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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.

-Thomas Aquinas

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Given The Sin Of

Thomas Aquinas

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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.

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True Peace Consists In Not Separating Ourselves From The Will Of God.

Wonder Is The Desire Of Knowledge.

There Is No Leisure About Politics.

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

To Love God Is Something Greater Than To Know Him.

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.

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

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

The Truth Of The Christian Faith Surpasses The Capacity Of Reason.

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.

I Would Rather Feel Compassion Than Know The Meaning Of It. I Would Hope To Act With Compassion Without Thinking Of Personal Gain.

Without Sanctifying Grace It Is Not Possible To Refrain Long From Mortal Sin.

You Change People By Delight, By Pleasure.

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.

Unbelief Is The Greatest Of Sins.

Characteristics Which Define Beauty Are Wholeness, Harmony And Radiance.

Of All The Pursuits Open To Men, The Search For Wisdom Is Most Perfect, More Sublime, More Profitable, And More Full Of Joy.

There Is Within Every Soul A Thirst For Happiness And Meaning.

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.

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

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.

Grant Me, O Lord My God, A Mind To Know You, A Heart To Seek You, Wisdom To Find You, Conduct Pleasing To You, Faithful Perseverance In Waiting For You, And A Hope Of Finally Embracing You. Amen.

What Does It Take To Become A Saint? Will It.

The Blessed Eucharist Is The Perfect Sacrament Of The Lord's Passion, Since It Contains Christ Himself And His Passion.

Love Is A Binding Force, By Which Another Is Joined To Me And Cherished By Myself.

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.

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

All That Is True, By Whomsoever It Has Been Said Has Its Origin In The Spirit.

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

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

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.

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

There Would Not Be A Perfect Likeness Of God In The Universe If All Things Were Of One Grade Of Being.

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

Jesus Lord, Kind Pelican, Cleanse My Filth With Thy Blood, One Drop Of Which Can Save The Whole World From All Its Sin

The Sacrament Of The Body Of The Lord Puts The Demons To Flight, Defends Us Against The Incentives To Vice And To Concupiscence, Cleanses The Soul From Sin, Quiets The Anger Of God, Enlightens The Understanding To Know God, Inflames The Will And The Affections With The Love Of God, Fills The Memory With Spiritual Sweetness, Confirms The Entire Man In Good, Frees Us From Eternal Death, Multiplies The Merits Of A Good Life, Leads Us To Our Everlasting Home, And Re-animates The Body To Eternal Life

Nothing Which Implies Contradiction Falls Under The Omnipotence Of God.

The Knowledge Of God Is The Cause Of Things. For The Knowledge Of God Is To All Creatures What The Knowledge Of The Artificer Is To Things Made By His Art.

Knowledge Of God

Not Everything That Is More Difficult Is More Meritorious.

The Things That We Love Tell Us What We Are.

Charity Is The Form, Mover, Mother And Root Of All The Virtues.

The World Of Pure Spirits Stretches Between The Divine Nature And The World Of Human Beings; Because Divine Wisdom Has Ordained That The Higher Should Look After The Lower, Angels Execute The Divine Plan For Human Salvation: They Are Our Guardians, Who Free Us When Hindered And Help To Bring Us Home.

He Who Is Not Angry When There Is Just Cause For Anger Is Immoral. Why? Because Anger Looks To The Good Of Justice. And If You Can Live Amid Injustice Without Anger, You Are Immoral As Well As Unjust.

How Can We Live In Harmony? First We Need To Know We Are All Madly In Love With The Same God.

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

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.

That The Saints May Enjoy Their Beatitude And The Grace Of God More Abundantly They Are Permitted To See The Punishment Of The Damned In Hell.

Obedience Unites Us So Closely To God That It In A Way Transforms Us Into Him, So That We Have No Other Will But His. If Obedience Is Lacking, Even Prayer Cannot Be Pleasing To God.

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.

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

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

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.

To Virginity Is Awarded The Tribute Of The Highest Beauty

Since Faith Rests Upon Infallible Truth, And Since The Contrary Of A Truth Can Never Be Demonstrated, It Is Clear That The Arguments Brought Against Faith Cannot Be Demonstrations, But Are Difficulties That Can Be Answered.

They Also Have At That Critical Point Of Death The Opportunity To Be Converted To God Through Repentance. And If They Are So Obstinate That Even At The Point Of Death Their Heart Does Not Draw Back From Malice, It Is Possible To Make A Quite Probable Judgment That They Would Never Come Away From Evil.

For It Is Necessary In Every Practical Science To Proceed In A Composite (i.e. Deductive) Manner. On The Contrary In Speculative Science, It Is Necessary To Proceed In An Analytical Manner By Breaking Down The Complex Into Elementary Principles.

Scientific Method

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

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

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

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.

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

Charity Is Not A Potency Of The Soul, Because If It Were It Would Be Natural. Nor Is It A Passion, Because It Is Not In A Sensitive Potency In Which Are All Passions. Nor Is It A Habit, Because A Habit Is Removed With Difficulty; Charity, However, Is Easily Lost Through One Act Of Mortal Sin. Therefore Charity Is Not Something Created In The Soul.

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.

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

It Is Due To Neither Impotence Nor Ignorance On God’s Part That Evils Occur In The World, But It Is Owing To The Order Of His Wisdom And To The Greatness Of His Goodness, Whence Come The Many And Divers Grades Of Goodness In Things, Many Of Which Would Be Lacking Were He To Allow No Evil To Exist. Thus There Would Be No Good Of Patience Without The Evil Of Persecution, Nor The Good Of The Preservation Of Its Life In A Lion, Without The Evil Of The Destruction Of The Animals On Which It Lives.

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

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

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

Far Graver Is It To Corrupt The Faith That Is The Life Of The Soul Than To Counterfeit The Money That Sustains Temporal Life.

Even As He Would Be Guilty Of Falsehood Who Would, In The Name Of Another Person, Proffer Things That Are Not Committed To Him, So Too Does A Man Incur The Guilt Of Falsehood Who, On The Part Of The Church, Gives Worship To God Contrary To The Manner Established By The Church Or Divine Authority, And According To Ecclesiastical Custom.

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

Nothing Created Has Ever Been Able To Fill The Heart Of Man. God Alone Can Fill It Infinitely.

Justice Is In Subjects As Well As In Rulers.

Man Is Closer To God According To His Existence In Grace Than He Is According To His Existence In Nature.

An Angel Can Illumine The Thought And Mind Of Man By Strengthening The Power Of Vision And By Bringing Within His Reach Some Truth Which The Angel Himself Contemplates.

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.

If All The Sins Of The Flesh Are Worthy Of Condemnation Because By Them Man Allows Himself To Be Dominated By That Which He Has Of The Animal Nature, Much More Deserving Of Condemnation Are The Sins Against Nature By Which Man Degrades His Own Animal Nature.

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

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

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?

It [covetousness] Is A Sin Against God, Just As All Mortal Sins, In As Much As Man Condemns Things Eternal For The Sake Of Temporal Things.

So, To Detract From The Perfection Of Creatures Is To Detract From The Perfection Of Divine Power.

Sloth Is Sluggishness Of The Mind Which Neglects To Begin Good...it Is Evil In Its Effect, If It So Oppresses Man As To Draw Him Away Entirely From Good Deeds.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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

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

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

God Is Not Related To Creatures As Though Belonging To A Different "genus," But As Transcending Every "genus," And As The Principle Of All "genera.

Pain Itself Can Be Pleasurable Accidentally In So Far As It Is Accompanied By Wonder, As In Stage-plays; Or In So Far As It Recalls A Beloved Object To One's Memory, And Makes One Feel One's Love For The Thing, Whose Absence Gives Us Pain. Consequently, Since Love Is Pleasant, Both Pain And Whatever Else Results From Love, In So Far As They Remind Us Of Our Love, Are Pleasant.

To Love Is To Will The Good Of The Other.

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

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.

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

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.

The Greatest Kindness One Can Render To Any Man Consists In Leading Him From Error To Truth.

The Splendor Of A Soul In Grace Is So Seductive That It Surpasses The Beauty Of All Created Things.

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.

Humility Is The Mark Of A Genuine Disciple.

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.

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.

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

Arrive At Knowledge Over Small Streamlets, And Do Not Plunge Immediately Into The Ocean, Since Progress Must Go From The Easier To The More Difficult.

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.

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

Baptism Is The Door Of The Spiritual Life And The Gateway To The Sacraments.

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.

Do Not Wish To Jump Immediately From The Streams To The Sea, Because One Has To Go Through Easier Things To The More Difficult.

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.

Affirmative Precepts Are Distinguished From Negative Whenever One Is Not Comprised In The Other; Thus, That Of Honoring Parents Does Not Comprise That Of Not Killing, And Vice Versa.

Believing Is An Act Of The Intellect Assenting To The Divine Truth By Command Of The Will Moved By God Through Grace.

Perfection Of Moral Virtue Does Not Wholly Take Away The Passions, But Regulates Them.

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

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.

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

Anything Done Against Faith Or Conscience Is Sinful.

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.

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

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

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.

In A False Person, Sacraments Do Not Produce Any Effect.

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.

Happiness Is Secured Through Virtue; It Is A Good Attained By Man's Own Will.

By The Divine Providence [animals] Are Intended For Man's Use... Hence It Is Not Wrong For Man To Make Use Of Them, Either By Killing Or In Any Other Way Whatsoever.

Three Things Are Necessary For The Salvation Of Man: To Know What He Ought To Believe; To Know What He Ought To Desire; And To Know What He Ought To Do.

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

If Anyone Without The Right Faith Receives Baptism Outside The Church, He Does Not Receive It Unto Salvation ... From The Comparison Of The Church To Paradise, We Learn That Men Can Receive Her Baptism Even Outside Her Fold, But That Out There No One Can Receive Or Keep The Salvation Of The Blessed.

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.

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

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.

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

This Blood That But One Drop Of Has The Power To Win All The World Forgiveness Of Its World Of Sin.

If A Thing Can Be Done Adequately By Means Of One, It Is Superfluous To Do It By Means Of Several; For We Observe That Nature Does Not Employ Two Instruments [if] One Suffices.

"the Jews Should Not Be Allowed To Keep What They Have Obtained From Others By Usury; It Were Best That They Were Compelled To Worked So That They Could Earn Their Living Instead Of Doing Nothing But Becoming Avaricious."

It Is Only God Who Creates. Man Merely Rearranges.

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

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 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.

Theology Is Taught By God, Teaches God, And Leads To God.

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.

The Highest Perfection Of Human Life Consists In The Mind Of Man Being Detached From Care, For The Sake Of God.

The Things We Love Tell Us Who We Are.

It Would Seem That Zeal Is Not An Effect Of Love. For Zeal Is A Beginning Of Contention.

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.

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

For Those With Faith, No Evidence Is Necessary; For Those Without It, No Evidence Will Suffice.

The Theologian Considers Sin Mainly As An Offence Against God; The Moral Philosopher As Contrary To Reasonableness.

Any Error About Creation Also Leads To An Error About God.

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

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.

Faith Does Not Quench Desire, But Inflames It.

[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.

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.

I Answer That, Even, As In The Blessed In Heaven There Will Be Most Perfect Charity, So In The Damned There Will Be The Most Perfect Hate.

Inspirational Life

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.

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

We Ought To Cherish The Body. Our Body's Substance Is Not From An Evil Principle, As The Manicheans Imagine, But From God. And Therefore, We Ought To Cherish The Body By The Friendship Of Love, By Which We Love God.

Better To Illuminate Than Merely To Shine.

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.

Sacred Scripture, Since It Has No Science Above Itself, Can Dispute With One Who Denies Its Principles Only If The Opponent Admits Some At Least Of The Truths Obtained Through Divine Revelation; Thus We Can Argue With Heretics From Texts In Holy Writ, And Against Those Who Deny One Article Of Faith We Can Argue From Another. If Our Opponent Believes Nothing Of Divine Revelation, There Is No Longer Any Means Of Proving The Articles Of Faith By Reasoning, But Only Of Answering His Objections - If He Has Any - Against Faith.

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

Charity Brings To Life Again Those Who Are Spiritually Dead.

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

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.

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

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

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

The Fact That The Evil Ones, As Long As They Live, Can Be Corrected From Their Errors Does Not Prohibit That They May Be Justly Executed, For The Danger Which Threatens From Their Way Of Life Is Greater And More Certain Than The Good Which May Be Expected From Their Improvement.

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

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

Grace Does Not Destroy Nature, It Perfects It.

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.

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.

Clearly The Person Who Accepts The Church As An Infallible Guide Will Believe Whatever The Church Teaches.

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.

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.

It Is Not Possible To Be Ignorant Of The End Of Things If We Know Their Beginning.

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

Speaking In Tongues

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.

We Must Love Them Both, Those Whose Opinions We Share And Those Whose Opinions We Reject, For Both Have Labored In The Search For Truth, And Both Have Helped Us In Finding It.

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

We Should Love Others Truly, For Their Own Sakes Rather Than Our Own.

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.

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

In Questions Of This Sort There Are Two Things To Be Observed. First, That The Truth Of The Scriptures Be Inviolably Maintained. Secondly, Since Scripture Doth Admit Of Diverse Interpretations, That No One Cling To Any Particular Exposition With Such Pertinacity That, If What He Supposed To Be The Teaching Of Scripture Should Afterward Turn Out To Be Clearly False, He Should Nevertheless Still Presume To Put It Forward, Lest Thereby The Sacred Scriptures Should Be Exposed To The Derision Of Unbelievers And The Way Of Salvation Should Be Closed To Them.

Sacred Scripture

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

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

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

Christ Was Either Liar, Lunatic, Or Lord!

If There Were Some Solitary Or Feral Man, The Passions Of The Soul Would Be Sufficient For Him; By Them He Would Be Conformed To Things In Order That He Might Have Knowledge Of Them. But Because Man Is Naturally Political And Social, There Is Need For One Man To Make His Conceptions Known To Others, Which Is Done With Speech. So Significant Speech Was Needed If Men Were To Live Together. Which Is Why Those Of Different Tongues Do Not Easily Live Together.

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

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

Love Works In A Circle, For The Beloved Moves The Lover By Stamping A Likeness, And The Lover Then Goes Out To Hold The Beloved Inreality. Who First Was The Beginning Now Becomes The End Of Motion.

Love Takes Up Where Knowledge Leaves Off.

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