The Jansenist

“The Jansenist takes a dim view of God’s mercy; he expects that only a few will be saved, but feels quite certain that he will be one of those few (of the remnant or elect) who have earned the right to Heaven, mainly by his spiritual works.  This is what makes him frantic when Mass and Sacraments are no longer regularly available.  It is what makes him chase after those charlatans and cash operators who promise to provide a substitute church for him in our time.  And he takes with him many good Catholics who are simply confused.  There are many degrees of that state of mind, soul and temperament, a kind of pietism, which I here call Jansenism.  It is, as most writers agree, a thing difficult to pin down, which I am not trying to do precisely.  My main purpose in all this is to alert some, who might read this paper, that it is possible to appear very Catholic without being quite so really.”

                    — W. F. Strojie, “The Work of Hell is Spiritual”

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