Undusted Texts

I have sometimes heard complaints that certain devotions that have become popular as the Church has progressed through history are too revolutionary, that since they are not rooted enough in the most fundamental doctrines of the Church taught since the times of the apostles they are just new fads a saint or other spiritual writer came up with off the top of his or her head. While I cannot say that there are no absolutely no devotions like this, I think I can safely say that the majority of devotions grew and developed over time (like doctrine does) and was merely given a more normative exposition by a certain saint or spiritual writer. One example of this is seen in the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, associated most with St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. According to The Revelations of Margaret of Cortona , about a Third Order Franciscan saint from a few centuries before St. Margaret Mary, she was not the first to have this devotion: "Long before the revelations of Our Lord to...

In two previous posts ( here and here ), I discussed the theology behind icons. Now I'm going to begin a series on some famous icons and types of icons that will be entitled Iconic Icons (yes, the pun is very much intended). The first icon I'll cover is the basic icon: the Pantocrator (Παντοκρατωρ), which can be translated either "Almighty" or "Ruler of All." It is the icon of He who is the core of the Christian faith: Jesus Christ Himself. During the iconoclastic period of the 8th and 9th centuries (roughly), the main thing attacked was the icon of Christ. Of course, icons of the Theotokos and the saints were also attacked, but when reading the main defenses of icons, it seems like they focus most on defending icons of Christ, and then they use those arguments (expanded) to argue for icons of Theotokos and the saints. (For a good review of the debate over the icon of Christ, see Cardinal Cristoph Schönborn's book God's Human Face: The Christ-I...

The following are two prayers one of my professors gave us to be used before and after class. Though he usually forgets to pray the latter, we always the pray the former. They are obscure prayers translated, I think, by my professor from a 17th-century Franciscan book. Through the use of them, I hope we can all dedicate all of our work and all of our time to Christ Jesus our Lord. Before Class Most high God of truth, Enlighten our minds. Love of the Holy Trinity, Hasten to help us. May charity set our minds on fire, may truth bring us to love: so that as much as we know you, so much may we love you. To the praise of your glory, Direct our studies: So that after the course of this life We may enjoy you in heaven. R./ Amen. After Class Through you, Jesus, be directed The work of our minds. In you Jesus, be ended The class of this day. O Mary, Good Mother, May our hearts not be cold. But through these sacred studies, Serve better in love. What we have accomplished in...

I already discussed the defense of icon veneration in my post on a writing by St. Gregory Palamas , who succinctly summarized the arguments of icon defenders against iconoclasts. I just wished to add a few more thoughts on this topic taken from two of the true victors against the iconoclasts: St. Theodore the Studite, with his Refutation of the Iconoclasts , and St. John of Damascus, with his Apology Against Those Who Attack the Divine Images . One of the very common arguments make against icon veneration is that through it we "worship the creature rather than the Creator," "bestowing on objects of stone or wood the name that ought not to be shared," "appealing for health to a thing that is weak, praying for life to a thing that is dead" (cf. Rom 1:25, Wis 14:21, 13:18). Iconoclasts accuse us of praying to idols made with our own hands, praying to the material itself, believing the icon itself to be a god. That is not the way of the faithful, thoug...

Venerable Clara Fey, P.C.J. (1815-1884) was the foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus. One day she saw a vision of a poor child standing in front of a building asking for alms for him and his many brothers and sisters who were also poor: this child was the Child Jesus, and the building He stood in front of became the first motherhouse for the Congregation. The point of this post is not to discuss the Congregation, but rather it is to discuss the spirituality of its founder, particularly her focus on living in God's Presence. The Lord told us to "pray always," and thus we should always keep our minds on Him: "Even while working our heart should be with Him" (90). One quote by Mother Fey sums up her teaching well: "Our Lord does not wish to dwell in us in a transient way through Holy Communion. No, His spiritual dwelling in us should be continual. He remains in us. The same Lord Who enters our heart in the morning accompa...

St. Makarios of Egypt (also known as St. Makarios the Great: not the same St. Makarios who helped compile the Philokalia ) was a Coptic monk from the 300s who has been well-revered in the East for his homilies. Though the homilies are now often called Pseudo-Makarian (they seem to have more of a Syrian background than an Egyptian one), they continue to be popular today. Some of them are even included in the Philokalia (though via an eleventh-century adaptation by St. Symeon Metaphrastis, "the Translator"). One section of these homilies (§88) cut me to the heart and prompted me to clarify something about this blog: the majority of the spiritual insights presented here are not my own. This may be obvious to some due to my extensive references, but I am confessing it for clarity's sake: in my work on this blog, I am more of a repeater and synthesizer than a spiritual forerunner. My goal is to channel the insights of past spiritual writers to my readers and only occasi...

"Behold, God is great, and we know Him not; the number of His years is unsearchable... God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend... The Almighty--we cannot find Him; He is great in power and justice, and abundant righteousness He will not violate. Therefore men fear Him."--Job 36:26,37:5,23-24a As I mentioned in my first post on mystery , God Himself is mysterious. One of the authors who understood this the best is Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite . This odd name comes from the fact that the writings of this author were originally connected to an Athenian converted by St. Paul named Dionysius the Areopagite, mentioned in Acts 17:34. However, these writings are from the 5th or 6th century, and thus they could not be written by someone from the apostolic times. The true writer of these works is unknown, so he is referred to as Pseudo-Dionysius to reference the tradition. Pseudo-Dionysius combines Neo-Platonism (such as the wo...