St. Catherine of Siena Book Review-

Saint Catherine of Siena's The Dialogues: The Great Lover

Introduction

In order to properly review something, the reviewer ought to reveal where they stand in relation to the work; whether diametrically opposed, as a critic, or as a member of the author's inner circle who will be taking certain things for granted when reading. This revelation helps prevent the reader from coming to assumptions about the work without giving the author its fair due in the case of a critic, or giving the work the skepticism it desires if written by an acolyte. It must be stated at the outset, that this work will not be reviewed with the penetrating eye of a doctoral student, trying to examine from the source document whether Saint Catherine was or was not a true mystic, or just how many secretaries were actually transcribing when the Saint was in ecstasy. Rather this review is done by a fellow Catholic, a spiritual sister of Saint Catherine of Siena who believes what she believes, (belief in the present tense since she lives in heaven). It is a review from a place of intellectual curiosity and love, the same attitude which Catherine approaches God the Father at the beginning of the work.

God the Father with SS. Catherine of Siena and Mary Magdalene, painting by Fra Bartolommeo

The Contents

For a work that is a very intimate look at the inner spiritual life of the soul, it seems surprising upon the first read that Saint Catherine began the book with instructions. However, instructions do not have to be technical, in fact, these instructions are more of a translation, preparing the reader for this new logical and spiritual language they are to understand.

"This she does because knowledge must precede love, and only when she has attained love, can she strive to follow and to clothe herself with the truth...So, that soul, wishing to know and follow the truth more manfully, and lifting her desires first for herself—for she considered that a soul could not be of use, whether in doctrine, example, or prayer, to her neighbor, if she did not first profit herself, that is, if she did not acquire virtue in herself"

First this...then that, first improve oneself then you may help your neighbor, first, gain love, then truth will follow. These are if-then syllogisms, staples of classical logic that support the spiritual framework of the Dialogue, which makes reading it a fresh and more comprehensible experience. She is preparing the reader to read the dialogue as she sees the soul, a multi-layered work, with successive levels of revelation and depth. After she explains the necessity of the pursuit of personal virtue to attain intimacy with God, she reveals the four requests she put to God, a request for herself, the reformation of the Catholic Church, peace of the whole world, but in particular for heretical Christians and last of all for Divine Providence to provide for things in life overall.

The Dialogue is broken into four subchapters, each of varying length; divine providence is first, discretion second, prayer third, and obedience fourth. The first, divine providence, is surprisingly the shortest section and serves the role of introduction and theme setting for the following sections. After reflecting on the aforementioned instructions on personal virtue, Catherine accounts that the "neediness" of the world caused her to be grieved, and as she sat in Mass, the weightiness of her own sins, put up in contrast to the beauty of majesty of God, seemed almost unbearable to her.

This visual contrast, of finite vs infinite, good vs evil is a persistent theme throughout the work. Even at the end of the book when God the Father says, "I wish you to know, dearest daughter, that whiteness is better seen when placed on a black ground, and blackness on a white, than when they are separated," this idea of contrast for edification comes to the foreground. Much of the Dialogue is finding different ways to understand the "Truth" by examining what is not true, or apart from it, and though to a skeptic, the book may seem to rely heavily on symbolic language, this is as true as when one attempts to speak of God who may only be defined by saying what he is not, for instance, that he is endless, formless without limit, and ageless.

As Catherine offers up her grief to God, this sacrifice of self during the sacrifice of the mass connects Catherine's soul with God's who sends down the holy spirit to her to speak with her, in the truest sense of a loving embrace, Catherine describes being gathered up into the bosom of the Truth, and what follows in the rest of the Dialogues is their conversation.

Saint Catherine of Siena by Lo Spagna (Giovanni di Pietro) Art Institute of Chicago

                                                                 The First Treatise
Catherine put four requests to God and so got four responses during this ecstasy. Given that her first request was for herself, the first treatise was God's explanation on what the root of all virtue is, namely charity for others, how Catherine might attain it and avoid its opposite, and why these virtues are distributed differently among people. 

In an interesting way, this treatise is really the story of contradiction, because God's love for mankind is a contradiction in terms. Who could have foreseen that a faultless, limitless God would love a sinful, limited finite creature? Catherine's desire to suffer for souls, though noble is pointless if it is not done out of love for God, and a desire to have charity on others. To seek to self perfect oneself in virtue, as if virtue were something totally self-sufficient is impossible. God warns Catherine that, " 

"...guilt is not punished in this finite time by any pain which is sustained purely as such. And I say that the guilt is punished by the pain which is endured through the desire, love, and contrition of the heart; not by virtue of the pain, but by virtue of the desire of the soul."

Continuing on with this theme of virtue in the context of selflessness through self-knowledge and perfection, the section ends with a dual-edged lesson, virtues and vices of self are visited on one's neighbors. Perhaps the most powerful lesson in practical ethics in the Dialogue is the reminder Catherine receives that everything someone does which is wrong, has a negative impact on their neighbor. Every act of pride or failure to love will impact others, just as attaining virtue will benefit society and provide for the needs of others. Closing out the chapter with an analysis of contradictions, Catherine is shown that every virtue is strengthened by means of it inverse. Compassion is strengthened in contrast to cruelty, patience when faced with impatience, justice when tempted by injustice, and the Love of God when tested by the fickleness of Man.

The Second Treatise 

The Third Treatise

The Fourth Treatise

Bibliography:

Catherine of Siena. The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner,                 and Co., Ltd., 1907. At Christian Classics Ethereal Library, www.ccel.org.
           

Images:
God the Father with SS. Catherine of Siena and Mary Magdalene, painting by Fra Bartolommeo, 1509; in the Pinacoteca Civica, Lucca, Italy. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed Online.

Saint Catherine of Siena. 1510/15 Lo Spagna (Giovanni di Pietro) Art Institute of Chicago. Accessed Online.

Gregory of Nazianzus’ Five Theological Orations

 

In the fourth century of the Church, an Arian named Eunomius taught that God the Father was the only divine person of the Trinity, denying Christ's divine nature and discontinuing the triune formula in baptism. He also asserted that God's nature can be fully comprehended by the human mind. Macedonius, another leading Arian at the time, believed that Christ was like in essence to the Father, but that the Holy Spirit was a mere creature and servant to the Son. This heresy spread like wildfire, as did the rest of the Arian sects, but fortunately for the Church, several men stood in the breach: Saints Gregory of Nyssa, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nazianzus. These three men are considered to be the three great Cappadocian fathers, and together in the fourth century, they defended Church teachings against a multitude of Arian sects.

Gregory of Nazianzus, in particular, fought Arianism to great effect. Scholar Christopher Beely considered him “the most powerful and comprehensive Trinitarian doctrine of his generation.”¹ He gave five Theological Orations in an attempt to challenge these teachings, addressing and emphasizing the incomprehensibility of God's nature and the truth of the mystery of the Trinity, and grappling with each problem inherent in the Arian heresies and specifically in Eunomius’ teachings.

Nazianzus’ first theological oration lays out the principles of proper theological discourse. He begins by condemning those who think that they can know everything about God. “They neglect every path of righteousness, and look only to this one point, namely, which of the propositions submitted to them they shall bind or loose…, and every marketplace must buzz with their talking; and every dinner party be made tedious with silly talk and mind-numbing conversation; and every festival be made unfestive and full of dejection, and every occasion of mourning be consoled by a greater calamity – their questions – and all the women’s apartments accustomed to simplicity be thrown into confusion and be robbed of its flower of modesty by the torrent of their words.”² We see here that Gregory has no problem calling his audience out for their arrogance. He continues, saying that of course, we should not be afraid to speak of Our Lord and sing his praises, but we must not think that we know everything about God or that we can ever fully understand Him; we must always speak of Him with the utmost reverence.

In his second theological oration, he challenges the Eunomian heresy more directly; the belief that God can be fully comprehended by the human mind. “But if any are evil and savage beasts, and altogether incapable of taking in the topics of contemplation and theology, let them not hurtfully and malignantly lurk in their dens among the woods, to catch hold of some teaching or saying by a sudden spring, and to tear the sound words to pieces by their misrepresentations. Instead, let them stand afar off and withdraw from the Mount, or they shall be stoned and crushed and perish miserably in their wickedness.”³ While many attributes of God and his triune nature can be found in scripture, His nature simply cannot be comprehended fully by our mere human minds; for, God is infinite while we and our minds are finite and limited.

Next comes the third theological oration, in which Gregory explains and defends the Dogma of Eternal Generation, explaining that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have each always been. They are timeless, and while the Son comes from the Father, He does not come after Him. “So the begotten one and the one who proceeds are not without beginning with respect to causation. But it is evident that the cause does not necessarily come before its effects, for the sun is not prior to its light. And yet the begotten one and the one who proceeds are in some sense without beginning with respect to time, even though you would scare simple minds with your quibbles; for the sources of time are not subject to time.”⁴ God is timeless, with no beginning nor end; because we are finite creatures living under the laws of a finite world, we cannot comprehend how God in all three persons can exist outside the limitations of our timeline. God’s timelessness is a mystery to our comprehension just as the Trinity is.

In his fourth theological oration, Gregory addresses yet another mystery of our faith: Christ’s dual nature. He establishes a scriptural foundation for this mystery; scripture presses us to say that the Son having become man, is fully human and fully God. Gregory addresses Jesus’s human nature, citing various scripture passages. He recalls Christ’s crucifixion when He asks why his Father has forsaken him. “He was representing us. For we were the ones forsaken and despised before, but now by the sufferings of Him who could not suffer, we were taken up and saved. Similarly, He makes our folly and our transgressions His own…”⁵ Gregory is responding to the belief that if Christ is God, then he could not be fully man. He also addresses Christ’s Divine nature, “He is called ‘Son’ because He is identical with the Father in essence – and not only for this reason, but also because He is from the Father. And He is called Only-Begotten, not because He is the only Son from the Father alone, and nothing but a Son; but also because the manner of His sonship is peculiar to Himself and not shared by bodies.”⁶

Finally, we come to the fifth and final theological oration of Gregory. This oration, unlike the others, specifically addresses the Holy Spirit and his nature. He is much harder to comprehend than the Father and the Son, so difficult that the Sadducees denied his existence altogether. Gregory explains Christ’s existence “What was Adam? A creature of God. What then was Eve? A fragment of the creature. And what was Seth? The begotten of both. Does it then seem to you that the creature, the fragment, and the begotten-of-both are the same thing? Of course not. Are they ‘of the same being? Of course they are ....”⁷ As Alexander Golitzin puts it “He has demonstrated, through the illustration of Eve’s beginning, a mode of origin that is not begetting, but a ‘something else of the One.’”⁸ Even though this example feels slightly bothersome to the palate, the point is yet obvious: we cannot understand what the Holy Spirit is because he is not strictly a “what”; that is, He has no physical form. But similar to how a child is neither his father nor his mother but is of the same being, so the Holy Spirit can exist as neither the Father nor the Son, but be of the same substance. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit is a mystery to us too, and cannot be explained fully do that we can understand completely.

One might not think in modern times that anything of value could be found in the works of a fourth-century theologian fighting an ancient heresy. On the contrary, his words are crucially important even in today's culture. Our culture is full of anti-intellectuals and agnostics who claim that all opinions are equally true, and nothing can be wrong and therefore nothing needs to be corrected; each individual can think what they want and with impunity because their opinion is "their truth." Gregory's words counter this attitude; he preaches humility and reverence, teaching that we cannot understand everything, nor should we expect that of ourselves or anyone else. We can know certain truths and stand by them, but we cannot claim to comprehend the incomprehensible. We must listen to God's revelations and abide by the Church's teachings because they are his way of guiding us in what we cannot comprehend. God is full of mysteries, from the Trinity to Christ's dual nature to Transubstantiation and many more. These are and shall always remain mysteries to our finite human minds. God is ever expansive, existing beyond the realms of space and time and well beyond the capacity of any human mind. In humility, we must trust in God, as Gregory of Nazianzus did.


¹ Beeley, Christopher A., Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity and the Knowledge of God: In Your Light We Shall See Light, Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press (2013), 319.

² Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. The Five Theological Orations. Translated by Stephen Reynolds. Estate of Stephen Reynolds (2011), 2.

³ Theological Orations, 14.

⁴ Theological Orations, 48.

⁵ Theological Orations, 76.

⁶ Theological Orations, 97.

⁷ Theological Orations, 105.

⁸ Golitzin, Alexander Bp., “Adam, Eve, and Seth: Pneumatological Reflections on an Unusual Image in Gregory of Nazianzus’s ‘Fifth Theological Oration.’” Anglican Theological Review 83 (2001) (3): 537–46.

A Review of The Acts of the Apostles

Luca Signorelli, Communion of the Apostles, 1512, panel 232 x 220 cm, Museo Diocesano, Cortona

     The Acts of the Apostles is a unique part of biblical writing because it is the bridge between Holy Scripture, the life of Christ, the ministry of the Apostles, and the early Church. That same early Church is the one that would eventually blossom into the Church we know and love today. Upon reading the Acts of the Apostles, one is struck with awe in the vast amount of information of the early Church. From the moment Jesus said in the gospel of Matthew, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matt 16:19 RSVCE) the Church had its beginnings. Now, when we read the Acts of the Apostles, we see the unfolding of those very same beginnings.

     Father William S. Kurtz of the Jesuit Order describes the Acts of the Apostles as “more than [a framework and information] for Christians today.” Like the rest of Sacred Scripture, the Acts of the Apostles are divinely inspired and give to use not just a historical framework of a newborn Church. Every single story written out in Acts gives us as Christians a model and example by which to imitate and live out our lives as disciples of Christ. Furthermore, they show how God works in our every day lives. According to Kurtz, this is how Luke, the apostolic author of the book, intended Acts to be.

     Before I get into the various elements of the book itself, it is important to describe the historical facts and framework I alluded to earlier. The Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book of the New Testament. It follows the four gospels and “contains an account fo some of the missionary activities of Peter and Paul.” The first community to which the Church was ministering was the Jewish community of Jerusalem and the surrounding regions. The various acts of the two apostles, Peter and Paul, are described in the letter to show how the Church effectuated the transition from the Old Law to the new law that was promised through Christ in the divine plan laid out by God for our salvation. This was very important to be taught to the Jewish community as they fervently followed the Old Law to its very letter at times. And this is, in essence, the first part of the book. This part, culminates with a description of the persecuted Church early on in its existence and with the arrest and subsequent stoning of Stephen (Acts 6, 7).

     The second and third parts of the Acts of the Apostles deal with the Church and the Gentiles. They begin with the conversion of the Samaritans and the Ethiopian official right after a gloomy depiction of the persecution of the Church: “Saul laid waste the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3). It is ironic to read this first and then read on to see Saul’s conversion and later ministry to the Gentiles. The famous call from Christ is present in the 9th chapter where it is asked of Saul, why do you persecute me? It is interesting to note that this is repeated two other times in the book. The second repetition of this call is in the 22nd chapter and the subsequent 3rd repetition is in the 26th chapter. Why would this be done? Father Kurtz describes this repetition as a signal to its “special importance for understanding the rise and spread of Christianity.” This is not the only story told multiple times. The story of the Gentile Cornelius is told three times. We can see this as an attempt by the writer, Luke, to explain how the Church of the Gentiles “can legitimately claim to be heirs of the Jewish promises through the Jewish Messiah.” Basically, it is important to show how the shift from Jew to Gentile took place.

     Finally, there are several narrative themes that are both theological and biblical in nature. The first of these themes is the fulfillment of God’s saving plan. This idea focuses on the works of the spirit which works in conjunction within the ministry of the Church as her source. Furthermore, as described by Father Kurtz, “The Spirit is the ultimate realization of the promises to Abraham.” This furthers the point to make a connection between Jew and Gentile. One of the results of this theme is the incorporation of God’s people into the Church without the need for circumcision.          The second theme is the idea that Christ works through his disciples. After having ascended into heaven, Christ gave the apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit. This gift enables them and us today to “proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:23). The next theme that is explored in the acts is the promise keeping God himself. The Acts of the Apostles demonstrates that God has not abandoned his people even though Christ’s ministry on earth was over. The ball is in our court, so to speak. And, the Acts shows us how God is still with us even in the midst of changes, just like those experienced by the Jews and Gentiles.

     The themes presented by the writer of the Acts of the Apostles help all Christians alike understand the purpose of the Church. This is accomplished through a narrative of her early origins. In addition to this, Luke gathers together the necessary stories to convey a message of the triumph of the Church and Christianity even amongst many obstacles (Acts 6:7). This is a message of hope that is desperately needed today in this world. Through the usages of speeches, letters, repetitions of stories, and some humor, Luke constructed an great and important piece to the New Testament.

Bibliography

Bergant, Dianne and Robert Karris, editors. The Collegeville Bible Commentary. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1989.

Kurtz, William. “Commentary on Acts of the Apostles.” In The Collegeville Bible Commentary.

Steinmueller, John and Kathryn Sullivan. Catholic Biblical Encyclopedia: New Testament. New York: Joseph F. Wagner, Inc. Publishers, 1956.

The Not So Dark “Dark Ages”

The “Dark Ages” refers to the period of time between the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century and the Renaissance in the fourteenth century. The era receives its name because many scholars up until recent years considered this time period to be devoid of any cultural or intellectual advancement. Recent evidence has revealed that there is little truth to these claims and most contemporary now agree that the Dark Ages in fact weren’t really dark. The term however, is still often used in secular circles as well as in many history classrooms. This period, however, is fascinating. Its often hidden and neglected cultural advancements as well as the infusion of Christianity to Western Civilization have truly made me appreciate the greatness of this unappreciated chapter of history.

Three Stages of the “Dark Ages”

During the period known as the “Dark Ages” there were three movements that must be explained. The first stage begins after the fall of Rome during the late fifth century and ends at around the early seventh century. This first stage is one of rapid decline and is the only one that the term “dark” could apply. This decline however, is something completely understandable and expected. The Roman Empire was an incredibly important cornerstone of civilization because it brought stability and order to the world. Its fall brought incredible repercussions. It shot the world into chaos and confusion. Just like when you take away the cornerstone of a house it becomes structurally damaged, the fall of the Roman Empire damaged the world.

Yet the house didn’t crumble completely. This is because there was another force that attempted to hold up civilization, trying its best to prevent it from crumbling. This force was Christendom and especially through the Church. This marks the second stage of the “Dark Ages” which is a stage of preservation. Spanning from the mid seventh century and ending in the early thirteenth century, this stage sought to continue to promote classical learning and keep the light of the Greeks alive. The great Charlemagne, for example, brought order and a great period of learning during this time. Thanks to the great work of monasticism is that Classical Culture survived. While many people blame the Church for the supposed “Dark Ages,” a true historian will see that it was thanks to it that Classical learning and culture survived.

Finally, the third stage of the “Dark Ages” was the age of Scholasticism. Lasting from the thirteenth century to the Renaissance and even beyond it to the fifteenth century, it is an abomination that this time period could be considered dark. Scholasticism saw great strides in culture, especially in literature and philosophy. It was also a time of incredible scholars that were able to bring together the intellectual legacy of late antiquity with Christian Revelation. The "Dark Ages," especially during the second and third periods, "saw a burst of activity in every conceivable area--from theology and religious life to art and architecture, science and engineering to music and literature." [1] This changes would not have been possible without the influence and support of the Church. 

An Interconnected World

One argument for the “Dark Ages” is that towns lived in isolation and culture was limited to the region. This however could not be further from the truth. There was a lot of travel during the middle ages and often clergy and scholars were sent to foreign schools to learn. There was also much missionary activity that helped spread not only the faith, but also the ideals and culture of Christendom. The greatest interchange however, happened through the vast trade networks during the Middle Ages. There is ample evidence that trade between the East and the West flourished during this time and this led to a mixing of cultures and ideals. Coins of the time prove this because they were labeled in both Arabic and Latin to facilitate this trade between the East and the West. The Crusades further allowed trade to flourish. Setting aside the morality of the Crusades, they brought incredible effects to Europe. Trade flourished and ideas were carried freely. They also led to a mass movement of people that led to a cultural encounter between the East and the West. “The early Middle Age kingdoms thus lived in a very interconnected world and from this sprung many cultural, religious and economic developments.”[2]

Learning and Intellectual Life

            The main argument in favor of the “Dark Ages” is the supposed loss of classical learning that occurred during this period. Furthermore, supporters of the “Dark Ages” theory claim that this was due to the enslavement of the mind caused by Christianity. This could not be further from the truth. As we have discussed, the preliminary chaos and decline during the first period of the Middle Ages was caused by the fall of the Roman Empire. It is to be expected that during those difficult times, there was little preoccupation with learning and more preoccupation with merely surviving. After this troubled time, when the time of stability came, was when preoccupation for learning and culture arose.

            Despite all of this, there were still periods of learning during the late half of the first stage of the “Dark Ages.” During the reign of Charlemagne learning and culture reached very high levels. Born out of Charlemagne’s desire to fight the ignorance and superstitions within his kingdom, he brought to his court many scholars, who combined learning with a desire to instruct others. This allowed for a burst of education to sweep across Charlemagne’s kingdom and combat ignorance. After his death, during the terrible years when his empire was in chaos, the lamps of education flickered and grew dim, yet were preserved in cathedrals and monastic schools.

            We are in debt to the Christians monasteries and cathedral schools for the preservation of Greek and Roman Classical culture. These were the only places to get an education which was based on the seven liberal arts of grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. Generally, only the wealthy could afford an education, but the Church also made sure that young men with potential also received an education so that they could serve God in a special way through the priesthood. Monastic orders also focused on education and sought to instruct the masses. For them, ecclesiastical and secular education was a priority. It was out of both monastic and cathedral schools that universities arose. While very different from Universities today, they laid the foundations for organized and the tittles of master and doctorate. These Universities provided great men and ideas that played crucial roles throughout history in the years leading up to the Renaissance.

            During this time also arose great scholars and thinkers. Anslem, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote an incredible theological book called “Curs Deus Homo” which, among other great accomplishments, established that Jesus died as an expiation for our sins rather than as a ransom for the devil. He also he developed a reforming reputation because he encouraged regular synods, enforced clerical celibacy and suppressed the slave trade. The great St. Thomas Aquinas also lived and taught during this time. One of the most influential scholars in history, he wrote about most areas of study. His most important works, the Summa Theologiae and and Summa Contra Gentiles, are some of the most incredible writing we have. His methodology is a very early use of what we now consider the scientific method. Many others, such as Augustine and Boethius, also wrote during this time and gave an incredible legacy and foundation to future intellectual movements and ideas. This time of the “Dark Ages” therefore, was not one of intellectual lull and of no learning. On the contrary, Medieval Times provide the intellectual and practical foundations that would make the Renaissance and other movements possible.

Philosophy

We want to take a specific look at the philosophy of Medieval times because it is often used to discredit the learning and culture of the time. It is true to say that medieval philosophy is closely bound with theology. Many modern thinkers use this fact to discredit the value of philosophy during medieval times as well as the fact that most of the great thinkers of the time where priests or monks. This argument however, is fundamentally false. There is great knowledge and value to be learned from this time period. At first glance, the philosophy of the Middle Ages may seem basic, elementary, plainly theological in nature but, that is precisely what was needed at that particular time in history. The Incarnation of Christ brought forth so much knowledge that it was necessary to go back to basics and try to conciliate the great philosophers of Ancient time and the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The Incarnation shook philosophy to the foundations. Therefore, the influence of theology on philosophy during the Middle Ages is not a negative factor but a necessary one and is also often exaggerated. If the influence was as strong as some like Hegel point it out to be, “we should expect to find that thinkers who accepted the same faith would accept the same philosophy”.[3] Yet, the philosophies of the Middle Ages were very varied. This is not to say that there was no influence of Christianity in medieval writers but “that does not mean that philosophic arguments were not philosophic arguments or that rational proofs were not rational proofs”.[4]

Medieval philosophy therefore, expresses “in philosophic terms the absolute content of Christianity”.[5] This is of great importance because of the significance of Christianity in history and its influence on modern culture. Medieval philosophy sets the foundation for the philosophies that followed and is still influencing thought to this day. In other words, philosophy in the so called “Dark Ages” was not at all “dark” but a light for future philosophies and especially for the Christian faith.

Conclusion

            The myth of the Middle Ages as a "dark age" does not lie in the fact that things declined markedly after the fall of Rome - they did.  It lies in the idea that this situation persisted until the Renaissance, which somehow rescued western Europe from the clutches of the Catholic Church, revived ancient Greek and Roman learning, reinvented "good" art and made everything okay again. In depth study of the Middle Ages reveals that they were not dark at all. In fact, it was a time of important flourishing and development. A time of light. While the channels may have changed following the fall of Rome, intellectual life, and the processes of historical, political, philosophical, cultural and scientific exploration continued in a thousand forms. Institutions like the Church took on these things and was instrumental in maintaining intellectual and cultural life alive and taking it further. The “dark ages” is one of the most incredible chapters of history and shows how out of great chaos and tragedy, civilization was able to protect, maintain, and expand the cultural and intellectual life of Late Antiquity. 

Bibliography

Copleston, Frederick. A History of Philosophy: Volume II: Medieval Philosophy. New York:

Doubleday, 1993.

Hughes, Tristan. "Why Was 900 Years of European History Labelled 'the Dark Ages'?" History

Hit. November 1, 2018. Accessed April 28, 2019. https://www.historyhit.com/why-were-the-early-middle-ages-called-the-dark-ages/.

Vidmar, John. The Catholic Church through the Ages: a History. New York: Paulist Press, 2014.

---

[1] Vidmar, 123.

[2] Hughes

[3] Copleston, 7.

[4] Copleston, 8.

[5] Copleston, 3.

A Catholic Englishwoman in the Age of Saint Thomas More

Presentation- A Catholic Englishwoman in the Age of Saint Thomas More


For my secondary midterm project, I elected to create an interactive historical experience timeline with the reader as the eyes of the life and death of Saint Thomas More. Using the right arrow should progress through the timeline and the interactive windows.

Before clicking on the link I suggest pulling up a compilation of middle ages lute music to set the mood.


I hope you enjoy!

Teresa Pierce

"The Perpending Friar" & Reflection on the Dominicans

Original Artwork by Brendan Gregory, 2018

     Dominicans serve in many different functions within the Catholic Church. The friars of the order have done so for many centuries as they have their origins in the Middle Ages. And one of the most “important aspects of Dominican spirituality are the desire to defend the truth and the love of learning.” This specific piece of artwork is a sketch that I like to call “The Perpending Friar.” This is a drawing that I hand sketched with pencil of a Dominican friar named Father Sullivan. He was my spiritual director for a year. I use the word perpending, not because it’s one of my favorite words to describe someone in deep reflection, but because of the person doing the reflecting. To reveal some information about our sessions together, I can describe them as being very active. What do I mean by this? Well, the perpending was done by myself before spiritual direction and most of the talking was done by the good Father Sullivan. He was always quick to comment and joke around to keep me in good spirits; we are almost always laughing. But it was serious work he was doing. And as such, the good friar took his work seriously. I saw this characteristic for the first time on retreat in Fall River, MA. We were talking a walk and we stopped at a boat house where there were rocks forming a jetty. He interrupted our conversation with a palpable stare at the water and rocks below him. The moment was oddly profound to me and I had to capture it. I took a quick picture with the pretty awful camera on my phone and did my best to replicate it according to what I saw — a perpending friar with notebook in hand, standing on a rocky jetty in the wind.

     Central to the Dominicans or the Order of Preachers is their mission to preach and to save souls. It is describe that, “The early friars liked Dominic and Jordan of Saxony had cheerful hearts and were men of joy and happiness.” They do this through four central practices. Firstly, they live out the three traditional voice of obedience, chastity, and poverty. Dominicans also live in common with other friars or nuns. The third means to achieving their mission’s goal is by the Divine Office. And finally, and perhaps most significant to the Dominicans, is their study of sacred truth and doctrine. This fourth mean to achieving their mission’s goal has led to the Church’s benefit throughout the scholastic history. Namely, it is the work of none other than Saint Thomas Aquinas who continues to influence thought and teaching throughout the whole world. It is his work, influenced by the mindset of his order, that rests at the heart of many a seminary and theological program of study.

The vows that a Dominican takes enable him to fully live as a preacher and to live in a community with others to serve the people of God more fully. The vow of obedience enables the friar to live in a mutual relationship with his brothers under the unity of the superior. This allows them to be united in their common goal of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the common sharing of the same vow allows the men or women in community to be able to serve in unity in the shared mission of preaching and saving souls. The vow of chastity allows the friar or nun to be able to live completely as a family to share the Gospel. Finally, the vow of poverty allows the Dominican to live in the realm of apostolic simplicity to focus more on the mission.

Saint Thomas Aquinas was an exemplary theologian who lived out the fourth part of the mission of the Dominican Order to its fullest. Although, he was quite humble in that he still thought his writings were not good enough. Thomas Aquinas sought out to show how the sum total of human life in its trajectory is aimed towards the pursuit of knowing God who is all good, wise, and loving through experience. Aquinas relied heavily on the thought of Aristotle’s philosophy in explaining the truths of the faith in Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium of the Catholic Church. It was by doing all of these things that Aquinas preached the Gospel to the best of his ability in line with Dominican practice and spirituality. He earned the title Doctor of the Church for this as well. This vision of God, however, as all loving and wise, you sent his only Son to reveal his mysteries to us, fulfilling all of creation, is one that guided Thomas in his studies and his writings. This vision is one, too, that we should follow in our own study and personal spiritual reflection.

For me, I always find the classic theological writings of Thomas Aquinas and even the modern writings of Pope Benedict XVI enriching for my personal study, but also my spiritual life. The deep theological writings of Aquinas, guided by this image of God who creates, makes holy, and brings all creation to fulfillment, always seem to speak to me. When researching a given topic, I always find it helpful to seek the wisdom of Aquinas or Benedict XVI who have worked so diligently to understand and experience God, who he is, and who is in relation to us. I also think about the many schools centered on Thomistic thought. And, regarding the wisdom of Benedict XVI, one can even pursue a degree in his writings. And then I think that only through the fraternal bond of the religious life and mission championed by the Dominicans was this immense work of Thomas Aquinas made manifest.

Bibliography

Penaskovic, Richard. “The New Wine of Dominican Spirituality: A Drink Called Happiness. By Paul Murray, OP.” Heythrop Journal 50, no. 4 (July 2009): 721–22.

Sullivan, James. Phone Interview. 1 March 2020.

How the Crusaders Saw Themselves

The crusades are a period of time in history which often gets brought up, especially in apologetic discussions. They are often mischaracterized so as to paint the Church in an especially poor light, as a way of undermining the authority of the Church, most often her moral authority. The purpose of this post is to offer some insight as to what the view of the crusades was during the time they took place, to understand what it was that the pope was calling for, and how it was that the crusaders saw themselves. 

The crusades were first called during the Council of Clermont by Pope Urban II for the primary and explicit goal of conquering the Holy City of Jerusalem back from the invading Muslim and for Christianity. ^1^ The crusades are often used as a weapon against the Catholic Church in discussions of history and the Church’s role in spreading the gospel of Christ. That is, the claim is sometimes made that the Church spread the gospel through violence, rather than the love that the message is supposed to be based on. But modern scholarship is learning that, as with all things, there is some falsehood mixed in with some fact.

Now, it is first most important as Christians to admit that yes, there were atrocities committed by some people - many people - who chose to take advantage of the situation. Conor Kostick describes the siege laid at Jerusalem by the crusaders and the result  on the occupying Muslims as one of desperation and violence:

“Those on the verge of starvation prioritized food...those desperate for water satiated themselves at the many cisterns in the city, despite the fact that they were becoming tainted by the flow of blood...all the while the massacre of the citizens of the city continued until it was a common sight to see Christian knights walking through the streets covered from head to foot with the blood of the slain.” ^2^

At face value, this does sound horrible. However, as with all battles, there were atrocities committed on both sides of the battle. Saladin, one of the primary characters on the Muslim side of history, is often portrayed during this time period as a humane leader. However, history shows otherswise. For example, Habib Malik writes: 

“…following the battle of Hattin in the Gahlee a few months earlier in July Saladin personally took part in butchering several Knights Templars and Hospitallers, and then he sat back and enjoyed watching his men behead the rest. Nor should the 70,000 Shiites he had killed near Aleppo be overlooked.” ^3^

This will not be a post comparing the atrocities of one side against the other. Both sides of this violent time can and should admit to wrong-doing. We too, in the modern day, should refrain from falling to the trap of “ interposing our justified sense of outrage and reading it back in time to those days” and then “paint an entire era with the brush of blame and condemnation.” To do so would be a “grave unfairness and error.” ^4^ 

So what exactly were the Crusades? Thomas F. Madden writes that the term “crusades” actually comes from the latin words “cruci signati,” meaning “those signed by the cross.” ^5^ If anything, this should help to underline the reality that the crusades were not simply a pursuit of vainglory for Knights seeking to make a name for themselves. This was a religious movement brought about out of a sense of fidelity to Christ. And though there were atrocities committed by some of the crusaders, these horrible actions were not the intention of the crusades.

In fact, Madden writes that there were initiatives taken to prevent such atrocities, though the Church was met with no success on this front. For example, “The Peace of God movement threatened divine sanctions against those who attacked noncombatants, and the Truce of God attempted to put a stop to warfare on Sundays and holy days. The church, however, like the kings of Europe, had little control over petty knights and landed barons.” ^6^

Aside from those who would take advantage of the situation and the call for military action against the Muslims, it is important to realize that for majority of the participants in the crusades, this was seen more as a “pilgrimages proceeding under protection by knights than as armed invasions.” ^7^ In fact, Pope Gregory VII did not characterize these crusades as a a holy war but instead viewed them as acts of mercy and charity, an assistance to the Christians in the East by the Christians of the West after the Eastern Christians had suffered at the hands of the Turkish invaders. ^8^ 

Opponents and critics of the Catholic Church - both within and without - will sometimes say that the Pope justified this as a Holy War and rewarded the combatants as such. For example, Jonathan Phillips writes that in return for participating in the crusades, the participants “would be granted an unprecedented spiritual reward - the remission of all their sins - and thereby escape the torments of hell, their likely destination after lives of violence and greed.” ^9^ Thomas Madden characterizes it differently, however, writing: 

“Because of the great expense and difficulties of such a journey, a crusader received a remission from sins, the same as any pilgrim who traveled to a holy shrine. The crusader’s vow was frequently accompanied by other vows of fasting or abstention from sex or by special devotions to be performed during the course of the pilgrimage.” ^10^

Despite some atrocious actions taken by a few individuals that clung to their sinful side, the crusades were not the monstrous, militaristic and dictatorial force that they have been made out to be in recent years. Yes, without a doubt, there were some things done which only made the Christian case for truth harder to spread, and some actions which may have hurt the schism between the Eastern and Western Church. But it should be remembered that those few corrupt individuals are not what defines the crusades, any more than a few corrupt clergy are what defines the Church.

^1^ John Vidmar O.P., The Catholic Church Through the Ages: A History Second Edition (New York/New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2014), 128.

^2^ Conor Kostick, The Siege of Jerusalem: Crusade and Conquest in 1099 (London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2009), 46.

^3^ Habib Malik, The Crusades Between Myth and Reality (Theological Review, 2011, Vol. 32 Issue 2), 101. 

^4^ Malik, The Crusades Between Myth and Reality, 99.

^5^ Thomas F. Madden, The Concise History of the Crusades: Third Student Edition (Maryland: Rowan & Littlefield, 2013), 143 (Kindle Edition). 

^6^ Madden, The Concise History of the Crusades, 235-41 (Kindle Edition). 

^7^ Malik, The Crusades Between Myth and Reality, 104. 

^8^ Madden, The Concise History of the Crusades, 254 (Kindle Edition). 

^9^ Jonathan Phillips, “The Call of the Crusades” History Today (Nov2009, Vol. 59 Issue 11, p10-17), 11.

^10^ Madden, The Concise History of the Crusades, 303 (Kindle Edition). 

A Review of St. Augustine’s Confessions

A Review of St. Augustine’s Confessions

by Derek Ekwall

In the Gospel of St. Luke (Luke 15), Jesus gives the parable of the prodigal son and his brother, where we read about the son of a wealthy man who chooses to live a life away from the family, who had chosen to spend the fortune, and ended up tending to fields of swine. When he decided to return to his father, he was warmly welcomed. 

Confessions by St. Augustin is a story similar to this parable. Born in the fourth century to a pagan father and a Christian mother, St. Monica, Augustine chose to run away from the faith of his mother which he was sure to inherit. He chose to live a life of debauchery and sin, a fact which Augustin goes through no pains to hide. What is most striking about this autobiography is the willingness with Augustine has to share even his worst of sins, detailing not just his actions, but also his thoughts that went into those actions. The raw honesty of Augustine is one of the many facets of this book that makes it so intriguing. 

The book was written primarily as a response to critics of his time that were calling into question his past and his fittingness to be ordained as Bishop of Hippo. “Confessions took some of its impetus from a wish to answer critics both inside and outside the Catholic community.”^1^ It is commonly said that when one enters the confessional for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, one says “bless me Father, for I have sinned; I accuse myself of…”, after which time the penitent confesses all sins honestly so that upon exiting the confessional, they can say to Satan (the great accuser), “there is nothing you can accuse me of which I have not already accused myself.” This autobiography can be seen in a similar light. It is a confession of his past sins to the critics inside and outside the Church so that, ultimately, he can bring glory to God for saving such a one as he. 

The life of St. Augustine is fairly well-known among the Catholic faithful, so I will not spend too much time on the specifics of his life. It is well known that in his early life, Augustine was inclined to various types of sin, such as stealing simply for the sake and game of stealing, not because he was wanting the object which he had stolen. He writes, “I stole something which I had in plenty and of much better quality. My desire was to enjoy not what I sought by stealing but merely the excitement of thieving and the doing of what was wrong. […] I had not motive for my wickedness except wickedness itself.” ^2^

He also described how he followed “the driving forces of my impulses, abandoning [God]”; that is, he gave in to the temptation of the flesh. ^3^ He impulses toward the sins of the flesh was something that continued on into adulthood when he chose to live with a concubine. Though he describes this relationship as “the only girls for me, and i was faithful to her,” nevertheless, he never married her. ^4^ The eventually bore a child out of wedlock, and when she was sent away from him, the child stayed with him. Augustine writs: “The woman with whom I habitually slept was torn away from my side because she was a hindrance to my marriage.” Though he felt pain at her leaving, this did not prevent him from “[procuring] another woman,” by which “the disease of my soul would be sustained and kept active, either in full vigor or even increased[.] ^5^

It is also well-known among the Catholic faithful today that in his earlier years, Augustine subscribed to the Manichean heresy, a dualist cult which believed that the Spirit realm was good, the material realm bad, as well as various other myths and legends. Simply put, despite his Christian upbringing, he adopted Manicheanism which was directly opposed to the established doctrines of the Catholic Church. 

One of the beautiful things about Confessions is its timelessness in that, despite certain details which allow one to know the approximate time period in which his life took place, many of the themes, difficulties, and lessons have just as much applicability in the fourth century as they do today.

It is a minor section, written almost in passing, but considering the crisis of modern day masculinity and the overall attack on fatherhood, this particular wording stood out like a red herring. Augustine discusses the differences between his father’s view of his coming of age. Augustine writes, “…when at the bathhouse my father saw that I was showing signs of virility and the stirrings of adolescence, he was overjoyed to suppose that he would now be having grandchildren, and told my mother so.” Conversely, St. Monica’s concern was that Augustine “should not fall into fornication, and above all that [he] should not commit adultery with someone else’s wife.” Augustine recalls that “these warnings seem to me womanish advice which i would have blushed to take the least notice of.” Any good and practicing Catholic man would tell his son the same thing and yet, because these were the words uttered only by his mother, St. Augustine took them as “womanish.” ^6^ The thought does present itself as to what his reaction if they had come from his father instead.

Another frequently recurring theme is our unwillingness to do that which we know to be right and good. When writing about coming towards his conversion, St. Augustine writes that the weight that was on his shoulders was like “the efforts of those who would like to get up but are overcome by deep sleep and sink back again.” His difficulty was that of overcoming the comfort which he had so thoroughly enjoyed throughout his life, though he recognized that the comfort was that of sin. Augustine writes - so very succinctly - that “the law of sin is the violence of habit by which even the unwilling mind is dragged down and held, as it deserves to be, since by its own choice it slipped into the habit.” ^7^

One of the greatest themes that is addressed throughout the book is God’s divine providence and his benevolence, specifically with regards to how God allows things to happen yet still brings about His ultimate will. This ultimately culminates in Augustine’s conversion to Christ in a garden in Milan, a very powerful episode filled with profound personal insight and regret of his past actions. Throughout the book, St. Monica had been ceaselessly praying for Augustine to convert to the faith, a prayer which is ultimately answered.

Confessions is amazing, powerful, moving and timeless treasure which all Christians ought to read. It is the story of conversion, and how God can bring about the salvation of one who chose a life a sin and “became to myself a region of destitution” ^8^ but through the providence of God and the continuous prayer of his mother, came to enjoy the love of God that is “a sweetness serene and content.” ^9^

^1^ Augustine, Confessions, trans. Henry Chadwick (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), xii. 

^2^ Augustine, Confessions, 29. 

^3^ Augustine, Confessions, 25. 

^4^ Augustine, Confessions, 53. 

^5^ Augustine, Confessions, 109. 

^6^ Augustine, Confessions, 27. 

^7^ Augustine, Confessions, 141. 

^8^ Augustine, Confessions, 34.

^9^ Augustine, Confessions, 25.

Origen's Origins: a Review

“I think it must have been the awakened consciousness of human weakness falling short of prayer in the right way, above all realized as he listened to great words of intimate knowledge falling from the Savior’s lips in prayer to the Father, that moved one of the disciples of Jesus to say to the Lord when He ceased praying, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.’”¹ Jesus responded by repeating the most famous prayer in history — the Pater Noster, the Our Father (or the Lord’s Prayer). Almost two hundred years after Christ spoke his teaching on prayer, the Christian scholar Origen took up the study of prayer, in a treatise appositely named Origen on Prayer. Importantly, Origen did not attempt to reinvent the subject of prayer, or even try to lay out a brand new system for prayer; instead, he chose to take as a model the greatest manual of prayer given by Jesus: the Our Father. 

Origen was uniquely suited for the job. He was an astute Scripture scholar as well as a man of general learning, as he “drew deeply on every possible source – among them Jewish tradition, philology, philosophy, and the natural sciences – to aid him in his principal enterprise, interpreting Scripture.”² At the beginning of the treatise, we immediately begin to see this love for the Word at work. 

Prayer is named and demonstrated in the Old Testament, as Jacob prayed while fleeing a wrathful Esau;³ a desperate Pharaoh begged Moses to pray for God to lift the scourge of frogs from Egypt;⁴ and again a desperate and aging Hannah wept and besought the gates of Heaven while on the steps of the temple, vowing to give a son to the Lord if she was accorded such a gift.⁵ In this way, Origen sets the stage perfectly for a discussion of prayer: for, in the early Church, doctrine and practice were still so nascent that any theologian who expounded on a topic was likely the first theologian to ever actually write on that topic. Origen was not contributing to an established body of thought, but rather building the foundation for the study of prayer as a whole, and basing that study in Holy Writ.

After finding his footing in the Old Testament, Origen proceeds to address those who object to prayer, for the reason that God is omnipresent and all-knowing, and knowing all things does not admit of petitions or prayers to change what is destined to be; therefore rendering prayer useless. In truth, this objection is a weighty one, and it must have been as pervasive in Origen’s day as in modernity. The idea of a predestined life and a general absence of free will eventually lead the Christian away from prayer, into fatalism, and ultimately away from the faith itself. Origen’s response to this objection is so complete and instructive that it merits inclusion in its entirety in tour review: "If our free will is in truth preserved with innumerable inclinations towards virtue or vice, towards either duty or its opposite, its future must like other things have been known by God, before coming to pass, from the world’s creation and foundation; and in all things prearranged by God in accordance with what He has seen of each act of our free wills. He has with due regard to each movement of our free wills prearranged what also is at once to occur in His providence and to take place according to the train of future events. God’s foreknowledge is not the cause of all future events including those that are to have their efficient cause in our freewill guided by impulse.”⁶ 

The next several chapters continue apace, as the author provides numerous examples and illustrations to assist those who continue to struggle with the idea of prayer. Several objections and answers are presented in due course, dealing with the conditions necessary for prayer to take place, the concern that prayer is not heard and that the supplicator is therefore alone in his prayer; we are shown the place of prayer in the daily life of a Christian, and then again how Christ himself prayed to great effect in the New Testament.⁷

Next, Origen describes what he calls the four “moods” or types of prayer. These four loosely correspond (although not perfectly) to the kinds of prayer most commonly known in the modern Church. Origen cites the apostle Paul to Timothy where he says “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men…” (1Tim 2:1) The Catechism also contains these four types as Origen explains them: blessing and adoration, petition, intercession, and thanksgiving (and the Catechism adds the prayer of praise as distinct from blessing and adoration).⁸ Each of these forms of prayer can be offered to different recipients and for different objects, Origen says; some prayers are fit to offer to other men, some to saints, and some for God alone.⁹ Further, each individual prayer will have a unique object, but it is essential that prayer be primarily concerned with holiness and those things which attenuate sin and amplify virtue: "We should therefore pray for the principal and truly great and heavenly things, and as for those concerned with the shadows accompanying the principal, commit them to the God who knows before we ask Him what things, by reason if our perishable body, we have need.”¹⁰

Thus Origen concludes the practical section of his treatise; heretofore he has busied himself with preparing his reader to pray; establishing the importance of prayer, dealing with objections to and fears of prayer, and most recently teaching the various practical purposes and goals of prayer. In the succeeding chapters, Origen walks systematically and theologically through the Pater Noster, the ultimate prayer, as we observed in the beginning. His exegesis is thorough and lengthy, but stunningly beautiful; too complex and extensive to be represented in such a short exposition as this, and yet what a shame to be unable to describe in the same detail that which follows! Origen’s words must be read; many gems reside therein for the taking to enrich the life of the Catholic, such as his monition to use appropriate language when speaking to the Lord: “When we pray let us not babble but use godly speech. We babble when, without scrutiny of ourselves or of the devotional words we are sending up, we speak of the corrupt in deed or word or thought, things which are mean and reprehensible and alien to the incorruptibleness [sic] of the Lord.”¹¹

To conclude his treatise, Origen makes mention of some final details, such as the physical postures of prayer, the importance of private individual prayer, and the sweetness and power of fellow believers united in prayer. At the last, Origen shows tremendous humility, saying “according to my ability I have struggled through my treatment of the subject of prayer and of the prayer in the Gospels…”¹² In this, as throughout the rest of the treatise, Origen demonstrates his reliance on the Scripture and on the illuminating intelligence of the Spirit, by whose light he strove to walk. Despite the author’s disclaimer, Origen on Prayer is a work that deserves to grace the shelves of every theologian and historian.

¹ Origen, n.d. Origen on Prayer, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 4.

² Trigg, Joseph Wilson, Origen, Taylor & Francis e-Library ed. The Early Church Fathers. London: Routledge (2002), P. 1, s. 4.

³ Origen, 6.

⁴ Origen, 6.

⁵ Origen, 7

⁶ Origen, 11-12.

⁷ Origen, 20-22

⁸ Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994, 2626-2643.

⁹ Origen, 25-26

¹⁰ Origen, 28.

¹¹ Origen, 31.

¹² Origen, 67.