bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Catholic Fellowship of the Sick
Authors: Jackson Mary 
Published: August 2024

For the last twelve years there has been increasingly engaged in France a great new labour-a gigantic labour, indeed, to make both more human and more holy the great, grey, hidden world of the chronically ill or disabled. It began very simply in 1942 when a group of invalid girls met a certain invalid priest at another girl's bedside. There indeed was the archetypal idea, the gathering together in charity and friendliness of the isolated sick, with the hope of priestly instruction in their common and difficult vocation.The movement of the Catholic Fellowship of the Sick is now fully organized in several dioceses and has the full and formal approval of the hierarchy. Its manifesto is apparently the little book of Fr Thierry-d'Argenlieu, O.P., who, chronically ill himself, is one of the leader of the movement.There exists an enormous new world of the sick, declares Fr d'Argenlieu, partly as a result of war conditions and poor housing, but more due to the advance of medicine. ‘A heild has been brought into being', he says, ‘that used not to exist when both people's vitality was greater and when mortality was higher, too.'
I Come Quickly
Authors: Morrissey Daniel 
Published: August 2024

There was a day when you could have heard it said that theologians knew nothing about the liturgy, and conversely, that liturgists knew very little theology. That misinformed attitude has disappeared, and it is now recognized that theological and liturgical studies enrich and complement one another. There cannot be two Gods—one for theologians, another for liturgists. The Church simultaneously instructs our minds through dogma and our hearts through symbol. The liturgy would be no more than exaggerated drama without roots deep in the truths theology defends and explains; and were it not for the living contact with Truth found in the liturgy, theology would be only an elaborate system of religious mathematics.One consequence of this necessary and dynamic interaction between theology and the liturgy is that many of the problems encountered in the worship of God find their solution in theological principles.
The Way, The Truth, The Life
Authors: Elwes Cary 
Published: August 2024

Is it fanciful to see in these three titles combined the summing up of past history, the salving and transforming of the ancient glimpses of Truth; It may be fanciful, but it has an aptness suitable for our purposes. And even if more symbolic than real, the titles apart, Christ did in his Person and teaching sum up the past, even the pagan past.The world in ancient times seems, speaking broadly, to have been four parted: the Greek world fumbling for truth, the East finding a path to tread, a Way, and the rest seeking survival, the mystery religions; then, quite apart, the little people of the Jews. Christ called himself the Way. The Buddhists and the Confucianists were seeking ways to peace of mind; the first by progressive annihilation of the all or by one's absorption in the All, the beyondnothing; the second by a concentration on manners, on social peace. These Eastern religions or philosophies were concerned with the art of living. They each seem to have begun through the agony of s°ul rising from intense suffering.
The Purity of Mary
Authors: Fagan John 
Published: August 2024

Mary, chosen to be the Mother of God; Mary, chosen and therefore fitted by God to be his Mother; Mary, treated ever afterwards by God in accordance with her sanctity, both personal and official; these are the connecting links in the chain of our knowledge of Mary. Just now our attention is directed to the third and final of these links—the definition of her Assumption into heaven. Here, to vary the metaphor, we have not merely a passion for tying up the loose ends of doctrine; what we see is rather the providential climax of a centuries-old process-the vindication of our Lady's place in Christian tradition.Happily, just as we fix our minds on what may be called her external glories, there is a growing interest in her inner life, namely the devotion to her Immaculate Heart. This is an effort to seek for her personal worth. Here we are in fact studying the choicest fruit of the Redemption, by which and we are saved. One-sided stress ou, e.g., the Assumption, might lead to a dehuroanisation of Mary, just as in earlier days one-sided stress on the divinity of her Son led men to forget and even deny his humanity.
Fatima—The Golden Mean
Authors: Klimeck Esmond 
Published: August 2024

For our discursive minds things in themselves one and undivided have to be separated, sub-divided, analysed, taken apart in a way which is sufficiently real in the case of a complicated piece of machinery or even with the human body, but which when applied to things that are not material—like the human mind—becomes most unreal and unnatural. In the case of spiritual entities just because they are so one and indivisible we endeavour all the more to divide them in a feeble effort to get some understanding of what must ultimately remain mysterious. So we find that there are as many divisions and sub-divisions in theology as there are in zoology or biology.But there is nothing reprehensible in this. It is the legitimate attempt of the human mind to exercise its proper function in acquiring knowledge. The things of God lie beyond anything but a scrappy and imperfect knowledge, but the mind must try to pierce the veils—provided that it fully recognises its limitations.
The Perfection of Religious
Authors: Lallemant Père 
Published: August 2024

There are three kinds of religious. The first refuse their senses nothing. If they are cold, they warm themselves; if they are hungry they eat; if the thought of some diversion comes to mind, they take it without deliberation; they are always intent on self-satisfaction, and do not know what mortification is in practice. They perform their duties without any interior spirit, without relish and without fruit.These are in danger of mortal sin. Sometimes they are in a state of sin without realizing it, because they never seriously enter into themselves and their examination of conscience is extremely superficial. In this state of inattention innumerable objects pass through their mind each day, their heart is carried away and seems intoxicated with the turmoil of exterior matters; it is ceaselessly deceived by the illusions of nature and the devil, and it blindly follows their impulses.
Comment
Authors: G.P.  
Published: August 2024

Verbum caro hie factum est.’ These words are written on the altar in the little Chapel of the Annunciation at Nazareth.It is the significance of the ‘hie’ inserted into the otherwise familiar phrase which jolts the pilgrim into a sudden realization and awe. ‘Here'—here where he kneels, the Word was made Flesh. The two great columns representing the relevant positions of our Lady and the Angel Gabriel, even the remains of Mary's house itself, which can be seen through a grille in the wall, cannot deflect the attention from that marvellous mystery which here overwhelms the mind with special awe.We are faced with the same ‘hie’ in the Grotto of the Nativity at Bethlehem, where the Latin inscription round the silver star reads, ‘Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary'. A simple statement that sets the mind reeling.
Roman Catholic Ecumenism
Authors: House Francis 
Published: August 2024

Is ‘Catholic Ecumenism’ a contraction in terms? Many Catholics inside and outside the Roman Church do in fact appear to consider that the ecumenical movement is a wholly Protestant phenomenon. References to the dangers of ‘panprotestantism’ have been made in the Church Assembly itself! It is therefore interesting to note that a writer in Istina, the French Roman Catholic quarterly, considers that the use of the term ‘oecuménisme catholique’ is fully justified, because the word ‘ecumenism’ is properly used to designate ‘the totality of the attempts made by the Christian world for the restoration of Christian unity'.There is in fact a considerable ‘ecumenical movement’ in the Roman Catholic Church, especially in France and Germany but not by any means without its reflection in Rome. Roman Catholic ecumenists are more numerous on the continent than many Anglicans realize. Among those writing in French we may specially recall the names of Fathers Boyer, Lialine, Dumont, Couturier and Congar, while the Germans include Metzger (martyred by the Nazis), Pribilla and Sartory.
Some Books About The Bible
Authors: Bullough Sebastian 
Published: August 2024

Of all the biblical books that have appeared during recent months, the first one stands out as of particular merit among those we are describing in this note.Gospel Gleanings, by Thomas Nicklin (Longmans; 2 is.), is in fact a series of very scholarly studies of a number of points which cover most of the field of research in the subject. The sections were written at various times, and now, in the author's old age, have been gathered together into a unity. Many of Mr Nicklin's conclusions have stood the test of time, having been first stated in various articles or lectures, published, unpublished, or privately printed during the last fifty years, but they are now assembled for the study of all. And they are valuable and often new contributions. The Catholic reader is cheered to find these mature fruits of Anglican scholarship presenting the orthodox conclusions that he himself has long been taught, and presenting them with all the apparatus of recent studies.
Secular Institutes: III—‘Not of the World’
Authors: Melia Teresa 
Published: August 2024

Vows in Secular Institutes are not recognized by the Church as the public vows of religion, but they are more than the private vows of individuals. They are termed ‘semi-public’ or ‘social', indicating a contract not only with God, but with the specific Institute in which the member takes the vows. Thus the member is bound to the Institute, and the Institute becomes responsible for the member.As a rule, the vows are taken for a period which varies according to the Institute, and after temporary vows the member usually takes final vows. Whereas religious may not have a period of temporary profession extending beyond six years, this period of trial in Secular Institutes can be extended by particular constitutions, or by the lawful superior, to ten years. This is because of the absence of the common life, and because of more prolonged and more direct contact with the outside world, the process of formation in Secular Institutes will ordinarily be slower than in the more sheltered religious congregations.
The Theological Foundations of Mysticism
Authors: Graef H. C. 
Published: August 2024

St Thomas did not write a special treatise on mystical theology. In the golden age of Scholasticism there were no hard and fast divisions between systematic, moral, ascetical and mystical theology; but systematic theology furnished the rules by which to deal with the practical questions of the spiritual life. And so the Angelic Doctor gives us the principles of mystical theology, embedded in the Prima Secundæ of his Summa Theologica, which deals with man, made in the image of God, and with his virtues and vices in general (especially question 68, on the Gifts of the Holy Ghost) and in the Secunda Secundæ, which treats of particular virtues and states of life (especially questions 180 to 182, on the Contemplative and Active Life) and in his whole teaching on Grace and the Virtues.The mystical life is nothing less than the life of grace lived at its highest level.
‘Welcome Sister Pain’
Authors: Parnell Mary-Teresa 
Published: August 2024

‘Welcome Sister Pain,’ sang the Seraphic Father seven centuries ago, and his words did not sound so strange in the ears of those around him, as they would have done today. For this is an age that regards pain as in itself an evil thing, something to be avoided at all costs, something ugly, something to which death itself is preferable, even if by death the materialist means darkness and annihilation. Even many Christians take up this attitude to a certain extent, and the majority outside the Catholic Church are vastly perturbed at what is termed ‘the problem of pain.’But the Catholic child, brought up as he is to ‘offer up’ his toothache and the sting of his grazed knee or his cut thumb, finds less difficulty, as he grows up, to face the ‘problem of pain.’ It all fits into the scheme of things, so to speak, and he has learned, if not to understand and even puzzle about it, at least to accept it and use it.
The True Basis of Religious Life (Continued)
Authors: Nicholas M. J. 
Published: August 2024

There only remains to apply this doctrine to the two great questions of religious life, which seem to constitute the chief problem for modern souls, namely, the question of observances and of religious obedience.In the widest sense, we mean by observances the obligations of a religious rule; in a narrower sense they are penitential and restrictive practices. Père Lemonnyer called them, ‘The means of the means, and, according to St. Thomas, they are subordinate to the vows. It must be admitted, however, that monastic tradition has given them a capital importance and they formed an essential part of all ancient rules. The religious leaves the world to do penance and, in the course of time, three things have come to be considered as essential among the various obligations of religious life, namely, poverty, chastity, and obedience, and to form the direct subject of the vows; perhaps the reason why there is no explicit vow of penance is because its subject matter would be too vague, and, in any case, it is enough to have promised obedience to a penitential rule.
A Meditation for Prime
Authors:   The Fifth Prior of the Grande Chartreuse
Published: August 2024

Truth must be placed in the centre of your life as something beautiful.Yet you must not sit in judgment on anyone who hates her, but have compassion on such a one.Look at yourself too, why—since you desire to come to her—do you refuse to receive her when she reproves you for your vices? For see how many things Truth reveals.…Without beauty or comeliness, and nailed to a cross, Truth must be adored.The nobler and more powerful a created being is, so much the more freely must he subject himself to Truth. Indeed it is because he is subject to her that a man is powerful and noble.The unstable things of time vex and weary you: why then do you not flee from them to other know that beyond is to Truth?Yet you must bitter and contrary things, Truth is to us most bitter and contrary, because separate adversi- ties fight against one or more worldly pleasures; but Truth attacks them all at one and the same time…You cannot hate anyone without committing sin. For the work of holy men is to desire the welfare of sinners.
Mind, Will and Feeling in Prayer
Authors: Valentine Ferdinand 
Published: August 2024

If we consider objectively the question of whether in practice meditation should be the proximate or remote preparation for prayer, what are we to say? In deciding, two factors should be taken into consideration:(i) In practice when following formal meditation it is difficult, frequently impossible, to decide such questions as: When should I begin to make acts and for how long? Am I using my imagination enough or too freely? Am I thinking too much or too little? When I cannot think at all what shall I do? This last question is the nodal point of the whole problem. Most of us find it possible to pray when it is quite impossible to think. At morning prayer simple ideas in the form of acts can be elicited by the will, whereas constructive thinking often cannot. We have control of the one, too little control of the other. For this reason formal meditation imposes such a strain on average Catholics (and not least on over-worked religious sisters) that they give it up in despair, either because they cannot think or else because they want to pray; often it is both.
Our Knowledge After Death
Authors: Jewell Walter 
Published: August 2024

It is a commonplace to talk of death as the Great Change, but even men who revert quite often to the life of the spirit may sometimes realise with a kind of mild shock how utterly spiritual our lives must then become. We have before us an altogether unique experience, and it is natural enough that we should await its inevitable advent with interest and curiosity.Yet the liveliest imagination will not help us in a matter so completely beyond the veil of the senses. In Paradise Lost Milton uses all the mighty imagery of a great poet to depict the war of the angels, and yet leaves us with a profound sense of unreality. We find ourselves in the position of being able to imagine almost any set of circumstances on this side of the grave, and yet quite unable to use such power to illumine conditions on the other, simply because it is a realm of the spirit. Neither does it help us to reflect upon our entry into this world, for that was the beginning of life and thought itself.
The Passion of St Andrew
Authors: Ross Anthony 
Published: August 2024

After our Lord's ascension the Apostles were separated and went to preach in different countries. Andrew went to preach the Gospel in Scythia. From there he came into Europe and preached in Epirus and in Thrace, and after that in Achaia which is a part of Greece. There he converted many people and established churches. Among those whom he converted was Maximilla, the wife of Aegeas, who was governor of that part and chief judge. Aegeas was angry when he found that his wife had become a Christian and began to try to force Christians to sacrifice to the heathen gods. Then St Andrew went to him in the city of Patras, and said:'You who are a judge should know your own judge, who is in heaven. Knowing him you should worship him and withdraw your support from false gods'.Aegeas answered: ‘You must be Andrew, who preach the false law which the princes of Rome have ordered to be destroyed'.“The princes of Rome', said Andrew, ‘have not known how the Son of God came and taught that idols are devilry, and support of them an offence against God. Those who cling to idols will be left by God.
A Certain Man Made A Great Supper
Authors: Eckhart Meister 
Published: August 2024

Acertain man made a supper, a great evening meal. If you entertain in the morning, you invite all sorts of people, but in the evening you ask important people, people dear to you and your close friends.Today Christians keep the feast of the supper which our Lord prepared for his disciples, his close friends, when he gave them his holy body to be their food. This is its first meaning. But the supper has yet another meaning. Morning and noonday must pass before evening comes. God's light breaks into the soul, morning dawns there, and in this light the soul soars up into the high zenith of its noonday. And thereafter it is evening. And there is yet a third meaning to this idea of the evening. When the light fades, it is evening; when the glamour of the whole world fades in the soul, it is evening there and the soul finds peace.
The Life of St Katherine
Authors: Ross Anthony 
Published: August 2024

[The original account of St Katherine of Alexandria kas disappeared under a mass of medieval additions. As B. James's version will serve to show, the additions are not only beautiful but have a theological importance and a historical value as documents illustrating the history of medieval spirituality. Those who are not concerned about historical values will find the legend worth reading for the doctrine it contains, and there is no reason to doubt the existence of the saint or the main outlines of her character.]There was once a heathen king and queen who ruled well, although they worshipped idols. They had one daughter, Katherine, so beautiful that the people never ceased to wonder, and more clever than any child of her age. So learned and wise was she that her father set aside a tower in his palace where she might gather books around her and study as she liked. He sent for the seven wisest men in the land to teach her, but before long she was the teacher and they her pupils. When the princess was fourteen years old her father died, and left her to be queen of that land. Soon the Parliament of the country met, and as the young queen sat crowned, with her mother beside her, a lord rose up and kneeling at her feet said:'Most high and mighty princess, I am commanded by the queen your mother, and by the lords and commons of this land, to beg your highness that some noble knight may be found to marry you; one who will rule and defend your kingdom as your father did until now'.
The Opening of a Retreat
Authors: Jarrett Bede 
Published: August 2024

We all of us realise that our supreme purpose in God. We have no other end; this is our natural end, our purpose, why we exist—union with God. It is the only thing we are here for. Also we believe that the union begun here is only fully got at seross death—attained on the sher side of dust. Union with God is reached when we reach him is heaven—then only. We live by faith, we don’t know here, we do hereafter. We cannot help the sought sometimes, ‘supposing it isn’t true! Only the dead know—se live by faith.God is our purpose. It is our one business to get nearer to God. You know yourself, don’t you? Your insufficiency, temptations, sina. You have examined your conscience, unfessed your sins of com ission and perhaps greater sine still of omission, you know what you could and should have done, the great gulf that separates and shrouds God—God in his wisdom, God in his beauty, God in his love. And yet you have got to meet—you and God. Absolute Truth with your miserable untruth, Wisdom with your blindness, Strength with your winning and shrinking, Generosity with your desperate selfielt.
'Back to the Fathers'
Authors: Leahy D. J. 
Published: August 2024

The last part of a book that an author writes is the Introduction, and usually it is read to the best advantage at the end of the text. A well-known Professor of Serif ture in Rome used to advise his audience to study Biblical Introduction after one had acquired a working knowledge of the Biblical text itself.Not by their own choosing but by force of circumstances ove the last fifty years Professors of Scripture have had to concentrate on Biblical Introduction. Rationalists and Modernists were attacking the very nature of the Bible as the Word of God, afl. the Higher Critics were elaborating theories about the origins of movements among the Israelites and about the origin of the particular Books of the Bible, and the Church had to give guidance. This has not always had its desired affect; for good people went away with the impression that the less they had to do with the Bible the safer they would be, and those whose calling demand study of the Bible used to remark that they learned a great deal about Wellhausen and the Documentary Theory but knew very little about the text of the Pentateuch, and apparently were not eager to make up the deficiency.
Secular Spirituality
Authors: de Bedoyere Michael 
Published: August 2024

According to a recent enquiry there is reason to believe that perhaps as few as five per cent of Catholics in this country can be said to relate their religion to their lives.I am not altogether certain about what is meant by the relation between religion and life in this context. I presume what people have in mind is the type of regular church-goer whose ordinary business and home life shows no outward sign of Catholic activity or whose behaviour is even known to be lax and irregular. Yet of course, it may be that there is real spiritual life unperceived by the observer, and it may also be that the irregularity and sin stimulate an intense, if painful, spiritual preoccupation. On the other hand, constant church activity with membership of many a society and sodality is compatible with a life, both in its religious and secular outlook, that is spiritually very shallow. It is always yery hard to judge what is really going on between God and any individual soul.