Dietrich von Hildebrand and St. Thomas Aquinas on Goodness and Happiness – St. Paul Center
Inspired by a share of @aristotelianthomist
https://stpaulcenter.com/09-nv-1-2-waldstein/
Inspired by a share of @aristotelianthomist
https://stpaulcenter.com/09-nv-1-2-waldstein/
St. Paul Center
Dietrich von Hildebrand and St. Thomas Aquinas on Goodness and Happiness
Michael WaldsteinNova et Vetera, Fall 2003 (Vol. 1, No. 2)SubscribePurchase This Issue< Previous Article Next Article >
Ecce Verbum
The rule of Praesupponendum Saint Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises Praesupponendum means "Presupposition of Charity", whereby a person assumes the best intentions behind another person's statements. It is the principle of kindness and understanding,…
Ignatian conversation
St. Ignatius and the early Jesuits lived at a time of profound religious and political division. Disputes about religion could lead to imprisonment, banishment or death in the time of upheaval around the Reformation.
For Ignatius, the other person is a child of God and a person deserving respect and consideration, no matter what opinion the person holds or the history of the relationship with this person.This does not mean that one needs to sit and endure vile and hateful speech. But it does suggest that even if people express their thoughts imperfectly and inartfully, we should go easy on quick condemnations. Ignatius encourages calm and humility in presenting a position. When we engage each other positively, we see God working with us even as we struggle and disagree.
Ignatian conversations have these attributes
Be slow to speak
Listen attentively
Seek the truth in what others are saying
Disagree humbly and thoughtfully allow the conversation the time it needs
#speech
St. Ignatius and the early Jesuits lived at a time of profound religious and political division. Disputes about religion could lead to imprisonment, banishment or death in the time of upheaval around the Reformation.
For Ignatius, the other person is a child of God and a person deserving respect and consideration, no matter what opinion the person holds or the history of the relationship with this person.This does not mean that one needs to sit and endure vile and hateful speech. But it does suggest that even if people express their thoughts imperfectly and inartfully, we should go easy on quick condemnations. Ignatius encourages calm and humility in presenting a position. When we engage each other positively, we see God working with us even as we struggle and disagree.
Ignatian conversations have these attributes
Be slow to speak
Listen attentively
Seek the truth in what others are saying
Disagree humbly and thoughtfully allow the conversation the time it needs
#speech
Ecce Verbum
We should feel it a duty to edify others by our conduct. "The Holy Spirit wishes to chisel the features of Jesus in us, transforming us into living images of the Saviour, therefore, He gently and unceasingly urges us to be merciful. He puts into our hearts…
It is not enough to love God if my neighbour does not love Him
(From "Conferences to the Priests of the Mission" by St Vincent de Paul)
"Our vocation is to go and enflame the heart of men, to do what the Son of God did, He who brought fire into the world to set it alight with His love. What else can we wish for, than for it to burn and consume all things?
Thus it is true that I have been sent not only to love God, but also to make men love Him.
It is not enough to love God if my neighbour does not love Him. I must love my neighbour as the image of God and the object of His love, and do everything so that in their turn men love their Creator who knows and considers them as His brothers, whom He has saved; I must obtain that they love each other with mutual love, out of love for God who loved them to the point of abandoning to death His very Son. So that is my duty. Now, if it is true that we are called to bear God's love near and far, if we must set nations alight, if our vocation is to go and spread this divine fire in the whole world, if it is so, my brothers, if it is really so, how must I myself burn of this divine fire!
How can we give love to others, if we do not have it among us? Let us look if it is so, not generally, but if each one has it within himself, in due amount; because if love is not on fire in us, if we do not love each other as Jesus Christ loved us and if we do not act as he did, how can we hope to spread such love throughout the world? You cannot give what you do not have.The precise duty of charity consists in doing to others what you reasonably would like done to yourself. Do I really behave towards my neighbour as I wish he would towards me?
Let us look at the Son of God. Only our Lord can be so taken by love for creatures so much as to leave His Father's throne and take a body subject to infirmity.And why? In order to establish among us, with His word and example, the love of our neighbours. This is the love that led Him to the Cross and accomplished the wonderful work of our redemption.If we had a little of such love, would we stay here with folded arms? Oh! no, love can not remain barren, it urges us to obtain salvation and relief for others."
Prayer
O Saviour, who gave us the law to love our neighbour as ourselves, who practised it in such perfect fashion towards men, let you yourself be, O Lord, your eternal thanks!O Saviour, how happy I am to be in the state of loving my neighbour! Grant me the grace to acknowledge my good fortune, to love this blessed state, and to ensure that this virtue may be revealed now, tomorrow and always.
Amen
#charity
(From "Conferences to the Priests of the Mission" by St Vincent de Paul)
"Our vocation is to go and enflame the heart of men, to do what the Son of God did, He who brought fire into the world to set it alight with His love. What else can we wish for, than for it to burn and consume all things?
Thus it is true that I have been sent not only to love God, but also to make men love Him.
It is not enough to love God if my neighbour does not love Him. I must love my neighbour as the image of God and the object of His love, and do everything so that in their turn men love their Creator who knows and considers them as His brothers, whom He has saved; I must obtain that they love each other with mutual love, out of love for God who loved them to the point of abandoning to death His very Son. So that is my duty. Now, if it is true that we are called to bear God's love near and far, if we must set nations alight, if our vocation is to go and spread this divine fire in the whole world, if it is so, my brothers, if it is really so, how must I myself burn of this divine fire!
How can we give love to others, if we do not have it among us? Let us look if it is so, not generally, but if each one has it within himself, in due amount; because if love is not on fire in us, if we do not love each other as Jesus Christ loved us and if we do not act as he did, how can we hope to spread such love throughout the world? You cannot give what you do not have.The precise duty of charity consists in doing to others what you reasonably would like done to yourself. Do I really behave towards my neighbour as I wish he would towards me?
Let us look at the Son of God. Only our Lord can be so taken by love for creatures so much as to leave His Father's throne and take a body subject to infirmity.And why? In order to establish among us, with His word and example, the love of our neighbours. This is the love that led Him to the Cross and accomplished the wonderful work of our redemption.If we had a little of such love, would we stay here with folded arms? Oh! no, love can not remain barren, it urges us to obtain salvation and relief for others."
Prayer
O Saviour, who gave us the law to love our neighbour as ourselves, who practised it in such perfect fashion towards men, let you yourself be, O Lord, your eternal thanks!O Saviour, how happy I am to be in the state of loving my neighbour! Grant me the grace to acknowledge my good fortune, to love this blessed state, and to ensure that this virtue may be revealed now, tomorrow and always.
Amen
#charity
Ecce Verbum
On being kind towards our neighbours "Adapt yourself with gracious and charitable compliance to all your neighbor’s weaknesses. In particular, make a rule to hide your feelings in many inconsequential matters. Give up all bitterness toward your neighbor,…
The Saints on love of our neighbor
"I give unto you: a new commandment that you love one another, as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another"
Jn 13,34.
“He who has the goods of this world and sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
1 Jn 3:17
•“Let us be kind to one another after the pattern of the tender mercy and goodness of our Creator.”
St. Clement of Rome (1st century)
•“The Lord does not say that the proof of His disciples’ faithfulness will be the working of wondrous miracles…What does He tell them? ‘You shall be known as my disciples if you love one another.”
St. Basil the Great (4th century, Doctor of the Church)
•“To harbor no envy, no anger, no resentment against an offender is still not to have charity for them. It is possible, without any charity, to avoid rendering evil for evil, because it is the law. But to render, spontaneously, good for evil – such is the disposition to do good to those who hate us belongs to perfect spiritual love.”
St. Peter Chrysologus (5th century, Doctor of the Church)
•“If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.”
St. Maximus the Confessor (6th-7th centuries)
•“We can never tell how patient or humble a person is when everything is going well with him. But when those who should cooperate with him do the exact opposite, then we can tell. A man has as much patience and humility as he has then, and no more.”
St. Francis of Assisi (12th-13th centuries)
•“So long as we are in this place of pilgrimage, so long as men’s hearts are warped and prone to sin, lazy and weak in virtue, we need to be encouraged and stirred up, so that brother may be helped by brother, and the eagerness of heavenly love rekindle the flame in our spirit which our daily carelessness and lukewarmness tend to put out.”
St. Jordan of Saxony (12th-13th centuries)
•“It is easy enough to feel drawn to good, healthy people who have pleasant manners, but that is only natural and not charity. A mother does not love her sick, deformed child because he is lovable, but because she is his mother, and we must pray the Holy Ghost to put into our hearts that selfless devotion which nature has put in hers.”
St. Robert Bellarmine (16th-17th centuries, Doctor of the Church)
•“Resist your impatience faithfully, practicing, not only with reason, but even against reason, holy courtesy and sweetness to all, but especially to those who weary you most.”
•“We can be excused for not being always cheerful, for cheerfulness is not ours to summon up at will. But we have no excuse for not being always kindly, accessible, courteous; that is always within the scope of our will power. All we need to do is make up our minds to rise above our mood, our tendency to do the opposite.”
St. Francis de Sales (16th-17th centuries, Doctor of the Church
•“We must above all show charity to our enemies. ‘Do good to those that hate you’. By this you may know that a man is a true Christian, if he seeks to do good to those who wish him evil.”
St. Alphonsus Liguori (17th-18th centuries, Doctor of the Church)
•“Here I am in the midst of my dear lepers. They are hideous to look at but they have souls redeemed at the price of the blood of our Savior.”
St. Damien de Veuster (19th century)
•“We are to love our neighbor not because he is sympathetic, useful, rich, influential or even grateful. Such motives are entirely too base and unworthy of a Knight of the Immaculata. True love rises above creation and is steeped in God. In Him and for Him and through Him such love of neighbor embraces all, the good and the bad, friends and enemies. Such love extends its arms in loving embrace and prays for all, suffers for all, wishes well to all, and desires the happiness of all – because God wills it!”
St. Maximilian Kolbe (19th-20th centuries)
#charity
"I give unto you: a new commandment that you love one another, as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another"
Jn 13,34.
“He who has the goods of this world and sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
1 Jn 3:17
•“Let us be kind to one another after the pattern of the tender mercy and goodness of our Creator.”
St. Clement of Rome (1st century)
•“The Lord does not say that the proof of His disciples’ faithfulness will be the working of wondrous miracles…What does He tell them? ‘You shall be known as my disciples if you love one another.”
St. Basil the Great (4th century, Doctor of the Church)
•“To harbor no envy, no anger, no resentment against an offender is still not to have charity for them. It is possible, without any charity, to avoid rendering evil for evil, because it is the law. But to render, spontaneously, good for evil – such is the disposition to do good to those who hate us belongs to perfect spiritual love.”
St. Peter Chrysologus (5th century, Doctor of the Church)
•“If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.”
St. Maximus the Confessor (6th-7th centuries)
•“We can never tell how patient or humble a person is when everything is going well with him. But when those who should cooperate with him do the exact opposite, then we can tell. A man has as much patience and humility as he has then, and no more.”
St. Francis of Assisi (12th-13th centuries)
•“So long as we are in this place of pilgrimage, so long as men’s hearts are warped and prone to sin, lazy and weak in virtue, we need to be encouraged and stirred up, so that brother may be helped by brother, and the eagerness of heavenly love rekindle the flame in our spirit which our daily carelessness and lukewarmness tend to put out.”
St. Jordan of Saxony (12th-13th centuries)
•“It is easy enough to feel drawn to good, healthy people who have pleasant manners, but that is only natural and not charity. A mother does not love her sick, deformed child because he is lovable, but because she is his mother, and we must pray the Holy Ghost to put into our hearts that selfless devotion which nature has put in hers.”
St. Robert Bellarmine (16th-17th centuries, Doctor of the Church)
•“Resist your impatience faithfully, practicing, not only with reason, but even against reason, holy courtesy and sweetness to all, but especially to those who weary you most.”
•“We can be excused for not being always cheerful, for cheerfulness is not ours to summon up at will. But we have no excuse for not being always kindly, accessible, courteous; that is always within the scope of our will power. All we need to do is make up our minds to rise above our mood, our tendency to do the opposite.”
St. Francis de Sales (16th-17th centuries, Doctor of the Church
•“We must above all show charity to our enemies. ‘Do good to those that hate you’. By this you may know that a man is a true Christian, if he seeks to do good to those who wish him evil.”
St. Alphonsus Liguori (17th-18th centuries, Doctor of the Church)
•“Here I am in the midst of my dear lepers. They are hideous to look at but they have souls redeemed at the price of the blood of our Savior.”
St. Damien de Veuster (19th century)
•“We are to love our neighbor not because he is sympathetic, useful, rich, influential or even grateful. Such motives are entirely too base and unworthy of a Knight of the Immaculata. True love rises above creation and is steeped in God. In Him and for Him and through Him such love of neighbor embraces all, the good and the bad, friends and enemies. Such love extends its arms in loving embrace and prays for all, suffers for all, wishes well to all, and desires the happiness of all – because God wills it!”
St. Maximilian Kolbe (19th-20th centuries)
#charity
The history behind a certain photograph
After the arrest of the residents of Niepokalanów on 19 September 1939, German Werhmacht troops and German civilians were stationed in Niepokalanów. From Saturday, 20 April 1940, the City of Mary was 'decorated' with a red flag with a black swastika, much to Father Kolbe's regret, recommending prayers that this shameful symbol should cease to disfigure the cloistered walls dedicated to the Immaculate.
Beginning from September 1940, Fr. Iwo Achtelik guarded the gate of the monastery. He knew the German language, so he could better serve the Werhmacht soldiers and German civilians coming through the gate. Shortly afterwards, Father Kolbe told him to go to the sick Wehrmacht soldiers staying in a building near the gate. He wished them a speedy recovery and instructed the friars to bring tea to the sick.
These gestures of kindness led one of the officers of the garrison stationed at Niepokalanów, an approximately 40-year-old Wehrmacht lieutenant from Bavaria, to approach Fr. Achtelik and ask Father Maximilian to paint a picture of the Immaculate for a gift for the officer's mother. Father Maximilian commissioned Fr. Lechosław. Shortly afterwards, the officer came to Father Maximilian to say goodbye to him because he had been transferred to another place. He left an address to which he asked that the painting be sent once it had been painted, and also asked if he could stand with him for a photograph under the statue of the Immaculate which stands in the monastery. As Br Iwo Achtelik - a witness to the event - recalls, "Father Maximilian readily agreed. This officer stood in the middle, facing the statue of the Immaculate, Father Maximilian on his right, and I was told by Father Maximilian to stand on the left." This photograph was taken by the late Fr. Boniface. It was at the end of January 1941."
This is how one of the last photographs of Father Maximilian was taken, which can be seen in the St. Maximilian Museum at Niepokalanów.
Sources: Documents on Father Maximilian M. Kolb. Statements of religious confreres, Niepokalanów 1953 (mps Niepokalanów Archives), pp. 13-14; C. R. Foster, Knight of Mary. The mission and martyrdom of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, Niepokalanów 2007, pp. 582, 623-624
https://niepokalanow.pl/klasztor/archiwum/1941-historia-fotografii-oficera-werhmachtu
False accusations against Saint Maximilian and false information about him and his activities constantly appear or are reproduced by imprudent and unreliable authors of various publications or videos.
If you have any questions or doubts, I leave the contact to the archive.
E-mail: archiwum@niepokalanow.pl
Tel.: +48 46 864 21 44
#kolbe
After the arrest of the residents of Niepokalanów on 19 September 1939, German Werhmacht troops and German civilians were stationed in Niepokalanów. From Saturday, 20 April 1940, the City of Mary was 'decorated' with a red flag with a black swastika, much to Father Kolbe's regret, recommending prayers that this shameful symbol should cease to disfigure the cloistered walls dedicated to the Immaculate.
Beginning from September 1940, Fr. Iwo Achtelik guarded the gate of the monastery. He knew the German language, so he could better serve the Werhmacht soldiers and German civilians coming through the gate. Shortly afterwards, Father Kolbe told him to go to the sick Wehrmacht soldiers staying in a building near the gate. He wished them a speedy recovery and instructed the friars to bring tea to the sick.
These gestures of kindness led one of the officers of the garrison stationed at Niepokalanów, an approximately 40-year-old Wehrmacht lieutenant from Bavaria, to approach Fr. Achtelik and ask Father Maximilian to paint a picture of the Immaculate for a gift for the officer's mother. Father Maximilian commissioned Fr. Lechosław. Shortly afterwards, the officer came to Father Maximilian to say goodbye to him because he had been transferred to another place. He left an address to which he asked that the painting be sent once it had been painted, and also asked if he could stand with him for a photograph under the statue of the Immaculate which stands in the monastery. As Br Iwo Achtelik - a witness to the event - recalls, "Father Maximilian readily agreed. This officer stood in the middle, facing the statue of the Immaculate, Father Maximilian on his right, and I was told by Father Maximilian to stand on the left." This photograph was taken by the late Fr. Boniface. It was at the end of January 1941."
This is how one of the last photographs of Father Maximilian was taken, which can be seen in the St. Maximilian Museum at Niepokalanów.
Sources: Documents on Father Maximilian M. Kolb. Statements of religious confreres, Niepokalanów 1953 (mps Niepokalanów Archives), pp. 13-14; C. R. Foster, Knight of Mary. The mission and martyrdom of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, Niepokalanów 2007, pp. 582, 623-624
https://niepokalanow.pl/klasztor/archiwum/1941-historia-fotografii-oficera-werhmachtu
False accusations against Saint Maximilian and false information about him and his activities constantly appear or are reproduced by imprudent and unreliable authors of various publications or videos.
If you have any questions or doubts, I leave the contact to the archive.
E-mail: archiwum@niepokalanow.pl
Tel.: +48 46 864 21 44
#kolbe
Charity as Friendship According to St. Thomas Aquinas.pdf
2.7 MB
Article
Charity as Friendship According to St. Thomas Aquinas
"Saint Thomas Aquinas's "teaching that charity is friendship with God is arguably the centerpiece of his Summa theologice because charity not only leads to eternal life with God, but it also foreshadows the petfect substance of heaven itself. In 1987 Fergus Kerr wrote an article on Thomas's teaching about charity, and he observed that Thomas's arguments about the essence of charity has had little success in Catholic theology. My research has found that, in one sense,
Kerr is correct in such an assessment; but in another sense, he might be pleased to see the recent amount of theologians exploring and utilizing Thomas's teaching on charity. "
#charity #friendship
Charity as Friendship According to St. Thomas Aquinas
"Saint Thomas Aquinas's "teaching that charity is friendship with God is arguably the centerpiece of his Summa theologice because charity not only leads to eternal life with God, but it also foreshadows the petfect substance of heaven itself. In 1987 Fergus Kerr wrote an article on Thomas's teaching about charity, and he observed that Thomas's arguments about the essence of charity has had little success in Catholic theology. My research has found that, in one sense,
Kerr is correct in such an assessment; but in another sense, he might be pleased to see the recent amount of theologians exploring and utilizing Thomas's teaching on charity. "
#charity #friendship
217157339.pdf
1.6 MB
Article
Marriage: Passion, Friendship & Vocation
Introduction
a. Why and how the problem started
b. In our own time
V. Chapter I: Why Romantic Passion Alone Cannot Sustain the Spousal
Relationship
a. Romantic passion focuses attention merely on oneself and how the other meets one’s needs
i. Sensuality and sentimentality
ii. Loves for pleasure and utility
1. Love for the sake of utility
2. Love for the sake of pleasure
3. Erotic love related to the love of pleasure
b. Neglecting the good of the other leads to disintegration
c. Disintegration is harmful to marriage
d. Summary
#marriage
Marriage: Passion, Friendship & Vocation
Introduction
a. Why and how the problem started
b. In our own time
V. Chapter I: Why Romantic Passion Alone Cannot Sustain the Spousal
Relationship
a. Romantic passion focuses attention merely on oneself and how the other meets one’s needs
i. Sensuality and sentimentality
ii. Loves for pleasure and utility
1. Love for the sake of utility
2. Love for the sake of pleasure
3. Erotic love related to the love of pleasure
b. Neglecting the good of the other leads to disintegration
c. Disintegration is harmful to marriage
d. Summary
#marriage
Faber_The_foot_of_the_cross.pdf
37.1 MB
"The Foot of the Cross; or the Sorrows of Mary"
By Frederick William Faber
1
I. The Immensity of Our Lady's Dolours
II. Why God permitted Our Lady's Dolours
III. The Fountains of Our Lady's Dolours
IV, The Characteristics of Our Lady's Dolours
V. How Our Lady could rejoice in her Dolours
VI. The way in which the Church puts Our Lady's Dolours before us
VII. The Spirit of Devotion to Our Lady's Dolours
2-8
The Seven Dolours
9
I. The Divine Purpose of Mary's Compassion
II. The Nature of Her Compassion
III. The Actual Effects of Her Compassion
IV. Our Compassion with Her Compassion
V.-The Passion and Compassion Compared
VI. The seeming excess of the Compassion
VII. The measures of Mary's Compassion
#mary
By Frederick William Faber
1
I. The Immensity of Our Lady's Dolours
II. Why God permitted Our Lady's Dolours
III. The Fountains of Our Lady's Dolours
IV, The Characteristics of Our Lady's Dolours
V. How Our Lady could rejoice in her Dolours
VI. The way in which the Church puts Our Lady's Dolours before us
VII. The Spirit of Devotion to Our Lady's Dolours
2-8
The Seven Dolours
9
I. The Divine Purpose of Mary's Compassion
II. The Nature of Her Compassion
III. The Actual Effects of Her Compassion
IV. Our Compassion with Her Compassion
V.-The Passion and Compassion Compared
VI. The seeming excess of the Compassion
VII. The measures of Mary's Compassion
#mary
Willam--Rosary (2).pdf
7.8 MB
"The Rosary: The History and Meaning"
By Franz Michael William
Part one of this book presents the first complete history of the origin and development of the rosary. This prayer has grown like a spreading shrub. Springing up lush and green in the spirirual soil of the Irish-British homeland, it extended to the continent. In Central Europe it blossomed forth in mysteries which finally attained perfection of form and number in Southern Europe. Part two is the story of the significance of the rosary in the light of its history. The great teachers are invoked as witnesses: they explain the nature of the prayer and tell of the various helps offered the faithful for the right understanding and proper practice of the devotion. Especially profitable for the aid and guidance of souls are the personal experiences of St. Louis Grignion de Montfort, canonized on July 20, 1947.
#rosary
By Franz Michael William
Part one of this book presents the first complete history of the origin and development of the rosary. This prayer has grown like a spreading shrub. Springing up lush and green in the spirirual soil of the Irish-British homeland, it extended to the continent. In Central Europe it blossomed forth in mysteries which finally attained perfection of form and number in Southern Europe. Part two is the story of the significance of the rosary in the light of its history. The great teachers are invoked as witnesses: they explain the nature of the prayer and tell of the various helps offered the faithful for the right understanding and proper practice of the devotion. Especially profitable for the aid and guidance of souls are the personal experiences of St. Louis Grignion de Montfort, canonized on July 20, 1947.
#rosary
Ecce Verbum
The rule of Praesupponendum Saint Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises Praesupponendum means "Presupposition of Charity", whereby a person assumes the best intentions behind another person's statements. It is the principle of kindness and understanding,…
Jesuit_Education_Its_History_and_Princip.pdf
17.6 MB
"Jesuit Education: its history and principles"
Viewed in the light of modern educational problems
Robert Schwickerath, S. J.
"Much has been said and written
about the Jesuit schools; in fact , they have occupied the attention of the public more, perhaps, than ever before. However, with the exception of the excellent book of Father Thomas Hughes, S. J., most of what has been offered to American and English readers is entirely untrustworthy. The account given of the Jesuit system in Histories of Education used in this country , as those of Compayré , Painter, and Seeley, is a mere caricature. Instead of drawing from the original sources, these authors have been content to repeat the biased assertions of unreliable secondary authorities.
I wished also to call attention to points of contact between the Ratio Studiorum and other famous educational systems. As so many features of the Jesuit system have been misrepresented, a work
of this kind must, at times, assume a polemical attitude."
#education
Viewed in the light of modern educational problems
Robert Schwickerath, S. J.
"Much has been said and written
about the Jesuit schools; in fact , they have occupied the attention of the public more, perhaps, than ever before. However, with the exception of the excellent book of Father Thomas Hughes, S. J., most of what has been offered to American and English readers is entirely untrustworthy. The account given of the Jesuit system in Histories of Education used in this country , as those of Compayré , Painter, and Seeley, is a mere caricature. Instead of drawing from the original sources, these authors have been content to repeat the biased assertions of unreliable secondary authorities.
I wished also to call attention to points of contact between the Ratio Studiorum and other famous educational systems. As so many features of the Jesuit system have been misrepresented, a work
of this kind must, at times, assume a polemical attitude."
#education
Ecce Verbum
Charity as Friendship According to St. Thomas Aquinas.pdf
love_and_charity_in_thomas_aquinas_the_perfection_of_intelligent.pdf
314.3 KB
Article
"Love and charity in Aquinas: The perfection of intelligent will"
Bradley R. Cochran
The strategy of this inquiry into Thomistic charity will be as follows. Since Charity is a
species of love, examining Aquinas’s doctrine of love will immerse us into his Aristotelian
anthropology and help set the stage to attain better clarity on his doctrine of charity. It only
makes sense to understand the answer to the question “What is love?” before understanding “What kind of love is charity?” After looking at several ways Aquinas defines love, we will begin to penetrate a much larger picture of his overall anthropology that assigns an interdependent relationship between the intellect and will. Exploring the dynamics of love will underscore how central love is to human nature in Thomistic anthropology—it is in fact the very principle of human life and, in a certain sense, the very essence of the human soul.
#charity #aquinas
"Love and charity in Aquinas: The perfection of intelligent will"
Bradley R. Cochran
The strategy of this inquiry into Thomistic charity will be as follows. Since Charity is a
species of love, examining Aquinas’s doctrine of love will immerse us into his Aristotelian
anthropology and help set the stage to attain better clarity on his doctrine of charity. It only
makes sense to understand the answer to the question “What is love?” before understanding “What kind of love is charity?” After looking at several ways Aquinas defines love, we will begin to penetrate a much larger picture of his overall anthropology that assigns an interdependent relationship between the intellect and will. Exploring the dynamics of love will underscore how central love is to human nature in Thomistic anthropology—it is in fact the very principle of human life and, in a certain sense, the very essence of the human soul.
#charity #aquinas
Ecce Verbum
''A Freedom Within.''- A Cardinal's Prison Diary By Blessed Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski On September 25, 1953 Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, who from the end of World War II to the present has been the personification of Poland's struggle against Communism and…
09-3-4_092 (1).pdf
653.4 KB
An article relevant today:
Cardinal Wyszynski: A Portrait
Grażyna Sikorska
"Wyszynski stated:
All these social changes and this political and class struggle for social justice are irrelevant. The real struggle is in fact against the Lord and His Christ. All this talk about reaction and obscurantism is irrelevant, and so is juggling with words like "progress", "peace", "justice" and so on. These are poor, overused words; a screen for real aims. The eternal enemy of God has revealed himself on earth today, dressed as an Angel of Light, and claiming to correct God Himself. Evil does not believe in the power of Christian love but promotes struggle. It does not put its trust in the Word but in futile manifestoes. It rejects the Christian philosophy of life and Christian culture but promotes the materialistic era."
Cardinal Wyszynski: A Portrait
Grażyna Sikorska
"Wyszynski stated:
All these social changes and this political and class struggle for social justice are irrelevant. The real struggle is in fact against the Lord and His Christ. All this talk about reaction and obscurantism is irrelevant, and so is juggling with words like "progress", "peace", "justice" and so on. These are poor, overused words; a screen for real aims. The eternal enemy of God has revealed himself on earth today, dressed as an Angel of Light, and claiming to correct God Himself. Evil does not believe in the power of Christian love but promotes struggle. It does not put its trust in the Word but in futile manifestoes. It rejects the Christian philosophy of life and Christian culture but promotes the materialistic era."
Ecce Verbum
Aquinas on Degrees of Love of Neighbor A summary of Aquinas's division of love of neighbor in his work On the Perfection of the Spiritual Life. His aim here is explaining the perfection of the religious state and the episcopal state. Necessary love of neighbor…
On love and detachment
St. John of the Cross
The first is that you should have an equal love for and an equal forgetfulness of all persons, whether relatives or not, and withdraw your heart from relatives as much as from others, and in some ways even more for fear that flesh and blood may be quickened by the natural love that is ever alive among kin, and must always be mortified for the sake of spiritual perfection.
Regard all as strangers and you will fulfill your duty towards them better than by giving them the affection you owe God. Do not love one person more than another for you will err.
Though this seems inhuman and contradictory to the way John behave toward his own mother and brother, the tone finds its roots in the Gospel (Luke 14:26) -If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Love must not be based on temporal goods, such as blood, status or titles (A. 3 18-20); nor on natural goods: beauty, intelligence, and so on (A. 3. 21-23)..The person who loves God more is the one more worthy of love, and you do not know who this is. But forgetting everyone alike, as is necessary for holy recollection, you will free yourself from this error of loving one person more or less than another.
#charity #detachment
St. John of the Cross
The first is that you should have an equal love for and an equal forgetfulness of all persons, whether relatives or not, and withdraw your heart from relatives as much as from others, and in some ways even more for fear that flesh and blood may be quickened by the natural love that is ever alive among kin, and must always be mortified for the sake of spiritual perfection.
Regard all as strangers and you will fulfill your duty towards them better than by giving them the affection you owe God. Do not love one person more than another for you will err.
Though this seems inhuman and contradictory to the way John behave toward his own mother and brother, the tone finds its roots in the Gospel (Luke 14:26) -If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Love must not be based on temporal goods, such as blood, status or titles (A. 3 18-20); nor on natural goods: beauty, intelligence, and so on (A. 3. 21-23)..The person who loves God more is the one more worthy of love, and you do not know who this is. But forgetting everyone alike, as is necessary for holy recollection, you will free yourself from this error of loving one person more or less than another.
#charity #detachment
Ecce Verbum
The rule of Praesupponendum Saint Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises Praesupponendum means "Presupposition of Charity", whereby a person assumes the best intentions behind another person's statements. It is the principle of kindness and understanding,…
'When the intellect is moved by love for its neighbor, it always thinks well of him; but when it is under diabolic influence it entertains evil thoughts about him.'
St. Thalassios the Libyan, (5th century)
#charity
St. Thalassios the Libyan, (5th century)
#charity
J. R.R. Tolkien on marriage
Men are not [monogamous]. No good pretending. Men just ain’t, not by their animal nature. Monogamy (although it has long been fundamental to our inherited ideas) is for us men a piece of ‘revealed ethic,’ according to faith and not the flesh. The essence of a fallen world is that the best cannot be attained by free enjoyment, or by what is called “self-realization” (usually a nice name for self-indulgence, wholly inimical to the realization of other selves); but by denial, by suffering. Faithfulness in Christian marriages entails that: great mortification.
For a Christian man there is no escape. Marriage may help to sanctify and direct to its proper object his sexual desires; its grace may help him in the struggle; but the struggle remains. It will not satisfy him—as hunger may be kept off by regular meals. It will offer as many difficulties to the purity proper to that state as it provides easements.
No man, however truly he loved his betrothed and bride as a young man, has lived faithful to her as a wife in mind and body without deliberate conscious exercise of the will, without self-denial. Too few are told that—even those brought up in ‘the Church’. Those outside seem seldom to have heard it.
When the glamour wears off, or merely works a bit thin, they think that they have made a mistake, and that the real soul-mate is still to find. The real soul-mate too often proves to be the next sexually attractive person that comes along. Someone whom they might indeed very profitably have married, if only—. Hence divorce, to provide the ‘if only’.
And of course they are as a rule quite right: they did make a mistake. Only a very wise man at the end of his life could make a sound judgement concerning whom, amongst the total possible chances, he ought most profitably have married! Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might have found more suitable mates. But the ‘real soul-mate’ is the one you are actually married to. In this fallen world, we have as our only guides, prudence, wisdom (rare in youth, too late in age), a clean heart, and fidelity of will…
source
(Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, pp. 51-52)
https://bibliothecaveneficae.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/the_letters_of_j.rrtolkien.pdf
•More:
https://t.me/ecceverbum/536
#marriage
Men are not [monogamous]. No good pretending. Men just ain’t, not by their animal nature. Monogamy (although it has long been fundamental to our inherited ideas) is for us men a piece of ‘revealed ethic,’ according to faith and not the flesh. The essence of a fallen world is that the best cannot be attained by free enjoyment, or by what is called “self-realization” (usually a nice name for self-indulgence, wholly inimical to the realization of other selves); but by denial, by suffering. Faithfulness in Christian marriages entails that: great mortification.
For a Christian man there is no escape. Marriage may help to sanctify and direct to its proper object his sexual desires; its grace may help him in the struggle; but the struggle remains. It will not satisfy him—as hunger may be kept off by regular meals. It will offer as many difficulties to the purity proper to that state as it provides easements.
No man, however truly he loved his betrothed and bride as a young man, has lived faithful to her as a wife in mind and body without deliberate conscious exercise of the will, without self-denial. Too few are told that—even those brought up in ‘the Church’. Those outside seem seldom to have heard it.
When the glamour wears off, or merely works a bit thin, they think that they have made a mistake, and that the real soul-mate is still to find. The real soul-mate too often proves to be the next sexually attractive person that comes along. Someone whom they might indeed very profitably have married, if only—. Hence divorce, to provide the ‘if only’.
And of course they are as a rule quite right: they did make a mistake. Only a very wise man at the end of his life could make a sound judgement concerning whom, amongst the total possible chances, he ought most profitably have married! Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might have found more suitable mates. But the ‘real soul-mate’ is the one you are actually married to. In this fallen world, we have as our only guides, prudence, wisdom (rare in youth, too late in age), a clean heart, and fidelity of will…
source
(Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, pp. 51-52)
https://bibliothecaveneficae.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/the_letters_of_j.rrtolkien.pdf
•More:
https://t.me/ecceverbum/536
#marriage
Telegram
Ecce Verbum
•When St. Francis wished to lead anyone to live in a Christian manner and renounce worldliness, he would not speak of the exterior, but he spoke only to the heart and of the heart. For he knew that if this fortress is captured, all else surrenders.
•St. Philip Neri adopted the same course with his penitents. He was not accustomed to dwell much upon any vanities, but he would overlook as much as possible for some time, that he might more easily arrive at his object. When a lady once asked him whether it was a sin to wear very high heels, his only answer was, "Take care not to fall".
A man of noble birth dressed immodestly came to the Saint every day for a fortnight to consult him in regard to the affairs of his soul. During all this time he said not a word to him in regard to his dress. He took pains to make him feel compunction for the sins of his soul. Finally, becoming ashamed of his style of dress, he changed it of his own accord and made a good general confession.
#charity
credits to @laelizabeta
•St. Philip Neri adopted the same course with his penitents. He was not accustomed to dwell much upon any vanities, but he would overlook as much as possible for some time, that he might more easily arrive at his object. When a lady once asked him whether it was a sin to wear very high heels, his only answer was, "Take care not to fall".
A man of noble birth dressed immodestly came to the Saint every day for a fortnight to consult him in regard to the affairs of his soul. During all this time he said not a word to him in regard to his dress. He took pains to make him feel compunction for the sins of his soul. Finally, becoming ashamed of his style of dress, he changed it of his own accord and made a good general confession.
#charity
credits to @laelizabeta
Ecce Verbum
Correction of our neighbour "You become worse than the sinner if you fail to correct him" St. Augustine •We ought to respect the image of God in everyone. "Love is the most necessary of all virtues. Love in the person who preaches the word of God is like…
Do not criticise but build up
•Hebrews 10:25
Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
•Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
•1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
•Ephesians 4:31
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
•Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
•Galatians 6:1
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
•Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
•Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
#charity
painting: St Jadwiga, P. Stachiewicz
•Hebrews 10:25
Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
•Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
•1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
•Ephesians 4:31
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
•Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
•Galatians 6:1
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
•Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
•Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
#charity
painting: St Jadwiga, P. Stachiewicz
Avoiding Idle Talk
Shun the gossip of men as much as possible, for discussion of worldly affairs, even though sincere, is a great distraction inasmuch as we are quickly ensnared and captivated by vanity.
Many a time I wish that I had held my peace and had not associated with men. Why, indeed, do we converse and gossip among ourselves when we so seldom part without a troubled conscience? We do so because we seek comfort from one another’s conversation and wish to ease the mind wearied by diverse thoughts. Hence, we talk and think quite fondly of things we like very much or of things we dislike intensely. But, sad to say, we often talk vainly and to no purpose; for this external pleasure effectively bars inward and divine consolation.
Therefore we must watch and pray lest time pass idly.
When the right and opportune moment comes for speaking, say something that will edify.
Bad habits and indifference to spiritual progress do much to remove the guard from the tongue. Devout conversation on spiritual matters, on the contrary, is a great aid to spiritual progress, especially when persons of the same mind and spirit associate together in God.
Thomas à Kempis,The Imitation of Christ, Book 1 Chapter 10
#speech
Shun the gossip of men as much as possible, for discussion of worldly affairs, even though sincere, is a great distraction inasmuch as we are quickly ensnared and captivated by vanity.
Many a time I wish that I had held my peace and had not associated with men. Why, indeed, do we converse and gossip among ourselves when we so seldom part without a troubled conscience? We do so because we seek comfort from one another’s conversation and wish to ease the mind wearied by diverse thoughts. Hence, we talk and think quite fondly of things we like very much or of things we dislike intensely. But, sad to say, we often talk vainly and to no purpose; for this external pleasure effectively bars inward and divine consolation.
Therefore we must watch and pray lest time pass idly.
When the right and opportune moment comes for speaking, say something that will edify.
Bad habits and indifference to spiritual progress do much to remove the guard from the tongue. Devout conversation on spiritual matters, on the contrary, is a great aid to spiritual progress, especially when persons of the same mind and spirit associate together in God.
Thomas à Kempis,The Imitation of Christ, Book 1 Chapter 10
#speech
Article
The Role of the Theological Virtue of Faith in Scriptural Interpretation
Chad Ripperger, F.S.S.P., PhD
Summer 2006 (Vol. XXXI, no. 2) edition of Faith and Reason (Christendom Press).
In this article Chad Ripperger addresses the modernist/rationalist approach to understanding Sacred Scripture, specifically, the theological virtue of faith and its role in the study and interpretation of the Bible.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8442
#scripture
The Role of the Theological Virtue of Faith in Scriptural Interpretation
Chad Ripperger, F.S.S.P., PhD
Summer 2006 (Vol. XXXI, no. 2) edition of Faith and Reason (Christendom Press).
In this article Chad Ripperger addresses the modernist/rationalist approach to understanding Sacred Scripture, specifically, the theological virtue of faith and its role in the study and interpretation of the Bible.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8442
#scripture
www.catholicculture.org
Library : The Role of the Theological Virtue of Faith in Scriptural Interpretation
The Role of the Theological Virtue of Faith in Scriptural Interpretation In this article Chad Ripperger addresses the modernist/rationalist approach to understanding Sacred Scripture, specifically, the theological virtue of faith and its role in the study…