JESUIT RATIO STUDIORUM OF 1599
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Letter of Transmission of the Ratio of 1599
Rules of the Provincial
Common Rules of Professors of the Higher Faculties
Rules of the Prefect of Lower Studies
Rules for Written Examinations
Laws for Prizes
Common Rules for the Teachers of the Lower Classes
Rules of the Scholastics of the Society
Instruction for Those Engaged in the Two-Year Review of Theology
Rules of the Academy
Notes to the Translation
The scholastics of our Society should make it their chief endeavor to preserve purity of conscience and a right intention in their studies. They should not seek anything in their studies except the glory of God and the good of souls. In their prayers they should frequently beg for grace to make progress in learning so as at length to fulfill the Society’s hope that by their example and learning they will become able workers in the vineyard of Christ our Lord. They should keep firm and constant their resolution to apply themselves to their studies. Just as they must take care that in their zeal for study their love of solid virtues and of religious life does not become lukewarm, so too they must persuade themselves that while they are in the colleges they can do nothing more pleasing to God than to devote themselves wholeheartedly to studies with the intention stated above. They should be convinced that the very labor of studying, undertaken out of obedience and charity, as it should be, is a work highly meritorious in the sight of the divine and supreme Majesty even though they may never have occasion to employ what they have learned. They must apply themselves to those branches of knowledge and attend the lectures of such professors as the superior determines. All should follow faithfully the time order and the method of study prescribed by the prefect of studies or their professor. They are to use only the books given them by the prefect. They should be faithful in attendance at the lectures, diligent in preparing for them beforehand and afterwards in reviewing them. They should ask about points they do not understand and note down what may be useful later on to assist the memory.
2 They are to participate in the customary disputations of the classes which they attend, and in doing so should try to distinguish themselves by their learning and modesty. Besides, all must be present at the private disputations and repetitions held daily, and the disputants must be exact in obeying the one who presides. When they go to attend public classes, they should go and return with one another and conduct themselves with such interior and exterior modesty as will benefit themselves and be an example to others. When they have permission to speak with extern students, their conversation should be only about studies and spiritual matters as shall be judged most profitable for everyone concerned to the greater glory of God. All, especially the students of the humanities, must speak Latin. They are to commit to memory what their teachers have assigned, and they should diligently cultivate their style in writing. No one should apply himself to reading or writing for more than two hours without taking a brief respite. During the hours devoted to private study, those who are attending the courses of the higher faculties should read over at home the notes they have taken in class to make sure that they understand them. Each should test his understanding by proposing objections to himself and attempting to answer them. He should take note of what he cannot answer so that he can ask questions or argue the point.
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