Saint Robert Bellarmine:

Feast day : 17 September

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Robert Bellarmine, an Italian Jesuit and Cardinal of Capua who lived during the period 1542-1621. He was a prolific writer and a fierce defender of the Papacy and the teachings of the Catholic Church. Through his arguments and writings, he helped to bring a great number of people back to the Catholic faith from the Protestant movement. For his contributions, he was honoured with the title of ‘Doctor of Church’ by Pope Pius XI in 1931. The decree declaring him a ‘Doctor of the Church’ called him “the prince of apologists and strong defender of the Catholic Faith, not only for his own time but for all future ages.” Ironically, though his writings gave an impression of a strong and fearless man, at heart he was a very compassionate man who was always sensitive to the needs of the poor and suffering.

Early life:

He was born as the third child to a family of noble parents in Montepulciano, Central Italy on October 4, 1542. His mother was a devout Catholic who devoted her time to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. She wished that all her sons would become Jesuits. However, Saint Robert wanted to pursue his study in medicine. But when he was 16 years of age, the Jesuits opened a school in his town and since then he decided to join the Society of Jesus. His father was initially opposed to his decision but finally agreed to it hoping to see him as a Cardinal one day. He entered the Jesuits at Rome in 1560 at the age of 18 years. During the three years in Rome, he was often sick, suffering from fatigue and violent headaches. But he excelled in his study of Philosophy. When he was given time off from study due to his illnesses, he taught humanities at Florence and Mondovi. He was a voracious reader and would spend nights in studying his subjects of interest. Even before his ordination he was preaching. His theological studies were made at Padua and in 1569 he was sent to finish his studies at the University of Leuven in Flanders. There he was ordained and continued to teach Theology for seven years.

Vocational life:

He was of short stature and often stood on a stool in the pulpit. He spent most of his time in Rome, as a teacher in the Roman College (1576-1588), as Rector of the Roman College (1592-1594) and as a Cardinal and Theologian to the Pope (1597-1621). He was also the Provincial Superior of the Jesuits at Naples (1594-1597). Two years later he was ordained as a Cardinal on March 3 1599 by Pope Clement VIII. In 1602 he was made the Archbishop of Capua and served till 1605.

He took part in three Papal conclaves and was recognised a candidate for the Papacy though he greatly disliked it. In his autobiography he wrote in the Second conclave in which Pope Paul V was elected as Pope in 1605, his prayer was “From the Papacy, deliver me, O Lord”. He had the gift of prophesy and predicted the death of Pope Sixtus V, Pope Clement and Pope Paul V. He was connected with many famous people of his time. Under Pope Gregory XIV (1590-1591), he exercised a strong influence in revising the Latin Vulgate version of Scripture and wrote the preface to this revision. He was a close friend of the great Church historian Cardinal Baronius and the spiritual director of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. He worked closely with the Popes of the period, especially with Sixtus V (1585-1590), Gregory XIV (1590-1591), Clement VIII (1592-1605) and Paul V (1605-1621).

He was often plagued with illnesses which left him doubting if he would live long. Yet he worked hard and diligently executed all his duties. He fasted three times a week and dined on frugal food like the poor. He often said “the more the love of God fills a man’s heart, the less room is there in it for any natural desire.” He gave scant attention to the needs of his body and imitated Saint Francis of Assisi in his loyalty to the Pope and constant prayer. He treasured the riches of poverty and always had a compassionate heart for the poor. He would often pawn his ‘Cardinal’ ring and other valuables such as silver candle sticks and silver gifts he received and give away the money to the poor. There would always be hundreds of people waiting to see him and he would receive them all with equal respect and attend to their needs with great interest. He was also known to spend several hours in prayers and said the Divine Office at the regular hours. When he was not doing any of these, he would be reading and writing. There was never a moment that he would idle away.

Literary works:

He was a prolific writer whose unpublished works run into thousands. His autobiography and 37 works have been published. His most famous and controversial literary work was ‘The Controversies’, which is an explanation of the Catholic doctrine. It had a great impact on both Catholics and Protestants too. Under Elizabeth I in England, possession of this book was punishable by death! The whole work can be summed as a defense of the articles of the Apostles Creed , the Church, Communion of Saints through the Sacraments and the remission of sins. His arguments helped to bring a great number of people back to the Catholic faith in the time when Protestant movements were gaining momentum. Those who opposed his views expressed their anger by calling him names. The dictionary still carries the word “bellarmine” for a pot bellied jug that was made to deride him. Though his book was banned in England, it was widely available and popular and when he visited England, people gathered in huge numbers to see him. Ironically there were surprised to see a mild scholarly looking man rather than the fierce commanding personality that they expected to see. Before he laid his arguments against the Protestant teachings, he spent a lot of time studying all their literature. He refuted each of their teachings by eloquently explaining the teachings of the Catholic church against it. This had a great impact on many Protestants too who came to regard him as the greatest champion of the Catholic Church.

In 1597 and 1598 he published a Catechism which has been translated to 50 languages, becoming one of the greatest bestsellers and the official teaching of the Catholic Church in the 17th to 19th centuries. Towards the end years of his life, he wrote several treatises on spiritual life, the most popular ones being ‘The Ascent of the Mind to God by the Ladder of Created Things’, ‘The Eternal Happiness of the Saints’ and ‘The Mourning of the Dove or The Value of Tears’ and ‘The Art of Dying Well’.

Death & Sainthood:

During his last days, he was gravely ill, but never complained about his illness. Instead his only complaint was that he was not allowed to offer Mass nor say the Breviary. His Rosary was also initially denied to him but later he was allowed to pray it slowly. He was conscious to his last breath and kept praying the name of Jesus till his last breath. He died on September 17 at the age of 78 years.

People flocked to pay their last respects to him and gather relics from his belongings. He was laid to rest in the Jesuit Church of the Gesu in Rome. In 1923 his body was transferred to the Church of Saint Ignatius in Rome and placed near the body of Saint Aloysius whom he greatly loved and mentored. Pope Pius XI declared him ‘Blessed’ in 1923 and a Saint in 1930 and honoured him with the title ‘Doctor of the Church’ in 1931.