eace is the greatest blessing that man can enjoy insofar as he is a social creature. We do not speak, however, of the peace of human manufacture, but rather of that gift which is from above. For as St. Paul writes, "They shall say, 'Peace and security,' even then sudden destruction will come upon them" (I Thess. 5:3). This false peace among men was also spoken of by Jeremiah who prophesied, "They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace' when there is no peace" (6:14). Our Lord Himself, the Prince of Peace, said, "Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth; I have come to bring a sword, not peace" (Matt. 10:34).

The College of St. Justin Martyr, then, does not purport to manufacture peace, but seeks to dispose souls to the reception of true peace through rational training in the liberal arts as ordered to participation in the sacramental life of the Church. If peace is the tranquility and harmony of the soul and the universe, made possible through the rule of reason, then the liberal arts, which instill right reason in the soul, are the most efficacious natural means by which the soul is prepared to receive "the peace of God which surpasses all understanding"(Phil. 4:7).

Without the tranquility of order, which for St. Augustine is the very essence of peace, neither the individual soul, nor the political community, nor nations can find happiness or repose. As the letter of St. James teaches, the source of discord, of wars and quarrels, is the absence of peace among the passions of the soul. If the soul is not governed by the monarchy of reason, peace is unattainable. This was well known by the ancient philosophers, but they lacked the revelation of grace without which reason cannot reign over the passions, these having been made unruly by the wound of nature, which is original sin. This revelation of grace comes to us in the most perfect way through the sacred liturgy. Indeed, the liturgy itself is an expression of the divine order that orders the soul according to its own hierarchical pattern.