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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.

-Thomas Aquinas

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If Someone Knows From

Thomas Aquinas

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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.

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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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

God Should Not Be Called An Individual Substance, Since The Principle Of Individuation Is Matter.

Wonder Is The Desire Of Knowledge.

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.

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

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

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

Grace Does Not Destroy Nature, It Perfects It.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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

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.

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

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

The Things That We Love Tell Us What We Are.

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

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

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

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.

Reasoning Is Compared To Understanding As Movement Is To Rest, Or Acquisition To Possession.... Since Movement Always Proceeds From Something Immovable, And Ends In Something At Rest, Hence It Is That Human Reasoning, In The Order Of Inquiry And Discovery, Proceeds From Certain Things Absolutely Understood--namely, The First Principles; And, Again, In The Order Of Judgment, Returns By Analysis To First Principles, In The Light Of Which It Examines What It Has Found. Now It Is Clear That Rest And Movement Are Not To Be Referred To Different Powers, But To One And The Same.

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

The Last End Of Every Maker, As Such, Is Himself, For What We Make We Use For Our Own Sake; And If At Any Time A Man Make A Thing For The Sake Of Something Else, It Is Referred To His Own Good, Whether His Use, His Pleasure, Or His Virtue.

Down In Adoration Falling, Lo! The Sacred Host We Hail; Lo! O'er Ancient Forms Departing, Newer Rites Of Grace Prevail; Faith For All Defects Supplying, Where The Feeble Senses Fail.

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

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

The Proper Task Of The Savior Is That He Is A Savior; Indeed, For This He Came Into The World: To Seek And Save What Was Lost.

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

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

God Answered The Prayers Of Animals.

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

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

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

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

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

Speaking In Tongues

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.

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

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

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

For Although The Will Cannot Be Inwardly Moved By Any Creature, Yet It Can Be Moved Inwardly By God.

Fear Is Such A Powerful Emotion For Humans That When We Allow It To Take Us Over, It Drives Compassion Right Out Of Our Hearts.

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

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.

Christ Was Either Liar, Lunatic, Or Lord!

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

The Things We Love Tell Us Who We Are.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Three Conditions Are Necessary For Penance: Contrition, Which Is Sorrow For Sin, Together With A Purpose Of Amendment; Confession Of Sins Without Any Omission; And Satisfaction By Means Of Good Works.

Unbelief Is The Greatest Of Sins.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Better To Illuminate Than Merely To Shine.

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.

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

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.

Concerning Perfect Blessedness Which Consists In A Vision Of God.

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

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.

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

Love Takes Up Where Knowledge Leaves Off.

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.

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

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.

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)

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

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.

Man Has Free Choice, Or Otherwise Counsels, Exhortations, Commands, Prohibitions, Rewards And Punishments Would Be In Vain.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Temperance Is Simply A Disposition Of The Mind Which Binds The Passion.

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

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

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

[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.

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.

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

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.

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

No Man Truly Has Joy Unless He Lives In Love.

Well-ordered Self-love Is Right And Natural.

The Light Of Faith Makes Us See What We Believe.

Faith Is God's Work Within Us.

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

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.

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

There Being An Imminent Danger For The Faith, Prelates Must Be Questioned, Even Publicly, By Their Subjects.

Reason In Man Is Rather Like God In The World.

There Is, Therefore, A More Perfect Intellectual Life In The Angels. In Them The Intellect Does Not Proceed To Self-knowledge From Anything Exterior, But Knows Itself Through Itself.

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.

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

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.

Sing, My Tongue, The Saviour's Glory, Of His Flesh, The Mystery Sing; Of The Blood, All Price Exceeding, Shed By Our Immortal King, Destined, For The World's Redemption, From A Noble Womb To Spring.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

It Would Seem That The Ingratitude, Whereby A Subsequent Sin Causes The Return Of Sins Previously Forgiven, Is A Special Sin. For, The Giving Of Thanks Belongs To Counter Passion, Which Is A Necessary Condition Of Justice. But Justice Is A Special Virtue. Therefore This Ingratitude Is A Special Sin. Thanksgiving Is A Special Virtue. But Ingratitude Is Opposed To Thanksgiving. Therefore Ingratitude Is A Special Sin.

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

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 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."

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.

Beauty Adds To Goodness A Relation To The Cognitive Faculty: So That "good" Means That Which Simply Pleases The Appetite; While The "beautiful" Is Something Pleasant To Apprehend.

A Song Is The Exultation Of The Mind Dwelling On Eternal Things, Bursting Forth In The Voice.

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

Now It Seems That Everything In The World Stems From Sources Other Than God, Since The Products Of Nature Have Their Source In Nature; Deliberate Effects Can Be Traced Back To Human Reason Or Will As Their Source. There Is No Need Then To Assume That God Exists.

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

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

The Soul Is Perfected By Knowledge And Virtue.

To Love Is To Will The Good Of The Other.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

There Must Be Must Be A First Mover Existing Above All – And This We Call God.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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 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.

Likewise Grace And Glory Are Referred To The Same Genus, Since Grace Is Nothing Other Than A Certain First Beginning Of Glory In Us.

What Can Be Accomplished By A Few Principles Is Not Effected By Many. But It Seems That Everything We See In The World Can Be Accounted For By Other Principles, Supposing God Did Not Exist. For All Natural Things Can Be Reduced To One Principle, Which Is Nature, And All Voluntary Things Can Be Reduced To One Principle, Which Is Human Reason, Or Will. Therefore There Is No Need To Suppose God's Existence.

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 Be United To God In Unity Of Person Was Not Fitting To Human Flesh, According To Its Natural Endowments, Since It Was Above His Dignity; Nevertheless, It Was Fitting That God, By Reason Of His Infinite Goodness, Should Unite It To Himself For Human Salvation.

To Virginity Is Awarded The Tribute Of The Highest Beauty

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

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.

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

Love Follows Knowledge.

Because Of The Diverse Conditions Of Humans, It Happens That Some Acts Are Virtuous To Some People, As Appropriate And Suitable To Them, While The Same Acts Are Immoral For Others, As Inappropriate To 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

Not Everything That Is More Difficult Is More Meritorious.

Human Salvation Demands The Divine Disclosure Of Truths Surpassing Reason.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Beware Of The Person Of One Book.

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.

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

A Person Is Disposed To An Act Of Choice By An Angel ... In Two Ways. Sometimes, A Man's Understanding Is Enlightened By An Angel To Know What Is Good, But It Is Not Instructed As To The Reason Why ... But Sometimes He Is Instructed By Angelic Illumination, Both That This Act Is Good And As To The Reason Why It Is Good.

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

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

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

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

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

Beware The Man Of A Single Book.

For Loving Draws Us More To Things Than Knowing Does, Since Good Is Found By Going To The Thing, Whereas The True Is Found When The Thing Comes To Us.

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.

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.

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

All Men Are Equal In Nature, And Also In Original Sin. It Is In The Merits And Demerits Of Their Actions That They Differ.

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.

If Forgers And Malefactors Are Put To Death By The Secular Power, There Is Much More Reason For Excommunicating And Even Putting To Death One Convicted Of Heresy.

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

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.

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Constantin Brancusi

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