Memories of Jesuits who Influenced my Life

          Mr.F.R.Ragel an alumnus and respected teacher of St. Michael’s College has written a concise history of his Alma Mater covering the entire 140 years of its existence. He has also documented the contribution of the Jesuit Community and that of the many supporters who within a short span of time made it an out standing educational institution.

It is not my intention to delve deeply into the history; however a few observations might be in order. One hundred and forty years in the life of an educational institution is a short period of time, yet in that span the school had passed through three distinct developmental phases.

The first phase extending from 1886 to 1895 marked the founding of the first English school in Batticaloa, which gave way to the St. Michael’s of today and the commencement of operations for the construction of SMC in its present site. Incredible as it may sound it appears that the first Tamil Secular Priest, Fr. Francis Xavier Philip, was given the task of establishing an English school in Batticaloa by the Bishop of Jaffna, under whose jurisdiction the catholic province of East Ceylon was then lodged. The indomitable Fr. Philip was given the “princely “sum of Rs. 500.00 to build the school.   Not only is he credited with building  the  English school but also two others, a Tamil school and a Girls’ school. The latter two, St Mary’s Tamil school and St. Cecelia’s convent, to this day continue to fulfill Fr.Philip’s, vision of sound education, to both boys and girls in English as well as in Tamil.

The second phase commencing with the arrival of French Jesuits in 1895, continued until 1959 when the Government decided to take over all assisted schools in the country. The government’s pressure was turned on from about 1956, with the decision of the cabinet to debar from the teaching profession non nationals who lacked proficiency in the vernacular. Another heart wrenching loss of these troubled years was the closure of the boarding school, remembered by those who had lived in it with nostalgia .Many memorable experiences of the boarding school are etched deep in the hearts and minds of those of us to whom it was home away from home. Despite these disturbing changes the second phase can be called the golden years of the college.

The French Jesuits from the outset of their tenure began planning for the construction of a school, which in their vision would be “second to none “. Under the indomitable leadership of Fr, Ferdinand Bonnel as architect and Br. Wright as engineer the corner stone was laid on 16 July 1912 .Financing the construction was a major challenge. Donations from local sources being inadequate the Jesuits went literally on begging missions to France , and at the same time  exercised stringent financial management with the view to completing on schedule. This was achieved in three years and classes were opened in May 1915.

While the people of Batticaloa were celebrating the opening of St.Michaels, the out break of the First World War the previous year, began taking its toll in France and the impact of it was beginning to be felt in Batticaloa.  Over 1100 French Jesuits had perished in the war and replacements for the Batticaloa mission began to dry up. This opened a new chapter in the annals of our Alma Mater. At the request of the Superior General, Jesuits from the province of New Orleans, USA, began trickling in, from 1933 with Fr. John T. Linehan as the pioneer. Others followed in regular succession, over the years until about the year 1955. Those of us who walked the corridors of St. Michaels and studied in its class rooms during our teen years and are now in the evening of our lives , will remember those American Jesuits  as each and every one of them ,to our admiration, took  St. Michaels to new heights is several fields . All of them have in one way or another influenced our lives for the better. The era of the American Jesuits can be called the glorious years of our school. Unfortunately it was short lived.

The first blow was struck in 1955 with the Government debarring the issuance of entry visa for new catholic missionaries opting to serve the country. In subsequent years as indicated elsewhere, other barriers to the American Jesuits fully participating in the educational life of the school were imposed, denying from students the wealth of knowledge, talents and wisdom they had freely dispensed over the years.  None the less they limped on until 1970 when the last Rector, Fr. Fredreck Loen, with all options exhausted, handed over the school on February 2 to the Government of Sri Lanka. A glorious chapter nostalgically remembered by those fortunate enough to have been part of this came to an end.

At the advent of the third phase in the life of the college, Br.Thomas of the society of St.Joseph, took the reins of administration for a brief spell. There after lay administrators have continued to manage its affairs. The name St.Michael’s College lingers on – but devoid of the educational philosophy of “Ratio Studiorum” the Jesuits brought to bear on all their educational institutions, including St.Michaels - it perhaps does not represent the essence of the school many of us knew in our youth.

I had the pleasure of knowing and noticing the industry and commitment to duty of some of the French Jesuits, when I entered the Boarding house at the age of ten in 1942. By then all of them were old and feeble yet each day they carried out their allotted task unmindful as it were of their physical limitations.
Fr.Rothenfus was confined to his room most of the time. He was well versed in Tamil language and was an exponent of Tamil grammar. In years gone by when the sacrament of penance was almost a prerequisite to participation in the Eucharistic meal, Fr. Rothenfus was a compassionate confessor ministering to the guilt stricken boarder.

Brother Wright was, held in high esteem, even though, other than the normal response to greetings he seldom spoke to the students. His role in the construction of St.Michaels was well known, and that made him a legend much admired. He assumed even greater esteem in his later years when he diverted his energy to manufacturing writing paper. His factory was a section of his carpentry shed. Writing paper had become scarce due to the interruption of importations due to the ongoing Second World War. To help us students, he produced pulp from waste paper from which he made sheets of paper, and eventually notes books. This was before the era of the ball point pens and the paper itself was not too kind to the G nib and liquid ink we used. None the less the note books he turned out served the purpose well. I believe in doing this, he demonstrated rather forcefully that obstacles, no matter how big, could be surmounted with the application of the mind and industry.

Brother Beau and Brother Bouvier were among the last of the French Jesuits at the school. The former devoted his time to the chapels and the latter to our health problems. Cuts and bruises were the common ailments, which he treated with his home made green plaster with excellent results.

As the era of the French Jesuits gradually faded away from our school life experiences, another group of Jesuits, equally efficient as educators and formatters but completely different in their approach to academic education and religious formation began to fill the vacuum. Each year for several years while I was at the boarding house we would welcome three Jesuits from the New Orleans Province of USA. They were all specialists in one field or another. Their pooled experiences and expertise were harmonized to give us a holistic education .And this blossomed into a new and refreshing sense of purpose   in the academic, sports, spiritual, and social life at St. Michael’s.

Of the Jesuit educators I was fortunate to be taught I could recall Fr.Heany, a specialist in chemistry, Fr. Miller’s specialty was physics, Fr. Cooley taught history, Fr. Raywood an English teacher, Fr. Weber was a councilor and my athletic guru, Fr. Moran a great friend and excellent administrator, and Fr. Eugene Herbert specialized in team sports. Fr. Sommers brought fresh breath to religious studies. The knowledge, wisdom and training acquired from them all, helped me become the man I am, achieve some measure of success in my professional life and conduct myself without much reproach from associates.

It would be remiss of me to ignore mention of the contribution the local Jesuits made towards the advancement of the school and the education of those entrusted to their care. It is said that it takes a village to raise a child. The Jesuits as a whole local and foreign teamed up to raise not one but the entire student body of the school. The stalwarts among the local Jesuits were Fr.Emmanual Crowther and Fr.Gopal Theophalus each in his own way, coming from different back grounds.  Both influenced the lives of many and to this day I cherish the instilled values of dedication to duty, honesty and the use of ones God given talents for the greater good of self and others. 

Fr.Crowther came from a well to do Methodist family that owned a coconut plantation in Kiran, a village next to where I grew up, about 17 miles north of Batticaloa. He received his education at the elite St.Thomas college in Colombo where he excelled not only academically but also as a cricketer. He is reputed to have captained his school in the annual St.Thomas verses Royal college encounter, and to have amassed the second highest score. His love for cricked lasted until his late years, as he continued to coach the senior school team, and participate in friendly games. His attire at those encounters was by today’s standards outlandish, and yet it appeared appropriate for a priest.  He would tuck the bottom hem of his cassock into the black sash at his waist which made him appear like he was wearing a balloon skirt or a kilt with long pants on. Those were the days; priests and the cassock were inseparable in public. Despite the unwieldy attire he sported, he was a masterful wielder of the willow and a spin bowler of Bishen Bedi mold. It was a pleasure to watch him at the crease drive the ball to all corners of the field.

Just as St Ignatious Loyola founder of the Jesuits, changed course in midlife to embrace a religious life, so too Fr.Crowther gave up a promising secular career, to become a catholic and a Jesuit. He served St.Michael’s as Principal and Rector for over 17 Years. A man of few words, but when he did speak they carried weight. During study time at school when ever noise got out of hand , he would walk down the corridor between the main class rooms, and quietness would be restored in class room after class room as he moved forward and by the time he reached the end of the corridor , pin drop silence would prevail over  the entire building. He would never utter a word during this ritual. His dedication to the education of the youth saw many qualify for university degrees and beyond.

Fr. Theophalus by contrast was self effacing but a great motivator. He encouraged healthy competition especially in team sports and ensured that all took part in them. He would encourage and reward achievers with sweets of different colours, shapes and sizes from a bottle he always carried in his cassock pocket. He taught mathematics to the lower classes and went out of his way to encourage those who lagged behind with extra lessons at no cost. During school holidays he would visit the less fortunate among the estate population, distribute food and clothing and attend to their spiritual needs. He was an unassuming humble man of God.

Very soon after his arrival at St.Michael’s, Fr.Weber became popular with those of us participating in athletics. He devoted time to us individually and as a team and so was admired by all. He was one, who if ship wrecked in an uninhabited little island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, would not sit idly by, waiting for help to arrive, but would gather the resources available, and set in motion strategies to get back to safety.  He was my coach, counselor and spiritual father. Looking back on those days, I presume, very quickly he had assessed that I and other athletes lacked confidence in ourselves, felt intimidated by athletes from the better known schools in Colombo, and of course did not have the advantage of the type of training provided in those schools. He spent hours remedying those short comings, ensured that we were properly equipped, and very soon a number of us, were on top, performing as well as or better than all others in the country. Lyle Balthazar and I were his first successful athletes, both winning first places at the public schools athletic championships. The transformation he brought among us at St.Michaels made him a much sought after coach .It was common sight in those days to see athletes from rival schools training under the same coach in the same field and at the same time. He did not discriminate between Jews and Gentiles. He successfully coached jumpers, cyclists, long distance runners and weight throwers. Personally he taught me to believe in myself, work persistently and consciously towards achieving goals and if stranded in an uninhabited island to find ways and means of building a floating devise that would take me across the ocean.

The team sports were equally fortunate to have as mentor and coach Fr. Eugene Herbert who complimented Fr.Weber by concentrating on team sports .He excelled in basketball, soccer, pole vault, boxing, and wrestling. The virtues of hard work , honesty, perseverance, the will to excel , and to cherish our successes and failures, learnt from both  Fr.Weber and Fr.Herbert have stood the test of time, taken us to places undreamt of in our youth and in the twilight of our lives never fail to bring a smile when reminded of those times.

For a long time the biological and physical sciences were taught at school by lay teachers from South India. That trend began to change, with the arrival of Fr.Heany and Fr.Miller. The former taught chemistry and his laboratory sessions in particular were so well organized, structured and delivered that grasping and retaining subject matter became less onerous. Fr. Miller taught physics, however I was not among his students as the tenure of the lay teacher under whom I started physics was still ongoing. I remember him most, from those early days, as our prefect at the boarding house. He was ever smiling, easy going and approachable. In later years I came to know with admiration, his valiant effort to retain St.Michaels as a private, non fee levying school rather than surrender it to the Government. He succeeded in doing so for nearly ten years, with financial support from New Orleans and help form benefactors, parents, and well wishers. He has become a legend and a household name in Sri Lanka - the rock of Gibraltar for the voiceless of Batticaloa.  His role as ombudsman and a member of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, of the ongoing armed conflict in the country will perhaps be recognized as his lasting contribution to peace in the country and to the people of Batticaloa.

Every one of the Jesuits I was privileged to know and interact with touched my life in one way or another. Fr.Moran was like Goliath when he walked down the roads with us the boarders, to the esplanade or on our Sunday walks. We felt protected with the gentle giant at our side. Fr.Cooley, ever smiling and helpful taught me that a smile costs little but buys a lot.

 The achievements of those of us favoured to have been taught and formed by the Jesuits, bear testimony to the holistic education they strived to impart.  Despite having to transplant ourselves on alien soil, we have survived and prospered and continue to live praise worthy lives. Thanks for the solid formation imparted to us. From another perspective because of their exemplary lives, several among us were moved to follow in their foot steps as Jesuits. To mention a few   - Fr.DeKoning, Fr.Josephmary, Fr. Guy Rajendram, Fr. C.P.Rajendram, Fr. Rex Ockerz and  Fr. Paul Satkunanayagam. By the time they completed their lengthy studies, St.Michael’s was slipping out of the hands of the Jesuits, and civil strife had become entrenched in the country. Major changes had taken place in their absence. Time and space will not permit discourse on how their ministries had evolved around the changes they faced.

A few words on the ministry of Fr.Paul Satkunanayagam, my brother, who this year is celebrating the golden Jubilee, of joining the Society of Jesus, may be in order. He was the last of the brood of five siblings, seven years my junior. I was naturally concerned about his decision to join the priesthood and whether he would have the resolve and determination to persevere through out his life. My fears melted away after seeing his commitment to his ministry not many years after his ordination. His ministry has revolved around psychological counseling. Man made and natural disasters which frequented Eastern Sri Lanka at regular intervals have made his ministry a ray of hope for the traumatized, destitute, and orphaned. His innovative healing approaches such as the “Butterfly Garden” project, caring for orphans in a home environment and their education are well documented. The mental care of the war traumatized is yet another aspect of his ministry. As he looks back on the fifty years of his ministry, I presume he can justifiably say, the knowledge and talents the Lord gave me I have shared with the least of my brothers and sisters.

Dr.R.P. Ariyanayagam
October 13, 2007