Fr_Gabriel_of_St_Mary_Magdalen,_O_C_D_Small_Catechism_of_the_Life.pdf
517 KB
Small Catechism of the Life of Prayer
Fr. Gabriel Of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. - (1943)
This little booklet "contains the substance of teachings which, for about four centuries, the Teresian Reform of the Carmelite Order has offered as guide for the life of prayer. They are the teachings of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, gathered together and devloped by their followers, and enriched by long and continuous experience. These teachings that have remained until now almost entirely hidden within the walls of the cloister are now put within the reach of all by these pages.
This booklet is in question and answer form, making it an easy guide to learning more about the methods of prayer according to St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross.
note: this little booklet is one of the best explanations and practical guides for prayer I've ever encountered.
#prayer
Fr. Gabriel Of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. - (1943)
This little booklet "contains the substance of teachings which, for about four centuries, the Teresian Reform of the Carmelite Order has offered as guide for the life of prayer. They are the teachings of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, gathered together and devloped by their followers, and enriched by long and continuous experience. These teachings that have remained until now almost entirely hidden within the walls of the cloister are now put within the reach of all by these pages.
This booklet is in question and answer form, making it an easy guide to learning more about the methods of prayer according to St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross.
note: this little booklet is one of the best explanations and practical guides for prayer I've ever encountered.
#prayer
St_Pedro_de_Alcántara_A_Golden_Treatise_of_Mental_Prayer_1844.pdf
8.5 MB
A Golden Treartise of Mental Prayer
St Pedro de Alcántara
The Golden Treatise is an admirably concise introduction to contemplative prayer. Part One teaches reading, meditation, and prayer, while Part Two offers additional instructions on devotion. This volume is prefaced by a brief life of the Franciscan saint by the translator, drawing on the writings of St. Teresa of Avila, whose work he had encouraged and supported.
#prayer
St Pedro de Alcántara
The Golden Treatise is an admirably concise introduction to contemplative prayer. Part One teaches reading, meditation, and prayer, while Part Two offers additional instructions on devotion. This volume is prefaced by a brief life of the Franciscan saint by the translator, drawing on the writings of St. Teresa of Avila, whose work he had encouraged and supported.
#prayer
Ecce Verbum
John Duns Scotus and his defense of the Immaculate Conception Noel Muscat OFM Our aim is that of providing a simple presentation of the main arguments which the Subtle Doctor proposes as a defence of this unique privilege of the Virgin Mary. Blessed John…
Immaculate_Conception_Why_Thomas_Aquinas.pdf
586.7 KB
The Immaculate Conception
Why Tomas Aquinas denied, while John Found Scotus, Gregory Palamas and Mark Eugenicus professed the absolute immaculate existence of Mary
Rev. Christiaan W. Kappes
more:
🔗a video in which it is argued that St Thomas did not deny the immaculate conception
#mary
Why Tomas Aquinas denied, while John Found Scotus, Gregory Palamas and Mark Eugenicus professed the absolute immaculate existence of Mary
Rev. Christiaan W. Kappes
more:
🔗a video in which it is argued that St Thomas did not deny the immaculate conception
#mary
thedivinityofchrist.pdf
2.2 MB
The Divinity of Christ
Rev. Joseph Rickaby
Rickaby offers a scholarly case for the Divinity of Christ from a Biblical and historical perspective. It's rare to find a work that can soundly refute Arian heresy and forcefully defend the truth in a way which is so succinct and digestible. Originally a part of the Westminster Lecture series in 1906, this short theological treatise is among one of the most potent defenses of Christ's divinity written in the 20th century.
#christology
Rev. Joseph Rickaby
Rickaby offers a scholarly case for the Divinity of Christ from a Biblical and historical perspective. It's rare to find a work that can soundly refute Arian heresy and forcefully defend the truth in a way which is so succinct and digestible. Originally a part of the Westminster Lecture series in 1906, this short theological treatise is among one of the most potent defenses of Christ's divinity written in the 20th century.
#christology
Ecce Verbum
Photo
Lust and the healing of disordered desire - summary
more:
🔗Thomas Aquinas on lust
🔗 Alphonsus Liguori on impurity
🔗 lust as devaluation of a person
🔗 nothing less than God will satisfy man's desires
#vice
more:
🔗Thomas Aquinas on lust
🔗 Alphonsus Liguori on impurity
🔗 lust as devaluation of a person
🔗 nothing less than God will satisfy man's desires
#vice
Ecce Verbum
The attributes of God 4.The will of God The power by which rational nature relates to good is called the will, therefore every rational being has a will, including God, hence Vatican Council I refers to Him as 'the will of the Infinite'. How does God's will…
Various aspects of Redemption
Christ is the only mediator between men and God in the strict sense, and as this mediator He redeemed us. He is a moral mediator (like prophets, apostles, priests, Mary and saints) and a natural mediator, because he combined the divine and human natures.
All other mediators are such only by grace, not by nature, therefore all their effectiveness comes from the mediation of Christ. Christ's mediation included the priestly, teaching and royal offices. The most important was the priestly office - making a sacrifice.
Christ redeemed us through his passion and death. It includes: substitutionary atonement, strict redemption, reconciliation with God and merit. He made satisfaction vicariously, i.e. He did not formally take upon Himself our guilt or punishment, but the suffering that compensated for the punishment due to us.
Christ, as a priest, made a true and voluntary sacrifice on the cross, which was accepted by God. The one making the sacrifice and the sacrifice itself was Christ, not through His divine nature, but by His human nature. It was in human nature that He suffered a voluntary death. (the divine nature is immortal, and the divine nature did not suffer during the death of Christ. However, we can say that God died on the cross for our sins when we mean the person, not the nature itself. The validity or truthfulness of a statement depends on the context in which it occurs.)
Redemption in the strict sense is the act by which someone is restored to freedom. Christ, having paid God what was due to Him, redeemed us from the slavery of sin, Satan and death. He provided us with supernatural means (grace) through which we can rise from sin and not fall again.
Christ freed us from death in the sense that He merited resurrection for us. Resurrection does not happen immediately, because in this respect we must become like Christ, who first died, rested in the grave, and only then rose from the dead.
Redemption, in addition to satisfaction and strict redemption, also included merit. Atonement is the repair of an offense done, and merit is a good deed worthy of reward. Through his sacrifice, Christ atoned for sins and honored God, meriting grace for us.
Christ merited for people all the graces that are given to them. Eternal reward for our works comes only through the merits of Jesus, and all the merits that a justified man collects during his life are gained through the grace of God and the merit of Christ.
We must distinguish Christ's atonement according to its sufficiency and according to its effectiveness. Christ died for all in terms of sufficiency, i.e. He gave sufficient remuneration for all to be saved and prepared to receive all the means necessary for salvation.
Man must apply the merits of Christ to himself in order to be saved, otherwise he will not experience the effectiveness of Christ's atonement. The application takes place by receiving the Sacraments, by faith and perfect contrition for sins, by cooperation with the received grace, etc.
The atonement and merits of Christ are like a universal cause which, in order to have an effective impact on individual people, must be applied to them through their cooperation. The spring contains water for everyone, but only those who draw it from the spring will drink it.
People living before Christ's coming also had sufficient graces in view of Christ's future death. Even the damned had sufficient means of salvation while they lived, because of the merits of Christ, but they did not use them and therefore condemned themselves.
It does not detract from the merits of Christ, nor does it prove their insufficiency, that everyone must make reparation and deserve heaven, because our merits are born from the merits of Christ and are based on them. It is not a disgrace to the vine that its branches bear abundant fruit.
Outline of Catholic Dogmatics, fr. dr. M. Sieniatycki
#dogma #christology
Christ is the only mediator between men and God in the strict sense, and as this mediator He redeemed us. He is a moral mediator (like prophets, apostles, priests, Mary and saints) and a natural mediator, because he combined the divine and human natures.
All other mediators are such only by grace, not by nature, therefore all their effectiveness comes from the mediation of Christ. Christ's mediation included the priestly, teaching and royal offices. The most important was the priestly office - making a sacrifice.
Christ redeemed us through his passion and death. It includes: substitutionary atonement, strict redemption, reconciliation with God and merit. He made satisfaction vicariously, i.e. He did not formally take upon Himself our guilt or punishment, but the suffering that compensated for the punishment due to us.
Christ, as a priest, made a true and voluntary sacrifice on the cross, which was accepted by God. The one making the sacrifice and the sacrifice itself was Christ, not through His divine nature, but by His human nature. It was in human nature that He suffered a voluntary death. (the divine nature is immortal, and the divine nature did not suffer during the death of Christ. However, we can say that God died on the cross for our sins when we mean the person, not the nature itself. The validity or truthfulness of a statement depends on the context in which it occurs.)
Redemption in the strict sense is the act by which someone is restored to freedom. Christ, having paid God what was due to Him, redeemed us from the slavery of sin, Satan and death. He provided us with supernatural means (grace) through which we can rise from sin and not fall again.
Christ freed us from death in the sense that He merited resurrection for us. Resurrection does not happen immediately, because in this respect we must become like Christ, who first died, rested in the grave, and only then rose from the dead.
Redemption, in addition to satisfaction and strict redemption, also included merit. Atonement is the repair of an offense done, and merit is a good deed worthy of reward. Through his sacrifice, Christ atoned for sins and honored God, meriting grace for us.
Christ merited for people all the graces that are given to them. Eternal reward for our works comes only through the merits of Jesus, and all the merits that a justified man collects during his life are gained through the grace of God and the merit of Christ.
We must distinguish Christ's atonement according to its sufficiency and according to its effectiveness. Christ died for all in terms of sufficiency, i.e. He gave sufficient remuneration for all to be saved and prepared to receive all the means necessary for salvation.
Man must apply the merits of Christ to himself in order to be saved, otherwise he will not experience the effectiveness of Christ's atonement. The application takes place by receiving the Sacraments, by faith and perfect contrition for sins, by cooperation with the received grace, etc.
The atonement and merits of Christ are like a universal cause which, in order to have an effective impact on individual people, must be applied to them through their cooperation. The spring contains water for everyone, but only those who draw it from the spring will drink it.
People living before Christ's coming also had sufficient graces in view of Christ's future death. Even the damned had sufficient means of salvation while they lived, because of the merits of Christ, but they did not use them and therefore condemned themselves.
It does not detract from the merits of Christ, nor does it prove their insufficiency, that everyone must make reparation and deserve heaven, because our merits are born from the merits of Christ and are based on them. It is not a disgrace to the vine that its branches bear abundant fruit.
Outline of Catholic Dogmatics, fr. dr. M. Sieniatycki
#dogma #christology
Ecce Verbum
Various aspects of Redemption Christ is the only mediator between men and God in the strict sense, and as this mediator He redeemed us. He is a moral mediator (like prophets, apostles, priests, Mary and saints) and a natural mediator, because he combined…
Redemption through the Incarnation
The human race was absolutely incapable of recovering from the fall. Therefore, on the part of man, redemption was necessary. The ultimate goal to which man is destined and which he lost through sin is supernatural, so it transcends his nature and powers.
The first goal that God absolutely wants from creation, i.e. glory, would be achieved even if all people condemned themselves. Human happiness is a secondary goal, achieved conditionally. Therefore, the Redemption of the human race is a voluntary act of pure love and mercy of God. This should make us realize how great God's love is for each of us, that even though He does not need our salvation, He willingly decided to redeem us in the most humble way to enable us to receive eternal happiness.
Atonement means "returning to God the honor that sin has deprived". If the moral value of an act is as great as the insult caused, it is complete. If it does not counterbalance the insult, but the insulted accepts it, it is incomplete.
Redemption by the Son of God was necessary to fulfill the full atonement. The offense increases in proportion to the dignity of the offended person. For this reason, the offense against God through sin is infinite. So only satisfaction of infinite value can offset the offense against God.
The value of reparation is measured by the dignity of the person making reparation, and no human being's dignity is infinite. For infinite satisfaction it was necessary that the dignity of the atoner be equal to God, and therefore the Son of God had to make satisfaction in human nature.
Redemption corresponds to justice and mercy. Justice, because the Son of God made ample satisfaction in human nature, and mercy, because the Son of God, by willingly suffering, showed his infinite mercy towards people who could not make reparation.
Redemption through the Incarnation reveals: 1) goodness, because God did not despise His creation; 2) justice, because when man fell, God raised him up through God-man; 3) wisdom, because God found a way to make the most difficult payment; 4) power, because the Incarnation is the most powerful work.
Although Redemption was not necessary on God's part, it was appropriate, because: "It belongs to the nature of the highest good to communicate itself in the most perfect way to creation" (St. Thomas). The culmination of God's communication of himself to human nature is its acceptance by the Son of God.
Redemption through the Incarnation aims to strengthen faith in supernatural truths. Therefore, the one who teaches about them must have infallible authority to be sure that he is not misleading. Therefore, God personally taught these truths in human form.
Redemption through the Incarnation raises hope that despite our distance from God, we can achieve eternal happiness in heaven. This is what the Incarnation is for, as it proves that God has raised our nature to the highest dignity, and therefore we can also achieve eternal happiness in heaven.
Redemption through the Incarnation moves us to love. Through the Incarnation, God as if embodied for us His attributes worthy of infinite love and drew our souls to love Him: "If it was difficult to love, now at least it won't be difficult to love in return".
Redemption through the Incarnation gives us an example to follow: A man is drawn to virtue by word and example, and he is drawn all the more effectively the greater he is certain of the infallibility and holiness of the one giving the example. So God became man, taught and gave us an example to follow.
Redemption through the Incarnation removed evil from man. Man was liberated from sin by the complete atonement of God-man: "If he were not true God, he would not give medicine, if he were not true man, he would not set an example" (St. Leo).
Outline of Catholic Dogmatics, fr. dr. M. Sieniatycki
#christology #dogma
The human race was absolutely incapable of recovering from the fall. Therefore, on the part of man, redemption was necessary. The ultimate goal to which man is destined and which he lost through sin is supernatural, so it transcends his nature and powers.
The first goal that God absolutely wants from creation, i.e. glory, would be achieved even if all people condemned themselves. Human happiness is a secondary goal, achieved conditionally. Therefore, the Redemption of the human race is a voluntary act of pure love and mercy of God. This should make us realize how great God's love is for each of us, that even though He does not need our salvation, He willingly decided to redeem us in the most humble way to enable us to receive eternal happiness.
Atonement means "returning to God the honor that sin has deprived". If the moral value of an act is as great as the insult caused, it is complete. If it does not counterbalance the insult, but the insulted accepts it, it is incomplete.
Redemption by the Son of God was necessary to fulfill the full atonement. The offense increases in proportion to the dignity of the offended person. For this reason, the offense against God through sin is infinite. So only satisfaction of infinite value can offset the offense against God.
The value of reparation is measured by the dignity of the person making reparation, and no human being's dignity is infinite. For infinite satisfaction it was necessary that the dignity of the atoner be equal to God, and therefore the Son of God had to make satisfaction in human nature.
Redemption corresponds to justice and mercy. Justice, because the Son of God made ample satisfaction in human nature, and mercy, because the Son of God, by willingly suffering, showed his infinite mercy towards people who could not make reparation.
Redemption through the Incarnation reveals: 1) goodness, because God did not despise His creation; 2) justice, because when man fell, God raised him up through God-man; 3) wisdom, because God found a way to make the most difficult payment; 4) power, because the Incarnation is the most powerful work.
Although Redemption was not necessary on God's part, it was appropriate, because: "It belongs to the nature of the highest good to communicate itself in the most perfect way to creation" (St. Thomas). The culmination of God's communication of himself to human nature is its acceptance by the Son of God.
Redemption through the Incarnation aims to strengthen faith in supernatural truths. Therefore, the one who teaches about them must have infallible authority to be sure that he is not misleading. Therefore, God personally taught these truths in human form.
Redemption through the Incarnation raises hope that despite our distance from God, we can achieve eternal happiness in heaven. This is what the Incarnation is for, as it proves that God has raised our nature to the highest dignity, and therefore we can also achieve eternal happiness in heaven.
Redemption through the Incarnation moves us to love. Through the Incarnation, God as if embodied for us His attributes worthy of infinite love and drew our souls to love Him: "If it was difficult to love, now at least it won't be difficult to love in return".
Redemption through the Incarnation gives us an example to follow: A man is drawn to virtue by word and example, and he is drawn all the more effectively the greater he is certain of the infallibility and holiness of the one giving the example. So God became man, taught and gave us an example to follow.
Redemption through the Incarnation removed evil from man. Man was liberated from sin by the complete atonement of God-man: "If he were not true God, he would not give medicine, if he were not true man, he would not set an example" (St. Leo).
Outline of Catholic Dogmatics, fr. dr. M. Sieniatycki
#christology #dogma
GrowthInHoliness (1).pdf
12.2 MB
Growth In Holiness
Fr. Frederick William Faber
Fr. Frederick William Faber was one of the greatest Catholic writers in the English language of the 19th century. Initially an Anglican priest, he found his way into the Catholic Church through the preaching of St. John Henry Newman and the Oxford Movement, eventually being ordained a priest and an Oratorian. His works are numerous, and each satisfies a different part of the soul's need for knowledge and strengthening in the Catholic religion.
Perhaps one of his best books, Growth in Holiness presents Fr. Faber's thoughts on the spiritual journey of the Christian soul as she yearns for God
#spirituallife
Fr. Frederick William Faber
Fr. Frederick William Faber was one of the greatest Catholic writers in the English language of the 19th century. Initially an Anglican priest, he found his way into the Catholic Church through the preaching of St. John Henry Newman and the Oxford Movement, eventually being ordained a priest and an Oratorian. His works are numerous, and each satisfies a different part of the soul's need for knowledge and strengthening in the Catholic religion.
Perhaps one of his best books, Growth in Holiness presents Fr. Faber's thoughts on the spiritual journey of the Christian soul as she yearns for God
#spirituallife