The Inspiration of Ignatius Loyola in Francis Xaviers Vision for South Asia Prof.

George Menachery THREE COMPANIONS ONE JUBILEE Emphasis on the Indian Mission When Ignatius of Loyola, San Ignacio de Loyola, (Ignaci, Inas, Inasu in Tamil an d Malayalam) died, on 31 July 1556, there were about 1,000 Jesuits in all divide d into 12 administrative units, called provinces, of which only two were outside Western Europe: one in South America in Brazil and one in South Asia in India. L oyola was, in his last years, much occupied with Germany and India, to which he sent his famous followers Peter Canisius and Francis Xavier. 1 These facts indica te the importance South Asia in general and India in particular occupied in Loy olas thoughts on and schemes for the Catholic Church, which were largely influenc ed by the Reformation - Counter - Reformation atmosphere in which the Church fou nd itself at that particular juncture in history. In carrying forward and fulfil ling Loyolas vision and plan for South Asia his societys patron Jesus, and his bel oved companion Xavier appear to have moved together with him from the very begin ning as is clear from the innumerable accidents and coincidences that brought all th ree together and the Papal, Royal, and Societal decisions which finally ended in Ignatius sending Francis to India. It is not possible, and not really necessary , at least in this assembly, to dwell at length on the peculiar circumstances of the conversion of Ignatius2, the conversion of Francis3, the solemn filing of t he companions to the holy High Place, the small and deserted chapel of St. Denis, on Montmartre (Mont des Martyrs) in Paris on that other fateful 15th of August, an d the formation and naming of the Society4, and of the final selection of Xavier for India and his departure thereto5 to illustrate this close nexus which insp ired and fulfilled the Societys South Asia dream.6 Here one is again forced to ad mit how almost all remarkable achievements result from the vision and committed hard work of a human combined with convenient accidents which for the faithful are the interventions of Mircea ELIADEs the other.7 Xavier and South Asia TIME magazine asked recently : St. Francis Xavier was a failure, so why do millio ns of believers flock to see his remains in Goa? The answer to that question coul d be found in the title itself of the magazines Religion section of the same issue8 which described the saint as Missionary, Explorer, Hero. Xavier is Brownings hero who aims at a millionand misses by a unit and is condemned as a failure; while a nother aims at just a hundred, achieves it and is acclaimed by the world a succe ss.9 All Christian missionary activities after Xavier, especially in India, it has of ten been said, have been, to a greater or lesser degree, inspired by and modell ed after his example. The success of mission in South Asia in general and India in particular - Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, or other, it has been said, has progressed in proportion to the extend to which his precepts and personal examp le have been adhered to. Xaviers Vision10 This naturally leads one to an examination of Xaviers vision for South Asia and h ere it will be found that he was in the main translating Loyolas blue print for mission, leaving however his own indelible personal stamp on all he touched. And what is interesting is that one could trace many similarities in the life an d work of the two persons who have been instrumental in that later day conversion of India, Ignatius and Francis, in their intentions, approaches, and methodology

. In fact that conversion story is all about what Ignatius wanted his Society to att empt in general, and for Asia in particular and how Francis converted Loyolas drea ms into thoughts and those thoughts into actions 11. As Felix Raj recalls: The Indian mission of the Jesuits lies at the very origin o f their Order. It is to India that Ignatius of Loyola, the Founder of the Societ y of Jesus, sent his greatest son, Francis Xavier, and to him and his collaborat ors, that he gave that inspiration and those directives, which became the basis of the Jesuit mission and method.12 Place of Education and Training in Ignatius and Xaviers Scheme of Things Ignatius Loyola throughout his post-military life gave the greatest emphasis to education. In building up a corps of spiritual soldiers and missionaries he gave primary importance to three-fold education: education for oneself, education to form a batallion of missionaries and priests, and education to train the youth - all for the Greater Glory of God i.e. the Jesuit Motto: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. The same enthusiasm and belief in the efficacy of education is visible in all t he activities of Francis Xavier in the East. Education for Oneself Ignatius finally decided to study for a time in order to be able to help souls (A utobiography,50). He describes his decision to acquire as good an education as th e circumstances permitted. He probably could have reached the priesthood in a fe w years. He chose to defer this goal for more than 12 years and to undergo the drudgery of the classroom at an age when most men have long since finished their training. Perhaps his military career had taught him the value of careful prepa ration. At any rate, he was convinced that a well-trained man would accomplish i n a short time what one without training would never accomplish. 13 In fact he wa s fully convinced that he must abstain from public religious endeavour until he reached the priesthood, after proper and complete studies. During his long stay in the French capital, we find Ignatius winning the coveted M.A. at the Collge d e Sainte-Barbe, may be the equivalent of a doctorate, and thereafter designated M aster Ignatius. Diego Lanez, a cofounder of the Society of Jesus and an intelligent observer, jud ged that despite handicaps Ignatius had as great diligence as any of his fellow students. True, Xavier was already a higher-level teacher when Ignatius meets him: one amo ng the outstanding students of the Sorbonne University, Paris. Awarded his Maste rs Degree in Arts with distinction in 1530, he was appointed Professor of Aristot elian Philosophy in the College of Beauvais in Paris in the same year. It was ag ainst this brilliant academic background and his lofty ambition, that the seeds of missionary zeal were sown in him by Ignatius of Loyola a fellow student of th e same University.14 But all through the life of Xavier, especially during the ten years now known as the Xaverian Decade, one finds Xavier diligently perusing studies in languages, cultures, religion, geography, navigation, warfare, comme rce, finances... to make himself better fitted for the missionarys work, in India and elsewhere. Education for the Clergy and General Education Loyola left his ian University, esthood. Though red by Ignatius mark on Rome. He founded the Roman College, embryo of the Gregor and the Germanicum, a seminary for German candidates for the pri it is true that nowhere in the Constitution of the Society prepa education is given special importance, the Jesuits have come to

be particularly known in the public mind for their educational work, which must have been the result of the founders personal example and shared priorities. We f ind the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary founded in Rome by one of the recrui ts of Ignatius, inspired by and based on the Spiritual Exercises, making great p rogress not only in the west but also in India. For example one Sodality was sta rted in every year from 1905 in the undivided ecclesiastical division of Trichur ever since Parish Level Sodality was inaugurated in Kerala in that year at Pava rty. That is just another example of an Ignatian concept and inspiration continu ing to produce results after the passing of many centuries! Francisco de Jassu y Javier (Shaviri in Tamil), better known today as Francis Xa vier, embarked from the quay of the Tagus River, known as the Place of Tears, to go to India on April 7, 1541 - his 35th birthday,15 The voyage which took 13 m onths brought him to Goa in 1542 when he was only five years a priest. In the fo llowing year, he was given charge of the College of Holy Faith (Santa Fe) at Vel ha Goa, established as a mission seminary to train and educate priests, which un der the Jesuits gained fame as the College of St. Paul. Francis Xavier was one o f the illustrious Professors of this Institution, which eventually earned the re putation of a University, where scholars from as far as Japan came to pursue the ir studies. During his tenure as the head of the College, he encouraged learning by establishing many other educational institutions, modelled on the most advan ced universities of Europe.16 His intense desire to convey the most important truths of the faith to the Parav as of the Pearl Fishery Coast, in their own tongues. forces him to leave Goa. A modest seminary is caused to spring up in Quilon to train local youth as catechi sts forTravancore and the Pearl Fishery Coast.17 A matter of great concern for X avier, as for Ignatius, was the strengthening of the supply of missionaries, and the training of local catechists. As he could not be present personally at all places, Xavier wrote down his experiences and instructions for missionaries and their helpers. He also wrote and translated different catechisms and an explanat ion of the Faith (Credo). This concern for the growth of a native clergy and an increase in catechists indicates hin wide vision for India.18 His indomitable desire to teach, how he went about ringing a bell to summon the children, and how he taught them the essentials of the Catholic faith, and how h e made these children teach these truths to other children and their own elders is described in detail by both A.M. Jagatheesan and J.M. Villarvarayan in the Th omas Encyclopaedia, their articles on Xavier running into thousands of words.19 As has been said, even before the Jesuit Society as such gave significant import ance to education, Xavier made education of youth and adults one of his great pr iorities in India, and hence deserves to be considered the pioneer of the Jesuit educational initiative. While on the subject of Loyolas and Xaviers approaches to education another aspect , one feels, compels our attention, and must be emphasised. It is the matter of gratuity. Of the many aspects of the involvement of Loyola with education one wo uld very much like to analyse in detail Gratuity in Jesuit Education as it has the greatest significance for the modern day Jesuit and modern day society, especia lly in India.20 Christs instruction to the Apostles: Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give (Matt. 10:8) resonates with the soul of Ignatius. He harked back to the same concept repeatedly - in the Spiritual Exercises, in the Constitution s, and in his personal correspondence. People will listen to us only when we can show them that we have nothing to gain from what we are calling them to.21 When the first Jesuit school was opened in Messina in 1547 gratuitous teaching w as a novelty which in the following 150 years was continued by all Jesuit school

s. The need to get involved in education arose from the fact that young Jesuit s tudents needed training. If the Society were going to have schools for their own students, why not give the same opportunity to young people who are not Jesuits ? Ignatius commissioned his secretary, Father Polanco, to provide examples of ho w the schools might be funded: by the city, by some prince, by some private indi vidual, or by a group of individuals. Thus not to charge for education was a corollary to one of the most fundamental g races Ignatius received: to give freely what one has freely received, to ministe r without worrying about benefit and without support of gold or silver, concepts almost foreign to the way 22 some dioceses and congregations are seeing things perhaps in India today even in some highly Christianised States. When the secret ary of Ignatius, Fr. Polanco, wrote the programme for non-Jesuit students, he be gan by saying: First of all, we accept for classes and literary studies everybody , poor and rich, free of charge and for charitys sake, without accepting any remu neration.23 When the Collegio Romano opened in the eternal city in 1551 five years before th e death of Ignatius, the sign over the door read, School of Grammar, Humanities, and Christian Doctrine, Free. 24 At dawn at about 7 OClock Ignatius died - the Fr ee Roman College was what agitated his mind till the very end. (See note 24 infra .) This matter of gratuity has been emphasised here, and at some length, one mu st admit, because of its topicality, and because Francis Xavier also gave great importance to this aspect of mission.(For details cf.S A. M. George Jagatheesan, Saint Francis Xavier,The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of india, Ed. George Menachery, Vol. I, 1982, p. 16, col.1 to p.21, col.2 and J.M. Villarvarayan, Th e Mission and Life of St. Francis xavier in South India, ibid., Vol. II, 1973, p . 65, col. 1 to p. 68, col.2.) Need for an Exhaustive work on Xavier and the Jesuits in India There are quite a number of other instances revealing the Inspiration of Ignatiu s Loyola on Francis Xaviers Vision for South Asia. This is amply evident in the many works available in the libraries in India itself. In a seminar held in thes e very premises a couple of years ago this writer had again stressed the need to bring out an Encyclopaedia Jesuitica Indica (excuse my Latin! and excuse the dig ression). Such a task could be undertaken perhaps from this campus itself, it wa s suggested, what with its excellent library with relevant materials (vide note 10 infra) and library facilities, and the conducive ambience provided by its Hort us Indicus or Garden of Indian plants and herbs and even birds. There is no dear th of sources for such a work as we ourselves once again found out when we had t o often visit libraries here in India (at Shembaganur, Trichinopoly, Pune, Delhi , Calcutta, Goa, Ranchi, Bombay and elsewhere) and abroad to collect books to be included in the Catholics volume of the Indian Church History Classics. Though th e suggestion for the work was enthusiastically received both by the Indian and t he international delegates it is not known what has been done about it as yet. L ike the Ancient Mariner I couldnt but express this thought once again in this mos t appropriate of fora. NOTES: 1 Loyola, Saint Ignatius of , Encyclopdia Britannica. From Encyclopdia Britannica 2 003 CD Deluxe Edition. 2. www.goethals.org/jesuitssn.htm [Accessed February 21, 2006] 3. J.Wicki, The Portuguese Padroado in India in the 16th Century, and St. Francis Xavier, in Christianity in India, Ed. Perumalil and Hambye, Alleppy, 1972. [The present writer remembers with deep gratitude the many hours Dr. Wicki had spent with him in discussions on related topics of Indian Church History both at Rome

(various years) and esp. at Trivandrum in 1977 during the First World Malayalam Conference and Christian EXHIBITION (Kanakakkunnu).] 4. Loyola, Saint Ignatius of , Encyclopdia Britannica. From Encyclopdia Britannica 2003 CD Deluxe Edition. Xavier and Anjiro disembark from the pirates ship and set s foot in Japan on 15th of August 1549. 5.J.Wicki, article cited above. 6. Cf. f.i. St. Francisco Xavier - his life and times at <http://planet.time.net.m y/centralMarket/melaka101/stxavier.htm>[Accessed February 11, 2006]; St. FRANCIS XAVIER: Patron and Model of Mission at <http://www.xaviermissionaries.org/M_Stor ies/Xavier.htm> [Accessed February 16, 2006]. 7. All these accidents and coincidences are beautifully, enthusiastically, and at length described by A. M. George Jagatheesan in Saint Francis Xavier, The St. Thom as Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, Trichur, 1982: Vol.I, p. 16, col.1 to p.21, col.2. 8. TIME Asia Magazine, Dec.13, 2004, From <http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazin e/article/0,13673,501041213-880312,00.html> [Accessed February 11, 2006]. 9. He ventured neck or nothingheavens success Found, or earths failure: That low man seeks a little thing to do, Sees it and does it: This high man, with a great thing to pursue, Dies ere he knows it. That low man goes on adding one to one, His hundreds soon hit: This high man, aiming at a million, Misses an unit. (From Men and Women, A Grammarians Funeral, Robert Browning.) 10.Among the sources for this section as for the entire paper may be cited the m onumental works of Joseph Wicki and Georg Schurhammer. The 130 odd books on Xavi er from the library of the Xavier Centre, Goa exhibited below in connection with this seminar are only a smattering of the books available on the topic, but a v ery useful smattering. My own volumes, The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, and The Indian Church History Classics, provide, perhaps, a more managea ble collection of reference materials. When ones days among the dead are past one wonders at times, where are the Wickis and Schurhammers, where the Herases and H ostens of today - perhaps one of the best kept secrets of the Society. 11. Favourite words of an old boy of my alma mater, the Jesuit Trichinopoly Colleg e, presently residing at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, New Delhi. 12. www.goethals.org/jesuitssn.htm [Accessed March1, 2006] 13.Loyola, Saint Ignatius of, Encyclopdia Britannica. From Encyclopdia Britannica 2

003 CD Deluxe Edition. 14. St. Francis Xavier - An Educationist par Excellence http://www.xavierscollegegoa.com/about.html [Accessed May 10, 2006.] 15. St. Francis Xavier: Missionary to the Far East, Santa Clara University Site, http://www.scu.edu/ignatiancenter/eventsandconferences/jubliee2006/francis.cfm [ Accessed May 10, 2006] 16. St. Francis Xavier - An Educationist par Excellence http://www.xavierscollegegoa.com/about.html [Accessed May 10, 2006.] 17. J. Wicki, Perumalil - Hambye, Alleppy, 1972?73?, pp.61-64. 18. Id., ibid. 19. A. M. George Jagatheesan, Saint Francis Xavier,The St. Thomas Christian Encycl opaedia of india, Ed. George Menachery, Vol. I, 1982, p. 16, col.1 to p.21, co l.2 and J.M. Villarvarayan, The Mission and Life of St. Francis xavier in South I ndia, ibid., Vol. II, 1973, p. 65, col. 1 to p. 68, col.2. 20. Article by John P. Foley s.j. in Jesuits 2006 pp. 50-54. 21. Foley, supra. 22. Id., ibid. 23. Id.,ibid. 24. Id., ibid. And the Roman College was what Ignatius was concerned about on the last night of his life: On the night of July 30, 1556 Frs. Polanco ridwere with him and the three talked for a bit. We know what Ignatius was rned about: the purchase of a house ...to enlarge the Roman College. (The f Ignatius , Jiri Sykora, s.j., in Jesuits 2006, p.16. even and Mod conce Death o

[Part I: Xavier-Faber-Loyola Seminar on Jesuit Presence in South Asia: Identity, Discontinuity, Initiatives , Goa, April 2006]