Tom Faranda's Folly

St. Augustine Feast today: “Late have I loved you”

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by

Tom Faranda
in

This is a famous bit – poem at the end – from The Confessions, his autobiography  –

St. augustine

Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance the innermost places of my being; but only because you had become my helper was I able to do so. …

Accordingly I looked for a way to gain the strength I needed to enjoy you, but I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who is also God, supreme over all things and blessed for ever. He called out, proclaiming I am the Way and Truth and the Life, nor had I known him as the food which, though I was not yet strong enough to eat it, he had mingled with our flesh, for the Word became flesh so that your Wisdom, through whom you created all things, might become for us the milk adapted to our infancy.
Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
Lo, you were within,
  but I outside, seeking there for you,
  and upon the shapely things you have made
  I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
  those things which would have no being,
  were they not in you.
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
  you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
  you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you;
  I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me, and I burned for your peace.

Comments

4 responses to “St. Augustine Feast today: “Late have I loved you””

  1. Sweat Avatar
    Sweat

    St. Augustine was truly great, and is one of Sweat’s favorites, not least because he taught that the majority of humanity ends up in hell for all eternity, thereby crushing the misguided and odious heads of von Balthasar and Bishop Barron! Augustine is also one of the two great pillars of Catholic theology, the other – of course – being St. Thomas Aquinas, who likewise taught that the majority of humanity ends up in hell for all eternity, thereby crushing the misguided and odious heads of von Balthasar and Bishop Barron yet again! Oh the Humanity!!!
    But one would be most remiss not to note that today is also the Feast Day of the Great Saint Hermes, who was martyred under the persecution of Emperor Adrian in the year 132. Hermes is famous for being a patron saint who cures mental illnesses; for example – like the mental pathology which often afflicts certain people – especially in our present faithless age – making them foolishly think that we have a reasonable hope that all men are saved. Preposterous! There is a French saying, even to this day, which says, “St. Hermes cures the area’s madmen, but keeps the Rouse dwellers as they are.” St. Hermes – Pray For Us !

    Reply
  2. tom faranda Avatar
    tom faranda

    Sweat thanks for pointing out St. Hermes. I knew once I posted about St. Augustine that you would come through with an unfortunately forgotten Saint off the old calendar.
    As I’m sure you are aware Church teaching on hell is very clear; it’s a possibility for everyone of us and it is a defined truth that some angels chose it; almost certainly at the instant of their creation.
    As with certain other positions held by either and/or Augustine and Aquinas the Church has not taught that most people go to hell. There’s no defined teaching on #’s in hell or who’s there. You can check the recent catechism, or the catechism of the Council of Trent or any apologetic work from either before or after Vatican II. It’s also incorrect to say that everyone goes to heaven; that is a heresy that has been condemned several times in the past. And there’s no sense quoting scripture because it’s a very mixed bag on that front; “A text without a context is a pretext” is an old saying. Of course you are entitled to your opinion;, as
    long as it’s not that everyone goes to heaven. Nothing wrong with holding a personal opinion on the matter.

    Reply
  3. Sweat Avatar
    Sweat

    Happily, St. Hermes is no longer forgotten, since he is on the Extraordinary Form calendar. And since the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite is now just as valid and licit as the Ordinary Form (thanks to Pope Benedict the 16th), the ‘old’ calendar – in a sense – is no longer really ‘old’, but gloriously rediscovered and modern again!
    It’s true that the Catholic Church has never ‘formally’ taught that over 50% of humanity goes to hell. However, most of the theological heavies (like Augustine and Aquinas) over the long 2000 year history of the Church were of that opinion. Sadly, most modern Catholic funerals have turned into virtual canonization ceremonies thanks to so many modern Catholics having been corrupted by the eccentric, novel, and dubious theological theory of von Balthasar, Bishop Barron, and many others of their ilk, that we have a reasonable hope that all men are saved. We have no such reasonable hope. And thank God we have great Catholic thinkers in our history, like Augustine and Aquinas, to speak up strongly against this modern insanity. St. Hermes – patron saint against mental illness – PRAY FOR US !!!

    Reply
  4. tom faranda Avatar
    tom faranda

    “so many modern Catholics having been corrupted by the eccentric, novel, and dubious theological theory of von Balthasar,,,,”
    Yes, like St. Pope John Paul, Pope Benedict, etc, etc. You really should read Von Balthasar’s book before you condemn it.
    Here’s the President of Ignatius press – https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2018/03/31/did-hans-urs-von-balthasar-teach-that-everyone-will-certainly-be-saved/
    Or this – https://www.firstthings.com/article/2003/05/the-population-of-hell
    I could go on but, people will get the point. Von Balthasar never taught universal salvation.

    Reply

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