AN C IPIA M August/September 2010 THE REPO rt OF T HE CR USADE OF SAIN T BENEDI ct CEN T E R SLAVE S OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY “TO SERVE HER is TO RE I GN ” TO FR IENDS OF T HE CR USADE : LI B E R A L IS M : BAD FO R RE L IGION , GOOD FO R EDU C A T ION t Saint Benedict Center ligious nature is something we execrate as an error. In fact, in Cambridge, Massa- Liberalism is a sin. Achusetts, our forefathers I invite readers to study that above-cited definition care- had a saying that epitomized fully. Many of us garner our understanding of liberalism from their apostolate in the academic the partisan politics of the day; therefore, we have a poor un- circles in which they mixed: derstanding of it. Much of “We are against liberalism in re- what passes for “conserva- ligion, but we are for liberal edu- tive” in our nation is really cation.” This was in the 1940’s. old-fashioned liberalism. What does it mean At the time, the Jesuits were And this is not a mere mat- to say that we are Br. André Marie, M.I.C.M., Prior parting drastically from the tra- ter of preference; it concerns “against liberalism ditional ratio studiorum of their truth versus error. Remem- institutions of higher learning, modeling them instead after ber: Liberalism is a sin. in religion” but “for those institutions they were sending their young scholastics to, What is this good kind of liberal education”? institutions like Harvard. Their education was evolving from liberalism — this liberal ed- a classical “liberal” one to its opposite, a “servile” education. ucation? We can summarize The preservation of a Catholic Education worthy of the name it in this wise: man educated was an important goal of the Center in Cambridge, so Father as man; that is, man’s rational faculties brought to their per- Feeney and his followers were anti-liberal in religion and au- fection by acquiring the habits that lead him to contemplation, thentically liberal in education. By contrast, the Jesuits — at the summit of human happiness. This is contrasted with ser- least at the institutional level — became educationally illib- vile education, that schooling that makes man into a servant: eral and dogmatically ultra-liberal. a carpenter, a lawyer, a dentist, a bus driver. Note, I mixed What does it mean to say that we are “against liberalism in up blue collar with white collar jobs. It matters not: both are religion” but “for liberal education”? servile; both are functionaries in society. By contrast, liberal To answer that, I’ll begin with the con and move to the education educates a free man. Brother Francis explained this pro. kind of education in several places, two of them being his Most of us regard liberalism as an evil, and so it is as a phil- “Plato and Liberal Education” and this brief excerpt from the osophical and theological construction. “The basic concept of first volume of his Philosophia Perennis: liberalism is liberty, taken as emancipation and independence “The seven Liberal Arts — divided into the three disci- of man, society, and State, from God and His Church.” Read- plines of Trivium and the four disciplines of Quadrivium — ers may consult “Liberalism: An Evil Defined” on page 5 for form part of the traditional wisdom which has been handed a fuller explanation. Liberalism of this philosophical and re- down from the ages of Faith. These arts work in harmony with continued on page 14 This is one of the rock walls that Russell LaPlume built. The niche on the right side is for a statue, yet to be procured. 2 MAN C IPIA • Th e Re p o rt o f T h e CR u s a d e o f sa i n T Be n e d i ct Ce n T e R • August/September 2010 CONVEN T CO R NE R I DON ’T HAVE TI M E ! or what? What do you tial, its maturity. In summary, the kitten must take nutrition, have time for? What is grow, and reproduce more kittens to perfect its nature as God Ftime, anyway? intended it. The total amount of time allotted to a cat to per- Let’s start with what time is. fect its nature is roughly fifteen years. Then, it is substantially Time is a creature of God. Tech- changed at death and no longer exists as a cat. That change, nically, it is co-created with mat- the last in a cat, precludes any more changes that require time. ter. This means, that when God Time is no more for a dead cat. created the material universe — If the kitten “didn’t have time” to eat, to grow, or to gen- earth, water, atmosphere, plants erate other kittens, you would certainly wonder what it was and animals, and, finally, man using its time for! Sr. Marie Thérèse, M.I.C.M., — time was created with it. An- For human beings, life is more complicated than simply Prioress gels, who are immaterial beings getting nutrition, growing, and reproducing. This is primar- (they don’t have bodies), have no need for time, so we say that ily true because human beings have a purpose that is beyond they were created “before time,” since they were created be- the materiality of human nature itself. What do I mean? The fore the material universe brought with it the co-creation of perfection of a human being, who has a spiritual intellect and time. A material being is, philosophically speaking, an ens free will, and who will, therefore, never cease to exist (unlike mobile, a “being in change.” This becomes significant as we the kitten at death), is of an everlasting nature. So we speak of finally arrive at the philosophic definition of time. everlasting life and everlasting death for human beings. Hu- Time is “the measure of change in a material being.” As an man life doesn’t simply cease with the death of the body. example, a kitten changes in many ways all very familiar to Everlasting life is the true end of man. This end requires us. We measure these changes in “time.” When it is a few days something that man does not have by nature: grace, and a new old, it opens its eyes. After a few weeks, it begins to eat solid resultant nature. We receive this new nature, this new life, at food. At one year, it is able to have its own litter of kittens. By our supernatural birth into God’s family; namely, at the re- these changes, God intends the kitten to reach its full poten- ception of the sacrament of Baptism. From that point on “in continued on page 15 IHM School Patrons Support traditional Catholic education! Immaculate Heart of Mary School needs your help to provide an affordable education that will enable our growing num- bers of students to reach their full potential: mentally, physically, and spiritually. We are hoping to find patrons for IHM School: indi- viduals, families, or businesses that would help with contributions. These could be given monthly or when- ever is convenient. Will you help us? All patrons receive: 1) a framed, autographed picture of the students and faculty of Immaculate Heart of Mary School; 2) a re- membrance in certain special daily prayers; 3) a school yearbook; and 4) our eternal gratitude! Call Russell LaPlume at (603) 239-6485 to sign up or for more information. MAN C IPIA • Th e Re p o rt o f T h e CR u s a d e o f sa i n T Be n e d i ct Ce n T e R • August/September 2010 3 FOUNDE R S ’ CO L U M N EPIS T E M O L OGI C A L CONSIDE R A T IONS pistemology is the study to become a monkey than for a monkey to become a man. of knowledge. Most Epistemology studies the act of knowledge; it is the science Emodern philosophies be- or the theory of knowledge. Knowledge seeks truth. When you gin with an explicit or an im- accept something in your mind that is false and you think that plicit denial of the very fact of you have knowledge, you don’t have knowledge. It has to be knowledge. There are three fun- true to be knowledge. What is truth? Truth is the conformity damental principles that episte- of the mind to reality. mology rests on: Error is a positive deformity. So the fact that we don’t get One: The fact of knowledge; the full reality — that the mind is not fully conformed to the we know that we can know. totality of things — is not error, it is just a limitation of the Brother Francis, M.I.C.M. You can’t prove this self-evident human condition. But when there is positive deformity, when truth. You can’t reduce it to any you affirm something that isn’t so, or when you fail to affirm other principle. something that is, that’s error. The world is far more abundant Two: My own existence. Nobody could doubt his own ex- in error than in truth. istence. We have excellent reasons to know that reality is infinitely Three: The principle of contradiction: When one thing is greater than even the extensive universe open to our eyes, and true, its contradictory must be false. ears, and touch, and the other senses; yes, it is infinitely great- The whole false philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich er.