IlTlM.
192
■ri.-/;.~~.-^i-:^^— ^- - ' n'-.'?>.-,■ — -,-B—r.~i ation,i. e. that ft book writt«ii without the hdp of tbd
'Sb',fa°'.W!f '"«» iSrZ^jm Holy Oho« ™ht b«»«, Holy toipOjoJ/ tCe Holy
iTiiu}; Tttij:ii. HiHorv oiScoiiand (Ediobuixh. istM). GhoBt apparently declared that the said book did not
.tiadpaaim-.Ctro'i iaMrod. to Lt'lu'i HiMiyrvtlSrei' contain anythiiuc falae. The coodenuiationB issued
U."'.ffi„'&HiiS"'S;Ki:Ka<SSl5« ^ th. V.lio.n Counoa did not louoh thi. vi., otW
end of nrtiela Laiii in Did. Nat. Biop.. XXXlll, 93-99. Thu IDS- The doctrme of Leesius OD grace and pncuo-
BrticlB itaelf (by HespEHMiM) Li KnticQ irith prejudiw.ttnd tination, which was ftooused ot Semipelagianism,
d«« much leu ti.<m ,i«ti« u. nn able, pious, ud p.t™i« jaught predeatination "post pnevisa meriU". the
D. O. Hcntbr-BluUr. co-opetationof free will with grace in such a way as to reject the "gratia peraeefficax"; in fact, this ddctrin*
LeSBina (Lets), Leonajui, a Flemish Jesuit and a was by no means peculiar to LesBius. Apologies, anti- theologian of liigh reputation, b. at Brccht, in the theses, anti-apologies, succeeded on both aides; the province of Antwerp, 1 October, 1554; d. at Louvain, Universities oiLouvain and Douaicensured the tbeseei 15 January-, 1623. His parents, honest people of the the faculties of theolo^ of Ingolatadt, Mains, aoa fanningclass, died when he was but six years old. In Trier approved them; ^e eeneiul of the Jesuila and 1568 he entered the college of Arras in the University at hut the pope was appealed to. Finally Sistus V, of Louvain, and there studied classics and philosophjy. who in a letter called the incriminated articles " arUo- His brilliant talents enabled him to become doctor m ull sanx doctrins", chained his nuncio at Cologne, philosophy at the age of seventeen years; and al- OctavioFrangipani, to brln^ the discussions to an end
though he did not leam Greek till later, ho master"* ■* '■" " t—.u i 1 i~j ti -.; — f :
BO vSW that he could mentally translate into that guagc the reading he hpard in the refectory, and at times wrote hia private - ^ . — .
vied with one another in seeking to . . . _ .. „ , - .
pupii. In 1572, and not. as the date is sometimes which was publi^ed in 1005 and was dedicated U. ura given, in 1573, he entered the Society of Jesus, and Archduke Albert. Many editions followed at Ant- after two years' noviccship was sent toDouai to teach werp, Louvain, Lyons, Paris, and Venice. Thiswoi^ philosophy in the Jesuit College there till 1581. He composed with great accuracy, shows best Uie BOimd- Btudied theology in Rome, where he had Francis . nessof judgment, thecommon sense, and tfaecleamesa Suarez as his professor for two years. In 15S5he was of mind which distinguishes Lcssius. Thechapteraon back again at Louvain as professor of theology in the interest and other commercial subjects are epocb- Jeeuit College and held this chair for fifteen years, making in the treatmetct of those difficult questions: When he hod given up teaching, he was urged by his Lessius was especially consulted by the merchants of superiors and companions to publish the lecturta on Antwerp on matters of justice. Archduke Albert bad theology which he iiad delivered with such great sue- the book constantly on his desk and referred to it as ft cess; this he did, yielding at last to their wishes. He guide. A good compendium of the work was pub* was twice sent to Rome l>y the members of the Gallo- Fished at Douai in 1634. Pour years later a work of Belgian province to the general congregations of his auil« a different nature was written by Lessius under order in 1008 and 1615. Cardinal Bellarmine and the title,"Quie fides et religiosit capessenda" (Ant- other dignitaries of the Church endeavoured, though werp, 1609). It is a short t>ook of some 150 pages, on unsuccessfully, to retain him in Rome and to attach controversy and apologetics, which brought about a him to the Sacred Penile ntiarj-. He was consulted great many conversions, among them that of John from all i^uarters, and corresponded on theological of Nassau. The book was oft«n repriatcd and was matterswith the most learned doctors of the day, such translated into Flemish, German, Italian, Hungarian, as Bellarmine, Suarei, V'ssquez, Molina, etc. But he Polish, and French. "Die work "De gratia efncaci", longed to have done with studying and writing boolLS, on grace, liberty, predestination, etc., appeared in that he might turn to prayer and contemplation to- 1010; with the" De just itia" it secures Lessius a place wards the end of hia career. His remains are in the among the best theologians of the day in dogmatic aft choir of the Jesuit church in Louvain. Leonard Les- well as in moral questions. Some writings of a con- sius was a man of great virtue and of great science; troversial character were published between 1611 and his modesty and humility were equal to his learning, 1619; "De Antichristo et ejus prffcursoribus"; "Do- nor did he ever hesitate to give up his own opinion fenaio potestatis aummi pontificis", against the theo- when f^d arguments against it were presented to riea put forward by James I, King of England, Bbp- him; his charity, meekness, patience, and mortifica- clay, Blockwell, etc. A work on Providence and the tion were remarkable throughout bis long life, in immortaiityofthesoul was printedin 1013, "De Pn> epito of the trying disease he contracted when fleeing videntia Numinis ", and translated into dioerent lan- trom 'Douai to escape the Calvinuits. Pope Url>an guages, even into Chinese. His " Ilygiaaticon" or VIII, who had known him personally, paid a special plea for sobriety, a treatise on bow to preserve tribute to bis sanctity; St. Francis of Sales also ea- streiigth and to live long, was published tn 1613, often teemed him highly lor his virtue and his science, reprinted and translated into nearly all the languacea After bis death, authentic inrormation was taken of Europe; it is a translation of a similar work oy about hia life and virtucs:heia now ranked among the Cornaro (Luigi Comaro, an Italian hygienist, 1467- venerablc,andthcproccssof Ills beatificationlias been 15C6), accompanied with the personal reflectiona of intro4uccd. Lessius. Even now it is not without interest.
The literary activity of Lcssius was not confined to Among liis ascetical works, which are noted for tbs
dogmatic and moral matters; he wrote also on ascet^ scienec and piety thoy contain, must be mentioned
icism and controversy. We give here tlic most im- his "De summo bono (Antwerri, 1010); "De pei^
portant of hia works; the whole liiit may be seen in fectionibus moribusque divinia liliri XIV" {Ant-
Sommervogel. The first printed lines which came werp, 1620); and especblly his posthumous work, on
from the pen of Lessius. i.e. "Theses theologicie" the Divine names, " Quinqua^inta nomina Dei"
(Louvain, 15S0). provoked a fiery debate with the (Brussels, 1040), verj- often reprinted and translated,
doctors of the University of Ix)uvain; the theses of After his death was published his theological treatias
Lessius and Hamelius, both professors at the Jesuit on the sacraments, the Incarnation, etc. (De beati-
College, were attacked as containing dangerous opin- tudine, dc aetlbua humanis, de incarnations Verbi, da
ions on predestination, grace, inspiration in Iloly sacramcntis et censuris, etc., Louvain, 1645). Notft
Scripture, etc. As to the last point, Lessius hat! few of bis imprinted works are preserved at BruSMla
merely suggested an hypotbeeis on subsequent iuspir- and elsewhere; they are made up especially of thso-
