Notes

1 Letter I. — St. Ignatius, after his conversion and recovery, went from Loyola to Montserrat, and, on March 25, 1522, from Montserrat to Manresa. Here he first encountered Ines Pasoual, a good and holy widow, who happened at the time to be in the town on business of her own. She had taken special notice of the obvious sincerity of Ignatius, and from that time forward continually assisted him, with alms and in other ways, first at Manresa itself, and afterwards in Barcelona, to which town she herself went in March, 1523, having her chief abode in the place.

2 Inigo. — It is now almost impossible to decide when St. Ignatius used the signature Inigo, Ignigo, Ignacio, or Ignatius. The copyists and printers have obviously been free in substituting what they pleased. It must be enough for us to know that in his earliest days he most commonly used the first signature, in his later days always the last.

3 Letter II. — To the same as the preceding. No letters exist to illustrate the period between the time at Manresa and the arrival in Paris.

4 Juan. — Son of Ines Pascual, and later one of the chief witnesses in the saint’s process of canonization.

6 Letter III. — Martin Garcia de Loyola was an elder brother of St. Ignatius, who succeeded to the family estate in 1 507. He married Dona Magdalena de Araoz, by whom he had four sons, Beltran his heir, Juan Perez, Martin Garcia, and Millan de Loyola, and/ four daughters, Magdalena, Maria, Catalina, and Columba. It is not known to which daughter reference is made at the beginning of this letter; the son

IIO

whose education at Paris is here discussed is Millan, the youngest.

6 Don Andres de Loyola was the uncle of St. Ignatius, and at this time was Rector of the parish of Azpeitia.

7 Undoubtedly Doha Magdalena de Araoz, wife of Don Garcia de Loyola.

• Letter IV. — Between this and the last are three other letters, interesting in themselves, but chiefly on matters pf business. James Cazador, to whom this letter is addressed, was at the time Archdeacon of Barcelona, and subsequently became bishop of the same diocese, June 20, 1546.

9 Juan de Castro was one of those with whom St. Ignatius contracted a close friendship, and in whose prudence he had great confidence. When in Paris Blessed Peter Faber was tortured with scruples during the time of his studies. “Ignatius advised me,” says Faber, “to make first of all a general confession to Doctor Castro.” ( Memoriale B. P. Fabri, p. 9, ed. 1873.) The following passage, from the Ephemerides ordinis Cartusiensis, t. II. pp. 447 — 452, is an eloquent testimony of the friendship that existed between Ignatius and Castro. “Juan de Castro, prior of Val de Cristo, born at Toledo 1 in the year 1485... having professed Theology for several years with great distinction... at Paris.... had as his pupil St. Ignatius of Loyola..., with whom he formed an intimate friendship. Ignatius was grounded by Juan in the sacred sciences; Juan in his turn was trained bjy Ignatius to a more excellent learning; seeing that Ignatius, a past master in mystical theology, so instilled into his disciple the milk of devotion, that Juan, transformed into another man, growing weary of things of earth... in imitation of his Master began to follow... a more austere mode of life.” The account elsewhere relates the virtues of

ill

Castro and his entrance into the Carthusian Monastery of Val de Cristo, and adds: “St. Ignatius of Loyola, after completing his studies at Paris, on his return to Castille, being anxious to know about his friend, came to this monastery about the beginning of the year 1536 Ignatius remained here eight days, at-

tending Divine Office, and enjoying the peace and quiet of the Carthusian solitude, and the sweet conversation of the monks, to whom he opened the secrets of his soul; and in turn the Fathers filled him with zeal and encouragement, especially Juan de Castro, Juan Cavero, and Thomas Lobet, who were once Ignatius’ intimate companions in the world. At the same time these Fathers discouraged him from embarking for Venice for fear of Aenobardus the pirate.” Castro died “in the year 1556, on the 6th of July, aged 72.” It is significant to note how great an affection St. Ignatius always had for the Carthusians, and how many of his early companions joined that Order.

10 The Monastery of St. Clare. — This monastery was founded in 1253. It contained many religious of remarkable sanctity, among whom was Teresa Rejadella, a correspondent of St. Ignatius, some of whose letters to her are given in this volume. But not all her companions were equally eager after perfection; some had even turned from a regular life to one more remiss; and discord was prevalent in the community. Hence a serious attempt was made by the more observant of the community to induce the Society of Jesus to undertake its direction; but in spite of their repeated and importunate appeals Ignatius could never be induced to yield. We shall hear more of this in another place.

11 Letter V. — Teresa Rejadella was a religious of the monastery of St. Clare, mentioned in the last letter, “illustrious not less by her virtue than by her noble origin.” It was she who made the long but

vain attempt to induce St. Ignatius to undertake the direction of the community. She died the 1 2th July, I5S3.

it Letter VI. — To the same as the last.

w Letter VII. — The place, date, and person to whom this letter is addressed are uncertain. But the Spanish editors have no doubt whatever that it is addressed to Giovanni Pietro Caraffa, Archbishop of Thiene, afterwards Pope Paul IV., and that it was written in Venice, while Ignatius was living there awaiting his companions. Polanco, Chron. I. 56, describing the life of Ignatius in Venice, says: " Here he had sometimes familiar intercourse with D. Giovanni Pietro Caraffa among others, a man conspicuous both for his noble origin, and as Archbishop of Thiene, as also for his learning and other gifts of God', who with some other holy men had founded an order of Clerks Regular. In charity and prudence Ignatius had made some suggestions on certain points concerning the new Order; but these had not been well received, and though Ignatius never told anyone what had taken place between him and D. Giovanni Pietro Caraffa, it was easy to learn from his remarks that they were matters of no small importance.” Ribadeneira, ( Perse - cuciones de la Compania) writes in the same sense.

Moreover a careful study of the letter will clearly show that it is written 1 ) to one who had divested himself of great wealth and dignities, 2) to one who was himself of noble birth, 3) to the founder of a religious Institute of Clerics. All these point to D. G. P. Caraffa.

For the date, since Caraffa was created Cardinal on Dec. 22, ifS 3 6, and Ignatius did not arrive in Venice before the end of i' l S3S, it may be safely placed between these two.

14 Letter VIII. — Father Juan de Verdolay appears to have been living at this time at Barcelona.

OF ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA 113

From this letter, and from other sources, it is evident that he had won the esteem of St. Ignatius. Sacchini, Hist. Soc. Jesu, P. II, lib. VIII, n. 32, writes of him: “On account of his zealous care for souls in the kingdoms of Aragon, Valentia, and Catalonia, and on account of his great influence, both by his eloquence and learning, and by his piety and the offices he had held, few of his contemporaries could be compared with him. St. Ignatius had invited him to enter the Society along with himself, and had written to him with that object. This letter the father received with great delight, and always cherished it with the greatest veneration; still he made no effort to enter the Society” until after the death of the saint, 1556. He afterwards became a Carthusian.

15 The allusion is here of course to the first members of the Society of Jesus, who had made their vows together before leaving Paris, and again met together for the first time in Venice. They were, Francis Xavier, James Laynez, Alphonsus Salmeron, Nicholas Bobadilla, Spaniards; Paschase Broet, John Codure, Frenchmen; Peter Faber, Claude le Jay, Savoyards; Simon Rodriguez, a Portuguese. To these should be added Didacus Hoces, a Spaniard, who also joined Ignatius in Venice, and was the first of the Society to die.

16 The seven ordained together were Ignatius himself, Francis Xavier, James Laynez, Alphonsus Salmeron, John Codure, Nicholas Bobadilla, and Simon Rodriguez.

17 Letter IX. — Pietro Contarini, to whom this letter is addressed, was a nephew of Cardinal Gaspar Contarini. Shortly before this date he had made the Spiritual Exercises under St. Ignatius in Venice; later he became bishop of Paphos. The letter is written in Latin, with occasional paragraphs in Italian. Of the Italian, in this and some other letters, a competent

translator writes: " This letter was evidently written when St. Ignatius knew very little Italian, and the liberties taken with the language and the grammar are such as only a saint can expect to see forgiven, either in this world or in the next.” We may add that if the Saint’s Italian is bad his Latin is often but little better.

18 Letter X. — It will not be necessary to remind our readers that Azpeitia was the town nearest to the castle of Loyola. Its parish priest was at this time an uncle of the saint, Don Andrfcs de Loyola. St. Ignatius had last been there in 1*535, when after his studies in Paris he hjaid returned to his native air to recuperate his strength, before proceeding to Venice. Few letters in the present series will be of greater interest than this, not least because of the saint’s words on frequent Communion.

19 The Dominican friar of whom St. Ignatius is here speaking was the Rev. Fr. Thomas Stella, a native of Venice, a learned and holy man, who was present at the Council of Trent, and died Bishop of Justinopolis. Moved (with zeal to spread devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, he determined to establish a guild or confraternity, under the title of the Confraternity of the Most Sacred Body of Christ, whose object should be specially to venerate the Blessed Sacrament in atonement for the insults and injuries which were constantly committed against this august Mystery. He communicated his design to certain gentlemen of Rome, drew up rules and statutes, and submitted them to the approval of Pope Paul III. The latter not only approved the project but named as protector of the Congregation Cardinal Caesarini, and enriched it with special blessings and indulgences, as is evident from the Bull published on Nov. 30, 1539 (cf. Bull. Rom. tom. VI., p. 275, ed. Taurin). This Bull is undoubtedly the same as that which St. Ignatius mentions in this letter, and which he sends to Azpeitia. The congregation was

established in the Dominican Church of S. Domingo, called la Minerva, and immediately spread throughout Europe; and there can be no doubt that one of the first places in Spain in which it was established was Azpeitia, indeed 1, in all probability the 1 first, and that in consequence of this letter of St. Ignatius.

20 This is Father Antonio Araoz, an eminent Jesuit father, and a relation of St. Ignatius.

21 Letter XI. — This letter is written to the sister of the Saint.

22 Letter XII. — In 1541 Fathers Broet and Salmeron were despatched to Ireland as papal legates to report upon the religious condition of the country. They were the first Jesuits, as such, to land in the British Islands. The expedition was carried out under the protection of Cardinal Pole, the “Cardinal of England,” as he is called in this letter.

23 Dr. Francis Picard, a scholastic of the Society.

24 Francis I. (1494 — 1547).

25 James V. (1-512 — 1542).

26 Francis Zapata, (at this time a candidate or postulant for the Society.

27 Juan Suarez, O.S.A.

28 This is an interesting reference. Cardinal Guidiccioni was the strongest opponent to the foundation of the Society of Jesus. To win him St. Ignatius’ only weapon was that of prayer. He ordered a vast number of Masses to be offered, “over two thousand,” says Polanco, “up to three thousand,” says Orlandini, which were distributed among the Fathers throughout the world.

29 On this mission to Ireland, its objects and its results, cf. among older writers, Polanco, Chron. I. 96, 98; Orlandini III., 45; among modern writers Hogan, lbernta Ignatiana, 1-10; Prat, M 6 moire$ pour

1 16 LETTERS AND INSTRUCTIONS

servir d Vhistoire du P. Broet, pp. 47,-71; Astrain, Historia, II. c. 15, n. 8.

«° Letter XV. — Viola had been sent to Paris the preceding year for his studies.

81 Letter XVI. — To the same as Letters V. and VI. above.

81 Letter XVII. — The recipient of this letter is not known.

88 Letter XVIII. — The Jesuits of Cologne had been dispersed by order of the Senate. This fragment is given by Orlandini, and is therefore his Latin version of the original.

84 Letter XIX. — This appears to be the first extant letter written by St. Ignatius to St. Francis Borgia, who at this time was Duke of Gandia, and was anxious in whatever way he could to be a patron of the new Society of Jiesus.

85 Letter XX. — On the 18th of May, 1546, the Jesuit Fathers Laynez and Salmeron arrived in Trent, having been appointed to be the theologians of the Pope by Paul III. Father Lejay was also there, as the representative of the Cardinal Archbishop of Augsburg. “On their arrival at Trent,” says Polanco, (Chron. I., 178), “they were received with much kindness and affection by the Legates de Monte and Santa Croce, both of whom afterwards became Popes, and by other Fathers of the Council.”

86 Letter XXI. — For his correspondence St. Ignatius had employed as secretaries Francis Xavier ( 1 539- 1 5 40), Peter Ribadeneira (1541), while he was yet but a boy; Andreas Frusius, and others, among whom were probably Peter Codacius and Ugoletti. Later he began to use more permanent and official secretaries, such as Jerome Domenech, Bartholomew Ferronius, and finally John Polanco, the most conspicuous of them all. Ferronius succeeded Domenech

in the office towards the end of 1545, and held it till his death in 1547. Hence such letters as the one here given in his name must be taken as written virtually if not actually at khe dictation of the Saint. In this and in the letters signed by Polanco there are many phrases and constructions unmistakably those of St. Ignatius.

87 This is, of course, Blessed Peter Falber, the first companion of St. Ignatius in Rome, and the first priest of the Society of Jesus.

88 Letter XXII. — We learn from Orlandini and Astrain that long before Borgia sought admission into the Society, while his wife was yet living, and he was Governor of Catalonia in the name of Charles V., St. Ignatius knew by supernatural light that he would one day be a member of the Society of Jesus, indeed, would one day be its head.

5 ? Letter XXIII. — The date of this letter is not given; but as it is written in consequence of one from Laynez in February, 1547, and as Polanco was himself called to Rome in March of the same year, there can be no doubt of its approximate date.

40 Some excuse for Polanco would seem to be found in the fact that he had not exactly dissuaded Laynez from undertaking the work at Florence, but had doubted whether the present time were opportune, and had in consequence hinted that Laynez should not show too keen about undertaking the task.

41 Letter XXIV. — Of this letter a contemporary Jesuit chronicler records: “An. 1547. On the 27th of May Our Holy Father Ignatius wrote a letter to the Society at Coimbra full of spirituality, in which he commends all willing workers, and adds further motives to spur zealous progress in virtue, with such effect that the whole College as it were put on a new spirit, desiring to undertake any deed of daring for the glory of Qetd,”

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