ADVICE TO PARENTS
by Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Saint Alphonsus, founder of the Redemptorist Order, Bishop and Doctor of the Church expounds on the privilege and responsibilities of parenthood as a special vocation from God. The wisdom of this holy man has guided and fortified Catholics for over two hundred years.
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The gospel tells us, that a good plant cannot produce bad fruit, and that a bad one cannot produce good fruit. We learn from this, that a good father brings up good children. But, if the parents are wicked, how can the children be virtuous? Our Lord says, in the same gospel, Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? (Matt. 7:16). So, it is impossible, or rather very difficult, to find children virtuous, who are brought up by immoral parents. Fathers and mothers, be attentive to this sermon, which is of great importance to the eternal salvation of yourselves and of your children. Be attentive, young men and young women, who have not as yet chosen a state in life. If you wish to marry, learn the obligations which you contract with regard to the education of your children, and learn also, that if you do not fulfill them, you shall bring yourselves and all your children to damnation. I shall divide this into two points. In the first, I shall show how important it is to bring up children in habits of virtue; and, in the second, I shall show with what care and diligence a parent ought to labor to bring them up well.
A father owes two obligations to his children; he is bound to provide for their corporal wants, and to educate them in the habits of virtue. It is not necessary to say anything else about the first obligation, than, there are some fathers more cruel than the most ferocious of wild beasts, for these squander away in eating, drinking, and pleasure, all their property, or all the fruits of their industry, and allow their children to die of hunger. Let us discuss education, which is the subject of this article.
It is certain that a child's future good or bad conduct depends on his being brought up well or poorly. Nature itself teaches every parent to attend to the education of his offspring. God gives children to parents, not that they may assist the family, but that they may be brought up in the fear of God, and be directed in the way of eternal salvation. "We have," says Saint John Chrysostom, "a great deposit in children, let us attend to them with great care." Children have not been given to parents as a present, which they may dispose of as they please, but as a trust, for which, if lost through their negligence; they must render an account to God.
One of the great Fathers says that on the day of judgment, parents will have to render an account for all the sins of their children. So, he who teaches his son to live well, shall die a happy and tranquil death. He that teaches his son...when he died, he was not sorrowful, neither was he confounded before his enemies (Eccl. 30: 3,5). And he will save his soul by means of his children, that is, by the virtuous education which he has given them. She shall be saved through childbearing (I Tim. 2:15).
But, on the other hand, a very uneasy and unhappy death will be the lot of those who have labored only to increase the possessions, or to multiply the honors of their family, or who have sought only to lead a life of ease and pleasure, but have not watched over the morals of their children. Saint Paul says that such parents are worse than infidels. But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (I Tim. 5:8).
Were fathers or mothers to lead a life of piety and continual prayer, and to communicate every day, they should be damned if they neglected the care of their children.
If all fathers fulfilled their duty of watching over the education of their children, we should have but few crimes. By the bad education which parents give to their offspring, they cause their children, says Saint John Chrysostom, to rush into many grievous vices; and thus they deliver them up to the hands of the executioner. So it was, in one town, a parent, who was the cause of all the irregularities of his children, was justly punished for his crimes with greater severity than the children themselves. Great indeed is the misfortune of the child that has vicious parents, who are incapable of bringing up their children in the fear of God, and who, when they see their children engage in dangerous friendships and in quarrels, instead of correcting and chastising them, they take compassion on them, and say, "What can I do? They are young; hopefully they will grow out of it." What wicked words, what a cruel education! Do you hope that when your children grow up, they will become saints? Listen to what Solomon says, "A young man, according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). A young man who has contracted a habit of sin, will not abandon it even in his old age. His bones, says holy Job, will be filled with the vices of his youth, and they will sleep with him in the dust (Job 20:11). When a young person has lived in evil habits, his bones will be filled with the vices of his youth, so that he will carry them to the grave, and the impurities, blasphemies, and hatred to which he was accustomed in his youth, will accompany him to the grave, and will sleep with him after his bones are reduced to dust and ashes. It is very easy, when they are small, to train children to habits of virtue, but, when they have come to manhood, it is equally difficult to correct them, if they have learned habits of vice.
Let us come to the second point, that is, to the means of bringing up children in the practice of virtue. I beg you, fathers and mothers, to remember what I now say to you, from on it depends the eternal salvation of your own souls, and of the souls of your children.
Saint Paul teaches sufficiently, in a few words, in what the proper education of children consists. He says that it consists in discipline and correction. And you, fathers, provoke not your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord (Ephes. 5:4). Discipline, which is the same as the religious regulation of the morals of children, implies an obligation of educating them in habits of virtue by word and example. First, by words: a good father should often assemble his children, and instill into them the holy fear of God. It was in this manner that Tobias brought up his little son. The father taught him from his childhood to fear the Lord and to fly from sin. And from infancy he taught him to fear God and abstain from sin (Tobias 1:10). The wise man says, that a well educated son is the support and consolation of his father. Instruct your son, and he will refresh you, and will give delight to your soul (Prov. 29:17). But, as a well instructed son is the delight of his father's soul, so an ignorant child is a source of sorrow to a father's heart, for the ignorance of his obligations as a Christian is always accompanied with a bad life.
It was related that, in the year 1248, an ignorant priest was commanded, in a certain synod, to make a discourse. He was greatly agitated by the command and the Devil appearing to him, instructed him to say, "The rectors of infernal darkness salute the rectors of parishes, and thank them for their negligence in instructing the people; because from ignorance proceeds the misconduct and the damnation of many."
The same is true of negligent parents. In the first place, a parent ought to instruct his children in the truths of the Faith, and particularly in the four principle mysteries. First, that there is but One God, the Creator and Lord of all things; secondly, that this God is a remunerator, Who, in the next life, will reward the good with the eternal glory of Paradise, and will punish the wicked with the everlasting torments of Hell; thirdly, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, that is, that in God there are Three Persons, Who are only One God, because They have but One Essence; fourthly, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Divine Word, the Son of God, and True God, Who became man in the womb of Mary, and suffered and died for our salvation.
Should a father or mother say, "I myself do not know these mysteries," can such an excuse be admitted? Can one sin excuse another? If you are ignorant of these mysteries, you are obliged to learn them, and afterwards to teach them to your children. At least, send your children to a worthy catechist. What a miserable thing to see so many fathers and mothers, who are unable to instruct their children in the most necessary truths of the Faith, and who, instead of sending their sons and daughters to Christian doctrine, employ them in occupations of little account, and when they are grown up, they do not know what is meant by mortal sin, by Hell, or eternity. They do not even know the Creed, the Our Father, or the Hail Mary, which every Christian is bound to learn under pain of mortal sin.
Religious parents not only instruct their children in these things, which are the most important, but they also teach them the acts which ought to be made every morning after rising. They teach them first, to thank God for having preserved their life during the night, secondly to offer to God all their good actions which they will perform, and all the pains which they will suffer during the day, thirdly, to implore of Jesus Christ and Our Most Holy Mother Mary to preserve them from all sin during the day. They teach them to make, every evening, an examination of conscience and an act of contrition. They also teach them to make every day, the acts of Faith, Hope and Charity, to recite the Rosary, and to visit the Blessed Sacrament. Some good fathers of families are careful to get a book of meditations to read, and to have mental prayer in common for half an hour every day. This is what the Holy Ghost exhorts you to practice. Do you have children? Instruct them and bow down their neck from their childhood (Eccl. 7:25). Endeavor to train them from their infancy to these religious habits, and when they grow up, they will persevere in them. Accustom them also to go to confession and communion every week.
It is also very useful to infuse good maxims into the infant minds of children. What ruin is brought upon children by their father who teaches them worldly maxims! "You must," some parents say to their children, "seek the esteem and applause of the world. God is merciful; He takes compassion on certain sins." How miserable the young man is who sins in obedience to such maxims. Good parents teach very different maxims to their children. Queen Blanche, the mother of Saint Louis, King of France, used to say to him, "My son, I would rather see you dead in my arms, than in the state of sin." So then, let it be your practice also to infuse into your children certain maxims of salvation, such as, What will it profit us to gain the whole world, if we lose our own souls? Everything on this earth has an end, but eternity never ends. Let all be lost, provided God is not lost. One of these maxims well impressed on the mind of a young person, will preserve him always in the grace of God.
But parents are obliged to instruct their children in the practice of virtue, not only by words, but still more by example. If you give your children bad example, how can you expect that they will lead good lives? When a dissolute young man is corrected for a fault, he answers, "Why do you censure me, when my father does worse?" The children will complain of an ungodly father, because for his sake they are in reproach (Eccl. 41:10). How is it possible for a son to be moral and religious, when he has had the example of a father who uttered blasphemies and obscenities, who spent the entire day in the tavern, in games and drunkenness, who was in the habit of frequenting houses of bad fame, and of defrauding his neighbor? Do you expect your son to go frequently to confession, when you yourself approach the confessional scarcely once a year?
It is related in a fable, that a crab one day rebuked its young for walking crookedly. They replied, "Father, let us see you walk." The father walked before them more crookedly than they did. This is what happens to the parent who gives bad example. Hence, he has not even courage to correct his children for the sins which he himself commits.
According to Saint Thomas, scandalous parents compel, in a certain manner, their children to lead a bad life. "They are not," says Saint Bernard, "fathers, but murderers, they kill, not the bodies, but the souls of their children." It is useless for parents to say: "My children have been born with bad dispositions." This is not true, for, Seneca says, "You err, if you think that vices are born with us; they have been engrafted." Vices are not born with your children, but have been communicated to them by the bad example of the parents. If you had given good example to your sons, they would not be so vicious as they are. So parents, frequent the Sacraments, learn from the sermons, recite the Rosary every day, abstain from all obscene language, from detraction, and from quarrels, and you will see that your children follow your example. It is particularly necessary to train children to virtue in their infancy, Bow down their neck from their childhood, for when they have grown up, and contracted bad habits, it will be very difficult for you to produce, by words, any amendment in their lives.
To bring up children in the discipline of the Lord, it is also necessary to take away from them the occasion of doing evil. A father must forbid his children to go out at night, or to go to a house in which their virtue might be exposed to danger, or to keep bad company. Cast out, said Sarah to Abraham, this bondswoman and her son (Gen. 21:10). She wished to have Ismael, the son of Agar the bondswoman, banished from her house, that her son Isaac might not learn his vicious habits. Bad companions are the ruin of young persons. A father should not only remove the evil which he witnesses, but he is also bound to inquire after the conduct of his children, and to seek information from family and from outsiders regarding the places which his children frequent when they leave home, regarding their occupations and companions. A father ought to forbid his children ever to bring into his house stolen goods. When Tobias heard the bleating of a goat in his house, he said, Take care, perhaps it is stolen, go, restore it to its owners (Tobias 2:21).
Parents should prohibit their children from all games, which bring destruction on their families and on their own souls, and also dances, suggestive entertainment, and certain dangerous conversations and parties of pleasures. A father should remove from his house books of romances, which pervert young persons, and all bad books which contain pernicious maxims, tales of obscenity, or of profane love. He should not permit his daughters to be alone with men, whether young or old. But some will say, "But this man tutors my daughter; he is a saint." The saints are in Heaven, but the saints that are on earth are flesh, and by proximate occasions, they may become devils.
Another obligation of parents is to correct the faults of the family. "Bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord." There are fathers and mothers who witness faults in the family and remain silent. Through fear of displeasing their children, some fathers neglect to correct them, but if you saw your child falling into a pool of water, and in danger of being drowned, would it not be savage cruelty not to catch him by the hair, and save his life? He that spares the rod hates his son (Prov. 13:24). If you love your children, correct them, and while they are growing up, chastise them, even with the rod, as often as it may be necessary.
I say, with the rod, but not with a stick; for you must correct them like a father, and not like a prison guard. You must be careful not to beat them when you are in a passion, for you will then be in danger of beating them with too much severity, and the correction will be without fruit, for then they believe that the chastisement is the effect of anger, and not of a desire on your part to see them amend their lives. I have also said, that you should correct them while they are growing up , for when they arrive at manhood, your correction will be of little use. You must then abstain from correcting them with the hand; otherwise, they will become more perverse, and will lose their respect for you. What use is it to correct children with injurious words and with imprecations? Deprive them of some part of their meals, of certain articles of dress, or shut them up in their room. I have said enough. Draw from this discourse the conclusion, that he who has brought up his children badly, will be severely punished, and that he who has trained them in the habits of virtue, will receive a great reward.
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Source: St. Alphonsus Liguori, "Advice to Parents," https://www.olrl.org/snt_docs/advice.shtml.
Showing posts with label St. Alphonsus Liguori. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Alphonsus Liguori. Show all posts
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Monday, December 15, 2014
St. Alphonsus Liguori on False Appearances of Holiness
[I thought this was funny:]
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Source: St. Alphonsus Liguori, "Advice to Parents," http://www.olrl.org/snt_docs/advice.shtml.
Friday, August 22, 2014
St. Alphonsus Liguori on Signs of a Vocation to Priesthood
Let us now see what are the marks of a divine vocation to the sacerdotal state.
Nobility is not a mark of a divine vocation. [...] We must consider not nobility of blood, but sanctity of life (St. Jerome, In Tit., i). St. Gregory says the same: "By one's conduct, not by one's high birth, is one's vocation proved."
Nor is the will of the parents a mark of a divine vocation. [...] "How many mothers," says St. John Chrysostom, [...] "have eyes only for the bodies of their children and disdain their souls! To see them happy here below is all that they desire; as for the punishments that perhaps their children are to endure in the next life, they do not even think of them" (Hom. 35). [...] We have no enemies more dangerous than our own relatives. [...]
St. Thomas expressly teaches that in the choice of a state of life children are not obliged to obey their parents. And the saint says that when there is a question of a vocation to religion, a person is not bound even to consult his relatives. [cf. Contra retr. a rel., ch. 9]. [...]
Nor is talent or fitness for the offices of a priest a sign of vocation, for along with talent a holy life and a divine call are necessary. What, then, are the marks of a divine vocation to the ecclesiastical state? There are three principal marks:
I. PURITY OF INTENTION.
The first is a good intention. It is necessary to enter the sanctuary by the door, but there is no other door than Jesus Christ: I am the door of the sheep.... If any man enter in, he shall be saved (Jn. 10:7). To enter, then, by the door is to become a priest not to please relatives, nor to advance the family, nor for the sake of self-interest or self-esteem, but to serve God, to propagate his glory, and to save souls. "If any one," says a wise theologian, the learned continuator of Tournely, "presents himself for holy Orders without any vicious affection, and with the sole desire to be employed in the service of God and in the salvation of his neighbor, he, we may believe, is called by God" (De Ord., q. 4, a. 4). Another author asserts that he who is impelled by ambition, interest, or a motive of his own glory, is called not by God, but by the devil. "But," adds St. Anselm, "he who enters the priesthood through so unworthy motives shall receive not a blessing but a malediction from God" (In Heb. 5).
2. SCIENCE AND TALENTS.
The second mark is the talent and learning necessary for the fulfillment of the duties of a priest. Priests must be masters to teach the people the law of God. For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth (Mal. 2:7). Sidonius Apollinarius used to say: "Ignorant physicians are the cause of many deaths" (Lib. 2, ep. 12). An ignorant priest, particularly a confessor, who teaches false doctrines and gives bad counsels will be the ruin of many souls; because, in consequence of being a priest, his errors are easily believed. Hence Ivone Carnotensis has written: "No one should be admitted to holy Orders unless he has given sufficient proofs of good conduct and learning."
3. POSITIVE GOODNESS OF CHARACTER.
The third mark of an ecclesiastical vocation is positive virtue. Hence, in the first place, the person who is to be ordained should be a man of innocent life, and should not be contaminated by sins. The Apostle requires that they who are to be ordained priests should be free from every crime. In ancient times a person who had committed a single mortal sin could never be ordained, as we learn from the First Council of Nice (Canon 9: "Qui confessi sunt peccata, canon (ecclesiasticus ordo) non admittit). And St. Jerome says that it was not enough for a person to be free from sin at the time of his ordination, but that it was, moreover, necessary that he should not have fallen into mortal sin since the time of his baptism (In Tit. 1). It is true that this rigorous discipline has ceased in the Church, but it has always been at least required that he who had fallen into grievous sins should purify his conscience for a considerable time before his ordination. This we may infer from a letter to the Archbishop of Rheims, in which Alexander III commanded that a deacon who had wounded another deacon, if he sincerely repented of his sin, might, after being absolved, and after performing the penance enjoined, be permitted again to exercise his Order; and that if he afterwards led a perfect life, he might be promoted to priesthood (De diacono. Qui cler., ch. 1). He, then, who finds himself bound by a habit of any vice cannot take any holy Order without incurring the guilt of mortal sin. "I am horrified," says St. Bernard (Epist. 8), "when I think whence thou comest, whither thou goest, and what a short penance thou hast put between thy sins and thy ordination. However, it is indispensable that thou do not undertake to purify the conscience of others before thou purifiest thy own."
Of those daring sinners who, though full of bad habits, take priesthood, an ancient author, Gildas, says, "It is not to the priesthood that they should be admitted, but they should be dragged to the pillory." They, then, says St. Isidore, who are still subject to the habit of any sin should not be promoted to holy Orders (Sent. 1.3, ch. 34).
But he who intends to ascend the altar must not only be free from sin, but must have also begun to walk in the path of perfection, and have acquired a habit of virtue. In our Moral Theology (1.6, n. 63, etc.) we have shown in a distinct dissertation (and this is the common opinion) that if a person in the habit of any vice wish to be ordained, it is not enough for him to have the dispositions necessary for the sacrament of penance, but that he must also have the dispositions required for receiving the sacrament of order; otherwise he is unfit for both; and should he receive absolution with the intention of taking Orders without the necessary dispositions, he and the confessor who absolves him shall be guilty of a grievous sin. For it is not enough for those who wish to take holy Orders to have left the state of sin, they must also, according to the words of Alexander III, cited in the preceding paragraph, have the positive virtue necessary for the ecclesiastical state. From the words of the Pontiff we learn that a person who has done penance may exercise an order already received, but he who has only done penance cannot take a higher order.
The angelic Doctor teaches the same doctrine: "Sanctity is required for the reception of holy Orders, and we must place the sublime burden on the priesthood only upon walls already dried by sanctity; that is freed from the malignant humor of sin" (S.Th., 2.2.189.1). This is conformable to what St. Denis wrote long before: "Let no one be so bold as to propose himself to others as their guide in the things of God, if he has not first, with all his power, transformed himself into God to the point of perfect resemblance to him" (De Eccl. Hier., ch. 3). For this St. Thomas adduces two reasons: the first is, that as he who takes orders is raised above seculars in dignity, so he should be superior to them in sanctity (Suppl., 35.1). The second reason is, that by his ordination a priest is appointed to exercise the most sublime ministry on the altar, for which greater sanctity is required than for the religious state (S.Th., 2.2.184.8).
Hence the Apostle forbade Timothy to ordain neophytes; that is, according to St. Thomas, neophytes in perfection as well as neophytes in age.
Hence the Council of Trent, in reference to the words of Scripture, And a spotless life in old age (Wis. 4:9), prescribes to the bishops to admit to ordination only those who show themselves worthy by a conduct full of wise maturity (Sess. 23, ch. 12). And of this positive virtue it is necessary, according to St. Thomas, to have not a doubtful but a certain knowledge (Suppl., 36.4). This, according to St. Gregory, is particularly necessary with regard to the virtue of chastity: "No one should be admitted to the ministry of the altar unless an assurance has been given of his perfect chastity" (Lib. 1, ep. 42). With regard to chastity, the holy Pontiff required a proof of many years (Lib. 3, ep. 26).
From this we may infer that God will demand a terrible account of the parish priest who gives to persons aspiring to the priesthood a testimony of their having frequented the sacraments and led exemplary lives, though they had neglected the frequentation of the sacraments, and had given scandal rather than good example. Such parish priests by the false attestations, given not through charity, as they pretend, but against the charity due to God and the Church, render themselves guilty of all the sins that shall afterwards be committed by the bad priests who were ordained in consequence of these testimonials. For in this matter bishops trust to the testimony of parish priests, and are deceived. Nor should a parish priest in giving such attestations trust the testimony of others; he cannot give them unless he is certain that what he attests is true, namely, that the ecclesiastic has really led an exemplary life, and has frequented the sacraments.
And as a bishop cannot ordain any person unless he be a man of approved chastity, so a confessor cannot permit an incontinent penitent to receive ordination without having a moral certainty that he is free from the bad habit which he had contracted, and that he had acquired a habit of the virtue of chastity.
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Source: St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Dignity and Duties of the Priest, ed. by Eugene Grimm (New York, NY), http://wallmell.webs.com/LiguoriDignityDutiesPriest.pdf, chapter 10.
2. SCIENCE AND TALENTS.
The second mark is the talent and learning necessary for the fulfillment of the duties of a priest. Priests must be masters to teach the people the law of God. For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth (Mal. 2:7). Sidonius Apollinarius used to say: "Ignorant physicians are the cause of many deaths" (Lib. 2, ep. 12). An ignorant priest, particularly a confessor, who teaches false doctrines and gives bad counsels will be the ruin of many souls; because, in consequence of being a priest, his errors are easily believed. Hence Ivone Carnotensis has written: "No one should be admitted to holy Orders unless he has given sufficient proofs of good conduct and learning."
3. POSITIVE GOODNESS OF CHARACTER.
The third mark of an ecclesiastical vocation is positive virtue. Hence, in the first place, the person who is to be ordained should be a man of innocent life, and should not be contaminated by sins. The Apostle requires that they who are to be ordained priests should be free from every crime. In ancient times a person who had committed a single mortal sin could never be ordained, as we learn from the First Council of Nice (Canon 9: "Qui confessi sunt peccata, canon (ecclesiasticus ordo) non admittit). And St. Jerome says that it was not enough for a person to be free from sin at the time of his ordination, but that it was, moreover, necessary that he should not have fallen into mortal sin since the time of his baptism (In Tit. 1). It is true that this rigorous discipline has ceased in the Church, but it has always been at least required that he who had fallen into grievous sins should purify his conscience for a considerable time before his ordination. This we may infer from a letter to the Archbishop of Rheims, in which Alexander III commanded that a deacon who had wounded another deacon, if he sincerely repented of his sin, might, after being absolved, and after performing the penance enjoined, be permitted again to exercise his Order; and that if he afterwards led a perfect life, he might be promoted to priesthood (De diacono. Qui cler., ch. 1). He, then, who finds himself bound by a habit of any vice cannot take any holy Order without incurring the guilt of mortal sin. "I am horrified," says St. Bernard (Epist. 8), "when I think whence thou comest, whither thou goest, and what a short penance thou hast put between thy sins and thy ordination. However, it is indispensable that thou do not undertake to purify the conscience of others before thou purifiest thy own."
Of those daring sinners who, though full of bad habits, take priesthood, an ancient author, Gildas, says, "It is not to the priesthood that they should be admitted, but they should be dragged to the pillory." They, then, says St. Isidore, who are still subject to the habit of any sin should not be promoted to holy Orders (Sent. 1.3, ch. 34).
But he who intends to ascend the altar must not only be free from sin, but must have also begun to walk in the path of perfection, and have acquired a habit of virtue. In our Moral Theology (1.6, n. 63, etc.) we have shown in a distinct dissertation (and this is the common opinion) that if a person in the habit of any vice wish to be ordained, it is not enough for him to have the dispositions necessary for the sacrament of penance, but that he must also have the dispositions required for receiving the sacrament of order; otherwise he is unfit for both; and should he receive absolution with the intention of taking Orders without the necessary dispositions, he and the confessor who absolves him shall be guilty of a grievous sin. For it is not enough for those who wish to take holy Orders to have left the state of sin, they must also, according to the words of Alexander III, cited in the preceding paragraph, have the positive virtue necessary for the ecclesiastical state. From the words of the Pontiff we learn that a person who has done penance may exercise an order already received, but he who has only done penance cannot take a higher order.
The angelic Doctor teaches the same doctrine: "Sanctity is required for the reception of holy Orders, and we must place the sublime burden on the priesthood only upon walls already dried by sanctity; that is freed from the malignant humor of sin" (S.Th., 2.2.189.1). This is conformable to what St. Denis wrote long before: "Let no one be so bold as to propose himself to others as their guide in the things of God, if he has not first, with all his power, transformed himself into God to the point of perfect resemblance to him" (De Eccl. Hier., ch. 3). For this St. Thomas adduces two reasons: the first is, that as he who takes orders is raised above seculars in dignity, so he should be superior to them in sanctity (Suppl., 35.1). The second reason is, that by his ordination a priest is appointed to exercise the most sublime ministry on the altar, for which greater sanctity is required than for the religious state (S.Th., 2.2.184.8).
Hence the Apostle forbade Timothy to ordain neophytes; that is, according to St. Thomas, neophytes in perfection as well as neophytes in age.
Hence the Council of Trent, in reference to the words of Scripture, And a spotless life in old age (Wis. 4:9), prescribes to the bishops to admit to ordination only those who show themselves worthy by a conduct full of wise maturity (Sess. 23, ch. 12). And of this positive virtue it is necessary, according to St. Thomas, to have not a doubtful but a certain knowledge (Suppl., 36.4). This, according to St. Gregory, is particularly necessary with regard to the virtue of chastity: "No one should be admitted to the ministry of the altar unless an assurance has been given of his perfect chastity" (Lib. 1, ep. 42). With regard to chastity, the holy Pontiff required a proof of many years (Lib. 3, ep. 26).
From this we may infer that God will demand a terrible account of the parish priest who gives to persons aspiring to the priesthood a testimony of their having frequented the sacraments and led exemplary lives, though they had neglected the frequentation of the sacraments, and had given scandal rather than good example. Such parish priests by the false attestations, given not through charity, as they pretend, but against the charity due to God and the Church, render themselves guilty of all the sins that shall afterwards be committed by the bad priests who were ordained in consequence of these testimonials. For in this matter bishops trust to the testimony of parish priests, and are deceived. Nor should a parish priest in giving such attestations trust the testimony of others; he cannot give them unless he is certain that what he attests is true, namely, that the ecclesiastic has really led an exemplary life, and has frequented the sacraments.
And as a bishop cannot ordain any person unless he be a man of approved chastity, so a confessor cannot permit an incontinent penitent to receive ordination without having a moral certainty that he is free from the bad habit which he had contracted, and that he had acquired a habit of the virtue of chastity.
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Source: St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Dignity and Duties of the Priest, ed. by Eugene Grimm (New York, NY), http://wallmell.webs.com/LiguoriDignityDutiesPriest.pdf, chapter 10.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
The Mass in Relation to the Liturgical Year and Salvation History
The Mass considered in its Relations to the Life of Jesus Christ, to the Ecclesiastical Year, and to the Universal History of Religion
By the Rev. Leop. J. Dujardin. C.SS.R.
The civil year is an abridgment of human life in which one natural discerns four seasons; the day is an abridgment of the year. So also, the ecclesiastical year, which begins with Advent, is an abridgment of the principal mysteries of religion; and one may see in the ceremonies of the Mass an abridgment of the ecclesiastical year.
I. Preparation.
The altar is erected, lit up by burning candles, adorned with verdure and flowers, and other decorations; legions of angels range themselves around it: think here of the creation of the world.
Sacred relics are deposited there; the saints descend from heaven and join the angels in order to adore our divine Savior: think of the redemption of the world.
2. The Beginning of the Mass.
The priest arrives at the altar and inclines profoundly: the first man, opening his eyes to the light, pays homage to his Creator.
The priest ascends the altar: man takes possession of the empire that God has prepared for him.
The priest goes to open the Missal, and returns to the middle of the altar, where he again inclines: man receives the law from God and promises to obey him.
The priest descends from the altar: the fall of man.
The priest humbles himself and strikes his breast, then he stands erect, and ascends again the altar while praying: man acknowledges his fault; God has compassion on him and promises him a Savior; he is consoled, hopes, and prays while working. Let us too, with the priest, remember our sins, humble ourselves, and pray with confidence.
3. Kyrie Eleison.
The patriarchs and the prophets sighed for the coming of the Messiah during four thousand years; this is perfectly expressed by the nine-fold repetition of this ardent prayer. Let us enter into the same sentiments, and let us ask Jesus Christ to be born and to grow in our hearts while we say with fervor: Kyrie eleison, etc.
4. Gloria in Excelsis.
It was the angels that intoned this magnificent hymn over the cradle of the Savior, and the poor shepherds of Bethlehem have had the happiness of hearing it. Let us rejoice with them all and repeat this beautiful prayer while meditating on each word.
5. Collect.
Hidden life of Jesus Christ: the Son of God spends thirty years on earth in a most humble condition, in poverty, mortification, labor, patience, sweetness, charity, abnegation, obedience, piety; and before entering public life, he retired to the desert to give himself up to fasting and to prayer during forty days. He gathered from this hidden life a preparation for his public life that would benefit others unto their salvation. What an example!
6. Epistle.
The Epistle is an instruction that our Lord addresses to us through the mouth of the prophets or apostles in order to dispose us to hear him himself. Before appearing in the world, he announced himself through the prophets and his precursor, St. John the Baptist; and before going to preach the Gospel in any place, he made his apostles or disciples precede him in order to prepare men's minds to receive him.
7. Gospel.
Here is our Lord going to instruct us by his own mouth. Let us rise in order to pay to him our respects, to show him that we are ready to obey him; let us make the sign of the cross on our foreheads, on our lips, and on our hearts, to consecrate to him our thoughts, our words, and our affections.
8. Credo.
The Credo is an act of faith in the principal truths that God has revealed to his Church; that which is recited at the Mass is the Symbol of the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople. Let us say it with faith, love, and thanksgiving for the happiness that we have of being Catholics. Having listened to and seen the revelation of God through the Epistle and Gospel, let us respond accordingly by confessing our faith publicly.
9. Offertory.
The Offertory well represents the Lord's Supper, in which our Lord celebrated for the last time the sacrifice of the Old Law before substituting for it the sacrifice of the New Law, of which the Old Law was the figure. Let us offer with the priest the bread and wine, destined to be changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
10. Lavabo.
The priest washes his hands: our divine Master washes the feet of his disciples, to give us a grand example of humility and charity, and to teach us how pure we should be in order to participate in the adorable mystery that he is about to institute.
11. Orate Fratres.
The priest invites us to pray with more fervor in order that his Sacrifice, which is also ours, may be agreeable to God. Let us answer him with our whole heart: Suscipiat Dominus, etc.
12. Preface.
The Preface is the giving of thanks. Before consecrating bread and wine our divine Savior raised his eyes towards heaven and gave thanks to his Father; this is the reason why the priest in finishing the prayer called Secreta, raises his voice and invites us to thank God through Jesus Christ.
13. Memento of the Living.
Let us here call to mind that Mass has a twofold object: the sacrament of the Eucharist and the sacrifice of the cross which it represents and renews. When leaving the supper-room to go to the Garden of Olives, our Lord offered a fervent prayer for himself and for his Church; this is also done by the priest at this moment; let us unite ourselves to him.
14. Hanc Igitur Oblationem.
While saying this prayer the priest holds his two hands extended over the host and the chalice in order to unite himself with the assistants and all the faithful, as in the sacrifices of the Old Law, to the divine Victim who is about to immolate himself for the salvation of all. Let each one unite his intention to that of the celebrant, while saying with him: Hanc igitur, etc.
15. Consecration.
This is the great moment: the miracle of love is wrought; the minister of God receives and adores Jesus Christ in his hands. The elevation of the Host and the Chalice represents the crucifixion, and the separation of the holy species represents the death of our Lord. Let us reanimate our faith and love; let us prostrate ourselves and adore.
16. Memento of the Dead.
When our Lord drew his last breath on the cross, being entirely consumed for our salvation, his holy soul descended in triumph to Limbo and Purgatory in order to console and deliver the just that were expecting his coming. Let us ask him to visit again at this moment the souls of the faithful departed, and let us think of those to whom we should more particularly give our assistance.
17. Pater Noster.
Let us visit in spirit the tomb of our Savior, and while confiding in the merits of his life and death, recite with confidence the admirable prayer that he has taught and left us.
18. Pax Domini.
While pronouncing these words the priest drops a part of the Host into the Chalice; the two species thus reunited represent the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and peace is announced to the world as it was announced at his birth.
19. Agnus Dei.
Preparation for Communion.—If we have not the happiness of communicating sacramentally with the priest, let us not fail to make a spiritual Communion by uniting ourselves interiorly to Jesus Christ, by a sincere desire to receive him and by an act of fervent love: we should therefore always say the prayers before and after Communion, whether sacramental or spiritual. What hinders our union with God is sin; let us then, before all, beg the Victim, who is without stain, to free us from sin, while saying the Agnus Dei, etc., three times with the priest, and striking our breasts as if acknowledging ourselves guilty.
20. Post-Communion.
Jesus is no longer on the altar; he is in heaven, at the right-hand side of God his Father, and on earth in the hearts of those that have piously received him. After the Ascension, the chief disciples retired with the Blessed Virgin to the Cenaculum, to await there in recollection and prayer the divine Consoler whom Jesus Christ promised to his Church; let us imitate them, kneeling in silent adoration and fervent recollection.
21. Blessing.
The Coming Down of the Holy Ghost.—The Holy Ghost bursts into our world with the full might of his light and love, eager to be received by the faithful. Let us ask him to penetrate our minds and our hearts, and to fill us with his gifts, as we devoutly sign ourselves with the sign of the cross.
22. Last Gospel.
The preaching of the Gospel throughout the world; perpetual struggle of light with darkness, of truth with error, of good with evil. Full of the Holy Ghost, let us march forward. He that has fought well shall be crowned.
Praise be Jesus Christ forever!
---
Source: Included in St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Complete Works of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori: vol. 13: The Holy Mass, trans by. Eugene Grimm (New York: Benzinger, 1889), 17-21.
By the Rev. Leop. J. Dujardin. C.SS.R.
The civil year is an abridgment of human life in which one natural discerns four seasons; the day is an abridgment of the year. So also, the ecclesiastical year, which begins with Advent, is an abridgment of the principal mysteries of religion; and one may see in the ceremonies of the Mass an abridgment of the ecclesiastical year.
I. Preparation.
The altar is erected, lit up by burning candles, adorned with verdure and flowers, and other decorations; legions of angels range themselves around it: think here of the creation of the world.
Sacred relics are deposited there; the saints descend from heaven and join the angels in order to adore our divine Savior: think of the redemption of the world.
2. The Beginning of the Mass.
The priest arrives at the altar and inclines profoundly: the first man, opening his eyes to the light, pays homage to his Creator.
The priest ascends the altar: man takes possession of the empire that God has prepared for him.
The priest goes to open the Missal, and returns to the middle of the altar, where he again inclines: man receives the law from God and promises to obey him.
The priest descends from the altar: the fall of man.
The priest humbles himself and strikes his breast, then he stands erect, and ascends again the altar while praying: man acknowledges his fault; God has compassion on him and promises him a Savior; he is consoled, hopes, and prays while working. Let us too, with the priest, remember our sins, humble ourselves, and pray with confidence.
3. Kyrie Eleison.
The patriarchs and the prophets sighed for the coming of the Messiah during four thousand years; this is perfectly expressed by the nine-fold repetition of this ardent prayer. Let us enter into the same sentiments, and let us ask Jesus Christ to be born and to grow in our hearts while we say with fervor: Kyrie eleison, etc.
4. Gloria in Excelsis.
It was the angels that intoned this magnificent hymn over the cradle of the Savior, and the poor shepherds of Bethlehem have had the happiness of hearing it. Let us rejoice with them all and repeat this beautiful prayer while meditating on each word.
5. Collect.
Hidden life of Jesus Christ: the Son of God spends thirty years on earth in a most humble condition, in poverty, mortification, labor, patience, sweetness, charity, abnegation, obedience, piety; and before entering public life, he retired to the desert to give himself up to fasting and to prayer during forty days. He gathered from this hidden life a preparation for his public life that would benefit others unto their salvation. What an example!
6. Epistle.
The Epistle is an instruction that our Lord addresses to us through the mouth of the prophets or apostles in order to dispose us to hear him himself. Before appearing in the world, he announced himself through the prophets and his precursor, St. John the Baptist; and before going to preach the Gospel in any place, he made his apostles or disciples precede him in order to prepare men's minds to receive him.
7. Gospel.
Here is our Lord going to instruct us by his own mouth. Let us rise in order to pay to him our respects, to show him that we are ready to obey him; let us make the sign of the cross on our foreheads, on our lips, and on our hearts, to consecrate to him our thoughts, our words, and our affections.
8. Credo.
The Credo is an act of faith in the principal truths that God has revealed to his Church; that which is recited at the Mass is the Symbol of the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople. Let us say it with faith, love, and thanksgiving for the happiness that we have of being Catholics. Having listened to and seen the revelation of God through the Epistle and Gospel, let us respond accordingly by confessing our faith publicly.
9. Offertory.
The Offertory well represents the Lord's Supper, in which our Lord celebrated for the last time the sacrifice of the Old Law before substituting for it the sacrifice of the New Law, of which the Old Law was the figure. Let us offer with the priest the bread and wine, destined to be changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
10. Lavabo.
The priest washes his hands: our divine Master washes the feet of his disciples, to give us a grand example of humility and charity, and to teach us how pure we should be in order to participate in the adorable mystery that he is about to institute.
11. Orate Fratres.
The priest invites us to pray with more fervor in order that his Sacrifice, which is also ours, may be agreeable to God. Let us answer him with our whole heart: Suscipiat Dominus, etc.
12. Preface.
The Preface is the giving of thanks. Before consecrating bread and wine our divine Savior raised his eyes towards heaven and gave thanks to his Father; this is the reason why the priest in finishing the prayer called Secreta, raises his voice and invites us to thank God through Jesus Christ.
13. Memento of the Living.
Let us here call to mind that Mass has a twofold object: the sacrament of the Eucharist and the sacrifice of the cross which it represents and renews. When leaving the supper-room to go to the Garden of Olives, our Lord offered a fervent prayer for himself and for his Church; this is also done by the priest at this moment; let us unite ourselves to him.
14. Hanc Igitur Oblationem.
While saying this prayer the priest holds his two hands extended over the host and the chalice in order to unite himself with the assistants and all the faithful, as in the sacrifices of the Old Law, to the divine Victim who is about to immolate himself for the salvation of all. Let each one unite his intention to that of the celebrant, while saying with him: Hanc igitur, etc.
15. Consecration.
This is the great moment: the miracle of love is wrought; the minister of God receives and adores Jesus Christ in his hands. The elevation of the Host and the Chalice represents the crucifixion, and the separation of the holy species represents the death of our Lord. Let us reanimate our faith and love; let us prostrate ourselves and adore.
16. Memento of the Dead.
When our Lord drew his last breath on the cross, being entirely consumed for our salvation, his holy soul descended in triumph to Limbo and Purgatory in order to console and deliver the just that were expecting his coming. Let us ask him to visit again at this moment the souls of the faithful departed, and let us think of those to whom we should more particularly give our assistance.
17. Pater Noster.
Let us visit in spirit the tomb of our Savior, and while confiding in the merits of his life and death, recite with confidence the admirable prayer that he has taught and left us.
18. Pax Domini.
While pronouncing these words the priest drops a part of the Host into the Chalice; the two species thus reunited represent the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and peace is announced to the world as it was announced at his birth.
19. Agnus Dei.
Preparation for Communion.—If we have not the happiness of communicating sacramentally with the priest, let us not fail to make a spiritual Communion by uniting ourselves interiorly to Jesus Christ, by a sincere desire to receive him and by an act of fervent love: we should therefore always say the prayers before and after Communion, whether sacramental or spiritual. What hinders our union with God is sin; let us then, before all, beg the Victim, who is without stain, to free us from sin, while saying the Agnus Dei, etc., three times with the priest, and striking our breasts as if acknowledging ourselves guilty.
20. Post-Communion.
Jesus is no longer on the altar; he is in heaven, at the right-hand side of God his Father, and on earth in the hearts of those that have piously received him. After the Ascension, the chief disciples retired with the Blessed Virgin to the Cenaculum, to await there in recollection and prayer the divine Consoler whom Jesus Christ promised to his Church; let us imitate them, kneeling in silent adoration and fervent recollection.
21. Blessing.
The Coming Down of the Holy Ghost.—The Holy Ghost bursts into our world with the full might of his light and love, eager to be received by the faithful. Let us ask him to penetrate our minds and our hearts, and to fill us with his gifts, as we devoutly sign ourselves with the sign of the cross.
22. Last Gospel.
The preaching of the Gospel throughout the world; perpetual struggle of light with darkness, of truth with error, of good with evil. Full of the Holy Ghost, let us march forward. He that has fought well shall be crowned.
Praise be Jesus Christ forever!
---
Source: Included in St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Complete Works of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori: vol. 13: The Holy Mass, trans by. Eugene Grimm (New York: Benzinger, 1889), 17-21.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Dom Vitalis Lehodey on Persecutions from the Good
"To be despised, reprehended, and accused by sinners is a joy to a man of courage," says St. Francis de Sales. "But to be reprehended, accused, and ill-treated by good people, by one's friends and relatives: Ah, this is in truth the test of virtue. As the sting of a honey-bee causes more pain than the bite of a common insect, so the troubles and contradictions we have to endure from well-meaning folk are more bitter than any others" (Introduction to the Devout Life, pt. 3, chap. 3). St. Peter of Alcantara, full of compassion for St. Teresa, assured her that one of the greatest afflictions we can suffer in this place of exile was the trial she had experienced, that is to say, opposition from the good. Is it because we value more highly the esteem and affection of such persons? Is it because this trial is more unexpected? Or is it because, being just, these people act according to their conscience, and believe it is their duty to show no consideration for our feelings? Whatever be the origin and circumstances of these bitter trials, the following reflections will help us to sanctify them.
"All the saints have suffered persecution in this life," says St. Alphonsus. "Think of St. Basil, accused of heresy before Pope St. Damasus; St. Cyril, condemned as a heretic by a council of forty bishops, and then ignominiously deposed; St. Athanasius, pursued with accusations of witchcraft; St. John Chrysostom, charged with immorality. Think of St. Romuald: he was above a hundred years old, yet was accused of a crime so execrable that people wanted to burn him alive. Think of St. Francis de Sales: for three years he was believed to have lived in criminal relations with a worldly person, and waited three years for God to clear his reputation. Think finally of St. Lidwine, into whose chamber a wretched woman one day intruded and vomited against her a thousand reproaches, each more scandalous than the preceding." Everyone knows how [...] St. Benedict narrowly missed being poisoned by his monks [....] St. Francis of Assisi resigned his office of superior because of the opposition he encountered from his disciples: his vicar-general, Brother Elias, had the effrontery [NB: shameless, rude boldness; arrogance] to accuse him before a large number of the religious of ruining their Institute. This same Elias caused St. Anthony of Padua to be cast into prison. St. Ignatius of Loyola suffered the humiliation of being confined in the dungeons of the Holy Office. St. John of the Cross, after reforming Carmel, was locked up in a dark cell by the fathers of his Observance; and there, deprived of the consolation of celebrating Holy Mass, he had to endure for many long months very rigorous abstinence, humiliating disciplines, and the bitterest reproaches. For the same reason, and also because of the extraordinary ways in which God was leading her, St. Teresa the Elder [i.e. of Avila] had to support the heavy trials whereof we catch a glimpse in her autobiography. Her confessor, Balthazar Alvarez, also suffered serious annoyance on account of his supernatural prayer. We could cite numberless other examples. But we shall conclude with St. Alphonsus. During many years he was pitilessly persecuted, as a theologian by the rigorists, as the founder of the Redemptorists by the royalists, and finally by two of his own religious, as we have already stated. Baronius relates how Pope St. Leo IX permitted himself to be prejudiced against St. Peter Damian. "I mention this," adds the illustrious annalist, "to console the victims of venomous tongues, to recommend prudence to those who are over-credulous, and warn them of the danger of lending too easy an ear to calumnies, particularly against persons with a long and honourable [sic] life to their credit" (cited in Fr. Poulain, Graces of Prayer, chap. 24).
Such persecutions are apparently due to the diversity of human minds and characters. [...] Sinners cannot endure the sight of virtue, let it be ever so modest and unobtrusive, because it condemns them, troubles them, demands their conversion. Good people, because they have not as yet sufficiently mastered their passions, which is the case with the majority, allow themselves to be blinded and misled, sooner or later, [against] peace and charity. Thus, Father Francis de Paul, the principal persecutor of St. Alphonsus, was far from being a bad religious. He had, on the contrary, a very edifying past, and would doubtless have been greatly astonished, if it had been foretold to him that he would one day endeavour [sic], with a zeal worthy of a better cause, to ruin his illustrious and saintly founder by insinuating, venomous, and slanderous reports. He actually fell to this depth, nevertheless, because he did not sufficiently combat the passion of ambition. Perhaps until then he had not even suspected its presence in his heart. But the saints themselves, even the very greatest, can be the cause of suffering to each other, whether through misunderstanding, or because of their different conceptions of duty. For men will always differ in their views and dispositions. [...]
Jesus has warned that His coming meant the sword and not peace, and that a man's enemies would be those of his own household. He was persecuted, and called Beelzebub. The disciple is not above his master. [...] The Apostle echoes the words of his Master: "All who would live piously in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. 3:12). But, concludes the Saviour [sic], "blessed are those that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. When they shall revile you and persecute you and speak all that is evil against you untruly, for My sake, be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you" (Mt. 5:10-12). But what is the object Providence pursues by means of such purifying trials? It wills to mark all its works with the Sign of the Cross, to detach us from human esteem and affection, to exercise us in patience, in complete abandonment, in love for God alone, and to perfect the sanctity of Our Lord's most devoted friends. [...]
Providence employs the vicious and the virtuous as its instruments to reproduce in us Jesus outraged, contemned, shamefully ill-treated. But at the same time the Holy Spirit offers us His grace, and works in us, to make us imitate Jesus meek and humble of heart, Jesus full of gentleness and heroic charity. To walk with resolute steps in the footprints of the persecuted Jesus is to enter on the ways of sanctity. To murmur and complain, and to follow Him reluctantly, is to drag oneself painfully along in uneasiness and mediocrity. [...]
Let us, therefore, forget our human adversaries and all the wrongs we may seem to suffer from them. Let us banish from our hearts every feeling of bitterness and spite. With our eyes fixed on the persecuted Son of God, on Jesus our Model and the Well-Beloved of our souls, let us adore like Him all the decrees of His Father Who is our Father also. Let us lovingly embrace both the trials He sends us and their already existent and irreparable effects, endeavouring the while, in order to draw from them the greatest possible advantage, to enter into the dispositions of our sweet Jesus, and to act in every circumstance as He would do in our place. This will not prevent us [...] from doing all in our power to avoid the danger or to deprecate its consequences, if that should be pleasing to God, as often as His glory, the good of souls, or other just causes may seem to require or permit it. [...]
[Blessed Henry Suso] said to him again: "It is God's will that, when you are outraged by words or actions, you should suffer all patiently. He wants you to die completely to yourself, and requires that every day before taking your repast you should approach your adversaries and do your best to appease their anger by the meekness and humility of your language and behaviour [sic].... You must not believe them to be Judases in the true sense of the word, but only God's instruments in trying you for your own benefit."
St. Alphonsus, when condemned by the Pope on unjust accusations, and actually expelled from the Congregation he had founded, permitted himself no complaint, no recrimination. He simply spoke these words of heroic submission: "For the past six months I have been repeating this prayer: Lord, whatsoever Thou willest, that I will also." And, with a heart broken yet fully resigned, he submitted to remain an exile until his death, because such was the will of God. Far from harbouring [sic] ill-feeling against his persecutor, he wrote to him as follows: "I have learned with joy that the Pope showers his favours [sic] upon you. Please let me always know whenever any good fortune befalls you, so that I may return thanks to God for it. I pray Him to increase His holy love in you, to multiply your houses, and to bless both yourself and your missions." In this trial, as in all other difficult circumstances, he began by asking the prayers of his Congregation, and recommending each religious to renew his fervour [sic], so that they might have the protection of God. [...]
At the height of his persecutions, St. John of the Cross welcomed reproaches with joy, because he believed himself deserving of still worse treatment. It seemed to him that he could never suffer injuries enough. He longed for the hour when he was to receive the bloody discipline, impatient to endure the pain and disgrace of it for the love of God. He considered himself so full of defects, guilty of so many sins, that he never dreamed of resenting affronts and outrages, or of regarding them as cruel or unjust. Although his interior pains at this time were still more severe, he found consolation in his intimate communings [sic] with God and in the composition of his admirable canticle, which he explained later on.
---
Source: Dom Vitalis Lehodey, Holy Abandonment, trans. by Ailbe J. Luddy (Rockford, IL: TAN Books, 2003), 220-226.
"All the saints have suffered persecution in this life," says St. Alphonsus. "Think of St. Basil, accused of heresy before Pope St. Damasus; St. Cyril, condemned as a heretic by a council of forty bishops, and then ignominiously deposed; St. Athanasius, pursued with accusations of witchcraft; St. John Chrysostom, charged with immorality. Think of St. Romuald: he was above a hundred years old, yet was accused of a crime so execrable that people wanted to burn him alive. Think of St. Francis de Sales: for three years he was believed to have lived in criminal relations with a worldly person, and waited three years for God to clear his reputation. Think finally of St. Lidwine, into whose chamber a wretched woman one day intruded and vomited against her a thousand reproaches, each more scandalous than the preceding." Everyone knows how [...] St. Benedict narrowly missed being poisoned by his monks [....] St. Francis of Assisi resigned his office of superior because of the opposition he encountered from his disciples: his vicar-general, Brother Elias, had the effrontery [NB: shameless, rude boldness; arrogance] to accuse him before a large number of the religious of ruining their Institute. This same Elias caused St. Anthony of Padua to be cast into prison. St. Ignatius of Loyola suffered the humiliation of being confined in the dungeons of the Holy Office. St. John of the Cross, after reforming Carmel, was locked up in a dark cell by the fathers of his Observance; and there, deprived of the consolation of celebrating Holy Mass, he had to endure for many long months very rigorous abstinence, humiliating disciplines, and the bitterest reproaches. For the same reason, and also because of the extraordinary ways in which God was leading her, St. Teresa the Elder [i.e. of Avila] had to support the heavy trials whereof we catch a glimpse in her autobiography. Her confessor, Balthazar Alvarez, also suffered serious annoyance on account of his supernatural prayer. We could cite numberless other examples. But we shall conclude with St. Alphonsus. During many years he was pitilessly persecuted, as a theologian by the rigorists, as the founder of the Redemptorists by the royalists, and finally by two of his own religious, as we have already stated. Baronius relates how Pope St. Leo IX permitted himself to be prejudiced against St. Peter Damian. "I mention this," adds the illustrious annalist, "to console the victims of venomous tongues, to recommend prudence to those who are over-credulous, and warn them of the danger of lending too easy an ear to calumnies, particularly against persons with a long and honourable [sic] life to their credit" (cited in Fr. Poulain, Graces of Prayer, chap. 24).
Such persecutions are apparently due to the diversity of human minds and characters. [...] Sinners cannot endure the sight of virtue, let it be ever so modest and unobtrusive, because it condemns them, troubles them, demands their conversion. Good people, because they have not as yet sufficiently mastered their passions, which is the case with the majority, allow themselves to be blinded and misled, sooner or later, [against] peace and charity. Thus, Father Francis de Paul, the principal persecutor of St. Alphonsus, was far from being a bad religious. He had, on the contrary, a very edifying past, and would doubtless have been greatly astonished, if it had been foretold to him that he would one day endeavour [sic], with a zeal worthy of a better cause, to ruin his illustrious and saintly founder by insinuating, venomous, and slanderous reports. He actually fell to this depth, nevertheless, because he did not sufficiently combat the passion of ambition. Perhaps until then he had not even suspected its presence in his heart. But the saints themselves, even the very greatest, can be the cause of suffering to each other, whether through misunderstanding, or because of their different conceptions of duty. For men will always differ in their views and dispositions. [...]
Jesus has warned that His coming meant the sword and not peace, and that a man's enemies would be those of his own household. He was persecuted, and called Beelzebub. The disciple is not above his master. [...] The Apostle echoes the words of his Master: "All who would live piously in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. 3:12). But, concludes the Saviour [sic], "blessed are those that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. When they shall revile you and persecute you and speak all that is evil against you untruly, for My sake, be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you" (Mt. 5:10-12). But what is the object Providence pursues by means of such purifying trials? It wills to mark all its works with the Sign of the Cross, to detach us from human esteem and affection, to exercise us in patience, in complete abandonment, in love for God alone, and to perfect the sanctity of Our Lord's most devoted friends. [...]
Providence employs the vicious and the virtuous as its instruments to reproduce in us Jesus outraged, contemned, shamefully ill-treated. But at the same time the Holy Spirit offers us His grace, and works in us, to make us imitate Jesus meek and humble of heart, Jesus full of gentleness and heroic charity. To walk with resolute steps in the footprints of the persecuted Jesus is to enter on the ways of sanctity. To murmur and complain, and to follow Him reluctantly, is to drag oneself painfully along in uneasiness and mediocrity. [...]
Let us, therefore, forget our human adversaries and all the wrongs we may seem to suffer from them. Let us banish from our hearts every feeling of bitterness and spite. With our eyes fixed on the persecuted Son of God, on Jesus our Model and the Well-Beloved of our souls, let us adore like Him all the decrees of His Father Who is our Father also. Let us lovingly embrace both the trials He sends us and their already existent and irreparable effects, endeavouring the while, in order to draw from them the greatest possible advantage, to enter into the dispositions of our sweet Jesus, and to act in every circumstance as He would do in our place. This will not prevent us [...] from doing all in our power to avoid the danger or to deprecate its consequences, if that should be pleasing to God, as often as His glory, the good of souls, or other just causes may seem to require or permit it. [...]
[Blessed Henry Suso] said to him again: "It is God's will that, when you are outraged by words or actions, you should suffer all patiently. He wants you to die completely to yourself, and requires that every day before taking your repast you should approach your adversaries and do your best to appease their anger by the meekness and humility of your language and behaviour [sic].... You must not believe them to be Judases in the true sense of the word, but only God's instruments in trying you for your own benefit."
St. Alphonsus, when condemned by the Pope on unjust accusations, and actually expelled from the Congregation he had founded, permitted himself no complaint, no recrimination. He simply spoke these words of heroic submission: "For the past six months I have been repeating this prayer: Lord, whatsoever Thou willest, that I will also." And, with a heart broken yet fully resigned, he submitted to remain an exile until his death, because such was the will of God. Far from harbouring [sic] ill-feeling against his persecutor, he wrote to him as follows: "I have learned with joy that the Pope showers his favours [sic] upon you. Please let me always know whenever any good fortune befalls you, so that I may return thanks to God for it. I pray Him to increase His holy love in you, to multiply your houses, and to bless both yourself and your missions." In this trial, as in all other difficult circumstances, he began by asking the prayers of his Congregation, and recommending each religious to renew his fervour [sic], so that they might have the protection of God. [...]
At the height of his persecutions, St. John of the Cross welcomed reproaches with joy, because he believed himself deserving of still worse treatment. It seemed to him that he could never suffer injuries enough. He longed for the hour when he was to receive the bloody discipline, impatient to endure the pain and disgrace of it for the love of God. He considered himself so full of defects, guilty of so many sins, that he never dreamed of resenting affronts and outrages, or of regarding them as cruel or unjust. Although his interior pains at this time were still more severe, he found consolation in his intimate communings [sic] with God and in the composition of his admirable canticle, which he explained later on.
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Source: Dom Vitalis Lehodey, Holy Abandonment, trans. by Ailbe J. Luddy (Rockford, IL: TAN Books, 2003), 220-226.
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