Fidelity to Calasanz

Fr. John García del Castillo, Second General of the Pious Schools

Fidelity to Calasanz.

Fr. John García del Castillo, Second General of the Pious Schools

Author: György Sántha

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ISBN: 978-84-7278-???-?

In charge of the team of translators: P. José Pascual Burgués

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Fidelity to Calasanz

Fr. John García del Castillo, Second General of the Pious Schools

www.edicionescalasancias.org

Innocent X (1644-1655)

Alexander VII (1655-1667) (Mausoleum in St. Peter´s Basilica)

Fr. John García del Castillo (Art Gallery of Superior Generals. San Pantaleo. Rome)

INTRODUCTION

A people do not march

if “the prophetic” is not alive within it;

and it remains blocked

when it forgets and represses

the origins of its alienation and sin .

(Ernest Bloch’s thought)

“PIARIST HISTORY” COLLECTION

Ediciones Calasancias is launching the new collection Historia Escolapia (Piarist History), a collection that implements publications on documentary themes. It offers, in principle, nineteen titles. They are biographies of Piarists; the biographies of the first nineteen Superior Generals who successively continued –with creative fidelity– the charism of the first Father General of the Order, St. Joseph Calasanz. It covers one hundred and sixteen years, one third of the already long life of the Order. Exactly from 1656, when Fr. John García del Castillo was appointed General, to 1772, when Calasanz’ successor was another Spaniard like him, Cayetano Ramo.

The biographies were prepared by Fr. Sántha. They were part of an ambitious project. He cherished the idea of preparing a critical history of the Order. To this end he wrote more than fifty essays, which were published in Ephemerides in Latin.

It is true that history is not done by the Superiors. The historical plot –the authentic history– has been woven by the unknown or anonymous Piarists. Presenting the actions of the Superior Generals implies showing the milestones that have delineated the path of the anonymous Piarist. The reader will be the judge of the quality of this new collection. But we can already anticipate a value judgment by recalling the category of the author.

THE AUTHOR OF THE COLLECTION

Fr General Vincent Tomek, aware of the lack of a History of the Order, chose the right person, Fr György Sántha. His preparation was conscientious. His deep humanistic formation, his mastery of languages, his tenacious memory, his admirable patience, constituted an optimal background to be historian and archivist of the Order, a mission he carried out from 1958 until 1975, when the Lord called him to the house of the Father, without having seen his objective fulfilled.

He will write without haste. And he will let the fruits of his researches rest. That is why he will refuse to publish on historical topics within a predetermined period of time.

Before 1958 he had already begun his patient research, the collection of materials, the quiet search, the verification of data. However, it was not until 1961 that he published his first biography. It is very likely that in 1964 he had already prepared the other eighteen, but he did not hurry to bring them to light. In this way he allowed himself time to retouch them, correct them or complete them with new findings.

The very presentation of these essays speaks eloquently of the seriousness of his research. The notes that support the text’s affirmations take up more pages than the text itself. They are biographies elaborated with the rigor imposed by historical criticism. Their affirmations always bear the endorsement of the source. It is the historical truth that excites, overcoming prejudices.

WHY THIS NEW COLLECTION

This collection aims at the same objective as the previous documentary publications. It is intended as a new aid to renewal, the guarantee of which Vatican II places in the sources: “Let the spirit and purposes of the founders and the holy traditions, all of which constitute the patrimony of each Institute, be recognized and faithfully maintained” (PC 2). To shed light on the life and journey of the Superior Generals –especially those who were closest to the Founder– is to clarify the Piarist charism, which is not exhausted in the charism of Calasanz.

To publish this collection Piarist History is not to do archeology, nor to cultivate stupid narcissism. It is to deepen in our own roots, the roots of Piarist being and doing. It is to illuminate our Piarist today, contrasting it with yesterday, to give birth to that new Piarist that responds to the demands of the world and the future man in an attitude of perennial creative fidelity to the Calasanzian charism.

Looking at the past is not a vain and desperate flight from the present to rebuild the agonizing world that gave birth to the Pious Schools. It is not a matter, then, of emphasizing the past, but of remembering it, with its sins and its successes, so that from it, prophets may emerge and “the prophetic” may permeate this Pious School of today and tomorrow. We look to our past to nourish prophecy.

The prophet makes the forgotten origins present. Only in this way will the future emerge with force. It is “the prophetic” –that permeates a whole people: the Pious Schools– the condition for a people to march, as Ernest Bloch would say. “When the prophet, with a sandpaper voice, makes the forgotten origins present, “the prophetic” will take shape in the people. On the contrary, it is blocked when it forgets and represses the origins of its nourishment and sin. From the reading of the Piarist History, done with a prophetic attitude, the renewing inspiration can emerge.

Seen in this way, the Piarist History has a reason to exist in the present day, which we all wish to be renewing. From this point of view, the past ceases to be ambivalent, which is one of the criticisms made by a certain sector to previous publications. So, to offer the past is no longer to hinder the future, neither to deter initiatives, nor to rejuvenate outdated conceptions. It is a call to contrition, it is to pass it through the still of constructive criticism, to get rid of the unclean dregs and distill it, to keep the charismatic essences, which design a new Pious School and catapult us to hope, remembering that warning of Unamuno: “He who has no memories has no hope”.

THIS FIRST VOLUME AND ITS TRANSLATOR

This first volume is dedicated to Father John García del Castillo, known in our tradition as Father Castilla. Since 1611 he was one of the first companions of Calasanz. He was the man of trust of the holy Founder, to whom he always remained a close friend. For thirty years he gave him proof of his trustworthiness, especially during the persecutions. He suffered with him and Fr. Casani the public ignominy of being taken to the Holy Office. After the death of the Founder, he was his spiritual heir. Revered and respected by all, he was considered his legitimate successor. When the Pious Schools were re-established by Alexander VII, Father John Garcia was appointed Superior General, a position he held until his death in February 1659. Taking into account these characteristics, the translator has entitled this first volume “FIDELITY TO CALASANZ”.

The Community of Scío Juniorate was in charge of directing the new collection, making Fr. Ángel Ródenas responsible for its translation. To the Community and, in particular, to Fr. Ródenas, the recognition and gratitude on behalf of the Order.

AN INVITATION TO SCHOLARS

The publication of these nineteen volumes that we begin today is an invitation for scholars of the Order to continue the work of Fr. Sántha and to cover those two centuries of Piarist History, of which eighteen other Superior Generals have been exponents, whose work has yet to be written.

Ángel Ruiz, Father General

Rome, on the 360th anniversary of the approval of the Constitutions of Calasanz

January 31, 1982

TRANSLATOR’S WARNING

By superior decision, the text of G. Sántha appears here translated in its entirety, including each and every one of the notes. The same will be done with the other biographies. This circumstance makes it advisable to propose a clarification. The reader interested in these biographies for research purposes will not be served by the mere version of the notes; he or she must have recourse to the original. And those seeking only basic information about the biographer may find the notes annoying and repetitive of what is said in the text. Both positions have their part of reason, which I do not dispute. However, apart from the fact that everyone is free to read what interests them, the truth is that this publication is made, for obvious reasons, thinking more of the second type of reader than of the first. In any case, whoever looks at these pages should not lose sight of the fact that the work offered here, uniformly translated into vernacular, comes from Latin originals (this is always the case of the text and, to a great extent, of the notes themselves) or Italian originals (this is very often the situation of the notes). For this reason, those who have the patience to read the notes should not be surprised that they sometimes repeat, even with the same words, what the text already says. In some cases, they may be writings in Italian to illustrate what is stated in the Latin text.

And a second observation. I have tried to make the translation of this first biography reliable and, at least, easy and attractive to read. But perhaps the original does not always lend itself to this purpose. However, and this is especially true for the version of the notes, I have felt obliged not to change the sometimes pompous and reiterative, sometimes coarse or inelegant styles of certain documents. I believe that the translator’s respect, as far as possible, for the style of the original writings may be a further factor in favor of the reliability of HIS version.

A.R.

There are a few lives and biographical sketches, in some cases printed, of Fr. John García del Castillo of Jesus Mary[1]. It seems to us, however, that it is worthwhile to write a life of this Piarist religious, completely new and more in keeping with the historical truth. Such a biography, in fact, could contribute not a little to better illustrate the origins of the Calasanzian Order and to clarify the events that followed the death of the holy Founder. Also, taking into account that Fr. Garcia was a close friend of Calasanz, it is legitimate to suppose that his biography will also shed new light on the life of his friend.

In writing this life, however, we are not thinking only of the advantage of the clarification that it will undoubtedly bring to the history of the first sixty years of the Institute of the Pious Schools, but also of the outstanding personality of Father John of Jesus Mary, a simple, humble, modest and pious man, who greatly helped Calasanz and the birth of the Pious Schools with his goods, his work, his prayers and his example. Pope Alexander VII would judge him worthy of succeeding St. Joseph Calasanz in the generalate, ten years after the Innocentian Decree of reduction of the Pious Schools.

Even with this, however, we would not have embarked on the composition of this life, if the discovery of some new documents in relation to the subject had not aroused in us the certain hope of being able to treat some aspects with greater critical sense and with more extension than what has been done so far.

All that we will finally say about the period from 1648 to 1659 will be the first attempt, modest on the other hand, to critically expose the history of this stage of the Piarist Order.

CHAPTER I

BIRTH OF FATHER JOHN

The father of John was Fructuoso García del Castillo and his mother Juana González[2], who were by no means rich and lived in Lugar del Soto, a village in the province and diocese of Segovia[3]. The father contracted second marriage after the death of his first wife and, it seems, he married a third time due to the death of the second wife[4]. It is not known with certainty when John was born, since a document that is supposed to be a transcription of the baptismal book states that he was born on January 22, 1581[5], while other reliable testimonies suggest that he could not have been born before 1584 or perhaps 1585[6].

HE ARRIVES IN ITALY AND ATTENDS THE PIOUS SCHOOLS

When he was barely fifteen years old, that is, in 1599, he left his homeland, where he had attended only elementary school, and moved to Rome, perhaps as a page of the Spanish ambassador[7]. After three years in the eternal city, in 1603 or 1604 he began to study in the Pious Schools of the Vestri palace, being a student of Father Dragonetti and applying himself with enthusiasm to the learning of the Latin language[8]. When he finished his studies, he did not immediately enter the Pious Schools, but remained in his former post and became close friend with Francisco Mendez, a Portuguese priest of a complicated mentality, who claimed to be a disciple of John of Avila and lived in Rome to obtain more easily the approval of the religious institute he had founded. In Frattina Street, near the parish of St. Lawrence in Lucina, he laid the foundations, together with some clerics and lay friends, of a common way of life whose aim, among others, was to solve both the spiritual and material needs of the girls and women of joyful life of the city. To this end, he wanted to be called Father Francis of Christ[9].

HE MEETS AND BEFRIENDS GLICERIO LANDRIANI

In this environment he had the opportunity to meet Abbot Glicerio Landriani, who was also at that time a disciple of Fr Francis[10]. This acquaintance completely changed his future life, for as he befriended him, more and more each day he began to imitate his whole way of life, spending with him most of the day engaged in various practices of piety and Christian charity, whether visiting the churches of Rome, helping the poor or talking about spiritual matters.

HE JOINS THE WORKERS OF THE PIOUS SCHOOLS AND PERFORMS VARIOUS FUNCTIONS

Seeing in the meantime that Abbot Landriani was maintaining ever closer contacts with the Pious Schools of which he himself was a pupil, and foreseeing that Glycerio would soon hand over his person and his activity to the Pious Schools (as he did on May 31, 1612), in April 1611 John Garcia also joined the Pious Schools, where he was to hold the posts of bursar, prefect of the schools and catechist[11].

PROMISING BEGINNINGS OF A HOLY LIFE

The bonds of friendship with Glicerio Landriani did not weaken because of this. On the contrary, they were strengthened, since the motive, the reason and the style of living and acting were already common to both of them. This relationship of friendship so saintly lived lasted for ten years, until the death of Glicerio (on February 15, 1618), and left an indelible mark on the spirit and heart of Fr. John, so that from now on, and throughout his life, always having the example of the venerable Glicerio before him, he did not want or intend anything else than to reach the summit of perfection and holiness[12].

In March 1617, neither he nor Abbot Landriani immediately received the habit of the Pauline Congregation, which Paul V had just erected. Moreover, John did not decide to wear the Piarist habit when Glycerio Landriani finally entered the novitiate on July 2, 1617, where eight months later, on February 15, 1618, he gave his soul to the Creator. It is not easy to guess the motives that retracted John Garcia from receiving the Piarist cassock, at least when his dear friend Glicerio Landriani did. His parents, whom perhaps he should have helped, had already died (in 1616 or 1617)[13], so we cannot suspect any other reason for this delay than that he had been entrusted with the care of a brother, nephew, niece or other relatives. In fact, in order to help them, he made every effort since 1615-1616 to obtain some ecclesiastical benefit[14]. Another reason can be given for was his often indecisive and vacillating character, which repeatedly prevented him from taking immediate decisions.

CHAPTER II

PROMOTION TO THE PRIESTHOOD. FRUITFUL ACTIVITY IN ROME AND FRASCATI

On the death of his friend Glicerio, Father John held the position of Prefect of the schools and bursar of the house at the Pious Schools of San Pantaleo in Rome, to the great benefit of the students and to the entire approval of Calasanz. In this way, he gradually decided to devote himself for life to the service of the Pious Schools, although without the bond of public vows. The holy Founder, for his part, encouraged him and gently tried to persuade him to also receive the order of the priesthood, which he finally decided to do after many years of hesitation. To this end, at the end of the year 1618, he presented to Paul V a memorandum requesting his promotion to the four minor orders, as well as to the subdiaconate, diaconate and presbyterate, by title of common table and in the space of a year, given the great shortage of priests that the Pious Schools of St. Pantaleo were suffering, without the dimissorial letters of his Ordinary, outside Temporas and with dispensation of the interstices. Paul V, by means of a Brief issued on November 29, 1619, gladly acceded to the request made by Calasanz. For reasons, however, that are not yet sufficiently clarified, Fr. John delayed his ordination until the beginning of 1623[15]. Perhaps he was frightened by a clause in the Brief, according to which, if he had abandoned the ministry of the Pious Schools, he should be suspended ipso facto from the exercise of the orders he had received, until his annual income reached the amount necessary for proper support[16]. For this reason, in order to prevent such a risk of suspension, he decided first to obtain the necessary benefits as soon as possible and then to receive holy orders. On the other hand, these benefits could come in handy when it came to assisting his relatives. Finally, after much work, on December 18, Pope Paul V granted Fr. John, pro-bursar of the Pious Schools in Rome, a half canonical portion of the church of Segovia, which had been vacant since the death of a certain Martin López, his last possessor.

On February 15, 1621, Gregory XV confirmed the concession, since the corresponding apostolic letter had not yet been published due to the death of Paul V, and after the confirmation of the benefice on the same day, February 15, 1621, he ordered the issuance of the executory Bull[17]. However, the fruits and income of this benefice did not exceed the annual value of fifty gold ducats[18].

Shortly thereafter, on November 18, 1621, the Pauline Congregation was elevated to the rank of a religious Order with solemn vows and on January 31, 1622, Gregory XV approved its Constitutions with the Brief “Sacri Apostolatus ministerio”. On April 28th of the same year, by means of another pontifical Brief, Calasanz was appointed Superior General of the Religion for a period of nine years, together with the four assistants, and finally, on October 15th, the Order was granted the communication of all the privileges granted to the mendicant Orders. This dazzling progress of the Calasanzian Institute, as well as the prestige and stability that it was acquiring every day to a greater extent, strongly encouraged Father John Garcia to dedicate himself, once he received the priesthood, to the efficacious service of the poor students of the Pious Schools with his work as a priest and teacher. Thus, having received minor orders, he was ordained subdeacon on January 22, 1624, deacon on January 29th and on February 5th of the same year he was promoted to the priesthood[19]. He sang his first solemn mass in Rome on February 26, 1623 in the oratory of San Pantaleo, in the presence of Calasanz, Msgr Juan Falces de San Esteban, Archbishop of Brindisi[20], and other friends of the newly ordained[21].

In spite of this, even then he did not decide to wear the Piarist habit, although he continued to serve as bursar or Prefect of the Pious Schools of San Pantaleo. Shortly after receiving priestly ordination, he obtained licenses to hear confessions and gradually became an excellent and assiduous confessor in the church of San Pantaleo22,23.

In the month of September 1626, Fr. John García moved from Rome to Frascati by mandate of Calasanz to replace Fr. Pietro Cananea, superior of the house, who died on the 12th of that month[24]. The Founder himself assumed his Roman duties both in the schools and in the church[25]. Fr Garcia was not, of course, in a juridical sense, superior of the house, because he had not yet received the religious habit, but in fact he was the father and rector of all, since as commissary of Calasanz he had under his hand all the people and everything depended on him[26]. For five years he endured in Frascati not a little work, looking for the most suitable building and place for the school and the church, directing the schools and taking spiritual care of the faithful and the students[27].

A life so busy and full of worries caused no little damage to his delicate health, so that more than once, with his strength completely exhausted, he seemed to be closer to death than to life[28]. In the month of May, 1630, he was freed from the clutches of imminent death thanks to the miraculous intervention of the venerable Abbot Landriani and the prompt arrival of Calasanz[29].

But the multiple occupations and difficulties of both the school and the house not only harmed the health of Fr. John, but also disturbed the peace of his spirit, so that full of doubts and anxieties he came to feel completely disillusioned with Calasanz and to think that with that hectic life and full of sorrows he was far from the path of salvation that he had begun so happily in the company of Abbot Landriani. Calasanz had to resort to all his fortitude, prudence and charity to pull his dear friend out of such an abyss of distress and to show him that the true way of his salvation was in the Pious Schools, in school work, in pastoral activity and in catechesis to children[30].

While Fr. John was still in Frascati, the first General Congregation of the new Order of the Pious Schools was held during the months of October and November 1627. In this assembly, Calasanz and his close collaborators saw with displeasure that Fr. John, a faithful and diligent companion of the Founder for more than fifteen years, had not yet received the Piarist habit. Consequently, they unanimously decided to exhort him to receive the habit and to incorporate him into the Order as a true member of it, or more precisely as an Oblate, in case he had preferred to continue to dress as a secular priest[31].

RETURN TO ROME AND DELICATE MISSION IN NAPLES

In spite of this exhortation, Fr. John, even though he wore the religious habit –although not with a juridical character[32]– he did not want, however, to make the canonical novitiate nor obligate himself to make public vows. After spending almost four years in this situation, at the end of February 1631[33], Calasanz ordered him to return to Rome, appointed him General Commissary and sent him immediately to Naples to investigate, examine and resolve the delicate matter of Fr. Stefano Cherubini who had grossly compromised the good name of the Order because of his unedifying conduct with the students[34]. Once the matter entrusted to him was settled, he returned to Rome at the beginning of May with the intention of returning to Frascati, which he was unable to do for health reasons[35]. Although he later recovered, he did not return to Frascati because Calasanz had arranged otherwise.

FATHER JOHN’S DEFINITIVE ENTRY INTO THE ORDER AND HIS APPOINTMENT AS GENERAL ASSISTANT

The General Chapter to be held in October 1631[36] was imminent and Calasanz had the project of appointing Fr. John García as General Assistant, in place of the recently deceased Fr. Paolo Ottonelli. But this plan would encounter serious difficulties, since Fr. John had not yet canonically dressed the Piarist habit. The fact is that the General Chapter was never convened because of the threat of the plague, but in October 1631 the second General Congregation was held before the Most Eminent Cardinal Vicar, with the presence of some of the most representative Fathers of the Order. In this meeting it was decided, with the approval of Cardinal Mario Ginetti, to ask the Supreme Pontiff for the confirmation of Calasanz in the position of Superior General for life and the appointment of General Assistants in favor of Fathers Peter Casani, Francis Castelli, Giacomo Graziani and John García. The corresponding memorandum of supplication was delivered at the beginning of December to the Cardinal Vicar, so that he, with his authority, could request the aforementioned grace from Urban VIII[37]. This whole matter, recommended by Cardinal Ginetti, was favorably resolved by the Roman Pontiff and on January 12, 1632, by means of the Brief “Inscrutabili Divinae Providentiae”, Calasanz and the four religious he had proposed were appointed Superior General of the Order and General Assistants respectively[38].

In anticipation of this, Calasanz had already declared Fr. John Garcia a Piarist novice on December 12, 1631[39], and told the Cardinal Vicar that he was even willing to make solemn profession, if the Cardinal Vicar so wished[40]. If we take into account, however, that Fr. Garcia did not make solemn profession until three years later, it is evident that the Cardinal Vicar did not urge it, contenting himself with the profession he had tacitly made, as Calasanz affirmed[41]. As General Assistant under the immediate direction of Joseph, Fr. Garcia held the position of director of the schools in San Pantaleo; he was in charge of catechesis and continuous prayer[42]. In the absence of Calasanz, and even though he did not possess much government skills[43], he occupied his post several times, taking care of the good running of the house and of the most important matters of the Order[44].

However, since some people were not happy that Fr. Garcia was holding the office of General Assistant without having pronounced his solemn vows, finally on April 18, 1634, in the oratory of San Pantaleo and in the presence of Calasanz, Fathers Pietro Casani, Francesco Castelli, other religious of the community, clerics and professed brothers, he made his solemn profession confirming the one he had tacitly made some time before[45]. In this way the juridical situation of Fr. Garcia within the Order was definitively settled[46].

PEDAGOGICAL AND PRIESTLY APOSTOLATE AT SAN PANTALEO’S HOUSE

In the following years, Fr. Garcia hardly changed his old way of living and acting. He remained dedicated to the school and to the spiritual direction in the church of San Pantaleo, and every day the number of people who came to his confessional in search of peace and consolation increased. On the other hand, in the government and regime of the Order, he did not help Calasanz, who was almost abandoned by his Assistants or, at least, not supported to the extent he needed, and he was forced many times to make use of the collaboration of other people. Thus, with regard to the preparation of the General Chapter to be held in 1637, he made good use of the activity and initiative of Fathers Melchior Alacchi, Mario Sozzi and Stefano Cherubini, since the Assistants had done practically nothing. The collaboration of Fr. John Garcia in the preparation of the Chapter of the Roman Province[47] was of little use to him. The same must be said of his participation in the immediate Roman Chapter, which took place from November 27 to December 6, 1640, attended by Fr. García as Provincial, appointed by Calasanz on November 27 for the sole purpose of the celebration of the said Chapter[48].

Even in what was the first true and authentic General Chapter of the Order of the Pious Schools, in which numerous and very serious problems were debated, Father Garcia hardly took part, except for having been president of the congregation or commission that adopted some dispositions regarding the travels of the religious[49]. In the second General Chapter, celebrated in 1641, he no longer played any role.

Even more. Apart from the above-mentioned Chapters, the name of Fr. John does not appear at all in the thorny question of the cleric brothers, nor in the case of Fr. Mario neither in the Apostolic Visitation of the years 1643-1646. His life was spent in complete silence, helping in the classrooms or in the church and carrying out the office of confessor rather than that of General Assistant. However, on January 15, 1643, when Calasanz was suspended from his office, Fr. Garcia was also deprived of his, together with the other three Assistants, and on March 16, 1646, he patiently endured, at Calasanz’ side, the very serious blow that the Innocentian reduction meant for all. According to this, Fr. Garcia turned out to be a companion and assistant of Calasanz, whom he had confessed for many years, supporting him rather than governing with him. In fact, he helped him with his advice, prayer and words of encouragement more than by taking part at his side in the direction of the Order. Delicate as he was, and alien to any partisan attitude, he had the joy of assisting Father Mario Sozzi several times in his serious illness[50] and of hearing the last confession of Father Stefano Cherubini[51].

CHAPTER III

FROM THE REDUCTION OF THE ORDER BY INNOCENT X UNTIL THE DEATH OF CALASANZ (1646 - 1648)

After the Innocentian reduction that took place in the month of May 1646, and especially after the death of Father Pietro Casani in December 1647, Father John Garcia began in a certain way a new life. On the one hand, in fact, he remained almost the only and the oldest friend of Calasanz, to whom he had lent his collaboration since 1611; on the other hand, with his gentleness and due to the sweetness of his character, he easily attracted those who were moving away from the Founder remembering past difficulties. And so, in the month of April 1647, at the request of Calasanz, he was elected by the community of San Pantaleo as local superior in place of Fr. Gian Stefano Spinola of the Mother of God, who had resigned his post; and even at the request of Calasanz and with the approval of the Cardinal Vicar, he remained in his post, despite the fact that some of the community, dissatisfied with his management, wanted another to be appointed in his place. Thus, Father Garcia served as rector of the house of San Pantaleo from April 1647 until May 30, 1649, when he was succeeded by Father Francesco Baldi of the Annunciation[52].

As Rector, Father John did not so much; however, given his dedication and devotion to Calasanz, he at least allowed other sons close to the Founder –such as Fathers Vincenzo Berro and Gian Carlo Caputi and Brother Agapito Sciviglietto– to help him effectively and to give him valuable collaboration for his benefit and that of the Order.

The charity and faithful devotion to Calasanz, as well as the paternal and fraternal feelings of Fr. John with everyone, gave rise in the house of San Pantaleo to the climate of peace and tranquility that Calasanz had so longed for throughout his life, and that, at least, in the last days of his life could smile to him in some way. And this, certainly, not because he had overcome all worries, since the Order was on its last legs and hardly gave the impression of breathing, but because at least he was flooded by the light and fire of charity, without which community life is so difficult and heavy.

After the death of Father Stefano Cherubini, which took place in January 1648, the dark clouds that were threatening the future of the Order seemed to dissipate to a certain extent, and with the license to accept novices, obtained at the beginning of the same year, the first signs of the future resurrection appeared. And so, in tune with renewed hopes and old fears, the last days of the holy Founder’s earthly pilgrimage arrived, and Father John Garcia was given the delicate mission of piously preparing for his father’s passing. He heard his last confession, received the dying Father’s last advice and held with him the last talks about life, death and the future of the Institute. And when the venerable patriarch gave his life to the Creator, it fell, in the first place, to Father Garcia, as superior of the house, the pious duty of celebrating the funerals and of fulfilling scrupulously all that should be done with those who have died in the opinion of sanctity[53].

CHAPTER IV

FROM THE DEATH OF CALASANZ TO THE APPOINTMENT OF FATHER GARCÍA AS SUPERIOR GENERAL

After the death of Calasanz, Fr. John continued as rector of San Pantaleo until the election of Fr. Francesco Baldi on May 30, 1649. However, two years later, that is, in 1651, he resigned his office and left the Order[54]. John was again elected rector of the house, remaining in office until his appointment as General of the Order, which took place in March 1656. Therefore, there is reason to believe that the events concerning the house of San Pantaleo and the Calasanzian Order, from 1648 to 1656, took place practically during the rectorate of Fr. John Garcia and that they were even promoted by him to some extent, although many times indirectly. The rector of San Pantaleo was then to a certain extent the supreme guide of the Order, not in the juridical sense of the word –for by virtue of the Brief of pontifical reduction, the Congregation had no major superiors at that time– but because of the affection and the loyal feeling that the superiors and the subjects of the other houses nourished towards that venerable mansion, mother of all the houses of the Order, and because of the piety that all professed towards the most ancient collaborator and intimate friend of Calasanz, whom they venerated in the person of Fr. Garcia. To this it was due that, although he had become against his will the supreme moderator of the Order -not by right certainly, but in fact-, he was able to steer the fragile little ship of the institute from the stormy waters of a death that seemed inevitable to the safe harbor of the first reintegration[55]. All this not so much by his energy and his activity, but above all with his prudence, his meekness and his piety, in other words, not acting on his own, but rather letting the faithful sons of Calasanz to act.

In his government, of course, his saintly and grave person, venerated from afar, had more weight than his softness and his hesitations contemplated up close. For this reason, in the administration of the house of San Pantaleo, where he even allowed a nephew who was studying at Collegio Romano[56] to stay, he encountered many difficulties, to the point that the Cardinal Vicar Marcio Ginetti, who was otherwise his benevolent protector, decided at once to change him in May 1649 and to appoint in his place Father Francesco Baldi; and in 1655, at the request of Father Nicolò Gavotti of the Most Holy Rosary, who complained of mistreatment on the part of his brothers in the community, sent as Visitor the Most Rev. Camilo Piazza, his auditor and future inquisitor of Naples, who, however, did not find anything particularly serious there, even though, according to Father Berro, he carried out his mission with harshness[57].

In the direction of the Order, which he led since the death of the Founder in the indicated way –because of the primacy of the house at the head of which he was and because of the personal prestige he enjoyed as the oldest companion of Calasanz– he was more successful. As we have said, the authority inherited from the Founder weighed more in the balance than his hesitations and his excessive softness. Therefore, during the eight years that elapsed from the death of the Founder until the first restoration of the Order, we must attribute to him in a way the two major actions that were undertaken in that period, namely the preparation and introduction of the process of beatification and canonization of Joseph Calasanz and the steps to reach the restoration of the Order.

PROCESS OF BEATIFICATION OF CALASANZ

Father Garcia was not rector when the process of “non cultu” was begun on February 11, 1650, which reached a successful conclusion on September 22nd of the same year[58], nor when on October 19th, by mandate of Cardinal Marcio Ginetti, the informative process on the virtues began[59]. However, due to the authority he enjoyed, he worked hard to have the aforementioned processes introduced and for the informative process to reach the desired conclusion in 1653, when he was again rector. Between 1650 and 1653 the postulator presented and the judges examined thirty-four witnesses of the life, virtues and miracles of Calasanz. Father John Garcia, his close friend and confessor, was not among the witnesses, he who, as many affirmed, knew many of the facts, works and miracles of Calasanz that he had told to other people[60].

We do not know why Father Garcia abstained from testifying in the process. Caputi in a frequently quoted passage of his work says that Father Garcia did not appear in the process because of his indecisive character[61]. The lawyer who responded to the difficulty of the Promoter of the faith regarding this absence said that Father John did not appear in the process because of the delicate awareness he had of what was just and equitable, since he was the rector of San Pantaleo[62] and, as such, the main promoter of the cause[63].

FIGHT FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE ORDER

Father John Garcia’s merits derived from the introduction of the process of beatification of Calasanz are undoubtedly great, but they are much greater, without any doubt, those that he contracted for the first restoration of the Order. It must be repeated, however, in this place that even here Fr. Garcia did not play the main role, because he was not born for the struggles and confrontations of active life. However, since he was the living image and symbol of Calasanz, asserter of the ancient Piarist tradition and, at the same time, venerable example, he managed that those most faithful sons of the Saint –such as Fathers Gian Carlo Caputi, Vincenzo Berro, Onofrio Conti, Carlo Mazzei, Pietro Mussesti and other very chosen ones[64]– after the death of the Founder, wanted and succeeded in carrying on with fervor and intrepidity, until achieving complete victory, the new task that had been entrusted to them, in spite of internal divisions and conflicting opinions.

However, since the pragmatic history of the first restoration of the Order has not yet been written according to the requirements of our time, it seems to us that it is worthwhile to at least shed light on its fundamental lines. Because we think that through this history not only the time, circumstances and conditions of life of Fr. John Garcia are clarified and the part he played in the events is more accurately defined, but it is also possible to assess the historical truth about the whole problem of the reintegration of the Order, by abstracting it from the passionate considerations of the times and the men in which or through whom it happened, and examining it only through its ultimate causes.

It is already sufficiently well-known from modern biographies of Calasanz and from some recently published monographic studies on the subject[65], what the Saint did and the effort he made, after the unfortunate Brief of Innocent X -which reduced the Order to a simple congregation without vows, without major superiors and without juridical union between the different houses, in the style of the Oratorio Romano of St. Philip Neri-, to reintegrate the institute to the first condition of an Order. But most Piarists do not know what was done after the death of Calasanz for the restoration of the Order, because there is a lack of works that treat the matter with sufficient breadth. Among the modern ones, only Fr. Picanyol has so far summarily exposed the matter in his historical lessons66,67. But he has told only the last part of this complicated process, following in all the footsteps of Fr. Caputi; so that all his exposition, precious, on the other hand, is deficient as to the integrity of the story and as to the exploration of the historical truth.

All the initiatives taken after the death of Calasanz to restore the Order can be divided into three phases or periods: the first includes everything that was done in favor of the institute from the death of Calasanz up to, and including, the first months of the cardinalate of Fabio Chigi; the second the last attempt to bend the will of Innocent X at the end of the year 1654; the third is occupied by the operation that after the rise of Fabio Chigi to the Supreme Pontificate crowned for the first time with success the matter of the restoration, at the beginning of 1656, by obtaining the Brief “Dudum felicis recordationis Paulus Papa V”.

First stage: from the death of Calasanz to the cardinalate of Fabio Chigi

Immediately after the death of Calasanz there was silence for some time about the Pious Schools. However, Duke George Ossolinski, a close friend of Calasanz and main protector of the Order in Poland and before the Holy See, did not want the activity he had constantly developed in favor of the reintegration of the Order from the moment of the reduction to be interrupted any longer. Therefore, convinced that the matter could not be settled by letter, he decided to go personally to Rome in the Holy Year of 1650 to deal more efficaciously with the Holy See on the question of the Pious Schools. But death caught him unexpectedly and he was unable to carry out his purpose[68].

After the Duke’s death, the Moravian Piarists, who carried out their apostolic activity among children and heretics, and especially Fr. Alessandro Novari, had worked hard to have the long-desired restoration requested as soon as possible through the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide. According to this, Fr. Alessandro, in three letters or reports delivered to the Sacred Congregation on January 31, 1651, June 27th of the same year and March 2, 1652 –in which he spoke at length about the apostolic activity of the Pious Schools in those regions and the disadvantages that the reduction of the Order brought to this activity– he insistently begged the most eminent Cardinals and Prelates of the Congregation to deign to intercede with the Supreme Pontiff in favor of the restoration of the Institute[69]. The Sacred Congregation, however, did not respond to these letters. Only the following words are written on the back of the first letter: “Recommend to the Supreme Pontiff in the first congregation with His Holiness”. We do not know if this recommendation was actually carried out, since there is no record of it in the minutes of the Congregation.

In the midst of these hopes and uncertainties came the month of November 1651, when Monsignor Fabio Chigi, nuncio in Germany and good friend of Fr. Carlo Mazzei of St. Anthony of Padua, illustrious Piarist professor of Latin literature with whom he had maintained an epistolary relationship[70], was appointed Secretary of State by Innocent X upon the death of Giovanni Panziroli, after the unsuccessful attempt with Cardinal Camillo Astalli; and on February 19, 1652, he was created a cardinal. The religious, as soon as they learned of his designation and the arrival of the Cardinal in Rome, immediately decided to go to him and beg him, with his authority, to intercede with the Pope in favor of the Piarists. Fathers Carlo Mazzei and Gian Carlo Caputi[71] were the first to greet the Cardinal; Afterwards, having in the meantime obtained letters of recommendation from the court of Poland addressed to Cardinal Chigi himself and to Cardinal Virginio Orsini, protector of Poland, written, although with some hesitation, by King John Casimir Vasa and Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga, as well as by the Apostolic Nuncio in Warsaw, Msgr. Francisco Torres[72], Fathers Vincenzo Berro and Gian Carlo Caputi again went to Cardinal Chigi, asking him to deign to recommend the cause of the Piarists to Innocent X. But the Cardinal, although he received the religious with kindness, did not promise them anything concrete beyond using the usual polite formulas[73]. He told them, however, that, as soon as the occasion arose, that is, when they submitted the matter to him as Secretary of State, he would help them effectively[74].

Thus, the first far-reaching initiative undertaken after the death of Calasanz to reestablish the Order lacked immediate effect, because the times were not yet mature enough to change for the better what had been categorically decreed about the Pious Schools. Nevertheless, the high dignity of Cardinal Fabio Chigi and his powerful influence with Innocent X instilled new hopes in the Piarists, who were acquiring the certainty that the restoration could be deferred, but not definitively shelved.

Second stage: last attempts before Innocent X

The best friends of the Order and its protectors had insisted many times that the matter should not be stirred up again while Innocent X was alive[75]. For this reason, after 1652 and for two years the religious did almost nothing, waiting for better times. In spite of all, since Fr John was confessor to Donna Olimpia Maidalchini, who was the sister-in-law of Innocent X and had great influence over him, in 1654 a new plan was devised to raise the Order, according to which the old pontiff’s spirit had to be broken by making use of Donna Olimpia, opportunely informed by Father John Garcia; so that if he did not agree to change the Brief of reduction, he would at least suppress the prescription of not giving the habit for new novices, restore the union between the houses, grant major superiors and appoint a Cardinal Protector. In this sense, Marie Louise, Queen of Poland, wrote repeatedly to Lady Olimpia, the last time on December 8, 1654, and in her replies, she showed herself to be very willing to speed up the progress of the matter[76]. King John Casimir Vasa himself ordered Abbot Fantoni, his Italian-speaking secretary, to write to Lady Olimpia. The letter arrived in Rome before Christmas and Father Garcia had the delicate task of bringing it to her addressee in a timely manner. But, for reasons unknown to us, he did not do so[77]. On December 28, 1654, King John Casimir sent another two letters to Rome on this subject, one to Cardinal Orsini and the other to the Supreme Pontiff himself. In the latter she begged Innocent X for the same thing that shortly before the Queen had asked Donna Olimpia. But the letters arrived in Rome after the death of the Pope, which took place on January 7, 1655, and were therefore ineffective[78]. Consequently, the last attempt to convince Innocent X, had no effect. He had already responded in 1647 to the plea of King Ladislaus IV, “the question has been justly settled and there is therefore no room for further deliberation”[79].

Third stage: the restoration of the Pious Schools under the pontificate of Alexander VII

At the death of Innocent X and still during the vacancy of the See, the topic of the restoration of the Order was immediately raised with renewed enthusiasm. In fact, the King of Poland, at the request of Fr. Onofrio Conti who was returning to Rome to deal with various questions, wrote on March 30, 1655, letters of recommendation to Cardinals Orsini, Santa Croce and Albizzi[80] and on the same day also the Grand Chancellor of Poland wrote to Cardinal Protector of Poland, Virginio Orsini[81]. But in these letters the complete restoration was already requested again, not as in the last letters addressed to Innocent X. While Fr Onofrio Conti was about to set out on his journey, news arrived in Warsaw of the election of Fabio Chigi as the new Pontiff, which had taken place on April 7, 1655. Encouraged by such pleasant news, Father Onofrio postponed the trip for the time being, awaiting a new letter from the king addressed to Alexander VII himself. Thus, on May 1st, King John Casimir wrote another letter to the Pope, asking for the full reintegration of the Piarists, and requested that Cardinal Orsini, Protector of Poland, send it to the Supreme Pontiff[82]. The cardinal let the King know, however, in a letter dated April 25th, that the problem of the restoration of the Order was not going to be resolved in the new pontificate as easy as some thought. Therefore, in a new missive dated May 22nd, the King, once again entrusted the matter to the paternal solicitude of the Cardinal protector; but he declared himself in agreement in everything with the will of the Supreme Pontiff[83], as is also clear from a later letter of July 24th, addressed to the aforementioned cardinal on the same subject[84].

Still in the month of May, exactly on the 20th, Queen Marie Louise also sent a letter of supplication to Alexander VII asking for the restoration of the Pious Schools, whose religious were so meritorious in the teaching of youth[85]. Shortly after, on June 5, 1655, Prince George Lubomirski, son of Stanislaus, founder of the house of Podolínec, also wrote to Cardinals Orsini and Barberini[86]. Finally, on 26 July, Pietro Vidoni, nuncio in Poland, wrote to the Secretary of State recommending the Institute in the name of the king[87].

So many letters of recommendation could not but weigh on the mind of the Supreme Pontiff, who in his replies to the Queen and the Nuncio, sent in the month of August, showed himself favorably disposed to help in everything related to the Fathers of the Pious Schools[88].

While these contacts between Poland and the Holy See were being established, above all at the request and on the initiative of Fr. Onofrio Conti, the Piarists in Rome did everything that seemed appropriate to the case. Gian Carlo Caputi presented himself the day after the election before Alexander VII, humbly rendered him loyal obedience in the name of the Pious Schools and entrusted to him the cause of the restoration of the Order[89]. For their part, Fathers Camillo Scassellati, Giuseppe Pennazzi and Giuseppe Fedele[90] were not idle either.

Shortly afterwards, through the intercession of Don Giovanni Francesco Cristaldi, Abbot of Meritone, who was close to the Pope and a sincere friend of Fr. Caputi, Fathers Berro and Caputi were secretly received by the Supreme Pontiff, and they, speaking frankly, asked the Pope for the restoration of the Order. He, after speaking briefly with them about Fr Carlo Mazzei, dismissed them with good words, without for the moment obliging himself to do more. Therefore, both religious understood well that the most convenient thing would be for Cardinal Orsini, Protector of Poland, to recommend the cause to the Supreme Pontiff in the name of the king. The prelate agreed to this, but from the Pope’s reply he clearly deduced that the cause of immediate restoration was encountering serious difficulties and that time had to be allowed for the matter to be resolved in its own way. In a word, Alexander VII did not want to abrogate so soon the Brief of his predecessor. Cardinal Orsini reported this to the religious in Rome and to the King of Poland[91]. Then Fathers Caputi and Berro, seeing that the matter was more complicated than they had suspected, asked for new letters of recommendation from Poland and from the Florentine Medici family[92].

In the meantime, the most outstanding religious of San Pantaleo, namely, Fathers John Garcia, rector of the house, Francesco Castelli, Camillo Scassellati and Carlo Mazzei, visited the Supreme Pontiff in the name of the whole religion and, after the greeting of Father Garcia and after having formulated their best wishes for a happy pontificate, they once again urged him to restore the Order. After receiving the affectionate reply of the Pope, who promised not to neglect this matter, a friendly conversation took place between Alexander VII and Father Mazzei, who gave him a very elegant Latin letter, containing a splendid apology for the Pious Schools and together with the sincere wish for a prosperous pontificate[93].

After this happy meeting, Fr. Gian Carlo Caputi called to Rome Fr. Francesco Salazar Maldonado, founder of the house of Cáller, from Sardinia so that, with letters from the Viceroy and other friends, he could present himself as soon as possible to Msgr Giulio Rospigliosi, Governor of Rome and future Secretary of State, a friend of his, and discuss this matter with him[94]. At the same time, the cardinals of the Medici family, that is, Carlo Cosimo and Giancarlo de Medici, who had been invited to do so by letters from Grand Duke Ferdinand and Prince Leopold, also began to make efforts in Rome[95].

Faced with this, pressured by the urgent pleas of so many enlightened people, friends and even the Queen of Poland, Alexander VII entrusted the business of the Pious Schools to Msgr Prospero Fagnani, a famous jurist of the time and an expert in religious affairs[96],[97]. But he made slower progress than expected in his work because of the blindness he was suffering from, and also because he was too rigorous in his own expertise and in his way of being. The religious were starting to fear that the cause of the Order was going to be delayed longer than expected. For this reason, they begged their patrons of the Medici family to intercede with their authority to Fagnani, so that he would dispatch the matter with greater speed and benevolence. Immediately Ferdinand II, Grand Duke of Etruria, willingly wrote letters on July 10, 1655 to his brother Cardinal Giancarlo de Medici and to Prospero Fagnani himself, as did Prince Leopold[98].

Despite these letters, however, Fagnani worked slowly and meticulously, without neglecting the smallest detail. The truth is that he did not seem personally inclined to the full restoration of the Order, but rather to the confirmation of the Brief of Innocent X, although with some clauses and restrictions removed. Upon learning that things were going this way, Fathers Onofrio Conti and Francesco Salazar Maldonado began to take new steps to have the cause withdrawn from Msgr Prospero Fagnani and entrusted to Msgr Giulio Rospigliosi or Msgr Girolamo Farnese[99].

In the meantime, Fathers Caputi and Mazzei went again to the Supreme Pontiff to implore his benevolence. The Pope again showed his good intentions, saying at the same time that he had put the matter in the hands of Prospero Fagnani who would see him shortly[100]. A little later, thanks to the mediation of Msgr Giulio Rospigliosi, Father Salazar Maldonado also obtained an audience with Alexander VII in which, besides giving him letters of recommendation, he complained bitterly about the slowness with which Fagnani was proceeding. The Pope again limited himself to consoling him, assuring him that Don Prospero would soon settle the matter according to the vote of the Cardinals and naturally without prejudice to the Holy See[101].

Father Onofrio Conti, who in the meantime had learned of the outline of the Brief prepared by Fagnani, according to which the Order was to remain as it had been until then, reduced to the style of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Rome, requested and obtained with the help of Father Caputi and Mr. Cristaldi an interview with Alexander VII, to whom he explained in the conversation they had on July 25, 1655 the difficulties of remaining in the Institute according to the faculties, rules and rights of the Oratory.

The Pontiff listened with great patience to this plea, but he did not want to give in on anything and with the customary “we’ll see” he dismissed him not without a certain asperity[102]. In spite of everything, Fr. Onofrio, helped by Fr. Caputi, tenacious in maintaining his plans and projects, continued the work he had undertaken. On the one hand, Father Caputi organized large ceremonies in the church of San Pantaleo to celebrate the feast of St. Anne and the feast of the titular with more solemnity than usual. To these celebrations he invited many prelates of the Roman Curia, among them Cardinals Farnese and Rospigliosi and the Polish abbots Doni and Moschowski. The purpose of these celebrations was that the aforementioned prelates would become familiar with the problems and would willingly take up and defend the cause of the Pious Schools[103]. By his part, Fr Conti met with Cardinal Orsini during the Vespers of St. Anne to discuss with him the strategy to be followed. Both agreed to entrust the matter to Cardinal de Santa Croce, who was highly esteemed by the new pontiff. Abbot Doni gladly accepted the request to discuss the matter that same day with Santa Croce. The latter readily admitted what was asked of him after the abbot promised him a letter from King John Casimir, in which he would entrust the business to him; and he showed himself ready to hold an informative dialogue with Fr. Conti after the feast of San Pantaleo which he intended to attend[104].

Some days after the feast of the Saint, Fr Conti, accompanied by Abbot Doni, visited the Cardinal Santa Croce to speak with him about the replacement of Prospero Fagnani. The Cardinal promised him that, when he had received the King’s letter, he would discuss the matter with the Supreme Pontiff according to his judgment; but he asked him to keep it secret in the meantime[105]. Finally, on September 15, after receiving the King’s letter requesting the change of Fagnani, he went to Alexander VII and after reading the letter to him, he informed him of everything and begged him to leave the cause of the Pious Schools in the hands of Rospigliosi or Farnese. After this explanation, the Pope finally acceded to the request of the Piarists and shortly after this dialogue, he informed the Cardinal Santa Croce and Abbot Doni that he had decided to entrust the business to Cardinal Girolamo Farnese[106]. At the same time, letters of recommendation arrived in Rome from Prince Maximilian Dietrichstein and, after his death, from his son Ferdinand, who humbly and insistently asked Alexander VII for the restoration of the Order[107].

Then, Cardinal Farnese, timely informed in word and writing, by Fathers Onofrio Conti and Giuseppe Fedele, immediately prepared a new Brief outline in which the authority of the Holy See would be safeguarded on the one hand and the wishes of the Piarists on the other. According to this scheme, the reduction to a simple congregation was to be maintained, but not according to the oratory of St. Philip Neri, but rather according to the old Pauline Congregation. The scheme pleased Alexander VII, and so, at the proposal of Farnese himself and so that the problem could be examined in greater depth, he placed it in the hands of a congregation of three Cardinals, namely Marcio Ginetti, Jacopo Corradi and Francesco Albizzi, and of two prelates, Farnese and Gualterio, secretary of Briefs[108].

ALBIZZI AGAIN? THE HORIZON IS GETTING CLEARER

The Piarists were dismayed to learn that Cardinal Albizzi was among the members of the congregation appointed by the Pope. So, they decided to go to him personally to make the usual request. Albizzi, after receiving the religious and listening to them with kindness, explained that he had never been opposed to the institute, as was evident from the minutes and votes of the particular congregation to which the business of the Pious Schools had been entrusted for the years 1643-1646. Due, however, to the importunity of some, especially Brother Lucas Anfosso of St. Bernard, he was forced to act as he had done. The religious left the Cardinal’s palace more optimistic and reported the conversation to Cardinal Ginetti and Monsignor Farnese. To be surer, however, of Albizzi’s change of attitude, they asked for new letters of recommendation from the Florentine court[109]. Finally, so that this vexed question could be dealt with more easiness in the congregation of cardinals and prelates, they presented to the latter –not without the opposition of some religious, which Father Garcia managed to reduce to silence[110]– a new memorandum, in which they no longer asked for the full reintegration of the Order, but rather:

1. the reduction to a congregation of three simple vows with an oath of perseverance;

2. the power to promote to the sacred orders as a congregation;

3. the power to elect the superior general and other major superiors;

4. the limitation of the authority of the local ordinaries with regard to the government of the Order[111].

So, it finally arrived on October 12, 1655, when the particular congregation, in the absence, however, of Cardinal Albizzi, whom the Pope called at that time, discussed the problem of the Pious Schools for three and a half hours and responded in this way to each of the points of the petition:

“To the first. Let the simple vows and the oath of perseverance be granted, as requested.

To the second. Let a certain number of clerics be allowed to be ordained to title of the said congregation according to the needs of each house.

To the third. Let the said clerics be granted for the present the faculty of electing provincials in each province and rectors in the houses; as for the general superior, he shall be elected, together with the assistants, by the Supreme Pontiff according to his pleasure; the protector of the congregation shall also be elected by the Pontiff, and if it seems good to His Holiness, he shall appoint the one who shall be on each occasion vicar of Rome, as has already been appointed for the brothers of St. John of God and for the presbyters of the Christian Doctrine of the Urbe.

Fourth. They are subject to the jurisdiction of the ordinaries only in those things that concern the children’s schools, which they must visit at least once a year or have them visited; and if in the fulfillment of this task any religious should commit a crime, they must punish the offense according to its gravity. Superiors may, however, prosecute, and in case of escape, to imprison. The prefects of the schools and the teachers must be approved by the ordinaries and, if they do not proceed as they should, they can be dismissed”[112].

Consequently, all the points of the Piarist petition were approved by the General Congregation and generously satisfied. But to these concessions were added some clauses or restrictions that in no way benefited the Institute. The first of these fixed the minimum age for admitting novices at eighteen and required for the lawfulness of admission testimonials from the ordinaries “on birth, burdens and suitability for the exercise of the ministry”; the second required that the prefects of the schools be at least thirty years old and that the teachers be of mature age; the third granted the new congregation the faculty to receive annual revenues; the fourth, finally, ordered the already professed religious to declare within three months if they wanted to take the oath of perseverance or if they preferred to pass to another religion[113].

At the end of the session, the religious discussed with the different members of the particular congregation about the privileges that should be granted to them. What is certain is that, in the end, almost all of them were abrogated. As for the age to be established for prefects and schoolmasters, Cardinal Corradi, based on the experience acquired in Collegio Romano as auditor of the Rota, wanted schoolmasters to be at least forty years old; the religious, for their part, tried to lower this number, which seemed excessive to them. An agreement was finally reached between the parties, by virtue of which the prefects had to be at least thirty-two years old and the teachers twenty-eight. The last attempt by some Piarists to have the name “secular congregation” removed from the Brief proved unsuccessful[114]. Thus, on November 8, 1655, the Decree of the particular congregation was presented to Alexander VII, who approved it in its entirety and ordered the issuance of the corresponding Brief[115].

PROMULGATION OF THE BRIEF “DUDUM FELICIS RECORDATIONIS”

But almost at the last moment, when everything was ready for promulgation, a written memorandum against the Institute of the Pious Schools, presented to the Supreme Pontiff without the signature of its author, almost put an end to all that had been achieved. The Pope, in fact, disturbed by this fact, was determined to send a new Visitor to the Piarists so that he would be promptly informed of the situation. It was necessary for Father Carlo Caputi to use all his skill to convince Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali, his benevolent protector, to personally inform the Pope of the inconsistency and falsity of such a vile accusation[116].

And so, it finally came to January 24, 1656, when the Brief of Alexander VII “Dudum felicis recordationis Paulus Papa V” was published, as a first step towards the total restoration of the Order[117].

The Brief was given to Cardinal Marcio Ginetti, vicar of His Holiness and new protector of the Piarist Congregation, so that he could make it known to the religious of San Pantaleo at the appropriate time. Since, however, the new superior general and the four assistants still had to be named, the Cardinal decided to wait a little, so that the pontifical Brief and the appointments of superiors could be published at the same time[118]. As for the person of the new general, there were great discussions between the religious and the protector. Count Ubaldini, secretary of the pontifical council and honorary prelate, wanted the new general to be Father Camillo Scassellati, rector of Collegio Nazareno, who had helped him a great deal in preparing the funeral speech of Innocent X, which pleased Alexander VII so much. But Father Nicholas M. Gavotti put an end to his attempt[119]. Then, the majority tended ardently for Fr Gian Stefano Spinola, ex-Assistant General and ex-Rector of San Pantaleo, but he strongly refused the position[120]. In this way they arrived at the person of Fr. John García of Jesus Mary, who, because of his holy life and his fidelity to the old Calasanzian norms of life, was loved by all, although many did not consider him too suitable to govern. Once the General was appointed, it was easy to appoint the four assistants, who were Fathers Francesco Castelli of the Purification, Giuseppe Fedele of the Visitation, Gian Stefano Spinola of the Mother of God and Camillo Scassellati of St. Jerome.

On March 12, 1656, the feast of St. Gregory, Cardinal Ginetti finally published in the oratory of San Pantaleo the Brief of Alexander VII –which reduced the institute to a congregation of three simple vows, which could only be dispensed, however, by the Roman Pontiff– as well as the names of the new superiors. The majority of fathers, clerics and brothers gathered there on such a solemn occasion[121], received this publication with joy; but, at the same time, the first doubts and anxieties arose about the execution of the Brief. Some, frankly disappointed, judged it worse than they had expected; others considered it too complicated in terms of implementation, as well as damaging to the good name of the institute because of some of its clauses.

What is certain is that the Brief was certainly not what the common opinion of the Order had so long and anxiously awaited. It was not a Brief of reintegration to the primitive state, but of confirmation of the reduction of Innocent X; it did not suppose the exemption of the ordinary jurisdiction, on the contrary, in certain scholastic matters, it seemed to increase even the authority and the jurisdiction of the ordinaries; it did not grant the communication of the privileges of the mendicants; and, lastly, it made some serious determinations about the age for the admission of novices, as well as that required for the office of teacher and prefect of schools, whose pedagogical ministry it also subjected to the inspection of the ordinaries. But notwithstanding all this, the Brief was in fact positive for the Piarists: the granting of a cardinal protector, the union between the houses, the major superiors, the simple vows and the admission of novices, things that were previously suppressed or forbidden to them, created the necessary conditions for the propagation of the institute and its maintenance in view of better times in which they would be granted or would complete what was now lacking.

If anyone asks why Alexander VII did not immediately grant full reintegration to the Pious Schools, it must be admitted that the answer is not so easy. We believe, however, that we are not far from the truth in judging that, besides the reason adduced by the Pope to justify his way of proceeding, namely, that he did not wish to abrogate so soon the Brief of his predecessor, there were three main reasons why the problem was solved in the way it was.

In the first place, Don Prospero Fagnani, on whom the form of the Brief that was being prepared depended fundamentally, although it is true that later, at the request of the Piarists and by order of the Supreme Pontiff, Msgr Girolamo Farnese took charge of the cause. Fagnani was a very rigid person, called by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori “the great father of the rigorists”, and a great expert in ecclesiastical law. He approached the matter from the point of view of religious law, and given that Innocent X had entrusted him with the reform of Religions and that he had been secretary since 1652 of the recently constituted Congregation for the State and Reform of the Regulars[122], he gradually came to the idea that the best form of religious life and the one most in keeping with the new demands of the times was the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. It is understandable then that, with regard to the Pious Schools, the best thing to do, according to him, was to reform them in the style of the Oratory or at least to reduce them to a simple congregation without the bond of perpetual vows. This opinion was basically maintained also by Msgr Girolamo Farnese, who as founder of the Maestre Pie di Roma was certainly very benevolent towards the Piarists[123] but in no way wanted to deviate from the directives of Alexander VII nor from the norms received by Fagnani. Nor should it be overlooked that the cardinals of the particular congregation Ginetti, Corradi and Albizzi were already familiar with our problems and were convinced that they could not be solved in any other way.

In the second place, the Brief of Alexander VII came out in this way because of certain deficiencies that had been present in the institute since the years of Innocent X up to that time, in regard to discipline and religious observance, as well as in regard to the good philosophical and theological formation of the religious, which unfortunately always suffered from serious defects and lacunae since the origins of the institution. On the other hand, it is not difficult to guess from the provisions of both the decree of the particular congregation and the Brief that some teachers must have previously committed certain imprudences which aroused the suspicions of the prelates of the curia regarding the good morals of the Piarists.

Thirdly, it should be noted that the problem of the juridical situation of the institute was then a problem of the whole Church, which as a solicitous, prudent and scrutinizing mother of the present and future times, sensed that for the new apostolate demanded by the times, new forms of religious life were sometimes better and more profitable, which besides promoting mainly the perfection of its members could also dedicate themselves more freely, promptly and efficiently to the service of their neighbor. To achieve this end, almost everyone then thought that the best institute was the Oratory of St. Philip Neri.

It is not surprising, therefore, that there were many who wanted to put an end to the series of monastic, mendicant and regular clerical religious orders and instead propagate this new form of religious institution without vows or only with simple vows. Precisely this opinion could be confirmed in no small measure by the pitiful example of the Calasanzian Order, which had managed, but not entirely succeeded, to reconcile the new pedagogical and social apostolate with the old forms of religious life effectively and profitably in the first decades of its existence. It is understandable, therefore, that with the best of intentions, all agreed on the reduction of the institute from the status of a religious order to that of a congregation with three simple vows.

In this way the sad events of that time in the history of the Piarist Order can certainly be considered not only the fruit of internal difficulties, but also the effect of the change that took place at that time in the supreme direction of the Church and in the doctrine about the form of religious institution better and more in accordance with the needs of the times. To this we owe above all that the Calasanzian institute was first reduced from the status of an order with three solemn vows to that of a congregation without vows in the style of the oratory of St. Philip Neri, and then, only because of the veneration that Clement XI felt for the will of the founder, it was raised again to the rank of an Order. The Church has not approved any other order of solemn vows since then –with the exception of the Brothers of Penance of Jesus Nazarene, which was extinguished in 1935[124]– so that the Piarist Institute is the last Order of solemn vows approved by the Church. To do so, however, he had to pay a high price, clothing himself with humility and patience.

This is, in concise summary, the history of the first Brief of Alexander VII concerning the Pious Schools. Although in no way, as we have seen, should it be called a Brief of restoration, it can nevertheless be considered the first step towards achieving it. In obtaining this Brief, Father Garcia also played his part. He represented the Religion many times before the Roman Curia in his capacity as rector of San Pantaleo, and he knew how to moderate the various factions and tendencies that existed among the Piarists, so that all at least requested and accepted the Brief, leaving the other desires for a better occasion to be satisfied. In the end, he managed, with the authority he enjoyed, that the most worthy and capable religious would manage the business of reintegration and, as far as possible, lead it to a successful conclusion according to the mind of Calasanz.

DIFFICULTIES ARISE IN THE APPLICATION OF THE BRIEF

The first duty of reverence, of filial piety and of obedience on the part of the new General and his Assistants was their appearance on April 21, 1656, before Alexander VII, to whom Father Garcia thanked in a brief and simple speech for the great favor they had received. The Supreme Pontiff graciously accepted this filial gift, warning them that for the moment they should be content with what they had achieved, while awaiting other benefits[125]. Shortly after this conversation, or perhaps during it, Alexander VII was presented with a beautiful Latin poem by Father Carlo Mazzei, who personally and in the name of the Pious Schools thanked him most sincerely for the benefits received[126]. Previously, the General Curia had gone to thank Cardinals Albizzi and Corradi, as well as Msgr Gualterio, Secretary of Briefs[127]. The Cardinal Vicar and new protector of the Order, Marcio Ginetti, was thanked in particular on March 27 for the favors already rendered and for those he had paternally promised[128].

After these visits of sincere homage and once the religious and the local superiors had been informed by means of the opportune circular letter of Father Garcia and his assistants about the latest events in the life of the institute, and even before this took place, the life and activity of the new government began, besieged from the beginning by great problems. Already the first session of the General Congregation, held on March 14, showed how serious were the burdens that the new curia would have to bear, as well as the problems that would have to be faced and solved both on the part of matters and individuals[129]. Since the first Brief of Alexander VII had not determined with sufficient clarity who had to appoint the new Provincials the first time, nor had it defined the faculties of the General Assistants or the duration of the office of both the Assistants and the newly appointed General, to dispel these doubts it was necessary to immediately ask for a new Brief, which, at the request of Fr. Giuseppe Fedele, who was the secretary of the General Congregation and at the same time acted as General Procurator, and with the intercession of Cardinal Marcio Ginetti, it was easily obtained and was dispatched on April 4, 1656. This second Brief of Alexander VII reduced the government of Father Garcia and his assistants to three years; but to the four General Assistants he granted, especially at the request of Father Giuseppe Fedele[130], to have a decisive vote together with the Superior General “in what concerns the regime and government of the Congregation”; at the same time, he granted the General Congregation the power to appoint the Provincial Superiors according to the norms of the Constitutions[131].

The new Brief, however, although it resolved some doubts, became in turn the seedbed of a new and very serious evil: the confrontation of the General with the Assistants. Father John Garcia, tenacious in defending his opinion and his plans and remembering the old way of governing of Calasanz, strove to preserve his authority, and the Assistants to use their rights in the manner of so many other Generals, sometimes even in an insolent manner. Because of this an unhappy situation arose, which was to overshadow the whole term of office of Fr. Garcia. Because his will was bent many times by the adverse will of the assistants –especially Fathers Guiseppe Fedele and Camillo Scassellati– who more than once appealed to the authority of the Cardinal Vicar to defend their deliberative vows and justify their way of proceeding. And so, the new superiors were often chosen not according to their aptitudes, but according to the party to which they belonged. Here is an example. On April 7, 1656, with four votes in favor and one against, Fr. Glicerio Cerutti of the Nativity, recommended and supported by Fathers Fedele and Scassellati, was elected rector of San Pantaleo. Fr. Cerutti was an old member of the Order, but he was not of good conduct and during his rectorate he opposed more than once the will and the criterion of Fr. General. Something similar happened in April 1656 with the election as Provincial of Naples of Fr. Gian Battista Andolfo of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, while the other Provincials, namely, Pietro Maldis of St. Joseph for the Province of Rome, Fr. Carlo Casani of St. Dominic for the Province of Etruria, Fr. Francesco Podestá of Jesus for Sicily, Fr. Gian Crisostomo Peri of St. Catherine for Liguria and Fr. Onofrio Conti of the Blessed Sacrament for Germany and Poland were elected by five unanimous votes on the same day, April 11, 1656. Fr. Garcia refused to sign the patents of the provincials and rectors thus elected. Then Fathers Fedele and Spinola went to the Cardinal Vicar to settle the question, who ordered Fr. Garcia to sign the patents as well. Cases similar to this one occurred quite frequently thereafter, to the point that in the month of February of 1657 the four assistants presented a written memorandum to the Cardinal Vicar with the accusation that Father Garcia refused to obey the second Brief of Alexander VII and the Cardinal himself. When he had read the memorandum, the protector, on February 25, gathered the general congregation, and he openly condemned the conduct of Father Garcia[132]. Despite this warning, however, Fr. Garcia allowed some time to pass before signing, for example, the patent of the new provincial of Naples, appointed to replace the late Father Andolfo[133].

In addition to these internal difficulties and others of a similar nature, there were other not insignificant problems, also derived from the first Brief of Alexander VII. The minimum age prescribed for beginning the novitiate, for masters and prefects; the doubts and difficulties about the profession of the “aggregates” and the minimum age required for novices; about the term prescribed for the sale of real estate; about the poverty to be observed from now on in the Institute; on the value of ancient Constitutions[134]. Finally, the testimonials that had to be requested from the ordinaries for the admission of novices and the jurisdiction of the ordinaries in the schools constituted a serious impediment to the healthy evolution of the congregation. For this reason, both the general curia and the superiors of the various Provinces had recourse to the Supreme Pontiff or to the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars with memorandums of supplication, often without achieving the desired goal[135].

Still were to be determined the new formulas for profession, both for the clerics and the brothers, together with the formula for the oath of perseverance[136]. At the end of the year 1656, the replacement of the almost seventy religious who died in a short time because of the plague[137] constituted a serious problem. Since the number of novices that could be admitted according to the first Brief of Alexander VII had to be determined by the Cardinal Vicar, a catalog was presented to him indicating the needs of each house and their current situation[138].

EXPANSION OF THE PIOUS SCHOOLS. STUDIES. PROCESS OF BEATIFICATION OF JOSEPH CALASANZ

But even in the midst of these difficulties, the expansion and propagation of the order, which after the Innocentian Brief had been reduced to practically zero –since from 1646 to the beginning of 1656 only four houses had been opened[139]– began again, albeit slowly, during the generalate of Father García. Thus, in 1657 the house of Horn was founded in Austria[140] and in 1658 that of Schlan in Bohemia, both of which were primarily the work of Fr. Onofrio Conti, who also obtained the right of residence in the empire in 1657 and thus shrewdly paved the way for the longed-for foundations in Vienna and Prague[141]. In spite of this expansion, however, the number of religious –having diminished considerably due to the fury of the plague and the Innocentian reduction, the institute counted approximately 320 members, distributed in 41 houses belonging to six provinces– remained far below the number of Piarists registered in the general chapter of 1637, when there were 362 professed and 70 novices, distributed in 27 houses of six provinces[142].

As for the see of studies and the due planning of the same, almost nothing was done in Italy during this generalate. Although the Holy See, Alexander VII himself and the good friends of Fr. Gian Carlo Caputi offered a new and larger house for the novitiate, the truth is that their good disposition was ineffective because of inertia and perhaps also because of the envy of some[143]. However, in order to support the Roman novitiate, it was determined in the General Congregation of November 23, 1657, that each house of the province should pay a contribution[144]. The great problem of the formation of the Piarists unfortunately remained unresolved until almost the generalate of Fr. Gian Carlo Pirroni, partly because of internal discord, partly because of the extreme poverty of the Order and also because of the lack of competent teachers. Although we cannot overlook the noble effort of Fr. Onofrio Conti to organize the house of studies of Podolínec[145], nor the decision taken on October 8 in the provincial chapter of Germania and Poland at the proposal of Fr. Conti to draw up “a summarized method and a plan of studies” for the use of the Piarist religious[146].

As for the process of beatification of Joseph Calasanz, nothing of importance was done during the generalate of Father Garcia, due to the growing discord among the members of the general congregation[147].

THE END OF THE GENERALATE OF FATHER JOHN GARCÍA. LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH

On the other hand, tired of the many and very serious difficulties involved in the government of the Order, Fr. Gian Stefano Spinola, Assistant General, who was residing in Nursia, resigned his office on March 16, 1658[148]. No one was appointed in his place, while in the place of Fr. Francesco Castelli, his first assistant, who unfortunately died on May 17, 1657 at the hands of Fr. Leonardo[149], Fr. Pedro Mussesti, one of the best religious of the Order, was elected on September 27, 1658[150]. With his help, Fr. John Garcia could see better times in the government of the Order. But it was too late; the triennium of generalate was coming to an end, so he focused all his attention on the convocation of the next General Chapter. He set the date of May 2, 1658, for the celebration of the provincial chapters[151] and once these had taken place, on January 4, 1659, the rectors of each house and the various provinces were notified of the celebration of the General Chapter in the coming month of May. On this occasion, the provincials, together with the elected vocals, were ordered to arrive in Rome in a timely manner, while the rectors and the other religious were forbidden to appear in the city during the time of the Chapter.

A few days later, in spite of the efforts of the doctors to save his life, he gave up his soul to the Creator on February 16, 1659 at about noon, at 75 years of age, having received the sacraments of the Church[152]. His body, after the solemn funeral celebrated the following day with the attendance of almost all the religious of the Piarist houses of Rome, was buried in the church of San Pantaleo[153].

Thus ended his long, laborious life, full of sacrifices and travails, the oldest and dearest companion of Calasanz in the Pious Schools, his first successor and second General of the Order. Certainly, we cannot say that he handed over the Institute to his successor more calmly and happier than his saintly predecessor had done. For at the time of Fr. John’s death the relations of the Pious Schools with the Holy See were not fully normalized, nor was the Order reestablished in its former condition. Alexander VII certainly granted the Piarists a more humane and more convenient way of life than that which Innocent X had forced them to follow. However, there were still many unhealed wounds, many doubts, difficulties and dangers that had arisen after the Brief. Fr. John hoped that the future General Chapter could finally offer the desired remedy to so many wounds and that through the Cardinal Vicar, protector of the Order and president of the Chapter, he could even achieve full restoration. On the other hand, he saw and experienced not without uneasiness that Fathers Giuseppe Fedele and Camillo Scassellati, whom he foresaw as future generals of the Order, were deviating from the ancient Calasanzian tradition and seeking new paths in religious life and in the ministry of the school. For the time being, no one could guess, and neither could Father Garcia, what might come of these new attempts. And so, between hope and anxiety, the government of the Order and his earthly life ended for Fr. Garcia.

At his death, Fr. Giuseppe Fedele, first assistant, was appointed Vicar General, who governed the Institute until the General Chapter that was held from May 7 to 25, and in which, on May 11, 1659, Fr. Camillo Scassellati was elected, second successor of Calasanz in the government of the Pious Schools, by ten favorable votes of the sixteen votes cast.

FAME OF SANCTITY AND VIRTUES OF FATHER JOHN GARCÍA

We cannot finish this biography of Fr. John Garcia without speaking, even if very briefly, of his piety and holy customs. Although there is very little concrete data on the matter in the annals of the Order as well as in the biographies, nevertheless, some testimonies of Calasanz himself and the deposition made by Fr. John on the life, holiness and habits of the venerable Glicerio Landriani offer us some precious indications and information concerning this subject, adding to which some other data that more rarely but from time to time are adduced concerning his conduct we can draw a true and quite expressive image of this man of interior life, who was so dear and appreciated by Calasanz, by venerable Glicerio Landriani and by Fathers John and Dominic of Jesus Mary, OCD.

It must be said, in the first place, that almost everything that Father John testified in the process of venerable Landriani about his life and habits, must be understood with the due accommodations of himself. For the latter, as is clear from his deposition, was during the decade 1608-1618 almost always the inseparable companion of the abbot and in all his acts of piety and charitable works the active and tireless collaborator.

John Garcia was a person of a tender and delicate temperament[154], shy by nature, scrupulous and often indecisive[155]. For this reason, he hesitated so much at the time of receiving the priesthood and before his definitive incorporation into the Order; and this is the main reason why the affairs of Frascati were so indecisive in the five-year period from 1625 to 1630. When there was something to decide with speed and audacity, he did not know how to control himself and others as well as he did not know how to dispatch matters with success.

Lacking this indispensable security to act in the direction of the future, the active life that Calasanz himself forced him to develop, caused Father John, in certain occasion, a serious spiritual crisis, from which the Founder barely managed to cure him[156]. He turned immediately to the “interior man” and, little by little, under the guidance of Calasanz, Glicerio Landriani and Fathers John and Dominic of Jesus Mary, OCD, he became an asserter of the interior life of the spirit. He was above all a man of prayer, who prayed frequently and at length, not only reciting vocal prayers, but also making more frequent internal acts every day, an exercise in which he excelled to such an extent that he awakened the holy desire of emulation in Calasanz himself[157]. In his love for his neighbor, he had as his teacher and assiduous example the venerable Glicerio Landriani, whom he certainly could not imitate when it came to distributing immense riches among the poor; nevertheless, he happily invested the meager income from her modest benefits, obtained with so much sweat, partly by helping his relatives in Spain[158] and partly by attending to the needs of the Pious Schools[159].

His love for his neighbor was not so much in the distribution of alms as in the care of sicknesses and in meeting spiritual needs[160]. He often prayed for the sad and afflicted or asked for them the prayers of Calasanz[161] and consoled them with his priestly word in the penitential tribunal. In the exercise of the ministry of confession he was very liberal and generous, a tireless dispenser of the goods of God and the riches of his spirit. As soon as he was ordained priest and received the licenses to hear confessions, he immediately dedicated himself to this pastoral service, and both in Frascati and in Rome he led on the path of salvation for more than thirty-five years countless people, among whom were many nobles and powerful people[162]. For this reason, when today we represent his figure to ourselves, we cannot see and contemplate him in any other place but in the church, seated at the tribunal of Christ and healing the wounds of souls[163].

In love with the interior life, Fr. John also practiced silence to a great degree. He was a man of few words and often walked for long hours with the venerable Glycerio Landriani through the streets of Rome without telling a single word. They were so captivated by the beauty of inner life that they did not want to obscure it in any way with the smoke of profane or useless words[164].

The poverty, modesty and simplicity of his life also shone to a high degree. In this way, Calasanz had to provide him many times with the necessary and suitable clothing for his priestly condition[165]. He never aspired for honors or dignities, so much so that in 1632 he had to be forced by Calasanz to accept the position of Assistant General. Perhaps his very modesty also impelled him to refuse the dignity of the priesthood until the year 1623, although he had already obtained the Brief of ordination at the end of 1619. But we do not want to and cannot even briefly enumerate all his virtues, his intact chastity, his prompt obedience, his sincere humility, etc.[166].

CONCLUSION: FATHER JOHN GARCÍA “FIDELIS SERVUS ET PRUDENS”

We are permitted, however, to make only a very brief mention of his fidelity. Fr. John was a truly loyal person, who from the earliest days of his stay in Rome, when he was a student of the Pious Schools and was attentive to the teachings of Fr. Dragonetti, in the midst of so many vicissitudes, difficulties and struggles that his life and that of the Institute had to endure, he always kept intact and inviolable the ancient trust in Calasanz and in the Pious School; even more, he increased and strengthened it in the dangers. And he remained loyal to Calasanz even before the tribunal of the Inquisition during the difficult years of the Innocentian reduction, when the holy Founder seemed to live abandoned by almost everyone. This loyalty to Calasanz and to the Pious Schools intensified all the way to his death, if that was possible, to the point that, even though he was weak and fragile by nature, he reassured the hesitant, gathered the dispersed and, keeping the ancient Calasanzian tradition, he did all he could to restore the Institute to its original state. Consequently, even if he had done nothing else, Fr. Garcia is worthy of being remembered and venerated forever in the annals of the Piarist Order. He was a true son of Calasanz, a faithful, pious and grateful pupil of the first Pious Schools in Rome.

By way of conclusion, we will transcribe verbatim what is briefly told of Fr. John Garcia in an ancient manuscript that deals with the venerable and worthy figures of the Calasanzian Order[167]

“The venerable Servant of God Fr John García del Castillo, of noble family, from Segovia, priest and second Superior General, distinguished for his meekness, gentleness, charity, patience and silence. He died in Rome on February 16, 1659, being 75 years old. We will have to try to introduce the cause of beatification and canonization”[168].

APPENDIX

The full Latin text of the first Brief of Alexander VII (“Dudum felicis recordationts”) is very little known, not even appearing in Bullarium Scholarum Piarum (Madrid, 1899). It can be found in Bullarium Romanum, Torino, Vol. XVI, pp.118-122; G. Sántha, in “Ephemerides Calasanzianae” XXX (1961) 144-146. The following translation is, if we are not misinformed, the first one printed in vernacular. A. R.

ALEXANDER VII, POPE FOR PERPETUAL REMEMBRANCE

Some time ago Pope Paul V of happy memory, our predecessor, by his letter published in the form of a Brief on March 12, 1617 erected and instituted in the house of the Pious Schools in Rome a congregation of the Pious Schools. It was to be directed and governed by a Prefect and henceforth to be called the Pauline Congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools. It was not to extend more than twenty miles outside Rome and would have no foundation without schools, except for the novitiate houses. Those who had entered the said congregation –both those who had received holy orders (including the presbyterate and simple clerics) and the brothers– at the end of the two years of probation would take the three simple vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, which could not be dispensed by anyone except the Roman Pontiff. Free of charge, without salary, reward, wages or fees, they should contribute with their work, their effort and their dedication to teach children the first rudiments, grammar, arithmetic and mainly the fundamentals of the Catholic faith, to imbue them with good habits and to educate them in a Christian way. Although the vow of poverty that they would take would be simple, as has been said, as long as they remained in the congregation, they would be incapable of all dominion, right and property; and the vow would lead them to extreme poverty, both personal and in community; so that they would have absolutely no right, nor could they have or acquire it under any title over goods or for goods called immovable or considered as such. In order to achieve this poverty, he decreed and declared that everything that had to do with use –food, clothing, sacred and profane furnishings– should be in conformity with their state and ministry. As for the houses and adjoining orchards, churches, sacristies, schools and other immovable goods, which were also destined for their use, also suitable in the way that has been said, they would be under the dominion of the Roman Pontiff who was at that time; the movable goods, however, under that of the religious but in common. Later, as the Cardinals of the H. R. C., then in charge of the affairs of the Bishops and Regulars, to whom the Pope and our predecessor, Gregory XV of happy memory had entrusted this matter in order that they might examine it and give him an account of it, judged by a decree prepared by them on the matter that the said congregation of the Pious Schools, erected and established as indicated, could be approved as a Religious Order with three solemn vows, the aforementioned Gregory XV our predecessor approved and confirmed by his Brief of November 19, 1621 the indicated decree.

Subsequently, however, Pope Innocent X, of pious memory, also our predecessor, then moved by concrete causes, granted and gave to each and every one of the religious of the said Order, including the professed, both priests and laymen, whom they call brothers, the faculty to pass to any religion approved by the Holy See, even if it was laxer, in which they found benevolent receivers. He also forbade and vetoed that henceforth more subjects could be received into the said religion; and that those then admitted to the novitiates could not be accepted for profession, under pain of nullity of such reception and profession and of other penalties at the behest of the same Innocent X, our predecessor and then Roman Pontiff. Moreover, he subjected and subordinated each and every one of the religious of the said religion, of whatever kind they were, as well as their houses, schools and any other foundations, to the omnipotent jurisdiction of the Ordinaries of the place where they were located; depriving both the one who was once the Superior General of the said religion, as well as the others, including the visitors with apostolic authority, the superiors appointed at the head of the houses, and the other superiors of lower rank, of any authority and jurisdiction, both spiritual and temporal.

Furthermore, he transferred the said religious, their houses, schools and any other functions, and all authority, superiority and jurisdiction, which resided, as mentioned above, in the Superior General, the Apostolic Visitors and the others who have been mentioned, totally and absolutely to the local Ordinaries, in such a way that the religious henceforth could not assume any jurisdiction, authority or superiority, except that which was granted or delegated to them by the local Ordinaries.

As for the Order, he reduced it to a Congregation similar to the Institute of the Congregation of the Oratory, erected in the Roman church of St. Mary in Vallicella and called of St. Philip Neri, without vows, which was to be ruled, directed and governed according to Constitutions adapted to the first ministry indicated, which would be published later by mandate of Innocent X himself. In such a way, however, that the aforementioned religious could never call themselves priests or clerics of the Congregation of St. Philip Neri, nor conduct themselves as such. This is contained more fully in other places, as in the Briefs of his predecessors Paul V and Gregory XV and also in the Brief issued by Innocent X on March 16, 1646, the contents of which we wish to be considered fully and sufficiently collected in this document.

Now, however, We, noting from the magisterium of experience, that the usefulness to the Christian world of the ministry of such Fathers is quite clear, by whose labor and devotion the children, of a corrupt nature, otherwise prone to evil, are not only instructed in grammar and calculation, but also –what is much more profitable– are imbued with the principles of the Catholic faith as well as with Christian customs and virtues, we judge that it is very much in the interest of the common good that the said clergymen persevere in their praiseworthy and fruitful ministry. But in order that this may henceforth be carried out with greater boldness and profit, and at the same time looking to the prosperous condition and happy direction of said clerics, as far as we can with the help of the Lord, attending to the opinion of a special congregation of some of our venerable brothers, Cardinals of the H. R. C., and the beloved sons prelates of the Roman Curia, who by our mandate have carefully examined this matter, having also listened to the said clerics, by our own impulse, with exact knowledge of things, and after mature deliberation, with the fullness of apostolic power, in this our Constitution we approve and confirm the reduction of the said clerics from the regular state to that of a secular congregation under the same denomination of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools; and in so far as it is necessary we reduce the congregation again to the secular state under the aforesaid denomination, establishing and decreeing that those admitted to the said secular congregation now and hereafter must in due time take the three simple vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, with the oath to remain perpetually in the same congregation. So, that only We, and the Roman Pontiff at that time, can dispense them from the said vows and oath, or commute or relax them under any pretext or by virtue of any faculties, such as the Crusade or the Universal Jubilee, under pain of incurring apostasy in case of contravention. And in such a way that those who henceforth are admitted into the said congregation are obliged, before taking the three vows, to make two years of probation in special houses destined in each province, if possible, for novitiate.

In addition to this we grant that, observing the due norms, a certain number of clerics of the same secular congregation, may be promoted to all holy orders, including the presbyterate, in title of the said congregation and with the permission of the General Prepositus, with a certain number to be determined by the undersigned Protector according to the needs of each house of the congregation. We likewise impart to the clerics of the congregation the faculty of electing provincial superiors in any province of the congregation and the rectors of the houses, reserving to ourselves for the time being the faculty of appointing at our pleasure the Superior General of the congregation together with the Assistants. We also appoint, constitute and now designate as Protector before Us and the Apostolic See of the aforesaid congregation, of its houses and of any persons, our venerable brother Cardinal of the H. R. C. Marcio Ginetti, bishop of Albano, and whoever is at any time Vicar General of Rome for the spiritual affairs of the reigning Supreme Pontiff.

We further forbid the local Ordinaries to interfere in any way in those things which concern the particular administration of the houses and affairs of the said congregation and the government and correction of its persons, or to impede and disturb in any way the authority of the superiors in that matter. However, in those matters which concern the schools for children and the exercise thereof, the congregation and its members, as in all other matters, are subject and submitted to the omnipotent jurisdiction, visitation and correction of the Ordinaries. We want them to visit the schools at least once a year and to have them visited, and if they find that some of the said clerics, either in the act of the visitation itself or on any other occasion, are in any way delinquent or guilty in regard to the practice, administration, and government of the schools, they should punish them to the extent of their crimes and faults; without prejudice to the fact that the superiors of the said congregation are also obliged to institute proceedings in this matter and, if necessary, to confine guilty offenders in the domestic prison, so that they may be more easily punished.

The prefects of the schools and the teachers, before applying themselves in any way whatsoever to the regimen of the schools, must be approved by the local Ordinaries and make before them the profession of faith according to the articles proposed by the Apostolic See; and if they do not behave as they should, they can be removed from office by the said Ordinaries, according to their prudence and conscience, which we seriously tax in this particular.

Since, however, the ministry of this congregation, while being useful, is also very dangerous, we desire that those who have not reached the age of eighteen, who are of good family and reputation, who have received testimonials from their ordinary as to their birth, habits and suitability, and who are considered fit in the judgment of the Ordinary to carry out this ministry, not be received as novices in the said congregation. We determine that only a serious and prudent priest, pious and of blameless life, who has reached the age of thirty-two years, shall be appointed Prefect to direct the schools; it is sufficient for other teachers to be twenty-eight years old. We likewise grant and permit the said congregation and its houses, that they may receive from the municipalities or others who through the clerics of the congregation have requested that in their cities, towns, lands or places, houses and schools be erected and founded, grants or annual allowances, with which to feed and clothe themselves decently; provided, however, that the said clerics shall not be prevented from asking and receiving alms for their support, even from door to door.

We also order and command that the said clerics within one year from the date of the present document sell their stable goods, if they have any, and convert the price thereof into non-extinguishable bank securities of the Chamber of Rome, or into annual, perpetual, secure and exigible shares.

We also grant to the present Superior General and other superiors, clerics and persons of the said congregation, and to those who will be in the future, that outside Rome, already now and in the future, and in Rome, at the discretion of the present Vicar General and of those who will be at any time, they may not be obliged in any way to attend any processions and other public acts that may be held and celebrated on any occasion by custom or otherwise or that may be arranged by any local Ordinary. And that they may not be coerced or constrained in any place by any Ordinary or other persons.

And in order that no other constituted in authority may dare or presume to erect schools under the name of Pious Schools or perhaps give this name or inscribe them with it those already erected, we forbid and prohibit it under penalty of excommunication and other ecclesiastical censures, which will be incurred by those who act to the contrary. For the rest, We command that the ancient Constitutions of this Congregation be observed in everything that is adapted and suitable to its state as a secular Congregation and is not opposed to our present Constitution.

Finally, since those who had issued in the Order the religious profession before the predicted suppression of Innocent X perhaps pretend that they are not obliged to take in the same secular congregation the oath of perseverance, we hereby warn each one that they must communicate within the space of three months, if they reside in Italy and adjacent islands, and if outside of it wherever they may be within six months from the date of publication of the present Constitution, whether they wish to take the aforesaid oath or to transfer to another religion according to the faculty granted in the apostolic letters issued in regard to the aforesaid suppression. After this period has elapsed, the oath is consequently to be considered as having been taken by the religious.

We decree that the present Constitution be and always remain firm, valid and efficient, and that it take and obtain its full and entire effect and be observed by all and each one of those whom it concerns and will concern in the future. And so, by virtue of the present document it is to be judged and defined by any Ordinary and delegated judges, by the Auditors of the causes of the Apostolic Palace and by the Cardinals of the H. R. C., including the Pontifical Legates, and by others who possess or will possess any authority or posture, depriving each and every one of them of the faculty and authority to judge and interpret otherwise; and every intended action brought by any authority, deliberately or through ignorance, is invalid and null and void. The cited documents of our predecessors which are contrary to the present, and everything else which they respectively decreed therein, as well as any other contrary provision, do not stand in the way.

We desire, moreover, that copies of the present Constitution, even printed copies, signed by a public notary and endorsed with the seal of a person of ecclesiastical dignity, be accorded the same adhesion in and out of court that would be paid to the present Constitution if it was exhibited or displayed.

Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, under the ring of the Fisherman, this 24th January, 1656, the first year of our Pontificate.

NOTES

1 There is no manuscript work that extensively expounds the life of Fr. John García; the following works or fragments give some information: Notitiae bibliographicae on Fr. John García, in Reg. Serv. Dei LX, 6; Instrumentum notarile by Gian Lorenzo Berardinelli, notary of the Cardinal Vicar, on the life and habits of Fr. John García (1620; Reg. Serv. Dei LX, 6); Processus factus auctoritate ordinaria in causa Ven. Glycerii Landriani (Reg. Serv. Dei, 42); Fr. Gian Battista Morandi, Narratione del principio delle Scuole Pie, et suo progresso (Hist. Bibl. 2, f.2); Defunctorum Memoriae A (Reg. Rel. 36, f. 50); Vincenzo Berro, Memorie Historiche I, 1. c. 18; III, 2, c. 13 (Hist. Bibl. 1); P. Gian Carlo Caputi, Notizie Historiche I, 1, nn. 174; 442-444; 1, 3, nn. 139, 357; II, 4, passim; a pamphlet entitled Venerabiles ac memorabiles Servi Dei CC. RR. Scholarum Piarum a primo earumdem exordio usque ad annum 1717 (Reg. Serv. Dei 70, f. XXXII). As printed works that deal at greater length with the life of Father John García and offer important data, we recall the following: Fr. José Jericó, Varones insignes en santidad de vida, Valencia 1751, pp. 278-294; Fr. Vincenzo Talenti, Vita del Beato Giuseppe Calasanzio, Roma, 1753, pp. 639-641; Fr, Gian Battista Cereseto, Memorie storiche intorno ai Venerabili delle Scuole Pie del P. Giuseppe della Concezione. Versione dallo spagnuolo, Genoa, 1846, pp. 212-232; Eduardo Llamas, Escolapios insignes por su piedad religiosa, Madrid, 1889, v. II, pp. 177-199; Gil Madeyski, Heroes pietatis sive viri e Religione Scholarum Piarum vitae sanctimonia et eruditione illustres, “Eph. Cal.” VIII (1939) 92-93; L. Picanyol, Lezioni di storia scolopica, Lesson X, in Rassegna di Storia e Bibliografía scolopica XVI (1950) 13-17; Fr. C. Bau, Biografía crítica, Madrid, 1949, pp. 695-696.

2 Cfr Process of Beatification of Ven Glicerio Landriani, f. 131; J. Jericó, o. c., p. 278; V. Talenti, o. c., p. 640. Talenti, o. c., p. 640.

3 The parish church was however in Cerezo de Arriba; cf. C. Bau, o. c., p. 695.

4 Cf. J. Jericó, o. c., p. 279.

5 Ibidem.

6 Cf. Process of beatification of Ven. Landriani, f. 131; written memorandum of Calasanz to Card. Marcio Ginetti for the appointment of the four Assistants, 1631, Arch. Secr. Vat., Secr. Brev. 782, f. 496r; Memoirs of the deceased, f. 50.

7 The year of his arrival in Rome, that is, 1599, seems to be certain from what Fr. García himself affirms in the memorandum he addressed in 1619 to Paul V, in order to obtain promotion to Holy Orders. In this writing Fr. García says that he has been in Rome for twenty years (cf. Arch. Secr. Vat., Secr. Brev. 577, f. 24r). About his position in the service of the Spanish ambassador, cf. J. Jericó, o. c., p. 279; and much earlier V. Berro, o. c., 1, 1; f. 18.

8 This is proven by the following notary document (Reg. Serv. Dei LX, 6):

“In the name of the Lord, Amen.

By the present public instrument let it be known to all the world that in the year 1620 of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the third convocation, on the 22nd day of the month of February, the 15th year of the pontificate of our Most Holy forever Father and Lord Paul V, Pope by Divine Providence, in favor of the R. Fr. John García del Castillo, cleric sub-prefect of the Pauline Congregation of the Pious Schools.

Before the Illustrious and Rev. Fr. D. Cesare Fidele, Bishop of Sabina, Vicegerent of the Illustrious and Rev. Cardinal Vicar of the Urbe, the same appeared to declare that he had been a neighbor of the city for more than fifteen years and that he had not incurred in any interdict or irregularity, nor had he been subjected to inquisition or process, nor was he bound by excommunication or any other canonical impediment, but on the contrary he was of good conduct and good reputation and was adorned with good manners. In fact, he adduced as witnesses the Most Reverend Father Joseph of the Mother of God, Prefect of the said Congregation, and Caspar Dragonetti, also a cleric of the Congregation, whom he called as having knowledge of the above, and obtained from the said Most Rev. Bishop to perpetual memory that they were examined, having entrusted me with their examination. On each and every one of these things I, the undersigned notary public, was formally requested to draw up a public instrument or several and to deliver them if necessary. Executed in Rome, at the usual residence of the Rev. D. D. Vicegerent of the district of Parione, in the presence of Don Michelangelo Cesio of Monte Leone and Don Antonio Lucatelli, of Milan, the witnesses who had been summoned being present and examined. The tenor of the aforementioned depositions of which the first mention is made is as follows: What in favor of Fr John García del Castillo, sub-prefect of the Pauline Congregation of the Pious Schools, against whomever he may be, of the house of the Pious Schools, M. R. Fr. Joseph of the Mother of God, Prefect of the Pauline Congregation of the Pious Schools, 61 years of age, having taken the oath to tell the truth, with his hand on his breast as usual, swore, said and deposed the following: I have known Fr. John here in Rome for about fifteen years on account of having studied in these our schools. I know that he wants to live and die here in Rome in the service of the schools, and this because I have heard him say so on various occasions and for various reasons. I also know that he is a worthy person, God-fearing, and that he frequents the churches and the holy sacraments. And I know that he has not incurred in any interdict or irregularity, has not been subjected to inquisition, nor has he been prosecuted, excommunicated or affected by any other canonical impediment. If not, I would know it for the aforementioned reason. This is the truth “in causa scientiae”. Likewise, immediately thereafter… against whomsoever… From… Rome, where and by whom the Rev. Fr. Caspar Dragonetti, master of the first class of the Pious Schools, cleric of the said congregation, 109 years of age, having taken the oath to tell the truth, with his hand on his breast swore, said and deposed in this manner: It is about sixteen or seventeen years since I met the said John here in Rome, on the occasion of having studied grammar in our schools. I have heard him say many times in different places and times and in different circumstances that he wants to live and die here in Rome. And because he is a person of good conduct and God-fearing and frequents the churches and the holy sacraments, I also know that he is not subject to interdict, irregularity, inquisition, process, excommunion or other canonical impediments. Otherwise, I would know it for the aforementioned reason. This is the truth “in causa scientiae”.

I, Gian Lorenzo Berardinelli, notary of the causes of the curia of the Illustrious and Most Reverend Cardinal Vicar of the Pope, called and required, signed and published the present instrument on the foregoing.

L. S.

See also letter 163 (P 1019). -N B. of the translator. We warn once and for all that the letters of Calasanz are cited, when possible, with the numbering they receive in the collaborative work Cartas selectas de S. José de Calasanz, 2 vol. After, between brackets, the number that corresponds to them in the Epistolario di S. Giuseppe Calasanzio, Roma I-IX, 1950-1956, preceded by the letter P, as in the Salamanca publication, is shown. The second way of citing is logically the only one possible, when the letter in question appears only in the Picanyol edition.

9 See the process for the beatification of Ven. Glicerio Landriani, ff. 131v, 132r; J. Jericó, o. c., p. 36; C. Bau, o. c., p. 36.; J. Jericó, o. c., p. 36; C. Bau, o. c., p. 311; G. Sántha, “Eph. Cal.” XXVIII (1959) 388, 390, notes 22 and 38.

10 Ibidem. Cf. especially the process of beatification, where Fr. John testifies in 1631 that he knew Abbot Glicerio twenty-three years earlier (Proc. f. 131v).

11 Morandi places the time of aggregation at the beginning of the year 1610, o. c., f. 2r: “At the beginning of the year 1610 John García del Castillo, a Spanish cleric, came to help the work out of charity…”; Calasanz, however, affirms that Fr. John entered the institute in April 1611 (P 4077a). The same is affirmed by Fr. Berro, “Eph. Cal.” XXVIII (1959) 386. About the office of Prefect that he held in the Pious Schools of San Pantaleo, Father Caputi speaks (o, c., I, 3, n. 62): “This father was very dear to Father Joseph, having received him in the house when he was young, and he made use of him for many things, especially as bursar, and sometimes accompanied him when he went out into the street. His name, as layman, was John García, born in the city of Segovia, although because he had been the prefect of the schools, and very severe indeed, the students called him Father Punishment”. See also the Bull of Gregory XV, February 15, 1621, and especially the following paragraph (Arch. Secr. Vat., hist. Misc., 6367): “Our predecessor to you, who had been examined by the beloved sons examiners appointed for this purpose in Rome and you had been judged suitable and you assured that you were a native of the diocese of Segovia and that you had resided in the Curia for more than twenty years and had worked as bursar for sixteen years in the Pious Schools in Rome”.

12 See the deposition of Fr. John García in the process of Ven. Glicerio Landriani (ff. 131r-178r).

13 Cf. the same process (ff. 174v-175r).

14 Ibid. Cf. also P 13.

15 The written memorandum of Fr. John García to obtain ordination is found in the Arch. Secr. Vat. (Secr. Brev. 577, f. 24r) and translated it reads:

“Most Blessed Father:

John García del Castillo, cleric of the diocese of Segovia and bursar in the house of the Pauline Congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools of this city, most humble supplicant of Your Holiness, humbly informs you that for about fourteen years he has taught for free in the said schools in the company of Father Abbot Landriani. Today the house suffers a very great shortage of priests, since most of those who were there have been sent away to exercise the ministry of the Congregation elsewhere. For this reason, the Prefect General of the said Congregation humbly begs Your Holiness to deign to grant to the said supplicant that, since he has been residing in this court for about twenty years, he may be promoted by the Vicar of this city or by the one he delegates for this purpose, without the dimissorial letters of his Ordinary, in title of common table of the said house, outside the times established by law, within one year and without observing the interstices mandated by the Council of Trent, to the four minor orders and to the sacred orders of the subdiaconate, diaconate and presbyterate, and, once ordained, to exercise the said ministries. This he will receive as a supreme grace from Your Holiness, to whom God

On the back (f. 25v): To the Holiness of Our Lord

By John García del Castillo of the diocese of Segovia

October 20, 1619

Placet to His Holiness.

The Brief is in the same volume 577, f. 23r and f. 26v.

16 Cf. the Brief, ibidem.

17 The originals of these Bulls are in the Vatican Secret Archives, Instrumenta Misc. 6367 y 6370. From these documents it is clear that Fr. John García, even before he obtained the prebend of Segovia, had the right “to two simple perpetual benefices that did not require personal residence, located in other places different than the aforementioned church; the fruits, income and benefices did not exceed the annual value of thirty ducats of gold at current exchange rates”.

18 Cf. the Bull of Confirmation, in Arch, Secr. Vat. Instr. Misc. 6367.

19 Cf. Arch. Secr. Vat., Archive of Vicariate, Ordinationes Particulares, 1623-1628, ff. 12v, ft. 18v-19r.

20 Cf. Hierarchia Catholica IV, 122.

21 Cf. P 146.

22 Cf. Liber Domorum et Religiosorum (circa annum 1624), in Reg. Cal. XI, 6, f. 1r; also, P 43 y 49.

23 As for the office of confessor, cf. p. 316, 317, 945, 959, 965. See also his patents for Rome (Reg. Serv. Dei LX, 6), which were granted to him, not the first time, in the year 1632, and extended every year until 1638; from that year on he obtained the faculty with the approval of the Vicar. To the above-mentioned letters must be added the following declaration of Calasanz (Reg. Cal. XII, 51): “Pax Christi, I, the undersigned, hereby attest without the least doubt that Father John García del Castillo has been incorporated by a particular Brief of Our Lord to our Religion and, having worked out of pure charity for many years in it with great example of virtue, received all the orders under title of common table, being obliged to live subjected to obedience as he has always been truly subjected to it. He has attended confessions in our church of San Pantaleo as any other of our religious. I therefore desire and beg that he be confirmed and admitted to hear confessions in the said church with the same faculties that are granted to our religious, since by virtue of his virtue I judge him worthy of any favor.

Signed in the Pious Schools in my own hand and sealed with my own seal, on September 15, 1628,

I Joseph of the Mother of God,

Minister General of the Pious Schools, in my own handwriting”,

24 Cf. P 316.

25 Cf. P 317.

26 Cf. P 347, P 353, P 452 y 80 (P 456).

27 See the letters of Calasanz addressed to Father García during these five years,

28 Cf. letters 180 (P 1148), P 1150 and P 1159.

29 Cf. letters P 1404, 235 (P 1405), P 1406, P 1411, P 1425 and this part of the process (ff. 166v-167r): “I, the undersigned, declare that in the year 1630 in the month of June, being seriously ill in the Pious Schools of Frascati, to the point of having been evicted by the doctors and having received the holy sacraments and the holy unction, expecting my death at any moment, they immediately sent for Father General, who came in haste, not expecting to find me alive, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on my head and recited some prayers. So it happened that while I was half dead, Father Abbot appeared to me, all aglow, and when I saw him, I immediately began to shout: Father Abbot, Father Abbot! and I realized and saw that the Abbot was putting his hands on my head, and I began to get better and I was cured, to the great astonishment of everyone, especially the doctor, for having seen me freed and healed in an instant”.

30 See letters 180 (P 1148), 181 (P 1149), P 1150, P 1151.

31 Minutes of the first General Congregation (Reg. Gen. 4): “Oct. 27, 1627. Chap 3. Unanimously they have all decided, as before, that Fr. John García del Castillo be exhorted by order of the General Congregation to receive our habit; and if there should be any difficulty in doing so, he declares that he may remain in the habit of a secular priest, notwithstanding which he is to be considered incorporated to the religion as a true member of the same with the participation of its privileges and graces; and if he perseveres in it, he is to be maintained and sustained, whether healthy or sick, during his whole life”.

32 At least this seems to be deduced from Calasanz’ statement in letter P 4077a. A similar statement made in the year 1637 can be seen in Reg. Cal. XII, 51.

33 Cf. P 1577, P 1581.

34 Cf. P 1577, P 1581, P 1592, P 1600, 251 (P 1602), 252 (P 1603), P 1609; see also the letter of Fr Stefano Cherubini to Father García dated May 17, 1631 (R. C. XII, 67).

35 Cf. P 1618, P 1624,

36 A document on this General Chapter can be found in vol. V of Picanyol’s Epistolario (pp. 23-24: Response to the memorandum of inconveniences).

37 This supplication is found in the Vatican Secret Archives (Secr. Brev. vol. 782, ff. 496r-497v) and reads as follows: “Most Emm. and Rev. Lord. The General of the Pious Schools humbly beseeches Y. E. to kindly impetrate from the Holy Father a Brief concerning the appointment of the Assistants, who are the undersigned: first, Fr. Pietro of the Nativity of Our Lady, from Luca, a theologian of 49 years of age; second, Francesco of the Purification, from Castiglione Florentino, doctor of laws, aged 46; third, Fr. Giacomo of Saint Paul, from the state of Modena, aged 60; fourth, Fr. Castilla, from Segovia, now called John of Jesus Mary, 46 years old, who for more than twenty years has worked in various offices with great advantage to the students, has been ordained priest at title of common table and will make his solemn profession at the moment that Y. E. will order him to do so.

All this will be received as a singular grace from Y. E., to whom God etc.”.

38 This Brief is found in the Arch. Secr. Vat., Secr. Brev. 782, f. 495r and v; it can be read in print in the Bullarium Scholarum Piarum, p. 38.

39 These are the words of the declaration (Reg. Cal. XII, 123% f. 7): “Pax Christi. According to the present declaration we accept in the number of our novices R. Fr. John of Jesus Mary, called as layman John García del Castillo, of the diocese of Segovia, for having served religion faithfully for more than twenty years.

Rome, December 12, 1631. Joseph of the Mother of God, Minister General”.

40 See note 37.

41 Father Gian Bta. Morandi signed the following statement on April 18, 1634 (Reg. Cal. XII, 123, f. 7): “The said Fr. John of Jesus Mary, confirming the profession which he had made tacitly many years before, as he himself said, made solemn vows and made solemn profession in Rome in the oratory of the Pious Schools in the hands of the Most Reverend Father Joseph of the Mother of God, Minister General, as is recorded in the said profession, being present as witnesses, Fathers Pietro of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, first assistant, and Francesco of Purification, second assistant, and other professed fathers, clerics and brothers, and myself Gian Bta. of St. Bartholomew, appointed, supplied and specially summoned for this”.

42 See the document entitled Office for the good government of the house of San Pantaleo, in which the following is stated concerning Father García: “Father John of Jesus Mary, third assistant, will take care of the schools and all that concerns them, with a prefect, and will see to it that there is someone to catechize the students and to have the continuous prayer”.

43 See also the letter addressed by Father García to Calasanz on September 4, 1629, in which he says of himself: “I no longer have anything to do, because I will never govern anyone but myself, inviting my neighbor for the love of God”.

44 Cf. P 1781, P 2233,

45 The text of the solemn profession of Fr. John García can be found in Reg. 72, n. 375: “April 18, 1634, Rome. I John of Jesus Mary, in the world John García del Castillo, of the diocese of Segovia, make my solemn profession, confirming that which I made tacitly many years ago, in the Order of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, and I promise to Almighty God, etc. I further promise, etc., I John of Jesus Mary sign with my own hand all the above. Cf. also the declaration cited in note 41.

46 Cf. P 4077a.

47 Cf. P 2727, P 2732.

48 Cf. the Minutes of the Roman Provincial Chapter of 1640 (Reg. Cal. XII, 167).

For the General Chapter celebrated in the month of April 1641, Father Gian Crisostomo Peri of St. Catherine was named superior of the Roman province (cf. Acta Cap. Gen. a. 1641).

49 Cf. L. Picanyol, Atti degli Capitoli Generali celebrati in Roma negli anni 1637 e 1641, vivente S. Giuseppe Calasanzio, Roma, 1954, p. 8.

50 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., 1, 1, n. 174.

51 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., ibidem; V. Berro o. c., III, 2, c. 9, f. 148v.

52 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., I, 1, f. 91, n. 309; B. Bartlik, Annales Scholarum Piarum, f. 384. The written memorandum of Calasanz addressed to the Cardinal Vicar in order that Father García could continue in the office of rector, is found in the General Archive (Reg. Cal. XII, 188) and reads as follows: “Most Emm. and Rev. Lord. Joseph of the Mother of God, ex-general of the Pious Schools, humbly exposes to Your Eminence how he sees and understands some practical norms for appointing a new superior in the house of San Pantaleo. Therefore, he begs Your Eminence to deign to delay the said election for three or four months, because up to now, the former superior, Father Castille, has kept the house in peace and so as not to cause new discord because of the practice and precedence of some. All this he will receive as a grace… To whom God… I Joseph of the Mother of God beseech. On the appointment of Fr. Baldi as rector, see Arch. Gen., house of St. Pantaleon, box n. 1, doc. 23.

53 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., III, 6, nn. 349-350.

54 Cf. “Eph. Cal.” IV (1935) 60.

55 It is evident that Fr. García was rector of St. Pantaleon during the years 1651-1656, since it is recorded in almost all the pages that Fr. Caputi dedicates to narrating the events of those years. Also read the letter of Fr. John García addressed on November 18, 1651 to the fathers of Strasnitz (Reg, Gen. 203); also, Reg, Gen. 8, f. 2r. As for the rest, it is easy to see how much Fr. García did for the Order, even if only with his exhortations, by reading the aforementioned letter to Strasnitz. This letter, full of love for the Institute, whose happy progress he narrates with satisfaction, could not fail to encourage his confreres in the tenacious struggle undertaken to achieve the reintegration of the Pious Schools. It was already published in L’eco dei Nostri Centenari, 1945, n. 2, pp. 8-10, but we find it interesting to reproduce it here:

“To Fr. Alexander and the fathers of Strasnitz Pax Christi

Dearest fathers in Christ: I have read and communicated the letters of YY. RR. to the fathers of Rome about the petition of the Count Magni, and with all of you we also feel the greatest affliction that can be imagined; because the Count, who has always protected us there and everywhere else, seems to want to abandon us in the moment of greatest need, when true and Christian friendship is shown by helping and assisting our neighbor in the greatest need. Here in Italy, with God’s help, the princes do not abandon us; on the contrary, pitying our humiliation, they call us, and even outside Italy, to Spain, they have called us from the kingdom of Valencia and Aragon. The lord cardinal Verossi, to his episcopal palace of Osimo, not inconsiderable city of the Mark of Ancona.

Now our things prosper everywhere. In Cáller (Sardinia) we have two beautiful and comfortable houses, where the fathers excel for their observance, doctrine and brilliance, there being many theologians, preachers and orators, with whom all the nobility, the viceroys and vicereines of the kingdom confide. In Sicily the same. In Florence and in Pisa, apart from the studies of mathematics, there are many theologians, with great pleasure of those Most Serene Highnesses, who, pitying us with extraordinary devotion, are raising our situation. In Naples they have now finished a church of modern style, quite large and decorated. In Genoa the same, to the great applause of the nobility, who go to it with great devotion; in Savona, where our house collapsed with the fathers who lived in it –because of an accident in the powder magazine of the castle set on fire by a lightning and almost a quarter of the city was buried, with all our school and the church– now the citizens are rebuilding it and have given a very large plot of land for the building. Everywhere they defend us, welcome us, call us and encourage us to be patient. How many cities in Italy are asking for our work! What will not do His Highness of Savoy to establish us in his dominions? Now that all our founders, even in Germany and Poland, help us, protect us and raise us up, will the Count, so fond of us, have the heart to leave us and abandon us? I believe that he wanted to test our constancy; but in the end, if you consider things well, you will see how he will be our greatest and most powerful benefactor in those lands where our religion has laid its foundations not to gain temporal treasures and worldly splendor, but to serve God, kings and the powerful of the earth and to lead souls on the way to paradise, being content only with iis quibus tegantur et manducent (with what is indispensable for clothing and food), according to the advice of the apostle.

Therefore, fathers, keep up your courage and estote fortes in bello (be strong in the struggle), because the Lord will console you with a great blessing, expecting from his most generous hands, after mortification, a wealth of temporal and spiritual rewards; for though we are humbled and mortified in conspectu hominum (before men), we are exalted and full of life in conspectu Dei (in the presence of God); for qui minor est inter vos, maior est in regno caelorum (the least among you is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven). And the Supreme Pontiff replied to a lady, a foundress at another time of one of our houses, who for the same reason wanted to do the same, that as long as there was only one religious in the convent founded by her, she did not want in any way that another order should be introduced there. And remember that David condemned to death the rich man who took the poor man’s sheep, who had so many thousands of sheep. Non est abbreviata manus Domini (the hand of the Lord is not short). Maledictus homo qui confidit in homine (cursed is the man who trusts in man). Habeatis spem contra spem (have hope against hope), because this Abraham of ours, who has nothing but the little Isaac, will see his poor religion expanded like the stars of heaven and the sands of the beach.

I would like to fill the page with hope, with certainty; but what greater hope and certainty than to have the Lord as our companion in our labors? Cum ipso sum in tribulatione (with him I stand in tribulation).

All the profane, ecclesiastical and sacred histories that I have read show with a thousand examples that always after a great captivity, hardship, sorrows and afflictions, there follows freedom, abundance, joy and rest. So must we too expect from the most liberal hands of the Lord who tests his chosen ones with affliction in order to console and exalt them afterwards with greater length in this and the next life. May the Lord give it to us. And in conclusion, asking for YY.RR. true health, I kiss your hands.

Rome, November 18, 1651. Most unworthy in the Lord.

To YY.RR. John of Jesus Mary.

56 The name of this nephew was Francisco Fernández, who, having finished his studies at Collegio Romano, was ordained priest, was chaplain to Cardinal Homodei and later a canon of Segovia. Cf. Reg. Serv. Dei LX, 6, where we read: “He had a nephew named Francisco Fernández, who lived with the Fathers of the Pious Schools and studied philosophy at Collegio Romano. He was ordained priest in Rome and was chaplain to Msgr. Homodei; he obtained a canonicate in Segovia, where he went and soon after died”. Another document of the year 1647 (Dom. Gen. 1, 19) says the following: “Francisco, Spaniard, nephew of Father Castilla. He lived in Rome for study purposes and resided in our house, for the benefit of which he spent 200 escudos sent to him by another uncle of his, a canon of Segovia; and Msgr. Vice-Gerente told him to give the house five escudos a month, as long as he lived there”.

57 Cf. V. Berro, o. c., III, c. 12, ff. 33-34.

58 Cf. L. Picanyol, Dissertatio de processibus beatificationis, “Eph. Cal”. XVII (1948) 113; B. Bartlik, o. c., ff. 398-400. 405.

59 Cf. L. Picanyol, 1. I. c. y 13, Bartlik, o, c., ff . 406-410.

60 Cf. Romana Beatificationis et Canonizationis Ven. Servi Dei P. Iosephi a Matre Dei, Observations of the Most Rev. Promoter of the Faith on the doubt as to whether the virtues are established, p. 3, par. 5.

61 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., I, 3, n. 62.

62 Certainly not at the beginning of the process, but from 1651 onwards.

63 Responsio ad animadversiones, p. 4; 3rd .

64 Cf. L. Picanyol, Lezioni di Storia Scolopica, lección IX, “Rassegna di Storia e Bibliografia Scolopica” XV (1950) 3.

65 Cf. C. Bau, o. c., pp. 1119-1152; F. Giordano, Calasanzio e l’origine della scuola popolare, pp. 309-322; L. Picanyol, Epistolario di san Giuseppe Calasanzio, vol. IX, pp. 104-106; 220-223; J. Sántha, Ultimus S. losephi Calasanctii ad redintegrandum suum Ordinem conatus causaeque haud prosperi eiusdem succesus, “Eph. Cal”. XXVII (1958) 109-115; IDEM, Nonnullae litterae, ut vulgo anon, diplomaticae, recens in Archivo Vaticano inventae, “Eph. Cal”. XXVIII (1959) 8 - 23; IDEM, P. Valerianus Magni. O. Cap. et Scholae Piae, “Eph. Cal. XXVIII (1959) 130-145; IDEM, Card. Gasparus Mattei et Scholae Piae, “Eph. Cal”. XXVIII (1959) 299-309; IDEM, Comes Franciscus Magni et Scholae Piae, “Eph. Cal”, XXIX (1960) 1-24; IDEM, Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide et Scholae Piae in quinquennio 1644-1648, “Eph. Cal”. XXIX (1960) 111-132; IDEM, Calasanz, las Escuelas Pías y el duque Jorge Ossolinski, “Revista Calasancia” III (1957) 229-365.

66 Cf. L. Picanyol, Lezioni di Storia Scolopica, lección IX: Le Scuole Pie rielevate allo stato di Congregazione con voti semplici, “Rassegna di Storia e Bibliografía Scolopica” XV (1950) 3-14.

67 See the article on Duke Ossolinski cited in note 65 above.

68 Cf. J. Sántha, Calasanz, las Escuelas Pías y el duque Ossolinski, “Revista Calasancia” III (1957) 345-355.

69 The letter, dated January 31, 1651, is in the archives of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, Scritture originali riferite nelle Congregazioni Generali, 217, ff . 128r and v. 131r; there is a transcribed copy of this letter in the General Archive of the Pious Schools (Reg. Prov. 51, Germania, 50), the translation of which is as follows: “Most Emm. and Rev. Lords: Most gracious Lords and clement Protectors. Having been commanded with the greatest clemency by the Sacred Congregation of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Authorities of Propaganda Fide and required to communicate to the said Sacred Congregation the number of heretics converted each year to the orthodox faith of the Roman and Apostolic Church, I wish to give exact satisfaction to this obligation of mine, which I accept with the utmost submission of spirit, now that Germania has been finally liberated from the furious tumult of the army of heretics and tranquility has been restored by divine goodness to the Catholic Church in these provinces, after reverencing with the greatest devotion all that Sacred and Venerable Congregation, as well as each one of the Most Emm. and Rev. Gentlemen. As far as it is my duty and has been ordained to me by the said Sacred Congregation, I humbly make known that by the work of our Fathers, to which are eyewitnesses the Most Rev. Deans and parish priests, and the Lords and Lieutenants of the adjoining regions, since the feast of Easter of the year 1650 until this day two thousand two hundred and thirty have been converted and submitted once again to the authority of the Roman and Apostolic See. To prove the truth of this, it seemed to me, with protested submission of spirit, that I should transmit at once to the Most Emm. and Rev. Excellencies the attestations of the Most Revd. Deans and Parish Priests and also of the civil authorities, signed and sealed by them. I do this, no doubt, in order to fulfill my obligation, to which I gladly submit myself; but also so that the Sacred Congregation, with its admirable prudence which shines so brightly in its decisions and in all its affairs, may see clearly and distinctly and conclude from this insignificant work of ours that we do not lack the courage to work with boldness and conscientiousness for the extirpation of heresies with other servants of God, bearing the burden and the heat of the day in the vineyard of the Lord, dedicated to the good formation of the youth sanctioned by the Holy Councils and to the instruction of the ignorant; by stirring up in the hearts of Christians hatred for the filth and pestilential virus of sin, and by sowing, on the contrary, love for the virtues and Christian perfection; by the propagation of the Orthodox faith, of the authority of the Church, which is the true and holy Church, at once Roman and apostolic, the vicar of Christ on earth. As I say, we do not lack enthusiasm but workers. We have been experiencing this since we received for most just causes the Brief promulgated by His Holiness in which our Religion was reduced to a Congregation. The Most Serene King of Poland, Ladislaw IV, of happy memory, a prince of immortal memory, repeatedly insisted for a long time before His Holiness that this should not happen. The whole of Moravia, the illustrious kingdom of Bohemia, Poland above all, and now Lithuania itself, bear it as a burden and deplore it with sadness. Our most illustrious founders, the most pious princes, grieve deeply and moan; and not less those who wish for the work of our Fathers, either for the right formation of the youth or for the complete extirpation of heresies, in his dominions, not only in Moravia or Bohemia, but in the very heart of Austria and on the border of Lithuania. The same with their youthful and holy desires to despise everything unconscious and to serve God alone, as much by the nobility of their origin as by the generous and holy disregard of the goods that belong to them by inheritance, is attested with continuous tears and almost of blood by the ardent and inflamed youth, who see that their purpose to serve God in our Order is dilated and delayed too much, not seeing that we will be restored to our primitive condition by the grace of His Holiness, nor to reintegrate us with His favor. Therefore all the members of the provinces of Moravia, Bohemia and Poland of this Institute of the Pious Schools humbly and with all our souls beg and beseech through the heart of Divine Mercy ,the Most Reverend Cardinals, to our most clement protectors, and to the whole Sacred Congregation, that neither it nor His Holiness, whose insinuations are for us orders, only bear in mind that at one time there were among us some who behaved like weeds (for the Most Holy and Most Reverend Fathers know what was written by Augustine, bishop of Hippo, in dist. 47: “However awake the discipline of my house may be, is it better than Noah’s ark, where among eight men a reprobate was found? Is it better than the house of Isaac? Or than the house of Jacob, whose bed his son defiled with the sin of incest? Or is it better than the house of Christ? Or than heaven itself, from which the angels fell?”). On the contrary, all the Most Emm. and Rev. Fathers rather should see, know, meditate carefully, and understand (with Is 41:20) that the hand of the Lord has done this and He who is Holy created it, that is to say my Lord and my God. And also, how many things could already be done and put into effect for the usefulness, profit and propagation of Christianity if what we do certainly in the measure of our strength, we could promote it with the desired and necessary number of workers. This last so that, once again and for the greater glory of God and the increase of Christianity, we can unite our ready to help hands with those of other servants of God. All we hope with total certainty by the excellent favor of the Sacred Congregation and by its most clement intercession before His Holiness, even if not by our merits.

In the meantime, while we humbly await the desired and favorable response of the Sacred Congregation, we remain, as that most valiant Judith commanded the heroic prince of Judah Uzziah and the other hesitant elders to do for the happy liberation of the besieged homeland, in prayer and in the usual exercises of religious observance.

As for me, in order not to disturb, while I desire with the greatest determination that our cause be entrusted to the favor and the greatest interest of the Most Emm. and Rev. Excellencies, to their compassionate benignity and to their paternal protection, always very necessary to us, but especially now, I remain of the Most Emm. and Rev. Excellencies, together with all the members of the Institute of the Pious Schools, your most humble and distinguished servant, Alexander of St. Bernard, Vic. Provincial of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools.

Given at Litomysl, free city of the illustrious kingdom of Bohemia, January 31, in the year of the saving birth of the Virgin Mary 1651”.

N.B. On the back of this letter the secretary wrote: To Cardinal Savelli. The matter of the Pious Schools

March 21. To recommend to the Holy Father in the first Congregation before His Holiness. However, in the notes of the General Congregation of March 21, 1651, there is nothing on the matter.

The letter of June 27, 1651, addressed to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide and first of all to Card. Capponio, Prefect of the said Congregation, is found in the General Archives, Reg. Pro. 51, Germania 51. The one of March 2, 1652 is also in the General Archives, Reg. Prov. 52, Litomysl 7.

70 Cf. T. Garrido, Calasanctiades insignes Latinitatis cultores. P. Carolus Mazzei a S. Ant. Pat (1620-1695), “Eph. Cal”. IV (1935) 112-119; L. Picanyol, Selectae Latinitatis Epistolarium P. Caroli Mazzei a S. Ant. Pat., Romae, 1937.

71 Cfr, G. C. Caputi, o. c., 1, 1, n. 437.

72 Read, for example, the following letter from the King to Cardinal Orsini, protector of Poland, dated January 28, 1652 (Archivo Histórico Capitolino, cod. Orsini, 11. B. Prot., VII, 63, f. 66): “Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Sir: Just as we gladly use our royal authority for the reform of the abuses of the religious in these our provinces, so we also protect in a particular way those religious who are observant of their rules. Among them we feel a special inclination for the priests of the Pious Schools, who since they were introduced into these kingdoms by King Ladislaus, our brother, of happy memory, have always lived with great observance and with religious exemplarity of great benefit. We feel moved therefore to recommend them efficaciously to Your Most Illustrious Lordship, with the desire that you receive them under your patronage for whatever they may need, considering them good religious and loved and protected by us. We will be pleased to know that Your Most Illustrious Lordship favors them when the occasion arises. May Our Lord grant you prosperity. Warsaw, January 28, 1652.

John Casimir King.

The other letters are not preserved, but Fr. H. Orselli speaks of them in those he addressed to Fr. Vincenzo, the first of which, dated Warsaw, June 1, 1652, says among other things (Reg. Gen., 203): “Here I am for the third or fourth time with Y.P. after having been in audience with His Majesty, which was full of affability and with much cordiality and familiarity, so to speak; he has offered himself in case of need to the Pious Schools in general, but when the time is more opportune; for now he will send a letter of recommendation to Cardinal Orsini, Protector. I will ask Mr. Secretary for it and, if I can, I hope to send it with the following ordinary mail.

Another letter of Fr. H. Orselli on our problem dated June 22, 1652 in Warsaw (Reg. Prov. 57, Poland, Warsaw, 1) reads as follows: “With the last ordinary mail I sent to you through Mr. Saletti a letter from the Bishop Nuncio to Cardinal Chigi, which I will be happy to have reached you and pleased you as much as it pleased me. Now, taking advantage of the same occasion, I will give you two letters from the king, which Mr. Secretary was good enough to bring to me yesterday afternoon so that I could see them. I could not but approve and recommend them, and I am sure that you will do the same.

He left them for me to make a copy, which I have already done, and within an hour I will return them to him so that he can have them signed. See also how you can present them personally. Since you have begun with this, I do not know how you have not thought of having recourse to the grace of the Cardinal Protector, who had just received letters from His Majesty, so that he might convey to Card. Chigi the royal sentiments and the protection that His Majesty dispenses to us; this would have helped. But what has not been done, I believe there will still be time to do it, if it seems opportune to you. You know that I wrote to you when I obtained an audience with His Majesty and asked for the letter for Card. Protector. His Majesty did not want his name to be mixed up in a matter that could not be brought forward: nevertheless, he has been good enough to write these letters. See how they can be used, of course, but in such a way that the King’s will is safeguarded. I say this so that, if any minister comes to know about them, he can easily excuse himself for not having appointed someone to present them or something similar, because they knew that His Majesty did not want to enter into the business, but that he has only made known to those cardinals the inclination towards our Institute and the protection that he dispenses to it, etc.”. About these letters cf. also G. C. Caputi, o. c., I, n. 439.

73 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., I, 1. 439-440.

74 Cf. V. Berro, o. c., III, 1, ff. 7-8.

75 See the letter of Fr. H. Orselli to Fr. V. Berro (Reg. Gen. 203) dated August 13, 1650 in Warsaw: “As far as our business is concerned, it is necessary to place ourselves at God’s most holy disposition. Mons. Nuncio has always been of the opinion, and he has ratified it to me after these events, that we go ahead while waiting for the opportune time”.

76 The copy of one of the letters of Queen Marie Louise addressed to Donna Olimpia Maidalchini about this problem is found in the General Archives (Reg. Prov. 56, Poland 5) and reads as follows: “Most Illustrious Madam: The Fathers of the Pious Schools and the letter of Your Most Illustrious Lorship amply confirm to me your piety and the interest you have in helping them. Therefore, recommending your desire for a Protector of Religion (wishing that it would be Cardinal Santa Croce or Cardinal Imperiali) and to obtain for them from among themselves superiors to govern them and to be able to ordain those who live in the congregation (or will live in it) by way of poverty, I beg again with particular affection and haste Your Excellency to be pleased to be favorable to them in everything that may arise from your authority, in the certainty that the more honored my intercession will be with the favors that you will interpose for the benefit of the said Fathers, the more obliged I will be to keep particular remembrance of it, to employ myself very heartily in any service that pleases you. And in conclusion, I ask God to grant you the greatest good.

Warsaw, December 8, 1654,

Marie Louise, Queen.

One of the answers of Donna Olimpia to the Queen reads as follows (Reg. Prov. 56, 5): “To the Queen of Poland and Sweden: The Fathers of the Pious Schools who are here can attest to Your Majesty the interest I have in helping them. But now that I have the added merit of obeying Your Majesty, please believe that I am ready to employ myself as long as I am able in their service. I beg Your Majesty to continue to honor me with your commands, in the certainty that none of your servants will obey you more promptly than I.

I humbly kiss Your Majesty’s royal hands” (Rome, December 7, 1652).

77 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., I, 1, n. 431: “Father Onofrio obtained an audience with the Queen through Mrs. Dubignio, and begged her to remember to insinuate to the King the restitution of the Religion. She promised to do so and gave orders to the Italian secretary, Abbé Bantoni, to write a new letter to Donna Olimpia, sister-in-law of the Pope, so that through her mediation this grace might be obtained, which he did immediately. And when the letter arrived, it remained in the hands of Father John of Jesus Mary, alias Castilla, who, although the best circumstance was that she had taken him as her confessor, not finding a favorable occasion, delayed the delivery of the letter so long that the Pope fell ill and died, so that it had no effect. In this way everything vanished”.

78 King John Casimir’s letter to Cardinal Orsini, dated December 28, 1654, is in the Arch. Hist. Cap. (Orsini, II, B. Prot. VII, 63, f. 163) and reads as follows: “Most Ill. and Rev. Sir: The Fathers of the Pious Schools expect from the Pope by letters of that court the appointment of a cardinal protector, who with superiors of their own govern their congregation, and the license to be able to ordain the members of the same by title of poverty, whenever we make request to His Holiness. And although we see the matter very difficult in these times, nevertheless we have decided willingly to endorse with the attached letter addressed to Your Holiness the hope of the fathers, wishing that Your Excellency will use your authority and our name in it, when and in the measure that to your recognized prudence seems opportune to you. If the desired result is achieved, we will feel especially happy, because of the desire we have to see here propagated an Institute which is very suitable to the needs of this kingdom. At the same time, we will keep a vivid memory of Your Excellency for whom we ask the Lord the greatest happiness.

Warsaw, 28th December 1654.

John Casimir, King

A copy of the letter from King Casimir to Innocent X, dated December 28, 1654, is preserved in the General Archives (Reg. Prov, 56, Poland, 6), and it reads as follows:

“Most Blessed Father:

The benefit that is currently being obtained in these provinces, and which is expected to be greater in the future, from the Fathers of the Pious Schools, who by their exemplary piety enjoy the favor of my royal protection, serves me as a just motive to accompany with my request before Your Holiness, as I do with lively feeling, your humble prayers, so that you may be good enough to proceed to the appointment of a cardinal protector for their Congregation, who with superiors of the same govern it and grant them the faculty of being able to ordain their members by title of poverty. I, because of the desire that I nourish to see such a meritorious Institute extended in my kingdom, will receive as a new fruit of the paternal love of Your Holiness the grace that your goodness towards me makes me expect, to which my faithful reverence will correspond with similar demonstrations. And recommending the Apostolic Patronage of Your Holiness to me and to my people,

I reverently kiss your feet.

On December 28, 1654,

from Your Holiness, most obedient son,

John Casimir, King”.

79 Cf. L. Picanyol, Le Scuole Pie e la soppressione innocenziana del 1646, “L’Eco dei Nostri Centenari”, 1947, n. 8, pp. 11-12.

80 King John Casimir’s letter to Cardinal Orsini dated March 30, 1655 is in the Arch. Hist. Capit. (Orsini, II. B. Prot. VII, 63, f. 176); there is a transcribed copy of it in the General Archives (Reg. Prov. 56, Polonia, 6), which reads:

“Most Illustrious and Reverend Sir:

The hope which the Fathers of the Pious Schools have always nourished of returning their Religion to its primitive condition has increased now that the election of a new Pontiff is awaited. And we who know with certainty that particularly in these northern regions such a holy Institute is of singular benefit to Catholic Christianity, just as we have never forgotten to desire that it continue to be so, now we feel moved to make this desire to Your Most Illustrious Lordship a more open declaration. From here Fr. Onofrio of the Blessed Sacrament departs for Rome with authority to arrange and carry on the business with opportune and efficacious means. We recommend to Your Excellency the said Father who has sufficient instructions with him. And because we know with how much haste you employ yourself in all things that are pressing, we are persuaded that also in this particular case you will make us enjoy the abundant effects of your proverbial kindness and courtesy. Be assured that when we are offered the opportunity to give you proofs of our royal gratitude, we will at the same time gladly show you the esteem in which we hold your merits. We pray to God for your Excellency’s greatest prosperity.

Warsaw, March 30, 1655.

John Casimir, King”.

The letter from the king to Cardinal Santa Croce, dated the same day, is found in the General Archives (Reg. Prov. 56, Poland, 6). The letter addressed to Cardinal Albizzi, also dated March 30, 1655, is transcribed in the General Archives (Reg. Prov. 56, Poland, 6) and reads as follows: “Most Illustrious and Reverend Sir:

Knowing how much benefit the holy Institute of the Fathers of the Pious Schools can serve Catholic Christianity, especially in these northern provinces, we have always maintained the desire to see their Religion in its primitive condition. Fr Onofre of the Blessed Sacrament with our permission and the royal favor started travelling from here. Since, according to his instructions, he must have recourse to the patronage of Your Excellency, we hope that your goodness will appreciate the urgency that we declare motu proprio to feel, in view of the public utility, for the restitution of the said Order to its first state. We have been noticed by the same Father that Your Reverence is fully informed of the justice of his reasons; for which reason we are all the more persuaded that, with the desire to satisfy us, Your Excellency will be willing to act efficiently so that he may return encouraged. Recommending the person of the said Father and the matter in hand to the courtesy of Your Reverence, manifesting our royal gratitude, we ask God for Your Reverence´s true prosperity.

John Casimir, King”.

81 In the General Archives (Reg. Prov. 56, Poland, 7) is a copy of the letter of Stephen Korycinski, Grand Chancellor of Poland, to Cardinal Orsini, dated March 30, 1655, which reads as follows: “Your Eminence and Most Reverend Lord: The Institute of the Fathers of the Pious Schools is generally esteemed so useful, and moreover, because of its very modesty, it is so well received in this kingdom that Your Majesties have taken it under their particular patronage, and I feel a special inclination towards it. And since I wish that, at this juncture of the election of a new pontiff, it might be restored to its original stability, I come to recommend it with all my heart to Your Excellency’s protection. Here the heretics do not have the least inconvenience in sending their little children to their schools so that they may learn to read and write. From which Your Excellency can easily deduce what service this well-governed Institute can render to the Church of God, and how much merit will be derived from the diligences that you undertake before Our Lord the Pope; for it is not possible that together with the first rudiments, some trait of Catholic piety may not also be impressed on these tender minds. I shall receive everything not only as granted to my intercession, but as conferred on myself, and I shall keep the memory of it to serve Your Excellency on all occasions, to whom, in the meantime, I reverently kiss my hands.

Warsaw, March 30, 1655”.

The Queen’s letter to the same Cardinal, dated April 1, 1655, is in the Arch. Hist. Cap. (Orsini, II, B. Prot. VII. 63, f. 177) and reads as follows:

“Most Ill. and Rev. Sir:

Because of the particular desire we have to see the Institute of the Religious of the Pious Schools, very dear to us for the exemplary life they lead in Warsaw, preserved and increased, we are spontaneously moved to interpose our royal protection on any occasion that presents itself to us. And because we are anxious that the said Religion be recommended to His Holiness, so that it may be restored to its original state, it is our intention that Your Most Illustrious Lorship act with the efficacy of your warm services and pressing requests, so that you may obtain from His Holiness the desired effect in favor of our petition. And given, though not granted, that by any obstacle that might be interposed, they would not succeed in obtaining in full the totality of their demand, you will kindly proceed in the matter according to the contents of the instructions carried by Fr. Onofrio, Minister and Visitor General, who goes there for this purpose with our consent. Please see to it that he receives consolation, which is something that we also so earnestly desire. In the meantime, we wish you the best of good wishes.

Warsaw, April 1, 1655,

Marie Louise, Queen.

82 The new letter from the King to Card. Orsini dated May 1, 1655 is in the Arch. Hist. Cap. (Orsini, II. B. Prot. VII. 63, f. 180) and reads as follows:

“Most Ill. and Rev. Sir:

Since with the exaltation to the Pontificate of Our Lord Alexander VII, the Fathers of the Pious Schools have seen increased their hopes of being restored to the first condition of their Order, judging by the inclination shown by His Holiness to favor them when he was a cardinal, we too have gladly agreed to grant them a letter addressed to His Holiness. . We therefore desire that Your Excellency, who is already informed of the reasons that move us to protect the Institute of the Fathers will do us the favor of presenting the letter addressed to His Holiness and accompany it with those reverent requests on our part, which to your experienced prudence seem more beneficial to the intention of the Fathers and more in conformity with the urgency that we feel in this particular out of mere zeal for the service of God. To the courtesy of Your Excellency, we will always reciprocate with evident signs of esteem and royal gratitude. May God grant you true prosperity.

Warsaw, May 1, 1655.

John Casimir, King”.

The letter addressed to Alexander VII bears the same date and is in the Arch. Secr. Vat. (Principi, 78, f. 37r); there is a copy in the General Archive (Reg. Prov. 5, Pol 8) and its content is the following:

“Most Blessed Father:

It is so evident the usefulness that the Institute of the Fathers of the Pious Schools can bring to this important part of Catholic Christianity, that the mere zeal for the greater service of God has always made me wish that it be restored to its former condition of Order. And because I have references as to the inclination of Your Holiness to favor the said Fathers before your exaltation to the Pontificate, I can easily persuade myself that that any difficulties they may encounter will be overcome, and therefore they are close to obtaining the grace. This grace then (when perhaps on the other hand the obsequious requests of the Fathers deserve to be heard by Your Holiness) I also humbly beg for it; because of the great fruit that my subjects will enjoy, I want for myself the greater part of the infinite obligations that will be due to the paternal providence of Your Holiness. And with submission of devout and faithful obedience, bowing down to receive your holy blessing, I humbly kiss your feet.

Warsaw, May 1, 1655.

From Your Holiness, most obedient son,

John Casimir, King”.

83 The letter of Cardinal Orsini has been lost, but we have the King’s reply, dated May 22, 1655, which is found in the Archivo Hist. Cap. (Orsini, II. B. Prot. VII, 63, f. 185) and reads as follows:

“Most Ill. y Rev. Sir:

By the letter of Your Excellency of the 25th of April last, we take charge of the kind intentions that our Lord the Pope had collected with regard to the various interests represented by you and which on our part were recommended to your protection. We wish, however, that when the occasion arises, you will not fail to give His Holiness the most reverent thanks and to ratify our devout and loyal attachment to him. In the matter of the Fathers of the Pious Schools we understand that there were more difficulties than they thought; so that while we continue with the usual urgency in favor of the Institute, it is nevertheless necessary to let you know that we are always ready to conform in everything to the will of His Holiness, who will know what is the best service of God. We say this in whatever way we may have been able to express ourselves in the letter written to His Beatitude and which will be sent to Your Excellency by this ordinary mail. And leaving to the discretion of your prudence the direction of this matter for the part that concerns us, with our desire we confide to you the customary royal benefaction and we ask God for all your prosperity.

Warsaw, May 22, 1655.

John Casimir, King”.

84 This letter is also found in the Arch. Hist. Cap. (Orsini, II. 13. Prot. VII. 63, f. 199); it says:

“From the letters of Your Excellency received in the last two mails we see the continuous and courteous haste which you have been good enough to employ in all the business which we have entrusted to your goodness. We particularly praise the affectionate diligence that Your Excellency shows in regard to the Fathers of the Pious Schools and that, having well understood our will in favor of their holy Institute, you could take into account at the same time the convenience of our royal decorum…

Warsaw, July 24, 1655.

John Casimir, King”.

85 A copy of a letter from Queen Marie Louise to Alexander VII, dated May 20, 1655 (Reg. Prov. 56, Poland, 8), is preserved in the General Archive, which reads:

“Most Blessed Father, the Fathers of the Pious Schools let me know of the inclination to protect them which Your Holiness manifested when your exaltation to the Pontificate had not yet taken place. Now that the Christian world rejoices that this has happened and they conceive a more lively hope of being restored to the status of Order; because of the logical obligation to cooperate with all the religious projects of His Majesty the King, my husband and lord, and because of the conviction I have of the benefit that such a pious Institute will bring particularly to Christianity, I also humbly beg Your Beatitude for this grace, confident, moreover, that the obsequious requests of the Fathers may merit it. These enjoy a royal foundation in Warsaw and because of their exemplary zeal in the service of God they are universally esteemed and loved by all these citizens. Great profit is expected from them both for the education of youth in the faith and for their training in virtue. Among the favors which I will have to acknowledge the most benign and paternal affection of Your Beatitude for me, I will also include the fact that Catholics will give you infinite thanks for the restoration of the said Institute to its primitive state. With the greatest respect of an obedient daughter I bow to receive your blessing and kiss your Beatitude’s feet.

Warsaw, May 20, 1655”.

86 Copies of these letters are in the General Archive (Reg. Prov. 56, Polonia 10 and 11).

87 The transcribed text of the letter of the Nuncio is found in the Arch. Vat. Secr. (Nunciature of Poland, 180, f. 17) and is the following:

“In the audience granted to me by Their Majesties, they notified me that they had begged His Beatitude to reintegrate the Religion of the Fathers of the Pious Schools to its primitive state, and that they also wished me to supply Our Lord with this grace in consideration of the public benefit that will be obtained, with the training in letters of young people of every age, and much more for the good example they give and especially for the cleanliness of their churches. I transmit to Your Eminence the Majesties’ command. The expect from Your Eminence’s paternal affection this grace, which they will greatly esteem for the reasons indicated. I devoutly kiss Your Most Illustrious Lordship´s hands.

Warsaw, 26th July 1655,

Pietro Vidoni”.

88 The reply of the Secretary of State to the Nuncio can be found in the Arch. Secr. Vat. (Nunciature of Poland, 180, f. 17) and is as follows:

“The Most Serene Queen wrote to Our Lord some time ago, recommending the Fathers of the Pious Schools, and His Beatitude, taking into account the quality of the request and the intercession of His Majesty, was pleased to manifest his will on the matter with a brief reply which must have arrived through Cardinal Orsini. At the same time, His Holiness has deigned to give new orders, more advantageous for the said Fathers, in favor of whom he is now thinking of some particulars that will give them much satisfaction. His Beatitude is kindly inclined to do so with special interest in satisfying the great zeal of Your Majesties, to whom, for the time being, Your Excellency can give this information. I renew the expressions of my genuine devotion to Your Excellency and devoutly kiss your hands.

Rome, August 28, 1655.

Alexander VII’s reply to the Queen of Poland is preserved in the Arch. Secr. Vat. (Letters to the Princes, 60, ff . 174-175); in the General Archive (Reg. Prov. 56, Poland) there is a copy; here is the translation of the Latin text:

“Alexander VII Pope to our dearest daughter in Christ, health and apostolic blessing.

Everything that contributes to increase the divine glory and to magnify his name we welcome with so much ardor, that we feel incited not so much by the requests of kings and princes as by the same divine action to assume and promote it. For this reason, since Your Majesty lets us know that the work of the Fathers of the Pious Schools can be of great benefit in propagating religion, we will take it under our patronage, so that we are ready to accede in many things both to Your will and to the inclination we feel toward the said Order. We have granted many things because of your entreaties, so that you may be convinced not only of the Pope’s affection but also of his benevolence towards the said religious. This will certainly be increased by the egregious and pious Queen because of the merits with which she continues to attest her distinguished devotion and dedication to this Holy See. With much affection We give Your Majesty the Apostolic Blessing. Given at Rome in Santa Maria Maggiore under the ring of the Fisherman, on the 17th day of August 1655, the first year of our pontificate.

Natal Rondinio”.

89 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., I, 1, n. 458.

90 The following patent letter sent by Fr. Camillo Scassellati on April 15, 1655 (Reg. Cal. 115, f. 458) is written in Latin and reads as follows; “Camillo of St. Jerome, professed priest of the Clerics Reg. Poor. of the Mother of God and Rector of Collegio Nazareno of Rome. To you, R. Fr. Joseph of St. Eustace, of Pesaro, professed priest, Vice-Rector and Prefect of Students of the same school, health in the Lord.

Although I feel deeply in my soul the concern that the anomalous situation of our religion should return to its original tranquility and I wish to fight hard to achieve it with all my determination and effort, however, since the continuous work of the school prevents me from doing so, dedicated as I am to the instruction of youth in good literature and in the precepts of Rhetoric, I would therefore like you to carry on and devote yourself to this work in our stead; therefore we gladly appoint you companion of Fr. Joseph of the Visitation, so that before the recently elected Supreme Pontiff Alexander VII (whom God keep unharmed for a long time for the good of his Church) you may endeavor in every way and by the way and with the opportune means, even with the favor of illustrious persons, that they may deign to place the matter of our religion in better conditions; thus we all hope that it will be achieved thanks to your diligence, activity and prudence. In the meantime, and in virtue of holy obedience, do not refuse to obey Fr. Joseph of the Visitation in everything that has to do with this matter, so that our wishes may be more easily fulfilled. Remember also that silence helps greatly in carrying on these affairs, and so you must not communicate to anyone what you do, except to those who seek the common good of religion, not their own; for it is not hidden from you with how much care and fervor of spirit I have recommended it and have always been interested in it according to my strength without sparing any sacrifice; for from my earliest years I was a loving child of religion as a dearest mother and I will always be so. May God crown your efforts and grant us what we desire and ask him with enthusiasm for the greater glory of his name, the health of our souls and the usefulness of our neighbor. Given at Collegio Nazareno, April 15, 1655.

Camil of St Jerome, Rector”.

91 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 6-9. Cf. also the letters of Cardinal Orsini and the king (in note 83).

92 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 9-10.

93 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c. II, 4, ff. Father John García’s brief speech was more or less this: “Holy Father, we rejoice at your elevation to the Pontificate, for which we beg his Majesty to preserve your health and to grant you long years for the benefit of the Holy Church. We recommend to You our Religion of the Pious Schools, so that His Holiness may comfort it with the grace of being its Protector, knowing that it is for the help of the Holy Church and of Christianity” (G.C. Caputi, o. c.). The response of Alexander VII, according to the same Fr. Caputi, was: “We are very happy for your joy: ask God for us, that He may assist us, so that we may have a good and excellent government; as for your Religion we will remember it in due time”. The text of the letter delivered on that occasion to Alexander VII by Father Carlo Mazzei of St. Anthony of Padua can be found in “Rassegna di Storia e Bibliografia Scolopica”, XV (1950) 5-7.

94 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, f. 12. As for the short life of this father see L. Picanyol, Epistolario di San Giuseppe Calasanzio, v. IX, pp. 54-55.

95 Read, for example, Duke Leopold’s letter to the two cardinals, uncle and brother respectively, dated June 8, 1655 (Reg. Prov. 18, Etruria 11), the version of which reads as follows: “My Lords, My uncle and my brother: The Fathers of the Pious Schools, whom I protect, have begged me to recommend to you their Religion; because, having suffered for many years the labors that Your Eminences know well, you will be good enough to intercede for them with Your Holiness, from whom they now hope for the opportune relief. I confess that I would feel particular consolation for any advantage they might obtain from it. For this reason, I assure Your Eminences that I would be very grateful for any favor you might be willing to grant me. Professing to Your Eminences my sincere devotion, I kiss the sacred purple.

Florence, June 8, 1655,

Most affectionate servant.

Prince Leopold”.

96 About this character cf. S. Tromp, Prosper Fagnanus Boni (2.7.1588-18.8.1678), in “Gregorianun” 39 (1958) 770-772.

97 The letter of the Grand Duke to his brother Giancarlo de Medici can be seen transcribed in the General Archive (Reg. Prov. Etruria, 11) and reads as follows:

“Emm and Most Reverend. My Lord and dearest brother:

Experience has shown that the Fathers of the Pious Schools have always been of great benefit to the education of youth, and the cities of my states in which they have houses have experienced this well; it is certain that they have made their preservation desirable not only for their doctrine, but also for their goodness and example. For my part, I recommend their interests to Your Excellency’s protection with particular earnestness, begging you to protect them with your good offices before His Holiness. And having learned that this matter has been entrusted to Bishop Fagnani, I hope that with him, too, Your Excellency’s intercession will be of much benefit, if he deigns to affectionately interpose it, as I trust.

And with my customary desire to serve you, I kiss Your Excellency’s hands with all my heart.

Florence, July 10, 1655,

Most affectionate servant and brother,

The Grand Duke of Tuscany”.

In the same place we also find the letter of Ferdinand II to Mr. Fagnani, written on the same day, whose contents are as follows:

“Most Illustrious and Reverend Monsignor:

The Fathers of the Pious Schools have always been of so much benefit and example that it seems that they deserve to be treated with kindness and that their preservation can redound to the public benefit. I for my part gladly interpose my diligences in their favor, begging Your Lordship, to whom I understand you have been entrusted the settlement of their interests, to look upon them with benevolence and to be kind to them, giving them all the facilities and the convenient help; assuring you that any advantage that these Fathers obtain from your hand, will always increase in greater measure my affectionate gratitude towards you. And while I remain with the desire to manifest it to you when the occasion arises for it, I pray to God for Your Lordship all good.

Florence, July 10, 1655.

Your Excellency may ask whatever you please.

The Grand Duke of Tuscany”.

98 The letters of Prince Leopold are in the General Archive (ibidem). The one addressed to Prospero Fagnani reads as follows:

“Most Illustrious and Reverend Monsignor:

With great pleasure I have heard that His Beatitude has entrusted to Your Lordship the task of arranging the religious affairs of the Pious Schools, because I know how much they can expect from Your integrity and prudence, and that they must find at once the convenient respite after so many anxieties they have suffered for a long time… I, who have touched with my hands the innocence of their customs and the uncommon usefulness rendered to society in these states as teachers of youth, beg Your Excellency with all my heart to favor them in all that will be permitted to you, assuring you of my grateful memory, in which I will remain because of your courtesy, and the readiness that you will find in me, always ready to employ myself in your service. Blessed God preserve you and give you prosperity.

Florence, July 10, 1655.

Prince Leopold”.

The text of the letter to Cardinal Giancarlo is as follows: “I wrote to Your Eminence and to our uncle the Cardinal, recommending to Your Eminences the Fathers of the Pious Schools, in order that you might be pleased to offer your favorable services to their religion before His Holiness, from whom they hope to receive the desired consolation, after having suffered for so long the labors which are well known.

But my letter must have arrived there when the said Cardinal was either in bed with his podagra pains or about to get into the carriage to return here; so that the Fathers could not enjoy the graces of Your Eminences. I therefore appear again with these lines before Your Eminence, earnestly begging you [to] deign to accept the patronage of the said Fathers, speaking on their behalf, not to His Holiness, but interceding with Msgr Fagnani, to whom has been entrusted by His Beatitude the settlement of this matter. The Most Serene Grand Duke will experience and I also a special satisfaction, because he knows how useful and at the same time edifying the Piarists have always been for those who have houses in their dominions, and I, who have always been informed of their things, can testify more fully. With this I cordially kiss Your Eminence’s hands.

Florence, July 10, 1655,

Aftmo. brother

Prince Leopold”.

99 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 28-31.

100 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, f. 36.

101 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, ff. 44-46. Among these letters stands out the letter of the Count of Lemos y de Castro, viceroy of Sardinia, sent on August 17 to Don Julio Rospigliosi, which is in the Arch. Secr. Vat. (Princes, 77, f. 146), whose Spanish original reads:

“Most Ill. and Rev. Sir,

By the copy that I am attaching you will see that I am writing to His Holiness asking him to confirm as Religion that of the Pious School, from whose religious this city and Kingdom receives great benefit in the teaching and good education of its youth, being interested in it so much for the public good. It seemed to me to refer it to Your Lordship, so that with your prudence and Christianity you may sponsor this cause with His Holiness in such a way as to achieve the end as I hope, in which, in addition to the service that Your Lordship will render to Our Lord, you will recognize my perpetual obligation. May God preserve the Illustrious and Most Rev. person of Your Lorship for many years.

Cáller and August 17, 1655.

I beg Your Excellency to favor in everything the said Fr Francesco of the Mother of God, who is today the Minister and Superior of the two Houses that this city and Province has, whom… Your Excellency to know and together to favor in everything.

The Count of Lemos and de Castro”.

The letter of the viceroy to Pope Alexander VII is also found in the Arch. Secr. Vat. (Princes, 78, ff. 65 and 171) and reads as follows:

“Most Holy Father

Before I came to serve the King my Lord in the Viceroyalty of this Kingdom, I heard from the Duke of Montalto, my predecessor in it, of the virtue and example of the Fathers of the Pious School, which was beneficial in teaching and good doctrine for this city of which they were called to found and teach their children the good letters and virtue of their institute. After, I have experienced the same thing for nearly two years that I have governed this kingdom; and that in it, especially in the towns and places, which are the greater part of it, there is great need of doctrine and good teaching for the youth, and even for the old; because, although the Fathers of the Company take care to teach it, gloriously fulfilling their holy and similar institute, and through the missions, their schools and the support of their subjects need more than the Fathers of the Pious School. And so up to now there is but one in the towns, and it will be easier for them to found and support themselves in them where, because of the great laziness of the natives, who are not very industrious, it is less likely they could have; and truly, Most Holy Father, there is great barbarism because of the lack of education because from the cities they can only go for five months to the villages to teach them Christian doctrine and confession, and to the missions (where their own priests and rectors have few letters and less care) with respect to the risk of life due to the bad weather, which is even more dangerous than in this Court, where there are mutations. And since the strongest bond for this holy and profitable institute for the Church is that of the vows in Religion (being certain that to be preserved without being so, it seems to have been necessary special providence of God, and of his most pure Mother to whom they are dedicated, being called Pious School of the Mother of God) concurring the great virtue and constancy of the Fathers wish, that the providence and kindness of Y. P. will be good enough to return them to their place in the Church, that although the Ordinaries, to whom they are now subject, will have it as their institute, because they lack the experimental knowledge of the most literal aspects of their rule and Constitutions, it is easy for them not to pay attention to the punctual observance of some that seem to be of little importance, and the immediate Superiors of the Fathers have them as a bail, not only for perfection, but also to maintain regular discipline in those that are of greater importance. And I am persuaded that it will not weigh on the Ordinaries themselves to be relieved of this care, not being the most peculiar to them.

In short, Most Holy Father, all of the above has seemed to me to present to Y.P., because of the obligation I have to this Kingdom, and because of the devotion that the Fathers also have to the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. (a mystery which my King and myself are so devoted and so favored by Y. P.) I beg you to do us this grace, in which, I hope, you will do a great service to your Son and Mother, and a great good to your Church, especially with the exemplars of having been constituted and confirmed in Religion by two Supreme Pontiffs. May Our Lord keep the Most Holy person of Y.P., as the Church needs,

Cáller and August 17, 1655,

Count of Lemos and Castro”.

From the back:

It will be taken into account. Reply briefly. Written on October 30, 1655.

Alexander VII’s reply is found in the Arch. Secr. Vat. (Letters to the Princes 6, f. 276) and translated it reads: “Alexander VII Pope.

Dear son, noble Lord, health and apostolic blessing.

The religious of the Pious Schools who impetrated from Your Highness a recommendation will also easily impetrate from Us our patronage and favor. Since your piety is such that it looks primarily to society and the public good, we wish to give you and grant you all that is in our power. We will therefore diligently consider what we can do of benefit for that religious order and in favor of your requests, and we will gladly grant it both through your entreaties and moved by our benevolence towards you. We want Your Highness to understand that this is no small matter and that what you ask of us is of no small weight, due to your benevolence towards this Holy See.

We affectionately bestow upon you our Apostolic Blessing.

Given in Rome, in Santa Maria Maggiore under the ring of the Fisherman, on the 30th day of October 1655, the first year of our pontificate”.

The letter of the regents of the city of Cáller to Alexander VII is found in the Arch. Vat. Secr. (Princes 78. f. 169) and reads as follows

“Most Holy Father

The pious school Fathers came to found in this city called from it many years ago; and in all this time they have experienced very good effects of softness and good letters both in the education of the Youth and in the frequency of Sacraments that there is in great attendance in their Church. And because they wish to be reduced to their first Institute it has seemed to us worthy of our attention to beg Your Holiness to honor them with the affection of Universal Father of the Church by granting them this mercy if possible, which will be for them the greatest consolation and for us a particular favor.

Cáller and August 15, 1655.

The Regent”.

The answer of Alexander VII is found in the Arch. Secr. Vat. (Letters to the Princes, 60, ff. 276-277) and translated it reads as follows:

“Pope Alexander VII

Beloved children, health and apostolic blessing.

What you ask us about the fathers of the Pious Schools we have received it with great pleasure, for it demonstrates on the one hand your piety and on the other hand the singular commitment and will to transmit it to your children together with instruction. We will therefore take into consideration the institute of the said religious; and in all the benefits that it will reach, as it may seem to us convenient, you can easily persuade yourselves that no little consideration has been given to your supplications. You have so merited by the obsequiousness you have rendered to our benevolence and by your full fidelity of devotion, that we desire to bestow upon you the greatest number of proofs of such benevolence.

Desiring first of all to grant this to the charity with which we embrace you and to your benevolence towards us, we ask God for your entire happiness and we affectionately grant you the Apostolic Blessing.

Given at Rome, in Santa Maria Maggiore, under the ring of the Fisherman, on the 30th day of October 1655, the first year of our pontificate”.

102 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 47-48.

103 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 52-53.

104 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff, 50-51.

105 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4 f. 54.

106 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, f. 55. About D. H. Farnese see Moroni , Dizionario Ecclesiastico XXIII, 214.

107 These letters are found in the Arch. Secr. Vat. (Princes, 78, ff. 210, 211, 261); the first, translated from Italian, reads:

“Most Holy Father:

The pastoral zeal and solicitous care that my uncle Cardinal, of happy memory, always had to procure the salvation of the souls entrusted to him and to promote the true and holy Catholic religion in his extensive bishopric of Olmutz, continually stimulated him to seek efficient means to carry out his holy desire. Among them, one of the principal ones was to call from Italy the Fathers of the Pious Schools and to make a foundation in his dominions. And he was not at all disappointed, because both in the diligent instruction of the youth and also with their exemplary life they have obtained and still obtain so abundant and so excellent fruit wherever they are, that the princes and lords are very edified and the subjects are very benefited, in such a way that there are many who desire and seek them. Your Holiness’ predecessor, Innocent X, planned to arrange things differently and to reduce the Institute from an Order to a Congregation. This was received by all of us with deep feeling and intimate sorrow, both because in these regions no such title or state of “congregation” is given, and also because in this way the instruction of youth, so necessary in these regions –where there are still some remnants of heresy– is reduced to a great extent, and other benefits that procure for souls are reduced. Consequently, both because they were founded at first in my possessions, and also because it is evident that it is very difficult –not to say impossible– for them to continue in such a state of congregation, without a head, rendering the service and the general benefit already begun, which these good Fathers procure in all the places where they are, I have wanted myself by my own voluntary impulse, by the imperative of conscience, to humbly beseech Your Holiness, with all the affection that I am capable of, that with the holy and paternal zeal with which you govern Christendom, you deign to take them under your powerful protection and to reintegrate their holy Institute to its first condition. Thus they will be able without hindrance to encourage themselves all the more and become more enthusiastic about the good that they do everywhere for the benefit of the holy Catholic religion, and I do not doubt that they will do in the future, since it has never been heard since they have come to these lands that they have given scandal, nor the least thing contrary to the religious state; on the contrary, they have always given an example in accordance with the regular life.

The hereditary devotion and submission that I and my whole house profess to that Holy See induces me to hope that I will enjoy the fruit of these my humble supplications and the graces of Your Holiness in favor of these Fathers and their institute for the glory of God and to eternalize in me and my descendants the due and devout reverence for Your Holiness, whose most holy feet I kiss in prostration.

Vienna, September 8, 1655,

Of Your Holiness, most humble servant

The Prince of Dietrichstein.

On the back: Viewed by the Holy Father.

The letter of Prince Ferdinand reads as follows:

“Most Holy Father:

The Prince my father, of happy memory, by the great experience gained during many years of the goodness, exemplary life and in particular of the fruit obtained in these regions of ours by the Fathers of the Pious Schools, not so much in the instruction of the youth as in the promotion of the true Catholic faith, motu proprio and by imperative of conscience he begged Your Holiness to deign paternally to have them recommended and to raise them from the state of almost prostration in which they now find themselves; knowing very well the benign inclination of Your Holiness towards them, and seeing that it is very difficult for them to continue to do the goodness begun in these lands. But having died, he has not been able to enjoy the fruit of his most humble prayers nor the effects of Your Holiness’ supreme clemency in their favor. Therefore, having no less desire than he had for their promotion and consolidation for the public benefit, I have not wanted nor have I been able to stop presenting my most humble supplications to the feet of Your Holiness in their favor, in accordance with the most pious intention of my father, so that I may at least in this, through the supreme benignity of Your Holiness, console myself with the acquisition of the grace that his blessed soul was hoping for. What were the motives on which his hopes were founded –and at the same time, I trust, mine– Your Holiness will have seen from his letters, to which I humbly refer. From the paternal and most pious zeal of Your Holiness can derive nothing but effects similar to itself. Prostrate, I kiss your most holy feet.

Of Your Holiness Most Humble and Most Devoted Servant

Ferdinand, Prince of Dietrichstein”.

From the back: Reply on the first occasion.

108 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 58-61. On Cardinal Corrado see Hierarchia Catholica IV, p, 30 y L. Von Pastor, Geschichte der Päpste XIV, 172. On Gualtero Gualterio see Forcella, Iscrizioni delle Chiese e d’altri edifici di Roma, III, 485, n. 1182,

109 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., 11, 4, ff. 69-74.

110 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 86-90.

111 A few years ago, two memorials written on this subject were discovered in the Vatican Library (Cod. Ottob. 2465^1), presented by the Piarists to Alexander VII. The first of them, translated, reads as follows:

“The Institute of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, Most Blessed Father, is necessary for the service of God, since it is dedicated only to pious works, fasts, abstinences, prayers, the service of churches and other devout practices, as well as to the benefit of Christian society and its promotion which principally consists in the good education of children from the earliest years, not only in letters but also –and what is most important– in the holy fear of God and Christian piety, the ministry proper to the Pious Schools. By this means they have made and continue to make great progress not only in Italy, but also in the most remote provinces, particularly as regards the conversion of heretics; to the point that the kings and princes of Christendom testify in their favor and desire it and plead for it to Your Holiness.

The said Institute in the state of congregation in which it is at present, it is impossible to be maintained without the bond of indispensable vows, at least simple, without a head to govern it, without communication between the houses and totally subject to the ordinaries; this is evident from the austerity of their life; for they live poorly on alms, wear a coarse habit, walk barefoot, sleep badly, rise before daylight for mental prayer, which is repeated in the evening, discipline themselves three times and fast two days a week, serve in churches and devote themselves to the primary education of children, instructing them and then accompanying them to their homes, a task considered so vile and despicable. Accordingly, it should be well considered that not all the workers can be in such a state of perfection that no one is tempted to leave the Institute as long as there is freedom to go out as he pleases; this can be suggested to him by the common Enemy through any little displeasure that may occur. And the superior will not be able to cultivate the harvest with good example and due punctuality when he has subjects who live as they please and are not bound to obedience.

Communication between the houses is equally necessary. First, so that they have the necessary subjects to supply in the ministry when it is needed, not only in the big cities, but also in the small localities in which perhaps the institute is more necessary. Moreover, because of the disorders and dissensions that can arise among the brothers because of their management of the infernal Enemy, in which case separation and transfer is necessary to remedy all the inconveniences. If there is then no communication between the houses, it is necessary either that the two leave the congregation or that they live in it with perpetual restlessness and with the danger of greater scandals.

The bond of the vows is also necessary, in order to render due obedience to the superior; that of chastity, as a restraint that helps to live with all circumspection in a ministry dangerous to human frailty; and that of poverty, first of all because of the austerity of life that they lead, and also so that they will not have occasion to betray a work of God done for his love, without reward, by asking the students or their parents for money or anything else.

Nor should the institute be totally subjected to the ordinaries, because it is the case that some of them, extending jurisdiction, have served as despotic masters of the poor religious and of the furnishings of their houses as their own, have appointed superiors, even lay ones, in their own way, and have made use of them even in the kitchen; others have allowed some of the congregation to wander about in various places and others to leave the habit, without apostolic license; and others –what is the last straw– have allowed them to marry to the great detriment of the poor congregation, which has not been able to remedy it. For this reason, with a holy criterion Clement VIII of happy memory did not submit the congregation of Blessed John of God to the ordinaries, but only in some serious cases and perhaps in consideration of the fact that they were mere laymen, to whom study and minor and sacred orders are forbidden, which otherwise perhaps would have made them exempt.

All these reasons make this institute of the Fathers of the Pious Schools –founded on austerity and poverty, and on work that is vile in the eyes of men– very different from the institute of the Fathers of St. Philip Neri, who live on large incomes, with magnificent buildings, comforts and servitude, and devoted to noble work, all of which are suitable to keep every Christian within it; while on the contrary, the poor religious supplicants, without the bond of the vows to confirm them, without a head to govern them, without communication between the houses for their maintenance, and without a protector to defend them, find it impossible for their poor congregation to be strengthened.

Therefore, prostrate at His Sacred Feet again, they beg You to deign to grant them to live in the state of congregation, as they were founded at the beginning by Paul V of happy memory, confirming them with other graces and privileges that Your Holiness will deign to grant them, to whom we kiss humbly prostrate sacred feet”.

The other memorandum, by the same handwriting, reads as follows (f. 32r)

“Since Your Holiness, inspired by the Holy Spirit, does not feel inclined to restore the congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools to the state of religious Order, and having deigned to express the intention of granting them some grace, the poor orators desist from their request to become an Order and humbly beg You to deign to establish them as a Congregation and to grant them for the necessary stability the simple vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, granting them a head to govern them in order to achieve the necessary union and communication among the houses; as founded by Pope Paul V of blessed memory in the state of the Congregation also conferring on them other graces and privileges that seem useful to Your Holiness and necessary for their institute, as Clement VIII of blessed memory granted to the Congregation of Blessed John of God, and also the Supreme Pontiffs Paul V, Gregory XV and Urban VIII to the same Congregation of the Pious Schools. They hope to request this from Your Holiness for the reasons given in the attached folio, if Your Holiness will be pleased to pay them loving attention out of your singular piety. They will receive all this as a favor from His Holiness, to whom God etc.”.

To these memorials should be added a third one found in the Annals of Fr. Bartlik (ff. 422-423); but we do not give its text here since it differs only in some detail from the previous ones. This last memorial however was probably not delivered to the Holy See. The Italian text of this memorial is in the General Archives (Reg. Rel. 115, ff. 535-536). Other outlines of memorials on the subject are in the same archive (Reg. Rel. 115, ff. 76-81; 539).

For the rest, the official decree of the particular Congregation (Arch. Secr. Vat., Sea. Brev. 1150, f. 5001), dated October 12, summarizes the graces requested by the Piarists in this way:

“On October 12, 1655, the particular Congregation was held on the matter of the Pious Schools by order of His Holiness, by their Eminences Ginetti and Corradi, with the intervention of Msgrs. Farnese and Gualteri, with the absence of His Eminence Albizzi, who was summoned by His Holiness. In it, the said fathers were heard and their petitions set forth in the supplication, which had been presented to His Holiness, were examined, and principally the following petitions:

lº) That in case it should not seem good to His Holiness to restore the said clerics to the regular state of the congregation with solemn vows, it be deigned at least to grant them to be bound with simple vows and with the oath to remain perpetually in the said congregation, from which only the Roman Pontiff may dispense them under pain of incurring apostasy.

2°) That the clerics of the said congregation may be promoted to holy orders by title of the same congregation.

3°) That the said clerics be granted the faculty of electing the General Superior and other superiors to govern the congregation, together with communication between the houses and between the provinces.

4°) That the authority of the local Ordinaries be defined, so that the spiritual as well as the temporal government of the congregation may not be disturbed.

112 Cf. Arch. Secr. Vat., Secr. Brev., 1150, f. 500r.

113 The text of the decree is the following (Arch. Secr. Vat., Secr. Brev., 1150, f. 500 r):

“However, since the said ministry, while being very useful, is also very dangerous, it has been resolved that those who have not reached the age of eighteen, are of good family and reputation, have testimonials from their ordinary about their birth, obligations and suitability, and are considered fit in his judgment to carry out the ministry, should not be received as novices in the said congregation. The Prefect to direct the schools should be appointed only a grave and prudent priest, at least thirty years of age, of good virtue and piety; the other teachers should also be virtuous priests of advanced age. It has also been resolved, if it seems good to Your Holiness, that the said congregation and its houses may be granted the right to receive fixed annuities from the municipalities or from others who have requested them, provided they do not possess fields, vineyards, houses and other stable goods. For the rest, the old Constitutions should be observed in everything that is adapted to the state of a secular congregation and the privileges, graces and exemptions granted at another time to the congregation and which are not contrary to this decree should be renewed.

And since the religious now living as professed in the said religion, suppressed by Innocent X of happy memory, might claim that they are not obliged to take the said oath of perseverance in the said secular congregation, each of them is warned to declare within three months whether they wish to take the oath or pass to another religion.”

On the back:

November 8, 1655.

The Holy Father has agreed to the issuance of the Brief according to the resolution of the Congregation which is included. In form.

114 The translated text of the memorial given to Cardinal Orsini (Bibl. Apost. Vat., Cod. Ottobon. 24651, f. 35r) is the following:

“Most Eminence and Rev. Sir,

The Fathers of the Pious Schools humbly beg Your Eminence to support them before His Eminence Corrado and His Excellency Gualteri, so that, in consideration of your favor, in the Brief that is being prepared, among the graces that the Holiness of Our Lord grants to the applicants, he may be pleased to honor them with the title given to them since the first Brief of Pope Paul V, which says: Congregation of Clerics Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, without introducing the word secular; and to urge the expedition of the Brief, so that the poor applicants may receive in these feasts a little consolation from the Lord, to whom they ask for Your Eminence the greatest prosperity.

To whom God etc.”.

115 See the end of note 113. Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 86-92.

116 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 93-98.

117 The draft of this Brief is in the Arch. Secr. Vat. (Secr. Brev., 1150, ff. 496r-498v.) and the summary according to G. Gualteri, secretary of Briefs, was this (f. 504v.); “His Holiness confirms the reduction of the Congregation of the Pious Schools to the secular state and has determined that those admitted up to now and those who enter the said congregation take the three simple vows with the oath of perpetual permanence after two years of probation to be taken by those who are admitted from now on, the Apostolic See reserving to itself the dispensation from the vows and the oath. It grants that only a certain number of clerics, to be determined by the Protector, may be promoted to Holy Orders. It grants to these clerics the faculty of electing the Provincials and reserves for now the faculty of appointing the General and his Assistants according to his approval. It designates the Vicar of Rome who is in each case, to be the Protector of the congregation. It forbids the local Ordinaries to interfere in what concerns the administration of the houses and the affairs of the said congregation and the regime of persons; but in what concerns the schools and in all other matters it subjects the congregation to the Ordinaries, who must visit the schools every year and punish those who behave badly in their professional activity; they can also approve and dismiss the prefects of the schools. And it orders that in order to receive novices, candidates must be at least eighteen years old and possess testimonials from the Ordinaries; and that the prefects of the schools must be at least 32 years old and the teachers 28 years old. It mandates that their stable goods be sold and that the price be invested in bank securities or shares. It exempts the congregation from attending processions and forbids others to use the denomination of Pious Schools. In the rest it orders that the ancient Constitutions of the congregation be observed, which conform to the present situation, and establishes that the professed clerics of the congregation, before it was reduced to the secular state, declare –within three months, if they live in Italy, and six months if they are outside Italy, from the publication of the present constitution– if they want to take the oath indicated or prefer to pass to another religion; after this time it will be presumed that they have taken the oath. Responds to the resolution of the particular congregation.

Placet A.

G. Gualteri”

The printed text of the Brief is found in the Bullarium Romanum, Turin, t. XVI, pp. 118-122. An outline or sketch of this Brief is in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Ottob. 24651, ff. 27 and 44r; in the margin of it we read some annotations by Cardinal Giacomo Corradi,

118 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 112-115.

119 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. By his part, Fr. Camillo Scassellati sent a memorial of supplication to Cardinal Santiago Corradi (Bibl. Apost. Vat., Cod. Ottobon. 24651, ff. 33r and 40v), in favor of his appointment; translated it reads as follows:

“Most Eminent and Rev. Lord:

Since the Holiness of Our Lord should appoint the General of the Congregation of the Fathers of the Pious Schools, which has been put on its feet again with so much compassion by His Holiness, it is humbly begged of Your Excellency to deign to take into consideration Fr. Camillo Scassellati of St. Jerome, a native of Urbino, 50 years of age, thirty-one of which he has spent in the congregation, having been a professor of humanities and rhetoric for many years in Naples, Genoa, Pisa, Narni and Rome; He has been master of the young religious in the said congregation and superior of the house of Pisa, of the novitiate of Rome and today he is rector of Collegio Nazareno, subject to the auditors of the Rota, a position in which he was placed ten years ago by Your Excellency when you held the office of auditor, following the report of the Father Founder of the congregation. And having held these offices he has never ceased to teach, since he possesses the virtue which perhaps makes him worthy of such a dignity and of the graces of Your Eminence. To whom God etc. From the back: To His Eminence and Most Reverend Cardinal Corradi.

Fr Camillo Scassellati of St. Jerome, of the Fathers of the Pious Schools”.

Shortly before, however, Fr. Giuseppe Pennazzi delivered to the same Cardinal Corradi a memorandum in which he mainly promoted the candidacy of Fr. Camillo Scassellati, but, at the same time, changes in some piarist custums were asked. Its content is the following:

“Most Em and Rev. Sir,

Giuseppe Pennazzi of St. Eustace, priest of the Congregation of the Pious Schools, presently Prefect of the Collegio Nazareno, aware of the forthcoming readjustment of the said Congregation and moved only by the zeal of the service of God, humbly dares to present the following, in order to contribute to the permanence of the Institute:

1º) It should be forbidden that these Fathers go barefoot to avoid immodesty, in keeping with what a purpurate said: You, Fathers, who deal so frequently with your neighbor, you should even cover your hands.

2.°) It should be forbidden to accompany the children, because this work of charity only serves to relax the Institute, given the freedom of the one who accompanies to be able to go with this pretext wherever he pleases, without the knowledge of the superiors; and for the same reason the authority of the superiors is diminished.

3º) They should not be allowed to have stable goods, to escape the hatred of the world, which preys on the religious who possess them; since it is enough for the Fathers to have an annual income.

4º) The General and the Assistants should be authorized to moderate the rigor of the old Constitutions, which they deem impossible to fulfill, notwithstanding the prohibition of not being able to change them outside of the General Chapter, with the agreement of five-sixths of its members.

5º) Schoolmasters should be priests, and no one could be superior if he had not worked nine years in the school, so that this would serve as a stimulus for the young men to apply themselves to their studies and to lead an upright life.

6º) For this first time, and in order to avoid expenses and long journeys, the Superior General and the four assistants should be appointed by the cardinals and prelates in charge of the readjustment of the Congregation.

As for the subjects, it is submitted for your consideration that the following would be suitable: Fr. Francesco Castelli of the Purification, 72 years old, former assistant, appointed by Gregory XV of happy memory; Fr. Giuseppe Fedele of the Visitation, 55 years old, who has been provincial of Rome, Naples and Genoa for 10 years, besides holding other offices, and has taught for twenty years; Camillo Scassellati of St. Jerome, rector of Collegio Nazareno. He was appointed by Your Eminence when you held the office of Auditor of the Holy Rota, and for ten years he has been teaching at the said college, a ministry he has held for more than thirty years, in addition to other governmental responsibilities. All three are subjects of excellent manners, very practical in government, versed in different sciences and worthy of any office.

Therefore, the petitioner wished to make all this known to Your Excellency, knowing how eager he is to educate the youth well and imbue them with the fear of God along with modesty. May God, etc.

Behind: To His Eminence and Rev. Cardinal Corradi, Datario.

Father Giuseppe Pennazzi of the Pious Schools.

120 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, f. 121.

121 Cf. Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), ff. 1-3 (Reg. Gen. 8).

122 See the article of Sebastián Tromp, en “Gregorianum” 39 (1958) 770-772.

123 Cf. Moroni, o. c., XXIII, 214-215.

124 See M. Heimbucher, Die Orden und Kongregationen der Katholischen Kirche, Paderborn, 1934^3, vol. II, pp. 52 and 664; also AAS XXVII (1935) pp. 482-483. Vermeersch-I. Creusen, Epitome Iuris Canonici, ed. VII, 1499, vol. 1, p. 441, where it is said: “… but since the end of the eighteenth century no new religion has obtained solemn vows”. In a note, however, he points out: “This is what is commonly said. But the truth is that in 1848 solemn vows were granted to a small institute of religious of Verona”.

Cf. Gambarri, E., S. M. M., in “Eph. Iuris Canon.”, 1947, 34f,

125 As for the day of this conversation, cf. the Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), April 21, 1656: “The audience was held before His Holiness in a very dignified manner; we were listened to with all clemency”. -On the circumstances of this colloquy see G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, f. 131. The speech pronounced on this occasion by Father John García was the following, according to Father Caputi: “Holy Father, we are at the feet of Your Holiness to thank you for the favor granted to our Religion, which, being dead, you have condescended to resurrect her. All of us will always be obliged to pray for your health, begging You to deign to help her, because she is a tender plant and needs your holy protection, to which she is entrusted, confiding that you will accept her, as other pontiffs, who have always taken special care of her, have done”. The Pope’s answer, according to Fr. Caputi, was more or less this: “Accept for now what the Apostolic See has granted you, and then in time we will grant you other graces. See also what you need, and we will gladly help you. We have gladly adopted this form of Congregation, so that it will not be said that what our predecessor did is being distorted. See how to govern it with observance of the Constitutions approved by us. We have an interest in its propagation and we will remember it particularly, because its ministry is more than necessary.

According to a manuscript of Fr. E. Cavada, Crónica de esta nuestra Provincia de Sardegna. Part One, From its beginning to the year 1694 (Hist. Bibl. 24, f. 43), the answer of Alexander VII was: “ Take heed to what we have determined about your things and be at ease; because we have hesitated and it has been necessary to take into consideration what the Supreme Pontiffs of the past have done. We appointed a congregation of cardinals and prelates to take care of your affairs; they informed us and according to their report and the inspiration of the superior angels who enlighten the inferior ones and of the guardian angel who assists us, we judged to resolve things in the best way”.

126 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, f. 131. L. Picanyol, Le Scuole Pie rilevate allo stato di Congregazione con voti semplici. “Rassegna di Storia. e Bibliografia Scolopica, XV (1950) 13-15, where the text of the mentioned letter is found. Picanyol also assures us that Fr. Mazzei was among those who received the Supreme Pontiff at that time. Fr. Caputi says nothing about the presence of Fr. Mazzei.

127 Cf. Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), April 19, 1656.

128 Cf. Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), March 27, 1656.

129 Father García’s circular letter of March 18 is in the General Archive (Reg. Gen. 24, 1) and translated from Italian it reads as follows: “Pax Christi; H. D. M. having granted us from heaven by his infinite mercy, through his Most Holy Vicar on earth, the readjustment of our poor congregation, and having obtained for it a very favorable and ample Brief, a copy of which will be sent as soon as possible, we deem it convenient to report this to YY RR, so that you may rejoice in the Lord and also know the result of the negotiations. On last Sunday, the 12th of this month, His Eminence and Most Reverend Cardinal Marcio Ginetti, Vicar of Our Lord and Bishop of Albano, who was previously elected Protector of our Congregation, deigned to come to our house of San Pantaleo, where all the Fathers and Brothers of the Pious Schools of the Borgo and of the Collegio Nazareno were present. Gathered after the bell was rung, His Eminence entered the oratory and ordered the apostolic Brief to be published first; he dismissed all the laymen and after giving a brief, devout and erudite sermon, he published the Major superiors appointed for the moment by His Holiness for three years in this form, that is to say,

Very Rev. Fr. Superior General: John García of Jesus Mary,

First Assistant: Fr. Francesco Castelli of the Purification.

Second Assistant: Giuseppe Fedele of the Visitation

Third Assistant: Fr. Gian Stefano Spinola of the Mother of God.

Fourth Assistant: Camillo Scassellati of St. Jerome.

Right there, according to the formula of our Constitutions, they all rendered obedience to Father General, kneeling one by one and kissing his hand, at the same time that the hymn Te Deum laudamus was sung in thanksgiving; which YY. RR. will also do in thanksgiving for the favor received.

Therefore, Y. R. will communicate all this to these fathers and brothers, assuring them that our intention is only for the good and public good of the congregation and the usefulness of our neighbor. We have the firm intention of establishing among ourselves peace and religious union with due concord, meeting the taste and satisfaction of each one as far as possible, always walking with the simplicity and prudence that should exist among religious. The Lord has made us rise again, so that in the future we may all strive with a new honest and virtuous way of living for our own benefit, the greater honor and glory of God and the usefulness and health of our neighbor. May the Lord grant it to us all. And finally, we ask God to grant YY RR all good things.

Rome, March 18, 1656

Of YY RR. – to which we add that the superior of this house is confirmed by us until further notice, most humble servants in the Lord.

John Mary of Jesus Mary, General

Francis of the Purification, Assistant

Joseph of the Visitation, Assistant

Camillus of St. Jerome, Assistant”.

130 Cf. the response of Fr. Camillo Scassellati to the memorandum written against him on the question of the deliberative vote of the General Assistants (Reg. Cal. 69, phase 6, lib. 2).

131 The supplicatory memorandum to obtain this Brief, presented by the Piarists to the Supreme Pontiff, is found in the Arch. Vat. Secr. (Secr. Brev. 1154, f, 516r) and reads as follows:

“Most Blessed Father, The undersigned General and Assistants of the Congregation of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, chosen by Your Holiness, humbly beseech Your Beatitude to deign to order that the Brief of the said election be issued and to grant to the General and Assistants the faculty of electing provincials, rectors of the houses and other superiors, according to the provisions of their Constitutions; and that in the government of the congregation the Assistants have with the General a decisive vote.

All this they will receive as a grace from Your Holiness, whom God, etc., will grant.

Superior General: John García of Jesus Mary

First Assistant: Francesco Castelli of the Purification

Second Assistant: Giuseppe Fedele of the Visitation

Third Assistant: Gian Stefano Spinola of the Mother of God

Fourth Assistant: Camillo Scassellati of St. Jerome”

The draft of this Brief is found in the same volume 154, 515r and v, and translated from Latin it reads as follows: “Pope Alexander VII for perpetual memory.

From the foresight of the Roman Pontiff should come that the congregations of ecclesiastical persons wisely established in the Church of God be placed for their government in the hands of suitable superiors, by whose diligent efforts the congregations may be prosperously governed in accordance with their healthy institutions. Therefore, desiring to watch opportunely over the good of the secular congregation of our beloved sons the Clerics Poor of the Mother of the Pious Schools, who lack a Superior General and other superiors, and wishing to honor at the same time with special favors and graces our dear sons John García of Jesus Mary, Francis Castelli of the Purification, Joseph Fedele of the Visitation, John Stephen Spinola of the Mother of God and Camillus Scassellati of St. Jerome, and absolving and considering each one of them hereby absolved from any sentence of excommunication, suspension and interdict, and from other ecclesiastical sentences, from censures and penalties a iure or ab homine, originated on any occasion or for any cause, if in any way they had incurred in any of them, and only to achieve the effect of the present Brief, we appoint, constitute and elect according to the same with our apostolic authority, Fr. John García, Superior General; Fr. Francis Castelli, first assistant; Fr. Joseph Fedele, second assistant; Fr. John Stephen Spínola, third assistant; Fr. Camillus Scassellati, fourth assistant of the said secular congregation for the next three years. And we decree and declare that the aforesaid four assistants have a decisive vote together with Fr. John García, the Superior General, in what concerns the regime and government of the said congregation. We grant to the Superior General and the assistants the necessary and opportune faculty to appoint the provincials, the rectors of the houses and the other superiors of the congregation, in accordance with the norms of its Constitutions. We further decree that the present charter be and remain firm, valid and efficient, and that it be in full favor of its present and future addressees; and thus in conformity with it the ordinary and delegated judges, including the auditors of the causes of the Apostolic Palace, should judge and sentence; and every action against it brought by any authority, knowingly or ignorantly, shall be invalid and null and void. Notwithstanding the apostolic constitutions and ordinances, nor, insofar as necessary, the statutes of the said congregation, of its provinces and of any houses, even if ratified by oath, apostolic confirmation or any other authority; nor the customs, privileges and indults, nor the apostolic letters granted, confirmed or renewed in any way contrary to the foregoing. And deeming that their contents are fully and sufficiently expressed in the present letter, We specially and expressly abrogate for this time only and for the effect of the present Brief each and every one of those documents, which otherwise shall remain in force, as well as any others which may be to the contrary.

Given at Rome, near St. Peter’s under the ring of the Fisherman, on the 4th day of April 1656, the first year of our Pontificate”.

132 Cf. Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), in the respective days. Regarding the written memorandum and the session held before Cardinal Vicario, we read the following: “On February 25, 1657, two days before the decree of the schools copied on the back, Father General and the four assistants were summoned by the Protector, Cardinal Ginetti, Vicar of Our Lord, on the occasion of the memorandum read to His Eminence on behalf of the four assistants two days before the decree of the schools copied on the back. It was signed by the four assistants and its content was as follows:

On the back: “To His Most Eminence and Rev. Lord Cardinal Ginetti. For the assistants of the Congregation of the Pious Schools. On the inside: “The undersigned assistants of the Congregation of the Pious Schools, most humble subjects of Your Eminence, inform you that every day they experience new difficulties in their office, because they encounter great resistance from Father General regarding the fulfillment of the Brief; also, because in the proposals or elections of superiors and in everything that concerns the good government of the congregation, the aforementioned Father General does not want any decision to be taken by secret vote or by scrutiny; and finally, because he does not want to sign the resolutions sometimes taken by word of mouth, even though the assent of Your Eminence has been obtained. Therefore, they reverently beg Your Eminence to deign to give in this matter the orders that you judge necessary and opportune. All this etc. To whom God etc.

Francis of the Purification, Assistant General.

Joseph of the Visitation, Assistant General.

John Stephen of the Mother of God, Assistant General.

Camillus of St Jerome, Assistant General.

Therefore, having presented and read Fr Francis, Assistant; Joseph, Assistant; Camillus, Assistant, the aforementioned memorial to the Most Reverend Protector, on Saturday, His Excellency ordered to call Father General and the four Assistants to appear before him for the following Sunday at twenty hours, as mentioned above. According to this, on the second Sunday of Lent, February 25, 1657, at twenty o’clock, Fr. General with the four assistants were at the palace of the Emmo. Protector, in the Mattei of Santa Lucia, where once the five were before H. E., the Emmo. Protector sent for Mr. Camilo Piazza, his auditor and asked him, “What is going on with these Fathers?” Piazza replied, “These four Fathers Assistants with their signature and vote have agreed to give the supreme government of the province of Naples to a certain father; with which the Most Rev. General does not agree with this, because there was a fellow there, who was also here and now he is again in Narni”. To this the Cardinal said that it was not relevant. And then he reasoned in this way: “Fathers, in congregation make a proposal. Then let each one say in the Lord according to his conscience what he thinks, and then submit it to a secret vote”. And turning to Father General, he said to him: “Father General, if you do not obtain a result in conformity with your opinion, be patient; this is what the Brief says, and this is also what Our Lord told me in the penultimate consistory that the Brief had been made and that is how He wanted it to be fulfilled; the part that obtains the majority must prevail”. Father General wanted to reply, but the Cardinal imposed himself with great energy and efficacy, saying moreover: “And for these things do not see me again; let it be done in this way: the vote of the majority shall prevail”. And he also said to the assistants: “You are priests; I believe that you have very good intentions and that you will do all things for the good of the congregation, in the service of God and according to conscience.” This is how it was ratified by all of them by word of mouth. But in the first congregation that was held, which was on February 27, 1657, as indicated above, Father General did not submit to this order, but left the congregation so as not to give the secret vow as the Cardinal said.

133 Cf. Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), March 17, 1657.

134 See the Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), passim. See also at least the titles of the documents that deal with these dubious questions that were in the General Archives, according to the inventory of Father O. Manetti (p. 17): N. 170. Collection of various memorandums presented by the new Fr. General and his assistants to the Pope, to Cardinal Vicar, to the Secretary of Briefs, for the issue of the Brief of their election, for the faculty of electing other superiors, and for dispensation from being able to employ our religious in schools before the age of twenty-eight. 1656. N. 171 Various doubts about the above-mentioned Brief of reintegration, and opinion of Monsignor Agustin de’Belli, 1656. N. 173. Opinion and annotations of John Simon Turnio about the same Brief. 1656. N. 174. Similar observations and annotations by Fr. Gabriel of the Annunciation, rector of Genoa. N. 175. Various doubts proposed by letter to the new Father General by the Provincial of Genoa concerning the said Brief, with the answers in the margin, May 6, 1656. N. 176. Doubts and observations of Father Joseph of the Visitation concerning the various formulas of profession. N. 177. Deed and vote of the lawyer Pedro Pifferi on some points of the above-mentioned Brief of Alexander VII. 1656. N. 179. Observations and opinion of Bishop Bernardino Panicola regarding the Brief. N. 180. Memorial presented to the Pope for the declaration of some points of his alluded Brief. 1656.

135 See for example the following letter of Don Pietro Vidoni, Nuncio in Poland, addressed on April 9, 1658 to the Secretary of State (Arch. Secr. Vat., Nunciature of Poland, 68, f. 171): “Most Eminent and Rev. Sir, my venerable Lord

The Holiness of Our Lord with his infinite zeal for the erection of the Fathers of the Pious Schools as a congregation wanted to prescribe for them, in addition to other good determinations, that everyone who is to be received into the congregation should first present himself to the bishop and be at least 18 years old; and that the teachers for the instruction of the youth should likewise present themselves to the ordinary, before whom they will make their profession of faith, and they should be at least 28 years old. Since, however, bishops are scarce in these regions and are generally at a very great distance, it is difficult to put these things into practice, apart from the travel expenses that would be involved in calling on them. It is also very detrimental that the teachers have to be of such an age, since there are no subjects. Therefore, they would like it to be enough if the masters were twenty years old and approved by their provincial and assistants, and also that novices could be received at 16 instead of 18 years of age, because at this later age in the world they become less docile and it is more difficult to learn the ministry. For this reason, the fathers of the three foundations they have here in Poland have begged me to beg His Holiness to deign to dispense them from the above-mentioned requests. I, after making known their desire, refer myself to the most holy deliberations of Our Lord, being able in the meantime to testify that these fathers are here of much edification by their charity and good example. And it is certain that they would spread to many parts of the kingdom with an increase in the service of God and the benefit of souls if they had more workers, since they are much sought after by these gentlemen for new foundations, which they cannot accept for the aforementioned reason. I humbly bow before Your Eminence

Warsaw, April 9, 1658”.

The reply of the Secretary of State to this letter is the following (Arch. Secr. Vat., Nunciature of Poland, 180, ff. 251-252): “The Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars was informed by order of Our Lord of what Y.L. has recently suggested to me concerning the graces desired by the Fathers of the Pious Schools with a view to the propagation of their Institute in that kingdom. The said congregation has replied on the matter as can be seen from the tenor of the attached letter. I refer to its contents and, wishing Your Excellency continued prosperity, I offer and place myself at your disposal with all my heart.

Rome, June 22, 1658”.

Unfortunately, we do not have the aforementioned reply from the Sacred Congregation.

136 Regarding the formula of the oath of perseverance, see the Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), April 21, 1656: “The following formula was prescribed and sent to the Provincials to pronounce the oath:

I, N. N. by the mercy of God and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin swear that I will persevere all the days of my life in the Congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools. Rome, on the N. day of the month N. of the year 1656.

As regards the formula of profession for clerics, see the same Minutes of the General Congregation, July 18, 1656:

I, N. of S., N., in the world of N. of N., of N., N. years old, make my profession in the Congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, and promise to Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to the Mother of God ever Virgin Mary, and to You, R. Fr., who represent God in the name of the M. R. Fr. N. General and all his legitimate successors, the three simple vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, and, according to this, a special dedication to the education of youth in conformity with the Brief of Paul V, substantially embodied in our Constitutions.

I further swear that I will persevere all the time of my life in the said congregation according to the Brief of Alexander VII. This profession and these vows –by renouncing now freely and totally the possible obstacles that may exist– I consider them firm, valid and ratified and I want them to be so forever. In witness whereof I sign the foregoing, written by my own handwriting. N. on the day… of the month… of the year…

I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all the people; in the court of the house of the Lord, in the midst of you, Jerusalem. I, N. of S. N., sign the foregoing by my own handwriting. (N. B. This formula was later slightly modified in the General Chapter of 1659, as is evident from the Minutes of the said General Chapter [Rome, 1936, pp. 14-151).

The formula for the profession of the brothers is:

I, N. of N., called in the world N., son of N., N. years old, make my profession as a lay brother in the Congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, and promise to Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to You, Father N, in the name and on behalf of the R. Fr. N., Minister General and his legitimate successors, and I make the simple vows of Obedience, Poverty and Chastity for the whole time of my life. I also promise and make the fourth vow not to aspire to the clerical state, nor to have any active voice nor passive, nor wear tonsure or hood until my death (according to the Brief of Pope Urban VIII). I further swear to persevere all the time of my life in the said congregation according to the Brief of Pope Alexander VII. This profession, these vows and this oath, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, all of which I now freely and entirely renounce, I understand and want to be valid and ratified at all times. In witness whereof I sign the foregoing by my own handwriting at N. on the… of the month… of the year…

I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all the people, in the midst of you, Jerusalem.

I, N. of N., sign the foregoing in my own handwriting.

N. B. This formula, slightly modified, was confirmed at the General Chapter of 1659, as is recorded in the Minutes of the same (p. 15).

137 Cf. Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), after July 27, 1656, where the names of the deceased can be found; see also B. Bartlik, o. c., ff . 437-438.

138 This list appears in the Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), at the beginning of the year 1657. According to this catalog, the number of religious at the end of 1656 was 307; the number requested was 742.

139 That is to say, that of Calizzano in 1650; that of Nocera dei Pagani in 1653; that of Castiglione Fiorentino, in 1654; that of Rzeszów, in January 1656.

140 This house was founded with the special permission of Fr. García; cf. Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), on September 29, 1656.

141 Cf. B. Bartlik, o. c., ff. 450-452.

142 See the Minutes of the General Congregation (Reg. Gen. 8), at the end of 1657 and the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1657, in “Archivum Scholarum Piarum” XIII (1954) 56.

143 Cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 167-190; L. Picanyol, Lezioni di Storia Scolopica, Lezione X, “Rassegna di Storia e Bibliografía Scolopica” XVI (1950) 16.

144 See Minutes of the General Congr. (1656-1657), same day.

145 Cf. E. Friedreich, Franco János élete, p. 96.

146 See the Minutes of the Provincial Chapter (Reg. Prov. 51, Germania, 62).

147 Cf. Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), May 18, 1657.

148 Cf. B. Bartlik, o. c., f. 455; G. C. Caputi, II, 4, f. 190.

149 Cf. B. Bartlik, o. c., f. 446; G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, ff. 147-155; Minutes of the General Congregation (1656-1657), May 17, 1657.

150 Cf. B. Bartlik, o. c., ff. 455-456; G. C. Caputi, o. c., II, 4, f. 162.

151 Cf. B. Bartlik, o. c., f. 455.

152 Unfortunately, a very important document is missing concerning the last days of Fr. García that Fr O. Manetti (p. 18, N. 190) entitles it as follows: “Libretto simile di Registro dal dì 3 gennaio 1659 fino al dì 28 febbraio detto, con la notizia dell infermitá, morte e funerale del P. Generale Gio. Garzia, 1659 (Register book from January 3, 1659 to February 28 of the same year, with the news of the illness, death and funeral of Fr. General John García, 1659).

153 Cf. B. Bartlik, o. c., ff. 458-459.

154 Cf. letters P 677, 127 (P 679), P 718, P 730.

155 Cf. letter 235 (P 1405).

156 Cf. letters 180 (P 1148), 181 (P 1149), P 1150.

157 Cf. P 1151.

158 Cf. P 485.

159 Cf. P 4077a.

160 Cf. letters 199 (P 1235), P 1402.

161 Cf. letters P 718, P 817, P 915, P 1269.

162 Regarding Donna Olimpia Maidalchini, his penitent, cf. G. C. Caputi, o. c., III, 7, ff. 33-38.

163 See his licenses to confess in Rome (Reg. Serv. Dei. LX, 6) and letters P 316, P 699, 140 (P 793), 143 (P 807), P 944, P 945, P 959, P 965 (Reg. Serv. Dei. LX, 6).

164 Cf. Process of Ven. Glicerio Landriani, f. 134.

165 Cf. letters P 529 y P 545.

166 Cf. letter P 382.

167 The title of this fascicle is: Venerable and memorable servants of God of the CC. RR. of the Pious Schools from their origin until the year 1717.

168 See also what about Fr. John García, Fr. Rodolfo Brasavola says in his Emerologium sive Sacrorum Fastorum Diarius Liber Ordinis Scholarum Piarum, Rome, 1940,(Hemerologium or diary of sacred feasts of the Order of the Pious Schools) p. 21, n. 16: “February 16. In Rome, death of Ven. John of Jesus Mary, priest, second Superior General, confessor of our Venerable Patriarch, distinguished for his prayer, charity, patience, simplicity and silence (1659)”.

The funeral epitaph that was dedicated to him in the church where he was baptized is the following, according to Father Jericó:

“The Venerable Father John of Jesus Mary, Beneficiary, who was of the Holy Cathedral Church of Segovia, and a native of this village of Zerezo de arriba, and his name John Garzia del Castillo. He died with the opinion of Saint for his many virtues, and continued attendance at confessions in Rome on the sixteenth of February, sixteen hundred and fifty-nine, aged sixty-five years, being General of the Religion of the Pious School. His body is kept in the church of San Pantaleo. This painting was made in the year sixteen hundred and eighty-four”.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

TRANSLATOR’S WARNING

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IV

APPENDIX

Notes