Choose a topic from Part 2B:
1. Sometimes the truths and practices of the true religionare misinterpreted or misused, and this is a kind of superstition.It is true doctrine, for instance, that the souls in purgatory arehelped by our prayers. But it would be superstition to believe thata certain formula of prayer, or a certain number of prayers, givesabsolute assurance of the deliverance of a certain soul frompurgatory.
2. And the good and useful practices of Catholics-inpenitential acts, for instance, and in using medals, scapulars, andother blessed objects-are sometimes turned into superstitioususages by mistaken persons who invest such practices with a kind ofmagical power, instead of using them, according to the mind of theChurch, as means of stirring up reverence and devotion to God intheir own hearts.
"It is not God's will that we should abound in spiritual delights, but that in all things we should submit to his holy will."
Blessed Henry Suso
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"The Lord has always revealed to mortals the treasures of his wisdom and his spirit, but now that the face of evil bares itself more and more, so does the Lord bare his treasures more."
St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church
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"A tree that is cultivated and guarded through the care of its owner produces its fruit at the expected time.
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St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church
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