Background Image

...

Because The Divine Goodness Could Not Be Adequately Represented By One Creature Alone, God Produced Many And Diverse Creatures, That What Was Wanting In One In The Representation Of The Divine Goodness Might Be Supplied By Another. For Goodness, Which In God Is Simple And Uniform, In Creatures Is Manifold And Divided. Thus The Whole Universe Together Participates In The Divine Goodness More Perfectly And Represents It Better Than Any Single Creature.

-Thomas Aquinas

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

Because The Divine Goodness

Thomas Aquinas

...

Because The Divine Goodness Could Not Be Adequately Represented By One Creature Alone, God Produced Many And Diverse Creatures, That What Was Wanting In One In The Representation Of The Divine Goodness Might Be Supplied By Another. For Goodness, Which In God Is Simple And Uniform, In Creatures Is Manifold And Divided. Thus The Whole Universe Together Participates In The Divine Goodness More Perfectly And Represents It Better Than Any Single Creature.

Views: 63621

Topic

More From Thomas Aquinas

One Aspect Of Neighbourly Love Is That We Must Not Merely Will Our Neighbours Good, But Actually Work To Bring It About.

To The Everlasting Father, And The Son Who Made Us Free And The Spirit, God Proceeding From Them Each Eternally, Be Salvation, Honour, Blessing, Might And Endless Majesty.

The Bread Of Angels Has Become The Bread Of Mankind; This Heavenly Bread Puts An End To All Images; O Wonderful Reality! The Poor, The Slave, And The Humble Can Eat The Lord.

Mercy Without Justice Is The Mother Of Dissolution; Justice Without Mercy Is Cruelty.

Law; An Ordinance Of Reason For The Common Good, Made By Him Who Has Care Of The Community.

The Eucharist Is The Sacrament Of Love; It Signifies Love, It Produces Love. The Eucharist Is The Consummation Of The Whole Spiritual Life.

Without The Suitable Conditions Life Could Not Exist. But Both Life And Its Conditions Set Forth The Operations Of Inscrutable Power. We Know Not Its Origin; We Know Not Its End. And The Presumption, If Not The Degradation, Rests With Those Who Place Upon The Throne Of The Universe A Magnified Image Of Themselves, And Make Its Doings A Mere Colossal Imitation Of Their Own. Wonder Was The Motive That Led People To Philosophy ... Wonder Is A Kind Of Desire In Knowledge. It Is The Cause Of Delight Because It Carries With It The Hope Of Discovery.

Prostitution In The Towns Is Like The Cesspool In The Palace; Take Away The Cesspool And The Palace Will Become An Unclean And Evil Smelling-place.

Whatever A Man Has In Superabundance Is Owed, Of Natural Right, To The Poor For Their Sustenance. So Ambrosius Says, And It Is Also To Be Found In The Decretum Gratiani: The Bread Which You Withhold Belongs To The Hungry: The Clothing You Shut Away, To The Naked: And The Money You Bury In The Earth Is The Redemption And Freedom Of The Penniless.

The Church Has Ever Proved Indestructible. Her Persecutors Have Failed To Destroy Her; In Fact, It Was During Times Of Persecution That The Church Grew More And More; While The Persecutors Themselves, And Those Whom The Church Would Destroy, Are The Very Ones Who Came To Nothing. . . .again, Errors Have Assailed Her; But In Fact, The Greater The Number Of Errors That Have Arisen, The More Has The Truth Been Made Manifest. . . . Nor Has The Church Failed Before The Assaults Of Demons: For She Is Like A Tower Of Refuge To All Who Fight Against The Devil.

The Truth Of Our Faith Becomes A Matter Of Ridicule Among The Infidels If Any Catholic, Not Gifted With The Necessary Scientific Learning, Presents As Dogma What Scientific Scrutiny Shows To Be False.

There Is Nothing On This Earth More To Be Prized Than True Friendship.

Sorrow Can Be Alleviated By Good Sleep, A Bath And A Glass Of Wine.

We Can Open Our Hearts To God, But Only With Divine Help.

Faith Has To Do With Things That Are Not Seen And Hope With Things That Are Not At Hand.

Good And Evil Are Essential Differences Of The Act Of The Will. For Good And Evil Pertain Essentially To The Will; Just As Truth And Falsehood Pertain To The Reason, The Act Of Which Is Distinguished Essentially By The Difference Of Truth And Falsehood (according As We Say That An Opinion Is True Or False.) Consequently, Good And Evil Volition Are Acts Differing In Species.

Bestow Upon Me, O Lord My God, Understanding To Know Thee, Diligence To Seek Thee, Wisdom To Find Thee, And A Faithfulness That May Finally Embrace Thee.

When Fear Is Excessive It Can Make Many A Man Despair.

All The Efforts Of The Human Mind Cannot Exhaust The Essence Of A Single Fly.

Charity Brings To Life Again Those Who Are Spiritually Dead.

He (mohammed) Seduced The People By Promises Of Carnal Pleasure To Which The Concupiscence Of The Flesh Urges Us. His Teaching Also Contained Precepts That Were In Conformity With His Promises, And He Gave Free Rein To Carnal Pleasure. In All This, As Is Not Unexpected; He Was Obeyed By Carnal Men. As For Proofs Of The Truth Of His Doctrine, He Brought Forward Only Such As Could Be Grasped By The Natural Ability Of Anyone With A Very Modest Wisdom. Indeed, The Truths That He Taught He Mingled With Many Fables And With Doctrines Of The Greatest Falsity.

Religion Of Islam

Every Cell In Us Worships God.

God Himself Would Not Permit Evil In This World If Good Did Not Come Of It For The Benefit And Harmony Of The Universe.

O How Unspeakable Is This Sacrament Which Sets Our Affections Ablaze With Charity. ... It Is The Fulfillment Of Christ's Mystical Body.

It Must Be Understood That Prime Matter, And Form As Well, Is Neither Generated Nor Corrupted, Because Every Generation Is From Something To Something. Now That From Which Generation Proceeds Is Matter, And That To Which It Proceeds Is Form. So That, If Matter Or Form Were Generated, There Would Be A Matter For Matter And A Form For Form, Endlessly. Whence, There Is Generation Only Of The Composite, Properly Speaking.

The Proper Effect Of The Eucharist Is The Transformation Of Man Into God.

Faith Is God's Work Within Us.

Good Can Exist Without Evil, Whereas Evil Cannot Exist Without Good.

To Pretend Angels Do Not Exist Because They Are Invisible Is To Believe We Never Sleep Because We Don't See Ourselves Sleeping.

He Suddenly Announced That He Could Not Write Any More Since "all That I Have Written Seems Like Straw To Me."

We Are Like Children, Who Stand In Need Of Masters To Enlighten Us And Direct Us; God Has Provided For This, By Appointing His Angels To Be Our Teachers And Guides.

One Faith, St. Paul Writes (eph. 4:5). Hold Most Firmly That Our Faith Is Identical With That Of The Ancients. Deny This, And You Dissolve The Unity Of The Church ... We Must Hold This For Certain, Namely: That The Faith Of The People At The Present Day Is One With The Faith Of The People In Past Centuries. Were This Not True, Then We Would Be In A Different Church Than They Were In And, Literally, The Church Would Not Be One.

God Is Never Angry For His Sake, Only For Ours.

The Highest Manifestation Of Life Consists In This: That A Being Governs Its Own Actions. A Thing Which Is Always Subject To The Direction Of Another Is Somewhat Of A Dead Thing.

Commemoration Of Gilbert Of Sempringham, Founder Of The Gilbertine Order, 1189 Some There Are Who Presume So Far On Their Wits That They Think Themselves Capable Of Measuring The Whole Nature Of Things By Their Intellect, In That They Esteem All Things True Which They See, And False Which They See Not. Accordingly, In Order That Man's Mind Might Be Freed From This Presumption, And Seek The Truth Humbly, It Was Necessary That Certain Things Far Surpassing His Intellect Should Be Proposed To Man By God.

Baptism Is The Sacrament Of Faith. Now, Dead Faith Does Not Suffice For Salvation .. .therefore, The Sacrament Of Baptism Cannot Give Salvation To A Man Whose Will ... Expels The Form Of Faith.

The Light Of Faith Makes Us See What We Believe.

Moral Science Is Better Occupied When Treating Of Friendship Than Of Justice.

A Thing Is Lovable According As It Is Good. But God Is Infinite Good. Therefore He Is Infinitely Lovable.

The Greater The Charity Of The Saints In Their Heavenly Home, The More They Intercede For Those Who Are Still On Their Journey And The More They Can Help Them By Their Prayers; The More They Are United With God, The More Effective Those Prayers Are. This Is In Accordance With Divine Order, Which Makes Higher Things React Upon Lower Things, Like The Brightness Of The Sun Filling The Atmosphere.

Because Philosophy Arises From Awe, A Philosopher Is Bound In His Way To Be A Lover Of Myths And Poetic Fables. Poets And Philosophers Are Alike In Being Big With Wonder.

The Principal Act Of Courage Is To Endure And Withstand Dangers Doggedly Rather Than To Attack Them.

I Receive Thee Ransom Of My Soul. For Love Of Thee Have I Studied And Kept Vigil Toiled Preached And Taught.

Not Everyone Who Is Enlightened By An Angel Knows That He Is Enlightened By Him.

Now This Relaxation Of The Mind From Work Consists On Playful Words Or Deeds. Therefore It Becomes A Wise And Virtuous Man To Have Recourse To Such Things At Times.

The Angel's Bread Is Made The Bread Of Man Today.

An Act Of Love Always Tends Towards Two Things; To The Good That One Wills, And To The Person For Whom One Wills It.

Mistakes Are Made On Two Counts: An Argument Is Either Based On Error Or Incorrectly Developed.

Evil Denotes The Lack Of Good. Not Every Absence Of Good Is An Evil, For Absence May Be Taken Either In A Purely Negative Or In Aprivative Sense. Mere Negation Does Not Display The Character Of Evil, Otherwise Nonexistents Would Be Evil And Moreover, A Thing Would Be Evil For Not Possessing The Goodness Of Something Else, Which Would Mean That Man Is Bad For Not Having The Strength Of A Lion Or The Speed Of A Wild Goat. But What Is Evil Is Privation; In This Sense Blindness Means The Privation Of Sight.

For Just As The First General Precepts Of The Law Of Nature Are Self-evident To One In Possession Of Natural Reason, And Have No Need Of Promulgation, So Also That Of Believing In God Is Primary And Self-evident To One Who Has Faith: For He That Cometh To God Must Believe That He Is.

Peace Is The Work Of Justice Indirectly, In So Far As Justice Removes The Obstacles To Peace; But It Is The Work Of Charity (love) Directly, Since Charity, According To Its Very Notion, Causes Peace.

Being Born He Have Himself As Our Companion, Eating With Us He Gave Himself As Food, Dying He Became Our Ransom, Reigning He Gives Himself As Our Reward

God Destines Us For An End Beyond The Grasp Of Reason.

It Is A Sin Directly Against One's Neighbour, Since One Man Cannot Over-abound In External Riches, Without Another Man Lacking Them.

There Is But One Church In Which Men Find Salvation, Just As Outside The Ark Of Noah It Was Not Possible For Anyone To Be Saved.

The Cross To Me Is Certain Salvation. The Cross Is That Which I Ever Adore. The Cross Of The Lord Is With Me. The Cross Is My Refuge.

Man Should Not Consider His Material Possession His Own, But As Common To All, So As To Share Them Without Hesitation When Others Are In Need.

The Happy Man In This Life Needs Friends.

Whatever Was In The Human Nature Of Christ Was Moved At The Bidding Of The Divine Will; Yet It Does Not Follow That In Christ There Was No Movement Of The Will Proper To Human Nature, For The Good Wills Of Other Saints Are Moved By God's Will... For Although The Will Cannot Be Inwardly Moved By Any Creature, Yet It Can Be Moved Inwardly By God.

The Study Of Philosophy Is Not That We May Know What Men Have Thought, But What The Truth Of Things Is.

To Convert Somebody Go And Take Them By The Hand And Guide Them.

It Is Clear That He Does Not Pray, Who, Far From Uplifting Himself To God, Requires That God Shall Lower Himself To Him, And Who Resorts To Prayer Not To Stir The Man In Us To Will What God Wills, But Only To Persuade God To Will What The Man In Us Wills.

It Is A Sin To Regard The Fact That God Cannot Do The Impossible As A Limitation On His Powers.

Anger And The Like Are Attributed To God On Account Of A Similitude Of Effect. Thus, Because To Punish Is Properly The Act Of An Angry Man, God's Punishment Is Metaphorically Spoken Of As His Anger.

A Man Does Not Always Choose What His Guardian Angel Intends.

The Servants Of God...whether Provoked By Word Or Work, By Keeping Themselves Tranquil And Peaceful, Evince A Perfect Nobleness Of Soul.

It Is Altogether Unlawful To Kill Oneself... Wherefore Suicide Is Contrary To The Inclination Of Nature, And To Charity Whereby Every Man Should Love Himself... Life Is God's Gift To Man, And Is Subject To His Power, Who Kills And Makes To Live. Hence Whoever Takes His Own Life, Sins Against God... For It Belongs To God Alone To Pronounce Sentence Of Death And Life.

Pray Thee, Spare, Thyself At Times: For It Becomes A Wise Man Sometimes To Relax The High Pressure Of His Attention To Work.

Devotion Is A Certain Act Of The Will By Which Man Gives Himself Promptly To Divine Service.

One Day When Thomas Aquinas Was Preaching To The Local Populace On The Love Of God, He Saw An Old Woman Listening Attentively To His Every Word. And Inspired By Her Eagerness To Learn More About Her God Whom She Loved So Dearly, He Said To The People: It Is Better To Be This Unlearned Woman, Loving God With All Her Heart, Than The Most Learned Theologian Lacking Love.

Even As In The Blessed In Heaven There Will Be Most Perfect Charity, So In The Damned There Will Be The Most Perfect Hate. Wherefore As The Saints Will Rejoice In All Goods, So Will The Damned Grieve For All Goods. Consequently The Sight Of The Happiness Of The Saints Will Give Them Very Great Pain.

Well-ordered Self-love Is Right And Natural.

Natural Inclinations Are Present In Things From God, Who Moves All Things. So It Is Impossible For The Natural Inclinations Of A Species To Be Toward Evil In Itself. But There Is In All Perfect Animals A Natural Inclination Toward Carnal Union. Therefore It Is Impossible For Carnal Union To Be Evil In Itself.

Baptism Is Not To Be Conferred On A Man Who Is Unwilling To Give Up His Other Sins, So Neither Should Baptism Be Given To One Who Is Unwilling To Renounce His Unbelief. Nevertheless, Each Of Them Receives The Sacrament If It Is Conferred On Him, Although Not Unto Salvation.

As Mariners Are Guided Into Port By The Shining Of A Star, So Christians Are Guided To Heaven By Mary.

In The Realm Of Evil Thoughts None Induces To Sin As Much As Do Thoughts That Concern The Pleasure Of The Flesh.

Purity And Love

The Soul Is Like An Uninhabited World That Comes To Life Only When God Lays His Head Against Us.

It May Well Happen That What Is In Itself The More Certain On Account Of The Weakness Of Our Intelligence, Which Is Dazzled By The Clearest Objects Of Nature; As The Owl Is Dazzled By The Light Of The Sun. Hence The Fact That Some Happen To Doubt About Articles Of Faith Is Not Due To The Uncertain Nature Of The Truths, But To The Weakness Of Human Intelligence; Yet The Slenderest Knowledge That May Be Obtained Of The Highest Things Is More Desirable Than The Most Certain Knowledge Obtained Of Lesser Things.

Whatever Is In Motion Must Be Put In Motion By Another. If That By Which It Is Put In Motion Be Itself Put In Motion, Then This Also Must Needs Be Put In Motion By Another, And That By Another Again. But This Cannot Go On To Infinity, Because Then There Would Be No First Mover, And, Consequently, No Other Mover; Seeing That Subsequent Movers Move Only Inasmuch As They Are Put In Motion By The First Mover; As The Staff Moves Only Because It Is Put In Motion By The Hand. Therefore It Is Necessary To Arrive At A First Mover, Put In Motion By No Other; And This Everyone Understands To Be God.

Just As In A Physical Body The Operation Of One Member Contributes To The Good Of The Whole Body, So It Is In A Spiritual Body Such As The Church. And Since All The Faithful Are One Body, The Good Of One Member Is Communicated To Another; Everyone Members, As The Apostle Says, Of One Another [eph 4:25]. For That Reason, Among The Points Of Faith Handed Down By The Apostles, Is That There Is A Community Of Goods In The Church, And This Is Expressed In The Words Communion Of Saints.

In The Life Of The Body A Man Is Sometimes Sick, And Unless He Takes Medicine, He Will Die. Even So In The Spiritual Life A Man Is Sick On Account Of Sin. For That Reason He Needs Medicine So That He May Be Restored To Health; And This Grace Is Bestowed In The Sacrament Of Penance.

Beware The Man Of A Single Book.

Law Has The Power To Compel: Indeed, The Ability To Enforce Is A Condition Of The Ability To Command.

If The Highest Aim Of A Captain Were To Preserve His Ship, He Would Keep It In Port Forever.

Don't Ask Who Said It? Ask What They Said.

Whenever God Wakes In Us, Our Thinking Becomes Clear - Nothing Is Missing.

Beware Of The Person Of One Book.

For Creation Is Not A Change, But That Dependence Of The Created Existence On The Principle From Which It Is Instituted, And Thus Is Of The Genus Of Relation; Whence Nothing Prohibits It Being In The Created As In The Subject. Creation Is Thus Said To Be A Kind Of Change, According To The Way Of Understanding, Insofar As Our Intellect Accepts One And The Same Thing As Not Existing Before And Afterwards Existing.

Because We Cannot Know What God Is, But Only What He Is Not, We Cannot Consider How He Is But Only How He Is Not.

Give Us, O Lord, A Steadfast Heart, Which No Unworthy Affection May Drag Downwards; Give Us An Unconquered Heart, Which No Tribulation Can Wear Out; Give Us An Upright Heart, Which No Unworthy Purpose May Tempt Aside. Bestow Upon Us Also, O Lord Our God, Understanding To Know You, Diligence To Seek You, Wisdom To Find You, And A Faithfulness That May Finally Embrace You; Through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Friendship Is The Source Of The Greatest Pleasures, And Without Friends Even The Most Agreeable Pursuits Become Tedious.

Wonder [admiratio Astonishment, Marvel] Is A Kind Of Desire For Knowledge. The Situation Arises When One Sees An Effect And Does Not Know Its Cause, Or When The Cause Of The Particular Effect Is One That Exceeds His Power Of Understanding. Hence, Wonder Is A Cause Of Pleasure Insofar As There Is Annexed The Hope Of Attaining Understanding Of That Which One Wants To Know. ... For Desire Is Especially Aroused By The Awareness Of Ignorance, And Consequently A Man Takes The Greatest Pleasure In Those Things Which He Discovers For Himself Or Learns From The Ground Up.

Secondly, Man Sins Against Nature When He Goes Against His Generic Nature, That Is To Say, His Animal Nature. Now, It Is Evident That, In Accord With Natural Order, The Union Of The Sexes Among Animals Is Ordered Towards Conception. From This It Follows That Every Sexual Intercourse That Cannot Lead To Conception Is Opposed To Man's Animal Nature.

We Can't Have Full Knowledge All At Once. We Must Start By Believing; Then Afterwards We May Be Led On To Master The Evidence For Ourselves.

If Someone Knows From Experience That Daily Communion Increases Fervor Without Lessening Reverence, Then Let Him Go Every Day. But If Someone Finds That Reverence Is Lessened And Devotion Not Much Increased, Then Let Him Sometimes Abstain, So As To Draw Near Afterwards With Better Dispositions.

The Custom Of The Church Has Very Great Authority And Ought To Be Jealously Observed In All Things.

A Man Has Free Choice To The Extent That He Is Rational.

If, Then, You Are Looking For The Way By Which You Should Go, Take Christ, Because He Himself Is The Way.

We Set Forth Our Petitions Before God, Not In Order To Make Known To Him Our Needs And Desires, But Rather So That We Ourselves May Realize That In These Things It Is Necessary To Turn To God For Help.

To Bear With Patience Wrongs Done To Oneself Is A Mark Of Perfection, But To Bear With Patience Wrongs Done To Someone Else Is A Mark Of Imperfection And Even Of Actual Sin.

The Things We Love Tell Us Who We Are.

The Human Mind May Perceive Truth Only Through Thinking, As Is Clear From Augustine.

Every Truth Without Exception- And Whoever May Utter It- Is From The Holy Spirit.

Faith Will Tell Us Christ Is Present, When Our Human Senses Fail.

A Man's Heart Is Right When He Wills What God Wills.

To Restore Man, Who Had Been Laid Low By Sin, To The Heights Of Divine Glory, The Word Of The Eternal Father, Though Containing All Things Within His Immensity, Willed To Become Small. This He Did Not By Putting Aside His Greatness But By Taking To Himself Our Littleness.

The Only-begotten Son Of God, Wanting To Make Us Sharers In His Divinity, Assumed Our Nature, So That He, Made Man, Might Make Men Gods.

Now, Nothing Can Be Brought From Potentiality To Actual Existence Except Through Something Actually Existing

Humility Is The Mark Of A Genuine Disciple.

Give, Expecting Nothing There Of.

I Cannot Understand How Anyone Conscious Of Mortal Sin Can Laugh Or Be Merry.

The Image Of God Always Abides In The Soul, Whether This Image Be Obsolete And Clouded Over As To Amount To Almost Nothing; Or Whether It Be Obscured Or Disfigured, As Is The Case With Sinners; Or Whether It Be Clear And Beautiful As Is The Case With The Just.

Most Men Seem To Live According To Sense Rather Than Reason.

Eternity Is Called Whole, Not Because It Has Parts, But Because It Is Lacking In Nothing.

Justice Is A Certain Rectitude Of Mind Whereby A Man Does What He Ought To Do In The Circumstances Confronting Him.

Thus Angels' Bread Is Made The Bread Of Man Today: The Living Bread From Heaven With Figures Doth Away: O Wondrous Gift Indeed! The Poor And Lowly May Upon Their Lord And Master Feed.

The Test Of The Artist Does Not Lie In The Will With Which He Goes To Work, But In The Excellence Of The Work He Produces.

The Soul Is Known By It's Acts.

Not Everything That Is More Difficult Is More Meritorious.

Behold Our Refutation Of The Error. It Is Not Based On Documents Of Faith, But On The Reasons And Statements Of The Philosophers Themselves. If Then Anyone There Be Who, Boastfully Taking Pride In His Supposed Wisdom, Wishes To Challenge What We Have Written, Let Him Not Do It In Some Corner Nor Before Children Who Are Powerless To Decide On Such Difficult Matters. Let Him Reply Openly If He Dare. He Shall Find Me There Confronting Him, And Not Only My Negligible Self, But Many Another Whose Study Is Truth.

Every Judgement Of Conscience, Be It Right Or Wrong, Be It About Things Evil In Themselves Or Morally Indifferent, Is Obligatory, In Such Wise That He Who Acts Against His Conscience Always Sins.

It Is Necessary To Posit Something Which Is Necessary Of Itself, And Has No Cause Of Its Necessity Outside Of Itself But Is The Cause Of Necessity In Other Things. And All People Call This Thing God.

To Virginity Is Awarded The Tribute Of The Highest Beauty

It Is Possible To Demonstrate God's Existence, Although Not A Priori, Yet A Posteriori From Some Work Of His More Surely Known To Us.

A Man Should Remind Himself That An Object Of Faith Is Not Scientifically Demonstrable, Lest Presuming To Demonstrate What Is Of Faith, He Should Produce Inconclusive Reasons And Offer Occasion For Unbelievers To Scoff At A Faith Based On Such Ground.

Distinctions Drawn By The Mind Are Not Necessarily Equivalent To Distinctions In Reality.

It Is Not Theft, Properly Speaking, To Take Secretly And Use Another's Property In A Case Of Extreme Need: Because That Which He Takes For The Support Of His Life Becomes His Own Property By Reason Of That Need

O Saving Victim, Opening Wide The Gate Of Heaven To Man Below, Our Foes Press On From Every Side, Thine Aid Supply, Thy Strength Bestow.

A Scrap Of Knowledge About Sublime Things Is Worth More Than Any Amount About Trivialities.

All My Words Are But Chaff Next To The Faith Of A Simple Man.

The Fire Of Hell Is Called Eternal, Only Because It Never Ends. Still, There Is Change In The Pains Of The Lost... Hence In Hell True Eternity Does Not Exist, But Rather Time.

[it Is Appropriate That The Body And Blood Of Christ Be Truly Present In This Sacrament] Because Of The Perfection Of The New Covenant. The Sacrifices Of The Old Covenant Contained The True Sacrifice Of Christ's Passion Only In Symbol....therefore It Was Necessary That The Sacrifice Of The New Covenant, Instituted By Christ, Have Something More, Namely, That It Contain Christ Himself Who Has Suffered And Contain Him Not Only In Symbol But In Reality.

Better To Illuminate Than Merely To Shine.

The Soul Is Perfected By Knowledge And Virtue.

You Change People By Delight, By Pleasure.

Gods Are Called Many By The Error Of Some Who Worshipped Many Deities, Thinking As They Did The Planets And Other Stars Were Gods, And Also The Separate Parts Of The World.

Right Faith Is Of Necessity Required For Baptism, Since It Is Said: "the Justice Of God Is By Faith In Jesus Christ" (romans 3:22) ... Therefore, Baptism Without Faith Avails Nothing And Thus We Must Recall That Without Faith No One Is Acceptable To God.

The Blessed In The Kingdom Of Heaven Will See The Punishments Of The Damned, In Order That Their Bliss Be More Delightful For Them.

The Minister To Whom Confession Is Made Is The Delegate Of Christ, Who Is The Judge Of The Living And The Dead.

It Is Unlawful To Add Anything To The Words Of Holy Scripture Regarding The Sense.

It Must Be Said That Charity Can, In No Way, Exist Along With Mortal Sin.

Just As A Man Cannot Live In The Flesh Unless He Is Born In The Flesh, Even So A Man Cannot Have The Spiritual Life Of Grace Unless He Is Born Again Spiritually. This Regeneration Is Effected By Baptism: "unless A Man Is Born Again Of Water And The Holy Spirit, He Cannot Enter Into The Kingdom Of God" (jn 3:5)

When The Devil Is Called The God Of This World, It Is Not Because He Made It, But Because We Serve Him With Our Worldliness.

God's Precepts Are Light To The Loving, Heavy To The Fearful.

Future Contingents Cannot Be Certain To Us, Because We Know Them As Such. They Can Be Certain Only To God Whose Understanding Is In Eternity Above Time. Just As A Man Going Along A Road Does Not See Those Who Come After Him; But The Man Who Sees The Whole Road From A Height Sees All Those Who Are Going Along The Road At The Same Time.

Whatever A Man Has In Superabundance Is Owed, Of Natural Right, To The Poor For Their Sustenance.

Jewish Community

Christ Was Either Liar, Lunatic, Or Lord!

The Soul, Which Is The First Principle Of Life, Is Not A Body, But The Act Of A Body; Just As Heat, Which Is The Principle Of Calefaction, Is Not A Body, But An Act Of A Body.

Love Must Precede Hatred, And Nothing Is Hated Save Through Being Contrary To A Suitable Thing Which Is Loved. And Hence It Is That Every Hatred Is Caused By Love.

He Who Is Drawn To Something Desirable Does Not Desire To Have It As A Thought But As A Thing.

The Human Race Was In Need Of Salvation Because Of The Perversity Of Sin. For When People Who Are Ill Are Cured From Their Illness, They Are Called "saved." Therefore, The Lord Says: "your Faith Has Saved You.

Sin Is A Spiritual Illness; Thus Sinners Are In Need Of Salvation.

In Order For A War To Be Just, Three Things Are Necessary. First, The Authority Of The Sovereign... Secondly, A Just Cause... Thirdly... A Rightful Intention.

...[sacred] Doctrine Is Especially Based Upon Arguments From Authority, Inasmuch As Its Principles Are Obtained By Revelation: Thus We Ought To Believe On The Authority Of Those To Whom The Revelation Has Been Made. Nor Does This Take Away From The Dignity Of This Doctrine, For Although The Argument From Authority Based On Human Reason Is The Weakest, Yet The Argument From Authority Based On Divine Revelation Is The Strongest.

The Celebration Of Holy Mass Is As Valuable As The Death Of Jesus On The Cross.

Given The Sin Of Impiety Through Which They [the Romans] Sinned Against The Divine Nature [by Idolatry], The Punishment That Led Them To Sin Against Their Own Nature Followed.... I Say, Therefore, That Since They Changed Into Lies [by Idolatry] The Truth About God, He Brought Them To Ignominious Passions, That Is, To Sins Against Nature; Not That God Led Them To Evil, But Only That He Abandoned Them To Evil.

Venial Sin Becomes Mortal Sin When One Approves It As An End. . .

I Cannot Go On.... All That I Have Written Seems To Me Like So Much Straw Compared To What I Have Seen And What Has Been Revealed To Me.

By Nature All Men Are Equal In Liberty, But Not In Other Endowments.

Practical Sciences Proceed By Building Up; Theoretical Science By Resolving Into Components.

There Is No Leisure About Politics.

Grace Renders Us Like God And A Partaker Of The Divine Nature.

The Magnitude Of The Punishment Matches The Magnitude Of The Sin. Now A Sin That Is Against God Is Infinite; The Higher The Person Against Whom It Is Committed, The Graver The Sin-it Is More Criminal To Strike A Head Of State Than A Private Citizen-and God Is Of Infinite Greatness. Therefore An Infinite Punishment Is Deserved For A Sin Committed Against Him.

The Apostles And Their Successors Are God's Vicars In Governing The Church Which Is Built On Faith And The Sacraments Of Faith. Wherefore, Just As They May Not Institute Another Church, So Neither May They Deliver Another Faith, Nor Institute Other Sacraments.

The Existence Of A Prime Mover- Nothing Can Move Itself; There Must Be A First Mover. The First Mover Is Called God.

First, I Say That He Draws Near To Those Who Make Peace With Him. For God Is The One Who Brings About Peace; And Where Else Should Peace Dwell Than In Peace?

To Live Well Is To Work Well, To Show A Good Activity.

To One Who Has Faith, No Explanation Is Necessary. To One Without Faith, No Explanation Is Possible.

God Has No Need For Our Worship. It Is We Who Need To Show Our Gratitude For What We Have Received.

To Love God Is Something Greater Than To Know Him.

Those Who Are More Adapted To The Active Life Can Prepare Themselves For Contemplation In The Practice Of The Active Life, While Those Who Are More Adapted To The Contemplative Life Can Take Upon Themselves The Works Of The Active Life So As To Become Yet.

Contemplative Life

Charity, By Which God And Neighbor Are Loved, Is The Most Perfect Friendship.

It Would Be Superfluous To Receive By Faith, Things That Can Be Known By Natural Reason

Mary Means Star Of The Sea, For As Mariners Are Guided To Port By The Ocean Star, So Christians Attain To Glory Through Mary's Maternal Intercession.

The Greatness Of The Human Being Consists In This: That It Is Capable Of The Universe.

But Man Is Freer Than All The Animals, On Account Of His Free-will, With Which He Is Endowed Above All Other Animals.

How Is It They Live In Such Harmony The Billions Of Stars - When Most Men Can Barely Go A Minute Without Declaring War In Their Minds About Someone They Know.

Hold Firmly That Our Faith Is Identical With That Of The Ancients. Deny This, And You Dissolve The Unity Of The Church.

There Can Be No Joy In Living Without Joy In Work.

Here 'neath Veils, My Saviour Darkly I Behold; To My Thirsting Spirit All Thy Light Unfold; Face To Face In Heaven Let Me Come To Thee, And The Blessed Vision Of Thy Glory See.

Angels Transcend Every Religion, Every Philosophy, Every Creed. In Fact Angels Have No Religion As We Know It... Their Existence Precedes Every Religious System That Has Ever Existed On Earth.

If A Man Deliberately Abstains From Wine To Such An Extent That He Does Serious Harm To His Nature, He Will Not Be Free From Blame.

Miracles Are Signs Not To Them That Believe, But To Them That Believe Not.

Speaking In Tongues

If You Seek Patience, You Will Find No Better Example Than The Cross. Great Patience Occurs In Two Ways: Either When One Patiently Suffers Much, Or When One Suffers Things Which One Is Able To Avoid And Yet Does Not Avoid. Christ Endured Much On The Cross, And Did So Patiently, Because When He Suffered He Did Not Threaten; He Was Led Like A Sheep To The Slaughter And He Did Not Open His Mouth.

For In Order That Man May Do Well, Whether In The Works Of The Active Life, Or In Those Of The Contemplative Life, He Needs The Fellowship Of Friends.

Contemplative Life

Sorrow Can Be Alleviated By Good Sleep, A Bath And A Glass Of Good Wine.

No Man Truly Has Joy Unless He Lives In Love.

As Regards The Individual Nature, Woman Is Defective And Misbegotten, For The Active Power Of The Male Seed Tends To The Production Of A Perfect Likeness In The Masculine Sex; While The Production Of A Woman Comes From Defect In The Active Power.

Rarely Affirm, Seldom Deny, Always Distinguish.

The Perfection Of The Effect Demonstrates The Perfection Of The Cause, For A Greater Power Brings About A More Perfect Effect. But God Is The Most Perfect Agent. Therefore, Things Created By Him Obtain Perfection From Him. So, To Detract From The Perfection Of Creatures Is To Detract From The Perfection Of Divine Power.

It Is Requisite For The Relaxation Of The Mind That We Make Use, From Time To Time, Of Playful Deeds And Jokes.

Godhead Here In Hiding, Whom I Adore Masked By These Bare Shadows, Shape And Nothing More, See, Lord, At Thy Service Low Lies Here A Heart Lost, All Lost In Wonder At The God Thou Art

Concerning Perfect Blessedness Which Consists In A Vision Of God.

To Teach In Order To Lead Others To Faith Is The Task Of Every Preacher And Of Each Believer.

There Is Nothing In Your Mind Which Wasn't Experienced Before Hand.

The Same Fire" (which He Decides To Be Material) " Torments The Damned In Hell And The Just In Purgatory...the Least Pain In Purgatory Exceeds The Greatest In This Life.

Suppose A Person Entering A House Were To Feel Heat On The Porch, And Going Further, Were To Feel The Heat Increasing, The More They Penetrated Within. Doubtless, Such A Person Would Believe There Was A Fire In The House, Even Though They Did Not See The Fire That Must Be Causing All This Heat. A Similar Thing Will Happen To Anyone Who Considers This World In Detail: One Will Observe That All Things Are Arranged According To Their Degrees Of Beauty And Excellence, And That The Nearer They Are To God, The More Beautiful And Better They Are.

Faith Does Not Quench Desire, But Inflames It.

Reason In Man Is Rather Like God In The World.

Better To Illuminate Than Merely To Shine; To Deliver To Others Contemplated Truths Than Merely To Contemplate.

Trending Author

Category