Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/566

 PASCAL

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PASCH

80 that not only the Jesuits, but religion itself suffered by this strife, which rontributod to hasten the eondem- nation of certain lax tlicories by the Cluinh. And, without wisliing or even knowinj; it, Pasi-ai tiiniislicd weapons on the one hand to unbchevers and adversa- ries of the Church and on the other to the partisans of independent morality. As to their literary form, tlie "Provinciales" are, in point of time, the first pro.se masterpiece of the Frcncli language, in their satirical hinnour and passionate eloquence.

The "I'ensees" are an tmfinished work. From his conversion to Jansenism Pa,scal nourisheii tlic pnijcct of writing an apology for the Christian Religion which the increasing number of libertines rendered so neces- sary at that time. He had elaborated the plan, and at intervals during his illness he jotted down notes, fragments, and meditations for his book. In 1670 Port Koyal issued an incomplete edition. Condorcet, on the advice cif Voltaire, attempted, in 1776, to con- nect Pascal with the Philosophic party by means of a garbled edition, which was opposed by that of the Abbe Bossuet (1779). After a famous report of Cousin on the MS. of the "Pen.sees" (1842), Faugere pub- lished the first critical edition (1844), followed since then by a host of others, the best of which is undoubt- edly that of Michaut (Basle, 1896), which reproduces the original MS. pure and simple. What Pascal's plan was, can never be determined, despite the information furnished by Port Royal and by his sister. It is cer- tain that his method of apologetics must have been at once rigorous and original; no doubt, he had made use of the traditional proofs — notably, the historical argu- ment from prophecies and miracles. But as against adversaries who did not admit historical certainty, it w;is a stroke of genius to produce a wholly psycho- logical argument and, by starting from the study of the human soul, to arrive at God. Man is an "incompre- hensible monster", says he, "at once sovereign great- ness and sovereign misery." Neither dogmatism nor Pyrrhonism will solve this enigma: the one explains the greatness of man, the other his misery; but neither e.xplains both. We must listen to God. Christianity alone, through the doctrine of the Fall and that of the Incarnation, gives the key to the mystery. Chris- tianity, therefore, is truth. God being thus appre- hended and felt by the heart — which "has its reasons that the mind knows not of", and which, amid the con- fusion of the other faculties, is never mistaken — it re- mains for us to go to Him through the will, by making acts of faith even before we have faith.

Another curious argument of Pascal's is that which is known as the argument of the wager. God exists or He does not exist, and we must of necessity lay odds for or against Him.

If I wager /or \ '^^'J ^od is-infinite gain; ^ ■' ( and God is not — no loss.

Tf I „.„„„- „,-„„) i and God is — infinite loss;

If I wager against ^ ^^^ (-,^^ j^ not-neither loss

nor gain. In the second case there is an hypothesis wherein I am exposed to the loss of everything. Wisdom, therefore, counsels me to make the wager which in- sures my winning all or, at worst losing nothing. In- numerable works were devoted to Pascal in the second half of the nineteenth century. Poets, critics, ro- mance-writers, theologians, philosophers have drawn their iaspiration from him or made him the subject of discussion. As M. Hourget has said, he is not only one of the princes of style, but he represents the religious soul in its most tragic and terrified aspects. More- over, the problems which he presents are precisely those which confront us nowadays.

Saiste-Beuvf., Port-Royal, I, II. Ill (Paris, 1860); Vinet, Eludes fur BlaUe Pascal (Paris, 1848); Sully-Prudhomme, La trnif. relit/ion selon Pascal (Paris, 1909) ; BBUNETlfeHE, Etudes crMinif. eer. 1. 3,4; /list. H liuh-ature, II (Paris, 1880-1903); Michaut. Leg epoquesde la pcnstcde Pascal (Paris, 1897) ; Giraud, Pascal: Vhommet /'flfupre, Vinfiuence (Paris, 1905); BouTBOuxin

Coll. des orands icrivains frani^ais (Paris, 1900); Strowski, Pascal el son temps (Paris, 1909) (especially important); Taylor, Pascal's Thoughts on Relifjion and Philosophy (London, 1894) ; Janssens, La philosophic et Vapologltique de P. (Louvain, 1896).

J. Lataste.

Pascal Baylon, Saint, b. at Torre-Hermosa, in

the Kingdom of Ar.agon, 24 May, 1.540, on the Fe.ast of Pentecost, called in Spain "the Pasch of the Holy Ghost", whence the name of Paschal; d. at Villa Reale, 1.5 May, 1.592, on Whitsunday. His parents, Martin Baylon and Elizabetli Jubera, were virtuous peasants. The child began very early to display signs of that surpassing devotion towards the Holy Eucharist, which forms the salient feature of his character. From his seventh to his twenty-fourth year, he led the life of a shepherd, and during the whole of that period exercised a salutary influence upon his companions. He was then received as a lay-brotlier amongst the Franciscan friars of the Al- cantarine Reform. In the cloister, Paschal's life of con- templation and self-sacrifice fulfilled the promise of his early years. His charity to the poor and afflicted, and his unfailing courtesy were remarkable. On one occasion, in the course of a journey through France, he triumphantly defended the dogma of the Real Presence against the blasphemies of a Calvin- ist preacher, and in consequence, narrowly escaped death at the hands of a Huguenot mob. Although poorly educated, his counsel was sought for by people of every station in life, and he was on terms of closest friendship with personages of eminent sanctity. Pascal was beatified in 1618, and canon- ized in 1690. His cultus has flourished particularly in his native land and in Southern Italy, and it was widely diffused in Southern and Central America, through the Spanish Conquests. In his Apostolic letter, Providentissimus Deus, Leo XIII declared St. Pascal the especial heavenly protector of all Eu- charistic Congresses and Associations. His feast is kept on 17 May. The saint is usually depicted in adoration before a vision of the Host.

Stanifobth, The Saint of the Eucharist (London, 1908) ; Lines and Saints of the three orders of Saint Francis (London. 1886); XlMENES. Chronicles (Valencia, 1600); D'Arta. Supplement to above work (Rome, 1672); DePokrentrvy, Saint Paschal Baylon (Paris, 1899)

Oswald Stanxforth. Pascendi, Dominici Gregis. See Modernism.

Pasch or Passover. — Jews of all classes and ways of thinking look forward to the Passover holidays with the same eagerness as Christians do to Christmas- tide. It is for them the great event of the year. With the exception of the Temple sacrifices, their manner of observing it differs but little from that which obtained in the time of Christ. Directions for keeping the feast were carefully laid down in the L.aw (see Exod., xii, xiii, etc.), and carried out with great exactness after the Exile.

The feast of the Passover begins on the fourteenth day of Nisan (a lunar month which roughly corre- sponds with the latter part of March and the first part of April) and ends with the twenty-first. The .lews now, as in ancient times, make elaborate preparations for the festival. Every house is subjected to a thorough spring cleaning. The Saturday preceding the day of the Pasch (fifteenth) is called a "Great Sabbath", because it is supposed that the tenth day of the month Abib (or Nisan), when the IsraeUtes were to select, the P:ischal lambs, before their deliver- ance from 10gyi>t, fell on a Sabbath. On this Sabbath, the day of the following week on which the Passover is to fall is solemnly announced. Some days before the feast, culinary and other utensils to be used during the festival are carefully and legally purified from all contact with leaven, or leavened bread. They are then said to be kosher. Special sets of cooking and table utensils are not unf requently kept in every house-