The Defining of the Immaculate Conception

Sometimes people have funny ideas about the Catholic Church--wait, take out the "sometimes."  From the Middle Ages on, the Catholic Church has this persona of a stingy headmaster, sternly rebuking its children and using its power capriciously. 

I'm not denying abuses of power... but I'm not getting into that particular subject on this post.  If critics are going to blast us when we're in the wrong, in all fairness, they should give us kudos for what we do right.  (bwahahahahahahaha!!!  Kidding.  Can you imagine that?  Neither can I.  Really, it would be nice)  I'd like to highlight a great positive: the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus promulgated by Pope Pius IX in 1854.  The Constitution defined the dogma of Our Lady's Immaculate Conception.  You can read it yourself at New Advent, home of the Catholic Encyclopedia. 

To start the Constitution, the pope covers three main ideas: Mary has a place in the economy of salvation, the idea that Mary was immaculately conceived wasn't something new in the history of the Church or the sensus fidelium, and it's something worthy to be celebrated in the liturgical & devotional life of the Church.  The Holy Father then proceeds to examine Catholic Tradition, councils, and the extensive treatment of Our Lady by the Fathers of the Church.  They read the Old Testament typologically and saw Mary everywhere.

Next, Pius IX noted that the Holy See had been petitioned before on the matter of defining the Immaculate Conception.  Most recently, Pope Gregory XVI (Pius IX's immediate predecessor) had been petitioned about the matter.  Pius IX's first step?  He established a commission to study the matter.    Then, he wrote all the bishops in the world asking for their opinion.

Hmm.  That's odd, it doesn't sound too autocratic to me.  The Constitution proceeds to define the doctrine:

"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."

After that, the pope warns any Catholic who dissented from the teaching.

Here again... The Church would issue anathemas, right?  And punish all dissenters?  And banish them to hell?  Right?  That's what the Church does!  Sorry to disappoint those who hold a Catholic stereotype.  Pius IX presented dissent for what it really is: an action by a believer where he/she creates his/her own consequences.  In the action of dissent, that person would separate him/herself from the Church and do harm to their own faith.  Yes, the Church is presenting a doctrine for belief--but she provides pages and pages why the belief is in line with the deposit of faith.  If the Catholic Church was the severe, rigid autocrat as it is believed to be, why didn't Pius IX just write a letter, commanding belief or else?

From the ending paragraph of Ineffabilis Deus:
"Let them [the children of the Church] fly with utter confidence to this most sweet Mother of mercy and grace in all dangers, difficulties, needs, doubts and fears.  Under her guidance, under her patronage, under her kindness and protection, nothing is to be feared, nothing is hopeless.  Because, while bearing toward us a truly motherly affection and having in her care the work of our salvation, she is solicitous about the whole human race."

O Holy and Immaculate Virgin, pray for us!

(light bulb) Ding!

It’s amazing what happens to your day when you throw in a little fasting.  I’m not talking about fasting from food, in this case.  In an effort to take advantage of Advent (spiritually, that is), I started fasting in three little ways yesterday morning.  

I don’t say that to be vain; I have plenty of that already.  It’s more an observation, or perhaps an insight into what a stiff-necked person I am.  Okay genius, countless saints and doctors of the Church cited fasting as indispensible to the spiritual life.  If that weren’t enough, Jesus Himself said after casting out a demon, “this kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” (Mark 9:29) 

Ah, so slow to catch on.  On Monday, I noticed a big change in my day.  There was more peace and less stress.  I could focus at work better than normal.  Internally, I complained less.  Granted, I was a little more disposed to fasting because of the somber events of the weekend.  I understand that the rubber will really meet the road when I try to do this stuff on a bad day, or worse, on a day when I’m apathetic to it.  

Another light bulb went on.

By fasting I was fighting the good fight (cf. 1 Tim 6:12).  And, it was made clear to me, I’m in a fight.  For me, I particularly fight with laziness.  It starts with getting up for work as late as possible.  Then it continues when I race to work (occasionally cursing at a slow driver and frequently cursing lights not in my favor) to arrive barely on time.  It affects my eating habits—if I see it, I want to eat it because I’m too lazy to say no.  It affects my prayer life—I become more prone to think “hmm, what’s on TV?” rather than say the simplest prayer.    

In the battle for virtues & vices, in which my soul hangs in the balance, I wasn’t on the offensive... or the defensive!  Yesterday I realized wasn’t picking up my armor until later in the day, if at all.  The evil one?  He begins his onslaught when I open my eyes.  

I’d be willing to bet Fr. Jerome has something to do with this.  Pray for us!

“For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shot your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Eph 6:10-17 (RSV-CE)

Rest in Peace, Fr. Jerome

Listening to this song while writing this.  Click on this link, go to #93 on this song list, "Ned of the Hill."

It really hurts, I can't believe he's gone.  Fr. Jerome lived with cancer for at least 8 years--perhaps more. In talking with one of my classmates, we both think he was diagnosed a little earlier than that, and the seminary community didn't know.  When I had him for Moral Theology, he frequently missed class because of the treatments.  It's a shame, too; he was one of the wisest people I've ever met.  He'd often stop in the middle of his lectures (which he generally read) and cite a work of literature.  It impressed me so much!  I don't have the best memory and I don't always retain what I read.  He was incredibly smart and learned--a Harvard man.

In this I also wanted to share some memories.

-He was an amazing confessor!  He really knew me.  As an example... when I confessed something having to do with self-confidence problems, he gave me the following penance: write down 50 gifts you have/things you're good at.

-He was very holy, and said Mass beautifully.  I never saw him any more serious than he was while celebrating the Mass.  Yet it wasn't a bad thing.  For me, it had connotations of awe, gravity, and humility; not sterility, rigidity, or mechanichity (??).

-Man, did we laugh.  Our spiritual direction appointments during the last four years we joked and laughed so much!  He had a great sense of humor and our senses of humor were similarly geeky.  He was sharp and had a great wit.  During one year at the seminary, he was vice rector for the college.  He wasn't a good fit for that... didn't have a lot of patience for the college guys.  During a seminary conference (this one a housekeeping kind of meeting), he got up, made the announcements he had to make, and then said, "I'd like to thank the residents of 2nd floor Anselm for shortening my stay in Purgatory."

-He loved Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and many other things.  We once watched "Jonah," the Veggie Tales movie.  He actually put Lord of the Rings on the suggested spiritual reading list.  I'm really grateful that he did!  Not only is LOTR a fun series that's a good story... enjoyable even on the most superficial level.  It's a profoundly Catholic work.  I thank Fr. Jerome for introducing that to me!

-During the summer of 2006, I was working at my summer assignment as a hospital chaplain intern.  The preceding school year hadn't been a smooth one.  I had a couple months' worth of nasty cell phone bills; I talked with Fr. Jerome about all the anguish I was having, wondering about whether or not to continue as a seminarian.  He wisely guided me through that; he was also firm with me, pulling no punches.  (yet in the gentlest way)  I have told this to Erin before, and it bears repeating: if not for Fr. Jerome's guidance, I wouldn't be married to Erin today.

-I got to hear him give talks many times in the seminary, whether it was a homily, a conference, or part of a retreat.  In one particular retreat, he gave a talk on suffering.  I can't really remember the contents of it, but it was probably the best talk I've ever heard on the subject.  What made it so good is that it came from authentic human experience (as opposed to fake human experience?  or robotic human experience?  you know what I mean).  One time after his Ash Wednesday talk, I asked him for a copy of it.  I still have it today, and it was great!  Just about a month ago, after rereading the talk, I emailed him and asked him for a copy of everything he'd ever written.  Why not shoot for the moon?  He said he'd want to go through things before doing that but thanked me for the compliment.

-He just missed the premiere of "The Hobbit."  :)  If I had the chance to see him before he died, I would've told him that and he would've laughed.

How beautiful it is that he dies on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the day he was ordained a priest!  If I knew how to sing it, I'd sing the Te Deum.

I can't thank God enough for the blessing that Fr. Jerome was to me.  Please pray for us, Fr. Jerome!

St. Martin of Tours

I just finished reading a book on St. Martin of Tours by Regine Pernoud, a French historian who has written extensively on French saints and the Middle Ages.  I was very impressed with St. Martin; my only exposure to him was through church art.  He is famously depicted cutting his cloak in half and giving it to a beggar.  After his time as a soldier came to an end, he was popularly elected bishop of Tours.  The people of his diocese wanted him as their shepherd for his extraordinary sanctity.

One of the main things that really struck me about St. Martin was that simple holiness.  Pernoud makes the observation that, in the 300s, with martyrdoms so fresh in the memory of Christians, it's remarkable that St. Martin was widely known & honored.  He didn't get fed to the lions; he wasn't a hermit in the desert, battling demons (Anthony of the Desert); he didn't get exiled or take part in any dogma-defining councils (Athanasius); he wasn't a giant theological mind (Ambrose, Augustine).  He was holy, working hard in a profession--bishop--that he didn't choose or feel worthy to hold.  Had it been up to him, Martin would've lived a quiet life as a monk.

The other main thing that struck me was all the miracles that he performed.  A large portion of them seemed to come in his evangelical efforts.  He frequently traveled into rural areas to convert the pagans there... and that involved destroying their objects of worship.  To do that was brazen, to say the least.  But just as God revealed Himself to His chosen people in words and deeds, Martin followed suit.  He preached and worked wonders, giving verbal and visual evidence of the power of the Gospel.

Looking at the Catholic Church now... it's rather obvious to say that we need more St. Martins around.  Those of simple faith that enrich every person they come into contact with.  In every age, the Church needs saintly folks like that.

In this post-post conciliar era, I think we as Catholics need to rediscover our identity.  A big part of that is a rediscovery of our liturgical identity: in the words of Fr. Z, "save the liturgy, save the world."  That's not to say we have to do everything like we used to--not at all.  If anything, the Church could use some bureaucratic streamlining.  Yes, a certain amount of bureaucracy is necessary, but as Bl. John Henry Newman said, institutionalization is a more efficient destroyer of the Church than persecution.

As frustrating as these times can be, it's comforting to think that there have been many such as St. Martin.  They experienced similar difficulties; they dealt with secular opposition; they lived in a world that didn't seem to know or care about Christ.  And in spite of all that (perhaps because of it), they still lived marvelously holy lives.  Sanctity is available to all--no matter the year, no matter the age.  It's not the times that are so unique in their difficulty.  Developing virtue, conquering vice, and putting the blood, sweat, tears in?  THAT is the biggest challenge.

St. Martin, pray for us!