whereas the presence of the Saint did not seem to be even noticed.

Having now arrived at Venice, but without knowing where to find lodgings for the night, he resolved to pass it the best way he could beneath the arcades of the public commissioners on the Piazza of St. Mark. While he lay thus upon the pavement to sleep, forsaken apparently by man, God again took him under His own care. A devout senator, Marc-Antonio Trevisani, well known for his liberality and charities to the poor, was startled from his sleep by hearing a voice, that said to him-"What! art thou sleeping at ease on thy bed, while My dear servant and poor pilgrim is lying near thy door in the open air upon the pavement? The friend of the poor rose quickly, filled with astonishment, and eager to discover who this could be to whose assistance he was summoned in a manner so extraordinary, and who was so singularly honoured by God. He found Ignatius and took charitable care of him, giving him food and lodging. But either because he paid too much attention to his guest, or, with a pious curiosity, sought to know too much of his hidden virtues, or for some other reason, the Saint thought it unsuitable to his condition as a pilgrim to remain longer in the senator's palace.* He therefore refused his proffered hospitality, for reasons as holy as those which prompted the pious servant of God to invite him.

One day, whilst Ignatius was passing through the city, he met a rich merchant of Biscaya, who recognized him and asked him whither he was going. The Saint informed him, and he invited him to dine with him. Ignatius relates of himself that it was his custom on these occasions never to speak during meals except when asked a question, and to listen to what others said, that he might take occasion from it when the repast was over to lead the conversation to some pious subject for the spiritual good of the hearers. His entertainer was so much pleased that he wished to persuade Ignatius to give up his intended voyage and

*

This saintly man received the poor and lodged them in his own palace, and would have spent on them all his fortune had he not been hindered by his nephews. He was elected Doge in 1553 without his own consent, and died at an advanced age whilst hearing Mass.

remain with him. Unable to succeed, he gave proof of his friendship by rendering him the service of introducing him to Andrea Gritti, the Doge, and obtaining for him an audience. The Doge, at the request of the Saint, gave him a free passage to Cyprus on a Government vessel, which was about to convey thither the new magistrates of the Republic. Ignatius remained at the merchant's house until the vessel sailed.

There were very few pilgrims this year for Jerusalem, on account of the plague, and besides, after the fall of Rhodes, Dec. 25, A.D. 1522, the Turkish ships made the voyage very perilous.* The friends of Ignatius tried to avail themselves of this circumstance, and still more of a violent attack of fever which seized him some days before his departure, to dissuade him from the enterprise. But nothing could deter him, neither danger nor sickness. His soul, superior to these considerations, and putting all things human aside, regarded only the higher principle within which urged him forward, and placed implicit confidence in it as the voice of God, which must be obeyed. He expressed these sentiments in his usual forcible manner when replying to the expostulations of his friends, "That if he could not find a ship in which to embark, he was confident that he could pass the sea safely on a plank."

Upon the day fixed for his departure, he was so ill that the physician, on being asked by the people of the house whether he could set sail in such a state, answered, "Yes, if he wishes to die on the passage." However, he hastened on board at the signal of the gun fired for sailing, and quitted the harbour for Jerusalem on the 14th of July. The voyage had so salutary an effect upon his health, that after the usual sea-sickness he was cured of the fever. But the ribald and wicked behaviour of some of the passengers and crew caused him greater pain and grief than the fear of corsairs. He continually rebuked them for their vile language, and this in bolder and more menacing terms than such rough and violent men would brook, for they had no regard for anything sacred upon earth. Some Spaniards among the passengers having taken notice of this, advised

* The ship which bore the pilgrims had only thirteen of them on board, and had already sailed. Eight more were to sail with Ignatius.

him to be more cautious. In fact the sailors had agreed among themselves to take their revenge on this preacher out of season by landing him and leaving him on a desert island that was near. But as they approached it a contrary wind sprung up which made it impossible to land, and carried them quickly to the Isle of Cyprus. There Ignatius was informed that the ship with the pilgrims which had left Venice before him was lying in the harbour of Salina, thirty miles distant. He went thither with the other eight pilgrims on the ship with him, and thus they happily reached the coast of Syria after a passage of forty-eight days. From Joppa, where they landed, they took their departure for Jerusalem mounted upon asses, according to the custom of the country. When they were coming near to the Holy City a Spanish gentleman, Don Diego Nuñez, devoutly said that as soon as they came in sight of the walls of Jerusalem it would be well to enter into their hearts and examine themselves in silence. The pilgrims all assented, and soon after seeing the Franciscan Brothers coming to meet them with the cross they dismounted from their beasts. to make the rest of the road on foot. They entered in procession about mid-day on the 4th of September that city in which the Expectation of the Nations was seen visible in the Flesh.

CHAPTER V.

IGNATIUS IS OBLIGED TO LEAVE JERUSALEM. HIS RETURN TO SPAIN.

EVERYTHING tends to show that Ignatius in making the journey to Jerusalem had no other object than to take up his abode near the sepulchre of our Lord, and there labour to extend the Kingdom of Christ, and to make war upon His enemies. It was not then a simple pilgrimage that he was making, for the East had been his first thought after his conversion. He had the idea of at once establishing, on the very spot sanctified by the presence of our Lord in the Flesh, a Society of Jesus composed of Apostolic evangelical labourers whose spiritual warfare, in the midst of the children of Mahomet, should open a way to new triumphs of the Catholic Church. This was without doubt a noble conception, which the swords of the Christian chivalry of Europe had not been able to realize by the efforts and enthusiasm of centuries. That this was the real design of St. Ignatius is proved by the pains he took to gain a footing in Palestine, and of these I shall speak in the proper place, contenting myself with remarking here that to the last years of his life he thought seriously of securing at least an entrance for the Society into Jerusalem. An idea which may be considered as one of the characteristic elements of the Exercises, though this is not a place in which to dwell on the connection.

Ignatius certainly did not conceal his design from the Fathers resident in the Holy Land, as his biographers have asserted without proof. On the contrary, from what he himself states we may conclude that he confided to them his plan with the hope that, ignorant as he was of the true state of things there, he might obtain their counsel and assistance. His silence could have served no purpose, for

if he had remained in Jerusalem his plans could not have been executed in secret. The Franciscans, who knew the state of things, could not act otherwise than they did; though the threat of excommunication in case he remained at Jerusalem seems like an excessive measure, unless we can justify it by supposing that they did know the whole. plan of the pilgrim, and that they considered it so prejudicial to the interests of Christianity in the Holy Land as to oblige them in case of necessity to have recourse to so severe a measure. Under this supposition, moreover, we can understand the prudent and evasive reply of the Father Guardian, to whom the Saint communicated his purpose of remaining at Jerusalem. The Father Guardian did not absolutely refuse him the permission which he asked, but made it dependent on a condition that Ignatius could not fulfil. He told him that it might possibly be permitted if he could maintain himself upon his own resources, but that he must await the return of the Provincial, who was then at Bethlehem, for it was he who must decide the question. This answer, though in truth an evasive one, appeared to the Saint like a real promise in his favour, and considering the whole thing to be certain, he wrote in the joy of his heart to his friends at Barcelona.*

Ignatius visited several times all the holy places in Jerusalem and in its environs, both alone and with other pilgrims; and we may picture to ourselves with what fervour of devotion he would propose to consecrate himself entirely to the service of God, and to walk in the footsteps of his crucified Saviour. On the day on which the other pilgrims were to depart, Ignatius was unexpectedly summoned into the presence of the Provincial, who had returned from Bethlehem, and he was apprised, to his great astonishment, that he must leave with the rest on the morrow, as his design of remaining and fixing his residence. at Jerusalem would be good neither for himself nor for the

* If these letters could be found they would inform us how matters passed. Mariani (p. 52), according to the Bollandists, speaks of a letter written to Doña Pasquale as still extant. The Bollandists mention only to whom the letters were addressed, and speak of them in the past tense, not as now existing. In fact I have found none such in any collection, either printed or MSS., at Rome or elsewhere.