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| St. Thomas Aquinas and the Catholic Notion of Beauty |
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Posted by: Stone - 13 minutes ago - Forum: The Saints
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The Angelus - April 2003
The Catholic Notion Of Beauty
Dr. Peter Chojnowski
![[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3...%3DApi&f=1]](https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.xtkkFnGtRySX8mzSuILBugHaEL%26pid%3DApi&f=1)
The Last Supper
It was during the Renaissance that for the first time the "artisan" was distinguished from the "fine artist" (e.g., Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Raphael). The fine artist was now acknowledged as the fashioner of "the beautiful" instead of the artisan or craftsman, who was dedicated to making what could be used by those who had a job to do. "Beauty" and its laws became the unique domain of the painter, sculptor, or musician.
From then until now, we have experienced a progressive diminution–a narrowing, an enervation–of the concept of "the beautiful." In fact, the only time the word is used today, mostly by women, rarely by men, is to describe things for which no other suitable word comes to mind when we are grasping at that which is colorful, polished, and bright.
Contrary to what we may at first think, the fine artists of the Renaissance did not expand the arenas for expressions of "the beautiful." Actually, the attention which these artists gave to "beauty" by making it something pursuable strictly for its own sake caused the beautiful to be increasingly regulated as to how it was "allowed" to emerge. Beauty, as in the case of the paintings of Da Vinci, had to express itself according to the mathematical laws of nature (e.g., the mathematical balance in his The Last Supper). Even though Michelangelo rebelled against this enslavement of the artistic eye and imagination to mathematical laws of proportion, he still contributed to the exclusivity of the beautiful by insisting on the unique ability of the fine artist to have insight into the forms latent in the unformed "stuff" of matter (e.g., a slab of unformed marble). As he states, "The greatest artist has no conception which a single block of marble does not potentially contain within its mass, but only a hand obedient to the mind can penetrate to this image."1
After seeing the pursuit of "beauty" first relegated to elite artistic and Neo-Platonic intellectual circles, the Romanticism of the 18th and 19th centuries enclosed "beauty" within the "moment" of artistic experience pursued and possessed by the appreciater of art–the aesthete. Soren Kierkegaard identified this type of man as one who does not evaluate actions, situations, or choices in terms of "good" and "evil," but rather in terms of "beautiful" and "ugly." His pursuit in life was to achieve aesthetic experiences that could be captured and enclosed within the beautiful moment. The life of the aesthete was to accumulate "beautiful moments." From now on, "the beautiful" was put into the category of the subjective. Rather than being a real attribute of concrete existing things, "beauty was in the eye of the beholder" and, to be a valid experience, needed to be attached to a subjective feeling of contentment.
The gradual hijacking of "the beautiful" by the artistic and literary elite ended when that same elite violently rejected the concept of "the beautiful" as imposing an objective standard on the autonomy of the artistic mind, therefore oppressing that mind and repressing the originality and subjective choice of the artist, for example, in Dadaism [see "Splendor of Form: Catholic Aesthetics," The Angelus, July, 1996, pp. 2-9–Ed.] and Surrealism. Since Beauty's exile in the last century by the artistic elites, it has wandered into the realm of the maudlin, sentimental, and the "pretty." This concept of Beauty cannot move, drive, or overpower.
Is Everything "Beautiful"?
St. Thomas Aquinas says in his Commentary on the Divine Names (IV, 5), "There is nothing that does not participate in the beautiful." What a world of difference between our modern, trite conception of the beautiful and the richness of St. Thomas Aquinas. The "There is nothing..." part of his phrase is the classical Greek idea of pankalia, the understanding that everything which is is beautiful. In other words, "To be is to be beautiful." Here we must make a critically important distinction between "beings" and "being" so we can understand the meaning and intent of St. Thomas's attribution of beauty to all of created and uncreated reality.
Whereas beings (e.g., dogs, toads, clouds, rainbows) can have attributes attached to them that indicate their qualities (e.g., "Fifi the dog is vicious."): Fifi is understood to have the characteristic of being vicious), such characteristics could not be used to qualify and distinguish "being." Being is the foundational attribute of all things that exist. Since "being" has such a universal reach, it cannot be described in any way that restricts it (e.g., "sweet," "hungry," or "tired"). On a good day, Fifi may be "sweet," but "being," in which Fifi participates, cannot be "sweet." It is immediately apparent that while we can say, "Fifi is sweet," it is absurd to say, "Being is sweet." We understand that the predicate must be more inclusive than the subject. "Sweetness" can apply to more things than Fifi. Whereas, if we say, "Being is sweet," we would be saying that "sweet things" outnumber those things that exist and, hence, have being. This would be absurd!
Even if being is not sweet or soft or round, can we say truthfully that being is beautiful and, hence, that everything which has being (i.e., everything which is) also has beauty? If we say yes, three very important consequences follow:
1) If God is the highest instance of being–in fact, if God is Being-Itself and all that it means "to be"–then God would have a new quality which could be pre-eminently applied to Him, that is, Beauty.
2) The universe of beings would acquire a new perfection, putting to rest the nihilistic proposition which says that the universe, in itself, is meaningless and without objective value. So just as there is nothing ontologically evil (i.e., evil in the very roots of its being), so too the apparent deformities and dissonances in the universe would be resolved within a resplendent beauty that shined forth insofar as it stood forth out of nothingness.
3) The perfection of beauty itself would acquire a new dignity and objectivity, which it would not have if it were simply "in the eye of the beholder." This is very important if we are to ground our description of things as "beautiful." If the defenders of the ancient Faith and Tradition are to argue for the intrinsic connection between art and "the beautiful"–if we are to refute those who switch lights off and on in empty rooms insisting this meets their standard of "the beautiful"–we must be able to rationally relate the appearance of the beautiful, of which all men are aware, to some exemplar that would reveal, in a rationally accessible and manifest way, the outline of what constitutes the beautiful.
St. Thomas and the Divine Names
The place in the writings of St. Thomas where he directly treats the whole question of "the beautiful" is in his Commentary on the Divine Names. The text The Divine Names was produced by a 5th-century Syrian monk known as Pseudo-Dionysius. It is in Chapter 4 of this text entitled, "Concerning the Good, Light, Beauty, Eros, Ecstasis, and Zeal," that Pseudo-Dionysius presents the realm of being as a hierarchy of goodness and being. In this hierarchy, a thing's degree of perfection depends upon its degree of participation in the qualities possessed (in a pre-eminent way) by the most perfect Being, that is, God.
Just as goodness and being belong to God and to creatures in a distinctly different way, so too does the property of beauty belong to God and to creatures in a distinctly different way. The words that St. Thomas and Pseudo-Dionysius use to describe the beauty of God obviate any understanding of the beautiful as a form of mere "prettiness." God is "supersubstantial being" and beauty "beyond being." When we predicate the quality of beauty to God, however, we are faced with a philosophical difficulty, which transcends mere aesthetics and edges itself into the realm of metaphysics. How can both God and His creatures be "beautiful," since one is self-sufficient, infinite, eternal being, and the other is contingent, limited, and constantly changing being? Are we speaking in a completely equivocal way when we apply the term "beauty" to both simultaneously?
The answer to this question is, of course, no. But how is the "beauty" of each similar? This philosophical problem is only exacerbated by the fact that, whereas the most immediate experience of the beautiful which man has is that which he experiences with his own two eyes, God is invisible and has in Himself no outline, nor form, nor proportion nor unity of parts, those elements which normally constitute the beauty of a thing. How can the beauty of God resemble in any way the sensible splendor of the visible forms, which so attract our visual awareness? The most obvious way in which we can uncover this shared property of the beautiful is by acknowledging the basic fact that the Beauty of One is the source of the beauty of all the rest. As St. Thomas states in his Commentary on the Divine Names (1,2):
Quote:Everything that exists comes from beauty and goodness, that is from God, as from an effective principle. And all things have their being in beauty and goodness and desire them as their end....And all things are and all things become because of beauty and goodness, and all things look to them, as to an exemplary cause, which they possess as a rule governing their activities.
Here we can make the connection between our earlier considerations, in which we mentioned the ancient Greek and Medieval idea that everything is beautiful insofar as it is, and the super-eminent beauty of God, God as Beauty-Itself. Everything that exists possesses beauty insofar as it comes forth from the creative hand of God. All things are generated in beauty. It is the formal mark which the Creator places on all things, thereby bringing order and harmony to all things, from their innermost being to the most "superficial" of external appearances. For the created order, all things are drawn together into community and fullness by beauty. To quote St. Thomas, "It is always the case that whatever creatures may have in the way of communion and coming together, they have it due to the power of beauty."2
Not only do creatures come forth from the Divine Beauty, but also they are motivated to return to the Divine Beauty by the attraction of the Divine Perfection. It is only God, perfectly proportioned, perfectly integral, and superabundantly radiant, who can impress order on whatever He creates. Nothing can escape this inner form characterizing all things. When man conforms his moral actions to the inner form impressed upon him by God, we can see the obvious relationship between "the beautiful" and the rational.
The Three Criteria of the Beautiful
How can this metaphysical (that is to say, ostensibly "abstract" ) understanding of "the beautiful" relate to the beautiful things that we encounter continually in ever more immediate and appreciative moments. How can the beauty of God resemble, in any way, the beauty of a vast sunlit landscape or the face of a beloved child? Moreover, how can we relate the metaphysical beauty of all things which are to the proportioned and bright bodies that attract our visual and psychological attention?
In order to discern the connections between these various aspects of the beautiful, we should consider the criteria [i.e., standards by which to judge something–Ed.] by which the Ancients judged whether something they saw or heard was beautiful or not.
Before we consider the three criteria of 1) right-proportion, 2) integrity, and 3) "clarity," we must identify the basic experiential fact that leads to our bodily human recognition of the beautiful. St. Thomas expresses this experiential fact as "Beauty is said to be that which when seen pleases." Such ease and naturalness in handling the realities of human existence is characteristic of St. Thomas. He makes such "ordinary" statements as, "...for we call things beautiful when they are brightly colored." St. Thomas not only reveals for us the appreciation that the men of his own age had for simple and bright color, warm tones, and brilliant illuminations, he also, refuting those who accuse the Medieval Catholic mind of boorishness and relegating beauty to the domain of metaphysical abstraction, affirms the concreteness of the beautiful and the immediacy of its attractiveness to the eye. We moderns, who pride ourselves on our "attentiveness to the real world," have difficulty appreciating the naturalness and joy that characterizes St. Thomas's statement:
Quote:Beauty or handsomeness arises when clarity and due proportion run together.... So, beauty of body consists in this, that a person has well-proportioned limbs, together with a certain requisite clarity of color.3
It is the qualities of right-proportion (i.e., the fitting relationship of parts to each other), integrity (i.e., the relationship between the parts and the unity of the whole), and clarity or splendor (i.e., the radiant and uniform color) that are so "fitted" to the knowing and desiring powers of man that there is a deep contentment engendered in the human soul when an object of beauty is encountered. Such contentment and pleasure indicates that there is some connaturality that characterizes the encounter between splendid form and the appreciative and receptive human mind. As St. Thomas states, the beautiful form "allays" the rational appetite,4 it is an ecstatic act that leaves self-interest and crabbed conceit behind in the rapturous outgoing to the form and order that marks "the beautiful." It brings peace and contentment to the soul on account of the attraction man has to what is in accord with the perfection in the Divine Mind from which he too issued. The momentary glance that "catches" the beauty and splendor of a visible form turns away from it with tears of joy lest the indwelling in perfected form unleash the heart, encouraging man to pursue that which cannot yet be attained. It is a quiet, tearful yearning for paradise lost or for the celestial vision yet to be gained.
But what is more heartening to us wayfarers than tears is the fruit of "the beautiful." These are tears of hope, for no man weeps for that of which he is in despair. Perhaps we can then say that when beauty and tears meet the essence of our human lives is expressed.
The Beauty of the Son
It is not without reason that St. Thomas treats most extensively the three criteria for judging the beauty of things in an article in the Summa Theologica dedicated to the question, "Whether the Holy Doctors Have Correctly Assigned Essential Attributes to Each of the Divine Persons?" In the course of this article on the "attribution" of qualities to each of the Divine Persons, St. Thomas states that Beauty is a quality that is most fittingly attributed to God the Son. The Son is the Beauty of God; He is Beauty-Itself.
By applying the criterion of right-proportion to God the Son, St. Thomas indicates that we are not to think of right-proportion solely in terms of symmetrical shape of parts, but also in a deeper, more intellectual sense....In the Son, we find "lightness" in the highest degree because he is a clear image of the Father. Moreover, we can find exemplary proportion in God on account of the perfect accord which exists between His Intellect and His Will. God is, therefore, "rightly-proportioned" to a pre-eminent degree.5
Integrity is also applicable in a pre-eminent way to God the Son. St.Thomas says that the Son possesses integrity because He possesses the full nature of the Father truly and perfectly within Himself. He is substantially one with the Father without any confusion of Person. According to St. Thomas, the integrity of a thing's form may be infringed by default or by excess. [The forms of things are like numbers. Any change–any addition or subtraction–confounds the nature of the species and transmutes it into a different one.–Ed.] A thing must be unified–must be one–in order to be truly "beautiful. That which is mutilated or characterized by superfluity is, for that very reason, distorted and ugly.
The Splendor of Form and the Divine Radiance
Of all three criteria for identifying the beautiful, clarity most enticed the minds of the Ancients. When trying to explain what they meant by this most extraordinary and unique characteristic of "the beautiful," I offer words like "luminosity," "splendor," "radiance," "clarity of form," or "to be brightly colored." It cannot be doubted that light, brightness, and luminosity were understood to be associated with beauty. In fact, they were the specific expression of the well-proportioned and harmonious physical object. St. Thomas states that God the Son can have attributed to Him clarity since He is the Intelligible Word of the Father, the "light and splendor of the [Divine] mind."
Quote:The Son of God, then, is a perfect image, an entity adequate to His own nature, harmoniously in accord with the Father, and resplendent with an expressive life–for He is the Word–which is profoundly rational, a splendor intellectus.6
It is the task of Catholics to free the reality of "beauty" from the artsy-craftsy constraints placed upon it by those who thought they could master it. How far are we away from the Greeks who regularly spoke of the kaloskagathos, that is, the "beautiful and good man," the man of moral excellence, the "beauty" of whose virtues shone through in the decorum, nobility, and fetching vitality of his actions. It is such a beauty, form, and clarity in the individual man or woman that lays to rest all the confusions of this earth, which can bring tears to our eyes and yearning to our hearts.
The entire effort of a true and genuine culture is to bring the human heart to these moments of transfixion. We are pierced and "split open" by the shaft which can only come from a divine and perfect Source. A Source which fears not to bring man to exaltation. A Source which knows not envy. It can only be from a Word, ever the light of man, Who has emboldened the flesh with divinity that we can expect with certainty the outpouring of grace and truth.
1. Cf. Anthony Blunt, "Michelangelo's Views on Art" in Readings in Art History, vol. II, ed. Harold Spencer, p. 116.
2. St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Divine Names, I, 2.
3. St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I, Q. 39, Art. 8.
4. ST, I-II, Q. 27, Art. 1, ad 3.
5. ST, I, Q. 39, Art. 8.
6. ST, I, Q. 5, Art. 5.
[All emphasis in the original]
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| St. Frances of Rome: Hierarchy of Hell |
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Posted by: Stone - 33 minutes ago - Forum: Resources Online
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Lucifer was in heaven the noblest of the angels who revolted, and his pride made him the most wicked of all demons. That is why the righteousness of God has given him as king to all his companions and to the reprobates, with power to govern them and to punish them, according to his caprices; which is why he is called the tyrant of hell. Besides this general presidency, he is still established on the vice of pride.
The first of the three princes who command under his command is called Asmodeus: it was a cherub in heaven, and today he is the impure spirit who presides over all dishonest sins. The second prince is called Mammon: it was once a throne, and now he presides over the various sins that the love of money makes him commit. The third prince bears the name of Beelzebub; he originally belonged to the choir of dominations, and now he is established over all the crimes which idolatry, which is the father of infernal darkness. It is also from him that come those who blind the minds of humans. These three chiefs and their monarch never leave their infernal prisons; when the justice of God wishes to exert some vengeance on the earth, these accursed princes, to this end, deput a sufficient number of their subordinate demons; for it sometimes happens that the scourges with which God wishes to strike the peoples, require more strength or more mischief than the evil spirits scattered on earth and in the air. Then the infernals, more wicked and more enraged, become indispensable auxiliaries.
All these unfortunate spirits are classified in the abyss according to their hierarchical order. The first hierarchy, composed of seraphim, cherubim and thrones, dwells in the lowest hell; they endure torments more cruel than others, and exert heavenly vengeance on the greatest sinners. Lucifer, who was a seraphim, exerts on them a special authority, by virtue of the pride with which he has the highest presidency. The demons of this hierarchy are sent to earth only when the wrath of God allows pride to prevail to punish nations.
The second hierarchy of dominions, principalities and powers remains in the middle hell. Her prince is Asmodeus, who, as I have already said, presides over the sins of lust. One can guess that the demons of this hierarchy are on earth, when the peoples surrender themselves to the infamous vice of impurity.
The third hierarchy, which consists of virtues, archangels, and angels, is headed by Mammon, and dwells in the higher hell. When these demons are dropped on the earth, the thirst for riches prevails everywhere, and there is no question of gold or silver. As for Beelzebub, he is the prince of darkness, and, when God permits it, he pours them out into the minds to stifle the light of conscience and that of true faith. Such is the order that reigns among the demons in the underworld; as to their number, it is innumerable.
We find these same hierarchies among the demons that live in the air and on the earth, but they have no leaders, and therefore live in independence and a kind of equality. It is the aerial demons who, most of the time, unleash the winds, excite storms, produce storms, hailstones and floods. Their intention in this is to harm men, especially by diminishing their trust in Divine Providence, and making them murmur against the will of God.
The demons of the first hierarchy, who live on the earth, do not fail to take advantage also of these opportunities favorable to their malice; finding men irritated by these calamities and greatly weakened in their submission and their confidence, they make them fall much more easily into the vice of pride. Those of the second hierarchy do not fail in their turn to precipitate them. their superb height in the unclean cloaca, which then gives all ease to the demons of the third hierarchy, to make them fall into the sins that the love of money gives birth to.
Then the angels who preside over the darkness blind them, make them leave the path of truth, and make their return extremely difficult. This is how all the demons, despite the difference in their jobs, consult each other and help each other to lose souls. Some weaken their faith, others push them to pride, these to impurity, others to the love of riches, others finally throw a veil over their eyes and discard them so strongly. the way of salvation, that most do not find it again. The only way to escape this infernal plot would be to get up quickly from the first fall, and that's what these poor souls do not do. From there, this chain of temptations, which from fall to fall leads them to the bottom of the precipice.
When I said that the demons in the air and on the earth have no leaders, I only meant that they have no junior officers; for all are subject to Lucifer, and obey his commandments, because such is the will of divine justice. In spite of their hatred towards men, none of them would dare to tempt them without the order of Lucifer, and Lucifer himself can only prescribe, as is permitted by the Lord, who is full of goodness and kindness. compassion for us.
Lucifer sees all his demons, not only those around him in hell, but also those who are in the air and on the earth. All also see him without any obstacle, and fully understand all his wishes.
The evil spirits, scattered in the air and on the earth, do not feel the attacks of the fire of hell; they are nevertheless excessively unhappy, because they mistreat each other and beat each other unceasingly, because the operations of the good angels in this world cause them a spite that torments them cruelly. The sorrows of those who belong to the first hierarchy are harsher than those of the spirits of the second, and they are more unhappy than the spirits of the third. The same distributive justice presides over the torments of the infernal spirits; but these are all prey to the ardor of the infernal flames.
The demons who remain in our midst, and have received the power to tempt us, are all spirits fallen from the last chorus. The angels in our care are also simple angels. These tempting minds are constantly busy preparing for our loss. The means they use for this are so subtle and varied that a soul that escapes them is very happy, and can not be too grateful to the Lord. It is not a moment of day and night, when these cruel enemies try one temptation or another, in order to tire those whom they can not overcome by cunning or violence. Patience is therefore the defensive weapon par excellence. Woe to him who lets it fall from his hands! When these ordinary tempter meet with strong and patient souls, they can not break in, they call to their aid smarter and smarter companions, not to fight with them or in their place, for God does not allow it; but to suggest more effective schemes. Francoise knew all this from experience: it was rare that she was tempted by her demon alone. He usually associated himself with others; and still too weak, they resorted to the malice of the higher spirits who remained in the air. She had become so skilful in this war, that by supporting an attack, she knew to what choir had belonged the man whose council directed it, and who he was. but to suggest more effective schemes. Francoise knew all this from experience: it was rare that she was tempted by her demon alone. He usually associated himself with others; and still too weak, they resorted to the malice of the higher spirits who remained in the air. She had become so skilful in this war, that by supporting an attack, she knew to what choir had belonged the man whose council directed it, and who he was. but to suggest more effective schemes. Francoise knew all this from experience: it was rare that she was tempted by her demon alone. He usually associated himself with others; and still too weak, they resorted to the malice of the higher spirits who remained in the air. She had become so skilful in this war, that by supporting an attack, she knew to what choir had belonged the man whose council directed it, and who he was.
When the demons want to assault an able and strong soul, some attack it head on, and the others are placed behind it. It was of this kind that they usually fought against our blessed, and she saw them making signs to concert their means.
When a soul, vanquished by temptation, dies in its sin, its habitual tempter swiftly takes it, followed by many others who lavish outrage upon it, and never cease tormenting it until it is rushed into hell. These hateful spirits then engage in ferocious joy. Her guardian angel, after having followed her to the entrance of the abyss, retires as soon as she has disappeared, and goes back to heaven.
When a soul, on the contrary, is condemned to purgatory, its tempter is cruelly beaten by the order of Lucifer for having let his prey escape. Yet he remains there, outside of purgatory, but near enough for the soul to see and hear, the reproaches he makes for him on the causes of his torments. When she leaves Purgatory to ascend into heaven, this demon returns to the earth to mingle with those who tempt us; but for them it is an object of mockery, for having failed to fulfill the mission with which it was charged.
All those who let souls escape so can no longer serve as tempters. They go, wandering here and there, reduced to giving men other bad offices, when they can. Sometimes Lucifer, to punish them, shamefully lodges them in the bodies of animals, or he uses them, with the permission of God, to exercise possessions which often attract to them new punishments and new shames. The demons, on the other hand, who have succeeded in losing the souls to which Lucifer had attached them, after having borne them into the underworld, reappear on the earth, covered with glory among their fellows, and play a greater role than ever in the war. that they do to the children of God. They are the ones others call for help, as more experienced and more skillful,
Every demon charged with the mission of losing a soul does not take care of others; he only wants that one, and uses all his care to make her sin or to disturb her peace. However, when he has conquered him, he pushes her, as much as he can, to tempt, to molest, or to scandalize other souls.
There are other demons of the same chorus than those who tempt us, who live among us without attacking us. Their mission is to watch those who tempt us, and chastise them whenever they fail to make us sin.
Whenever they hear devoutly pronouncing the holy name of Jesus, they prostrate themselves spiritually, not with a good heart, but by force. Francoise once saw many of them in human form, who, in that sacred name which she pronounced while conversing with her confessor, inclined their forehead with profound respect, even into the dust. This sacred name is for them a new torment, which makes them suffer all the more cruelly, that the person who pronounces it is more advanced in love, and more perfect. When the impious ones profane this adorable name, these reprobate spirits do not grieve at it; but they are forced to bow, as if to repair the injury done to Him. They do the same when it is taken in vain. Without this forced worship, they would be happy to hear blaspheming this holy name. Good angels, on the contrary, on such occasions, adore Him deeply, praise Him and bless Him with incomparable love. When pronounced with a real sense of devotion, they pay him the same homage, but with a lively feeling of joy. Whenever our blessed one uttered this most holy name, she saw her archangel assume an extraordinarily joyful air, and bend so graciously that she was all engulfed with love.
When souls live in the habit of mortal sin, the demons enter into them, and dominate them in many ways, which vary according to the quality and quantity of their crimes; but when they receive absolution with a contrite heart, they lose their dominion, dislodge as quickly as possible, and recover with them to tempt them again; but their attacks are less acute, because the confession has diminished their strength.
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| The Profession of Faith of the Council of Trent |
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Posted by: Stone - Yesterday, 11:02 AM - Forum: Church Doctrine & Teaching
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From here.
Firstly,
Abjuration of Heresy
![[Image: Abjuration%20of%20Heresy%20and%20Profess...ith_02.jpg]](https://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/Abjuration%20of%20Heresy%20and%20Profession%20of%20Faith_02.jpg)
This is required in the canon law as a preliminary to baptism, or, when there is no question of that (as in the case of converts from the Eastern Church), before the convert makes his confession of faith. There are decrees of several councils to this effect: thus the Council of Laodicea (about 364) ordains that Novatian and Photinian heretics, "whether they be baptised persons or catecumens, shall not be received before they have anathematized all heresies, especially that in which they were held. A celebrated instance of abjuration is that of Clovis (496), to whom St. Remy said before baptizing him, "Meekly bow down thy head, Sicambrian; adore what thou hast burnt, and burn what thou hast adored." An early German council requires the Saxon converts to renounce belief in "Thor and Woden and Saxon Odin" before being received into the Church.
Ferraris sums up the canonical requirements in the matter of abjuration as follows:--that it should be done without delay; that it should be voluntary; that it should be done with whatever degree of publicity the bishop of the place might think necessary; and that the abjuring person should make condign satisfaction in the form of penance.
The modern discipline insists mainly on the positive part, the profession of the true faith. Thus in the Ritual of Strasburg (1742) the abjuration required is merely general: "Is it your firm purpose to renounce in heart and mind all the errors which it [the Catholic religion] condemns?" In English-speaking countries the abjuration is, so to speak, taken for granted in ordinary cases, since converts are not. admitted into the Church except after suitable instruction, and the Creed of Pope Pius IV., which everyone desiring to become a Catholic must read and accept, expressly denounces most of those errors which in fect the religious atmosphere of this country.
The Profession of Faith of the Council of Trent
[From the Bull of Pius IV, " Iniunctum nobis," Nov. 13, 1565]
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I, N., with firm faith believe and profess all and everything which is contained in the creed of faith, which the holy Roman Church uses, namely:
I believe in one God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages, God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation descended from heaven, and became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; he was also crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and he rose on the third day according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven; he sitteth at the right hand of the Father, and will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there shall be no end; and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified; who spoke through the prophets; and in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins, and I await the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. The apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions and all other observances and constitutions of that same Church I most firmly admit and embrace. I likewise accept Holy Scripture according to that sense which our holy Mother Church has held and does hold, whose [office] it is to judge of the true meaning and interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures; I shall never accept nor interpret it otherwise than in accordance with the unanimous consent of the Fathers.
I also profess that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of the New Law instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, although not all are necessary for each individual; these sacraments are baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, order, and matrimony; and that they confer grace, and that of these baptism, confirmation, and order cannot be repeated without sacrilege.
I also receive and admit the accepted and approved rites of the Catholic Church in the solemn administration of all the aforesaid sacraments. I embrace and accept each and everything that has been defined and declared by the holy Synod of Trent concerning original sin and justification. I also profess that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper sacrifice of propitiation for the living and the dead, and that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially present the body and blood together with the soul and the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that there takes place a conversion of the whole substance of bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood; and this conversion the Catholic Church calls transubstantiation. I also acknowledge that under one species alone the whole and entire Christ and the true sacrament are taken.
I steadfastly hold that a purgatory exists, and that the souls there detained are aided by the prayers of the faithful; likewise that the saints reigning together with Christ should be venerated and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics should be venerated. I firmly assert that the images of Christ and of the Mother of God ever Virgin, and also of the other saints should be kept and retained, and that due honor and veneration should be paid to them; I also affirm that the power of indulgences has been left in the Church by Christ, and that the use of them is especially salutary for the Christian people.
I acknowledge the holy Catholic and apostolic Roman Church as the mother and teacher of all churches; and to the Roman Pontiff, the successor of the blessed Peter, chief of the Apostles and vicar of Jesus Christ, I promise and swear true obedience.
Also all other things taught, defined, and declared by the sacred canons and ecumenical Councils, and especially by the sacred and holy Synod of Trent, (and by the ecumenical Council of the Vatican,1 particularly concerning the primacy of the Roman Pontiff and his infallible teaching), I without hesitation accept and profess; and at the same time all things contrary thereto, and whatever heresies have been condemned, and rejected, and anathematized by the Church, I likewise condemn, reject, and anathematize. This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved, (and) which of my own accord I now profess and truly hold, I, N., do promise, vow, and swear that I will, with the help of God, most faithfully retain and profess the same to the last breath of life as pure and inviolable, and that I will take care as far as lies in my power that it be held, taught, and preached by my subjects or by those over whom by virtue of my office I have charge, so help me God, and these holy Gospels of God.
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| Explanation of The Angelus |
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Posted by: Stone - Yesterday, 10:41 AM - Forum: Prayers and Devotionals
- No Replies
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Explanation of The Angelus
by Rev. William J. Barry, 1858
![[Image: Angelus_2019.jpg]](https://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/Angelus_2019.jpg)
"The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived of the Holy Ghost."
I. This prayer, so called from the Latin word with which it begins, is one of the most popular in use amongst the faithful and it has moreover received the approbation of several Popes. It is said three times a day, morning, noon and evening, in honor of the Incarnation of our Lord. It is composed of three Hail Maries, preceded by a versicle and response taken from the words which Holy Scripture uses in describing the visit of the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin, announcing to her that she was to become the Mother of God. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary--and she conceived by the Holy Ghost. Hail Mary, etc. Behold the handmaid of the Lord--be it done unto me according to thy word. Hail Mary, etc. And the Word was made flesh--and dwelt among us. Hail Mary, etc.
The Incarnation is both the basis and the completion of Christianity. Without that mystery Christ would not be, and therefore His Religion could have no existence. Christ is the name not of the Eternal Word, but of the Eternal Word, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, made Man. If there had been no Incarnation, human nature would not have been assumed, and there would have been no Christ. What the world would have been without an Incarnate God we do not know, but we do know that it is now in possession of infinite treasures of grace, each of which is the germ of many degrees of heavenly glory, all of which proceed from the merits of Jesus Christ the Man-God. Hence all practical religion can be reduced to faith in the Incarnation and love of it. He who believes this Adorable Mystery with a living supernatural belief is irresistibly impelled by the religious cravings of his mind and heart to admit an infallible Church and the Mystery of the Blessed Eucharist. God’s works of love succeed each other in an increasing ratio; each seems to surpass its predecessor in its manifestation of divine beauty and condescension. The Law of Moses, though one of fear, was a greater revelation of love than the Law of Nature. Christ’s Law of Grace is the reality and the substance of which the Mosaic Dispensation was the type and the shadow. There are these three--Nature, Grace and Glory, and of these the greatest is Glory.
Let us apply this canon of divine action to the Incarnation. Earth was once blessed with the presence of the God-Man. The mountain winds of Judea had heard the breathings of His midnight prayer, the storm-lashed waves of its lakes had obeyed His voice and lulled themselves to rest, His feet had wandered through its fields and villages and towns, His words of peace and hope and love had echoed in the ears and spoken to the hearts of its people. But He stayed not always; He passed away from earth to His rest in the Bosom of His Father. Was God’s usual loving mode of procedure to be reversed? Were the world’s future ages to look upon the Incarnation as a past historic fact, just as the Patriarchs and the Prophets had looked forward to it as future? Men once had their Jesus amongst them, were they and their children to lose Him? Ah no! our Lord is too good. He would not leave His children orphans. The Incarnation is an abiding fact on earth, in the divine and a human element in the Church, just as there is the Divine and the Human Nature in Jesus Christ. Its divine element is its infallibility and its sacraments, or, in one word, the Papacy; its human element, its individual human members. And what is the Blessed Sacrament but Jesus Himself, the Incarnate God, dwelling with His own unto the end!
The Angelus is the prayer of the Incarnation; this suffices to recommend it to the reverence and love of the faithful. The thrice-renewed daily sound of the Angelus bell is, in Catholic countries, the signal for general prayer. From the soaring spire of Gothic Cathedral, from the modest belfry of the village church, from convent, school and hospital, the blessed notes of the Angelical salutation float out on the breezes of heaven. For a moment "labor ceases to knock with her hundred hands at the portals of morn, noon and even." Prince and people, rich and poor fall on their knees and bend their heads in prayer; they hail the advent of the Word made Flesh.
This beautiful devotion prevails to a great extent even among us, though so far removed in distance, but not in love, we trust, from the associations and traditions of Catholic Europe. The Angelus is regularly rung from our steeples, but still we do not obey the holy invitation to the extent we might. It is not required, of course, that we should expose ourselves and our religion to insult by kneeling down in the streets of a Protestant or infidel city at the sound of the Angelus bell, but does any valid reason exist why we should not say the prayer at home, faithfully and devoutly? Could we not say it when walking along the streets, and even take off the hat at the versicle: The Word was made Flesh, without at all attracting observation?
Benedict XIII, by a brief, dated Sept. 14, 1724, granted a plenary indulgence once a month, on the usual conditiins, to those who say the Angelus three times a day, and a partial indulgence of one hundred days for each recitation. Benedict XIV. has decided that the Angelus is to be said standing on Saturday evening and the whole of Sunday, but at all other times kneeling. In Lent, however, it is to be said standing on Saturday at noon, because first Vespers have already begun.
The anthem Regina coeli is to be said, in standing posture, in place of the Angelus, during the Paschal time, that is from Vespers of Holy Saturday to the let Vespers of Trinity Sunday. They who do not know the Regina each may continue to recite the Angelus and gain the indulgences. Persons residing in places where the Angelus-bell is not rung, or who cannot hear it, do not lose the indulgences, if they are faithful to recite the prayer morning, noon and evening.
The Popes suspend indulgences for the living during the Jubilee or Holy Year, which occurs every twenty-fifth year. This is done in order to make the faithful more eager to gain the indulgence of the Jubilee. The Angelus, however, is exempted from this general regulation as a mark of the peculiar favor with which it is regarded by the Holy See.
The Angelus
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to thy word. Hail, Mary etc.
V. And the Word was made Flesh.
R. And dwelt among us. Hail, Mary etc.
V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen
(The Faithful who at dawn, at noon and in the evening, or as soon thereafter as possible, devoutly recite the Angelus, with the appropriate versicles, and prayer, may gain an indulgence of 10 years each time for themselves or the Holy Souls in Purgatory.)
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| Leo XIV omits mention of Christ at Assisi, says ‘peace’ must be man’s ‘guiding star’ |
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Posted by: Stone - Yesterday, 06:50 AM - Forum: Pope Leo XIV
- Replies (1)
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Leo XIV omits mention of Christ at Assisi, says ‘peace’ must be man’s ‘guiding star’
The Pontiff spoke as though all world religions are equally legitimate while not once mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, or the Blessed Virgin Mary.
![[Image: GettyImages-2249369406.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GettyImages-2249369406.jpg)
Pope Leo XIV
Adri Salido/Getty Images
Tue Oct 27, 2026
(LifeSiteNews) — In recorded remarks to the international ecumenical gathering in Assisi, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed that “peace” must be man’s “guiding star” while not once mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, or the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“Peace must once again become the common ideal of all peoples, the guiding star for all our choices, the standard that exposes injustice, and the shared horizon for all,” insisted the Pontiff, according to a transcript provided by the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communication.
Leo said that when Pope St. John Paul II convened the first World Day of Prayer for Peace 40 years ago in October 1986, he called for the participants of all world religions to “continue to live the spirit of Assisi.”
“That was at the time of the Cold War, a very different situation from the one we face today,” Leo XIV opined.
“After 1989, many believed that globalization would ensure lasting peace for the world,” he said. “Unfortunately, as I wrote in Magnifica Humanitas, ‘an almost blind faith was placed in the ability of the markets to generate prosperity, democracy and stability. In reality, rather than automatically generating unity and peace, globalization has provoked fundamentalist, identity-based and nationalistic reactions.’”
“Against this backdrop, there has been ‘troubling revival of war as an instrument of international politics,’” he continued. “As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, ‘the accumulation of arms strikes many as a paradoxically suitable way of deterring potential adversaries from war. They see it as the most effective means of ensuring peace among nations,’ thus betraying the memory of the 20th century and the senseless slaughter of millions of human lives.”
“We must rebuild peace everywhere, not prepare for more wars. War can never be waged in the name of God. For us believers, ‘to fight in the name of religion means attacking religion itself,’” he stressed, quoting his recent encyclical.
Pope Leo XIV says “there is no such thing as a holy war,” rejecting any religious justification for conflicts around the world: “Only peace is holy.”
Pope Leo also avoided speaking about the need for the world to be evangelized, and instead focused on a need for dialogue, seemingly among equals.
“The world needs dialogue,” Leo said. “The path of Assisi calls religious leaders to foster a climate of dialogue amongst the faithful and within society, so that the language of arrogance may give way to the language of peace, negotiation and understanding. This will help to “gradually (lead) humanity away from the cycle of violence.”
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| 'Women no longer just consultative but have real part in Pope's authority' |
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Posted by: Stone - Yesterday, 06:46 AM - Forum: Pope Leo XIV
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From gloria.tv October 28, 2026:
Leo XIV gives women real participation in Papal authority.
Women continue to be appointed as heads of dicasteries or important sections within them, and these roles are by no means merely consultative, Cardinal Víctor “Tucho” Fernández told Religión Digital on October 26.
“It is real participation in the exercise of the Pope's authority,” he said.
His example was the prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life: “Today, a woman presides over that dicastery, and she has the ability to make decisions that seriously affect the lives of many communities.”
Implied Comparison Between Slavery and Homosexuality?
When asked about the statement in his new document that “no human or religious law or authority can ever declare anyone unworthy” of God's love or the love of others, and what pastoral consequences this should have for homosexuals, adulterers or apostates, Fernández replied:
“It took us 19 centuries to show that slavery is contrary to human dignity. It is pointless to go around in circles, deceiving ourselves and maintaining that the official Church was always opposed to slavery. It takes considerable mental contortions to deny reality.”
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| Holy Mass in New Hampshire - November 22, 2026 |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-27-2026, 03:09 PM - Forum: November 2026
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Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost
[Twenty-fourth Sunday & Last Sunday after Pentecost]
w/ Commemoration of St. Cecilia
Date: Sunday, November 22, 2026
Time: Confessions - 10:00 AM
Holy Mass - 10:30 AM
Location: The Oratory of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary
66 Gove's Lane
Wentworth, NH 03282
Contact: 315-391-7575
sorrowfulheartofmaryoratory@gmail.com
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