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| From Gloria Dei 2019 |
Bishop Schneider's website is here > Gloria Dei.
I have added images, highlights, Scriptural excerpts and other notes to his original text below.
The Knowledge of God
The knowledge of God consists in the knowledge of His perfections, His works, His will, and the means of grace instituted by Him. St. Paul bids us “increase in the knowledge of God” (Col. i. 10).[1] Now we know God only through a glass in a dark manner; only in heaven shall we see Him face to face, and have a clear knowledge of His perfections (1 Cor. xiii. 12).[2]
[1] [9] Therefore we also, from the day that we heard it, cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom, and spiritual understanding:
Ideo et nos ex qua die audivimus, non cessamus pro vobis orantes, et postulantes ut impleamini agnitione voluntatis ejus, in omni sapientia et intellectu spiritali :
[10] That you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing; being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God:
ut ambuletis digne Deo per omnia placentes : in omni opere bono fructificantes, et crescentes in scientia Dei :
[2] [12] We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known.
Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate : tunc autem facie ad faciem. Nunc cognosco ex parte : tunc autem cognoscam sicut et cognitus sum.
1. The happiness of the angels and the saints consists in the knowledge of God.
[1] [3] Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Haec est autem vita aeterna : ut cognoscant te, solum Deum verum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum.
[2] [19] I seemed indeed to eat and to drink with you: but I use an invisible meat and drink, which cannot be seen by men.
Videbar quidem vobiscum manducare et bibere : sed ego cibo invisibili, et potu qui ab hominibus videri non potest, utor.
2. The knowledge of God is all-important, for without it there cannot be any happiness on earth, or a well-ordered life.
[1] [27] Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son of man will give you. For him hath God, the Father, sealed.
Operamini non cibum, qui perit, sed qui permanet in vitam aeternam, quem Filius hominis dabit vobis. Hunc enim Pater signavit Deus.
[2] [2] Cursing, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and blood hath touched blood.
Maledictum, et mendacium, et homicidium, et furtum, et adulterium inundaverunt, et sanguis sanguinem tetigit.
[3] Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth in it shall languish with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the air: yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be gathered together.
Propter hoc lugebit terra, et infirmabitur omnis qui habitat in ea, in bestia agri, et in volucre caeli; sed et pisces maris congregabuntur.
3. We arrive at a right knowledge of God through faith in the truths which God has revealed.
It is true that by means of reason and from the contemplation of the creatures that God has made man can arrive at a knowledge of God (Rom. i. 20)[1]. “The heavens show forth the glory of God” (Ps. xviii. 2)[2]. But our reason is so weak and prone to err, that without revelation it is very difficult for man to attain to a clear and correct knowledge of God. What strange and perverted views of the Deity we find among heathen nations (cf. Wisd. ix. 16, 17)[3]. God therefore in His mercy comes to our aid with revelation. Through believing the truths that God has revealed, man attains to a clear and correct knowledge of God. Hence St. Anselm says, “The more I am nourished with the food of faith, the more my understanding is satisfied.” Faith is a divine light that shines in our souls (2 Cor. iv. 6)[4]. It is like a watch tower, from which we can see that which cannot be seen from the plain below; we learn respecting God that which cannot be learned by mere reason from the world around. It is a glass through which we perceive all the divine perfections. It is a staff which supports our feeble reason, and enables it to know God better. There are two books from which we gain a knowledge of God; the book of Nature, and Holy Scripture, which is the book of revelation.
[1] [20] For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; his eternal power also, and divinity: so that they are inexcusable.
Invisibilia enim ipsius, a creatura mundi, per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta, conspiciuntur : sempiterna quoque ejus virtus, et divinitas : ita ut sint inexcusabiles.
[2] [2] The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands.
Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei, et opera manuum ejus annuntiat firmamentum.
[3] [16] And hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth: and with labour do we find the things that are before us. But the things that are in heaven, who shall search out?
Et difficile aestimamus quae in terra sunt, et quae in prospectu sunt invenimus cum labore : quae autem in caelis sunt quis investigabit?
[17] And who shall know thy thought, except thou give wisdom, and send thy Holy Spirit from above:
Sensum autem tuum quis sciet, nisi tu dederis sapientiam, et miseris spiritum sanctum tuum de altissimis,
[4] [6] For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus.
quoniam Deus, qui dixit de tenebris lucem splendescere, ipse illuxit in cordibus nostris ad illuminationem scientiae claritatis Dei, in facie Christi Jesu.
Divine revelation
The natural Revelation of God
Strictly speaking, it does not require faith to recognize the existence of God. For those who reason properly, God’s existence is a matter of knowledge. One can know that God exists by deduction from evidence and principles observable in nature. Many thinkers from classical to modern times have affirmed the existence of God as a matter of reason (for instance Plato, Aristotle etc.)
The First Vatican Council teaches:
“The same Holy Mother Church holds and teaches that God, the beginning and end of all things, may be certainly known by the natural light of human reason, by means of created things; “for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made” (Romans 1:20)[1], but that it pleased His wisdom and bounty to reveal Himself, and the eternal decrees of His will, to mankind by another and a supernatural way: as the Apostle says, “God, having spoken on diverse occasions, and in many ways, in times past, to the fathers by the prophets; last of all, in these days, has spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2)[2]. It is to be ascribed to this Divine Revelation, that such truths among things Divine as of themselves are not beyond human reason, can, even in the present condition of mankind, be known by everyone with facility, with firm assurance, and with no admixture of error.” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith Dei Filius, Chap. 3)[1] [20] For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; his eternal power also, and divinity: so that they are inexcusable.
Invisibilia enim ipsius, a creatura mundi, per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta, conspiciuntur : sempiterna quoque ejus virtus, et divinitas : ita ut sint inexcusabiles.
[2] [1] God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all,
Multifariam, multisque modis olim Deus loquens patribus in prophetis :
[2] In these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world.
novissime, diebus istis locutus est nobis in Filio, quem constituit haeredem universorum, per quem fecit et saecula :
“The Catholic Church, with one consent, has also ever held and does hold that there is a two-fold order of knowledge, distinct both in principle and also in object; in principle, because our knowledge, in the one, is by natural reason, and, in the other, is by Divine faith; in object, because, besides those things to which natural reason can attain, there are proposed, for our belief, mysteries hidden in God, which, unless Divinely-revealed, cannot be known.
Therefore, the Apostle, who testifies that God is known by the Gentiles through created things, still, when discoursing of the grace and truth which came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17)[1], says: “We speak of the wisdom of God in a mystery, a wisdom which is hidden, which God ordained before the world unto our glory; which none of the leaders of this world knew … but to us God has revealed them by His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” (1 Cor. 2:7-9)[2]. And the only-begotten Son himself gives thanks to the Father, because He has hidden these things from the wise and the prudent, and has revealed them to little ones (Matt. 11:25)[3].[1] [17] For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
quia lex per Moysen data est, gratia et veritas per Jesum Christum facta est.
[2] [7] But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, a wisdom which is hidden, which God ordained before the world, unto our glory:
sed loquimur Dei sapientiam in mysterio, quae abscondita est, quam praedestinavit Deus ante saecula in gloriam nostram,
[8] Which none of the princes of this world knew; for if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.
quam nemo principum hujus saeculi cognovit : si enim cognovissent, numquam Dominum gloriae crucifixissent.
[9] But, as it is written: That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him.
Sed sicut scriptum est : Quod oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit, quae praeparavit Deus iis qui diligunt illum :
[3] [25] At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to the little ones.
In illo tempore respondens Jesus dixit : Confiteor tibi, Pater, Domine caeli et terrae, quia abscondisti haec a sapientibus, et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis.
And reason, indeed, enlightened by faith — when it seeks earnestly, piously, and somberly — attains by a gift from God some understanding of mysteries, even a very fruitful one; partly from the analogy of those things which it naturally knows, partly from the relations which the mysteries bear to one another and to the last end of man. But reason never becomes capable of apprehending mysteries as it does those truths which constitute its proper object. For the Divine mysteries by their own nature so far transcend the created intelligence that, even when delivered by revelation and received by faith, they remain covered with the veil of faith itself, and shrouded in a certain degree of darkness, so long as we are pilgrims in this mortal life, not yet with God; “For we walk by means of faith, and not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7)[1].[1] [7] (For we walk by faith, and not by sight.)
( per fidem enim ambulamus, et non per speciem) :
But although faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason, since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind. And God cannot deny Himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth. The false appearance of such a contradiction is mainly due, either to the dogmas of faith not having been understood and expounded according to the mind of the Church, or to the inventions of opinion having been mistaken for the verdicts of reason.» (Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith Dei Filius, Chap. 4)
“And not only can faith and reason never be opposed to one another, but they are of mutual aid one to the other. For right reason demonstrates the foundations of faith, and enlightened by its light, cultivates the science of Divine things; while faith frees and guards reason from errors, and furnishes it with manifold knowledge. Therefore, so far is the Church from opposing the cultivation of human arts and sciences, that it in many ways helps and promotes them. For the Church neither ignores nor despises the benefits of human life which result from the arts and sciences, but confesses that, as they came from God, the Lord of all science, so, if they be used rightly, they lead to God by the help of His grace. Nor does the Church forbid that each of these sciences, in its sphere, should make use of its own principles and its own methods. But, while recognizing this just liberty, it stands watchfully on guard, lest sciences, setting themselves against Divine teaching or transgressing their own limits, should invade and disturb the domain of faith.” (ibid.)The same First Vatican Council teaches:
“If anyone shall say that the One True God, our Creator and Lord, cannot be certainly known by the natural light of human reason through created things; let him be anathema.” “If anyone shall say that Divine faith is not distinguished from natural knowledge of God and of moral truths, and therefore that it is not requisite for Divine faith that revealed truth be believed because of the authority of God Who reveals it; let him be anathema.”
God has in His mercy in the course of ages often revealed Himself to men (Heb. i. 1-2).
[1] God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all,Multifariam, multisque modis olim Deus loquens patribus in prophetis :
[2] In these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world.
novissime, diebus istis locutus est nobis in Filio, quem constituit haeredem universorum, per quem fecit et saecula :
God has often communicated to men a knowledge of His perfections, His decrees, and His holy will. Such revelation is called supernatural, as opposed to the natural revelation of Himself that He makes through His creation in the external world.
God’s revelation to man is generally made in the following way: He speaks to individuals and orders them to communicate to their fellow-men the revelation made to them.
Thus God spoke to Abraham, Noah, and Moses. He sent Noah to preach to sinful men before the Flood, He sent Moses to the Israelites when they were oppressed by Pharao. Sometimes God spoke to a number of men who were assembled together, as when He gave the law to the people on Mount Sinai, or when Our Lord was baptized by St. John and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, a voice being heard from heaven: “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” Sometimes God revealed Himself through angels, as for instance to Tobias through the archangel Raphael. When God spoke to men, He took the visible form of a man or of an angel, or He spoke from a cloud (as on Sinai), or from a burning bush, as He did to Moses, or amid a bright light from heaven, as to St. Paul, or in the whispering of the wind, as He did to Elias, or by some interior illumination (Deut. ii. 6-8). Those to whom God revealed Himself, and who had to bear witness before others to the divine message, were called messengers from God, and often received from Him the power of working miracles and of prophecy, in proof of their divine mission. (Cf. the miracles of Moses before Pharao, of Elias, the apostles, etc.)
Those who were specially entrusted with the communication to men of the divine revelation were the following: the patriarchs, the prophets, Jesus Christ the Son of God (Heb. i. 1), and His apostles.
Revelation is to mankind in general what education is to individual men. Revelation corresponds to the needs of the successive stages of human development, to the infancy, childhood, and youth of mankind. The patriarchs, who had more of the nature of children, needed less in the way of precepts, and God dealt with them in more familiar fashion; the people of Israel, in whom, as in the season of youth, self-will and sensuality were strong, had to be trained by strict laws and constant correction; but when mankind had arrived at the period of manhood, then God sent His Son and introduced the law of love (1 Cor. xiii. 11[1]; Gal. iii. 24[2]). Of all those who declared to men the divine revelation, the Son of God was pre-eminently the true witness. He says of Himself, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, that I should bear testimony to the truth” (John xviii. 37)[3]. He was of all witnesses the best, because He alone had seen God (John i. 18)[4]. The apostles also had to declare to men the divine revelation. They had to bear witness of what they had seen, and above all of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts x. 39)[5]. With the revelation given through Christ and His apostles, the revelation that was given for the instruction of all mankind was concluded.
[1] [11] When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child.
Cum essem parvulus, loquebar ut parvulus, cogitabam ut parvulus. Quando autem factus sum vir, evacuavi quae erant parvuli.
[2] [24] Wherefore the law was our pedagogue in Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Itaque lex paedagogus noster fuit in Christo, ut ex fide justificemur.
[3] [37] Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.
Dixit itaque ei Pilatus : Ergo rex es tu? Respondit Jesus : Tu dicis quia rex sum ego. Ego in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni in mundum, ut testimonium perhibeam veritati : omnis qui est ex veritate, audit vocem meam.
[4] [18] No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Deum nemo vidit umquam : unigenitus Filius, qui est in sinu Patris, ipse enarravit.
[5] [39] And we are witnesses of all things that he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed, hanging him upon a tree.
Et nos testes sumus omnium quae fecit in regione Judaeorum, et Jerusalem, quem occiderunt suspendentes in ligno.
Revelation was necessary because, in consequence of original sin, man without revelation has never had a correct knowledge of God and of His will; and also because it was necessary that man should be prepared for the coming of the Redeemer.
The three Wise Men would never have found Christ if He had not revealed Himself to them by means of a star; so mankind would have lived far off from God, and would never have attained to a true knowledge of Him, if He had not revealed Himself to them. As the eye needs light to see things of sense, so human reason, which is the eye of the soul, needs revelation to perceive things divine (St. Augustine). Original sin and the indulgence of the senses had so dimmed human reason that it could no longer recognize God in His works (Wisd. ix. 16)[1]. This is proved by the history of paganism. The heathen worshipped countless deities, idols, beasts, and wicked men, and his worship was often immoral and horrible, as in the human sacrifices offered by him. The gods were often the patrons of vice. The greatest men among the heathens approved practices forbidden by the natural law. Thus Cicero approved of suicide, Plato of the exposing to death those children who were weak or deformed. Their theories when good were at variance with their practice. Socrates denounced polytheism, but before his death told his disciples to sacrifice a cock to Esculapius. Many of the best of the heathens recognized and lamented their ignorance of God. Besides, without a previous revelation the Saviour would have been neither known nor honoured as He ought to have been known and honoured; it was fitting that He should be announced beforehand, like a king coming to take possession of his kingdom. We ought indeed to be grateful to God that He has given us the light of revelation, just as a blind man is grateful to the physician who has restored his sight. Yet how many there are who willfully shut their eyes to the light of revelation even now!
[1] [16] And hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth: and with labour do we find the things that are before us. But the things that are in heaven, who shall search out?
Et difficile aestimamus quae in terra sunt, et quae in prospectu sunt invenimus cum labore : quae autem in caelis sunt quis investigabit?
The Second Vatican Council gives this summary of the notion of Divine Revelation:
“2. In His goodness and wisdom God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will (see Eph. 1:9)[1] by which through Christ, the Word made flesh, man might in the Holy Spirit have access to the Father and come to share in the divine nature (see Eph. 2:18[2]; 2 Peter 1:4)[3]. Through this revelation, therefore, the invisible God (see Col. 1;15[4], 1 Tim. 1:17[5]) out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as friends (see Ex. 33:11[6]; John 15:14-15[7]) and lives among them (see Bar. 3:38[8]), so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself. This plan of revelation is realized by deeds and words having an inner unity: the deeds wrought by God in the history of salvation manifest and confirm the teaching and realities signified by the words, while the words proclaim the deeds and clarify the mystery contained in them. By this revelation then, the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man shines out for our sake in Christ, who is both the mediator and the fullness of all revelation.[1] [9] That he might make known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in him,
ut notum faceret nobis sacramentum voluntatis suae, secundum beneplacitum ejus, quod proposuit in eo,
[2] [18] For by him we have access both in one Spirit to the Father.
Quoniam per ipsum habemus accessum ambo in uno Spiritu ad Patrem.
[3] [4] By whom he hath given us most great and precious promises: that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature: flying the corruption of that concupiscence which is in the world.
per quem maxima, et pretiosa nobis promissa donavit : ut per haec efficiamini divinae consortes naturae : fugientes ejus, quae in mundo est, concupiscentiae corruptionem.
[4] [15] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
qui est imago Dei invisibilis, primogenitus omnis creaturae :
[5] [17] Now to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Regi autem saeculorum immortali, invisibili, soli Deo honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
[6] [11] And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend. And when he returned into the camp, his servant Josue the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from the tabernacle.
Loquebatur autem Dominus ad Moysen facie ad faciem, sicut solet loqui homo ad amicum suum. Cumque ille reverteretur in castra, minister ejus Josue filius Nun, puer, non recedebat de tabernaculo.
[7] [14] You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.
Vos amici mei estis, si feceritis quae ego praecipio vobis.
[15] I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.
Jam non dicam vos servos : quia servus nescit quid faciat dominus ejus. Vos autem dixi amicos : quia omnia quaecumque audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis.
[8] [38] Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men.
Post haec in terris visus est, et cum hominibus conversatus est.
[7] [14] You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.
Vos amici mei estis, si feceritis quae ego praecipio vobis.
[15] I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.
Jam non dicam vos servos : quia servus nescit quid faciat dominus ejus. Vos autem dixi amicos : quia omnia quaecumque audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis.
3. God, who through the Word creates all things (see John 1:3)[1] and keeps them in existence, gives men an enduring witness to Himself in created realities (see Rom. 1:19-20)[2]. Planning to make known the way of heavenly salvation, He went further and from the start manifested Himself to our first parents. Then after their fall His promise of redemption aroused in them the hope of being saved (see Gen. 3:15)[3] and from that time on He ceaselessly kept the human race in His care, to give eternal life to those who perseveringly do good in search of salvation (see Rom. 2:6-7)[4]. Then, at the time He had appointed He called Abraham in order to make of him a great nation (see Gen. 12:2)[5]. Through the patriarchs, and after them through Moses and the prophets, He taught this people to acknowledge Himself the one living and true God, provident father and just judge, and to wait for the Saviour promised by Him, and in this manner prepared the way for the Gospel down through the centuries.[1] [3] All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.
Omnia per ipsum facta sunt : et sine ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est.
[2] [19] Because that which is known of God is manifest in them. For God hath manifested it unto them.
quia quod notum est Dei, manifestum est in illis. Deus enim illis manifestavit.
[20] For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; his eternal power also, and divinity: so that they are inexcusable.
Invisibilia enim ipsius, a creatura mundi, per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta, conspiciuntur : sempiterna quoque ejus virtus, et divinitas : ita ut sint inexcusabiles.
[3] [15] I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem, et semen tuum et semen illius : ipsa conteret caput tuum, et tu insidiaberis calcaneo ejus.
[4] [6] Who will render to every man according to his works.
qui reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus :
[7] To them indeed, who according to patience in good work, seek glory and honour and incorruption, eternal life:
iis quidem qui secundum patientiam boni operis, gloriam, et honorem, et incorruptionem quaerunt, vitam aeternam :
[5] [2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.
Faciamque te in gentem magnam, et benedicam tibi, et magnificabo nomen tuum, erisque benedictus.
4. Then, after speaking in many and varied ways through the prophets, “now at last in these days God has spoken to us in His Son” (Heb. 1:1-2)[1]. For He sent His Son, the eternal Word, who enlightens all men, so that He might dwell among men and tell them of the innermost being of God (see John 1:1-18)[2]. Jesus Christ, therefore, the Word made flesh, was sent as “a man to men.” (3) He “speaks the words of God” (John 3:34)[3], and completes the work of salvation which His Father gave Him to do (see John 5:36;[4] John 17:4[5]). To see Jesus is to see His Father (John 14:9)[6]. For this reason Jesus perfected revelation by fulfilling it through his whole work of making Himself present and manifesting Himself: through His words and deeds, His signs and wonders, but especially through His death and glorious resurrection from the dead and final sending of the Spirit of truth. Moreover He confirmed with divine testimony what revelation proclaimed, that God is with us to free us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to life eternal. The Christian dispensation, therefore, as the new and definitive covenant, will never pass away and we now await no further new public revelation before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 Tim. 6:14[7] and Tit. 2:13[8]). Through divine revelation, God chose to show forth and communicate Himself and the eternal decisions of His will regarding the salvation of men. That is to say, He chose to share with them those divine treasures which totally transcend the understanding of the human mind” (Dei Verbum, 2 – 6)[1] [1] God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all,
Multifariam, multisque modis olim Deus loquens patribus in prophetis :
[2] [2] In these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world.novissime, diebus istis locutus est nobis in Filio, quem constituit haeredem universorum, per quem fecit et saecula :
John 1:1-18
[3] [34] For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God: for God doth not give the Spirit by measure.
Quem enim misit Deus, verba Dei loquitur : non enim ad mensuram dat Deus spiritum.
[4] [36] But I have a greater testimony than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to perfect; the works themselves, which I do, give testimony of me, that the Father hath sent me.
Ego autem habeo testimonium majus Joanne. Opera enim quae dedit mihi Pater ut perficiam ea : ipsa opera, quae ego facio, testimonium perhibent de me, quia Pater misit me :
[5] [4] I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Ego te clarificavi super terram : opus consummavi, quod dedisti mihi ut faciam
[6] [9] Jesus saith to him: Have I been so long a time with you; and have you not known me? Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father also. How sayest thou, shew us the Father?
Dicit ei Jesus : Tanto tempore vobiscum sum, et non cognovistis me? Philippe, qui videt me, videt et Patrem. Quomodo tu dicis : Ostende nobis Patrem?
[7] [14] That thou keep the commandment without spot, blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
ut serves mandatum sine macula, irreprehensibile usque in adventum Domini nostri Jesu Christi,
[8] [13] Looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,
exspectantes beatam spem, et adventum gloriae magni Dei, et Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi :
Even since the death of Our Lord and His apostles, God has often revealed Himself to men by means of the so called private revelations.
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| Balthasar's Feast. 1636-8. Rubens National Gallery London. |
“Throughout the ages, there have been so-called ‘private’ revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Christian faith cannot accept ‘revelations’ that claim to surpass or correct the revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such ‘revelations’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 67).The Doctor of the Church, Saint John of the Cross, says:
“In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word - and he has no more to say… because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behaviour but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty” (No. 65; Saint John of the Cross,The Ascent of Mount Carmel, II, 22).We can summarize the theme of private revelations as follows:
1. The authority of private revelations is essentially different from that of the definitive public Revelation. The latter demands faith; in it in fact God himself speaks to us through human words and the mediation of the living community of the Church. Faith in God and in his word is different from any other human faith, trust or opinion. The certainty that it is God who is speaking gives me the assurance that I am in touch with truth itself. It gives me a certitude which is beyond verification by any human way of knowing. It is the certitude upon which I build my life and to which I entrust myself in dying.
2. Private revelation is a help to this faith, and shows its credibility precisely by leading me back to the definitive public Revelation. In this regard, Cardinal Prospero Lambertini, the future Pope Benedict XIV, says in his classic treatise, which later became normative for beatifications and canonizations: “An assent of Catholic faith is not due to revelations approved in this way; it is not even possible. These revelations seek rather an assent of human faith in keeping with the requirements of prudence, which puts them before us as probable and credible to piety”.God grants private revelations so that they may have an edifying effect for the life of the Church. They give rise to new devotional forms, or deepen and spread older forms. There must be a nurturing of faith, hope and love, which are the unchanging path to salvation for everyone. We might add that private revelations often spring from popular piety and leave their stamp on it, giving it a new impulse and opening the way for new forms of it. Private revelations have an effect even on the liturgy, as we see for instance in the feasts of Corpus Christi and of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Hence, ecclesiastical approval of a private revelation has three elements: the message contains nothing contrary to faith or morals; it is lawful to make it public; and the faithful are authorized to accept it with prudence.
“In every age the Church has received the charism of prophecy, which must be scrutinized but not scorned. On this point, it should be kept in mind that prophecy in the biblical sense does not mean to predict the future but to explain the will of God for the present, and therefore show the right path to take for the future.
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A person who foretells what is going to happen responds to the curiosity of the mind, which wants to draw back the veil on the future. The prophet speaks to the blindness of will and of reason, and declares the will of God as an indication and demand for the present time. In this case, prediction of the future is of secondary importance. What is essential is the actualization of the definitive Divine Revelation, which concerns me at the deepest level. The prophetic word (of a private revelation) is a warning or a consolation, or both together. In this sense there is a link between the charism of prophecy and the category of “the signs of the times” (Public Revelation and private revelations, “The message of Fatima”, 2000).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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