October 2011 - Page 3 of 5 - The Rev. Kenneth Allen

St. Augustine said to Proba…

October 20, 2011

This from the Office of Readings this morning, and it was the reading which most spoke to me as I woke and prayed into the day.

Until, of course, I realized I had done the wrong set of readings because I was remembering the Memorial of St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists. It’s not uncommon that this happens.

I’m including the other reading, from a writing of St. Paul, also. Yesterday my orthodontist (who is wonderful and great and generous and devoted, despite my constant complaining about having orthodontics of late,) added a piece of hardware which is glued to the back of my front teeth, and which is at least as unpleasant as it sounds, if not more so.

So as I woke up and got ready for Mass I was filled with laments and maudlin thoughts about speech difficulties. And despite the perfect, gorgeous weather, I started feeling lacrimose, and down in the dumps.

St. Paul’s writing snapped me back to attention fairly quickly. It helps to put our sad plights into perspective and, thankfully, to realize often that our plights are not really sad at all, and are more often than not far from being true plights.

First, regarding St. Augustine’s letter to Proba:

Anicia Faltonia Proba was the widow of the wealthiest man in the Roman Empire.

Three of her sons held the consulship. After Alaric led a Gothic army into Rome in 410 and pillaged the city, Proba, with a considerable retinue of widows and younger women, took refuge in Africa and established a community of religious women in Carthage.

Among her group were her daughter Juliana and her grand-niece Demetrias. (Two years later in 414, Augustine wrote On the good of widowhood to Juliana.)

Proba asked Augustine how she ought to pray, and in his response he advised her on the kind of person she ought to be, and what she ought to pray for.

Author Peter Brown states that these ladies, affected by the teachings of Pelagius, elicited Augustine’s most mature and sympathetic statements about his ideal for Christian life. Unlike Pelagius, Augustine could find room for a spectrum of human failings. In his own life and in that of others, he sought and encouraged blessedness, in spite of human failings.
This Letter 130 by Augustine to Proba is a short instruction on Christian private prayer. The letter has two parts. Augustine first explains the interior condition desirable for praying (Chapters 1-3), and then (Chapters 4-13) explains the purpose of private prayer.

The purpose of prayer is to attain a blessed life. He suggests that the use of words be kept brief and fervent, and be supported by a life of good works. The words are needed only to help us keep in mind what a person is requesting, and are not necessary to remind or persuade God regarding the request being made.

Augustine proclaims that the Lord’s Prayer contains all the praise and petition that prayer requires. A person is free to express the same sentiments in other words if desired, but not to ask for anything that is either contrary to or beyond the scope of the Lord’s Prayer.

Now, the words of St. Augustine, as translated in the Daily Office:

You may still want to ask why the Apostle said: We do not know what it is right to pray for, because, surely, we cannot believe that either he or those to whom he wrote did not know the Lord’s Prayer.

He showed that he himself shared this uncertainty. Did he know what it was right to pray for when he was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to bruise him, so that he might not be puffed up by the greatness of what was revealed to him? Three times he asked the Lord to take it away from him, which showed that he did not know what he should ask for in prayer. At last, he heard the Lord’s answer, explaining why the prayer of so great a man was not granted, and why it was not expedient for it to be granted: My grace is sufficient for you, for power shines forth more perfectly in weakness.

In the kind of affliction, then, which can bring either good or ill, we do not know what it is right to pray for; yet, because it is difficult, troublesome and against the grain for us, weak as we are, we do what every human would do, we pray that it may be taken away from us. We owe, however, at least this much in our duty to God: if he does not take it away, we must not imagine that we are being forgotten by him but because of our loving endurance of evil, must await greater blessings in its place. In this way, power shines forth more perfectly in weakness. These words are written to prevent us from having too great an opinion of ourselves if our prayer is granted, when we are impatient in asking for something that it would be better not to receive; and to prevent us from being dejected, and distrustful of God’s mercy toward us, if our prayer is not granted, when we ask for something that would bring us greater affliction, or completely ruin us through the corrupting influence of prosperity. In these cases we do not know what is right to ask for in prayer.

Therefore, if something happens that we did not pray for, we must have no doubt at all that what God wants is more expedient than what we wanted ourselves. Our great Mediator gave us an example of this. After he had said:Father, if it is possible, let this cup be taken away from me, he immediately added, Yet not what I will, but what you will, Father, so transforming the human will that was his through his taking a human nature. As a consequence, and rightly so, through the obedience of one man the many are made righteous.

And now, the words of St. Paul, encouraging us to humbly pick up our crosses, and follow our Savior:

Therefore, be constant in practicing every virtue, and especially in imitating the patience of our dear Jesus, for this is the summit of pure love. Live in such a way that all may know that you bear outwardly as well as inwardly the image of Christ crucified, the model of all gentleness and mercy. For if a man is united inwardly with the Son of the living God, he also bears his likeness outwardly by his continual practice of heroic goodness, and especially through a patience reinforced by courage, which does not complain either secretly or in public. Conceal yourselves in Jesus crucified and hope for nothing except that all men be thoroughly converted to his will.

When you become true lovers of the Crucified, you will always celebrate the feast of the cross in the inner temple of the soul, bearing all in silence and not relying on any creature. Since festivals ought to be celebrated joyfully, those who love the Crucified should honor the feast of the cross by enduring in silence with a serene and joyful countenance, so that their suffering remains hidden from men and is observed by God alone. For in this feast there is always a solemn banquet, and the food presented is the will of God, exemplified by the love of our crucified Christ.

Excellent spiritual reading for this day.

Strange Nights

October 19, 2011

It occurred to me yesterday that I had written about the ‘great shots’ I got from the Natchez. I’m nothing if not optimistic. Still, there’s something I like about night shots.

And let’s face it, not everyone sees this view everyday; especially not me.

The wind was incredible last night, and the temperature is dropping into the 40’s here overnight.

Night shots have a freaky aspect that I like.

And the colors get a bit bizarre.

Although, river boats sit alarmingly close down to the water.

I thought today a lot about John de Brebeouf and Isaac Jogues, and companions, the Canadian Martyrs with whom we pray today. I envied them for having lived in simpler times, and in a time when spiritual lines were much more clear. Then I grew in envy of them for living in Canada, where it was undoubtedly so much cooler, since I love colder weather. My silent resentment built when I thought about how they had died a martyrs’ deaths so nobly, when it was clear that it may very well happen.

And then, I thought about all of my silly resentments, and prayed for the Truth to be shown to me.

And I fell in love with life all over again.

A View From the Natchez

October 18, 2011

The Natchez is a riverboat docked perpetually in New Orleans, which goes out daily (and nightly) on jazz cruises. This evening the Catholic Foundation hosted an appreciation dinner for Priests aboard the Natchez. It was a great time.

Many great photos, but for now the above sums up the river view of the city from ’round the bend, and the night beckons for a good night’s sleep. Dark, cloudy, windy, and dropping a good 30 degrees before the morning. A wonderful start to the Fall season!

A Brief Update

October 17, 2011

The lake upon which the cabin sat, wherein I made a day of retreat last week, beckons me to consider a retreat in its proper fullness.

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”

Friend, don’t dwell in greed, says Jesus, greed is one of the seven deadly sins. The Catholic Encyclopedia 1917 edition has this to say on mortal sin:

Mortal sin is defined by St. Augustine (Reply to Faustus XXII.27) as “Dictum vel factum vel concupitum contra legem æternam”, i.e. something said, done or desired contrary to the eternal law, or a thought, word, or deed contrary to the eternal law. This is a definition of sin as it is a voluntary act. As it is a defect or privation it may be defined as an aversion from God, our true last end, by reason of the preference given to some mutable good.

The definition of St. Augustine is accepted generally by theologians and is primarily a definition of actual mortal sin. It explains well the material and formal elements of sin. The words “dictum vel factum vel concupitum” denote the material element of sin, a human act: “contra legem æternam”, the formal element. The act is bad because it transgresses the Divine law.

St. Ambrose (De paradiso, viii) defines sin as a “prevarication of the Divine law”. The definition of St. Augustine strictly considered, i.e. as sin averts us from our true ultimate end, does not comprehend venial sin, but in as much as venial sin is in a manner contrary to the Divine law, although not averting us from our last end, it may be said to be included in the definition as it stands.

While primarily a definition of sins of commission, sins of omission may be included in the definition because they presuppose some positive act (St. Thomas, I-II:71:5) and negation and affirmation are reduced to the same genus. Sins that violate the human or the natural law are also included, for what is contrary to the human or natural law is also contrary to the Divine law, in as much as every just human law is derived from the Divine law, and is not just unless it is in conformity with the Divine law.

People ask all the time whether or not a particular sin is mortal or venial, and I usually get a headache responding. It can often be a very complex matter of understanding. But deep down, we do know when we’ve transgressed God’s laws. We are capable of knowing right from wrong.

I discovered the weblog Divine Ripples. I’m still in the discovery phase, but have been enjoying it so far.

And despite my reservations with RealCatholicTV, I do appreciate some of their things. This short episode on the Crusades is one of them:

And there it is, this evening’s brief weblog update. Peace, out.

Linking Christianophobia

October 16, 2011

Posting up a few links this morning on Christianophobia, which I have the feeling will be called by other names soon.

Intolerance Against Christians is a European site, which chronicles (well, obviously) Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe.

“Beauty must be understood in its original meaning: as the glow of the true and the good irradiating from every ordered state of being.” Josef Pieper – Catholic, Thomistic, Philosopher

Explaining the terminology. Basically, it’s an irrational fear of Christians, which leads to contempt and discrimination; it’s not persecution however, yet at least, which is systemic.

An online handbook called Exiting a Dead End Road, for purchese, which details how to respond to anti-Christian rhetoric in conversations or discourse.

Kairos PUblishing

A typical story, or case, is: Police Visited Christian Cafe for Display of Bible Passages in which the article is presented, with links to the original source material via several reporting outlets.

The
Christian Institute’s site is packed with articles on Christian issues.

All of this led to a publishing house,

Kairos Publishing, which bills itself as a platform for crucial ideas, and which publishes ‘Exiting a Dead End Road’, mentioned above in the Christian discrimination in Europe site.

And speaking of philosophy, not that any one was of course, I came across a quote by
Josef Pieper, who is always good to read.

A brief bio on Peiper

Josef Pieper was born on May 4th, 1904, in the small Westphalian village of Elte, Germany. At that time not even a local train connected the isolated spot in the middle of the heath with other towns of Westphalia; whoever wanted to reach the next station had to cross a river in a small ferry-boat. Pieper’s father was the only teacher at the only school of this village. Josef Pieper went to the Gymnasium Paulinum in Münster, one of the oldest German schools, which has existed for more than eleven hundred years. His son took up that tradition as a pupil of that old institution, the buildings of which, however, were completely destroyed during World War II.

A teacher at the Gymnasium Paulinum, a priest, convinced Pieper to read the works of Thomas Aquinas. “At that time,” Pieper wrote, “I was foolishly fond of Kierkegaard, whom we used to devour, my friends and I, naturally without quite understanding him; and it was this paternal friend and teacher, who directed me – with a sort of violent, ironical, and humorous intensity – to St. Thomas’ Commentary to the Prologue of St. John’s Gospel. Being a youngster of eighteen, I set about reading this work and, in fact, finished it, of course, again without understanding it perfectly. But from that moment the work of St. Thomas has accompanied me through life.” Years later he translated this Commentary to the Prologue of St. John’s Gospel into German.

It’s back to Church for me, but these are good sites to look through at some point.