"For he who scans with bitterness the conduct of others, can never obtain pardon for the sins committed by himself. For God will determine the sentence, not only from the nature of our transgressions, but from the judgment which you have passed upon others".
–St. John Chrysostom, Homily 3 On the statues, 16.
In what sense do humans bear the imprint of the Holy Trinity?
"It is said that the creature has a threefold relation to God, as to a threefold cause and this according to the three modes of relations that the Philosopher [Aristotle] posits in Book V of the Metaphysics. (1) In the first mode, the creature relates to God with a relation founded on the “one”, that is, with a relation of similarity, and this insofar as the creature is modeled and relates to God as to its exemplary cause. (2) In the second mode, that is, in relation to power, the creature relates to God as the product to the producer. (3) In the third mode, that is, in the relationship of measure, the creature refers to God insofar as it is ordered to Him as to a final cause.
[...] We have, therefore, clarified what the imprint in the creature consists of. But in relation to what does this imprint stand, on the part of God? Answer: the creaturely imprint is in relation to the appropriations of the three divine persons. The creature, in fact, through the first relation (that is, of similitude) represents the exemplary art, which is appropriated to the Son. Through the second relation, it represents the power of the producer, which is appropriated to the Father; through the third relation, it represents the goodness of the end, which is appropriated to the Holy Spirit".
–Bl. John Duns Scotus, Ordinatio, I, d. 3, pars 2, q. unica
Sts. John Damascene, Theophylact and John Chrysostom on how Christ suffered in our place to atone for our sins
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NNN begins tomorrow. Eternity calls to a new beginning and asks us to make the decision. The decision to wake up with a shock from slumber of monotony, a break from the spell of custom and the long row of weary thoughts.
Let's DARE to act on the good that lies buried within our heart. If you are ashamed of your own imperfections, then cast your eyes down before God, not man. Let's decide and go forth
TO A NEW BEGINNING!!
"In Christ, every human being is a word in God's mouth until all humanity becomes a hymn of love"
–St. Charbel, Love is a Radiant Light, p. 65.
The Fire of Faith – Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey, Oklahoma, USA
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https://youtu.be/DwB_1oiaZfA?si=FW93PGrctyOFtQug
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"You forgave the sins of your people when their holy leaders like Moses sought your compassion,
—through their intercession continue to purify and sanctify your holy people.
Bring salvation to your people, Lord"Liturgy of the Hours, XXV week of Ordinary Time, Vespers, Intercessions.
Pat. Pierbattista Pizzaballa reciting the Preface in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem, 2025)
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Ipse enim in qua nocte tradebatur accepit panem et tibi gratias agens benedixit, fregit, deditque discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite et manducate ex hoc omnes: hoc est enim Corpus meum, quod pro vobis tradetur. Simili modo, postquam cenatum est, accipiens calicem, et tibi gratias agens benedixit, deditque discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite et bibite ex eo omnes: hic est enim calix Sanguinis mei novi et æterni testamenti, qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum. Hoc facite in meam commemorationem.
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Pope St. Pius X's Traditional Catholic views. He died 33 years before the foundation of the CIA and and 35 years before the foundation of Mossad
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Pope Leo reciting the formula of Consecration in Latin
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Was St. John Chrysostom trying to say that we should feel no attachment to our country or kinship? No. What he was trying to say is that our time here on Earth is fleeting and that therefore we should not idolise anything here, remembering that our treasure is in Heaven.
"For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding" (1 Chronicles 29:15)
"The world’s your ship and not your home.” –St. Therese of Lisieux
⬆️That is nothing more than what St. John Chrysostom meant to say. There was no political message attached such as "disregard your country or your family because whatever dude nothing matters". Your country and your family do matter, and you should care about them even if you are going to be here on Earth just for about 80 years. What's important to remember is that, while we can have many good attachments in this world (our attachment to our nation can be one of them), our final and greatest treasure is in Heaven. Plus, St. John Chrysostom was known for his fearless criticism of authority (the painting I attached conveys it well): he had no scruple in criticising and reproaching the rich and powerful of Constantinople for their opulence, corruption and immorality. That quote was specifically addressed to the Earthly leaders who believe their Earthly reigns will last. St. John Chrysostom was telling the kings and emperors of the world: "remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return"
There Are No Morally Neutral Acts
Moral theology is based on the concept of human acts. Human persons are subject to the eternal moral law of God because we have reason and free will. By reason, we can know right from wrong. By free will, we can choose to do good or to do evil. An act is a knowing choice; it is an exercise of intellect, which understands the morality of a choice, and free will, which makes such a choice. A knowing choice is a deliberate (voluntary, intentional) act, based on the understanding provided by reason.
"Freedom makes man a moral subject. When he acts deliberately, man is, so to speak, the father of his acts. Human acts, that is, acts that are freely chosen in consequence of a judgment of conscience, can be morally evaluated. They are either good or evil.” (CCC1749)
No human act is morally indifferent to one’s conscience or before God. Every deliberate choice of the human person, every exercise of intellect and free will, every knowing choice, is subject to conscience and to the eternal moral law of God.
The claim that some acts are morally-neutral is a common false teaching. There are three reasons typically given as the basis of this claim.
1. Acts that are neither virtuous, nor sinful
Some persons say that an act such as taking a walk or eating a meal is morally neutral. What they mean is that the act deserves neither reward nor punishment. Virtuous acts in cooperation with grace deserve a reward. Sinful acts necessarily refuse cooperation with grace and always deserve punishment. But some acts are neutral as regards reward and punishment.
Suppose that, when you die and are judged by God, you point out to God that, on a particular day, you ate three square meals and got a good night’s sleep.You won’t be punished for this type of act. By neither will you be rewarded.
However, it is certainly false to say that this type of act is morally neutral. An act is moral, if it is permissible without sin. An act is immoral, if it is not permissible without sin. Moral acts are never sinful. Immoral acts are always sinful. Even if an act deserves no reward, it might still not be a sin. A knowingly chosen act is always either morally good or morally evil.
2. A hypothetical lacking sufficient information
Some persons say that killing is morally neutral, because an act of killing can be either moral self-defense or immoral murder. Given a hypothetical situation in which person A kills person B, the claim is made that the act is morally neutral because we don’t know if the act is self-defense or murder. But this only applies as long as the knowledge needed to judge the act in a hypothetical is lacking. Every knowingly chosen act of killing another human person is either moral or immoral. If we do not have enough information to make the proper judgment about the morality of a particular act, the act is nevertheless either good or evil. A lack of knowledge does not make the act itself morally neutral.
3. Objects, rather than acts
Some persons say that contraception is morally neutral. They claim that “contraception” is merely a pill or a device, and therefore contraception itself is morally neutral. The typical argument of this type then goes on to justify the use of such an “object” in various ways as being sometimes moral, and other times immoral, based on intention or circumstances. However, this type of claim misrepresents the meaning of the term “contraception” as it is used in moral theology and magisterial documents.
The term “contraception” refers to contraceptive acts. When we say contraception is intrinsically evil, we don’t mean that an object is evil, but that an act is evil. To fall within the realm of morality, contraception must be an act.
There are several terms used to signify this idea of an act subject to morality: knowingly chosen act, deliberate act, voluntary act, intentional act, concrete act, objective behavior, etc. But in every case, when a human person makes a deliberate knowing choice, his act is subject to the moral law.
#moraltheology
"While Aquinas affirms the superiority of sacra doctrina over other sciences,he also seems to assume that those other sciences can serve the articulation of truth known on the basis of revelation. Both sacred doctrine and human sciences are concerned with the truth of things, and though they approach the truth from different directions, ultimately truth known by natural reason and by revelation must cohere. Perhaps this accounts for the fact that of the explicit citations to Aristotle in the section of the Summa directly devoted to the sacraments of the New Law, two thirds appear in objections and replies to objections. If the explication of sacred doctrine in which Aquinas is engaged is to prove convincing, it must at least be shown not to contradict what seems to be demonstrable by natural reason, even if its assertions ultimately rest not on what is demonstrable by human reason, but on supernatural revelation"
–Fr. Gilles Emery, Aristotle in Aquinas' theology, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2015, p. 207.
Saint James of the Marches in condemning the errors of the Spirituals, inadvertently destroys sedevacantism as well.
He argues convincingly that per the promise of Christ in Matt. 16:18, there could never be two successive heretical Popes, and that God wouldn’t allow the Church to be without a Pope in such a way that the majority of faithful Catholics would be deceived into following heresy.
"By me kings reign, and lawgivers establish justice; by me princes govern, and nobles; all the rulers of the earth."
Proverbs VIII, 15-16
This week, His Serene Highness Albert II, Prince of Monaco, vetoed a law passed by the Monegasque parliament that would legalize abortion up to the 12th week.
Abortion in Monaco remains formally illegal and permitted only in the exceptional cases of rape, life-threatening risk to the mother, and serious fetal malformation.
Although the situation in the country and in Europe as a whole is not perfect, and it is very easy for Monegasques to cross the border into France seeking abortions, and despite some personal past events involving Albert II, we cannot fail to thank God that there are still rulers willing to displease the world to preserve God's commandments, the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the human person (woman and baby).
Without prevenient grace we are bound to evil and unable to chose God freely
Prevenient grace (from the Latin gratia praeveniens, “grace that comes before”) is the free, unmerited gift of God that heals the wound of original sin, restores the liberty of the will, and enables every human person to freely choose between good and evil. Without it, fallen human nature is inclined only to sin; with it, we are truly free to cooperate with God or to refuse Him.
1. What prevenient grace is
It is actual grace that precedes every salutary act.
It excites, illuminates, and moves the soul before the will consents.
It is universally offered (God “desires all men to be saved” — 1 Tim 2:4).
It does not compel; it makes free consent possible.
Catechism of the Catholic Church § 2022
“The divine initiative in the work of grace precedes, prepares, and elicits the free response of man.”
Council of Trent, Session VI, ch. 5 (Denzinger 1525)
“In adults the beginning of justification must be derived from the prevenient grace of God through Jesus Christ, that is, from His call … so that they who by sin were turned away from God, may be disposed … to convert themselves to their own justification by freely assenting to and cooperating with that grace.”
2. Without prevenient grace we are bound to evil
Original sin left the will wounded and inclined to self, not annihilated. We retain natural liberty (we can still choose between evils), but supernatural liberty—the power to choose the true good (God)—is lost.
St. Augustine, De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio 15, 31
“Without grace men do no good, either by thinking, or by willing and loving, or by acting.”
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I-II, q. 109, a. 2
“After sin, free will remains, but averted from the true good … Hence man by his natural powers cannot … love God above all things … without healing grace.”
3. Grace heals and elevates the will to freely choose good or to reject it
Augustine, Prosper, Fulgentius, Bernard, Thomas, Bellarmine, Alphonsus, John of the Cross, and every council from Orange to Trent thunder in unison: without the prevenient touch of the Holy Spirit the human will is a slave that can only rattle its chains—grace alone breaks the chains and sets it free to love God.”
Council of Orange II (A.D. 529), can. 7 (Denzinger 377)
“If anyone says that by the force of nature we can … think or choose any good pertaining to eternal life … without the illumination and inspiration of the Holy Spirit … he is deceived by the heretical spirit.”
St. Thomas, ST I-II, q. 111, a. 2
“Grace is called prevenient inasmuch as it heals; subsequent inasmuch as the healed soul is strengthened … prevenient inasmuch as we are called, subsequent inasmuch as we are glorified.”
St. Thomas, De Veritate q. 14, a. 11, ad 1
“God does not deny grace to one who does what he can, because He first gives the power to do what one can.”
St Prosper of Aquitaine (†c. 460), De Vocatione Omnium Gentium I, 7
“No one comes to God by his own free will unless drawn by the Father.”
St Fulgentius of Ruspe (†533), De Incarn. et Gratia 31
“Without grace the will is captive; with grace it is free.”
St Bernard, De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio 1, 2
“Take away prevenient grace, and there remains no free will to good.”
St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I-II, q. 109, a. 6
“Man cannot … prepare himself for grace without the help of grace.”
St Thomas, ST I-II, q. 113, a. 7 ad 2
“The very first beginning of justification … comes from prevenient grace.”
St Robert Bellarmine, De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio I, 11
“Prevenient grace touches the heart first, so that the will may freely consent.”
Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma (1955), p. 228
“De fide: Without prevenient grace man cannot perform any salutary act.”
Adolphe Tanquerey, Synopsis Theologiae Dogmaticae (24th ed.), vol. II, § 1038
“Prevenient grace is absolutely necessary for the first movement of the will toward the good.”
Orange II – Canon 20
“No one does anything good which God does not cause him to do.” (Dz 390)
🔗p2
🔗p3- Scripture
#grace
"Christ did not compare his Kingdom to the Roman Empire, which was founded by Romulus and developed over many centuries into a huge and complex state. He compared his journey to a mustard seed, to leaven, that is, to things that spread through their own inner power. (...) Therefore, Christ's Kingdom does not grow in a cultural way, that is, by constantly recreating itself in the course of history, but in a natural way, like a seed, always acting on the same inner force. The Kingdom of Christ is not different from Christ, just as the Roman Empire was not different from Romulus, Caesar, Augustus, or Julian, who nurtured, matured, and defended it. The Kingdom of Christ is Christ himself. It matures not in the sun of world history, but in the heat of the Holy Spirit. It is continued not by Peter, Paul, Titus, Gregory, or Pius, but by Christ Himself. True, popes and bishops are Christ's representatives on earth. But they are representatives, not new actors; they are conscious and free instruments, not independent creators. The whole religion of Christ is filled with His own presence: filled in its hierarchy, in its sacraments, and in its teaching. Christ teaches, Christ rules, Christ sanctifies.
This is precisely where the main difference between the Church and any human creation lies, in which the personal presence of its author is no longer and cannot be present. Every creation expresses its creator only in the form of a sign, only symbolically. In culture, a creation only signifies its creator, but it is not the creator itself. Meanwhile, the Church is the reality of Christ. The Church is not a symbol or figure of Christ, as, say, Noah's ark is a figure of Baptism. The Church is the existence of Christ in history. Therefore, no one can expand this existence without Him. No one can be higher than it, into which it would be taken and immersed. Christ Himself begins, leads, and completes the Church.
Procession of Franciscan Capuchin Friars, Rome, 1898 (colourised)
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A special reminder: your Catholic faith should be centered on deification, on becoming one with God in grace, not distracted by every action of the Pope or every scandal in the headlines. I don’t give a crap about the Pope blessing a block of ice lol. Many today have missed the plot of what it truly means to be Catholic. Live like a medieval Catholic. God bless.
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Today the Church venerates and celebrates Saint Padre Pio of Pietralcina, priest, Franciscan friar and stigmatist.
"Jesus is always with you, even when you seem not to feel his presence. He is never so close to you as in spiritual struggles. He is always there, close to you, to encourage you to fight the good fight; He is there to ward off the blows of your enemies, so that they do you no harm."
Padre Pio, Epistle II
℣. Padre Pio
℟. pray for us
"For a just man shall fall seven times and shall rise again: but the wicked shall fall down into evil"
Proverbs 24:16
St. Thomas Aquinas calls rape "unlawful" and "a crime" and classifies it as a species of lust, and thus, as a sin. He then states that those who force a sexual act on a woman with violence are committing a sin.
"Rape is unlawful sexual intercourse, as Isidore states (Etym. v, 26). But this pertains to the sin of lust. Therefore rape is a species of lust.
[...]
When a man employs force in order unlawfully to violate a virgin. This force is employed sometimes both towards the virgin and towards her father; and sometimes towards the father and not to the virgin, for instance if she allows herself to be taken away by force from her father's house. Again, the force employed in rape differs in another way, because sometimes a maid is taken away by force from her parents' house, and is forcibly violated: while sometimes, though taken away by force, she is not forcibly violated, but of her own consent, whether by act of fornication or by the act of marriage: for the conditions of rape remain no matter how force is employed. There is rape without seduction if a man abduct a widow or one who is not a virgin. Hence Pope Symmachus says [Ep. v ad Caesarium; Cf. can. Raptores xxxvi, qu. 2, "We abhor abductors whether of widows or of virgins on account of the heinousness of their crime". [...] The man who is just married has, in virtue of the betrothal, a certain right in her: wherefore, although he sins by using violence, he is not guilty of the crime of rape".
–St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II, Q. 154, a. 7, Sed Contra, Resp., Ad Quartum.
St. Augustine's Traditional Catholic views:
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This is in no way shape or form National Socialism (Nazism), btw. "You should revere and respect your race" is not National Socialism. The National Socialists believed that there is no such thing as a common human family/specie, and that races were not only different but existed within a hierarchy of superiors and inferiors. According to them, each race is biologically inferior/superior to others, and on the top of this hierarchy were "the Aryans".
St. Thomas Aquinas and the Catholic Church never taught that.
On the second place, the principles of our being and government are our parents and our country, that have given us birth and nourishment. Consequently man is debtor chiefly to his parents and his country, after God. Wherefore just as it belongs to religion to give worship to God, so does it belong to piety, in the second place, to give worship to one's parents and one's country.
The worship due to our parents includes the worship given to all our kindred, since our kinsfolk are those who descend from the same parents, according to the Philosopher (Ethic. viii, 12). The worship given to our country includes homage to all our fellow-citizens and to all the friends of our country. Therefore piety extends chiefly to these.
Second part of the Second Part of the Summa, question 101.
Fr. José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva - The Errors of “The Errors of the Modern Catechism” (2025)
Note: It is an analysis of a Brazilian edition of "The Catechism of Errors: A Critique of the Principal Errors of the Catechism of the Catholic Church", by Michael Haynes, published by Loreto Publications in 2021. It is a defense of the current Catechism of the Church and its orthodoxy, written by a priest. It is an unofficial translation of his text, from Portuguese to English.
