Latest / The Uncensored Catholic / Show 200: How to Become a Saint - The Way of Christian Perfection, part 2
Transcript
- 0:41Speaker 1: The f A. Hey, y'all, welcome to this week's show.
- 1:01We will continue our series this week on the topic
- 1:06of Christian perfection, which may sound a little esoteric uplid
- 1:10in more modern terms, how to become a Saint. This
- 1:14is from Father Spiago's classic work, But before we get
- 1:17into that, as usual, we get a couple of questions
- 1:19and answers from radio replies, and the questioner says to
- 1:27the priests, so Catholics must strangle their reason and swallow
- 1:32everything the church teaches, however unlikely, and they answer the
- 1:36strangling of reason is left to people who are ready
- 1:38to believe anything they hear about the Catholic Church. But
- 1:41the Catholic Church herself ask no man to strangle his
- 1:45reason and says that it is a heresy to say
- 1:47that it ought to be strangled. Nor must Catholics accept
- 1:51anything however unlikely. If a thing seems unlikely, they should
- 1:55suspend their judgment until they secure evidence of its truth
- 1:58or falsity, then decide accordingly. A person continues by the
- 2:03mere fact of accepting the teachers of the Catholic Church.
- 2:06Catholics are accepting other men's reasoning, and they answer the
- 2:09priest's answer, they are not where other men's reasonings are concerned.
- 2:14Catholics should test for themselves, and if they prove faulty,
- 2:17they should reject them. But the Catholic Church says that
- 2:20when God is revealed a truth, it is no longer
- 2:23a question of man's reasoning, and that we are not
- 2:26merely free to assert the opposite. We are obliged to
- 2:29accept doctrines revealed by God because we know that God
- 2:32cannot be mistaken. But of course we should make God
- 2:36make sure. We should make sure that God did say
- 2:38these things we accept on his authority. The person says
- 2:44did not to truly say I believe, because it is impossible,
- 2:48and they answer yes. But the context shows he used
- 2:51these words in the sense in which Saint Paul spoke
- 2:54of Christ crucified as being unto the gentile's foolish foolishness Feurst,
- 3:00Corinthians one twenty three. He did not mean that he
- 3:04was prepared to believe things were pugnant to principles of
- 3:07right reason. There are mysteries in the natural order, and
- 3:11still more there are must be mysteries in the supernatural order.
- 3:15If God could do only those things which are possible
- 3:18to men, he would be no god at all. But
- 3:21things that are above reason are not necessarily against reason.
- 3:25He continues, will you receive understanding from any source other
- 3:29than your church? And they answer yes. For knowledge of science,
- 3:32I will go to science of history, to historians of law,
- 3:35to lawyers of medicine, to doctors and of other religions,
- 3:39to textbooks of other religions. For knowledge of religion revealed
- 3:42by Christ, to the Catholic Church, and he asks, well,
- 3:48he says, at least concerning Christian doctrine, you believe what
- 3:52the Church teaches and consider further investigation sinful. And they answer,
- 3:57I certainly believe implicitly the official and defined and teachings
- 4:00of the Catholic Church. Christ said, if a man would
- 4:03not hear the Church, let him be to thee as
- 4:05a heathen. But I may investigate as much as I wish.
- 4:10The more I find out about the truth taught by
- 4:12the Catholic Church, the better the Church is pleased. It
- 4:15is one thing to deny a doctrine, quite another to
- 4:17investigate its full significance. But not all the investigation of
- 4:21the world will ever prove a single doctrine of the
- 4:23Catholic Church untrue. Interestingly, I was in a debate with
- 4:29a Protestant not long ago, a couple of weeks ago,
- 4:33who said there was no church, the church had no authority.
- 4:36And I said, but Jesus said, here in the Bible,
- 4:38if a man would not listen to the Church, let
- 4:40him be to thee as a heathen. And he said,
- 4:42the Bible doesn't say that's not in the Bible. I said,
- 4:45please open your Bible, and I think it's in the
- 4:46Book of Matthew. And we went to it, and unsurprisingly,
- 4:51he had never read that part of the Bible that
- 4:53wasn't taught to him in his church. Hmm. Interesting, huh.
- 4:59The person countine News yet has not the church changed
- 5:02quite a lot of her dogmatic teaching in deference to
- 5:04modern thought. And they answer, she has never changed to dogma,
- 5:08nor has she changed any essential Christian truth. She does not.
- 5:14She does change in many secondary ways according to the
- 5:17needs of the time, but this occurs chiefly in matters
- 5:20of discipline. She has never modified her methods of teaching
- 5:23and difference to modern thought, very little of which really
- 5:26exists in average society today. Concerning religion certainly is not
- 5:30as much as in the Middle Ages, person says, has
- 5:35not the Catholic Church added dogma after dogma of which
- 5:38the early Christians knew nothing, And they answer, the Church
- 5:42has never added a single teaching of dogmatic value which
- 5:46was not contained in the original teachings of the Apostles.
- 5:49Where doubts have origined, she has officially defined the right doctrine,
- 5:53not giving a new doctrine, but clearly expressing the exact
- 5:57significance of the old doctrine. And that is exactly what
- 6:01a teaching church is. For meantime, the early Christians, by
- 6:04believing in the doctrines of Christ, believe these truths, also,
- 6:08at least implicitly, though they could quite well have been
- 6:11ignorant of the latter terms used to describe them. Also
- 6:14a very interesting point. When we look at the history
- 6:18of Christianity, we read the early Church Fathers, we read
- 6:22about the development of doctrine. Most often it was due
- 6:27to a heresy. It was due to a great heresy
- 6:31or apostasy. You could start with the Gnostics and just
- 6:37go through the first few hundred years of the Church.
- 6:40There would be a group of people who taught something
- 6:43that was very opposed to what universally we now consider
- 6:49Christian doctrine, such as the Trinity. There were certain Christian
- 6:52groups who did not believe that there was one God
- 6:55in three persons. So the Church held a council and
- 6:58define the doctrine clearly, stating as best they could the
- 7:03nature of the Trinity, and then all Christians accepted it.
- 7:06There's no reason to say no Christian believed in the
- 7:09Trinity before that. After all, Jesus said, baptized in the
- 7:12name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
- 7:15So Christians believed it, but it had not been thought
- 7:20through and defined officially. And the SAME's true of the
- 7:25immactulate conception of many many Christian doctrines. And they all
- 7:30came about because someone was teaching error and the Church
- 7:34had to say no, in a minute, has not actually
- 7:37in accord with the our original teachings given to us
- 7:42by the apostles. And now we're going to think it through,
- 7:45and we're going to pray, and we're going to ask
- 7:46for enlightenment. We're going to reason it out and define
- 7:49it authoritatively. And all Christians accepted. All Christians accepted for
- 7:57you know, fourteen fifteen hundred years. And then comes to
- 8:00Protestant Reformation, and really, you know, your Lutherans and your
- 8:05Anglicans and Presbyterians, is such mostly accepted I'll say ninety
- 8:11five percent of what we might call Orthodox Christian doctrine.
- 8:15Your Orthodox Churches, of course, believe almost identically to the
- 8:20Catholic Church. There are a few differences of opinion, the
- 8:25nature of the Father and the Son, you know, the
- 8:28relationship between the two. They call it the philigree whatever
- 8:32they call that, like a big sticking point. It's really not.
- 8:35I mean really, the reason the Orthodox Church left originally
- 8:40is because they rejected the authority of the pope and
- 8:42then for several hundred years were ruled by a Muslim caliph.
- 8:48Most of the error that came into Orthodoxy comes from Islam.
- 8:54It's not valid Christian doctrine, but as far but on
- 8:58like ninety eight percent of stuff, Yeah, Catholics and Orthodox
- 9:02agree completely. When it comes to Protestants. In the first
- 9:06five hundred years or so, Catholics and Protestants will agreed
- 9:11on just about everything. I mean, ten percent you might say,
- 9:15was a difference. And again it comes down to the authority,
- 9:20the pope, Apostolic succession. It wasn't until recent years, just
- 9:25the past couple of centuries that Protestants started going off
- 9:27the deep end, denying the reality of the Eucharist, denying
- 9:34the Saints and their role, the virgin birth, theomatical conception,
- 9:41even Baptism. Most Baptists these days, at least that I've encountered,
- 9:46and I did go to a Southern Baptist university, don't
- 9:49believe in Baptism, the very thing they named their church after,
- 9:53you know. And of course now they brought in all
- 9:56kinds of error with divorce, you know, starting with King
- 9:58Henry and the the eighth and the Anglican Church. Even
- 10:04Martin Luther didn't agree with divorce. He said people should
- 10:06just have extramarial affairs. He was a big proponent of adultery.
- 10:10He even accused Jesus of being an adulterer. He was
- 10:13a very bad man, actually. But beginning of the divorce,
- 10:17they started saying they could just change the words of
- 10:19the Bible to suit their purposes. And you know, now,
- 10:23you know, now we have everyone from Anglicans to Episcopals
- 10:26to Methodists with gay and lesbian ministers and approving gay marriage.
- 10:33And you know, they don't even seem to know what
- 10:36they believe anymore, because they're built on a foundation of sand,
- 10:40not upon the rock which is Saint Peter up on
- 10:44which our church is built. So anyway, now we'll go
- 10:47ahead and get too far with spirago. And this is
- 10:51part two the general means for the attainment of perfection.
- 10:57In order to make sure of adopting Christian perfection, the
- 11:00following means should be adopted. First, Fidelity in small things.
- 11:04So you may ask, why would I care about Christian perfection? Well,
- 11:08Jesus said, you must be perfect as your heavenly Father
- 11:10is perfect. What does that mean? Well, as human beings,
- 11:15we will never be entirely perfect in our own right.
- 11:19But through suffering and sacrifice and hard work and dedication,
- 11:23we may become saints, we may become brothers and sisters
- 11:27of Christ, and we may enter into heaven. And that
- 11:30is the path of Christian perfection, and it should be
- 11:33our highest goal in life. One would you know we
- 11:37will fail a million times in an effort to get
- 11:41just a little bit there. Closer we get to it,
- 11:44the better we're doing. So One, fidelity in small things,
- 11:49by this, greater, by this, by this, greater graces are obtained,
- 11:54and grave sins more easily avoided. In the natural order.
- 11:58We see how great things are avolved out of what
- 12:01is apparently insignificant. How small the acorn is, and yet
- 12:04it contains the germ of a mighty oak. So it
- 12:07is in the spiritual order. Pay heed. Therefore to small things.
- 12:11Do not despise even the least. Be careful to avoid
- 12:14every untrue word, every word that may give offense. Never
- 12:18utter lightly the name of God. To him who is
- 12:21faithful in small things, God gives great graces to him.
- 12:25Our Lord says, well done, good and faithful servant, because
- 12:29that has been faithful over a few things on a
- 12:32place see over many things Matthew twenty five twenty one.
- 12:37He who, on the other hand, is unfaithful in small
- 12:39things loses many graces and is punished by God. Moses
- 12:43was not permitted to enter the promised land because he
- 12:46doubted God's promise and because he doubted God's promise, and
- 12:51Zacharias was struck dumb for his incredulity. Many of the
- 12:55saints were deprived of consolations and visited by aridity because
- 12:59of slight faults. He who is faithful in small things
- 13:03is not as likely to fall into heinous sins. For
- 13:06our Lord says, he that is faithful in what is
- 13:09least is faithful also in that which is greater. And
- 13:12he that is unjust in what is little, is also
- 13:16unjust in that which is greater Luke sixteen ten. Hence,
- 13:20whosoever is attentive to small things makes rapid progress in virtue.
- 13:25If thou wouldst become great, says Santa Augustine, begin with
- 13:28that which is little, grains of sand from a mountain,
- 13:31A number of trees make a forest. He that can
- 13:35contemptous disregards, we'll go with that. Small things shall fall
- 13:40by little and little Ecclesiastices nineteen one. Little infidelities to
- 13:46grace often cause great mischief and embitter a man's whole life.
- 13:50A spark will occasion a great a vast conflagration, a
- 13:54big fire, and a small leak will cause a ship
- 13:57to founder. So it is with small sip. Judas began
- 14:01by purloining, stealing. He was stealing from the money the
- 14:06apostles had in common, and ended by becoming a trader
- 14:09and as suicide. Cain first gave way to jealousy and
- 14:13then slew his brother contempt of trifles shows a secret pride.
- 14:19The second is a habit of self control. We must
- 14:22not encourage curiosity nor stare out of windows. Yeah, you know,
- 14:28it's very much human nature to watch our neighbors and
- 14:31criticize them and gossip about them. We're actually not supposed
- 14:35to do that. It's actually a sin. We should avoid
- 14:39useless or loud talking. Refrain from complaining of weather or
- 14:42a health, from eating between our meals, from finding fault
- 14:46with what is provided for us, from too long indulgence
- 14:49in sleep, from eagerness to join in conversations, from speaking
- 14:53of ourselves, from contradicting others. And similar acts of mortification
- 14:58cost no great effort. The Saints practice far more severe ones,
- 15:02but in this way they are not imitated by all.
- 15:05Saint John the Baptist led a life of extreme denial,
- 15:09and Saint Paul says of himself, I chastise my body
- 15:12and bring it into subjection. Less. Perhaps, when I have
- 15:16reached to others, I myself should become a castaway one
- 15:20Corinthians nine twenty seven. That doesn't really sound like the
- 15:23Protestant doctrine of once saved, always saved, does it? No,
- 15:27lest I should myself become a castaway. Self control is
- 15:32a sort of absence. It is far more profitable than
- 15:35merely abstaining from food. He who can rule himself as
- 15:38a king, for instead of being led captive by his passions,
- 15:42he dominates him self. Conquest is the mark of a
- 15:45true Christian. Our Lord says, if any man will follow me,
- 15:48let him deny himself Mark eight thirty four. That is
- 15:52to say, he that will be my disciple must have
- 15:56must practice self abnegation. Saint Paul also says, they that
- 16:01are Christs have crucified their flesh with the vices and
- 16:05concupiscences Galatians five twenty four. A fish that is alive
- 16:10swims against the current. A dead fish is one carried
- 16:13along by it. Hence you can easily ascertain whether you
- 16:17have the life of the spirit in you or whether
- 16:19you are dead. Ask yourself whether you stem the tide
- 16:22of your sinful desires, or if you're carried away by it.
- 16:25And of course, Father Sparago, writing in eighteen ninety, assumes
- 16:28most people would know the nature of fish. Fish always
- 16:31face upstream unless you do a lot of fishing in rivers,
- 16:35unless you're a fly fishermen and such, you may not
- 16:38know that. It's always surprising to me how many people
- 16:41don't know that. But fish always face upstream unless they're
- 16:46running away from something swimming fast downstream, and they hide,
- 16:49and then they go right back to facing upstream. But anyway,
- 16:52by the practice of self control, the understanding is enlightened,
- 16:56the will strengthened, and the soul finds peace. We have
- 17:01a law in our members fighting against the law of
- 17:04our minds Romans seven twenty three. Our members that are
- 17:09upon the earth must accordingly be mortified Colossians three five.
- 17:14The flesh is continually at war with the spirit, and
- 17:16we must continually be at war with the flesh. He
- 17:19who does all that is allowed, will soon proceed to
- 17:22do what is not allowed. According to Saint Augustine. But
- 17:24if we deny ourselves what is lawful, would be easier
- 17:28for us to abstain from what is unlawful. The most
- 17:31perfect among us will fall into sin if he ceases
- 17:33to practice self denial. As a field that is uncultivated
- 17:37produce as a crop of weeds. Self control enlightens the understanding.
- 17:41All that we deny to our carnal senses is repaid
- 17:45one hundredfold in our spiritual sense. Let us, says Saint
- 17:48Basil or Basil, stifle our fleshly desires in order that
- 17:52our spiritual sense may become keener, and that our interior
- 17:57vitality and peace may be augmented. Self control fortifies the will.
- 18:02If the will be strong, carnal impulses are quickly subdued,
- 18:07and the temptations of the devil easily overcome. Mortify yourself
- 18:11in matters that are apparently of little moment. You will
- 18:14thereby learn to learn to conquer where great things are
- 18:18at stake. The mortified man is like an oak which
- 18:21will break but will not bend. The unmortified man is
- 18:25like a reed shaken with the wind Matthew eleven seven.
- 18:29By self control we acquire true peace of mind. There
- 18:32is no quiet in a house the door of which
- 18:35stands open to all comers, and there is no peace
- 18:38in the soul if the senses are not kept in custody.
- 18:41Our disorderly affections are like a storm at sea. They
- 18:45raise a tempest in the soul and perturb the mind.
- 18:48But if you know how to command the winds of passion,
- 18:51a marvelous peace and a great calm, winsue He who,
- 18:55for the love of God has renounced all carnal lusts
- 18:57will enjoy the sweet consolations of the Holy Spirit. He
- 19:02who is the master of himself will not easily be
- 19:04provoked a wrath. Self control is the parent of meekness
- 19:08and patience, absence from all that is superfluous, especially in
- 19:12regards to eating and drinking. Among the superfluities we reckon
- 19:17our splendid dress, costly furniture, theater, going giving, and taking
- 19:21part in entertainments, banquets, etc. Those who take great delight
- 19:26in such things will never attain perfection. The Holy Ghost
- 19:29will not dwell in the heart that is filled with
- 19:31the love of earthly things. He who would enter upon
- 19:35the path of virtue and perfection must begin by diligent
- 19:38mortification of his appetite no gormand can be a good
- 19:42soldier of Christ. That's a hard one for me. I
- 19:45love good food. I love to cook, and I love
- 19:47good food. That's a hard one. Those who eat and
- 19:50drink more than is necessary are in danger of losing
- 19:53grace and succumbing to temptation. I know the one is
- 19:58hard for me. My Lord says, woe to you that
- 20:01are filled Luke six twenty five, and Saint Peter exhorts
- 20:04the fateful, thus be sober and watch, because your adversary,
- 20:08the devil is roaring, is a roaring lion going about
- 20:12seeking whom he made his devour one Peter five eight.
- 20:17Talkativeness is also to be avoided. That's another hard one
- 20:21for me. I'm, you know, Irish, and as a child
- 20:24I was kind of shy, and I was constantly teased
- 20:29and chided by older people to be more talkative. And
- 20:33now I'm quite glib, and I don't know. That's a
- 20:37hard one for me to balance out. An unrestrained tongue
- 20:40is a sign of conceit and folly. As the doctor
- 20:44judges of Ann's bodily helped by the state of his tongue,
- 20:46so one may judge they helped the soul by the
- 20:49words the tongue utters. From the ring of a vessel,
- 20:53one can perceive whether it's full or empty. That means,
- 20:55when you knock on a the ring, i'msuing hopper pot
- 21:01or something. You know, it could be a picture. I
- 21:03don't know, So by the conversion, so by the conversation
- 21:07of a man, it may be seen whether his mind
- 21:09is empty or well stored, Like Franklin said, better to
- 21:12be thought a fool and remain silent than open your
- 21:15mouth than prove it. He that setteth bounds to his
- 21:18tongue is knowing and wise a full multiplieth words. The
- 21:23temperature of a room is speedily reduced at the door
- 21:25be left open. So the love of God cools the
- 21:28heart of ones whose lips are never unclosed for idle gossip,
- 21:32and the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit departs from
- 21:35the soul. Incontinence of speech is a fruitful source of contention.
- 21:40If any man offendeth not in tongue, the same as
- 21:43a perfect man. According to James three to two, mortification
- 21:47of the tongue is indispensable to the attainment of sanctity.
- 21:52If any man bridal not his tongue, that man man's
- 21:58religion is in vain James one, twenty six. Even though
- 22:02he seemed to be God fearing, he that hath no
- 22:04guard on his speech show met with evils Proverbs thirteen three.
- 22:10For this reason, Saint Paul business shone profane in vain
- 22:13Babblings two Timothy two sixteen. Speech is silver, silence is gold.
- 22:19Yet we must be aware of being too chary with
- 22:22our words. Our silence might appear to be contemptuous. In
- 22:26this as an all else, a wise medium should be observed.
- 22:29And when I was a shy kid, I was often
- 22:31called arrogant or stuck up, as they used to say,
- 22:34And I was just shy. So being our silence may
- 22:39appear to be contemptuous. So I began to be talkative,
- 22:43and maybe I found the right balance. I don't know.
- 22:46I hope I have order and regularity, for this is
- 22:51conducive to peace of mind and rapid advancement and sanctity.
- 22:55Let all things be done decently and according to order.
- 22:58For Corinthians fourteen forty, it is well to have a
- 23:02fixed time for rising and retiring, for rest, for meals,
- 23:05for work, for recreation, etc. We should endeavor to keep
- 23:09order in all around us, For thus shall we save
- 23:13much time and trouble. I do agree with that. Don't
- 23:16always do my best at that. Do have some late nights.
- 23:20I have a lot of trouble sleeping in all honesty,
- 23:22But anyway, Saint Augustine says that order leads to God,
- 23:27for all that here ordains is regulated in perfect order.
- 23:31Behold the beautiful order that reigns in the story. Firmament
- 23:34order must be maintained in all institutions, schools, and convents,
- 23:38et cetera. It is remarkable how many men who have
- 23:41had military training have reached an imminent degree of sanctity.
- 23:46The fifth topic is unremitting prayer. By this means to
- 23:49tempt that many. By this means many temptations are held
- 23:55aloof and graces in abundant measure or are obtainedifications defend
- 24:01a garrison against the attacks of the enemy. So prayer
- 24:04without ceasing protects us from the devil our Lord. It
- 24:07monishes us watch and pray that you enter not into temptation.
- 24:11Matthew twenty six forty one. Saint Paul bids the faithful
- 24:14pray without ceasing. For Cithalonians five seventeen, unremitting prayer is
- 24:19a sure means of drawing down the Holy Ghost from
- 24:22on high. The more a plant enjoys the sunshine, the
- 24:25better it will grow, and the more luxuriantly it will
- 24:28blossom in like manner. The more often the soul draws
- 24:31near in prayer to the sun of divine grace, the
- 24:34greater it will be its increase in perfection. All the
- 24:38Saints were instant in prayer. Blessed Clement Hofbauer was accustomed
- 24:42to recite the Rosary while walking through streets of Vienna.
- 24:45Saint alfonsis used to say that the Saints owed their
- 24:47sanctity more to their prayers than their works. Habituate yourself
- 24:52to ejaculatory prayer that mean spontaneous, and it will refresh
- 24:56you and help you on your way, as an occasional
- 24:59draft of wine does to the traveler. Frequent, frequent confession
- 25:05and communion. Sins, once properly confessed, are it is true forgiven.
- 25:10Yet it is advisable, though not obligatory, upon us to
- 25:13accuse ourselves of them repeatedly. The Saints used to confess
- 25:16again and again the mortal sins of which they have
- 25:18been guilty. The confession of sins of our past life
- 25:22keeps us humble, and if after confession we frequently approach
- 25:25the Holy Table, we shall increase in perfection as a
- 25:28tree which is planted near running waters grows to a
- 25:31great height. We admire the sanctity of the early Christians.
- 25:35Let us remember that they communicated daily. That means he
- 25:38went to Mass daily and received communion. The euchreus. It
- 25:42is said of them that they persevered in community of
- 25:44breaking the bread. Acts two forty two point number seven
- 25:49is reading attentively the life of our Lord and the
- 25:51lives of the saints, and meditation of the truth of religion.
- 25:55By reading the lives of the saints, we shall feel
- 25:58ourselves powerfully inclined to imitate their example. We shall ask ourselves,
- 26:02as Saint Augustine ask himself, if these and those could
- 26:06do so much, wherefore canst not thou do the same.
- 26:10The saints love to study the lives of the saints
- 26:12and to imitate them. So a draftsman looks long and
- 26:16often at a picture he is about to copy. Draftsman
- 26:19means so essentially, someone who copies something. It's like a
- 26:23draftsman when we think of architecture and such. However, we
- 26:27must not imagine that, with our love of God, so poor,
- 26:30so faint, we can all at once imitate the sublime
- 26:33actions of the saints, or it will be as if
- 26:36a crow were attempting to imitate the song of a nightingale.
- 26:40The most profitable plan is for us to read the
- 26:42life of a saint whose position corresponds to our own.
- 26:45And learn from its practical lessons. The lives of saints
- 26:49are the maxims of the Gospel. Put in practice. Meditation
- 26:53on the truth of religion is supremely useful and enlightens.
- 26:56Our understanding stimulates the will to pursuit of what is good,
- 26:59and gives us peace of mind. The truths of religion
- 27:02and like fires standing near which we receive like warmth,
- 27:06they impart nourishment to our souls. They are food that satisfies.
- 27:10Remember our Lord's words to the Samaritan Samaritan woman in
- 27:14John four thirteen. The world would not be as bad
- 27:17as it is if there were not so few who
- 27:20consider the truth of religion in their hearts Jeremiah Magues
- 27:24twelve eleven. Through meditation, the saints attained sanctity, love of solitude.
- 27:31In solitude we obtained many actual graces. We are preserved
- 27:35from temptation and from sin, and grow in virtue. Our
- 27:38Lord was wont to take himself to solitary places, to
- 27:42a mountain in John six point fifteen, to a desert
- 27:45in Luke five sixteen, or the amount of Olives, and John
- 27:47eight one, where he spent a long time in prayer
- 27:50until he was thirty years of age. He led a
- 27:52hidden life. We know also that many holy men withdrew
- 27:56into solitude and devote themselves to spiritual exercises. Saint Benedict
- 28:01past three years in a cavern among the mountains. Saint
- 28:04Inatius of Loyola dwelt for a considerable time in the
- 28:08mount in the cave of MINORSA. Isn't it interesting now
- 28:14you think about modern times. Anywhere you can find a
- 28:17cave is going to be state or national owned, public
- 28:21land so called, and you try to live in there,
- 28:23and you're going to get arrested. You know, our culture
- 28:26is a little against monastic and hermetic life. I would
- 28:32say very much opposed to it. Those who are now unknown,
- 28:37whose life is hid with Christ and God will one
- 28:39day appeared with him in glory Colossians three three and four.
- 28:43Saint John Christossum says, the life of the recluse is
- 28:46that of an angel upon earth. In solitude, we may
- 28:50obtain many graces. There. The Holy Spirit speaks to the
- 28:53heart Hoseah two fourteen. One cannot hear a sweet melody
- 28:57in the midst of a din and tumult. God's voice
- 29:01can only be heard by those who flee from the world.
- 29:03The further the soul is from all worldly tumult, the
- 29:07more familiar does she become with her creator. That's from
- 29:11the imitation of Christ, Book one, chapter twenty. If you
- 29:15haven't read that, It's fantastic, you can find online Thomas Kempis,
- 29:18I believe is the author. Look for an archive dot
- 29:23com if you don't have a copy of It's really good.
- 29:25I reference it quite a bit. I have a bookmark
- 29:28on my computer so I can pull it up whenever
- 29:30I need it on archive, so I know it's Sarah.
- 29:33In solitude alone is a true contentment to be found.
- 29:37Where the recluse to leave his sale, he would perceive
- 29:40the world he would where the recluse to leave his sale,
- 29:44he would perceive that the world is a field which
- 29:47is more vexation than pleasure is to be reaped. Solitude
- 29:52is a preservation from temptation and sin, as the harbor
- 29:56shelters the mariner for the storm and shipwreck. And of course,
- 30:01if you tried to be a hermit and seek solitude
- 30:04in the wilderness in America, you would be arrested as
- 30:06a vagrant, considered homeless, and you know, probably evaluated for insanity. Yeah,
- 30:12our culture is very opposed to Christian hermeticism. Anyway, while
- 30:17Adam was alone, he did not sin. It was after
- 30:20he had Eve for a companion. The sage Seneca used
- 30:23to say, as often as I have been among men,
- 30:26I have returned less a man. Solitude helps to maintain
- 30:31and increase virtue. Choice spices, choice, spices only retain their aroma.
- 30:36Would shut up? What does that mean? It means if
- 30:39you have spices, clothes and cinnamon, allspice, if you leave
- 30:42them in an open container, they lose their flavor and aroma.
- 30:46So there you have it. They lose it if exposed
- 30:50to air. Yes, virtue is more easily preserved in solitude
- 30:54than among the noise and bustle of the world. He
- 30:58who frequents his drinking, who goes to every place of amusement,
- 31:02who in a word enjoys life, will not enjoy a
- 31:05true piece of heart, will not obtain perfection. But, however
- 31:09great the advantages of seclusion, we must not be unsociable
- 31:13and withdraw all together from the society of our fellow men.
- 31:16We must mix with him freely whenever duty bids or
- 31:19charity calls upon us to do so our blessed lazy,
- 31:24our blessed lady visited her cousin Elizabeth to congratulate her.
- 31:28Let us hold aloof from the world in spirit, not
- 31:31in bodily presence. All right, y'all, we'll wrap this one
- 31:35up here. We got a few more sections to this
- 31:38next next week, we'll talk about the special means for
- 31:41attainment of perfection. There's a hard one. There's a lot
- 31:45of theirs real hard to do. Like I said, it's
- 31:50basically illegal to be a hermit in America. It's extremely
- 31:55difficult to find solitude in an era of fast food
- 32:01and almost compulsory gluttony. I think you'd probably do better
- 32:08in cooking your own meals. You know, you can put
- 32:10a lot of more intention into good, seasonal, healthy ingredients,
- 32:17and you know there's no reason to overeat. I think
- 32:20if we eat better food, we tend not to eat
- 32:22quite as much of it. Temperance in drinking is always
- 32:26a good plan, but we were Catholics. We don't believe
- 32:29in temperance in terms of totally abstaining from alcohol unless
- 32:35you have an issue or you know, if that's a
- 32:37choice you make. You know, moderation in all things I
- 32:42think that's when it goes back to that, you know,
- 32:44engaging conversation or being too talkative or whatever, moderation all things.
- 32:50You know, if you're talking to be seen, to be noticed,
- 32:52to impress other people, you know, that's probably where you
- 32:55fall into error real hard. I mean, I don't know
- 33:00how it's like where you grew up, but I mean
- 33:02I grew up in the American South where you know,
- 33:04men were still men and it was you know, if
- 33:08you were a shy kid, they would pick on you
- 33:11and tease you and make you come out of your shell.
- 33:16And there was a lot of encouragement for fighting and
- 33:20you know, a man and it was supposed to be
- 33:22you know, manly. You know, John Wayne would be the
- 33:27what everybody's ideal would have been, you know, or maybe
- 33:31Donald Trump in these days. I mean, you know how
- 33:33charismatic and glib he is, and he Alvin sticks his
- 33:36foot in his mouth because he talks too much, you know,
- 33:39and I think he would admit that. I have a
- 33:42great deal of respect for him. I'm a big Trump
- 33:43supporter actually, But you know, there is like you know,
- 33:47Benjamin Franklin said, a time where one ought to remain
- 33:51silent rather than make a fool of one's self. So
- 33:54I think looking at in that way, just beingked moderational things.
- 34:02Temperance a moderate temperament, but definitely I do think, especially
- 34:08in the era of social media, avoiding gossip. I mean,
- 34:13we have like a window into everyone's life, and you know,
- 34:17father Sparagus said, don't be looking out windows at other people.
- 34:22A lot of times. It's probably some of the worst
- 34:25trouble we can get into is not mining our own business.
- 34:28Mind your own business, you know, look to your own
- 34:31faults rather than point out someone else's. It's hard to do,
- 34:35especially in this era of social media, we're really encouraged
- 34:39to do the opposite. So y'all, I'm gonna wrap it
- 34:43up there, have a great week, and I'll talk to
- 34:45you next time.