Jesuit Practices Research Articles

A Few Strokes to the spiritual Portrait Hints of Uniate Archbishop Josaphat Kuntsevych

This article describes the main features of spiritual life of Uniate archbishop Josaphat Kuntsevych (1580–1623), who was killed by the rebellious citizens of Vitebsk because of his zeal in spreading uniatism. Through the efforts of the Uniates and Latins, he was declared a martyr in the name of Christ, the Catholic faith, and the holy union with the Roman Church. The author notes the difference of approaches to the interpretation of his personality in the context of the two confessional traditions: the Latin-Uniat and Orthodox. This article aims to objectively examine Kuntsevych’s spiritual image, based on the rules of monastic life peculiar to the Orthodox East. A wide range of sources have been studied: Kuntsevych’s writings and various historical accounts on the peculiarities of his missionary and pastoral activities, as well as the materials of the canonization process. It The results show that Josaphat Kuntsevych is an early example of the union’s Latinization. Under the Jesuits’s influence, he adopted an intolerant view of “schisma”. This led to an internal break from the Eastern spiritual tradition and its replacement with a surrogate of Catholic exercises and Orthodox fasts and prayers in the inner life. Lacking proper instruction at the beginning of his monastic journey, Kuntsevych indulged in reading and applied spiritual exercises guided by his own imagination. His zeal for asceticism in the spirit of Jesuit practices attracted the attention of others, and without the advice of a spiritual director, he was unable to develop self-criticism and true humility. His harshness to himself led to him treating others the same way. Kind and affectionate to submissive and agreeable listeners, Josaphat became intolerant and intrusive to dissenters. With a passionate desire for martyrdom, Josaphat followed the lessons of his Jesuit leaders, who saw death at the hands of infidels as the best means of converting them. In conclusion, Josaphat Kuntsevych affiliated himself internally with Latinism despite his outward adherence to the Eastern rites.

The Jesuits at Fort St. Joseph in Southwest Michigan

Abstract The site of Fort St. Joseph in southwest Michigan began as a mission in the 1680s when the Jesuits were granted a tract of land by the French crown along the St. Joseph River. For almost eighty years, the Jesuits tended to the souls of the Fort St. Joseph community. The presence of a marriage and baptismal register (1720–61) and archaeological remains testify to their religious activities in the eighteenth century. While it is difficult to measure Jesuit success at winning converts and the sincerity of the beliefs of both the French and Natives in their flock, documentary and material evidence inform on Jesuit practices. Catholicism endured among the denizens of the fort and was adopted by nearby Native peoples.

Historical sources for the study of Christian-humanistic practices of caring Jesuits about the scholastics in the early modern period

The aim of the article is to attribute, systematize and verify the historical sources of the study of the Renaissance and Christian-humanistic context of the Jesuit practices of guardianship over the scholastics of the Order colleges in the countries of early modern Europe. Due to the historiographical controversy in the consideration and evaluation of the socio-cultural activities of the Jesuit order, as well as its religious affiliation, the methodological guidelines of the study are the principles of science, historicism, objectivity, continuity, interdisciplinary, source analysis, religious neutrality and worldview. The study is based on the priorities of internal and external critique of historical sources, which allow a holistic, systematic, comprehensive and integrated consideration of humanistic content, value-oriented strategies and the human role of the Order's experience of educational, spiritual and social care for scholastics in the early modern period. The scientific novelty of the research is that for the first time according to the integrated criteria (content, purpose and method of recording information) the classification of historical sources of research is presented and ten source corpora are attributed: institutional and legal documents of the Society of Jesus; philosophical and pedagogical treatises of humanists of the European Renaissance; spiritual-religious and homiletic works; biographical and hagiographic primary sources; epistolary; theological treatises of members of the Jesuit order; didactic literature of Jesuit colleges; polemical sources; materials of office documentation; pictorial sights. It is concluded that the integration of these primary sources into historical research, their internal and external criticism, scientific understanding and interpretation provide the necessary grounds for substantiating the thesis on the humanistic relevance of the socio-cultural activities of the Society of Jesus in caring for the younger generation of Europe and the importance of relevant initiatives for the development of modern European civilization. Most of the sources attributed in the article are complex in their content, they contain information about the ideological and semantic and value bases of Jesuit social initiatives, and about the peculiarities of methodological mechanisms, forms and technologies of the Order's care for the youth of Europe in early modern times.

A World on Fire: Sharing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises with Other Religions by Erin M. Cline

Reviewed by: A World on Fire: Sharing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises with Other Religions by Erin M. Cline Elizabeth Liebert SNJM (bio) A World on Fire: Sharing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises with Other Religions. By Erin M. Cline. Washington D.C. Catholic University of America Press, 2018. 284 pp, $29.95 A thoughtful and active Hindu committing the time and discipline to make the full Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola? A dedicated practitioner of Zen? How would such persons ever come to this point? And, once they arrive at the door, how does the director of the Spiritual Exercises provide a hospitable welcome and suitable adaptations? Furthermore, why should those of us who love (or practice, or direct, or teach) the Spiritual Exercises or Ignatian spirituality even care about this dilemma? These are the questions that Erin Cline tackles systematically and precisely in this volume. We should care about these questions, she says, because the Spiritual Exercises have something unique to contribute to interfaith exchanges at the level of spiritual experience. Cline does not address the now well-trod path of Protestants to the Spiritual Exercise, but rather, focuses on the situation of non-Christians, especially Hindus in their variety, Buddhists, and the multitude of persons whose Confucian cultures frame the way they see the world. Aspects of Ignatian spirituality, such as the newly expanded understandings of Examen, can somewhat readily be adapted across religious traditions. But the centerpiece of Ignatian spirituality, the Spiritual Exercises, with their intense focus on the figure of Christ and our discipleship with him? The path through the full Spiritual Exercises is neither easy, nor is it self-evident how one might proceed, or, as many would argue, that we should we proceed at all. First, Cline takes up the question "Should the Exercises be adapted?" Ignatius clearly assumed so (Annotations 18, 19, 20); indeed they must be adapted in light of each individual (Annotation 15 and many other places). However, given Ignatius's setting, the theological density of some of the parts of the Exercises, and the history of early Jesuit practice, it is clear that Ignatius's imagination did not extend as far as the situation Cline is addressing. Many of Cline's principles will be familiar to directors of the Exercises: Always begin where the individual is and consider how to help that person get the most from the Exercises; allow the Creator to deal immediately with the Creature, but help her to weave her own life narrative into the story of Jesus in a way that becomes more vivid and connected; check to see that the necessary dispositions are present, including the desire to come to know Jesus personally and the willingness to engage the prayer and exercises as fully [End Page 371] as possible; wrestle with the question about what can be removed or changed before the Exercises cease to be the Exercises. One principle seemed surprising at first read: keep the theology thin and, instead, focus on experience. The theology could be almost impossible to unsnarl for someone who does not share it, but the experience of the Exercises occurs at a different level. It is here that the value of the Spiritual Exercises for interfaith sharing lies. Chapter 2 was the most useful for me as teacher and director of the Exercises. In it, Cline carefully constructs general principles of adaptation. These principles directly impact work with other traditions, but are also useful for other kinds of adaptations. First, however, the director must consider who is ready to make the full Exercises—a question that faces a director when anyone asks to make the Exercises. Not surprisingly, the Exercises give the essential conditions: the potential retreatant should exhibit great generosity and desire to deepen relationship with the Creator and Lord—that is, at least be open to encountering God even if uncertain about what that belief entails; a willingness to explore following Christ; and a willingness to offer desires and freedom to God and to learn from one's desires how to serve graciously in the circumstances of one's life (Annotation 5). There is also a pragmatic condition: Can the director and the retreatant form a...

Bedside Manners: Sickness and the Jesuit Mission in Early Modern New France

Situated in the original context of their composition, the Jesuit Relations illuminate something not just of Jesuit discourse as Thomas Worcester has argued, but Jesuit practice too, revealing the ways in which sickness and disease functioned as missionary strategy in New France. In the deft hands of the Jesuits, sickness and disease were opportunities for the conversion of the dying, occasions for the practice of Christian virtue, and invitations for dramatic displays of divine power. It was the sickbed that called both for the cultivation of patience, constancy, and holy resignation among the suffering sick and for the practice of charity among those who tended them. Moreover, it was at the bedside of the sick and the dying where the most eloquent arguments in defense of the Christian faith were made, giving sound evidence of the omnipotence of the Christian God.

“Una verdadera selva de idiomas”: jesuítas, política linguística e tradução cultural nas missões da Amazônia espanhola (séc. XVII e XVIII)

This article examines Jesuit linguistic policy in Spanish Amazonia during the 17th and 18th centuries. First, it contextualizes Jesuit practices and conceptions of the translation of Catholic concepts within the broader framework of the linguistic policy of the Spanish Empire. Next, using examples taken from vocabularies and catechisms produced among Amazonian Indians, the article discusses the Jesuits’ main difficulties and strategies. Finally, it focuses on problems related to the translation of terms of the Christian doctrine into native languages and suggests elements to think about the indigenous appropriation of these terms. Keywords: linguistic policy, Jesuit Missions, vocabularies, catechisms, Amazonia.

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America (Early Modern America and the Visual Arts Series Vol.9). Edited by AnnaHarwell Celenzaand AnthonyDelDonna. Pp. xii, 229, Philadelphia, St Joseph's University Press, 201

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America (Early Modern America and the Visual Arts Series Vol.9). Edited by AnnaHarwell Celenzaand AnthonyDelDonna. Pp. xii, 229, Philadelphia, St Joseph's University Press, 201

RENAISSANCE-HUMANISTIC CONCEPTS OF CULTURE OF PEDAGOGICAL DIALOGUE OF THE TEACHERS OF THE ORDER FROM THE SOCIETY OF JESUS IN EARLY MODERN TIMES

A period of European Renaissance is the birth of the modern personality and virtues Renaissance Christian humanism is a model of ethical attitudes today. The first attempt of early modern European youth education in educational system of coordinates of Renaissance humanism, no doubt, was created within the youth Order of St. Ignatius.The proposed article is devoted to the analysis of verbal communicative competence of early modern Jesuit teachers. The author revealed the contents of value-semantic, spiritual and pedagogical concepts of educational communication in the Society of Jesuits, and proved that it was based on Renaissance and Christian- humanistic positions of “brilliance, beauty and sophistication” of the academic word, the skill of public speaking and high style and the art of eloquence of the early modern university speaker.The author concludes that the Jesuits interpreted pedagogically Renaissance and humanistic intellectual heritage to the implementation of the Order implementing schooling some semantic meaning loads of humanism in this article. Recognizing it as "imitation of ancient people", as an appeal to samples of ancient learning,fundamental virtues of the Society of Jesus proclaimed erudition, sophistication of Latin, intellectual culture, exquisite taste, eloquence, perfection scientist speech and public speaking, virtuous behavior. With the Renaissance and humanistic individualism priorities code integrity Jesuit added active devotion, diligence, active, creative enthusiasm and initiative, determination and zeal, compassion, rationality and prudence, the Jesuits appreciated the talent and abilities of youth, drawn attention to the need to care for the physical health etc. Etymological interpretation of humanity as humanity in correctional priorities Jesuits answered task of building virtues of modesty and politeness, prudent and tolerance, respect and attention for elders, love and kindness, ethics, partnership and unity.The article highlights and grounds the components of the Jesuit methodology of formation of conversational competencies in the youth of the Order (didactically and cognitive, rhetoric and stylistic, moral and aesthetic); the article also proves the sonority of the Jesuit practice of teaching literature with the didactic pedagogy of the European Renaissance. The conclusion was made about the significant role of socio- cultural, socio-integrating task and spiritual significance of educational communication of Jesuit teachers for implementation of the European Youth Policy of St. Ignatius rank in XVI – XVII centuries.

Pastorační rozlišování - reformní vize papeže Františka pro církev 21. století v kontextu recepce pojmu znamení doby

The reform vision of Pope Francis is determined by a demand for accompanying, for discerning, in order to integrate human weakness. These efforts follow in the footsteps of previous popes (Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II) aimed at bringing the conclusions of the Second Vatican Council to life. The presented study draws attention to the gradual development of the theological concept of the term aggiornamento, signs of the times and the council reception. It focuses on a deeper anchoring of pastoration reform within the Jesuit practice of spiritual discerning. It specifies its theological contents and reflects on its roots in patristic tradition and in the tradition of the Christian East.

The classification of historical sources on Jesuit practices in the East Slavic region in the late XVI - early XVII centuries

The author reviewed the documents of various periods issued in the East Slavic region and systemized widely-known historical sources on the activities of the Society of Jesus in the late XVI - early XVII cent. The present paper reveals that the source base of Jesuit practices in the abovementioned period in the East Slavic region mostly consists of archives and unpublished documents, pictorial and other artifacts. Certain documents are stored at the archives, museums and libraries in the East Slavic region. Many sources have already been translated into Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian and published. In the times of the Russian Empire, most of the documents were published in the collections of sources sorted by the region. Some volumes of these collections contain church documents and polemic literature. In the times of the Soviet Union the documents on the activities of the Society of Jesus were mostly published and republished in subject collections. Nowadays, a number of documents and sources of the Society of Jesus have already been published in subjects collections, and researchers' papers in the territory of modern Ukraine, Russia and Belorussia. Documents and articles on the Jesuit practices posted on the Internet resources of the region and official websites of the Society of Jesus are also worth mentioning. Sources on Jesuit practices in the late XVI - early XVII cent. in the East Slavic region can be conditionally divided into three groups by the type, class, origin and the sphere of the activities of the Society. One can single out the following types of sources: verbal, pictorial, audial, behavioral and conventional ones. The verbal ones are also subdivided according to the class into written and oral. Written ones include regulatory documents, acts and recordkeeping documents, descriptive documents and special documents. According to the origin, the sources can be divided into the documents issued by the Society; documents on the Jesuit practices issued by other confessions; documents issued by certain states and their authorities; documents and papers issued by particular individuals. By the sphere of activities documents can be divided into political, financial and economic, religious and cultural ones. Each of these subdivisions will provide for an objective, comprehensive, and detailed historical research. It is clear that there is no strict rule for classifying a document according to certain type, class, origin or sphere of the activities. Many documents have features of two, three or more groups. In this case, sources are of an integrated nature. However, the general classification will facilitate any research process as it allows choosing more appropriate methods of reviewing and processing of the documents. This is the reason why it is advisable to continue to analyze all the groups of historical sources on the activities of the Society of Jesus.

Jesuits & Matriarchs: Domestic Worship in Early Modern China by Nadine Amsler

Reviewed by: Jesuits & Matriarchs: Domestic Worship in Early Modern China by Nadine Amsler Anthony E. Clark (bio) Nadine Amsler. Jesuits & Matriarchs: Domestic Worship in Early Modern China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2018. xii, 272 pp. Hardcover $90.00, ISBN 978-0-295-74379-0. Nadine Amsler has accomplished something quite remarkable for an emerging scholar; she has written a first monograph that equals in style and quality a work produced by an already established and well-published senior in her field. Amsler's new study, Jesuits & Matriarchs, is a welcome contribution to the study of Sino-Western/Sino-Missionary history, not only because she offers important information about the role and influences of women within China's late-imperial Catholic community, but also because she has exhumed long buried archival materials that few, if any, have thought to access, namely, the accounts of women under the Jesuit mission during the early Qing (1644–1911). As she puts it, her book asks how women organized "their religious piety, and how did they perceive the 'teachings of the Lord of Heaven' (Tianzhujiao) propagated by the Jesuits," a question which is "illuminated by analysis of the significance of gendered special relations in the Jesuits' mission to seventeenth- century China" (p. 4). Amsler is not the first to analyze the lives of women under the sway of the Western Christian mission to China; her study follows [End Page 282] in the footstep of other significant monographs such as Ji Li's God's Little Daughters, published in 2015, and Jane Hunter's earlier The Gospel of Gentility, published in 1989.1 What sets Amsler's work apart is that it sets the lives of Chinese Christian women more precisely within the larger context of Jesuit notions of masculinity, namely, Confucian learning vis-à-vis female virtue. That is, Amsler confronts how European Jesuits of China's seventeenth-century "adapted their masculinity to Chinese Confucian gender norms and how Chinese women connected with the Catholic religion spread by the missionaries" (p. 12). In Chapter 1, Amsler rehearses much that has already been written about, such as the 1595 decision of Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) and Lazzaro Cattaneo (1560–1640) to stop wearing Buddhist robes and begin donning the regalia of the Confucian literati. Despite such redundancies, this chapter offers several novel areas of analysis; most notably, she frames the sartorial and cultural decision to adopt the persona of China's literati within a framework of Jesuit masculinity. Here I would have recommended that the uniquely Jesuit practice of only admitting males to their order be better explored. Other Roman Catholic missionary orders and congregations, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Lazarists, freely admit women into their ranks, while the Jesuit fraternity of priests and brothers is entirely male, a reality that influenced the atmosphere of Jesuit areas in China. Along the lines of sartorial strategies, Amsler makes the important point that the founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), had refused to create a specific Jesuit habit, but had instead requested that Jesuit attire should "conform to the usage of the region" (p. 16). This important decision allowed missionary Jesuits to dress not only according to their region, but also according to their social status; Jesuits in the service of the emperor dressed quite differently from those who served small remote Chinese parishes. This chapter effectively underscores that the Jesuit decision to conform to China's Confucian aesthetic and intellectual propensities filtered down to inform how they envisioned and directed the lives of Chinese Catholic women. Chapters 2 and 3 confront traditional Chinese expectations of morality and gender distinction, especially how those expectations were interpreted by and re-presented by Jesuit missionaries. As Amsler suggests, Confucian literati were convinced that "disorder began to reign whenever sexes mixed," and the Catholic mission was obliged to highlight its own moral consensus with this view both in the public and private spheres (p. 34). One way in which the Jesuit "literati" distinguished themselves as paragons of Confucian morality was to set themselves against Buddhist clergy, who they characterized as lewd and promiscuous. The Jesuit mission thus stressed its agreement with the traditional Chinese sense that "Female...

Pedagogia da vigilância: o jesuíta na aldeia (séculos xvi e xvii)

Resumo Aprofundar a discussão acerca da prática jesuítica na província do Brasil no final do século XVI e início do XVII é a preocupação primeira deste artigo. Nesse caminho, resgatam-se alguns apontamentos a respeito dos instrumentos de vigilância que a chamada Contrarreforma pôs em cena, a fim de oferecer ao leitor as condicionantes históricas que perpassaram a atividade dos inacianos no período. Em seguida, faz- -se uso de documentos pesquisados no Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu e na Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuelle, ambos em Roma. Por meio dessa documentação, tem-se a intenção de instigar o leitor a uma nova perspectiva em relação à atuação dos jesuítas na América portuguesa, fundamentalmente porque a fonte de que se faz uso neste artigo ainda foi pouco explorada.

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America ed. by Anna Harwell Celenza, and Anthony R. DelDonna

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America. Edited by Anna Harwell Celenza and Anthony R. DelDonna. [Early Modern Catholicism and the Visual Arts, Vol. 9.] (Philadelphia: St. Joseph's University Press. 2014. Pp. xii, 229. $65.00. ISBN 978-0-916-10180-0.)After eight volumes devoted mainly to the painting, emblems, and other visual objects of the Jesuits' cultural mission during the first three centuries of their history, the present volume is devoted to music. Since the foundation of the Society of Jesus, the order's members discovered the power of music in their missionary action, creating a sense of community and good for teaching the Christian principles in places as diverse as Brazil and India. But this volume is not about their wellknown activities in South America or Asia. Instead, the book focuses on less explored areas: Naples and Milan in Europe and North America from the seventeenth century to the end of the ancien regime. The editors both teach at Georgetown University (chapter 9, by coeditor Anna Harwell Cerenza, traces the importance of music at this Jesuit institution from 1789 to 1930). Her coeditor, Anthony DelDonna, edits the first part of the book, which is devoted mainly to Naples but includes an interesting chapter by Emanuele Colombo on the Jesuit Oratorio in Milan. The remaining five chapters of this section are written by Francesco Cotticelli, Paologiovanni Maione, Ausilia Magaudda, Danilo Costantini, Francesca Seller, and Antonio Caroccia, which describe in detail the history and activity of the five pedagogical institutions created by Jesuits in Naples: the old Collegio Massimo at the Church of Gesu Vecchio, the Collegio of San Ignazio al Mercato, San Giuseppe a Chiaia, San Saverio a Toledo, and the very influential Collegio of Nobles. DelDonna, in addition to a general introduction (Jesuit Music in Eighteenth-Century Italy: North versus South), offers a case study on the influence of Jesuit culture on Neapolitan society, through the oratorio Trionfo per lAssunzione della Santissima Vergine by Nicolo Ceva (1705); Ceva was a lesser known professional musician educated in the Neapolitan conservatory system who became a Jesuit and an influential figure in the Society's Neapolitan circles. The survival of Ceva's score in the Librar)' of the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella is quite exceptional, since most of the primary materials on Jesuit music activities in Naples have been scattered. The mentioned scholars have used alternative sources to reconstruct those activities: for instance, the Gazzetta di Napoli provides many records of musical events not only in Naples but also in the provinces (those from 1675 to 1768 were published in 2011). …

Book Review: Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America. Edited by Anna Harwell Celenza and Anthony R. DelDonna

Book Review: Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America. Edited by Anna Harwell Celenza and Anthony R. DelDonna

Governing Social Orders, Unfolding Rationality, and Jesuit Accounting Practices

This paper questions a key assumption in the organizations literature that the dynamism of institutional logics and practice variations is the result of rivalry among logics and actors, of tensions and institutional shifts, and of the agency of institutional entrepreneurs. This study examines in rich historical detail the development of accounting in the Jesuit Order, illustrating how Jesuit accounting started from a rationality that did not presuppose an external ordering principle; instead, Jesuit rationality was unfolding—founded in continuous interrogations informed by common, purposeful procedural logics stemming from rhetorical practices used to classify, recall, and invent knowledge. I examine this concept of unfolding rationality in two areas of Jesuit practices: spiritual self-accountability and administrative accounting and recordkeeping. In this Jesuit rationality, the relationships between means and ends, and how and why behaviors take place, were not anchored permanently in a substantive logic. Instead, procedural logics left individual Jesuits and the community to imagine modes of action in the specific social and organizational contexts in which their missions operated. Jesuit rationality was thus unfolding, a persistent and recursive mode of governing social behavior and searching for organizational order that generated large-scale administrative routines and institutional dynamism while never fully achieving that order. The analysis brings into question our understanding of the historical and institutional genealogies of modern rationality and its taken-for-granted link with Protestant ethics.

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America ed. by Anna Harwell Celenza, Anthony R. DelDonna (review)

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America ed. by Anna Harwell Celenza, Anthony R. DelDonna (review)

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America, edited by Ann Harwell Celenza and Anthony R. DelDonna

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America, edited by Ann Harwell Celenza and Anthony R. DelDonna

Study on the activities of the Society of Jesus in East Slavic region in the last third of the xvi - first half of xvii centuries carried out by Russian Empire researchers

The article analyzes the subjects of the research, carried out by Russian Empire scholars on the activities of the Society of Jesus in East Slavic region in the last third of the XVI - first half of the XVII centuries. Unlike the works by Western secular and ecclesiastical, Jesuit and Polish scholars, the works by Russian historians of XIX - early XX centuries were not much analyzed by modern scientists.The present research reveals that Russian scholars showed a keen interest in this problem. Researchers collected and published the factual material in the collections of documents. They embarked on a study of some aspects of Jesuit practices in the system of education, religious and social activities. They analyzed the principles and the ways of further study as well as began assessing the Society, its value and the impact of its activities.The topics of the research, however, were not versatile. Revisions, made by scholars, mainly concerned religious and educational activities of the Society of Jesus in the region. The researchers examined the educational institutions of the Society, the system of education, the ways of dissemination of Catholicism, Jesuits' participation in the preparation and creation of the Union of Brest, the Uniate Church, The Order of Saint Basil the Great, Antonio Possevino's mission to Moscow, Jesuits' participation in the events of the Time of Troubles in Muscovy, the activities of individual members of the Society (A. Possevino and Piotr Skarga particularly). The author of the present article argues that the scholars of the Empire did not take into account all the aspects of the above-mentioned topics and not all the houses of the Society in the region.However, the great interest showed by XIX century historians in the activities of the Society has not led to a comprehensive study of the problem. Certain areas of Jesuits' activities were not studied at all or studied inappropriately. The issues of the economic activity of the Society, financial security and staffing of the Society, the cultural achievements of the Jesuits, the cooperation of the Society of Jesus with public figures and its impact on the military, political, economic and cultural life in the region were not brought to light.Yet we cannot underestimate the achievements of Russian scholars. For XIX - early XX centuries these achievements were considered to be groundbreaking and some works and topics remained significant even for the early XXI century.

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America. Anna Harwell Celenza and Anthony DelDonna, eds. Early Modern Catholicism and the Visual Arts 9. Philadelphia: Saint Joseph’s University Press, 2014. xii + 230 pp. $65.

Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America. Anna Harwell Celenza and Anthony DelDonna, eds. Early Modern Catholicism and the Visual Arts 9. Philadelphia: Saint Joseph’s University Press, 2014. xii + 230 pp. $65.

Recent Works in Jesuit Philosophy

The works considered in this review essay trace the vicissitudes of Jesuit particularism and reflect broader changes in intellectual and cultural history over the past twenty years. Reevaluations of “scientific revolution,” “Enlightenment(s),” and “modernity” itself have provided the preconditions for the possible reframing of Jesuit “philosophical” practices (including “natural philosophy”). Five of these books treat the work of Francisco Suárez in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries, a test-case for the problem of periodizing the “modern.” Three other works provide snapshots over the next 150 years: (1) seventeenth-century German-speaking Jesuit natural philosophers embracing experimental science; (2) a late-seventeenth-century superior general of the Society who embraced rigorism to a degree considered unacceptable by other Jesuits; and (3) in the early-eighteenth century, French Jesuit syntheses accommodating “Enlightenment” thought. Taken as a whole, these works demonstrate that, as binary oppositions between “Jesuits” and “moderns” continue to dissolve, Jesuit practices (sometimes in contrast to theories or principles) increasingly appear as accommodating, syncretizing, and hybridizing.