New Series - Cardinal Virtues and their Allies

Once the academic year comes to an end the Dominican students begin their summer placements. Already one student is in Spain attending a language course and another is doing a hospital placement in London. Two students are attending a course at the Dominican centre for Islamic studies in Cairo. Eventually students will be on placement also in Leicester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Brussels. They will take part in pilgrimages to Ely and Lourdes, as well as in Spode Music Week and in a Dominican study week in Dubrovnik.

Although the Godzdogz team is scattering we hope to sustain a new series of reflections during the summer months. This will be on the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, and the secondary virtues that accompany them. The tradition of four cardinal or principal virtues goes back to the ancient world but was taken up by Christian teachers - Ambrose of Milan, for example - to become a standard part of Christian moral teaching. The good human being is one who is growing in these principal virtues and their allies. (One of the allied virtues is the ability to relax well, a good 'summer virtue' to cultivate.) Grace does not replace this level of natural virtue but perfects it. The good Christian, then, is the person whose life is orientated immediately towards God and who is sustained in that orientation by the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity.

A good image for the structure of virtue as St Thomas Aquinas presents it is the naval fleet. At the centre is the aircraft carrier, the cardinal virtue itself, and sailing with it is a set of destroyers, frigates, supply ships, attack boats, support vessels, etc. So each virtue has parts and subsidiary virtues, as well as particular acts, gifts and commandments that go with it. We will offer reflections on the cardinal virtues themselves as well as on the main ancillary vessels. These virtues are the principal weapons for the 'spiritual warfare' in which we are engaged.

The Year of Paul, 29 June 2008-2009

Godzdogz celebrated the Year of Saint Paul in a number of ways. There was a post to introduce the year and reflections for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in 2008 and for the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul in 2009.

Our first series was an 'A-Z of Paul', a dictionary of key terms from Paul's letters (from 'A for Apostleship' to 'Z for Zeal') with an explanation of the meaning of each term. Not surprisingly, there were 26 posts in this series.

The annual 'province day' of the English Dominicans held in December 2008 was devoted to Saint Paul and we published a report on the events of that day.

After Christmas we offered a series of 13 reflections called 'On the Areopagus', in which we tried to imitate Paul by bringing the preaching of the gospel to bear on aspects of contemporary society and culture.

Our final contribution was a series of 23 posts on ministries, charisms and fruits as another way of bringing out the rich spiritual and theological content of Paul's letters. These considered first the texts in which Paul lists the ministries required by the Church, then the texts in which he speaks about charismatic gifts of the Spirit, and finally the text of Galatians 5 in which he contrasts the fruits of the Spirit with the works of the flesh.

All told Godzdogz published 68 posts in honour of the year of Paul - 69 if you count this one! You will find them by clicking on either 'pauline year' or 'areopagus' in the list of labels on the right hand side of the blog. We hope our readers will visit them from time to time and, please God, continue to benefit from the compendium of Pauline theology that we have put together through the course of the year.

Corpus Christi Procession in Oxford

At the centre of the priest's life is the celebration of the Eucharist. It is fitting then that Godzdogz begins its observance of the Year of the Priest with this account of Oxford's annual Corpus Christi procession.


For the last ten years, the north Oxford deanery has held a Corpus Christi Procession that begins in the Oxford Oratory (St Aloysius) and makes its way through the centre of Oxford to the Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy. En route, the procession stops in Blackfriars priory church, where the friars greet the Blessed Sacrament by singing the sequence 'Lauda Sion', written by St Thomas Aquinas. A sermon is then preached before the procession continues on its way.

This year's procession had a significant Dominican involvement. fr Richard Ounsworth OP preached the sermon, in which he likened the Eucharist to a mother breast-feeding, and thus giving her very life to her child. So it is when Mother Church gives us the Bread of Life. He also recalled Christ's Passion, which the Mass recalls, and said we should consider ourselves blessed, if, when we processed with the Lord through the city, we might even be mocked and so share in Christ's sufferings.

The procession walked past the Ashmolean Museum and down Cornmarket, one of Oxford's busiest shopping thoroughfares. On either side of the Blessed Sacrament were the deacon, fr David Rocks OP, and the acolyte, fr Robert Gay OP. The Blessed Sacrament was carried from the Oratory to Blackfriars by Fr Robert Byrne, Cong. Orat., Provost of the Oratory, and then from Blackfriars to the Chaplaincy by fr Benjamin Earl OP. fr Benjamin also gave Benediction at the close of the Procession which took place in the Chaplaincy's main hall.

Below are photos from the procession:


Fr Dominic Jacob, Cong. Orat., with some Dominicans who had gathered in the Oratory church for the start of the procession. Behind the friars is Sr Louise OP who made her final profession in March and who has recently joined the sisters' community in Oxford.


The Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the altar of St Aloysius' church


The priory church is packed for the Corpus Christi sermon


fr Richard Ounsworth OP preaching the sermon


fr Benjamin Earl OP incenses the Blessed Sacrament in Blackfriars priory church


The procession leaves the choir


The Procession goes past the Sackler Library on St John's Street


The canopy over the Blessed Sacrament is carried by four students of the University


The procession in Cornmarket, passing some of Oxford's oldest landmarks


fr Benjamin Earl OP, assisted by his Dominican brothers, incenses the Blessed Sacrament at its final station in the Chaplaincy


Fr Benjamin blesses the people with the Most Holy Eucharist


The procession ends in the Chaplaincy building with the singing of the 'Salve Regina'

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 22 Self-control

People can often be put off Christianity by a perception that it makes moral demands on its followers which it is impossible to live up to: “there’s no way I could manage that,” they might say, “so why bother trying?”

When St Paul teaches us in Galatians 5: 22 that self-control is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, he reminds us that things don’t quite work like that. You don’t have to be perfect before you even think about becoming a Christian: rather, it is the participation as a Christian in the life of God which enables you to grow in the way of perfection. Yes, the moral life is a struggle (but then that’s true even if you’re not a Christian – there are always things you know you ought to do even if you don’t particularly feel like it); however, it is by allowing God to work in us through the Holy Spirit, given at baptism that we acquire the strength we need to engage in that struggle. Now, that doesn’t mean that, the moment you’re baptised, you’ll immediately be perfectly self-controlled: after all, the Christian life is about a process of growth in the love of God and neighbour which lies at the heart of choosing to do the right thing. What it does mean, though, is that, in a sense, the person who said “there’s no way I could manage that” was right – we can’t make ourselves perfect through our own effort, we need the grace of God.

This is a useful reminder, too, for those of us who are already Christians, and who find ourselves from time to time, perhaps often, subject to all kinds of temptations and feel too weak to resist. If self-control is a gift of the Holy Spirit, then resisting temptation is not just a question of gritting our teeth and not giving in through sheer effort on our part: rather, we should seek to draw close to God in prayer, and especially in the Sacraments, in which he shares his life with us. In doing so, we allow the Holy Spirit we received at our baptism to work more fully in our lives, and thus our self-control grows as the fruit of his operation in us.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits -21-Gentleness

Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength - St. Francis de Sales

Gentleness is not often associated with strength. An alternative translation of praotes, the Greek word used by Paul, is meekness. Neither of these translations suggests strength. Far too often the opposite is assumed: to be gentle is to be delicate, weak and even feeble. The concept of gentleness does not seem to fit into the dog-eat-dog world we live in. However, gentleness, properly understood, is far from these negative connotations. To be gentle is to be in control of oneself. It is to have a balanced and tranquil spirit. It is to be even-tempered, and to have hold over the passions. The gentle person is the master of their strength and power. The Latin Vulgate expresses this by using the compound mansuetudo - being accustomed to taming the hand. Gentleness is being appropriately restrained in our actions and words, especially in our interactions with other people. We all recognize how hard it is to practise this virtue. Sartre said “hell is other people” and all too often we might feel that he is right. But because it is difficult we need the Holy Spirit to aid us in being gentle.

Gentleness, however, does not turn us into punching-bags for the world. Whilst we must always be willing to pardon offences; we must also be able fraternally to correct faults gently and with love. Gentleness helps our actions to have a positive effect. To use an old saying, 'you catch more flies with honey than vinegar'. It is a sign of real and true strength to be able to act with restraint and gentleness, and the Holy Spirit allows us to overcome all obstacles to this practice. Like the message to Elijah the Gospel will not be proclaimed by great winds, earthquakes, or fire but by the whistling of gentle air.

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 20 Faithfulness

The seventh fruit of the Holy Spirit that St Paul identifies is faithfulness. Faithfulness is at the very heart of the Christian vocation, of what it means to be a Christian. When we speak of faithfulness we often cite the qualities of trustworthiness, fidelity or reliability of an individual. However, as we are aware, all too often we fall short of these ideals, and as we are reminded in Proverbs 20:6, “most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?” We must therefore look not so much to others but to God as the true example of faithfulness.

Throughout the Old Testament we are constantly reminded of God’s promises to us, despite all our sinful folly, and He is shown to be faithful always, as we read for example in Deuteronomy 7:9, “therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments”.

The most striking example of this faithfulness was in God fulfilling his promises in the person of Jesus Christ. In the life of Christ and in His death for the sake of our redemption we can see clearly the true meaning of faithfulness. God does not falter. He will not break his covenant with us. He will not abandon us no matter how severe our failings. But for this faithfulness to be of real benefit we need to show our faithfulness to Him. God cannot break His word but we can and we need to cultivate carefully and with commitment our faithfulness to His teachings. We must grow in the virtues and not neglect our duties and responsibilities to our neighbour and ultimately to Him. So often these acts of faithfulness can be played out in the smallest ways and we cannot hope to grow in Christ unless we observe his law in small matters as well as great.

Most obviously our faithfulness can be shown in our commitment to the Church and in the ways in which we fulfil our duties to family and friends but we must also not neglect what it is to be faithful to ourselves. In being honest and true to ourselves we will be true to God and be able to look forward with hope to the coming of his Kingdom. “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

Ministries, Charisms, Fruits - 19 Goodness

St. Paul puts goodness, or, as some translations have it, generosity, fifth in his lists of the fruits of the Spirit. That there should be such a close correspondence between Paul’s understanding of goodness and his understanding of generosity, such that it could be translated either way, is interesting because it demonstrates the importance of generosity for the Jewish view of God.

So many of the psalms extol the Lord as worthy of praise because of his generosity, praising him at length for all the great gifts that he gives to man and beast. Psalm 104 in particular, the psalm which is used in one of the prayers used as grace before meals, praises God as good because he is the giver of all that sustains every living thing. This overwhelming generosity of God is shown most profoundly in the saving death of his Son, Our Lord, on the cross, what is for St. Paul the most important moment in history, the most generous self-giving of the Son to the Father in love. 

Thus for Christians, to be good is to give of ourselves so as to help others, not only when it suits us and is convenient, and not only to those who are good to us in return, but to all those who are in need. To do this we need the gift of the Spirit, for we cannot live such an extraordinary life, as the bearer of God’s life and love to others, through our own effort alone. 

To be good does take effort, we must co-operate with the grace that God so freely bestows upon us and renews in us through prayer and the sacraments, but in our pursuit of the life of virtue we are not left to fend for ourselves, for we have an advocate, a lawyer for our defence, the Spirit, to fight our corner. The Spirit as our advocate pleads insistently on our behalf for the heavenly judge to declare our goodness against the merciless cross-examination of Satan, the great accuser, who seeks to make us despair on account of our sins, and so to flee from God’s mercy.

Let us always remember that to be good is to be humble, for the greatest sin is that of pride, pride that hardens our hearts and stops us from asking for forgiveness and mercy.  The good person is the person who, by the light of the Holy Spirit, recognises their sinfulness and asks the Lord for forgiveness, confident in the mercy of the Lord who is love.