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| The Trial of Joan of Arc (1909-1910) by Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel |
DISCERNING THE WILL OF GOD
The following interpretation of Ignatian discernment underscores emotional motivation. It emphasizes “emotivism” as a necessary tipping point in discernment.
“There is a set of emotions related to faith and integrated with it, and these Christian emotions are aroused by prayer, worship, spiritual reading, and so on. …The other set of emotions includes those bearing on the possibilities between which one must discern…. These emotions are aroused by carefully and concretely considering as fully as possible what actually would be involved in the options under consideration. (It is assumed that the necessary investigating and information gathering already have been done.) Then one’s Christian-faith emotions are compared with the sets of emotions related to each option—emotions which reflect not only the realities on which they bear but the reality of one’s hidden self. What is involved here is not some sort of objective measurement, but the effort to perceive an inward harmony. If the emotions related to one option plainly harmonize better with one’s Christian-faith emotions, that can be considered the option which pleases one’s Christian self, and one should choose as pleases this self.”
http://twotlj.org/G-2-5-J.html
—Mount Saint Mary’s University, “Living a Christian Life: Chapter 5: Seeking Moral Truth: Moral Judgment and Problem Solving: Question J: How Should One Discern between or among Good Options?” The Way of the Lord Jesus
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2022/07/discernment-and-conscience.html
THE ROLE OF CONSCIENCE
Despite reversals trained at Vatican II, it nonetheless liberated a spirit that can’t be confined again. It’s the genie out of the bottle, the toothpaste out of the tube, the runner that got through enemy lines. It’s out and free. It’s the primacy of conscience.
Vatican II says that “we are bound to follow our conscience faithfully in all our activity and no one is `to be forced to act in a manner contrary to one’s conscience.’” Conscience is “the most secret core and sanctuary of a person...alone with God whose voice echoes in the depths of the person.” (McBrien, “Catholicism”)
It’s not only the voice that whispers what’s right, what’s wrong; it also includes the entire process of thinking what’s right or not, of deciding to do this and not that, of even choosing who’s arguing right or wrong. No longer can any institution’s prescribed conscience “substitute itself for the individual conscience.”
http://opinion.inquirer.net/43545/toast-to-conscience
—Asuncion David Maramba, “‘Toast to Conscience,’” Philippine Daily Inquirer (December 27, 2012)
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-imposed-conscience.html
CONFIRMATORY EMOTIONS IN DISCERNMENT
“As one faces important choices, St. Ignatius says there usually are three times when one can make a choice. His times are not linear but refer to one’s awareness level as he or she goes about choosing. Sometimes as one ponders a choice, there is great clarity about which way one should go. There is a sense of, ‘That’s it.’ Another time is described as having alternating certainties and doubts, of consolation and desolation, of strength and weakness. The third time is when one feels nothing. There is no leaning one way or another but a calmness and feeling one is stuck in one’s head.
“Ignatius counsels that the first two times are appropriate for weighting facts and feelings and coming to a decision. When one is in the third time, more work attention is needed. It can involve listing advantages and disadvantages, looking at the decision from a stranger’s perspective or imagining one’s self at the moment of death and looking back at the decision. Usually when one ponders these realities, there is stirred up consolation or desolation in one’s heart which can light the pathway to a decision.
“Finally, when a decision is made, St. Ignatius invites an individual to bring the decision before God and offer it to God. As one offers it in prayer, Ignatius expects that God will fill the person with consolation which is confirmation of the choice. What one can expect to experience a subtle drawing of heart toward the choice that has been made.”
https://www.marquette.edu/mission-ministry/explore/ignatian-discernment.php
—Rev. Doug Leonhardt, S.J., “What Is Ignatian Discernment?” Marquette University, 2022
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2020/07/placeholder-2-of-2.html
PRINCIPLE OF CONGRUENCE
Confirmatory emotions follow upon the discernment of the spirits based on the principle of congruence, that is:
“…the principle of consistency, logical and moral, between claims based on the spirits—conveyed, for example, through visions, locutions, and the like—and the beliefs and actions indicated thereby, and external circumstances. External circumstances include the favorable judgment of legitimate and appropriate religious or spiritual authority, and the support of reason and demonstration. Inconsistency points towards repudiation.”
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2017/07/discernmentwhat-is-it.html
When all the pieces of a puzzle fall into place…when everything seems to fit together…when our understanding of a particular situation is marked by consistency in all its various parts, that is, by congruence—then we experience “clarity” and the “exaltation” that follows upon it.
Incongruence is a type of desolation. It is associated with disquiet and unease, telltale signs of the evil spirit and the opposite of peace and joy, spiritual joy.
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2020/07/placeholder-2-of-2.html
WHICH SPIRIT IS IT?
“Some believe they speak for God and expect others to follow them accordingly. That’s a different story altogether.”
Some claim to speak for God when they are speaking for themselves, and sometimes they represent the Church in some official capacity. The Dominicans who condemned Saint Joan of Arc are a classic example. But let's not confine ourselves to somewhat remote history. It's an ongoing problem. A recent example is Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who rejected the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
Are we really unable to hear God or is it the claim of the functionaries of the Church who cannot see and read hearts and who make this claim to push their religious or spiritual agenda?
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2023/01/hearing-word-of-god.html
We all have spirits, no doubt. Claims of this sort abound in the Christian world, Roman Catholic or something else. Are they the good spirit or the bad spirit? Is it really the Holy Spirit? Sometimes, the discernment of the spirits occupies a major and central role in the spiritual life of the Christian.
Public domain image
ReplyDeleteImage link:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_Maurice_Boutet_de_Monvel,_The_Trial_of_Joan_of_Arc_(Joan_of_Arc_series_-_VI),_c._late_1909-early_1910,_NGA_195567.jpg
Gonzalinho
WHICH SPIRIT IS IT?
ReplyDeleteI recall engaging a Protestant in a discussion on social media, this person saying that she didn’t believe in the eternity of hell. Then she says, “I have the Holy Spirit.” I said that if you reject the dogmatic teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, I would say that is the work of the evil spirit.
“We all have spirits, no doubt. Claims of this sort abound in the Christian world, Roman Catholic or otherwise. Are they the good spirit or the bad spirit? Is it really the Holy Spirit? Sometimes, the discernment of the spirits occupies a major and central role in the spiritual life of the Christian.”
Gonzalinho
“Some believe they speak for God and expect others to follow them accordingly. That’s a different story altogether.”
ReplyDeleteSome claim to speak for God when they are speaking for themselves, and sometimes they represent the Church in some official capacity. The Dominicans who condemned Saint Joan of Arc are a classic example. But let’s not confine ourselves to somewhat remote history. It’s an ongoing problem. A recent example is Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who rejected the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
Are we really unable to hear God or is it the claim of the functionaries of the Church who cannot see and read hearts and who make this claim to push their religious or spiritual agenda?
Gonzalinho
…After some remarkable victories over the English, [Joan of Arc] was taken prisoner and sent to Rouen. Here an inquisitorial procedure was begun by Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais. He called a commission to examine the Maid, but found some opposition on the part of Jean Graverend, whom he had asked to act as Inquisitor. Knowing the nature of the trial and end desired by Cauchon and the English, he refused to act as Inquisitor, avowing that it was against his conscience.
DeleteWhen Cauchon discovered that it was impossible to get Graverend to take part in the trial, he asked Graverend to delegate the Vice-Inquisitor, Jean Le Maitre. …Cauchon knew only too well that the presence of an Inquisitor was necessary for the validity and to give some show of justice to the proceedings. Hence his eagerness to secure the presence of Graverend or his delegate.
…We must blame Graverend, therefore, for his failure to assist at the trial, and we must also condemn him for allowing one of his subordinates to lay a part in a trial which he himself declared was against his conscience.
…Le Maitre, after much hesitation, reluctantly consented. In the account of the trial that opened at Rouen in 1431, we find side by side with the name of Cauchon, which history has condemned, that of the Dominican Jean Le Maitre.
…Despite the fact that he was practically at the head of the trial, having no one but the Bishop of Beauvais over him, he did not act in [the] active capacity that one would naturally expect.
…In the final sentence of Joan of Arc, which goes down to posterity as the most criminal act of injustice ever perpetrated, we find the name of Jean Le Maitre linked the infamous Bishop of Beauvais and his English backers.
The two other Dominicans who were present at the trial of Joan of Arc, at Rouen, were Isambard de la Pierre and Martin Ladvenu. These two friars held no important position, but simply acted as socii to the Inquisitor, Jean Le Maitre. …Their sympathy and devotion were true and courageous and they made every effort to free Joan from injustice and treachery as the trial proceeded.
…Martin Ladvenu and Isambard de la Pierre remained with her till the end and proved themselves to be real friends of the martyred girl. The facts concerning these two Dominicans cannot be denied, and history will always speak of them as friends, defenders, and helpers of the Maid of Orleans.
…With the exception of Jean Graverend and Jean Le Maitre, we declare that the Dominicans were always friendly towards the martyr: that in her hour of trial, they were her supporters and after her death, her greatest defenders in the cause of vindication.
—Brother Gerard O’Donnell, O.P., “Saint Joan of Arc and the Dominicans,” Dominicana (1904) 5(2):10-19.
Gonzalinho
THE GIFT OF READING HEARTS
ReplyDeleteThe charism of reading hearts is a supernatural gift that allows a person, normally an exceptionally holy person, to perceive the soul of another person according to the perfect understanding and knowledge of God. Often the seer will see the sins of the person, including whether or not the person is in a state of mortal sin, as well as the circumstances of the sins that have been revealed. Furthermore, the seer will know the spiritual disposition of the person and their present circumstances, including whether or not the person has forgotten their particular sins or not. The seer is able to hear their thoughts and review their hidden actions.
Padre Pio was famously gifted with the charism of reading hearts.
“Being able to see into people’s hearts is not the same as reading minds or having keen intuition. Padre Pio had the gift of knowing details and events and scrutinizing consciences.
“As he explained it: ‘Through Jesus, I see and hear all—I see your soul just as you see yourself in a mirror.’
“This explains why, while hearing confession, Padre Pio would sometimes deny absolution from sins or abruptly distance himself from [persons in the confessional] who were lying or who were only there out of curiosity.”
https://www.padrepiodapietrelcina.com/en/knowing-hearts-scrutinizing-padre-pio/
—“Padre Pio: The Gift of Knowing Hearts and Scrutinizing Consciences,” Devotional Blog Dedicated to Padre Pio, 2020
The notable case of the Italian actor, singer and comedian Carlo Campanini has been documented in multiple sources.
“Carlo Campanini went to confession to Padre Pio in 1950. Padre Pio said, ‘Begin in 1936.’ ‘But I confessed few days ago.’ ‘I told you to begin in 1936.’ Campanini remembered what he had done in 1936 and had been ashamed to confess. He concluded: ‘That confession changed my life, and I haven't missed daily Mass since then.’”
http://infallible-catholic.blogspot.com/2012/04/padre-pio-on-his-gift-of-reading-souls.html
—“Padre Pio on His Gift of Reading Souls,” Infallible Catholic, April 28, 2012
See also 5:54:
https://youtu.be/TCn1KAEh-hk?si=mVMJsBdW9DpyeVHn
—Following Padre Pio, “He Broke His Promise to Padre Pio – This Is What Happened Next,” YouTube video, 7:30 minutes, September 15, 2022
To be continued
Gonzalinho
THE GIFT OF READING HEARTS
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Aleteia names five prominent saints who possessed this gift. Not all were priests.
Saint Philip Neri (1515-95)
Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)
Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968)
Saint Francis of Paola (1416-1507)
Saint Gerard Majella (1726-1755)
https://aleteia.org/2018/07/17/5-saints-who-could-read-souls
—“5 Saints who could read souls,” Aleteia.org, July 17, 2018
Have any women been granted this gift? So far, I have not been able to verify any. Notably, Saint Catherine of Siena is alleged to have received this capacity to “see” others’ sins from the devil.
“St. Catherine of Siena was once confronted by God about a ‘hidden sin’ she had: the sin of judging people. She used to think that she had a gift for reading human nature and noticing other people’s faults, especially priests’ faults. But, one day, God pointed out to her that the insights she was receiving about other people’s weaknesses were not coming from him — they were coming from the devil. She came to see this was ‘the devil’s trap.’”
https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/as-god-showed-st-catherine-of-siena-mercy-melts-hidden-sin
—Edward Sri, “As God Showed St. Catherine of Siena, Mercy Melts ‘Hidden Sin,’” National Catholic Register (May 22, 2017)
Evidently, reading hearts is an extremely rare charism. I for one have never encountered it in my personal experience.
In spiritual direction, the risk exists that the spiritual director believes that they possess this charism when in fact they do not.
To be continued 2
Gonzalinho
THE GIFT OF READING HEARTS
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HEARING THE WORD OF GOD
“Some believe they speak for God and expect others to follow them accordingly. That’s a different story altogether.”
Some claim to speak for God when they are speaking for themselves, and sometimes they represent the Church in some official capacity. The Dominicans who condemned Saint Joan of Arc are a classic example. But let’s not confine ourselves to somewhat remote history. It’s an ongoing problem. A recent example is Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who rejected the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
Are we really unable to hear God or is it the claim of the functionaries of the Church who cannot see and read hearts and who make this claim to push their religious or spiritual agenda?
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2023/01/hearing-word-of-god.html
EQUAL-MINDEDNESS OF THE SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR AND THE PERSON BEING DIRECTED
The task of the spiritual director is to guide the person being directed according to the will of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, discernment of the spirits must be exercised on the part of BOTH the person being directed the spiritual director.
A critical condition for discerning correctly is “spiritual detachment.” Spiritual attachment is an inordinate attachment to creatures, desiring them for our own self-serving purposes, so that spiritual detachment is its opposite—the desire for creatures and use of creation for the ends for which they have been created, the service and love of God.
Someone who is inordinately attached to creatures will naturally have difficulty in discerning correctly, because they will be drawn to make choices out of weakness of will and for their own self-serving purposes.
…THE CASE OF OPUS DEI
Often enough Opus Dei is obstructed in the task of spiritual direction because its primary agenda is not to help people spiritually but to propagate itself. The organization relies on a self-serving distillation of historical Roman Catholic spirituality—something that suits the objective of propagating the organization but that clearly does not address the spiritual needs of many because it is narrow in scope and deficient in understanding.
Spiritual direction in Opus Dei is compromised by its overriding objective—which is not the spiritual good and well-being of the person being directed but rather the propagation of the institution of Opus Dei and the protection of its reputation. This type of spiritual direction has the potential to inflict grave harm and lasting damage on the person being directed because the objective of the spiritual director is not the spiritual welfare of the person being directed but rather the corporate agenda of Opus Dei.
When the spiritual director is principally motivated by the corporate agenda of the organization he represents, he inevitably lacks an attribute necessary for promoting the spiritual benefit of the person being directed: equal-mindedness. The spiritual director is not primarily motivated by the spiritual welfare of the person being directed but rather by the corporate agenda. The two are not necessarily aligned.
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2021/07/consolation-and-desolation.html
To be continued 3
Gonzalinho