What is the Catholic teaching on the veracity of private revelations?
Is one free to not believe on revelations made to saints? Or even more so, to not be fond of particular saints?
Time and again, it comes down to the maxim that Apostolic Revelation ended with the death of St. John the Apostle.
However, we are given in Scripture that we should not despise prophesy, that we should test everything, and hold on to that which is good (cf. I Thes. v. 19-21).
So, how do we know the difference between a 'new revelation' and good prophesy? We have to test it. Generally, that means submitting it to Holy Mother Church for investigation.
But it doesn't have to mean that. When Our Blessed Mother appears to a person and shows them their sins and tells them what they should do with their life, there might not be a whole lot to test there. If She says "Pray the Rosary, do penance for your sins, and don't gossip," how does that qualify for having to submit it to the Church for investigation?
But if She says "I want a chapel built here" that could be a different matter. Which reminds me: Our Lady used to ask for a chapel to be built where she appears but when was the last time THAT happened? 1917? That alone says an important message.
The bottom line is, it becomes a concern for the Church when the message is intended for OTHER people.
'Revealations' made to the saints are worthy of our belief to the extent that the Church says they are. But the Church isn't going to have us believing something NEW. Even if it's the Pope proclaiming it -- we are not bound to believe things that are in conflict with established doctrine.
As for not being 'fond of' particular saints, I'll restrict myself to comment on pre-Vat.II saints. I would go so far as to say that if there are any saints that you find are not to your liking, then you really ought to find out what that is that makes them seem so, Because the Church has given them to us for our instruction, and it is a lot more likely that there is something about a particular saint that addresses our own weakness -- some virtue that saint had that is the antithesis of our own vice, and that is why we are not so at ease with the saint in question.
In this way, the lives of the saints can be guidebooks for us to learn from, and to make ourselves become more holy by imitation of their virtues. A virtue, by the way, is a good habit, a habitual practice that has become part of our character, a thing that naturally leads us to holiness. Chivalry, keeping your mouth closed while chewing, saying "thank you" when someone is polite to you, cleaning up your own mess...
An example is good manners. If a man is always in the habit of holding a door open for a lady, he will do it without thinking. He might even bow, and doff his hat as she passes by. There was a time when such manners were universal. But now, '
thanks' to "WOMEN'S LIBERATION" it has become more rare. Therefore, it is this plague of '
liberation' which is not liberation at all but
women's denigration, that has become a kind of cancer on our society, and it is up to individuals to combat it one person at a time. I highly doubt you can find for me one saint in the history of the Church who was wont to NOT hold a door open for the next person coming through the doorway.
I have only given worldly examples here because that is the easiest to understand.
When it comes to spiritual and religious matters, it is more abstract, and more challenging. And when you find a saint you "don't like" it's probably because of some spiritual virtue that even perhaps you have not been able to perceive in the saint.
I think a good example is Blessed Anne de Guigne. I have known others to think that she just seemed like a spoiled brat. But that is looking very superficially at her character. Her VIRTUE was her immediate assent to God's will. Once she saw clearly what it was God expected of her, she would drop everything and go directly to that goal. Therefore, those of us who are wont to procrastinate and delay in our assent to the will of God will find her to be a little uncomfortable, and we might even look for reasons to be critical of her. So one such person who just can't seem to let go of looking at impure images of women, for example, is a typical case of one who would find some manner of repugnance with Blessed Anne.
That's just one example. This post is already too long for most readers so I don't want to wear them out. :wink:
(Like for SeanJohnson, who thinks I'm the most boring person he's ever met on the Internet because I don't have anything original to say. HAHAHAHAHA)
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Topic: Private Revelations (Read 762 times)