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 HOLTWOOD

439

HOLZHAUSER

hard limestone steps are literally worn away by the bare feet of pilgrims. From this piscina the water passes under a low arch into a small swimming bath, with bathing cots on either side, and then flows on- ward through Greenfield Valley to join the River Dee, affording on its way motive power to several flannel and flour mills. In a corner opposite the entrance to the crypt where the spring rises, a statue of St. Wine- fride stands in a decorated niche. The pilgrims on emerging from the piscina throw themselves on their knees before this statue, earnestly imploring the saint's intercession.

Acta SS.. LXII. 1 Nov., 7.34 sqq,; Swift, Life of St. Wine- fride (London, 18881; Maher, Holywell in 1891, in The Month (London, 1895); Letters ami Notices (London, 1863), I, 273; VI, 250; VIII, 97; XXV, 465; Butler, Lires of the Saints, 3 Nov.

P. J. Chandlery.

Holywood, Christopher (Latinized, A Sacro- Bosco), Jesuit; b. at Artane, Dublin, in 1559 ; d. 4 Sep- tember, 1626. His family, which draws its name from Holywood (Saithne), a village near Dublin, had long been distinguished both in Church and State. Christopher Holywood studied at Padua, entered the Society of Jesus at Dole in 1579, was afterwards pro- fessor of Scripture and theology at Pont-S,-Mousson, Ferrara, and Padua, and knew Bellarmine in the latter places. In 1598 he was sent to Ireland, but was arrested on his way and confined in the Gatehouse Prison, the Tower of London and Wisbech Castle, and was eventually shipped to the Continent after the death of Queen Elizabeth. He then resumed his in- terrupted journey antl reached Ireland on St. Patrick's Eve, 1604. This same year he published two Latin controversial works at Antwerp. He was soon ap- pointed superior of his brethren, a post of great im- portance in the absence of all bishops, for it nad been impossible, during the fiery trial of Elizabeth's reign, even to preserve their succession. Holywood 's let- ters and reports on the state of Ireland, of which over a score have been printed by Hogan, throw a vivid light on the history of the country. On the accession of King James, there had been a reaction in favour of Catholicism, and if this was strong even in England (see Gunpowder Plot), it was far stronger in Ireland, leading in many cases to the reassumption of the old Catholic churches. Father Holywood and hLs fellow- Jesuits had their hands full of work, reconciling the lapsed, settling quarrels, and healing the numberless wounds which the barbarous persecution had inflicted on the country. Though there were only four Jesuits in Ireland when he landed, their number rapidly in- creased, and there were forty-two when he died, besides sixty others in training or occupied in teaching on the Continent. The times of peaceful progress soon passed away, and after the imposition of the Oath of Alle- giance there followed a persecution as severe as that of Elizabeth, and far more systematic. By the enforced education of their children as Protestants, many noble and influential families were lost to the Faith, and the lands of Catholics were freely given to Protestant settlers from England. The prospect be- came ever more gloomy. Yet Holywood 's reports show that here and there the Catholics continued to make substantial progress. At Kilkenny, for in- stance, a school which lasted till Cromwell's time was begun in 1619. Five " residences", or bases for Jesuit Fathers, were established, whence missionaries were sent out in all directions, who worked with great suc- cess. Father Galway, about the same time, was sent to the islands and sea-coast of the west of Scotland. These years were perhaps the most laborious and fruitful of the Irish Jesuit mission. Holywood's last extant report is for the year 1624.

Hogan, Jbernia Iffnatiana (Dublin, 1880); Idem, Distin- guished Irishmen of the Sixteenth Century (London, 1894). 394- 501; SoMMERVoGEL, Bibliothique de la C. de J. (Brussels, 1893), IV, 446; Irish Ecclesiastical Record (Dublin, 1873).

J. H. Pollen.

Holzhauser, B.uitholomew, parish priest, ecclesi- astical writer, and founder of a religious community; b. 24 Aug., 1613, at Laugna in the Diocese of Augs- burg, Bavaria; d. 20 May, 1658. He was one of the eleven children of Leonard and Catherine Holzhauser — poor, pious, and honest people. His father plied the trade of a shoemaker, and was barely able to sup- port his family. Young Holzhauser developed a great love for books and an earnest desire to enter the sacred ministry. At Augsburg he was admitted to a free school for poor boys, earning his living by singing at the doors and begging. He fell sick of an epidemic then raging, and after his recovery went home and for a time helped his father at work. Then, with the aid of kind friends and especially of the Jesuits, he contin- ued his studies at Neuburg and Ingolstadt. His teachers were unanimous in praising his talents, his piety, and modesty, and entertained great hopes of his usefulness for the Church. On 9 July, 1636, he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, then studied theology, in which he merited the baccalaure- ate on 11 May, 1639. He was ordained priest by the Bishop of Eichstatt, and said his first Mass on Pente- cost Sunday (12 June, 1639) in the church of Our Lady of Victory at Ingolstadt. He exercised his priestly functions at this place for some time, and was soon much sought after as a confessor. In the meantime he attended the lectures at the university and was declared licentiate of theology on 14 June, 1640. On 1 August of the same year he came into the Arch- diocese of Salzburg, and was made dean and pastor of Tittmoning. On 2 Feb., 1642, the Bishop of Chiemsee called him as pastor to St. John's at Leukenthal (then lycoggenthal) in the Tyrol.

In the spring of 1655, on the invitation of Arch- bishop John Philip of Schonthal, he went to Mainz and was soon appointed pastor at Bingen on the Rhine, and in 1657 dean of the district of Algesheim. Here he died at the age of only forty-five, after a life well spent in the service of God and for the welfare of his people and of his fellow-priests. Many wonderful things are related of him, extraordinary cures and the like. Lately a petition has been drawn up at Rome for his canonization. On the occa.sion of the second centenary of his death a great celebration was held at Bingen in the presence of Bishop von Ketteler of Mainz; his remains were again found, and in 1880 a new monument was erected over his grave at the parish church.

His In.stitute. — He founded the Bartholomites (United Brethren), or, as they are officially called, the " Institut um clericorum saecularium in communi viven- tium", also called Communists. Great and many were the evils caused by the Thirty Years War among the faithful. Faith had become lukew'arm; moralsand discipline had relaxed not only in the laity but also in the clergy. In consequence Holzhauser, even in the early days of his university course, had been planning the formation of a congregation of secular priests, who would lead an apostolic life in community and become models of priestly perfection and zealous leaders of the people. Such as excelled in science and virtue he intended to place as teachers in the seminaries to educate a new generation of priests willing to use all their energy for the honour of God and the salvation of souls. The priests thus educated he would induce to join the community. The members were expected to live in the seminaries, or in twos or threes in the parishes, and to follow out a set routine of daily prayers and exercises. Funds were to be in common, and all female servants were to be discarded. No vows were to be taken, but a simple promise of obedi- ence to the superior was to be made, confirmetl by an oath. Holzhauser tried to establish such a commu- nity in the Diocese of Eichstatt, but did not succeed, though several priests were found quite willing to join him. At Tittmoning, encouraged by John Chris-