Ironic Reviews of Two Magna Opera in Spiritual Theology

Fr. Jordan Aumann and Fr. Antonio Royo Marin were the successors to Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange in systematic spiritual theology. While they were well-respected masters in the field, their works clearly betray a more theologically conservative bent that was almost completely rejected during the feverish explosion of wild theological fads in the aftermath of Vatican II. Both theologians incorporated Vatican II into their works (or later editions), but they sometimes received the accusation that this incorporation was more like paying lip service to the Council rather than using its spirit as a springboard into more radical and revolutionary thought. Aumann and Royo Marin were seen as theologically boring fuddy-duddies. An exception to this may be seen in Aumann's work on the lay apostolate and lay spirituality, On the Front Lines, making great use of the Vatican II document Apostolicam Actuositatem and other post-conciliar documents. One former seminary rector and diocesan vicar general I know who studied under Aumann at the Angelicum exclaimed to me, "He was the most boring professor I've ever had!!!" Nevertheless, they continued steadfastly and produced works that have stood the test of time and continue to be used at the Angelicum.

I meant to post these reviews a long time ago and have finally gotten around to them. Fr. Dubay is well known for his collection of books on the spiritual life, mostly published through Ignatius Press. His magnum opus is Fire Within (published 1989), which summarizes the teachings of Sts. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross on the spiritual life. His reputation as a master of the spiritual life is rightfully held among conservative Catholics who are interested in these sorts of books. What is lesser known of Fr. Dubay is his quite harsh review in Theological Studies of Fr. Aumann's classic text Spiritual Theology, published in 1980, that betrays Fr. Dubay's high esteem for "contemporary theology," which Aumann seems to make a point of ignoring in much of his work. Or if Aumann quotes from contemporary authors, it is only to confirm the point he is already offering.

Yet in a twist of irony, only nine years later, Fr. Dubay's great work makes mention of only a few contemporary theologians, and the review of Dubay's work notes that it adheres to older interpretive frameworks and ignores certain trends in contemporary theology—in the very same theological journal in which Dubay had formerly critiqued Aumann! To be fair to Dubay, his work doesn't claim to be a synthesis of spiritual theology but only of the thought of the two great Carmelite mystic saints. Nevertheless its overall framework fits well into the traditional works on spiritual theology. It was nice to see that Dubay moved away from these fads somewhat as time went on and settled into a more balanced and holistic approach. I will note Dubay's criticism that Aumann's work would likely not be retained "as a ready reference" among his intended audience fortunately turned out to be false. 

So, I present below, with my snarky commentary interspersed, the two reviews, first of Fr. Aumann's Spiritual Theology, reviewed by Fr. Dubay, and second of Fr. Dubay's Fire Within, reviewed by Fr. Steven Payne, OCD.

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[163] SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY. By Jordan Aumann, O.P. Huntington, Ind.: Our Sunday Visitor, 1980. Pp. 456. $18.95.

This volume may be viewed as a case study of one of the central problems facing contemporary theology if it is to regain the position it once held in the mind of the general public: the fragmentation-polarization problem. On the one hand, A. [i.e. Aumann] considers his book to be a "response to numerous requests for a complete and definitive work on Christian spirituality" (11). On the other hand, it is safe to say that many of its intended audience will not retain it as a ready reference. Those who view this work as definitive can point to its being based mainly on the teaching of St. Thomas, St. John of the Cross, and St. Teresa of Avila. It therefore avoids pop theories such as psychologized horizontalism or creation-centered "spirituality." It is orderly and clear. As long as systematic theology remains heavily theoretical and moral theology continues to avoid the totality themes of Scripture, there will remain a need for what we call spiritual theology. The title of this book is well chosen, for it is what it says it is. Part 1 deals with doctrinal foundations: the nature and scope of spiritual theology, the goal of the Christian life, its Christic and Marian character, the "supernatural organism," perfection and mystical experience. Part 2 is concerned with growth in holiness: conversion, purification, sacraments, the virtues, prayer and its development, extraordinary mystical phenomena, and aids to growth such as spiritual reading and direction.

Why, then, is it unlikely that many others will not retain Spiritual Theology as a ready reference? The main problem is not that the volume [164] is only partially new. That much of it is a republication is indicated by the preface itself when it notes that "some sections are taken substantially" from Royo-Aumann's The Theology of Christian Perfection published in 1962. The main difficulty is that while Vatican II does get some attention, contemporary thinkers are quite completely left aside. The renewal of biblical studies in the last thirty years has yielded an immense enrichment to our understanding of the spiritual life. Specialized studies on prayer, community, discernment, virginity, poverty, freedom, and authority would have added a great deal to the Dominican and Carmelite synthesis offered by A. [One wonders if only the religious orders had also been aware of these specialized studies, then perhaps they would not have suffered so much attrition following the council! Sarcasm.] Reluctant though I be to record it, I found no hint in this stout volume that anything significant in spiritual theology has happened since the Council. While some recent contributions are flimsy and fanciful, others are rich, even brilliant. A contemporary synthesis must be tangibly influenced by the fresh insights of men like Balthasar, Congar, Galot, Rahner, Daniélou, Sheets, Legrand, Merton, Van Kaam, and Knight.

Some people will be put off, rightly or wrongly, by minor irritants. A. occasionally uses terms that sound foreign to our times: "the various faculties of the soul.. .exercises of piety.. .philosophically repugnant... the passive purgations.. .the efficient cause.. .the formal cause..." [How minorly irritating indeed.] He sometimes writes of what theologians hold and do not hold when actually his statement is true only in the past tense. For example, noting that St. Thomas responded affirmatively to the question as to whether the gifts of the Holy Spirit are habits or not, A. remarks that "theologians of all schools hold for the same response, with few exceptions" (91). I fear it would be closer to the truth to say that the exceptions today are those who even discuss the question at all. This fact may be lamentable, but it seems to be the case. On the next page we read that "it is commonly taught by theologians that the gifts are the perfection of the infused virtues." This may be true in the past tense, but what is common today is nondiscussion [sic] of the subject.

A. rightly insists that deep prayer, infused contemplation, is meant for all men and women, and he cites Vatican II to this effect. He does not notice, however, the most telling and explicit conciliar texts, texts that are incompatible with the two-way theory of reaching sanctity. This most recent of the councils has made it clear that mystical prayer is a normal development of our grace life, that it is not reserved to an elite, that it is not "extraordinary." [Here Dubay clearly misunderstands Aumann, who, like Garrigou-Lagrange, was staunch in arguing against the two-way theory.]

In the judgment of this reviewer, a definitive work must not only be solid, deep, clear, and orthodox. It must likewise reflect the best in contemporary approaches and insight, for we live in our age, not another. It seems to me that we still await the definitive work in spiritual theology. [This is obviously a contradiction in concepts; a work cannot be simultaneously definitive and contemporary since the latter is always evolving. Such a work can only mention the contemporary trends, but anything truly definitive, by definition, must stand the test of time and above all passing fads by adhering to unchanging principles applicable to all times and circumstances.]

Marist Center, Washington, D.C.    THOMAS DUBAY, S.M.

Source: Thomas Dubay, "AUMANN, J., O.P.: Spiritual Theology," Theological Studies 42, no. 1 (Mar. 1981): 163–164.

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[539] FIRE WITHIN: ST. TERESA OF AVILA, ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS, AND THE GOSPEL—ON PRAYER. By Thomas Dubay, S.M. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1989. Pp. vii + 358. $17.95.

With the growing popularity of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, this overview of their spiritual doctrine fills an urgent need. Nothing of comparable scope and quality has been available in English since E. W. Trueman Dicken's 1963 classic The Crucible of Love.

Dubay's approach is thematic and practical, intended "for all men and women in every way of life" (4). In an initial programmatic chapter he bases the contemporary relevance of John and Teresa on the universal call to holiness and contemplative prayer stressed by Vatican II, arguing that "the teachings of Teresa and John are nothing more or less than the integral Gospel," a claim he supports throughout by identifying corresponding NT passages for every crucial element in their doctrine. This scriptural component is a welcome feature, though D.'s [i.e. Dubay's] treatment of NT spirituality is developed in relation to Teresa and John rather than on its own terms, so that some themes (e.g., the communal dimensions of holiness) tend to be underrepresented. Still, the biblical citations are handled well, without manipulative "proof-texting."

Chapter 2 offers a brief introduction to the lives, writings, and personalities of the two Carmelite saints, while subsequent chapters provide a synthesis of their teaching on the major phases and elements of the spiritual life; here D. retraces the traditional journey from discursive meditation, through initial contemplation and both active and passive purifications, to transforming union. The final chapters deal with a variety of related topics, including distractions in prayer, discernment, extraordinary experiences, friendships, spiritual direction, wholeness, and freedom.

Since this is a popular rather than academic work, D. avoids technical questions and disputed points in Teresian and Sanjuanist scholarship. He makes virtually no mention of research from the past two decades, preferring (perhaps wisely) to remain in the older interpretive mainstream. [Remaining in the "older interpretive mainstream" is always bad.] Readers will have to look elsewhere for recent discoveries regarding the social, cultural, and economic implications of the Teresian program. [Thankfully. Does anyone really want to see contemporary theologians' analyses on the economic implications of the Teresian program?] Still, it would be hard to find a more lucid general introduction to the basic Teresian and Sanjuanist themes. D. does a masterful job of explaining the essential agreement and occasional differences between John and Teresa, in an engaging style that any sympathetic reader should easily follow.

Apparently some of this material originated in retreat conferences to contemplative religious communities, which may partly explain why D.'s most frequent examples of impediments to spiritual growth include idle [540] gossip and overexposure to TV and other media rather than, say, a lack of active concern for the poor. [Because religious orders in the past 50 years have shown much too much interest in TV and not enough concern for the poor? When was the last time you heard a religious order not emphasizing social justice?] D. likewise sees little value in prayer journals, "creation-centered" spirituality, and, especially, Oriental methods of meditation, which he repeatedly claims offer little more in themselves than "a brief, impersonal insight produced entirely by human technique" (54). [This is consistent with Dubay's views when he was critiquing Aumann.] Not until relatively late does he discuss the far more widespread Catholic temptation (which so preoccupied John of the Cross) toward vain credulity in private revelations, though he does lament, eloquently, that "most people would not even cross the street to witness an unobtrusive act of patience ..., but they will cross an ocean to visit the locale of an alleged apparition" (247) 

[While I understand the sentiment of being too attached to private revelation, the comparison is frankly awkward, and Dubay's discussion in this section is somewhat confused; the point of making an act of virtue unobtrusive is precisely to hide it. Further, the reviewer somewhat exaggerates Fr. Dubay's point here, who wrote, "Private divine communications are relatively unimportant." Dubay didn't accuse anyone of vain credulity or say that private revelations are always unimportant. He's placing them in their proper context in relation to personal spiritual growth, namely, people can easily become attached to the revelation, and this attachment to the sensible will hinder their purification on the path to union with God, who is above the sensible. On the other hand, Dubay by his comparison undervalues the sense of the faithful who "cross an ocean to visit the locale" of an apparition. The faithful go for many reasons, often stemming from their faith: the hope of healing for a serious or terminal illness, the desire to grow in devotion, to find some personal renewal, to receive light and graces, etc. Many experience stronger faith after the pilgrimage, and such pilgrimages have a long tradition in Catholic history. Such apparitions are often the sign of God's special intervention, and they almost demand public veneration by the affected community, e.g. Our Lady of Guadalupe. Dubay could have made a better nuanced discussion on apparitions versus extraordinary mystical experiences occurring in an isolated individual's spiritual life that is never meant to become public. But in conclusion, the exaggerated aspects of this discussion actually reflect a trend in theology, developing as early as the 1950s, that held a condescending view of private devotions among the "ignorant" laity in general.]

Curiously, D. criticizes "minimalism" in moral theology, its divorce from systematic and mystical theology, and the "latecomer" theory of two paths (ordinary and extraordinary) to Christian perfection as if these were recent inventions by contemporary theologians of dubious loyalty. Indeed, he often warns against "the pitiable self-assurance of a dissenting mind" (253), stressing obedience to the magisterium and one's superiors as a crucial sign of authentic spirituality, sometimes (though certainly not always) seeming to rank it even before charity in the list of essential virtues (108 f.). One wishes D. were equally adamant against the evils sometimes wrought in the name of religious observance, to which the Gospels and the Carmelite tradition also clearly testify. It is worth remembering, further, that both John and Teresa were sometimes considered "disobedient" by their superiors; while we now recognize the error of such accusations, this should perhaps give us pause before judging too quickly which of our contemporaries are, or are not, truly faithful to the gospel. [Careful, both of you, your biases are showing. Notice how the reviewer must take the time to imply the goodness of the radical and probing work of contemporary theologians vis-à-vis an exaggerated conservative obedience that supposedly closes the mind. After all, points out the reviewer, look at the example of Sts. Teresa and John, two disobedient revolutionaries within whose trailblazing lineage people like Hans Küng and James Martin proudly stand! No, we mustn't ever suggest some contemporary theologians are "of dubious loyalty," Fr. Payne, lest we potentially prompt some slight feelings of personal guilt, perhaps?]

Such observations, however, have more to do with emphasis than substance; this reviewer would have preferred a more balanced admission that not all spiritual dangers today come from the theological left. [Lest we mistakenly think Fr. Dubay was a far-right conspiracy theorist.] Still, D. offers an excellent resource for spiritual reading and group study, highly recommended.

De Sales School of Theology, D.C.    STEVEN PAYNE, O.C.D.

Source: Steven Payne, "DUBAY T. Fire Within (S. Payne)," Theological Studies 51, no. 3 (Dec. 1990): 539–540.

Saint Gregory the Great: On the Pastoral Rule

[Originally written for a class. In light of all the recent scandals among the episcopacy, I thought posting the following would be relevant.]

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“So exalted is the view of the episcopal calling taken by the Regula Pastoralis, that it has been said that it made the bishops who made the modern nations.”[1]

Saint Gregory the Great’s On the Pastoral Rule (Liber Regulae Pastoralis) immediately established itself as a classic of pastoral theology and spirituality.[2] Written in response to a criticism that St. Gregory had attempted to flee from his responsibilities upon election to the papacy,[3] the Pastoral Rule was circulated in Spain, translated into Greek and distributed among the Eastern Churches by order of the Emperor Maurice, and spread throughout Ireland and England by SS. Columban and Augustine.[4] Nor did its influence wane, for by the 9th century, Alfred the Great, desiring to reform the clergy of England, translated the work into Old English and commanded each bishop in his kingdom to read it.[5] In France around the same time, each newly consecrated bishop received a copy of the Canons along with the Pastoral Rule.[6] By the 13th century, St. Thomas Aquinas relied on it as the principal basis for his exposition on the episcopacy in the Summa Theologiae.[7] Finally, in the 20th century, Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP, commended it as contributing to a proper notion of priestly perfection.[8] The Pastoral Rule not only sets high standards but hands on the practical wisdom of a great contemplative saint who did not shirk from laboring in the world. Its enduring impact on the spirituality of the priest and bishop combined with its sheer abundance of excellent advice in navigating the delicate balance between the contemplative and active lives make the work incontestably important for the seminarian and priest. In reading the work, two points struck me most powerfully: first, the focus on balance that St. Gregory brings in explaining the work of the pastor, and second, the necessity of great sanctity in order for the pastor to conduct an effective apostolate. I will explain these points and their relevance for growth in the spiritual life.

The Pastoral Rule eminently (while not consciously) embodies the Aristotelian-Thomistic notion that virtue lies in the golden mean between excess and defect.[9] St. Gregory makes use of the balance between contrasting elements in order to explain the virtues and knowledge necessary for the pastor. For example, a man may rightfully flee from the office of pastor out of humility, yet if God calls him to this duty, to deny it would reveal prideful obstinacy.[10] The pastor must exercise prudence in keeping silence but be forthright and profitable in speech, avoiding the defect of an excessive silence that would imply approval of the sinful behavior of those deserving correction and, on the other hand, the excess of careless and immoderate rebuke.[11] Similarly, the pastor must balance gentleness and rigor, gently correcting sins of weakness or ignorance, reprimanding more sternly sins of malice, yet without excessive harshness, for “when reproof blazes forth immoderately, the hearts of the sinners fall into dejection and despair.”[12] St. Gregory elaborates on the careful balance required between the contemplative and active aspects of pastoral life. The pastor’s contemplation must be exalted above all others, yet like St. Paul, who made provision for married life to faithful under his care out of concern for the concupiscence of the flesh, he must accommodate himself to the needs of the weak.[13] Like the example of our Lord, Who ascended the mountain to pray to His Father and descended to minister to sinners during the day, so “good rulers, who, though they strive after the highest things by contemplation, should nevertheless by their compassion share in the needs of the weak.”[14] St. Gregory explains beautifully that “charity rises to sublime heights, when in pity it is drawn by the lowly […] and the more kindly it stoops to infirmity, the mightier is its reach to the highest.”[15] Ultimately, St. Gregory establishes that contemplation takes priority since the faithful must receive from the spiritual abundance of the pastor, like water overflowing from an interior cistern,[16] but his contemplation must not be so prolonged that the pastor neglects his responsibilities to his flock.[17]

The other type of balance on which St. Gregory expounds regards the pastor’s knowledge so that he may adapt his manner of teaching to each class of individual, temperament, and character. Here St. Gregory reveals a profound understanding of psychology combined with the most developed prudence and breadth of experience. The saint compares the pastor’s work to the playing of a harp, where each listener is a different string, to which the harpist must apply a different stroke suited to each in order to produce a skillful and harmonious melody.[18] Gregory goes on to elucidate around 40 different classes of people, of various temperaments, characters, virtues, vices, and experiences, and how the preacher is effectively to teach them all. His discussion of encouraging the overly taciturn provides an example of the saint’s penetrating insight into the human heart that depreciates the supposed genius of Freud’s “talking cure”:

Often when the taciturn suffer injustice, they come to feel keener grief from not speaking about what they are suffering. […] Wounds that are closed are the more painful. […] People, therefore, who are more silent than is expedient, should realise [sic] that they but aggravate the vehemence of their grief in withholding speech [….][19]

Clearly, to achieve this remarkable balance and depth requires profound sanctity and docility to the movements of the Holy Ghost as for example when St. Gregory states: “Humility is to be preached to the proud in a way not to increase fear in the timorous, and confidence [to the timorous] as not to encourage the unbridled impetuosity in the proud. […] The highest good is to be so praised, that the good in little things is not discarded.”[20] Gregory’s insistence on striking that balance and reaching that summit of virtue for an effective pastoral ministry brings me to my second point of interest.

One of St. Gregory’s principal points in his Pastoral Rule is the sanctity requisite for the great responsibility of pastoral ministry. As St. Thomas succinctly puts it, in a manner with which St. Gregory would undoubtedly have agreed, the bishop is the perfector of others.[21] The pastor must be holy by reason of the dignity of his office as the life of the shepherd is so far above the life of the sheep.[22] St. Gregory warns, “No one ventures to teach any art unless he has learned it after deep thought,” and that the government of souls is “the art of arts.”[23] The saint compares the pastor to a physician who would be rash to attempt to heal others without having first mastered the art of medicine himself, and further than the physician, in order for the pastor to heal souls, he himself must first be healed of sinfulness and even attachment to sin: “If, then, in [the physician’s] practice ailments still thrive in him, with what presumption does he hasten to heal the afflicted while he carries a sore on his own face?”[24] St. Gregory makes the vivid comparison between the sinful pastor and an untrustworthy mediator sent to intercede for a party: “For we all know full well that when a person is out of favour [sic] and sent to intercede, the mind of the incensed person is moved to greater anger,”[25] so too a pastor stuck in the mire of sin will not only fail to draw down the graces of God for his flock but will also lead to his own ruin and that of those under his care. Pastors who are still beginners in the spiritual life are like fledgling birds attempting “to fly upwards before their wings are fully developed” and therefore “fall down from where they tried to soar.”[26] With many other different analogies, St. Gregory argues that the pastor must teach what he has learned through personal experience more than abstract study,[27] must lead by the example of his own virtuous conduct,[28] must please men by the goodness of his character so as to draw men to a love of truth and holiness,[29] and in short, must

make himself heard rather by deeds than by words, and that by his righteous way of life should imprint footsteps for men to tread in [….] Let [pastors] first rouse themselves up by lofty deeds, and then make others solicitous to live good lives. […] Then, and only then, let them set in order the lives of others by their words.[30]

On the other hand, St. Gregory’s overwhelming emphasis on the pastor’s personal holiness may perhaps confuse some readers: why does St. Gregory not also focus on the pastor’s sacramental ministry? With the Pastoral Rule St. Gregory intends to guide bishops in their pastoral ministry rather than priests in their sacramental ministry, and one should keep in mind that Gregory’s vision of the pastor as spiritual physician and exemplar implies that the effectiveness of the pastor’s ministry corresponds with the degree of his holiness. This difference of focus reveals why he spends so much time focusing on the personal qualifications of the pastor as well as the prudential knowledge needed to guide properly the various classes of individuals under his care. Despite this difference, the necessity of holiness applies also to priests as Fr. Antonio Royo Marin, OP, notes forcefully, for while it is true that the sacramental aspect of priestly ministry possesses an intrinsic efficacy derived ex opere operato,

one cannot entertain the slightest doubt that in all those other activities the efficacy of which depend on the proper dispositions of the instrument, i.e. ex opere operantis (and these are all those activities of the priest except those we referred to in the valid administration of the sacraments), the supernatural efficacy of his apostolate will be in direct and immediate proportion to the degree of sanctity and perfection of the minister of God, and a poor curate in Ars, ignorant and scorned yet aflame with divine love, will convert more sinners and bring more souls to God than all the professors of the Sorbonne in Paris combined.[31]

The importance of both points discussed should be clear for the seminarian and priest. The success of his extra-sacramental ministry hinges on the degree to which he is docile to the Holy Ghost and acts in persona Christi not only in an official manner but also a personal manner, and St. Gregory provides us with an eminently trustworthy guide to develop those virtues specific to pastoral ministry.

St. Gregory’s Pastoral Rule is truly a sobering read. After enumerating the degree of exalted virtues and the vastness of necessary wisdom to pastor souls effectively, the saint closes his work with a chapter on the importance of remaining humble. He writes, “It is necessary that […] the eye of the soul should turn its gaze on its infirmities […] and as [pastors] are not able to overcome the very little [faults], they should not presume to pride themselves on the great things they accomplish.”[32] This book provides us an opportunity to reflect seriously on the maturity and the balance required for priestly ministry as well as the heavy burden of responsibility that accompanies it. It also emphasizes in another manner the fact that God is the author of all good things, that any good we possess is from Him (Jas. 1:17); as St. Paul asks, “What has thou that thou hast not received?” (1 Cor. 4:7). And reminiscent of our Lord’s parable of the talents, St. Gregory reminds us that those who have been given much are expected to help others, for “the gifts which they have received [are] not for their own sakes only, but for the sake of others also.”[33] Our Lord “came forth from the bosom of His Father into our midst, that He might benefit many,” and hence the love of God must overflow into the love of neighbor for God’s sake.[34] May we learn from the example of St. Gregory the Great, who, despite his personal protests to the contrary,[35] preached through the lofty holiness of his life in addition to his words.

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Footnotes:

1. Horace K. Mann, The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Part 1: 590–657 (St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1925), 1:241. On the influence of the Pastoral Rule, see St. Gregory the Great, Pastoral Care, trans. Henry Davis, in Ancient Christian Writers: The Works of the Fathers in Translation, eds. Johannes Quasten and Joseph C. Plumpe, no. 11 (Westminster, MD: The Newman Press, 1950), 9–12 [hereafter Davis, Pastoral Care, page, book, and chapter].

2. Abbot Snow, St. Gregory the Great: His Work and His Spirit (London: Burns Oates & Washbourne, Ltd., 1924), 90–91.

3. Davis, Pastoral Care, 4, translator’s introduction.

4. Ibid., 10.

5. Ibid., 11.

6. Mann, The Lives of the Popes, 242.

7. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, vol. 47: 2a2ae. 183–189: The Pastoral and Religious Lives, ed. Jordan Aumann (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 60–61, footnote a [hereafter ST].

8. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, On the Sanctification of Priests According to the Needs of Our Times, trans. Paul M. Kimball, (Camillus, NY: Dolorosa Press, 2013), ch. 1, art. 3.

9. Cf. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life, trans. M. Timothea Doyle (Rockford, IL: TAN Books, 1989), 1:64–65.

10. Davis, Pastoral Care, 32, I, 6. St. Thomas expands on this argument in ST 2a2ae.185.2, even quoting from the same passage of St. Gregory’s Pastoral Rule.

11. Ibid., 51–55, II, 4.

12. Ibid., 85, II, 10.

13. Ibid., 56–57, II, 5.

14. Ibid., 58.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid., 175, III, 24. St. Gregory writes, “The preacher drinks the water of his own cistern [.…] To be sure, it is proper that he should drink first, and then give others to drink by his preaching” (ibid.). This image anticipates St. Bernard’s striking comparison between the reservoir and the canal, which forms a perfect summary of St. Gregory’s thought on those seeking too eagerly for the pastoral office: “Today there are many in the Church who act like canals, the reservoirs are far too rare. So urgent is the charity of those through whom the streams of heavenly doctrine flow to us, that they want to pour it forth before they have been filled; they are more ready to speak than to listen, impatient to teach what they have not grasped, and full of presumption to govern others while they know not how to govern themselves” (“Sermon 18” in On the Song of Songs, trans. Kilian Walsh, in Cistercian Fathers Series: Number Four: The Works of Bernard of Clairvaux, ed. M. Basil Pennington [Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1971] 1:134, n. 3).

17. Ibid., 68–75, II, 7. St. Thomas famously perfects this line of argumentation when demonstrating that the mixed life rises above both the contemplative and active, for “just as it is better to illumine than merely to shine, so it is better to give to others the things contemplated than simply to contemplate” (ST 2a2ae.188.6). Interestingly, St. Thomas also argues that this mixed life is more perfect because it more closely resembles the perfection of the episcopal state (ibid.).

18. Ibid., 89–90, III, prologue.

19. Ibid., 130–131, III, 14.

20. Ibid., 227, III, 36.

21. ST 2a2ae.184.7.

22. Davis, Pastoral Care, 45, II, 1.

23. Ibid., 21, I, 1.

24. Ibid., 38, I, 9.

25. Ibid., 39.

26. Ibid., 180, III, 25.

27. Ibid., 23–25, I, 2.

28. Ibid., 48–51, II, 3.

29. Ibid., 77, II, 8.

30. Ibid., 232–233, III, 40.

31. Antonio Royo Marin, Teología de la perfección cristiana (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autore Cristianos, 2015), 806–807, n. 669, 5 (my translation). Cf. also St. John of the Cross who writes, “As for the one who teaches, the profit is usually commensurate with his interior preparedness. […] We frequently see, insofar as it is possible to judge here below, that the better the life of the preacher the more abundant the fruit, no matter how lowly his style, poor his rhetoric, and plain the doctrine” (Ascent of Mount Carmel, trans. K. Kavanaugh and O. Rodriguez, in The Collected Works of Saint John of the Cross, eds. K. Kavanaugh and O. Rodriguez [Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1973], 291, III, 45).

32. Davis, Pastoral Care, 237, IV.

33. Ibid., 29–30, I, 5.

34. Ibid., 31.

35. Ibid., 237, IV.

Vignettes from Our Young People

I republish the following vignettes from the 1916 editions of Our Young People, a Catholic newspaper published for the deaf-mute students at St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wisconsin. Although it closed in the 1980s, the school became infamous when the Milwaukee Archdiocese sex abuse scandal broke out. Fr. Lawrence Murphy, who had taught at the school from 1950-1974, reportedly molested up to 200 boys.

Aside from the awful associations with the school, I'm republishing the following because of how relevant the content of these articles are for our times, and some of them even are prophetic.

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[The following are from the April 1916 edition with page numbers indicated in brackets.]

[25] Don't "Hold the Floor."

"I don't wonder nobody cares to come to see me," sighed a young woman who had been temporarily crippled by a bad fall. "I don't know anything interesting to talk about. There is nothing attractive in this stupid old room. I can't be entertaining with my knee paining me all the time. I don't wonder people stay away."

No one else wondered either, though not for the reasons so categorically set forth. Ethel's friends came frequently at the beginning of her confinement to the house, full of sympathy for her accident, and evidently anxious to do all they could to make her period of enforced seclusion pleasant. But after the first three weeks, the numbers had fallen off appreciably, and everyone but Ethel knew why.

The friends who came had been prepared to be entertaining. They had saved up funny little stories for her amusement. They were prepared to be vivacious and sparkling. But none of these kindly intentions were carried out for the reason that Ethel gave none of them a chance. She held the floor herself. Each time it was the same story, of pain, and sleepless nights and deprivation.

Where there is sweet clover, there the bees will gather. Etehl's [sic] room migh [sic] have buzzed like a hive with friendly voices. But in a very short time her callers had learned what to expect. "Poor Ethel!" they said to one another. "We really must go to see her, only—well, let's not go today. It's so depressing."

The cheery invalid is not likely to be lonely. But it requires a heroic degree of self-forgetfulness to take an hour out of a bright afternoon to listen to complaints.

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[31] Procrastination.

There's a boy at our house
And you'll sometimes find him in it,
Who, when asked a thing to do,
Says: "I will, but—wait a minute."

If his mother asks for wood
And is wanting him to bring it,
He is sure to answer her,
"Yes, I'll come, just wait a minute."

When he has a task to do,
And is wanted to begin it,
He is sure to answer first,
"Yes, I will, just wait a minute."

If an errand he's to run,
Or a race that he may win it,
He is ready with reply,
"Yes, I will, just wait a minute."

Should he reach the pearly gate
And the angel ask him in it,
Will his answer then be too:
"Yes, I'll come, just wait a minute!"?

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[The following are from the October 1916 edition with page numbers indicated in brackets.]

[18] Answering the question, "How is it that there are so many bad persons in the Church?" the Rev. H. G. Graham writes as follows in "The Missionary Gazette:"

"The holiness of the Church is shown not in proper criterion of the Church's success in this its bad members, but in its good ones. The sphere is to look at the lives of those who faithfully obey her teaching, not those who violate it. A bad Catholic is a bad man because he is neglecting his religion; a good Catholic is a good man because he is practicing it. The one is a real product of Catholicity, the other is a product of his own sin. Take those who most scrupulously adhere to the doctrines and practices of the Church, and who act them out to the smallest details, and you have holy people, saints, whether canonized or not. These are the genuine fruits of the good tree of Catholicity; these the Church recognizes as her faithful children, her legitimate offspring; the others are rotten, decaying branches, for whose rottenness the Church takes no responsibility. Obviously, she cannot claim both as being equally faithful to her teaching. To make good his argument, then, the Protestant [my addition: or any secular person for that matter] would need to prove that bad Catholics are bad people because they are taught to be bad; that their badness is the logical result of the Church's instruction which they are faithfully following out; in short, that what we call bad Catholics are really good Catholics."

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[19] Issue was taken with a statement of Dr. Charles W. Dabney, President of the University of Cincinnati, that secular education is the strong bond of union between citizens, by Archbishop Henry Moeller, Cincinnati, in the sermon at the silver jubilee of St. Joseph College, Collegeville, Ind., a short time ago.

"Dr. Dabney," said the prelate, "likened this bond to cement. His cement, however, had only two ingredients, as he stated, namely, cement and sand. But he omitted the important element in his mixture—water.

"A house whose walls are laid in dry cement and sand will not endure. And neither will a state bound together by physical and intellectual culture, but without the amalgamating, cohesive forces of religion."

The college President, he said, made the statement some time ago.

"The State," Archbishop Moeller declared, "usurps a right not given to it by the constitution when it monopolizes education, and tyrannically strives to compel her citizens to make use of a system of education against which they conscientiously protest.

"And when, in addition to the double burden, the children educated in Catholic schools are discriminated against, what else can you call it but persecution? There might be reason for such action in the pupils of your schools were not as proficient in knowledge as those educated by the state. This, however, is not the fact, as experience proves, wherever a fair test has been made."

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[19] It is a long time since the law of England, made by bigots, decreed that not only must the sovereign be a Protestant, but he must also marry a Protestant. The Prince of Wales is nearly 22; there are not many European courts with marriageable daughters, more particularly as the Fatherland is now closed for alliances.

It is known that the prince visited Italy recently to see more than the Italian battle line, that he met Princess Iolande, daughter of the king, that the two young people were favorably impressed, and that Prince Arthur of Connaught [alternatively spelled Connacht] has since continued negotiations for the princess' hand.

The one great obstacle is religion. Naturally and very properly the Italian monarchs decline to let their daughter apostatize even for the throne of the British Empire. It is now whispered that Rome might grant a dispensation for the marriage to the Protestant prince, provided the bride's religion was safe-guarded.

And there comes the rub. To permit a Catholic queen of England would be the thin end of the wedge to all fire-eating Protestants; but there are enough sensible people in the nation to appreciate that the time has gone by for controlling the spiritual affairs of their ruler.

[This next part is prophetic:]

According to the London Daily Express, women are allowed to speak in Anglican churches, provided they do not speak from the pulpit, lectern or chancel steps. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishop of London have pronounced definitely in favor of this innovation, and other bishops are expected to give their sanction.

Protests have been made, the leader of the opposition being Athelstan Riley, a high church man, who urges that to allow women to speak in churches "is the first recognized step in an unorganized movement to claim the priesthood for women."—Ex.

[My comments: The age of Prince Arthur by the time of this publishing would have been 33. Princess Iolanda of Savoy would have been 15. If Prince Arthur was 22, then the princess would have been about 4. Fortunately, the story has a happy ending: Princess Iolanda was not married to Prince Arthur, who ended up marrying his cousin Princess Alexandra.]

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[20] Too Smart.

Catherine and Alice were shopping together at a "sale," and at last drew near a counter where some goods were displayed that they wanted.

"I will take two and a half yards," said Catherine to the salesgirl.

The latter was new at the work—taken into the department store to help out on that side. The crowd confused her; she hadn't become accustomed to handling her pad of sales slips. Two and a half yards at ninety-eight cents would be—she couldn't think in such a babel of voices; she figured on the back of her slip, and then said: "One dollar forty-five, please."

Catherine tilted her head a trifle, did a bit of mental arithmetic, and spoke pleasantly and quietly: "It must be two forty-five, I think."

The girl flushed painfully. "Of course," she murmured; "thank you ever so much."

"Now what in the world did you do that for?" complained Alice just as they left the counter. "You might just as well as not have had that extra dollar. You are quick as lightning at figures, I know; but when you had figured it out in your mind why didn't you keep still? There is such a thing as being too smart."

"I don't think you can accuse me of that," laughed Catherine; "but the amount really was two forty-five, and it would be a fraud for me not to pay it when I knew it. But saying nothing about that part of it, there was the girl. If she had sent in the slip for a dollar forty-five, the examiner would have discovered the mistake, and the extra dollar would have been deducted from the girl's wages—if they amounted to as much as that."

"Well, that is her lookout. Anyway, that's how I look at it. If the conductor thinks I'm reading my paper so earnestly that I must have paid my fare, I don't run to him and beseech him to take my nickel. Last week a restaurant cashier gave me back fifty cents too much change. I didn't call out the fire department; I walked away as steady as you please. If I am smart enough to copy your examination paper without letting Miss Spectacles see me, why, she's the one to blame, not I."

Now, there's a big question that goes with this little story: Which of these girls was really the one that was "too smart"? And will it be too late when she finds out?—Girl's World.

Cardinal Mercier on Christian Mortification

The aim of Christian mortification is to counteract the evil influences which original sin continues to exert on our souls, even after Baptism has regenerated them.

Our regeneration in Christ, while completely wiping out sin in us, leaves us, none the less, very far indeed from original rectitude and peace. It was recognized by the Council of Trent that concupiscence, which is to say the triple covetousness of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of life, makes itself felt in us even after Baptism, in order to rouse us to the glorious struggles of the Christian life.[1] It is this triple covetousness which Scripture calls sometimes the old man, as opposed to the new man who is Jesus living in us and ourselves living in Jesus; and sometimes the flesh or fallen nature, as opposed to the spirit or to nature regenerated by supernatural grace. It is this old man or this flesh, that is to say the whole man with his twofold, moral and physical life, that one must, I do not say annihilate, because that is an impossibility so long as our present life continues, but mortify, which means to cause it to die, to reduce it almost to the powerless, inactive and barren state of a corpse; one must prevent it from yielding its fruit, which is sin, and nullify its action in all our moral life.

Christian mortification ought therefore to involve the whole man, to extend to every sphere of action in which our nature is able to operate.

Such is the purpose of the virtue of mortification; we shall explain its practice by running through, one after another, the many forms of activity in which it is manifested in our lives:

I. Organic activity or bodily life.
II. Sensible activity, which comes into play either under the form of sense-knowledge through the external senses or the imagination, or else under the form of sensible appetite or passion.
III. Rational and free activity, the principle of our thoughts and our judgements and of the decisions of the will.
IV. The exterior manifestation of the life of the soul or our exterior actions.
V. Our relations with our neighbor.[2]

Practice of Christian Mortification

I. Mortification of the body

1. In the matter of food, restrict yourself as far as possible to simple necessity. Consider these words which Saint Augustine addressed to God: "O my God, Thou hast taught me to take food only as a remedy. Ah! Lord, who is there among us who does not sometimes exceed the limit here? If there is such a one, I say that man is great, and must give great glory to Thy name." (Confessions, book X, ch. 31)
2. Pray to God often, pray to God daily to help you by His grace so that you do not overstep the limits of necessity and do not permit yourself to give way to pleasure.
3. Take nothing between meals, unless out of necessity or for the sake of convenience.
4. Practice fasting and abstinence, but practice them only under obedience and with discretion.
5. It is not forbidden for you to enjoy some bodily satisfaction, but do so with a pure intention, giving thanks to God. 
6. Regulate your sleep, avoiding in this all faint-heartedness, all softness, especially in the morning. Set an hour, if you can, for going to bed and getting up, and keep strictly to it.
7. In general, take your rest only in so far as it is necessary; give yourself generously to work, not sparing your labour. Take care not to exhaust your body, but guard against indulging it; as soon as you feel it even a little disposed to play the master, treat it at once as a slave.
8. If you suffer some slight indisposition, avoid being a nuisance to others through your bad mood; leave to your companions the task of complaining for you; for yourself, be patient and silent as the Divine Lamb who has truly borne all our weaknesses.
9. Guard against making the slightest illness a reason for dispensation or exemption from your daily schedule. "One must detest like the plague every exception when it comes to rules," wrote Saint John Berchmans.
10. Accept with docility, endure humbly, patiently and with perseverance, the tiresome mortification called illness.

II. Mortification of the senses, of the imagination and the passions

1. Close your eyes always and above all to every dangerous sight, and even have the courage to do it to every frivolous and useless sight. See without looking; do not gaze at anybody to judge of their beauty or ugliness.
2. Keep your ears closed to flattering remarks, to praise, to persuasion, to bad advice, to slander, to uncharitable mocking, to indiscretions, to ill-disposed criticism, to suspicions voiced, to every word capable of causing the very smallest coolness between two souls
3. If the sense of smell has something to suffer due to your neighbor's infirmity or illness, far be it from you ever to complain of it; draw from it a holy joy.
4. In what concerns the quality of food, have great respect for Our Lord's counsel: "Eat such things as are set before you." "Eat what is good without delighting in it, what is bad without expressing aversion to it, and show yourself equally indifferent to the one as to the other. There," says Saint Francis de Sales, "is real mortification."
5. Offer your meals to God; at table impose on yourself a tiny penance: for example, refuse a sprinkling of salt, a glass of wine, a sweet, etc.; your companions will not notice it, but God will keep account of it.
6. If what you are given appeals to you very much, think of the gall and the vinegar given to Our Lord on the cross: that cannot keep you from tasting, but will serve as a counterbalance to the pleasure.
7. You must avoid all sensual contact, every caress in which you set some passion, by which you look for passion, from which you take a joy which is principally of the senses.
8. Refrain from going to warm yourself, unless this is necessary to save you from being unwell.
9. Bear with everything which naturally grieves the flesh, especially the cold of winter, the heat of summer, a hard bed and every inconvenience of that kind. Whatever the weather, put on a good face; smile at all temperatures. Say with the prophet "Cold, heat, rain, bless ye the Lord." It will be a happy day for us when we are able to say with a good heart these words which were familiar to Saint Francis de Sales: "I am never better than when I am not well."
10. Mortify your imagination when it beguiles you with the lure of a brilliant position, when it saddens you with the prospect of a dreary future, when it irritates you with the memory of a word or deed which offended you.
11. If you feel within you the need to daydream, mortify it without mercy.
12. Mortify yourself with the greatest care in the matter of impatience, of irritation or of anger.
13. Examine your desires thoroughly; submit them to the control of reason and of faith: do you never desire a long life rather than a holy life, wish for pleasure and well-being without trouble or sadness, victory without battle, success without setbacks, praise without criticism, a comfortable, peaceful life without a cross of any sort, that is to say a life quite opposite to that of Our Divine Lord?
14. Take care not to acquire certain habits which, without being positively bad, can become injurious, such as habits of frivolous reading, of playing at games of chance, etc.
15. Seek to discover your predominant failing and, as soon as you have recognized it, pursue it all the way to its last retreat. To that purpose, submit with good will to whatever could be monotonous or boring in the practice of the examination of conscience.
16. You are not forbidden to have a heart and to show it, but be on your guard against the danger of exceeding due measure. Resist attachments which are too natural, particular friendships and all softness of the heart.

III. Mortification of the mind and the will

1. Mortify your mind by denying it all fruitless imaginings, all ineffectual or wandering thoughts which waste time, dissipate the soul, and render work and serious things distasteful.
2. Every gloomy and anxious thought should be banished from your mind. Concern about all that could happen to you later on should not worry you at all. As for the bad thoughts which bother you in spite of yourself, you should, in dismissing them, make of them a subject for patience. Being involuntary, they will simply be for you an occasion of merit.
3. Avoid obstinacy in your ideas, stubbornness in your sentiments. You should willingly let the judgements of others prevail, unless there is a question of matters on which you have a duty to give your opinion and speak out.
4. Mortify the natural organ of your mind, which is to say the tongue. Practice silence gladly, whether your rule prescribes it for you or whether you impose it on yourself of your own accord.
5. Prefer to listen to others rather than to speak yourself; and yet speak appropriately, avoiding as extremes both speaking too much, which prevents others from telling their thoughts, and speaking too little, which suggests a hurtful lack of interest in what they say.
6. Never interrupt somebody who is speaking and do not forestall, by answering too swiftly, a question he would put to you.
7. Always have a moderate tone of voice, never abrupt or sharp. Avoid very, extremely, horribly; all exaggeration.
8. Love simplicity and straightforwardness. The pretenses, evasions, deliberate equivocations which certain pious people indulge in without scruple greatly discredit piety.
9. Carefully refrain from using any coarse, vulgar or even idle word, because Our Lord warns us that He will ask an account of them from us on the day of judgement.
10. Above all, mortify your will; that is the decisive point. Bend it constantly to what you know is God's good pleasure and the rule of Providence, without taking any account either of your likes or your dislikes. Be submissive, even to your inferiors, in matters which do not concern the glory of God and the duties of your position.
11. Look on the smallest disobedience to the orders or even the desires of your superiors as if it were addressed to God.
12. Remember that you will practice the greatest of all mortifications when you love to be humiliated and when you have the most perfect obedience towards those to whom God wishes you to be subject.
13. Love to be forgotten and counted as nothing; it is the advice of Saint John of the Cross, it is the counsel of The Imitation of Christ: speak seldom either well or ill of yourself, but seek by silence to make yourself forgotten.
14. Faced with a humiliation, a reproach, you are tempted to grumble, to feel sorry for yourself. Say with David: "So much the better! It is good that I should be humbled."
15. Entertain no frivolous desires: "I desire few things," said Saint Francis de Sales, "and the little that I desire, I desire very little."
16. Accept with the most perfect resignation the mortifications decreed by Providence, the crosses and the labors belonging to the state of life in which Providence has placed you. "There, where there is less of our choice," said Saint Francis, "there is more of the good pleasure of God." We would like to choose our crosses, to have a cross other than our own, to carry a heavy cross which would at least have some fame, rather than a light cross which tires us by being unceasingly there: an illusion! it is our cross we must carry, not another, and its merit is not in what sort of cross it is, but in the perfection with which we carry it.
17. Do not let yourself be troubled by temptations, scruples, spiritual dryness: "What we do in time of dryness has more merit in the sight of God than what we do in time of consolation," says the saintly Bishop of Geneva.[3]
18. Do not fret too much about your imperfections but humble yourself because of them. To humble oneself is a good thing, which few people understand; to be troubled and vexed at oneself is something that everybody knows, and which is bad, because in that kind of distress and vexation self-love always plays the greater part.
19. Let us beware alike of the timidity and despondency which sap our courage, and of the presumption which is only pride in action. Let us work as if everything depended on our efforts, but let us remain humble as if our work were useless.

IV. Mortifications to practice in our exterior actions

1. You ought to show the greatest exactitude in observing all the points of your rule of life, obeying them without delay, remembering Saint John Berchmans, who said: "Penance for me is to lead the common life"; "To have the highest regard for the smallest things, such is my motto"; "Rather die than break a single rule."
2. In the exercise of your duties of state, try to be well-pleased with whatever happens to be most unpleasant or boring for you, recalling again here the words of Saint Francis: "I am never better than when I am not well."
3. Never give one moment over to sloth: from morning until night keep busy without respite.
4. If your life is, at least partly, spent in study, apply to yourself this advice from Saint Thomas Aquinas to his pupils: "Do not be content to take in superficially what you read and hear, but endeavor to go into it deeply and to fathom the whole sense of it. Never remain in doubt about what you could know with certainty. Work with a holy eagerness to enrich your mind; arrange and classify in your memory all the knowledge you are able to acquire. On the other hand, do not seek to penetrate mysteries which are beyond your intelligence."
5. Devote yourself solely to your present occupation, without looking back on what went before or anticipating in thought what will follow. Say with Saint Francis: "While I am doing this I am not obliged to do anything else"; "let us make haste very calmly; all in good time."
6. Be modest in your bearing. Nothing was so perfect as Saint Francis's deportment; he always kept his head straight, avoiding alike the inconstancy which turns it in all directions, the negligence which lets it droop forward and the proud and haughty disposition which throws it back. His countenance was always peaceful, free from all annoyance, always cheerful, serene and open; without however any merriment or indiscreet humor, without loud, immoderate or too frequent laughter.
7. He was as composed when alone as in a large gathering. He did not cross his legs, never supported his head on his elbow. When he prayed he was motionless as a statue. When nature suggested to him he should relax, he did not listen.
8. Regard cleanliness and order as a virtue, uncleanness and untidiness as a vice; do not have dirty, stained or torn clothes. On the other hand, regard luxury and worldliness as a greater vice still. Make sure that, on seeing your way of dressing, nobody calls it "slovenly" or "elegant," but that everybody is bound to think it "decent."

V. Mortifications to practise in our relations with our neighbour

1. Bear with your neighbor's defects; defects of education, of mind, of character. Bear with everything about him which irritates you: his gait, his posture, tone of voice, accent, or whatever.
2. Bear with everything in everybody and endure it to the end and in a Christian spirit. Never with that proud patience which makes one say: "What have I to do with so and so? How does what he says affect me? What need have I for the affection, the kindness or even the politeness of any creature at all and of that person in particular?" Nothing accords less with the will of God than this haughty unconcern, this scornful indifference; it is worse, indeed, than impatience.
3. Are you tempted to be angry? For the love of Jesus, be meek. To avenge yourself? Return good for evil; it is said the great secret of touching Saint Teresa's heart was to do her a bad turn. To look sourly at someone? Smile at him with good nature. To avoid meeting him? Seek him out willingly. To talk badly of him? Talk well of him. To speak harshly to him? Speak very gently, warmly, to him.
4. Love to give praise to your companions, especially those you are naturally most inclined to envy.
5. Do not be witty at the expense of charity.
6. If somebody in your presence should take the liberty of making remarks which are rather improper, or if someone should hold conversations likely to injure his neighbor's reputation, you may sometimes rebuke the speaker gently, but more often it will be better to divert the conversation skillfully or indicate by a gesture of sorrow or of deliberate inattention that what is said displeases
7. It costs you an effort to render a small service: offer to do it. You will have twice the merit
8. Avoid with horror posing as a victim in your own eyes or those of others. Far be it from you to exaggerate your burdens; strive to find them light; they are , in reality, much more often than it seems; they would be so always if you were more virtuous.

Conclusion

In general, know how to refuse to nature what she asks of you unnecessarily.

Know how to make her give what she refuses you for no reason. Your progress in virtue, says the author of The Imitation of Christ, will be in proportion to the violence that you succeed in doing to yourself.

"It is necessary to die," said the saintly Bishop of Geneva, "it is necessary to die in order that God may live in us, for it is impossible to achieve the union of the soul with God by any means other than by mortification. These words 'it is necessary to die' are hard, but they will be followed by a great sweetness, because one dies to oneself for no other reason than to be united to God by that death."

Would to God we had the right to apply to ourselves these beautiful words of Saint Paul to the Corinthians: "In all things we suffer tribulation... Always bearing about in our body the death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies." (II Cor 4:8-10)

Addendum: Words of Archbishop Lefebvre

"For we do not do penance for penance's sake: penance is required by God and by the Church to make us practice charity, to destroy in us every vestige of selfishness and pride, and of all the vices that constrict our hearts in some way..."

"We do not pursue the warfare against sin for the sake of the fight itself; we pursue it so as at last to attain true charity towards God and towards our neighbor. The goal is charity, union with God, union with Our Lord."

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Footnotes:

1. Manere autem in baptizatis concupiscentiam vel fomitem, haec sancta Synodus fatetur et sentit; quae cum ad agonem relicta sit, [...] Hanc concupiscentiam, quam aliquando Apostolus 'peccatum' (Cf. Rom 6:12 .et seq.; 7: 7; 14-20) appellat, [...] quia ex peccato est et ad peccatum inclinat. (Council of Trent, Fifth Session, Decree on Original Sin).

2. N.B.: All the practices of mortification which we have collected here are derived from the examples of the Saints, especially Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Teresa, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint John Berchmans; or they are recommended by acknowledged masters of the spiritual life, such as the Venerable Louis de Blois, Rodriguez, Scaramelli, Mgr Gay, Abbé Allemand, Abbé Hamon, Abbe Dubois, etc...

3. Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622), who is so frequently quoted in this essay, was Bishop of Geneva.

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Source: Cardinal Désiré Mercier, "Christian Mortification," https://www.ecatholic2000.com/cts/untitled-604.shtml.

Elder Ephraim on Procrastination

Compel yourselves; say the Prayer; stop idle talk; close your mouths to criticism; place doors and locks against unnecessary words; time passes and does not come back; and woe to us if time goes by without spiritual profit.

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Source: Fr. Alexios, "The Problem of Procrastination," Ancient Christian Wisdom, accessed July 4, 2017, http://ancientchristianwisdom.com/the-problem-of-procrastination.

Fr. Antonio Royo Marín on the Theology of the Apostolate

[800] Article 4

The Apostolate

664. The apostolate, in whatever its form, carried out with a true supernatural spirit, can and ought to provide to the Christian a true source of sanctification. We are going to examine the concept of the apostolate, its degrees, obligation, forms, and relations to Christian perfection.

665. I. Concept. We are going to detail its nominal meaning and its real content.

a) NOMINALLY, the word “apostle” comes from the Greek term ἀπόστολος, derived from the verb ἀποστέλλω (“to send”), and signifies an envoy, messenger, or ambassador.

In the New Testament this word is sometimes used to designate the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, to which there is added the names of Matthias, Paul, and Barnabas, [801] who are apostles by antonomasia (par excellence); but at other times the name of “apostle” is also given to every kind of preacher of the Gospel, including those not belonging to the church hierarchy. Thus St. Paul writes in his Letter to the Romans: “Salute Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and fellow prisoners: who are of note among the apostles” (Rom. 16:7).

It should be noted that the words “mission” and “apostolate,” as well as “missionary” and “apostle,” are etymologically equivalent. “Mission” and “missionary” come from the Latin verb mitto, which means “to send”; this is exactly the same as the words “apostle” and “apostolate,” which as we have said before come from the Greek verb ἀποστέλλω, which also means “to send.”

b) REAL MEANING. The nominal or etymological significance of the word apostle has set us on the path to its true meaning or real content. For in the understanding of the Church which interests us here, an apostle is, in the end, nothing but an envoy of God sent to preach the Gospel to men. St. Paul expressly says so (Rom. 1:1), and it is the common doctrine of the entire tradition of the Church. The expression apostolate has no meaning other than the work and activity proper to the apostle.

666. 2. Degrees. However, the word apostle is undoubtedly analogous and is applied in many different ways to different subjects of attribution. Accordingly, we can distinguish without effort, based on the data of Sacred Scripture and of tradition, up to six degrees or distinct categories of apostolate:

1. The apostolate in its most eminent grade, as the supreme analogate in its analogical scale, corresponds by right to Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is sent by the Father in order to bring to the world the good news and message of redemption (Jn. 3:17, 8:16, 17:3, 8, 18, 21, etc.). From Him all other apostles receive the mandate and apostolic mission (Jn. 20:21).

2. In the second place, the apostolate corresponds to those apostles par excellence, in other words, the twelve apostles chosen by Christ, to which is added the names of Matthias, Paul, and Barnabas, and those sent by Him to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mk. 16:15).

3. Occupying the third place is the Roman Pontiff, the successor of St. Peter, and the bishops, the successors of the remaining apostles and heirs of the ordinary mission that Jesus Christ has committed to them although not of the extraordinary mission as founders of the Church nor of the personal charisms if we make exception for the Roman Pontiff in referring to the privilege of infallibility.

4. Fourthly, simple priests sent by the Pope and the bishops with any jurisdictional mission that participates directly in the authority of the Church.

5. The laity involved in any apostolic organization, among which Catholic Action stands out, which, without participating in any manner in properly ecclesiastical or jurisdictional authority, nevertheless partakes in the official activities of that authority under the direction of the hierarchy and as their instruments. [802]

6. In the broadest sense, finally, the name of apostle can be applied to any person who performs some action of the apostolate (catechesis, giving good council, etc.) although it would be through his own initiative and not with any official mission.

667. 3. Obligation. Having explained the notion of the apostle, the apostolate, and the different degrees in which one can participate in the latter, it will be of interest to demonstrate before all the obligation of the apostolate on all the members of Christ without exception. No one may be excused from this sacred obligation although it affects Christians in many, diverse ways according to the higher or lower position in which they have been placed by Divine Providence on the scale of analogous degrees that we finished enumerating above.

Here are the principle reasons or theological foundations of the universal obligation of the apostolate:

1. It is a requirement of charity in relation to God, to our neighbors, and to ourselves.

a) RELATING TO GOD. The love that is selfish and sensual is exclusive: it does not want anyone to participate in its joy; it wants to savor it by itself. It is very easily understood because of the limitation and smallness of the creature upon which this love has fallen. But the love of God, which rests on an infinite and inexhaustible object, far from diminishing, grows and becomes truly massive even when in the depths of one’s being one does not feel the blazing of the fire of the apostolate. A love of God that remained indifferent to apostolic concerns would be completely false and illusory. “There is only one thing I desire,” said St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus: “to make God loved.” It is the fundamental and primary desire of all souls who are authentically in love with God. We will come back to this when discussing the relationship between perfection and the apostolate.

b) RELATING TO NEIGHBOR. The charity relating to our neighbor obliges us to desire and procure every kind of good for him, principally those in the spiritual order that are ordained to his eternal beatitude. It is impossible, therefore, to love one’s neighbor with a true love of charity without the affective and effective practice of the apostolate, at least to the measurement and degree compatible with our state in life and with the means and methods within our reach.

c) RELATING TO OURSELVES. It has rightly been said that material charity benefits more the one who gives than the one who receives because, in exchange for something material and temporal, one acquires a right to a spiritual and eternal reward. This same principle should apply, for greater reason, [803] to the great spiritual charity of the apostolate. It is certain that the recipient also benefits in the order of the spiritual and transcendent, but without any prejudice, even before this, comes a great benefit to the benefactor. By submitting ourselves to apostolic labors for the good of our brothers, we accrue on a grand scale our capital of merit before God. Hence in this manner the apostolate is not only an obligation but simultaneously an excellent practice of the love of God, our neighbor, and ourselves.

2. It is a consequence of the dogma of the Mystical Body of Christ.

God used the apostle St. Paul to give to His Church the doctrinal treasure of the theology of the Mystical Body of Christ. It is an infinite treasure of inexhaustible fecundity for the Christian life. Much has been written on it, and we have the fortune of possessing a wonderful synthesis in the enlightening encyclical of Pope Pius XII.¹ Perhaps in no other aspect of this doctrine are offered possibilities as magnificent for the theologian as those relating to the universal duty of the apostolate that flow from it naturally and without effort. In fact it is inconceivable that the members of one and the same supernatural organism should remain indifferent to the health and well-being of the others.

a) BAPTISM, by which we are incorporated into the Mystical Body of Christ, has linked us in such a way to our Divine Head and each one of us to the other that no one can “wash one’s hands of” the other without committing an attack, a true crime against the members of that same Mystical Body, which has inevitable repercussions even to its Divine Head. The “you did it to Me” of the final judgment will have its perfect application both in the line of the good and the bad (Mt. 25:40, 45).

b) CONFIRMATION. The demands of Baptism are invigorated and reinforced with the sacrament of Confirmation, which makes us soldiers of Christ and gives us the necessary strength to wage the battles of the Lord. The mission of the soldier is to defend the common good. A selfish soldier is a contradiction. For this reason he must be confirmed an apostle by an intrinsic demand stemming from his own fallen condition.²

668. 4. Forms. However, even here there is room for distinct modes and grades. Not all Christians are obliged to practice the apostolate in the same degree and, above all, in the same form. It is possible to characterize the apostolate as a state, as a life, and as a practice.

a) AS A STATE, the apostolate corresponds properly to the Roman Pontiff and the bishops, the legitimate successors of the apostles, to whom [804] Christ has entrusted the august mission of perpetuating the apostolic functions and ministries even to the consummation of the ages (Mk. 16:15).

b) AS A LIFE, it corresponds to any priest who has legitimately received the apostolic mission to announce the Gospel to the people. Within this fierce phalanx of the apostles of Jesus Christ, priests occupy an outstanding place because of the transcendent importance of their apostolate, these missionaries in a land of infidels and charged with expanding the dominion of the Christian faith until it has invaded the entire world.

c) AS A PRACTICE, it is the exercise of any apostolic activity whether with a canonical mission or not. This latter is that which extends also to the lay faithful, who must exercise the apostolate—in virtue of those demands that we noted above—at least in their particular environment with all the means at their disposal.

669. 5. Relations between the Apostolate and Christian Perfection. Having examined the concept of the apostolate, even if only with the extreme brevity that the extension and nature of our work obliges us, let us now see what its intimate relations with Christian perfection are.

a) THE APOSTOLATE, A FORMAL PART OR EFFECT OF PERFECTION. St. Thomas beautifully proves that apostolic zeal is an effect of charity.³ Above all, when charity attains to a great intensity, it tends to overflow into the exterior. It is impossible to love God “with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength”—the first commandment of the Law, in the perfect practice of which Christian perfection consists—without the soul feeling a devouring zeal for the glory of God and an insatiable craving for the apostolate. In this way the apostolate is inevitably a formal effect of Christian perfection. There is not nor can there be any form of Christian perfection that can prescind from or not want to have anything to do with this apostolic giving of one’s self towards others. In the Church of Christ all is united and collective. Egotistic isolation is a sin, and the sanctity that cares not for the good of others is an illusion. None, not even cloistered nuns or contemplative religious, can renounce being an apostle without committing a crime against the Mystical Body of Christ and without destroying the very contemplative life in its integrity. The nun of the cloister and the contemplative too have a most elevated apostolic mission that, at the same time that it is an indispensable duty, constitutes for them one of their most precious peals of glory. They are not to be apostles through the exercise of the word or exterior activities diametrically opposed to the spirit of their contemplative vocation, but they are to be, in an eminent [805] degree, apostles through their prayer, through their sacrifices, through their example and witness before the pagan society of our day.

Our immortal Donoso Cortés wrote the following phrase: “I believe that those who pray do more for this world than those who fight and that if the world goes from bad to worse, this consists in that there are more battles than there are prayers.”⁴ As a missionary bishop once affirmed, ten Carmelite nuns praying could help him more than twenty missionaries preaching.

There can be no doubt. The love of God when legitimate and true enkindles within our souls a love of neighbor. The apostle St. John arrives at the saying that he lies who says that he loves God but does not also love his neighbor (1 Jn. 4:20), and among the acts of love, not one is more authentic than the apostolic zeal and ardor for procuring our neighbor’s spiritual good.

b) INTIMATE UNION, NECESSARY FOR PERFECTION TO BE AUTHENTIC AND THE APOSTOLATE FRUITFUL. Between perfection and the apostolate there must be—necessarily so when authentic—a most strict relationship and a reciprocal and continual influence. It is a classic formula that the interior life is the soul of the whole apostolate and the guarantee of its efficacy. This affirmation is supported by very firm principles of Catholic theology.

As it is known, in establishing the comparison between the active life and the contemplative, the Angelic Doctor concludes that the latter is more perfect and meritorious than the active since, among other reasons that he explains there, the direct exercise of the love of God, which is the object of the contemplative life, is more perfect and meritorious than the love of neighbor, which is the immediate object of exterior activities.⁵ But a little afterwards he adds that the mixed life is more perfect than either of the others considered in isolation because it unites the best aspects of both and more closely imitates the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, the supreme model of perfection.⁶

The difficulty is in specifying the true concept of the mixed life, for there is no state of active life that does not claim for it some directing principle or source influence from the contemplative life. Hence if one does not proceed with much caution and theological rigor, one will come to the danger of concluding that the properly active life does not exist and that all apostolic activity—whatever may be its origin, end, and manner of fulfilling—enters fully into the concept of the mixed life and is, therefore, superior to the merely contemplative life. This would be a [806] most grave error that would affect not only the serene realm of theoretical principles but would also have enormous and pernicious repercussions in practice.

No! Not all apostolic activity is beneficial when it is cut off from the further excellencies of the mixed life and as if it worked in an ex opere operato manner. This excellence, according to the Angelic Doctor and the universal theological tradition, is what proceeds from the fullness of contemplation.⁷ It is an overflowing of one’s own supernatural life. It has two absolutely inseparable aspects: to contemplate and to communicate to others what has been contemplated: contemplari et contemplata aliis tradere.⁸ Neither of the two aspects can be neglected without damaging in a radical manner the concept of the mixed life. Without the contemplative element, we would have pure exterior activity: the active life. Without the apostolic giving of one’s self in exterior activity, we would have pure contemplation: the contemplative life. And in neither of these two cases would we have achieved the concept of the mixed life. The mixed life is, therefore, only that in which apostolic activities would be an effect and a redounding of one’s own contemplation. From which it must be concluded that when these apostolic activities, however numerous and intense they may be, do not emanate from an authentically contemplative soul that is ablaze with the love of God, they cannot claim to be part of the dignity and excellence of the mixed life: they are mere exterior activity, the active life pure and simple, greatly inferior in itself to the contemplative life and—a fortiori—to the authentic mixed life as well. That is why the Angelic Doctor carefully insists that when a contemplative is called to apostolic activities, this ought not to be done in a manner of subtraction, subtracting and reducing anything from the contemplative life, but in a manner of addition, adding in a manner that further enkindles one’s own life of union with God: hoc non fit per modum substractionis, sed per modum additionis (“this is done by way not of subtraction but of addition”).⁹

Is this to say that an apostle who does not live a profound and exuberant interior life is unforgivably condemned to sterility and failure? Applied to the priest in the totality of his ministry, it seems to us not to be the case. It would do no good here to invoke the argument that “one cannot give what one does not have.” The reason is that a good part of the ministerial activities of the priest has an intrinsic efficacy—ex opere operato—that functions independently of the personal worthiness of the one who administers the sacraments. In this sense, the priest does not give of his own but only what is of God, that is, that which God puts into his hands, however unworthy and sinful those hands may be. This is true. But one cannot entertain the slightest doubt that in all those other activities the efficacy of which depend in a good part on the proper dispositions of the instrument—ex opere operantis—(and these are all those activities of the priest except those we referred to in the valid administration of the sacraments), the supernatural efficacy of his apostolate will be in direct and immediate proportion to the degree of sanctity and perfection of the minister of God, and a poor curate in Ars, ignorant and scorned but aflame with divine love, will convert [807] more sinners and bring more souls to God than all the professors of the Sorbonne in Paris combined.

Hence, an intimate and deep union between the contemplative life and the active is indispensable in order to come to the authentic notion of the mixed life and to assure the authenticity of Christian perfection and the fruitfulness of the apostolate. Therefore it is necessary to avoid with all caution the errors and dangerous deviations of both extremes.

c) ERRORS AND DANGEROUS DEVIATIONS OF BOTH EXTREMES. Without any doubt, in the field of the apostolate there are greater errors and dangers that arise from an exaggerated overestimation of the active life than from an unhealthy exaltation of the contemplative life: the activism or Americanism, which was called by the most recent Popes the heresy of action, is a much deadlier error than quietism. In any case, every error is pernicious, and we ought carefully to avoid both vicious extremes in order to come to the just and balanced middle in which virtue consists.

a) The excess of uncontrolled activity almost always leads to the heresy of action and the personal failure of the man who lives in such a way. Well known are the words of a man as apostolic as Cardinal Lavigerie: “For an apostle there is no middle ground between complete sanctity—at least desired and pursued with fidelity and tenacity—and absolute perversion.” Unfortunately, experience daily confirms the somber perspective of this phrase. The man, devoured by the fever of action, submits himself more and more to exterior activities: paperwork, statistics, organizations, the press, radio, cinema, the devouring fever of movement…

Does he live a life of profound piety, of continual and intense prayer? Does he recite the breviary digne, attente, ac devote (“worthily, attentively, and devoutly”)? Does he make a long preparation in order to celebrate the Holy Mass and deepen and prolong his thanksgiving afterwards? Does he do spiritual reading, meditation, and acts of personal piety? “There is no time for this!” he says. “The times are very bad; the forces of evil have organized themselves to oversee everything more and more; it is necessary to oppose them by the barricade of our resistance, from organization to organization, activity to activity. If only we could attend to everything! We would love very much to live the life of prayer, to keep in constant contact with our Lord in the tabernacle… What a pity! We do not have the time for this.” Such is how these poor souls run astray. The result of this insensible reasoning tends to be the loss of the spirit of faith, lukewarmness and boredom in the prayer life, and, all too often, a noisy and belligerent defection and the scandal of final apostasy.

b) Quietism. In diametrical opposition to this great error, another great aberration disguised as supernatural prudence tries to take refuge in darkness and sloth. It is quietism, a ridiculous caricature of recollection and the contemplative life, which coincides in reality with the most repugnant selfishness when it does not fall into the abyss of sensuality as history has so often testified. The quietist “does not want to meddle in anything.” Under the pretext of concentration and prayer, he fortifies himself into a castle of isolation and idleness without thinking of anyone outside of himself or preoccupying himself with anything other than his own interests. He has not heard—or does not want to hear—the anguished cry [808] of the Divine Redeemer: “I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled?” (Lk. 12:49).

He is very comfortable not “meddling in anything” or to abandon for a single instant his sweet idleness—il dolce far niente—, but it is not acceptable, when he has such a contemptible attitude, to call himself a disciple of that divine Master Who precisely for meddling in every affair was put to death on the height of the cross.

d) THE JUST AND BALANCED SOLUTION. It is precisely to avoid carefully and equally both vicious extremes. The just and balanced solution was given to us by the Angelic Doctor in that gem of an expression which we have already mentioned above: Contemplari et contemplata aliis tradere: To contemplate the divine realities through prayer and study and then to communicate to others the clean and crystalline waters that spill over from the fullness of our own supernatural life.

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Footnotes:

1 We have collected an extensive summary of this encyclical in another place in this work (cf. n. 78).

2 Cf. III,72,2.

3 I-II,28,4.

4 Donoso Cortés, Obras completas t.2 p.227 (BAC, Madrid 1956).

5 Cf. II-II,182,1,2.

6 Cf. II-II,188,6.

7 «Ex plenitudine contemplationis derivatur» (II-II,188,6). “Proceeds from the fullness of contemplation.”

8 «Et hoc praefertur simplici contemplationi. Sicut enim maius est illuminare quam lucere solum, ita maius est contemplata aliis tradere quam solum contemplari» (ibid.). “And this work is more excellent than simple contemplation. For even as it is better to enlighten than merely to shine, so is it better to give to others the fruits of one's contemplation than merely to contemplate.”

9 Cf. II-II,182,1 ad 3.

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Source: Fr. Antonio Royo Marín, OP, The Theology of Christian Perfection, trans. by Richard Grablin (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 2015), 800–808.

Repost: St. Gregory on Envy and the Communicability of the Divine Good

Reposted from: https://sancrucensis.wordpress.com/2016/11/08/gregory-on-the-envy-and-the-communicability-of-the-divine-good/

But why do we say so much about envy if we do not also suggest how to get rid of it? It is indeed hard for people not to envy someone who has what they want to acquire. Concerning any material good that is acquired, the more it is divided among many owners, the less of it does any single person have. And that is why the mind of the one who wants it suffers so much from spite: one person who has what that one wants has either bought up the whole supply or has made it scarcer. The one, therefore, who wishes to be rid of the plague of spite for good must fall in love with that inheritance that is not used up by the number of coheirs. It is one for all and all for each one. The more abundant it is, the greater the multitude of those who receive it. (Moralia 5.XLVI.86)

Fr. Jordan Aumann on the Contemplative and Active Lives Compared

[87] Active Life

5. As the contemplative life consists essentially in the operations of the speculative intellect, which has knowledge of truth as its proper object, so the active life consists essentially in the operations of the practical intellect, which controls and directs the lower faculties in view of the means to an end. The practical intellect is not a distinct faculty from the speculative intellect, but a distinct operation of one and the same intellect, so far as the intellect is able to consider truth as such (speculative operation) or truth as ordained to action—something to be done or made—(practical operations).[1] The immediately eliciting principle of contemplative activity is the speculative intellect, while the activity of the will is antecedent, concomitant or consequent. In the operations of the active life, however, the immediately eliciting faculty is not the speculative intellect, but for prudence the practical intellect, for justice, the will, for courage and temperance the sensitive appetite.

6. As with contemplation, so with the operations of the active life, it is possible to consider them as purely natural or as supernatural. According to ethics the acquired moral virtue of justice is the primary eliciting virtue in the active life, although the moral virtues of temperance and courage likewise are part of the active life, but as removing impediments to the virtue of justice. According to Christian theology, the active life depends on a working and instructed faith, the infused virtue of prudence, enhanced by the Gift of Counsel, the infused virtues of justice and mercy and the Gift of Piety first of all, and then on the infused virtues of courage and temperance and the Gifts of Courage and Fear of the Lord.

The active life is essentially related to the performance of the acts of the moral virtues and its first fruits should be the perfection of the individual through the practice of virtue. But since the active life consists principally in the acts of justice and the Gift of Piety, it follows that it not only performs the works of justice but it is ordained directly to the love of neighbour [sic].[2] For that reason the virtue of mercy, under the direction of charity, forms part of the supernatural active life. For St [sic] Thomas, the good active life is a disposition or preparation for the contemplative life; it is also a consequence of the contemplative life, as being ordained to love of neighbour. In its perfection the active life looks to the supernatural society of the Church and seeks to extend the kingdom of God on earth. As the interior life, rectified by the moral and theological virtues, is a source of the good done to others in the works of mercy and justice, so the contemplative activity is a source of preaching and teaching in the apostolate.

[88] Active and Contemplative Life Compared

7. Both the contemplative and the active life can be considered in their interior operations and in their external acts. As regards the interior or immanent acts of the virtues characteristic of the contemplative life, the following supernatural powers will predominate: the theological virtues (including the interior act of love of neighbour), the speculative Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the virtue of religion (especially in the worship of God). The contemplative acts of the Christian are therefore designated as constituting the 'interior life' or the 'life of prayer'.

The active life, on the other hand, calls into play the interior acts of the virtues and Gifts which pertain to self and neighbour, mainly the moral virtues (especially justice), prudence and the practical Gifts of the Holy Spirit. For that reason the active life is also called the 'moral life', the 'life of the moral virtues' or the 'ascetical life'.

Both of these lives are aspects or phases of the one and the same spiritual life of an individual person, though they will vary with the individual. And since the spiritual life necessarily involves the interior acts of the theological and the moral virtues as well as the gifts which perfect them, every Christian should cultivate both the interior or contemplative aspect of life and the moral or active aspect. In practice, however, because of dispositions flowing from temperament and character, some persons will be more inclined to contemplative acts, even if they are in an active state of life, while others may be more inclined to the moral and ascetical acts, even if they are in a contemplative state. According to the teaching of the early Fathers it was to be expected that contemplatives would at the beginning be concerned primarily with the ascetical practices of the moral virtues, since the active life was considered a preparation for the contemplative phase. On the other hand, although there have been 'contemplative types' who remained in the active life (St Ignatius of Loyola was called a 'contemplative in action'),[3] the person who has this inclination would normally be expected to seek a contemplative state of life. Judging from the history of spirituality, it would seem that women are generally more disposed to the contemplative state than men, because they usually have more of an inclination to prayer and are more devout and receptive than men.

The person who is active by disposition is usually characterized by a strong sense of duty to God and neighbour, a desire to prove his love by actions and great facility in the practice of the moral virtues. The active type is much more common than the contemplative type and the reason given by St Thomas is that 'the contemplative life is not properly human but superhuman',[4] while 'the properly human life is the active life, which consists in the practice of the moral virtues'.[5]

[89] 8. Considering the external acts or spiritual exercises proper to the contemplative and the active life, the former is manifested predominantly by the practice of prayer, both liturgical and private, while the latter is expressed by the works of mercy in some type of apostolate. This does not mean, of course, that prayer as a spiritual exercise is restricted to those who are contemplative by profession, for St Thomas says that 'although all who are in the active life do not arrive at the perfect state of contemplation, nevertheless every Christian should engage in contemplation to some degree'.[6] There is, however, this opposition between the exercise of set prayer and the performance of the works of mercy: both activities require time and it is impossible to give one's attention to both at the same time. Nor does it solve the problem to state that work can be made prayer, for the two are distinct. What can be done is to supernaturalize one's external action by proper motivation and to restrict one's external occupations so that time for genuine prayer can be provided. This is more necessary for those who are engaged in study, teaching, preaching—what we may call a doctrinal or intellectual apostolate—because those engaged in the manual or mechanical tasks can usually remain recollected in God and even pray as they work.

The most important thing is charity, and this should motivate the activities of both the contemplative and the active types of life. In the supernatural order what matters most is not what one does, but the love with which he does it. As St Thomas says 'The root of merit is charity'.[7] Consequently, the truly spiritual man will strive with all his power for the perfection of charity, and as he grows in charity he will feel compelled to manifest it in his actions. The person who is inclined to external works will manifest his charity especially in the works of mercy, out of love of neighbour; the person who is more inclined to the interior life and its practices will manifest his charity in the practice of prayer, which is the language of the love of God.

Footnotes:

1. cf. Ia. 79, 11

2. cf. 2a2ae. 182, 2

3. cf Nadal, H., S.J., Epistolae, Monumenta Historiae S.J., IV, Madrid, 1905, p. 651

4. De virtutibus cardinalibus 1. In Ethic. X, lect. 11 & 12, he calls the contemplative life 'divine'

5. De virtutibus cardinalibus 1

6. III Sent. 36, 3, 5

7. 2a2ae. 182, 2

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Source: Jordan Aumann, Appendix 1: Active and Contemplative Life," in Summa Theologiæ: Volume 46: Action and Contemplation, trans. by Jordan Aumann (Cambridge: Blackfriars, 1966), 87-89.