Background
Peter Canisius or Peter Kanis, was born on May 8, 1521, in Nijmegen, Duchy of Guelders, Netherlands.
(St. Peter Canisius is perhaps the sole reason there is a ...)
St. Peter Canisius is perhaps the sole reason there is a Catholic Church in Germany, even today. Born in Holland, he was a law student and eventually a Canon of a Cathedral in Germany when he heard the preaching of St. Peter Faber, one of the first companions of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Immediately, Canisius knew his vocation and entered the Society of Jesus. Although he wasn't among the original companions of St. Ignatius, nevertheless, he was one of the first Jesuits, and the most famous.
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(This book is a reformatted edition of the original work a...)
This book is a reformatted edition of the original work as it first appeared in the English language in the year 1622. St. Peter Canisius of the Company of Jesus originally composed his catechism in Latin as an easy handbook for people ""of a simpler sort."" It's use by the Jesuit fathers in Germany during the time of the Protestant Revolution was instrumental in saving half of that country from the slavery of disbelief. St. Peter Canisius' catechism, or ""Sum of Christian Doctrine"", has been translated into over 500 languages, but is only just recently to be found in carefully updated, modern English.
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Peter Canisius or Peter Kanis, was born on May 8, 1521, in Nijmegen, Duchy of Guelders, Netherlands.
He studied at the Latin school of St. Stephen there, and at 15 years of age, he entered the University of Cologne. At the Carthusian monastery in Cologne, he was influenced by the simple and ardent piety of the Devotio Moderna. In 1540 he became a master of arts and undertook the study of theology.
In 1543 he heard about Pierre Favre, one of the first Jesuits, who was then at Mainz. He made the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola under Favre's direction and decided to become a Jesuit. He has ordained a priest in 1546. Peter started a long career of apostolic labor in many countries of Europe. In 1546-1547 Peter participated in the Council of Trent; in 1548 he joined nine other Jesuits in opening a school at Messina; in 1549, with two other Jesuits, he joined the faculty of the University of Ingolstadt; and in 1552 he went to Vienna to assist the new Jesuit community there. To meet the challenge of Luther's popular catechism, Peter published his Summary of Christian Doctrine in 1555. Designed for boys in the upper classes and lucidly written in easy Latin, it rapidly ran into hundreds of editions. A German edition came out in 1556. The same year Peter published his Tiny Catechism for children, and 2 years later, his most popular work, An Abridged Catechism, planned for students in the middle grades. This he embellished through the years with engravings, verses, and prayers. In 1556 he became superior of the Upper German Province. For the next 41 years, Peter's days were filled with the most diverse activity. He shared in the establishment of 18 Jesuit colleges, and in the Augsburg Cathedral alone he preached 225 long sermons in 18 months. He began the Catholic response to The Centuries of Magdeburg with two folio volumes of patristic learning, the forerunners of Baronius's Annales ecclesiastici. In 1557 he traveled about 2, 000 miles through Italy, Austria, Bavaria, and the Rhineland. Prelates constantly sought his counsel. Peter's correspondence, which fills eight large volumes, reveals a person of gentle patience, understanding, and ardent Zeal for the Catholic Church. He regarded heresy as "a plague more deadly than other plagues, " but he insisted on a spirit of charity in meeting non-Catholics. At the age of 76, he died at Fribourg, Switzerland, on December 21, 1597.
(This book is a reformatted edition of the original work a...)
(Welsh Edition.)
(St. Peter Canisius is perhaps the sole reason there is a ...)
Quotations:
"Better that only a few Catholics should be left, staunch and sincere in their religion, than that they should, remaining many, desire as it were, to be in collusion with the Church's enemies and in conformity with the open foes of our faith. "
"If you have too much to do, with God's help you will find time to do it all. "
"It behooves us unanimously and inviolably to observe the ecclesiastical traditions, whether codified or simply retained by the customary practice of the Church. "
"These ceremonies which are used in the administration of the Sacraments, each of which we receive as delivered and entrusted to us through the hands of the fathers, must especially be retained and observed with great devotion. "