Father Charles John Pirroni

Sixth General of the Pious Schools

Father Charles John Pirroni.

Sixth General of the Pious Schools

Author: György Sántha

Year of publication: 2025

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

Translated by Fr. Antonio Marco

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Reproduction, publication and distribution, whether total or partial, of all the original material contained in this book is expressly forbidden unless written authorization has been given.

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Father Charles John Pirroni

Sixth General of the Pious Schools

www.edicionescalasancias.org

Fr. Charles John Pirroni (Art Gallery of Superior Generals. San Pantaleo - Roma)

INTRODUCTION

We are preparing to write the life of Father Charles John Pirroni of Jesus, the fifth successor of St. Joseph Calasanz in the Generalate and great innovator, not to say establisher, of studies in the Calasanzian Order, especially in Italy. It is our firm hope that the picture of the history and mission of the Piarist Order, which everyone has been able to form through the biographies and activities of the former generals, will become clearer and more complete through the facts and figures of the present life. In this way, perhaps for the first time, the interested reader will be able to examine and contemplate more closely the clear idea and the true shape of the Calasanzian Order, the Piarist ministry and its pedagogy, which have gradually developed in the eventful course of the last decades. Father Pirroni, a religious man, pious, learned, endowed with a strong intelligence and spirit, expressed in an appropriate way what Calasanz had already thought many times about the religious life that the Piarists were to bring, as well as about the increasingly effective implementation of the work and educational and cultural service of the Institute. The Founder, due to his advanced age and other sad circumstances known to all researchers, had hardly been able to complete some of these things. Pirroni can rightly be considered the first efficient culmination of the Calasanzian enterprise and service, and at the same time the father of the future centuries of the Founder’s work; and even, in a certain sense, the second founder of the Institute and of the Religion of the Pious Schools.

But we do not want to prejudge events; let the facts speak for themselves!

CHAPTER I

BIRTH, YOUTH AND STUDIES OF FATHER PIRRONI. ENTRY INTO THE ORDER. FIRST POSITIONS AND OFFICES IN NAPLES, IN THE STUDY HOUSE OF CHIETI, IN COLLEGIO NAZARENO, IN THE LOCAL CHAPTERS OF COLLEGIO NAZARENO, IN THE ROMAN PROVINCIAL CHAPTER OF THE YEAR 1670 AND IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER OF 1671

Father Charles John Pirroni (Pyrrhonus) was born on June 7, 1640 in Campi Salentina (Apulia), the son of Donato and Margarita Simone, sister of Father Thomas Simone of St. Augustine, a meritorious religious of the Neapolitan Province of the Pious Schools, who later held the office of Assistant General and twice that of Provincial Superior and also proved to be an excellent writer on ascetic subjects[1]. On December 31, 1654, not yet fifteen years old, the young Pirroni received the Piarist habit at the newly founded school of Nocera dei Pagani[2] from Father Mark Antony Manzella of the Assumption, the founder and rector of the house[3]. He also studied humanities there, under the guidance of the cleric Thomas of the Nativity, a great expert in eloquence and poetry, who only lived as aggregated[4] of the Congregation because of the innocentian reduction. But the school of Nocera had to close its doors soon afterwards, precisely in the summer of 1656, because most of the community religious had died of the plague[5]. Consequently, Charles John also moved to Naples, to the novitiate house of Porta Reale, which was reinstated as such after the Brief from Alexander VII. After the probationary period under the direction of Father Agathon Como of St. Paul, rector and novice master, was completed, he took his simple vows on December 25, 1659 in the Dochesca house before Father John Luke Rosa of the Virgin Mary, the provincial superior[6]. However, since on that day he had not yet completed the twenty years prescribed for profession in the Alexandrian Brief, he made simple profession together with the vow of perseverance in the hands of the same provincial on June 11, 1660, in order to remove any doubt[7]. That same month he moved to Chieti, to the house of studies recently opened by Father Camillo Scassellati, to take up the post of prefect of studies or at least professor[8]. He had as rector Father Angel Morelli of St. Dominic[9], one of the most famous Piarist mathematicians, who followed the school and teachings of the great Galileo[10]. His example and his teachings instilled in the willing and noble spirit of the cleric Charles John an ardent zeal for the same studies, so that he became not only an excellent guide and teacher of the Piarist students, but later, as provincial superior and supreme moderator of the Order, inflamed with love for studies, the most prudent and effective promoter of higher studies in the Calasanzian Order.

In 1663 he left Chieti[11] and returned to Naples, where he joined the Dochesca community. There he was entrusted with the first class of grammar, while at the same time continuing his philosophical and theological studies[12]. But the following year he returned to Chieti, where he was ordained a priest by the diocesan bishop[13] on June 7th. It is certain that he also spent the academic year 1664-1665 there[14]. However, there are no reliable documents about his further activities, especially in the years 1666-1669. It is very likely that at the end of 1667, when the juniorate in Chieti was temporarily closed due to economic difficulties and the students were transferred to the Roman novitiate[15], Father Pirroni, after imparting his scientific knowledge and his love of higher studies to the sixty or so clerics of the Order[16], also left Chieti and moved either to Narni, as Father Picanyol assures us, or immediately to Rome to live in Collegio Nazareno[17]. It is certain that he was already a professor of rhetoric and poetry at Collegio Nazareno during the academic year 1669-1670[18]. He remained there during the academic year 1670-1671, at least until May 1671, when he was appointed provincial of Naples[19]. At the Nazareno he was distinguished by his subtle wit and remarkable rhetorical and poetic gifts, which he practiced to general acclaim[20] and which he was able to convey to his students so effectively that many of them, under his guidance and teaching, publicly defended theses or, as it was then called, conclusions with the greatest eloquence in the presence of cardinals and other illustrious prelates of the Roman Curia. Because of these and other merits, the fathers of Collegio Nazareno, at the local chapter on July 26, 1670, unanimously elected him a member of the provincial chapter which was to take place in Narni the following October[21]. However, Father Cosimo Chiara, the Superior General, did not agree with this initiative, i.e. with the public presentation of the conclusions and their excessive solemnity. For this reason, at the meeting of the General Congregation on August 21, 1670, he forbade the solemnity of the conclusions[22]. Although Father Pirroni complied with the decree, he did not accept it so easily. One of his students, Nicholas Dominic Persona, immediately approached with a pleading writing to Msgr. Prospero Fagnano, then Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Religious, requesting that he kindly grant his reader, Father Charles John Pirroni, permission to attend the conclusion, which he wanted to solemnly defend[23]. Whether it was the controversy for this reason or a certain excitement before the Chapter that made Father Pirroni hesitate to make solemn profession before Father Cosimo, which the Brief Ex iniuncto Nobis of Clemente IX (October 23, 1669) had again granted to the Piarists. Or rather, that Father Cosimo Chiara himself refused to accept the solemn profession in question and to recognize it as valid. It should be noted that, as already mentioned, Father Pirroni was elected delegate of Collegio Nazareno, which at that time was completely opposed to Father Cosimo Chiara and, on the contrary, supported Fathers Fedele and Pennazzi. Thus, Father Pirroni’s solemn profession was not pronounced until October 13, 1670[24] in Narni before Father Joseph Fedele, the Roman provincial at the time, in the presence of the capitular fathers of the Roman province, who had gathered at the time to celebrate the provincial chapter, and elected Father Pirroni as delegate for the next general chapter, which was convened for the month of May 1671[25]. The profession took place just five days before the publication of the Brief Cum felicis record. Clemens Papa IX of October 18, 1670, in which the Father General was granted the right to exclude from the Order, subject to the corresponding conditions, those who had refused to make solemn profession up to that point[26]. Father Cosimo, however, refused to ratify the profession made by Father Pirroni, as he lacked the authority of the recipient and his own consent. Father Charles John refused to make his profession again before Father Cosimo. Therefore, he asked him to resign from the Order and to be allowed to wear the cassock of a secular priest. So, by decree of December 21, 1670, as stated in the Brief Cum felicis. Clemens Papa IX, he was dismissed from the Order by Father Chiara[27]. But Fathers Joseph Pennazzi, General Assistant, and Joseph Fedele, Roman Provincial, appealed to the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars with a memorandum, objecting to the expulsion as invalid on several grounds. In a decree published on 17 April 1671, the Congregation submitted the matter in its entirety to the Cardinal Vicar, in whose place Cardinal Camillo de Massimi decided on 9 May 1671 that the solemn profession that Father Charles John had previously made in Narni should be recognized as valid by all if he ratified it before Father Cosimo Chiara, the Superior General. This ratification finally took place on May 10, 1671, immediately before the beginning of the General Chapter, for which Father Pirroni had been elected delegate. In this way, an unpleasant controversy was ended once and for all[28].

At the same General Chapter of 1671, which is sadly remembered for the unworthy conduct of Father Fedele, Father Pirroni, delegate of the Roman Province, was a member of the special commission charged with the study of the Constitutions, Rules and Rites[29]. However, we do not know what role he played in the development and direction of the Chapter, but we can guess most probably he helped the faction of Fr. Fedele that had so zealously supported and protected him.

CHAPTER II

FATHER PIRRONI, PROVINCIAL OF NAPLES (MAY 22, 1671 – SEPTEMBER 22, 1673)

Immediately after the General Chapter, at the meeting of the General Congregation on May 22, 1671, Father Charles John Pirroni, not yet thirty-one years old, was unanimously appointed provincial of Naples[30], succeeding his uncle, Father Thomas Simone. With this appointment began an almost entirely new period in the life of Father Pirroni, for from then until his death, although he was born more for study and the silence of meditation, he was occupied all the time of his short life in the exercise of the high offices and functions of the Order.

Although the short time he spent in the Neapolitan provincialate hardly allowed him to use all his energy and abilities properly in active life and government, yet in the twenty-eight months he spent in the province he did much for the good progress of the Neapolitan Pious Schools and laid the foundation for this to continue in the future. With a view to the stability and expansion of the Institute in his province, he diligently prepared completely new foundations, as in Gaeta and Pozzuoli[31], and saw to the restoration, consolidation and strengthening of the old ones, such as the Neapolitan House of the Holy Spirit[32] and that of Nocera dei Pagani[33]. The serious and difficult problem of the candidates’ studies was also of great concern to the former Prefect of students as provincial. For this reason, after a year as provincial, he proposed to establish a center for the study of science and letters in the house of Nocera, the nursery of his youth and the seat of his first studies. The Roman superiors gave him all the powers to carry out an excellent project, which he was never able to realize[34]. He also did his utmost to find suitable vocations for the Institute, as he did later as a general. But in the evaluation and selection of vocations, he placed intellectual gifts and character above all else, so much so that he easily tolerated and allowed even notable deficiencies in health or physical integrity as long as the aggregate could be of use to the Order with his remaining intellectual and moral gifts. Such was the case of the young Antony Maneri who, although blind from birth, asked for and received admission to the Order in 1672. He took the name Brother Thomas of St. Anthony of Padua and became an outstanding mathematician and an important teacher of the Piarist students of Chieti for several decades[35].

In the meantime, in addition to looking after and directing the province of Naples, in October 1671, Father Charles John was entrusted with the task of visiting the province of Sicily together with Father Thomas Simone[36]. But this task, it seems, he did not carry out[37], because above all the affairs of the Province and the Order, he had accepted as his most pleasant task the care of the Juniorate of Chieti, so that at the end of 1672, after he had left Naples and Father Gregorio Salvo of St. Gennaro[38] had been appointed in his place as provincial Delegate, he went to Chieti at the request of Father Angel Morelli[39] in order to develop a more intensive activity to promote the studies of the Piarist clerics resident there[40]. He remained in Chieti until the end of September 1673, when, in accordance with the decree promulgated by Father Fedele at the meeting of the General Congregation on September 22nd, he was called to Rome to take over the office of General Procurator in place of Father Pennazzi, who had resigned[41], and the office of Master of the clerics studying at the House of St. Pantaleo[42].

CHAPTER III

FATHER PIRRONI’S ACTIVITY AND DEDICATION AS PROCURATOR GENERAL (SEPTEMBER 22, 1673 - MAY 2, 1677). HIS ELECTION AS SUPERIOR GENERAL

As Procurator General, appointed in place of Fr. Pennazzi, the Assistant and Procurator General, who had resigned his second post due to his advanced age, Fr. Pirroni negotiated very actively both with the respective Dicasteries of the Holy See and with various towns and cities regarding the expansion of the Order[43], in order to definitively resolve the final and difficult question of the validity of professions and finally to establish an effective informative and study plan for the Piarists in all the provinces, or at least in those of Italy. The validity of professions, as we have already seen, it was contested by some Piarists[44] because, according to the Brief Ex iniuncto Nobis (October 22, 1669) of Clement IX, they had not made their novitiate either in the houses designated for this purpose by the Holy See or within the number of novices to be determined by the Holy See for each house, as Innocent X had ordered in the last Brief Inter cetera (December 17, 1649). After several memoranda on the matter, written with great care and preparation by Father Pirroni, a rescript was finally obtained from the Sacred Congregation of Religious on February 27, 1676, ordering all Piarists who found themselves in such a situation to renew their profession, allowing only those who had not yet completed five years since their profession to renew it[45]. This decree, which corrected the errors of the past, also stipulated that in future the Piarists had to comply with the provisions of the above-mentioned Brief in all respects, both in the designation of houses and in the prior determination of the number of novices that could be admitted every two years. Father Pirroni had to fight hard again to ensure that the most suitable houses were designated and that the highest possible number of novices were admitted. Thus came the second decree[46], issued by the Sacred Congregation on March 18th, designating novitiate house and two or three professorates or juniorates for each of the Italian provinces, two for the provinces of Liguria, Naples and Sardinia, three for the Roman and Etruscan provinces. At the same time six cleric novices (seven for the Roman province) and three brother novices could be admitted in each province. The decree also stipulated that the training and instruction of the novices should be entrusted to the care and direction of the respective masters for a period of two years; and that of the newly professed for at least three years. Clement VIII had already laid this down in practice on March 19, 1603 in the Constitution Cum ad regularem disciplinam propagandam[47] for all religious orders with the exception of the clerics regular. The Holy Founder was expressly concerned with exempting the Order from the implementation of these norms - only with regard to determining the places where novices were to be admitted[48] - by obtaining the Brief of Urban VIII Romanum decet Pontificem in 1634[49]. After that, the Brief of 1649 lnter cetera, which sought to determine the places in all religious orders without exception and to prescribe the number of those who could be admitted, did not concern the Calasanzian Institute, which had been reduced to a simple congregation on the model of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri; but since the full reintegration in October 1669, it too began to be compulsory. However, such an obligation somehow escaped the attention of the religious superiors. The consequence was that the question of the formation and instruction of clerics was not legally and actually clarified until the decree promulgated in March 1676, following the reports and proposals of Father Pirroni. In this way, Father Pirroni, as Procurator General, created a solid foundation, at least in legal terms, for the more intensive formation of the Piarist clerics, to whose progressive perfection he was so committed, devoting much of his energy and general activity, as we shall see later.

In the same year, 1676, Father Pirroni defended with skill and effectiveness against an anonymous pamphlet attacking the government of Father Fedele in many matters which the latter had resolved with righteousness and prudence[50].

In the midst of these religious affairs, Father Charles John Pirroni also developed a diligent and conscientious activity in the education of the clerics of the House of St. Pantaleon entrusted to him, and he gladly took advantage of the rare moments of tranquility he enjoyed to cultivate poetry and continue his esteemed studies[51]. It was probably during this time that he composed three hymns for the office of St. Venantius and the life of Father John Dominic of the Order of Preachers[52].

This is how the Chapter came about, which was celebrated in May 1677. On the 2nd of the same month, Father Charles John Pirroni, who had just turned 37, was elected Superior General and fifth successor to Calasanz on the recommendation of the Spanish king’s ambassador to the Holy See[53], in the second ballot with 15 out of 29 votes cast. His defeated opponent was Father Simon Bondi of St. Bartholomew, Assistant General, who had received 10 votes in the first round and 9 votes in the second ballot[54]. In the afternoon of the same day, Fr. Camillo Scassellati, Benedict Quarantotto, Paul Horváth and, to the satisfaction of the Cardinal Protector, Fr. Joseph Fedele were elected assistants to the new General with 24 out of 29 votes[55].

CHAPTER IV

GENERALATE OF FATHER CHARLES JOHN PIRRONI (MAY 2, 1677 - APRIL 13, 1685)

The times, the situation and the conditions of the newly elected general were by no means as happy as everyone wished and as the common good of the Order seemed to demand. For as wise and fortunate as the General Chapter had been in the election of the supreme moderator, it had been just as careless and unfortunate in the assignment of the assistants. For when Father Scassellati died and Father Hyacinth de Paulis of St. Joseph was appointed assistant on May 23, 1678, the three remaining assistants, instead of helping Fr. Pirroni, were against him[56] and formed a kind of triumvirate by acting in accordance with the mandate given to them in the Brief Sicut accepimus of Alexander VII (April 28, 1660). They deliberately prevented almost all of Father Pirroni’s initiatives, so that he was only supported by the aforementioned Father Hyacinth and Father Alex Armini, General Procurator. In this way he had to fight a hard and continuous battle for the rights of the Generalate and for a solid and energetic leadership of the Order. Although, as we shall see, he was victorious in this struggle, he nevertheless exhausted the greater and better part of his forces, to the obvious detriment of the Order.

Once he had assumed the supreme leadership, Father Pirroni proposed to do four things above all: to increase religious observance throughout the Order, to carry out the instruction and formation of the clerics with ever greater success, to propagate the Calasanzian Institute with greater intensity and extension, and finally to define and safeguard the rights of the General against the ambitious insolence of the Assistants[57]. Let us now see what he did and how he put it into practice in relation to each of these things.

RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE

In the spirit and in the footsteps of the Holy Founder, guided by the example and teaching of his beloved tutor Father Angel Morelli, his uncle Father Thomas Simone and his former provincial Father Onofrio Conti, but also by his own nature and way of being, Fr. Charles John Pirroni could not ignore that the basis and foundation of any religious institute lies above all in the observance of its Constitutions, Rules and Rites, as well as in the performance of some indispensable norms of ascetic life. Observance of these rules makes each individual more capable of divine grace and ready to render the highest service of God, and creates a climate of tranquility, harmony and serenity in the Order, which becomes a source of greater benefit to the society and nation in and for which the Order lives.

But it was not only this inner conviction and personal experience, or that acquired in the short history of the Order, but also the Decrees on poverty and common life[58] of the last General Chapter in which he was elected, as well as the paternal exhortations of Pope Innocent XI, that moved Father Pirroni to act in this direction[59].

Immediately after his election, Father Pirroni set about the task of the desired reform and restoration, and with his letters, circulars, decrees, canonical or paternal visitations, domestic conferences and other means, which he skillfully employed, he sought to achieve the desired goal as quickly as possible and in the surest way.

Thus, he wanted first and foremost to resolve the difficult question of poverty and the perfect common life, which had been agitated since the beginnings of the Order. On this question, which is undoubtedly of the greatest importance, Father Pirroni had already proposed some salutary measures in the same General Chapter, which took place in May 1677. He ordered “that the superiors in all provinces and houses should try to restore poverty to its original form, eradicate all freedom to withhold money, encourage common life in regard to food and clothing, promote uniformity of habits, modesty of inner clothes in regard to color and humility of materials, forbid locked chests, visit the rooms at least once a month and remove from them everything curious or superfluous, and other things of the same kind... in such a way that neither the superiors, forgetful of charity, deny the necessities to the inferiors, nor the inferiors, fed up with poverty, demand more than our profession allows”[60].

The Chapter then instructed Father General and his Assistants to codify in one volume all the decrees of the previous chapters that concern the common observance and which can be put into practice, and to propose them to their provinces for observance[61].

In obedience to the above-mentioned mandates of the General Chapter, Father Pirroni effectively abolished the freedom to possess money under threat of excommunication latae sententiae[62]. He restored the common life in terms of food and clothing and also in terms of inner clothes, which, following the wishes of Innocent XI, he ordered to be common to all, i.e. to be given to all. He also wanted there to be a common key for all rooms so that the superior had easier access to them. He forbade the storage in locked chests and ordered the removal of anything superfluous or curious from the rooms. He also regulated and restricted the use of personal books[63].

As far as stockings and footwear were concerned, despite his delicate health[64], which often caused him severe pain if he did not wear shoes, he ordered that the Constitutions and decrees of the General Chapters, as well as the Brief Cum sicut accepimus of Alexander VII, should be strictly observed[65]; however, he showed paternal forbearance towards the fathers who lived in Italy, Germania and Spain in places with harsher climate[66].

One can even conclude to a certain extent from certain sentences and expressions of Father Pirroni that he privately and on the advice of Cardinal Carpegna[67] considered it opportune for the Piarists to walk in shod shoes. But due to the urgency of the Constitutions and the above-mentioned Brief of Alexander VII, he did not want to rush into anything. Rather, he waited until the question had matured and was discussed at the next General Chapter[68]. However, the chapter of 1683 did not do this, so that the use of stockings and socks was not permitted to the Piarists until 1690 with the Brief Cum sicut accepimus from Alexander VIII[69].

The travels of the religious were also restricted and subjected to a specific and sober rule of poverty[70]; correspondence between them was limited to the boundaries of religious modesty[71]. Moreover, Father Pirroni, through his words, his letters, his spiritual conferences and, above all, by the example of his own life, never ceased to inculcate in his religious the holy poverty so much in keeping with the Calasanzian Institute and even innate in it, founded to promote the social and spiritual condition of the poor[72].

He also entrusted the local superiors with the task of seeing to it that everyone faithfully put into practice what he had so wisely ordered in the matter of holy poverty. However, they were admonished to act with charity in everything and with everyone, as well as with prudence, humanity and kindness; they were to observe just moderation and avoid any appearance of monkish stinginess[73].

Although in this way Father Pirroni followed the path already taught by Calasanz in almost everything concerning Piarist poverty, he nevertheless, on the basis of his experience and in view of the great damage done to the schools and the Order by the original inability of the Order to possess goods at least in common, opened a new path in this matter in accordance with the Council of Trent[74], denying the validity of the first Brief of Alexander VII Dudum felicis record. Paulus Papa V, who had not granted such capacity to the Piarists, advocated the right of the Order against all, mainly against the Jesuits of Sardinia[75]. Only in this way did he hope that the old foundations could be stabilized and entirely new ones established, to which the Holy See would only consent if they had a secure economic fund. However, the issue was not finally resolved until after his death, on September 3, 1686, when Pope Innocent XI, in response to the urgent pleas of the last General Chapter[76], expressly granted the Piarist Order the ability to hold property by virtue of his apostolic authority in the brief Ut exponi nobis nuper fecit[77].

In addition to establishing a true spirit of poverty and a perfect community life in the Piarist Order, Fr. Charles John Pirroni also took to heart the always important and delicate question of true and immediate religious obedience, the loosening of which had caused serious damage to the Order since time immemorial, especially in the last years of the Holy Founder. Even then, as Father Pirroni himself could clearly see, the Order was still in great difficulty. The longed-for spiritual and moral unity of the entire Order and the resulting greater ability to act, as well as the deep conviction that the foundation of all true religious perfection must be laid in the faithful performance of holy obedience, prompted Father Pirroni to repeatedly instill in all religious, through exhortations, letters, circulars, etc., the obedience that should be religiously rendered to superiors. He himself gave everyone an example of this obedience, as he had always submitted and continued to submit to the holy Congregations of the Roman Curia and the regulations of the Constitutions and General Chapters, even under the most difficult circumstances. For this reason, he wanted his religious to show the same obedience to the legitimate superiors, and especially to his Superior General[78], that he had so quickly shown and continued to show, without the slightest hesitation. His consistency in this particular area is clear. In the cases of Fr. Fedele and the Roman Provincial, whom he finally, as we shall see, compelled to due obedience by the decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Religious.

As the supreme moderator of the Order, taught by the daily experience of commanding and governing, Fr. Pirroni gradually elaborated a very practical teaching on obedience and its importance in religious life, on the way to promptly display Piarist obedience, on the art of demanding it from the superior towards his subordinates while respecting their human dignity, etc. The main elements of this teaching are already outlined in his letters, but a more explicit presentation can be found in the domestic spiritual conferences he held and wrote[79]. According to this teaching, the essence of religious life consists above all in obedience, so that one must serve God and religion with the strength and spirit of obedience[80]. For it is not the offices or positions that distinguish the religious, but the measure and sincerity of their obedience. This gives him the just appreciation of others[81] and true peace of mind[82].

Having illustrated in this way the function and importance of obedience in religious life, Father Pirroni also suggests the means by which perfect obedience can be achieved. He instructs superiors in particular, because in his opinion much depends on their prudence in this matter. Superiors should be firm[83], but in the manner of fathers, not tyrants[84]. They should never use violence[85] in their leadership, but rather gentleness[86] and prudence[87], avoiding, however, excessive condescension or charity, which, if used thoughtlessly, appears to Father Pirroni as true cruelty and impiety, especially when it comes to the weakest and weak-willed[88]. Superiors must always want and feel the same among themselves; only in this way will they receive the obedience and respect they deserve[89]. Superiors will work closely with their immediate assistants[90] and will know how to give way at times with their ability to govern in order to win completely and definitively later on[91]. On the other hand, it is not necessary to wait for special orders and letters from the higher superiors in all matters, as the local superiors must carry out and see to many things quickly and vigorously with their own authority[92]. They should certainly be ready to obey faithfully the orders of the major superiors; but it is good to consider not so much the letter of the orders as their spirit, which is to be applied with prudence to every case and to every person[93]. Finally, the subjects, who are to recognize the fruits of true obedience, must accept it without delay[94], for “the best office, and that which is most pleasing to the blessed God, is that which has been assigned to us by the divine hand, and not that which we have chosen for ourselves”[95]. Even if it is permitted to appeal to the higher superiors, this does not automatically release us from the duty of obedience. Moreover, even in this case, immediate obedience is the best recommendation that can be made for a matter so that the superiors can resolve it with benevolence[96]. Finally, the ascetic and supernatural aspect of religious obedience is illustrated above all in domestic spiritual conferences, in which Christ is shown to religious precisely as the supreme example of obedience, “made obedient unto death and death on a cross”[97].

The virtue of chastity, which is so sublime and of such great importance for religious life, is rarely mentioned in Fr. Pirroni’s letters, which is understandable given the nature of the subject. However, it is mentioned in the first circular letter, in which the very chastity of the Piarists, after Calasanz, is defined as the most beautiful pillar and adornment of the Piarist ministry, which, been so useful, is exposed to dangers and demands a kind of angelic purity from its members[98]. Chastity is also strongly recommended to religious in the aforementioned domestic spiritual conferences, which are mainly held on the occasion of the usual renewal of vows[99]. In his opinion, the full rigor of the Constitutions and the decrees promulgated in the General Chapters should be applied against violations of this virtue and the vows.

In addition to the three vows common to all religious orders, Fr. Pirroni strongly recommended to the Piarists the fourth vow proper to the Institute, namely the vow of special dedication to the education of children, which had been rather neglected in the Order in recent decades. Already in the first circular letter published in Rome on July 10, 1677, everyone was strongly advised to take the greatest care in the exercise of the school ministry, which meant “a special devotion and care on our part, which must come before the other practices of our religion”. Thus, a special devotion to the teaching of Christian doctrine was ordered, the use of the same books or school texts was ordered also in every case and the application of the same teaching method was recommended. The great importance of the teaching Latin grammar was also emphasized in due course, the purity of the Latin language was strongly recommended to teachers - also at the request of Innocent XI - and special studies were required of them. Later, following the express will of the Pope, he publicly proclaimed that Christian doctrine should be taught as perfectly as possible and decided that the Continuous Prayer that was customary in the Calasanzian schools should not be interrupted at any time or place[100].

Father Pirroni also wanted to restore the old school discipline by appointing prefects of the schools who were aware of their office, with fixed constitutions and rules in each of the schools, promulgated in proper time for both students and parents[101]. Moreover, in accordance with the express wish of Innocent XI, and at the same time in harmony with the old Calasanzian rule, he wanted that in the schools only those should be promoted to the study of letters who gave the teachers and professors reasonable hope of making good progress in them. The rest were to be led to the so-called “mechanical” studies[102], so that at the end of their schooling everyone might find the position in society that suited them and avoid the dangerous idleness of those who, after interrupting their higher studies, whether for lack of intelligence or family necessity, could no longer devote themselves to the arts or settle down to more modest professions and trades.

In another part of this work, in which we will deal with the studies of the Piarists, we will explain in more detail what Father Pirroni did to make the religious truly worthy and capable teachers according to the requirements of the fourth vow. For now, it suffices to point out that, as can be seen from the above, Fr. Pirroni made every effort to ensure that “our special concern for the teaching of children” was truly effective and that the schools responded as perfectly as possible to the idea of Calasanz, to the Pope’s wishes and to the new demands of the times.

Besides the prompt, generous, prudent and faithful observance of the four vows mentioned above, Father Pirroni recommended in a special way to all religious silence, detachment from the concerns of the laity, the country and the family, the spirit of prayer and meditation, and the annual practice of the Spiritual Exercises, having seen with all clarity that the neglect of these practices could easily lead to the ruin of the Institute[103]. Finally, he strongly recommended to his religious a lively sense and diligent practice of fraternal charity, which he always considered to be a very strong bond of unity among the Piarists and a pledge of true peace and spiritual fruitfulness[104].

This healthy and effective program for the restoration and spiritual renewal of the Piarist Order, which all religious of good will could follow and fulfill, was thus outlined and gradually put into practice. For those who were unwilling to do so, he preferred they could leave the Order rather than pollute the body of the Religion with their illness. In this way, Father Pirroni created, perhaps for the first time after Calasanz, the solid base and foundation that would serve as a support so that the Piarists could develop their arduous apostolic ministry in the midst of Christian youth with dignity and fruit. He created the first and indispensable conditions for any further development in the pedagogical and scientific fields, as well as for the numerical and geographical expansion and growth of the Institute.

RENEWAL OF THE ORDER’S INTERNAL STUDIES

The spiritual renewal of the Order according to the will of the Church and in the mind of the Holy Founder, which had already been achieved in part and was gradually being achieved through the zealous efforts of the Piarists over time, was the first stop and the first goal of a longer journey that Father Pirroni undertook in person and which he wanted his religious to cover in order to carry out the work of Calasanz properly in its entirety. The second aim of this journey was, without the slightest doubt, the renewal of studies in the Order, especially as far as the student clerics were concerned.

It would certainly be a distortion of the historical truth to say that Father Pirroni was the first to introduce studies, especially higher studies, in the Piarist Order. Much had already been done in this sense by Calasanz and Fathers Scassellati and Fedele, as can be easily verified in the historical essays already published about them[105]. However, these Generals, partly because of the lack of religious and the extreme poverty of the Institute, but also partly because of the internal difficulties and disagreements and the precarious juridical situation of the Religion, never elaborated a plan or an organic project, that is, a methodical ratio studiorum for the Piarists; or if they did elaborate such a thing, they were never able to carry it out in its entirety. Father Pirroni had the opportunity to do so for the first time in the history of the Order, and his merits in this regard, which he acquired with much sweat, are rightly praised.

From the very first year of his Calasanzian ministry, i.e. from the year 1660 as Master and Prefect of the Juniors studying in Chieti, Father Pirroni rendered an estimable and valuable service in the instruction and education of the Piarist youth for more than five years[106]. The undoubted merits of this pedagogical service were enhanced in the years 1673-1677, when, while living in Rome as General Procurator, he also exercised with acclaim the office of Master of Juniors in the House of San Pantaleo. But also by virtue of his office as Procurator General, he did much for the students of that time and for those to come, preparing and obtaining in 1676 the decree of the Sacred Congregation of Religious Ad propagandam in Religione Scholarum Piarum regularem observantiam (For the Propagation of Regular Observance in the Order of Pious Schools). It was this decree that, in addition to the two-year probationary period, also provided for the “professorates” (juniorates), in which the Piarists were to devote themselves to their studies for at least three years, thus laying the foundations for the future houses of formation, at least in Italy[107].

This was the situation when he was elected General in May 1677. Father Pirroni was already well informed about the issue of studies in the Order. He knew the problems involved very well and, most importantly, inspired by the example of Father Morelli, his then rector at the juniorate of Chieti, by the exhortations of the Holy See and the urgent needs of the Order, he had the firm intention of effectively promoting the scientific as well as the literary, philosophical and theological studies of the Piarists.

The first thing he undertook in the matter of studies and juniorates was the ordination and legal organization of novitiates and houses of study in accordance with the provisions of the last decree of the Sacred Congregation of Religious. Father Pirroni also immediately saw and experienced the damage done to the Piarist Order by the negligence, inadequacies and errors committed in this matter, both as regards the admission of novices without prior examination and the constant change of houses of probation and studies without prior authorization from the Holy See.

Thus he wanted the houses of formation, be they novitiates, “professorates” or juniorates, to be placed under the direct jurisdiction of the Provincials and the General, in accordance with the recent decrees of the Sacred Congregation[108]. As regards the reception of novices and the profession of vows, in February 1678, taking into account the decrees of Sixtus V and Clement VIII and the above-mentioned decree of the Sacred Congregation, he sent to each Italian province A precise Instruction for the reception of novices into the habit and profession and the assignment of professed to the professorates, urging with the greatest possible determination the faithful execution of the above-mentioned decree of 1676[109]. He also proposed to draw up a similar instruction for the houses of study and the professorates, but his failing health prevented him from doing so[110]. At the General Chapter of 1683, at his suggestion, the formulas of profession for both clerics and brothers[111] were finally established in accordance with the rights of the Order, already restored to its original status.

With these instructions, norms, regulations and juridical declarations, Father Pirroni contributed not a little to increasing the stability and solidity of the formation of Piarist clerics, completely removing the doubts and misgivings about the validity of the novitiate or profession that had previously been so frequent, and introducing a rigorous selection of candidates. To put the houses of formation on a sounder economic footing, as Father Scassellati had already done, he also saw to it that every house of the provinces that had clerics or novices in these formation centers should contribute to their upkeep with a monthly or annual contribution.

He also wanted the buildings of the novitiates and juniorates to be sufficiently spacious and healthy and as well adapted as possible to the requirements of good formation. He therefore decided to build a completely new novitiate in Naples[112] and also invested a considerable sum in the expansion of the juniorate of St. Pantaleo[113].

Once he had laid the hygienic, economic and legal foundations for the houses of formation, Father Pirroni ensured that they were equipped with good spiritual directors and competent teachers. Father Pirroni never left them alone in the midst of the difficulties of the delicate service they had to fulfill; on the contrary, through advice, instructions or fatherly admonitions, he very often instructed, admonished and encouraged them in the art of education and the secrets of teaching[114].

But all that has been said so far was hardly enough to adequately solve the problems of Piarist education. There was still no concrete study plan (which the General Chapter of 1655 had already ordered)[115] according to which every cleric could pursue his studies. But little by little, at the end of the fourth year of his generalate, at the end of 1681, the plan[116] that Father Pirroni had prepared with great dedication and commitment was finally born[117] and, with only a few changes and additions[118], was solemnly approved “with joy and happiness”[119] by the capitular fathers at the following General Chapter, which took place in May 1683.

According to this plan, after the two-year novitiate, in the second year of which the study of grammar, arithmetic and literary exercises was permitted and even prescribed, every Piarist cleric was to be instructed for a further two years in the humanities so necessary for the Piarist ministry; and then those who had proved themselves capable after a rigorous examination were to be admitted to the study of philosophy for a further two years, with mathematical studies to be added in due course[120]. Those who had failed in the humanities either prolonged these studies or devoted themselves to arithmetic if they did not offer sufficient guarantees for the future. To ensure that they did not forget what they had learned and to test their abilities, they were then given two more years of school practice. Those who had satisfactorily demonstrated their aptitude and good behavior, as evidenced by a written certificate, had to take theological courses for three years after a re-examination and undergo the prescribed examinations every year. After completing their studies, they had to teach for at least another seven years before they could be promoted to offices and rectorates of the Religion and even to the passive voice.

Those who clearly could not devote themselves to profound studies were assigned to the lower classes and to arithmetic, and could only receive the passive voice after fifteen years of commendable practice in school. After entering the novitiate and taking into account the two-year probationary period, the plan provided eleven years for the complete education of cleric students. Unfortunately, Father Pirroni was not immediately able to put into full practice this precise and well-elaborated plan of studies, partly because of economic difficulties, and partly because of a lack of students and suitable teachers. However, when the curriculum approved in 1718 was drawn up, it was taken into account in almost all points[121]. After the General Chapter of 1683, his increasingly precarious health also prevented him from implementing all of the plan’s provisions in detail. Nevertheless, Fr. Pirroni did much to carry out the project, both in Rome, in the juniorate of San Pantaleo and in Chieti, and in the other juniorates of the various provinces, mainly in Italy.

The Roman Studium of San Pantaleo was already created at the time of the Holy Founder and Calasanz himself was its master and prefect[122]. However, after his death and during the period of the Innocentian Reduction, the life of this house of studies was almost completely extinguished and only Father Camillo Scassellati, as we have seen elsewhere, inaugurated the new course of studies at the end of 1661 and was able to maintain it with great difficulty due to the contrary judgment of the Sacred Congregation of the Apostolic Visitation[123]. During Father Fedele’s generalate, the juniorate received new impetus, especially when Father Pirroni from Chieti was called to Rome in September 1673 to exercise the office of Master of the cleric students in addition to that of General Procurator. However, this juniorate lacked fixed rules and a specific study plan until Father Pirroni’s generalate. He was the first to establish regular theological studies there, first entrusting the cleric theologians to the teaching of the Fathers of Sant’Andrea della Valle[124] and later at home to the care of a Lector of Theology appointed from among the Piarist religious[125]. Thus, in the 1677-78 school year, under the direction of Father Paul Horváth, the General Assistant[126], the student body already numbered 9 theology students selected among the best[127]. The older ones worthily exercised the sacred office of preaching at the public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament of the Forty Hours, which took place in the church[128]. Shortly thereafter, specifically in 1681, the theology students made such great progress in their studies that they were able to defend their theses or conclusions publicly and with great pomp and solemnity in the presence of cardinals and illustrious prelates of the Roman Curia[129], with splendor and decorum both for themselves and for the Order.

In the same juniorate of San Pantaleo, in addition to the in-depth study of the theological disciplines, higher studies in mathematics and physics were established with great success as early as 1677. On September 13th of the same year, Alfonso Borelli, then a famous professor of mathematics, whose two volumes On the motion of the animals (De motu animalium) were later printed at Father Pirroni’s expense and distributed throughout Europe, asked for board and lodging at St. Pantaleo’s house at Father Pirroni’s invitation, which was granted to him, as if he had been tricked by one of his servants. From November 2nd of the same year[130], he taught mathematics to the Piarist students. Only the professor’s death, which occurred on December 31, 1679, put an end to these higher mathematics studies, which had taken place for two years in the house of San Pantaleo. However, despite the brevity of the studies, at least six of the students of Alfonso Borelli so appropriated the master’s art and science that they in turn became famous professors of mathematics, not only in Italy but even in faraway Poland. The most famous of all was Father Dominic Rossi of St. Joseph[131], who was sent to Poland in 1683[132] to teach mathematics to Piarists in particular, but also to students from outside. He later came close to obtaining the chair of mathematical sciences at the famous Roman college La Sapienza[133]. Alongside him, Father Augustine Passante of St. Thomas Aquinas, future founder of Moyá, the first Piarist house in Spain, later professor of mathematics at the school of Naples, advisor to Emperor Charles VI in the Austrian metropolis and Bishop of Pozzuoli from 1724 until his death in 1732[134], was also a student of Borelli. The third among Borelli’s most famous Piarist students was Father Philip Tosini of St. Michael, also professor of mathematics at the College of Urbino from 1693 to 1696[135], and the others included Father Carlo Emmanuele Incisa of Blessed Amadeo[136], Father Giovanni Francesco Muzio of St. Romulus[137], Father Michael Pierotti of St. John Evangelist[138] and Father Antony Philip Patriarchi of St. Francis[139].

These famous mathematicians, as well as the books of Master Borelli, especially the two aforementioned volumes On the motion of the animals, edited by Father Pirroni, gave rise to his happy initiative to advance scientific studies and research in the Piarist Order with greater vigor every day.

But in addition to mathematics and the theological disciplines, the study of Greek literature was also strongly encouraged among the Piarists of St. Pantaleo, at the instigation of Father Pirroni, who wanted his clerics to be “universal in everything”[140].

At the beginning of Father Pirroni’s Generalate, the number of clerics in the house of St. Pantaleo was very small, partly because of a lack of classrooms and adequate living quarters. Father General was determined to enlarge the house as much as possible and to add new rooms and dormitories. However, the work of restoring the church almost from the ground up and enlarging the house was only completed during the generalate of his successor, Father Alexis Armini, although it had already begun in April 1681 and partly even in March 1680[141]. Although the house had already been enlarged by two new dormitories in April 1681[142], the student body of St. Pantaleo never had more than eight or ten juniors during Father Pirroni’s generalate[143].

On the other hand, the lucky, carefully selected clerics who were able to devote themselves to theological and mathematical studies at the juniorate of St. Pantaleo were not only fortunate enough to find excellent teachers and readers, such as Borelli in mathematics and Father John Francis Muzio in theology[144], but they were also able to consult the best books, collected in great numbers in the library of St. Pantaleo[145], thanks to the interest of Father Pirroni, who kept up a correspondence on publications with the most important booksellers not only in Italy but also abroad[146]. As far as the program and daily routine were concerned, a series of detailed regulations and orders, which had to be put into practice under the direct supervision and care of the prefect of studies, governed the life and work of each one of the cleric students. But the supreme and direct management of everything was in the hands of Father Pirroni himself, who treated everyone with affection and fatherly authority. And so, as far as possible, nothing was denied them that could contribute to their advantage. Even to give them the rest they needed, the juniors were often sent away from Rome during the summer vacation[147]. But nothing was tolerated that did not correspond at least hopefully to the sublime image of the religious, the priest and the Piarist educator that Father Pirroni had sketched for them with so much art and knowledge of the matter, both in his letters and in the circulars and in the domestic conferences. Thus, it came about that each student undertook to fulfill his office and his task properly, without giving Father Pirroni, whom he held in such high esteem, any cause for complaint[148].

In addition to the above-mentioned sermons and public discussions, solemn academies were also held several times a year in honor of Saints Justus and Pastor and the Assumption, often honored by the presence of a cardinal or other prelates of the Roman Curia[149].

But the most valuable fruit of the juniorate of St. Pantaleo was undoubtedly the admittedly small but illustrious number of Piarists who, like the pupils of the famous Borelli, cultivated and taught the mathematical sciences for the glory of themselves and the Order. Besides the religious mentioned above, others emerged from this student body like a new Trojan horse, less famous perhaps, but no less lovers of the sciences and the Order, and who became everywhere, in the various juniorates and schools, diligent champions of truth, bearers of light and love, and noble forerunners of the golden age of the Pious Schools.

The other house of higher studies and clerical and religious formation of the Piarists, which was certainly of great importance, was the Studium of Chieti[150] in Abruzzo, founded in June 1660 by Father Camillo Scassellati to train clerics mainly from the province of Naples, but also from the other provinces of Italy. The most famous rector of the juniorate and at the same time professor of mathematics was Father Angel Morelli of St. Dominic, certainly the most important of the Piarists called Galileian. The first prefect of studies was Father Charles John Pirroni. At the beginning, this juniorate was primarily devoted to literary and mathematical studies; later, however, at the suggestion of Father Pirroni himself, philosophical and theological studies also began in 1681[151]. But the number of students was never large due to the narrowness of the building, which could accommodate no more than twenty religious between professors and clerics, and never exceeded thirteen during Father Pirroni’s generalate[152]. Only in 1711 did the community experience a slight increase with 17 students[153]. So, despite his many efforts, Father Pirroni was never able to achieve his goal of having a juniorate of 30 juniors in Chieti[154]. Reading the numerous letters that Father Pirroni wrote from Rome to Chieti, both to the superiors and to the clerics, it is not difficult to see that the student body of Chieti, being so far away from Rome and from the General, did not always behave and work according to Father Pirroni’s wishes and instructions. Even the appointment of the prefect of studies and the professors was not always accepted, as it was often difficult to combine the qualities of a pious, prudent and firm educator with the arts of a skillful and learned teacher[155]. In this way, more or less serious difficulties very often arose, requiring the rapid and immediate intervention of the General[156], who, by the way, often criticized in his letters those who “abused freedom, studies and all the favors of the Religion”[157], as well as the imprudence of the superiors[158]. Nevertheless, one can find in the life of this juniorate quite long periods in which scholastic work was intense and truly profitable, as shown by the exercises in rhetoric and spiritual eloquence held almost daily in the refectory[159], as well as the various literary academies, which did not cease even during the summer vacations[160]. Moreover, the zeal of the teachers and students in preparing and delivering the speeches was so great that Father Pirroni, seeing that these exercises produced undesirable results, namely the useless loquacity and vain ambition of many, was forced to limit these demonstrations only to the most serious religious[161].

Moreover, the seriousness and rigor of the annual examinations, by which the right selection of students was automatically made, effectively encouraged effort in study. Frequently a Dominican master was appointed examiner of the philosophical subjects[162]. To make it easier for the clerics to devote themselves to the prescribed studies, a sufficient number of books or doctrinal texts were collected in Chieti, which Father Pirroni always considered more useful than the laborious and error-prone notes that the students took of the professors’ oral explanations[163].

So everything was ready for the Juniorate of Chieti to open its doors to young people from abroad. But Father Pirroni, who was prudent and cautious, did not want to take this step at the time, despite Father Morelli’s insistence[164].

In the development of philosophical and theological studies, in accordance with the decree of the General Chapter of May 4, 1677, both the professors and the students followed the teachings of St. Thomas[165], whose clarity, depth and imperishable doctrine Father Pirroni repeatedly praised[166].

The other juniorates of the Order, established in Italy according to the provisions of the General Chapter and the decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars in Narni, Citta della Pieve, Genoa, Savona, Campi, Florence, Castellone Fiorentino, Pieve di Cento, Palermo, Messina and Cagliari, followed almost the same curriculum, used the same method of teaching and enjoyed the same paternal care of Father Pirroni[167]. If we add to this the flourishing juniorates in Germania[168] and Poland[169] and the humble beginnings of the novitiate-juniorate of Moya in Spain[170], we can form a fairly clear picture of that efficient and powerful network, or rather channel, of houses of study to which, according to the will of Father Pirroni and the entire Order, it was incumbent to carry the vital lymph of science, letters and Calasanzian piety far into the hearts of the Piarist clerics. Once imbued and filled with this juice, they too could, with paternal generosity, saturate a swarm of disciples eager for truth and holiness. In this way, Father Pirroni took the first and fortunate steps to effectively solve the serious problem of studies in the Piarist Order. For this he certainly deserves the greatest praise, even if he was not able to implement everything he had proposed.

However, he could rightly and justifiably write, as he actually did to one of the religious, that his successor would not later have to struggle with these problems as much as he had struggled and sweated[171].

Father Pirroni’s merits in promoting studies alone are enough to make his name immortal in the history of the Order. But he rendered even greater services to the juniorates and juniors as spiritual father, director of studies and professor. Certainly, the words of his declaration, in which he openly confessed that the proper education and formation of the clerics was very close to his heart, since the future fate of the Piarist Institute depended mainly on it, were not vain, but arose from the depths of his spirit. For the natural and fierce impulse of his soul, which from his youth urged him to devote himself to higher studies both in letters and in the sciences, and which was then suppressed by the excessive burden of the Generalate, due to the law of a certain secret compensation, he urged others to approach those sources of truth and beauty of which he so ardently desired to be satiated throughout his whole life[172]. Father Pirroni was, of course, ready to leave the superiorate immediately and return to his beloved books, but since Divine Providence had given him “this cross of the superiorate”, which had gradually almost completely exhausted the strength of his body and mind[173], he wanted to devote himself, at least indirectly, in some way to studies. For this reason, his truly beneficial presence was to be seen and verified in all the Piarist Juniorates, in all the problems related to studies, juniors and vocations. We have several letters from him, full of faith and enthusiasm, to some parents who did not allow their children to receive the Calasanzian habit[174], and to their children, in which he exhorted them to persevere with determination in the divine vocation[175]. And even more letters have been preserved, addressed to some clerics individually or publicly to the entire community of students, always with the noble aim of enlightenment and admonition and, if necessary, correction[176].

These letters were never merely official communications from the supreme moderator or mere prescriptions, as one might easily think, but letters from a father to his sons, sincere, often stern, but never troublesome, in which his noble spirit, totally dedicated to the mission of the Pious Schools, burning with desire for truth and devotion to studies, pointed out and offered the way to draw abundantly from the waters of Calasanzian piety and science.

There are also other letters by Fr. Pirroni, addressed not to the juniors but to the rectors of juniorates, teachers and professors, in which there is never a lack of wise and subtle pedagogical norms, didactic or methodological advice[177], or sound and sober principles of epistemology. For example, in these letters, readers of theology and philosophy were informed about the imperishable values of philosophy and the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas, as well as the most appropriate method for teaching; and teachers of mathematics or physics were also informed about the latest problems in the mathematical sciences. And finally, after reading his letters, the professors of the humanities felt an even more vehement desire to delve deeper into humanistic studies, as these were of such great importance in the curriculum of the Piarist Order at the time. Through these same letters, the rectors and spiritual directors of the juniorates were instructed on the manner and prudence with which they should treat and care for the delicate and sometimes quite complicated souls of each junior, as well as the “formless mass” of all the students of the community. He also pointed out the criteria and the measure of the most severe punishments that should be applied, as well as the possibility of paternal leniency that could be applied to those who truly repented and corrected themselves. Superiors were also strongly recommended the difficult art of combining authority with gentleness and a sincere paternal affection for the clerics, which, however, was hardly convenient to be shown outwardly[178]. Finally, superiors were urged to have confidence in the clerics, in such a way that “a certain methodical distrust” should be always maintained, but which the clerics, however, should not suffer if it was exposed for any reason[179].

Another thing that these letters taught the teachers was that, although the exercise of the Piarist ministry required no little knowledge, this, separated from rectitude of conscience and firmness of morals, had no value, since the first book of every professor and teacher was the image of Jesus crucified, and the best idea would come to anyone’s mind if he asked for it in prayer[180].

Thus, Father Pirroni truly became the first teacher and the first professor of every Piarist juniorate, a symbol and a living sign of the aspirations, yearnings and spiritual growth of the Order. This was made clear at the General Chapter of 1683, which, at the same time impressed by some public conclusions of the clerics which were then put into print[181], approved with joy both the plan of studies which he had rightly outlined and all that had already been really accomplished in the matter of studies, and, inflamed with an unusual zeal, declared itself ready to strengthen Father General’s further initiatives with its authority[182].

Taking all these things duly into account, it is obvious to everyone that Fr. Pirroni was happy to carry out or begin almost all the projects that the Holy Founder had already proposed, even if he was unable to complete them due to adverse circumstances. If one considers that the number of students in Father Pirroni’s time was rather small both in Rome and in Chieti, barely fifteen each, it becomes clear that the study situation in the Piarist Order was indeed far from meeting the just demands of the Order. Father Pirroni, almost out of nothing, created the foundation and initiated the course through which his successors were finally able to lead this difficult matter to the desired goal. But the sincere love for the truth and the vehement concern for studies with which Father Pirroni had inflamed the hearts of the young and old members of the Order already bore some mature fruit in the literary and scientific fields. Many Piarists, both in Italy and in Poland, Germany and Hungary, published literary and scientific works, a list of which can be found in the bibliographies of Father L. Picanyol.

THE GOVERNMENT OF FATHER PIRRONI

After having explained about Father Pirroni’s attempts to restore the old Calasanzian observance and his activities in favor of studies within the Order, we think that his years in the government of the Order have already been sufficiently described. However, in order to obtain a more complete picture of his generalate, it is appropriate to mention some aspects that have not yet been dealt with.

First of all, we must say that Father Pirroni, even if his own character and way of life may have led him to adopt a centralized style of government, he was certainly forced to do so by the experience itself. He could not fail to recognize the serious damage that the disagreements between the major superiors regarding government had inflicted on the Order, especially after the brief Cum sicut accepimus (April 2, 1660) of Alexander VII, in which the General Assistants were definitively granted the decisive or deliberative vote[183].

It was indeed a bitter shock that history and circumstances brought him, the fact that in the first six years of his generalate he was bitterly opposed by three of the four Assistants, whose blind opposition placed serious obstacles in the way of his government and sometimes even paralyzed it completely. In fact, Frs. Fedele, Quarantotto and Horváth frequently denounced Fr. Pirroni before the Holy See, the Cardinal Protector and even the Pope himself, supported also by Fr. Joseph Mary Capoblanco, the Provincial of Rome, who was very displeased that his jurisdiction over the houses of his province was being curtailed. But Father Pirroni was not one of those people who let difficulties get them down easily. Convinced that a centralized and strong government had to be imposed on the entire Order, he was fearless in the midst of struggles and controversies and successfully defended his cause both in the Congregations and before Cardinal Protector Carpegna and even before Pope Innocent XI in a private colloquium they held on June 1, 1682, the contents of which the Piarists would not forget.

The cause of the profound discrepancy between Father Pirroni and the “triumvirate” of his Assistants was the controversy over the appointment and confirmation of local superiors both for the houses of formation and for the other houses of the Order.

As for the superiors of the houses of formation, the three assistants –one of whom, Fr. Benedict Quarantotto, did not want to give up his rectorate in the Roman house of probation, from which the whole problem arose[184]– insisted on claiming for themselves the right to a deliberative vote in these appointments. Father Pirroni, for his part, maintained that the Assistants had only a consultative vote in these cases, in accordance with Innocent X’s Brief Inter cetera. When the question was brought to the Holy See, the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Religious fully agreed with Father Pirroni’s thesis and course of action in a decree dated July 31, 1682[185].

Regarding the confirmation of the rectors in their office after the three-year term, the three assistants reaffirmed that they had the decisive vote in this matter, while Father Pirroni, referring to the Constitutions, affirmed that only the will of the Superior General was sufficient for this confirmation. In view of this different opinions and attitudes, not only did the General Curia remain in limbo for quite some time, but several houses began to suffer major inconveniences because they had rectors of dubious authority and competence. In addition, the three Assistants, with the intention of taking revenge for the “insult” inflicted on them, frequently reproved the rectors proposed by Father General, for no other reason than that Father General’s candidacy had been made without their consent. This situation and the resulting mood could not be changed even by the personal intervention of the Cardinal Protector, who attended the meeting of the General Congregation on November 27, 1681, the purpose of which was to appoint new rectors and confirm some of the old ones. On the contrary, Father Joseph Fedele insulted the Cardinal to such an extent that the latter, rightly indignant, wanted to leave the meeting immediately and completely to cut off his protection and blessing for the Order. Only the pleas and tears of Father Pirroni prevented him from carrying out his plan[186].

A few months later, precisely on April 14, 1682, Father Benedict Quarantotto and Paul Horváth went to the Pope and, after explaining their opinion about the matter, presented Innocent XI a written memorandum in which they complained about three things: that Father General needed the decisive vote of the assistants on everything and did not bother to ask for it at all; that the General did not submit to them the election of superiors; that he wished to devote himself to the visitation of the Roman province, so that in this way the time of the above-mentioned elections would be over. Msgr. Panciatico, Secretary of the Congregation of Bishops and Regular Convents, after the Pope had given him this memorandum, immediately, on April 18, 1682 to be precise, ordered Father General and the Assistants to appear before him. Father Pirroni replied so clearly to all the points of the accusation, defending his rights and his conduct, that the matter seemed, at least for the moment, settled[187]. Accordingly, at the meeting on April 21st, an election was attempted at the request of the Secretary of the Sacred Congregation. But, after some new rectors had been appointed, nothing was decided for the time being on the confirmation of the old ones[188], because the three assistants, angered as usual by the alleged violation of their right to a deliberative vote, declared that they would appeal again to the Holy See on April 23rd[189]. Raised this objection, Msgr. Panciatico convinced Father Pirroni that he should let the matter rest for a while so that tempers would calm down[190]. However, these discussions and legal disputes were seriously damaging the good reputation of the Order and there was once again a great danger that the Order would be suppressed again[191]. Therefore, on April 26, 1682, Father Pirroni decided to personally visit Father Fedele, who was staying at Collegio Nazareno at the time, in order to settle the situation with him amicably, if possible. But Father Fedele remained adamant in the conversation, so that Father General returned to his residence without having found a solution[192], so that the appeal took its course. The lampoon written by the Assistants against Father General and handed over to the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Religious, described by Father Pirroni as scandalous, was particularly defamatory of the Order and it was plagued by scandalous data and inconsistencies[193]. For his part, Father Pirroni also informed the cardinals who had to settle the dispute about the details of the discussion, and in private conversations with them he fortunately managed to win almost all of them over to his side[194]. However, in order to avoid defamation of the Order and more serious lawsuits resulting from it, Father Pirroni made a last attempt to settle the matter peacefully and sent Father Angel Morelli from Chieti to Rome to clarify the issue with Father Fedele. To make it easier for Father Morelli to carry out his mission, Father Pirroni deliberately left the city after his arrival in Rome on May 16th. But this attempt also failed due to desire of power of the three assistants[195]. So the appeal continued. To prevent the final collapse of the Order, the General went to Pope Innocent XI on June 1, 1682 and, after presenting the matter to him point by point, asked for his paternal and extraordinary intervention through Father Louis Marraccio of the Order of the Mother of God, a famous biblical scholar of the time, confessor of the Pope and great friend of the Piarist Order[196]. Father Pirroni wished and requested that the said father, on behalf of the Pope, would refer the matter, which was to be dealt with out of court, to Innocent XI himself. However, the Pope, who was deeply disappointed by the sad events within the Piarist Order, which had already been dissolved once before due to similar disagreements, did not grant Father Pirroni’s request, as he was of the opinion that the path he proposed could in no way lead to the desired goal. The memorandum, that the General had written for the occasion and handed directly to the Pope, was passed on to the aforementioned Msgr. Panciatico so that he could examine it more closely[197]. After he had examined the problem in detail, it was initially considered more appropriate to await the return of the Cardinal Protector, who was absent from Rome at the time for health reasons. However, when he was forced to be absent from Rome for longer than expected, it was decided to continue the matter without his presence. The result was that, after the cardinals had again been informed of the matter by Father Pirroni, the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, in its meeting of June 26th, approved the General’s thesis and decreed the following: “In the matter that has arisen between the Father General of the Pious Schools on the one hand and the Assistants of the same Order on the other, the Sacred Congregation of the Most Venerable Cardinals, which is responsible for the affairs and deliberations of Bishops and Regulars, after the said parties had informed and after a thorough discussion of the matter, has decided that in the case in question the Father General may allow the Superiors to continue without the consent and vote of the said Assistants”[198].

While the matter was still in the hands of the judge, the three Assistant sparked another controversy over the right to propose the names of candidates for superiors in the general congregation. They claimed this right for themselves and asserted that it belonged to each of the members of the General Congregation in turn. But Fr. Pirroni refused to grant them this right and declared that, according to the Constitutions, only the Superior General was entitled to it. This thesis was endorsed by both the Cardinal Protector and the most reverend prelates of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars[199].

The dispute between Father Pirroni and the Roman Provincial, Father Joseph Mary Capobianco of Jesus, was fierce and protracted, since he, who had been elected according to the will of the “three”, was completely in bondage to them, carrying out their orders and interpreting their thinking. By living in the house of St. Pantaleo, he hinder a lot Father General’s rule over the houses in Rome. Father Pirroni, moved by the desire for more tranquility and freedom in government, ordered him, according to the decree of the Holy Apostolic Visitation of April 4, 1662[200], to leave Rome and choose another residence in one of the houses outside the city. However, Father Capoblanco refused to obey and appealed to the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, which, after mature and lengthy discussion of the matter, reaffirmed Father Pirroni’s decisions by a decree of February 20, 1682. The Provincial was ordered to leave Rome as soon as possible[201], regardless of a further appeal to the Sacred Congregation[202].

Finally, that same year, another complicated matter was raised. Father Fedele, the leader of the “triumvirate” of assistants - or rather “resistants”, as Father Pirroni called them[203] - received 200 scudi as an inheritance in the will of Mrs. Olimpia Lunghi, a former penitent of his. Under various pretexts, Father Fedele refused to hand over the said amount to the procurator of the House of San Pantaleo, and Father Pirroni’s repeated warnings proved useless. The dispute that broke out on this occasion was a great scandal for the Piarist religious and also damaged the good reputation of the Order, as the Sacred Congregations were often confronted with tainted affairs of the religious of the Pious Schools. In the end, as was easy to predict, Father Pirroni won this case as well; therefore, on September 26th, Father Fedele, by order of the Sacred Congregation and the Cardinal Protector, handed over all the money to the Procurator of the House of St. Pantaleo[204].

Apart from these matters and disputes of greater importance, which were the source of serious discord within the Curia and the entire Order, there were several others of lesser importance, the resolution and settlement of which occupied no small part of Fr. Pirroni’s energies. But the struggle he waged to maintain the authority and effective primacy of the General, even in a shared government, was not in vain. For in this way the first excesses of the General Assistants, who since the second letter of Alexander VII enjoyed the decisive right to vote and therefore considered themselves equal in everything to the General, who became first among equals, were gradually mitigated and the way was paved for a truly “democratic” government, to use the current word, in which the Superior General exercised his rights and the Assistants enjoyed their own. The matter as a whole, however, was not satisfactorily settled until the General Chapter of 1754, when the cases in which the General Assistants could and should use their deliberative vote were sufficiently clearly defined[205].

The truth is that Divine Providence wisely ordered things in such a way that the inordinate ambition of the Assistants got overflowed just when the function of General was exercised by Father Pirroni, who, with his prudence, energy and canonical expertise, succeeded in defending the rights of the Generalate for himself and his successors with the greatest dignity and efficiency[206].

Father Pirroni, who vigorously defended the rights of the General vis-à-vis the Assistants, also applied other vigorous measures, thanks to which his centralized government was able to manage, order, and direct the affairs of the Order more effectively.

Among the means he used, certainly not the least was the extensive and rich correspondence - the number of letters he wrote per day often exceeded thirty - which enabled him to communicate with each of the houses of the Order, with the superiors and with many other religious, without excluding the clerics and the brothers in the most humble condition. The circulars he sent out on the Order’s serious problems often helped him in the difficult task of leadership. In order to be able to respond more effectively and quickly to the true and urgent postulates of the Order, he requested that annual reports, information and catalogs of the provinces and the religious be sent to Rome, through the diligent use of which he could easily be informed about the means and the remedies to be applied everywhere. Unfortunately, he was unable to carry out the canonical visitation of the individual religious houses that he had planned due to his failing health. He only visited the house of St. Pantaleo and part of the Roman province, while the other houses and provinces, especially those of Germania and Poland, which he had always wanted to visit in person[207], waited for him in vain. Moreover, the journey to Germania and Poland was complicated not only by his fragile health, but also by the sad events of the time, the ongoing wars and the plague[208].

There is no doubt that carrying out the canonical visitation of the Order, which Father Pirroni had initiated at the beginning of 1681[209], would have given an extraordinary boost to the unity and consolidation of the Institute. But even if this visitation had been omitted for just and serious reasons, Father Pirroni had sufficient means and data for the correct and careful management of the Order. He himself publicly affirmed this to his opponents, who accused him before some cardinals of the Roman Curia of having neglected this fundamental obligation of the supreme moderator[210].

Finally, the Ritual for the celebration of local chapters, written by Father Pirroni himself[211], which was to be followed by the Ritual for Provincial and General Chapters, but which he was unable to do due to his illness, also helped to strengthen and consolidate the good order and governance of the Order. Having solved the Order’s legal and disciplinary problems, Father Pirroni set about the arduous task of improving the Order’s precarious economic situation. The extreme Calasanzian poverty, which, according to Paul V’s Brief, forbade the Order from any fixed assets even in common, soon put the Piarist Institute in dire straits, which was certainly detrimental to both the regular discipline and the normal development of the scholastic ministry and ultimately the healthy expansion of the Order. The first letter of Alexander VII Dudum felic. record. Paul Papa V already softened the severity of supreme poverty somewhat by granting the institute the possibility of receiving annuities or annual grants[212]. But he did not yet grant the Piarists the right to own additional stable goods, fields, vineyards, etc. in common, as prescribed by the Council of Trent (ses. XXV, cap. 3). This considerably restricted their ability to establish new foundations by themselves.

Father Pirroni therefore made every effort to ensure that the Piarist Order was recognized or rather granted the aforementioned right to common property, which was questioned more than once by the Order’s enemies at the time. However, the final answer to this question was given by Innocent XI after the death of Father Pirroni in the Brief Exponi Nobis nuper fecit, published on September 3, 1686, in which it was declared “that the nature of Piarist poverty is to be understood as prescribed by the Council of Trent” (ses. XXV, De Relig. cap. 3)[213].

This new way of understanding supreme poverty gradually paved the way for the creation of a more stable economic base in the Institute, which for years had been so much desired by many religious for the normal and peaceful exercise of Calasanzian ministry. Having thus created and prepared the optimal internal and external conditions that were so necessary for the restoration and consolidation of the Institute, Father Pirroni ensured that the Order’s relations with the magistrates and the civil and ecclesiastical authorities improved day by day. In the Roman Curia he soon won friends for himself and the Order among the cardinals, in particular Cardinal Caspar Carpegna, the Protector of the Order - who helped him effectively in the controversy with the Assistants and during his illness - and Pope Innocent XI himself, who on more than one occasion discussed the most serious matters of the Order and even of the Church in private audience with Father Pirroni. Outside Rome, he maintained correspondence with many bishops and archbishops of Italy and also of the ultramontane regions, especially with St. Gregory Barbarigo, Bishop of Padua, to whom he addressed several letters on the mathematical sciences and specialists in these fields, on learned, literary or scientific subjects or other matters closely connected with the Piarist ministry[214].

All these friendships of Father Pirroni were the main reason why the Piarist Order, which was hardly shaken despite the constant accusations of the three Assistants, was able to continue its peaceful development in safety.

As for Father Pirroni’s relations with the civil magistrates or the most important scholars of his time, the three volumes containing the records of the letters he addressed to so many marquises, counts, barons, trustees or scholars and men of letters show irrefutably what he did for the Calasanzian Institute at the level of human relations. He always maintained an excellent and friendly relationship with the highest Spanish magistrates in Rome. The ambassador of the King of Spain had helped him, when he was still Procurator of the Order, as we have seen, to be elected General in the Chapter of 1677. During Father Pirroni’s term of office, the same ambassador of the Catholic King had solemn services held more than once for the Spanish nation in the church of San Pantaleo, such as on February 5, 1680, on the occasion of the solemn commemoration of the marriage of King Charles II to Marie Louise of Orléans[215]. There is no doubt that the happy outcome of the introduction of the Piarist Order in Spain was partly due to these friendly relations.

If it was easy, at least to a certain extent, to establish good relations with the ecclesiastical and civil authorities, it was not so fortunate in maintaining good and friendly relations with the other Orders. Thus the religious of the Society of Jesus in Poland and Sardinia tried more than once to hinder the peaceful expansion of the Piarists in every way. In Sardinia, they denied them the right to own fixed estates and in Poland the actual liberation from the local Ordinaries. We have already seen how Father Pirroni proceeded with regard to the first problem. As far as the exemption was concerned, he was able to obtain a new papal Brief on March 13, 1684 which expressly recognized and confirmed it[216]. In any case, Father Pirroni did his utmost to ensure that the seeds of discord between the Piarists and the Jesuits would disappear as quickly as possible. Accordingly, he severely punished some religious in Warsaw who had allowed some students of the Jesuit school to be inappropriately treated and even beaten by students of the Piarist school[217]. As if that were not enough, and in order to avoid greater evil, he met personally with the General of the Society more than once in order to settle the matter with him more easily[218].

As for the immediate regime and the good running of the Piarist schools, Father Pirroni, who was busy with other, more serious matters, could not devote as much attention to them as he would have liked. Although he personally drew up a study plan for the Piarists, it was not possible for him to do the same for the students. He controlled directly, with paternal care, almost everything that happened in the juniorates; but he was not able to support and promote the life and good functioning of the schools with sufficiently effective norms. Despite everything, he indirectly did a lot for the schools, as he trained excellent teachers at great expense in the juniorates he founded. Moreover, in the circular he sent out immediately after taking office, following the paternal exhortations of Innocent XI, he gave some correct norms on the timetable to be strictly observed, on the promotion and cultivation of the Latin language, on the proper and conscientious teaching of Christian doctrine and, finally, on the practice of the devout exercise of Continuous Prayer[219].

In the same circular, he then ordered that each Piarist school should have its own clearly defined rules, according to the custom introduced at another time by Calasanz himself, which should be made known to both parents and pupils immediately at the beginning of the school year and posted in a public place in the school[220]. Father Pirroni openly advocated the old Calasanzian custom of free education and severely punished any attempt at abuse in this regard[221]. As far as the school theater was concerned, he tried to scrupulously follow the rather strict standards set by Calasanz. He only very rarely allowed stage performances and gave priority to literary academies or public philosophical conclusions by students on the feast of a patron saint or during examination periods[222]. He also continued the old Calasanzian custom of accompanying children home, as was also required in the instruction Cum sicut accepimus by Alexander VII. However, it is clear from some of Father Pirroni’s letters and from the dispensations he granted that, at the first favorable opportunity, he would easily abandon this practice, which on the one hand was no longer so necessary under the conditions of modern urban life and on the other hand was so burdensome for the religious and at times even dangerous for religious observance itself, if the Constitutions and the above-mentioned letter of Alexander VII had not expressly forbidden it[223]. After his death, however, this practice of accompanying students home was gradually discontinued, even if it did not disappear completely everywhere, at least not until a few years ago.

The children of the Piarist schools during Father Pirroni’s generalate were taught from the first elements to the last grade with rhetoric or poetics. Under special circumstances due to place and time, the Piarists also taught philosophy. Father Pirroni even allowed them to teach theological subjects in Poland[224]. Only on very rare occasions did he assign private tutors to the sons of illustrious gentlemen. In Rome, however, he even gave up his own room for this purpose[225].

The division and organization of the secondary school already introduced by Calasanz himself, according to which only those young people whose intelligence and good behavior made them outstanding were to study the humanities, while the others were assigned to the easier study of arithmetic, was also maintained by Father Pirroni. He was also encouraged to do so by Innocent XI, who wanted to avoid an excessive proliferation of literati in the new growing society, who were not free from reproach and who, moreover, in some cases went completely astray[226] because of the interruption of studies or because of the all too sad conditions of family reality.

Among the other achievements and works of his government, it is worth saying, as already mentioned, the enlargement of the house of S. Pantaleo, the consolidation of the entire building by inserting iron beams[227] and the restoration of the church of San Pantaleo, which was happily begun[228].

All these structures, built[229] or to be built at great expense, represented in a certain way the main objective of his paternal care and solicitude. For the restored house, together with the new church, was to be the optimal seat of the new central government, the source of perpetual Calasanzian worship, the vital center of all truly Piarist activities. In the construction and restoration of the church, Father Pirroni also received great help from the ecclesiastical authorities, in particular from Cardinal Carpegna, the vicar of the city and protector of the Order[230]. However, Divine Providence did not allow him to witness the consecration of the new church, at least in part. This only happened on February 16, 1686, during the generalate of Father Alexis Armini, and in a very simple way[231].

EXPANSION AND SPREAD OF THE INSTITUTE

His virile commitment and the desire to expand and spread the Order played an important role in Father Pirroni’s government and in his heart. In fact, he longed fervently for the Institute, which had proved so useful to Christian society and which he hoped would continue to be so useful in the future, to grow more every day and to act with greater vigor and in a wider sphere of action. There were two ways for him to achieve this: the internal consolidation of the Order and the expansion or extension of the Institute.

We have already seen what Father Pirroni did in the first way and to what extent. Now it remains for us to explain how he progressed in the other way. The first thing we must say at once is that if the undertaking of restoring the Order was quite difficult, great and arduous, it was naturally no less arduous to spread it, notwithstanding the frequent requests, wishes and petitions for new foundations. The first difficulty was the lack of capable and experienced religious. In fact, only a few religious were characterized by a mature age and recommendable erudition, because the order was teeming with “immature boys”, as Father Pirroni himself often used to say[232]. Secondly, the expansion of the Order was considerably slowed down, firstly by the new and stricter norms issued by the Holy See for the admission of new foundations, and secondly by the more recent laws of the respective cities, which, overwhelmed by the excessive growth of religious communities, laid down the “numerus clausus” in every respect or granted little support to the new Religions. More rarely, the mendicant orders erected certain obstacles to the entry of the Piarists, fearing that the alms distributed to several would decrease significantly. In Poland and Sardinia, the religious of the Society, fearing that the Piarists might compete with their schools, tried in every way to prevent or at least delay the spread of the Pious Schools under various pretexts[233].

Despite all these difficulties, Father Pirroni founded many new schools in Italy and on the neighboring islands, but also in Germany and Poland. He also had the good fortune to introduce the institute to Spain, the homeland of the Holy Founder, the target of other futile attempts in the past and future stronghold of the Order.

In 1684, he took over the care and management of the Hospice of St. Michael “ad Ripam” in Rome, which had been founded by Prince Charles Thomas Odescalchi, a close relative of Pope Innocent XI[234]. In the province of Naples, he founded the house of Gaeta[235] in 1680 and that of Francavilla[236] in 1682. In Sardinia, he founded the House of Oristano[237] or Arborense in 1681 and the House of Sassari[238] in 1682. In the province of Poland, but in the Lithuanian region, the House of Dambrowica[239] was founded in 1684 and the House of St. George[240] in the Hungarian region in 1685.

In 1683, the House of Moyá was founded, the first in the Kingdom of Spain to put down deep and fruitful roots[241].

Each of these foundations had its history and its vicissitudes and went through its difficulties, as can be seen from the many letters that Father Pirroni wrote on the subject. But perhaps none of them involved as much toil and sweat as the first and unfortunate attempt to found in Barbastro and then the foundation of Moyá itself. We do not intend to enumerate here in detail the dates and events that marked the entry of the Piarists into Spain, which have already been carefully expounded by some experts on the subject and, more recently, by Father Picanyol and Father Bau[242]. But we would like to justly praise and celebrate the imperishable merits that Father Pirroni also acquired in this matter. For from the beginning of his tenure, he clearly saw how useful and beneficial the Institute would be in the native place of Calasanz, since he would always welcome and bless it. When the first opportunity presented itself to him, namely after the town of Barbastro, together with the town of Benabarre, had asked for Piarist schools[243], he sent Father Louis Cavada of St. Andrew’s, Provincial of Sardinia, to Spain on May 12, 1677, the day after the end of the General Chapter[244], to see to the founding of Barbastro, giving him Father Gabino Cossa of All Saints[245] as a companion. They immediately set off on their journey to Spain in May. Despite the initial difficulties, five more Sardinian fathers and three Neapolitan fathers were sent to Spain in the first half of the year[246]. At the beginning of 1678, Father Pirroni thought of entrusting the foundation in Spain to the Fathers of the Sardinian province, many of whom were either native Spaniards or at least had a perfect command of the Spanish language. Later, however, when it became apparent that the zeal of Father Cavada and the Sardinian Province was waning, especially when he realized that most of the difficulties encountered in the foundation in Barbastro were due to the excessive self-love of the Sardinian Province, he changed his plan and gradually entrusted the religious of the Province of Naples with the task of introducing the Institute in Spain. In June 1679, he appointed his commissioner general and sent Father Dominic Prado of St. Anthony from the Province of Naples to Spain, accompanied by Father Augustine Passante of St. Thomas from the same province[247]. Later, in the summer of 1680, Father Louis Cavada left Spain for good and shortly after him the other Fathers of Sardinia returned to their province, some immediately after the departure of Father Cavada, the others as a result of the expulsion of the Piarists from Barbastro, which took place in 1681[248]. Thus, the matter of the foundation in Spain remained entirely in the hands of the religious of the Neapolitan province. But they were not able to bring the foundation in Barbastro to a successful conclusion. After the expulsion of the religious from the town, Father Pirroni hesitated somewhat as to whether it was advisable to continue the initiative. However, he did not want to decide for himself for fear of making a mistake. He therefore entrusted the matter above all to the Divine Providence and waited for the opinion of the forthcoming General Chapter. His trust and hope were in no way disappointed. After the brief and futile hope of a new foundation in Benabarre (1681), the possibility of a founding in Moyá finally became clearer in 1682, and on September 15, 1683, the first Piarist house in Spain was finally erected in this town[249].

It is a fact that the merit of this foundation, so important for the future of the Order of the Pious Schools, is mainly due to Father Pirroni, since he pushed for it with his authority and his fatherly care, entrusting the most select religious he had, to make it a reality such as Frs. Dominic Prado, Augustine Passante and Louis Cavada, and he sought the effective intervention of powerful benefactors and protectors, such as Cardinal Caspar Carpegna, the Spanish Ambassador in Rome and the Apostolic Nuncio in Spain[250].

Once he had finally started and carried out the foundation in Spain, Father Pirroni had no other concern than to consolidate and perfect it, so that the new plant sown in fertile Spain would bear abundant and preferably very fruitful fruits. To this end, he dictated very precise rules to his first sons in Spain on how they should conduct themselves in the early days of the Institute in the spirit and according to the wishes of the venerable Founder. For example, he strongly recommended to them simplicity of manners and life, true poverty, even if without ostentation as some brothers loved, the greatest diligence in teaching, i.e. maximum fidelity in everything to the old Calasanzian customs. Nevertheless, he allowed them to wear socks from November to March because of the harsh climate, and he also exempted them from the custom of accompanying the children home[251]. He fatherly admonished them all to stick together and show brotherly love. He wanted them all to live in the same house and that no further attempts were made for new foundations before the first one, which was the mother and example for the others, was consolidated. He asked for detailed plans for the new school and the church to be built, for he wisely suspected that the first school of the Pious Schools in Spain would serve as an example to be imitated by others. After all, it was Father Pirroni’s express wish that the first Piarists in Spain should begin their apostolic work after a fifteen-day retreat[252].

In the organization and development of the young provinces or in the founding of new provinces, Father Pirroni proved to be more prudent and cautious. When the first houses in Hungary, as their numbers increased, asked to be separated from the Polish province and added to the Germanic province or to become completely independent, he did not allow this in any way. At best, he showed the religious in Hungary a middle way by giving them the opportunity to unite the western houses with the province of Germania. The houses in the eastern regions, however, were to remain united with Poland. He always preferred to unite the ultramontane provinces rather than divide them. Thus, a letter to the rector of Podoliniec dated March 1, 1681, states that although the provinces of Germania and Poland retain their own juridical independence and their own superiors, it would be very useful for them to share the religious among them, so that they could freely exchange them in the territories of both provinces[253]. Such a free circulation of religious teachers between two nations could, in Father Pirroni’s opinion, considerably strengthen the provinces concerned and perfect and promote the cultural conditions of each one, as well as scholastic activity.

Father Pirroni wanted to delay the foundation of new provinces until the mother province was sufficiently mature and the other province to be founded had sufficient resources of its own, both materially, spiritually, and intellectually to adequately develop the ministry and pedagogical apostolate of the Piarists[254]. Father Pirroni also held this opinion with regard to the houses that would later be founded in Spain and which he had attached, at least temporarily, to the Sardinian Province[255].

To summarize what has been said in a few words: The method Father Pirroni used to achieve the growth and expansion of the Institute was very wise and healthy. He increased the number of schools and houses that were economically stable and had the right number of teachers; but he did not want to increase the number of provinces that were not yet sufficiently prepared for autonomy. This approach also facilitated the central government, into which he put all his work and effort in building and consolidating it.

THE CULT OF CALASANZ

Father Pirroni’s entire mandate was permeated by a sincere and profound love for the venerable Founder. It is worthwhile, therefore, to refer to it, even briefly, so that we can propose more accurately the true nature of both his mandate and his person.

Already the program set forth in his first circular letter is nothing other than a plan and a vital project to restore the institute according to the spirit of St. Joseph Calasanz. The events that were to follow responded well to the words and purposes of the letter. But we have already spoken about this before. Therefore, there is nothing left for us to do now but to expose in a few words Father Pirroni’s accomplishments and the norms dictated by him directly and intentionally in honor of the Holy Founder.

His main concern was always that Calasanz be counted as soon as possible at least in the number of the Blessed. Thus, in the General Chapter of 1677, he got the capitulars to impose an annual contribution to be paid by each of the provinces[256] and, as Fr. Scassellati and Fr. Chiara had already done before, he took care to send numerous postulatory letters of the desired beatification to Rome, to the Holy See. Later, even the restoration of the church of St. Pantaleo had this as its main objective, to build a temple worthy of the great apostle of youth.

But at the beginning of his generalate, in spite of the decree of the General Chapter of the year 1659 that ordered to write as soon as possible a life of the holy Founder[257], a biography of Calasanz that was worthy of historical faith and also printed was still lacking. In fact, the life of Father Efisio Sotorreal written in Spanish and printed in Madrid in the year 1675 could not be considered as such[258]. Father Pirroni thought at first to compose the life himself, but then, when he realized that he lacked the time to do it, he entrusted this task to Fr. Alexis Armini, then Procurator and Postulator General, to whom he had given many documents of different origins that were relevant to the case. This life, however, although in the year 1686 it was already written in its major part, did not see the light in Rome until the year 1710[259]. Still during the same generalate of Fr. Pirroni, Fr. Francis Maggi, a Theatine, made a special effort to write a life of Calasanz in Latin, with the purpose of printing it. Since it was the first life to be published in Italy, Fr. Pirroni feared that, since it was based only on very few historical documents, it could harm rather than favor the cause of beatification. For this reason, he wanted to personally examine the manuscript before publication, and when he was not granted this faculty, he declared himself ready to send to Naples the necessary documents, taken mainly from the process of beatification. But the documents sent were of little use. The life of Fr. Maggi saw the light in Naples in 1680, plagued with a lot of errors and absurdities[260]. Almost at the same time, in Sicily, Fr. Cosimo Chiara, ex-general, composed a life of Calasanz; but Fr. Pirroni, after a careful revision, having ascertained that it suffered from almost the same defects as the preceding ones, did not allow it to be printed at all[261]. Still within the same generalate, in Moravia, Father George Michael Nikl of Jesus Mary, of the Province of Germania, proposed to write the life of the venerable Founder; but he received practically the same advice that had been given to Father Francis Maggi a short time before[262]. The life written by him did not see the public light until the year 1688[263].

But in addition to this noble and delicate endeavor, for which he wished that the biography of his venerable Father, which he had decided to publish, should be as perfect as possible and conform as closely as possible to the critical postulates of his time, Father Pirroni clearly demonstrated his love for Calasanz with the profound veneration with which he treated and honored his relics. As soon as he learned, for example, that some remnants of Calasanz’s clothes were still preserved in Carcare, he ordered that they be kept with great care and sent to Rome as soon as possible[264]. It is also known that, to especially honor some relatives of Calasanz, he gave them a white cap of the saint[265]. To Moyá, the first Piarist house in Spain, he decided to send an authentic portrait of the venerable Founder[266]. Any place and anything that had some relationship, however remote, with Calasanz reminded him of the humble and paternal figure of Father Joseph and aroused in him deep feelings of filial love. Thus, for example, when he learned that Father Joseph Viola of St. Cajetan had died in Urgel and had been buried there, he mitigated his paternal sorrow because the deceased religious rested precisely where Calasanz had held the office of vicar, as it was then said[267]. On the other hand, he approved the plan to build a Piarist house in the town of Tremp with all the more reason that Calasanz had been an officer there at another time[268]. As for the foundation of Barbastro, he had urged it so much because that city was full of the soft memory of Calasanz[269].

Also, the arduous undertaking of the introduction of the Institute in Spain was first and foremost a devout gift to the venerable Founder, offered to him on behalf of the whole Order by Fr. Pirroni, with the ardent love of his sons. And we do not believe we are so far from the truth saying that Fr. Pirroni became the most distinguished General after Calasanz, mainly because he penetrated better than all his predecessors the mind and spirit of the Founder and was determined to imitate him with greater enthusiasm than the others.

This filial love, however, did not blind him to the point of not seeing certain errors committed by Calasanz in his government, whose sad consequences and effects had later seriously endangered the survival of the Institute. Father Pirroni made every effort to avoid their repetition; therefore, he completely forbade anyone to dare to ascend from the lay state to the clerical state[270]; he did not admit in any way the “cleric brothers”[271], and even the ambiguous denomination of “coadjutor”, used by the Piarists of Sardinia, he ordered to suppress it without discussion[272].

Nor did he approve the Calasanzian supreme poverty with all its rigor and juridical effects, as we have already seen; nor of the practice of accompanying children everywhere to their homes; and, at the suggestion of Cardinal Carpegna, he would also have gladly suppressed the custom of going barefoot.

This, however, knowing his sincere love and faithful veneration for Calasanz, did not in any way signify infidelity to the spirit and thought of the venerable Founder, but rather a noble commitment to update his spirit according to the demands of the new times.

LITERARY ACTIVITY OF FATHER PIRRONI

It is truly admirable that in spite of so many and such serious matters and obligations as he had in the performance of his high office and in spite of his delicate health, Father Pirroni was still able to dedicate some time to his beloved literary hobbies. Certainly, his most recent works, written during his generalate, have a different theme and have a different purpose, almost always practical and pedagogical and focused on the progress of the Order’s activity. Among these works of his, we must mention, first of all, the two volumes of domestic spiritual conferences, entitled in Italian Conferenze Spirituali Domestiche, the first of which saw the light in Rome in 1696 (posthumous therefore), and the other remained simply manuscript[273]. In these conferences or homilies distributed throughout each of the feasts and Sundays of the liturgical year, Father Pirroni wisely united the qualities of a competent and erudite orator with the experience of a religious advanced in the spiritual life and extraordinarily expert in the daily defects of clerical life. A certain sacred ardor and enthusiasm, his excellent humanistic and theological preparation, the subtle analysis and the psychological interpretation of the “mediocre religious” constitute the most valuable part of these conferences, several of which are read with profit and true pleasure also in our days, especially those that speak of the sincere and effective love with which the sons of Calasanz should embrace the ministry of the Pious Schools, as is seen, for example, in the conference or homily of the 6th Sunday after the Epiphany[274].

In the strictly scientific field, the following are particularly worthy of our attention, namely Father Pirroni’s introduction to two books of Alfonso Borelli, a famous mathematician of the time, entitled De motu animalium and ordered by Father General to be printed after the death of their author. In these introductions, in a concise and elegant style, with expertise and care worthy of the reader’s trust, he expounds the life and scientific work of the great mathematician, who was so dear to him and to whom the Calasanzian Institute had contracted an unpayable debt[275].

Finally, in dealing with the work and literary activity of Fr. Pirroni, we cannot ignore his vast and precious epistolary correspondence, preserved almost entirely in three registers in the General Archives[276]. Although the greater part of these letters refer only to the daily administration and government of the Order, not a few of them, however, are written with singular art and subtlety, giving proof of a remarkable erudition and of an interior and human wisdom. In quite a few of them one can perceive either the rare subtlety of his fine irony or the festive humanity of his witty spirit. Particular attention should be paid to the letters composed in Latin. In them the perfection of the language shines even more, even the words seem to be selected with greater care, the periods are more elegant and use is made with remarkable skill in the placement of words and sentences. Father Pirroni was truly as expert as anyone in the Latin language. It was precisely for this reason that Pope Innocent XI was most interested in entrusting him with the Latin version of the work Tractatus de Regalia, written in French by Francis Stephen Caulet, Bishop of Pamiers. The translation was certainly ready in 1681, but because the King of France’s ambassador in Rome resisted it, it was never printed[277].

The rest of Fr. Pirroni’s literary activity during the eight years of his generalate is reduced to the humble and friendly service and help rendered to the religious dedicated to letters, whose works he himself in person, although occupied in so many and such serious matters as we have seen, revised and corrected many times, guiding them with sound and sober judgment to ever more sublime and noble goals of art and letters.

For this reason, although the praises that Father Giuseppe Font paid to Fr. Pirroni, considering him a second Cicero in oratory and another Horace in poetry[278], seem excessive to us, nevertheless, it can be said with justice and truth that he possessed an uncommon talent both in oratory and in poetry, and certainly not only in terms of technique, but also for the depth and sublimity of the themes he treated, for the sincerity of his soul and his feelings, for the variety and nobility of his thoughts and finally for his assiduous dedication to everything that meant truth, goodness, beauty and holiness.

THE LAST YEARS OF THE LIFE AND GENERALATE OF FATHER PIRRONI. HIS ILLNESS AND PIOUS DEATH

Having described the fruitful and precious activity of Fr. Pirroni in the government of the Calasanzian Order, having examined his program and his projects, having narrated his struggles and victories and having shown his fruitful and happy literary activity, we have now presented almost the entire biography of this great Superior General of the Pious Schools. However, in order to offer to the readers and to those who are fond of Piarist themes a completer and more perfect picture, as far as possible, of Father Pirroni, it is still convenient to indicate some new data, the mention of which we have overlooked, deferring them for the moment when we relate his election to the generalate.

After the aforementioned election, which took place, as we know, on May 2, 1677, another date of the utmost importance in the life of Father Pirroni was his reelection, which also took place on May 2, 1683, and was obtained to the great astonishment of his adversaries. This event meant his full and definitive victory over the disastrous triumvirate of Assistants, as well as the validity recognized and esteemed by all of the doctrine and the Calasanzian path that he had chosen and followed.

It was fatal, however, both for him and for the institute that precisely then, when he could govern the Order once and for all with greater freedom and joy, in fraternal cooperation with his Assistants, who were Fathers Alexis Armini, Hyacinth de Paulis, Louis Baumon and Sigismund Coccapani, it was precisely then that his illness, lung cancer, worsened, so that sixteen days after the reelection he was forced to go to bed and the hopes of all were cruelly frustrated[279].

As soon as he became aware of the seriousness of his illness, on August 13, 1684, the sick man sent for the fourAassistants and, having appointed Father Alexis Armini, his first Assistant, as his vicar, after giving him all the powers, he abstained completely from any activity of government[280].

But death did not come as quickly as had been thought when it seemed to be at the gates. The first and strongest crisis diminished little by little, but it never ceased completely, in such a way that with the slow passing of the months, the patient’s strength was noticeably diminishing. Today there is no longer any written memory that could tell us something of his state of mind or of some details of his prolonged illness or of his last conversations or of his spiritual testament. Almost the only thing that emerges from the documents is that in the last months of his illness, Cardinal Gaspar Carpegna[281] and the Duke of Poli[282] visited Fr. Pirroni more than once. Moreover, Cardinal Carpegna himself sent his personal physician to watch over his health[283] and frequently sent the sick man the most exquisite food[284]. And so finally death, early of course for his age, but already long awaited, snatched him from the living after a long agony of twenty-four hours on April 13, 1685, when he was 45 years old and 30 years of religious life[285].

The very solemn funeral, in which the Superiors General of the Preacher Friars and of the Cleric Regulars of the Ministers of the Sick were present, was attended by many friends, moved by deep affection and sincere admiration for such an enlightened religious[286]. Thus, having disappeared from earthly life and at the same time from the supreme office of the generalate, Fr. Pirroni must be considered one of the most distinguished successors of Calasanz and one of the best Piarists of all times.

His contemporaries and those who lived shortly after him agree in affirming almost unanimously that Fr. Pirroni was a man “of great skill in the way of facing the problems”, who knew how to draw the Calasanzian institute on the most fortunate paths and to infuse it with a new spirit. He was truly a person gifted with an uncommon style and pen, inflamed to the highest degree by the love of science and letters, an observant religious, pious and prudent; upright, free from all suspicion, humane, benign, ingenious, understanding of human weaknesses, a fearless adversary, however, of every kind of malice[287].

But it is not only people who are more or less contemporaries of his gave Fr. Pirroni these praises and others like them, which revealed their esteem for him, but we too, who are three centuries far from him and his accomplishments, illustrated by the facts and documents of his life, cannot but repeat the truthful judgments of our elders. Moreover, with the broad perspective of three centuries, which have seen his projects mature and his work bear abundant fruit, his image and his splendor still grow in a certain way, tinged with the golden rays of an incipient immortality.

In the entire history of the Order, there are very few supreme superiors who have contributed so much to fostering the sincere cultivation of the primitive Calasanzian spirit, to the consolidation of the Institute, to promoting higher studies in it, and who, even in such precarious health, have worked so tirelessly day and night for the benefit of the Pious Schools. Two superior generals, his immediate successors, did little more than carry out what he had already thought of and determined to do, but because of his broken health he had been unable to bring to a successful conclusion after he had begun. Thus Fr. Alexis Armini, who received the helm of the Order immediately after his death, brought to completion the works of the house and the church of San Pantaleo. As for Fr. Francis Foci, his second successor, collected in one volume the Calasanzian laws and rites, carried out the visitation of the Order, including the ultra-mountainous provinces, also drew up a plan of studies for the students of the schools, while striving to fulfill and faithfully execute the plan of studies for the Piarist students drawn up and offered to the Order by Fr. Pirroni.

To conclude. Having maturely pondered all the above, it is evident to anyone that, after Calasanz, hardly any other general channeled with so much consideration and effectiveness the fate and the future course of the Pious Schools as Fr. Pirroni, restorer and distinguished propagator of the Order.

NOTES

1 Regarding his birth and the rest of his life, see the Catalogue of Religious from 1630 to 1718 (Reg. Re!. 3, f. 43): “Charles John Pirroni, of Campi, diocese of Lecce in the kingdom of Naples; he was born on June 7, 1640. He received the clerical habit in Nocera dei Pagani on December 31, 1654, from the hands of Father Mark of the Assumption, superior. He made his simple profession in Naples, in our house of the Dochesca, on December 25, 1659, at the hands of Fr. J. Luke of the B. V., Provincial Superior. He was ordained priest with dispensation in Chieti on June 7, 1664, by the Most Reverend Bishop of Chieti. He made his solemn profession in Narni according to the Brief of Clement IX, in the Provincial Chapter, on October 13, 1670, in the hands of Father Joseph of the Visitation, Provincial Superior. He died after being re-elected Superior General on April 13, 1685, in the house of San Pantaleo in Rome. As for their parents and other particulars see the Note of our professed, both new and old, residing in the province of Naples, 1644 (Reg. Prov. 10, Prov. Nap. 40): “Clerics: 1. Charles John of Jesus Mary, as layman Charles Pirroni, native of Campi, diocese of Lecce, son of Donato and Margherita Simone; he took the habit in Nocera dei Pagani on December 31, 1654, at the age of 14, from the hands of the local superior, Fr. Mark of the Ascension. He took simple vows with the oath of perseverance in Naples, on December 25, 1659, at the hands of Father John Luke of the Blessed Virgin. Since doubt arose about the validity of the vows taken by the aforementioned Charles John, since he had not yet reached the age of 20 years according to the Brief of Alexander VII, so that henceforth there would be no reasonable reason to doubt the validity, etc., he again took simple vows with the oath of perseverance in Naples, on June 11, 1660, when he had already reached the age of 20, in the hands of Father John Luke, Provincial”. Regarding Fr. Thomas Simone, see Fr. Joseph Font, in Parva Bibliotheca Calasanctiana V, 14; XIV, 19; XVIII, 22. On his works see also L. Picanyol, La Biblioteca Scolopica di San Pantaleo di Roma, I, 193.

N.B. So far, no complete biography of Fr. Pirroni has been written. The following have written about him: E. Llanas, Escolapios insignes (Madrid, 1899) 409-411; A. Horányi, Scriptores Scholarum Piarum (Budae, 1809) 489-501; T. Viñas, Index bio-bibliographicus, II (Romae, 1909) 118-119; see the eulogy composed by by Fr. G. Madeyski, in “Ephem. Cal.” 5 (1936) 51; eulogy of Fr. Lucas Moesch, in “Ephem. Cal.” 7 (1938) 197-198. On Fr. Pirroni, a distinguished defender of the Latin language, see T. Garrido, in “Ephem. Cal.” 4 (1935) 238-244; about Fr. Pirroni as a cultivator of the sciences and promoter of studies within the Order, see L. Picanyol, Alfonso Borelli e il P. Carlo Giovanni Pirroni delle Scuole Pie, Roma, 1933, in Parva Bibliotheca Calasanctiana, 4; Idem, Duo praestantissima documenta de paedagogiae calasanctianae initiis necno de scientiis maioribus in Ordine nostro colendis, Roma, 1938, Monumenta historica Scholarum Piarum II, 1; about the epistolary correspondence with St. Gregory Barbarigo, G. Sántha, en “Ephem. Cal.”, 29 (1960) 220-235; As for the bibliographical index of the works of Fr. Pirroni, in addition to the above-mentioned Fr. Viñas, see L. Picanyol, La Biblioteca Scolopica di San Pantaleo di Roma, I (1952) 164-165; 11 (1955) 207; Idem, Rerum Latinarum Scriptores, Romae 1956, 64, 122, 137, 209, 223. On his generalate and his government, see L. Picanyol, Lezioni di Storia Scolopica. Lezione XII, Primo Generalato del P. Cario Giovanni Pirroni (1677 1683), in “Rassegna di Storia e Bibliografi a Scolopica”, n. 17 (1951) 21-28.

2 The foundation took place exactly in the year 1653; cf. L. Picanyol, Brevis conspectus, Romae, 1932, p. 123.

3 As for Fr. Mark, see his letter of April 1, 1656, addressed to the General and the Assistants (Reg. Prov. 13; house of Nocera de los Pag., 5); also the Minutes of the General Congregation of July 27, 1656, in which news of his death is given (Reg. Gen. 8). Regarding his way of proceeding after the Innocentian Reduction, see G. Sántha, Tria brevia Pontificia P. Stephano Cherubini concesa, “Ephem. Cal.” 29 (1960) 265, note 35.

4 See the mentioned Fr. Mark Manzella’s letter and the list of the deceased in the Minutes of the General Congregation, of July 27, 1656 (Reg. Gen. 8).

5 See the above-mentioned list of deaths caused by the plague.

6 Cf. note 1.

7 See Note of our professed, in note 1.

8 See the brief history of the house of Chieti (Reg. Prov. 14; house of Chieti, 3), in which we read among other things the following: “In the month of June 1660 twelve clerics arrived in Chieti to begin their studies; and Brother Charles John of Jesus, a native of Campi, province of Lecce, came as teacher. The Registry of Professions (Reg. Rel. 73) testifies that on September 8 he was already residing in Chieti, since on this date his name appears on the sheets of professions. Also Fr. Pirroni himself states that while he was not yet a priest, he was assigned to the education and instruction of the clerics: “It would be wonderful to have a priest who would be the teacher of our young people; it remains to be seen if we have one. I was still a cleric when I began to teach our young people” (Reg. Gen. 133, f. 80). Cf. T. Garrido, “Ephem. Cal.” 4 (1935) 238; L. Picanyol, “Rassegna di Storia e Bibliografia Scolopica” 17 (1951) 21-22.

9 However, he did not always have it, since in August 1665, Father Angel Morelli was elected Assistant General; cfr. “Ephem. Cal.” 30 (1961) 258.

10 Cf. L. Picanyol, Le Scuole Pie e Galileo Galilei, Roma, 1942, pp. 177-184.

11 On May 13, 1663 he was still in Chieti as attested by the Register of Professions (Reg. Rel. 73).

12 See the Communities of the Neapolitan Province for the year 1663 (Reg. Prov. 10, n. 39), Dochesca. Brother Charles John of Jesus, Campi, Lecce; teacher of the first, 22 years old, 6 years of religion, theologian.

13 See note 1.

14 Also on February 2, 1665 in Chieti, as evidenced by the aforementioned Register of Professions (Reg. Rel. 73).

15 See the biography of Fr. C. Chiara, Salamanca, 1983, p. 38.

16 See the memorandum written in 1671 by Frs. Pennazzi and Fedele, in the Register of Professions (Reg. Rel. 73), which will be transcribed in its entirety later on.

17 About Fr. Pirroni’s residence in Narni, see L. Picanyol, Lezioni di Storia Scolopica, XII, in “Rassegna di Storia e Bibliografia Scolopica” 17 (1951) 22. However, Fr. Picanyol’s assertion is not supported by any document. On the contrary, the residence of Fr. Pirroni in Collegio Nazareno, which began already in 1667, is much more easily proved by the Mass Books of the said school, in which the name of Fr. Pirroni is regularly noted already from that year on. Cf. the bibliographical manuscripts of Fr. Rosani in the General Archives (Hist. Bibl. 31), at the end.

18 Cf. T. Garrido, “Ephem. Cal.” 4 (1935) 242.

19 Cfr. Minutes of the General Congreg., on May 22, 1671 (Reg. Gen. 10, f. 46 v).

20 Cf. T. Garrido, o. c.. “Ephem. Cal.” 4 (1935) 238-244.

21 See the Minutes of the local Chapter, Reg. Prov., Supplement, 31.

22 See Minutes of General Cong. (Reg. Gen., 10. ff. 38-39); cf. El P. Cosme Chiara..., Salamanca, 1938, p. 38 ff.

23 The text of this memorandum is in the Vatican Secret Archives, Arm. VIII, 95.

24 The authentic copy is in Reg. Rel. 73.

25 See the Minutes of the Provincial Chapter celebrated in Narni in 1670 (Reg. Prov. 1, n. 14).

26 See Bullarium Scholarum Piarum, Madrid, 1899, pp. 64-66.

27 The decree of resignation is found in Reg. Rel. 73, annexed to the profession of Fr. Pirroni and reads as follows: “Since Fr. Charles John of Jesus, priest, as secular Charles Pirroni, who according to the Brief of Alexander VII made simple vows with the oath of perseverance, in Naples, on December 25, 1659, has again, without having consulted us, made solemn profession according to the Brief of Clement IX in our house of Narni, in which, as well as in the other houses and in the remaining provinces, even to the superiors we had forbidden for just causes that any profession be accepted without our knowledge; and since Fr. Joseph of the Visitation, Provincial of the Province of Rome, who received it, did not have the power to receive it, since the Roman houses, as far as any community is concerned, and especially our Collegio Nazareno, to which the aforementioned Charles John was attached, are subject to our immediate jurisdiction by decree of the Sacred Visitation; with the advice of some prelates, who were asked to issue the Brief of Clement X dated October 18, 1970, we have declared the said profession not ratified, invalid and null for defect both of power in the one who received it, and of consent on our part, even more so against our prohibition. And, therefore, to the said Charles John of Jesus, who refuses to make a new profession and asks permission to leave the religious habit and pass to the lay state, we freely grant it, and by the faculty especially granted to us by the said apostolic letter of Clement X we absolve him from simple vows and the oath of perseverance and, duly absolved, we dismiss him. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Given at Rome, in our house of San Pantaleo on the 21st day of December, 1670. Cosimo of Jesus and Mary, Superior General. There is a seal. Peregrino of the Blessed Sacrament. Sacramento. Registered by mandate; f. 111, on the back: Cosimo of Jesus and Mary, Superior General of the Religion of the Clerics Regular Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools”. “To all to whom it concerns we indicate and attest that the one named on the back Charles John of Jesus, in the world Charles Pirroni, priest, has not incurred any ecclesiastical censure or other canonical impediment, which would prevent him from receiving and administering respectively everywhere the sacraments. In witness whereof, etc. Given at Rome, the same day of December 21, 1670. Cosimo of Jesus and Mary, Superior General. There is a seal. Peregrino of the Blessed Sacrament. Registered in folio 111”.

28 The text of this memorandum, originally written in Italian, is found in the same Reg. Gen. 73, and translated it reads as follows:

“Most Emms. and Rev. Lords,

Fathers Joseph of St Eustace, General Assistant, and Joseph of the Visitation, Roman Provincial of the Clerics Regular Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, most humble orators of YY.EE, have learned of a memorandum delivered to that Sacred Congregation under the cover name of Charles de Narni, who is in fact called Fr. Charles John of Jesus, of the same Order of the Pious Schools, who, by the mere whim of Fr. General has been unbound from solemn vows and returned to the world against the intimate feelings of the said father, gifted with good conduct and science, who at the age of thirty years has brought to the Religion more than sixty members, all trained in the teaching of science according to the ministry of the aforementioned religion. Hence, in order to delay the execution of the said decree of Father General, given without any basis whatsoever, the said fathers obtained from the Cardinal Vicar an injunction presented and reproduced in the minutes. And since they now fear that with the aforesaid memorandum, with false assumptions and without any contradictor, a free hand may be given to validate the act which the said Father General has carried out against the express disposition of the Holy Council and the pontifical constitutions, the orators humbly beg Your Eminences to entrust the report of the cause to one of the Most Eminent Cardinals, in order that, once the parties have been heard, he may refer, and this Sacred Congregation may annul the said declaration, as is expected for the following reasons:

1. because the said Father Charles John of Jesus made in Naples, after six years of novitiate for lack of age, on December 25, 1659, his profession of simple vows with oath of perseverance and incurring apostasy in case of contravention, according to the disposition of the Bull of Alexander VII of holy memory, of the year 1656. Hence, by virtue of the said Bull, he could never be detached from such vows, so much so that, being professed as has been said, he was elected delegate of Collegio Nazareno for the Provincial Chapter of Narni and in it he was elected delegate for the General Chapter;

2. Because said Fr. Charles John, in execution of the Brief of Clement IX of happy memory of October 23, 1669, made his solemn profession with perpetuity of vows in the hands of the Roman provincial, after being elected delegate for the General Chapter, in the presence of the General Procurator of the Order, of the novice master of the novitiate in Rome and of all the other rectors and capitular fathers, who urged that this profession be made, in Narni on October 13, 1670. And the said solemn profession solemnly made with an irretractable act should not and could never be annulled by the said Father General according to the express disposition of the Sacred Council of Trent, in session XXV, on the Regulars, chapter 19.

And nothing hinders the claim of Father General that he could have issued such a decree in virtue of the Bull of the Holiness of Our Lord Clement X of October 18, 1670, published in San Pantaleo on the 22nd of that month and year: “We order that to all etc., who have made solemn profession, etc., a period of two months within Italy, if they have not yet made solemn profession, who... simple vows etc. a period of two months within Italy, if they have not yet made solemn profession; this period having elapsed and not having made profession, they are to be dismissed by the said Superior General etc.”. Because the above-mentioned decree clearly excludes those who have made solemn profession, such as our Father Charles John, who had already made it on the 13th, before the said Brief, as mentioned above. Therefore, the said Bull can in no way support either Father General or Father Charles John, as a case accepted by the said Bull, since he was already professed and since solemn profession had already taken place.

They also ask that it be taken into account that at the time when Father General gave the aforementioned decree, he did not even have the faculty for simple vows, since the Constitutions assign them a term of two months, which expired on December 23rd (see: after this term has expired, etc.). Therefore, the decrees given before said term are null and void and of no value.

Finally, other solid arguments which could be adduced before the Most Emm. Relator are left aside, since otherwise the sole argument of solemn profession, made by Father Carlos Juan as explained above, is believed to be sufficient to annul the said declaration of Father General. All of which etc. To whom God etc.’’.

The reply of the Sacred Congregation, written on the back of the memorandum, reads as follows:

The Sacred Congregation of the Most Emm. Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church in charge of the affairs of the Bishops and the Regulars, the relator being the Most Reverend Imperiali, judged that this supplication should be sent, as he sent it according to the present decree, to the Most Reverend Protector of the said Order before this Holy See, so that he may know and define the aforesaid cause, observing what is to be observed according to law. Rome, April 17, 1671 Cardinal Card. Brancatius

Charles de Vecchiis Archbishop of Athens

Finally the definitive decree in this cause reads as follows:

“In view of the above and by virtue of the faculties previously granted to us by the Sacred Congregation of the Most Emm. Cardinals of the H.R.C. in charge of the affairs and consultations of the Bishops and Regulars, after having heard the parties several times, we declare that Fr. Charles John of Jesus, religious of the Clerics Regular Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, is in the true religious state and enjoys all the privileges of the Religion, provided that the same Fr. Charles John ratified before Fr. Cosimo of Jesus Mary, Superior General, the solemn profession made at another time by the aforementioned Fr. Charles John in Narni before Fr. Joseph of the Visitation, Provincial Superior, on October 13, 1670. Having done this, we precept and command that what we have said be fulfilled.

Rome, at our residence, May 9, 1671. In place of His Eminence Cardinal Altieri Protector.

C. Cardinal Massimi”.

N.B. Attached to the folio is also the ratification made by Father Pirroni on May 10, 1671 and accepted by Father Cosimo Chiara, Superior General.

29 See the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1671, Archivum Scholarum Piarum, II (1937) 26.

30 See the Minutes of the General Congregation (Reg. Gen., 10, f. 46).

31 See the Minutes of the General Cong., July 5, 1672 and November 3, 1672, ff . 61 v and 66 r. Later, however, only the foundation of Gaeta was carried out; cf. L. Picanyol, Brevis Conspectus, 123.

32 Cf. Minutes of the General Cong., f. 60 r (Reg. Gen., 10).

33 Cf. Minutes of the General Cong., f. 59v (Reg. Gen., 10); see also the following letter of Fr. Fedele of May 21, 1672 to Fr. Pirroni (Reg. Gen. 130, f. 17r):

“P.C.: Considering the reasons that you give for the development of the novitiate of Naples and for the study that you intend to maintain in Nocera, looking to the benefit of that province and that of our youth both in spirit and in letters, we declare by virtue of this the house of Nocera a house of novitiate and of study, under the care of Fr. Andrew of St. Philip Neri, provided he is suitable for the direction of the young people, since prudence and particular zeal are required to guide them as is proper for our ministry. As for the teacher or reader of the fine arts and sciences, we defer to your prudence, to what you judge and deem most opportune. And we pray to the Lord. Rome, May 12, 1672. Joseph of the Visitation, Prep. General. Alexix of the Conception, General Asist., Secretary.

34 Regarding the ineffectiveness of the project, see the Minutes of the General Visitation held on April 23-25, 1674 (Reg. Prov. 13, n. 12).

35 He received the Piarist habit on February 4, 1672; he made his solemn profession on February 5, 1673; he died in Campi on May 1, 1725, as recorded in the book of deceased B, fol. 210 (Reg. Rel. 37). Regarding the request for admission, see the Minutes of the Gen. Cong. (Reg. Gen. 130, ff. 10-11).

36 See the Minutes of the Gen. Cong. 10), f. 52v.

37 Cf. the letter of Fr. Fedele dated October 31, 1671 addressed to Naples from Rome, which makes no mention of such a visit made or to be made (Reg. Gen. 130, ff. 10-11).

38 Cf. the Minutes of the Gen. Cong., December 3, 1672 (Reg. Gen. 10, f. 67r).

39 See the letter of Fr. Fedele dated December 7, 1672 addressed to Fr. Pirroni (Rcg. Gen. 128, phase 1).

40 Cf. Minutes of the Gen. Cong. (Reg. Gen. 10, f. 7 1r), on February 13, 1673.

41 See the biography of Fr. Joseph Fedele, Salamanca, 1983, p. 34.

42 Cfr. the Minutes of the Gen. Cong. on September 22, 1673 (Reg. Gen. 10, f. 81 r.), where we find the following: “It was proposed to call to Rome Father Charles John, Provincial of Naples, in order to instruct our young men and for the General Procure. It was put to a vote and, when the votes were counted, it turned out that all five were in favor”.

See also this letter of Fr. Fedele of September 23, 1673 addressed to Fr. Pirroni (Reg. Gen. 130, f. 33r): “Considering the disposition and ability of Your Reverence, we have considered it opportune that you come to Rome to be entrusted with the instruction of our young men and to exercise the General Procure of the Religion. And for this purpose, we have elected you General Procurator, and in your place, we have elected as provincial of these provinces Fr. Gregory of St. Januarius, who was provincial commissary in Naples, whom we judge to be a suitable person for such an office. Your Rev. will give him all that is necessary, according to the decree of the last General Chapter, and then you can come to Rome to carry out your office for the benefit of the Religion and for the glory of God, to whom we ask etc.

Rome, September 23, 1673.

Joseph of the Visitation, Superior General Alexis of the Conception, Assistant General, Sec.”

43 Cf. Minutes of the General Congregation, ff. 93-94 (Reg. Gen. 10).

44 Cf. the biography of Father Joseph Fedele, Salamanca, 1983, p. 37.

45 See note 172 in the biography of Fr. Fedele, Salamanca, 1983, p. 58ff.

46 See Bullarium Scholarum Piarum, pp. 69-74.

47 See Codicis Iuris Canonici Fontes, 1, Concilia Generalia, the Roman Pontiffs until 1745. N. 1-364. Rome 1923; n. 189, pp. 358-362.

48 Cf. Constitutions and Regulae Scholarum Piarum, edic. 1828, p. 42 D.

49 Cf. Bullarium Scholarum Piarum, pp. 39-40.

50 See notes 215 and 216 in the biography of Fr. Fedele, Salamanca, 1983, pp. 70-75.

51 See the repeatedly cited work of Fr. Tomás Garrido in “Ephem. Cal.” 4 (1935) 238-244.

52 Cf. L. Picanyol, Rerum Latinarum Scriptores, p. 137.

53 See note 218 in the biography of Fr. Fedele, Salamanca, 1983, p. 75.

54 Regarding the faculty granted by him to proceed to a new election, see the same Minutes of the General Chapter of the year 1667, “Archivum Scholarum Piarum” III (1938) 8.

55 See notes 219 and 220 in the biography of Fr. Fedele, Salamanca, 1983, p. 75.

56 See his letter of September 12, 1682 addressed to the Provincial of Poland (Reg. Gen. 133, f. 59): “...your Father Paul our assistant, or rather resistant...”. N.B. of the translator. He plays on the words “assistens” - “resistens” already in the original Latin of the letter.

57 To deepen in Father Pirroni’s ideas and plans regarding government, it is useful to read carefully his extensive circular letter of July 10, 1677, addressed to all the provinces of the Order (Reg. Gen. 131, ff. 9-19), which reads as follows, translated from the original Italian:

“Charles John of Jesus, Superior General of the Clerics Regular Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools. To all our religious, health in the Lord!

The contents of our Constitutions, various decrees of the General Chapters and the Common Rites, which have been formed according to the variety of the times, establish a new way of living in such a state of perfection that nothing else is needed but the simple observance of them, without multiplying new exhortations. However, in order to satisfy at least in part the duty of the office which the Divine Providence has been pleased to impose on my weak back, and to accommodate myself to the holy counsels and paternal admonitions of the Holiness of Our Lord Innocent XI, who on the two occasions that he kindly deigned to allow himself to kiss his feet and honor us with his holy blessing, with truly apostolic zeal, urged us to observe our Constitutions and exemplary customs for the edification of our neighbor, I have judged it very convenient to notify YY.RR. some personal projects, aimed at one thing and the other, so that all, being informed of my way of thinking, may collaborate with it and attend together with due fervor to the preservation of the ministry, to exercise it with that degree of merit and benefit of Christian society that the Holy Spirit intended when, through our V.Fr. Founder, he instituted it in the world, after the foundation of so many other religious Orders. I will therefore briefly suggest what the Lord inspires me as most necessary for the time being.

Above all and principally I urge the due application in the exercise of the school, as the principal ministry by which our Institute is distinguished from others. And that both as regards the learning of letters and the good guidance and holy education of youth in Christian piety, which is the principal goal of the Institute. And distinguishing, we say: as regards the learning of letters, let them try to inform themselves all in the same way of teaching and in the use of the same books, so that with the change of teachers the students do not suffer the variation of the method, with which their learning is notably delayed, and they are not obliged to make new purchases of books every day with the consequent expense, which should be reduced as much as possible for our boys, who are generally poor and needy. And in all this I refer to chapter 11th of the second part of the Constitutions and to chapter 14th of the Rites, insisting that they should be well grounded in grammar and in the purity of the Latin language. This in particular is demanded of me by some grave fathers, to whom the Holiness of Our Lord has entrusted an extrajudicial administration over all the religious Orders. And seeing the misfortune of the present century, so lacking in good pens, they have ordered me to insist particularly on this, assuring me that we will be of no little use to the Apostolic See if by our work the Latin language were restored to its elegance, property and nature, with that purity of words, identity of phrases, abundance of periods, clarity of sentences and other similar circumstances and forms that made it so plausible and playful in the happiest centuries. And since one cannot successfully teach what one does not possess, we exhort all teachers to make a special effort to acquire it for themselves, since it is also easier for the student to imitate the style of his living teacher than that of dead authors. For this reason, I consider very praiseworthy the custom of some good teachers who, after having corrected the ordinary compositions of the students, dictate them to them entirely in Latin, translated by them, so that the students, observing some particular graces and properties, can gradually imitate and practice them as well. This is what we want our children to do in every way.

As for conduct, in addition to the great edification that teachers should give to their students - for it is something that is more easily taught by example than by words - they should also cultivate it by frequent spiritual exhortations, as prescribed in chap. IX of the second part and VII of the third part of our Constitutions; and not only on Saturdays afternoon, but also on other days during the week, towards the end of classes, according to the time of the lessons of the day, in which they will always try to introduce some example and some moral consideration, appropriate and proportionate to the capacity of the children. Christian doctrine is to be considered indispensable in all classes, in addition to the oratories on Sundays in the church, confessions and communions every month, with their preparation and thanksgiving, and all the other practices of piety that are customary and ordered in the Constitutions.

In order to maintain order in the classes and fear in the youth, let them have in each house the Rules of the Students in a public place and let them see to their observance. The office of prefect, as something that requires prudence and exemplarity, should be entrusted only to experienced subjects. The prefect, who depends on the superior, must be obeyed promptly by all teachers, remaining indifferent both in receiving and sending the students during promotions, as well as in permissions, punishments and other similar dispositions that concern the aforementioned prefect. For the rest, we exhort all to this ministry of the school, which you should strive to exercise with charity, effort and desire to benefit the youth, as it suits to the express vow that we have, and considering the responsibility that we will have in the success or failure of the boys, who depend notably on the first education, which is apt to correct even nature itself. Therefore, it demands particular attention above all other exercises of the Religion.

Now, if I desire so much interest in the care of secular pupils, what shall I say of our juniors, who must all be teachers? What complete education must be deemed necessary for their success both in spirit and in letters? Every General Chapter has demonstrated its zeal in giving dispositions again and again about studies in the provinces. And the experience teaches us, to our detriment, the inconveniences that arise from having the youth idle and dispersed in the houses, without special discipline, seeing how they grow free, licentious, arrogant and useless, so that few undisciplined and disorderly young people bother the superiors more than the others. We therefore charge all Provincials to plan their provinces in such a way that they will be able to organize the teachers and the houses of studies so that, in compliance with the latest apostolic decrees, they will immediately transfer the young men there and preserve there the spirit and the religious discipline conceived and acquired in the novitiates. But since it is a question of something that depends on the particular situation of the provinces, it is not subject to the General, nor do I reserve for myself the distribution appropriate to the diversity of each one. Let us content ourselves for now only with alluding to the most important and almost the only hurry that I will have. And with regard to the past, let them also tell the clerics resolutely that, if they do not behave well, they should not expect from me the dimissorial letters for holy orders, which should be requested of me only by the provincials, and not before they have been well informed by the rectors about their good conduct and their capacity for studies. On this matter we tax their conscience.

Then, discussing the other vows in particular, we strongly recommend due promptness in obedience, for which reason the subject should not wait for formal precepts, but be content with the simple insinuations and inclinations of superiors, to whom we desire the greatest reverence, not only by obeying them and respecting their dispositions as dictated by blessed God, whose place they occupy, but by behaving with the greatest respect in word and deed. Let the rectors be the first to set an example to their subjects, promptly carrying out the instructions of the provincials and the provincials those of the superiors who are above them. I will cooperate in this with the greatest effort, declaring that I will never allow excuses or justification to subjects for not having obeyed or for having failed to show due respect to their superiors. And if for any pretext or cause, they think they have been treated inconsiderately and therefore want to appeal to their immediate superiors, let them appeal in good time, but let them obey in the meantime. For this reason, we expressly order the provincials not to admit recourse from the subjects against the rectors, just as we will not admit it against the provincials, if they have not obeyed before. Then with all rectitude and calmness at the same time reasons will be given. However, I do not fail to recommend discretion and gentleness to the superiors, so that they behave more like fathers than superiors, and do not mistreat or irritate the subjects for any trifle; and to the latter, for their part, humility and blind obedience, without daring to examine and criticize the motives of the superiors, remembering that their role is to carry out the orders. And I am sure that, if one walks with this understanding among us, the whole body of the Order, living with one soul and one heart, will not find any obstacle to its progress. One of the main pests of obedience is the interposition of external means and favors either to coax capricious permissions from superiors or to delay the execution of their orders. Hence, since superiors lack the freedom to dispose according to the demands of present needs, they also lack the opportune remedy for many of the things that occur.

We therefore charge all to observe the decree established for this purpose in the last General Chapter, assuring all that we will proceed with the utmost rigor in the imposition of the punishments imposed in it; and when, for lack of evidence or for other serious reasons, it is not carried out, the religious can be sure that, besides the grave remorse of conscience he would feel for acting expressly against the vow of obedience, against the opinion of his superiors and putting the Religion to the test, he should not expect any satisfaction from us. The most effective recommendation will be a good and religious behavior; on this they should base their merit and the hope of obtaining from it the reward of God and of the Order; because favors begged from outside will always be harmful to them.

Let them feel the greatest affection for the houses where they reside, as if they must always dwell in them, and let them live detached from them, as if they must leave there the next day; in this consists the substance of obedience.

I blush to speak of chastity, suffice it to say that it is the principal ornament and even support of our ministry, which, as dangerous as it is useful, demands an angelic purity not only interiorly but also exteriorly. Therefore, let all beware of any act or word that does not exude modesty and honesty, or has the slightest appearance of being interpreted maliciously by anyone who is begging for an opportunity to censure us. You are to beware of the familiarity and confidence with the laity, dealing with them only during the times of school activity and no more. In order that this may be accomplished, let the superiors prohibit any class out of time, and much more in private houses, and let the prefects see to it that they always keep the schools closed and keep the keys in their possession. And with these let them keep in mind those good rules prescribed for the preservation of so delicate a virtue, the love of which they should endeavor to instill in the tender hearts of the youth entrusted to their care. Keep the children away from those conversations which might contaminate the innocence and candor of their manners; but do it with skill and prudence, so as not to provoke rumors and not to teach with suspicion the malice which perhaps they have not learned.

Of poverty, the strongest wall of our Religion, I would have little left to say, if I were to keep to the text of the Constitutions, where there is no place where they do not urge its exact observance, and where the great spirit of poverty that abounded in the holy heart of our blessed Father does not shine forth. But if we look at the abuses which human weakness and frailty are gradually introducing, a vast field opens up for reprimanding and prohibiting them, making present to all the fervor and great zeal with which the last General Chapter wished to unveil them.

Wherefore, revoking all the permissions hitherto granted by any superior, in virtue of holy obedience and under pain of excommunication latae sententiae reserved to us, in addition to the penalties established by the Holy Council of Trent and by the Apostolic Constitutions and our own against proprietors, we forbid all in any state and condition to have in their possession or in that of others under any imaginable misrepresentation any sum of money for whatever use and under whatever pretext, color or cause. On the contrary, they must deliver it immediately, or at the most within three days, to the superior who must put it in the common box and keep it there inside with a notebook to write down the money that will be given to him and the disposition that he will allow each one to make of it. We therefore withdraw from the superior the faculty of being able to dispense the subjects from having money in their possession or in that of others, as before, leaving to him only that of granting them its use to employ it honestly in necessary and useful things while they reside in the house. And in this, as well as in the determination of the moderate and convenient sum as poor religious, we tax their conscience. And let the rectors themselves keep away as far as possible from all handling or retention of money, observing punctually that of the box with three keys, the delegation to the treasurer or procurator and other similar dispositions established in the apostolic Bulls and in our Constitutions and General Chapters, which we do not intend to derogate in the least. Under identical penalties and censures, we expressly order all, without exception to anyone, that all the alms of masses that come into their hands be faithfully delivered to the sacristan or superior. And if they give them any books or other things for Masses, to which they hope to give satisfaction through others, they are not to do so without the express permission of the superior, which must be requested in each case.

It also pertains to the preservation of poverty the use of books, furniture and other things relating to the private person. In all these things we order the superiors to watch carefully and apply themselves to reduce everything to the utmost moderation as befits our poor condition, visiting for this purpose without fail, at least once a month, the room of each one, and forbidding all boxes and other closed places, so that everything is exposed to their eyes and free disposition.

I would also forbid the keys to the rooms, which would serve to achieve another good effect, that of keeping the laity farther away from our dormitories; but I leave this for another occasion. And for now, just as I praise the good custom of some of our communities, in which the rooms of private individuals have no other key than that of the obedience - and I order its continuation - I likewise exhort with the greatest interest that the superiors arrange the others in such a way that they become capable of being able to fulfill such an order in them when it is disposed at the proper time. For the greater observance of this holy poverty, we exhort all superiors to make the greatest effort to preserve the common life, not only in the external clothing but also in the inner clothing, and particularly in the linen garments, appointing in each house the person in charge of the wardrobe, whose office consists in washing and distributing them. Although at first sight this may seem impracticable to some, knowing however that it is practiced with happy results not only in other observant Religions, but even in some of our houses, we cannot understand why such a use would not be good in all, if all would be good enough to put in common the linen and other gifts made to them for whatever reason by penitents, friends, students and others from outside. This, besides being of the Constitutions and unaltered custom of the Religion, is particularly pleasing to Our Lord (the Pope), who declares that he desires this common life effectively in all the other Orders.

This procedure would also be very useful for journeys, in which the religious, knowing that in every house he is provided equally with what is necessary, will have no need of so much luggage, putting an end at once to the custom that in moving from one house to another they need of a certain amount for transporting things. And in this particular we exhort, on the one hand, superiors to see to it that they provide for the needs of their subjects, so as not to make it apparently lawful for them to procure for themselves what they need to the detriment of conscience and also of religion, being constrained to debase themselves for this with laymen, friends or relatives, and even at times with schoolchildren; And on the other hand, We exhort the subjects, reflecting on the poor state of religion, spontaneously chosen by them, to be content with a modest sustenance according to the resources of the house in which they find themselves, considering it of great merit to taste at times the fruits of poverty; and so as not to make true that common proverb that religious make a vow of poverty and others fulfill it. Seeing so much misery in the world today, every poor religious has more occasion to pity than to envy rich seculars. For clothing and undergarments, all must be content with the same materials.

Moreover, let there be exact uniformity in all, even in certain minutiae such as tonsure, hood, hats, girdles, sandals, slippers and other similar things, in which, although light, uniformity also shines forth, so suitable for a body made up of the same members. Socks are not to be worn in any province except in the manner prescribed by the Constitutions and confirmed in the General Chapters of 1659, on the 19th May, and in this last one, on the said 7th. We revoke in this particular all the licenses granted or the uses tolerated up to now, both as regards particular persons and common things.

I must not overlook the inculcation of the observance of all spiritual practices, such as mental and vocal prayers, conferences (which must be practical and fruitful), chapters of faults, the frequency of sacraments in non-priests, and other similar sacred functions. In them, spirit and devotion are necessary in the celebration of the sacred sacrifice of the Mass, abstaining from all unseemly celerity and lightness in reading, in the sacred ceremonies, of which they should not neglect the lesson and practice at least once a month, trying with all their might to make themselves more and more worthy servants of the sacred altar. Let them keep in their hearts the worship of the churches, the cleanliness of the altars, the attendance of confessionals and other pious exercises for the benefit of their neighbor. Let them live withdrawn as far as possible, employing the hours that are left over from the toils of school and from any honest recreation among themselves, in private exercises or devotions, or in reading and study, each according to his ability and profession. Thus, they will drive away idleness, the source of all evils, and the distractions and murmurings in the cloisters, in the porches, in the squares and in other places with laymen. Let them take care not to become too familiar with them; on the contrary, it will be enough to deal with them, either by means of some charitable work for the benefit of their souls, or on the occasion of the service of our houses, in which, however, they should not show them too much familiarity. They are not to bring them into the dormitories, rooms and other quarters without the express permission of the superior. Much less we should visit their houses, and always with companions designated by the superior, in order to follow in this also the most holy mind of Our Lord (the Pope), who has forbidden with the utmost rigor here in Rome the religious to go alone; and those who are found alone are ordered to be arrested and punished, whatever their category and condition may be.

We expressly command that this same good disposition be observed in all our houses, particularly by priests and clerics, who are not allowed to go out anywhere even near without a companion. They should go out to eat very seldom, and if they were really never to go out, they would cause me particular satisfaction. They should be very careful not to communicate to them matters of the Religion, the faults of our people, the behavior of superiors and other things; always considering that, apart from the common harm, the laity are left in admiration of those who take themselves so much into their confidence, lose the concept they had of them and, as soon as they turn their backs, they use to murmur.

Charity is also a virtue not only very worthy of consideration in itself, and even the greatest of all, but also extremely necessary for the preservation of peace and harmony, so desirable in the Religion. We exhort, therefore, all to love, honor and respect one another, avoiding as far as possible certain challenges, disputes and discord, which, being of no importance in themselves, engender considerable disorder. Generally, such ruptures between our people arise from excessive familiarity and camaraderie in conversation, taking confidence in each other to mock, to reproach for natural or moral defects, to brand others, to impose ridiculous nicknames and other similar acts of contempt for abuse of confidence. These things, besides scorning modesty and religious gravity, not always finding the humors of the same temper, provoke indignation, impatience and the rupture of charity. Let everyone beware of this, and let the superior punish those who do not want to refrain from doing so; in particular, see to it that the young show all respect and reverence to the elder and more senior members; and let the latter, for their part, take care to edify and give example to the young.

Finally, we charge all with the greatest earnestness and fervor for religious observance and decorum, exhorting and entreating all to reflect frequently on the difference that exists between the secular and religious state, so that by really learning all the obligations to which the religious life binds us, we may conceive a perfect idea of it, by which we may regulate all our actions.

Be mindful of the little things. Do not be ashamed to practice the praiseworthy custom of saying the faults in the refectory of those faults that happen throughout the day. I would like to see a resumption of the rendering of accounts of conscience, that concern not to do anything no matter how small without license, those rigorous silences in determined times and places, and all that is contained in the Constitutions, General Chapters and Rites. All of these are to be read frequently in the refectory and their observance is to be observed, since the laws are of little use if they are not observed. The superiors, who are the tutors and guardians of the law, should be the first to observe it, so that they can demand it more thoroughly from their subjects, who should not consider that in this they are wronged. Let us encourage one another to religious perfection, and instead of being ashamed to attend to it, as it seems to be today, let us rather blush to be the last and more imperfect than the others.

Let each one try to reform himself and voluntarily deprive himself of those things which he knows are reprehensible and introduced by abuse, self-love and human frailty. I declare universally to all that I will not only not tolerate new abuses, but that I will have a positive and express will to eradicate those that have been introduced, as soon as the weakness of my strength permits, for which I implore the help and zeal of the superiors so that with their visits, paternal admonitions and opportune prohibitions and orders they may cooperate in these our projects and facilitate the attempt, so appropriate for the spiritual health of our souls, for the credit of the Religion and for the benefit and edification of our neighbor. On these means alone depends the propagation and all progress of the Institute.

I would never finish, if I wanted to say all that is on my mind. I would like to be there for everything and to insinuate vividly in the minds of my religious the tenor of life that I would like all of them to lead. But I will gradually discover my feelings, and in the meantime, I trust in blessed God and I beg him earnestly to deign, through his infinite goodness, to speak to the heart of each one, knowing that with all ease one learns and fulfills what he himself teaches.

I have not wanted to prescribe any punishment, being persuaded that the love and desire for one’s own salvation alone should be sufficient stimulus to fulfill what they have spontaneously promised to the Lord. I have a very good opinion of all, and I hope that as docile and religious spirits they will obey a simple insinuation of the one who guides them. And guided by the chain of Christ, which is a chain of love, they must sweetly submit themselves to the gentle yoke of the Religion. And I assure them that, just as I desire in all the superiors paternal heart of piety, so also, as far as it depends on me, if they oblige me by their good behavior and by holy labors for the good of the institute, I will be ready to give them every religious satisfaction and I will keep particular incentives to maintain virtue and goodness, according to the reports or attestations that I will have from them on the part of the superiors. These must absolutely do so every year, according to the praiseworthy order of the General Chapter of May 20, 1671. And as for truth and right judgment, I appeal gravely to their consciences, protesting that of the observance and its transgressions I will demand a closer account from the superiors than from the subjects, and of the disorders of the houses and provinces I will consider the rectors and provincials as debtors and culprits, because from their negligence is born the confusion.

As for the epistolary correspondence they should take care that it is done rarely and when it is necessary, so as not to tax the mail so much, apart from the useless waste of time, worthy to be used in more fruitful exercises that we do not lack. In this regard, note the disposition of the aforementioned chapter on May 16, 1671 and on 19th of the same month of 1659. In the letters do not use other titles, neither inside nor outside the letters, but those commanded in our Rites. To observe this, I forbid the title of Most Reverend; but since some continue, either because they believe that I said it as a compliment or because they judge, as some write to me, that it would be unbecoming to the Religion not to honor its head with the title of Most Reverend, I expressly forbid it again, since the very tender and sweet title of our Father General is enough for me. For the rest, the splendor of the Religion consists in the observance of its Constitutions; and the majesty of the General, in the goodness and virtue with which he opens the way to the affection and reverence of his subjects and the veneration of strangers. These trifles of “Most Reverend” neither add nor diminish, and we see that clerical Religions older and more widespread than ours do not use it either.

Finally, I beg everyone to recommend in their prayers and sacrifices to the Lord and to the Blessed Virgin, our principal Patroness and Protector, under whose glorious banner we have the good fortune to serve, the entire Religion, its progress, propagation and increase in the number and quality of its workers. Have a special remembrance of me, who unworthily bear the government of the Order, so that it may please the Divine Mercy to grant me that spirit that I wish to kindle in the minds of all, so that I can push them by example and with that zeal of regular observance and discipline that is necessary to our Institute to preserve it in the primitive spirit of its foundation. On the other hand, I will not cease to ask the Lord continually to instill in the hearts of all a lively desire for religious perfection and a great disposition of spirit to sacrifice to the divine glory, public service, the benefit of our neighbor and of the Religion all our strength, powers and affections, in a word, all of us, in order to obtain from it the retribution of the greatness promised in heaven to those who will have work and taught. Embracing you all cordially in the Lord, I greet you with affection.

Rome, July 10, 1677.

From Your Reverences, the most humble servant in the Lord

Charles John of Jesus, Superior General.

58 See the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1677, in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” III (1938) at May 7th (ff. 11-12).

59 Regarding these exhortations of Innocent XI, see the circular letter mentioned in note 57 and another circular letter of the same Father Pirroni addressed on July 16, 1678 to the provincials, after a colloquy on matters of the Order held with Innocent XI. The text of this letter is the following (Reg. Gen., 131, Decrees, ff. 49-53):

“I have delayed, for some reasons worthy of consideration, to share with YY.RR. the consolation that I experienced last February 9th, when I had the honor of kissing the feet of Our Lord (the Pope), and in a long and most pleasant audience to enjoy no less the good opinion that His Holiness has of our Institute, than the many and holy advices to govern it well and make it more profitable every day and more desired by the people. And speaking concretely, the speech focused on two main points: on what concerns the school and on what concerns the regular discipline.

Regarding the former, the Pope was pleased to show his satisfaction with the Order. I informed him that the ministry is exercised to instruct the young men in letters and especially in the principles of the faith with Christian doctrine and catechisms, and in the holy fear of God with oratories, the frequency of the sacraments, spiritual exhortations, the Continuous Prayer and other things. To better understand the Christian Doctrine, he instructed me that we should not be satisfied with merely having the children learn it, but that it should be explained to them part by part, so that they would be well instructed in what they were learning and would know how to give an account of the holy faith we profess.

He gave me another warning about the schools: that we should not worry about getting everyone ahead in the humanities, but that we should choose the best endowed with intelligence and fortune, so that those who cannot support themselves in other sciences, accustomed to the fineness and nobility of the studies of letters, do not disdain to dedicate themselves to mechanics to honestly procure their livelihood, since otherwise they would grow idle and useless and even harmful to the States. On this point I did not fail to reassure His Holiness, letting him know how carefully we proceed in the promotion of school children, since after having trained them in reading and moderately in writing, we admit to grammar only those who are expected to be able to continue their studies. The others apply themselves to the abacus and to writing well, to handle with these skills more perfectly the mechanical ones and to occupy in these professions useful for all their life, those tender years not yet apt to fatiguing exercises, and inclined to leisure and lightness. I do not fail, therefore, to entrust to YY.RR. the particular attention of this point, not only because it is of the Constitutions, but also because it is a living sentiment of Our Lord, who also showed that he listened with pleasure to the Continuous Prayer of the little ones. Therefore, let them see to it in every way that, if not all, at least a great part of the time be spent in it in turn according to the form of the Constitutions, confirmed in the General Chapter of 1641.

With regard to regular discipline, in addition to the general admonitions concerning the edification due to the neighbor by modesty, retirement, exemplary life and other similar virtues, he descended to particulars of the common life, so ardently desired by His Holiness in all Religions, estimating very rightly that all detriment to it arises from abuses introduced to the loss of this common life. To this I replied with due humility that our Religion gained little merit in obeying His most holy will, since thanks to blessed God, not only in the novitiates, but in each of our houses we live perfectly in community, and the little that was lacking, rather by the effect of poverty than by defect of will, I had alone with a circular letter impetrated the goodness of my religious, whom I had likewise forbidden with particular censure to have money. I begged His Holiness to deign to confirm this censure in order to avoid any attraction to human weakness and diabolical cunning. The Pope immediately deigned to listen to me, calling the censure an appendix to the reserved case. And to lead the Religion to this most exact common life according to the first form of its institution, he deigned to grant me every opportune and necessary faculty.

In virtue therefore of this we order again under pain of excommunication (which, for having achieved the purpose of the total surrender of any good, even a small sum, already made in the hands of the superior - for which reason it no longer seems necessary to burden consciences uselessly in the future), we reduce from the latae sententiae clause and from the reservation to us, reserving it to the local superior, that no one should have money in his possession or in that of others under any pretext whatsoever, not only in secret and without the due license of the superior, as I forbade in the first letter, but we suppress any kind of deposit or other imaginable. We ordain therefore that according to the determination of the Council of Trent, of the decrees of Clement VIII of happy memory and of the present intention of Our Lord the Pope, who intends the exact observance of these words: Let everything be handed over to the superior and incorporated into the convent by titling the bank deposits of the religious; and whatever the religious acquires from his parents, friends, benefactors, etc., he should immediately hand over to the common treasury, without claiming any right or action over it. Let him rather expect the provision of his needs from the superior, who with that freedom can dispose of what each one has acquired, and with the same charity must provide what each one needs, according to the norm of our Institute and the economic power of our houses; but he cannot allow the subjects to have money in their possession, as it is still heard, and has expressly recommended to me by our Emmo. Protector.

To have also the underclothing in common, to which we simply exhorted in our other letter, we now expressly command it, seeing by experience in this our house of San Pantaleo, to which because of the extent of the community and because of the poverty it should be more difficult, it is practiced and gives good results. Let them therefore make every effort that it be introduced and practiced by all without exception; so that, when the religious change houses or provinces, they may find similar provisions everywhere, without having to carry them with them; as well as the use of the common keys of the rooms, or not using them in fact or in such a way that the superior can open them all.

As for books, let the provincials, during their visitations, ask for the notes of all and for this time grant to each one the transfer of books to the houses according to the studies to which they are inclined, leaving them only the use of a few and small ones; with the certainty that, seeing the teachers in the case of needing books, of which they will not be able to provide themselves, they will continually pester the superiors to provide them. Thus, partly by the acquisitions of the superiors and partly by the dedication of the religious present in the community, in a short time our libraries will have enough books for what is needed in the ministry of our schools and many excuses will be removed from our own, both for the provision of books, as well as for the large luggage for travel.

And since, having presented a request to the Sacred Congregation of Religious for new authorizations to be admitted to the habit at the request of some of our provinces, which have already covered the number that had been fixed for them, the Sacred Congregation, before granting such licenses, wants the affidavit that in such provinces and houses the common life is exactly observed, as it also requires of other Religions. We give below the tenor of the affidavit, so that it may be sent to us in conformity with it.

We the undersigned attest with oath that in this our province of N, and particularly in the house of S.N., destined for novitiate by the Sacred Congregation of Religious, the common life is exactly observed, according to the Sacred Council of Trent, the decrees of Clement VIII of happy memory and our Constitutions. In witness whereof we have signed the present with our own hand and sealed with the customary seal of this our province. Given at N, on the day... of the month of... of the year... I, N.N. Provincial Superior, affirm with oath as above. I, N.N. Rector, affirm with oath the foregoing. I, N.N. Master of Novices, affirm with oath the foregoing.

With this perfection we hope to recover our primitive fervor and oblige the Divine Providence to help us. Take heart, trusting in the Lord Himself, that He will not abandon His servants, if they put all their trust in Him, just as He did not abandon His disciples when He sent them out without purse or saddlebag.

I have asked Our Lord for another grace: the power to settle all the lawsuits that arise every day over the Deeds of will made by our religious before their profession. And having been pleased to send it to the Sacred Congregation of Religious, the latter, on the 7th of this month, has determined that we can make the said arrangements with the consent of our Most Reverend Protector. See, then, if there is a need for such a concord in that province and give me clear notice, so that we can maintain with the relatives of our religious the proper relations.

I have judged it opportune to write all this, so that, encouraged by the good opinion that the Supreme Pontiff has of us, our religious may devote themselves with greater fervor to the ministry in the hope of obtaining greater graces, to the extent that by our edification, exemplarity and fatigue in the formation of youth, we may confirm the good opinion that His Holiness has of us, for whom we are obliged to pray to God, so that He may preserve him for many years; as well as for our Most Reverend Cardinal Protector, who with equal zeal and love protects us and cultivates in the mind of Our Lord the Pope the opinion and esteem of the Order. With this I conclude, asking heaven for an abundance of divine grace and heavenly blessing.

Rome, July 16, 1678.

Let the superiors remember during the next vacation to make the attestations ordered by the General Chapter of 1671, in favor of the subjects who have behaved well during the course of this year.

Most humble servant in the Lord

Charles John of Jesus, Superior General”.

60 See the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1677, in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” III (1938) 12.

61 Ibidem, ff. 12-13.

62 See circular letter in note 59.

63 See circular letters in notes 57 and 59.

64 See first of all this letter to two brothers, dated October 30, 1677, regarding the question (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 30): “P.C. I see the request that you both make to me to be shod next winter. But, my sons, since you are young, it is necessary to learn to endure the rigors of the Religion, as I am convinced you did in the novitiate. And here in Abruzzo and everywhere else there is still great cold, and yet we walk and all go barefoot, with all that each one suffers. But we must not believe that going barefoot has been established for pleasure, but for mortification; hence, since we are of such a Religion, it behooves us to observe it, as other similar Religions observe it. The Rector will not deny you stockings in accordance with the Constitutions, and if heels are used, you may wear heels, with which and slippers at home, you will be practically shod. Outside the house it is necessary to have patience and to suffer it for the love of God. Besides, if you get used to it from a young age, you will suffer less and less, and the Lord will grant you the strength to observe it without harming your health and with a taste proportionate to the spirit and fervor of suffering for his love. Pray to God for me and may the Lord bless you. Rome, October 30, 1677”.

See later the letter of December 16, 1677 addressed to the Provincial of Etruria on the same subject (Reg. Gen., 131, ff. 176-177): “The frequent requests that I receive from that province and this week from Your Reverence, in which you insist to wear shoes, oblige me to say frankly that I am astonished. I had made up my mind not to reply, because I do not feel in the mood to grant permission when it is no longer a simple religious constitution, but an apostolic one, ordained with two Briefs. You must remember the fuss that was made at the General Chapter and how it was finally determined: look at the Constitutions in their entirety. And the provinces exposed to excessive cold, of which the Constitutions speak, are already declared exempt in practice. I believe that Chieti is no less cold than those provinces, and you know how rigorously we all went barefoot, treading snow, ice and mud. You will say that we were healthy. You don’t see any Capuchin, Teresian or other barefoot religious who, because of illness, go through the city wearing shoes. Apart from the fact that each one knows how to obtain a medical certificate, according to which it is convenient and even necessary for his health to wear shoes. And so, in a short time or it would be necessary to give license to all to wear shoes or to tolerate a monstrous deformity. If afterwards they do it without license, it will be up to the superiors to give an account of it to God and to the major superiors. And you know that it has not passed without complaint to have allowed in Castiglione to go shod that youth, even with closed shoes. And you know how to say or write that such inobservances were not seen since the time of the good Father Charles, but that the relaxation is introduced by too much sensuality or particular affection of the provincials. Going barefoot, you say, is detrimental to health and forces us to mourn the dead who we would wish alive. I think so too; and my sensuality would be better suited to go with shoes than anyone else’s, because I don’t think there is anyone who suffers from it as much as I do, who also have my ailments. But I find no way to remedy it; it is up to the Apostolic See, not to me, since I cannot found a new religion, but I have to govern one already founded and established by the Holy Spirit through the founders and the Supreme Pontiffs. From no other province do I receive such requests. In the future, the one who makes them to me I will send to you, and you will answer him with a copy of this one. Pray to the Lord for me.

65 See the circular letter of July 10, 1677 and the circular mentioned in the previous note.

66 See the following letter of December 5, 1682, addressed to the Provincial of Etruria (Reg. Prov., 133, ff. 108-109): “... Frs. Boniface, Antony Philip and Stephen ask me permission to walk with shoes, even sending me a medical certificate of the necessity that urges them. I find myself in a great dilemma in this matter, as I spoke about it in Città della Pieve. On one side love, on the other religion (hinc amor, hinc religio), as somebody said. On the one hand, I sympathize with the indisposition and wish above all good health; on the other hand, I see such a strict Brief, just like the Constitutions, and I do not know which side to take. I am therefore thinking of referring the matter to the next General Chapter, so that it may dispose as it pleases. In the meantime, you can allow it or tolerate it with your eyes closed, as necessity requires.”

As for Spain, see this letter of Fr. Pirroni dated January 2, 1684 to Fr. Dominic Prado (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 455): ‘’We see in yours of November 22nd the medical certificate which, qualifying that land as very cold, judges necessary for the health of our people the use of socks from November to the end of March. And since the gentleness of the spirit of our Founder grants this indulgence in the Constitutions and he practiced it in the ultramontane provinces and in others of rigorous climate, we have not dared to deny it ourselves. We dispense you, therefore, and you may avail yourselves of it with the due reserve of modesty and uniformity”.

67 See the Memoirs of the General (Roman Archives of State, Piarists of St. Pantaleon, about 2021, f. 68): “He said at table (Cardinal Carpegna to Fr. Pirroni) that he would like to order the religious to be shod, since it did not suit the honesty of the clerics regular to go barefoot”.

68 See Fr. Pirroni’s letter in note 60.

69 See Bullarium Scholarum Piarum, pp. 83 -85.

70 See the Brief of Alexander VII Cum sicut accepimus (Bullarium Scholarum Piarum, 55): “...to keep poverty even when traveling”. Let us also take into account the circular letter of July 1, 1679, addressed to the Provincials (Reg. Gen., 131, Decr., f. 63): “A good policy demands that from each of the evils that arise each day, certain general remedies be extracted to prevent other evils in the future. Therefore, in the first place, command each one of the superiors, both provincial and local, to demand from any of our religious who arrives or is passing through, the patent called obedience. If they do not present it to them, detain them until they receive instructions on what to do from the Provincials, if they are from another house, or from the General, if they are from another province”. Cf. also the circular letters mentioned in notes 57 and 59.

71 Cf. the circular letter of July 10, 1677 (note 57). Also read this letter of August 2nd to the rector of Genoa (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 308): “The order to take the letters to the superior to seal them may be neglected more by negligence of the superiors than of the subjects; because the order says that the superiors should not deliver to their subjects the letters not sealed with the seals of the superiors. Here in San Pantaleo, I do not know if it is neglected”. Finally, read item 6 of the Circular of July 1, 1679 (Reg. Gen., 131, Decr, f. 65): “Likewise let ours completely overlook all letters of office and particularly those which usually contain only Christmas or Easter greetings; for it seems sufficient to us that each rector taking advantage of the letters with matters of the house should make in his own name such greetings to the provincial, and the provincial to the superior general and his congregation. And in general, let poverty be kept in mind, lest unnecessary letters (since the General Chapter of 1671 had already provided for those who were inventing rumors), sent even to us, should result in a superfluous expenditure of time and money. In things that the provincial can and must resolve in his province, why bother the general? It is enough that the provincials, in accordance with the Constitutions, keep him informed of the most serious matters. For this reason, we marvel that the lightness of our people is growing to such an extent that many, even among the youngest, have seals peculiar to the world or to the Religion, with which they amuse themselves in signing letters, something that we do not see has been permitted in older and richer Religions. To remedy these evils, according to what is ordered in our Constitutions, we command the subjects to give all open letters to the superior to be sealed and sent; and to the superiors that the letters collected in a package, if it is the case of sending several to one house, be addressed to the superior of that house, and in no way to deliver the letters of our subjects to their subjects unless they see them countersigned by the rectors with the seals of the houses, except for the letters of the major superiors in both directions. As for the small seals without letters (since the general chapter of the year 1659 forbade any particular person to use them with letters), no one of ours should have them without the permission of the provincial, who can grant them only by selecting the persons”.

72 See the circular letters in notes 57 and 59. Also this letter of November 13, 1683, addressed to Father Angel Morelli (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 425): “... If I did not know your goodness, I would tell you that you scandalize me by excusing yourself because you write to me on half a sheet of paper, since I have told everyone not to write on a whole sheet of paper, when half is enough, both for the exercise of poverty and for the mail”. See also the homily of Easter Sunday in Domestic Spiritual Conferences, vol. II, fol. 1-12, or the homily of the Nativity of the Lord, in vol. I of the same conferences, Rome, 1696, pp. 38-46.

73 In addition to the circular letter cited several times, see for example this letter of March 11, 1684, addressed to Father Augustine Passante (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 509): “ ... We like the idea of teaching our neighbor with the clean simplicity of that first house; however, try to temper simplicity with education, not looking to introduce stinginess, but that cleanliness shines everywhere together with a certain comfort, since our ministry is so heavy that the subjects should not lack anything necessary”.

74 Sess. 23, cap. 3. Cfr. Constitutions and Rules, ed. 1826, p. 96.

75 See Fr. Pirroni’s letter of September 29, 1681, to the provincial of Sardinia (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 346-347): “...We have learned with astonishment of the new problems, that is, that the Jesuit fathers are striving to destroy in us the ability for which they have fought so hard in favor of their professed houses, incomparably more incapable than ours, because they renounced the privilege of the Council of Trent and we have not renounced; they continue the profession with that “Summam Paupertatem” and we in the General Chapters have removed it, as well as the other particle of going always restricting, which still continues among them. Do not be bothered by this and do not be frightened by the threat of an apostolic visitator, because the Apostolic See sees things differently than they do, and if the lawsuit reaches Rome, they have little to gain. It is good, however, that they put out this rumor, because it could do us great harm in the eyes of the people, who do not distinguish truth from appearance; therefore, you do very well to help each other. I have read Julius Capone, who, although he treats it briefly, says in any case what suffices for the foundations of the time, to which can be added all that they affirm. We are also considering that the first Brief of Alexander VII, which makes us incapable of stable goods, was not approved by Clement IX, who, by approving only the second, excludes the first by the rule “inclusio unius exclusio alterius” (the inclusion of the one supposes the exclusion of the other). In this way the Brief of Alexander VII neither favors nor harms us and our capacity is induced by all the other reasons pointed out, and given the constant practice of the Sacred Congregations, which want that in any case our foundations be made with certain provisions, we have thought to send you our faculty in force of the Constitutions; valeat quantum valere potest (let it be worth what it can be worth). Let them therefore squawk.

And if they reply that we are able at most for the purpose of selling, do not bother about it, because it is understood when buyers are found who will pay for it the right price and are willing to reinvest safely. If either of the two conditions is not fulfilled, it cannot be sold, although not even this is of no use, because the Apostolic See does not want us to sell at all without its express license. And when I was General Procurator, because in Città della Pieve I exchanged the testator’s house for another according to the faculty he himself granted me, I was accused before the Sacred Congregation of having incurred the penalties against those who alienate, I could not defend myself with any other reason, than with the testator’s faculty by virtue of which I actually did it. I would not know what more to say about this for the present. I will soon begin to negotiate, to see if I can obtain a Brief to end the lawsuit”.

76 As it is said in the text of the Brief that will be recalled later; but in the Minutes of the final Chapter of the year 1686 nothing of this question is found. Cf. however the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1683, in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” III (1938) 30.

77 Bullarium Scholarum Piarum, pp. 78-80.

78 See the circular letters cited several times in notes 57 and 59.

79 See the homilies mentioned in note 72.

80 See the letter of December 27, 1681 to the rector of Podoliniec (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 4): “Let us strive to serve God and the Religion as far as our strength permits in that state and degree, in which God through superiors deigns to place us; and let envy barks, like dogs in the street.”

81 See his letter of November 15, 1679 (Reg. Gen 131, f. 166): “Remember that it is not the occupation that qualifies the religious, but obedience, since it is more responsibility for the superiors about the manner of employing the religious than for the religious to be employed. The true reputation of the religious lies in obedience”.

82 See this letter of October 19, 1680 (Reg. Gen., ff. 139-140): “The religious who wants to live happily must allow himself to be governed by obedience”.

83 Cf. his letter of June 3, 1679 to the rector of the house of Nocera dei Pagani (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 101): “It is necessary that the local superiors have the courage to maintain regular discipline and to repress the pride of the reckless. Because the provincials and generals, due to their remoteness, cannot do anything else but support the lower superiors”.

84 See Fr. Pirroni’s letter of January 8, 1684 (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 466): “We praise the severity of the superiors and the rigor of the observance, but tempered with clemency; and above all, that there be no appearance of domination, but of shepherding, not dominantes in cleris (not as dictators)”.

85 Cf. Father Pirroni’s letter of November 24, 1683 (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 433): “All the abilities and talents of the world cannot gain as much esteem as the abhorrence produced by violence, the effect of pride or impatience, one worse than the other.

86 Here are some words from a letter to the rector of Warsaw dated August 23, 1681 (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 319): “Be of good cheer and try to lighten the yoke of Christ with the sweetness of words and signs of esteem”.

87 Cf. the letter of December 4, 1683 to the rector of Prievidza (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 438): “The discretion lacking in the imprudent must be compensated for by the patience of the most prudent”.

88 Here are the words of the letter of June 20, 1682 to the rector of the house of Pieve di Cento (Reg. Gen., 32, f. 582): “With wretched people excessive charity is cruelty, because they become more uncontrolled”. See also this letter of April 22, 1679 to the provincial of Germania (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 80): “We must tolerate the weakness of the weak, because those of us who are on our feet must be careful not to fall; but when one recognizes a depraved heart, an obstinate spirit and shameless habits, which exclude all hope of amendment, it would be impiety towards them and towards the Religion to want to put up with it”.

89 Cf. the letter of April 6, 1680 to the rector of Palermo (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 37): “The subjects easily take advantage of the occasion to esteem some of the superiors in little, when they do not see them in agreement”.

90 See the letter of May 13, 1679 to the provincial of Genoa (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 86): “It is however a rule of convenience and good order, that the superior makes any officer participate in the resolutions that he wants to take in things convenient to his office; but they have no right to complain, if for reasons unknown to them the superior resolves without them”.

91 See the letter of July 23, 1683 (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 300): “It is necessary to yield sometimes in order to win”.

92 See the letter of January 30, 1682 to the rector of the house of Fanano (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 167): “The supreme government will always go wrong, when the inferior ministers expect only from the General, who cannot be everywhere, the punishment of the subjects”.

93 See these words from the letter of January 23, 1683 to the provincial of Genoa (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 162): “Your Reverence knows very well that my orders are always sent to capable provincials, without ever pretending to exclude epikeia”.

94 See the circular letter of July 10, 1677, in note 57.

95 See letter of November 19, 1681 (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 386).

96 See the circular letter of July 10, 1677, in note 57.

97 Conferenze Spirituali Domestiche, vol. II, fol. 9.

98 See note 57.

99 See the homilies cited in note 72.

100 See circulars referred to in notes 57 and 59.

101 Ibidem.

102 See circular letter of July 16, 1678, in note 59.

103 See circular letter of July 10, 1677, in note 57.

104 Ibidem.

105 Cfr. G. Sántha, Humanista y ambicioso, Salamanca, 1982; Idem, El P. José Fedele, quinto general de las Escuelas Pías, Salamanca, 1983.

106 Cf. note 28.

107 Cf. “Ephem. Cal.” 31 (1962) 111.

108 Cf. Bullarium Scholarum Piarum, p. 73.

109 The text of this instruction is found in the General Archives (Reg. Gen., 131, Decrees, ff. 36-41) and reads as follows:

Instruction for admitting to the habit and profession our novices and for keeping the professed in the professorate, taken from the decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, edited by mandate of Clement X of holy memory, on the March 18, 1676. For the Province of N.

That province has designated by the Sacred Congregation of Religious in the aforementioned decrees as a house of formation the house of S.N., with the faculty of admitting therein to the habit and profession six cleric novices and three brothers. Once this number has been covered, let the Provincial inform us, so that we may ask permission to admit others, taking care not to admit anyone without faculty, since one or the other admission would be null and void. But if in the course of the novitiate it should happen that some leave or are dismissed, you may admit others in their place, until the number fixed for those who will make the profession. The Provincial, however, must convoke the examination and publish in each of the houses of his province the date of the examination, which perhaps would be more convenient in the month of October or in the month of May. Also the house in which it is to be held, so that all may attend it, unless within the year circumstances require otherwise. Let the rectors be advised that before sending anyone to the aforesaid examination they should, together with the master of novices, if it is the house of probation, or of professed if it is the professorate, or with the most senior priest if the house is neither novitiate nor professorate, consider the spirit, mind, suitability and literary preparation of the clerics, which will consist at least in the perfect knowledge of grammar; and bodily health in the brothers - in whom it would be desirable to have some peculiar ability -; their birth, which besides being legitimate must be required to be of a good family, their health, their habits, their past life, of which they can acquire news by themselves or through others, such as teachers and relatives. Let them also investigate if they are guilty of any crime or have contracted debts, especially if they are more than sixteen years old, if they have parents who need their help or sisters who can hardly be placed and other things that are contained in the constitutions of Sixtus V, which begins Cum de omnibus Ecclesiasticis, and of Clement VIII on the admission of novices of the year 1602, and also in ours, chap. 1-3 of the first part. In this way they will not expose those who are to be excluded by one of these chapters to the trouble and expense of travel. But above all, let them carefully examine whether their character, ingenuity and nature are suitable for our Institute. Those who are considered suitable and who have reached the age of fifteen if they are clerics and twenty if they are brothers, let them send them to the examination taking with them the public and authentic faith of baptism, of confirmation, of orders (if they have received any), and also of good conduct, of free state, of immunity from any court; the rector himself and the master of novices or professed, or the oldest priest respectively, as has been said above, let them accompany them with testimonial letters and letters of recommendation. When the day of the examination has been set, the provincial, his assistants and the rector of the house where the examination is to be held, who are the designated examiners, will ask together those who are to be examined the reasons for their vocation, their age, their literary knowledge, verifying their ingenuity principally in the explanation of authors, or in the translation in a determined time of brief Latin subjects, or some dissertation of that discipline to which they claim to have dedicated themselves. They will recognize the certificates presented, will enunciate the canonical norms, as stated above, and those expressed in our Constitutions, and will read the more serious and less serious impediments, and warn them that they are to swear that they are not bound by any of them. In the event that they respond that they are suitable in everything and want to take the oath, they will withdraw after having given them hope. In the meantime, the examiners will deliberate among themselves. In the event that the opinions were doubtful or strongly opposed, proceed to the secret vote. In case of a tie vote, let the master of novices or of professed or the most senior priest be called, according to the variety of the houses in which the examination is made. In case they decide for acceptance, they will give testimony of it in writing and signed, of the following tenor:

We, the undersigned examiners of our province of N. of Clerics Regular Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, in accordance with the decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, issued on March 18, 1676, prove and attest under oath that N.N. (given name, surname, homeland, diocese and orders, if he has any), who is asking for the habit of our religion, have examined him as to age, birth, life, life, obligations, literary preparation and the other conditions necessarily required by the sacred canons, the apostolic constitutions and the statutes of our Religion, having also read to him the impediments which are expressly noted in our Constitutions; and that we have warned him about the oath on each of the things foretold, and that having been considered suitable for our institute, we judge that he can be admitted to the habit, observing what is to be observed. In witness whereof...

Given at N. in our residence of the Pious Schools of S.N....

on the day...

Place of the seal

N. of S.N., Provincial Superior.

N. of S.N., Provincial Assistant.

N. of S.N., Provincial Assistant.

N. of S.N., Rector of the house.

With this affidavit refer him to the superior and to the fathers who have voice in the house of probation, having previously prayed and after having reviewed the testimony of the examiners, if he is judged to be guided by the Spirit, having once more read and announced the impediments, they will then swear him in, with their hand on the gospels, adding the following to the affidavit of the examiners:

I N., Rector of our house of probation of S.N., both in my name and in the name of all the fathers who have voice in the said house, have taken the oath of the aforesaid N.N., who, the oath being accepted, answered that he was not bound by any of those impediments.

In witness whereof, on the day ... I N.N., do affirm and have sworn as aforesaid. I N. de S.N., Rector, took the oath. I N. de S.N. was present.

Place of seal.

Having done this, he may be admitted as a guest for a few days at the discretion of the superior, and finally to the habit, after having prayed and observing the form for the imposition of the habit. The rest is expressly obtained from the above-mentioned decrees of the Sacred Congregation and from our Constitutions. We warn here that what is commanded concerning the book to be kept should be carefully observed, in which the novice should write down in his own handwriting what he has brought to the house and his lay clothes, which until he has professed should be kept in the common closet, with the exception of what he considers he will need. In the book also note the day of reception, as follows: “On the day … S.N. (name, surname of layman, orders if he has them), a native of N., of the diocese of N., born on... observing what is to be observed, he was admitted to our habit for cleric or brother in our house of probation of S.N. by P.N. and he was given the name of N. de S.N. The same note is to be transmitted to the Father General, who will also be notified about the time and causes, if it should happen that the said novice should leave or be dismissed, which is to be noted in the same book together with the four-monthly visits and in the last scrutiny before profession with the number of favorable votes. Let it also be noted that nothing should be received outside the so-called first wardrobe, which we desire to be suitable according to our poverty, and we judge sufficient in each of these our provinces of Italy, 25 scudi or 30 at the most. Moreover, if ever an adolescent of good qualities presents himself, who cannot afford to buy clothes, we recommend that the same province provide them, since religion has more need of people than of money. It is clear what to do in the time of probation until the profession. Let the provincials remember that they should not omit the four-monthly visitations made in person or by others appointed for this purpose. I mean the visitations, in which the superior, the master of novices and the others are questioned about how the novices behave, how they profit in the spiritual life and if there is something to be corrected, correct it. The scrutiny before profession should be unique, before which also, within two months, according to the disposition of the Sacred Council of Trent, ses. 25, Relig., c. 16, let the novices freely dispose of their goods in the way they prefer, without reserving for themselves anything at all, neither by title of uncertain house where they are to dwell, nor annuities or annual pounds, as it is said, or under any color or pretext, according to the decree of the last General Chapter of the present year. As for the formula of the profession, because it happens that many are mistaken, it has seemed to us opportune to transcribe it here, that is to say...

The professions, after taking care that the professed copy them in the book destined to the effect and signed by the one who receives them and the witnesses, will be sent to Father General with destination to the General Archives. If it should happen that several professed on the same day, the first, second, third, etc., are indicated, so that the order of the professed may be known. The vows taken at profession are to be renewed by all, priests and clerics as well as brothers, twice a year, namely on the feasts of the Nativity and the Resurrection of the Lord, according to the Constitutions as corrected in the General Chapter of 1637. The formula for the renewal of vows for priests and clerics is: “I, N. of S.N., offer and dedicate myself entirely to Almighty God and to the Mother of God, ever Virgin Mary, and the solemn vows that I once made I gladly and heartily renew and confirm on the day... of the month... of the year...”.

After profession, they will be assigned to the houses designated as professorates (if they cannot be kept in the house of probation), where, placed in a different place from the residence of the formerly professed, they will live under the rule and with a still stricter way of life, and dedicate themselves to the study of letters. A priest appointed by us, according to what is established in the aforementioned decrees, will take care of them. He, together with the superior, as is provided for the master of novices, will take great care that they profit intensely from religious discipline and the study of letters, to which they will apply themselves, leaving aside all distractions and dealings with strangers. They should try to observe exactly what is established in the decrees of Clement VIII, in our Constitutions and Rites and in the Rules of the Students. Above all, let them be assigned as little as possible to the former professed as companions; on the contrary, devoting their time to school work, when they have to leave home on holidays or vacations to have a modest diversion, let them all go together under the direction of the same Master of the professed “.

110 See the letter of November 28, 1682 to the provincial of Germania (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 87): “...realizing that for many rectors some things are little known which are necessary to know above all after the instruction about the admission and formation of the novices in the houses of probation, which was sent to each of the provinces almost three years ago and which Y.R. must also have received, we also thought of adding the Rules of the Students, in which we commanded, among other things, that the newly professed transferred from the house of probation to the professorate or house studies, before being incorporated into them, make the profession of faith in the hands of the rector, so that it would be seen to it that all would do it in due time and that the superior would note it down. In these rules, as I said, I had introduced the text of the aforementioned profession of faith. However, the calamity of my times, or rather of the Religion, distracted me from this purpose; but I have the hope that in the next General Chapter everything will be ordered and a kind of ritual will be established that should be used uniformly by all the provinces.”

111 See the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1683, in “Archivum Scholarum Piarum” III (1938) 28-29.

112 See the circular letter of April 16 to the rectors of the province of Naples on this matter (Reg. Gen., 131, ff. 53-54).

113 See the letter of April 24, 1681 (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 253): “On Saturday in albis we began in the name of God the building of this new church. Our Most Em. Protector made the solemn blessing and the first stone was laid. I hope in the Divine Providence that it will be finished for the General Chapter. Two new dormitories have also been finished and they are very beautiful, so you will find many novelties”.

114 Of the many documents found in Fr. Pirroni’s epistolary, we are allowed to quote at least these in proof of our affirmation:

l. Circular of December 10, 1678 to the Provincial, the Rectors and the Master of Novices of the province of Liguria (Reg. Gen., 131, ff. 45-46 bis):

“I hope that YY.RR. will soon meet according to the order received from us to discuss the easiest and most practical method for the good formation of these young people. And although I know well that each one of you has sufficient knowledge and no less zeal, I wanted nevertheless for my own satisfaction to testify to you the great urgency that we have to see these young people educated in religious virtues as well as in letters. Experience clearly proves that the progress of the Religion depends on the good formation of young people, who, if at this age, which is not suitable for anything else, do not learn regular discipline and do not acquire a good capital of letters, how can we expect them to be apt workers for the institute, and how can we base on their good results the future hopes of the Religion? Therefore, we deem it absolutely necessary that Your Reverences postpone any private profit of your houses to the maintenance of the young people; because scattered in this way by the province, as I understand they are now, it is not possible for them to acquire spirit and letters. Let them, for God’s sake, notwithstanding the hardship of these years, see how they may be gathered together in one of the most capable houses of that province, and with the contribution of each, provide them with a profitable support; otherwise, we cannot foresee a result proportionate to the common expectation. And we, who are getting older and losing our faculties, if we do not try to enable our successors, we are fixed! Since the long preservation and esteem of the Religion is very dear to each one of you, and even more, the useful ministry for the benefit of our neighbor and the salvation of souls, I beg you to trust in Divine Providence, which does not abandon the right intentions; that you accept the inconveniences and with generous piety provide for the urgent need of that youth, each one making an effort to contribute more than your own strength seems to allow. This, besides being of the greatest service to blessed God and to the Religion, and of the greatest satisfaction to me, that as I offer myself to support any house with the satisfaction of masses, and other things, which depend on the weakness of my strength, so I pray the Lord to grant them light and spirit for such a necessary end. I warmly commend myself to your devoted prayers. Rome, December 10, 1678”.

2. Letter on September 20, 1681 to Fr. John Chrysostom Salistri of St. Paul, lector of Philosophy in Florence (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 337-338): “I am consoled by the news of the happy outcome of the second conclusion dedicated to the Bishop of Fiesole by Brother Ferdinand. I praise God for it. I hope to hear the same of the third and I ask blessed God to give you the strength to be able to form this youth well, and to them, capacity to receive the instruction.

The abundance of physics indicated by the reading of twenty-eight months is an indication of a great deal of matter, which is praiseworthy provided it is not excessive. I am quite sure that while you had it so long, you will have informed them well of the natural principles, extremely necessary for true philosophy, seeing it today so altered that after finishing the course they do not even know a speculative principle, how much less do they know the deep questions about nature, spending all their time on abstract and useless questions. I am very pleased that you add a lesson in Theology, and since you explain to them the pure text of St. Thomas, a most praiseworthy thing, and I would wish it on all of us, I would even exhort you to make use of St. Thomas Ad Anibaldum, which is a compendium of the whole Summa and there is everything there; particularly the treatise on the Trinity is very beautiful and fundamental for every question. Let us encourage a textual reading, which will teach the wits to laugh at so much rubbish of the moderns, and when they have learned the fundamentals and solid principles of St. Thomas, they will be able to call themselves true theologians in all kinds of scholasticism, morals and controversies. Let us attend to what is useful and spread good seed in these principles, so that true doctrine may grow in the Religion, for we need fruits more than branches.

We are aware of the difficulties you encounter in reading the first part of Borelli’s De motu animalium, but since you do not specify them in particular, we do not know how to respond. Only that you may have overlooked how the blood of the arteries is the motive cause of motion in animals; but is no wonder, for he has reserved it for the second part in which he treats everything concerning veins, arteries, circulation of the blood, motions originated, by it, and of all that can be desired. If you find any other difficulty, we will be glad to know about it, just as we are very pleased to see that you delight in these subjects and apply yourself to all kinds of sciences. We hope that by your example your students will achieve something similar, so that they will all become great men, as I most earnestly desire for the glory of the blessed God and the ornament of the Institute. May the Lord grant us the fulfillment of these desires. Pray also for me.

3. Letter to Fr. Philip Mary of St. Matthew, Reader in Theology, dated October 22, 1683, addressed to Genoa (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 398):

“I am pleased that the Provincial has entrusted to you such an important task, which, although it would require more experience, I hope that with study and fatigue you will make up for your age and any other deficiency, because you have not completely finished the course of Theology. Try to walk cautiously in this first course, do not fail to have recourse to advice in the difficulties you encounter or to prepare the questions you are dealing with. Above all, imitate the saint himself, who learned more in prayer than in study, and learned more from the Crucifix than from all the libraries. Let you have the purpose of restoring to the Religion, multiplied, what it has given you, so that blessed God will not fail to come to enlighten your mind more than is humanly possible”.

4. Letter to Fr. Joseph Mary of the Wounds of Christ, Master of Clerics in Chieti, dated February 17, 1680 (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 10-11).

“I reply to two of Y.R., one of last week, the other of this week.

There is no doubt that this Study urges me extraordinarily, and I have believed that you could direct it well, in science and in behavior. And although in letters you may not have the same expertise as in speculative science, in any case, if you want to apply yourself to them, I do not consider you so weak that you would not be able to teach them; besides, since the students are also beginners, I do not believe that they require the utmost perfection and exquisiteness, which, on the other hand, with time you would acquire equally as a teacher and as a student. I confess that, if I had remained purely with what I learned in school, I would know much less than the little I know now, and that I recognize that I acquired by the need to study in order to teach our students, whom I always considered teachers and guided them to be teachers. In the event that either by distrust or by laziness or by contrary genius we want to do anything other than that to which the present ministry obliges us, we will not give satisfaction to anyone. If I, who am now unworthy General, wanted to be a student, and if the teacher of philosophy wanted to be teacher of rhetoric, and the one who teaches rhetoric, to be teacher of theology or mathematics, it is certain that harmony would be lacking, all the offices would be confused and none would be suitable. Each one must attend to that to which his own office obliges him. I praise the exercises in which you occupy that youth, whose teacher should be more practice than theory; but the exercise of verses should not be lacking, which should precede the precepts of poetics, as long as the latter does not produce perfect things. We see that lay students, as soon as they have finished grammar, are immediately introduced to verse so that little by little they may acquire the ear, the habit of metrical feet, in order to be able later to learn the art. Do it also you, and above all demand a good Latin phrase, as much oratorical for the prose as poetic for the verse; with the certainty that, when they have arrived at this, a little light of precepts will be enough for them to undertake great flights. We know, moreover, that the precept is part of the judgment, which has drawn the precept from the observation of that which most pleases and is most conformable to reason. If you will, you will do everything and with the utmost happiness, but it is necessary for you to get rid of what is not proper to your present office, and also to correct your natural, which easily carries you to and fro with so much subjection and repugnance of temper, that any trifling cause troubles you to fall into melancholy and distrust. And as melancholy confines with impatience, it will also result that you will be disgusted by any trifle, will be disturbed and consequently will be fed up with the office and bored with all practice, hating books and students, and much more those who, because of the haste they must have for it, will advise you to perform it well, because you will consider them contrary to your taste. Consider well what I write to you and take it as dictated by one who desires with his own the good of others who have been entrusted to him. May the Lord grant us his holy grace to do well what he commands us. Deo gratias”.

5. Letter of March 21, 1682 to the same Father Joseph Mary, Master of student clerics in Chieti (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 445-446): “I am replying to two of your letters, one of the 5th and the other of the 11th of the present. What worries me most is to see that the old clashes are being revived again, endangering the hope of study. The students complain of a certain rigorous treatment or, to finish before, injurious, as they say. For example, forcing them to be uncovered all the time of the class, mortifying them with words similar to those addressed to lay students, for which the students themselves mock, and other such trifles in substance, but which are quite heavy on the weak backs of an unmortified youth. I hardly believe this. In spite of this, it is necessary to take charge of the circumstances, since blessed God wants it that way, and to reprimand them with a certain gentleness, without prejudice, of course, to the respect due to the teacher. You allege various causes for this evil. I believe it in part, and in part I have it for mere suspicions of yours. I fear that the introduction of the young laymen, who do not make good friends with the religious, may have undoubtedly influenced it, and that is why I did not take any care. I am writing more extensively to Father Rector, with whom you should consult often and communicate all the principles and the germs of the evils, because what at first is easily remedied, when it progresses becomes more tenacious. I hope to blessed God that in these holy days he will grant them light to know themselves and to return again to the way of obedience. For that, I do not judge it opportune for the first time to use the whip, but I am holding back so as not to make the problem a matter of honor. Do the same and pray to the Lord for me. Rome, March 21, 1682”.

6. Letter of June 5, 1683 to Father Philip of St. Michael (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 80):

“I wrote to you saying that I could not send you the conclusions because I had lost them among so many papers, and I have not found them since, so that I cannot send them to you either. It upsets me that the teacher complains that the students do not want to study, and that, on the other hand, the students complain about the teacher, saying that he does not want to make an effort to teach them. I do not understand it and I would simply like this first reading to have been of greater benefit and applause. It is not the diversity of opinions that discredits the teacher; on the contrary, the way of proposing them and the strength of the reasons and the appropriate answers prove it. When it cannot be reached, it is better to walk the beaten path and make use of the reasons adduced by the greatest wits than to make use of the frivolous speculations of one’s own wit. And one should never believe so sure of knowing the question that one is going to give in the class without preparing it, so as not to have to continually ask the notes for help for the memory. The others who do the first courses should take care to make good provision for doctrine and also to satisfy the common voice, so that they will be urged to continue. I am taking out from there Fr. Jerome, lest they should think that I am moved to speak for him; but you should urge me, lest we should see useless the expenses of the houses and the fatigues of the Religion and also of his own honor. May the Lord bless us.

115 See the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1665, in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” II (1937) 14: “...and let canons be established for the students and their teachers.”

116 The text of this plan of studies is found in Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 369-374, and was published by Fr. Picanyol, in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” III (1938) 51-56.

117 On September 7th, Fr. Pirroni still had great difficulties regarding the three-year juniorate prescribed by the Holy See, as is shown by his letter to the provincial of Naples (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 98): “As for the professed coming out of the novitiate, we discussed this difficulty with Bishop Fagnano of pleasant memory, making him see that the quality of our Institute, in need of help in the schools, would not permit a perfect observance of the juniorates; particularly when the habit was given to subjects of a certain age, who could immediately serve the Religion. He replied that we should have no scruple in this matter, since our task is to teach the classes well; and that this was to be understood of those tender young men who should apply themselves to study, not of those who could be employed immediately in the exercise of the ministry. And so, we do in this and in other provinces. Finally, it is not possible for our Religion to be regulated like that of the Capuchins or others who dedicate themselves only to the choir. Moreover, Bordone and other authors write that our novices must also go to school to prove the ministry in which they are to profess; but I am not concerned about this for the moment.

118 In the plan of studies of the year 1681 the two-year period of practical exercise was optional and had to be completed immediately after the literary two-year period, while in the plan of the year 1683 the same practical two-year period, now obligatory, succeeded the philosophical two-year period. On the immediate causes of this practical biennium, see the letter of Fr. Pirroni of October 5, 1680 to the Provincial of Naples (Reg. Gen., 32, f. 123): “...I realize perfectly well that we will have to imitate the Jesuits by putting in the schools, young men who have finished studying rhetoric, and after a few years of classes dedicate them again to the study of the sciences. Otherwise, we will not be able to support the youth we will admit to the habit; and what is worse, we will lose the teachers of literature, besides a thousand other considerations, which induce me to begin this year.”

119 See the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1683 in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” III (1938) 25-26: “The capitular fathers were extraordinarily happy to see that the study of the sciences, which for so long the Religion has testified to desire in various General Chapters, is flourishing in each of the provinces. And they were even more pleased to learn of the disposition taken by our Father General in favor of the perpetual duration of these studies and the greater progress of the Religion and of the students, namely, that once the two-year probationary period has been successfully completed according to the instructions given by the provinces, they will be solidly instructed for another two years in the humanities, which are so necessary for our Institute. Then, after a rigorous examination, those who are suitable should be admitted to study philosophy for another two years; on the other hand, those who are seen to have done less well in the humanities should either be made to repeat the same studies or, if they offer little hope, to devote them to arithmetic. Then, so that they do not forget it and to further test their ability, let them work in various schools for another two years. Those who have positively shown aptitude and good conduct in the schools, which must be proven by testimonials (as stated below), after another examination, are to study theology for three years, taking an examination each year. When they have finally finished their studies, they are to work in the schools for at least another seven years before being promoted to positions in the Religion, to be superiors and also to the passive voice. They must also obtain each year from the superior, from the prefect of the schools and from another priest to be designated by the provincial, testimonials of having behaved diligently and with a religious spirit in the schools. If these persons are unable to testify to this without any burden on their conscience, that year will not be counted in the nine years. Nor is it lawful for anyone, if there is need, to refuse a more prolonged exercise of the ministry of the school, since we profess indefinitely the special dedication to the instruction of children. And if it is seen that some are really weak, not of will, but of intelligence and bodily strength, so that it is clear that they cannot devote themselves to study, put them in the lower classes and arithmetic, whose exercise is especially necessary to our Institute and cannot be neglected under any pretext. And they cannot have passive voice until they have satisfactorily performed the school for fifteen years and have obtained the testimonials, as stated above. In order, however, that the learning of the sciences not undermine religious humility, it has seemed opportune to take measures at the same time concerning lecturers and students, forbidding the former any exception and jurisdiction under the pretext of reading, and commanding the latter the humble offices that are usually practiced in our Religion. It is left to the prudence of the superior what seems necessary concerning one or the other.

All these things were accepted by voice with the applause of the General Chapter and their observance was rigorously demanded. Therefore, it is strictly ordered to the provincials and local superiors that they accept and promote with commitment the dedication to studies and to the formation of our youth in the spirit and in the letters. Free the students from external occupations and arrange with all their strength everything that leads to the desired goal. It is declared, however, that this decree, insofar as it refers to not obtaining the passive voice unless after having satisfactorily completed nine years of school, begins to bind those who are presently in the clerical state.

Finally, so that the spirit of our religious may not grow dull in any way because of the various kinds of studies and ministries in which we are engaged; moreover, so that as much as it is on our part the fervor of charity may be renewed and our strength may be multiplied more and more each day, all together we recommend that each year for a few days all our religious should disengage themselves from external occupations and become accustomed to dedicate themselves to God alone, practicing the spiritual exercises”.

120 At least this was expressly mandated in the first project of 1681; the General Chapter of 1683 is silent on the subject of these studies, probably because the studies of mathematics and physics were then part of philosophy.

121 Cf. Constitutions and Rules, ed. 1826, pp. 128-133.

122 Cf. L. Picanyol, Le Scuole Pie e Galileo Galilei, pp. 180-192; Idem, Alfonso Borelli e il P. Carlo Giovanni Pirroni delle Scuole Pie, passim; G. Sántha, San José de Calasanz. Su obra. Escritos, Madrid, 1984, p. 165 ss.

123 See the biography of Fr. Scassellati, Salamanca, 1982, pp. 27-28.

124 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16, f. 13v): “On January 2, 1678, the study of theology began, our students going to study it at the Theatine Fathers of Sant’Andrea della Valle”.

125 Thus in the month of December 1679, Cl. John Francis Muzio of St. Romulus was named lector of the young Piarists (Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 28 r).

126 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 10 r.

127 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 13 r, where seven student clerics are listed, to which should be added as also dedicated to studies Fr. Augustine Passante and Fr. Fedele Patriarchi (ibid, f.12v)

128 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 15r, on June 28, 1678.

129 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 47.

130 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 12r, on November 2, 1677: “The study of mathematics began”.

131 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 10v; L. Picanyol, Alfonso Borelli y P. Cario Giovanni Pirroni de las Scuole Pie, pp. 23-27.

132 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 72r.

133 Cf. L. Picanyol, art. cit., pp. 26-27.

134 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 12v; L. Picanyol, art. cit., pp. 27 30; Idem, Calasanctiades ad episcopalem dignitatem erecti, en “ Arch. Schol. Piar.” I (1936) 108-109.

135 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, ff. 12 r. 28r; L. Picanyol, Alfonso Borelli etc., pp. 30-31.

136 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, ff. 10v. 13r; L. Picanyol, art. cit., p. 33.

137 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, ff. 10v. 13r; L. Picanyol, art. cit., pp. 33-34.

138 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, ff . 12v. 13r; L. Picanyol, art. cit., p. 34.

139 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, ff. 12v 13r; L. Picanyol, art. cit., p. 27.

140 See Fr. Pirroni’s letter of August 30, 1681 to Fr. Morelli (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 330): “...as for the Greek language, which I am currently teaching, so that they may know everything...”.

141 For the month of March 1680, see Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 31r; for the month of April 1681, ibidem, f. 44v. Cf. note 113.

142 Cf. note 113.

143 This is deduced from the communities of the house, which are found in the Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo.

144 See notes 125 and 130.

145 On the library of San Pantaleo see what Cardinal Bartolomeo Piazza says in the work entitled Eusevologio Romano (Rome 1968) (Parva Bibliotheca Calasanctiana, 16, pp. 3-5).

146 See the letters of Fr. Pirroni addressed for this purpose to London, Amsterdam and Florence; as well as L. Picanyol, art. cit. pp. 15- 21; G. Sántha, S. Gregorii Barbadici commercium epistolares cum P. Pirroni, in “Ephem. Cal.” 29 (1960) 220-235.

147 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16), ff. 34v. 46v. 66r, etc.

148 See the letter of August 7, 1683 to the master of clerics of Chieti (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 311): “...You are mistaken if you think that in San Pantaleo studies whoever wants to. Whoever behaves well, study is instilled in him, and there are young people who, guided more by example than by words, fulfill their duty, even if they have other work that distracts them.”

149 Thus, for example, in 1678 Cardinal Felix Rospigliosi attended the solemn academy in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary to heaven; and in 1679, Cardinal Gregorio Barbarigo (cf. Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, ff. 15r and 24v).

150 Cf. L. Picanyol, Le Scuole Pie e Galileo Galilei, pp. 177-184.

151 See Father Pirroni’s letter of August 30, 1681 to the provincial of Naples (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 328): “...I am thinking of starting philosophy in Chieti at the beginning of the school year”.

152 As it is evident from the various communities of the house of Chieti, in Reg. Prov. 14. House of Chieti, n. 5; and in Reg. Prov. 15, nn. 30, 31 and 34.

153 See the community of the house in the year 1711, in Reg. Prov. 16, 11. 49.

154 See the letter of November 13, 1683 to Fr. Angel Morelli (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 425): “...Do not be afraid because there are so many members of the community; it seems to me that it would take a thousand years to see thirty young people in that house to be well trained in the service of the Religion”. See also the letter of August 30, 1681 to Fr. Morelli (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 330-331), from which it is clear that the house of Chieti could not receive more than twenty religious for lack of space.

155 See the letter of November 13, 1680 to the Master of the Clerics of Chieti (Reg. Gen., 132, f. l 59): “...In the meantime I confirm what I have always told you, that knowledge is good and goodness recommendable, but that neither one nor the other is useful without prudence, which is the salt that seasons all the virtues”.

156 Thus, for example, on January 7, 1679, he wrote to the rector (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 52): “Br. Leonardo and Br. Gaspar need to be put in their place, because if their heads are too full of vapors, they will not be able to apply themselves to their studies. Therefore, order that, from the receipt of this letter until further notice, no food be given to them”. On March 28, 1682, he wrote the following to Father Angel Morelli (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 447): “Blessed be the Lord who deigns to make me partaker of the favors of his most holy passion in these holy days in which, giving us such vivid examples of his infinite patience, I would be very confused if I did not want to participate in them at all. The greatest bitterness I have had is to learn of the obstinacy of these young people, who, replying with new letters full of insolences, put me in danger of suppressing this Study, scattering them again among the schools and putting there in their place students from Genoa and Florence, who long to have such an opportunity. Call them all, notify them of our way of thinking and assure them that we feel greater concern for religious virtue than for science, and if the one and the other are to be endangered, they should not study any more, as long as discipline and religious spirit are preserved. I refrain from giving other orders of mortification, in the hope that Your Reverence will deign to enlighten them in these holy days by the merits of His most holy Passion. And in the event that in response to this letter I learn that they have not mended their ways, they will see what the Religion will do, particularly with two or three whom I suppose to be the ringleaders of this most insolent rebellion. Add to them an order in virtue of holy obedience: that one by one they come to you to depose with an oath before you everything they have against their teacher; and after having listened to them all and having put their depositions in writing, even without the teacher, send us everything on the first occasion, ordering them in the meantime to dedicate themselves to study with modesty and humility. We do not wish to entrust this diligence to others, there being no obligation in many respects. When we have heard both sides, then we will judge according to what justice dictates. They should not boast with the hopes of protection from here, because all these Fathers will have to be, as they have, zeal that the youth does not become engulfed. You will see how little good the protections will do them. Behave themselves well, and if they have anything against somebody, let them tell with the due modesty and reverence, and they will be satisfied. Otherwise, they will taste the fruits of their daring. I hope, however, that they will turn back, and so I pray to the Lord in these holy days. Pray also for me.”

157 See the letter of July 10, 1683 to Fr. Morelli (Reg. Gen., 133, ff. 282-283).

158 Cf. note 155. See then the letter of May 16, 1680 to the Master of Clerics (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 49): “...Prudence and discretion are not subject to laws; time and circumstances always require it in a particular way. Let us ask the Lord to grant it to us as his gift”.

159 See the letter of December 4, 1683 to Father Morelli (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 441): “I was very consoled to learn of the application of these young men to study and of the exercise they are beginning to take in the refectory, which is of no small praise to Father Francis. Continue virtuously, then, and you will oblige us not a little to assist you with paternal vigilance”.

160 See the letter of July 10, 1683 to Fr. Francis of the Guardian Angel, professor of rhetoric (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 287): “The academy and the exercises that you do cause me great satisfaction, particularly when they are done with the due license of the Rector. It is true that they seem to me to be too frequent, particularly in summer; so that the many fatigues could be detrimental to your health, and since they are not entirely necessary demonstrations, it does not seem that God blessed is obliged to provide special forces”.

161 See the letter of July 10, 1683 to Father Morelli (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 283): “Such a frequency of preaching and sermons, which we see in this and in other juniorates of ours and which serve no other purpose than to distract them and to nourish the smoke of the vanity of the students, has led us to suppress or prohibit them, decreeing that those who are not priests or who have not at least finished the course of theology shall not preach or give sermons. And neither these should do, if they have not been examined and approved by their provincials and confirmed by Father General, since the word of God should not be so easily commended when due decorum and veneration is not observed. Therefore, Y.R. do not allow others to preach besides Fathers Joseph Mary of the Wounds and Francis of Guardian Angel; dispensing for this time the novena of our glorious Saint Anne, for which I imagine they will be already prepared. There is no lack of scholastic and academic exercises for the students in which they can exercise without appearing on the pulpits to say what they do not understand, perhaps used to copy and steal from books, with a thousand other disorders”.

162 See the letter of August 21, 1683 to the Provincial of Naples (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 222): “Send me the list of the students of Chieti, which I ordered you recently to see where we are. In the meantime, I have asked the Prior of the Dominicans of that city, a very good friend of ours and a former teacher of our religious, to examine these students and to tell me honestly what each one has provided in particular”. See also the letter of September 11, 1683 to the Master of Students on the same subject (Reg., Gen. 133, f. 342): “I am glad that you were pleased to have entrusted the examination of these young men of ours to Father Master Philip. And I will be even more pleased with the rigor that the said father intends to use with them. Let our students know that they will have to take such examinations every time they have to go on to higher studies. Let them think of studying, since the Religion does not fail to provide them with everything. We are obliged to stubbornly maintain the education and progress of the youth”.

163 See the letter of December 4, 1683 to Fr. Morelli (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 441): “I have always praised the fact that in our studies, professors make use of printed books rather than written ones in order to save the fatigue of writing. After all, in substance, each one copies the other and the doctrine is always the same, even if the ways are different. I praise the same the genius of Father Francis, who wants to make use of the rhetoric of our Father Camillo, of happy memory. I confess, of course, that I find it too dry. In any case, it can be complemented by the teacher’s more extensive explanation, by the reading of other books by the students, but even more by their exercise, which admirably fertilizes every little seed of norm or precept. I say the same of philosophy”.

164 See the letter of October 31, 1681 to Father Morelli (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 366): “I answer you only on the point of posting posters around the city concerning the teaching of philosophy in our house. No way! What nonsense is this? I am surprised that you are waiting for my opinion on this, since you can imagine it. Moreover, now that I realize the reason, I am suspending the powers I granted you to admit any boy who has affection for us. Do not admit anyone without my express permission. Our Studium is particular and private for our religious.

165 See the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1677, in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” III (1938) 9: “The fathers resolved and decreed with unanimous consent that all readers and teachers of our Religion should draw their theological doctrine from the inviolate source of the Angelic Doctor and infuse it into the souls of the hearers.”

166 See letters on the matter, cited in note 114.

167 This is clear from many of Fr. Pirroni’s letters to the juniorates.

168 See the letter of September 29, 1679 to the provincial of Germania on this matter (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 150): “It is with great pleasure that we have received from the last letter of Y.R. of the 4th of last month the news of the completion of both studies, humanistic and philosophical, as well as the promised erection there of another philosophical and theological study for next year. We recommend to Y.R. skill and an apt distribution of readers and teachers. Would we heard the same from every province! For the only purpose I have is the optimal education of youth in letters and religious morals. For if, while the ashes of our venerable Founder are still warm, we have lost so much fervor and piety, that it was to be feared the collapse if our descendants suffer in the same proportion from a less religious life; I therefore recommend to you as much as I can this main and most important Sparta.

169 See the letter of December 20, 1681 to the provincial of Poland (Reg. Gen., 131, ff. 404-405): “I commend to the able care of Your Reverence the discipline of the juniors, so that they may be properly instructed in spirit and in letters; for I do not cease to fear finally that such a great multiplicity of juniorates may perhaps be of less help to the students. I would like to have three in the province, as we have established in Italy; one for the humanities in a house, after they have finished the novitiate, another for philosophy and another for theology. In this way the students who leave the novitiate at the same time will study humanities, philosophy and theology together. During this time, which we believe should be two years for each discipline, there follow others who are exercised in probation, and therefore neither the novitiate nor the studies will be empty of clerics and all will be governed in a uniform style and with a more demanding discipline. During the biennium of probation do not allow any novice to be transferred from the novitiate to another house, as you will see more extensively in the instruction which in your absence, we have sent to Fr. Rector of Podoliniec and more extensively also in the other which we have given for the professed students.” On the philosophical and theological Piarist study of New Jerusalem in Poland, see the letter of February 3, 1684 to the bishop of Poznam (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 485).

170 See the letter of January 29, 1684 to Father Augustine Passante (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 483): “For now we grant you the faculty of admitting to the habit and profession four clerics and two brothers. I am sure that Father Commissary, as rector and master of novices in Naples at another time, will have with him all our formulas of dress and profession. If not, let us know and we will send them to you immediately. In the meantime, we recommend the instruction of the same, so that in these first beginnings the milk of the spirit may be drunk, considering them as the foundations of all the others to come”.

171 See the letter of August 30, 1681 to the Master of Students of Chieti (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 33l): ‘’All the difficulty is reduced to these two years, because afterwards I hope in blessed God that there will be so many capable subjects and the classes of studies will be so well organized, that the Religion will receive from them a great help and my successor will not have to struggle so much”.

172 See for example this very beautiful letter about the application to studies of December 2, 1680, addressed to the student clerics of Genoa (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 168-170): “...Pay attention therefore willingly and know that we cannot receive greater consolation in this our government than when we see the youth truly applied to study; because from this we hope not only for the honor of doctrine, which will fill them for the proper exercise of the Piarist ministry for the benefit of their neighbor, but also for the reformation of morals, by the correction of the understanding - which the better informed it is, the less it errs in proposing to the will under the false mask of good the real evil (which in substance is a mere fallacy, weakness or ignorance). Likewise, with the delight that is acquired in the progress of studies, the soul becomes so fond of virtue that it flees from idleness, the root of all worries and evils. And the religious student will not be seen to waste time in chats and useless conversations and other pests no less of his own spirit than of the Religion. I would like you to contract this love of virtue and I would be sure that you would always live well. But since you cannot love what you do not know, it is necessary that by a somewhat laborious means, which is study and effort, you come to the knowledge of its value. When one has reached this milestone, the need to be stimulated by exhortation also disappears; moreover, it requires the bridle rather than the spur, and on the book table in a narrow cell there seems to be a certain magnet, which has the power to attract the religious in such a way that he prefers it to all other amusements and recreations of the senses. I have said more than I thought, but being a matter filling the heart of those desires, it easily runs amok with broad feather, without myself being aware of it.”

173 See the letter on May 20, 1679 to Father Bernard Salaris (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 92): “My dear Father Bernard, I believe that I would serve the Religion better as a subject, dedicated to instructing the youth; but if it is otherwise disposed by the blessed God, to whom we have consecrated our will, we must have patience and embrace the cross, which in His profound designs He presents to us, since it is not up to us to choose our own port, but to embrace the one to which our institution, guided by Him, leads us”.

174 See this letter of September 9, 1679 to Mr. Onofrio Pepe, notary of Nocera dei Pagani (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 138): “From what I am answering to my Most Ilm. Lords, Universal Syndics, you will be able to know my opinion about Thomas, your son, with whom you can use all the freedom to take him home, assuring him that it is not the intention of the Order to take your son by force or with bait. I beg you, laying down paternal tenderness, to deign to examine the fact with the truth of the vocation, and if you find it true and constant, do not divert it, remembering the severe punishments that blessed God usually fulminates those parents who refuse to sacrifice to Him in the religious life a son whom He calls in His hidden designs. Be inclined rather to follow God’s will than your own. For the rest, I refer to what the Lord Himself wills, for I am indifferent to one solution or the other”.

175 See the letter of September 1, 1679 to the young Thomas Pepe and Leonard Anthony Tortora, of Nocera dei Pagani (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 132): “I am very pleased with the perseverance of your vocation in our Institute, so much so that I understand that your parents are almost happy. I am sure that they will overcome their paternal tenderness when they see you totally firm in dedicating yourselves to the divine service. I would gladly call you here to Rome, but this novitiate is full and on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, seven boys of very good character will be given the habit. In the meantime, I am writing to the Master of Novices in Naples, so that he may see that you request your clothing, and you, in the meantime, go and arrange everything with your parents. In the meantime, I will pray to blessed God to dispose of you in the best way. May the Lord bless you.

176 See, for example, this letter of March 21, 1682 to the Piarist students of Chieti (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 444-445): “To the cleric students of Chieti. As it gives us consolation to know your fervent and calm application to your studies, so your complaints about the severe behavior of the Master cause us bitterness; and seeing that with such great disturbance of spirits you exaggerate what in substance, even if it were true, is of no importance and could be easily remedied, we realize how little virtue and no mortification you have. Where have your fervent desires to study gone? Do you so soon forget the promise you made to me? I want to hope that in this interval, having recognized the lightness of your impatience, you will have recanted and humbled yourselves. I deem this simple declaration of the displeasure you give us to be sufficient. And take care that you do not take a resolution that is not respectful and pleasing to one who strives to make you grow in virtue, lest you force us to take other resolutions that will cost you repentance for life. Deal with Father Rector about your temptations and pride, and he will find a way to free you from them, without you freeing yourselves from them by giving the devil a chance to triumph over your falls. We will not cease to ask the Lord that in these holy days he may, through the merits of his most precious blood, grant you light and a spirit of true humility so that you may imitate him. Ask this also for us”.

See also this letter of June 4, 1681 to Cl. John Baptist of St. Joseph (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 278-279): “P.C. You continually ask me for studies, and on the other hand I understand that you study less than anyone else, although you presume more than everyone else. I also deduce it from your letters, in which, wanting to be witty and subtle about what you do not understand, you say at every word a nonsense. I do not wish anything else of the youth than to take advantage, and when I see it capable and desirous of improving itself, I never cease to help it with all possible means; but the motives that move me are the works and the reports of profit, not the words and the vain desires. Try to speak to me in that language and I will listen to you. Pray to the Lord for me”.

177 See especially the letters cited in note 114. Also read later this letter of June 18, 1683 to the Master of Novices in Naples (Reg. Gen., 133, ff. 252-253): “Whoever takes care of the youth needs to be extremely vigilant and, so to speak, to always be suspicious while giving the impression of never suspecting. If sometimes it is necessary to arrive at some resolution to obviate some disorder, it is necessary to adduce some pretext so as not to give signs of believing what one would not want. It is a great service. Ask blessed God to give you the light to know how to regulate yourself well”.

178 See for example this letter to the rector of Narni of November 17, 1682 (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 80): “You should know my ideas concerning youth. I will be happy that you be regulated according to them. And above all, never give them confidence, because they are easily insolent. Have affection for them, but do not show it”.

179 See letter cited in note 177.

180 See the third letter cited in note 114.

181 See this letter on March 7, 1682 to Fr. Charles Emmanuel Incisa, resident in Genoa (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 431-432): “...for the glory of the teacher does not consist in the large number of pupils, but in the benefit of the students. In the future General Chapter, if God gives us life, I intend to present public conclusions from each province. Thus, you too will have ground to use your labors for the greater glory of the blessed God and the honor of the Religion.

182 See note 119.

183 See for example this letter of August 8, 1682 to the provincial of Etruria (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 23): “I am grateful for the affection of Your Reverence and of all those fathers for the joy they show in the present victories, which, because they are domestic, I would renounce them all if war had not preceded, when I consider the danger to which the Order has been exposed. But now that the Divine Providence has brought it out of it so wonderfully, I have the consolation of seeing the good that has been obtained from the evil. There is no doubt that it is good for the Religion that things are returning to their beginning, according to that great reason of St. Thomas to prove the optimal institution of the Church as monarchy; for the more perfect the government is, the more it is reduced to unity, the more apt to peace, which is the only thing desirable in all government. We will leave the rest to our successors, but we do not wish it to them at the price of so many labors and dangers”. Father Pirroni himself addressed in 1683 to the Holy See through the General Chapter a written memorandum on this question, the text of which, which was kept in the Archives of the Order, is no longer in it (Cf. Chronological Inventory of the General Archives of the Pious Schools in 1762, by Father Octavio Manetti, and edited by Father Leodegario Picanyol, Rome, 1955, p. 22, 11. 257): “Minutes of a memorandum to be presented to the Pope in the name of the General Chapter for the perpetuity and absolute authority of the General of the Pious Schools, and to grant only the consultative vote to the General Assistants”.

184 See the Minutes of the General Congregation (Reg. Gen., 11, f. 70r, on June 25, 1680): “The Most Reverend Father General insists on the election of a new rector for the Roman house of probation, given that by prescription of the Apostolic Constitutions of Alexander VII all the Assistants must reside in the house of San Pantaleo, and Father Benedict of Jesus Mary, General Assistant, present rector of the said house, has been governing it for twenty years; and for other reasons which will be presented in a separate document to our Most Reverend Protector”. See also the following document of supplication addressed by Fr. Pirroni to the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars about the matter (Reg. Gen., 11, on December 11, 1681): “Eminent and Rev. Lords. The Superior General of the Clerics Regular Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools reverently exposes to YY.EE. that being vacant the rectorate of S. Lorenzo in Borgo, novitiate house immediately subordinated to the General by decree of the S. Apostolic Visitation, he proposed for rector of that to the congregation of his Assistants, Fr. Joseph of the Conception, Roman, a very capable subject, who was accepted and suspended only the formality of... because of the absence of one of the assistants. But, because of other discrepancies, already known by His Eminence Cardinal Prefect, Protector of Religion, the election could not be followed; and not wanting to venture any subject exclusively (?), because the three Assistants declared that they are not to include any of those proposed by the General, to whom it is up to propose. Therefore, for the tranquility and good government of the novitiate house, the orator begs YY.EE. to deign confirm the aforementioned Father Joseph of the Conception as rector of the said house. All of which etc. To whom God, etc.”. See later Memoirs of the General (cf. note 67), ff. 37-40, where some very exhaustive details are recounted.

185 The text of this decree is found in the volume entitled Minutes of the General Congregation (Reg. Gen., 11, on July 31, 1682) and reads as follows: “In the case between the Superior General and Procurator General of the Order of the Fathers of the Pious Schools on the one hand and the Assistants of the same Order on the other, the Sacred Congregation of Most Em. Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, charged with the affairs and consultations of Bishops and Regulars, after hearing both parties, has resolved that in the appointment and removal of the superior, of the master of novices and of the community in the convents of the first and second novitiate, the said Assistants have only a consultative vote; and that the same vote pertains also to the said Father General Procurator. Rome, July 31, 1682. Ces. Cardinal Fachinetti. B. Panciaticus, Secretary”.

186 See the minutes of this session in Minutes of the General Congregation (Reg. Gen., 11, November 27, 1681): “On the 27th of the said month at about six o’clock in the afternoon the congregation of Father General and the four assistants was held before the Cardinal, in which, after repeating the discussion of the rectorate claimed by Father Benedict, against which it was decided once the records had been exhibited by Father General, the election began. The Most Reverend Father exhorted once again to have it in a concorded manner. However, since the Assistant Fr Hyacinth, in distributing the marbles, had courteously presented them to His Eminence, the Cardinal asked Father General if he could cast suffrage. And when the latter replied that “he could, if he wanted to honor our election,” he received the marbles like the others. But as the cardinal, having learned of the union of the three, had introduced the first ball in the ballot box, Father Joseph got up and threw his marbles on the table, refusing to cast his vote. The other two assistants were of the same opinion, when they were asked one by one to cast their vote freely. They denied that the Cardinal could vote, because they had foreseen that his machinations would collapse. Although His Lordship endured this bold rebuff with incomparable moderation, he could not, however, restrain himself to the point of not saying with meekness: “You have neither education nor charity. And I, who have always had an excellent opinion of the Order and have judged it thus, will henceforth be obliged to change my opinion and my way of speaking of it”. Impressed by the petulance of those present, Father General, in order to placate the Cardinal’s just indignation, knelt down and begged His Eminence to deign to forgive the Religion, which by the paternal care he showed with his most benign patronage, and by the innumerable benefits it received every day, felt a special veneration for him. Finally, after suspending the decree of election, the Most Reverend Monsignor proposed that in the meantime, the current superiors would continue, without the canonical exception being an obstacle. This clause directly affected Fr. Benedict, who was impeded by the aforementioned Brief of Alexander VII and the decree of the Sacred Visitation. And he dismissed everyone. See also Memoirs of the General, l. c., f. 44.

187 See Memoirs of the General, l. c., ff . 55-56. Cf. also the Minutes of the General Congregation (Reg. Gen., 11), April 14.

188 See the Minutes of the General Congregation, April 21, 1682.

189 See the Minutes of the General Congregation, April 23, 1682.

190 See Memoirs of the General, l. c., ff. 56-57.

191 See Memoirs of the General, l. c., f. 57: “The first (Cardinal Gelio...) told me that with these concerns there will be reason to think of suppressing the Order. I begged him to excuse the Religion, which was not to blame, because the restlessness was the sole concern of these three fathers”.

192 See the Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16, f. 63): “On the 26th, Father General went to see Father Joseph, Assistant, to know his attitude in order to settle the differences that had arisen. In the conversation he did not open up at all. He only replied that he was in his room and that it was others who were hanging around the courts”. Cf. also Memoirs of the General (l. c., f. 57): “On the 26th of this month I went to speak with Father Joseph, Assistant to see if there was any possibility of a settlement. I was hurt by the publicity given and the murmurings of his nephew. He told me that he did not know anything and that he had not left the house. And yet on the 20th he went with the other two assistants to see Bishop Paciatico. In short, changing the conversation many times as usual, he did not touch on any subject, but he told me that he would think about it in the congregation”.

193 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16, f. 63): “I do not want to fail to note here how great was the grief of the religious on hearing the writing of the Assistants, in which (to it brings the malice or the ambition, so I think,) the Religion was openly slandered, as can be seen in the writings that I believe are preserved in the archives. It may also be that it was a matter of zeal. Let those who read it judge”. See later Memoirs of the General (l. c., f. 57): “...But his was not a writing, but a famous libel against the Order, preaching it full of scandals, disorders, etc. But I, after having confuted the few and weak reasons, I assured that there was no greater scandal there than what they were giving with these schisms and discussions”.

194 See Memoirs of the General, l. c., ff. 57-58.

195 See the Memoirs of the General (l. c., f. 58): “On May 16th, Saturday of Pentecost, Father Angel, rector of Chieti, arrived in Rome with the idea of interposing himself as mediator in these differences and calming tempers. I asked him earnestly and, in order to leave the ground more free, I went the following Sunday to Frascati, from there to Poli, then to Tivoli, to settle with Cardinal Mariscotti the controversy with that parish. I returned to Rome on the 26th and Fr. Angel told me that he had done everything possible, but that he had encountered great obstinacy and incapacity, especially in Fr. Benedict, who always goes around about his remotion from the novitiate, and that he was not trusting to be able to put peace on him. I disliked and could not console myself for having this schism. At least the fault was not in me, since I had shown myself ready to let myself be induced to any honorable way out, whatever they wanted.

196 Cf. Hubert du Manoir, S.I., Marie. Etudes sur la Sainte Vierge, II, París, 1952, p. 919.

197 See Memoirs of the General (l. c., ff. 58-59): “On the said day (June 1, 1682) about three o’clock I prostrated myself at the feet of Our Lord and had the good fortune to enter immediately after having dispatched the bishop of Stagno in Slovenia. I entered his place at four o’clock and came out almost at five o’clock. I said to him: Blessed Father! I appear with double shame at the feet of Your Holiness, both for having to tire you, since I know that you are not lacking in continuous nuisances in the government of the whole Church, and also for having to expose to you the Order’s own miseries and weaknesses, which I know cannot but afflict the paternal zeal of Your Holiness. In any case, the hope of finding in the immense kindness of Your Beatitude some opportune remedy, makes me dare to address myself to your most holy feet. I am completing the sixth year of my generalate, thanks be to God and to the happiest auguries of Your Holiness, with much happiness in the Order, which lives all united, calm, satisfied and attentive to the service of God, as can be deduced from the continuous requests for foundations and from the fact that no complaint has ever been heard from my religious. But I know, on the other hand, that God has given me a cross of three assistants out of four, who for two years now have been subjecting me to continuous martyrdom. And the protests of all our religious who have stood in the way have been of no avail, neither of Bishop Vallati, our former Protector, nor of Our Lord Cardinal Our Protector, nor of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulators itself, which has always been against them. They consider them all suspicious, partial in our favor; only they three are just and diligent. They claim, by virtue of a Brief of Alexander VII, who granted them the deliberative vote, to be equal to the General. In short, I spoke according to the memorandum which I left him and which is among the other acts of this tragedy. The Pope answered me: “It displeases us, because on another occasion your Religion, because of such discord, suffered a strong shock. We would not want it to begin again”. To this I answered: “Most Blessed Father, it has been the principal motive that has pushed me to prostrate myself before your most holy feet to beg you to deign to be sincere in your mind with the cardinal, and that the evil is not born of the Religion, which not only has no blame for these discords of ours, but weeps them with tears of blood. We five are the culprits and deserve to be stoned by the Religion, because we discredit it with our foolishness. I have done all I could to make them speak and to speak to them repeatedly, but to no avail. We are already at the gates of the General Chapter; they would like to change superiors, who, having governed commendably for some years, do not seem to deserve this affront of being removed; besides, our Religion is growing and it is logical that it does not have an abundance of superiors to change them every day, so it seems better to let those who have governed the houses continue, as more veteran and practical, than to change them for inexperienced young men who in four days will destroy them temporally and spiritually. When the Pope learned that we were at the doors of the Provincial and General Chapters, he answered: “And that is why those fathers will make noise, to have the new superiors in their favor”. I replied: “Most Blessed Father, it is the Holy Spirit who speaks in the ear of Your Holiness; there is no other reason than that”. And after such a speech, in which I always tried to preserve the decorum and the good name of the Religion, he told me: “What could be done? We will refer the matter to the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars”. I replied: “Most Blessed Father! On the present point that is being discussed about the change of superiors, I would beg Your Holiness to deign to entrust it to your confessor (he is Father Marracci, of the Congregation of the Mother of God), who is a religious of great prudence and merit, to whom alone the fact that His Holiness has entrusted the guidance of his conscience qualifies him; and on the other hand he is a religious of a sister Religion to ours, which were born together, were united, although later we were divided. Consequently, he is practical in our Constitutions and he could extra judicially listen to all, because it could be that I am the indomitable, the intractable, the hard, the incapable one; and thus he could refer with reliability to Your Holiness what he has found and then Your Holiness could take the measures of the apostolic resolutions”. He answered that he could deal with the Confessor, but that he would require rigor and authority; because this good religious could do nothing but preach, and if the preaching of others bears so little fruit, he will do little with his own. I replied that being continually placed at the ear of His Holiness, he would have been able to receive the oracles according to the faithful reports he would have given. He replied that since he was so busy with continuous problems, he could not devote himself to these extra-judicial problems, but that perhaps the Congregation would do better. Apart from the fact that the extrajudicial operations of Father Confessor would have been a diversion for the judicial operations of the Congregation and the one would have hindered the course of the other. I deferred to the prudence and the indications of His Holiness and after a few other words, which are recorded in the book of the minutes of this day, he gave me his holy blessing and I left. I went to report everything to Cardinal de Lucca, Auditor, who praised the interview...”. Cf. Minutes of the General Congregation, June 1, 1682 (Reg. Gen., 11).

198 See the Minutes of the General Congregation, June 26, 1682.

199 See the Memoirs of the General (l. c., f. 56): “...and then they resorted to the proposition, saying that I had usurped the ius proponendi. To this I replied that it was radically within my competence according to the Constitutions, which give the General the power to elect all the superiors. Then the Brief comes and gives them the deliberative vote. The vote is not a proposition, and Bishop knows very well and this is de iure communi; that in every college the most worthy proposes. Father Paul answered that it would be good to propose a turn, beginning with the first Assistant, and so on from hand to hand; or else the General should give a list of those he wanted to propose. I refused to do so and Bishop agreed with me, saying that it was up to the General to make the proposal.

200 See “Ephem. Cal.” 30 (1961), 228, nota 58.

201 See the Minutes of the General Congregation, February 20, 1682 (Reg. Gen., 11): “In the cause between Father General of the Clerics Regular Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools on the one hand, and Father Provincial of the Roman province on the other, the Sacred Congregation of the Most Reverend Cardinals of the H.R.C., placed in charge of the affairs and consultations of Bishops and Regulars, having heard the two parties, the rapporteur being the Most Reverend Laureo, resolved that the aforesaid Provincial should obey, moving away from the city, since it was not licit for him to reside in the convents of the city against the will of the Father General. Rome, February 20, 1682. G. Card. Carpegna”.

202 See the Minutes of the General Congregation, February 27, 1682: “Without delay the departure from Rome, let it be heard”. As Father General, notifying Father Provincial of these decrees, had ordered him to leave within three days, he finally obeyed and left on March 2nd.

203 See note 56.

204 See the Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16, f. 65v). See also the Minutes of the General Congregation, September 26, 1682 (Reg. Gen., 11).

205 See the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1764, in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” X (1951) 27.

206 See this letter of August 1, 1682 to the Provincial of Sicily (Reg. Gen., 133, ff. 11-12): “...I thank you very much for the affection you show in sympathizing with me and praying continually for the Religion. But I would not want you to be so afflicted by the apprehension of the grave danger, because with the same apprehension of it I too have lived in great affliction for a long time. But now that with the visible assistance of the Divine Grace we have put the Religion in safety, and the mind of Our Lord the Pope, together with that of the Sacred Congregation, has been persuaded that all unrest is born of ignorance, folly and perfidy, and of these three alone, whose three customary assistants are named in all the appeals, the whole body is immune from any sinister plan, and the matter has been made ridiculous both to outsiders and to our own. There is only the strangeness that three principal heads of the Religion are so ignorant. But even from this the general notion is spared, by endeavoring to make it known that the least of our clerics is more capable than each of those. It is the misfortune of the Religion that has led to such a combination of subjects. The Sacred Congregation itself is so kind to the Religion that it encourages me in my present tribulations by telling me openly (I say this for your consolation, not out of boastfulness) that it was providential that such storms arose in my time, when there is the ability to put the Religion in order and restore it to the course on which it was founded.

207 See the letter of June 6, 1678 to the Provincial of Sardinia (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 74): “I hope to leave on a visitation and before entering the ultramontane regions, I hope to go on a tour of that province to satisfy an old desire I have of closely enjoying the progress in religious spirit and studies of those houses”.

208 See the letter of May 27, 1679 to the Provincial of Germania (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 99): “My trip, I do not know whether because of the dangers of the roads or because I am frightened by the occupations in the Urbe, I am forced to postpone it until next year, when perhaps the temperature will be milder on both sides”. See later the letter of March 25th to the Provincial of Poland (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 73): “I am justified by the news of Your Reverence of February 23rd, in which, in relating to the plague that is raging in various parts of that province, it is predicted to me that the arrival will be less certain, not to say superfluous. Therefore, in order to proceed with greater security, I decidedly intend to defer the trip until next year”. See also the letter of June 28, 1681, addressed to Warsaw (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 295-296): “I received last week your letter of May 25th, which caught me still in Rome, before leaving for the fixed visit, both because of my ill health, which I have suffered since September, and because the works of our new church have begun - in whose foundations our Most Em. Protector laid the first stone on Saturday in albis, and the aforementioned works are proceeding happily, thanks be to God-, as well as for other just impediments, which have kept me more profitably in Rome than if I had been elsewhere”.

209 The intimation made on January 25, 1681, although it is quite long, we publish it here because it shows perfectly Father Pirroni’s mentality, purposes and system of government (Reg. Gen., 132, Decrees, ff. 13-17):

“To our most beloved in Christ, the Provincial superiors, the rectors and other religious of ours, Charles John etc., the heavenly blessing with the increase of all the virtues!

It is said that superiors project the image of God, among other reasons, because as for God the center is everywhere and there is no circumference anywhere, and therefore, although residing especially in heaven as in his own seat, he is seen to be present wherever by his power and strength, so also the superior, even if absent, diffuses the effects of his presence to all the parts of his demarcation by his authority, his answers or his commands. However, contemplating the same divine exemplar, we observe that he did not deem it sufficient to travel the earth from the heavenly fortress with his invisible presence, but having clothed himself also with human nature, descending to the earth itself, he invoked the way of salvation upon the men who dwelt therein, and applied with his own hands to the enervated sores of vices the medicines of virtues. He wanted to confirm this by dealing on earth, when, ready to cast out sickness, death and demons, he healed some at a distance, and sent others to his presence, saying: “I will go and cure him”; and “let us go and wake him up”, and other phrases like that. This also seems to be demanded by the office of superior, not always to exercise authority in the same place as in a fortress, but to descend to the lower parts, to contemplate with trusting eyes the battered souls of his own, to touch with his own hands the wounds and their roots and, as St. Bernard taught, to go out to meet each one as it is convenient, to put in order those who advance, to investigate and avoid the dangers, to encourage the lukewarm, to support the fainthearted. And this, how much more happily and effectively is achieved with the tongue than with the pen!

In this, so many apostolic sanctions, so many canons of the ecumenical councils and the constitutions of almost all Religions seem to coincide, which with one voice, instructed by the word of the Holy Spirit, judge it opportune to command personal visits to their subjects. For what shepherd loves his sheep who does not know them? Who but the doctor who hears the sick can prescribe remedies for illnesses? For although by means of subordinate superiors, as by means of inferior intelligences, the supreme superior may receive news of the conduct, character, and wit of his subjects, it is nevertheless incredible what he can discover for himself at a glance; and the ministers themselves called to examine the office they are to hold are accustomed to learn a more dexterous and more sincere standard.

Since we began to carry out the office that Divine Providence has given us without any merit, our soul was pricked by the concern that the Religion, which had gone through different vicissitudes, should return everywhere to a single way of life, recover its primitive fervor and everywhere shine the regular discipline that corresponds to our Institute for the health of souls and the progress of Christian society. In spite of this purpose, however, being unfortunately more and more occupied every day in Rome by other matters of no small importance, and deploring the calamities of the times and the war, the scarcity on the one hand, the plague on the other, until now not without grave anxiety we have been obliged to defer it; but we are not disposed to consent, as far as possible, that it should be delayed any longer.

Therefore, by virtue of the present letter we determine to begin before one year the General Visitation of each of the provinces of our Order, if the most excellent and supreme God deigns to grant us life and strength. And in order that it may proceed in the shortest course and with the most abundant fruit, and that the houses may not have to endure our presence more than is just, with no mediocre expenditure of the same and with the too prolonged inconvenience of our absence from our beloved Rome, we have thought it worthwhile to point out those most important things which we are accustomed to ask for in the visitation according to our Constitutions, the decrees of the General Chapters and the common rites, and which it is convenient to have ready; these things are:

1. Distinct list of the houses, together with the title of the church, time, names of the founders and other circumstances, if there are any other circumstances worthy of mention. It must be done in duplicate: one must be kept in the house archives, the other we will take with us to the general archives.

2. Plan of the houses with the church, cloister, schools, workshops and adjoining orchard, if there is one; to which must be added an explanation of the works that could be done, if the building is unfinished; and this also in duplicate.

3. Temporary state of the patrimony, of the stable goods and of other profits, with the charges of masses to celebrate, or another different one as for the times, people, places and instruments, faithfully extracted from the book that they call master. Authentic copies of the principal instruments or wills should be prepared and deposited in the general archives.

4. An account of what has been received and spent, including also the uncertain alms from Masses and offerings, honestly and cleanly presented by the books of receipts and disbursements.

5. Complete and duplicate inventories of all the dependencies and furnishings.

6. Index of the books of the common library, arranged alphabetically, and another notebook in which each religious has already written down in his own handwriting those that he has taken out with the permission of the rector and the librarian.

7. A book in which the arrivals and departures of the religious are recorded, with their ordinations, positions held, testimonials and other circumstances.

8. Another in which the resignations of the major superiors, mandates, letters regarding temporal or spiritual matters, visitations and their decrees are listed.

9. Another in whose first part are recorded the Chapter Minutes of the house and the renewals of vows twice a year, with the names of each of those who have renewed. In the second part, the most important events; in the third part, finally, the secretary of the house faithfully records the names of the principal benefactors, together with the letters of brotherhood granted and the most copious alms.

10. Another, in which the names of our deceased are written, together with the note of the suffrages that are sent to the houses.

11. Finally, the archive of the deeds and all the documents concerning the house and the church, among which are the copies of the Constitutions and of the Chapters, both General and Provincial, which if they are not such, we can authenticate them. Processes and investigations, the instruments as well as the relics and the Briefs of indulgences. There should also be a brief index that allows one to easily find what is contained in the archives. The rector should have in his possession a key to the archives and the secretary of the house another key.

If there are houses of probation or professorates, the books that we have ordered in the special instruction of those who are admitted to the habit and to profession will likewise be required.

Finally, the provincials shall have a special archive, in which they must keep that which pertains to their office, and which they must transmit to their successors. And they shall have particular books: one in which they record the decrees and circulars of Father General; another in which they keep the obediences, dimissorial letters and other things which they send to their rectors and their subjects. The professions of the novices in a neatly arranged volume, and the catalog of the communities distributed by houses each year together with the suitability of each one, the conduct and the office, so that they may know their sheep completely and they may feel that they are known by them.

In addition to all these things, I would like for this time a full knowledge of each one as to the years he has been exercising the ministry, the degrees and offices they have held in the Order, and anything else worthy of remembrance; who have also been superiors in that house or admitted to the habit and profession and promoted to orders; who have ended their days there, adding in each case the circumstances respectively of time, place and persons, so that we can complete here the records, which lack much data.

In order not to give the impression, however, that, completely neglecting morals, we lay the whole stress on the bureaucratic and economic, and lest it should be thought that our eyes are carried away only by what is around and not by what is behind, within and around, as the Holy Scripture about Ezekiel’s animals testifies, we are pleased to anticipate what we shall demand above all observance and regular discipline.

Concerning our ministry principally, which consists in imbuing the children with good manners and letters as the first aim of the Order, and by which we distinguish ourselves from others, all our concern will be to see to it with the greatest enthusiasm that it is exercised with due effort. And therefore we will be very happy to find the schools properly coordinated, the teaching of Christian doctrine and Catholic catechesis, the normal reception of the holy sacraments of penance and the Eucharist, the assiduity of the congregations, the good progress of the spiritual conferences, the fervor of daily prayer, the observance of the proper regulations that they must have exposed in public, the modesty and good behavior in the adolescents, that the Christian society expects to be honest citizens and pious Catholics.

True testimony of these things will certainly be the progress of the disciples themselves in letters and virtue and the testimonials of the rules, which the superiors have granted to the teachers and which we will demand in every point, together with the causes for which the superiors have granted them without reason or have denied them unworthily.

Therefore, in order that the tenor of our poverty may be maintained in its vigor by each one in particular, they should not only dispense with the superfluous both in furnishings and in books, but strive to observe the common life in its entirety, even in the most insignificant things.

How much satisfaction it will give us to see our religious well disposed in comparison with the laity, unattached to their concerns, assiduous in spiritual practices, united in charity and concord, well regarded by strangers, concerned about themselves and about the doctrine, as the apostle warned, “whose conversation is in heaven”, seeking not their own, but that which is of Jesus Christ, and finding them more like angels than men!

Let there be order in the houses themselves, and let ring the bells at appointed times, to which all shall assemble. Let there be cleanliness in the offices, the ornament of poverty. Let there be brightness in the church and in the sacred furnishings. Silence in the dormitories, piety in the oratory, and everywhere let the religious face shine, everywhere let the sweet odor of the sacred dwellers be breathed.

How much will the most loving Father’s heart rejoice in the group of children who are found worthy, not of correction or repression, but of praise and exaltation! May we have the good fortune that, leaving aside the rod and the blows, with which the Lord of the visitators threatens the religious if they abandon the law, if they do not walk in justice, if they do not keep his commands, if they profane justice, to them and to their iniquities and sins, we can return loaded with sacred trophies, with which the commendable conducts and the irreprehensible life stand out remarkably, and each one can testify with the prophet: Your visit has kept my spirit.

So then, most beloved brothers! I beg you with the mellifluous Doctor, I beg you for the sake of the mercy for which you were so willing to be miserable, do that for which you came, for which you came up from the rivers of Babylon; for what would it profit us, after having left our paternal homes, our country and the world, and having chosen a kind of life so poor, so humble, so wretched if, reviving the same affections that we once smashed against the stone of Christ, we at least return with our thoughts to the world and keep our souls wrapped in earthly customs in the cloister, and rather bury their bodies? For he who, burying his body in the sepulcher of the cloister, wanders with his soul through the world and, to use the words of Peter Chrysologus, “becomes in the living sepulcher of the body the rope of the soul already buried,” is to be considered the corpse of a religious, not a religious. May the most merciful and compassionate God so great an evil depart from the hearts of my religious and, confirming with his abundant heavenly blessing those whom he willed to dedicate themselves to the sacred altar, to the holy ministries and to his service, grant me the gift of finding them in my human visit, as the Lord himself desires to find them on the last day, so that I may admit them to the heavenly kingdom. Given at Rome on the 25th day of January, 1681”.

210 See the Memoirs of the General (l. c., f. 53): “On the said day (February 21, 1682), Cardinal Fachinetti, dean, sent for me and asked me if I had made the visitation of the Religion, because a cardinal had said that if the provincial had not made a visitation, neither had the Father General according to the Constitutions. I answered him that the Constitutions, although they determine the generalate for life, do not oblige the general to make the visitation; only a decree of the General Chapter of 1637, which had no effect. Nevertheless, I would have gone; but the first triennium I had need to be in Rome to take care of very urgent matters of the Order; the second there was war and plague in the northern provinces and famine in the Italian ones, so that many wrote to me that I should not make the trip because of the dangers and the expenses. Then I fell ill with a tumor in my throat, which made me suffer for two years. Notwithstanding this, in January 1681, I intimated a General Visitation of all the provinces, but because of my illness I was unable to complete it. We had begun it in the house of St. Pantaleon, with the intention of continuing it; but, because of these complications, I was unable to do so. In the end I did not find it necessary, having had reports from the Provincials of the visits made by them, that things were going well; but, for the rest, I was ready to leave the following morning, provided that Your Eminences could nominate a person able to govern the Religion from Rome, since I had to entrust it to Fr. Joseph, an old man of 78 years, who had turned it upside down during his term of office, and now wants my departure in order to devise some plan as he did with poor Fr. Camillo, who, while he was on a visit, devised the Brief of reducing his tenure to six years with the decisive vote of the Assistants.

211 The text of the Ritual for celebrating the local chapters is found in Reg. Gen., 133, Decr., ff. 3-9; as for Fr. Pirroni’s intention to prepare the other rites as well, see the letter of December 5, 1682 to the provincial of Naples (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 108): “I began years ago to collect the particular instructions for each office, exercise and function of ours, having great need of it; but then, when the storms came, I did not have time to finish it. I hope to be able to do it this winter together with the compendium of all the decrees of the General Chapters according to the orders so many times repeated, so that everything will be in order for the chapter, which I would like to be tomorrow to see me out of these complications”.

212 Cf. “Ephem. Cal.” 30 (1962) 147.

213 Cf. notes 75-77.

214 Cf. “Ephem. Cal.” 29 (1960) 220-235.

215 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16), f. 30r.

216 See the brief Nuper pro parte, in Bull. Schol. Piar. 75-77. Cf. the letter of January 15, 1684 to the Province of Poland (Reg. Gen., l 33, f. 469): “In the meantime it has already been declared in this Sacred Congregation in our favor that our Order enjoys exemption from the jurisdiction of the ordinaries. Next week we will have the decree and we will try to have the apostolic Brief issued from above. Having resolved all this, I will go to see the Most Rev. General of the Society to present him my complaints against the unjust humiliations that his religious have inflicted on us”.

217 See, for example, this letter of July 22, 1684, to the rector of Warsaw (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 579): “I am replying to several letters of Your Reverence, which all deal with the same matter, that is, the controversies with the reverend fathers of the Society, which we once again say with one accord that we are all very much displeased with them. For if their indignation were kept within the Vistula, we and you would give them little importance, and, if they had not even arrived there, they would certainly be among the recommendable religious. But since they have overstepped the bounds it seems to threaten not only anxiety, but harm. To their Rev. Fr. General they have sent public and authentic documents of all the insults which they are sorry to have received from us in word and deed; and they are so unreasonable that we have not been able to hear them without our greatest shame and confusion; for the authors of them seem to be far not I will say from every species of civility and religiosity, but even of education, which infers, if the insults are true, no small blemish on our name. We oppose the fidelity of your young people who study in our schools, but they are not of such weight that they destroy the aforementioned documents. There is a recent incident in which some of our students beat up others from the Jesuit school, claiming that they were doing it by order of our Prefect. We await the return of Father Provincial, whom we will order to put a stop to such absurdities. For now, the only remedy we can think of is to hold a meeting among the RR.PP. of the Society, to decide that neither of the parties will receive anyone in their schools without the consent and testimony of the other. If the aforesaid Fathers should break this agreement (and you say that you are already observing it), we will have the occasion to accuse them. In this kind of thing, we would wish that our people would be actors rather than defendants. The Prefect needs a little restraint, since perhaps offended by the departure of his brother, he will wish with the authority of his office to avenge the brother, having no reason to attack the Religion”.

218 See almost all the letters on the subject addressed during the two-year period 1682-1684, either to the provincial of Poland or to the rector of Warsaw (Reg. Gen., 133).

219 Cf. notes 57 y 59.

220 Cf. note 57.

221 See the letter of May 20, 1684 to the Provincial of Etruria (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 156): “I was very bitter about the tax imposed by Father Anthony on his pupils in such furtive and indiscreet ways. It is not convenient to let things go on like that, since he has put the reputation of the Pious Schools in question before persons who could do us great harm before the prince. Your Reverence will order him, on our behalf, to stay in the room for a couple of months and to fast every Friday on bread and water. And since this service of such impositions seems to me to be directly against the form of our Institute and the poor condition of the scholastics, expressly forbid it to all. And when any contingency of a customary and necessary feast of the schools happens, let the teachers not do it without the express license of the superior, who should not give it if he sees in it the slightest aggravation of the paternal houses of the students. And do not force them, but leave it to their free will, if they want and can contribute. Sometimes the vanity of the teachers distresses the poverty of the students”.

222 See, for example, this letter of February 17, 1680 to the Provincial of Liguria (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 10): “From a letter of the Rector of Genoa, I understand that the business of Y.R., for which you must go there, is to see the comedy, for which you have deigned to grant them furtively permission behind my back, to whom you must know that it is proper to give such a faculty. And having denied you for two years should have moved you to be more cautious in granting it, unless you wanted to show open contempt. Because from the same letter of the rector we cannot make it clear if the comedy is made by our students or by the laity, since it seems that sometimes it refers to the one, sometimes to the other. We answer him that if it is between secular schoolchildren only, although the procedure followed would merit prohibition, nevertheless having regard for the commitment publicly contracted, I am willing to give in and close my eyes for this time; but if the group is composed of our reciting actors, in whole or in part, and I agree with our Assistant in the gravity and inconvenience that this fact supposes, we command you in virtue of holy obedience and suspension a divinis not to allow it nor that others of ours religious take part there in the recitation. We order the same to Y.R. in case you should find yourself there, and know that he has caused us great displeasure, and if you do not respond to this we all live with great anxiety.

See also this letter of January 10, 1680 addressed to Narni (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 193): “Considering that during the last days of Carnival our church will be busy with the forty-hours function, and consequently many of you will be engaged in preaching, for this and other just reasons we do not think it opportune that you entangle yourselves in scenic representations. You could amuse yourselves with any other honest entertainment and particularly with some macaronic and ridiculous composition, without losing your dignity, of course. Take kindly to this disposition of ours and pray to the Lord for me”.

Regarding the academies, see this letter of May 24, 1679, addressed to Ancona (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 93): “I believe that in that house, as in the others, it is not customary for the teachers of little ones to hold academies, because not having students capable to recite, they would be obliged to use other students over whom they have no jurisdiction. If then the teacher of the first one, who has always had the academy of Saints Justo and Pastor, together with that of the Virgin of the Snows, wants to honor you by calling you to be part of the compositions, we accept it and send everything to your father rector, with the exception of the holy picture. The composition destined to her, send it to us here, that we wish to see it”.

Regarding the academies for students held in the house of St. Pantaleon, see the Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16), repeatedly quoted. Regarding the theater, see also this letter of November 19, 1678 (Reg. Gen., 131, ff. 37-38bis): “I understand the warm requests that you and Brother Thomas, the new master of the first school, are making to me to renew the stage at the next carnival, since the decorations have been renewed. I do not deny that such exercises, combined with good writing, contribute to the benefit of authors and players; but the continuation for so many years, which brings with it emulation from successive teachers, who seem to be discredited if they interrupt the custom for a year, as Brother Tomás is already beginning to allege, is not well understood; and also the considerable loss of time it entails for the schoolchildren. And do not bring me the example of the schools or seminaries, because the young people being there at all hours, they have time to recover the hours spent in these recreational exercises, having them gently tied and distracted with greater freedom in the carnival. This does not happen in the other schools, and so we see it in Rome, where it is done every year in the Roman Seminary, but never in the Collegio.”

223 See, for example, this letter of January 18, 1681 to the rector of Warsaw (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 185): “As for the accompaniment of children, we recognize that it is a practice of great edification for those outside, as well as of humility for our own. But considering our Assistants that the greater part of the year the streets are covered with ice, silt and snow, to the extent that in those regions one can hardly leave the house, we see that it cannot be carried out too effectively. And therefore, so that the frequent changes do not cause greater admiration, and the intervals do not depend on the whim of the superiors rather than on the demands of the climate of each region, we judge it opportune to abstain from the revocation of the predicted accompaniment, because it is already supposed to be practically interrupted”. See later the letter of April 26, 1681 to the same rector of Warsaw (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 257): “Two of our men also accompany the children in pairs, one in front and the other behind; but we interrupt this accompaniment in rainy weather. You can then discreetly accommodate to this practice. If there is a habit of accompanying them, continue to do so; otherwise, refrain from renewing the practice. For it is enough for the prefect, standing at the door of the church, to dismiss the disciples in this way, to order them to leave with modesty and to appoint some caretakers to give him an account of the insolences so that they will be restrained by fear”. Finally, see the letter of January 2, 1684 to Fr. Domingo Prado who was in Moya (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 455): “Do not introduce the practice of accompanying the children, since the experience supposes, in the eyes of those who had it put in the Brief, greater inconveniences than usefulness. Besides, the Brief spoke only of where the custom existed. Therefore, abstain in any case and do not resolve anything substantial without having communicated it to us beforehand, because this house being the first, it would serve as a norm and example to all”.

224 See the letters on this subject, addressed to the Bishop of Poznan on May 22, 1683 and February 3, 1684 (Reg. Gen., 123, ff. 218-220; 485).

225 See the Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16), f. 9v: “August 3, 1677: Mr. Domingo Carpegna, nepote of the Protector, began to come to our schools. On August 9, 1677, His Excellencies Mr. Emilio, Mr. Lorenzo, Mr. Juan Bautista Altieri, sons of His Excellency Prince Caspar Altieri, nepote of Clement X, also came to our schools. They were taught in the rooms of Father General.

226 See note 59.

227 See Entrance and Expenditure of the house of San Pantaleo (1671-1680) (Roman State Archives, Piarist Fund, 2060, f. 171; April 15, 1680): “Paid to Mr. Domingo Montebellatici 90 escudos in coin for ordinary iron 3034 pounds and given to Master Olimpio Giordani at various times to work it and make from it the here undersigned chains for the building of the house opposite that of Mr. Lancellotti. I say that it has been given by separate receipt 90 escudos”. The number of chains arranged in this way was 9, as can be deduced from this same notebook, ff. 171, 174, 182.

228 Cf. note 141.

229 See the Book of the Church Building (Dom. Gen., 20).

230 The first stone of the new foundations of the church was laid by Cardinal Carpegna himself on April 12, 1681. See the Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16, f. 44v). His Eminence Cardinal Agostini, Datario of Innocent XI, sent every day to the works of the church under construction some detainees in the pontifical prisons; cf. Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 47r.

231 See Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (f. 94v): “On February 16, 1686. As the construction of the new church of San Pantaleo was to continue, Cardinal Carpegna, our Vicar and Protector, came to see how the already built part of the new church had been adjusted to be able to celebrate in it. After considering everything, His Eminence gave permission for it to be blessed for this purpose. Father Alexis, Vicar General, after the Cardinal left, blessed the new church and then celebrated in it the first one. The vespers were no longer sung on the feast days, as was the custom, because there was no choir”.

On March 8, 1686, the venerable body of the Founder was transferred to the new church. See the Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (f. 95r and v): “On the 8th of the said month. After lunch, the body of our venerable Father Founder was transferred in the presence of the gentlemen appointed for this purpose by the Sacred Congregation of Rites”. “On the afternoon of the said day, while the grave was being covered, our Assistant Father Segismund of St. Silverio, while passing through the works, fell to the bottom of a well because of the new foundations; but invoking the help of our venerable Father Founder, he was found standing at the bottom without any injury. Therefore, when the aforementioned prelates went there with alacrity, seeing the miraculous event, they resolved that the aforementioned Father Assistant depose the fact, in order to examine it and include it in the process that is being instructed for the beatification of our venerable Father”.

232 See the letter of August 10, 1680 to the rector of Genoa (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 85): “...being, moreover, now converted into a Religion of little children, we do not need to appear to be so any more than we are”. See later the letter of December 18, 1682 to Father Francis Mary Francavilla (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 128): “...We are so short of older people that we are obliged to make use of what we can, until the average age of the Religion grows and matures a little more”.

233 See notes 75-77; 213; 216.

234 Cf. L. Picanyol, Brevis Conspectus, p. 92; see also the Minutes of the General Congregation, June 9, 1684, where we find the Draft of the Capitulations in favor of the College of Poor Adolescents (Reg. Gen., 11).

235 Cf. Brevis conspectus, p. 123; see also the letter of November 18, 1679 to the bishop, the judges and other personalities of the City of Gaeta (Reg. Gen., 131, ff. 167-169).

236 Cf. L. Picanyol, Brevis conspectus, p. 283; see also Fr. Pirroni’s letter of September 27, 1681 (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 3 42) to the rector of Campi, and that of December 13, 1681 to the Marquis of Oyra (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 399).

237 Cf. L. Picanyol, o. c., pp. 268-269.

238 Ibidem, p. 269.

239 Ibidem, p. 274; see also the letter of July 22, 1684, to the rector of Warsaw (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 597).

240 Ibidem, p. 253.

241 Ibidem, p. 204.

242 Cf. L. Picanyol, Memorias históricas sobre la fundación de los primeros colegios de Escuelas Pías en España, in “Revista Calasancia” 14 (1926) 509.578.757; 15 (1927) 21.85.129.214; Idem, La Provincia Scolopica di Catalogna nel secondo centenario della sua erezione (1751-1951), in “Ressegna di Storia e Bibliografi a Scolopica” 18 (1951) 1-19; C. Bau, Historia de las Escuelas Pías en Cataluña, Barcelona, 1951, pp. 133-160.

243 Cf. L. Picanyol, Memorias Históricas, in “Revista Calasancia” 14 (1926) 512.

244 See the Minutes of the General Congregation, May 12, 1677 (Reg. Gen., 11).

245 See the Minutes of the General Congregation and the Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16, f. 1), where on May 19, 1677, we find the following: “Father General ordered Father Louis of St Andrew, Provincial of Sardinia, to found the Religion in the kingdom of Aragón in Spain, in the city of Barbastro, with Father Gabino of All Saints, who had come as a delegate for the General Chapter”.

246 Cf. C. Bau, o. c., p. 121; see also the letter of Father Pirroni of March 13, 1678 to Father Bernardo Salaris (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 44).

247 See the Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 21v; cf. Minutes of the General Congregation, November 24, 1679 (Reg. Gen., 11).

248 Cf. C. Bau, o. c., p. 124.

249 See L. Picanyol, Memorias Históricas, in “Rev. Cal. 15 (1927) 92. Cf. also Fr. Pirroni’s letter of July 3, 1683 to Fr. Paul Horváth, ex-Assistant General (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 306): “...Finally the foundation of Spain has been established at once, His Majesty having been pleased not only to give royal approval for Moyá, near Barcelona, but also to warmly recommend our Fathers and the Institute to the Viceroy and the bishop. It has been of great consolation to us, because having lost all hope, we had repeatedly ordered these Fathers to return without further delay; and they were already about to embark, when blessed God wanted to show us that in the most humanly desperate cases He knows how to obtain happy results.

250 See the letter of March 18, 1679 to Fr. L. Cavada (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 127), and the letters of July 31, 1683 to the Apostolic Nuncio in Turin and to Cardinal Mellini, Apostolic Nuncio in Spain (Reg. Gen., 133, ff. 307-308).

251 Cf. notes 66 and 223.

252 See the letter of July 31, 1683 to Father Augustine Passante (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 309).

253 This letter is found in Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 219-220, and reads as follows: “I received yesterday the letter of Y.R. of January 29th ... I have seen the request for the instances coming from the houses of Hungary about the division into provinces, and the reasons that Y.R. gives against it. Do not tire yourself too much; for I am of the opinion not only not to divide the Polish province from the Hungarian, but even if I could unite again the divided provinces of Poland and Germania, I would gladly do so. It would be of easier solution to submit the house of Prievidza and the residence of Breznóbánya to the provincial of Germania. In the last years I exposed this idea to Fr. Antony, the former provincial, who, having foreseen the opposite opinion of the province, advised to refer the matter to the Provincial or General Chapters. The matter came up again many times afterwards, and I always refused to pay attention to it. Ad certainly if on the threshold of their foundation the Germans renounced those houses, frightened, however, by fear of what happened afterwards, how much more would the events already feared since then frighten their spirits! Let the few Hungarians and the like Moravians and Slavs, therefore, calm their spirits, and with the same charity that the Poles embrace and carry forward the gentle yoke, for in the Religion there is no difference between Tyrian and Trojan, and there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. Either they will make an effort to multiply the houses in Hungary, so that a suitable number of houses will be reached to establish the province, or they will take care to calm the situation so that it will be easier for the provincial to get there.

254 See the letter of February 1, 1680 to the provincial of Poland (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 200): “...We are all children of the same mother, and I believe that everywhere we all feel the same zeal; when these houses have multiplied and have suitable subjects to govern the province, then the separation can be discussed”.

255 Cf. L. Picanyol, Brevis conspectus, pp. 184-185; see also the letter of June 16, 1678 to Father Bernardino Salaris (Reg. Gen., 131, ff. 70-71).

256 See the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1683, in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” (1938) 10.

257 See the Minutes of the General Chapter of 1659, in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” I (1936) 3; this decree was repeated in the General Chapter of the year 1683 (Minutes of the General Chapter of the year 1683, in “Arch. Schol. Piar.” III [1938] 29).

258 Cf. L. Picanyol, La Biblioteca di San Pantaleo di Roma, I, Roma, 1952, p. 197. Idem, In antiquos de S. losepho Calasanctio Scriptores Commentaria, en “Ephem. Cal.” 2 (1933) 248-253.

259 Cf. L. Picanyol, In antiquos de S. losepho Calasanctio Scriptores Commentaria, en “Ephem. Cal.” 4 (1935) 155-161; Idem, Le Vite di S. Giuseppe Calasanzio, en “L’Eco dei nostri centenari”, 1948, nn. 11-12, pp. 40-41.

260 Cf. L. Picanyol, In antiquos de S. Iosepho Calasanctio Scriptores Commentaria, en “Ephem. Cal.” 2 (1933) 59-61; Idem, Le Vite di S. Giuseppe Calasanzio, en “L’ Eco dei nostri centenari”, 1948, nn. 11-12, p. 40.

261 Cf. El P. Cosme Chiara, Salamanca, 1983, pp. 47-50.

262 See Fr. Pirroni’s letter to him on January 9, 1683 (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 144): “We congratulate ourselves on your work in writing the life of our V. Fr. Founder; but this work certainly depends more on memory than on ingenuity, and we fear that it will not be happy, because from time-to-time apocryphal data are spread. Thus it has happened in Naples, where a certain religious scholar of an Order foreign to ours has composed a life, certainly in a learned style, and has had it printed; but not being duly conformed to the truth, he has been obliged to bury it in silence. It would be convenient for the writer to have the process with him, so that he could draw from it with guarantees what he has to say. We do not wish to frighten you by this, by diverting you from your purpose. Work hard; but when you have finished the work, you can send it to Rome, to the General then in office, so that, confronting it with the Process, it can be corrected so that it reflects the truth”.

263 Cf. L. Picanyol, Le Vite di San Giuseppe Calasanzio, en “L’Eco dei nostri centenari”, 1948, nn. 11-12, p. 40.

264 See the letter of September 16, 1679 to the rector of Carcare (Reg. Gen., 13 1, ff. 144-145): “...Tell Father Provincial that inside a package of clothes of the one who was Father John, who is in Millesimo, there is a pair of underpants wrapped in a paper with this label: “Underpants of the V. Fr. Founder”. I would like to know how he knows that they are such and from whom he received them”.

265 See this decree (Reg. Gen., 131, Decree, f. 4): “May 24, 1677. Charles John of Jesus, Superior General of the Regulars Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools. To each and every one of those who are to examine the present letters, we give full faith and attest under oath that the present white nightcap, made of linen, is that of V. Fr. Joseph of the Mother of God, Founder of our Religion, extracted by Father Benedict of Jesus Mary, our Assistant General, from the wooden ark in which the things of our V. Father are kept. Said cap we have taken care to cover it with a green silk ornament and, enclosed in a wooden case, wrapped in paper of different colors and sealed with our seal on a red ribbon, we give it as a gift to the Most Ill. Lords, Luis Pilares de Argensola and Mrs. Catalina Calasanz, spouses, in memory of the V. Father, their relative. In witness whereof etc. Given in Rome, in our residence of the Pious Schools of San Pantaleo, on May 24, 1677. Place of seal

Charles John of Jesus, Superior General

Benedict of Jesus Mary, Assistant General

Sigismund Regulus of St. Silverio, Provincial of Etruria and Secretary.”

266 See the letter to Fr. Augustine Passante on December 6, 1681 (Reg. Gen., 132, ff. 389-390): “...I would have already sent the portrait of our V. Father if I had had a favorable opportunity. I will send it to Genoa, so that they can deliver it from there.

267 See the letter to D. Juan Viola, dated November 20, 1683 (Reg. Gen., 133, ff. 429-430): “With unutterable affliction I am obliged to inform Your Lorship of the loss of our poor Father Joseph, who while working in the city of Urgel, attacked by a malignant fever, happily ended his life in a few days in the service of God and of the Religion... It seemed good to blessed God to crown him soon for his fatigues, by having him leave his body where our Venerable Fr. Father Founder was Vicar and Officer”.

268 See the letter of November 20, 1683 to the Provincial of Sardinia (Reg. Gen., 133, f. 429): “And since the success of this foundation was uncertain, they were planning another one in Tremp, also near Barcelona, a town quite populated and in which the V. Founder was an official in the year 1590”.

269 See the letter of October 16, 1677, to the Provincial of Sardinia (Reg. Gen., 131, ff. 24-25): “...And our V. Father will take good care to illustrate his patriotic cycle with the splendors of his holy and pious Institute”.

270 See the letter of September 29, 1681 to the Provincial of Sardinia (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 344): “...in the change of state from brother to cleric do not think, because we will never condescend at all”.

271 See the letter of May 16, 1680 to the Provincial of Sardinia (Reg. Gen., 132, f. 46): “...The truth is that we are still astonished that this brother dressed as a cleric has professed as a brother, all the more so because in the catalog he is described as “grammaticus”. It is already done and we do not want to open again this door of passage from the lay state to the clerical state”.

272 See the letter of February 25, 1679 to Fr. Louis Cavada, Provincial of Sardinia (Reg. Gen., 131, f. 64): “Be attentive to put into practice the decree that we sent you, in which the term ‘coadjutor’ is suppressed for the religious brothers, having unfortunately cost dearly the lawsuit of these to the Religion. It does not fit in our head why only that province has to use terms and words not used in the Order, still more, totally different, while the formulas of the professions approved by the General Chapters, still more by the Supreme Pontiffs, have assigned a term to each hierarchy of our Order. See the disorders that are born from there; and we understand that other discussions are going to arise. Go with sincerity, and while dressing them declare to all the substance and formality of the state into which they have been admitted.

273 Cf. L. Picanyol, La Biblioteca Scolopica di San Pantaleo di Roma, I, p. 165. The manuscript of the remaining part is also preserved in the library of San Pantaleo.

274 L. Picanyol, o. c., pp. 135-150.

275 L. Picanyol, o. c., p. 165.

276 These are records 131, 132, 133, frequently cited in this biography.

277 Cf. T. Garrido, art. cit. in “Ephem. Cal.” 4 (1935) 240. As for Francis Stephen Caulet and his Traité de la régale, cf. DTC IV, 185-187 and DHE XII, 7-10. Eight years after the version made by Father Pirroni in a place not exactly indicated, another Latin version of the above-mentioned treatise came out, edited by a certain Abbot Du Buisson. The sources are completely silent about this personage. Perhaps it is the same abbot to whom in 1681 Fr. Pirroni had sent the first samples of his version, accompanied by this letter: “To Rev. Lorenzo Desiderio, Abbot Castiliae (sic in the original Latin of the letter), Charles John of Jesus, sends many greetings. Your work... my dear friend..., with which for public benefit and main defense of the Apostolic See you have undertaken the task of translating into our language the treatise on royalties, edited in French by the Bishop of Pamiers, a very distinguished and distinguished man of the Roman See, spurs my pen with a contagious urge for the Latin language to invade the same province; but the reading of your very fortunate translation frightens me at the same time that it encourages me. He certainly frightens me by showing the grace, the propriety of the words and the nerve of the speech, in such a way that he does not seem to be an interpreter of someone else’s thought, but an author pouring out his own wisdom; and therefore, I completely despair of reaching the same goal myself. But I am encouraged that your own happy translation rendered the style almost easier and, after having eliminated any kind of barbarism, has smoothed the ground and made it more capable of the Latin version. I am hesitant and do not dare to predict the result. To satisfy my affection, however, I cannot repress myself from making a test with the first chapters. I submit them to your most learned eyes, awaiting the judgment to see whether this attempt of mine is rash and should be discarded altogether, or we should have indulgence with it on the grounds that it does not look at the fineness of the words, but of the work and of the subject, which, being offered so aptly, clearly and solidly discussed, with the diversity of languages will be read with greater pleasure and insinuate itself more deeply into the heart, seasoned variously by many languages or by the same ones several times. For I am persuaded that on this subject no one could have written better, no one could have disserted better, no one could have defended the liberty of the church, protecting it from the present arrows of the adversaries, than he who has studied this book day and night. Let it therefore be the mission of your penetrating judgment to judge whether the work will prove useful and profitable, and whether the appearance of the style will please any learned and delicate eyes. If you nobly assure this and know that it pleases Our Lord, following in your footsteps and encouraged by your assent, I will despise fear, and since it refuses my genius to forge my own weapons in favor of Holy Mother Church, let me at least be allowed to polish those of others and make common ones. Farewell. At our residence of the Pious Schools of San Pantaleo, January 22, 1681”. This opinion seems to be somewhat confirmed by the fact that the same abbot named Du Buisson actually printed in 1680 the Italian version of the above-mentioned treatise (DHE II, 7-10), and that a manuscript copy of this version, still preserved in the library of San Pantaleo, was held by Father Pirroni before his eyes and in his hands, and he assured that the version had been made by the Rev. Lorenzo Desiderio, abbot Castiliae (sic ut supra). If things are like that, it is quite probably that the Latin version done by Fr. Pirroni on 1681 was not published at that time because of the grave political situation; but later, exactly in 1689, when Fr. Pirroni had long since died, the abbot found another interpreter, better acquainted than he was with the last documents of the matter.

278 Ibidem.

279 Cf. Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (Dom. Gen., 16), f. 80, in August 1684: “On the 2nd of the said month our Father General Charles John of Jesus became seriously ill with acute fever and inflammation of the viscera”.

280 lbidem: “On the 13th day of the said month, our Father General, seeing himself in great danger of his life, first in congregation of the Assistants and then in the presence of the whole community of the house of San Pantaleón, named Father Alexis of the Conception, the first general assistant, as Vicar General, who was to succeed him at his death. He immediately gave an account of this to His Eminence Cardinal Carpegna, Protector of our Order. After this declaration, he received communion in the form of viaticum and in the afternoon, the Vicar General gave him the recommendation of the soul, but it pleased the Lord that he improved a little. The doctors who assisted the sick Father General were Augustine Riccardi, family doctor of the house, Lorenzo de Tomasis, called the Messinese, Dominic Ratta and John Baptist Fossombruno, doctor of Card. Carpegna and assigned by His Eminence to the care of the sick General. Being in need of a surgeon, Mr. Nicholas Pizzi, house surgeon, assisted, having also called other surgeons for consultations”.

281 See, for example, Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo, f. 83r, on November 3, 1684: “His Eminence Cardinal Carpegna, Protector, came in person to visit our sick Father General, showing him singular affection and placing his house at his disposal”.

282 Ibidem, ff. 84-85.

283 Cf. note 279.

284 See the book entitled Income and Expenditure (1681-1687) (Roman State Archives, Piarist Fund, San Pantaleon, 2061), in which, for example, in the part on expenditure, it is written on August 8, 1684: “For the gift of a chicken leg, sent by Cardinal Carpegna, our Protector, to the sick Father General, given to the servant who brought it 3 joules in currency, by order of the same General”.

285 See the Memoirs of the house of San Pantaleo (C. 85r, April 13, 1685): “Our Father General, after 24 hours of agony, passed from this life to the other at 12 o’clock, the whole community of the house assisting him, the Vicar General recommending his soul. When he had expired, the corpse was washed and placed in the hall of his room to be exposed the next day in our church”.

286 On both the death and the funeral, see also the Minutes of the General Congregation (Reg. Gen., 11), April 13 and 14, 1685: “As Father Charles John of Jesus, our Superior General, had departed this life, at 12 o’clock the Vicar General and the assistants met and decreed that the news of his death should be communicated immediately to our Most Reverend Protector, Cardinal Carpegna, to the Most Rev. Vallato, Vice-Protector, and the Rev. FF. Generals of all the Orders. The Assistants Frs. Louis of St. Luke and Sigismund of St. Silverio were elected for this office. They also decreed that the corpse should be uncovered as a sign of due esteem and obsequiousness. April 14th. A circular was sent to all the provinces, communicating the death of Father General and his substitution by Father Alexis of the Conception as Vicar General. A solemn Requiem Mass was sung for the body present, and funeral services were held, which were attended by a large number of his religious, the Most Rev. Minister General of the Order of Preachers and the Rev. General of the CC.RR. Ministers of the Sick”.

287 Cf. note 1.

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I. BIRTH, YOUTH AND STUDIES OF FATHER PIRRONI. ENTRY INTO THE ORDER. FIRST POSITIONS AND OFFICES IN NAPLES, IN THE STUDY HOUSE OF CHIETI, IN COLLEGIO NAZARENO, IN THE LOCAL CHAPTERS OF COLLEGIO NAZARENO, IN THE ROMAN PROVINCIAL CHAPTER OF THE YEAR 1670 AND IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER OF 1671

CHAPTER II. FATHER PIRRONI, PROVINCIAL OF NAPLES (MAY 22, 1671 – SEPTEMBER 22, 1673)

CHAPTER III. FATHER PIRRONI’S ACTIVITY AND DEDICATION AS PROCURATOR GENERAL (SEPTEMBER 22, 1673 - MAY 2, 1677). HIS ELECTION AS SUPERIOR GENERAL

CHAPTER IV. GENERALATE OF FATHER CHARLES JOHN PIRRONI (MAY 2, 1677 - APRIL 13, 1685)

RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE

RENEWAL OF THE ORDER’S INTERNAL STUDIES

THE GOVERNMENT OF FATHER PIRRONI

EXPANSION AND SPREAD OF THE INSTITUTE

THE CULT OF CALASANZ

LITERARY ACTIVITY OF FATHER PIRRONI

THE LAST YEARS OF THE LIFE AND GENERALATE OF FATHER PIRRONI. HIS ILLNESS AND PIOUS DEATH

NOTES

Table of Contents

Introduction

CHAPTER I

BIRTH, YOUTH AND STUDIES OF FATHER PIRRONI. ENTRY INTO THE ORDER. FIRST POSITIONS AND OFFICES IN NAPLES, IN THE STUDY HOUSE OF CHIETI, IN COLLEGIO NAZARENO, IN THE LOCAL CHAPTERS OF COLLEGIO NAZARENO, IN THE ROMAN PROVINCIAL CHAPTER OF THE YEAR 1670 AND IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER OF 1671

CHAPTER II

FATHER PIRRONI, PROVINCIAL OF NAPLES (MAY 22, 1671 – SEPTEMBER 22, 1673)

CHAPTER III

FATHER PIRRONI’S ACTIVITY AND DEDICATION AS PROCURATOR GENERAL (SEPTEMBER 22, 1673 - MAY 2, 1677). HIS ELECTION AS SUPERIOR GENERAL

CHAPTER IV

GENERALATE OF FATHER CHARLES JOHN PIRRONI (MAY 2, 1677 - APRIL 13, 1685)

RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE

RENEWAL OF THE ORDER’S INTERNAL STUDIES

THE GOVERNMENT OF FATHER PIRRONI

EXPANSION AND SPREAD OF THE INSTITUTE

THE CULT OF CALASANZ

LITERARY ACTIVITY OF FATHER PIRRONI

THE LAST YEARS OF THE LIFE AND GENERALATE OF FATHER PIRRONI. HIS ILLNESS AND PIOUS DEATH

Notes