Brief van Copernicus aan Paus Paulus III

TO HIS HOLINESS, POPE PAUL III,
NICHOLAS COPERNICUS’ PREFACE
TO HIS BOOKS ON THE REVOLUTIONS

I can readily imagine, Holy Father, that as soon as some people hear that in this volume, which I have written about the revolutions of the spheres of the universe, I ascribe certain motions to the terrestrial globe, they will shout that I must be immediately repudiated together with this belief For I am not so enamored of my own opinions that I disregard what others may think of them. I am aware that a philosopher’s ideas are not subject to the judgement of ordinary persons, because it is his endeavor to seek the truth in all things, to the extent permitted to human reason by God. Yet I hold that completely erroneous views should be shunned. Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned the conception that the earth remains at rest in the middle of the heaven as its center would, I reflected, regard it as an insane pronouncement if I made the opposite assertion that the earth moves. Therefore I debated with myself for a long time whether to publish the volume which I wrote to prove the earth’s motion or rather to follow the example of the Pythagoreans and certain others, who used to transmit philosophy’s secrets only to kinsmen and friends, not in writing but by word of mouth, as is shown by Lysis’ letter to Hipparchus. And they did so, it seems to me, not, as some suppose, because they were in some way jealous about their teachings, which would be spread around; on the contrary, they wanted the very beautiful thoughts attained by great men of deep devotion not to be ridiculed by those who are reluctant to exert themselves vigorously in any literary pursuit unless it is lucrative; or if they are stimulated to the nonacquisitive study of philosophy by the exhortation and example of others, yet because of their dullness of mind they play the same part among philosophers as drones among bees. When I weighed these considerations, the scorn which I had reason to fear on account of the novelty and unconventionality of my opinion almost induced me to abandon completely the work which I had undertaken.

But while I hesitated for a long time and even resisted, my friends drew me back. Foremost among them was the cardinal of Capua, Nicholas Schönberg, renowned in every field of learning. Next to him was a man who loves me dearly, Tiedemann Giese, bishop of Chelmno, a close student of sacred letters as well as of all good literature. For he repeatedly encouraged me and, sometimes adding reproaches, urgently requested me to publish this volume and finally permit it to appear after being buried among my papers and lying concealed not merely until the ninth year but by now the fourth period of nine years. The same conduct was recommended to me by not a few other very eminent scholars. They exhorted me no longer to refuse, on account of the fear which I felt, to make my work available for the general use of students of astronomy. Ile crazier my doctrine of the earth’s motion now appeared to most people, the argument ran, so much the more admiration and thanks would it gain after they saw the publication of my writings dispel the fog of absurdity by most luminous proofs. Influenced therefore by these persuasive men and by this hope, in the end I allowed my friends to bring out an edition of the volume, as they had long besought me to do.

However, Your Holiness will perhaps not be greatly surprised that I have dared to publish my studies after devoting so much effort to working them out that I did not hesitate to put down my thoughts about the earth’s motion in written fcrm too. But you are rather waiting to hear from me how it occurred to me to venture to conceive any motion of the earth, against the traditional opinion of astronomers and almost against common sense. I have accordingly no desire to from Your Holiness that I was impelled to consider a different system of deducing the motions of the universe’s spheres for no other reason than the realization that astronomers do not agree among themselves in their investigations of this subject. For, in the first place, they are so uncertain about the motion of the sun and moon that they cannot establish and observe a constant length even for the tropical year. Secondly, in determining the motions not only of these bodies but also of the other five planets, they do not use the same principles, assumptions, and explanations of the apparent revolutions and motions. For while some employ only homocentrics, others utilize eccentrics and epicycles, and yet they do not quite reach their goal. For although those who put their faith in homocentrics showed that some nonuniform motions could be compounded in this way, nevertheless by this means they were unable to obtain any incontrovertible result in absolute agreement with the phenomena. On the other hand, those who devised the eccentrics seem thereby in large measure to have solved the problem of the apparent motions with appropriate calculations. But meanwhile they introduced a good many ideas which apparently contradict the first principles of uniform motion. Nor could they elicit or deduce from the eccentrics the principal consideration, that is, the structure of the universe and the true symmetry of its parts. On the contrary, their experience was just like some one taking from various places hands, feet, a head, and other pieces, very well depicted, it may be, but not for the representation of a single person; since these fragments would not belong to one another at all, a monster rather than a man would be put together from them. Hence in the process of demonstration or "method", as it is called, those who employed eccentrics are found either to have omitted something essential or to have admitted something extraneous and wholly irrelevant. This would not have happened to them, had they followed sound principles. For if the hypotheses assumed by them were not false, everything which follows from their hypotheses would be confirmed beyond any doubt. Even though what I am now saying may be obscure, it will nevertheless become clearer in the proper place.

For a long time, then, I reflected on this confusion in the astronomical traditions concerning the derivation of the motions of the universe’s spheres. I began to be annoyed that the movements of the world machine, created for our sake by the best and most systematic Artisan of all, were not understood with greater certainty by the philosophers, who otherwise examined so precisely the most insignificant trifles of this world. For this reason I undertook the task of rereading the works of all the philosophers which I could obtain to learn whether anyone had ever proposed other motions of the universe’s spheres than those expounded by the teachers of astronomy in the schools. And in fact first I found in Cicero that Hicetas supposed the earth to move. Later I also discovered in Plutarch that certain others were of this opinion. I have decided to set his words down here, so that they may be available to everybody:

Some think that the earth remains at rest. But Philolaus the Pythagorean believes that, like the sun and moon, it revolves around the fire in an oblique circle. Heraclides of Pontus, and Ecphantus the Pythagorean make the earth move, not in a progressive motion, but like a wheel in a rotation from west to east about its own center.

Therefore, having obtained the opportunity from these sources, I too began to consider the mobility of the earth. And even though the idea seemed absurd, nevertheless I knew that others before me had been granted the freedom to imagine any circles whatever for the purpose of explaining the heavenly phenomena. Hence I thought that I too would be readily permitted to ascertain whether explanations sounder than those of my predecessors could be found for the revolution of the celestial spheres on the assumption of some motion of the earth.

Having thus assumed the motions which I ascribe to the earth later on in the volume, by long and intense study I finally found that if the motions of the other planets are correlated with the orbiting of the earth, and are computed for the revolution of each planet, not only do their phenomena follow therefrom but also the order and size of all the planets and spheres, and heaven itself is so linked together that in no portion of it can anything be shifted without disrupting the remaining parts and the universe as a whole. Accordingly in the arrangement of the volume too I have adopted the following order. In the first book I set forth the entire distribution of the spheres together with the motions which I attribute to the earth, so that this book contains, as it were, the general structure of the universe. Then in the remaining books I correlate the motions of the other planets and of all the spheres with the movement of the earth so that I may thereby determine to what extent the motions and appearances of the other planets and spheres can be saved if they are correlated with the earth’s motions. I have no doubt that acute and learned astronomers will agree with me if, as this discipline especially requires, they are willing to examine and consider, not superficially but thoroughly, what I adduce in this volume in proof of these matters. However, in order that the educated and uneducated alike may see that I do not run away from the judgement of anybody at all, I have preferred dedicating my studies to Your Holiness rather than to anyone else. For even in this very remote comer of the earth where I live you are considered the highest authority by virtue of the loftiness of your office and your love for all literature and astronomy too. Hence by your prestige and judgement you can easily suppress calumnious attacks although, as the proverb has it, there is no remedy for a backbite.

Perhaps there will be babblers who claim to be judges of astronomy although completely ignorant of the subject and, badly distorting some passage of Scripture to their purpose, will dare to find fault with my undertaking and censure it. I disregard them even to the extent of despising their criticism as unfounded. For it is not unknown that Lactantius, otherwise an illustrious writer but hardly an astronomer, speaks quite childishly about the earth’s shape, when he mocks those who declared that the earth has the form of a globe. Hence scholars need not be surprised if any such persons will likewise ridicule me. Astronomy is written for astronomers. To them my work too will seem, unless I am mistaken, to make some contribution also to the Church, at the head of which Your Holiness now stands. For not so long ago under Leo X the Lateran Council considered the problem of reforming the ecclesiastical calendar. The issue remained undecided then only because the lengths of the year and month and the motions of the sun and moon were regarded as not yet adequately measured. From that time on, at the suggestion of that most distinguished man, Paul, bishop of Fossombrone, who was then in charge of this matter, I have directed my attention to a more precise study of these topics. But what I have accomplished in this regard, I leave to the judgement of Your Holiness in particular and of all other learned astronomers. And lest I appear to Your Holiness to promise more about the usefulness of this volume than I can fulfill, I now turn to the work itself.

No Comment - 16 V 2010

Paus Benedictus in Fatima

Heilige Jozef; timmerman, werkman, arbeider

Op 1 mei 1955 stelde Paus Pius XII het feest van Jozef, Arbeider in.

Géén socialistisch/communistisch feest van de arbeid.

Géén klassenstrijd!!! Géén strijd!!!

Maar, respect, eerbied en tevredenheid voor iedereen die werkt.

Of hij nu timmerman, werkman, arbeider of nog iets anders is.



Deze herdenking van de Heilige Jozef, als patroon van de arbeid, herinnert aan de waarde van de menselijke inspanning voor het dagelijks onderhoud:

"De mannen en vrouwen die in hun zorg voor het levensonderhoud van zichzelf en hun gezin een dergelijke activiteit aan de dag leggen, dat zij de maatschappij een reële dienst bewijzen, kunnen terecht menen dat zij door hun werkzaamheid het werk van de Schepper verder uitbouwen, de belangen van hun medemensen behartigen en door hun persoonlijke toeleg het hunne bijdragen tot de vervulling van het goddelijke plan in de geschiedenis."

(Tweede Vaticaans Concilie, Pastorale Constitutie over de Kerk in de wereld van deze tijd, Gaudium et spes, nr. 34.)

Heilige Grignion de Montfort

Heilige Grignion de Montfort,
wij worden aangemoedigd door uw liefde voor Maria,
door uw vroomheid en uw toewijding,
vruchten van de heilige Geest,
in u gerijpt.

Zij was voor u de weg naar God en naar het hart van de mensen.
Gij hebt haar gemaakt tot koningin van heel uw bestaan.
Aan haar leiding hebt gij u overgegeven
en uw beslissingsrecht haar in handen gelegd.

Met u willen wij haar vereren,
over haar spreken en haar bij eenvoudigen bekend maken.

Apostel van Maria,
begeleid ons in onze vroomheid;
overtuig ons ervan dat we ons door haar moeten laten opvoeden
zoals zij Jezus heeft opgevoed... en u.

Neem bij ons de aarzeling weg haar lief te hebben.
Wij willen u navolgen en bij haar in de leer gaan,
totdat ook wij de moeder van God kunnen nazeggen:
"Mij geschiede naar uw woord,
mijn ziel prijst hoog de Heer".

Grot van St.-Paulus in Rabat, Malta

Het visioen van Don Bosco mei 1862

Op 26 mei 1862 beloofde Don Bosco zijn jongens op de laatste of voorlaatste dag van de maand "iets moois" te vertellen. Na het avondgebed van 30 mei loste hij in zijn avondgedachte deze belofte in.

Hij zei: "Tot jullie geestelijk voordeel zal ik jullie vandaag een droom vertellen, die ik een paar dagen geleden heb gehad. Stellen jullie je voor, wij bevinden ons aan de kust bij de zee of beter nog, op een eenzame klip, en zien geen land, behalve de grond onder onze voeten. Op zee zien wij talloze schepen, die zich hebben opgesteld voor een zeeslag. Zij beschikken over ijzeren scheepspitsen en zijn met kanonnen, geweren, en allerhande ander schiettuig uitgerust. Zij naderen een schip dat veel groter is dan hun eigen schip en proberen deze met hun ijzeren spitsen te beschadigen, het in brand te steken en het alle mogelijke schade toe te brengen. Het grote schip wordt door vele kleine schepen omringd, die van hem bevelen ontvangen en het majestueuze schip tegen de vijandelijke vloot verdedigen. Zij hebben sterke tegenwind, en de onstuimige zee lijkt de aanvallers te begunstigen."

"Midden op zee staan op korte afstand van elkaar twee machtige zuilen. De ene wordt door een standbeeld van de Immaculata gekroond, aan wiens voeten staat: Auxilium Christianorum (Hulp van de Christenen). Op de tweede veel hogere en machtigere zuil zien wij een zeer grote hostie, waaronder op een schild de woorden staan: Salus Credentium (Heil van de Gelovigen). De Paus als bevelhebber van de vloot ziet de woede van de vijanden en daarmee het gevaar, waarin zijn getrouwen verkeren. Hij roept derhalve de kapiteins van de begeleidende boten naar zijn schip voor beraadslaging. De storm wakkert steeds meer aan; de kapiteins moeten naar hun boten terugkeren. Nadat de zee weer kalm geworden is, roept de Paus de kapiteins een tweede keer naar zich toe. Plotseling breekt de storm opnieuw los. De Paus staat aan het stuur en tracht met alle kracht zijn schip tussen die twee zuilen te sturen, waaraan vele ankers en grote haken bevestigd zijn. De vijandelijke schepen beginnen nu met de aanval en willen het pauselijke schip doen zinken. Steeds weer proberen zij brandend materiaal aan boord van het grote schip te werpen en vuren met hun boordgeschut uit alle lopen."

"Ondanks de felle strijd van de vijandelijke schepen en de inzet van alle wapens mislukt de aanval en het pauselijke schip doorklieft, hoewel het aan beide zijden beschadigd is, vol vertrouwen de zee, want amper getroffen, dicht een zachte wind, die uit de twee zuilen komt, meteen ieder lek. Op de schepen van de aanvallers ontploffen nu de lopen van de kanonnen, de boegen van de schepen barsten uit elkaar en zinken in de zee. Plotseling echter wordt de Paus door een vijandelijke kogel getroffen. Zijn helpers ondersteunen hem maar kort daarna wordt hij opnieuw getroffen door het vijandelijke geschut en valt neer. Op de vijandelijke vloot klinkt geschreeuw van vreugde en overwinning. De op het pauselijke schip verzamelde kapiteins kiezen snel een nieuwe Paus, zodat met het nieuws van de dood van hun bevelhebber tegelijkertijd het nieuws van de verkiezing van de opvolger bij de vijanden arriveert. Nu verliezen dezen plotseling alle moed, het pauselijke schip echter overwint alle hindernissen en vaart veilig tussen de twee zuilen door, waar het voor anker gaat. De vijanden vluchten, rammen elkaar en gaan ten onder. De kleine boten die het pauselijke schip begeleiden, roeien nu eveneens met volle kracht naar de zuilen toe en leggen daar aan. Op zee treedt een grote stilte in."

Don Bosco vroeg aan zijn latere opvolger als Generaal Overste, Don Michael Rua: "Wat vind jij van dit verhaal?" Don Ruan antwoordde: "Het komt mij voor dat het schip van de Paus de Kerk is, waarvan hij het opperhoofd is. De andere schepen zijn de mensen, de zee is de wereld. Zij die het grote schip verdedigen, zijn de trouwe aanhangers van de paus, de anderen zijn zijn vijanden, die met alle macht trachten, de Kerk te vernietigen. De twee Zuilen betekenen, lijkt mij, de verering van Maria en de heilige Eucharistie. Don Bosco zegt: "Je hebt juist gesproken. Alleen één uitdrukking moet gecorrigeerd worden: De vijandelijke schepen betekenen de vervolgingen van de Kerk. Ze brengen de Kerk de zwaarste beproevingen toe. Wat er tot nu toe gebeurde, is haast niets in vergelijking met wat nog zal komen. De schepen symboliseren de vijanden van de Kerk, die het hoofdschip trachten tot zinken te brengen, als het hen zou lukken.

"Slechts twee middelen blijven ons over tot redding in deze verwarring: de verering van de Moeder Gods en regelmatig de Heilige Communie ontvangen."

Dit visioen van Don Bosco had vooral als doel: Ons tot gebed voor de Kerk en de Paus aan te moedigen en ons op de verering van het H.-Sacrament van het Altaar te wijzen en ons op de verering van Maria, de Onbevlekte Ontvangenis, te wijzen.

Heilige Aartsengel Michaël - verdedig ons in de strijd

Sancte Michaël Archángele, defende nos in praelio; contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus; supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum, pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.

Heilige Aartsengel Michaël, verdedig ons in de strijd; wees onze bescherming tegen de boosheid en de listen van de duivel. Wij smeken ootmoedig dat God hem Zijn macht doe gevoelen. En gij, vorst van de hemelse legerscharen, drijf Satan en andere boze geesten, die tot verderf van de zielen over de wereld rondgaan, door de goddelijke kracht in de hel terug. Amen.

http://www.caelenberg.info/2010/03/gebed-tot-de-heilige-aartsengel-michael.html

Stille Zaterdag

Goede Vrijdag

Interview With: Fr Gabriele Amorth

Don Gabriele Amorth is an exorcist in the diocese of Rome and the president of honour of the Association of Exorcists that he founded in 1990, and of which he was president until the year 2000. During his stay at Medjugorje in July 2002, he gave an interview to Fr. Dario Dodig.



Fr. Dario Dodig: Don Gabriele, you are exorcist in the diocese of Rome?

Don Gabriele Amorth: I am an exorcist in Rome and president of honour of the Association of Exorcists, which I founded. In the year 2000, we celebrated its 10th anniversary. I was 75 years old and I asked someone else to take over this duty. When Bishops are 75, they are retired, so I did the same!

Don Gabriele, would you be so kind as to tell us what is exorcism?

Exorcism is a public prayer of the Church done with the authority of the Church, because it is done by a priest named by the Bishop; it is a prayer for liberation from the demon, from the evil influence of the demon or of the evil provoked by the demon.

When we speak about exorcism, can you tell us how Satan can influence Christians?

The influence of Satan is immense. Satan acts in two different ways. The ordinary action of Satan is when Satan tempts men to evil. All men, from their birth to their death, are involved in this struggle against Satan who tempts them into evil. Jesus, because He had a human nature, submitted Himself to temptation coming from Satan. Except the ordinary action, Satan also acts in an extraordinary way, which consists in provoking malign troubles, which can go on until satanic possession.

When we speak about possession, how can we defend ourselves from Satan?

We have to first speak about prevention - what to do to avoid these evils. The measures of prevention are to live in the grace of God, to be faithful to prayer and not to do works that open the door to the demon, especially not to do any occult works. There are three main works of occultism: magic, spiritism and Satanism. The one who is dedicated to these things exposes himself to the extraordinary action of the demon.

Is the influence of Satan in the world of today stronger than before, especially his influence on the youth, for example through music?

Today, Satan has free hands. This does not mean that he has more power than in the past, but the door is wide open to him. Primarily, today we live in a period of little faith. It is purely mathematical: when faith declines, superstition grows. When we abandon God, we give ourselves to practices that open the door to Satan. There is no doubt that today’s media have done much in favour of Satan, first by the immorality of certain shows, the abundance of movies showing violence, horror or sex. Except this, media have put in the first plan and have given popularity to figures of wizards and magicians, and so they give publicity to their works.

Is the exorcism the highest degree of action against Satan? Are their other means that can come before this last degree?

Conversion! The first thing that we ask from people who come to us is to live in the grace of God, to be faithful to an intense sacramental life and to the life of prayer. After this, if it is necessary, we encourage them to receive prayers of healing and of deliverance, as they are practiced in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. After a number of such prayers, the person is either already set free, or the need is evident to do the exorcism itself. Then we do the exorcism, keeping in mind that exorcism is a prayer where the result does not always come immediately. Sometimes, years of exorcism are needed for a person to be delivered.

Is the exorcism the highest form of action in the name of God?

Theoretically, yes. Nevertheless, we have to keep in mind other factors, which are very important before God. The exorcism is a prayer. Like all the prayers, it is the more efficacious the stronger the faith is. Faith has a fundamental importance. This is why we often read in the lives of saints that they have delivered people from diabolic possession without being exorcists themselves.

When we speak about Satan and satanic action, we usually have fear within us…

It is because we are not any more used to exorcism. Priests in general believe very little in the extraordinary action of Satan. If a bishop proposes to them to do the exorcism, they are frightened, as if they think: “If I leave the devil in peace, he will leave me in peace. If I fight him, he will attack me.” This is wrong. The more we fight Satan, the more he is afraid of us.

In her messages in Medjugorje, Our Lady says often that Satan is strong and she invites us to pray, to fast and to be converted.

Yes, this is true. In an Italian magazine, I had the occasion to comment on Our Lady’s messages where she speaks about Satan. She often spoke about this. She underlined that Satan is powerful and that he wants to destroy her plans. She invited us to pray, to pray, to pray.

In her messages, Our Lady spoke about the Rosary, about the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, about prayer before the Cross, and she said even that through prayer wars may be stopped.

Yes. Through prayer, we can even stop wars. I always understood Medjugorje as a continuation of Fatima. According to Our Lady’s words in Fatima, if we had prayed and fasted, there would not have been World War II. We have not listened to her and therefore there was a war. Also here in Medjugorje, Our Lady often calls to prayer for peace. In her apparitions, Our Lady always presents herself under another name to show the goal of her apparitions. At Lourdes, she presented herself as the Immaculate Conception, in Fatima as the Queen of the Holy Rosary. Here in Medjugorje, Our Lady presented herself as the Queen of Peace. We all remember the words “Mir, mir, mir” (peace, peace, peace) that were written in the sky at the very beginning of the apparitions. We see clearly that humanity is running the risk of war, and Our Lady insists on prayer and on Christian life to attain peace.

In her messages, the Queen of Peace also underlines fasting, which is a bit forgotten in the Church. She speaks about fasting according to what is written in the Gospels - that through fasting and prayer we can eliminate all influence of Satan.

This is true. First in Fatima and now here in Medjugorje, Our Lady speaks often about prayer and fasting. I think that this is very important, because contemporary men are following the spirit of consumerism. Humanity searches how to avoid any kind of sacrifice and so it exposes itself to sin. For Christian life, except prayer, we need a certain austerity of life. If there is no austerity of life, there is no perseverance in Christian life. I will give you an example - today, families fall so easily apart. They celebrate the wedding, but the couples divorce quickly. It happens because we are not used to sacrifice any more. In order to live together, we have to be able to also accept the deficiencies of others. The lack of spirit of sacrifice leads to the fact that we do not live Christian life in fullness. We see with what facility abortion is being committed, because of the lack of readiness to make a sacrifice to educate children. This is how the first reason of marriage is being destroyed. This is because there is no practice of making sacrifice. Only if we are used to sacrifice ourselves, we will be able to live Christian life.

The fruits of Medjugorje are numerous. Conversions are numerous. A theologian says that here, heaven came down on earth. Our Lady invites us to abandon ourselves totally to her so that she may lead us to Jesus. Isn’t this the essential for Christian life?

No doubt! Medjugorje is really a place where one learns to pray, but also to sacrifice oneself, where people are converted and change their lives. The influence of Medjugorje is worldwide. It is enough to think about how many prayer groups came about thanks to the inspiration of Medjugorje. I also lead a prayer group, which was founded in 1984. This group is already 18 years old. We live one afternoon as it is lived in Medjugorje. There are always 700 or 750 people. We always meditate on Our Lady’s message of the 25th of the month and I always read this message in relation to a sentence from the Gospel, because Our Lady does not say anything new. She invites us to do what Jesus thought us to do. Groups like mine exist all over the world.

Is it true that Medjugorje is a “big mouthful” for Satan?

Surely. Medjugorje is a fortress against Satan. Satan hates Medjugorje because it is a place of conversion, of prayer, of transformation of life.

Would you give us your advice?

The “testament” of Mary, her last words written in the Gospel, are “Do whatever he tells you”. Here in Medjugorje, Our Lady insists again that the laws of the Gospel are respected. The Eucharist is at the centre of all Medjugorje groups, because Our Lady always leads to Jesus. This is her main concern: to make us live the words of Jesus. This is what I wish to everyone. May the Immaculate intercede for you, so that the blessing of God may descend on all of you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Thank you, Father, and may God give you a long life!

Vasten