Sustineri Veritatis

[Gnomistry 1115]

Spoiler

 

 

Sustineri Veritatis 

The Sustainability of Truth

19th Harren’s Folly, 1792

 

---

 

 

 

Brothers in the common flesh of Horen and in the laurels of the office of shepherds over the flocks of Man: Grace and Mercy from GOD the Father and the Exalted, our Divine Informants. In our response to the Ecumenical Council of this age, Curandum Aengulis, we began by defining an articulated doctrine which stresses the condition of ecclesiastical authority; Sustainability. 

Let it be known that this doctrine, ‘the Divine Precedent from which the Church is preserved from error by treading in the path of orthodoxy steadfastly and with great regard for her traditions in ages past’ is not a new innovation. Neither is she promulgated by any Pontiff or Saintly Bishop in ages past or present. The doctrine of Sustainability is a living, breathing reality present in the very fabric of our Communion. We are a Church which shuns the revisionist claims of infallibility of office and absolute authority of mortal rank. However, we are a custodial estate, bound by our commitment to that truth we were appointed as shepherds to safeguard. This condition, our nature as humble toilers in the vineyard of the Lord, thus affords us the following merits:

In that we are a Divinely appointed institution, created by the Will of GOD and entrusted with magisterial authority by our Fathers among the Saints, the Exalted Prophets, we were established in a state of absolute grace. Preservation from error was not the only emanation of this force- however from it,  our ability to persist with the charisma of truth above us is evident. Let us then refer to the force behind this doctrine as gratia sustentans, our sustaining grace.

Verily, my fellow clerics, it is through our custodianship of the office we have been entrusted with that we merit this gratia sustentans - without which our ecclesiastical body would be led astray into the condition established in Ad Defensionem Anima, beguilement. Recognizing that it is in preserving the traditions of ages past, in conforming to the interpretations of our earliest-most fathers, in stringently obeying both the Word and Deposit of Faith that we merit gratia sustentans and are thus preserved from error, be so entreated in these times of doubt and confusion to take comfort in Holy Mother Church. 

Out from the chasm of departure from tradition and blatant nova interpretatio GOD, in His excellent providence, has produced for us a great opportunity to recognize fault. In liberalizing the Faith we have received a Paternal Correction. Those events which have come to pass involving Gazardiel in the time of this council were so ordained out of direct need to admonish stubborn clerics who refused to recognize Holy Mother Church’s dogma. Inspired by this censure without bitterness or attachment to the wrongs of the past, let us converge. Let us preach the truth. Let us store up a treasure trove of  gratia sustentans. Bless GOD.

 

 

With contrite prayer,
Abbot Bram Calistovich, O.W.F
Abbot of Bl. Wigbrecht’s Abbey

 

 

---

 

 

The constancy of the truth depends on the precedent of divine revelation, which the Church has continuously upheld since time immemorial. A word must be said on the nature of “truth.”  It is a question that has become increasingly relevant in present discourse as events have shaken the world of faith in all of its facets. Truth is inseparable to wisdom which originates from GOD. Therefore, “truth” as such must be understood as Truth, the objective reality of which all things derive. In Aeterna Sapientia (1626), Bl. High Pontiff Everard IV stated that “The eternal wisdom is the momentum of the realm serving as the derivative of all existence and all things good.” It is our intrinsic inclination to seek what is good. Goodness is the fulfillment of truth and its divine manifestation to the mortal plane. Creation seeks to know what is good, what is wise, and essentially what is true. 

Truth, then, must be understood under the context of its originator. Through divine revelation, the Church was bestowed the sacred responsibility to maintain the truth. It is here where we inaugurate the notion of sustineri veritatis, or the sustainability of truth. Without such a principle, the Church could not simply exercise its apostolic authority. From prophetic revelation, the constancy of the divine, and the truth that derives from GOD, is made known to the conscience of creation. We must understand the truth as a kind of spark which, when enkindled, produces a flame. As noted in the “Message on Divine Peace” by High Pontiff Daniel V (1700), “How can we hide from this truth? What is there to turn to, but iniquity and darkness? The children of God were born to walk in His path of light, to stand together as brothers, strengthened by the divinity of the Godhead; unwavering and unafraid when facing the wickedness of Iblees. Yet, here we stand at a distance, this unity disrupted as we listen to the whispers of the Denier, the weaver of lies and the sower of hatred. We cannot surrender ourselves to these false perceptions and be blinded by enmity, or we shall be rejecting the lessons of the Virtues taught to us from the beginning.” The Church, thus, assumes a custodial role in maintaining such a flame, and thereby sustaining what is true. She is thus a witness to the timeless truth that must be sustained in the rapidly reactive ambience of societal attitudes. Our consistent call to arms against doubt empower the Church to face adversity. The divine precedent maintained in sustineri veritatis preserves the ever constant authority of GOD in our individual and collective conscience.

Sustenance in ever changing times warrants a renewed commitment by the Holy Church and her ministers to harken the model of prophetic virtue. The Scrolls often remind us of the lonely burden of bearing witness to GOD’s divinity and wisdom. However, it is incumbent upon all of us, clergy and laity alike, to remain true to the cause of the truth. It is in truth that we find a fulfillment of life and stability against the erosion that relativism brings. In recent commentaries, notably by our brother in faith, Fr. Pius in “Tract II. The Church is the Sword of Owyn” (1782), we affirm that “The Church is the purifying Sword of Owyn. She loves her children, but she loves them in the Truth. She exercises his admonishing office, and perpetuates the Prophetic Office through the Scrolls and Sacraments, but also through the active teaching authority she possesses, chiefly vested in the Pontiff but in union with the Holy Synod.” It is in defense of the truth that the Church purposefully accomplishes her mission to preserve the presence of virtue in the faithful. In sum, the sustainability of truth transcends our worldly station. It is, in fact, a transcendent commitment obliged to us at baptism to bear witness to the divine mission. 

 

With fidelity,
Fr. Benedict of Muldav, O.W.F.
Bishop of Petrovic, Archdiocese of Jorenus