Of Conformity and Union and Perfect Love for God, and How We Should Practise This Exercise

OR the better seeing of the perfection and great excellence contained in this exercise of conformity with the will of God, and that we may know how far we can attain to it, by way of conclusion and termination of this treatise we will say a little about a very high exercise of the love of God which the saints and masters of the spiritual life put before us. And it seems to come in very well here, because, as St. Denis the Areopagite says, one of the principal effects of love is to unite the wills of them that love one another so that they concur in willing or not willing the same thing. Thus, the more united one is and the more conformed to the will of God, the greater will be one’s love of God; and the greater that love, the greater the union and conformity with the will of God. To explain this it is necessary to mount up in thought to heaven, loving and conforming ourselves to the will of God. Have the same will with Him to take or refuse; for the nearer we approach to this, the more perfect will be our exercise. The glorious Apostle and Evangelist St. John says that the sight of God makes the blessed like unto Him: When He shall appear, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is (I John iii. 2). In seeing God, the blessed are so transformed into God as to have one will and one wish with Him. Let us see, then, what is the will and wish and love of God, for thereby we shall come to see what is the wish and will of the blessed, and thence we may gather what our wish and love and will should be to be perfect. The wish and will of God, and His highest and most perfect love, is of His own glory and of His own being, supremely perfect and glorious. This, then, is the wish and will and love of the blessed. Thus the love of the saints and blessed is a love and wish whereby they love and wish with all their strength that God should be what He is and be in Himself so good and glorious and worthy of honor as He is. And as they see in God all that they desire, then follows from that in them that fruit of the Holy Ghost, which the Apostle says is an unspeakable joy (Gal. v. 22), at seeing Him Whom they love so full of good things and treasures in Himself.

By what we see on earth we shall be able to get some inkling of the divine joy which the blessed hereby receive. See how great is the joy and gladness that a good son receives at seeing his dearly-loved father honored and sought after by all; learned, rich and powerful, and highly esteemed and cherished by the king. Certainly there are sons so good that they will say that there is nothing to compare with the joy that they receive at seeing their father made so much of. Now if this joy is so great on earth, where love is so weak and good things so mean, what must be the joy of the saints at seeing their true Lord and Creator and heavenly Father, into Whom they are so transformed by love, so good, so holy, so radiant in beauty, 50 infinitely powerful that all creation holds its being and its beauty solely of His will, and without that will not a leaf could stir on the tree! And, accordingly, the Apostle St. Paul says it is a joy so great as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor can it enter into the heart of man (I Cor. ii. 9). This is that rushing river which St. John in the Apocalypse saw coming forth from the throne of God and the Lamb (Apoe. xxii. 1), which giveth joy to the City of God (Psalm xlv. 5), whereof the blessed in heaven drink and, thereby inebriated with love, sing that everlasting Alleluia, glorifying and blessing God. Alleluia, praised be the Lord, for now our Lord God omnipotent reigneth, let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory (Apoc. xix. 6). They are praising and rejoicing at the great glory of God, giving Him congratulations and expressions of satisfaction, with great jubilation and rejoicing. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, honor and power and strength be to our Lord God for ever and ever (Apoc. vii. 12).

This is the love which the saints bear to God in heaven and the conformity which they have to His divine will— to speak of such things as we can, considering the poorness of our understanding. This is what we should try to imitate in our way here on earth, that the will of God may be done on earth as it is in heaven. Look and do according to the pattern that I have shown thee on the mount, said God to Moses (Exod. xxv. 40), when He bade him construct the Tabernacle. So we should do all things here on earth according to the plan that is carried out there on that high mountain of glory. We must set ourselves to loving and willing that which the blessed in heaven are loving and willing; and that which they are loving and willing is God Himself, Who is His own glory and His own being, sovereignly perfect and glorious.

That each one may be able to do this better for himself, we will set down here briefly the practice of this exercise. When you are at prayer, consider with the understanding the infinite being of God, His eternity, His omnipotence, His infinite wisdom, beauty, glory, and beatitude. Then use your will, rejoicing, delighting, and taking complacency and satisfaction in that God is what He is, that He is God, that the being and infinite good which He holds, He holds of Himself; that He has no need of anybody, and all have need of Him; that He is almighty and so good and so holy and so full of glory as in Himself He is.

St. Thomas and the theologians say that this is the greatest and most perfect act of the love of God. So it is also the highest and most consummate act of conformity to the will of God, because there is no greater nor more perfect love of God than that which God Himself bears to Himself, which is a love of His own glory and of His own sovereignly perfect and glorious being, nor can there be a better will than that. It follows that our love will be greater and more perfect in proportion as it is likened to this love wherewith God loves Himself, and the greater and more perfect will be our union and conformity with His divine will. And, further, philosophers say that to love another is to seek his good; whence it follows that the greater good we desire for another, the more we love him. Now the greatest good that we can seek for God is that which He already has, which is His infinite being, His infinite goodness, wisdom, omnipotence, and glory. When we love any creature, we not only are pleased at any good thing that he has, but we are able to wish for him some other good thing which he has not, since every creature can grow; but coming to God, we cannot wish Him in Himself any good thing which He has not, since He is infinite on every side, and so He cannot have in Himself more power, nor more glory, nor more wisdom, nor more goodness than He has. And so the greatest good that we can wish God, and consequently the greatest love that we can bear Him, is to rejoice and be glad and feel complacency and satisfaction that God has all those good things that He has, and that He is so good as He is, so rich, so powerful, so infinite, and so glorious.

The saints who are in heaven, and the most sacred humanity of Christ our Redeemer, and the most glorious Virgin our Lady, and all the choirs of angels rejoice to see God so fair and beautiful and so laden with all fulness of good things. So great is the joy and gladness that they feel thereat that nothing will satisfy them but to break out into praises of this Lord, and they never have enough of praising and blessing Him for ever and ever, as the prophet says: Blessed are they who dwell in thy house, O Lord, they shall praise thee world without end (Psalm Ixxxiii. 5). In like manner we should unite our hearts and lift up our voices with theirs, as Mother Church teaches us: “Deign, O Lord, to admit our voices also, along with those of all the angels and blessed, crying out to Thee in suppliant acknowledgment, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts; the heavens and earth are full of Thy glory.’” Always, or as continually as is in our power, we ought to occupy ourselves in praising and glorifying God, exulting and rejoicing in the good and glory and sovereignty that He enjoys, and giving Him congratulations and felicitations thereupon. In this manner we shall liken ourselves here, in our poor way, to the blessed in heaven and even to God Himself, and we shall exercise the highest love and the most perfect conformity to the will of God that we possibly can exercise.