Fathers of the Sacred Heart — Fathers of the Faith — Fusion — Paccanari — The Rupture — Exodus to Russia — Varin in Paris — Clorivière — Carroll's doubts — Pignatelli — Poirot in China — Grassi's Odyssey.
Fathers of the Sacred Heart — Fathers of the Faith — Fusion — Paccanari — The Rupture — Exodus to Russia — Varin in Paris — Clorivière — Carroll's doubts — Pignatelli — Poirot in China — Grassi's Odyssey.
While the Society was maintaining its corporate life in Russia several contributory sources began to flow towards it from various parts of Europe. The most notable was the association that was formed under the eyes and with the approval of the wise and virtuous Jacques-André Emery, the superior of the Seminary of Paris, who himself had been trained in the Jesuit college of Macon. Under his guidance and very much attached to him, was a little group of seminarians consisting of Charles and Maurice de Broglie, sons of the celebrated Marshal of that name, both of whom bore the title of Prince; François Eléonore de Tournély, who was the animating spirit of the little association, and, omitting others, Joseph Varin who succeeded de Tournély as the guide of the growing community.
When the Revolution broke out, Varin yielding to his martial instincts, left the seminary and became a soldier in the royalist army; but Charles de Broglie kept the group together and under the direction of Pey, a distinguished canon of Paris, they plunged into the study of the spiritual life and continued to dream of an association which might in one way or another take up the work of the suppressed Society of Jesus. In 1791 they were compelled to seek a refuge in Luxembourg. Two years later, they fled to Antwerp, andfinally found themselves in the old Jesuit villa of Louvain, which is still standing near the château of the Duc d'Arenberg. There they were joined by de Broglie's brother, Xavier, and by Pierre Leblanc, both of whom had served for two years in the army of the Prince de Condé. Varin joined them in that year. He had been a soldier ever since the seminary had closed, and had given up all idea of ever resuming the soutane. But it happened that he was absent from his regiment when a battle occurred, and in disgust he had gone to Belgium to ask to be transferred to another corps. While there, he fell into the hands of his old seminary friends; in a few days his former fervor returned and he was accepted as the sixth member of what de Tournély had determined to call "The Society of the Sacred Heart."
On the very day of Varin's entrance, he and five associates started off on foot, with their bags on their backs, to beg their way to Bavaria. It took them five days to get as far as Augsburg, and there they remained, though their intention was to establish themselves at Munich. But the Bishop of Augsburg told them that if they wanted to learn what the Society of Jesus was, no better place could be found than the city in which they then found themselves, for the memory of many illustrious Jesuits was still fresh in the hearts of the people. The bishop who gave them this welcome hospitality was Clemens Wenzeslaus, who besides being a prelate was a prince of Saxony and Poland. Yielding to his advice, they took up their abode in Augsburg where they were soon joined by two distinguished men who were afterwards to be conspicuous in the reconstructed Society, Grivel, who was to be sent to Georgetown in America as master of novices, and the famous Rozaven, who was to save the Society from wreck in the first general congregation held afterthe Restoration, and who was subsequently to be the assistant General both of Fortis and Roothaan.
As they were all Frenchmen, they were necessarily debarred from apostolic work among the people whose language they could not speak. But that was providential, for they had thus a better opportunity to devote themselves to the study of the spiritual life. On March 12, 1796, Varin and some others were promoted to the priesthood, and about the middle of December, they were installed first at Neudorf and then at Hagenbrünn, near Vienna, as the invading armies of Moreau and Jourdan made Augsburg an unsafe place to live in. They were now sixteen in number and their close imitation of the Jesuit mode of life caused a sensation there, as Austria had only a short time before suppressed the Society.
De Tournély died on July 9, 1797, and Varin was elected in his place on the first ballot. The organization however, had not yet received the authorization of the Sovereign Pontiff, for as Napoleon held him a prisoner now in one place now in another, it was impossible to make any personal application for his approval of the new organization. Hence, a petition was drawn up, signed by twenty-five or thirty bishops asking the Holy Father's approbation. The answer came in the month of September 1798, assuring them that their project afforded him the greatest consolation, and with all his heart he gave them his blessing.
The establishment of this Society was not as has been said "the underhand work of the Jesuits," for Varin and his associates had as yet never met any member of the old Society, nor were they aware of the existence of any similar organization in Italy. Indeed, when a letter came from Rome, signed Nicolas Paccanari, announcing that he was their superior, and was such, "in virtue of an express wish of the Popeto have the two communities united," the associates regarded it as the abolition of their Society of the "Fathers of the Sacred Heart," especially as this unknown individual announced that he was then on his way to Hagenbrünn to carry the plan into effect.
Nicolas Paccanari was a very curious personage. He had no education whatever, and in his early life had been engaged in various occupations which scarcely seemed to fit him to be the founder of a religious order. He was born near Trent, and had been for some time a soldier, then a merchant on a small scale, and when swindled by an associate, he took to tramping from town to town, vending, as Guidée says, "objects of curiosity," that is, he was an itinerant peddler. He was a pious man, and as he belonged to one of the guilds in the Caravita at Rome, he was prompted by the spirit that prevailed in that famous Oratory to do something more than usual for the glory of God. He first thought of being a Carmelite, and then the fancy seized him that he was destined to resuscitate the Society of Jesus. Strangely enough, although he was not even a priest, he was joined by a doctor of the Sapienza and two French ecclesiastics, Halnat and Epinette, the latter of whom entered the Society and later taught philosophy at Georgetown D. C. He was undoubtedly clever, and so plausible in his speech that he won the confidence of the most distinguished personages in Europe: cardinals and noblemen and heads of religious orders, with the result that he and his two friends made their vows on the eve of the Assumption 1797, in the chapel of the Caravita, and Paccanari was elected superior. He succeeded even in seeing the Pope, who was then a prisoner at Spoleto, and obtained his approval and blessing. He called his organization "The Society of the Fathers of the Faith of Jesus," which was shortenedlater into "The Fathers of the Faith." In Böhmer-Monod we find them styled "The Brothers of the Faith."
Paccanari failed to arrive at Hagenbrünn for a considerable time, for he had fallen into the hands of the police and was kept a prisoner in Sant' Angelo. His restless activity and constant change of abode had attracted the notice of the authorities, and he was suspected of being concerned in some political plot against the Roman Republic, which the French had just then set up in the Papal dominions. His associates were arrested at the same time, and were not released for four months. It was during this time of incarceration that Paccanari sent a second letter to Varin more startling than the first. It announced that the Fathers of the Sacred Heart had been received into the Paccanari association, and that Father Varin was appointed superior of the society in Germany. Such a communication from a man whom they had not even seen, made them conclude that they had to do with a lunatic. Finally, in the month of February 1799, a third letter arrived, clearing up what had been said in the second. The explanation offered was that not knowing if he would ever be let out of jail, and not wishing that the privileges he had received from the Holy See should lapse, he had as a precaution admitted Varin and his associates into the Society of the Fathers of the Faith.
When at last he was released, he started for Vienna, and on his way, made it his business to see some of the dispersed Jesuits who were in Parma and Venice. They were very kind to him, procured him financial assistance, but did not welcome him with the enthusiasm he expected. They had remarked that he never spoke of uniting his associates with the Jesuits of Russia. Paccanari was keen enough to divine theirreason, and he was therefore only the more eager to affiliate with the people at Hagenbrünn, for he had only twenty members of his own, not more than three of whom were priests. He reached Vienna on April 3, and was naturally received with some reserve, but when Cardinal Migazzi and the nuncio made known the desire of the Pope, all opposition ceased and the discussion of the mode of union began. The sessions lasted ten days and ended by the election of Paccanari as general. The Society of the Fathers of the Sacred Heart thus passed out of existence on April 18, 1799.
The house at Hagenbrünn at once took on a different aspect. There was less study, fewer exercises of piety, the recreations were immoderately prolonged, and the Fathers were actually compelled to take up a series of athletic exercises that made them think they were back in their college days. Of course this soon became intolerable, but little else could have been expected from a man like Paccanari, who was absolutely ignorant of the first elements of community life. What is still more curious is that he was not even yet tonsured; but he was, nevertheless, so wonderfully insinuating in his manner that he succeeded in persuading everyone outside of his own household that he was the man of the hour. The public praised him, but his subjects were exasperated at his opinionativeness, his despotism, his repeated absences from home, and above all by his avoidance of all association with the dispersed Jesuits. All that quickly convinced the Fathers of the Sacred Heart that a serious mistake had been made. It is true that on August 11, 1799, Paccanari made a formal announcement that his sole purpose was to amalgamate with the Jesuits of Russia, but it was tolerably clear that if he ever had any such intention it was rapidly vanishing from his mind. He began by founding several establishments in variousparts of Europe, even Moravia being favored in this respect. In this distribution, de Broglie and Rozaven were dispatched to England, and Halnat, Roger and Varin to France.
After the example of the old Jesuits, the first work that Varin and his companions undertook when they arrived in Paris was the care of the hospitals of La Salpétrière and Bicêtre, the first of which had 6,000 patients and had not seen a priest in its wards for ten years. The government now admitted the folly of its previous methods of procedure, and sought the help of the ministers of religion. A tremendous transformation was immediately effected. Nor could it have been otherwise, for the zealous priests spent thirteen and fourteen hours a day there, going from bed to bed to comfort the patients.
It was Halnat who first discovered the existence of the venerable Father de Clorivière, a Jesuit of the old Society, who was to be the first provincial of France after the restoration. The pious Mlle. de Cicé, a niece of the Archbishop of Bordeaux, also comes into view at this period. She had been the directress of an association of ladies established by Father de Clorivière to supply as far as possible the place of the expelled nuns, in looking after the young girls of Paris. Varin became her spiritual guide and also directed Mlle. de Jugon, a remarkable woman, who subsequently married a wealthy nobleman; but at his death she resumed with great ardor the charitable works which had previously reflected such glory upon her piety and zeal.
Just at this time, an attempt was made to assassinate Napoleon. An "infernal machine," as it was called, was exploded under his carriage, and Mlle. de Cicé was suspected of knowing something about it, chiefly because of her association with the mysterious personages who had recently arrived in France — Varin and his companions. Indeed, although the good woman's holiness of life was vouched for by a great number of witnesses, chiefly the beneficiaries of her charity, she might have been condemned to death, had not Father Varin appeared in court, where he made a candid explanation of the character of his society, as having for its only purpose religion and charity, without any political affiliations whatever. His good temper at the trial was a happy offset to Father Halnat's outburst of anger which almost provoked an unfavorable verdict. Later Halnat applied for admission to the Society of Jesus, but it was thought unsafe to admit him.
At this juncture, there appears the figure of Madeleine-Sophie Barat, the foundress of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, a title chosen at that time not to indicate any social distinction; indeed Madame Barat was from people in very ordinary circumstances, but the name "religious" was in disfavor at that turbulent period, and it was thought advisable not to obtrude unnecessarily the fact that she and her associates formed a community of nuns. They were merelydes dames pieuses, who lived together for charitable and educational work. The name "dames" is an old title for nuns in England.
She was the sister of Father Louis Barat, who was one of the Fathers of the Faith, and when Varin was looking around for some capable woman to give the girls of Paris and elsewhere a Christian education, Barat suggested her as a possibility. He had taught her Latin, Greek, Spanish, Italian, and natural philosophy, besides subjecting her to a very rigid and somewhat harsh training in asceticism. She was then twenty years of age, and with her usual habit of submission, she and her three companions addressedthemselves to the task. This was in 1801. Before 1857, she had succeeded in establishing more than eighty foundations in various parts of the world and she is now ranked among the Beatified.
To Varin must also be accorded the credit of forming in the religious life another woman who is among the Blessed; the Foundress of the Sisters of Notre-Dame de Namur, Julie Billiart. Perhaps his prayers had something to do with the restoration to health of this remarkable woman, who had been a paralytic and almost speechless for thirty-one years. She recovered her youthful vigor in 1804, at the end of a novena to the Sacred Heart, which had been suggested by her confessor. She was then at Amiens, and Varin united her and her companions into a teaching community, and drew up the rules and constitutions which they have undeviatingly adhered to ever since. Indeed it was this very fidelity that gave them the name of Notre Dame de Namur. For in the absence of Varin a prominent ecclesiastic attempted to modify their rule, whereupon the indignant women left Amiens and emigrated in a body to Namur. That city has ever since been regarded as their spiritual birthplace. In the space of twelve years, namely between 1804 and 1812, this quondam paralytic founded fifteen convents, and made as many as one hundred and twenty journeys, some of them very long and toilsome, in the prosecution of her great work for the Church. Like the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur have establishments all over the world.
Meantime, a very marked difference had displayed itself in the tone of the various members of the Fathers of the Faith. Those who had been followers of Paccanari had no idea whatever of the real nature of religious life, whereas the disciples of Varin for themost part were spiritual men and eager in the work of perfection. How noticeable this was, is revealed in a letter from Bishop Carroll in America. He had asked for help from the new organization, and four priests had been promised him, but only one arrived — an Italian named Zucchi. Whether he lost his way or not, or fancied he could follow his own guidance, he went first to Quebec, but was promptly informed by the government officials there that his presence was undesirable. He finally reached Maryland, and Carroll describes him in a letter to Father Plowden in England as follows: "There is a priest here named Zucchi, aRomano di nascità, a man of narrow understanding, who does nothing but pine for the arrival of his companions. Meantime he will undertake no work. From this sample of the new order, I am led to believe that they are very little instructed in the maxims of the Institute of our venerable mother, the Society. Though they profess to have no other rule than ours, Zucchi seems to know nothing of the structure of our Society, nor even to have read theRegulæ Communeswhich our very novices know almost by heart."
The bishop had also heard of the establishment of one of the communities of women by Father Varin, and that made him still more suspicious about the genuineness of the Fathers of the Faith. "In one point," he writes to Plowden, "they seem to have departed from St. Ignatius, by engrafting on their Institution a new order of nuns, which is to be under their government."
The rupture in the ranks of the Fathers of the Faith took place in 1803. In the preceding year, Rozaven and Varin had gone to Rome and were there confirmed in their suspicions that Paccanari was not sincere in his protestations about his desire to join the Jesuits in Russia. They were also shocked at thelack of religious spirit in the Paccanarist house in Rome. In the following year, Rozaven again returned to Rome, and besides being confirmed in his conviction that Paccanari was working for the development of an independent society, he was informed of certain charges against the personal character of the man. Paccanari's explanation of the accusations, far from convincing Rozaven, only confirmed him in his opinion. The result was that he obtained a private audience with the Pope, and was authorized to sever his connection with the Fathers of the Faith.
To his amazement, he found on his return to London, that his associates had already taken the matter in hand for themselves and had applied to Father Gruber in Russia, for admission to the Society. The petition was granted, not, however to enter corporately but individually, namely after each one's vocation had been carefully examined. The application was to be made to Father Strickland in England, who had been a member of the old Society. With other candidates from Holland and Germany, twenty-five new members passed over to Russia.
It is very distressing to note that Father Charles de Broglie, who with de Tournély had initiated the whole movement, was not in this group. He and three others remained in London as secular priests, and unfortunately, his relations with a certain number of refractory Frenchmen led him into the schism known asLa Petite Eglise. He persisted in his rebellion as late as 1842, when he at last made his submission to the Church.
Rozaven wrote from Polotsk to Varin, giving him an account of what had happened to him in Rome, insisting on the justifiableness of the act, and reminding him that they had joined the Fathers of the Sacred Heart, and subsequently the Fathers of the Faith, solelyfor the sake of uniting with the Jesuits in Russia. As Paccanari had not only no intention of carrying out that purpose, but was doing everything in his power to prevent it, the duty of allegiance ceased, and so the Pope had decided. Forthwith, Varin, with the approval of all his subjects in France, notified Paccanari that they had severed all connection with his Society. Meantime however, they retained the name of Fathers of the Faith.
But this independence was not satisfactory to Varin. What was he to do? Should he disband his communities which were performing very effective work in France or wait for developments? The Apostolic nuncio at Paris, della Genga, decided that he should continue as he was till more favorable circumstances presented themselves. They had not long to wait. The emperor's uncle, Cardinal Fesch, had thus far protected them, but in 1807 Napoleon publicly and angrily reproached him for this patronage, and on November 1st ordered all the Fathers to report to their respective dioceses within fifteen days, under penalty of being sent to the deadly convict colony of Guiana. Fouché offered several positions of honor to Varin and on his refusal to accept them, drove him out of Paris. By this time, however, Varin was a Jesuit and was following the directions of the venerable Father Clorivière who had been empowered to receive him.
The secession of the Fathers of France and England was quickly imitated by the communities in other parts of Europe. Meanwhile Paccanari's conduct became a public scandal. A canonical process was instituted against him in 1808, and he was condemned to ten years' imprisonment. But when the French took possession of the city in 1809 and opened the prison doors, Paccanari disappeared from view, and no one ever knew what became of him.
While the work of the Fathers of the Faith was progressing in France and elsewhere, the saintly Pignatelli, who had been Angel Guardian of the Spanish Jesuits when they were expelled from their native land, was accomplishing much for the general establishment of the Society. After landing in Italy where the Jesuits were as yet unmolested, he had betaken himself, with the advice of the provincial to Ferrara, and there housed the exiles as best he could. He also established a novitiate in connection with the college which had been handed over to him; but all this was swept away when the Brief of Clement XIV suppressed the entire Society in 1773. Of course, the first thought of Pignatelli after this disaster was to join his brethren in Russia, and with that in view he wrote to Pope Pius VI, who had succeeded Clement XIV, asking him if the Jesuits whom Catherine II had sheltered, really belonged to the Society. The reply delighted him beyond measure, for it told him that he might go to Russia with a safe conscience and put on the habit of the Society. The Jesuits there really belonged to the Society for the Brief of Suppression had never reached that country. The Pontiff also added that he would restore the Society as soon as possible; and if he were not able to do so he would recommend it to his successor.
Pignatelli's joy knew no bounds, and he immediately prepared for his journey to the North, but the Providence of God kept him in Italy, for the Duke of Parma, though a son of Charles III of Spain, had resolved to recall the Jesuits to his Duchy, and for that purpose had written to Catherine II of Russia to ask for three members of the Society to organize the houses. The empress was only too glad to accede to his wish; on February, 1794, three Jesuits arrived in Parma and began their work at Calorno, just when Pius VIwas passing through that city on his way to the prisons of France. The opportunity was taken advantage of to ask the august captive for authorization to open a novitiate and he most willingly granted the request. Panizzoni, who was then provincial of Italy, appointed Pignatelli as superior and master of novices. Unfortunately the Duke of Parma died, and the Duchy was taken over by France; however, the Jesuits were not molested for a year and a half, and during this time Pignatelli, who was exercising the office of provincial, succeeded in having the Society restored in Naples and Sicily. This was in 1804. But when Napoleon laid his hands on the whole of the peninsula an order was formulated for the expulsion of the Jesuits. Fortunately its execution was not rigorously enforced and colleges were established in Rome, Tivoli, Sardinia and Orvieto.
Meantime matters were progressing favorably in Russia, so much so that in 1803 Father Angiolini was sent as imperial ambassador to the Pope to solicit alms for the missions. When he appeared in Rome dressed as a Jesuit, he found himself the sensation of the hour. The Sovereign Pontiff received him with effusive affection and granted all that he asked. He remained there as procurator of the Society, and in the following year, was able to communicate to Father Gruber the pleasing news that, at the request of King Ferdinand, the Society had been re-established in the Two Sicilies. Father Pignatelli was made provincial, and as many as 170 of those who had survived after Tanucci had driven them out thirty-seven years previously came from the various places that had sheltered them during the Suppression to resume their former way of life. Several of them who had been made bishops asked the Pope for permission to return but all were refused except two, Avogado of Verona and Bencassa of Carpi.
The whole kingdom welcomed back the exiles with enthusiasm. The King came in person to open the Church which he had persistently refused to enter ever since the expulsion; at the first Mass he and the entire royal family received Holy Communion. He also gave the Fathers their former college, and endowed it with an annual income of forty thousand ducats. This example encouraged others; colleges were founded everywhere, and the number of applicants was so great that the conditions for admission to the Society had to be made as rigorous as possible. Unfortunately this happy condition of affairs did not last long, for in March 1806, Joseph Bonaparte replaced Ferdinand IV on the throne of Naples, and the Jesuits again took the road of exile. The Pope offered them a refuge in Rome, and when they protested that such a course would draw on him the wrath of Napoleon, he replied that they were suffering for the Church, and that he must receive them just as Clement XIII had done when they were exiled from Naples.
While these events were occurring in Italy and France, an opportunity was presented to the Jesuits of Russia to revive their old missions in China. Unfortunately it was frustrated. The story as told in the "Woodstock Letters" (IV, 113) is a veritable Odyssey, and is particularly interesting to Americans, for the reason that the principal personage concerned in what proved to be a very heroic enterprise became subsequently the President of Georgetown College: John Anthony Grassi.
Grassi was a native of Bergamo, and in 1799 entered the novitiate established by Father Pignatelli at Calorno. He thus received a genuine Jesuit training and escaped the influence of the establishments which Paccanari was inaugurating in Italy just at that time. From Calorno he was sent to Russia, and was made Rector of the College of Nobles which was dependentupon the establishment at Polotsk. Meanwhile, he was preparing himself for the missions of Astrakhan, and was already deep in the study of Armenian when the Chinese matter was brought to the attention of Father Gruber by a letter from a member of the old Society, who had contrived to remain in China ever since the Suppression. He was Louis Poirot. It appears that his ability as a musician had charmed the emperor, and thus enabled him to continue his evangelical work in the Celestial Empire.
Hearing of the establishment in Russia, he bethought himself of having the Jesuits resume their old place in China, evidently unaware that the Brief of 1801 expressly declared that the Society had been established "only within the limits of the Russian Empire." But not knowing this he availed himself of the return of a Lazarist missionary and wrote two letters; one to the Pope and another to the Father General in which he said: "I am eighty years of age and there is only one thing I care to live for. It is to see the Jesuits return to China." His letter to the General ends with a request to be permitted to renew his vows, "so as to die a true son of the Society of Jesus." Between the time he wrote this letter and its arrival in Europe, the limitation of the approval of the Society to Russia had been withdrawn, and Father Gruber immediately set about granting the venerable and faithful old man's request. Happily a solemn legation was just then to leave St. Petersburg for China, and the ambassador, Golowkin, was urged to take some Jesuits in his suite. The offer was gladly accepted, but it was decided that it should be better for the priests to go by the usual sea route than to accompany the embassy overland.
Father Grassi was considered to be the most available man in the circumstances, and he was told merelythat he was to go to a distant post, and that his companions were to be Father Korsack, a native of Russia and a German lay-brother named Surmer, who happened to be a sculptor. On January 14, 1805, they left Polotsk, and travelling day and night, arrived at St. Petersburg on January 19. Only then were they informed that their destination was Pekin. On February 2 they started on sleds for Sweden. At the end of three days, they were all sick and exhausted, but kept bravely on till they reached the frontier where they found shelter in a little inn. Fortunately a physician happened to be there and he helped them over their ailments, so that in ten days they were able to resume their journey. They then started for Abo, the capital of Finland and from there crossed the frozen sea at top speed, till they reached the Island of Aland. On March 20 they traversed the Gulf of Bothnia in a mail packet, and landed safely on the shore of Sweden. On March 22 they were in Stockholm, but the Abbé Morrette, the superior of the Swedish mission to whom they were to present themselves was dead. An Italian gentleman, happily named Fortuna, who was Russian Consul at that place, took care of them and presented them to Alopeus, the Russian minister.
Alopeus dissuaded them from going to England as they had been directed, and suggested Copenhagen as the proper place to embark. Arrived there, they were informed that there was a ship out in the harbor, waiting to sail for Canton, but that the captain refused to take any passengers; whereupon they determined to follow their original instructions, and after a stormy voyage arrived at Gravesend on May 22. From there they went to London where they met Father Kohlmann.
The same misfortune attended them at London for although Lord Macartney, who had known the Jesuitsin Pekin, did everything to secure them a passage to China, he failed utterly. Then acting under new instructions they set sail for Lisbon on July 29, but were driven by contrary winds to Cork in Ireland, where of course they met with the heartiest welcome from everyone especially from the bishop. They finally landed at Lisbon on September 28; passing as they entered the harbor, the gloomy fortress of St. Julian where so many of their brethren had been imprisoned by Pombal. They were befriended there by an Irish merchant named Stack, and also by the rector of the Irish College; but were finally lodged in an old dismantled monastery where they slept on the floor. Then, in the dress of secular priests, they presented themselves to the Apostolic nuncio who was very friendly to the Society, and who would have been a Jesuit himself had it not been for the opposition of his family. He warned them to be very cautious in what they did and said, and informed them that there were very few ships clearing for Macao.
While at Lisbon, they devoted themselves to the study of mathematics and astronomy, and after two months their friend, the Irish merchant, came to tell them that there was a ship about to sail. They hastened to advise the nuncio of it, but were then told that they could not go to China, without the Pope's permission, for the reason that the Society had been suppressed in that country. They also learned from a missionary priest of the Propaganda, that Rome was very much excited about their proposed journey; Father Angiolini who was then in Rome, wrote to the same effect. It was then March 1806. Not knowing what to do, they began a course of astronomy at the observatory of Coimbra, but unfortunately, the founder of the observatory, an ex-Jesuit, José Monteiro da Rocha, was very hostile to the Society; and evenwent so far in his opposition that in a public oration before the university he had praised Pombal extravagantly for having abolished the Order.
The wanderers remained at Coimbra for two months, and then returned to Lisbon. On their way to the capital they saw the unburied coffin of Pombal. On June 4 a letter came from England which revived their hopes, especially as it was followed by pecuniary help from the czar; but soon after that, they received news of the Russian embassy's failure to reach China, and they also heard that the country of their dreams was in the wildest excitement because a missionary there had sent a map of the empire to Europe. The imprudent cartographer was imprisoned and an imperial edict announced that vengeance was to be taken on all Christians in the empire. Who the poor man was we do not know. It could not have been old Father Poirot. He was merely a musician and not a maker of maps. On December 2, 1806, the nuncio at Lisbon was informed that the Pope quite approved of the project of the Fathers and had urged his officials to assist them to carry it out. The reason of this change of mind on the part of the Holy Father is explained by the fact that he was anxious to propitiate Russia. Nevertheless, the nuncio advised them to wait for further developments.
Another year went by, during which they continued their studies and made some conversions. They had also the gratification of being introduced to the Marchioness of Tavora, the sole survivor of the illustrious house which Pombal had so ruthlessly persecuted. Finally they were recalled to England, which they reached on November 16, 1807, after a month of great hardship at sea. They were welcomed at Liverpool by the American Jesuit, Father Sewall, who was at that time sheltering four other members of theSociety in his house. When the little community met at table, they represented seven different nationalities — American, English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Belgian. Father Grassi remained in England, chiefly at Stonyhurst until 1810, and on August 27 of that year set sail from Liverpool for Baltimore, where he arrived on October 20. He had thus passed three years in England where community life had been carried on almost without interruption from the time of the old Society. For although the Brief of Suppression had explicitly forbidden it, nevertheless Clement's successor had authorized it as early as 1778, and had permitted the pronouncement of the religious vows in 1803, — a privilege that was extended to the Kingdom of Naples in 1804. Arriving in the United States, Father Grassi found that there had been virtually no interruption of the Society's traditions in this part of the world. The Fathers had been in close communication with Russia as early as 1805 and were being continually reinforced by members of the Society in Europe. When the Bull of Re-establishment was issued there were nineteen Jesuits in the United States.
Tragic death of Father Gruber — Fall of Napoleon — Release of the Pope — The Society Re-established — Opening of Colleges — Clorivière — Welcome of the Society in Spain — Repulsed in Portugal — Opposed by Catholics in England — Announced in America — Carroll — Fenwick — Neale.
Tragic death of Father Gruber — Fall of Napoleon — Release of the Pope — The Society Re-established — Opening of Colleges — Clorivière — Welcome of the Society in Spain — Repulsed in Portugal — Opposed by Catholics in England — Announced in America — Carroll — Fenwick — Neale.
In 1805 the Society met with a disaster which in the circumstances seemed almost irreparable. During the night of March 25-26 its distinguished General, Father Gruber, was burned to death in his residence at St. Petersburg. His friend, the Count de Maistre, who was still ambassador at the Russian Court, hurried to the scene in time to receive his dying blessing and farewell. Gruber's influence was so great in Russia that it was feared no one could replace him. His successor was Thaddeus Brzozowski, who was elected on the second of September. Splendid plans, especially in the field of education had been made by Gruber and had been warmly approved of by the emperor, but they had to be set aside for more pressing needs. Napoleon was just then devastating Europe, and the very existence of Russia as well as of other nations was at stake. It is true that the empire was at peace with France, but at the rupture of the treaty of Amiens, Napoleon complained of the political measures of the cabinet of St. Petersburg, and the ambassadors of both countries received their papers of dismissal. The result was that a coalition of Russia, England, Austria and Sweden was formed to thwart the ambitions of Napoleon who was at that time laying claim to the whole Italian Peninsula. War was declared in 1805.Austerlitz compelled the empire to accept Napoleon's terms, but Prussia and Russia continued the fight until the disasters at Jena, Eylau and Friedland. Then the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia met Napoleon on a raft anchored out in the Niemen, where on the eighth and ninth of July peace was agreed to.
At Erfurt, in 1808 Napoleon and Alexander drew up what was known as the "Continental System," in accordance with which, all English merchandise was to be excluded from every continental nation. This was followed by a defensive alliance of Austria and England, and as Austria was Russia's ally, Alexander again entered the fight against Napoleon, but the victory of Wagram and the marriage of Napoleon with the Austrian archduchess, Maria Louisa, changed the aspect of affairs and the "Continental System" was restored, but in so modified a form that war broke out again, and in 1812 Napoleon began his Russian Campaign. The battle of Smolensk opened the way for him to Moscow, but when the conqueror arrived he found the city in flames. He mistook it for an act of surrender and Alexander purposely detained him, discussing the terms of peace until the winter set in. Then the conqueror decided to return, but it was too late. On February 22, 1813, Alexander sent out a call to all the kings of Europe to unite against Napoleon and they eagerly responded. He beat them at Lutzen and Bautzen, and in Silesia, but in spite of his success he had to continue his retreat. He won again at Dresden and Leipzig, but they pursued him relentlessly, until at last the Rhine was reached. Peace was offered in December 1813, but when its acceptance was delayed, the Allies entered France, and on March 3, 1814, laid siege to Paris. The city surrendered on the following day.
Meantime Napoleon had released Pius VII from captivity, not voluntarily, but as a political measure, to propitiate the anger of the Catholics of the world, who were beginning to open their eyes to the extent of the outrage. Eighteen months previously he had dragged the venerable Pontiff from Rome and hurried him night and day over the Alps, absolutely heedless of the age and infirmity of his victim, until at last the Pope entered Fontainebleau a prisoner. According to Pacca, it was a jail more than a palace. There by dint of threats and brutal treatment Napoleon so wore out the strength of the aged man that a Concordat was signed which sacrificed some of the most sacred rights of the Holy See. It was cancelled, indeed, subsequently, but it almost drove the Pope insane when he realized the full import of what he had been driven to concede. "I shall die like Clement XIV," he exclaimed. But his jailer was heartless and it was only after a year and a half of imprisonment, and when the Allies were actually entering France as conquerors, that he made up his mind to send the Pontiff back to Rome. Had he done it with less brutality he might even then, have succeeded in his calculations, but only one attendant was sent to accompany the prisoner. The cardinals were purposely dismissed some days later in batches, and ordered to go by different routes so as to prevent any popular demonstration on the way.
Pacca overtook the Pope at Sinigaglia on May 12, and on May 24, after a brief stay at Ancona, Loreto, Macerata, Tolentino, Foligno, Spoleto, Terni and Nepi, entered Rome. What happened at these places deserves to be recorded, as it shows that the Faith was not only not dead but had grown more intense because of the outrages of which the Vicar of Christ had been the object. At Ancona, for instance, Artaudtell us, "he was received with transports of delight. The sailors in the harbor flocked around his carriage, unhitched the horses and with silken ropes of yellow and red drew it triumphantly through the city, while the cannon thundered from the ramparts, and the bells of every tower proclaimed the joy of the people. From the top of a triumphal arch the Pope gave his benediction to the kneeling multitudes, and then blessed the wide Adriatic. From there he went to the palace of the Picis for a brief rest. The next day he crowned the statue of the Blessed Virgin, Queen of All Saints, and then set out for Osimo escorted as far as Loreto by a scarlet-robed guard of honor. Entering Rome by the Porto del Popolo, his carriage was drawn by young noblemen, and he was met by a procession of little orphan children chosen from the Protectory of Providence. They were all clothed in white robes and in their hands they held golden palm branches which they waved above their heads, while their young voices filled the air with jubilant songs. When the crowd became too dense, the little ones knelt before him to present their emblems of peace, which he affectionately received, while tears rolled down his cheeks. At last, the city gates were reached and he proceeded along the streets lined on either side by kneeling multitudes who were overcome with joy at his return."
Almost the first official act of the Pope was to re-establish the Society. How that came about may be best told in the words of his faithful servant, Cardinal Pacca.
"While we were in prison together," says the illustrious cardinal, "I had never tired of adroitly leading the conversation up to this important matter, so as to furnish His Holiness with useful information if ever it happened that he would again ascend theChair of St. Peter. In those interviews he never failed to manifest the greatest esteem and affection for the Society. The situation in which we found ourselves was remarkable, and it shows the admirable Providence of God with regard to this celebrated Society.
"When Barnabo Chiaramonte was a young Benedictine, he had teachers and professors in theology whose sentiments were anti-Jesuit, and they filled his mind with theological views that were most opposed to those maintained by the Society. Everyone knows what profound impressions early teaching leaves in the mind; and, as for myself, I also had been inspired from my youth with sentiments of aversion, hatred and, I might say, a sort of fanaticism against the illustrious Society. It will suffice to add that my teachers put in my hands and ordered me to make extracts from the famous 'Lettres Provinciales,' first in French and then in Latin, with the notes of Wendrok (Nicole) which were still more abominable than the text. I read also in perfect good faith, 'La morale pratique des Jésuites,' and other works of that kind and accepted them as true.
"Who then would have believed that the first act of the Benedictine Chiaramonte who had become Pope, immediately after emerging from the frightful tempest of the Revolution, and in the face of so many sects, then raging against the Jesuits, should be the re-establishment of the Society throughout the Catholic world; or that I should have prepared the way for this new triumph; or, finally, that I should have been appointed by the Pope to carry out those orders which were so acceptable to me and conferred on me so much honor? For both the Pope and myself, this act was a source of supreme satisfaction. I was present in Rome on the two memorable occasions ofthe Suppression and the Re-establishment of the Society, and I can testify to the different impressions they produced. Thus, on August 17, 1773, the day of the publication of the Brief 'Dominus ac Redemptor,' one saw surprise and sorrow painted on every face; whereas on August 7, 1814, the day of the resurrection of the Society, Rome rang with acclamations of satisfaction and approval. The people followed the Pope from the Quirinal to the Gesù, where the Bull was to be read, and made the return of the Pope to his palace a triumphal procession.
"I have deemed it proper to enter into these details, in order to profit by the occasion of these 'Memoirs' to make a solemn retraction of the imprudent utterances that I may have made in my youth against a Society which has merited so well from the Church of Jesus Christ."
Some of the cardinals were opposed to the Restoration, out of fear of the commotion it was sure to excite. Even Consalvi would have preferred to see it deferred for a few months, but it is a calumny to say that he was antagonistic to the Society. As early as February 13, 1799, he wrote as follows to Albani, the legate at Vienna: "You do me a great, a very great wrong, if you ever doubted that I was not convinced that the Jesuits should be brought back again. I call God to witness that I always thought so, although I was educated in colleges which were not favorable to them, but I did not on that account think ill of them. In those days, however, I did say one thing of them, viz., that although I was fully persuaded of their importance, I declared it to be fanatical to pretend that the Church could not stand without them, since it had existed for centuries before they existed, but when I saw the French Revolution and when I got to really understand Jansenism, I then thought and think nowthat without the Jesuits the Church is in very bad straits. If it depended on me, I would restore the Society to-morrow. I have frequently told that to the Pope, who has always desired their restoration, but fear of the governments that were opposed to it made him put it off, though he always cherished the hope that he could bring it about. He would do it if he lived; and if he were unable he would advise his successor to do it as quickly as possible. The rulers of the nations will find out that the Jesuits will make their thrones secure by bringing back religion."
Of course, the thought of restoring the Society did not originate with Pius VII and Pacca. Pius VI had repeatedly declared that he would have brought it about had it been at all feasible. Even after the return of Pius VII to Rome, some of the most devoted friends of the Jesuits, as we have seen, thought that the difficulties were insuperable; but the Pope judged otherwise, and hence the affection with which the Society will ever regard him. Indeed, he had already gone far in preparing the way for it. He had approved of the Society in Russia, England, America and Italy. He had permitted Father Fonteyne to establish communities in the Netherlands; Father Clorivière was doing the same thing in France with his approval so that everyone was expecting the complete restoration to take place at any moment. The Father provincial of Italy had announced that the Bull would be issued before Easter Sunday 1814, although some of his brethren laughed at him and thought he was losing his mind. This did not disturb him, however, and in June, 1814 he knelt before the Sovereign Pontiff and in the name of Father General Brzozowski presented the following petition:
"We, the Father General and the Fathers who, by the benignity of the Holy See, reside in Russia andin Sicily, desiring to meet the wishes of certain princes who ask our assistance in the education of the youth of their realms, humbly implore Your Highness to remove the difficulty created by the Brief of Clement XIV and to restore the Society to its former state in accordance with the last confirmation of it by Clement XIII, so that in whatever country we may be asked for we may give to the princes above referred to whatever help the needs of their several countries may demand."
On June 17, Pius VII let it be known that he was more than eager to satisfy the wish of the petitioners; and a few days afterwards, when Cardinal Pacca said to him, "Holy Father, do you not think we ought to do what we so often spoke of?" he replied, "Yes; we can re-establish the Society of Jesus on the next feast of Saint Ignatius." Even Pacca was taken aback by the early date that was fixed upon, for there was not a month and a half to prepare for it. The outside world was even still more surprised, and the enemies of the Society strove to belittle the Pontifical act by starting the report that it was not the old Society that was going to be brought back to life; only a new congregation was to be approved. That idea took possession of the public mind to such an extent that Father de Zúñiga, the provincial of Sicily, brought it to the attention of the Sovereign Pontiff. "On the contrary," said Pius, "it is the same Society which existed for two hundred years, although now circumscribed by some restrictions, because there will be no mention of privileges in the Bull, and there are other things which will have to be inserted, on account of circumstances in France and Spain and the needs of certain bishops."
The chief difficulty was in draughting the document. The time was very short and some of the cardinals were of opinion that the courts of Europe should beconsulted about it. But Pacca and the Pope both swept aside that suggestion. They had had a sad experience with the courts of Europe. Hence Cardinal Litta, who when ablegate at St. Petersburg had asked for the confirmation of the Society in Russia, was chosen to draw up the Bull. He addressed himself to the task with delight and presented to the Pope a splendid defense of the Society which he declared "had been guilty of no fault;" but when he added that "the suppression had been granted by Clement XIV unwillingly," and that "it was to be ascribed to the wicked devices, the atrocious calumnies, and the impious principles of false political science and philosophy which, by the destruction of the Order, foolishly imagined that the Church could be destroyed," the language was found to be too strong and even Cardinal di Pietro, who was a staunch friend of the Society, protested vehemently against it. Indeed, di Pietro went so far as to say that certain changes should be made in the Institute before the Bull was issued. Other members of the Sacred College were of the same opinion, but did not express themselves so openly. They were afraid to do so, because the popular joy was so pronounced at the news of the proposed restoration that anyone opposing it would run the risk of being classed as an enemy.
As a compromise, the Pope set aside the Bull drawn up by Litta and also the corrections by di Pietro, and entrusted the work to Pacca. It was his draught that was finally published. It makes no mention of any change or mutilation of the Institute; neither does it name nor abrogate any privilege; it is not addressed to any particular State, as some wished, but to the whole world; it does not reprehend anyone, nor does it subject to the Propaganda the foreign missions which the Society might undertake. Some of the "blackcardinals" such as Brancadoro, Gabrielli, Litta, Mattei and even di Pietro, asked for greater praise in it for the Society, while others wanted it just as Pacca had written it; Mattei objected to the expression "primitive rule of St. Ignatius," because the words would seem to imply that the Society had adopted another at some time in its history and he also wanted the reason of the restoration to be explicitly stated, namely: "the Pope's deep conviction of the Society's usefulness to the Church." His reason was that many had asked for it; but only some of his suggestions were accepted.
These details prevented the publication of the Bull on July 31, hence August 7, the octave of the feast was chosen.
A few extracts from it will suffice. Its title is "The Constitution by which the Society of Jesus is restored in its pristine state throughout the Catholic World." The preamble first refers to the Brief "Catholicæ Fidei" which confirmed the Society in Russia and also to the "Per alias" which restored it in the Two Sicilies. It then says: "The Catholic world unanimously demands the re-establishment of the Society of Jesus. Every day we are receiving most urgent petitions from our venerable brothers, the archbishops and bishops of the Church, and from other most distinguished personages to that effect. The dispersion of the very stones of the sanctuary in the calamitous days which we shudder even to recall, namely the destruction of a religious order which was the glory and the support of the Catholic Church, now makes it imperative that we should respond to the general and just desire for its restoration. In truth, we should consider ourselves culpable of a grievous sin in the sight of God, if, in the great dangers to which the Christian commonwealth is exposed, we should fail toavail ourselves of the help which the special Providence of God now puts at our disposal; if, seated as we are in the Barque of Peter, we should refuse the aid of the tried and vigorous mariners who offer themselves to face the surges of the sea which threaten us with shipwreck and death. Therefore, we have resolved to do to-day what we have longed from the first days of our Pontificate to be able to accomplish, and, hence, after having in fervent prayer implored the Divine assistance, and having sought the advice and counsel of a great number of our venerable brothers, the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, we have decreed, with certain knowledge, and in virtue of the plenitude of our Apostolic power, that all the concessions and faculties accorded by us to the Russian empire and the Two Sicilies, in particular, shall henceforward be extended in perpetuity to all other countries of the world.
"Wherefore, we concede and accord to our well-beloved son Thaddeus Brzozowski, at present the General of the Society of Jesus, and to the other members of the Society delegated by him, all proper and necessary powers to receive and welcome freely and lawfully all those who desire to be admitted into the Regular Order of the Society of Jesus, and that, under the authority of the General at the time such persons may be received into and assigned to one or many houses, or colleges or provinces, as needs be, wherein they shall follow the rule prescribed by St. Ignatius Loyola, which was confirmed by the Constitutions of Paul III. Over and above this, we declare them to possess and we hereby concede to them the power of devoting themselves freely and lawfully to educate youth in the principles of the Catholic religion; to train them in morality; to direct colleges and seminaries; to preach and to administer the sacraments in their place of residence, with the consent and approbation of the ordinary. We take under our protection and under our immediate obedience as well as that of the Apostolic See, all the colleges, all the houses, all the provinces, all the members of the Order, and all those who are gathered in their establishments, reserving nevertheless to Ourself, and to the Roman Pontiffs, our successors, to decree and prescribe whatever we consider it our duty to decree and prescribe as necessary to consolidate more and more the same Society, in order to render it stronger and to purge it from abuse, if ever (which may God avert) any may be found therein. And we exhort with our whole heart, in the name of the Lord, all superiors, rectors and provincials, as well as all the members and pupils of this re-established Order to show themselves in all places, faithful imitators of their Father. Let them observe with exactness the rule prescribed for them by their great founder, and let them follow with ever increasing zeal the useful admonitions and counsels which he has left for the guidance of his sons.
"Finally we earnestly recommend in the Lord this Society and its members to the illustrious kings and princes and temporal lords of the various nations, as well as to our venerable brothers, the archbishops and bishops and whosoever may occupy positions of honor and authority. We exhort them, nay we conjure them, not only not to suffer that these religious should be molested, in any manner, but to see that they should be treated with the benevolence and the charity which they deserve."
A difficulty now arose as to the person into whose hands the Bull was to be delivered. It was impossible for the General to be present, for he was unable to obtain permission of the emperor to take part in what concerned him more than any other member ofthe Society — a condition of things which made it evident that the residence of the next General had to be in some other place than Russia. That, of course, the czar would never permit and the expulsion of the Society from Russia was from that moment a foregone conclusion. Angiolini, who was rather conspicuous in Rome at that time, possibly because he had some years before arrived in the city as an envoy from the Russian court, was first thought of. In fact the Pope had already named him, but Albers in his "Liber sæcularis" does not hesitate to say that Angiolini sought the honor, and had succeeded in enlisting the interest of Cardinal Litta in his behalf. But he was known to be a man of impetuous character, eager to be concerned in every matter of importance and decidedly headstrong. The provincial was chosen, therefore, to represent the General, and Angiolini was consoled by being made consultor of the Congregation of Rites. The difficulty seems almost childish, for whatever prominence Angiolini possessed, it was purely personal whereas that of Father Panizzoni was official. It may be, however, that Angiolini's friendship for Rezzi, who attempted to wreck the Society at the first congregation, had laid him open to suspicion.
At last the great day arrived. It was Sunday; and all Rome was seen flocking to the Gesù. As early as eight o'clock in the morning, as many as one hundred Jesuits along with the College of Cardinals were waiting to receive the Pope. He arrived at last and said Mass at the high altar. He then proceeded to the chapel of the Sodality which was crowded with bishops and most of the notables then in the city. Among them were Queen Marie Louise of Bourbon, the wife of Charles IV of Spain, with her niece and three sons. It was Spain's reparation for the wrong it had done the Society. Behind the cardinals, in a doublerow were the Spanish, Italian and Portuguese Jesuits; the youngest of whom was sixty years of age, while there were others still who had reached eighty-six. It is even asserted that there was present one old Jesuit who was one hundred and twenty-six years old. His name was Albert Montalto and he had been in the Society for one hundred and eight years. He was born in 1689, was admitted to the novitiate in 1706 and hence was sixty-four years old at the time of the Suppression.
This beautiful fairy story is vouched for by Crétineau-Joly (V, 436), but Albers, in his "Liber sæcularis," tells us that there is no such name as Montalto or Montaud in the Catalogue of 1773 or in Vivier's "Catalogus Mortuorum Societatis Jesu."
When the Pope had taken his seat upon the throne, he handed the Bull to Belisario Cristaldi, who in a clear voice, amid the applause of all in the chapel, read the consoling words which the Jesuits listened to with tears and sobs. Then one by one some hobbling up with the help of their canes, others leaning on the arms of the distinguished men present, knelt at the feet of the Pontiff, who spoke to them all with the deepest and tenderest affection. For them it was the happiest day of their lives and the old men among them could now sing their "Nunc dimittis."
Pacca then handed to Panizzoni a paper appointing him superior of the Roman house, until the nomination arrived from Father General. The professed house, the novitiate of Sant' Andrea and other properties were also made over to the Society with a monthly payment of five hundred scudi.
On entering the Gesù, the Fathers found the house almost in the same condition as when Father Ricci and his assistants left it in 1773, to go to the dungeons of Sant' Angelo. It was occupied by a communityof priests, most of them former Jesuits, who had continued to serve the adjoining church, which, though despoiled of most of its treasures, still possessed the remains of St. Ignatius. Two years later, the novitiate of Sant' Andrea was so crowded that a second one had to be opened at Reggio. Among the novices at that place was Charles Emanuel, King of Sardinia, who had resigned his crown to enter the Society. He died there in 1819. In 1815 the Jesuits had colleges in Orvieto, Viterbo, Tivoli, Urbino, Ferentino, and Galloro, Modena, Forlì, Genoa, Turin, Novarra, and a little later, Nice. In Parma and Naples, they had been at work prior to 1814.
Just eight days before these happenings in Rome, an aged Jesuit in Paris saw assembled around him ten distinguished men whom he had admitted to the Society. It was July 31, the feast of St. Ignatius, and the place of the meeting was full of tragic memories. It was the chapel of the Abbaye des Carmes, where, in the general massacre of priests which took place there in 1792, twelve Jesuits had been murdered. In the old man's mind there were still other memories. Fifty-two years before, he and his religious brethren had been driven like criminals from their native land. Forty years had passed since the whole Society had been suppressed. He had witnessed all the horrors of the French Revolution, and now as he was nearing eternity — he was then eighty-five — he saw at his feet a group of men some of whom had already gained distinction in the world, but who at that moment, had only one ambition, that of being admitted into the Society of Jesus, which they hoped would be one day re-established. They never dreamed that seven days after they had thus met at the Abbaye to celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius, Pius VII who had returned from his captivity in France would, by theBull "Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum," solemnly re-establish the Society throughout the world.
The old priest was Pierre-Joseph Picot de Clorivière. He was born at St. Malo, June 29, 1735 and had entered the Society on August 14, 1756. He was teaching a class at Compiègne when Choiseul drove the Society out of the country, but though he was only a scholastic, it had no effect on his vocation. He attached himself to the English province, and after finishing his course of theology at Liège in Belgium, was professed of the four vows about a month after Clement XIV had issued his Brief of Suppression. The decree had not yet been promulgated in the Netherlands. Instead of going to England as one would expect, he returned to his native country as a secular priest, and we find him in charge of a parish at Paramé from 1775 to 1779. He was also the director of the diocesan College of Dinan, where he remained up to the time of the Revolution. Meantime, he was writing pious books and founding two religious congregations, one for priests, the other for pious women in the world. The former went out of existence in 1825. The latter still flourishes.
Having refused to take the constitutional oath, he was debarred from all ecclesiastical functions, and began to think of offering himself to his old friend and classmate at Liège, Bishop Carroll, to work on the Maryland missions; but one thing or another prevented him from carrying out his purpose, though on the other hand it is surprising that he could make up his mind to remain in France. His brother had been guillotined in 1793; his niece met the same fate later; his sister, a Visitation nun, was put in prison and escaped death only by Robespierre's fall from power; several of his spiritual followers had perished in the storm, but he contrived to escape until 1801,when, owing to his relationship with Limoellan, who was implicated in the conspiracy to kill the First Consul, he was lodged in jail. He was then sixty-nine years old.
During his seven years of imprisonment, he wrote voluminous commentaries on the Bible, chiefly the Apocalypse. He also devoted himself to the spiritual improvement of his fellow-prisoners, one of whom, a Swiss Calvinist named Christin, became a Catholic. As Christin had been an attaché of the Russian embassy he posted off to Russia when he was liberated in 1805, taking with him a letter from Clorivière to the General of the Society, asking permission for the writer to renew his profession and to enter the Russian province. Of course, both requests were granted. When he was finally discharged from custody in 1809, Clorivière wrote again to Russia to inform the General that Bishop Carroll wanted to have him go out to Maryland as master of novices. As for himself though he was seventy-five years of age, he was quite ready to accede to the bishop's request. The General's decision, however, was that it would be better to remain in France.
Meantime, Father Varin, the superior of the Fathers of the Faith, had convoked the members of his community to consider how they could carry out the original purpose of their organization, namely: to unite with the Jesuits of Russia, but no progress had been made up to 1814. In his perplexity, he consulted Mgr. della Genga who was afterwards Leo XII, and also Father Clorivière. But to his dismay, both of them told him to leave the matter instatu quo. This was all the more disconcerting, because he had just heard that Father Fonteyne, who was at Amsterdam, had already received several Fathers of the Faith. Whereupon he posted off to Holland, and was told that both dellaGenga and Clorivière were wrong in their decision. To remove every doubt he was advised to write immediately to Russia, or better yet to go there in person. He determined to do both. At the beginning of June 1814, he returned to France to tell his friends the result of his conference with Father Fonteyne, but during his absence Clorivière had been commissioned by Father Brzozowski to do in France what Fonteyne had been doing in Holland. That settled everything, and on July 19, 1814, Fathers Varin, Boissard, Roger and Jennesseaux were admitted to the novitiate; and a few days later, Dumouchel, Bequet, Ronsin, Coulon, Loriquet, with a lay brother followed their example. On the 31st, St. Ignatius' Day, they all met at the Abbaye to entreat the Founder of the Society to bless this inauguration of the province of France.
In virtue of his appointment Father Clorivière found that he had now to take care of seventy novices, most of whom were former Fathers of the Faith; in this rapidly assembled throng it was impossible to carry out the whole scheme of a novitiate training in all its details. Indeed, the only "experiment" given to the newcomers was the thirty-days retreat, and that, the venerable old superior undertook himself. Perhaps it was age that made him talkative, perhaps it was over-flowing joy, for he not only carried out the whole programme but overdid it, and far from explaining the points, he talked at each meditation during what the French call "five quarters of an hour." But grace supplied what was lost by this prolixity, and the community was on fire with zeal when the Exercises were ended. How soon they received the news of what happened on August 7, in Rome, we do not know. But there were no happier men in the world than they when the glad tidings came;and they continued to be so even if Louis XVIII did not deign or was afraid to pay any attention to the Bull, and warned the Jesuits and their friends to make no demonstration. The Society was restored and that made them indifferent to anything else.
In Spain, a formal decree dated May 25, 1825, proclaimed the re-establishment of the Society, and when Father de Zúñiga arrived at Madrid to re-organize the Spanish province, he was met at the gate of the city by a long procession of Dominicans, Franciscans, and the members of other religious orders to welcome him. Subsequently, as many as one hundred and fifteen former Jesuits returned to their native land from the various countries of Europe where they had been laboring, and began to reconstruct their old establishments. Many of these old heroes were over eighty years of age. Loyola, Oñate and Manresa greeted them with delight, and forty-six cities sent petitions for colleges. Meanwhile, novitiates were established at Loyola, Manresa and Seville.
Portugal not only did not admit them, but issued a furious decree against the Bull. Not till fifteen years later did the Jesuits enter that country, and then their first work was to inter the yet unburied remains of their arch-enemy Pombal and to admit four of his great-grandsons into one of their colleges. Brazil, Portugal's dependency, imitated the bitterness of the mother country. The Emperor of Austria was favorable, but the spirit fostered among the people by his predecessor, Joseph, was still rampant and prevented the introduction of the Society into his domains. But, on the whole, the act of the Pope was acclaimed everywhere throughout the world. So Pacca wrote to Consalvi.
Of course there was an uproar in non-Catholic countries. In England, even some Catholics were inarms against the Bull. One individual, writing in the "Catholic Directory" of 1815, considered it to be "the downfall of the Catholic religion." A congress in which a number of Englishmen participated was held a few years later at Aix-la-Chapelle to protest against the re-establishment of the Order. Fortunately it evoked a letter from the old Admiral Earl St. Vincent which runs as follows: "I have heard with indignation that Sir J. C. Hippisley, a member of Parliament, is gone to the Congress. I therefore beseech you to cause this letter to be laid before his Holiness the Pope as a record of my opinion that we are not only obliged to that Order for the most useful discoveries of every description, but that they are now necessary for the education of Catholic youth throughout the civilized world." With the exception of John Milner, all the vicars Apostolic of England were strongly opposed to the restitution of the Society in that country.
The United States was at war with England just then, and it happened that seventeen days before the Bull was issued Father Grassi and his fellow-Jesuits were witnessing from the windows of Georgetown College the bombardment of Washington by the British fleet. They saw the city in flames, and fully expected that the college would be taken by the enemy, but to their great delight they saw the forty ships on the following morning hoist their anchors and, one by one, drop down the Potomac. They did not, of course, know what was going on in Rome, but as soon as the news of the re-establishment arrived in America, Father Fenwick, the future Bishop of Boston, who was then working in St. Peter's Church, New York, wrote about it to Father Grassi, who was President of Georgetown. The letter is dated December 21, 1814 and runs as follows:
"Rev. and Dear Father,Te Deum Laudamus, Te Dominum confitemur!The Society of Jesus is then re-established! That long-insulted Society! The Society which has been denounced as the corrupter of youth, the inculcator of unsound, unchristian and lax morality! That Society which has been degraded by the Church itself, rejected by her ministers, outlawed by her kings and insulted by her laity! Restored throughout the world and restored by a public Bull of the Sovereign Pontiff! Hitherto cooped up in a small corner of the world, and not allowed to extend herself, lest the nations of the earth, the favorites of heaven, should inhale the poison of her pestiferous breath, she is now called forth, as the only plank left for the salvation of a shipwreckedphilosopheredworld; the only restorer of ecclesiastical discipline and sound morality; the only dependence of Christianity for the renewal of correct principles and the diffusion of piety! It is then so. What a triumph! How glorious to the Society! How confounding to the enemies!Gaudeamus in Domino, diem festum celebrantes!If any man will say after that, that God is not a friend of the Society, I shall pronounce him without hesitation a liar."I embrace, dear Sir, the first leisure moments after the receipt of your letter, to forward you my congratulations on the great and glorious tidings you have recently received from Europe — tidings which should exhilarate the heart of every true friend of Christianity and of the propagation of the Gospel; tidings particularly grateful to this country, and especially to the College of which you are rector, which will hereafter be able to proceedsecundum regulam et Institutum."
"Rev. and Dear Father,
Te Deum Laudamus, Te Dominum confitemur!
The Society of Jesus is then re-established! That long-insulted Society! The Society which has been denounced as the corrupter of youth, the inculcator of unsound, unchristian and lax morality! That Society which has been degraded by the Church itself, rejected by her ministers, outlawed by her kings and insulted by her laity! Restored throughout the world and restored by a public Bull of the Sovereign Pontiff! Hitherto cooped up in a small corner of the world, and not allowed to extend herself, lest the nations of the earth, the favorites of heaven, should inhale the poison of her pestiferous breath, she is now called forth, as the only plank left for the salvation of a shipwreckedphilosopheredworld; the only restorer of ecclesiastical discipline and sound morality; the only dependence of Christianity for the renewal of correct principles and the diffusion of piety! It is then so. What a triumph! How glorious to the Society! How confounding to the enemies!Gaudeamus in Domino, diem festum celebrantes!If any man will say after that, that God is not a friend of the Society, I shall pronounce him without hesitation a liar.
"I embrace, dear Sir, the first leisure moments after the receipt of your letter, to forward you my congratulations on the great and glorious tidings you have recently received from Europe — tidings which should exhilarate the heart of every true friend of Christianity and of the propagation of the Gospel; tidings particularly grateful to this country, and especially to the College of which you are rector, which will hereafter be able to proceedsecundum regulam et Institutum."
A word about this distinguished American Jesuit may not be out of place here. He was born in theancestral manor of the Fenwicks, in old St. Mary's County, Maryland, and was a lineal descendant of Cuthbert Fenwick who was distinguished among the first Catholic colonists by his opposition to Lewger, Calvert's secretary, then assailing the rights of the Church in Maryland. When Georgetown College opened its doors, Benedict Fenwick and his brother Enoch were among its first students. After finishing the course, he took upon himself what his old admirer, the famous Father Stonestreet, calls "the painful but self-improving duties of the class room," and was professor of Humanities for three years. Later he began a course of theology at St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, but he left in order to become a Jesuit. The Fenwicks, both in England and America had been always closely identified with the Society, and when the news came that it was about to be resuscitated, Benedict and Enoch were chosen with four other applicants to be the corner stones of the first novitiate in the United States of North America. He was ordained on June 11, 1808, in Trinity Church, Georgetown, D. C., by the Jesuit Bishop Neale, coadjutor of Archbishop Carroll, and was immediately sent to New York with Father Kohlmann to prepare that diocese for the coming of its first bishop Dr. Concanen. Kohlmann himself had been named for the see, but the Pontiff had yielded to the entreaties of Father General not to deprive the still helpless Society of such a valuable workman; hence, Father Richard Luke Concanen, a Dominican, was appointed in his stead.