Part IV. Our savior's love for us and the mystery of redemption
xiv
THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS ON THE MYSTERY OF THE REDEMPTION
"TTN THE preceding pages we have dealt with the mystery of the il_ Incarnation, with the personality of Jesus, His sanctity, the contemplation of His human intelligence, His human will that is at once free and impeccable. We are now about to consider the mystery of the Redemption according to the testimony of the Gospel and of the Epistles, in order to determine the relation to this mystery of our Savior's interior life as priest and victim.
In our Lord's teaching, the mystery of the Incarnation is intimately bound up with the mystery of the Redemption. For the name "Jesus" means Savior or Redeemer, and, as the Creed proclaims, it was to redeem us that the Word was made flesh. "I believe in one God, the Father almighty . . . and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God . . . who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate . . . and was made man" (Nicene Creed).
We know, of course, that the Modernists have claimed that the doctrine concerning the expiatory character of Christ's death is not evangelical, but merely Pauline, that is, the fruit of St. Paul's personal reflections on the death of Jesus.1
How were the Modernists led to entertain such a notion? Because, following in the footsteps of the liberal Protestants who had almost become rationalists, they sought to suppress all supernatural elements in the mystery of the Redemption and to reduce it to the level of a truth of the natural order. Following this trend of thought, they have claimed that the Redemption as the Catholic Church has always understood it, is contrary to God's mercy and justice.
The Catholic concept of the Redemption is contrary to God's mercy, they have held, because an infinitely merciful God cannot demand as reparation for sin such rigorous satisfaction as is far superior to anything man can offer Him. The answer to the objection is that this view leaves out of consideration the fact that, while God had demanded such a reparation, He has in His infinite mercy given us His own Son to redeem us. He has loved the world so much as to deign to give to it not only grace and pardon but the Author of grace Himself.
The Modernists further hold that the Redemption as conceived by the Catholic Church, is contrary to divine justice, for it is unjust and cruel to strike an innocent person in place of those who are guilty. Is this not to forget that our Savior is a voluntary victim, who generously offered Himself up for us?
By thus deviating from the fundamental truths of Christianity the Modernists and the liberal Protestants have entirely removed from the death of Jesus on the cross its supernatural character. In their eyes Jesus is only a wise man, a saint who was not understood by His contemporaries, and who courageously died rather than renounce His ideas. He did not die to make reparation in our place, to redeem us, to give us supernatural grace, to merit eternal life for us. His death, as they see it, has value only as an example, such as had the death of Socrates or Leonidas. His death is the greatest example of strength and greatness of soul amid the most terrible trials.
This is what becomes of a supernatural mystery when viewed with the eyes of human wisdom, which in seeking to explain everything naturally finds only darkness in the faith of the Church, the faith of all the martyrs, and of all the saints.
We shall see that contrary to these naturalistic views this doctrine of the Church has been clearly expressed in the words of our Lord preserved in the four Gospels. We shall then see that this doctrine is also to be found in the Acts of the Apostles and in St. Paul's writings.
The Mystery of the Redemption in the First Three Gospels
First of all, let us bear in mind that Jesus manifested the mystery of the Incarnation only by slow degrees, because men's souls would not have been able to bear all at once such a lofty revelation. The same is true of His announcement of His painful passion, for it was even more difficult to bear the revelation of this mystery, especially for the Jews who, because of their national prejudices, were awaiting a temporal and conquering Messiah who would have made them dominant over other peoples.
Let us bear in mind also that Jesus began to announce His painful passion to His disciples only after He had brought them to believe in His divine sonship, in His divinity. Only after Peter's confession at Caesarea, in which he professed his belief that Jesus was "the Son of the living God," did our Lord begin "to show to His disciples, that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things . . . and be put to death." 2 This mystery which had been announced repeatedly by the prophets, especially in certain Messianic psalms 8 and by Isaias, 4 was difficult to accept. It required a great spirit of faith.
Let us see how our Lord manifested this mystery progressively, according to the first three Gospels and also according to St. John. It is like a leitmotif, at first soft but powerful, which gradually grows louder and finally bursts forth and is dominant. 5
At the start of His ministry, in the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus read in the book of the prophet Isaias: 6 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, wherefore He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He hath sent Me to heal the contrite of heart: to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward." 7 This is more than an example of high virtue.
8 Thus, in the overture to Tannhauser the leitmotif of the Pilgrims' Chorus is at first almost imperceptible, but it gradually rises above the leitmotif of sensuality and evil, until it dominates all. "Isa. 61:1. 'Luke 41.8 f.
The announcement is general, but it is certainly clear, and it was to become progressively clearer.
A little later, as we read in St. Matthew, 8 after Matthew the publican is called to the apostleship, as Jesus was at table in Matthew's house together with many publicans and sinners who had joined Him and His disciples for the feast, the Pharisees said to the disciples: "Why doth your master eat with publicans and sinners? But Jesus hearing it, said: They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill. Go then and learn what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the just, but sinners." 9 But mention was not made of the cruel passion He was to suffer. It was too early for that.
It was only after Peter had confessed at Caesarea that Jesus was "Christ the Son of the living God," 10 that "Jesus began to show to His disciples, that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the ancients and scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and the third day rise again." Peter, drawing Him aside, began to rebuke Him, saying: "Lord, be it far from Thee, this shall not be unto Thee." But Jesus, turning to Peter, said: "Go behind Me, Satan, thou art a scandal unto Me: because thou savorest not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men." 11
Peter indeed had so little understanding of the things of God when he said these words that he was speaking without knowing it against all of God's plans for the salvation of mankind, against the motive of the Incarnation or of the coming of the Word made flesh into the world. And he spoke thus because his natural affection for Jesus was so great that he could not bear the announcement of His cruel passion. By contrast, the words of the Stabat Mater are: "Grant that I may bear the death of Christ, following Mary's example who remained standing at the foot of the cross."
We should note that it was after the first prediction of His passion that Jesus said: 12 "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." 13 This expression,
10 It ii in lliis wiise thai IMWOM lias nidi "Any destiny that doc» not have it* calvary ii
"take up one's cross," was then still obscure to His hearers, but it would become increasingly clear.
Again alluding to His sacrifice and to its fruits, Jesus said: "I am come to cast fire on the earth: and what will I, but that it be kindled? And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized: and how am I straitened until it be accomplished?" 14
He announced His passion again even more precisely as He was going up to Jerusalem, before His triumphal entry. It is recorded in St. Matthew: "And Jesus . . . took the twelve disciples apart, and said to them : Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and the third day He shall rise again." 16 The apostles must have been struck by these words, and yet they forgot them during the Passion.
It was then that the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and asked that they might sit, the one on His right and the other on His left in His kingdom. Jesus, alluding to His passion which He had just announced, answered: "Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?" 16 He then added that, whereas the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them, "the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a redemption for many." 17 Here we have the mystery of the Redemption enunciated by Jesus Himself. It would therefore be difficult to claim, as the Modernists do, that this was the personal notion of St. Paul, born of his reflection on the life and death of Jesus. Our Lord has told us Himself that He came "to give His life a redemption for many."
Likewise, in St. Mark we read: "The Son of man ... is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a redemption for many." 18 This certainly bespeaks the expiatory character of Jesus' death.
The Passion was also foretold in the parable of the wicked hus- a punishment from God." "Life disappoints only those who do not expect enough from ; r " 14 Luke 12:49 f. '
W Ibid., 20:18. " Mark 10:45- bandmen: "And last of all he sent to them his son. . . . But the husbandmen seeing the son, said among themselves: This is the heir: come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance. And taking him, they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him." 19
Finally the Passion was foretold for the last time during the Last Supper, as recorded in St. Matthew, 20 in St. Mark, 21 and in St. Luke. 22 In St. Matthew we read: "And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to His disciples, and said: Take ye and eat: This is My body. And taking the chalice, He gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is My blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins."
This was very clear, especially after the preceding predictions of the Passion, and inasmuch as Jesus had already said during the Last Supper: "The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of Him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed." 23
In order to give further warning to His apostles, He added as they proceeded to the Garden of Olives: "All of you shall be scandalized in Me this night. For it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed. But after I shall be risen again, I will go before you into Galilee." 24 And St. Luke adds that our Lord said to Peter: "Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 25 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren." 26
This last announcement of the Passion was singularly clear, and by the words of the consecration at the Last Supper, especially those referring to "My blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins," 27 it was manifest that during His passion and crucifixion which He had foretold, Jesus would offer His blood as a sacrifice of reparation or of redemption.
None the less, in spite of all these predictions which confirmed lB Matt. 21 :n (. xo lbid., 16:26-18. 11 Mark 14:24.
« Just as he had desired holy Job (cf. Job 1:1 1). "Luke i2:ji f. " Matt. 16:28.
those of the Messianic psalms and those of Isaias 28 about the suffering Messiah, the man of sorrows — in spite of all this light, when the sacrifice began at Gethsemane the apostles fell asleep, and as soon as the Passion started they fearfully forsook our Lord. At the moment when the mystery of the Redemption was accomplished on the cross, at the moment of the Consummation est, they did not understand that this was the realization of Christ's promises. Many of them even thought that all was lost. And if the apostles behaved in this manner during the dark night of the Passion, how might we expect to react if we were placed in comparable circumstances?
The mystery of the Redemption was clearly announced in the Synoptic Gospels, as we have seen. In one of these Gospels it is also reported that after His resurrection Jesus said to His disciples of Emmaus: "O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so to enter into His glory?" 29
The Testimony of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel
The mystery of the Redemption has been expressed even more perfectly in the Gospel of St. John. In this Gospel, Jesus repeats insistently that He is sent by the Father to do His will and to perfect His work. 30 But this work consists in bearing witness to the truth, 31 and in saving men's souls and giving them eternal life. According to this Gospel, Jesus said to Nicodemus: "So must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting." 32
To this end, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, gave His life for His sheep. There is no simpler or greater expression of the mystery of the Redemption than the parable of the Good Shepherd: "I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly. I am the
Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth His life for His sheep. . . . I am the Good Shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know Me. ... I lay down My life for My sheep. And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd. Therefore doth the Father love Me: because I lay down My life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it away from Me: but I lay it down of Myself, and I have power to lay it down: and I have power to take it up again. This commandment have I received of My Father." 33
This is indeed the spontaneous oblation of the voluntary victim, and this victim is the Good Shepherd Himself, the Priest above all others, who was to pronounce the priestly prayer before He died. 34 Jesus did not die as the result of unforeseen circumstances, as did Socrates, rather than renounce His ideas. Jesus was sent by God to offer Himself up for us.
At the time of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus announced to His disciples that His death would be a triumph, but that before the triumph He would have to be immolated. He told them in fact: "The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. . . . Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself." St. John adds: "Now this He said, signifying what death He should die." 88
A little later, Jesus said: "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 80 Then, during His priestly prayer, He added: "And for them do I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth." 37
Through the fruits of our Savior's death, Satan was defeated, he lost the rights and the power he had over a sinful humanity, 38 and grace was given back to men. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches: "He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much
fruit." 39 St. John speaks in the same vein in his First Epistle: "We have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin. . . . 40 He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. . . . 41 By this hath the charity of God appeared toward us, because God hath sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we may live by Him." 42
St. John develops this doctrine of the precious blood in an admirable manner in the Apocalypse, in the canticle sung to the Lamb: "Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, in Thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign on the earth." 43
This is the same teaching that we find in St. Peter's first discourses after Pentecost, as reported in the Acts of the Apostles: "This [Jesus] is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved." 44 "Him hath God exalted with His right hand, to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins." 48
Finally, St. Peter says in his First Epistle: "You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold and silver, ... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled." 40 "Who His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed." 47
Such is the testimony of the Gospels, of the Acts of the Apostles, and of St. Peter's Epistles on the mystery of the Redemption. Hence it cannot be held that the expiatory character of Christ's death is not evangelical, that it is merely the result of St. Paul's personal reflections on the death of Jesus, which he compared with the sacrifices of the Old Law. Our Savior's own words as recorded by St.
Matthew and St. Mark tell us that He gave His life "a redemption for many." And St. John the Baptist, before St. Paul, saluted Jesus as "the Lamb of God, . . . who taketh away the sin of the world." 48 Even if we did not have St. Paul's epistles, this testimony would suffice to make us know in the obscurity of faith the very essence of the mystery of the Redemption.
The Meaning of This Dogma and the Contrary Errors
PHp'HE testimony of the Gospel, completed by that of the Acts of JL the Apostles, shows us clearly, as we have already seen, that Jesus "gave His life a redemption for many," 1 that His blood was shed "for many unto remission of sins," 2 and that He is "the Lamb of God, . . . who taketh away the sin of the world." 3 Let us now consider what St. Paul tells us with regard to this dogma of our faith, and seek to grasp its true meaning.
The Testimony of St. Paul on the Redemption
It is false, of course, to pretend that the expiatory character of Christ's death is not evangelical, but merely the fruit of St. Paul's personal reflections. The truth of the matter is that the great apostle has made known the full glory of this doctrine. Innumerable passages in his epistles show that the Redemption and sanctification of men were accomplished by the death of Jesus. In fact, he tells us that God delivered His Son up for us, 4 for our sins, 5 for all men, 6 even for the ungodly. 7 This death was an act of obedience, 8 a voluntary gift of Jesus' love. In the Epistle to the Ephesians we read: "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness." 9 "Christ . . . loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it}
10S that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish." 10 "Christ our pasch is sacrificed"; 11 in other words, Jesus is the paschal Lamb whose immolation has taken away the sins of the world, as John the Baptist had announced He would.
St. Paul specifies that he is speaking of a sacrifice of expiation. In fact, he wrote to the Romans: "For all have sinned, and do need the glory of God. Being justified freely by His grace, through the Redemption, that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath proposed to be a propitiation, through faith in His blood, to the showing of His justice, for the remission of former sins." 12
St. Paul also shows that the death of Jesus on the cross was a redemption by substitution: "You are bought with a great price." 13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." 14 This is the same idea that Jesus expressed in St. Mark: "The Son of man ... is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a redemption for many." 15
St. Paul again affirms this doctrine: "For there is . . . one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus: who gave Himself a redemption for all," 18 that is, who delivered us for a ransom, at the price of His own blood, 17 the supreme expression of His love.
Contrary to the opinion of a number of Protestant liberals, 18 St. Paul holds that the dying Christ substituted Himself for sinful mankind, since he says: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" 19 on the cross. "Him, who knew no sin, He hath made sin for us, that we might be made the justice of God in Him." 20 That is to say, God treated Him like sin for us, and Jesus had in actual fact taken all our sins upon Himself in order to expiate them. "Jesus Christ, our Lord ... was delivered up
"Cf. Prat, The Theology of St. Paul, Vol. I, note 50: Expiation, propitiation, redemption.
18 Sabatier, VAfSlre Paul, 3rd ed., p. 328: La doctrine de 1'expatton el son evolution hittorique. Pari,, ,903. ,B Cai. 3 1 f- ° >' 9 5 :*>•
[to death] for our sins, and rose again for our justification." 21 Thus by His death Christ delivered us from sin, 22 from the snares of the devil. 23 He freed us from the Mosaic Law which was an occasion of sin. 24 The result of all this is the attainment of true liberty 26 by all Christians, "so that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." 28
Moreover, Christians are reconciled with God: 27 by Christ's blood they are cleansed, sanctified, justified, 28 accepted as adopted sons of God, and heirs of heaven. 29 The victory will be complete at the end of the world, when death will be thoroughly vanquished by resurrection. 30 Then, too, will the Redemption be fully accomplished, "when this mortal hath'put on immortality. . . . Thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 81
The doctrine of the expiatory nature of Jesus' death on the cross is not the fruit of St. Paul's personal reflections. It is an evangelical doctrine which was clearly formulated on several occasions by Jesus Himself. But it was St. Paul's mission to bring out all its glory, not only through the texts which we have just quoted but also through his teaching on the sacraments, especially baptism 32 and the Holy Eucharist, 33 inasmuch as the Mass perpetuates in substance in an unbloody manner the Sacrifice of the Cross, so that its fruits may be applied to each succeeding generation until the end of the world.
The Doctrine of the Redemption and Its Theological Explanation
From St. Paul's testimony, which completes and clarifies that of the Gospel, the real meaning of the Redemption is clearly revealed.
In the general sense of the word, redemption or repurchase is the act by which a person acquires again by paying the required price what ai Rom.4:*5- 22 Ibid., 4:25 ; 6:1-11. 23 II Tim. 2 -.26; Col. 2 =15.
,2 Eph. 4:51 5:26) Tit. 3:51 Rom. 6:3-111 Gal. 3:271 I Cor. 12:13. " I for. 10:1 5-11(1) 1 1 :i7~3+.
he formerly possessed but no longer possesses. Thus we speak of the repurchase of a house or of a piece of property, as captives and prisoners of war are ransomed.
The redemption of the human race can therefore be defined as follows: It is the act by which our Savior, at the price of His own blood (an expression of His love), snatched the human race from slavery to sin and to the devil, and reconciled it with God. In other words, to use the terms dear to both St. Anselm 34 and to St. Thomas: 36 He made satisfaction for our sins, He payed the debt to divine justice, and He merited our salvation. The Council of Trent defines this dogma as follows: "The meritorious cause of our justification is the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who when we were enemies of God, 36 because of His great love for us, 87 has by His very holy passion on the wood of the cross merited our justification and has made satisfaction for us to God the Father." 88
The Redemption thus conceived was necessary after the fall of man, if God wished to raise us up again and exact reparation equivalent to the gravity of the offense which is mortal sin. It was fitting, of course, that after the fall God should wish to raise us up again. For man's sin, being less grave than that of Satan, is not irremissible, and moreover original sin was voluntary only in the first man.
Yet God could very well have raised us up again by forgiving us and exacting only an imperfect reparation. 39 He might have been content to send us a prophet who would have made known to us the conditions of pardon.
God has done infinitely more for us. In exacting a reparation equivalent to the gravity of the offense, He has given us His own Son as Redeemer. If His justice has exacted this reparation, His mercy has given us the Savior who alone was capable of making full reparation for the offense or disorder of mortal sin.
The injury is all the more grave in proportion to the greater dignity of the person offended. It is more serious to insult a magistrate than
" 7 Kph. 2 : 4 . 38 Cf. Concilium Trid., Sew. VI, chap. 7. Deiwingcr, nos. 799, 810.
to insult a passer-by on the street. Mortal sin, by which man with full knowledge and consent scorns divine law on a serious matter by disobeying that law, mortal sin by which man turns away from God, thus has infinite gravity. For mortal sin practically denies God the infinite dignity of being our final end, and falsely sets a wretched created good as our final end. If an offense increases in gravity with the dignity of the person offended, the injury done to God by mortal sin is limitless in gravity; it denies Him the infinite dignity of Sovereign Good. 40 In order to understand in full the gravity of this injury, it would be necessary to have seen God. The angels and saints understand this far better than the devils and even the most perverse beings.
To repair this disorder, an act of love of God of infinite value was necessary. But no creature that is a creature and no more can give infinite value to its acts of love. Even if such an act is supernatural, the fruit of grace and of infused charity, it remains finite, like the creature from which it proceeds, like created grace and chanty, even though this act has an infinite object, namely, God Himself. We can love God who is infinite, but we cannot love Him infinitely. He alone is capable of loving Himself in this manner.
Therefore, for a human soul to make an act of love of God infinite in value, that human soul had to belong to a divine preson. Such was the soul of the Word made flesh. Our Lord's soul drew from the divine personality of the Word infinite capacity for satisfying and meriting. It was the act of love of a human soul, but also that of a divine person. For this reason, it is called a theandric act, both divine and human.
This is the essence of the mystery of the Redemption, which St. Thomas expresses in these terms: "He properly atones for an offense who offers something which the offended one loves equally, or even more than he detested the offense. But by suffering out of love and obedience, Christ gave more to God than was required to compensate for the offense of the whole human race. First of all, because of the exceeding charity from which He suffered; secondly, on account of the dignity of His life which He laid down in atonement, for it was
the life of one who was God and man; thirdly, on account of the extent of the Passion, and the greatness of the grief endured, as stated above. 41 And therefore Christ's passion was not only a sufficient but a superabundant atonement for the sins of the human race; according to I John 2:2: £ He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.' " 42
In short, the love of Christ dying on the cross for our sakes was more pleasing to God than the totality of all men's sins can displease Him. It is on this point above all others that we should pause in contemplation. Everything else converges toward the contrast expressed in the two words: Sin and redemptive love.
The Depth of This Mystery and the Errors Opposed to It
Here indeed is a great mystery. As the Catechism of the Council of Trent 43 tells us: "If the human mind finds difficulties elsewhere, it is incontestably in the mystery of the Redemption that it meets the greatest difficulties of all. It is hard for us to conceive that our salvation depends upon the Cross and upon Him who let Himself be nailed to it for love of us. 44 But it is in this very fact that, according to the teaching of the Apostle, we must admire the sovereign providence of God. For, 'seeing that in the wisdom of God the world, by wisdom, knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of our preaching, to save them that believe. . . . We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness: but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.' " 48
The Catechism of the Council of Trent continues: "It can be said that the mystery of the Cross, humanly speaking, is more than any other outside the conceptions of reason. That is why, since Adam's sin, God has never ceased announcing the death of His Son, at times
44 It is hard for us to believe that life issues from death and that victory proceeds from annihilation. 48 I Cor. 1:21-14.
through figures of speech, and again through the oracles of the prophets."
There is a most powerful chiaroscuro in this mystery, especially when we also consider the application of our Savior's merits.
On the one hand, it is clear that God's mercy bends down toward us to raise us up. But what is obscure is the intimate reconciliation of this most tender mercy with the exigencies of infinite justice. We firmly believe both are united in God and in the bruised heart of Jesus, a voluntary victim dying through love of us. We believe this, but we do not see it; and to our superficial gaze it seems that such rigorous justice places limits upon infinite mercy. We do not yet see how they are two forms or two virtues of uncreated love, which are identified in it without any real distinction. 48 Still we can perceive that avenging justice is itself a proclamation of the rights of the Sovereign Good to be loved above all else.
If we stray from the straight path that leads toward these heights, we deviate toward two errors each opposed to the other: either the error of the first Protestants, or the error of their successors who reacted against them.
The first Protestants, Luther, Calvin, and their disciples, falsified the mystery of the Redemption by saying: Christ took our sins upon Himself to the point of becoming odious to His Father, and both on the cross and in His descent to hell, He suffered the torments of the damned. Thenceforth they have added, there remains nothing for us to do and to suffer for salvation, but only to believe in the merits of Christ.
This interpretation of the Redemption makes of it a mystery not superior but contrary to right reason. How could the Word of God made flesh have become odious to His Father? How could He who is God Himself, who is the truth and the life, have endured in the uppermost regions of His soul the torment of the damned, the privation of God? Luther and Calvin have sought to find in the Redemption a penal compensation, a physical torment, rather than a work of spiritual love, and they also suppressed the necessity of love in our
life, by saying that all that is necessary is to believe. How could faith without love, without obedience to the precepts, suffice for salvation? «
These manifestly inadmissible excesses of the first Protestants provoked the reaction of present-day liberal Protestants, who fall into the contrary error when they say: Christ did not die to expiate our sins and to obtain for us grace and eternal life ; but He saved us solely through His doctrine and His example, like the prophets and the martyrs, though His heroism did surpass theirs.
The Catholic doctrine rises like a mountain peak above these two contrary errors. It tells us that Jesus has redeemed us not merely by His example and His doctrine, but by making satisfaction for our sins and by meriting for us grace and eternal life. He offered Himself up for us, especially on the cross, like a veritable host.
There is certainly a profound mystery in all this. Yet this dogma, in affirming the exigencies of divine justice, is in no respect contrary to God's mercy, as the liberal Protestants claim. Conversely, we shall see that God the Father in asking His Son to die for us as a victim has loved Him with a supremely great love, since He has wished thereby to make Him the victor over sin, the devil, and death. Those who have accepted suffering for the salvation of souls enter into the depths of this mystery. At the same time God has wished to proclaim the rights of the Sovereign Good to be loved above all else and to forgive us our sins because of the love of His Son, who was a voluntary victim for us.
4T One day, after I had given a conference in a Protestant city on sanctifying grace, the beginning of eternal life, a man with searching eyes came to me and said: "I belong to a Lutheran family. My father and grandfather were pastors. I have followed your talk with great interest." I turned to him and asked: "How can you explain that Luther should have written: 'Sin boldly and believe even more boldly?' How could he have so completely misunderstood the precept of love which is the soul of the Gospel: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy mind!" The man answered: "It is very simple. It was diabolic." I should not have dared to tell him this, and I understood that this son of a Lutheran family was about to enter the Catholic Church, after having gone through great trials.
On the other hand, the devil is sometimes obliged to tell the truth. Thus he admitted during an exorcism that the value of suffering derives from love, and that Christ's sufferings would have been valueless if He had not endured them for love of God and for love of us. This is what "he who docs not love," u St. Theresa calls him, is at times forced to admit.
Far from destroying each other in being thus united on the cross, divine mercy and justice rest in a way upon each other, like the two arcs of a circle that form a pointed arch, and the exigencies of justice are revealed to be the consequences of love's own exigencies. Love of the good requires that evil be atoned for, and it gives us the Redeemer, so that this reparation may be offered up and that we may regain eternal life.
The full grandeur of this mystery is manifest in St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians: "God (who is rich in mercy) for His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ (by whose grace you are saved) and hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit together in the heavenly places, through Christ Jesus, that He might show in the ages to come the abundant riches of His grace, in His bounty toward us in Christ Jesus." 48
XVI
GOD'S LOVE FOR HIS SON IN THE MYSTERY OF THE REDEMPTION
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself."
WE HAVE seen what the exact meaning of the dogma is according to St. Thomas: The love of Christ dying for us on the cross pleased God more than the totality of all men's sins can displease Him.2
In order to delve more deeply into this mystery, we must consider how it is the manifestation of the uncreated love of God for His Son and for us.
At first blush it might seem that God the Father appears to be cruel to His Son by striking down an innocent person in place of the guilty. This is what the liberal Protestants hold, in their reaction against the thought of Luther and Calvin. It might also seem that God the Father loves us more than He loves His Son, since He has delivered up His Son for us.
This is not so at all, but is but a very inferior view of the matter. This mystery is incomparably superior to any such contentions.
God Has Wished for His Son the Glory of the Redemption
St. Thomas Aquinas has written these profound words: "God's loving one thing more than another is nothing else than His willing for that thing a greater good: because God's will is the cause of good- ness in things; and the reason why some things are better than others, is that God wills for them a greater good. Hence it follows that He loves more the better things. God loves Christ not only more than He loves the whole human race, but more than He loves the entire created universe: because He willed for Him the greater good in giving Him a name that is above all names, so far as He was true God. Nor did anything of His excellence diminish when God delivered Him up to death for the salvation of the human race; rather did He become thereby a glorious conqueror: the government was placed upon His shoulder, according to Isa. 9:6." 2
In his treatise on the Incarnation, St. Thomas develops this lofty idea when he inquires: 8 Did God the Father Himself deliver up His Son to His passion and death? He answers by explaining St. Paul's words: "He that spared not even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." 4
In his explanation St. Thomas says: "In three respects God the Father did deliver up Christ to the Passion. In the first way, because by His eternal will He preordained Christ's passion for the deliverance of the human race, according to the words of Isaias: 'The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquities of us all'; 6 and again: 'The Lord was pleased to bruise Him in infirmity.' 6 Secondly, inasmuch as, by the infusion of charity [so that it might pour out upon us], He inspired Him with the will to suffer for us; hence we read in the same passage: 'He was offered because it was His own will.' 7 [This was in order that He might accomplish His redemptive mission.] Thirdly, by not shielding Him from the Passion, but abandoning Him to His persecutors: thus we read (Matt. 27:46) that Christ while hanging upon the cross, cried out: 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' 8 Because, to wit, He left Him to the power of His persecutors, as Augustine says." 9
What we must consider here is the love of God the Father for His Son, even at the moment that He delivered Him up for us. In this there is a very lofty truth that often passes unnoticed because of its
elevation and that must be the object of contemplation for souls whose vocation is one of atonement.
Despite appearances to the contrary, the cross on which Jesus seemed to be van quished is the trophy of His victory. Jesus said: "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to Myself." 10 God the Father, through love of His Son, has from all eternity willed for Him this painful triumph, this victory over sin and the spirit of evil. But this far surpasses our human ideas, and we can scarcely find here upon earth even a symbol of this sublime divine love.
Yet, during wartime when a general must sacrifice a handful of men to save his country, who are those that he chooses? He chooses the bravest and those he loves most. He sends for his best lieutenant and tells him categorically: You must be killed to save our country and our army. He embraces the young man and sends him to his death, a death that is all the more glorious because the peril is greater and because there is no escape from it. The young officer leaves, happy that he has been chosen. His general could not have given him a greater proof of his esteem. He accomplishes his destiny as a soldier.
The story is told that under similar circumstances a Japanese general chose his own son among his lieutenants and asked him to go to his death to save the army. The young man understood how great was his father's love for him and immediately sacrificed himself.
Similarly, what officer is chosen to carry the flag into battle? One of the bravest, for he is the chief target of the enemy and he cannot defend himself. He cannot return blow for blow, because he is holding the flag. 11
These examples of human heroism give us a faint glimpse of our Savior's heroism and of His Father's love for Him when He delivered Him up for our salvation.
After sending His prophets, of whom several were put to death, God sent His only-begotten Son, as the parable of the wicked husbandmen tells us. God the Father sent His Son to the glorious death
11 It would be a far too materialistic conception of a soldier to think that he is first of all a man who kills. The real soldier it a man who offers his life to save his country, to defend its homes and its intellectual and moral heritage.
of the cross for the salvation of mankind. And, as St. Paul says: When Christ came into the world He said, "Behold I come. . . . Sacrifices and oblations and holocausts for sin Thou wouldest not. . . . Behold I come to do Thy will, O God." 12
Through Love of His Son, God Asked of Him the Most Heroic Love
It is easy to love one's country when such love costs nothing. It is heroic to love it when under fire. It is easy to love God when everything is going our way. It is heroic to love Him when everything goes against us, when friends abandon us, and when heaven itself seems to be closed to us. Let us now consider what was demanded of our Savior?
Love of the good demands the reparation of evil. The stronger the love, the more it demands. God's love of the good demands the reparation of sin which ravages souls, which turns them away from their final end, and plunges them into the concupiscence of the flesh, and of the eyes, into the pride of life, and ultimately into eternal death.
When God the Father gave us His Son to redeem us, He could have been content with the smallest act of charity by the Word made flesh. For the least of Jesus' acts derived from the divine personality of the Word an infinite value to satisfy and to merit. But then we would not have understood the abysmal chaos which is sin. Even now we understand it so little, after all the sufferings which our Savior endured for our sakes.
God the Father did not retreat before the prospect of the painful death of His own Son, and He asked His Son to expiate our sins by terrible sufferings, and by enduring these sufferings through love to make reparation for all criminal sensuality. He called upon His Son to show us by His own absolute denudation all the shame of the concupiscence of the eyes and pleasure-seeking egoism, to make us realize through His own humiliations the utter folly of pride, and to blot out by His heroic love the disorder of hatreds which divide persons, families, classes, and peoples.
By thus making the utmost demands of His justice, God was not taking pleasure in punishing. On the contrary, He showed how great is His love of the good and His holy hatred of evil, which is merely the reverse of love. No one can sincerely love the good without hating evil. No one can love truth without hating lies. God cannot love the good with infinite love without hating evil with holy hatred. That is why the exigencies of j ustice are identified with those of love : "Love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell," says the Canticle of Canticles. 13
It is this uncreated love of the good united to holy hatred of evil which required of our Savior the most heroic of all acts and sent Him to the glorious death of the cross.
This brings us once again to the very essence of the mystery of the Redemption: God the Father asked of His Son an act of love which would please Him more than the totality of all men's sins can displease Him, an act of redemptive love, of infinite and superabundant value.
This was to be the Consummatum est, the crowning glory of Christ's life, victory over sin and over the spirit of evil. This victory of Good Friday is far superior to the victory of Easter, for the Resurrection or victory over death is merely the sign of Christ's triumph over sin.
Thus it was indeed through love for His Son that God the Father asked Him to die for us. He predestined His Son through love to the glory of the Redemption. What would Jesus' life have been without Calvary? Similarly but on a far humbler level, what would the life of St. Joan of Arc have been without her martyrdom? And for that matter, what would have been the life of all the others who have been called to shed their blood in testimony of the truth of the Gospel? Without this consummation, their lives would now seem to us merely mutilated. And we can understand without too great difficulty that it was a predestination of love that sent them to their martyrdom.
The liturgy sings eloquently of this victory of Christ on Good Friday:
Sing, my tongue, the Savior's gloryj
Tell His triumph far and wide;
Tell aloud the famous story
Of His Body crucified ;
How upon the Cross a Victim,
Vanquishing in death, He died.
Thus did Christ to perfect manhood
In our mortal flesh attain:
Then of His free choice He goeth
To a death of bitter pain;
And as a lamb, upon the altar
Of the Cross for us is slain.
Faithful Cross, O tree all beauteous, Tree all peerless and divine: . . . Tree which solely wast found worthy Earth's great victim to sustain, Harbor from the raging tempest, Aik, thai saved the world again, Tree with sacred blood anointed Of the Lamb for sinners slain.
The depths of the mystery of the Redemption help us to understand why God through love sends such great sufferings to certain souls, to make them labor in union with our Lord, and in a small way like Him, for the salvation of sinners. This is the loftiest of all vocations, superior to the vocation of teaching, just as Jesus was greater on the cross than when He was preaching the Sermon on the Mount.
What greater proof of His love can God give a soul than to make of it a victim of love, in union with the crucified Savior? As the first cause does not obviate the secondary cause, but communicates to it the dignity of causality, so our Savior's sufferings do not render ours useless but raise them up and make us participate in His life.
Let us call to mind, among many others, the example of St. Catherine de Ricci. From 1542 to 1554, a period of twelve years, she experienced each week an ecstasy of suffering lasting twenty-eight hours, from Thursday at noon until Friday at four in the afternoon, an ecstasy in which she relived every moment of our Savior's passion.
Motionless, her face either pale or radiant, her eyes and arms reaching out toward the Beloved, who remained invisible to others present, she followed Him step by step and heart to heart, in each of the stations of this long sacrifice. 14 The witnesses of this fact were aware of the saint's sufferings because her whole being quivered and trembled during this painful way of the cross. When these sufferings began again on the following Thursday, nature must have begged for respite, but our Lord gave this great soul to understand that she must thus unite herself to His passion for the salvation of a certain sinner who was dear to Him or the deliverance of a particular soul in purgatory. It is in this manner that Jesus initiates the souls He loves most into the depths of the mystery of the Redemption.
One of these beloved souls who had offered herself up and who after her oblation saw everything go against her, so to speak, cried out one day when she had been overwhelmed by a new misfortune : "But Lord, what have I done to Thee?" In answer she heard these interior words: "Thou hast loved Me." She then thought of Calvary and understood with greater clearness that the seed must die in order to bear abundant fruit.
Divine Providence calls forth these extraordinary occurrences not for us to consider with curiosity but to make us understand better the grandeur of Jesus' passion. Indeed we should meditate upon it every day. These occurrences also remind us that, if the saints have accepted such sufferings in union with our Savior, we in turn should each day learn to accept better life's daily ups and downs in atonement for our sins, for our sanctification, and so that we too may labor in a measure for the salvation of souls. These extraordinary occurrences are meant to help us understand how much depth there is in the ordinary course of a genuinely Christian life, from early morning Mass and Communion throughout the day until night prayers are said at the close of the day.
We should grasp a little better each day the splendors of the liturgy of the Passion, those sublime verses which express lofty contemplation and great love:
14 Cf. the chapter dealing with this ecstasy of the Passion in the excellent Vii ii St, Cathirhu it Ricci by Rev. C. Bayonne.
Forth comes the Standard of the King. All hail, thou Mystery ador'd! Hail, Cross! on which the Life Himself Died, and by death our life restored!
This is the habitual object of contemplation of the saints.
We can see, therefore, that the demands of justice are ultimately identified with those of love, and mercy wins out because it is the most immediate and deepest expression of God's love toward sinners. 16 The terrible justice of God which first holds our attention is but the secondary aspect of the Redemption, the latter being above all a work of love and mercy.
Divine justice has been appeased by the Just One who bore the burden of human sin in its totality, by the Victim of love who was struck down in our place, by the Word made flesh who died for us.
But mercy also triumphs: God the Father is reconciled through Jesus with sinners, and restores grace to them. He offers eternal life to all, even to the most perverted, and He glorifies the Redeemer by giving Him victory over sin, over the devil, and over death. It is with this in mind that St. Paul says: "All is yours; and you are Christ's; and Christ is God's." 10
This idea has been beautifully rendered by a great painter in the Oratory of the Dominican Superior General at Rome. Above the altar Jesus is represented dying on the cross and offering His life to His Father for our salvation. The Father appears directly above the Savior, receiving His last sigh. In this painting the artist sought to show the harmony between the wills of the Father and of the Son on Calvary. He desired to bring out the fact that on the cross our Lord not only accomplished the will of His Father, but also continued to
18 Cf. St. Thomas, la, q. n, a. 4: "Now the work of divine justice always presupposes the work of mercy; and is founded thereupon. For nothing is due to creatures, except for something pre-existing in them, or foreknown. Again, if this is due to a creature, it must be due on account of something that precedes. And since we cannot go on to infinity, we must come to something that depends only on the goodness of the divine will — which is the ultimate end. ... So in every work of God, viewed at its primary source, there appears mercy. In all that follows, the power of mercy remains, and works indeed with •ven greater force) as the influence of the first cause is more intense than that of second causes." I Cor. 3:13.
express His love for the Father. Conversely, it was out of love for His Son and for us that the Father sent Jesus to the heroic death of the cross, in order to make Him the glorious victor over sin, the devil, and death, the Savior of all men.
That is why in this beautiful painting there is only one gesture: the Father has His arms outstretched to sustain and accept the sacrifice of His Son, and it is on His Father's heart and in His arms that our crucified Lord expires: "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." 17 The expression of the Father is full of mercy and nobility, the Son's expression manifests the full heroism of His love for the Father and for us. 18 This is the very essence, so far as it can be expressed in human terms, of the mystery of the Redemption.
18 There is a fine reproduction of this painting in the quarterly review of religious art edited by Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, O.S.B.: V Artisan liturgique, October-December, 1931, p. 571: "Trois tableaux du Pere M.-A. Couturier, O.P.," and in L' Annie Dominicaine, June, 1933.
XVII
Christ's redemptive love
"Love is strong as death."
E HAVE spoken of the mystery of the Redemption in terms of the love of God the Father for His Son, whom He sent to the glorious death of the cross, in order to make Him our Savior and the victor over death. It is fitting now to delve deeper into this mystery and to consider Christ's redemptive love, as expressed by His pierced heart whose last drop of blood was shed for us.3
What is perhaps most striking in Jesus' love, whether directed toward His Father or toward our souls, is that it intimately unites the greatest tenderness and the most heroic strength in suffering and death. These two qualities of love are too often separated in men's hearts, and yet they are completely interdependent. Tenderness without strength becomes merely languor and affectation. Strength without mercy becomes severity and bitterness. Unlike men, God orders all things with might and sweetness. 2
The Tenderness and Strength of Jesus' Love for His Father
Jesus' love for His Father began at the instant of His conception, in all the fullness of its tenderness and strength. For the rest of us, on the other hand, spiritual love of God usually awakens only very slowly. The life of the senses and of the imagination develops in us before spiritual life, and too often our first tendency is to enjoy the pleasures of the senses which surround us. It sometimes takes many years for generous love to blossom even between members of the same family. This is the love that desires the welfare of another, which gives itself, lavishes itself, forgets itself, the love that consummates the perfect union of hearts. The progress of our love for God, beyond the reach of the senses, is even more gradual as a rule. The human will is, of course, naturally inclined to love the Author of human nature more than itself, and to love the true and the good. 8 Little by little, we also learn that God is the supreme and wholly supernatural beauty. Yet the efficacious love of God, the desire for His kingdom and His glory, wins out only with great difficulty over our selfishness, and our more or less unruly love of creatures. It succeeds only by slow degrees in inspiring all our affections, vivifying and ennobling them. Our poor hearts are slow to give themselves to God for all eternity.
Christ's heart, on the other hand, did not hesitate a moment to give itself entirely to His Father. From the first instant of His existence, His heart possessed the fullest generosity. As St. Paul says: "When He [Christ] cometh into the world, He saith: Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldest not: but a body Thou hast fitted to Me. . . . Behold, I come to do Thy will, O God." *
No one knows how tender was the filial love of the child Jesus for His Father. Indeed, He loved His Holy Mother and St. Joseph deeply, and from the first moments of His life He loved souls ardently. But how much more did He love His Father in heaven, His one and only Father!
This powerful love derived from the start from the supernatural love that always enlightened His sacred soul. This light revealed to Him without any obscurity the infinite splendor and the infinite goodness of the heavenly Father. This light guided His preferences, and so He could not err in His choices of affection.
This tender and enlightened love of Jesus for His Father inspired and continues to inspire in Him adoration and thanksgiving. As He Himself told us: "God is a spirit; and they that adore Him, must adore Him in spirit and in truth." 6
CHRIST'S REDEMPTIVE LOVE
Adoration springs spontaneously from His heart. He is happy to acknowledge that God is infinitely good in Himself, that He is our Creator and our Father. He acknowledges this in practice by bowing with love before His infinite majesty. Jesus even rejoices in His own abasement, in His hidden life, ignored by men. He annihilates Himself, to some extent, in terms of His human nature, so that He may better recognize God's infinite sanctity. Thus we bow and fall to our knees upon entering a church, to acknowledge our own nothingness before the infinite greatness of the Most High. But this is only a momentary attitude on our part. We have hours of adoration and hours of forgetfulness and indifference. Christ, for His part, never for a moment ceased adoring His Father, from the first instant of His life until His death on the cross. And this adoration continues now and will continue forever within His sacred soul, in acknowledgment of His Father's infinite goodness and as a song of praise to Him. Christ the Savior is the praise of God.
This tender love also ceaselessly inspires Christ to acts of thanksgiving; for God is not merely good in Himself, He is our benefactor, and no one will ever receive more from Him than did Christ. What manner of thanksgiving has Christ made? He thanks God for Himself and for all creation, for the treasure of supernatural life given to souls: "I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. Yea, Father; for so hath it seemed good in Thy sight." 8
The strength and generosity of Jesus' love are as great as its tenderness. From the first moment, this love inspired in Him not only adoration and thanksgiving, but reparation as well. In fact, while God is a benefactor, He is also a Father who has been outraged by His children. He is the Creator and Master that thousands of souls refuse to acknowledge, even though they have been created to sing His praises more perfectly than do the stars in the firmament.
Besides, in saying to His Father, "Behold, I come," 7 Jesus from the first moment of His life offered Himself up as a victim of reparation in the place of the guilty, in the place of entire people who •Malt. 11:15 f. T Hcb. 10:9.
through pride and error are unwilling even to pronounce God's name when they need His help most.
Many saints have been enlightened from their childhood with regard to their providential mission, whether apostolic or reparative. Why, then, should not Jesus not have been enlightened regarding His own mission? And from the first moment Jesus, foreseeing Calvary, loved His Father and offered Him in advance His entire life and His death on the cross. This is the strongest and most generous love. It is the love of the Word made flesh which pleases God more than all of men's sins displease Him.
Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity, have mercy on us! What is sweeter or more tender than divine charity? What is stronger than the fire in a furnace which burns and consumes all? Hell makes furious efforts against the Savior, but its rage merely arouses His love to even more heroic acts which change the opprobrium that envelops Him into an incense of adoration. Heart of Jesus, loaded down with opprobrium, have mercy on us! This is strength in the highest degree united to the most profound humility and the greatest tenderness. "Love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell." 8 Jesus, most powerful, have mercy on us! Jesus, meek and humble of heart, have mercy on us! This love is the source of all virtues, of all energy. Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues, have mercy on us! Whether the Savior's heart is touched by an angel or a man, even when the devil strikes it, it always answers with love of God. This created love within Christ's sacred soul is the highest manifestation of the uncreated love of God.
The Strength and Tenderness of Our Savior's Love for Us
Christ's love descends upon our souls from the summit of the beatific vision, and in Jesus' love for us we find the same two qualities which are so different: the deepest tenderness and the most heroic strength. Our Lord's tender mercy for souls did not lessen for a moment, in spite of all the ingratitude, the opposition, and the hatred that He met on His path.
CHRIST'S REDEMPTIVE LOVE
We human beings find it easy to love with tender affection a few persons in our family or among our friends, but often this tenderness is entirely a matter of superficial feelings. Such affection does not often reach the soul of those whom we love. Do we pray much for them? Do we earnestly desire that they attain eternal life? Moreover, often this affection is as narrow as it is superficial: we save it for a few intimates. Feeble as it is, it would lose much of its purely relative intensity by being diffused. Our hearts are poor, miserly with their affection: the indifferent remain outside, and all the more so those who have offended or wounded us. Toward the latter we are even hard and sometimes pitiless.
The supernatural tenderness of Christ for souls is deep, because its primary object is the soul and the desire for its eternal happiness. At the same time, it is universal, immense, and extends to everyone.
Jesus is, as He Himself says, the Shepherd of souls; all can become the sheep of His fold, and He knows each of them by name. 8 He is concerned about those that are absent, He rushes forth to seek them and takes them up on His shoulders.
One of the greatest signs of His coming is this: "The poor have the gospel preached to them." 10 The poor, as well as children, have a chosen spot in His heart. He does not fear to compromise His dignity by admitting them to His side. He explains to them with kindness the doctrine of salvation, and He even waits upon them. He chooses His apostles among the poor and the humble. On Holy Thursday He humbled Himself before them: He washes and kisses their feet, to make them better understand the precept of fraternal love. Heart of Jesus, delight of all the saints, have mercy on us!
What does He say to sinners? "Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you" (Matt. 11:28). He has pity for the terrible wretchedness to which sin has brought them, and He inspires them to repent without judging them severely. He is the father of the prodigal son, He embraces the child who is unhappy through his own fault. He forgives the adulterous woman who was about to be stoned. He receives repentant Mary Magdalen, and at
•John io:j: "The «hrq> hear His voice: anil He rallrth His own sheep by name, and leadcih them out." 14 Matt. 11:51 l '" ke 7»*<
21 S once opens to her the mystery of His intimate life. He speaks of eternal life to the Samaritan woman in spite of her unsavory past. He promises prompt entry into heaven to the good thief. The words of Isaias the prophet are truly accomplished in Jesus: "The bruised reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall not quench." 11
Indeed He sharply rebukes the Pharisees who are obstinately rooted in their pride, but it is only because He desires to preserve souls from error, remove them from Pharisaical influences. He also wishes to give the Pharisees a last warning which would still save them if they were not hardened in their pride. In thus warning them, Jesus still loves them. He even gives them grace which makes it possible for them to accomplish their duty.
Christ's love loses none of its tenderness in embracing all souls. It encompasses all nations and all eras. While He certainly has His preferences, for example, for St. John, for Zacheus, for the good thief, He remains accessible to all. "Christ died for all," says St. Paul." Many turn from Him, but He drives no one away. And even when many have turned away from Him, He intercedes for the ingrates, as when He prayed for His executioners. This is the supreme degree of mercy, sweetness, and humility. He tells Peter that he must forgive "seventy times seven," that is, always, and He is the first to do it.
At the same time Jesus' love for us has such power that His is the greatest of all hearts. Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts, have mercy on us! It is not only for the glory of His Father but also for our salvation that He has chosen to be a victim in our stead. Heart of Jesus, victim of sin, have mercy on us!
The strength and generosity of His love for us is manifested with increasing force from Bethlehem to the cross. As St. Paul tells us, "The Son of God . . . loved me, and delivered Himself for me." 18 Each of us can repeat these words. The unbelievers wish to see in the dying Christ only a great man crushed by jealous mediocrities. He is infinitely more than that. He is the voluntary victim who offered Himself up to save us. "Greater love than this no man hath," Jesus Himself has told us, "that a man lay down his life for his friends." 14
CHRIST'S REDEMPTIVE LOVE
Generous souls sometimes offer themselves as victims to obtain the conversion of a sinner or to shorten the torments of purgatory for a loved one. Jesus offered Himself as a victim for millions of souls, for all without exception and for each one in particular} and no adult is shut out from the benefits of the Redemption unless he refuses them through pride or to satisfy his passions. Jesus bore the punishment that each of us should have borne. He suffered because of sin in the measure of His love for God whom sin offends, and in the measure of His love for our souls which sin ravages and kills. Heart of Jesus, bruised for our offenses, have mercy on us! The sorrowful and immaculate heart of Mary was intimately associated with this heroic oblation, and helps us to fathom this mystery.
No one has ever loved us or ever will love us as Christ does. That is why, when the faithful of Corinth were divided among themselves, — some of them saying they belonged to Paul, or to Apollo, or to Cephas, or to Christ — St. Paul wrote to them: "Was Paul then crucified for you?" 16
Jesus has consented to take for Himself the loathsome chalice of Gethsemane, so that He might give us the chalice of His precious blood which is raised up every morning on the altar. These two chalices represent the whole history of the world of souls. They are as it were the two pans of the scales of good and evil, and it is good that prevails. The precious blood of Christ can obliterate all crimes if their perpetrators beg forgiveness.
Jesus, by His victory over sin on the cross, is the source of life and of holiness, the source of all consolation, the salvation of those who hope in Him, the hope of the dying, the delight of the saints, as the Litany of the Sacred Heart reminds us. Finally, He has left us the Eucharist so that He might remain with us until the end of the world and give Himself as food to each and every one of us.
To His privileged friends who follow His example, He says: "It is My love which keeps open the wound of My heart. I desire to prove to souls that My heart is never closed. On the contrary, My greatest wish is that souls may enter through My wounded heart, which is an abyss of charity and mercy. It is only in the heart of God that they
will find solace for their sufferings and strength for their weakness. If they will but hold out their hands to Me, I will lead them to it Myself."
We remain selfish because our love is too weak, too poor, too narrow, and because it is pitifully engrossed with our own selves. The heart of Jesus will dilate our hearts by teaching us to love above all else the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
Why do we let ourselves fall prey to jealousy or passion? Because our love does not reach high enough, to the Supreme Being whom we may all possess together and still possess individually. Instead of giving in to jealousy, let us rather thank the Lord for having given to our neighbors qualities that we do not have, and let us rejoice, just as the hand profits by what the eye sees.
Why are we cowards? Because we do not love enough, because our hearts are cold, because we rely far too much on our own strength when our helplessness is obvious, and because we do not depend enough on the heart of Jesus, on His love for us.
The heart of Jesus is able and desires to give us the saintly powers we need, confidence and love, which inspire adoration, thanksgiving, and atonement, by placing the glory of God above all else.
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received, have mercy on us! Let us go to the Father, by Him, with Him, and in Him.
- XVIII*
JESUS' HUMILITY AND HIS MAGNANIMITY
"Learn of Me, because I am meek, and humble of heart."
THE mystery of the Redemption, as we have said, is especially the manifestation of our Lord's love for us. Supernatural love or charity contains virtually all of the virtues which rank below it. Charity vivifies the other virtues, inspires them and orders their action to the supreme end, which is its own object: to the love of God above all else. Among these other virtues of our Lord, humility is one that merits special attention because through it in particular Jesus cures us of pride, which according to Scripture is "the beginning of all sin." 1
The ancient philosophers who have described at length nearly all the moral virtues, have never spoken of humility because they ignored its twofold foundation: namely, the dogma of creation ex nihilo (we have been created out of nothingness), and the dogma of the necessity of actual grace for even the smallest salutary act.
Worldly wisdom often maintains also that humility is nothing but an air of virtuousness that is affected by the weak, the cowardly, the discouraged. In its eyes, humility hides a lack of intelligence, ability, and energy. According to the world, the prudent and determined man must know what he is worth in order to assert himself and command respect. He can have no use for a humble attitude that would denote a lack of vigor and dignity. Thus are humility and cowardice confused.
Our Savior, He who was the strongest of the strong and who could
say to His disciples, "Have confidence, I have overcome the world," 2 Jesus, true God, the Word made flesh, who could awe everyone by the power of His intelligence and of His character, by the splendor of His miracles, Jesus, the greatest man in mind and heart that ever walked the earth, tells us: "Learn of Me, because I am meek, and humble of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls." 3 God wishes that we learn this virtue of self-effacement through Him whose greatness surpasses anything here below.
The reason for this is that our Lord's humility, far from being an indication of a lack of intelligence or of energy, derives from a very elevated knowledge of God and is united to a very high dignity. Pascal, wishing to show how infinitely superior Jesus is to all human heroes and geniuses, was content to write: "He gave us no invention, He did not reign; but He was humble, patient, holy, holy to God, terrible to demons, without any sin whatever! Oh! in what magnificence was He clothed to the eyes of the heart which see Wisdom!" 4
Let us inquire into the principle of Jesus' humility, how He practiced this virtue, and how it was united in Him to magnanimity or greatness of soul.
The Principle of Christ's Humility
True humility does not arise from any lack of clear-sightedness or ability; it springs from a profound understanding of God's infinite greatness and of the nothingness of creatures which cannot exist by themselves. This twofold knowledge becomes ever more unified, for God's infinite majesty manifests the frailty of creatures, and inversely our helplessness reveals to us by contrast God's immense power. St. Catherine of Siena tells us that these two truths are, as it were, the highest and lowest points on the circumference of a circle which grows continually in size. When anyone knows where the lowest point is, he can see by contrast where is the diametrically opposite point. The ever-growing circle is the symbol of contemplation.
Humility is born of the realization of the abyss which separates God from creatures. God the Father, desiring to instill this thought
into the soul of St. Catherine of Siena, said to her: "I am who am, thou art who art not." This is what He had said to Moses.
God is Being. He cannot not be, having existed from all eternity, without beginning and without any limitation whatever, the infinite ocean of being. God is also sovereign wisdom, who knows everything that is to happen in the most remote future, and for whom there is no mystery. He is love, never-failing and impeccable. He is power, before whom nothing can resist without His permission.
On the other hand, no matter how gifted a creature may be, by itself it is not, that is, it is not self-existent. If a creature has received its existence from God it is gratuitously on His part, because He has most freely loved it, by creating it out of nothingness. The ancient philosophers never rose in their thinking to the explicit idea of creation ex nihilo. The thought of the absolute liberty of the creative act never occurred to them. God might very well not have created us. He had no need of us, He who is infinite goodness and beatitude.
Creatures by themselves are nothing, and once they exist they are still nothing in comparison to God. The glow of a candle is something, minute as it may be, in comparison to the blazing sun. However, even the noblest creature is nothing compared to God's infinity, compared to the infinite perfection of His wisdom and His love. Since creation, there have been more beings, but there is no more being, no more life or wisdom or love. Likewise, in relation to the Most High, angels, men, and grains of dust are equally infinitesimal, for between all creatures and God there is always an infinite distance.
Moreover, intelligent creatures depend upon God for the direction of their lives, for He assigns to them their final end, eternal life. "What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?" And what is the best path to attain eternal life? The path that divine Providence has mapped out for us from all eternity. It is incumbent on us humbly to recognize this path. It is not for us to determine it ourselves. It may be a hidden way, to preserve us from pride and from forgetting God. Perhaps it is a path of suffering, one that is richer than any other in the fruits of life. The apostolate of prayer and of suffering is no less fruitful than the apostolate of teaching, and it even fecundates the latter by inspiring the search of doctrine not only in books but from the source of life. We must humbly accept the path, which may be hidden and painful, that our Lord has chosen for us in His mercy, the path that is indicated to us by circumstances and by those that our Lord has given us as guides.
Finally, in order to advance in this path which leads to eternal life, what can a creature accomplish of itself? Nothing. Even if a creature has received an abundance of sanctifying grace, it cannot accomplish the slightest salutary act or make the smallest step forward without God's actual help. This help is offered to each creature, but it cannot benefit by this help if it falls prey to the attraction of pleasure or to the temptation of pride. Those who best understand the sublimity of the goal to be attained, are also best aware of their own frailty. Who knew this better than the saints? They mistrusted themselves and placed their confidence in God.
This is the principle of humility: the realization of God's infinite greatness and of our own nothingness. What then, was the nature of Jesus' humility?
In order to understand Christ's humility, we would need to fathom as He did the mystery of the creative act and the mystery of grace. Both here on earth and in heaven Jesus is even humbler than Mary and than all the saints, for He understands better than they the infinite distance that separates every creature from its Creator and He knows better than anyone else the greatness of God and the frailty of every human soul and of every created spirit.
As we said earlier, Jesus enjoyed the beatific vision while He was still here on earth. He saw God face to face through His human intelligence, enlightened by the splendor of the Word. Instead of having to use His reason, as we do, and to use human words to express the idea that God is Being, Wisdom, and Love, Jesus saw the divine essence, the Deity, directly. The most elevated portion of His sacred soul was as in a perpetual ecstasy, captivated by the splendor of God. And with the same vision, which is superior to reason and to faith, He saw the nothingness of all creatures and of His own humanity. Like a painter of genius who can at once tell a masterpiece from a paltry reproduction, Jesus could see continually, even while here on earth, the infinite distance separating time from eternity.
Whereas men who undertake difficult human tasks on their own initiative often take on a determined and dominating attitude, Jesus thought only of humbly accomplishing under His Father's guidance the divine mission He had received: "Father, . . . not as I will, but as Thou wilt." 8
Jesus was also perpetually aware that by His human powers alone He could accomplish absolutely nothing toward the divine goal He was seeking: namely, to lead souls to eternal life. He rejoiced in this powerlessness, for it glorified God and demonstrated how lofty is the supernatural end to which Providence has destined us: "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me." 8 "The Father who abideth in Me, He doth the works," 7 that is, the miracles that Jesus worked in His name.
There is a particular act of humility which consists in recognizing not only our nothingness but our wretchedness as the result of sin. This act is necessary for contrition, for sorrow at having offended God, and naturally our Lord, who is impeccable, never made such an act of humility. But He who was innocence itself wished to take upon Himself all our sins. He understood the gravity of mortal sin better than anyone else, and He suffered from it more than anyone else in the measure of His love for God who has been offended and of His love for our souls. He more than anyone else felt inexpressible disgust before such an accumulation of defilement, before so many acts of cowardice and injustice, so much treachery and sacrilege. At Gethsemane this disgust almost overwhelmed Him with nausea: "My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me." 8
The Union of Humility and Magnanimity in Jesus
Jesus understood better than any creature, even while He was still on earth, the greatness of God, man's weakness, and the gravity of the sin He came to wipe out. That is why He was the humblest person that ever lived. This humility, far from being a cloak for a lack of
•Matt. 16:39. • John 7:16. * //>/./., 14:10. ■ Matt. 16:30, intelligence and energy, was the sign of the loftiest contemplation and the condition of a unique spiritual power. Moreover, it was united to the most perfect dignity, to the noblest supernatural magnanimity which inspires to great things, regardless of the sufferings and humiliations that must be encountered.
These two virtues, humility and magnanimity, in appearance so opposed, are reality related and mutually support each other like the two sides of a pointed arch. They rise together. No one is deeply humble unless he is magnanimous, and it is impossible to be truly magnanimous without great humility. 9 In the spiritual physiognomy of our Savior these two virtues are wonderfully united.
Let us call to mind St. Thomas' description of magnanimity, enlarging upon Aristotle's. Magnanimity seeks only great things worthy of honor, but places little value on honors in themselves. It does not dread scorn if it must be borne for a great cause. It is not elated by success or discouraged by failure. Material goods mean little to it, and it is not greatly disturbed at losing them. The magnanimous man gives freely what he can to all. He is truthful and takes no stock in any opinion that is opposed to truth, no matter how formidable it may become. He is ready to die for the truth. 10
This greatness of soul is to be found in all the saints, intimately united to their profound humility. It was, of course, present in an eminent degree in Jesus. 11 And He was never greater than during His passion, in the hour of His last humiliations. Let us call to mind His answer to Pilate who had asked Him if he was a king: "My kingdom is not of this world. . . . Thou sayest, that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth, heareth My voice.'' 12
"Cf. St. Thomas, Ha Ilae, q. 129, i, 31 q.161, a. 1 f. ad 3. Humility prevents presumption and pridej magnanimity strengthens us against discouragement. Humility turns us toward God and before what there is of God in our neighbor. Magnanimity inspires us to great things, to those which the Lord wishes us to accomplish even at the cost of men'i censure. Alfred de Vigny perceived this when he said: "Honor is the poetry of duty." In his Servitude et grandeur militaires, he called to mind the oft-hidden heroism of the best loldiers. 10 Cf. St. Thomas, Qa Ilae, q. 119, a. 1-8. 11 John 18:36-38.
" In the most magnanimous saints, like St. Paul, we discover deep humility, and in the moil humble saints, like St. Vincent dc l'aul, we find great magnanimity.
These two virtues of humility and magnanimity are always united in the life of our Savior. He willed to be born in the humblest condition, although He belonged to a royal race. He was the son of a virgin, but He was thought by men to be the son of a carpenter. He who was the Word of God and could awe everyone, chose to live for thirty years a hidden life working at the most commonplace trade, in order to show us that nothing is accomplished without recollection and humility. Yet we often tend to complain because we are given work beneath our abilities.
After He had emerged from His hidden life, Jesus— innocence itself— sought out John the Baptist to ask him for the baptism of penance, just as if He had been a sinner. But John at first refused, saying: "I ought to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to Me?" 18 Jesus' answer was: "Suffer it to be so now. For so it becometh us to fulfill all justice." 14 By this he meant that it was fitting that the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world should voluntarily place Himself in the ranks of the sinners. When John heard this, he resisted no more, and when Jesus had been baptized the Spirit of God descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and a voice from heaven was heard, saying: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 15
After His baptism, Jesus willed to be tempted in the desert so that He might be more like us. This was still another proof of His humility, and it also taught us to conquer the spirit of evil and to answer his seductive offers with the word of God.
At the very outset of His ministry, what were His first words? "Blessed are the poor in spirit," the humble. To them He promised great things: the kingdom of heaven.
Whom did He choose as His apostles? Unlettered fishermen, a publican like Matthew, and He made of them "fishers of men," than which there is nothing greater.
How did He teach them, when they were wondering among themselves who was the greatest? He called a little child to Him and, placing him in their midst, He said: "Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven." 18 Here indeed is the union of humility and supernatural magnanimity which reached up for the great things which are obtained only through the grace of God humbly prayed for each day. As a great Catholic writer, E. Hello, once said, "It is time to become humble, for it is time to become proud," or magnanimous in the sense God wished us to be.
These two virtues are also united in the words Jesus spoke to His apostles on Holy Thursday when He was washing their feet as a supreme mark of humility: "You call Me Master and Lord; and you say well, for so I am. If then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet. . . . The servant is not greater than his lord; neither is the apostle greater than He that sent him." 17
His glory and one of the signs of His mission is to preach the gospel to the poor. He allowed the publicans to approach Him, and also Magdalen the sinner, and He made of her a great saint.
Although He did indeed enter Jerusalem in triumph, He came mounted on an ass and opposed by the Pharisees. He permitted this opposition. Let us, then, not be irritated when we meet with contradictions.
The Passion was the hour of supreme humiliations accepted for our salvation, to cure us of our pride. Barabbas, the outcast of his people, was preferred to the Word of God made flesh. Men sneered at our Savior, they struck Him and spat in His face, they insulted Him until He breathed His last upon the cross. Yet His greatness shone forth to the centurion, who could not help crying out: "Indeed this was the Son of God." 18
Never was deeper humility united so closely to a loftier magnanimity. It is in recognition of this fact that St. Paul said to the Philippians: "For let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. . . . He humbled Himself becoming obedi-
ent unto death, even to the death of the cross. For this cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father." 19 Humility and magnanimity, self-abasement and a wholly supernatural greatness, these two virtues are to be found, in an attenuated form in all the saints.
Likewise the Church is unceasingly humiliated, and she seems to be vanquished although she is always victorious. It is necessary that certain interior souls should be particularly united to these humiliations of the Church and should work for the salvation of sinners, always seeming to fail. This is the path of pure love.
There are certain works that will always be a source of humiliation and of graces for those who undertake them. These souls must not complain if things go well in the eyes of the Lord, although they do not seem to succeed. For the Lord Himself has placed His hand on these works and accepts the oblation of reparation which through these works is offered up to Him each day. St. Philip Neri used to say: "I thank Thee, O my God, that things are not going as I should like them to."
These humiliations and sufferings are good, and were all the consolations of earth to come at such moments, they would not console. The Lord does not will it. For there is a certain dose of suffering that we must bear, and if it were taken away from us, we should have lost the better part.
We sometimes complain at the lowliness of our state in life and we desire the appearances of greatness. God loves us much more than we dream. He has already given us great things through baptism, absolution, and Holy Communion. These blessings are infinitely superior to those which we are foolish enough to desire. And even greater blessings have been promised to us: to see Him for all eternity as He sees Himself, and to love Him as He loves Himself.
XIX
Our savior's prayer tET us now speak of the way Christ prayed, so that we may pene- 4 trate even deeper into His sacred soul and into the mystery of the Redemption. We feel a need of praying, especially when we are in trouble, because it has been said to us : "Ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you." Yet we also feel that our prayers are too often unworthy of being answered, as it is written in the Dies irae:
Worthless are my prayers and sighingj
Yet, good Lord, in grace complying, Rescue me from fires undying.
Our prayers often lack the necessary humility, trust, and perseverance. They remain superficial and do not cry out from the depths of our souls. That is why we often feel the need of relying on a deeper and stronger prayer than our own, and we ask the Blessed Virgin and the saints to intercede for us. Especially we feel the need of depending on Christ's great prayer, as does the Church at the end of each of the prayers at Mass: fer Christum Dominum nostrum. And in reality, it is Christ's own prayer that is continued in the Church until the end of time, each morning at Mass and in the Divine Office.
Let us inquire how Jesus prayed while He was on earth, and whether He continues to pray in heaven.
How Jesus Prayed While on Earth
St. Luke tells us that before Jesus chose the Twelve, He "went out into a mountain to pray, and He passed the whole night in the
»3Q prayer of God."4 A little earlier in the same Gospel, 2 we read that He retired into the desert for the same purpose. We all know His priestly prayer after the Last Supper, as recorded by St. John, 3 and also His prayer in the Garden of Olives: "My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt." * A little later on, He implored His Father's mercy for His executioners. And His last breath was a prayer of adoration, of supplication for us, of reparation and of thanksgiving.
It is certain that Jesus prayed not as God but as man, for prayer is the lifting up of the soul toward God and the expression of a desire that we ask Him to grant us. As man Jesus knew divine Providence had ordered from all eternity that certain graces would be obtained only through His prayer. He knew that it was through His prayer that He would obtain the conversion of Mary Magdalen, of the good thief, and of the centurion. It was fitting also that He should pray in order to give us an example of humble, filial, trusting, and confident prayer. For He told us: "We ought always to pray, and not to faint." 8 He wished us to pray unceasingly, as we breathe. When He taught us to say the Our Father, He said it with us and for us, thus reminding us that God is the author of all good.
For what great intentions did Jesus pray? Did He pray for Himself? He certainly did at Gethsemane, when He cried out as He lay prostrate on the earth : "My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt." 6 That is, not as My emotions and the inclination of My nature desire, for death — and particularly such a terrible death — is repugnant to them; but as Thou desirest. It is a prayer of supplication which expresses a conditional desire, "if it be possible," a desire dominated by full conformity of the free will with the will of God. "My Father, if this chalice may not pass away, but I must drink it, Thy will be done." 7
Since our Lord had already announced several times that He would be put to death and that He would rise again, 8 He knew very well that this conditional prayer would not be answered. Yet He said this prayer to show that He was truly human and that we are per-
mitted to express the suffering which our nature feels, while conforming our will to that of God.
But whatever Jesus asked in an absolute and not a conditional manner, He always obtained. Whenever His prayer was the expression of His deliberate and absolute human will, it was always answered. 9 In this prayer He asked what He saw was manifestly within the intentions of God and what He was inspired to ask for earnestly: namely, the graces which according to the plan of Providence were to be obtained through His intercession. For instance, we all believe in the infallible efficacy of His prayer for Peter, of which He spoke to him before His passion: "Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren." 10 And after his defection which Jesus then foretold, Peter was indeed converted by a very powerful grace which Christ's prayer obtained for him and which led him to martyrdom. No one in the Church doubts that it is in virtue of this same prayer which Christ said for Peter that each of Peter's successors confirms his brethren in the faith.
The disciples knew the power of the Savior's prayer. After Lazarus' death, Martha said to Jesus: "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But now also I know that whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee." Jesus answered her: "Thy brother shall rise again. ... I am the resurrection and the life." 11 At the moment of Lazarus' resurrection, Jesus raised His eyes to heaven and said: "Father, I give Thee thanks that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always." 12 St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, wrote that Jesus "was heard for His reverence. . . . And being consummated, He became, to all that obey Him, the cause of eternal salvation." 18 In this respect His prayer is answered every day and will continue to be answered until the end of the world. 1 *
14 This distinction between conditional and unconditional prayer applies to us also, making all necessary allowances. Thus we must unconditionally ask for the graces which are manifestly necessary for our salvation, and we must ask conditionally for temporal blessings in the measure that they are useful for our salvation.
How did Jesus while here on earth pray for His apostles and for the Church? We have an example of it in His priestly prayer after the Last Supper and just before the Passion. As recorded by St. John, this prayer begins with these words: "Father, the hour is come, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee." 16 Why did the meek and humble of heart ask to be glorified? He asked this at the moment of His last humiliations, so that He might glorify His Father by His death, by His very humiliations which, because He accepted them with love, were to make Him victorious over sin and Satan.
This prayer asked for the spreading of God's glory, and it was answered during the Passion, for never was Jesus greater than at this supreme hour. His prayer was answered by the conversion of the good thief and of the centurion, by His own glorious resurrection, and later by the conversion of the world to the Gospel.
Jesus continued His priestly prayer by beseeching His Father to keep His apostles: "Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast given Me; that they may be one, as We also are. While I was with them, I kept them in Thy name. Those whom Thou gavest Me have I kept and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture may be fulfilled. And now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy filled in themselves. ... I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from evil. . . . Sanctify them in truth. . . . And for them do I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth." 16
Jesus foresaw the profound dejection of His disciples a few hours later, during His passion. Yet His prayer would sustain them. It would be answered and it would win for them the strength to remain faithful until their martyrdom.
Jesus also foresaw the great persecutions that would come. Indeed, He had already announced them: "And you shall be betrayed by your parents and brethren, and kinsmen and friends; and some of you they will put to death. And you shall be hated by all men for My name's sake. But a hair of your head shall not perish. In your patience you shall possess your souls." 1T
In His priestly prayer Jesus also besought His Father for all those who would believe in Him through the preaching of the apostles and of their successors, "that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us; . . . that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast also loved Me." 18 Thus Jesus asked two things for His Church: unity here on earth and the vision of glory in heaven.
He asked the multitude of believers should become but a single heart and soul. This was to be accomplished in the new-born Church, as we learn from the Acts of the Apostles. 19 He asked that the Church, despite the diversity of races, languages, customs, and human institutions, should appear as a permanent moral miracle, through the unity of faith, worship, hope, charity, and hierarchy. This is being accomplished in the Church, especially in the most saintly souls of each generation, whatever their nation or race. Human weaknesses do exist in the Church, but she always has within her holy souls whose great spirit of faith, of trust, and of love is in each generation the realization of our Lord's expressed desire.
Finally, He asked for His Church the glory of heaven: "Father, I will that where I am, they also whom Thou hast given Me may be with Me; that they may see My glory which Thou hast given Me, . . . that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me, may be in them, and I in them." 20
Jesus wishes us to be the members of His mystical body and, after we have participated here on earth in His hidden life and in a measure in His life of sorrow, to participate in His glorious life for all eternity.
Our Savior's Prayer for Us in Heaven
St. Paul wrote to the Romans: "Christ Jesus . . . that is risen also again ... is at the right hand of God, . . . also maketh intercession for us. Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ?" 21 That is to say, who will separate us from the love which Christ has for us and which arouses in us a reciprocating love?
In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the great Apostle also says: "For
that He [Jesus] continueth forever, hath an everlasting priesthood, whereby He is able also to save forever them that come to God by Him; always living to make intercession for us." 22
Before leaving us, Jesus Himself assured us that He would pray for us: "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever." 23
Some theologians 24 have said Jesus in heaven no longer prays for us in the real sense of the word, but that He simply shows to His Father His humanity and His glorious wounds, signs of His past merits.
In the eyes of many other theologians, 28 followers of St. Augustine and St. Thomas, this interpretation attenuates without reason the inspired words that we have just called to mind. When St. Paul says that Christ always living continues to make intercession for us, there is no reason to say that this is no longer a prayer in the true sense of the word. If our Lord continues to ask that His past merits be applied to certain specified souls, there is no imperfection in this. On the contrary, it is a new expression of His love for us. 26
We are certain that the Blessed Virgin and the saints in heaven pray for us. When we say litanies we ask them to intercede on our behalf, and St. Thomas remarks on this subject: "Since prayers offered for others proceed from charity, . . . the greater the charity of the saints in heaven, the more they pray for wayfarers, since the latter
28 Cf. Gonet, De incarnatione, disp. 22, a. 2, likewise Salmanticenses, Billuart, Tolet, Suarez, etc.
26 In In Efistolam ad Hebraeos, 7:25, St. Thomas says with regard to this text: "Semper vivens . . . : Aliter enim sacerdotium ejus fineretur. . . . Excellentiam pietatis ostendit, quia dicit: Ad interpellandum pro nobis, quia licet sit ita potens, ita altus, tamen cum hoc est pius, quia interpellat pro nobis. Advocatum habcmus apud Patrem, Jesum Christum (I Joan. 2:1). Interpellat autem pro nobis, primo humanitatcm suam, quam pro nobis assumpsit, repraesentando. Item sanctissimae animae suae desiderium, quod de salute nostra habuit exprimendo, cum quo interpellat pro nobis."
St. Thomas also says (In Efist. ad Romanos, 8:34) concerning this text: "Jesus, qui est ad dcxtcram Dei, qui etiam interpellat pro nobis: Nunc autem ejus intcrpellatio pro nobis est voluntas ipsius de nostra salute: Volo ut ubi sum ego, et illi sint mecum" (Joan. 17:24)-
See also In IV Sent., dist. 15, q.4, a. 6, qa2, ad 1 : "Christus, in quantum homo, orat pro nobisi «cd ideo non diciinus: Christe ora pro nobis, quia Christus supponit suppositum aetemum, cujua non est orare, led adjuvarc; et ideo dicimus: Christe audi nos vel miserere nobis, tt in hoc etiam evitannw hacresiin Arii et Nmtorii."
can be helped by prayers: and the more closely they are united to God, the more are their prayers efficacious: . . . Wherefore it is said of Christ (Heb. 7:25): 'Going to God by His own power . . . to make intercession for us.' " 2T
St. Ambrose also says: "He is ever pleading our cause before His Father, and His prayer cannot go unheeded." 28
St. Augustine speaks in the same vein: "He still prays for us now inasmuch as He is our priest and our head; and inasmuch as He is God, He is prayed to for us." 29 St. Gregory the Great expresses the same view: "Quotidie oral Christus fro Ecclesia." 30 He remains ever our advocate and our mediator. 81
There is no doubt, of course, that Jesus does not pray in heaven as He did in the Garden of Olives, prostrate and overwhelmed with sadness. The perfect holocaust has been offered up. But He continues to ask that its fruits be applied to us at the opportune moment, especially at the hour of death. 88
If when we recite litanies we do not say "Christ, pray for us," but "Christ, have mercy on us; Christ, hear us," it is to remind us that Jesus is not man only but that He is also God, and when we address ourselves to His divine person, it is God Himself whom we are addressing, begging Him to grant our requests. 83
82 As Gonet says {De incarn., disp. 22, a. 2), there is no reason why Christ even now that He is in heaven should not pray for us in the true sense of the word. If it were impossible for Him to pray because He is God, then He could not have prayed while here on earth. If He could not pray because He is blessed, then the Blessed Virgin Mary could not pray either. On the contrary, it is fitting that He should make this act of religion to honor God and to obtain for us what is necessary to our salvation, by the application of His past merits.
Jesus remains a priest for all eternity, and one of the principal functions of a priest is to pray for the people who have been placed in his care.
He prays not through indigence but so that the superabundant redemption which has already been accomplished may be applied to us. The infinite merits of Christ do not prevent the Blessed Virgin and the saints from praying so that the fruits of the Passion may be applied to us, nor do they prevent Christ from continuing to pray for us.
Beyond doubt, Christ, now that He has fulfilled His mission, no longer merits. Therefore His prayer, like that of the saints and of Mary, is no longer meritorious (the time for merit has passed), but it is eminently worthy of being answered.
See likewise Salmanticenscs, De incarn., de oralione C/irisli.
Besides, it is absolutely certain that in the heart of the glorious Christ, adoration and thanksgiving are ever alive. These prayers are, as it were, the soul of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Far more, this prayer of adoration and of thanksgiving will continue for all eternity, even after the last Mass has been said. This is what is said every day in the Preface: "It is truly meet and just . . . that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty and everlasting God, through Christ our Lord. Through whom the angels praise Thy majesty, the dominions worship it, the powers stand in awe." This worship of adoration and of thanksgiving will continue eternally, even after the prayer of petition has ceased with the last Mass at the end of the world.
What a consolation to think that Christ "always living" never ceases "to make intercession for us," that this prayer and this oblation is, as it were, the soul of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and that we can always unite our own prayer to it! Our prayer often lacks the necessary humility, trust, and perseverance. Let us rest it upon Christ's prayer. Let us ask Him to inspire us to pray as is fitting, in accordance with God's intentions, to make prayer spring from our hearts and to present it to His Father, so that we may be one with Him for all eternity. Let us thus ask Him for ourselves and for the dying the grace of graces, the grace of a happy death, or of final perseverance, which is the prelude to eternal life.
HE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST
THE Savior's sacerdotal prayer which we have just spoken of can be understood only in relation to the priesthood of Christ. We must first of all call to mind St. Paul's teaching on this point in the Epistle to the Hebrews, then what the Church says about it in its Councils, and finally what theology adds in order to help us to penetrate the meaning and the scope of this teaching which is so spiritually fruitful.
St. Paul's Testimony
The Epistle to the Hebrews shows us the full splendor of Christ's priesthood in the light of ideas expressed by St. Paul in the Epistles to the Romans, to the Corinthians, and to Timothy on Christ the Redeemer, the universal mediator, and the head of the Church, and on the necessity of believing in Christ in order to be saved: "For there is one God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus: who gave Himself a redemption for all."5
The first part of the Epistle to the Hebrews sets out to show the superiority of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the mediator of the new alliance, over all the organs used by God in the Old Testament to manifest Himself to men. Jesus, as Son of God, is declared to be superior to all the priests of the Old Law, superior to all the prophets who announced Him, superior to Moses, superior even to the angels who are only God's servants whereas Jesus is the Son of God by origin and by nature, the Creator and Master of all things. 2
St. Paul says: "For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily (as the other priests) to offer sacrifices first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this He did once in offering Himself." 3 He did this by offering Himself up not for His own sake but for all sinners, for all men.
To enlighten the recently converted Jews who were at times tempted to return to the rites of the Levitical priesthood, St. Paul showed them that, while the sacrifices of the Mosaic worship were many and varied and at times of great exterior magnificence, yet they remained of themselves without efficacy. These sacrifices, he explained, were but the figure of the great sacrifice to come which was to be accomplished not in exterior magnificence but in the perfect denudation of Golgotha. .
In St. Paul's words, "Christ, being come a high priest of the good things to come, . . . neither by the blood of goats or of calves, but by His own blood, entered once into the holies, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and of oxen, . . . [offered up to God] sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who by the Holy Ghost offered Himself unspotted unto God, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God?" * Such is the efficacy and the infinite value of Christ's sacrifice.
Finally, whereas the priests of the Old Law succeeded one another as death struck them one after the other, Christ "continueth forever, hath an everlasting priesthood; whereby He is able also to save forever them that come to God by Him; always living to make intercession for us." 5 It is Christ who remains the chief priest of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the commemoration of the Passion which will be offered up until the end of the world.
This lofty doctrine on Christ's priesthood has been clearly formulated by the Church at the Council of Trent: "Since the work of the Redemption could not be accomplished under the Old Testament, because of the weakness of the Levitical priesthood, it was necessary, according to the mercy of God the Father, that another priest . . . arise, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who could lead to salvation and perfection all who were to be sanctified. Our God and our Lord Himself
was to offer Himself up once and for all to His Father on the altar of the cross for our redemption, . . . and at the Last Supper He left to His spouse, the Church, a visible sacrifice which until the end of time will commemorate the bloody sacrifice of the cross and apply its fruits to us." e
Christ's Priesthood, the Most Perfect Conceivable
On the basis of St. Paul's testimony, St. Augustine T and theologians as a whole, especially St. Albert the Great 8 and St. Thomas, 9 have demonstrated that Christ's priesthood is the most perfect that can be conceived. The reason they give is as simple as it is profound. It derives from St. Paul's own definition of the priesthood: "For every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins." 10 As St. Thomas explains, 11 the function of the priest is to be a mediator between God and men, to offer up to God the prayers of the people, particularly sacrifice, which is the most perfect act of the virtue of religion, and also to give to the people the things of God (sacerdos means sacra dans) : through preaching, the light of truth, and through the sacraments, the grace necessary for the accomplishment of God's law.
This twofold ascending and descending mediation is accomplished especially through sacrifice, the supreme sacred act. Ascending mediation is accomplished by the oblation of the sacrifice of a victim. Descending mediation is accomplished by giving to the faithful a part of the victim offered up, so that they may thus communicate with our Lord.
The external oblation and immolation of the victim must be a visible expression of the interior oblation of the priest, of his adoration, his supplication, the sentiments of his "contrite and humbled" 18
'Summit thiol., Ilia, q.ax, a. i~4( q.48, a.31 q.50, a. 4 ad 3s q.83, a. 1 ad J.
heart, as well as of his thanksgiving. Thus through the sacrifice, which is an exterior and public act of the virtue of religion, the adoration, the supplication, the reparation, and the thanksgiving of the entire people rise up to God. For the prayer of the people is united to that of the priest and to a certain extent is one with his.
What follows from this with regard to the perfection of the priesthood, and particularly the priesthood of Christ? As St. Augustine has shown, 13 it follows that the priesthood is all the more perfect in the measure that the priest, the mediator between God and men, is more united to God, more united through interior oblation and immolation to the victim offered up, and more united to the men for whom the victim is offered up.
It is clear, of course, that the more closely united to God the priest is, that is, the holier he is, the more perfect will be the sacrifice he offers up as the principal act of his priesthood. For the priest, in his role as mediator, must make up by his own sanctity for the imperfection of the adoration, the gratitude, the reparation, and the supplication of the people.
Likewise the more closely the priest and the victim are united, the more perfect will the sacrifice be. For the external oblation and immolation of the victim are but the symbol of the inward oblation and immolation of the priest who is accomplishing the greatest act of the virtue of religion. Also the more the victim is pure, precious, and entirely consumed in God's honor, the more perfect will be the sacrifice. That is why the holocaust was the most perfect sacrifice of the Old Law: the entire victim was consumed in God's honor, to signify that man must offer all of himself up to God.
Finally, the more the priest and the people are united, the more perfect is the sacrifice. For the priest must bring together all the adorations, petitions, reparations, and thanksgivings of the faithful in one elevation toward God, rising up as the soul of the whole people. Consequently the more people are thus united to the priest, the greater will be the homage, the worship of adoration given to God, and the more universal or widespread will be the effects of the sacrifice.
It is enough for us to consider the priesthood of our Savior in the
M Loc. cU.
light of these principles in order to see at once that no greater priesthood can be conceived.
Christ Jesus is a priest not as God but as man. For the mediator must be an intermediary between God and men, and in that capacity inferior to God. Yet no soul can be more closely united to God than the sacred soul of Christ. We have seen that His sanctity was innate, substantial, and uncreated. 14 Jesus is not only absolutely free from any original and personal sin and from any imperfection whatever; He is sanctity itself. He is the Word of God made flesh. His humanity is sanctified first of all by its personal union with the Word, by the Word Himself who possesses it intimately and for all eternity. That is why Jesus' priestly actions, which proceed from His human intellect and will, had while He was here on earth an infinite value in terms of merit and reparation. This infinite value derived, of course, from the divine personality of the Son of God. And even now it is the Word made flesh who through His human soul makes "intercession for us." 16
It is impossible to conceive of a priest more intimately and indissolubly united to God, or holier than Jesus. Moreover, our Lord, as head of the Church, has received the fullness of created grace which must overflow upon us, and a power of excellence to institute the sacraments, to give them the power to produce and augment divine life, and also to institue a priesthood that will be indefectible until the end of the world, a priesthood that is a participation in His own. 18
"Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world" 17 by His perfect sacrifice. If sin continues, it is not because the virtue of this sacrifice is insufficient, as was that of the sacrifices of the Old Law, but because men often refuse to receive its fruits. We cannot conceive of a holier priest than Jesus.
In addition, Christ's priesthood cannot be more perfect by reason of the union of the priest and the victim, and of the dignity of the latter. Jesus could not offer to His Father for us any victim but Himself. The boy Isaac, a figure of Christ, had consented to let himself be offered up as a sacrifice. Jesus offered Himself up when He was cruci-
fied. As He said: "Therefore doth the Father love Me: because I lay down My life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it away from Me: but I lay it down of Myself, and I have power to lay it down: and I have power to take it up again. This commandment have I received of My Father." 18
We have become so accustomed to this idea that we cannot picture to ourselves our Lord immolating merely a lamb distinct from Himself, or a dove. He Himself is the victim.
This purest of victims is of infinite value, for it is the body of the Word of God, which, torn and nailed to the cross, sheds all its blood. The union of priest and victim cannot be more perfect, since Jesus is a victim to the depths of His soul, plunged in sorrow and in universal abandonment: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" It is complete immolation, a perfect holocaust in reparation for the pride of life, the concupiscence of the flesh, and that of the eyes. Priest and victim cannot be more perfectly united than in our Lord, immolated for us.
Finally, the union of priest and faithful cannot be closer. Jesus is the head of the mystical body of which we are the members. The fruits of the sacrifice of the Cross, the life of grace, pour down incessantly from Him to us. At the same time, through Him, our prayers rise up to God united to His at the moment of the Mass which perpetuates in substance the sacrifice of the Cross.
It is particularly at Mass, at the moment of the Consecration and Communion, that the words of St. Paul are verified: "Christ is the head of the Church. He is the Savior of His body." 19 "Now you are the body of Christ, and members of member." 20 "That ... we may in all things grow up in Him who is the head, even Christ." 21 Our Savior is, therefore, the priest of the entire human race, for He "died for all," 22 for the men of all times and places. And all men can become progressively incorporated in Him through the succession of human generations, and remain members of His mystical body for all eternity.
Thus Christ has made satisfaction and merited for all men. He con-
tinues to pray for us; and His humanity, as an instrument ever united to His divinity, communicates to us all the graces we receive. The vital influx of grace thus passes continually from Him to us. 23
We are unable to conceive of a more perfect priesthood, of a priest more closely united to God, more united to the most pure victim that is offered up every day on the altar, and lastly more united to the body of the Christian faithful which is ever renewing itself until the end of time and whose living members are to remain incorporated to Him forever. Our Savior is a priest for all eternity. His adoration and His thanksgiving will never cease, and the glory of the elect will be the consummation of His sacrifice. 24
What Formally Constitutes Christ's Priesthood
What is there in Christ which corresponds to the priestly character which is indelibly stamped on the souls of His ministers? Some theologians, among them the Carmelites of Salamanca, 28 have thought that Christ's priesthood is formally constituted by habitual created grace (through which He is the head of the mystical body), so far as this grace presupposes personal union to the Word. Thus Christ would be a priest by the very grace which constitutes Him head of the Church and through which He exerts direct influence upon us.
Other theologians in increasing numbers, including several Thomists, 28 think — and, it seems, on solid grounds — that what formally constitutes the priesthood of Jesus Christ is the substantial grace of union with the Word by reason of which He is holy, as well as a sanctifier and mediator able to offer up a sacrifice of infinite value.
The latter approach is being increasingly accepted by theologians at the present time, and was in a way approved by Pope Pius XI in an allocution given on December 28, 1925." It derives from the
26 Cf. Gonct, O.P., Clyfeus thorn, theol., de incarnalione, disp. zz, a. 3. Hugon, O.P., De Verba incarnato, 2nd ed., pp. 628 ff.
27 Pope Pius XI says: "E unicamente pcrchd I'Omoousios di Nicea si e incarnalo . . . che si effuse e si cffonde, inesauribile ed infinita, in Gesu Christo, quella clic i teologi cliiamano unzione sostanziale, che lo consecrava sacerdote" (Civilta Callolica, 1916, p.
doctrine which has prevailed on the substantial and uncreated as well as innate sanctity of Jesus. 28
Indeed it it the substantial grace of union to the Word that first of all sanctifies the humanity of our Savior. This grace does not merely give Him an accidental sanctity as does the grace which in us — and in the greatest saints including Mary — proceeds from habitual created grace, an accident of our nature, a divine graft upon our souls. Personal union with the Word gives to Jesus' humanity a substantial and uncreated sanctity 29 which is the source of the infinite value of His human meritorious and propitiatory acts. This uncreated sanctity subsists in heaven, now that the hour of merit and of painful expiation has passed.
In His formal role as universal priest and mediator, Jesus must offer up not a sacrifice of limited value such as those of the Old Law, but a sacrifice of infinite value. The priestly acts of His sacred soul must have a theandric value. And a priest capable of offering up a sacrifice of such value must be more than "the head of humanity." Adam, in his innocent state, was the head of humanity {caput naturae elevatae). Yet he was not able, as priest and mediator, to offer up a sacrifice of infinite value.
Therefore what formally constitutes Christ's priesthood seems to be the grace of substantial union to the Word which makes of Him the Lord's Anointed One. 30 This grace of union which is uncreated, for it is the Word Himself who completes and possesses the humanity of our Savior, 31 implies a unique priestly vocation and is the source of the habitual created grace by which Christ, the head of the Church, has immediate influence upon its members or communicates supernatural life to them. All these gifts are necessary to His priesthood, but the first-mentioned is its formal constituent.
This is what St. Thomas seems to think of the matter. 32 In discuss-
18 See chap. 10 supra ; cf. John of St. Thomas, De inearth, d.8, a. i j Gonet, De incarnalione, disp. 11.
"Jesus' humanity also exists through the uncreated existence of the Word (cf. St. Thomas, Ilia, q. 17, a. z). 80 Ps. 44:8.
81 Cf. St. Thomas, Ilia, q.6, ».6: "The grace of union ii the personal being that i» given gratis from above to the human nature in the person of the Word."
ing Jesus as priest and victim, he says that His humanity was sanctified by the grace of union. The same is true when he speaks of the predestination of Jesus not only to glory, as in the predestination of the saints, but of His predestination to natural divine sonship, which is infinitely superior to adopted divine sonship. 83 Lastly, according to St. Thomas, Jesus as man is the mediator between God and all men through the grace of the hypostatic union. 34 For, by reason of this hypostatic union, He touches the two extremes to be reunited and reconciled: God and humanity. 85
This is what Bossuet tells us in his Elevations sur les mysteres (13th week, 1st and 6th elevations), in which he expounds the priesthood of Jesus Christ: "O Christ! O Messiah, who art awaited and given under this sacred name which signifies the Anointed of the Lord! Teach me, in the excellence of Thy unction, the origin and foundations of Christianity. ... It is a matter of explaining the unction which makes Thee Christ." "Come, Jesus, eternal Son of God. . . . Thou dost receive the powers of the priesthood from Him alone who has said to Thee: 'Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.' 38 For this divine priesthood, one must be born only of God, and Thou hast Thy vocation 'according to the power of an indissoluble life.' 87 . . . The law of this priesthood is eternal and inviolable. Thou art alone: yet Thou hast left after Thee priests who are only Thy vicars who can offer up no other victim than the one Thou hast Thyself offered up on the cross and that Thou offerest eternally at the right hand of Thy Father."
Thus Jesus is priest by reason of the Incarnation. His priesthood is la Ibid., q.*4, a. 1 f. " Ibid., q.26, a.2j q.58, a. 3.
85 Theologians have at times placed too much emphasis on the distinction between Jesus as God and as man, without always giving enough consideration to what is fitting to Him as God-man, or what is fitting to His humanity by reason of the divine personality of the Word. Jesus, as God and not as man, created all things. As man and not as God, He suffered and was sorrowful even unto death. As God-man, He has loved us with a thcandric love which, though it is a human act, has infinite value by reason of the divine personality from which it proceeds.
St. Thomas has made these distinctions very clearly, in particular in Ilia, q.58, a. 3, in explaining that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father: first, as Godj secondly, as God-man, secundum gratiam unionis; thirdly, as man, by reason of the fullness of created grace. 80 Ps. x:j. "Heb. 7:16.
substantial as is His sanctity, and it is from His priesthood that derives the priestly character of His ministers, impressed indelibly in their souls. And in these priestly souls He will raise up vocations until the end of time.
The infinite merits of christ
"And of His failure we all have received, and grace for grace."
NOW that we have discussed the priesthood of Christ, it is fitting that we consider the source in Him of the infinite value of the meritorious and satisfactory acts that He accomplished for our salvation. This brings us to the very essence of the mystery of the Redemption, that is, to the source of all the graces we have ever received or ever will receive.
We shall consider Christ's merit rather than His satisfaction.6 This difference is to be noted between the two: satisfaction relates to the right of the offended person who demands reparation, whereas merit relates to the reward to be obtained and therefore to the good of the one who merits or of those for whom he merits. Thus we can distinguish between merit and satisfaction, although both are intimately united in Christ's acts of love, and in Him the infinite value of His merit and of His satisfaction derives from the same principle.
Let us first inquire what revelation tells us of the value of Christ's merits. We shall then discuss the explanation generally given by the theologians.
The Testimony of St. Paul
St. Paul wrote to the Romans: "God commendeth His charity toward usj because when as yet we were sinners, according to the time,
Christ died for us; much more therefore, being now justified by His blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son; much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. . . . Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; ... if by the offense of one, many died; much more the grace of God, and the gift, by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. . . . For as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners; so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made just."7
The Apostle then shows 8 that the Christian who is united to Christ by baptism is dead to sin and has risen to a new life, in the measure that he believes in Christ's merits with a lively faith united to charity. "But now ... the justice of God is made manifest, . . . by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe in Him." 4
Tn the F.pistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul develops the same idea in a sublime manner: "We all conversed in time past, in the desires of our flesh, fulfilling the will of the flesh and of our thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God (who is rich in mercy), for His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ (by whose grace you are saved) and hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit together in the heavenly places, through Christ Jesus. 5 That He might show in the ages to come the abundant riches of His grace, in His bounty toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God; . . . For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them." 6
5 Here St. Paul contemplates the supreme unfolding of the grace received in baptism, which is the seed of glory.
8 Eph. z:i-io. The mention of good works in this context shows that in order to be justified faith is not enough. I.ove of God and of neighbor is also necessary, that is, the accomplishment of the two great commandments. Luther's great error was that he denied this.
It is this doctrine that the Church sums up as follows: Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through the great love He had for us, T when we were enemies or sinners, 8 has merited our justification by His sacred passion on the cross. 0
Pope Clement VI said that "the merits of Christ are infinite, and that a single drop of His blood, because of the [personal] union with the Word, would have sufficed for the redemption of the human race." 10 This is what St. Thomas proclaims in the Adoro Te:
O loving Pelican! O Jesu Lord! Unclean I am, but cleanse me in Thy blood!
Of which a single drop for sinners spilt,
Can purge the entire world from all its guilt.
This amounts to saying, as the Church generally teaches, that the least act of love that Jesus performed while still a child had infinite meritorious value to obtain for all men of the past, the present, and the future, sanctifying grace, eternal life, and all the assistance necessary to attain them. That is all the more reason why the most heroic act of charity which Jesus accomplished in dying for us on the cross, has merited for us justification and salvation. "Where sin abounded, grace did more abound." 11 "And of His fullness we all have received, and grace for grace." 12
It should give us great strength and consolation to contemplate these infinite merits of our Savior, which are the source of our entire spiritual life. There is no better way than this to revive our confidence in periods of lassitude and depression, or when we see souls we love adrift and feel the need of praying for them with greater ardor.
To understand revealed doctrine on this point, as proposed by the Church, let us lift our gaze progressively from the most ordinary
•Council of Trent, Sess. VI, chap. 7: Denzinger, no. 7991 also nos. 79s, 812, 810. 10 Cf. Denzinger, nos. 550, 552: "Gutta ejus sanguinis modica, . . . propter unioncm ad Vcrbum pro redemptione totius humani generis sufecissct." "Rom. 5:10. "John 1:16.
things, from our imperfect merits, to the infinite merits of Christ. We shall then begin to grasp the influence of Christ's merits on our whole lives.
Merit in General. Its Conditions
Merit in general, or meritorious action, consists in any act worthy of a reward. Merit in the exact sense of the word — condign merit — is that for which a recompense is due in justice or at the very least in virtue of a promise. Thus, in the natural order, the officer merits his pay. As to congruous merit, this is an act for which a reward is due not in justice or because of a promise, but for reasons of fittingness such as friendship, esteem, liberality. So in the natural order the valiant soldier deserves to be decorated.
In the supernatural order there is an incomparably superior form of merit. It is an act that gives one the right to a supernatural reward, which is far more precious than all the world can offer us in the way of honor and glory. This reward is even far superior to the natural life of the most gifted minds, even to the intellectual life of the angels, that is, to the life they possess by reason of their nature, which is very inferior to grace.
Supernatural merit is a supernatural act accomplished through love of God, an act which, according to a divine ordination, gives one the right to a supernatural reward. Thus it is that every Christian in the state of grace merits by his acts of love of God and of his neighbor, and by the exercise of all the virtues duly inspired by charity, an increase in sanctifying grace and eternal life. This is condign merit properly so-called. It is in this sense that St. Paul says: "For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." 18 And so it was that Jesus, when He preached the beatitudes, proclaimed the merits of the just and their reward: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . . Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. . . . Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God. . ..8
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . . Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven." 14
Such is the grandeur of supernatural merit correctly understood. In addition to this, from congruous merit, based not on justice or on a promise but on God's friendship, a just man can obtain the conversion of a friend, a holy Christian mother like Monica can win the conversion of her son.
What is the source of the immense value of supernatural merit? Let us delve into the secret recesses of our souls where our acts of love of God and of our neighbor are formed. Then by degrees we shall be able to rise to the contemplation of Christ's merits, the eminent source of our own.
What are the conditions necessary to make an act supernaturally meritorious, so that it will give us a right to a supernatural reward? The conditions of supernatural merit in the true sense of the word are generally considered to be as follows: It must be a free act, proceeding from charity, performed during one's earthly life, for which God has promised a reward. The meritorious act must be free, proceeding from free choice." The soul must freely give of its own and offer it up to God.
The second condition of a supernaturally meritorious act is that it proceed from charity, which presupposes the state of grace. The merit and the reward must be proportionate. Merit of the natural order can obtain a reward of the same order, but not a supernatural reward. Nor would faith and hope suffice. There must be charity too, as St. Paul tells us: "And if I should have prophecy . . . and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." 16 Indeed, without charity our will remains the slave of sin and is turned away from God's will and toward sensu-
18 This point has been defined in contradiction to the Jansenists. Cf. Dcnzinger, no. 1094: The third condemned proposition of Jansenius: "Ad merendum et demerendum in statu naturae lapsac non requiritur in homine libcrtas a necessitate, sed sufficit libcrtas a coactione." Liberlas a coaclione is pure spontaneity, such as exists even in animals, whereas libertas a necessitate, or free will, is the principle of a choice that is not necessary.
ality or pride. When our souls are deprived of sanctifying grace and charity, they do not live the supernatural life. How then can they produce supernatural fruit? On the contrary, charity calls forth, inspires, and vivifies all the other virtues; and the more charity increases the more merit grows.
The supernatural value of meritorious acts, whether produced immediately by charity or by the virtues which charity inspires, increases with the love of God of which these acts are a sign. It is like offering twice the price of something that is offered for sale. Thus the Blessed Virgin merited more by easy little acts than we do by difficult ones, for there was more love of God and of souls in one of her smiles to a poor old man than there is in our most generous efforts. The meritorious act must, therefore, proceed from charity, that is, it must possess supernatural goodness or be accomplished through love of God.
The third condition of a meritorious act is that it be accomplished during one's earthly life or in the state of passage toward eternity. In heaven we shall no longer merit, but shall enjoy our reward. Nor do we merit in purgatory, for there we are merely purified.
Finally, the fourth condition of merit is that God should have promised a reward for the act which we offer up to Him. Thus He has promised that the just who perform acts of charity will be given an increase of this virtue as well as of the other infused virtues, the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and also eternal life if they die in the state of grace.
These are the conditions of merit: It must derive from a free act, proceeding from charity, performed during one's earthly life, and it must be an act for which God has promised a reward. This being so, what is the value of Christ's merits?
Do Christ's Merits Have Infinite Value in Themselves, Intrinsically, or Solely through God's Acceptance of Them?
Christ's free acts, performed during His life on earth and proceeding from His love of God and of souls, had immense value by the very reason of His eminent charity, which surpassed that of all the angels and saints taken together, since He had received the plenitude of created grace. Yet this eminent charity of Jesus' soul remained a created thing which could not give to His meritorious acts a truly infinite value.
Christ's merits derive their absolutely exceptional value especially from the fact that they were the human acts of a divine person, of infinite dignity. "The blood of Jesus Christ His [God's] Son cleanseth us from all sin," 1T St. John tells us, because it is the blood of the Son of God shed through love of us, for which God has promised this reward, namely, the justification and salvation of all who believe in Christ and who follow Him.
However, one group of theologians, the Scotists, has maintained that Christ's acts of love did not possess in themselves intrinsically an infinite meritorious and satisfactory value, by reason of the divine person of the Word. They held that, on the contrary, it was fitting that these acts be extrinsically accepted by God for our salvation.
Nearly all theologians, on the other hand, admit that the smallest of our Savior's acts of love possesses in itself, or intrinsically, an infinite value by reason of the divine person of the Word made flesh. These acts are called theandric or divine-human, because they are the human acts of a soul personally united to the Word, the human acts of the person of the Son of God. Now, the value of a meritorious or satisfactory act depends not only on the nobility of its object but even more upon the dignity of the person who produces it. In this case, the person of the Word is of infinite dignity. It is the Son of God Himself who is offering Himself up for us.
If the gravity of the offense increases in proportion to the dignity of the person offended, the value of the satisfaction and of the merit increases with the dignity of the person who makes satisfaction and who merits. Our Savior's human actions are united to a divine person by an indissoluble bond, as strong as eternity, in a personal union so close that we can truly say: It is God, the Son, who acts, suffers, merits, and makes satisfaction in the human nature that He has taken on to save us. These reparative acts are most intimately united to God. In
" I John i Vf, consequence their infinite value outweighs the infinite gravity of all mortal sins of all men, which can offend God only morally but cannot touch Him in His substantial and intimate reality.
Hence it is clear that the least of Jesus' merits was more pleasing to God than all the sins of mankind taken together displease Him. Similarly but on the much lower, human level, the expressions of love that are most precious to us are those given to us by the persons to whom we are closest. The smallest act of thoughtfulness by one we love dearly is sometimes enough to make us forget great injustices. This doctrine, without any exaggeration, teaches us to value beyond measure the least of our Savior's actions.
The following objection has at times been raised with regard to this teaching: If all our Savior's acts are of infinite value, it seems that they are absolutely equal and hence Jesus' death on the cross was of no greater merit than His childhood acts. Therefore, the reasoning goes, His death adds nothing to His earlier acts since they were already infinite in value. The Cross would thus appear to be superfluous.
This conclusion, which is so contrary to the Christian approach, results from confused thinking. It can easily be refuted by saying: All Jesus' acts, the least as well as the most heroic, have the same personal value deriving from the union of His humanity with the Word; however, these acts do not have the same objective value, which relates to the object and to the circumstances of these acts. In fact, there is a subordination in the different objects of the virtues. Thus the supreme acts of the Passion which had such a lofty object, such exceptional and painful circumstances, surpassed His preceding acts in objective value, added to the treasure already amassed, filled to overflowing Christ's merits and satisfactions, because these acts represented the ultimate in sacrifice, suffering, and love.
Nothing is superfluous to the love seeking to glorify God to the highest possible degree and to manifest itself to souls in an irresistible manner. Finally, Jesus offered His first acts of love up to His Father not separately but as the beginning of His sacrifice which was to be accomplished in its plenitude on the cross. From the first moment He entered the world He offered up His life usque ad mortem, mortem autem cruets. This is what each Christian must do after Christ's example, and especially every religious who professes to live in obedience, chastity, and poverty until death.
Such was the value of Christ's merit. It is a spiritual wellspring from which every human soul can slake its thirst, without ever exhausting its flow. "Where sin abounded, grace did more abound." 18
What Did Our Lord Merit for Himself and for Us?
He merited for Himself neither the Incarnation nor habitual grace nor the essential glory of His soul, for these gifts are anterior to His merit. These gifts precede His merit and are, as it were, its root. Meritorious acts presuppose grace, charity, and a supernatural knowledge, which in Christ was not faith but the vision of God.
Are we to infer, then, that Jesus merited nothing for Himself? Not at all. He merited His glorious resurrection, His ascension, the exaltation of His name, the expansion of the Church, and the gratitude and love of the faithful. He could have claimed all these things by right of birth, but He chose to obtain them by right of conquest. That is why He said to the disciples of Emmaus: "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory?" 19 And St. Paul added: "He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father." 20 Jesus was crowned king of glory only after He had been crowned with thorns. Satan's pride is far more deeply hurt to have been thus vanquished by the humility of our Savior and of the Virgin Mary than to have been immediately crushed by divine Omnipotence, as St. Louis-Marie de Montfort tells us. Our Savior has merited that the power of His name and of the sign of the cross should rout the evil one and deliver souls.
For us Jesus has merited the life of grace and that of eternity, that
is, all the supernatural aids which lead souls to be converted, to persevere, and to attain their ultimate destiny. "Of His fullness we all have received," St. John tells us. 21 Jesus Himself said: "I am the way, . . . and the life." 22 "If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He that believeth in Me, as the Scripture saith, 'Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.' " 28 "He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day." 24 Our Savior has merited for us all the effects of predestination, and He could thus say: "My sheep hear My voice: and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them life everlasting; and they shall not perish forever, and no man shall pluck them out of My hand. That which My Father hath given Me, is greater than all: and no one can snatch them out of the hand of My Father. I and the Father are one." 25
Jesus merited these great graces for us not merely through a merit of fittingness, as did our Blessed Lady, but in strict justice inasmuch as He was the Word made flesh and therefore the head of humanity. By reason of His divine personality His merits were of infinite value, and because He was head of humanity He could communicate these merits to us just as the head of the human body transmits nervous impulses to the limbs. Thus Jesus merited for every one of us in the same manner as each just man merits for himself. And as St. Peter, enlightened by the grace of Pentecost, told the Jews: "This is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved." 28
The Passion, which merited the salvation of all men, does in fact save all who do not resist Christ's grace. It makes available even to the most debased pagans graces of light, of attraction, and strength. If these men do not resist these graces, they will be led from grace to grace until they attain faith, justification, and salvation. The entire human race was consecrated to the Sacred Heart by Leo XIII at the opening of the twentieth century, so that it might be made more docile
HliU, t ' 6m . "Ibid., io:»t-30. "Act. 4 :>>f- to these graces of light and attraction. The infidel child who after reaching the full age of reason chooses the path of goodness and turns away from evil does so only through Christ's grace. 27
In evangelized society, in the Church, the Passion makes grace continually available to us through the sacraments — baptism, confirmation, absolution, the Eucharist, extreme unction; it sanctifies the home by the grace of the sacrament of matrimony; it molds the priestly soul by the grace of the sacrament of holy orders. Apart from the sacraments, our Savior sustains us by countless interior inspirations and other helps which inspire us to make good resolutions and confirm us in them. Having once merited these graces for us on the cross, the sacred humanity of our Lord, being the instrument ever united to His divinity, communicates these graces to us with each passing day. 28
Unbelievers sometimes object: Well, if Christ's merits were infinite, then our own would be superfluous. The reply to this is clear. As the First Cause, far from making secondary causes superfluous, communicates to them the dignity of causality, 29 as God the Author of life creates living beings whereas a sculptor can produce only lifeless works, so does our Savior by His own merits call ours into being and make us work at our own salvation and that of our neighbor. He does not save free beings against their will. We must allow ourselves to be saved by our Savior and we must not resist Him. And precisely because His merits are infinite, He has the power to make us merit with Him and to participate in His redemptive action and to save other souls with Him, through Him, and in Him. Thus it is that He lives again to a certain extent in the saints, and through them proves to the world that He is eternal.
Let us always — and particularly in hours of sadness and temptation — place our trust in the infinite merits of Christ, as does the Church in closing all her prayers with the words, "Through Jesus Christ our Lord." Like the prodigal son and the repentant good thief, even the souls that have gone farthest astray must remember to rely upon Christ's merits. A case in point is that of the penitent who, after confessing his sins for the first time in forty years, heard the priest
ask: "Well, what good have you done?" He answered: "I have kept my faith in the infinite value of Christ's merits, and that is why I have come to confess my sins." Through his faith in Christ this man had touched the depths of God.
Likewise a sorely troubled soul of our acquaintance at times heard our Lord say to her in moments of great darkness from which others seemed to find rays of light: "Your poverty is extreme. But fear not: though you are poor, I am rich, and My riches suffice for you. What could you give Me? Do I not place within you the good I wish to see there? For your part, walk in My presence, for I never leave you." This shows us how closely the mystery of Christ is bound up with the mystery of our own destinies.
XXII
THE LAST SUPPER AND THE EUCHARISTIC HEART OF JESUS
IN REPORTING the events of the Last Supper so as to complete the record presented in the first three Gospels, 1 St. John wrote as follows: "Jesus knowing that His hour was come, that He should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end." 2 A father who is about to die wishes to leave to his children a supreme proof of his love for them. Often such a father cannot find words to express his love and he remains silent with a silence that is more eloquent than speech. When Jesus was about to die lie found not only the words to express His meaning but also the words which would make His meaning a reality, the words of transubstantiation. He gave us the Eucharist as a testament, and in this sacrament He left to us His own divine Person.
The Gift of Self, an Expression of Love
The greatest proof of love is the perfect gift of self. Generosity is essentially communicative, goodness is naturally self-diffusive. St. Thomas goes so far as to say: "It belongs to the essence of goodness to communicate itself to others. . . . Hence it belongs to the essence of the highest good to communicate itself in the highest manner to the creature." 8
Thus does the sun shed forth light and warmth, thus do adult animals and plants give life to others each after their kind. So too
*Cf. Matt. 16:26-29 j Mark 14:22-251 Luke 22:15, 10 1 1 Cor. 11:23. ■ Jolin 13:1.
« Stwima, Ilia, q. 1, a. 1. Also: "Secundum divcrsitatem naturarum, di versus emanationis modus invenitur in rebus, et quanto aliqua natura est altior, tanto id quod ex ea emanat magis eat intiimim" (Contra Gtntes, Bfc, IV, chap. 11, initio).
does a great artist conceive and produce his masterpieces, so do the scientist and the scholar communicate their intuitions and discoveries, and share their spirit with their disciples. In the same manner the virtuous man inspires others to virtue, and the apostle, passionately in love with goodness, gives the best of himself to the souls of his fellow men, to lead them to God. Goodness tends essentially to communicate itself to others, and the more perfect a being is the more intimately and abundantly he gives himself.
He who is the sovereign Good, the fullness of being, communicates Himself as fully and intimately as possible by the eternal generation of the Word and by the spiration of the Spirit of love, as revelation teaches us. The Father, in begetting the Son, not only communicates to Him a participation in His nature, His intelligence, and His love, but He communicates to the Son the totality of His indivisible nature, without multiplying it in any respect. The Father gives to the Son to be "God of God, light of light, true God of true God," and the Father and the Son together communicate to the Spirit of love who proceeds from them this same indivisible divine nature and these infinite perfections. Goodness is naturally self-diffusive, and the more perfect it is the more fully and intimately it gives itself.
By virtue of this principle, we have seen 4 that it was fitting that God should not be content merely to create us, and to give us existence, life, intelligence, sanctifying grace, and a participation in His nature. Indeed, it was fitting that God should give Himself to us in person through the incarnation of the Word. 8
Even after the fall of the first man, God could have willed to re-
8 Ilia, q. i, a. i : "Whether It Was Fitting That God Should Become Incarnate!" (This is the question of the possibility and the fittingness of the Incarnation, rather than the question of its motives, which are analyzed in articles 2 and 3.) St. Thomas answers: "To each thing, that is befitting which belongs to it by reason of its very nature; thus, to reason befits man, since this belongs to him because he is of a rational nature. But the very nature of God is goodness. . . . But it belongs to the essence of goodness to communicate itself to others. . . . Hence it belongs to the essence of the highest good to communicate itself in the highest manner to the creature, and this is brought about chiefly by His so joining created nature to Himself that one Person is made up of these three — the Word, a soul and Bath, as Augustine says (1)t Trin., xiii). Hence it is manifest that it was fitting that God should become ima finite."
deem us in some other manner, 6 for example, by sending us a prophet who would have made known to us the conditions of forgiveness. But He has done infinitely more; He has willed to give us His own Son in person as our Redeemer. "God so loved the world, as to give His only-begotten Son." 7
Jesus, priest for all eternity and the Savior of humanity, has also for His part willed to give Himself to us perfectly throughout His life on earth, particularly at the Last Supper and on Calvary. He continues to give Himself to us each day through the Mass and Holy Communion. There can be no greater example of the perfect gift of self than these riches of the priestly and Eucharistic heart of our Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can anything do more to inspire the particular act of thanksgiving which is due to our Lord for having instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood.
The Eucharist should produce in each of us the same effect as the Incarnation produced with regard to humanity in general. For it is through the Eucharist that Jesus gives Himself to each of us. 8
The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and the Gift of Self in the Institution of the Eucharist
As God gives His entire nature in the eternal generation of the Word and the spiration of the Holy Ghost, as God willed to give Himself in person in the incarnation of the Word, so Jesus has wished to give Himself in person in the Eucharist. And His priestly heart is a Eucharistic heart for the very reason that it gave us the Eucharist, just as pure air is said to be healthful because it is health-giving.
Our Lord might well have been content to institute a sacrament which was a sign of grace like baptism and confirmation. He has chosen to give us a sacrament which contains not only grace but the Author of grace Himself.
•Cf. St. Thomas, Ilia, q.i, a.*: "God of His omnipotent power could have restored human nature in many other ways." T John 3:16.
"Cf. St. Thomas, Ilia, q. 79, a. 1 : "Just as by coming into the world, He [Christ J visibly bestowed the life of grace upon the world, ... so also, by coming sacramentally into man, causes the life of grace."
The Eucharist is thus the most perfect of the sacraments, superior even to holy orders. 9 And it is with a view to the Eucharistic consecration that Jesus instituted the priesthood simultaneously with the Eucharist. 10
True and generous love, by which we wish others well and do them good, leads us to bend down toward them if they are below us. It inspires us to unite ourselves to them in a perfect union of thought, desire, and will, to devote ourselves to them, to sacrifice ourselves if necessary to make them better, and to encourage them to reach out beyond themselves and attain their destiny.
When our Lord was about to deprive us of His sensible presence, He wished to leave Himself to us in person under the Eucharistic veils. Loving us as He did, He could not bend down any lower toward us, toward the lowliest, the poorest and most wretched. There was no way by which He could unite Himself or give Himself more completely to each of us.
There are times when we yearn for the real presence of loved ones who are no more. The Eucharistic heart of the Savior has given us the real presence of His body, His blood, His soul, and His divinity. Everywhere on earth wherever there is a consecrated host in a tabernacle, even in the most far-flung missions, He remains with us, the sweet companion of our exile. He is in each tabernacle, "patiently waiting for us, eager to grant us favors, yearning for our prayers." He is brought even to repentant criminals about to meet their end.
The Eucharistic heart of Jesus has given us the Eucharist as a sacrifice, in order to perpetuate in substance the sacrifice of the Cross
• Cf. St. Thomas, Ilia, q. 65, a. 3 : "The sacrament of the Eucharist is the greatest of all the sacraments." The sacrament of the Eucharist is the most perfect of all because it contains not only grace but the Author of grace Himself. And the sacrament of holy orders owes its greatness to the fact that it is ordained to the consecration of the Eucharist. Cf. ibid., ad 3.
10 The expression "Eucharistic heart" is, in consequence, superior to the expression "priestly heart." The latter is included in the former. For when Jesus gave us the Eucharist He instituted the priesthood. Moreover, it is permissible to call even the heart of Christ's minister a priestly heart. For instance, we speak of the priestly heart of the Cure" of Ars, whereas the expression "Eucharistic heart" can be applied only to the heart which has given us the Eucharist.
on our altars until the end of the world and to apply its fruits to us. And at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, our Lord who is the principal Priest continues to offer Himself up for us.
Christ "hath an everlasting priesthood, whereby He is able . . . always living to make intercession for us." 11 He does so particularly at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass where, according to the Council of Trent, it is the same Priest who continues to offer Himself up through His ministers in an unbloody manner, having once offered Himself up in bloody sacrifice on the cross. 13
This interior oblation, ever alive in the heart of Christ, is as it were the soul of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and gives it its infinite value. Jesus Christ also continues to offer up to His Father our supplications, our reparations, and our thanksgivings. But especially it is always the same infinitely pure victim which is offered up, the body of the crucified Savior, and His precious blood sacramentally shed on the altar so that it may continue to wipe away the sins of the world.
The Eucharistic heart of Jesus in giving us the Eucharistic sacrifice has also given us the priesthood. Early in His ministry He said to His apostles: "Come after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." 18 On the night of the Last Supper He told them : "You have not chosen Me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain." 14 Then He gave them the power to offer up the Eucharistic sacrifice when He said: "This is My body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me." 18 With these words He gave them the power of the holy consecration which continually renews the sacrament of love. 16 The Eucharist, sacrament and sacrifice, cannot in truth be perpetuated without the priesthood. That is why for nearly two thousand years the grace of the Savior has brought into being and
11 CI. Cone. Trid., Sess. XXII, chap. »: "Una enim eadem est hostia, idem nunc offerens sacerdotum ministerio, qui se ipsum tunc in cruce obtulit, sola oflerendi ratione divcrsa. Cujus quidcin oblationis (cruentae inquain) fructus per banc incruentam uberime percipiuntur." "Mark 1:17. 14 John 15:16. 16 Luke 22:19.
"The Divine Office of the Eucharistic Heart emphasizes clearly these different but closely intertwined manifestations of Christ's love for us.
to fruition generation after generation of priestly vocations. And this will continue until the end of the world.
Finally, the Eucharistic heart of Jesus has given itself to us in Holy Communion. Our Savior gives Himself to us as food not so that we will assimilate Him to ourselves, but so that we may become more and more like Him, ever more vivified and sanctified by Him, incorporated into Him. One day He said to St. Catherine of Siena: "I take thy heart from thee and give thee Mine." This is a sensible symbol of what occurs spiritually in a fervent Communion. Our hearts die to their narrowness and selfishness and self-love, dilating and becoming like the heart of Jesus in purity, strength, and generosity. On another occasion, our Lord granted to this saint the grace of drinking deeply from the wound in His heart. This, too, is a symbol of a fervent Communion in which the soul drinks spiritually, so to speak, from the heart of Jesus, from this "source of new graces," "the sweet refuge of the hidden life," "the master of the secrets of divine union," "the heart of Him who sleeps but is ever watchful."
St. Paul had said: "The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the Communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?" 17 And as St. Thomas remarked, when the priest receives the precious blood in Communion he does so for himself and for the faithful also. 18
The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and the Daily and Ceaseless Gift of Himself
Lastly, Jesus again and again, day after day, gives us the Eucharist as sacrament and sacrifice. He could have willed that the Mass be celebrated only once or twice a year in certain sanctuaries to which men would travel from afar. Yet the Holy Sacrifice is celebrated perpetually every minute of the day, over the whole surface of the earth, wherever the sun rises. It is the unceasing manifestation of Christ's
** Cf. St. Thomas, Ilia, q. 80, a. 1 2 ad 3 : "The body can be received by the people without the blood : nor is this detrimental to the sacrament, because the priest both offers and consumes the blood on behalf of all ; and Christ is fully contained under either speciei."
merciful love, answering the spiritual needs of each era and of each soul. "Christ . . . loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it: that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." 19
This being so, He grants to His Church, especially through the Mass and Holy Communion, the graces she needs at the various moments of her history. In the catacombs the Mass was a source of ever new graces, and so it was during the great barbarian invasions and during the Middle Ages. And so it is today, giving us the strength to resist the great perils that threaten us, above all the atheistic phalanxes which Communism is pouring out over the world to destroy all religion. Despite the sorrows of the present, the interior life of the Church in our time in its highest aspects is indeed beautiful when viewed from above as God and the angels see it.
All these graces come to us from the Eucharistic heart of Jesus who has given us the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and Holy Communion, and who is ever giving us His blood sacramentally shed on the altar.
Father Charles de Foucauld had a deep understanding of this truth, as he prayed and died for the conversion of Islam and of Moslem lands. This truth is also understood by those who pray with all their souls and have Masses said for lands ravaged by materialism and Communism. A single drop of our Savior's precious blood can regenerate thousands of souls that have gone astray and have dragged others along with them. 20
Indeed, it is a truth that we too often forget. This cult of the precious blood of the Savior and deep suffering at the sight of it flowing in vain over rebellious souls can do much to turn the Eucharistic heart of Jesus toward His poor sinners — yes, His poor sinners. They are His, and apostles like St. Paul, St. Francis, St. Dominic, St. Catherine
10 This is what St. Thomas says in the Adoro Ts:
"Unclean I am, but cleanse me in Thy blood I Of which a single drop for sinners spilt, Can purge the entire world from all its guilt."
of Siena, and so many others loved our Savior enough to strive by His side for the salvation of these souls.
When we think of Christ's love for us, we should suffer agonies at the sight of souls turning away from His heart, from the source of His precious blood. He shed His blood for them all, far removed as they might be from Him, even for the Communist who blasphemes and wishes to extirpate His name from the earth. May our Lord, who does not will the death of the sinner, grant through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass a new effusion of His heart's blood, as it were, and of the blood from His sacred wounds.
There have been saints who at the moment of the elevation during Mass have seen the precious blood overflow the chalice, spill over the arms of the priest as if it would flow into the sanctuary, and be caught up in gold cups by angels who then carried it over the whole world, particularly to lands where the Gospel was little known. This was a symbol of the graces flowing from the heart of Christ upon the souls of unfortunate pagans. It is for them, too, that He died on the cross.
The practical consequence of this truth is that the Eucharistic heart of Jesus is by no means the object of an affected devotion. It is the supreme model of the perfect gift of self, a gift which in our own lives should become more generous with each passing day. Each new consecration should mark for the celebrant progress in his faith, trust, and love of God and of souls. For the faithful, each Communion should be substantially more fervent than the preceding one, since each Communion should increase the charity in our hearts and make them resemble our Lord's more closely and thus dispose us to receive Him more fervently on the morrow. As a stone gathers momentum in its fall toward the earth which attracts it, so should souls tend toward God with increasing speed as they come closer to Him and are more powerfully attracted to Him.
The Eucharistic heart of Jesus yearns to attract our souls to itself. This heart is often humiliated, abandoned, forgotten, scorned, outraged, and yet it is the heart that loves our hearts, the silent heart that would talk to souls to teach them the value of the hidden life and the value of the ever more generous gift of self.
The Word made flesh came among His own, and "His own re- ceived Him not." 21 Blessed are those who receive all that His merciful love deigns to give them and who do not by their resistance reject the graces which should radiate through them upon other less favored souls. Blessed are they who after they have received follow the example of our Lord and give themselves ever more generously by Him, with Him, and in Him.
If there is in the midst of even the most benighted pagans a single soul in the state of grace, a truly fervent and renounced soul such as that of Father Charles de Foucauld, a soul which receives everything that the Eucharistic heart of Christ wishes to give to it, sooner or later the radiation of that soul will inevitably transmit to straying souls something of what it has itself received. It is impossible that the precious blood should not in some measure overflow the chalice at Mass and some day — at least at the moment of death — purify those straying souls who do not resist divine attentions or the actual prevenient graces that inspire their conversion. Let us think now and then of the death of the Moslem, or of the Buddhist, or the Communist in our own town who may have been baptized as a child. Each of them has an immortal soul for which the heart of our Lord gave all its blood.
• XXIII*
HE PEACE OF JESUS DURING HIS PASSION
"My peace I give unto you."
TTF WE would delve even deeper into the mystery of the RedempiL tion, we must consider how during the Passion Christ's love united within itself two distinct elements. In His love were united the greatest suffering that any human being ever endured during his life on earth and the most perfect peace that can exist even among the blessed in heaven.
These are two apparently contrary effects of the fullness of grace that our Lord received from the first instant of His life: two effects which are, as it were, the two poles of His interior life upon earth.9
The Fullness of Grace and Redemptive Suffering
As we have seen above,(2) this fullness of grace derives from the uncreated personality of the Word made flesh. It is morally proportioned to His dignity as Son of God and also to His mission as universal Mediator. It is absolute plentitude, both intensive and extensive. And there is every evidence that this fullness of grace inclined our Lord to wish to accomplish as perfectly as possible His mission as Savior, Priest, and Victim. Every servant of God, as can be seen in the lives of the founders of religious orders, is inspired by a special
2og grace to accomplish as perfectly as possible the mission which he has received. This grace gives him the spirit of his mission, that is, the manner of seeing, judging, feeling, willing, and acting to accomplish it properly. If this was so with the founders of religious orders such as St. Benedict, St. Dominic, and St. Francis, how much more must it have been true of the Savior!
The fullness of grace that our Lord received from the first moment of His human life awakened in Him an ardent thirst for our salvation and a yearning to offer Himself up as a victim to redeem us. "Amor mens, pondus meum" were the words St. Augustine used: My love is like a weight which pulls me toward the beloved object. Christ's love impelled Him to offer Himself up as a sacrifice to save our souls.
This desire found continual expression in our Savior's sermons, and even before that in His first words: "Did you not know, that I must be about My Father's business?" 3
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself." 4 "I am come to cast fire on the earth: and what will I, but that it be kindled?" 8 "With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you, before I suffer. . . . This is My body, which is given for you. . . . This is the chalice, the new testament of My blood, which shall be shed for you." 6
This hunger of our Lord for our salvation, this yearning for the cross, correspond to the very motive of the Incarnation: "Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven," as we repeat each day at the Credo of the Mass.
This desire found ever more powerful expression as the moment of the Passion approached, which Jesus had called "His hour," the hour that had been set by Providence from all eternity and yet interfered in no respect with His own liberty or that of His executioners.
As the hour of the Passion approached, our Lord's will to die for us found ever more forceful expression. In His discourse after the Last Supper, He said: "That the world may know, that I love the Father: and as the Father hath given Me commandment, so do I: Arise, let us go hence." 7
At Gethsemane His soul was indeed "sorrowful even unto death," but He chose to experience this sorrow to show that He was truly a man and that we, too, may be allowed to cry out in our hours of sadness. He chose to experience this anguish also so that the holocaust might be perfect} and He said to His Father: "Not as I will, but as Thou wilt." 8 Soon afterward, when Peter sought to defend Him with his sword, He answered: "The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" 9 This calls to mind His words before entering Gethsemane: "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 10 Here was the effect of the fullness of grace which impelled our Savior to desire to accomplish as perfectly as possible His mission as priest and as victim.
In actual fact, as St. Thomas explains, 11 His suffering was the most intense that can be suffered during man's earthly life. He did not of course endure all possible sufferings, for some torments are the antithesis of others. Death on the cross differs from the sufferings caused by weapons or fire. Yet Jesus experienced every form of physical and mental suffering. He suffered in every part of His body, which was but one great wound after the scourging, and which was made to bleed anew when His clothing was torn off before the crucifixion. All these sufferings were made more intense by the delicacy of His constitution, for His was a body miraculously conceived in the womb of a virgin.
Jesus also experienced all the moral sufferings caused by the straying of His people from the path of salvation, by the priests of the Synagogue who were embittered against Him, by the fact that divine justice was striking Him in our stead. This was the most terrible of His sufferings because it was caused by the greatest of all evils, sin, whose gravity and extent Jesus understood better than anyone else. This suffering was as intense as His love of goodness. It was a suffering from which He sought no alleviation but to which He freely offered Himself up, so that He might feel in our stead that hatred of evil which is the essence of contrition.
It has been objected that the desolation of a sinner who has lost
grace, such as Peter's after the denials, seem to be greater than that which Christ suffered. For Jesus at least preserved the joy of His innocence. St. Thomas answers as follows: "Christ grieved . . . over the sins of all others. And this grief in Christ surpassed all grief of every contrite heart, both because it flowed from a greater wisdom [by which He knew better than anyone else the infinite gravity of the offense against God and the multiplicity of men's crimes] and charity, by which the pang of contrition is intensified, and because He grieved at the one time for all sins." 12
We cannot begin to imagine the suffering Jesus must have experienced at the exact and penetrating view of men's crimes. If St. Catherine of Siena was nauseated at the sight of the state of certain souls, how much must our Lord have suffered! For He saw the concupiscence of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life just as we see purulent sores on a diseased body.
He suffered from the sight of sin in proportion to His love for God whom sin offends and in proportion to His love for our souls which sin ravages and kills. And He was not content to look upon these sins with profound sadness. He had taken them upon Himself: "Surely He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows." 13 If Marystanding at the foot of the cross suffered because of sin in proportion to her love for God, for her Son, and for us, what then must Christ's suffering have been! The fullness of grace and charity greatly increased in Him the capacity for suffering from the greatest of all evils, an evil which our selfishness prevents us from grieving over.
Peace in Suffering
In spite of His most intense suffering, Jesus maintained a deep peace during His entire passion.
This is evident from the seven last words that He spoke. One of them, it is true, does appear to be a cry of anguish: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" 14 Calvin chose to see in it a cry
14 Matt. 27:461 Mark 15:34- of despair. But such was not the case at all, as shown by the words of trust and thanksgiving which followed: "It is consummated." 1B
These words, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" are the first verse of a Messianic psalm which fittingly rose to Christ's lips, for it is a psalm in which Jesus spoke in the name of the sinners whose sins He had taken upon Himself.
Here is what psalm 21 says:
In Thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and Thou hast delivered them. They cried to Thee, and they were saved: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.
All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.
He hoped in the Lord, let Him deliver him: let Him save him, seeing He delighteth in him.
For Thou art He that hast drawn me out of the womb: . . .
From my mother's womb Thou art my God, depart not from me.
For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me. . . .
For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me.
They have dug my hands and feet. They have numbered all my bones. . . . And upon my vesture they cast lots.
But Thou, O Lord, remove not Thy help to a distance from me; look toward My defense. . . .
I will declare Thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise Thee.
Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him: all ye seed of Jacob, glorify Him, . . . Because He hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath He turned away His face from me: and when I cried to Him He heard me.
The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek Him: their hearts shall live forever and ever.
All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord. And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in His sight.10
Thus does the psalm which began with a cry of pain: "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" end in words of trust and praise. Jesus in His dying moments lived this psalm in its entirety with a depth of experience which we cannot begin to fathom.
As for the remainder of Christ's last words, they are all manifestly words of peace, the most beautiful that a martyr-priest can say. Not only do these words prove that the heart of Jesus was full of profound peace. They also show that His was a radiant peace which He communicated to those around Him, to those whom He strengthened at the very moment He was being crucified for them.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 16 This was said for His executioners when they were nailing Him to the cross. The martyrs would repeat these words, and first among them St. Stephen obtained through his prayer the conversion of Saul who was keeping the garments of Stephen's murderers.
There is peace also in the words spoken to the good thief, for they promise him heavenly peace: "This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise." 1T After these words, the good thief's cross was no longer merely a punishment, as was the other thief's. It became a reparation which opened the portals of heaven to him. These words were to be repeated again and again by Christ's ministers entrusted with the duty of preparing condemned men to meet their God.
The words addressed to Mary and to John were also words of peace, pouring a gentle balm on their aching hearts: "Woman, behold thy son." 18 By these words Mary became more than ever the Mother of all men personified by John, and mediator and distributer of all graces. "Behold thy mother." 19 These words of mercy produced in John's soul the most respectful and filial affection for Mary, from whom he would receive so many graces for his apostolic ministry.
After saying the first words of psalm 21, Jesus cried out: "I thirst; ... it is consummated." 20 He thirsted for souls, but He Himself was bringing to them at that moment the living waters of grace. He had the immense joy of consummating the work of the Redemption. There is more joy in giving than in receiving, and Jesus was giving
reconciliation with God, profound peace of soul to all men who would accept it, to all who would place no obstacle in its way.
The last word, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit," 21 is, as it were, the consecration of the sacrifice of the Cross which restores all things and brings upon all souls the outpouring of divine mercy.
How did Jesus preserve this profound and radiant peace in the midst of His torments and intense sufferings? Theologians 22 admit that this is a miracle and a supernatural mystery of the order of grace, resulting from the fact that Jesus was at once viator et com-prehensor, a wayfarer toward eternity and a comprehensor enjoying the vision of the divine essence. This mysterious union of most profound suffering with the most sublime peace has been explained diversely by various theologians. 23
St. Thomas gives us the truest explanation, one which in spite of its obscurities is very luminous. 24 "If we take the whole soul as comprising all its faculties, . . . His entire soul did not enjoy fruition 81 Luke 23:4.6.
*" Some nominalist theologians like Aureolus in the fourteenth century have said that during His passion Jesus suffered only in the sensible part of His soul which is common to both men and animals. — This is contrary to the doctrine of Scripture and tradition, for Jesus suffered above all from sin, a suffering which like contrition is essentially spiritual and even supernatural, in the sense that it derives from charity, from God's offended love and from love of souls who are being lost.
Other theologians have maintained that on the contrary while Jesus on the Cross continued to enjoy the beatific vision, He did not want to continue to enjoy the happiness which this vision normally causes in the highest reaches of the soul. This is the view taken by Salmeron, Melchior Cano and several others. — This opinion is opposed to that of St. Thomas (Ilia, q. 46, a. 7, and a. 8), and appears to be untenable. For it is inconceivable that a soul should see God face to face, should possess Him through this vision and not experience immense joy in the highest of its faculties.
Still others, like Theophile Raynaud, have said: Supreme beatitude and the depths of sadness are contrary to each other, and yet they have been united miraculously in Jesus. To this contention the answer has been made that a miracle cannot be a consummated contradiction. The first two explanations diminish the mystery, and the last ones make a contradiction of it.
24 In Ilia, a.46, a. 7 and 8, St. Thomas first gives an abstract answer which prepares the ground for the solution. He remarks that if we consider the soul according to its essence which as essence is indivisible, it can be said that Christ's whole soul suffered in each part of His shattered body, and at the same time His whole soul, which was the subject of His superior faculties whose highest parts were beatified, rejoiced. But if we would speak in concrete terms we must consider not only the essence of the soul but its different faculties.
. by any overflow of glory, because, since Christ was still upon earth, there was no overflowing of glory from the higher part into the lower." 26
Only the summit of our Savior's human intellect and will were beatified. Jesus willed very freely to abandon to suffering the less elevated regions of His superior faculties and of His sensibility. 26 In other words, He freely prevented the irradiation of the light of glory on His lower reason and on His sensitive faculties. He did not wish that this light and the joy which derives from it should by their lrradiance lessen in any way the moral and physical suffering which He had chosen to bear for our salvation. He who was on several occasions to preserve His martyrs from suffering in the midst of their torments, by granting them abundant graces, chose to yield Himself up completely to suffering, so that He might save us by the most perfect of holocausts. 27
Christ's peace amid suffering reminds us of a high mountain peak whose summit is bathed in sunlight, while its lower reaches are in the grips of a terrible storm. Thus only the uppermost portion of Christ's superior faculties was free from suffering, because He freely yielded Himself up to suffering without seeking any relief in the vision of the divine essence.
There is undoubtedly a mystery in all this. Yet we can at least get a faint idea of it in the case of a penitent. St. Augustine tells us that the truly contrite penitent rejoices because he grieves over his sins, and the more he grieves the more he rejoices. 28
Christ's suffering and peace, far from being opposed, harmonize very well. His love of God gave Him peace and made Him suffer at the sight of sin. Love of souls also made Him suffer because of our
Cf St Thomas, ComfemUum theologiae, chap. 231: "Ratio supenor Christ, plena Dei visione fruebatur. . . . (Sed Christus) permittebat unicuique infenorum vinum moveri proprio motu, secundum quod ipsum decebat." _
"Cf. St. Thomas, Ilia, q.47, • = "Christ . . . could have prevented His Passion and death. Firstly, by holding His enemies in check, so that they would not have been eager to slay Him, or would have been powerless to do so. Secondly, because His spirit had the power of preserving His fleshly nature from the infliction of any injury. . . . Therefore ... He is said to have laid down His life, or to have died voluntarily."
"St. Augustine, De vera el falsa fotmtenlia, chap. 13: "Semper doleat poenitem et de dolore gaudeat." Cf. St. Thomas, Ilia, q.84, a.9 »<l »• transgressions and gave Him joy in our salvation. This thought never left Him. Even on Thabor, He spoke of His passion to Moses and Elias, and immediately after His transfiguration He announced to His disciples what manner of death He would die. 29
The great lesson to be learned from this mystery is that, following in the Savior's footsteps, each of us must carry his own cross if we would participate in the fruits of His cross. There are many crosses that accomplish nothing for the suffering souls that endure them. Such was the cross of the bad thief. By contrast, in union with our Lord, we must carry our cross with patience and even with gratitude and love. Thus shall we gain little by little a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Redemption, and from it we shall receive the fruits of life that endure for all eternity.
*XXIV®
Jesus, priest and victim on the cross
"Christ . . . hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness."
'E HAVE spoken of the peace of Christ during His passion, this sublime contrast we are given a glimpse of the depth of His love. There is another contrast that is quite as remarkable: that of divine strength in weakness. During His passion and on the cross Jesus was at once a broken victim, annihilated as it were for our salvation, and the most powerful of priests by reason of His merit and His intercession.
Divine Strength in Weakness
In the Old Testament we find several examples of this strength in weakness in the most beautiful figures of the Christ to come, particularly in the person of Isaac who carried the wood of his sacrifice and allowed himself to be bound on an altar by his father Abraham, in preparation for the immolation. At that moment a voice from heaven was heard saying to Abraham: "Because thou hast ... not spared thy only-begotten son for My sake: I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the seashore . . . because thou hast obeyed My voice."11 Isaac's greatness lies in the fact that he obeyed with his father and that he allowed himself to be bound on the altar of sacrifice as a victim to be immolated.
Divine strength in weakness is also apparent in another figure of Christ, indeed one of the most touching: Joseph, sold by his brothers, sold out of jealousy because he had prophetic dreams and because he was especially loved of his father Jacob. Joseph, sold for a few pieces of silver, became the salvation of his brothers when he made himself known to them and said: "I am Joseph. Is my father yet living?" 2 Thus was the Savior persecuted through jealousy, because He had a divine message, and was hated by the priests of the Levitical priesthood which was the figure of His eternal priesthood. Thus was He sold for thirty denarii and became the salvation of us all, of all who believe and hope in Him.
The Lord said to St. Paul: "Power is made perfect in infirmity." 8 And the Apostle himself writes: "We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness: but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God [Christ crowned with thorns] is wiser than men} and the weakness of God [the crucified Savior] is stronger than men." *
This remarkable contrast between the power of Jesus and the oppression He endured constitutes the austere and sublime beauty of His spiritual physiognomy. It is something that escapes the eyes of the world and unfolds itself to the saints as they progress in the path of contemplation. If beauty, which is harmony, derives from unity in diversity, the sublime, which is the extraordinarily beautiful, derives from the most intimate unity in the greatest diversity. It is the reconciliation of two extremes which God alone can harmonize.
This mystery has been completely disfigured by two opposing heresies. In the second century the Docetae were scandalized by the passion of the Savior which they considered unworthy of a God, and they declared that Jesus' sufferings had been only apparent. According to them, Jesus had not really suffered at Gethsemane and on the cross, nor had He been a victim. The painful Passion, they said, had been only a sham. To support this senseless contention, which is con-
- II Cor. 11:9. In thii text, according; to the Greek, reference ii made to divine power rallier (linn to man's virtue. * I Cor. i 113-15.
trary to the most soundly established facts, the Docetae maintained that the Word had not taken a real body in Jesus, but only the appearances of a body like a ghost. What errors we are led into when we are scandalized by the Cross!
In contrast to this error, there were other heretics later on, like Calvin, who held that Jesus had suffered so very much on Calvary that He had yielded for a moment to despair, and that He had endured the pains of hell at the moment when He cried out: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Calvin seemed to think that Jesus redeemed us more through the intensity of His sufferings than through the infinite value of the love with which He endured them.
Thus error swings from one extreme to the other, because men do not know or choose to ignore the culminating point where apparently contrary truths are reconciled. The doctrine of the Church remains on the lofty levels where the diverse aspects of truth are harmonized. It maintains that Jesus on the cross was the most powerful priest by His oblation and the most annihilated voluntary victim. Far more, it holds that divine power has never manifested itself in such a sublime manner as in the passion of the Savior, for this was the greatest action of His life, the consummation of His mission. There is here an admirable law of the spiritual world, which is continually fulfilled in men's souls. "Power is made perfect in infirmity," saith the Lord.
Let us first consider Jesus as victim: the extent of His immolation. We shall then consider the power of the Savior in the midst of this immolation.
Jesus, Victim. The Extent of His Immolation
Our Lord willed to experience all the sufferings of body and soul which were fitting to His mission as Redeemer and victim. He chose to go through all our trials, to go to the utmost limits of sacrifice in order to expiate our sins and merit eternal life for us by leaving us the example of the loftiest virtues amid the greatest adversity.
JESUS, PRIEST AND VICTIM zii
He was a victim in His body: His garments were torn off Him, He was mocked, struck, scourged, until His body was one vast wound, He was crowned with thorns and was spit upon. He was treated like a vile wretch, a murderer was given preference over Him; He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. He was given gall to drink, and He was sneered at as He hung dying.
He was a victim in His heart. The affection of His people was taken from Him, this people who eight days earlier when He triumphantly entered Jerusalem acclaimed Him with shouts of "Hosanna, Son of David!" How His heart must have suffered when He cried out in lament: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldest not! " 5 The world in its wisdom refuses the exceptional gifts that the Lord sends to it. And in giving expression to this suffering Jesus foresaw all the acts of ingratitude that were to come in the future, some even from souls upon whom He would heap the greatest favors.
He was a victim in His innermost soul, for He suffered most intensely from the sight of sin, from the numberless sins He was to expiate, from the deicide that was to be committed through pride and voluntary blindness. Our Lord's soul was crushed by this spiritual and moral suffering inasmuch as it wounded to the quick His charity, His love of God and of souls. He suffered from sin to a degree that we cannot begin to understand: in the measure of His love for God whom sin offends, in the measure of His love for our souls that sin kills. Stigmatists, such as St. Francis of Assisi and St. Catherine of Siena, who participated in these spiritual sufferings, have told us that they are inexpressible.
Our Savior suffered from the sins of all men not only because He understood their limitless gravity, but also because He had taken them upon Himself to expiate them and because He wished Himself to bear the weight of the divine curse due to sin.
Jesus could not have been more completely a victim. There could be no more absolute immolation. We read in Isaias 53:
Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and His look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed Him not.
Surely He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought Him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Jesus as victim understood to what degree God loves goodness and detests evil. "Love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell," says the Canticle of Canticles (8:6). The heart of Jesus, victim for sin, endured these rigorous demands of the love of God. Indeed, as St. Paul says, "Christ Jesus . . . emptied Himself, . . . becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross." a
The Fortitude of the Savior in His Immolation
It is in this weakness and this annihilation that the power of the Lord is manifest in its fullness. Jesus was indeed a victim. But He was also a priest, and the oblation of Himself which He offered up was of infinite value. As St. Paul says, "The weakness of God [Christ crucified] is stronger than men. ... But the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that He may confound the wise; and the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that He may confound the strong, . . . that no flesh should glory in His sight." 7
David among the prophets, after announcing, "They have dug My hands and feet," added: "All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord." 8 Likewise in Isaias we read: "And the Lord was pleased to bruise Him in infirmity: if He shall lay down His life for sin, He shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in His hand. . . . He hath borne the sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors." 9
The Savior's teaching had progressively brought to light this great law of the supernatural world. From the start, in the Sermon on the
Mount, He had announced: "Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 10
In the parable of the good shepherd He clearly announced His sacrifice: "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth His life for His sheep. . . . There shall be one fold and one Shepherd. Therefore doth the Father love Me: because I lay down My life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it away from Me: but I lay it down of Myself, and I have power to take it up again. This commandment have I received of My Father." 11 Again He said: "The Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a redemption for many." 12 Also: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself. (Now this He said, signifying what death He should die.)" 18 Of the sons of Zebedee He asked: "Can you drink of the chalice that I drink of?" 14
When He instituted the Holy Eucharist, He said: "This is My body, which is given for you. . . . This is the chalice, the new testament in My blood, which shall be shed for you." 18 "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 16 Lastly, the priestly prayer which St. John records in his seventeenth chapter is, as it were, the introit of the bloody Mass of the Cross.
We would expect that the apostles, enlightened by all these words, should have understood that the hour of oppression would be the hour of supreme victory. Yet when armed men led by Judas seized Jesus, the apostles, unable to endure this mystery of the Savior's cruel death, abandoned their Master at the very moment when He was about to consummate His work. At that moment they saw only the human side of things and not what God accomplishes in them.
Yet at the very moment when abuse was heaped upon Him and when He was crushed by the weight of our sins, our Lord displayed supreme dignity and invincible fortitude. It was He who determined the course of events, by making even His enemies and the blind fury of the spirit of evil serve the glory of God, and by making of the
cross with which He was burdened the great means of salvation. He transformed the greatest obstacles into means.
At the time of His arrest, St. John tells us, He asked the soldiers who were with Judas: "Whom seek ye?" "Jesus of Nazareth." "I am He." 11 And at these words they went backward and fell to the ground, as if struck by an invisible force. A few minutes later He said to Peter, who wished to defend Him with his sword: "Put up thy sword into the scabbard. The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall 1 not drink it?" 18
Before Caiphas, He confessed that He was the Son of God and that He would come to judge the living and the dead. 18 Before Herod, He did not answer the questions of the voluptuous monarch who was eager to witness some prodigy. 20 Before Pilate, when asked if He was king of the Jews, He answered: "My kingdom is not of this world. . . . For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth My voice." 21
On Calvary He showed His fortitude by His patience and by His heroic constancy. St. Thomas tells us that the principal act of the virtue of fortitude is to endure tribulation, to stand firm under blows, not to be crushed by adversity. 22 Heroic fortitude, St. Thomas says, is connected with the other virtues and must be accompanied by virtues which may seem the most completely opposite, humility and gentleness. This is what the false martyrs lack. This is the fortitude and gentleness that we see in Jesus when they pierced His hands and His feet and when He prayed for His executioners, saying: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 23
Christ's gentleness at such a moment is a manifestation of the most complete mastery of self, utter forgetfulness of self for the salvation of souls. Truly Jesus gave up His life as He had foretold in the parable of the good shepherd: "I lay down My life for My sheep. ... No man taketh it away from Me: but I lay it down of Myself,
M Ha Ilae, q.113, a.6: "The principal act of fortitude ii endurance, that is to stand immovable in the midst of dangers rather than to attack them." " Luke 13:3*.12
and I have power to lay it down: and ... to take it up again." 24
This interior oblation is the soul of the sacrifice of the Cross. The sovereign power of the dying Jesus is also apparent in His words to the good thief: "Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise." 28 The oblation also finds expression in these words: "It is consummated." 26 Finally, as St. Luke reports, "the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And Jesus crying with a loud voice, said: Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit. And saying this, He gave up the ghost." 27 These last words were the words of the consecration of the sacrifice of the Cross, the supreme expression of oblation.
At that very moment, St. Matthew tells us, "the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent. And the graves were opened: and many bodies of the saints that had slept arose. . . . Now the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake, and the things that were done, were sore afraid, saying: Indeed this was the Son of God." 28
To our limited human reason, Jesus on the cross may appear vanquished. On the contrary He is the all-powerful conqueror over sin and Satan. He is the "Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world," as His resurrection was to demonstrate in a visible and striking manner: victory over death, which is the consequence of sin, is the sign of victory over sin.
This admirable contrast of power in immolation is to be found in all souls in whom the image of the Crucified is profoundly imprinted: in Mary, Mother of Sorrows, in the persecuted apostles, who were considered "the refuse of this world." 28
This should teach us the marvelous fruitfulness of suffering when supernaturally endured in union with the Savior. The apostolate of prayer and suffering fructifies far more than we imagine the apostolate of preaching, teaching, and exterior works. As St. Paul exhorts us, let us be "followers of God, . . . and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness." 30
It is clear that our Savior's passion was a true sacrifice, the greatest of all sacrifices, as St. Paul explains at length in his Epistle to the Hebrews (chapters 9 and 10). On the cross, Jesus was at once priest and victim, for He was offering Himself up voluntarily. 31 From the time He prayed at Gethsemane until He expired, all His words and acts were expressions of this voluntary oblation which is, as it were, the soul of this sacrifice of adoration, supplication, reparation, and thanksgiving: "Consummation est."
All the sacrifices of the Old Law, from that of Abraham preparing to immolate his son Isaac until the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, were figures of the sacrifice on Calvary, which alone could wipe out sin, for it alone has an infinite value through the person of the priest who offers it up and through the worth of the victim that is offered up. 32
Jesus on the cross is the victim for sin, by which sin is remitted, the victim of peace which preserves grace, the perfect holocaust which raises us up toward God. This is the holocaust of which all past sacrifices were but the prefigurations. 33 This is the holocaust which will be commemorated and perpetuated in substance until the end of the world in every Mass, at which the Savior will always be the principal priest and the victim truly present on the altar and sacramentally immolated.
St. Paul tells us: "Christ, being come a high priest of the good things to come, . . . neither by the blood of goats or of calves, but by His own blood, entered once into the holies, having obtained eternal redemption." 84 "For Jesus is not entered into the holies made with hands, the patterns of the true: but into heaven itself, that He may appear now in the presence of God for us." 35 The sacrifice of the Cross thus appears as the most perfect of all sacrifices. It is excellent in itself and through itself quite apart from the other sacrifices, and the latter derive their worth wholly from the sacrifice of the Cross. 38 n CI. St. Thomas, Ilia, q.48, a. j. » 2 Cf. ibid.
- 8 Of recent years it lias been maintained that the sacrifice of the Cross would not be complete without the Last Supper, for it would then lack sufficient and ritualistic expression of the oblation. As a matter of fact the entire Epistle to the Hebrews, and after it tradition and the greatest theologians, notably St. Thomas (Ilia, q.48, a. 3), point to the
Each day as we assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass let us learn to live by the sacrifice of the Cross which is perpetuated in substance on the altar. Let us especially ask for an understanding of the Cross and for a love of those crosses which Providence has reserved for us from all eternity until we enter heaven. Let us remember this law of Christian life: "Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." 87
Let us often repeat the seven last words of Christ, which are, so to speak, His testament, and let us ask Mary to enable us to understand them: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. — This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise. — Woman, behold thy son. Behold thy mother. — My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? — I thirst. — It is consummated. — Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit."
Cross, without making reference to the Last Supper, as being the greatest of all sacrifices, and as being excellent in itself and by itself alone. The sacrifice of the Cross is eminently ritualistic, for symbolic reality contains all symbols in an eminent degree, above all when this reality is that of the priest and victim par excellence chosen by God from all eternity. Let us avoid all liturgical formalism here. Symbols have value only in relation to reality expressed through these symbols. Melchisedech has a place in religious history only in relation to Christ. There is a real and complete sacrifice where God and Christ have willed that there should be, where there is interior immolation and oblation manifested by all the words and acts of the victim who offers Himself up. Thus does the Council of Trent (Denzinger, no. 938) speak of the oblation which Christ made of Himself in ara cruris, on the altar of the Cross. 87 John 12:24 f.
xxv
Christ's victory over death
"And if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins."
ON PENTECOST, as the Acts of the Apostles record, Peter, enlightened and strengthened by the Holy Ghost, said to the Jews: "Jesus of Nazareth . . . being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the sorrows of hell, as it was impossible that He should be holden by it." 1 On the following days Peter repeated it: "The Author of life you killed, whom God hath raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses." 2 "Neither is there salvation in any other." 8
Thus the Resurrection appears to Peter and to the other apostles as the definitive confirmation of our faith in Christ. And remarkably enough, the great adversaries of our Lord had anticipated this. Without knowing it, they served the designs of Providence in a most astounding manner. Just as Caiphas the high priest had said during the Passion: "It is expedient that one man should die for the people," 4 so, as St. Matthew reports, 5 the chief priests and the Pharisees remembered that Jesus had said: "After three days I will rise again." Thereupon they "made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting guards." 6 It was these guards, the soldiers, who were struck with terror at the moment of the Resurrection, at the sight of the angel from
heaven, 7 and it was they who told the priests and Pharisees what had happened. 8
The resurrection of the Savior was the decisive sign of His divine mission. Peter and the apostles never tired of affirming it. St. Paul said the same thing in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, about the year 55: "For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures: and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures: and that He was seen by Cephas; and after that by the eleven. Then was He seen by more than five hundred brethren at once: of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep. After that, He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. And last of all, He was seen also by me, as by one born out of due time. . . . For whether I, or they, so we preach, and so you have believed." 9 Then Paul adds: "If Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain, ... for you are yet in your sins." 10
What does Paul mean by these last words? He means that if this is the case, our faith in the risen Christ, which faith is the basis of justification, 11 is vain and false and consequently our sins have not been forgiven.
He also means, as St. John Chrysostom remarks: If Christ is not risen, we have no guaranty that God has accepted His death as redemption. Thus nothing has been accomplished, and the work of salvation is yet to be done. 12
To help us grasp the inner meaning of these words of St. Paul, as understood by St. John Chrysostom and many other interpreters after him, let us first bear in mind what our faith in Christ must be if we are to be saved. We shall then understand how His victory over death is the great sign of His victory over sin and over the spirit of evil.
" St. John Chrysostom says: "Si mortuus non potest resurgere, neque ablatum est peccntuin, neque mors est pcrcmpta, nee ablatum est maldcdictum" (P.G., LXI, 335). Cf. Theophylactqi and Ecumenuu. The latter writes: "Si clcletum esset peccatum, utique mort ni.im, quae per ipsum erat, extiiuta ensct." In other wonls, sin is truly wiped out only if it* elfect, namely, death, in alrolinhrd.
What We Must Believe about Christ's Victory over Sin
We must first of all believe in the existence of God, the author of grace and supreme rewarder. 18 Next we must believe that Jesus, the Son of God, is the Savior, the "Lamb of God, . . . who taketh away the sin of the world." 14 We must fervently believe in the truth of His words: "Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you." 18 1 will refresh your souls by extricating them from sin, by giving them the life of grace, the seed of eternal life.
This act of lively faith should be not only a speculative certainty without influence on our lives, but a deep and perpetual conviction which transforms all we have to do or to suffer each day. This act of faith often remains too feeble within us. If in the midst of our troubles we remain depressed, introverted, it is because we do not have enough faith and confidence in Jesus Christ, our Savior.
The apostles were the first to feel on certain days before Pentecost the weakness of their faith. One day during a storm on Lake Genesareth our Lord said to them: "Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?" 16 They became even more conscious of their frailty during the Passion. Indeed, they had been enraptured by the sublime teaching of the Master, they had seen Him perform miracles, raise Lazarus from the dead, cast out devils, walk on the water. Three of the apostles had even been present at His transfiguration on Mount Thabor. But they also saw Him sad unto death at Gethsemane, and later they saw Him insulted, scourged, spit upon, and even Peter went astray for a moment to the point of denying three times that he knew Him.
What we must believe and what those at the foot of the cross were called on to believe was that the agonizing Jesus was the Savior of souls precisely because of His agony, far more than He had been through His sermons and His miracles. Agony means combat, and Christ's agony was the great combat against the spirit of evil, a combat in which Jesus was completely victorious.
"Heb. n:6: "He that comcth to God must believe that He is, and is a rewarder to them that seek Him." 14 John i -.19. 18 Matt. 1 1 .18. " Matt. S :i6| 14:31-
He had said to His disciples after the Last Supper: "Have confidence, I have overcome the world." 17 It was on the cross that He won His definitive victory over the gravest of all evils, the most profound evil in the world, namely, sin and Satan.
At the moment of the "Consummatum est," Mary made the greatest act of faith that was ever made on earth. She did not cease for an instant to believe that her crucified Son was the Savior of all men. Participating in the Virgin's great faith were the holy women near her, also St. John, the good thief, and the centurion. In varying degrees they all believed that the work of salvation was consummated in this annihilation of the Victim chosen from all eternity to carry the burden of our sins in our stead.
But few were those who believed it in that supreme hour. The great majority could not bear the death of Christ: "Fac ut -portent Christi mortem" are the words of the Stabat Mater.
What it was necessary to believe then and what we must still believe is that the object of derision, regarded as the off scouring of humanity, before whom men wagged their heads mocking, is in reality the strength and the life of souls, the one who has overcome the world. What we must believe is that the hour of darkness and shame, when viewed from above, is also the glorious hour of salvation, the most fruitful of all for souls.
At that hour many disciples — as we can see from the words of the disciples of Emmaus — felt themselves weakening, and this can happen to anyone in the face of persecution and hatred. Yet we must believe that the crucified Christ, who seemed totally defeated, was victorious over sin, that He is the one "who taketh away the sin of the world." This mysterious and hidden victory needed to be confirmed by a tangible and overpowering proof that would rekindle the confidence of the disciples. Divine Providence had decided from all eternity that this would be not merely another miracle, but the resurrection of the Lord. What is the reason for this? Because of the very close relation between sin and death. This is one of the great truths of revelation.
Christ's Victory over Death, the Sign of His Victory over Sin
In the Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul reminds us that death entered the world as the consequence of sin and that, as Adam was the representative of the human race for its perdition, so Christ is the representative and head of humanity for its salvation and He is the inexhaustible wellspring of grace: "By one man sin entered into this world and by sin death. ... If by the offense of one, many died, . . . if by one man's offense death reigned through one: much more they who receive abundance of grace and of the gift and of justice shall reign in life through one, Jesus Christ. . . . Where sin abounded, grace did more abound. 18 St. Paul adds: "The wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord." 19
In the actual plan of Providence if Adam had not sinned, if there had not been this disorder, this ruin, this moral corruption which consists in the separation of the soul from God, then there would not have been this ruin, this physical corruption which consists in the separation of the body from the soul. Death is the consequence and the punishment of sin.
Doubtless man is mortal by nature, as the animals are. Yet, through grace the first man had received for himself and his descendants the privilege of immortality, provided he should remain faithful to God. As Genesis records it, when the Lord placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and preserve it, He said: "Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death." 20
This was but a gentle testing of man's submission, as Boussuet says, 21 a light brake on the exercise of his free will, to make him realize that he had a master, though a most merciful one.
The devil, on the other hand, told him: "No, you shall not die the
n Elevations sur let myslires, 6th week, 7th elevation.
death. For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." 22 That is to say: you will be able to rule yourselves, with no need to obey. The devil himself had said: "I will not obey."
What happened immediately after the sin of disobedience and pride? As Scripture records it, "the eyes of them both were openened." 23 They acquired the knowledge of good and evil: not the knowledge that enables one to conduct oneself wisely, but the knowledge that is nothing but the bitter experience of evil committed and of its profound difference from goodness and from the holiness they had just lost for themselves and for their descendants. 24 They realized how true had been the Lord's warning to them and how the devil had lied.
Their souls seemed dead within them. For in tasting evil through their pride, they had lost divine life and God's friendship. Their souls had withdrawn from God who gave them life, and God had withdrawn from them. In consequence they lost mastery over their passions. The emotions, until then subject to right reason and to the will, revolted, just as the will had revolted against God. Finally, inasmuch as the soul had ceased to be under God's dominion, the body ceased to be under the soul's governance. Once the soul had withdrawn from God who vivified it, the body separated from the soul, the source of its life. The soul had been untrue to its divine friendship, and God withdrew from the body its wholly gratuitous privileges of impassibility and immortality. Man had preferred nature to grace, and nature's threadbareness was apparent. The human body, thenceforth subject to natural laws, was exposed to winds and inclement weather, to pain, sickness, and death. Until then man had dominated death. The Lord now said to Adam: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou was taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return." 25 The Church reminds us of this every Ash Wednesday.
14 The Council of Trent »ay«: "Adam lost for himself an<l for us both the holiness and the original justice he had received from God." Dcnzingcr, no. 789.
Death of the body, the consequence and punishment of sin, was also the symbol of sin. For mortal sin is, as it were, the death of the soul. Loss of the life of grace was followed by the loss of physical life. Horror of death should inspire in us a horror of sin, through which death came into the world.
Immediately after the fall of man the Lord promised a redeemer, when He said to the serpent: "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head." 29
As all the prophecies specify, Jesus eminently represents the posterity of the woman. On Good Friday He conquered both sin and the devil. But this hidden victory, won by the One who might have seemed to be vanquished but who was really a victim for us, was to be manifested by an overwhelming sign. Here we can see the supernatural logic of these mysteries according to the plan of Providence. It was highly fitting that this great sign should be the resurrection of the Savior. If death is the consequence of sin, it was altogether fitting that Christ's victory over death should be the sign of His victory over sin. In other words, Christ's victory over death, proved by His resurrection, means that He was victorious over sin on the cross.
That is why St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "And if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain: for you are yet in your sins." 27 That is to say: we have no guaranty that God has accepted His death as redemption. And St. Paul added that the Savior's resurrection is the guaranty of our own future resurrection: "For by a man came death : and by a man the resurrection of the dead. And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive." 28 Jesus had said at Lazarus' tomb: "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live." 28 He had also said three times when He promised the Eucharist: "Now this is the will of the Father who sent Me: that of all that He hath given Me, I should lose nothing; but should raise it up again in the last day." 30 This formula recurs several times in this discourse by our Lord, who was called to save both our bodies and our souls and to make us participate in His glorious life.
That is why St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "And the enemy, death, shall be destroyed last." 81 "And when this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written [Osee 13:14]: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? Now the sting of death is sin. . . . But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 82 Likewise the Apocalypse (1:17) tells us that Jesus appeared to St. John and said to him: "Fear not. I am the First and the Last, and alive, and was dead. And behold I am living forever and ever and have the keys of death and of hell." 33 "Write: These things saith the Holy One. ... He that openeth and no man shutteth, shutteth and no man openeth." 84
This is the triumph that the liturgy proclaims on Easter Day in the Sequence Victimae faschali laud.es:
The Lamb redeems the sheep j
And Christ the sinless one,
Hath to the Father sinners reconciled.
Together, death and life In a strange conflict strove. The Prince of life, who died, Now lives and reigns.
We know that Christ indeed Has risen from the grave: Hail, thou King of Victory, Have mercy, Lord, and save. Amen.
Let each of us consider how different the history of humanity would be and how different our own lives would be if there had been no Redemption and no Resurrection.
There is every evidence that the victory of Christ over sin is far superior to His victory over death. The former is the very essence of the mystery of the Redemption. The latter is but a sensible sign of
** Apoc. 1:171 cf. Hcb. 1:141 Apoc. 10:131 Rom. 14:9. "Apoc. 3:7. Cf. lia. »i:»i.
the inward and invisible supernatural mystery. The symbol derives its value from the grandeur of the thing symbolized. The moment of the "Consummatum est" was the greatest and most glorious in the whole history of mankind. But this victory was so mysterious, so hidden, that it escaped even the majority of the apostles themselves, and so it needed to be made manifest by an incontestable sensible sign. This was provided by Christ's triumph over death, the consequence of sin. And that is why we celebrate Easter with great magnificence, to honor the great victory won by our Savior on Good Friday. The act of love of Good Friday, which is commemorated at every Mass, far surpasses the corporeal resurrection which is its manifestation.
The apostles were made to see the light. The Savior's death had left them broken, crushed. They were going to return to their earthly occupations and forget the kingdom of God. From the day they knew of the Resurrection, their faith faltered no more. Given still new light through the grace of Pentecost, they scattered over the earth to preach the good tidings; and following their Master's example, they preached His gospel until they were martyred. In the midst of their torments they put all their trust in the glorious Christ, as St. Stephen had done before them, and they trod the same path as he to eternal happiness.
This mystery of resurrection continues in the Church in a certain sense. Jesus made the Church in His own image, and if He allows her to pass through terrible tribulations, He enables her to rise up again and to be more glorious after the mortal blows of her enemies have been struck. This is what happened during the persecutions of Nero, Diocletian, and Julian the Apostate. From the blood of thousands of martyrs sprang up thousands of Christian Churches.
The Church likewise triumphed over the great Arian and Pelagian heresies, which were the occasion of immortal works by the Greek Fathers and by St. Augustine.
During the early Middle Ages the barbarians spread desolation everywhere, but the Church was able to conquer and convert them. In the thirteenth century the Albigensians tried to revive Manichaeism, but great new religious orders arose, and this thirteenth century became the golden age of theology.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it might have seemed to some people that the Church would perish under the blows of the pagan Renaissance and of Protestantism. Large areas of Germany and England were lost to Catholicism. However, at that very moment there arose in Europe a galaxy of saintly founders or reformers. The Church was established in India, where St. Francis Xavier renewed the prodigies of the apostolic era. In America, Louis Bertrand and Las Casas proclaimed the charity of Christ, and the true reform was being organized at the Council of Trent.
The French Revolution set out to destroy the Church once more. Priests were massacred, religious orders were suppressed, altars were profaned, and the foundations of a new life and a new religion were laid down. But in 1801 the Concordat was signed, the Catholic worship reappeared in the churches. Little by little the dispersed religious orders were re-established, saints like the Cure of Ars called back into being all the vitality of Christianity, and the missions of the Orient, Asia, Africa, and America made astonishing progress.
Thus will it be until the end of time. The mystery of the Savior's resurrection is in a sense reproduced in the Church. The life of the Church is a life that has experienced death and amid the most terrible tribulations finds once again an ever-blossoming youth. This is particularly true of the saints who can say with St. Paul: "I die daily," 36 and who, after experiencing martyrdom of the heart in order to labor for the salvation of souls in union with our Lord, appear more vital than ever and live on in their works that bear fruit for eternity.
Thus is the truth of the Master's words, manifested: "I am the resurrection and the life." 36 "If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink. . . . Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," 37 and "I will raise him up in the last day." 38
XXVI
THE PRINCIPAL PRIEST OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS
"Christ . . . always living to make intercession for us."
AFTER His resurrection and ascension, our Savior, who is a priest XA-forever,13 did not cease to exercise the principal act of His priesthood, and He does this especially through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Mass is a sacramental sacrifice substantially perpetuating in an unbloody manner the sacrifice of the Cross, of which it is a memorial} and it applies to us the fruits of the sacrifice of the Cross. Such is the doctrine of faith clearly formulated by the Council of Trent. 2
As the Council explains, the Sacrifice of the Mass is in substance the same as that of the Cross, because it is the same victim, really present on our altars, that is offered up and because it is offered up by the same principal priest. 8 This victim, once nailed to the cross,
3 Cf. Concilium Trid., Sess. XXII, chap. 2 : "Una enim eademque est hostia, idem nunc offerens sacerdotum ministerio, qui se ipsum tunc in cruce obtulit, sola offerendi ratione diversa. Cujus quidem oblationis (cruentae, inquam) fructus per hanc incruentam uberrime percipiuntur: tantum abest, ut illi per hanc quovis modo derogetur."
St. Thomas had said (Ilia, q.83, a. 1 ad 1) : "As Ambrose says (ibid.), there is but one victim, namely that which Christ offered, and which we offer, and not many victims, because Christ was offered but once. . . . For, just as what is offered everywhere is one body, and not many bodies, so also is it but one sacrifice." Ibid., ad 3 : "The principal priest at Mass is Christ, who continues to offer Himself up."
Ibidem, q. 22, a. 3 ad 2: "The Sacrifice which is offered every day in the Church is not distinct from that which Christ Himself offered, but is a commemoration thereof." The Thomists say quite generally: "Missa et sacrificium Crucis sunt idem numericc sacrificium quoad substantiam (ratione hostiae oblatae, principalis offcrentis, ac finis), non vero quoad modum oblationis external (quae nunc est incrucnta, et olim full crucnta)." In philosophical terms, the numerical identity of the victim and of the principal priest is ao8 is now offered under the appearances of bread and wine, and is sacramentally immolated by the separate consecration of the body and blood of our Savior, who is present on the altar in the state of death, as it were. Of course His precious blood is no longer physically separated from His body, but we can say that it is sacramentally shed. For, by virtue of the words of the first consecration, only the body of the Savior is present under the species of bread, and formally by the words of the second consecration it is only the precious blood that is under the species of wine. 4
The Mass is therefore a real sacrifice, but an unbloody one. It is not merely a symbolic sacrifice or the simple re-enactment of a past sacrifice, for the victim is really present and not merely the image of this victim. There is also the real oblation of the victim and not merely a symbol of this oblation. But in this unbloody sacrifice, the real and bloody immolation of Calvary is merely symbolized and commemorated, and its fruits are applied to us. As the theologians say: the Mass is a true, unbloody sacrifice which represents the bloody immolation of the sacrifice of the Cross. 8 Hence the Mass is far supe- far more important than the diversity of the exterior mode of oblation, just as Christ's humanity remains substantially the same, though it is now not able to suffer. It is therefore necessary to preserve as much as possible the terminology of the Council of Trent. It is eminently philosophical and gives admirable expression to this unique case, without losing sight of its elevation and the way it is superior to time. Thus the substance of this sacrifice is perpetuated rather than renewed.
4 By concomitance, however, of the fact that the body and blood of the glorified Christ are no longer separated, both are present under each of the two species. But, vi verborum, formally the words of the first consecration render Christ's body present, and the words of the second consecration, His blood.
6 The chief objection raised by the Protestants is this: every genuine sacrifice requires essentially a true immolation of the victim offered up. But at Mass there is no real immolation of the body of Christ, which is now beyond suffering. Therefore the Mass is not a genuine sacrifice, but only the memorial of a past sacrifice.
Several theologians, having apparently forgotten that this difficulty had already been examined by St. Thomas and by St. Albert the Great, accepted the major premise without question and were unable to disprove the minor premise by showing that in the Mass a real immolation of Christ's now impassible body takes place.
According to the doctrine formulated by the Council of Trent, it was necessary to distinguish the major premise: Kvery true bloody sacrifice requires a real immolation of the victim offered up, yesi but this is not true of an unbloody and sacramental sacrifice. And there can be a real sacrifice without a real immolation, for in sacrifice in general the exterior immolation is in gtnert iiRni, it it the symbol of the interior immolation of the "contrite and humbled heart," and derives all its worth from the latter. At St. Auguttint rior to the sacrifices of the Old Testament, for even the sacramental immolation of the Word of God made flesh is a far more eloquent expression of reparative adoration due to God than was the bloody immolation of the paschal lamb and of all the victims of the Old Law. Moreover, this sacramental immolation is far more efficacious than all the ancient sacrifices.
The Mass is the great memorial of the Passion. Without it, the sacrifice of the Cross would be forgotten and would be lost in the night of passing time. The Holy Eucharist makes it possible for each succeeding generation to preserve a living, daily, and fruitful memory of the sacrifice of Calvary. It makes each of us participate in this sacrifice, if we so desire, through Holy Communion. Thus the source of all graces remains open until the end of the world, and everyone can come to it to quench his thirst. 8
In What Sense Jesus Is the Principal Priest of the Sacrifice of the Mass
The Council of Trent says: "Una eademque est hostia, idem nunc ojferens sacerdotum ministerio, qui seifsum tunc in cruce obtulit, sola says in a text often cited by St. Thomas: "The visible sacrifice is the sacrament or sacred sign of the invisible sacrifice" {De cwilate Dei, Bk. X, chap. 5). Cf. St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.81, a. 7s q.85, a. 2, c. and ad 2.
Even in the bloody sacrifice, the exterior immolation of an animal is required, properly speaking, as the sign of interior oblation, adoration, and contrition, without which it has no meaning or value whatever. That is why Cain's sacrifice had no value in God's eyes. "Sacrificium externum est in geuere sign?' ; cf. John of St. Thomas, In lllam, q. 83, a. I.
Since this is the case, we can understand that there can be a real and unbloody sacrifice whose immolation is solely sacramental, without any real separation of the Savior's body and blood. This sacramental immolation, the memorial of the bloody immolation of Calvary, is a sign of reparative adoration that is far more expressive than the bloody immolation of all the victims of the Old Testament. St. Augustine and St. Thomas (Ilia, q.83, a. 1) certainly demand in the Mass nothing more in the way of immolation than the sacramental immolation. See in the article by St. Thomas that we have just cited (arg. Sed contra) the important text of St. Augustine.
8 Moreover, no religion can subsist without a priesthood and without sacrifice. Sacrifice is even the most perfect act of religion, of worship, an act that is at once exterior and interior. And today anyone who considered the sacramental immolation of Christ inadequate and therefore wished to immolate a lamb or kid in a bloody manner, would be considered senseless. There can be only one victim worthy of Christ's priesthood: Himself. And His sacramental immolation on the altar, although merely sacramental, expresses oferendi ratione diversa." T It is the same victim as on Calvary, it is the same priest who offered Himself on the cross and who now offers Himself through His ministers. The only difference lies in the exterior mode of the oblation: on Calvary it was bloody, and here it is sacramental and unbloody. 8
Is it enough to say with certain theologians 9 that Christ offers up the Mass virtually and not actually, inasmuch as He originally instituted it by commanding that this sacrifice be offered up until the end of the world? Let us not underrate the actual influence of Christ, our Redeemer.
In fact, if during the Mass we pay attention to the words of the double consecration, we see that the priest pronounces them not in the name of the Church but in the name of Christ Himself, whose minister, instrument, and mouthpiece the priest is. When the priest consecrates the bread he does not say "This is the body of Christ," but
"This is My body." It is Christ who speaks through the mouth of His minister. 10 Moreover, it is our Lord Himself who now, just as He love of God and hatred of sin far more perfectly than all the bloody sacrifices of the Old Law. It is in actual fact the sacramental immolation of the Word made flesh.
8 Attention should be given to the more developed text that was first proposed to the fathers of the Council of Trent and subsequently merely abridged. Cf. Concilii Tridenlini Acta, Pars V, p. 752: Doctrina de sacrificio missae proposita examinanda patribus die 6 Aug. 1563: Caput I, fine: "Quare nemo negare audeat, missam, quo nomine oblationem hanc exprimere communi consensu consuevit Ecclesia, esse opus bonum ; est enim ipsius Christi opus, qui simul est offerens ct oblatus, sacerdotum tamen ministerio, qui, dum digne sacrificant, opus certe Deo gratum ideoque meritorium exercent."
Caput 2, fine: "Quemadmodum assiduae atque perpetuae Christi preccs, quas ipse apud Patrem pro nobis in caelis advocatus existens fundere creditur, nihil potentissimae illi orationi dctrahunt, qua in cruce cum lacrimis Patrem pro nobis oravit et 'exauditus est pro sui revercntia' (Heb. 5 sj) 5 ita profecto confitendum est, nihil cruento illi crucis tametsi efficacicissimo dcrogare."
" This is the opinion of Father de la Taille, Mysterium Fidei, elucid. 9, p. 103 1 elucid. 23, pp. 295 ff. It was also taught by Scotus, the Scotists, and by Ainericus. Cf. infra, chap.
10 St. Thomas even makes the distinction, in the case of a valid Mass celebrated by an unworthy minister, between the words that the priest says in the name of the Church and which retain their value, and the words of the consecration pronounced not in the name of the Church but in Christ's own name. He says (Ilia, q.82, a. 5): "The priest consecrates this sacrament not by his own power, but as the minister of Christ, in whose person lie consecrates this sacrament. Hut from the fact of being wicked he docs not cease to be Christ's minister."
St. Thomas aihls (ihiJ., a. 6) : "So fnr as the Mats itsi-lf is coiiicrned, the Mass of the did originally, gives the words of the consecration their transubstantiative value, capable of converting hie et nunc the substance of the bread into that of His body, and the substance of the wine into His blood. The Savior's sacred humanity, St. Thomas tells us, 11 remains the conscious instrument, perpetually united to God, to produce the transubstantiation, the real presence, and all the graces that derive from the Eucharist.
At the same time — and this is the point to stress here — Christ, priest for all eternity, continues to offer Himself up sacramentally in order to apply to us the satisfaction and the merits of His passion. In His human capacity, He is the principal cause of this continuing oblation, which is the chief act of His priesthood, the act to which His ministers ought to unite themselves as instruments, becoming each day more conscious of the grandeur of this sacrifice.
The teaching that Christ continues even now to wish to offer Himself up in each Mass is held by theologians in general. What is more, in his encyclical on Christ the King, His Holiness Pope Pius XI has written: "Christus sacerdos se fro feccatis hostiam obtulit, ferfetuoque se offert." 12 The words of the Council of Trent, quoted above, are thereby clarified: "Idem nunc ojferens sacerdotum ministerio, qui seipsum tunc in cruce obtulit. . . ." Having once offered Himself up in a bloody manner on the cross, Christ continues to offer Himself up in a sacramental and unbloody manner through the ministry of His priests.
It follows that even if the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated by a bad priest, the consecration is still pronounced in the name of Christ who thereby converts the substance of the bread into that of wicked priest is not of less value than that of a good priest, because the same sacrifice is offered by both. . . . Again, the prayer put up in the Mass can be considered in two respects, . . . inasmuch as the prayer is said by the priest in the Mass in the place of the entire Church, ... in this respect the prayer even of the sinful priest is fruitful. . . . On the other hand, his private prayers are not fruitful." Ibid., q. 83, a. 1 ad 3. It is evidently on purpose that St. Thomas made a distinction in the Mass between what is done in the name of Christ and the prayers said in the name of the Church. 11 Cf. Ilia, q.62, a. 5 .
11 Denzinger, no. 2195. Encyclical, Quas frimas, December ti, 1925, Dt frincifatu C/irisli: "Cum autem Christus et Ecclesiam Rcdcmptor sanguine suo acquisiverit et Sacerdos se ipse pro peccatis hostiam obtulerit pcrpetuoque offcrat, cui non videatur regium ipsum munus utriusque illius naturam muneris induere ac participare?"
His body, and the sacrifice thus retains its infinite value. Even if the minister were in the state of mortal sin, he would still be the instrument of Christ, provided he intended to perform the act instituted by our Lord.
Our Savior is therefore the principal priest at the Sacrifice of the Mass, not only because He participates in it in a remote manner inasmuch as He instituted the Eucharist both as sacrament and as sacrifice; nor merely inasmuch as He once commanded that this sacrifice be offered up in His name until the end of the world. He is the principal priest because He actually participates in it at the present time in two ways. 13 He continues actually to wish to offer Himself up through the ministry of His priests, as the Council of Trent says. In the second place, in His human capacity He is the conscious and intentional instrument, always united to God, that truly produces the transubstantiation and the graces that derive from the Sacrifice of the Mass.
There is no doubt whatever that when the priest at the altar pronounces in the name of the Savior the words of the double consecration, Jesus actually intends them to be pronounced hie et nunc, and He Himself gives them their transubstantiative power. If an act of will on the part of the minister is necessary, this is far truer of the principal priest. Moreover, though the minister may at times be a little distracted at the moment of the consecration, our Savior never is. Our Lord continues to intend to offer Himself up in this manner in order to apply to each passing human generation and to the souls in purgatory the merits of His passion and of His death.
There have been saints who have been privileged to see our Savior Himself, and not merely the celebrant, perform the Holy Sacrifice. This is a special grace that reminded them of something that we must all believe: that Jesus is the principal priest of the sacrifice offered up on the altar. In thus continuing to offer Himself up, Christ does not cease to intercede for us, 14 as we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is entirely devoted to the grandeur of His priesthood. We cannot insist too much on this point.
Christ's Interior Oblation Always Alive in His Heart
It is certain and an article of faith that the sacred soul of the glorious Christ never ceases to see God immediately, to love Him above all else, to love us, and to desire our salvation. It is equally certain that Christ in heaven does not cease to adore God and to offer up to Him a thanksgiving that will never end. This is what the Preface of the Mass declares: "It is truly meet and just, right and availing unto salvation, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty and everlasting God, through Christ our Lord. Through whom the angels praise Thy majesty, the dominions worship it, the powers stand in awe. . . . With whom we pray Thee join our voices also, while we say with lowly praise: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest."
This worship of adoration and of thanksgiving will continue for all eternity. It will always be offered up by Christ and by His mystical body. 16 Likewise, it is said of Christ during the Mass, just before the Pater Noster: "Through Him, and with Him, and in Him, be unto Thee, O God the Father almighty, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory, world without end."
Let us call to mind what St. Thomas said concerning Christ's prayer. Does the Savior, now that He is in heaven, continue not only to adore and give thanks but also to pray for us, as He did on earth? In time of need we recommend ourselves to the prayers of the saints. Can we also recommend ourselves to Christ's prayers? It is certain that He no longer merits or makes satisfaction for us, for He has reached the end of His course. He is no longer viator, a wayfarer to-
16 However, according to St. Thomas (Ilia, q. 22, a. 5), this worship of adoration and thanksgiving, which will be "the consummation of the sacrifice of Christ," will no longer be a sacrifice in the true sense of the word after the last Mass. For a sacrifice requires an immolation, at least a sacramental one, of the victim offered up, and this sacramental immolation will cease at the end of the world. Likewise, at the present time, Jesus who ii really present in our tabernacles does not cease to adore His Father and to give thanks to Him. But these interior acts are not enough to constitute a sacrifice properly so called. Such a sacrifice exists only during the Mass and not because of the simple fact that tli6 real presence lasts afterward in the consecrated hosts.
ward eternity. But does He not continue to pray so that the merits of His passion may be applied to us? It is certain that the Blessed Virgin, who no longer merits for us, continues to pray that her Son's merits may be applied to us. That is what we ask of her each day in the Hail Mary and in the Litany. Why would not Christ continue to pray for us in this same sense?
In explaining St. Paul's words, "Christ . . . always living to make intercession for us," 18 St. Thomas says: "Christ intercedes for us as our advocate," and He does so in two ways: first, by offering up to His Father His manhood which He took on for us and in which He suffered for us. He also intercedes by expressing to His Father His desire for our salvation." 18 St. Thomas presents the same views in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans 8 :33~35> m explaining the words: "Who shall accuse against the elect of God? . . . Who is he that shall condemn? Christ Jesus that died: yea that is risen also again, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ?" With the same thought in mind St. John says, "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just." 19
In the Summa theological St. Thomas also says: "Since prayers offered for others proceed from charity, . . . the greater the charity of the saints in heaven, the more they pray for wayfarers; . . . and the more closely they are united to God, the more are their prayers efficacious. 21 For the divine order is such that lower beings receive an overflow of the excellence of the higher, even as the air receives the brightness of the sun. Wherefore it is said of Christ: 22 'Going to God by His own power ... to make intercession for us.' " 28
Among the Thomists, Gonet and the Carmelites of Salamanca have
" If we recommend ourselves to the prayers of living persons whom we consider holy, how much more fitting is it to recommend ourselves to the saints in heaven 1 " Heb. 7:2s.
M i n t he Commentary on the Sentences (IV, d. 15, q.4, a. 6, q" 2*, ad i), St. Thomai says: "Christus in quantum homo, orat pro nobisj seel ideo non dicimus: Christe ora pro nobis, quia Christus supponit suppositum aeternum, cujus non est orare, sed adjuvare, et idco dicimus: Christe audi noi vel miserere nobis, et in hoc etiam evit.nmis haeresim Arii et Nestorii."
shown particularly well in their treatment of Christ's prayer, 2 * that Christ even now that He is in heaven and even in the Eucharist truly prays for us, so that the merits of His passion may be applied to this or that sinner at the most opportune moment, such as the moment of a happy death. 25 In this sense, when He adores and gives thanks He prays not because of any indigence but through His superabundance and filial piety, in order to render to His Father the worship that is due Him.
St. Ambrose has said: "The risen Christ always defends our cause before the Father." 26 St. Gregory the Great declared: "Christ prays for the Church every day." 27 The interior oblation, that never ceases in Christ's sacred soul, is thus an oblation of adoration, of impetration, and of thanksgiving.
Is this interior oblation, which is ever ablaze in Christ's heart, numerically the same as the oblation by which He offered Himself up in accepting to die for us, from the moment of His coming into the world and especially on the Cross? Some theologians have denied this because, as they see it, the interior act of oblation on the cross was meritorious, whereas the one by which the glorious Christ offers Himself up at Mass as its principal priest is no longer meritorious. Consequently some have thought that Christ offers Himself up at each Mass by a new act.
This view, which would multiply the successive acts of oblation of the glorious Christ, is foreign to the teaching of the great masters and does not seem acceptable for several reasons.
First of all, it is not in conformity with the life of union of the Savior's sacred soul. This is an eminently simple life, through which He attains divine eternity, and in it there is no succession or innovation but solely the immutable continuation of what already exists. 28
" Cf. Gonet, De incam., disp. 22, a.*: "Christus etiam nunc in caclo existcns, vere et proprie orat, nobis divina beneficia postulando." Cf. Salmanticcnses, Tolet, Suarcz, and others.
*• St. Ambrose, In Ef. ad Rom. 8 : "Christus resurgens, semper causas nostras agit apud Patrem, cujus postulatio contemni non potest, quia in dextera Dei est."
21 St. Gregory the Great, In $nt Ps. foenil.: "Quotidie Christus orat pro Ecclesia, de quo ttitatur Ap. Paulus Hebr. 7:15."
M Even when we say a decade of the Rosary contemplating, for txample, the mystery
Moreover, this opinion that would multiply the acts of oblation in the Savior's soul does not agree with the words of St. Paul: "Christ was offered once to exhaust the sins of many," 29 and: "For by one oblation He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." 30 Christ does not offer up a new sacrifice, and His minister acts only in His name. It is therefore fitting to state that this unique interior oblation, which was the soul of the sacrifice of Calvary, continues forever in Christ's sacred heart. 81 Moreover, to concede a second act of oblation is to say that the first was inadequate. Lastly, He who is the priest forever must perform a priestly act that lasts forever, with neither interruption nor innovation. 82
Doubtless this oblation is no longer meritorious, but there is no of our Savior's resurrection, this involves but a single continuous act of our intelligence, an act of lively faith united to an act of love and of prayer. The multiplicity of the Hail Mary's exists only for the inferior faculties, the senses and the imagination. 28 Heb. 9:28. 80 Ibid., 10:14.
81 It must also be remembered that many Masses are celebrated at the same moment and many consecrations occur at the same instant by virtue of the same unique actual will of Christ, although His will is virtually multiple by reason of the different Masses.
82 It has been objected: What has already been offered up in the most perfect degree and manner possible and accepted cannot be offered up again. For movement ceases at its termination. Christ offered Himself up as wayfarer, and now He no longer offers Himself
In accordance with what we have just said, we must answer that the question is not of a new interior oblation but of the continuation of the oblation, as well as of the adoration, thanksgiving, and prayer. Movement as movement {at via) ordained to an end, ceases when this end is reached. But what does not cease is the act ordained to the ultimate end. St. Thomas even says that the act of the gift of counsel (which relates to the means) continues in heaven. Lastly, Christ offered Himself up in a meritorious manner as wayfarer, but, although He no longer merits, He continues to offer Himself up as man and as priest forever by offering up His entire mystical body together with Himself. As Pope Pius XI said : "Christus sacerdos se pro peccatis hostiam obtulit perpetuoque offert" (Denz., no. 1195). This is the significance of the words of the Council of Trent: "Idem nunc offerens ministerio sacerdotum, qui seipsum tunc in cruce obtulit."
The objection has also been made that the love by which Christ gained merit on earth was fitting to Him as wayfarer, and could not therefore be ruled by the beatific vision.
Several Thomists, among them Alvarez, Gonet, and Billuart, have answered: This love could not be ruled by the vision of God considered in itself, which invincibly attracts the will, but it could be ruled by the vision of God inasmuch as He is the reason for freely loving creatures, particularly men to be saved. This love that was both free and meritorious was fitting to Christ as wayfarer. Now it is no longer meritorious. Moreover, even if Christ's love is ruled by infused knowledge, it can continue just as His infused knowledge does. What is more, the act of love of God made by every just soul at the moment of a happy death can continue afterward.
reason why an act that was once meritorious should cease to be meritorious afterward. For example, when a dying man makes a final act of love of God, this act is meritorious. Why, then, cannot this act continue after death in purgatory where there is no longer any opportunity to merit? This spiritual act does not cease because of the simple fact of the separation of the soul from the body. Likewise, when Christ was on earth His act of love of men was meritorious. Why should it not continue, without this modality of merit, after His death ? 83 Even here on earth this act of Christ's sacred soul was performed in the light of glory, and He never ceased to enjoy the beatific vision.
This beatific vision, which He always enjoyed on earth, was already measured not in terms of time but in terms of His participation in eternity, as many theologians agree. 34 Why would not the same hold true of the act of love by which Christ's sacred soul loved God and men? 38 Christ's act of love for us was meritorious here on earth.
88 Undoubtedly the act of the virtue of fortitude, by which Christ suffered heroically, has ceased. But that does not hold for His act of love for us, or even of the interior act of oblation by which He willed first to offer Himself up in a bloody manner and afterward in a sacramental manner.
84 Cf. St. Thomas, la, q. 10, a. 5 ad 11 a. 3 ad 1 and 3. In Contra Gentes, Bk. Ill, chap. 61, he says: "Quod per visionem Dei aliquis sit particeps vitae aeternae. In hoc enim aeternitas a tempore differt, quod tempus in quadam successione habet esse; aeternitatis vero esse est totum simul. Jam autem ostensum est, c.6o, quod in praedicta visione non est aliqua successio, sed omnia quae per illam videntur, simul et uno intuitu videntur. Ilia ergo visio in quadam aeternitatis participatione perficitur. . . .
"Haec visio nequidcm est in tempore ex parte videntis, quod est intellectus, cujus esse non subjacct tempori, cum sit incorruptibilis, ut supra (Bk. II, chap. 79) probatum est. . . .
"Hinc est quod Dominus dicit (Joan. 17:3): Haec est vita aeterna ut cognoscant te solum Deum vcrum."
It is not incongruous for an act which is beginning (and even for an act which terminates like the beatific vision fer modum transeuntis which was probably granted to St. Paul when he was caught up to the third heaven) to be measured by participation in eternity. All that is necessary is that as long as the act continues it be measured not by a fleeting instant of time but by the unique instant of immutable eternity. This can hold true of the glorious Christ's prayer of intercession until the end of the world. As for His prayer of adoration and thanksgiving, it will continue eternally.
35 Some good Thomists like the Carmelites of Salamanca and several others concede that the free act by which Christ in His capacity as man loved us could be immediately governed by the beatific vision. In God Himself, the free act by which He loves us is governed by the uncreated vision of divine goodness inasmuch as it is the non-necessitated reason for His love of creatures. Cf. St. Thomas, la, q. 19, a. j.
It is no longer meritorious but it can continue without this modality of merit, just as the act of charity of a human soul can continue after this soul has left its body. 30 It is certain that the glorious Christ does not cease to love us, to adore His Father and give thanks and offer Himself up to Him. This interior act of oblation, ever alive in His heart, is the soul of the Sacrifice of the Mass. 37 This sacrifice is in substance the same as that of the Cross, just as the Savior's humanity remains the same, although it is no longer subject to suffering and death.
This truth, superior to theology, belongs to the realm of divine faith. The doctrine that the essence of the Sacrifice of the Mass is in the sacramental immolation actually offered up by Christ, the principal priest, appears susceptible of definition as a dogma of faith.
Let us recollect ourselves under the wings of Christ's great prayer, so that He may present our prayers to His Father and thus increase the value of our adorations, our supplications, our reparation, and our thanksgiving. Let us remember that when Christ offers Himself up in the Masses said all over the world He also offers up His entire mystical body, symbolized by the drop of water poured into the chalice at the beginning of the Mass, to be converted with the wine into His precious blood.
As we become each day more conscious of the human misery within us and around us, let us ask Christ Jesus, priest for all eternity, to save us, to have pity on so many misguided souls, the victims of the education they have received. Let us beg our Savior to hold in His hand all the children who are in danger of being snatched away from Him in Russia, Eastern Europe, and many other lands. And though the evil be great, let us look upon it not with pessimism and discouragement but with the thought that the Savior is stronger than all
14 Even if the interior oblation of the sacrifice of the Cross could not continue in the Savior's soul after His death, it would suffice for Him to renew it once afterward and then continue it, without renewing it at each Mass.
" Just as the beatific vision is measured by participation in eternity, the same is true of the beatific love with which Christ loved His Father and our souls. Moreover, even if the free act of redemptive love was governed by His infused knowledge, it can continue after death just as this knowledge does, especially since the act of redemptiv. love is the suprem. expression of this knowledge.
3 io OUR SAVIOR
His enemies taken together, and that His act of love pleases God more than all the sins of the world displease Him.
Made strong by this conviction, let us recall the words of St. Paul: "When I am weak, then am I powerful." 88 "I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me." 39 t8 II Cor. 12:10. « B Phil. 4:13.
THE INFINITE VALUE OF EACH MASS OFFERED UP BY OUR LORD
E HAVE seen that the Savior is the principal priest at the Sacrifice of the Mass, and that the interior oblation which was the soul of the sacrifice of the Cross continues in the heart of Christ, who desires our salvation and who thus Himself offers up all the Masses that are celebrated each day. What is the value of each of these Masses? A correct idea of this value will help us to unite ourselves more intimately each day to the Holy Sacrifice and to receive its fruits in greater abundance.
It is commonly taught in the Church that the Sacrifice of the Mass, considered in itself, has infinite value, but that the effect it produces within us is always finite, however exalted it may be, and that this effect is proportioned to our interior dispositions. These two points of doctrine merit further elucidation.
The Infinite Value of the Mass
The reason for the doctrine that the Mass, considered in itself, has infinite value, is that it is the same in substance as the sacrifice of the Cross, which has infinite value because of the dignity of the victim offered and of the priest who offered it up, inasmuch as on the Cross the Word made flesh was at once priest and victim. 1 At Mass the Word made flesh continues to be the principal priest and the victim truly present, truly offered up and sacramentally immolated.
But whereas the effects of the Mass that relate immediately to God,
*The worth of the victim givc« the sacrifice an infinite objective value, and the dignity of the person of Christ gives it an infinite personal value, which is more important. When Mary presented her Son in the Temple, this oblation had an infinite objective value, but not an infinite personal value. Christ's oblation of Himself is far superior.
such as reparative adoration and thanksgiving, always occur infallibly in their infinite plentitude even without our cooperation, its effects that relate to us are poured forth only in proportion to our interior dispositions.
At each Mass, adoration, reparation, and thanksgiving of limitless value are infallibly offered up to God. This is true because of the nature of the victim offered and of the principal priest, independently even of the prayers of the Universal Church and of the fervor of the celebrant.
It is impossible to adore God more perfectly, to better acknowledge His sovereign domain over all things and all souls, than by the sacramental immolation of the Savior who died for us on the cross. This adoration is given expression in the words of the Gloria: "Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace to men of good will. We praise Thee. We bless Thee. We adore Thee. We glorify Thee." This adoration is again expressed in the Sanctus, and still more perfectly in the double consecration.
It is the most perfect fulfillment of the commandment: "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve Him only." 2 These are the words our Lord used in answering Satan's taunts: "The kingdoms of the world and the glory of them . . . will I give Thee, if falling down Thou wilt adore me." 3 Only God's infinite grandeur merits this worship of latria. At the Mass, the adoration that is offered up to Him is in spirit and in truth of immeasurable value.
Likewise it is impossible to offer up to God more perfect reparation for the sins that are committed each day than by the Sacrifice of the Mass, as the Council of Trent maintains. 4 It is not a new reparation distinct from that of Calvary. True, the risen Christ no longer suffers or dies. But, according to the same Council, 5 the sacrifice of the altar, being substantially the same as that of Calvary, pleases God more than all the sins of the world displease Him. 0 Just as the Savior's humanity, now no longer subject to death or suffering, remains substantially the same, thus is the sacrifice of Christ perpetuated in sub-
8 Ibid., chap. 1, initio, and can. 3 (Dcnzingcr, noj. 940, 950) . • Cf. St. Thosias, Ilia, q.48, a. 2.
stance. The inalienable right of God, the Sovereign Good, to be loved above all else is most perfectly acknowledged by the oblation of the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
Finally, it is impossible to give Him more perfect thanksgiving for benefits received: "What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that He hath rendered to me? I will take the chalice of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord." T Often we forget to thank God for His blessings, as did the lepers whom Jesus had cured. Only one of the ten came back to thank Him. It is fitting often to offer up Masses of thanksgiving. A pious custom that is gaining favor at the present time is the celebration of a Mass of thanksgiving the second Friday of each month, in reparation for our ingratitude.
Adoration, reparation, and thanksgiving are effects of the Sacrifice of the Mass that relate to God Himself and are infallible. Through each Mass, through the oblation and sacramental immolation of the Savior on the altar, God infallibly obtains adoration, reparation, and thanksgiving of infinite value. This is so because of the dignity of the victim and of the principal priest. The interior oblation that continues ceaselessly in Christ's heart is a theandric act, a human act of His human will, that derives from the person of the Word a value that is truly infinite.
At the moment of the consecration in the peace of the sanctuary, a great surge of adoration rises up toward God. Its prelude is the Gloria and the Sanctus, whose beauty is enhanced on certain days by Gregorian chant, the most exalted, simplest, and purest of all religious chants, or sometimes by magnificent polyphonic music. But when the moment of the double consecration arrives, all is silent. This silence tells in its own way what music cannot express.
It is a silence that mirrors the silence which, according to the Apocalypse (8:1), occurred in heaven when the Lamb opened the book of the seven seals, the book of God's decrees concerning His kingdom. 8 May this silence of the consecration be our solace and our strength.'
" "And when lie f the Lamb] had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven, as it were for half an hour" (Apoc. 8:1).
• "In silence and in hope ahull your strength be" (Isa. 30:15).
Thus are the adoration, the reparation, and the "Consummatum est" of the sacrifice of the Cross perpetuated in substance. And this adoration that rises up toward God with each daily Mass falls again like a life-giving dew upon our poor earth to fertilize it spiritually. We should never forget that the highest end of the Holy Sacrifice is the glory of God, the manifestation of His goodness, which is the very purpose of the universe. Thus, by one Mass the whole of creation surges up toward its Creator in a prayer of reparative adoration and thanksgiving. If these effects relate to God Himself, there are others that relate to us. The Mass can obtain for us all the graces necessary for salvation. Christ "always living makes intercession for us," 10 and His intercession has as great value as His adoration.
What Effects Can the Mass Produce in Usf
The Eucharistic Sacrifice has infinite value in itself by reason of the dignity of the victim offered up and of the principal priest. Yet the effects it produces in us are always finite because of the limitations of creatures as such and those of our particular interior dispositions as well. There is no disagreement among theologians on this point.
The only disputed question is this: Is the effect of the Sacrifice of the Mass limited not only by our own fervor but also by the will of Christ, so that a Mass that is applied to several persons obtains less graces for them than if it were said for only one of them?
Some theologians 11 answer affirmatively: The effect of each Mass,
11 This is the opinion of Scotus, the Scotists, Americus, and several others. It has been reasserted recently by Father de la Taille (Myslerium fidei, elucid. 33a), as a corollary of His opinion that Christ does not actually offer up the Masses that are celebrated throughout the world, but merely does so in a virtual manner. We have explained in the preceding chapter why we cannot accept this view, which is contrary to generally approved doctrine.
The relationship of these two questions has been noted several times. Vacant (Universile Calholique, 1 894, XVI, 529) wrote: "The Scotists held that Jesus Christ is the priest of the Eucharistic Sacrifice only because He instituted it and conferred upon priests the power of offering it up. They concluded that two important consequences emerged from this theory. . . . The second is that the Mass, not being an act of the God-man, docs not have the same value as the sacrifice of the Cross, that it applies only a part of the fruits of Calvary, and that this application is made by reason of the prayer of the Church and not by reason of an actual offering up of the sacred victim by Jesus Christ Himself."
they say, is limited by the will of our Lord, and consequently a Mass offered for ten of the faithful is less profitable to them than if it were said for one of these faithful. If this were not the case, they add, it would be superfluous to say more than one Mass for the same intention of one particular person.
This reason is really weak, for the person in question may not have all the dispositions required to receive all the desired graces through the first Mass said for him. Moreover, this person must desire eternal life above all else, and cannot ask for it with too much insistance. As for souls in purgatory, the Mass is applied to them by way of suffrage, according to God's good pleasure, the measure of which remains unknown to us, and we do not know when these souls are delivered. It is therefore desirable to have several Masses said for them. 12
Other theologians, among them many Thomists, 18 follow the inspiration of St. Thomas 14 in saying: The effect of each Mass is not limited by the will of Christ, but only by the devotion of those for whom it is offered up. Thus, a single Mass offered up for a hundred persons can be as profitable to each of them as if it were offered up solely for each individual. 15
11 Those who hold this opinion have also said that were it otherwise the priest might say one Mass and thereby satisfy for several stipends, something that the Church does not permit. Nor is this reason very compelling, for the stipends are not the price of the Masses but simply a means of subsistence allowed by the Church under certain conditions. Besides, even though a Mass can benefit many persons simultaneously the Church can forbid the priest to receive several stipends for a single Mass.
13 Cajetan, In Illam, q. 79, a. 5; John of St. Thomas, In IJIam, disp. }», a.3 j Gonet, Clyfeus thom., De Euchar., disp. 11, a. 5 no. 100 s Salmanticenses, De Euchar., disp. XIII, dub. 6. We disagree completely with what Father de la Taille has written on this subject, namely, his Esquisse du mystere de la foi (Paris, 1942), p. 22.
15 St. Thomas says (Ilia, q. 79, a. 5) : "Although this offering suffices of its own quantity to satisfy for all punishment, yet it becomes satisfactory for them for whom it is offered, or even for the offerers, according to the measure of their devotion, and not for the whole punishment." St. Thomas sets up no limits except those resulting from the dispositions of the subject. He implies that the love of Christ, the principal priest, has an infinite value.
The Angelic Doctor expresses the same view in Ilia, q. 79, a. 7 ad x. He says that the Mass, like the sacrifice of the Cross, produces a greater or lesser effect in those who benefit by it according to the measure of their devotion. St. Thomas does not speak of any limit deriving from the will of Christ.
The Council o( Trent, which does not assign any limit, declares: "God, appeased by
The reason for this is that the influence of a universal cause is limited only by the capacity of the subjects who receive it. Thus, the sun lights up and warms a thousand persons as well as one in a given area. Now, inasmuch as the Sacrifice of the Mass is substantially the same as that of the Cross, it is in terms of reparation and prayer a universal cause of graces, of light, of inspiration, and of strength. Its influence on us is therefore limited only by the dispositions or the fervor of those who receive it. Like the sacrifice of the Cross, it can thus be as profitable for a large number of persons as if it were offered for a single one of them. The sacrifice of Calvary, which was offered up for all men, was no less profitable to the good thief than if it had been offered up for him alone.
In other words, as the sacrifice of the Cross had infinite value in terms of merit and satisfaction because of the theandric act of love that inspired it, now the Sacrifice of the Mass which perpetuates in substance that of the Cross is of infinite value to apply to us the merits and satisfactions of the Savior's passion.
This explains the Church's practice of offering up Masses for the salvation of the entire world, for all the faithful living and dead, for the Sovereign Pontiff, for national leaders, bishops, without limiting its intentions. In so doing, the Church does not expect to render the Mass less profitable to the one for whom it is specifically applied.
This manner of thinking appears much sounder than the former. It even seems to be a corollary of the accepted doctrine that the Sacrifice of the Mass is numerically the same in substance as that of the Cross, inasmuch as the victim and the principal priest are the same in each of them. There is nothing to justify our limiting the intention of Christ, as He continues to offer Himself up by a theandric act of infinite value, in order to apply to us the fruits of His passion. The limitation is not His doing, but ours. It stems from our own dispositions and fervor. As St. Thomas says, just as we receive more heat from a fireplace the closer we approach it, so we derive more benefit from the fruits of the Mass in the measure that we attend with a spirit of faith, trust in God, love, and piety.
this oblation, forgives great crimes, and the fruits of the bloody oblation of the Crost are thus abundantly applied" (Denz., no. 940).
What, specifically, are the effects that the Mass produces in us? The Mass remits our sins, inasmuch as it obtains for us the grace of repentance. If we do not resist this grace, our sins are forgiven. 18 Just as the sacrifice of the Cross obtained this grace for the good thief, the Sacrifice of the Mass obtains it for those who desire it. It is not in vain that the words, "Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us," are said before Holy Communion. Who can count the sinners who have gone to Mass and there received the grace of repentance and the inspiration to make a good confession of their entire past life? 17
Inasmuch as the Mass remits our sins, it follows that it can be offered up even for hardened and impenitent sinners, who would not be permitted to receive Holy Communion. The Holy Sacrifice can obtain for them at least sufficient graces of light and inclination. It can even be offered up, as was the sacrifice of the Cross, for all the living, even for infidels, schismatics, heretics, the excommunicated, provided it is not offered up for them as for members of the Church. 18 Thus St. Paul called for public prayers for all men. 19 And since we can pray for all men, the Holy Sacrifice can be offered up for all men. It is with this in mind that Father Charles de Foucauld, the hermit of the Sahara, often celebrated Mass for the Moslems in order to prepare their souls for the subsequent teaching of the Gospel. Likewise many Masses are now being celebrated for the conversion of Russia.
16 The Council of Trent, Sess. XXII, chap. 2 (Denz., 940), says: "Hujus oblatione placatus Dominus, gratiam et donum poenitentiae concedens, peccata etiam ingentia dimittit."
17 A young man who despite his indifference was destined — without knowing it — to become a priest and religious, entered a church one Sunday morning to attend Mass. He was at once conscious that something very great was happening at the altar, but he had in great part forgotten what the Mass is and had only vague memories of the catechism that had prepared him for his First Communion. He saw the priest raise the chalice, and though he had no clear idea of what this chalice signified, he felt that an immeasurable mystery was unfolding before him. This was the moment of his conversion. He then prepared for confession, changed his life completely, and soon afterward became a religious.
18 However, for the excommunicated vitandi, according to ecclesiastical law, the priest can celebrate Mass only in a private manner by praying for their conversion. Cf. Code of Canon Law, can. n6z, #*, i°: "Saccrdotcs Missam privatim ac remoto scandalo pro KCOniimmiciltq applirare MM piohihcnturi scd, si cxi-ommimiiatus sit vitamlus, pro ejus cunvrrsionr lantum." M I Tim. z:i f.
The spirit of evil fears nothing so much as a Mass, especially one that is celebrated with great fervor and in which many souls participate with a spirit of faith. When the enemy of goodness meets some insurmountable obstacle, it is because in some church there was a priest, conscious of his own weakness and poverty, who with faith offered up the very powerful host and the blood of our Redemption. It is fitting here to mention that there have been saints who, at the moment of the elevation of the chalice at Mass, have seen the precious blood overflow and trickle down the arms of the priest, whereupon angels gathered it up in golden cups to carry it to distant places and to the souls in greatest need of participating in the mystery of the Redemption.
The Sacrifice of the Mass remits not only our sins but the punishment due to sins that have already been forgiven. This applies to both the living and the dead for whom the Sacrifice is offered up. We can go so far as to say that this effect is infallible. However, the punishment is not always remitted in full, but according to the disposition of Providence and the degree of our fervor. Thus the words "Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace," are accomplished.
It does not follow that rich men who have left much money for Masses are delivered from purgatory more quickly than certain poor men who could leave nothing or almost nothing, for it may well have been that the latter had smaller debts to pay divine justice, had been better Christians, and therefore participated more fully in the fruit of the Masses said for all the dead as well as in the general fruit of each Mass. 20
Finally, the Sacrifice of the Mass obtains for us the spiritual and temporal blessings necessary or useful for our salvation. Christ's prayer, as He continues to offer Himself up on our altars, has infinite value. Therefore it is fitting, as Pope Benedict XV has recommended, 21 to have Masses said in order to obtain the grace of a happy
20 St. Augustine {Enchiridion, c. 1 10), says that the dead participate in the fruita of the Mass in the measure that they have merited on earth, "qui cum vivcrcnt, meruerunt ut hacc sibi postea prodesse posscnt."
ai Letter to the Director of the Archconfraternity of our Lady of Happy Dentin.
death, for this is the grace of graces, the one on which our eternal salvation depends.
This being so, it is fitting when we attend Mass to unite ourselves with a great spirit of faith, trust, and love to the interior act of oblation that continues forever in Christ's heart. He invites us to do so, as the author of the Imitation of Christ tells us: "As I willingly offered Myself to God the Father for thy sins, with My hands stretched out upon the Cross . . . even so oughtest thou willingly to offer thyself to Me daily in the Mass, ... for a pure and holy oblation. . . . Whatsoever thou givest except thyself, I regard not; for I seek not thy gift, but thyself. . . . But if thou wilt depend upon self, and not offer thyself freely to My will, thy offering is not complete, nor will there be an entire union between us." 22 The more closely we unite ourselves to our Lord at the moment of the consecration, which is the essence of the Sacrifice of the Mass, the better will be our Communion, which is a participation in this Sacrifice.
We must answer this call, as the Imitation also advises: "Lord, I offer to Thee all my sins and offenses, . . . that Thou mayest . . . blot out all the stains of my sins, . . . fully pardoning me. ... I offer also to Thee all my good works, though few and imperfect; that Thou mayest amend and sanctify them, . . . and make them acceptable to Thee. ... I offer to Thee also all the pious desires of devout persons; the necessities of . . . all those that are dear to me. . . . I off er up also to Thee prayers, and this sacrifice of propitiation, for them in particular who have in any way injured me or grieved me. . . . And for all those likewise whom I have at any time grieved, troubled, oppressed, or scandalized, . . . knowingly or unknowingly; that it may please Thee to forgive us all our sins and mutual offenses ... and grant us so to live that we may be worthy to enjoy Thy grace, and that we may attain unto life everlasting." 28 Let us also offer up our daily difficulties. This is the best way of carrying our crosses, as our Lord asked us to.
Please God that we may have the capacity and strength to renew this oblation at the moment of our death, and to unite ourselves with great love to the Masses that are being celebrated, to unite ourselves
to the sacrifice of Christ perpetuated at the altar! May we thus make of the sacrifice of our life an oblation of adoration, reparation, supplication, and thanksgiving, the prelude for us to eternal life!
When we realize that in some places certain priests must serve three or four parishes, we are forced to conclude that the number of Masses has diminished and it has become much more difficult for many of the rural faithful to attend Sunday Mass. Now, when the faithful gradually cease to attend Mass they progressively lose the meaning of Christianity, the meaning of the things of the spirit and of eternity.
There was a lay saint who, seeing the state of these churches where Sunday Mass was celebrated only rarely, entrusted these parishes to the care of certain saints who had been priests while on earth, in particular the Cure of Ars, so that from heaven they might watch over these shepherdless flocks, intercede for them, and obtain the grace of a happy death for those who died without the sacraments. We should often remember this when we attend the Holy Sacrifice, and inasmuch as every Mass is of infinite value we should pray that the Mass we attend may radiate its graces to those places where the Holy Sacrifice is no longer celebrated, and where the faithful are gradually losing the habit of going to Mass. Let us implore our Lord to call priestly vocations into being in such places. Let us beg Him for priests, holy priests, who become each day more aware of the grandeur of Christ's priesthood, so that they may be its zealous ministers, living only for the salvation of souls. Providence always sends us galaxies of saints in our most troubled times. We must beseech our Lord to send saints into the world who have the faith and trust of the apostles, as in the early days of the Church.
- XXVIII *
SOVEREIGN REDEMPTION AND ITS FRUITS IN MARY
"He that it mighty hath done great things to me."
THE special manner in which the mystery of the Redemption was accomplished with relation to Mary, the Mother of God, contains such profound harmonies that they long remained hidden even from great theologians and great saints like St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure, and perhaps St. Thomas Aquinas.14 Now that the Church has made an infallible pronouncement by defining the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, all the faithful can see in this privilege the most eminent form of the mystery of the Redemption. Let us first consider it in the light of the privilege itself, and secondly in the light of its consequences.
The Preservative Redemption
The harmony of a mystery is all the more beautiful when it intimately reconciles things that are apparently most contradictory and that God alone can bring together. Thus the mystery of the Redemption, considered in terms of the Savior Himself, reconciles in the sufferings endured through love the most rigorous justice and the tenderest mercy. Therein lies the sublimity of the Cross.
The Immaculate Conception presents a reconciliation of the same order. On the one hand the Virgin Mary, by reason of her birth as a daughter of Adam, was destined to contract original sin. The first man, through his sin, lost original justice for himself and for us. That is to say, he lost sanctifying grace and the privileges that accompanied it. Had he remained innocent, he would have transmitted this original justice to us, together with his human nature. 2 The law that weighs on our fallen nature is universal: human nature is transmitted to all of us by way of generation, but it is transmitted deprived of grace and of the privileges of the state of innocence. Every child is born not merely deprived of sanctifying grace but moreover inclined to covetousness, to disorders of the passions, to error, and subject to suffering and death. "By one man sin entered into this world," 8 St. Paul tells us. Mary, therefore, by reason of her birth as a daughter of Adam, was destined to contract original sin. How could she, caught in the current of generation, escape the current of sin? And, as St. Peter declares, "there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved" [except that of Jesus Christ].* St. Paul also says: "There is . . . one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus who gave Himself a redemption for all." 8 There is no salvation for anyone except through the blood of the Savior, who is the Redeemer of all men without any exception. In this sense Mary needs redemption, just like the other children of men.
St. Thomas lays great stress on this point, for this is a capital dogma of our faith. There is no salvation except through Christ who died for us.
Mary, on the other hand, has been called from all eternity to be the mother of the Savior. The heavenly Father chose her through a
*The Council of Trent says clearly: "Si quis Adae praevaricationem sibi soli et non ejus propagini asscrit nocuisse, acccptam a Deo sanctitatem et justitiam, quam pcrdidit, ■ibi soli et non nobis etiam eum perdidisse: an. sit" (Denzinger, no. 789).
love of predilection from among all women, so that in time she should give a body to the Son, only begotten from all eternity. No one but the heavenly Father and Mary can call Jesus, "My Son." The Holy Ghost was to overshadow her and, without sullying her virginity in any way, was to make it possible for her to conceive the Savior. The Word of God, who exists eternally and therefore existed before creation, was to be truly Mary's son, and He was to love her among all creatures as His true Mother.
Could it be that Mary, called to this glorious maternity, should have come into the world bearing the stain of original sin? Was it possible that she who was to be the Mother of the Author of grace should be born deprived of grace? Could she who was to be the Mother of the Word made flesh have been born inclined toward covetousness, disorders of the emotions, and error?
These reasons are so compelling that even the theologians who once doubted the privilege of the Immaculate Conception declared unequivocally that Mary was sanctified before her birth in the womb of her mother, St. Anne. But the Church goes still further and has solemnly affirmed the privilege of the Immaculate Conception, accorded at the very instant when Mary's soul was created and united to her body.
How then can we reconcile these two things that are apparently so irreconcilable: Mary, being the daughter of Adam, must contract original sin; but, being called to be the Mother of God, she must be exempt from any stain whatever, she must escape the universal contagion?
How can these things be reconciled?
We can understand an exception to the law of man's fall, in view of a mission that is unique in the world, a mission that is superior to that of the prophets and apostles. But how was this exception to be accomplished? Was Mary preserved from the common stain independently of the future merits of her Son? Is it possible that Christ, the sole Mediator and Savior of all souls, is not Mary's Savior? Can it be that she does not owe her holiness to Him? St. Thomas rightly placed great emphasis on this point, for he was deeply concerned with safeguarding the dogma of universal redemption.
The Church, in defining the Immaculate Conception, answers: Mary was the beneficiary of a unique mode of redemption, a preservative redemption, and not merely a liberating and reparative redemption. Mary was preserved from original sin because of the future merits of her Son, and this truth reveals to us the deep harmony of the mystery, which long remained hidden even from great saints.
What kept St. Thomas from stoutly affirming the privilege of the Immaculate Conception, not yet defined by the Church at that time, was his fear of contradicting the dogma of the universal redemption of souls by Jesus Christ. He feared he might detract from the Redeemer's glory. And divine Providence seems to have permitted the great doctor to remain in darkness on this point, and with him St. Bonaventure and St. Bernard, because the proclamation of this privilege was reserved for much later, for our era of unbelief and naturalism which denies original sin and the necessity of redemption. 6
Preservative redemption is one of the marvels of Catholic dogma. To truly understand it we must realize that not only is Jesus Christ Mary's Savior, but that she benefited more than anyone else from His redemptive mission. Herein lies all the grandeur of the mystery. Let us consider it in some detail. Indeed it is fitting that the absolutely perfect Savior should exercise sovereign redemption for at least one soul, the soul called to be most intimately united to Him in His work of salvation. But perfect redemption consists not only in rescuing a soul from sin, but also in preserving it from this sin even before sin has had a chance to sully it. He who preserves us from a mortal blow saves our life even better than if he healed the wound caused by this blow. It is therefore highly fitting that Christ Jesus, the perfect Redeemer, should bestow upon His Mother redemption in all its plenitude: a redemption that is not merely reparative and liberating, but a preservative redemption. It is highly fitting that Mary should not be liberated, purified, cured of original sin, but that she should be totally preserved from it by the future merits of her Son.
Christ's love for His immaculate Mother is immense. At the thought of it our souls should rejoice and soar upward. Only the
9 If these great doctors had made definite pronouncements in favor of the Immaculate Conception, this dogma would probably have been defined before the nineteenth century.
Mother of the Son of God could have this unique prerogative. How fitting that she should have it!
Inasmuch as she had been called to become the Mother of God and the Coredemptrix, the Mother of all men, it was necessary that she be redeemed as perfectly as possible. Being closer than anyone to the stream of grace that pours from the Word made flesh, she received His blessings in their plenitude.
At a time when all truths were being depreciated, when many refused to believe either in original sin or in the necessity of baptismal regeneration, it was fitting that the Church should solemnly define this dogma and that Mary should remind us of all these truths by telling us at Lourdes: "I am the Immaculate Conception." This privilege, far from detracting from the dogma of the universal redemption of souls by Jesus Christ, discloses to us in the person of Mary sovereign redemption in its most perfect form conceivable. 7
In preserving His Mother from original sin, the Savior gave her an initial plenitude of grace greater than that of all the saints and angels taken together, just as a single diamond may have greater value than a great pile of lesser stones. From this initial plenitude of sanc-
T Let us note that, since Mary was fully redeemed by Christ, she was not able, properly speaking, to merit the Incarnation even de eongruo. Why? Because the principle of merit cannot be merited, just as the first cause cannot be an effect produced. It cannot produce itself. Thus the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary derive from the future merits of her Son as their primary source. Her merits depend on those of her Son not only as on a final cause, but as on an efficient moral cause, foreseen and willed by God. Mary therefore could not have merited the Incarnation.
But having received the initial plenitude of grace through the future merits of her Son, she merited the superior degree of grace which made her the worthy Mother of the Savior. St. Thomas (Ilia, q.i, a. 11 ad 3) says with admirable precision: "The Blessed Virgin is said to have merited to bear the Lord of all) not that she merited His incarnation, but because by the grace bestowed upon her she merited that grade of purity and holiness which fitted her to be the Mother of God."
Several modern theologians seem to forget this distinction and therefore to misunderstand the great principle that the principle of merit cannot be merited. Some wish to apply in this connection the axiom "causae ad invicem sunt causae," but one must not forget to add "in diverso genere." There is certainly a mutual priority of final and efficient causes, but on condition of keeping in mind that they are of diverse orders. The principal root of Mary's merits lies in the merits of Christ, and these latter presuppose the Incarnation. Thus Mary could not merit the Incarnation. It is clear that here we are dealing with the same order of causality. Cf. the commentators of St. Thomas on Ilia, q.a., a. 11, for example Hilluart: "Nullum ni'-ritum Ml ant concipi potest pro pracscnti hominum statu, quod non acciplat valorem IUVUO et vim maraud! ex Christi mentis."
tifying grace sprang forth in the same eminent degree faith, hope, charity, the infused moral virtues, and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. Moreover, this initial plenitude did not cease growing until Mary's death, for no venial sin or imperfection impeded its progress. Because of Mary's unceasing fidelity, the initial treasure increased in a marvelous progression. Just as bodies fall with increasing speed as they approach the earth by virtue of the law of acceleration which is a corollary of universal gravitation, so do souls progress more quickly toward God as they come closer to Him and are increasingly attracted by Him. 8
This law of acceleration of the progress of souls toward God, which is approximately verified in the lives of the saints especially by frequent Holy Communion, 9 was fully verified in Mary. Whereas Jesus never increased in goodness, 10 since He had been conceived in the absolute plenitude of grace, Mary continued to increase in perfection until her death, until the moment of the final plenitude of grace when her soul entered glory. 11
It is a consolation to think that there has been one soul that received in its plenitude everything that God desired to give her and that never impeded the pouring of grace upon other souls. There is one absolutely perfect soul which allowed the divine life-giving torrent to flow through her without obstacle. There is at least one soul that never for a single instant failed to measure up to what God desired of her. This is the soul of the Mother of God, the Mother of all men, who watches over them to lead them to eternal life.
This is what we mean by sovereign Redemption, a redemption that
8 Cf. St. Thomas, In Efistolam ad Hebraeos, 10:25: "Motus naturalis (v.g., motus lapidis cadentis ad centrum terrae) quanto plus accedit ad tcrminuin, magis intenditur. Contrarium est de motu violento. Gratia autem inclinat in modum naturae. Ergo qui sunt in gratia, quanto plus accedunt ad finem, plus debent crescerc." Cf. St. Thomas, la Ilac, q. 35, a. 6 ad a: "Omnis motus naturalis intensior est in fine."
8 In principle, if we fought generously against negligence and every attachment to venial sin, each of our Communions should be substantially more fervent than the preceding one since each of them must not only preserve but increase charity in us and therefore dispose us to receive our Lord with a more fervent will the following day.
10 Cf. Concilium Constantinop. II (Denzingcr, no. 214).
11 As the theologians say in describing this instant which is preceded by a period of time that can be divided ad infinitum: "primum non esse viae, »cu primum esse separation!! nnim.ir a corpore, fuit primum esse vitae ejus gloriosae."
is not merely liberating and reparative but also preservative. This is what motivated the words of the archangel Gabriel when he said to Mary: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." ia
The Consequences of the Preservative Redemption
Did the privilege we have just discussed remove from Mary even here on earth all the consequences of original sin? What happens to us even after baptism which remits original sin and restores us to sanctifying grace with all its accompanying infused virtues and gifts of the Holy Ghost? Even after baptism, there remain in us as a consequence of original sin concupiscence or the roots of covetousness that enkindle our evil passions, inclination toward error or weak judgment that easily goes astray, as well as suffering and death.
None of these evils existed in the state of original justice in which human nature was ennobled by grace and endowed with privileges. The body was perfectly submissive to the soul, the passions to right reason and to the will, and the will was submissive to God. Baptism, while it cleanses us of original sin, leaves the consequences of original sin in us as so many occasions for struggle and merit.
What is so striking about Mary is that the privilege of the Immaculate Conception exempts her from two of the consequences of original sin that are blighting and incompatible with her mission as Mother of God, but her privilege does not exempt her from suffering and death. This is most illuminating.
From the first moment of her life Mary was exempt from every form of concupiscence. The embers of covetousness never existed in her. No movement of her emotions could be disorderly or circumvent her judgment and her consent. Hers was perfect subordination of the emotions to the intellect and the will, and of the will to God as was the case of man in the state of innocence. Thus Mary is the most pure Virgin of virgins, "inviolata, intemerata," the tower of ivory, the most perfect mirror of God.
Likewise Mary was never subject to error or illusion. Her judg-
ment was always enlightened, always clearsighted. In the words of the Litany, she is the Seat of Wisdom, the Virgin most prudent, the Mother of good counsel. All theologians agree that even here on earth she possessed an eminently superior and simple understanding of the Scriptures on the subject of the Messiah, the Incarnation, and the Redemption. She was more intimately initiated into the secrets of the kingdom of heaven than were the apostles. Then too, everything in nature spoke to her of the Creator more poignantly than to the greatest poets. In its simplicity her contemplation was superior to that of the greatest saints, to that of even St. John, St. Paul, or St. Augustine. Mary was above ecstasy. She had no need to lose the use of her senses to become very intimately united to God. Her union with Him was continual. She was thus perfectly exempt from covetousness and error.
Why then did not the privilege of the Immaculate Conception exempt Mary from suffering and death, which are also consequences of original sin? The truth of the matter is that suffering and death, as Mary and Jesus experienced them, were not consequences of original sin, as they are for us. For original sin had not touched them. Suffering and death were for them the consequences of human nature which by its very nature is subject to suffering and to corporeal death just as is the nature of the animal. It was only through a supernatural privilege that Adam in his innocence was exempt from all suffering and from the necessity of dying.
That He might become our Redeemer by His death on the cross, Jesus was virginally conceived in mortal flesh, and He willingly accepted suffering and dying for our salvation. Following His example, Mary willingly accepted suffering and death also, so that she might be united to her Son's sacrifice, make expiation with Him in our stead, and thus redeem us.
And, astonishingly enough, the privilege of the Immaculate Conception and the plenitude of grace she enjoyed, instead of exempting Mary from pain, considerably increased her capacity for suffering. This truth never ceases to arouse the admiration and wonder of the contemplatives. Mary suffered extraordinarily from the gravest evils precisely because she was absolutely pure, because her heart was aflame with divine charity. Yet we in our flightiness are not much troubled by these evils. We suffer because of things that wound our susceptibility, our self-love, our pride. Mary suffered because of sin in the measure of her love for God whom sin offends, in the measure of her love for her Son whom sin crucified, in the measure of her love for our souls that sin ravages and kills. Just as the Blessed Virgin's love for God was superior even here on earth to that of all the saints taken together, the same is true of her suffering. Here on earth, the closer a soul is to God — that is, the more it loves — the more it is destined to suffer. Mary loved the Savior, not only as her beloved Son but also as her Son the legitimate object of adoration, with her most tender virginal heart. The depth of her love made of her the queen of martyrs. As the aged Simeon had prophesied, a sword pierced her soul. The privilege of the Immaculate Conception, far from exempting Mary from sufferings, thus increased them and disposed her so well to endure them that she wasted none of them.
Finally, although this privilege did not save Mary from being subject to death, the Assumption was one of its consequences. Mary, conceived without sin, preserved from all sin, was not to know the corruption of the grave. The Savior was thus to associate her to the glories of the Ascension and to hasten for her the moment of the resurrection of the body.
Such were the consequences of the sovereign redemption which was accomplished in her. Not only was Mary redeemed by the most perfect redemption conceivable, but she has been intimately associated with the work of the salvation of mankind through her love and suffering.
This preservative redemption reminds us of the value of a less exalted grace, but one that is so necessary to us: baptism. Although we are born sinners, we are cleansed of original sin by baptismal grace, which is the seed of eternal life. There is an immense difference between an unbaptized child and one who has received the sacrament of regeneration. And as Mary's initial plenitude of grace never stopped growing within her during her lifetime, so the seed of eternal life should never cease growing in us until the moment of our death. God loves us much more than we realize. In order to grasp the full value of the sanctifying grace received in baptism, we should have to see God. For grace is nothing but a true and formal participation in God's intimate life.
Lastly, the sovereign redemption that we have just contemplated in Mary reminds us of the value of sanctity, and inspires us to pray earnestly, especially at the thought of the spiritual wretchedness of present-day Russia and other vast areas of the world. As the contemplatives tell us, the actual state of the world is at once much sadder and more beautiful than we know. The world desires no more saints, and expels them from persecuted lands. But God for His part wishes to give the world saints of every age and station in life. God wishes to give the world saints, but we must ask Him for them and secure them from His mercy. For a number of years now, Rome has been multiplying its beatifications and canonizations. In moments of great confusion like that of the Albigensian heresy and that of Protestantism, God sent galaxies of saints to carry on His Son's work and to lift up afflicted and tempted souls.
Although the world's plight is grave, let us not view it with discouragement and thereby depress those around us. Let us look at the other pan of the scales with a holy realism, and see in it the infinite merits of the Savior, those of Mary Coredemptrix and Mediatrix, and those of all the saints. This is the supernatural contemplation superior to all science, the contemplation that awakens in us not merely momentary enthusiasm but "the hunger and thirst for God's justice." It tells us that the only genuinely and profoundly interesting thing for us is sanctity and whatever leads us toward it. When this sanctity is incontestable, as in Mary, it becomes manifest to all as the profound reign of God in souls, and it permits us to glimpse even here on earth the grandeur of the mystery of Redemption, that is, the mystery of eternal life given back to souls that are willing to receive it.
HE INTIMACY OF CHRIST
"Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?"
TO ENTER truly into the depths of the mystery of the Redemption, we must consider the intimacy of Christ, that is, the friendship of predilection He had for certain particularly faithful and generous souls. Among these souls there is one described in the Gospel by these simple words: "the disciple whom Jesus loved."(1) If we would understand the greatness of the Savior's friendship, its wellsprings, its pattern, its tenderness and its strength, as well as its inestimable gifts, we can do nothing better than contemplate His friendship for St. John.
The most beloved of all the apostles must have been perfect for our Lord to love him so much. John's purity delighted Him. Yet it was not John's perfection that attracted the love of Jesus. On the contrary, John's perfection was the effect of Jesus' love for him, Bossuet tells us, just as a fine work of art reflects its author's joy in creation. The love that God the Father and the Son have for our souls does not presuppose that we are lovable. Rather, their love for us implants and increases our lovable qualities by assimilating us to itself. When divine love pours into us, it produces the life of grace in our souls, and it continues to increase this grace in us if we do not set up any obstacles. 8
Let us see how our Lord, through His friendship, made John re-
15 semble Him ever more closely. Bossuet has remarked that the Savior gave His beloved disciple three gifts: His cross, His Mother, and His heart. 8 But it seems preferable to follow the chronological order in which He bestowed these gifts, for it gives us a better understanding of St. John's progress in grace, and how the beloved disciple gradually entered ever deeper into Christ's intimacy. At the Last Supper Jesus gave John His heart. Soon afterward, when He was dying, He gave him His Mother. And then, to make John's ministry fruitful, Jesus gave him His cross.
At the Last Supper, Jesus Gave John His Heart
At that moment, all the apostles were ordained priests, received the priestly character, and also received Holy Communion. But St. John came closer to the Master's heart, and laid his head on the sacred heart of the Savior.
When our Lord instituted the sacrament whose purpose is to increase our love of God, He willed that one of His privileged apostles should be more aware than the others of the beat of His heart, that would thereafter continue to live in the Eucharist for the consolation and perfect regeneration of souls.
What interior grace did St. John receive at that moment? We can get some idea of it when we remember that Jesus' body emitted a virtue capable of healing the sick. How much more must His heart have poured forth vivifying grace! Beyond any doubt John received in that instant a grace of light and love. He learned experimentally that the Savior's heart lives only for love of God and of souls. He understood how the Eucharist is the great manifestation of this love on earth, and that even under its humble appearances it is the very life of God always present among us. Predestined from all eternity to be the great doctor of charity, John drank in charity at its very source and was inspired by the words that were to inspire a holy tenderness in the faithful until the end of time. So that he might speak more eloquently of the Savior's love for us, he came very close to the spirit-
- Panegyric on St. John.
ual fire that burns without destroying and that would transform us into itself.
As St. Paul recalled in his writings that he had been caught up to the third heaven, so St. John remembered that he had rested on the Master's heart. And how the eagle of the Evangelists wrote! He proclaimed the fundamental principles of Christian doctrine to be as follows: God is light and love. It was He who first loved us gratuitously. Our love for Him must be a response to the love He has shown for us, and fraternal charity must be the great sign of our love of God. He summed up his views in his First Epistle: "Dearly beloved, let us love one another: for charity is of God. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is charity. By this hath the charity of God appeared toward us, because God hath sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we may live by Him. In this is charity: not as though we had loved God, but because He hath first loved us, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. My dearest, if God hath so loved us, we also ought to love one another. . . . God is charity: and he that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in him." 4
This is an abstract of the whole of Christian dogma and morality, reduced to its essentials: love of God and of neighbor, the charity that must inspire and animate all the virtues. "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren." 8 This is the great sign of the love of God.
We also have received what John received: the Master's heart. We can receive the Eucharistic heart of Jesus each day at Holy Communion. And if we receive it, if we truly believe in it, we must imitate it. The Savior's heart is open to all the faithful. In His heart we are all united, to be consummated into one. He turns no one away.
If we would enter into Christ's intimacy, our hearts must exclude no one, they must forget the wrongs our neighbors have done us, and be compassionate for the sufferings of others; our hearts must be generous, keeping nothing for themselves, giving their lives for oth-
ers and thereby possessing life all the more securely. Let us remember that God will multiply His blessings to us in the measure that we desire to share them with our brothers. We do not lose truth or goodness when we give them to others. Rather we possess them more securely and in a holy manner.
We should rejoice also in seeing in our neighbor what is lacking in ourselves. Instead of falling prey to jealousy, we ought to rejoice in his qualities, which are ours too in a sense, inasmuch as we are all one in the mystical body of Christ. The hand can rejoice in what the eye sees. Charity thus enriches our poverty. It makes all our goods the common property of all. It appropriates for us in a sense all the gifts of the mystical body of the Savior, and makes us participate in a measure in all the blessings of the City of God.
But to enter even more deeply into Christ's intimacy we must be taught by Mary, for she more than any other creature was privileged to enter into the heart of this sanctuary. That is why, when He was about to die, Jesus confided His Mother to St. John.
John was the only apostle at the foot of the cross. He was there, a heartbroken witness of all the Master's physical and moral suffering. Jesus had invisibly drawn him there to let him hear His last words and to give him a final proof of His love.
Those who are about to die leave to their dearest ones the most expressive testimony of affection. What did Jesus leave St. John, as He was dying? He had nothing left. He had been stripped of everything, abandoned by all. It even seemed that His Father had rejected Him when, as a victim in our stead, He cried out the first words of the psalm: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" 8 In this state of utter destitution, what did Jesus leave to St. John?
He left him a living memory, the very holy soul whom He cherished more than all other creatures taken together. He left Mary to him. "Behold thy mother," He said to John. And to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son." "And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own." 7
Contact with Jesus' heart at the Last Supper spiritually vivified John's soul. The Savior's words spoken from the cross also had sacra-
mental power, as it were. Although He spoke these words on the point of death, He was still strong enough to touch men's hearts and to enrich them as He pleased.
These words created between Mary and John a most intimate bond, analogous to the bond that unites Jesus to His Blessed Mother. They gave Mary a most maternal and deep love that would thenceforth enfold John's soul, and they awakened in John a most filial and respectful love that made him a true spiritual son of Mary.
In this moment of anguish the words of the dying Christ touched their souls to their depths like a gentle balm, soothing their sufferings and their broken hearts. They brought immense consolation to John and to Mary too, for she could see into human souls and, looking into the soul of the beloved disciple, she could see what he himself could not: the living image of the Savior, the image that Mary would make perfect, to render it ever more like its divine model.
And so it happens often in the history of souls. When Jesus seems to draw away to test the confidence of His friends, He leaves His Blessed Mother to them, and He entrusts them to her care. Who can describe all the blessings St. John received from Mary? If St. Augustine and St. Monica had conversations on such an exalted plane, what are we to think of the talks between Mary and St. John?
Through the plenitude of grace she had received, the Mother of God was superior to the angels. The charity ablaze in her heart surpassed that of all the saints taken together. Its lively flame ever aspired toward God, even while she slept, in the words of the Canticle of Canticles: "I sleep, and my heart watcheth." 8
Blessed with such a supernatural intimacy, how greatly St. John's charity must have grown, especially when he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in Mary's presence for her intentions, and when he gave her Holy Communion! Did he not know that the Blessed Virgin understood immeasurably better than he the sacrifice of the altar which perpetuates in substance the sacrifice of the Cross? Mary did not have the official capacity of the priesthood and she could not consecrate, but "she had received the plenitude of the spirit of the priesthood, which is the spirit of Christ our Redeemer." 9 As uni-
- Cant. 5 :i. * Tlir«r nre llic wordi of Jcnn Jnrquca Olier.
versal Mediatrix and Coredemptrix, Mary never ceased lifting the soul of the apostle up toward God. Thus did He develop great love for the hidden life and become the model of contemplatives.
It was St. John's purity that had prepared him to live in Christ's intimacy. It was his purity, too, that disposed him to inherit Christ's love for Mary, who thus became his spiritual mother in the deepest and truest sense.
Following St. John's example, let us place ourselves under the immediate direction of the Virgin, as St. Louis Marie de Montfort urges. She is our mediatrix before Christ, as He is our mediator before His Father. She will be our counsel and our strength, our defense against the devil. She will increase the worth of our merits by offering them herself to her Son. Let us abandon into her hands the reparative and impetratory value of our actions, our struggles, our prayers, so that she may make them available, according to her good pleasure, to the souls that need them most. Thus to strip ourselves is in reality to enrich ourselves. Under Maiy's direction we shall with a much surer step follow the path blazed by the Word, who Himself obeyed her on earth. Then we shall run swiftly on the path of God's commandments, because we shall receive the grace that dilates the heart, in the words of the psalm: "I have run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou didst enlarge my heart." 10 The Blessed Virgin will teach us countless things through her inspirations, as a good mother yields up to her child by a simple look, without need of words, the treasure of her interior life. With her and in her intimacy, we shall make more progress in a few days than during years of personal effort made without her. Thus speaks St. Louis Marie de Montfort, a true spiritual son of Mary as was St. John. 11
Our Lord gave St. John His heart, He gave him His Mother. What else did He give him to make his apostolic ministry fruitful? He gave him His cross, and progressively made him understand its inestimable value.
Jesus' friendship does not consist wholly in sweetness and joy. It
11 Sec Ilia Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, no. 155. Alio the nimmwy of this work, entitled The Secret of Mary.
is as strong as it is tender. It tends to purify through tribulations, and through suffering to associate souls with itself in the mystery of Redemption.
The apostles did not understand this at first. When Jesus spoke of the foundation of the kingdom of God, the apostles wondered which of them would be first in this kingdom. Then, as St. Matthew records, "Jesus calling unto Him a little child, set him in the midst of them, and said : 'Amen I say to you, unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.' " 12 The Master had also said on several occasions: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." 13 But the apostles did not yet understand the full meaning of the word "cross." They could not accept the idea that Jesus would be crucified. Yet several times He had told them that this would happen.
One day, as He was going up to Jerusalem with them, our Lord again predicted His passion, crucifixion, and resurrection. He wished to implant it more deeply into the mind of John and that of his brother. At that moment the mother of the two apostles approached Jesus and bowed down as if to ask something. As St. Matthew records it, 14 Jesus said to her: "What wilt thou?" She answered: "Say that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left, in Thy kingdom." Jesus then said: "You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?" Quickly they declared: "We can." He answered: "My chalice indeed you shall drink; but to sit on My right or left hand is not Mine to give you, but to them for whom it is prepared by My Father." That was the day Jesus gave His cross to His beloved disciple.
These words spoken by the Savior, like those spoken on the two other occasions, produced their effects in the disciple's soul. From that moment John no longer sought to be the first. He began to love suffering and humiliation, and this love continued to grow in his heart through the influence- of grace.
Jesus was to make John more and more like Himself. He came to
suffer as a victim of salvation, to save us by His agony more than by His sermons. So He united John more and more to His toilsome and crucified life. Bossuet says, "Whenever Jesus comes, He brings with Him His cross and His thorns, and He shares them with those who love Him." As John was His beloved apostle, He gave him the immense grace of loving the cross.
John had at first thought that in order to have an honored place in the kingdom of the Son of God it was necessary to be seated at His right hand and to be clothed in His glory. He was to learn that we penetrate far into this kingdom even here on earth through suffering. He was to learn also how tribulation makes one clairvoyant in contemplating Jesus in the souls of men. Affliction was to open his eyes. He was to understand the profound meaning of the noblest of the beatitudes, the one that is most astonishing to human reason: "Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This kingdom is already theirs here on earth even in the midst of persecution, because of the profound peace that Jesus gives them.
What was John's cross? If we look at things outwardly, it may seem that his was the lightest of all the apostles' crosses. He alone among them did not die in the throes of martyrdom. He did of course suffer persecution. In Rome under Domitian he was plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil. But this oil changed into dew, and he emerged refreshed and purified. He was then exiled on Patmos, where our Lord appeared to him in His glory and revealed His secrets to him, commanding him to write them down in the most mysterious of all the sacred books, the Apocalypse.
Viewed externally, St. John's cross may seem to have been lighter than those of the other apostles. But as Bossuet says, "St. John's cross was inwardly the greatest of all. Learn the mystery and consider the two crosses of our Savior. The one was seen on Calvary, and it seemed the more painful. The other is the one He carried all through His life, and it caused Him far more suffering." 18 Jesus explained to St. Catherine of Siena several times that this interior cross is the desire for the salvation of souls, a desire that was combated by the spirit of16 evil, by the spirit of the world, and by covetousness that sweeps millions of souls to perdition. In Jesus' life we can follow the progress of the malice of those who hated Him, thus increasing His thirst for the salvation of souls that was burning and consuming Him. The martyrdom of the heart is often more painful than outward martyrdom, and it can last for years and not merely for a few hours.
It was particularly this interior cross of desire for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls that Jesus gave to St. John. It did not strike at the senses, but it was implanted by God in the depths of his soul together with a very strong desire for the salvation of sinners. To make His apostle capable of carrying this interior cross, Jesus inspired in him the love of suffering which at once quickened the desire to a calm, steady flame, and prevented the soul from finding solace in anything outside of God. Likewise, when certain souls called to holiness find too much natural satisfaction in creatures, our Lord will quickly pour a little bitterness on this satisfaction, and this bitterness far exceeds the pleasure formerly enjoyed. This is a crucifying and purifying grace.
Finally, St. John's interior cross consisted most of all in the heresies that were mutilating Holy Mother Church by denying the divinity of Jesus. How these denials must have tortured the heart of the author of the Fourth Gospel which was written to make known the Word made flesh in all His glory! This interior cross derived from the divisions arising in the new-born Church to the detriment of charity. When the apostle was eighty years old, he had his disciples carry him to the church of Ephesus, and since he could no longer preach long sermons, he merely said: "My little children, love one another." He who in his youth had been called "son of thunder" by our Lord because of his ardor, could now speak only of fraternal charity, the great sign of love of God. He had lost none of his ardor, of his hunger for justice, but it had become more spiritual and gentle. And when his listeners asked him why he always repeated the same thing, he answered: "That is the Lord's command. If you accomplish it, that is sufficient." Such was John's cross; above all an interior cross.
The Lord gives us interior crosses, too. There are three kinds of crosses: those that remain useless, like that of the bad thief ; those we carry to make reparation for our own sins and to merit salvation, like that of the good thief ; and those that make us think of the Savior's cross, and that we bear in order to labor with Him for the salvation of souls. When we carry a cross well, it in turn carries us. It unseals our eyes and leads us toward contemplation, and helps us to see God hidden in the souls of men. If such a cross sometimes seems very heavy, let us ask our Savior to give us a love of suffering, or at least orient us in the path of suffering.
That is what He desires, since He has given us His heart, a wounded heart. He has also given us His Mother, and one of the greatest graces that our Lady of Sorrows can obtain for us is the grace of delighting in the crosses that the Lord places on our shoulders to purify us and to enable us to labor for the salvation of souls. 16 This is truly to enter into Christ's intimacy and to participate in His hidden and sorrowful life before having a part in His glorious life in heaven."
18 The expression "to delight in the cross" reminds us that our Lord declared : "There are some . . . that shall not taste death till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom" (Matt. 16:28). St. Thomas said in this regard (/» Matthaeum, 16:28) : "Sinners are absorbed, swallowed up as it were, by death, the just delight in death, which is their entrance into eternal life."
"To help us enter into Christ's intimacy, let us from time to time reread a hymn composed by St. Bernard of Clairvaux: 18
Jesus, sweet is love of Thee
Nor may nothing so sweet bej
Nought that man may think or see
Can have sweetness near Thee.
Jesus, no song may be sweeter Nor thought in heart blissfuller, Nought may be felt lightsomer Than Thou, so sweet a Lover. Equally beautiful is a German prayer that has long been sung by the faithful: Ich danke dir, Herr Jesu Christ, Dasz du fur mich gestorben bist. Lass dein Blut und deine Pein An mir doch nicht verloren sein.
O Liebe, o unendliche Licbc Gottes! Let us repeat with Blessed Nicholas de Flue: "Nimm mich mir, und gib mich dir: Lord, take me from myself and give me to Thee!"
18 Thomas Walsh, The Catholic Anthology. The World's Great Catholic Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 491.
xxx
OUR PARTICIPATION IN THE MYSTERIES OF OUR LORD'S LIFE
"In My Father's house there are many mansions."
CHRIST'S intimacy takes on different forms that contribute to the harmony of His mystical body, that is, to its variety within its profound unity. In the Church the union of these two factors, unity and catholicity, in the face of so many causes for division, constitutes a permanent moral miracle.17 For in the Church unity of faith, hope, charity, worship, and government exists despite the diversity of place, time, race, language, customs, and institutions. This is indeed the accomplishment of one of Christ's prophecies, that His Church was to extend to all peoples, 2 and that it would nevertheless remain one 8 in order to lead the souls of every land and every century to eternal life.
It is important to understand the reason for this variety in unity. Diversity of temperament, character, or spiritual cast, is often an occasion for salutary suffering but also for failures in charity, for irritation, impatience, and for arbitrary judgments. In our narrowview we may sometimes wish that all souls were absolutely alike, and x The Council of the Vatican (Denzinger, no. 1794) says: "Ecclesia per se ipsam ob suam nempe admirabilem propagationem, eximiam sanctitatem et inexhaustam in omnibus bonis fecunditatem, ob catholicam unitatem, invictamque stabilitatem, magnum quoddam et perpetuum est motivum credibilitatis et divinae suae legationis testimonium irrefragabile."
"Cf. John 17:10: "And not for them [the apostles] only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in Mc. That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee." Cf. Matt. 16:181 John 10:1 6 1 Acts 1 :8.
had the same dominant inclinations as we do. Fortunately that is not the case. The harmony of the Church, as well as that of the religious orders and of religious communities, requires a certain diversity. In the vast fertile plain that is the Church there are a number of hills from which one can look out with the eyes of a St. Benedict, as it were, or of a St. Dominic, or a St. Francis, a St. Ignatius, or a St. Theresa. Our Lord has told us: "In My Father's house there are many mansions."
To gain light on this point we may consider the different forms of holiness that correspond to various dominant inclinations and to different types of trials. Each of these spiritual physiognomies has its own grandeur and beauty. Holiness takes three rather distinct forms, that correspond to the three predominant graces and tend to converge, as trails on different slopes of a mountain all lead to the summit. These three forms of holiness, as we shall see, are eminently present in the sacred souls of Jesus and Mary.
Holiness takes three rather distinct forms that correspond to the three great duties toward God: the duty to know Him, the duty to love Him, and the duty to serve Him. Every Christian must of course fulfill each of these three duties. Yet in the mystical body one must excel in one function and another in some other function.
There are holy souls whose special mission is to love God ardently, and thus to make reparation for the offenses made against Him. They receive early in life graces of love that transform their will and make of it a living power that never ceases spending itself for the glory of God and the salvation of their neighbor.
Other souls are called upon to excel in the contemplation of God, to make Him known, and show us the way that leads to Him. From the start they receive graces of light that increasingly enlighten their intelligence and make of it a beacon to guide the faithful in their progress toward eternity.
Finally, there are holy souls whose mission is essentially to serve God by their fidelity to daily duties in various works of charity. Their memory and their entirely practical activity, under the influx of the theological virtues, are placed continually at the service of God and of their neighbor.
Let us consider each in turn these three forms of holiness that are personified in the three privileged apostles whom our Lord led first to Thabor and then to Gethsemane: Peter, John, and James.
Each of these souls excels naturally in the exercise of one faculty. And as grace perfects nature's good points, it takes hold of this faculty more directly and powerfully, afterward reaching the other, less developed faculties. Grace thus makes use of the resources of our nature for our own perfection and salvation, and constitutes our special supernatural inclination that we must always follow, since it is inspired by God. 4 On the other hand, each of these souls has its dominant fault to conquer, a special pitfall to avoid, and that is why the Lord sends appropriate trials to each one.
Enlightened directors recognize in souls the special supernatural inclination that God has given them and also the dominant fault to be combated. We need to know both of them, the white and the black, in order to understand the trials that God sends us, to derive greater benefit from them, and to avoid making arbitrary judgments of other souls that are going toward the same summit but up another slope. Those who are naturally gentle must become strong, and those who are naturally strong must become gentle. "Alius sic, alius sic ibat," in the words of St. Augustine. There are different paths that lead to the same goal, and even among those traveling in the same direction one may progress more slowly than another and still not be retrogressing. 8
In the molding of souls the Lord finds a way to make use of every- s Differences in character do not derive, as do differences in temperament, from organic differences. They are distinctive traits of the soul. In the first period of the spiritual life, while the senses still predominate, the temperament is very noticeable. But after the second conversion, or passive purification of the senses, the temperament loses much of its influence, the superior faculties have become much stronger, and therefore the spiritual physiognomy of each one becomes more pronounced. We should beware of artificial classifications, but not of those based on the very nature of the soul and of its faculties. For the different spiritual physiognomies, such as that of the scholar, the man of action, or (he artist correspond to the predominant exercise of a given faculty and to the grace that places this family ut Gcjd'l HTVic*.18
thing. He does not deal in the same way with a man of action who is devoured by zeal, a missioner, as He would with a theologian, a St. Thomas, or with a painter like Angelico, a poet like Dante, or a musician like Beethoven. But He makes everything serve for the expression of faith, hope, and charity. He puts Aristotle's logic to work in the mind of a theologian, and the learned harmonies of colors and sounds in an artist. And in the last analysis nothing in the intellectual and sensible order has value except as an expression of God's perfections. Leading to this summit are several slopes, and only what leads to it can have any deep and lasting interest for us. The Office of All Saints admirably takes into account all these variations in holiness as found in the apostles, martyrs, doctors, confessors, and virgins.
The souls in whom the exercise of the will and the ardor of love dominate resemble the seraphim. 6 According to revelation, these superior angels are inflamed with the love that the Holy Ghost communicates to them. It is this love that leads them to contemplate God's sublime beauties. Their spiritual flame generates more heat than light. They sing the canticle: "Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God of hosts!" 7 They constitute the supreme order of the first hierarchy of angels. For the highest virtue of those who strive toward God is charity or divine love, which in contrast to knowledge is incompatible with mortal sin. 8
Likewise, ardent souls are first of all ravished by graces of love. They strive toward the good with zeal and determination, and often ask themselves: "What shall I do for God?" They have a burning thirst to suffer, to mortify themselves, in order to prove their love for God; they yearn to make reparation for the offenses committed against Him and to save sinners. Their desire to know God better is secondary.
This group of souls would, it seems, include the prophet Elias, full of zeal for the Lord, 9 the apostle Peter who chose to be crucified head downward through humility and love for his Master, the great
'Their name signifies "the fiery ones." They represent divine holiness, and their function is to consume or destroy sin by means of the burning coal of love. Cf. Isa. 6 :»— 7. T Isa. 6:3.
*St. Thomas, la, q.63, a. 7, ad i) a.9, ad j) q.io8, a. 5, ad 51 q.109, ad j. •Ill Kines 10:10: "With zeal hav« I been zealous for the Lord."
martyrs St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Lawrence, the seraphic St. Francis of Assisi, St. Margaret Mary who from her youth wished to suffer through love and in a spirit of reparation, St. Benedict Joseph Labre the impassioned lover of the cross. Also there were St. Charles Borromeo, St. Vincent de Paul, and countless other apostles and servants of mankind.
All these souls are more outstanding because of their charity, the surge of their hearts toward God, than because of their understanding.
The pitfall of those among them not sufficiently docile to the Holy Ghost would lie in the very energy of their will, which might degenerate into rigidity, tenacity, and obstinacy. This is a dominant fault that is quite visible among the less fervent of these souls. Their zeal is not sufficiently enlightened, nor patient and gentle enough. Some of them may turn too much to active works at the expense of prayer.
The Lord sends these souls trials designed in particular to make their will more malleable, sometimes even to break their will when it has become too rigid. He permits grave setbacks so that their natural ardor may develop into a truly supernatural, disinterested, patient, and gentle zeal. He teaches them to put their trust not in the natural enthusiasm of the heart but in divine mercy that is always ready to help. The Lord humiliates these ardent souls sometimes by permitting them to endure violent temptations, even temptations of despair. This was the case of Elias when he lay down in the desert under the juniper tree. 10 God even permits serious falls, as when Peter denied his Master.
The Lord also sends great aridity to these souls and allows their contemplation to be painful even when it is full of love and merit. Their ardent love burns them, consumes them, and makes them suffer keenly from all the offenses committed against God. He inspires them to expiate or to make reparation.
Thus does God mold these souls that are more ardent than lumi-
10 Ibid., 19:4: "And he [Elias] went forward, one day's journey into the desert. And when he was there, and sat under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul that he might die, and said : It is enough for me. Lord, take away my soul 1 for I am no better than my fathers. And he cast himself down, and slept. ... And behold an angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him: Arise and eat . . . for thou hast yet a great way to go."
nous, dominated by the burning zeal of charity, the highest of the theological virtues.
A second group of souls is made of those in whom the exercise of the intellect dominates, rather than of the will. The grace that impels them directly and powerfully toward God is the grace of light. They resemble the cherubim who, the prophets tell us, cluster around the throne of God. 11 These angels, wonderfully enlightened by the eternal Word, are first of all overwhelmed with awe as they contemplate God's beauty, and they are thereby inspired to love Him and to make others know Him. 12 Their spiritual flame produces more light than heat.
Likewise these souls are first enlightened by graces of illumination. They are inclined to rejoice in the contemplation of God, in the great over-all views that are born of wisdom. Their love increases only as a consequence of their enlightenment. They experience in a lesser degree than the first group the need to act, to mortify themselves, to suffer in reparation. But if they are faithful, they attain heroic love for the God who enchants them. The great doctors of the Church belong to this family of souls: among them, St. Augustine, St. Anselm, St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas, and many others who through the centuries have been beacons showing humanity the path that leads to God.
The pitfall of the less perfect among these souls is to be content with the lights they receive and not conform their lives to the truths they know. Whereas their intelligence is highly enlightened, their will often lacks ardor. St. Francis de Sales bemoaned this condition in himself, and prayed for the grace of fortitude.
It is not rare for these souls to be given grave interior trials. The night of the senses and of the spirit described by St. John of the Cross leads them progressively to complete selflessness and generous love. The interior trials these souls endure are usually less painful than those of the first-mentioned group of souls. They find consolation in the lights they receive, and they are more strongly attracted toward
11 Dan. 3 :$$ : "Blessed art Thou [O Lord] that beholdest the depthi and sittcst upon the cherubims." Cf. Pj. 17:"! 79 :l I Isa - 17-' 6 - "St. Thomas, la, q. 63, a. 7 ad 1 > a. ioS, a. 5 ad 5.
contemplative prayer. But they must bemoan their lack of energy for quite a while. Their love of truth makes them suffer especially from error, false doctrines that lead men's minds astray. This is at once their cross and a stimulus to labor in making God known.
When these luminous souls have been purified by suffering and remain faithful to the lights that God sends them, they aspire ever more to be united to Him, to lose themselves in Him without falling into self-absorption. A faithful luminous soul will become more closely united to God than an ardent soul that is unfaithful.
There have been great saints like St. Paul, St. John, St. Benedict, St. Dominic, St. Gertrude, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, who were both very contemplative and very ardent even from the start. They early combined within themselves the qualities of the first two groups of souls. For that matter, these two types of souls tend to resemble each other more closely as they approach the summit toward which all of them aspire.
Lastly, there are the souls whose particular mission is to serve God through fidelity to daily duty. The faculty they use most is memory combined with activity of a wholly practical order. This group includes the great majority of Christians. Their memory makes them attentive to specific facts. They are enraptured by the history of God's generosity toward man, as recorded in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the life of the Church. These souls are easily touched by the words of the liturgy and by the outstanding virtues of various saints. Grace adapts itself to their nature and shows them clearly through the maze of their multiple occupations the duty to be accomplished, the neighbor to be helped, and the glory to be given to God.
Only rarely does divine inspiration send them broad over-all views, but it does make them attentive to the various means of perfection. In this way these souls, when they are faithful and generous, attain a practical and personal understanding of the things of God as well as a great love of God and of their neighbor. They are thus able to reach the loftiest levels of holiness.
Their pitfall would lie in becoming too attached to practices that are good in themselves but do not lead directly to God: for instance, certain exterior austerities or vocal prayers. They would then run the risk of becoming excessively anxious about details, scruples, and becoming unduly attached to methods that are useful at the start but somewhat too mechanical. These things can prevent the attainment of intimate union with the Lord.
The trials of these souls generally have less to do with the interior life and more with the practice of fraternal charity and the exercise of their generosity. They suffer much from the faults of their neighbors and from the obstacles they encounter in their labors. The great interior purifications come to them much later than to the souls in the aforementioned categories. Yet if these practical souls are generous, they also attain an intimate union with God.
These are the three forms of holiness that seem personified in the three privileged apostles, Peter, John, and James, whom our Lord took with Him to Thabor and afterward to Gethsemane. All these souls are called in various ways to the contemplation of the mysteries of faith and to intimate union with God. The closer they come to the summit toward which they are striving the more closely they resemble one another, the more deeply they resemble Christ, without losing their own individualities.
These three forms of sanctity are to be found in their most eminent degree in Christ's soul, without any of the imperfections that subsist in the saints. It reminds us somewhat of the way white light contains the seven colors of the rainbow. Indeed, no one ever knew God better, loved Him more, or served Him more perfectly than did Jesus Christ.
Jesus has shown us the excellence of these three forms of holiness in the three periods of His life on earth : His hidden life, His apostolic life, His sorrowful life.
During His hidden life in the obscurity of Nazareth, in the carpenter's house, He was the perfect model of fidelity to daily duty in the performance of acts that were outwardly very modest but inwardly of immeasurable greatness because of the love that inspired them.
In His apostolic life He shone forth as the light of the world and told us that those who follow Him do not walk in darkness but shall receive the light of life. 18 He not merely believed but actually saw
immediately in the divine essence the things that He taught about eternal life and the means to attain it. He founded the Church, entrusted it to Peter, and said to His apostles: "You are the light of the world." 14 Then He sent them out to teach all nations and to bring the peoples of the earth baptism and the Eucharist.
Finally, in His sorrowful life Jesus manifested all the ardor of His love for His Father and for us. This love was so great as to inspire Him to die for us on the cross. He thirsted to suffer in reparation for the outrages done to God, to save souls, and to consummate the work of Redemption. His thirst for suffering was incomparably greater than that of St. Andrew, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Lawrence, St. Theresa, or St. Benedict Joseph Labre. For Jesus' heart is a fiery furnace of charity. No one ever suffered more because of sin, and from His wounded heart come all the graces received by reparative souls, those associated with the great mystery of the Redemption.
Jesus possessed all three forms of holiness without any shadow of imperfection. He was attentive to even the smallest details of God's service, ever fulfilling them with prompt exactitude. He enjoyed the most exalted contemplation, but was never lost in it, as are saints in ecstasy. Jesus was above ecstasy. He could simultaneously see the depths of the divine essence and converse with His apostles concerning the smallest details of their apostolic life. His ardent love and fiery zeal were united to the greatest patience, gentleness, and compassion that inspired Him to pray for His executioners: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
The holiness of Christ's soul is manifested by its reflection in the souls of His saints, as white light is manifested by the seven colors. The same holds true of Mary, making all due allowances, for she too possesses in an eminent degree all the forms of holiness.
Let us not underevaluate our Lord's life by trying to explain it too much in terms of our own personal psychology. This is how a Jansenist Christ was invented, and then, as a reaction against this view, a liberal Christ. Let us lift our souls up toward Him instead of bringing Him down to our own level. He is infinitely above even our most generous sentiments, and He has no illusions. Though He is far
superior to the greatest saints, He is still our perfect model and ceaselessly offers us the grace and strength to follow Him.
The mysteries of Christ's life must in a sense be reproduced in us in the measure that the Savior wishes to assimilate us to Himself and make us participate in His hidden life, in His apostolic life, in His sorrowful life, and finally in His glorious life in heaven. This progressive assimilation is noticeable in the life of a number of saints. Daily meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary can help us to advance ever more securely in this path if we really desire to do so.
The joyous mysteries of Christ's childhood, the sorrowful mysteries of His passion, and the glorious mysteries of the Resurrection and Ascension correspond to the three great acts in the life of a soul: I. the act of desiring the ultimate end: holiness and eternal beatitude, the thought of which causes happiness and inspires the soul to make its first steps toward God; 2. the act of desiring the means that can enable us to attain this end: fulfillment of the commandments to carry our cross after the Master's example and to follow in His footsteps; 3. the act of finding rest with Him once the goal has been won.
These mysteries of Christ's life must become more and more the food of our souls, the object of our contemplation, so that we can penetrate their depths and rejoice in them. This will be a foretaste, as it were, of eternal happiness. We shall grasp ever better the fact that sanctifying grace is the seed of glory, 16 that a profoundly Christian life is the beginning of eternal life, according to the Savior's own words recorded several times by St. John: "Amen, amen, I say unto you: He that believeth in Me hath everlasting life . . . and I will raise Him up in the last day." 18
The Meaning of the Incarnation for Certain Contemplatives
Contemplative souls that are being tested by suffering may find help in the following reflections. After reading a commentary on St. Thomas' thought concerning Providence, one such soul wrote: "When
I read the first chapters dealing with God's attributes, a black veil descended over all that I read. Only the Deity stood out in relief. It also was wrapped in darkness, but darkness of a different nature from that to be found in the lights of theology. For to me all light is darkness. . . . My soul lives apart, divorced from the sensible portion of me, and does not participate in any way, so to speak, in the celebration of feasts and commemoration of mysteries. The soul gives life to the body, and that is all. The body remains alone, always alone in the presence of these things that are made for the soul and that consequently encounter this human obstacle, inert as a corpse. . . . Then from time to time, but only rarely, a sudden certainty fills my mind, accompanied by an embrace that touches the depths of my soul. At such moments I am sure that I love God with a true love. . . . My walled-up soul (separated from the sensible) thus becomes conscious at times of an abyss and a life of unfathomable depth. It is, as it were, the experimental knowledge of immense but unknown riches; of an incandescent furnace, which neither lights nor warms me; of an overflowing but half-perceived plenitude, for which I hunger but which does not nourish me."
As a matter of fact, the prayer of certain souls that are being subjected to grave trials is almost totally devoid of the intellectual and effective elements normal to prayer. Yet there is in their prayer a consent and abandonment which amounts to saying: "My God, I trust Thee," and which contains faith, trust, love, and true prayer.
Souls in this state may have the same reaction to the preceding pages on the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation. For such souls "all light is darkness" compared to the inaccessible light which they dimly glimpse from afar, especially through the words of the Savior. In fact, the sun is but a shadow by comparison with the intellectual light of the first rational principles. These latter are themselves shadows compared to the supernatural mysteries, as it will some day be given us to see them. And among these mysteries, the redemptive Incarnation is a shadow compared to the Deity which, as it exists in itself, contains eminently, formally, and explicitly all the divine attributes and the three divine persons. The Deity as we know it here on earth contains only implicitly the divine attributes deduced from it. But when we shall see it as it is in itself there will no longer be any need for deduction. We shall see explicitly in the eminence of the Deity, superior to being, to unity, to goodness, all the infinite perfections and the three divine persons. 17 Certain souls have an experimental foretaste of this, as it were, and that is why the superior portion of their souls is never satisfied with anything that can be said about the divine attributes or the personality of the Word, who became man to save us.
The words of St. Thomas are appropriate in this connection: "Matters that concern the Godhead are, in themselves, the strongest incentive to love and consequently to devotion, because God is supremely lovable. Yet such is the weakness of man's mind that it needs a guiding hand, not only to the knowledge, but also to the love of divine things by means of certain sensible objects known to us. Chief among these is the humanity of Christ, according to the words of the Preface, that through knowing God visibly, we may be caught up to the love of things invisible. Wherefore matters relating to Christ's humanity are the chief incentive to devotion, leading us thither as a guiding hand, although devotion itself has for its object matters concerning the Godhead." 18 In other words, it is the Deity particularly that attracts love and devotion; but inasmuch as it is invisible we need to be progressively lifted toward it, starting with things of the senses. Thus the Savior appeared to us first in His humanity, as the way. Later He appeared in His divinity, as the truth and the life. This is what the Preface of the Nativity proclaims: "Because by the mystery of the Word made flesh the light of Thy glory hath shone anew upon the eyes of our mind: that while we acknowledge Him to be God seen by men, we may be drawn by Him to the love of things unseen." This is the perfect way to eternal life.
The state of the contemplative souls we have just spoken of is not solely one of aridity or absence of consolation. It is a state of impo-
1T Cf. Cajetan, In lam, q. 39, a. 1, no. 7 : "Res divina prior est ente et omnibus elifferentiij ejus: est enim super ens et super unum, etc. Est in Deo unica ratio formalis, non pure absoluta, nec pure respectiva, non pure communicabilis, nec pure incommunicabilisi sed eminentissime ac formaliter continens quidquid absolutae perfectionis est, «t quidquid trinitas respectiva exigit."
tence, quite different from the natural tendency to sleep. When souls are in this helpless state they can still read a few verses of the Gospel, but they cannot return for the moment to active prayer, that is, discursive meditation.
Active prayer is something like a child's effort to spell and then to read little poems. If the poems were taken away from him and he had to return to his alphabet, he could not do it. He would have no interest or incentive to relearn the alphabet since he knows it already. If the little poems that he loves to read are taken from him, he is helpless to find what he needs.
We have another example of impotence in the. preacher who looks at the text of a sermon on the Passion that he preached several years earlier with special fervor. He no longer possesses the grace that would enkindle his notes. He understands the text quite well, he remembers it, but grace does not gleam through. He is like a poet who has lost his inspiration. His soul is like the becalmed water of a lake, or like the leaves of a poplar when there is no breath of wind. It is a dead calm. Whence comes his impression of impotence to preach the Passion as it should be preached. And yet beneath this impression of impotence, or perhaps above it, exists a real thirst to do good to souls and a deep prayer that will be answered in the end. This preacher, who is so thoroughly dissatisfied with his notes, already dominates them. The awareness of his impotence is a sign that he is docile in God's hand. The same holds true for the tested contemplative souls of whom we speak. They feel empty of God, but they are thirsting for Him more than ever.
Father de Caussade, S.J., in his beautiful book, Abandonment to Divine Providence, has described this state very well: "Souls who walk in light sing canticles of joy; those who walk amid shadows sing anthems of woe. Let one and the other sing to the end the portion and anthem God assigns them. We must add nothing to what He has completed. There must flow every drop of this gall of divine bitterness with which He wills to inebriate them. Behold Jeremias and Ezechiel: theirs was the language of sighs and lamentations, and their only consolation was in the continuation of their lament. He who would have dried their tears would have deprived us of the most beautiful portions of the Holy Scriptures. The spirit that afflicts is the only one that can console. The streams of sorrow and consolation flow from the same source.
"When God astonishes a soul she must needs tremble; when He menaces, she cannot but fear. We have but to leave the divine operation to its own development; it bears within itself the remedy as well as the trial. . . . Make no effort to escape these divine terrors. . . . Receive into the depth of your being the waters of that sea of bitterness which inundated the soul of Christ." 19
If the contemplatives of whom we have just spoken no longer seem to understand what they read concerning the mysteries of salvation, it is because they are so eager to pass beyond narrow formulas and enter into the infinite depths of the mystery of God, in His unfathomable love. "O Liebe, O unendliche Liebe Gottes!" The truth is that they are the ones who understand best. While their Holy Communions may seem arid to them, and their poverty extreme, they understand incomparably better than others the sublime words:
Panis angelicus fit panis hominum.
O res mirabilis, manducat Dominum Pauper, servus, et humilis.
18 Rev. J. P. de Caussade, S.J., Abandonment or, Absolute Surrender to Xfitlfat P. ovidence, translated by Ella McMahon (New York, 1945), p. 129.
THE GRACE OF CHRIST AND THE MYSTICS OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
Natural Pre-mysticism and Supernatural Mysticism19
THERE is much talk these days of certain mystics outside the Church who, without visibly belonging to the true Church of Christ, seem to have lived the life of grace and charity in the superior degree that characterizes the mystical life.
The studies of Louis Massignon 2 and of Asin Palacios 8 on Islam are written from this point of view. These works which contribute mostly documents should be examined with care, and their authors would probably not accept the general conclusions that have been drawn from their works by certain critics.
Emile Dermenghem goes much farther than they in one of his works. 4 In 1930, with regard to several Moslem mystics whom he had studied, he wrote: "All these (oufis, thinkers, poets, or saints, have given expression to the great mystical experience: to die to the world in order to live in God, in compelling formulas analogous to those of the Christian Fathers, doctors, and mystics, and often also of the Hindu Vedantists. This would confirm the thesis of R. Guenon on the universality of tradition: quod ubique, quod, semfer, quod ab omnibus, according to the Catholic formula. They repeat incessantly with the Scholastics that creatures have no being except that which a Louis Massignon, La fassion d'Al-Hosayn-ibn-Mansour-al-Hallaj, martyr mystique de I'lslam, 1 vols., 1912. "Le Diwan d'al-Hallaj," Journal Asiatique, January-March, 193 1.
' Miguel Asin Palacios, El Islam Cristianizado, Estudio del "Sufismo" a Travis de las Obras de Abetiarabi de Murcia, 193 1.
♦ Emile Dermenghem, "L'Eloge du Vin (Al Khamriya)," Poeme mystique de Omar ibn al Karidh, L'Anneau d'Or, 1931. Integral translation accompanied by notes, a critical introduction, and • historical and theological essay on Moslem mysticism.
they receive from God, and with St. Paul that it is in Him that we have our life, our movement, and our being." 0
Father Eliseus of the Nativity, O.C.D., commented aptly on this subject: "We do not know what Dermenghem means by 'great mystical experience' ; at any rate, the Church will never take this universality of tradition as the sole criterion of truth." 6
On the other hand certain rationalists and surviving Modernists have been trying to explain even the supernatural mysticism of St. John of the Cross in terms of the natural mysticism which is to be found in varying degrees in all religions and which from their point of view is superior to any single creed. According to this approach, the revelation of the mysteries of salvation as proposed by the Church, the person of our Lord, His example, the sacraments instituted by Him, bring nothing essential to the Catholic but merely a greater security. The essential, they say, lies elsewhere and on a higher level: in a mystical experience that is to be found in the more interior souls of every religion and that is nothing but the natural blossoming of the religious sentiment.
To the theologian, this is one of the most delicate aspects of the very difficult problem of the salvation of unbelievers, and it is becoming more and more acute. 7
8 Etudes CarmUitaines, October 1931, p. 162. "L'Experience mystique d'Ibn 'Arabi, est-elle surnaturelle?"
T Father Clerissac, O.P., had seen how the great problems of the present time culminate in this one. He wrote:
"There is a remarkable fact. I shall not call it the conflict of the great modern tendencies (scientific, social, and mystical) , but rather their convergence, inasmuch as they all converge toward a single religion regardless of the aims of those who represent them.
"No doubt the scientific question has existed in every age, although it probably did not in former times imply the philosophical enigmas of the present day nor any problem of history or exegesis.
"Under the various forms of servitude and pauperism, the social question has always haunted us.
"Between the extreme forms of illuminism and quietism, mystical aspirations formerly found many means of expression. But in our own day these tendencies have taken on a special aspect and a new life. Each of them borrows from the other two and communicates to them in return something of itself. Science pretends to be a religion. Socialism desires to be a code of morals and offers itself as a feverish worship of justice. Mysticism in its turn upholds its right to be scientific. Moreover, these three tendencies by their contents and20
I. Statement of the Problem Errors of Extremism to be Avoided
Everybody knows the two radically opposed positions that the Church has rejected as grave errors. One of them is worse than heresy. It does not choose from revelation what it will retain. It denies all supernatural revelation.
On the other hand, naturalism, as it is formulated, for example, by Spinoza and his successors, absolutely denies the supernatural order as well as miracles and the life of grace. It sees in the various religions nothing more than the natural evolution of religious sentiment. Modernism reached this same conclusion by renewing and aggravating the Pelagian error. 8 From this point of view Catholicism is at best the most exalted form of the evolution of religious sentiment; the mysticism described by St. John of the Cross is an interesting form of natural mysticism which is expressed in pantheistic terms by the Buddhists in the Orient, for instance, and in the West by the theosophists who find their inspiration in Jacob Boehme or in Schelling's second philosophy.
their action compete for the attainment in a definite and supreme form either of the experimental knowledge of God or the apotheosis of man. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that here is the greatest historical event since the invasions of the barbarians. Let us not take this fact to be a simple manifestation of blind forces. Let us beware of the seduction of these tendencies that are everywhere captivating men's minds and hearts. Let us beware of the importance of the inevitable transformations that will ensue. "
Indeed, the most recent encyclicals of the Sovereign Pontiff are an answer to these general aspirations of humanity. In particular the encyclicals on Christ the King, on His sanctifying influence on His whole mystical body, on the family and the sanctity of Christian marriage, on social questions, on the necessity for reparation, and on the missions. All these encyclicals center around the reign of Christ over all men. It follows that for religion to maintain the pre-eminence that it must have over scientific and social activity, the interior life of its members must be deep, it must be a true life of union with God. This is manifestly necessary.
8 Cf. Bulletin de la Societe Franfaise de Philosophic, May-June, 1925: "Saint Jean dc la Croix et le problcmc de la valeur noetique de l'experience mystique" j cf. ibid., p. 87, "Rcniarques," by M. Blondcl and J. Baruzi, on the infused character of the contemplation which St. John of the Cross speaks of. See also R. Dalbiez, "Une nouvelle Interpretation de Saint Jean de la Croix," La vie spirit uelle, 192S: "The integral interpretation of the mystical experience must be theological or else there is no explanation for it whatever." Kev. Renoit Lavaud, O.P., "Psychologic independante et priere Chrihennc," Revue Thomiste, <>i<)\ also "Lc» problrruca de la vie mystique," La vie spirituelle, June, 1931.
J5 8 OUR SAVIOR
The extreme opposite of naturalism is none other than the pseudosupernaturalism that appeared under various forms among the predestinarians such as Wyclif, the Protestants, and the Jansenists. They have all maintained that as a result of original sin human nature is so corrupt that every act of the infidel is a sin, and his apparent virtues are but splendid vices deriving from self-love and pride.
In opposition to these last-mentioned errors, Catholic doctrine holds that predestination is not necessary for the performance of even excellent actions, nor are sanctifying grace and infused faith required for an action that is morally good, such as paying one's debts or teaching sound principles to one's children. Fallen man can, without grace, even have a certain ineffectual love of God, the Author of nature, a love consisting of admiration and slight desire, capable of inspiring a naturally poetic soul to describe God's perfections in lyrical terms. Thus the pagans can, without grace, accomplish certain morally good acts. They are also endowed with actual grace by the help of which they can accomplish certain salutary acts that will dispose them to receive habitual grace, the radical principle not only of salutary acts but also of meritorious acts. "To anyone doing what in him lies (with the help of actual grace), God does not deny (habitual) grace." 9
Pope Pius IX said in effect that those who invincibly or through no fault of their own ignore the true religion but who do what is in their power to observe the natural law can, through an illumination and a grace from God, attain the supernatural acts of faith and charity necessary for salvation. In other words, such persons can receive the life of grace, the seed of glory, and be saved. 10 These men "of good
B Cf. St. Thomas, la Hae, q. 109, a. 6: "Whether a man, by himself and without the external aid of grace, can prepare himself for grace. . . . Now in order that man prepare himself to receive this gift, it is not necessary to presuppose any further habitual gift in the soul, otherwise we should go on to infinity. But we must presuppose a gratuitous gift of God, who moves the soul inwardly or inspires the good wish." Also la llae, q.tMj a. 3: "Whether grace is necessarily given to whoever prepares himself for it. . . . Man's preparation for grace is from God, as Mover, and from the free will, as moved. Hence the preparation may be looked at ... as it is from God the Mover, and thus it has a necessity— not indeed of coercion, but of infallibility— as regards what it i> ordained to by God, since God's intention cannot fail, according to the saying of Augustine in his book on the predestination of the saints (De dono fersev., 14) that "by God's good gifts whoever is liberated, is most certainly liberated.' "
10 "Notum nobis vobisquc est, eos qui invincibili circa ianclissimam nostrum religioncm will," in the theological sense of the term, belong to the soul of the Church, as is generally agreed by theologians. 11
We can see how Catholic doctrine rises above the diametrically opposed errors: I. the error of naturalism, which denies the order of gracej 2. the error of narrow pseudo-supernaturalism, which denies that God wishes to offer to all adults the sufficient grace for the accomplishment of the commandments necessary for salvation. Yet a great mystery remains: the mystery of predestination. It is a great grace to belong visibly to the Church, to benefit by its infallible teaching, by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and by the sacraments. Hence the necessity of the missions.
Two Tendencies Relating to the Mystics Outside the Church and the Importance of the Problem
As we have seen, there have been and still are diametrically opposed errors relating to the salvation of unbelievers. Within the limits of orthodoxy one can also distinguish two rather contrary tendencies with regard to those who have been called the "mystics outside the Church."
There are those who are inclined to think that, inasmuch as sanctifying grace, infused faith, and charity can exist in souls that do not belong visibly to the Church, we can also find the mystical life in them more often than has been heretofore admitted, especially when we recognize that this mystical life is the normal blossoming of the life of grace.
This tendency leads to the rather easy admission that certain mystics outside the Church are "authentic" mystics, and even to speak of Moslem, Hindu, Jewish, and other forms of mysticism as if they were, despite their errors, true mysticism. This leads to specific state- ignorantia laborant, quique naturalem legem ej usque praecepta in omnium cordibus a Deo insculpta sedulo servantes ac Deo obedire parati, honestam rectamque vitam agunt, posse, divinae lucii et gratiae operante virtute, actcrnam consequi vitam" (Denzinger, no. 1677).
" Cf. Dublanchy, De axiotnale: Extra ecclesiam nulla salus, 1895, pp. 373 ff., and the article "L'Eglise," Dictionnaire de t/iiologie catholique. Capcran, Le problems du salut dei infidilei (theological essay), pp. 80 ff., 9a. Edouard Hugon, Hon de I'egliie faint de talul, 1914, chaps. 1-4.
36o ments that this or that mystic outside the Church has had authentic supernatural graces, and even very exalted graces, which might be compared to the transforming union, that is, the stage called by St. Theresa of Avila "Seventh Mansion," or at least the stages immediately preceding it. There are at times striking analogies to be sure, as L. Massignon and Miguel Asin Palacios 12 have noted.
But beneath these analogies, the questions of nature and origin remain obscure. And in such a delicate matter, exaggeration, which is contrary to all scientific prudence, would quickly become dangerous as well as easy. On these frontiers of the nature of grace we touch upon the most difficult problems of theology, and scholars who have studied them all their lives may often hesitate to formulate an opinion on them. On the questions about the limits of the two spheres, final judgment can only be the result of a profound knowledge of each of the two domains.
i! As Maritain remarks (The Degrees of Knowledge, p. 337) and also Father Bruno, the case of Ibn 'Arab! discussed by Palacios calls for much greater reserve in judgment than that of al-Hallaj studied by Massignon.
In the April, 1932, issue of the Eludes Carmelitaines, pages 139 to 139, Palacios cites striking texts of the "Sharh Hikam" of Ibn 'Abbad Rondi which certainly call to mind what St. John of the Cross writes later on, particularly the following maxims and the commentaries on them : "God often teaches thee in the night of desolation what He does not teach thee in the splendor of the day of consolation. ... It is therefore fitting that the servant recognize the grace God gives him in the day of anguish" (ibid., p. 152). "Tribulations lead the soul to the presence of God and teach her to converse with Him on the carpet of sincerity. ... Be convinced of thy own lowliness, and God will help thee in His greatness. ... Say to thy Lord as thou liest prostrate on the carpet of spiritual poverty: 'O Rich One! Who will help the weak if not Thee?' 'O Noble One! Who will help the worthless if not Thee?' " (Ibid., p. 158.)
We are no less astonished by what is said (ibid., pp. 118 ff .) concerning the virtues of this master. They are described in these beautiful maxims: "He who loves celebrity is not sincere toward God" (ibid., p. 140) s "Pray for him who has offended thee, and thy prayer will be heard" (ibid., p. 143) ; "It is in tribulation that man practices interior virtues, the least of which is more meritorious than mountains of exterior works of virtue" (p. 145) j "For those who seek God, days of tribulation should be great feast days" (p. 157).
On the other hand, a person of penetrating vision who is also deeply religious has written to us from his home in Morocco after reading these texts: "Daily experience with the fathmas who serve us has proven to me how circumspect we must be in interpreting their religious vocabulary and in judging their interior life. For example, they repeatedly use the same words as we to signify abandonment to divine will. Yet what an abysmal difference there is between their flabby fatalism and our vital Christian abandonment! This helps me to understand how there may be a deep difference in the source of the most exalted states that are analogous in appearance."
Several thinkers who have formulated reservations that help state the problem with greater penetration and also bring out its importance.
First of all, even admitting that the mystical life is the full normal culmination of the life of grace, this normal summit is still a summit. And because of negligence, spiritual laziness, lack of generosity in trials, and insufficient docility to the Holy Ghost, this summit is rarely attained even in the Catholic Church, even in religious orders. And yet here are available so many supernatural lights, examples, graces, particularly through the sacraments and through daily Holy Communion most of all. How much more difficult it must be to reach this summit when one is deprived of these many aids!
Moreover, as a missioner who is well versed in these matters has recently stated, it is easy when a person chooses wisely — and is it not on choices of this kind that we are depending — to group a large number of texts describing these mystics outside the Church that seem to use terms strikingly similar to those used by St. John of the Cross with regard to the essence of the mystical life. This will lead us to the following conclusions:
a) For all of them the essence of contemplation is indeed the loving, obscure, indistinct, general knowledge with neither form nor image that the Doctor of Carmel teaches.
b) For all of them the practical behavior to be followed during contemplation is a kind of universal nada, and consists in abstracting the understanding from any particular notion {Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 12), and to be occupied with a loving attention in God, without wishing to specify anything {Living Flame of Love, 7/7,5,6).
c) For all of them (and this is perhaps the most remarkable fact) the summit and the perfection of the mystical life exist when the soul totally transformed into its Beloved has become God by participation (Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 22).
It seems, therefore, that all these souls meet at the summit regardless of the path they have chosen, whether or not they have enjoyed the help of the infallible doctrine and the sacraments of the visible Church. Do they really meet? This, of course, is a most important question:
If, as we admit, the same sanctifying grace is presupposed in these diverse souls, it follows that, according to the view presented above, everything seems to happen as if this grace sufficed to reach even the highest degrees of supernatural union with God, with no need of having an explicit knowledge of the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation or of receiving the sacraments. (This also presupposes, of course, faith in the two primary truths of the supernatural order, namely, that God, the author of salvation, exists, and that He rewards good works. It also presupposes charity.) This explicit faith in the divine person of the Savior, His example, the sacraments, the teachings and regulations of the Church, would then seem to give the Catholic no more than secondary, not to say accidental, assistance and greater security. The essential, however, would lie elsewhere and on a higher level. 18
Far more important, it would appear that St. John of the Cross himself defined and described contemplation in a manner that is not specifically Christian and Catholic by notes and definitions that are actually used to "recognize" and "authenticate" the mystics outside the Church. (In reality of course, he founds his mysticism on the fullness of revelation received from our Lord, on the explicit understanding of the mystery of the Cross perpetuated on the altar during the Mass, and on the sacraments, especially on the union with the Savior through spiritual and sacramental communion.) Would this provide
18 That is why the Thomists generally maintain as the more probable the well-known thesis of St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.2, a. 7: "Post Evangelium sufficienter promulgatum, fides explicita Incarnationis est omnibus necessaria necessitate medii ad salutcm." St. Thomas, ibid., says: "After grace had been revealed, both learned and simple folk are bound to explicit "faith in the mysteries of Christ." Cf. Ila Ilae, q. 2, a. 8, fine ad 1 and 2. The reason for this is that Jesus Christ is the way to salvation: "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John i4-:6). And St. Peter says in Acts 4:11: "There is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved." We can be saved only by Christ, by being incorporated in Him, by belonging to His mystical body. This seems to require of adults not only the realization of the mystery of the Incarnation but also an explicit faith in this mystery, an explicit faith in the One who takes away the sins of the
However, we can inquire whether the Gospel ii to be considered as promulgated in places where it has not yet been preached or where it has been completely forgotten. In any event, true mysticism presupposes at least an implicit faith in the Redeemer.
adequate safeguard for Jesus' words: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life"? l *
Thus presented, the question is serious. Following the first-mentioned trend of thought which takes on more or less definite forms, would we not, under the influence of present-day syncretism, gradually lose the meaning of true contemplation, which St. Paul calls "the mind of Christ"? 18 This is the question brought up by the missioner we quoted earlier.
The answer will no doubt be given: The doctrine of implicit faith is definitely opposed to this syncretism and does not signify at all that explicit faith and the sacraments have only an accidental value. Father Eliseus of the Nativity has made some apt remarks on this point: 16 "The difficulty originates with regard to faith in the Mediator. The adult can be justified only by believing in one way or another in the redemption that Christ has won for humanity. This faith in Christ the Redeemer has three states or degrees: the explicit knowledge of the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, as we Christians know it; the idea of a mediator between God and man; lastly, the conviction that God in His mercy has provided in some undefined way for the salvation of the human race. This last degree of knowledge of the Redeemer is called implicit faith in Christ and is to a certain extent indistinguishable from supernatural faith in Providence and belief in a God who rewards. ... To believe that God saves men by whatever means He pleases is to possess an implicit faith in Christ the Redeemer [and according to St. Thomas this was sufficient before Christ's coming]. ... It is difficult to maintain that conditions have changed for those who lived after Christ's coming but never heard of Him."
M Hindu Carmtlitainit, October, 1931, p. 161, article cited above.21
A serious difficulty remains even for those who accept the view that explicit faith in Christ the Redeemer is not a necessary means since the promulgation of the Gospel. Indeed, there is a vast difference between what is strictly necessary for salvation or in order to avoid damnation and what is required for mystical union with God, especially the loftiest stages of this union.
We are led to ask ourselves if two most important matters are not being left out of consideration.
Do we find among these mystics outside the Church the combination of conditions, especially profound purification, requisite for true mysticism, that is, supernatural contemplation and the intimate union with God that results from it?
When they are in the state of grace is not theirs a natural mysticism or pre-mysticism, that is, a natural contemplation of God similar to that of Plato and Plotinus, or even of certain Christian Platonists like Malebranche and the most recent ontologists? 1T
If we failed to consider these two points carefully, we should be led, precisely as were the ontologists, to a more or less latent identification of nature and grace, and we should finish by speaking of a universal mysticism which expresses itself in a rather halting manner. Our Catholic mysticism would merely be the most correct form. 18 Not only would this confusion be deplorable for us. It would also be
17 Rev. Alio, O.P., "Mystiques Musulmans" {La vie sfirituelte, May i, 1931, p. no), cites the words of the Persian Bisthami, who, having been transformed by union, cried out in the name of Allah: "There is no God but me. Adore me. Glory be to me! How great is my majesty!" and also the words of Al Hallaj : "Ana al Haqq. I am the Truth." "Let us allow," he says, "for Oriental exaggeration. But in Christian lands the Inquisition would have dealt with them. ... As for their 'pure love,' are we to admire the good woman [spoken of by E. Dermenghem, of. cit., p. 30] who desired to put out the fires of hell with her pail of water and burn heaven with her torch so that God should be loved for Himself alone?" This excellent article by Father Alio should be read in its entirety for its bearing on the question under discussion.
18 Concerning E. Dermenghem's book, Father Alio writes correctly {loc. cit., p. 114.) : "We should have wished that the distinguished translator and commentator had put more emphasis on criticism and had made it clear that lie grasped the significance of all these differences. As a matter of fact, his very noble confidence in the human spirit enlightened and guided by God, and an almost too 'catholic' breadth of feeling led him to discover everywhere the same effects of divine illumination and to explain everything in terms of a catholicity that can express itself with varying degrees of success. Apparently he saw only shades of difference where there are profound contrasts of color. . . . There are differences in kind, and only one can be the good, true, supernatural kind."
profitless to the souls of good will who even outside the visible Church might seek the true interior life and profound, intimate converse with God. This is clearly a serious question. It is important not to state one's views lightly. Undue haste in reaching conclusions would be particularly dangerous.
As Father Alio says: "At the present time among those given to the study and admiration of mysticism, a perilous syncretism is beginning to take shape. And believers endowed with knowledge and zeal should not close their eyes to this menace. It should be told." 19
The Difficulties of the Problem
First of all there are the two great inherent difficulties of mystical theology: i. The object is transcendent, inasmuch as it concerns union with God considered in terms of His intimate life, and not merely known naturally from the outside through the reflection of His perfections in the mirror of sensible things. 2. The subject under consideration is the human individual, of whom the ancients said: the individual is ineffable. Certainly man is not ineffable the way God is, whose intimate life is above the frontiers of intelligibility accessible to us by natural means. Man is ineffable because the human individual is a mysterious composite of spirit and matter, matter that is not very intelligible in itself and that is, so to speak, beneath the frontiers of intelligibility. There can be science only of the general, of the universal, for science is the result of abstraction from individual matter, which is thus in a manner repugnant to intelligibility. From this fact comes the mystery of the individual human composite wherein are perpetually intertwined the acts of the superior faculties, the will and the intelligence, and those of the imagination, the memory, the external senses, and all the emotions or passions that are more or less uncontrolled and either healthy or diseased.
As a result there are "dark nights," fundamentally different but resembling one another on the surface. Some are the product of the deep-seated workings of divine grace, the others are not. Some of these states are mainly neurasthenic and the result of human frailty.
These are the difficulties of mystical theology in general and of its application even in fervent Christian and Catholic circles. But these difficulties are greatly magnified with regard to the mystics outside the Church.
We must not forget that there can and does exist a certain natural mysticism or pre-mysticism, midway between true supernatural mysticism and the false mysticism that is evidently diabolical. The indistinct "experiences" of this natural pre-mysticism become the obscure and sometimes poisoned source of the most contradictory systems. It had been said that certain non-Christian philosophies are nothing more than formulations of the mysticism of the savages which has always existed. There are methods of ecstasy that are prehistoric.
Can we be sure that these "experiences" are "ordered toward the truth"? Have we the right to conceive of them in terms of authentic Christian mysticism, rather than in pantheistic terms?
Much has been said about false charity that, sometimes without even being aware of it, has not at all the same formal object as infused charity, yet parades its name. At bottom such false charity is nothing but liberalism or vain sentimentalism. The principle, corruptio optimi pessima, is applicable here to an extent which is often unrealized. Though nothing on earth is greater than true charity, which is essentially supernatural, nothing is worse than false charity. Likewise, although nothing is greater than true mysticism, which is the eminent exercise of the three theological virtues and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost that accompany them, nothing is worse than false mysticism. This false mysticism is all the more dangerous to the extent that it takes on the external aspects of true mysticism. One might be tempted to speak of the "soul of truth" within this false mysticism. Yet there may be in it only a "grain of truth" which, far from being its soul, is at the service of the voluntary or involuntary error at the root of this deviation. In what is false simplicity and not merely secundum quid, the true is deviated from its goal. These remarks, in direct opposition to theosophy, should not be forgotten.
Insufficient realization that a natural pre-mysticism exists, leads to a falsification, not to say caricature, of the contemplative life. This might be the favorite work of the spirit of lies, which hides as much as possible under the appearances of truth.
A certain modernistic syncretism is inclined to proclaim: "Christ is here" or "He is there." The Gospel tells us: "Do not believe him." 20 From this point of view, Christ would be everywhere except perhaps where He really is.
This gives us an idea of the difficulty of the problem. How can we distinguish a supernatural mysticism which, because of the ignorance of several revealed mysteries, is rather amorphous, from a natural mysticism or pre-mysticism which can exist even in souls in the state of grace? The latter form of mysticism, of course, was that of the Christian Platonists, of whom it was at times hard to say whether they were Platonistic Christians or Platonists with a taste for Christianity. The difficulty is increased by the fact that the mystical vocabulary comes in part from Dionysius and from the Neo-Platonists and therefore does not strictly belong to the Church. Plotinus often speaks of "purification," but in an entirely different sense from that in which St. John of the Cross uses it.
Moreover, this vocabulary is often more one of practical psychological description than is the case with theological descriptions, that is, those written by the light of speculative reason based on revealed principles. It is human language, expressing itself in terms of the "experience" of the contemplative soul. Therefore we should not be surprised that pseudo-mystics use it just as the true mystics do.
In our opinion, these are the chief difficulties of the problem. Some of these difficulties derive from the nature of this mysterious subject. For in it there is the darkness from above, coming from God whose light is inaccessible, and also the darkness from below, which comes from matter, one of the essential parts of the human composite. Between these two darknesses it is no easy task to distinguish true supernatural mysticism from its natural analogies. The difficulty is increased by the fact that the true and the false mystics often use a vocabulary that is rather common to both. It is further increased by the impossibility of seeing and of watching the lives of the mystics outside the Church, who are known to us only by documents that are
for the most part incomplete. Spiritual directors have difficulty in judging those under their direction on the basis of a few conversations and letters. They often reach conclusions quite different from the ones of those who have lived in close contact with these persons over a long period of time. How much more difficult, then, to pass an exact judgment on the mystics outside the Church under discussion here! But since this question has been presented to theologians and missioners, let us inquire what guiding principles can help solve it.
II. Elements of the Solution
Two theologians who have lived among the Moslems, the late lamented Father Lemonnyer and Father Alio, 21 have indicated several of these elements, as has also Jacques Maritain in his remarkable work, The Degrees oj Knowledge} 2
Let us raise our thoughts progressively from the highest degrees of the natural order to the loftiest degrees in the order of grace. Wc would first consider the work of the imagination and of the rather disorderly emotions on the first ideas on which religious sentiment lives, whether these come from natural reason rising toward God or from religious traditions that have been more or less distorted. This field is unlimited. We have but to think of the sometimes improbable fantasies written even by Christian and Catholic poets, without mentioning the decadents. We shall limit ourselves to the formulation of principles concerning our superior faculties: the intellect and the will.
These principles concern first of all natural contemplation and
81 A. Lemonnyer, "L'Existence des phenomenes mystiques, est-elle concevable en dehors de l'Eglisef " (la vie sfirituelle, May i, 1932, pp. 73 fi.) . In this article Father Lemonnyer calls to mind the good distinction between "minor mystical graces that may be called 'substitutive' (because of the frailty of the subject or the special difficulties he encounters) and major mystical graces that are called graces of perfection." These latter are the graces which mystical writers usually speak of, particularly St. Theresa of Avila, beginning with the Fourtli Mansion or the first passive prayers.
" Translated by Bernard Wall and Margot R. Adamson, 1938. See Part II of this work, chapter 5, "Mystical Experience and Philosophy," especially pages 331-36: "I» there an Authentic Mystical Experience of the Natural Order?" p. 331. "First Objection," p. 333. "Second Objection," p. 333. "Third Objection," p. 336 ( "The Natural Analogies of Mystical Experience," pp. 345-49.
natural love of God to the extent that they are possible in the present state, and then the different forms of superior inspiration that man can receive. It is easy to reduce the guiding principles to these two categories.
Natural Knowledge and Natural Love of God
We must remember that, according to Catholic theological teaching as formulated by St. Thomas (la, q. 60, a. 5; la Ilae, q. 109, a. 1, 2, 3; Ila Ilae, q. 26, a. 3), man since his fall 28 can still, without grace, by his natural powers know the existence of God, the author of our nature, he can know the more manifest divine attributes, and he can love God the author of our nature with a natural, inefficacious love. Although this love does not make us renounce mortal sin, that is, does not fundamentally rectify our will and our life, it prompts us to admire God's perfections that are naturally knowable, His infinite wisdom and His goodness. 2 * This admiration leads to flights of the imagination which in poetic souls, especially in great artists, find lyrical expression reminiscent of true mysticism. Yet this might really be nothing but a sentimentalism full of deceiving fluctuations, one whose fires soon flicker out.
This natural and inefficacious love of God, the author of our nature, appears more powerful in souls naturally endowed with a vigorous intelligence or a strong will. This is particularly true when natural love of God is united, as in the case of Plotinus, to a love of philosophy, or perhaps to a love of art, or to love of country as in the case of an oppressed people.
In such cases we can easily find a natural prefiguration of the
** By this fall, man is born a sinner, "aversus a Deo, directe aversus a fine ultimo supernaturali et indirecte aversus a Deo fine ultimo naturali," for all sin, which is directly against supernatural law, is directly against natural law, which requires us to obey God in everything that He commands.
** Cf. the commentators of St. Thomas' treatise on grace, la Ilae, q. 109, a. 3. Most of them state the question thus: "Whether by his own natural powers and without grace man can love God above all things?" and "Whether man without grace and by his own natural powers can fulfill the commandments of the law?" Wc have dealt elsewhere at length with this natural ami inefficacious love of God. Cf. The Love oj God and the Cross of Jesus, I, S 5 ff.
mystical life that may mislead us if we forget the words of Jesus: "Not every one that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of My Father." 28 Nor let us forget that in the actual plan of Providence every man is either in the state of grace or in the state of mortal sin; he is turned either toward God or away from Him. There is no middle ground. Absolute indifference is not possible with regard to God.
Consequently, on the matter of natural analogies to true mysticism we must note what Father Lemonnyer says: "What difference is it to us and what principles can we be expected to present in opposition to the fact that there have been actually observed outside the Church such phenomena as catalepsy, levitation, or luminous radiation materially resembling mystical ecstasy, as well as psychic states more or less analogous to mystical sufferings? Whether these phenomena are normal or pathological, natural or diabolical, they do not necessarily require a divine cause.
"We do not even claim that their appearance is impossible in connection with natural contemplation of a religious object, as Neo- Platonic contemplation could have been, and as can also be Buddhist or theosophical contemplation or any other contemplation that has Christian affinities. This natural contemplation, prepared and sustained by appropriate asceticism, developed through the use of a method and through well-conceived exercises to an exceptional degree of intensity, can have psychic consequences. When temperamental factors are favorable, especially when the imagination and the emotions come into play, there can even be corporeal consequences materially resembling various accessory mystical phenomena, with the exception of levitation. Hallucinations, susceptible of evoking the idea of prophetic visions, can easily be an additional factor." 28 Much could be said on this subject as it concerns the temperament of certain racial groups predisposed to passiveness and fatalism.
Can the natural love of God, which we have just mentioned, attain to what has been called an "immediate seizure of God" which would allow us to speak not merely of a natural pre-mysticism but of a genuine natural mysticism?
Pantheism, particularly that of Plotinus and Spinoza, gives an affirmative answer. We have explained elsewhere why Catholic theology must answer in the negative. 27 This would be the confusion of nature and grace.
There is a difference in formal object between the dim natural intuition of God known from the outside in the mirror of sensible things without the grace of faith and, on the other hand, the supernatural and quasi-experimental knowledge of God founded on divine revelation and infused faith united to charity and enlightened by the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Only supernatural knowledge can ultimately attain "the deep things of God," as St. Paul says. 28 In other words, it alone attains the intimate life of God, the Deity. First it succeeds in doing this dimly through faith and then it does so clearly through the beatific vision. 29
Maritain rightly insists on this point:
« T The Love of God and the Cross of Jesus, I, 119 ff.
- 8 I Cor. 1:10. . ™ It is precisely because the Deity or the divine essence as such constitutes a iormal object that infinitely surpasses the proper object of every created intelligence whether angelic or human, that St. Thomas was able to write {Contra Gentes, Bk. I, chap. 3) : "Quod sint aliqua intelligibilium divinorum, quae humanae rationis penitus excedant ingenium, evidentissime apparel." The proper object of our intelligence is the intelligible being of sensible things. From this it can naturally rise to the knowledge of the existence of God and of the perfections analogically common to God and to creatures, but it cannot rise to the quiddative knowledge of what the Deity is in itself, the formal object of divine intelligence, nor to the knowledge of what essentially and immediately belongs to this formal object fer se frimo. As St. Thomas says, ibid.: "Sensibilia ad hoc ducere intellectual nostrum non possunt, ut in eis divina substantia videatur quid sit, quum sint effectus causae virtutem non aequantes." Nor can the angels know naturally the proper object of divine intelligence: "Non autem naturali cognitione angelus de Deo cognoscit quid est, quia et ipsa substantia angeli, per quam in Dei cognitionem ducitur, est effectus causae virtutem non adaequans." St. Thomas, ibid., no. 1.
Ibid. Ia, q. 1, a. 6 : "Sacred doctrine essentially treats of God viewed as the highest cause —not only' so far as He can be known through creatures just as philosophers knew Him— that which is known of God is manifest in them (Rom. 1:19)— but also so far as He is known to Himself alone and revealed to others." It is because of this difference in formal object that we maintain in opposition to a recent objection that it can be demonstrated that there is in God an order of supernatural mysteries, that is, mysteries inaccessible to the natural powers of every created intelligence.
That is why St. Thomas says in the passage of Contra Gentes that we have just cited: "Evidentissime affaret. . . ." If there is a formal object that can constitute a new order, It is the formal object of divine intelligence. We have dealt with this question at greater length in the January, 19JI, (MM of La revue Thotniste, pp. 71-84, and De revelaUon; Vol. I, chap. 11.
To admit in any degree, even in the simplest imaginable form, an authentic experience of the depths of God upon the natural plane would necessarily imply:
Either confounding our natural intellectuality, which is made specific by being in general, with our intellectuality in grace, which it made specific by the divine essence itself;
Or confounding the presence of immensity, whereby God is present in all His creatures by the power of His creative might, with the special and holy indwelling of God, that special presence in the soul in a state of grace;
Or again muddling up in the same hybrid concept the wisdom of the natural order (metaphysical wisdom) and the infused gift of wisdom;
Or finally attributing to the natural love of God what exclusively belongs to supernatural charity.
In one way or another this would be to confound what is absolutely proper to grace with what is natural and of the order of nature. 80
If vegetative life, the life of the senses, and the life of reason constitute three distinct orders, how much more must we recognize as existing above them the order of truly divine life, superior to the rational life of man and to angelic life!
Thus only can we safeguard the meaning of St. Paul's words: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him. But to us God hath revealed them by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him? So the things also that are of God [His intimate life] no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God." 31 What a vast difference there is between knowing the Vicar of Jesus Christ from the outside by what everybody says of him and blowing his intimate life! How much vaster, then, is the difference between knowing God from the outside through the reflections of His perfections in the created order and knowing His intimate life at least dimly through divine revelation!
That is why it has always been necessary for salvation to have explicit infused faith in at least two primary truths of the supernatural order: God, the author of salvation, exists and He is a rewarder." Without this explicit faith we cannot have implicit faith in the other supernatural mysteries.
Natural love of God might be efficacious even without grace, if man had not fallen but had remained in a state of pure nature, preferably integral nature. Yet man would not in such a state attain to the "immediate seizure of God." Even the angels would not attain to it by this natural love of God, for, like us, they had to be raised to the supernatural order of grace in order to know dimly at first and then clearly the intimate life of God or the mystery of the Deity. 83 There is an immeasurable distance between knowing God as God, in His intimate life, even in an obscure manner, and knowing God from the outside as the First Being and First Intelligence through the reflection of His perfections in creatures. It is because our natural love of God cannot arrive at this experience of the intimate life of God that we do not speak of a "natural mysticism," but only of a "natural premysticism."
Superior Inspiration and Its Various Forms
But if natural love of God cannot arrive at the intimate experience that is to be found only in the mystical life by reason of the gift of wisdom, it is none the less often difficult in concrete reality to distinguish this natural love from a love born of superior inspiration. This difficulty is greatest in the case of philosophers or vigorous souls in whom the natural love of God is united to another powerful love which is not without grandeur, and when these are accompanied by a certain purifying asceticism such as the catharsis of Plotinus.
It is in such cases especially that a natural pre-mysticism can exist. This pre-mysticism is all the more difficult to distinguish concretely from true mysticism inasmuch as the superior inspiration which we have just mentioned is not always of the same nature.
We shall find, if we read the works of St. Thomas attentively, that he distinguishes at least four kinds of superior inspirations, two of the natural order and two of the supernatural order of grace. They can be reduced to the following table, reading from the bottom up.
mystical inspiration properly so-called, leading, for instance, to passive recollection and other degrees of infused prayer.
mystical inspiration improperly so-called, given especially because of the indigence of the subject or of the environment.
proceeding from God, the author of nature, for example, for the temporal welfare of a people.
proceeding from created spirits, whether good or evil, such as poetic inspiration.
We know there can be inspirations that come not directly and immediately from God but from created spirits, whether good or evil. And sometimes mystics outside the Church have sought contact with spirits.
As Maritain remarks: "The care which St. Thomas took to refute the theories of Avempace, Averroes, and others on the possibility for man of an immediate achievement of the world of pure spirits by intellectual intuition, 84 shows to what point this temptation may prove seductive to philosophers." 85
It is often forgotten that there can be divine inspiration of the natural order, such as that received by a great philosopher, a great poet, an artist of genius, a lawmaker, or a strategist. St. Thomas speaks of this several times, particularly in la Ilae, q. 68, a. I, where he cites chapter fourteen, "On Good Fortune," from Ethic. Eudem. 7, 8, written by a Platonist disciple of Aristotle who wrote of the exceptional men who, moved by a divine instinct, do not need to deliberate before doing great things. 86 The end of Plato's Banquet and a part of Gorgias seem to have been written under the influence
80 See also Nicomachean Ethics, Bk. VII, chap. 1, nos. 1-3 1 St. Thomas commentary, lect. It
: super- tl order
H
K
C
I N S P 1 of the natural
-a - u 0 of an inspiration of this kind. Whence the expression: divine Plato.
We need only call to mind certain leitmotivs of Wagnerian works or certain symphonies of Beethoven to realize that natural poetic or musical inspiration, united to the natural and inefficacious love of God which is possible without grace, can sometimes give the illusion of true mysticism. This illusion will be even more pronounced when the inspiration is received by a soul in the state of grace.
Divine inspirations of the order of grace also occur often enough, but only rarely do they belong to the truly mystical order. First, we must note in souls seeking religious truth the inspiration that leads them to believe supernaturally in the truths that are necessary means of salvation, especially the first two truths: that God (the author of salvation and not only of nature) "is and is a rewarder to them that seek Him." 87 Explicit faith in these two primary supernatural truths contains implicit faith in the others.
St. Thomas even tells us 88 that when a child, even one who has not been baptized, fully reaches the age of reason he must order his life to a good end, and if he does this he receives through grace the remission of original sin. That is to say, he is justified by baptism of desire. In other words, even a non-baptized child who has fully reached the age of reason must choose not only to suit his fancy but efficaciously the path of goodness and he must deliberately turn away from evil. Now, to choose the right path in this way is already to love efficaciously the good more than self, and therefore it amounts to loving efficaciously and above all else the Sovereign Good, God, the author of our nature, known at least in a confused manner.
We have seen that fallen man cannot do this without grace. 30 That the accomplishment of this precept be hie et nunc really possible, the child then receives a sufficient grace, and if he does not resist it he receives greater assistance. According to St. Thomas, he is actually justified and his original sin is remitted. The text of la Ilae, q. 89, a. 6, should be compared with the well-known passage De veritate,
la Ilae, q. 89, ».6: "When he begins to have the use of reason, ... the first thing that occurs to a man to think about then, is to deliberate about himself. And if he then direct himself to the due end, he will, by means of grace, receive the remission of original lin." *° Cf. St. Thomas, la Mac, q. 109, 0,3.
q. 14, a. 11 ad I, which the Jansenists forgot. 40 Pope Pius IX speaks in similar terms in the text quoted at the beginning of this chapter (cf. Denzinger, no. 1677). God never commands the impossible and He makes it possible for all adults to fulfill His precepts.
Supernatural love of God is more easily distinguishable in this case by its efficacy and by the good behavior that it inspires from the inefficacious natural love that in some respects resembles it. If the child we have spoken of perseveres in the path of goodness in spite of all the obstacles that surround him, he will be saved.
Finally, as Father Lemonnyer has remarked, 41 it is important to remember a distinction that theologians, notably the Thomists, often make concerning the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which because they are related to charity are present in every soul in the state of grace.
Among the special inspirations of the Holy Ghost which the gifts dispose us to receive, some are given us especially because of our weakness or because of the indigence of our environment, in order that we may accomplish certain salutary and meritorious acts that stronger souls or souls in less unfavorable environments might accomplish by the simple exercise of the infused virtues aided by common actual grace. These special inspirations of the Holy Ghost have been called minor or improperly so-called mystical graces. It is not unusual for converts to receive them at the moment of their conversion and afterward for a more or less prolonged period of time, to make up for their lack of preparation. 42
Other special inspirations of the Holy Ghost that the gifts dispose us to receive are given to us especially because of the perfection of the act to be performed. If we do not resist these inspirations, they dispose us soon to enter the initial mystical stage described by St. Theresa in the fourth mansion and even in the ones above it. These inspirations
40 "Hoc ad divinam Providentiam pertinet, ut cuilibet provideat de necessariis ad salutem, dummodo ex parte ejus non impediatur. Si enim aliquis taliter (in silvis) nutritus, ductura naturalis rationis sequeretur in appetitu boni et fuga mali, certissime est tenendum, quod ei Deus vel per internam inspirationem revelaret quae sunt ad credendum necessana, vel aliquem fidei praedicatorem ad eum dirigerct, sicut misit Petrum ad Cornelium."
Art. cit., p. 7. .... 42 Converts also sometimes receive, at the moment of their conversion, genuine mystical graces and even truly extraordinary graces. Such was the case of Father A. Ratisbonne'i conversion, which calls to mind that of St. Paul.
can be called major mystical graces properly so called. John of St. Thomas, among the Thomists, has made this distinction quite clearly. 48
The superior inspiration which we have been speaking of occurs in a number of different forms. It can belong to the natural order and proceed from either good or evil created spirits, or from God the author of our nature, as several Greek philosophers have noted, especially the author of Ethic. Eudem.**
Superior inspiration can also belong to the supernatural order of grace. Apart from prophetic inspiration or other extraordinary graces, it can be mystical in the broad sense or mystical properly so called. Mystical inspiration improperly so called generally follows justification and then becomes the principle of acts that are both salutary and meritorious. But it can precede justification and dispose one toward justification by acts that are salutary but not yet meritorious, inasmuch as the principle of merit is the state of grace and charity.
Above natural acts that may contain a certain prefiguration of mysticism, there is a great diversity of supernatural acts, starting with the first salutary acts and going on to acts that are highly meritorious but still do not properly belong to the mystical order. We believe these are the principal elements of the solution.
The Order of Possibility and the Order of Existence
It is easier to reach conclusions in the order of possibility.
i. True mysticism, which implies or at the very least provides proximate preparation for the quasi-experimental knowledge of God present within us, is possible only for souls in the state of grace. Outside the state of grace there can be a natural pre-mysticism and also diabolic influences. This natural pre-mysticism can exist simultaneously with actual graces that dispose toward salutary but not yet meritorious acts. It can even exist in souls in the state of grace who
48 Cf. John of St. Thomas, Cursus t/ieol., De donis, In lam Ilae, q.68, diss. 18, a.ai solv. obj. no. 6: How the Holy Ghost comes to succor our weakness in the midst of diffiiuliics. Cf. St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.68, a. a, ad i and 3. We have elsewhere discussed the influence of the gifts of the Holy Ghost in the ascetic life, an influence that is frequently latent and only rarely manifest, whereas in the mystical life it becomes both frequent and quite manifest. Cf. Christian Perfection ami Contemplation. 44 Bk. VII, chap. 14.
perform meritorious acts, as we have seen in particular among Christian philosophers with a Platonist turn of mind.
In the actual plan of Providence in which the state of pure nature does not exist, every man is either in the state of grace or in the state of mortal sin. There is no middle ground. Every man is either turned toward God or turned away from Him. In the state of pure nature man would be born with a will not yet converted to God nor turned away from Him, but capable of being converted or of turning away from Him. In the actual state of things, man is born a sinner, turned from his last supernatural end and indirectly from his final natural end, 45 for every sin against supernatural law transgresses natural law at least indirectly. Therefore it is man's duty to obey God in whatever He may command. This means that every man is either turned toward God or turned away from Him. More precisely: every man either loves God efficaciously above all things with a love of esteem (an appreciative love), which presupposes sanctifying grace and charity, or else he docs not attain to this efficacious love of God either because of original sin if he does not have the full use of reason, or because of a personal mortal sin. 46 That is why our Lord has said: "He that is not with Me is against Me," 47 and also to the apostles these consoling words: "He that is not against you is for you." 48 Indifference properly so called or absolute neutrality is not possible with regard to the ultimate end. Therefore in the actual economy of salvation every man is either in the state of grace or in the state of mortal sin.
The state of grace is possible outside of the visible Church. It is realized by men who, with the help of actual grace, do what is in their power and thus come to love God efficaciously more than themselves with a love of esteem if not a love of sentiment. "To anyone doing what in him lies (with the help of actual grace), God does not refuse (habitual) grace." 49
45 Cf. St. Thomas, la Ilae, q. 109, a. 3, and his commentators of the beginning of his treatise on grace, for the explanation of the thesis: "Utrum homo in statu naturae lapsae nonclum rcparatae minores vires habcat ad bonum morale (naturale) quam habuisset in statu naturae purae?"
Mystical graces improperly so called or minor mystical graces not only are possible outside the visible Church, but they can occur rather frequently in the holiest souls in the state of grace, as a means of making up for the indigence of the environments where God's children find so little help. 60 In this way souls really endowed with good faith and good will in the theological sense can attain a true spirit of prayer, as missioners have often noticed. In consequence these souls may make more or less permanent attempts at attaining God's intimacy, especially if there remain traces of the Gospel in their religious teachings, as in the doctrine of Islam and in some of its traditions." These graces are to be found all the more in environments where, in spite of the errors of the Protestant heresy and of schism, the Gospel is preached and where Christ is loved by souls of good faith. 62
As for mystical graces properly so called or major mystical graces, by which the soul reaches mystical states properly so called as described by St. Theresa of Avila from the fourth mansion on (passive recollection and quietude), they are possible outside the visible Church. For the "grace of the virtues and the gifts" can develop outside the Church, even though this is much more difficult. Yet everything leads us to believe a priori that these mystical graces t0 As Father Lemonnyer remarks (art. cit., pp. 73 ff.) : "The minor mystical graces are properly supplementary graces. When God grants them, He takes into consideration need rather than merit. He holds them in reserve as help mercifully granted to weakness rather than as direct means of accelerating progress in perfection. If there are borncandidates for the minor mystical graces, they are these unknown Catholics, members of the one spiritual Church. . . . They lack so many things."
61 Cf. Rev. Alio (art cit., pp. 108 ff.) : "The Mohammedan contemplatives have deepened and vivified the monotheism of the Koran, which has always been their dogmatic authority. Although they greatly esteemed Christian monks, Christianity's influence on them was much less than the influence of Neo-Platonism. The Indian Vedanta also had its dogmatic authorities. . . . They do not admit the Incarnation, which is a Christian dogma. They deeply venerate Jesus, . . . who was to them the perfect example of transforming union. . . . Although on the whole they were orthodox, they were exposed to the calumnies and persecutions of the literalist theologians, to the point of having their own martyrs, such as the famous Al Hallaj." We can see that in such an environment and in the face of such trials there may well have existed among the best of these souls a certain intimacy with God and genuine inspirations of the Holy Ghost.
03 These graces must occur even more frequently since the consecration of the human race to the Sacred Heart by Pop 11 Lco x,n al ,l,c heginning of the twentieth century. And Mary, the Mother of all men, must obtain the salvation of many sinners.
properly so called, already rare in the visible Church, are exceedingly rare in these less favorable environments. Here and there we may find a few instances of what St. Theresa of Avila calls the fourth mansion, but it is doubtful that there is anything more elevated than that. 58
When we pass from the order of possibility to the order of actuality, it is much more difficult to reach final conclusions.
We almost always lack the elements of appreciation necessary to judge the essentially supernatural character of the experiences of the mystics outside the Church. Only the Church could speak with authority on these cases.
In order to have even a serious probability, we would be obliged to include among the texts of these mystics outside the Church not only those that have the ring of Christian mysticism but also those that are clearly pantheistic in character, or quietistic, or even erotic, as is the case of many such mystics.
If we were that exacting, the seriously probable cases of true mysticism in these environments would in all likelihood be far fewer and would perhaps be reduced for the most part to short-lived attempts. Let us not forget what St. John of the Cross says even of the most restricted Catholic circles. "God does not raise up to contemplation properly so-called all who desire to attain it by following the way of the spirit. He does not take even half of them." M "Why do they not reach this lofty state? . . . [Many souls], as soon as God tests them, flee suffering and refuse to bear the slightest dryness and mortification." 68 If this is true within the visible Church, how much truer must it be on the outside!
- We should exercise the greatest restraint in judging the numer-
58 Cf/Lemonnyer, loc. cit.: "Major mystical graces or phenomena presuppose charity in the way of perfection, a charity called to be effectively perfect. Even in the bosom of the Church, where the grace of Jesus Christ flows with greater abundance, few are the souls whom God favors with these graces after He has disposed them to receive them. We are led to believe that they are even fewer in the vast area where the spiritual atmosphere is less pure and the external means of sanctification are so meager. . . . The existence of the major phenomena of the mystical life remains perfectly conceivable in this portion of the spiritual Church that is outside the visible Church, although there are strong reasons for believing a friori that they are very rare."
M Cf. Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 9.
"Living Flame of Love, tt. 2, verse 5.
ous supposed mystics who are at least tainted by pantheistic monism. 66 No doubt, for the good of souls "of good will" in the scriptural sense, God can make use of natural pre-mysticism, just as He can make use of poetry. St. Paul did this in his discourse before the Areopagus: "In Him we live, and move, and are; as some also of your own poets said: For we are also His offspring." 57 But we do not know to what extent God makes use of these natural flowers for the good of souls.
Among the supposed mystics to be excluded would be particularly those who, like the theosophists, wish to possess final beatitude through their natural powers only. For this calls to mind the sin of the angel as described by St. Thomas 58 far more than true mysticism.
All things considered, it seems very probable that the natural contemplation so dear to Plotinus and Proclus occurred rather frequently.
Plotinus 69 speaks several times of ecstasy, and says that in order to be united to the first principle we must come to absolute simplicity, and go beyond all reasoning and all multiplicity: "We must wait in silence for the divine light to appear to us, just as the eye turned toward the horizon awaits the rising of the sun over the ocean. . . . Thought can only raise us little by little to the height from which it is possible to discover God. It is like the wave that carries us and lifts us up as it swells, so that suddenly from its crest we are able to see." Lofty as this contemplation may be, Plotinus considers it natural, for our nature proceeds from the One through emanation. It is in the
" Yet, as has just been noted, "if the heart is humble and faithful without knowing how to express itself, supernatural grace will be able to take full possession of it, and such a deficiency in doctrinal formulation will become the mute and involuntary homage of the full transcendence of Christian revelation." The prevenient graces and graces of consolation granted to the more conscientious souls in these pagan environments in general do not tend so much to rectify abstract formulas that inadequately express the true aspirations of the mind and heart. They tend rather to compensate for these false notions in the soul's concrete movement toward God, by removing their venom through the void of negative theology, through the spirit of renunciation and abandonment. Thus Eckhart and Rosmini possessed true charity in spite of their erroneous speculative formulas.
88 la, q. 63, a. J : "'It was in this way that the devil desired to be as God ... by desiring, as his last end of beatitude, something which lie could attain by virtue of his own nature, turning his appetite away from supernatural beatitude, which is attained by God's grace."
One that we exist and subsist. In this form of pantheism as in the others, we can truthfully say of our nature what Christian doctrine says of grace: it is already a participation in divine nature.
Proclus also says: "The soul that makes an act of intelligence knows itself as well as all contingent beings. But when it rises above intelligence, it is ignorant of itself and also of the contingents. Uniting itself with the One, it finds joy in rest, closed to all knowledge, wordless and intrinsically silent." 00
We should remember what Ruysbroeck and Tauler say concerning this natural contemplation. The latter says: "If one were to look upon this way [of high contemplation] with abusive liberty and false light, this would be . . . most regrettable. . . . The way that leads to this end must pass by the adorable life and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . We must pass through this beautiful door by doing violence to nature, by practicing virtue with humility, gentleness, and patience. Know this in truth : he who does not follow this path will lose his way." 61 Of course these words were addressed to Christians, but they show the immense difference between supernatural contemplation and that of Plotinus and Proclus.
In conclusion, let us call to mind the reasons why true mysticism, although it is the normal blossoming of the life of grace, is, like perfect docility to the Holy Ghost, rare even in the visible Church. It is rare even in the religious orders, in spite of the assistance of the sacraments and in particular of daily Holy Communion. The mystical life is a normal development of the life of grace; but it is a lofty summit. Rarely do souls go beyond the fourth mansion, or prayer of quietude. The reason for this is that the mystical life ordinarily requires purity of heart, simplicity of mind, true humility, love of recollection, perseverance in prayer, fervent charity, all of which are attainable when one makes the best use possible of the great means the Church provides; the sacraments, Holy Communion, and when one allows oneself to be molded by the liturgy and the supernatural study of sacred doctrine. This combination of conditions is not often
81 Cf. Sermons de Tauler (translated by Rev. Hugueny, Rev. Thcry, O.P., and Rev. A. L. Corin. Theological introduction by Rev. Hugueny, I, 92 f.).
realized even among Catholics, and therefore it is even less frequent among those who do not belong visibly to the Church.
We do not deny in the least that a pagan can receive sufficient graces that permit him, if he does not resist them, to arrive at an infused faith in the truths absolutely necessary for salvation and for charity. 62 Yet it may be that the "experience of the divine" which we may think we notice in several mystics outside the Church is more often than not a sort of natural pre-mysticism that is profoundly different from the true, essentially supernatural mysticism. If there are certain attempts to attain the latter, these seem to be of short duration or fail to go beyond the lower degrees of quasi-experimental knowledge of God.
This truth can be more clearly understood when these attempts at reaching God are compared with the spirit and the life of the saints, for instance, with what St. Paul says of the life of the apostles: "In all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God, ... as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet known; as dying, and behold we live; ... as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as needy, yet enriching many; as having nothing, and possessing all things." 68 This is true mysticism and the signs that accompany it.
We believe this solution is at once sound enough to fulfill the requirements of the principles and yet flexible enough to respect the different modes by which divine grace acts on men's souls. It avoids the two errors we pointed out at the beginning of this chapter: naturalism and narrow pseudo-supernaturalism like that of the Jansenists. On the one hand it maintains that it is a great grace to be born into the Catholic Church. On the other, it strongly affirms that God never commands the impossible and that He makes it possible for all adults to accomplish the precepts they are called on to obey.
aa St. Thomas even says that it is not impossible that God should work a miracle to confirm a natural truth of religion or the value of a virtue such as chastity. Cf. De fotentia, q.6, a. 5, ad 5. .... . <m
Referring to the vestal who was said by St. Augustine to have carried water to the Tiber in a perforated vessel {De civitate Dei, Bk. X, chap. 26), St. Thomas says: "Non est remotuni quin sit in commendat ioncm castitatis quod Dcus verus suos angelos bonos hujusmodi miraculum per retcnt ioncm aquae fecissct, quia si aliqua bona in gentibus fucrunt, a Deo fucrunt." It is true that this extraordinary fact is not a miracle properly so called, for it does not exceed the natural power of the good or evil angels. ° a II Cor. 6:4.-10.
An understanding of the deficiencies of the mystics outside the Church should help those who, according to the expression of St. Paul, 6 * are groping for God to find the true life and who can through the grace of Christ, but only through His grace, persevere in it until death.
Let us not forget that at the outset of the twentieth century Leo XIII consecrated the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The effects of this grace should continue to increase with each passing year.
- XXXII*
Epilogue
The Three Births of the Word
THE synthesis of the revelation relating to the Word made flesh is to be found in the Prologue of St. John's Gospel. It is concerned with the three births of the Word which are celebrated each year by the three Masses on Christmas day: His eternal birth, His temporal birth according to the flesh at Bethlehem, and His spiritual birth in the souls of men.
The eternal birth of the Word is clearly expressed in the first and last verses of the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... No man hath seen God at any time: The only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.
These words unequivocally affirm the distinction between the Word (the Son of God) and the Father, and also the divinity of the Word, consubstantial with the Father.
The distinction between these two divine persons is unmistakable from the declaration that "the Word was with God." No one is with himself or in himself. And if there were any doubt whether the expression "the Word" designates a person, this doubt would be removed by verse 18 at the end of the Prologue: "No man hath seen God at any time: the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." The entire Prologue makes it clear that the only-begotten Son is the Word of God made flesh. The expression "who is in the bosom of the Father" explains the words of the first verse, "the Word was with God."
It is evident also that the only-begotten Son is not the name of a divine attribute but the name of a person, as is the name "Father."
Finally, these two persons are really distinct: The Father is not the Son, for he who begets is not he who is begotten. No one begets himself.
On the other hand, we cannot say: God is not His intelligence, His wisdom, His love. For He is indeed His intelligence, He is wisdom itself, love itself. These essential attributes are absolutely identified with His essence. Yet the Father is not the Son. There is between them a polarity of relationship that does not exist between each of them and the divine essence.
However, the Prologue makes it perfectly clear that the Word is consubstantial with the Father, since it says: "The Word was God." In the Greek "the Word" is clearly the subject of this proposition, as well as of the preceding and following ones. And it is certain that the word "God" is used there in the same full sense as in the preceding proposition, "the Word was with God," and as in the following one, "the same was in the beginning with God."
Moreover, the following verses show that the Word, together with the Father, is the Creator, the author of natural and supernatural life: "All things were made by Him: and without Him was made nothing that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
These last words refer especially to the supernatural light needed for believing the truths of faith essential to salvation.
The first and last verses of this Prologue thus show us the profound meaning of the words of psalm 2:7: "The Lord hath said to Me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee," and of psalm 109:1-3: "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at My right hand: ... in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot Thee." We can also grasp a little better what the Holy Ghost wished to express when He inspired the author of the Book of Wisdom: "[Wisdom] is a vapor of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God: ... for she is the brightness of eternal light: and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of His goodness."22
EPILOGUE 387
This prologue, in verse 14, speaks with equal clearness of the temporal birth of the Word: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we saw His glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth."
This temporal birth according to the flesh was announced by the prophet Micheas: "And thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and His going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity ... for now shall He be magnified even to the ends of the earth." 2
It is the fulfillment of Isaias' prophecy: "For a child is born to us, and a Son is given to us, and the government is upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. . . . And there shall be no end of peace." 8
Finally, this prologue speaks to us of the spiritual birth of the Word, living in the Church which is His mystical body, in souls of good will : "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, He gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in His name. Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 4
He gave them power to be sons of God by adoption, as He is the Son of God by nature. Our sonship is an image of His, as verse 16 makes clear: "And of His fullness we all have received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
Jesus Himself has said: "If anyone love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him." 8 He also said: "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever." 8
The Word, the Son of God, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost, dwells in every soul in the state of grace on earth, in
purgatory, and in heaven. That is, He dwells in the souls of all the just. However, His sacred humanity does not dwell within the souls of the just, but it exerts a continual influence on them, for it is the instrument always united to Divinity that communicates to us all the sacramental and extra-sacramental graces that Jesus merited for us during His life on earth and particularly on the cross. 7 Therefore we can speak of a spiritual birth of the Word in men's souls, or of a silent coming of the Word into souls, as He came into the souls of the shepherds at Bethlehem. It is this silent coming that is honored by one of the three Christmas Masses. In this sense also St. Paul writes: "For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you," 8 in order to incorporate you into Him, so that you may be in Him and He in you.
We can never thank God enough for the realization of the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation. Often, when we enter a church, we ask for a spiritual or temporal grace for ourselves or for those we love, and sometimes we thank God for this or that particular blessing. Let us not fail to thank Him for the gift of gifts, the blessing which since the fall of man is the source of all other blessings, namely, the coming of the Savior. As St. Paul says to the Colossians: "All whatever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him" 9 for all the blessings that have come to us and that continue to come to us daily through His Son. "To Him in glory forever and ever."
The purpose of these pages is to invite souls to the contemplation of the mystery of Christ, who has deigned to become our spiritual food in the Eucharist. It would be difficult to express this contemplation more beautifully than in the words of the great doxology, the Gloria, which is sometimes recited mechanically at Mass, but which delights the souls of contemplatives by the fullness of its meaning. The Liber Pontificalis 10 says that Pope Telesphorus at the beginning of the second century (a.d. 128-139) commanded that this Gloria in excel sis be recited on the day of Christ's Nativity. When God inspired
EPILOGUE 389 its author He knew that this song of praise would be sung at Mass through the centuries and would be the joy of the greatest believers.
Glory to God
Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace to men of good will.
The Father
We praise Thee. We bless Thee. We adore Thee. We glorify Thee. We give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty.
The Son
O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. Thou who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us. For Thou only art holy. Thou only art the Lord. Thou only, O Jesus Christ, art most high,
The Holy Ghost
With the Holy Ghost, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Let us often contemplate in this Gloria the immense love that God has for us. God speaks. We must answer Him. Let us bear in mind, as St. John of the Cross recommends, that in the evening of our lives we shall be judged by love.
Footnotes
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Among the Modernist errors condemned by Pope Pius XI in the decree Lamentabili, the thirty-eighth is this one: "Doctrina de morte piaculari Christi non est evangvlica, sed paulina" (Dcnzingcr, no. 1038). ↩
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Ilia, q.4«, a.i, 4- ↩
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The inspiration for this discussion of doctrine comes from a sermon by Father Monsnbre which we have remembered for many yean. 'Wild. 8:t. ↩
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Luke 6:ii. 'Ibid., 5:16. 'John, chap. 17. 4 Matt. 26:39. ↩
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1 Tim. 1 :s i. ' 1 lcb - *«• .*i$***ti 7 ↩
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We have already spoken of satisfaction in chapters 8, 13-161 and we shall discuss it again with reference to the sacrifice of the Cross (chap. 15). ↩
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Rom. 5 :8-i 9 . « Ibid., 6:1-1*. 1 Ibid., 3 :zi f. ↩
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» II Cor. 4:17. ↩
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This very lofty idea is the core of a book written in the seventeenth century by Louis Charclon, O.P., La croix de Jesus, a book which shows that these apparently contrary effects derive from the fullness of place enjoyed by the Savior and are participated in to various degrees by the members of His mystical body. 2 Cf. supra, chap. 1 1. ↩
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shall cry by day, and Thou wilt not hear: and by night. . . . But Thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel. ↩
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Gen. 11:16-18. ↩
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g + OUR SAVIOR ↩
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Ps. 109:4s Heb. 5:65 7:17. * Sess. XXII, chaps. 1 and 2. ↩
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It is often said that St. Thomas denied the privilege of the Immaculate Conception. Such a categorical assertion does not seem justified on the basis of a work recently written on this subject by Father N. del Prado, O.P., of the University of Fribourg, Divus Thomas et bulla dogmatica "Ineffabilis Deus" (1919). In this work the author shows that St. Thomas made more of a distinction than is generally believed between the body of the Blessed Virgin before the animation, and her person which presupposes the presence of a rational soul within the body. According to the saintly Doctor, the body of the Blessed Virgin before the animation wai not preserved from original sin. But with regard to the person of Mary, several reliable authors maintain that St. Thomas neither affirmed nor denied the privilege. Since the Church had not yet made any pronouncement on the matter, neither did he »ee fit to make. Cf. P. Frietoff, O.P., Angtlieum, July, 1933 s "QuomoJo euro B.V.M. in original* conctfta jueril." ↩
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Cf. St. Thomas, la, q.io, a. a: "The love of Goil infuses and creates goodness." St. Thomas relates his entire treatise on grace to this principle: Cf. Ia Ilae, q. 1 10, a. I, c. and ad 1 : "Whatever is pleasing to God in a man is caused by the divine love." ↩
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" Panegyric on St. John, Point i. ↩
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Cf. Matt. 28:19: "Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." Cf. Mark 16:15. ↩
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St. Thomas (la Ilae, q. 66, a. ladi), after showing that all the infused virtues related to charity increase proportionately together like the five fingers of the hand, notes that some saints excel in one virtue and others in another, because they are more inclined in that direction by nature and special vocation or by the attraction of grace : "One saint is praised chiefly for one virtue, another saint for another virtue, on account of his more admirable readiness for the act of one virtue than for the act of another virtue." ↩
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The following pages have appeared under this title in the Etudes Carmelitaines of October, 1933. ↩
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Nouvelles littkraires, January 25, 1930. Review of the work by Rev. Bruno, O.C.D., on St. John of the Cross. ↩
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- In his Spiritual Canticle, verse 37, St. John of the Cross says that the mysteries within Christ are called caverns to symbolize their depth and height, that die treasures hidden in Him are like an inexhaustible mine, and that the doctors have discovered only a minute fraction of them. In the Ascent of Mount Carmel (Bk. II, chap. 20) he shows that to ask for private revelations is to exhibit disrespect for Christ who has brought the fullness of revelation. The saint lays stress on the divine words of Thabor: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him" (Matt. 17:5). Indeed, St. John of the Cross, like St. Theresa of Avila, maintains that the contemplative must not of his own initiative turn away from the consideration of Christ's humanity.
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Wild. 7:25 f. ↩
Chapter 4 of 4