More on The Virtues: Stupidity and Intelligence Continued...

Here is a long quotation from Garrigou-Lagrange on the virtues. I shall make a list of all forty of the virtues we are to develop in our lives while on earth, or gain through merit via penance and mortification. From Reality-A Thomistic Synthesis....which I did quote before on this blog and have recommended.

The point of this selection has to do with the fact that in order to develop and make a habit of virtue, one must use one's intellect. Virtues do not emanate from the emotions. Virtue forms the emotions to be the servants of the intellect and will.

One chooses to be trained in the virtues, to allow God to bring one to understand virtue in a particular way, such as through suffering or study.

But, learn the virtues we must. Some saints have infused virtue, but for most humans, virtues must be cultivated in cooperation with grace.

However, infused virtue comes after the practice of acquired virtue, in somewhat the same way that infused contemplation follows acquired contemplation.

Those who do not grow in virtue fall back into stupidity.

Stupidity ignores the virtuous life.

Article Two: Classification Of Virtues
Some virtues are intellectual, some are moral, some are theological. The intellectual virtues [1049] are five: three in the speculative order, namely, first principles, science, and wisdom, and two in the practical order, prudence [1050] and art. [1051].
Moral virtues are perfections, either of the will or of the sense appetite. In dividing them St. Thomas is guided by the ancient moralists, Aristotle, St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine. All moral virtues are reduced to the four cardinal virtues: [1052] prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance. Prudence, though it is an intellectual virtue, is likewise a moral virtue, because it guides both the will and the sense appetite in finding the right means in attaining an end. Justice inclines the will to give everyone his due. Fortitude strengthens the irascible appetite against unreasonable fear. Temperance rules the concupiscible appetite.
The theological virtues [1053] elevate our higher faculties, intellect and will, proportioning them to our supernatural end, that is, to God's own inner life. [1054] Faith makes us adhere supernaturally to what God has revealed. Hope, resting on His grace, tends to possess Him. Charity makes us love Him, more than ourselves, more than all else, because His infinite goodness is in itself lovable, and because He, both as Creator and as Father, loved us first. The theological virtues, therefore, are essentially supernatural and infused, by reason of their formal objects, which without them are simply inaccessible.
By this same rule St. Thomas distinguishes the infused moral virtues from acquired moral virtues. [1055] This distinction, of capital importance yet too little known, must be emphasized. The acquired moral virtues do indeed incline us to what is in itself good, not merely to what is useful or delectable. They make man perfect as man. But they do not suffice to make man a God's child, who, guided by faith and Christian prudence, is to employ supernatural means for a supernatural end. Thus infused temperance, say, is specifically distinct from acquired temperance, as, to illustrate, a higher note on the key board is specifically distinct from the same note on a lower octave. Thus we distinguish Christian temperance from philosophic temperance, and evangelical poverty from the philosophic poverty of Crates. Acquired temperance, to continue with St. Thomas, [1056] differs from infused temperance in rule, object, and end. It observes the just medium in nourishment, so as not to harm health or occupation. Infused temperance observes a higher medium, so as to live like a child of God on his march to a life that is eternal and supernatural. It implies a more severe mortification, which chastises the body and reduces it to subjection, [1057] not merely to become a good citizen here below but rather a fellow citizen of the saints, a child in the family of God. [1058].
This same difference between infused and acquired is found likewise in prudence, justice, and fortitude. Yet we must note that acquired virtue facilitates the exercise of infused virtue, as, to illustrate, finger exercises facilitate the musician's art which resides in the musician's intellect.
As the acquired virtues in the will and sense appetite, justice, namely, and fortitude, and temperance, are inseparable from prudence, so the infused virtues are inseparable from charity. Faith and hope can indeed continue to exist without charity, but they no longer exist in a state of virtue, [1059] and their acts are no longer meritorious. And whereas all moral virtues, infused or acquired, must preserve a medium between excess and defect, the theological virtues have no medium properly speaking, because we can neither believe too much in God, nor hope too much in Him, nor love Him too much. [1060]

to be continued...

Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.----Matt. 5:48 

Catholic Taliban

I am very concerned about some Catholic parents, most likely not anyone who reads this blog, who have decided that their home schooled girls do not need academic training or education.

I consider not teaching your girls classical education as child abuse. Western education was created by the Catholic Church through the Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans, and many other orders featured on this blog.

The great heritage of liberal arts education was created by the members of these orders, as were the great colleges and universities of Europe. Catholic girls should be educated so that they can attend the great Catholic colleges of our day: Thomas Aquinas, Wyoming Catholic, Christendom and so on.

That Catholic parents choose anti-intellectualism alarms me, as to be a Catholic is to be educated in the glorious disciplines created and fostered by Catholics throughout the history of the Church.

Why would parents not want their girls to learn the classics? Disciplining the mind by studying grammar, music, math, art, literature, history, geography, and, of course, religion, have been part of our Catholic culture for over a millennium.

Do these anti-intellectual Catholics, many of whom are trads and charismatics, (sharing an odd ideal which they have in common), think that God does not intend us to use our intellect?

The intellect must be developed not only for skills, for logic, for rational discourse, but for prayer. The worse sins happen in the intellect, and all Catholics must learn to fight these sins in that part of our being.

Intellectual purity does not mean the absence of intellectual studies, on the contrary. Purity of the intellect does not mean emptiness, but a working with knowledge in grace, in appropriate studies, in the virtue of studiosity. In fact, this virtue cannot be ignored without sinning.

Recall my series on the Maritains, intelligence and prayer; recall my many posts on classical education. Follow the tags.

Virtue training involves the mind, not merely the hands. Virtue training comes with developing one's intellectual gifts, which we all have at various levels as God has given us, of intellectual abilities.

To ignore the disciplines of learning to is actually interfere not only with God's plans for one's life, but essential for coming to know God.

Few saints had infused knowledge. Most learned about God through the hard study and meditation, first of Scripture, and then of reading and studying the Doctors of the Church, and the writings and sermons of the great saints.

To deny children, especially high school age girls of the beauties of knowledge is, simply, child abuse. Some parents think that these girls or young women who only know how to sew, cook, take care of children will be good wives. Absolutely not. The Catholic husband needs a help-mate even in the area of intellectual discussion.

We do not need ignorant girls and ignorant women. We need savvy women, who can teach their children all the subjects in home schools. Of course, the skills of cooking, sewing and so forth can also be accomplished. All these skills can be learned well easily. Getting a higher degree does not mean one does not know how to cook or sew or can tomatoes. Many of us did all these things, and more. We made candles, soap, went back to the basics in household duties, and still managed to learn various academic subjects.

We learned how to properly entertain for visitors, and we learned womanly manners. We also learned that to be a woman meant learning our heritage, culture, faith.

Look at the writings of the great Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena.

We have in the Church, these women,  who are Doctors of the Church, not because they could cook and sew, but because they could pray, write, advise people, even popes. They knew the Scriptures, and much theology, as well a music.

To ignore the glories of our own culture, the Catholic culture, amounts to choosing anti-intellectualism and becoming a Catholic Taliban. Ignoring the intellect of young women does not prepare them for sainthood, but for stunted growth, and possibly, rebellion.

For A Friend Today

Etheldredasplace: Perfection Series II:x

30 Jan 2014

Continuing the series on perfection, I have switched temporarily from Garrigou-Lagrange to the Interior Castle of St. Teresa of Avila. In this book, St. Teresa refers to the enlargement of the heart. Quoting Prime, Teresa writes, ...

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Perfection Series IV: Part Nineteen; Simplicity in Unity

22 Aug 2014

What falsity to wish to talk in a glowing style as if one were already in the seventh mansion of the interior castle, when one has not yet entered the fourth! How far superior is the simplicity of the Gospel! We say that a child's ...

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Beginning More on The Indwelling of the Trinity

07 May 2015

St. Teresa of Avila writes clearly on the Indwelling of the Trinity. Here is a selection from The Interior Castle or The Mansions. I have many more posts on this from the past, but this week, I am re-examining this truth.

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Etheldredasplace: “Long live the difference”

10 May 2015

from the Stanbrook Edition of Interior Castle.... .... dealing with the purgation of the soul by mortification and the enlightenment of the mind by meditation. There, too, appears the first idea of the Mansions, [25] and Fuente ...

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Brief Description from St. Teresa on the Indwelling

09 May 2015

A brief description of the unitive state from the Interior Castle. Here one sees the great revelation of the Indwelling. of the Holy Trinity which God desires us all to experience, to know...even while on earth. This is a repeat post, ...

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Etheldredasplace: The Force of The Soul

13 Jun 2015

The Interior Castle, First Manson, Chapter ii. The Maritains, who were both Benedictine Oblates, wrote this as well: "The study of the Sacred Doctrine and of Holy Scripture is also a normally necessary means of the attainment ...

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Very brief description of the illuminative state

09 May 2015

Very brief description of the illuminative state. Posted by Supertradmum. A mini-description of the illuminative state...leading to the unitive state. From a footnote, 418, in the online copy of the Interior Castle. Follow the tags for ...

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Etheldredasplace: Thoughts from 2009

10 Jul 2013

Catherine's Dialog and Teresa's Interior Castle give me comfort, as well as the knowledge that truth prevails despite so much spiritual warfare. But, as I am wedded to Truth, my way is not as hard as those who remain in ...

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Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux and John of the Cross

04 Aug 2013

In The Interior Castle she writes: O my God, how many troubles both interior and exterior must one suffer before entering the seventh mansion! Sometimes, while pondering over this I fear that, were they known beforehand, ...

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The passive purification of the senses and the spirit, continued

16 Oct 2013

St. Teresa speaks of the passive purification of the spirit in the first chapter of the sixth mansion of The Interior Castle. We read also in the life of St. Vincent de Paul that for four years he endured a trial of this type, which was ...

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Etheldredasplace: People Ask Me

24 Sep 2014

God rarely speaks in an audible voice, but He does speak through the interior movements of the Holy Spirit. Again, the teachings of the Church and common sense dictate what is good and true. The problem is usually not that ...

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Etheldredasplace: Why is the Catholic Church Weak?

29 May 2013

Tauler declares: "There is only one way to triumph over these obstacles: God would have to take complete possession of the interior of the soul and occupy it, which happens only to His true friends. He sent us His only Son in order that the holy life of the God-Man, His great and perfect ... This little citadel, wherein lies the self-will, must be stormed by God. If one keeps running back into the castle of the self, God cannot speak to the heart and mind and will. And, as John ...

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Check out the tags and remember, no one is even on the ladder of holiness unless he or she is orthodox, accepting the teachings of the Church. Check out the tags at the bottom here.

More on Why Prayers Are Not Answered

How very pleasing to God is the willing desire to suffer for Him. "Very pleasing to Me, dearest daughter, is the willing desire to bear every pain and fatigue, even unto death, for the salvation of souls, for the more the soul endures, the more she shows that she loves Me; loving Me she comes to know more of My truth, and the more she knows, the more pain and intolerable grief she feels at the offenses committed against Me. You asked Me to sustain you, and to punish the faults of others in you, and you did not remark that you were really asking for love, light, and knowledge of the truth, since I have already told you that, by the increase of love, grows grief and pain, wherefore he that grows in love grows in grief. Therefore, I say to you all, that you should ask, and it will be given you, for I deny nothing to him who asks of Me in truth. Consider that the love of divine charity is so closely joined in the soul with perfect patience, that neither can leave the soul without the other. For this reason (if the soul elect to love Me) she should elect to endure pains for Me in whatever mode or circumstance I may send them to her. Patience cannot be proved in any other way than by suffering, and patience is united with love as has been said. Therefore bear yourselves with manly courage, for, unless you do so, you will not prove yourselves to be spouses of My Truth, and faithful children, nor of the company of those who relish the taste of My honor, and the salvation of souls." from the Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena.


This type of loving intercessory prayer is not the same as that of the victim souls. I believe victim souls are called to that special vocation from birth. We see this type of sublime holiness in the lives of such as Marthe Robin, Alexandrina da Costa, Gemma Galgani and Veronica Giuliani among others.

Victim souls have an entire life of intercession, usually through the joining of their bodies and souls to the Passion of Christ. One cannot choose to be a victim soul, as it is a vocation usually found at a very young age. 

These souls are rare people. However, the suffering explained in St. Catherine's Dialogue is also reparatory intercession, but part of a more active, and not victim soul type of vocation, In other words, we can all pray in the manner explained by God above. One can choose to offer up one's life for another, like Michael Voris' mother did for her sons, and like someone I know, a local saint, did for the conversion of her husband. The proof of God's acceptance of these heroic gestures would be the ultimate conversions of those for whom the lives were offered, and, indeed, in both cases, two men were converted through the intercessory offering.

What God is revealing to St. Catherine would be more the "ordinary" manner of intercession, involving daily courage and suffering, as well as patience, perhaps for a husband, a wife or children.

Like St. Therese, one may choose a stranger for whom to pray, but one must be careful. Several friends have told me of situations in which they took on praying for people and in the process, it became clear that these good pray-ers, simply were not holy enough to take on the type of spiritual warfare necessary.

Sometimes one is tempted to take on praying for something or someone which is simply too difficult, even too evil.

Stories of people in hell who revealed that the reason they were there was that they did not listen to friends' exhortations, or storied of people in purgatory, who asked for prayers, indicate the seriousness and need for intercessory suffering.

This week, realizing that some intercession I was doing needed more prayer and fasting, I asked God what I could do more than what I have been doing. Within hours of this prayer, my doctor put me on a low carb diet. This will be very difficult, as I have been eating a lot of poor food, like Ramen noodles,potatoes, and cheap tortillas for quesadillas, I shall need to spend more money, which I do not have yet, for more protein and less carbs. So, this is a hardship, but I definitely know this is an answer to prayer. I shall have to eat even less than what I have been, which is only two full meals a day. But, God desires this suffering for souls for whom I am interceding daily. Souls are worth every bit of hardship.

God is calling all of us to love, love, love. Patience, suffering, love...

In these virtues, we are called to become more and more like Christ in this world, and closer to Him in the next.

To be continued...

More Musings....

Well, my tech adviser, STS, has decided that my readers will be able, being so trained in arcane words, to follow a new blog called Recueillement. 

As he is traveling hither and yon for two weeks, this will not be in place until August 15th, along with the new forum. So, watch this space....

The reason, of course, I want Recueillement for a title is that the new blog will be based on reflections, meditations and contemplation. It also means a moment of reverence... or quiet absorption --perfect, for writings about God.

Musing, again, on this word, I discussed with STS the fact that the French, who invented the word, seem so much better at this act of recollection than the sons and daughters of the Anglo-Saxons, the Americans and British peoples.

STS claims it is part of the French character to be so inclined to reflection. I wonder...

Not having any bone, blood, or tissue of Anglo-Saxon in me, I can identify with recueillement and those of you who followed the various Maritain series will recognize the word. If you could remember Etheldredasplace, you can easily handle this label.

So, why is it that certain people's have a character for action and some for contemplation? Why is France the home of so many contemplative orders, even today, when these types of orders are becoming extinct in other parts of the West?

I suspect the French penchant for philosophy and art have something to do with recueillement. The last time I was in France, this past January, of course, my confreres and I ended up in a tavern drinking various things and talking about philosophy, liturgy, Pope Francis, and not the weather.

This type of discussion would be common in my experience of a certain type of Frenchman, as well as the British expats. Recueillement would be second-nature to such people. Needless to say, I am usually the only woman in these discussions, being interested in these topics rather than in food, fashion, or kids....Oh, well. But, therefore, I blog....

Musing on recueillement reminds me of a comment from Raissa:

All the sources are in You ...
Every great vocation gives one called the ability of a certain union with God, in particular relative to whose essence is transcendent to the multiplicity of his attributes; and very marked vocations are distinguished from each other by their relatedness to a particular the divine attributes...

Btw, would you have guessed that Garrigou-Lagrange was the spiritual director of the Maritain's Thomist Circle?

Framing Prayer 25 Jesuits and Dying to Self

Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward, save that of knowing that I do your will.

If there was ever a prayer for the Church Militant, it is this prayer of St. Ignatius. If the lay Catholic would say this prayer daily, what a difference there would be in the families, parishes, universal Church.

Let me unpack this prayer and show how it is connected to dying to self.

1. Generosity. The life of a true Jesuit would be a definition of generosity-giving up one's will to God, as we saw in the Suscipe, indicates a generous spirit. And, remember, God will not be outdone in generosity.
2. Service, but as taught by God. Service in God is completely detached, objective, and never self-seeking. There is no room for the ego in true service to God.
3. Giving without cost....a parent knows this duty; a husband or wife knows this duty; many of our jobs demand such service without taking a look at the cost. How much more so for the building of the Kingdom...?
4. Fighting and not even looking at one's wounds-a good self-forgetfulness. Today, some young man told me he responded to the needs of his neighbors because he needed to do mortification for his sins--this is a healthy forgetfulness of pain and suffering when going out of one's way for another.
5. Not seeking rest--how many of us feel "entitled" to vacations, self-renewal days, and not find the task at hand refreshing because we are doing things for the wrong reasons?
6. No reward....none....just working out of sheer love for God and His creatures.
7. The will of God is the center of Jesuit dying to self--absolutely, not my will, but Thy will be done.

This little prayer could be memorized by any lay person and said during the day.

A true framework for out prayer is self-denial.

to be continued... one more on the Jesuits later...........

One Last Gem from The Maritains

I want to share a bit more from the book, Prayer and Intelligence. 

This holy couple gives advice to the laity who are caught up in the frenzy of the world.

Here are some points to help the laity when events and time do not allow for contemplation.

1) Throw one's self into one's "littleness" and embrace humility.

2) Abandon one's self to God's mercy.

3) Abandon one's self to God's Providence.

4) Constantly give thanks for all thinks, taking joy in the Lord.

5) Be kind to all creatures, great and small.

6) Abstain from judging others.

7) Enlarge one's heart by admiring, understanding the freedom and variety of how God's ways are in the world.

8) Prepare one's soul for the counsels of perfection , if one is not able to do these (poverty, chastity, obedience) in the same way as religious in the ways outlined below.

9)Work on purity of heart, which "cleanses the intelligence and the will from the imprint of created things...a spiritual chastity"..

10) Work on detachment "which causes us to make use of ourselves and created things 'as if not using them'...a kind of spiritual poverty".

11) Abandon one's self to Providence, "which causes us to cast all our care on God and give us up to his good pleasure....like a spiritual obedience, which penetrates to the most intimate depth of the soul, and, while it makes us free of the whole created world, (and) obliges us to depend in everything on the conduct of the Holy Spirit."

This is the whole perfection series in a nutshell.

In these ways, the Maritains write that one will be able to take up one's cross daily, faithfully following the Lord, and living in His Presence. In addition, one will "adhere with his whole soul...to Him who is above all thought and who wishes to transform us into himself by love."

Actually, I shall return to this book again at a later time,,,as there is more.

The Force of The Soul

This little book, which I bought many, many years ago at a second-hand bookstore, supplies the wisdom of the great spiritual writers is a succinct manner.

More quotations to share:

from St Teresa  "...we should grow more in virtue (humility) by contemplating the divine Perfections, than by keeping the eyes of our soul fixed on the vile clay of our origin....The best method of acquiring self-knowledge is to apply ourselves to the knowledge of God. His greatness makes us see our lowliness, his purity reveals our stains, and his humility show us how far we are from being humble. We draw to advantages from this practice; one, a clearer vision of our own nothingness in contrast to the divine grandeur...the other, that our intelligence and our will become ennobled and capable of every kind of good."

The Interior Castle, First Manson, Chapter ii.

The Maritains, who were both Benedictine Oblates, wrote this as well:

"The study of the Sacred Doctrine and of Holy Scripture is also a normally necessary means of the attainment of contemplation. This is what the ancients called, with S. Benedict, lectio divina. 'It is no mere cold and abstract speculation, it is not an affair of simply human curiosity or of superficial reading, it is a serious, profound and persevering research into Truth itself. It is informed by prayer and tenderness. It is called lectio, and it is but the first degree of the ascending scale: lectio, cogitation, studium, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio; but S. Benedict knew well that in the case of a loyal and courageous soul he others would in their turn be added...The method of prayer of the ancients was simple and easy: it consisted in self-forgetfulness and living in habitual recollection,  in assiduously steepig their souls in the beauty of the mysterious, in taking an interest in all the aspects of the supernatural economy following the inspiration of that Spirit of God who alone can teach us to pray..." 

Dom Delatte in Commentary on the Rule of S. Benedict 

The Maritains refer to the "dissipation" and feverishness of our modern daily lives. This is why I have written so much here on simplicity. A true Catholic, in order to concentrate more on God and His ways, on Himself, must simplify one's lifestyle.

There are so many things one can omit from a daily schedule. Talking without necessity may be the first way.

Again, the Maritains: "It is probable that may souls deprive themselves of the choice graces of higher states of prayer because they are unable to sacrifice themselves with the  requisite generosity to the exigencies for this heart to heart communion with God."

The writers refer to S. Teresa yet again: "There is but one road which reaches God, and that is prayer; if anyone shows you another, you are being deceived."

And, to S. John of the Cross: "Mental prayer should take precedence of every other occupation; it is the force of the soul."

Great works and activities in the Church will not save us--we are not saved by good works, but by the holiness of those works, which come from a pure heart and pure mind.

Without mental prayer, one thrashes around uselessly, creating things in the world which are not only ephemeral, but not part of the Kingdom of God.

As a parent, I created a quiet house in order to teach solitude and listen for the small, still voice of God at home. Too many activities wear out the soul and the body, taking away energy from the interior life, which takes energy.

Prayer demands attention and energy. The Maritains admit that those of us in the world fall into imperfections and many venial sins because of the lack of contemplation.  Here is a crunch idea--if there are no contemplative houses of prayer in your area, praying for you and interceding for the Church in the area, one is absolutely in need of personal contemplative prayer, as one has no external support.

There is NO orthodox, obedient, contemplative house in this entire diocese. Pray that if God wants me to start this here, the needed benefactors come forth. I found several houses with three bedrooms, with room for a chapel, for three to six women, for under 100,000 USD. That is not a lot for the Heart of Prayer at the center of activity here in this wounded place. I need a benefactor. I have a priest who says the Latin Mass who is encouraging me, although he does not live very close to the location of the houses for sale. However, his moral support has been gratifying.

Pray for this cause. If it does not happen here, God will lead me somewhere else, and this area will keep lacking the Heart of Prayer it needs to survive the coming onslaught of evil. A diocese without a Heart of Prayer cannot endure, as the laity need this backup, this bulwark of prayer power-the force of the soul.

Great Summary of The Entire Perfection Series

"Without contemplation, no great advance will be made in virtue and we shall never be able to help others towards it. Without contemplation we shall never completely abandon our weaknesses and imperfections. We shall always remain attached to the earth and we shall never rise much above the sentiments of human nature. Never shall we be able to give God a perfect service. With contemplation, we shall do more for ourselves and others in one month, than we shall do without it in ten years." (Pere Lallemant. Spiritual Doctrine, from the Maritains' book Prayer and Intelligence.

More Tidbits from The Maritains

P rayer is simplicity and purity of mind reaching up to God and allowing Him to just Be with us. Too often, many things, thoughts, people stop us from that simplicity and purity. Modern life dictates against simplicity and purity. Go back into the perfection series for more on purity, but look at the small ways here in which one can break away from unnecessary complexity.

One of the great problems of those who are trying to become closer to God could be called, as the Maritains do, the "reflex of the mind". Too often, through habitual sin, or even the sins of families, one reverts back to such reflexes, which stop the growth of holiness. We fall into spiritual illusions. I talk to people who are on the right path, but fall into habits of mind, like judgment, criticism, negativity, scrupulosity,  spiritual sloth.

One of the most common reflexes of the mind which I have encountered since I have been back to the States has been identified by the Maritains as a psychological knee-jerk reaction involving "psychological curiosity".

Oh my, yes. Since January, I have heard numerous Catholics try and explain away sin in terms of psychological weaknesses. I left off on point four the other day regarding the descriptions and definitions of contemplation. As we continue to examine these, we see the opposite of "staring at one's navel" as we use to say in the seventies--the over examination of self. One cannot explain away sin. God will not allow us to explain ourselves when we stand before Him and see the depth of our failings. But, now, we can learn to do this type of contemplation of our nothingness and His Goodness.

Here are some more of the tidbits from the Maritains.

Point Six, "The contemplative life consists in a sort of holy leisure and repose...."

One must be still and seek solitude. God does not like rivals to His Person, His time, His ways.

Point Seven, "The contemplative life is related to divine things, and the active to human things; which is why St. Augustine says in the book De Verbis Domini: 'In the beginning was the Word, this is he to whom Mary listened: and the Word was made Flesh, this is he whom Martha served.'"

But, we can be so focused on the things of daily life, that we miss the small, still voice of God speaking to us in the midst of even chaos. To train one's mind to disregard such confusion is to break through the reflexes of the mind.

Point Eight, "The contemplative life is related to what is specifically proper to man, that is, the intellect, while the lower forces common to human and to animal life take part in the operations of the active life...."

One of my favorite psalms embodies this call-Psalm 24 DR. This is a good prayer for those in tribulation.

Verse 9 refers to those who allow God to humble them in the Nights.

Psalm 24 Douay-Rheims 

24 Unto the end, a psalm for David. To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul.

2 In thee, O my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed.

3 Neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on thee shall be confounded.

4 Let all them be confounded that act unjust things without cause. shew, O Lord, thy ways to me, and teach me thy paths.

5 Direct me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art God my Saviour; and on thee have I waited all the day long.

6 Remember, O Lord, thy bowels of compassion; and thy mercies that are from the beginning of the world.

7 The sins of my youth and my ignorances do not remember. According to thy mercy remember thou me: for thy goodness' sake, O Lord.

8 The Lord is sweet and righteous: therefore he will give a law to sinners in the way.

9 He will guide the mild in judgment: he will teach the meek his ways.

10 All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to them that seek after his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For thy name's sake, O Lord, thou wilt pardon my sin: for it is great.

12 Who is the man that feareth the Lord? He hath appointed him a law in the way he hath chosen.

13 His soul shall dwell in good things: and his seed shall inherit the land.

14 The Lord is a firmament to them that fear him: and his covenant shall be made manifest to them.

15 My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare.

16 Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor.

17 The troubles of my heart are multiplied: deliver me from my necessities.

18 See my abjection and my labour; and forgive me all my sins.

19 Consider my enemies for they are multiplied, and have hated me with an unjust hatred.

20 Keep thou my soul, and deliver me: I shall not be ashamed, for I have hoped in thee.

21 The innocent and the upright have adhered to me: because I have waited on thee.

22 Deliver Israel, O God, from all his tribulations.

more later....

Two Little Lights from A Little Jewel

, from the Maritains, some words on purification and prayer--""Contemplation is the fruit of the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in the soul and of the invisible mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit."

and

"Serious advance is indeed impossible without passing one way or another  through the purification of the Nights."

The Vision of The Principle

For centuries, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church have likened the two wives of Jacob to the active or contemplative life. In modern times, in order not to make active women feel bad about their lives, priests have not quoted these passages comparing Leah to the active life and Rachel to the contemplative life.

I remember reading about this many, many decades ago. To make the distinction is not to dis women in the active life, (I was a single mum, working, homeschooling, keeping the books, etc. and I did not feel dissed), but to reflect on the two ways which must both end up in the same place, perfection.

Aquinas, again quoted by the Maritains, states, "Absolutely speaking and in itself, the contemplative life is better than the active. The Philosopher proves this by eight reasons."

Here theses are with more explanation as to the comparison of Rachel to Leah.

One, "The contemplative life is suitable to man in regard to his most perfect possession, the intellect, and in relation to the proper objects of that faculty, namely the intelligibles, while the active life is concerned with exterior things. Wherefore the name of Rachel, who represents the contemplative life, means the vision of the principle, the active life being represented by Lia, who suffered from weak eyes..." Maritains quoting St. Gregory here.

Rachel was the great beloved wife of Jacob who bore him his favorite sons, Joseph and Benjamin. His long time of labor in order to "pay" for her to her father, Laban, represents the long journey of purgation in the Dark Nights, purging one of sins.

Laban tricked Jacob, (a punishment from God for Jacob tricking his own father), and gave Leah to him first. Finally, Jacob won Rachel, the desire of his heart, and his soul mate.

Rachel came to represent the contemplative life, not only because of her name, but because she represented the true desire, the purer love. of Jacob's heart.

Our truest desire is for God alone. That is the key to following the contemplative life. Being back in the States, I have seen the terrible distractions and waste of energy for so many things which are not necessary to the spiritual life.

The second point, Two, has been discussed by those in monasteries.

"The contemplative life can be more continuous (though this continuity cannot be referred to the supreme act of contemplation); this is why Mary, who symbolises contemplative life, s shewn us as always at the feet of the Lord.:

Three, "The delectation of the contemplative life is greater than that of the active; this is the meaning of S. Augustine's saying that Martha was worried while Mary was feasting."

Four, "In the contemplative life man is more self-sufficient for he depends in this exercise less on external things; wherefore it is said in Luke IV, 'Martha, Martha, thou are troubled and worried about many things."

One reason I love going to Europe is that I can walk and not have to drive or have a car, eat much more simply, get to daily Mass and Adoration easily, and have a lower lifestyle. Americans have fallen into Satan's trap of complicating their lives by desires for novelties and more and more things. When one settles for less, one is freer to meet God daily.

Five, "The contemplative life is loved for its own sake, while the active life is ordained for something beyond itself; wherefore it is said in Ps. 26, (translated) ' One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may see the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple.'"

I shall continue with the next three points later. I am still looking for the small place where I can pray and for two women, two only, to join me in contemplation, and, thankfully, after slightly over two weeks of being here, starting tomorrow, I can go back into my monastic schedule. Thank God.

May I add that since the late 1970s, when some mothers had to go to work, that I thought this was a lie from Satan to destroy the contemplative atmosphere of a disciplined, well-ordered home, where the mother was the quiet center of life and order.

When there is no home-centered woman, it is much harder to have daily rosary or novenas in the home, or other times of meditation.

Home schooling moms of my generation, even those with many children. created that quiet atmosphere of prayer and study, very monastic, very simple, thus leading themselves and their children into a place of contemplation. Consumerism and financial lies about "having it all" caused some of the chaos. Women's lib created some of the deceit that a mother's role at home had no value. Of course, without that still center, families cannot easily come to listen and know God or the life of virtue.  A home can be active and yet quiet...like the old Montessori schools wherein we whispered and the children worked in a quiet hum of activity.

to be continued.... 

Aquinas on Contemplation from The Maritains

This quotation is so beautiful, I just have to share it with you.....

From the same little book I have been using for the past few days, Prayer and Intelligence, by Jacques and Raissa Maritain.

"The contemplative life consists in a sort of leisure, a repose....a liberty of spirit" in which man,"burns with a desire of seeing the beauty of God"....and offers him, "his soul in sacrifice", it has its beginning and end in love, it is "directly and immediately concerned with the love of God himself, "it is ordained not to any kind of love of God, but to the perfect love of Him" and constitutes in a certain sense a commencement of beatitude...."

The burning desire for God makes one desire silence in order to hear the Bridegroom speak in the soft, love voice of love.

Again, I cannot stress the important of choosing simplicity of lifestyle. One can choose to eliminate so many unnecessary things, events, thoughts, which crowd out the voice of Christ.

Simplicity means choosing the smallest, the simplest, the plain, over the complicated.

Remember, without a schedule, one cannot become holy, and without simplicity, one cannot hear God.

What a Treat!

Heard this one while blogging in the evening on Sunday.

And, my friend has these in her backyard...

Boomeranging Back to The Self

Four of the most common pitfalls of those who follow Christ into the Dark Nights of the Senses and Spirit, and even moving into the Illuminative State, may be defined as "boomeranging back to the self."

The Maritains describe some of these tendencies to fall back into pride and egotism which they call "the reflex action of the mind, the tendency to come back on ourselves." A grave sin of those who in this day and age, note the Maritains, have a propensity to want to describe or examine self in terms of analysis and psychological curiosity.

In 2015, I can plainly state, that the most common sin I have witnessed among Catholics has been the psychologizing of sin. Now people can explain away, apparently, responsibility and consequences of sin because of psychological interpretations of so-called hurt, emotional upset, or even abuse, as if God's grace could not and would not cut through the most terrible of sins a person can endure from others.

Looking too much at sin may be part of the fault of this psychological thinking, as well as the need to talk too much and not rest in quiet. The Maritains make it quite clear that there are many reasons why a person falls back into the self, and noise or senseless talking take one away from quiet.

Years ago now, (time flies), if you remember my time in Tyburn, I recall being aware that I had sinned much less in the convent and fallen back into habitual venial sins when coming out. The one big reason why this was true, in fact, THE reason, was the lack of keeping silent all day except for prayer, classes, and the forty-five minutes of communal talk time, in which one was not allowed to talk about one's self.

Simply, talk brings about a myriad of sins. Bragging, lying, exaggerating, gossiping, and so on, all sins of the tongue, cannot happen if one keeps long silences. Time wasted on speaking of trivia, also a sin, cannot happen if one keeps silence as much as possible. Talk takes us back into the realm of the ego.  Silence demands that we leave egotism for contemplation of God.

The second reason we boomerang back into the self is one which I have described on this blog many times-acting out of ego, even in so-called "ministries" instead of acting out of humility and the other virtues. There is no merit, none, in actions formed out of the ego. Only when one has been stripped of the ego can one truly serve God and the Church. Dying to self means that one is not aware of one's good works.

The Maritains make it quite clear that one should not read mystical books in order to find out what level of spirituality one has come to know or live in daily. This is boomeranging back into the self. In our overly self-conscious society, when we are fixated on our health, finances, and general well-being, curiosity, which is always a sin, about our own spiritual life sets us back to the self. We must become detached from ourselves and from our own prayer. The Maritains quote St Anthony Abbot in a startling sentence: "The prayer is not perfect if the monk knows he is praying."

The third turning back to self is something I am learning quickly, having read such things in the stories of the Desert Fathers, but now experiencing again, and perhaps finally "getting it", that one does not have to nor should one defend one's self when one is falsely accused of some sin.

This happened today, again. Sadly, I fell into defensive mode, and realized, again, that I had not passed the test. Several stories, including the one about a later saint, St. Gerard Majella, reveal the non-necessity of defending one's innocence, just as Christ did not do so in front of the Sanhedrin.

Defense brings us back to the self. To absorb or even transcend false accusations brings a peace and a quietude to the soul, and also, frees up the Holy Spirit to step in and defend one.

One story surrounds the life of St. Macarius, one of my favorite Desert Fathers. Even as a young man, he was known for his wisdom and discernment.

He was married but his wife died young and he finally went into the desert again. Because of his great gifts of discernment and wisdom, his superior gave him the job of counseling religious women. However, a pregnant woman accused Macarius publicly of violating her, and he did not defend himself.  When the time for the birth of the baby came, the woman was in such long labor and pain, she admitted that she had lied to bring down the righteous man. The superior asked Macarius why he had not defended himself, as the saint had said nothing to stand up for himself when accused. Macarius knew that defense would being him back into himself.

This stance may seem strange to Americans and the English who love to hire lawyers for detraction. However, God loves those who chose the humble way of relying on Him instead of looking at themselves.

The fourth way in which one boomerangs back is concentrating too much on one's "vocation" or "gifts". I have mentioned the horrible gifting programs which are not based on Catholic theology, and to over concentrate on a lost vocation or any vocation, constantly going back over one's life regarding vocation is a sign of boomeranging back into the self.

When one is tempted to turn back to the self, one can merely look at Christ, either on the Cross, or in glory. I personally like the Face Painted Without Hands to bring my thoughts back to the Bridegroom.

For years I have been convinced that the great heretics were in the Illuminative State when they boomeranged back into the self. Why? Why would Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Arius and many others fall into heresy from a height of infused knowledge?

They boomeranged back into pride on the discovery of the new graces God had given them. To me, the great sin of heretics is that they twisted knowledge from God into their own image and likeness, choosing power over humility, choosing self over God.

There but for the grace of God go I or any others.

A Hierarchy of Virtues

The theological virtues help us practice the moral virtues. But, the Maritains point out that there is a hierarchy of virtue. Faith "attains God in obscurity, remaining as it were from a distance from Him in so far as Faith is belief in that which is not seen." Therefore, we live in Faith when we are not in union with God, do not perceive Him or do not experience being in His Presence.

Hope, as the CCC notes, "is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit."

Hope is, again, based on desires unfulfilled. We use hope to trust in God and not rely on ourselves but on God. 

Faith and hope form the basis of our walk in the Dark Nights of the Senses and Spirit. Once a person is purified, the virtue of love takes over the soul and mind. Here are the Maritains on this point:

"...charity attains god immediately in Himself, making an intimate union precisely with that which is concealed in Faith. And thus, although Faith regulates love and union with God in so far as it proposes the  object to the will: nevertheless, in virtue of the union by which love adheres immediately to God, the intelligence is moved by the affective experience of the soul to judge of divine things in a higher fashion than belongs to the obscurity of Faith..."

One cannot love but very imperfectly without the necessary purification of the senses and soul. Thus, those who have a hard time loving in truth have tried to love without the purgation of those faults which stand in the way of union. This is one reason why love must be purified in marriage, through sacrificial actions. 

But, the more one loves God, the more one wants to love Him and others, as love leads to greater understanding and forbearance. Then, discernment "kicks in". Only those who are orthodox and those who allow God to purify their imaginations, wills, intellect and senses can have true discernment of higher things, such as God's will.

If one is confused, go back to the posts on Divine Knowledge I did this year. Divine Knowledge comes from love. When one realizes the Indwelling of the Trinity, this love becomes a way of life. We shall finally, in heaven, in the Beatific Vision, have knowledge of God as He really is.

The Devolution Question Yet Again And Some Maritain

I first learned about devolution from two men-one a major in the Army and the other a famous Catholic priest. They talked about the growing stupidity of people across the world as a planned and also, physical de-evolution of the species.

Lately, this idea, which I have written about before on this blog, of devolution, has become more obvious to me.

Points:

1. Young people who have never heard of the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission or the Council on Foreign Relations. Amazing.
2. Young people who have never, ever thought of the spiritual side of humans, who either ignore or deny the soul and are, therefore, practical atheists, denying the Spirit of God.
3. Catholics who have never read one encyclical, not even Humanae Vitae.
4. Catholics who do not know that there are four Eucharistic Prayers, many movable feasts, or who understand the liturgical year. and worse, do not read to find out. They do not know one can buy a missal, and are not interested in doing so.
5. Young people who do not believe in natural law philosophy.
6. Young people who have never studied American or Western History, or taken any other Humanities course.
7. A complete lack of the ability to do mental math among the younger generations.
8. Reading difficulties of those under sixty, causing serious problems with basic pronunciation and understanding of content which has been read.
9. The inability to debate or discuss rationally.
10. No sense of the goal or end of human beings and not interested in the big question of why we are here.
11. Complete lack of interest in foreign affairs, geography, or world events.
12. Complete lack of interest in eating in a healthy manner, thus creating an unhealthy body while still young.
13. An interesting lack of common sense which I, as an ex-Montessori teacher, where children do practical things and learn common sense, plagues the younger generation.

All of these problems of thinking or living or degeneration I have met in the past three weeks. There are more examples, but these I have seen and experienced more than once in a short period of time. 

De-evolution is not merely a physical problem, but a spiritual problem. Why it is a spiritual problem is that the soul is the form of the body, which means that all movements of the intellect need to be under grace in order to be truly in God's will and effective. The Maritains note that those in the active life, which would include most of the laity, "have a more pressing need of prayer" and that the active people should "ask of the divine mercy the grace of a sufficient intensity of interior life for their very activity, at least in its mode of production, to proceed from the superabundance of their contemplation..."

Devolution is a direct result from a lack of commitment to a life of prayer in the active life, and spiritual sloth. The Maritains, in this little jewel I have been reading, quote St. Augustine. "The love of truth seeks a holy repose, the necessity which love imposes accepted justified toil...If no duty be imposed on us, let us be busy with the study and contemplation of truth; and if labours are laid on us, charity itself obliges us to accept them. Even so, however, the sweet contemplation of truth should not be abandoned, for fear that with the disappearance of their sweetness, we should be overwhelmed by our necessities."

Devolution happens when reflection ends. Man was created as a thinking, reflecting animal, an animal with an immortal soul, will and intellect. To ignore all or any create a bestial condition of emotional responses to stimuli instead of a studied, virtuous response.

To state this simply, spiritual sloth and indecision in following Christ and His Church lead to devolution. The mind becomes dulled by sin and excess.

Prayer and intelligence being the process of purification leading to perfect charity.

The Indwelling of the Trinity, given in baptism, but absent without baptism, gives each one of us the ability to contemplate, to decide to follow Christ, to love. Those in grace do not devolve or degenerate.

2 Peter 3:18Douay-Rheims 

18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen