30 April 2024
Universal Salvation, Damnation, and the Task of Theology
With Fr Simon Francis Gaine, OP, DPhil (Oxon), Fellow & Lector, Fundamental and Dogmatic Theology, Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, Director & Pinckaers Chair in Theological Anthropology and Ethics, Faculty of Theology, Angelicum, Rome.
What Should Be the Catholic Approach to Technology?
The recent controversy involving Catholic Answers' "Fr. Justin" AI program raises deeper questions: How should Catholics use technology to advance the Faith? Should we accept and use all new technologies without question?
5 Ways Catherine of Siena Can Inspire the Modern Woman
All Saints should be role models, but St Catherine, whose Feast is today, is especially appropriate for the modern woman.
By Cerith Gardiner
On the Italian saint's feast day, see how her influence can still impact women today.We often hear the word “influencer” attributed to individuals on social media today. In fact so much so that it’s become rather superficial and a badge given to anyone sharing their opinions and their top shopping finds.
However, if you rewind hundreds of years ago, you can come across a true influencer of her time: St. Catherine of Siena, a 14th-century mystic, diplomat, philosopher, and so much more.
Her prolific theological writings had such an influence on the Church and in politics that she was made a Doctor of the Church. Despite the fact she lived centuries ago, she can indeed act as a wonderful role model to modern women in various aspects of life, as you can see below:
1) HAVE COURAGE TO SPEAK OUT
Unusually for her time, Catherine fearlessly engaged with political and ecclesiastical leaders, advising and challenging them on matters of governance and spirituality. Her example can inspire modern women to speak up against injustice and inequality, and to advocate for change.
2) GAIN STRENGTH IN FAITH AND SPIRITUALITY
Catherine’s deep spiritual devotion and her commitment to her faith gave her the strength to overcome societal constraints and pursue her calling as a mystic and spiritual leader. In a world where spirituality can be sidelined or misunderstood, her unwavering faith can inspire modern women to embrace their spiritual journeys and find strength and solace in their Christian beliefs.
3) SHOW COMPASSION AND CARE FOR OTHERS
Catherine was known for her immense compassion and dedication to serving the sick and the marginalized, even during times of plague and political unrest. Her example can inspire today’s women to cultivate empathy, kindness, and a sense of responsibility towards those in need, whether in their local communities or on a global scale.
4) HAVE INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC PURSUITS
Despite the limitations placed on women’s education and intellectual pursuits during her time, Catherine engaged in theological debates, authored letters and treatises, and even influenced political decisions. Her commitment to intellectual and artistic endeavors can encourage modern women to pursue education, intellectual curiosity, and creative expression, breaking through barriers and striving for excellence in their chosen fields.
5) STAY TRUE TO YOUR PATH
Catherine’s life story reflects her unwavering determination to follow her own path, despite societal expectations and norms. Her journey from a humble background to becoming a respected spiritual leader can inspire modern women to embrace their autonomy, pursue their passions, and chart their own course in life, regardless of obstacles they may face.
Catherine of Siena’s life and teachings offer a wealth of inspiration for women in today’s world, encouraging them to be courageous, compassionate, intellectually curious, and empowered in their pursuit of truth, justice, and personal fulfillment.
Trump and MAGA Have Damaged the Pro-Life Movement: What To Do?
The author argues that whilst Trump deserves thanks for facilitating the overturn of Roe, neither he nor his MAGA followers are truly pro-life and calls on serious pro-lifers to either abstain or vote for the American Solidarity Party in the November election for POTUS.
From Teófilo's SoapboxBy Teófilo de Jesus
In which Teófilo explains the same and disavows the miscreants support to the Pro-Life Movement.
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| The Pro-Life Flag. (Source) |
Despite the recent Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling that removed Roe v. Wade from our body of law, the Pro-Life Movement (PFM) lies discredited because of Trump and his MAGA people. They missed a precious opportunity to establish a Culture of Life. This is becaue of Trump's nefarious character and MAGA's inability to see his dismal flaws. Trump and MAGA also have enabled pro-abort defenders to depict the PLM in hateful terms. To recover their credibility, the PLM and conservatives must dump Trump and MAGA. The PLM must be relentless in pursuing a coherent Culture of Life and vote accordingly. The alternative is the PLM's demise.
Substantiation and Perspectives
The majority of those who believe life begins at conception agree with the abolition of Roe v. Wade. The removal of Roe's legal status, empowered the states to draw their own laws to protect life in the womb. Roe was bad constitutional law. As a consequence, SCOTUS had undermined most of Roe already. Roe's removal gave back power to the states to enact their own laws in response to the pro-life grassroots. This is how democracy works in our land, made possible by our Constitution.
Former President Trump deserves our thanks. He chose Justices willing to cancel Roe v. Wade. Cancelling Roe has saved the lives of thousands of children from abortion. A logical policy follow-up would have been to build a Culture of Life in our country. But neither Trump, nor MAGA, nor the GOP were up to the effort. The prolife momentum stalled shortly after SCOTUS' decision. This happed because Trump et al had no intention to follow through.
Trump didn't follow through because of his fallow intellect and dismal character. Trump is the shallowest of thinkers. He only understands that he can use the pro-life label as a cudgel for his brand of populism. He has no concept of what it means to be pro-life. Trump's character is such he lacks the intellectual curiosity to pursue the matter. Trump's also clueless about how to build upon pro-life foundations. Trump's frequent attacks upon needy minorities show his utter disregard of pro-life values.
Trump's MAGA core followers are little better. There were many who hung their hats on Trump from righteous motives. Yet most also are as ignorant on how to build a coherent Culture of Life. Most are unaware of Natural Law Morality, and on how to argue in favor of life from that perspective. In many ways MAGA apes the Left's fondness of coercive laws to effect cultural change. MAGA believes that implementing and upholding appropriate laws, coupled with administering suitable punishments, will prevent abortions from occurring. Also, MAGA's fundamental failure to acknowledge Trump's significant flaws ensures that he remains important in our political discussions. It is an importance Trump doesn't deserve.
Abortion supporters have seized on the PLM's contradictions \to energize their people. They've claimed the moral high ground while portraying the PLM in the worst ways. Taking advantage of the public's short memory, they portray the PLM as an extension of Trump and MAGA. They want to make the PLM, Trump, and MAGA indistinguishable from each other. They want to propagate a meme in which the PLM's members suffer Trump's own character flaws.
What to do?
The PLM must go back to its 1973 roots. Removing Roe from our nation's laws isn't enough. The PLM needs to reconnect with the public by stressing that respect for human life starts from the moment of conception and continues until natural death.
This means that Pro-Lifers must disengage from Trump and MAGA. The PLM is not beholden to Trump. Pro-Lifers mustn't agree with Trump's systematic dehumanization of the poor and downtrodden. At the ballot box, Pro-Lifers mustn't vote for either Trump or Biden. Instead, voters should either abstain from voting for either. Pro-Lifers should only vote for candidates supporting the PLM agenda from either party.
Or, Pro-Lifers can vote for the American Solidarity Party (ASP). The ASP is a political party in the Christian Democratic tradition, respectful of the Culture of Life. The ASP plans to create laws safeguarding human life at every stage and promote a national Culture of Life through encouragement rather than laws.
The PLM faces an uphill battle to turn the hearts and minds of the people and build a Culture of Life. Trump and MAGA are dead weights the PLM is dragging toward its oblivion. It's time to divorce the PLM from Trump and MAGA. The time is now for the PLM to recover its foundational values, transcend politics, and do the Lord's work by making America Pro-Life Again.
29 April 2024
A Philosophical Analysis of Dignitas Infinita
Mr Rao points out how many times the Satanic U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights is quoted in this new heretical document.
From One Peter Five
By Nicholas Rao, BA
The Language of Christian Humanism
Gaudium et Spes set a tone, the document itself says, by “focusing its attention on the world of men, the whole human family,”[3] a tone reflected in the already much-discussed declaration Dignitas Infinita, which was released a few weeks ago. This tone is best described as “Christian Humanism.” Christian Humanism is characterized by what Jürgen Habermas would call a “translation” of Christian doctrine into secular terms. This involves not only the substitution of particular words (“dignity” for the imago Dei, or “values” for goods) but, more importantly, also the substitution of the teleology of Salvation history for the teleology of the historic advance of human rights. Christian Humanism presents the Church to the modern world as one among many voices and contributors in the global advancement of human rights, an advancement that has its own “path” and “method” apart from Salvation history.[4]
Dignitas Infinita is about human dignity. Paragraphs 1 to 32 are a treatise on the theory of dignity, while 33 to the end discuss abuses of dignity. It opens like the Declaration of Independence (“[e]very human person possesses an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded”). Paragraph 2 cites the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is cited again in paragraphs 23, 56, and 63. In fact, the U.N. features heavily in the document, with the additional citation of several papal addresses to the U.N. General Assembly. This is significant, because it frames the discussion of human dignity in terms of secular authorities. Throughout the document, we hear far less of conversion, salvation history, or the sacramental restoration of the human soul, than we do of “dignity” and “the commitment to human rights” “regardless of origin, race or religion.”[5] The conclusion of the document (§63-66) exhorts us to take up the battle for human rights. “The commitment to human rights is never finished!” Religion itself is a mere “corrective” “in helping reason perceive human dignity.”[6]
The Christian Humanism of Dignitas comes across principally in two ways. One is the secularist tone, expressed through a dominant appeal to secular authorities like the U.N. and even more to secular goals (“the promotion of a dignified life”). The Church presents Herself as a limited aide in a broader secular mission. We hear just once of “evangelization” (the verb “evangelize” doesn’t appear at all), and the single reference in question only admonishes us that evangelization cannot be “separate[d] … from the promotion of a dignified life.”[7] Evangelization serves the cause of dignity, not the other way around.
Kantian Dignity & Christian Anthropology
The second expression of Christian Humanism in Dignitas is philosophical and concerns the theory of dignity that is presented. The specter of Kant looms large. First, in the opening paragraph we are informed that human dignity is “inalienable” and “recognizable … by reason alone.” Grace, conversion, and the institutional Church and Her Sacraments, are not prerequisites for the cultural recognition of human dignity. This sense of dignity is rationalistic. Second, recognizably Kantian formulations appear throughout the text. For instance, in paragraph 47 we read that “[h]uman beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems,” which is more or less a direct quotation from Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Third, in paragraph 13 Kant receives the distinction––with St. Thomas and Descartes––of explicit mention as a source of “developments of Christian thought.” Modernity is praised for a deeper understanding of human dignity that is characterized by new emphases on human “subjectivity,” “intersubjectivity,” “relationships” and a concern for “free human action.” Kant, Descartes, Personalism, and Renaissance Humanism are credited with developing an “enriched contemporary Christian anthropology.”
What exactly is dignity, and how could any use of the word be objectionable? As Mr. Timothy Flanders has pointed out, the Latin dignitas appears in the Offertory of the Mass (“O God, who wondrously created the dignity of our human nature and more wondrously restored it…”). St. Thomas Aquinas himself uses the term, for instance in Question 63 (on “respect of persons”) of the Summa, II-II. Moreover, even if we grant that “dignity” falls short of the Christian doctrine that man is made in the image and likeness of God (the imago Dei), why should we object to its use as a means of evangelization? Can we not fruitfully build on the secular understanding, however vague or constrained it may be, that human nature is an inherent good?
Kant vs. St. Thomas
It is worth noting two admirable passages from Dignitas that are clearest in upholding the Church’s intellectual tradition. The best parts of Dignitas, paragraphs 55 to 60, which condemn gender identity theory and transgenderism, occur side by side with a reassertion of traditional hylomorphism (that humanity is an identity of both matter and form). We are reminded in paragraph 60 (on “sex change”) that “humans are inseparably composed of both body and soul” and that “[t]he dignity of the body cannot be considered inferior to that of the person as such.” The second admirable passage is paragraph 24, where the author reminds us that human nature, and not personhood, is the basis of what we are and what value we have. Placing the redemption, dignity and purpose of persons before the redemption and dignity of humanity subordinates our common kinship with God to the caprices of personal identity.
But the orthodox spirit of the passages above cowers under the looming Kantian sense of “dignity.” What are the features of this Kantian doctrine? First is the argument that human worth, or the respect due to human beings qua human, is a matter of universal rational intuition. In his Critique of Practical Reason Kant makes the revealing claim that the moral life cannot depend upon practical experience and practical knowledge of our environment. If it did, he observes, then to live well would require time, resources, and practical wisdom. In fact, Kant goes so far as to establish the principle that the only unshakeable knowledge we have is knowledge that is not based on experience.
Aristotelian and Thomistic ethics, by contrast, hinge on phronesis (“practical wisdom”), which is the faculty of moral navigation in a physical world of variable circumstances. Because we are physical creatures, bound to space and time, we require space and time to cultivate our understanding of the world, our understanding of good action, and our understanding of human nature itself. Kant’s interpretation of dignity reflects his position that what is good and worthy of respect in human beings is immediately available to reason and reflection, apart from both sensory and historical experience. This means, crucially, that the meaning of human nature has been available to all reflective human beings throughout history, regardless of grace or Salvation history. It means that the inherent worth of human nature is immediately evident to all reasoning individuals now, without any need for conversion. Religion is a goad (a “corrective”) to reason, but reason does the work. Human dignity is self-evident.
Paragraph 6 presents human dignity as “an original datum (something given).” “Pope Francis affirms that ‘the wellspring of human dignity and fraternity is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,’ but even human reason can arrive at this conviction through reflection and dialogue…” However, the paragraph fails to explain that transformation in Christ––transformation of ourselves, but also of our societies and cultures––involves an understanding of ourselves that has only been made available after Christ’s Resurrection. Rational reflection is not sufficient to grasp the meaning and worth of human nature. We require the historical event of the Incarnation. Nor is rational reflection sufficient even in the Christian era, without the further intercession of actual graces, conversion, and membership in the institutional Church. Dignitas Infinita is a call to rational reflection, but it is not a call to conversion. Without conversion, there can be no adequate understanding or respect for human nature.
Interestingly, subsequent lines in the declaration contradict paragraph 6. For instance, paragraph 10 correctly asserts that “[t]he ancients were on their way to discovering human dignity,” while paragraph 16 claims, quoting Dignitatis Humanae, that “contemporary man is becoming increasingly conscious of the dignity of the human person.” Both claims––that paganism fell short of perfect understanding, and that modernity marches towards understanding––belie the notion that “dignity” is intuitive or self-evident. Ironically, however, the closest guarantee of human self-understanding, which is Christ’s Atonement, is overshadowed in the document by the progressivist guarantee of future enlightenment, fueled by “a universal aspiration to fraternity.”[8]
Dignitas distinguishes between what it calls “ontological” and “moral dignity.” If we return to St. Thomas’ Question 63, mentioned above, we see an understanding of “dignity” that is much closer to the “moral” sense, a “dignity that can be lost”[9] and “wondrously restored.” St. Thomas writes of the role of distributive justice “in allotting things to various persons in proportion to their personal dignity.”[10] He writes of “circumstances result[ing] in dignity”[11] and of “ecclesiastical dignity,”[12] suggesting the Roman sense of dignitas as the respect owed to a political office or some other social role. Roman dignitas is comparable to the Greek prosopon, or “persona,” which can be donned or discarded. Indeed, this ancient sense of dignity is explicitly referenced in paragraph 10 of the declaration.
“Ontological dignity,” as characterized in Dignitas, is inalienable for all time since creation, impervious to the effects of actual sin and the Sacraments. As such it is “apart from all cultural change,” says Pope Francis.[13] “To be created in the image of God means to possess a sacred value that transcends every distinction of a sexual, social, political, cultural, and religious nature.”[14] It is this disembodying of human worth, this apparent denial of the relevance of history and culture to our self-understanding and self-respect, that most clearly evokes Kant. Kantian dignity can be defined as a respect for individuals that is grounded exclusively in reason and available exclusively to reason. Kantian persons are worthy of respect because, and only because, they possess reason. The worth of human existence, like the worth of human knowledge, lies radically separated from our physical existence and our bodies, an error that is responsible for the very gender theory that Dignitas condemns. Disembodied minds are not formed by history and culture, including salvation history and sacramental culture. Again quoting Pope Francis, paragraph 6 states that “human beings have the same inviolable dignity in every age of history.”[15] Surely it is precisely in a Christian age and a Christian culture that human dignity is fostered! Paragraph 16 seems to contradict these passages by citing the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. “The proper exercise of personal freedom requires specific conditions of an economic, social, juridic, political and cultural order.”[16] This is perfectly clear and follows the Catholic intellectual tradition.
There is much to commend Dignitas infinita, not only for its clear defense of sexuality but also for its general clarity of style, notwithstanding some apparent contradictions that have been cited. Tensions between traditional and modern intellectual movements within the Church are brought into relief in a way that will foster productive debate. However, the rhetorical dominance of Christian Humanism, especially through an emphasis on Kantian dignity, risks suggesting a future of respect and understanding of human nature that has no need for grace, evangelization, conversion or salvation history.
Photo by Joseph Corl on Unsplash
[1] “Gaudium et spes,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudium_et_spes
[2] Gaudium et spes §1, https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html
[3] Gaudium et spes §2, https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html
[4] Cf. Pope Francis, Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, (Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Pope Francis to the United Arab Emirates, 2019), “In the name of God and of everything stated thus far; Al-Azhar al-Sharif and the Muslims of the East and West, together with the Catholic Church and the Catholics of the East and West, declare the adoption of a culture of dialogue as the path; mutual cooperation as the code of conduct; reciprocal understanding as the method and standard.”
[5] Dignitas infinita §40, https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20240402_dignitas-infinita_en.html
[6] Dignitas infinita §22
[7] Dignitas infinita, Presentation, para 6
[8] Dignitas infinita §6
[9] Dignitas infinita §7
[10] [Italics added for emphasis] ST II-II, Q. 53, A. 1, respondeo
[11] ST II-II, Q. 53, A. 1, ad 1
[12] ST II-II, Q. 53, A. 2, obj. 1
[13] Dignitas infinita §11
[14] Dignitas infinita §7
[15] Dignitas infinita §11
[16] Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church §137, https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html
St Catherine of Siena, Virgin & Doctor of the Church
Today's Holy Mass from Corpus Christi Church, Tynong, VIC, Australia. You may follow the Mass at Divinum Officium.
St Catherine of Siena, Virgin
From Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year
The Dominican Order, which, yesterday, presented a rose to our Risen Jesus, now offers him a lily of surpassing beauty. Catharine of Siena follows Peter the Martyr:—it is a coincidence willed by Providence, to give fresh beauty to this season of grandest Mysteries. Our Divine King deserves everything we can offer him; and our hearts are never so eager to give him every possible tribute of homage, as during these last days of his sojourn among us. See how Nature is all flower and fragrance at this loveliest of her Seasons! The spiritual world harmonizes with the visible, and now yields her noblest and richest works in honor of her Lord—the author of Grace.
How grand is the Saint whose Feast comes gladdening us today! She is one of the most favored of the holy Spouses of the Incarnate Word. She was his, wholly and unreservedly, almost from her very childhood. Though thus consecrated to him by the vow of holy Virginity, she had a mission given to her by divine Providence which required her living in the world. But God would have her to be one of the glories of the Religious State; he therefore inspired her to join the Third Order of St. Dominic. Accordingly, she wore the Habit and fervently practiced, during her whole life, the holy exercises of a Tertiary.
From the very commencement, there was a something heavenly about this admirable servant of God, which we fancy existing in an angel who had been sent from heaven to live in a human body. Her longing after God gave one an idea of the vehemence wherewith the Blessed embrace the Sovereign Good on their first entrance into heaven. In vain did the body threaten to impede the soaring of this earthly Seraph; she subdued it by penance, and made it obedient to the spirit. Her body seemed to be transformed, so as to have no life of its own, but only that of the soul. The Blessed Sacrament was frequently the only food she took for weeks together. So complete was her union with Christ that she received the impress of the sacred Stigmata, and, with them, the most excruciating pain.
And yet, in the midst of all these supernatural favors, Catharine felt the keenest interest in the necessities of others. Her zeal for their spiritual advantage was intense, while her compassion for them, in their corporal sufferings, was that of a most loving mother. God had given her the gift of Miracles, and she was lavish in using it for the benefit of her fellow creatures. Sickness and death itself were obedient to her command; and the prodigies witnessed at the beginning of the Church were again wrought by the humble Saint of Siena.
Her communings with God began when she was quite a child, and her ecstasies were almost without interruption. She frequently saw our Risen Jesus, who never left her without having honored her, either with a great consolation, or with a heavy cross. A profound knowledge of the mysteries of our holy faith was another of the extraordinary graces bestowed upon her. So eminent, indeed, was the heavenly wisdom granted her by God that she, who had received no education, used to dictate the most sublime writings, wherein she treats of spiritual things with a clearness and eloquence which human genius could never attain to, and with a certain indescribable unction which no reader can resist.
But God would not permit such a treasure as this to lie buried in a little town of Italy. The Saints are the supports of the Church; and though their influence be generally hidden, yet, at times, it is open and visible, and men then learn what the instruments are which God uses for imparting blessings to a world that would seem to deserve little else besides chastisement. The great question, at the close of the 14th Century was the restoring to the Holy City the privilege of having within its walls the Vicar of Christ, who, for sixty years, had been absent from his See. One saintly soul, by merits and prayers known to heaven alone, might have brought about this happy event, after which the whole Church was longing; but God would have it done by a visible agency, and in the most public manner. In the name of the widowed Rome—in the name of her own and the Church’s Spouse—Catharine crossed the Alps, and sought an interview with the Pontiff, who had not so much as seen Rome. The Prophetess respectfully reminded him of his duty; and in proof of her mission being from God, she tells him of a secret which was known to himself alone. Gregory XI could no longer resist; and the Eternal City welcomed its Pastor and Father. But at the Pontiff’s death, a frightful schism, the forerunner of greater evils to follow, broke out in the Church. Catharine, even to her last hour, was untiring in her endeavors to quell the storm. Having lived the same number of years as our Savior had done, she breathed forth her most pure soul into the hands of her God, and went to continue, in heaven, her ministry of intercession for the Church she had loved so much on earth, and for souls redeemed in the precious Blood of her Divine Spouse.
Our Risen Jesus, who took her to her eternal reward during the Season of Easter, granted her while she was living on earth, a favor, which we mention here, as being appropriate to the mystery we are now celebrating. He, one day, appeared to her, having with him his Blessed Mother. Mary Magdalene—she that announced the Resurrection to the Apostles—accompanied the Son and the Mother. Catharine’s heart was overpowered with emotion at this visit. After looking for some time upon Jesus and his holy Mother, her eyes rested on Magdalene, whose happiness she both saw and envied. Jesus spoke these words to her: “My beloved! I give her to thee, to be thy mother. Address thyself to her, henceforth, with all confidence. I give her special charge of thee.” From that day forward, Catharine had the most filial love for Magdalene, and called her by no other name than that of Mother.
Let us now read the beautiful, but too brief, account of our Saint’s Life, as given in the Liturgy.
Catharine, a Virgin of Siena, was born of pious parents. She asked for and obtained the Dominican habit, such as it is worn by the Sisters of Penance. Her abstinence was extraordinary, and her manner of living most mortified. She was once known to have fasted, without receiving anything but the Blessed Sacrament, from Ash Wednesday to Ascension Day. She had very frequent contests with the wicked spirits, who attacked her in divers ways. She suffered much from fever, and other bodily ailments. Her reputation for sanctity was so great, that there were brought to her, from all parts, persons who were sick or tormented by the devil. She, in the name of Christ, healed such as were afflicted with malady or fever, and drove the devils from the bodies of them that were possessed.
Being once at Pisa, on a Sunday, and having received the Bread of heaven, she was rapt in an ecstasy. She saw our crucified Lord approaching to her. He was encircled with a great light, and from his five Wounds there came rays, which fell upon the five corresponding parts of Catharine’s body. Being aware of the favor bestowed upon her, she besought our Lord that the stigmata might not be visible. The rays immediately changed from the color of blood into one of gold, and passed, under the form of a bright light, to the hands, feet, and heart of the Saint. So violent was the pain left by the wounds, that it seemed to her as though she must soon have died, had not God diminished it. Thus our most loving Lord added favor to favor, by permitting her to feel the smart of the wounds, and yet removing their appearance. The servant of God related what had happened to her to Raymund, her Confessor. Hence, when the devotion of the Faithful gave a representation of this miracle, they painted, on the pictures of St. Catharine, bright rays coming from the five stigmata she received.
Her learning was not acquired, but infused. Theologians proposed to her the most difficult questions of divinity, and received satisfactory answers. No one ever approached her, who did not go away a better man. She reconciled many that were at deadly enmity with one another. She visited Pope Gregory XI (who was then at Avignon), in order to bring about the reconciliation of the Florentines, who were under an interdict on account of their having formed a league against the Holy See. She told the Pontiff that there had been revealed to her the vow which he, Gregory, had made of going to Rome—a vow which was known to God alone. It was through her entreaty, that the Pope began to plan measures for taking possession of his See of Rome, which he did soon after. Such was the esteem in which she was held by Gregory, and by Urban VI, his successor, that she was sent by them on several embassies. At length, after a life spent in the exercise of the sublimest virtues, and after gaining great reputation on account of her prophecies and many miracles, she passed hence to her divine Spouse, when she was about the age of three and thirty. She was canonized by Pius II.
Pope Pius II, one of the glories of Siena, composed the two following Hymns, in honor of his saintly and illustrious fellow-citizen. They form part of the Office of St. Catharine of Siena, in the Dominican Breviary.
Carry up to heaven, O holy virgin Catharine! these canticles of praise, which we, gladdened as we are by thy feast, sing thus in thine honor.
If they are unworthy of thine acceptance, pardon us, we beseech thee. Nay, we own, O glorious Saint! that we are not equal to the task we have undertaken.
But who is he, that could worthily praise such a Saint as this? Is there, in the wide world, a poet that could write an ode immortal enough for this heroine, whom no enemy could vanquish.
O Catharine! illustrious example of all that is noble! thou wast rich in virtue and wisdom; and with the riches of thy temperance, fortitude, piety, justice and prudence, thou ascendedst into heaven.
Who has not heard of thy glorious virtues and deeds, which were never surpassed in this world? Thy compassions for the sufferings of Christ stamped thee with the impress of his wounds.
Bravely despising the vain grandeurs of this short, mournful, and miserable life, which abounds with every evil, thy ambition was for heaven alone.
Let us all give infinite thanks to the Son ever blessed of the Eternal Father! let us give glory to the Holy Ghost! to the Three, one equal praise! Amen.
Well indeed may we sing thy praise, Catharine! for, by thy wondrous virtues, thou receivedst a triumphant welcome from heaven itself.
Yes, it is in heaven alone, where thou art enriched with all good things, that thou receivedst the reward of thy holy life, and the recompense of thy grand virtue.
Great was thy veneration for the Patriarch of Preachers, that perfect model of every virtue; thou enteredst his Order, and art one of its brightest glories.
Joys of earth, vanity of dress, beauty of body, none had charms for thee. Sin, the injustice offered to God by his creature, oh! this thou couldst not brook.
To reduce thy body to subjection, and to atone for the sins of men, oft didst thou severely scourge thyself, till thine innocent blood would flow in streams on the ground.
Thou hadst compassion on all that were suffering, no matter where they might be, or what their misfortune. Thy sympathy was ever ready for them, too, that were a prey to care.
But our hymn would never end, were we to tell all thy praises, O Catharine! whose sanctity far surpassed that of other mortals.
The savage soldiers and leaders, who were threatening the people of Siena with death, withdrew at thy word.
Oft was thy mind applied, with all its power, to the study of sacred things: and thy letters, teeming with wisdom and elegance, are still treasured in some of our richest cities.
Thou excelledst in the power of reclaiming sinners, and persuading all to follow what was right. Thus didst thou speak to them: “Virtue alone can make man happy.”
Far from fearing, thou hadst a brave contempt for the dread claims of death, which thou wast wont to call the recompense of life.
When, therefore, the time came for thee to leave thy sacred body to the tomb, and ascend into heaven, thou gavest lessons of consolation to them that stood weeping around thee.
And having adored the Body of Christ, and received, amidst abundant tears of devotion, the saving Host, thy last words were instructions to all how to lead a holy life.
Let us all give infinite thanks to the Son ever blessed of the Eternal Father! let us give glory to the Holy Ghost! to the Three, one equal praise! Amen.
Holy Church, filled as she now is with the joy of her Jesus’ Resurrection, addresses herself to thee, O Catharine, who followest the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. (Apocalypse 14:4) Living in this exile, where it is only at intervals that she enjoys his presence, she says to thee: Hast thou seen Him, whom my soul loveth? (Song of Solomon 3:3) Thou art his Spouse; so is she: but there are no veils, no separation, for thee; whereas, for her, the enjoyment is at rare and brief periods, and, even so, there are clouds that dim the lovely Light. What a life was thine, O Catharine! uniting in itself the keenest compassion for the Sufferings of Jesus, and an intense happiness by the share he gave thee of his glorified life. We might take thee as our guide both to the mournful mysteries of Calvary, and to the glad splendors of the Resurrection. It is these second that we are now respectfully celebrating: oh! speak to us of our Risen Jesus. Is it not He that gave thee the nuptial ring, with its matchless diamond set amidst four precious gems? The bright rays, which gleam from thy stigmata, tell us, that when he espoused thee to himself, thou sawest him all resplendent with the beauty of his glorious Wounds. Daughter of Magdalene! like her, thou art a messenger of the Resurrection; and when thy last Pasch comes — the Pasch of thy thirty-third year — thou goest to heaven, to keep it for eternity. O zealous lover of souls! love them more than ever, now that thou art in the palace of the King, our God. We, too, are in the Pasch, in the New Life; intercede for us, that the life of Jesus may never die within us, but may go on, strengthening its power and growth, by our loving him with an ardor like thine own.
Obtain for us, great Saint, something of the filial devotedness thou hadst for holy Mother Church, and which prompted thee to do such glorious things! Her sorrows and her joys were thine; for there can be no love for Jesus, where there is none for his Spouse: and is it not through her that he gives us all his gifts? Oh, yes! we, too, wish to love this Mother of ours; we will never be ashamed to own ourselves as her children! we will defend her against her enemies; we will do everything that lies in our power to win others to acknowledge, love, and be devoted to her.
Our God used thee as his instrument, O humble Virgin, for bringing back the Roman Pontiff to his See. Thou wast stronger than the powers of this earth, which would fain have prolonged an absence disastrous to the Church. The relics of Peter in the Vatican, of Paul on the Ostian Way, of Lawrence and Sebastian, of Cecily and Agnes, exulted in their glorious Tombs, when Gregory entered with triumph into the Holy City. It was through thee, O Catharine, that a ruinous captivity of seventy years’ duration was brought, on that day, to a close, and that Rome recovered her glory and her life. In these our days, hell has changed its plan of destruction: men are striving to deprive of its Pontiff-King the City, which was chosen by Peter as the See where the Vicar of Christ should reign to the end of the world. Is this design of God, this design which was so dear to thee, O Catharine! — is it now to be frustrated? Oh! beseech him to forbid a sacrilege, which would scandalize the weak, and make the impious blaspheme in their success. Come speedily to our aid! — and through thy Divine Spouse, in his just anger, permit us to suffer these humiliations, pray that, at least they may be shortened.
Pray, too, for unhappy Italy, which was so dear to thee, and which is so justly proud of its Saint of Siena. Impiety and heresy are now permitted to run wild through the land; the name of thy Spouse is blasphemed; the people are taught to love error, and to hate what they had hitherto venerated; the Church is insulted and robbed; Faith has long since been weakened, but now its very existence is imperilled. Intercede for thy unfortunate country, dear Saint! oh! surely, it is time to come to her assistance, and rescue her from the hands of her enemies. The whole Church hopes in thy effecting the deliverance of this her illustrious province: delay not, but calm the storm which seems to threaten a universal wreck!
Tuesday of the Fifth Week After Easter
From Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year
℣. In thy resurrection, Christ, alleluia.
℟. Let heaven and earth rejoice, alleluia.
The third Sacrament—the Holy Eucharist—is so intimately connected with our Redeemer’s Passion that its institution could not be deferred till the Resurrection had taken place. On Maundy Thursday, we honored the solemn act whereby our Jesus prepared for the morrow’s sacrifice, by instituting the mystery of his Body and Blood, which are really immolated in the Eucharistic Supper. The Apostles were not only admitted, as all future generations were to be, to partake of the Divine Food, which giveth life to the world, (John 6:33) but they moreover received power from Jesus, the Priest forever, (Psalms 109:4) to do what he himself had just done. The great Mystery was inaugurated; the new Priesthood was instituted: and now that Jesus is risen from the dead, he makes known to his Apostles the whole importance of the gift bestowed upon mankind at the Last Supper; he bids them begin the exercise of the sublime power, conferred on them, as soon as the Holy Ghost, by descending upon the earth, shall give to the Church the signal for her using the prerogatives wherewith she has been endowed; and finally, he teaches how they are to perform this special function of their Priesthood.
At the Last Supper, the Apostles were still carnal-minded men. They were taken up with the sad event that was about to happen, and overcome with grief at their Divine Master’s telling them that that was the last Pasch he was to keep with them. They were not, therefore, in a fit state to appreciate what it was that Jesus had done for them, when he uttered those words: Take ye and eat; this is my Body.—Drink ye all of this; for this is my Blood. Still less did they understand the greatness of the power they received, of doing what their Lord himself had just done in their presence. Now that Jesus is risen from the grave, he unfolds all these mysteries to them. The Sacrament of the Eucharist was not instituted during these days, but it was made known, explained, and glorified by its Divine Institutor: and this circumstance gives a fresh luster to the sacred season we are now going through.
Of all the Sacraments, there is not one that can be compared, in dignity, to that of the Eucharist. The others give grace; this gives us the very Author of grace. The others are only Sacraments; this is both a Sacrament and a Sacrifice. We will endeavor to explain it in its magnificence, when we come to the bright feast of Corpus Christi. Let us for the present pay the tribute of our loving adorations to our Jesus, the Living Bread, that giveth life to the world. (John 6:33, 41)
Let us acknowledge his immense love for his Sheep. He seems to be on the point of leaving them that he may return to his Father, and yet his love retains him amongst them by means of this august mystery, wherein he is truly though invisibly present.
Be thou blessed, then, O Son of the Eternal Father! who, even in the days of the ancient Covenant, didst assure us that thy delights are to be with the children of men. (Proverbs 8:31) Thou provest it now by this wonderful Sacrament, which reconciles thy two announcements, apparently so contradictory: thy leaving us, and thy abiding ever in our midst.
Be thou blessed for having provided for the nourishment of our souls, as well as for that of our bodies. At Christmas, we welcomed thy Birth at Bethlehem, which signifies a House of Bread. Thou wast both the Savior who was born for us, and the Food that came down from heaven to nourish our souls.
Be thou blessed who, not satisfied with working the greatest of wonders at the Last Supper, by changing bread into thy Body and wine into thy Blood, hast also willed that this same miracle should be renewed, everywhere and to the end of time, for the support and consolation of our souls.
Be thou blessed in that thou hast put no limits to our longing after this Bread of Life. On the contrary, thou biddest us make it our daily Bread, and this in order that we may not faint in the way of this our exile.
Be thou blessed for the generosity wherewith, out of thy desire to communicate thyself unto us, thou hast exposed thyself to the blasphemies of heretics, to the sacrileges of bad Christians, and to the indifference of the tepid.
Be thou blessed, O Divine Lamb, who enrichest the new Pasch by the shedding of thy Blood, and invitest the new Israel to a banquet, where thy sacred Body is offered as nourishment to thy Faithful; there do they receive Life at its very source, and share in the ineffable joys of thy Resurrection.
Be thou blessed, O Jesus, for having instituted, in the Holy Eucharist, not only the greatest of the Sacraments, but also a Sacrifice which surpasses all others; a Sacrifice whereby we are enabled to offer to the Divine Majesty the only homage that is worthy of him, give him thanks in keeping with his favors to us, make him a superabundant atonement for our sins, and finally beg and obtain from him all the graces of which we stand in need.
Be thou blessed, O Emmanuel, who, having promised to give us this heavenly Food, didst fulfill thy promise on the eve of thy Passion, and gavest us this adorable Sacrament as the Testament of thy love. In the interval between thy Resurrection and Ascension, thou didst reveal to thine Apostles the excellency of thy gift, that so we might receive it with becoming faith.
We offer thee, dear Jesus, this homage of our faith. We confess that, in this august Mystery, the bread is changed into thy Body, and the wine into thy Blood: and we believe it, because thou hast said it, and because thou canst do all things.
In praise of our Paschal Lamb—who gives himself to us to be our nourishment—let us recite the following beautiful canticle, composed by Notker for the Church of Saint Gall’s.
That they may be worthy to partake of the Paschal Lamb,
Let Christians fit themselves by holy lives.
Jesus, the High Priest, offered himself, for their sakes, as an oblation to the Father.
They are signed, as were the doors of the Israelite house, with the most holy Blood of the Lamb; they are protected from the slaughter that fell upon Egypt,
When the cruel enemies were engulfed in the Red Sea.
Let the Faithful gird their loins with purity; let them protect their feet against vipers;
And let them ever carry spiritual staves in their hands, to defend themselves against dogs;
That, thus, they may deserve to follow Jesus’ Pasch, whereby he rose again victorious from the Tomb.
Lo! the earth is come once more to life, and, by her loveliness, rises together with Christ. She teaches us,
That we, after death, are to share in Jesus’ victory. Amen.
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