Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/416

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ALVAREZ
374
ALZATE

(6) "Responsionum liber ultimus hoc titulo: Opus præclarum nunquam hâctenus editum, in quo argumentis validissimis concordia liberi arbitrii cum divinâ præscientiâ, prædestinatione, et efficaciâ gratiæ prævenientis ad mentem S. Thomæ et omnium defenditur et explicatur" (Douai, 1635); (7) "Operis de auxiliis divinæ gratiæ et humani arbitrii viribus et libertate, ac legitimâ ejus cum efficaciæ eorumdem auxiliorum concordiâ summa, in IV libros distincta" (Lyons, 1620; Cologne, 1621; Trani, 1625); (8) "De incarnatione divini verbi disputationes LXXX; in quibus explicantur et defenduntur, quæ in tertiâ parte summæ theologicæ docet S. Thomas a Q. 1 ad 24" (Lyons, 1614; Rome, 1615; Cologne, 1622); (9) "Disputationes theologicæ in primam secundæ S. Thomæ, in quibus præcipua omina quæ adversus doctrinam ejusdem et communem Thomistarum a diversis auctoribus impugnantur, juxta legitimum sensum præceptoris angelici explicantur et defenduntur" (Trani, 1617; Cologne, 1621).

Echard, Scriptores Ordinis Prædicatorum (Paris, 1721), II, 481; Ughelli, Italia Sacra (Venice, 1720), VII, 1240; Hurter, Nomenclator (Innsbruck, 1892), I, 263; H. Serry, Historia Congregationum de Auxiliis (Antwerp, 1709).

Alvarez, Manoel, educator, b. on the island of Madeira, 1526; d, at Evora, 30 December 1582. In 1546 he entered the Society of Jesus, taught the classical languages with great success, and was rector of the colleges of Coimbra and Evora. Among the more than three hundred Jesuits who have written text-books on different languages, he takes the foremost place. His Latin grammar was adopted as a standard work by the Ratio Studiorum, or Plan of Studies, of the Jesuits. Perhaps no other grammar has been printed in so many editions; Sommervogel, in his "Bibliothèque de la compagnie de Jésus," devotes twenty-five columns to a list of about four hundred editions of the whole work, or parts of it, published in Europe, Asia, and America. There exist also numerous translations into various languages: Bohemian, Croatian, Flemish, French, German, Hungarian, Illyrian, Italian, Polish, Spanish. An edition with Chinese translation appeared in Shanghai in 1869. A very interesting edition is one published in Japan in 1594, with partial translation into Japanese. An English edition, "An Introduction to the Latin Tongue, or First Book of Grammar", appeared in 1686. In many editions the text of Alvarez is changed considerably, others are abridgments. The ordignal work contains many valuable suggestions for the teacher. On this account it is more than a mere grammar; it is also a work on the method of teaching Latin, and gives an insight into the system of the old Jesuit colleges. The book was the subject of several controversies. Even Jesuits, in the "Trial Ratio" of 1586, raised six objections, and desired, particularly, a better arrangement of some parts and greater clearness. After the publication of Latin grammars by De Condren, the Oratorian, and by Lancelot, of Port-Royal, both in French, the work of Alvarez was frequently censured, because it was written in Latin, and "presupposed what was to be learnt". Still, there were advantages in the course followed by Alvarez. To be sure, to beginners everything was explained in the vernacular; but the early use of a grammar written in Latin accustomed the pupils to speaking and writing that language. Without some practice of this kind a thorough knoledge of a language can hardly be obtained, and in former centuries a facility in speaking and writing Latin, which was the universal language of the educated world, was of the greatest importance. At the present day Jesuit colleges use modern grammars, thereby accomodating themselves to new conditions and changed educational ideas.

Emmanuelis Alvari, De Institutione Grammaticâ Libr. Tres (A good edition fo the complete work is that published in Paris, 1850); Schwickerath, Jesuit Education (St. Louis 1904); Sommervogel, Bibliotheque de la compagnia de Jesus (Brussels and Paris, 1890); Pachter, Monumenta Germaniæ Paedagogica (Berlin, 1887); Schmid, Geschichte der Erzichung (Stuttgart, 1892). III, part I.

Alvarez de Paz, a famous mystic of the Society of Jesus, b. at Toledo in 1560; d. at Potosi, 17 January, 1620. He entered the Society in 1578, taught theology and philosophy at Lima, and was Provincial of Peru. He acknowledged to his confessor that, during all the distracting occupations of twenty-five years, his union with God had never been interrupted. Sometimes, during his sermons, he fell into ecstasy and had to be carried from the pulpit. The fame of his sanctity was so great in South America, that, when he arrived, in a dying condition, at Potosi, the whole city came out to receive his blessing. On the day of his death 100,000 men in the silver mines stopped work to assist at his obsequies. He is said to have had the gift of prophecy, and it is reported that after his death his body remained incorrupt. Hunter says of the three folio volumes of his works: "Summi aestimantur; rara et cara sunt". His first treatise is "De viât spirituali ejusque perfectione" (1608); his second, "De exterminatione mali et promotione boni: (1613); his third, "De inquisitione pacis, sive de studio orationis" (1611). The work has been widely used in compendiums, extracts, and translations. In the opinion of a recognized authority on mysticism, Father Poulain, S.J., writing in Vacant, "his bent is not so much to observe patiently, as to philosophize and display much erudition. He is the first to use the expression oratio affectiva, implying a species of contemplation or meditation in which the affections dominate. He does not appear to have read St. Teresa, whose works were just published, and he may be regarded as one of the last representatives of the ancient schools of mysticism."

Hurter, Nomenclator; Sommervogel, Bibliotheque de la c. de J. I, 252; Poulain in Dict. de théol. cath.; Varones ilustres, IV.

Alypius, Saint, the bosom friend of St. Augustine, though younger than he, was, after studying under Augustine at Milan, conspicuous at first as a magistrate in Rome. He abandoned that honour to follow his master into the Church. It is noteworthy that there is no mention of him as a saint in the ancient catalogues. His name was placed in the Roman Martyrology by Gregory XIII, in 1584, the evidence of his sanctity being sufficiently clear from the account of his life by St. Augustine. His conversion began when Augustine was still a Manichæan, and occurred in consequence of a discussion about the folly of those who give way to sensual indulgence. A relapse occurred subsequently, when he was dragged by some friends to witness the savage games of the arena; but the final step was taken when, in company with Augustine, in obedience to the voice, Tolle, lege, he read the text of St. Paul, Non in commessationibus, etc. They were both baptized by St. Ambrose, at Milan. After living for some time with Augustine, in the monastery of Hippo, he was made Bishop of Tagaste. This was in the year 394, and took place after his return from the Holy Land, where he had seen St. Jerome. Under his guidance Tagaste reproduced the sanctity, learning, monastic exactness, and orthodoxy of Hippo. The exact date of his death is not known, but his festival is kept on 15 August.

Acta Sanctorum, 15 August; Butler, 15 August.

Alzate, José Antonio, b. at Ozumba, Mexico, in 1738; d. in 1799. Alzate, who was a priest, was one