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Youngest
son of Don Beltrán Yañez de Oñez y Loyola and Marina Saenz de
Lieona y Balda (the name López de Recalde, though accepted by the
Bollandist Father Pien, is a copyist's blunder).
Born in 1491 at the castle of Loyola above
Azpeitia in Guipuscoa; died at Rome, 31 July, 1556. The family arms
are: per pale, or, seven bends gules (?vert) for Oñez; argent, pot
and chain sable between two grey wolves rampant, for Loyola. The
saint was baptized Iñigo, after St. Enecus (Innicus), Abbot of Oña:
the name Ignatius was assumed in later years, while he was residing
in Rome. For the saint's genealogy, see Pérez (op. cit. below,
131); Michel (op. cit. below, II, 383); Polanco (Chronicon, I,
51646). For the date of birth cfr. Astráin, I,3 S.
I. CONVERSION (1491-1521)
At an early age he was made a cleric. We do not
know when, or why he was released from clerical obligations. He was
brought up in the household of Juan Velásquez de Cuellar, contador
mayor to Ferdinand and Isabella, and in his suite probably attended
the court from time to time, though not in the royal service. This
was perhaps the time of his greatest dissipation and laxity. He was
affected and extravagant about his hair and dress, consumed with the
desire of winning glory, and would seem to heve been sometimes
involved in those darker intrigues, for which handsome young
courtiers too often think themselves licensed. How far he went on
the downward course is still unproved. The balance of evidence tends
to show that his own subsequent humble confessions of having been a
great sinner should not be treated as pious exaggerations. But we
have no details, not even definite charges. In 1517 a change for the
better seems to have taken place; Velásquez died and Ignatius took
service in the army. The turning-point of his life came in 1521.
While the French were besieging the citadel of Pampeluna, a cannon
ball, passing between Ignatius' legs, tore open the left calf. and
broke the right shin (Whit-Tuesday, 20 May, 1521). With his fall the
garrison lost heart and surrendered, but he was well treated by the
French and carried on a litter to Loyola, where his leg had to be
rebroken and reset, and afterwards a protruding end of the bone was
sawn off, and the limb, having been shortened by clumsy setting, was
stretched out by weights. All these pains were undergone
voluntarily, without uttering a cry or submitting to be bound. But
the pain and weakness which followed were so great that the patient
began to fail and sink. On the eve of Sts. Peter and Paul, however,
a turn for the better took place, and he threw off his fever.
So far Ignatius had shown none but the ordinary
virtues of the Spanish officer. His dangers and sufferings has
doubtless done much to purge his soul, but there was no idea yet of
remodelling his life on any higher ideals. Then, in order to divert
the weary hours of convalescence, he asked for the romances of
chivalry, his favourite reading, but there were none in the castle,
and instead they brought him the lives of Christ and of the saints,
and he read them in the same quasi-competitive spirit with which he
read the achievements of knights and warriors. "Suppose I were
to rival this saint in fasting, that one in endurance, that other in
pilgrimages." He would then wander off into thoughts of
chivalry, and service to fair ladies, especially to one of high
rank, whose name is unknown. Then all of a sudden, he became
conscious that the after-effect of these dreams was to make him dry
and dissatisfied, while the ideas of falling into rank among the
saints braced and strengthened him, and left him full of joy and
peace. Next it dawned on him that the former ideas were of the
world, the latter God-sent; finally, worldly thoughts began to lose
their hold, while heavenly ones grew clearer and dearer. One night
as he lay awake, pondering these new lights, "he saw
clearly", so says his autobiography, "the image of Our
Lady with the Holy Child Jesus", at whose sight for a notable
time he felt a reassuring sweetness, which eventually left him with
such a loathing of his past sins, and especially for those of the
flesh, that every unclean imagination seemed blotted out from his
soul, and never again was there the least consent to any carnal
thought. His conversion was now complete. Everyone noticed that he
would speak of nothing but spiritual things, and his elder brother
begged him not to take any rash or extreme resolution, which might
compromise the honour of their family.
II. SPIRITUAL FORMATION (1522-24)
When Ignatius left Loyola he had no definite
plans for the future, except that he wished to rival all the saints
had done in the way of penance. His first care was to make a general
confession at the famous sanctuary of Montserrat, where, after three
days of self-examination, and carefully noting his sins, he
confessed, gave to the poor the rich clothes in which he had come,
and put on garment of sack-cloth reaching to his feet. His sword and
dagger he suspended at Our Lady's altar, and passed the night
watching before them. Next morning, the feast of the Annunciation,
1522, after Communion, he left the sanctuary, not knowing whither he
went. But he soon fell in with a kind woman, Iñes Pascual, who
showed him a cavern near the neighbouring town of Manresa, where he
might retire for prayer, austerities, and contemplation, while he
lived on alms. But here, instead of obtaining greater peace, he was
consumed with the most troublesome scruples. Had he confessed this
sin? Had he omitted that circumstance? At one time he was violently
tempted to end his miseries by suicide, on which he resolved neither
to eat nor to drink (unless his life was in danger), until God
granted him the peace which he desired, and so he continued until
his confessor stopped him at the end of the week. At last, however,
he triumphed over all obstacles, and then abounded in wonderful
graces and visions.
It was at this time, too, that he began to make
notes of his spiritual experiences, notes which grew into the little
book of "The Spiritual Exercises". God also afflicted him
with severe sicknesses, when he was looked after by friends in the
public hospital; for many felt drawn towards him, and he requited
their many kind offices by teaching them how to pray and instructing
them in spiritual matters. Having recovered health, and acquired
sufficient experience to guide him in his new life, he commenced his
long-meditated migration to the Holy Land. From the first he had
looked forward to it as leading to a life of heroic penance; now he
also regarded it as a school in which he might learn how to realize
clearly and to conform himself perfectly to Christ's life. The
voyage was fully as painful as he had conceived. Poverty, sickness,
exposure, fatigue, starvation, dangers of shipwreck and capture,
prisons, blows, contradictions, these were his daily lot; and on his
arrival the Franciscans, who had charge of the holy places,
commanded him to return under pain of sin. Ignatius demanded what
right they had thus to interfere with a pilgrim like himself, and
the friars explained that, to prevent many troubles which had
occurred in finding ransoms for Christian prisoners, the pope had
given them the power and they offered to show him their Bulls.
Ignatius at once submitted, though it meant altering his whole plan
of life, refused to look at the proferred Bulls, and was back at
Barcelona about March, 1524.
III. STUDIES AND COMPANIONS (1521-39)
Ignatius left Jerusalem in the dark as to his
future and "asking himself as he went, quid agendum"
(Autobiography, 50). Eventually he resolved to study, in order to be
of greater help to others. To studies he therefore gave eleven
years, more than a third of his remaining life. Later he studied
among school-boys at Barcelona, and early in 1526 he knew enough to
proceed to his philosophy at the University of Alcalá. But here he
met with many troubles to be described later, and at the end of 1527
he entered the University of Salamanca, whence, his trials
continuing, he betook himself to Paris (June, 1528), and there with
great method repeated his course of arts, taking his M.A. on 14
March, 1535. Meanwhile theology had been begun, and he had taken the
licentiate in 1534; the doctorate he never took, as his health
compelled him to leave Paris in March, 1535. Though Ignatius,
despite his pains, acquired no great erudition, he gained many
practical advantages from his course of education. To say nothing of
knowledge sufficient to find such information as he needed
afterwards to hold his own in the company of the learned, and to
control others more erudite than himself, he also became thoroughly
versed in the science of education, and learned by experience how
the life of prayer and penance might be combined with that of
teaching and study, an invaluable acquirement to the future founder
of the Society of Jesus. The labours of Ignatius for others involved
him in trials without number. At Barcelona, he was beaten senseless,
and his companion killed, at the instigation of some worldlings
vexed at being refused entrance into a convent which he had
reformed. At Alcalá, a meddlesome inquisitor, Figueroa, harassed
him constantly, and once automatically imprisoned him for two
months. This drove him to Salamanca, where, worse still, he was
thrown into the common prison, fettered by the foot to his companion
Calisto, which indignity only drew from Ignatius the characteristic
words, "There are not so many handcuffs and chains in
Salamanca, but that I desire even more for the love of God."
In Paris his trials were very varied -- from
poverty, plague, works of charity, and college discipline, on which
account he was once sentenced to a public flogging by Dr. Govea, the
rector of Collège Ste-Barbe, but on his explaining his conduct, the
rector as publicly begged his pardon. There was but one delation to
the inquisitors, and, on Ignatius requesting a prompt settlement,
the Inquisitor Ori told him proceedings were therewith quashed.
We notice a certain progression in Ignatius'
dealing with accusations against him. The first time he allowed them
to cease without any pronouncement being given in his favour. The
second time he demurred at Figueroa wanting to end in this fashion.
The third time, after sentence had been passed, he appealed to he
Archbishop of Toledo against some of its clauses. Finally he does
not await sentence, but goes at once to the judge to urge an
inquiry, and eventually he made it his practice to demand sentence,
whenever reflection was cast upon his orthodoxy. (Records of
Ignatius' legal proceedings at Azpeitia, in 1515; at Alcal´ in
1526, 1527; at Venice, 1537; at Rome in 1538, will be found in
"Scripta de S. Ignatio", pp. 580-620.) Ignatius had now
for the third time gathered companions around him. His first
followers in Spain had persevered for a time, even amid the severe
trials of imprisonment, but instead of following Ignatius to Paris,
as they had agreed to do, they gave him up. In Paris too the first
to follow did not persevere long, but of the third band not one
deserted him. They were (St.) Peter Faber, a Genevan Savoyard; (St.)
Francis Xavier, of Navarre; James Laynez, Alonso Salmerón, and
Nicolás Bobadilla, Spaniards; Simón Rodríguez, a Portuguese.
Three others joined soon after -- Claude Le Jay, a Genevan Savoyard;
Jean Codure and Paschase Broët, French. Progress is to be noted in
the way Ignatius trained his companions. The first were exercised in
the same severe exterior mortifications, begging, fasting, going
barefoot, etc., which the saint was himself practising. But though
this discipline had prospered in a quiet country place like Manresa,
it had attracted an objectionable amount of criticism at the
University of Alcalá. At Paris dress and habits were adapted to the
life in great towns; fasting, etc., was reduced; studies and
spiritual exercises were multiplied, and alms funded.
The only bond between Ignatius' followers so far
was devotion to himself, and his great ideal of leading in the Holy
Land a life as like as possible to Christ's. On 15 August, 1534,
they took the vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre (probably
near the modern Chapelle de St-Denys, Rue Antoinette), and a third
vow to go to the Holy Land after two years, when their studies were
finished. Six months later Ignatius was compelled by bad health to
return to his native country, and on recovery made his way slowly to
Bologna, where, unable through ill health to study, he devoted
himself to active works of charity till his companions came from
Paris to Venice (6 January, 1537) on the way to the Holy Land.
Finding further progress barred by the war with the Turks, they now
agreed to await for a year the opportunity of fulfilling their vow,
after which they would put themselves at the pope's disposal. Faber
and some others, going to Rome in Lent, got leave for all to be
ordained. They were eventually made priests on St. John Baptist's
day. But Ignatius took eighteen months to prepare for his first
Mass.
IV. FOUNDATION OF THE SOCIETY
By the winter of 1537, the year of waiting being
over, it was time to offer their services to the pope. The others
being sent in pairs to neighboring university towns, Ignatius with
Faber and Laynez started for Rome. At La Storta, a few miles before
reaching the city, Ignatius had a noteworthy vision. He seemed to
see the Eternal Father associating him with His Son, who spoke the
words: Ego vobis Romae propitius ero. Many have thought this promise
simply referred to the subsequent success of the order there.
Ignatius' own interpretation was characteristic: "I do not know
whether we shall be crucified in Rome; but Jesus will be
propitious." Just before or just after this, Ignatius had
suggested for the title of their brotherhood "The Company of
Jesus". Company was taken in its military sense, and in those
days a company was generally known by its captain's name. In the
Latin Bull of foundation, however, they were called "Societas
Jesu". We first hear of the term Jesuit in 1544, applied as a
term of reproach by adversaries. It had been used in the fifteenth
century to describe in scorn someone who cantingly interlarded his
speech with repetitions of the Holy Name. In 1522 it was still
regarded as a mark of scorn, but before very long the friends of the
society saw that they could take it in a good sense, and, though
never used by Ignatius, it was readily adopted (Pollen, "The
Month", June, 1909). Paul III having received the fathers
favourably, all were summoned to Rome to work under the pope's eyes.
At this critical moment an active campaign of slander was opened by
one Fra Matteo Mainardi (who eventually died in open heresy), and a
certain Michael who had been refused admission to the order. It was
not till 18 November, 1538, that Ignatius obtained from the governor
of Rome an honourable sentence, still extent, in his favour. The
thoughts of the fathers were naturally occupied with a formula of
their intended mode of life to submit to the pope; and in March,
1539, they began to meet in the evenings to settle the matter.
Hitherto without superior, rule or tradition,
they had prospered most remarkably. Why not continue as they had
begun? The obvious answer was that without some sort of union, some
houses for training postulants, they were practically doomed to die
out with the existing members, for the pope already desired to send
them about as missioners from place to place. This point was soon
agreed to, but when the question arose whether they should, by
adding a vow of obedience to their existing vows, form themselves
into a compact religious order, or remain, as they were, a
congregation of secular priests, opinions differed much and
seriously. Not only had they done so well without strict rules, but
(to mention only one obstacle, which was in fact not overcome
afterwards without great difficulty), there was the danger, if they
decided for an order, that the pope might force them to adopt some
ancient rule, which would mean the end of all their new ideas. The
debate on this point continued for several weeks, but the conclusion
in favour of a life under obedience was eventually reached
unanimously. After this, progress was faster, and by 24 June some
sixteen resolutions had been decided on, covering the main points of
the proposed institute. Thence Ignatius drew up in five sections the
first "Formula Instituti", which was submitted to the
pope, who gave a viva voce approbation 3 September, 1539, but
Cardinal Guidiccioni, the head of the commission appointed to report
on the "Formula", was of the view that a new order should
not be admitted, and with that the chances of approbation seemed to
be at an end. Ignatius and his companions, undismayed, agreed to
offer up 4000 Masses to obtain the object desired, and after some
time the cardinal unexpectedly changed his mind, approved the
"Formula" and the Bull "Regimini militantis
Ecclesiae" (27 September, 1540), which embodies and sanctions
it, was issued, but the members were not to exceed sixty (this
clause was abrogated after two years). In April, 1541, Ignatius was,
in spite of his reluctance, elected the first general, and on 22
April he and his companions made their profession in St. Paul
Outside the Walls. The society was now fully constituted.
V. THE BOOK OF THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
This work originated in Ignatius' experiences,
while he was at Loyola in 1521, and the chief meditations were
probably reduced to their present shapes during his life at Manresa
in 1522, at the end of which period he had begun to teach them to
others. In the process of 1527 at Salamanca, they are spoken of for
the first time as the "Book of Exercises". The earliest
extant text is of the year 1541. At the request of St. Francis
Borgia. The book was examined by papal censors and a solemn
approbation given by Paul III in the Brief "Pastoralis Officii"
of 1548. "The Spiritual Exercises" are written very
concisely, in the form of a handbook for the priest who is to
explain them, and it is practically impossible to describe them
without making them, just as it might be impossible to explain
Nelson's "Sailing Orders" to a man who knew nothing of
ships or the sea. The idea of the work is to help the exercitant to
find out what the will of God is in regard to his future, and to
give him energy and courage to follow that will. The exercitant
(under ideal circumstances) is guided through four weeks of
meditations: the first week on sin and its consequences, the second
on Christ's life on earth, the third on his passion, the fourth on
His risen life; and a certain number of instructions (called
"rules", "additions", "notes") are
added to teach him how to pray, how to avoid scruples, how to elect
a vocation in life without being swayed by the love of self or of
the world. In their fullness they should, according to Ignatius'
idea, ordinarily be made once or twice only; but in part (from three
to four days) they may be most profitably made annually, and are now
commonly called "retreats", from the seclusion or retreat
from the world in which the exercitant lives. More popular
selections are preached to the people in church and are called
"missions". The stores of spiritual wisdom contained in
the "Book of Exercises" are truly astonishing, and their
author is believed to have been inspired while drawing them up. (See
also next section.) Sommervogel enumerates 292 writers among the
Jesuits alone, who have commented on the whole book, to say nothing
of commentators on parts (e.g. the meditations), who are far more
numerous still. But the best testimony to the work is the frequency
with which the exercises are made. In England (for which alone
statistics are before the writer) the educated people who make
retreats number annually about 22,000, while the number who attend
popular expositions of the Exercises in "missions" is
approximately 27,000, out of a total Catholic population of
2,000,000.
VI. THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SOCIETY
Ignatius was commissioned in 1541 to draw them
up, but he did not begin to do so until 1547, having occupied the
mean space with introducing customs tentatively, which were destined
in time to become laws. In 1547 Father Polanco became his secretary,
and with his intelligent aid the first draft of the constitutions
was made between 1547 and 1550, and simultaneously pontifical
approbation was asked for a new edition of the "Formula".
Julius III conceded this by the Bull "Exposcit debitum",
21 July, 1550. At the same time a large number of the older fathers
assembled to peruse the first draft of the constitutions, and though
none of them made any serious objections, Ignatius' next recension
(1552) shows a fair amount of changes. This revised version was then
published and put into force throughout the society, a few
explanations being added here and there to meet difficulties as they
arose. These final touches were being added by the saint up till the
time of his death, after which the first general congregation of the
society ordered them to be printed, and they have never been touched
since. The true way of appreciating the constitutions of the society
is to study them as they are carried into practice by the Jesuits
themselves, and for this, reference may be made to the articles on
the SOCIETY OF JESUS. A few points, however, in which Ignatius'
institute differed from the older orders may be mentioned here. They
are:
the vow not to accept ecclesiastical dignities;
increased probations. The novitiate is prolonged from one year to
two, with a third year, which usually falls after the priesthood.
Candidates are moreover at first admitted to simple vows only,
solemn vows coming much later on;
the Society does not keep choir;
it does not have a distinctive religious habit;
it does not accept the direction of convents;
it is not governed by a regular triennial chapter;
it is also said to have been the first order to undertake officially
and by virtue of its constitutions active works such as the
following:
foreign missions, at the pope's bidding;
the education of youth of all classes;
the instruction of the ignorant and the poor;
ministering to the sick, to prisoners, etc.
The above points give no conception of the originality with which
Ignatius has handled all parts of his subject, even those common to
all orders. It is obvious that he must have acquired some knowledge
of other religious constitutions, especially during the years of
inquiry (1541-1547), when he was on terms of intimacy with religious
of every class. But witnesses, who attended him, tell us that he
wrote without any books before him except the Missal. Though his
constitutions of course embody technical terms to be found in other
rules, and also a few stock phrases like "the old man's
staff", and "the corpse carried to any place", the
thought is entirely original, and would seem to have been God-guided
throughout. By a happy accident we still possess his journal of
prayers for forty days, during which he was deliberating the single
point of poverty in churches. It shows that in making up his mind he
was marvelously aided by heavenly lights, intelligence, and visions.
If, as we may surely infer, the whole work was equally assisted by
grace, its heavenly inspiration will not be doubtful. The same
conclusion is probable true of "The Spiritual Exercises".
VII. LATER LIFE AND DEATH
The later years of Ignatius were spent in partial
retirement, the correspondence inevitable in governing the Society
leaving no time for those works of active ministry which in
themselves he much preferred. His health too began to fail. In 1551,
when he had gathered the elder fathers to revise the constitutions,
he laid his resignation of the generalate in their hands, but they
refused to accept it then or later, when the saint renewed his
prayer. In 1554 Father Nadal was given the powers of vicar-general,
but it was often necessary to send himm abroad as commissary, and in
the end Ignatius continued, with Polanco's aid, to direct
everything. With most of his first companions he had to part soon.
Rodríguez started on 5 March, 1540, for Lisbon, where he eventually
founded the Portuguese province, of which he was made provincial on
10 October, 1546. St. Francis Xavier followed Rodríguez
immmediately, and became provincial of India in 1549. In September,
1541, Salmeron and Broet started for their perilous mission to
Ireland, which they reached (via Scotland) next Lent. But Ireland,
the prey to Henry VIII's barbarous violence, could not give the
zealous missionaries a free field for the exercise of the ministries
proper to their institute. All Lent they passed in Ulster, flying
from persecutors, and doing in secret such good as they might. With
difficulty they reached Scotland, and regained Rome, Dec., 1542. The
beginnings of the Society in Germany are connected with St. Peter
Faber, Blessed Peter Canisius, Le Jay, and Bobadilla in 1542. In
1546 Laynez and Salmeron were nominated papal theologians for the
Council of Trent, where Canisius, Le Jay, and Covillon also found
places. In 1553 came the picturesque, but not very successful
mission of Nuñez Barretto as Patriarch of Abyssinia. For all these
missions Ignatius wrote minute instructions, many of which are still
extant. He encouraged and exhorted his envoys in their work by his
letters, while the reports they wrote back to him form our chief
source of information on the missionary triumphs achieved. Though
living alone in Rome, it was he who in effect led, directed, and
animated his subjects all the world over.
The two most painful crosses of this period were
probably the suits with Isabel Roser and Simón Rodríguez. The
former lady had been one of Ignatius' first and most esteemed
patronesses during his beginnings in Spain. She came to Rome later
on and persuaded Ignatius to receive a vow of obedience to him, and
she was afterwards joined by two or three other ladies. But the
saint found that the demands they made on his time were more than he
could possibly allow them. "They caused me more trouble",
he is reported to have said, "than the whole of the
Society", and he obtained from the pope a relaxation of the vow
he had accepted. A suit with Roser followed, which she lost, and
Ignatius forbade his sons hereafter to become ex officio directors
to convents of nuns (Scripta de S. Igntio, pp. 652-5). Painful
though this must have been to a man so loyal as Ignatius, the
difference with Rodríguez, one of his first companions, must have
been more bitter still. Rodríguez had founded the Province of
Portugal, and brought it in a short time to a high state of
efficiency. But his methods were not precisely those of Ignatius,
and, when new men of Ignatius' own training came under him,
differences soon made themselves felt. A struggle ensued in which
Rodríguez unfortunately took sides against Ignatius' envoys. The
results for the newly formed province were disastrous. Well-nigh
half of its members had to be expelled before peace was established;
but Ignatius did not hesitate. Rodriguez having been recalled to
Rome, the new provincial being empowered to dismiss him if he
refused, he demanded a formal trial, which Ignatius, foreseeing the
results, endeavoured to ward off. But on Simón's insistence a full
court of inquiry was granted, whose proceedings are now printed and
it unanimously condemned Rodriguez to penance and banishment from
the province (Scripta etc., pp. 666-707). Of all his external works,
those nearest his heart, to judge by his correspondence, were the
building and foundation of the Roman College (1551), and of the
German College (1552). For their sake he begged, worked, and
borrowed with splendid insistence until his death. The success of
the first was ensured by the generosity of St. Francis Borgia,
before he entered the Society. The latter was still in a struggling
condition when Ignatius died, but his great ideas have proved the
true and best foundation of both.
In the summer of 1556 the saint was attacked by
Roman fever. His doctors did not foresee any serious consequences,
but the saint did. On 30 July, 1556, he asked for the last
sacraments and the papal blessing, but he was told that no immediate
danger threatened. Next morning at daybreak, the infirmarian found
him lying in peaceful prayer, so peaceful that he did not at once
perceive that the saint was actually dying. When his condition was
realized, the last blessing was given, but the end came before the
holy oils could be fetched. Perhaps he had prayed that his death,
like his life, might pass without any demonstration. He was
beatified by Paul V on 27 July, 1609, and canonized by Gregory XV on
22 May, 1622. His body lies under the altar designed by Pozzi in the
Gesù. Though he died in the sixteenth year from the foundation of
the Society, that body already numbered about 1000 religious (of
whom, however, only 35 were yet professed) with 100 religious
houses, arranged in 10 provinces. (Sacchini, op. cit. infra., lib.1,
cc,i, nn. 1-20.) For his place in history see COUNTER-REFORMATION.
It is immpossible to sketch in brief Ignatius' grand and complex
character: ardent yet restrained, fearless, resolute, simple,
prudent, strong, and loving. The Protestant and Jansenistic
conception of him as a restless, bustling pragmatist bears no
correspondence at all with the peacefulness and perseverance which
characterized the real man. That he was a strong disciplinarian is
true. In a young and rapidly growing body that was inevitable; and
the age loved strong virtues. But if he believed in discipline as an
educative force, he despised any other motives for action except the
love of God and man. It was by studying Ignatius as a ruler that
Xavier learnt the principle, "the company of Jesus ought to be
called the company of love and conformity of souls". (Ep., 12
Jan., 1519).
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