PEDRO DE CALATAYUD. — Spanish Jesuit, ascetical writer, b. at Tafalla (Navarra) 1 Aug. 1689, d. at Bologna 27 Feb. 1773. After a period of teaching, from 1728 he devoted himself entirely to preaching to the clergy and people, by which he became famous throughout the Iberian peninsula. He had to leave Spain in 1767 when the Society of Jesus was expelled from that country.
Among his many works we note: *Incendios de amor sagrado* (Murcia 1734), through which C. is numbered among the first promoters of the cult of the Sacred Heart in Spain; *Práctica de la vida dulce y racional del cristiano* (Valencia 1734); *Juicio de los sacerdotes, doctrina práctica y anatomía de sus conciencias* (ibid. 1736); *Doctrinas prácticas... para desenredar y dirigir las conciencias* (2 vols., ibid. 1737 and 1739): this is among the best works of C. and enables us to form an idea of his spirituality, which blends personal experience with the ascetical and mystical teaching of the great Spanish writers of the period; *Sentencias varias, sacadas de los profetas y de los libros de la Sagrada Escritura* (Salamanca 1742); *Catecismo práctico* (Valladolid 1747); *El magisterio de la fe y de la razón* (Siviglia 1760), etc.