Opieka duchowa w szkolnictwie jezuickim od XVI do XVIII wieku
Spiritual Care in Jesuit Education from the 16th to the 18th Century

Summary/Abstract: The subject of this study is the issue of spiritual care provided by the professors of Old Polish Jesuit schools to their students, and it is presented in order to show the foundations of this phenomenon, its multifaceted nature, and its benefits for students and the society. The starting point is the problem of spiritual care as a key element of the activities of the Society of Jesus. The following issues are discussed: spiritual exercises, work of the Jesuits in Sodalities and at school (especially with reference to recreation, school theatre and exhortations). Various types of source materials were used to analyse these issues: from “directories” of spiritual exercises and methodological manuals for teachers, to lecture scripts and school notebooks. As a result, it can be concluded that the Jesuit professors in the period from the 16th to the 18th century worked with schoolchildren with a view to their spiritual development, fulfilling this goal, especially in individual work with students selected within the Marian Sodality. It should also be noted that the literature on the subject lacks a comprehensive and extensive study of this issue, which, taking into account the specific nature of the Jesuits’ work, should also be extended to work with people from outside the school.

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