Jesuit Saint: Peter Canisius

Born: May 8, 15 21 / Died: December 21, 1597 / Beatified: 1864 / Canonized : May 21, 1925

Peter Canisius was born in Nijmegen, though a Dutch town today, was at the time of his birth in the ecclesiastical province of Cologne, had the rights of a German city. Hence both Holland and Germany claim him as their son.

His father, a Catholic and burgomaster of Nijmegen, sent him at the age of fifteen to the University of Cologne where he earned a master’s degree in 1540. He changed his original plan to remain at the university and studied theology when he heard about a newly-founded religious order, the Society of Jesus. One of its founders, Fr Peter Favre, was then in Mainz. Canisius traveled there to meet him, who recognized Canisius’ potential and agreed to lead him through the 30-day retreat known as the Spiritual Exercises. During the second week of the retreat, Canisius decided to join the Society and Fr Favre accepted him as a novice on his 22nd birthday.

Canisius returned to Cologne, finished his studies in theology and was ordained in 1546. Prior to his ordination, he taught Scripture and published new editions of texts of Cyril of Alexandria and Leo the Great. He also served as theological consultant to Cardinal Otto Trushess at the Council of Trent before he took up Fr Ignatius’ assignment to teach in the very first school the Society founded in Messina, Sicily.

In 1549, Pope Paul III asked him to return to Germany to head an effort to defend the Church against the attacks of reformers. Fr Canisius’ challenging mission was to halt the defections of Catholics and win back those who had left the Church. Fr Canisius started in Ingolstadt, Germany where he began teaching at the university as well as devoting great efforts to preaching so that he could explain the fundamental truths of Catholic teaching from the pulpit. His work had an immediate impact on Catholics there.

Fr Canisius was equally effective with Catholics in Vienna, Prague and Fribourg, using the pattern he adopted in Germany. He also founded seminaries and colleges and took on duties as an educator and a court preacher. In Vienna, Fr Canisius developed and produced his famous book, his Catechism, titled Summary of Christian Doctrine which later became Germany’s and Austria’s most popular book because it satisfied a most urgent need and provided questions and answers especially to topics disputed by the Protestants. This book was intended as a manual for college students and later adaptations were published for secondary and primary schools.

As the first provincial of Germany, Fr Canisius made a huge contribution to Jesuit Governance in Swabia, Bavaria, Austria and Hungary. He visited Jesuit houses, supervised expansion and made the Society of Jesus a leading force in the Counter Reformation. He also took part in ecumenical gatherings such as the one in Regensburg and returned to the Council of Trent in May 1562. Fr Canisius continued as provincial for fourteen years and later devoted his time to writing and preaching until poor health forced him to stop. Fr Canisius lived a full life and died peacefully at the age of 76 in Fribourg, Switzerland.

He was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 21, 1925 and declared a Doctor of the Church in recognition of his writings in defence of the faith.

icon of st peter canisius by fr hart mcnicholas, sj

April's Day of Prayer & Fellowship

Our next Day of Prayer & Fellowship is on 26 April.

The theme for prayer and reflection is "A Trusting Heart."

The day's programme is:

2.00pm: Opening Prayer

2.30pm: Individual Prayer

3.30pm: Tea

3.45pm: Small group sharing

4.30pm: Film & discussion

6.30pm: Mass, followed by dinner

You are welcome!

Please let us know if you are coming so that we can make the necessary arrangements.

photo by 001fj

All Night Vigil

The Novitiate held the annual All Night Vigil on Saturday, 12 April to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Friends of the Novitiate and parishioners from St Ignatius gathered in the Center for Ignatian Spirituality and Counselling for this gathering. Also present with the good sisters from the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.

The Vigil began at 9pm with a Mass concelebrated by Jesuit Frs Philip Heng, Paul Goh and Colin Tan. In his homily, Fr Philip invited us to reflect on God's invitation to be more fully ourselves in whatever vocation we live by responding more totally to God's love.

After Mass, we welcomed the Blessed Sacrament into our midst. Then, at hourly intervals, different groups led the faithful in prayer. The prayer sessions took took different forms, from contemplation to charismatic prayer. At the end of each prayer session, there was time for quiet prayer and reflection.

The Vigil ended at 6.00am with Morning Prayer. This was led by the Jesuit Novices. A hearty breakfast for all who stayed the night followed!

Here is a reflection from Lance Ng, who helped out with a prayer session the Companions led:

I'd just like to share this short little para that I came up with about coincidence and "God-incidence," which was inspired by a talk given by Fr Richard Ambrose.

"Nothing that happens is a coincidence,
Everything that happens is for a reason,
If GOD allows it to happen,
It's a God-incidence!"

I truly felt God's wonderful hand a work that evening, right down to the "boo boo" that ocurred out of the switch of laptops during one of the prayer sessions. As I reflected the events of the evening, I realized that this "boo boo" was a learning lesson because I notice the grace of God working through Aunty Dorothy... the serenity, the peace and graciousness she had throughout the unfortunate incident. For me, her example is a lesson in what it takes to make us God's light in this world. From the eyes of faith, this is truly a gem of a God-incidence!

Waiting – God’s Loving Way of Discipline

The following reflection comes from Alfred Pang. He writes:

“My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline … because the Lord disciplines those he loves as a father the son he delights in.” (Proverbs 3:11-12)

I was teaching a group of students on how a child acquires self-discipline. Apart from being given clear boundaries, a child undergoes delayed gratification; that is, a parent says ‘No’ to a child who wants something instantly and gives it only when it is good and more importantly, when the time is right. As I was speaking about this, it dawned upon me that God, our loving Father, raises us up to be mature Christians in the same way. Simply put, delayed gratification is learning how to wait and not simply waiting … but waiting in God’s time.

Waiting in God’s time … such is His loving way of disciplining us. The beautiful verse in Ecclesiastes 3:1 attests to this: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” However, in our consumerist culture which promotes instant gratification, we have become a wanting generation, forgetting the beauty of waiting. We want, and are found wanting … And to wait for the Giver, whose time is Eternal, we can and do often find ourselves impatient, frustrated and restless. Isn’t this how a young child feels when his or her desires are not immediately gratified?

Yet, I find my consolation in Isaiah 55:8 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”. This is also a challenge for us to accept God’s ways which are infinitely higher than ours. To embrace waiting in a spirit of surrender then is radical because we step out of our need to control time and hand it over to our loving Father. This to me is another level of emptying and freeing that we are called to. Personally, I still want but God’s loving way of disciplining me to wait has deepened in me to live more fully the virtue of patience. (Strange that I should be a teacher and found wanting in patience.) And this waiting is never passive, but active. I’m inclined to listen more as I wait. There is also the joyful anticipation in faith for the Lord promises us in Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Waiting is God’s natural rhythm of things. I’m reminded here of how a fellow brother had to plant his own corn during his religious training at the Philippines. He was relating to me how he could no longer conveniently buy corn off the supermarket but had to wait for the plant to grow and bear fruit … Perhaps, vocation is like this. God plants the seed of His call in all of us and our desire to respond fully to Him will be harvested in His anointed time. God not only waits for us to respond, but waits with us. Even more so, He puts us through a time of waiting to purify our intentions, such that we grow in maturity to become the persons He wants us to be. And vocation is made all the more beautiful and precious because of the waiting …

And so, to my fellow companions on the journey, as we wait for God’s plan to unfold in our lives, we wait as a community … just as Jesus instructed his disciples in Acts 1:4, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.” Let us pray then that as we wait, we do so with the assurance of the peace of Jesus who promises us that He’ll never leave us orphaned. In expectant faith, we also pray that the Holy Spirit will grant us the wisdom to know the rhythm of God’s time, and the courage and zeal to move forth in obedience to the mission He has in store for us. Amen.


Email: alfredpang76@gmail.com

photo by murray neill

Jesuit Blessed: Ralph Ashley, SJ

Born: Date Unknown / Died: April 7, 1606 / Beatified: December 15, 1929

Very little is known of Bro Ashley’s date and place of birth as well as his early life. He was the cook at the English College at Rheims, France and later in April 1590, he became the cook and baker at the newly founded English College at Valladolid in Spain. There he entered the Jesuits as a brother but was urged to return to England because of poor health.

He returned to England in March 1598 and for a time was working with Fr Henry Garnet, the superior of the English Jesuits in London. Later he was assigned to assist Fr Edward Oldcorne at Hinlip Hall in Worcestershire where he remained for eight years and was Fr Oldcorne’s companion in martyrdom.

Br Ashley was at Hinlip Hall when Fr Garnet and Bro Nicholas Owen came to seek refuge when the Gunpowder Plot was discovered. During the search of the Hall on January 20, 1606 by the sheriff, Bros Ashley and Owen hid in a priest-hole which unfortunately was without food supplies. Although they were able to withstand for three days, they had to emerge on the fourth day due to starvation and acute thirst. They thought that the sheriff would be satisfied with their capture and give up the search for the two priests but the sheriff was not and continued with their search until the eighth day when they finally found Frs Oldcorne and Garnet in hiding.

The four Jesuits were taken to Worcester and Bros Ashley and Owen were put in the common jail until they were transferred to the Tower of London on February 3 where all four were subjected to severe torture on the rack. At their trial, Fr Oldcorne was found guilty of being a priest and sentenced to a traitor’s death while Bro Ashley was found guilty of assisting him in his treasonable work.

On the morning of April 7, 1606, all four were taken to Red Hill, near Worcester to be executed. After Fr Oldcorne had died, Bro Ashley kissed the feet of the hanging martyr and said: “Happy I am to follow in the steps of my sweet Father.” He was then pushed from the ladder and remained hanging until dead.

Bro Ashley was beatified with Fr Oldcorne on December 15, 1929 by Pope Pius XI as martyrs of England.

photo by sint-ketelijne-waver

Jesuit Blessed: Edward Oldcorne, SJ

Born: 1561 / Died: April 7, 1606 / Beatified: December 15, 1929

Edward Oldcorne was born in York, England of a non-Catholic father and a Catholic mother. He gave up medical studies and enrolled at the English College in Rheims, France in 1581 before going on to Rome to complete his studies and was ordained. Soon after, he joined the Society of Jesus and was allowed to complete his novitiate in a very short time because of the difficult conditions he would face upon his return to England.

Fr Oldcorne stayed with Fr Garnet, the superior of the English Jesuits upon arrival but after a few months he was assigned to Hinlip Hall outside Worcester where he was to spend sixteen years. The master of Hinlip Hall was an ardent Catholic who was in prison and had left the property in the care of his sister, Dorothy, a Protestant who had been at the court of Elizabeth. While priests still found hospitality in Hinlip Hall, she merely tolerated their presence. Many priests had tried to reconcile her to the Church without success. It was left to Fr Oldcorne to find the way. She listened to his instructions and sermons, unconvinced; but when she learned that he had been fasting for days to bring about her conversion, she finally yielded to God’s grace and her conversion led many others in Worcester to return to the faith of their ancestors. The Hall became the Jesuit’s base of operations where many came to seek the sacraments and hear Fr Oldcorne’s preaching. His health was poor ever since he returned to England and he had throat cancer that left him with a hoarse and painful voice, but did not keep him from preaching. His cancer was healed following a pilgrimage to St Winifred’s shrine in 1591.

Catholics in England were looking forward to the end of persecution when Queen Elizabeth died and James I ascended the throne in 1603 as he had promised to be more tolerant, but in fact, the persecution increased. This angered some Catholics who plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the king’s visit on Nov 5, 1605. The plot was discovered and with that the hatred for Catholics intensified. The government was determined to implicate the Jesuits in the so-called “Gunpowder Plot” despite the capture of the men behind it. The Jesuit superior Fr Garnet decided to leave London and seek shelter at the Hall, which had more hiding places than any other mansion in England. Bro Nicholas Owen, the person who constructed all the priest-hiding places was with him and they joined Frs Oldcorne and Ashley.

The sheriff of Worcestershire and 100 of his men arrived at the Hall and spent several days searching for priests together with a certain Humphrey Littleton who betrayed Fr Oldcorne. The sheriff stationed a man in each room of the house and ordered others to tap on the walls in the hope of locating concealed priest-holes. By the end of the third day they found eleven such hiding places, but no priests, On the fourth day, starvation and thirst forced Br Ashley and Br Owen to emerge from their hole. They had hoped the sheriff would think that he had finally caught his prey and end the search, leaving the two priests in safety. But the sheriff was determined and his men continued their close examination of the house. Finally on the eighth day, Jan 27, 1606 Frs Oldcorne and Garnet were discovered when they emerged white, ill and weak. All four were taken to the Tower of London.

When the prison officials failed in their efforts to eavesdrop and record any conversation which could link the two priests to the Gunpowder plot, Fr Oldcorne was tortured on the rack five hours a day for five consecutive days. Yet he refused to say anything. When they were put on trial, Fr Oldcorne denied the charge of being involved so well that the charge against him was changed to simply being a Jesuit priest. On this new charge, Fr Oldcorne was found guilty and ordered to be executed. Just before he was hanged, his betrayer asked for pardon, which Fr Oldcorne readily granted, and he also prayed for the king, his accusers and the judge and jury who condemned him. He was pushed from the ladder and was cut down before he was dead and then beheaded and quartered.

Jesuit Saint: Henry Walpole, SJ

Born :Oct 1558 / Died : April 7, 1595 / Beatified : December 15, 1929 / Canonized : October 25, 1970

Twenty-three-year-old Henry Walpole was among bystanders attending the execution of Fr Edmund Campion, a Jesuit martyr when a drop of the latter’s blood fell on his clothes from the quartered body. This so moved Henry and he felt convinced that God was calling him to follow in St Campion’s footsteps.

Henry was born at Docking, near Sandringham, Norfolk. He studied at the Norwich grammar school and later at Peterhouse, Cambridge, before moving to study law at Gray’s Inn, London. He was so inspired by Fr Campion’s martyrdom that he decided to give up law to become a priest. He entered the English College at Rheims, France in July, 1582 before going to the English College in Rome and entered the Society of Jesus on February 4, 1584. He completed his studies at Scots College at Pont-a-Mousson, France and was ordained in Paris on December 17, 1588. He took up his first assignment as chaplain to the English Catholic refugees serving in the Spanish army in the Low Countries.

He was imprisoned for a year in 1589 after he was captured by the Calvinists, and then worked at the English seminary in Valladolid, Spain, until 1593 when his desire to return to England was fulfilled. As England’s southern ports were closed because of plague, Fr Walpole, together with his brother and an English soldier secured passage on a French vessel going to Scotland and arrived in Yorkshire where the group separated. While resting at an inn that night Fr Walpole was unexpectedly arrested on suspicion of being a priest, being betrayed by a Scottish prisoner who wanted to earn money for his arrest. Fr Walpole’s capture was sorely felt by the Jesuits in England for they had hoped he could continue Fr Robert Southwell’s work after the latter had been imprisoned.

During his first interrogation Fr Walpole only admitted that he was a Jesuit priest and that he had come to convert the English. He was transferred to York castle and for three months permitted to leave prison to discuss theology with Protestant visitors before he was transferred to the Tower of London so that the notorious priest-torturer Richard Topcliffe could extract information from him. Fr Walpole remained faithful and did not reveal anything despite being tortured brutally on the rack and was suspended by his wrists for hours over a period of one year to prevent premature death.

All Night Vigil

There will be an All Night Vigil to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life this weekend from 9pm, Saturday, 12 April to 7am, Sunday, 13 April at Kingsmead Hall. We hope you can come and pray with us.

Jesuit Blessed: Robert Middleton, SJ

Born :1571 / Died : April 3, 1601 / Beatified : November 22, 1987

Robert Middleton, an English martyr was born in York, England of a Catholic family. As a young man he followed the religion of the Established Church but he stopped because of his reading and his conscience. He was also inspired by the martyrdom in York in 1586 of Margaret Clitherow, born a Middleton who was arrested for harbouring priests and inhumanly pressed to death.

At eighteen, Robert left York for London. In his early twenties, he went to study at the English College in Rhiems, France and later to Seville and Rome where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1598. He returned to England shortly after his ordination and spent two years exercising his priestly ministry in Lancaster. Sometime during 1599, Fr Middleton had written to Fr Henry Garnet, superior of the English Jesuits of his request to enter the Society. In 1600, Fr Middleton was apprehended by Sir Richard Houghton together with Fr Thurstan Hunt who was one of the four men who tried to rescue Fr Middleton. They were imprisoned in Lancaster Castle although their interrogation only revealed that they were priests. When asked what they thought of Queen Elizabeth, Fr Middleton boldly replied that he acknowledged her authority in temporal matters and prayed that God would on day make her a Catholic.

Both Frs Middleton and Hunt were subsequently transferred to a London prison but were sent back for trial at Lancaster. They were condemned to death because they were priests who had been ordained overseas and had dared to exercise their priesthood in England. Fr Middleton’s request to join the Society had meantime been granted by Fr General in Rome and Fr Garnet never learned whether Fr Middleton had received the letter informing him of his acceptance. Fr Hunt was hanged first before Fr Middleton on April 3, 1601 and because the latter was cut down before he was fully dead, he was also beheaded.

photo: palm profile by tony howell.

a note: a palm is symbol of martrydom in Christianity