DREXEL (Drexelius), JEREMIAS. - Jesuit, writer on ascetical subjects, born on 15 Aug. 1581 at Augsburg to Protestant parents; died at Munich on 18 Apr. 1638. After losing his father, he became a Catholic; in 1598 he entered the Society of Jesus and was professor at Munich and Augsburg and from 1615 preacher at the court of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria.
Drexel distinguished himself as an elegant orator of original style and profound learning; and for 23 years he was heard with great acclaim. The effectiveness of his oratory was enhanced by the example of his life. To reach a wider public that crowded his pulpit, Drexel reduced many of the subjects of his preaching to ascetical pamphlets, which enjoyed wide circulation. In the single decade from 1620 to 1639, 21 of his works appeared, with a total print-run of 158,700 copies. To these were added reprints abroad and many translations into the principal languages. His most important work was *Deliciae gentis humanae*, in 3 vols. (Munich 1638). Great success also attended his pamphlets *De aeternitate considerationes* (ibid. 1620), which in only four years went through nine reprints, and *Zodiacus Christianus locupletatus seu signa duodecim Divinae praedestinationis* (ibid. 1622).