WORDS OF THE DAY.

animus \AN-uh-muhs\, noun:

1. Basic attitude or animating spirit; disposition; intention.
2. A feeling of ill will; animosity.


The seemingly anti-intellectual animus of the syllabus [the Syllabus of Errors, issued by Pope Pius IX in 1864] also disillusioned some converts, among them Thomas Arnold, who reverted to Anglicanism when he learned of it.


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compunction \kuhm-PUHNK-shuhn\, noun:

1. Anxiety or deep unease proceeding from a sense of guilt or consciousness of causing pain.
2. A sting of conscience or a twinge of uneasiness; a qualm; a scruple.


Not only were tears one means of prayer, according to Benedict, they were the only pure form: "We must know that God regards our purity of heart and tears of compunction, not our many words."