Loyola and the Educational System of the JesuitsHughes, Thomas
History
Loyola and the Educational System of the Jesuits
Hughes, Thomas
Education -- History; Ignatius, of Loyola, Saint, 1491-1556; Jesuits
The secret of this magisterial ascendency, as Ignatius of Loyola
projected it, was to be found in the Masters' intellectual attainments,
which naturally impressed youthful minds; and also in a paternal
affection which, of course, won youthful hearts. Does anything more
seem necessary for the full idea of authority? The committee appointed
by the canton of Fribourg, for restoring the Fathers to their old
college in 1818, mention as one reason for having done so, that "the
will cannot be chained; it will not submit to restraint. You can
win it, but not subjugate it." And they speak of that "most lively
attachment" ever abiding in the hearts of students towards members of
the Order, which they have known as the cradle of their youth.[113] The
same Father Bader, whom I have quoted before, defines where authority
lies, when he says: "Let not the Prefects consider their authority
to consist in this, that the students are on hand in obedience to
their nod, their every word, or their very look; but in this, that the
boys love them, approach with confidence, and make their difficulties
known." Speaking of penalties, he goes on: "The pupils should be led to
understand that such reprehensions are necessary and are prompted by
affection; and let it be the most grievous rebuke or penalty for them
to know that they have offended their Prefect."[114]
Thus, in the education of the sixteenth century, there came into play
a gradual reaction against the harshness and brusquer manners of
earlier times. Speaking of conversation with the students, the General
Vitelleschi, in 1639, gives characteristic directions: "It will be very
useful if from time to time the Professors treat with their auditors,
and converse with them, not about vain rumors and other affairs that
are not to the purpose, but about those which appertain most to their
well-being and education; going down to particulars that seem most to
meet their wants; and showing them, in a familiar way, how they ought
to conduct themselves in studies and piety. Let the Professors be
persuaded that a single talk in private, animated with true zeal and
prudence on their part, will penetrate the heart more and work more
powerfully, than many lectures and sermons given in common."[115]
Here then I have touched on the secrets of success, those principles
which commanded esteem, and shed about the Order an unmistakable halo
of educational prestige.
CHAPTER VIII.
IGNATIUS ADMINISTERING THE COLLEGIATE SYSTEM. HIS DEATH.
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