Spiritual Conferences on the Mysteries of Faith and the Interior Life, by Rev. Henry Collins (London: R. Washbourne, 1875). With Imprimatur. May be read online, and available in pdf, mobi, epub, and other formats, at Internet Archive; and also available at Google Books and Google Play Store.
Spiritual Conferences, by Rev. Henry Collins, edited by Rev. Joseph Degen, with an Introduction by Bishop John Keily (London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow: Burns Oates & Washbourne, 1920). With Imprimatur. May be read online, and available in pdf, mobi, epub, and other formats, at Internet Archive.
On the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist in the Roman Rite.
“He said: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet, Isaias, said… I baptize with water: but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not. The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose.” (St. John i, 23, 26-27)
On the Memorial of the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in the Maronite church.
“[O]ur Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man, perfect in his divinity and perfect in his humanity, consubstantial with the Father and consubstantial with us in all things but sin. His divinity and his humanity are united in one person, without confusion or change, without division or separation. In him has been preserved the difference of the natures of divinity and humanity, with all their properties, faculties and operations. But far from constituting “one and another”, the divinity and humanity are united in the person of the same and unique Son of God and Lord Jesus Christ, who is the object of a single adoration.” (Common Christological Declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, 11 November 1994)
The Divine Trinity: A Dogmatic Treatise, by the Rev. Joseph Pohle, Ph.D., D.D., authorized English version with some abridgment and numerous additional references, by Arthur Preuss. With Imprimatur. Volume II of the Dogmatic Theology series of Professor Joseph Pohle and Arthur Preuss.
Conferences on the Blessed Trinity, by the Rev. Dr. J.J. O’Connell, O.S.B. (New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1882). With Imprimatur. May be read online, and available in pdf, epub, kindle/mobi, Daisy, djvu, and txt formats at Open Library and Internet Archive.
On the Solemnity of Blessed Trinity (Trinity Sunday), 2018.
“And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going, therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” (St. Matthew xxviii, 18-20)
The Spirit of Catholicism is a work of high theology written for a lay audience, eschewing technical terms for lucid and often beautifully poetic language. It is widely acknowledged to be one of the best introductions to Catholic Christianity available today; even George Orwell, non-believing but fair-minded (unlike many nowadays, alas), praised it in his own snarky way. Thus, it comes highly recommended by leading lay evangelists like Scott Hahn, a convert from Protestantism, and Dave Armstrong, who describes it as “perhaps the best book written about the Catholic Church in the 20th century. Must reading for Catholic and non-Catholic alike”.
In The Spirit of Catholicism, Karl Adam presents a panoramic view of the Catholic Faith from the perspective of the Incarnation, the revelation that God the Son became man in Jesus Christ for humanity’s salvation. The Incarnation shows that, even as salvation is entirely a Divine act, it is carried out through human freedom and cooperation: God the Son saved man by living and dying as a man; He shares this salvation with humanity through a community of human beings, the Church; and He supernaturally joins individuals to Himself through means appropriate to our spiritual and material life, which are called sacraments. In Chapter VII, Adam writes:
“The Catholic cannot think of the good God without thinking at the same time of the Word made Flesh, and of all His members who are united to Him by faith and love in a real unity. The God of Catholicism is the transcendent, absolute God, who became Man for us in His Son, and therefore no solitary God, but the God of angels and saints, the God of fruitfulness and abundance, the God who with a veritable divine folly by the incomprehensible decree of His most free Will takes up into Himself the whole creation that culminates in human nature, and in a new, unheard of supernatural manner, “lives in it,” “moves” in it, and in it “is” (cf. Acts XVii, 28).”
Adam shows the essence of salvation to be communion, a share in the supernatural life of Christ that is given to us through the Church, “which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23), which baptizes us into the body of Christ (1 Corintians 12:12-13) and shares with us His life through sacraments like the Eucharist (John 6:52). Nor is salvation a solitary relationship between God and the individual; rather, it is the Christian’s adoption into a family of love, among fellow-children of the Father who, being in the body of Christ, share in His Sonship. Adam writes in Chapter VIII:
“As our Lord, in the great prayer which He taught His disciples, joined all who pray into a single unity and directed them to appeal out of this unity to their common Father, and as St. Paul especially enjoined prayer for one another (Rom. xv, 30; 2 Cor. i, 11; Eph. i, 15, etc.), so the Church prays, not in the name of any individual, nor as the mere sum of all individuals, but as a fellowship, as a priestly unity, as the visible priesthood of Christ.
“It is not I and you that pray, but the mystical Christ…”
This emphasis on the role of the Church as the whole Christ would become the ecclesiology of the encyclical Mysticum Corpus Christi (1943). Although it was downplayed after the “people of God” imagery of the 1960s returned the emphasis to the juridical, rather than the mystical, nature of the Church, Adam’s ecclesiology remains influential; and we ourselves think that it helped pave the way for the rise of modern covenant ecclesiology and for Pope Benedict XVI’s emphasis on communion as the nature of the Church.
“These things Jesus spoke, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said; Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee… I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they were, and to me thou gavest them: and they have kept thy word… Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world… And not for them only do I pray, but for those also who through their word shall believe in me.
“That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me: And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them: that they may be one, as we also are one. I in them, and thou in me: that they may be made perfect in one: and the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast also loved me.” (St. John xvii, 1, 6, 17-18, 20-23)
The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins, For the Antiquity and Universality of the Catholic Faith Against the Profane Novelties of all Heresies, translated by Rev. C. A. Heurtley, D.D., in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Second Series, translated into English with Prolegomena and Explanatory Notes, edited by Professor Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, Volume XI: Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian (Edinburgh: T&T Clark; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company). Also called the Commonitorium of Saint Vincent of Lerins.
Since the introductions and footnotes on the printed text were written by a non-Catholic of evident Protestant inclination, one is advised to read them with prayerful caution.
For instance, when St. Vincent, in Chapter vi, refers to Rome as “the apostolic see”, the footnote vainly attempts to obfuscate his Catholicism by claiming that this appellation had also been applied to other local churches, particularly those founded by apostles. This notably ignores the fact that the said ancient author applied the phrase in a special and eminent way to Rome, hence its reference to Pope Stephen as “Prelate of the Apostolic See” (as opposed to Agrippinus, referred to simply as “bishop of Carthage”). Note too how the Saint referred to the bishops of Rome as “the blessed successors of the blessed apostles”; and how he surmised that Pope Stephen opposed Agrippinus’ novelty on sacramental discipline because the former understood “that as he exceeded all others in the authority of his place, so he should also in the devotion of his faith.” Thus St. Vincent clearly recognised Rome’s primacy and mandate as the apostolic see par excellence.
On the Feast of St. Vincent of Lerins, Father of the Church.
From Chapter vi of the text:
“Pope Stephen of blessed memory, Prelate of the Apostolic See… in an epistle sent at the time to Africa… laid down this rule: Let there be no innovation — nothing but what has been handed down.
“For that holy and prudent man well knew that true piety admits no other rule than that whatsoever things have been faithfully received from our fathers the same are to be faithfully consigned to our children; and that it is our duty, not to lead religion whither we would, but rather to follow religion whither it leads; and that it is the part of Christian modesty and gravity not to hand down our own beliefs or observances to those who come after us, but to preserve and keep what we have received from those who went before us.
“What then was the issue of the whole matter? What but the usual and customary one? Antiquity was retained, novelty was rejected.”
From Chapter x:
“But some one will ask, How is it then, that certain excellent persons, and of position in the Church, are often permitted by God to preach novel doctrines to Catholics?… Blessed Moses… writes thus in Deuteronomy… ‘For the Lord, your God, trieth you, to know whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.'”
From Chapter xxxiii:
“[A]ssuredly it is incumbent on all Catholics who are anxious to approve themselves genuine sons of Mother Church, to adhere henceforward to the holy faith of the holy Fathers, to be wedded to it, to die in it; but as to the profane novelties of profane men — to detest them, abhor them, oppose them, give them no quarter.
On the Feast of St. Mateo Correa Magallanes of the Knights of Columbus, and of the Saints of the Cristero War, in earnest prayer that all nations may reject the counterfeit compassion whispered by the world, and surrender to the sanctifying and saving mercy proclaimed by our divine Lord Jesus Christ.
“Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.” (St. John xxi, 21-23 KJV)
Update (22 May 2018): We just learned that this is our 1000th post. Therefore, unto the Lord our God, in Whom we live, move, and have our being, we join in the thanksgiving of the one true Church:
Special Devotion to the Holy Ghost: A Manual for the use of Seminarians, Priests, Religious and the Christian People, by the Very Rev. [Bishop] Dr. Otto Zardetti, with a letter of introduction by the Very Rev. John Keane, D.D., Bishop of Richmond (Milwaukee: Hoffman Brothers, 1888). With Imprimatur. Available at Google Books and Hathitrust Digital Library. May be read online, and available in pdf, epub, mobi, and other formats at Internet Archive and Open Library, with a 2nd copy at Internet Archive and Open Library.
N.B., The discussion under Part III. The Office of the Holy Ghost, on pages 187 to 357, provides a concise yet comprehensive overview of Catholic Christian teaching on the Person of the God the Holy Spirit and His mission from creation to the eschaton.
On the Solemnity of Pentecost (Whitsunday), 2018.
“I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak: and the things that are to come, he will shew you. He shall glorify me: because he shall receive of mine, and will declare it to you. All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine. Therefore, I said, that he shall receive of mine, and will shew it to you.” (St. John xvi, 12-15)
The Young Man’s Guide:Counsels, Reflections, and Prayers for Catholic Young Men, by Rev. F. X. Lasance (New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benzinger Brothers, 1910). With Imprimatur. Available at HathiTrust Digital Library; and available in pdf, epub, mobi, and other formats at Open Library and Internet Archive.
[N.B.1, According to the author’s Preface, the work is adapted from Hinaus ins Leben by Fr. Colestin Muff, O.S.B.]
[N.B.2, We learned from Internet Archive that Fr. Lasance lived until 1946, but no online source appears to indicate the year of the decease of Fr. Muff. Therefore, while we have assessed as uncertain but probable that this work is in the public domain, we would appreciate further information on Fr. Muff and the text. Thank you.]
Vegliare Con Sollecitudine: Address to the Italian Association of Catholic Midwives, by the Venerable Pope Pius XII, 29 October 1951. Variously referred to as “Address [or ‘Allocution’] to Midwives [or ‘Italian Midwives’ or ‘Catholic Midwives’]”, sometimes adding “on the Nature of Their Profession”.
A different English translation, which appears to be longer and more complete, may be read online on this page of Catholic Culture. It is lifted from the pamphlet Marriage and the Moral Law: Two Addresses of Pope Pius XII: Catholic Truth Society No. S0231 (1957), which may be read online on this page at Catholic Truth Society Pamphlets; and on this page at e-Catholic 2000. [N.B., In addition to the Address to Midwives, the pamphlet includes “Nell’ordine Della Natura: Address to the Association Known as the ‘Family Campaign’ and Other Family Associations”, 26 November 1951.]
What is asserted to be a complete translation by Ron Conte (longer than the 1st translation above, of the same length as the 2nd) may be read online at Catholic Planet, linked from the reproach of Christ.
“When you reflect on the wonderful collaboration of the parents, of nature and of God, as a result of which a new human being is born to the image and likeness of the Creator… you cannot help valuing at its proper worth the precious co-operation you contribute to an event of such importance….
“Hence whoever approaches this cradle of the formation of life and plays a part there, in one way or another, should know the order the Creator lays down to be followed and the laws that rule this order….
“Nature places at man’s disposal the whole chain of the causes which give rise to a new human life; it is man’s part to release the living force, and to nature pertains the development of that force, leading to its completion. Once man has fulfilled his part and set in motion the marvellous evolution of life, it is his duty to respect religiously its progress and the same duty forbids him either to halt the course of nature or to prevent its natural development.” (Formatting modified.)
“The whole world groaned, and was astonished to find itself Arian. Some [bishops], therefore, remained in their own communion, others began to send letters to those Confessors who as adherents of Athanasius were in exile; several despairingly bewailed the better relations into which they had entered. But a few, true to human nature, defended their mistake as an exhibition of wisdom. The ship of the Apostles was in peril, she was driven by the wind, her sides beaten with the waves: no hope was now left.
“But the Lord awoke and bade the tempest cease; the beast died, and there was a calm once again… The bishops who had been caught in the snare at Ariminum and had unwittingly come to be reported of as heretics, began to assemble, while they called the Body of our Lord and all that is holy in the Church to witness that they had not a suspicion of anything faulty in their own faith.” (Saint Jerome, Dialogue Against the Luciferians, 19)
