Mystagogy: Victory Over Vice by Ven. Fulton J. Sheen

In, The Seven Sacraments: Entering the Mysteries of God, Stratford Caldecott explores the spiritual connections between the Seven Sacraments of the Church with other sets of seven in the faith: Seven Last words of Christ, Petitions in the Our Father, Theological + Cardinal Virtues, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Days of Creation, etc. Neither the writers of scripture, nor the Fathers of the Church found sets sharing numbers as these to be coincidental, but reflective of a sacred order to Creation, especially when so ordered by the tradition of the Church. These organic spiritual links between all things bring a depth of understanding when meditating upon these sacred things and cause them to settle more firmly into our hearts, and minds and souls.

This book of Ven. Fulton Sheen, (included in Caldecott's Bibliography as The Seven Capital Sins) focuses on two of those sets, the Last Words of Christ on the Cross and how those words demonstrate Christ's Victory over the Seven Deadly/Mortal/Capital Sins. Since I already read Adrienne Speyr's The Cross: Word and Sacrament, which focuses on links between the Last Words and the Sacraments, I thought a table showing the words, the sacraments, and the conquered Vices might be interesting for comparison.

Christ Last Words on the Cross	Speyr - Sacrament	Sheen - Vice conquered
Father, forgive them, they know not what they do	Penance	Anger
You will be with me this day in Paradise	Anointing of the Sick	Vanity
Behold your son, Behold your mother	Marriage	Lust
My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me	Holy Orders	Pride
I thirst	Eucharist	Gluttony
It is finished	Baptism	Sloth
Into your hands, Lord, I commend my Spirit	Confirmation	Greed

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Crux Fidelis: The Tree of Life

Edward Burne-Jones, "Tree of Life" Faithful Cross! Above all other, one and only noble Tree! None in foliage, none in blossom, none in fruit thy peers may be; sweetest wood and sweetest iron! Sweetest Weight is hung on thee! —Crux Fidelis In which the pilgrim, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, meditates on the Crucified Christ as the Tree of Life.

Tolkien on "The Secret Fire"

The Secret Fire of Middle-earth "You cannot pass," he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass." —Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings , The Fellowship of the Ring "Therefore Ilúvatar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World; and it was called Eä." —Valaquenta, The Silmarillion . The following is quoted from Tolkien and the Silmarillion , by Clyde S. Kilby [ via here ] Responding to a letter from Father Robert Murray suggesting Tolkien’s story impressed him as entirely about grace, Tolkien wrote: “I know exactly what you mean by the order of grace; and of course by your references to Our Lady, upon which all my own small perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded. The Lord of

in persona christi | on priestly celibacy

[Christ] is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of he heavenly sanctuary. — Heb 8:1-5 In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. — Mat 22:30 There seems to me a powerful link here between the reading from Hebrews in today's Office of Readings and Matthew 22 that speaks to priestly celibacy, and I offer a few off the cuff reflections.

Our Lady of Ashes

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