Tuesday, June 25, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog:
Virtue, Psalms 15:2-5, Genesis 13:2-18, Matthew 7:6,12-14 , Pope Francis Daily Homily - Promises of Faith, St. Prosper of Aquitaine, Six Ages of the World, Catholic Catechism Part Three: Life In Christ Section 1 The Dignity of the Human Person Article 8:2 Sin - Definition of Sin
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge, reason and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. The Seven Gifts of
the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe (fear of the
Lord) , counsel, knowledge, fortitude, and piety (reverence) and shun
the seven Deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and
gluttony...Its your choice whether to embrace the Gifts of the Holy Spirit rising towards eternal light or succumb to the Seven deadly sins and lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to the Darkness, Purgatory or Heaven is our Soul...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...~ Zarya Parx 2013
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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Prayers for Today: Tuesday in Ordinary Time
Rosary - Sorrowful Mysteries
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
Pope Francis June 25 General Audience Address :
Promises of Faith
(2013-06-25 Vatican Radio)
Being Christian is a response to the voice of love, to a call to become children of God. This was the central theme of Pope Francis’ remarks at Mass on Tuesday morning in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence in the Vatican. The Holy Father also spoke of the Christian certainty that God never leaves us alone and asks us to go forward, even in the midst of difficulties.
Pope Francis focused his homily on the first reading of the day, from the Book of Genesis, which tells of the discussion between Abram and Lot his cousin for the division of the earth. “When I read this,” he said, “I think of the Middle East and so I ask the Lord [intensely] that He give wisdom to all of us, the wisdom [to say] let’s not fight, [you and I], I from here and you from there... the wisdom for peace.” Abram, the Pope observed, “keeps walking.” He said, “[Abram] had left his land to go he knew not where, but wherever the Lord would tell him.” He kept on walking, then, because he believed in the Word of God, which, “had invited him to go out of his land.” This man, perhaps ninety years old, said the Pope, looked upon the land that the Lord had shown him and believed:
"Abram departed his land [carrying] a promise: his entire journey is a going toward this promise. The way he walked his path is a model for how we [ought to walk our own]. God called Abram, a [single] person, and that one person makes an entire people. If we go to the Book of Genesis, to the beginning, to the creation, we find that God creates the stars, creates the plants, creates the animals, creates the these and the that’s and the others ... But He creates Man in the singular, one. God always speaks in the singular to us, because He has created in his image and likeness. And God speaks in the singular. He spoke to Abram and gave him a promise and invited him to come out of his land. We Christians have been called one-by-one: none of us is Christian by pure chance. No one.”
There is a call, “by name, and with a promise,” the Pope said, “Go ahead, I am with you! I walk beside you.” This, he said, Jesus knew as well: “Even in the most difficult moments He turns to the Father”:
"God accompanies us, God calls us by name, God promises [there will be] a line of heirs. This is something of ‘the surety of the Christian. It is not a coincidence, it is a call - a call that keeps us going. Being a Christian is a call of love, friendship, a call to become a child of God, brother of Jesus, to become fruitful in the transmission of this call to others, to become instruments of this call. There are so many problems, so many problems, there are difficult times, Jesus had many of His own! But always with that confidence: ‘The Lord has called me. The Lord is like me. The Lord has promised me.”
The Lord, he reiterated, "is faithful, for He can never deny Himself: He is faithfulness.” Thinking of the passage in which Abram, “is anointed father, for the first time, the father of peoples,” we also think of ourselves – we, who have been anointed in Baptism, and we think of our Christian life.”:
"Someone will say, ‘Father, I am a sinner’, but we all are, as everyone knows. The problem is: sinners, go forward with the Lord, go forward with that promise that He has made us, with the promise of fruitfulness, and tell others, recount to others others that the Lord is with us, that the Lord has chosen us and that He does not leave us alone, not ever! That certainty of the Christian will do us good. May the Lord give us, all of us, this desire to move forward, which Abram had, in the midst of all his problems: to go forward with the confidence that He who called me, who promised me so many beautiful things, is with me.”
Being Christian is a response to the voice of love, to a call to become children of God. This was the central theme of Pope Francis’ remarks at Mass on Tuesday morning in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence in the Vatican. The Holy Father also spoke of the Christian certainty that God never leaves us alone and asks us to go forward, even in the midst of difficulties.
Pope Francis focused his homily on the first reading of the day, from the Book of Genesis, which tells of the discussion between Abram and Lot his cousin for the division of the earth. “When I read this,” he said, “I think of the Middle East and so I ask the Lord [intensely] that He give wisdom to all of us, the wisdom [to say] let’s not fight, [you and I], I from here and you from there... the wisdom for peace.” Abram, the Pope observed, “keeps walking.” He said, “[Abram] had left his land to go he knew not where, but wherever the Lord would tell him.” He kept on walking, then, because he believed in the Word of God, which, “had invited him to go out of his land.” This man, perhaps ninety years old, said the Pope, looked upon the land that the Lord had shown him and believed:
"Abram departed his land [carrying] a promise: his entire journey is a going toward this promise. The way he walked his path is a model for how we [ought to walk our own]. God called Abram, a [single] person, and that one person makes an entire people. If we go to the Book of Genesis, to the beginning, to the creation, we find that God creates the stars, creates the plants, creates the animals, creates the these and the that’s and the others ... But He creates Man in the singular, one. God always speaks in the singular to us, because He has created in his image and likeness. And God speaks in the singular. He spoke to Abram and gave him a promise and invited him to come out of his land. We Christians have been called one-by-one: none of us is Christian by pure chance. No one.”
There is a call, “by name, and with a promise,” the Pope said, “Go ahead, I am with you! I walk beside you.” This, he said, Jesus knew as well: “Even in the most difficult moments He turns to the Father”:
"God accompanies us, God calls us by name, God promises [there will be] a line of heirs. This is something of ‘the surety of the Christian. It is not a coincidence, it is a call - a call that keeps us going. Being a Christian is a call of love, friendship, a call to become a child of God, brother of Jesus, to become fruitful in the transmission of this call to others, to become instruments of this call. There are so many problems, so many problems, there are difficult times, Jesus had many of His own! But always with that confidence: ‘The Lord has called me. The Lord is like me. The Lord has promised me.”
The Lord, he reiterated, "is faithful, for He can never deny Himself: He is faithfulness.” Thinking of the passage in which Abram, “is anointed father, for the first time, the father of peoples,” we also think of ourselves – we, who have been anointed in Baptism, and we think of our Christian life.”:
"Someone will say, ‘Father, I am a sinner’, but we all are, as everyone knows. The problem is: sinners, go forward with the Lord, go forward with that promise that He has made us, with the promise of fruitfulness, and tell others, recount to others others that the Lord is with us, that the Lord has chosen us and that He does not leave us alone, not ever! That certainty of the Christian will do us good. May the Lord give us, all of us, this desire to move forward, which Abram had, in the midst of all his problems: to go forward with the confidence that He who called me, who promised me so many beautiful things, is with me.”
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Liturgical Celebrations to be presided over by Pope: Summer
Vatican City, Summer2013 (VIS)
Following is the calendar of celebrations scheduled to be presided over by the Holy Father for the Summer of 2013:
JUNE
29 Saturday, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul: 9:30am, Mass and imposition of the pallium upon new metropolitans in the papal chapel.
JULY
June 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: “Dear children! With joy in the heart I love you all and call you to draw closer to my Immaculate Heart so I can draw you still closer to my Son Jesus, and that He can give you His peace and love, which are nourishment for each one of you. Open yourselves, little children, to prayer – open yourselves to my love. I am your mother and cannot leave you alone in wandering and sin. You are called, little children, to be my children, my beloved children, so I can present you all to my Son. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
June 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: "Dear children, in this restless time, anew I am calling you to set out after my Son - to follow Him. I know of the pain, suffering and difficulties, but in my Son you will find rest; in Him you will find peace and salvation. My children, do not forget that my Son redeemed you by His Cross and enabled you, anew, to be children of God; to be able to, anew, call the Heavenly Father, "Father". To be worthy of the Father, love and forgive, because your Father is love and forgiveness. Pray and fast, because that is the way to your purification, it is the way of coming to know and becoming cognizant of the Heavenly Father. When you become cognizant of the Father, you will comprehend that He is all you need. I, as a mother, desire my children to be in a community of one single people where the Word of God is listened to and carried out.* Therefore, my children, set out after my Son. Be one with Him. Be God's children. Love your shepherds as my Son loved them when He called them to serve you. Thank you." *Our Lady said this resolutely and with emphasis.
May 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:“Dear children! Today I call you to be strong and resolute in faith and prayer, until your prayers are so strong so as to open the Heart of my beloved Son Jesus. Pray little children, pray without ceasing until your heart opens to God’s love. I am with you and I intercede for all of you and I pray for your conversion. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Following is the calendar of celebrations scheduled to be presided over by the Holy Father for the Summer of 2013:
JUNE
29 Saturday, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul: 9:30am, Mass and imposition of the pallium upon new metropolitans in the papal chapel.
JULY
The Prefecture of the Papal Household has released Pope Francis' agenda
for the summer period, from July through to the end of August. Briefing
journalists, Holy See Press Office director, Fr. Federico Lombardi
confirmed that the Pope will remain 'based ' at the Casa Santa Marta
residence in Vatican City State for the duration of the summer.
As per tradition, all private and special audiences are suspended for the duration of the summer. The Holy Father's private Masses with employees will end July 7 and resume in September. The Wednesday general audiences are suspended for the month of July to resume August 7 at the Vatican.
7 July, 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 9:30am, Mass with seminarians and novices in the Vatican Basilica.
14 July Sunday , Pope Francis will lead the Angelus prayer from the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo.
Pope Francis will travel to Brazil for the 28th World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro from Monday July 22 to Monday July 29.
As per tradition, all private and special audiences are suspended for the duration of the summer. The Holy Father's private Masses with employees will end July 7 and resume in September. The Wednesday general audiences are suspended for the month of July to resume August 7 at the Vatican.
7 July, 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 9:30am, Mass with seminarians and novices in the Vatican Basilica.
14 July Sunday , Pope Francis will lead the Angelus prayer from the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo.
Pope Francis will travel to Brazil for the 28th World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro from Monday July 22 to Monday July 29.
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 06/25/2013.
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June 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: “Dear children! With joy in the heart I love you all and call you to draw closer to my Immaculate Heart so I can draw you still closer to my Son Jesus, and that He can give you His peace and love, which are nourishment for each one of you. Open yourselves, little children, to prayer – open yourselves to my love. I am your mother and cannot leave you alone in wandering and sin. You are called, little children, to be my children, my beloved children, so I can present you all to my Son. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
June 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: "Dear children, in this restless time, anew I am calling you to set out after my Son - to follow Him. I know of the pain, suffering and difficulties, but in my Son you will find rest; in Him you will find peace and salvation. My children, do not forget that my Son redeemed you by His Cross and enabled you, anew, to be children of God; to be able to, anew, call the Heavenly Father, "Father". To be worthy of the Father, love and forgive, because your Father is love and forgiveness. Pray and fast, because that is the way to your purification, it is the way of coming to know and becoming cognizant of the Heavenly Father. When you become cognizant of the Father, you will comprehend that He is all you need. I, as a mother, desire my children to be in a community of one single people where the Word of God is listened to and carried out.* Therefore, my children, set out after my Son. Be one with Him. Be God's children. Love your shepherds as my Son loved them when He called them to serve you. Thank you." *Our Lady said this resolutely and with emphasis.
May 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:“Dear children! Today I call you to be strong and resolute in faith and prayer, until your prayers are so strong so as to open the Heart of my beloved Son Jesus. Pray little children, pray without ceasing until your heart opens to God’s love. I am with you and I intercede for all of you and I pray for your conversion. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
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Today's Word: virtue vir·tue [eth-i-kuh
l]
Origin: 1175–1225; alteration (with i < Latin ) of Middle English vertu < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin virtūt- (stem of virtūs ) maleness, worth, virtue, equivalent to vir man (see virile) + -tūt- abstract noun suffix
noun
1. moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.
2. conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude.
3. chastity; virginity: to lose one's virtue.
4. a particular moral excellence. Compare cardinal virtues, natural virtue, theological virtue.
5. a good or admirable quality or property: the virtue of knowing one's weaknesses.
6. effective force; power or potency: a charm with the virtue of removing warts.
7. virtues, an order of angels. Compare angel ( def 1 ) .
8. manly excellence; valor.
Idioms
9. by / in virtue of, by reason of; because of: to act by virtue of one's legitimate authority.
10. make a virtue of necessity, to make the best of a difficult or unsatisfactory situation.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 15:2-5
2 Whoever lives blamelessly, who acts uprightly, who speaks the truth from the heart,
3 who keeps the tongue under control, who does not wrong a comrade, who casts no discredit on a neighbour,
4 who looks with scorn on the vile, but honours those who fear Yahweh, who stands by an oath at any cost,
5 who asks no interest on loans, who takes no bribe to harm the innocent. No one who so acts can ever be shaken.
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Today's Epistle - Genesis 13:2, 5-18
2 Abram was very rich in livestock, silver and gold.
5 Lot, who was travelling with Abram, had flocks and cattle of his own, and tents too.
6 The land was not sufficient to accommodate them both at once, for they had too many possessions to be able to live together.
7 Dispute broke out between the herdsmen
of Abram's livestock and those of Lot. (The Canaanites and Perizzites
were living in the country at the time.)
8 Accordingly Abram said to Lot, 'We do not want discord between us or between my herdsmen and yours, for we are kinsmen.
9 Is not the whole land open before you?
Go in the opposite direction to me: if you take the left, I shall go
right; if you take the right, I shall go left.'
10 Looking round, Lot saw all the Jordan plain, irrigated everywhere -- this was before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah-like the garden of Yahweh or the land of Egypt, as far as Zoar.
11 So Lot chose all the Jordan plain for himself and moved off eastwards. Thus they parted company:
12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan; Lot settled among the cities of the plain, pitching his tents on the outskirts of Sodom.
13 Now the people of Sodom were vicious and great sinners against Yahweh.
14 Yahweh said to Abram after Lot had parted company from him, 'Look all round from where you are, to north and south, to east and west,
15 for all the land within sight I shall give to you and your descendants for ever.
16 I shall make your descendants like
the dust on the ground; when people succeed in counting the specks of
dust on the ground, then they will be able to count your descendants too!
17 On your feet! Travel the length and breadth of the country, for I mean to give it to you.'
18 So Abram moved his tent and went to settle at the Oak of Mamre, at Hebron, and there he built an altar to Yahweh.
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Today's Gospel Reading - Matthew 7:12-14
Jesus said to his disciples: 'Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces. 'So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the Law and the Prophets. 'Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Reflection
Discernment and prudence in offering things of value. In the
relationships with others Jesus, above all, warns about certain
dangerous attitudes. The first one of these is not to judge (7, 1-5): it
is a true and proper prohibition, “do not judge”, it is an action that
influences every evaluation of contempt or of condemnation of others.
The last judgment is the exclusive competence of God; our figures of
measure and our criteria are relative; they are conditioned by our
subjectivity. Any condemnation of others becomes a condemnation of
oneself, in so far as it places us under the judgment of God and we
exclude ourselves from pardon. If your eye is pure, that is to say, is
free from every judgment of the brothers you can relate with them in a
true way before God. And now we consider the words of Jesus offered to
us by the liturgical text: “Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not
throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then
turn on you and tear you to pieces” (7, 6). At first sight this “saying”
of Jesus sounds strange to the sensibility of today’s reader. It may
represent a true enigma. But it is a way of saying, of a Semitic
language which has to be interpreted. At the time of Jesus just as in
ancient culture dogs were not greatly appreciated, because they were
considered somewhat savage and stray (U. Luz). But let us now consider
the positive and didactic-wisdom aspect of the words of Jesus: Do not
profane holy things; in last instance it is an invitation to use
prudence and discernment. In the Old Testament the holy things are the
meat for the sacrifice (Lv 22, 14; Ex 29, 33 ff; Nb 18, 8-19). The
approach of the prohibition of throwing the pearls to the pigs is
incomprehensible. For the Hebrews the pigs are impure animals, the
quintessence of repugnance. On the contrary, the pearls are the most
precious things that can exist. The warning of Jesus refers to those who
feed the stray dogs with consecrated meat destined to the sacrifice.
Such a behaviour is evil and usually imprudent because usually those
dogs were not fed and therefore, because of their insatiable hunger,
they could turn back and attack their “benefactors”.
The pearls at the metaphoric level could indicate the teachings of the wise or the interpretations of the “Torah”. In Matthew’s Gospel the pearl is the image of the Kingdom of God (Mt 13, 45ff). The interpretation which the evangelist gives mentioning this warning of Jesus is above all theological. Surely, this is the interpretation which seems to be more in harmony with the text and with the ecclesial reading of the words of Jesus: a warning to the Christian missionaries not to preach the Gospel just to anybody. (Gnilka, Luz).
• To follow a path. In the final part of the discourse (7, 13-27), then Matthew includes, among the others, a conclusive admonition of Jesus who invites to make a decisive choice in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven: the narrow door (7, 13-14). The word of Jesus is not only something to be understood and to interpret but, above all, it should become life. Now, to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven it is necessary to follow a path and to enter into the fullness of life through a “door”. The theme of the “path, the way” is very dear to the Old Testament (Dt 11,26-28; 30,15-20; Jr 21, 8; Ps 1, 6; Ps 118, 29-30; Ps 138, 4; Ws 5, 6-7 etc.). The road represented by two doors leads to different goals. A significance that is coherent with the admonishments of Jesus would be that, to the wide door is joined the wide path which leads to perdition or damnation, that is to say, to walk on a wide road is always something pleasant, but this is not said in our text. Rather it seems that Matthew agrees with the Jewish conception of the “road”; on the trail of Dt 30, 19 and Jr 21, 8 there are two roads that are in counter-position, that of death and that of life. To know how to choose among the diverse ways of life is decisive for entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. Anyone who chooses the narrow road that of life should know that it is full of afflictions; narrow means tried by suffering for the sake of faith.
Personal questions•
What impact does the word of Jesus have in your heart? Do you listen to
it in order to live under the gaze of the Father and in order to be
transformed personally and in the relationships with the brothers and
sisters?
• The word of Jesus, or rather, Jesus Himself is the door who makes us enter into the filial and fraternal life. Do you allow yourself to be guided and attracted by the narrow and demanding path of the Gospel? Or rather do you follow the wide and easy road that consists in doing what pleases or that leads you to satisfy all your desires, neglecting the needs of others?
• The word of Jesus, or rather, Jesus Himself is the door who makes us enter into the filial and fraternal life. Do you allow yourself to be guided and attracted by the narrow and demanding path of the Gospel? Or rather do you follow the wide and easy road that consists in doing what pleases or that leads you to satisfy all your desires, neglecting the needs of others?
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: St Prosper of Aquitaine
Feast Day: June 25
Patron Saint: n/a
Attributes: n/a
Saint Prosper of Aquitaine (c. 390 – c. 455), a Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo, was the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle.
Prosper was a native of Aquitaine,[3] and seems to have been educated at Marseilles. By 429 he was corresponding with Augustine.[4] In 431 he appeared in Rome to interview Pope Celestine I regarding the teachings of Augustine; there is no further trace of him until 440, the first year of the pontificate of Pope Leo I, who had been in Gaul, where he may have met Prosper. In any case Prosper was soon in Rome, attached to the pope in some secretarial or notarial capacity. Gennadius of Massilia's De viris illustribus (lxxxiv, 89) repeats the tradition that Prosper dictated the famous letters of Leo I against Eutyches. The date of his death is not known, but his chronicle goes as far as 455, and the fact that the chronicler Marcellinus mentions him under the year 463 seems to indicate that his death was shortly after that date.
Prosper was a layman, but he threw himself with ardour into the religious controversies of his day, defending Augustine and propagating orthodoxy. In his De vocatione omnium gentium ("The Call of all Nations"),[5] in which the issues of the call to the Gentiles is discussed in the light of Augustine's doctrine of Grace, Prosper appears as the first of the medieval Augustinians.
The Pelagians were attacked in a glowing polemical poem of about 1000 lines, Adversus ingratos, written about 430. The theme, dogma quod ... pestifero vomuit coluber sermone Britannus, is relieved by a treatment not lacking in liveliness and in classical measures. After Augustine's death he wrote three series of Augustinian defences, especially against Saint Vincent of Lerins (Pro Augustino responsiones).
His chief work was his De gratia Dei et libero arbitrio (432), written against John Cassian's Collatio. He also induced Pope Celestine to publish an open letter to the bishops of Gaul, Epistola ad episcopos Gallorum against some members of the Gaulish Church. He had earlier opened a correspondence with Augustine, along with his friend Hilary (not Hilary of Arles), and although he did not meet him personally, his enthusiasm for the great theologian led him to make an abridgment of his commentary on the Psalms, as well as a collection of sentences from his works—probably the first dogmatic compilation of that class in which Peter Lombard's Liber sententiarum is the best-known example. He also put into elegiac metre, in 106 epigrams, some of Augustine's theological dicta.
Far more important historically than these is Prosper's Epitoma chronicon (covering the period 379-455) which Prosper first composed in 433 and updated several times, finally in 455. It was circulated in numerous manuscripts and was soon continued by other hands, whose beginning dates identify Prosper's various circulated editions.[6] The Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911 found it a careless compilation from Saint Jerome in the earlier part, and from other writers in the later,[7] but that the lack of other sources makes it very valuable for the period from 425 to 455, which is drawn from Prosper's personal experience. Compared with his continuators, Prosper gives detailed coverage of political events. He covers Attila's invasions of Gaul (451) and Italy (452) in lengthy entries under their respective years. Though he was a poet himself, the sole secular writer Prosper mentions is Claudian. There were five different editions, the last of them dating from 455, just after the death of Valentinian III. For a long time the Chronicon imperiale was also attributed to "Prosper Tiro", but without the slightest justification. It is entirely independent of the real Prosper, and in parts even shows Pelagian tendencies and sympathies.
Most of his works were aimed at defending and distribution Augustine’s teachings, especially those pertaining to grace and free will. Following Augustine’s death in 430, Prosper continued to disseminate his teachings and spent his life working to make them acceptable. Prosper was the first chronicler to add to Jerome’s account, beginning his continuation half a century later. Prosper’s epigrams became most popular in his later years, providing a method for students of Christianity to learn moral lessons and aspects of the Augustinian doctrine.
Prosper also played a vital role in the Pelagian controversy in southern Gaul in the 420’s. With the help of Augustine and Pope Celestine, Prosper was able to put down revolutions of the Pelagian Christians.
Prosper was a native of Aquitaine,[3] and seems to have been educated at Marseilles. By 429 he was corresponding with Augustine.[4] In 431 he appeared in Rome to interview Pope Celestine I regarding the teachings of Augustine; there is no further trace of him until 440, the first year of the pontificate of Pope Leo I, who had been in Gaul, where he may have met Prosper. In any case Prosper was soon in Rome, attached to the pope in some secretarial or notarial capacity. Gennadius of Massilia's De viris illustribus (lxxxiv, 89) repeats the tradition that Prosper dictated the famous letters of Leo I against Eutyches. The date of his death is not known, but his chronicle goes as far as 455, and the fact that the chronicler Marcellinus mentions him under the year 463 seems to indicate that his death was shortly after that date.
Prosper was a layman, but he threw himself with ardour into the religious controversies of his day, defending Augustine and propagating orthodoxy. In his De vocatione omnium gentium ("The Call of all Nations"),[5] in which the issues of the call to the Gentiles is discussed in the light of Augustine's doctrine of Grace, Prosper appears as the first of the medieval Augustinians.
The Pelagians were attacked in a glowing polemical poem of about 1000 lines, Adversus ingratos, written about 430. The theme, dogma quod ... pestifero vomuit coluber sermone Britannus, is relieved by a treatment not lacking in liveliness and in classical measures. After Augustine's death he wrote three series of Augustinian defences, especially against Saint Vincent of Lerins (Pro Augustino responsiones).
His chief work was his De gratia Dei et libero arbitrio (432), written against John Cassian's Collatio. He also induced Pope Celestine to publish an open letter to the bishops of Gaul, Epistola ad episcopos Gallorum against some members of the Gaulish Church. He had earlier opened a correspondence with Augustine, along with his friend Hilary (not Hilary of Arles), and although he did not meet him personally, his enthusiasm for the great theologian led him to make an abridgment of his commentary on the Psalms, as well as a collection of sentences from his works—probably the first dogmatic compilation of that class in which Peter Lombard's Liber sententiarum is the best-known example. He also put into elegiac metre, in 106 epigrams, some of Augustine's theological dicta.
Far more important historically than these is Prosper's Epitoma chronicon (covering the period 379-455) which Prosper first composed in 433 and updated several times, finally in 455. It was circulated in numerous manuscripts and was soon continued by other hands, whose beginning dates identify Prosper's various circulated editions.[6] The Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911 found it a careless compilation from Saint Jerome in the earlier part, and from other writers in the later,[7] but that the lack of other sources makes it very valuable for the period from 425 to 455, which is drawn from Prosper's personal experience. Compared with his continuators, Prosper gives detailed coverage of political events. He covers Attila's invasions of Gaul (451) and Italy (452) in lengthy entries under their respective years. Though he was a poet himself, the sole secular writer Prosper mentions is Claudian. There were five different editions, the last of them dating from 455, just after the death of Valentinian III. For a long time the Chronicon imperiale was also attributed to "Prosper Tiro", but without the slightest justification. It is entirely independent of the real Prosper, and in parts even shows Pelagian tendencies and sympathies.
Writings
Prosper of Aquitaine’s most influential writings are admired for their classical qualities, but have been criticized for being flat and dull.[8] This lack of interest is proof that technical competence is not sufficient to make a poet.[8] His writings come mostly from the second quarter of the fifth century.- De vocatione omnium gentium (Calling of All Nations)
- Epitoma Chronicon
- Capitulla
- Sententia and Epigrammata
- Liber contra Collatorem
- Carmen de Providentia Divina (Poem on Divine Providence)
Legacy
"Prosper of Aquitaine was much more famous for what he wrote than for what he did." (Abbé L. Valentin) However, many historians believe his chief fame rests not on his historical work, but on his activities as a theologian and an aggressive propagandist for the Augustinian doctrine of grace.[13] It is no doubt that Prosper holds a place in the ranks of the moulders of theological understanding of the doctrine of grace.[14]Most of his works were aimed at defending and distribution Augustine’s teachings, especially those pertaining to grace and free will. Following Augustine’s death in 430, Prosper continued to disseminate his teachings and spent his life working to make them acceptable. Prosper was the first chronicler to add to Jerome’s account, beginning his continuation half a century later. Prosper’s epigrams became most popular in his later years, providing a method for students of Christianity to learn moral lessons and aspects of the Augustinian doctrine.
Prosper also played a vital role in the Pelagian controversy in southern Gaul in the 420’s. With the help of Augustine and Pope Celestine, Prosper was able to put down revolutions of the Pelagian Christians.
References
- Alexander Hwang. Intrepid Lover of Perfect Grace: The Life and Thought of Prosper of Aquitaine. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2009.
- Arturo Elberti, Prospero d'Aquitania: Teologo e Discepolo (Rome, 1999).
- Caroline White, Early Christian Latin Poets (New York, 2000) pp. 113–118.
- The Fathers of the Church (New York: The Catholic University of America, 1949) pp. 335–343.
- Mark Humphries. "Chronicle and Chronology: Prosper of Aquitaine, his methods and the development of early medieval chronography." Early Medieval Europe 5 (1996) 155–175.
- Prosper's Epitoma Chronicon was edited by Theodor Mommsen in the Chronica minora of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica (1892)
- Complete works in Migne's Patrologia Latina. vol. 51
- Saint Prosper of Aquitaine, the Call of All Nations, edited and translated by P. De Letter, S.J. (Series Ancient Christian writers 14) 1952.
- L. Valentin, St. Prosper d'Aquitaine: Étude sur la littérature écclésiastique au cinqième siècle en Gaule (Paris, 1900), offers a complete list of previous writings on Prosper and is still the main reference.
- August Potthast, Bibliotheca historica (1896).
- Steven Muhlberger, The Fifth Century Chroniclers (Great Britain: Redwood Press, 1990) pp. 48–60.
- Prosper's Epitoma Chronicon is available in English translation in From Roman to Merovingian Gaul: A Reader ed. & trans. A. C Murray (Ontario, 2003) pp. 62–76.
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Today's Snippet I: Six Ages of the World
It is based upon Christian religious events, from the creation of Adam to the events of Revelation. The six ages of history, with each age (Latin: aetas) lasting approximately 1,000 years, were widely believed and in use throughout the Middle Ages, and until the Enlightenment, the writing of history was mostly the filling out of all or some part of this outline.
The outline accounts for Seven Ages, just as there are seven days of the week, with the Seventh Age being eternal rest after the Final Judgement and End Times, just as the seventh day of the week is reserved for rest.[2] It was normally called the Six Ages of the World because in Augustine's schema they were the ages of the world, of history, while the Seventh Age was not of this world but, as Bede later elaborated, ran parallel to the six ages of the world. Augustine's presentation deliberately counters chiliastic and millenial ideas that the Seventh Age, World to Come would come after the sixth.[3]
Six Ages
The Six Ages as formulated by Saint Augustine, can be found in De catechizandis rudibus (On the catechizing of the uninstructed), Chapter 22:- The First Age: "The first is from the beginning of the human race, that is, from Adam, who was the first man that was made, down to Noah, who constructed the ark at the time of the flood," i.e the Antediluvian period.
- The Second Age: "..extends from that period on to Abraham, who was called the father indeed of all nations.."
- The Third Age: "For the third age extends from Abraham on to David the king."
- The Fourth Age: "The fourth from David on to that captivity whereby the people of God passed over into Babylonia."
- The Fifth Age: "The fifth from that transmigration down to the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ."
- The Sixth Age: "With His [Jesus Christ's] coming the sixth age has entered on its process."
Theory
Saint Augustine taught that there are six ages of the world in his De catechizandis rudibus (On the Catechising of the Uninstructed). Augustine was not the first to conceive of the Six Ages, which had its roots in the Jewish tradition, but he was the first Christian to write about it, and as his ideas became central to the church so did his authority.The theory originated from a passage in II Peter:
- "But of this one thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (II Peter 3:8)
Medieval Christian scholars believed it was possible to determine the overall time of human history, starting with Adam, by counting forward how long each generation had lived up to the time of Jesus, based on the ages recorded in the Bible. While the exact age of the earth was a matter of biblical interpretive debate, it was generally agreed man was somewhere in the last and final thousand years, the Sixth Age, and the final Seventh Age could happen at any time. The world was seen as an old place, the future would be much shorter than the past, a common image was of the world growing old.
While Augustine was the first to write of the Six Ages, early Christians prior to Augustine found no end of evidence in the Jewish traditions of the Old Testament, and initially set the date for the End of the World at the year 500. Hippolytus said that the measurements of the Ark of the Covenant added up to five and one-half cubits, meaning five and a half thousand years. Since Jesus had been born in the "sixth hour", or halfway through a day (or, five hundred years into an Age), and since five kingdoms (five thousand years) had already fallen according to Revelation, plus the half day of Jesus (the body of Jesus replacing the Ark of the Jews), it meant that five-thousand five-hundred years had already passed when Jesus was born and another 500 years would mark the end of the world. An alternative scheme had set the date to the year 202, but when this date passed without event, people expected the end in the year 500.
By the 3rd century, Christians no longer believed the "End of the Ages" would occur in their lifetime, as was common among the earliest Christians.[4]
References
- ^ David C. Alexander Augustine's Early Theology of the Church 2008 Page 219 "Augustine discussed the seven days of the creation narrative figuratively in terms of seven ages of the world."
- ^ G. Williams, P. Bibire Sagas, saints and settlements 2004 - Page 3 "As the Creation took six days, so the world will pass through six ages before reaching the seventh age, the sabbath. According to Augustine the first age extends from Adam to Noah,. 5 On aetates mundi before Augustine see R. Schmidt, ... "
- ^ G. Williams, P. Bibire Sagas, saints and settlements - Page 4 - 2004 "... years of earthly history before the eternal heavenly kingdom.10 Augustine was keen to counter such millennarianism. ... The seventh age of the Augustinian scheme could be seen, and indeed Bede formulates it thus, as running parallel to ...
- ^ Robin Lane Fox (1986). Pagans and Christians, pp. 266-267. ISBN 0-394-55495-7.
Further reading
- Saint Augustine, On the Catechising of the Uninstructed, chapter 22: "Of the Six Ages of the World"
- Graeme Dunphy (2010). "Six Ages of the World". In Graeme Dunphy. Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle. Leiden: Brill. pp. 1367–1370. ISBN 90 04 18464 3.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part Three: Life in Christ
Section One: Man's Vocation Life in The Spirit
CHAPTER ONE : THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
Article 8:2 Sin- The Definition of Sin
SECTION ONE
ONE MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
1699 Life in the Holy Spirit fulfills the vocation of man (chapter one). This life is made up of divine charity and human solidarity (chapter two). It is graciously offered as salvation (chapter three).
1699 Life in the Holy Spirit fulfills the vocation of man (chapter one). This life is made up of divine charity and human solidarity (chapter two). It is graciously offered as salvation (chapter three).
CHAPTER ONE
THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
1700
The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness
of God (article 1); it is fulfilled in his vocation to divine beatitude
(article 2). It is essential to a human being freely to direct himself to this
fulfillment (article 3). By his deliberate actions (article 4), the human
person does, or does not, conform to the good promised by God and attested by
moral conscience (article 5). Human beings make their own contribution to their
interior growth; they make their whole sentient and spiritual lives into means
of this growth (article 6). With the help of grace they grow in virtue (article
7), avoid sin, and if they sin they entrust themselves as did the prodigal
son Lk 15:11-32 to the mercy of our Father in heaven (article 8). In this way they
attain to the perfection of charity.
Article
8
SIN
II. The Definition of Sin
1849
Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in
genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain
goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been
defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal
law."St.
Augustine, Contra Faustum 22: PL 42, 418; St. Thomas Aquinas, STh
I-II, 71, 6
I-II, 71, 6
1850
Sin is an offense against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and
done that which is evil in your sight."Ps 51:4 Sin sets itself against
God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is
disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become "like
gods,"Gen
3:5 knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus
"love of oneself even to contempt of God."St. Augustine,
De civ. Dei 14, 28: PL 41, 436 In this proud
self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which
achieves our salvation.Phil 2:6-9
1851
It is precisely in the Passion, when the mercy of Christ is about to vanquish
it, that sin most clearly manifests its violence and its many forms: unbelief,
murderous hatred, shunning and mockery by the leaders and the people, Pilate's
cowardice and the cruelty of the soldiers, Judas' betrayal - so bitter to
Jesus, Peter's denial and the disciples' flight. However, at the very hour of
darkness, the hour of the prince of this world,Jn 14:30 The sacrifice of
Christ secretly becomes the source from which the forgiveness of our sins will
pour forth inexhaustibly.
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