Asceticism & Mysticism
Ascetica E Mistica · 32 articles · Principal contributors · All subjectsParticular Topics (Particolari)
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Abandonment (ABBANDONO)
ABANDONMENT. - I. ASCETICA. - 1. Notions. - Abandonment (virtue, spirit, act of abandonment) is an attitude of the spiritual life of high… -
Abjection (ABIEZIONE)
ABJECTION. - In ascetics, according to the etymology of the term (abicere), it means the generous renunciation of one's own personality or… -
Apathy (Ἀπάθεια) (APATIA (ἈΠΌΘΕΤΑ))
APATHY (Ἀπάθεια). - Etymologically it is equivalent to the "absence of passions" and to the imperturbability of the soul. 1. ORIENTAL… -
Ars Moriendi
ARS MORIENDI. - An ascetical booklet in Latin, very widely circulated in the early days of printing (15th century), with exhortations and… -
Beguines and Beghards (BEGHINE E BEGARDI)
BEGUINES AND BEGHARDS. - The Beguines belong to that category of persons who follow a life midway between that of simple laypeople and that… -
Benevolence, Love of (BENEVOLENZA, AMORE DI)
BENEVOLENCE, Love of. - The supreme species of love, whose motive is not the advantage of the lover ("love of concupiscence"), but the good… -
Benignity (BENIGNITÀ)
BENIGNITY. - It is that disposition of soul by which one is glad and takes pleasure in doing good to others. While distinguishing it from… -
Bilocation (BILOCAZIONE)
BILOCATION. - From the Latin bis and locatio, the simultaneous presence of a person in two different places. Among the portentous facts… -
Cabala of the Devout (CABALA DEI DEVOTI)
CABALA OF THE DEVOUT. - Nickname (Cabale des dévots) by which, in 17th-century France, the Company of the Most Blessed Sacrament (v.) was… -
Catenelle
CATENELLE. - As an instrument of penance, chains (Latin catenulae) are used by Christian ascetics either to flagellate themselves (v.… -
Chamenia (Chameniá) (CHAMÉUNIA (ΧΑΜΕΝΊΑ))
CHAMENIA (Chameniá). - A penance familiar to Christian ascetics, consisting in sleeping on the bare ground (from χαμαι "on the ground" and… -
Charity (CARITÀ)
CHARITY. - The third of the three theological virtues. SUMMARY: I. Theology of c. - II. History of c. - III. Iconography of c. I. THEOLOGY… -
Compunction (Lat. Compunctio, Unknown to the Classics; Gr. Biblical Κατάνυξις) (COMPUNZIONE (LAT. COMPUNCTIO, IGNOTO AI CLASSICI; GR. BIBLICO ΚΑΤΈΝΥΞΙΣ))
COMPUNCTION (Lat. Compunctio, Unknown to the Classics; Gr. Biblical Κατάνυξις). - A feeling of sorrow and confusion caused by awareness of… -
Devotional Little Song (CANZONCINA DEVOTA)
DEVOTIONAL LITTLE SONG. - A brief lyrical composition in honor of God, the Virgin Mary and the saints, or didactic for the religious… -
Discipline (DISCIPLINA)
DISCIPLINE. - An instrument of penance, which ordinarily consists of a set of cords or chains, small or large, simple or ending in bars and… -
Giaculatories (GIACULATORIE)
GIACULATORIES. - From the Latin iaculari (to hurl). They consist in frequent outpourings of the heart toward God, Jesus Christ, the Virgin,… -
Heroic Act of Charity (Also Improperly Called Heroic Vow) (ATTO EROICO DI CARITÀ, (DETTO ANCHE, IMPROPRIAMENTE, VOTO EROICO))
HEROIC ACT OF CHARITY (Also Improperly Called Heroic Vow). - The Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, in the Raccolta di Orazioni e Pie… -
Indifference (INDIFFERENZA)
INDIFFERENCE. - In the ascetic sense, it is the habitual disposition of the will by which it does not prefer one thing to another, until it… -
Lukewarmness (TIEPIDEZZA)
LUKEWARMNESS. - A disposition of the soul that is neither cold nor hot (Rev. 3:15-16) and, while not being in a state of sin or spiritual… -
Lumi
LUMI. - Distinct intuitions, of a theoretical or practical order, destined to guide the soul in faith or in action. > LUMINARE -… -
Mortification (MORTIFICAZIONE)
MORTIFICATION. - A Christian ascetical term denoting the privations imposed on oneself in order to master the disordered tendencies of… -
Passive Purifications (PURIFICAZIONI PASSIVE)
PASSIVE PURIFICATIONS. - To remove from the soul the obstacles that stand in the way of full perfection (sins, vices, inordinate passions,… -
Pure Love, Controversy On (AMORE PURO, CONTROVERSIA SULL')
PURE LOVE, Controversy On. - Famous theological-mystical debate concerning one of the most important subjects of Catholic spirituality. For… -
Recollection (RACCOGLIMENTO)
RECOLLECTION. - An ascetical exercise proper to the interior life, analogous to the isolation of the scholar who concentrates his attention… -
Renunciation (Ascetic) (RINUNCIA (ASCETICA))
RENUNCIATION (ASCETIC). - Ascetical detachment from earthly goods and joys insofar as they impede or slow down union with God. In… -
Self-Denial (ABNEGAZIONE)
SELF-DENIAL. - A disposition to sacrifice oneself for others, a disinterestedness that is realized in the renunciation of personal… -
Simplicity (SEMPLICITÀ)
SIMPLICITY. - In the abstract, it expresses the absence of complexity. In the moral order it contrasts with duplicity or hypocrisy, and… -
Spiritual Childhood (INFANZIA SPIRITUALE)
SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD. - A state of interior life which presents, acquired through ascetic effort, in relation to God and to neighbor, the… -
Spiritual Communion (COMUNIONE SPIRITUALE)
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION. - I. A eucharistic practice consisting, as the Council of Trent says (sess. XIII, c. 8: Denz-U, n. 881), in the votum… -
Thanksgiving (RINGRAZIAMENTO)
THANKSGIVING. - An act of faith by which one acknowledges that one has every good thing from God as a free gift and expresses to him the… -
Wounds of Jesus Christ, Devotion to the (PIAGHE DI GESÙ CRISTO, DEVOZIONE ALLE)
WOUNDS OF JESUS CHRIST, Devotion to the. — Visible signs of the immense charity of God made man toward men, the wounds are almost a pledge… -
Xeniteia
XENITEIA. - Greek term (ξενιτεία, "sojourn in a foreign land," hence "exile") indicating detachment from one's native land, and then the…