St. Antoninus of Florence

"To serve God is to reign."

+JMJ+

Today, a little something about St. Antonius of Florence, born Antonio Pierozzi, 1389-1459.

His feast Day is May 10th (Traditional Roman Calendar) and May 2nd (General Roman Calendar).

His writings on moral theology are highly regarded and used as aids to clergy.

Below excerpts taken from St. Antoninus of Florence: A Theologian for Our Times

Author: St. Antonius Institute

On Balance…

“A sense of balance or of good measurement is precisely the chief quality of Saint Antoninus. Giovanni Dominici had led a violent crusade against secular authors of the antiquity. Antoninus generally supported the main effort of his teacher but added a great degree of balance to the issue, to the point that some historians have considered him as a protector of humanism.

It would take his sense of balance to point to people where elements of our culture go wrong. For all practical purposes some of us could be tempted for example to pronounce the judgment that all the rock and MTV culture needs be scrapped. My reading of St. Antoninus would be that he would patiently tell young people that music in itself is acceptable, even loud music, even music which is not contain much harmony. However he would point to the lyrics, the behavior of musicians and of the audience that needs to be reformed.

On Economics…

“The object of gain is that by its means man may provide for himself and others according to their state. The object of providing for himself and others is that they may be able to live virtuously. The object of virtuous life is the attainment of everlasting glory" — St. Antoninus

So consumerism is an absence of purity, its an undue attachment for objects (similar to the undue attachment to pleasures of one's body which is the case of impurity in the strict sense) instead of considering these objects as means to an end.

For the case of consumerism which is all pervasive today, it is OK to shop and buy what we need and even take pleasure in doing it and we even do not have to buy the most shabby things as we need these objects to live "according to our state". On the other hand, believing that we live for the purpose of going to the mall and purchasing what may be the very same objects that we would have bought with a pure attitude, this is consumerism and is therefore not Christian.

Advice to fellow friars…

"If the inferiors follow the superiors into the same sins, they will follow them also in the same virtues. It is therefore very important that you show your friars what should be done and what should be avoided, and show it by your actions more than by your words." — St. Antoninus

Read more here.

Pax,

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