Readers who have school-age children…
Vol 9 Issue 39 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
August 27, 2016 ~ St Joseph Calasanctius, opn!
1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (83)
2. Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
3. St. Augustine
4. Christ in the Home (57)
5. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:

For most of the Readers who have school-age children, this week will begin the next school year. Parents who home school or are able to send their children to traditional Catholic schools will be happy that they have this possibility. Parents have the obligation—it cannot be neglected—to assure that their children will receive an education that will allow them to function as citizens of this world and yet live as citizens of heaven. They are children of God and to wrench this relationship from God by denying them a proper Catholic upbringing brings God’s justice upon the parents. If children are to honor their father and mother, it is only because the parents take the heavenly Father’s place with Whom in a co-creation the parents brought them into this world and to whom (the parents) the children are entrusted. Yet, living in this world, the children must be able to live a life that is capable of sustaining them and allowing them to serve God by doing good. It is a tremendous and, at the same time, a wonderful obligation but difficult to fulfill in a world that serves evil. There was a time when there was a Saint Benedict who set out to teach the future leaders of the world about God in monastery schools. There was a time when there was a Charlemagne who set out to teach young men in schools so they could then teach others. The foundation of schools lays in the desire of the Catholic Church to restore all things on Christ. Secularization changed the schools from serving God to serving the state. The state, making itself god, mimics God in claiming the possession of the child; the evilness lies in that of making sure the child has none of the attributes that reflect God’s nature: goodness, truthfulness, purity, justice, unity, charity and instilling in the child, in its schools, impurity, rebellion, dishonesty, division and selfishness. If, in the past, the Church felt obliged to prohibit her members from sending children to public schools, how much more when these schools possess no reflection of virtue but only produce youth addicted to vices. If there are parents who have no other option but to send their children to these state institutions because to refuse would be the forfeiture of children, remember that the re-education of their children will be necessary by instructing them in true knowledge, in virtue, and in protecting themselves from the indoctrination and temptation offered them while in school. It will not be by a simple condemnation, or by calling their fellow classmates as evil—for nature is such that one is more apt to believe than disbelieve, to see good in the other than evil, to trust rather than distrust. Under these circumstances, parents must teach how to see history according to their faith, to know how to express their faith and live it simply, to see virtue as success, to see vices as slavery, and to understand that the teachers are only there to assist the parents. If the child can see the teacher as an assistant to the parent rather than taking the place of the parent, it will refer back to the parent for affirmation or disapproval of what the teacher said—not in a rebellious manner or rejection of authority, but in the manner of understanding the teacher is not the ultimate authority.

For those who home school, this is also a great responsibility, that while the child may not be exposed to the evilness of a public school, yet it will find itself insufficient to confront the world if the education it receives is inadequate. In the spirit of charity, may all Catholics pray for our children as they begin this new school year.

As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit. —The Editor

____________________ 

Baptism

Means of Salvation

Sacrament of Baptism

Rituale Romanum

(Continued)

Commentary:

With this second signing of the child there follows a second laying on of the hand and a prayer once again for the sanctification of the child which comes only through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. After laying his hand on the child’s head and praying that the child be found worthy—by imploring God to bestow excellent virtues upon the child—he places the end of the stole on the child’s shoulder and invites the child into the Church, the Kingdom of God, life with God. The priest then leads the child into the Church while the Sponsors and child (if possible) reciting the Apostles’ Creed. It is the minister of the Sacrament bringing the child into the Church. The stole is being held or placed on the shoulder of the child while walking in to the Church to signify the idea of Holy Mother Church preparing to give spiritual birth—rebirth. Walking while reciting the Apostles’ Creed symbolizes the child is to learn the teachings of the Faith in steps, that is, the child will learn about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. The godparents saying the words for the child expresses their obligation to teach the child the faith. Ferrandus of Carthage (d. 531) notes that more intense instructions were given, exorcisms and renunciations of Satan took place during the scrutinies, and the candidate had to learn the Creed and Our Father by heart and repeat them before the assembly of the faithful (Epist. ad Fulgentium. MPL, 65: 378; cf. Miller, 439) This is now witnessed at the First Communion ceremony.

Rituale:

9. He lays his hand upon the child’s head (each child); then with outstretched hand he says:

For one

Let us pray.     Prayer

O HOLY Lord, almighty Father, eternal God, Author of light and truth, I entreat for this thy servant, N. (handmaid, N.), thine unfailing and righteous mercy. May it please thee to enlighten him (her) with the light of thine understanding. Cleanse and sanctify him (her), Endow him (her) with true knowledge, so that he (she) may be made worthy of the grace of thy baptism, and thus remain steadfast in firm hope, right purpose, and holy doctrine. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

10. The priest places the end of the stole which hangs from his left shoulder upon the child (only the first if there are more than one), and leads him (the others following) into the church, the while he says:

For one

N., enter into the temple of God, that thou mayest have part with Christ unto life everlasting. R. Amen.

11. After they have come into church, the priest leads the way to the font, praying aloud together with the sponsors:

I BELIEVE in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

OUR Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Commentary:

While proceeding to the baptismal font the candidate (through the sponsors) appropriately makes a confession of faith by reciting the official formula of the Church, the Apostles’ Creed, and adds to it the prayer that Christ himself taught us as the model form of prayer. It is the first action of the candidate in his capacity of prospective Christian. It is a statement of his will to adhere to Christian truth and life and at the same time his first act of worship in the house of God. (Michel, 225)

Now the priest and child and godparents and parents are in front of the Altar (if baptistery is in the front of the Church). There, in front of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, they stop (and genuflect) and then say the Our Father. Our Lord told his disciples: Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (Matt. 6:9). As mentioned in the beginning, a relationship is started. In the house of God the child greets his heavenly Father following the command of Christ. For when talking to each other it is called talking or conversing. When talking to God it is called prayer. So the child prays, or converses, with God. Even if the baptistery is in the back of the Church, the child still addresses the Father in His house, who is about to receive the child as His own child.

Both the Apostle’s Creed and the Our Father should be a frequent prayer on the lips of the Catholic whenever entering the Church. (Cf. Baierl, 35.)

Once before the baptistery, the priest again says a formal exorcism. This again is reminiscent of when the baptismal rite was divided over time; but it is also that final liberation from the devil which frees the child from diabolical influence it was subject while in original sin. It reminds the child (through the godparents) one must never let Satan back into one’s life. Freed, now the priest begins the work of healing from the effects as he takes saliva from his mouth and then touches the ears and nostrils of the child with the saliva. It is called the apertio aurium, a symbol of the opening of the spiritual senses (cf. Stapper, 299) The priest says Ephphéta, which means: Be thou opened. As the blind man’s eyes are closed to light, the deaf man’s ears to hearing, and the dumb man’s mouth to speaking, so can a man’s heart and mind be closed to God’s word and will and only pronounce non-sense.  By this ceremony, then, one understands that, as sight was given to the blind man mentioned in the Gospel (cf. Mark 8:22ff), whom the Lord after He had spread clay on his eyes and another whom He placed spittle and then commanded to wash them in the waters of Siloe (cf. John 9:1ff), so through the efficacy of holy Baptism a light is let in on the mind, which enables it to discern heavenly truth. As the deaf-mute (cf. Mark 7:32ff; also Mark 9:24ff) was healed by Christ by putting His fingers into the ears and spittle on the tongue of the deaf-mute, so the child’s mind is opened to the voice of God delivered through His Word and the child will now be able to give proper worship to God.

We are illuminated by Baptism, because a certain knowledge of the truths of Revelation is already acquired by an adult candidate for Baptism, and also because certain lights are given by the Sacrament towards a clearer understanding of the truths of Faith.

This is the meaning of the rite which is called the “consignation of the senses”. His right thumb damp with his saliva, the priest traces the sign of the cross on the ears of the recipient (first on the lobe of the right ear, then on that of the left) saying: “Ephpheta”,  Quod est; “Adaperire” – which means, “Be ye opened”. Then upon the nostrils, saying: “In odorem suavitatis.” These words and actions are meant to recall those of the Saviour when He miraculously cured the deaf-mute (Mark, VII, 32-37), and to indicate some of the effects of Baptism in him who receives it. Baptism opens his ears in a spiritual sense, in order that henceforth he may hear the teachings and the inspiration of God; it frees his tongue, so that, in prayer, he may be able to speak to his Heavenly Father, and do good to his brethren through the gift of speech. (Cutaz, 164-165)

Cutaz adds in a footnote:

Nowadays, he touches the nostrils, and not, as formerly, the lips or the tongue. Some authors say that he should touch the top of the lips (Cf. Dubosq. Les Erapes, Le Bapteme, p. 101). At first, the priest reproduced the action of Christ by touching the ears and the tongue (cf. the cure of the deaf-mute, in the Gospel). Why were the nostrils substituted for the tongue? In his De Mysteriis, Saint Ambrose gives us the reason: “It was not becoming to touch the tongues of women”—(adult subjects, it should be remembered). The words: “In odorem suavitatis” have been added as counterpart to the Ephpheta which referred to ears and tongue: the words are not, therefore, primitive in character. “The effect of this Sacrament,” says Mgr. Andrieu, “is to open the nostrils of the catechumen, in order that he may inhale the odour of the knowledge of God, and to open his ears, in order that he may hear the voice of the Commandment and heed it in his heart”. (Ibid.)

12. Then before entering the baptistery, he turns to the candidate and says:

Exorcism

For one

I EXPEL thee, every unclean spirit, in the name of God, the Father+ almighty, in the name of Jesus+ Christ, His Son, our Lord and Judge, and by the power of the Holy + Spirit. Depart from this handwork of God, N., whom our Lord has deigned to call to His holy temple, that he (she) may be made a temple of the living God, and the Holy Spirit may dwell within him (her). Through the selfsame Christ our Lord, Who shall come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire. R. Amen.

13. The priest moistens his thumb with his saliva (this part of the rite may be omitted whenever there is a reasonable objection on the score of its being unsanitary or where there is danger of contracting or communicating disease), and touches the ears and nostrils of the child. He touches the right ear then the left, saying only once:

Ephpheta, which means: Be thou opened!

Then he touches the nostrils, one after the other, adding:

Unto the odor of sweetness. But thou, evil spirit, begone, for the judgment of God draws nigh!

Commentary:

The exorcism is now complete, the senses have been snatched from Satan and opened to the things of God. But in the true spirit of the liturgy the candidate must himself express his willing participation in this happening, thereby also using his blessed senses for the first time unto God. (Michel, 225)

The child, therefore, is asked to make the baptismal promises. These promises can best be seen in light of the promises made at a marriage ceremony. Let us briefly picture a wedding. You have a man and a woman. The man, in his vows, basically says this: I renounce every other woman in the world in my choice of this one woman. She now is my life. The vows are the same with the woman, for she, too, says: I renounce every other man in this world in my choice of this one man. Even if a handsome, rich man may come along later or a beautiful woman, they would be the devil in disguise, because that man or woman would separate one from one’s true life which was vowed to be lived “until death do us part”. [Remember, the devil does not appear red with horns and a tail, but in a form that pleases one’s concupiscences—the perfect fulfillment of one’s unlawful desires.] Still, these vows only give life and body to one other, but never one’s soul. The soul is given to God in baptism when one said one’s vows to Him. These vows basically say: I give my soul to Jesus Christ, the Spouse of my soul. Therefore, I renounce whatever might take me from Him: Satan, sin, the world. And, so I say: I renounce Satan, I renounce his works, and I renounce his seductions. The baptismal promises are a solemn renunciation of Satan (cf. Stapper, 299).

Rituale:

14. Now he questions the candidate by name:

N., dost thou renounce Satan?

Sponsor: I do renounce him.

Priest: And all his works?

Sponsor: I do renounce them.

Priest: And all his allurements?

Sponsor: I do renounce them.

(To be continued)

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Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Benedict Baur, O.S.B. 

FRIDAY OF THE FIFTEENTH WEEK

“Bear ye one another’s burdens”

1. “Brethren, if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. . . . Bear ye one another’s burdens” (Epistle). When the Apostle was admonishing the Galatians to bear one another’s burdens, he had in mind particularly the burden of faults and sins, which they so easily noticed in their neighbors. He has in mind, first of all, those who are being tempted to prove unfaithful to their God, to their faith, and to their Church. He has in mind, too, those who have already given way to temptation. Even the latter he would urge, “Bear ye one another’s burdens” lest they continue to fail. If they have already fallen, they may still be helped to rise, “and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ” (Epistle).
2. Throughout the year at the hour of Sext, except during Advent, Lent, and Eastertide the liturgy admonishes us: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ.” It was at the sixth hour, the hour of Sext, that Christ ascended His cross on Good Friday, where He bore all of our burdens and sins, “blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against ‘us, which was contrary to us. And He hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross” (Col. 2: 14). He has taken upon Himself the sins and the burdens of the whole world, and has done penance in our stead and redeemed us from sin. Thus the liturgy continually represents Him to us, urging us: “Bear ye one another’s burdens” after the example of your crucified Savior, “who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven” (Credo) to do penance for us. He carne to offer to God an infinite satisfaction which we could not offer for ourselves; He is our representative, “the Lamb of God … who taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He takes upon Himself our sins just as if they were His own. How heavily our sins press upon Him! If you would know how bitter was that burden, contemplate the scene at the Mount of Olives, at the pillar of the scourging, on the cruel journey to Calvary, and during the final bitter hours on the cross. He has truly borne the burden of our sins.

“Go, and do thou in like manner” (Luke 10:37). What is our attitude toward our brother in Christ, whom we find in danger of falling into sin? We well know his weakness in this crisis or that temptation. We see that he is threatened by a grave danger, but do we help him? We live with others and know their weakness, their unfaithfulness and their faults, but we are impatient with them because of their faults; we despise them and their conduct. We presume to judge them with a lack of fraternal charity, and we go out of our way to make our displeasure with them evident. Is this the way to “bear one another’s burdens”? Should we not concern ourselves more with the spiritual needs of our fellow men? Should we not rather have compassion on them, and seek to lead them in the right way, and strive to win them for God? Yet how seldom we offer them a word of encouragement in the spirit of meekness and charity! Why should I care for him? we ask ourselves; he is old enough to take care of himself. But we should have more concern for his condition.

“Bear ye one another’s burdens.” A great misfortune has overtaken our neighbor, for he has become the victim of passion, the dupe of his own imprudence and unchecked evil tendencies. And what do we do about it? How do families react to the fall of one of its members, even a religious family? Very often the poor sinner is greeted only with words of condemnation and contempt. He is often shunned as being unclean, unworthy to sit at table with his brethren or to associate with them. He is stoned on every hand, and men see only his sins and his weaknesses. Is that what the Apostle meant when he admonished us: “Bear ye one another’s burdens”? Certainly not! Precisely at such times, when our brother has met with calamity, he stands in need of help, “so that on the contrary, you should rather forgive him and comfort him lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you, that you would confirm your charity towards him” (II Cor. 2:7 f.). Especially at such times we should show our interest in his welfare and devise ways and means of approaching him in the matter, of assisting him and helping him. “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” We must pray for our brother; we must know how to share his trials with him; we must do penance with him and for him, just as Christ did penance for us and sacrified Himself for us. That is true Christian charity.

3. “So you shall fulfill the law of Christ.” Hate sin but love the sinner. We are to hate all sin and wrongdoing, yet love the sinner with a merciful and benevolent charity. But do we act thus? We distinguish between the sin and the sinner, but we are so severe with the sin that we despise the sinner also. Instead of bearing patiently the sins and faults of others, we use them as an occasion for despising our brother and for exalting ourselves.

Let us consider seriously the example left us by our Lord. How did He bear our burdens? He poured out His blood on the cross that He might obtain pardon for all our sins and infidelities. He offers His body and blood to the Father each day for us in the Holy Sacrifice. With what patience, meekness, and longsuffering He endures sinners! He prays for them in His tabernacle without ceasing. In spite of our continued neglect of Him, He continues to give Himself to us with perfect charity in Holy Communion.

PRAYER

Let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord; and because it cannot continue in safety without Thee, govern it evermore by Thy help. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A holy Church 

1. The Church cries out from the depths of her misery, and we cry out with her: “Bow down Thy ear, O Lord, to me and hear me; save Thy servant, O my God, that trusteth in Thee; have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to Thee all the day. Give joy to the soul of Thy servant” (Introit). “Let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church, . . . and because it cannot continue in safety without Thee, govern it evermore by Thy help” (Collect).
2. “Let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church.” “Christ also loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life. That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27). The children of that Church are to live and walk by the power of the Holy Spirit, who descended upon the Church at Pentecost. They are to be men of the spirit, men not desirous of vainglory, men who do not provoke each other to envy. They are to be men of the spirit; men conscious of their own weakness and instability, who are to teach the sinner the practice of meekness. They are to bear one another’s burdens and to be tireless in the pursuit of good (Epistle). The Church is the spotless bride of Christ. Since she herself is without blemish, she longs to see this same quality in all her children. She suffers from the consciousness that many of her children, perhaps the greater part of them in this world, are not what they ought to be. She knows their weakness, their sinfulness, their lack of true spirituality. She knows how she is dishonored and disgraced by their conduct. She cries out to the Lord from the depths of her misery with the voice of the widow of Naim, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried out to Thee all the day.” “Let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church.” “Let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church.”

“I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (Gen. 3: 15). Christ and His Church stand on one side and the devil and his adherents on the other. The enmity between these two factions has endured through the ages; they are engaged in a battle unto death. This battle has continued from the beginning of the history of the Church. Powerful enemies against the Church have arisen among the Jews, among the heathens, among the heretics. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity has been denied; the divinity of Christ and the unity of His person have been attacked; original sin has been denied, and the doctrine of grace and salvation has been rejected. In later times the Eucharist was abandoned and the efficacy of the sacraments and the value of the Mass were impugned. The temporal power of the world was used to attack the Church in an attempt to destroy her. For three centuries the Roman emperors used every means at hand to persecute bishops and laity, torturing them with unspeakable cruelty. When Rome failed, the nations of the North and the South, the powers of the East and the West sought to destroy the Church. As the centuries passed, the persecutions continued; she was betrayed and maligned, violated and tortured. But “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16: 18).

The mercy of God protects and defends the Church; His grace guides her. Without God’s help she could not resist and overcome the continual persecutions and attacks of the evil one and his supporters. The fact that she has been able to resist all attacks from without and from within, and that she has survived all dangers and persecutions, is due primarily to the enduring mercy of God. The Church herself acknowledges her indebtedness to the goodness of God. “It is good to give praise to the Lord; and to sing to Thy name, O Most High. To show forth Thy mercy in the morning and Thy truth in the night” (Gradual).

3. The Church suffers from the sins and the faults committed by her members. Still she always remains the holy Church of Christ. We also suffer from such sins and with the Church we reject them as evil. But we love the Church. We can prove our devotion to our Holy Mother the Church by walking in the spirit, and by eradicating all sinful thoughts, deeds, and desires from our own lives, and by striving for true holiness. Thus we must work for the cleansing and sanctification of the Church.

Today we pray that God may cleanse and sanctify His Church. We pray that all the members of the Church will make use of the means placed at their disposal for this purpose. These means are principally the celebration of Mass, the sacrament of penance, and the practice of prayer. This prayer we lay on the paten today:

PRAYER

Let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord; and because it cannot continue in safety without Thee, govern it evermore by Thy help. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

AUGUST 28

St. Augustine, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church

1. Aurelius Augustine was born in Tagaste, North Africa, to the pagan Patricius and his Christian wife Monica, in 354. After completing studies in Carthage he went to Rome in 383, and the next year moved to Milan to be a professor of rhetoric. Up to this time his life had been a colossal struggle to realize truth and moral stability in himself, as his Confessions testify. In 374 he joined the Manichaeans, but was not satisfied with their doctrines. Only after years of searching and groping did he come under the influence of St. Ambrose, whose preaching, together with Monica’s prayers, enabled him to find his way into Christianity. He had been particularly impressed by the words of St. Paul: “Let us pass our time honorably, as by the light of day, not in . . . lust and wantonness. . . . Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom.13:13, 14). Augustine had resigned his teaching position in preparation for baptism, which he received with his son Adeodatus and a friend, from the hands of St. Ambrose at Easter, 387. He then started for Africa with his mother; but Monica died at Ostia, near Rome.

In the year 391 he received ordination to the priesthood, and three years laterwas consecrated coadjutor to Bishop Valerius of Hippo. In 396 he succeeded to the See and labored in it for thirty-four years in the full ardor and strength of his love for Christ, preaching with untiring zeal, shepherding priests and people, and championing Catholicity against Manichaeans, Arians, Donatists, and Pelagians. His interest and activity embraced the entire Christian West in its unique and fruitful scope. Augustine died on August 28, 430, while the Vandal King Genseric was besieging his episcopal city of Hippo.

2. “The Lord moved him to speak before the assembled people, filling him with the spirit of wisdom and discernment” (Introit). For a number of years Augustine followed devious paths that led him into temptations and sin. Possessed of a natural light of reason far above the average, he still felt unequal to the power of the threefold concupiscence. At the age of thirty-three, when he finally received baptism, the light of faith was kindled in his soul, that light which infinitely surpasses the natural acumen of even the greatest genius. Illumined by faith he attained to true wisdom, to the truth, the interior peace, and the security of spirit that he had hitherto sought in vain. He now cleansed his heart of the evil desires of his previous life, allowing the gifts of the Holy Spirit to flow in unimpeded. “Blessed are the clean of heart; they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). With his new wisdom he came to grasp ever more clearly the meaning of world events and of the manifold, mysterious happening in every day, viewing them from the standpoint of God. More and more he experienced the urging and the action of God within himself, and learned to follow the attractions of grace with a generous heart in order to advance into supernatural light and holiness. The singular fullness of his wisdom has made him teacher and guide to all succeeding generations. Augustine was, in the full sense of the world, “the salt of the earth . . . the light of the world . . . the city . . . built on a mountain top . . . the lamp . . . put on the lamp-stand to give light to all the people of the house” (Gospel). These wonders accomplished in the passionate, erring, sin-ridden Augustine were the work of God’s grace, as was also Augustine’s cooperation in them.

“It is for thee to be on the watch, to accept every hardship, to employ thyself in preaching the gospel, and perform every duty of thy office” (Epistle). St. Augustine was a bishop after Paul’s own heart; his zeal for the spiritual and physical welfare of his flock was boundless; his house was open to everyone; he was at the service of anyone who came seeking advice, and the call of the most insignificant man could draw him away from the deepest research; as at home, so was he in the midst of ecclesiastical functions ever the loving father, concerned about everyone and everything. If guilty of neglect or error in any matter, he would make a public confession of it. Once he asked pardon of his parish for having perchance received anyone with a lack of friendliness, or given a harsh answer. His letter to Cajus gives evidence of this humble manner and of his preoccupations with God: “If you have read anything in my writing and tested it with your own judgments, do not think of this truth as coming from me, but turn rather to Him who gave me the thoughts and you the ability to judge it. But if you find something erroneous, be convinced that it is from me.” Such was attitude toward his works that have been the marvel of contemporaries and of all posterity. He realized that “all strength rests on humility, for all pride is frail. The humble souls are like rocks: at the bottom, indeed, but solid and firm. The arrogant are like smoke: they reach high, but the least wind moves them. ‘Upon whom shall My spirit rest? Upon the humble and silent man, the one who trembles [with reverence] at my words’ (cf. Isa. 66:2). He [God] does not fear a shaking house; for it is He who gives the house firmness.”

…

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