Ecce Verbum
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass Thomas Aquinas identifies four obligations that every man owes to God indefinitely 1. To praise and honour His infinite majesty 2. To satisfy for the many sins commited against that infinite majesty 3. To thank Him for all…
All masses have an equal sacrifice but not all masses have equal effects
St. Leonard of Port Maurice, "The Hidden Treasure"
Although the Mass is of infinite value, God accepts it in a manner limited and finite, conformed to the greater or lesser perfection in the dispositions of him who celebrates or assists at the sacrifice.
This means that the satisfaction applied on our behalf is determined by the disposition of the celebrant and the people assisting at the Mass.
"It is certain, that all sacrifices, as sacraments, are equal in dignity, but they are not equal, however, as far as regards the effects that flow from them; hence, the greater habitual or actual piety of the celebrant, the greater shall also be the fruits of the application of the holy sacrifice, so that to make no distinction between a tepid and a devout priest in the function of celebrant is to be indifferent whether the net with which you would catch fish is big or little. All this is equally applicable to those who assist at Mass."
St. Thomas
A Mass conducted with little or no devotion and no zeal does not have the equal effects of one conducted with great devotion or great zeal.
Is the priest tepid or devout? The greater the piety of the celebrant equals greater fruits of application. The same applies to the attendees. Hearing one Mass with great devotion is of more benefit than hearing fifty without devotion.
The Mass is a great pearl beyond all price. To obtain in great abundance the fruits of Holy Mass, you must hear it with deepest devotion. Attend as many Masses as possible with all the devotion possible.
The opinion of St. John of the Cross was that the Eternal Judge will, in the case of priests, make, before everything else, a most rigorous scrutiny into all the Masses they have celebrated.
"God has no need for our worship. It is we who need to show our gratitude for what we have received."
St. Thomas Aquinas
#mass
St. Leonard of Port Maurice, "The Hidden Treasure"
Although the Mass is of infinite value, God accepts it in a manner limited and finite, conformed to the greater or lesser perfection in the dispositions of him who celebrates or assists at the sacrifice.
This means that the satisfaction applied on our behalf is determined by the disposition of the celebrant and the people assisting at the Mass.
"It is certain, that all sacrifices, as sacraments, are equal in dignity, but they are not equal, however, as far as regards the effects that flow from them; hence, the greater habitual or actual piety of the celebrant, the greater shall also be the fruits of the application of the holy sacrifice, so that to make no distinction between a tepid and a devout priest in the function of celebrant is to be indifferent whether the net with which you would catch fish is big or little. All this is equally applicable to those who assist at Mass."
St. Thomas
A Mass conducted with little or no devotion and no zeal does not have the equal effects of one conducted with great devotion or great zeal.
Is the priest tepid or devout? The greater the piety of the celebrant equals greater fruits of application. The same applies to the attendees. Hearing one Mass with great devotion is of more benefit than hearing fifty without devotion.
The Mass is a great pearl beyond all price. To obtain in great abundance the fruits of Holy Mass, you must hear it with deepest devotion. Attend as many Masses as possible with all the devotion possible.
The opinion of St. John of the Cross was that the Eternal Judge will, in the case of priests, make, before everything else, a most rigorous scrutiny into all the Masses they have celebrated.
"God has no need for our worship. It is we who need to show our gratitude for what we have received."
St. Thomas Aquinas
#mass
"The devil has always attempted, by means of the heretics, to deprive the world of the Mass, making them precursors of the antichrist, who, before anything else, will try to abolish and will actually abolish the Holy Sacrament of the altar, as a punishment for the sins of men, according to the prediction of Daniel 'And strength was given him against the continual sacrificer'."
St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church
#mass
St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church
#mass
On this day, 3rd August 1901 - Blessed Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński was born.
Spirituality of the nation
„If they come to destroy this nation, they will start with the Church, because the Church is the strength of this nation.”
Primate Wyszyński was the creator of an original concept of the “‘theology of the nation”, based on the assumption that the nation is a natural community, just like the family; it is a specific “family of families” and a temporal vehicle of certain supernatural values. He understood the Baptism of Poland not only as the fact of baptizing every Pole but as a form of sacramental and spiritual transformation of the entire Polish community under the influence of the act of 966.
In Cardinal Wyszyński’s thought, the Polish nation was inseparable from the Church. Cutting the nation off from the Christian tradition is like cutting a tree from its roots. The Primate was a great patriot, yet his patriotism was rooted in the awareness of the universality of the Church and Christian unity. He rejected a patriotism marked by a dislike of and hostility towards others.
Cardinal Wyszyński was aware that he was the Primate of all Poland, that is, of all Poles, not only Catholics or those living in Poland. Speaking “in the name of the nation”, he also defended the rights of non-Catholics and non-believers. Recognizing in time that there was no political authority representing the interests of Poles, he assumed the role traditionally played by the Catholic Church during the Partitions or the wartime occupation. “I was not a politician, nor did I want to be one,” he wrote. Yet, “in spite of my will, I had to get involved in the affairs of both the Church and the Homeland”.
Teaching about the spirituality of the nation was not merely theoretical. Leading the Church in Poland, the Primate guided the nation through important spiritual and collective experiences.
Primate Stefan Wyszyński’s life path was symbolically concluded with the words he spoke on his deathbed on 16 May 1981: “I am completely submissive to the will of the Father and the will of the Son, who alone has the eternal priesthood and assigns and conveys it to others. I am submissive to the Holy Spirit because my interior life was in the Holy Trinity. And I am submissive to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom I entrusted everything when in prison at Stoczek, and I have offered everything through her hands for the glory of the Holy Trinity”.
Spirituality of the nation
„If they come to destroy this nation, they will start with the Church, because the Church is the strength of this nation.”
Primate Wyszyński was the creator of an original concept of the “‘theology of the nation”, based on the assumption that the nation is a natural community, just like the family; it is a specific “family of families” and a temporal vehicle of certain supernatural values. He understood the Baptism of Poland not only as the fact of baptizing every Pole but as a form of sacramental and spiritual transformation of the entire Polish community under the influence of the act of 966.
In Cardinal Wyszyński’s thought, the Polish nation was inseparable from the Church. Cutting the nation off from the Christian tradition is like cutting a tree from its roots. The Primate was a great patriot, yet his patriotism was rooted in the awareness of the universality of the Church and Christian unity. He rejected a patriotism marked by a dislike of and hostility towards others.
Cardinal Wyszyński was aware that he was the Primate of all Poland, that is, of all Poles, not only Catholics or those living in Poland. Speaking “in the name of the nation”, he also defended the rights of non-Catholics and non-believers. Recognizing in time that there was no political authority representing the interests of Poles, he assumed the role traditionally played by the Catholic Church during the Partitions or the wartime occupation. “I was not a politician, nor did I want to be one,” he wrote. Yet, “in spite of my will, I had to get involved in the affairs of both the Church and the Homeland”.
Teaching about the spirituality of the nation was not merely theoretical. Leading the Church in Poland, the Primate guided the nation through important spiritual and collective experiences.
Primate Stefan Wyszyński’s life path was symbolically concluded with the words he spoke on his deathbed on 16 May 1981: “I am completely submissive to the will of the Father and the will of the Son, who alone has the eternal priesthood and assigns and conveys it to others. I am submissive to the Holy Spirit because my interior life was in the Holy Trinity. And I am submissive to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom I entrusted everything when in prison at Stoczek, and I have offered everything through her hands for the glory of the Holy Trinity”.
Ecce Verbum
On this day, 3rd August 1901 - Blessed Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński was born. Spirituality of the nation „If they come to destroy this nation, they will start with the Church, because the Church is the strength of this nation.” Primate Wyszyński was the creator…
Sexual education
Sexual education, or as we say: education for family life cannot be based on the propaganda for divorce, contraceptives, the power to terminate a pregnancy, on learning about venereal diseases, on how to avoid the consequences of a couple’s life together. This overturns the order. On the contrary, it is necessary to talk about how, in the range of the most diverse powers of the human person’s life—the spiritual, psychological, physical, physiological powers—, the coexistence of a couple also occupies a proper place in the Creator’s plan. It has noble tasks that must be accomplished according to the laws of nature. If a man were to reverse this order and wanted to take advantage of the values of life in a couple, excluding the right to life of a new person, then the whole psyche—and not only of the couple—would be completely distorted. A nation in which such customs are strengthened would soon bring up a generation that counts only on security, defending itself against the consequences of the noble mission of transmitting life. Such a generation, rejecting its vocation, would lead the nation to the grave.
Bl. Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński
Sexual education, or as we say: education for family life cannot be based on the propaganda for divorce, contraceptives, the power to terminate a pregnancy, on learning about venereal diseases, on how to avoid the consequences of a couple’s life together. This overturns the order. On the contrary, it is necessary to talk about how, in the range of the most diverse powers of the human person’s life—the spiritual, psychological, physical, physiological powers—, the coexistence of a couple also occupies a proper place in the Creator’s plan. It has noble tasks that must be accomplished according to the laws of nature. If a man were to reverse this order and wanted to take advantage of the values of life in a couple, excluding the right to life of a new person, then the whole psyche—and not only of the couple—would be completely distorted. A nation in which such customs are strengthened would soon bring up a generation that counts only on security, defending itself against the consequences of the noble mission of transmitting life. Such a generation, rejecting its vocation, would lead the nation to the grave.
Bl. Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński
Ecce Verbum
On the vice of impurity St. Alphonsus Liguori First point Delusion of those who say that sins against purity are not a great evil It is a mortal sin; it cannot be a small evil. It is more sinful than theft or detraction or the violation of the fast. God…
Preservation of chastity
1. Distrust yourself and your senses
"In the matter of purity there is no greater danger than the not fearing the danger; when a man does not distrust himself, and is without fear, it is all over with him."
"We should be less alarmed for one who is tempted in the flesh, and who resists by avoiding the occasions, than for one who is not tempted and is not careful to avoid the occasions."
St. Philip Neri
"Be extremely prompt in turning away from all that leads and lures to impurity, for this evil works insensibly, and by small beginnings progresses to great mischief. It is always easier to avoid than to cure this".
St. Francis de Sales
2. Choose your company wisely
"If young men would preserve their purity, let them avoid bad company."
St. Philip Neri
"Never permit anyone to trifle with you. Either from folly or vanity, although chastity may be preserved amidst such actions, which are rather light than malicious, still the flower and freshness of chastity suffer some hurt and damage: but all impure contact is the utter ruin of chastity".
" It is impurity to behold, to hear, to speak of, to touch impure things, if the heart takes delight therein".
"And such should the devout soul be, chaste, pure, and modest in hands, lips, ears, eyes, and the whole heart."
"Do not associate with immodest persons, above all if they are imprudent, as for the most part is the case: for just as the stag causes the sweet almond tree to become bitter by licking it, so these infected souls can scarcely speak to anyone without injuring their purity."
"Associate with chaste and virtuous persons: read and often think on sacred things, for the Word of God is chaste, and renders those who take delight therein chaste also: wherefore David compares it to the topaz, which has the property of deadening the ardor of concupiscence."
St. Francis de Sales
3. The Law of Presumption
"Let us consider the question of impure thoughts. It is morally impossible for a person who is habitually careful about purity to give consent to impure thoughts without being fairly certain of it... Uncertainty is, therefore, a clear sign that there was no full consent. In this matter we should go by what the theologians call "the law of presumptions". If a person regularly gives way to sins of impurity, in case of doubt it is morally impossible that there was serious sin, for the reason just given."
Bad or impure thoughts are only sinful when we consent to them, or entertain them.
Saint Francis de Sales says: "Do not be disturbed about bad thoughts; it is one thing to have them and quite another to consent to them."
4.Charity
"Chastity without charity is a lamp without oil."
St. Bonaventure
5. Prayer
"To preserve chastity unstained neither vigilance nor modesty suffice. Those helps must also be used which entirely surpass the powers of nature, namely prayer to God, the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist, a fervent devotion to the most Holy Mother of God."
Ven. Pope Pius XII, Sacra Virginitas
“He who trusts in himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things.”
“What does it cost us to say, ‘My God help me! Have mercy on me!’ Is there anything easier than this? And this little will suffice to save us if we be diligent in doing it.”
St. Alphonsus Liguori
"Abide ever nigh to Jesus Christ crucified, spiritually, in meditation, and actually in Holy Communion...If you rest your heart upon our Lord, who is the chaste and Immaculate Lamb, you will speedily find that your heart and soul will be purified from all stains and lusts."
St. Francis de Sales
"In temptations, a Christian ought to have immediate recourse to God, make the sign of the cross over his heart three times and say; "Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me."
St. Philip Neri
6. Discipline your body
"Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, and kindles the true light of chastity."
St. Augustine
#chastity
1. Distrust yourself and your senses
"In the matter of purity there is no greater danger than the not fearing the danger; when a man does not distrust himself, and is without fear, it is all over with him."
"We should be less alarmed for one who is tempted in the flesh, and who resists by avoiding the occasions, than for one who is not tempted and is not careful to avoid the occasions."
St. Philip Neri
"Be extremely prompt in turning away from all that leads and lures to impurity, for this evil works insensibly, and by small beginnings progresses to great mischief. It is always easier to avoid than to cure this".
St. Francis de Sales
2. Choose your company wisely
"If young men would preserve their purity, let them avoid bad company."
St. Philip Neri
"Never permit anyone to trifle with you. Either from folly or vanity, although chastity may be preserved amidst such actions, which are rather light than malicious, still the flower and freshness of chastity suffer some hurt and damage: but all impure contact is the utter ruin of chastity".
" It is impurity to behold, to hear, to speak of, to touch impure things, if the heart takes delight therein".
"And such should the devout soul be, chaste, pure, and modest in hands, lips, ears, eyes, and the whole heart."
"Do not associate with immodest persons, above all if they are imprudent, as for the most part is the case: for just as the stag causes the sweet almond tree to become bitter by licking it, so these infected souls can scarcely speak to anyone without injuring their purity."
"Associate with chaste and virtuous persons: read and often think on sacred things, for the Word of God is chaste, and renders those who take delight therein chaste also: wherefore David compares it to the topaz, which has the property of deadening the ardor of concupiscence."
St. Francis de Sales
3. The Law of Presumption
"Let us consider the question of impure thoughts. It is morally impossible for a person who is habitually careful about purity to give consent to impure thoughts without being fairly certain of it... Uncertainty is, therefore, a clear sign that there was no full consent. In this matter we should go by what the theologians call "the law of presumptions". If a person regularly gives way to sins of impurity, in case of doubt it is morally impossible that there was serious sin, for the reason just given."
Bad or impure thoughts are only sinful when we consent to them, or entertain them.
Saint Francis de Sales says: "Do not be disturbed about bad thoughts; it is one thing to have them and quite another to consent to them."
4.Charity
"Chastity without charity is a lamp without oil."
St. Bonaventure
5. Prayer
"To preserve chastity unstained neither vigilance nor modesty suffice. Those helps must also be used which entirely surpass the powers of nature, namely prayer to God, the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist, a fervent devotion to the most Holy Mother of God."
Ven. Pope Pius XII, Sacra Virginitas
“He who trusts in himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things.”
“What does it cost us to say, ‘My God help me! Have mercy on me!’ Is there anything easier than this? And this little will suffice to save us if we be diligent in doing it.”
St. Alphonsus Liguori
"Abide ever nigh to Jesus Christ crucified, spiritually, in meditation, and actually in Holy Communion...If you rest your heart upon our Lord, who is the chaste and Immaculate Lamb, you will speedily find that your heart and soul will be purified from all stains and lusts."
St. Francis de Sales
"In temptations, a Christian ought to have immediate recourse to God, make the sign of the cross over his heart three times and say; "Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me."
St. Philip Neri
6. Discipline your body
"Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, and kindles the true light of chastity."
St. Augustine
#chastity
Ecce Verbum
Chastity is the lily of virtues, and makes men almost equal to Angels. Everything is beautiful in accordance with its purity. Now the purity of man is chastity, which is called honesty, and the observance of it, honor and also integrity; and its contrary is…
"Purity of heart is a quality which attracts everybody, even those who are evil themselves. It makes a man seem like an angel in human form, for it shines from his countenance. Unfortunately, the virtue of purity is as difficult as it is beautiful. It is fatal for anyone to cast himself into the mire. The first sin of impurity is a disaster, because it is often the first link in a tragic chain which makes him a slave of his lower impulses and of the tyrannical enemy of souls, the Devil."
Cardinal Antonio Bacci
#chastity
Cardinal Antonio Bacci
#chastity
St. Bonaventure-The Minds Road to God.pdf
185.8 KB
The Mind's Road to God
St. Bonaventura
St. Bonaventura,was born Giovanni di Fidanza, Tuscany in 1221. He entered the Franciscan order about 1242 and in the short space of fifteen years rose to be seventh general of that order. Professor of theology at the University of Paris, Bishop of Albano, and created a cardinal by Gregory X shortly before his death in 1274, he was widely
venerated during his lifetime and is mentioned as a saint in Dante's Paradiso. He was canonized in 1482.
Many historians and theologians consider Bonaventure’s essay a masterpiece among the shorter works of medieval philosophy. It contains an interpretation of a vision St. Francis of Assisi had. In the vision, he receives the wounds of Christ from a six-winged seraph. As Bonaventure saw it, the six wings symbolized six steps along the road to perfection and the divine. The steps or stages he details integrates the Neoplatonic hierarchy of being with Christian doctrine concerning God’s relationship with his creation.
Audiobook link
St. Bonaventura
St. Bonaventura,was born Giovanni di Fidanza, Tuscany in 1221. He entered the Franciscan order about 1242 and in the short space of fifteen years rose to be seventh general of that order. Professor of theology at the University of Paris, Bishop of Albano, and created a cardinal by Gregory X shortly before his death in 1274, he was widely
venerated during his lifetime and is mentioned as a saint in Dante's Paradiso. He was canonized in 1482.
Many historians and theologians consider Bonaventure’s essay a masterpiece among the shorter works of medieval philosophy. It contains an interpretation of a vision St. Francis of Assisi had. In the vision, he receives the wounds of Christ from a six-winged seraph. As Bonaventure saw it, the six wings symbolized six steps along the road to perfection and the divine. The steps or stages he details integrates the Neoplatonic hierarchy of being with Christian doctrine concerning God’s relationship with his creation.
Audiobook link
Ecce Verbum
St. Bonaventure-The Minds Road to God.pdf
The mind's road to God
"How does the human person come to know God? This core question of life rests at the heart of many of my reflections for The Catholic Astronomer. One of Catholicism’s foundational principles is that natural reason and Divine Revelation are the two wings on which the soul ascends to God. In this reflection on Saint Bonaventure, we will explore an understanding of spiritual ascent that is aided by six wings revealed through an intense, mystical experience. As we explore Saint Bonaventure’s mysticism, we will come to see how Franciscan spirituality, greatly influenced by the thought of Saint Bonaventure, affirms the exploration of the natural world and how this exploration leads us to the knowledge of God. Second, I will compare Bonaventure’s ascent with recent scientific speculations on the possibility of a Creator due to String Theory."
https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/sacred-space-astronomy/minds-road-god-st-bonaventure-string-theory/
"How does the human person come to know God? This core question of life rests at the heart of many of my reflections for The Catholic Astronomer. One of Catholicism’s foundational principles is that natural reason and Divine Revelation are the two wings on which the soul ascends to God. In this reflection on Saint Bonaventure, we will explore an understanding of spiritual ascent that is aided by six wings revealed through an intense, mystical experience. As we explore Saint Bonaventure’s mysticism, we will come to see how Franciscan spirituality, greatly influenced by the thought of Saint Bonaventure, affirms the exploration of the natural world and how this exploration leads us to the knowledge of God. Second, I will compare Bonaventure’s ascent with recent scientific speculations on the possibility of a Creator due to String Theory."
https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/sacred-space-astronomy/minds-road-god-st-bonaventure-string-theory/
Ecce Verbum
"Four Last Things: Hell, Fr. Ripperger" The doctrine of hell is so frightening that numerous heretical sects end up denying the reality of an eternal hell. The Unitarian-Universalists, the Seventh-day Adventists, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Christadelphians…
The Church Fathers speaking of Hell
Lactantius
“[T]he sacred writings inform us in what manner the wicked are to undergo punishment. For because they have committed sins in their bodies, they will again be clothed with flesh, that they may make atonement in their bodies; and yet it will not be that flesh with which God clothed man, like this our earthly body, but indestructible, and abiding forever, that it may be able to hold out against tortures and everlasting fire.The same divine fire, therefore, with one and the same force and power, will both burn the wicked and will form them again, and will replace as much as it shall consume of their bodies, and will supply itself with eternal nourishment” (Divine Institutes 7:21 [A.D. 307]).
Cyprian of Carthage
“An ever-burning Gehenna and the punishment of being devoured by living flames will consume the condemned; nor will there be any way in which the tormented can ever have respite or be at an end. Souls along with their bodies will be preserved for suffering in unlimited agonies.The grief at punishment will then be without the fruit of repentance; weeping will be useless, and prayer ineffectual. Too late will they believe in eternal punishment, who would not believe in eternal life” (To Demetrian 24 [A.D. 252]).
Minucius Felix
“I am not ignorant of the fact that many, in the consciousness of what they deserve, would rather hope than actually believe that there is nothing for them after death. They would prefer to be annihilated rather than be restored for punishment. . . . Nor is there either measure nor end to these torments” (Octavius 34:12–5:3 [A.D. 226]).
Irenaeus
“[God will] send the spiritual forces of wickedness, and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, and the impious, unjust, lawless, and blasphemous among men into everlasting fire” (Against Heresies 1:10:1 [A.D. 189]).
“The penalty increases for those who do not believe the Word of God and despise his coming. . . . [I]t is not merely temporal, but eternal. To whomsoever the Lord shall say, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire,’ they will be damned forever” (ibid., 4:28:2).
Theophilus of Antioch
“ [God] will examine everything and will judge justly, granting recompense to each according to merit. To those who seek immortality by the patient exercise of good works, he will give everlasting life, joy, peace, rest, and all good things. . . . For the unbelievers and for the contemptuous, and for those who do not submit to the truth but assent to iniquity, when they have been involved in adulteries, and fornications, and homosexualities, and avarice, and in lawless idolatries, there will be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish; and in the end, such men as these will be detained in everlasting fire” (To Autolycus 1:14 [A.D. 181]).
Justin Martyr
“No more is it possible for the evildoer, the avaricious, and the treacherous to hide from God than it is for the virtuous. Every man will receive the eternal punishment or reward which his actions deserve. Indeed, if all men recognized this, no one would choose evil even for a short time, knowing that he would incur the eternal sentence of fire” (First Apology 12 [A.D. 151]).
“We have been taught that only they may aim at immortality who have lived a holy and virtuous life near to God. We believe that they who live wickedly and do not repent will be punished in everlasting fire” (ibid., 21).
“[Jesus] shall come from the heavens in glory with his angelic host, when he shall raise the bodies of all the men who ever lived. Then he will clothe the worthy in immortality; but the wicked, clothed in eternal sensibility, he will commit to the eternal fire, along with the evil demons” (ibid., 52).
#hell
Lactantius
“[T]he sacred writings inform us in what manner the wicked are to undergo punishment. For because they have committed sins in their bodies, they will again be clothed with flesh, that they may make atonement in their bodies; and yet it will not be that flesh with which God clothed man, like this our earthly body, but indestructible, and abiding forever, that it may be able to hold out against tortures and everlasting fire.The same divine fire, therefore, with one and the same force and power, will both burn the wicked and will form them again, and will replace as much as it shall consume of their bodies, and will supply itself with eternal nourishment” (Divine Institutes 7:21 [A.D. 307]).
Cyprian of Carthage
“An ever-burning Gehenna and the punishment of being devoured by living flames will consume the condemned; nor will there be any way in which the tormented can ever have respite or be at an end. Souls along with their bodies will be preserved for suffering in unlimited agonies.The grief at punishment will then be without the fruit of repentance; weeping will be useless, and prayer ineffectual. Too late will they believe in eternal punishment, who would not believe in eternal life” (To Demetrian 24 [A.D. 252]).
Minucius Felix
“I am not ignorant of the fact that many, in the consciousness of what they deserve, would rather hope than actually believe that there is nothing for them after death. They would prefer to be annihilated rather than be restored for punishment. . . . Nor is there either measure nor end to these torments” (Octavius 34:12–5:3 [A.D. 226]).
Irenaeus
“[God will] send the spiritual forces of wickedness, and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, and the impious, unjust, lawless, and blasphemous among men into everlasting fire” (Against Heresies 1:10:1 [A.D. 189]).
“The penalty increases for those who do not believe the Word of God and despise his coming. . . . [I]t is not merely temporal, but eternal. To whomsoever the Lord shall say, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire,’ they will be damned forever” (ibid., 4:28:2).
Theophilus of Antioch
“ [God] will examine everything and will judge justly, granting recompense to each according to merit. To those who seek immortality by the patient exercise of good works, he will give everlasting life, joy, peace, rest, and all good things. . . . For the unbelievers and for the contemptuous, and for those who do not submit to the truth but assent to iniquity, when they have been involved in adulteries, and fornications, and homosexualities, and avarice, and in lawless idolatries, there will be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish; and in the end, such men as these will be detained in everlasting fire” (To Autolycus 1:14 [A.D. 181]).
Justin Martyr
“No more is it possible for the evildoer, the avaricious, and the treacherous to hide from God than it is for the virtuous. Every man will receive the eternal punishment or reward which his actions deserve. Indeed, if all men recognized this, no one would choose evil even for a short time, knowing that he would incur the eternal sentence of fire” (First Apology 12 [A.D. 151]).
“We have been taught that only they may aim at immortality who have lived a holy and virtuous life near to God. We believe that they who live wickedly and do not repent will be punished in everlasting fire” (ibid., 21).
“[Jesus] shall come from the heavens in glory with his angelic host, when he shall raise the bodies of all the men who ever lived. Then he will clothe the worthy in immortality; but the wicked, clothed in eternal sensibility, he will commit to the eternal fire, along with the evil demons” (ibid., 52).
#hell
Ecce Verbum
Christ Died for All Men God loves all things that He has created: "For Thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things that Thou hast made" - Wisdom 11:25. Now love cannot be idle: "All love has a force of its own, and cannot be idle", says…
God wishes all men to be saved
"So what must we do, we who know that the greater number is going to be damned, and not only out of all Catholics? What must we do? Take the resolution to belong to the little number of those who are saved. You say: If Christ wanted to damn me, then why did He create me? Silence, rash tongue! God did not create anyone to damn him; but whoever is damned, is damned because he wants to be."
First let us take these two undeniable truths as a basis: "God wants all men to be saved," "All are in need of the grace of God." Now, if I show you that God wants to save all men, and that for this purpose He gives all of them His grace and all the other necessary means of obtaining that sublime end, you will be obliged to agree that whoever is damned must impute it to his own malice, and that if the greater number of Christians are damned, it is because they want to be. "Thy damnation comes from thee; thy help is only in Me."
In a hundred places in Holy Scripture, God tells us that it is truly His desire to save all men. "Is it My will that a sinner should die, and not that he should be converted from his ways and live?... I live, saith the Lord God. I desire not the death of the sinner. Be converted and live." When someone wants something very much, it is said that he is dying with desire; it is a hyperbole. But God has wanted and still wants our salvation so much that He died of desire, and He suffered death to give us life. This will to save all men is therefore not an affected, superficial and apparent will in God; it is a real, effective, and beneficial will; for He provides us with all the means most proper for us to be saved. He does not give them to us so they will not obtain it; He gives them to us with a sincere will, with the intention that they may obtain their effect.
Far more, because God sees that we could not even make use of His grace without His help, He gives us other aids; and if they sometimes remain ineffective, it is our fault; for with these same aids, one may abuse them and be damned with them, and another may do right and be saved; he might even be saved with less powerful aids. Yes, it can happen that we abuse a greater grace and are damned, whereas another cooperates with a lesser grace and is saved.
Saint Augustine exclaims, "If, therefore, someone turns aside from justice, he is carried by his free will, led by his concupiscence, deceived by his own persuasion." But for those who do not understand theology, here is what I have to say to them: God is so good that when He sees a sinner running to his ruin, He runs after him, calls him, entreats and accompanies him even to the gates of hell; what will He not do to convert him? He sends him good inspirations and holy thoughts, and if he does not profit from them, He becomes angry and indignant, He pursues him. Will He strike him? No. He beats at the air and forgives him. But the sinner is not converted yet. God sends him a mortal illness. It is certainly all over for him. No, brothers, God heals him; the sinner becomes obstinate in evil, and God in His mercy looks for another way; He gives him another year, and when that year is over, He grants him yet another.
Now I ask you, if that man is damned, is it not true that he is damned against the Will of God and because he wants to be damned? Come and ask me now: If God wanted to damn me, then why did He create me?
St. Leonard of Port Maurice
#salvation #freewill
"So what must we do, we who know that the greater number is going to be damned, and not only out of all Catholics? What must we do? Take the resolution to belong to the little number of those who are saved. You say: If Christ wanted to damn me, then why did He create me? Silence, rash tongue! God did not create anyone to damn him; but whoever is damned, is damned because he wants to be."
First let us take these two undeniable truths as a basis: "God wants all men to be saved," "All are in need of the grace of God." Now, if I show you that God wants to save all men, and that for this purpose He gives all of them His grace and all the other necessary means of obtaining that sublime end, you will be obliged to agree that whoever is damned must impute it to his own malice, and that if the greater number of Christians are damned, it is because they want to be. "Thy damnation comes from thee; thy help is only in Me."
In a hundred places in Holy Scripture, God tells us that it is truly His desire to save all men. "Is it My will that a sinner should die, and not that he should be converted from his ways and live?... I live, saith the Lord God. I desire not the death of the sinner. Be converted and live." When someone wants something very much, it is said that he is dying with desire; it is a hyperbole. But God has wanted and still wants our salvation so much that He died of desire, and He suffered death to give us life. This will to save all men is therefore not an affected, superficial and apparent will in God; it is a real, effective, and beneficial will; for He provides us with all the means most proper for us to be saved. He does not give them to us so they will not obtain it; He gives them to us with a sincere will, with the intention that they may obtain their effect.
Far more, because God sees that we could not even make use of His grace without His help, He gives us other aids; and if they sometimes remain ineffective, it is our fault; for with these same aids, one may abuse them and be damned with them, and another may do right and be saved; he might even be saved with less powerful aids. Yes, it can happen that we abuse a greater grace and are damned, whereas another cooperates with a lesser grace and is saved.
Saint Augustine exclaims, "If, therefore, someone turns aside from justice, he is carried by his free will, led by his concupiscence, deceived by his own persuasion." But for those who do not understand theology, here is what I have to say to them: God is so good that when He sees a sinner running to his ruin, He runs after him, calls him, entreats and accompanies him even to the gates of hell; what will He not do to convert him? He sends him good inspirations and holy thoughts, and if he does not profit from them, He becomes angry and indignant, He pursues him. Will He strike him? No. He beats at the air and forgives him. But the sinner is not converted yet. God sends him a mortal illness. It is certainly all over for him. No, brothers, God heals him; the sinner becomes obstinate in evil, and God in His mercy looks for another way; He gives him another year, and when that year is over, He grants him yet another.
Now I ask you, if that man is damned, is it not true that he is damned against the Will of God and because he wants to be damned? Come and ask me now: If God wanted to damn me, then why did He create me?
St. Leonard of Port Maurice
#salvation #freewill
Ecce Verbum
God wishes all men to be saved "So what must we do, we who know that the greater number is going to be damned, and not only out of all Catholics? What must we do? Take the resolution to belong to the little number of those who are saved. You say: If Christ…
"You will be saved if you want to be"
Brothers, I want to send all of you away comforted today. So if you ask me my sentiment on the number of those who are saved, here it is: Whether there are many or few that are saved, I say that whoever wants to be saved, will be saved; and that no one can be damned if he does not want to be. And if it is true that few are saved, it is because there are few who live well. As for the rest, compare these two opinions: the first one states that the greater number of Catholics are condemned; the second one, on the contrary, pretends that the greater number of Catholics are saved. Imagine an Angel sent by God to confirm the first opinion, coming to tell you that not only are most Catholics damned, but that of all this assembly present here, one alone will be saved. If you obey the Commandments of God, if you detest the corruption of this world, if you embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ in a spirit of penance, you will be that one alone who is saved.
Now imagine the same Angel returning to you and confirming the second opinion. He tells you that not only are the greater portion of Catholics saved, but that out of all this gathering, one alone will be damned and all the others saved. If after that, you continue your usuries, your vengeances, your criminal deeds, your impurities, then you will be that one alone who is damned.
What is the use of knowing whether few or many are saved? Saint Peter says to us, "Strive by good works to make your election sure." When Saint Thomas Aquinas's sister asked him what she must do to go to heaven, he said, "You will be saved if you want to be." I say the same thing to you, and here is proof of my declaration. No one is damned unless he commits mortal sin: that is of faith. And no one commits mortal sin unless he wants to: that is an undeniable theological proposition. Therefore, no one goes to hell unless he wants to; the consequence is obvious. Does that not suffice to comfort you? Weep over past sins, make a good confession, sin no more in the future, and you will all be saved. Why torment yourself so? For it is certain that you have to commit mortal sin to go to hell, and that to commit mortal sin you must want to, and that consequently no one goes to hell unless he wants to. That is not just an opinion, it is an undeniable and very comforting truth; may God give you to understand it, and may He bless you. Amen.
St. Leonard of Port Maurice
#salvation
Brothers, I want to send all of you away comforted today. So if you ask me my sentiment on the number of those who are saved, here it is: Whether there are many or few that are saved, I say that whoever wants to be saved, will be saved; and that no one can be damned if he does not want to be. And if it is true that few are saved, it is because there are few who live well. As for the rest, compare these two opinions: the first one states that the greater number of Catholics are condemned; the second one, on the contrary, pretends that the greater number of Catholics are saved. Imagine an Angel sent by God to confirm the first opinion, coming to tell you that not only are most Catholics damned, but that of all this assembly present here, one alone will be saved. If you obey the Commandments of God, if you detest the corruption of this world, if you embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ in a spirit of penance, you will be that one alone who is saved.
Now imagine the same Angel returning to you and confirming the second opinion. He tells you that not only are the greater portion of Catholics saved, but that out of all this gathering, one alone will be damned and all the others saved. If after that, you continue your usuries, your vengeances, your criminal deeds, your impurities, then you will be that one alone who is damned.
What is the use of knowing whether few or many are saved? Saint Peter says to us, "Strive by good works to make your election sure." When Saint Thomas Aquinas's sister asked him what she must do to go to heaven, he said, "You will be saved if you want to be." I say the same thing to you, and here is proof of my declaration. No one is damned unless he commits mortal sin: that is of faith. And no one commits mortal sin unless he wants to: that is an undeniable theological proposition. Therefore, no one goes to hell unless he wants to; the consequence is obvious. Does that not suffice to comfort you? Weep over past sins, make a good confession, sin no more in the future, and you will all be saved. Why torment yourself so? For it is certain that you have to commit mortal sin to go to hell, and that to commit mortal sin you must want to, and that consequently no one goes to hell unless he wants to. That is not just an opinion, it is an undeniable and very comforting truth; may God give you to understand it, and may He bless you. Amen.
St. Leonard of Port Maurice
#salvation
Ecce Verbum
"You will be saved if you want to be" Brothers, I want to send all of you away comforted today. So if you ask me my sentiment on the number of those who are saved, here it is: Whether there are many or few that are saved, I say that whoever wants to be saved…
In the measure you desire him, you will find him.
St. Teresa of Ávila
St. Teresa of Ávila
Ecce Verbum
"You will be saved if you want to be" Brothers, I want to send all of you away comforted today. So if you ask me my sentiment on the number of those who are saved, here it is: Whether there are many or few that are saved, I say that whoever wants to be saved…
Where does our salvation lie?
On the royal way of the Cross
Thomas á Kempis
In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the Cross is joy of spirit; in the Cross is excellence of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross.
There is no other way to life and to true inner peace, than the way of the Cross and of daily self-denial. Go where you will, seek what you will; you will find no higher way above or safer way below than the road of the Holy Cross. Arrange and order all things to your own ideas and wishes, yet you will still find suffering to endure, whether you will or not; so you will always find the Cross.
At times, God will withdraw from you; at times you will be troubled by your neighbor, and, what is more, you will often be a burden to yourself. Neither can any remedy or comfort bring you relief, but you must bear it as long as God wills. For God desires that you learn to bear trials without comfort, that you may yield yourself wholly to Him, and grow more humble through tribulation.
The Cross always stands ready, and everywhere awaits you. You cannot escape it, wherever you flee; for wherever you go, you bear yourself, and always find yourself.
If you bear the cross willingly, it will bear you and lead you to your desired goal, where pain shall be no more; but it will not be in this life. If you bear the cross unwillingly, you make it a burden, and load yourself more heavily; but you must needs bear it. If you cast away one cross, you will certainly find another, and perhaps a heavier.
You are greatly mistaken if you look for anything save to endure trials, for all this mortal life is full of troubles, (Job 14:1) and everywhere marked with crosses. The further a man advances in the spiritual life, the heavier and more numerous he finds the crosses, for his ever-deepening love of God makes more bitter the sorrows of his earthly exile.
Yet a man who is afflicted in many ways is not without solace and comfort, for he perceives the great benefit to be reaped from the bearing of his cross. For while he bears it with a good will, the whole burden is changed into hope of God's comfort. And the more the body is subdued by affliction, the more is the spirit strengthened by grace within. Sometimes he is so greatly comforted by the desire to suffer adversity for love of conforming to the Cross of Christ, that he would not wish to be without grief and pain; (2 Cor. 4:10) for he knows that the more he can suffer for His sake, the more pleasing he will be to God. This desire does not spring from man's own strength, but from the grace of Christ, which can and does effect such great things in the frail frame of man; so that which nature fears and avoids, he boldly meets and loves through ardor of spirit.
Man is not by nature inclined to carry the cross, to love the cross, to chasten the body, and bring it into subjection; (I Cor. 9:27) to refuse honors, to submit to insults with goodwill, to despise himself and welcome disparagement; to bear all adversity and loss, and to desire no kind of prosperity in this world. And if you trust in your own strength, you will be unable to achieve any of these things. But if you trust in the Lord, you will be given strength from Heaven, and the world and the flesh will become subject to your will.
If you steel yourself -, as you must - to suffer and to die, all will go better with you, and you will find peace. No man is fit to understand heavenly things, unless he is resigned to bear hardships for Christ's sake.
On the royal way of the Cross
Thomas á Kempis
In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the Cross is joy of spirit; in the Cross is excellence of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross.
There is no other way to life and to true inner peace, than the way of the Cross and of daily self-denial. Go where you will, seek what you will; you will find no higher way above or safer way below than the road of the Holy Cross. Arrange and order all things to your own ideas and wishes, yet you will still find suffering to endure, whether you will or not; so you will always find the Cross.
At times, God will withdraw from you; at times you will be troubled by your neighbor, and, what is more, you will often be a burden to yourself. Neither can any remedy or comfort bring you relief, but you must bear it as long as God wills. For God desires that you learn to bear trials without comfort, that you may yield yourself wholly to Him, and grow more humble through tribulation.
The Cross always stands ready, and everywhere awaits you. You cannot escape it, wherever you flee; for wherever you go, you bear yourself, and always find yourself.
If you bear the cross willingly, it will bear you and lead you to your desired goal, where pain shall be no more; but it will not be in this life. If you bear the cross unwillingly, you make it a burden, and load yourself more heavily; but you must needs bear it. If you cast away one cross, you will certainly find another, and perhaps a heavier.
You are greatly mistaken if you look for anything save to endure trials, for all this mortal life is full of troubles, (Job 14:1) and everywhere marked with crosses. The further a man advances in the spiritual life, the heavier and more numerous he finds the crosses, for his ever-deepening love of God makes more bitter the sorrows of his earthly exile.
Yet a man who is afflicted in many ways is not without solace and comfort, for he perceives the great benefit to be reaped from the bearing of his cross. For while he bears it with a good will, the whole burden is changed into hope of God's comfort. And the more the body is subdued by affliction, the more is the spirit strengthened by grace within. Sometimes he is so greatly comforted by the desire to suffer adversity for love of conforming to the Cross of Christ, that he would not wish to be without grief and pain; (2 Cor. 4:10) for he knows that the more he can suffer for His sake, the more pleasing he will be to God. This desire does not spring from man's own strength, but from the grace of Christ, which can and does effect such great things in the frail frame of man; so that which nature fears and avoids, he boldly meets and loves through ardor of spirit.
Man is not by nature inclined to carry the cross, to love the cross, to chasten the body, and bring it into subjection; (I Cor. 9:27) to refuse honors, to submit to insults with goodwill, to despise himself and welcome disparagement; to bear all adversity and loss, and to desire no kind of prosperity in this world. And if you trust in your own strength, you will be unable to achieve any of these things. But if you trust in the Lord, you will be given strength from Heaven, and the world and the flesh will become subject to your will.
If you steel yourself -, as you must - to suffer and to die, all will go better with you, and you will find peace. No man is fit to understand heavenly things, unless he is resigned to bear hardships for Christ's sake.
Ecce Verbum
Where does our salvation lie? On the royal way of the Cross Thomas á Kempis In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind;…
When you have arrived at that state when trouble seems sweet and acceptable to you for Christ's sake, then all is well with you, for you have hound paradise upon earth. But so long as suffering is grievous to you and you seek to escape it, so long will it go ill with you, for the trouble you try to escape will pursue you everywhere.
Had there been a better way, more profitable to the salvation of mankind than suffering, then Christ would have revealed it in His word and life. But He clearly urges both His own disciples and all who wish to follow Him to carry the cross, saying, `If any will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.'(Mark 8:34) Therefore, when we have read and studied all things, let thus be our final resolve: 'that through much tribulation we must enter the Kingdom of God.'(Acts 14:22)
#salvation
Had there been a better way, more profitable to the salvation of mankind than suffering, then Christ would have revealed it in His word and life. But He clearly urges both His own disciples and all who wish to follow Him to carry the cross, saying, `If any will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.'(Mark 8:34) Therefore, when we have read and studied all things, let thus be our final resolve: 'that through much tribulation we must enter the Kingdom of God.'(Acts 14:22)
#salvation
Kantyk Tobiasza * Uwielbiam Boga mego
Fundacja Dominikański Ośrodek Liturgiczny
Tobias' canticle
* I adore my God,
and my soul belongs to the King of Heaven and I shall rejoice in His majesty! *
Let all cry out and praise Him in Jerusalem the holy city!
He will send punishment for the deeds of your sons
And will have mercy again on the sons of the righteous.
Praise the Lord with dignity and praise the King of the ages,
That he may rebuild thy tent again with joy.
May he rejoice over the captives in you,
May he love all the unfortunate.
A splendid light shall radiate to the ends of the earth.
Numerous nations shall come to thee from afar;
To thy holy name
Inhabitants of all the ends of the earth.
Rejoice and be glad for the sake of the righteous,
For all are gathered together glorifying the Lord of the ages.
Blessed are those who love thee,
May they rejoice in your peace.
Happy all those people who mourn over all thy plagues,
they shall rejoice in thee
And behold thy joy for ever.
https://youtu.be/VnIKI_u7G38
* I adore my God,
and my soul belongs to the King of Heaven and I shall rejoice in His majesty! *
Let all cry out and praise Him in Jerusalem the holy city!
He will send punishment for the deeds of your sons
And will have mercy again on the sons of the righteous.
Praise the Lord with dignity and praise the King of the ages,
That he may rebuild thy tent again with joy.
May he rejoice over the captives in you,
May he love all the unfortunate.
A splendid light shall radiate to the ends of the earth.
Numerous nations shall come to thee from afar;
To thy holy name
Inhabitants of all the ends of the earth.
Rejoice and be glad for the sake of the righteous,
For all are gathered together glorifying the Lord of the ages.
Blessed are those who love thee,
May they rejoice in your peace.
Happy all those people who mourn over all thy plagues,
they shall rejoice in thee
And behold thy joy for ever.
https://youtu.be/VnIKI_u7G38
faith_and_works_are_necessary_for_salvation.pdf
398.5 KB
A short article
Faith and good works are necessary for salvation
(Not faith only)
James 2:24
“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say
to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy
name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
[Unless otherwise noted, all Bible citations were from the 1611 King James Version of the Bible,
a famous Protestant translation. This version was chosen to prove the point to Protestants using a Protestant Bible.]
#salvation #justification
Faith and good works are necessary for salvation
(Not faith only)
James 2:24
“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say
to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy
name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
[Unless otherwise noted, all Bible citations were from the 1611 King James Version of the Bible,
a famous Protestant translation. This version was chosen to prove the point to Protestants using a Protestant Bible.]
#salvation #justification
reparation2 (1).pdf
176.4 KB
How We Can Make Reparation
By Leading
A Simple Christian Life
by Raoul Plus, S.J.
Although all Christians should make Reparation, they should not all do it in the same way.
The mother of a family might make Reparation, but certainly not in the same manner as a Carmelite.
There are three factors which play their part in deciding to what extent each Christian, individually, can volunteer to walk the Royal Road of making Reparation. These three factors are:
1. The duties of our state of life
2. The leadings of grace.
3. The sanction of authority.
Bearing these in mind, we must likewise remember that there are two degrees of self-oblation to a life of Reparation. Taking for granted the acceptance of suffering from the motive of love as the essential principle of Reparation, Christians will be divided in proportion to the measure in which they devote their lives to the Cross.
By Leading
A Simple Christian Life
by Raoul Plus, S.J.
Although all Christians should make Reparation, they should not all do it in the same way.
The mother of a family might make Reparation, but certainly not in the same manner as a Carmelite.
There are three factors which play their part in deciding to what extent each Christian, individually, can volunteer to walk the Royal Road of making Reparation. These three factors are:
1. The duties of our state of life
2. The leadings of grace.
3. The sanction of authority.
Bearing these in mind, we must likewise remember that there are two degrees of self-oblation to a life of Reparation. Taking for granted the acceptance of suffering from the motive of love as the essential principle of Reparation, Christians will be divided in proportion to the measure in which they devote their lives to the Cross.
Ecce Verbum
"You will be saved if you want to be" Brothers, I want to send all of you away comforted today. So if you ask me my sentiment on the number of those who are saved, here it is: Whether there are many or few that are saved, I say that whoever wants to be saved…
God aids us with graces and inspirations to insure our salvation
Brothers, you must know that the most ancient belief is the Law of God, and that we all bear it written in our hearts; that it can be learned without any teacher, and that it suffices to have the light of reason in order to know all the precepts of that Law. That is why even the barbarians hid when they committed sin, because they knew they were doing wrong; and they are damned for not having observed the natural law written in their heart: for had they observed it, God would have made a miracle rather than let them be damned; He would have sent them someone to teach them and would have given them other aids, of which they made themselves unworthy by not living in conformity with the inspirations of their own conscience, which never failed to warn them of the good they should do and the evil they should avoid. So it is their conscience that accused them at the Tribunal of God, and it tells them constantly in hell, "Thy damnation comes from thee." They do not know what to answer and are obliged to confess that they are deserving of their fate. Now if these infidels have no excuse, will there be any for a Catholic who had so many sacraments, so many sermons, so many aids at his disposal? How will he dare to say, "If God was going to damn me, then why did He create me?" How will he dare to speak in this manner, when God gives him so many aids to be saved? So let us finish confounding him.
Stop, and turn around; it is Jesus who calls you and who, with His wounds, as with so many eloquent voices, cries to you, "My son, if you are damned, you have only yourself to blame". Lift up your eyes and see all the graces with which I have enriched you to insure your eternal salvation. I could have had you born in a forest in Barbary; that is what I did to many others, but I had you born in the Catholic Faith; I had you raised by such a good father, such an excellent mother, with the purest instructions and teachings. If you are damned in spite of that, whose fault will it be? Your own, My son.
"I could have cast you into hell after the first mortal sin you committed, without waiting for the second: I did it to so many others, but I was patient with you, I waited for you for many long years. I am still waiting for you today in penance. If you are damned in spite of all that, whose fault is it? Your own, My son, your own. You know how many have died before your very eyes and were damned: that was a warning for you. You know how many others I set back on the right path to give you the good example. Do you remember what that excellent confessor told you? I am the one who had him say it. Did he not enjoin you to change your life, to make a good confession? I am the One who inspired him. Remember that sermon that touched your heart? I am the One who led you there. And what has happened between you and Me in the secret of your heart, ...that you can never forget.
"Those interior inspirations, that clear knowledge, that constant remorse of conscience, would you dare to deny them? All of these were so many aids of My grace, because I wanted to save you. I refused to give them to many others, and I gave them to you because I loved you tenderly. My son, if I spoke to them as tenderly as I am speaking to you today, how many others souls return to the right path! Listen to what I am going to tell you, for these are My last words: You have cost Me My blood; if you want to be damned in spite of the blood I shed for you, you have only yourself to accuse."
St. Leonard of Port Maurice
#salvation
Brothers, you must know that the most ancient belief is the Law of God, and that we all bear it written in our hearts; that it can be learned without any teacher, and that it suffices to have the light of reason in order to know all the precepts of that Law. That is why even the barbarians hid when they committed sin, because they knew they were doing wrong; and they are damned for not having observed the natural law written in their heart: for had they observed it, God would have made a miracle rather than let them be damned; He would have sent them someone to teach them and would have given them other aids, of which they made themselves unworthy by not living in conformity with the inspirations of their own conscience, which never failed to warn them of the good they should do and the evil they should avoid. So it is their conscience that accused them at the Tribunal of God, and it tells them constantly in hell, "Thy damnation comes from thee." They do not know what to answer and are obliged to confess that they are deserving of their fate. Now if these infidels have no excuse, will there be any for a Catholic who had so many sacraments, so many sermons, so many aids at his disposal? How will he dare to say, "If God was going to damn me, then why did He create me?" How will he dare to speak in this manner, when God gives him so many aids to be saved? So let us finish confounding him.
Stop, and turn around; it is Jesus who calls you and who, with His wounds, as with so many eloquent voices, cries to you, "My son, if you are damned, you have only yourself to blame". Lift up your eyes and see all the graces with which I have enriched you to insure your eternal salvation. I could have had you born in a forest in Barbary; that is what I did to many others, but I had you born in the Catholic Faith; I had you raised by such a good father, such an excellent mother, with the purest instructions and teachings. If you are damned in spite of that, whose fault will it be? Your own, My son.
"I could have cast you into hell after the first mortal sin you committed, without waiting for the second: I did it to so many others, but I was patient with you, I waited for you for many long years. I am still waiting for you today in penance. If you are damned in spite of all that, whose fault is it? Your own, My son, your own. You know how many have died before your very eyes and were damned: that was a warning for you. You know how many others I set back on the right path to give you the good example. Do you remember what that excellent confessor told you? I am the one who had him say it. Did he not enjoin you to change your life, to make a good confession? I am the One who inspired him. Remember that sermon that touched your heart? I am the One who led you there. And what has happened between you and Me in the secret of your heart, ...that you can never forget.
"Those interior inspirations, that clear knowledge, that constant remorse of conscience, would you dare to deny them? All of these were so many aids of My grace, because I wanted to save you. I refused to give them to many others, and I gave them to you because I loved you tenderly. My son, if I spoke to them as tenderly as I am speaking to you today, how many others souls return to the right path! Listen to what I am going to tell you, for these are My last words: You have cost Me My blood; if you want to be damned in spite of the blood I shed for you, you have only yourself to accuse."
St. Leonard of Port Maurice
#salvation
Ecce Verbum
faith_and_works_are_necessary_for_salvation.pdf
Church Fathers
Reward and Merit
Ignatius of Antioch
“Be pleasing to him whose soldiers you are, and whose pay you receive. May none of you be found to be a deserter. Let your baptism be your armament, your faith your helmet, your love your spear, your endurance your full suit of armor. Let your works be as your deposited withholdings, so that you may receive the back-pay which has accrued to you” (Letter to Polycarp 6:2, AD 110).
Justin Martyr
“We have learned from the prophets and we hold it as true that punishments and chastisements and good rewards are distributed according to the merit of each man’s actions. Were this not the case, and were all things to happen according to the decree of fate, there would be nothing at all in our power. If fate decrees that this man is to be good and that one wicked, then neither is the former to be praised nor the latter to be blamed” (First Apology 43, AD 151).
Tatian the Syrian
“The wicked man is justly punished, having become depraved of himself; and the just man is worthy of praise for his honest deeds, since it was in his free choice that he did not transgress the will of God” (Address to the Greeks 7, AD 170).
Athenagoras
“And we shall make no mistake in saying, that the [goal] of an intelligent life and rational judgment, is to be occupied uninterruptedly with those objects to which the natural reason is chiefly and primarily adapted, and to delight unceasingly in the contemplation of Him Who Is, and of his decrees, notwithstanding that the majority of men, because they are affected too passionately and too violently by things below, pass through life without attaining this object. For..the examination relates to individuals, and the reward or punishment of lives ill or well spent is proportioned to the merit of each” (The Resurrection of the Dead 25, AD 178).
Theophilus of Antioch
“He who gave the mouth for speech and formed the ears for hearing and made eyes for seeing will examine everything and will judge justly, granting recompense to each according to merit. To those who seek immortality by the patient exercise of good works [Rom. 2:7], he will give everlasting life, joy, peace, rest, and all good things, which neither eye has seen nor ear has heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man [1 Cor. 2:9]. For the unbelievers and the contemptuous and for those who do not submit to the truth but assent to iniquity..there will be wrath and indignation [Rom. 2:8]” (To Autolycus 1:14, AD 181).
Irenaeus
“[Paul], an able wrestler, urges us on in the struggle for immortality, so that we may receive a crown and so that we may regard as a precious crown that which we acquire by our own struggle and which does not grow upon us spontaneously..Those things which come to us spontaneously are not loved as much as those which are obtained by anxious care” (Against Heresies 4:37:7, AD 189).
Jerome
“It is our task, according to our different virtues, to prepare for ourselves different rewards.. If we were all going to be equal in heaven it would be useless for us to humble ourselves here in order to have a greater place there."
Prosper of Aquitane
“Indeed, a man who has been justified, that is, who from impious has been made pious, since he had no antecedent good merit, receives a gift, by which gift he may also acquire merit.
Thus, what was begun in him by Christ’s grace can also be augmented by the industry of his free choice, but never in the absence of God’s help, without which no one is able either to progress or to continue in doing good” (Responses on Behalf of Augustine 6, AD 431).
Council of Orange II
“Grace is preceded by no merits. A reward is due to good works, if they are performed, but grace, which is not due, precedes [good works], that they may be done” (Canons on grace 19 AD 529).
#grace #justification
Reward and Merit
Ignatius of Antioch
“Be pleasing to him whose soldiers you are, and whose pay you receive. May none of you be found to be a deserter. Let your baptism be your armament, your faith your helmet, your love your spear, your endurance your full suit of armor. Let your works be as your deposited withholdings, so that you may receive the back-pay which has accrued to you” (Letter to Polycarp 6:2, AD 110).
Justin Martyr
“We have learned from the prophets and we hold it as true that punishments and chastisements and good rewards are distributed according to the merit of each man’s actions. Were this not the case, and were all things to happen according to the decree of fate, there would be nothing at all in our power. If fate decrees that this man is to be good and that one wicked, then neither is the former to be praised nor the latter to be blamed” (First Apology 43, AD 151).
Tatian the Syrian
“The wicked man is justly punished, having become depraved of himself; and the just man is worthy of praise for his honest deeds, since it was in his free choice that he did not transgress the will of God” (Address to the Greeks 7, AD 170).
Athenagoras
“And we shall make no mistake in saying, that the [goal] of an intelligent life and rational judgment, is to be occupied uninterruptedly with those objects to which the natural reason is chiefly and primarily adapted, and to delight unceasingly in the contemplation of Him Who Is, and of his decrees, notwithstanding that the majority of men, because they are affected too passionately and too violently by things below, pass through life without attaining this object. For..the examination relates to individuals, and the reward or punishment of lives ill or well spent is proportioned to the merit of each” (The Resurrection of the Dead 25, AD 178).
Theophilus of Antioch
“He who gave the mouth for speech and formed the ears for hearing and made eyes for seeing will examine everything and will judge justly, granting recompense to each according to merit. To those who seek immortality by the patient exercise of good works [Rom. 2:7], he will give everlasting life, joy, peace, rest, and all good things, which neither eye has seen nor ear has heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man [1 Cor. 2:9]. For the unbelievers and the contemptuous and for those who do not submit to the truth but assent to iniquity..there will be wrath and indignation [Rom. 2:8]” (To Autolycus 1:14, AD 181).
Irenaeus
“[Paul], an able wrestler, urges us on in the struggle for immortality, so that we may receive a crown and so that we may regard as a precious crown that which we acquire by our own struggle and which does not grow upon us spontaneously..Those things which come to us spontaneously are not loved as much as those which are obtained by anxious care” (Against Heresies 4:37:7, AD 189).
Jerome
“It is our task, according to our different virtues, to prepare for ourselves different rewards.. If we were all going to be equal in heaven it would be useless for us to humble ourselves here in order to have a greater place there."
Prosper of Aquitane
“Indeed, a man who has been justified, that is, who from impious has been made pious, since he had no antecedent good merit, receives a gift, by which gift he may also acquire merit.
Thus, what was begun in him by Christ’s grace can also be augmented by the industry of his free choice, but never in the absence of God’s help, without which no one is able either to progress or to continue in doing good” (Responses on Behalf of Augustine 6, AD 431).
Council of Orange II
“Grace is preceded by no merits. A reward is due to good works, if they are performed, but grace, which is not due, precedes [good works], that they may be done” (Canons on grace 19 AD 529).
#grace #justification
"If the people of the world could only see the beauty of one's soul when it is in the state of grace of God, all sinners and unbelievers of this world would be instantly converted."
St. Padre Pio
"Oh! Could you but see the beauty of a soul in the grace of God, you would be so much enamored of it that you would do nothing else but ask souls of God; and, on the contrary, could a soul in mortal sin be placed before your eyes, you would do nothing but weep, and you would hate sin more than the devil himself, and always pray for the conversion of sinners."
Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
#grace
St. Padre Pio
"Oh! Could you but see the beauty of a soul in the grace of God, you would be so much enamored of it that you would do nothing else but ask souls of God; and, on the contrary, could a soul in mortal sin be placed before your eyes, you would do nothing but weep, and you would hate sin more than the devil himself, and always pray for the conversion of sinners."
Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
#grace