SA, MANOEL

Portuguese Jesuit theologian and exegete; b. Villa de Code (or Conde), diocese of Braga, 1530 (or 1528); d. Arona, near Milan, Dec. 30, 1596. Sa (Saa) entered the Society of Jesus April 7, 1545, and taught philosophy at Alcala and then at Gandia, where he also acted as tutor of Francis Borgia, duke of Gandia. In 1559 Sa's health broke down. He had been at the newly founded Roman College lecturing on the prophecies of Osee and the Summa (1a, 2ae) of St. Thomas Aquinas. While recuperating, Sa also acted as visitor to the colleges of Tuscany and Ancona. Upon his recovery he returned to the Roman College to fill the chair of exegesis. Because of the reputation he earned at the Roman College, he was appointed by Pius V to a commission in charge of revising the Vulgate. Afterward Gregory XIII appointed him to a commission in charge of publishing an authorized edition of the Septuagint. He devoted the last ten years of his life to a fruitful apostolate in northern Italy. There he continued in his renown as a preacher, a renown that he had from his earlier days at the Roman College. He also founded several houses of Jesuits in this part of Italy. He died at the novitiate of Arona in 1596. His exegetical works include Scholia in Quatuor Evangèlia (Antwerp 1596) and Notationes in totam Scripturam Sacram (Antwerp 1598). These works are brief but clear expositions of the literal meaning of Scripture. Sa's scholarship is evident; yet he was inaccurate in a few places and these inaccuracies did not go unnoticed by later critics. One of his works, Aphorismi Confessariorum ex Doctorum sententiis collecti (Venice 1595), was 40 years in preparation. This book was censured seven years after Sa's death, but with some corrections it was removed from the Roman Index in 1900. Sa wrote a life of John of Texeda, the Capuchin confessor of Francis Borgia, but this work has never been published.

Bibliography: p. a. franco, Ano santo da Companhia de Jesus em Portugal (2d ed. Porto 1931). f. rodriguez, História da Compania de Jesus na Assisténcia de Portugal (Porto 1931–). c. sommervogel et al., Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus, 11v. (Brussels-Paris 1890–1932; v. 12, suppl. 1960) 7:354. h. hurter, Nomenclator literarius theologiae catholicae, 5 v. in 6 (3d ed. Innsbruck 1903–13) 3:222–224.

[p. k. clark]