English Catholic. Suarist. Recusant enjoyer.
United Kingdom
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BIG NEWS:
CORNELIUS Γ LAPIDE, S.J. COMPLETELY TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH (AND OTHER LANGUAGES)
lapide.org/
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Few people know that a very respected Jesuit mystical author wrote an entire moral-spiritual commentary on St. Augustines' Confessions
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π§΅(15/x) The structure of his commentary is quite simple: Grou takes a striking passage from the Confessions, and much like a preacher expounding a text from Sacred Scripture, develops it at length, drawing moral and spiritual lessons from the text.
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π§΅(16/16) It is a work I have greatly enjoyed reading, and one that I share freely.
drive.google.com/file/d/1tI0β¦
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π§΅(14/x) Notably, Dom Huddleston mentions that Grou's treatment of spiritual childhood anticipates the 'Little Way' of St. ThΓ©rΓ¨se of Lisieux so closely that she may actually have drawn on it.
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π§΅(12/x) As many authors note, there are two distinct schools of spirituality among Jesuits: French and Spanish. These differ in the subject treated more than anything, yet do not conflict: since mysticism builds upon asceticism, as grace builds upon nature.
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π§΅(10/x) It around this time that he wrote and published his first spiritual work, and the work of which we are concerned: Morale tirΓ©e des Confessions de Saint Augustin (Paris, 1786).
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π§΅(6/x) For Grou, we enter upon 'dark way of pure faith' of which 'we cannot enter of ourselves.' The transition then from meditation to infused contemplation follows the essential outline given by St. John of the Cross, as such, there is no 'acquired contemplation' for Grou.
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π§΅(8/x) On the advice of a nun he ministered to, he went on retreat around 1767/68, when he was around 37/38. During it he experienced an overwhelming grace and resolved to give himself wholly to God. He would refer to this as his "conversion."
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π§΅(7/x) This on its own is significant, as the interpretation of St. John of the Cross' works had been obscured for a century or so by this point due to faulty commentaries and editions provided by the Carmelites. Though, it's beyond the scope of this thread to speak on this.
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π§΅(5/x) Despite such a stain, however, Grou's spiritual doctrine was not hindered, and it follows almost identically from St. John of the Cross' own system.
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π§΅(4/x) One editor of Grou's works notes that his criticisms were 'excessive' and 'singularly exaggerated.' This is an unfortunate stain upon the work of Grou, which simply must be rejected by any serious reader.
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π§΅(3/x) His love for Plato did, regrettably, go to extremes. In one of his works, notably his commentary on the Confessions, he expresses a strong dislike for the philosophy of Aristotle, going so far as to reject his 'useless logic.'
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π§΅(2/x) Grou entered the Jesuits at 15, made his first vows two years later (1748), and took his final vows around 1765. He taught classics in a few Jesuit colleges for 20 years. He was a scholar of Plato, and published successful translations that had several print runs.
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