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: Clement Hofbauer
The Traditional Catholic Doctrine about Action and Contemplation
What is the traditional Catholic doctrine regarding action and contemplation? There are many sources we could go to, and this blog has a long list of posts tagged action and contemplation. It would not be unreasonable to suggest that it is a somewhat substantial and varied archive of the subject matter. The gist, if one may find a …
Continue reading “The Traditional Catholic Doctrine about Action and Contemplation”
Smorgasbord
I’m pretty sure this blog is a smorgasbord of contemplative life in the Church. So I checked: here are some of the major influences, by Congregation (or other): Benedictine: Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, Raïssa Maritain (oblate) Carmelite: Teresa of Jesus, John of the Cross, Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Elizabeth of …
Which Comes First?
Which comes first: love of God or love of neighbour? The saints have put the question in various ways. For example, Saint Bernard says, It is surely justice to share our natural gifts with those who share our nature. But if we are to love our neighbours as we ought, we must have regard to …
Hope Amid the Dryness of the Natural Self
Our natural self is undergoing much suffering, but we can’t do much about that except know how to subjugate it. I hope that, with the grace of God, one day we will be happy again. Saint Clement Hofbauer
“Not to Do Battle but to Pray More”
There are two recorded sayings of Saint Clement Hofbauer which I think are very helpful for anyone whose life, lived in the midst of the world and on the highways of the world, has a strong contemplative element. The first is this: Not to do battle, but to pray more. The second is this: It …
Two Apostolic Hermits
I want to write a little bit about the parallel stories of two apostolic “hermits” or “recluses”. Yes, apostolic “hermits”. It’s not a typo! It’s an intentional word. 1. Catherine of Siena This Doctor of the Church has a well known case of spiritual development. A third-order Dominican who knew that action must overflow from …
“He Has Only to Look at People…”
Light shone through Jesus, whiter than white (Mk 9:3), on Mount Tabor. God wants to be transparent in us, too. Of, for example, Saint Clement Hofbauer, witnesses said, “He has only to look at people to make them become believers.” It was faith that people could see: his recollection, his communion with God in the “cell …
A Little Bit About Me
I’m not a confident person. Confidence is a virtue that I have almost nothing of own “my own steam”. Magnanimity is a virtue that I have almost nothing of own “my own steam”. I spent such a long time not knowing how to approach people – or even how to approach God, whom I should know …
Providence Takes Care if Our Will is Right
God will find the means for our progress in perfection, if only our will be right. Saint Clement Hofbauer
Contemplative in the Mud 