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In this paper the author proposes a way of reading the documents of the 35th General Congregations of the Society of Jesus. He highlighted the imageries employed in those documents, something that could not be seen as merely incidental.
2019, in: Arts, Portraits and Representation in the Reformation Era. Proceedings of the Fourth Reformation Research Consortium Conference, pp. 291-302
Abstract: From its foundation by St. Ignatius in 1540 and linked to its educational work, the Society of Jesus has maintained a continuous and institutional involvement in the natural sciences unparalleled by any other religious order in the Catholic Church. Because its foundation coincided with the beginning of modern science and the educational work in colleges and universities, mathematical and experimental science was soon introduced in their programs. Thus the Jesuit scientific tradition was established. This tradition can be explained by the characteristics of Jesuit or Ignatian spirituality, a mystique of service, understood as a service to God through the apostolic ministry to men. At its core is the emphasis of “finding God in all things” and seeking in their work the greater glory of God. This leads Jesuits sometimes to unconventional work on the frontiers an example of which is scientific work. Jesuit scientists found an affinity between scientific work and their spirituality and try to integrate both together in their lives.
2011, Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits
St. Ignatius Loyola made two attempts to create an apostolic order of men before he succeeded on the third try with the Society of Jesus. The defections of his earliest followers, and their subsequent scandalous behavior, imperiled the foundation of the Society. They seem to have left a mark on Ignatius and the other founding fathers of the Society as they formulated their foundational documents.
2019, Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits
The Roman archives of the Society of Jesus hold over fifteen thousand letters written by young Jesuits to their general superiors in which they ask to be sent to the foreign missions. The letters, which predate the universal suppression of the Society in 1773, provide modern researchers an astonishing wealth of resources for learning about the spiritualities and personalities of these Jesuits. Often edifying, sometimes disconcerting, the letters also lay bare the reasons why many young men chose to enter the Society and why some of them eventually left.
The initial difficulty in this question is defining precisely what the term “mysticism” conveys. While often associated with miraculous or psychedelic experiences like rapture, levitation, or prophecy, the more fundamental characteristic of mystical theology, according to George Sauvage, “is either a religious tendency and desire of the human soul towards an intimate union with the Divinity, or a system growing out of such a tendency and desire.” This was as much the case in the early modern period as it is now; wherefore Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), the outstanding paragon of Counter-Reformation mysticism, teaches that “the highest perfection” is not manifested in “great raptures or in visions,” but rather “in having our will so much in conformity with God’s will that there is nothing we know He wills that we do not want with all our desire.” More than this, however, one can identify interrelated features of this desire for union with God that were quintessential to early modern Catholicism; these are (1) an orientation of contemplation toward practical action, (2) engagement with materiality as a medium to reach mystical experience, and (3) an emphasis on the humanity of Jesus Christ. In addition to being what John O’Malley calls the “golden age of Catholic spiritualties,” the early modern Church is also distinguished by the proliferation of new religious orders that responded to and were motivated by the religious cultures in which they were formed. Thus, the following essay seeks to demonstrate that the distinctive facets of post-Tridentine mystical spirituality were shaped by the figures, texts, and ideas that were most prominent and influential in these new orders.
Within current scholarship, the general consensus seems to be that Bonaventure did not, according to Paul Sabatier, “[understand] him whose disciple he wanted and believed himself to be.” Ewert W. Cousins takes up this line of thinking in his analysis of Bonaventure’s theology contrasting Bonaventure’s presupposition of the “speculative tradition” with the “simpleness and directness” of Francis of Assisi. This contrast contains the implication that Bonaventure’s work cannot be considered to be truly Franciscan, given the differing expression of his ideas from those in the orders foundational texts; however, I hypothesize that Bonaventure’s operates in, what Bernard Lonergan calls, the realm of interiority. I will argue that as a result of this Bonaventure is able to transpose his understanding of Franciscan spirituality from the realm of theory, as is seen in the Itinerarium mentis in Deum, to the realm of common sense, as is seen in the Legenda Maior.
2016, The Catholic Voyage
Find my article on Priests and Religious as fruits of the family in the Journal series above
2013, Sensorium Dei
This paper looks at how “spiritual space” is constructed in hesychasm and in the life and work of Ignatius of Loyola. To be more precise, and more grounded, the question is why Ignatius, after his conversion, spent most of his time in cities, and placed the religious order that he founded, the Society of Jesus, in urban centres, whilst hesychast practitioners tended to seek out isolated spots to establish hermitages. What do these choices say about understandings of prayer, and of God? And to what extent are they complementary and to what extent are they in conflict?
Retracing the first Constitutions, writings of the Founders and other early documents, this book presents the close relationship between the life of the Congregation and the Vincentian spirituality.
it's a thesis deals with the Church History, mainly the sixteenth century reformation
2015
This book is about religious women’s contributions to others’ salvation in seventeenth and eighteenth century Spanish America and the Philippines, a subject that has been little studied in previous research. In this investigation, special emphasis is put on aspects of the colonial gender relations that have bearing on the intricate relationships between the apostolic and contemplative forms of religious life as presented in colonial texts by and about these women. The majority of them were nuns, who lived a life in enclosure, a fact that in a most concrete way constrained the physical mobility normally seen as a presupposition for apostolic endeavours. Despite the constrictions of space and agency that were related to their female gender, many women in the Spanish colonial empire, whether nuns or other contemplatives, were said to have functions in the missionary enterprise. As a consequence of their love of God and neighbour, they felt a vocation for missionary work, they prayed and suffered for the salvation of others, they taught and counselled people who came to them with their religious and moral queries, and some claimed that they were transported in spirit to the mission frontiers where they carried out similar work as the male missionaries, albeit in a supernatural way.
2018, THE CATHOLIC VOYAGE: African Journal of Consecrated Life
2018, The Nomadic Object
2012, Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal
Many definitions of the magis are proffered in Jesuit circles, not all of which are clear or helpful. The best definition, in terms of practicality, fidelity to the sources, and correspondence to other Ignatian themes, is "the more universal good." It is closely linked to the unofficial motto of the Society of Jesus, "For the Greater Glory of God."
Foreword Until the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, the Vatican congregation for religious was still tied to its 1901 " one stamp for all " policy of standardizing religious institutes like ours into " states of perfection. " There was absolutely no talk of different charisms.1 It was not until 1965 in Vatican II's Perfectae caritatis that we hear Pope Paul VI recognizing the " wonderful variety " of religious institutes and their " various charisms " adorning the Church like a bride bejeweled for her spouse.2 We hear affirmation of " necessary diversity " and " distinctive paths " to be revitalized. The pope's encouragement to find renewal by embracing the unique spiritual gifts of our founders was a 180-degree turn, a needed affirmation, and a breath of fresh air for religious, who had grown accustomed to interventions from the curia. He continued, " It serves the best interests of the Church for institutes to have their own special character and purpose. Therefore loyal recognition and protection should be accorded to the spirit of founders. " 3 Our founder gave the first brothers a provisional rule borrowed from the sisters he was accompanying, with the intention of writing a more extensive rule adapted to our particular needs. But he was impossibly busy. The first brothers were impatient for a complete rule as well as for a habit, but Father Coindre kept putting them off. He told
2019, International Marian Research Institute
The Congregation for Clergy promulgated on December 8, 2016 a new Program of Priestly Formation/Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis entitled "The Gift of the Priestly Vocation." While maintaining the division of seminary formation into the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral found in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation/Pastores Dabo Vobis, the Ratio Fundamentalis distinguishes four pedagogical periods of preparation (propaedeutic, discipleship, configuration, and pastoral) ordered towards the affective maturation and preparation of candidates for priestly ordination. Since "Pastores Dabo Vobis" asserts in §82 that “[e]very aspect of priestly formation can be referred to Mary,” and the Program of Priestly Formation incorporates verbatim this selfsame text (§112), this study seeks to concretely identify Mary’s presence and mission in seminarians’ human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation during the propaedeutic, discipleship, configuration, and pastoral stages of training. Mary’s presence and mission involve the Church and all of its members, resulting from the absolute Christian mystery of the Incarnation. As members of the Church through baptism and in formation for the ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ, Mary’s presence and mission intimately concern and can assist priestly formators, spiritual directors, and seminarians to realize the vision of priestly formation proffered in the Ratio Fundamentalis.
2021, Disserationes Paulinorum
Religious profession belongs to an interesting list of rites that were for one reason or another ultimately excluded from the list of Seven Sacraments. Although it is not a Sacrament per se, it is very sacramental and emulates almost all of the Seven Sacraments in its purpose and effects. This paper will explore Religious profession as a Sacramental with a permanent character. This will be done in three sections. 1) The Monk and His profession 2) Christ the Sacrament to the Seven Sacraments 3) Sacramental Permanent Character
2012
The purpose of this thesis is to compare the experience of Godforsakenness, described by Elder Sophrony (+1993), and the Dark Night in the writings of the 16th century Carmelite monk, John of the Cross (1542-1591). Hieromonk Nicholas (Sakharov), in his study of Elder Sophrony I Love Therefore I Am, suggests such a comparison and this suggestion forms the impetus for the greater exploration conducted within the present thesis. Elder Sophrony represents one of the most articulate voices of the Orthodox Patristic tradition in our present times. Elder Sophrony speaks from his own experience of Godforsakenness with eyes transformed by his vision of Christ in Glory. Likewise, John of the Cross bases his teachings on the Dark Night largely on his own experience, but framed within a tradition quite different from Elder Sophrony. John of the Cross represents a long line of medieval Mystics, including Meister Eckhert and Francisco de Osuna, who were shaped largely by their late medieval interpretation of Aristotle, Augustine and Dionysius. While a host of related sources surround such an examination, the present study will focus predominantly on the following primary sources: John of the Cross’ Ascent to Mount Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul and Elder Sophrony’s Saint Silouan the Athonite, On Prayer, We Shall See Him As He Is, and Striving for Knowledge of God. Secondary sources will serve chiefly to clarify the teachings of John of the Cross and Elder Sophrony. Encounters with both the Dark Night and Godforsakenness are common to the experience of every Christian. Therefore, knowledge of the respective teachings regarding these events and how they relate to Christian spiritual life is essential.
This presentation will be divided in three parts, going from some preliminary considerations to the main elements of consecrated life as defined by the Magisterium of the Church, and concluding with a few reflections taken from contemporary spiritual Theology. This work does not pretend to be an exhaustive and comprehensive study, but rather an initial and general approach that may be further developed through experience, study, reflection and sharing with our candidates in formation. The three sections are the following: 1. Theological preliminary considerations 2. Main statements by the Magisterium of the Church 3. Contemporary Spiritual Theology
The Jesuit missionaries to Peru and their indigenous converts in the sixteenth century espoused a mystical theology which strengthened them in their ministry in a hard and challenging environment, according to the charism of contemplation in action. This article examines the lives of two Peruvian Jesuits and how they lived out this charism.
“In his life, Father Cormier had lived constantly for truth and transmitted it to all his Dominican brothers with humility and perseverance. . . . He led the children of Saint Dominic to God with his wisdom and competence, making them true sons and witnesses of the Kingdom.” — John Paul II During the Nineteenth Century, when religious life was on the verge of disap-pearing, the Order of Preachers entered a new springtime. Instructions for Novices provides the practical and spiritual principles that undergirded the Dominican renewal. Written by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier in 1880, the work is the fruit of his experience, learning, and sanctity. An abbreviated version of Instructions for Novices, translated here, was reprinted in 1950 by the Master of the Order at the time, Fr. Emmanuel Suarez, O.P. His introductory letter, along with an introductory essay by Basil Cole, O.P, is included. With Instructions for Novices, Bl. Cormier shows the reader the path to Christian perfection. Seeing how his Order was restored after it nearly disappeared, Bl. Cormier demonstrates how to maintain the essential and ancient elements of a religious tradition while adapting them to new circumstances. Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier (1832-1916) was born in Orleans, France on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Working for the revival of the Order of Preachers, he served as Novice Master, Prior, Provincial, and eventually as the sev-enty-sixth Master of the Order. He founded the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, known as the “Angelicum,” and his biographies of Bl. Raymund of Capua and Alexander Jandel are notable among his many writings.
2019, Adoremus Bulletin
2015, Marian Studies
In certain manuscripts of Sirach, wisdom proclaims herself the “mother of fair love” (Sir 24:18: ἐγὼ μήτηρ τῆς ἀγαπήσεως τῆς καλῆς), a title often attributed to Mary. This paper will explore the beauty of the Mother of God for the various calls or vocations of Christian life. The word “for” is quite intentional here, since hers is no mere appearance to gratify sense perception, but a beauty chosen for God and, therefore, able to elevate, to save, to purify all the creation. Since the radiance of this beauty penetrates into the whole created order, it also does so for the sake of each believer and each vocation. The main sources for the reflections herein will be the dormition homilies of the Church Fathers, the Marian Psalter attributed to St. Bonaventure, and the theology of the body of Pope St. John Paul II. First, the Church Fathers’ homilies show how Mary’s bodily assumption is the eschatological sign for all believers, and hence the Virgin illumines the mystery of consecrated life especially. Furthermore, she plays an essential role in deification: “For if you had not gone before us, no one would ever become perfectly spiritual,” wrote St. Germanus, and “all things are made holy by your myrrh-like fragrance,” according to St. Andrew of Crete. Secondly, in exploring the Marian Psalter, one encounters in Our Lady a beauty most desirable and fecund that bears fruit for those who praise her. This beauty speaks to the universal call to holiness (universali vocatione ad sanctitatem). Beauty is a thread woven throughout the psalter’s praise of the Virgin. Her body and her face are beautiful; her beauty is pedagogical: “Beautiful are your ways: and your paths are peaceful. In you shine forth the beauty of chastity, the light of justice, and the splendor of truth.” The psalmist even writes in the language of eros concerning the virtue of Mary: “I have coveted your chastity from my youth up.” Finally, this article will show how the image of spousal love given by Pope St. John Paul II in his theology of the body points beyond Eve to Mary, the New Eve. He wrote, “Man appears in the visible world as the highest expression of the divine gift, because he bears within himself the inner dimension of the gift. And with it he carries into the world his particular likeness to God, with which he transcends and also rules his ‘visibility’ in the world, his bodiliness, his masculinity or femininity, his nakedness.” The femininity of the Virgin-Mother exists as gift to her Son, but as sign it also is a sacrament of divine love. In this section, particular attention will be paid to John Paul’s exegesis of the Song of Songs to see how the beauty of the vocation to spousal love is particularly illumined by the mutual love of Jesus and Mary and by the communion of persons in the Holy Family.