Warm-Up Question #1
Who are
the following people? St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Philip Neri, St. Vincent De Paul, St. Frances De Sales, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Charles Borromeo
A. The Catholic Informers
B. The Catholic Performers
C. The Catholic Reformers
THE
ANSWER IS
.C
.Catholic Reformers
In an
effort to reform the Catholic Church in the 16th and 17th
centuries, these holy saints were determined to imitate Christ as closely as
possible. Their holy lives and valiant efforts brought spiritual renewal to the
One Holy and Apostolic Church. The abuses that people were concerned about in
the 16th century were eradicated.
These
saints were able to renew the Catholic Church without defying Christs warnings
against causing divisions and schisms in the Body of Christ.
They
were able to do so without divorcing from Christ. (Christ said He is the
Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride). The Bible says the Church must
be one (Jn 10:16, Eph 4:3-6, Rom 16:17, I Cor 1:10, Phil2:2, Rom 15:5, Jn
17:17-23, 1 Cor 12:13, Rom 12:5, Col 3:15.
They
were able to reform the Church without creating new doctrines that contradicted
the history of Christianity.
From the
beginning of Christianity, breaking off the One Church was considered one of
the most serious abominations possible, one that disqualified one from heaven.
According
to St. Augustine,
Doctor of Christianity: Whosoever shall have separated himself from the Catholic Church, no
matter how praiseworthy such a person may fancy his life has been, yet for that
one crime of having cut himself off from the unity of Christ he shall not have
eternal life, but the wrath of God shall abide with him for ever. St. Augustine of Hippo (Letter 141 c.
early 5th century)
St. Augustine also said:
A man cannot have salvation except in the
Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church he can have everything
except salvation. He can have honor, he can have Sacraments, he can sing
alleluia, he can answer amen, he can possess the gospel, he can have and preach
faith in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; but
never except in the Catholic Church will he be able to find salvation.
(Augustine, Discourse to the People of the Church at Caesarea, A.D. 418) (this
quote can be found in The
Faith of the Early Fathers, Volume 3, compiled by William
A. Jurgens, p. 130, excerpt #1858)
From the
very start of Christianity, the sins of men were never a legitimate excuse for
leaving the Church to which God granted His authority (Matthew 18:18), which
was the Church that was the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim 3:15),
which was the Church that was promised the Holy Spirits guidance into all
truth (Jn 16:13) This Church, built on St. Peter, was known as the Catholic
Church.
In 250
A.D., St. Cyprian wrote
God is one and Christ is one, and one is His Church, and the faith is one, and
his people welded together by the glue of concord into a solid unity of body.
Unity cannot be rent asunder, nor can the one body of the Church, through the
division of its structure, be divided into separate pieces. (On the Unity of the Church 23)
In 197
A.D., Tertullian wrote: We are a society with a single religious feeling, a
single unity of discipline, a single bond of hope. (Apology 39, 1)
In the 4th
century, St. Hillary wrote: In the Scriptures our people are shown to be made
one; so that just as many grains collected into one and ground and mingled
together, make one loaf, so in Christ, who is the heavenly Bread, we know there
is one body, in which our whole company is joined
and united. (Treatise 62, 13)
THE CATHOLIC
ERA OF REVIVAL
www.newadvent.org/cathen/04437a.htm
(Counter Reformation)
www.newadvent.org/cathen/12018b.htm
(St. Philip Neri)
www.newadvent.org/cathen/07639c.htm
(St. Ignatius of Loyola)
www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainti01.htm (St. Ignatius of Loyola,
took vow of chastity)
www.cin.org/ignatloy.html
(St. Ignatius of Loyola, model
of Christian faith)
www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=56 (St. Ignatius Loyola,
founder of the Jesuits)
www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=6088
(Charles
Borromeo)
www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/ROPSCARE.TXT (Catholic Reformation:
The Awakening of the Catholic Soul)
cat.xula.edu/tpr/timelines/catholic/
(Chronology of Catholic
Reformation)
www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=6236
(The
Jesuits and the Catholic Reformation)
www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook1y.html
(The Medieval Sourcebook)
www.wsu.edu/~dee/REFORM/COUNTER.HTM
(The Counter-Reformation)
www.historylearningsite.co.uk/counter-reform.htm
(articles on the Catholic
Reformation)
www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=964
(Outside
the Catholic Church)
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