Conferences on the Virtues
By Fr. Bruno Cocuzzi, ocd
Number 69
Section A – Religion Considered in itself…
Article 1 – The Essence of the Virtue of
Religion
Etymologically,
according to some, the word Religion is said to be derived from the
Latin re-ligando, which means binding to again. By means of our religion, we humans,
through recognition, love and gratitude, keep re-uniting ourselves to God, to
Whom we are already joined by a bond of dependence.
The
philosopher/orator Cicero believes that the word religion comes from the
Latin relengendo, which means both re-reading and re-gathering. He says this is so because, by means of our religion,
we frequently meditate upon and review mentally those things, which are worthy
of, veneration and which instill in us a healthy fear.
My author is
not too keen upon the suggestion of St. Augustine, who believes that the Latin re-elegendo,
which means re-electing or re-choosing, is the true derivation of
the word religion. That is to
say, he believes that by our religion we re-choose those gifts
and blessings of God that our First Parents have lost for us through their sin
(and which we reject in virtue of our own grievous sins), and which are
re-offered to us by Jesus in virtue of His Redemptive death on our behalf.
But whichever
of the above derivation we think most accurate (and it seems to me that all
three notions are involved in the idea of Religion), the word Religion
always includes the notion of an orientation, indeed, a moral
orientation or ordering of the self toward God upon Whom we are dependent, and
to Whom we owe our veneration.
According to St. Thomas:
God
is the One to whom we must first and above all bind ourselves as our never-failing
source [of good]. To Him our choice
(our wills) must be assiduously directed as to our ultimate end or goal. For by neglecting our religion we fall into
sin and lose Him, Whom we can only regain by believing and professing Faith in
Him [as our unique source of all that is good].
There are
degrees of meaning given to the word Religion:
I.
In the
widest, objective sense, it is taken to mean the entire complex of all
our duties to God, whether fulfilled by the intellect, the will, or the executive
powers of our souls. Therefore, it
includes all dogmas (divinely revealed truths and all truths validly and
logically derived there from), laws and institutions, which embody those
truths and help us to carry out those duties in practice.
In
the widest subjective sense, it means the actual fulfillment of our
duties toward God.
II.
In the most strict sense, the word Religion
means the supreme worship that we human beings owe to God, and necessarily
includes the spontaneous tendency or inclination [virtue] to offer up to
God that supreme worship.
III.
By reason of excellence, the word Religion
means that institution or State of Life created by professing to live by
the Evangelical Counsels of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, through which men
and women dedicate their entire beings to the worship of God.
All of the
above can be summed up in the following definition:
The
Virtue of Religion is that virtue which inclines the human person to offer to
God the worship due Him as the First Principle (or source) and Supreme Governor
of all things.
As a virtue,
Religion inclines us to do what corresponds to the nature and destiny God has
conferred upon us, and so helps us to attain our perfection as human
beings.
It is a very
special virtue because it has God as its object. His special, extraordinary excellence, which infinitely exceeds
and transcends all created objects worthy of esteem and reverence, requires
that we accord Him the Supreme Worship called Latria. (The rites and rituals by means of which we
express due reverence and esteem to persons of lesser dignity and excellence
[than God’s] (the Saints) is called Dulia. The expression of reverence and esteem we owe to Her who is
super-eminent among the Saints, the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary, our Mother, is
called Hyper-dulia).
Religion is
said to be a Moral and NOT a Theological virtue because it does
not enable us to attain God its object directly and as He is in Himself
(as do the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity), but indirectly. The direct objects of the virtue of Religion
are those created things, our deeds and actions, which lead to the
ultimate attainment of, and union with, God, our Final End or Goal.
Thus the material
object of the virtue of religion is the actual exercise of Divine Worship.
The exercise of Religion
comprises those words and actions, which bear witness to the Supreme excellence
of God and to our willing subjection to Him and His Will. It thus gives to God the Honor due Him as
the Supreme Author and Lord of all creation.
In the exercise
of Divine worship, there is to be a kind of due proportion between the
degree of Honor owing to God, and the Ritual Actions that are selected to
express it. We say due proportion
because the finite, merely human person and his activities are intrinsically
incapable of having the infinite merit and the value that corresponds to the
Infinite Honor owing to God. That
is why only by willingly participating in the worship given to God the Father
(representing the Divinity) by Jesus, a Divine Person, through the
instrumentality of His Humanity, can we possibly give God a worship that is
entirely worthy and acceptable to Him.
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