Skip to main content

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 CrossSpeyr - SacramentSheen - Vice conquered
Father, forgive them, they know not what they doPenanceAnger
You will be with me this day in ParadiseAnointing of the SickVanity
Behold your son, Behold your motherMarriageLust
My God, My God! Why have you forsaken meHoly OrdersPride
I thirstEucharistGluttony
It is finishedBaptismSloth
Into your hands, Lord, I commend my SpiritConfirmationGreed

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introducing The Good Reverend Pudgemuffin

My favorite gentleman in the blogosphere is currently the Good Reverend Pudgemuffin at Are You There God? It's me, Atheist. He is a wonderful and impassioned seeker of Truth with regards to the existence of God, and from his blog's title, you can guess what side of the fence he falls. He is a fellow Ashevillain, and I highly regard his thinking and enjoy his irreverent skepticism which is humorous and critical without being snarkily polemical. Inspired, I wrote a lengthy reply to one of his entries, and he in turn devoted a whole entry in response to my response . Not to be outdone, I composed a response to the response's response, which I planned to keep hidden within his comments, but it far exceeded (more than double) the character limits. So thus ....
2 comments
Read more

Exploring Tolkien's Theology: The Battle for Middle-earth by Fleming Rutledge

Thematically, Fleming Rutledge's The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings  (Eerdmans Publishing, 2004) makes an excellent companion piece to Stratford Caldecott's The Power of the Ring   (Crossroad Publishing, 2005) which I read earlier this year and inspired the formation of The Servants of the Secret Fire. Both books unveil Christian themes in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings —Caldecott also explores Tolkien's other writings—what makes Rutledge's work unique from other Christian explorations of Tolkien is that Rutledge follows the narrative as it is written of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to follow a deeper narrative, beneath the surface of the text, of the hidden battle between The Powers of Evil, Sin and Death, and God in the interior spirit and will of the characters. Rutledge has done more to make real the supernatural drama of LotR , and frankly the Christian life, than I've previously encounte...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayers for Students

When I'm not homeschooling the kids, being a stay-at-home Dad and Handy Husband, I teach Theology at a local Catholic High School.  As G.K. Chesterton said: “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” So here are some ways to say Grace before tests/exams/assignments and ask the blessing and aid of Divine Wisdom before you "dip the pen in the ink" and put the pen to the test ... or cursor to the document, as you will. Come Holy Spirit Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth. Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful. In the same Spirit help ...
Post a Comment
Read more