Father Elijah – Recommended Novel

This novel is amazing. It is the only fiction book that I had to put down in order to pray. How can you not like a book that has all the usual POD elements: stigmatics, apparitions of Our Lady, Jewish Carmelite convert priest, the Anti-Christ, random exorcisms of evil places, secret conversations with Cardinals in the catacombs, relics…you get the picture.

The “Local” Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

It is sometime assumed that St Thomas Aquinas’ doctrine of transubstantiation teaches that Christ’s Body and Blood are present in a physical and local way. A reading of Thomas will reveal that this is not what he means.

St Thomas Aquinas states plainly that Christ’s locus or place does not move when the Sacrament is moved in space. For Thomas, the Real Presence, is not local.

On the contrary, it is impossible for the same thing to be in motion and at rest, else contradictories would be verified of the same subject. But Christ’s body is at rest in heaven. Therefore it is not movably in this sacrament.

I answer that, When any thing is one, as to subject, and manifold in being, there is nothing to hinder it from being moved in one respect, and yet to remain at rest in another just as it is one thing for a body to be white, and another thing, to be large; hence it can be moved as to its whiteness, and yet continue unmoved as to its magnitude. But in Christ, being in Himself and being under the sacrament are not the same thing, because when we say that He is under this sacrament, we express a kind of relationship to this sacrament. According to this being, then, Christ is not moved locally of Himself, but only accidentally, because Christ is not in this sacrament as in a place, as stated above (5). But what is not in a place, is not moved of itself locally, but only according to the motion of the subject in which it is.

In the same way neither is it moved of itself according to the being which it has in this sacrament, by any other change whatever, as for instance, that it ceases to be under this sacrament: because whatever possesses unfailing existence of itself, cannot be the principle of failing; but when something else fails, then it ceases to be in it; just as God, Whose existence is unfailing and immortal, ceases to be in some corruptible creature because such corruptible creature ceases to exist. And in this way, since Christ has unfailing and incorruptible being, He ceases to be under this sacrament, not because He ceases to be, nor yet by local movement of His own, as is clear from what has been said, but only by the fact that the sacramental species cease to exist.

Hence it is clear that Christ, strictly speaking is immovably in this sacrament.

In some sense, this lines up with what early Anglicans referred to as a “spiritual” presence as opposed to a “carnal” presence. It seems that J.H. Newman (even in his Anglican days) and Pusey both shared this view with St Thomas. Thus, when a priest makes the sign of the cross with the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance, Christ Himself is not moving at all. Christ’s Presence is not like this.

G. K. Chesterton on Atheists

If there were no God, there would be no Atheists.

- G.K. Chesterton

Childermas

Today is the feast of Holy Innocents or Childermas, coming from “Childrens Mass.” The feast of the Holy Innocents commemorates the deaths of the babies in Bethlehem who were slaughtered by order of King Herod when he sought to destroy the Christ Child. Because they died on account of Christ’s life, they are accounted the first Christian martyrs. It is thus appropriate that the feast of the Holy Innocent is celebrated in such close proximity to St Stephen who is the first adult martyr of Christ. I’ve often thought this feast also celebrates all those infants who have lost their lives to the horror of abortion. I am sure that Satan continues to wage war agains the image of God and the Incarnation of Christ by destroying human life, even the womb of their misguided mothers.

May God grant the aborted baptism and eternal life.
On a different note, I rather like the old rendering of feasts with the “mas” suffix denoting the Mass. There is to my knowledge four feasts with this kind of title:

Christmas
Childermas (Holy Innocents – Dec 28)
Candlemas (Purification BVM – Feb 2)
Michaelmas (St Michael – Sept 29)

Does anyone know of any others?

Doulia and Latria

Greek: doulia
Latin: servitusThe Greek term “doulia” (usually rendered in English as “dulia”) is the theological term for veneration or reverence in disctinction of “latria”, which is the theological term for worship given to God alone. St. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, X, ii, 1) recognized two kinds of veneration: “one which is due to men . . . which in Greek is called dulia; the other, latria, which is the service pertaining to the worship of God.”

Even Protestants give dulia or veneration to the American flag, civic monuments, the President, and grave sites. It is not assumed that a person is committing idolatry by saluting a flag. In like manner it not the sin of idolatry to honor or venerate (i.e. dulia) to the cross of Christ, Blessed Mary the Mother of Christ, the Saints of Christ, or images of the same. If we salute a flag, why not salute a cross?

The sum of it all is that dulia is the kind of respect we show toward things pertaining to creation. Latria on the other hand is the worship that we show only to God who is the Creator of creation.

If this distinction is maintained, then it is perfectly acceptable to show honor and veneration toward created things, as long as we are not worshipping them as if they were God. When my daughter kisses her inanimate baby doll I don’t accuse her of idolatry any more than when I see an Eastern Orthodox Christian kiss a picture of Christ or an Anglican reverence the altar of his church.

St Thomas Aquinas on Laymen Hearing Confessions

This is very interesting. According to the Summa Theologia, a layman may hear a confession in necessity when a priest is not available. Below is the answer to the question, “Whether it is ever lawful to confess to another than a priest?” from the Summa Theologia Supplementum Tertiæ Partis, 8, 2. Granted this is from the Supplement which was collected/edited after Thomas died.

I answer that, Just as Baptism is a necessary sacrament, so is Penance. And Baptism, through being a necessary sacrament has a twofold minister: one whose duty it is to baptize, in virtue of his office, viz. the priest, and another, to whom the conferring of Baptism is committed, in a case of necessity. In like manner the minister of Penance, to whom, in virtue of his office, confession should be made, is a priest; but in a case of necessity even a layman may take the place of a priest, and hear a person’s confession.

What think ye?

C.S. Lewis an Anglo-Catholic?

C.S. had many deprecating things to say about the “gin-and-lace” version of Anglo-Catholicism that espoused the strange blend of Anglophilism and the copycatting of all ceremonial French and Italian. He also despised T.S. Eliot who stood as the English poster child of high affected Anglicanism.However, as C.S. Lewis developed his thinking, he became more and more a High Churchman.He believed in Baptismal Regeneration and spoke of Confirmation in a sacramental way, rather than as a mere public affirmation of faith.

Beginning in 1940, he began making his regular confession to an Anglican priest and heartily recommended the practice to others as good for the soul.

With respect to the Eucharist, Lewis most certainly believed in the Real and Abiding Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species. He said, “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object present to your senses.”

Also, he openly affirmed the doctrine of Purgatory. He wrote:

Our souls demand Purgatory, don’t they? Would in not break the heart if God said to us, ‘It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy’? Should we not reply, ‘With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I’d rather be cleaned first.’ ‘It may hurt, you know’ – ‘Even so, sir.’

I assume that the process of purification will normally involve suffering. Partly from tradition; partly because most real good that has been done me in this life has involved it. But I don’t think the suffering is the purpose of the purgation. I can well believe that people neither much worse nor much better than I will suffer less than I or more. . . . The treatment given will be the one required, whether it hurts little or much.

My favorite image on this matter comes from the dentist’s chair. I hope that when the tooth of life is drawn and I am ‘coming round’,’ a voice will say, ‘Rinse your mouth out with this.’ This will be Purgatory. The rinsing may take longer than I can now imagine. The taste of this may be more fiery and astringent than my present sensibility could endure. But . . . it will [not] be disgusting and unhallowed.”

For C.S. Lewis, salvation was not a “once-for-all” event in the life of a believer at which “one gets saved.” Rather it was the ongoing process of crucifying and mortifying the flesh and thus conquering all existing sin one’s life by the Blood of the Christ. In other words, Justification necessitates a very real and necessary Sanctification of the believer. It’s the taking up of the cross of Christ and following Him by he power of the Holy Spirit. God’s grace forgives and transforms. This understanding is also revealed in Lewis’ affinity for the literary theme of “spiritual pilgirmage,” which is found in so many of his writings (Great Divorce, Pilgrim’s Regress, Narnia, Space Trilogy).

If this Sanctification is true and real, it must indeed reach its goal and thus the sanctification and purification of the believer must be brought to completion even if not completed in this life. This after death purification or sanctification is called “Purgatory” by C.S. Lewis and by Roman Catholics. However, like Dante before him, C.S. Lewis places Purgatory within the gates of Heaven. It is in that sense the “forecourt of Heaven.” The place where you are finally scrubbed down before entering the throne room of the King of Kings.

Anyway, as C.S. Lewis grows in importance, especially with the Narnia movies, it’s important to recognize that he falls more in line with the Catholic tradition, which he shares with his friend and mentor J.R.R. Tolkien.

Why St. John is my favorite Apostle

Today is the feast of St John the Divine, Beloved Apostle of Christ. I chose him as my patron saint on my Confirmation day for three reasons:

1) He is the Apostle who laid his head on Christ’s breast at the institution of the Blessed Sacrament, and thus the first devotee of the Sacred Heart. He is also the only Apostle to see Christ’s side riven by the lance and the water and last of Christ’s blood flow from thence. Which leads to reason number two.

2) St John is the only Apostle who stood under the cross of Christ crucified. He is thus the most courageous of the Apostles and I’m sure that this painful event alone served as his martyrdom. It is my suspicion that St John is the only Apostle NOT to be martyred because he had already conformed to the sufferings of Christ by actually being there next to Our Lady. Which leads me to my third reason.

3) St John is the guardian of Blessed Mary and also the first one other than Christ to be called her “son” when Christ said to His Mother, “Behold your son!” St John is also the theologian of the Incarnation, both by his lifelong love and devotion for the Mother of God, but also by His profound record of the Incarnation at the beginning of his Gospel…”In the beginning was the Word…and the Word was made flesh.”

St John loved Christ, he witnessed his passion and death, and he was the divinely elected guardian of the Blessed Virgin. It is my prayer that Christ might also grant me to become one who beholds the Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy of Christ, contemplates the sufferings of Christ, and lastly, sees in the Mother of Christ, the beautiful condescension of Christ in His Incarnation by a pure Virgin.

It is my hope that others will also develop a devotion for St John and see him a godly example of what it means to be a “beloved disciple of Christ.”

Happy St John’s Day!

Latin Votive Masses in England after 1549

The Act of Uniformity, 1549, required that the new English-language Book of Common Prayer be used exclusively from June 9, 1549. Even after this date certain priests continued to say votive masses. These were said privately in Latin in side-chapels as opposed to the public celebration of the new Communion service in English at the main altar of the church. Instead of using their former names, e.g. a Mass of Our Lady, the priests tried to disguise what they were doing by using a name such as “Our Lady’s Communion”.

This practice was maintained at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, where the bishop Edmund Bonner was not in sympathy with the liturgical reforms.

The Various St Thomas Christians of India

In the comments below, Young Fogey demonstrated that the Metropolitan featured below is actually the leader of the Malankar Mar Thoma Church which has been protestantized by (guess who!) contacts with Anglicans.

As far as I can tell there are five groups of St Thomas Christians.

Those deriving from the Orienal Orthodox “Monophysite” St Thomas Christians:

Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (“Monophysite” or “Non-Chalcedonian”),
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (in communion with Rome, ex-”Monophysites”)
Malankara Mar Thoma Church (those reformed orthodox who accepted the Anglican Communion)

Those derving from the “Nestorian” St Thomas Christians:

Church of the East (those who accepted the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East)
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (in communion with Rome, ex-”Nestorians”)