In honor of Saint Cyprian's feast day tomorrow I was reading some of his epistles and found an interesting paragraph where the bishop writes about the Eucharist and Justification by faith. Curiously, Cyprian refers to the Eucharist both as the body/blood and bread/wine. He also seems to agree with the evangelical doctrine of St. Paul that we are justified by faith before God … [Read more...]
St. Monica
For those of you who haven't read the Confessions of St. Augustine, St. Monica, is remembered as the gracious doctor's mother. She prayed for Augustine for over seventeen years, that he would be converted to the true faith. As the phrase usually goes: Augustine wouldn't have been a saint unless Monica had. The episode reminds me of a story wherein Pope Paul VI upon becoming … [Read more...]
St. Augustine the Monergist on Grace and Free Will
So what's Monergism anyway? According to my alma mater (wikipedia): "Monergism describes the position in Christian theology of those who believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, works to bring about effectually the salvation of individuals through spiritual regeneration without cooperation from the individual." This post will contend that the gracious doctor taught … [Read more...]
Ratzinger, Luther, and Vatican II: An Episode in the History of Augustinianism
I was reading an old review from the Tablet today and it made me smile. It was discussing Cardinal Ratzinger before he was elected as Pope and made some interesting assertions that are rarely discussed any more, but were accepted at the time: "It is certainly strange that the 'enforcer' of Catholic orthodoxy should be a self-confessed anti-Thomist. His dislike of the views of … [Read more...]
Clerical Celibacy, Tradition, and Facts
"...when baptized he is attached at once to the rank of readers or exorcists, if, that is, it is clear that he had or has one wife and that he received her as a virgin. Two years after his initiation having elapsed, he can be made an acolyte and subdeacon for five more, and thus can be advanced to the diaconate, if during these times he was judged worthy. Then subsequently, … [Read more...]