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FR HEDWIG LEWIS SJ

 

 

For Biographical articles Click here

Jubilee Video : 50 years in the Society of Jesus in Gujarat - 2014

For viewing the Jubilee interviews, click on the following link:

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https://sites.google.com/a/jesuits.net/websites-blogs-of-gujarat-jesuits-insitutions/home

 


Hedwig Lewis (SJ) is a Jesuit priest, educationist and writer. After twenty years in the education field, as professor and principal, he became a prolific writer and best-selling author. His writings encompass several genre  of literature: professional, educational, historical, spiritual, biographical and inspirational. His thirty-plus books and hundreds of articles have been published in India and abroad. They have been translated into several Indian and European languages.
 

Early life
 

Fr Lewis was born on 10 October 1945 in Parel, Mumbai, India. His parents hailed from Calangute, Goa. He did his schooling in Mumbai. He joined the Society of Jesus (SJ) on 20 June 1964, for the Gujarat Province. He was ordained a priest on 16 April 1977, and appointed to teach at St Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, affiliated to the Gujarat University. He served as professor, vice-principal and principal, resigned from College for reasons of health in 1995, and took up full-time writing.
 
Professional background
 
Fr Lewis graduated with a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from the M.S. University, Baroda, in 1973, and a Master of Human Resource Development  (HRD) degree from American International College (USA), in 1987. In keeping with his religious training, he earned the Bachelor of Philosophy (B. Ph) and Bachelor of Theology (B.Th) degrees in 1980 and 1977 respectively.
 
As a priest, he has been involved in various spiritual ministries, especially giving courses and Retreats based on the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, and in spiritual direction/counselling. He has also taught courses on The Art of Prayer at Our Lady of the Elms College (1986-1987) as a visiting professor. Some of his books are psycho-spiritually oriented. He contributes articles regularly to religious periodicals and magazines.  He has served as parochial vicar in three parishes in the US.
 

 
Educational career
 
Fr Lewis is best remembered for his training programs for students to organize intra-mural and extracurricular and cultural activities and develop their soft skills. He started Culfest, a cultural festival to showcase talent through educative and entertaining programs on stage in 1979. It became an annual festival in the college, and spread to other educational institutions in the city. He conducted regular workshops in public speaking, study methods, personality development, as well as Personal Growth labs. He organized the PROBE (Personal Resources and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness) workshops for undergrads. Of particular mention is the CORE (Career Orientation, Recruitment and Employment) Training Program for final year students, geared toward job-placements after graduation, with campus interviews by corporations. He was available for students in his Counselling Office during and after college hours.
 

 
Administrative responsibilities
 
Fr Lewis has held several administrative positions: Principal, St Xavier's College, Ahmedabad, (1991-1995); Rector of St Xavier’s College (1988-1991); Director of Xavier Centre for Human Resource Development (1987-1996); Director of Xavier Institute of Languages (1977-1987); Vice-Principal, St Xavier’s College (1984-1991); Student Counsellor (1977-1985); Co-ordinator Student Activities (1977-1985).


Writing Career
 
Fr Lewis suffered a disabling and chronic neurological disorder – Meige's syndrome in October 1995. He resigned from College and devoted himself to writing. He has published 42 books in wide-ranging fields. Several of his books have been translated[6] into Spanish, Lithuanian[8], and several Indian languages, and has contributed hundreds of articles to periodicals in India and abroad. He has also edited books and magazines and maintains regular columns in magazines. Several of his books are bestsellers, and among his most outstanding works are Body Language, A Guide for Professionals, which is widely used in management institutes in India, and At Home With God. The latter book, in its Spanish translation entitled En Casa Con Dios has seen208 ‘ediciones’ and is very popular in Spanish speaking countries.
 
Works
 
Fr Lewis’ authored works are on wide-ranging subjects and in several categories:
 
Inspirational, Human Resource Development, Skill-based, Prayer methods, Spiritual Resource Development, Biographical, Festive, Historical.
 
Fr Lewis’ articles and columns are on Jesuit, religious, and psych-spiritual themes, for various publications, in the print media and on the internet.
 

 
Awards and recognition
 
Rev T. A. Mathias Award for Innovative College Teachers:  All India Association for Christian Higher Education (AIACHE), New Delhi, in April 1993. The citation reads as follows: "This prestigious national award is a mark of AIACHE’S recognition of his devotion to academic excellence, introduction of educational innovations, concern for the integrated development of students and commitment to high standards of professional ethics."
 
He won the first prize in the “JIVAN Creative Writing Contest[16] – 2005”, for his Short Story, Taste and See.
 

BOOKS

45 books on wide-ranging subjects and categories: 1983-2022. (Includes 4 edited works)

bullet Spiritual Resource Development – Retreat guides, Prayer manuals.
bulletHuman Resource Development Personality growth, Social outreach
bullet Skill-based – Body Language, Study methods, Vocabulary building.
bullet Careers – Tips and techniques for job-seekers.
bullet Biography – Challenged persons, missionaries, Jesuit Saints.
bullet Inspiration – collections of stories, poems, quotes.
bullet History – The Church in Gujarat, Gujarat Jesuit communities.
bullet Feasts – Christmas, Valentine's Day.
bullet E-book – Ramblings Over Rumblings, Persons Are Our Best Gifts.

* Several books have been translated into Spanish, Lithuanian, and some Indian languages [Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu. See website for details] Note: En Casa Con Dios [Spanish, At Home With God. is in its 20th edition.

* Sections of the book With Jubilant Hearts, appeared monthly during the Jesuit Triple-Jubilee Year, 2006, on "Pray As You Go", a Jesuit website in Ireland, which has millions of viewers.

* Profiles in Holiness Brief Biographies of Jesuit Saints, has been placed as a reference book for the Society of Jesus worldwide, on the web page of the Jesuit headquarters in Rome [www.sjweb.info].

* Body Language, A Guide For Professionals was published by SAGE International, Delhi. The book is included in the syllabus of some Management institutes across the country. In October 2007, SAGE Publications India decided to make their choice popular books available to a larger readership. They entered into co-publication partnerships with reputed publishers in a number of Indian languages “to publish and disseminate quality translations…”  SAGE began negotiations with publishers in Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Hindu and Malayalam, as a start. “Body Language: A Guide for Professionals” was included in this venture. The Malayalam translation of the book was published in September 2008.
Third Edition: August 2012

* How To Study is being used as a text-book in some seminaries in India.

- At Home With God (1991, 2013), God Here and Now (2002): Spiritual Exercises in Daily Life.


ARTICLES

Written and published of general interest to magazines, e-zines (internet), in India and abroad, and the National dailies from time to time.

In 1985, contributed a third of the articles on different aspects of the English Language to a special supplement in The Times of India, entitled Times Ma English. The articles were later serialised a number of times over the years in TOI as well as reproduced in its allied magazines. 

Columns

Ignatian Ripples, in Gujarat Jesuit Samachar, August 2011 to December 2013.
Mosaic Stories: JIVAN, Magazine of Jesuits in India, May-June 2006 to January 2014.
Kaleidoscope: Psycho-spiritual refractions, The New Leader, January 2015--

Serials

Roots, JIVAN, Magazine of Jesuits in India, January 2012 to December 2014.
Beloved Don Pedro (Arrupe), 4-page supplement in the Gujarat Jesuit Samachar, March to November 2007.


EDITOR

Gujarat Jesuit Parivar - Navajuni (2003-2011)
Gujarat Jesuits’ monthly newsletter (“Samachar”) (1999-2009)
St Xavier’s College Magazines (1977-1983)
St Xavier’s College Prospectus (1988-1993)
Anjali [Philosophy Yearbook] (1969)
AVE [Monthly, meditations for each day] (1975-1976)
Children's Page [Poona Diocese Vocation Magazine] (1968-1970)
Apostles of Gujarat [Gujarat Province Vocation Magazine] (1968-1970)

 

Residential Address:  Loyola Hall, St Xavier's High School, Naranpura, Ahmedabad 380 013

email:
              <hedwiglewis@jesuits.net>

                        <hedwiglewis@gmail.com>

Website:          https://joygift.tripod.com/

Cell: (079) 90 99 80 92 49

 

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