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| Fr Angelo Mutti, SJ |
Fr Angelo Mutti was born in a very respectable family in the Province of Bergamo, in Italy on 30th April, 1844. On completing his classical and scientific studies in the Diocesan Seminary he joined the Jesuit Novitiate on 14th August, 1861. Sometimes just one circumstance in one's life reveals the man. This is so in the life of Fr Angelo Mutti, and the circumstance is his choice of the Jesuit way of life. As a mature seminarian he decided to become a Jesuit because the Society of Jesus was the most maligned association of men; whence he concluded that it must be of special merit. He had understood the transcendental doctrine of the Cross, the ways of the world, the Ignatian spirit of the Spiritual Exercises, in a word, what it is to be a companion of Jesus crucified.
After his full course of Jesuit training- he had 14 years of it in spite of his having had a course in the seminary- Fr Mutti was ordained priest in 1876. It was the time when Mangalore was appealing to Rome for Jesuits. On 27th September 1878, (incidentally on the anniversary of the Confirmation of the Society of Jesus), by a papal brief the Mangalore Mission was entrusted to the Jesuits. The Jesuit General entrusted it to the Jesuits of the Venetian Province. Fr Mutti, a young priest of 32 years, was chosen to join the band of the Pioneers. He set sail with others on November, 27th, 1878. The following letter addressed by him to the Provincial in Italy gives us an interesting account of the first days of the Jesuit Mission. It also reveals the man, his inner sentiments, his zeal and fervor. Here is the letter:
BOMBAY, 21 DECEMBER 1878.
"With a heart filled to overflowing with the liveliest consolation at the thought of having at last reached the long sighed-for land, I take up my pen to give Your Reverence a brief account of our voyage hither. On November 27, we left Naples where our Fathers had given us a most cordial Welcome. Though the sea was placid enough, still some of our missionary band were sea-sick. Our fellow-voyagers were an excellent set; all Englishmen, barring three young Italians bent on exploring the Dark Continent, and a Frenchman who yearly visits Mangalore in the interests of trade and returns to France in May. The last-named gentleman served us in lieu of a guide-book to Mangalore. He spoke to us at considerable length of our destination and told us that the highest expectations were formed of the good we were going to achieve. Foremost among the requirements of the people is a first-rate College to enable youth to obtain the best education available.
"Except during the first two days of our voyage, we were able to celebrate Mass daily in our cabins, and on Sunday in public. The "Rubattino" steamers are all that one can wish for; every facility is given us to offer the Holy Sacrifice in public, and abstinence fare is offered us on Friday. This will doubtless interest those who are destined to follow us in the near future. On Dec. 11, we anchored off Aden, and on the 19th we reached Bombay, that is, a couple of days later than we should have, owing to unfavourable weather. Here we were received most cordially by Bishop Mourin, and no less hearty a reception awaited us from our Fathers in St. Xavier's College. In the College, for the first time we made the acquaintance of Father Pagani of the Province of Naples, who has been appointed to be the Pro-Vicar Apostolic and Superior of the Mission entrusted to us. He is forty-five years of age, and I do believe that no better qualified person could have been selected for the post of trust and responsibility. We went out to have a look at the various establishments conducted in this city by our Fathers of the German Province: My heart felt a keen pang of sorrow as I moved about for the first time in the great city which can boast of a population of 600,000 inhabitants, out of whom not more than 20,000 are Catholics. It is in truth a Babylon, where our Lord Jesus Christ is unknown except to a very few, and what is sadder still, it seems an almost hopeless task to get them to know him. There is a ceaseless ebb and flow of people totally absorbed in trade and in thought of trade, and among them the still small voice that speaks of the Almighty is well nigh stifled.
"Your reverence has no doubt heard that the body of St. Francis Xavier will be exposed in Old Goa to the veneration of the faithful from 3rd Dec. to 6th Jan. Most of the Fathers of the Bombay Mission will be going to Goa, the land of shrines, to venerate the holy remains of the Apostle of India. I look upon it as a special manifestation of the Saint's patronage over us that, prior to our arrival in Mangalore, we shall be able to contemplate the great Missionary who did and suffered so much for the various peoples of the East.
"We are told that the good people of Mangalore are making great preparations to give us a right royal welcome. Today we had the consolation of a visit from four prominent gentlemen of Mangalore. They assure us of a most cordial reception. The Catholics of Canara expect us to open a magnificent College in no way inferior to the far-famed institution of Bombay. It is easier said than done; but we have been trying to impress upon our good friends the fact that Rome was not built in one day, and that great works are the product of unceasing toil and persevering sacrifice.
"In deference to Very Rev. Fr General's wishes, Monsignor Meurin has been pleased to add three Fathers to our band, so that the first batch of Jesuit missionaries to Mangalore is made up of Fathers Nicholas Pagani, Augustinus Muller, Otho Ehrle, Urban Stein, Quintinus Sani, Angelo Maffei and Brothers Francis Zamboni, Matthew Meneghetti and my own poor self. "I remain your humble servant, who earnestly commends himself to your Holy Sacrifices and prayers.
Angelo Mutti, S.J.
On 31st December Fr Mutti with the others landed on the shores of Mangalore at about 10 a. m. They were received with bouquets and garlands and welcoming address under a spacious pandal erected for the purpose at Bunder.
In terms of the number of years Fr Mutti's life is insignificant: 42 years of life, 25 in religion and just 8 in the Mission Field. But it is for the work he turned out and, what is more, the zeal and fervour with which it was turned out that he deserves a pioneer's rank more than for the mere fact of his having been one of the first nine that landed in Mangalore. He did the work of a pioneer as the builder of the College, as the Procurator of the nascent Mission, as the first Director of the Infant Codialbail Press and as the first priest-municipal-councillor. Varied works but carried out with the same zeal and spirit in Christ. In the Catalogue of the Province we find him filling up these offices.
Fr Mutti loved work and was dedicated to it with a sense of duty and the enthusiasm of a zealous priest, of a Jesuit. Having to manage five or six works at the same time entailed heavy work, method in work, and of course a lot of patience and spending of energy. As the builder of the college, he had to see to the plans, their execution and financing. Here is how an eye witness describes the work at the college premises in his graphic style.
"........It was in 1880. Presently there came a band of workmen with spades and pickaxes led by a priest whom they called Fr Mutti...they started digging on all sides and from the foundation there went up as if by magic lofty walls with a forest of slender pillars and graceful arches. The walls of Thebes rose not faster to the sound of Amphion's lyre.... The roofing of the church seemed like a canopy flung over the walls by angel hands.... Fr Mutti next turned his attention to the altar in the sanctuary. I was an eye witness of this scene. I was beside himself with joy and ran up the steps and having Kissed the altar in the centre turned round and said "Dominus Vobis Cum". The workmen laughed, but Fr Mutti with a gentle smile took me by the hand and said "Not quite yet my Child....The time will come for that. Now come and help me to carry the statue of St Aloysius to the niche in the altar." Two sturdy men carried the statue while I was happy to be the bearer of the Crucifix which St Aloysius holds in his hand."
The building of the College and its financing was enough of work for one; but, for want of men he had to shoulder other work of heavy responsibility too. To him was entrusted the office of Procurator of the Mission which, particularly in those days was a comprehensive term implying that he had to have an eye to every need and to keep himself in readiness for any emergency. He had to help develop the work of the Codialbail Press which was in its initial stages under Br Doneda.
But incessant work often carried far into the night-for that was the only time when he could be alone to finish off the day's accounts as procurator of the Province and write his letters to friends and benefactors in Europe- and exposure to the changes of weather to which he was total stranger began to tell on his health. He suffered from constant colds which quickly developed into tuberculosis. The best available care and attention of medical men of the time proved of little avail, so that in 1885 he was ordered to leave India for a complete change. His sojourn in Europe benefitted him so greatly that it was believed to have wrought a lasting cure. So at his own pressing request he was allowed once again to return to India. Once in India, heedless of self Fr Mutti applied himself assiduously to whatever task lay before him. He resumed most of his former duties and responsibilities, his only concern in all these being the welfare of his brethren in religion or the Diocesan Clergy or the good of the town. No doubt his self-sacrificing, self-effacing life won the hearts of all who came in contact with him. Hence it was as a signal mark of the high esteem in which he was held by all classes of the Mangalore people he was elected to represent them at the Municipal Council. He was prevailed upon to accept this office and yeilding to the consensus of popular opinion he accepted it solely in the hope of being able to do something for the welfare of the public. The people had full faith and confidence in his sense of judgement and justice. * (*A remarkable instance of his ability as well as of the confidence reposed in him was his successful arbitration of the celebrated Pejar (Calvar) case, which he was asked to take up when it had drawn on for twelve years.)
But the strain of a daily round of heavy work was too much for a constitution already broken. The old complaint, which had but temporarily relaxed its hold reasserted itself with renewed severity and once again on the imperative advice of the doctors he returned to Europe. On the occasion of his departure, he was presented with a beautiful address, and a purse to found a handsome prize in the College for which he had sacrificed his life.
After a short stay in the Jesuit College of the Holy Family in Cairo, in 1886 he moved further away to the quiet Jesuit Residence at Modena. As the malady worsened he retired to Torre Boldone, his birth place. This time change of climate had failed to effect any change in his shattered constitution. He sank slowly and fully resigned to the will of God, which was ever his goal in life, he died peacefully. "The news of his death," wrote one, "'occasioned the most profound grief in Mangalore which he had loved so dearly and for which he had labored so successfully. Seldom has the tribute of sincere grief and affection been more demonstrative than on the occasion of the obsequies in the College chapel." The funeral oration was delivered by the powerful orator Fr Hoene. The Mission has not seen the like of him and never will" was a prominent layman's appreciation of Fr Mutti at the time. A marble slab was put up in the portico of the College by Mr Martin Pais in grateful recognition of the services rendered by him.
And now how shall we his brothers a hundred years after, judge him, his work and draw fruit from his life? He spent six years only in Mangalore and yet the result of his life and work is a lasting memorial. It is worth trying to enter the very heart and mind of Fr Mutti to understand the man.
Shall we admire him for his activity? Some of the Communists and enemies of the Church are more active. Shall we admire him for his buildings? Certainly, the college is a work of architecture. But brick and mortar are but mighty toys that go the way of toys in time. And have not others built greater works of the type?
Shall we praise him for the money he collected for the infant Mission, for the College? Very creditable though it was in those days his collection fades away before the sums collected by others especially in our days.
Nothing then remains of the work of one of our pioneers! Well to human eyes it seems so but let us look at his life and work with the eyes of Faith, with divine eyes.
He was a companion of Christ in his patience, in his suffering and in his zeal for souls. These three seem to have been his motive power in his work, in his suffering, in his resignation to the will of God,
Fr Mutti was a man of Patience: Day to day, hour to hour patience in his multifarious work was his lot. Patience when his limited time was intruded upon by simple people: patience with the workers; patience with the climate and food new to him in a new land: with the customs, manners and language of the new people with whom he had to move. Fr Mutti was human and quite young too. We well know how hard it is for a young; zealous soul to be patient. And if under such circumstances he never lost patience he would not be quite human. I can well imagine him losing patience and swearing (fortunately, I hope, in Italian). Perhaps some modern psychologist may look upon patience as something negative. cowardly, wanting in courage, helpless enduring. But a little study of it with a little common sense will bring home to us the powerful positive aspect of patience, The stamina, the constant self-discipline that was needed to keep oneself cool in times of stress, in fatigue, in dealings with people of different mentality, and patience day in and day out with the handicap of language too, speaks much for the supernatural attitude and strength of Fr Mutti.
Fr Mutti was a man of suffering too: God's ways are not man's ways. "My thoughts are not your thoughts" says the Lord. Young, energetic, full of plans and initiative Fr Mutti was struck down with the serious disease of Tuberculosis. What did it mean? Physical and mental suffering. Physical, because it was a painful and a wasting disease and medical aid was hardly available those days in Mangalore. Fr Mutti bore it well with his usual strength of will and spiritual stamina. It also meant spiritual struggle. Not yet forty, in full manhood with his mind full of plans and his hands busy with a number of works, was it very easy for Fr Mutti to say a "Yes" to God's will; to leave all and go back to Europe to recoup his shattered health? He bowed to the will of God, returned to Europe for a short period. And even then always self-effacing he brooded not on his health but about his dear Mission and strove to collect funds for the College and the Mission. No sooner he felt improved he returned to his work in India only to go back with a relapse. In his early forties, he bowed to the will of God once again and retired from the hectic work for God in the Misson field to the quiet life of a Spiritual Father and Confessor but, equally, for God. Wasted away physically but ever strong in God's life he passed away in his forty second year of age.
The founder of one of our outstanding works, the St Aloysius College, he held high the standard of submission to the will of God in life and death, in work and rest. The College is founded on his life's sacrifice, the province was nurtured by his untiring work. Let us learn to read between the lines and draw abundant fruit from his example.
Fr Angelo Mutti was not to enjoy the fruit of his labours. He just sowed the seed; others were to reap rich harvest from it. We have been and still are reaping that harvest. In doing so let us not forget that the seed was sowed in rich soil: the soil of Fr Mutti's untiring patience, self-sacrificing labour; his suffering and resignation to the will of God. It was noted in his obituary that he died in far off Italy but with his heart in Mangalore. For sure, he is with us, his Jesuit brothers and will lend a helping hand in our task to educate in Christ young hearts and minds. Mangalorean Catholics as well as non-Catholics unanimously voted for him to represent them at the Municipal Council. At his departure to Europe they showered their affection on him and founded a prize to perpetuate his memory; in death they freely shed tears for him. Will he not as our special representative at the throne of God help us to follow in the footsteps of Christ to win Mangalore and India to Christ? He was not only one of the first to begin our Province, but also the first member of the Province to go to heaven.
Father Angelus Mutti, S.J. Life in years
1844-30 Apr. Born in Redona (Bergamo)
1861-14 Aug. Joined The Society
1876 Ordained Priest
1878-15 Aug. Final Vows
1878, 27 Nov. Sailed from Naples on the S. S. "Rubattino" with Fr Maffei, Fr Sani, Bro. Zamboni and Bro. Meneghetti
1878, 19 Dec. They safely land at Bombay, where they are joined by Monsignor Pagani, Fr Ehrle and Fr Stein
1878, 26 Dec. They all sail from Bombay and touch Goa, where they venerate the exposed body of St Francis Xavier
1878, 31 Dec. They all safely land in MANGALORE THIS IS THE FIRST BATCH OF JESUITS SENT FROM ROME TO START THE NEW JESUIT MISSION OF MANGALORE
1879 Procurator of the Mission residing at Codialbail
1880 Procurator of the Mission & Secretary to the Pro- vice. Apost. of Mangalore
1880 Procurator of the Mission and goes to Rome to collect funds for the college building & returns.
1881 Continues to hold the same office
1882 Continues to hold the same office
1883 Continues to hold the same office
1883, 29 Sep. Inauguration of the Codialbail Press
1884 Continues to hold the same office
1884, 22 Sep. Returns to Europe broken in health
1885 At the Holy Family College, Cairo, Egypt
1886 Spiritual Father at the Residence in Modena.
1886 3 Sep. Passed away in the Lord at Torre Beldene, Bergamo, at the age of 42
In the Society- 25,
In the Priesthood- 10,
In the Mission- 6
This material is taken from the book "Restless for Christ - Lives of Select Jesuits who toiled in the Karnataka Province" Series - I
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