9 Mar 1598: Oswald Tesimond #Jesuit, who was educated with Guy Fawkes lands at Gravesend #otd for the #English Catholic mission (BM) He would later provide spiritual services for the Gunpowder Plotters
2 Mar 1606: St Nicholas Owen, carpenter, #Jesuit brother dies under torture, Tower of #London (LLew) #otd The official line was that he had: 'slit his own stomach
21 Feb 1595 : St. Robert Southwell #Jesuit & #poet, executed at Tyburn #otd (BM/eebo)
21 Feb 1606: d. Richard Field of Corduff, #Blanchardstown #Dublin, superior of the #Jesuit mission in #Ireland #otd
19 Feb 1598: Jasper Heywood, John Donne's #Jesuit uncle dies in #Naples #otd (eebo/NPG) Heywood had been banished from #England following imprisonment & torture in the Tower of #London.

Congregation of the Holy Spirit

Officially known as: the Congregation of the Holy Spirit under the protection of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary. Or in Latin: Congregatio Beatissimae Virginis Mariae.

This is a religious congregation for men in the Catholic Church. Members are known as Holy Ghost Fathers. Or in continental Europe, & the Anglosphere, as Spiritans. Members use the postnominals: CSSp. Postnominals are letters placed after a person’s name to signify academic degrees, professional qualifications, awards, military decorations, or honorific titles (like PhD).

The order began in Paris on Pentecost Sunday, 1703. Claude Poullart des Places was a wealthy young lawyer who abandoned his social standing to become a priest. He wanted to form a religious institute for young men who wanted to become priests but were too poor to do so.

Unlike orders that focused on the elite, Claude was moved by the plight of “poor scholars.” HIs vision was a “proletariat” clergy. Priests assignments in hospitals, rural parishes, & overseas missions.

Claude was born on February 26, 1679 in the capital city of Brittany, France: Rennes. Claude was tutored at home before being enrolled at the age of 9-10 as a day student in the nearby Jesuit college of St. Thomas. Thus beginning his lifelong association with the Society of Jesus.

Graduating at 16, Claude studied at the University of Caen, Normandy. Before graduating at 22, with a Licentiate in Law from the Law School of Nantes. A licentiate in law is an individual holding an academic degree or professional certification. This is usually below a doctorate but above a bachelor’s, that authorizes them to practice law.

In 1701, Claude Poullart began his studies for the priesthood, as a boarder at the Jesuit College in Paris. His work grew quickly. The Order developed. However, Claude passed away at 29, or 31 depending on the source, of pleurisy after founding the order.

After the founder’s death, the order became fully organized. In 1765, the South American missions, in colonies such as China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand (Siam), & India under the support of the Paris Foreign missionaries arrived in Senegal, Africa.

Those in France served in various dioceses or alongside the de Montfont missionaries. This was due to the close friendship between Poullart & Louis de Montfont. The Order had trained 1,300 priests in the years leading up to 1792, when the seminary was suppressed by the French Revolution. The French Revolution saw the Spiritans have their property seized & many were executed or exiled to England, Italy, & Switzerland.

After the French Revolution only 1 member remained, James Bertout. He survived a series of hardships like being shipwrecked on his way to his destined mission in French Guiana, enslaved by the Moors, & a short stay in Senegal (where he had been sold to the English).

On his return to France, he reestablished the Order & continued its work. But he found it VERY hard to recover sufficiently from the effects caused by the Revolution.

In 1841/1842, Francis Liberman founded the Society of the Holy Heart of Mary (a.k.a. Society of the Immaculate Heart of Mary) This society is/was dedicated to serve mainly the emancipated black slaves in the French colonies. Particularly in Africa & the Caribbean.

In 1848, the Holy See asked Liberman to merge his relatively new society with the struggling Congregation of the Holy Spirit. Lieberman was made the 1st Superior General of the united groups. This effectively saving the Spiritan name & legacy.

Liberman’s approach to missionary work was revolutionary from the time. He instructed his missionaries not to “Europeanize” the people they served. Besides the missions in Africa, the society started missions in Mauritius, Reunion, & the Rodriguez Islands. In the Western Hemisphere, they had missions in Trinidad, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti, & Amazonia.

The Spiritans arrived in the United States in 1972, fleeing the Kulturkampf (persecution of Catholics) in Germany. They found a home in industrial heartlands, particularly Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Order is known in the United States for founding Duquesne University in 1878. This university was originally established to provide an education to the kids of poor immigrants working in the steel mills. It grew into a major research institution. The university’s motto (Spiritus est qui vivificat, “It is the Spirit who gives life”) reflects the order’s charism.

By the early 20th century the organization into the following provinces: France, Ireland, Portugal, United States of America, & Germany.

On December 31, 1961, 20 Spiritans: 19 Belgians & 1 Dutch man, were unalived in Kongolo (in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) by government troops during the Katanga Secession Rebellion.

In Rome, on April 24, 1979, Pope John Paul II presided over the beautification ceremony for Jacques-Desire Laval. The 1st member of the Spiritans to be honored.

Today, there are about 3,000 Spiritans serving in over 60 countries. They’re often associated with schools & chaplaincy, & missionary work.

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15 Feb 1682 d. St Claude de la Colombière #Jesuit promoter of the Sacred Heart devotion, aged 41, at Paray-le-Monial #Burgundy #otd Preacher to Mary of Modena in #London 1676 - 1679, when he was banished from #England in the backwash of the Titus Oates Popish Plot affair
3 Feb 1560: Christopher Bodkin Archbishop of #Tuam takes the oath recognising Elizabeth I’s supremacy #otd in #Dublin. In 1561 he persuaded the #Jesuit David Wolfe, papal legate in #Ireland to recommend him to Pope Pius IV. Right so. #BothSidesNow
#DailyPhoto2026
33. St. Aloysius

🧠 I love this church building and thought it looked interesting framed between the building on the left and the wall closer to the camera with graffiti.

⭐ I think I've made the church stand out enough that it doesn't look too messy, just a lovely grand looking church in a busy city.

➡️ The top quarter of the tower looks hazier than the rest of the building and I'm sure I could fix it if I knew how... The angle my camera was at means none of the vertical lines are exactly perpendicular so I don't know if the way I've cropped it is best.

#photography #mirrorless #Glasgow #staloysius #church #garnethill #neobaroque #menart #charlesmenart #jesuit #Garnethill
1 Feb 1607: Andrew White of #London joins the #Jesuit novitiate in #Leuven #otd A founder of the #Jesuit mission in #Maryland - he was there from 1633-1644 when arrested by #English soldiers & then deported