Posts

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"Pope St. John Paul II, in Redemptoris mater, summarizes the end of Lumen gentium. He says,

Mary became “a mother to us in the order of grace.” This motherhood in the order of grace flows from her divine motherhood. Because she was, by the design of divine Providence, the mother who nourished the divine Redeemer, Mary became “an associate of unique nobility, and the Lord’s humble handmaid,” who “cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the Savior’s work of restoring supernatural life to souls.” And 'this maternity of Mary in the order of grace. . .will last without interruption until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect.'

In his Ego Sapientia: The Wisdom That Is Mary, Charles De Koninck identifies a salient quality of Mary’s person in this order of grace, which the Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul spoke of. De Koninck claims Mary is wisdom. In saying this, he elevates the Blessed Mother to a rarified causal position—not only repeating these magisterial documents but also substantially predicating an abstract perfection of her. The diverse aspects of the order of grace to which Mary is a causal principle—'wisdom'—however, must be fleshed out. To speak of re-creation within this Mariological context, following the mind of De Koninck, would therefore illumine her adequation to 'wisdom.'"

ABSTRACT:

"This paper examines the total lack of the terminology of “analogy” in philosophico-theological contexts within the works of Saint Augustine of Hippo. This non-use of the terminology of “analogy” in Augustine’s theology is in contrast to the later Christian theological tradition’s focus on the doctrine of analogy and the scholarly literature’s significant focus on Augustine’s analogies. This is further confirmed by his similar rejection of the terminology of “proportion” in philosophico-theological contexts. Augustine’s eschewal of this terminology is, furthermore, shown to be consistent with the first 500 years of the Latin theological tradition. Indeed, this non-use of the terminology of “analogy” is seen in both Christian and non-Christian authors of this epoch. Seneca, Saint Ambrose of Milan, Marius Victorinus, Saint Jerome of Stridon, Claudianus Mamertus, Bachiarius, and Favonius Eulogius will be specifically discussed in this context. Moreover, Augustine’s non-use of the terminology of “analogy” is contrasted with the Greek Fathers of the same time-period. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, and Saint Cyril of Alexandria will be particularly considered. The purpose of this essay is the elaboration of the history of the terminology of “analogy” in Christian thought, helping to fill an apparent lacuna in the scholarly literature within the history of the doctrine of analogy."

ABSTRACT:

"Charles De Koninck’s Mariology is generally non-polemical, which was noted by Katherine Gardner in the context of De Koninck’s Ego Sapientia. This may be surprising given the many debates in 20th century Mariology. However, in some places he does engage Protestant interlocutors to both correct them and to flesh out traditional Catholic positions regarding the Blessed Virgin Mother.

I will discuss several select passages in De Koninck’s Mariology, which highlight these polemics. Specifically, I will consider two texts, The Scandal of the Mediation and “The Role of Woman in the Work of Redemption.” These texts engage with Protestant views regarding the sinlessness of Mary, her role in redemption, and the piety shown to her due to these facts. In addition, I will consider De Koninck’s other response to Anglican interlocutors in “In signum, cui contradictur,” which discusses the universality of Catholics’ devotion to the Blessed Mother.

This paper will not merely be an exposition of De Koninck’s Mariology, but is intended to demonstrate that his Mariology is not merely passive during the 20th century’s Mariological debates. Moreover, it will prove the necessity of an account of participation, namely Mary’s participation in her Son in the order of redemption as a secondary cause, to correct stereotypical Protestant objections to the Catholic Church’s universal devotion to the Blessed Mother."

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"Urban Hannon has written an admirable ressourcement into St. Thomas Aquinas’s liturgical theology. It joins a small set of Thomistic liturgiology, especially the most recent translated monographs: Thomas Aquinas and the Liturgy (2005) by David Berger and Liturgical Theology in Thomas Aquinas: Sacriflce and Salvation History (2023) by Father Franck Quoëx. The other relevant Thomistic liturgical studies, including these two recent volumes, are listed at the beginning of Hannon’s Thomistic Mystagogy (3n1), near another list of studies which are non-Thomistic but expressive of a rich theology (5n6)."

ABSTRACT:

"This article examines the total lack of the terminology of 'analogy' in philosophico-theological contexts within the works of Augustine of Hippo. This non-use of the terminology of 'analogy' in Augustine’s theology is contrasted with the later theological tradition’s focus on the doctrine of analogy and the scholarly literature’s significant focus on Augustine’s analogies. This is further confirmed by his similar rejection of the terminology of 'proportion' in philosophico-theological contexts. Augustine’s rejection of this terminology is, furthermore, shown to be consistent with the first 500 years of the Latin theological tradition. Indeed, this avoidance of the terminology of 'analogy' is seen in both Christian and non-Christian authors of this epoch. Seneca, Ambrose of Milan, Marius Victorinus, Jerome of Stridon, Claudianus Mamertus, Bachiarius, and Favonius Eulogius will be specifically discussed in this context. Moreover, Augustine’s non-use of the terminology of 'analogy' is contrasted with the Greek Fathers of the same time-period. Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Cyril of Alexandria will be particularly considered. However, Chalcidius’s Hellenistic commentatorial work will be singled out as a possible mediating force between these Latin and Greek traditions. The purpose of this essay is the elaboration of the history of the terminology of “analogy” in Christian thought, helping to fill an apparent lacuna in the scholarly literature within the history of the doctrine of analogy."

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"Laurie Olsen’s Mary & the Church at Vatican II is the deepest dive to date into the archived materials surrounding the Mariological chapter of Lumen gentium. Previous scholars were only able to access very few boxes of material from the Vatican Apostolic Archives, whereas Olsen pulls from over 200 boxes, including audio recordings that had not previously been consulted (p. xxiii). Indeed, in recovering this material and presenting it anew, Olsen displays an ecclesiastical drama that can often be viewed as Marian maximalism versus minimalism; Christotypicism versus ecclesiotypicism; theologians and Council Fathers who would integrate piety and dogmatic theology versus those who are hesitant to do so; traditional Mariology versus ecumenical concerns; as well as the theological camp represented by Father Charles Balić, OFM, versus the squadra Belga represented by Father Gérard Philips (see pp. 9–10 for an explanation of the squadra)."

ABSTRACT:

This article investigates the esse of the res et sacramentum of the eucharist in the thought of Thomas Aquinas, attempting to fill a lacuna in eucharistic theology. It proceeds from the questions on Christ’s esse in the Disputed Question on the Union of the Incarnate Word and the tertia pars of the Summa Theologiae, with a short synthesis arguing that Christ exists by one esse. Then, it argues that the eucharist exists by this same esse by answering two possible objections, taken from the many instances of the eucharist across the globe and Christ’s unique mode of sacramental presence, to the eucharist only having this one esse.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

"The first of November, 2025, marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of the promulgation of the papal bull Munifentissimus Deus, declaring and defining the doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We here include a translation of four brief essays by Charles De Koninck in defense of the doctrine, two written before (1947 and 1949), two after (1950 and 1954) Pope Pius XII’s dogmatic statement. We hope not only that they give the reader a glimpse of De Koninck’s less widely known Mariology but, more importantly, that they provoke greater contemplation of this dogma."

NOTE:

Satellite Sessions of The Sacra Doctrina Project for the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, co-sponsored with Daniel M. Garland, Jr.

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"This collection of essays comes from the 2023 inaugural Mariological Conference held by the Marian Franciscans of the United Kingdom at Dundee in Scotland. As both a new Mariological academic initiative and as a genuine example of sacra doctrina concerning the Blessed Virgin Mother’s role in the order of grace, this volume deserves attention. It should be noted, however, that this volume does not only participate in theological discourse about the Blessed Mother as Co-Redemptrix, but also advocates for a fifth Marian dogma in the Catholic Church (14). Unsurprisingly, it presumes a Catholic viewpoint and concern for doctrine and tradition. Despite this, the book does not read as a solely polemical volume, as if one could only read it if they wished to engage with the definability of Marian co-redemption as such. While the volume consistently deals with this question, or aspects often raised in the context of this question, it is valuable as a collection on the theology of Marian co-redemption and mediation in general."

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"In 133 pages, Father Uwe Michael Lang of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri covers the history of the Roman liturgy from its origins in the Last Supper down to the present day. Most of the book is a summary of his 2022 monograph, The Roman Mass: From Early Christian Origins to Tridentine Reform, from Cambridge University Press. It also reuses, with revisions, a series of articles in Adoremus Bulletin published online from March 6, 2021 to September 29, 2022. In addition, Lang has appended a glossary of liturgical terms and a list of further scholarly reading."

ABSTRACT:

"A 2023 article in the English version of the premier journal, Communio, Michaël Bauwens proposes a project of philosophical study based on Mary’s epistemically privileged role as the Mother of God. His article, “Philosophizing in Mary: The Test Case of Anselm’s Argument” argues that since Mary is the Blessed Mother, she has uniquely privileged access and insight into the Logos, her Son, from which relationship we may learn and pursue philosophy. In proposing this, Bauwens takes the revealed truths of the Incarnate Word and His mother seriously, alongside the revealed characteristics of the Blessed Mother. At the same time, he pursues real epistemic and ontic argumentation based on these revealed truths. However, Bauwens explicitly pursues this program within the bounds of philosophy proper, while also saying that philosophy should not be considered handmaiden to traditional Christian theology. Since Bauwens is the leading figure in the Sedes Sapientiae Symposium in Europe, his views deserve engagement.

         As such, I will consider Jacques Maritain’s Range of Reason, particularly chapter 16 “The Ways of Faith” to set out the proper framework to the scientific engagement with matters of faith. I will then engage with Bauwen’s understanding of “philosophizing in Mary” and show its deficient account of philosophy’s attitude to sacred theology, following Saint Thomas Aquinas’s and the Thomistic tradition’s understanding thereof. In the end, I hope to show that Bauwen’s program in this article falls under the consideration of theology and that all such philosophizing in Mary which bases itself on the revealed mysteries of the Blessed Mother’s role in salvation history and the Church belongs to sacra doctrina. To philosophize in Mary within philosophy proper must belong to adopting her attitude to the Truth, not her revealed attributes."

NOTE:

Marcus Peter interviewed me on my article in the Homiletic & Pastoral Review, "Faith in the Gospel of John as the Content of Truth: Πίστ- Root Words and Theological Exegesis."

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"The theme of faith in the Gospel of John is deceptive. It is more important than the written instances of Πίστ- (pist-) root words would show, since faith is that whereby one can receive the testimony of John the Apostle: 'Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name' (John 20:30–31 RSVCE). Some may think that this faith and belief is simply a matter of trusting in the Lord. This essay, however, seeks to clarify the importance of faith as a matter of noetic content, though inclusive of personal trust, so the faith of this Gospel is better inculcated within the Faithful. Thus, the importance of faith for every individual is well summed up by then-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.

[F]aith regards the truth, by which I mean a kind of knowledge which does not concern the functioning of this or that particular thing, but the truth of our being itself. Thus, faith concerns what we must do to attain the rectitude of our being. These assertions also presuppose that this truth becomes accessible only in the act of faith and that faith is the gift of a new beginning for thought which it is not in our power either to set in existence or to replace. At the very same time, however, they take it for granted that, once accepted, this truth illuminates our whole being and, therefore, also appeals to our intellect and even solicits our understanding.

Since the value of this Gospel rests upon its being believed in this way by the Church down through the ages, it may be surprising to hear that the term “faith” is only mentioned 102 times, including those passages where belief is constantly spoken of, in a gospel of 15,635 words in Greek!"

ABSTRACT:

"Saint Thomas Aquinas, following Peter Lombard, teaches that marriage is the coniunctio of man and woman for the sake of begetting and raising children, wherein a common family life including the mutual services and love of the spouses is included (ST, Suppl., q. 44, a. 1, resp.). Saint Thomas specifies that this coniunctio is a species of relatio aequiparantiae (ST, Suppl. q. 47, a. 4, sc; q. 64, a. 5, sc). This paper will, therefore, presume the Aristotelian-Thomistic understanding of categorical mutual relations in the context of marriage, following a larger research project. First, I will explain how Saint Thomas emphasis on mutual real relations as the coniunctio of marriage explains the indissolubility of marriage on the grounds of the real existence per accidens of categorical relations. Then, the importance of the remote foundations of the coniunctio will be argued for in properly understanding the nature of the two sexes—male and female—and for understanding the sexes’ natural inclination toward each other. Third, I will show how this account of mutual real relations fittingly expresses Sacred Scripture’s understanding of marriage and the sexes in Gen 1–3, the Gospels of Matt 19:3–9 and Mark 10: 2–12, the Pauline epistles Eph 5:21–33 and Col 3:18. Lastly, I will discuss the importance of mutual real relations in Saint Thomas’s sacramental theology of marriage as expressing ontological foundations to the indissolubility of marriage and the nature of the sexes, following on Matthew Levering’s The Indissolubility of Marriage: Amoris Laetitia in Context and recent US publications on the sexes (e.g., Metaphysics and Gender: The Normative Art of Nature and Its Human Imitations, Sexual Identity: The Harmony of Philosophy, Science, and Revelation, The Complementarity of Women and Men: Philosophy, Theology, Psychology, and Art)."

ABSTRACT:

"Saint Thomas Aquinas, following Peter Lombard, teaches that marriage is the coniunctio of man and woman for the sake of begetting and raising children, wherein a common family life including the mutual services and love of the spouses is included (ST, Suppl., q. 44, a. 1, resp.). The language of “coniunctio” is common and repeated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent. Saint Thomas, however, further specifies that this coniunctio is a species of relatio aequiparantiae (ST, Suppl. q. 47, a. 4, sc; q. 64, a. 5, sc). This paper will, therefore, re-present the Aristotelian-Thomistic understanding of categorical mutual relations in the context of marriage. This will, first, express the generic being of marriage. Second, it will justify the indissolubility of marriage on the grounds of the real existence per accidens of categorical relations. Lastly, the importance of the remote foundations of the coniunctio will be argued for in properly understanding the nature of the two sexes—male and female—and for understanding the sexes’ natural inclination toward each other."

ABSTRACT:

"Within a broadly Thomistic frame, this paper shows how simple apophaticism in the theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite is the more fitting mode of knowing the triune God, beyond the use of all divine names. Specifically, we will proceed using the work of Father Bernard Lonergan, SJ on theological fittingness. After setting forth Father Lonergan's understanding of fittingness, the paper will proceed through Dionysius's cataphatic names, apophatic names, and apophatic silence. The cataphatic and apophatic names, while true, useful, and fittingly said of God, will be shown to be imperfectly applied to God. As such, their fittingness pales in comparison to the simple silence of the intellect orientated towards God, despite such pure apophaticism's dissimilarity to normal human intellectual operations."

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"At the Catholic World Report in May and June of 2023, there was an exciting exchange between Drs. Larry Chapp, Matthew Minerd, and Richard DeClue. They discussed the need for an alliance of sorts between the 'Neo-Scholastic' and 'Communio' schools of theologians — alongside all orthodox Catholic thinkers and theological-philosophical academic schools — due to the ongoing cultural and religious progressivism across the globe and in the Catholic Church. They did this while also considering the history between these two academic schools over the last century. During that history, the academic debates and contests between these schools and their diverse parts became famous and even public, though their disagreements were not carried out by each adherent in the popular public sphere — such as on social media. This history of disagreement pales in comparison, however, to the present need for all orthodox theologians and philosophers (and all the Faithful) to acknowledge that their siblings in the orthodox faith are not the enemy. Heretical and heterodox theologies and philosophies are the enemy of orthodox teaching. Dr. DeClue puts it well in his contribution 'Making Common Cause':

In truth, Communio and Thomist theologians and philosophers alike — despite past animosities — have common enemies today: progressives and radical traditionalists. Thomists and Communio theologians are both committed to orthodoxy and lament the ways the Church’s teaching is being distorted by both of those other camps. It is imperative that they join forces against such falsifications of the faith."

ABSTRACT:

"In the theological tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas, this paper will argue that the practical actions of studying, contemplation, and teaching sacred theology are acts proper to the infused Christian virtue of religion. To understand this, the framework of Thomistic moral theology and anthropology is necessary. After introducing this background, St. Thomas’s understanding of the virtue of justice is explained alongside the virtue of religion, which is a potential part of this cardinal virtue. The second part of the paper moves into a description of the practical actions of theologizing, as distinguished from the essential nature of sacred theology. The way that these actions are variously elicited or commanded by the infused virtue of religion are then shown to be properly due to God as His just right."

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"The ongoing debate about liturgical tradition in the Latin Church suggests a need for scholarly publications that facilitate a more complete analysis of twentieth-century liturgical reforms and cultivate a greater appreciation of how the rites are celebrated today. For the sake of such analysis and appreciation, Fr. Robert Nixon, O.S.B. has translated into English a section of the treatise De Sacrosancto Missae Sacrificio Libri Tres of Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758). Nixon has also appended an excerpt from Tractatus Bipartitus de Sacrosancto Missae Sacrificio by Hierotheus Confluentinus, O.F.M. Cap (d. 1766), and a prayer for the Church by Pope Innocent III (d. 1216). In preparing this translation of the work of Benedict XIV, Nixon has brought to new light the witness of one of the most prominent Latin canonist-theologians on the matter of sacred language in the Mass."

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"In a world filled with socio-political strife, disagreement, and anger it is necessary to be reminded of the foundational features of society. Society is, in fact, constituted by the ultimate good in which its members all participate. Such a reminder, therefore, requires an expression of the perennial, and hopefully not too foreign, understanding of the “common good.” Chad C. Pecknold of the Catholic University of America once observed that false understandings about the common good, even if implicit or “unconscious,” lead to tyranny,

The 'false notion' of the common good remains ubiquitous in our own time. The consequence of this false notion could describe the sorry state of American politics today: A society constituted by persons who love their private good above the common good, or who identify the common good with the private good, is a society not of free men, but of tyrants.

I will be presuming an understanding of the “common good” generally common to the Catholic tradition, with special reference to the book The Primacy of the Common Good: Against the Personalists by Charles De Koninck, who once taught at the Université Laval in Quebec."

ABSTRACT

"In his Ego Sapientia: The Wisdom that is Mary, Charles De Koninck identifies the Blessed Mother as substantial Wisdom who is the ordering principle in the order of re-creation, i.e., grace. In doing so, De Koninck rests his speculative theology on the exegesis of the Books of Sirach 24 and Proverbs 8, both of which focus on Wisdom’s position over the governance and creation of the world. This paper will focus, therefore, on the Blessed Mother’s role in the re-creation of the world to prove that she—in her person—is the ordering principle of this re-creation in grace thus justifying her title of Wisdom and De Koninck’s title Ego Sapientia. In proof of this, I will argue from Sirach and Proverbs for the creative status of Wisdom. Then, De Koninck’s own theology will be recounted to show that the Blessed Mother is rightly named Wisdom in the sense of these Biblical texts. This would be true, not in the order of the original Creation, but in the order of re-creation in grace by the Incarnation of her Son, following Saint Athanasius the Great’s understanding of the Incarnation bringing about re-creation, since Mary is truly the Mother of God. Here, her being Genitrix of the hypostatically one Christ Jesus will be focused on as it is the reason for including her in the “hypostatic order” and the reason for her relative priority in the dispensation of grace and re-creation. Thus, she is the true mother of the Logos insofar as He is born into the world to restore His Creation and, therefore, she is the Wisdom who engenders and incarnates Divine Wisdom who is her Son. By this focus on Mary’s maternity, it will be shown that her title of substantial Wisdom is not a deification of Mary but the correct identification of her role as Mother of All Things in the re-creation of the World in grace."

ABSTRACT

"What is the esse of the Eucharist? Following upon the scholastic question about a thing’s esse, this paper will investigate the act of existence of the Eucharist according to the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Given that individuals generally each exist by a numerically distinct act of existence, the consecrated hosts and wine across the globe should all have distinct esse. However, the Eucharist is the person of Christ Jesus—body, blood, soul, and Divinity—Who exists according to the single Divine esse. This paper will show that the Eucharist’s act of existence is the esse of Christ Jesus, despite the many distinct instances of the sacrament across the Earth, through St. Thomas’ understanding of sacramental presence and spiritual place. It will also take up the issue of whether there is one or two esse in Christ Jesus in St. Thomas’ theology for the sake of inquiring after the esse of the Eucharist. This reflection should deepen one’s appreciation of the Real Presence of Christ Jesus upon the altar and help prepare the Thomist to compare the ontology of Aquinas’ Eucharistic Theology with others in the Scholastic Tradition."

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"The question of how Sacred Scripture should be read is ancient

in sacred theology. As a deep understanding of Scripture is part

of the foundation of the science of sacred theology, the method

by which the Biblical text is understood is, in a sense, its first

problem. A failure to comprehend the proper relation between the various modes of signifying in Scripture renders the truths of Scripture insusceptible to systematization with other truths. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the synthesis of what is signified by Scripture (and the whole body of Revelation) with truths known by human reason is the core of the science of sacred theology. Therefore, ignorance of how Scripture signifies precludes the very possibility of this theology, and leads either to an acceptance of Scripture without the ability to defend and explain it—a mere fideism—or, worse, to the rejection of Revelation as mere nonsense. As this problem is ancient, it is appropriate to evaluate it through the examples of the Patristic and Medieval Eras.

NOTE:

Marcus Peter, standing in for Al Kresta, interviewed me on my article in the Homiletic & Pastoral Review, "Aristotelianism in Eucharistic Theology."

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"Several months ago, the Reverend Father Thomas Reese of the Society of Jesus (Ph.D. Political Science: University of California, Berkeley) wrote a series of articles on the Eucharist for the National Catholic Reporter. He led it by saying:

Since my critics often accuse me of heresy, before I go further, let me affirm that I believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I just don’t believe in transubstantiation because I don’t believe in prime matter, substantial forms and accidents that are part of Aristotelian metaphysics. Thomas Aquinas used Aristotelianism, the avant-garde philosophy of his time, to explain the Eucharist to his generation. What worked in the 13th century will not work today. If he were alive today, he would not use Aristotelianism because nobody grasps it in the 21st century.

In one fell swoop, Father Reese denies the dogma of Transubstantiation — he refuses belief in it — and would disparage the modern Catholic’s intellectual ability."

ABSTRACT:

"One of the oddities of St. Thomas Aquinas’ account of the Eucharist in the Summa Theologiae is that the accidents of bread and wine do not exist in a subject after Transubstantiation. This paper will 1) shortly describe this great problem of Eucharistic Theology, 2) recount the Aristotelian notion of per accidens being which Aquinas uses in his theological account of this dogma, and 3) prove that the accidents of bread and wine do fall into being (κατὰ συμβεβηκός) toward the substratum of the power of the Person of the Son in the Eucharist. This last point will be demonstrated by a) recounting that the Son of God is truly present sacramentally in the Eucharist, b) proving that the Person of the Son is the exemplar cause of substantial being, c) proving that His power ad extra is present with Him in the Eucharist, d) proving Divine Power ad extra is the agent cause of all substantial being, e) showing how the Son’s power as exemplar and prime agency of all substantial being existentially fulfills the powers of being per se, and f) concluding that the power of the Son of God in the Eucharist is superlatively and existentially fitting to be the quasi-subject of the accidents of bread and wine."