«confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum» lettura...original sin and the expulsion from...

Spiritual Reading/43

Decretum de peccato originali, can. 4

Si quis parvulos recentes ab uteris matrumbaptizandos negat, etiam si fuerint a baptizatisparentibus orti, aut dicit, in remissionem qui-dem peccatorum eos baptizari, sed nihil exAdam trahere originalis peccati, quod regene -rationis lavacro necesse sit expiari ad vitamaeternam consequendam, unde fit conse-quens, ut in eis forma baptismatis “in remis-sionem peccatorum” non vera, sed falsa intel-legatur: anathema sit. Quoniam non aliter in-tellegendum est id, quod dicit Apostolus: «Perunum hominem peccatum intravit inmundum, et per peccatum mors, et ita inomnes homines mors pertransiit, in quoomnes peccaverunt» (Rom 5, 12), nisi quemad-modum Ecclesia catholica ubique diffusa sem-per intellexit. Propter hanc enim regulam fidei,ex traditione Apostolorum, etiam parvuli, quinihil peccatorum in semetipsis adhuc commit-tere potuerunt, ideo in remissionem peccato-rum veraciter baptizantur, ut in eis regenera-tione mundetur, quod generatione con-traxerunt. «Nisi enim quis renatus fuerit exaqua et Spiritu Sancto, non potest introire inregnum Dei» (Io 3, 5) (Denzinger 1514).

«Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum»

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Spiritual Reading Spiritual Reading

Decree on Original Sin, can. 4

If any one denies, that infants, newly born fromtheir mothers’ wombs, even though they besprung from baptized parents, are to be bap-tized; or says that they are to be baptized indeedfor the remission of sins, but that they derivenothing of Original Sin from Adam, which hasneed of being expiated by the laver of regenera-tion for the obtaining of life everlasting,whence it follows as a consequence, that inthem the form of baptism ‘for the remission ofsins’, is understood to be not true, but false, lethim be anathema. For that which the apostlehas said, “By one man sin entered into theworld, and by sin death, and so death passedupon all men in whom all have sinned” (Rm 5,12), is not to be understood otherwise than asthe Catholic Church spread everywhere has al-ways understood it. For, by reason of this rule offaith, from a tradition of the apostles, even in-fants, who could not as yet commit any sin ofthemselves, are for this cause truly baptized forthe remission of sins, so that in them may becleansed away by regeneration what they havecontracted by generation. For, “unless a man beborn again of water and the Holy Ghost, he can-not enter into the kingdom of God” (Jn 3, 5).

“I confess one baptism for the remission of sins”

A view of the interior of the Baptistry of Padua with the baptismal font


In commenting on canon 4 of the Decretum de peccato originali of theCouncil of Trent (Denzinger 1514), where, faithfully following the

Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (I confess one baptism for the remission ofsins), it is stated that the baptism of children, who could not commit anysin personally, is for the remission of sins, we republish, in comfort of thefaith and as a prayer, the passages from the Creed of the People of God of PaulVI in which this doctrine of faith is reproposed.

It has always surprised us to see how St Augustine, when he refers to thetime when the devil is loosed (see Rev 20, 3. 7) – that is he is unleashed, goeswild – indicates as a sign of faithfulness to His Church, and thus as a sign ofhope, the fact that Christian parents have their children baptized (cf. DeCivitate Dei XX, 8, 3).

For this reason, always in comment on canon 4 of the Decretum de peccatooriginali of the Council of Trent, we propose reading some notes taken froma lecture by Don Giacomo Tantardini on this passage of Augustine’s De Civ-itate Dei. The notes of the lecture, held at the Libera Università San Pio V in

Rome on 5 May 1999, were cir-culated among students in ahandout entitled ‘Invitation tothe reading of St Augustine. Lec-ture notes of Don Giacomo Tanta-rdini at the Libera Università SanPio V in Rome on ‘The city of Godand the laws of the States’, Aca-demic Year 1998-1999 (promanuscripto), Association SanGabriele, Rome.

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Original Sin and the expulsion from Eden

12


Paul VI, Creed of the People of God

We believe that in Adam all have sinned, which means that the originaloffense committed by him caused human nature, common to all men, tofall to a state in which it bears the consequences of that offense, and whichis not the state in which it was at first in our first parents – established asthey were in holiness and justice, and in which man knew neither evil nordeath. It is human nature so fallen, stripped of the grace that clothed it, in-jured in its own natural powers and subjected to the dominion of death,that is transmitted to all men, and it is in this sense that every man is born insin. We therefore hold, with the Council of Trent, that Original Sin is trans-mitted with human nature, “not by imitation, but by propagation” and thatit is thus “proper to everyone” (cf. Denzinger 1513).

We believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ, by the Sacrifice of the Cross re-deemed us from Original Sin and all the personal sins committed by eachone of us, so that, in accordance with the word of the Apostle, “where sinabounded grace did more abound” (Rm 5, 20).

We believe in one Baptism instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ for the re-mission of sins. Baptism should be administered even to little children whohave not yet been able to be guilty of any personal sin, in order that, thoughborn deprived of supernatural grace, they may be reborn “of water and theHoly Spirit” to the divine life in Christ Jesus (cf. Denzinger 1514).

Original Sin and the baptism of children


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T he last four books of De Civitate Dei de-scribe the end, the end of the two cities. The

third piece that we shall read today comes fromthe book twenty of De Civitate Dei: it is one ofthe finest passages. In the eighth chapter of booktwenty1 Augustine comments on a few versesfrom Revelation. In particular, he begins to com-ment on the verse (Rev. 20, 3) which states that:“‘Post haec oportet eum solvi brevi tempore / At theend of that time he [the devil] must be re-leased but only for a short while’”. Johnspeaks of the thousand years in which the devil isbound; of the short time that the devil is loosed;of the thousand years in which the saints willreign on earth. Augustine gives to these images

from the beloved disciple the interpretation thatthe Church has always embraced and proposed.It’s interesting to note that there is a whole cul-tural tradition, starting from Joachim of Fiore,contrary to Augustine’s interpretation. There is avery interesting book of Ratzinger’s on this argu-ment2. Augustine says that between the Ascen-sion of the Lord and His glorious second comingwith the resurrection of the dead and the LastJudgment, there is only the time of memory. Inthis “short while”3 between the Ascension of theLord and His glorious second coming, nothingdifferent happens, nothing other4. The memoryis in fact the ever new happening, as new begin-ning, of that same single definitive event. So the

“Even when the devil is loosedthere will be parents so strong

that they will baptize their children” (De Civitate Dei XX, 8, 3)

1 See De Civitate Dei XX, 8, 1-3.2 See J. Ratzinger, San Bonaventura e la teologia della storia, [St Bonaventure and the theology of history] Nardini Editore,

Florence 1991. 3 Augustine, In Evangelium Ioannis CI, 1.6.4 Ecumenical Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, no. 4: “Oeconomia ergo chris-

tiana, utpote foedus novum et definitivum, numquam praeteribit, et nulla iam nova revelatio publica expectanda est ante glo-

riosam manifestationem Domini nostri Iesu Christi / The Christian dispensation, therefore, as the new and definitive

covenant, will never pass away and we now await no further new public revelation before the glorious manifestation of our

Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1Tim 6, 14 and Titus 2, 13)”.

Notes from the lecture given by Don Giacomo Tantardiniat the Libera Università San Pio V in Rome on 5 May 1999


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thousand years that the devil is bound, and theshort time that he is loosed, and the thousandyears in which the saints reign all belong to thistime of the Church before the Last Judgment,they are expressions that describe the conditionsof this time of the Church. St Augustine goes be-yond millenarianism in definitive fashion. Thethousand years in which the saints will reign onearth will not be another time, other than thetime of the Church. In fact, says Augustine in

one of his most beautiful remarks, already theyreign, there is this reign even now5. This is thecontext in which Augustine’s words are to be set.And Augustine’s interpretation turns out to beeven more realistic if we accept the suggestionsthat Professor Eugenio Corsini makes for a read-ing of Revelation6, which, according to him,refers primarily to the Death and Resurrection ofOur Lord, those three days in which “the revela-tion of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1, 1) is accom- ¬

5 See De Civitate Dei XX, 9, 1; see below pp. 21ff.6 See I. de la Potterie,The Apocalypse has already happened, in 30Days, Year 9, no. 96, pp. 56-57.

The beast that aims to devour the child born of the woman clothed with the sun


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plished once and for all. The time of the Churchlives by the memory of that event and by the ex-pectation of its definitive manifestation. Thusthe Book of Revelation is a book of memoryrather than of a future prospect.

What does it mean, Augustine asks, that thedevil will be loosed for a short time? When he isloosed will he be able to seduce the Church?

“Absit; / In no way; / numquam enim ab illoEcclesia seducetur / never in fact will theChurch be seduced by him [the devil] /praedestinata et electa ante mundi constitutionem,/ which was predestined and chosen beforethe foundation of the world, / de qua dictum

est: ‘Novit Dominus qui sunt eius’. / Wherefore itis said: ‘The Lord knows His own’”.

In Lent 1995, I suggested the printing of asmall card with the Prayer to St Joseph, the Mem-orare, the Angel of God and with one of thefinest phrases that Giussani had pronounced inJanuary-February of that year: “We are in suchuniversal decline that none of the receptivity ofChristianity exists any more, if not the brute cre-ated reality. So it is the moment of the begin-nings of Christianity, it is the time in whichChristianity rises, it is the moment of the resur-rection of Christianity. And the resurrection ofChristianity has a single great instrument. What

The woman clothed with the sun and the child, detail


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is that? The miracle. It is the time of the miracle.We must tell people to call upon the saints be-cause they were made for that”. Because al-though others do miracles7, the saints have beenmade for that. I was told that last Monday, dur-ing the television program Porta a Porta, whichwas on the topic of the beatification of PadrePio, in reply to the claims that the saints are can-onized for their culture, Andreotti, who was inthe studio, said ironically that if that’s howthings really were the only saint would beThomas Aquinas. The saints have been madesuch because of miracles.

I got three sentences printed on that same lit-tle card for Lent 1995. The first was from Psalm5, 6: “Liars you destroy; the violent and deceitfulYahweh detests”. The second comes from Reve-lation (Rev. 13,11.16-17): “Then I saw anotherbeast emerging from the ground... It compelledeveryone, small and great alike, rich and poor,slave and citizen, to be branded on his right handor on the forehead, and made it illegal for anyoneto buy or sell anything [make a career] unless hehad been branded with the name of the beast orwith the number of its name”. The third sen-tence is taken from the Second Epistle of Paul toTimothy (2Tim 2, 19): “However, God’s solidfoundation-stone stands firm, and this is the sealon it: ‘The Lord knows those who are His own’,

and ‘All who call on the name of the Lord mustavoid evil’”. It is this third sentence that Augus-tine says is particularly valid in the time when thedevil is loose.

Let us continue our reading of Augustine: “Ettamen hic erit etiam illo tempore, quo solvendus estdiabolus, / Yet the Church will exist here in thetime that the devil must be loosed, / sicut exquo est instituta, hic fuit et erit omni tempore, in su-is utique qui succedunt nascendo morientibus / as,from its foundation, it has existed and willexist here at all times in its members, who al-ways follow by birth those who die”: theChurch lives in its members. There is no Churchin the abstract. There is the Church that lives inits members, that lives in perfect fashion in Herwho was His mother. When in every mass wesay, “Look not on our sins but on the faith ofyour Church”, I think first of all of Our Lady.Because that girl lived the faith of His Church inexcellent manner, humble and excellent, with afullness of grace that is unsurpassable. If therehad been no one who had lived in such fashion,that prayer would not be so real.

Then Augustine comments on another pas-sage of Revelation (20, 9 ff), where John says thatall nations “cinxerunt castra sanctorum et dilectamcivitatem, / besieged the camp of the saintswhich is the beloved city, / et descendit ignis de

7 L. Giussani, Cristo è tutto in tutti [Christ is everything in everybody], Notes from the meditations of Luigi Giussani for the

Spiritual Exercises of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, Rimini 1999, supplement to Litterae Communionis-Tracce,

no. 7, July-August 1999, p. 54: “Do you remember – as described in the second book of the Scuola di comunità – when Jesus

went about the fields with His apostles, He saw near a town called Nain a woman weeping and sobbing behind the coffin of her

dead son? And He went there; He did not say: ‘I shall raise your son’. But: ‘Woman, do not weep’, with a tenderness, affirming

an umistakeable tenderness and love to the human being! And indeed, later, He gave her back her son alive. But that is not the

point because others can work miracles, but it is this, this love, this love for man proper to Christ has no parallel in anything”.

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caelo a Deo et comedit eos... / but fire rained downon them from heaven from God and con-sumed those ...” who were about to conquer thebeloved city... Augustine, as I mentioned before,commenting on this passage states that the finalvictory “iam ad iudicium novissimum pertinet /refers to the Last Judgment”.

As to the short time that the devil is loosed,Augustine says “... ne quis existimet eo ipso parvotempore, quo solvetur diabolus, in hac terra Ecclesi-

am non futuram, illo hic eam vel non inveniente,cum fuerit solutus, vel absumente, cum fuerit modisomnibus persecutus / ... let no one think that inthat brief time when the devil will be loosedthe Church will not exist on earth, either be-cause the devil will not find it when he will beloosed or because he will destroy it after hav-ing persecuted it in every way”.

But if the devil is loosed it means that he isbound. What does the fact that he is boundmean?: “... sed alligatio diaboli est non permittiexserere totam temptationem quam potest / ... thefact that the devil is bound means that he isnot allowed to exercise all the temptation ofwhich he is capable / vel vi vel dolo ad seducendoshomines / through force or through deceptionto seduce men”, to draw people away from thefaith. This is the greatest expression of tempta-tion. All the temptations of the devil are tempta-tions just as all seven deadly sins are deadly sins8.But the temptation towards which all the temp-tations lead is when the devil wants to destroyfaith. As Father Leopold Mandic always saidwhen confessing: “As long as the faith is saved”9.This is the criterion for priests when they con-fess, and is the ultimate purpose of confessing.So it is a very great comfort to confess whateversin so that the faith be saved. Faith is the root ofeverything. Thus we return innocent, little, pureof heart.

“Through force and deception,” the devilgoes to work to destroy the faith. “Through forceand deception”.

8 See Who prays is saved, 30Days, Rome 2007, p. 20: “The Seven Capital Sins: 1. Pride; 2. Covetousness; 3. Lust; 4. Anger;

5. Gluttony; 6. Envy; 7. Sloth”. 9 See S. Falasca, It is the Lord Who is at work in 30Days, no. 1, January 1999, pp. 63-67.

The beast rising from the sea


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“Vi/ through force.” For example threats.Faced with the sudden deaths that have markedthese years, I have sometimes said that, from acertain point of view, for them to be used as athreat against those who believe, it is not impor-tant that they be sudden deaths brought aboutby murder or sudden deaths happening bychance (they are never ultimately by chance inthe design of the Lord’s providence). They canbe used as a threat against those who believeeven if they are not true murders. Faced with cer-tain sudden deaths a person may say to another:“Look, if you don’t do as I say, you’ll end up likethat person”. So sudden deaths are used as athreat, even if not the result of murder, even ifthey were, so to speak, natural deaths.

“Dolo / through deception”. Most people areseduced through deception. In modern terms wespeak of leveling through the means of mass com-munication. Media deception. To deceive peoplethe devil relies on the sin of pride. The Lord infact gives wisdom to the small and simple, that is,to the humble (“Qui sunt parvuli? Humiles”10).“As your word unfolds it gives light, and even thesimple understand” (Ps 119, 130).

So when Augustine speaks of this persecutionhe suggests that wisdom is important. That is, in-telligence that captures the moment is impor-tant. Further on he says so: “Omnes insidias eiusatque impetus et caverent sapientissime et patientis-sime sustinerent / to avoid with great wisdomthe snares and assaults [of the devil], and tobear them with great patience”. Augustine in-sists on this intelligence, although the fact thatwe remain faithful under persecution is obvious-ly a special gift of grace. Especially when the per-secution becomes bloody, as in the April of sevenyears ago, April 1992, Giussani had foreseen11.

Augustine continues: “in partem suam cogendoviolenter fraudolenterve fallendo / forcing them tojoin his side with violence or deceiving with ¬

10 Augustine, Sermones 67, 5, 8.11 L. Giussani, Un avvenimento di vita, cioè una storia [An

event of life: that is a story] (introduction by Cardinal Joseph

Ratzinger), Edit-Il Sabato, Rome 1993, p. 104: “That’s how it

is. The rage of the world today does not rise up at the word

Church, it stays quiet even at the idea that people define them-

selves as Catholic, or before the figure of the Pope described

as a moral authority. Indeed there is a formal, even sincere,

agreement. The hatred is unleashed – barely contained, but

soon to overflow – at Catholics, Catholics who take a stand as

such, Catholics who act in the simplicity of the Tradition”. The angel striking down the beast with the millstone


lies”. The devil tempts men primarily not so theymay sin (even if he can’t force them with violenceand deceit on to his side, except through sin12) butso they join his side. That is the goal, so that theyjoin his side. If one fails to grasp this, one fails tograsp an essential dimension of the history of theChurch. One cannot describe the history of theChurch only as a story of grace and sin. I remem-ber once I was in a car with Giussani in Rome. Onthe way to Piazza Venezia, Giussani said: “You see,the factors in the history of the Church are three:grace, sin and the Antichrist. If you do not keep inmind the Antichrist, the relationship betweengrace and sin can be conceived moralistically”.The Antichrist, through sin, wants to get us to joinhis side. “In partem suam cogendo violenter fraudo-lenterve fallendo / forcing them to join his sidethrough violence or deceiving them with lies”.

Augustine asks himself: why is the devilloosed?

Let me open a brief parenthesis. Someonementioned to me a dream of St John Bosco. DonBosco dreamed of a bet, if I’ve got it right, be-tween God and the devil, and the devil says toGod he can destroy the faith in a century. Andthe Lord says, so be it, I’ll give you a hundredyears, you can do whatever you want. We willsee at the end if you’ve managed to completelydestroy the faith in my Church. As with all pri-

vate prophecies, such as the dream of DonBosco, one is free to believe or not believe. In-deed, properly speaking, one doesn’t believethem, one can only give them credit or not. Be-cause they are not the object of faith. Privateprophecies, however, can be intelligent hy-potheses for interpreting reality. Privateprophecies, including apparitions of Our Lady,can be promptings to the intelligence illuminat-ed by faith for looking at reality. Think of theprophecy of Paul VI in September 197713 and

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12 “Non enim nisi peccatis homines separantur a Deo / In fact, only by sins do men separate themselves from God” (De Civi-

tate Dei X, 22); “Non deserit, si non deseratur / It does not abandon if it is not abandoned” (Augustine, De natura et gratia 26,

29); Council of Trent, Decretum de iustificatione, ch. 11: De observatione mandatorum, deque illius necessitate et possibilitate,

(Denzinger 1536-1539 in particular 1537); Vatican Council I, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith Dei Filius, (Den-

zinger 3014).13 See L. Giussani, Un avvenimento di vita, cioè una storia (introduction by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger), Edit-Il Sabato,


Giussani’s even more dramatically realisticjudgment in December 1998 on the small rem-nant14. A private prophecy, which properlyspeaking one does not believe, but to which onesimply gives credit, because faith is born onlyfrom the attraction of grace15, can neverthelessbe a useful starting point for looking carefullyand with acceptance at reality as it is.

So why is the devil loosed?“Si autem numquam solveretur, minus appareret

eius maligna potentia, / If he were never loosedhis malevolent power would look less bad, /minus sanctae civitatis fidelissima patientia pro-baretur, / the faithful patience of the holy citywould be less tried / minus denique perspiceretur,quam magno eius malo tam bene fuerit usus Om-nipotens ... / but most of all one would see lessclearly how He who is omnipotent can use

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¬

Rome 1993, pp. 72-73: “In recent years you have wanted repeated and known to all the words that Paul VI spoke to his friend

Jean Guitton, on 8 September 1977, in which there was mention of ‘non-Catholic thinking’ and the resistance of a ‘little flock’.

Why? Luigi Giussani: Because this is what is happening. Please read me those words again. Here they are: ‘There is a great tur-

moil at this time in the world of the Church, and what is at issue is faith. It happens now that I repeat to myself the obscure words

of Jesus in the Gospel of St. Luke: “When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on earth?”. It happens that books come out in

which the faith is in retreat on important points, that the bishops remain silent, that they do not find these books strange. This, to

me, is strange. Sometimes I re-read the Gospel of the end of times and I see that some signs of this end are emerging at this mo-

ment. Are we nearing the end? That we shall never know. We must always be ready, but everything can last for a very long time

yet. What strikes me, when I consider the Catholic world, is that within Catholicism thinking of a non-Catholic sort sometimes

seems to predominate, and it can happen that this non-Catholic thinking within Catholicism may become the stronger tomorrow.

But it will never represent the thinking of the Church. A small flock needs to subsist, however small it is’”.14 L. Giussani, Christ is a present part of living reality, in 30Days, No. 12, December 1998, p. 60-61: “Today the fact that

Christ exists – whether he is, where he is, where may be the road to go to him – is lived only by very few, the remnant of Israel as

it were, and even they are often infiltrated and blocked by the influence of the common mentality”.15 Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae II-II q. 4 a. 4 ad 3 : “Gratia facit fidem non solum quando fides de novo incipit esse in

homine, sed etiam quamdiu fides durat / Grace creates faith not only when faith is born in a person, but for as long as faith

lasts”.

The beast rising from the sea, detail


so great an evil for an even greater good... /In eorum sane, qui tunc futuri sunt, sanctorumatque fidelium comparatione quid sumus? / Com-pared to those saints and faithful who willlive then [when the devil will be loosed], whatare we?”

This question came spontaneously to Augus-tine because Augustine lived at a time whenthousands and thousands of people were be-coming Christians. So much so that for Augus-tine the obvious miracle for belief in Christ wasthe multitudo, the multitude of people whowere becoming Christian. Augustine was sur-rounded by the miracle of thousands and thou-sands of people becoming Christian. A multitu-do of the ignorant and sinful encounteringChristianity16. There is no comparison betweenthe evidence of miracles that confirmed thefaith17 at the time of Augustine with today, inwhich, as a bishop of Laos suggested to 30Days,the Church is like a small child saved fromdrowning18. Augustine could say: “The most ob-vious miracle is that your temples and your the-aters are empty, while the churches are full of

16 See J. Ratzinger, People and House of God in St Augus-

tine, Viking, New York 1971, in particular pp. 33-38: “God

did this [provide further embodiment for wisdom to clear

the way even for the eye of dim] first through miracles then

through the multitudo. For Augustine, the multitude of peo-

ples who belong to the Church is a clear sign from God that

only God Himself could truly give” (p. 35).17 See Ecumenical Vatican Council I, Dogmatic Constitu-

tion on the Catholic Faith Dei Filius, (Denzinger 3009).18 See S. M. Paci, All we need is an Ave Maria, an interview

with Monsignor Jean Khamsé Vithavong, apostolic vicar of Vi-

entiane in Laos, 30Days, no. 3, March 1999, pp. 14-17.

Prayer To St Michael the Archangel

St Michael the Archangel,

defend us in battle: be our help against

the wickedness and snares of the devil.

We beseech God to overcome him

and you, Prince of the heavenly host,

with the power that comes from God,

bind Satan in hell and

the other evil spirits

that roam the world

for the perdition of souls. Amen.

The fifth angel pouring out the goblet of God's wrath on the throne of the beast


people”. Today it’s literally the opposite. Forthis reason I think this time, or moments of thistime can be read, as a time or moments when thedevil is loose. I say this from a realistic point ofview, as ascertained fact19. The prayer of PopeLeo XIII to St Michael the Archangel, which,before the liturgical reform, was recited at theend of Mass, also suggested this hypothesis byits plea: “... and you, Prince of the heavenly host,with the power that comes from God, bind Sa-tan in hell and the other evil spirits...”20.

“... Usque in illum finem sine dubio converten-tur; ... / ... Until the end [even when the devil isloose] there will be those that will be convert-ed; ... / qui oderint christianos, in quorum quoti-die, velut in abysso, caecis et profundis cordibus in-cludatur / [and there will also be] those whohate Christians; in the depths of their blindhearts in which every day the devil is impris-oned as in the abyss”: I think it would be diffi-cult to find Augustine giving a more tragic opin-ion on anyone than this on those who hateChristians as such. Christians that is “those whoact in the simplicity of Tradition”21.

“Immo vero id potius est credendum, / One mustrather believe that / nec qui cadant de Ecclesianec qui accedant Ecclesiae illo tempore defuturos, /in that time also there will be no lack of thosewho fall away from the Church nor of thosewho come to it, / sed profecto tam fortes erunt etparentes pro baptizandis parvulis suis / but ofcourse there will indeed be parents so strongthat they will have their children baptized[this is splendid, like a glance at the things thathave been happening in these years], / et hi, quitunc primitus credituri sunt, ut illum fortem vincantetiam non ligatum, / and also some, who at thattime will have just taken the first step in faith,who will be so strong as to overcome the forceof the devil, even if not bound, / id est omnibus,qualibus antea numquam, vel artibus insidiantemvel urgentem viribus, et vigilanter intellegant et ¬

19 See J. Ratzinger, The anguish of an absence. Three medi-

tations on Holy Saturday, supplement 30Days, no. 3, March

1994, pp. 37-44.20 Pope Leo XIII composed the prayer to St Michael the

Archangel, it seems, in 1886, and then sent it to all bishops,

so it would be recited, kneeling, at the end of every Mass, af-

ter he had been deeply troubled by a vision at the end of the

celebration of a Mass he attended (see Ephemerides Liturgi-

cae 69 [1955], p. 59 note 9). The prayer was also included in a

special exorcism Leo XIII got inserted into the Roman Ritual

(it appeared at heading XII in the 1954 edition).21 See note 11 above. Christ on a white horse followed by the heavenly hosts

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toleranter ferant; ac sic illi etiam non ligato eripi-antur / that is ready to understand with atten-tion and able to resist with patience the devil,who, as never before, snares with all skill andattacks with all strength, so as to be rid ofhim, though he be not bound”: it is not theywho win, but it is they who are rescued by thegrace of God both from the force that threatensand from deception.

Finally, in the ninth chapter of book twenty22,Augustine comments on the thousand years inwhich the elect will reign on earth: “Interea dummille annis ligatus est diabolus, sancti regnant cumChristo etiam ipsi mille annis, eisdem sine dubio eteodem modo intellegendis, id est, isto iam temporeprioris eius adventus. / So, while the devil isbound for a thousand years, the saints reignwith Christ for a thousand years too, to be un-derstood without doubt to be in the same way,that is already in this time of His first coming. /Excepto quippe illo regno, de quo in fine dicturus est:

‘Venite, benedicti Patris mei, possidete paratum vobisregnum’, / For, in addition to that kingdom ofwhich at the end it will be said: ‘Come, blessedof my Father, inherit the kingdom preparedfor you’, / nisi alio aliquo modo, longe quidem im-pari, iam nunc regnarent cum illo sancti eius, / ifeven now in this time, albeit in another verydifferent way [from heaven], His saints werenot to reign with him, / quibus ait: ‘Ecce ego vobis-cum sum usque in consummationem saeculi’ / towhom the Lord says: ‘Here I am with you untilthe end of time’, / profecto non etiam nunc dicere-tur Ecclesia regnum eius regnumve caelorum / cer-tainly no one would say that the Church is al-ready His kingdom, the kingdom of heaven”:His faithful reign through His presence. Because,the Lord being already present now, reigning islike the reflection in heart and actions, that is,good works, of His presence and His doing.

“... Ergo et nunc Ecclesia regnum Christi est reg-numque caelorum. / ... In fact already now the

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22 See De Civitate Dei XX, 9, 1.

The Lamb on the throne between the four living beings and the four and twenty elders


Church is the kingdom of Christ and the king-dom of heaven. / Regnant itaque cum illo etiamnunc sancti eius, / Even now, therefore, Hissaints reign with Him / aliter quidem quam tuncregnabunt; / in different fashion from how theywill reign then [in Paradise], / nec tamen cum illoregnant zizania, quamvis in Ecclesia cum tritico cres-cant / but weeds do not reign with Him, al-though they may grow with the wheat in theChurch”. The difference in the Church is precise-ly the reigning. The difference is the experience ofawe that His presence creates. That is, the differ-ence is being or not in the grace of God23. Weedsalso grows in the Church, the weeds belong to theChurch, the weeds can also take the sacraments ofthe Church, may be among the leaders ofChurch24, but they do not reign. Because reigningis simply the reflection in the heart and goodworks of the wonder of His grace: “... Postremoregnant cum illo, qui eo modo sunt in regno eius utsint etiam ipsi regnum eius / ... In short, those whoare in His kingdom in such a way as to bethemselves His kingdom reign with Him”.

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23 See Vatican Ecumenical Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium, 14: “Non salvatur tamen, licet Ec-

clesiae incorporetur, qui in caritate non perseverans, in Ecclesiae sinu “corpore” quidem, sed non “corde” remanet. Memores autem sint

omnes Ecclesiae filii condicionem suam eximiam non propriis meritis, sed peculiari gratiae Christi esse adscribendam; cui si cogita-

tione, verbo et opere non respondent, nedum salventur, severius iudicabuntur / He is not saved, however, who, though part of the

body of the Church, does not persevere in charity. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but, as it were, only in a "bodily"

manner and not "in his heart." All the Church's children should remember that their exalted status is to be attributed not to their

own merits but to the special grace of Christ. If they fail moreover to respond to that grace in thought, word and deed, not only shall

they not be saved but they will be the more severely judged (Lk 12, 48: “To whom much is given, much will be required”. Cf. Mt 5,

19-20; 7, 21-22; 25, 41-46; James2, 14)”. 24 See L. Giussani L’uomo e il suo destino. In cammino [Man and his destiny. On the way], Marietti, Genova 1999, pp. 27-28:

“Here I’d like to make an observation. What I said earlier about power is true as a dizzying aspect for authority as it may be ex-

perienced in the Church. If it is not paternal, and hence maternal, it can become the source of supreme misunderstanding, de-

vious and destructive tool in the hands of falsehood, of Satan, the father of lies (cf. Jn 8, 44). As always, in an astonishing way,

The Lamb on Mount Zion and the one hundred and forty-fourthousand chosen


«confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum» lettura...original sin and the expulsion from...

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