Man: His Good In discussing the nature of human acts, those deliberate acts which a man performs in the quest of an end which is known and desired by him, we have used the word good in speaking of a particular good and of the universal good. It appears to be desirable (and therefore good!)
St. Cyril of Jerusalem St. Cyril was born in Jerusalem in AD 315, a few years before the outbreak of the Arian heresy. He lived to see its suppression by the Edict of Theodosius, 380, and to take part in its condemnation by the Council of Constantinople in the following year. He became bishop of
Practice fasting According to the order given by the angel Raphael, we will now briefly speak on fasting. Omitting many of the theological questions, we will confine ourselves only to our subject. Our intention is to explain the art of living well, because this will prepare us for dying well. For this art, three things
The Prince of Darkness: Satan Hides Himself Unlike man, Satan does not love the stage. He does not avoid it for the sake of humility, because his great pride would never allow him to operate on that basis. He does it for usefulness, because hiding himself is useful to his purpose, that of enticing souls
The Reading of the New Testament The Particular Examen begins ordinarily with the following prayer: O Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in Thy servants, by the spirit of Thy holiness, by the fullness of Thy power, by the perfection of Thy ways, by the truth of Thy virtues, and by the communication of
What Christ Saw From Gethsemane In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knew perfectly just what it was for which He was to pay the penalty of death. He was to pay the penalty for sin — for all the sins of mankind, from the first to the last. Isaiah the prophet had cried out: “Woe
The Love of God Is Justice! How could God be good if He loved the bad equally with the good? The essence of love is not indifference to morality. ‘‘The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: he that followeth justice is beloved by him” (Prov. 15:9). “You have wearied the Lord
The mental activity described here is a shortened version of what St. Francis de Sales says of the morning exercise in his Introduction to the Devout Life. While its five parts appear at first to be rather detailed, this exercise is not intended to be painstaking or time-consuming. Rather, it can and should be done briefly, yet fervently,
The Mass Is Adoration The Latin term adoratio originally meant a gesture of reverence made toward a worthy person or object, before whom one would bow slightly, touching the object of reverence with one’s right hand, while with one’s left hand wafting a kiss (ad os) toward the recipient of the adoration. We, however, must
God has created all things for good, all things for their greatest good, everything for its own good. What is the good of one is not the good of another; what makes one man happy would make another unhappy. God has determined, unless I interfere with his plan, that I should reach that which will
