A treasure both ancient and modern

Open an old Catholic prayer book and it’s more than likely that you’ll find it crammed with various prayer-cards. In particular, the distinctive hallmark of Catholic spirituality was the devotion to the Sacred Heart. It inspired saints and religious communities. It lent its name to hospitals, schools and universities. No Catholic home was without a picture or statue. Yet thirty years ago a new broom swept away much of this devotional life. We are all familiar with stories of the removal of statues and ending of pious practices, as though inappropriate for the truly modern Christian. Devotion to the Sacred Heart suddenly became embarrassing to many – an apparently mawkish accretion to the Church at prayer. Yet it has never disappeared. In fact our present Pope, whose pontificate has been wholly focussed on the new millennium, has expressed his approval and encouragement to “all who in any way continue to foster, study and promote devotion to the Heart of Christ in the Church with language and forms adapted to our times”. A survey of the devotion – and in particular one form “adapted to our times” should show why the Pope is justified in assuring that the devotion to the Sacred Heart continues into the Church of tomorrow. Up to three or four decades ago, the practice of devotion per se was taken for granted by Catholics. It had of course sprung from the early Church. St Paul’s own pious ardor (2 Cor 5:14; 2 Tim 3:13) seems to have engendered the use of the term “devotion” even amongst present day evangelical Christians. For St Thomas Aquinas, devotion “appears to be nothing else save a willingness to give oneself readily to what concerns the service of God”.

* The value of devotions –> www.faithmov.com , and:

* St. Margaret Mary and promotion of the Sacred Heart

* Divine Mercy: renewal and development of the devotion

* The spirituality of Teresa Higginson

* Vision of the Sacred Head

* The Head as ‘Seat of Wisdom’ and shrine of the soul

The Faith movement is a group of priests, religious and lay Catholics drawn together by a shared vision of Christ as “Lord of the cosmos and of history” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 668) and Lord of the individual mind and heart. Since the movement was formed in 1972, we have worked to foster the Catholic faith and spiritual life of many people, especially through youth events and various publications.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart; Love ordered through Wisdom (teresahigginson.wordpress.com)
The head is the highest and noblest part of man (teresahigginson.wordpress.com)
Information given by Jesus to Teresa Higginson (teresahigginson.wordpress.com)
12 beloften voor de vereerders van het H.Hoofd van Jezus, Zetel van goddelijke wijsheid (teresahigginson.wordpress.com)

Dr. A. Terruwe en St. Thomas van Aquino

: Image via Wikipedia

Dr. Anna Terruwe’s works were based on Thomas Aquinas and “the relevance of Thomistic rational psychology to neurosis and its treatment.” Her theories are based on Aquinas’ understanding of what he calls the “nature of man.” Dr. Terruwe’s ideas about the nature of man and his emotional life are discussed in depth in the first chapter of Psychic Wholeness and Healing.^. This chapter constitutes the essence of her doctoral thesis about “the psyche of man in the light of philosophical anthropology”.

It was Dr. Terruwe’s embracing of the spiritual aspect of man that gave Dr. Baars his deep desire to not only continue his vocation as a psychiatrist, but to help disseminate these important ideas with her, and then expand on them with her in their successive years of working together. Her ideas included topics about man’s emotional life, his intellect and free will, how “love is the passion of the intellect”, and how the “nature” of man’s emotional life is to “follow reason”. The discussion continues into topics of affirmation and what it means to be “authentically human”.

“When my studies of man, the rational animal, were furthered by those of man, the spiritual human being created in the image of a loving God, I at last began to comprehend the how and why of many of his afflictions.” It was the combination of philosophy and theology in the study of man and his free will that aided Dr. Baars to understand the afflictions of man in a deeper way, and to integrate this knowledge into his professional and personal life. Dr. Baars directly credited his study of Thomas Aquinas, and Aquinas’ psychology of man’s emotional life, to this understanding.

Dr. Baars understood that it is most important to heal the mind, body and spirit to bring about the healing of the whole person. He attributed his understanding of man’s free will and the conflicts between the “suffering of man and divine love” to the works of Professor W.J.A.J. Duynstee, C.SS.R., LL.D. whose works he studied along with the works of Dr. Terruwe. Dr. Baars further attributed his understanding of man and his emotional and spiritual ills to his patients themselves who he found to be an endless source for his own education in the field. He believed that he gained insight into understanding man’s desire for lasting happiness – and ultimately, of God’s profound love for man.

http://www.conradbaars.com/Terruwe-Aquinas.htm