Jesuit Journeys
Fall 2005

Ignatian Spirituality:
LISTENING TO THE SAINTS
Imagining a better way to seek God’s love

By Fr. Michael Kolb, SJ

When I started working in the drama program at Marquette University High School several years ago, I was intrigued by the emblem of the Prep Players, our school acting troupe. The “Prep Player Pin,” given to participants in dramatic productions, is essentially a miniature theatrical mask with a sword running through it. “Pretty morbid and macabre,” I thought. “How did that ever come about?” And, wondering again, I thought a little about why I was mucking about in theater and drama. For one, my friend and mentor Tom Brennan, SJ had been doing theatre for years at Marquette High. Wisconsin Province Jesuits such as Fr. George Drance, SJ and Fr. Grant Garinger, SJ were acting and directing. Moreover, surprising numbers of Jesuits were notably successful in different spheres of the arts. I wondered why this was the case. How did that ever come about?

The pin contained a clue, the larger mystery of which has strong links to history, Jesuit tradition, and Ignatian contemplation.

As it turns out, the Prep Players emblem that seemed odd to me is a stylized representation of St. Genesius, the patron of comedians and actors, who was martyred when the Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered him beheaded. And the seemingly odd conjoining of Jesuits and theatre can be traced back to one of the first Jesuit schools, the Collegio founded at Messina in 1548. The first play at a Jesuit school was produced there just three years later. In the ensuing years, Jesuit schools spread throughout Europe and the world, and theatre became a central feature of their curriculum. As schools of the Renaissance, these Jesuit institutions included Greek and Roman plays in the general instruction. Jesuit teachers justified theatrical productions as means of training in public speaking, of exercising the memory, learning Latin, and bringing fame to the masters and to the school.

Most surprising, given the general public’s view of theater and theater people at the time (and perhaps these days as well!), was that plays helped instill virtue in the performers and audiences. No doubt the classical tragedies and the miracle and mystery plays in public use, not to mention the thousands of original works produced by Jesuit teachers, did indeed present models of goodness for actors and audience.

I feel, however, there was more going on than that – that somehow those Jesuit teachers of yore were also tapping into the dynamism of the imagination so dear to St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises.

The story of Genesius points to the transforming power of imagination. Entering into a dramatic production, either as performer preparing a role or audience attending a play, is an exercise of imagination. For an actor, what exists only in the mind’s eye becomes reality. That bit of canvas and lath is really a wall. That person I despise is really now my lover. I, on stage, have become the character I play and, if I am really good, actually enter his world, see things from his angle, feel his feelings, think his thoughts.

Saint Genesius ---------------------- Patron Saint of Actors   Reputed to be an outstanding actor, playwright and comedian, Saint Genesius lived in the time of imperial Rome. It was a period when Christians were often discouraged from becoming actors because ancient Roman comedy was crude and offensive to Christian values.   In 303 AD, the Emperor Diocletian launched what would be the last great Roman persecution against the Christian Church. Genesius, according to legend, was a comedian of some renown and decided to use the opportunity presented by the persecution to write a comedy about Christianity. He thought it might well increase his fame and fortune by attracting the favorable attention of the emperor.   Genesius presented himself to the Christians as a catechumen, seeking Baptism as part of his research on the project. When he had learned enough for his purposes, Genesius deserted the catechumenate and returned to his acting troupe in order to compose his comedy. As he continued to work on his comedy and teach the other actors about baptism, he began to believe in what he was trying to mock. And a desire to be baptized began growing within his heart.   He tried to ignore the desire and carried on toward production. The opening night of the play was a great success with the Emperor Diocletian in attendance. Genesius portrayed a catechumen about to be baptized and deftly satirized the Christian sacrament to the delight of all in attendance. But in the midst of the play, which required extended periods of extemporaneous interaction between the actors, his role became his reality and he experienced a full conversion. At one point he turned to Diocletian and announced that, though he started his play to deride the Christian mysteries, he now felt they were true; that, while his original intent was to please an earthly Emperor with laughter and joy, he now wanted only to give joy to God and his angels. He publicly urged Diocletian to believe as well.   Furious, the emperor stopped the play and ordered the troupe arrested and beaten. Genesius’s fellow actors cursed the name of Jesus and cried out that Genesius was the only Christian among them. Genesius was tortured, yet through it all continued to confess that Jesus was God. Unable to break his spirit, Diocletian ordered Genesius beheaded. His feast day is August 25.

Genesius held the title of official master of revels and, as such, was commissioned to produce for Diocletian a satire about Christianity. In a key scene the main character, played of course by Genesius, is baptized. While playing the part, however, Genesius was suddenly inspired by the truth of what he was furiously mocking. He immediately broke character and delivered an improvised speech, encouraging his fellow players, the audience, and the emperor to see the errors of their ways and follow the Christian Way.

The laughter stopped as everyone gradually realiSzed the comedian was quite serious. The enraged Diocletian immediately seized a sword and struck off Genesius’s head. Or, as I tell the Prep Players, ran the sword through his head. (What’s wrong with a little literary license in retelling a legend?)

I think Genesius must have been a really good actor who dropped his usual persona of a pagan actor when he imaginatively assumed the persona of a Christian. For purposes of the play, he poured himself into it, and, doing that, the very target of his mockery suddenly made sense and filled him with passion.

Many weighty volumes have been written about Ignatian Contemplation by people who have studied and experienced it much more than I have. But to me it seems to be another form of using the imagination to simply pour yourself into a role. In making the Spiritual Exercises, the retreatant is directed to be Mary’s maid or Joseph’s helper; to look at that manger and feel the cold of a winter’s night; to hear the bleating of the sheep; smell the cow dung; watch the Holy Family.

Tapping even deeper into his or her imagination, the retreatant is instructed to not just observe the Holy Family, but to go ahead and talk to them about what is going on – ask them how they are feeling. What do you think about all this here in the stable? What do you feel interiorly?

Through the Exercises, Ignatius invites the retreatant to be someone else – a very minor supporting actor in the drama of salvation. The retreatant, suspending disbelief, completely enters an inspired world and takes on a new, fresh mindset. The imagination touches, fills, and leads the heart in a new way, one that is perhaps a bit closer to the Way. My sense is that Ignatius learned how powerful imagination can be while recovering from his broken leg after Pamplona, a time in which he imagined himself as one of the saints, and surprised himself with his own desire to help others do great things.

I am not the most outgoing guy in the world. Public speeches, homilies in large settings, important meetings can terrify and freeze me up quite effectively. It helps, when I have a chance, to bring the whole thing to the Lord and, if I can, contemplate things a bit. I try to see the faces, hear the voices, experience the environment there in my imagination. What will people say? How might they react? How might I approach all of this? And of course – there in my imagination – I am always witty, incisive, dynamic, and outstandingly successful in whatever the challenge might be. In preparing this way, I see new angles of approach to use and can feel the affection I have for the people involved. It is, perhaps, more of a “dry run in the Lord,” more positive visualization with Jesus than classic Contemplation. Yet when I pour myself into the role and scene beforehand with Jesus there, I find there is a much better chance that later I can focus on what is important rather than my own ego and my own fears.

There is a better chance that I will be a bit more aware of the presence of God in the real experience if I have first imagined it all with Him there too.

Contact Fr. Kolb at mkolb@jesuitswisprov.org.