How to Attain our End
One thing I do; forgetting the things that are behind and stretching forth myself to those that are before, I press towards the mark. (Philipp. iii. 13, 14.)
Every one desires to succeed in life. A man who desired ultimate failure would justly be regarded as a lunatic. If I am to carry out my desire, I must look around me and see what sort of men succeed.
When I look at successful men, I find, in them three characteristics:
(1) A spirit of cheerfulness and confidence
They know how to look at everything from its best side. They are always hopeful about the future and confident of success. This it is that brings success. Hence I must pray for confidence.
(2) A spirit of perseverance
They are not discouraged by failures. They recover themselves without delay. What a lesson for me not to lose heart, but to say : "When I fall I will rise again, and that promptly."
(3) A spirit of single-mindedness
They keep the end in view steadily before them. If I am to achieve the purpose of my life, to succeed in coming to God at last, I must keep Him always before me.
What can make my life so happy as this-- to know that I am drawing nearer to God? Yet there will be dark times and days of despondency. Still, beneath the surface, there will be hope and peace, even amid the darkness.
Example is better than precept; and we shall often learn more from watching those who possess perfectly what we are trying to acquire, than by any set of rules. Let us watch the Saints in Heaven, that we may learn from them.
Their continual occupation is the praise of God, the tranquil delight of basking in the light of God. This satisfies every longing of their heart, this fills them with perfect and unfading joy. This is the highest praise they can render to God. How can I imitate them? By a continual remembrance of God, by visiting the Blessed Sacrament, by a frequent raising of my heart to Heaven.
The Saints also find a constant joy in showing reverence to God, in falling down in prostrate homage before the Throne, in recognizing their dependence upon Him, and their indebtedness to Him for all their joy. This too I can copy by great reverence both of body and soul; reverence before the Altar, reverence in my prayers, reverence and resignation to the will of God in my thoughts.
All the various circumstances of my life are moreover ordained by Almighty God to aid me in serving and praising Him as He wishes. If they are pleasant, they must teach me gratitude; if painful, resignation. Even if they are a source of temptation to me, by fighting bravely against the temptation, I can gain great merit before God.
We must be on the watch to see that our inclinations do not run away with us. Most of the foolish things we do are the result of acting on the impulse, of being led by our inclinations, of being influenced by wounded self-love. How many a golden opportunity of merit we have missed because we would not accept patiently what wounded us or hurt our self-esteem.We must try to make ourselves ready to accept whatever God sends, whether painful or pleasant. There is nothing in the world that has not a bright side. This will make us always patient, and, what is more, always happy. We shall acquire a facility for ignoring or passing over the painful side of things, to look at the joyful and hopeful.
•Pray for grace to carry out God's intentions by using rightly all the circumstances around you.
•Pray for cheerfulness and an earnest purpose to live for God.
•Offer to God your willingness to endure whatever He sees to be good for your soul.
Rev. R.F. Clarke S.J
#spirituallife
One thing I do; forgetting the things that are behind and stretching forth myself to those that are before, I press towards the mark. (Philipp. iii. 13, 14.)
Every one desires to succeed in life. A man who desired ultimate failure would justly be regarded as a lunatic. If I am to carry out my desire, I must look around me and see what sort of men succeed.
When I look at successful men, I find, in them three characteristics:
(1) A spirit of cheerfulness and confidence
They know how to look at everything from its best side. They are always hopeful about the future and confident of success. This it is that brings success. Hence I must pray for confidence.
(2) A spirit of perseverance
They are not discouraged by failures. They recover themselves without delay. What a lesson for me not to lose heart, but to say : "When I fall I will rise again, and that promptly."
(3) A spirit of single-mindedness
They keep the end in view steadily before them. If I am to achieve the purpose of my life, to succeed in coming to God at last, I must keep Him always before me.
What can make my life so happy as this-- to know that I am drawing nearer to God? Yet there will be dark times and days of despondency. Still, beneath the surface, there will be hope and peace, even amid the darkness.
Example is better than precept; and we shall often learn more from watching those who possess perfectly what we are trying to acquire, than by any set of rules. Let us watch the Saints in Heaven, that we may learn from them.
Their continual occupation is the praise of God, the tranquil delight of basking in the light of God. This satisfies every longing of their heart, this fills them with perfect and unfading joy. This is the highest praise they can render to God. How can I imitate them? By a continual remembrance of God, by visiting the Blessed Sacrament, by a frequent raising of my heart to Heaven.
The Saints also find a constant joy in showing reverence to God, in falling down in prostrate homage before the Throne, in recognizing their dependence upon Him, and their indebtedness to Him for all their joy. This too I can copy by great reverence both of body and soul; reverence before the Altar, reverence in my prayers, reverence and resignation to the will of God in my thoughts.
All the various circumstances of my life are moreover ordained by Almighty God to aid me in serving and praising Him as He wishes. If they are pleasant, they must teach me gratitude; if painful, resignation. Even if they are a source of temptation to me, by fighting bravely against the temptation, I can gain great merit before God.
We must be on the watch to see that our inclinations do not run away with us. Most of the foolish things we do are the result of acting on the impulse, of being led by our inclinations, of being influenced by wounded self-love. How many a golden opportunity of merit we have missed because we would not accept patiently what wounded us or hurt our self-esteem.We must try to make ourselves ready to accept whatever God sends, whether painful or pleasant. There is nothing in the world that has not a bright side. This will make us always patient, and, what is more, always happy. We shall acquire a facility for ignoring or passing over the painful side of things, to look at the joyful and hopeful.
•Pray for grace to carry out God's intentions by using rightly all the circumstances around you.
•Pray for cheerfulness and an earnest purpose to live for God.
•Offer to God your willingness to endure whatever He sees to be good for your soul.
Rev. R.F. Clarke S.J
#spirituallife
Ecce Verbum
King Jan Sobieski (1629-1696) Battle of Vienna 9/12/1683 courtesy of @monarchy_or_bust
Battle of Vienna, 9/12/1683
Some important facts:
•Less than twenty-five years previously, Poland had been almost annihilated in the Swedish and Russian invasions of the 1650s. Nobody came to help Poland. It was only saved by the Our Lady with the sort of crazy underdog victories that only come from prayer.
•King Sobieski left Poland almost completely undefended during the campaign and offered up the country to Our Lady to protect or destroy.
•King Sobieski was the great grandfather of Prince Charles Edward Stuart and his brother Cardinal Henry.
•Emperor Leopold I of Austria fled the city before the battle, having lost hope. After the victory, he snubbed Sobieski as an elected King, and regarded him only as a general, and refused to meet him, claiming victory himself.
•King Sobieski could not therefore celebrate in Vienna and went to Rome to present Ottoman loot to Pope Innocent XI. The Pope added the crowned Eagle of Poland to his own coat of arms, gave Sobieski the title of Fidei Defensor, extended the Feast Day of the Most Holy Name to the whole word in honour of the battle, and Saint Pius X moved it to the 12 of September.
•Serban Cantacuzino, and Orthodox Wallachian Prince in the Ottoman Army, ordered his troops not to attack the Poles during the battle.
•The Lithuanian Army arrived too late to take part.
•There were Sunni Muslim Tatars in the Polish light cavalry, who had come to Poland centuries early and sworn fealty to the Polish Crown on the earliest existing Polish quran (now in the Sikorski Museum in Kensington). They wore sprigs of straw in their headgear to distinguish themselves from Ottoman Tatars.
•The French (and some Dutch) were allied with the Ottomans and took the opportunity to invade Alsace.
•Intelligence on the Ottomans came from a polyglotic Polish nobleman called Kulczycki who passed in and out of city in disguise during the siege. He claimed coffee from the loot and opened a café in Vienna after the war, and there is still a street named after him. He is credited as the first to serve coffee with milk in Europe. It was served to be the grey colour of the Capuchin monks robes in honour of Marco D'Aviano and named Kapuziner (later italianised as Capuccino). Later there was darker milky coffee served brown as Franziskaner too.
•The Papal Nuncio, Capuchin Friar Marco D'Aviano was the one who asked Sobieski to relieve Vienna, accompanied the Polish Army on campaign. He said Mass with them on the hill before the attack. The Austrians at the time complained hugely about this causing a delay.
•Sobieski led the charge of Hussars himself. When he entered Vienna, the commander Count Stahremberg hugged and kissed him and called him Saviour.
•The Polish troops arrived on the Kahlenberg at night and lit bonfires to signal their presence to besieged Vienna. This inspired Tolkien's beacons, as did the charge for the charge of the Rohirrim.
•The other Army outside Vienna was of Charles V Duke of Lorraine, mostly made up of Catholic Bavarians and Protestant Saxons. The Saxons were unwelcome in Vienna and left immediately after the battle, not joining the rest of the campaign.
•Many Ottoman tents from the camp were sewn into chasubles for priests.
•A minor constellation was named after Sobieski at the time, the only named after someone not an astronomer, whose name persists to today.
•Less than a century later, the Austrians took a huge hand in completely dismembering the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, seizing about a third, and wiping it off the map.
All credit and thanks to N for sharing the information
Some important facts:
•Less than twenty-five years previously, Poland had been almost annihilated in the Swedish and Russian invasions of the 1650s. Nobody came to help Poland. It was only saved by the Our Lady with the sort of crazy underdog victories that only come from prayer.
•King Sobieski left Poland almost completely undefended during the campaign and offered up the country to Our Lady to protect or destroy.
•King Sobieski was the great grandfather of Prince Charles Edward Stuart and his brother Cardinal Henry.
•Emperor Leopold I of Austria fled the city before the battle, having lost hope. After the victory, he snubbed Sobieski as an elected King, and regarded him only as a general, and refused to meet him, claiming victory himself.
•King Sobieski could not therefore celebrate in Vienna and went to Rome to present Ottoman loot to Pope Innocent XI. The Pope added the crowned Eagle of Poland to his own coat of arms, gave Sobieski the title of Fidei Defensor, extended the Feast Day of the Most Holy Name to the whole word in honour of the battle, and Saint Pius X moved it to the 12 of September.
•Serban Cantacuzino, and Orthodox Wallachian Prince in the Ottoman Army, ordered his troops not to attack the Poles during the battle.
•The Lithuanian Army arrived too late to take part.
•There were Sunni Muslim Tatars in the Polish light cavalry, who had come to Poland centuries early and sworn fealty to the Polish Crown on the earliest existing Polish quran (now in the Sikorski Museum in Kensington). They wore sprigs of straw in their headgear to distinguish themselves from Ottoman Tatars.
•The French (and some Dutch) were allied with the Ottomans and took the opportunity to invade Alsace.
•Intelligence on the Ottomans came from a polyglotic Polish nobleman called Kulczycki who passed in and out of city in disguise during the siege. He claimed coffee from the loot and opened a café in Vienna after the war, and there is still a street named after him. He is credited as the first to serve coffee with milk in Europe. It was served to be the grey colour of the Capuchin monks robes in honour of Marco D'Aviano and named Kapuziner (later italianised as Capuccino). Later there was darker milky coffee served brown as Franziskaner too.
•The Papal Nuncio, Capuchin Friar Marco D'Aviano was the one who asked Sobieski to relieve Vienna, accompanied the Polish Army on campaign. He said Mass with them on the hill before the attack. The Austrians at the time complained hugely about this causing a delay.
•Sobieski led the charge of Hussars himself. When he entered Vienna, the commander Count Stahremberg hugged and kissed him and called him Saviour.
•The Polish troops arrived on the Kahlenberg at night and lit bonfires to signal their presence to besieged Vienna. This inspired Tolkien's beacons, as did the charge for the charge of the Rohirrim.
•The other Army outside Vienna was of Charles V Duke of Lorraine, mostly made up of Catholic Bavarians and Protestant Saxons. The Saxons were unwelcome in Vienna and left immediately after the battle, not joining the rest of the campaign.
•Many Ottoman tents from the camp were sewn into chasubles for priests.
•A minor constellation was named after Sobieski at the time, the only named after someone not an astronomer, whose name persists to today.
•Less than a century later, the Austrians took a huge hand in completely dismembering the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, seizing about a third, and wiping it off the map.
All credit and thanks to N for sharing the information
The Holy Ways of the Cross (1).pdf
6.7 MB
The Holy Ways of the Cross
Henri-Marie Boudon, 1875
All walk by the way of the Cross, but after a very different manner. Some are conducted along it by exterior sufferings, others by interior. You will see some who are tried by corporal maladies; others you will see who are afflicted with the loss of their brightest intellectual gifts, and even of their mind itself, as has befallen some of the greatest men who have ever lived, and other servants of God. There are those who have been reduced to great poverty, by the loss of a lawsuit or by other disasters, or who have been in a destitute condition from their birth. And again there are those who suffer from being deprived of their earthly happiness, of their offices and employments.
Others are persecuted by their fellow-creatures: they meet with nothing but contradictions on every side, and that from good men as well as from bad; their reputation is torn to pieces, and they are assailed with calumnies on all hands. Others are grievously tormented by devils.
Henri-Marie Boudon, 1875
All walk by the way of the Cross, but after a very different manner. Some are conducted along it by exterior sufferings, others by interior. You will see some who are tried by corporal maladies; others you will see who are afflicted with the loss of their brightest intellectual gifts, and even of their mind itself, as has befallen some of the greatest men who have ever lived, and other servants of God. There are those who have been reduced to great poverty, by the loss of a lawsuit or by other disasters, or who have been in a destitute condition from their birth. And again there are those who suffer from being deprived of their earthly happiness, of their offices and employments.
Others are persecuted by their fellow-creatures: they meet with nothing but contradictions on every side, and that from good men as well as from bad; their reputation is torn to pieces, and they are assailed with calumnies on all hands. Others are grievously tormented by devils.
Ecce Verbum
The Church is One One body and one spirit, as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one Baptism.--Eph. iv, 4, 5. St. Paul wrote this Epistle to the Ephesians is from his prison in Rome. Fearing that there might be disagreements…
Tu es Petrus
from The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontiffs, 1867
In the pages of the inspired Gospels we see Peter in his phases of man and apostle, until the apostolic spirit dominated the natural temper. His Master having reproved him for striking Malchus, Peter, timid and fickle, forgot his oath, but ere long bitterly bewailed his fault. After the death of our Saviour, Simon Peter hastened to the sepulchre. He was the first to enter. He found that Jesus was no longer there.
Peter was also the first to whom, the Scripture informs us, Jesus appeared after his resurrection. Peter, however, was still to receive an express mission, more especially consecrating him to his apostolic functions. Jesus appeared to him and to John, when they both were engaged in fishing on the Sea of Galilee. It was then and there that Jesus, after having thrice received from Peter the acknowledgment of his love, as though to make him expiate his triple denial, gave him a threefold charge of His flock in those words--Feed my lambs. Saint John, the beloved disciple, called Peter by the title of Apostle (Chap. xxi. 15-17), as having received from Jesus Christ, in reward of his attachment the Pastorate, which Saint Ambrose (on Luke xxiii.) so well entitles the Vicarship of Love. The gift of that function, as related by the Evangelist, was made at the very place where Jesus had given to Simon the name of Peter, which was afterwards confirmed to him by his calling to the government of the Church of Christ. Here Peter learned that, following Jesus Christ, he would suffer like him, and would be glorified in martyrdom.
Peter's first act of pontifical jurisdiction, after the Ascension, was the assembing of a council at Jerusalem, at which both the apostles and the disciples were present. The object was the filling, in the apostolic college, the place of the iniquitous Judas Iscariot. Matthias was chosen by lot. Peter presided over that assemblage, and reminded it that the crime of Judas had been foretold by David. Peter's application of the Scriptures was again very felicitous when the disciples were visited by the wondrous phenomenon of the Day of Pentecost.
On that memorable day, at about nine o'clock, a great sound, like unto the rushing of a mighty wind, filled the whole place of the assembly. All present saw, as it were, tongues of fire, and they all felt themselves filled by that Spirit which Jesus, on quitting them, promised they should be inspired with. In the fervor and gush of the zeal by which they were transported, their strange and eloquent language astonished the people of Jerusalem, and even the strangers who heard them. Some of the Jews took occasion to reproach them as being intoxicated. Then Peter arose, and so earnestly preached Christ, risen from the dead, that three thousand persons were converted, and asked to be baptized. That discourse of Peter was at once wise and noble. The apostle announced that, in accomplishment of the prophecy of Joel, the time announced by our Lord had arrived (Joel, ii. 28, 30), and that the disciples were filled with that Spirit which he was to shed upon them, and upon his servants.
In the second council seven deacons were appointed to assist the apostles in the distribution of alms, and in the ministry of preaching. It is remarkable how faithful the succeeding pontiffs have been to the first two precepts of Peter.
From the date of the Ascension, Peter remained five years in Judea. At the gate of the Temple, on Mount Sion, he restored to health a poor cripple who asked him for charity. The Sadducees endeavored publicly to arrest Peter and John, who preached the resurrection of our Lord. The apostles, on the other hand, preached with redoubled courage; and Peter, previously so timid and halting in his ideas, no longer hesitated boldly to confess the name of Jesus before the assembled doctors of the law.
from The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontiffs, 1867
In the pages of the inspired Gospels we see Peter in his phases of man and apostle, until the apostolic spirit dominated the natural temper. His Master having reproved him for striking Malchus, Peter, timid and fickle, forgot his oath, but ere long bitterly bewailed his fault. After the death of our Saviour, Simon Peter hastened to the sepulchre. He was the first to enter. He found that Jesus was no longer there.
Peter was also the first to whom, the Scripture informs us, Jesus appeared after his resurrection. Peter, however, was still to receive an express mission, more especially consecrating him to his apostolic functions. Jesus appeared to him and to John, when they both were engaged in fishing on the Sea of Galilee. It was then and there that Jesus, after having thrice received from Peter the acknowledgment of his love, as though to make him expiate his triple denial, gave him a threefold charge of His flock in those words--Feed my lambs. Saint John, the beloved disciple, called Peter by the title of Apostle (Chap. xxi. 15-17), as having received from Jesus Christ, in reward of his attachment the Pastorate, which Saint Ambrose (on Luke xxiii.) so well entitles the Vicarship of Love. The gift of that function, as related by the Evangelist, was made at the very place where Jesus had given to Simon the name of Peter, which was afterwards confirmed to him by his calling to the government of the Church of Christ. Here Peter learned that, following Jesus Christ, he would suffer like him, and would be glorified in martyrdom.
Peter's first act of pontifical jurisdiction, after the Ascension, was the assembing of a council at Jerusalem, at which both the apostles and the disciples were present. The object was the filling, in the apostolic college, the place of the iniquitous Judas Iscariot. Matthias was chosen by lot. Peter presided over that assemblage, and reminded it that the crime of Judas had been foretold by David. Peter's application of the Scriptures was again very felicitous when the disciples were visited by the wondrous phenomenon of the Day of Pentecost.
On that memorable day, at about nine o'clock, a great sound, like unto the rushing of a mighty wind, filled the whole place of the assembly. All present saw, as it were, tongues of fire, and they all felt themselves filled by that Spirit which Jesus, on quitting them, promised they should be inspired with. In the fervor and gush of the zeal by which they were transported, their strange and eloquent language astonished the people of Jerusalem, and even the strangers who heard them. Some of the Jews took occasion to reproach them as being intoxicated. Then Peter arose, and so earnestly preached Christ, risen from the dead, that three thousand persons were converted, and asked to be baptized. That discourse of Peter was at once wise and noble. The apostle announced that, in accomplishment of the prophecy of Joel, the time announced by our Lord had arrived (Joel, ii. 28, 30), and that the disciples were filled with that Spirit which he was to shed upon them, and upon his servants.
In the second council seven deacons were appointed to assist the apostles in the distribution of alms, and in the ministry of preaching. It is remarkable how faithful the succeeding pontiffs have been to the first two precepts of Peter.
From the date of the Ascension, Peter remained five years in Judea. At the gate of the Temple, on Mount Sion, he restored to health a poor cripple who asked him for charity. The Sadducees endeavored publicly to arrest Peter and John, who preached the resurrection of our Lord. The apostles, on the other hand, preached with redoubled courage; and Peter, previously so timid and halting in his ideas, no longer hesitated boldly to confess the name of Jesus before the assembled doctors of the law.
Ecce Verbum
Tu es Petrus from The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontiffs, 1867 In the pages of the inspired Gospels we see Peter in his phases of man and apostle, until the apostolic spirit dominated the natural temper. His Master having reproved him for striking Malchus…
Then began a great persecution in Judea. Peter went to Samaria, which Saint Philip had already converted, to administer the rite of Confirmation to the faithful. It was there that he held his first dispute with the Samaritan, Simon the magician. Thence he proceeded to Caesarea to baptize Cornelius the centurion, who commanded the garrison in that city. Cornelius was the first Gentile who received baptism. He subsequently became Bishop of Caesarea. From Palestine, Peter passed into Syria, to the metropolitan city of Antioch, the most famous city of the East, and considered as the third city of the Roman empire--after Rome and Alexandria. He took up his abode in Antioch in A. D. 38, and governed that See for several years. The more worthily to fulfil his pastoral duty, he frequently traversed the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia. Eventually, while visiting the afflicted Church of Jerusalem, Peter was arrested by order of Herod Agrippa; but the apostle was miraculously delivered by an angel, who led him from the prison.
Peter, having placed Saint Evodius in the episcopal chair of Antioch, determined to proceed in person to Rome. Going through Naples, he planted the faith, by giving to that city Saint Aspren for its first Bishop.
Arrived at Rome, the holy pontiff lived in the Trastevere, near the site of the Church of Saint Cecilia. In a short time, Pudens, a Roman senator, having heard the preaching of Peter, declared himself converted, and the Apostle was conducted to a fine palace which Pudens possessed upon the Mount Viminal.
The capital of the world, says Feller (v. 41), appeared to Peter to be the best centre for the propagation of the divine religion of which he had become the chief minister; for Peter was not only the bishop of Rome, or of Antioch, but also the bishop of the Universal Church. Saint Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans (chap. xv. 20), while congratulating them on their faith, which he says is spoken of by all, tells them that he has long intended to visit them, but that he has been prevented from so doing by the law which he has laid down for himself, not to preach the gospel in places that had already received it, lest he should build upon the foundation of another. Saint Peter came to convert Rome, that great city "which," as says Saint Leo, "by its celebrity and its power had spread its superstitions throughout the earth, was now to become, in fulfilment of the designs of God, the humble disciple of the truth, and subsequently to extend its spiritual dominion beyond the bounds of its ancient empire." Qua eras magistra erroris, facta es discipula veritatis. Latius praesideres religione divina, quam dominatione terrena.
According to the Diario, it was in the year 42 that the twenty-five years commenced that are commonly attributed to the pontificate of Saint Peter. He wrote at that time from Rome his first epistle, of which we shall speak hereafter. After seven years (being exiled by order of the Emperor Claudius), Saint Peter returned to Jerusalem, where he held the first council. He there first spoke upon the controversies which had arisen at Antioch between the heresiarch Cerinthus and the new converts. It was decided in that council that those converts were not to be disturbed; that it was sufficient that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, and from fornication. That decision was sent to Antioch with this formula, since adopted by the general councils: Visum est Spiritui Sancto et nobis,--"It appears to the Holy Ghost and to us."
The exile of Saint Peter lasted five years. After the death of the Emperor Claudius, the Apostle, in the year 56, and the fourteenth of his pontificate, returned to Rome, and there found Simon the Magician, who arrogated to himself the power of God, saying, "I command the angels," and who declared that the gift of working miracles might be purchased with money.
Peter, having placed Saint Evodius in the episcopal chair of Antioch, determined to proceed in person to Rome. Going through Naples, he planted the faith, by giving to that city Saint Aspren for its first Bishop.
Arrived at Rome, the holy pontiff lived in the Trastevere, near the site of the Church of Saint Cecilia. In a short time, Pudens, a Roman senator, having heard the preaching of Peter, declared himself converted, and the Apostle was conducted to a fine palace which Pudens possessed upon the Mount Viminal.
The capital of the world, says Feller (v. 41), appeared to Peter to be the best centre for the propagation of the divine religion of which he had become the chief minister; for Peter was not only the bishop of Rome, or of Antioch, but also the bishop of the Universal Church. Saint Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans (chap. xv. 20), while congratulating them on their faith, which he says is spoken of by all, tells them that he has long intended to visit them, but that he has been prevented from so doing by the law which he has laid down for himself, not to preach the gospel in places that had already received it, lest he should build upon the foundation of another. Saint Peter came to convert Rome, that great city "which," as says Saint Leo, "by its celebrity and its power had spread its superstitions throughout the earth, was now to become, in fulfilment of the designs of God, the humble disciple of the truth, and subsequently to extend its spiritual dominion beyond the bounds of its ancient empire." Qua eras magistra erroris, facta es discipula veritatis. Latius praesideres religione divina, quam dominatione terrena.
According to the Diario, it was in the year 42 that the twenty-five years commenced that are commonly attributed to the pontificate of Saint Peter. He wrote at that time from Rome his first epistle, of which we shall speak hereafter. After seven years (being exiled by order of the Emperor Claudius), Saint Peter returned to Jerusalem, where he held the first council. He there first spoke upon the controversies which had arisen at Antioch between the heresiarch Cerinthus and the new converts. It was decided in that council that those converts were not to be disturbed; that it was sufficient that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, and from fornication. That decision was sent to Antioch with this formula, since adopted by the general councils: Visum est Spiritui Sancto et nobis,--"It appears to the Holy Ghost and to us."
The exile of Saint Peter lasted five years. After the death of the Emperor Claudius, the Apostle, in the year 56, and the fourteenth of his pontificate, returned to Rome, and there found Simon the Magician, who arrogated to himself the power of God, saying, "I command the angels," and who declared that the gift of working miracles might be purchased with money.
Ecce Verbum
Tu es Petrus from The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontiffs, 1867 In the pages of the inspired Gospels we see Peter in his phases of man and apostle, until the apostolic spirit dominated the natural temper. His Master having reproved him for striking Malchus…
It is known how the prayers of Peter obtained the victory over Simon, and how the latter broke his limbs near the temple of Romulus, now the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian.
The Christians of Rome perceiving at length that Nero meditated a persecution, entreated the Apostle to conceal himself from the pursuit of that monster of cruelty. Saint Peter left the city by the gate which is now called Saint Mary ad passus, on the Appian way. There he was met by Jesus. Saint Peter asked whither he was going. Jesus replied, "I am going to Rome, to be crucified again." Then Saint Peter understood that Jesus would be crucified in the person of his servant. Saint Peter then retraced his steps to Rome, determined to endure whatever torment the barbarous Nero might invent for him. Saint Peter was violently tormented in the Mamertine prison, where he was confined with Saint Paul. From the prison Saint Peter was taken to the Janiculum, and was then put to death. He obtained it as a special favor from the executioner that he was to be crucified with his head downward, deeming himself unworthy to be placed on the cross in the same position as His divine Master had been.
According to the opinion of Baronius, of brother Sangallo, and of Novaes, Peter suffered martyrdom in the year of our Lord 69. The Diario, already quoted, gives the date of 65; but if, as has been expressly said, the twenty-five years of Saint Peter's pontificate only commenced in the year 42, it must at least be admitted that his death took place in the year 67. We will not insist upon this point of history, for a whole host of Dissertations have been written about the one and the other date. The most distinguished names, and the most respectable traditions have been quoted on either side. We have deemed it incumbent upon us to cite the date which is given by Novaes, supported by Baronius, and also that which renders the Diario consistent with itself.
The body of Saint Peter was at first interred in the catacombs, and then transferred to the Vatican. His head, as well as that of Saint Paul, is over the high altar of the Basilica of Saint John of Lateran, where they were placed by Pope Urban V., A. D. 1370.
The death of Saint Peter irrevocably fixed at Rome the chief See of the Christian Church. Henceforth Rome has become the Jerusalem of Christianity, the oracle and the rule of the various Churches, from which the fathers and the theologians of all ages have asked decisions upon all difficult matters, where the artifices of so many sectaries have been confounded, who have endeavored to alter the doctrine of Jesus Christ; there their mission has been received by all those apostolic men who, after the first publication of the gospel, have carried that divine light to the distant nations.
Was Peter ever at Rome? Some people have carried the partisan spirit so far as to maintain that Saint Peter never was at Rome, and consequently did not found that See; but learned men, even though most opposed to the papal authority, have refuted those. P. Pearson, an English bishop, in a Dissertation which is included among his works, sustains it by a striking array of testimony. In fact all historical monuments give evidence in its favor.
Hegesippus, who, like Papias, lived near the apostolic time, published a history of the martyrdom of Saint Peter at Rome. Saint Irenaeus and Saint Ignatius, disciples of Saint Peter, inform us that that Apostle had fixed His See at Rome.Saint Cyprian frequently speaks of that Church as the chair of Saint Peter. Arnobius, Saint Epiphanius, Origen, Saint Athanasius, Eusebius, Lactantius, Saint Ambrose, Saint Optatus, Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine, Saint Chrysostom, Paul Orosus, Maximus, Theodoret, Paulinus, Saint Leo, and many others, have left us catalogues of the bishops of Rome, from Saint Peter to the pontiff who occupied the holy See in their time.
The Christians of Rome perceiving at length that Nero meditated a persecution, entreated the Apostle to conceal himself from the pursuit of that monster of cruelty. Saint Peter left the city by the gate which is now called Saint Mary ad passus, on the Appian way. There he was met by Jesus. Saint Peter asked whither he was going. Jesus replied, "I am going to Rome, to be crucified again." Then Saint Peter understood that Jesus would be crucified in the person of his servant. Saint Peter then retraced his steps to Rome, determined to endure whatever torment the barbarous Nero might invent for him. Saint Peter was violently tormented in the Mamertine prison, where he was confined with Saint Paul. From the prison Saint Peter was taken to the Janiculum, and was then put to death. He obtained it as a special favor from the executioner that he was to be crucified with his head downward, deeming himself unworthy to be placed on the cross in the same position as His divine Master had been.
According to the opinion of Baronius, of brother Sangallo, and of Novaes, Peter suffered martyrdom in the year of our Lord 69. The Diario, already quoted, gives the date of 65; but if, as has been expressly said, the twenty-five years of Saint Peter's pontificate only commenced in the year 42, it must at least be admitted that his death took place in the year 67. We will not insist upon this point of history, for a whole host of Dissertations have been written about the one and the other date. The most distinguished names, and the most respectable traditions have been quoted on either side. We have deemed it incumbent upon us to cite the date which is given by Novaes, supported by Baronius, and also that which renders the Diario consistent with itself.
The body of Saint Peter was at first interred in the catacombs, and then transferred to the Vatican. His head, as well as that of Saint Paul, is over the high altar of the Basilica of Saint John of Lateran, where they were placed by Pope Urban V., A. D. 1370.
The death of Saint Peter irrevocably fixed at Rome the chief See of the Christian Church. Henceforth Rome has become the Jerusalem of Christianity, the oracle and the rule of the various Churches, from which the fathers and the theologians of all ages have asked decisions upon all difficult matters, where the artifices of so many sectaries have been confounded, who have endeavored to alter the doctrine of Jesus Christ; there their mission has been received by all those apostolic men who, after the first publication of the gospel, have carried that divine light to the distant nations.
Was Peter ever at Rome? Some people have carried the partisan spirit so far as to maintain that Saint Peter never was at Rome, and consequently did not found that See; but learned men, even though most opposed to the papal authority, have refuted those. P. Pearson, an English bishop, in a Dissertation which is included among his works, sustains it by a striking array of testimony. In fact all historical monuments give evidence in its favor.
Hegesippus, who, like Papias, lived near the apostolic time, published a history of the martyrdom of Saint Peter at Rome. Saint Irenaeus and Saint Ignatius, disciples of Saint Peter, inform us that that Apostle had fixed His See at Rome.Saint Cyprian frequently speaks of that Church as the chair of Saint Peter. Arnobius, Saint Epiphanius, Origen, Saint Athanasius, Eusebius, Lactantius, Saint Ambrose, Saint Optatus, Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine, Saint Chrysostom, Paul Orosus, Maximus, Theodoret, Paulinus, Saint Leo, and many others, have left us catalogues of the bishops of Rome, from Saint Peter to the pontiff who occupied the holy See in their time.
Ecce Verbum
Tu es Petrus from The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontiffs, 1867 In the pages of the inspired Gospels we see Peter in his phases of man and apostle, until the apostolic spirit dominated the natural temper. His Master having reproved him for striking Malchus…
11369.E13934_The_Lives_and_Times_of_The_Roman_Pontiffs.pdf
27.4 MB
The lives and times of the Roman Pontiffs
by Artaud de Montor, Alexis Francois, 1772-1849; Neligan, William Hayes, d. 1886
by Artaud de Montor, Alexis Francois, 1772-1849; Neligan, William Hayes, d. 1886
Ecce Verbum
Tu es Petrus from The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontiffs, 1867 In the pages of the inspired Gospels we see Peter in his phases of man and apostle, until the apostolic spirit dominated the natural temper. His Master having reproved him for striking Malchus…
The Early Church Fathers on St. Peter
“The Lord said to Peter, ‘On this rock I will build my Church, I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven [and] whatever you shall have bound or loosed on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]..What kind of man are you, subverting and changing what was the manifest intent of the Lord when he conferred this personally upon Peter? Upon you, he says, I will build my Church; and I will give to you the keys” (Modesty 21:9–10 [A.D. 220])
Tertullian
“Be it known to you, my lord, that Simon [Peter], who, for the sake of the true faith, and the most sure foundation of his doctrine, was set apart to be the foundation of the Church, and for this end was by Jesus himself, with his truthful mouth, named Peter”
Letter of Clement to James [A.D. 221]
“Look at [Peter], the great foundation of the Church, that most solid of rocks, upon whom Christ built the Church [Matt. 16:18]. And what does our Lord say to him? ‘Oh you of little faith,’ he says, ‘why do you doubt?’ [Matt. 14:31]”
Origen, Homilies on Exodus 5:4 [A.D. 248]
“The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.. ’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair..If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?” (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; 1st edition [A.D. 251])
“There is one God and one Christ, and one Church, and one chair founded on Peter by the word of the Lord. It is not possible to set up another altar or for there to be another priesthood besides that one altar and that one priesthood. Whoever has gathered elsewhere is scattering” (Letters 43[40]:5 [A.D. 253]).
“There [John 6:68–69] speaks Peter, upon whom the Church would be built, teaching in the name of the Church and showing that even if a stubborn and proud multitude withdraws because it does not wish to obey, yet the Church does not withdraw from Christ. The people joined to the priest and the flock clinging to their shepherd are the Church. You ought to know, then, that the bishop is in the Church and the Church in the bishop, and if someone is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church. They vainly flatter themselves who creep up, not having peace with the priests of God, believing that they are secretly [i.e., invisibly] in communion with certain individuals. For the Church, which is one and Catholic, is not split nor divided, but it is indeed united and joined by the cement of priests who adhere one to another” (ibid., 66[69]:8).
Cyprian of Carthage
“But what is his error..who does not remain on the foundation of the one Church which was founded upon the rock by Christ [Matt. 16:18], can be learned from this, which Christ said to Peter alone: ‘Whatever things you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:19]” (collected in Cyprian’s Letters 74[75]:16 [A.D. 253]).
“[Pope] Stephen [I]..boasts of the place of his episcopate, and contends that he holds the succession from Peter, on whom the foundations of the Church were laid [Matt. 16:18]..[Pope] Stephen.. announces that he holds by succession the throne of Peter” (ibid., 74[75]:17)
Firmillian
“The Lord said to Peter, ‘On this rock I will build my Church, I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven [and] whatever you shall have bound or loosed on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]..What kind of man are you, subverting and changing what was the manifest intent of the Lord when he conferred this personally upon Peter? Upon you, he says, I will build my Church; and I will give to you the keys” (Modesty 21:9–10 [A.D. 220])
Tertullian
“Be it known to you, my lord, that Simon [Peter], who, for the sake of the true faith, and the most sure foundation of his doctrine, was set apart to be the foundation of the Church, and for this end was by Jesus himself, with his truthful mouth, named Peter”
Letter of Clement to James [A.D. 221]
“Look at [Peter], the great foundation of the Church, that most solid of rocks, upon whom Christ built the Church [Matt. 16:18]. And what does our Lord say to him? ‘Oh you of little faith,’ he says, ‘why do you doubt?’ [Matt. 14:31]”
Origen, Homilies on Exodus 5:4 [A.D. 248]
“The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.. ’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair..If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?” (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; 1st edition [A.D. 251])
“There is one God and one Christ, and one Church, and one chair founded on Peter by the word of the Lord. It is not possible to set up another altar or for there to be another priesthood besides that one altar and that one priesthood. Whoever has gathered elsewhere is scattering” (Letters 43[40]:5 [A.D. 253]).
“There [John 6:68–69] speaks Peter, upon whom the Church would be built, teaching in the name of the Church and showing that even if a stubborn and proud multitude withdraws because it does not wish to obey, yet the Church does not withdraw from Christ. The people joined to the priest and the flock clinging to their shepherd are the Church. You ought to know, then, that the bishop is in the Church and the Church in the bishop, and if someone is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church. They vainly flatter themselves who creep up, not having peace with the priests of God, believing that they are secretly [i.e., invisibly] in communion with certain individuals. For the Church, which is one and Catholic, is not split nor divided, but it is indeed united and joined by the cement of priests who adhere one to another” (ibid., 66[69]:8).
Cyprian of Carthage
“But what is his error..who does not remain on the foundation of the one Church which was founded upon the rock by Christ [Matt. 16:18], can be learned from this, which Christ said to Peter alone: ‘Whatever things you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:19]” (collected in Cyprian’s Letters 74[75]:16 [A.D. 253]).
“[Pope] Stephen [I]..boasts of the place of his episcopate, and contends that he holds the succession from Peter, on whom the foundations of the Church were laid [Matt. 16:18]..[Pope] Stephen.. announces that he holds by succession the throne of Peter” (ibid., 74[75]:17)
Firmillian
Ecce Verbum
The Early Church Fathers on St. Peter “The Lord said to Peter, ‘On this rock I will build my Church, I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven [and] whatever you shall have bound or loosed on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]..What…
"The blessed Peter, the chosen, the preeminent, the first among the disciples, for whom alone with himself the Savior paid the tribute [Matt. 17:27], quickly g.asped and understood their meaning. And what does he say? ‘Behold, we have left all and have followed you’ [Matt. 19:27; Mark 10:28]” (Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 21:3–5 [A.D. 200])
Clement of Alexandria
“The Lord is loving toward men, swift to pardon but slow to punish. Let no man despair of his own salvation. Peter, the first and foremost of the apostles, denied the Lord three times before a little servant girl, but he repented and wept bitterly” (Catechetical Lectures 2:19 [A.D. 350])
Cyril of Jerusalem
“[Jesus said:] ‘Simon, my follower, I have made you the foundation of the holy Church. I betimes called you Peter, because you will support all its buildings. You are the inspector of those who will build on earth a Church for me. If they should wish to build what is false, you, the foundation, will condemn them. You are the head of the fountain from which my teaching flows; you are the chief of my disciples’” (Homilies 4:1 [A.D. 351])
Ephraim the Syrian
You cannot deny that you are aware that in the city of Rome the episcopal chair was given first to Peter; the chair in which Peter sat, the same who was head—that is why he is also called Cephas [‘Rock’]—of all the apostles; the one chair in which unity is maintained by all” (The Schism of the Donatists 2:2 [A.D. 367]).
Optatus
“[Christ] made answer: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church..’ Could he not, then, strengthen the faith of the man to whom, acting on his own authority, he gave the kingdom, whom he called the rock, thereby declaring him to be the foundation of the Church [Matt. 16:18]?” (The Faith 4:5 [A.D. 379])
“It is to Peter that he says: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church’ [Matt. 16:18]. Where Peter is, there is the Church. And where the Church is, no death is there, but life eternal” (Commentary on Twelve Psalms of David 40:30 [A.D. 389]).all”
Ambrose of Milan
“‘But,’ you [Jovinian] will say, ‘it was on Peter that the Church was founded’ [Matt. 16:18]. Well .one among the twelve is chosen to be their head in order to remove any occasion for division” (Against Jovinian 1:26 [A.D. 393]).
“I follow no leader but Christ and join in communion with none but your blessedness [Pope Damasus I], that is, with the chair of Peter. I know that this is the rock on which the Church has been built. Whoever eats the Lamb outside this house is profane. Anyone who is not in the ark of Noah will perish when the flood prevails” (Letters 15:2 [A.D. 396]).
Jerome
“Philip, the presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See [Rome], said: ‘There is no doubt, and in fact it has been known in all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, pillar of the faith, and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, and that to him was given the power of loosing and binding sins: who down even to today and forever both lives and judges in his successors’” (Acts of the Council, session 3 [A.D. 431]).
Council of Ephesus
Although bishops have a common dignity, they are not all of the same rank. Even among the most blessed apostles, though they were alike in honor, there was a certain distinction of power. All were equal in being chosen, but it was given to one to be preeminent over the others.. [So today through the bishops] the care of the universal Church would converge in the one See of Peter, and nothing should ever be at odds with this head”
Pope Leo I, Letters 10:1 [A.D. 445
Clement of Alexandria
“The Lord is loving toward men, swift to pardon but slow to punish. Let no man despair of his own salvation. Peter, the first and foremost of the apostles, denied the Lord three times before a little servant girl, but he repented and wept bitterly” (Catechetical Lectures 2:19 [A.D. 350])
Cyril of Jerusalem
“[Jesus said:] ‘Simon, my follower, I have made you the foundation of the holy Church. I betimes called you Peter, because you will support all its buildings. You are the inspector of those who will build on earth a Church for me. If they should wish to build what is false, you, the foundation, will condemn them. You are the head of the fountain from which my teaching flows; you are the chief of my disciples’” (Homilies 4:1 [A.D. 351])
Ephraim the Syrian
You cannot deny that you are aware that in the city of Rome the episcopal chair was given first to Peter; the chair in which Peter sat, the same who was head—that is why he is also called Cephas [‘Rock’]—of all the apostles; the one chair in which unity is maintained by all” (The Schism of the Donatists 2:2 [A.D. 367]).
Optatus
“[Christ] made answer: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church..’ Could he not, then, strengthen the faith of the man to whom, acting on his own authority, he gave the kingdom, whom he called the rock, thereby declaring him to be the foundation of the Church [Matt. 16:18]?” (The Faith 4:5 [A.D. 379])
“It is to Peter that he says: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church’ [Matt. 16:18]. Where Peter is, there is the Church. And where the Church is, no death is there, but life eternal” (Commentary on Twelve Psalms of David 40:30 [A.D. 389]).all”
Ambrose of Milan
“‘But,’ you [Jovinian] will say, ‘it was on Peter that the Church was founded’ [Matt. 16:18]. Well .one among the twelve is chosen to be their head in order to remove any occasion for division” (Against Jovinian 1:26 [A.D. 393]).
“I follow no leader but Christ and join in communion with none but your blessedness [Pope Damasus I], that is, with the chair of Peter. I know that this is the rock on which the Church has been built. Whoever eats the Lamb outside this house is profane. Anyone who is not in the ark of Noah will perish when the flood prevails” (Letters 15:2 [A.D. 396]).
Jerome
“Philip, the presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See [Rome], said: ‘There is no doubt, and in fact it has been known in all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, pillar of the faith, and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, and that to him was given the power of loosing and binding sins: who down even to today and forever both lives and judges in his successors’” (Acts of the Council, session 3 [A.D. 431]).
Council of Ephesus
Although bishops have a common dignity, they are not all of the same rank. Even among the most blessed apostles, though they were alike in honor, there was a certain distinction of power. All were equal in being chosen, but it was given to one to be preeminent over the others.. [So today through the bishops] the care of the universal Church would converge in the one See of Peter, and nothing should ever be at odds with this head”
Pope Leo I, Letters 10:1 [A.D. 445
Difficulties of Private Interpretation
by Father G. Bampfleld, B. A., Oxon, 1879
I was a young man when my enquiry into truth began. I wished to save my soul--to know the truth and do the right; I asked myself and others how I was to find the truth ; the answer was ever the same: "Search the Scriptures."
But here came a difficulty.
I knew that the Scriptures were the Word of God--but I knew also that God's writings are then only of use to us when we know what God meant by that which He wrote. God's Word, if we put to it the devil's meaning, or man's meaning, is not God's Word at all. "The letter killeth"; it is "the spirit" which "quickeneth (II. Cor. iii. 6)." What we need is God's meaning of God's Word. The same Holy Ghost who wrote the Scriptures, He only can interpret them.
Was it possible for me to miss this meaning? I read in the Gospels that the Scriptures could be so misused. The devil tempted our Lord with Scripture texts, using God's Word with the devil's meaning (Matt. ch. iv.); the Pharisee rejected our Lord by Scripture; "Search the Scriptures, and see that out of Galilee a prophet riseth not" (John vii. 52), using God's Word, indeed, but perverted by man's sin: of the Sadducees our Lord said that though they read the Scriptures, they knew them not (Mark xii. 24), and the apostles were "foolish and slow of heart to believe all the things which the Prophets have spoken." (Luke xxiv. 25.) It was not the multitude who "knew not the law" who condemned our dearest Lord, but the Pharisee, the scribe, and the lawyer, whose whole study was in the Sacred Writ.
Nay, the Scriptures themselves told me plainly "that no prophecy of the Scripture is made by private interpretation." (2 Peter i. 20.) And, again, that in St. Paul's Epistles, at least, there "are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their destruction.'' (2 Peter iii. 16.) The Scriptures, then, can be used to our destruction, and who was I that I should think myself learned or stable?" Thinkest thou," said Philip to Queen Candace's chamberlain, "that thou understandest what thou readest?" who said: "How can I, unless some one show me?" (Acts viii. 30, 31.)
It was then, I concluded, possible for me to miss the true meaning of God's word; and if I missed it, I missed it to my "own destruction." The fault lay not in the Scriptures, which are holy, but in my wretchedness, who misinterpreted. When I stated this difficulty to others, I received always the same answer, "Pray to God the Holy Ghost, and He will guide you." But here arose two or three difficulties.
1. I knew that without God's help no man can understand the Scriptures; but I knew also, that God's help is given more or less in proportion to the fervency of prayer and the righteousness of him who prays. It is the "continual prayer of a just man;" or, as the Protestant translation renders it, "the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man" (James v. 16), not the lukewarm prayer of the unrighteous that "availeth much." Dared I "trust in myself that I was righteous?" (Luke xviii. 9)--my prayer "fervent and effectual?" If conscience did not compel, humility would exhort me to think otherwise; and, if so, how could I tell that the true meaning of Scripture was given me in answer to such worthless prayers as mine? The fault lay not in God, who is ever ready to give to them that ask, but in the poverty of the asking and the asker.
2. But I found that on this view not only must I trust in myself that I was righteous, but also despise others. (Luke xviii. 9.) For I found that others did the very same thing which I did--namely, pray to the Holy Ghost, and yet explained Scripture in a sense wholly opposite to mine. If I learned from the Scripture that Baptism was necessary to salvation, another from the very same Scripture would teach that Baptism was not necessary to salvation, and that my doctrine was soul-destroying and hateful to God.
by Father G. Bampfleld, B. A., Oxon, 1879
I was a young man when my enquiry into truth began. I wished to save my soul--to know the truth and do the right; I asked myself and others how I was to find the truth ; the answer was ever the same: "Search the Scriptures."
But here came a difficulty.
I knew that the Scriptures were the Word of God--but I knew also that God's writings are then only of use to us when we know what God meant by that which He wrote. God's Word, if we put to it the devil's meaning, or man's meaning, is not God's Word at all. "The letter killeth"; it is "the spirit" which "quickeneth (II. Cor. iii. 6)." What we need is God's meaning of God's Word. The same Holy Ghost who wrote the Scriptures, He only can interpret them.
Was it possible for me to miss this meaning? I read in the Gospels that the Scriptures could be so misused. The devil tempted our Lord with Scripture texts, using God's Word with the devil's meaning (Matt. ch. iv.); the Pharisee rejected our Lord by Scripture; "Search the Scriptures, and see that out of Galilee a prophet riseth not" (John vii. 52), using God's Word, indeed, but perverted by man's sin: of the Sadducees our Lord said that though they read the Scriptures, they knew them not (Mark xii. 24), and the apostles were "foolish and slow of heart to believe all the things which the Prophets have spoken." (Luke xxiv. 25.) It was not the multitude who "knew not the law" who condemned our dearest Lord, but the Pharisee, the scribe, and the lawyer, whose whole study was in the Sacred Writ.
Nay, the Scriptures themselves told me plainly "that no prophecy of the Scripture is made by private interpretation." (2 Peter i. 20.) And, again, that in St. Paul's Epistles, at least, there "are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their destruction.'' (2 Peter iii. 16.) The Scriptures, then, can be used to our destruction, and who was I that I should think myself learned or stable?" Thinkest thou," said Philip to Queen Candace's chamberlain, "that thou understandest what thou readest?" who said: "How can I, unless some one show me?" (Acts viii. 30, 31.)
It was then, I concluded, possible for me to miss the true meaning of God's word; and if I missed it, I missed it to my "own destruction." The fault lay not in the Scriptures, which are holy, but in my wretchedness, who misinterpreted. When I stated this difficulty to others, I received always the same answer, "Pray to God the Holy Ghost, and He will guide you." But here arose two or three difficulties.
1. I knew that without God's help no man can understand the Scriptures; but I knew also, that God's help is given more or less in proportion to the fervency of prayer and the righteousness of him who prays. It is the "continual prayer of a just man;" or, as the Protestant translation renders it, "the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man" (James v. 16), not the lukewarm prayer of the unrighteous that "availeth much." Dared I "trust in myself that I was righteous?" (Luke xviii. 9)--my prayer "fervent and effectual?" If conscience did not compel, humility would exhort me to think otherwise; and, if so, how could I tell that the true meaning of Scripture was given me in answer to such worthless prayers as mine? The fault lay not in God, who is ever ready to give to them that ask, but in the poverty of the asking and the asker.
2. But I found that on this view not only must I trust in myself that I was righteous, but also despise others. (Luke xviii. 9.) For I found that others did the very same thing which I did--namely, pray to the Holy Ghost, and yet explained Scripture in a sense wholly opposite to mine. If I learned from the Scripture that Baptism was necessary to salvation, another from the very same Scripture would teach that Baptism was not necessary to salvation, and that my doctrine was soul-destroying and hateful to God.
Ecce Verbum
Difficulties of Private Interpretation by Father G. Bampfleld, B. A., Oxon, 1879 I was a young man when my enquiry into truth began. I wished to save my soul--to know the truth and do the right; I asked myself and others how I was to find the truth ; the…
If I prayed to the Holy Spirit, so did he; if I was fully convinced, so was he; if to my spirit I hoped that "the Holy Spirit gave testimony that I was a child of God" (Rom. viii. 16), the same claim also did he make. How could I tell that he was wrong and I right? My prayers answered and his not? Was I holier than he? I dared not think so. Of one thing I was certain, that the Holy Ghost could not teach to me that a doctrine was true, and to him that the same doctrine was not true. One of us was wrong, and teaching, what God hates, a lie; but by what sure sign could I say who was wrong? Sometimes I was told that these differences were not essential points; but I could not understand this. Men certainly differ, for example, on the question whether Baptism is necessary to salvation or not. Surely a debate about a necessity is an essential point. In no worldly business, I am certain, in no question about the life of our bodies should we say, "Such a thing may be necessary, but it is not essential for us to know whether it is necessary or not."
Moreover, who would dare to tell us which part of our Lord's teaching was essential and which not? "Such a truth will save us, but such another truth He need not have brought from heaven." This I knew: that not one jot or one tittle of His words shall pass away (Matt. v. 18; Matt. xxiv. 35), and that to His words we dare not add nor take from them (Rev. xxii, 18, 19), but I knew not who was to be the judge of our Lord's teaching, and tell us which part we must believe and which we might reject. It is a marvel to me how men can believe that Christ, who is Love, has so left Christianity in the world, that nearly nineteen centuries have passed away, and men are still in doubt about the very necessities of salvation.
3. The third difficulty which came to me, when I was told to pray to the Holy Ghost and He would guide me, was this: "But then," was my reply, "if I can be mistaken when I interpret Scripture, how am I to tell when I am mistaken, and when not?" To this question I have to this day been unable to obtain an answer, except in the Catholic Church. I propose it once more for solution. The answer which I made to myself was that if our interpretations of Scripture are little more than guesses in which we might be mistaken, we could never tell if we were right or not; and that, as a result, the possession of truth was to us impossible: if we once admit doubt we cease to know it as a truth. Most of all should this be the case with religious truth: if heaven is not a certainty it were hard to struggle for it; if it be doubtful that there are three persons in God, who could worship them? What martyr would bleed for an opinion which was possibly false?
Our interpretations are fallible opinions, and opinions, however probable, are not certain truth. It seemed to me, then, that we had the choice of two evils, either to hold that each individual interpreter of Scripture is infallible, or to acknowledge that all interpretations of Scripture are fallible, and therefore all religious doctrines uncertain. I need not show the absurdity of the first alternative; for the upholders of private judgment are the very men who deny infallibility. I fear, then, we must accept the second, and own that there is no certain religious truth on earth, unless, indeed, the Catholic Church be right, and God has provided, in His mercy, a guide.
#scripture
Moreover, who would dare to tell us which part of our Lord's teaching was essential and which not? "Such a truth will save us, but such another truth He need not have brought from heaven." This I knew: that not one jot or one tittle of His words shall pass away (Matt. v. 18; Matt. xxiv. 35), and that to His words we dare not add nor take from them (Rev. xxii, 18, 19), but I knew not who was to be the judge of our Lord's teaching, and tell us which part we must believe and which we might reject. It is a marvel to me how men can believe that Christ, who is Love, has so left Christianity in the world, that nearly nineteen centuries have passed away, and men are still in doubt about the very necessities of salvation.
3. The third difficulty which came to me, when I was told to pray to the Holy Ghost and He would guide me, was this: "But then," was my reply, "if I can be mistaken when I interpret Scripture, how am I to tell when I am mistaken, and when not?" To this question I have to this day been unable to obtain an answer, except in the Catholic Church. I propose it once more for solution. The answer which I made to myself was that if our interpretations of Scripture are little more than guesses in which we might be mistaken, we could never tell if we were right or not; and that, as a result, the possession of truth was to us impossible: if we once admit doubt we cease to know it as a truth. Most of all should this be the case with religious truth: if heaven is not a certainty it were hard to struggle for it; if it be doubtful that there are three persons in God, who could worship them? What martyr would bleed for an opinion which was possibly false?
Our interpretations are fallible opinions, and opinions, however probable, are not certain truth. It seemed to me, then, that we had the choice of two evils, either to hold that each individual interpreter of Scripture is infallible, or to acknowledge that all interpretations of Scripture are fallible, and therefore all religious doctrines uncertain. I need not show the absurdity of the first alternative; for the upholders of private judgment are the very men who deny infallibility. I fear, then, we must accept the second, and own that there is no certain religious truth on earth, unless, indeed, the Catholic Church be right, and God has provided, in His mercy, a guide.
#scripture
Ecce Verbum
Montanists- Schismatics of the second century First known as Phrygians, or "those among the Phrygians" (oi kata Phrygas), then as Montanists, Pepuzians, and (in the West) Cataphrygians. The sect was founded by a prophet, Montanus, and two prophetesses, Maximilla…
A Treatise Against Heretic Novatian
That the Hope of Pardon should not be denied to the lapsed.
Full text
http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2001-03/31-13/novatia.html
"..Lo, there appeared opposed to me another enemy, and the adversary of his own paternal affection--the heretic Novatian--who not only, as it is signified in the Gospel, passed by the prostrate wounded man, as did the priest or the Levite, but by an ingenious and novel cruelty rather would slay the wounded man, by taking away the hope of salvation, by denying the mercy of his Father, by rejecting the repentance of his brother. Marvellous, how bitter, how harsh how perverse are many things! But one more easily perceives the straw in another's eye than the beam in one's own."
Novatian
(c. 200–258)
It was the spring of 251, and the Roman bishop was dead—martyred by Romans in a new wave of persecution. But raiders from the north were temporarily diverting the empire’s attention, so Christians were breathing a sigh of relief. Two issues immediately confronted church leaders: (1) Who should they elect as the new bishop of Rome? (2) What should they do about “lapsed Christians,” those who renounced their faith during persecution?
Novatian was the leading churchman in Rome, a brilliant theologian, and the obvious choice for pope. But he wasn’t elected, perhaps because of his unpopular, hard-line position about the lapsed. He said they could never be readmitted to the church, and he invoked the words of Jesus: “Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, a major North African city, did not agree. He called Novatian “a foe to mercy, a destroyer of repentance.” The influential African bishop supported Cornelius, who was elected pope. Cornelius believed that the lapsed could be reinstated to the church by repenting and doing penance based on the seriousness of the offense. Christians who had offered sacrifices on Roman altars drew the stiffest penance.
Local supporters of Novatian rallied around their man and elected him pope. Cornelius promptly excommunicated him. Both men courted recognition of church leaders abroad. In the process, Novatian’s followers evolved into a separate church, with bishops and congregations throughout the empire.
Novatian fled Rome during renewed persecution that began in late 251. Remaining true to his beliefs, he died a martyr during yet another round of persecutions some seven years later. Novatian’s church endured for about four centuries, until Muslim invaders swept westward and slaughtered those who refused to convert to Islam.
That the Hope of Pardon should not be denied to the lapsed.
Full text
http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2001-03/31-13/novatia.html
"..Lo, there appeared opposed to me another enemy, and the adversary of his own paternal affection--the heretic Novatian--who not only, as it is signified in the Gospel, passed by the prostrate wounded man, as did the priest or the Levite, but by an ingenious and novel cruelty rather would slay the wounded man, by taking away the hope of salvation, by denying the mercy of his Father, by rejecting the repentance of his brother. Marvellous, how bitter, how harsh how perverse are many things! But one more easily perceives the straw in another's eye than the beam in one's own."
Novatian
(c. 200–258)
It was the spring of 251, and the Roman bishop was dead—martyred by Romans in a new wave of persecution. But raiders from the north were temporarily diverting the empire’s attention, so Christians were breathing a sigh of relief. Two issues immediately confronted church leaders: (1) Who should they elect as the new bishop of Rome? (2) What should they do about “lapsed Christians,” those who renounced their faith during persecution?
Novatian was the leading churchman in Rome, a brilliant theologian, and the obvious choice for pope. But he wasn’t elected, perhaps because of his unpopular, hard-line position about the lapsed. He said they could never be readmitted to the church, and he invoked the words of Jesus: “Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, a major North African city, did not agree. He called Novatian “a foe to mercy, a destroyer of repentance.” The influential African bishop supported Cornelius, who was elected pope. Cornelius believed that the lapsed could be reinstated to the church by repenting and doing penance based on the seriousness of the offense. Christians who had offered sacrifices on Roman altars drew the stiffest penance.
Local supporters of Novatian rallied around their man and elected him pope. Cornelius promptly excommunicated him. Both men courted recognition of church leaders abroad. In the process, Novatian’s followers evolved into a separate church, with bishops and congregations throughout the empire.
Novatian fled Rome during renewed persecution that began in late 251. Remaining true to his beliefs, he died a martyr during yet another round of persecutions some seven years later. Novatian’s church endured for about four centuries, until Muslim invaders swept westward and slaughtered those who refused to convert to Islam.
Ecce Verbum
Difficulties of Private Interpretation by Father G. Bampfleld, B. A., Oxon, 1879 I was a young man when my enquiry into truth began. I wished to save my soul--to know the truth and do the right; I asked myself and others how I was to find the truth ; the…
St. Gregory of Nyssa
What is a Literal Reading?
The 4th century Father Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses is often identified as the classic expression of how the Fathers approached the Bible and theology—as a journey upwards in union with God.
Many Christians today are concerned that science is forcing us to accommodate our understanding of Scripture to its findings. The literal or historical reading, so it is thought, is the only proper way to read Scripture, including Genesis 1-3. But Gregory’s historia suggests the possibility that our contemporary understanding of a literal reading should not be our focus when we read the Bible.
He does not attempt to look behind the texts in order to reconstruct the “true” historical nature of Moses’ encounter with Pharaoh. It is not the events behind the text that are the subject of his “history,” it is the words of Scripture itself. Gregory simply did not ask what Moses’ life was really like. Historia was not a reconstructed life of Moses conceived as truth alongside and in competition with the text. It was a retelling of the scriptural narrative, designed to make the episodes depicted in Scripture more accessible to the reader as s/he journeyed upwards to God.In the story of the risen Christ joining two men on the walk to Emmaus, we are told that they were already discussing the Resurrection. Jesus, “beginning with Moses and with all the prophets…explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Lk 24: 27). This is an entry point into patristic biblical interpretation because Christ identifies himself as central in it. The key to the meaning of Scripture, for the Church Fathers, is not the external history of Israel. Rather, it is Christ, and since Scripture points to Christ, this is a literal reading.
The Old Testament narrates the history of God’s action, and because of Christ it can no longer be viewed as history apart from him.Rather, it comes to be seen for what it really is—a “shadow” waiting for fulfillment in Christ.
The history of Israel narrated in the OT does not stand on its own. The Fathers read it as being illumined by Christ; the key to a literal reading. This, in turn, allowed them to see the reading of Scripture as part of a larger process of spiritual transformation in Christ.
For many Christians today, history is the controlling element in biblical interpretation. The text is seen as referring to an accessible external history and this becomes the focus.This emphasis on the history of the text “negates 1,600 years of Christian exegetical history, and, more important…sets aside as irrelevant the work of the earliest interpreters of the Christian Bible.” But Gregory of Nyssa and the Church Fathers encourage us to shift our focus.
Full text
https://biologos.org/articles/what-is-a-literal-reading-lessons-from-gregory-of-nyssa-and-augustine
biography
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Gregory-of-Nyssa#ref110371
#scripture
What is a Literal Reading?
The 4th century Father Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses is often identified as the classic expression of how the Fathers approached the Bible and theology—as a journey upwards in union with God.
Many Christians today are concerned that science is forcing us to accommodate our understanding of Scripture to its findings. The literal or historical reading, so it is thought, is the only proper way to read Scripture, including Genesis 1-3. But Gregory’s historia suggests the possibility that our contemporary understanding of a literal reading should not be our focus when we read the Bible.
He does not attempt to look behind the texts in order to reconstruct the “true” historical nature of Moses’ encounter with Pharaoh. It is not the events behind the text that are the subject of his “history,” it is the words of Scripture itself. Gregory simply did not ask what Moses’ life was really like. Historia was not a reconstructed life of Moses conceived as truth alongside and in competition with the text. It was a retelling of the scriptural narrative, designed to make the episodes depicted in Scripture more accessible to the reader as s/he journeyed upwards to God.In the story of the risen Christ joining two men on the walk to Emmaus, we are told that they were already discussing the Resurrection. Jesus, “beginning with Moses and with all the prophets…explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Lk 24: 27). This is an entry point into patristic biblical interpretation because Christ identifies himself as central in it. The key to the meaning of Scripture, for the Church Fathers, is not the external history of Israel. Rather, it is Christ, and since Scripture points to Christ, this is a literal reading.
The Old Testament narrates the history of God’s action, and because of Christ it can no longer be viewed as history apart from him.Rather, it comes to be seen for what it really is—a “shadow” waiting for fulfillment in Christ.
The history of Israel narrated in the OT does not stand on its own. The Fathers read it as being illumined by Christ; the key to a literal reading. This, in turn, allowed them to see the reading of Scripture as part of a larger process of spiritual transformation in Christ.
For many Christians today, history is the controlling element in biblical interpretation. The text is seen as referring to an accessible external history and this becomes the focus.This emphasis on the history of the text “negates 1,600 years of Christian exegetical history, and, more important…sets aside as irrelevant the work of the earliest interpreters of the Christian Bible.” But Gregory of Nyssa and the Church Fathers encourage us to shift our focus.
Full text
https://biologos.org/articles/what-is-a-literal-reading-lessons-from-gregory-of-nyssa-and-augustine
biography
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Gregory-of-Nyssa#ref110371
#scripture
BioLogos
What is a Literal Reading?: Lessons from Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine - Article - BioLogos
A very helpful way of avoiding a myopic understanding of our own theories and conclusions is to examine how our forebears in the faith understood things.
Ecce Verbum
St. Gregory of Nyssa What is a Literal Reading? The 4th century Father Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses is often identified as the classic expression of how the Fathers approached the Bible and theology—as a journey upwards in union with God. Many Christians…
The Life of Moses - Gregory of Nyssa, St. & Malher_5414.pdf
1.5 MB
St. Gregory of Nyssa, 4th century
"The Life of Moses"
"Life of Moses is often identified as the classic expression of how the Fathers approached the Bible and theology—as a journey upwards in union with God.The book is composed in two parts: the historia, which is a paraphrase of the Exodus account, and the theoria, which moves on to the deeper, “spiritual” meaning. In the historia (the “literal” meaning) Gregory combines material from the Pentateuch and produces a narrative of Moses’ life which is cogent on its own terms.Historia was not a reconstructed life of Moses conceived as truth alongside and in competition with the text. It was a retelling of the scriptural narrative, designed to make the episodes depicted in Scripture more accessible to the reader as s/he journeyed upwards to God."
"Moses’ vision of God began with light; afterwards God spoke to him in a cloud. But when Moses rose higher and became more perfect, he saw God in the darkness."-excerpt
"The Life of Moses"
"Life of Moses is often identified as the classic expression of how the Fathers approached the Bible and theology—as a journey upwards in union with God.The book is composed in two parts: the historia, which is a paraphrase of the Exodus account, and the theoria, which moves on to the deeper, “spiritual” meaning. In the historia (the “literal” meaning) Gregory combines material from the Pentateuch and produces a narrative of Moses’ life which is cogent on its own terms.Historia was not a reconstructed life of Moses conceived as truth alongside and in competition with the text. It was a retelling of the scriptural narrative, designed to make the episodes depicted in Scripture more accessible to the reader as s/he journeyed upwards to God."
"Moses’ vision of God began with light; afterwards God spoke to him in a cloud. But when Moses rose higher and became more perfect, he saw God in the darkness."-excerpt
Ecce Verbum
The Life of Moses - Gregory of Nyssa, St. & Malher_5414.pdf
•"For truly barren is profane education, which is always in labor but never gives birth. For what fruit worthy of such pangs does philosophy show for being so long in labor? Do not all who are full of wind and never come to term miscarry before they come to the light of the knowledge of God, although they could as well become men if they were not altogether hidden in the womb of barren wisdom?"
•"In the same manner as the sea, those who are swept away from the course leading to the harbor correct their aim by a clear mark, looking for a lighthouse on high, or a certain mountain appearing. In the same manner Scripture by the example of Abraham and Sarah will direct us once more to the safe harbor of the divine will for those who have drifted out in the sea of life with a mind lacking a navigator."
St. Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses
#education
•"In the same manner as the sea, those who are swept away from the course leading to the harbor correct their aim by a clear mark, looking for a lighthouse on high, or a certain mountain appearing. In the same manner Scripture by the example of Abraham and Sarah will direct us once more to the safe harbor of the divine will for those who have drifted out in the sea of life with a mind lacking a navigator."
St. Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses
#education
Ecce Verbum
Prudence of Saint Vincent Christian prudence consists in making use of the means we have in hand to attain ever-lasting happiness. Saint Vincent said that prudence must always tend to one sole end, which is God. It selects means, regulates actions and words…
The Virtue of Prudence
We have now come to the greatest and noblest of the faculties, the understanding, which raises man above all visible creatures, and in which he most resembles his Creator.
The beauty of this power depends upon that rare virtue, prudence, which excels all others. In the spiritual life prudence is to the soul what the eyes are to the body, what a pilot is to a vessel, what a head is to a commonwealth.
For this reason the great St. Anthony, in a conference with several holy monks on the excellence of the virtues, gave the first place to prudence, which guides and controls all the others.
Let him, therefore, who desires to practice the other virtues with profit earnestly endeavor to be guided by prudence in all things. Not limited to any special duty, it enters into the fulfillment of all duties, into the practice of all virtues, and preserves order and harmony among them. Having the foundation of faith and charity, it first belongs to prudence to direct all our actions to God, who is our last end.
As self-love, according to a holy writer, seeks self in all things, even the holiest, prudence is ever ready to examine what are the motives of our actions, whether we have God or self as the end of what we do.
Prudence also guides us in our intercourse with our neighbor, that we may afford him edification and not give him scandal. To this end it teaches us to observe the condition and character of those about us, that we may more wisely benefit them, patiently bearing with their failings and closing our eyes to infirmities which we cannot cure.
"A wise man," says Aristotle, "should not expect the same degree of certainty in all things, for some are more susceptible of proof than others. Nor should he expect the same degree of perfection in all creatures, for some are capable of a perfection which is impossible in others. Whoever, therefore, would force all lives to the same standard of virtue would do more harm than good."
Prudence also teaches us to know ourselves, our inclinations, our failings, and our evil tendencies, that we may not presume upon our strength, but recognizing our enemies, perseveringly combat them.
It is this virtue also which enables us wisely to govern the tongue by the rules which we have already given, teaching us when to be silent and when to speak. Prudence likewise guards us against the error of opening our minds to all whom we may meet, or of making confidants of others without due reflection. By putting a just restraint upon our words, it saves us from too freely expressing our opinion and thereby committing many faults.
Thus we are kept constantly reminded of the words of Solomon: "A fool uttereth all his mind; a wise man deferreth and keepeth it till afterwards." (Prov. 29:11).
Prudence also forearms us against dangers, and strengthens us by prayer and meditation to meet all the accidents of life. This is the advice of the sacred writer: "Before sickness take a medicine." (Ecclus. 18:20).
Whenever, therefore, you expect to participate in entertainments, or to transact business with men who are easily angered, or to encounter any danger, endeavor to foresee the perils of the occasion and arm yourself against them.
Prudence guides us in the treatment of our bodies, causing us to observe a just medium between excessive rigor and immoderate indulgence, so that we may neither unduly weaken the flesh nor so strengthen it that it will rule the spirit.
It is also the duty of prudence to introduce moderation into all our works, even the holiest, and to preserve us from exhausting the spirit by indiscreet labor.
We read in the rules of St. Francis that the spirit must rule our occupations, not he ruled by them. Our exterior labors should never cause us to lose sight of interior duties, nor should devotion to our neighbor make us forget what we owe to God.
We have now come to the greatest and noblest of the faculties, the understanding, which raises man above all visible creatures, and in which he most resembles his Creator.
The beauty of this power depends upon that rare virtue, prudence, which excels all others. In the spiritual life prudence is to the soul what the eyes are to the body, what a pilot is to a vessel, what a head is to a commonwealth.
For this reason the great St. Anthony, in a conference with several holy monks on the excellence of the virtues, gave the first place to prudence, which guides and controls all the others.
Let him, therefore, who desires to practice the other virtues with profit earnestly endeavor to be guided by prudence in all things. Not limited to any special duty, it enters into the fulfillment of all duties, into the practice of all virtues, and preserves order and harmony among them. Having the foundation of faith and charity, it first belongs to prudence to direct all our actions to God, who is our last end.
As self-love, according to a holy writer, seeks self in all things, even the holiest, prudence is ever ready to examine what are the motives of our actions, whether we have God or self as the end of what we do.
Prudence also guides us in our intercourse with our neighbor, that we may afford him edification and not give him scandal. To this end it teaches us to observe the condition and character of those about us, that we may more wisely benefit them, patiently bearing with their failings and closing our eyes to infirmities which we cannot cure.
"A wise man," says Aristotle, "should not expect the same degree of certainty in all things, for some are more susceptible of proof than others. Nor should he expect the same degree of perfection in all creatures, for some are capable of a perfection which is impossible in others. Whoever, therefore, would force all lives to the same standard of virtue would do more harm than good."
Prudence also teaches us to know ourselves, our inclinations, our failings, and our evil tendencies, that we may not presume upon our strength, but recognizing our enemies, perseveringly combat them.
It is this virtue also which enables us wisely to govern the tongue by the rules which we have already given, teaching us when to be silent and when to speak. Prudence likewise guards us against the error of opening our minds to all whom we may meet, or of making confidants of others without due reflection. By putting a just restraint upon our words, it saves us from too freely expressing our opinion and thereby committing many faults.
Thus we are kept constantly reminded of the words of Solomon: "A fool uttereth all his mind; a wise man deferreth and keepeth it till afterwards." (Prov. 29:11).
Prudence also forearms us against dangers, and strengthens us by prayer and meditation to meet all the accidents of life. This is the advice of the sacred writer: "Before sickness take a medicine." (Ecclus. 18:20).
Whenever, therefore, you expect to participate in entertainments, or to transact business with men who are easily angered, or to encounter any danger, endeavor to foresee the perils of the occasion and arm yourself against them.
Prudence guides us in the treatment of our bodies, causing us to observe a just medium between excessive rigor and immoderate indulgence, so that we may neither unduly weaken the flesh nor so strengthen it that it will rule the spirit.
It is also the duty of prudence to introduce moderation into all our works, even the holiest, and to preserve us from exhausting the spirit by indiscreet labor.
We read in the rules of St. Francis that the spirit must rule our occupations, not he ruled by them. Our exterior labors should never cause us to lose sight of interior duties, nor should devotion to our neighbor make us forget what we owe to God.
Ecce Verbum
The Virtue of Prudence We have now come to the greatest and noblest of the faculties, the understanding, which raises man above all visible creatures, and in which he most resembles his Creator. The beauty of this power depends upon that rare virtue, prudence…
If the Apostles, who possessed such abundant grace, deemed it expedient to renounce the care of temporal things in order to devote themselves to the great work of preaching and other spiritual functions (Cf. Acts 6:2-4), it is presumption in us to suppose that we have strength and virtue capable of undertaking many arduous labors at one time.
Finally, prudence enlightens us concerning the snares of the enemy, counseling us, in the words of the Apostles, "to try spirits if they be of God," "for Satan transformeth himself into an angel of light." (1 Jn. 4:1 and 2 Cor. 11:14). There is no temptation more to be feared than one which presents itself under the mask of virtue, and there is none which the devil more frequently employs to deceive pious souls. Inspired and guided by prudence, we shall recognize these snares; we shall be restrained by a salutary fear from going where there is danger, but animated by a holy courage tc conquer in every struggle; we shall avoid extremes; we shall endeavor to prevent our neighbor from suffering scandal, but yet we shall not be daunted by every groundless fear; we shall learn to despise the opinions of the world, and not to fear its outcries against virtue, remembering, with the Apostle, that if we please men we cannot be the servants of Jesus Christ. (Cf. Gal. 1:10).
Venerable Louis of Granada, The Sinner's Guide
#prudence
Finally, prudence enlightens us concerning the snares of the enemy, counseling us, in the words of the Apostles, "to try spirits if they be of God," "for Satan transformeth himself into an angel of light." (1 Jn. 4:1 and 2 Cor. 11:14). There is no temptation more to be feared than one which presents itself under the mask of virtue, and there is none which the devil more frequently employs to deceive pious souls. Inspired and guided by prudence, we shall recognize these snares; we shall be restrained by a salutary fear from going where there is danger, but animated by a holy courage tc conquer in every struggle; we shall avoid extremes; we shall endeavor to prevent our neighbor from suffering scandal, but yet we shall not be daunted by every groundless fear; we shall learn to despise the opinions of the world, and not to fear its outcries against virtue, remembering, with the Apostle, that if we please men we cannot be the servants of Jesus Christ. (Cf. Gal. 1:10).
Venerable Louis of Granada, The Sinner's Guide
#prudence
"The three most ancient opinions concerning God are Anarchia, Polyarchia, and Monarchia. The first two are the sport of the children of Hellas, and may they continue to be so. For Anarchy is a thing without order; and the Rule of Many is factious, and thus anarchical, and thus disorderly. For both these tend to the same thing, namely disorder; and this to dissolution, for disorder is the first step to dissolution. But Monarchy is what we hold in honor."
St. Gregory of Nyssa
St. Gregory of Nyssa
Ecce Verbum
Continuity of the Church "Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." St. Ignatius of Antioch, 107 A.D. "For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church (Rome), on account of its preeminent authority -that is…
On the importance of Tradition
"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth, or by letter from us."
St. Paul the Apostle, Thessalonians 2:15
"And we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the tradition which they have received of us."
Thessalonians 3:6
"Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you."
1 Corinthians 11:2
"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."
John 21:25
"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one's own private interpretation."
2 Peter 1:20
"I appeal to you brethrens, in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought."
1 Cor, 1:10
#tradition
"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth, or by letter from us."
St. Paul the Apostle, Thessalonians 2:15
"And we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the tradition which they have received of us."
Thessalonians 3:6
"Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you."
1 Corinthians 11:2
"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."
John 21:25
"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one's own private interpretation."
2 Peter 1:20
"I appeal to you brethrens, in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought."
1 Cor, 1:10
#tradition
Ecce Verbum
On the importance of Tradition "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth, or by letter from us." St. Paul the Apostle, Thessalonians 2:15 "And we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord…
Tradition, the Unwritten Word of God
by Fr. Joseph Faa di Bruno
•Besides the written Word of God, Catholics believe also in the unwritten Word, called in Holy Scripture The Word of God spoken (Acts i v. 31). The Word of Faith preached (Romans x. 8). The Gospel heard and preached (Colossians i. 23).
* [The Word of God received, heard, believed (1 Thessalonians ii. 13). The Word of Christ heard (Romans x. 17)]
•Whenever in the New Testament the Word of God revealed by Christ or through His apostles is spoken of before it was committed to writing, it always refers to the unwritten Word of God.
Even after the Word of God was in part committed to writing, some passages evidently refer to the Word of God unwritten;
* [as for instance, where St. Peter says: "But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which hath been preached unto you." (1 Ep. i. 25.)]
Therefore, whenever the Word of God, without any qualification, is mentioned in Holy Scripture, it should not be taken as referring exclusively to the written Word, for it generally refers both to the written and unwritten Word of God.
• By Tradition we do not mean a mere report, a hearsay, wanting sufficient evidence to deserve belief; or a local tradition started by men, and therefore merely human, as were those traditions of the Pharisees condemned by our Lord;
but we mean a Tradition first coming from God, continually taught, recorded, and in all desirable ways kept alive by a body of trustworthy men successively chosen in a divine or divinely appointed manner, well instructed, and who are as a body protected by God from teaching what is wrong or handing down unfaithfully to others the doctrine committed to them.
* [St. Paul gives us an idea of how this Tradition should be handed down when he says: "For I Delivered unto you first of all, which I also received." (1 Corinth, xv. 3.)]
* [And again, when writing to Timothy, he says: "The things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also." (2 Timothy ii. 2.)]
•Holy Scripture and the Tradition just described are Both The Word Of God: the first written out by persons inspired by God; the other, taught by His own divine lips, or inspired by the Holy Spirit in the mind of one man or body of men, to be continually handed down successively under His divine protection to their legitimate successors; neither therefore of these Divine Words can be rejected without the guilt of unbelief.
* [St. Ephrem says: "Be firmly persuaded of this, not as an opinion, but as a truth, that whatsoever has been transmitted, whether in writing only or by word of mouth, is directed to this end, that we may have life, and may have it more abundantly." (Vol. iii., Serm. lix.)]
* [St. Basil says: "Of the dogmas and teachings preserved in the Church, we have some from the doctrine committed to writing, and some we have received transmitted to us in a secret manner from the Traditions of the Apostles; both these have the same force in forming sound doctrine, and no one who has the least experience of ecclesiastical laws will gainsay either of these. For should we attempt to reject, as not having great authority, those customs that are unwritten, we should be betrayed into injuring the gospel even in primary matters, or rather in circumscribing the gospel to a mere man." (Vol. iii., De Spiritu Sanct. cxxvii.]
🔗p.2
🔗p.3
🔗p.4
🔗conclusions
#tradition
by Fr. Joseph Faa di Bruno
•Besides the written Word of God, Catholics believe also in the unwritten Word, called in Holy Scripture The Word of God spoken (Acts i v. 31). The Word of Faith preached (Romans x. 8). The Gospel heard and preached (Colossians i. 23).
* [The Word of God received, heard, believed (1 Thessalonians ii. 13). The Word of Christ heard (Romans x. 17)]
•Whenever in the New Testament the Word of God revealed by Christ or through His apostles is spoken of before it was committed to writing, it always refers to the unwritten Word of God.
Even after the Word of God was in part committed to writing, some passages evidently refer to the Word of God unwritten;
* [as for instance, where St. Peter says: "But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which hath been preached unto you." (1 Ep. i. 25.)]
Therefore, whenever the Word of God, without any qualification, is mentioned in Holy Scripture, it should not be taken as referring exclusively to the written Word, for it generally refers both to the written and unwritten Word of God.
• By Tradition we do not mean a mere report, a hearsay, wanting sufficient evidence to deserve belief; or a local tradition started by men, and therefore merely human, as were those traditions of the Pharisees condemned by our Lord;
but we mean a Tradition first coming from God, continually taught, recorded, and in all desirable ways kept alive by a body of trustworthy men successively chosen in a divine or divinely appointed manner, well instructed, and who are as a body protected by God from teaching what is wrong or handing down unfaithfully to others the doctrine committed to them.
* [St. Paul gives us an idea of how this Tradition should be handed down when he says: "For I Delivered unto you first of all, which I also received." (1 Corinth, xv. 3.)]
* [And again, when writing to Timothy, he says: "The things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also." (2 Timothy ii. 2.)]
•Holy Scripture and the Tradition just described are Both The Word Of God: the first written out by persons inspired by God; the other, taught by His own divine lips, or inspired by the Holy Spirit in the mind of one man or body of men, to be continually handed down successively under His divine protection to their legitimate successors; neither therefore of these Divine Words can be rejected without the guilt of unbelief.
* [St. Ephrem says: "Be firmly persuaded of this, not as an opinion, but as a truth, that whatsoever has been transmitted, whether in writing only or by word of mouth, is directed to this end, that we may have life, and may have it more abundantly." (Vol. iii., Serm. lix.)]
* [St. Basil says: "Of the dogmas and teachings preserved in the Church, we have some from the doctrine committed to writing, and some we have received transmitted to us in a secret manner from the Traditions of the Apostles; both these have the same force in forming sound doctrine, and no one who has the least experience of ecclesiastical laws will gainsay either of these. For should we attempt to reject, as not having great authority, those customs that are unwritten, we should be betrayed into injuring the gospel even in primary matters, or rather in circumscribing the gospel to a mere man." (Vol. iii., De Spiritu Sanct. cxxvii.]
🔗p.2
🔗p.3
🔗p.4
🔗conclusions
#tradition
Ecce Verbum
Church History of Eusebius.pdf
627425.pdf
3 MB
The Earliest History of the
Christian Gathering
Origin, Development and Content of the Christian Gathering in the First to Third Centuries
Valeriy A. Alikin
The periodical gathering of the Christian Church has a long and complex history. This present study endeavours to give reconstruction of the earliest stages of this history. As a social and religious phenomenon, the early Christian gathering did not arise in a cultural vacuum. The Graeco-Roman world was saturated with cults and religious groups, movements, traditions, all with their own meetings and ceremonies. This vibrant and variegated religious environment was the context in which the early Christian gathering took shape. Any attempt to trace the history of the early Christian meeting has to take this historical setting into account.
Christian Gathering
Origin, Development and Content of the Christian Gathering in the First to Third Centuries
Valeriy A. Alikin
The periodical gathering of the Christian Church has a long and complex history. This present study endeavours to give reconstruction of the earliest stages of this history. As a social and religious phenomenon, the early Christian gathering did not arise in a cultural vacuum. The Graeco-Roman world was saturated with cults and religious groups, movements, traditions, all with their own meetings and ceremonies. This vibrant and variegated religious environment was the context in which the early Christian gathering took shape. Any attempt to trace the history of the early Christian meeting has to take this historical setting into account.