"Inscrutable are the designs of Divine Providence", we are told. There's a divinity that shapes our ends" says Shakespeare in Hamlet. The truth of these statements is very strikingly furnished in the life of Fr Hugh Ryan, one of the pioneers of the Jesuit Mission who arrived in Mangalore two years after the landing of the first batch of Jesuits.
It is related how Hugh's father wanted him to study for the Indian Civil Service and to serve in India possibly as a Collector, a Judge, or as someone even higher. With this end in view, he entered the Trinity College, Dublin, where he spent two and a half years. Inspite of his putting in his best efforts, however, he could not make the mark in the various examinations he had to undergo.
It was in his failure in one of the examinations that he clearly saw the finger of God and His plans for his future life. He was destined for another kind of 1.C.S., as it were 'Indian Church Service'. His thoughts were diverted to a direction to which his heart had often aspired and which eventually led him to serve India on a higher plane.
He had a yearning, a longstanding one for priesthood. Now he made a retreat at Milltown Park and resolved to let the dream shape itself into a reality. It is the ardent desire of many a pious mother that her children should receive from God a call to priesthood or religious life. When Hugh wrote to his mother to let her know of the resolution, he had taken she must have hailed the news with tears of joy.
Long and unforgettable has been the association between Ireland and India and distinguished has been the record of service which the Irish have rendered to this country- whether as priests or nuns, as Civil servants or soldiers. Fr Ryan was the first Irish Jesuit to come to labour at Mangalore, which town has sometimes been called The Ireland of India', for its staunch faith and intense Catholic life.
Fr Hugh Ryan was born at Sourteen, County Limerick, Ireland, on 2nd November 1843 of affluent, yet saintly parents. He was one of a family of nine boys and one girl. Two of the boys became priests and the only girl became a nun. His eldest brother was a Major General in the army. His priest brother, Cannon Arthur Ryan was the President of St. Patrick's College, Thurles, Ireland. V
Speaking of Hugh's youthful years spent at home, Canon Ryan says: "A most cheery companion he was, and most thoughtful. We all looked upon him as the wisest and the holiest in the family. In this, he walked in his father's footsteps, who, though a sportsman, was a pious man- a man of much prayer. We all have reason to thank God for such parents, such a brother and such a truly Christian home".
His sister Alice, who later become Sr Alphonse Marie of the Assumption Order, London, was Hugh's favourite companion in his early days at home. Speaking of her brother Hugh, she says: "We sometimes used to disagree, but after a moment, we were in each other's arms, asking for forgiveness. He had a very kind heart and never liked us to kill the slugs that used to eat up the flowers in our garden. When we grew up, he was my constant companion in walks and rides. We used to say the Rosary coming home and had always serious conversation on the things of God, which was a favourite subject for us both. I always looked up to Hugh".
He was educated at St. Mary's College, Oscott, England. Here he won the hearts of all his comrades by his loveable disposition. He was a model student and capital athlete and soon merited the coveted distinction of being dubbed Public Man"- the term applied at Oscott to the best all round student. Few could excel him in feats of walking and running. He could wield a cricket bat with the same ease and facility as he could fire a crack shot. He was a fearless rider to hounds.
After the years spent at Trinity, Hugh began his two years of Noviceship on the 1st of November 1865 in the Novitiate of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, at Manresa house, Roehampton, near London. During this period, he utilized every opportunity to lay a solid foundation for a sound religious formation which served as the bedrock for his future ministry. He was greatly influenced by the Rule drawn up by St. Ignatius of Loyola and his wonderful Spiritual Exercises that have done so much to sanctify the world. His was an earnest, active and even enthusiastic temperament. Now he strengthened and spiritualized and elevated it by the supernatural qualities which he endeavoured to develop by submitting himself readily to the influence of the Ignatian Rule.
Writes one of his contemporaries in the Novitiate: "If I am to try to draw the picture, I shall set him down as re markable for his extreme amiability and gentleness. You always felt, when you were with him, that you were with a saint and that he was a saint of the attractive class." Speaking about the wonderful mastery he exercised over himself, it is related that his two years of life as a novice, passed by without his ever letting any of his fellow novices know that he had been a sportsman in the world, though at the same time he was always an interested listener to them when they related their exploits with road or gun.
After studying Philosophy at Stoneyhurst, under the celebrated Fr Joseph Bayma S.J., he went to St. Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool, for his period of teaching. While he was there, his predilection for India would manifest itself whenever anything in History or Geography gave him an opportunity for dwelling on it.
In 1873, he was sent to the Jesuit Theological Seminary at St. Beuno's, North Wales, where he was ordained a Priest. Speaking of this event his brother Canon Ryan Says: "I was present for the Ordination with my mother and shall never forget the radiant happiness of the saintly mother and the saintly son.”
The year 1878 saw him back again at college work, at Mount St. Mary's Chesterfield, near Sheffield. The following year, he went to Paray-le-Monial in France, in order to go through the third year of probation, or the second novitiate that completes a Jesuit's spiritual training.
When at last he was beaten into shape as a full-fledged Jesuit after years of formation, studies and training and filled with zeal to do great things for Christ, he was informed that from now on India would be his field of labours. What was the impact on him of the assignment under obedience, which his Superiors had given him? What were his innermost thoughts and the visions that he conjured up in his mind about the prospect of going to distant India? Was he one of those who had been told that India was an underdeveloped country of half-naked fakirs, where snakes crawled on dining tables and Bengal tigers roamed across the streets? We have no information on these points, but we can be sure that the fresh young Irish Jesuit, like a true soldier of Christ and loyal son of Ignatius of Loyola, was fully prepared to face the challenges of his overseas ministry with courage and confidence, ready to undergo any difficulty or sacrifices.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
In the year 1878, the Mission of Mangalore had been transferred from the care of the Carmelites to the Venetian Province of the Society of Jesus. Fathers Ryan and Sargent were asked to join the staff of the Fathers who were to work at the St. Aloysius College, which was first opened at Mrs. Magdalen Coelho's bungalow, Codialbail, on January 12, 1880.
Fr Ryan arrived in Mangalore on January 28th, 1880. There was little in common between the land of his birth and that of his adoption, except perhaps the bond of faith in the immediate circle in which he would move. Strange must have been his first impressions of a place so different from his own, in climate, in people and their way of life. Yet, within the short span of a decade of life, which God gave him to labour in his new vineyard, he endeared himself to everyone with whom he came in contact.
He took up teaching and soon proved to be a successful Teacher. He loved his work and was conscientious, devoted, eager and painstaking in preparing his daily lessons. "What is worth doing at all, is worth doing well," was his principle in life. He was an outstanding professor of English and such was his reputation that there was a rush for admissions to the College. This won for the College a recognition as one of the best English teaching educational institutions in the Madras Presidency of his time.
Fr Ryan's sphere of activity was not confined to the classroom alone. He was also the Prefect of Games and took great pains to train the boys in the various games and athletic sports. He himself was a great sportsman and athlete while he was at Oscott and he was able to utilize his knowledge and experience to coach young students to their fullest advantage. With unflagging interest, he would watch and instruct young men at play. When they were trained to his satisfaction, he would put them against other teams or clubs in the town and it was a pleasure to behold the keen interest with which he would watch the game and the joy that would beam on his countenance, when his Blue Caps" scored a victory. Whether on the sports field or in the classroom, Fr Ryan was ever alert that there should not be the slightest deviation from the rules ef social decorum. With great tact and delicacy, he would set before them what was good form, to which he would have them conform themselves. And he evidently felt that his labours were bearing fruit. In a letter written after Father Ryan's death his mother declares:
“He liked the place and loved the Fathers, above all his Indian boys in whom he requested me to take a 'granny's' interest by praying for them, He was never tired of praising their diligence and anxiety to learn, their natural gentlemanlike deportment etc."
Fr. Ryan never forgot his pupils who had left the College. He followed their careers in the world with great interest and solicitude. Many would come to meet their quondam Professor. He remembered them specially at the time of their Annual Retreat and would invite the young men to their Alma Mater to share in the spiritual feast she was about to offer them. He conceived the idea of an Annual Retreat for all the Catholic gentlemen of the town and the large number that attended amply justified the confidence he reposed in the good will of the people of Mangalore.
The climate of India and his austere way of life, added to his unremitting toil, had been secretly undermining his health. His throat became seriously affected, and virulent fever followed. The symptoms that soon developed became so alarming that it was plain that the end could not be far. When he was told that prayers were being offered for his recovery, he answered with a smile: "Give up praying for me. It is better for me to die and go to Heaven". His course was run, the good fight was fought and in the stillness of the night of April 16, 1890, he went to his heavenly reward. Jesuits, according to the wishes of their revered Founder, are buried without any public demonstration. But in this case an exception was made, and in response to popular request the funeral procession made a detour of the town blessed by his labours, before his mortal remains were laid to rest in front of the High Altar of the College Chapel. On April 16, 1901, the eleventh anniversary of his death, old friends and pupils of Father Ryan assembled in the College Chapel to take part in the unveiling ceremony of a handsome mural tablet of Carrara marble over his grave.
Fr Ryan is no more, but his spirit still lives amongst us and the impact of his personality and character, ideology and philosophy of life will continue to inspire generations to come. The history of the Church in our country is adorned with the splendid figures of pioneers and stalwarts who came to us from abroad to enrich, by their selfless dedication, the cultural and spiritual life of millions in this country. In that galaxy, Fr Ryan merits a worthy place, setting into bold relief. the valuable contribution made by the Society of Jesus to the progress and development of India in general, and in this particular context, to the Mangalore Mission and now to the Karnataka Province, for nearly a hundred years.
This above material is taken from the book "Restless for Christ - Lives of Select Jesuits who toiled in the Karnataka Province" Series - III
No comments:
Post a Comment