St. James teaches us that faith without good works is dead. However, it can also be said that faith without beautiful works is dead; for what is good must also be beautiful. And if there is no beauty or little beauty in our works then it can be said we have little faith or even no faith.
Beautiful works are a natural fruit of the Catholic's "human process," that is, his natural progression toward perfection. (1) A progression that is characterized by one act giving life to another more mature and intense act. For example, one act of patience, no matter how small, will increase it, making the soul capable of greater patience.
This applies to every kind of act which is simultaneously either true, good, and beautiful, or false, evil, and vulgar. Thus the soul who persists in the faith, that is, who continually applies his meditations upon faith to himself, will radiate truth, goodness, and beauty in all his works. He will be able to say as St. James, "...I will shew thee, by works, my faith."
For Catholics during the truly belle epoch, the middle ages, living faith was characterized by beauty in all spheres, from the morning greeting and reception of a guest to the making of a new tool and planning of a city. Not to mention, this attention to beauty in works was a significant subject of discussion, just as the transgender agenda is today. To cite a few notable philosophers during the 13th century we have St. Bonaventure, Alexander of Hales, St. Albert the Great, and John of La Rochelle. (2)
One worth citing here is William of Auvergne, author of the Tractatus de Bono et de Malo written in 1228, which focuses on the "beauty of upright behavior" proper to a Catholic. (3) Visible beauty, he argued, pleases those who witness, and the possessor of this visible beauty delights in it moving him to only do so the greater. It must be noted briefly that here we are not focusing on cosmetic beauty such as clothing, which bears a relation to the present consideration, has its place, and is also subject to rules, but to beautiful behavior.
To continue, if there is beauty in comportment then it must be present in its source— the soul. William of Auvergne then illuminates the connection between beauty and goodness in upright behavior. Goodness, he notes, found in the human soul "is called pulchritudo or decor because of the comparison with external and visible beauty." (4) In other words, goodness is called beautiful by virtue of the manner it manifests itself. The man of goodness is therefore also the man of decorum or beauty.
We can apply also the idea of goodness manifest as beauty or decorum to the visible organism we call society. A society of faith has interior goodness, which comes to light through beautiful works— true culture. During Christendom, we witnessed Gothic and refined etiquette and marvelous interior furnishings. We can continue down the timeline tracing many beautiful works, from the Renaissance to today— only, like tracing a sunset, it grows dim.
In the 1950s, for example, Mexicans developed a custom called the escaramuza, translating roughly to "light skirmish." A counterpart to the rugged men's rodeo, ladies in vibrant dresses and sombreros ride on horseback presenting choreographed maneuvers exhibiting tact and agility while retaining elegance and lightness. (5) It is indeed a unique and laudable custom but very rare.
The rarity of these original beautiful works, however, is not surprising. Our Lady of Good Success warned that in our times the faith would be extinguished. Nevertheless, we hope that the beautiful works of old rekindle our generation to take up the cross and continue them with the spirit of our forefathers— beautiful ceremonies, comportment, foods, gardens, tools, furniture, homes, gardens, and so on do we hope to see burgeon. If we take on this cross soon a renewed civilization, the reign of Mary, will radiate adorned with beautiful works, the evidence of faith.
Sources
(1) Human Process by Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliviera, Summary by Mr. Atila Sinke Guimarães
(2) Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages by Umberto Eco, Pg. 24
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) No to Rodeo Cowgirls, Yes to Escaramuza by Marian T. Horvat
Paintings and Pictures:
Bartholomeus van Bassen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Gaspar de Figueroa (c.1594-1658), CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Modern Church: David Shankbone, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
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