Peter Canisius: The Saint We Need Today

B

enedict XVI opened his General Audience on 9th of February 2011, with these words: "Today I want to talk to you about St Peter Canisius, a very important figure of the Catholic 16th century."

As a young student Peter Canisius was inspired by no less than St Peter Faber, one of St Ignatius of Loyola’s first companions, when they first met in Mainz Germany. After giving the Spiritual Exercises to him, the heart of Canisius was transformed and decided to become a member of the Society of Jesus.

The conversion experience of the future Saint and Doctor of the Church, did not occur in his studies but in his retreat experience which he described in a letter to a friend:

For my own part, I can hardly find the words to tell you how these Spiritual Exercises have changed my soul and senses, enlightened my mind with new rays of heavenly grace, and inspired me with fresh strength and fortitude. The abundance of the divine favours overflows even into my body, and I feel altogether invigorated and changed into a new man. (James Broderick, Saint Peter Canisius, p 36).

The heart of Canisius never turned back. Already the following year after his priestly ordination, in June 1546, he attended the Council of Trent as a theological consultant.

Then St Ignatius assigned him to carry out the apostolate in Germany which was a matter of life and death. "We must bear in mind that we are dealing with the time of the Lutheran Reformation, at the moment when the Catholic faith seemed to be dying out in the face of the fascination of the Reformation... The task... was almost impossible."

In Christ The King – Lord of History by Anne W Carroll, it states:

Protestantism had made much headway in Germany because many intellectuals had adopted it, making Catholicism appear to be the religion of the ignorant. By his debates, his writing and his teachings, Peter showed that Catholicism was thoroughly rational, that the Protestant arguments were not convincing. 

By his efforts, Peter won Bavaria (southern Germany) and the Rhineland (central Germany) back to the Catholic Church. He also won converts in Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and Poland. Poland had become largely Protestant, but thanks to the efforts of Peter and other Jesuits, it returned to the Church and is still Catholic today despite Communist persecution.

Because of this Pope Leo XIII proclaimed him the “Second Apostle of Germany." In 1580 Canisius withdrew to Fribourg, Switzerland, where he devoted himself entirely to preaching and writing. He died there on 21 December 1597. Pope Pius XI canonized him and proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church in 1925.

In Benedict XVI's own words: "[H]is most widely disseminated writings were the three Catechisms he compiled between 1555 and 1558. The first Catechism was addressed to students who could grasp the elementary notions of theology; the second, to young people of the populace for an initial religious instruction; the third, to youth with a scholastic formation of middle and high school levels. He explained Catholic doctrine with questions and answers, concisely, in biblical terms, with great clarity and with no polemical overtones.

There were at least 200 editions of this Catechism in his lifetime alone! And hundreds of editions succeeded one another until the 20th century. So it was that still in my father’s generation people in Germany were calling the Catechism simply “the Canisius"... He formed people’s faith for centuries."

The Holy Father closed the Papal Audience that day with deep appreciation of his life and contributions. He told the pilgrims why Peter Canisius is the saint we need today. He said:

Among the thousands of activities and multiple distractions that surround us, we must find moments for recollection before the Lord every day, in order to listen to him and speak with him... the example that St Peter Canisius has bequeathed to us, not only in his works but especially with his life, is ever timely and of lasting value. He teaches clearly that the apostolic ministry is effective and produces fruits of salvation in hearts only if the preacher is a personal witness of Jesus and an instrument at his disposal, bound to him closely by faith in his Gospel and in his Church, by a morally consistent life and by prayer as ceaseless as love. And this is true for every Christian who wishes to live his adherence to Christ with commitment and fidelity.

Let us close using the prayer of St Peter Canisius for the Society of Jesus:

I commend to you, Lord Jesus, the whole Society of Jesus:

our superiors and our subjects,

our old and our young,

our sound and our sick,

our ministries of body and soul.

May we be rightly governed to the glory of your name

and to the upbuilding of your Church.

Through you may we grow in our numbers and in our service. May we know our

vocation thoroughly, and, knowing it, love it;

and thus may all in the Society

serve your majesty worthily and faithfully,

cling to the commands and the counsels of the Gospel,

and, united in the love of brothers,

feel your blessings on our provinces,

our schools, our missions, and all our ministries.

May we be sober, simple, prudent, peaceable,

and studious of solid virtue:

may our lives conform to the Name we bear

and our deeds reflect to the vows we profess.

We commend to you all the brothers

who share our life in the Society

and all our companions and partners

who share our heritage and our vision.

With the Father and the Holy Spirit,

we praise you forever.

Amen.

Fr JM Manzano SJ