As Brother Paul preached at the last sermon at the Rescue Mission, a woman came forward to the cross for prayer. She said she had been saved in March and had given up many things relating to her flesh but she wanted prayer for even more of God and less of herself. What a fantastic testimony.
As Brother Paul closed the service in the chapel he came out and spoke with us about a fallen brother who approached him crying and saying, “ I need to get somewhere today or I won’t make it. If I don’t go today, I won’t go.” As we spoke with this brother, he reached into his pocket, and as he pulled out a piece of paper, a crumpled one dollar bill fell out. On the piece of paper he had the phone number for ChristTown in Quincy. Crying, he told us that he had spoken to the director and was told if he could get there today, they would let him in. He told us he was at the end of his rope; he had addictions and knew if he didn’t go now, tomorrow would be too late. We hopped in Marvin’s truck and headed for ChristTown. On the way, we learned that he knew the Lord, was raised in a Christian home, went to college, built up a business and lost it all to drugs and alcohol. He told Marvin that if he had more than one dollar in his pocket, he would help pay for the gas for the trip. We arrived at ChristTown and they were expecting him.
The next day at church, Marvin came over to us and said that we would never guess what happened. Yesterday, he was cleaning out the back of his truck and he found the brother’s one dollar. He had left his last dollar. Marvin and I thought that he could hold on to the dollar knowing that he might see the brother again when he was reconciled with God and could show it to him and say to him, do you know what this is as Marvin handed it back to him.
God is so good!
We will be emailing all of you after we meet about the direction for FBIP and will be posting this and any other updates on our website atwww.fbip.info.
Love & Blessings,


19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
God has revealed to me why it so important to put on His armour. It will surly protect us from the schemes of the one who came to destroy. I want wake up every morning and put on my helmet of salvation and tell myself that I am saved and their is nothing Satan can do about it!!


The Basilica of St. Peter is where he was crucified and buried the First Apostle and inside you can find masterpieces such as Michelangelo’s Pietà , the Chair of St. Peter , the monument of Pope Urban VIII and Bernini’s Baldacchino.
The Vatican Museums are composed of 13 museums and home to one of the finest art collections in the world. The greatest treasures are the works of Greek and Roman art and the collection of Egyptian and Etruscan. The Picture Gallery contains paintings by Raphael, Caravaggio and Leonardo da Vinci and museums including frescoed halls as the Borgia Apartment Pinturicchio , Raphael’s Rooms and the famous Sistine Chapel.
How to get to St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums from the Art Hotel Noba : Reach the bus stop opposite the hotel and take line 90 or 60L to Rome Termini. From there continue by bus (line 40) to the terminus (Castel Sant’Angelo) or the Metro A direction Battistini (Ottaviano S. Pietro and the Vatican Museums)


The Rite Switch:
why Roman rite Catholics become Eastern rite
Published in the National Catholic Register, 1999
This text is the author's copy and may vary slightly from the publisher's copy.
The words "Byzantine" and "Greek" in the past have been used to describe the Eastern Catholic Churches, which consist of seventeen churches with roots in particular countries, all in full communion with the Pope. The largest ones found in America are the Ruthenian (Eastern European), Melkite (many countries of the Middle East), Maronite (Lebannon), Ukrainian (Russia), and Coptic (Egyptian) churches. Eastern rite liturgies are characterized by sung liturgies, elaborate vestments, small congregations, and varied ethnic customs, reflecting the traditions of the different countries of the rite.
The Eastern churches draw their membership mainly from their home countries, with a small representation in America. In the "melting pot" of America, a slowly growing trickle of Roman Catholics, when exposed to the Eastern churches, find something they'd like to make their own.
Changing rites (as the process is sometimes called) from Roman to Eastern used to be near-impossible. Under the new code of Canon Law it is somewhat easier, but still an involved process. Most Roman Catholics who switch rites attend an Eastern church for years before considering making the change, and many never switch.
This process can't be called "conversion" because each Catholic church - whether Eastern or Western - contains the fullness of the truth as revealed by Christ. Catholics who switch rites are merely embracing a different expression of that fullness.
Author Connie Marshner had grown up in a nominal Catholic home. When she returned to the practice of her faith as an adult, a friend brought her to a Byzantine parish, and she was immediately hooked. "It's so mystical and yet so accessible. The language so beautifully captured me." The liturgical environment also drew her in. "The fact the whole congregation sang was just so dynamic. Everyone there was 100% there. Automatically, you knew you were part of a community."
Marshner and her husband are long-time members of Holy Redeemer Melkite Church in McClean, Virginia, a new congregation with many former Westerners mixed in with its Arabic population. The exterior of the church is unassuming, but the interior is rich with wood trim and original icons, including a huge painting of Christ the Pantocrator (Supreme Ruler) set into a recess in the drop ceiling.
Divine Liturgy on Sundays is crowded with people of all ages and races. Two choirs, one for adults, one for children stand on either side of the front altar, in front of the iconostasis (a wooden screen separating the congregation from the sanctuary). A crowd of priests, deacons, and acolytes resplendent in embroidered robes stand before the gates of the iconostasis, chanting. The servers - mostly young fathers - carry incense and golden ceremonial fans - ripidia -- representing the wings of cherubim. Everyone sings vigorously, though few songbooks are in evidence. Babies cry, children run up and join the children's choir and then slide back to their parents at whim, but no one seems distracted.
Marshner loves the way children are incorporated in the liturgy. "It's very easy for children to take to the Byzantine liturgy because it involves all the senses - the incense, the vestments, the singing, the processions. A mother with lots of small fussy children has a much easier time." "There are no cry rooms," she notes. "If you have a crying baby, you just walk up and down the aisles and let them stare at the icons and the candles and they quiet down. Besides, no one really hears them because of all the singing. The only long quiet time is during the homily."
Consideration for his children also impelled her husband, William Marshner, a Lutheran convert, to switch rites. Marshner, a theology professor at Christendom College, explains, "I'm a theologian. I get my satisfaction out of dogma. But I couldn't expect my children to do so. I wanted my kids to have a very strong flavor of the sacred. I knew it would draw them back to the Church despite any troubles they might have."
Melkite priest and former Roman-rite Catholic Fr. Constantine Belisarius sees the recent influx of Westerners into the Eastern Churches as perhaps correcting a historical imbalance. He notes that in the New World, the Western Church was quick to declare its supremacy, and often Eastern Catholics were proselytized away from the rites of their birth into Roman Catholic churches. "There was ethnic tension. Some Eastern Catholic immigrants remember as children being told by Roman Catholic peers, 'You're not really Catholic.' That hurts."
Such tensions, most often fueled by misinformation, persist today. Fr. Constantine knows of a Ruthenian-rite Catholic who, while hospitalized, was refused Communion by the visiting Eucharistic minister. "You're not Catholic," she was informed. Fr. Constantine laments, "This is plain ignorance on the part of Roman Catholics. It's costly ignorance for the Catholic Church."
While many Eastern priests are enthusiastic about the addition of Westerners to their formerly exclusively ethnic congregations, not everyone sees the situation as positive. Fr. Joseph Amar, a Maronite priest who teaches classics at Notre Dame University, doubts that the rite-switchers have "an authentic attraction to the Eastern rite." He suspects that many of them are "discontented Traditionalists" yearning for the Tridentine rite. "The Eastern churches aren't some kind of pristine Christianity. People who expect that are in for some real surprises."
Fr. Constantine admits, "Angry Roman Catholics can be a real millstone around the neck of an uneducated Eastern rite pastor. But if you can educate them, if they're willing to embrace the Eastern tradition, you can get them beyond being reactionary." He says he knows people who initially came to an Eastern rite church because they were angry "but they aren't angry any more."
Fr. Richard Roher has encountered some "Roman malcontents" in the early years of his new Ruthenian parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Carey, North Carolina. But "they didn't stay. Once they realized the parish wasn't going to ever look like a 1950's Roman Catholic church, they left. Folks don't stay here long if they're angry with the Church. We make it clear that we love the Church and they won't find a sympathetic ear here."
Around 70% of his congregation are former Roman rite Catholics, and he himself switched rites six years ago. "When I first got here, there had been some 'Latinization' of the church, but I phased those traditions out. I'm very, very Byzantine," he says. Most of the switchers, he admits, "are young families with children. The children are very involved in the liturgy, and that keeps the parents coming. Parish members have told me they've gone from dragging their kids to Mass to cutting vacations short because their kids insist on being home for Divine Liturgy!"
The church also attracts Protestants, who are the majority in the area. "The best compliment I've gotten was from a Baptist who said, 'This is a Christ-centered church!' after she'd been here once. Our emphasis on Scripture and the patristic tradition attracts them." Some have even begun taking instruction to become Catholic.
George and Ann Lally are two Irish Catholics who joined Fr. Roher's parish. They were attracted by "the sense of community, tradition, and reverence. Fr. Rick does an exceptional job of explaining things we'd taken for granted about both rites." Their children love the church, particularly their son, who serves at Divine Liturgy. The whole family has "grown spiritually" because of the Church. They switched rites six months ago.
In a more typical situation, Stanley Budzinkski became interested in the Eastern churches when he began dating a Ruthenian Catholic. "I had gone through Catholic school all the way through and never heard of the Eastern Churches," he confesses. "It was a big mystery to me when I first started dating Jenny." But investigating the Ruthenian rite of the Church brought him to "fall in love. It was so much to my liking. God works in so many different ways."
Budzinski married his girlfriend and became a Ruthenian over twenty years ago. Later he underwent training to become a cantor in St. Mary of the Dormition Church in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania.He treasures the rite's many ancient devotions to the Virgin Mary, including the moleben service and the akathist - a sung litany of Mary's titles.
Rev. Mark Melone of the Melkite Parish of St. George in Sacramento, California, notes that 50% of the priests in his diocese are former Roman Catholics. He attributes this to Eastern Catholicism's "integrated spirituality" as well as to the fact that they were the first to use English in their liturgies in this country. "In a sense, our tradition is more personal and less cerebral. We tend to have smaller communities, and everyone gets involved."
He himself became Melkite in his college years, before becoming a priest over twenty years ago. For himself, the Melkite church resonated with his Italian background and upbringing. "I found the Byzantine rite expresses my Mediterranean Christianity a lot better."
Another new Melkite parish is run by Fr. Daniel Munn, an Anglican-turned-Catholic priest. He and his wife and four children entered the Catholic Church sixteen years ago. He hastens to say, "Now, I didn't become a Melkite because of their married clergy, which is what everyone thinks." His varied life as a "failed atheist" married to a Southern Baptist took him in and out of the Episcopal church and into Catholicism. The Eastern tradition had attracted him for a long time. "I'd always thought I'd join Greek Orthodoxy if I left Episcopalianism," he admits. "But that's not what God had in mind."
Recounting the bureaucratic hurdles he had to leap to become a Catholic priest, he says, "The Eastern Church has a definite gift for spirituality, but you can't beat the Roman Church when it comes to administration." In the end, it was easiest for him to enter the church via Roman Catholicism and be granted bi-ritual faculties. "All I had to do was encourage a latent schizophrenia," he jokes.
Although he is pastor of St. Ignatius of Antioch Melkite parish in Augusta, Georgia, he still celebrates the Western liturgy in a local Roman-rite parish every week. "I love everything about the Catholic Church in a way that someone not reared in it does, but there's something very special to me about what Eastern Christianity has preserved and makes alive. So asking me which rite I like better is like trying to decide which one of your kids you love better."
Regarding the status of the Eastern churches in America, he says, "I think the Eastern Church serves a good purpose in reminding the Roman part that Catholicism really is a universal Church embracing more than just Roman Catholicism." He adds, "I always tell my Roman rite friends that they have to go to Divine Liturgy at least one time before they die so that when they get to heaven, they'll know what God is doing."
In recent years, the Pope has called attention to the treasures and contributions of the Eastern Churches in his 1995 encyclical "Orientale Lumen" (Eastern Light). "We believe that the venerable and ancient tradition of the Eastern churches is an integral part of the heritage of Christ's church … the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that tradition, so as to be nourished by it and to encourage the process of unity in the best way possible for each."
Fr. Joseph Francavilla, pastor of Holy Redeemer, says that the Eastern Churches are richly gifted with their very ethnicity, a balance to the universality of the Roman rite. "The Church is important not just because it is universal but because it is particular. In the Eastern Church we rejoice in the fact that the Church is mine." In addition, they are an almost prophetic sign of unity. The Eastern Churches are "monumental proof that the Church doesn't have to be Roman in order to be Catholic. We remained in charity and communion in Church in Rome without being Roman."
Fr. Constantine agrees, "The Church realizes that people stand before God in different postures. It's one of the great strengths of the Church and it's too bad that people aren't familiar with it. My feeling has been that if we fostered the Eastern Rites in America we could convert the whole country."
copyright Regina Doman, 1999. This document is available for republishing only after the author's permission has been obtained. Click the top button for an email link to the author.


romans1212.org is available for sale!
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
- OR -
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
--- romans 1212 nkjv, romans 12:12 the meaning, romans 12:12 kjv, romans 12:12 explanation tagalog, romans 12:12 the message, romans 12:12-13, romans 12:12 esv,


WE are saving a seat just for you!
Welcome to Belmont Christian Church. We’re glad you are here! Our faith community is made up of families and individuals of all ages, from many different church backgrounds who partnering together on a journey of faith and discovery. We would be honored if you joined us for a time of worship and discovery!
On Sundays, we have a traditional worship service at 8:20 am. Our next two services at 9:40 am and 11:00 am are contemporary in style.
Please dress casually and comfortably.
Our messages are geared toward offering direction for your daily life.
Please enjoy coffee and tea in our Cafe before each service begins.
Please stop by our connect table and our hosts can assist you with questions and show you around our facility.
We offer a nursery and children’s classes (through 5th grade) during our 9:40 am and 11:00 am services.
There is a middle school and a high school bible class during our 11:00 am service.


Last week, hence "the week before Christmas," I had a jolt of inspiration, and I was able to write out my thoughts. Albeit, I wrote those thoughts in 5 minute spurts throughout an entire day, on a piece of paper stained with hot chocolate someone had spilled....but I did it! I wrote a poem that sums up my feelings on Christmas. I love Christmas. I love the decorations, the parties, the magic. But, I know Christmas is so much more than that. Being busy, and having more and more added to my plate each day in December, was really weighing me down. This poem was partly, or majorly, for me. I needed a reminder, and I received it and wrote it down. I thought that maybe this poem could touch others as well.
Being busy is not the goal. Enjoy this time, but always remember who it is we are celebrating.
'Twas the Week Before Christmas
By Sarah Chilton
'Twas the week before Christmas and all 'round the dwelling
stuff all over the floor, and something is smelling.
Luckily, it's baked goods, we find is the reason;
cookies and breads, you know 'tis the season.
There are shoes on the counters, and plates on the floor,
I have five little children. Need I say more?
But in seven short days, the magic is here,
with the big guy, the presents, and all the reindeer.
There is so much more to this day than that man,
and I want them to remember when it all began.
A long time ago, in a town unlike ours,
without TVs, or light bulbs, computers or cars,
a baby was born, in the humblest way.
It's for Him that we celebrate each Christmas Day.
He is the gift, the greatest of all,
ever given to help us to rise when we fall.
He was born, lived and died, then he rose once again,
He is Jesus the Christ, the Savior of men.
King of kings, Son of God, The Beginning and End,
but the title He loves most, I believe, would be "Friend."
Though tinsel and paper can rip and be frayed,
our Savior loves all, even those who betrayed.
I sometimes get frazzled with all I must do,
these tasks seem so endless, and they aren't just a few.
And I stop, and I think, I just have to do more,
but I do know deep down, that is not what life's for.
Being busy, climbing ladders, impressing, getting done,
making check lists, and guest lists, but forgetting the One.
There's nothing wrong with the fun and the games,
decorations, activities, and exchanging of names.
But if done in expense, all this time we forget,
and someday we look back with remorse and regret.
"Lift your hearts and rejoice, finding comfort and cheer,"
the angels did sing, and the shepherds did hear.
When life gets too hard, and things get in your way,
Open your heart to the first Christmas day.
We cannot keep hid, this great gift we must share,
and when we do good, Christmas spirit is there.
And for us, share good gifts, not just in December
For He is the gift, we must always remember.


Joy is a popular subject in Western culture today, but few seem to experience it. In Can I Have Joy in My Life? Dr. R.C. Sproul notes that part of the problem stems from the fact that we often confuse joy with happiness. He explains, however, that joy goes deeper than happiness, for joy is built on the foundation of the Christian's relationship to God in Christ. As a Christian abides in Christ he can experience joy even amid unhappy circumstances such as sorrow and grief. Can I Have Joy in My Life? cuts through the confusion surrounding this attribute, showing the one sure path to deep, lasting joy.


Abstract: How to view the reform of the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century and its relationship with virtue as an important issue in studying humanist philosophy. Humanists emphasize that virtue education is the foundation for cultivating personality and believe restoring the virtues of the church is the “cure” for the ills of the early modern church. Consilium de emendanda ecclesia (1537) is the Catholic humanists’ practice of virtue. This is reflected in proposals to strengthen educational norms and socio-moral disciplines and emphasize perfecting clerical virtue as the driving force for reform. In addition, under the guidance of virtue ethics, virtue politics becomes the guiding ideology of those humanists’ political practice, where they recognize the Pope´s authority and the one of the Church, associating virtue with the legitimacy of power. The virtue philosophy in Consilium forms the ideological foundation for the Reformation of the Catholic Church. The ancient Chinese scholar Dong Zhongshu (179-104 B.C.) practiced a similar politics of virtue. In Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn, he combined the legitimacy of rule with virtue based on the kings’ divine right, thus perpetuating the Confucian concept of the “sage”. Both Catholic humanists and Dong emphasized the importance of the rulers’ virtue as agents of God.
Keywords: Virtue. Catholic humanism. Catholic Reform. Virtue politics. Dong Zhongshu.
In the study of early modern European history, humanism profoundly influences modern Europe. Under this narrative, humanism is portrayed as the representation of secularization, characterized by criticism of depravity of the Catholic Church and opposition to papal authority (JOHN, 2016, p. 5-20). However, the concept of “humanism” has many ambiguities (ZIMMERMANN, 2017, p. 2-10). The rise of theories such as evolution, astronomy and atomism, in the nineteenth century, led to the widespread interpretation of “humanism” as secular humanism (an atheistic conception of man as the measure of man). In contrast, Christian humanism, which was introduced in the twentieth century, began with Christ’s moral teachings and followed religious beliefs (affirming that human beings are created in God’s image, which is the basis of personal values). Even so, the use of Christian humanism to explain the Reformation of the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century is prone to ambiguity, as it is difficult to distinguish among the humanists’ positions concerning the Roman Church. This thesis intends to use the term “Catholic humanism” to further summarize the humanists such as Erasmus and Contarini - who insisted on preserving the purity of the Church through the Reformation while also affirming the “connecting” role of the Church and embracing papal supremacy. Protestants who deny the part of the Church are called “Protestant humanists”.
Clarifying the concept of “Catholic humanism” and understanding their reformist philosophy of virtue will play an essential role in furthering the study of the Catholic Reformation in the sixteenth century. With the rise of the Reformation, “Catholic humanism” became not only a philosophical idea but also a practice of political thought. Both “Protestant” and “Christian” humanists skillfully adopt Greek and Latin for literature creation, which is fundamentally aimed at practicing their thoughts and achieving the agenda of promoting their moral philosophy and values. Therefore, this paper intends to start with the 16th-century church reform document Consilium de emendanda ecclesia, interpret the early modern Catholic humanists’ thoughts through textual analysis and explore how this “prescription” for diagnosing the Church connects their discursive vision of virtue with concrete reform initiatives. In addition, the past tendencies, such as emphasizing the secular nature of humanism and highlighting people-oriented and individualist ideas, also attracted considerable criticism in the field of virtue in the 20th century, which makes it worthwhile to return to early modern Europe to re-examine the connotation of “humanism”.
1 The conception of Virtue and the Catholic Humanist
In Christianity, virtue can refer to any of the seven virtues (prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice, faith, hope and love) that constitute the basis of Christian ethics, as well as “[…] living and acting in accordance with moral principles.” (Virtue is the practical attitude and habit of following these principles). In particular, FAITH, HOPE and LOVE, because of their relationship with God, have the potential to become far more truly virtuous than anyone who does not know God ever could (THOMAS, 1990, p. 60-61).
1.1 Core: On Virtues
It is important to emphasize that the virtues mentioned in this paper are not the virtue ethics that has emerged in recent decades. This “revival” of virtue theory focuses on the person behind the action rather than the content and consequences. The philosophy of virtue is appealing because it goes beyond the traditional dichotomy between deontological ethics and consequentialism. It appears to have the best of both worlds: it agrees with consequentialism that the criterion of an action being morally right or wrong lies in its relation to an end that has intrinsic value; but, more closely, it resembles deontological ethics in its view that morally right actions are constitutive of the end itself and not mere instrumental means to the end (BRITANNICA, 2022).
Yet the combination of the two means that ambiguity can easily arise because virtue cannot be articulated in the abstract in isolation from the reality of the ethical life in which an individual lives. Although there are different research perspectives, the various strands of virtue ethics are agent-based (Slote), target-centred (Swanton) and Neo-Aristotelian (Annas) attempts to focus on abstract virtue itself (SNOW, 2018, p. 491-507). It is also somewhat anachronistic to use the new nineteenth-century theory to explain the Catholic Reformation in the sixteenth-century context.
It is, therefore, essential to make clear that the definition of virtue in this paper is based on a Christian ethical perspective, especially in the context of the Catholic Reformation of the sixteenth century, and is derived from the ideological conception of Catholic humanists’ “virtue”. At the time of the Reformation, the concept of virtue in this paper was not only a purely moral concept but also a political ideal in the Catholic humanists’ hands who were actively involved in the Reformation.
The conception of virtue was first introduced by Plato’s “Cardinal virtues” and Socrates’s “Virtue is knowledge”. Later in the Middle Ages, the conception was supplemented by Thomas Aquinas and Augustine based on Christian scholasticism (SCHMITT, 1988, p. 304-306). St. Thomas Aquinas provided the most careful consideration of the virtues from a theological perspective in his Summa Theologiae and his Commentaries on Nicomachean Ethics. It is believed that man can only be wholly saved in God and that man cannot fully know God by his own natural abilities alone as a rational finite being. Therefore, divine revelation must make certain truths beyond human reason known to us. Thus, Aquinas proposes a theological virtue in addition to the natural virtue, pointing to the virtue of divine grace infused into human beings.
1.2 The changing conception of virtue among Catholic humanists
Although the themes of philosophical reflection during the Renaissance were increasingly concerned with human power, freedom and achievement, this did not mean a sudden shift to atheism (secular humanism); in contrast, most Renaissance thinkers remained Christians. Despite their different positions on the Church, the vast majority of Christian humanists recognized the necessity of virtue, especially when they tacitly acknowledged that the health of the body politic possessed the same character as the moral health of the head. Yet no one is born a virtuous person, and one becomes a virtuous person, in their view, not by revelation or recollection, nor by understanding certain rules, but through education (LINES; EBBERSMEYER, 2013, p. 310-312). The classical political philosophers regarded the man’s education as the education of the soul, the education of virtue, and the purpose of education is to produce good people with excellent souls.
This further summarizes the two stages of the Renaissance Catholic humanists’ understanding of “virtue”. The first was Petrarch’s attempt in the 14th century to restore Cicero’s definition of virtue. Petrarch’s interpretation of “virtue” is embodied in the educational value based on rhetoric and philosophy. In Tusculan Disputations, Cicero mentions, “It is the word man (Vir) that the word virtue (Virtue) is from.” (SCHMITT, 1988, p. 195). The concept of virtue at this time focused on the cultivation and education of man. By reviving the classical view, early humanists proposed that the study of virtue philosophy is core to the cultivation of a true man and his personality. Virtue philosophy is inseparable from rhetoric. Mastery of writing not only helps philosophers to spread their theories but also to exert influence on public affairs (QUENTIN, 1978, p. 88).
The second transformation was by Catholic humanists led by Erasmus. Unlike Protestant humanists, Catholic humanists believed that it was necessary for the Roman Church to regulate its citizens’ moral life and maintain the purity of the Church (JUSTO, 1971, p. 239); moreover, moral ethics, like law, was a means to achieve good social governance. While they drew on Aquinas’ view of virtue, they were generally conservative and lacked philosophical breakthroughs, although they were more tolerant of Aristotle and other “pagan” ideas. This is not to say that the Catholic humanists were simply repeating St. Thomas’ views, but that they placed more emphasis on the realization of the ideal of the unity of the Christian nation, relegating political differences to a secondary position through their religious fellowship. It is obvious that one is first a Christian and then an Englishman or a Burgundian (SOUTHGATE, 1955, p. 245). In the 16th century, this active form of virtue signified strength, forcefulness, and the ability to persuade, even coerce, to obtain the desired outcome. Quality of political rather than moral virtue was deemed essential for the ruling class, as it put pragmatism to work for the good of the commonwealth (or for the ruler) (SINCLAIR, 2020, p. 140).
Meanwhile, in theology, Catholic humanist scholars inherited the classical political philosophy of the Middle Ages — upholding the ultimate, authoritative virtue and unified value standards, they are more focused on the belief in human freedom, individual conscience and unimpeded rational inquiry that is consistent with Christian practice and even the intrinsic characteristics of its doctrine. It represents a philosophical combination of Christian beliefs and classical humanist principles: “Virtue is an end in itself and constitutes its own reward.” (BEJCZY, 2009, p. 105). Catholic humanist scholars have witnessed the disrepute of the Roman Church and its precarious position as the “key” connecting man to God due to corruption. Catholic humanist scholars have attributed these “ills” to greed and moral degradation in the face of lust and have argued that the papal selling indulgences violate the power of God (LINDSAY, 1906, p. 512).
When Catholic humanists, such as Contarini, confronted the ecclesiastical crisis of the sixteenth century, the humanists’ writings were filled with fierce rhetoric and classical historical idea. In insisting on the leadership of the Church and the Pope, Catholic humanists believed that by purifying Rome, that is, reforming and regulating the virtuous life of the Christian Church, the whole world would be purified with it (purga Romam, purgatur mundus). To restore the church to purity and virtue, Catholic humanists attributed the corruption and depravity of the church to the lack of virtue. This was reflected in their reform opinions, speeches and homilies of the papal court (O’REILLY, 1977, p. 166-204). Among them, the speeches of The Fifth Lateran Council and Consilium de emendanda ecclesia are the most outstanding and concentrated embodiment of Catholic humanism (JOHN, 1983, p. 220). Catholic humanists devoted much of their energy to reforming the church and restoring spiritual life through humanistic education and were highly critical of the corruption witnessed in the church. They further combined the pagan philosophers’ greatest morals, such as Cicero and Seneca, with Christian interpretations derived from the study of the Bible and the Fathers. However, their criticism of the state of the universal church and the Curia, as well as their appeal to the clergy to improve the individuals, were also applied to the moral reform of society.
1.3 Moral norms in the Catholic Reformation
Under Erasmus’ influence, virtue thus became the source of value for the new humanistic moral norms, thereby realizing the perfect combination of humanism and Christian theology, highlighting an extended norm of virtue from the individual to society.
Among the reformers of the Catholic Church, Catholic humanists formed a small but influential group whose reform plan was a logical extension of the emphasis on virtue in humanist rhetoric. Those humanists who criticized the religious life of the time (i.e. the sixteenth century) for being less than pure wished to follow secular procedures and sought the reform model of the Classical Age. The only difference was that the godfathers of the church replaced the ancient pagans like Plato. Due to their knowledge of Christian history and the ideal homage to the Patristic thinkers, many Catholic humanists condemned their contemporaries, especially the clergy, for their extravagant, religiously indifferent and anti-doctrinal lifestyles. As Cardinal Cosimo Orsini said, “Rome is a place not worth mentioning, where the unworthy are promoted, and the dissolute are sheltered.” (JOHN, 1983, p. 222). Church reformation ideas complemented the Renaissance humanists’ individualistic moral interests, embracing a more modest and apostolic lifestyle, and renouncing extravagant spending. While not all humanists departed from advocating individual moral improvement to reforming Christian society as a whole, the vast majority of them insisted on virtue-guided reform.
In the summer of 1536, Pope Paul III appointed Gasparo Contarini to establish a reform committee tasked with drafting proposals for comprehensive reform for the forthcoming ecumenical council at Mantua. Meanwhile, Contarini was also authorized to seek and recommend to the Pope prominent reformists to serve on the Reform Council. At Contarini’s invitation, Gian Pietro Carafa, Jacopo Sadoleto, Reginald Pole, Federigo Fregoso, Girolamo Aleandro, Gian Matteo Giberti, Gregorio Cortese and Tommaso Badia joined the committee. On December 22 of the same year, Pope Paul III awarded the title of Cardinal to Carafa, Pole, Sadoleto, Aleandro and others in the Reform Council (JOS, 2000, p. 50-60). Up to this point, Catholic humanists showed up in the College of Cardinals as a reformist group, which indeed possessed certain strength despite not being in a predominant number. The “secularization” of the Cardinals, which had grown increasingly pervasive since Pope Sixtus IV, began to be suppressed.
On March 9, 1537, nine clerics headed by Gasparo Contarini presented their jointly drafted reform plan to Pope Paul III, which ushered in the reform of the Holy See. The reform plan, historically named Consilium de emendanda ecclesia (hereinafter referred to as “Consilium”), is not only an essential document in the 16th-century Catholic reform movement but also a concentrated reflection of the Catholic humanists’ reform ideas under the philosophy of virtue.
2 Virtue in Consilium de emendanda ecclesia
The Catholic humanists’ virtue places consistent emphasis on the need to apply Christian virtue to all areas of life, public and private. Based on a rediscovery of ancient Greek texts, they believed that a learned and virtuous ruler would guide his state to peace and stability, provided he could remain above the squabbling and corruption of his court politics (SKINNER, 2002, p. 217). Thomas More, in the same era, speaks to this decline of the ruling class in Utopia, saying: “[…] rather than being able to do any good, you find yourself among colleagues who are easily able to corrupt even the best of men before reforming themselves.” (QUENTIN, 2002, p. 221). Consilium was the “remedy” prescribed by Catholic humanists for the crisis in the Roman Curia. Reformers not only pointed out any dereliction of duty of the church but also raised specific reform proposals. Its content can be divided into three parts. First, the Pope’s failure to set an example is the root cause of the moral degradation and loss of virtue of the church. Second, the bishop’s long absence from diocesan service and the abuse of the diocesan clergy’s patronage and immunity are concrete manifestations of a lack of virtue. Third, appointing competent clergy and training qualified and morally educated priests is one of the most effective ways to reverse the degeneration of the church.
3.1 The Admonitions to the Pope
Consilium points out the previous popes’ moral deficiencies in its opening chapter：
Indeed, those most serious diseases, which now for a long time afflict God’s Church and especially this Roman Curia and which have now led with these diseases gradually becoming more troublesome and destructive to this great ruin which we see. And your Holiness, taught by the Spirit of God who (as Augustine says) speaks in hearts without the din of words, had rightly acknowledged that the origin of these evils was because some popes, your predecessors. (JOHN, 1969, p. 182-197).
Contarini and others believed that the lack of “virtue” among the clergy led to the emergence of greed and, ultimately, the Papacy’s abandonment of Christian virtue. The absence of virtue started with popes and cardinals and was later spread to the common believers. As God’s steward on earth, the Pope should pay more attention to orphans and widows and engage in personal charitable acts and public sermons wherever the conditions permit. At the same time, seminaries ought to be established to maintain the virtues and values of Christianity, guide the young in conducting more religious practices, and avoid disputes over theological issues. But the Pope devoted too much energy to worldly affairs. His role as the lord of the Papal State surpassed his responsibilities as the Pope of Catholicism and bishop of Rome, the latter being of paramount importance. The Reformed Catholic humanists, in their opinion, drawing on Aristotle and Aquinas, once again proved the irrationality and moral error of the argument that the Pope’s will is the law. In Consilium, Contarini argued that the erroneously established the Pope´s “absolute” power (the Pope’s desire is the law) is a type of idolatry and a grave violation of the Christian virtues of “humility” and “faith.”
Thence it came about, besides the fact that flattery follows all dominion as the shadow does the body and that truth’s access to the ears of princes has always been most difficult, that teachers at once appeared who taught that the Pope is the lord of all benefices and that therefore, since a lord may sell by right what is his own, it necessarily follows that the Pope cannot be guilty of simony. Thus the will of the Pope, of whatever kind it may be, is the rule governing his activities and deeds: whence it may be shown without doubt that whatever is pleasing is also permitted. From this source, as from a Trojan horse, so many abuses and such grave diseases have rushed in upon the Church of God that we now see her afflicted almost to the despair of salvation, and the news of these things spread even to the infidels… (JOHN, 1969, p. 185)
Under the theory of “absolute” power, Pope’s energy was scattered and, as a result, many “servants” were needed for him to take proper care of the Church of Christ. The Pope can only exercise his stewardship through these servants, who are essential to all the clergymen, especially priests and bishops, endowed with divine status. Therefore, if the church is to function properly, it must stay tuned to whether these servants possess the qualification required for their positions: observe the divine commandment to attain the virtues of FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. On the contrary, many clergies lack the virtue of self-control and act or think contrary to God’s commands in the face of strong temptations.
3.2 Clergy Criticism and Reformed Church Organization
The first abuse in this respect is the ordination of clerics and especially of priests, in which no care is taken, no diligence employed, so that indiscriminately the most unskilled, men of the vilest stock and of evil morals, adolescents, are admitted to Holy Orders ……. From this has come innumerable scandals and contempt for the ecclesiastical order, and reverence for divine worship has not only been diminished but has almost by now been destroyed. Therefore, we think that it would be an excellent thing if your Holiness first in this city of Rome appointed two or three prelates, learned and upright men, to preside over the ordination of clerics. (JOHN, 1969, p. 188).
Regarding the ordination, Consilium criticises in harsh terms the ordination of clergy without virtue. These undeserving ordinates neglected pastoral care and lacked pastoral competence. Not only did they slack off and not live in the parish they were responsible for, but they also practiced simony. The scandal that all of this caused to the Papacy led directly to Luther questioning the validity of the existence of the Church. In fact, the drawback of the clergy’s ordination is often closely associated with the issues of salaries and virtue education. Christians’ overcoming of their limitations is a positive factor in their pursuit of salvation. In Christian ethics, they must strive to behave in a virtuous way, as virtue is not only knowledge but also a guide to conduct. Virtue enables self-knowledge and helps one realize his flaws before overcoming them. One can realize that he is corruptible and despicable, while he is also able to perceive that he has an immortal soul. This is the embodiment of virtue. However, under secularization, the clerics lack supervision and have very low moral requirements for themselves, which leads to chaos in the church.
Unlike the scholastics, who have been concerned with abstract concepts since the Middle Ages, Catholic humanists attend more to people in society and their moral needs, and believe that a man has a wholesome personality only when he is virtuous. They hope to restore the purity of the church by virtue of education. How to cultivate virtuous clergy is the most concerned reform issue for Catholic humanists. Humanism combined with classical virtues, in the Reformers’ view, would deepen faith in God and fulfill the benevolence that the Church has always insisted on. According to virtue philosophy, love is the most sacred. Love herein involves both the love of the world and the love for God.
Therefore, in terms of moral matters, the virtues of the world are inferior to those related to God’s laws, which fully manifests the theological hue of the virtue philosophy of Catholic humanism. It is for this very reason that man’s pursuit of virtue is not hindered by innate conditions. A Christian’s love for God or others will never be affected, even if he is ugly, disabled, or even paralyzed. That is, according to the Catholic humanists’ virtue ethics, everyone can attain the ultimate and highest virtue as long as he remains morally and religiously devout. Guided by the Church, virtue will help him resist all kinds of temptation, stay firm in his own heart and never yield to self-interest.
In Consilium, Gasparo Contarini et al. point out that one of the crises of the Church is that some cunning priests have appropriated the public property of the Church through benefices exchanges for their families’ self-interests (JOHN, 1969, p. 189-191). This behavior betrays the original purpose of church property which is to be preserved for the benefit of all rather than anyone’s private possession: “That nothing has stirred up more this ill-will toward the clergy, whence so many quarrels have arisen, and others threaten, than this diversion of ecclesiastical revenues and income from the general to private advantage.” (JOHN, 1969, p. 190).
To normalize the organizational structure of the church, Consilium sets strict rules for orders and schools. The loose or less strict branches of the religious order are abolished, and more sophisticated pious orders, such as the Theatines, Capuchins and Jesuits, are established. Catholic humanists oppose dogmatic scholasticism but respect theologians’ status in the ecclesiastical pedagogical tradition, emphasizing their value as traditional preachers and interpreters of Christian truth. The Reformers implicitly defend their right to interpretation of “orthodox” doctrine of the Christianity through virtue education in orders and schools. On the contrary, this forms the basis of Luther’s attack on the “vision of traditional culture” of the Church put forward by Roman humanists, including the philosophy of virtue. Luther proved his piety by disavowing the centuries of authority of the Holy See. In the Catholic humanists’ view, he arbitrarily excluded all post-Augustinian theologians from the authority of the church, thereby undermining the continuity of Christian doctrine (JOHN, 1983, p. 206).
Overall, the authors of Consilium highlight the lack of virtue among the clergy, represented by bishops, in the Church. They hope to achieve the objectives of reforming the church and purifying the Curia by dint of external ecclesial hierarchy and internal ecclesiastical humanistic education. Concretely, when analyzing the issue of the grant of clergy and benefice, Catholic humanists believe that its main cause lies in the bishops’ corruption, which is still attributed to the lack of virtue. From the perspectives of strict control of philosophical thoughts and strengthening of bishops’ right as rectors to restrict the orders and oversee the activities of the orders, Consilium discusses the disadvantages of religious schools and orders in sufficient detail. In addition to rebuking and lamenting the common believers’ religious life, Contarini et al. emphasize that the clergy’s transformation is the basis for the common believers’ transformation. In other words, the practice of personal virtue should be applied to the reform of collective social virtue.
3 Virtue Politics: Catholic humanism and Dong Zhongshu
Eastern and Western theologians linked virtue to politics through theories of divine right to consolidate the legitimacy of rule. They used admonitions writings to explain to rulers that only virtuous leaders - who elevated themselves to virtue and learning - became the spiritual leaders of all (the faithful). The similarities between Confucian and Catholic approaches to the politics of virtue, as exemplified by the Catholic humanists’ Consilium and Dong Zhongshu’s Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn, help us to better understand the practice of virtue.
Ever since the classical era, the phenomenon of abuse of public power for private gain has occurred in any type of political community. Ancient China and the papal states of early modern Europe were no exception. In this regard, Catholic humanists did not end up resorting to divine law to define what “public” is and what “private” is, as medieval theologians did. Rather than searching for concepts in the Bible, they are more interested in tracing back to ancient history and classical writings to unveil the deeper cause of political corruption and moral depravity of the Roman Church in the 16th century. Since Petrarch, humanists have been confounded by the following questions: How to address the abuse of power by the clergy? How can the church be ensured to prioritize the “common good” over its private interests or the few ones’ interests? How can “kindness” be made to replace the fear of legal punishment and how can believers made more obedient to the authority of the church? It is no exaggeration to argue that “virtue politics” is the solution to these problems faced by Catholic humanists, and their efforts to instill political virtue bear political logic.
In the face of the rulers’ unrestricted power, Dong Zhongshu also emphasizes the influence of virtue on politics. In his Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn, he not only argues for the legitimacy of the kings’ divine right through the claim that emperors (also known as the Son of Heaven) are the ones with “heaven”, but also stresses the need for rulers to sense the “heavenly” virtues and dissolve them in themselves. Through the ruler’s tangible body (his behavior), the people can learn from him the invisible virtues of “heaven”. Once a ruler’s behavior is contrary to virtue, he loses legitimacy, and this moral discipline helps to perpetuate the Confucian sage emperor’s sage. Similarly, Contarini wrote A Duty to the Bishops to express his conviction that the Christian people’s moral and religious foundation is a higher endeavor than the task of secular government Their eternal salvation depends on their acceptance and understanding of the Christian message.
First, Catholic humanists acknowledge the Pope’s authority and the one of the Curia. While Catholic humanists slam the Pope and the Church for their “degenerate” behavior, they still perceive the Church of Rome and the Pope as the inheritor and guardian of the secular and religious values of Rome. The Pope and the Church are the bridge between God’s divine grace and follower. Shaking the headship of the Church would endanger the established social structure. The relative Pope must obey the ecclesiastical laws that appeal to Christendom with his authority (LINDSAY, 1906, p. 514). The Pope guards the traditions of Christianity and the truth of the Bible. Attacking the Pope is to side with the heretics. As head of the Church, Pope provides authoritative interpretations of the Christian tradition. Therefore, no interpretation of the Bible can be independent of the traditions of the Church. Private interpretation jeopardizes the unity of the church and threatens orthodoxy. As such, all contemporary moral practices depend on the integrity of the Christian tradition as interpreted by the Pope. Catholic humanists’ all plans for curia reform, including Consilium, have centred on the Pope’s character. The Pope becomes the embodiment of the system, and whatever the facts, the Pope is portrayed as eager for reform.
Most Holy Father, and truly Most Holy, instructed by the Spirit of God, and with more than that former prudence of yours, since you have devoted yourself fully to the task of curing the ills and restoring good health to the Church of Christ committed to your care. (JOHN, 1983, p. 187).
The Catholic humanists emphasized the Pope’s irreplaceable role as a “bridge”, and Dong Zhongshu made a similar point: the Emperor (天子, Tianzi, the Son of Heaven) had the “nature of a saint”, which was the highest good. As the monarch possesses the most virtuous personality, the common people must rely on the monarch’s edification to perfect their moral practices. According to Dong, “Heaven” is virtuous, and all things come into being due to the virtues of “Heaven”, representing the highest and most universal virtue. Therefore, the “Son of Heaven” inherited the virtues of Heaven, and the monarch was one with Heaven (天人合一, Tian-Ren Heyi, Man, And Nature In One) to justify his rule. Hence, as the embodiment of the sage of virtue, it was the monarch’s primary task to educate the people, especially to cultivate virtue. In Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn, Dong moralizes everything. For example, the relationship between man and Heaven and between man and all things is a moral relationship.
Heaven is the lord of the numerous spirits and is what the king reveres above all other spirits. (66. The Principles of the Suburban Sacrifice). (DONG, 2015, p. 519).
The Son of Heaven alone receives orders from Heaven; the world receives orders from the Son of Heaven; a single state receives orders from its lord. (41. Heaven, the Maker of Humankind). (DONG, 2015, p. 519).
Second, Catholic humanists and Dong Zhongshu believe that the primary cause of corruption and disorder in the state, church, and society is the rulers’ lack of competence and virtue , and virtue politics directly relates virtue to the legitimacy of power. Guided by Aristotle’s “classical” virtue, the purpose of human life is a certain type of life. And the purpose of this life constitutes the way we live our whole life. Humans’ certain misfortunes, such as homely appearance and humble upbringing, prevent them from realizing their virtues. Yet, in Christian theology, virtue is defined as the quality to overcome evil. Catholic humanists combine the two, cultivating people with “virtue” through humanist education. They hope that virtuous men will follow God’s revelation and overcome evil in their hearts. Dong draws on the ‘Interaction of Heaven and Man’ (Tian-ren Gan Ying,天人感应): since the ruler had a connection with the heavens, calamities and auspiciousness can reflect the ruler’s ability to rule the world. Here there is an implied curb on the Emperor’s power, the catastrophe is a warning to the ruler, and if the latter ignores this warning, it gives the potential rebels more reason to shake up their reigns.
For that Spirit of God, by whom the power of the heavens has been established, as the prophet says, has determined to rebuild through you the Church of Christ, tottering, nay, in fact, collapsed, and, as we see, to apply your hand to this ruin, and to raise it up to its original height and restore it to its pristine beauty (DONG, 2015, p. 364).
If the lord’s orders comply [with Heaven], the people will have cause to comply with his orders; if the lord’s orders defy [Heaven], the people will have cause to disobey his orders.3 Thus it is said: “When the One Man enjoys blessings, the myriad commoners will rely on it.” (41. Heaven, the Maker of Humankind) (DONG, 2015, p. 186).
Natural disasters are Heaven’s warnings; bizarre events are Heaven’s threats. If Heaven warns [the ruler] and he does not acknowledge [these warnings], then Heaven will frighten him with threats. (30. The Necessity of [Being] Humane and Wise) (DONG, 2015, p. 364).
The enlightened and virtuous rulers are the embodiment of the ultimate virtue. They know how to exercise power, respect the common good and the well-being of the community, and care for people both materially and spiritually. Remarkably, as a spiritual leader, the Pope is clearly aware that the education of virtue far outclasses the suppression of violence. Only by superseding force with virtue can believers become more religious and achieve long-term stability in the world of Christ.
Third, virtue politics proposes the renovation of social ethos by setting moral models. The political reform scheme of governing people by virtue, advocated by Catholic humanists, resembles Confucius’s idea that “[…] when seeing a man of virtue and talent, one should think of equaling him”. Because of his special position in the reform, the Pope is encouraged to become a moral model that the believers are eager to emulate via virtue and wisdom and, in turn, to raise all the clergy´s moral level. Catholic humanists believe that the education of church schools and religious institutes can practice the learning of wisdom and the quest for virtue, through which the believer’s body or mind can be inclined to the supreme good. On the contrary, if one’s behavior falls below the standard of moral expectations, he will be condemned by public opinion and thus bear psychological pressure (DONG, 2015, p. 322). In other words, humanists hold that the power of moral admonitions is more effective than physical pain. For those reformers, the primary clergy’s immoral behavior is not solely a result of their shortcomings. It is largely due to the senior clerics’ irresponsibility in not providing appropriate schemes of moral discipline and supervision. The Catholic humanists’ concern with the hierarchy of the Curia and the clergy´s virtue is exceedingly strong in Rome, which is in sheer contrast to that of the average humanists for the worldly problems of the laity. The Catholic humanists’ ideal of the Church made them all the more abhorrent to the tolerance of ills and loyal to the institutionalized Church and its teachings.
Concerning moral exemplars, Dong Zhongshu emphasizes that whether ordinary people turn to good or evil ultimately depends on whether a Saint Emperor can teach them. He stresses the “sage’s” irreplaceable nature, the monarch as the only individual who transmits virtue, and the Confucian “saintly emperor’s” disciplinary and hierarchical nature. What distinguishes man from all things is the virtue represented by benevolence（Ren,仁）. Although acquiring virtue is a dynamic process that can be shaped, only the Emperor can teach the common people. The corresponding Emperor (the moral example) must be careful in his words and actions, close to the virtuous and away from the villainous, and inwardly move closer to “benevolence” (the highest good).
Heaven provides the common people with a nature that possesses the basic substance [to become good], but that is not yet capable of being good. Consequently, it establishes a king on their behalf to make it good. Such is Heaven’s intention. The people receive from Heaven a nature that is not yet capable of being good, and they humbly receive from the king the education that will complete their nature. The king supports Heaven’s intention and considers it his responsibility to complete the people’s nature. （35. Deeply Examine Names and Designations) (DONG, 2015, p. 350).
For the most part, unlike Confucianism, which emphasizes the practice of virtue as closely linked to social behavior through the Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues（三纲五常）, Catholic humanists prefer to enumerate the specific elements of virtue, including justice, generosity, prudence, temperance, kindness, graciousness, etc., without any intention of exploring either the depth of the philosophical definition of virtue or of describing a blueprint for its concrete practice. Nevertheless, it cannot be disregarded that, although making every effort to declare the political roles of virtues, they rarely suggest commensurate methodologies or workable answers to the problems of political virtue practice. Consilium, for example, deals with the cardinals’ specific financial problems and privileged interests, and a part of the clergy consciously resisted this document. Although Catholic humanists were committed to “eradicate all ills,” the text neglected the financial limits of the Church due to the Reformation or the tax exemption policy of the chartered Catholic state. It also recommended selecting more virtuous candidates for the priesthood, which aligned with cultural prerequisites but lacked institutional criteria in reform practice. The idea of selecting more virtuous men for the priesthood, while consistent with the cultural requirements of the time, lacked institutional criteria in the specific reform practices. This is not to say that the Catholic humanists were hypocritical in their view of the politics of virtue, but they did not consider this document to be a detailed plan of action at the outset of the opinion; rather, it was a call to action. The aim was to articulate a “restoration” of traditional virtues of the Church and to promote the Pope as the centerpiece of Catholic moral reform.
Every political form must rely on certain moral ethics to construct its theoretical framework and guide its political practice. Throughout the development of modern Western philosophy, it is evident that the virtue philosophy of Catholic humanism eventually facilitated the reform of the Catholic Church in the 16th century and became a significant component of the Christian ideological tradition. This has further gained the historians, philosophers and political scientists’ considerable attention to the issue of early modern church reform in the past half-century (ELISABETH, 1996, p. 415-417).
The political vision of Catholic humanists’ emphasis on reforming by virtue formed the blueprint for the succeeding reforms at the Council of Trent (1545-1563). Under Paul III, although their virtue practice overestimated the importance of the virtue to politics while underestimating other elements of politics, such as church organization, law, finance, etc., which limited the outcomes of Consilium during the time, the virtue philosophy proposed by Catholic humanists holds that human virtue is transcendental, absolute and independent of any individual’s will. From the day of his birth, a man must abide by certain absolute ideologies and moral ethics. This ideology and virtue system is not only the inheritance of a sort of historical tradition but also an embodiment of the church rulers’ ruling will.
In addition, as some Catholic humanists gained church office, their desire to criticize the church and conduct virtue reforms may decline accordingly. Especially as their status and political influence grow, any major reforms may adversely affect their finances and their families’ social status. This ultimately leads to compromise – a combination of personal and church interests – which undermines the papal reforms advocated by Catholic humanists, resulting in mere formality and a loss of coercive force. No matter the outcome of Catholic humanists’ ultimate Reformation, they have attempted to link the church reform with the general reform of Christendom. Virtue reformation is not just pure Roman Reformation. It is universal. The Reformation in Rome would provide examples and mechanisms for the rest of Christendom. By Paul III’s time, the Pope and the Council reached a consensus on their views of reform, laying the political basis for implementing the virtue reformation in Consilium.
Whether it refers to the God’s Christian “supreme good”, the “benevolence” of Chinese Confucianism, or the “kindness” of Buddhism, Catholic humanist scholars’ thinking paradigm of combining virtue and practice has profound implications. In the end, it can be seen that Catholic humanism in Consilium interprets the God’s virtues as the salvation of the church. Therefore, the idea of virtue has a solid metaphysical foundation. In terms of epistemology, although a human’s modest self-control ability is far from being impenetrable by infinite “evil,” according to virtue philosophy, it seemingly offers us a rational way to know God. In ethics, through the view of the God´s unity and the supreme good, virtue ethics guides the church to carry out moral reform for self-salvation, manifesting an optimistic attitude. From Dong Zhongshu and the Catholic humanists’ virtuous practices, scholars who followed were encouraged to investigate the relationship between virtue and politics further.
LA VIRTUD: EL HUMANISMO CATÓLICO EN EL CONSILIUM DE EMENDANDA ECCLESIA
Resumen: Cómo ver la reforma de la iglesia católica en el siglo XVI y su relación con la virtud es un tema importante en el estudio de la filosofía humanista. Los humanistas enfatizan que la educación virtuosa es la base para cultivar la personalidad y creen que restaurar las virtudes de la iglesia es la "cura" para los males de la iglesia moderna temprana. Consilium de emendanda Ecclesia (1537) es la práctica de la virtud de los humanistas católicos. Esto se refleja en propuestas para fortalecer las normas educativas y las disciplinas socio-morales y enfatizar el perfeccionamiento de la virtud clerical como la fuerza impulpara la reforma. Además, bajo la guía de la ética de la virtud, la política de la virtud se convierte en la ideología guía de la práctica política de esos humanistas, donde reconocen la autoridad del papa y de la iglesia y asocian la virtud con la legitimidad del poder. La filosofía de la virtud en Consilium forma el fundamento ideológico para la reforma de la iglesia católica. El erudito chino antiguo Dong Zhongshu (179-104 B.C.) practicó una política similar de la virtud. En las exubergemde la primavera y el otoño, combinla legitimidad del gobierno con la virtud basada en el derecho divino de los reyes, perpetuasí el concepto confuciano del "sabio". Tanto humanistas católicos como Dong enfatizaron la importancia de la virtud de los gobernantes como agentes de Dios.
Palabras clave: Virtud. Humanismo católico. Reforma católica. Política de la virtud.
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Christianity originated in the Middle East. It was one of the major religions of the region until the Arab Muslim conquest in the 7th century. Today Christians make up just five per cent of the population of the Middle East. Reverend Andrew Thompson, the Senior Chaplain of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Abu Dhabi, says low birth rates and political turmoil are two of the contributing factors. As part of our inter-faith series Joanna Andrews caught up with Reverend Thompson and started by asking him about Christianity in the UAE.
The Reverend Canon Andrew Thompson (MBE) trained as a priest of the Church of England at Oxford and was ordained in Derby Cathedral. He holds degrees in Behavourial Sciences and Islamic Studies, and has penned several books on Christianity. His latest book, ‘Christianity in the UAE: Culture and Heritage’, celebrates religious tolerance in the seven emirates.
Tolerance & Understanding
Her Majesty's Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Dominic Jermey said, “As Ambassador of the United Kingdom, a country very proud of its multi faith heritage and identity, I am delighted to support this work. The UAE’s warmth towards Christianity and many other faiths is a wonderful legacy of [His Highness] Shaikh Zayed’s advocacy of an open and tolerant society.” HH Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, the then UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and current Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, quotes a verse in the Holy Qur’an in the foreword of the book, “‘O people! We have created you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another,’ to reach out towards one another and to live together in peace and harmony.”
He goes on to say, “Since its founding, the United Arab Emirates has followed that command. It has united people of differing faiths, found common ground among those who come from different religious traditions and harnessed the core values that are common to all religions. Now a leader in the region and a nation of global influence, the UAE continues to recognise that people of true faith share a common vision and that all religions provide people with comfort, hope and inspiration in a complex and difficult world.”
The UAE has always prided itself on its tolerance, with religious freedom enshrined in the constitution. Article 32 states that the “freedom to exercise religious worship is guaranteed in accordance with established customs and provided it does not conflict with public policy or violate public morals.” But sadly this is not replicated throughout the region. Reverend Thompson says that nowhere else in the world does the church face as much peril as the Christian Arabs of the Middle East. “Arab Christians in Palestine, Egypt, Iraq all face huge difficulties.
“Some of their challenges are shared with their neighbours such as endemic insecurity, poverty, lack of infrastructure, corrupt regimes, lack of educational opportunities... However, their Christian identity often is cause for specific and brutal persecution.”
Ironically, Christianity is seen as a Western religion thus the Arab Christians are perceived as being in sympathy with Western foreign policy and therefore are enemies. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” says Thompson.
“Muslim communities and the West need to be reminded that Christianity is a child of the Middle East and is therefore not alien to the region. There needs to be recognition that Arab Christians suffer along with all Arabs the effects of unstable or oppressive governments and hostile foreign policies. In short, there needs to be a return to a generous pan-Arabism which embraces pluralism in that each Arab minority group is protected and welcomed.”
Fertility, Persecution & Emigration
There are many reasons for the demise of Christians in the Middle East, like a declining birth rate when compared to other segments of the population. Christians have gone from roughly 20 per cent of the regions population in the early 20th century to no more than five per cent today. And things are unlikely to improve any time soon, according to Thompson. “A major factor which has diminished the Arab-Christian communities of the Middle East is emigration. Arab Christians are fleeing their homelands in pursuit of better education and lifestyles for themselves and their children.”
In the UK, Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury issued a warning last year that in Britain Christianity is only a generation away from extinction unless churches make a dramatic breakthrough in attracting young people back to faith.
Thompson says Lord Carey’s comments reveal the spiritual bankruptcy of post modern Britain. “The effects of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and Modernism all emphasize human reason as the guiding principle to truth. Ultimately, this has led to the glorification and worship of the individual ego resulting in breakdown of communal cohesion in every area from the family to society at large.”
He points out that there is a tremendous spiritual hunger in Europe, which manifested in a huge consumerism of products such as spiritual ‘self help’ books, yoga and meditation exercises. “The difference is that people seek to encounter God alone rather than in groups. Corporate worship has been replaced by an individual quest for an authentic spiritual experience. The importance of family, respect for elders, shared religious experiences is something the West can re-learn from the Middle East.”
In his book, Reverend Thompson says that when he tells people in the UK that he is a Christian leader working in the Arabian Gulf he receives a common response that it must be difficult and dangerous. So how do you change a mindset?
“It all comes back to positive education and positive encounters,” Thompson says. “Education (not to be confused with proselytization or evangelism) helps explains the ‘other’ and reduces ignorance. Encounters which promote mutual respect is an essential part of the process. There are a huge variety of platforms in which these encounters can take place. Through business, sport, music, movies and food.
“The role of interfaith relations in the form of dialogue can help facilitate this process. Dialogue at every level of society from the religious leaders, through to the academics down to promoting formative experiences between youth and children is essential for making friends and understanding each other. Finally, employing the use of media to promote ‘good news stories’ and tell of alternatives to violence and prejudice.”
Thompson points the finger firmly at the media for the rise in Islamophobia. “Sociologists have predicted this as part of a wider pattern of societies fracturing in a global economy into smaller units of identities. The constant remaking of ‘national states’ and redrawing of boundaries mean people are looking to an identity, which transcends these temporalities. This means a growth in religion and spirituality - conflict emerges as a result of this competition.
“While I do not buy into Samuel Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilizations’ thesis as an inevitable outcome - the trends are worrying and the increasingly accessible media is largely responsible for perpetuating Islamophobia.”
A Supportive Society
However, there are pockets of hope. The story of Christianity in the UAE is one of heart-warming mutual friendship and service. Thompson says, “I tell this story more fully in the book Christianity in the UAE. The modern missionary movement in the early 1900s set the tone through serving the local people through medical ministry and education… One consequence of this service was that it laid the good will for the church communities to be welcomed and provided for through the building of worship centres.”
He says to this day the UAE government continues to be generous to the Christian community (and other faiths) through the provision of land for more centres of worship and through sponsoring significant dialogue initiatives.
His parting words of advice are for other countries to take a leaf out of the UAE’s book. “The UAE has a great story to share with the world. Whereas there is so much suffering in other countries because of inter-faith communal conflict the UAE authorities have managed to embody tolerance and friendship on a massive scale. This is worth celebrating and sharing with the global community.”


Our mission is to be a place of spiritual growth, yielding changed lives, and raising couples to build families that have a godly legacy.
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2299 Mechanicsville Road, Florence, South Carolina 29501, United States


Fighting with Faith
The Fields Family
Many of you have heard of the new battle with ALS Coach Jimmy Fields is facing. Coach Fields is a vital part of the Trinity Community. This school year Coach Fields will be entering his 6th year as the Varsity Head Football Coach and High School Bible Instructor. He has also served as Trinity’s Head Wrestling Coach for four of those five years.
These platforms have allowed Coach Fields to be an instrument in the spiritual development of our athletes and students here at TCS. Although Coach Fields could have coached at any level, he intentionally chooses to shape the life of the young athlete in the impressionable years of high school. He has always seen his 30+ years of coaching as a ministry, rather than a job. The Lord has been so faithful in using Coach Fields to further the Kingdom-for His glory! As far as the 2020 Crusader football season goes, he has said, “There will be no trying-there will be doing.” GO CRUSADERS!!!
During his tenure at TCS, the Trinity family has rejoiced in the marriages of his two children, Jay and Mallory, and the success of his wife, Shannen. She was the lead female actor in the Christian movie, “Facing the Giants” and is still working in the Christian film industry. Coach Fields remains strong in Christ and is committed to fight this battle with faith! It is now our privilege as brothers and sisters in Christ to reach out to Coach Fields and his family and minister to them in the midst of their trials.
We join Coach Fields and Shannen in their expression of faith in God’s sovereignty as they face uncertainties. Our prayers on their behalf are vital. For those who would like to offer financial support, one way is to donate by cash or check made payable to TCS with the “Fields Family” noted in the memo. Another option is through a gofundme page created for Coach Fields, shared on our TCS Facebook page. For those who wish to contribute through Trinity, we ask that donations be made by September 1st so that we can pass the gift along to the Fields family as soon as possible.


WE ARE CALLED to live in the right relationship with all Creation, recognizing that the entire world is interconnected and is a manifestation of God.
WE WORK to integrate into the beliefs and practices of the Religious Society of Friends the Truth that God’s Creation is to be respected, protected, and held in reverence in its own right, and the Truth that human aspirations for peace and justice depend upon restoring the earth’s ecological integrity.
WE PROMOTE these Truths by being patterns and examples, by communicating our message, and by providing spiritual and material support to those engaged in the compelling task of transforming our relationship to the earth.
Some Friends may choose a different language to describe their personal reasons for supporting or sharing in the work of Quaker Earthcare Witness. All are welcome who seek to further QEW’s programs and activities.
Quaker Earthcare Witness is a not-for-profit 501 (C)(3) organization, incorporated in the State of Michigan since 1987.
QEW organizational structure consists of a Steering Committee, more than half of whom are appointed by regional Quaker organizations known as “Yearly Meetings,” as well as standing committees, projects, and working groups that are run by volunteers. There is a small paid office staff.
QEW’s work consists primarily of 1) material and spiritual support for individual Friends and Friends groups who are working on ecological sustainability issues from a spiritual perspective and 2) publications, programs, projects, and other activities that are aimed at making human activities not only ecologically sustainable but in harmony with the larger purposes of God’s creation.
Click on these buttons to learn more about QEW’s outreach to the Religious Society of Friends.


Our municipality has a variety of attractions that will enchant you.
We provide information about each of our attractions, you can browse to learn its history.
The Holy Diocese of Symi was founded on April 20, 2004 by decision of the Holy and Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, satisfying a constant request of the inhabitants for an ecclesiastical upgrade. In addition to Symi, which is its seat, Tilos, Halki and Kastelorizo belong to the Diocese.
Archaeological-Folklore Museum of Symi was founded in 1961 and is housed in a traditional mansion of the Gianneski family and is located in the Lieni district, in the village. It consists of "upstairs, downstairs, kitchen, cistern and courtyard" with neoclassical elements added in 1875. The exhibits cover the history of the island from prehistoric times to post-Byzantine times.


In the spirit of community connections, our Community Outreach Specialists pulled together a list of free Thanksgiving meal programs in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Rock, Waukesha, and Washington counties. Please note: some sites are serving on Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 23, 2017), while other sites are serving the day before on Wednesday, November 22.
- St. Augustine of Hippo, 2530 S. Howell Ave., 414.744.0808. Serving on Nov. 23 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
- St. Vincent de Paul Society-Northside, 2600 N. 2nd St., 414.374.4095. Serving on Nov. 23 from 12-1 p.m.
- St. Vincent de Paul Society-Southside, 931 W. Madison St., 414.649.9555. Serving on Nov. 23 from 12-1 p.m.
- Unity Lutheran Church, 1025 E. Oklahoma Ave., 414.744.6311. Doors open on Nov. 23 at 11 a.m., meal served at 1 p.m.
- St. Benedict the Moor (St. Ben’s), 1015 N. 9th St., 414.271.0135. Serving on Nov. 23 from 2-3:30 p.m.
RACINE & KENOSHA COUNTIES
- 1st Church of God, 1650 Lathrop Ave., Racine, 262.634.1463. Serving on Nov. 23 from 1-4 p.m. Please call one week before Thanksgiving to RSVP for the event.
- Shalom Center of Interfaith, 4314 39th Ave., Kenosha, 262.658.1713. Serving on Nov. 23 from 5-6 p.m.
- St. John’s Lutheran Church (Edgerton Community Outreach), 207 E. High St., Edgerton, 608.884.9593. Serving on Nov. 23 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Potential meal delivery for residents in Edgerton and Milton areas; call for availability.
- Salvation Army Corps Church, 514 Sutherland Ave., Janesville, 608.757.8300. Doors open on Nov. 23 at 9 a.m., meal served from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Christ the King Lutheran Church, 1600 N. Genesee St., Delafield, 262.646.2343. Serving on Nov. 22 from 3-6:30 p.m.
- Catholic Memorial High School, 601 E. College Ave., Waukesha, 262.542.7101. Serving on Nov. 22 from 4:30-6 p.m.
- Salvation Army, 445 Madison St., Waukesha, 262.547.7367. Serving on Nov. 23 from 1-2:30 p.m.
The following locations ask families and singles to make a reservation at 262.208.5180. Meals will be served from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Dinners can be delivered for those in need.
- Immaculate Conception St. Mary (St. Mary’s Parish Hall), 406 Jefferson St., West Bend, 262.338.5600. Serving on Nov. 23 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Please call 262.208.5180 to make a reservation.
- New Hope United Church-Christ, 4330 Jackson Dr., Jackson, 262.677.2345. Serving on Nov. 23 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Please call 262.208.5180 to make a reservation.
- Faith Lutheran Church, W172 N11187 Division Rd., Germantown, 262.251.8250. Serving on Nov. 23 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Please call 262.208.5180 to make a reservation.
We hope you find this information useful and we wish you a happy Thanksgiving!


I kept putting it off, largely because life is busy but also because I was so hung up on what to even call it. But the death of my most favorite aunt changed all that.
"Titi America" was, without a doubt, one of my greatest encouragers. I always walked away from a conversation with her feeling more confident, loved, and appreciated. She loved to tell the story, over and over, of how I took my very first steps in her apartment. Even as a toddler, I felt more confident around her.
Me taking my first steps. :-)
And in regard to my work, she always encouraged me to keep up with it, often saying something like, ''Millie, use your gift to bless other people."
So when she passed away this year, the thought of never hearing her call me ''Millie'' just about broke my heart. But in that grief, I found a way to honor her memory and remind myself of what she used to remind me of. And so I found the perfect name for this blog: MILLIE MADE.
My beautiful aunt.
I love it. I loved her. And I'm so thankful for her presence and influence in my life. My prayer for this blog is threefold:
1. To honor God with the gifts and talents He has given me.
2. To honor my aunt's memory by growing and using those gifts and talents daily.
3. And to be a blessing to my friends, fellow crafters, and anyone else who happens to stop by.


As a school grounded in Catholic values, the spiritual life of each child, teacher and member of the community is held in high regard. The school’s mission encourages all students to continually become more loving, faith-filled, self-aware, community-minded, and kind. Our curriculum includes opportunities for children to consider the role of God in their lives and the ethical and moral underpinnings of a life lived in loving service to God and others.
Classes begin each day with a prayer, and the school gathers frequently for student-led liturgical services, focussed on the values of love, gratitude, respect, service and integrity. Though the school is guided by Catholic values, the spiritual diversity of our school community is honored and celebrated. A respect for the spiritual and ethical goals of the school is an expectation of all members of the community.


WELCOME TO THE WORLD'S
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Thank You Jesus
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an exclusive cyber location designed to bring Christians together in prayer from all over the World .
WE COME TOGETHER RIGHT HERE TO BE UNITED IN EXPRESSING OUR DEEPEST GRATITUDE TO JESUS
Jesus said "Wherever 2 Or More are gathered in my Name..."
† Participate in this super "Or More" gathering and receive his promise/guarantee †
The World Wide Web provides a modern way to Unite the entire Global Christian Community in Prayer
There's vast scientific evidence proving the results of collective prayer in high numbers called the "N2 Effect" or the "Super Radiance Effect"
Simply stated, the more who participate - the Greater the Blessings we can expect.
Pray or Visit here as often as you want
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St Nicholas' Church and Priory was founded by Herbert de Losinga (Bishop of Norwich) in 1101 as a penance for an act of simony. It is the largest parish church in the country and arguably the oldest building in Great Yarmouth. The church now houses a free heritage exhibition showing its role in the history of Yarmouth.
During the Medieval period the church was at its most magnificent with stained glass, tapestries, painted and gilded walls, frescos,19 guild chapels, various relics of the saints and ornate furnishings. At this time Great Yarmouth was the fourth richest town in England. The interior was destroyed at the Reformation and the Priory dissolved.
In 1649 the church was divided into three parts as the Puritans, who were now in the ascendancy, demanded use of the building as their church. The arches were bricked up (two feet thickness) on the north side of the nave, the eastern side of the transepts and the eastern side of the tower. The three portions of the church were used by the Anglican Church (south aisle), the Puritans led by Rev. Bridge (the chancel, which they fitted up as a church house) and the Presbyterians (the north aisle). A new door to the chancel destroyed the altar tomb of Thomas Crowmer (Bailiff of Yarmouth 1470-97). The mutilation of this tomb was contrary to the Act of Parliament of 1644, which allowed the demolition of monuments of idolatry and superstition, but not monuments to dead people, unless they were deemed to be saints. The windows in the east end were filled up with bricks. The north aisle was used by the local militia as a drill hall when the weather was wet. All the three denominations held their services simultaneously. The alterations to the church were paid out of a rate levied on the townspeople. At the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 the Puritans were ejected from the church. The bricked up arches put up by the Independents and the Presbyterians were not taken down until the restoration of 1859-64 when the church became undivided for the first time in about 200 years.
The church gradually declined, the fabric deteriorated and the chancel collapsed. It was the Victorians who mounted several large and expensive restoration schemes and by 1905 the church had been completely renovated.
In 1942 the church was completely gutted during a German air raid leaving only the Norman tower and the walls standing.
With the aid of a War Damage Commission grant and fund raising by local people and businesses the church was rebuilt (architect - Stephen Dykes Bower).
The Church was reconsecrated in 1961 by the Bishop of Norwich.
On December 9th, 2011 the Lord Bishop of Norwich designated St Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth a Minster Church. From then on, its official title is The Minster Church of St Nicholas.
Great Yarmouth Minster,


This is the point in my blog where I tell you that God designed you to be in relationship with Him, to love Him with your whole heart and to worship and trust Him. Great news, right? Bad news - we all fail at loving God with our whole heart. We all love ourselves first - if we're honest. Since God is infinitely worthy of all of our worship, the fact that we love ourselves first is really a cosmic tradgedy and infinite crime. But the best news is that God sent Jesus Christ to pay the punishment for our crime and raised Him from the dead so that we could be reconciled to God. In Jesus we have the free gift of God's grace, we're set free from slavery to sin, and we're given a new heart to love God like we should. We joyfully await the return of our King Jesus, when we will finally live in His presence face to face. Why the wait? Because God is patient and kind and wants many to come to salvation.
There - short story. Now, repent and trust Jesus! If you're already trusting in Him - woohoo! Now don't waste your life, go out and live each moment on mission to spread the good news of His grace and His soon coming return.


- Chapter 2:
- What does Julian mean when she calls herself an "unlettered
- When does Julian say her visions took place?
- What three things does Julian pray for?
- Chapter 3:
- When did Julian experience her visions? (i.e, what year?)
How old was she at the time?
- How long does Julian lie sick before she sees the vision?
- What image does the Vicar hold before Julian's face
as she thinks she is dying?
- What does Julian imagine is around the cross in the
darkness that makes the cross ugly and terrifying?
- Chapter 4:
- What does Julian mean when she says she saw the crucifixion
"without any intermediary"?
- Chapter 5: What is the sign of god's
familiar love? How does it relate to clothing?
- What, according to Julian, is the round little object
like a hazelnut that rests in her hand in the vision?
What, according to Julian, prevents that little hazelnut-like
object from falling into nothing?
- Chapter 58: What unusual change does
Julian make to the traditional trinitarian formula of
"father, son and holy ghost" in her writing?
What does she mean to suggest by this change?
- Chapter 60: What contrast does Julian
make between the way a mother feeds her child and how
Christ feeds his [her?] children? How does Mother Christ
lead lead humanity to his/her breast? (i.e. through what
opening in his body?)
- Chapter 61: Why does God allow people
to "fall" according to Julian?
- Chapter 86: According to Julian, what is the
meaning of her visions?
- What sort of people does Julian pray will come into
possession of her book in future ages?
Passage Identifications: Be prepared to identify
where these quotations come from, who wrote them, and comment
briefly on their significance in the author's work.
A. This revelation was made to a simple, unlettered creature, living in this mortal flesh, the year of our Lord one thousand, three hundred and seventy-three, on the thirteenth of May, and before this the creature had desired three graces by the gift of God. The first was recollection of the Passion. The second was bodily sickness. The third was to have, of God's gift, three wounds.
B. And when I was thirty and a half years old, God sent me
a bodily sickness in which I lay for three days and three
nights, and the third night I received all the rites of
Holy Church, and did not expect to live until day. . . .
So I lasted until day, and by then my body was dead from the middle downwards, as it felt to me. Then I was helped to sit upright and supported. . . . My curate was sent for to be present at my end, and before he came my eyes were fixed upwards, and I could not speak. He set the cross before my face, and said: I have brought the image of your savior; look at it and take comfort from it.
C. And at this suddenly I saw the red blood running down from under the crown, hot and flowing freely and copiously, a living stream, just as it was at the time when the crown of thorns was pressed on his blessed head. I preceived, truly and powerfully, that it was he who just so, both God and man, himself suffered for me, who showed it to me without any intermediary.
D. At the same time as I saw this sight of the head bleeding,
our good Lord showed a spiritual sight of his familiar love.
I saw that he is to us everything that is good and comforting
for our help. He is our clothing, who wraps and enfolds
us for love, embraces us and shelters us, surrounds us for
his love, which is so tender that he may never desert us.
E. And in this he showed me something small, no bigger than
a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed to
me, and it was as round as a ball. I looked at it with the
eyes of my understanding and thought: What can this be?
I was amazed that it could last, for I thought that because
of its littleness it would suddenly have fallen into nothing.
F. When I was young, I desired to have this sickness when
I would be thirty years old. As to the third [request],
by the grace of God and the teachings of Holy Church I conceived
a great desire to receive three wounds in my life, that
is, the wound of true contrition, the wound of loving compassion,
and the wound of longing with my will for God.
G. For [Christ] is our Mother, brother, and savior. . . .
father, husband, lover.
H. Amen. Jesus. Amen. I pray almighty God that this book may not come except into the hands of those who wish to be his faithful lovers, and those who will submit themselves to the faith of Holy Church and the wholesome understanding and teaching of men who are of virtuous life, settled age and profound learning. . . . And beware that you do not accept one thing which is according to your pleasure and liking, and reject another, for that is the disposition of heretics.


Welcome to the 30 Day Snap! If you’d like to know what it’s all about click the button below.
I may also post the photos on Instagram so you can follow me there as well @step_onmyknee.
Spending a quiet night in watching The Borgias on Netflix. I’ve become addicted to this show.
Here is a brief summary:The series follows the rise of the Borgia family to the pinnacle of the Roman Catholic Church and their struggles to maintain their grip on power. The beginning of the first season depicts the election of Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy through simony and bribery with the help of his son, Cesare. The triumph in the papal conclave of Borgia, who becomes Pope Alexander VI, enrages his rivals in the College of Cardinals, some of whom decide to plot against him. With the help of his family, Alexander takes on his enemies while striking alliances with other European powers to strengthen his position.
What are some of your favorite shows?