LANCICIUS, NICHOLAS (LECZYCKI), VEN.

Jesuit ascetical writer; b. Nesvizh (Nieswiesz), Lithuania, Dec. 10, 1574; d. Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania, March 16, 1652. Through his constant study of apologetic writings he was converted from calvinism. Two years later, Feb. 17, 1592, he entered the Society of Jesus at Cracow. He studied at Rome under R. bellarmine and F. suÁrez. After his ordination in 1601, he worked with Niccolò Orlandini seeking documents for the history of the society. When Orlandini died in 1606, Lancicius became the spiritual father of the Roman College. After 1608 he was in Poland, where he taught Hebrew, Scripture, and theology at the Academy of Wilna. He was then made the rector of the college at Kalisz (Kalisch) and Cracow, and was provincial of the Lithuanian Province (1631–35). During these years of administration he was able to keep up a direct apostolate among the people as well as to write ascetical works and books on the spirit and organization of the Society of Jesus. Among his principal works are: De meditationibus rerum divinarum, De condicione boni superioris, De efficacia S.mae Eucharistiae ad profectum spiritualem in virtutibus, De praxi divinae praesentiae, and De praestantia instituti S.J. In 1650 Bollandus published his collected works (2 v. Antwerp). These have often been re-edited in whole or in part, and a number have been translated into various languages.

Bibliography: g. fell, Wetzer und Welte's Kirchenlexikon, 13 v. (2d ed. Freiburg 1882–1903) 7:1378–81. l. koch, Jesuiten-Lexikon: Die Gesellschaft Jesu einst und jetzt (Paderborn 1934) 1071–72. h. hurter, Nomenclator literarius theologiae catholicae 3:1216–17. c. sommervogel, Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus, Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus (Brussels-Paris 1890–1932) 4:1446–55. b. a. balbinus, Vita venerabilis patris Nicolai Lancicii (Prague 1690). j. de guibert, The Jesuits: Their Spiritual Doctrine and Practice, tr. w. j. young, ed. g. e. ganss (Chicago 1964) 330–331.

[r. m. bush]