IV — DIVINE SIMPLICITY

Presence of God. — O Lord, most simple Being, simplify my gaze and my heart so that I may serve You with simplicity of spirit.

Meditation

1 — God is the most simple Being because He is one in his essence and in all his perfections. St. Thomas, when he speaks of God’s simplicity, presents it only as exclusion of every composition. In God there are no quantitative parts as in us, who are composed of body and spirit. God is simple, since in Him there is no matter, but purest spirit. The angel too is pure spirit and yet the angel is a composed being because in him, as in us, essence is distinct from existence: angelic essence does not exist by itself but has only the capacity to exist, and in fact no angel, just as no man, exists unless God calls him to life. In God, instead, there is supreme simplicity, infinitely superior to that of angels: in Him essence and existence are the same thing; his essence exists of itself; He is eternally subsistent Being.

Neither do his innumerable perfections create multiplicity in God. God is not composed of goodness, beauty, wisdom, justice, but He is at the same time infinitely good, beautiful, wise, just Being. In Him there is no distinction between substance and qualities, because all is substance; his infinite perfections are his very substance. God embraces in a single most simple perfection, the perfection of his divine Being, all the many perfections that we find divided in creatures and a thousand and a thousand others besides, somewhat as a million contains the value of very many units. God’s simplicity is not, therefore, poverty, but infinite richness, infinite perfection in which we must mirror ourselves.

See how God is rich in innumerable perfections and possesses them all in the same degree. See, instead, how poor you are in virtues, and if you have some virtue, it is so limited, so narrow, so mixed with defects; and besides, for one virtue you possess so poorly, how many others are lacking! See how God is simple, while you are complicated. Contemplate divine simplicity and seek to copy it in yourself through true simplicity of spirit.

2 — In God, being is not distinct from acting; power is not distinct from act. He is pure act, act of infinite intelligence that always subsists and embraces every truth and, at the same time, act of will that always subsists and wills the good. In God’s eternal thought there is no admixture of error; in God’s eternal will there is no deviation toward evil. In God there is no succession of thoughts, but one single, eternal, immutable, subsistent thought that includes every truth. In God there are not many acts of will succeeding one another, but one unique, most perfect, immutable will that always wills the good with purest intention and, if it permits evil, permits it only in view of a greater good.

If you want in some way to approach divine simplicity, you must avoid every form of duplicity. You will avoid duplicity of mind by dispassionate search for truth, loving and accepting truth even when it demands sacrifices from you, even when it does you no honor because it lays bare your defects and errors. You must moreover cultivate the frankest sincerity, fleeing every form of falsehood: “Let your speech be ‘yes, yes; no, no,’” Jesus said (Mt. 5:37), and before being in your words, this simplicity must shine in your thought, in your mind, because “if your eye is clouded, your whole body will be in darkness” (Mt. 6:23). Thought is the eye that guides your acting; if your thoughts are simple, upright, sincere, all your actions will be so as well.

You will avoid duplicity of will by rectitude of intention: this rectitude must move you to act solely to please God. Then, even in the multiplicity of your actions, there will be in you simplicity, deep unity. Then you will not limp by inclining to two sides: to your self-love and to God’s love, to creatures and to the Creator, but you will walk on one way, the straight way of duty, of God’s will, of his good pleasure.

Colloquy

“O Most High God, in your one simple being You are all the virtues and all the greatnesses of your attributes: You are omnipotent, wise, good, merciful, just, strong, loving, with other infinite attributes and virtues we do not know. You are all these things in your simple being.

“O admirable excellence of God! O abyss of delights, who are all the more abundant in riches the more these are gathered in the unity and infinite simplicity of your one being! The knowledge of each of your perfections is such that it does not hinder perfect knowledge and enjoyment of another; indeed every grace and virtue in You is light for any other greatness of yours, because by your purity, O divine Wisdom, many things are seen in one in You” (cf. J.C. F. 3, 2 and 17).

“O divine Essence, who are an abyss without bottom and without limits of wonders! O unfathomable ocean of greatness, O unity of my God, O simplicity, O eternity without beginning and without end to whom all is continually present! O immensity that fills all and contains all! O infinity that embraces every imaginable perfection, O immutability, O immortality, O inaccessible splendor, O incomprehensible truth, O abyss of science and wisdom, O truth of my God!... O divine strength that sustains all and does all, O divine omnipotence, O divine providence that governs all! O justice, O goodness, O mercy, O beauty, O glory, O fidelity!... O great God, I adore in You all the greatnesses and all the perfections I have been contemplating, together with all the other innumerable and inconceivable ones unknown and to be unknown to me. And I adore You, praise You, glorify You, and love You according to all that You are. Oh, how my heart rejoices seeing You so great and so filled with every kind of treasure and splendor! And certainly, if I possessed all these greatnesses and You were deprived of them, I would at once strip myself of them to give them to You” (St. John Eudes).