MEDULLA S. THOMAE AQUITATIS PER OMNES ANNI LITURGICI DIES DISTRBUITA, SEU MEDITATIONES EX OPERIBUS S. THOMAE DEPROMPTAE
Compilation and arrangement by
FR. Z. MÉZARD O. P.
NOTE
All titles with an asterisk contain material that is no longer attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Thursday After Ash Wednesday: Fasting
Thursday After Ash Wednesday
I. — Fasting is practiced for three reasons:
First, to repress the concupiscences of the flesh. Hence the Apostle says (2 Cor 6, 5): "In fasting, in need," because fasting preserves chastity. For, as Jerome says, "without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus cools," that is, by abstaining from food and drink, lust is dulled.
Secondly, we practice fasting so that our soul may be more freely elevated in the contemplation of sublime truths. Therefore, Scripture refers that Daniel (Dn 10), after having fasted for three weeks, received revelation from God.
Thirdly, to make satisfaction for our sins. For this reason, Scripture says (Jl 2, 12): "Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." And this is what Augustine teaches in a sermon: "Fasting purifies the soul, elevates the senses, subjects the flesh to the spirit, makes our heart contrite and humble, dissipates the fog of concupiscence, extinguishes the odors of sensuality, and ignites the true light of chastity."
II. — Fasting is the object of a precept. For fasting is useful to cleanse and restrain our faults and elevate our mind to spiritual things. Now, each person is obliged, by natural reason, to fast as much as necessary to achieve such an end. Therefore, fasting, in general, constitutes a precept of natural law. However, the determination of the time and manner of fasting, according to the convenience and utility of the Christian people, constitutes a precept of positive law, instituted by ecclesiastical superiors. And such is the fasting of the Church, which differs from natural fasting.
III. — The times of fasting are conveniently determined by the Church. Fasting is ordered for two reasons: to cleanse the fault and to elevate our mind to spiritual matters. Therefore, fasts have been ordered especially during those times when we, the faithful, must purify ourselves from sins and elevate our minds to God through devotion. This especially occurs before the Paschal solemnity when sins are cleansed through baptism, solemnly celebrated in the Easter Vigil, in memory of the Lord's burial; for, through baptism, we are buried with Christ to "die to sin," in the words of the Apostle (Rm 6, 4). And also at the Paschal feast, we must, above all, by devotion, elevate our minds to the glory of eternity, which Christ began with His resurrection. Therefore, immediately before the Paschal solemnity, the Church commands us to fast; and for the same reason, during the vigils of the main festivities, when we must prepare devoutly to celebrate the upcoming feasts.
Ia IIae, q. CXLVII, a. 1, 3, 5.
(P. D. Mézard, O. P., Meditationes ex Operibus S. Thomae.)
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MEDULLA S. THOMAE AQUITATIS PER OMNES ANNI LITURGICI DIES DISTRBUITA, SEU MEDITATIONES EX OPERIBUS S. THOMAE DEPROMPTAE
Compilation and arrangement by
FR. Z. MÉZARD O. P.
NOTE
All titles with an asterisk contain material that is no longer attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Ash Wednesday
1. Ash Wednesday: Death “By one man sin entered this world and, by sin, death” (Rom 5:12)
1. If someone, through their own fault, has been deprived of some benefit that was given to them, the deprivation of that benefit will be the penalty for the fault committed. Now, man, from the very first moment of his creation, received from God the benefit of having, as long as his spirit was subject to God, the lower powers of his rational soul subjected to it, and the body subjected to the soul. However, since the spirit of man rejected, through original sin, divine subjection, it resulted that the lower powers no longer submitted themselves entirely to reason, from which came such great rebellion of carnal appetites against it, nor did the body subordinate itself entirely to the soul, which resulted in death and other bodily deficiencies. Now, the life and health of the body consists in being subjected to the soul, as the perfectible to its perfection. Therefore, conversely, death, disease, and all the miseries of the body result from the lack of subjection of the body to the soul. Hence, it is clear that just as the rebellion of the carnal appetite against the spirit is the penalty for the sin of our first parents, so too is death and all the miseries of the body.
2. The rational soul is, by essence, immortal. Therefore, death is not natural to man concerning his soul. As for the body of man, since it is composed of opposing elements, corruptibility necessarily follows from it. And, in this regard, death is natural to man. Now, God, the creator of man, is omnipotent. Therefore, by His benefit, He freed man, from the very first moment of his creation, from the necessity of dying, resulting from the matter that constituted him. However, this benefit was lost by our first parents through sin. Thus, death is natural by the condition of matter; and it is penal by the loss of the divine benefit that preserved him from it.
IIa IIae, q. CLXIV, a. 1
3. Original and actual sin are removed by Christ, that is, by the very one through whom the bodily miseries are also removed, according to what the Apostle says: “He will give life to your mortal bodies, through His Spirit that dwells in you.” But both things will be realized in due time, according to the order of divine wisdom. For we are to reach the immortality and impassibility of glory, begun in Christ, who acquired it for us, after we have participated in sufferings during life. Therefore, it is necessary that, in accordance with Christ, His passibility endures in our bodies, so that we may merit the impassibility of glory.
Ia IIae, q. LXXXV, a. V, ad 2um.
(P. D. Mézard, O. P., Meditationes ex Operibus S. Thomae.)
#God #Deus #Isten #Gott #Jesus #Católico #Catholic #Katholik #katholisch #Katolikus #catholique #Faith #Fé #foi #信仰 #Latin #Latim #Gospel #Evangelho #Evangélium #évangile #Dieu #福音 #日本 #カトリック #Bible #Biblestr #Nostr #Grownostr