The Founding Document of the Society of Saint John

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Summary

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1. The three main parts of the Founding Document are:

1. The Introduction, which presents a brief statement of the main assertions of the Founding Document.

2. The first section, the Analysis of the Present Situation, which surveys the reflections leading to the proposal for the foundation of a new clerical institute.

3. The second section, the Establishment of the Society of Saint John, which summarizes the ends and main characteristics of the new institute. These ends and main characteristics flow from the analysis of the first section.

Table of Contents

Introduction
    A Defense of this Proposal
        - To Complete, not to Compete
        - The Fulfillment of Our Duty of State
        - “Nova et Vetera”
    A Call for Both Action and Formation
    A Work of Service to Our Lady
    Ad Maiorem Dei Ecclesi que Gloriam
Summary of the Main Body
First Section: Analysis of the Present Situation
   The State of the Catholic Church in Modern Society
       - The Crisis of Modern Man
       - The Crisis of the Faith
       - A Renewal in the Understanding and Practice of Catholic Tradition
       - The Ressourcement of Catholic Life
       - The Vital Role of the Origins
       - A Living Tradition
       - The Clarification of Present Errors
       - A Necessary Evaluation
       - The Proper Attitude
       - Is the Time Unpropitious for Action?
   The Need for an Integral and Holistic Restoration
       - The Common Good
       - Integration of Ideas into Everyday Life
       - The Need for Society
   Areas of Restoration that Particularly Concern Clerics
       - Restoration of the Liturgy
       - Restoration of the Spiritual Life
       - Restoration of Catholic Wisdom and Education
       - Restoration of Catholic Leadership
       - Restoration of Communal Life
       - Restoration of the Ascetical Life
       - Restoration of the Apostolate
       - Restoration of the Natural Order
   The Opportuneness of This Foundation
       - Liturgical Apostolate
       - Catholic Villages
       - University Chaplaincy
       - Elite Formation
       - School Program
       - Ancient Spirituality
Second Section: The Establishment of the Society of St. John
   Its Nature and Ends
   Its Main Characteristics
       - Sacerdos — Life of Worship and Prayer
       - Propheta et Doctor — Intellectual Life
       - Rex — Leadership
       - Communitas — Communal Life

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Introduction

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Basic Concepts

First

2. This proposal for the foundation of a new clerical institute is based on three main assertions. The most fundamental of these is the need we Catholics have to go back and renew our knowledge of and fidelity to tradition if we want to properly “restore all things in Christ.” It seems to us that such a spiritual renewal cannot be accomplished without a serious ressourcement of tradition in all its vastness. By ressourcement, we mean going back to and renewing our understanding of the sources through which we can make that tradition alive in our time.
   

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Second

3. As fundamental and necessary as this ressourcement is, however, it is still not enough. Besides going back in order to understand our past, we must also, while remaining absolutely faithful to the substance of that past, adapt its wisdom to the circumstances of the present by the power of true and unchanging principles. There is, in sum, the need for a genuine and fruitful aggiornamento.

Third

4. But even this is not enough. There is finally a need to act upon truth discovered and tradition understood. Since we have been called to serve God’s Church as clerics, this document is a proposal for the foundation of a new priestly society within the Church that will foster this renewed understanding, and embody it as a discipline of life.

A Defense of This Proposal

To Complete, not to Compete

5. The Society of Saint John, as we understand it, would offer no competition with nearby parishes or other groups and institutes, since our apostolate would possess a character of its own, similar, but not identical to that of the English Oratory or a Benedictine priory.

The Fulfillment of Our Duty of State

6. However good and true this project may seem to us, we are well aware that we must do God’s will. The approval of the Church is both theologically necessary and canonically decisive. A canonical founding confers the apostolic mission, the link of all apostles to the mission of the Word by the Father: “how can they preach unless they be sent?” A canonical approbation is the objective guarantee that the project is willed by God and that the group is a legitimate part of the Church, an essential element required by the Church’s visibility.

7. Perhaps some may object that only presumption on our part could motivate the making of such a proposal; that the handling of the present crisis should be left to the care of the competent authorities. To this we respond that we have only taken the liberty of analyzing the present situation and formulating answers to the problems we see, leaving the final judgment to the proper superiors in the Church. Both the prescriptions of Canon Law and the example of the saints support this. Of course, we can judge wrongly, but we are at least trying, with God’s grace, to understand the situation and to act upon that understanding.

“Nova et Vetera”

8. We are not proposing something new. Although we are proposing something original, it is yet rooted in the origins of our faith, in Catholic tradition. The main lines of this proposal actually have been gleaned from the writings of prominent churchmen, especially the popes of this century. We are not then claiming to be chosen ones who “know better.” We rather think of ourselves in terms of the parable of the wedding feast; we are among those lame and sick called to fill the gap left by those who refused the invitation. With this proposal, we are trying not only to come to the feast, but to do so with the proper garment.

A Call for Both Action and Formation

9. There are two modes of understanding a problem: by experience, as a patient, and scientifically, as a doctor. Before we can act, we must have a general sense of what needs to be accomplished. On the other hand, it is impossible to understand deeply what needs to be done without either a proper training or the time required to study fully the issues involved. In order, therefore, to address sufficiently the goals of this project, this proposal is both a plan of action and a call for a much-needed personal and communal time of formation and reflection. Finally, practical and cogent demands oblige other groups to a very active apostolate, which lessens the possibility for a protracted study of the situation.

A Work of Service to Our Lady

10. It may be added that the fulfillment of the promises of Our Lady regarding a Catholic restoration is, according to her words, imminent. These promises manifest God’s providential design, which includes men as secondary causes who should cooperate and do their part to bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart. As servants and children of Mary, we hope to contribute our part by what we propose in this document.

Ad Maiorem Dei Ecclesiæque Gloriam

11. We hope that this document makes our proposal and intentions clear and that, by God’s grace, we shall receive the apostolic blessing needed to fulfill what we believe to be our vocation in serving God and Holy Mother Church.
    

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Summary of the Main Body

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12. The main body of our Founding Document is divided into two sections:

1. The first section, the Analysis of the Present Situation, presents a discussion of the problems, suggesting as a solution the foundation of a new clerical group. This section is divided into four parts:

1. In the first part, we circumscribe the essential characteristics of the present crisis and we delineate the solutions that we propose.

2. In the second part, we assert the need for a Catholic restoration that is holistic and integral both as to the objects of restoration and as to the way in which such a restoration is to take place.

3. In the third part, we study certain areas of restoration that are of particular import for clerics.

4. In the fourth part, we consider the opportuneness of the establishment of the Society of Saint John.

2. The second section, the Establishment of the Society of Saint John, presents the concrete nature and aims of the proposed institution, i.e., a description of its main characteristics. They are grouped according to the classical distinction of the threefold office of the priesthood: liturgy, teaching, and government. To these a fourth heading is added discussing the aspect of community life.

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First Section:
Analysis of the Present Situation

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The State of the Catholic Church in Modern Society

The Crisis of Modern Man

13. The highest activity of man is in the understanding of the essential principles regulating and explaining the order of reality. Indeed, it is only through the knowledge of eternal truth that human affairs can be wisely understood and regulated. Modern man is divorced from traditional wisdom insofar as he has refused the primacy of speculative intelligence for the hegemony of the practical intellect and the will. In the measure that this is the case, modern man lacks the tools to judge human and divine events. He no longer knows, nor is his education geared to let him know, his place in the order of things, in the divine economy. Yet, man cannot act virtuously without a certain degree of vision and acceptance of this divine plan, that is, of reality. What is even worse, modern society at large has all but lost the treasure itself of this traditional wisdom.

14. The task of regaining a new understanding of traditional wisdom is, essentially, a spiritual and intellectual one. The possessors of this knowledge constitute authority in the spiritual sphere. Spiritual authority derives from the trusteeship of tradition, not from the modern, universal law of democracy and manhood suffrage. In this sense, the crisis of the modern world is a crisis of “authority”—the loss of knowledge and understanding and, hence, the loss of direction. In the measure that modern society is refusing the highest pursuit of divine truth, all other pursuits are becoming subsequently meaningless or impossible. Even in those areas where great advancement has taken place, like technology, there is a major malady because of the lack of order of the part to the whole. Having refused the highest authority—divine truth—all other authorities have been or are being overthrown or rendered incapable of fulfilling their office: chaos and anarchy are growing everywhere. The garden inevitably turns into a wasteland. How can anything be fruitful when the final end of all things is being put aside?

The Crisis of the Faith

15. Without pretending to ignore other important factors, the present crisis of the Church also seems to us a crisis of authority and knowledge. Now, a crisis of authority in the Church could not stem but from a loss in the knowledge and understanding of the faith. Indeed, all authority in the Church is based on and is itself directed to the preservation and diffusion of the very faith that is its foundation.

16. In turn, the crisis in knowledge of the faith reveals various degrees in the loss of understanding and practice of Catholic tradition, since tradition is the source of our knowledge and understanding of the faith. We modern Catholics often find ourselves in the situation of those seeking to live in and defend a citadel of which the blueprints have been all but lost.

A Renewal in the Understanding and Practice of Catholic Tradition

17. Hence, it is important, even indispensable, to foster an objective and ardent renewal in the understanding of our Catholic tradition if we are to rise above the present crisis. A true return to tradition is, in fact, both the cause and the conditio sine qua non of any genuine and lasting spiritual or intellectual renewal.

The Ressourcement of Catholic Life

18. A close examination of Church history proves this in a concrete way: all renewals in the life of the Church have been characterized by a rediscovery of tradition through its multiple sources, oral and written—the divine Scriptures, the Magisterium of the Church, her Fathers and doctors, the liturgy, ecclesiastical discipline, the classical authors. Indeed, the sources of tradition, under the guidance and interpretation of the living Magisterium, are the gateways which allow us to enter into contact with the life-giving faith. A ressourcement of tradition at all levels, then, is indispensable in any attempt to restore all things in Christ.

The Vital Role of the Origins

19. The Apostolic and Patristic ages, together with the Medieval world, are the main periods to which we must refer as concrete models for a Catholic restoration, since they embody the origin and the fullness of our sources. What is needed is not a servile copy of those ages but rather a clear and penetrating understanding of their essential accomplishments. They are exemplary for what is formal in them, not for what is material. So there is no question of a capricious imitation of archaic customs but rather of a realistic emulation of those Catholic ideas and practices of the past that ought to be models for the present because of their intrinsic excellence.
    

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A Living Tradition

20. A true restoration must consider and respect all achievements incorporated into tradition throughout Church history. This should be done, however, with care to respect the overall framework and balance of Catholic order. The qualities to discern in these later achievements are either their intrinsic excellence or their usefulness in today’s pastoral ministry. Among the many examples that could be cited here, mention should be made of the development of the theology of and devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The achievements of the English Catholic revival and the Oxford movement are, more concretely, of particular interest within the English speaking world.

The Clarification of Present Errors

21. The renewal of our understanding of the sources of Catholic tradition is not only something excellent and desirable in itself but also something that will help us in the analysis and discernment of doctrines contrary to the faith, as well as of problems peculiar to the present hour. It is not enough to build the citadel of God. We must also protect it from its enemies: “we must build as men do, with the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other.”

22. For this sake, we have the light of a philosophical and theological tradition, enormously superior to any other, and the guidance of the Magisterium of the Church, divinely instituted as the true interpreter of Catholic tradition. This task presupposes, however, the necessary formation and competence to undertake it.

23. One of the problems affecting some of those who have undertaken such a program is that, to an extent, they have limited themselves to a negative warfare, oftentimes reduced to an antagonistic attitude and a partial criticism of the “enemy“ rather than the proper labor of discernment and rebuilding.

A Necessary Evaluation

24. In order to resolve effectively the present crisis and assist in the formation of a new Catholic epoch, there must be a set of principles through which we can make prudential judgments regarding the present problems. Besides a deep knowledge of the faith and a solid philosophical formation, a thorough understanding of history seems necessary. First, many problems were long ago settled by the best minds and the practice of the Church; hence, there is no need to discard the learning of the past in all these issues. Second, one cannot ignore historical contexts. For example, theology, although the most important criterion, is not sufficient when assessing Papal or Church policies and statements. The significance of the historical and political background of such actions must also be considered in order to make a fair and complete assessment

25. The problems we face cannot be solved from the same premises that produced them. We cannot, for example, simply go back to “the fifties.” When reviewing the developments within the Catholic Church, it is important to remember that, insofar as they are Catholic, they are unquestionable as to their essential elements. The Church could not have failed in her mission in the past. Nor can she fail now. The vastness of the present crisis demands an evaluation of the whole history of the Church, and in particular of those centuries which, because of their proximity and relation to the present crisis, require a special effort of discernment.

The Proper Attitude

26. A critical evaluation of both Church history and the modern world does not entail a simplistic condemnation of past developments. In the final analysis, it is not up to individuals but to the Church’s Magisterium to guide us all as we assess our times, past and present.

27. There are two attitudes that must be avoided in this evaluation; one is a cause of the problem and the other paralyses the effort to bring about an effective solution. The unfaithfulness to the substance of tradition, as embodied in neo–Modernism, is a cause, while the fixation on the accidentals of human traditions, as embodied in a false traditionalism paralyses any effort to confront the problem. What we need is neither compromise in principles nor a merely reactionary attitude, but a mature response to the challenges of the present hour.

Is the Time Unpropitious for Action?

28. Some may argue that one ought to wait until the present crisis is over and things settle down before going ahead and starting something new; that now is the time to think and pray, rather than to act.

29. The crisis in which we live, however, is not a short—term turmoil. It is all-pervasive and will not admit of a short term or easy solution. It may last for a long time, as was the case with the crisis of transition from the ancient to the medieval world. In fact, the crisis is such that, to all appearances, only an extraordinary intervention of God will make any restoration possible. But even a special divine intervention does not exclude the action of secondary causes. It is obvious from the lessons of history that when God intervenes in an extraordinary way, He does so only in those areas that are beyond the power of any secondary cause. In the cases of both Noah and Moses, God required human cooperation in the achieving of his otherwise omnipotent feat: humanity was saved in the ark built by the hands of a few men, and the children of Israel only found the Promised Land by following their human leader. In addition, and due to the scope and length of the crisis, without some remedial work and basic rebuilding, even thinking and praying will prove increasingly difficult and isolated.
    

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The Need for an Integral and Holistic Restoration

30. A true and lasting Catholic restoration must be comprehensive and systematic. The enormity of the crisis demands a proportionate remedy. Being in the last stages of the process of destruction of the Catholic order, there is on the one hand an ever growing need for an integrated restoration of the natural and supernatural orders, and on the other, the recognition that certain compromises which were before seen as the best possible avenue of action have now lost their raison d’être, due to the worsening of the situation.

The Common Good

31. The pursuit of the common good is the proper action of the virtue of political prudence. Without the crowning perfection of this virtue, all other pursuits become insufficient, and even disordered. The whole of our action must be directed to and accomplished through the love of the common good. Concretely speaking, if we want to be of help in the Catholic restoration, we must always keep in mind the common good of the whole Church. Without this “fight for the whole,” all traditionally minded individuals and groups working for the restoration of the faith will become ineffective and be marginalized, if not eventually destroyed.

Integration of Ideas into Everyday Life

32. We have already stated that, in our opinion, an intellectual renewal alone is not sufficient. In the last century we were graced with the Thomistic revival, the liturgical movement, the resurgence of scriptural and patristic studies, of Canon Law, of Church history, etc. An analysis of their development and achievements yields invaluable lessons, but, in what concerns us now, they have been unable to stop the process of decomposition within the Church and society. We need, then, to assimilate but at the same time go beyond their attainments.

33. What appears to have been lacking is the interdisciplinary integration and the practical incarnation of their intellectual gains into a discipline of life and culture. Once ideas have been understood, they must be transformed into principles of action. For example, the return to Thomistic theology is absolutely necessary but of itself insufficient. Also, a deeper understanding of the liturgy is a desirable good, but it is also necessary to facilitate the access to and the understanding of such a treasure, both for the clergy and the faithful.

34. Perhaps in this context one of the lessons to be learned from the renewal proposed at the time of the Renaissance is its failure to descend from the intellectual elite down to the people of the streets. Classical, patristic, and scriptural studies did little to renew the spiritual life of Catholics at large. On the other hand, the Counter–Reformation period succeeded in deeply affecting and improving the life of ordinary Catholics, clerics and laity alike.

The Need for Society

35. Man needs society, even temporal society. We are social animals. This need varies according to our state in life. Even the hermit has a relationship to the society from which he comes, not to mention his special relationship to the Mystical Body. It is true that in order to fight the enemy and to surmount the contamination of the world, a certain degree of retirement and detachment has always been, and is now more than ever, necessary for Christ’s faithful. Yet, this retreat from the world must at the same time take into account the serious need of the individual for social insertion and for the sharing of those things (especially the goods of prayer and contemplation) that only the social order can provide. Society can harbor evils, but the avoidance of society is the worst of all evils. Had Robinson Crusoe remained on his island, he would have eventually gone mad. In our concrete case and considering what we propose here, there are three main areas where social interaction is critically important: the Church, civil society in general, and the world of education and science.

Areas of Restoration that Particularly Concern Clerics

Restoration of the Liturgy

36. The decadence of liturgical life that took place at the end of the Middle Ages has been called the first of all revolutions. It is not surprising, then, that the resolution of the crisis in religious and even civil society must begin in the religious enactment of the divine mysteries. The liturgy is the chief and foremost area of restoration because it is both the perfect fulfillment of the first commandments and the prime and indispensable source of the true Christian spirit.

37. Indeed, the sacred liturgy re–establishes the harmonies and relations between the divine and the created order—both natural and supernatural. The liturgy is not only the divine action par excellence , but it is also the summation of the praise of all creatures to God, that is, the fulfillment of the very end of creation. All the activities of man and the created world find in it their source and completion. The liturgy should not be a reflection of our own life but rather our participation in the life of God, our participation in the life of heaven.

38. Man, as a consequence of the liturgy’s restoration of the due submission to the Divine Being, rediscovers in and through the sacred rites his place and role as both a creature (and hence the liturgy is the principle of restoration of the natural order) and a son of God (and hence the liturgy is the principle of restoration of the supernatural order). Unless man re–orients himself efficaciously through the divine liturgy to his final end, any attempts to establish any other order will prove vain in the end. divine liturgy to his final end, any attempts to establish any other order will prove vain in the end.

39. Since the waning of the Middle Ages, clerical spirituality has been for the most part only partially rooted in the liturgy. The performance of the sacred rites became somewhat accidental to the spiritual life of the priest. As a direct consequence of this in the apostolate, the liturgy no longer predominates as the most effective instrument for conversion to and growth within the faith.
    

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40. The inevitable result of the liturgical decadence has been an ever–increasing desacralization in both the temporal and the spiritual order. We are now experiencing to a superlative degree the Real Absence—the absence of God and the divine. Modern culture is thus radically vitiated, neither rooted in nor oriented to the cult of God. Since all things are sacred in the measure that they participate in the holiness of God, ours is a world of the profane.

41. Another significant consequence of the liturgical decadence is the evident decline in the moral, intellectual, and social life throughout our civilization.

1. The moral decline takes root in liturgical decadence because the Church teaches most efficaciously through her liturgy. All the virtues find in the liturgy an organic and cyclical exposition. Moreover, perseverance in the practice of virtue requires the help of grace, and the liturgy is the principal source of that grace.

2. The liturgy, further, is prior by nature to any Catholic intellectual endeavor, just as life and experience are prior to reflection and study. This is particularly true of theological studies: “Lex orandi; lex credendi.” The liturgy is the true and ultimate “mystagogy,” i.e., the teaching of the divine mysteries. This teaching is based not so much on a rational demonstration as on the sacramental, experiential knowledge of the divine mysteries. These august truths, which are the main object of contemplation for a truly Catholic intellectual, are wholly contained and efficaciously re–presented in the liturgy. The spirit of contemplation, if true and objective, necessitates the opening to and the experience of the higher realities offered by the sacred rites.

3. Finally, in what concerns the social life, through the liturgy the individual shares in the life of the Church and assumes his place in the new and definitive order of redeemed creation, the order of the Mystical Body. Thus, the liturgy is the forming factor and the ultimate expression of Catholic society, supernatural and natural.

42. The work of restoration of the liturgy and the liturgical spirit is essentially an ecclesiastical work. The liturgy, by its very nature, is the worship of the Heavenly Father by Christ united with all the members of the Church, his Mystical Body. Since all the baptized partake in the divine rites in the hierarchical manner proper to each, any restoration in this area will intimately affect their practice of the faith. Consequently, this restoration cannot be considered as solely the work of monks or specialists. It is something that concerns the Church at large. The solemn performance of the divine rites should not be confined to monasteries or some other specialized places, but should be to some extent the daily practice and life of every Christian. The strength and renewal of the Church will stem only from the clergy and the laity returning together to the principal source of their spiritual life. Since, however, the Church is a hierarchical body, it must be remembered that the liturgy is primarily the domain of the clergy and, in particular, of the Holy See.

Restoration of the Spiritual Life

43. Throughout this document, the phrase “spiritual life” has been used in a broad sense, encompassing the whole life of the spirit—not just its ascetical or mystical aspects. This has been done in order to emphasize the objective and integrating character that is necessary to a true spirituality. Indeed, the spiritual life seeks Christian perfection. Now Christian perfection is the perfection of the whole man within the larger context of the Christian order, which order is universal reality itself—natural and supernatural, material and spiritual, individual and communal, created and divine. If the spiritual life is a continual struggle, it must be a struggle for the whole.

44. There is a great need for integration and balance in a true restoration of the spiritual life. First, there is a great need for the integration of the liturgy, or communal prayer of the Church, with the ascetical and mystical life of the individual Christian. There is also a need for the integration of the acquired wisdom of God, theology, with the divinely–given wisdom, the co–natural knowledge of the divine drawn from charity. Dogma and spirituality, doctrine and Christian perfection, must not only interact but also seek a certain unity, especially in a priest who, by virtue of his office, must be holy and learned: “doctus cum pietate.” The spiritual life cannot be divorced from a genuine intellectual life, nor a genuine intellectual life from the spiritual.

45. A true spirituality, therefore, must base itself on reality—as opposed to any “spirituality” which denies either nature or Revelation. It must help the whole man enter into the harmony and justice of the universal order. A spirituality devoid of a vision of God’s cosmic design makes of religion a subjective experience. Religion then becomes something centered on man and his spiritual (meaning here “psychological”) states. A true spirituality should not make people busy above all with themselves, or rather, with their own souls exclusively. In this sphere, too, there is a process of desacralization, where man is deprived of the only real opening to the life of God: the mystery of the Incarnation and its continuation in the mystery of the Christian liturgy. When spirituality loses its sacredness, its objective transcendence, then it loses its power to bring men to the divine. What remains is an anthropocentric and closed “inner life” with either a rationalist or a purely emotional bent.
    

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46. The incorporation of man into the harmony of the whole takes place by the development of his supernatural and natural virtues. Consequently, it is important to regain a solid understanding of virtue. Our philosophical and theological traditions are very rich in this regard. However, there has been at times a certain split between the solid doctrine of virtue at a philosophical and theological level and the actual ascetical practice at the level of spirituality. In particular, the supernatural and God–infused virtue of prudence must regain its capital role as the leader and coordinator of all other virtues. Within prudence, the most important part is that which is called political prudence, the part directed to the attainment of the common good, the greatest good of both society and the individual. Since the supernatural common good must be the guide for the supernatural good of the individual (i.e. his sanctity), it is not difficult to see the importance of supernatural political prudence in the concert of Christian perfection. Because a priest is a leader of souls, the consummation of supernatural political prudence in him is of consequential importance for the Mystical Body.

47. In what concerns clerics more specifically, if the priest is an alter Christus, then his whole life should be directed to an intimate union and conformity with Our Lord Jesus Christ’s own life. Now the mysteries of Our Lord’s life are eminently present, in a sacramental and ritual way, in the liturgy. Moreover, the source of divine life in us is sanctifying grace, which we find in the superabundant well of the divine rites as in its cause—hence, the capital role that the liturgy should play in the spiritual life of the clergy, and of all the faithful as well.

48. Since the end of the Middle Ages, some modern currents of spirituality, on the contrary, showed a great tendency towards atomization and the overemphasis of the lesser to the detriment of the greater, if not of the whole itself. Thus, Christians experienced a widespread divorce between the intellectual and the spiritual life, between public and private devotion, between a rationalist and reductionistic “objectivity” on the one hand and an over–emotionalized subjectivity on the other, between intellect and will, between passive and active virtues. The voluntarism and activism of modernity—described as the Faustian esprit of the age—stand contrary to the spirit of contemplation of traditional man. The ever–increasing appreciation of efficiency and results has produced an also ever–increasing esteem for methods and spiritual techniques. In the end, the over–emphasis on what regards the will of man has obscured our understanding of the primordial role of the will of God, of grace.

49. Modern man conceived of himself as standing next to God: free, independent, seeking his own way to heaven, no longer raised by an objective economy of salvation. The lone individual fought in solitary battle for the heights; the Church and the liturgy, the source of grace, moved more and more into the background. Ironically, the over–emphasis on the role of man’s will produced, together with a weakening in the understanding of the absolute need of faith and grace to please God, a demeaning of legitimate differences and a lack of respect for true individuality—a result of the stress on efficiency and a uniform and carefully–adjusted method. Thus, the proper respect for the uniqueness of the person has suffered great diminishment, only to see instead the growth of mass–individualism. If we were to capture in an image this change of mindset, we could certainly use the transformation in the popular image of heaven. From the heavenly Jerusalem of tradition, paradise became the place where the line individual finds personal happiness on his own private cloud. Luther may have been refuted in dogmatic theology, but his outlook seems to have had an influence on the spirituality of many Catholics.

50. As a direct response to modern individualism, many Catholics in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council put a new emphasis on the social and communal, together with a certain disregard for private devotions and personal piety. Besides the excesses that took place due to a certain reactionary tone, a major problem originated then due to the fact that contemporary views had a too strong influence on the newly emphasized understanding of realities such as community, social responsibility, and participation. The ideas of community and participation, for example, were heavily permeated by democratic and “horizontalist” assumptions. The “community” finally re–formed the liturgy instead of the liturgy in–forming the community.

51. As in the other areas, a true restoration of the spiritual life must begin by looking back at the sources of Christian spirituality, first and foremost, the liturgy, where we find and enter into contact with the saving mystery of Christ. The Scriptures, the spiritual doctrine of the Fathers of the Church, and St. Thomas Aquinas’ teaching offer a proper remedy to such a malady of notions and ideas. Again, the superiority of Catholic tradition is an encouragement, for we are not abandoned to our own resources. Nor are we alone in this tremendous task of restoration; the principles have already been formulated, and there are some models of their practical application. This demands, however, a certain docility to tradition as well as the effort to understand and assimilate its substance.

Restoration of Catholic Wisdom and Education

52. Men of a given culture and common background have always attempted a more or less organic and coherent way of bringing up their children. This learning process is what we call “education.”

53. The best of the ancients conceived man as a rational animal. In their view, the fundamental role of man was to perfect his rational nature by using his intellect and will in order to discover, understand, and assimilate the objective order of reality of which he was a part. Man could not do so unless by the mediation and in the context of the city, that is, of the society of which he was a member. At the same time, it was critically important for the welfare of society that it help the process of education of its citizens by assisting them in the development of their intellectual, moral, and physical skills or virtues.

54. The elevation of the natural order to the supernatural, of which the coming of Christ and the establishment of the Catholic Church on the morning of Pentecost were the definitive stages, demanded an intrinsic and radical transformation in the ideal of Greco–Roman education. A genuine learning process could not ignore the new order of things. The conception was thus completed by the Catholic ideal, bringing intellectual and human perfection to a level possible and proper to a Catholic alone.

55. Greco–Roman education received from Cicero the name of Humanitas or “Humanities” to indicate that its essential purpose was to perfect human nature. Catholic education could then be named Humanitas Christiana to signal that its ultimate goal is no longer the natural perfection of man, but his supernatural perfection: to raise him to the perfection and newness made visible in Christ’s glorified and risen humanity. Another name given was that of Liberal education, meaning that this was the education proper to a free man, a citizen: an education that, through the acquisition of truth, brought man from the state of merely natural freedom to a genuine moral freedom.
    

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56. It was only after a man had received the education he needed in order to become a free man that he was ready for a further specialization preparing him to excel in this or that field of human activity. It is very important to realize that traditional education, both and Christian, was not primarily directed to perfect man as a doctor or an engineer, nor to enable him for the fulfillment of any other particular job, but to perfect him simply as man—and for Christians, to perfect his rational nature elevated by grace to the life of God himself.

57. We have stated that education was a systematic and coherent approach to perfecting man. Let us now describe this process that began in wonder and aimed at wisdom.

1. Liberal education lay its foundations with the study of those instrumental disciplines that are required for the study of all other higher disciplines. They are instrumental because they are concerned with art (i.e. method): grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

2. Liberal education helped man to become free by perfecting his rational nature through knowledge, especially the knowledge of that which is more perfect than man. Theology and metaphysics, concerned with God and the highest causes, were therefore seen as the highest sciences and the ultimate object of this education.

3. Man himself and even the natural world were also objects proper to the traditional curriculum insofar as they reflect the perfection of the First Cause.

4. Ethics and political philosophy were studied in addition because no man can rule himself, i.e., be truly free, without understanding the end of human life and the use of all the subordinate objects in view of that end.

5. The order found by man in quantity, i.e. in number and magnitude, was further an object of studies because, firstly, it reflects the divine perfection; secondly, it is particularly accessible to the human mind; thirdly, it helps to understand nature, since there is in nature a quantitative aspect. Arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music were the disciplines that embodied such knowledge.

58. With the waning of the Middle Ages, a new outlook increasingly won ground. The fundamental role of man was no longer seen as essentially contemplative and assimilative of an objective order, but rather creative and productive. Man became the central figure of the modern universe. Thus, an anthropocentric culture gradually replaced the traditional theocentrism. It is not difficult to realize how consequential this revolution was in the field of education. The very purpose of Liberal education was all but lost. Liberal education became the study not of an objective order but of the works and inventions of man. It was to give man a “cultural enrichment” instead of the liberating knowledge of objective truth. It ceased to be an education for man and became an education from man. Finally, the very quest for truth yielded its place to the freedom to seek truth. Thus, academic freedom gradually became the end itself of higher learning.

59. Catholic institutions and teachers did their best to adapt to the new circumstances and ideas while trying to preserve their Catholic heritage. They felt compelled to follow suit in order to remain competitive and successful in the real world. The faith, however, cannot be compromised nor reduced to a mandatory religion course. God cannot be a pious background in the stage of human life. A combination of Catholic wisdom and secularized learning is impossible, not only from the point of view of the faith but also of true philosophy. This was not the beginning of the end. It was the end of Catholic education. In the long term, it was bound to produce a generation of Catholics that viewed the combination between “religion” and “world” as irrelevant or contradictory. The massive abandonment of the faith, especially by the well–educated, was an unavoidable consequence of the crisis of Catholic education.

60. Let us now make our case more concrete by listing what we see as the main flaws of Catholic education in the United States:

1. It accepted the modern trend towards early specialization to meet the requirements of professional and graduate schools, while reducing the time of “useless” or Liberal studies to the mere acquisition of an appreciation for the “culture” and “learning” of our civilization, and this without a logical progression.

2. Philosophy and theology courses suffered also from their own specialization, and were not fully prepared to engage other disciplines in dialogue.

3. It presented in the same curriculum contradictory world–views. The student was taught disciplines or sciences that presupposed a general conception of reality opposed to that of his philosophy and theology courses.

4. Philosophy and theology courses were also troublesome because often they were reduced to the study of history of philosophies or theological opinions. Thus, the student was not introduced to a coherent and scientific understanding of reality but to a series of interpretations of reality dependent upon the changes of time and place. Philosophy and theology courses did not open the student to an understanding of reality according to the highest and ultimate causes—at least in an incipient way—but were rather the study of a series of human opinions at best clever and well structured. Skepticism was often the result.

5. Those who wanted to teach true philosophy and theology did so, not through the works of the great masters themselves, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, but through textbook versions and manuals. This was done in order to facilitate the understanding of perennial wisdom by the minds of modern students. The result was a certain distortion and misrepresentation of that wisdom. Such a misrepresentation was unavoidable because, on the one hand, it is impossible to reduce perennial wisdom to a popular and easy formulation, and on the other, the thoughts and language used to restate traditional thought were those of modern philosophies, which in fact understand reality in ways incompatible with that of perennial wisdom. Besides, there is an intrinsic union between true wisdom and its method of research, which is both lengthy and difficult. It is one thing to teach a student a series of philosophical or theological conclusions and another to help that student become himself a beginner philosopher or theologian.

6. Philosophy and theology courses were isolated. Thus, they could not perform their sapiential and ordering role with respect to the rest of the courses and disciplines. The highest truth is the only one that can and should properly order and illumine the study of all other truths. Instead, philosophy and theology became a sort of expanded catechism, losing their scientific character.

7. Catholic educators often failed to realize, or were unable to cope with, the vastness of the cultural revolution taking place in the contemporary world, i.e. the systematic and organized undoing of man’s rationality, reducing him to a manipulable animal of passions and desires. Without basic intellectual skills and good moral habits, the study of the higher realities becomes all but impossible. A certain na vet!" and easy–going attitude towards modernity jeopardized the otherwise great efforts to bring the students to the truth of Christ.

61. We will foster the development of schools that are owned and run by their faculty, together with the help and assistance of parents and the Society of Saint John.
    

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Restoration of Catholic Leadership

62. When addressing the issue of a Catholic restoration, the question of leadership and authority is central: salvation must come from above. God’s wisdom has established an order in creation, binding things together by the golden chain of his charity. Thus, the excellence found in the superior has been ordered to the service of the inferior. Reciprocally, the inferior cannot do without the superior. This is why a Catholic restoration cannot take place without the leadership and the authority able to carry out the task.

63. An obvious conclusion flowing from the problems we have been describing—besides being an overwhelming experience of everyday life—is that our society is largely in the wrong path. Such a deviation is both the effect and the cause of a widespread lack of knowledge and wisdom, that is, of vision. Indeed, our crisis is fundamentally a crisis of authority and leadership, a crisis of knowledge and direction. For authority is not mere power, but the power that comes from the perfection of knowledge: the authority in a given field is the one who knows best.

64. The Church has also had her share in the crisis of authority and leadership. When religious authority corrupts, we find what Our Lord Jesus Christ found in the Israel of his first coming: the Pharisees, incarnating an orthodox religion with a rigid morality but without a genuine theology or knowledge of God, and the Sadducees, fashioning a heterodox religion with a false and humanized theology.

65. Given the nature of the Church established by Christ, clerics generally play the major human role in Catholic leadership. The clergy are superior in the hierarchy of the Church because of their threefold office: the sacerdotal office, by which they sanctify souls through the operation of the sacred mysteries; the prophetic and doctoral office, by which they teach souls the higher truths, which are to free them from the slavery to sin and error; and the royal office, by which they direct souls through the government and discipline of the Church, so as to permit and facilitate their attainment of eternal happiness. Hence, a Catholic restoration requires from the clergy the achievement of excellence in three areas: 1, liturgy and holiness of life; 2, doctrine and learning; 3, prudence and wisdom for the competent government of the Church—both leadership and management.

66. As for the role the laity plays in Catholic leadership, a fuller development of this topic is beyond the scope of our document. Let us simply state here two extremes that we are to avoid: clericalism and secularism. By clericalism, we mean the consideration of the laity as a sort of second class Christianity. By secularism, we mean the opposite exaggeration of the excellence of the lay state and an undue independence vis–à–vis the clergy. The development of what has been called “lay spirituality” has at times undermined the basic unity of Christian perfection in the effort to stress what is particularly “secular” or “lay.” From its essential point of view, there is no Christian sanctity without the altar and the priesthood. We need to re–establish a full Catholic community built around the altar, where everyone can find his proper place in the Christian order. Moreover, the present crisis calls for a better distribution of tasks. Indeed, the limited number of clergy demands that they concentrate on what is proper and specific to their state, and that competent laity do not neglect their own role but fulfill their duty of state without invading the realm proper to the clergy.

67. The restoration of genuine leadership and true authority is neither an easy nor a short–term goal. While paying attention to the needs of the present, we must not compromise on the investment of time and resources, both human and material, required for the restoration of a solid leadership. Otherwise, things important are at the mercy of things urgent. Naturally, prudence and patience have their roles to play. We must remember, however, that prudence and patience are concerned with the realm of the means, not of the end. The end can never be compromised.

Restoration of Communal Life

68. The communal character of Christianity finds its basis both in the natural social life of man and in the supernatural constitution of the Church, where the good of the part cannot be found without or outside the good of the whole. The State and the Church are two perfect societies which cannot ignore each other and which, moreover, are intimately related. The powers behind the subversion of the Christian order have attacked this relationship so as to detour the State and its citizens from the goal of heaven and, at the same time, to weaken the evangelization of the Church by hardening the soil where the faith ought to fructify. Christian peace, i.e. the permanent tranquility of the Christian order, requires a harmonious relationship between natural and supernatural society, between the natural rhythm of the physical and spiritual order and the supernatural rhythm embodied in the liturgy of the Church.

69. Regardless of the magnitude of its scope, a restoration of the Catholic faith, if it is to be integral and lasting, cannot take place without a correlative and proportionate restoration of the natural social order. As was the case at the transition between the ancient and the medieval world, Catholics will have now the duty to save the city of man while laboring for the building of the city of God. This political restoration is not political in the restrictive sense of modern usage, but rather in the broadest sense of the totality of the natural order, from economics to culture, from ecology to government, from technology to family life.

70. More particularly, and contrary to modern individualism, the clerical life in its social and spiritual dimensions founds and nourishes itself in the common life of its members. From the beginning, Our Lord joined to Himself twelve men who lived together, forming the first Christian community or school of the service of God. Following His example, the primitive Church was distinguished by its common life, where all dwelt together in unity of mind and heart, holding all things in common. Finally, the Church assumed and perfected the political vision and order of the Greco–Roman world into the newness of Christendom.

71. In today’s generalized state of crisis, the need of the individual for a healthy civil and religious society is even more necessary than in ordinary times.
    

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Restoration of the Ascetical Life

72. The work of restoration envisioned in this document cannot take place without a correct understanding and a serious practice of Christian asceticism. This is particularly important in our world because of the exaggerated value given to personal comfort and the psychological weakness and immaturity that our hedonistic culture instills in all of us.

73. A concrete application of a spiritual and intellectual reform demands a deep communal and personal conversion and re–education not only of the mind but of the heart as well, so as to redress the habits of thought and will which are contrary to the saving truth of Our Lord and which affect us as a consequence of both sin—original and personal—and the influence of what the Scriptures identify as “the world” and its false perspectives. Indeed, if we consider the concrete state of our fallen nature, it is clear that a restoration demands, besides the essential return to the divine, the healing of the wounds produced by sin in our intellect, our will, and our sensitive faculties.

74. The virtue of obedience and the spirit of sacrifice are of particular import for the restoration of community life and Catholic leadership.

75. The liturgy is a veritable sacrifice of praise, where our nature is ordered to the higher life of grace through the constant practice of spiritual and bodily discipline without which the only result would be a pharisaical rubricism or a mere aestheticism. Moreover, the liturgy should be the source and the zenith of a life of prayer and sacrifice bringing about the union of the soul with God.

Restoration of the Apostolate

76. Salvation comes not from man and his good will but from God. He has established an objective order, or economy, of salvation, and men must be brought into contact with that order if they are to be saved. The Church of Christ accomplishes this primarily through her sacramental life and the preaching of the Gospel. Such a work is by nature the imitation and continuation of the action of Christ, the Redeemer of mankind. This is why the liturgy constitutes the very life of the Mystical Body. At the same time this is the final goal of the true apostolate: the education for the worship of and the incorporation into the very life of the Blessed Trinity.

77. The enormity of the present crisis demands much more than a mere keeping of the faith; it necessitates a deep re–evangelization. We believe that Catholics should come together and build small communities and villages. The purpose is not to set apart puritanical and sectarian “cities of the good” but to create an environment propitious to a sane and Catholic life. Only in such an environment can a more in–depth work of restoration of grace and nature take place. In addition, this is also necessary if a fuller liturgical life is to be the daily bread of the faithful. We are firmly convinced that such a liturgical life is not an option: only the holiness of the altar will restore the wholeness of Christendom. Besides, life in the modern cities is quickly proving impossible, not only from the point of view of the faith but of nature as well. Since small communities are slowly forming everywhere, their experience could be highly valuable for our project.

78. Our apostolic communities should perhaps be formed in the outskirts of the urban centers until a more self–sufficient micro–economy could be developed. They should be close enough to a city so that people can find jobs and a cultural and academic life, but far enough away so that agriculture and a strong relation with nature can be assured.

79. Obviously, the work here proposed is not a short–term project. It might take more than one generation to be fulfilled in a satisfactory manner. Yet, we believe that it is becoming one of the few realistic options of restoring Christendom. It is opportune to remember, however, that the main lines of this proposal are not so much a remedy forced on us by the present crisis, but rather a consequence of the very constitution of the Church, of civil society, and of human nature.

Restoration of the Natural Order

80. Finally, we should remember that the subversion of the Catholic order has deeply undermined even the natural basis of society. We cannot ignore this issue if we want to effect a solid and lasting restoration. We Catholics are born and raised in our derailed modern world. Without an adequate restoration of the natural order, all other work risks being illusory and fragile. The faith is designed to build upon and harmonize with the natural perfection of man. As is explained in the parable of the seed, if this foundation is lacking, the faith encounters obstacles in creating the new man conformed to the image and likeness of God. This is why the order of nature, both physical and spiritual, has always been recognized by the best Catholic minds as a sort of propaedeutic for the life of faith. In our days, such a propaedeutic work is ever more necessary because, as we have said earlier, many of us are somewhat alien to, if not enemies of this foundational order of nature.
    

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The Opportuneness of This Foundation

81. After the great commotion of the sixties and seventies, the situation within the Church and, to some extent, civil society has become somewhat more stable. The “settling of the dust” allows us to see more clearly the depth and vastness of our malady. This, in turn, shows us the need for a long–term work of restoration, and not just for a “survival operation,” necessary as that might have been before: we have survived, but now we must look ahead.

82. Our proposal envisions a new institute working within the Church and her tradition in order to meet some of these long–term goals not yet met, at least fully, by other institutes and individuals. It should be clear to all, therefore, that we do not intend to oppose or compete with other communities but rather complement, as far as God’s grace and our frailty allows us, their excellent work.

83. Now it might be objected that enough good is being done already and that what we are proposing here can be done by other groups attached to the traditional liturgy & or that what we want is just certain niceties that the present crisis of the Church does not permit. This serious question bears a studied and adequate response.

84. We believe that there is not enough good done in certain realms and that the best way to provide for a consistent and systematic solution in these areas is to establish new institutes specifically fitted for the fulfillment of these needs. There are never enough workers in the Lord’s vineyard, be they individuals or associations. In what concerns this proposal, let us summarize some of those necessities.

Liturgical Apostolate

1. Firstly, there is a great need to restore an apostolate based on a full liturgical life, accessible to the ordinary faithful and, especially, to Catholic youth seeking higher education. This must be carried out with the quality and excellence proper to the dignity of the divine mysteries, and be able to attract believers and unbelievers alike to the beauty of the Catholic faith.

Catholic Villages

2. There is a need to build, in close cooperation with interested laity, small villages where the life of faith and nature can find a proper setting and a beneficial milieu.

University Chaplaincy

3. Likewise, there exists a void in the intellectual and spiritual support of our Catholic youth going to college. Young men and women are otherwise abandoned to the falsehood of secular humanism. This type of work requires special means and a concentrated effort, which the more general apostolate of other traditional groups cannot properly provide. Besides, a strong work of conversion among young students can yield great fruits in religious and clerical vocations, as well as healthy and holy families. The success of the Orthodox Church, presently the fastest growing Christian group in the United States—their apostolate among young students being the main source of conversions—should be a lesson for us.

Elite Formation

4. The intellectual clarification of present problems is still offering a great field of study and research. Before members of the clergy can undertake such a task, they should receive a more thorough formation, and be given the time and communal support necessary for the study of these highly complicated issues. One cannot do eye surgery with a kitchen knife. Thus, the formation of a clerical, intellectual elite is critical for the work of restoration of the faith.

School Program

5. Since a genuine elite presupposes an intellectual and moral excellence, the field of education requires a proportionate restoration, particularly the development of a school program more in harmony with the principles and methods of antiquity and based on a fully integrated liturgical life.

Ancient Spirituality

6. There is a need to build, in close cooperation with interested laity, small villages where the life of faith and nature can find a proper setting and a beneficial milieu.

85. Thus, while other groups have different goals valid in themselves, they nevertheless do not meet the needs discussed above. Nor can we say that these needs and others described throughout this document are mere niceties; rather, they are urgent and crucial exigencies that the very solution of the crisis demands.
    

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Second Section:
The Establishment of the Society of Saint John

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86. The purpose of this section is to state briefly the essential characteristics we envision for the Society of St. John. The actual drafting of complete Constitutions is a task that we would like to accomplish organically—much as was the case with the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. We shall use the constitutions and disciplines of already existing orders as models since the ideas they embody have already been approved by the Church and tested by the experience of those who have lived them. In particular, the following elements will be incorporated on account of their value in relation to the analysis presented in the first section:

1. From the statutes of similar institutes, i.e. of institutes of common life without vows, we adopt the basic structures and regulations provided by law, although with the adaptations required by the specific goals and unique charisma of the Society of Saint John.

2. From the monastic experience of the Middle Ages, we take the idea of a community dedicated to the worship of God and the sanctification of its members, around which the faithful can gather and receive from the divine mysteries the fullness of the Christian spirit while living in an environment conducive for the its development. Our communities should be established close enough to the urban centers so as to facilitate the economic life of the faithful but remote enough so as to guarantee the wanted social autonomy and a fitting natural setting. We shall encourage as well the development by the same faithful of micro–economies more in harmony with the rhythm of nature and the liturgical year.

3. From the Order of St. Jerome, in Spain and Portugal, we take the idea of an institute fully dedicated to the daily solemnization of the liturgy and the development of an educational system of singular excellence, in correspondence with the tradition we wish to restore. Indeed, our educational ideal flows from and culminates in the sacred liturgy. Being close enough to urban centers will provide as well for the possibility of interaction and apostolate with other institutes of learning.

4. From the English Oratory of Cardinal Newman, we take the idea of an association of scholarly clerics forming a community of friends and dedicated to the promotion of Catholic culture and the conversion of non–Catholics—especially of young students, who are to become solid Catholic leaders.

5. From the Benedictine congregation of Cluny, we take and adapt the system of confederate houses, each with its own autonomy (common to all Benedictine monasteries) but with a central government (a feature of the Cluny congregation). Every house in the Society of St. John will be called a priory. While respecting the essential characteristics of the work proposed by the Society of St. John, each house should be allowed to develop its own spirit and façon d’agir. Priories will have a number of clergy large enough for the daily fulfillment of their goals (approximately between fifteen and twenty clerics per house).

6. From the clerical and monastic experience of St. Martin, bishop of Tours, we take the idea of a series of autonomous associations working in common under one supreme moderator. Since the goals of this proposal far exceed, due to their variety and number, the competence of one single institution, we foresee a cluster of different associations tailored for the attainment of specific goals. However, because these goals are to be sought under the same formality, i.e. since these associations will share the same spirit, we propose for them common ties of life and, to an extent, of government in order to provide for the desired coordination of efforts. We foresee first a clerical society of apostolic life without vows (the Society of St. John). To this community, a religious and contemplative branch should be added in the future, when the befitting spiritual, intellectual, social, and material basis for its operation are minimally achieved. Its members, who will join on a permanent or temporary basis, will share with the clerical association the same house, although having their own quarters. Likewise, they should share the same community Mass and meals. They should sing the full Office in choir, joining the members of the clerical association for the hours of Lauds, Vespers, and Compline. To this, ot ociations could be organically added. For instance, the lay teachers may want to form their own association in order to facilitate their personal sanctification and a better fulfillment of their duties of state. Artists and craftsmen employed in the liturgical arts could come together and form their own guilds, etc.

7. From the rule that St. Augustine wrote for his canons, we take some of the regulations for clerics living in common and helping each other in the fulfillment of their duty of state.

8. From the repeated exhortations of the Magisterium, we take the idea of joining and complementing the spiritual, liturgical and intellectual riches of the Western and Eastern traditions. For this sake, we shall form communities celebrating the rite proper to the territory where they are established but open to the study of both Eastern and Western theology and spirituality, as well as the celebration of other rites, according to circumstances of time and place.

Its Nature and Ends

87. The immediate end or goal of our proposal is the foundation of a clerical society of apostolic life without vows of diocesan right. As explained in the first section of this Founding Document, this institute will foster a renewal in the understanding of the clerical life and its essential elements in the best tradition of the Church, East and West. The constitution and rules of this institute will embody such a renewed understanding in a discipline of life, taking into consideration the needed adaptation to the present circumstances and exigencies of the Church in the modern world.

88. The particulars of our proposal can be treated under four main headings: sacerdos, propheta, rex (these arise from the threefold office of the priesthood) and communitas, i.e. the aspect of community life which is a consequence flowing from the apostolic tradition and the social nature of man.

89. Since the main goal of the Society of St. John will be the restoration of clerical life as such, we wish to avoid any peculiarities proper to a specific type of life or anything foreign to the priesthood. Special needs and vocations should be fostered—as said above in § 86.6 —by different associations joined by common ties of life and government.
    

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Its Main Characteristics

Sacerdos—Life of Worship and Prayer

90. The divine liturgy, and in particular the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, will be the source from which the life and work of all our members originate, and the end towards which our life and work will gravitate. Its members will cultivate personal piety under the frame and inspiration of the liturgy. All the liturgical functions of the community will be sung, in accord with the nature of divine worship. The degree of solemnity of the celebration, however, will depend on the quality of the feast and the possibilities of the house. The community Mass and the common Offices will be mandatory for all members, with exceptions foreseen for the postulants.

91. Of particular importance for the members will be the devotion and consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for devotion to the High Priest and to Mary, Co–Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces, are indeed essential to the priesthood. The devotion to St. John will take into consideration his fidelity and presence at the Sacrifice of the Cross, where he associated himself with those Blessed Hearts, and the fullness of his prophetic spirit regarding the end times.

92. The daily liturgical life of the whole community will consist in a common High Mass and the chanting of the canonical hours of Lauds, Vespers, Compline, and, sometimes, Matins. Matins will eventually account for the reading of Scripture and spiritual authors recommended to clerics by the decrees and practice of the Church. New members will be incorporated into the community Office gradually, as shall be more fully stated hereafter. Provided the consent of the competent ecclesiastical authorities is granted, major clerics will be bound to the private recitation of all other canonical hours only when not attending the solemn recitation of the aforesaid hours of Lauds, Vespers, and Compline, and the community Mass.

93. The members of the Society of St. John observing the Latin rite will follow the traditional edition of the Roman liturgy according to the spirit and norms of the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei Adflicta of July 1988.

94. To complement the liturgical life, the following practices will be added to daily observance:

1. Lectio Divina, or meditation, will be done in the chapel immediately following Lauds.

2. The community shall recite daily the Holy Rosary and the Angelus/Regina Cæli.

3. On Fridays during the season of Lent, the Via Crucis will be recited by the community instead of the Rosary.

95. As stated above in § 92, new members shall be gradually incorporated into the diverse community functions in order to help the organic development of their virtue of piety, and to avoid undue stress and artificiality.

96. Careful attention will be given to the harmonious integration of the liturgical and intellectual lives of the members, particularly during the years of formation. The desired fruit of these years of formation will be a strong and healthy spiritual life, both ascetico–mystical and scholastic, rooted in the best of our tradition, especially as synthesized by the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas.

97. Other areas of knowledge will be fostered too which, although accidental, intimately touch the sacred liturgy so as to form part of its integrity. Emphasis will be given to serious liturgical studies and liturgical piety. Our proposed restoration of the liturgy requires an adequate knowledge of theology, liturgical arts, history of liturgical discipline, and knowledge of its complex and profound symbolism. These are helpful means to truly observe the mandate of the gospel to “worship in spirit and truth.” Members will spend one hour a day studying the liturgy, and training to assume their role in it.

98. The organization of the new institute’s apostolate will be based on the solemn liturgy of the Church. It shall center itself around the sacramental and sacrificial aspect of the liturgy, with the active and intelligent participation of the faithful in the Mass and the chanting of the canonical hours. This will necessitate a proper spiritual, intellectual, and artistic formation of the faithful, helping them to rise gradually to the sublimity of full liturgical worship. The theological and spiritual aspects of the liturgy will be taught along with training in the practical skills presupposed by divine worship: Latin studies, the singing of Gregorian Chant and hymnody, and contributions in the various liturgical arts. Beyond this general preparation, a special form of schooling based on the medieval boys’ choirs will be implemented in order to prepare future clerical and religious vocations as well as future university studies.

99. Around and from the altar, our apostolate should ultimately fructify in a strong and vigorous community of life and faith. We say ‘of life and faith’ because we see the re–creation of the Christian temporal society as both a natural consequence of and a great help in the development of the Catholic Church. We say ‘around and from the altar’ because the Church is in fact a community of believers who will one day chant the praise of the Blessed Trinity in an everlasting liturgy. In brief, our apostolate will seek to make visible in the perfection of the liturgical life the hierarchical unity of all believers in the Mystical Body of Christ.
    

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Propheta et Doctor—Intellectual Life

100. The work of restoration proposed for the Society of St. John will demand a high standard of excellence in the intellectual life, especially of those clerics in major orders. This standard should be determined by both our intellectual tradition and the pastoral needs of the present situation. According to the Magisterium, this includes matching the cultural level of the university–educated class in contemporary society. Before advancement in the sacred orders will take place, we shall demand of all candidates a progressive fulfillment of academic requirements. The concrete requirements for each order should be clearly established in a Directory on the Ratio Studiorum—a particular directory for academic matters.

101. An intense apostolate on college campuses will characterize our Society. We hope to bring about, through these efforts, the conversion of some to the faith, as well as the growth of both converts and cradle Catholics in the faith. Thus, in time, there will be holy and healthy families, the usual source of good vocations. We hope some day to provide dormitories or houses for students attending local colleges, where they could find an atmosphere of piety and order, and spiritual and intellectual guidance during their time in college.

102. We shall foster a healthy communication with other intellectual currents. A true intellectual freedom and the skill needed for its proper use is something that requires constant effort and survey. Serious publications or contributions to serious publication in the academic field will be a fruit stemming from this.

103. As was discussed under the heading Restoration of Catholic Wisdom and Education, a solid formation is necessary before a fruitful study of theology and philosophy can take place. Let us present here a basic outline for a ratio studiorum proposed for our educational system: there are five basic stages: propaedeutics, the trivium, the quadrivium, philosophy, and theology.

104. As stated in § 61, the schools should be owned and managed by the faculty with the cooperation of the Society of Saint John and the parents. Agreements could be signed with the respective faculty in order to assure the consistency of the curriculum with the ideas proposed by this document.

Propaedeutics (9 to 14 years old)

105. This cycle will comprise a work similar to that proposed by Dr. John Senior.

1. Gymnastics (training of the exterior senses).

2. Poetics and music (training of the interior senses, especially the emotions).

3. Sports and drama (a “pre–formation” of the will).

4. Latin as a spoken language. The main intellectual goal during this period is the acquisition of the necessary language skills for the future academic work. Since our intellectual and liturgical traditions are fundamentally Latin in character, the Latin language will be the one used in our scholarly activity. At this stage, there is no study of grammar proper, but simply the skill of understanding, speaking, reading, and writing in Latin.

The Trivium (15 to 16 years old)

106. Grammar, logic, and rhetoric are the main courses.

107. The study of English grammar will be mandatory. Other vernacular languages will be studied as optional extra–curricular courses.

108. Farm work will be practiced in association with the study of natural sciences, which will consist primarily in the discovery of nature through guided observation and a rational explanation of natural phenomena based on the common observation of the senses.

The Quadrivium (17 to 19 years old)

109. Arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy are the main courses.

Philosophy (20 to 23 years old)

110. With the trivium and quadrivium, high school is finished. For those students willing to follow a possible clerical vocation or willing to study philosophy or theology, we shall offer a program totaling seven years of higher studies with a master’s degree in philosophy and a doctorate in theology.

111. Philosophy: a program of three years starting with Porphyry’s Isagoge and Aristotle’s Categories as an introduction to the study of physics (i.e. cosmology, or philosophy of nature). After physics, the following courses are studied in a sequential order: psychology, ethics, politics, and metaphysics.

112. The study of the Greek language will be offered, comprising a program of three years.

Theology (24 to 27 years old)

113. Theology: a program of four years. The plan to follow for the systematic study of theology is fundamentally that of the Summa Theologi .

Other Undergraduate Programs (20 to 23 years old)

114. Other students who will not pursue a degree in philosophy or theology but who understand the need to complete their Liberal education (and hence the need to study some philosophy and theology) will have a three year program ending with a bachelor’s degree. Three programs should be available, although sharing the same core courses in philosophy and theology. The first program, a Bachelor of Art degree, will prepare students for graduate studies in humanities other than philosophy and theology (like history, literature, law, etc.). The second program, a Bachelor of Science degree, will prepare students for graduate studies in “sciences” (like mathematics, engineering, physics, etc.). The third program, a Bachelor of Science degree, will prepare students for graduate studies in natural sciences (like biology, medical school, chemistry, agronomic engineering, etc.). Laboratory work will complete the study of natural sciences in order to familiarize students with the method of scientific experimentation.
     

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The Study of History

115. Israel and the Church have transformed the Humanitas into a veritable Humanitas Christiana. An essential element in this transformation is the understanding of the mystery of history, and hence the unique importance it has in a truly Christian Liberal education. Indeed, the s envisioned history as an archetypal cycle, but for Christians, history is rather a linear, teleological drama freely decreed by God and whose meaning is definitively revealed in the eschatological mystery of the Incarnate Word, which is made present to each one of us through the cyclical enactment of Christ’s life and mystery in the divine liturgy. Each creature has a unique and unrepeatable part to play in this drama of history which the liturgy sums up.

116. A special role should be given to the study of theology of history. Historical studies should be assimilated into the different sciences as a sort of induction and preparatory work for the understanding of their more complex conclusions, something similar to Aristotle’s analysis of historical opinions before stating his own conclusive theory. Otherwise, a formal course in World and American history should also take place during the quadrivium.

117. The Renaissance sharpened and developed even further the new historical awareness brought about by the Judeo–Christian Revelation. Although valuable in itself, such development has had the tendency to reduce other sciences to the mere study of a historical evolution of opinions. History should contribute to and not undo the objective assessment of truth by the other sciences. Historico–critical investigations are a necessary aspect of the study of sources. Such investigations, however, find their inner completion only in the proper theological or philosophical question, “what is the truth of the matter?”

The Study of Other Disciplines

118. Physical education gymnastics, designed to develop strength, balance, and agility, will be a daily requirement throughout the whole span of Liberal education. The practice of selected and relevant sports is also foreseen.

119. The art of music will in addition be a daily requirement, although a formal study of music theory will take place during the quadrivium. The training required for vocal music should be associated with textual reading skills and oral rhetoric.

120. The reading and study of the Scriptures will commence immediately with the propaedeutics program, and in the Latin language, as soon as the students is able to do so. A proper study of the catechism is presupposed in students who will be approximately ten years old. Further religion studies will take place in relation to and in the context of the liturgy or the study of other disciplines throughout the whole program, until the formal study of theology begins.

121. The study of geography should complete the teachings of the quadrivium not as a mere memorization of places and cities, but as a true rational understanding of the causes behind geographical phenomena.

122. Music appreciation, art appreciation, and literature should complete the curriculum in the form of seminar courses. They offer an excellent and particular form of vision, of illumination, about reality and our understanding thereof, since they presuppose a world–vision. They also offer experience of things unknown. They perfect human nature by developing the affective, emotional, and imaginative life, and thus they can eloquently address the intellect.

123. The importance of the liturgy for education, and for the whole of human life has already been stated. The liturgy shall be the departing point and the end towards which a true Catholic education will be oriented. The liturgy is indeed the icon and the foretaste on this earth of the vision of God. We have already contended that a true education frees man not by any means, but by the acquisition of knowledge. The liturgy offers the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is eternal life, as Our Lord said. Thus, the participation in the liturgy offers man the ultimate freedom from all forms of slavery.

124. Social and political education will be completed by a gradual participation in the actual political life of the school, in close association with the faculty and the parents. This participation should habituate students to the reality of the common good. The concrete forms in which such participation will take place should be described in a special directory and should take into consideration not only the present needs and circumstances but also the historical antecedents such as the medieval institutions of education. A school should be a true community of teachers, parents, and students.
     

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Communal Aspect of Learning

125. The role of the community in the search of truth cannot be exaggerated. From the very beginnings, lovers of wisdom gathered in a common life of mutual support and enlightenment: the Pythagorean communities, the Platonic Academy, the Aristotelian Lyceum, the monasteries, the medieval universities, etc.

126. Most classes will take the form of small tutorials and seminars, with approximately twelve students. Magisterial lectures will take place a few times a month, especially for upper students.

Other Pedagogical Considerations

127. Since Liberal education presents the best system of education according to human nature and the sciences themselves, the curriculum is mandatory in its essentials. Co–programmatic courses are foreseen, some of them mandatory (like history and geography) others optional.

128. The educational system will look for a genuine combination of the methods of antiquity and the proven findings of modern psychology, especially developmental psychology. In addition, care will be taken to incorporate the present norms of the Holy See and the Conference of Bishops regarding the requirements for the formation of the clergy.

129. The Great Books will be the texts used in the different courses.

Rex—Leadership

130. A vision of an elite corps of men to serve the Church was the proposed program of men like St. Dominic and St. Ignatius of Loyola. We shall imitate this vision by a thorough formation of our members in both leadership and management. The patrimony of the Church must be proven peerless by word and deed. Only then will Catholic tradition be appealing to the great numbers. It is only thus that tradition can truly assert itself and claim again its place of honor.

131. In general, what is intended is the cultivation of a spirit of excellence in the fulfillment of one’s duties of state as a means of personal and social sanctification. Since the outset of modernity, many authors have cultivated this field of thought, developing extensively what we might call “the theology of work and efficiency.” As with so many other modern developments, it will need re–placement in the context of traditional thought.

132. To insure the success of this work, two main criteria must be followed: the pre–selection of candidates and a consequently thorough and demanding formation. Excellence must be the measure in their formation both educational and spiritual.

133. Our candidates should excel not only in the speculative disciplines but in the practical disciplines as well, always keeping in mind that the formation of clerics demands a constant preparation for and reference to the common good. The duty of the cleric is the the ministering to the faithful. This duty cannot be fulfilled without a great fidelity to God’s providence and a great share of God’s wisdom.

134. In recent centuries, there has been an increasing standardization in the formation of clerics through the seminary system. This seems to have produced a double effect. The positive effect has been the endurance of a minimum standard in the clergy; the negative, a certain exclusion of singular excellence.

Communitas—Communal Life

135. “When two or three are gathered in my name I am truly present”—said the Founder of the first Christian ecclesia. The Fathers understood this to embody the idea of friendship, where the communication of goods, especially of God, finds its perfect expression. Concretely speaking, the life of our society will be founded upon friendship, as is the case with the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Friendship, in its natural basis, is to be understood according to the Greco–Roman tradition. To this foundation the Apostolic and monastic doctrine and experience must be added in order to accomplish its purification and perfection.

136. A solid, closely–knit community life is needed in order to facilitate—and even permit—the fulfillment of the aforesaid ends. Consequently, we shall avoid anything contrary or harmful to the unity and peace of the community. We shall foster a true political life so that the development of the whole man can be better achieved. Indeed, the perfection of man cannot be reached ordinarily without the perfection of the community itself. In addition, our community will promote and guide a balanced interaction with the rest of society, both ecclesiastical and civil.

137. The task of restoration proposed by this document far exceeds the strength or competence of any given individual. The formation of a healthy community is not only the requirement of a much–needed restoration but also the natural result of a liturgical apostolate.

138. To promote and soundly accomplish these objectives, we must foster a life in harmony with and conducive to a virtuous natural and supernatural life. A sound mind works best in a sound body. The community will watch over the physical, psychological, and emotional needs of its members. This will be accomplished by providing a healthy diet and the requirement of daily physical exercise. Recreational activities attended by all members of the community will foster the unity of mind and the necessary social interaction. The day will be centered upon the supernatural and natural rhythm of things, avoiding causes of stress and fatigue. Breakfast and dinner, followed sometimes during the week by a community coffee recreation, will be the two main meals. A light lunch, ten to fifteen minutes long, will take place at midday.

139. One of the salient characteristics of the new institute will be the restoration of the different minor and major Orders as permanent states of clerical life. Every house, called a priory, will have a minimum number of clerics in different Orders to provide for the ordinary and proper development of the liturgical and community life. Normally, a priory will have fifteen to twenty members. A postulant will enter the institute with the idea of serving the Church as a cleric, not necessarily as priest. He will ascend the hierarchy of Orders as he acquires competency in the different offices belonging to the priesthood—provided he is willing. Since the three offices of the priesthood are not really independent tasks but rather three aspects of one and the same priesthood, from the very beginning all clerics should have a share, according to the nature of the Order they have received, in the government, teaching, and liturgy of the house.
     

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