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 and often even to the shedding of their blood, devoted themselves to the conversion of the pagans, belonged for the most part to Religious Orders. St. Francis Xavier, and those others who planted the faith in China and Paraguay, were Jesuits — that is, members of the Society of Jesus. This order was founded in 1540 by St. Ignatius of Loyola, a man filled with the most ardent zeal for the honor of God. These religious exerted themselves especially in propagating the Catholic Faith, and defending it against the new-fangled doctrines; and consequently they drew upon themselves implacable hatred and grievous persecutions from the enemies of Religion. God raised also other orders, that might, in concert with the Secular Clergy, heal the wounds which Luther and other heretics had inflicted on the Church. The pious Capuchins, who sprang in 1528 from the Order of St. Francis of Assisium, labored especially for the salvation of souls, and distinguished themselves by their affectionate zeal and austere life. The Oratorians, or Fathers of the Oratory, which was founded in 1574 by St. Philip Neri, devoted themselves to prayer and the instruction of the people, to visiting the hospitals, to attending the poor and the sick, and to literary pursuits. The fathers of the Pious Schools occupied themselves with the in-