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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.

-Thomas Aquinas

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Obedience Unites Us So

Thomas Aquinas

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

Just As In One Man There Is One Soul And One Body, Yet Many Members; Even So The Catholic Church Is One Body, Having Many Members. The Soul That Quickens This Body Is The Holy Spirit; And Therefore In The Creed After Confessing Our Belief In The Holy Spirit, We Are Bid To Believe In The Holy Catholic Church.

The Soul Is Known By It's Acts.

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.

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.

To Love Is To Will The Good Of The Other.

God Answered The Prayers Of Animals.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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] 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.

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

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

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

Speaking In Tongues

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.

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

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.

Love Follows Knowledge.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Grace Does Not Destroy Nature, It Perfects It.

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

The Meaning Of What Is Said Is According To The Motive For Saying It: Because Things Are Not Subject To Speech, But Speech To Things. Therefore We Should Take Account Of The Motive Of The Lawgiver, Rather Than Of His Very Words.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

See To Whom Jesus Is Drawing Near, Three Kinds Of People: To Those Who Make Peace With Him, To Those Who Are Devoted To God, And To Those Who Are Kind To Their Neighbors.

Better To Illuminate Than Merely To Shine.

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.

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

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

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

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)

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?

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Justice Is In Subjects As Well As In Rulers.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

If... The Motion Of The Earth Were Circular, It Would Be Violent And Contrary To Nature, And Could Not Be Eternal, Since ... Nothing Violent Is Eternal .... It Follows, Therefore, That The Earth Is Not Moved With A Circular Motion.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

It Is Necessary For The Perfection Of Human Society That There Should Be Men Who Devote Their Lives To Contemplation.

Faith Is God's Work Within Us.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Characteristics Which Define Beauty Are Wholeness, Harmony And Radiance.

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.

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

The Light Of Faith Makes Us See What We Believe.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Man Cannot Live Without Joy; Therefore When He Is Deprived Of True Spiritual Joys It Is Necessary That He Become Addicted To Carnal Pleasures.

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

Christ Was Either Liar, Lunatic, Or Lord!

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.

Without Doubt One Is Allowed To Resist Against The Unjust Aggressor To One's Life, One's Goods Or One's Physical Integrity; Sometimes, Even 'til The Aggressor's Death... In Fact, This Act Is Aimed At Preserving One's Life Or One's Goods And To Make The Aggressor Powerless. Thus, It Is A Good Act, Which Is The Right Of The Victim.

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

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.

If You Can Live Amid Injustice Without Anger, You Are Immoral As Well As Unjust.

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.

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

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

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.

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

He Who Is Dying Of Hunger Must Be Fed Rather Than Taught.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

[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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Love Takes Up Where Knowledge Leaves Off.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

No Man Truly Has Joy Unless He Lives In Love.

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

Wonder Is The Desire Of Knowledge.

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.

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.

Every Cell In Us Worships God.

Unbelief Is The Greatest Of Sins.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

He Who Achieves Power By Violence Does Not Truly Become Lord Or Master.

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

As The Saints Will Rejoice In All Goods, So Will The Damned Grieve For All Goods.

Faith Does Not Quench Desire, But Inflames It.

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

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

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.

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

Art Is Right Reason In The Doing Of Work.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

Rarely Affirm, Seldom Deny, Always Distinguish.

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.

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 Things We Love Tell Us Who We Are.

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

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

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.

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 Disparage The Dictate Of Reason Is Equivalent To Contemning The Command Of God.

Well-ordered Self-love Is Right And Natural.

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.

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

In The End, We Know God As Unknown.

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

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.

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Robyn Hitchcock

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