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Views from the Choir Loft

The Fear of the Lord

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · November 7, 2013

225 Hieronymus Bosch “Last Judgment” (Hieronymus Bosch) S SAINT Thomas Aquinas explains in the Summa theologiae (II-II, qu. 19), the gift of the Holy Spirit that corresponds to the theological virtue of hope is fear of the Lord.

There are two basic types of fear: servile and filial. Servile fear is the slave’s fear of a master who will punish him for wrongdoing. Filial fear, also known as reverential fear, is the good child’s fear of dishonoring a loving parent. The Spirit’s gift to us is filial fear, as befits adopted “sons in the Son.”

At this point one would do well to recall the traditional Catholic understanding of punishment. The one who does wrong to another has wilfully violated or withheld the good owed to that other, and therefore deserves to be deprived, against his will, of some good of his own. Punishment goes against what one would want for oneself according to sensuality or the will of nature; accordingly, it is displeasing. Rightly so: he who chooses to cling to a good in a disordered way, deserves to have some good taken away from him without his choice, for the restoration of order. Hence, one could say that servile fear is fear of being displeased, of being punished by a judge, and is thus essentially selfish; whereas filial fear is fear of being displeasing, of doing wrong to a friend, and is thus essentially concerned with the beloved, the honor and love due to him.

In this way, the more we love God, the less we will fear in the manner of slaves cowering before a punitive Master, but the more intensely we will hold in reverential fear His great paternal goodness, which is worthy of all of our loving service—indeed, worthy of far more than we can render to Him even in the measureless span of eternity—and against which we rightly fear to sin.

For Saint Thomas (and the larger tradition he inherits), there are two vices opposed to hope: despair and presumption (cf. II-II, qq. 20–21). Despair is a vice in the direction of defectiveness: it is to abandon one’s hope of attaining the goal of heaven when one is, in fact, capable of attaining it with God’s help. Presumption, on the contrary, is a vice in the direction of excess: one has an inflated hope, laying claim to some reward beyond one’s actual merits. Instead of soaring to heaven by God’s help (which is the very basis of our hope), we think to do it on our own—and that is a sin against hope.

Note that the one who despairs has a false understanding of God, much like a slave could have a false picture of a good master: God’s mercy is forgotten, and God’s desire to save us grows distant from our minds. One who presumes, on the other hand, has a false understanding of himself: he thinks he has what it takes to reach perfection. He loses the reverential fear that tells him how utterly poor he is as a creature and how great is the Lord’s uncreated glory. So he forgets God’s primacy in saving him.

WHAT PRECEPTS OR COMMANDS of the Law are given in regard to hope and fear (cf. II-II, qu. 22)? Saint Thomas observes that Sacred Scripture is constantly urging us to place our hope in God by way of promises, warnings, and commands, because so much is at stake when it comes to where we place, or do not place, our hope—no less a good than our very salvation, which can only come from God. God so loves us that He commands us to place our hope in Him, knowing what is best for us and willing our happiness.

Confronted with such fatherly generosity, how could we not love Him in return and run to Him with trust, casting off the slave’s despair and the presumption of the self-made man, approaching Him with reverent fear to receive from His outstretched hands the crown of immortality?

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Saint Thomas Aquinas Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College (B.A. in Liberal Arts) and The Catholic University of America (M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy), Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is currently Professor at Wyoming Catholic College. He is also a published and performed composer, especially of sacred music.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“Finally, let us not forget that listening especially is active participation. When we listen to the performances of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, we can fully participate actively in the Passion of Christ. And so, if we listen attentively to the singing and organ music during the celebration of the divine services, our participation is not less complete. The real significance of this objective and very important aspect is insufficiently understood.”

— Flor Peeters

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday

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