Seven Words, Sins, and Sacraments

Transcription

1 Publication normally cuts short the process of writing. A publisher must necessarily draw down the curtain, and permit no more revisions, afterthoughts or additions to the text, past a certain point. Revisions at proof stage are notoriously expensive. The internet, however, permits the author to continue, making available to the reader the fruits of further reflection and research. I will take advantage of that opportunity here, to post at this site further material that is of interest to me, and that may be of interest to my readers. I hope you will seek out the book as the starting point and context for whatever I write here. -- S.C. Seven Words, Sins, and Sacraments Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, a popular broadcaster and spiritual writer of the twentieth century, correlates Jesus s seven last words from the Cross with the seven capital or deadly sins of Catholic tradition in his book, The Seven Capital Sins. I have added a further layer to this by adding the seven sacraments, using the schema derived from Adrienne von Speyr. Added to this is Sheen s correlation of the Last Words with the Seven Words of Our Lady in Seven Words of Jesus and Mary (Liguori/Triumph, 2001), following saints such as Bernadine of Siena who recognized in the Heart of Mary seven burning furnaces, giving rise to seven flames, which are the seven acts of love expressed in these words. See Last Word Sin Sacrament Word of Our Lady Father, forgive them Anger Reconciliation How shall this be done, because I know not man? (Luke 1:34) Today you will be with me in paradise Envy Anointing Be it done to me according to thy word. (Luke 1:38b) Woman, behold your Son Lust Marriage Behold the handmaid of the Lord. (Luke 1:38a) My God, why have you forsaken me? Pride Ordination My soul doth magnify the Lord. (Luke 1:46-55) I thirst Gluttony Eucharist Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. (Luke 2:48) It is accomplished Sloth Baptism They have no wine. (John 2:3) Into your hands I commend my spirit Covetousness Confirmation Do whatever he tells you. (John 2:5)

2 The Seven Sorrows of Our Lady First Sorrow: Prophecy of Simeon Lord, now let your servant depart in peace (Luke 2:29). Anointing Second Sorrow: Flight into Egypt Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt (Matt. 2:13). Marriage Third Sorrow: 3-day loss before the Finding in the Temple Penance Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously (Luke 2:48). Fourth Sorrow: Jesus carries his Cross Eucharist So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross (John 19:17). Fifth Sorrow: Crucifixion Ordination Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise (Luke 23:43). Sixth Sorrow: Deposition Confirmation They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices (John 19:40). Seventh Sorrow: The Burial of Our Lord And you were buried with him at baptism (Col. 2:12). Baptism The Lord s Prayer and the Seven Virtues An alternative correlation of Lord s Prayer with Seven Virtues according to p. 113 of Jean Hani, The Divine Liturgy [ The first three petitions refer to the divine world Hallowed: Faith Kingdom come: Hope Will be done: Love The last four petitions refer to the human and earthly domain Daily bread: Fortitude Forgive us: Justice Temptation: Prudence Deliver us: Temperance If accepted, Hani's suggestion would wreak a certain amount of havoc on my Wheel of

3 Sevens (page 101 of my book). Let us look at some of the elements, starting with this table from page 48 in ch. 3of The Seven Sacraments (the first two columns following). To this I have added a third column showing the Lord s Prayer, with the order of petitions determined by the correlations I tried to establish in ch. 4 between the virtues and the sacraments. The underlined petitions are the ones that do NOT correspond to Hani s list above: Sacrament Virtue Petition Baptism Faith Hallowed Confirmation Hope Temptation Eucharist Love Daily bread Reconciliation Justice Forgive us Anointing Fortitude Deliver us Marriage Temperance Kingdom come Ordination Prudence Will be done Only two are the same in my list and Hani s. If there is an error here on my part, does it lie in the correlation of the Virtues with the Sacraments, or the Petitions with the Sacraments? The former is based on arguments set out in ch. 3 that I still feel are strong, but changing it would do little to cause problems in the Wheel of Sevens. To alter the correlations of the Petitions with the Sacraments (NOT a correlation that Hani makes) would be much more serious. So I will revise the Wheel of Sevens minimally, by changing the Virtue that is correlated with the Sacrament, and the result is shown below (changes from the printed book in red). The rest of the book is unaffected. Sacrament Petition Gift Beatitude Virtue Sign Last Word I Am Commandment Day Baptism Hallowed be Fear Poor Faith Second Accomplished The way Fourth Sixth Marriage Kingdom Piety Meek Hope First Behold Vine Fifth Seventh Ordination Thy will Knowledge Mourn Love Fifth Forsaken Shepherd Sixth Third Eucharist Bread Fortitude Hunger Fortitude Fourth Thirst Bread Seventh Fourth Reconciliation Forgive Counsel Merciful Justice Third Forgive Door Eighth Fifth

4 Confirmation Temptation Understanding Pure Prudence Sixth Spirit Light Ninth Second Anointing Deliver Wisdom Peacemakers Temperance Seventh Today Resurrection Tenth First The Seven Signs A number of scholars have questioned the inclusion of Walking on Water as one of the seven Signs in John s Gospel, because it is not described as such by John, and they substitute the Resurrection of Christ, as the ultimate Sign that confirms the authority of Jesus. This is discussed, for example, by Scott Hahn in his article Temple, Sign and Sacrament (Letter and Spirit, Vol. 4, 2008, p. 116). Again, this would necessitate changes to my book. However, I am inclined to stay with my original interpretation. As I have written, the fifth Sign corresponds to Ordination, and indeed the Walking on Water is very closely associated in the Gospel with the Feeding of the 5000, which symbolizes the giving of the Eucharist, a gift that is made possible by Priesthood. The fact that the miracle of Walking on Water is not made much of or described explicitly as a semeion may be explained by the fact that it is intended to be witnessed only by his disciples, and is therefore in a sense an esoteric sign, intended for those who will be the priests of the New Covenant. The Virtues and the Chakras According to St Bonaventure (Breviloquium V, 4, 4), the upper part of the soul is rectified by the three Theological Virtues, and the lower part of the soul is rectified by the Cardinal Virtues. Though this is rather fanciful, I have tried to correlate his remarks with the doctrine of the chakras in Indian medicine. VIRTUE Effect on the soul CHAKRA Associated with... Charity Desiring the Good Crown Consciousness Hope Expecting the Beautiful Brow Imagination/intuition Faith Believing the True Throat Thought/communication Justice [integration] Heart Air/breathing/affection Prudence the rational Solar plexus Fire/digestion/growth Temperance the concupiscible Sacral Water/reproduction/joy Fortitude the irascible Base Earth/survival instinct

5 NOTE The original Wheel of Sevens as seen on a MS in the British Museum: