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(0:00) Hello and welcome to the Catholic Torch Podcast Episode 17. We will start out with prayer.
(0:07) We will be praying The Memorare.
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of Virgins and Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Holy Queen Handmade. You can find us over at (0:52) holyqueenhandmade.com
As usual, anything that I say that is true and good and beautiful belongs (0:59) to the honor and glory of our Lord and our Lady, and anything that I say that is erroneous is purely (1:05) my own fault. And now we will continue with the Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena.
(1:11) For My mercy willed to make satisfaction for the sin of man, and to dispose him to that good for (1:17) which I had created him. This human nature, joined with the Divine nature, was sufficient (1:23) to satisfy for the whole human race, not only on account of the pain, which is sustained in its (1:29) finite nature, that is in the flesh of Adam, but by virtue of the eternal Deity, the Divine and (1:37) infinite nature joined to it. The two natures being thus joined together, I received and accepted (1:43) the sacrifice of my Only-begotten Son, kneaded into one dough with the Divine nature, by the fire (1:51) of divine love, which was the fetter which held Him fastened and nailed to the Cross in this way.(1:57) Thus human nature was sufficient to satisfy for guilt, but only by virtue of the Divine nature. (2:04) And in this way was destroyed the stain of Adam’s sin, only the mark of it remaining behind, (2:11) that is, in inclination to sin, and to every sort of corporeal defect, like the (2:18) cicatrice which remains when a man is healed of a wound. In this way the original fault of Adam (2:25) was able still to cause a fatal stain; wherefore the coming of the great Physician, that is to say, (2:33) of My Only-begotten Son, cured this invalid, He drinking this bitter medicine, which man could (2:41) not drink on account of his great weakness, like a foster-mother who takes a medicine instead of (2:47) her suckling, because she is grown up and strong, and the child is not fit to endure its bitterness.(2:54) He was man’s foster-mother, enduring, with the greatness and strength of the Deity, (2:59) united with your nature, the bitter medicine of the painful death of the Cross, to give life to (3:05) you little ones debilitated by guilt. I say therefore that the mark alone of original sin (3:12) remains, which sin you take from your father and your mother when you were generated by them. But (3:18) this mark is removed from the soul, though not altogether, by Holy Baptism, which has the virtue (3:25) of communicating the life of grace by means of that glorious and precious Blood. Wherefore, (3:31) at the moment that the soul receives Holy Baptism, original sin is taken away from her, (3:37) and grace is infused into her, and that inclination to sin, which remains from the (3:43) original corruption, as has been said, is indeed a source of weakness, but the soul can keep the (3:50) bridle on it if she choose. Then the vessel of the soul is disposed to receive and increase in (3:56) herself grace, more or less, according as it pleases her to dispose herself willingly with (4:02) affection, and desire of loving and serving Me; and, in the same way, she can dispose herself (4:10) to evil as to good, in spite of her having received grace in Holy Baptism. Wherefore (4:17) when the time of discretion is come, the soul can, by her free will, make choice either of good or (4:24) evil, according as it pleases her will; and so great is this liberty that man has, and so strong (4:32) has this liberty been made by virtue of this glorious Blood, that no demon or creature can (4:38) constrain him to one smallest fault without his free consent. He has been redeemed from slavery, (4:46) and made free in order that he might govern his own sensuality, and obtain the end for which he (4:52) was created. Oh, miserable man, who delights to remain in the mud like a brute, and does not learn (5:00) this great benefit which he has received from Me! A benefit so great, that the poor wretched creature (5:06) full of such ignorance could receive no greater. (Referenece 1)
Now we will go back through, and I will try to (5:14) explain it a few sentences at a time.
“For My mercy willed to make satisfaction for the sin of man, and to dispose him to that good for which I had created him. This human nature, joined with the Divine nature, was sufficient to satisfy for the whole human race, not only on account of the pain, which is sustained in its finite nature, that is in the flesh of Adam, but by virtue of the eternal Deity, the Divine and infinite nature joined to it.”
God’s mercy willed to make (5:50) satisfaction for the original sin of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, finally disposing man once (5:56) again to receive the goods God had created for man. In case I have any young in the faith listeners, (6:03) or people that are uninformed, the original sin is,
the sin we inherit as natural descendants of (6:09) our first parents, Adam and Eve, the privation of Sanctifying Grace propagated to man by Adam. (6:17) (Or in other terms, spread to the rest of mankind by Adam the first man, our first father.) (6:23)
The Bible recounts it as thus:
| Chapter 2 1- So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them [Genesis 2:1] 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3 And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 4 These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth: 5 And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.[2] “He rested”: That is, he ceased to make or create any new kinds of things. Though, as our Lord tells us, John 5. 17,”He still worketh”, viz., by conserving and governing all things, and creating souls. 6 But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul. 8 And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed. 9 And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river went out of the place of pleasure to water paradise, which from thence is divided into four heads.[9] “The tree of life”: So called because it had that quality, that by eating of the fruit of it, man would have been preserved in a constant state of health, vigour, and strength, and would not have died at all.[9] “The tree of knowledge”: To which the deceitful serpent falsely attributed the power of imparting a superior kind of knowledge, beyond that which God was pleased to give. 11 The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth. 12 And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium, and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth along by the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 15 And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it. 16 And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat: 17 But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death. 18 And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself. 19 And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name. 20 And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself. 21 Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it. 22 And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam. 23 And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. 24 Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh. 25 And they were both naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed. Chapter 3 1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise? 2 And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die. 4 And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death. 5 For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons. 8 And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise. 9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou? 10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. [7] “And the eyes”: Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the tree was fair to the eyes, ver. 6.) nor yet that their eyes were opened to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin. From whence followed a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before; because being now stript of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to the shameful rebellions of the flesh. 11 And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? 12 And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat. 14 And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. 15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. [15] “She shall crush”: Ipsa, the woman; so divers of the fathers read this place, conformably to the Latin: others read it ipsum, viz., the seed. The sense is the same: for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes the serpent’s head. 16 To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over thee. 17 And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. 18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth. 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. 20 And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife, garments of skins, and clothed them. 22 And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now, therefore, lest perhaps he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever. 23 And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken. 24 And he cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. [22] “Behold Adam”: This was spoken by way of reproaching him with his pride, in affecting a knowledge that might make him like to God. (Genesis 2-3) DRB |
The first sin committed was Eve listening to the serpent, and taking the (14:05) fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, she ate first. Therefore woman’s punishment for (14:11) this is, the multiplication of sorrows and conceptions. In sorrow she will bring forth (14:17) children, and she will be subject to her husband’s power, and he will have dominion over her. (14:23) Now Adam did not get off punishment either, for if he would have rejected the fruit that his wife (14:29) was offering him from the tree, only she would have been cast forth. But since dear Adam did not (14:35) do this, he is now liable to death as well as will be to work and toil in the dirt of the earth that (14:41) God cursed for this sin. You ask what sin did Adam commit? Well he committed the sin of effeminacy, (14:49) which is the Greek word Malakos, meaning a man who is physically or mentally weak, (14:56) a failure to live up to his duty as a man, softness and luxury. He did not tell his wife Eve, (15:03) No, and stop himself from eating the fruit, but gave into her temptation, since she had already fallen. (15:11) Another fault they committed was listening to the devil, the serpent, who also got a punishment, (15:17) and by disobedience to God, to eat the fruit so they may have their eyes opened and be as gods (15:24) knowing good and evil. All of these events that we just read led to their banishment from paradise (15:30) in which all the offspring of men shall suffer these punishments until the end of the world. (15:36) And how often us men fall into our first parents exact same sins, not the eating of the fruit, but (15:42) of disobedience and pride and effeminacy and failure to fulfill the role in which we were (15:47) created, firstly, as discussed very early in this podcast, Why was man created? To know love and (15:57) serve God in this life so as to be happy with him for an eternity in Heaven. Jesus’s human nature (16:03) joined with the Divine nature was sufficient to satisfy for the whole human race, not only of the (16:11) pain he endured in a finite human being, but by the virtue of the Eternal God. That God’s divine (16:18) and infinite nature was joined to that human nature.
“The two natures being thus joined together, I received and accepted (1:43) the sacrifice of my Only-begotten Son, kneaded into one dough with the Divine nature, by the fire (1:51) of divine love, which was the fetter which held Him fastened and nailed to the Cross in this way.(1:57) Thus human nature was sufficient to satisfy for guilt, but only by virtue of the Divine nature.”
The two natures being joined together, (16:54) God accepted Jesus’s sacrifice, which God kneaded the two natures into one dough, Jesus, the fire (17:03) of divine love that Jesus had for our redemption to save us from eternal damnation and the gates (17:10) of Heaven being locked to us on account of the original sin of our first parents, (17:15) So that we may, if we cooperate with this gift and grace, spend an eternity in Heaven with God. (17:23) This love of Christ is what chained him to the Cross. God says it was the “fetter” which held Him (17:30) fastened and nailed to the Cross. Yes, He was nailed to the Cross, but it was love that He (17:35) had for us and our salvation that made Him endure this cruel torture to satisfy for the guilt of (17:42) original sin.
“And in this way was destroyed the stain of Adam’s sin, only the mark of it remaining behind, that is, in inclination to sin, and to every sort of corporeal defect, like the cicatrice which remains when a man is healed of a wound. In this way the original fault of Adam was able still to cause a fatal stain; wherefore the coming of the great Physician, that is to say, of My Only-begotten Son, cured this invalid, He drinking this bitter medicine, which man could not drink on account of his great weakness, like a foster-mother who takes a medicine instead of her suckling, because she is grown up and strong, and the child is not fit to endure its bitterness. He was man’s foster-mother, enduring, with the greatness and strength of the Deity, united with your nature, the bitter medicine of the painful death of the Cross, to give life to you little ones debilitated by guilt.”
(18:48) Now God says this sacrifice destroyed the stain of original sin, but the scar is still there. (18:56) The effects of original sin still remain because man has a wounded human nature due to this scar (19:03) that remains, meaning he still has an inclination to sin, even though the original sin has been (19:10) destroyed. The scar or “cicatrice” remains. We are also, since the inclination to sin is still there, (19:19) open to every corporeal defect as well. Christ acted as our foster-mother, enduring with the (19:27) greatness and strength of God, united with our human nature, the bitter medicine of the painful (19:32) death of the Cross, to give life to us little ones who had been debilitated by guilt.
“I say therefore that the mark alone of original sin remains, which sin you take from your father and your mother when you were generated by them. But this mark is removed from the soul, though not altogether, by Holy Baptism, which has the virtue of communicating the life of grace by means of that glorious and precious Blood. Wherefore, at the moment that the soul receives Holy Baptism, original sin is taken away from her, and grace is infused into her, and that inclination to sin, which remains from the original corruption, as has been said, is indeed a source of weakness, but the soul can keep the bridle on it if she choose.”
Now, baptism takes the (20:26) mark of original sin away from the soul, but not altogether. Holy Baptism has the virtue of (20:32) communicating the life of grace by means of Christ’s blood spilt for us upon the Cross. (20:39) God explains how Baptism infuses grace into the soul, since baptism makes us not an enemy of God (20:45) anymore. Before Baptism, the stain of original sin remains on the soul entirely, therefore, (20:52) an enemy of God, as Adam became on account of the original sin. After Baptism, the scar of original (20:59) sin only remains, partially on the soul, which we will always suffer in this life, the wounded human (21:06) nature due to sin entering the world. Not an enemy of God after Baptism as long as we don’t enter (21:12) into mortal sin after Baptism. Mortal sin was discussed in Episode 4. God says that the (21:19) inclination to sin still remains after Baptism because of the original corruption, and we are (21:25) weak to beat it, but that we can keep a bridle on it if we so choose.
“Then the vessel of the soul is disposed to receive and increase in herself grace, more or less, according as it pleases her to dispose herself willingly with affection, and desire of loving and serving Me; and, in the same way, she can dispose herself to evil as to good, in spite of her having received grace in Holy Baptism.”
God says the soul can receive and increase in grace as much as it (22:00) pleases, or as little as it pleases, and to love and serve God as much as it wants, because it is (22:06) disposed by Baptism to do such a thing. Now, even though this soul has been Baptized, it can dispose (22:13) itself to evil as well.
“Wherefore when the time of discretion is come, the soul can, by her free will, make choice either of good or evil, according as it pleases her will; and so great is this liberty that man has, and so strong has this liberty been made by virtue of this glorious Blood, that no demon or creature can constrain him to one smallest fault without his free consent.”
God has given the soul free will to choose either good or evil when the (22:49) time of discretion has arisen. The liberty or choice and freedom that God has given the soul (22:56) to choose because of the Blood of Christ, that no demon or creature can force the soul to commit (23:02) one small sin or fault without the soul’s free consent.
“He has been redeemed from slavery, and made free in order that he might govern his own sensuality, and obtain the end for which he was created.”
Christ has redeemed us from slavery. He paid the ransom, in which the (23:24) devil was holding us captive, with His own Blood, which one drop would have been more than enough (23:30) to redeem us all. But out of complete love, He spilt all of it for us, pouring all of His love (23:37) out for us, since we had sold ourselves into the bondage of the devil himself through original sin, (23:44) and still sell ourselves into his service when we mortally sin. God through this gift of Christ (23:51) gave us freedom to govern our own sensuality or the senses, both positive and negative, (23:57) using reason to attain our end, to know love and serve God in this life, to be happy with Him in (24:04) Heaven for an eternity. That is what man was created for and no other reason. Any other reason (24:10) is satanic.
“Oh, miserable man, who delights to remain in the mud like a brute, and does not learn this great benefit which he has received from Me! A benefit so great, that the poor wretched creature full of such ignorance could receive no greater.”
We could receive no greater (24:32) a gift ever from anyone, and yet we remain obstinate and roll in the mud like a brute beast, (24:38) the mud being sin, like a pig rolling in the mud, or better yet it’s like a dog that you have just (24:45) given a bath to that immediately runs outside after its bath and rolls in the mud, truly (24:51) ignorant and ungrateful for the bath, and continues on with its brute beast nature. (24:57) So we are like this when we choose to sin after being given such a gift as to choose not to sin, (25:03) yet we do as the dog and choose to govern our sensuality in a negative way and not bridle our (25:10) appetite to sin and we fall into the mud headfirst and roll around like we have no reason or cares.
(25:18) On the next episode we will discuss how much more serious sin is punished after Christ’s Passion (25:24) than before, and also how God’s mercy is done to the world and by what means.
Side note, (25:32) there is most definitely One Religion that does have the claim to the entirety of The Truth, (25:37) that is the unspotted bride of Christ, His Church, the Catholic Church. (25:43)
That will end our episode for today.If you have any questions or comments, (25:47) you can find my email in the contact button below. If you need a Catholic priest, please (25:54) reach out to me and I will help you find one.
And now we will end in prayer.(25:58)
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Ave Maria, gratia plena Dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in ora mortis nostrae. Amen.
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Thank you for listening and I will see you on the next episode.
Reference
The Catholic Torch 