[Mortal Sin destroys your Ticket-to-Heaven]
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The Madonna of Carmel and the Souls of Purgatory - by TIEPOLO, Giovanni Battista - from Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan The Souls in Heaven, the Church Triumphant, intercede to God on behalf of the Souls in Purgatory, the Church Suffering. Our Blessed Mother in Heaven, the 'Throne of Mercy' and 'Queen of the Angels', takes great delight in sending her Angels to release those Souls mercifully pardoned by her Son Jesus. Although depicted with Bodies, members of the Church Triumphant and Suffering actually have no Bodies, and will not receive their Glorified Bodies until the Final Judgment at the World's End. Currently, there are only Two (2) known Bodies in Heaven, belonging to Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother. Popular speculation attributes a Third Body belonging to Saint Joseph, based on God's Commandment to 'Honor thy Father and Mother'. Jesus will never be outdone by Man in bestowing Honor on His parents. |
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Each of us is a Complex-Being composed of Body and Soul, of Matter and Spirit, Intimately United to form One (1) Person. It has been said that each of us is a Microcosm, a Synthesis of all Creation. We have existence, as do Inanimate Things; we are Nourished, Reproduce, and Grow, as do Plants; we have Sensate Knowledge, Passions, and the Power of Locomotion, as do Animals; and like the Angels, we can know the Spiritual Truth and be drawn to Spiritual Good. All these Vital Powers -- Vegetative, Sensitive, and Rational -- constitute the Natural Life of Man. They are not Superimposed one-on-the-other; they Co-Penetrate one another and Mutually Complement one another, to lead to the Natural Perfection of the Whole Person.
There is nothing in our Nature that Postulates, either Proximately or Remotely, the Supernatural Order. The Elevation to this Order is a totally Gratuitous Favor of God that Infinitely Transcends all the Exigencies of Nature. Nevertheless, there is a Close Analogy between the Natural and the Supernatural Orders, for Grace does not destroy Nature, but Perfects and Elevates it. The Supernatural Order constitutes a True Life for us and has a Supernatural Organism that is similar to the Natural Vital Organism. As in the Natural Order, we can distinguish Four (4) Basic Elements in Human Life:
- - - so we can find similar Elements in our Supernatural Organism:
The Soul
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Elements - Supernatural Organism |
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| Subject: | Soul |
| Formal Principle: | Sanctifying Grace |
| Faculties/Powers: | Infused Virtues and Gifts of the Holy Spirit |
| Operations: | Acts of the Virtues and Gifts |
The Human Soul is a Spiritual Substance that is Independent of Matter in its Being and its Operations, although, while it is in the Body it makes use of Bodily Powers for the Exercise of various functions. But the Soul is not a completely Independent Substance, nor can the Soul alone be properly called a Person. A Person is not the Body alone, nor the Soul alone, but the Composite that results from the Substantial Union of the Two (2).
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We know from Reason, and from Sound Philosophy, and also from the Teaching of the Church, that the Soul is the Substantial Form of the Body. Consequently, the Soul gives us our Essential Grade of Perfection, and Communicates to the Body the same Act of Being by which the Soul itself exists. But the Soul is not Immediately Operative; it needs Faculties or Powers for Operation; and the specifically Human Faculties that Emanate from the Essence of the Soul are the Intellect and the Will.
Such is the Subject in which our Supernatural Life resides. Grace, which is the Formal Principle of that Supernatural Life, is rooted in the very Essence of the Soul in a Static manner. The Virtues and the Gifts, which are the Dynamic Elements in the Supernatural Organism, reside in the Human Faculties or Powers, and Elevate them to the Supernatural Order.
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Index - Supernatural Organism |
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| Subject: | Soul |
| Formal Principle: | Sanctifying Grace |
| Faculties/Powers: | Infused Virtues and Gifts of the Holy Spirit |
| Operations: | Acts of the Virtues and Gifts |
by Father Jordan Aumann, O.P.
Institute of Spirituality at the Pontifical University
of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome
Man is born a Rational Creature, with Body and Soul,
into the Natural Order.
The Supernatural Organism - Part I of V
The 'Subject' is the Soul; 