[Untitled]

o~ ahy s~ve the~saints (and we~can be quite~sure that th~.y:did not go about it in an unyary-jng ~ay eitherI~)~ One step, then, toward freshening and revitalizing~his duty~ ~hich has been ~ell described as "a fifteen-minute retreat," is to~’ri~ it’~of ~t~ Oeudensianmge~n’e~ss", s"p:~~c~m "g’ "~ t’ to palatability~’~with" variety. Hd~ ~afirthii be~done?~ Whh[’sauce is to be7used? Offe excellent me~hs is~"th’e ,following: Put ~asidd the ordinary p~ayerbOoks and e~[~men-p~mphlets. " In ,their, ~ead, ~out~j~de of~ th~ ~examen’but.with an. eye,to ~t, dip into our liturgical prayerbooks, into t~e. missal, t~ bregiary,, the Psalter. ,If th~s ~s done mtelhgently, consc~entmusly, and perseveringly, ~t wll~ be surprising how tasty the flht old examen can become. Something refreshingly new ~s a~ded by bringing the *i ~.~.?’i:.’~ ~.~" i .~., ~.~ ,~. ., ¯ ~ .. ~ ¯ : ..... : ~ ~ ¯ objective prayer of~ the hturgy ~nto wtahzmg contact wsth th~s @ost~~Objk’Ct~vF spmtual-~erclse of our whble rehgmus~*day. ~ ~" There follow two methods of maRmg t~e daffy examens" "one ~s pr~yers taken f{~ the"mi~fal

theot~er, ,of s[lecti6d~ from the +Psalter. ~e~ are:lnten~e~"merely as models,~ Anyone ~296 VITALITY~ FOR THE, EXAMEN with~a liftle’time, and effort can work out other such.exame’~iS to suit hi~ own needs°and tastes. .o , L EXAMEN FRoM THE MISSAL An examen made with prayers selected f~om the missal has this-special advan~tage, that.it effects a union between our Mass and the daily examens. ~he Mass, which is the most "public" of our prayers and actions, becomes the dyna’mo which communicates,,,light and energy via the missal.to our examination, of conscience,, the most per-sonal of o~ur religious exercise~. The me.t~hod,given her, e merdy points_ out one_way which leads to.a~ simplifying of religious life and Loward ~making it,&n,ter about and draw its vitality, as,,i~t should, in all of it~ aspects, from~ ~.the Holy Sacrifice of the M, a.ss. Since we go in’a veyy special ~ay into God’s holy ,presencdl when-ever we pray, on approaching the place of the examen, especially if it is to be made in the chapel

W’e can say the prayer which the priest says a~ he ascends the altar,:~ :"Take’away from us our iniquities, owe beseech Thee, O ~Lord, that being made pure in heart, we may be worthy to enter into the, Holy oLHolies. Throul~h Christ our Ldrd, Amen." ~ Such a. piayer~ serves~ two purposes: (1), It puts us’ in -the-proper disposition to begin:our exercise, and, (2) :it gives,,our ex~men~a mein~ry-lifik at least with our Mass. The P.reparatorg Pra~er o

A slight modification of the’declaration of inter~tior~ said by" ~he priest before Mass can serve ~ell as’our preparatory prayer: ~’I’ wish,~to:offdr,this examination of my conscience .... to the praise~of Almighty’God,,and the whole court of heaven, for my owri gobd and that of the Church Militant. for all those who have com-mended ~themselves to ~y prayers .in general and in partichlar, and for the happy state of the Roman, Church. Amen. " ~.May theAlmighty and merciful God grant,us jog with peace, a 13ette"ring of llfe. time for true repentance, the grace and strengthen-ing of the Holy.Spirit~and pemeverance in,good works. Amen." Thanksgiving ° Instead of our usual’stuttered words of personal gratitude, or the r~ading of them from the composition of somme other private indi-° vidual, could we not do better to turn to our missals and use some of the official prayers of the Church? 297 RICHARD L. ROONEY Reolew for Rdioious 1. The slow and heartfelt praying of the Gloria would certainly give us new life and vigor and dispel dryness. " Try it for a week and see if this is not true. 2. The same way 9f praying the various Prefaces would have a similar effect. They are hymn~ of thanksgiving. Further, they lend themselves,nice!y td ~¢ariety if they are used in connection with the Mass’said that day. F6r example, the Preface of the Trinity could ~ used for Sundays

that of th~ Nativity or the Epiphany would give the right tone to our examens at Christmas time. 3.’ The prayers (Collect, Secret, and Postcommunion) of the ~otive Mass of Thanksgiving, which may be found at the end of the votive Mass section of the mimal, make an excellent thanksgiving in themselves and hehlthily link our personal thanks with the .morning’s Eucharistic (thanksgiving) Sacrifice. ,Pra!ler for Light What,better prayer for light could be-desired than the Gradual of the Mass for the First Sunday of Advent: "0 Lord, show me Thy ways

teach me Thy paths. Show us, 0 Lord, Thy mercy and grant us Thy salx

ation." All the Collects for the Sundays of Advent fit well under this point as does the following from the Mass of Pente- .cost: "Alieluia, alleluia. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created, and Thou wilt renew the face of the earth. Come, Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them~the fire of Thy love." The Examen Itself Much freshness could be added to the examination of conscience by changing from our routine.form of self-questioning to an exam-ination on the manner in which we have lived up to the four activi-ties tha~ we are engaged in at Mass itself:, Adoration o~ God: gratitude for the b~nefits He has given us betWeen-times: contrition (propitia-. tion) as shown by faithfulness to the Commandments, to conscience, to our vows, rules, special di~ties, a~fd so forth

petition for further" graces to do even better in all our works, little and great. Contrition and Purpose of Amendment ¯ A new and helpful change of this point can be obtained by saying with a "humble and contrite heart" such prayers as the Confiteor, the Kyrie repeated over and over again, the Lavabo psalm, or the. Introit of the Mass for Ash Wednesday. 298 September° 1946 VITALITY FOR THE EXAMEN II. EXAMEN FROM THE PSALTER That the Psalter can be used to goodadvantage to bring variety into our examination of conscience wbilelcome evident from the following examples, which ?re by no means exhaustive. Preparatory Prayer ~ "Hear, O Lord, my prayers, give ear to.my supplication in thy truth: hear me in thy justice. And enter not into judgmefit with thy servant for in thy sight no man living shall be justified. (Psalms 142:1, 2.) To vary the above one could use the following from verses 6-10 of the same psalm: "I stretched forth my hands unto thee: my soul is as earth without water unto thee. H~ar me speedily, O Lord: my spirit hath fainted away. Turn not away thy face from me, lest I be~like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy mercy~ in th~ morning

for in theehave I hoped’. Make the way known to me wherein I should walk: for I have lifted up my soul to thee .... Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God." Thanksgiuing To make the act of thanksgiving, one can-choose from,m~ny psalms, for example, Psalms 9:1-20: Psalms 17, 20, 64, 67, 75., 102, 106, 114, 115, 11-7, 134, 135, 137, and 146. With sucha h6st of psalms to choose from one can certainly never complain of monotony in tl:ie way one gives thanks to God! Petition for Light Psalm 5 can be used here

or one can turn back to Psalm 142 again as it is essentially a prayer for divine guidance. Simply saying from the heart, "Show me thy ways, ,0 Lord, teach me thy pathsL’~ would be quit~ enough. "The Examen The actual examen can be made in the Usual way

or, to lend variety, our self-questioning may be made in the light of ’such new and usually neglected psalm-themes as.gratitude, Psalms 20 and 64: charity, Psalm 132

con6dence in God

Psalms 4 and 27

desolation, Psalm 87

faith, Psalm 3

suffering, Psalms 12, 101, and so ,forth

love of the Church, Psalm 82

death, Psalm 54

trust, Psalm 32

discouragement, Psalm 10. A glance through the topical index of the new edition of the Psalms (Benziger, 1945) will yield a rata- 299 RICHARD L. ROONEY ,, "~ logue of subjects fo.r se!f~ex.am.i_nation ,that ,will be enlivening and p.~,rh~ps .o.~n ~o.ccasio.n a,~bit .s.tar.tling in.their self,revelation. C6nt~itlon ~’Pu~rpose o’~ Ame~drnent tw, hhiics’h ,iws .ea .cpaent.i.t.siaoyn,, ttohe o "bMtaisien~’e¯rteh:,e(P gsraa!mce S iQo)f~ ,aomr,.ean, ndym oneen ,to. fF :tohlel o"wotihnegr Ee, n,i, te~tial, p.sa~!,ms.o Since there are,seven of, the latter, a ,different one .c,o,~uld.,,be used f,o.r.e.a.c.h,~ay o,,f the we.ek. ,~An~y~.or all o.f .,t.bes.e

.will he!p us to tell God that we are sorry in accents which are not, merely‘ ~ou~ own but His, .~ ,. - In ~cqnc.lusion it should, be~noted that .it ,is not n.ec~s~a~y, to,say ali~,o.f ths pr_.ayers.,.or psalms here.suggested. If one :fin,,ds,tha.t.o.a,, sj.n.gle sq.uena,_htae.sn, cine, ,fhr.?isml h. teha.ret:,m ..iwss, ahl,y o -rg,o a . .ofsuirntghle.er. v?e Ir_.sne ~.furco~m. aa. pcsaasl~m" ,o,>n sea syhsq w.uhla.dt simply ,repeat the verse o~r s, entence over, and over w!tho~.t bejn, g con--. cerned about finish, i.ng .the. prayer or psalm. A month of consistent work at the al~ov~ method of ~xamining on-e’s conscience will yield ~uch light :and life to the exercise as to make’it, the exciting cdnt~ict with God that it~can" be and was.meant t6 be. It~will help’too to fuse one’s private prayers and liturgical prayers ,’iri~o the unified wholeness that should be the mark Of "the adult ieligious. , , ,OUR CONTRIBUTORS CLAUDE’KEAN, formerly,professor of chant and homiletics at Holy Name, Col-lege, Washington, D. C., is now principal of Timon High,~ School, .,Buffalo, New York. RICHARD L. ROONEY, after serving as a chaplain m the armed forces of the United States during the war, recently joined the staff of The Queen’s Work. St.:,Louis,-Missouri. JOHN A. HARDON. who has done much work with high school students in’t1~e fiei~l ~f debating and i~ublic speaking,-is’a~ tl~eological s~udent at West Baden College, West Baden Sprifigs, Indiana. [~ATRICK~ M.’REGAN, until r~ecently ,professor of-fundamental theology at St. Mary’s C~ollege

St. Marys, Kansas, is sp.iritual director of the junior scholastics at St. Stanislaus Sem!nary, Florissant, Missouri. ~D^M C. ~ELLIg’ anal ~EI~.~ED KELLY are"prof~s~ors of canon law m~)ral, theolog~, ’respectively at St’. Mary’s .College, St. M~ys. Kdnsas, and are mem-bers of the Editorial Boaid of,REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. ~. 300 . )~’E~ENTL~ a non-Cath0hc journal of theology printed ~1~ ~aff~ditdfial ~n freed~N d{religion. After an.~lysis ~ - of-the’ concept of freed5~, ~Yb~ author 6rew tb~s cob

c]usion: "Freedom i~?th~ ~fruit"of~~]legxance~ given "to God .~f~ne."v ’He then c~htinued~ VGr~nfing only~a~truly re]i-giSus man-is ~u]ly’~fre~, .,wfi~tL’d0~~ fr~edo~ Col: r~]igion mean? . It means, fi~st bf ~]l,a fr~edbm to .cHb~s~sn~s re]i

God resultsqn

freedom td~ ch00se, bne: s own:~religi6nq.~ Why

~ We "w6nde ~t produce allegmnce’to

Go6 s r~l.igion,~ r~veal~d4or all me~ b~ll:’ ages? A~ain,,~:sffan~eg

10gic ~that

e:xpl’ai~s there a:fe assortment~of Chr~stmn~ tell: , one .as.good,as. anotHefl. ,~ In,. l’{~’s concern God~ ~s left-us to ’belleve~contrad~ctory doctnnes

to~,}fbllow Lconflietigg~ p~adric~s ~’ "all~.this~the fruit , ~’ That in the very worship of-God, ~an andnot the’ norm~ ~s’ contradzctory

"yet-that is precisely~ the~ daffy pracnce of mdhons of Chnstmns. "~s a matter’of factJ’zt - _does noi even occur to them that there is such a thing as one , true religion excludin~ M1 o~fiers as false. When on rare occasions someone institutes ,a s~arc~ for .[ehg~on, t[ut~ consloeranon, because sofew realize that ’~ree’~d~m"i?’ the’ right to CBOose only’, what xs gqod ahd t~ue, Godis almost unlvers~lly ~gnored.m matters religious: Truth in Revelation .... . ,.:.,: ~o. ’ In this whole question. ~f belief, erflphasis must be .laid 301 PATRICK M.R.EGAN R.eview for Religious on tfie’fact that there can bi~ no choice between true and false. GodHiinself in..m~kin.g a revelation could not ignore truth but had:t0, m, an~ifest divine reality as.it actually exists. In a Word, God revealed Himself

and since God cannot .possibly be altered to conform to human opioi0ns,-,man must nece,,,ssafily conform his intellect to the.,truth about God. This he,,does .by believ!ng .the. revealed word. describing God’s essence and His relations to man.. Now.the first step in,,,the act whereb.y we assent to this .~ruth~ is submission of.the intellect to God’s au~h0rity. Thus at the very. outset we must establish direct.,communication with God. Catholics, even though blessed with the true faith and filled .with .high religi’0us id.eals, must, pay special heed to this need of.intellectual contact with God. Though not as vulnerable as those outside the fold, they still may be pron.e ,to give God a sub’ordinate place in their intellectual life of faith, or, even forget Him altogether. Many, for instance, never realize that faith first, last, and always reaches up, to God as the One revealing and the Reality revealed. In the matter of divine charity most of us under-stand clearly enough the necessity of going straight to God without detours through selfish interests, and so strive valiantly for perfect love and perfect contrition. But just as sure as the will embraces God in love,, so the mind is united to Him. in divine faith. God Overlobked However, in. our very zeal for the faith we incline to overlook this intellectual union with God. Bechuse of our tendency to concentrate on the truth, we are quite apt to forget God revealing and even God revealed. Nowadays with so many facilities for stu’dying our religion, wi,th so much urging to understand it and to be able to explain it, we are particularly inclined to focus’attention on its e~pla- 302 September, 1946 Hov~ IS YOUR FAITHi’ nation or on a set of questions, thus.overlooking its divine Author as well as tl~e Reality revealed. Quite regularly it happens that, while probing the depths of-the mystery of the Trinity and answering objections proposed, we never even think of the Triune God. Or to take another setting, how many ever think to re, pel a. temptation against faith with: Can’I possibly doubt God’s word? Only too.many, terrori.zed by the temptation against faith, wrestle with the truth itself, trying to comprehend, for example, how Christ can be really present in the Eucharist. The Church’s Contribution What may prove another obstacle to the union of faith is the relation of the Church to our belief. If this is not dearly understood, it confuses us and may lead even to the Church’s supplanting God in our mental attitude towards matters of faith. Any number of Catholics would sub-scribe to: "Because the infallible Church teaches "this doc-trine, it is true, and I believe it." By stopping there the~, profess faith in the Church’s teaching with6ut advertence to the real.motive of faith. Following an accepted axiom in the Church th~at prayer conforms to truth (lex orandi, lex credendi), we can verify the motive from our ordinary act of faith: "I believe what the Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed it." Hence the act of faith in its full-ness erriphasizes God’s place: "Because God has revealed this, it is true, and I believeAt." " To cede God’s place to the Church, even unwittingly, is to lose the advantage’of the. power, beauty, intimacy, and the vision of faith

the com- -’munication of the divine mind to ours. Even though by faith we see God only as "a confused reflection in a mirror" (I Corinthians 13: 12), still it is God, as surely and really as if we saw Him face to face in heaven, and it is He who revealed the reflection. ~ 303 - PATRICK M, REGAN ,.~ Review for ’Religious ,,~

The~primary’office, of the Church is to give us an in,, fallibl guarantee’, "This is God’s~ messa.ge:r’ , This prd: nouncement ig

for ub but a stage On the.way to faith

we must not make-it, a,~ goal. Pius IX in his definition of the Immaculate Conception emphhsized tile duty of.submission both, to the:Chu¢ch and to God

, to fail in the :latter.means, shipwreck for" the faith

°to fail in~ th~ former in~ w6id, w}itihg or ex~er, nal act subjects the offender to alLpefialties of Church Law. ~. The Church’s contribution is further cl~irified by St. Paul’s distinction: "It was for me to plant the seed, for Apollo to water it, but it was God ~vho gave the increase" (I Corinthians 3: 6). Like:~paul’s, the Church!s missi6n is limited to Planting the seed and wateriffg it

it is gtill God who gives the increase. W~ too must beware the error of ¯ Corinth, decried by Paul: "Why, what is Apollo,. What Paul? Only ~the mlnis~er of God in whom your faith rests,.. who have brought the.faith to each of you in the measure God granted" (I Corinthians 3:5). We must beware mistaking the gardener for God, to whom the life and. beauty of faith’s garden is.realjy doe, Incidentally, we must ’also guard lest the beauty of the flowers of revealed: truth blind us to the beauty of God from whom all beauty comes. Contact with God .One more comparison will clarify and emphasize this ¯ fa~t of intellectual contact with God in faith., A telephffne operatorrs main work is to connect us With our party

tha( done, she maintains the connection and.finally breaks it ,at th~ e’nd of the conversation. While, the office of the infal-lible. :teaching Church’ is .far more important than an operator’s, involving~fa~, greater power arid ac’tivity,, still there is a :resemblance.. It consists in this that the first duty and wish of the Church is to put us in communication with 304 Septe~b’er, 1946o HOW IS ’YbOR FAITHi~ Gbd. ~:Of::~burse,.i ~minirhizing ~her activity wand influence must be,.avoided., She is.not’.,a mechariic~il operhtor,:merely establishing communi~ation Vcith God,that wbuld involve exclusi~cely private ’in~piration. ~ind ~inter~pretatiofi’ for a.n3? and.all. No,: she is God%~.own:guardian Of. the whole of His message, teaching it .~ithout possibility 6f er’~or to~.all men, ~xplaining" it, adapting it to our understar

ding, and applyirig,itto current problems. Thus, as mediator ’ of God’s truth," she is~ His supernatural instrum~nt~ for many~ an i~nspiration and clearer interpretation* in individual souls. -God’s then is the,task of love,~’to aid the intellect, engaged with the dogma proposed by the Chu°r~h, to a free assent, and then to admit it~to the mysterious, counsels of the Trinity. It is the: ope~ration of His~ grace, ~silent, effica-cious, mysterious, as is every great work of G6d. Message of the Inffividu~t " Wha(has the individual to say to God, once he has con-tacted. Him th~rodgh the Church? By-passing theological ~ontroversies on ~he prea,~ble.s of faith and on the act i~self, we may say its ~es~a.ge~would be briefly: "Eord, through your Church I have learned of your r~velation to men, now contained in Scripture and tradition. Thes( truths-=I believe because You have revealed them wh~ ’can neither deceive nor be deceived. But more importan~ still, since Your truth is li~ing reality, I wish~ to explore:itslength ~:~ ’ an~ ~ ~ depth, b~ead~h and height for. a ~f~r clearer~ arid m~r~~ in-timate apprehension. On the Church I rely for explanation. direction, exhortation

but it is only by communicating "with You that I can share more fully in the knowledge of Your intimate nature." Faith Must Grow This contact established, answering divine communi= cationsare set in~mbtion as God through graces and~ inspi: 305 PATRICK M. REGAN ~ Reoi~to for Relioious rations opens .up new vistas of ~,understanding. for the believing soul.,~ To be sure, the..soul mustkeep the line of communication operi throi~gh an attentive mind, remem-bering a distracted or disinterested mind cannot capture the full imports of a messa.ge. This dedper, understanding cbmes, .therefore, during periods of special activity in spiritual matters: in meditation, in vocal prayer, during periods of recollection~, during attentive reading or listening to sermons

in. time of Mass, Communion, thi~nksgiving. Particularly. a recollected rnihd will be quick to recognize God’s~inspiratibn, desiroias of profiting by it. Very. rich and elevat~ed is this concept of divifie faith ~:ompared to the all-too-frequent notion that it is mainly a vice-like grip on revealed truth. Thus many ’err in thinking that the more we grit our teeth and. the tighter we clench our fists, the strdnger our faith. Such an attitude exposes faith to the danger .of becoming a lifeless formality., a bone clenched between the teeth

it saps its vitality and dynamic force. In this atmosphere profession of faith can "quickly deteriorate into, "I believe, and that’s that

now to Catholic Action, study clubs~ social.uplift, and the rest of the Church’s activity." "I believe" should introduce the intellect to a whole world of reality, which like a greaLpainting grows on us through contemplating it. "Gbd revealed" ,challenges the mind to intense activity and will tax it to the limit~ of its capac.ity. Co-operating with "God revealing" by being ever attentive-to His illuminati6ns, we stimulate our life of faith, growing to fuller comprehension of the Reality that is God. In this manner our mental gaze is focused on the God-man,.forinstance, not as He appears in thee light of weak human reason -an-historical personage of the past but, as He is comprehended in all His mysteriousness by God Himself. For in this ihtimate union of faith, God shares 306 September, 1946~ HOW IS YOUR F~AIT~I.

’ His own knowledge with us. It is quite detrimental, therefore, to the whole spiritual life to mistake faith as mainly tenacity in clinging to revealed truth. While~striving for ~the union of love, our minds do not meet God’s to participate in its treasures. ’ To be sure, tenacity has its own importance since we must hold ,fast to the faith. But revelation is not a bodyof truth delivered two thousand years ago, passed on from age I~o age as a sort of sacred fossil guarded by the Church, and exhib~ ited to our astonished gaze as an archaeological phenom-enon. True, "God revealed" does not change

there is no change in the Three Persons who are God. But our knowl-edge of ’-’God revealed" changes, and that very rhuch, if we nurture it zealously to a robust growth

in fact, it will neve~ cease to grow as long as we tend it. Even in the Church there has been development in ufiderstanding doc-trine since the time of the Apos, tles, for living truth must grow. Our own individual growth must be fostered by a mind attentiv~ and a will docile to divine illuhaination

necessary too is our own burning desire and resolute will to overcome our natural dislike for contemplating truth. Steadt:ast in Faith " ~ome~of the foregoing strictures may give the impres-sion that constancy in faith is of minor importance. Such an impressi6n would be erroneous since tenacity has its place and importance as one of the essential properti~es of faith. Thus millions of martyrs through the centuries demonstrate and emphasize the need of cons(ancy

because they professed the faith even in the jaws of death, they were gloriously, crowned. This constancy is also living and dynamic enabling us to face the trials and difficulties of faith perseveringly to the end. It involves cooperation with God’s activity in our souls. ~ This constancy, as a living thing, must also grow. For 307 P2(TRiCK-M. REGAN Ret~ieto [or Rel]oiou~ -one ~hi~g it will grow apace with our increasing intellectual apptehensior~ of God’s.mysteries through our grac.e-assisted contemplation’of truth. The more peni~trating our. faith and the more real, the~deeper our convictions that make. for steadfastness: :No man.ever,laid down his life for a cold, unrealized .proposition

’but millions

have died for God who through faith, bec~ime a g~eat and loved reality. ~Every element~,of,~.faith, therefore, must ,be ~arefull~r fostered to ~ttain full and healthy growth. God sets no limits to ’His~ graces to enable-us to accomplish this: Brighter and brighter will be °the~’illuminations~as We make progress, clearer and-clearer the vision, until only a thin veil. as~ it, were separates us from th~ i~naccessible light ,of "God revealed.’[ .Co-operating generously, with grace, m~ny

a~ saint ha~ attained to that sublim~ height,of intel~ lectual realization of~’:God revealed." _ .. Pihs XII Exhorts The majority of us, perhaps,~are altogether tOO supine about contemplating’ ~evealed truth, even fighting shy of mysteries. Pope Pius XII in his encyclical on the Mystical Body writes:. ,- So’he through empty fear look upon so profound a doctrine . (of the Mystical ’Body) as something-dangerous, and so,they fight shy of it as~ the, be~autiful-~but.~forbidden ifrtiit of,~paradis_e.~. ,It is:not s0: Mysteries-revealed~ by God. cannot: be harmful to men

nor should they remain as treasures.hidden in a field, useless.° .... : These words a~one if taken seriousl~’~at f~ll face vai, u~ should.inspire us to a study of mysteries, a study which is capable of ~assisting,.us to the heights :of. contemplative u~ion.~~~ ~ ~ery hexf ~brds 0~ the ~offti~m~l~~ this: "~ysteries ,~ve been given .from on high preqisely ,to hel~ th~ spiritugl progress of those who stud~ them ~ a ~pjrit of-piety~ This would seem to be. a fruitful_source itual advance which manz~0~erlo~k ~rneglect.," " .". - 3O8 ¯ Septelnb"er, 1946. ,, HOW IS -YdlJR"FAITH? < ,7 ,,Makir~9, G~d Real -~’ This~sthdy of.mysteries

thotigh ,it can be promoted throu~gl~ ,stu~ty ,clubs, ,doctrinal

lectures

’assimila tiv~e .readin’g, does not necessarily involve such formal methods. Inq?act, if s~iritual p’rogtess is to result, it is only ac(omplished Under the tutelage of ~God Hims~elf, "in a spiri~ of.piety," as the ~oritiff puts it. ~ A fei?vent ~so~il, ’filled vith grow, will b’e0,greatly encouraged and , orisoled by its noticeable progress in spiritual insight into mysteries. making dailymeditation in this way in.~the presence of Christ, reflecting on th~ mysteries, prayihgfor light, in-voking the ~intercession of "the saints for grace, a s0ul will t~avel far toward making God very real to itself. Nor are these" exhortations to contemplate rev.ealed truth only f6r the highly educated and’for those learned in theology. It is the only way I~o make God real to the soul. Hence many uneducated and simple people have attained . brilliant success, not 0nly canonized saints, but hidden ones als0. ~rchbish6p Goodier in his booklet, "Some Hints on Prayer," tells the story of a poor woman., bedridder~ for years. When she-first became ill she arranged some daily prayers for~ herself, resolving to say them slowly to make them go bett~r. But soon the Our Father had gr6~n so much that.it took her a wh01eweek to’get.,through it. She often prayed~ that many otlfers wot~ld"find how much¯ ~s ~hidden in’~the Our Father. Through the grace of ~.God, therefore, through patient endurance of her sufferings, and through ridding herself of haste, which according to St. Francis de Sales is the ruin bf devotion, this poor, uneducated-woman reached "sublime heights of contempla-tion. Week after week the mystery of the fatherhoodof . G6d and the brotherhood of men.filled her thoughts as the ~reat reality it is. Her method was simplicity itself, yet few follow her example. _: ~ ~09 PATRICK M. REGAN Review for Religious Method. of Vatican Council The identical method for the st-udy of mysteries, explained in more technical language, is outlined in the encyclical: For, as the Vatican Council teaches,

’reason illumined by faith, if it seeks earnestly, piously and wisely, does attain, under God, to a certaiti knowled, ge.and a most helpful knowledge of mysteries, by considering their analogy with what it knows naturally, and their mutual relations and their common relation with man’s last end," although, as the same hol~r Synod observes, reason even thus illumined ~’is never made capable of understanding these mysteries as it does those truths which form its proper object." Undoubtedly, the poor woman in meditating the fatherhood of God was unaware she was using analogy and was integrating the mysteries, but she did that nonetheless. There is no other Way. Application Even a few meditations on this method of studying revealed mysteries would bring immediate advantage to any soul striving for spiritual progress. Such considerations as the following would be profitable: ( 1 ) Since an ecumen-ical council proposes this method and stamps it With its approval, we have antecedent certitude of its efficacy. (2) The first requisite is to "seek," and this involves the intellectual effort always required in the search for truth. (3) We must be "earnest, pious, wise" (each word fur-riishes enough matter for a meditation) in our search. (4) All’this leads to "a certain knowledge .and a helpful knowledge of mysteries." Having pkescribed the proper attitude and indicated the certain goal, the council then tells us how this is to be reached. Three lines of procedure are indicated._ .We must consider,the analogy of mysteries with what we know naturally. " Since God is mirrored in His creation, we can consequently always find at least a faint resemblance" 310 September, 1946 HOW IS YOUR FAITH? . for a mental take-off into the stratosphere of divine reality. The shamrock,indeed, has but a very remote resemblance to the Trinity

yet St. Patrick, according to tradition, used it successfully tb teach that mystery to the Irish. St. Augus-fine’s mirror of the Trinity was the human soul with its being, knowing, willing. Ever.y successflil catechism teacher has learned by experience the practical value of clear, striking examples, which is nothing else but the method of analogy applied. The second line of procedure indicated b~ the Vatican Council is to consider the "mutual relations of mysteries." Thus a consideration of the relation of the Trinity to the Incarnation, of this to the Redemption, of this to the Mysr tical Body (to indicate only one .chain of mysteries) will astonish most of us by the abundant fruits of progress in knowledge of God. , The third line of procedure is a consideration of the "common relation of mysteries with man’s last end." It too will delight us with the new superna[ural world it pre-sents to our wondering gaze. An Example An outstanding example of .the application of this method is to be found in the encyclical on the Mystical Body itself. This doctrine .is a strict mystery.involving very many other revealed mysteries. The main purpose of-the encyclical is to explain the doctrine. The entire first part is an explanation in three sections of the terms, ,Body," "of Christ," and "Mystical." The explanation of "Body" is an unfolding of the analogy of this Body to physical and moral bodies found amongst us. "Of Christ" is explained .by interrelating the mysteries of the Incarna~ tion, redemption, and sanctification to our union with Christ :for our eternal salvation. "Mystical" summarizes the two preceding expl~inations. Other mysteries involved 31i PATRICK M. "REc.~N Re~ieu~ for Religious in .the furtherexplanation are: union in faith, hope, and charity through .the Holy Spirit, the divine indwelling, and the sacrifice, of the Mass. An Application The" very intellectual life of faith we are treating is mysterious. It will not be amiss to apply what we have been l~earning from the° Vi~tican Council to throw new light on it. We shall employ an analogy. Suppose a sci-entist made a radar contact with an inhabited planet~ learning much of the nature of the place ahd its inhabitants. This scientist ~e would accept as an authqrity, studying with avidity the information he 1Sassed on. We would be most eager for mdre and more informati6n, ff by some chance" the ficientist enabled us personally ti~ communicatd in amystefious way with the ~uler of the. planet, we would seize every opportunity with miser’s greed. Slow and imperfect though the method might be, we would l~atiently persevere, wqlcoming every new. bit of information, rejoic-ing that first crude ideas were being gradually clarifiedl Now the Church presents us th~ revealed facts of heaven, its citizens, its nature. As intermediary she guar-antees °the facts as ,revealed by God. The personal com-munication with God she makes.possible to us,~and, daily we speak familiarly with God, His Mother, the angels, and the saints. "We really live in .that atmosphere of the super~ nati~ral life, with God ’and its ~charac_ters growing more and more. real:with the passing of time~ Surely it all should~ be as

~ctual as’any ~tadar communication’with a distant planet might be. : " ° ’~ "