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| Leo XIV quotes Francis: "We need to accept courageously the newness of the Spirit..." |
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Posted by: Stone - Yesterday, 09:57 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Leo XIV quotes Francis: "We need to accept courageously the newness of the Spirit...."
From the very liberal outlet, Vatican News:
Pope Leo: Church in Amazonia must be sign of unity in diversity
Vatican News | March 17, 2026
Pope Leo XIV encourages the work of the Church in the Amazon Region to continue along the path of inculturation of the Gospel.
By Devin Watkins
Pope Leo XIV sent a video message on Tuesday to the 6th Assembly of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazonia (CEAMA), taking place in Bogota, Colombia.
He thanked the Bishops, clergy, consecrated religious, and lay faithful for attending this “privileged time of listening to the Holy Spirit in order to discern the path of the communities rooted in that region.”
Recalling people’s material and spiritual struggles in the Amazonia, the Pope expressed his closeness to all those whom the Church accompanies.
He encouraged the ecclesial assembly in its mission to formulate Synodal Pastoral Horizons to guide local Churches forward.
Pope Leo drew on the image of the shihuahuaco tree (Dipteryx micrantha), which grows very slowly but stands dozens of meters tall, can live over a thousand years, and creates an ecosystem for animal life.
“This can help us understand,” he said, “what the Church desires to be: a sign of unity in diversity and a safe refuge that generates and protects life.”
The Pope invited the Church in the Amazonia to keep its faith rooted in Christ and in His love, which the faithful should frequently contemplate in prayer.
“The present context requires an adequate response to the many social, environmental, cultural, and ecclesial challenges that persist in the Amazon, threatened by situations of abuse and exploitation,” he said.
In the midst of challenges, the Church must proclaim the kerygma and the new life in Christ, as she accompanies those who suffer and seeks to safeguard creation and respect life in all its forms, especially human life.
Pope Leo upheld the importance of inculturating the Gospel in local cultures, so as to manifest and celebrate the mystery of Christ more fully.
“Inculturation is a difficult but necessary path,” he said. “‘We need to accept courageously the newness of the Spirit, who is always capable of creating something new from the inexhaustible treasure of Jesus Christ’,” he added, quoting Querida Amazonia.
In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics in the Amazon Region to strengthen their identity as missionary disciples of Christ.
“Keep sowing in the furrow that has been watered even with the blood of so many men and women who have gone before you, and who, united to the passion of Christ, have become the root of a ‘giant tree’ growing in the Amazonia.”
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| Pachamama rituals linked to alleged human sacrifice in new report |
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Posted by: Stone - Yesterday, 09:53 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Pachamama rituals linked to alleged human sacrifice in new report
InfoVaticana compiled media investigations and judicial rulings alleging ritual human sacrifices and burials associated with the Pachamama cult.
![[Image: Pachamama-e1773770375887-810x500.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Pachamama-e1773770375887-810x500.jpg)
Pachamama idols
Mar 17, 2026
(LifeSiteNews [slightly adapted - not all hyperlinks included from original]) — A new report published by InfoVaticana states that documented cases in Bolivia connect Pachamama rituals to human sacrifice.
On March 16, 2026, InfoVaticana published a report asserting that journalistic investigations and judicial findings in Bolivia have identified cases in which people were killed and offered in rituals associated with the Pachamama cult, particularly in mining contexts. These reports draw on previous coverage by Bolivian media and international outlets, citing specific criminal cases, testimonies, and ongoing investigations to support its claims.
“When innocent blood is incorporated into the rite, the phenomenon ceases to be merely pagan and reveals an unmistakably demonic dimension,” InfoVaticana’s report reads.
The report highlights a criminal case covered by the Bolivian newspaper rEl Debe on March 15, 2024. According to the source, a court in El Alto sentenced two men, age 56 and 68, to 20 and 30 years in prison, respectively, for crimes connected to the disappearance of a 25-year-old woman, Shirley H.R.A., in 2021. The prosecution charged them with aggravated human trafficking and criminal association. The victim, a mother of two, was last seen on October 20, 2021, when she was summoned to a location in El Alto by an acquaintance.
Judicial findings indicate that the woman was drugged, transported while unconscious, and taken to a local mine. There, according to the investigations, she was buried as an offering to Pachamama. The body has not been recovered, but the court accepted the reconstruction of events presented by the prosecution, which was based on eyewitness testimony and investigative evidence. It is not clear whether the burial took place while she was still alive, but it is considered plausible, given the sacrificial nature of the crime.
“Sacrifices follow the belief that Pachamama requires blood in order to be appeased, as they are a way of thanking her for the material goods received,” El Deber reads. “As part of the ritual, miners set up tables with incense, herbs, and roots, which they then sprinkle with alcohol and beer. They then slit the throats and extract the hearts of several llamas, in a ceremony known as wilancha.”
Further details reported by El Deber describe the involvement of multiple individuals. The victim was allegedly lured by a woman identified as a ritual practitioner, together with her husband. These individuals reportedly coordinated with others, including intermediaries who facilitated contact with miners. According to prosecutors, the participants received payment and resumed their normal activities, believing the crime would not be discovered.
InfoVaticana’s report also refers to a separate journalistic investigation published by La Prensa that included testimony from a ritual specialist, or yatiri. In that account, the practitioner stated that human offerings are still carried out, particularly in connection with construction projects and mining operations.
Pachamama is considered the “Mother Earth” of Andean cosmology, a divinity venerated by the Incas and by various indigenous peoples as the goddess of fertility and abundance. She remains central to traditional rituals in Peru, Bolivia, and other Andean regions.
Often syncretized with Christian elements, she represents one of the few surviving pagan cults that still involve not only vegetal offerings — especially coca leaves — but also animal sacrifices and, according to some testimonies, in extreme and criminal cases, even human ones.
Among the best‑known rites is the wilancha, in which animals, especially adult llamas and alpacas, are killed with the spilling of blood onto the earth as an offering. Another ritual involves the burial of llama fetuses, often dried or burned. These specimens are commonly found in local markets.
On October 4, 2019, in the Vatican Gardens on the eve of the Amazon Synod, Pope Francis took part in a pagan ceremony featuring Pachamama statues depicting nude, pregnant women and ritual dances. The pope “blessed” a statue. The statues were displayed in the church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, near the Vatican, and carried in procession to St. Peter’s Basilica, causing a serious scandal among Catholics.
On October 21, 2019, some Catholic laymen took three statues from the church and threw them into the Tiber River. On the following October 25, Francis publicly apologized for the incident: “As the bishop of the Diocese of Rome, I ask forgiveness from the people who were offended by this act.”
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| Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange: The Predominate Fault |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-17-2026, 09:21 AM - Forum: Resources Online
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THE PREDOMINATE FAULT
Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat, 1948
AFTER treating of the principal sins to be avoided and of their roots and consequences to be mortified, it is fitting that we discuss in a special way the predominant fault that exists in each of us. That we may proceed with order, we must first see in what this fault consists, then how to recognize or discern it, and lastly how to combat it.
DEFINITION OF THE PREDOMINANT FAULT
The predominant fault is the defect in us that tends to prevail over the others, and thereby over our manner of feeling, judging, sympathizing, willing, and acting. It is a defect that has in each of us an intimate relation to our individual temperament. [1] There are temperaments inclined to effeminacy, indolence, sloth, gluttony, and sensuality. Others are inclined especially to anger and pride. We do not all climb the same slope toward the summit of perfection: those who are effeminate by temperament must by prayer, grace, and virtue become strong; and those who are naturally strong, to the point of easily becoming severe, must, by working at themselves and by grace, become gentle.
Before this progressive transformation of our temperament, the predominant defect in the soul often makes itself felt. It is our domestic enemy, dwelling in our interior; for, if it develops, it may succeed in completely ruining the work of grace or the interior life. At times it is like a crack in a wall that seems to be solid but is not so; like a crevice, imperceptible at times but deep, in the beautiful facade of a building, which a vigorous jolt may shake to the foundations. For example, an antipathy, an instinctive aversion to someone, may, if it is not watched over and corrected by right reason, the spirit of faith, and charity, produce disasters in the soul and lead it to grave injustice. By yielding to such an antipathy, it does itself far more harm than it does its neighbor, for it is much more harmful to commit injustice than to be the object of it.
The predominant fault is so much the more dangerous as it often compromises our principal good point, which is a happy inclination of our nature that ought to develop and to be increased by grace. For example, a man is naturally inclined to gentleness; but if by reason of his predominant fault, which may be effeminacy, his gentleness degenerates into weakness, into excessive indulgence, he may even reach the complete loss of energy. Another, on the contrary, is naturally inclined to fortitude, but if he gives free rein to his irascible temperament, fortitude in him degenerates into unreasonable violence, the cause of every type of disorder.
In every man there is a mixture of good and bad inclinations; there is a predominant fault and also a natural quality. If we are in the state of grace, we have a special attraction of grace, which generally perfects first of all what is best in our nature, and then radiates over that which is less good. Some are thus more inclined toward contemplation, others toward action. Particular care must be taken that the predominant fault does not snuff out our principal natural quality or our special attraction of grace. Otherwise our soul would resemble a field of wheat invaded by tares or cockle, of which the Gospel speaks. And we have an adversary, the devil, who seeks to foster the growth of our predominant fault that he may place us in conflict with those who work with us in the Lord's field. Christ Himself tells us: "The kingdom of Heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way." [2] Christ explains that the enemy is the devil, [3] who seeks to destroy the work of God by creating disunion among those who, in a holy manner, ought to collaborate in the same work for eternity. He is skillful in exaggerating in our eyes the defects of our neighbor, in transforming a grain of sand into a mountain, in setting up, as it were, a magnifying glass in our imagination, that we may become irritated at our brethren instead of working with them. Considering all this, we can see what evil may spring up in each of us from our principal fault if we are not most attentive to it. At times it is like a devouring worm in a beautiful fruit.
HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE PREDOMINANT FAULT
Evidently it is of primary importance that we recognize our predominant fault and have no illusions about it. This is so much the more necessary as our adversary, the enemy of our soul, knows it quite well and makes use of it to stir up trouble in and about us. In the citadel of our interior life, which is defended by the different virtues, the predominant fault is the weak spot, undefended by the theological and moral virtues. The enemy of souls seeks exactly this easily vulnerable point in each one, and he finds it without difficulty. Therefore, we must recognize it also.
But how can we discern it? For beginners who are sincere, this is quite easy. But later the predominant fault is less apparent, for it tries to hide itself and to put on the appearances of a virtue: pride clothes itself in the outward appearances of magnanimity, and pusillanimity seeks to cover itself With those of humility. Yet we must succeed in discerning the predominant fault, for if we do not know it, we cannot fight it; and if we do not fight it, we have no true interior life.
That we may discern it, we must first of all ask God for light: "Lord, make me know the obstacles I more or less consciously place in the way of the working of Thy grace in me. Then give me the strength to rid myself of them, and, if I am negligent in doing so, do Thou deign to free me from them, though I should suffer greatly."
After thus asking sincerely for light, we must make a serious examination. How? By asking ourselves: "Toward what do my most ordinary preoccupations tend, in the morning when I awake, or when I am alone? Where do my thoughts and desires go spontaneously?" We should keep in mind that the predominant fault, which easily commands all our passions, takes on the appearance of a virtue and, if it is not opposed, it may lead to impenitence. Judas fell into impenitence through avarice, which he did not will to dominate; it led him to impenitence like a violent wind that hurls a ship on the rocks.
A second step in discerning the predominant fault, is to ask ourselves: "What is generally the cause or source of my sadness and joy? What is the general motive of my actions, the ordinary origin of my sins, especially when it is not a question of an accidental sin, but rather a succession of sins or a state of resistance to grace, notably when this resistance persists for several days and leads me to omit my exercises of piety?" Then we must seek sincerely to know the motive of the soul's refusal to return to the good.
In addition, we must ask ourselves: "What does my director think of this? In his opinion, what is my predominant fault? He is a better judge than I am." No one, in fact, is a good judge in his own case; here self-love deceives us. Often our director has discovered this fault before we have; perhaps he has tried more than once to talk to us about it. Have we not sought to excuse ourselves? Excuses come promptly, for the predominant fault easily excites all our passions: it commands them as a master, and they obey instantly. Thus, wounded self-love immediately excites irony, anger, impatience.
Moreover, when the predominant fault has taken root in us, it experiences a particular repugnance to being unmasked and fought, because it wishes to reign in us. This condition sometimes reaches such a point that, when our neighbor accuses us of this fault, we reply that we have many bad habits, but truly not the one mentioned. [4]
The predominant fault may also be recognized by the temptations that our enemy arouses most frequently in us, for he attacks us especially through this weak point in our soul.
Lastly, in moments of true fervor the inspirations of the Holy Ghost ask us for the sacrifice of this particular fault.
If we have sincere recourse to these different means of discernment, it will not be too difficult for us to recognize this interior enemy which we bear within ourselves and which enslaves us: "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin," [5] says our Lord. It is like an interior prison that we bear about with us wherever we go. We must earnestly aspire to deliverance.
It would be a great grace for us if we were to meet a Saint who would say: "This is your predominant fault and this your principal attraction of grace which you must follow generously to reach union with God." In this way Christ applied the name, "sons of thunder" (Boanerges) [6] to the young Apostles James and John who wished to call down fire from Heaven on a city that had refused to receive them. We read in St. Luke: "He rebuked them, saying: You know not of what spirit you are. The Son of man came not to destroy souls, but to save." [7] In the school of the Savior, the Boanerges became such gentle souls that toward the end of his life St. John the Evangelist could say only one thing: "My little children, ... love one another." [8] When asked why he always repeated the same exhortation, he used to reply: "This is His commandment. ... And he that keepeth His commandments, abideth in Him and He in him." John had lost nothing of his ardor, of his thirst for justice, but it had become spiritualized and was accompanied by a great gentleness.
HOW TO COMBAT THE PREDOMINANT FAULT
Because the predominant fault is our principal interior enemy, we must combat it. When it is conquered, temptations are no longer very dangerous, but are rather occasions of progress.
The predominant fault is not conquered, however, as long as there is no true progress in piety or the interior life, as long as the soul has not attained to a true and stable fervor of will; in other words, to that promptness of the will in the service of God which is, according to St. Thomas, the essence of true devotion. [9] In this spiritual warfare, we must have recourse to three principal means: prayer, examination of conscience, and a sanction.
Our prayer must be sincere: "Lord, show me the principal obstacle to my sanctification, the one that hinders me from profiting by graces and also by the exterior difficulties that would work to the good of my soul if I had greater recourse to Thee when they arise." The Saints went so far as to say, as St. Louis Bertrand did: "Lord, here burn, here cut, and dry up in me all that hinders me from going to Thee, that Thou mayest spare me in eternity." Blessed Nicholas of Flue used to pray: "Lord, take from me everything that hinders me from going to Thee. Give me all that will lead me to Thee. Take me from myself and give me to Thyself."
This prayer does not dispense us from self-examination; on the contrary, it leads to it.
And, as St. Ignatius says, it is especially suitable for beginners to write down each week the number of times they have yielded to their predominant fault which seeks to reign in them like a despot. It is easier to laugh fruitlessly at this method than to apply it fruitfully. If we keep track of the money we spend and receive, it is still more useful to know what we lose and what we gain from the spiritual point of view for eternity.
It is also highly proper to impose a sanction, or penance, on ourselves each time we fall into this defect. This penance may take the form of a prayer, a moment of silence, an exterior or an interior mortification. It makes reparation for the fault and satisfaction for the penalty due it. At the same time we acquire more circumspection for the future. Thus many persons have cured themselves of the habit of cursing by imposing on themselves the obligation of giving an alms in reparation each time they fail.
Before conquering our predominant fault, our virtues are often, to speak more properly, natural good inclinations rather than true and solid virtues that have taken root in us. Prior to victory over this fault, the fountain of graces is not yet adequately opened on our soul, for we still seek ourselves too much and do not live sufficiently for God.
In addition, we must overcome pusillanimity, which leads us to think that our predominant fault cannot be eradicated. With grace we can overcome it, because, as the Council of Trent says, quoting St. Augustine: "God never commands the impossible; but in giving us His precepts, He commands us to do what we can, and to ask for the grace to accomplish what we cannot do." [10]
It has been said that the spiritual combat is in this case more necessary than victory, for, if we dispense ourselves from this struggle, we abandon the interior life, we no longer tend toward perfection. We must not make peace with our faults. Moreover, credence must not be given to our adversary when he seeks to persuade us that this struggle is suitable only for the Saints that they may reach the highest regions of spirituality. The truth is that without this persevering and efficacious struggle we cannot sincerely aspire to Christian perfection, toward which the supreme precept makes it a duty for all of us to tend. This precept is, in fact, without limit: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself." [11]
Without this struggle, there is no interior joy or peace, for the tranquillity of order or peace comes from the spirit of sacrifice. It alone establishes us interiorly in order by putting to death all that is inordinate in us. [12]
Lastly, charity, the love of God and of souls in God, finally prevails completely over the predominant fault; it then truly occupies the first place in our soul and reigns there effectively.
Mortification, which makes our principal fault disappear, delivers us and assures the predominance in our soul of our true natural qualities and of our special attraction of grace. Thus little by little, we grow to be ourselves, in the broad sense of the word, that is, to be supernaturally ourselves minus our defects. We do not have to copy in a more or less servile manner another's qualities, or enter a uniform mold that is the same for all. There is a great variety in human personalities, just as no two leaves or flowers are perfectly similar. But a person's temperament must not be crushed; it must be transformed while keeping whatever is good in it. In our temperament, our character must be the imprint of the acquired and infused virtues, especially of the theological virtues. Then, instead of instinctively referring everything to self, as is the case when the predominant fault reigns, we will turn everything back to God, think almost continually of Him, and live for Him alone; at the same time we will lead to Him those with whom we come into contact.
1. Our individual temperament is generally quite determined along one line, according to the principle, natura determinatur ad unum. This is why it must be perfected by the different virtues, which will permit us to act in a reasonable and Christian manner, under different circumstances, in relation to different people: for example, in relation to superiors, inferiors, and equals, and according to the various situations in which we are placed.
2. Matt. 13:24 f.
3. Ibid., 39.
4. St. Thomas would see in this an application of the principle formulated by Aristotle, which the Saint quotes often: Qualis unusquisque est, talis finis videtur ei; that is, "Every man judges of what is good according to his good or evil interior dispositions."
5. John 8:34.
6. Mark 3:17.
7. Luke 9:55 f.
8. See 1 John 3:18, 23.
9. Cf. IIa IIae, q. 82, a. 1 f.
10. Council of Trent, Sess. VI, chap. 2.
11. Luke 10:27.
12. Sloth is one of the predominant faults most difficult to overcome. However, success is possible with the help of grace.
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| Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange: The Spiritual Age of Beginners |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-16-2026, 06:59 AM - Forum: Resources Online
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WE HAVE seen that St. Thomas, when speaking of the three ages of the spiritual life, remarks that "at first it is incumbent on man to occupy himself chiefly with avoiding sin and resisting his concupiscences, which move him in opposition to charity." [1]
The Christian in the state of grace, who begins to give himself to the service of God and to tend toward the perfection of charity according to the demands of the supreme precept, has a mentality or state of soul which can be described by observing particularly knowledge of self and of God, love of self and of God.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
Beginners have an initial knowledge of themselves; little by little they discern the defects they have, the remains of sins that have already been forgiven, and new failings that are more or less deliberate and voluntary. If these beginners are generous, they seek, not to excuse themselves, but to correct themselves, and the Lord shows them their wretchedness and poverty, making them understand, however, that they must consider it only in the light of Divine mercy, which exhorts them to advance. They must daily examine their consciences and learn to overcome themselves that they may not follow the unconsidered impulse of their passions.
However, they know themselves as yet only in a superficial way. They have not discovered what a treasure is Baptism placed in their souls, and they are ignorant of all the self-love and the often unconscious egoism still continuing in them and revealing itself from time to time under a sharp vexation or reproach. Often they have a clearer perception of this self-love in others than in themselves; they ought to remember Christ's words: "Why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye; and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye?" [2] The beginner bears in himself a diamond embedded in a mass of gross material, and he does not yet know the value of the diamond or all the defects of the other material. God loves him far more than he believes, but with a strong love that has its exigencies and that demands abnegation if the soul is to reach true liberty of spirit.
The beginner rises gradually to a certain knowledge of God which is still very dependent on sensible things. He knows God in the mirror of the natural world or in that of the parables: for example, in those of the prodigal son, of the lost sheep, of the good shepherd. This is the straight movement of elevation toward God, taking its point of departure from a simple, sensible fact. It is not yet the spiral movement rising toward God by the consideration of the various mysteries of salvation, nor is it the circular movement of contemplation that ever returns to the radiating Divine goodness, as the eagle likes to look at the sun while describing the same circle several times in the air. [3]
The beginner is not yet familiar with the mysteries of salvation, with those of the redeeming Incarnation, of the life of the Church. He cannot yet feel habitually inclined to see therein the radiation of the Divine goodness. However, he sometimes has this view while considering our Savior's Passion, but he does not yet penetrate the depths of the mystery of the redemption. His view of the things of God is still superficial; he has not reached maturity of spirit.
THE LOVE OF GOD IN ITS EARLY STAGES
In this State there is a proportionate love of God. Truly generous beginners love the Lord with a holy fear of sin which makes them flee mortal sin, and even deliberate venial sins, by the mortification of the senses and of the inordinate passions, or of the threefold concupiscence of the flesh, the eyes, and pride. This sign indicates that they have the beginning of a deep, voluntary love.
Nevertheless, a number practically neglect necessary mortification, and resemble a man who would like to begin climbing a mountain, not from the base of the mountain but halfway up the side. When they do this, they ascend in their imagination only, not in reality; they travel rapidly, and their first enthusiasm will die out as quickly as burning straw. They will believe that they have a knowledge of spiritual things and will abandon them after having barely examined them superficially. This is, alas, frequently the case.
If, on the contrary, the beginner is generous and seriously wishes to advance, though not wishing to go more quickly than grace or to practice beyond the bounds of obedience an excessive mortification inspired by secret pride, it is not unusual for him to receive as recompense sensible consolations in prayer or in the study of Divine things. The Lord thus conquers his sensibility, since he still lives chiefly by it. Sensible grace, so called because it reacts on the sensibility, turns it from dangerous things and draws it toward our Lord and His holy Mother. At these times, the generous beginner already loves God with his whole heart, but not yet with his whole soul, with all his strength, or with all his mind. Spiritual writers often speak of this "milk of consolation" which is then given. St. Paul himself says: "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto little ones in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not meat; for you are not able as yet." [4]
Then what generally happens? Almost all beginners, on receiving these sensible consolations, take too much complacency in them, as if they were an end, not a means. They then fall into a certain spiritual gluttony accompanied by rash haste and curiosity in the study of Divine things, by unconscious pride that makes them wish to talk about these things as if they were already masters of the subject. Then, says St. John of the Cross, [5] the seven capital sins reappear, no longer under their gross form but as they apply to spiritual things. [6] They are so many obstacles to true and solid piety.
What follows from this? According to the logic of the spiritual life, it follows that a second conversion is necessary, that described by St. John of the Cross under the name of the passive purification of the senses "common to the greater number of beginners" [7] in order to introduce them into "the illuminative way of proficients, where God nourishes the soul by infused contemplation." [8]
This purification is manifested by a prolonged sensible aridity in which the beginner is stripped of the sensible consolations wherein he delighted too greatly. If in this aridity there is a keen desire for God, for His reign in us, and the fear of offending Him, it is a sign that a Divine purification is taking place. And this is clearer still if to this keen desire for God is added difficulty in prayer, in making multiple and reasoned considerations, and the inclination to look simply at God. [9] This inclination is the third sign, which indicates that the second conversion is taking place and that the soul is raised toward a higher form of life, which is that of the illuminative way of proficients.
If the soul bears this purification well, its sensibility submits more and more to the spirit. Often it must then generously repulse temptations against chastity and patience, virtues that have their seat in the sensitive appetites and that are strengthened by this struggle.
In this crisis the Lord tills the soul, so to speak; He greatly deepens the furrow He traced at the moment of justification or the first conversion. He extirpates the evil roots or remains of sin. He shows the vanity of the things of the world, of the quest for honors and dignities. Gradually a new life begins, as in the natural order when the child becomes an adolescent.
This crisis is, however, more or less well borne; many persons are not generous enough and may become retarded souls. Others follow Divine inspiration with docility and become proficients.
Such are the chief distinctive marks of the spiritual age of beginners: a knowledge of self still superficial; an initial knowledge of God as yet very dependent on sensible things; a love of God manifesting itself by the struggle to flee sin. If this struggle is generous, it is as a rule rewarded by sensible consolations, on which one too often dwells. Then the Lord takes them away and by this spoliation introduces one into a spiritual life that is more detached from the senses. It is easy to see the logical and vital sequence of the phases through which the soul must pass. It is not a mechanical juxtaposition of successive states, but the organic development of the interior life which thus becomes more and more an intimate conversation of the soul, no longer only with itself but with God.
THE GENEROSITY REQUIRED IN BEGINNERS
Of great importance to note here is the generosity necessary in the beginner from the very first moment if he is to reach intimate union with God and the penetrating and sweet contemplation of Divine things.
On this subject we read in The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena: "You were all invited, generally and in particular, by My Truth, when He cried in the Temple, saying: 'Whosoever thirsteth, let him come to Me and drink, for I am the fountain of the water of life.' ... So that you are invited to the fountain of living water of grace, and it is right for you, with perseverance, to keep by Him Who is made for you a bridge, not being turned back by any contrary wind that may arise, either of prosperity or adversity, and to persevere till you find Me, Who am the giver of the water of life, by means of this sweet and loving Word, My Only-begotten Son." [10]
St. Thomas speaks likewise when he comments on the words: "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill." "The Lord," he says, "wishes us to thirst after that justice which consists in rendering to every man and to God first of all what is His due. He wishes us never to be satiated on earth ... but rather that our desire should grow always. ... Blessed are they that have this insatiable desire; they will receive eternal life and here below an abundance of spiritual goods in the accomplishment of the precepts, according to the words of the Master: [11] 'My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, that I may perfect His work.'" [12]
The Angelic Doctor says again in his commentary on St. John, 7:37: "All that thirst are invited when our Lord says: 'If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink.' Isaias had said: 'All you that thirst, come to the (living) waters.' [13] He calls those who thirst, for it is they who desire to serve God. God does not accept a forced service, but He 'loveth a cheerful giver.' [14] He calls not only some, but all who thirst; and He invites them to drink this spiritual beverage which is Divine wisdom, capable of satiating our desires. And once we have found this Divine wisdom, we shall wish to give it to others. [15] This is why He says to us: 'He that believeth in Me, as the Scripture saith: Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.'" [16]
To reach this overflowing spring, one must thirst for virtue and walk generously along the narrow way of abnegation, in the spiritual way which is narrow for the senses, but which, for the spirit, becomes immense like God Himself to Whom it leads. The road to perdition, on the other hand, while broad at first for the senses, in turn becomes narrower and narrower for the spirit and leads to Hell. [17]
St. Teresa, recalling these same words of the Master: "If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink," likewise writes: "Remember, our Lord invited 'any man': He is truth itself; His word cannot be doubted. If all had not been included, He would not have addressed everybody, nor would He have said: 'Let all men come, for they will lose nothing by it, and I will give to drink to those I think fit for it.' But as He said unconditionally: 'If any man thirst, let him come to Me,' I feel sure that, unless they stop halfway, none will fail to drink of this living water. May our Lord, Who has promised to grant it us, give us grace to seek it as we ought, for His Own sake." [18] In the same chapter the Saint says: "When God gives you this water, sisters, this comparison will please you, and you will understand, as those do who drink of it, how genuine love of God that is powerful and freed from earthly dross rises above mortal things and is sovereign over all the elements of this world. ... Our souls are so dear to Him that He prevents their running into danger while He is bestowing this grace on them. He at once calls them to His side, and in a single instant shows them more truths and gives them a clearer knowledge of the nothingness of all things than we could gain for ourselves in many years." In chapter 21, the Saint adds: "Let us return to speak of those who wish to travel by this path to the very end, and to the fount itself, where they will drink of the water of life. Although there are books written on the subject, yet I do not think it will be waste of time to speak of it here. How must one begin? I maintain that this is the chief point; in fact, that everything depends on people having a great and a most resolute determination never to halt until they reach their journey's end, happen what may, whatever the consequences are, cost what it will, let who will blame them, whether they reach the goal or die on the road, or lose heart to bear the trials they encounter, or the earth itself goes to pieces beneath their feet."
St. John of the Cross expresses himself in like manner in the prologue of The Ascent of Mount Carmel and in The Living Flame of Love. [19]
The generosity of which all these great Saints speak in the quotations given is none other than the virtue of magnanimity; but it is no longer only that described by Aristotle; it is infused Christian magnanimity described by St. Thomas in IIa IIae, q. 129 of the Summa.
The magnanimous man, says the Saint, seeks great things worthy of honor, but he considers that honors themselves are practically nothing. [20] He does not let himself be exalted by prosperity or cast down by difficulties. Is there anything greater on earth than genuine Christian perfection? The magnanimous man dreads neither obstacles nor critics nor scorn, if they must be borne for a great cause. He does not allow himself to be at all intimidated by free-thinkers, and pays no attention to their utterances. He pays far more attention to truth than to the opinions of men which are often false. If this generosity is not always understood by those who wish an easier life, it has, nevertheless, a true value in itself. And if it is united to humility, it pleases God and cannot fail of a reward.
St. Francis de Sales, in his Fifth Conference, speaks admirably of generosity in its relations with humility, which ought always to accompany it. He says:
Humility believes it can do nothing, considering the knowledge of our poverty and weakness ...; and, on the contrary, generosity makes us say with St. Paul: "I can do all things in Him Who strengtheneth me." Humility makes us distrust ourselves, and generosity makes us trust in God. ... There are people who amuse themselves with a false and silly humility, which hinders them from seeing in themselves the good that God has given them. They are very wrong in this; for the goods that God has placed in us should be recognized ... that we may glorify the Divine goodness which bestowed them on us. ... Humility which does not produce generosity is indubitably false. ... Generosity relies on trust in God and courageously undertakes to do all that is commanded ... no matter how difficult it may be. ... What can hinder me from succeeding, it says, since the Scriptures declare that "He, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus"? [21]
Such ought to be the generosity of beginners. All the Saints hold the same doctrine. Christ Himself declared: "No man putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God." [22] One must belong to those of whom He said: "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill"; here on earth they will taste, as it were, the prelude of eternal life and by working for the salvation of others will inspire in them a holy desire for this life.
1. Summa, IIa IIae, q. 4. a. 9.
2. Matt. 7:3.
3. Cf. IIa IIae, q. 180, a. 6.
4. See 1 Cor. 3:1 f.
5. The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chaps. 1-7.
6. In others they reappear in regard to the things of the intellectual life, by unconscious self-seeking in study.
7. The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 8.
8. Ibid., chap. 14.
9. Ibid., chap. 9: The three signs of the passive purification of the senses, in which infused contemplation begins.
10. Dialogue, chap. 53.
11. John 4:34.
12. In Matthaeum 5:6.
13. Isa. 55:1.
14. See 2 Cor. 9:7.
15. St. Thomas, In Joannem 7:37: "All this is spiritual refection in the knowledge of Divine wisdom and truth; likewise, in the fulfilling of desires. ... Moreover, the fruit of this invitation is the overflowing of good on others."
16. John 7:38.
17. St. Thomas, In Matth. 7:14.
18. The Way of Perfection, chap. 19.
19. Stanza 2.
20. St. Thomas says (IIa IIae. q. 129. a. 4. c. and ad 3um) that magnanimity leads a man to wish to practice all the virtues with true greatness of soul. It is thus like the ornament of all the virtues. and one sees thereby its general influence. that indeed attributed by spiritual authors to generosity. Ibid., q. 134. a. 2 ad 3um; and Ia IIae, q. 66. a. 4 ad 3um.
21. Phil. 1:6.
22. Luke 9:62.
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| St. Bernard of Clairvaux: ‘Mary Is the Aqueduct’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 03-16-2026, 06:52 AM - Forum: The Saints
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‘Mary Is the Aqueduct’
In Nat. BVM. Sermo de Aquaeductu
by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
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TIA | March 14, 2026
In a sermon on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Bernard (1090 - 1153) calls her the Aqueduct because she is the channel of all the graces Christ has gained for us as the Fountain of Life. St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a co-founder of the Cistercian Order and the Knights Templar.
Who is the Fountain of life, if not Christ the Lord? When Christ your life appears, Paul says, then you too will appear with Him in glory (Col 3:4). Surely, Fullness Itself has emptied Itself, so that righteousness might be accomplished for you, and sanctification, and forgiveness – a life not yet appearing, a glory, a joy.
The Fountain has been channeled all the way down to us, its waters have been channeled down among our streets – though the stranger may not drink of them (Prov 5: 16, 17). That heavenly stream of grace comes down through an Aqueduct, not yet displaying the abundance of its source, but spilling drops of grace on our parched hearts – more indeed to some, to others less. Full indeed is the Aqueduct, so that all may receive from its fullness, but it is not fullness itself.
You have already guessed, I think, whom I wish to call an Aqueduct. It is she who, receiving from the heart of the Father the fullness of the Fountain Itself, gave Him to us, if not as He is, at least according to our capacity. You know to whom it was said, Hail, full of grace! Or do we wonder that such an Aqueduct could have been found, whose top – truly like unto that ladder which the Patriarch Jacob saw – touches the Heavens (Gen 28:12), nay, climbs over the Heavens to tap that most lively Spring of the waters above the Heavens. …
Gaze, O man, on the purpose of God, see the counsel of His wisdom, the design of His mercy. To water the ground with dew from Heaven, He first drenched a fleece through and through. To redeem humankind, he lavished on Mary the ransom of all.
Gaze therefore more deeply, with as great a passion of devotion as He wanted her to win – He who set the fullness of all good in Mary, so that, if there is any hope in us, any grace, any salvation, we should know that it spills over from her who scales upward with down-flowing channels.
Surely, a garden of delights which that divine South Wind not only breathed on in passing, but brooding over breathed through and through, so that its sweet smells might flow and overflow – the gifts, that is, of her graces. Take away the sun that lights the world – and where is day? Take away Mary, this star of the sea, yes, of a wide and open sea – and what is left but a blanket of gloom, the shade of death, and thickest darkness? …
From our heart's core, then, with all our heart's affections, with all our prayers, let us revere this Mary; since such is His will, Who willed to possess us entirely through Mary. …
Whatever you are preparing to offer, remember to entrust it to Mary, so that – by that same Channel from which it flowed – grace may return to grace's Lavisher. God indeed was not impotent; therefore, you too allow grace to flow from this Aqueduct over you, according to the measure He wills for you; for He willed to provide this means of conveyance to you.
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