III. Author Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751) died at 76 yrs, 12 yrs formation for ordination, fully professed 14 years
Tremendous education
Little is known about the life of the Jesuit priest Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751) beyond the bare facts of his career. He was born in 1675 and entered the Jesuit novitiate in Toulouse at the age of eighteen. Later, he taught classics in the Jesuit college in Aurillac. He was ordained a priest in 1705 and took his final vows in 1708. From 1708 to 1714, he taught in the Jesuit college in Toulouse, and then devoted himself to the itinerant career of a missionary and preacher.
Between the years 1730 and 1732 he was in Lorraine, and, as John Joyce, S.J., mentions:
it was during this period that he made his first contact with the nuns of the Order of the Visitation in Nancy, to whom we are indebted for having preserved his letters and the notes of his conferences. In 1731 he was sent as spiritual director to the seminary in Albi, but two years later was back in Nancy in charge of the Jesuit Retreat house there. During his seven years in this office, he gave frequent conferences to the Visitation nuns and undertook the personal direction of several of them.
After some administrative responsibilities in various institutions in the south of France, he had more and more difficulty with his eyes but “he bore [this blindness] with courageous fortitude and in the spirit of his own great principle of self-abandonment to the will of God.” He died in 1751 at the age of seventy-six.[1]
- Jesuit Education (Suppression of Jesuits 1773) see pg 100-101 Scheck among their troubles, the Jesuits took a traditional stand against the Enlightenment, which made them enemies of intellectuals.[1]
St. Ignatius was strongly influenced by the Renaissance and wanted Jesuits to be able to offer whatever ministries were most needed at any given moment, and especially, to be ready to respond to missions (assignments) from the Pope. Formation for priesthood normally takes between 8 and 17 years, depending on the man’s background and previous education, and final vows are taken several years after that, making Jesuit formation among the longest of any of the religious orders.
Education can vary, feeding minds of young men
Post Enlightenment at mercy of people of university
Adamant don’t scandalize little one, not just age, but also a desire to know, learn, serve God. Concern for harm in an educational setting.
Aware now post Covid.
[1] Scherck 100