Reflection on the Traditional Latin Mass

The true Mass of the Roman Rite presents in itself a magnificent catechesis. Yet if one assists with a false notion of Catholic worship, one will remain stubbornly closed to its beauty and reality.

Reflection on Sentimentalism and Animals

The anthropomorphising tendencies of many on the internet towards animals arises neither from a true understanding of zoology nor based upon a sound knowledge of the best philosophy. It derives from a useless sentimentalism that in the end debases even man itself.

The Useful Idiot

The leftist ecclesiastic is no more than an eccentric secularist.

Reflection on Socialism

Against Socialism

It is not by tinkering with institutions that justice and peace are achieved. As long as sin exists in the heart of man, exploitation and cruelty will persist among men.

The Fallacy of the Opposition and the Credo of the Scientist

One can no more argue that science has disproved the existence of God any more than one can claim that the conjugation of the French verb pouvoir destroys the theory of evolution.

It could be claimed that the great fallacy of our times is that of the opposition between the natural sciences and that of the existence of God. As I have written on this blog recently, one must follow the discipline and methods of a particular branch of knowledge faithfully to arrive at a true solution. If one strays, as often too many will do in these times, the very integrity of the science is not just brought into dispute, in fact it is annihilated.
 The natural sciences can only interact with and cover what can be empirically verified, submitted to close scrutiny and repeated with due care. It deals with matter however great or small and certain forces that act upon it which can be tested. To wish to extend this method to other branches of knowledge is absurd. Dawkins and his cult may wish for this scientific approach to be extended to other areas but by doing this they destroy everything else. Not only does the existence of God cast out of the window, but out goes with it literature, poetry, architecture, beauty.....and morality. It is inconsistent with his principles and protests to claim that a particular incident in the history of the Church is evil, as he is overstepped his self-imposed boundaries.
 It is by respecting the methods of natural science that advances are made. To twist them for a certain personal purpose is to ruin it's purpose and true glory.
 Yet, it must be noted that the scientist must have a creed, a profound belief before he can set to work. He must believe that the phenomena that appears to surround him is in fact real, that it can be interacted with, and when it yields it's secrets, it does so consistently. He has to believe with great commitment that the results are worth having. If he believes that a particular result may fluctuate from a certain second on a Tuesday in California to something else in Toledo, he can not unearth a universal law .If he does not passionately believe in the consistence of the universe, he has no reason to commence the process. The validity of what surrounds us and the fact that it is orderly underpins all that he attempts to do. He must passionately believe this. You can not uncover this reality by working but it must proceed the work itself. The scientist must be dogmatic before he can be open-minded. It must be noted that such a belief is far more in harmony with Christianity than it is with atheism. 
 No, you will never find God in science. He is not there at least according to an orthodox 'description' of His being. If one uncovered God in science, it would be an idol. Many men who happen to be scientists may believe in God with the assistance of their discipline, but only by moving beyond it to consider it's true foundation.

Reflection on Atheism

One may put an entire continent to the sword and an atheist could not with any reason consistent with his principles assert that such an act is evil. It is merely the sudden causing of the disintegration of man who carries these seeds of material corruption within him. The accumulation of brute matter is torn asunder and this may be a hard sight to bear, but such is not to be classed among evil deeds. 
 Much is heard of a life truly worth living today, which involves the forming of natural, emotional, sentimental bonds and experiences. The right thinking man must respond that these are no less fairy tales to comfort man than they accuse us of.
 It is not to be wondered at that the atheist existentialists in the previous century considered the only true question to be proposed and answered was whether to commit suicide or not...

Respondeo:

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/

I wish to attempt a short refutation of some of Gervais' points in his article. I can not set out a complete apology of the Christian Faith here as that has been done elsewhere (has our defender of logic and reason bothered to read them?).
 There are many objections that he makes, too many to counter. However, there is a deadly flaw in his arguments. He implicitly accepts, without any proposed reason, that such a thing as morality exists. He claims to be guided by natural science and he says that he is fascinated by beauty, love and the environment. Very well, these things appeal to me too.
It is a law of any branch of knowledge (scientia: knowledge) that one must proceed upon the appropriate lines of inquiry. This truth is often forgotten by many who go astray from their area of expertise and end up making rash pronouncements on issues that they are foreign to. One may arrive at some truth (such as the spherical nature of the earth) by approaching the object through different methods (empirical observation or geometry etc), but the correct line of inquiry must be upheld in each branch of science.
 The category of good or evil can not be accessed by empirical investigation. It is certainly true that good is the aspect of being that is desirable. Being is also the first thing apprehended by our intellect (the proper object of the human intellect is the essence of sensible things) Far too many atheists will launch the tired objection, 'If God exists, why is there evil?'. I can mentally picture the lips curl to a smug grin. I answer with Boethius and St. Thomas Aquinas, if there is evil (which you claim), then you must accept a prior good. It is an illegitimate leap to go from a claim that something is unpleasant (which is empirically verifiable) to something being evil. Goodness is a reflection beyond what appears to the senses (can we even trust what appears? If we say yes, there is another belief and assumption about the universe and humanity) Neither, it is not a self-evident truth that one must be nice to one's neighbour. This is a moral belief. From a naked, mechanistic, cause and effect approach to the universe, such a belief exceeds one's line of inquiry. Being nice, holding to the dignity of each man, democracy and accepting people for who they are, have no basis of truth in an atheistic account of the universe. It is a belief system (or sentiment) derived by religion, whether they like it or not. These new atheists instead of sneering with their 'unsolvable' objections to theism have not truly reflected upon their own innate assumptions of life and man.
 I ask you to propose a reason why, in a universe that exists without any sufficient external reason, you can have a dogmatic belief in morality. You may respond that morality is a convenient way to foster cooperation and achieve progress, yet this can only be a human construct with no universal validity.
I believe that so many of our modern errors are simply a distortion of Christianity. Our Lord certainly wills the salvation of men, but He was (and is) not a simple-minded fool who wants us only to be nice to each other. Christianity is far more radical and unique than that.
 The Catholic Tradition and its consideration of God, the universe and man are far more profound that what is normally presented or believed. It is an article of faith that man can prove with certainty that God exists, not from a consideration of the terms (a priori) but from an investigation into what surrounds us (a posteriori), advancing from cause to effect with a correct understanding of metaphysics. It is not a surprise that many will claim that they 'simply feel' their belief in God, and that he 'adds meaning and comfort to my life'. This latter may be true yet there is an objective validity to the existence of God and His Revelation. It is modernism to claim that a belief in God arises from a subjective 'need' for Him. True Catholic catechesis would go a long way in combating these nefarious errors of so many believers.   


I have yet to encounter a serious objection to the existence of God that is not based upon some unreflected assumption of reality or a distortion of Christianity or religion.

A Conversion Story

I have been considering whether to write an entry this like for a long time. It has sat uneasy with me as I did not wish to stray beyond matters of the Faith, theology, Church life or spiritual meditations. Yet, I believe that it may bring about some spiritual good to myself and to those who stumble across this piece. I wish in a few simple words to offer a reflection on my own life as a Catholic and its trials, worries and confusions. I hope to do this without the usual pretentious attempts of erudition that frequently appear in my writing, or the various half-jumbled up from memory, scriptural quotations.
 My 'knowledge' of the Catholic Faith before 2005 was limited a recognition of suspicion towards those followers of the pope and that the father of a friend spoke a funny language (I would now assume that it was Latin). I was completely oblivious to anything of true substance of the Catholic Church. Of course I had seen some foreign footballers enter the pitch by touching the ground and tracing a cross upon themselves, yet the purpose and importance of such acts of faith were beyond me, even though I had until the age of around 11 attended a Protestant church.
 The first contact I had was an intriguing one, the usual starting point for the telling of my conversion story. In 2005 I was on holiday to Mallorca with my mother and grandmother and since the only English channel that was available to us was the news, I became engrossed in the last moments of the life of H.H. Blessed Pope John Paul II and the sentiments of love and emotion that he evoked from my soon to be brother Catholics. I will pass over in silence the various criticisms of his pontificate that many in the traditionalist movement may make. Suffering was in fact the reason I stopped attending my church, along with, I suppose, a general indifference. Modern liberal Protestantism is hardly a faith to sacrifice for. My auntie died when I was around 11 and it hit me hard. It was probably the first death that I had experienced of a close family member. I mention this as it can only be inspiring to see a man remain steadfast to what he believed God had called him to do and be even when great suffering overtook him. To him (a fellow Charles) and His Master, I can only say thank you. My first proper correct with the Faith was a positive one that will remain with me for the rest of my days.
 I will leave out here the process of R.C.I.A. and my reception into communion with the Catholic Church and offer some considerations I have had.
The Christian life is not easy. It has been a struggle these 4 years with many ups and downs, with great enthusiasm and much lukewarmness. The beauty of Christianity is that it is not merely exterior, a cloak to wear but by the action of the Holy Ghost man is truly renewed and made like to the Son. Many can claim to be Catholic or Christian yet many in the mind, in the heart are untouched by the reality. I have found my greatest difficulty here. I hold the Orthodox Faith with a decent knowledge of theology, yet I could never say with honesty that I am what I believe or know. Hypocrisy is a charge frequently launched at believers (although often such an accusation is an attempt to destroy any intelligent discussion) and I know the problem in my own person. I know my sins, they make me shiver at times.Too often waves of memories of some sin attacks me and disturbs me in spirit. On the outside, many are impressed with me, I can act with piety with devotion and serving at Mass. A cert for sanctity, probably by means of the priesthood. It would be reckless and foolish for me to truly believe them. I can often receive the feeling that I am living insincerely which at times is probably correct.
 However, on the whole, I can only be grateful and filled with joy that I was given the efficacious grace to convert when I did. I wonder in what state I would be today if this had not been given. Huge errors, false beliefs and missteps have occurred since the night of the 22nd of March, 2008. Very frequently I feel that very little progress has been made and it does shame me. I can only recognise that the Faith is a greater treasure than I knew before 2008. It is even more profound that I could ever imagine and I pray that I will remain true to it until my last breath.
 These words are sombre, a sinner's words. I am certain that many have felt the same and have taken the necessary steps in grace to overcome them. I am heading in the same way as many of my brothers today and in the past. May I continue this journey with greater sentiments of faith, hope and charity until He comes.

Reflection on the Piety of the Young

It is a rather unfortunate sign of the times that when a young man shows some degree of piety that they consider him almost papabile.

Reflection on Paradise and Sin

No saint was ever created in paradise. Infact, out of there, came two sinners.

Reflection on Sacrifice

It is often said of this generation that it does not know the reality of sacrifice. Yet the truth is that each generation does know how to sacrifice. Unfortunately, it is usually for the wrong things.

The Perfection of Beauty

Too often the consideration of beauty in our ever-corrupt culture is being even more false. The ancient concept of beauty focused upon, what we today would call abstract or 'detached' notions such as proportionality or harmony. To the modern mind this approach is odd in the extreme.
 For all the attention that beauty receives in the media and various magazines, in fact it can rightly be said to be an obsession for us. However, it is not appreciated enough. Nor is it truly understood.
 It is a common feature of our approach to highlight a particular aspect of a person and from this chosen delight to dwell upon it without penetrating any further. It is from this pernicious error that lust, irrationality and disorder derives. It is entirely licit to be attracted by a feature, whether it belong to the body or the personality (a certain 'quirk' perhaps) yet to be a legitimate and true choice it must allow us to access further. Rather, we must allow ourselves to be taken beyond what first attracts us. Yet, whether we allow ourselves this journey depends in great measure on the intention for the pursuit, the 'what' we are searching for. These principles can either allow us to experience the truth or, unfortunately be blocked further and held in a mortal grasp. On a theoretical level, our conception may be pure but so often hic et nunc, based on further considerations, we can easily be distracted and seeking for a quick release or refuge. The intellect must judge upon what is presented to it at a particular moment, not always in an objective fashion and consider what is better at the present moment.  An approach of the quick fix is not an acceptable route to take. However, it is the common way of fallen man.
 The remedy is to consider the totality of the person and their purpose. By this I do not mean reflexion based upon sentimentality, but by a sober consideration of wisdom, which concerns things in their causes. Without holding a true belief of first principles or the destiny of the human person, it is all too easy to be suffocated by the various demands and passions of the moment.
 It may be stated however that what we find may offer us an opportunity to come to know the truth of beauty by beholding it on some occasion. It may proceed from this window (a glimpse into the divine perfections) that we not only find the other which has at first attracted us, but ourselves as well.

Reflection on Good and Evil

Before one can hate evil, it is necessary to first come to know and to love the Good. A natural irascibility is not a virtue.

The Interelatedness of the Trinity - A Case of the Absent Father

One of the gravest dangers in theology can be a one-sided emphasis which results in a distortion of the whole. We must admit that the splendid and marvellous nature of our Catholic religion invites us to a deeper understanding in faith and charity of the Sacred Mysteries revealed virtually. One could never tell enough the glories of the Incarnation and Redemption, the ineffable procession of the Son from the Father and the spiration of the Holy Ghost, yet at times it would be hazardous to describe any further. Often it is more in keeping with due reverence to fall silent at the Mystery. However, this truth can never be a pretense for laxity in theology.
 I heard in a homily on Sunday that it is a current tendency to neglect the Person of the Father in favour of the Son and/or the Holy Ghost. Sadly, without the Person of the Father, Christ is reduced to a teacher and the Holy Ghost to a impersonal force which has a certain proclivity to conform to liberal opinion.
 Let us deal in this short article with the ''Fatherless Son'':

 Although Christ is true God, fully possessing the divine nature and the perfections eminently and formally, He can never be considered apart from the Father. He is 'God from God' and 'consubstantial with the Father', the perfect image of the Unbegotten and His Word. The Father of Orthodoxy, Saint Athanasius and the Fathers of the Council of Nicea fought for this truth and interrelatedness of the First and Second Divine Persons and would not compromise on the term, 'homoousios' which caused outrage to heretics. We do not have a case of three Gods existing side by side or apart in anyway. There is only a very minor, virtual distinction between the Persons and the divine nature which Each fully possesses.
 Man has labelled Christ many things, a teacher, a radical, a socialist, a feminist, a good and kind soul. However, no one who claims to be equal to the Father and sent by Him can be reduced to these categories. One must confess Jesus Christ as God or a lunatic. There is no middle ground. Our Divine Lord is at pains to express in the Sacred Gospels that He has come forth from the Father and to the Same He will return. His message and preaching is not His own but belongs to the One Who sent Him to bear the sins of many. The souls that are drawn to the Christ are drawn by the Father and whoever sees Him, sees His Father.
 If we refuse to acknowledge this essential element of our Lord's Person and His redemptive mission, we reduce Him to the same level as Socrates, Buddha or any one of the legion of self-proclaimed enlightened figures of our fickle generation. Such a person could not save. He would remain on our level not through setting aside glory, but as one who belongs to us by nature. 
 Our God wills something greater for mankind. It is only in the One Sent that man can approach the Father. It is only through the Body that sinners may receive life. In the end, the Kingdom will be turned over to the Father and all will be subject to His dominion. Christ uniqueness stems from His deriving His hypostasis from the Father which makes the Incarnation possible and fruitful for the salvation of many.  We can only come to be sons of the Father by grace and participation through Him Who is Son by nature and according to essence.

Latin Doctor Quote of the Day

St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori:

''O Jesus. my Redeemer! I thank Thee for not having taken me out of life when I was Thy enemy. For how many years have I deserved to be in hell! Had I died on such a day or such a night, what should be my lot for all eternity? Lord, I thank Thee; I accept my death in satisfaction for my sins, and I accept it in the manner in which Thou shalt be pleased to send it. But since Thou hast borne with me until now, wait for me a little longer. Suffer me, therefore, that I may lament my sorrow a little!''

Comment: O how often have we deserved death through our constant sins of lukewarmness and ingratitude. Yet, the Lord is His good has preserved us through the night so that we make a new and firm resolution in the morning. If He had taken us through the night, in what torment would we be? But blessed be our God for He has upheld us and brought us to repentence in His abundant mercy.

Against the Faith Movement: With the Assistance of Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange

In ''Reality - A Thomistic Synthesis'', the Dominican writes thus in opposition to the false opinion of Scotus:

''Scotus, on the contrary, maintains that, even if Adam had not sinned, the Word would still have become incarnate. But, since He would not have come to atone for sin, He would not have a human nature subject to pain and death. Suarez, seeking a middle ground, says that the Word became incarnate equally for the redemption of man and for the manifestation of God's goodness. By the adverb "equally" he understands that these two motives are coordinated, as being two chief purposes, each equal to the other, whereas Thomists hold that the ultimate purpose of the Incarnation was indeed to manifest God's goodness, but that the proximate purpose was man's redemption.
Against the Scotist view Thomists use the following argument. Divine decrees are of two kinds: one efficacious and absolute, the other inefficacious and conditional. The latter is concerned with the thing to be realized taken in itself, abstracting from all actual circumstance. Thus, for example, God wills the salvation of all men. But, in fact, God permits final impenitence in a sinner (e. g.: Judas) as manifestation of infinite justice. Efficacious decrees on the contrary are concerned with the thing to be realized taken with all its concrete circumstances of place and time. Hence these decrees are immutable and infallible. Now the present efficacious decree extends to the concrete circumstance of the passibility of our Savior's humanity. And Scotists themselves concede that the union between divine nature and human nature subject to passibility presupposes Adam's sin.
This reasoning, which Thomists hold to be irrefutable, supposes that the last end of the Incarnation is to manifest the divine goodness by way of redemption, redemption being efficaciously decreed as subordinated to this manifestation. Thus proposed, the argument concludes against both Suarez and Scotus. For us men and for our salvation, says the Council of Nicaea, He came down from heaven. Had man not sinned, the Son of man had not come, says tradition. Scotus and Suarez would reword this sentence. They say: Had man not sinned, the Son of man would still have come, but not in a "passible" humanity. By such restatement the assertion of the Fathers, taken simply as it stands, would be false. To illustrate, it would be false to say that Christ is not really in heaven and in the Eucharist, though He is not in either place in a passible humanity.
Scotus brings another difficulty. A wise man, he says, wills first the end, then the means in proportion to their nearness to that end. Thus he transfers the subordination in question from the order of different acts of the divine will to the order of different objects of those acts. Then he continues: Now Christ, being more perfect, is nearer the last end of the universe than is Adam. Hence God, to reveal His goodness, chose first the incarnation of the Word, before Adam was willed, and hence before his sin had been committed.
In answer to this objection, many Thomists, following Cajetan, distinguish the final cause from the material cause. To illustrate. In the order of final causality God wills, first the soul, secondly the body for the sake of the soul. But in the order of material causality He wills first the body, as being the material cause to be perfected by the soul, and the soul is created only when the embryo is sufficiently disposed to receive the soul.
Applying this distinction to the Incarnation, God wills, under final causality, the redemptive Incarnation before He wills to permit Adam's sin, conceived as possible. But in the order of material causality, He permits first the sin of Adam, as something to be turned into a higher good. Similarly, in the order of beatitude, beatitude itself is the final cause and man is the material cause, the subject, which receives beatitude.

This distinction is not idle, verbal, or fictitious. It is founded on the nature of things. Causes have mutual priority, each in its own order: form before matter, matter before form. If Adam had not sinned, if the human race were not there to be redeemed, the Word would not have become incarnate. That is the order of material causality. But in the order of finality, God permitted original sin in view of some higher good, which good we, after the Incarnation, know to be an incarnation universally redemptive.''

Reflection on Christ, the Cross and the Church

Christ, Church and Cross are inseparable. Man cannot be saved by one without the other two.

Latin Doctor Quote of the Day

Saint Francis de Sales:
''Though light is beautiful and lovely it dazzles our eyes if we have been in darkness for any length of time; we are always ill at ease in a strange country no matter how gracious and courteous its inhabitants, until we become familiar with them. It may well happen, Philothea, that having embarked on this new life, your soul may feel ill at ease and that you experience a sense of sadness and discouragement in bidding farewell to the follies and vanities of the world; be patient a little while, it is of no importance, only the discomfort of unfamiliarity; as soon as it has worn off you will experience abundant consolation.''
Comment: One of the greatest difficulties that I have experienced in undertaking the Christian life after conversion has been discouragement. It was certainly naive of myself to consider the Faith initially as having commandments to adhere to outwardly. Certain pursuits are easy to cast off, but often the inward affections that lead to them are difficult to extract. I was unaware of the spiritual battle to be engaged in. Too quickly my mind wanders, my devotion is dissipated and my heart loses courage. It was not without import that our Lord said that whoever wishes to find his life, must lose it.

...of the Greek Variety.

Saint Gregory Nazianzen:

(Concerning the Trinity)

''When did these come into being? They are above all When. But, if I am to speak with something more of boldness—when the Father did. And when did the Father come into being. There never was a time when He was not. And the same thing is true of the Son and the Holy Ghost. Ask me again, and again I will answer you, When was the Son begotten? When the Father was not begotten. And when did the Holy Ghost proceed? When the Son was, not proceeding but, begotten— beyond the sphere of time, and above the grasp of reason; although we cannot set forth that which is above time, if we avoid as we desire any expression which conveys the idea of time. For such expressions as when and before and after and from the beginning are not timeless, however much we may force them; unless indeed we were to take the Æon, that interval which is coextensive with the eternal things, and is not divided or measured by any motion, or by the revolution of the sun, as time is measured.
How then are They not alike unoriginate, if They are coeternal? Because They are from Him, though not after Him. For that which is unoriginate is eternal, but that which is eternal is not necessarily unoriginate, so long as it may be referred to the Father as its origin. Therefore in respect of Cause They are not unoriginate; but it is evident that the Cause is not necessarily prior to its effects, for the sun is not prior to its light. And yet They are in some sense unoriginate, in respect of time, even though you would scare simple minds with your quibbles, for the Sources of Time are not subject to time.''

Short Reflection for Trinity Sunday

Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas, atque indivisa unitas.

We have come to believe in and approach the Father through Christ in the Holy Ghost. Starting from this reality one can not consider the Godhead as an abstract conception or a logical proposition to be examined and analysed as one would deduce the properties of a triangle or how one would form a judgement about a particular state of affairs.
Although revelation is objective and the statements proposed for belief by Holy Mother Church express the truth about God and His relations with the universe which He created freely out of His abundant goodness, the mystery far transcends our limited attempts to grasp what has been communicated to us. Yet, what has been communicated to us is not simply articles of faith which one must subscribe to in order to form some organization, but it is the self-subsistent, self-existing, Being Who is truly Father, Son and Holy Ghost. These make Themselves known to us so that we may share in their essential and ineffable communion of life and love. The Godhead does not exist as a 'naked substance', inert and lifeless. They Who have made us able to approach them in confidence through grace, are plenitude of being and possessing simply, formally and eminently all perfections that we see participated in all around us. The diversity of being in our environment mirrors and reflects in a very finite degree yet one that truly participates in the perfections the fullness of God Who is pure act and exists without lack or want, the principle of all that comes to be and the sustainer of all that is.

 One may wish to make a distinction between the Author of nature and the Author of grace, yet it is still the same Trinity that controls, directs and governs all things no matter their degree of complexity. If such is the case can it be said that God may be known as three subsistant relations simply through a process of intellectual inquiry a postiori? No. This may be likened to the truth that man's felicity can only exist in God, His origin and end.  Man, in his natural will, seeks happiness necessarily (or there would be no justification for him to do anything at all) and his heart longs to rest in God as Saint Augustine famously wrote. However, man is unable to realise exactly what his blessedness and security exists in as it is one thing to know that someone is approaching and that Peter is approaching. Our consideration of God through reason can only come through an examination of effects and perfections which we realise exist in God primarily and in plenitude. However real this knowledge of God may be, it is not enough to elevate man to a knowledge of the Trinitarian reality. In no way can we reach such a high through a posteriori reasoning alone. 
 Furthermore, what is revealed by the Father through the Son in the Holy Ghost transcends any of our hopes, imaginations or desires. Man is not positively ordained for the beatific vision, and only possesses a conditional and inefficacious desire for happiness, but through the descent of the Logos and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost (and hence, of the Father and the Son) man can come to the supernatural level through grace and mercy that he could not even dream of. He is raised to the intimate life of God as He is. However, in this life we have not reached the full realisation of this glory, therefore we must be watchful not to allow us treasure to be prised from our grasp. In heaven, we will delight in the eternal procession of the Son and the ineffable spiration of the Holy Ghost, thereby possessing this glory for all eternal without diminution. By means of the created light of glory and God Himself united to our intellect, man is capable of beholding the vision of God and know as he himself is known, yet in no sense can the Godhead be truly comprehended by us whereby God would have served His purpose and would then be relegated to a proposition. No, He is and without reduction will remain the fullness of Goodness, Love and Life and no man can, upon beholding His essence turn away.
 Oh if we truly believed this! What would man not abandon for the sake of His incomprehensible gift! It was the Trinity that allowed Francis to take leave of his father, for Thomas to resist the snares of his family and the carnal allure of the prostitute, the same Godhead that strenghtened Athanasius in his five exiles and this Mystery for which countless men and women have deserted earthly hopes and set their hearts on an unending eternal inheritance of glory.
Let us adore in silence the Mystery.

As it is, ; ''For of Him, and by Him, and in Him, are all things: to Him be glory for ever. Amen''.

Fra' Fredrik Crichton-Stuart

MEMORY ETERNAL.

I was saddened yesterday to read of the death of Fra' Freddy who passed away on Tuesday in Edinburgh. From what I knew of him, he was a humble servant of the Church who fought for the preservation of the Traditional expressions of the Roman Catholic Faith. When I have been serving Mass when he attended, it was obvious that he had a simple joy at being there to worship. It was only through reading reports of his death that I came to realise how much he had done for the sake of the Church, and I am certain that he will be missed. However, at the moment he needs our prayers and offerings for the repose of his soul, so I ask you to offer something for him please.

Pentecost - A Pneumatologically Conditioned Christology.

It is a deficiency in much theology when one considers the Person of the Holy Ghost and His operations. Too often He is seen as a mere auxiliary, as one who assists in some indefinite way in our Christian pilgrimage. How can we correct this view? How can we truly appreciate the infusion of the Holy Ghost without viewing Him as an afterthought? One will often hear something said of discernment, ''...with the help of the Holy Ghost', but what is this help and how essential is He to the oneness of God and the salvific will of God? I will not attempt to answer all of these questions as they are certainly above my ability but I would like to refer to some of the insights of an Eastern Orthodox theologian, the Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon on this crucial matter.

In the Creed it must be seen that the Third Person of the Holy Trinity should never be considered as an optional extra or a name to be inserted out of a certain form of piety. We sing each Sunday while kneeling, 'et Incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine: et homo factus est'. The Oblation of our Redemption could not occur unless the Logos united Himself with a human nature so that He could offer Himself as a propitiation for our sins. This is the key point of our Faith. In other religions, man raises himself up by his own will through his own energy often through some form of 'purification'. On the other hand, the beauty of the Christian Faith is that the Son of the Eternal Father descended out of love to dwell amongst us as man by the power and work of the Holy Ghost. By the work of the Holy Ghost. It was the same Paraclete that overshadowed the Holy Virgin so that she may conceive and bring forth the holiest of all fruit, Jesus, that fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost.
His Excellency states in this respect that Christ is conditioned 'Pneumatologically', and that this is absolutely essential to His becoming man. According to this theologian, Jesus Christ is inconceivable as an individual by is ontologically relational. In first place, He is the only-begotten Son of the Father, and without this filiation the Father could not be Father. He descended not as an individual but with a body, a body that was to unite the dispersed people so that they may become holy. He came with one intention, for our sanctification in obedience to the Father's will.
So how is man, once redeemed by the shedding of the blood of the Lamb, to be united to this propitiatory offering? Through Holy Baptism, the ''individual'' (as opposed to person in Zizioulas' thought) enters into and shares the Son's essential relation to the Father existentially. Yet, this laver of regeneration can only occur by the work of the Holy Ghost. It was through Him that the world began to be renewed by His overshadowing of the Woman, it was He that led Jesus into the desert to prepare for His ministry and redemptive work and it was in He that Christ offered Himself on the Cross to the Unbegotten One. Our baptism is by water and the Spirit. Not by water alone. But the Spirit presupposes the blood and the blood presupposes the Spirit. In fact, they are simultaneous. Christ dwells in our hearts by faith with the Father and the Paraclete. We are temples of the Holy Ghost. There can be no opposition.

In the life of the Blessed Trinity considered apart from creation, the Holy Ghost precedes (primarily/principaliter) from the Father through the Son. There is a one-ness in the immanent Trinity and this is manifested in the work of the economic Trinity. It is absolutely true that the redemption, regardless of appropriation, is conducted in common. The Three Persons act.

How then does this relate to Pentecost? It is certain that on this solemn day we celebrate the Birthday of the Church. By the appearance of the tongues of fire, the Apostles depart with a firm conviction and a new awareness of the uniqueness of the Person of their Saviour and His divine mission. This only occurs because of the illumination of the Holy Ghost. Apart from Him, Jesus can only be regarded as an individual from the past, someone subject to historical constraints and prejudices. This is entirely false. If the Third Person were not to be shed above the disciples gathered in prayer, how could we possibly reach the one that had ascended to the Father?
While Christ instituted the Church, we may say truly that she is constituted by the Holy Ghost.

In conjunction with this truth there can be no discord between the spirit and the institution. Amt und (oder?) Geist can never enter into our consideration of the Church and the world. Just as the doctrine of Christ is not His own by that of the Father, so the Holy Ghost only reveals what He has heard from the Father. The unity of the Godhead consists in the Monarchia of the Unbegotten. That same Spirit is not a liberator considered apart from Christ (the institution-maker) but is sent by the Son to convince the world of sin, justice and judgment. He has the same mission as the Son, as 'One sent', ''He shall glorify Me (Jesus): because He shall receive of Mine and shall show it to you.''

Therefore in accordance with the words of the Saviour, we must continue to rejoice in that same Spirit Who is building up the Body of Christ unto the fullness of the man. He still works in souls to unite them to the Death of the Lord so that we may be taken up to the dignity of sons of God in the Holy Ghost. There is no other name in heaven or earth that man can be saved under except Christ and no one can proclaim Christ is Lord apart from in the Holy Ghost.

A Definition of Eternity

From Boethius:

''The simultaneously-whole and perfect possession of interminable life''

Commentary from Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. :

'We must come to the knowledge of eternity by means of time. But time is but the numbering of movement by before and after. Contrary to this, in the duration of that which is without movement, there is absolute uniformity, without any before or after. Moreover, what is absolutely immutable is interminable, without beginning and end, whereas those things that are measured by time have a beginning and an end. Contrary to this, our life is not simultaneously whole, for it consists of the distinct periods of infancy, youth.... (etc). Hence the now of time is the current now between the past and the future, so that past and future do not actually exist but exist only in the mind, whereas the now of eternity is a standing now, which is absolutely permanent and immobile...''

The Ascension of the Lord - With H.H. Pope Benedict XVI

From his recent book 'Jesus of Nazareth - Part 2'. I only have the Spanish edition and the following imperfect rendering into English is my own:

''In the gesture of the hands in blessing, the lasting relation between Jesus and his disciples and the world is expressed. In His Ascension, He comes to elevate us above ourselves and to open the world to God. Therefore, the disciples were able to rejoice when they returned home from Bethany. In faith we know that Jesus blessing, has his hands extended over us. This is the permanent reason for Christian joy.''

Latin Doctor Quote of the Day

Saint Augustine of Hippo:

''And so it pleased God, the Creator and Governor of the universe, that, since the whole body of the angels had not fallen into rebellion, the part of them which had fallen should remain in perdition eternally, and that the other part, which had in the rebellion remained steadfastly loyal, should rejoice in the sure and certain knowledge of their eternal happiness; but that, on the other hand, mankind, who constituted the remainder of the intelligent creation, having perished without exception under sin, both original and actual, and the consequent punishments, should be in part restored, and should fill up the gap which the rebellion and fall of the devils had left in the company of the angels. For this is the promise to the saints, that at the resurrection they shall be equal to the angels of God. And thus the Jerusalem which is above, which is the mother of us all, the city of God, shall not be spoiled of any of the number of her citizens, shall perhaps reign over even a more abundant population''

The Ascension of the Lord - With St. Thomas Aquinas.

S.T. Pt. III. Q57, A1.

We must in this short article reflect upon the fittingness of our Lord's Ascension.
Since the humanity assumed by Christ had passed into incorruptibility as a result of His true Resurrection from the dead and that the Godhead remained perfect as it always was, how is it apt that our Lord should undergo movement into Heaven when He had nothing lacking here below? In this movement, nothing possibly could be gained as He was (and still is) truly God consubstantial with the Father and in His human soul delights in the beatific vision in the highest degree for a created nature. Furthermore, would it not be for our benefit that He remain to console the Apostles with His physical and sensible perceptible appearance, performing miracles and wonders to convert the whole Empire?

I must allow the Angelic Doctor to comment on this mystery:

''The place ought to be in keeping with what is contained therein. Now by His Resurrection Christ entered upon an immortal and incorruptible life. But whereas our dwelling place is one of generation and corruption, the heavenly place is one of incorruption. And consequently it was not fitting that Christ should remain upon earth after the Resurrection (after confirming His true triumph over death); but it was fitting that He should ascend to heaven''

And:

''By ascending into heaven Christ acquired no addition to His essential glory either in body or in soul: nevertheless He did acquire something as to the fittingness of place, which pertains to the well-being of glory: not that His body acquired anything from a heavenly body by way of perfection; but merely out of a certain fittingness. Now this in a measure belonged to His glory; and He had a certain kind of joy for some fittingness. not indeed that He then began to derive joy from it when He ascended into heaven, but that He rejoiced thereat in a new way, as at a thing completed...''

He states then that the Ascension of our Lord was to our benefit as:

1) It increases our faith in invisible reality. From the right-hand side of the Father He will send the Holy Ghost to convince the world of sin and justice and judgement.
2) Uplifts our hope. The end of human life is to rejoice in the Trinitarian communion of life and love in eternity. One can not establish a paradise upon earth, a place of corruption.
3) To direct our charity to things in the heavenly places. It is where Christ is that we must long to be and the Paraclete, the best gift of God above inflames our breast with a constant love of what truly is.

These truths are admirably exposed in the collects of the Mass for this period. For instance:

''..our Redeemer, to have ascended on this day into heaven, may also ourselves dwell in mind amid heavenly things.' (Mass for the Ascension of our Lord)

''grant to Thy people the grace to love what Thou dost command and to desire what Thou dost promise, that amid the changes of the world, our hearts may there be fixed where true joys are to be found''. (Fourth Sunday after Easter)

Let nothing during this pilgrimage distract us from the only end of human life. Once we come to realise the marvels of our Divine Lord's promise, how can we walk away untouched by His mercy?

Vado ad eum qui misit me: sed quia haec locutus sum vobis, tristitia implevit cor vestrum.

Short Reflection on the Ascension of the Lord - 1

It appears that the life of the Christian is characterised by several fundamental oppositions and antagonisms, for instance, in the world but not of the world and salvation that has been wrought already for us yet we must wait patiently to enter into the fullness of the Kingdom. Therefore it must be asked how are we to understand this glorious occasion? It may truly be said that even though a great joy overcame the Apostles when the Risen Lord rose above in might to return to the Father, a sadness or a time of unknowing, maybe of fear, could have followed.
In considering the Mystery of the Ascension of our Divine Saviour and the period afterwards until the day that the Holy Ghost descended upon our fathers in the Faith, we may justly liken it to Holy Saturday.
After the shedding of the blood of the Divine Victim upon the Tree of Life, the paying of a debt that man could not offer to the Father, our Lord descending to the depths left the Apostles dispersed and scattered. One would struggle to imagine their thoughts during this 'abandonment' by the Lord who had brought together this motley bunch of no-hopers. Should we return to our ships and nets? To collecting taxes? Should we attach ourselves to another teacher in the hope of him achieving the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel?
The Lord Himself had declared His Resurrection openly to these men but it is only in light of the actual event and the subsequent Descent of the Paraclete that they could enter into this mystery with the required Faith to proclaim in their turn the Kingdom of God.
Likewise, we here live far removed from the time when the Logos humbled Himself to take flesh from the spotless Virgin, yet through our baptism and our incorporation into our Lord's Mystical Body we are enabled to experience the same. However it will not do to assign a facile historical approach to this mystery just as it will not do to assign a psychological understanding to our putting on of Christ.
Our Saviour has ascended on high with jubilee and with the sound of a trumpet to prepare a place for us. At this moment He is still risen and acts in us to will and to accomplish. Although seated at the right-hand of the Eternal Father with His Mother on His own right, He is not far removed from us where we could only hope to be united with Him in some indeterminate point in the far-off future. Such an approach is not fidelity to Christianity and reduces the grace given to us to a sentimentalised humanism. Whoever eats the flesh of the Son of Man lives in Him and receives life and immortality from Him just as He lives by the Father. Is this not such close union that man seeks? He dwells in us through sanctifying grace, He is the Priest of the Mass, the One who removes our bounds in Penance and speaks through the universal, ordinary and extraordinary magisterium. He has certainly been removed from our sight yet He is now closer to us rather He was simply by physically appearing to the men of Galilee.
'But I will see your again and your heart shall rejoice: and your joy no man shall take from you'. What a consolation we have in these words. However, what is the difference between now if Christ is present in our midst as He promised and the lot of the resurrected bodies and glorified immortal souls of the saints in light? We are still on pilgrimage here before, our bodies grown for their redemption and we are still to be what we shall appear as. Salvation can be lost on this earth but there our wills and intellects will be terminated by the One Who created them and Who brought us to Himself out of His abundant mercy and love. We long to see Him with full glory unveiled not as under appearances but just as He is. Our time here is image but there is reality.
Without the operations of the Holy Ghost and His gifts, without the renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross in an unbloody manner in the Mass et cetera, the glory of the sons of God would remain far-off and unattainably so. It is only because He lives in us that we can come to Him for a happy eternity unmoved from bliss.

Where He is, our treasure must be. Where our hearts are, so shall we.

Random Thoughts

The true master of himself is the servant of God.

A triangle will continue to possess three sides whether the majority recognise it or not.

Where did I leave off.....

The Lord in His abundant goodness (which is His essentially, and not by participation) decreed long holidays from university so that time could be spent profitably blogging. I have not written on here since the beginning of the year as I have not had sufficient time to write anything truly worthwhile.

Plans for this week:

1) Reflections on the Ascension of our Lord and Pentecost.
2) Further discussion on a particular teaching of the Faith Movement.

Latin Doctor Quote of the Day

Saint Augustine of Hippo:

(''For the Son of Man is come to seek that which was lost.'') 'Therefore, if man had not sinned, the Son of Man would not have come'.

Furthermore...

Although in the closest union possible to the most eminent degree, the human soul of Christ, remained a creature. It was not consumed or drowned by the divine but was and still is distinct from the eternal nature of the Logos however one. No ontological alteration occurred, neither is it possible.
The assumed human soul certainly from the first instant of the Incarnation viewed the divine essence in the highest degree possible for a creature, yet did not see as God sees or as God knows. It remains within the bounds of a creature.

Latin Doctor Quote of the Day

Saint Ambrose:

''Ye will see that as all the ceremonies of the old law were types of realities in the new, so the circumcision of the body signified the cleansing of the heart from the guilt of sin. But since the body and mind of man remain yet infected with a proneness' to sin, the circumcision of the eighth day is also a type of that complete cleansing from sin which we shall have at the resurrection''

The Grace to Pray

I wish to write a short clarification about a matter that annoys me terribly that I have heard or read recently a few times. I would be unwilling to attribute this grave error to heresy, but simply as laxity in theology or lack of due diligence in speech and word.
Too often people will state that God would grant man grace if he were to will it, or that you should pray and God will then come and assist you. The first part is erroneous and the second is ambiguous.
No man can will or do anything truly good without the grace enabling him to carry it out, which as the term 'grace' signifies, is freely given without any consideration of our merits. The divine will is not forced into acting because we have done something worthy of reward independent of His vital assistance. As Saint Augustine states in the Perseverance of the Saints, such a case would be not be 'grace', but the due bestowal of a reward for a work.

Saint Thomas elaborates on this matter in considering the meritorious nature of true prayer:

''...like any other virtuous act, is efficacious in meriting, because it proceeds from charity as its root, the proper object of which is the eternal good that we merit to enjoy. Yet prayer proceeds from charity....As to its efficacy in impetrating, prayer derives this from the grace of God to Whom we pray, and Who instigates us to pray. Wherefore Augustine says, He would not urge us to ask, unless He were willing to give; and Chrysostom (Thomas attributes this text to him, not found in his corpus currently) says: He never refuses to grant our prayers since in His loving-kindness He urged us not to faint in praying. Neither prayer nor any other virtuous act is meritorious without sanctifying grace. And yet even that prayer which impetrates sanctifying grace proceeds from some grace, as from a gratuitous gift, since the very act of praying is a gift of God, as Augustine states.'' II-II Q83, A16.

In addition as Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange at pains to emphasis in his wonderful work, 'Providence', states, the principle of merit is not itself merited. Sanctifying grace is normally infused at Baptism, where we are plunged into the death of Christ and made a new creation, both of which we have no natural right to. All is of grace and mercy.

''Let us therefore love God, because God first hath loved us.'' (I John 4:19)

Random Thought

I have never known a man to have more Gods than an atheist.

Against the Faith Movement 1

I believed erroneously that this fanciful theory of the Scotists and supported by the Faith Movement would play no more part on this blog, concerning the Incarnation of the Logos irrespective if man had sinned or not. Having been 'assured' that their position is more than pure unjustified speculation about a hypothetical situation, but rather concerns the eternal plan of God, which they dare to presume to have knowledge of even thought it has not been publicly revealed to man, I must write more. It is my plan now to critique some articles written by the Faith Movement's founder, Fr. Edward Holloway to highlight certain fallacies and mistakes in his thinking on this question, yet extracting what is truly good about some of his beliefs.
I take the first article titled, 'The Son of Man: A Meditation Upon Psalm 8' which was the editorial in their magazine for July/August 1983.

In a recent discussion, where my interlocutor was visibly annoyed by my intransigence, it was mentioned that matter was not superfluous in the plan of God, and Holloway states, 'for matter is not meaningless if it too can be brought near to the Divine through the flesh of the Word made flesh'. After all 'Christ, the Eternal Word of the Father, holds the primacy over all things, because in Him they were all decreed and created. In Him they all cohere together in unity like a great equation of life and being'. However pious this sounds, and it certainly comes from the Sacred Scriptures, especially from Saint Paul's letter to the Ephesians, yet there is a fundamental problem with his application of it. In Hebrews 1:2, it is stated that through Jesus Christ, God created the universe. Now, we know that the initial act of creation must occur with time and not in time, consequently there is no before or after with God, Who abides in eternal bliss in the ever-present now Who sees all things at a glance. Therefore when it states that the cosmos was created through Jesus Christ, it can only mean through the Word (Who before the Incarnation in time, was pure spirit), who is the same Person Who descended to earth as Jesus Christ according to His assumed humanity. It refers to the hypostasis, the subsistent reality of the Second Person, as through Whom all things were made. Furthermore, as God the Eternal Father knows Himself and accordingly His effects through the Word, it is through that same Word that man comes to know God. As this eternally existing Logos, along with the Father and the Spirit, He Who Is, man can come to know God intimately, passing to the stage of perfection steadily. If man had overcome the trial of Satan in the Garden, man's love for God would have been manifested, even though in a wonderful condition, he would have joyfully and gratefully accepted his state under God in justice. I believe it was 'necessary' for a trial to be placed before man. This was certainly fitting and God the Just One permitted Satan, who exists still under the sway of the Logos to tempt our first parents. It is according to the nature of man to be man.
Along with Saint Anselm of Canterbury, I state that the only barrier to entry into Heaven and the Blessed Vision of the divine essence is our state of sin. He writes, 'The remission of sins, therefore, is something absolutely necessary for man, so that he may arrive at blessed happiness'. Anything else that the Christ came for such as to teach, or to rule concern our absolution from sin, while correcting our waywardness, illuminating our darkened intellect, and healing our vitiated will, is connected with our fall from the original position of union (yet short of that hoped for in eternity) with God.
Let us return to his statement that matter is not trivial in the creation of God, as he rightly notes that man is a substantial unity of body and soul. It is of the Faith that man's corporal nature will not simply be discarded as a mistake or an irretrievable or failed experiment on the part of God. At the end of time, the same flesh will take on a spiritual quality to reflect and mirror the soul which will shine through in an unspeakable fashion and at the same time, the flesh will find its fulfilment.
To a priest yesterday evening I stated that the Incarnation without sin, although a lovely thought, would be unnecessary, as there nothing inadequate in the creation of the first man. Certainly a movement is required with respect to man, a progress in union with God, but that is according to his nature although a divine gift. When I say 'according to his nature', I refer not to the inherent capability of man who has a right to it, but rather as God is His only end and fulfilment, for Whom he was only created. Even though the Word became flesh to save that which was lost, no ontological change can occur on the part of man. The real dialectic that Father emphasised is not between matter and spirit (or matter/spirit versus pure spirit, in the case of man and the angels) but rather between created and uncreated. However, this is, I believe, a further problem for their position, as it would place, rightly, the angels on the side of man. Would it not be necessary for God, to unite Himself with an angelic nature in order to divinise it? To raise it up further into the life of God? Man may be unique on earth as being made in the image of God, although his likeness to the divine has been defaced, however it is the angels that contain the most affinity to God, with vastly superior intelligences to man. Holloway and his current followers would have further difficulty if they were to accept the Thomist view that the each angel must be its own species as there can no be material differences between them. Even though the angels are most like God, there was an opportunity for them to undergo a movement or the will, some instance of decision to be made before experiences the Beatific Vision, which is incomprehensible for us in this valley of tears. The angel is on the side of creation. Although pure spirit, there is a insurmountable gulf between it and God, therefore it follows that it would be 'fitting' for the divine to unite Himself in some way with the angelic nature. Yet, Holloway states that they 'are divinised by the communion with their totally spiritual natures of the knowledge of God and love of God. The totality of God's gift of being, God's spiritual being , is poured upon the angels directly', this I can consent to. However, next he writes, 'Pure Spirit upon pure spirits. There is no matter in between to hinder the direct work of God, so to say', and this is another area where his errors lie. As I have previously noted, the angels have a closer affinity to God as spirits, yet and crucially so, the divine nature of God is of a fundamentally different 'quality' to that of these creatures. Before God, they are not even worth a grain of sand.
So what is the purpose of matter if it did not need to be 'divinised'? Simply for it to be matter created good in essence by the good God, it in fact remains so, as created, even when assumed by the Descent of the Logos. There is no confusion as Chalcedon states in the hypostatic union. It is not swallowed up or consumed, but remains matter and in that sense, infinitely inferior to the divine nature that assumes it.
On a side note, with Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, I must note that the matter and spirit chosen from all eternity to be the flesh and soul of the Incarnate Christ was elected without on claim on their part. It was according to the mercy and goodness of God, Who had no obligation to elect man to salvation by sending His Son, that this particular matter and spirit, before the ages was chosen for the Deity to dwell bodily.
Matter was created through the Logos Who is the Archtype of all creation, visible and invisible. Matter is not at the far end of an emanation of the One which has no likeness whatsoever to the pure spirit of God. Our corporal nature is the physical manifestation of the interior and essential goodness and beauty of God. It is through this condition that we are capable of relating to others and approaching them. Through the harmony of soul and flesh if man had not fallen, it would have been taken up with the latter to the divine communion of life and love of the Holy Trinity.

*In a later article I wish to develop this point, by further considering their arguments*

To be continued.

A Christmas Meditation 1

''Misit verbum suum, et sanavit eos, et eripuit eos de interitionibus eorum.'' (Ps 107:20)

There is much one can write concerning this sacred time in our liturgical calender, yet I was unable to fix my mind on anything in particular to sketch a meditation upon. No clear idea entered my mind until this afternoon, when I came across a passage from an Eastern Orthodox theologian, Vladimir Lossky, and this opened up a series of thoughts in my mind, so I have decided to type some out, more or less at random, take whatever is good in it and ascribe honour to God, Who is blessed forever.

In the English language, it is very unfortunate that our term 'salvation' denotes a negative concept. One may often imply 'salvation from something', or have some idea of this. Unlike German (das Heil) or the Latin tongue (salus), English will force the unreflective to adopt this notion. In those other two languages, the term 'salvation' includes a 'wholeness', or 'health', a completion. In our case, it is salvation from hell, we preach.
Our salvation has to consist of more than a Descent of the Logos so that man who be prevented from degrading himself more fully, irrevocably (although, this certainly plays some role). In fact, the katabasis of the Second Person of the most merciful Trinity, enable mans to enter into the divine life of trinitarian love by grace and participation. The kenosis of Jesus our Lord, leads to our fullness. As the Servant of God, Archbishop Sheen used to say, while we came to live, He came to die. This was the purpose of the Incarnation so that we may be absolved from sin, and enter into our Master's joy.
By the assumption of the Sacred Humanity, elected from all eternity by a gratuitous decree of mercy, through and only through the Holy Virgin, the process of man's healing and restoration commences. As Saint Irenaeus wonderful describes, Christ, the Second and true Adam, recapitulates the life of the first, binding up the bounds through His humble obedience to the Father's decree, where Adam strayed.
This salvation is applied to our souls through the laver of regeneration, and the continual renewal of the inner man by the Paraclete, so that we may come to the lot of the saints in light. God in no way simply wishes to declare us just in His Sight, without us truly becoming conformed to the likeness of His Son through Whom we are adopted. Through humility and piety, the soul is stregthened by His graces and blessings, while the Holy Trinity dwells within man freely.
Humility shown, par excellence, in the Incarnation of God, was a favourite theme in the preaching and writings of Saint Augustine of Hippo, and through our frequent meditations on the Descent, let us practice this with ever-increasing ferver. No man can enter heaven unless he be cleansed of all arrogance, which brought the Light Bearer low. By recognising the need for a Saviour, this is the first step.
What we have in the Nativity Scene, is not merely a sentimental image, which allows us to experience a glow within our breast, rather one for which we must have an unbounded gratitude. God although merciful, was in no way, obligated to send His Son to die on behalf of sinful men. The clay that rose up against its Potter, deserved nothing more than to be tossed aside in His just anger. Yet He chose to do so for us.

Random Thought

The lover of self does not love himself enough.

Random Thought

Christ offers us a way through suffering, not around it.

Latin Doctor Quote Of The Day

Saint Ambrose:


''As the modesty of Mary is a pattern for the imitation of all maidens, so also is her humility. She went to see Elizabeth, like one cousin going to visit another, and as the younger to the elder. Not only did she first go, but she first saluted Elizabeth. Now, the purer a virgin is, the humbler ought she to be. She will know how to submit herself to her elders. She that professeth chastity ought to be a very mistress of humility. Lowly-mindedness is at once the very ground in which devotion groweth, and the first and principal rule of its teaching. In this act of the Virgin then we see the greater going to visit and to succour the lesser Mary to Elizabeth, Christ to John.''

Random Thought

Could there be anything more foolish than to declare on the basis of 'reason' that the intelligence of man is produced arbitrarily?

A Definition of the Soul

According to Joseph Ratzinger:

''Soul is nothing other than man's capacity for relatedness with truth, with love eternal' (Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life)

Random Thought

There would be no surer sign of reprobation than passing through this life without trial.

Quick Reflection

Tonight in reciting Vespers, I came across a particular line that seems to me to be very apt for our era:

''Quia non relínquet Dóminus virgam peccatórum super sortem justórum: * ut non exténdant justi ad iniquitátem manus suas.''- (Or) ''For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners upon the lot of the just: * that the just may not stretch forth their hands to iniquity.''

It is important that we recognise the fact that our surrounding culture is not without import. Man, and most especially his children, can not simply refrain from being influenced by trends in society, by pretending it does not exist. The effect on 'public opinion', or more correctly, those who decree with greater force and 'certainty' than any Pope could, what the populace believe or should believe in order to truly exist as a civilised nation can not be understated. The language that they use often has the intention to shut down all possible rebuttal to their claims to truth, through labelling dissenters as irrational or acting contrary to progress. Yet, when pressed, they are unable to state unequivocally of what this so-called 'amelioratisation' of the human condition consists They only utter with fury, vague transcendental values of 'justice', 'equality' and 'liberty'. Which begs the simple question, 'What the heck do you do with them?' Liberty to do what? Equality of what? These implicitly contain philosophical criteria which the world is often suspicious of, whereas these positions they hold dear are completely unfounded on the basis of atheistic secularism. Let us not be deputed by their falsehoods.
The disastrous attempt to mechanicalise humanity has resulted in a de-humanization and objectification of the person. The sceptre of the wicked has been exalted over man who blindly embraces their pretensions of 'hope'. I believe that the worse thing is not for man to be fallen, but for man to think himself upright, while he actually crawls on his knees in the dirt.
Through Filioque , I do not wish to engage in political theory, but we as Catholics must acknowledge the fundamental animosity of the 'world' to our Faith. A simple attempt to situate Christianity within the dominant worldview (which has been tried constantly since the Council) will merely prove futile and will dilute the Church of her force and destroy the salvation she offers by the Precious Blood of Christ.
May the good Lord protect us from falling into their traps and modes of thinking. Let us present the true Faith of our Saviour with great joy, offering up prayers at all times for sinners, so that as many as possible may enter into our Master's joy.

Random Thought

What prevents us from committing graver sins, is often not lack of malice, but lack of opportunity or courage.

Urgent Prayer Request

I ask with gratitude in advance, for prayers for the cousin of a dear friend of mine, who has attempted to commit suicide. Her condition seems to be stable at the moment, although the next day will be crucial. May she recover soon and taste the sweet mercy of our God.

Our Lady, Health of the Sick and Refuge of Sinners, pray for her.

A Question for the Faith Movement and Their Adherents.

If the chief end of man is to rest in God, what profit will it be for God to become man if our deification is not applied, but remains in principle? If grace can be resisted (in whatever mode), the effects of the Cross may possibly remain fruitless, and any incarnation would be in vain. After all, you would end up with God as man, and man as a beast...

In itself, the gracious mercy of God in descending the womb of the Theotokos in order to die is not enough.

REPOST: Saint Augustine on Divine Election

The great Doctor's doctrine of predestination is often unpalatable to our modern era where a vague, superficial hope of salvation for all men without even the necessary metanoia on man's part dominates Catholic thought. The Augustinian scholar, Gerald Bonner regarded the last period of the Bishop of Hippo's life as having been a terrible mistake, preferring for him to have toned down his ever-increasing 'harshness' against the heretic Julian, in favour of a more balanced and 'compassionate' theory on such a mystery.
However uncompromising it may seem to some, the Saint's position is, for the most part at least, compatible with the Catholic Faith, regardless of the horror some may have in likening it to Calvin's.

First of all, we must state that God is under no obligation to save any man whatsoever. In creating us as Lord, He does not assume a 'moral responsibility' to man in the same sense that we have to each other. He is Lord of life and death, the Holy One in our midst. Especially as a consequence of man falling from his state of union with God, we find ourselves in a perilous situation, where hearts are hardened, evil is openly promoted and defended, and man is left with an aberrant attachment to his foul misery. The true mystery is that He elects to save even a remnant of sinful man:

'There was one lump of perdition out of Adam to which only punishment was due; from this same lump, vessels were made which are destined for honour. For the potter has authority over the same lump of clay (Romans 9:21). What lump? The lump that had already perished, and whose just damnation was already assured. So be thankful that you have escaped! You have escaped the death certainly due to you, and found life, which was not due to you. The potter has authority over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honour and another for contempt...(They) have deserved nothing good; but the potter has authority over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel for honour, and the other for contempt'

As we heard from the divine Paul on Sunday, let us rejoice for the hope to which we have been called. As so chosen, He called them, so called, He justified them, so justified, He glorified them.

Even though, as blessed Augustine states the Lord is supreme and no one may argue with his just decree, 'Who are you who argues with God?' (Romans 11:33), man's condition is far more complex than the seemingly capriciousness of God's will Who (arbitrarily) elects one man (on no basis of foreseen merit) while passivly opting out of decreeing eternal glory for another. Man possesses a will that is free in some sense, yet severely subject to the effects of our initial apostasy from justice. But it is of Catholic Faith that we acknowledge the presence of a free will in man, which is inalienable to his constitution. Contrary to Calvin, who wrote, 'For not all are created in equal condition; but eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation for others. Therefore, as any person has been directed to one or the other of these ends, we speak of him or her as predestined to life or to death'. The later aspect of this quotation is where the error lies. God predestines no one to eternal shame. If He truly wishes for the salvation of all, His 'desire' must exceed a 'pious hope' or sentimentality.
Yet why does He elect one man to grace, while passing over another, who like the first is in no more need of eternal damnation. Both are sinners and deserving of punishment. It may be, that God could be said to love one man more than other. We should not understand this in the sense that God comes to 'appreciate' a value of a person's actions, enticing Him to grant bliss.After all, the goodness of man only consists in the fact that He has been brought forth from nothing by the lavish mercy and goodness of God, sharing in some way in His life. If the former were true, salvation would not be considered a grace or a mercy, but a debt due to the performance of a worthy deed. If we say that God loves one more than another, we must understand by this that He, justly and without any whim in volition, elects for one to a higher and more fitting (to a rational being) end than another. He hates nothing of His own making. However, if we wish not to err, a judgement on our part must be withheld out of reverence for His most holy decrees.
I truly believe that if God willed to bring about the salvation of man, He would do so. Surely, Stuart, you must posit the pivotal element in man, his will, for consideration? God can drag no man to heaven, His love would burn rather than console.
Certainly I consent to this interjection. Yet, as He foresees all conditions of men, their free decisions as efficient causes, the situation He places them in, the fact that nothing happens on the face of the earth that His will does not permit (or least His permissive will), we must assert that all could have been saved. Whether you assent to the position of the Thomists, Molinists or any other school, one must approbate the truth that God is sole master of the cosmos, His will being unfrustrated. The 'mode' of His salvation remains the mystery. For the Molinist, one may say that grace becomes efficacious simply as the free will consents. We see the transition from sufficient to efficacious by the approval of the will of man. Such a view seems to have 'common sense' behind it, yet it is no more 'compassionate' in bringing more men to salvation than does, Thomism (or Augustinianism). Or for the Thomist, the free will consents as the grace is intrinsically efficacious.
We are left with the conundrum however why God does not organise events in such a way that a person be more disposed to accepting the grace? A child brought up in the fear of the Lord, with saintly parents, a devout holy parish priest, the reception of baptism and living in a time without utter scandal in the Church, is more likely to endure faithfully to the end than the average person.
Lastly, I will insert an extract from Augustine on the issue of the so-called 'irrestible grace', which I prefer to call efficacious for the sake of not been misunderstood, or as being labelled a Calvinist. Although I have read the term 'assault' used for God's activity in approaching man, converting the will to Himself (operating grace), we must do away with any notion of 'unjustified violence' which destroys the liberty of man. On a side note, our free will is only given so that man may freely love and choose to serve the Good. Saint Thomas Aquinas states rightly, that the souls of the elect in paradise do not turn from their bliss, (unlike in Origenism, before falling to earth) as they have achieved the end they long for. The intellect was created purely for coming to know God with a joy that even surpasses all expectation.

The Doctor of Grace continues:

'Now two kinds of assistance are to be distinguished. On the one hand, there is an assistance without which something does not come about, and on the other there is the assistance by which something does come. We cannot live without food, but the fact that food is available will not keep people alive if they want to die. But in the case of blessedness, when it is bestowed on people who are without it they become perpetually blessed. Now Adam was created upright, in a state of good; he was given the possibility of not sinning, the possibility of not dying, the possibility of not losing that state of good: and in addition, he was given the assistance of perseverence, not so that by this assistance it might come about that he should in fact persevere, but because without it he could not persevere through his own will. Now in the case of the saints who are predestined to the kingdom of God by the grace of God, the assistance of perseverence which is given is not that (granted to the first man), but that kind which brings the gift of actual preseverence. It is not just that they cannot persevere without this gift; once they have received this gift, they can do nothing except persevere.'.

Yet, one must recognise the truth that one man may come to 'salvation' temporally, then fade from the Faith and an upright life, as Ezechial says, he will die for his sins. As noted here, sufficient grace was given to Adam yet he denied himself the fruits of it. This, I believe, is given to all men by God Who wills the salvation of all. Such is the mystery of the will and providence of God, to Whom be power and glory for ever in the Holy Church.

Morality as Mere Instrumentality?

As part of my Moral Philosophy course, I have been reading some Thomas Hobbes and a contemporary proponent of contractualism, David Gauthier. There are a number of issues that have been raised in these writings and should cause some concern to the Catholic Christian. I will frequently on Filioque elude to, and explicitly state a few of some beliefs on deification and it is pertinent that I relate it to this topic.
In Hobbes, human kind is constituted by a desire for self-preservation and a hope for a comfortable life. But in the 'state of nature', which is war of all against war, man is unable to rest secure, without the fear of being attacked, his goods stolen or his life ruthlessly taken. To counter this miserable state of suspicion and mistrust (a living beside, but not as a community), man makes a social contract with those around him, so that he may pursue his desires which is the final cause of such negotiation. Through the contract he will have to constrain and restrict himself in maximising his utility so that his 'neighbour' may obtain his good, i.e his self-preservation and a comfortable life, and in turn his fellow man will permit him the same. The rules and conventions which are produced, could never truly be called morality as they exist (human-manufactured) for the sole purpose of reaching the selfish requirements of man. This is rightly called 'instrumentality'.
For the Christian, the commandments of God are not impediments to fruitful living, nor are they simply to be endured. Rather, they are a fundamental aspect of the constitution of the true human person. They reflect the unity, harmony, justice and love of the Lord. Man by following these 'commands', does not bind himself to a mere duty that he must perform for the sake of said duty, but it is through striving to attain love and the focus on Christ, Who supremely did the Father's will, that man is made like to God. The laws which state that man must serve God above all else, no matter what emotional attachments he possesses, manifest the truth that humanity can only properly delight in the God Who made it.
Can we say that the commandments are ends in themselves? Not particularly, but they have their force and coherence as reflections of the harmony of the intra-Trinitarian life. By clinging to these statutes, man is led away (often unwillingly at first) from the diverse concerns and preocupations that threaten his wholeness, to Him that is Life, the Source of all being. But neither can we say that the laws of God are merely to be used as stepping stones. The faithful son of God fulfills these commands by a complete subjection to God, and it is only through this that the dictates can be accomplished. These commands cannot simply be altered to meet present demands or modified to the latest trend as it is through them that the human person is conformed to Christ Who is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. An essential part of this adherence is the complete delivery of oneself to God. In the social contract, although it is wise ('practically prudent') to remain faithful to your covenants, the heart of man may stand aloof, cursing inwardly. Such is not acceptable for the son of God, as the Creator knows the depths of man's being and our incessant grumbling. Man being willfully torn asunder can never hope to share in the divine life.

'Lord, who shall be admitted to your tent and dwell on your holy mountain? He who does no wrong to his brother, who casts no slur on his neighbour...he who keeps his pledge come what may...such a man will stand firm for ever.' (Ps 14/15)

Saint Charles Borromeo - 3 Cl.

Bishop, Confessor.
Saint Charles, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, was one of the greatest and holiest prelates of the years when the great Council of Trent was being completed and its enactments put into execution. He reformed the clergy and renewed the spirit of the monasteries in his diocese. He died A.D. 1584.

Collect:

Ever keep Thy Church, O Lord, we beseech Thee, under the abiding protection of St Charles, Thy Confessor and Bishop: that as his watchful care over his flock won him glory, so his intercession may always make us fervent in Thy love. Through our Lord...

'Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord...'
'This is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord setteth over his family...'

Random Thought

Each day we must die to ourselves, by clinging to Life.

A Necessary Incarnation?

I have continued to think about this issue recently and I am growing increasingly opposed to the position of the Faith Movement that the Logos would have descended even if man had not sinned. The end of man is to rest in God, his source and purpose, and the Incarnation as the result of the Fall occurs as the necessary and efficient cause for this blessedness to occur. Out of His boundless mercy, the Divine Father sent His Son to assume human nature in the womb of the Holy Virgin and offer up a Sacrifice to the glory and praise of the One Who begot Him, in the Spirit. God may have pardoned man by numerous other ways, but knew that this particular course of action would be the most fitting - showing the seriousness of the offense committed and the great pity of God. It may seem pious to assert that Christ, through Whom all things are made and Who contains the logoi of all creation would have united Himself to a human nature, but I firmly believe this notion to be erroneous. I would not go so far as to regard this position as 'blasphemous', but I worry that this view may represent man for the sake of man, as opposed to man for God.

Furthermore, contrary to what I have heard, in the position of original justice, man would not require baptism (to make us sons of God) or Communion (to nourish us).

1) In baptism we descend into the tomb of Christ. Yet the Logos as pure spirit would not have been able to die, or if He did Descend even if man had not sinned, no cleansing would be required as the grace of sanctification would have been present anyway (if not, man would not have been in any form of union with God). Without these essential aspects, this 'baptism' would not be such.

2) In Communion, which is consecrated at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, is truly the Body and Blood of Christ, without would not be able to occur if the Son of the Father did not assume our nature. And even if He did, there would be no sin for the Sacrifice to be offered up for, and without this element, it would not be the Mass. However, it would have been necessary for man to receive grace to persevere in the primordial union with the Holy Trinity.

Next theoretical question, would the propagation of the human species occur through sexual relations if man had not sinned....?

Latin Doctor Quote Of The Day

Saint Augustine of Hippo:

'The blessed life should be sought, and requested from God. The nature of blessedness has been much discussed by many people; but why should we go to many people and much explanation? In the Scripture of God it is put briefly and truly: 'Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord'. In order that we may be of that people, and attain to contemplation of Him, and to everlasting life with him, 'The end of the commandment is charity from a pure heart, and good conscience and unfeigned faith'. In the same Trinity, hope is put in place of good conscience. Faith, then, and hope and charity lead to God the man that prays, the man, that is, who believes, hopes and desires, and gives heed to what he is requesting from the Lord in the Lord's prayer'.

Comment: Through the divine light of the Holy Spirit, man who is inflamed with true charity which urges him on to a intimate union with the Trinitarian communion of life. Our blessedness in this can only find fulfilment in everlasting life, yet even today, our salvation is being realised as that same Paraclete Who descended on Peter and the others in the Cenacle, continues to animate man in sanctity and transforms the Sacred Gifts at the Holy Oblation. Our salvation is not a past event, so let us through prayer come to the communion of love that Christ shed His Precious Blood for.

...of the Greek Variety

Saint Mark the Ascetic:

'To recall past sins in detail inflicts injury on the man who hopes in God. For when such recollection brings remorse it deprives him of hope; but if he pictures the sins to himself without remorse, they pollute him again with the old defilement'.

Comment:

When I read this a few days ago in the Philokalia, I was astounded. I had regarded the frequent recollection of past sins as a pre-requisite for growing in the love of the Lord. Yet, such a practice requires a great deal of vigilance and discrimination, as the conjuring up of past sins may not be for the purpose of cleansing the soul and bringing a man to true repentance, but as some 'acceptable' method of delighting in previous offenses. And when man returns mentally to the 'scene of the crime', Satan will utilise such an opportunity to inflame in man the passions that led to the fault. Let us practice frequent examination of conscience - this is necessary - but we must do so with prudence and fear of God.