• Picture: "Origins of the House of Jesuits"
  
• Text: The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola
  
• Thesis:

The so-called Autobiography of Ignatius Loyola describes an ideal member of the Society of Jesus rather than a real person. This exemplary Jesuit embodies a new type of man who combines traditional elements of masculinity, such as honor and bravery, with novel character traits, such as dedication to religious activism and a sense of individual responsibility. Most importantly, he models the transformation of vainglory into a desire to act for the greater glory of God.

[Remind me again: What are primary sources? And what questions do I ask? Check Writer's Handbook p. 63-65]

 

1. Autobiography - A modern misnomer: "individual's account of their own life"
   • Ignatius neither composed nor dictated the narrative
2. Originally "The Deed's ( Acta ) of Father Ignatius as Written by Father Goncalves da Camara"
   • God true agent; third person narrative
   • An abbreviated life story that starts and ends abruptly
3. Moral persuasion instead of historical documentation - Epideictic Rhetoric

1. Internal reminder; external recruitment
2. Jerome Nadal (first secretary): "this was truly to found the Society" (p. 17)
3. Median age of recruit in 1560s - 19 years!
4. Upper-class recruits who value Humanism

1. Camara's Preface: Sons in need of help and a Father willing to give it
2. "I spoke to him of vainglory" (p. 15)
3. How to combine old and new roles and overcome vainglory in the process

1. A "man given over to the vanities of the world" (p. 21)
2. "[H]e was a martyr to his own pleasure"; "he suffered martyrdom for many days" (p. 22)
3. "He imagined what he would do in the service of a certain lady" - "What if I should do what St. Francis did?" (p. 23)
4. A new method of decision-making borrowed from the Inquisition
5. "he was left with such loathing for his whole past life and especially for the things of the flesh" (p.24)
6. Leaving home for Jerusalem as a pilgrim: "His brother begged him not to throw himself away." (p. 26)

But he still has a long way to go....

"On the way something happened to him which it will be good to record, so one may understand how Our Lord dealt with his soul, which was still blind" (p. 30ff.) [Compare Equiano: "a mind blinded by ignorance and sin"]

1. Could not have happened that way: there are no Moors ( "moros") only "moriscos" in Spain at this time: remember text is after moral not historical truth!
2. "Moro" a person of another faith, an "infidel" from Christian point-of-view
3. More choices for Ignatius: Defend a woman's sexual honor or obey God's command? When in doubt, let your mule decide...
4. Exchanges dagger for pilgrim's staff (remember Paul with his sword and Bible?)
5. From vain soldier to humble soldier of Christ
6. Virgin Mary instead of a "certain lady"; abstract femininity instead of real woman
7. Words instead of weapons; conversion instead of conquest

[Have you ever heard of Ignatius' compatriot and contemporary Bartolome de Las Casas? He was a very outspoken critic of the Spanish conquistadors]

Being out in the world means being seen all the time...

St. Augustine (354 - 430 AD):

"We must particularly point out that vainglory can find a place, not only in the splendor and pomp of worldly wealth, but in the sordid garment of the sackcloth as well, and it is then all the more dangerous because it is a deception under the pretence of service to God."

1. Tears as external evidence of right inner attitude
2. Ignatius' first good cry: he finally gets it... (p. 34)
3. Many different kinds of tears (including intelletual tears!)
4. Crying as a gift of God and a measure of manhood
5. Weeping as the appropriate cure for vainglory (symbol of peacock)
6. "I could not restrain my tears" (p. 15): Crying as a proper reader's response

• Yes - There's precedent -------[It also did the trick for Equiano!]
• No - Low literacy rates; insufficiency of words