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webpage

I built a webpage last week: http://geocities.com/paulm146/. Read the article entitled "Catholic Doctrines of Grace." It is the best of its kind on the net. At this moment I am working on a response to a decree on baptism from Bishop Erik Braun of the Tallahassee EFCA Reformed Baptist diocesan parish. It will be ready in a few days.

much grace,
Paul

catholicity -- a mark of the church

John Calvin gave two marks to identify a faithful local church: preaching of the Word of God and due administration of the Sacraments. Communion with the Church At Large was not of his marks to identify a true local church. Visible Unity, except among their own sects in order to keep the Deformation alive, did not mean much to the Deformers. They completely dispensed with the institutional Church of their day and started building a "church" contrary to it.

This is characteristic of heresies. John Henry Newman, in his "Essay on the Development of Doctrine," lists "catholicity" as a mark to discern the true Church:

How was an individual inquirer to find, or a private Christian to keep the Truth, amid so many rival teachers? ... the rule was simple, which would direct everyone right; and in that age (speaking of the fourth century), at least, no one could be wrong for any long time without his own fault. The Church is everywhere, but it is one; sects are everywhere, but they are many, independent and discordant. Catholicity is the attribute of the Church, independency of sectaries. It is true that sects might seem almost Catholic in their diffusion; Novatians or Marcionites were in all quarters of the empire; yet it is hardly more than the name, or the general doctrine of philosophy, that was universal: the different portions which professed it seem to have bound together by no strict or definite tie. The Church might be evanescent or lost for a while in particular countries, or it might be levelled and buried among sects, when the eye was confined to one spot, or it might be confronted by the one and same heresy in various places; but, on looking round the orbis terrarum, there was no mistaking that body which, and which alone, had possession of it. The Church is a kingdom; a heresy is a family rather than a kingdom; and as family continually divides and sends out branches, founding new homes, and propogating new colonies, each of them as independent as its original head, so was it with heresy. ... [heresy] was, by its very nature its own master, free to change, self-sufficient; and, having thrown off the yoke of the Church, it was little likely to submit to any usurped and spurious authority.

What must one do in order to find God's Church, the Body of Christ, his visible and authoritative presence on earth? Must one become a theologian and research all the various sects in order to discover the truth? No! for that is contrary to Christ who reveals himself to the ignorant and poor things of this world. Truth is discernable to the meek who do not have the intellectual ability to sort out theological statements and make scriptural exegesis. All they must ask is: what Church is One Body in Unity and has existed from the beginning, the tradition of which has been witnessed to for 2,000 years since Christ left us with his Spirit? The poor person would take Jesus at his word in his prayer: "Father, may they be one as you and I are one." And they would take him for his word in his solemn institution of the Church as a society separate from the Judaic cult: "The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church." And they would trust his Spirit who, as Jesus said, would "guide us into all truth." Finally, they would humbly desire to keep Paul's command of loving unity and despising schismatics.

Intercession of the Saints

Protestants often tell me that their "Reformation" was a return to the Church Fathers. I am baffled over this to say the least. Even as a Protestant I knew that the Fathers were thoroughly Catholic. Below is a few quotes on the intercession of the saints taken from www.catholic.com. Also see my documentation on the Eucharistic Sacrifice in a previous post. If the Deformation was a return to the Fathers, can someone please fill me in on why their doctrines were abolished? I would appreciate any honest dialogue on the subject.

Hermas

"[The Shepherd said:] ‘But those who are weak and slothful in prayer, hesitate to ask anything from the Lord; but the Lord is full of compassion, and gives without fail to all who ask him. But you, [Hermas,] having been strengthened by the holy angel [you saw], and having obtained from him such intercession, and not being slothful, why do not you ask of the Lord understanding, and receive it from him?’" (The Shepherd 3:5:4 [A.D. 80]).

Clement of Alexandria

"In this way is he [the true Christian] always pure for prayer. He also prays in the society of angels, as being already of angelic rank, and he is never out of their holy keeping; and though he pray alone, he has the choir of the saints standing with him [in prayer]" (Miscellanies 7:12 [A.D. 208]).

Origen

"But not the high priest [Christ] alone prays for those who pray sincerely, but also the angels . . . as also the souls of the saints who have already fallen asleep" (Prayer 11 [A.D. 233]).

Cyprian of Carthage

"Let us remember one another in concord and unanimity. Let us on both sides [of ] always pray for one another. Let us relieve burdens and afflictions by mutual love, that if one of us, by the swiftness of divine condescension, shall go hence first, our love may continue in the presence of the Lord, and our prayers for our brethren and sisters not cease in the presence of the Father’s mercy" (Letters 56[60]:5 [A.D. 253]).

Anonymous

"Atticus, sleep in peace, secure in your safety, and pray anxiously for our sins" (funerary inscription near St. Sabina’s in Rome [A.D. 300]).

"Pray for your parents, Matronata Matrona. She lived one year, fifty-two days" (ibid.).

"Mother of God, [listen to] my petitions; do not disregard us in adversity, but rescue us from danger" (Rylands Papyrus 3 [A.D. 350]).

Methodius

"Hail to you for ever, Virgin Mother of God, our unceasing joy, for to you do I turn again. You are the beginning of our feast; you are its middle and end; the pearl of great price that belongs to the kingdom; the fat of every victim, the living altar of the Bread of Life [Jesus]. Hail, you treasure of the love of God. Hail, you fount of the Son’s love for man. . . . You gleamed, sweet gift-bestowing Mother, with the light of the sun; you gleamed with the insupportable fires of a most fervent charity, bringing forth in the end that which was conceived of you . . . making manifest the mystery hidden and unspeakable, the invisible Son of the Father—the Prince of Peace, who in a marvelous manner showed himself as less than all littleness" (Oration on Simeon and Anna 14 [A.D. 305]).

"Therefore, we pray [ask] you, the most excellent among women, who glories in the confidence of your maternal honors, that you would unceasingly keep us in remembrance. O holy Mother of God, remember us, I say, who make our boast in you, and who in august hymns celebrate the memory, which will ever live, and never fade away" (ibid.).

"And you also, O honored and venerable Simeon, you earliest host of our holy religion, and teacher of the resurrection of the faithful, do be our patron and advocate with that Savior God, whom you were deemed worthy to receive into your arms. We, together with you, sing our praises to Christ, who has the power of life and , saying, ‘You are the true Light, proceeding from the true Light; the true God, begotten of the true God’" (ibid.).

Cyril of Jerusalem

"Then [during the Eucharistic prayer] we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition . . . " (Catechetical Lectures 23:9 [A.D. 350]).

Hilary of Poitiers

"To those who wish to stand [in God’s grace], neither the guardianship of saints nor the defenses of angels are wanting" (Commentary on the Psalms 124:5:6 [A.D. 365]).

Ephraim the Syrian

"You victorious martyrs who endured torments gladly for the sake of the God and Savior, you who have boldness of speech toward the Lord himself, you saints, intercede for us who are timid and sinful men, full of sloth, that the grace of Christ may come upon us, and enlighten the hearts of all of us so that we may love him" (Commentary on Mark [A.D. 370]).

"Remember me, you heirs of God, you brethren of Christ; supplicate the Savior earnestly for me, that I may be freed through Christ from him that fights against me day by day" (The Fear at the End of Life [A.D. 370]).

The Liturgy of St. Basil

"By the command of your only-begotten Son we communicate with the memory of your saints . . . by whose prayers and supplications have mercy upon us all, and deliver us for the sake of your holy name" (Liturgy of St. Basil [A.D. 373]).

Pectorius

"Aschandius, my father, dearly beloved of my heart, with my sweet mother and my brethren, remember your Pectorius in the peace of the Fish [Christ]" (Epitaph of Pectorius [A.D. 375]).

Gregory of anz

"May you [Cyprian] look down from above propitiously upon us, and guide our word and life; and shepherd this sacred flock . . . gladden the Holy Trinity, before which you stand" (Orations 17[24] [A.D. 380]).

"Yes, I am well assured that [my father’s] intercession is of more avail now than was his instruction in former days, since he is closer to God, now that he has shaken off his bodily fetters, and freed his mind from the clay that obscured it, and holds conversation with the ness of the prime and purest mind . . . " (ibid., 18:4).

Gregory of Nyssa

"[Ephraim], you who are standing at the divine altar [in heaven] . . . bear us all in remembrance, petitioning for us the remission of sins, and the fruition of an everlasting kingdom" (Sermon on Ephraim the Syrian [A.D. 380]).

John Chrysostom

"He that wears the purple [i.e., a royal man] . . . stands begging of the saints to be his patrons with God, and he that wears a diadem begs the tentmaker [Paul] and the fisherman [Peter] as patrons, even though they be " (Homilies on Second Corinthians 26 [A.D. 392]).

"When you perceive that God is chastening you, fly not to his enemies . . . but to his friends, the martyrs, the saints, and those who were pleasing to him, and who have great power [in God]" (Orations 8:6 [A.D. 396]).

Ambrose of Milan

"May Peter, who wept so efficaciously for himself, weep for us and turn towards us Christ’s benign countenance" (The Six Days Work 5:25:90 [A.D. 393]).

Jerome

"You say in your book that while we live we are able to pray for each other, but afterwards when we have died, the prayer of no person for another can be heard. . . . But if the apostles and martyrs while still in the body can pray for others, at a time when they ought still be solicitous about themselves, how much more will they do so after their crowns, victories, and triumphs?" (Against Vigilantius 6 [A.D. 406]).

Augustine

"A Christian people celebrates together in religious solemnity the memorials of the martyrs, both to encourage their being imitated and so that it can share in their merits and be aided by their prayers" (Against Faustus the Manichean [A.D. 400]).

"There is an ecclesiastical discipline, as the faithful know, when the names of the martyrs are read aloud in that place at the altar of God, where prayer is not offered for them. Prayer, however, is offered for the who are remembered. For it is wrong to pray for a martyr, to whose prayers we ought ourselves be commended" (Sermons 159:1 [A.D. 411]).

"At the Lord’s table we do not commemorate martyrs in the same way that we do others who rest in peace so as to pray for them, but rather that they may pray for us that we may follow in their footsteps" (Homilies on John 84 [A.D. 416]).

"Neither are the souls of the pious separated from the Church which even now is the kingdom of Christ. Otherwise there would be no remembrance of them at the altar of God in the communication of the Body of Christ" (The City of God 20:9:2 [A.D. 419]).

the priesthood

There is one priest of the New Covenant: Jesus. The priests of the Old Covenant were but distant symbols of this great High Priest who, as God-Man, offers himself as Sacrificial Victim. His earthly ministry has been exalted to heaven where he brings his pierced Body before the Father in intercession. Christ has not stopped working on earth, however. His Incarnation, the divine clothed in flesh, continues in his Body that has received his Spirit. As the Father sent the Son, so the Son sent his Church to fulfill the divine apostolate, this sacred ministry of representing the invisible God to the world, in word and sacrament.

Thus St. Peter says: "chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." The Church, as a Living Organism, carries on the work of Jesus. In this holy ministry Christ, through his earthly Body, proclaims his death and resurrection to the world and offers the fruits of this to the Father through our worship. He has given us active participation in his priesthood for the purpose of dispensing his manifold graces. Thus his visible presence lives on. Christ preaches, baptizes, and celebrates his Holy Supper in his servants. This is the one and only Priest and he operates through the instrument of his earthly Body.

As we become Christ we become Priest with him. St. Paul says, "the Church is the fullness of God who fills everything in everyway." The Christian life can be likened to "participating in the divine nature" (2 pet. 1:4) or becoming God. Baptism begins the process of our priesthood in Christ and Confirmation increases it. Those who have an extra-ordinary call into Christ receive Holy Orders. Here the Christian is incorporated into the one Priesthood in the most remarkable way. He has the power to baptize in the name of Jesus and the power to repeat the words of institution at the Holy Supper thus offering the Body and Blood just as our Lord did. Only God has power to forgive sins and yet it was given to the apostles (John 20:23) as a token of his special presence in and among us.

The graces of the High Priest are one but they come in different degrees to the various parts of the Body. Each member does not have the same role but they do share the same priesthood. Those who are priests on the higher plain of being titled 'ministers of Christ' have a special and powerful relationship to the baptized faithful. Both are together in union with the High Priest and make the sacred prayers and sacrifices for all. The Church is God incarnate, the Body of Christ, offering the oblation of the High Priest, the Lamb of God, and all the souls it has perfected.

doctrines of grace

My blessed Paul! My beloved Augustine! Angelic Doctor of my soul, St. Thomas! Great saints of God, defend us against the errors of Pelagius. May we be conformed to our Lord who has said: "none of these shall be snatched from my hand." Good Shepherd, I do confess that you are sovereign over your sheep and it is you who guide us into perfection. Not unto us, not unto us, but to thy name be the glory and power forever and ever.

"In him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:11-12).

Why are some saved and not others? It has entirely to do with the fact that, for reasons unknown to us, God loves some more than others. Apart from every ounce of foreseen merit God has predestined his elect unto grace and glory. He bestows upon them an infallible grace so that their salvation must come to pass in spite of all human shortcomings. The Spirit works in their hearts through monergistic premotion, an efficacious grace that ensures their free co-operation. Nothing can hinder this act of God because it is "him who works in you according to his good pleasure." Faith and works are freely given (Eph. 2:8-10), so that the exact measure of what we perform is credited to sovereign grace alone. As St. Augustine said, "when God crowns our merits he is crowning his own gifts."

"What have you that you did not receive?" says Paul. If one achieves a greater work than another it is because God caused the greater work in the one than in the other. God is Absolute Cause of all good things, so that the greater good must be attributed to God alone and not the better use of freewill in man. This is the principle of predilection laid down by St. Thomas Aquinas: "Since God's love is the cause of goodness in things, as has been said, no one thing would be better than another if God did not will greater good for the one than for another... And the reason why some things are better than others, is that God wills them a greater good. Hence it follows that he loves more the better things."

Ludwig Ott, "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma":
"The Thomistic teaching on this question .... is accepted by most of the Dominican theologians. According to his teaching God has predetermined from all eternity that certain people shall be saved, and for the realisation of this bestows effective grace on these people. In this way he physically affects the free-will of the elect, and so secures that they decide freely to co-operate with grace. Efficacious grace, by its inner power (per se sive ab intrinseco) infallibly brings about that the elect freely consent to do those salutary acts... Thus it is intrinsically and substantially different from sufficient grace, which merely confers the potency to do a salutary act. In order that this potency be translated into an act, another new, intrinsically different grace (gratia efficax) must appear. From all eternity God has decreed the free assent of the human will to the efficacious grace whereby He brings about salvation for those who fall within his decree" (pg. 248).

May the false teachers, posing as apologists of the Church, such as Erasmus, be refuted. And may the badly misinformed mouths of Luther and Calvin never be heard again. Let us lament, O Lord, the sad state of the doctrines of grace at the time of these heretics. Shine the light of your countenance upon us that we may never depart from the teachings of Paul, Augustine, and Aquinas. Our eternal security is in your mercy alone, the joy of your saints.

hoc est corpus meum: hocus-pocus?

In the "comment" section of the "Fathers on the Eucharistic Sacrifice" post, a (liberal?) Protestant gave the following charge against my Lord:

"And where did he appoint people to "stand in his place as his representatives" in the breaking of the bread and the passing of the cup? And where did He appoint people to recite the hocus-pocus (hoc es corpus) of "Institution"? It would seem that you are again guilty of reading of Roman Catholicism into first-century Christianity. "

In the Latin Vulgate Bible, Jesus says "hoc est corpus meum" at the Last Supper. It means "this is my Body" in English. How someone can deny that Jesus uttered these words I do not know. The following is a cut and paste from http://www.faithfulvoice.com/hocest.htm (capitalization is mine).

Mat 26.26-28

"C¦nantibus autem eis, accepit Jesus panem, et benedixit, ac fregit, deditque discipulis suis, et ait : Accipite, et comedite : HOC EST CORPUS MEUM. Et accipiens calicem gratias egit : et dedit illis, dicens : Bibite ex hoc omnes.Hic est enim sanguis meus novi testamenti, qui pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum."

"Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, *Take, eat; this is my body.* And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, *Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.*

Mark 14.22-24

"Et manducantibus illis, accepit Jesus panem : et benedicens fregit, et dedit eis, et ait : Sumite, HOC EST CORPUS MEUM. Et accepto calice, gratias agens dedit eis : et biberunt ex illo omnes. Et ait illis : Hic est sanguis meus novi testamenti, qui pro multis effundetur."

"And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many." "

Luke 22.19-20

"Et accepto pane gratias egit, et fregit, et dedit eis, dicens : HOC EST CORPUS MEUM, quod pro vobis datur : hoc facite in meam commemorationem. Similiter et calicem, postquam c¦navit, dicens : Hic est calix novum testamentum in sanguine meo, qui pro vobis fundetur."

"And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." "

The Greek for "hoc est corpus meum" or "this is my body" is: Touto estin to soma mou.

Jesus told us to say the same words over the bread and wine: Luke 22:19, "DO THIS in rememberance of me."

Paul preserves these words of Jesus and commands they be said in the Corinthian liturgy:

1 Cor 11.23-30

"Ego enim accepi a Domino quod et tradidi vobis, quoniam Dominus Jesus in qua nocte tradebatur, accepit panem, et gratias agens fregit, et dixit : Accipite, et manducate : HIC EST CORPUS MEUM, quod pro vobis tradetur : hoc facite in meam commemorationem. Similiter et calicem, postquam c¦navit, dicens : Hic calix novum testamentum est in meo sanguine ; hoc facite quotiescumque bibetis, in meam commemorationem. Quotiescumque enim manducabitis panem hunc, et calicem bibetis, mortem Domini annuntiabitis donec veniat. Itaque quicumque manducaverit panem hunc, vel biberit calicem Domini indigne, reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini. Probet autem seipsum homo : et sic de pano illo edat, et de calice bibat. Qui enim manducat et bibit indigne, judicium sibi manducat et bibit : non dijudicans corpus Domini."

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died."

No real Protestant denies this. I challenge the accuser of my Lord to cite one (non-liberal) Protestant theologian or scholar in his favor. Let us keep in mind that the Supper is where Judas betrayed the Lord. May we be preserved from his fault. Lord help us all.