"But behold again a Virgin, a tree, and a death"

"The Cross is the Father’s will, the glory of the Only-begotten, the Spirit’s exultation, the beauty [(κόσμος)] of the angels, the guardian of the Church. Paul glories in the Cross; it is the rampart of the saints, it is the light of the whole world."

     St. John Chrysostom, Homily De coemetrio et de cruce 2, trans. for the Office of Readings, Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Universalis.  Greek from PG 49, cols. 396-397.

in your concord and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung

"by your concord and harmonious love Jesus Christ is being sung."

ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ ὑμῶν καὶ συμφώνῳ ἀγάπῃ Ἰσοῦς Χριστὸς ᾄδεται.

     St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ephesians 4, trans. Kirsop Lake.  Context:  "it is fitting that you should live in harmony with the will of the bishop" and his presbytery.

"we can know the true and unchanging meaning of dogmas"

". . . it must be stated that the dogmatic formulas of the Church's Magisterium were from the beginning suitable for communicating revealed truth, and that as they are they remain forever suitable for communicating this truth to those who interpret them correctly. It does not however follow that every one of these formulas has always been or will always be so to the same extent. . . .

"As for the meaning [(sensus)] of dogmatic formulas [(formularum)], this remains ever true and constant in the Church, even when it is expressed with greater clarity or more developed. The faithful therefore must shun the opinion, first, that dogmatic formulas (or some category of them) cannot signify truth in a determinate way, but can only offer changeable approximations to it, which to a certain extent distort or alter it; secondly, that these formulas signify the truth only in an indeterminate way, this truth being like a goal that is constantly being sought by means of such approximations. Those who hold such an opinion do not avoid dogmatic relativism and they corrupt the concept of the Church's infallibility relative to the truth to be taught or held in a determinate way.

". . . the meaning of dogmas which is declared by the Church is determinate and unalterable. . . .

". . . we can know the true and unchanging meaning of dogmas. What is new and what [John XXIII] recommends in view of the needs of the times pertains only to the modes of studying, expounding and presenting that doctrine while keeping its permanent meaning. . . ."

     Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Mysterium ecclesiae, or Declaration in defense of the Catholic doctrine on the Church against certain errors of the present day 5, 24 June 1973.  Latin at AAS 65 (1973):  396-408, and here.

"Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?"

"Sometimes it is necessary to drink a little more, play, jest, or even commit some sin in defiance and contempt of the devil [(atque adeo peccatum aliquod faciendum in odium et contemptum diaboli)] in order not to give him an opportunity to make us scrupulous about trifles [(ut conscientiam nobis faciat de rebus levissimis)].  We shall be overcome if we worry too much about falling into some sin.
     "Accordingly if the devil should say, 'Do not drink,' you should reply to him, 'On this very account, because you forbid it, I shall drink, and what is more, I shall drink a generous amount.'  Thus one must always do the opposite of what Satan prohibits.  What do you think is my reason for drinking wine undiluted, talking freely, and eating more often if it is not to torment and vex the devil who made up his mind to vex and torment me?  Would that I could [(Utinam possem)] commit some token sin simply for the sake of mocking the devil [(aliquid insigne peccati designare modo ad eludendem diabolum)], so that he might understand that I acknowledge no sin and am conscious of no sin.  When the Devil attacks and torments us, we must completely set aside the whole Decalogue [(Omnino totus decalogus amovendus est nobis ex oculis et animo)].  When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares that we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus:  'I admit that I deserve death and hell.  What of it?  Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation?  By no means.  For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction in my behalf.  His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Where he is, there I shall be also.'"

     Martin Luther, letter no. 1670 to Jerome Weller, July 1530, as trans. Theodore G. Tappert on p. 86-87 (84-87) of Luther:  letters of spiritual counsel, LCC 18 (Philadelphia:  The Westminster Press, 1955), underscoring mine.  Latin from WA Br 5, 518-520.  Would that I could.  some token of sin.  Still, . . .
     I get the point of the hyperbole.  And yet Luther seems downright irresponsible here.  In order to do always "the opposite of what Satan prohibits" should we do also what God does (i.e. probibits) explicitly?  Probably Luther has in mind really only diabolic interpretations of the Decalogue.  But this language is too reckless for me.

Useful idiots

"the overthrow by means of revolutionary violence of structures which generate violence is not ipso facto the beginning of a just regime. A major fact of our time ought to evoke the reflection of all those who would sincerely work for the true liberation of their brothers: millions of our own contemporaries legitimately yearn to recover those basic freedoms of which they were deprived by totalitarian and atheistic regimes which came to power by violent and revolutionary means, precisely in the name of the liberation of the people. This shame of our time cannot be ignored: while claiming to bring them freedom, these regimes keep whole nations in conditions of servitude which are unworthy of mankind. Those who, perhaps inadvertently, make themselves accomplices of similar enslavements betray the very poor they mean to help [(Ii qui, fortasse inscii, consortes se reddunt eiusmodi subiugationum, pauperes decipiunt quibus inservire volunt)]."

     Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect, and Alberto Bovone, Secretary, for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Libertatis nuntius, or Instructio de quibusdam rationibus «Theologiae Liberationis» (Instruction on certain aspects of the "theology of liberation") XI.10, 6 August 1984 (AAS 76 (1984):  876-909), italics mine.  I was put onto this by Edward Feser, All one in Christ:  a Catholic critique of racism and Critical Race Theory (San Francisco:  Ignatius Press, 2022), 141.

Creation does not wait with eager longing for the extinction of man

"the hope of creation does not extend, for example, to the capacity of shaking off the human yoke one day.  It waits for man transfigured, man who has become the child of God.  This man gives back to creation its freedom, its dignity, its beauty.  Through him creation itself becomes divine. . . .  every creature is oriented toward the expectation of this event.  It is an infinite responsibility that is thus entrusted to humans—to be the accomplishment of every aspiration of earth and heaven."

     Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, "On hope," trans. Esther Tillman, Communio:  international Catholic review 12, no. 1 (Summer 1985) =35, no. 2 (Summer 2008):  313 (301-315), citing H. Schlier.  According to Schlier/Ratzinger, "the one who subjected [creation] to [vanity] (Rom 8:20). . . . is Adam."  But if was the sin of Adam that thus subjected it, then how, precisely, was this done "in hope"?  For "the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope".  (On the other hand, can God be said to "hope"?)

"whoever does not give God, gives too little"

"Whoever does not give God gives too little [(chi non dà Dio, dà troppo poco)]; and whoever does not give God, whoever does not enable people to see God in the face of Christ, does not build anything up but rather, wastes human activity in false, ideological dogmatism, and so ultimately only destroys.
     "Don Giussani preserved the centrality of Christ and it was exactly in this way that he that he was able, by means of social works and needed services, to help mankind in this difficult world, where Christians bear an enormous and urgent responsibility for the poor."

     Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Funeral homily for Msgr. Luigi Giussani, Milan Cathedral, 24 February 2005, as translated by Communion and Liberation for Communio:  international Catholic review 31, no. 4 (Winter 2004):  685-687.  The Italian in which the homily was delivered is here.  The context:  "the temptation [in the face of the 'extreme poverty and misery' of Brazil] . . . to say, 'Just for the moment we will have to set Christ aside, set God aside, because there are more pressing needs.  First we have to change structures, fix the external things; first we must improve the earth, and after that we will be able to find heaven again.'"