This past week, all the quotes posted to social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) spoke of the time we are in: Holy Week and Easter. Contemplation is paradise on earth, a crucified paradise. — Jacques Maritain Contemplation is not anesthesia, imperturbability, deliverance from all that might agitate a person, an ascent to the Sea of Tranquility. …
Tag Archives: Albert the Great
Four Quotes with Expectations a Little Rearranged (Quotes Vol. 15)
A brief respite from the heavy work on clerical abuse, with these quotes that were posted to Facebook, Instagram, and X recently: We should notice here the difference which exists between the contemplation of Christians and that of pagan [Greek] philosophers. The latter sought only their own perfection, and hence their contemplation affected their intellect only; they desired only …
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Responding to Criticism: The Radical Newness of the Gospel and “Meditation Techniques”
After I published my most recent commentary on the differences between Christian contemplation and various non-Christian “mystical” techniques, at least one reader contacted me to express disappointment that I have softened my stance on these latter techniques and diluted the Gospel. It was claimed that I had compromised Christianity by “permitting” other meditation techniques; it …
Nothing Sweeter, Nothing More Eternal
There is nothing we can do that is more sweet [than the Eucharist]. What could be sweeter than that in which God reveals all his sweetness to us? … Nothing more resembling eternal life could be enjoined. For the essence of eternal life is God sweetly giving himself to the blessed. Saint Albert the Great
O Marvellous Power of Love
Love cannot rest until it has sounded all the depths and learnt the perfections of its Beloved. It desires to be one with him, and, if it could, it would form but one being with the Beloved… Love has the power of uniting and transforming; it transforms the one who loves into him who is …
Pagan Contemplation vs. Christian Contemplation
We should notice here the difference which exists between the contemplation of Christians and that of pagan [Greek] philosophers. The latter sought only their own perfection, and hence their contemplation affected their intellect only; they desired only to enrich their minds with knowledge. But the contemplation of the saints, which is that of Christians, seeks …
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Blinding Light
I think it’s fair to say that I have no small interest in the history of Catholic spirituality, primarily in the West but also in the East. Reasons for this are many; partly I’m just curious, and partly I want to have good grounds on which to supply direction for myself, which may be lacking …
No Precept More Lovable
No precept could be more lovable. For this sacrament of the altar begets love and unity. Is it not the greatest proof of divine love that Christ gives himself as food? It is as though he were saying, “I love them so much, and them me, that I want to be within them, and they …
Purified Through and Through
Whoever wishes to be elevated to the mystery of the divine darkness must be purified of everything. Saint Albert the Great
Contemplative in the Mud 