The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present TimeCampbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
History
The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present Time
Campbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
Jesuits -- History
On August 15, 1534, Ignatius led his companions to a little church on
the hill of Montmartre, then a league outside the city, but now on the
Rue Antoinette, below the present great basilica of the Sacred Heart. In
its crypt which they apparently had all to themselves that morning, they
pronounced their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Faber, the
only priest among them, said Mass and gave them communion. Such was the
beginning of the new Order in the Church. A brass plate on the wall of
the chapel proclaims it to be the "cradle of the Society of Jesus." It
is almost startling to recall that while in the University of Paris, not
only Ignatius but also Francis Xavier and Peter Faber, who were to be so
prominent in the world in a short time, were in destitute circumstances.
They had no money even to pay for their lodging, and they occupied a
single room which had been given them, out of charity, in one of the
towers of Ste Barbe. It was providential, however, for in the same
college, but paying his way, was a former schoolmate of Faber and like
him a native of Savoy. This was Claude Le Jay, or Jay, as he is
sometimes called. Of course he had noticed Ignatius and the group of
brilliant young Spaniards, but he had little or nothing to do with them
until once, when Ignatius was absent in Spain, Faber let him into the
secret of their great plan of converting the Turks. The result was that
when next year the associates went out to Montmartre to renew their
vows, Le Jay was with them as were also two other university men: Jean
Codure from Dauphiné and the Picard, Pasquier Brouet, who was already a
priest.
It had been arranged that in 1536 when their courses of study were
finished and their degrees and certificates secured, they were to meet
at Venice to embark for the Holy Land. They were to make the journey to
Venice on foot. They set out, therefore, in two bands, a priest with
each, taking the route that passed by Meaux and then through Lorraine,
across Switzerland to Venice. It was a daring journey of fifty-two days
in the dead of winter, over mountain passes, without money to pay their
way or to purchase food; with poor and insufficient clothing, across
countries filled with soldiers preparing for war, or angry fanatics who
scoffed at the rosaries around their necks, and who might have
ill-treated them or put them to death; they bore it all, however, not
only patiently but light-heartedly, and on January 6, 1537, arrived in
Venice, where Ignatius was waiting for them. To them was added a new
member of the association, Diego Hozes, who had known Ignatius at Alcalá
and now came to him at Venice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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