The top of Round Hill
Introduction
Most of the Fairfield University buildings are named after twenty-nine Jesuits who not only are dead, but seemed very controversial even when they were alive. Some were victims of the Inquisition while others were tortured and died violent deaths. What could they possibly have to do with any of us who work and learn here at Fairfield University?
In the first place, these men are present to us as exemplars of our mission. Apart from our beliefs, there is a certain set of values implicit in the character of Fairfield University as a Jesuit institution. These values have attracted an uncommonly competent and generous group of faculty and staff as well as highly qualified students. The identity produced by our collective ideals distinguishes us from other schools, and the lives of these twenty-nine Jesuits help us to articulate our identity and our mission.
All of them shared with us the Jesuit educational mission. They were Jesuit educators trained in the Jesuit tradition. So they offer a vibrant portrait of that elusive quality we call the Jesuit Tradition, a much abused term, frequently called upon to defend academic practices that have nothing to do with tradition or with Jesuits. The Jesuit community, claiming the privilege of familiarity, use first names for their residences, St. Ignatius and St. Robert.
Moreover, we profess that they are not dead and lifeless but are alive and enjoying eternal beatitude with God, interceding for us and for the success of the stags of Fairfield University. The ninth item of the Apostles' Creed states the beautiful doctrine of the communion of saints. Members of the church triumphant, from their vantage point with God, help us, members of the church militant. We in turn help members of the church suffering, the recently deceased.
As for their popularity, Jesuits have often been a thorn in the side of tyrants. One recent example is the murder of the six Jesuits by the El Salvador military. Perhaps no organization has been dismissed by tyrannical regimes more frequently than the Jesuits. In fact a few centuries ago the Bourbon courts so intimidated Pope Clement XIV that he suppressed the whole order in 1773, but it returned to full vigor in 1814.
Twenty-five of these Jesuits are officially listed among the Church's saints so they have feast days assigned to them. Some people consider the expression Jesuit Saint an oxymoron - a contradiction in terms. In fact, there are 41 Jesuit saints and 285 more on the way to canonization, most of whom are not on the above list. Also not listed are countless other Jesuits who have influenced education greatly. Map of Fairfield University
Twenty-nine short illustrative biographies follow along with my sources (including library call numbers) to facilitate further research.
Many of these Jesuits have unpronounceable names, so some assistance has been provided in this table according to Feast, Name, Pronunciation
.
Feast Name Pronunciation Pedro Arrupe Aroopae 9/17 Saint Robert Bellarmine Bell ar min 11/16 Saint John Berchmans Berk mans Roger Boscovich Bos ko vich 2/4 Saint John de Brito duh Brit to 12/1 Saint Edmund Campion Camp ion 4/27 Saint Peter Canisius Canish ius 9/9 Saint Peter Claver Claev er Christopher Clavius Claev ius 6/21 Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Gon zahga Gerard Manley Hopkins 10/9 Saint Isaac Jogues Joewggs Athanasius Kircher Kir ker 11/13 Saint Stanislaus Kostka Kos ka 7/31 Saint Ignatius Loyola Loy o la 2/6 Saint Paul Miki Mee kee 10/9 The North American Martyrs 10/9 Saint John de Brebeuf Brae buf 10/9 Saint Noel Chabanel Cha ban ell 10/9 Saint Anthony Daniel Dan i ell 10/9 Saint Charles Garnier Garn i ae 10/9 Saint Rene Goupil Rae nae Gou peel 10/9 Saint John de Lalande La laand 10/9 Saint Gabriel Lalemant Lal mont 10/14 Saint John Ogilvie oh gil vee 12/31 Saint John Francis Regis Ree jis Matteo Ricci Ree chi Christopher Scheiner Schein er 12/1 Saint Robert Southwell Suth el Teilhard de Chardin Tay ahr du shar dah 12/3 Saint Francis Xavier Sav i er
Bibliography concerning these twenty-nine Jesuits
Note: The symbol XXX refers to books that are not kept in the F. U. library
One can use the inter-library loan to borrow them.
General Collections of Jesuits
The Fifth Week by Willaim O' Malley BX 3755 .065 Wings of Eagles by Francis Corley BX 4655 .C6 Jesuits ed.by Robert Nash BX 3755 .N3 1956 I Lift My Lamp by John Leary BX3708.L4 Better a Day by John Leary BX3755.L4 In God's Army by C.C. Martindale XXX Companions of Jesus ed. by Hugh Kay XXX Saints of the Society by A Ambruzzi BX 3755 .A5 Jesuits by Robert Nash BX3755.N3 Jesuit Saints and Martyrs by Joseph Tylinda XXX Jesuit Yearbook BX 3701 .J53 Jesuits in Modern Times by John LaFarge BX3702.L3 The Jesuits: a History by Christopher Hollis XXX Twenty-one Saints by Aloysius Croft XXX TheJesuits in History by Martin Harney BX 3706 H3 Jesuit Relations F 1030.7 .Z 896 A History of the Society by William Bangert BX 3706.2 .B33 The Origen of the Jesuits by James Brodrick BX3706.B7 The Progress of the Jesuits by James Brodrick BX3706.B72 Books and articles about individuals
The Life of St. Robert Bellarmine by James Brodrick XXX Robert Bellarmine Saint and Scholar by James Brodrick BX4700.B25 B73 Historical Scholarship of Bellarmine by E.A. Ryan BX4700.B25 R9 A Modern Galahad by A. S. Foley BX4700.B451 F699m St John Berchmans by J. J. Daly BX 4700.B4 D3 Edmund Campion by Evelyn Waugh BX4700.C19 W38 Edmund Campion Jesuit Protomartyr by Richard Simpson XXX St.Peter Canisius by James Brodrick BX 4700.C2 B7 1962 Der Katechismen by Peter Canisius BX4700.C2 B68 A Saint in the Slave Trade by Arnold Lunn BX4700.P441C.C973s XXX Peter Claver by Angel Valtierra BX 4700.C65 V33 Street of the Half-moon by Mabel Farnam XXX The Vocation of Aloysius Gonzaga by C. C. Martindale BX 4700 .L75 M33 1945 The life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga by E.H. Thompson XXX Gerard Manley Hopkins by W. H. Gardiner XXX Immortal Diamond by Norman Weyand PR 4803.H44 Z65 Issac Jogues by M. Scott F1030.8.J66 For Greater Things by W T Kane XXX Portrait of a Champion by Joseph Kerns BX4700.S7 K4 The Spiritual Odyssey of Stanislaus by James Gense BX4700. S7 G45 St. Ignatius Loyola by James Brodrick BX4700.L7 B7 Ignatius Loyola by Henry Sedgwick XXX Ignatius Loyola by Paul Van Dyke XXX Saints of the Society of Jesus BX3755.A5 St. John Francis Regis by R. Holland XXX St. Regis A Social Crusader by A. S. Foley XXX Robert Southwell Priest and Poet by I. A. Taylor XXX The Life of Robert Southwell by C. Devlin PR2349.S5 Z65 Saints of the Society of Jesus BX3755.A5 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin by N. M. Wildiers XXX Teilhard de Chardin by Claude Cuenot B2430.T374 C8 The Phenomenon of Man by Teilhard De Chardin Documentation Catholique 58 (1961) 1523 St. Francis Xavier by Georg Schurhammer BX 4700 .F8 S2313 (and .F8 S25) St. Francis Xavier by James Broderick BX 4700 .F8 B765 1952 Francis Xavier His Life and Times trans by Joseph Costelloe XXX Fire of Francis Xavier by A.R. McGratty BX 4700 .F8 M32 The Odyssey of Francis Xavier by Theodore Maynard BX4700.F8 M32 Townhouses #1 to #7 Saint among the Hurons by Francis Talbot XXX The Jesuits A History by Christopher Hollis BX3706.2 H64 The First Martyrs of North America by John O'Brien BX3707.02 Pioneer Priest of North America by T. J. Campbell F1030.7 C18 Jesuit Martyrs of North America by J. J. Wynne BX3707.W8 The Jesuit Martyrs of Canada by E. J. Devine XXX Jesuit Relations F 1030.7 Z 8965 Townhouses #8 to #10 From Royal Page to Martyr by Henry Doering XXX Wings of Eagles by F. Corley and R Willmes BX4655.C6 Saints of the Society of Jesus BX3755.A5 John Ogilvie by W. E. Brown XXX A Scottish Knight-Errant by F. Forbes and M. Cahill XXX Martyr in Scotland by T. Collins BX4705.O4 C6 From Royal Page to Martyr by Henry Doering XXX Townhouses #11 to #15 Roger Joseph Boscovich by Lancelot Whyte Q143.B7 W5 Correspondence of C Clavius by E. C. Philips A.H.S.I. 8 (1936) 193-222
Athanasius Kircherby Josceln Godwin XXX The Wise Man from the West by Vincent Cronin BV3427.R46 C7 Memory Palace of M. Ricci by Jonathan Spence BV3427.R46 S66 China in the 16th Century by Louis Gallagher XXX Civilization in China by Joseph Needham Q127.C5 N414 C555 Galileo and Scheiner Isis 61(1970) 498 - 519 XXX
The first essay in the book concerns our last Jesuit Surperior General.Pedro Arrupe, S.J. (1907-1991)
Pedro Arrupe, S.J. was a Basque Jesuit and for 18 years, the 28th Jesuit Superior General. During this time he led the Jesuits through one of the most trying periods of its 450 year history; not only widespread persecution of Jesuits fighting injustice throughout the world but also unwarranted criticism from within the Roman Curia.
He traveled extensively, was conversant in eight languages and was one of the world's best informed men. Thousands of prominent people had easy access to him. He held a preeminent position among other religious superiors, serving 15 years as president of the Union of Superiors General of Catholic orders worldwide. Perhaps no other Jesuit General enjoyed such widespread admiration, loyalty and esteem as Don Pedro, as he was affectionately called by fellow Jesuits.
The Arrupe Center is in the Egan Chapel
Don Pedro was born in Bilbao, Spain. As a young man he went to Madrid to study medicine and was so moved by the suffering in the city's slums that he decided to join the Jesuits in 1927. Referred to as the second founder of the Jesuits, Don Pedro takes his place among the greatest Jesuit saints. He personified the meaning of commitment, believing that Christians must live for others. He made Jesuits aware that being vigorous in opposing injustice and liberating the oppressed constitute an essential part of the Jesuit vocation. He instigated inculturation ( a very Jesuit word) wherein a missionary becomes one with the people of his adopted country as did Saint Paul.
Few people in our century have personally borne witness to as much suffering as Don Pedro, notably after 6 August, 1945, when he dealt with the death and destruction of the Atomic bomb. As novice master for 35 young Jesuits, he lived six miles away from the atomic blast at Hiroshima. His expertise in caring for the burned, broken and bleeding bodies and destroyed lives electrified the world and stirred universal admiration.Don Pedro Arrupe, S.J.
Don Pedro's zeal to use imaginative programs and innovative plans to attack injustice inflamed old jealousies. Many believe that the Roman Curia tried to blame the Jesuits for the crisis within the Church and make Don Pedro the scapegoat for its ills. He was not skilled at Vatican politics and at soothing the ruffled feathers of those who wanted to keep the status quo at the expense of the disenfranchised. Still he told his Jesuits that their greatest mistake would be to stand still in such fear of censure that they would stop apostolic endeavors for the abandoned poor.
Don Pedro was a warm, magnanimous and sensitive man of the Gospel whose faith enlivened incredible optimism. He maintained that his optimism was based on hope: "The real optimist is the one with the conviction that God knows, can do and will do what is best for mankind." Almost always seen smiling, he loved singing in groups and his favorite spiritual was "Nobody knows the troubles I've seen." Arrupe Center in the basement of the Egan/Loyola Chapel honors Don Pedro and is the focus of most of the service programs on campus.
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