In a world like ours in which the egalitarian principles of the French Revolution are accepted almost everywhere without restriction, it is opportune to remind our readers of Catholic doctrine on social classes, well summarized in this excerpt by St. Hildegard.

God takes care of each man, so that the lower classes should not raise themselves above the higher classes, like Satan and the first man who tried to rise above their proper status.

And who keeps all his flock - ox and mules, sheep and goats – in only one stable? Likewise, we should take care that people are not all mixed together into one single flock. … Should this occur, there would be a terrible corruption of customs. The classes would tear each other to pieces moved by reciprocal hatred, with the higher classes going down to the level of the lower ones, and the latter elevating themselves to the heights of the former.

God divides His people on earth into different classes, just as He places the Angels in Heaven in different groups. … However, He loves them all equally.

(St. Hildegard, apud J. Buhler, Vida y Cultura en la Edad Media,
Mexico: Fond de Cultura Economica, 1957, p. 104)

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Posted November 3, 2007

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