Saint Ignatius of Loyola

1491-1556

(Published in Himmat weekly on July 30, 1976)

Ignatius was one of those unusual characters of the 16^th century. A Basque nobleman, he was just over five feet tall. His father entrusted his son’s education to an official at King Ferdinand’s court. Ignatius willingly went through the long training and became a brave knight.

In May 1521, in the battle between Francis I, King of France and the Province of Navarre, Ignatius was wounded in both legs. In hospital he underwent a painful and unsuccessful operation. During the long weary weeks of convalescence at home Ignatius read two books, the “Life of Christ” by Rudolph of Saxony and the “Flos Sanetorium”, which transformed his life.

In 1522 he left home went to the shrine of our Lady of Montserrat near Barcelona. There he hung his sword and dagger as a pledge of his new consecration to Christ and His Mother. For the next year he lived on alms, spending long hours in prayer. There he wrote his “spiritual exercises”, the most efficient and widely used retreat manual today.

Firm in his determination to serve God, but realizing that first he needed the weapon, of knowledge, he completed his philosophical and theological studies at Paris University. There he won six men, all brilliant students.

The day came when Ignatius and his companions decided to form themselves into a new community. After much prayer and consultation Ignatius prepared a document, outlining the new order, to be known as the “Society of Jesus”, which was made a religious order by Pope Paul III.

“Ignatius had a real facility for finding God in all things,” his close friends used to say.

The end came suddenly for Ignatius. In 1556 he fell ill. On July 30, he sent Father Polaneo to Vatican for Pope Paul IV’s last blessing. Next morning at sunrise, shortly after the secretary’s return, Father Ignatius quietly died.

On July 31 this year his 29,000 sons throughout the world celebrate his 420^th anniversary.

Surendranath Banerji

1848-1925

(Published in Himmat weekly on January 7, 1977)

It was for his heroism, self-sacrifice, patriotic passion, selfless missionary zeal and organizing ability that Mahatma Gandhi called Surendranath Banerji a “fighter”. Banerji was born on November 10, 1848 at his ancestral house in the Taltola region Calcutta. He studied in an Anglo-Indian Institute and at Doveton College and went to England in 1868 to complete his studies.

He returned to India in 1871 and held the post of an Assistant Magistrate in Assam. Some misunderstanding led to his dismissal from the post. He was then offered an appointment as professor of English in the Metropolitan Institute. In 1885 he founded the Presidency Institution which grew into a College. He organized press meetings and fought for freedom of the press. He was also the editor of “Bengalee”, a weekly, for about four decades. It was once said of him. “Indian opinion found expression in the columns of the ‘Bengalee’ edited by Surendranath.”

In December 1883 he called the first National Conference, the forerunner of the Indian National Congress. Gandhiji said that Surendranath was certainly one of the originators of the Congress. He was twice elected Congress President. As President he urged the need for political reforms in India.

Surendranath was an undisputed leader of the Swaraj movement. In 1920 he became the minister in charge of local self-government. His achievements were many. The Calcutta Municipal Act has been described as one of his major contributions to the development of local self-government.

In the 1923 elections Swarajist B C Roy, later West Bengal Chief Minister, defeated Surendranath following which Surendranath retired from politics and devoted himself to journalism. He completed his book “A nation in Making” where he gives a vivid picture of his life. He wanted India with its varied religions to stand on a common platform. He fought for the rights and liberties of the people.

St. John De Britto

1647-1693

(Published in Himmat weekly on February 11, 1977)

John de Britto, known as Arulanandaswamy, was born at Lisbon on March 1, 1647 in a wealthy family. A playmate and fellow-student of the princes of Portugal he entered the Society of Jesus on Christmas Day, 1662. in 1673 he sailed from Lisbon for the East with 17 fellow Jesuits. During the course of the voyage 13 of them died. De Britto was one of the four who survived. After his arrival in Goa, he continued his theological studies and then towards the end of April 1674 he set out for Madura Mission.

At Kolei he acquainted himself with Tamil customs. He preferred sitting cross-legged on the ground, drinking without the brass water vessel touching his lips, eating meals with his hands, walking barefoot, wearing a flowing shirt called “anghi” and a turban on his head, and rings in his ears. He abstained from eating meat, eggs and fish and took to rice and vegetable curry.

Within six months he had learnt Tamil. He proceeded to preach the word of God in the five ancient kingdoms: Vellore, Jingi, Tanjore, Madura and Marava. He travelled hundreds of miles in spite of many hardships and the fear of attack upon his person.

In 1686 Britto was arrested by the command of the chief minister of Marava called Kumara Pillai. He was beaten mercilessly and subjected to water torture. Eventually he was freed.

Among those he helped was a prince of the royal family, called Tadiya Teva, whom Britto had cured of a disease. The prince decided to give up the practice of keeping many wives. Kadeli, one of his many wives, complained about her dismissal to the Raja of Marava. The Raja had Britto arrested. He was sentenced to death. The next day he was taken to Oriyur and was beheaded on February 4, 1693.

De Britto died a martyr’s death. He was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1947. On February 4 the whole church celebrates De Britto’s feast.

St. Tiruvalluvar

First Century A D

(Published in Himmat weekly on May 6, 1977)

Tiruvalluvar, the author of the sacred Kural, was born in Mayilapur, the village of peacocks, at a time when the Tamil land was rich in culture, vivid in its life and adventurous in its commerce. Its people had a great literary heritage and a tradition of tolerance. Valluvars, the priests of outcaste Hindus. He married Vasuki who completely subordinated herself to her husband.

It is evident from his writings that he had plenty of opportunity to talk to people from abroad and to know their different cultures and religions. During his time people who belonged to various religions and sects lived happily together. His 1330 couplets portray simple and human pictures of life.

The sacred Kural reveals that he was a man of the people, honest self-reliant and humourous. He loved home life with his children. He believed in one God, the Creator of the world. He has taken the best from all religions and put them together in the Kural, the “Bible of the Tamil Land”. None of his couplets mock any religion. Today all great religions accept him.

The Kural is a sacred poetry of great value. It also deals with political and social affairs. Its teaching has solved many social problems. Once Rev. P. Percival, a missionary in Jaffna, wrote of the Kural, “Nothing in the whole compass of human language can equal the force and terseness of the couplets in which Valluvar conveys the lessons of wisdom.

The doctrine of non-violence obviously had a great influence on him. He teaches mercy, compassion, friendliness, but begging he condemned.

Today people worship him as a guru. They have erected a beautiful shrine to him and to his wife in the midst of a garden in Mayilpur. It lies not far from the waves that are often referred to in his poems. Every year in the month of April people celebrate a grand festival at the shrine.

Father Beschi

1680-1747

(Published in Himmat weekly on December 1, 1978)

The cylindrical cap of red silk velvet, the ear-rings, the copper vessel, the long walking staff and the reddish yellow gown, - these give us the picture of Constantius Joseph Beschi. He was born in November 1680 at Castiglione, a town in the republic of Venice.

He joined the Jesuit order at the age of 18.  Soon after his ordination to priesthood, he volunteered for the Indian Missions in 1710.  Taking off his European dress and donning the garment of the Indian Sanyasi, he reached Vamanayakkanpatti where he began his ministry. He worked here for 40 years. One reason for the success of his work was his sympathy for people and his facility of adaptation to unaccustomed modes of thought and action.

Initially, adaptation must have been difficult. He himself wrote in 1731: “Our purely Indian dress is no protection against the weather. The strictly vegetarian diet, the bad quality of drinking water, the burning heat of the sun, all these are inconveniences which newcomers find unbearable. Yet with the help of God as time goes on, the burden becomes light.”

For the first six or seven years, Fr. Beschi, like the wandering priars of old, had no fixed abode. His main task was preaching God’s message of love to the people in the native languages. He had a genius for languages. Besides being well versed in Italian, Latin, French and Greek, he quickly learnt Hebrew, Portuguese, Telugu, Sanskrit, Hindustani and Tamil.

Father Beschi was a Tamil poet. Father Nadal, then General of the Society of Jesus, wrote that “Father Beschi knows Tamil to perfection and writes beautiful verses, a feat so far accomplished by no other missionary.” Fr Beschi has produced works which will last as long as Tamil exists.

He died on February 4, 1747, at the age of 66.

St Peter Canisius

1521-1597

(Published in Himmat weekly on July 25, 1980)

An event of historical importance for the Netherlands was the birth of Peter Canisius on May 8, 1521 at Nymwegen. He completed his early studies in this town and at the age of 19 he took his MA degree in Cologne. Soon after completing his studies he decided to become a priest and entered the Society of Jesus on May 8, 1543.

Canisius was held in high esteem by all, in the society as well as outside. In 1548 he was sent to Messina in Sicily where he taught rhetoric in a college. On November 13, 1549 he was called back from Sicily and was sent to Ingolstadt, in Germany. For 30 years Canisius laboured in various parts of the country.

He was a voluminous letter-writer, his letters filling eight volumes running to 7500 pages. He has written catechisms, prayer books, theological treatises, and lives of saints. A pioneer for Catholic education, he founded many colleges in various parts of Germany. Due to his zealous and pioneering work many generations of priests called him Father.

He was a man of simplicity, humility and hard work. When he was provincial of a German province, he wrote to the General of the Society, Fr. Laynez, “For the love of God, I beg of you never to cease reprehending me about small things as about great.” He never feared to call wrong, wrong and oppose it. For example when the five daughters of Emperor Ferdinand I called themselves “The spiritual daughters of the Society of Jesus” and claimed the service of two Jesuit priests, Canisius who was hard pressed for followers, opposed it and never gave in, even though he had to face many difficulties.

After his 30 years in Germany, he went to Switzerland and built a college at Fribourg. He preached, nursed the sick, and visited the poor for eight years and finally there came a time when he could preach no more. He spent his time with his unfinished books and fresh editions for his former publications. He became bed-ridden and on December 21, 1597 he breathed his last. He was beatified on November 20, 1869 by Pope Pius IX and canonized and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on May 21, 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

Fr Louis Laveille, SJ

1884-1973

A veteran missionary, Fr. Louis Laveille, SJ was a great lover of the Tamils in the Madurai mission where he died a saint and is honoured by a host of people who come to spend hours in prayer at his tomb side in Sarugani.

As the 10^th and the last child of the family, Laveille was born at Liel, a remote village of the district of Leser Britaine, France. His parents, Joseph Laveille and Juliana Labine, were a God-fearing couple who had to till their little rocky field to earn their daily bread. It was mainly to his mother that Laveille owed his vocation to priesthood and religious life.

When he was yet a tiny boy tending his flock of sheep, Laveille responded to God’s call to spend his entire life for Christ. While in the seminary, Laveille happened to meet with Fr. Jabelle, who, on his return from Madurai Mission, talked spiritedly of the urgent need of missionaries to serve the people of Tamil Nadu. Laveille volunteered to go to India.

The young priest with his newly acquired language was appointed to the parish of Andavurani, Ramnad district. Here he set out to visit people in their homes and shared their joys and sufferings. His life of prayer and dedication to his work offered much solace to both Christians and Non-Christians. When his people needed rain for cultivation they always approached Fr. Laveille, whose prayer was indeed effective. When an epidemic swept away lives in 12 different villages, Laveille was not the one to run away from danger; instead he was there among the people giving courage and consolation.

After his 22 years of ministry at Andavurani, he was transferred to Ramanathapuram parish. He spent about 13 years there and then was transferred to Sarugani for rest. But, zealous missionary that he was, he never stopped visiting the neighbouring villages and helping them in every possible way until his death at the age of 89 on March 23, 1973.

Fr. Laveille had a special love for the poor and the sick. Wherever he was, the people caught a glimpse of the loving and caring heart of God in this simple and saintly priest.

Thomas a Kempis

(1379-1471)

Thomas a Kempis was born at Kempen, Germany, in an artisan class family to John and Gertrude Haemerken. He received his early education at Deventer from the “Brothers and Sisters of the Common life”, who helped him to grow in the love of God and neighbour, in simplicity, humility and devotion. After completing his humanity studies at Deventer in the autumn of 1399, Thomas entered the monastery of St. Augustine at Mt. St. Agnes near Zwolle, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1413. He was twice elected subprior and once purocurator of the monastery. It is said that he was made purocurator just because of his love to the poor. Again in 1448 he was elected to the office of subprior and he remained in office until age.

He is described as a man of middle height, dark complexion and vivid colouring, with broad forehead and piercing eyes; kind and affable to all especially to the poor, needy and the afflicted; constantly engaged in his favourite occupation of reading, writing and praying. His life long motto, “Everywhere I have sought rest and found nowhere, save in little nooks with little books”, is found in a portrait which preserved at Gertruidenberg.

Thomas is the author of the famous book “Imitation of Christ”, which breathes the whole spirit of the Windesheim school of Mysticism. It is impregnated throughout with the Scriptures and the writings of the Doctors of the Church, especially St. Augustine and Bernard. It possess numerous prayers of sweet devotion and quaint Latin hymns of simple rhythmn and jingling rhyme. It is even called as the second Bible. It is said that Thomas was a man who understood the conflicts that take place n every man’s soul, the battle between good and evil, grace and sin, and that he wrote the book to help men gain victory over self.

Thomas a Kempis died at the age of ninety in the monastery at Zwolle. Many years after his death, his relics were preserved and honoured by the prince Bishop of Cologne, Maxmilian Hendrik. The Bishop introduced a Kempis’s name for beatification, and began collecting the necessary material, but little more than a beginning was made, the prince Bishop died, and since that date no further steps have been taken. I like to quote here the enthusiastic commendation of prior Pirkhamer addressed to Peter Danhausser, the publisher of the first edition of Thomas’s works, “Nothing more holy, nothing more honourable, nothing more religious, nothing in fine more profitable for the Christian commonweal can you ever do than to make known these works of Thomas a Kempis”.