The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-24

ter had heard the voice of our Lord him
self and had asked. What dost Thou wish
me 70 40. yer was ne bidden 10 enter
Damascus and search for Ananias. Acts
TX: Enter the city and it shall be there
told to thee what thou must do.
MOST LIABLE I'd STRAY.
Nor can we leave out of consideration
the truth that those who are striving after
perfection. since by that fact they walk IN
no beaten or %well-known path, are the most
liable to stray, and hence have greater need
than others of a teacher and guide. Such
guidance has ever obtained in the church;
it has been the universal teaching of those
who throughout the ages have been eminent
for wisdom and s%anctity; and hence, to reject
it would be to commit oneself to a belief 1T
once rash and dangerous.
"A thorough consideration Of this point,
in the suppositlon that no exterior guide is
granted such souls, will make US sec the
difficulty of locating or determining the dt-
rection and application Of that more album
dant nfiux of the Holy Spirit so greatly ex-
toiled by innOVatcrs. To practice virtue
there is absolute need Of the assistance of
the holy Spirit, yet We find those VINO are
Iohd OF novelty giving an unWarranted I'M
p%ortance to the natural virtues, as though
they better responded to the customs and
necessities of the times, and that, having
these as his outfit, man becomes both more
ready TO act and more strenuous in action.
1t IS not easy to understand how persons
possessed of Christian wisdom can either
prefer natural to supernatural virtues or
attributes to them q greater efficacy and
fruitfulness. Can it be that nature con1oined
with grace IS weaker than when left 10
herself?
Car it be that those men illustrious for
sanctity, whom the church distinguishes
and openly pays homage to, were deficient,
came short in the order of nature and It's
endowments, because they excelled in Chris
tian strength? And, although it be allowed
at times to wonder at acts worthy of admit
ration which are the outcome OF natural
virtue, is there any one at all endowed sim
ply with an outfit of natural virtue? Is
there any one not tried by mental anxiety,
and this in no light degree? Yet ever to
master such, as also to preserve IN It's en-
tirety the law of the natural order, requires
an assistance from on high. These single
notable acts to which We have alluded Will
frequently, on q closer investigation, be
found to exhibit the appearance rather than
the reality of virtue. Grant that it is viz
unmindful of that eternal bliss which a
good God in His mercy has destined for us,
of what avail are natural virtues unless
seconded by the gift of divine grace? Hence
st. Augustine well says: Wonderful is the
strength, and swift the course, but outside
the true path For, as the nature of man.
| owing TO the primal fault, is inclined to evil
and dishonOr. yet by the help of grace is
raised up, is borne along with a new great
ness and strength, so, too, virtue which is
not the product of nature alone, fDut OF
grace also, is made fruitful unto EVERLASTING
life and takes on a more strong and abid-
ing character.
- A0AO4N ~ $3.50 91D0
This overesteem' of natural virtue finds
a method OF expression in assuming to di-
vide all virtues into active and passive, and
it is alleged that, whereas passive virtues
found better place in past times, our age is
to be characterized by the active. That
such a division and distinction cannot be
maintained is patent-for there is not, nor
can there be, merely passive virtue. 'Vir-
tue, says st. Thomas Aquinas, 'designates
the perfection of some faculty, but the end
Of such faculty is an act, and an act of vir-
tue Is naught else than the good use OF free
Will acting: that is to say, under the grace
OF God, If the act be one of supernatural
virtue. lie alone could wish that some
Christian virtues be adapted to certain
times and different ones for other times
who Is unmindful of the apostles words,
Ih2t those whom he foreknew he predes-
tined TO be made c~onfOrmable to the image
of His Son.'-Romans viii, %. Christ is the
teacher and the eXemplar of all sanctity.
and to His standard must all those conform
VINO wish for eternal life. Nor does Christ
know any change as the ages pass, for He
is yesterday and to-day and the same for
ever. hebrews xiii, s. To the men of all
ages was the precept given: Learn of me,
because am meek and humble of heart
Matt. Xi, %.
ITO every age has He been made manifest
10 US as obedient even unto death; in every
aae the apostles dictum has it's force:
Fnose who are Christ have crucihed their
nesh with It's vices and concupiscences.'
Would to God that more nowadays prac-
tlced these virtues in the degree OF the
saints OF the past times, who in humility.
obedience and self-restraint were powerful
IN word and in deed to the great advan-
Iage not only OF religion, but of the state
and the public welfare.
From this disregard Of the evangelical
virtues, enormously styled passive, the step
10 80 q 1.oll one 70 d contempt OF the re-
ilglous life which has in some degree taken
hold of minds. That such a value is gem
orally held by the upholders of new views
we infer from certain statements concern
ing the vows which religious orders take.
They say vows are alien to the spirit of our
times, in that they limit the bounds of hui
man liberty; that they are more suitable to
weak than to strong minds; that, so far
from making for human perfection and the
good OF human organization, they are hurt
to both, but that this Is as false as pos
sibie from the practice and doctrine Of the
church is clear, since she has always given
the very highest approval to the religious
method of lite, not without good cause. for
those who, under the divine call. have free
" embraced that state Of life, did not con-
tent themselves with the observation of pre-
cepts, but, going forward to the evangelical
counsels, showed themselves ready and
this to be a characteristic of weak minds,
or shall we say that it is useless or hurtful
to a more perfect state of life?
THE CHURCH BENEFITS ORDERS.
Those who so bind themselves by the
vows of religion, far from having suffered
a loss of liberty, enjoy that fuller and freer
kind, that liberty, namely. by which Christ
h"Nh hiu IL Tree. Anu THIS IuFInef view
of theirs, namely, that the religious life
is either entirely useless or of little service
to the church, besides being injurious to the
religious orders, cannot be the opinion of
anyone who has read the annals of the
church. Did not your country. the United
States, derive the beginnings both of faith
and of culture from the children of these
religious families? To one of whom but
very lately, a thing greatly to your praise,
you have decreed that a statue be publicly
erected. And even at the present time,
wherever the religious families are found.
how speedy and yet how fruitful a harvest
of good works do they not bring forth.
How very many leave home and seek
strange lands to impart the truth of the
gospel and to widen the bounds of c%iviliza-
ton; and this they do with the greatest
cheerfuiness mid manifold dangers. Out
of their number not less, indeed, than from
the rest of the clergy, the Christian world
finds the preachers of Gods word. the di-
rectors of consciences, the teachers of
youth, and the church itself, the examples
of all sanctity.
Nor should any difference of praise be
made between those who follow the active
state of life from those Others, who,
charmed with solitude, give themselves to
prayer and bodily modification. And how
much. indeed, of good report these have
merited, and do merit, is known surely to
all who do not forget that the continual