Baroque and the Jesuits

One of the finest professors I ever had was a quiet, gentle Jesuit priest, whom we called: "Honest Abe Ryan." His knowledge of history was incredible. In his long years of study he had read most of the original documents of every historical period that he taught. It showed in his classes. He taught us the back alleys of history.

He knew so much that he could never make a sweeping general statement. He would say, with great certainty: "This is true!"….. But then he would stop, think for a moment, and say: "Though you could also say that the opposite is true." By the time he had finished his explanation of both sides, his historical statement was no longer a rushing river. It was a tiny stream, trickling down the middle.

One day, when he was on Baroque, he said: "The Society of Jesus is accused of creating Baroque. That is not true"….. Then he stopped, thought for a moment, and said: "Though you could say that the same spirit that created Baroque also created the Society of Jesus."

At the end of the class, when we could ask questions, we asked him what he meant by that: "The spirit that created Baroque also created the Society of Jesus." Honest Abe was now speaking from his vast habitual knowledge. This was not supposed to be part of his lecture. But he said:

"Well, the world had just broken open like an egg. Christopher Columbus had sailed across the Atlantic and discovered a new land - America. Magellan had crossed the great Pacific Ocean to find the Philippines. Vasco de Gama had gone around the southern tip of Africa to find a new route to India. The world was now three times as big as everyone thought it was.

"So there was a hunger to go beyond the ancient borders of civilization, to discover new things, to explore the unknown. It was an impatience with time and space!

"The Baroque church, for instance, is not just a multitude of statues with gargoyles on the rain spouts. When you stand in the doorway, you feel that you have to run to the altar, to the Blessed Sacrament. The whole room is foreshortened. You feel that you can not stand still. You have to move. You have to run! It is an impatience with time and space.

"In other periods the painter portrayed the conversion of Saint Paul as static - Paul thrown off his horse, kneeling on the ground, looking up into the light. But the Baroque painting has the horse rearing up, and Paul in the air, falling from the saddle to the ground. If it were a photograph, taken one second later, the horse would not be in the picture. He would have broken out through the upper left corner of the frame. And Paul would not be in the picture. He would have broken out through the lower right corner of the frame. That was the spirit of the age – breaking the frame of time and space.

"In other periods the death of Peter the Apostle is portrayed as static – Peter hanging upside down on a cross. But the Baroque painter took the moment when the cross was being thrown up into place. If it were a photograph, taken one second earlier, there would be no cross, and no Saint Peter. They would be flat on the ground, out of sight. And if the photograph were taken one second later, both cross and Peter would have broken the upper right corner of the frame, and be out of the picture. That was the spirit of the day -break out! Don’t stay still! Move beyond the known borders! The world is filled with new, wonderful things. Find them!

"And so it was with the Society of Jesus. Other religious orders had one fixed charism. With the Dominicans it was scholarship and preaching. With the Benedictines it was prayerful liturgy. With the Franciscans it was poverty as the doorway to God. But the Jesuits had no specialty. They were trouble shooters. They put themselves at the disposal of the Holy Father to do whatever was most necessary. They went where the action was. They were the advance guard. They were the ‘Little Company’, send out to explore the unknown.

"It was the time of the Protestant rebellion, where Church doctrines were being attacked. Especially in Germany, where Martin Luther started. The Church needed schools in Germany – new schools, with professors who were trained to defend and to attack. So the Jesuits were sent to set up schools in Germany. The great Peter Canisius wrote catechisms. Robert Bellarmine produced so many strong publications on ancient truth and popular errors that the opposition thought he was a corporation. So the Jesuits became known as educators. But that was not why they were founded. That just happened to be the front line of the Catholic Church at that moment.

"All of Europe was excited about the New World - East and West. It was virgin territory, not only for colonization, but for the Word of God. So Jogues, Brebauf, Chabanel and a little battalion of Jesuits went to North America. Slavery was becoming an ugly evil in South America, so Jesuits were sent to South America, led by the heroic Peter Claver. Francis Xavier went to India, to Japan, to San Cian, and died reaching out for mainland China – trying to advance the front of the Catholic Church in Asia, trying to bring Christ Our Lord into areas where he was not known, trying to break the frame, impatient with time and space.

"With Baroque came the age of enlightenment - the passionate desire for new knowledge. Scientists were beginning to become the intellectual leaders of Europe. So the Jesuits went into science. Now they are known as educators, missionaries, scientists – but in reality they are trouble shooters.

"Loyola was a military man, and his ‘Little Company’ is known for the virtue of obedience. With the Franciscans it is poverty; with the Dominicans it is preaching; with the Benedictines it is prayer; and with the Jesuits the accent really falls on obedience. That is why there are no Lady Jesuits. Loyola learned that women find it very hard to obey.

"Of course, everyone knows this. You find it even on Broadway. In ‘My Fair Lady’ Professor Higgins sings, or recites:

‘Never let a woman in your life!

She will ask you for advice.

Your reply will be concise.

She will listen very nicely

Then go out and do precisely

What she wants!’

"Loyola did stress obedience. He wanted his ‘Little Company’ to take a special vow of obedience to the Holy Father so that they would be ready to try things that no one else had tried, to do things that no one else had done, to explore the unknown, to break the traditional frame. We are criticized for this. We are accused of ‘blind obedience’. It is true that every Jesuit values obedience, but that obedience is not blind.

"Loyola himself received a letter from a Jesuit in Germany, protesting mildly about the actions of a Minister in his community. The ‘Minister’ is the Superior in charge of all things temporal – food, furniture, finance. The letter said:

‘He is a good man, very penitential. He does not sleep in a bed. He sleeps in a chair, every night, sitting up. He fasts often. He has many private penances. He practices poverty…… But he questions every request that a Jesuit makes, and even when he grants the request, he does it reluctantly. Rather than ask him for anything, many of us would rather do without it….. And recently, in his desire to practice poverty, he is putting water into the beer. He is Spanish. Maybe the Spanish wines can be cut with water, without harming the wine. But you can’t put water in our German beer!’

"Loyola wrote a letter to the Jesuit Minister, saying:

‘From now on, you will sleep in a bed. Every night. And go to bed on time!…… You have no permission to fast, or to do any private penance…… Your penance is to be good to the men in your community, giving them everything that they need for their apostolate. You are a Superior. And as a Superior your first rule is to be kind, to be helpful, to be fatherly.’

"He signed the letter……But then he wrote, as a kind of afterthought:

‘And Father, please! D not put water in the beer!’

"Loyola understood obedience. And he understood leadership. He wanted his ‘Little Company’ to be strong, courageous, willing warriors for Christ Our Lord. He wanted them to be the advance guard, to push the frontiers forward, to be where the action was, to explore the unknown, to break the frame. He wanted them to be impatient with time and space. And he wanted every Jesuit Superior to serve all those in his command. He wanted leadership with a heart."

* * *

Today, Saturday, August 5, at 1:30 p.m., in the Loyola School of Theology, on the Katipunan campus of the Ateneo de Manila, there will be a forum on the Philippine political and socio-economic crisis. It is open to all who are interested in the official stand of the Catholic Church on current national issues.

The speakers include: Fr. Danny Huang, S.J., Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus; Doctor Tony La Viña, Dean of the Ateneo School of Government; and Doctor Dante Canlas, Professor in the UP School of Economics, and former Department Secretary of NEDA.

For information call 4265968, or e-mail [email protected].