Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/296

 OPTION

264

ORACLE

takon. 'DioukIi one is not niukiiig the licst thins th:it can bo made, lie still may he duiiin what he docs in the best i)ossil)le manner. In this sense, aecordinp; to St. Thomas, (io<l has made this world nhitintii the b.'st possible. " Wlien it is saiil that (lod can do anything bettor than He does it, this is true if the words 'any- thing better' stand for a noun. No matter what you may point, out, (iod can make somethin<; that is better. ... If, however, the words are used adverbially, and designate the mode of operation, God cannot do better than He does, for Ho cannot work with greater wisdom and goodness" (I, Q. xxv, a. 5, ad 1"°^). It is just this distinction which Leibniz failed to make, and was thereby led to his extreme position. According to St. Thomas, God was free to make a less or more perfect world. He made the world that would be.st fit the purposes of creation, and wrought it in the best possible manner.

Against this optimism may be urged the same ob- jections from the presence of physical and moral evil which troubled Leibniz. But there are several considerations that reduce their force. (1) We see only in part. We cannot criticize the Divine plan intelligently until we see its full development, which indeed will only be in eternity. ('2J The physical evils and sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to come. Should one object that it would be better to have glory both in this world and the next, one might answer that this is not certainly true. Only by the endurance of suffering and sorrow do we attain to the true strength and glory of our manhood. That which we acquire by the sweat of our brow is earned and truly our own. That which comes to us by in- heritance is but loaned and possessed by us for a time, till we can hand it on to another. What is true of the Individual is true of the human race as a whole. It seems to be the Divine plan that it should work its way on, from little beginnings, with great toil and suffering, to its final goal of perfection. When all things are fulfilled in eternity man can then look back upon something as his own. Perhaps this will then seem to us much more beautiful and glorious than if God had allowed us to remain forever in a garden of paradise, happy indeed, but hfting nothing with the strength He gave us. (See also in this connexion the the article Evil.)

St.Thomas, I.Q.xix.a. 9; I, Q. xxv, aa. 5 and 6; ENGLEB.Dar- stellung und Kritik des leibnitzsischen Optimismus (Jena, 1883); Gdttmacher, Optimism and Pessimism in the O. and N. Testa- menfs (Baltimore, 1903); Keller, (Jpdmism (New York, 1903) ; KoppEHL, Die Verwandt schaft Leibnitzens mit Thomas v. Aquino in der Lehre vom Biisen (Jena, 1892) ; von Prantl, Veber die BertchtliHu:! '/.> 0/)^imismiiS (Munich, 1879); S^i.hY, Pessimism (Neu '> '. ■ •' WiLL-vRETH, Die Lehre vom Uebel bei Leibniz,

sein, hland.undbei Kant. Diss. (.Suaahnre,lS9S).

^^ r iMiographv see Baldwin, Z)ic^ o/P/ti/osop/iy

and r III, Part ii, 903-907

Thomas V. Moohe.

Option, Right of. — In canon law an option is a way of obtaining a benefice or a title, by the choice of the new titulary himself. Many chapters enjoyed this right formerly and it is still the privilege of some: the canon, who has held his office for the longest time, may, in conformity with the statutory regulation, re- sign the prebend he enjoys to accept another that has become vacant. A second right of option existed in France before 1789: by virtue of a custom a preben- dary, who was appointed to and had entered into pos- session of a bfmefice incompatible with one he already held, was entitled to 8(^lect whichever of the two he preferred, when, according to the common law, he had already lost the incompatible benefice which he had previously held. The right of option still exists with regard to cardinalitial titles (see Cardinal).

Schneider, Die bischiiflichen Domkapitct (Mayence, 1885); Van Espen, Jus ecclesiasticum universum (Cologne, 1778), part U.S. Ill, tit. 3. c. 4. t. I, 691; HiNSCHins. System des katholi- tchen KxTchenrechU, II (Berlin, 1878), 615, 701.

A. Van Hove.

O'Queely, Malaciiias (Maolsheachlainn O Cadh- la). Archbishop of Tuam, Ireland, b. in Thoniond, date unknown; d. at Ballipodare, 27 October, 1645 (N.S.). He sl,udied in Paris at the College of Navarre. Ilaving administered Killaloe as vicar Apostolic, he was consecrated Archbishop of Tuam at Galway, 11 October, 1031. His subjects, who received him unwillingly, soon learned to admire him. He held a provincial synod at Galway in 11132 to jiromulgate the Trident ine decrees and correct abu.ses, and his unremit- ting labours in Tuam provoked a complaint from the Protestant archbishop in 1041. Dr. 0'(jueily attended the national synod of 1643, by which the Catholic Confederation was organized, and at the first meeting of the General Assembly he was elected to the Su- preme Council, being afterwards appointed President of Connaught. He undertook to recover Sligo from the Scottish Covenanters in 1645, but the Scots surprised his camp at Ballysodare, 17-27 October, 1645. Everyone abandoned him but his secretary. Father Thaddeus O'Connell, and another priest. The arch- bishop was cut down with his companions, and the victors discovered in his carriage a draft of the secret treaty between Kiiiu, Charlrs and the Confederates, which the English Parliam<-nt )jublished to prejudice both parties. His body was redeemed for £30 and buried with solemn ceremonies at Tuam. He wrote an account of the Aran Islands, printed in Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum".

Meehan, Irish Hierarchy in the 17th Century (16th edit., Dub- lin, about 1888); Murphy, Our Martyrs (Dublin, 1896).

Oracle {oraculum; orare, to speak), a Divine com- munication given at a special place through specially appointed persons; also the place itself. This form of divination (q. v.) was found among various peoples of the ancient world.

I. Babylon and Assyria.- — Extremely ancient texts present the oracle-priest [b^rd, 'he who sees': bira barH, 'to see a sight'; hence, to give an oracle, divine the future. Cf. X"i,1 of Samuel, I Sam., ix, 9; I Chr., ix, 22 etc.; of Hanani, II Chr., xvi, 7, 10; cf. Is., xxviii, 7; xxx, 10] alongside of the dshipu (whose role is incantation, conjuration) as officer of one of the two main divisions of the sacerdotal caste. He is the special servant of Shamash and Adad; his office is he- reditary (cf. the "sons of Aaron", "of Zadok"); blem- ish of person or pedigree (cf. Lev., xxi, 23) disqualifies him; he forms part of a college. Lengthy initiation, elaborate ritual, prepare him for the reception, or ex- ercise, of the bdriXlu. He rises before dawn, bathes, anoints himself with perfumed oil, puts on sacred vest- ments [cf. Ex., xxx, 17, 23; Lev., xvi. 4. Lagrange, "fitudes sur les religions sfmitiques' (Paris, 1905), 236, n. 1; and "Rev. Bibl.", VIII (1899), 473; also An- cessi, "L'figypte et Moise", pt. i (1875); Les vlte- ments du Grand-Pretre, c. iii, plate 3. Is the blood- red, jewelled Babylonian scapular the analogate to the Hebrew ephod and pectoral?|. After a preliminary sacrifice (usually of a lamb : but this, as those of expi- ation and thanksgiving, we cannot, in our limits, de- tail), he escorts the inquirer to the presence of the gods, and sits on the seat of judgment; Shamash and Adad, the great gods of oracle, lords of decision, come to him and give him an unfailing answer [lerlu, pres- age: Divine teaching. Probably not connected with n-i1,n. There is no likely borrowing or adaptation of Babylonian oracle-words by the Hebrews (Lagrange, op.cit.,234,n.8)]. All the customary modes of divina- tion (interpretation of dreams, of stars, monstrosities, of signs in oil, the liver etc.) culminated in oracles; but an enormous literature of precedents and princi- ples left little initiative to a bdrH whose memory was good. We may add a characteristic example of oracle style (about 680 n. c).

O Shamash, grciit lord, to my demand in thy faithful favour, deign to answer! Between this day, the 3rd day of this month, the month of Art, until