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592 it is said that the Society was instituted for "the propagation of faith, and especially for the instruction of children and ignorant people in Christian doctrine." Father Sacchini has a beautiful chapter on the "Teaching of the Catechism," in which he says the Jesuit should teach languages and grammar with great diligence, but with far greater devotion and alacrity catechism, "which is the grammar of Jesus Christ."

An American prelate wrote recently on this subject: "Among religious orders established with a special view toward the religious education of youth, the first place must undoubtedly be assigned to the Society of Jesus... St. Ignatius himself set the example. The first forty days after the papal approbation he devoted himself to the instruction of children in Rome. When told that no one would come to his class, he answered: 'If only one child comes to my catechism, it is enough of an audience for me.' The Society followed the example of its founder with a hitherto unheard of zeal and enthusiasm... The Jesuits, moreover, developed a most meritorious activity in writing catechetical works, not less than one hundred and fifty having been published during the first century of their existence. The catechisms composed by Bellarmine and Canisius soon displaced all others." Indeed, the writing of catechisms has been one of the glories of the Society from the first decades of its existence. Dr. Knecht, Coadjutor Bishop of Freiburg, an eminent writer on catechetics, affirms that "the Jesuit Order has un-