L'Eglise Aristotelicienne Romaine The Roman and Aristotelic Church

[Massimox]

Massimo arrived at the Basilica of San Giovanni dei Martiri for the first time.
He stopped to admire the structure for a long time, before crossing the front door.
He quietly knelt down on one of the benches and recited the creed.

Credo in Deum,
Altissimum Omnipotentem,
Creatorem caeli et terrae,
Inferos et paradisi,
Ultima hora animae judicem nostrae

Et in Aristotelem, prophetam,
Nicomaqui Phaetique filium,
Missum ut sapientiam et universi
Divas leges errantibus hominibus erudiret

Credo etiam in Christum,
Natum ex Maria et Ioseph,
Vitam dedit ut nobis paradisi viam monstraret
Sic, postquam sub Pontio passus est
Propter salutem
Nostram martyr perivit
Consecutus est Solem
Ubi Aristoteles ad Altissimi dexteram eum expectabat

Credo in Divinam Actionem,
Sanctam Ecclesiam aristotelicianam, romanam, unam et indivisibilem
Sanctorum communionem,
Peccatorum remissionem,
Vitam aeternam.

Amen


After praying head bent over for a long time, he got up going towards a Sacristan.

I ask to be received by His Eminence Kalixtus de Montfort-Beaumont d'Autevielle.
He knows of my arrival.

And he was waiting.
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[Kalixtus]

Kalixtus was sitting in a conversation with St. John. In the course of events, he had become a good and important advisor. The old saints had the most difficult problems to overcome and yet, these were similar times. Heresy, war, blood - still the structure of the world is defended or destroyed with the sword.

The message of the Lord does not penetrate loud enough into the minds of the people. In some cities the seed of the creature reigns and it falls at home in a new Oanylone - while the city of antiquity was only one, the church is threatened by hundreds of Oanylones. This is the war zone of light against the demons of darkness.

Out of the corner of his eye he took a visitor who wanted to pray in his basilica. The credo - it was the essence of their faith and when the visitor asked for him, Kalixtus rose from his conversation with John. The saint was sympathetic to this interruption, they knew this and so their conversations were often the ones he had with God - small talk.

Massimo. The Italian autumn has blown you to Rome and ironically directly into the arms of a loving friend or are you visiting me to ask for guidance and wisdom?

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[Massimox]

He remained silent for a few moments, watching the Cardinal pray.
He had always been impressed by those who, in their privacy, spoke to the Most High and dialogued with him.
Shortly afterwards the Cardinal noticed his presence and came to meet him.

Your Eminence. I would like to say that I am only here to meet a friend. In truth, in addition to friendship, I need your wisdom, guidance and listening. I need to talk about what I feel, what makes my soul heavy.

She showed him a sincere smile, happy to see him again after a long time.
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[Kalixtus]

First there is something very important. Kalixtus approached Massimo and embraced him firmly and lovingly.

The love of God is a gift that unfolds in the Community of the Aristots and we call this friendship.

Are we going for a walk or are you looking for the spiritual holiness of confession? Perhaps both?

He pointed around himself. It is no longer the cathedral of Strasbourg with its high red towers where I had the pleasure of serving for 2 years. But this is the home of my heart. A basilica dedicated to Saint John. A worthy patron. I feel so close to him. He had an extraordinary integrity towards the faith, the prophet Christos and himself. It is admirable how little vain he was. Compared to him, we are probably all beginners.

But I am sure you are not looking for the teachings of St. John. Or are you?

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[Massimox]

He smiled at the Cardinal, happily returning his embrace.

I would certainly need spiritual holiness and confession. Perhaps talking while taking a walk would be even better.

He said to him, and then remained silent to listen to him.

I don't know, Eminence. Perhaps the teachings of St. John could be useful to me. I have great faith, but I admit that I do not know many things. Surely your words could do my soul good


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[Kalixtus]

Kalixtus smiled and then nodded. Let us go into the garden and we can talk. What weighs on your soul, my friend. If I can I will help you.

Kalixtus came out of the basilica and pointed to the cypress garden that grew nearby. The evergreen trees testified to the eternity of faith.

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[Massimox]

He smiled at the Cardinal, following him in the gardens.
The atmosphere was cold. The foliage on the cypresses were still green, while along the road to the basilica he had seen nothing but barren trees, affected by the rigour of winter.
He breathed in very deeply, filling his lungs, looking around for a few moments.

I have made many faults, Your Eminence. I try to be good, I try to be right and correct, but for many reasons I am making mistakes.

He made a half smile, slightly embarrassed.

What could I start talking about? I struggle to find the moment when my soul began to be heavy...
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[Kalixtus]

Kalixtus studied the friend out of the corner of his eye and listened to him with attentive mind.

If we were without fault, we would not be human. Our greatest task is to face these things, these faults.

There is nothing the Lord does not forgive if we repent sincerely. In the holiness of the sacrament of confession.

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[Massimox]

He smiled at his friend.

You know, a reflection often accompanies me.
Where is the limit between wanting to be dedicated to others... and being arrogant and doing things for our own glory?

He sighs.

Often, Your Eminence, I feel I have a good objective: to do good for everyone. But in doing so...I think of myself. Is it a sin, Your Eminence, to want too much for ourselves? It has often happened to me when I have held office. Saying to myself: yes, I will do this and it will be good for everyone...but it is also good for me.

He tried to sustain his eyes, with difficulty.

If this is a sin, Your Eminence, then guide me. How can one do good to others while managing to ignore one's own desires and ambitions?
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[Kalixtus]

Kalixtus listened to Massimo and his thoughts were completely with him, the cardinal also sighed.

I know how you feel. I know this situation. It is not a crime to guide one's actions by the maxim of obtaining one's own added value. It is not the heroic self-sacrifice that God expects from us. He expects us to live the virtues according to the principle of balance. Excessive friendship could be as dangerous as excessive dislike. Loving one's murderer is not in God's interest, nor is it in yours.

The path of Aristotelianism is the path, the golden path of virtues in that we must balance all things.

Many of my fellow human beings find me too harsh, too arrogant, because the truth I embody is often a mirror of the failures of those around me. But without these mirrors, the injustice and the wrong path would be a perpetual one. This is not to be tolerated, nor accepted. Sometimes, therefore, we have to break the ego of others. The wise man allows that he may be wrong.

Unfortunately, the more powerful a person becomes, the more people look up to him, the more people admire him and affirm that this powerful person still realises when he makes wrong decisions.

Often, therefore, the critic is denounced and tried to be destroyed rather than deal with the truth.

The only way left for us, also for self-protection, is integrity. We must defend the truth, because despite behaviour to the contrary, it is important to speak it even if there is a risk of being punished or losing friends, family or one's own life. The latter should of course be well considered, such a sacrifice is also arrogance, because God is the embodiment of truthfulness, it is ultimately also incumbent on him to provide knowledge, we as humans are only his tools.

Kalixtus put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Our choices make us the men we are. Sometimes we are tired because the baseness and doubt overtake us. We must not give in to it. We must not allow these dark forces to poison our hearts. We must act cleverly and wisely for our own sake and for the sake of our own integrity. Everything we do must first serve us, for we are the creature of God. What serves us should ideally also serve the community. That is why the virtues exist, they frame our interactions.

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[Massimox]

He listened carefully to the Cardinal's words.
How could things be balanced? Where could one find the strength to deny something to oneself?
He remained silent and thought.
How many failures had he experienced? And how many successes? Was that the balance...falling, getting up, failing and winning, with a perfect circularity made of disappointments and happiness?
He raised his head when the Cardinal touched his shoulder and listened to his last words.

If I am an instrument of the Most High, Eminence, why do I feel this anger?
People seek me out, give me importance, ask me what actions to take. As I told you, when this happens, I say what I think, whether thinking of others or myself.
And then, though...then things often go wrong. People don't get what they want and they get mad at me. And they want me to pay for their faults. I should...

She looked at him, trying to find appropriate words.

Should I stop responding? Should I...mind my own business?

He hinted at a smile. They certainly weren't words of faith, it wasn't a language suitable for the Cardinal, but it was what he thought.
If he had minded his own business one more time in his life, maybe he would have avoided many problems.

I have the impression, Your Eminence, that he who does nothing is always the one who makes no mistakes. I do a lot and I make a lot of mistakes. And this is a burden that often becomes unbearable. The hatred and contempt, the accusations and lies against me would not exist if I stopped caring about what is not only related to me.
But would it be right to live this way?

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[Kalixtus]

The Cardinal listened attentively to the young man and nodded meekly.

In the world God gave us, we are only a part, a building block - a creation that has a special task. Love - the love we owe to HIM the Father and which we give unconditionally as He gives it to us unconditionally. Nothing, absolutely nothing, no power in this universe can separate us from the love of God. Because he loves us. Do we love him?

Some days, when I look at the world, I fear that humanity is going down the wrong path. Old habits and customs are sprouting up again that were overcome in Oanylone. In some places I feel so much hatred and resentment and danger and fear and ignorance. The creature is everywhere. Even in Rome and often I feel it near me, it reaches out to the virtuous and the honest. You feel doubt, you feel fear, you feel despair and out of that comes anger and out of anger comes hate and this is the door of the creature because hate is the opposite of love. Hate only serves itself and that is what makes it so dangerous.

Love serves all - it serves you, it serves those you love and it knows so many forms. The love of God, the love of mother, of brothers and sisters, the love within marriage and of course the eternal, innocent love outside of marriage - friendship. Love has many sisters - like mercy, charity, platonic love.

Society as we live it is a godly one. Aristotle says we should live in communities where everyone has a task. Everything is clockwork. Kalixtus sighed.

That's a very tiring and exhausting image, isn't it? Everything turns and moves and yet it has to mesh to make it work.

Many of us are attacked. Many of us are hurt, humiliated, abandoned, beaten and some even killed, as the myriad of martyrs proves. But what unites them is that they never lost their faith. Because God's love is immortal, is eternal and pure and innocent and forever. We are therefore never alone and yet we are not saints. We make mistakes, we are mortal and not always worthy. Neither you nor I. We are the same in the eyes of God and so different on earth - We the people.

So there are three levels that are important.

1. you and God
2. you and yourself
3. you and society

These three levels have to be in harmony, if they are not we have to work on them. Do we want to do that?

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[Massimox]

He nodded.
He felt the weight of those words within him.
He could, on reflection, feel every situation in which he saw the pain, the lies, the falsehood, the fear, the doubt... everything that could represent the nameless creature.

I would like to do that, Your Eminence. But it is often difficult. Not to want to love: that is simple. But to find the right way to do it. Loving the Most High and self-love are things I find simple but...can one decide who to love or how?

He asked, seething.

Your Eminence...Father, in this I have sinned. He said in a low voice, almost as if someone other than the Cardinal could hear him.

You know, I have fallen in love. But I shouldn't have, because the woman I love is already united under the sacred bond of Aristotelian marriage, with another man. I know it's wrong, I know I shouldn't: and yet I didn't choose it, I didn't indulge a desire, a caprice...it happened, like waking up in the morning, like it seems normal to do so many things.


He shook his head.

How can I, Father, ask forgiveness of the Most High for this? What can I do? Reject love because it is against the rules, or is this love also God's will?

And he looked into the Cardinal's eyes. He did not know if the answer existed; he certainly had not found it.
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[Kalixtus]

Kalixtus listened to him attentively. His face showed no judgement but tried to fathom what was troubling Massimo.

This woman, did you confess your feelings to her and if so, did you seduce her and have intercourse with her?

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[Massimox]

He paused to reflect before answering.

I would not say that I confessed my feelings to you, Your Eminence... and she has not confessed them to me. And there was no seduction anywhere.
Simply between one word and another, conversing about things that have nothing to do with love, we became aware of new and profound feelings.

He smiled.

Intercourse? No, if I had wanted that I could have gone to many...places, if you know what I mean!

And he let out a short laugh.

Forgive me, Your Eminence. Intercourse with her would not have been appropriate, I think.

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