This book is a collection of essays published in Jivan by its editor titled “Last word”. The essays range from comments on Jesuit life to the media and their impact, the place of women, and the changes affecting India and they are witty and perceptive.

A gallery of over one hundred and fifty Jesuits who have played a significant role in the history of the Society of Jesus and can be said to represent it. In the foreground, the actors: saints and scholars, missionaries and martyrs, intellectuals and explorers, a leading exponent of baroque music, and the most original of English poets. Without hiding the embarrassing characters; and the non-conformist, the courtier, the embittered, the visionary, the imprudent administrator, who brought disaster, and the popular singer who became an alcoholic but rose from the mire. The history of the Society of Jesus in its passion and its glory, told in a transparent and direct narrative, not limited to generalizations but coming down to earth, to capture it as it happens, fully human and throbbing with life. A flesh-and-blood history.

Profiles in Holiness, is a hallowed ‘gallery’ with pen-portraits of exemplary Jesuits from St Ignatius of Loyola the Founder of the Society of Jesus in the 16th century to St. Jose Rubio who was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 4 May 2003. Each ‘life’ through ‘heroic’ or ‘ordinary’ means. This book is arranged according to their respective feast-days. The book is so structured that it can be used for introductions to liturgical celebrations, as a resource for community prayer, or for spiritual and personal reflection.

An innovative approach to the biography of st Ignatius Loyola. The author traces the life of the saint step by step in three sections. The first section pieces together the historical realities in the life of st Ignatius. The second section registers the varied personality traits, events and experiences in Ignatius’ life. The third section contains reflections from varied sources, on relevant themes accruing from the previous sections and related to the Ignatian Spirit.

This work is essentially an introductory study, on a basically chronological pattern, meant to recall important events and features of the Jesuit apostolate, as well as to throw light on notable problems and personalities. The short history is factual and narrative, rather than interpretative or evaluative, but is hoped that it will enlighten and inspire the reader through a better knowledge of the Jesuits in India.