Aloysius Bellecius
Aloysius Bellecius (15 February 1704, Freiburg im Breisgau — 27 April 1757, Augsburg) was a Jesuit ascetic author.[1]
Life
Bellecius joined the Jesuits in 1719. During his life as a Jesuit, Bellecius worked in a variety of positions: For some time, he trained missionaries going to India. Later, Bellecius himself spent four years in the Jesuit mission at Marañón (Peru). After his return from Peru, Bellecius became director of the Jesuit seminary at Porrentruy (German: Pruntrut) in the diocese of Basel. In 1750, he became professor of theology at the university of his native town Freiburg. In 1752 he became a teacher in the Jesuit school at Ebersberg. In 1755, Bellecius went to Augsburg where he worked as a parish priest in Augsburg until his death in 1757.
Works
All of Bellecius' works were only published in the final years of his life. He is best known for his "Spiritual Exercise According to the Method of St. Ignatius", which first appeared in 1757. This and other works were translated in many European languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Polish. The list below only gives the publication data for the Latin originals and for English translations.
- Christianus pie moriens seu adjumenta procurandae bonae mortis. Friburgi Brisgojae 1749.
- Virtutis solidae praecipua impedimenta, subsidia et incitamenta, Ratisbonae 1755.
- English: Solid Virtue. London 1880; Cincinnati 1882.
- Triduum sacrum. Augustae Vindilicorum et Oenoponti 1757 (an abbreviated version of the previous entry).
- Medulla asceseos seu exercitia S.P. Ignatii de Loyola. Augustae Vindilicorum et Oenoponti 1757.
- English: Spiritual Exercisise according to the Method of St. Ignatius. Dublin 1876; London 1883.
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Aloysius Bellecius — Jesuit ascetic author, born at Freiburg im Breisgau, 15 February, 1704; died at Augsburg, 27 April, 1757. He taught philosophy one year and theology seven, and spent four years as a missionary in South America among the Indians living along the Amazon. Recalled to Europe, he was charged with the spiritual care of his religious brethren and later with the direction of the seminary of Porrentruy in the Diocese of Basle. He is the author of a number of ascetical works in Latin, most of which have been translated into different languages and often reprinted. The most noteworthy of these are: "Christianis pie moriens" (1749); "Virtutis Solidae praecipua impedimenta, subsidia, et incitamenta" (1755); "Medula Asceseos seu exercitia S.P. Ignatii" (1757); "Triduum Sacrum praecipue Religiosorum usui accomodatum" (1757). English translations of the last three have been made and are still in print. The first, entitled "Solid Virtue," is translated from the French (London, 1887); the second appeared under the title "Spiritual Exercises according to the method of St. Ignatius," translated from the Italian version of Father Bresciani, S.J. by William Hutch, D.D. (London, 1876). In this translation Father Bresciani slightly modified some of the opinions of Bellecius which he considered too rigid. The third translation was made by Father John Holtzer, S.J., and was published in New York in 1882. It is entitled: "Solid Virtue: A Triduum and Spiritual Conferences." The Triduum is an abridgement of Bellecius's larger work on "Solid Virtue"--an abridgement made by himself. The three Spiritual Conferences show practically in what solid virtue consists.
Bibliotheque de la compagnie de Jesus, I, 1260; Watrigant in dict. de theol. cath., II, 599.
References
Bibliography
- Article "Bellecius". In: Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus. P 1: Bibliographie. T. 1. Bruxelles, Paris 1890. Cols. 1260–1265
- Attribution