Ecce Verbum
The Social Kingship of Christ The supernatural order is necessary "Naturalism is consequently what is most opposed to Christianity." Cardinal Pie defined naturalism as "the doctrine which disregards Revelation and claims that the mere forces of reason and…
The Social Kingship of Christ
The social reign of Christ implies the public profession of faith.
"You shall pray thus, said Jesus. Sic ergo vos orabitis. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Cardinal Pie, taking up the Pater, proves that the first three petitions are summed up and condensed in one, that of the public social reign, for, he explains, the name of God cannot be hallowed fully and totally if it is not publicly acknowledged ; the divine will is not done on earth as it is in heaven if it is not accomplished publicly and socially". (…)
"Bad politics is nothing else than bad philosophy making its principles into maxims of public right".
Cardinal Pie, Pastoral Works, vol. II, p. 437
How many examples could be quoted to illustrate the oppositions against the reign of the Gospel, in all parts of the world, from the bloody persecutions of Nero down to the undertakings of modern freemasonry ! Cardinal Pie explained this in a masterly fashion with the help of a formula of St Augustine :
"The first verses of this psalm, St Augustine brings down to this thought : Demus operam ut nos non alliget neque nobis imponatur christiana religio : "Let us set down to work so that Christ may not bind us and that the Christian religion may not be imposed upon us." Demus operam : […] that was the effort of Herod, of Pilate, of Caïphas, of the prince of the priests, of the Sanhedrin, of the Pharisees, of the Jews and of the Gentiles. […] Demus operam : that was the effort of paganism during three centuries. From Nero to Maxentius, all indeed was tremors of the peoples, clamors of the society. Demus operam: that was the effort of the human mind of all times ; and if, after having gone through all the ages of history, we listen to the war cries of present time, if we wonder why the modern tremors of the nations, and the unrest of the people : Demus operam, it will be answered to us, ut nos non alliget neque nobis imponatur christiana religio.
Listen to the politics beyond the Channel or beyond the Alps, listen to those of the North and of the South, divided by a thousand interests, by a thousand antipathies, by a thousand national prejudices. Passion puts them in agreement against God and his Christ, against the Church of God, against the Vicar of Christ. Hostility against Christ works alliances which would have been impossible without it, it stays the jealousies and the most deeply rooted national hatred. They were fighting one another yesterday, today they are embracing one another.
Whenever the scepter of Christ is at stake, they will play the game together : Et ex illa die facti sunt amici Herodes et Pilatus. What David had prophesized, history indeed has justified it and justifies it every day: the same permanent opposition, fierce opposition, opposition flaring up even more after a period of respite : Dirumpamus vincula eorum, et projiciamus a nobis jugum ipsorum.
Cardinal Pie, Works of the Bishop of Poitiers, Paris/Poitiers, Oudin, 1984, t. X, p. 425-426.
"We want social cure without the social profession of faith, would note Cardinal Pie. Now, at this price, Jesus Christ, almighty though He is, can not work our deliverance ; though He is all merciful, he cannot exercise His mercy."
That He may reign, Jean Ousset, p. 57
The social reign of Christ implies the public profession of faith.
"You shall pray thus, said Jesus. Sic ergo vos orabitis. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Cardinal Pie, taking up the Pater, proves that the first three petitions are summed up and condensed in one, that of the public social reign, for, he explains, the name of God cannot be hallowed fully and totally if it is not publicly acknowledged ; the divine will is not done on earth as it is in heaven if it is not accomplished publicly and socially". (…)
"Bad politics is nothing else than bad philosophy making its principles into maxims of public right".
Cardinal Pie, Pastoral Works, vol. II, p. 437
How many examples could be quoted to illustrate the oppositions against the reign of the Gospel, in all parts of the world, from the bloody persecutions of Nero down to the undertakings of modern freemasonry ! Cardinal Pie explained this in a masterly fashion with the help of a formula of St Augustine :
"The first verses of this psalm, St Augustine brings down to this thought : Demus operam ut nos non alliget neque nobis imponatur christiana religio : "Let us set down to work so that Christ may not bind us and that the Christian religion may not be imposed upon us." Demus operam : […] that was the effort of Herod, of Pilate, of Caïphas, of the prince of the priests, of the Sanhedrin, of the Pharisees, of the Jews and of the Gentiles. […] Demus operam : that was the effort of paganism during three centuries. From Nero to Maxentius, all indeed was tremors of the peoples, clamors of the society. Demus operam: that was the effort of the human mind of all times ; and if, after having gone through all the ages of history, we listen to the war cries of present time, if we wonder why the modern tremors of the nations, and the unrest of the people : Demus operam, it will be answered to us, ut nos non alliget neque nobis imponatur christiana religio.
Listen to the politics beyond the Channel or beyond the Alps, listen to those of the North and of the South, divided by a thousand interests, by a thousand antipathies, by a thousand national prejudices. Passion puts them in agreement against God and his Christ, against the Church of God, against the Vicar of Christ. Hostility against Christ works alliances which would have been impossible without it, it stays the jealousies and the most deeply rooted national hatred. They were fighting one another yesterday, today they are embracing one another.
Whenever the scepter of Christ is at stake, they will play the game together : Et ex illa die facti sunt amici Herodes et Pilatus. What David had prophesized, history indeed has justified it and justifies it every day: the same permanent opposition, fierce opposition, opposition flaring up even more after a period of respite : Dirumpamus vincula eorum, et projiciamus a nobis jugum ipsorum.
Cardinal Pie, Works of the Bishop of Poitiers, Paris/Poitiers, Oudin, 1984, t. X, p. 425-426.
"We want social cure without the social profession of faith, would note Cardinal Pie. Now, at this price, Jesus Christ, almighty though He is, can not work our deliverance ; though He is all merciful, he cannot exercise His mercy."
That He may reign, Jean Ousset, p. 57
Ecce Verbum
The Social Kingship of Christ The social reign of Christ implies the public profession of faith. "You shall pray thus, said Jesus. Sic ergo vos orabitis. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as…
The Social Kingship of Christ
We must uphold the principles, cost what may.
"The greatest misery, for a century or for a country, is to abandon or to diminish the truth. We can get over everything else ; we never get over the sacrifice of principles. Characters may give in at given times and public morality receive some breach from vice or bad examples, but nothing is lost as long as the true doctrines remain standing in their integrity. With them everything is remade sooner or later, men and institutions, because we are always able to come back to the good when we have not left truth. To give up the principles, outside which nothing can be built that is strong and lasting would take away even the very hope of salvation. So the greatest service a man can render to his kinsmen, in the times when everything is failing and growing dim, is to assert the truth without fear even though no one listens to him ; because it is a furrow of light which he opens through the intellects, and if his voice cannot manage to dominate the noises of the time, at least it will be received as the messenger of salvation in the future."
Bishop Freppel, bishop of Angers, quoted in Action by Jean Ousset, p. 213
"The imperative duty and the noble custom of holy Church is to pay homage especially to the truth when it is ignored, to profess it when it is threatened. There is a mediocre merit to claim to be its apostle and its supporter when all acknowledge and adhere to it. To make so much of the human state of the truth and to love it so little for itself that we deny it as soon as it is no longer popular, as soon as it does not have number, authority, preponderance, success : would that not be a new way of doing our duty, and of understanding honor ? Let it be known : the good remains good, and must continue to be called as such, even when "nobody does it" (Ps. XIII, 3). Furthermore, a small number of persons putting forth claims is sufficient to save the integrity of the doctrines. And the integrity of the doctrine is the only chance for the restoration of order in the world.
Cardinal Pie, Works, vol. V, p. 203
more:
Cardinal Pie and the Social Kingship of Christ
We must uphold the principles, cost what may.
"The greatest misery, for a century or for a country, is to abandon or to diminish the truth. We can get over everything else ; we never get over the sacrifice of principles. Characters may give in at given times and public morality receive some breach from vice or bad examples, but nothing is lost as long as the true doctrines remain standing in their integrity. With them everything is remade sooner or later, men and institutions, because we are always able to come back to the good when we have not left truth. To give up the principles, outside which nothing can be built that is strong and lasting would take away even the very hope of salvation. So the greatest service a man can render to his kinsmen, in the times when everything is failing and growing dim, is to assert the truth without fear even though no one listens to him ; because it is a furrow of light which he opens through the intellects, and if his voice cannot manage to dominate the noises of the time, at least it will be received as the messenger of salvation in the future."
Bishop Freppel, bishop of Angers, quoted in Action by Jean Ousset, p. 213
"The imperative duty and the noble custom of holy Church is to pay homage especially to the truth when it is ignored, to profess it when it is threatened. There is a mediocre merit to claim to be its apostle and its supporter when all acknowledge and adhere to it. To make so much of the human state of the truth and to love it so little for itself that we deny it as soon as it is no longer popular, as soon as it does not have number, authority, preponderance, success : would that not be a new way of doing our duty, and of understanding honor ? Let it be known : the good remains good, and must continue to be called as such, even when "nobody does it" (Ps. XIII, 3). Furthermore, a small number of persons putting forth claims is sufficient to save the integrity of the doctrines. And the integrity of the doctrine is the only chance for the restoration of order in the world.
Cardinal Pie, Works, vol. V, p. 203
more:
Cardinal Pie and the Social Kingship of Christ
Crisis Magazine
Cardinal Pie and the Social Kingship of Christ
Near the close of the year 1925, Pope Pius XI issued his encyclical Quas Primas, introducing the Feast of Christ the King. By the celebration of this feast, it was thought that the teaching on Christ’…
A_Short_Course_in_Intellectual_Self_Defense_Normand_Baillargeon.pdf
3.9 MB
"A Short Course in Intellectual Self-Defense"
Normand Baillargeon
In A Short Course in Intellectual Self-Defense, historian and educator Normand Baillargeon provides readers with the tools to see through the spin and jargon of everyday politics and news reporting in order to decide for themselves what is at stake and how to ask the necessary questions to protect themselves from the manipulations of the government and the media. Whether the issue be the call to what we’re told will be a bloodless war, the "debate" around Intelligent Design, or the meaning of a military expenditure, Baillargeon teaches readers to evaluate information and sort fact from official and media spin.
Normand Baillargeon
In A Short Course in Intellectual Self-Defense, historian and educator Normand Baillargeon provides readers with the tools to see through the spin and jargon of everyday politics and news reporting in order to decide for themselves what is at stake and how to ask the necessary questions to protect themselves from the manipulations of the government and the media. Whether the issue be the call to what we’re told will be a bloodless war, the "debate" around Intelligent Design, or the meaning of a military expenditure, Baillargeon teaches readers to evaluate information and sort fact from official and media spin.
Ecce Verbum
A_Short_Course_in_Intellectual_Self_Defense_Normand_Baillargeon.pdf
False Dilemma
-If we don’t reduce public spending, our economy will collapse.
-Are you pro Russia or pro Ukraine?
-If it wasn't for fascism, socialism would have won.
In a real dilemma, we are faced with only two choices that are offered to us. There are 2 doors and we must pick one to go through. The false dilemma arises when we allow ourselves to be convinced that we have to choose between only two mutually-exclusive alternatives when it turns out there are other options. Usually, this strategy is employed making one of the choices unacceptable and repulsive and the other one is on the manipulator wants us to choose.
Our tendency is to seek simple analyses and descriptions instead of complex and nuanced ones. It is easier to think that you have to choose between the dark side and the light side than to consider a nuanced position.
Essentially, a false dilemma presents a “black and white” kind of thinking when there are actually many shades of gray.
[1] [2] [3]
-If we don’t reduce public spending, our economy will collapse.
-Are you pro Russia or pro Ukraine?
-If it wasn't for fascism, socialism would have won.
In a real dilemma, we are faced with only two choices that are offered to us. There are 2 doors and we must pick one to go through. The false dilemma arises when we allow ourselves to be convinced that we have to choose between only two mutually-exclusive alternatives when it turns out there are other options. Usually, this strategy is employed making one of the choices unacceptable and repulsive and the other one is on the manipulator wants us to choose.
Our tendency is to seek simple analyses and descriptions instead of complex and nuanced ones. It is easier to think that you have to choose between the dark side and the light side than to consider a nuanced position.
Essentially, a false dilemma presents a “black and white” kind of thinking when there are actually many shades of gray.
[1] [2] [3]
Ecce Verbum
Early Church Fathers - Works in English Translation unavailable elsewhere online "These English translations are all out of copyright, but were not included in the 38 volume collection of Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. Please take copies and…
A_Dictionary_of_Early_Christian_Beliefs_A_Reference_Guide_to_More.pdf
5.7 MB
A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs
A reference guide to more than 700 topics discussed by the Early Church Fathers
Users of this dictionary should first grasp the ethos of early Christianity. That ethos
can be summarized in two basic principles: (1) the earliest Christians focused on living in
the light of the Christian message and explaining that message to nonbelievers rather than on sharpening their theological prowess; and (2) early Christian doctrine is less elaborate and less defined than later formulations.To say that the early Christians focused on living the gospel rather than on theological hair-splitting does not mean that individuals taught whatever they wanted. There were recognized boundaries that prevented such a laissez-faire attitude. Nonetheless, to the early Christians, the heart of their faith consisted of an obedient love relationship with Christ, not the ability to articulate dogma.
A reference guide to more than 700 topics discussed by the Early Church Fathers
Users of this dictionary should first grasp the ethos of early Christianity. That ethos
can be summarized in two basic principles: (1) the earliest Christians focused on living in
the light of the Christian message and explaining that message to nonbelievers rather than on sharpening their theological prowess; and (2) early Christian doctrine is less elaborate and less defined than later formulations.To say that the early Christians focused on living the gospel rather than on theological hair-splitting does not mean that individuals taught whatever they wanted. There were recognized boundaries that prevented such a laissez-faire attitude. Nonetheless, to the early Christians, the heart of their faith consisted of an obedient love relationship with Christ, not the ability to articulate dogma.
Ecce Verbum
The Excellence of a free mind gained through prayer rather than by study It is the mark of a perfect man, Lord, never to let his mind relax in attention to heavenly things, and to pass through many cares as though he had none; not as an indolent man does…
Prudence in Action
Do not yield to every impulse and suggestion but consider things carefully and patiently in the light of God’s will. For very often, sad to say, we are so weak that we believe and speak evil of others rather than good. Perfect men, however, do not readily believe every talebearer, because they know that human frailty is prone to evil and is likely to appear in speech.
Not to act rashly or to cling obstinately to one’s opinion, not to believe everything people say or to spread abroad the gossip one has heard, is great wisdom.
Take counsel with a wise and conscientious man. Seek the advice of your betters in preference to following your own inclinations.
A good life makes a man wise according to God and gives him experience in many things, for the more humble he is and the more subject to God, the wiser and the more at peace he will be in all things.
Thomas à Kempis,The Imitation of Christ, Book 1 Chapter 4
Do not yield to every impulse and suggestion but consider things carefully and patiently in the light of God’s will. For very often, sad to say, we are so weak that we believe and speak evil of others rather than good. Perfect men, however, do not readily believe every talebearer, because they know that human frailty is prone to evil and is likely to appear in speech.
Not to act rashly or to cling obstinately to one’s opinion, not to believe everything people say or to spread abroad the gossip one has heard, is great wisdom.
Take counsel with a wise and conscientious man. Seek the advice of your betters in preference to following your own inclinations.
A good life makes a man wise according to God and gives him experience in many things, for the more humble he is and the more subject to God, the wiser and the more at peace he will be in all things.
Thomas à Kempis,The Imitation of Christ, Book 1 Chapter 4
Ecce Verbum
Bellum Iustum St Augustine believed that the only just reason to go to war was the desire for peace: "We do not seek peace in order to be at war, but we go to war that we may have peace. Be peaceful, therefore, in warring, so that you may vanquish those…
Justice/Violence
On whether it is licit for a person to kill another while defending himself.
Saint Thomas Aquinas says that personal self- defense, in which the agent’s intention is not to kill but to preserve his life, can be licit, although some acts of personal self-defense are illicit, as when the agent uses more violence than is appropriate to that same end.
"Wherefore if a man, in self-defense, uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repel force with moderation his defense will be lawful, because according to the jurists [Cap. Significasti, De Homicid. volunt. vel casual.], “it is lawful to repel force by force, provided one does not exceed the limits of a blameless defense.” Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense in order to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one’s own life than of another’s."
Summa Theologiae 2-2.64.7
ST 2-2.64.7
[1]
#aquinas #justice #ethics
On whether it is licit for a person to kill another while defending himself.
Saint Thomas Aquinas says that personal self- defense, in which the agent’s intention is not to kill but to preserve his life, can be licit, although some acts of personal self-defense are illicit, as when the agent uses more violence than is appropriate to that same end.
"Wherefore if a man, in self-defense, uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repel force with moderation his defense will be lawful, because according to the jurists [Cap. Significasti, De Homicid. volunt. vel casual.], “it is lawful to repel force by force, provided one does not exceed the limits of a blameless defense.” Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense in order to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one’s own life than of another’s."
Summa Theologiae 2-2.64.7
ST 2-2.64.7
[1]
#aquinas #justice #ethics
Ecce Verbum
Saint Thomas Aquinas On the Trinity CHAPTER 4 WHAT THE DOCTRINE OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH IS CONCERNING THE TRINITY 7. All those Catholic expounders of the divine Scriptures, both Old and New, whom I have been able to read, who have written before me concerning…
St. Bonaventure on the Trinity
“…The first, natural philosophy, is divided into metaphysics, mathematics, and physics. Metaphysics deals with the essence of things; mathematics, with numbers and figures; and physics, with natures, powers, and diffusive operations. Thus the first leads to the first Principle, the Father; the second, to His Image, the Son; and the third, to the gift of the Holy Spirit. The second, rational philosophy, is divided into grammar, which makes men capable of expressing themselves; logic, which makes them keen in argumentation; and rhetoric, which makes them apt to persuade or move others.The likewise suggest the mystery of the most Blessed Trinity.The third, moral philosophy, is divided into individual, familial, and political.The first of these suggests the unbigoted nature of the First Principle; the second, the familial relationship of the Son; and the third, the generosity of the Holy Spirit.”
The Journey of the Mind to God, III 6 pg. 22
[1], [2], [3]
“…The first, natural philosophy, is divided into metaphysics, mathematics, and physics. Metaphysics deals with the essence of things; mathematics, with numbers and figures; and physics, with natures, powers, and diffusive operations. Thus the first leads to the first Principle, the Father; the second, to His Image, the Son; and the third, to the gift of the Holy Spirit. The second, rational philosophy, is divided into grammar, which makes men capable of expressing themselves; logic, which makes them keen in argumentation; and rhetoric, which makes them apt to persuade or move others.The likewise suggest the mystery of the most Blessed Trinity.The third, moral philosophy, is divided into individual, familial, and political.The first of these suggests the unbigoted nature of the First Principle; the second, the familial relationship of the Son; and the third, the generosity of the Holy Spirit.”
The Journey of the Mind to God, III 6 pg. 22
[1], [2], [3]
Ecce Verbum
St. Bonaventure on the Trinity “…The first, natural philosophy, is divided into metaphysics, mathematics, and physics. Metaphysics deals with the essence of things; mathematics, with numbers and figures; and physics, with natures, powers, and diffusive operations.…
Bonaventure Journey of the Mind Into God.pdf
90 KB
The Journey of the Mind to God by St. Bonaventure
Born in Italy, Saint Bonaventure was one of the greatest Christian mystics. As a child he was taken to St. Francis of Assisi for prayers to cure him of a dangerous illness. He studied and then lectured at the University of Paris for seven years (1248–1255). In 1273 he was appointed a cardinal in the Catholic church.
He wrote this brief but dense work inspired by Francis of Assisi, who often focused on seeking peace as a way to God. Bonaventure meditated on this peace and found a way to the mystical contemplation of God. He describes six steps that lead to God.
audiobook
Born in Italy, Saint Bonaventure was one of the greatest Christian mystics. As a child he was taken to St. Francis of Assisi for prayers to cure him of a dangerous illness. He studied and then lectured at the University of Paris for seven years (1248–1255). In 1273 he was appointed a cardinal in the Catholic church.
He wrote this brief but dense work inspired by Francis of Assisi, who often focused on seeking peace as a way to God. Bonaventure meditated on this peace and found a way to the mystical contemplation of God. He describes six steps that lead to God.
audiobook
Ecce Verbum
Spiritual reading "Let devotion accompany all your studies. Study less to make yourself learned than to become a saint." "Consult God more than your books, and ask him, with humility, to make you understand what you read." St. Vincent Ferrer "Knowledge…
On seeking God
"I invite the reader to groans of prayer, in order that you might not assume that reading will suffice without fervor, speculation without devotion, Investigation without admiration, examination without exaltation, Industry without piety, knowledge without love, understanding without humility, study without divine grace, merely mirroring things without divinely inspired wisdom."
“We have these powers implanted within us by nature, deformed through sin, reformed through grace.They must be cleansed by justice, trained by knowledge, and perfected by wisdom.”
“He, therefore, who wishes to ascend to God must first avoid sin, which deforms nature.”
St. Bonaventure, The Journey of the Mind to God
"We must beg the Holy Spirit, with ardent longing, to give us these fruits. The Holy Ghost alone knows how to bring to light the sweetness hidden away under the rugged exterior of the words of the Law. We must go to the Holy Ghost for interior guidance."
St. Bonaventure, Holiness of Life
"I invite the reader to groans of prayer, in order that you might not assume that reading will suffice without fervor, speculation without devotion, Investigation without admiration, examination without exaltation, Industry without piety, knowledge without love, understanding without humility, study without divine grace, merely mirroring things without divinely inspired wisdom."
“We have these powers implanted within us by nature, deformed through sin, reformed through grace.They must be cleansed by justice, trained by knowledge, and perfected by wisdom.”
“He, therefore, who wishes to ascend to God must first avoid sin, which deforms nature.”
St. Bonaventure, The Journey of the Mind to God
"We must beg the Holy Spirit, with ardent longing, to give us these fruits. The Holy Ghost alone knows how to bring to light the sweetness hidden away under the rugged exterior of the words of the Law. We must go to the Holy Ghost for interior guidance."
St. Bonaventure, Holiness of Life
Ecce Verbum
Bonaventure Journey of the Mind Into God.pdf
holinessoflifebe00bonauoft.pdf
5.1 MB
Holiness of Life
Saint Bonaventure
St. Bonaventure reached heights of spiritual, intellectual and ecclesial achievement as one of the greatest saints of the Middle Ages.
He is known as the Seraphic Doctor because of his deep and ardent love for God. His motto was: “I do not wish to know Thee, except to love Thee,” and “I shall study Thee solely to love Thee!
"The Law of the Lord teaches us the way to live, what is to be done, avoided, believed, prayed for, longed for and feared. It teaches how to live the blameless and spotless life, how to keep one's promises, and how to be sincerely contrite for one's failings. The Law of the Lord teaches contempt for earthly things, and a loathing for all things of the flesh. Finally, it explains how with whole heart, whole soul, and whole mind we are to be converted to Jesus Christ. Compared with the doctrine of God's Law, worldly wisdom is vain and foolish. As long as a man does not fear or love God."
Saint Bonaventure
St. Bonaventure reached heights of spiritual, intellectual and ecclesial achievement as one of the greatest saints of the Middle Ages.
He is known as the Seraphic Doctor because of his deep and ardent love for God. His motto was: “I do not wish to know Thee, except to love Thee,” and “I shall study Thee solely to love Thee!
"The Law of the Lord teaches us the way to live, what is to be done, avoided, believed, prayed for, longed for and feared. It teaches how to live the blameless and spotless life, how to keep one's promises, and how to be sincerely contrite for one's failings. The Law of the Lord teaches contempt for earthly things, and a loathing for all things of the flesh. Finally, it explains how with whole heart, whole soul, and whole mind we are to be converted to Jesus Christ. Compared with the doctrine of God's Law, worldly wisdom is vain and foolish. As long as a man does not fear or love God."
Ecce Verbum
holinessoflifebe00bonauoft.pdf
St. Bonaventure advised that those seeking to become perfectly humble need to:
•Attribute all their good works to God and not themselves
•Remember Christ’s humility which left most people during his time unable to form a correct judgment of him or believe he was God
•Know themselves well
“Consider then whence you come and take it to heart that you are the slime of the earth. You have wallowed in sin and are an exile from the happy kingdom of Heaven. Thoughts such as these will quell the spirit of pride and drive it away somewhat.”
Unlike pride, humility softens God’s anger and prepares us for his grace Patience tests and perfects humility.
“Just as the waters crowd into the valleys, so the graces of the Holy Spirit fill the humble. And to continue the comparison, just as the greater the incline the quicker the water flows, so the more the heart bends under humility, the nearer we are to God.”
"Humility is the foundation of all virtue, just as pride is the beginning of all sin."
#humility #virtue
•Attribute all their good works to God and not themselves
•Remember Christ’s humility which left most people during his time unable to form a correct judgment of him or believe he was God
•Know themselves well
“Consider then whence you come and take it to heart that you are the slime of the earth. You have wallowed in sin and are an exile from the happy kingdom of Heaven. Thoughts such as these will quell the spirit of pride and drive it away somewhat.”
Unlike pride, humility softens God’s anger and prepares us for his grace Patience tests and perfects humility.
“Just as the waters crowd into the valleys, so the graces of the Holy Spirit fill the humble. And to continue the comparison, just as the greater the incline the quicker the water flows, so the more the heart bends under humility, the nearer we are to God.”
"Humility is the foundation of all virtue, just as pride is the beginning of all sin."
#humility #virtue
Ecce Verbum
The Saints on love of our neighbor "I give unto you: a new commandment that you love one another, as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" Jn 13,34. “He who has the goods of this world…
True love of neighbour
St. Francis de Sales
•"If we love our neighbour because he does us good or because he loves us, and brings us some advantage, honor, or pleasure, that is what we call a love of complacency, and is common to us with the animals.
If we love him for any good that we see in him, that is, on account of beauty, style, amiability or attractiveness, this is love of friendship, which we share with the heathens.
Therefore, neither of these is true love, and they are of no merit, because they are purely natural and of short duration, being founded upon motives which often cease to exist.
If fact, if we love anyone because he is virtuous, or handsome, or our friend, what will become of this love if he should cease to be virtuous, or handsome, or to love us, or, still worse, if he should become our enemy?
True love which alone is meritorious and lasting is that which arises from the charity which leads us to love our neighbour in God and for God; that is, because it pleases God, or because he is dear to God, or because God dwells in him, or that it may be so.
This does not hinder us from loving some more than others, when such preference does not arise from the greater good they do to us, but from the greater resemblance they have to God, or because God wills it."
•"True charity has no limits, for the love of God has been poured into our hearts by His Spirit dwelling in each one of us, calling us to a life of devotion and inviting us to bloom in the garden where He has planted and directing us to radiate the beauty and spread the fragrance of His Providence."
•Alas! if we consider our neighbor outside the Heart of Our Lord, we run the risk of not loving him fondly, nor constantly, nor impartially. But within It, who would not love him, live with him, tolerate his imperfections, who would find him disagreeable or tiresome? But our neighbor is in the Heart of Our Saviour, and he is so much loved by It, and considered so worthy of love, that the lover dies for love of him.
•"Charity is a love of friendship, a friendship of choice, a choice of preference, but an incomparable, a sovereign, and supernatural preference which is like a sun in the whole soul, to embellish it with its rays; in all our spiritual faculties to perfect them; in all our powers to moderate them; but in the will, as its seat, to reside there, and to make it cherish and love its God above all things."
•"Why should we not bear with those with whom He has borne, keeping before our eyes the great example of Jesus Christ praying on the Cross for His enemies? For they have not yet crucified us, they have not yet persecuted us to death, we have not yet resisted unto blows. But who will not love this beloved enemy for whom Jesus Christ has prayed and for whom He has died?"
#charity
St. Francis de Sales
•"If we love our neighbour because he does us good or because he loves us, and brings us some advantage, honor, or pleasure, that is what we call a love of complacency, and is common to us with the animals.
If we love him for any good that we see in him, that is, on account of beauty, style, amiability or attractiveness, this is love of friendship, which we share with the heathens.
Therefore, neither of these is true love, and they are of no merit, because they are purely natural and of short duration, being founded upon motives which often cease to exist.
If fact, if we love anyone because he is virtuous, or handsome, or our friend, what will become of this love if he should cease to be virtuous, or handsome, or to love us, or, still worse, if he should become our enemy?
True love which alone is meritorious and lasting is that which arises from the charity which leads us to love our neighbour in God and for God; that is, because it pleases God, or because he is dear to God, or because God dwells in him, or that it may be so.
This does not hinder us from loving some more than others, when such preference does not arise from the greater good they do to us, but from the greater resemblance they have to God, or because God wills it."
•"True charity has no limits, for the love of God has been poured into our hearts by His Spirit dwelling in each one of us, calling us to a life of devotion and inviting us to bloom in the garden where He has planted and directing us to radiate the beauty and spread the fragrance of His Providence."
•Alas! if we consider our neighbor outside the Heart of Our Lord, we run the risk of not loving him fondly, nor constantly, nor impartially. But within It, who would not love him, live with him, tolerate his imperfections, who would find him disagreeable or tiresome? But our neighbor is in the Heart of Our Saviour, and he is so much loved by It, and considered so worthy of love, that the lover dies for love of him.
•"Charity is a love of friendship, a friendship of choice, a choice of preference, but an incomparable, a sovereign, and supernatural preference which is like a sun in the whole soul, to embellish it with its rays; in all our spiritual faculties to perfect them; in all our powers to moderate them; but in the will, as its seat, to reside there, and to make it cherish and love its God above all things."
•"Why should we not bear with those with whom He has borne, keeping before our eyes the great example of Jesus Christ praying on the Cross for His enemies? For they have not yet crucified us, they have not yet persecuted us to death, we have not yet resisted unto blows. But who will not love this beloved enemy for whom Jesus Christ has prayed and for whom He has died?"
#charity
Ecce Verbum
On the night before he was ordained on April 27, 1918, Saint Maximilian Kolbe made a retreat and wrote out the following bullet-point plan for his life. As you will see, he was committed, determined, and serious about his walk with Christ. This regimen of…
1075-our-tactics4.pdf
60.9 KB
Article
Our Strategy: Prayer, Mortification and Fraternal Charity
St. Maximilian Kolbe for 'Militia Immaculatae'
Our Strategy: Prayer, Mortification and Fraternal Charity
St. Maximilian Kolbe for 'Militia Immaculatae'
Ecce Verbum
1075-our-tactics4.pdf
In 1924, St. Maximilian Kolbe wrote an article entitled “Our Tactics” for his magazine.
His purpose was to outline and explain the essential means necessary to succeed in the spiritual life. His premise was that even though in the spiritual life we are not engaged in a conflict with flesh and blood, waging war with guns and ammunition, we are still fighting a real war. Success in this conflict requires that we have a battle plan.
The spiritual life is a battle because the eternal destiny of our souls hangs in the balance. God wants us to go to heaven and the devil wants us to go to hell. The battle is over our hearts, to which we alone hold the key. Everything hangs on the choice that we make, and the determination at the end of our lives is absolute, final and irrevocable. We are either totally victorious or totally destroyed.
St. Maximilian’s simple formula for victory in this fight is simply prayer, mortification and charity.
Prayer, of course, is more important than anything else because while, on the one hand, the Holy Spirit tells us “without Me you can do nothing,” on the other, He says “all things are possible with God” (Jn 15:5; Lk 1:37). Our destiny then, is wholly beyond our natural strength, but nonetheless, God desires to empower us to attain what is above and beyond us. That is the definition of supernatural: “above and beyond nature.” So grace is the fuel for the engines of our war. It is the life of our soul and can only be obtained through recognition of our need and by an attitude of humility. Prayer gains everything and nothing is gained without it.
The second requisite, mortification, is necessary because in order for us to live forever, that is, in order for us to survive the battle and be crowned victors, our old self must die. Our Lord says: “He who saves his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 10:39, 16:25; Mk 8:35; Lk 9:24, 17:33; Jn 12:25). The paradox of the Christian life is that in order to live we must die, like Christ. In the end, we all pass through the veil of death into eternity, but while we live, we must choose to die.
St. Bonaventure says: “‘My soul rather chooseth hanging and my bones death.’ He who chooses this death can see God because this is indubitably true: ‘Man shall not see me and live’ ” (Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, 7:6, quoting Job 7:15 and Ex 33:20). Thus, mortification is our daily, even hourly choice to impose death on all that is offensive to God, and even on that which is not convenient to our eternal salvation, such as inordinately seeking the attention of others and talking too much.
In particular, St. Maximilian reminds us, that our mortification, done in cooperation with God’s grace, in fact wins for us an increase of grace. Grace is always first, but we must cooperate and our cooperation is efficacious.
Finally, charity, the third requisite in this battle plan, is a necessary tactic because salvation and victory over our enemy is a matter of God’s everlasting love for us. If it is true that we are only saved by grace, and that God hears our prayers and gives us what we need, then it is for us a lesson in the fundamental importance of charity. It tells us that we, too, must have the generosity and selflessness of Christ. In fact, we are all united in Him as members of the same family and, ultimately, our victory is a triumph over that isolation which is pride and selfishness. Satan desires to bring about our destruction through the debilitating plague of inordinate self-love: charity foils his plan.
Furthermore, grace has truly united us as members of the same family and we can never be severed from the communion of Saints, except by sin. “No man is saved alone,” as the saying goes. Either we are a cohesive army, or we are a defeated army.
His purpose was to outline and explain the essential means necessary to succeed in the spiritual life. His premise was that even though in the spiritual life we are not engaged in a conflict with flesh and blood, waging war with guns and ammunition, we are still fighting a real war. Success in this conflict requires that we have a battle plan.
The spiritual life is a battle because the eternal destiny of our souls hangs in the balance. God wants us to go to heaven and the devil wants us to go to hell. The battle is over our hearts, to which we alone hold the key. Everything hangs on the choice that we make, and the determination at the end of our lives is absolute, final and irrevocable. We are either totally victorious or totally destroyed.
St. Maximilian’s simple formula for victory in this fight is simply prayer, mortification and charity.
Prayer, of course, is more important than anything else because while, on the one hand, the Holy Spirit tells us “without Me you can do nothing,” on the other, He says “all things are possible with God” (Jn 15:5; Lk 1:37). Our destiny then, is wholly beyond our natural strength, but nonetheless, God desires to empower us to attain what is above and beyond us. That is the definition of supernatural: “above and beyond nature.” So grace is the fuel for the engines of our war. It is the life of our soul and can only be obtained through recognition of our need and by an attitude of humility. Prayer gains everything and nothing is gained without it.
The second requisite, mortification, is necessary because in order for us to live forever, that is, in order for us to survive the battle and be crowned victors, our old self must die. Our Lord says: “He who saves his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 10:39, 16:25; Mk 8:35; Lk 9:24, 17:33; Jn 12:25). The paradox of the Christian life is that in order to live we must die, like Christ. In the end, we all pass through the veil of death into eternity, but while we live, we must choose to die.
St. Bonaventure says: “‘My soul rather chooseth hanging and my bones death.’ He who chooses this death can see God because this is indubitably true: ‘Man shall not see me and live’ ” (Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, 7:6, quoting Job 7:15 and Ex 33:20). Thus, mortification is our daily, even hourly choice to impose death on all that is offensive to God, and even on that which is not convenient to our eternal salvation, such as inordinately seeking the attention of others and talking too much.
In particular, St. Maximilian reminds us, that our mortification, done in cooperation with God’s grace, in fact wins for us an increase of grace. Grace is always first, but we must cooperate and our cooperation is efficacious.
Finally, charity, the third requisite in this battle plan, is a necessary tactic because salvation and victory over our enemy is a matter of God’s everlasting love for us. If it is true that we are only saved by grace, and that God hears our prayers and gives us what we need, then it is for us a lesson in the fundamental importance of charity. It tells us that we, too, must have the generosity and selflessness of Christ. In fact, we are all united in Him as members of the same family and, ultimately, our victory is a triumph over that isolation which is pride and selfishness. Satan desires to bring about our destruction through the debilitating plague of inordinate self-love: charity foils his plan.
Furthermore, grace has truly united us as members of the same family and we can never be severed from the communion of Saints, except by sin. “No man is saved alone,” as the saying goes. Either we are a cohesive army, or we are a defeated army.
Ecce Verbum
A_Short_Course_in_Intellectual_Self_Defense_Normand_Baillargeon.pdf
Logic text v 2.0.pdf
3.6 MB
Introduction to Logic and
Critical Thinking
This is an introductory textbook in logic and critical thinking. The goal of the textbook is to provide the reader with a set of tools and skills that will enable them to identify and evaluate arguments. The book is intended for an introductory course that covers both formal and informal logic. As such, it is not a formal logic textbook, but is closer to what one would find marketed as a
“critical thinking textbook.”
Critical Thinking
This is an introductory textbook in logic and critical thinking. The goal of the textbook is to provide the reader with a set of tools and skills that will enable them to identify and evaluate arguments. The book is intended for an introductory course that covers both formal and informal logic. As such, it is not a formal logic textbook, but is closer to what one would find marketed as a
“critical thinking textbook.”
StFrancis.pdf
5.1 MB
The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi
To say that the writings of St. Francis reflect his personality and his spirit is but another way of saying that they are at once formidably mystic and exquisitely human; that they combine great elevation of thought with much picturesqueness of expression. This twofold element, which found ~ts development later on in the prose of mystics like St Bonaventure and in the verse of poets like Jacopone daTodi, and which has ever been a marked characteristic of Franciscan ascetic literature, leads back to the writings of the Founder as to the humble upper waters of a mighty stream. St. Francis had the soul of an ascetic and the heart of a poet. His unbounded faith had an almost lyric sweetness about it ; his deep sense of the spiritual is often clothed with the character of romance.This intimate union of the supernatural and the natural is nowhere more strikingly manifested than in the writings of St. Francis.
To say that the writings of St. Francis reflect his personality and his spirit is but another way of saying that they are at once formidably mystic and exquisitely human; that they combine great elevation of thought with much picturesqueness of expression. This twofold element, which found ~ts development later on in the prose of mystics like St Bonaventure and in the verse of poets like Jacopone daTodi, and which has ever been a marked characteristic of Franciscan ascetic literature, leads back to the writings of the Founder as to the humble upper waters of a mighty stream. St. Francis had the soul of an ascetic and the heart of a poet. His unbounded faith had an almost lyric sweetness about it ; his deep sense of the spiritual is often clothed with the character of romance.This intimate union of the supernatural and the natural is nowhere more strikingly manifested than in the writings of St. Francis.
Ecce Verbum
StFrancis.pdf
Humility of St. Francis
"But let him to whom obedience has been entrusted and who is considered greater become as the lesser' and the servant of the other brothers, and let him show and have the mercy toward each of his brothers that he would wish to be shown to himself if he were in the like situation. And let him not be angry with a brother on account of his offence, but let him advise him kindly and encourage him with all patience and humility. We ought not to be "wise according to the flesh " and prudent, but we ought rather to be simple, humble, and pure.We should never desire to be above others, but ought rather to be servants and subject to every human creature for God's sake. "
The writings of St. Francis of Assisi
"But let him to whom obedience has been entrusted and who is considered greater become as the lesser' and the servant of the other brothers, and let him show and have the mercy toward each of his brothers that he would wish to be shown to himself if he were in the like situation. And let him not be angry with a brother on account of his offence, but let him advise him kindly and encourage him with all patience and humility. We ought not to be "wise according to the flesh " and prudent, but we ought rather to be simple, humble, and pure.We should never desire to be above others, but ought rather to be servants and subject to every human creature for God's sake. "
The writings of St. Francis of Assisi
St. Bonaventure - The Life of St. Francis of Assisi.pdf
2.8 MB
Life of St. Francis of Assisi
St. Bonaventure
"Feeling myself unworthy and insufficient to relate the life most worthy of all imitation of this most venerable man, had not the glowing love of the Brethren moved me thereunto, and the unanimous importunity of the Chapter General incited me, and that devotion compelled me, which I am bound to feel for our holy Father. For I, who remember as though it happened but yesterday how I was snatched from the jaws of death, while yet a child, by his invocation and merits, should fear to be convicted of the sin of ingratitude did I refrain from publishing his praises. And this was with me the chief motive for undertaking this task, to wit, that I, who own my life of body and mind to have been preserved unto me by God through his means, and have proved his power in mine own person, and knew the virtues of his life, might collect as best I could these fragments, that they might not be utterly lost on the death of those that lived with the servant of God."
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St. Bonaventure
"Feeling myself unworthy and insufficient to relate the life most worthy of all imitation of this most venerable man, had not the glowing love of the Brethren moved me thereunto, and the unanimous importunity of the Chapter General incited me, and that devotion compelled me, which I am bound to feel for our holy Father. For I, who remember as though it happened but yesterday how I was snatched from the jaws of death, while yet a child, by his invocation and merits, should fear to be convicted of the sin of ingratitude did I refrain from publishing his praises. And this was with me the chief motive for undertaking this task, to wit, that I, who own my life of body and mind to have been preserved unto me by God through his means, and have proved his power in mine own person, and knew the virtues of his life, might collect as best I could these fragments, that they might not be utterly lost on the death of those that lived with the servant of God."
[1]
Ecce Verbum
St. Bonaventure - The Life of St. Francis of Assisi.pdf
Study, so that you may be doers of the Word
"Once when the Brethren asked whether it were his will that the clerks that had been already received into the Order should devote themselves unto the study of Holy Scripture, he made answer: “It is indeed my will, yet for so long alone as they follow the example of Christ, Who, we read, prayed more than He read, and for so long as they do not lose their zeal for prayer, nor study only that they may know how they ought to speak; rather let them study that they may be doers of the word, and, when they have done it, may set forth unto others what they too should do."
Bonaventure, The Life of St. Francis
"Once when the Brethren asked whether it were his will that the clerks that had been already received into the Order should devote themselves unto the study of Holy Scripture, he made answer: “It is indeed my will, yet for so long alone as they follow the example of Christ, Who, we read, prayed more than He read, and for so long as they do not lose their zeal for prayer, nor study only that they may know how they ought to speak; rather let them study that they may be doers of the word, and, when they have done it, may set forth unto others what they too should do."
Bonaventure, The Life of St. Francis
Saint Francis explains perfect joy
Saint Francis said: “Brother Leo, please listen to me. Above all gifts of the Holy Spirit, that Christ Jesus gives to his friends is the grace to overcome oneself, to accept willingly, out of love for Him, all contempt, all discomfort, all injury, and all suffering. In this and all other gifts, we ourselves should not boast because all things are gifts from God. Remember the words of Saint Paul: ‘What do you have that you did not receive from God? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift (1 Corinthians 4:7)?’ But in the cross of afflictions and suffering, we truly can glory because as Saint Paul says again: ‘May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).’ Amen.”
The Little Flowers of Saint Francis
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Saint Francis said: “Brother Leo, please listen to me. Above all gifts of the Holy Spirit, that Christ Jesus gives to his friends is the grace to overcome oneself, to accept willingly, out of love for Him, all contempt, all discomfort, all injury, and all suffering. In this and all other gifts, we ourselves should not boast because all things are gifts from God. Remember the words of Saint Paul: ‘What do you have that you did not receive from God? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift (1 Corinthians 4:7)?’ But in the cross of afflictions and suffering, we truly can glory because as Saint Paul says again: ‘May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).’ Amen.”
The Little Flowers of Saint Francis
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