• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
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

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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.

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“Catholics in America have been the heirs of a sentimental and subjective hymn tradition that, for some reason or other, has taken a deep and fast hold on the fancy of the average person.”

— Fr. Francis Brunner (1953)

Recent Posts

  • “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • Worship the Lord in Holy Attire
  • “How to Conduct 90 Vespers Services Each Year and Live to Tell the Tale.”
  • 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • The Tallis Scholars

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up