By Way of the Heart: Pierre Favre SJ, the First Jesuit Companion

Pierre Favre’s journeys, ordination, and spiritual gifts shaped early Jesuit friendship and direction during Counter-Reformation crises.

Although born into humble beginnings, Pierre Favre would, along with Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier,  form the nucleus of what would become the Jesuit Order (1540).  Favre was the first to be ordained (1534) among this group.

From 1539 onwards, Pierre Favre travelled extensively, lecturing in  in Spain, attending theological Diets (meetings) Germany, and in Louvain in the then Spanish Netherlands and the royal courts of Portugal and Spain.  From Spain, he was summoned to attend the Council of Trent only to die in Rome (1546) before he ever arrived in Trent.

Pierre Favre had a special gift for friendship with all types of people, from kings to cardinals to paupers.  St. Ignatius Loyola held him in high esteem and famously said of Favre that he was the most gifted among the early companions at giving the Spiritual Exercises.  Favre was a gentle, sensitive, often diffident character.  He sometimes doubted his own gifts as a preacher yet he was especially noted for his talents in spiritual direction and in the confessional.  He had a self-deprecating sense of humour.  Because he was so human, we can feel that we know and love him.  He’s one of us!

This book has much to tell us. Not only about Favre himself but also about the early Society of Jesus and about the religious crises at the time of the early Counter- Reformation.

Brendan Comerford, S.J. has worked as Jesuit novice-director and lecturer in the history of Christian spirituality. An experienced spiritual director, he is now Co-ordinator of St. Francis Xavier Church, Gardiner Street, Dublin. He is author of The Pilgrim’s Story (2017); Disciples of Courage (2022) and The Great Dreamer (2024), all available from Messenger Publications.