Author: Catholic Candle

The Duties and Role that God has given Men

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: Below is part 1 of a “companion” article to these two articles:


The Duties and Role that God has given Men

God created man to lead his family and society. He created the all-male clergy to lead the Church. But in all of those contexts, God gave this role and authority to man for the good of his family, society, and the Church, not merely to enable a man to fulfill his own selfish desires. St. Paul puts this same duty as follows:

We that are stronger, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.

Romans, 15:1.

From this principle (which is a commandment) springs the unselfish gentlemanliness of a good man towards his family and also, secondarily, towards all women, children, and all those in need.

St. Paul explains how this true manliness is practiced in marriage, when he compares the husband to Christ Himself:

The husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the

Church.

Ephesians, 5:23.

We know that Christ has loved us and gave everything for our sake:

Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness.

Ephesians, 5:2.

Thus, a man must be Christ-like and be an oblation and a sacrifice first of all, for God, then for his wife and children. But after that, he must be a gentleman and be chivalrous for all women, children, and all those in need because:

We that are stronger, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.

Romans, 15:1.

A man’s sacrificial love must extend to a man “delivering himself up for” his wife especially, in order to sanctify his wife, as St. Paul makes clear:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered Himself up for it; that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life.

Ephesians, 5:25-6.

This shows that man must be a spiritual director of his wife.1 But this also shows that a man must have Christ’s spirit of self-sacrifice and this is eminently honorable, magnanimous, and manly.


Fatherhood and Manhood

Fatherhood and manhood are so intertwined that they are virtually inseparable. This is like the inextricable connection between womanhood and motherhood.2 A man who is not called to be the father to children in his own family, is still called to be a father in other ways, e.g., a priest, who is the spiritual father of a parish. There are also many other ways a man is called to be a father, a protector, an advisor, and a guide, such as an employer should be a father to his employees.3

So, fatherhood (patriarchy) is simply men fulfilling the role for which God created them and which role is His Will for them. Here is how anti-feminist author, Mrs. Donna Steichen, stated this truth of Nature and of the Catholic Faith:

The term patriarchy refers to the male-headed family form and social system expressed in Scripture and existing everywhere in human society. In the Church, it is a title referring to bishops who rank just below the Pope in jurisdiction, though Catholic feminists use the word to mean the male priesthood and the entire male hierarchy. In all cases, it is properly an office, not a declaration of qualitative superiority.4


St. Athanasius, a Model of Fatherhood

We see this fatherhood in the life and work of the great St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church, in his care for his flock. Look at his fatherly solicitude for his flock in the letter below, written during the persecutions they suffered:

Letter of St. Athanasius to his flock

May God console you! … What saddens you … is the fact that others have occupied the churches by violence, while during this time you are on the outside. It is a fact that they have the premises – but you have the apostolic Faith. They can occupy our churches, but they are outside the true Faith. You remain outside the places of worship, but the Faith dwells within you. Let us consider: what is more important, the place or the Faith? The true Faith, obviously. Who has lost and who has won in this struggle – the one who keeps the premises or the one who keeps the Faith?

True, the premises are good when the apostolic Faith is preached there; they are holy if everything takes place there in a holy way. … You are the ones who are happy: you who remain within the church by your faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the Faith which has come down to you from apostolic Tradition. And if an execrable jealousy has tried to shake it on a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis.

No one, ever, will prevail against your faith, beloved brothers. And we believe that God will give us our churches back some day.

Thus, the more violently they try to occupy the places of worship, the more they separate themselves from the Church. They claim that they represent the Church; but in reality, they are the ones who are expelling themselves from it and going astray.

Even if Catholics faithful to Tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the ones who are the true Church of Jesus Christ.


The Selfless Duty of a Man Corresponds to the Duty of Obedience of Those under His Care.

We saw above that God made man to be the leader of his family and made man to lead society and the Church. Along with this God-given role, God made man with the obligation to unselfishly fulfill his role for the good of those under his care. This is the natural and supernatural source of the gentlemanliness and fatherliness that God intends to be part of manhood and to be exercised by men everywhere.

So just as God made parents to be wiser than the children whom they are raising and to be well-suited for directing their children, so God gave parents the corresponding duty to selflessly raise those children and to govern their children for the good of those children, rather than for any selfish advantage of the parents.

Because God made the father and the mother wiser and well-suited to direct their children, He declared that children have the corresponding obligation to the parents to be subject to them. Thus, God commands children:

Honor thy father and thy mother.

Exodus, 20:12.

So, we see that God requires the parents’ efforts to selflessly raise their children and requires the corresponding obedience of the children to enable the success of those efforts.

Analogously, just as God made man to be wiser than woman and to be adept at guiding her, so God gave man the duty to guide his wife selflessly and to govern her for her own good, rather than for any selfish advantage to himself.

As God requires the man’s diligent efforts to guide his wife, so God requires the obedience of the wife in a way analogous to the way that God requires the obedience of the children to both parents. Thus, God commands:

Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord.

Ephesians, 5:22.

With children obeying their parents and with wives obeying their husbands, we see the orderliness and harmony of God’s All-Wise Plan.


Further Reflections on the Connection between a Man’s Duty to Selflessly Guide and His Wife’s Duty to Diligently Obey

St. John Chrysostom shows the orderliness and concord of God’s plan (i.e., the man’s selfless governing and the wife’s careful obedience), in these words addressed to each man:

Govern your wife, and thus will the whole house be in harmony. Hear what St. Paul says. ‘And if they [wives] would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home’ [1 Cor. 14:35].5

St. Paul shows a man’s selfless governing of his wife must be Christlike just as her diligent obedience to her husband must be like the obedience of the Church to Christ:

Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the Church: being Himself the Savior of the body. But as the Church is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their husbands in everything.

Ephesians, 5:22-24.


The Obedience We Must Give to Those Whom God Places over Us Is Not Vexing

Some women, with a less womanly (and more tom-boyish or manly) spirit, might dislike the truth that they must obey their husbands. But women should no more be saddened by the Catholic Faith (and true philosophy – i.e., reason) telling them to obey their husbands, than children should be saddened to obey their parents raising them.

Similarly, laymen should not be saddened or minimize the obedience that God willed that they give to their priests and to the hierarchy throughout the entire history of the Church. To be saddened or to minimize the obedience we owe, shows an imperfect spirit and stinginess with God – just as (analogously) being saddened by the approach of Lent with its obligations of greater penance.

How happy and attractive is the willing obedience of children to their parents and students to their teachers! How happy and attractive is willing obedience of wives to their husbands, of laymen to the Church authorities, and of citizens to the rulers God has given to them!6


This Duty of a Man to Govern Well and the Duty of Obedience of those under his Care, Show the Orderliness of God’s Creation and His All-Wise Plan

God does everything is a way which is most orderly and perfect. Let us look at what is required for this orderliness.

Difference is the basis for the order in things. If there were no differences between things, there could be no order between them. The very idea of order includes within it the concept of priority and of posteriority, and hence, of difference and inequality. In fact, that very separateness, i.e., the distinctions among things, is the principle of all order.

Here is how St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Church, teaches this important point, quoting Aristotle:

As the Philosopher says (Metaph. v, text. 16), the terms “before” and “after” are used in reference to some principle. Now order implies that certain things are, in some way, before or after. Hence, wherever there is a principle, there must needs be also order of some kind.

Summa, IIa IIae, Q.26, a.1 respondeo.


God makes creatures unequal.

God made difference and inequality in all creatures. As Ecclesiasticus teaches:

Why does one day excel another, and one light another, and one year another year…? By the knowledge of the Lord, they were distinguished.

Ecclesiasticus, Ch. 33, vv. 7-8.

Therefore, just as God’s Wisdom is the cause of His making all creatures, so His Wisdom is the cause of Him making creatures unequal.

Here is St. Thomas Aquinas’ fuller explanation of this truth:

[I]t must be said that as the wisdom of God is the cause of the distinction of things, so the same wisdom is the cause of their inequality. This may be explained as follows. A twofold distinction is found in things; one is a formal distinction as regards things differing specifically; the other is a material distinction as regards things differing numerically only. And as the matter is on account of the form, material distinction exists for the sake of the formal distinction. Hence, we see that in incorruptible things there is only one individual of each species, forasmuch as the species is sufficiently preserved in the one; whereas in things generated and corruptible there are many individuals of one species for the preservation of the species. Whence it appears that formal distinction is of greater consequence than material. Now, formal distinction always requires inequality, because as the Philosopher says (Metaph. viii, 10), the forms of things are like numbers in which species vary by addition or subtraction of unity. Hence, in natural things species seem to be arranged in degrees; as the mixed things are more perfect than the elements, and plants than minerals, and animals than plants, and men than other animals; and in each of these, one species is more perfect than others. Therefore, as the divine wisdom is the cause of the distinction of things for the sake of the perfection of the universe, so it is the cause of inequality. For the universe would not be perfect if only one grade of goodness were found in things.

Summa, Ia, Q.47, a.2 respondeo (emphasis added).

By making some creatures inferior to other creatures, the whole of creation is more perfect than it otherwise would be.

Here is St. Thomas Aquinas’ fuller explanation of this truth:

It is part of the best agent to produce an effect which is best in its entirety; but this does not mean that He makes every part of the whole the best absolutely, but in proportion to the whole; in the case of an animal, for instance, its goodness would be taken away if every part of it had the dignity of an eye. Thus, therefore, God also made the universe to be best as a whole, according to the mode of a creature; whereas He did not make each single creature best, but one better than another. And therefore, we find it said of each creature, “God saw the light, that it was good” (Genesis 1:4); and in like manner of each one of the rest. But of all together it is said, “God saw all the things that He had made, and they were very good” (Genesis 1:31).

Summa, Ia, Q.47, a.2, ad 1.

So, we see that the different roles of men and women are part of God’s wise plan and the order of the family and society. The man’s duty and the corresponding obedience of those under his care are an inequality which results in God’s creation being more orderly, since inequality is necessary for order.

That very idea of order includes within it the concept of priority and of posteriority, and hence, of difference. In fact, those very differences, i.e., the distinctions among people, is the essential principle of all familial, social, political, economic, military, and religious order. For example, in a proper military order, an army cannot have all generals or all privates. The army cannot have all equipment operators or all cooks. And so on.

St. Paul emphasizes that God made men unequal and made them to have different roles, strengths, and weaknesses. Here are St. Paul’s words:

For as the body is one, and hath many members; and all the members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body, so also is Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and in one Spirit we have all been made to drink. For the body also is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were the eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God hath set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased Him. And if they all were one member, where would be the body? But now there are many members indeed, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand: I need not thy help; nor again the head to the feet: I have no need of you. Yea, much more those that seem to be the more feeble members of the body, are more necessary. And such as we think to be the less honorable members of the body, about these we put more abundant honor; and those that are our uncomely parts, have more abundant comeliness. But our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, giving to that which wanted the more abundant honor, that there might be no schism in the body; but the members might be mutually careful one for another. And if one member suffers anything, all the members suffer with it; or if one member glory, all the members rejoice with it.

1 Corinthians, 12:12-27 (emphasis added).

As St. Paul shows us, God did not make every man to play whatever role that man chooses. Some men are made more honorable members of society, some, less. Some men are made the “eyes” of the collective group and some are made the “feet”. Id.

St. Paul emphasizes that these differences between men give rise to the obligation that “the members might be mutually careful one for another”. Id.

Part of this inequality which is planned by the Wisdom of God, is the inequality between men and women. Although, in a way, the Eternal Wisdom made all unequal creatures to be complementary (as well as unequal), this is especially true of men and women.

Thus, God made man and woman to be especially complementary because of the very different and harmonious roles that He intends them to have in life.

To Be Continued

1 Cf. 1 Corinthians, 14:34-35:

Let women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted them to speak, but to be subject, as also the law saith. But if they would learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home.

Emphasis added.

2 For an examination of the great role and crucial work of a woman’s life as provided by Catholic teaching and by the Natural Law, read this article:

https://catholiccandle.org/2019/12/02/the-role-and-work-that-god-gave-to-woman/

3

A business leader should be a father to his employees and should have care for their well-being. For example, he should not put them in moral danger arising out of their responsibilities at work or because of the atmosphere of the workplace.

The business leader should also give his workers a living wage which enables them to be the sole breadwinners (financial supports) for their wives and children. In other ways too, a business leader has a duty to do what he can to influence his employees for their eternal good.

Read more about this truth in Catholic Candle’s analysis of the evil Marxist program for “diversity and inclusion”. https://catholiccandle.org/2022/01/05/the-false-principle-of-diversity-and-inclusion/

4 Ungodly Rage, The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism, By Mrs. Donna Steichen, Ignatius Press, San Francisco ©1991, page 226 (emphasis added).

5 Words of St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, quoted from his sermon #20 on Ephesians.

6 The civil law is an ordinance of reason for the Common Good, promulgated by him who has care of the community. Such civil laws are binding in conscience, that is, under pain of sin. Summa, Ia IIae, Q.90 & Q.96, a.4


Obviously, God does not require or permit us to follow the command of a superior who commands us to do something sinful. For we must “obey God rather than men”. Acts, 5:29.

Your Salvation Hinges on Your Love of God

Posted on by Catholic Candle

The first of the Two Great Commandments is

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength.

Pray to His mother. I am sure she will help you to love her Son as you go through your day. Here is a good way to start your day. Pray the following devoutly first thing in the morning:

Everything I do today should be for the love of God and for His greater honor and glory.

Print these words out and put them on your alarm clock and they will remind you of the way to start each day.

We can see the goodness and perfection of God all around us. If we meditate on His goodness, we shall never tire of loving Him. We love our parents and friends because they are good. Their goodness is nothing compared to the goodness of God.1

So, let us ask God every day and in every prayer we say to make us love Him more. Above all, we must look on God as our most loving Father, our dearest friend, Who loves us with a personal, intimate, extraordinary love.

Love is an excellent thing, a very great blessing, indeed. It makes every difficulty easy, and bears all wrongs with equanimity. For it bears a burden without being weighted and renders sweet all that is bitter.2

Loving God is the first and most important step toward your salvation, so start today and continue until you stand before God for your Particular Judgment and say “I love You, Jesus”.

1 My Catholic Faith, Bishop Louis Morrow, My Mission House, Kenosha, WI., 1949, Ch. 85, p. 172.

2 My Catholic Faith, Bishop Louis Morrow, My Mission House, Kenosha, WI, 1949, Ch. 85, p. 173.

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition


Let us gladly suffer out of love for God!


St. John of the Cross, the Mystical Doctor of the Church, tells us the importance of suffering out of love for God:

Suffering for God is better than working miracles.


Quoted from his work entitled Other Counsels, #13.

Lesson #37: About the Temperaments – Continuation of the Choleric Temperament

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Philosophy Notes

Catholic Candle note: We apologize for our editing error of misnumbering the last Lesson in Mary’s School of Sanctity. It should have been numbered #36.

In the article below, the word “choleric” is used both as an adjective to refer to a particular one of the temperaments and also as a noun referring to a person with that temperament.

Mary’s School of Sanctity

Lesson #37: About the Temperaments – Continuing Our Study of the Choleric Temperament

In our last lesson we briefly described the general strengths of a choleric of good will. We must recall how we explained that if a person with a choleric temperament doesn’t guard himself and strive to love God, he can easily slip into the weaknesses of his temperament. In our last lesson we listed the weaknesses as follows:

Weaknesses of the Choleric Temperament:

  • Hardness

  • Nurtures hatred and desires revenge

  • Obstinacy

  • Insensibility

  • Anger

  • Pride (includes over-confidence; unreasonably criticizing others; and excessive competitiveness)

  • Ambition

  • Violence, cruelty, and arrogance upon meeting with resistance

  • Lack of delicacy of feeling, insensitive to the feelings of others

  • Coldness

  • Indifference

  • Impetuosity

Let us take the time now to explain these weaknesses. We can see that some of the weaknesses listed here can be linked together. Indeed, hardness, insensibility, and coldness seem to be closely related to each other. Since the choleric has good powers of concentration and lots of determination, he can show hardness of heart and coldness. Hence, he is insensible to the feelings and/or the needs of others. Thus, he appears to go full steam ahead without regard for others. People view the choleric as someone who bulldozes his way along in order to get to his goals. He does not make it a priority to put himself in the “shoes” of another and so he has a one-track mind.

Obstinacy –– The choleric with bad will is seen as being “bull-headed” and stubborn because he is so resolute in getting his way. He lets nothing stop him.

Indifference — Because of his stubbornness, the choleric comes across as being completely indifferent to obstacles. In fact, he doesn’t consider anything as a legitimate obstacle. In his view, all opposition is unreasonable and must be overcome at any cost.

Again, we can see that due to the fact that he allows no opposition, he shows the weaknesses of violence, cruelty, and arrogance upon meeting resistance. People tend to cower in his presence and get out of his way, so this headstrong choleric readily acts like a bully and usually gets his way.

Yet, if anyone resists him, he tends to nurture hatred and a desire for revenge. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for a choleric to harbor long-lasting grudges.

Now let us look at the remaining weaknesses from our list and see how they connect with the choleric being swept away in his determination to gets what he wants.

Anger – Anger, one of the irascible passions found in the soul, has been commonly associated with the person of the choleric temperament. St. Thomas Aquinas explains that the objects of the irascible passions are good and evil in a certain elevation or arduousness. (Summa Theologica I-II Q.46, article 3 Respondeo). The choleric certainly tends to see his goal as extremely important so it makes sense that he would be easily provoked to anger.

Furthermore, St. Thomas tells us that “the fervor of anger has a certain bitterness with a tendency to destroy for it seeks to be avenged on the contrary evil: whence it is likened to the heat of fire and of the bile, and for this reason [St. John] Damascene says (in his work on the Faith1 Bk II, 16) that it [anger] ‘results from an exhalation of the bile whence it takes its name chole’ ” (Summa Theologica I-II Q.48, article 2 Reply to Objection #1, bracketed words added). So, we see the name choleric comes from this exhalation of bile. Since, as we have said, the very extraverted choleric temperament has its actual name ascribed to it because of this inclination toward anger.

Pride – The choleric is such an external type of person it naturally follows that when he is bent on the wrong path and not desiring the good of his soul as he ought, he is prone to an extreme pride. He easily convinces himself that he is right and that anyone who does not think like him must be wrong. He asserts his will on everyone and expects everyone to see his importance and/or the importance of his wishes.

He is often over-confident and believes he has knowledge of something about which he is often misinformed or clueless. He boldly asserts things and “puts his foot in his mouth” (as the expression goes).

The choleric is very prone to criticize others. He might even seem to make being critical his hobby. As is typical with our fallen human nature, when we find fault with our neighbor it is often the case that we do not try to see our own failings. In this way we assuage our consciences telling ourselves that we are not as bad as someone else is.

Another classic form of pride for the choleric is his excessive competitiveness. Again, because he wants to be noticed as excelling, he thrives on “proving” how skilled or great he is in some field.

This brings us to the next weakness on our list, ambition.

Ambition—Webster’s dictionary defines ambition as an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power. (A Merriam-Webster © 1975)

When a choleric does not have his salvation as his highest priority, he can easily get distracted by the temptation to seek fame and power. The choleric is often given the label of “control freak”. This means that the choleric has an intense desire to be in charge which can grow to such an extent that he appears to want to always be in command of everything.

Impetuosity— The word impetuosity comes from the word impetuous which in turn comes from impetus. Impetus means: 1) marked by force and violence of movement or action; and 2) marked by impulsive vehemence or passion. (A Merriam-Webster Dictionary ©1975).

Once again, the choleric, not guarding himself from acting unreasonably, often acts abruptly without careful deliberation.

A Preview …

In our next lesson we will investigate more about the spiritual struggles a choleric may have, especially if he has made little progress in knowing his weaknesses and combating them. We will discuss the weaknesses in greater length and see how they intermingle with each other. In this manner we can gain knowledge of the common snares the devil uses on the choleric and can form strategies on how to counteract those snares.

1 This work is entitled An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith.

The Remedy for the Sadness and the Depression in Our Times

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: The article below is a “companion” article to these four previous articles:

  1. The Hope Given to Catholics in the State of Grace vs. the Hopelessness of Godlessness. This article is found here: https://catholiccandle.org/2019/02/09/the-hope-given-to-catholics-in-grace-vs-the-hopelessness-of-godlessness/


  2. The Devil’s Lies Bring the Devil’s Unhappiness: https://catholiccandle.org/2024/08/28/the-devils-lies-bring-the-devils-unhappiness/

  1. The Connection Between Virtue and Happiness – Part One:  https://catholiccandle.org/2023/11/26/the-connection-between-virtue-and-happiness-part-1/

  1. The Connection Between Virtue and Happiness – Part Two:  https://catholiccandle.org/2023/12/18/the-connection-between-virtue-and-happiness-part-2/

We live in a time of sadness and desolation. Even in most of those homes which are considered “good Catholic homes”, there is a constant exposure to all of the elements of the world which are promoted by the enemies of God, of reason, and of our salvation.

In such homes, the atmosphere is permeated by the world, the flesh, and the devil – even though not to the same degree as in the rest of society. This sway of sin in the home is wrong because the first duty of every Soldier of Christ is to deny the Enemy access to his living room (as well as to his soul). We cannot control the character of the whole of society. But we can control the character of our own home. Our home should be very different from the world and should have a completely different atmosphere (e.g., complete Catholic modesty1, a regular prayer life (especially the rosary), daily meditation, no TV, no bad music, no video games, etc.).

The influences of the world can wear a person down, as he goes out into the world every day from (what should be) the Catholic haven of his home.2 The world constantly splatters his soul with the “mud” of this contact with unwholesomeness. This weakens his soul and make the spiritual life seem empty. In unfortunate contrast, this daily contact with the world tends to make pleasures as well as other earthly matters seem to be the most important aspects of life. The question “How can I save my soul?” can thus seem to be too distant from everyday life. Our spiritual efforts can feel weak and our Catholic duties can seem to be a dry, distasteful burden.

Dear Reader, is this how your own life and daily routine seem to you? This is a classic case of spiritual desolation. Here is how the great spiritual master, St. Ignatius of Loyola, defines this desolation:

I call desolation everything contrary to the consolation explained in the third rule, such as darkness of soul, disturbance in it, movement to things low and earthly, the disquiet of different agitations and temptations, moving to lack of confidence, without hope, without love, when one finds oneself all lazy, tepid, sad, and as if separated from his Creator and Lord. Because, as consolation is contrary to desolation, in the same way the thoughts which come from consolation are contrary to the thoughts which come from desolation.3

Dear Reader, do you recognize the movements of your own soul in St. Ignatius’s description? So many people nowadays feel this desolation! It is the direction in which modernity is pushing and pulling people.

Although God can (and sometimes does) give desolation in order to test even a very holy soul, the most usual reason for desolation is because of the person’s sins and his negligence in his spiritual duties.

Here is St. Ignatius’ advice for the person in desolation:

Although in desolation we ought not to change our good resolutions, it is very helpful to intensify our good efforts against the temptations that come during desolation, by insisting more on prayer, meditation, on much examination, and more penance.4

Dear Reader, you (and all of us) can do this! God will help us all!


Advancing in the Spiritual Life

It is natural for a person to ask himself: “How do I advance in the spiritual life?” After all, we are on this earth to save our souls. So, we know that we must do our best to advance in the spiritual life. This is the main “business” of our life. God did not give more time to our lives so that we can “try” to stay in the state of grace so that we avoid hell when we die. Such “trying not to backslide” is wasting the additional time God gives us! The reason God gives a person “another year”, is so that he can use this time to be one year holier and further advanced in the spiritual life.

Moreover, the greater a person’s progress is in holiness, the greater will be his progress in happiness. But how do we do that? Well, there are a few very important parts of this journey to holiness.

The secret of holiness is generosity with God. If a person asks himself: “What do I need to do to avoid sin and hell?”, that is a stingy minimum! If we seek to only do what “we gotta”, then the spiritual life will feel like a burden. Further, most people who seek to do as little as they can in the spiritual life end up failing and going to hell. For when a person aims so low, usually what he actually achieves is even lower.

But the spiritual life is Divine Friendship5 and so we should seek to be completely generous with our Divine Friend. We don’t have to feel generous but nonetheless we should resolve with our will to be generous.

Here is an analogous situation: when a parent is exhausted, is craving sleep, and is taking care of a sick child in the middle of the night, that parent is not doing so because of “warm and fuzzy” feelings, but because of the will to do his duty and to do good for his child! That is how our love and friendship with Christ should be – generous and firmly resolved in our will, regardless of feelings.

We must avoid occasions of sin, including eschewing persons who make it more likely that we will sin. We humans easily fool ourselves and make many excuses to continue to expose ourselves to the sorts of occasions of sin which have led to our downfalls in the past. To break out of this evil pattern, we must be unshakably firm in avoiding bad companions and other occasions of sin.

We have got to pray more, every day. Much more. Especially the rosary – ideally all 15 decades. We recommend the Catholic Candle articles to help you to pray the rosary better.6

We should implement and be faithful to making a daily meditation.7

We should study our Faith, especially through reading the Doctors of the Church, and most of all, St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatest Doctor of the Catholic Church. This study is “meat” which gives us strength to “bear the slings and arrows” of life. The Doctors are the ones that the Church especially holds out to us as our teachers for studying the Faith. Reading a Sunday sermon from one of the Doctors is a valuable part of accomplishing this duty every week.

We should avoid bad music. Church music and real classical music are the best.

Don’t watch TV and movies. We should avoid most things on the internet, especially “social media”. Each of these, even aside from the many sins they involve, also weaken us and make the spiritual life (and prayer) distasteful to us.

In these times of confusion, we should study true apologetics to help us to guard against the errors which are all around us. One way to discover more about how Vatican II is contrary to the perennial, infallible teaching of the Church is to study Lumen Gentium Annotated.8 Vatican II’s document, Lumen Gentium, is, in a way, Vatican II’s own overview of all of its errors in its other Council documents. Thus, by discerning the errors of Lumen Gentium, we see in general all of the errors of the rest of the Council.

In addition to studying the doctrines of our Faith, we should do some spiritual reading every day, e.g., at least a chapter of the Imitation of Christ every day without fail. We should prepare for and make/renew the consecration to Our Lady as her slaves according to the program of St. Louis de Montfort.

We should do some extra penances every day. Three really good ones are to take totally-cold showers, don’t eat between meals, and abstain from junk food and desserts, at least when not sharing them with others on a social occasion.9

This is a time of great blessings! We hold that this is a glorious time to be Catholic and to live for Christ the King! https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/it-is-a-blessing-to-live-during-this-great-apostasy.html

We must have the Virtue of Hope because God is in charge and everything that happens that is out of our control is God’s Will for us. As a means of encouragement, we should keep in our thoughts that all things “work together unto the good, for those who love God”.  Romans, 8:28. https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/hope-during-the-current-great-apostasy

Again, you (and we) can do this! God will help!

2 For an analysis of the importance of the irreplaceable work of the wife, mother, and heart of the family, in making this home a haven, read these articles:




3 Quoted from Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Rule #4 for the Discernment of Spirits, First Week.

4 Quoted from Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Rule #6 for the Discernment of Spirits, First Week.

5 Read these articles which explain this crucial truth:




8 Lumen Gentium Annotated, by Quanta Cura Press, © 2013, available at:



  • Amazon.com (sold at cost).

CC in Brief – Sedevacantist questions

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: Sedevacantism is wrong and is (material or formal) schism. Catholic Candle is not sedevacantist. We recommend a small book explaining the errors of sedevacantism. It is available:

Below is the first of a series of CC in Brief articles which cover specific aspects of the error of sedevacantism.


CC in Brief

Sedevacantist Questions

Q. If a pope publicly preaches heresy, does he cease to be pope?

A. Your question does not provide enough information (i.e., context) for a simple answer, and makes us wonder if you are perhaps failing to distinguish between a person being a public heretic and a formal heretic. If any person understands (i.e., knows) that he is denying what he is required to believe in order to be Catholic (i.e., to belong to the Catholic Church), then that denial causes him to cease to be Catholic. This is to be a formal heretic.

Such a person ceases to be Catholic even if he never reveals the matter to anyone. Such a person would not be excommunicated by Church authorities since (as we supposed in this example) he never revealed his opinion to anyone. But the very fact that this person holds a statement that he understands to be incompatible with being Catholic – i.e., by his being a formal heretic – he ceases to be Catholic and could not go to heaven because Outside the Church there is No Salvation.

But suppose that a person holds a heretical opinion but he does not know it to be incompatible with being a Catholic. Then in that case, he would hold the “matter” of heresy but would not cease to be a member of the Catholic Church, outside of which there is no salvation. In other words, by unknowingly holding his error about the Faith he would be a material heretic.

It is not uncommon for a person to hold material heresy but it is, of course, always a bad thing. So, e.g., suppose a seven-year-old child holds that God has a body (which is a heresy). Suppose he thinks that this is what the Catholic Church teaches. He is a material heretic but remains a member of the Catholic Church. He is not a formal heretic because he does not understand that he is contradicting the Catholic Faith which is revealed by the Church.

No matter how publicly he declares his understanding that God has a body, he is a material heretic and is not a formal heretic. The child remains a Catholic – but is one who is in error on a matter of the Faith.

Even a pope is not immune from denying a dogma of the Faith. But if that pope did not know that he was denying a doctrine that he was required to believe in order to be Catholic, then he remains a Catholic and remains the pope.

The case of Pope John XXII (who lived in the 14th century) is a useful example.

But before we get to that example, let us recall some important truths of the catechism which are necessary in order to understand the remainder of this article:


  • All that God has divinely revealed to man is called Divine Revelation.


  • Divine Revelation has two founts (i.e., sources): Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.


  • Since God is its author, all that is contained in Divine Revelation is certain, true, and is part of the Catholic Faith.


  • The Catholic Church is the guardian and sole interpreter of Divine Revelation, and teaches the Faithful all the contents of Divine Revelation.


  • To help her teach without err, God has given the Church the gift of infallibility – the gift of being unable to err when authoritatively teaching the whole Church anything about Faith or morals.


  • All of these truths which she teaches infallibly are called dogmas (i.e., doctrines).


  • Her teaching authority is called Her Magisterium.


  • She can teach dogmas to the Faithful using either Her extraordinary infallible Magisterium or Her ordinary infallible Magisterium. The easier method to understand, and the one most Catholics are familiar with, is the extraordinary Magisterium, which most Catholics associate with precisely-worded ex cathedra statements from the popes.


  • Both the ordinary and extraordinary magisterial methods faithfully transmit dogmas to the Faithful without error, but the extraordinary Magisterium has this advantage: that it is easier for the Faithful to recognize that a truth from Church authorities is indeed infallible, and must therefore be believed.

  • When the Church infallibly formulates the specific, precise wording of a dogma, She is said to define that dogma.


  • The Church has defined only a small percentage of all dogmas; thus, notice that although all dogmas are part of Revelation and thus infallible, yet not all dogmas have been precisely defined. That is the very beautiful advantage of the Church’s definitions: they give us exact wording which incapsulates the meaning (substance) of the dogma. For this reason, the Faithful can rejoice when the Church defines a dogma.


With those reminders stated, we can now investigate the case of Pope John XXII, who publicly denied a dogma of the Faith but was not a formal heretic.



Pope John XXII (reigned 1316-1334)


It is a defined dogma of the Catholic Faith that the saints see the Beatific Vision immediately after they die (and after they have been purged in Purgatory, if necessary).1 However, this dogma was not always defined.


In fact, Pope John XXII lived before this dogma was defined by the Church’s Extraordinary Magisterium. He publicly denied that the saints immediately see the Beatific Vision after they die, i.e., before the General Judgment.2


But further, before Pope John XXII became pope, he wrote a book publicly denying this dogma of the Catholic Faith, viz., that the saints see the Beatific Vision immediately after they die (and after they have been purged in Purgatory, if necessary).3 Instead, he taught the opposite heresy. Id.


Not only before Pope John XXII’s papal reign but also during it he caused a “great commotion” by denying this doctrine of the Catholic Faith on several occasions and publicly teaching the opposite heresy.4 Yet he reigned as pope until his death.5


Yet both before and after this doctrine was defined, the Church has always recognized the validity of Pope John XXII’s election and reign as pope.6 In other words, his public teaching of this heresy did not prevent his election or his reigning as pope.


We know that dogmas are already true and have always been doctrines of the Faith, even before those dogmas become defined by the Church’s Extraordinary Magisterium. In other words, the Church’s extraordinary definition of a dogma does not all of a sudden “make” a doctrine true (and make it part of the Faith).


Rather, an extraordinary definition of a doctrine of Faith merely gives certitude to anyone in doubt concerning a truth which was already a dogma of the Catholic Faith. This is why the First Vatican Council declared: “the Holy Ghost was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by His revelation, make known some new doctrine”.7


Thus, we know that the dogma which Pope John XXII denied was always true and was a doctrine of the Faith at the time he denied it.


As scandalous as it was for Pope John XXII to publicly teach heresy, he was elected pope while professing this heresy and reigned as pope while continuing to profess this heresy.


Thus, we see that a pope who publicly teaches heresy would remain Catholic if he does not know that his teaching is a rejection of what he must believe in order to be Catholic. In other words, a pope who teaches heresy remains the pope if he is a material heretic. However, if the pope were to become a formal heretic, then he would cease to be a Catholic and cease to be pope (since a pope cannot be the head of the Church if he is not a member of the Church).



Afterword


When Pope Francis teaches heresy, that does not tell us whether he remains pope precisely because we do not know that Francis knows he is contradicting the Catholic Faith. He would have to make it known that he knows he is contradicting the Catholic Faith.


But the sedevacantists would reply (often in a tone of exasperation): “Oh, come on! He knows he is contradicting the Catholic Faith.” That reply raises the topic of the sedevacantists’ sin of rash judgment. Beware of that sin! But that sin is a topic that we will cover in a different CC in Brief.

1 Council of Florence, Pope Eugene IV, Bull Laetentur coeli, 1439; Pope Benedict XII Benedictus Deus, 1336, Denz. #530-531.

2

1917 Catholic Encyclopedia, entry: Pope John XXII.

3

1917 Catholic Encyclopedia, entry: Pope John XXII.

4

1917 Catholic Encyclopedia, entry: Pope John XXII. The phrase in quotes is the description in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

5

1917 Catholic Encyclopedia, entry: Pope John XXII. See also, the Annuario Pontificio editions 1939, 1942, and 1959.

The Annuario Pontificio is the Church’s official list of popes and the years of their reign. These lists not only include Pope John XXII as a pope but list his reign as ending when he died, rather than some earlier date as if he lost the pontificate because of his (material) heresy.

6

1917 Catholic Encyclopedia, entry: Pope John XXII; see also, the Annuario Pontificio editions 1939, 1942, and 1959.


The Annuario Pontificio is the Church’s official list of popes and the years of their reign. Pope John XXII is listed in all of those lists of the Church’s popes.

7

Vatican I, Session 4, ch.4 (emphasis added).

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition

 

Do we seek the glory of Christ?
If so, then we must seek the cross.

 

St. John of the Cross, Mystical Doctor of the Church, teaches:

 

He who seeks not the cross of Christ seeks not the glory of Christ.


Maxims on Love, #23.

 

 

If the above words of the great Mystical Doctor inspire you to seek to be more generous with Our Lord Jesus Christ, you might be aided by praying this short prayer every day:

 

Dear Lord, I freely choose and beg Thee for a life completely full of trials and tribulations, crosses and difficulties, to imitate Thee, to please Thee, out of pure love for Thee and for the greater honor and glory.

True Freedom

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: The article below is a “companion” article to these two previously published articles:

➢  The Leftist Attack on the Moral Fiber of Society: https://catholiccandle.org/2023/10/29/the-leftist-attack-on-the-moral-fiber-of-society/

 

➢  We Should Not Dress Like Cultural Revolutionaries!  https://catholiccandle.org/2024/02/20/we-should-not-dress-like-cultural-revolutionaries/

True Freedom

All around us, we see so many people with impoverished characters – whose highest values and goals are comfort, convenience, pleasure, entertainment, conformity, and being coddled.

Let us contrast those misplaced priorities with what it takes to be a free man and to be a free people.  Most people in our society are willing to “sell” their freedom for the mess of pottage of a comfortable life in the nanny state.  Because the people of our society are increasingly like this, it appears likely that our freedom is nearing its end.

This is because true freedom is not free.  By true freedom, we mean the lack of constraint which would prevent us from serving God, practicing the full Traditional Catholic Faith, living life according to virtue, and acquiring and spreading the truth.  In past decades, the freedom existing in society was certainly not perfect – because error and sin were allowed to sprout and to thrive like so many poisonous mushrooms that leached off of the previous good of the Christendom which has been steadily-decaying for hundreds of years.  But this freedom we had in those past decades was much greater than what we have now and what will (apparently) exist in the future, as the good and the true are (and will be) much more restricted and persecuted.

True freedom – especially in a very complete form – is of priceless value but is very costly to acquire and to maintain.  Freedom requires accountability and responsibility.  These are neither convenient nor comfortable.  Freedom requires sacrifice and at least the possession of some virtue (the greater the virtue, the greater the true freedom).  These are the opposite of the values of the weak men of today.

Even after true freedom is possessed, it must be continually earned through sacrifice – every year and also by each generation.  That is the high cost of true freedom.  Parents can pass on to their children the true freedom they themselves enjoy but that next generation will lose that freedom unless they also receive the formation in virtue and good character which is necessary to guard this true freedom from destruction by their own wounds of Original Sin and by evil men.

It is true that some of these people, though possessing weak characters nonetheless work hard for leftist causes (e.g., climate alarmism, racial “justice”, economic “justice”, “saving the rainforests”, “justice” for those persons who are deluded into claiming that they belong to the opposite sex, etc.).  Such empty leftist causes do not require virtue in those people or even require them to seek virtue.  Thus, these people do what their fallen human natures desire but do not do what results in their true happiness: viz., follow their reason, live for God, serve Christ the King, and acquire virtue.

That is why the leftists are more unhappy and depressed than conservatives are[1] – although those “conservatives” are themselves, for the most part, not very conservative (except in comparison to the leftists) and are merely conserving the lesser liberalism of a few decades ago. 

These empty, leftist causes do not make a satisfying and happy life.  As St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, taught:

Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.

Confessions, Bk.1, ch.1.

People nowadays, who more or less follow their leftist leaders are rewarded by receiving the acceptance and approval of their “crowd” as well as (sometimes) rewarded by receiving financial incentives such as government, corporate, and academic grants, employment positions, awards and honoraria, favorable book publishing deals, favorable media coverage, social media “likes”, etc.

The current generations of immature and insolent “activists” are not resilient.  They are neither strong of will nor well-formed in mind, (i.e., they are not formed in the truth, which is the good of the mind).  These “activists” only serve to destroy what others have built.  They are destroyers like Satan is.

We must fight those trying to enslave us in a nanny state!  It is true that the circumstances are against us.  We might lose this fight, (i.e., God might allow that) but God is in charge.  The Blessed Virgin Mary told us at Quito, Ecuador, that she will triumph when everything seems hopeless.  Here are her words:

When everything will seem lost and paralyzed, that will be the happy beginning of the complete Restoration. This will mark the arrival of My hour, when I, in a marvelous way, will dethrone the proud and cursed Satan, trampling him under My feet and chaining him in the infernal abyss.[2]

God did not assign us the “problem” of how to turn around all of society and to “save the world”.  That is God’s concern to save what He wants to save and to punish what He decides to punish.  Our focus must be on serving Him well and faithfully in whatever capacity He created us to fill.  That is, we must be valiant soldiers of Christ as well as men and women of character.  The rest is God’s concern. 

We must be “apostles” of virtue and of truth, and of taking responsibility.  We must be “Jeremias” to warn against the rot of incessant self-indulgence which is all around us. 

Let us fill this role with strong hearts and with the confidence of a soldier who is on the winning side – that is, on God’s side!


[2]           Words of Our Lady of Quito, Ecuador, in 1634, to Mother Marianna de Jesus.

Man’s Proneness to Be Deceived by Climate Alarmism

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Because of our fallen human nature, people have a propensity to be subject to irrational and emotional fears about the climate and weather.  They tend to suppose that climate-doom is “just around the corner”.

Our fears of what could happen make us expect climate disaster.  This, of course, is not rational.  But we (i.e., people in general) irrationally fear pain and hardship.

Because of our fallen human nature, we incline away from living according to reason.  This causes in us a tendency toward climate foreboding which makes manifest in us (i.e., people generally) a lack of supernatural Faith and Trust in God.  We don’t live the infallible truth (that we should know) that God’s Will is always the best and wisest and that we are secure in God’s tender Providential care for us.  Our lives don’t manifest the certainty that we should have, namely, that all things, including tribulations, “work together unto the good, for those who love God”.  Romans, 8:28.

Instead, we fear that we will have to suffer from “something really bad” coming soon.  But God guides His friends to have confidence in Him and to have contentment, peace, and a freedom from such groundless fear.  This is part of the resilience of character that faithful and informed Catholics enjoy.[1]

Original Sin is the initial cause of unreasonable climate fear which is a tendency going all of the way back to Adam.  Sixteen hundred years ago, St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, described this same foolish tendency of man to regard the weather with unreasonable foreboding.  Here is one way he describes it:

Not only did our elders complain about their days, their grandparents too complained about their [own] days.  People have never been pleased with the days they lived in.  But the days of the ancestors please their descendants, and they too were pleased with the days they hadn’t experienced – and that’s precisely why they thought them pleasant.  It’s what’s present that is sharply felt.  I don’t mean it comes nearer, but it touches the heart every day.  Practically every year when we feel the cold we say “It’s never been so cold.”  “It’s never been so hot.”  “It,” “it” – “it” is always in our minds.  But blessed is the man whom You instruct, Lord, to claim him from baleful days, while a pit is being dug for the sinner.[2]

At its root, St. Augustine is describing man’s tendency to suppose that things (such as the weather and climate) used to be very good and pleasant but now it has begun to become bad and painful.

Notice St. Augustine’s own serenity in his words.  That is how a reasonable man should be – and a man of Faith.  See how this great Doctor is not disturbed in the least by the childish outlook of the climate alarmists.

We greatly need “more St. Augustines” today!  We need strong, manly men!  We need men of (the true Catholic) Faith and reason!

Instead, we have “scaredy-cats” who look with foreboding at the weather.  Those men are all around us today.  But men such as this not only live now and lived in St. Augustine’s time, but throughout history.

One somewhat-older example is George Perkins Marsh who is called the “father of American ecology” but could more accurately be called “the father of American ecology alarmism”.  He was an American professor, politician, and diplomat, whose writings on ecology were exceedingly influential during the last 160 years.[3]  His principal climate-alarm book was sold all over the world and was translated into five languages.[4]

In the mid-1800s, he predicted doom and concocted alarmism that everything was about to become an ecological disaster.  Here is one way he sounded the (false) alarm:

The earth is fast becoming an unfit home for its noblest inhabitant, and another era of equal human crime and human improvidence … would reduce it to such a condition of impoverished productiveness, of shattered surface, of climatic excess, as to threaten the depravation, barbarism, and perhaps even extinction of the species.[5]

Marsh blamed man because:

There are parts of Asia Minor, of Northern Africa, of Greece, and even of Alpine Europe, where the operation of causes set in action by man has brought the face of the earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon ….[6]

It seems that the climate alarmists generally predict the annihilation of the human race (roughly) ten years into the future.  Some climate alarmist predictions are a little further into the future, some a little nearer.  For example, that globalist tool and dupe, Greta Thunberg, predicted (more than six years ago) that “climate change will wipe out all of humanity unless we stop using fossil fuels over the next five years.”[7]

In Marsh’s case, he sounded the (false) alarm roughly 160 years ago.  His warning about environmental doom and about the “extinction of the species” (viz., man) is as absurd today as it was then, to any thinking man.

Nonetheless, Marsh’s influence continues to the present and Vermont’s only national park is named after him (as well as the park being also named after the Rockefellers who, jointly with Marsh, are responsible for establishing the park).[8]

So we see that climate alarmism is not new.  Such irrational fears are as old as man.  Fallen man has always leaned toward exaggerating any unpleasant current weather, ready to suppose that the weather was better in the past and quick to project climate disaster into the near future.  Because of our fallen human nature, this makes us easy targets for the New World Order elites in their attempts to perpetrate a climate-scare fraud on society, to aid their global power grab.[9]

We have nothing to fear because God is in control of the world which He created as the best possible universe.[10]  God reminds us of His loving, Providential care for us in these words:

Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee.  Behold, I have graven thee in My Hands.

Isaiah, 49:15-16

Nor let us fear God’s enemies who use climate alarmism as a tool of gaining control of society.  St. Paul strengthened us against fearing God’s enemies, using these words:

If God be for us, who is against us?

Romans, 8:31.

Let us go forth in the strength of Christ!

 

 


[1]           Read this article about the importance of resilience of character: https://catholiccandle.org/2024/01/10/the-leftist-attack-on-personal-resilience/

 

[5]           George Perkins Marsh, Man and Nature; or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action, London: S. Low, Son and Marston, 1864, p.44.


[6]           George Perkins Marsh, Man and Nature; or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action, London: S. Low, Son and Marston, 1864, p.43.

[7]           Read this article: Greta Thunberg and the “Doom Coming Soon” Alarmism: https://catholiccandle.org/2024/01/23/greta-thunberg-and-the-doom-coming-soon-scam/


[8]           https://www.nps.gov/mabi/index.htm

 

[9]           Read this article about the globalist power-grab behind climate alarmism:             https://catholiccandle.org/2019/12/01/climate-change-serves-to-usher-in-the-new-world-order/

 


[10]         Here is St. Thomas’ fuller explanation of this truth:

 

It is the part of the best agent to produce an effect which is best in its entirety; but this does not mean that He makes every part of the whole the best absolutely, but in proportion to the whole; in the case of an animal, for instance, its goodness would be taken away if every part of it had the dignity of an eye. Thus, therefore, God also made the universe to be best as a whole, according to the mode of a creature; whereas He did not make each single creature best, but one better than another.  And therefore, we find it said of each creature, “God saw the light, that it was good” (Genesis 1:4); and in like manner of each one of the rest.  But of all together it is said, “God saw all the things that He had made, and they were very good” (Genesis 1:31).

 

Summa, Ia, Q.47, a.2, ad 1 (emphasis added).

When We Sin, We Cause Our Lord to Suffer

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Catholic Candle note: The article below is a “companion” article to the previously published Catholic Candle article showing that all sin is an infinite evil in three ways and mortal sin is an infinite evil of a fourth way too.  The previous article is available here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/the-infinite-evil-of-sin .

Most people fail to understand the extent of Our Lord’s suffering which is caused by the sins we commit. 

To steal is wrong and has consequences.  Thus, a lad wouldn’t steal even a single apple if the store’s owner was watching him.  So why do people sin when God is always watching them?  In fact, I believe that when a person commits a venial sin, it’s like slapping Our Lord in His face.  For a mortal sin, it’s as if the sinner punches Him and gives Him a Bloody Nose – or really, it is more like crucifying Him, since mortal sin kills the Divine Life of Grace in the soul.  

These comparisons are meant to help us to better understand the evil of sin.  For, how could we ever want to hurt our loving and sweet Lord that way?  He, Who has done so much for us!  He, Who created us and keeps us in existence!  He it is Who also suffered and died because of our sins!

Let us take a closer look at sin and what it really is:

Sin is nothing else than a morally bad act. (St. Thomas, "De malo", Q. vii, a. 3), an act not in accord with reason informed by the Divine law.  God has endowed us with reason and free will, and a sense of responsibility; He has made us subject to His law, which is known to us by the dictates of conscience, and our acts must conform to these dictates, otherwise we sin.  (Rom., xiv, 23)[1]

And if we don’t form a good conscience and avoid all sin, we develop a habit of sin called vice.

What is vice? Vice is a habit of sin formed by repeated acts of sin.

One who makes a practice of stealing has the vice of theft.  One who habitually drinks to intoxication has the vice of drunkenness.  One who frequently sins against chastity has the vice of impurity. …..

A vice is easily acquired.  This is one reason why we must be very careful not to commit sin.  If we should be so unhappy as to fall into sin, we must at once cut off the possibility of forming vice by contrition, penance, and a resolution not to sin again. 

After the first fall, one more readily yields to the next temptation.  Each yielding weakens the will for the next.  Thus, step by step, one who starts a sin will find himself the slave of a vicious habit.  “He that contemneth small things shall fail by little and little.” (Ecclesiasticus. 19:1).

A vice is easy to break off in the beginning, difficult to break when fully formed, but always capable of being overcome by a resolute will with God’s grace.[2]

So, we must avoid all sin.  Well, how can we do that?  Keep in mind that God is always watching us.  This is called “keeping in the presence of God”.  Let us remember that, if we sin, we slap Him or punch Him, giving Him a bloody nose – or even much worse!  With that always in mind, a person will have committed his last sin!


[1]           Catholic Encyclopedia, The Gilmary Society, New York, 1912, article title: Sin, vol.14, p.4.

[2]           My Catholic Faith, Bishop Morrow, My Mission House, Kenosha, WI, 1949, Ch. 75, p. 151, emphasis added.

Lesson #36 About the Temperaments – The Choleric Temperament

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Philosophy Notes

Mary’s School of Sanctity

Lesson #35:  About the Temperaments – Beginning our Study of the Choleric Temperament

In this lesson we begin our study of the choleric temperament.

As we stated in lesson #34, we speak of four basic types of temperaments.  Yet we usually see that a person is a combination of two.  There is a predominant temperament and a secondary one.  One curious and very interesting thing we find when we get to know more about the temperaments, and when we discover our own particular temperament or blend of temperaments, is that we wouldn’t want to trade temperaments.  We are used to ourselves and only really know what it is like being just the temperament(s) we are – in other words, we have no experiential knowledge of actually being another temperament.

So how do we recognize the other temperaments?  The answer is that all the temperaments have certain key traits that are recognizable.  Suppose someone were to think, “What is all this stuff about temperaments?” or  “I have gotten along fine not knowing about them.”  In such a case, we respond that we are examining in a more careful and refined manner the same distinctions that society at large often makes about how some people are naturally outgoing and are called extroverts.  There are others who are quieter and reserved and are called introverts.  Thus, society commonly recognizes the traits called the temperaments, although in a less precise way than is our goal in this series of articles.

In this lesson we will be discussing the general descriptions of the typical strengths and weaknesses of the choleric temperament.  Of course, no two persons are exactly alike so we must to be careful and not think that if someone has the typical traits of the choleric temperament that he is exactly like another person who has these same traits.

In Lesson #35 we set forth the overall scheme in examining each temperament.  The first point we said we would investigate is the typical strengths and weaknesses of each of the four temperaments.

General Strengths and Weaknesses[1]

Strengths of the Choleric temperament:

·         Great energy and activity

·         Sharp intellect

·         Strong and resolute will

·         Good powers of concentration

 

·         Constancy

·         Magnanimity

 

·         Liberality/Generosity

·         Good at planning projects

·         Industrious

·         Strong leadership abilities

Weaknesses of the Choleric Temperament:

·         Hardness

·         Nurtures hatred and desire for revenge

 

·         Obstinacy

·         Insensibility

·         Anger

·         Pride

·         Ambition

·         Violence, cruelty, and arrogance upon meeting with resistance

·         Lack of delicacy of feeling, insensitive to the feelings of others

·         Coldness

·         Indifference

·         Impetuosity

In General – Ways to Use Strengths and Conquer Weaknesses[2]

Humans are expected by God to want to live a moral and reasonable life.  If one is disposed to live correctly, then he is said to be of good will.  In order to foster good will for a person with the choleric temperament, he should in general do the following:

·         Mistrust his first inclinations

·         Cultivate true humility

 

·         Develop compassion for the weak and uninstructed

·         Refrain from exerting superiority

·         Practice detachment from self

·         Manifest a generous love towards others

·         Restrain and moderate himself

So far we have only given general lists about the choleric temperament and indeed, it is surely important to explain the lists given above.  Before explaining the list, however, let us take a quick peek at a couple of unique facts about people with the choleric temperament.  

Since the choleric temperament is the most extraverted of the four temperaments, the traits of this temperament are extremely prominent.  With this in mind one can readily see that a choleric person can have a great impact on the lives of others.  Therefore, his influence is widely felt for good or for ill.  If he has virtue and holiness, he can be an instrument for much good to society.  On the other hand, if he is vicious, he can cause great harm to souls!

If the choleric is of good will then his strengths shine out and one does not notice that he has weaknesses.  It is often said that the choleric temperament makes great saints.  Indeed, many of the greatest saints were choleric, e.g. St. Paul, and St. Peter.

By contrast, if the choleric is of bad will, then his strengths are used for ill and his weaknesses are so enhanced that only his weaknesses are noticeable.  We can easily bring to mind the worst tyrants in human history and see that they were vicious men with a choleric temperament.

So out of all the four temperaments, when Our Lord says, “By their fruits you can know them,” persons with the choleric temperament show their fruits in the most noticeable way.  We can easily see these external fruits of the “choleric” because his face is expressive and his interior attitude shows up readily in his body language.  Thus, a choleric person’s good will or bad will is easily detected.  In this way we can see that his will seems to play a much bigger role in determining his exterior actions and his impact on others.

It is interesting to note that the strengths and weakness of the other temperaments do not show as extreme an opposition as we find in the choleric temperament.  This opposition is directly related to good will versus bad will in the choleric.

So, let’s start by briefly analyzing the strengths listed above and seeing some of the effects they can cause.  We will be focusing here on the “choleric” of good will, keeping in mind what we have just said above that if the “choleric” does not use these strengths with proper caution and Fear of the Lord, then the strengths will easily turn into the bad tendencies, namely the weaknesses listed above.  At a later point, after likewise treating the weaknesses and some of their effects, we will delve into more of the spiritual aspects of this temperament.   

Great energy and activity

The “choleric” seems to never sit still.  He has lots of energy; some would say ‘nervous energy’.   “Cholerics” are always on the go.  They don’t seem to run out of things to do.  A “choleric” with good will has great zeal to work for God.   For example, look at St. Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians where he lists the many sufferings he had on his numerous missionary journeys.  He had a great love for God so he wanted to accomplish many things for souls. 

Keen intellect

Those with the choleric temperament have good intellects.  They can readily draw proper conclusions.   They can spread the truth and the Catholic faith with ardor.  Again, we take the example of St. Paul who had a philosophical mind and was an eloquent preacher and writer.

Strong and resolute will

The choleric person is well recognized for his strong and resolute will.  As we stated above, it is crucial that the will be trained in the good.  We especially see the need for a life of virtue for a choleric person because he is bound to attract attention and he must not lead others to a life of sin.

Good powers of concentration

A person having the choleric temperament has a lot of determination and therefore, he focuses strongly on his goals.  One might say that they have a one track mind, but of course, this is an exaggeration.  If their attention is properly placed, they can achieve their goals with tremendous success.

Constancy

The choleric person can handle pressure and stress.  They have fortitude in the face of duress.  This is why the “choleric” makes a good leader.  He can lead when others are discouraged or confused.

Magnanimity

The choleric person has high ideals and noble pursuits.  He is very enthused about his ideas and this, too, makes him a sort of “born leader”.

Liberality/Generosity

The choleric person is very giving.  He is sometimes considered “generous to a fault”.  He would give someone “the shirt off his own back” (as the saying goes).  He of course has to use prudence to moderate himself.

Good at planning projects

The choleric person is said to be a “go-getter”.  He likes to plan projects.  He has good organizational skills.

Industrious

Having an abundance of energy, the choleric person likes to accomplish tasks and goals.  He is an asset for an employer and he also makes a driven entrepreneur.

Strong leadership abilities

Because the choleric person is an extravert who is enthusiastic about plans and goals he has set, he naturally has leadership skills.  He is a “take-charge” type of person.

A Preview …

In our next lesson we will briefly analyze the typical weaknesses of the choleric temperament given in our list above.  We will also discuss the results of these weaknesses.   After making this analysis, it will be easier for us to see the spiritual needs of the person with the choleric temperament and efficacious strategies that should be used for one’s salvation.


[1]           These are taken from a chart that will be given at the end of this Temperaments series and is based on work done by Father Antonio Royo Marin O.P. published in a series of articles run in the Catholic Family News about 15 years ago.

[2]           These are taken from a chart that will be given at the end of this Temperaments series and is based on work done by Father Antonio Royo Marin O.P. published in a series of articles run in the Catholic Family News about 15 years ago.

CC in brief — Sponsors for Conditional Confirmation

Posted on by Catholic Candle

Catholic Candle note: Catholic Candle normally examines particular issues thoroughly, at length, using the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas and the other Doctors of the Church.  By contrast, our feature CC in Brief, usually gives an extremely short answer to a reader’s question.  We invite every reader to submit his own questions.

CC in Brief

Sponsors for Conditional Confirmation

Q.        Do we need a sponsor in the case of conditional Confirmation?  Is there a place in the Code of Canon law or in the Church rubrics that supports that we need a sponsor for conditional Confirmation?

A.        We checked the old Code of Canon Law which, although it is no longer binding, seems to us prudent to consult and prudent to follow.  We also checked three commentaries on this code[1] and we also checked the new code (while holding our noses),  Lastly, we consulted the book The Externals of the Catholic Church by Fr. John Sullivan.[2]

The old code contains several canons about sponsors but no special provisions about sponsors for conditional Confirmation. 

A sponsor for Confirmation is not required for validity at any time[3] but the old code notes that Confirmation sponsors were used from the oldest times and should be used.  Proxy sponsors may be used. 

A conditional Confirmation is administered because the prior one might be invalid.  For this reason, the conditional Confirmation might be the valid one.  Thus, you should have a sponsor for the conditional Confirmation since it is important that the confirmandus would have a sponsor in the event that the conditional Confirmation turns out to have been the valid one.  But again, it can be by proxy.

Lastly, we note that we are aware of no uncompromising and valid bishops available to us at the present time (Summer 2024).  If you have access to such a bishop, we would greatly want to know about it so we could contact him ourselves and also inform people far and wide about him.

 


[1]           These Canon Law commentaries are:

Ø  A Commentary on the New Code of Canon Law, Fr. Chas. Augustine, Volume IV, B. Herder Book Co. St. Louis, 1918 (note: the reference in the title of this commentary to the “new” code of Canon Law, refers to the code being new in 1918);

Ø  Manuale Iuris Canonici, Fr. Dominic Prummer, Herder, Friburg, 1927; and

Ø  A Dictionary of Canon Law, Fr. P. Trudel, Herder, St. Louis, 1920.

[2]           The Externals of the Catholic Church, Fr. John Sullivan, Kenedy & Sons, New York, 1917.

[3]           A sponsor is required by canon law but we think that it is implied in the following moral theology manuals that a sponsor is not required for validity:

Ø  “The use of a sponsor in Confirmation seems to be a grave obligation, when possible.”  Moral Theology, McHugh & Callen, Herder, New York, ©1958, section #2695, 3.b (emphasis added).

Ø  “Sponsors [at Confirmation]. There is a grave obligation enjoining the presence of a sponsor, as at Baptism — at least if this is possible.”  Moral Theology, Dominic Prummer, Mercier Press, Cork, ©1956, section #582, (emphasis added and bracketed words added to show the context).