Chapter 3 Footnotes

Shelley’s Fragment… weariness:

see chapter II, note 73 > from ‘To the Moon’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley

sanctifying grace… actual grace:

in Catholic doctrine, internal grace is divided into two kinds - sanctifying and actual. Sanctifying grace inheres in the substance of the soul; its presence is incompatible with mortal sin. It is a gift freely given, never merited Actual grace is an impulse that excites the mind tot he peformance of a good act, the grace of operation; but it only becomes efficacious if the mind is willing to continue with the good works already begun - the grace of cooperation.

four deep… see nor hear:

althought outside the church door, the whroshippers are deemed to be morally present at the Mass. Althought much decired by the clergy, this kind of lurking attendance was widely practized, chiefly by men.

sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

a sodality is an association of lay people that meets regularly for pious exercises in obedience to a set of rules framed to promote a specific end - in this case, to give honour to the Blessed Virgin. Stephen’s prefecture is an acknowledgement of his piety.

the little office:

this collection of prayers, consisting of the psalms and lessons, is said on all Saturdays in the Roman Catholic CHurch

emblems… cultus among men:

these emblems are to be found in the Psalms; the history of the growth of the cult of Mary is given in Cardinal Newman’s ‘The Glories of Mary for the Sake of her Son’ in Discources to Mixed Congregation (1849), in his Development of Christian Doctrine (1845) and his Letter to Dr Pusey (1843)

Quasi cedrus…odoris

I was exalted like a cedar of Lebanon and as a crypress tree on Mount Sion. I was exalted like a palm tree in Gades, and as a rose plant in Jericho. AS a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets I was exalted. I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and an aromatical balm! I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh.

Ecclesiasticus 24:17-20

morning star:

one of the titles given to Mary in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, deriving from patristic literature.

bright.. peace:

from Newman's 'The Glories of Mary' in Discourses to Mixed Congregations.

sums and cuts:

arithmetic and geometrical theorems.

game ball… scut the whole hour:

meaning, ‘that’s the class over; we can skip the whole hour.'

guilty of all:

'Whoever keeps the law but offend in one part has become guilty in all.'

Epistle of James 2:10

From the evil seed ... whole being had sunk:

Stephen has enumerated the seven deadly sins - Lust, Pride, Covetousness, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, Sloth.

If a man ... huge fortune?:

Stephen is rehearsing one of the standard puzzles about the doctrine of restitution. He is not, as has been said, inviting a simoniacal answer in which something temporal is exchanged for something spiritual.

If a layman ... valid?:

exercises in scrupulousness, the estimation of an action on grounds unworthy of serious consideration.

How comes it ... possess the land?:

the beatitudes, eight in number, were pronounced at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:3-4 (Douay). The first two are: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.'

Why was the sacrament ... and as man?:

all of these questions are answered in standard doctrine and in the catechism Stephen would have studied at school.

A great fisher of souls:

the phrase is adapted from the words of Jesus in Matthew 4:19, 'fishers of men'. The potted history of St Francis Xavier (1506-52), the second-in-command to the founder of the Jesuit order, St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556), is traditional and true in its main features.

Ecclesiastes ... fortieth verse:

in fact, it is Ecclesiasticus 7:40 (Douay). The 'last things' are death, judgement, heaven and hell.

What doth it profit ... immortal soul?:

Matthew 16:26

the particular judgment:

the belief that souls are judged at the moment and in the place of death. The soul finds the place that belongs to it in heaven, purgatory or hell. At the general judgement, all humankind is judged and all sins, even of the just, are revealed.

The stars ... all the universe:

the passage is composed of phrases from the Book of Revelation, especially chapters 6 and 10.

Jehoshaphat:

a valley east of Jerusalem, the valley of decision mentioned in Joel 3:2.

Depart from me ... his angels:

Matthew 25:41. Most of the preceding passage draws heavily on Matthew's description of the Last Judgement in Matthew 25:36-41.

O grave ... thy sting?:

adapted from I Corinthians 15:55 by Alexander Pope in his poem 'The Dying Christian to His Soul'. Joseph Addison (1672-1719) is said to have sent from his deathbed for his stepson, the Earl of Warwick, for whose wickedness there is no evidence, and to have said to him, 'See in what peace a Christian can die.'

is not like ... bright and musical:

from Cardinal Newman. See note 9:

---

from Newman's 'The Glories of Mary' in Discourses to Mixed Congregations.

Note 9

waters covered ... the earth:

Genesis 7:4.

Hell ... limits:

Isaiah 5:14.

Lucifer ... son of the morning:

Isaiah 14:12.

non serviam ... serve:

traditionally, Lucifer's declaration. Cf. Jeremiah 2:20.

a serpent ... field:

Genesis 3:1.

the weaker vessel:

I Peter 3:7.

become as gods:

Genesis 3:4-5.

voice of God ... account:

Genesis 3:8-9.

Michael ... Eden:

Genesis 3:24.

to earn their bread ... brow:

Genesis 3:19.

He took pity on ... the Eternal Word:

based on various passages from the proto-evangelium (Genesis 3:15) to the testimony of John the Baptist (John 1:29).

He came ... the new gospel:

Luke 2:7, John 1:17.

They listened ... blood issued continually:

a slightly embellished account of Christ's passion as told in the Gospels.

He founded ... prevail:

Matthew 16:18-19. Joyce liked the idea that the Church was founded upon a pun - i.e., the Latin for Peter, Petrus, also means a rock.

rock of ages:

the title of a Protestant hymn by Augustus Toplady (1740-78).

Now ...:

from this point the sermon by Fr Arnall is modelled on Giovani Pietro Pinamonti's Hell Opened to Christians, to Caution Them from Entering into It (1688), a Dublin translation of which appeared in 1868. Pinamonti's treatise also adheres to many of the precepts enjoined in The Spiritual Exercises (1548) of St Ignatius Loyola, which recommend, among other meditations, a meditation on hell in which its physical characteristics and the accompanying sensations are intensely imagined. See James R. Thrane, 'Joyce's Sermon on Hell: Its Sources and its Backgrounds', A James Joyce Miscellany: Third Series, ed. M. Magalaner (Carbondale, Ill .: 1962), pp. 33-78.

saint Anselm ... that gnaws it:

Pinamonti misquoting St Anselm (c. 1033-1109). Besides fire, the other cause of 'positive punishment' in hell is 'the worm that never dies' - the anguish of remorse, for which this is a traditional figure. The punishments of the damned are of two kinds - poena damni is the punishment of loss of the sovereign good; poena sensus are all the other torments that the damned experience.

Babylonian furnace ... light:

Daniel 3:19-27

Of all the plagues ... horrible:

Exodus 10:2Iff.

Bonaventure ... infect the whole world:

Pinamonti's adaptation of St Bonaventure (1221-74).

The torment of fire ... rages for ever:

this passage is a redaction by Pinamonti of Suarez, St Thomas Aquinas, Vazquez and others. Many commentators were concerned with the problem of how disembodied spirits suffered from material fire. The consensus was that the pain they suffered was more intense than physical pain because the fire happily combined its usual capacity to inflict torment on bodies with a preternatural capacity to do so on spiritual substances.

in a sack ... a serpent:

the Roman punishment for a patricide.

Saint Catherine of Siena ... red coals:

Pinamonti cites St Catherine of Siena (1347-80) for this detail.

Depart from me ... angels!:

Matthew 25:41.

blue funk:

a state of total fear.

What did it profit ... soul?:

Matthew 16:26

I am cast away ... eyes:

Psalm 30:23 (Douay), 31:22 (AV)

our holy founder ... composition of place:

in The Spiritual Exercises, St Ignatius of Loyola recommends meditating upon a physical object as an aid to contemplating a spiritual truth.

Saint Thomas ... the angelic doctor:

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-74), called the Angelic Doctor, was the greatest of the medieval theologians. His Summa Theologica, Part Ia, q. 64 and III, qq. 97-9, deals with this issue.

Pope Innocent the Third ... the triple sting:

Pope Innocent III (1161-1216) is cited by Pinamonti on the worm of conscience: 'The Memory will afflict, late repentance will trouble, and want of time will torment.' (G)

saint Augustine ... God Himself:

this is adapted from Pinamonti's conflation of St Augustine's remarks on the pain of the damned in De Civitas Dei and Enchiridion.

sacraments ... indulgences:

a sacrament is a visible sign of invisible grace instituted for the justification of mankind. There are seven sacraments - Baptism, Penance, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Extreme Unction. An indulgence is the remission of the temporal punishment that derives from sin; it is only effective when the sin has been forgiven.

beatific vision:

the sight of God, face to face, the essential bliss of angels and humankind.

mortal sin ... venial sin:

mortal sin destroys the soul; venial sin infects it but leaves it in a reparable condition. Venial sin is, after mortal sin, the greatest of all evils.

O my God! ... and to amend my life:

one phrase has been omitted: 'Who art so deserving' should read 'Who for thy infinite goodness art so deserving'. This is probably inadvertent but unfortunate since a perfect act of contrition involves sorrow for sin arising from a recognition of God's infinite goodness.

He once had meant ... Jesus, guide us home:

cited from Newman's 'The Glories of Mary for the Sake of her Son', discourse XVII in Discourses to Mixed Congregations (1849).

The ache of conscience ... O why ?:

Stephen, associating sexual arousal with sin, is, according to Catholic doctrine, in error. Concupiscence is the appetite of the fallen state. It is an incentive to sin, not a sin in itself.

angel guardian:

Catholic belief assigns an angel guardian to every person as a defence against evil and a help towards salvation.

Church Street chapel:

a Franciscan Capuchin friary in central Dublin.

a canopy:

sometimes called a baldacchino, the canopy is carried over the priest who bears the blessed Sacrament in procession on feast days.

brown habit of a capuchin:

members of the Capuchin order, a reform of the Franciscan order, were bearded and wore the long pointed capuche, or cowl. Otherwise they had the brown habit and white robe-belt of the Franciscans.

God's yoke ... light:

cf. Matthew 11:29-30.

Confiteor ... breathless:

the penitential prayer in which the penitent confesses to his sins and his responsibility for them. Stephen stops in mid-prayer, before the pleas for absolution and forgiveness.

absolution ... forgiveness:

the priest would say the words of absolution in Latin while making the sign of the cross over the penitent.

ciborium:

the cup or chalice in which the eucharistic wafer is carried. This use of the word was confined to Ireland and England. On the Continent, ciborium meant a canopy.

Corpus Domini nostri ... In vitam eternam:

'(May) The Body of Our Lord (lead you to) Life Everlasting', the first and last three words spoken by the priest as he administers communion.