Tag: god

The Holy Spirit
The Biggest Heresy You Rarely Hear About

https://www.catholic.com/audio/cot/the-biggest-heresy-you-rarely-hear-about

Where Does the Bible Teach That the Holy Spirit is God?

https://stpaulcenter.com/posts/where-does-the-bible-teach-that-the-holy-spirit-is-god

The heresy of Pneumatomachi

https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/pneumatomachi

The 21 Ecumenical Councils

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-21-ecumenical-councils&lang=en

Pneumatomachianism Refuted: Defending the Divinity of the Holy Ghost

Pneumatomachianism Refuted: Defending the Divinity of the Holy Ghost

Pneumatomachi

https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/pneumatomachi

Holy Ghost – The Third Person of the Holy Trinity

https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/holy-ghost

The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed Explained

Understanding the Holy Spirit – BISHOP BARRON

The Holy Spirit is a person, it’s not an impersonal force. It is The Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

In theology a person is an individual substance of a rational nature and so the Holy Spirit is a person, it is of the same essence of God The Father and of God The Son, it is the same Divine Essence, the same Divinity therefore it is God but it has its own intellect and will.

A careful study of the Holy Scriptures perfectly shows that the Holy Spirit speaks, the Holy Spirit says, the Holy Spirit prevented Paul from going to Asia (Acts 16: 6), the Holy Spirit moves into action, the Holy Spirit is saddened…. the Holy Spirit is quoted in dozens of texts in specific action cleary proving that He is a rational person with an intellect.

A person is a substance with a will and an intellect with a rational nature is the same difference between a human person and an animal: we would never say that an animal is a person because, although it has some instinct and even feelings,it doesn’t has an intellect nor a rationality and neither an intelligent will. An animal doesn’t reflect upon itself. Most animals don’t even know that they are their own entity: a cat may mistake his own image for another cat in the mirror they don’t have this intellectual concept of their individuality, they don’t have a will, they don’t plan the future as we do, they don’t worry, they don’t study, they don’t rationalize as we do that’s why we do not consider animals as “persons”.

Yes they do have a body therefore having a body doesn’t define a person, having an intellect and a will does.

Likewise, angels are persons. Every single angel is an individual person.

Also God is one God ,only one Divine Essence, only one Divine Nature, it’s not three Gods, there is ONLY ONE GOD but in three persons:

God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit do have their own individualities within the Holy Trinity and this Divine Holy Family forms the Family we are called to belong to, to be Sons and Daughters of the Holy Trinity. They become hosts of our souls and we are to receive the Holy Trinity inside the temple of our body, blood soul and humanity. Inside each of our own human inner personal universe, we are to receive the Holy Trinity as a guest into our souls.

SEE SECTION ON “THE HOLY TRINITY” AND ARTICLES “DEFINITION OF A PERSON” – https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=35539&randomterm=false#:~:text=AND https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11726a.htm

We get to pray for the Holy Spirit to come, to enlighten us, to guide us, to impart to us His 7 gifts as recorded in Isaiah 11:1 -3. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are, according to the Catholic Tradition: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God. Starting to develop a personal relationship with God The Holy Spirit adds a whole other dimension in our relationship with God!!!

SEE ARTICLES “The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit – What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and why do they matter?” https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-seven-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit AND https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_gifts_of_the_Holy_Spirit#:~:text=

DEFINITION OF A “PERSON”

In Catholic theology, a person is fundamentally an individual substance of a rational nature, defined by intelligence, will, distinctiveness, and self-subsistence (incommunicability), meaning they are complete in themselves but called to communion with others. This definition applies analogously to God (the Trinity), angels, and humans, but for humans, personhood also involves being a body-soul composite, uniquely reflecting God’s image through intellect and love in relationship, and possessing inherent dignity from conception.

Core Characteristics
- Individual Substance: A complete, self-existing entity, not a part of something else.
- Rational Nature: Possesses intellect and will, enabling knowledge and love, distinguishing persons from animals or inanimate objects.
- Incommunicability: Each person is unique and distinct, unable to be completely merged into another.
- Openness to Others: While distinct, persons are made for communion, not isolation, finding fulfillment in relationships, especially with God.
Types of Persons in Theology
- God: The Holy Trinity is three distinct Persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) in one divine nature.
- Angels: Purely spiritual, intellectual beings, existing as individual persons.
- Humans: A unique composite of a rational soul and a body, made in God’s image, with inherent dignity from the first moment of existence.
Key Distinctions for Humans
- Body-Soul Union: Humans are not just spirits but are embodied, allowing for unique forms of thought, love, and procreation.
- Capacity for Change: Unlike angels, human persons have the capacity for growth, development, and change through their embodied lives.
- Dignity: Every living human individual, regardless of developmental stage or capability, is a person with intrinsic worth and rights, reflecting God’s image.
Person

According to the generally accepted definition of Boethius, a person is an individual substance of a rational or intellectual nature. The notion of person is subject to analogical differences depending on whether the term is referring to human, angelic, or divine persons.

PERSON

“An individual substance of a rational nature” (Boethius). Therefore every individual intellectual substance which is complete in itself, uncommunicated and existing for itself, is a person. Essential to person in theological terms are intelligence and substantiality, wholeness in oneself and especially individuality. From individuality flow such features of personhood as distinctiveness, incommunicability, and uniqueness. Among human persons there are also the elements of responsibility and possession of distinctive rights. (Etym. Latin persona, actor’s mask; character; supposition of a rational nature.)

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=35539&randomterm=false#:~:text=

Person

https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11726a.htm

The Latin word persona was originally used to denote the mask worn by an actor. From this it was applied to the role he assumed, and, finally, to any character on the stage of life, to any individual. This article discusses (1) the definition of “person”, especially with reference to the doctrine of the Incarnation; and (2) the use of the word persona and its Greek equivalents in connection with the Trinitarian disputes. For the psychological treatment see PERSONALITY.

Definition

The classic definition is that given by Boethius in “De persona et duabus naturis”, c. ii: Naturæ rationalis individua substantia (an individual substance of a rational nature).

Substantia — “Substance” is used to exclude accidents: “We see that accidents cannot constitute person” (Boethius, op. cit.). Substantia is used in two senses: of the concrete substance as existing in the individual, called substantia prima, corresponding to Aristotle’s ousia prote; and of abstractions, substance as existing in genus and species, called substantia secunda, Aristotle’s ousia deutera. It is disputed which of the two the word taken by itself here signifies. It seems probable that of itself it prescinds from substantia prima and substantia secunda, and is restricted to the former signification only by the word individua.

Individua — Individua, i.e., indivisum in se, is that which, unlike the higher branches in the tree of Porphyry, genus and species, cannot be further subdivided. Boethius in giving his definition does not seem to attach any further signification to the word. It is merely synonymous with singularis.

Rationalis naturae — Person is predicated only of intellectual beings. The generic word which includes all individual existing substances is suppositum. Thus person is a subdivision of suppositum which is applied equally to rational and irrational, living and non-living individuals. A person is therefore sometimes defined as suppositum naturae rationalis.

The definition of Boethius as it stands can hardly be considered a satisfactory one. The words taken literally can be applied to the rational soul of man, and also the human nature of Christ. That St. Thomas accepts it is presumably due to the fact that he found it in possession, and recognized as the traditional definition. He explains it in terms that practically constitute a new definition. Individua substantia signifies, he says, substantia, completa, per se subsistens, separata ab aliia, i.e., a substance, complete, subsisting per se, existing apart from others (III, Q. xvi, a. 12, ad 2um).

If to this be added rationalis naturae, we have a definition comprising the five notes that go to make up a person: (a) substantia– this excludes accident; (b) completa– it must form a complete nature; that which is a part, either actually or “aptitudinally” does not satisfy the definition; (c) per se subsistens–the person exists in himself and for himself; he is sui juris, the ultimate possessor of his nature and all its acts, the ultimate subject of predication of all his attributes; that which exists in another is not a person; (d) separata ab aliis–this excludes the universal, substantia secunda, which has no existence apart from the individual; (e) rationalis naturae–excludes all non-intellectual supposita.

To a person therefore belongs a threefold incommunicability, expressed in notes (b), (c), and (d). The human soul belongs to the nature as a part of it, and is therefore not a person, even when existing separately. The human nature of Christ does not exist per se seorsum, but in alio, in the Divine Personality of the Word. It is therefore communicated by assumption and so is not a person. Lastly the Divine Essence, though subsisting per se, is so communicated to the Three Persons that it does not exist apart from them; it is therefore not a person.

Theologians agree that in the Hypostatic Union the immediate reason why the Sacred Humanity, though complete and individual, is not a person is that it is not a subsistence, not per se seorsum subsistens. They have, however, disputed for centuries as to what may be the ultimate determination of the nature which if present would make it a subsistence and so a person, what in other words is the ultimate foundation of personality. According to Scotus, as he is usually understood, the ultimate foundation is a mere negation. That individual intellectual nature is a person which is neither of its nature destined to be communicated–as is the human soul–nor is actually communicated–as is the Sacred Humanity. If the Hypostatic Union ceased, the latter would ipso facto, without any further determination, become a person. To this it is objected that the person possesses the nature and all its attributes. It is difficult to believe that this possessor, as distinct from the objects possessed, is constituted only by a negative. Consequently, the traditional Thomists, following Cajetan, hold that there is a positive determination which they call the “mode” of subsistence. It is the function of this mode to make the nature incommunicable, terminated in itself, and capable of receiving its own esse, or existence. Without this mode the human nature of Christ exists only by the uncreated esse of the Word.

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

I. “IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”

https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_one/article_1/paragraph_2_the_father.html#:~:text=

232 Christians are baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”⁵³ Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son and the Spirit: “I do.” “The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity.”⁵⁴

233 Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: not in their names,⁵⁵ for there is only one God, the almighty Father, his only Son and the Holy Spirit: the Most Holy Trinity.

234 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the “hierarchy of the truths of faith”.⁵⁶ The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men “and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin”.⁵⁷

235 This paragraph expounds briefly (I) how the mystery of the Blessed Trinity was revealed, (II) how the Church has articulated the doctrine of the faith regarding this mystery, and (III) how, by the divine missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit, God the Father fulfils the “plan of his loving goodness” of creation, redemption and sanctification.

236 The Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy (oikonomia). “Theology” refers to the mystery of God’s inmost life within the Blessed Trinity and “economy” to all the works by which God reveals himself and communicates his life. Through the oikonomia the theologia is revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the whole oikonomia. God’s works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works. So it is, analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions.

237 The Trinity is a mystery of faith in the strict sense, one of the “mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God”.⁵⁸ To be sure, God has left traces of his Trinitarian being in his work of creation and in his Revelation throughout the Old Testament. But his inmost Being as Holy Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel’s faith before the Incarnation of God’s Son and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

II. THE REVELATION OF GOD AS TRINITY

The Father revealed by the Son

238 Many religions invoke God as “Father”. the deity is often considered the “father of gods and of men”. In Israel, God is called “Father” inasmuch as he is Creator of the world.⁵⁹ Even more, God is Father because of the covenant and the gift of the law to Israel, “his first-born son”.⁶⁰ God is also called the Father of the king of Israel. Most especially he is “the Father of the poor”, of the orphaned and the widowed, who are under his loving protection.⁶¹

239 By calling God “Father”, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood,⁶² which emphasizes God’s immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. the language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard:⁶³ no one is father as God is Father.

240 Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father by his relationship to his only Son who, reciprocally, is Son only in relation to his Father: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”⁶⁴

241 For this reason the apostles confess Jesus to be the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”; as “the image of the invisible God”; as the “radiance of the glory of God and the very stamp of his nature”.⁶⁵

242 Following this apostolic tradition, the Church confessed at the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (325) that the Son is &uot;consubstantial” with the Father, that is, one only God with him.⁶⁶ The second ecumenical council, held at Constantinople in 381, kept this expression in its formulation of the Nicene Creed and confessed “the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father”.⁶⁷

The Father and the son revealed by the spirit

243 Before his Passover, Jesus announced the sending of “another Paraclete” (Advocate), the Holy Spirit. At work since creation, having previously “spoken through the prophets”, the Spirit will now be with and in the disciples, to teach them and guide them “into all the truth”.⁶⁸ The Holy Spirit is thus revealed as another divine person with Jesus and the Father.

244 The eternal origin of the Holy Spirit is revealed in his mission in time. the Spirit is sent to the apostles and to the Church both by the Father in the name of the Son, and by the Son in person, once he had returned to the Father.⁶⁹ The sending of the person of the Spirit after Jesus’ glorification⁷⁰ reveals in its fullness the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

245 The apostolic faith concerning the Spirit was confessed by the second ecumenical council at Constantinople (381): “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father.”⁷¹ By this confession, the Church recognizes the Father as “the source and origin of the whole divinity”.⁷² But the eternal origin of the Spirit is not unconnected with the Son’s origin: “The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is God, one and equal with the Father and the Son, of the same substance and also of the same nature. . . Yet he is not called the Spirit of the Father alone,. . . but the Spirit of both the Father and the Son.”⁷³ The Creed of the Church from the Council of Constantinople confesses: “With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified.”⁷⁴

246 The Latin tradition of the Creed confesses that the Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque)”. the Council of Florence in 1438 explains: “The Holy Spirit is eternally from Father and Son; He has his nature and subsistence at once (simul) from the Father and the Son. He proceeds eternally from both as from one principle and through one spiration… And, since the Father has through generation given to the only-begotten Son everything that belongs to the Father, except being Father, the Son has also eternally from the Father, from whom he is eternally born, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son.”⁷⁵

247 The affirmation of the filioque does not appear in the Creed confessed in 381 at Constantinople. But Pope St. Leo I, following an ancient Latin and Alexandrian tradition, had already confessed it dogmatically in 447,⁷⁶ even before Rome, in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon, came to recognize and receive the Symbol of 381. the use of this formula in the Creed was gradually admitted into the Latin liturgy (between the eighth and eleventh centuries). the introduction of the filioque into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed by the Latin liturgy constitutes moreover, even today, a point of disagreement with the Orthodox Churches.

248 At the outset the Eastern tradition expresses the Father’s character as first origin of the Spirit. By confessing the Spirit as he “who proceeds from the Father”, it affirms that he comes from the Father through the Son.⁷⁷ The Western tradition expresses first the consubstantial communion between Father and Son, by saying that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque). It says this, “legitimately and with good reason”,⁷⁸ for the eternal order of the divine persons in their consubstantial communion implies that the Father, as “the principle without principle”,⁷⁹ is the first origin of the Spirit, but also that as Father of the only Son, he is, with the Son, the single principle from which the Holy Spirit proceeds.⁸⁰ This legitimate complementarity, provided it does not become rigid, does not affect the identity of faith in the reality of the same mystery confessed.

III. THE HOLY TRINITY IN THE TEACHING OF THE FAITH

The formation of the Trinitarian dogma

249 From the beginning, the revealed truth of the Holy Trinity has been at the very root of the Church’s living faith, principally by means of Baptism. It finds its expression in the rule of baptismal faith, formulated in the preaching, catechesis and prayer of the Church. Such formulations are already found in the apostolic writings, such as this salutation taken up in the Eucharistic liturgy: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”⁸¹

250 During the first centuries the Church sought to clarify her Trinitarian faith, both to deepen her own understanding of the faith and to defend it against the errors that were deforming it. This clarification was the work of the early councils, aided by the theological work of the Church Fathers and sustained by the Christian people’s sense of the faith.

251 In order to articulate the dogma of the Trinity, the Church had to develop her own terminology with the help of certain notions of philosophical origin: “substance”, “person” or “hypostasis”, “relation” and so on. In doing this, she did not submit the faith to human wisdom, but gave a new and unprecedented meaning to these terms, which from then on would be used to signify an ineffable mystery, “infinitely beyond all that we can humanly understand”.⁸²

252 The Church uses (I) the term “substance” (rendered also at times by “essence” or “nature”) to designate the divine being in its unity, (II) the term “person” or “hypostasis” to designate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the real distinction among them, and (III) the term “relation” to designate the fact that their distinction lies in the relationship of each to the others.

The dogma of the Holy Trinity

253 The Trinity is One. We do not confess three Gods, but one God in three persons, the “consubstantial Trinity”.⁸³ The divine persons do not share the one divinity among themselves but each of them is God whole and entire: “The Father is that which the Son is, the Son that which the Father is, the Father and the Son that which the Holy Spirit is, i.e. by nature one God.”⁸⁴ In the words of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), “Each of the persons is that supreme reality, viz., the divine substance, essence or nature.”⁸⁵

254 The divine persons are really distinct from one another. “God is one but not solitary.”⁸⁶ “Father”, “Son”, “Holy Spirit” are not simply names designating modalities of the divine being, for they are really distinct from one another: “He is not the Father who is the Son, nor is the Son he who is the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit he who is the Father or the Son.”⁸⁷ They are distinct from one another in their relations of origin: “It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds.”⁸⁸ The divine Unity is Triune.

255 The divine persons are relative to one another. Because it does not divide the divine unity, the real distinction of the persons from one another resides solely in the relationships which relate them to one another: “In the relational names of the persons the Father is related to the Son, the Son to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both. While they are called three persons in view of their relations, we believe in one nature or substance.”⁸⁹ Indeed “everything (in them) is one where there is no opposition of relationship.”⁹⁰ “Because of that unity the Father is wholly in the Son and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Son is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is wholly in the Father and wholly in the Son.”⁹¹

256 St. Gregory of Nazianzus, also called “the Theologian”, entrusts this summary of Trinitarian faith to the catechumens of Constantinople: Above all guard for me this great deposit of faith for which I live and fight, which I want to take with me as a companion, and which makes me bear all evils and despise all pleasures: I mean the profession of faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I entrust it to you today. By it I am soon going to plunge you into water and raise you up from it. I give it to you as the companion and patron of your whole life. I give you but one divinity and power, existing one in three, and containing the three in a distinct way. Divinity without disparity of substance or nature, without superior degree that raises up or inferior degree that casts down. . . the infinite co-naturality of three infinites. Each person considered in himself is entirely God. . . the three considered together. . . I have not even begun to think of unity when the Trinity bathes me in its splendour. I have not even begun to think of the Trinity when unity grasps me. .⁹²

IV. THE DIVINE WORKS AND THE TRINITARIAN MISSIONS

257 “O blessed light, O Trinity and first Unity!”⁹³ God is eternal blessedness, undying life, unfading light. God is love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God freely wills to communicate the glory of his blessed life. Such is the “plan of his loving kindness”, conceived by the Father before the foundation of the world, in his beloved Son: “He destined us in love to be his sons” and “to be conformed to the image of his Son”, through “the spirit of sonship”.⁹⁴ This plan is a “grace [which] was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began”, stemming immediately from Trinitarian love.⁹⁵ It unfolds in the work of creation, the whole history of salvation after the fall, and the missions of the Son and the Spirit, which are continued in the mission of the Church.⁹⁶

258 The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. For as the Trinity has only one and the same natures so too does it have only one and the same operation: “The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle.”⁹⁷ However, each divine person performs the common work according to his unique personal property. Thus the Church confesses, following the New Testament, “one God and Father from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are”.⁹⁸ It is above all the divine missions of the Son’s Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit that show forth the properties of the divine persons.

259 Being a work at once common and personal, the whole divine economy makes known both what is proper to the divine persons, and their one divine nature. Hence the whole Christian life is a communion with each of the divine persons, without in any way separating them. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him.⁹⁹

260 The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God’s creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity.¹⁰⁰ But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: “If a man loves me”, says the Lord, “he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him”:¹⁰¹

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action.¹⁰²

IN BRIEF

261 The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

262 The Incarnation of God’s Son reveals that God is the eternal Father and that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, which means that, in the Father and with the Father the Son is one and the same God.

263 The mission of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of the Son (⇒ Jn 14:26) and by the Son “from the Father” (⇒ Jn 15:26), reveals that, with them, the Spirit is one and the same God. “With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified” (Nicene Creed).

264 “The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father as the first principle and, by the eternal gift of this to the Son, from the communion of both the Father and the Son” (St. Augustine, De Trin. 15, 26, 47: PL 42, 1095).

265 By the grace of Baptism “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, we are called to share in the life of the Blessed Trinity, here on earth in the obscurity of faith, and after death in eternal light (cf. Paul VI, CPG # 9).

266 “Now this is the Catholic faith: We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance; for the person of the Father is one, the Son’s is another, the Holy Spirit’s another; but the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal” (Athanasian Creed: DS 75; ND 16).

267 Inseparable in what they are, the divine persons are also inseparable in what they do. But within the single divine operation each shows forth what is proper to him in the Trinity, especially in the divine missions of the Son’s Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
February 22, 2026
“The Father is greater than I.”

Jesus Is Equal with the Father

Answering claims that Jesus denied equality with his Father

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/three-persons-one-divine-nature

“The Nicene Creed states that Jesus is “consubstantial with the Father.” This means that Jesus is one in substance with the Father, having full possession of the one divine nature and thus equal to the Father.

But some quasi-Christian sects, such as Jehovah Witnesses, challenge this belief with a variety of bible passages.

One such passage is John 14:28. Jesus says, “The Father is greater than I.” How can Jesus be equal to the Father, so it’s argued, when he explicitly says the Father is greater?

One answer is that Jesus attributes this lesser status to himself insofar as he is man, not God. St. Thomas Aquinas explains,

Thus when he says, the Father is greater than I, he does not mean I, as Son of God, but as Son of man, for in this way he is not only inferior to the Father and the Holy Spirit, but even to the angels: “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels” (Heb. 2:9). Again, in some things he was subject to human beings, as his parents (Luke 2:51). Consequently, he is inferior to the Father because of his human nature, but equal because of his divine nature (Commentary on the Gospel of John 14.8).”

FOR MORE, READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/three-persons-one-divine-nature

February 15, 2026
The Holy Spirit is a person, it’s not an impersonal force. It is The Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

In theology a person is an individual substance of a rational nature and so the Holy Spirit is a person, it is of the same essence of God The Father and of God The Son, it is the same Divine Essence, the same Divinity therefore it is God but it has its own intellect and will.

A careful study of the Holy Scriptures perfectly shows that the Holy Spirit speaks, the Holy Spirit says, the Holy Spirit prevented Paul from going to Asia (Acts 16: 6), the Holy Spirit moves into action, the Holy Spirit is saddened…. the Holy Spirit is quoted in dozens of texts in specific action cleary proving that He is a rational person with an intellect.

A person is a substance with a will and an intellect with a rational nature is the same difference between a human person and an animal: we would never say that an animal is a person because, although it has some instinct and even feelings,it doesn’t has an intellect nor a rationality and neither an intelligent will. An animal doesn’t reflect upon itself. Most animals don’t even know that they are their own entity: a cat may mistake his own image for another cat in the mirror they don’t have this intellectual concept of their individuality, they don’t have a will, they don’t plan the future as we do, they don’t worry, they don’t study, they don’t rationalize as we do that’s why we do not consider animals as “persons”.

Yes they do have a body therefore having a body doesn’t define a person, having an intellect and a will does.

Likewise, angels are persons. Every single angel is an individual person.

Also God is one God ,only one Divine Essence, only one Divine Nature, it’s not three Gods, there is ONLY ONE GOD but in three persons:

God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit do have their own individualities within the Holy Trinity and this Divine Holy Family forms the Family we are called to belong to, to be Sons and Daughters of the Holy Trinity. They become hosts of our souls and we are to receive the Holy Trinity inside the temple of our body, blood soul and humanity. Inside each of our own human inner personal universe, we are to receive the Holy Trinity as a guest into our souls.

SEE SECTION ON “THE HOLY TRINITY” AND ARTICLES “DEFINITION OF A PERSON” – https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=35539&randomterm=false#:~:text=AND https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11726a.htm

We get to pray for the Holy Spirit to come, to enlighten us, to guide us, to impart to us His 7 gifts as recorded in Isaiah 11:1 -3. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are, according to the Catholic Tradition: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of God. Starting to develop a personal relationship with God The Holy Spirit adds a whole other dimension in our relationship with God!!!

SEE ARTICLES “The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit – What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and why do they matter?” https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-seven-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit AND https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_gifts_of_the_Holy_Spirit#:~:text=

January 25, 2026
God is Love so He is a Triune God, One God in Three Persons, and We have a whole Divine Family waiting for us in Heaven in which we can be grafted in and united to already, even right here on Earth

Rediscovering the nature, the essence, the very definition of what and who God is, is absolutely amazing!!! Understanding that God is a Holy Trinity, Three Persons in one God, one and only God, one only Divinity, one Essence in Three Persons: God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit.

To define God, we have to go back to 1st John chapter 4 verse 8:
“God is love”.

But how do you define love when God is infinte and we humans as so limited to grasp the deep things of God?

Well, how would you define a table to an extraterrestrial being from another system? A text with a definition might do. A picture even better…
How about cooking? We would need to show a person with some food doing some action of cutting, mixing, pouring, heating, stiring… We do agree that showing a picture of a person with a tomato in the hand would not do. We would also need to show the action of actually cutting or peeling or manipulating the tomato to convey the concept of cooking. It therefore must have 3 components: a person, some food, and the action of cooking…

Well love is also an action, love is a action verb. Not just a feeling as movies would have us believe. It is a verb. To define love, we first need a lover, a person who loves, who generates love, who gives love, and that person is God the Father.

We also need a recipient, a beloved, another person who receives love, that person is God The Son.

And because love is an action, it is an action verb, we need something to be done between them two, an action, a verb, love is embracing, giving, forgiving, gifting, protecting, caring, kissing, taking care of, feeding, providing, sacrificing, listening to, watching over, looking after, waiting, stroking, hugging, cuddling, covering, sheltering… it’s a verb and this verb is so powerful that it takes on its own identity with a will and an intellect, and as a rational individuality this person is God the Holy Spirit who is Charity, who is Love in action Itself.
SEE SECTION ON “THE HOLY TRINITY”.

In the account of the Creation in Genesis 1:27 The Holy Trinity appears for the first time as God speaks in the first personal subject pronoun of the plural form, “Let us make man in Our Image”. Who was God speaking to in such a plural form? The Three Persons cooperated as One Concert of Love in This Divine Work of Creation.

This Triad, this Trio, those Three Persons, from the very same and unique Divine nature and essence, live as One God.
They are co-eternal, they always existed, not one came before another as God lives outside of time, He created time for humans but He Himself is not subjected to time.
They are co-equal and consubstantial of the same substance, the same Essence, the same God, one Divinity in three persons.
They share the same Divine Nature or Essence. They are distinct persons, yet possess one inseparable, undivided Divine Substance.

To exemplify what God is in our little human minds and brains that are too limited to understand what the Holy Trinity is, God has tried to explain to us who He is using concepts that the human mind can grasp yet The Most Holy Trinity still remains a Mystery as God is infinite and cannot be contained nor understood by a limited mind.

The Holy Spirit has given us to understand that in the Holy Baptism we received the three theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Charity. Each one gifted by a Person of the Holy Trinity.
Faith from The Father.
Hope from the Son.
Charity from the Holy Spirit.

In the Confiteor prayer, when we confess our sins we pray the following: “I confess to Almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do”, the thoughts being related to The Father, the words because God The Son is the Verb, The Word, The Logos, and in works relating to God The Holy Spirit in action in our lives that we offend by our wrongdoings or by our omissions of good actions or lack of action when we fail to act upon His promptings.

Also, The Holy Trinity acts in our lives through the three sacraments of Christian Initiation.
The first Sacrament of Baptism makes us Sons of God of God the Father by adoption within the Son.
Through the Sacrament of the Holy Communion we receive God The Son in the Holy Eucharist.
In the Sacrament of the Confirmation we receive a personal downpour of God’s Holy Spirit.

The Triune God is LOVE; God The Father is the Source of Love, God The Son is the Incarnate Love and God The Holy Spirit is the Love being Poured out upon us.

God the Father is connected directly to our will and therefore we need to conform our will to the Will of God. As the Holy Mother of God The Son, the Will of God must become our own will, “Fiat Mihi Segundun Verbum Tuum” said the Virgin Mary to the Arcangel Gabriel relating to Her the Message of God. “Fiat Voluntas Tua”
said Jesus Himself to His Father when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Our will must come to be what God The Father wills, our intellect relates to God The Son and all memory to God The Holy Spirit. These are the 3 highest faculties of our Human Soul, perfectly compatible and formatted to be configured according to God in His Three Persons.

The Holy Trinity therefore consists of a Divine Family to which we are all called and predestined to belong to. God called all of us, every single human being, to become part of his Divine Family. Not all humans will respond to the call as every human has free will but all of us were called to be Sons and Daughters of God to enter into the Divine Family and to be adopted as Sons and Daughters of God.

ILLUSTRATION: The same as the human hand has five fingers, when we are created we are called to be part of a family with persons who take care of us whatever the circumstances that we may have on Earth.

– As the middle finger God The Father is the Central Person,

– God Our Father, as the middle finger of our hand has God the Son “at his right hand”, the index represents God The Son who points out to The Father: he came to the Earth to teach us about The Father. to show us The Father, to take us back to The Father and to bring us back to The Father. Jesus Christ is the index,

– God the Holy Spirit could be symbolized by what we interestingly call in English “the ring finger”; it is the finger where we put the ring of a married person. It is appropriate as God the Holy Spirit is the very person who literally married or espoused the Holy Virgin Mary to put the seed of God into her womb so that God the Son would be born as God Incarnate, as a human being and we, humans, are also called to receive God the Holy Spirit into our souls as it cleanses our entire being at our Baptism. We also receive Him contained in the Holy Communion and we receive Him personally too in the Holy Sacrament of the Confirmation.

– Therefore right next to the ring finger is the little finger: it is shorter than the others but it is still the closest to the Holy Trinity and that is Our Mother the Holy Virgin Mary, who is the closest being next to the Holy Trinity, above all angels, being Herself Queen of Angels. The little finger is actually right next to the ring finger because God the Holy Spirit is Her Spouse: The Holy Virgin Mary was literally impregnated by the Holy Spirit who put the seed of God into Mary’s womb to beget the Son of God Incarnate, God The Son in flesh, The Incarnate Word of God Jesus Christ and so Mother, The Holy Mother of God the Virgin Mary, is that fourth finger that is shorter than the other three, but the closest to them.

– And finally we have a fifth finger which is the thumb. The thumb seems to be separate from the others, it doesn’t even reach the height of the others, it is very mobile and that finger represents our Guardian Angel: it is of the Heavenly Realm. It is not human, it’s part of the hand because it does work and acts in presence of God the Holy Trinity but it is very mobile because it actually accompanies us here below on Earth since our conception all the way throughout our lives until our personal judgment. He is with us every single day of our lives. The thumb shows us the way. murmurs into our ears what we should or should not do, constantly reminds us of the right path and guides us. And therefore we pray: “Angel of God, my guardian dear, To whom God’s love commits me here, Ever this day (or night) be at my side, To light, to guard, to rule, and guide. From sinful stain O keep me free, And at death’s hour, my helper be. Amen”. He will try to put us on the right path to bring us back to the Holy Trinity, to show us the way to go home: that is our Guardian Angel.

Therefore every single one of us, every single human being, we actually live right in the palm of God’s hand, in the palm of a Divine Family watching over us, in the middle of a Heavenly cradle. This is when God closes His Hand and we are safe under the protection of God the Father, God The Son, God the Holy Spirit, with also The Holy Virgin Mary, Our Lady Terror of Demons, Virgen Potens, Most Powerful Virgin and with the constant care of our Guardian Angel, whoever we are, whatever our circumstances here on Earth, social background, with a human family or without a human family. We are never alone, we have a family!!!!

We have God The Father God The Son God The Holy Spirit and Mother Mary and our Guardian Angel. every single one of us!!! We have a family and we are all taken care of!!!!

January 25, 2026
The Cross is the very mark we must bear on our foreheads to be saved

The Cross is the very sign of our salvation. It is not some pagan symbol that the Catholics borrowed from Babylonians or Egyptians as JWs claim.

The prophecy of Ezekiel chapter 9 reads:
“1 Then he shouted loudly for me to hear, ‘The scourges of the city are approaching, each carrying his weapon of destruction!’
2 Immediately six men advanced from the upper north gate, each holding a deadly weapon. Among them was a man dressed in linen, with a scribe’s ink-horn in his belt. They came in and halted in front of the bronze altar.
3 The glory of the God of Israel rose from above the winged creature where it had been, towards the threshold of the Temple. He called to the man dressed in linen with a scribe’s ink-horn in his belt
4 and Yahweh said to him, ‘Go all through the city, all through Jerusalem, and mark a cross on the foreheads of all who grieve and lament over all the loathsome practices in it.’
5 I heard him say to the others, ‘Follow him through the city and strike. Not one glance of pity; show no mercy;
6 old men, young men, girls, children, women, kill and exterminate them all. But do not touch anyone with a cross on his forehead. Begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the old men who were in the Temple.
7 He said to them, ‘Defile the Temple; fill the courts with corpses; then go out!’ They went out and hacked their way through the city.
8 While they were hacking them down, I was left alone; I fell on my face, crying out, ‘Ah, Lord Yahweh, are you going to annihilate all that is left of Israel by venting your fury on Jerusalem?’
9 He said, ‘The guilt of the House of Israel and Judah is immense; the country is full of bloodshed, the city full of perversity, for they say, “Yahweh has abandoned the country, Yahweh cannot see.”
10 Then, I too shall neither give one glance of pity nor show any mercy. I shall repay them for what they have done.’
11 The man dressed in linen with the scribe’s ink-horn in his belt then came back and made his report, ‘I have carried out your orders.’ “
https://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=33&bible_chapter=9

The cross was the symbol of Jesus’ crucifixion. It redeemed us from sin and death and the cross becomes the mark of our salvation. Historically, there is ample evidence that Jesus died on a cross and not on a single pole as JWs claim. Do your research. Don’t get caught up in some empty debate resulting from a couple of dissident marginalized critics and remote historical exceptions. Also study the Shoud of Turin. Jesus died on a cross. SEE SECTIONS ON “THE CROSS” AND “THE SHROUD OF TURIN”.

In Ezekiel chapter 9 verses 3 to 4, the prophet talks about a man clothed with linen who had the writer”s ink-horn in his belt and he had to go in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and put mark, a sign, upon the foreheads of the men who sighed and mourned for all the abominations that were done in the midst of the city and anyone who did not have the mark would be killed .
In the original Hebrew text, the word for “mark” is TAW and in the Hebrew alphabet this letter is the letter T. In the ancient Hebrew language which is slightly different from modern Hebrew, it wasn’t just the letter t. The letter TAW that the scribe with the ink-horn had to write on the forehead of people for them to be saved was actually a cross: the horizontal bar was lower. It was a cross, as a sign announcing the crucifixion and the need to have faith in the sacrifice of our Redemptor Jesus Christ!! Furthermore, it also means “alliance or pact”!!!

Also this letter TAW in Hebrew is written with two characters תָּ֜ו. The first one is a cross and the second character actually represents a man, a male human being or it can also represent a nail, as a nail used to set up a tent or a nail to nail a man on a cross during an execution!!

That is the mark that is to be written on the forehead of every person that is to be saved!! This discovery for me was amazing!!!
MUST SEE: THE CROSS – The Cross: Jewish or Pagan?

Also the cross, the shape of the cross as in 2 perpendicular lines crossing each other is actually the foundation of the universe: theologians talk about the “cosmic cross”. If we analyze the world, the universe, most solid trusctures are actually based upon some form in the shape of a cross, every house, every door post, is actually built using two perpendicular beams or boards or planks or wooden pieces that will actually make the structure stronger… any piece of furniture, a bed, a chair, a cabinet, a cupboard, a fence, all of those are actually built with elements forming crosses because it’s actually the most solid shape or form in the universe.
Light, stars, the sun, all shine with rays whose light is reflected in the form of a cross. Everything in the universe is based on a cross and therefore it is absolutely ludicrous to say, as Jehovah’s Witnesses claim, that the Catholics adopted the cross from some Egyptian or Babylonian pagan teaching or practice. The cross existed way before any civilization. It existed when God created the universe. Pagans didn’t invent the cross. The Catholic cross doesn’t come from pagan god nor civilization. God had purposed the cross to be the foundation of our salvation itself: it is the principle of the “cosmic cross”.
SEE SECTION ON “THE CROSS”.

January 25, 2026
The Incarnation

Explaining the Faith – Why God Became Man: The Meaning of the Incarnation

https://www.thedivinemercy.org/videos/why-god-became-man-meaning-incarnation-explaining-faith

God’s Mercy in the Mystery of the Incarnation

https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/gods-mercy-mystery-incarnation

ABSOLUTE MUST SEE: We bow at the line of the Creed about the Incarnation because Heaven touches the earth. Minute 29′

Explaining What the Creed Means Line by Line: Explaining the Faith with Fr. Chris Alar

GOD’S PLAN A WAS ALWAYS TO COME DOWN TO RAISE MANKIND TO HIS DIVINITY

Incarnation – Treatment of the doctrine

https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/incarnation

OFFICIAL CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH : He Was Conceived By The Power Of The Holy Spirit, And Was Born Of The Virgin Mary

“HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY”

https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_two/artcile_3.html

Paragraph 1. THE SON OF GOD BECAME MAN

I. WHY DID THE WORD BECOME FLESH?

456 With the Nicene Creed, we answer by confessing: “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.”

457 The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who “loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins”: “the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world”, and “he was revealed to take away sins”:⁷⁰

Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Saviour; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?⁷¹

458 The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God’s love: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”⁷² “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”⁷³

459 The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.” “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”⁷⁴ On the mountain of the Transfiguration, the Father commands: “Listen to him!”⁷⁵ Jesus is the model for the Beatitudes and the norm of the new law: “Love one another as I have loved you.”⁷⁶ This love implies an effective offering of oneself, after his example.⁷⁷

460 The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature”:⁷⁸ “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.”⁷⁹ “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.”⁸⁰ “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.”⁸¹

II. THE INCARNATION

461 Taking up St. John’s expression, “The Word became flesh”,⁸² The Church calls “Incarnation” the fact that the Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. In a hymn cited by St. Paul, the Church sings the mystery of the Incarnation:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. and being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.⁸³

462 The Letter to the Hebrews refers to the same mystery:

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.”⁸⁴

463 Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.”⁸⁵ Such is the joyous conviction of the Church from her beginning whenever she sings “the mystery of our religion”: “He was manifested in the flesh.”⁸⁶

III. TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN

464 The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man. During the first centuries, the Church had to defend and clarify this truth of faith against the heresies that falsified it.

465 The first heresies denied not so much Christ’s divinity as his true humanity (Gnostic Docetism). From apostolic times the Christian faith has insisted on the true incarnation of God’s Son “come in the flesh”.⁸⁷ But already in the third century, the Church in a council at Antioch had to affirm against Paul of Samosata that Jesus Christ is Son of God by nature and not by adoption. the first ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325 confessed in its Creed that the Son of God is “begotten, not made, of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father”, and condemned Arius, who had affirmed that the Son of God “came to be from things that were not” and that he was “from another substance” than that of the Father.⁸⁸

466 The Nestorian heresy regarded Christ as a human person joined to the divine person of God’s Son. Opposing this heresy, St. Cyril of Alexandria and the third ecumenical council, at Ephesus in 431, confessed “that the Word, uniting to himself in his person the flesh animated by a rational soul, became man.”⁸⁹ Christ’s humanity has no other subject than the divine person of the Son of God, who assumed it and made it his own, from his conception. For this reason the Council of Ephesus proclaimed in 431 that Mary truly became the Mother of God by the human conception of the Son of God in her womb: “Mother of God, not that the nature of the Word or his divinity received the beginning of its existence from the holy Virgin, but that, since the holy body, animated by a rational soul, which the Word of God united to himself according to the hypostasis, was born from her, the Word is said to be born according to the flesh.”⁹⁰

467 The Monophysites affirmed that the human nature had ceased to exist as such in Christ when the divine person of God’s Son assumed it. Faced with this heresy, the fourth ecumenical council, at Chalcedon in 451, confessed: Following the holy Fathers, we unanimously teach and confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: the same perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, the same truly God and truly man, composed of rational soul and body; consubstantial with the Father as to his divinity and consubstantial with us as to his humanity; “like us in all things but sin”. He was begotten from the Father before all ages as to his divinity and in these last days, for us and for our salvation, was born as to his humanity of the virgin Mary, the Mother of God.⁹¹

We confess that one and the same Christ, Lord, and only-begotten Son, is to be acknowledged in two natures without confusion, change, division or separation. the distinction between the natures was never abolished by their union, but rather the character proper to each of the two natures was preserved as they came together in one person (prosopon) and one hypostasis.⁹²

468 After the Council of Chalcedon, some made of Christ’s human nature a kind of personal subject. Against them, the fifth ecumenical council, at Constantinople in 553, confessed that “there is but one hypostasis [or person], which is our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Trinity.”⁹³ Thus everything in Christ’s human nature is to be attributed to his divine person as its proper subject, not only his miracles but also his sufferings and even his death: “He who was crucified in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, is true God, Lord of glory, and one of the Holy Trinity.”⁹⁴

469 The Church thus confesses that Jesus is inseparably true God and true man. He is truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man and our brother: “What he was, he remained and what he was not, he assumed”, sings the Roman Liturgy.⁹⁵ and the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom proclaims and sings: “O only-begotten Son and Word of God, immortal being, you who deigned for our salvation to become incarnate of the holy Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, you who without change became man and were crucified, O Christ our God, you who by your death have crushed death, you who are one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us!”⁹⁶

IV. HOW IS THE SON OF GOD MAN?

470 Because “human nature was assumed, not absorbed”,⁹⁷ in the mysterious union of the Incarnation, the Church was led over the course of centuries to confess the full reality of Christ’s human soul, with its operations of intellect and will, and of his human body. In parallel fashion, she had to recall on each occasion that Christ’s human nature belongs, as his own, to the divine person of the Son of God, who assumed it. Everything that Christ is and does in this nature derives from “one of the Trinity”.

The Son of God therefore communicates to his humanity his own personal mode of existence in the Trinity. In his soul as in his body, Christ thus expresses humanly the divine ways of the Trinity:⁹⁸

The Son of God. . . worked with human hands; he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin.⁹⁹

Christ’s soul and his human knowledge

471 Apollinarius of Laodicaea asserted that in Christ the divine Word had replaced the soul or spirit. Against this error the Church confessed that the eternal Son also assumed a rational, human soul.¹⁰⁰

472 This human soul that the Son of God assumed is endowed with a true human knowledge. As such, this knowledge could not in itself be unlimited: it was exercised in the historical conditions of his existence in space and time. This is why the Son of God could, when he became man, “increase in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man”,¹⁰¹ and would even have to inquire for himself about what one in the human condition can learn only from experience.¹⁰² This corresponded to the reality of his voluntary emptying of himself, taking “the form of a slave”.¹⁰³

473 But at the same time, this truly human knowledge of God’s Son expressed the divine life of his person.¹⁰⁴ “The human nature of God’s Son, not by itself but by its union with the Word, knew and showed forth in itself everything that pertains to God.”¹⁰⁵ Such is first of all the case with the intimate and immediate knowledge that the Son of God made man has of his Father.¹⁰⁶ The Son in his human knowledge also showed the divine penetration he had into the secret thoughts of human hearts.¹⁰⁷

474 By its union to the divine wisdom in the person of the Word incarnate, Christ enjoyed in his human knowledge the fullness of understanding of the eternal plans he had come to reveal.¹⁰⁸ What he admitted to not knowing in this area, he elsewhere declared himself not sent to reveal.¹⁰⁹

Christ’s human will

475 Similarly, at the sixth ecumenical council, Constantinople III in 681, the Church confessed that Christ possesses two wills and two natural operations, divine and human. They are not opposed to each other, but co-operate in such a way that the Word made flesh willed humanly in obedience to his Father all that he had decided divinely with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our salvation.¹¹⁰ Christ’s human will “does not resist or oppose but rather submits to his divine and almighty will.”¹¹¹

Christ’s true body

476 Since the Word became flesh in assuming a true humanity, Christ’s body was finite.¹¹² Therefore the human face of Jesus can be portrayed; at the seventh ecumenical council (Nicaea II in 787) the Church recognized its representation in holy images to be legitimate.¹¹³

477 At the same time the Church has always acknowledged that in the body of Jesus “we see our God made visible and so are caught up in love of the God we cannot see.”¹¹⁴ The individual characteristics of Christ’s body express the divine person of God’s Son. He has made the features of his human body his own, to the point that they can be venerated when portrayed in a holy image, for the believer “who venerates the icon is venerating in it the person of the one depicted”.¹¹⁵

The heart of the Incarnate Word

478 Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us: “The Son of God. . . loved me and gave himself for me.”¹¹⁶ He has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation,¹¹⁷ “is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that. . . love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings” without exception.¹¹⁸

IN BRIEF

479 At the time appointed by God, the only Son of the Father, the eternal Word, that is, the Word and substantial Image of the Father, became incarnate; without losing his divine nature he has assumed human nature.

480 Jesus Christ is true God and true man, in the unity of his divine person; for this reason he is the one and only mediator between God and men.

481 Jesus Christ possesses two natures, one divine and the other human, not confused, but united in the one person of God’s Son.

482 Christ, being true God and true man, has a human intellect and will, perfectly attuned and subject to his divine intellect and divine will, which he has in common with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

483 The Incarnation is therefore the mystery of the wonderful union of the divine and human natures in the one person of the Word.

Incarnationis Mysterium – BULL OF INDICTION OF THE GREAT JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000

https://www.vatican.va/jubilee_2000/docs/documents/hf_jp-ii_doc_30111998_bolla-jubilee_en.html

JESUS CHRIST – TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN

You Too Are Christ: The Ongoing Incarnation, Then and Now

How the Incarnation Made Your World Possible

https://www.catholic.com/audio/caf/how-the-incarnation-made-your-world-possible

The Incarnation of God

https://www.catholic.com/audio/caf/the-incarnation-of-god

How the Incarnation Reveals God’s Love

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/how-the-incarnation-reveals-gods-love

How Exactly Did Jesus Take on a Body?

https://www.catholic.com/video/how-exactly-did-jesus-take-on-a-body

If God Became Man, Didn’t God Change?

And if God can’t change, then isn’t all of Christianity refuted?

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/did-the-incarnation-cause-god-to-change

The Incarnation: A Revolution for the Ancient World

God made man was the epicenter of a transformative explosion, spawning new revolutions of thought and practice

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/the-incarnation-a-revolution-for-the-ancient-world

January 15, 2026
Consecrated Life

Holy Orders (Aquinas 101)

Discernment session for people contemplating service in holy orders or religious life

“The thoughts, feelings and desires one has within the experience of peace and stillness in the presence of Christ are God’s thoughts, feelings and desires. This is how God reveals what He wants-His will-of us and for us. When one is in that holy place in Christ, one’s desires are Christ’s desires, what one wants is what God wants. God puts His thoughts, feelings, and desires into us. In that experience, God’s will is within my will. This is an important lesson. In order to know God’s will, one simply needs to pay attention to one’s thoughts, feelings and desires when one is experiencing the peace, stillness, clarity and gratitude found in the presence of Christ. God’s will, his desire for you, is not out there somewhere! It is found in your own desire when you are in Christ! That is the will of God for you! This cannot be stressed enough.”

“Fear is an obstacle. “Fear is useless, what is needed is trust” (Mark 5:36). If God says fear is useless then it is useless. Fear is the enemy of discernment because it comes from the devil. So what can help us to trust? Love! 1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out all fear”. When we are in love with God, we can trust him, because
we know him. We begin to discover the wisdom of God whereby we will want to do things God’s way and not ours. … God does not reveal himself by fear or through fear. God does not scare anyone into anything. God reveals his desires to us and draws us by a peaceful presence. It is the Enemy who scares men into and out of things. The Enemy reveals his desires through fear.

Just as God’s will is found in one’s own thoughts, feelings, and desires that flow from the experience of the peaceful presence of Christ, so the will of the Enemy is found in one’s own thoughts, feelings, and desires flowing from the fear, pressure and confusion that come from the Enemy. In the experience of fear, pressure and confusion, the Enemy puts his thoughts, feelings and desires into us. The Enemy reveals his desire in fear. He leads us by a fear flowing from a false belief, a lie. The Enemy drives a man by a fear of something false, while Christ draws a man by a peaceful presence to something that is true.”

“In prayer, God is calling us into a “spiritual childhood”. “I assure you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God” (Matt. 18:3). As parents, how many times did we experience our children (or a small child) running into our arms and just holding on to us and hugging us for an extended period of time? We must learn to be held [by God]. This kind of intimacy is difficult for many and especially for men. It might be good to have them take a few minutes and reflect on John 13:25, where the Beloved disciple lays his head on the Lord’s chest. Imagine yourself doing so and while doing this lay all your concerns, fears and dreams on his chest. Surrender them to the Lord. Simply rest in his embrace.”

FRUSTRATION AND ANGER OF PRIEST SOMETIMES

PRIESTHOOD & GENDER: GENDER IS SCRIPTURE – CHRIST CAME TO REPAIR THE SIN OF ADAM NOT EVE

Seis mujeres de Ohio serán las primeras en formar parte del Orden de Viudas en EE.UU

https://www.infocatolica.com/?t=noticia&cod=50986

The Carthusian Nuns – Las Monjas Cartujas – As Monjas Cartuxas

The House at the end of the World, The Carthusian Cloistered Monastery Part 1

The House at the end of the World, The Carthusian Cloistered Monastery Part 2

The House at the end of the World, The Carthusian Cloistered Monastery Part 3

Silencio y soledad: la vida de las mujeres de la única cartuja en España

https://www.eldebate.com/religion/iglesia/20230621/silencio-soledad-vida-mujeres-unica-cartuja-espana_122973.html

Orden de Canónigos Premonstratenses

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orden_de_Can%C3%B3nigos_Premonstratenses

BREVIARY AND OFFICE OF READINGS OF PRIESTS, THEIR ROUTINE AND DAILY CONFESSION

Catholic Priest Visits Orthodox Seminary

ABSOLUTE MUST SEE: Monasteries and consacrated homes and seminaries work as protection for the town

The daily routine of priests

¿Qué significa el alzacuello de los sacerdotes?

La Fraternidad Sacerdotal de San Pedro sigue creciendo

https://www.infocatolica.com/?t=noticia&cod=53766

The life of a hermit: A glimpse inside the little-known state of life – EWTN Great Britain

The life of a hermit: A glimpse inside the little-known state of life

January 11, 2026
God in My Life

Divinisation – Deification – Theosis

You Too Are Christ: The Ongoing Incarnation, Then and Now

God Is Crazy in Love with You – Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermon

TENER A DIOS DENTRO DE MI? NO TE LO CREES.CRÉETELO. ES VERDAD. TE LO PROMETO

Keep the presence of Jesus in front of your mind at all time and you are less likely to sin if you are aware that Jesus is right there next to you

DEBEMOS RECIBIR UN NUEVO CORAZON Y DEJAR EL SAGRADO CORAZON DE JESUS VIVIR EN NOSOTROS

Heb 8, 6-13.
Mejor es la alianza de la que es mediador.
Lectura de la carta a los Hebreos.
HERMANOS:
Ahora a nuestro sumo Sacerdote, Cristo, le ha correspondido un ministerio tanto más excelente cuanto mejor es la alianza de la que es mediador: una alianza basada en promesas mejores.
Si la primera hubiera sido perfecta, no habría lugar para una segunda.
Pero les reprocha:
«Mirad que llegan días —oráculo del Señor—
en que haré
con la casa de Israel y con la casa de Judá
una alianza nueva;
no como la alianza que hice con sus padres,
cuando los tomé de la mano
para sacarlos de Egipto.
Ellos fueron infieles a mi alianza
y yo me desentendí de ellos —oráculo del Señor—.
Así será la alianza que haré con la casa de Israel
después de aquellos días —oráculo del Señor—:
pondré mis leyes en su mente
y las escribiré en sus corazones;
yo seré su Dios
y ellos serán mi pueblo.
Y no tendrá que enseñar uno a su prójimo,
el otro a su hermano, diciendo:
“Conoce al Señor”,
porque todos me conocerán,
del menor al mayor,
pues perdonaré sus delitos
y no me acordaré ya de sus pecados».
Al decir alianza “nueva”, declaró antigua la anterior; y lo que envejece y queda anticuado, está para desaparecer.

Practicing the Presence of GOD by Brother Lawrence

Click to access Brother%20Lawrence-The%20Practice%20of%20the%20Presence%20of%20God.pdf

Click to access brotherlawrencep00lawr.pdf

LIGHT OF GOD – MINUTE 1H50′

We will possess the living Trinity as the living Tabernacle does right now in the church

PURPOSE OF LIFE IS TO LOVE GOD

No trates de sobornar al Señor, porque no lo aceptará; no te apoyes en sacrificio injusto.
Eclo 35, 1-12. Quien guarda los mandamientos ofrece sacrificios de comunión.

Lectura del libro del Eclesiástico.
QUIEN observa la ley multiplica las ofrendas,
quien guarda los mandamientos ofrece sacrificios de comunión.
Quien devuelve un favor hace una ofrenda de flor de harina,
quien da limosna ofrece sacrificios de alabanza.
Apartarse del mal es complacer al Señor,
un sacrificio de expiación es apartarse de la injusticia.
No te presentes ante el Señor con las manos vacías,
pues esto es lo que prescriben los mandamientos.
La ofrenda del justo enriquece el altar,
su perfume sube hasta el Altísimo.
El sacrificio del justo es aceptable,
su memorial no se olvidará.
Glorifica al Señor con generosidad,
y no escatimes las primicias de tus manos.
Cuando hagas tus ofrendas, pon cara alegre
y paga los diezmos de buena gana.
Da al Altísimo como él te ha dado a ti,
con generosidad, según tus posibilidades.
Porque el Señor sabe recompensar
y te devolverá siete veces más.
No trates de sobornar al Señor, porque no lo aceptará;
no te apoyes en sacrificio injusto.
Porque el Señor es juez,
y para él no cuenta el prestigio de las personas.

Answering God’s Call – Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermon

When we say yes to God unconditionally, He gives us more of His riches.

GOD’S UNCREATED LIGHT

HOW GOD SPEAKS

God is quiet: satan is loud

What “So that We Might Become God” Means”

https://www.catholic.com/qa/what-so-that-we-might-become-god-means

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CCC460

The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature”: “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.” “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods” (CCC 460).

St. Thomas Aquinas’ Favorite Argument for the Existence of God (Aquinas 101)

Soul being stretched increasing our desire for God

The 3 Kinds of Faith? Which do you have?

The 3 Kinds of Faith? Which do you have?

CATECHIZE, THE GREATEST VOCATION

ABSOLUTE MUST SEE: AMEN MEANS “I STAKE MY LIFE ON THIS” – MINUTE 51′
Explaining What the Creed Means Line by Line: Explaining the Faith with Fr. Chris Alar

How a Mustard Seed Faith Can Change Your Life

Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi: How the Holy Trinity Operated in Adam and Eve before Original Sin and how He operates in us at baptism

January 11, 2026
Jewish and Catholic Feasts

LAS 7 FIESTAS SOLEMNES

https://www.ccilondon.com/post/las-7-fiestas-solemnes

Levítico 23:2

Las fiestas solemnes tienen un lugar escogido: JERUSALÉN, pero las observamos en todas partes. Bíblicamente Jerusalén es “el Reloj del Mundo”, lo que sucede espiritualmente en Israel tiene un efecto en el resto del mundo.

Podemos observar 7 fiestas solemnes en el calendario Judío, divididas en 2 grupos:

FIESTAS DE PRIMAVERA

1. La Pascua

2. Los Panes sin Levadura

3. Las Primicias

4. Pentecostés

FIESTAS DE OTOÑO

5. Las Trompetas

6. El Perdón/Expiación

7. Los Tabernáculos

Conocer mejor a Cristo a través de las fiestas judías: la sorpresa de «profundizar en un tesoro infinito»

Conocer mejor a Cristo a través de las fiestas judías: la sorpresa de «profundizar en un tesoro infinito»

Jesus Fulfills the Jewish Feasts – Catholic Stand

Jesus Fulfills the Jewish Feasts

LAS FIESTAS JUDIAS Y EN LA IGLESIA

https://es.catholic.net/op/articulos/17714/cat/1175/fiestas-judias.html

Feast of Pentecost

The second in importance of the great Jewish feasts

https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/feast-of-pentecost

Feast of Tabernacles

One of the three great feasts of the Hebrew liturgical calendar

https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/feast-of-tabernacles

Jesus Was Jewish, So Why Not Keep Jewish Feasts?

https://www.catholic.com/qa/jesus-was-jewish-so-why-not-keep-jewish-feasts

January 6, 2026
Building in Virtue, Prayer & Holiness
ABSOLUTE MUST SEE: Spiritual Theology Series: The Virtues ~ Fr. Ripperger

DIFFERENT KINDS OF VIRTUES
- ACQUIRED VIRTUES THAT YOU DEVELOP ON YOUR OWN
- INFUSED VIRTUES (3 KINDS: MORAL, THEOLOGICAL AND GIFTS OF HOLY GHOST)
ABSOLUTE MUST SEE: Holiness Conference 1/5: What is Holiness? ~ Fr. Ripperger

Most Important Virtues to Get to Heaven – Explaining the Faith w/Fr. Chris Alar

VIRTUES PDF

Click to access Virtues.pdf

THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES

FAITH (THE VIRTUE BY WHICH ONE GIVES ASSENT TO THE DEPOSIT OF FAITH)

HOPE (THE VIRTUE BY WHICH ONE AWAITS BEATITUDE AND HAS CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S AID

CHARITY (THE VIRTUE BY WHICH ONE LOVES GOD AND ONE’S NEIGHBOR FOR THE SAKE OF GOD)

Intellectual Virtues
1. Understanding: the habit of mind (virtue) by which one grasps the natures of things
2. Knowledge (scientia): the virtue by which one is able to judge created things as they are
3. Wisdom: the virtue by which one grasps those thigns that pertain to God as known through the natural light of reason
THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES

Theological Virtues

FAITH (THE VIRTUE BY WHICH ONE GIVES ASSENT TO THE DEPOSIT OF FAITH)

VICES AGAINST FAITH

Infidelity: Lack of belief in the deposit of faith

Heresy: Lack of belief in one or more of the doctrines of the faith

Apostasy: Rejection of the faith entirely by someone already baptized \

Blasphemy: denigration of something sacred by means of speech

Theological Virtues

HOPE (THE VIRTUE BY WHICH ONE AWAITS BEATITUDE AND HAS CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S AID VICES AGAINST HOPE

1. Desperation: Lack of confidence in god’s ability to save someone or to aid him 2. Presumption: Excessive confidence in one’s own capacities beyond one’s abilities to achieve some end

Theological Virtues

CHARITY (THE VIRTUE BY WHICH ONE LOVES GOD AND ONE’S NEIGHBOR FOR THE SAKE OF GOD)

VICES CONTRARY TO CHARITY 1. Hatred of God 2. Sloth: unwillingness to engage the arduous in order to achieve some excellence 3. Envy: Desire to have something possessed by another in such a manner that the other no longer possesses it 4. Discord: The vice in which one knowingly and intentionally dissents from the divine good and the good of his neighbor (a vice in which one does not seek union of wills) 5. Contention: The habit of contrariety in speech 6. Schism: Lack of submission to the authority of the church, especially the pope and bishops 7. Unjust War: Waging of battle without due cause 8. Quarreling (Rixa): Contrariety in deeds (private warring, sometimes called feuding) 9. Scandal: The drawing of another into sin or the placing of an impediment of the assent of faith on behalf of another ©Fr. Chad Ripperger 2016

MORAL VIRTUES

INTEGRAL PARTS OF PRUDENCE (KNOWING THE MEANS TO ATTAIN THE END) 1. Memory (Memoria): the virtue by which one remembers the right things pertaining to the action and its circumstances 2. Understanding (Intellectus): the ability to grasp practical principles and the nature of various situations 3. Docility (Docilitas): ability to be lead and take counsel from others 4. Shrewdness (Solertia): quickness in arriving at the means to the end 5. Reason (Ratio): ability to reason about practical matters; the ability to apply universal practical principles to particular situations 6. Foresight (Providentia): ability to see future outcomes of actions based upon past experience 7. Circumspection (Circumspectio): virtue by which one keeps track of one’s circumstances 8. Caution (Cautio): application of knowledge of the past to action in order to avoid impediments and evils

POTENTIAL PARTS OF PRUDENCE 1. Good Counsel (Eubulia): the habit of taking good counsel 2. Synesis: the ability to know what to do when the common law applies 3. Gnome: the ability to know what to do when the common law does not apply

JUSTICE (RENDER ANOTHER HIS DUE) 1. Commutative: justice between individuals 2. Legal: justice of the individual to the common good 3. Distributive: justice of those in charge of the common good to the individual 4. Restitution: the habit by which one pays back what one owes 5. Religion: the virtue by which we render to God what is due to Him 6. Devotion: the habit by which one has a prompt will to do those things pertaining to the service of God 7. Adjuration: the swearing or taking of an oath, such as in a court of law 8. Piety: the virtue by which one renders to one’s parents due honor and reverence 9. Patriotism: the subvirtue to Piety in which one renders to one’s country the honor due to it 10. Observances: making acts of religion 11. Dulia: giving due honor to one’s superiors 12. Obedience: promptness of will to do the will of one’s superior 13. Diligence: fulfilling one’s duty according to one’s state in life 14. Gratitude or Thankfulness: appreciation (normally expressed) to a benefactor for some gift given 15. Just vindication: the habit by which one puts an end to the harm caused by others 16. Truthfulness (in English: honesty): the habit of telling the truth 17. Friendship or affability: the virtue by which one is able to be befriended 18. Liberality: the use of one’s surplus means to aid the poor 19. Epieikeia: the virtue by which one knows the mind of the legislator

FORTITUDE (THE WILLINGNESS TO ENGAGE THE ARDUOUS) 1. Magnaniminity: the virtue by which one seeks excellence in all things but especially great things 2. Magnificence: the virtue by which one uses his wealth to do great things 3. Patience: the ability to suffer evils well or the equanimity in the face of evils 4. Perseverance: the virtue by which one persists in the arduous good until the end is achieved 5. Longanimity: longness of soul; the ability to await the good 6. Mortification: the willingness to suffer

TEMPERANCE (THE VIRTUE WHICH MODERATES THE PLEASURES OF TOUCH) 1. Shame: fear of being perceived as lowly 2. Honestia: the habit of always seeking to do what is virtuous in each situation (may also be called integrity) 3. Abstinence: refraining from the eating of certain kinds of food 4. Fasting: refraining from eating food in general 5. Sobriety: the virtue by which one has moderated use of alcohol 6. Continence: the virtue in the will by which one remains steadfast despite the tumult of the appetites 7. Chastity: the virtue which moderates the pleasures of touch in relation to those matters pertaining to the 6th Commandment 8. Virginity: the habit of mind or soul which always refrains from taking delight, even interiorly, from pleasures associated with the 6th Commandment 9. Continence: a virtue of the will by which one remains steadfast despite the tumult of the appetites (usually in relation to matters pertaining to the 6th Commandment) 10. Clemency or meekness: moderation of the delight of vindication (of anger) 11. Modesty proper: the virtue in which one’s externals do not draw others into sins against the 6th and 9th Commandments 12. Humility: willingness to live in accordance with the truth; refraint of the irascible appetite from striving for excellence beyond one’s state; not judging oneself greater than he is 13. Eutrapelia: the virtue of right recreation 14. Sportsmanship: the virtue in which one regulates the pleasures specifically in relation to play or games 15. Decorum: the virtue in which one’s externals suits person and circumstances 16. Silence: the virtue by which one does not speak unless necessary; also the virtue in which one seeks to have interior quiet of the appetites 17. Studiosity: the virtue in which one pursues knowledge according to one’s state in life 18. Simplicity: the virtue in which one moderates one externals as to quantity (having neither more than is necessary nor less)

MORAL VIRTUES

PRUDENCE (KNOWING THE MEANS TO ATTAIN THE END)

1. Memory (Memoria): The virtue by which one remembers the right things pertaining to the action and its circumstances

2. Understanding (Intellectus): The ability to grasp practical principles and the nature of various situations

3. Docility (Docilitas): Ability to be led and to take counsel from others

4. Shrewdness (Solertia): Quickness in arriving at the means to the end

5. Reason (Ratio): Ability to reason about practical matters; the ability to apply universal practical principles to particular situations

6. Foresight (Providentia): Ability to see future outcomes of actions based upon past experience

7. Circumspection (Circumspectio): Virtue by which one keeps track of one’s circumstances

8. Caution (Cautio): Application of knowledge of the past to action in order to avoid impediments and evils

POTENTIAL PARTS OF PRUDENCE

1. Good Counsel (Eubulia): The habit of taking good counsel

2. Synesis: The ability to know what to do when the common law applies

3. Gnome: The ability to know what to do when the common law does not apply

VICES CONTRARY TO PRUDENCE

1. Precipitation: The vice in which one does not take counsel (results in acting too quickly)

2. Inconsideration: The vice in which one does not judge which means is the best among the various means arrived at during counsel

3. Inconstancy: A vice in which one does not command or do the action which has been counseled and judged as the best

4. Negligence: Failure to take counsel or a failure to do what one should when he ought

5. Carnal Prudence: The vice in which one applies one’s reason to arrive at means to attain created goods which are seen as one’s final end

6. Craftiness (Astutia): Industry in not using the right or true means to an end

7. Guile (Dolus): The habit of deceit (usually in words)
1. Fraud (Fraus): The habit of deceit (usually in deeds)
  ©Fr. Chad Ripperger 2016
MORAL VIRTUES

JUSTICE (RENDER ANOTHER HIS DUE)
1. Commutative: Justice between individuals
2. Legal: Justice of the individual to the common good
3. Distributive: Justice of those in charge of the common good to the individual 4
4. Restitution: The habit by which one pays back what one owes
5. Religion: The virtue by which we render to god what is due to him
6. Devotion: The habit by which one has a prompt will to do those things pertaining to the service of God
7. Adjuration: The swearing or taking of an oath, such as in a court of law
8. Piety: The virtue by which one renders to one’s parents due honor and reverence
9. Patriotism: The sub virtue to piety in which one renders to one’s country the honor due to it
10. Observances: Making acts of religion
11. Dulia: Giving due honor to one’s superiors
12. Obedience: Promptness of will to do the will of one’s superior
13. Diligence: Fulfilling one’s duty according to one’s state in life
14. Gratitude or Thankfulness: Appreciation (normally expressed) to a benefactor for some gift given
15. Just Vindication: The habit by which one puts an end to the harm caused by others
16. Truthfulness (In English: Honesty): The habit of telling the truth
17. Friendship or Affability: The virtue by which one is able to be befriended
18. Liberality: The use of one’s surplus means to aid the poor
19. Epieikeia: The virtue by which one knows the mind of the legislator
VICES AGAINST JUSTICE
1. Acceptation of Persons (Human Respect): Excessive deference paid to someone
2. Murder: Unjust killing of the innocent
3. Mutilation: Physical harm or changes made to one’s body aside from the order of nature
4. Theft: Occult taking of that which belongs to another
5. Robbery: Non-occult (Usually Violent) taking of that which belongs to another
6. Judgment: Judging him over whom one does not have authority or contrary to the truth
7. False Accusation: Accusing somebody of something that is false
1. Perjury: Lying under oath
2. Contumely: Attack on a person’s reputation (usually done in their presence – normally it is the saying of something false to destroy someone’s reputation)
3. Detraction: Saying something true in order to destroy someone’s reputation
4. Murmuring: Occult detraction in order to separate the affections of one person from another
5. Derision: Laughing at another in order to lower him in the estimation of others
6. Malediction (Cursing): Calling down condemnation on something or someone
7. Usury: Taking of (excessive) interest on a loan
8. Illicit Adjuration: Swearing an oath outside his due circumstances
9. Superstition: Rendering of some honor or practice to a creature which is due only to God
10. Idolatry: Worshiping some created thing as God
11. Divination (And Witchcraft): Use of the demonic in order to achieve something, such as knowledge of the future, hidden knowledge, to gain power over something, etc.
12. Tempting God
13. Sacrilege: Ill Use or abuse of something sacred
14. Simony: Purchasing or selling of something sacred
15. Disobedience: Lack of promptness to do the will of one’s superiors
16. Vengefulness: Inordinate desire for vindication (inordinate desire to cause harm to another in order to put an end to the harm he is causing)
17. Lying: Saying the false in order to deceive
18. Simulation, Sometimes Called Hypocrisy: Doing the false in order to deceive
19. Boasting: the Drawing of attention to or the exaggeration of one’s perfections
20. Ingratitude: Lack of appreciation for the benefit granted by a benefactor
21. Irony: the Lowering of oneself below one’s state usually in speech
22. Adulation: Use of Speech Whereby One Flatters Another
23. Litigious: Excessive desire or practice of taking someone to court
24. Avarice: Excessive desire to make and hold onto money or wealth
25. Prodigality or Wastefulness: Lack of sufficient desire to hold onto one’s money or the excessive use of something outside what is necessary ©Fr. Chad Ripperger 2016
MORAL VIRTUES

Four Cardinal Virtues: Temperance ~ Fr Ripperger

TEMPERANCE (THE VIRTUE THAT MODERATES ATTRACTION AND DESIRE FOR PLEASURE, AND PROVIDES BALANCE IN THE USE OF CREATED GOODS)
1. Shame: Distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or disordered behavior
2. Honestia: The habit of always seeking to do what is virtuous in each situation (may also be called integrity)
3. Abstinence: Refraining from the eating of certain kinds of food
4. Fasting: Refraining from eating food in general
5. Sobriety: The virtue by which one has moderated use of alcohol
6. Continence: The virtue in the will by which one remains steadfast despite the tumult of the appetites
7. Chastity: The virtue which moderates the pleasures of the senses in relation to those matters pertaining to the 6th commandment
8. Virginity: The habit of mind or soul which always refrains from taking delight, even interiorly, from pleasures associated with the 6th commandment
9. Clemency or Meekness: Moderation of the delight of vindication (of anger)
10. Modesty Proper: The virtue in which one’s externals do not draw others into sins against the 6th and 9th commandments
11. Humility: Willingness to live in accordance with the truth; refraint of the irascible appetite from striving for excellence beyond one’s state; not judging oneself greater than he is
12. Eutrapelia: The virtue of right recreation
13. Sportsmanship: The virtue in which one regulates the pleasures specifically in relation to play or games
14. Decorum: The virtue in which one’s externals suits person and circumstances
15. Silence: The virtue by which one does not speak unless necessary; also the virtue in which one seeks to have interior quiet of the appetites
16. Studiosity: The virtue in which one pursues knowledge according to one’s state in life
17. Simplicity: The Virtue in Which One Moderates One’s Externals as to Quantity (Having Neither More than Is Necessary Nor Less) VICES AGAINST TEMPERANCE 1. Gluttony: Eating to excess 2. Drunkenness: Drinking alcohol to excess 3. Lust: Illicit desire for the pleasures pertaining to the 6th commandment 4. Fornication: Conjugal relations by the unmarried 5. Mutual Acts Outside the Marriage State: Foreplay by those outside of marriage 6. Rape: Conjugal relations outside of marriage under the duress of violence 7. Adultery: Conjugal relations between two people, of which at least one is married to someone else 8. Incest: Conjugal relations between blood relatives 9. Incontinence: Lack of steadfastness because of the tumult of the appetites 10. Anger: A vice in which one does not moderate the passion of anger; an inordinate desire for vindication arising from unmoderated sorrow at some offense 11. Cruelty: Unmoderated vindication with respect to external actions 12. Pride: Unwillingness to live in accordance with the truth; excessive striving for excellence beyond one’s state; judging oneself greater than he is 13. Curiosity: Inordinate desire for useless or profane knowledge 14. Crudity: Lack of etiquette or manners 15. Immodesty: Lack of moderation regarding one’s externals ©Fr. Chad Ripperger 2016
MORAL VIRTUES

FORTITUDE (THE WILLINGNESS TO ENGAGE THE ARDUOUS)
1. Magnaniminity: the Virtue by Which One Seeks Excellence in All Things but Especially Great Things
2. Magnificence: the Virtue by Which One Uses His Wealth to Do Great Things
3. Patience: the Ability to Suffer Evils Well or the Equanimity in the Face of Evils
4. Perseverance: the Virtue by Which One Persists in the Arduous Good until the End Is Achieved
5. Longanimity: Longness of Soul; the Ability to Await the Good
6. Mortification: the Willingness to Suffer VICE CONTRA FORTITUDE 1. Fear: the Vice in Which One Has an Unmoderated Passion Arising from the Perception of Future Evil 2. Fearlessness: Lack of Moderated Fear 3. Audacity: Excessive Aggressiveness Toward Imminent Danger Without Reasonable Fear 4. Presumption: Thinking One Can Attain Some End Which Is Beyond Him Without Aid, Usually from God 5. Ambition: Striving for Honor above One’s Excellence 6. Inane Glory: Seeking Honor in Those Things Unworthy of Honor 7. Pusillanimity: Smallness of Soul; the Habit of Not Striving for Excellence 8. Parvificience or Stinginess: Unwillingness to Use One’s Wealth to Do Great Things 9. Mollities or Softness (Effeminacy): an Unwillingness to Put Aside Pleasure in Order to Engage the Arduous 10. Pertinacity: Excessive Clinging to One’s Assertions or Intellectual Convictions
©Fr. Chad Ripperger 2016

THE THREE WAYS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE – SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS

Stages-of-Spiritual-Journey-by-St-John-of-Cross.pdf

SAINT TERESA’S 7 STAGES OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Saint Teresa’s 7 Mansions

Conference on Prayer ~ Fr. Ripperger

WATCH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVTtMURf04A

MORAL VIRTUES

Click to access Virtues.pdf

THE CARDINAL VIRTUES

Click to access thecardinalvirtues.pdf

MONTE CHRISTO: Virtue Study – Handouts & YouTube Videos

Virtue Study

Winning at Prayer and Holiness – Fr. Ripperger

ABSOLUTE MUST SEE: HOW TO BUILD VIRTUE: a virtue grows and is increased by its contrary

ABSOLUTE MUST SEE: Difference between grace, virtue and gift

Virtue and Happiness (Aquinas 101)

Habit, Art, and Virtue (Aquinas 101)

The Theological Virtues (Aquinas 101)

The Connection of the Virtues (Aquinas 101)

Growing and Diminishing in Virtue (Aquinas 101)

The Moral Virtues (Aquinas 101)

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Aquinas 101)

The Potential Parts of Justice (Aquinas 101)

Prudence (Aquinas 101)

Where Does Virtue Come From? (Aquinas 101)

The Intellectual Virtues (Aquinas 101)

Answering Your Questions on the Virtue and Practice of Penance

THE 3 INFUSED VIRTUES AT BAPTISM

ABSOLUTE MUST SEE: HOW FASTING BUILDS IN VIRTUE – SEE MINUTE 3h45′
January 6, 2026