Simão Rodrigues de Azevedo (1510,

Vouzela Vouzela () is a municipality in the district Viseu in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 10,564, in an area of 193.69 km2. The present mayor is Rui Ladeira, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The municipal holiday is May 14. Parish ...

, Portugal - 15 June 1579, Lisbon), also known in English as Simon Rodericks, was a Portuguese Jesuit

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and one of the co-founders of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

. A Portuguese nobleman, Rodrigues was one of the six very first companions of

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...

at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

who took

vows A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise, a promise solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a weddi ...

of poverty and chastity at the chapel of Montmartre, on the 15 August 1534. The group of 'Friends in the Lord' will ultimately form the nucleus of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

,cfr Etienne N. Degrez, ''Ten friends in the Lord'', in ''Ignis'', vol. XIII, 1984, pp.30-40. approved in 1540 (in '' Regimini militantis ecclesiae''). After some years working under the direction of Ignatius in

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, he was sent to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

, where his strong personality immediately attracted many young men to the Society and he became very influential at the royal court. Unfortunately, as the Provincial of the Portuguese Jesuits he allowed certain spiritual devotions to develop into extreme ascetical practices, and thus cause public scandal (night-time public calls to penance, with self-flagellation, in the streets of

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). Several letters of Ignatius, calling to restrain and obedience, fell on deaf ears. The province was in two minds as many Jesuits admired and respected him. Complaints were made and Rodrigues was recalled. Dragging his feet he finally reached Rome where, at his own request, he was tried (1544). His three Jesuit judges found him guilty of 'excesses and lack of obedience'. All penances were lifted by Ignatius except that he was not allowed to return to Portugal. He was assigned to other duties in Italy and, later,

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. Rodrigues was recalcitrant and for several years sought to overthrow the decision against him, but his appeals to friends he had made in high places were unsuccessful. Eventually, he gave up these attempts and returned to obedience. As an old man, he was allowed to go back to his native country, where, before dying, he wrote a history of the early years of the Society.

Bibliography

* ''A brief and exact account: the recollections of Simao Rodrigues on the origin and progress of the Society of Jesus'' (Introd. And commentary by Joseph F. Conwell), Saint-Louis (USA), Institute of Jesuit sources, 2004, 104pp.

References

External links

# https://web.archive.org/web/19971010040103/http://companhia-jesus.pt/intro/galeria.htm ( Portuguese site). (Retrieved 6 June 2007)
''St. Ignatius Writes to His Brethren: Selected Letters and Instructions of St. Ignatius of Loyola''
"On Being a Reconciler". Joseph N. Tylenda, S.J., Editor. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodrigues, Simao 1510 births 1579 deaths People from Vouzela 16th-century Portuguese Jesuits Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries University of Paris alumni Jesuit missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Portugal