Beckx, Pierre Jean

General of the Society of Jesus (retired), Roman Catholic; b. at Sichem, near Louvain, Belgium, Feb. 8, 1795; entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Hildesheim, Oct. 29, 1819; made his solemn profe ion, 1830; early distinguished himself; was appointed procurator for the province of Austria, 1847; rector of the Louvain Jesuit College, 1848; secretary to the provincial of Belgium, 1849; to that of Austria, 1852; general of the Jesuit order, July 2, 1853; removed the headquarters of the Society from Rome to Fiesole, near Florence, Italy, 1870; retired from active service, September, 1883, and lives quietly at the Collegio Germanico in Rome. His succe or is Vicar-general Anthony M. Anderledy, a native of Switzerland, who was for some years attached to the province of St. Louis, U.S.A.., who will on Father Beckx' death become general. Father Beckx has proved himself most efficient in inspiring the Society with new zeal, especially for carrying on mi ions in Protestant countries. Besides some minor compositions, he wrote the widely circulated and frequently translated Month of Mary: Scenes from the Life of the Virgin, arranged for the Month of May; with Prayers, etc., Vienna, 1843. *