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green & purple decorative full cloth hardcover 8vo. (octavo). dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. fine cond. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. tiny bookshop sticker inside front cover, otherwise contents free of markings. dustwrapper in vg cond. chipped & missing tiny pieces along top and bottom edges, not price clipped. nice clean copy. no library markings, no bookplates, no names, inking, underlining, or remainder markings etc~. first edition. first printing (nap). "war format". nihil obstat. imprimatur. imprimi potest. xii+292p. 8 glossy sepiatone illustrations. 2 b&w maps. bibliography. documentation. index. biography. history of christianity. religion. ~ Against the stormy horizon of Napoleonic conquests and the soaring tide of irreligious Liberalism, the author has faithfully and vividly recorded the story of John Phillip Roothaan (23 November 1785 ~ 8 May 1853), twenty~first General of the Society of Jesus, who was chosen to rekindle in his Company the glory and the vigor of its saintly founder. At the age of four John Roothaan, a blond Amsterdam boy, decided that he would rather fight in the army of Jesus and Mary than in the Revolution. That army, however, was no longer in existence. A reluctant edict of Pope Clement XIV had banished and scattered its forces. Only in far~off Russia, where the edict had not been enforced, a small band of Jesuits had congregated and erected a novitiate. To Russia then, John Roothaan went as a youth of eighteen, leaving behind him forever his family, his native land, and his friends. The long, fruitful years of Jesuit training molded and perfected the generous character of the future General, who soon earned for himself a reputation of outstanding learning, fervent piety and an unmistakable ability to lead. No sooner had Roothaan been united to the Jesuits by final vow than new political winds blew the Fathers out of the Russian exile, into the disturbed countries of western Europe. New languages had to be mastered, new customs assimilated, so the young priest might be about his apostolic work again. Father Roothaan was equal to the task: Switzerland soon knew him as a great preacher of missions and retreats. From far and wide people crowded into Father Roothaan's church, to hear the flaming words of this new Ignatius. Academic work called him to Italy, where the fame of his powerful personality and his great holiness of life penetrated even to the highest officials of the Church and the Society. And John Roothaan was elected General of the Jesuits. In the spirit of his guide and model, St. Ignatius Loyola, Father Roothaan shared with his spiritual sons exile and persecution, which calculated treachery again and again inflicted upon the Order. Yet his generalate was singularly blessed: the American missions grew from a scant beginning into full~fledged provinces; countless new colleges and schools arose to proclaim the Jesuit ideal of education; new trust and respect for the black~robed soldiery arose wherever they labored. A truly amazing personality is revealed in THE GENERAL WHO REBUILT THE JESUITS. The author presents John Roothaan squarely, without attempting to conceal any of his flaws. The reader meets a sturdy, stubborn, enthusiastic Hollander, whose life was wholly spent in fighting for Christ, the King.
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