THE CATHOLIC TRADITION NEWSLETTER
A weekly presentation of News, Information, Readings and Commentary for traditional Roman Catholics and Catholic Families remaining faithful to the teaching Magisterium as held by all faithful Catholics through the centuries.
Vol 19 Issue 30 Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
July 25, 2026
St James, opn!
False Councils: Vatican II
Saint Anne
Family and Marriage
Articles and notices
Question of Jurisdiction
Dear Reader:
In this issue I am placing the parable of The Sower of the Seed as found in Matthew to read and consider as presented and then the explanation Our Lord Jesus Christ gives afterwards with His introduction. I will comment on it next week.
And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying: Behold the sower went forth to sow. And whilst he soweth some fell by the way side, and the birds of the air came and ate them up. And other some fell upon stony ground, where they had not much earth: and they sprung up immediately, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up they were scorched: and because they had not root, they withered away. And others fell among thorns: and the thorns grew up and choked them. And others fell upon good ground: and they brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples came and said to him: Why speakest thou to them in parables?
Who answered and said to them: Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven: but to them it is not given. For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he shall abound: but he that hath not, from him shall be taken away that also which he hath. Therefore do I speak to them in parables: because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled in them, who saith: By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand: and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For, amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them.
Hear you therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, there cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart: this is he that received the seed by the way side. And he that received the seed upon stony ground, is he that heareth the word, and immediately receiveth it with joy.
Yet hath he not root in himself, but is only for a time: and when there ariseth tribulation and persecution because of the word, he is presently scandalized. And he that received the seed among thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choketh up the word, and he becometh fruitless. But he that received the seed upon good ground, is he that heareth the word, and understandeth, and beareth fruit, and yieldeth the one an hundredfold, and another sixty, and another thirty. Another parable he proposed to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seeds in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way.
And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. And the servants of the goodman of the house coming said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it cockle? And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn. (Matthew 13:3-30)
As always, enjoy the readings provided for your benefit. — The Editor
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False Councils
Ad Gentes
Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity
(AG)
The Christian faithful gathered together out of all nations into the Church "are not marked off from the rest of men by their government, nor by their language, nor by their political institutions," (LG) and so they should live for God and Christ in a respectable way of their own national life. As good citizens, they should be true and effective patriots, all together avoiding racial prejudice and hypernationalism, and should foster a universal love for man.
To obtain all these things, the most important and therefore worthy of special attention are the Christian laity: namely, those who have been incorporated into Christ and live in the world. For it is up to them, imbued with the spirit of Christ, to be a leaven working on the temporal order from within, to dispose it always in accordance with Christ. (LG, AA)
But it is not enough that the Christian people be present and be organized in a given nation, nor is it enough to carry out an apostolate by way of example. They are organized for this purpose, they are present for this, to announce Christ to their non-Christian fellow-citizens by word and example, and to aid them toward the full reception of Christ.
Now, in order to plant the Church and to make the Christian community grow, various ministries are needed, which are raised up by divine calling from the midst of the faithful congregation, and are to be carefully fostered and tended to by all. Among these are the offices of priests, of deacons, and of catechists, and Catholic action. Religious men and women likewise, by their prayers and by their active work, play an indispensable role in rooting and strengthening the Kingdom of Christ in souls, and in causing it to be spread.
16. Joyfully the Church gives thanks for the priceless gift of the priestly calling which God has granted to so many youths among those nations but recently converted to Christ. For the Church drives deeper roots in any given sector of the human family when the various faithful communities all have, from among their members, their own ministers of salvation in the order of bishops, priests, and deacons, serving their own brethren, so that the young churches gradually acquire a diocesan structure with their own clergy.
What this council has decreed concerning priestly vocations and formation, should be religiously observed where the Church is first planted, and among the young churches. Of great importance are the things which are said about closely joining spiritual formation with the doctrinal and pastoral; about living a life patterned after the Gospel without looking out for one’s own comfort or that of one's family; about cultivating a deep appreciation of the mystery of the Church. From all this, they will be well taught to dedicate themselves wholly to the service of the Body of Christ and to the work of the Gospel, to cleave to their own bishop as his faithful co-workers, and to cooperate with their colleagues. (OT)
To attain this general end, the whole training of the students should be planned in the light of the mystery of salvation as it is revealed in the Scriptures. This mystery of Christ and of man's salvation they can discover and live in the liturgy. (SC)
These common requirements of priestly training, including the pastoral and practical ones prescribed by the council (OT) should be combined with an attempt to make contact with their own particular national way of thinking and acting. Therefore, let the minds of the students be kept open and attuned to an acquaintance and an appreciation of their own nation's culture. In their philosophical and theological studies, let them consider the points of contact which mediate between the traditions and religion of their homeland on the one hand and the Christian religion on the other. (JXXIII) Likewise, priestly training should have an eye to the pastoral needs of that region; and the students should learn the history, aim, and method of the Church's missionary activity, and the special social, economic, and cultural conditions of their own people. Let them be educated in the ecumenical spirit, and duly prepared for fraternal dialogue with non-Christians. (UR) All this demands that studies for the priesthood be undertaken, so far as possible, in association and living together with their own people. (JXXIII) Finally, let care be taken that students are trained in ordinary ecclesiastical and financial administration.
Moreover, suitable priests should be chosen, after a little pastoral practice, to pursue higher studies in universities, even abroad and especially in Rome as well as in other institutes of learning. In this way the young churches will have at hand men from among the local clergy equipped with the learning and skill needed for discharging more difficult ecclesiastical duties.
Where episcopal conferences deem it opportune, the order of the diaconate should be restored as a permanent state of life according to the norms of the Constitution "De Ecclesia." (LG) For there are men who actually carry out the functions of the deacon's office, either preaching the word of God as catechists, or presiding over scattered Christian communities in the name of the pastor and the bishop, or practicing charity in social or relief work. It is only right to strengthen them by the imposition of hands which has come down from the Apostles, and to bind them more closely to the altar, that they may carry out their ministry more effectively because of the sacramental grace of the diaconate.
Comment
Besides this last statement of introducing married clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, which was already introduced previously, the document repeats various Conciliar Documents, which are being omitted so as to shorten this already lengthy exposition. If one were to take time, it becomes noticeable that the Decree had various authors who contributed according to repetition and changes of designations, consistent use of People of God in place of Church, and then back to consistent use of Church and then introducing also the use of Mystical Body of Christ. The following chapter again denotes a change as it returns to quoting Scripture and pre-Vatican Documents in opposition to the previous two chapters referencing Conciliar Popes and Vatican II Documents.
To be continued
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THE GOSPEL OF THE SUNDAY
Matthew 13:44-52
At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; he who finds it hides it, and in his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he finds a single pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea that gathered in fish of every kind. When it was filled, they hauled it out, and sitting down on the beach, they gathered the good fish into vessels, but threw away the bad. So will it be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the just, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth. Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” And he said to them, “So then, every Scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth from his storeroom things new and old.”
Homily by Pope St Gregory the Great
11th on the Gospels
Dearly beloved brethren, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto the things of earth, to the end that by the mean of things which we know, our mind may rise to the contemplation of the things which we know not by the example of things which are seen, may fix her gaze on things which are not seen by the touch of things which she useth, may be warmed towards the things which she useth not; by things which she knoweth and loveth, to love also the things which she knoweth not. For, behold, “the kingdom of heaven is likened unto treasure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and, for joy thereof, goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field.”
And herein we must remark that the treasure, when once it hath been found, is hidden to keep it safe. He whose intimate yearnings after God are not hidden from the praise of men, is open thereby to the attacks of evil spirits. In this life we are, as it were, journeying homewards on a road beset by evil spirits who are like highwaymen. He therefore inviteth robbery who carrieth his treasure ostentatiously. Doubtless our neighbour should be able to see our good works, as it is written: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” But this is not to be understood to mean that we are to seek the praise of men by what we do. Rather, let us in such wise work in the open that the inner intention of devotion is not advertised. So we shall give an example to our neighbour, and yet keep hidden, except from the sight of God, our purpose of pleasing him.
The treasure is the desire of heaven; but the field, in which the treasure is hidden, is the discipline of zeal for heaven. Which field he in truth buys, when, having sold all he had, that is, having renounced the pleasures of the flesh, he treads underfoot all his earthly desires, by maintaining that heavenly discipline: so that nothing which charms the flesh will now please him; nothing which is cruel to his bodily life, will dismay his spirit.
St. John of Damascus
2nd Sermon on the Birth of the Blessed Virgin
The home of Anne is set before us, wherein to see an example both of married and of maiden life, the one in the person of the mother, the other in that of the daughter, whereof the one hath but now ceased to be barren, and the other is in a little while destined, beyond the course of nature, to become the Mother of the Messiah by a singular birth, specially designed by God to build up anew our nature. It is with reason then that Anne, filled with the Holy Ghost, with joyful and jubilant spirit singeth aloud: Rejoice with me, for out of my barren womb I have borne the bud of promise, and, as I have longed, I nourish at my breasts the fruit of benediction. I have laid aside the mournful garments of barrenness, and put on the joyful raiment of fruitfulness. Let Hannah the adversary of Peninnah make merry with me, and join with me for fellow-feeling, in singing of this new and unhoped-for wonder that is wrought in me.
Let Sarah be glad that was joyfully pregnant in her old age, and was a shadow cast before of my conception that hitherto have been barren. Let all the barren and fruitless break forth into singing, when they behold in what wondrous wise I have been visited from heaven. Let all mothers likewise, that like Anne are gifted with fruitfulness, say: Blessed be He That gave their desire unto them that besought Him, That gave fruitfulness unto her that was barren, and That granted unto her that from her should bud forth the joy-bringing Virgin, who, according to the flesh, was Mother of God, and whose womb was a heaven wherein He dwelt Whom no place can contain. Let us also with them offer our praises to her that was called barren, but now is become the mother of a maidchild; let us say unto her in the words of the Scripture: O how blessed is the house of David from whence thou art sprung, and that womb wherein God hath fashioned the ark of His holiness, that is, her, by whom He was Himself conceived without man's seed.
Blessed art thou, and thrice blessed, whom God hath so blessed as to make thee to bring forth, as His own gift, the babe Mary, whose very name is highly honourable, out of whom Christ, the Flower of life, blossomed a maiden whose rising is glorious, and whose delivery is worth more than the world. We also, O woman most blessed, do wish thee joy. In sooth thou hast brought forth what we have all hoped for, and God hath given us, namely, the babe of promise. Blessed indeed art thou, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. The tongues of all the godly do magnify thine offspring, and every glad word is spoken concerning her of whom thou art delivered. Meet in truth is it, and most meet to praise her who received a revelation from the goodness of God, and bore for us such and so great a fruit, from whom sweet Jesus sprang.
HYMN
Mother Church exults with the joy of this blessed day, and sings the praise of Anne, the beauty of Judea, the mother of Mary.
Uniting the blood of holy kings with that of pontiffs, the glory of her ancestry is far outstripped by Anne's resplendent virtues.
Neath heaven's smile she ties the nuptial bond; and in her holy tabernacle hides the unwaning star of virgins.
O wondrous grace of heaven! Scarce is the Virgin conceived in the womb of her mother when she there crushes the head of the cruel dragon.
With such a pledge of salvation mankind finds hope at length; the dove has come foretelling peace to the redeemed world.
Praise be to the Father, to the Son, and to Thee, O holy Spirit! To them that lovingly honour blessed Anne, grant everlasting grace. Amen.
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JULY 26
St. Anne, Mother of Our Lady
1. Chosen by God to be the mother of the virgin Mother of God, Anne presented to mankind her from whom the Light of the world would come. Holy Scripture does not mention Mary’s mother, but already in the second century her name had become widely known from the “proto-gospel of St. James.” The name Anne means “rich in grace” and it is so firmly established as the name of Mary’s mother in the tradition and usage of the Church that there can be no real doubt about it. Concerning Anne’s life we have only legendary, unauthenticated details. She is said to have been married to Joachim, a man of outstanding virtue and piety, and to have become a mother late in life. The veneration of St. Anne goes back to the eighth century in the East. About 1350 her feast was celebrated everywhere in the West as well; in 1584 Pope Gregory XIII ordered it to be celebrated by the whole Church. St. Anne is the heavenly patron of mothers, of marriage, of widows, and of orphans.
2. “Rejoice we all in the Lord, as we keep holiday in honor of blessed Anne” (Introit). Even if we know nothing more about St. Anne than that she was the mother of Mary, that is enough to make us rejoice and thank God. One of the responsories at Matins praises her thus: “Exalted and wonderfully salutary, venerable Anne, is the fruit of thy womb, the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Lord, consolation of the world, place of rest for the weary, hope of the sorrowing. Rejoice and be glad, happy mother, for the fruit of thy womb is Mary, mother of the Lord.” Whoever loves Mary must necessarily honor her in whose womb God prepared this sublime sanctuary. We must contemplate with reverence her to whom God entrusted the Mother of His Son; we praise the mother of the Mother of God for her unique greatness; it is proof that her holy and just life of faithful service was pleasing to God. With proper admiration do we sing of her virtue in the Lesson: “Unrivaled art thou among all the women that have enriched their homes. Vain are the winning ways, beauty is a snare; it is the woman who fears the Lord that will achieve renown. Work such as hers claims its reward; let her be spoken of with praise at the city gates.”
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; a man has found it and hidden it again, and now, for the joy it gives him, is going home to sell all that he has and buy that field” (Gospel). St. Anne discovered that treasure: loving fear of God. Busily engaged as she was in household affairs (cf. Lesson) her mind nevertheless steadily dwelt on higher things, on the God she loved and lived for. It is a truly wise woman who evaluates so shrewdly, in order to serve God unhindered. Only to such a conscientious woman, with her wealth of interior life, could God entrust the one whom the whole Church greets in the words of an angel: “Hail, full of grace; the Lord is with thee,” In the womb of St. Anne was Mary conceived without sin, filled with grace, and wholly pleasing to God. Anne was privileged to nourish this child, to live with her and teach her, and to be a witness to the plenitude of her child’s grace. Mary is Anne’s treasure, the precious pearl of which the Gospel speaks; the reward, humanly speaking, the supremely delightful fruit of her many years of petitioning God with prayers and with confident service.
3. St. Anne was chosen by God to cooperate in the redemption of mankind. But she had to make herself worthy of this holy life. God demands cooperation. Thus, the liturgy can sing of St. Anne: “Thou hast been a friend to right, an enemy to wrong. And God, thy own God, has given thee an unction to bring thee pride” (Gradual). God anointed her with the joy of becoming the mother of Mary. One whom God honors thus, we too must honor. We beg her to obtain for us the grace to carry out our God-given vocation with the same perfect fidelity which led to her renown. “Vain are the winning ways, beauty is a snare; it is the woman who fears the Lord that will achieve renown” (Lesson).
Collect: O God, who wast pleased to bestow Thy grace upon blessed Anne, so that she might fitly become the mother of her who was to bear Thy only-begotten Son, grant us this boon, that we who keep her feast may be helped by her protection. Amen.
—(Benedict Baur)
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Marriage Guidance
A Study of the Problems of the Married and of those Contemplating Marriage
(1948)
By Edwin F. Healy
SECTION III
The Duties of Parents in
Regard to Their Offspring
CHAPTER XIX
Problems in Child Training
There are definite rules that can direct parents in developing in their child desirable food habits. They are as follows:
1. For the young child feeding periods should coincide with the time when he is hungry. He will show signs of hunger by waking from sleep, by restlessness, or by crying.
2. Parents, older children, and others who may live in the house should not make critical remarks about the food that is served. It would be well for the father and mother to show that they relish a dish which the child seems slow to accept.
3. Meals should be arranged and served in a way that will appeal to the children. Imagination and originality can prove very helpful in attracting the child to eat the right foods.
4. Since the process of eating should be looked upon as pleasant, the child's surroundings during his meals should be bright and comfortable. He should be allowed to enjoy his food in a leisurely manner, and after the meal he should have an opportunity to relax.
5. Violent emotions disturb the child's appetite, and therefore excitement, anger, worry, sorrow, and so forth, will interfere with proper eating. The dinner table should not be the place to talk of troubles. Quarreling and bickering should be absolutely forbidden.
6. In serving food for which the child has shown some disinclination or in setting before him food that is unfamiliar to him, the mother should take care that the portions are small on the first few occasions.
7. A parent should not become unduly disturbed the first time that the child manifests prejudice against a certain food. The child's action may be due to a passing mental or physical condition, or it may be a mere impulsive outburst. If after a few words of encouragement the child persists in refusing the food, it is best to say no more at the time and to let him satisfy his appetite with whatever else is on the table.
8. If, when the same food is served again, the child reacts in the same manner, the mother may later talk the matter over with him. No prolonged attempt should be made to discover whether the prejudice is reasonable or unreasonable, for the young child is incapable of knowing why he acts as he does. It will be sufficient for the mother to point out the value of the food in question, to suggest that it may have disagreed with the child when he first ate it because he was unwell, to speak of similar experiences of her own and of how glad she is that she did not permit them to affect her, and to extract a promise that the child will try to eat at least a little of the food when it is served again.
9. Except in extreme cases and for the best of reasons a mother should never yield to the child by preparing special dishes for him when the food that he dislikes is served. Let the child abstain, if he must, from what he dislikes, but let him be satisfied with other dishes or with bread and milk.
10. The child should never be coaxed to eat, still less forced to eat. Either of these procedures will simply make the matter worse, whether the child is reasonable or unreasonable. A few words of encouragement, however, are not to be looked upon as coaxing.
11. If the mother is convinced that a child's refusal to eat is unreasonable, she may employ the hunger treatment. Let us suppose, for example, that the child refuses to eat potatoes. The mother, without any trace of anger or worry, at once sends him away from the table without any more food. At the next mealtime the potatoes are again served. If he refuses them a second time, he is again deprived of all food. It will not be long before the hungry child will be found to be not only willing but eager to eat the potatoes.
Some mothers will consider the hunger treatment a heartless procedure, but they should remember that it is far better to allow the child to feel the pangs of hunger for a day or so now rather than to let him grow up with a blighted appetite that will deprive him for years of much-needed vitamins. They should remember, too, that there is no danger of doing serious harm if the method is used cautiously.
The hunger treatment is, of course, recommended for extreme cases only. A wise parent will seldom have to use it. By employing a little ingenuity a mother can induce her child to eat what he should. Recourse to the hunger treatment would seldom be necessary if parents took pains to employ such ingenuity and if they avoided actions that encourage the child to develop undesirable eating habits.
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The Roman Catholic Church Today
And
The Question of Jurisdiction
Epikeia
Woyward gives just this short commentary:
16. The ecclesiastical laws are to be interpreted according to the proper meaning of the terms of the law considered in their context. If the meaning of the terms remains doubtful or obscure, one must have recourse to parallel passages of the Code (if there are any), or to the purpose of the law and its circumstances, and the intention of the legislator (Canon 18). This Canon has reference to the private interpretation of the law. The manner of interpretation here indicated by the Code has been followed by canonists generally in the study of law before the Code appeared. (13)
Woyward may be excused for his short comment since a question could, during his life, be sent to Congregation of the Code for a correct interpretation.
Epikeia is a topic that even Saint Thomas took up in his Summa Theologica (IIa IIae, Q. 120):
Question 120.
"Epikeia" or equity
Is "epikeia" a virtue?
Is it a part of justice?
Article 1. Whether "epikeia" [epieikeia] is a virtue?
Objection 1. It seems that "epikeia" is not a virtue. For no virtue does away with another virtue. Yet "epikeia" does away with another virtue, since it sets aside that which is just according to law, and seemingly is opposed to severity. Therefore "epikeia" is not a virtue.
Objection 2. Further, Augustine says (De Vera Relig. xxxi): "With regard to these earthly laws, although men pass judgment on them when they make them, yet, when once they are made and established, the judge must pronounce judgment not on them but according to them." But seemingly "epikeia" pronounces judgment on the law, when it deems that the law should not be observed in some particular case. Therefore "epikeia" is a vice rather than a virtue.
Objection 3. Further, apparently it belongs to "epikeia" to consider the intention of the lawgiver, as the Philosopher states (Ethic. v, 10). But it belongs to the sovereign alone to interpret the intention of the lawgiver, wherefore the Emperor says in the Codex of Laws and Constitutions, under Law i: "It is fitting and lawful that We alone should interpret between equity and law." Therefore the act of "epikeia" is unlawful: and consequently "epikeia" is not a virtue.
On the contrary, The Philosopher (Ethic. v, 10) states it to be a virtue.
I answer that, As stated above (I-II:96:6), when we were treating of laws, since human actions, with which laws are concerned, are composed of contingent singulars and are innumerable in their diversity, it was not possible to lay down rules of law that would apply to every single case. Legislators in framing laws attend to what commonly happens: although if the law be applied to certain cases it will frustrate the equality of justice and be injurious to the common good, which the law has in view. Thus the law requires deposits to be restored, because in the majority of cases this is just. Yet it happens sometimes to be injurious—for instance, if a madman were to put his sword in deposit, and demand its delivery while in a state of madness, or if a man were to seek the return of his deposit in order to fight against his country. On these and like cases it is bad to follow the law, and it is good to set aside the letter of the law and to follow the dictates of justice and the common good. This is the object of "epikeia" which we call equity. Therefore it is evident that "epikeia" is a virtue.
Reply to Objection 1. "Epikeia" does not set aside that which is just in itself but that which is just as by law established. Nor is it opposed to severity, which follows the letter of the law when it ought to be followed. To follow the letter of the law when it ought not to be followed is sinful. Hence it is written in the Codex of Laws and Constitutions under Law v: "Without doubt he transgresses the law who by adhering to the letter of the law strives to defeat the intention of the lawgiver."
Reply to Objection 2. It would be passing judgment on a law to say that it was not well made; but to say that the letter of the law is not to be observed in some particular case is passing judgment not on the law, but on some particular contingency.
Reply to Objection 3. Interpretation is admissible in doubtful cases where it is not allowed to set aside the letter of the law without the interpretation of the sovereign. But when the case is manifest there is need, not of interpretation, but of execution.
Article 2. Whether "epikeia" is a part of justice?
Objection 1. It seems that "epikeia" is not a part of justice. For, as stated above (II-II:58:07), justice is twofold, particular and legal. Now "epikeia" is not a part of particular justice, since it extends to all virtues, even as legal justice does. On like manner, neither is it a part of legal justice, since its operation is beside that which is established by law. Therefore it seems that "epikeia" is not a part of justice.
Objection 2. Further, a more principal virtue is not assigned as the part of a less principal virtue: for it is to the cardinal virtue, as being principal, that secondary virtues are assigned as parts. Now "epikeia" seems to be a more principal virtue than justice, as implied by its name: for it is derived from epi, i.e. "above," and dikaion, i.e. "just." Therefore "epikeia" is not a part of justice.
Objection 3. Further, it seems that "epikeia" is the same as modesty. For where the Apostle says (Philippians 4:5), "Let your modesty be known to all men," the Greek has epieikeia [to epieikes]. Now, according to Tully (De Invent. Rhet. ii), modesty is a part of temperance. Therefore "epikeia" is not a part of justice.
On the contrary, The Philosopher says (Ethic. v, 10) that "epikeia is a kind of justice."
I answer that, As stated above (Article 48), a virtue has three kinds of parts, subjective, integral, and potential. A subjective part is one of which the whole is predicated essentially, and it is less than the whole. This may happen in two ways. For sometimes one thing is predicated of many in one common ratio, as animal of horse and ox: and sometimes one thing is predicated of many according to priority and posteriority, as "being" of substance and accident.
Accordingly, "epikeia" is a part of justice taken in a general sense, for it is a kind of justice, as the Philosopher states (Ethic. v, 10). Wherefore it is evident that "epikeia" is a subjective part of justice; and justice is predicated of it with priority to being predicated of legal justice, since legal justice is subject to the direction of "epikeia." Hence "epikeia" is by way of being a higher rule of human actions.
Reply to Objection 1. Epikeia corresponds properly to legal justice, and in one way is contained under it, and in another way exceeds it. For if legal justice denotes that which complies with the law, whether as regards the letter of the law, or as regards the intention of the lawgiver, which is of more account, then "epikeia" is the more important part of legal justice. But if legal justice denote merely that which complies with the law with regard to the letter, then "epikeia" is a part not of legal justice but of justice in its general acceptation, and is condivided with legal justice, as exceeding it.
Reply to Objection 2. As the Philosopher states (Ethic. v, 10), "epikeia is better than a certain," namely, legal, "justice," which observes the letter of the law: yet since it is itself a kind of justice, it is not better than all justice.
Reply to Objection 3. It belongs to "epikeia" to moderate something, namely, the observance of the letter of the law. But modesty, which is reckoned a part of temperance, moderates man's outward life—for instance, in his deportment, dress or the like. Possibly also the term epieikeia is applied in Greek by a similitude to all kinds of moderation.
(To be continued)
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Notices:
Fr Krier will be in Pahrump, NV on August 13. He will be in Eureka, NV, August 20.
Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church is in the process of constructing a church hall, classrooms, library and residence in its efforts to provide for the parish and to have a place for research in traditional Roman Catholicism as well as a meeting place for those interested in both the perennial teachings and the movements to continue the Roman Catholic Church after the apostasy of the Conciliar Church. We hope you will support us in this effort as a center for spreading the Catholic Faith worldwide. We will still need to borrow $165,000 without your further assistance. Since the Church is located in the heart of Sin City (Las Vegas), it is a metaphor that the Church continues through her faithful bishops, priests, and laity in this sinful world that rejects the saving grace of salvation. Thank you for your prayers and asking for your continuance of prayer to bring this project to completion—the block walls are now going upwards.
Meanwhile, we want to thank all those who have so generously heeded this appeal and all who have supported our apostolate through the years.
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The topics of Faith and will correspond to the Roman Catholic Faith in Tradition and the Magisterium. The News will be of interest. The commentaries are for the reader to ponder and consider. The e-mail address will be for you to provide thought for consideration. The donations will be to support the continuation of this undertaking.
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Catholic Tradition Newsletter
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131 N. 9th St
Las Vegas, NV 89101
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