Matt Fradd
Spirituality/Belief • Books • Writing
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The Saints on Humility

Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.

-- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 3, Chapter 8, “The Great Sin,” Kindle location 1665


True humility consists in being content with all that God is pleased to ordain for us, believing ourselves unworthy to be called His servants. -- St. Teresa of Jesus

To be taken with love for a soul, God does not look on its greatness, but the greatness of its humility. --St John of the Cross, OCD

There is something in humility which strangely exalts the heart. --Saint Augustine

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. --Saint Augustine

Be humble towards God and gentle with your neighbor. Judge and accuse no one but yourself, and ever excuse others. Speak of God always to praise and glorify Him, speak of your neighbor only with respect -- do not speak of yourself at all, either well or ill. -- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

The truly humble reject all praise for themselves, and refer it all to God. - St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

In the difficulties which are placed before me, why should I not act like a donkey? When one speaks ill of him - the donkey says nothing. When he is mistreated - he says nothing. When he is forgotten - he says nothing. When no food is given him - he says nothing. When he is made to advance - he says nothing. When he is despised - he says nothing. When he is overburdened - he says nothing. The true servant of God must do likewise, and say with David: "Before Thee I have become like a beast of burden." -- St. Alphonsus Rodriguez

What will be the crown of those who, humble within and humiliated without, have imitated the humility of our Savior in all its fullness! -- St. Bernadette

He who wants to learn true humility should reflect upon the Passion of Jesus. (267) -- St Faustina, Divine Mercy in my Soul

The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing; because the Lord is great, but He is well-pleased only with the humble; He always opposes the proud. -- St Faustina, Divine Mercy in my Soul

Let us therefore give ourselves to God with a great desire to begin to live thus, and beg Him to destroy in us the life of the world of sin, and to establish His life within us. -- St. John Eudes

To be pleased at correction and reproofs shows that one loves the virtues which are contrary to those faults for which he is corrected and reproved. And, therefore, it is a great sign of advancement in perfection. -- St. Francis de Sales

No man can attain to the knowledge of God but by humility. The way to mount high is to descend. -- Bl. Giles of Assisi

If you would rise, shun luxury, for luxury lowers and degrades. -- St John Chrysostom

Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance. ~ St. Augustine

Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly; and if He does not let you feel the sweetness of His love, it is to make you more humble and abject in your own eyes. -St. Pio of Pietrelcino

A truly humble person never believes that he can be wronged in anything. Truly, we ought to be shamed to resent whatever is said or done against us; for it is the greatest shame in the world to see that our Creator bears so many insults from His creatures, and that we resent even a little word that is contradictory. - St. Teresa

Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation. -Saint Augustine

We should let God be the One to praise us and not praise ourselves. For God detests those who commend themselves. Let others applaud our good deeds. --Pope St. Clement I

If humble souls are contradicted, they remain calm; if they are calumniated, they suffer with patience; if they are little esteemed, neglected, or forgotten, they consider that their due; if they are weighed down with occupations, they perform them cheerfully. - St. Vincent de Paul

The first degree of humility is the fear of God, which we should constantly have before our eyes. -St. Louis de Blois

The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it. - Saint Vincent de Paul

Prayer must be humble: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Here St. James tells us that God does not listen to the prayers of the proud, but resists them; while, on the other hand, he is always ready to hear the prayers of the humble: The prayer of the man that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds, . . . and he will not depart till the Most High behold. The prayer of an humble soul at once penetrates the heavens and presents itself before the throne of God, and will not depart thence till God regards it and listens to it. However sinful such a soul may be, God can never despise a heart that repents of its sins, and humbles itself: A contrite and humbled heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. - St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

But, my daughter, I am going a step further, and I bid you everywhere and in everything rejoice in your own abjection. Perhaps you will ask in reply what I mean by that. In Latin abjection means humility, and humility means abjection, so that when Our Lady says in the Magnificat that all generations shall call her blessed, because God hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden, she means that He has accepted her abjection and lowliness in order to fill her with graces and favours. Nevertheless, there is a difference between humility and abjection; for abjection is the poverty, vileness and littleness which exist in us, without our taking heed to them; but humility implies a real knowledge and voluntary recognition of that abjection. And the highest point of humility consists in not merely acknowledging one's abjection, but in taking pleasure therein, not from any want of breadth or courage, but to give the more glory to God's Divine Majesty, and to esteem one's neighbour more highly than one's self. This is what I would have you do; - St. Francis de Sales

00:35:49
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My Weird Thoughts on AI - Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.

We're in a golden age of artificial intelligence, but it's already begun to raise interesting ethical questions. What is it doing to my agency? What is it doing to my projects? I'm no expert, but I've thought about it a little bit. Here are my thoughts . . .

00:20:38
We Have a Pope + An Announcement! - Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.

A lot of us were simultaneously looking forward to and getting super anxious about the conclave. Why exactly is that? Is this just like a political election and we're nervous until our candidate wins? How are we supposed to think about our ecclesial life in these times and how should our ecclesial thinking differ from our political thinking? Ooo, plus a fun little announcement : )

00:19:10
New Intros for Interviews. Feedback Please.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve been releasing 10 clips a week, along with a long-form interview. Well now we’re making a shift that we believe will be more impactful. Moving forward, we’ll be experimenting with just five clips a week, but making those 5 (hopefully) exceptional. Additionally, we’re putting more focus on the introductions to our interviews. Here’s the intro for my upcoming interview with John Henry Spann, which will be available on Locals this week and on YouTube next week.

00:01:28
Simple NEW Lofi Song

Working on an entire album of lofi music. Here's one of those songs. Album should drop next week. THEN, a couple of weeks after that we hope to have our 24/7 stream up and running.

Simple NEW Lofi Song
December 01, 2022
Day 5 of Advent

THE ERROR OF ARIUS ABOUT THE INCARNATION

In their eagerness to proclaim the unity of God and man in Christ, some heretics went to the opposite extreme and taught that not only was there one person, but also a single nature, in God and man. This error took its rise from Arius. To defend his position that those scriptural passages where Christ is represented as being inferior to the Father, must refer to the Son of God Himself, regarded in His assuming nature, Arius taught that in Christ there is no other soul than the Word of God who, he maintained, took the place of the soul in Christ’s body. Thus when Christ says, in John 14:28, “The Father is greater than I,” or when He is introduced as praying or as being sad, such matters are to be referred to the very nature of the Son of God. If this were so, the union of God’s Son with man would be effected not only in the person, but also in the nature. For, as we know, the unity of human nature arises from the union of soul and body.

The...

Day 5 of Advent
November 27, 2022
Day 1 of Advent

RESTORATION OF MAN BY GOD THROUGH THE INCARNATION

We indicated above that the reparation of human nature could not be effected either by Adam or by any other purely human being. For no individual man ever occupied a position of pre-eminence over the whole of nature; nor can any mere man be the cause of grace. The same reasoning shows that not even an angel could be the author of man’s restoration. An angel cannot be the cause of grace, just as he cannot be man’s recompense with regard to the ultimate perfection of beatitude, to which man was to be recalled. In this matter of beatitude angels and men are on a footing of equality. Nothing remains, therefore, but that such restoration could be effected by God alone.

But if God had decided to restore man solely by an act of His will and power, the order of divine justice would not have been observed. justice demands satisfaction for sin. But God cannot render satisfaction, just as He cannot merit. Such a service pertains to one who ...

Day 1 of Advent

Hello, in need of prayers. ER visit found a large 7+ cm Mass on my liver and I'm scared. My wife just went into remission from Stage 3 breast cancer. I'm not strong like she is.

A Facebook friend posted this, and I thought it was an interesting perspective worthy of thinking about:

I saw an Instagram reel a few days ago, and I can’t get it out of my mind. It said “realizing that social media is the new roof that David stood on to look at Bathsheba”

I used to wonder why David fell. He’s known as the man after God’s own heart.

But honestly, I get it now because I’ve seen the rooftop and it just looks different now. See, David walked the rooftop. We just scroll ours. He looked down from the palace. We look down from the feed.

When David stood on his rooftop and saw Bathsheba, it wasn’t just about lust, it was about entitlement, unchecked desire, and the illusion of access to someone else’s life. He saw something beautiful that wasn’t his, and instead of turning away, he let that vision take root in his heart.

Today, we don’t need rooftops.
We have feeds, stories, reels, and endless scrolling.

Social media has become the new rooftop ...

Amazing Interview on IVF Tonight!

As you know, we release our interviews here on Locals a week before they go live on YouTube. Tonight, I’m thrilled to share my conversation with Stephanie Gray Connors. This one’s powerful—it covers everything you need to know about IVF and will equip you to clearly and confidently explain why it’s simply evil. Stay tuned. Will drop at 7pm EST.

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Welcome to Locals!

A big and hearty welcome to all who have joined our Locals community!

Here's what to expect:

  1.  Interviews one week early (before they hit Youtube)
  2. The opportunity to ask my guests questions
  3. Exclusive biweekly spiritual direction videos from Fr. Pine
  4. Access to video courses such as:
  • 7 part series on St. Augustine's Confessions by Dr Chad Engelland (here).
  • 5 Part series on Salvation History by Dr Andrew Swafford (here).
  • 5 Part series on Flannery O'Connor by Fr Damian Ferrence (here).
  • 6 Part series on Love and Responsibility by Christopher West & Matt Fradd (here).
  • 5 Part Series o Aquinas' 5 ways by Dr. Ed Feser (here).

5. Occasional livestreams with me.

6. Knowing that you're supporting the work of Pints With Aquinas.

Thanks!

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Pope Leo XIV’s First Homily: Simple, Profound, and Centered on Christ

Pope Leo XIV delivered this homily during the Missa Pro Ecclesia—his first as Supreme Pontiff—celebrated with the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on May 9. What a profound grace it is to witness a new pope begin his ministry not with self-reference or strategy, but with a clear and humble proclamation of Jesus Christ. This homily is striking in its simplicity and depth: centered entirely on the Lord, rooted in Scripture and tradition, and radiant with the joy and seriousness of someone who knows he now bears the cross (and keys) of Peter.


I’ll begin with a word in English, then the rest is Italian. But I want to repeat the words from the responsorial psalm: “I will sing a new song to the Lord, because he has done marvels.” And indeed, not just with me, but with all of us, my brother cardinals. As we celebrate this morning, I invite you to recognize the marvels that the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour out upon all of us. Through the ministry of Peter, you have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission. And I know that I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel.

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). In these words, Peter, asked by the Master, together with the other disciples, about his faith in him, expressed the patrimony that the church, through the apostolic succession, has preserved, deepened and handed on for two thousand years.

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God: the one Saviour, who alone reveals the face of the Father.

In him, God, in order to make himself close and accessible to men and women, revealed himself to us in the trusting eyes of a child, in the lively mind of a young person and in the mature features of a man (cf. “Gaudium et Spes,” No. 22), finally appearing to his disciples after the resurrection with his glorious body. He thus showed us a model of human holiness that we can all imitate, together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities.

Peter, in his response, understands both of these things: the gift of God and the path to follow in order to allow himself to be changed by that gift. They are two inseparable aspects of salvation entrusted to the church to be proclaimed for the good of the human race. Indeed, they are entrusted to us, who were chosen by him before we were formed in our mothers’ wombs (cf. Jer 1:5), reborn in the waters of Baptism and, surpassing our limitations and with no merit of our own, brought here and sent forth from here, so that the Gospel might be proclaimed to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15).

In a particular way, God has called me by your election to succeed the Prince of the Apostles, and has entrusted this treasure to me so that, with his help, I may be its faithful administrator (cf. 1 Cor 4:2) for the sake of the entire mystical Body of the church. He has done so in order that she may be ever more fully a city set on a hill (cf. Rev 21:10), an ark of salvation sailing through the waters of history and a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world. And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings – like the monuments among which we find ourselves – but rather through the holiness of her members. For we are the people whom God has chosen as his own, so that we may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light (cf. 1 Pet 2:9).

Peter, however, makes his profession of faith in reply to a specific question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Mt 16:13). The question is not insignificant. It concerns an essential aspect of our ministry, namely, the world in which we live, with its limitations and its potential, its questions and its convictions.

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” If we reflect on the scene we are considering, we might find two possible answers, which characterize two different attitudes.

First, there is the world’s response. Matthew tells us that this conversation between Jesus and his disciples takes place in the beautiful town of Caesarea Philippi, filled with luxurious palaces, set in a magnificent natural landscape at the foot of Mount Hermon, but also a place of cruel power plays and the scene of betrayals and infidelity. This setting speaks to us of a world that considers Jesus a completely insignificant person, at best someone with an unusual and striking way of speaking and acting. And so, once his presence becomes irksome because of his demands for honesty and his stern moral requirements, this “world” will not hesitate to reject and eliminate him.

Then there is the other possible response to Jesus’ question: that of ordinary people. For them, the Nazarene is not a charlatan, but an upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well and says the right things, like other great prophets in the history of Israel. That is why they follow him, at least for as long as they can do so without too much risk or inconvenience. Yet to them he is only a man, and therefore, in times of danger, during his passion, they too abandon him and depart disappointed.

What is striking about these two attitudes is their relevance today. They embody notions that we could easily find on the lips of many men and women in our own time, even if, while essentially identical, they are expressed in different languages.

Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.

These are contexts where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society. And these are not few.

Today, too, there are many settings in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman. This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism.

This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Saviour. Therefore, it is essential that we, too, repeat, with Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16).

It is essential to do this, first of all, in our personal relationship with the Lord, in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion. Then, to do so as a church, experiencing together our fidelity to the Lord and bringing the Good News to all (cf. “Lumen Gentium,” No. 1).

I say this first of all to myself, as the Successor of Peter, as I begin my mission as bishop of Rome and, according to the well-known expression of St. Ignatius of Antioch, am called to preside in charity over the universal church (cf. Letter to the Romans, Prologue). St. Ignatius, who was led in chains to this city, the place of his impending sacrifice, wrote to the Christians there: “Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world no longer sees my body” (Letter to the Romans, IV, 1). Ignatius was speaking about being devoured by wild beasts in the arena—and so it happened—but his words apply more generally to an indispensable commitment for all those in the church who exercise a ministry of authority. It is to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified (cf. Jn 3:30), to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him.

May God grant me this grace, today and always, through the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the church.

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3 Medium Sized Announcements!

Hey friends,

If you’re new here—welcome. Really. I know it sounds cliché, but I mean it: I couldn’t do any of this without your support, and I’m deeply grateful for it.

Alright, here’s a quick update on what’s coming up:

Starting June 1st, my family and I will be heading to Austria for two and a half months. While we’re there, I’ll be working on three major projects that I’m really excited about:

1. A Pints With Aquinas App

I could go on and on about this, but I’ll restrain myself—for now. Just know it’s coming, and it’s going to be awesome. As a Locals supporter, you’ll get access to everything inside the app (and yes, it’ll include even more than what’s currently on Locals). We want to release it at the beginning of 2026.

2. A Book: Jesus Our Refuge

This is a book I’ve felt called to write for years, and a recent conversation with John Eldredge finally pushed me over the edge. Here’s the part I’m most excited about: this book won’t earn me a cent.
Instead, I’ll be hosting events—both in the U.S. and internationally—where every single person who attends will receive a copy for free. It’s a message I want in as many hands as possible.

Here's a rough concept for the front cover:

a rough draft of the book cover

3. A New Book of Socratic Dialogues

A publisher (I’ll keep the name quiet for now) has invited me to write a book of Socratic dialogues making the case that Christianity is true. If you’ve enjoyed the dialogues I have published from time to time here and on Substack, you'll love this.

Now, if you’re anything like me, lying in a chair doing nothing sounds nice—for about 10 minutes. I need structure and rhythm. So while in Austria, I’ll be spending my mornings writing and working with those who will help develop the app.

That’s the plan. Thanks again for being here.

More soon,
Matt

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