http://www.archive.org/details/VeritatisSplendor
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Caritas in veritate
http://www.archive.org/details/CaritasInVeritate_273
A summary that really stood out I like the form and the brevity
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2009/07/encycli-bites-for-reading-caritas-in-veritate/
Monday, July 6, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Aeterni Patris
http://www.archive.org/details/AeterniPatris
55 minutes
quality ok
hope the quality will be better soon
some highlights
the supreme pastors of the Church have always thought it their duty to advance, by every means in their power, science truly so called, and at the same time to provide with special care that all studies should accord with the Catholic faith, especially philosophy, on which a right interpretation of the other sciences in great part depends.
that false conclusions concerning divine and human things, which originated in the schools of philosophy, have now crept into all the orders of the State, and have been accepted by the common consent of the masses. 3. Therefore, Divine Providence itself requires that, in calling back the people to the paths of faith and salvation, advantage should be taken of human science also-an approved and wise practice which history testifies was observed by the most illustrious Fathers of the Church.
Philosophy…a steppingstone to the Christian faith,(6) sometimes the prelude and help of Christianity, sometimes the Gospel teacher
it is most fitting to turn these truths, which have been discovered by the pagan sages even, to the use and purposes of revealed doctrine, in order to show that both human wisdom and the very testimony of our adversaries serve to support the Christian faith-a method which is not of recent introduction, but of established use, and has often been adopted by the holy Fathers of the Church.
But if natural reason first sowed this rich field of doctrine before it was rendered fruitful by the power of Christ, it must assuredly become more prolific after the grace of the Saviour has renewed and added to the native faculties of the human mind. And who does not see that a plain and easy road is opened up to faith by such a method of philosophic study?
Therefore in this also let us follow the example of the Angelic Doctor, who never gave himself to reading or writing without first begging the blessing of God, who modestly confessed that whatever he knew he had acquired not so much by his own study and labor as by the divine gift; and therefore let us all, in humble and united prayer, beseech God to send forth the spirit of knowledge and of understanding to the children of the Church and open their senses for the understanding of wisdom. And that we may receive fuller fruits of the divine goodness, offer up to God the most efficacious patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is called the seat of wisdom; having at the same time as advocates St. Joseph, the most chaste spouse of the Virgin, and Peter and Paul, the chiefs of the Apostles, whose truth renewed the earth which had fallen under the impure blight of error, filling it with the light of heavenly wisdom.
FIDENTEM PIUMQUE ANIMUM
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE ROSARY
SEPTEMBER 20, 1896
We have realised how prudent it is to warmly recommend this means of safeguarding happiness and peace which God has most mercifully granted to Mankind in His August Mother, and which hath ever been celebrated in the annals of the Church. The manifold zeal of Christian people has responded to Our desires and exhortations, most particularly in exciting a devotion to the Rosary; and a plentiful harvest of excellent fruits has not been wanting. we can never be satisfied with celebrating the Divine Mother, who is in truth worthy of all praise, and in urging love and affection towards her who is also the mother of mankind, who is full of mercy, full of grace. the devotion of the Rosary; for it is in many ways most pleasing to her in whose honour it is employed, and most advantageous to those who properly use it. to paternally exhort men's minds and hearts to an increase of religion, and to stimulate within them the hope of eternal reward.
that by its very name it appears to foreshadow and be an augury of the joys and garlands of Heaven offered by her to those who are devoted to her. prayer derives its chief efficacy from two principal circumstances: perseverance, and the union of many for one end. to be brief, by repeating the same prayers we strenuously implore from Our Heavenly Father the Kingdom of His grace and glory; we again and again beseech the Virgin Mother to aid us sinners by her prayers, both during our whole life and especially at that last moment which is the stepping-stone to eternity. The formula of the Rosary, too, is excellently adapted to prayer in common, so that it has been styled, not without reason, "The Psalter of Mary." concerning the Rosary, have spoken thus: "It is Our desire that in the principal church of each diocese it should be recited every day, and in parish churches on every feast-day
She offered to mankind. hastening to eternal ruin, a Saviour, at that moment when she received the announcement of the mystery of peace brought to this earth by the Angel, She it is from whom is born Jesus; she is therefore truly His mother, and for this reason a worthy and acceptable "Mediatrix to the Mediator." since the flesh of Jesus is the flesh of Mary, and however much it was exalted in the glory of His resurrection, nevertheless the nature of His flesh derived from Mary remained and still remains the same
faith, to be full and sufficient, must display itself, - for with the heart we believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Rom. x., 10), - so have we also in the Rosary an excellent means unto this, for by those vocal prayers with which it is intermingled, we are enabled to express and profess our faith in God, our most watchful Father; in the future life, the forgiveness of sins; in the mysteries of the august Trinity, the Incarnation of the Word, the Divine Maternity, and others.
the intimate companion and faithful protector of life the dear pledge of the unfading Crown of glory.
she is most closely united with Christ she especially wishes and desires that they who have received the same Baptism with Him may be united with Him and with one another in the same faith and perfect charity.
SEPTEMBER 20, 1896
We have realised how prudent it is to warmly recommend this means of safeguarding happiness and peace which God has most mercifully granted to Mankind in His August Mother, and which hath ever been celebrated in the annals of the Church. The manifold zeal of Christian people has responded to Our desires and exhortations, most particularly in exciting a devotion to the Rosary; and a plentiful harvest of excellent fruits has not been wanting. we can never be satisfied with celebrating the Divine Mother, who is in truth worthy of all praise, and in urging love and affection towards her who is also the mother of mankind, who is full of mercy, full of grace. the devotion of the Rosary; for it is in many ways most pleasing to her in whose honour it is employed, and most advantageous to those who properly use it. to paternally exhort men's minds and hearts to an increase of religion, and to stimulate within them the hope of eternal reward.
that by its very name it appears to foreshadow and be an augury of the joys and garlands of Heaven offered by her to those who are devoted to her. prayer derives its chief efficacy from two principal circumstances: perseverance, and the union of many for one end. to be brief, by repeating the same prayers we strenuously implore from Our Heavenly Father the Kingdom of His grace and glory; we again and again beseech the Virgin Mother to aid us sinners by her prayers, both during our whole life and especially at that last moment which is the stepping-stone to eternity. The formula of the Rosary, too, is excellently adapted to prayer in common, so that it has been styled, not without reason, "The Psalter of Mary." concerning the Rosary, have spoken thus: "It is Our desire that in the principal church of each diocese it should be recited every day, and in parish churches on every feast-day
She offered to mankind. hastening to eternal ruin, a Saviour, at that moment when she received the announcement of the mystery of peace brought to this earth by the Angel, She it is from whom is born Jesus; she is therefore truly His mother, and for this reason a worthy and acceptable "Mediatrix to the Mediator." since the flesh of Jesus is the flesh of Mary, and however much it was exalted in the glory of His resurrection, nevertheless the nature of His flesh derived from Mary remained and still remains the same
faith, to be full and sufficient, must display itself, - for with the heart we believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Rom. x., 10), - so have we also in the Rosary an excellent means unto this, for by those vocal prayers with which it is intermingled, we are enabled to express and profess our faith in God, our most watchful Father; in the future life, the forgiveness of sins; in the mysteries of the august Trinity, the Incarnation of the Word, the Divine Maternity, and others.
the intimate companion and faithful protector of life the dear pledge of the unfading Crown of glory.
she is most closely united with Christ she especially wishes and desires that they who have received the same Baptism with Him may be united with Him and with one another in the same faith and perfect charity.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Caritas en veritate
Six Days Notice
http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2009/07/six-days-notice.html
Charity in Truth.
Set to be released noon Tuesday July 7 Rome time. That is 5 am central time. My goal is to have an audio version and an abridged version by 9. However, this goal depends on several variables.
http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2009/07/six-days-notice.html
Charity in Truth.
Set to be released noon Tuesday July 7 Rome time. That is 5 am central time. My goal is to have an audio version and an abridged version by 9. However, this goal depends on several variables.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Deus Caritas Est
Introduction
Saint John offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us”. Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer a mere “command”; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us.
Purpose
1) to clarify some essential facts concerning the love which God mysteriously and gratuitously offers to man, together with the intrinsic link between that Love and the reality of human love.
2) to call forth in the world renewed energy and commitment in the human response to God's love.
Part I
The Unity of Love in Creation and in Salvation History
“love” has become one of the most frequently used and misused of words,three Greek words for love, eros, philia (the love of friendship) and agape, New Testament writers prefer the last, which occurs rather infrequently in Greek usage. The tendency to avoid the word eros, together with the new vision of love expressed through the word agape, clearly point to something new and distinct about the Christian understanding of love. counterfeit divinization of eros actually strips it of its dignity and dehumanizes it. An intoxicated and undisciplined eros, then, is not an ascent in “ecstasy” towards the Divine, but a fall, a degradation of man. eros needs to be disciplined and purified
love promises infinity, eternity—a reality far greater and totally other than our everyday existence.Purification and growth in maturity are called for; and these also pass through the path of renunciation. Far from rejecting or “poisoning” eros, they heal it and restore its true grandeur.
Man is truly himself when his body and soul are intimately united; it is neither the spirit alone nor the body alone that loves: it is man, the person, a unified creature composed of body and soul, who loves.
Eros, reduced to pure “sex”, has become a commodity, a mere “thing” to be bought and sold, or rather, man himself becomes a commodity.
It is part of love's growth towards higher levels and inward purification that it now seeks to become definitive, and it does so in a twofold sense: both in the sense of exclusivity (this particular person alone) and in the sense of being “for ever”. : love looks to the eternal
eros and agape—ascending love and descending love—can never be completely separated. The more the two, in their different aspects, find a proper unity in the one reality of love, the more the true nature of love in general is realized.
God loves, and his love may certainly be called eros, yet it is also totally agape.
God's passionate love for his people—for humanity—is at the same time a forgiving love. It is so great that it turns God against himself, his love against his justice.
The first novelty of biblical faith consists, as we have seen, in its image of God. The second, essentially connected to this, is found in the image of man.
Corresponding to the image of a monotheistic God is monogamous marriage The real novelty of the New Testament lies not so much in new ideas as in the figure of Christ himself, who gives flesh and blood to those concepts—an unprecedented realism. The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving. The imagery of marriage between God and Israel is now realized in a way previously inconceivable: it had meant standing in God's presence, but now it becomes union with God through sharing in Jesus' self-gift, sharing in his body and blood. Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he gives himself. Worship” itself, Eucharistic communion, includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn. A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented. The love-story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in a communion of thought and sentiment, and thus our will and God's will increasingly coincide: God's will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now my own will,
PART II CARITAS THE PRACTICE OF LOVE BY THE CHURCH AS A “COMMUNITY OF LOVE"
The entire activity of the Church is an expression of a love that seeks the integral good of man: his evangeization and to promote man in various arenas of life and human activity
Saint Luke provides a kind of definition of the Church, whose constitutive elements include fidelity to the “teaching of the Apostles”, “communion” (koinonia), “the breaking of the bread” and “prayer” (cf. Acts 2:42).
The Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word.
charity is a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being.
The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State.
charity must animate the entire lives of the lay faithful; our ability to know almost instantly about the needs of others challenges us to share their situation and their difficulties. both material and spiritual.
a true humanism, acknowledges that man is made in the image of God and wants to help him to live in a way consonant with that dignity. Those who work for the Church's charitable organizations must dedicate themselves to others with heartfelt concern, enabling them to experience the richness of their humanity
One does not make the world more human by refusing to act humanely here and now.. The Christian's programme —the programme of the Good Samaritan, the programme of Jesus—is “a heart which sees”. This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly.
Charity, furthermore, cannot be used as a means of engaging in what is nowadays considered proselytism...But this does not mean that charitable activity must somehow leave God and Christ aside...Often the deepest cause of suffering is the very absence of God.
Whoever loves Christ loves the Church, and desires the Church to be increasingly the image and instrument of the love which flows from Christ.By their sharing in the Church's practice of love, they wish to be witnesses of God and of Christ, and they wish for this very reason freely to do good to all.
In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord.
time devoted to God in prayer not only does not detract from effective and loving service to our neighbour but is in fact the inexhaustible source of that service.
our crying out is, as it was for Jesus on the Cross, the deepest and most radical way of affirming our faith in his sovereign power. Love is possible, and we are able to practise it because we are created in the image of God.
Conclusion
The saints are the true bearers of light within history, for they are men and women of faith, hope and love...Mary's greatness consists in the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself...In the saints one thing becomes clear: those who draw near to God do not withdraw from men, but rather become truly close to them. Mary, Virgin and Mother, shows us what love is and whence it draws its origin and its constantly renewed power. To her we entrust the Church and her mission in the service of love:
Saint John offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us”. Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer a mere “command”; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us.
Purpose
1) to clarify some essential facts concerning the love which God mysteriously and gratuitously offers to man, together with the intrinsic link between that Love and the reality of human love.
2) to call forth in the world renewed energy and commitment in the human response to God's love.
Part I
The Unity of Love in Creation and in Salvation History
“love” has become one of the most frequently used and misused of words,three Greek words for love, eros, philia (the love of friendship) and agape, New Testament writers prefer the last, which occurs rather infrequently in Greek usage. The tendency to avoid the word eros, together with the new vision of love expressed through the word agape, clearly point to something new and distinct about the Christian understanding of love. counterfeit divinization of eros actually strips it of its dignity and dehumanizes it. An intoxicated and undisciplined eros, then, is not an ascent in “ecstasy” towards the Divine, but a fall, a degradation of man. eros needs to be disciplined and purified
love promises infinity, eternity—a reality far greater and totally other than our everyday existence.Purification and growth in maturity are called for; and these also pass through the path of renunciation. Far from rejecting or “poisoning” eros, they heal it and restore its true grandeur.
Man is truly himself when his body and soul are intimately united; it is neither the spirit alone nor the body alone that loves: it is man, the person, a unified creature composed of body and soul, who loves.
Eros, reduced to pure “sex”, has become a commodity, a mere “thing” to be bought and sold, or rather, man himself becomes a commodity.
It is part of love's growth towards higher levels and inward purification that it now seeks to become definitive, and it does so in a twofold sense: both in the sense of exclusivity (this particular person alone) and in the sense of being “for ever”. : love looks to the eternal
eros and agape—ascending love and descending love—can never be completely separated. The more the two, in their different aspects, find a proper unity in the one reality of love, the more the true nature of love in general is realized.
God loves, and his love may certainly be called eros, yet it is also totally agape.
God's passionate love for his people—for humanity—is at the same time a forgiving love. It is so great that it turns God against himself, his love against his justice.
The first novelty of biblical faith consists, as we have seen, in its image of God. The second, essentially connected to this, is found in the image of man.
Corresponding to the image of a monotheistic God is monogamous marriage The real novelty of the New Testament lies not so much in new ideas as in the figure of Christ himself, who gives flesh and blood to those concepts—an unprecedented realism. The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving. The imagery of marriage between God and Israel is now realized in a way previously inconceivable: it had meant standing in God's presence, but now it becomes union with God through sharing in Jesus' self-gift, sharing in his body and blood. Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he gives himself. Worship” itself, Eucharistic communion, includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn. A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented. The love-story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in a communion of thought and sentiment, and thus our will and God's will increasingly coincide: God's will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now my own will,
PART II CARITAS THE PRACTICE OF LOVE BY THE CHURCH AS A “COMMUNITY OF LOVE"
The entire activity of the Church is an expression of a love that seeks the integral good of man: his evangeization and to promote man in various arenas of life and human activity
Saint Luke provides a kind of definition of the Church, whose constitutive elements include fidelity to the “teaching of the Apostles”, “communion” (koinonia), “the breaking of the bread” and “prayer” (cf. Acts 2:42).
The Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word.
charity is a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being.
The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State.
charity must animate the entire lives of the lay faithful; our ability to know almost instantly about the needs of others challenges us to share their situation and their difficulties. both material and spiritual.
a true humanism, acknowledges that man is made in the image of God and wants to help him to live in a way consonant with that dignity. Those who work for the Church's charitable organizations must dedicate themselves to others with heartfelt concern, enabling them to experience the richness of their humanity
One does not make the world more human by refusing to act humanely here and now.. The Christian's programme —the programme of the Good Samaritan, the programme of Jesus—is “a heart which sees”. This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly.
Charity, furthermore, cannot be used as a means of engaging in what is nowadays considered proselytism...But this does not mean that charitable activity must somehow leave God and Christ aside...Often the deepest cause of suffering is the very absence of God.
Whoever loves Christ loves the Church, and desires the Church to be increasingly the image and instrument of the love which flows from Christ.By their sharing in the Church's practice of love, they wish to be witnesses of God and of Christ, and they wish for this very reason freely to do good to all.
In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord.
time devoted to God in prayer not only does not detract from effective and loving service to our neighbour but is in fact the inexhaustible source of that service.
our crying out is, as it was for Jesus on the Cross, the deepest and most radical way of affirming our faith in his sovereign power. Love is possible, and we are able to practise it because we are created in the image of God.
Conclusion
The saints are the true bearers of light within history, for they are men and women of faith, hope and love...Mary's greatness consists in the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself...In the saints one thing becomes clear: those who draw near to God do not withdraw from men, but rather become truly close to them. Mary, Virgin and Mother, shows us what love is and whence it draws its origin and its constantly renewed power. To her we entrust the Church and her mission in the service of love:
Monday, June 29, 2009
Introduction
The purpose of this blog is to make the encyclicals more accessible. I will post my notes on the encyclicals, traveling backwards through time. Posts will be long, because the encyclicals are long and deep, and I do not want to miss anything. There will be little commentary, I plan rather to let the Popes speak for themselves. I plan to post summaries not only of encyclicals, but of any Church document I have good notes for. In summarizing the encyclicals I find I have to eliminate allegories,stories, and much of the historical context. I do so for brevity sake. I hope to post some of my favorite stories in future posts, so as to appeal to those not looking to become theologians but holistic persons.
Note: Bulls and briefs are the two kinds of encyclicals.
Note: Bulls and briefs are the two kinds of encyclicals.
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