Inward Liberty

By two wings is man lifted above earthly things, even by simplicity and purity. Simplicity ought to be in the intention, purity in the affection. Simplicity reacheth towards God, purity apprehendeth Him and tasteth Him. No good action will be distasteful to thee if thou be free within from inordinate affection. If thou reachest after and seekest, nothing but the will of God and the benefit of thy neighbour, thou wilt entirely enjoy inward liberty. If thine heart were right, then should every creature be a mirror of life and a book of holy doctrine. There is no creature so small and vile but that it showeth us the goodness of God. (The Imitation of Christ, II,4).

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Easter Sunday in Heiligenkreuz

Easter Vigil in Heiligenkreuz

Easter and True Freedom

The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” (John 20:26)

The Risen Lord shows a remarkable freedom with respect to earthly things. Not only is he entirely free from all weakness and suffering, but not even locked doors are no barrier to him, His body is full of intese and perfect life, and everything is easy to Him. Having conquered sin and death He has won for Himself the perfect peace of victory.

Good Friday in Heiligenkreuz

Here are some pictures of the Good Friday Liturgy in Heiligenkreuz yesterday. The last few pictures show the custom of carrying a veiled monstrance in procession to an altar decorated as a tomb.

Holy Thursday in Heiligenkreuz

Atonement

In a Holy Week Episode of The Josias Podcast we discuss Christ’s death out of love for us and for our salvation. We begin with a discussion of the highpoint of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion, the soprano aria Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben.

Antisemitism

The rulers of the Third Reich wanted to crush the entire Jewish people, to cancel it from the register of the peoples of the earth.  Thus the words of the Psalm: “We are being killed, accounted as sheep for the slaughter” were fulfilled in a terrifying way.  Deep down, those vicious criminals, by wiping out this people, wanted to kill the God who called Abraham, who spoke on Sinai and laid down principles to serve as a guide for mankind, principles that are eternally valid.  If this people, by its very existence, was a witness to the God who spoke to humanity and took us to himself, then that God finally had to die and power had to belong to man alone – to those men, who thought that by force they had made themselves masters of the world.  By destroying Israel, by the Shoah, they ultimately wanted to tear up the taproot of the Christian faith and to replace it with a faith of their own invention: faith in the rule of man, the rule of the powerful. (Pope Benedict XVI)

Thinking About War During Passiontide

I was recently invited to speak at a event on the crusades organized by students in Trumau. I spoke mostly about just war. To speak about war during Passiontide brings one sharply up against the apparent tension between the mildness of Christ, the lamb who opens not his mouth, and Christian rulers who wage war. I just posted my reflections on that problem at The Josias.

Nearer, My God, to Thee