Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/581

Rh ANIMA 515 ANIMALS the institution under his special imperial protection in lots, it fell off greatly, during the period of relig- ious strife; it remained ncvert Ileus's a stronghold of (ierman influence and a refuge to all CJermaiis in need. After Sixtus V, the Aninia grew in political importance as well, inasmuch as during the great events that took place in Germany, and during the Thirty Years War, it came to be looked upon by the nation, the national representatives, and even by the popes, as a national work of thanksgiving and supplication to God. The violent interference of the .mbas.sador ^iartinitz in 1697 (confirmed by an edict of Leopold I in 1G99), ushered in the most eventful period in the history of the Anima. In 1712 the Congregation decided in favour of Maria Theresa and against the Km|M>ror. In 1798, the French plundered the church and took possession of it as the property of the French Republic (in behalf of Hclgiuni), but were driven out by the Xcaiiolitan troops. . at- tempt on the part of Xajioleon to annex this institu- tion was also defeated. These vicissitudes had the effect of gradually changing the house from what its original founders had intended it to be and of turning it over, almost entirely, to Italians. It was only in 18.53 that the noble determination of the Emperor Francis Joseph I restored it to its former purpose. He opened the institution to his Austrian subjects, and brought about its reorganization by means of an .|iost<)lic Visitation in 18.59 (Brief of 1.5 .March"!. From that time forward the. ima has gradually regained its old position, by timely adaptation to moilern conditions. Its field of action is extending, step by step, to the bountlaries of the German- speaking peoples. It has been the originator and support of almost everj' new German national under- taking in Rome. It possesses a special importance as the place where religious services are held on the occasion of political or national festivals, as parish church of the German colony, and as the centre in Rome of national charitable associations. It is also a hospice for German pilgrims, and the stopping place of Gennan bishops and priests from Austria, Germany, and America. It acts, at the same time, as intermediary for Austrian and Gennan dioceses in their relations with the Curia, and serves as a home for German-speaking priests. The Anima, as a college of priests, dates back to the year 149(5, and was founded by the well known Master of Papal Ceremonies, Burkhard of .Strasburg. As early as the sixteenth centurj* it consisted of fourteen chaplains. No noteworthy jjcrsons, how- ever, are to l)e found among them, for the reason that they held their positions for an indefinite term, or even for life. Notwithstanding numerous at- tempts at reform, especially that of 1581, the moral condition of the college left much to lie desired. The French Revolution destroyed it, and, in particu- lar, eliminated the German elements. It was only after the restoration of 18.59 that the college was reorganized (18G3). The brief of reorganization, placed prominently in the refectorj-, enjoins that the memters of the college "shall acfpiire a better and more i>erfect knowledge of theological matters in Rome and shall study the transaction of ecclesias- tical atTairs in the Holy .See, so that each may carry to his dioce.se the methods of the Roman Curia, the spirit of discipline, and a true knowledge of the sacred sciences." The two years' residence in the college affords special op]x)rtinities for the study of canon law in theorj' at the Papal universities, and in pnictice imder the higher church officials. It is for this reason that many students of the Anima are promoted, on their return home, to positions of trust and authority in their respective dioceses. The list of deserving men who. since its restoration, have gone forth from this training school, no fewer than 300 in all, includes eleven bishops and twenty I.— 33 university professors. In addition to the chaplains, whom the German and Austrian bishops appoint in regular succession, other priests are admitted on moderate terms, so that there are twenty-one priests now residing in the house. The college is governed by a rector, who coiurols the spiritual management under a Cardinal Protector (at present H. E. Cardi- nal Steinhuber), and the temporal, under .Austrian protection, assisted by a procurator. 'Hie first rector was the well known writer and university professor, Alois Flir, the restorer of the institution, who died in 18.59 as auditor of the Rota. He was succeetied by Michael Gassner, afterwards Dean of Brixen (1800-72); by Karl Janig of Prague (187.5-87); Franz DopiX'Ibauer, now Bishop of l.inz (1.S.S7-89; Franz Vogl, now Bishop of Triest (1889-1902; and by Protonotary Jo.seph Lohningerof Linz (since 1902). Kehschiiaumkh. OiBchtchlf drs deuUchi-n S iHiunulhofinzta Anima in Rum (Vienna. ISliS); Giiais. S. Maria deW Anima, Grazer Kirclunschmuck (ISSli; Stekfens, Z><i« dcultrhe Nationnl/wspiz S. Maria ddt' Anima wahrend des I'rieatir- Jubitdums-Jahrta l.ius XIII (l.mz. 1893): N.gi,c.nd Lang, MiUfilunyi-n aua di-m Archiv dts dcutachen Natiunalhost'izea S. Maria ddV Anima (Itolue. 1899); ScllMlDLl.N, (JtschirhU der deulschcn Nationatkirche in Horn iS. Maria dt^W Anima (Freiburg, 1900 J. J. SCHSIIDLIN. Anima Christi. — This well-knowTi prayer dates its origin from the first half of the fourteenth centurj' and was enriched with indulgences by Pope John XXII in the year 1330. All the nianu.scripts practi- cally agree as to the.se two facts, so there can be no doubt of their exactness. In regard to its author- ship all we can say is that it was, perhaps, written by John XXII. Of this we are not certain, as this Pope has been falsely accredited with similar pious compositions, and a mistake could easily be made of confounding the one who gave the indulgence with the R'al author. The Anima Christi was and is still generally believed to have been coni|X)seil by St. Ignatius Loyola, as he puts it at the beginning of his "Spiritual Exercises and often refers to it. This is a mistake, as has been pointed out by many writers, since the prayer has been found in a nuinljer of prayer books printed during the youth of the saint and is in manuscripts which were written a hundred years before his birth (1491). James Mcarns, the Ihiglish hjTiinologist, found it in a nianu.script of the British Mu.=eum which dates back to about 1370. In the librarj- of .vignon there is preserved a prayer book of Carilinal Peter De Luxem- liourg, who died in 1387, which contains the Anima Christi in practically the .same form as we have it to-tlay. It has also been found inscribed on one of the gates of the Alcazar of Seville, which brings us back to the times of Don Pedro the Cruel (13.50-C9). This prayer was so well known and so popular at the time of St. Ignatius, that he only mentions it in the first edition of his "Spiritual Exerci.ses", evi- dently supposing that the exercitant or reader already knew it. In the later editions, it was printed in full. It was by a.ssuming that everj'thing in the book was written f)y St. Ignatius that it came to be looked upon as his composition. All this has been told at length by (!uido Dreves (Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, LIV, 493) and B. Baesten (Pn^cis Ilistoriques, XXXII, 030). S. H. Fkisbee. Anima Mundi. See P.vxtheism. Animals, 'oiiSHii' of. See Idouvtry. Animals in Christian Art. — In Christian art animal forms liave always occupied a place of far greater im|)ortance than was ever accorded to them in the art of the pagan world. In the early days of Latin and Byzantine Christianity, a.s well as in the (H>riod of its full bloom in the Middle Ages, a prodigious number of representations of animals is found not only in monumental sculpture, but in il-