks. So we have decided that the drafts that were drawn for the 260 ducats should be sent to Rome, and that the money should remain in the hands of those who collected it as alms for them; for we have no desire to use this money except for the said voyage, and are unwilling that anyone should come to think that we hunger and thirst after the things for which the world dies. This repayment made, for the money has been sent already, and this letter written, they will soon leave here, two by two, to do whatever work they may be able with the grace of Our Lord, for Whose sake they set out. In this way they will go about Italy here and there until next year,, in the hope that then they may be able to go to Jerusalem,, but should God our Lord dispose otherwise,, they will wait no longer, but will proceed with the work they have begun. Here several parties have expressed the desire to join us, men not wanting in learning, but we are careful rather to refuse them than to increase our numbers, for fear of failures.

I conclude praying God Our Lord through His infinite and supreme goodness to give us abundant grace to perceive His most holy will and to carry it out entirely.

From Venice, July 24, 1537.

Poor in goodness,

YfflGO.

OF ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA 41

Since writing this I have received a letter from you, and as Our Lord is to judge me it seems to me and I feel that if where you are you have much to do, here you have much more, and more opportunities of serving the Lord according to your desire. Consequently do what you can that soon we may meet.

Notes on the text

• a These have reference to ordination which a priest will understand.