Catholic Literature Excerpts - Essay Sample

Introduction

"The exercises that follow are made up of four Weeks, corresponding to the four parts into which these Exercises are divided: namely, the First is the consideration and contemplation of sins; the Second is the life of Christ Our Lord up to, and including, Palm Sunday; the Third, the Passion of Christ Our Lord; the Fourth, the Resurrection and Ascension, with the three ways of praying."

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The excerpt above is from the personal writings, reminiscences, spiritual diary, and special letters, including spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. This particular passage is the fourth annotation of spiritual exercises. These annotations are notes that provide some explanation of the spiritual practices in the text. They are intended to be of assistance both to the person giving them and to the person who receives them. According to the Saint Ignatius of Loyola, each week of the exercises vary, and various spirits try some. He advises that some weeks be extended while some shortened while taking into consideration the subject matter. These spiritual exercises must be completed in thirty days.

Theological Concepts

"Religion: I said this before: His divine majesty is infinite, not material; but his blessed humanity, bloodless in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, makes chance use of pure white wheat seeds that then are transformed into His very flesh, His very blood; and His most precious blood, when caught in the chalice, is the blood, pure and innocent and pristine that, offered on the altar of the Holy Cross, is the salvation and the redemption of the world."

The excerpt above is from the mystery play "Loa to Divine Narcissus," an auto sacramental that uses allegorical characters to explain theological concepts. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz wrote it. Religion (Spanish woman) is an extended character that represented Catholicism in Spain. This particular excerpt is a reply to Occident, another symbolic character in the play. Occident does not believe in the Christian God. Occident questions the majesties of God. Religion explains the infinite power of God. Through the sacrifice made on the holy cross, true salvation came to humankind. Religion is attempting to convert Occident and America (the third allegorical character) to abandon their worldly faith and follow the Christian God.

Religious Beliefs

"I had seen the shadow of a hand upon the wall. It was clear that I had a good deal to learn on the question of the Churches, and that perhaps some new light was coming upon me. He who has seen a ghost, cannot be as if he had never seen it."

The excerpt above is from the "Apologia Pro Vita Sua," written by John Henry Cardinal Newman. This book centers on Newman's defense of his religious beliefs. In this excerpt, Newman pondered on the words of Saint Augustine mentioned to him by a friend. These words were "Securus judicate Orbis terrarium" found in one of the articles written in a Liberal review of the churches by St Augustine. The article talked about the Donatist controversy which Newman had heard in the past years. But these words went beyond the Donatist controversy; they gave meaning to the article, which had escaped him when he read the article at first. These words struck him in a manner he had not experienced before—those words summed up the long-differentiated course of the church history.

Conversion

"I had known [him] a long time before we contracted our contracted our common-law relationship, and I have always felt that it was life with him that brought me natural happiness, that brought me to God. His ardent love of creation brought me to the Creator of all things. But when I cried out to him, "How can there be no God, when there are all these beautiful things," he turned from me uneasily and complained that I was never satisfied."

This excerpt is from the book "The Long Loneliness," written by Dorothy Day. In this passage, Dorothy talks about her conversion to Catholicism. This happened right after she and Forster (Her lover) got a baby. She became prayerful and attended mass regularly. Dorothy believed that richness and fullness of life are only found when one believed in God. Forster, however, believed in science and would explain scientific theories and concepts to Dorothy. Dorothy found it hard to talk about religion and faith with him. It built a wall between them whenever the conversation began. His love for nature and its secrets cut him off from religion despite bringing Dorothy to faith.

Conclusion

This excerpt is from "After Grace of Christmas," written by Saint Therese of Lisieux. On the 25th of December 1886, Therese finally had the pleasure of receiving the powerful God in her life, as she calls it, the grace of her full conversion. During midnight masses, she used to take her shoes from the chimney-corner and observe the gifts in it. This was a traditional custom that she used to enjoy in her childhood. Her father always enjoyed seeing her happy as she removed the gifts one by one from the magic shoes. However, this time around, her father was not pleased but rather annoyed. This made Therese sad. However, she drew back her tears and withdrew the presents in her shoes, and went to meet her father happily. She had finally rediscovered her strength and soul.