Going over my students’ Latin homework, I came across a sentence of Monsignor Baumeister’s that struck me with particular force. What my students were called upon to translate perfectly summarizes Saint Augustine’s doctrine in his magnificent City of God.
Inter regnum Christi et regnum mundi non est amor.
That is: “Between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the world there is no love.”
To this, I add my own statement:
Et non possibile est ut ament invicem.
That is, “And it is not possible that they love each other.”
Why not? If you understand “the world” in the Biblical sense — as masterfully explained by Dom Prosper Guéranger — you will know that “the world” is what opposes Christ. We are called to hate “the world”: not the beautiful thing God created which reflects His wonders and by which He can be “clearly seen,” but all that in this created order is opposed to Christ, to the Trinity, and to the divine order. Again, I recommend that you read the brief but insightful passage from Dom Guéranger to grasp this more perfectly.
This excerpt from our weekly Latin lesson was for me a wonderful Lenten reminder.
