Skip to the text
Ember
PT

Chapter XII. The Moral Virtues *

Before proceeding to describe them singly, we must briefly recall the theological notions concerning the zm/used virtues.

PRELIMINARY NOTIONS CONCERNING THE INFUSED VIRTUES

First we shall speak of the zzfused virtues in general, and then of the moral virtues tn particular.

I, The Infused Virtues in General?

  1. There are natural virtues, that is to say, there are good habits, acquired through the frequent repetition of acts, that render easy the performance of morally good actions. Thus, pagans and unbelievers can with the help of God’s natural concurrence acquire and gradually perfect the moral virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. We do not treat here of these natural virtues, but of the supernatural or infused virtues as they exist in the Christian soul.

  2. Raised to the supernatural state, and having no other destiny than the Beatific Vision, we must tend thereto through acts performed under the influence of supernatural principles and of supernatural motives, for there must bea proportion between the end and the acts that lead to it. And so, the virtues which the world calls natural, must be practiced by us in a supernatural manner. As Father Garrigou-Lagrange 3, following St. Thomas, rightly says: “The Christian moral virtues are zzfused and because of their formal object, are essentially distinct from the highest of acquired moral virtues described by the greatest philoso-

«ST. THOMAS, la II®, q. 55-67; I1@ Il®, q. 48-170; SUAREZ, Disput. metaphsy., XLIV; de Passionibus et habitibus, De fide etc.; JOANNES A S. THOMA, Cursus theol., Tr. de Passiontbus, habitibus et virtutibus, etc.; ALVAREZ DE PAz, t. II, lib. 111, de adeptione virtutum; PHIL. A SS. TRINIT., P. II, tr. II, dis. I, II; J. J. OLtER, /ntvod. a la vie et aux vertus chrét.; RIBET, Les vertus et les dons; P. DE SMEDT, Notre vie surnaturelle, t. 11; ST. FRANCIS OF SALES, Devout Life, passim, GAY, Christian Life and Virtues.12

phers... There is an infinite difference between Aristotelian temperance with reason as its only rule, and Christian temperance with the superadded rule of divine faith and supernatural prudence. ”

We have already shown in nos. 121-122, how these virtues are communicated to us by the Holy Ghost dwelling in us; now we have but to describe: 1° their zature, 2° their growth, 3° their decline, 4° the bond of union existing among them.

1° THE NATURE OF THE INFUSED VIRTUES

  1. A) The infused virtues are principles of action which God tingrafts in us, that they may perform in the soul the function of supernatural faculties and may thus enable us to perform meritorious acts.

There exists an essential difference between the infused and the acquired virtues from the threefold point of view of origin, mode of operation, and purpose.

a) As regards origin, the natural virtues are acquired by the repetition of the same acts, whilst the supernatural virtues proceed from God, Who implants them in the soul together with habitual grace.

b) From the point of view of oferation, the natural virtues, because they are acquired through the repetition of the same acts, give us a facility for producing the like acts readily and with a sense of pleasure ; the supernatural virtues, placed by God in the soul, simply give us the power to produce meritorious acts, together with a certain /endency towards the production of these acts; facility will come with frequent repetition.

€) With regard to their purfose, the natural virtues seek natural righteousness and direct us towards the Creator, the God of Nature; the infused virtues pursue supernatural good and lead us to the God of Revelation, the Triune God, made known to us by faith. Hence, the motives inspiring the latter must be supernatural ; they all refer to our friendship with God. I practice prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude, in order to be one with God.

  1. It follows that acts of supernatural virtue are possessed of a far higher perfection than acts of acquired virtue %. Christian temperance, for instance, leads us not merely to the moderation needed to maintain man’s dignity, but to positive practices of mortification whereby we become more like Our Savior; Christian humility not only makes us avoid the excesses of pride and of anger incompatible with right reason, but it causes us to embrace humiliation, which renders us more like Our Divine Exemplar.

x Sum. theol., 118 Ile, q. 63, a. 4; H. Nosie, Vie spzrztuelle, Nov. 1921 p. 103-104.

There is therefore an essential difference between acquired and infused virtues; for their premceple and their motcve differ.

  1. B) We have said that facility in the exercise of the infused virtues is acquired by the repetition of the same acts and lends readiness, ease and pleasure to action. Three main causes concur in producing this happy result :

a) Habit lessens the obstacles or the resistance offered by our lower nature, and thus, with the same amount of effort, better results are obtained. b) Habit likewise renders our faculties, more pliant, makes them quicker to respond to the motives that lead us to good and more skilful in the attainment of the good perceived; we even experience a certain satisfaction in the exercise of faculties so well trained, much as a musician does in playing upon a delicate instrument. ) Lastly, actual grace, bestowed upon us in proportion to our faithful correspondence, likewise gives us a singular facility to perform our task and to love it.

We may note in passing that this facility once acquired is not immediately lost when by mortal sin we lose the infused virtue; but being the result of oft-repeated acts, it still remains for a time, in virtue of the psychological laws governing acquired habits.

2° THE GROWTH OF INFUSED VIRTUES

  1. A) The infused virtues are susceptible of growth in the soul and do, as a matter of fact, grow there with the increase of habitual grace, whence they flow. This growth is God-given, since He alone can give us an increase of divine life and of the elements that constitute it. Now, God causes this increase when we receive the Sacraments, perform good works, or recite our prayers.

a) Because of their very institution, the Sacraments cause within us an increase of habitual grace, and thereby of the infused virtues that go with grace, in proportion to our dispositions, nos. 259-261.

b) Our good works, also, merit not only glory, but an increase of habitual grace and thereby an increase of the infused virtues. This increase depends in a large measure upon the fervor of our dispositions, no. 237.

e) Prayer, besides its meritorious value, has an tmpetratory power ; it obtains an increase of grace and of virtue in proportion to the fervor with which we pray. It is important, then, that we unite our prayers to those of the Church and that with her we ask for an increase of faith, hope, and charity.

B) According to St. Thomas, this increase is effected not by an accession of degree or of quantity, but by a more perfect and more effective possession of the virtue. It is in this manner that virtues take deeper root in the soul and become more solid and more active.

or

3° THE DECLINE AND Loss OF THE VIRTUES

Any activity that is given up or is brought into play but seldom, tends to decline or even to be lost entirely.

  1. A) The Weakening of the Virtues. In reality, the infused virtues cannot be decreased, any more than can sanctifying grace, on which they depend. Venzal sin cannot diminish them, just as it cannot decrease habitual grace itself. But venial sin, especially when frequent and fully deliberate, does Ander considerably the exercise of these virtues, by lessening the facz/zty acquired through previous acts. This facility is the result of earnestness and perseverance in effort; but deliberate venial faults chill our ardor, and partly paralyze our activity, no. 730. Thus, venial sins against the virtue of temperance, though they do not detract from that infused virtue ztse/f, gradually lessen the facility once acquired for mortifying sensuality. Besides, abuse of grace causes a reduction of the number of actual graces which help in the exercise of the virtues, and on this account the practice of virtue lacks vigor. Lastly, as we have stated, (no. 731) deliberate venial faults pave the way for grave ones and thereby for the loss of the virtues.

  2. B) The Loss of the Virtues. We can state as a principle that the infused virtues are lost by any act that destroys their formal object, their motive. In fact, virtue is thereby torn out by the roots.

a) Thus, charity is forfeited by azy mortal sin, for such sin destroys the formal object or basis of that virtue, since mortal sin is directly opposed to God’s infinite goodness.

b) The fused moral virtues also are lost through any mortal sin. They are bound to charity in such wise, that they come and go with it. However, the facility that had been acquired to perform acts of prudence, of justice etc., remains for a time after the infused virtues have been lost, due to the persevering character of acquired habits.

¢) As to the virtues of faith and hope, these abide in the soul, even when grace has been lost by mortal sin, unless it be a sin directly opposed to either of these virtues. This is so because other sins do not destroy in the soul the foundations of faith or of hope; besides God in His infinite mercy wills that these two virtues stay with us as 4 last anchor of salvation. As long as we believe and as long as we hope conversion remains relatively easy.

4° THE BOND OF UNION EXISTING AMONG THE VIRTUES 1006. It is often said that all virtues are correlated. This demands explanation.

A) First of all, charity rightly conceived and rightly practiced comprises all the virtues; not only faith and hope

(which is evident), but even the moral virtues, as we have explained, following St. Paul, in no. 318: “ Charity ts patient, 7s kind, etc.” This is true in the sense that he who loves God and the neighbor for God’s sake, is ready to practice one and all the virtues the moment conscience makes him aware of his obligation. As a matter of fact one cannot truly love God above all things, and not want to observe His commandments and even some of the counsels. Besides, the proper function of charity is that of directing all our acts towards God, our last end, and hence of controlling the acts of all the Christian virtues. One may say that a growth in charity is attended by a positive growth in the other virtues as well.

However, whilst the love of God inclines the will towards acts of the moral virtues and facilitates their practice, it does not immediately and necessarily bestow the perfection of all these virtues, for instance, of prudence, of humility, of obedience, of chastity. A sincerely converted sinner, for example, who had previously contracted evil habits, will not, though practicing charity in all earnestness, become at once perfectly prudent, perfectly chaste, or temperate. Time and effort will be required before he can discard old habits and form new ones.

  1. B) Since charity constitutes the form, the fulness of perfection of all the virtues, the latter are never perfect without it. Thus faith and hope which abide in the sinner’s soul are indeed real virtues, but remain zxconzplete, that is to say, they lack that quality that directs them towards God as last end; and so the acts of faith and of hope performed in the state of sin cannot merit heaven, even though they are supernatural and form a preparation for conversion.

  2. C) With regard to the moral virtues, if one possesses them in their perfection, that is to say, anzmated by charity and in a somewhat high degree, they are truly correlated in this sense that we cannot be in possession of one without possessing the others. Thus, all virtues in order to be perfect, require the virtue of prudence. Prudence itself cannot be practiced perfectly without the concurrence of fortitude, of justice, and of temperance. A weak character prone to injustice and to intemperance will in many circumstances fail in prudence. Justice, likewise, cannot be practiced in all its perfection without strength of soul and temperance. Fortitude in turn must be tempered by prudence and justice, and it would not long survive without the virtue of temperance. !

When however the moral virtues exist but in a low degree, the presence of one does not necessarily entail the practice of the others. Thus there are persons who are modest without being humble and others who are humble without being merciful, or merciful without being just. #

Il. The Moral Virtues

We shall give a brief account of their xature, their numder, and of the character common to all.

  1. 1° Thecy Nature. These virtues are called moral for a twofold reason: a) to distinguish them from the purely entellectual virtues, which perfect the intellect with no reference: to the moral life, suchas science, art,.etc:; b):-to differentiate them also from the theological virtues, which do indeed regulate our moral life, but which, as we have already said, have God dtvectly for their object, while the moral virtues pursue directly a supernatural, created good, for example, the mastery of our passions. Withal, we must bear in mind that the supernatural, moral virtues themselves constitute a participation in the life of God and fit us for the Beatific Vision. Furthermore, according as these virtues become more and more perfect, and especially when they are complemented by the gifts of the Holy Ghost, they merge with the theological virtues in such wise as to become, as it were, permeated by these, until they are but the various manifestations of the charity that animates them.

  2. 2° Ther Number. The moral virtues considered in their divers ramifications are very numerous, but all can be reduced to the four cardinal virtues (so called from the word cardines, hinges) since they are, so to speak, four hinges upon which all the other virtues depend.

These four virtues, in fact, meet all the soul’s needs and perfect all its moral faculties.

  1. A) They meet all the needs of the soul.

a) First of all, we must make a choice of all the means necessary or useful to the attainment of our supernatural end: this falls within the scope of the virtue of prudence.

b) We must likewise respect the rights of others: this comes within the sphere of justzce.

c) In order to defend, without fear or violence, both ourselves and our possessions from the dangers that threaten us, we stand in need of the virtue of fortztude.

d) If we would use the goods of this world and its pleasures without exceeding the proper measure, we need the virtue of zemperance. Thus, justice regulates our relations with the neighbor, fortztude and temperance determine our duties to ourselves and prudence directs the other three virtues.

~ 1012. B) They perfect all the moral faculties. The intellect is controlled by prudence, the will by justice, the irascible appetite by fortitude, and the concupiscible appetite by temperance. We must however call attention to the fact that inasmuch as both the irascible and concupiscible appetites receive their morality solely through the z2//, the virtues of fortitude and temperance reside in this superior faculty as well as in the lower faculties that are directed in their function by the will.

  1. C) Lastly, we may add that each of these virtues can be considered as a genus containing zntegral, subjective and potential parts.

a) The zutegra/ parts are complements so useful or necessary to the practice of virtue, that the virtue would not be perfect were these elements lacking. Thus, patience and constancy are integral parts of fortitude.

b) The szdjective (or inherent) parts are, so to speak, different species subordinated to the principal virtue. Thus, sobriety and chastity are subjective parts of temperance.

¢) The Potential (or accessory) parts have a certain similarity to the principal virtue, but do not in every respect fulfil all the conditions found in it. Thus, the virtue of ve/igion is an accessory part of the virtue of justice, because it tends to render to God the worship dwe to Him, but it can do so only inadequately, both as regards the perfection of the manner in which that worship should be rendered, and the extent in which it should be offered. Odedience likewise renders to superiors the submission due to them, but here again there exists no strict right, absolutely speaking, nor the relation of equal to equal.

Our task will be easier, and that of our readers also, if we do not enter into an enumeration of all these divisions and subdivisions. We shall select the principal virtues and we shall lay stress only upon their most essential elements from the twofold point of view of theory and practice.

  1. 3° Zhe Character Common to All Moral Virtues. a) All the moral virtues strive to keep the golden mean: zm medio stat virtus. They must follow the vue of right reason enlightened by faith. This rule may be broken either by excess or defect, and so, moral virtue consists in avoiding these two extremes.

b) The theological virtues as such do not consist in holding this middle course, since, as St. Bernard says, the measure wherewith to love God is to love Him without measure. However, considered in their relation to us, the theological virtues must likewise take cognizance of the golden mean, in other words, they must be controlled by prudence, which tells us what are the circumstances in which we can and must practice these virtues. It is prudence, for instance, which shows us what we must believe and what we must not believe, as well as how to avoid both presumption and despair.

DIVISION OF THE SECOND CHAPTER

  1. In this second chapter we shall treat of the four cardinal virtues and of the przzczpal virtues related to them.

I.; Prudence ; Religion coe ee { Obedience II]. Fortitude ( Chastity IV. Temperance + Humility Meekness

ART. I. THE VIRTUE OF PRUDENCE!

We shall explain: 1° its mature; 2° its necessity; 3° the means of progressing in this virtue.

I. The Nature of Prudence

The better to understand prudence, we shall give its defuttion, its constituents elements and its different sfeczes.

  1. 1° Definition. Prudence is a supernatural, moral virtue which inclines our intellect to choose in every instance the best means for attaining our aims, by subordinating them to our ultimate end.

Hence, it is not the prudence of the flesh, nor merely human prudence, but Christian prudence.

A) It is not the prudence of the flesh, such as makes one skilful in discovering the means whereby a bad end is to be attained, in satisfying one’s passions, in obtaining wealth, in gaining honors. This kind of prudence has been condemned by St. Paul, because it is inimical to God, at odds with His law, and because it militates against man, whom it leads to eternal destruction. *

It isnot merely human prudence, such as seeks out the means best adapted to attain a natural end, without referring them to the last end. Such is the prudence of the masters of industry, of merchants, artists, laborers, who seek gain or fame, unconcerned about God and eternity.

480 CHAPTER Il.

These persons must be reminded that it profits us nothing to eau the whole world if one suffers the loss of one’s soul. *

  1. B) It is christian prudence which, based upon the principles of Christian faith, refers all things to the supernatural end, that is to say, to God known and loved upon earth and possessed in heaven. Of course, prudence is not directly concerned with this end, which is proposed to it by faith, but it keeps it ever in view in order to discover by its light the means best adapted to direct all our actions, Prudence therefore concerns itself with all the details of our life. It regulates our thoughts to prevent them from straying away from God. It regulates our motives to keep them aloof from whatever may affect their singleness of purpose. It regulates our affections, our senttments and our chotces, so as to center them on God. _ It regulates even our exterior actions and the execution of our good resolves so as to refer them to our ultimate end. ?

  2. (C) This virtue resides, strictly speaking, in the intellect, since it judges and determines what in each particular circumstance is most suitable to the attainment of our end. It is an applied science which joins to the knowledge of principles the knowledge of the actual realities in the midst of which we are to live our lives.3 The w2d/ however intervenes to command the intellect to engage in the consideration of the motives and of the reasons that will enable it to make an enlightened choice, and again to command the employment of the means thus chosen.

  3. D) The rule of Christian prudence is not reason alone, but reason enlightened by faith. Its noblest expression is found in the Sermon on the Mount, in which Our Lord completes and perfects the Old Law, by ridding it of the false interpretations of the Jewish doctors. Supernatural prudence, then, draws its light and inspiration from the Gospel maxims, which are directly opposed to those of the world. In the application of these maxims to the actions of every-day life, it draws inspiration from the examples of the Saints, who lived according to the Gospel, and from the teachings of the Church, our infallible guide. Thus, we are sure of not going astray.

Besides, the means employed by Christian prudence are not merely right means; they are supernatural means :

2« That prudence is at once true and perfect, which rightly counsels, judges, and commands in view of the end and aim of all human life." (ST. THoMAs, I14 11®*, q. 47, a. 73).

3 ‘' Hence the prudent man must know both the universal rational principles and the particular objects of action.” (St. THOMAS, IT@ II&, q. 47, a. 3).3

prayer and the sacraments, which by multiplying our power for good cause us to attain far better results.

This will become still more apparent when we consider the constituent elements of this virtue.

  1. 2° Its Constituent Elements. To act prudently three conditions are particularly necessary: mature delzberation, a wise chozce, and right evecutzon.

A) First of all, a mature deliberation is required in order to discover the means most apt to the attainment of the end in view, a deliberation which must be in keeping with the import of the decision to be taken. This requires personal reflection and wise consultation.

  1. a) We must consider the past, the present, and the future.

  1. The remembrance of the past will prove to be of great advantage : human nature remains essentially the same throughout the ages. We must therefore consult history to see how others have solved the problems that now confront us. The experiments whereby they attempted a solution will throw light upon our inexperience and will save us many a blunder. By observing what succeeded and what failed, we shall know better the dangers to be avoided and the means to be taken. We must likewise probe into our personal experience. From our early youth we have encountered at one time or another similar difficulties. We must examine what brought them to a happy issue and what proved a cause of failure and then determine resolutely not to expose ourselves to the same dangers and not to fall before the same temptations.

  2. We must furthermore take account of the present, of the different conditions in which we live. Times differ and so do men. Youthful tastes are not those of maturer years. We must therefore know how to interpret zz¢elligently past experiences in applying them to present issues.

  3. Lastly, it is no less the part of prudence to look into the /wdture. Before taking a decision, it is useful to foresee as far as can be done the consequences of our acts both to ourselves and to others. By recalling the past and foreseeing the future we can best plan our present course of action.

We may illustrate all that has been said by applying it to a particular virtue, chastity. History will tell us what the Saints did in order to remain pure in the midst of the world’s dangers; our own experience will recall our past temptations, the means used to resist them and our success or failure. From this we can conclude with a high degree of probability what will be the future result of such or such proceeding, of this or that reading, of such or such association,

  1. b) Reflection does not suffice; we must know how to ¢ake counsel with wise and competent men. A word, the remark of a friend, of a relative, even of an inferior, at times opens our eyes and reveals to us a side of things we had forgotten or overlooked. Two heads are better than one, and enlightenment results from discussion. This is especially true of consultation with our spiritual director; for knowing us and being a disinterested party, he sees better than we do what is good for our soul’s welfare. We should, then, seek with doci/zty and care the advice of some judicious and experienced person. This will in no way hinder us from exercising our own powers of discernment, by which we are to judge what is well-founded, both in the advice given and in our personal observations,

We must not forget to have recourse to the best of counsellors, the Father of Lights. The confident invocation of the Holy Spirit will often prove more profitable to us than repeated deliberations.

  1. B) Once we have deliberated, we must judge wisely, that is to say, we must determine which among the suggested means are really the most effectual. In order to succeed in this: a) we must carefully rid ourselves of prejudice, passion and impressions, which would bias the judgment, and we must resolutely set our face towards eternity, so as to form an estimate of all things from the point of view of faith. b) We must not rest content with a superficial examination of the reasons which incline us to this or that course, but we must probe into them carefully weighing the reasons for and against. ¢) Lastly, we must decide resolutely, without allowing ourselves to be drawn hither or thither by excessive hesitation. Once we have deliberated according to the relative importance of the question at hand, and have taken the course that seems best, Almighty God will not reproach us for the line of conduct adopted, since we did all in our power to know His holy will. We can then count on His grace to carry out our resolutions.

  2. C) We must not delay the execution of the plan we have adopted. This makes foresight, discretion and caution necessary.

a) It requires foresight. To foresee means to count in advance the effort necessary to attain our aims, the obstacles to be encountered and the means of overcoming them, in order to measure our efforts by the end in view.

b) It requires discretion. We must open our eyes and view persons and things from every angle in order to derive therefrom the greatest possible advantage. We must consider all the circumstances in order to adapt ourselves to them. We must study events in order to profit by them if they be favorable, to prevent their consequences if they be adverse.

€) It requires caution: “ See, therefore, how you walk circumspectly.”* Even when we have tried to foresee all, things do not always happen as we foresaw them, for ours is a limited wisdom and hable to err. Therefore, we must do in our moral life as we do in business, store up reserves and surround ourselves with safeguards. Our spiritual foes renew the offensive, as we have already explained in no. 900. Then we need to have recourse to our reserve force, to prayer, to the sacraments, to the advice of a spiritual director. Thus, we shall not be the victims of unforeseen circumstances, we shall not lose heart, and, with the help of God’s grace, we shall bring to a successful issue the plans we had wisely laid.

  1. 3° The different species of prudence. Prudence varies in accordance with the diversity of the objects upon which it is exercised. It is zad¢vidual when it regulates personal conduct ; this is the prudence of which we have spoken. It is soczad when its object is the welfare of society ; and since we distinguish three different kinds of societies, the family, the state, and the army, we distinguish likewise three kinds of prudence : domestic prudence, which regulates the relations of man and wife and of parents and children; c¢vzc prudence, which pursues the common weal and good government; mzzlzfary prudence, which is concerned with the direction of armies. Here we shall not go into details. The general principles we have explained suffice for our purpose. It is for Christian parents, for statesmen and military leaders, to look more deeply into the application of these principles to their respective situations.

Il. Necesstty of Prudence

Prudence is no less necessary for the control of our own personal conduct than it is for that of others.

  1. 1° For ourown personal conduct. It is prudence that enables us ¢o avoid sin and to practice vertue. A) In order to avoid sin, we repeat, we must know its causes and occastons, seek the remedies and apply the treatment. This is what prudence effects, as we can gather from the study of its constituent elements. From the consideration of past experience and the actual condition of the soul, prudence sees what is or will prove to be in the future a cause or an occasion of sin. And so, it suggests the best means to remove or moderate these causes, and the tactics that will best help us to overcome temptations and even to profit by them. Without such prudence how many sins would be committed! How many are actually committed because of the lack of prudence!

  2. B) Prudence is likewise necessary in order Zo practice virtue and to facilitate our union with God. The virtues are rightly compared to a chariot that conducts us to God and prudence to the driver who chooses the way.

It is, so to speak, the soul’s eye, which sees the road and the obstacles to be avoided.

  1. Prudence is necessary for the exercise of all the virtues : of the sora/ virtues, which must keep to the golden mean and avoid extremes; of the theological virtues, which must be practiced in season and by such means as are in keeping with the various circumstances of our life. Thus, it is the part of prudence to scan the dangers that imperil faith and discover the means to remove them; to seek how faith can be strengthened and made more practical; to see how trust tn God and fear of His judgments must go hand in hand, how both presumption and despair must be avoided, how all our actions can be animated by charity without hindering the discharge of our duties of state. What prudence is required in the practice of fraternal charity!

  2. Prudence is even more necessary for the practice of certain seemingly contradictory virtues : justice and goodness, meekness and fortitude, a holy austerity of life and the right care of health, devotedness to our neighbor and chastity, the practice of an interior life and compliance with social duties.

  1. 2° When it is question of works of zeal in the ministry prudence is likewise necessary.

a) In the fulpzt, prudence suggests what must be said and what must be left unsaid ; it suggests the manner in which the thought must be expressed in order not to antagonize the hearers, in order to adapt the Word of God to their intelligence, to persuade, move and convert them. It is still more needful, perhaps, in teaching catechism, for it is question then of forming the minds and hearts of children, of making an impression for life on their souls.

b) In the confessional it is prudence that makes the confessor a keen and upright judge in discerning guilt, in putting clear and precise questions to penitents, according to their respective age, condition and circumstances. Prudence makes the confessor a teacher who knows how to instruct without giving scandal, when to leave souls in good faith and when to enlighten them. Prudence again makes of him a physician who can tactfully probe into the causes of the soul’s ailments and prescribe the needed remedies. And it is prudence that invests him with the character of a fatier, so devoted as to inspire confidence, yet so reserved as to secure reverence.

¢) Much tact is also needed to reconcile the wishes of parishioners with divine and liturgical ordinances in what relates to Baptisms, First Communions, Marriages, Last Rites, Funerals, etc., just as great discretion is demanded upon the occasion of sick-calls and other professional visits.

d) Great prudence is likewise required in the administration of tem: oralities, with reference to stole fees, church dues and church funds, so as not to give offence or scandal to the faithful, or to compromise the reputation for perfect detachment which a priest must enjoy.

III. Means of Progressing tn this Virtue

  1. One means is general and applicable to all the virtues, moral or theological: prayer, through which we draw unto ourselves Jesus Christ and His virtues. We mention this once and for all. We shall speak only of the means that are proper to each particular virtue.

  2. 1° A general means, one that governs all the others and which applies to all souls, is that of referring all our gudgments and all our decisions to the w/t:mate, supernatural end. ‘This is the advice offered by St. Ignatius at the outset of the Spzrztwal Exercises in his fundamental meditation.

a) We must note however that this principle will not be understood in the same manner by all. Beginners considering man’s final end will emphasize salvation, perfect souls, Goa’s glory. ‘The latter mode of understanding this general principle is in itself the better way, but not all will be able thus to understand and relish it.

b) To give this principle a concrete form, it may be embodied in some maxim or other that presents it vividly to our minds, for instance: “ What does this matter for eternity ?2— Whatever ts not eternal ts of no account.— What does it profit a man, tf he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?”

In practice, the way to lay in our souls the foundation of Christian prudence, is to realize the full meaning of these maxims, to reflect upon them over and over again until we become familiar with them and habitually live by them.

  1. 2° Provided with this principle, beginners strive to rid themselves of the faults opposed to Christian prudence. *

a) They combat vigorously the prudence of the flesh, which seeks with avidity the means of satisfying the threefold concupiscence; this they do by mortifying their love for pleasure, by remembering that the false joys of this world are often followed by bitter regrets and are as nothing compared to eternal happiness.

b) They carefully avoid trickery, decett, fraud, even in the pursuance of honorable ends, well realizing that honesty is the best policy, that the end does not justify the means, and that according to the Gospel, the simplicity of the dove must be joined to the wisdom of the serpent. This is all the more necessary, since devout lay people, priests and4 religious are at times reproached with these defects, though unjustly in most instances. Perfect integrity and evangelical candor are therefore to be assiduously cultivated.

  1. c) They strive to hold in check those two disturbing elements of judment, prejudice and passion : prejudices that cause us to make decisions under the influence of flimsy and preconceived notions which are liable to prove groundless or unreasonable; fasszons of pride, sensuality, over-anxiety for the goods of this world, which unbalance men and cause them to choose not the best, but what is more agreeable or useful from the point of view of earthly interests. To free themselves from these perturbing influences, they call to mind the Gospel maxim: “ Seek ye first the kingdom of God and F[ts justice.” * They therefore avoid making decisions under the pressure of strong passion, delaying a choice until calm reigns in the soul. Should action be urgent, they place themselves, at least for a moment, in the presence of God, to beg His light and to follow it faithfully.

d) In order to resist fughtiness of mind, hastiness of judgment or listlessness, they accustom themselves ever to act without previous reflection, without accounting to themselves for the mot:ves that prompt them to act, without looking into the consequences, good or bad, of their actions; all this, from the point of view of eterrity. This reflection should be measured by the importance of the decision to be made, and in things of graver moment a judicious and experienced person should be consulted. Thus, the habit of deciding nothing, of doing nothing that is not referred to God is gradually acquired.

e) Lastly, to escape the bane of zzdeciston, that is, extreme hesitation in making a choice, beginners take good care to remove the causes of this spiritual malady (a complicated and confused mind, a lack of initiative, etc.) by having a clear-sighted spiritual director devise fixed rules of action, whereby they will decide promptly and firmly in ordinary cases, and in greater difficulties have recourse to the director himself.

  1. 3° Souls advancing in the way of perfection grow in this virtue of prudence in three different ways:

a) By the study of Our Lord’s actions and words as set forth in the Gospel, in order to find in them a rule of con- t Matth., V1, 33.

duct and to attract to themselves through prayer and imitation the dispositions of that Divine Model. 1) Thus, they will contemplate His prudence, as manifested in His fzdden life. For thirty years He practiced those virtues, the exercise of which is so hard for us, humility, obedience, poverty, knowing full well that without such an object lesson we should never learn to practice these necessary virtues. No less an object of admiration is His prudence as exemplified in His public fe. He withstands Satan, so as to baffle his designs and confound him with replies that admit of no retort. He unfolds His teaching gradually according to circumstances, disclosing only by degrees His dignity as Messias and as Son of God. He makes use of familiar comparisons the better to make His thought understood ; He employs parables to veil or reveal the same, as the occasion demands. He skilfully unmasks His adversaries and meets their cunning with disconcerting questions. He trains His Apostles step by step, suffering their defects and adapting His teachings to what they can actually bear: “ But you cannot bear them now.” * He knows, withal, how to tell them unpleasant, but plain truths, as when He announces to them His Passion, in order to prepare them for the scandal of the Cross, In the very midst of that painful ordeal, He answers judges and underlings alike with the same unruffled calm, and He knows when to remain silent. In a word, He knows in all things, how to harmonize the highest form of prudence with firmness and devotedness to duty.

  1. As regards His teachings, these are summed up in the following words: “ Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and Hts gustice...”2 “be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves...” 3 “ Watch and pray.” 4

The chief means of growing in this virtue is the prayerful consideration of these examples and the ardent petition to Our Savior to make us share in His prudence.

  1. b) The constituent elements of this virtue must then be fostered, namely, common-sense, a habit of reflection, readiness to consult others, determination, foresight and caution.

  2. c) Lastly, efforts must be made to adorn prudence with those qualities of which St. James speaks. After distinguishing true from false wisdom he adds: “ But t John, XVI, 12. — 2? Afatth., VI, 33. — 3 Matth., X, 16. —4 Mark, XIII, 33.

the wisdom that is from above, first indeed is chasve, then peaceable, modest, easy to be persuaded, consenting to the good, full of mercy and good fruits, wéthout judging, without disstmulation,” *

Chaste: on its guard to keep that purity of body and soul that unites us to God, and, which therefore unites us to the Eternal Wisdom Itself.

Peaceable : maintaining the soul’s peace, the calm, the sense of proportion, the poise that enables one to make a judicious choice.

Modest: meek towards others, and by that very fact, easy to be persuaded, open to conviction, amenable to reason, thus precluding exasperation, which terminates in strife.

Full of mercy and good fruits ; abounding in mercy towards the unfortunate, eager to do them good, since one of the characteristics of Christian wisdom is to lay up treasures in heaven.

Without judging, wthout dissimulation ; that is, without partiality, duplicity or hypocrisy, which trouble the soul and the faculty of judgment.

  1. 4° In what concerns the exercise of this virtue by the erfect, suffice it to say that they practice it to a high degree, under the action of the gift of Counsel, as we shall explain when treating of the waztzve way.

ArT. II. THE VIRTUE OF JUSTICE 2

After briefly recalling the theological doctrine on jusézce, we shall treat of the virtues of ve/zgzon and obedience, which form parts of this virtue.

§ I. Justice Properly so Called

We shall explain : 1° its za¢ure, and 2° the principal rules to be followed in its evercise.

I. Nature of Justice

  1. 1° Definition. The word justice often stands in Holy Writ for the sum-total of Christian virtues. Thus, Our Lord proclaims blessed those who hunger and thirst afler justice, 3 that is, after holiness. However, in the strict sense in which we employ the term here, it designates that moral, supernatural virtue, which inclines the will to render unto others at all times what ts strictly their due.

2St. THoM., 114 Ile, q. 56-122; Dom. Soro, De justitid et jure; Lesstus, De qustitid,; AD, TANQUEREY, Synopsis theol. moralis, t. 111, De virtute justitize ; P. JANVIER, Caréme, 1918. — 3 Matth., V, 6.5

This virtue resides in the will and regulates those duties which we are strictly bound to discharge towards the neighbor. It is distinguished from the theological virtue of charity which bids us regard others as brothers in Christ and inclines us to render them services not otherwise enjoined by strict justice.

  1. 2° Excellence of this virtue. Through justice, order and peace reign in the lives of individuals as well as in society at large. In that it respects each one’s rights, it makes for honesty in the affairs of men, it restrains deceit, it protects the rights of the helpless and the lowly, it checks the rapacity and injustice of the powerful, and thus it establishes social order. Without justice we should have anarchy, warfare between rival interests, oppression of the weak by the strong, the triumph of evil.

If such is the preéminence of xatural justice, how much more excellent must Christian justice be, which is a participation in the very justice of God. The Holy Ghost in communicating it to us, makes it enter into the inmost recesses of the soul and renders it resolute and inaccessible to corruption, inspiring us at the same time with such regard for the rights of others, that we not only loathe injustice, properly so called, but stand in horror of the least unfairness.

  1. 3° The principal kinds of justice. They are chiefly two: social justice, which bids us render to society what we owe to it, and zzdzvidual justice whereby we render to individuals what is their due.

a) The first is called /ega/ justice, because it is based on the exact observance of laws; it obliges us to acknowledge the great benefits which we derive from society, by accepting our share of the lawful burdens it imposes upon us, and by rendering to it the services it expects of us. Since the commonweal takes precedence over individual welfare, there are instances when citizens must sacrifice part of their goods, of their freedom, and even risk their lives in defence of the country. But soczety likewise has duties to discharge towards its members. It must effect the distribution of social advantages and social burdens, not according to the moods and whims of favor, but according to the capacity of each citizen and in keeping with the rules of equity. To all, society owes the full protection and aid needed for safeguarding the essential rights and interests of every citizen. Favoritism towards some and persecution of others are abuses opposed to distributive justice, which society must observe towards its subjects.

t «When I speak of justice, I speak of the sacred bond that preserves human society, the indispensable curb to license... If justice prevails, good faith is found In treaties, truth in transactions, order in government, the earth is at peace, and heaven itself sheds over us its beneficent light and radiates down to us its blessed influence.’’ BossurET, Sermon on Justice,

  1. b) The second kind of justice, called individual justice, regulates the rights and duties of individuals towards one another. It respects all rights, not only the right of ownership, but the right to dodily or spiritual goods, to life, liberty, honor and reputation.

We cannot in this place enter into all the details which we have explained in our course of Moral Theology. It will suffice for our present purpose to recall the principal rules by which we must be guided in the practice of this virtue.

II. Principal Rules Governing the Practice of Justice

  1. 1° Principle. It is evident that devout laymen, religious and priests are obliged to practice the virtue of justice more perfectly and more scrupulously than the rank and file of persons in the world. Their duty is to set the good example in matters of honesty as well as in all other virtues. To act otherwise would be to set a stumblingblock for the neighbor, and furnish our enemies with a pretext to denounce religion. It would constitute an obstacle to spiritual progress, for an All-just God cannot have for intimate friends those who glaringly violate His formal commands regarding justice.

  2. 2° Applications of the Principle. A) One must, first of all, respect the right of ozwzershzp in what relates to temporal goods.

a) Hence, one must scrupulously shun petty thefts, which often and easily lead to graver forms of injustice. This principle should be instilled into children so that they will instinctively recoil with horror from the slightest infraction of justice. All the more must one avoid such thefts as are committed by dealers and manufacturers, who habitually defraud both as to the guwality and the guaniity of their goods, under the pretext that their competitors do likewise; who sell at too high a price, or buy at a ridiculously low one, taking advantage of the simplicity of those with whom they deal. One must keep clear of wild speculations, of those questionable transactions in which one’s fortune is risked along with that of others with the hope of making huge profits.

b) One must carefully avoid contracting ded¢s, when one is not sure of being able to pay them, and one must make it a point of honor to pay at the earliest possible moment those that have already been contracted.

€) We should treat a borrowed object with still greater care than if it were our own property, without ever forgetting to return it in due time. Much unconscious injustice is committed by those who neglect these precautions.

  • Synopsis Theologie Morals, t. 111, De Virtute Justitize.

d) Any damage voluntarily caused must be repaired. If involuntary, one is not strictly bound to make restitution, yet those who aim at perfection will do so according to their means.

€) Should one be the recipient of ¢vust-funds to be devoted to good works, one must take all the legal safeguards required, so that in case of death these funds may be applied according to the intentions of the donors. This holds especially in the case of priests who receive Mass stipends or alms. They must not only keep their accounts up to date, but must also provide a legatee or executor in the person of a priest who will attend to such Mass intentions and other obligations.

  1. B) Respect for the good-name and the honor of the neighbor is no less essential.

a) Rash judgments must be avoided. To censure others on mere appearances or for reasons more or less trivial, without knowing fully their motives, is nothing less than to arrogate to oneself divine rights, the rights of Him Who alone is the Supreme Judge of the living and the dead; it is an act of injustice against the neighbor, who is thus condemned without a hearing, without the knowledge of the unseen determining motives of his actions, and oftener than not, under the influence of prejudice or passion. Both justice and charity demand not only that we abstain from judging the actions of others, but that we interpret them in the best possible light.

b) Graver reasons bid one refrain from slander, which makes known to others the faults or the secret defects of the neighbor. These defects are real, but as long as they are not generally known, one has no right to reveal them. By speaking of them, one grieves the neighbor; and the dearer he holds his reputation, the more he is grieved. One lowers him in the estimation of his fellows, and one undermines his prestige, the good standing he needs in order to conduct his affairs and exercise his rightful influence. Thus, one may cause at times a damage that is well-nigh irreparable.

It is of no avail to argue that the person whose faults are thus made known has no right to his good name. This right remains as long as his faults are not public; and after all, one must not forget the Savior’s word : “ He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.” * The Saints are extremely merciful; they seek in every possible way to safeguard the reputation of their fellow-men. We cannot do better than follow in their footsteps.

ce) Thereby we shall more safely avoid indulging in calzmny, which by false imputations charges to our neighbor faults he has never committed. This kind of injustice is all the more serious since it is often born of malice or of jealousy. The evils that follow in its wake are numberless. Such talk is, alas, all too welcome, and making the rounds from mouth to mouth, ruins the reputation and the prestige of its victims, and at times causes them considerable harm even in temporal matters.

  1. There exists, therefore, a strict obligation of repairing slanders and calumnies. No doubt, this is difficult, for it is painful to recant, and besides, the retractation, no matter how sincere, but covers up the injustice committed.

A lie, even when retracted, often leaves ineffaceable traces. This, of course, is no reason for not repairing the injustice committed; on the contrary, the greater the harm done, the more earnestly and persistently must one work at undoing it. The difficulty of such reparation ought to restrain us from whatever could, either proximately or remotely, expose us to a fall so grave.

This is the reason why those who tend to perfection cultivate not only the virtue of justice, but also that of charity, which by causing us to see God in our neighbor, makes us avoid whatever may sadden him. We shall return to this later on.

§ II. The Virtue of Religion *

  1. This virtue is related to justice, because it makes us render to God the worship that is dwe Him; but, since we are unable to offer to God the zz/inzte homage to which He is entitled, our religion does not comply with all the requisite conditions of the virtue of justice, and thus it does not, properly speaking, constitute an act of this virtue, though it is closely related to it. We shall explain: 1° the nature, 2° the necesstty and 3° the practice of religion.

I. Nature of the Virtue of Religion

  1. Religion is @ moral, supernatural virtue that tnclines the will to render to God the worship due Him by reason of Fis infinite excellence and of His sovereign dominion over Us.

a) This is a special virtue, distinct from the three theological virtues, which have God Himself for their immediate object; the object proper to the virtue of religion is the worship of God, whether interior or exterior. However, it presupposes the virtue of fazth, which enlightens us as to God’s rights. When religion has attained its perfection, it is antmated by charity and becomes but the expression and the manifestation of the three theological virtues.

b) Its formal object or motive is the acknowledgment of the infinite excellence of God, the first beginning and last end, the perfect Being, on Whom all things depend and towards Whom all things must gravitate.

‘St. THOMAS, Ila IT@, q. 84; SUAREZ, De virtute et statu religionis, t. I, 1. 11; BOUQUILLON, De virtute religionis; J. J. OLIER, /ntrod. a la vie et aux vertus, ch. 1; MGR D’HULsT, Caréme 1893, Conf. I; CH. DE SMEDT, of. czt., p. 35-104; RIBET, Les vertus, ch, XXI. . ;

¢) The acts to which religion inclines us are zzéerior and exterior.

  1. By the zxterzor acts we subject to God our soul, with its faculties, chiefly the intellect and the will. 1) The first and the most important of these acts is that of adoration, in which we adase our whole being before Him Who is the fulness of being and the source of all the good that is found in creatures. It is accompanied or followed by the reverent admiration experienced at the sight of His infinite perfections. 2) Since He is the author of all the good we possess, we offer Him our gratztude. 3) Remembering that we are sinners, we enter into sentiments of penztence, to atone for the offences committed against His infinite majesty. 4) Because we stand in continual need of His help to do good and attain our end, we address to Him our prayers or requests, thus acknowledging Him as the source of all good.

  2. These interior sentiments are manifested by exterior acts, which have all the more worth as the interior acts they express are more perfect. 1) The foremost among these acts is, without question, that of sacrzfice, which is an exterior and soczal act, whereby the priest offers God, tn the name of the Church, an immolated victim in order to acknowledge His supreme dominion, to repair the offence offered to flis majesty, and to enter into communion with Fim. In the New Law there is but one sacrifice, that of the Mass, which, renewing the sacrifice of Calvary, offers to God an infinite homage and obtains for men all the graces they need. We have already pointed out, in nos. 271-276, the effects of the Mass and the requisite dispositions to profit by it. 2) To this principal act are added the public prayers offered in the name of the Church by her representatives : the Divine Office, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, przvate vocal prayers; oaths and vows prudently taken in God’s honor and accompanied by all the conditions explained in the treatises of Moral Theology, supernatural exterior acts, done for the glory of God, which, according to the expression of St. Peter, are “ spzrztual sacrifices, acceptable to God.” *

We can conclude from this that religion is the most excellent among the moral virtues; for, by causing us to offer up divine worship, it brings us closer to God than do the other moral virtues.

Ih Ja Hae NOG

494 CHAPRTERNII

| Necessity of the Virtue of R eligion

To proceed methodically we shall show: 1° that a@// creatures must give glory to God; 2° that for man, this is a special duty ; 3° that it is so, above all, for the przesz.

  1. 1° All creatures must glorify God. If every work must reflect credit on the doer, far higher must be the way in which the creature must proclaim the glory of its Maker! Man does not create things; he can but fashion them. . This over, he has done with them. Now, God has not only formed his creatures, but He has drawn them out of nothang; He has not merely left the mark of His genius upon them, but also the reflection of His own perfections. Moreover, He preserves them, lending them His concurrence and His grace, so that they are utterly dependent upon Him. They must, therefore, more than the works of. man’s creation, declare the greatness of their Author. Inanimate creatures do this after their own fashion; by revealing their beauty and harmony, they invite us to glorify God: “The heavens shew forth the glory of God.* He made us, and not we ourselves.” 2 This homage, however honors God but very imperfectly, since it is not free.

  2. 2° It is to man, then, that the duty falls of consciously giving glory to God, of lending his heart and his voice to inanimate creation to render Him a free and rational homage. To man, therefore, the king of creation, it belongs to contemplate these wonders, to refer them to God, and thus to become creation’s own high-priest. Man must praise God, above all, in his own name; for endowed with a higher perfection than irrational beings, created to the image and likeness of God, sharing in His life, man’s life should be one of perpetual admiration, perpetual praise, worship, thanksgiving, and love towards His Creator and Sanctifier. This St. Paul declares to us: “ For of Him and by Him, and in Him, are all things: to Him be glory forever!3 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord: or whether we die, we die unto the Lord.” 4 Reminding his disciples that our body as well as our soul is the temple of the Holy Ghost, he adds: “ Glorify and bear God in your body:” §

  3. 3° This duty is particularly laid upon priests. Unfortunately the majority of men, absorbed in business or

' Ps. XVIII, 2. —? Ps. XCIX. 3. —3 Rom., XI, 36. 4 fd. XIV, 8. — 57. Cor., Vil, 20.

pleasure, devote but little time to the worship of God. It was necessary, therefore, that from among them some special representatives acceptable to God be chosen, that they might, not only in their own name, but in the name of society, render God the religious duties to which He has a right. This is the réle of the priest. He is chosen by God from among his fellows to be a mediator between earth and heaven, charged with glorifying God, with offering Him the homages of all creatures and with drawing down upon the earth God’s graces and blessings. This is his duty of state, his profession, a real duty of justice, as St. Paul explains :* “ For every high priest taken from among men ts ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins.” For this reason, the Church has confided to him two great means of exercising the virtue of religion, the Divine Office and Holy Mass. This twofold duty he must discharge with great fervor, for by glorifying God, he at the same time renders this Divine Majesty propitious to our supplications. In this way, the priest procures his own personal sanctification and that of the souls entrusted to his care (nos. 393-401). His prayers are all the more effective, since it is the Church, since it is Jesus Who prays with him and in him, and the prayer of Christ is always heard: “ He was heard for his reverence.” 2

Ill. The Practice of the Virtue of Religion

  1. For the right practice of this virtue, we must cultivate true devotion, that is to say, an habttual attitude of the will, wich causes us to lend ourselves readily and generously to whatever appertains to the service of God. This disposition is in reality but a manifestation of love tor God, and it is in this way that religion is related to charity.

  2. 1° Beginners practice this virtue: a) by the observance of the laws of God and of the Church regarding prayer, the sanctification of the Lord’s Day and holydays of obligation; b) by avoiding dissipation, interior or exterior, which is a source of many distractions during prayer. This is effected by being on guard against the pressing host of worldly amusements and empty day-dreams; ¢) by inward recollection before prayer in order to make it with greater attention, and by practicing the holy exercise of the presence of God (n. 446).6

  3. 2° Those advancing in the way of perfection strive to enter into the spirit of religion in union with Jesus, the supreme Worshipper of the Father, Who, in His life, as well as in His death, glorified God in an infinite manner (n. 151).

a) This spirit of religion comprises two main dispositions, reverence and love. The former is a profound sentiment of respect mingled with awe whereby we acknowledge God as our Creator and Sovereign Master and rejoice in proclaiming our utter dependence upon Him. The /aé¢ter is directed towards God, to the most lovable and loving Father, Who has deigned to adopt us as His children and forever surrounds us with His paternal tenderness. From these two sentiments all the others proceed; namely, admiration gratitude, praise.

  1. b) It is from the Sacred Heart of Jesus that we seek to draw these sentiments of religion. This Divine Mediator lived only to glorify His Father: “/ have glorified thee on the earth.” * He died to carry out His Father’s will, proclaiming by His death that nothing is worthy of life and being before the face of God. After His death He continues to glorify His Father, not only in the Eucharist where He unceasingly adores the Holy Trinity, but also in our hearts where, through His Divine Spirit, He produces religious dispositions like unto His own. He lives in the soul of every Christian, but especially in the soul of every priest, and through His priests He procures glory to Him, to Whom alone is due adoration and reverence. Through ardent desire, then, we must draw Him unto us and give ourselves to Him, that He may carry out the practice of the virtue of religion in us, with us, and through us.

“He comes to us then,” says Father Olier? “and abides upon the earth as a sacrifice of praise in the hands of His priests, that He may impart to us His spirit of victim, have us join in the praise He offers, and make us inwardly share in His sentiments of worship. He diffuses Himself within us, He infuses Himself into us, He envelopes our soul and replenishes it with the intimate dispositions of His spirit of religion, so that His soul and ours form but one, animated by the same spirit of reverence, of love, of praise, of interior and exterior sacrifice of all things unto the glory of His Father.”

  1. c¢) We must not forget, however, that Jesus requires our co-operation. Since He comes in order to make us share with Him in His condition and in His sentiments of victim, we must needs live with Him and in Him in the t St. John, XVI, 4. — ? Introd. a la vie et aux vertus, ch. I.

fad spirit of sacrifice, crucifying the ill-regulated tendencies of disordered nature, and yielding a ready obedience to the inspirations of grace. Then will all our actions be pleasing to God, then will they be so many sacrificial offerings, so many acts of religion, praising and glorifying God, our Creator and Father. We thereby proclaim the supremacy of God and the nothingness of the creature, since we sacrifice every part of our being, offer every one of our actions to the honor and glory of our Sovereign Master.

d) This we do more particularly in those acts of religion properly so called, like assistance at Holy Mass, the recitation of liturgical prayers or other prayers, as explained in numbers 274, 284, 523.

NV. B.—Perfect souls practice this virtue under the influence of the gzft of piety, of which we shall treat further on.

yell Loe Viniue Ol Obedience -

This virtue is allied to justice, since obedience is a homage, an act of submission due to Superiors; but it differs from justice inasmuch as it implies an inequality between superiors and subjects. We shall explain: 1° the nature and foundation of obedience; 2° its degrees; 3° its qualities; 4° its excellence.

I. Nature and Foundation of Obedience

  1. 1°Definition. Obedience is a supernatural, moral virtue which inclines us to submit our will to that of our lawful superiors, in so far as they are the representatives of God. These last words are the ones that need to be explained first, since they are the foundation of Christian obedience.

  2. 2° The foundation of this virtue. Obedience rests upon God’s sovereign domain and upon the absolute submission creatures owe Him.

A) First of all, it is evident that we must obey God (n. 481).

  1. We must be entirely dependent upon the holy will of God since we were created by Him: “All things serve Thee.”? As rational creatures, we are all the more obliged to this submission because we have

1Sr. JoHN Ciimacus, The Ladder of Paradise, 1V; St. THOMAS, Ila Ile, q. 104-105; ST, FRANCIS OF SALES, Devout Life, P. III, C. X1; Speritual Confevences, X-X1; RODRIGUEZ, Christzan Perfection, P. III, Treat. V; Gay, Christian Life and Virtues, Vol. 11, Treat. XI.7

received more from Him; we have received in particular the gift of a free will, which we can best acknowledge by freely submitting it to the will of our Maker. 2) Being children of God, we must obey Our Heavenly Father as Jesus Himself did, Who having come into the world through obedience, through obedience went out from it: “He was made obedient unto death.”* 3) Redeemed from the bondage of sin, we no longer belong to ourselves, but to Jesus Christ, Who gave His blood to make us His own: “And you are not your own, for you are bought with a great price.”* We must, therefore, obey His laws.

  1. B) For the same reason we must yield obedience to God’s lawful representatives. This point must be thoroughly understood. a) Because man is not self-sufficient for his physical, intellectual, and moral well-being, God willed that he live in society. Society, however, cannot endure without an authority which coérdinates the efforts of its members towards the common good. Hence, it is God’s will that in society there should be superiors commissioned to command, and subjects whose duty it is to obey. In order that this obedience might be more readily practiced, God has delegated His authority to legitimate superiors: “ For there is no power but from God.” 3 This is so true that to render obedience to lawful superiors is to render obedience to God, and to disobey them is to provoke condemnation : “ Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation.” 4 The duty of Superiors lies in exercising their authority solely in the capacity of God’s representatives in order to procure glory to God and to promote the general welfare of the community. Should they fail in this, they are responsible before God and their own superiors for such abuse of their authority. The duty of subjects is to obey God’s representatives, to obey them as they obey God Himself: “ He that heareth you, heareth me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me.” 5 The reason for this is evident. Without such submission, there would be but chaos and disorder in each of the different parts of society to the detriment of all.

  2. b) But, who are the lawful superiors? The answer is, those who are placed by God at the head of the different kinds of societies.

  1. Inthe watural order three different sorts of society may be discerned : domestic society or the family, at the head of which are parents, and especially the father ; czvz/ society, ruled by those who are the lawful holders of authority according to the different systems of t Phil., I, 8. —?2 JZ Cor., VI, 20. —3 Rom., XIII, 1. 4 Rom., XIII, 2, —5 Luke, X, 16.

government accepted in the different nations of the world; professional society, where we find employers and employees, whose respective rights and duties are determined by special, particular contracts. ?

  1. In the supernatural order, the hierarchical superiors are: the Soverezgn Pontiff, whose authority is both supreme and immediate over. the whole Church; Bzshops, who have jurisdiction over their respective dioceses, and, under their authority, pastors and curates, each within the limits determined by the Code of Canon Law. Moreover, there are in the Church particular communities with constitutions and rules approved by the Sovereign Pontiff or by the Bishops, and having superiors appointed in accordance with their Constitutions or rules. Here, again, we find legitimate authority. Therefore, whoever joins a community binds himself to keep the rules and obey the Superiors who command within the limits defined by the rule.
  1. CC) There are, then, limits set to the exercise of authority.

  1. It is evident that it is neither obligatory nor permissible to obey a superior who would give a command manifestly opposed to divine or ecclesiastical laws. In this case we should have to repeat the words of St. Peter :2“ We ought to obey God, rather than men,” words that proclaim and vindicate Christian liberty against all tyranny.3 The same would hold true, if what is commanded is clearly beyond our powers, for xo one zs held to do the tmpossible. In case of doubt, however, since we are prone to illusions, we must act on the principle: in doubt ¢he presumption ts in favor of the superior.

  2. If a superior should in commanding go beyond the limits of his authority, for instance, if a parent should oppose the duly considered vocation of his child, he would be exceeding his rights and the child would not be bound to obey. A similar case would be that of the Superior of a community who would give commands over and above

™ See the Encyclical Letter of Pope LEo XIII, Rerum novarum, (Engl. transl. in The Great Encyclicals of LEo XIII, p. 209; AD. TANQUEREY, De justiiza, wherein the Encyclical is commented upon).

what the rules and constitutions permit, for these determine the limits of the authority of Superiors.

Il. The Degrees of Obedience

  1. 1° Beginners apply themselves, first of all, to observe faithfully the Commandments of God and of the Church, and to conform to the orders of lawful superiors with diligence, punctuality, and in a supernatural spirit.

  2. 2° More advanced souls: a) carefully ponder the examples given by Jesus from the very first moment of His existence, when He pledged Himself to fulfil in all things the will of His Father, until the last instant of His life when He died a victim of obedience. They pray Him to come and live within them in that same spirit of obedience, and they strive to unite themselves to Him in submitting to their superiors, just as He was subject to Mary and to Joseph: “ He was subject to them.” *

b) They submit their zz//s even in things that entail hardship and go against their preferences. They do so whole-heartedly, without complaint, even with joy at being able to imitate more perfectly their Divine Model. They avoid especially taking any steps that would lead the superior to conform to their desires, for, as St. Bernard remarks : “You need not flatter yourself with the idea that you are truly obedient, if, when you desire something, you strive either openly or covertly to have your spiritual father command it to you. In this you only deceive yourself, for it is not you that obey the superior, but the superior that obeys you. ”?

  1. 3° Perfect souls go even further. They submit their judgizent to that of their superior, without even considering the reasons for his command.

St. Ignatius gives an excellent explanation of this degree of obedience.3 “If, however, one wishes to make the perfect sacrifice of self, one must, after having submitted one’s will to God, consecrate to Him one’s understanding in such a way as not only to will what the superior wills, but to be of the same mind also, and to submit one’s judgment to that of the superior to the extent that an already obedient will can sway the mind.” Our judgment as well as our.will can go astray in the things that touch us closely, and therefore, just as we conform our wills to that of the superior to prevent it, as it were, from losing its bearings : ‘“‘so, lest our judgment go astray, we must likewise make it conform to that of the superior.” The Saint adds, however, that “should another view come to our mind differing from that of the superior, and, if after having consulted the Lord in prayer, it seems to us that the same should be made known to him, we may well tell him. Still, lest our self-love and our own opinions deceive us, it is proper to take the precaution of maintaining a perfect evenness of mind both before and after disclosing our opinions, ever ready not only to under-8 take or to relinquish the purpose in question, but even to approve and acknowledge as the best course the one to be determined by the superior.” This is what is termed d/¢7d obedience which places us in the hands of superiors “after the manner of a s/af... after the manner of a corpse.”* This obedience, however, if explained with the reservations of St. Ignatius and those we have noted above, is not unreasonable, since it is to God that we subordinate our will and our intellect.

Ill. The Qualities of Obedience

In order to be perfect, obedience must be supernatural in its motive, wzzversal in its extent, and etre in its execution.

  1. 1° Supernatural in its motive, which means that we are to see God Himself, or Jesus Christ in the persons of our superiors, since they have no authority except from Him. Nothing can render obedience more easy, for who would refuse to obey God? This is what St. Paul recommends to servants: “ Be obedient to them that are your lords according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ: zo¢ serving to the eye, as tt were pleasing men, but, as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with a good will serving, as to the Lord, and not to men.” 2

In the same tenor St. Ignatius wrote to his Religious of Portugal : “It is my ardent desire that you should carefully strive in all earnestness to see Our Lord Jesus Christ in your superiors, whosoever they may be, and, in their persons, reverently offer the Divine Majesty the honor due to Him... Let them not consider the person whom they obey but let them see in that person Jesus Christ, for Whose sake obedience is given. Asa matter of fact, we are bound to obey a Superior not on account of his prudence, of his goodness or of any other personal qualities wherewith God may have endowed him, but because he is God’s representative... Even if he should seem to lack in prudence and wisdom, this is no reason for failing in exact obedience, since in his capacity of superior, he represents a Person, Whose wisdom is infallible and Who will Himself provide for all those things in which His minister falls short, be it virtue or any other quality. ”3

Nothing could contain greater wisdom than this principle; for, if to-day we obey our superior because his qualities please us, what shall we do to-morrow if we have another superior who seems to us to be devoid of such qualities? Besides, do we not forfeit the merit that should be ours, by subjecting ourselves to a man whom we esteem instead of submitting to God Himself? We must not, therefore, dwell upon the defects of our superiors, a thing that would render our obedience more difficult, nor yet

upon their personal qualities, a thing that would render it less meritorious, but we must consider God living and commanding in their persons.

  1. 2° Universal in its extent, in the sense that we are to comply with all the commands of a superior as long as he commands lawfully. St. Francis de Sales? says: “ Obedience lovingly undertakes to do all that is commanded it with simplicity and without ever considering whether the command is good or bad, provided that the person who orders has authority to order, and that the command serves to unite our mind to God.” He adds, however, that if a superior orders what is evidently against the law of God, it is one’s duty not to submit. Such obedience, St. Thomas 2 says, would be injudicious: “ Obedience in unlawful matters is injudicious.’

Aside from this case, the truly obedient person does not go astray even when the superior is wrong and commands what is less good than what we ourselves would choose. Then as a matter of fact God, to Whom the submission is given and Who sees the heart, rewards this obedience by assuring success. St. Francis de Sales, 3 commenting upon the words, “ ¢he obedient man shall speak of victory”, says: “The truly obedient man will come out the conqueror in all the difficulties into which he may be led by obedience, and with honor from all the roads he has traversed, however dangerous.” In other words, a superior may err in commanding, but we make no mistake in obeying.

  1. 3° Entire in the execution, hence prompt, without reservations, persevering and even cheerful.

a) Prompt; for love, which is the prime mover of perfect obedience, makes us obey with readiness: “The obedient man loves the command, and as soon as he is aware of it, whether it be to his taste or not, embraces it, caresses it, and cherishes it tenderly.”

This is just what St. Bernard says: ‘“‘ The truly obedient man knows of no hesitation ; he has a horror of procrastination ; he ignores delays; he anticipates orders; his eyes are on the lookout, his ears on the alert, his tongue ready to speak the word, his hands ready to act, his feet ready to start; he is all intent on knowing the will of him who commands, ” 5 b) Without reservations ; for to make a choice, to obey in some things and disobey in others is to forfeit the merit of obedience; it is to show that we submit in what pleases us and, therefore, that our submission is not supernatural.

t Spiritual Conferences, XI, p. 179. ? St. THoM., Ila Ile, g. 104, a. 3, ad 3. 3 Spirit. Conferences, XI, p. 199. — 4 /dzd., p. 186. Sermo de diversis, XLI, 7.—This should be read in its entirety.

Let us, then, remember what Our Lord says: “ One jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.” *

Perseverance is likewise required of us. This is one of the great merits of the virtue of obedience, “for to do a thing cheerfully which we are only commanded to do once, costs nothing; but when our superior says to us: You will do that always, and all through your life, there lies the virtue and there also the difficulty. ”?

C) Cheerful, “for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 3 In those things that entail hardship, obedience cannot be cheerful, unless it be animated by love. In fact, nothing is painful to him who loves, because he thinks not of the suffering undergone, but of the person for whose sake he suffers. Now, if we see Our Lord in the person of him who commands, how can we fail to love Him, how can we fail to offer with our whole heart the trifling sacrifice that He demands, Who died a victim of obedience for our sake! This is why we must always return to the general principle we have established, that is, to see God Himself in the person of our Superior.

IV. The Excellence of Obedience

  1. The excellence of obedience flows from all that we have said of this virtue. St. Thomas does not hesitate to say that, after the virtue of religion, it is the most perfect of all the moral virtues, for the reason that it unites us closer to God than any other virtue, inasmuch as obedience detaches us from our own will, which is the main obstacle to union with God.4 Obedience is, besides, the mother and guardian of the other virtues, and transforms our ordinary actions into so many virtuous acts,

  2. 1° Obedience uwzztes us to God and makes us habitually skare in His life.

a) It subordinates our will directly to that of God and thereby all our other faculties, inasmuch as they are in turn subordinated to the will. This submission is all the more mervztorious because it 1s /reely made. Inanimate creatures obey God by an innate necessity of their nature, but man obeys by the free choice of his will. In so doing, man tenders His Sovereign Master the homage of what he holds most dear ; he offers Him a pleasing sacrifice: “‘ Through obedience our wills are sacrificed. »5 Thus man enters zzto communion with God, since he has no longer any other will but God’s will. He can make his own the words of Christ in His agony: “ Wot my will, but thine be done.” © This is a most meritorious and a most sanctifying union since it unites the best that is in us, our will, to that of God, ever good and ever holy.9

b) Since the will is the master-faculty in man, by uniting it to God, we unite to Him all the powers of our soul. Such a sacrifice is greater than the sacrifice of external goods made by the virtue of poverty, greater than the sacrifice of bodily pleasures entailed by the practice of chastity and of mortification. Obedience is, in all truth, the highest sacrifice we can make: “For obedience is better than sacrifices.” #

€) Obedience likewise constitutes the most abiding and lasting union. Through Sacramental Communion we effect a temporary union with God, but through habitual obedience we establish in our soul a species of spiritual communion which is permanent, which causes us to abide in God as He abides in us, since we will what He wills and nothing but what He wills. ‘This is, as a matter of fact, the most real, the most intimate, and the most effective of all unions— unum velle unum nolle.

  1. 2° Obedience is logically the mother and the guardian of all the virtues, as St. Augustine beautifully expresses it: “/” a rational creature, obedience ts, as it were, the mother and guardian of all virtues.” 2 a) Obedience really becomes one with charity, for, as St. Thomas teaches, love effects primarily a union of wills. 3 And is not this the doctrine of St. John? After declaring that he who pretends to love God and keeps not His Commandments is a liar, the Apostle adds: “ But he that keepeth His word, in him in very deed the charity of God is perfected; and by this we know that we are in Him.” 4 And this is the teaching of the Divine Master Himself. He tells us that to keep His commandments is to love Him: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” 5 True obedience, therefore, is in reality a genuine act of love.

  2. b) Obedience makes us practice the other virtues, inasmuch as they all fall under a precept or a counsel : “All acts of virtue come under obedience, inasmuch as they are contained in a precept.” ©

Thus, obedience makes us practice penance and mortification, so frequently prescribed in the Gospels, as well as justice, religion, charity, and all the virtues embodied in the Decalogue. More, obedience likens us to the szartyrs, who sacrificed their lives for God, as St. Ignatius? explains : “ Through it, self-will and self- sufficiency are ever being immolated and laid as victims upon an altar, in such wise that instead of man’s free-will there remains but the will ‘of Jesus Christ Our Lord, made known to us by him who commands us. Nor is it merely the desire to live that is sacrificed by obedience, as happens in the case of martyrdom, but here all our desires are sacrificed at one and the same time.” The same thought was expressed by St. Pacomius to a young monk longing for martyrdom : “It is far better to live in obedience and t] Kings, XV, 22. —? De Civitate Dez, . X1V, c. 12. 3 Sum. “Theol, Ila I], q. 104, a. 3. —4/ John, Il, 5. — 5 John, XIV, 15. 6 Sr, THo., Il Ia, q. 104, a. 3, ad 2, —7 Letter quoted above, to die daily to self by mortifying our own desires, than to suffer martyrdom in imagination. He who mortifies himself, dies a martyr’s death as far as need be; it is a far greater martyrdom to persevere in obedience all through life, than to die in a moment by a stroke of the sword. ” *

  1. ©) Obedience offers us perfect safety. Left to ourselves, we would be wondering which would be the more perfect course to take, whereas obedience by determining what is our duty in every instance, points out to us the surest way of working out our sanctification. By doing what obedience prescribes, we realize to the fullest possible extent the one essential condition of perfection, that is, compliance with God’s good pleasure: “J do always the things that are pleasing to him.” 2

From this arises a sense of profound and abiding peace: “ There is great peace for them that love thy law, O Lord.” 3 When we are desirous of doing only the will of God as manifested through superiors, we are not preoccupied about what is to be done nor about the means to be employed. All that we must do is to receive orders from him who holds God’s place in our regard and to carry them out as best we can. Providence takes care of the rest, demanding of us, not success, but simply the effort to fulfil the orders given. Besides, we may rest assured of the final result. It is clear that if we do God’s will, He will take care of doing ours, that is to say, of granting our requests and fostering our designs. Obedience, then, means peace on earth, and at the end of life’s journey, it is obedience that opens for us the gates of Heaven. Lost through the disobedience of our First Parents and regained through the obedience of Jesus Christ, Heaven is reserved for those who allow themselves to be led by the human representatives of our Divine Savior. There is no Hell for the truly obedient: “ What else does God loathe or punish except self-will? Let self-will cease, and Flell shall be no more.” +

  1. 3° Lastly, obedience ¢vansforms into virtues and merits the most commonplace occupations of life: meals, recreations, work. Whatever is done in the spirit of obedience shares in the merit of that virtue, is acceptable to God, and will be rewarded by Him. On the other hand, whatever is done in opposition to the will of superiors, no matter how praiseworthy in itself, is in reality an act of disobedience. The obedient man is therefore often likened to the traveller who goes aboard a ship that is in charge of an expert pilot. Each single day, even though he sleeps, he is steadily making for port, and, thus, without fatigue or preoccupation he reaches the desired goal, the haven of a blissful eternity.

t Quoted by ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, Sfzr¢tual Conferences, p. 192. 2 John, VIIL, 29. —3 Ps., CXVIII, 165. 4Sr. BERNARD, Sermon /// for Eastertide, 3.

  1. We end with the following words addressed by God to St. Catherine of Sienna:' “How sweet and glorious is this virtue which in itself embodies all the others! It has been conceived and begotten by charity. Upon it rests the foundation of divine faith... It is the very center of the soul, which no tempest can reach... Privation causes it no affliction, for obedience has taught it to desire nothing outside of Myself, Who am able, if I will it, to fulfil all its desires... O, Obedience! thou dost accomplish the journey without fatigue, and reachest the haven of salvation without mishap! Thou identifiest thyself with the Word, my Only-begotten Son. Thou sailest on the bark of the most hallowed Cross, ready to suffer all things rather than depart from obedience to the Word and infringe upon His teaching! How great does thy long perseverance make thee! So great that thou reachest from earth to heaven, since it is by thee and by thee alone that it can be laid open.”

ART. III. THE VIRTUE OF FORTITUDE10

  1. Justice, complemented by religion and obedience, regulates our relations with others. Fortitude and temperance regulate our duties towards ourselves. We shall treat of fortitude by describing : 1° its wature, 2° the virtues related to it, 3° the means of practicing it.

§ I. Nature of the Virtue of Fortitude We shall explain: 1° its definition; 2° its degrees.

I. Definition

  1. This virtue, called also strength of soul, strength of character, spiritual vigor, is @ supernatural, moral virtue that strengthens the soul in the pursuit of arduous moral good, without allowing tt to be deterred by fear, even the fear of death.

A) Its object is twofold, the repression of the feelings of Jear which tend to paralyze our efforts towards good, and the control of the spirit of daring which, without such a check, would easily turn into temerity : “ Azd, therefore, the relations of fortitude to fear and to audacity constst in repressing the former and controlling the latter.” 3

  1. B) Its action is chiefly twofold: to undertake and to endure difficult things : “ Arduous tasks both to pursue and to sustain,”

t Dialogue.

a) First of all, fortitude consists in undertaking and carrying into execution difficult enterprises. On the road to virtue and to perfection there lie innumerable obstacles, difficult to overcome and forever recurring. They must not only not be feared, but they must be faced with the courageous effort necessary to overcome them. This is the first act of this virtue.

This act implies : 1) determination to arrive quickly at the decision of doing one’s duty no matter what the cost may be; 2) courage and generosity in putting forth all the effort that the peculiar difficulties of the case may require; 3) steadfastness, to prolong the effort to the end, in spite of the stubbornness and the repeated attacks of the enemy.

b) Furthermore, we must needs learn ¢o suffer for God’s sake the manifold and difficult trials which He sends us, to bear the sufferings, the illnesses, the mockeries, the calumnies of which we may be the victims.

This often proves even more wearisome than action. “ Zo dear zs more difficult than to attack,” * says St. Thomas, and for this he gives a threefold reason. First, because one who is on the defensive generally feels that his adversary is more powerful than himself, while he who takes the offensive comes on with a sense of superiority. Secondly, because the one who holds out in the face ef attack actually feels the difficulties, whereas he who takes the offensive can only foresee them. Now, an evil that is actually present inspires more fear than.one we merely foresee. Thirdly, because to hold out under trials means unflinching perseverance for a notable time, for instance, in the case of a long and painful illness, or of violent and prolonged temptation; whereas to undertake a difficult task often requires but a momentary effort.

II. Degrees of the Virtue of Fortitude

  1. 1° Beginners fight valiantly against the many fears that deter them from the fulfilment of duty :—
  1. Fear of effort and fear of vzsks. They recall that man has even more priceless possessions than goods of fortune, health, good name and life itself. Such are the gifts of grace which are in themselves but the prelude of eternal bliss. They come therefore to the practical conclusion that one must unhesitatingly sacrifice the former to lay hold of the latter, which endure forever. They convince themselves of the fact that the only real evil is sez, and that, therefore, that evil must be avoided at all costs, even at the risk of suffering all the temporal ills that may befall them.
    1. The fear of crtticism or of ridicule, in other words, human respect, which leads them to neglect their t Sum. Theol., 114 I1®, q. 123, a. 6, ad i.

duty through fear of unfavorable comment, of the ridicule of which they may be the target, of the threats that may be hurled against them, of the injuries and injustices of which they may be the victims. Many a man dauntless on the battlefield cowers in the face of such sarcasm or such threats. Of what paramount importance it is to school the young in the contempt of human respect, to school them in that manliness that knows how to brave public opinion and follow convictions, without fear, without blush!

  1. The fear of displeasing friends. This fear is at times more potent than that of incurring the vengeance of enemies. And yet, we must remember that it is better to please God than men; that those who would hinder us from doing our full duty are but false friends, and that if we were to please them we should forfeit the esteem and the friendship of Jesus Christ, Our Lord: “Jf J yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”* With far greater reason must we avoid sacrificing duty to the craving for vain popularity. The plaudits of men die away. There is no approbation that is lasting, none that is truly worthy of us, save that of God, the infallible Judge. Let us then conclude with St. Paul that the only glory to be sought after is that which proceeds from loyalty to God ,and fidelity to duty: “ But he that glorieth, let him glory tn the Lord. For not he who commendeth himself is approved : but he, whom God commendeth.” 2
  1. 2° Souls in the illuminative way exercise themselves in the practice of the positive side of the virtue of fortitude, by striving to imitate that strength of soul that Jesus Christ exemplified for us during His life.

  1. This virtue appears in His Azdden life. From the very first moment of His Incarnation, Our Lord offers Himself to His Father in the place of all the victims of the Old Law, by giving Himself for all mankind. He is aware that, in consequence, His life will be a protracted martyrdom, yet He freely chooses that martyrdom. ‘That is why from His birth He eagerly seeks poverty, mortification and obedience; why He submits to persecution and exile; why during thirty years He hides Himself in the most complete obscurity, in order to merit for us the grace that would enable us to sanctify our most commonplace actions and to inspire us with a love of humility. Thus He teaches us the practice of the virtue of fortitude and courage amidst the thousand details of daily life.

  2. This fortitude is likewise evident during the course of His pudlic life : in the long fast which He undertakes before beginning His ministry ; in His victorious struggle against Satan; in His preaching,

where contrary to the preconceptions of the Jews, He announces the advent of a kingdom altogether spiritual, founded on humility, sacrifice, self-denial, as well as on the love of God. It is shown forth in the vigor wherewith He stigmatizes scandal and condemns the casuistry of the Doctors of the Law; in the jealous care wherewith He avoids popularity of a questionable character and eschews the royalty offered to Him; in the manner, at once sweet and forceful, with which he trains His Apostles, correcting their prejudices, their defects, and rebuking him whom he had chosen as the leader of the Twelve. It is shown again in the determination to return to Jerusalem, well knowing that He is to encounter suffering, humiliation and death. Thus He sets us the example of the calm and steady courage which we must have in all our relations with others.

  1. Fortitude is manifested in His Passion: in the midst of that torturing agony, where, in spite of the absence of consolation and in spite of weariness of soul, He perseveres long in prayer: “ And being in agony, He prayed the longer,” * in the unruffled serenity He shows at the moment of His arrest; in the silence He maintains in the face of calumnies and the curiosity of Herod; in His dignified attitude before His judges; in the heroic patience which He exemplifies while in the midst of undeserved torments and the mockeries offered His sacred Person; in the calm resignation wherewith He commends His spirit into the hands of God, His Father, and gives up the ghost. ? He thereby teaches us fatzence amidst the severest trials.

As can be easily seen, there is here an ample field for imitation. The better to succeed in this we must beg Our Lord to deign come to dwell within us zz all the fulness of His power. Besides, we must codperate with Him in the actual exercise of this virtue, by practicing it, not only when some great issue demands it, but also in the thousand and one actions that make up the ordinary run of our life, remembering that the constant practice of these little virtues demands a higher degree of heroism than do brilliant deeds.

  1. 3° Perfect souls cultivate not only the virtue, but likewise the gift of fortitude, as we shall explain in the unitive way. They maintain themselves in that generous attitude of immolating themselves for God, and of undergoing that slow, unbloody martyrdom, which consists in an ever-renewed effort to do all things for God and to suffer everything for His greater glory.

§ II. Virtues Allied to Fortitude

  1. There are four virtues connected with the virtue of fortitude. Two of them aid us in the accomplishment of things arduous: magnanimity and muntficence. The other two help us to suffer in the right manner: patzence and11 constancy. St. Thomas holds these four to be zxfegral and potential parts of the virtue of fortitude.

I. Magnanimtty

  1. 1° Its Nature. Magnanimity, which is also called greatness of sou! or nobility of character, is the noble and generous dzsposttion to undertake great things for God and for the neighbor. It is not the same as ambition, which is essentially egotistical and goads us on to surpass others by wielding authority or receiving honors. The characteristic of magnanimity is disinterested service.

a) This virtue therefore presupposes a noble soul, possessed of high ideals and unselfish thoughts, a valiant spirit that does not hesitate to make its life accord with its convictions.

b) It is brought out not only by noble sentiments, but also by noble acts, and this in every sphere of action: in the army by brilliant exploits, in civil life by great reform movements, or great industrial, commercial, economic enterprises etc.; in the realm of the supernatural, by the pursuit of a high ideal of perfection, by generous efforts to conquer self and to rise ever higher, by striving to acquire solid virtue and to exercise zeal in its various forms. All this is done without fear of risking fortune, health, reputation and life itself.

  1. 2° The contrary defect is called puszlanimity, which, through an excessive fear of failure, makes one hesitate and remain inactive. Seeking to avoid blunders the pusillanimous fall into the greatest mistakes; they do nothing or almost nothing, and thus waste their lives. Evidently, it is better to risk making mistakes than to do nothing.

Il. Muntficence or Magnificence

  1. 1° Its Nature. Persons with a great soul and a big heart practice magnificence or munificence, which inclines us to do great works, and at the same time to undergo the great expenses that such works entail.

a) At times it is pride or ambition rather than virtue that inspires these undertakings. But when it is the glory of God or the welfare of our fellow-men which one has in view, one supernaturalizes that natural desire for grandeur, and, instead of forever saving and investing, one generously employs wealth for the furtherance of great undertakings

THE MORAL VIRTUES. H1l such as works of art, public monuments, erection of churches, hospitals, schools, universities, in a word of all that promotes the common good. This virtue, then, makes one overcome the natural attachment one has for money and the thirst for further riches.

  1. b) This is an excellent virtue which must be urged upon the well-to-do by showing them that the best use they can make of the wealth Providence has entrusted to them is to imitate God’s own liberality and His magnificence in all His works. There are Catholic institutions that languish because of lack of means, They offer an open field for the worthy employment of accumulated funds, and the best way of preparing for ourselves a glorious dwelling in Heaven. Then, there are numberless undertakings to initiate. Each new generation brings a host of new needs: churches to build, schools to found, a larger ministry to support; at times there are public calamities to relieve, at others new agencies of welfare to inaugurate for youth, for old age, etc. There is here a vast field, open to every activity and to every purse.

e) And there is no need of being rich in order to practice this virtue. St. Vincent de Paul was by no means rich, and yet, was there any other man who provided with such royal munificence for every misery of his day? Was there any who initiated such lasting and successful charitable enterprises? A noble soul always finds resources in public charity, and it seems as if Providence makes common cause with devoted service if one knows how to trust in God and to follow the dictates of prudence or the inspirations of the Holy Ghost.

  1. 2° The contrary defects are mzser/iness and extravagance.

a) Miserliness or stinginess paralyzes the impulses of the heart, knows not how to make adequate provision for important enterprises, and does nothing but what is cheap or small. b) Extravagance, on the contrary, impels one to make unnecessary expenditures, to be prodigal of money and at times to spend beyond one’s means, This defect is also called prodigality. It is the part of prudence to hold a middle course between both extremes.

III. Patence %

  1. 1° Its nature. Patience is a Christian virtue that makes us withstand with equanimity of soul, for the t ST, FRANCIS DE SALES, Devout Life, Part III, C. 111; OLIER, /ztrod., C. IX; FABER, Growth in Holiness, C. 1X; D. V. LEHODEY, Le Saznt Abandon, Part III, C. IlI-V.

love of God, and in union with Jesus Christ, all physical and moral sufferings. ‘Ne all have an ample share of suffering sufficient to make us saints, if we would only suffer courageously and from supernatural motives. Many, however, suffer complainingly, in bitterness of heart, at times even in a spirit of rebellion against Providence. Others, again, withstand suffering out of pride or ambition and thus forfeit the fruits of their endurance. The true motive that should inspire us is submission to the will of God (n. 487), and the hope of the eternal reward that will crown our patience (n. 491). Still, the most potent stimulus, is the thought of Christ suffering and dying for us. If He, innocence itself, bore so heroically so many tortures, physical and moral, in order to redeem us and sanctify us, is it not meet that we, who are guilty and who by our sins are the cause of His sufferings, should consent to suffer with Him and with His intentions, in order to codperate with Him in the work of our purification and sanctification, and to partake in His glory by having shared in His sufferings? Noble and generous souls add to these motives the motive of zeal. They suffer to fulfil what is wanting of the sufferings of Christ and thus work for the redemption of souls (n. 149). Herein lies the secret source of that heroic patience of the Saints and of their love of the Cross.

  1. 2° The degrees of patience correspond to the three stages of the spiritual life.

a) At the degznning, suffering is accepted as coming from God; without murmur, without resentment, in hope of heavenly rewards. It is accepted in order to atone for faults and to purify the heart; in order to control ill-regulated tendencies, especially sadness and dejection. It is accepted in spite of our natural repugnance, and, if a prayer goes up that the chalice pass away, it is followed by an act of submission to the holy Will of God. 4

  1. b) Patience, in its second degree, makes us eager to embrace suffering, in union with Jesus Christ, and in order to make us more like that Divine Model. Hence the soul is fond of following Him along the sorrowful road that He took from the Crib to the Cross; it contemplates Him, praises Him, and pours forth its love upon Him in all His sorrowful mysteries: at His entrance into this world when He “emptied Himself”; in His resignation

within the lowly crib that was His cradle and wherein He suffered even more from the insensibility of men than from the cold and the elements; amidst the sufferings of His exile, the menial labors of His hidden life, the work, the fatigue, and the humiliations of His public life; but, above all, in the physical and moral tortures of His painful passion. Strengthened by the words of St. Peter,! “Chrzst, therefore, having suffered in the flesh, be you also armed with the same thought,” the soul takes new courage in the face of pain and sadness; side by side with Jesus, it tenderly stretches itself forth on the Cross, for love of Him: “ Wzth Christ I am nailed to the cross.” 2 When suffering increases, a loving, compassionate glance upon the Crucified Christ brings the response from His lips: “Blessed are they that mourn... blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice's sake.” 3 Then, the hope of sharing in His glory in the heavenly places renders more bearable the crucifixion undergone in union with Him: “ // we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.”4+ Nay, the soul at times comes, like St. Paul, to the point where it rejoices in its miseries and tribulations, well knowing that to suffer with Christ means to comfort Him, that it means the completion of His passion, a more perfect love for Him here on earth, and a preparation for the further enjoyment of His love through all eternity: “ Gladly therefore will I glory tn my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me... 5 LT exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation.” ©

  1. c) This leads to the third degree of patience, the desire and the love of suffering for the sake of God Whom one wishes to glorify, and for the sake of souls, for whose sanctification one wants to labor. This is the degree proper to perfect souls and especially to apostolic souls, to religious, priests and devout men and women. Such was the disposition that animated Our Blessed Lord when He offered Himself as victim at His entrance into this world, and which He expressed in proclaiming His desire to suffer the baptism of His Passion: “ And I have a baptism wherewith LI am to be baptized. And how amT strattened until tt be accomplished.” 7

Out of love for Him and in order to become more like unto Him, perfect souls enter into the same sentiments: “ For”, in the words of

St. Ignatius, “ just as men of the world who are attached to the things of earth, love and seek with great eagerness honors, good name, and display among men... so those who march ahead in the ways of the spirit and who earnestly follow Jesus Christ love and ardently desire whatever is opposed to the spirit of the world... so that were it possible with no offence to God and scandal to the neighbor, they would want to suffer insults, slanders, and injuries, be reckoned as fools, though having given no occasion therefor, such is their intense desire to be likened in some way to Our Lord Jesus Christ... so that with the help of His grace we strive to imitate Him as far as we can, and to ‘follow Him in all things, since He is the true way which leads men to life.”* Evidently, it is only love for God and for the Crucified Christ that can inspire a like love for the Cross and humiliations.

  1. Must a soul go further, and offer itself to God as a victim and formally ask God for extraordinary sufferings, in order either to offer reparation to God, or to obtain some signal favor? No doubt some of the Saints have done so and in our day there are still generous souls who are moved to do likewise. However, generally speaking, such requests cannot be prudently counselled. They may easily lead to illusions and are often the outcome of some ill-considered impulse of generosity which has its origin in presumption. “Such requests are made,” says Father de Smedt, “in moments of emotional fervor, and once this is gone... one realizes one’s weakness to accomplish the heroic acts of submission and resignation so energetically made in the imagination. Therefrom issue violent temptations to discouragement and even to complaints against God’s Providence... It is a source of great annoyance and perplexity to the spiritual directors of such souls.” 2 Hence, we must not take it upon ourselves to ask for extraordinary sufferings or trials. If one feels oneself drawn thereto, one must take counsel with a judicious director of souls and do nothing without his approval.

IV. Constancy

  1. Constancy in effort consists in struggling and suffering to the end, without yielding to weariness, aiscouragement, or indolence.

1° Experience shows that after reiterated efforts one weartes of well-doing, one finds it irksome to be forever obliged to strain the will. St. Thomas remarks: “ A special difficulty ts attached to long persistence in a atfficult task.” 3 t Constitut. Soc, Jesu, Exam. generale, cap. IV, n. 44.

® Notre vie surnaturelle, t. 11, p. 260.—Father Capelle, who has made a special study of this particular matter (Les Ames Généreuses, 1920, 3° P., Ch. IV-VII) sums up his teaching in three propositions: 1) It is Our Lord Himself who selects such victims. 2) He warns them in advance of what they will have to undergo. 3) He asks their free consent.

Yet, no virtue is solid that has not stood the test of time, that has not been strengthened by deeply rooted habits.

A sense of weariness often results in dzscouragement and zndolence. The annoyance experienced at repeating efforts relaxes the energy of the will and produces a species of moral depression or discouragement; at this juncture, the love of pleasure and a sense of regret at being deprived of it gain the upper hand and one lets oneself be carried by the current of evil tendencies.

  1. 2° In order to react against this weakness, we must remember: 1) that perseverance is a gift of God (n. 127) obtained by prayer. Hence, we must ask insistently for it in union with Him Who persevered unto death, and through the intercession of Her Whom we rightly call Virgin most facthful.

  1. We must, after that, renew our convictions as regards the shortness of life and the everlastingness of the reward that crowns our efforts. Having an eternal rest awaiting us we can well afford a measure of annoyance here on earth. If in spite of these considerations we still remain weak and hesitant, then we must beg insistently for that grace of perseverance the need of which we feel so keenly, by repeating the words of St. Augustine: “ Grant me O Lord what Thou commandest and then command whatever Thou Wilts

  2. Finally, we must go back courageously to our task, supported by the all-powerful grace of God, and work on despite the apparently small measure of success that attends our efforts, remembering that it is effort and not success that God demands. Besides, we must not forget that we need a certain amount of relaxation, of rest, and of diversion: Man cannot live long without some consolation. Constancy does not therefore exclude due rest : “ Enjoy thy letsure that thou mayest the better perform thy labor.” The important thing is that we take our rest in submission to God’s will, according to rule and the advice of our spiritual director.

§ III. Means of Acquiring and Perfecting the Virtue of Fortitude

We refer the reader to what we have said in number 811 regarding the education of the will, adding here some few remarks more pertinent to the special subject now under discussion,

  1. 1° The secret of our strength lies in dstrust of self and absolute confidence in God. Incapable as we are of any good in the supernatural order without the help of grace, we share in the very power of God and become invincible if we seek support in Jesus Christ: “ He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit*... I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me.” ? This is why it is the Awmble who are strong, when the consciousness of their weakness is accompanied by trust in God. These two dispositions, then, must be cultivated in souls. If it is question of the proud and presumptuous, insistence must be laid upon distrust of self; when we bave to deal with the timid and the pessimistic, confidence in God is to be emphasized, by explaining to them the consoling words of the Apostle: “7he weak things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the strong... and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are.” 3

  2. 2° To this twofold disposition of soul deep convicttons must be joined, as well as the habit of acting in accordance with such convictions.

A) These convictions are those based upon the great truths, particularly, the end of man, the necessity of sacrificing all in order to attain this end, the horror that sin, the only obstacle to our end, must inspire in us, the necessity of submitting our will to the will of God in order to avoid sin and attain our end, etc. These convictions constitute the directing forces of our conduct and the motive-powers that infuse into us the courage required to triumph over obstacles.

B) This is the reason why it is so important to acquire the habit of acting from conviction. We are not so apt then to allow ourselves to be carried away by passing impulses, by the violent urge of passion, by routine, or personal interest; on the contrary, before acting, such questions as these will arise in the mind: “ What bearing has this on eternity?” Does this action which I am about to perform bring me closer to God, nearer to the attainment of a blissful eternity? If we can answer in the affirmative we act; if not, we refrain. Thus directing all things to the final end, we live up to our convictions and we become strong.

  1. 3° The better to surmount obstacles it is well to Joresee them, to look them squarely in the face, and to t John, XV, 5. —? Phil., 1V, 13. —3/ Cor, 1, 27-28, muster courage to fight them. This, however, we do without magnifying the difficulties, counting upon the aid which God will not fail to grant us at the opportune moment. A difficulty foreseen is a difficulty half overcome.

  2. 4° Finally, we should bear in mind that nothing renders us so fearless as the love of God : “ For love ts strong as death,” \f mother-love inspires a woman with courage and daring when it is question of defending her children, what cannot the love of God do if it be deep-rooted in the soul? Is it not love that has made martyrs, virgins, apostles and all the saints? When St. Paul describes the ordeals he underwent, the persecutions he suffered, the pains he endured, one cannot but wonder at the power that sustained his courage in the midst of so many adversities. He tells us himself it was love for Christ : “ For the charity of Christ presseth us.” * This is why the Apostle is without apprehension for the future. “Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ?” 2 He enumerates the various tribulations that might befall him, and says : “ Neither death, nor life, nor angels... nor things present, nor things to come, nor might... nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus Our Lord.” 3 What St. Paul said, every Christian also can say, provided he bears his God a loyal love; and then He will share in the very power of the Almighty: “For Thou, O Lord, art my strength,” 4

ART. IV. THE VIRTUE OF TEMPERANCE 5

If fortitude is needed to restrain fear, temperance is no less necessary to control that allurement to pleasure which so easily turns us away from God.

  1. Temperance is a supernatural, moral virtue ‘hat moderates the attraction towards sense-pleasure, especially the pleasures of the palate and the flesh, and keeps them within the proper limits of propriety.

Its odject is the moderation of all sense-pleasure, but particularly of that connected with the two great functions of organic life; namely, the preservation of the individual by nourishment, and the preservation of the race by sexual sSt. Tuom., [4 Il, q. 141-170; SCARAMELLI, Guzde ascétique, I1l¢ Traité, art. 4; RIBET, Vertus, ch. XLIII-XLVIII; CH. DE SMEDT, t. II, p. 268-342; P. JANVIER, Carvéme, 1921 et 1922, See references, Nos 751 and 864, under Mortification and Gluttony.12

relations. Temperance causes us to make use of pleasure for an end which is worthy and at the same time supernatural. By that very fact it regulates the use of the said pleasures according to the dictates of reason and of faith. Precisely because pleasure is enticing and easily lures us beyond the proper limits, temperance leads us to mortify ourselves, even in some of the things that are permissible, in order to ensure the preponderance of reason over passion.

It is by the aid of these principles that we shall solve particular questions.

We have already dealt sufficiently with the rules to be followed in the regulation of the pleasure that accompanies the function of nutrition (n. 864). Now we shall treat of chastity, which moderates the pleasures attached to the propagation of the race. Then we shall speak of the two virtues allied to temperance; namely, Aumzlity and meekness.

  1. 1° Notion. The azz of chastity is to check whatever 7s inordinate in voluptuous pleasures. These pleasures have for their principal end the perpetuation of the race through the right use of marriage. They are lawful only between married persons, and then only when they further, or at least do not interfere with the primary end of marriage which is the procreation of children.

Chastity is rightly called the amgelic virtue, because it likens us to the angels, who are pure by nature. It is an austere virtue, because we do not succeed in practicing it unless we subdue the body and the senses by mortification. It is a /vaz/ virtue, tarnished by the least wilful failing. On this account it is a dificult virtue, since it cannot be observed except by a generous and constant struggle against the most tyrannical of passions.

  1. 2° Degrees. 1) There are several degrees of chastity. The first one consists in carefully refraining from consent to any thought, fancy, feeling or action contrary to this virtue.

  1. The second aims at ridding oneself zsmediately and energetically of every thought, image or impression that could soil the luster of chastity.

  2. The third, which is seldom attained save after long efforts in the practice of the love of God, consists in acquir-

‘ CASSIAN, Conferences, XII; ST. JOHN CLIMACUS, The Ladder of Paradise, XV; St. THOMAS, II@ lle, Q. 151-156; RODRIGUEZ, Christian Perfection, P. II, Treat. 1V; ST. FRANCIS OF SALES, Devout Life, P. 111, C. XII-XIII; Gay, Christian Life and Virtues, Treat. X.—See references No. 873.

ing such a mastery over our senses and our thoughts that, when duty requires us to deal with questions relating to chastity, we do so with all the calm and composure that would attend the treatment of any other subject.

  1. Finally, there are some who, by a ‘special privilege, attain such a degree of chastity that they experience no inordinate feelings whatever, as is related of St. Thomas after his victorious issue from an extraordinary temptation.
  1. 3° Kinds. There are two kinds of chastity: conjugal chastity proper to persons living in lawful wedlock, and continence proper to the unmarried. After briefly treating of the first, we shall lay emphasis on the second, chiefly in so far as it applies to persons who lead a life of celibacy either in the religious or in the ecclesiastical state.

I. Conjugal Chastity

  1. 1° Principle. Married persons should never forget that, according to the teaching of St. Paul, Christian marriage is symbolical of the holy bond that exists between Christ and His Church: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and delivered himself for it, that He might sanctify it.” They must then love respect and sanctify each other (n. 591). The first effect of this love is an indissoluble union of hearts, and therefore an inviolable mutual fidelity.

  2. 2° Mutual Fidelity. a) Here we shall borrow the language of St. Francis de Sales? or give a summary of his thought.

** Preserve, then, O husbands! a tender, constant, and cordial love for your wives... If you desire that your wives should be faithful to you, give them a lesson by your example. How, says St. Gregory Nazianzen 3, can you exact purity of your wives, when you yourselves live in impurity?”-—‘‘ But you, O wives, whose honor is inseparably joined with purity and modesty, be zealous to preserve this your glory, and suffer no kind of loose behavior to tarnish the whiteness of your reputation. Fear all kinds of assaults, how small soever they may be; never suffer any wanton address to approach you; for he that praises the ware which he cannot buy is strongly tempted to steal it, but if to your praise he adds the dispraise of your husband, he offers you a heinous injury; for it is evident that he not only desires to ruin you, but accounts you already half lost, since the bargain is half made with a second merchant when one is disgusted with the first. ”

b) Nothing so well secures this mutual fidelity as the practice of true devotion, particularly of prayer in common. “Thus, wives ought to wish that their husbands should be preserved with the sugar of devotion; for a man without devotion is severe, harsh, and rough. And husbands ought to wish that their wives should be devout, because without devotion, a woman is very frail, and liable to obscure, and perhaps to lose, her virtue. ”

e) “ As to the rest, their mutual bearing with each other ought to be so great that they should never be both angry with each other at the same time, so that dissension or debate be never seen between them.” Therefore, if one be angry, let the other hold his peace, in order that peace may be restored the sooner. ”

  1. 3° Conjugal Duty. They should reverence the holiness of the marriage-bed by the purity of thecr intention and the seem/:ness of their relations.

A) Their zz¢ention must be the same as that of the young Tobias when he took Sarah for wife; “ And now, Lord, thou knowest that not for fleshly lust do I take my sister to wife, but only for the love of posterity in which thy name may be blessed for ever and ever.” ! This is in fact the primary end of Christian marriage, to procreate children who are to be reared in the fear and love of God, to be trained to a pious and Christian life so as to become one day citizens of Heaven. The secondary end of marriage is mutual help to bear the sufferings of life, and to overcome passion by subordinating pleasure to duty.

  1. B) They must, then, fazthfully and candidly fulfil their marriage obligations. Whatever favors the transmission of life is not only licit, but praiseworthy. On the contrary, any act whatever whereby this primary end would be hindered constitutes a grave sin, since it is against the essential purpose of marriage. They should bear in mind the following observation of St. Paul:2 “Defraud not one another, except, perhaps, by consent, for a time, that you may give yourselves to prayer: and return together again, lest Satan tempt you for your incontinency. ”

C) Moderation is necessary in the use of the marriage right as it is in the taking of meals. It is even a hygienic measure, and propriety requires that continence be practiced at times. One does not succeed in this unless one has formed the habit of subordinating pleasure to reason, and unless one seeks in the frequent reception of the Sacraments a remedy for the too violent motions of concupiscence.

However, let no one forget, that it is by no means impossible, and that through prayer one always obtains the grace of practicing virtue, even the most austere.

Il. Continence or Celibacy

  1. Absolute continence is a duty of those who are not united in the bonds of lawful wedlock. Therefore, it must be practiced by all before marriage as well as by those who are widowed.! There is yet another class of chosen souls called to practice a life-long continence either in the religious state, or in the priesthood, or even in the world. It is well to give them special rules for the perfec preservation of purity. .

Chastity is a frail and delicate virtue that cannot be preserved unless it be protected by other virtues. It is, as it were, a citadel that requires for its defence the raising of outward ramparts. These are four in number: 1° humility, which produces self-distrust and prompts to flight from dangerous occasions; 2° mortification, which by waging war against the love of pleasure, reaches the evil at its roots; 3° devotion to the duties of state, which protects one from the perils created by idleness; 4° Jove for God, which by filling the heart, prevents it from giving itself over to dangerous affections. Within these four ramparts the soul is not only able to repulse the onslaughts of the enemy, but also to grow in purity.

1° HUMILITY THE GUARDIAN OF CHASTITY

  1. This virtue produces in us principally three dispositions, which shelter us from many a danger: distrust of self and confidence in God, flight from dangerous occasions, sincerity in the Sacrament of Penance.

A) Distrust of self accompanied by confidence tn God. Many a soul falls into impurity through pride and presumption. St. Paul calls attention to this fact with regard to the Pagan philosophers, who whilst glorying in their wisdom yielded to all manner of turpitude: “ For this cause, God delivered them up to shameful affections.” 2

Father Olier thus explains this fact : “ God, Who cannot suffer pride in the soul, humbles it to the very depths; and, desiring to show the soul its weakness, and that it has no power of itself to resist evil and persevere in well doing... allows it to be tormented by those terrible

See the excellent advice of St. Francis de Sales to widows, Devout Life, Part III, C. XL. — ? Rom., I, 26.

temptations, and at times even to fall, because such temptations are the most shameful and leave behind them the greater confusion,’ When, on the contrary one is firmly convinced that of oneself one cannot be chaste, one repeats the humble prayer which St. Philip Neri used to address to God: “My God, beware of Philip; otherwise he will betray Thee.”

  1. a) This distrust must be wxzversal. 1) It is necessary to those who have szxned grievously, for the temptation will return, and without the help of grace they will be exposed to a fresh fall. It is no less necessary to those who have preserved their innocence, for one day or another temptation will assail them, and will be all the more dangerous for them because of their inexperience. 2) This distrust must last to the very ezd of Zife. Solomon was no longer a youth when he let himself be caught by the love of women. It was old men that tempted the chaste Susanna. The evil spirit that assails us in mature life is all the more dangerous, because we thought him conquered. Experience shows that so long as there remains in us a Spark of life, the smouldering fires of concupiscence may burst forth once more. 3) This diffidence is necessary for even the 4ofzest souls. The evil one is more anxious to cause their fall than that of coarser souls, and he lays for them more treacherous snares. This is the warning of St. Jerome ¢ in his letter to Eustochium, and elsewhere13 he adds that it is vain to seek reassurance in the long years already lived in chastity, in holiness and in the pursuance of wisdom.

  2. b) Withal, this diffidence of self must be ever attended by a perfect ¢rust ix God. For God will never allow us to be tempted beyond our strength. He does not ask of us the impossible. He either gives us immediately the grace of resisting temptations or the grace of praying for the help necessary to overcome them. 3

“One must, then,” says Father Olier4 “withdraw interiorly into

Jesus Christ to find in Him the power of resistance to temptation... He wills that we be tried, so that, warned thereby of our weakness and of the need we have of His help, we may withdraw into Him to find in Him the strength which we lack.” If the temptation becomes more

3** For God does not enjoin the impossible; but when He commands, He bids us do what in our power lies and to pray for what lies beyond, the while He lends us the power to accomplish His command." (Counczl of Trent, Sess. VI, C. II, DENZ. 804.)

violent we must fall on our kness and lift our hands to Heaven to invoke the assistance of God.

When all these precautions have been taken one may infallibly count on God’s help: “ And God is faithful, who well not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear tt.” * We must not, then, have too much dread of temptation before it comes. That would be a way of bringing it on. Nor must we stand in dread of it when it actually assails us, since with reliance on God we are invincible.

  1. B) The Flight from Dangerous Occasions. a) The mutual a¢traction that exists between the sexes creates dangers for those vowed to celibacy. Hence, useless meetings must be dispensed with, and when meetings are necessary, the danger must be made remote.2 This is why the spiritual direction of women must be conducted exclusively in the confessional, as we have noted in n. 546. Two things we have to protect: our wzvfwe and our good name. The one and the other make extreme reserve imperative.

b) Children of graceful appearance, of a joyful and affectionate nature, may likewise be a source of danger. One loves to look at them, to caress them, and, if one be not on guard one may be led to familiarities that perturb the senses. This disturbance is a warning given us by God, to make us understand that we must desist and that we have even proceeded too far. Let us recall to mind that those children have Guardian Angels who look upon the face of God; that they are the living temples of the Holy Trinity and members of Christ. ‘Then we shall more easily treat them with a holy reverence while we show them real affection.

  1. ¢) Ina general way, humility causes us to repress the deszre to please, which prepares the way for many a fall. This desire, which proceeds both from vanity and from a natural longing for affection, is manifested by an exaggerated concern for our personal appearance, over-carefulness

2 This was St. Jerome’s advice to Nepotian: ‘‘ A woman’s foot should seldom if ever cross the threshold of your home... If in the course of your clerical duty you have to visit a widow or a virgin, never enter the house alone. Let your companions be persons, associates who will not disgrace you... You must not sit alone with a woman or see one without witnesses... Beware of all that gives occasion for suspicion; and to avoid scandal shun every act that may give colour to it,” Letter LII, 5, P. L., XXII, 531-532.

in dress, an affected pose, tender language, caressing glances, the habit of complimenting others upon their exterior accomplishments.? This manner of acting soon attracts notice, especially in a young ecclesiastic, in a priest, or a religious. He soon jeopardizes his good name; and would that he stop before he likewise imperils his virtue!

  1. C) Humility, finally, inspires us with that candid frankness toward our spiritual director which is so necessary to avoid the snares of the enemy.

St. Ignatius rightly says that “when the enemy of man wishes to lead a just soul into error by his tricks and ruses, he wants above all that such a soul listen to him and keep his words secret. But should that soul confide all to an enlightened confessor, Satan is chagrined, because he knows that all his malice will become impotent the moment his attempts are detected and brought out into the light.”? It is especially in matters of chastity that this wise advice applies. If we are faithful to disclose humbly and candidly our temptations to our spiritual director, we are warned in time of the dangers to which we are exposed, and we take the means suggested by him. A temptation laid bare is a temptation already overcome. If, on the contrary, trusting to our own lights we fail to seek advice, under the pretext that a temptation is not a sin, we fall easily into the snares of the great seducer of souls.

2° MORTIFICATION THE GUARDIAN OF CHASTITY

We have already explained the necessity and the principal forms of mortification (n. 755-790). We shall recall here the points that bear more directly upon the present subject. Because the poison of impurity seeps through every opening, we must know how to mortify both our ertertor and our zzzertor senses, as well as the affections of the heart.

  1. A) The body, we have said (n.77) and foll.), must be disciplined, and if need be, chastised that it may remain subject to the soul: “But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection : lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, yin

L myself should become a castaway.” 3 _ From this principle arises the necessity of sobriety, at times of fasting, or of some other exterior forms of penance; also the need, at certain periods and especially in the spring of the year, of a less rich diet to abate the mounting surge of the blood and soothe the ardors

  • St. Jerome well describes these oddities : ‘‘Such men think of nothing but their dress; they use perfumes freely, and see that there are no creases in their leather shoes. Their curling hair shows the traces of tongs; their fingers glisten with tings; they walk on tiptoe across a wet road, not to splash their feet. When you see men acting in this way, think of them rather as bridegrooms than as clergymen..”" Letter XX, 28.

2 Spiritual Exercises, Rules for the Discernment of Spirits, X11.

WAGON OS Cb f of concupiscence. Nothing is to be neglected that may ensure the dominion of the soul over the body. There should be no protracted hours of sleep, and as a general principle we must not remain in bed of mornings, once we are awake and are unable to fall asleep again.

Each of our bodily senses needs to be mortified.

  1. a) The just Job had made a pact with his eyes that they should not look upon such persons as could prove a source of temptation to him: “/ made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much as think upon a virgin.” * The Book. of Ecclesiasticus carefully recommends not to fasten our glances upon a maiden and to turn our eyes from a beautiful woman: “ For many have perished by the beauty of a woman, and thereby lust is enkindled as a fire.”2 All these counsels have a good psychological foundation. The eye acts as stimulus to the imagination, this enkindles the desire, and the latter solicits the will. If the will yields consent, sin enters into the soul.

  2. b) Speech and hearing are mortified by reserve in conversation, This reserve is not common even among Christian men and women. The reading of novels and the frequenting of theatres cause them to speak freely of many a subject that should be passed over in silence. Likewise, they want to keep informed about the scandals that occur in the world. At other times they chat pleasantly about things of a more or less risky nature. A sort of unwholesome curiosity finds delight in such pleasantries and reports, the imagination is fed on them and visualizes in detail the descriptions given, the senses react and often the will ends by taking culpable pleasure. And so it is that St. Paul rightly denounces evil associations as a source of corruption : “ Evil communications corrupt good manners.” 3 The same Apostle says elsewhere: “Obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose... let it not so much as be named among you.”4 Experience shows that sterling souls have been perverted through the unwholesome curicsity aroused by imprudent conversations.

  3. ©) Inthe sense of ouch there lurks a special danger (n. 879).

Father Perreyve understood this well when he wrote the following : $ “More than ever, O Lord, I consecrate my hands to Thee. These t Job, XXXI, 1.

2 ‘Gaze not upon a maiden: lest her beauty be a stumbling block to thee... Turn away thy face from a woman dressed up; and gaze not about upon another's beauty.” Zeclus. JX, 5, 8,9. —3T/ Cor., XV, 33. — 4 Ephes., V, 3 & 4.

§ Méditations sur les SS, Ordres, p. 105.

hands are to receive priestly consecration within three days. On the morrow of the third day they will touch, hold, handle Thy Body and Thy Blood. I want to reverence these hands, honor them as hallowed instruments dedicated to Thy service and that of Thy altars...” When we recollect that in the morning we have held within our hands an All-holy God, we are more ready to abstain from whatever could soil their purity. Hence, deep reverence for our own person ; hence reverence for others, treating all with the accepted marks of courtesy, but abstaining from any sentimental feeling or ill-ordered affection. Toa priest who asked St. Vincent de Paul if it were expedient to feel the pulse of a dying woman, the Saint replied: “That practice must be carefully avoided, for the evil spirit might easily make use of it to tempt the living and even the dying. The devil, in this last moment uses any and every device to ensnare a soul... You should never touch eitheir girl or woman under any pretence whatever. ” *

  1. B) The zuéertor senses are no less exposed to danger than are the exterior. Even when we modestly lower our eyes, importunate memories and obsessing images still pursue us. St. Jerome complained of this even in the solitude of the desert where, though parched by the burning sun and living in a bare cell, he would feel himself carried in fancy mid the pleasures of Rome.? He therefore urges mmstant riddance of such fancies: “ You must never let the suggestion of evil grow on you... Slay the enemy while he ts small; and that you may not have a crop of tares, nip the evil zm the bud.” 3 The enemy must be strangled before his strength grows and the tares pulled up by the root before they sprout, otherwise the soul is invaded, obsessed by temptation, and the temple of God becomes the haunt of demons: “ Let not the temple of the Blessed Trinity become a place where demons shall dance and sirens make their dens.” 4

  2. In order to escape these dangerous fancies it is important not to indulge in the reading of such novels or attend such theatrical representations, where inhuman passions and chiefly that of love are presented in a vivid and realistic fashion. Such descriptions cannot but trouble the imagination and the senses. They persistently recur in our leisure moments, impart to temptation a more vivid and more alluring form, and at times extort consent. Now, St. Jerome remarks that virginity is forfeited not merely through exterior but also by interior acts : “ And so, virginity 7s lost even by thought.”

Furthermore, the Saints exhort us to mortify the imagination and useless day-dreaming. For, experience shows that these are frequently followed by dangerous sensual images, and that, therefore, if we wish to prevent the latter,

  • MEYNARD, Virtues and Spiritual Doctrine of St. Vincent de Paul, C. XIX.

2 ‘How often, when I was living in the desert, in the vast solitude which gives to hermits a wild dwelling-place, parched by a burning sun, how often did I fancy myself among the pleasures of Rome!" Letter, XXII, n. 7. — 3 /bzd.

we must quickly banish the former. It is only by so doing that we gradually succeed in subjecting the imagination to the service of the will.

This is particularly necessary to the priest, who by the very reason of his ministry, is the recipient of confidences of a delicate nature. No doubt, he has the grace of state not to take any pleasure therein, but this on condition that upon leaving the confessional he does not voluntarily dwell upon what he has heard. Otherwise, his virtue would be put to a severe test, and God has not bound Himself to vouchsafe His help to imprudent souls that rush headlong into danger : “ He that loveth danger shall perish in it.” *

  1. C) The Zeart needs to be mortified just as much as the imagination. It is one of the highest and noblest of faculties, but it is also a source of danger. By religious vow or by priestly ordination, we consecrate our heart to God and renounce the joys of family life. Still, the heart remains open to affection; and if it be true that we have special graces, they are graces for the struggle, and they demand of us great vigilance and great effort.

Besides the dangers common to all, the priest encounters in his ministry some peculiar to himself. He may become unconsciously attached to the persons to whom he does good, and they in turn may feel naturally moved to manifest their gratitude. Therefrom arise mutual affections; these are supernatural at first, but unless carefully controlled, they easily descend to the plane of natural, sentimental and absorbing attachments. Indeed, it is easy to deceive ourselves. “ Oftentimes, ” says St. Francis de Sales, “ we imagine we love persons for God’s sake, whilst in reality we love them for the sake of the pleasure we experience in their company.” A famous text, attributed to St. Augustine, shows us the successive degrees through which we pass from spiritual to carnal love: “ Sfir¢tual love engenders affectionate love, affectionate love devoted love, devoted love tender love, and tender love carnal love.”

  1. In order to escape such a misfortune, we must ask ourselves from time to time whether or not we see in ourselves any signs of friendship that is too natural and sentimental.* Father de Valuy 3 says that such a friendship exists: “If the presence of a person begins to captivate our eyes, or his agreeable disposition to thrill our heart ; if we offer tender greetings, speak tender words, cast tender glances, make small gifts, exchange smiles more ‘eloquent than words and permit liberties that little by little lead to familiarity ; if we seek opportunities to meet alone, to prolong these meetings interminably and to renew them for no apparent reason ; if we speak little of divine things but a great deal of self and of mutual esteem; if we praise, flatter or excuse each other ; if we complain bitterly of the warnings of superiors, of the obstacles they place in the way of our meetings and of the suspicions in which they seem to indulge ;... if we experience uneasiness and sadness at the absence of our friend; if we are distracted in prayer at the thought of him, and recommend him to God with extra- t Eeclesiasticus, V1, 27. — ? cf. above, n°s 595-606—friendships, true and false, 3 Vertus religieuses, Pp. 73-74.

ordinary fervor; if we have his image deeply engraved on our mind, and are preoccupied with the thought of him day and night, anxiously wondering as to his whereabouts, as to the time of his return, and as to his affection for others; if we experience unwonted joy at his reappearance, undergo a species of martyrdom when again he must depart, and strive in a thousand and one ways to bring about a reunion.”

Let no one try to reassure himself by citing the piety of the persons to whom he thus attaches himself, for the holzer they are, the more they attract us. Besides, such persons imagine that the affection they bear a priest holds no dangers whatever, and may, therefore, allow their affection to grow without fear. It is imperative, then, that the priest keep them at a distance by his own reserve.

3° APPLICATION TO STUDY AND TO DUTIES OF STATE

  1. One of the most profitable forms of mortification is the avoidance of idleness by an earnest application to ecclesiastical studies and to the faithful fulfilment of the duties of state. Thereby the dangers of idleness are removed : “ Hor zdleness hath taught much evil.” For one demon that tempts a busy man there are a thousand evil spirits that tempt an idle one. What do we do, as a matter of fact, when we are not engaged in any useful task? We muse, day-dream, read light literature, indulge in protracted visits, hold conversations of a more or less dangerous nature, while our imagination teems with vain fancies, our heart drifts on towards sentimental affections and our soul, laid open to all sorts of temptations, finally yields to sin. On the contrary, when we become absorbed in study or the work of the ministry, our mind is filled with wholesome thoughts, 2 and our heart soars to worthy and pure affections. Our one absorbing thought is of souls, whilst the very multiplicity of occupations leaves no opportunity whatever for any inordinate friendships. If at any time temptation makes its appearance, the self-mastery acquired through assiduous work enables us to head it off far more quickly, for study and work make their wonted demands upon our attention, and we soon tear ourselves away from reveries to busy ourselves with the concrete realities that take up the greater part of our life.

  2. Hence, it is a great service to seminarians and priests to inspire them with a taste for study; to teach them how to avoid flesh... Always have some work on hand, that the devil may find you busy.” ST. JEROME, Letter CXXV, n. 11.14

idleness, even in holiday time, and how to turn to profit every moment of their life. When one can help them sketch a plan of study that they can follow in the ministry, or aid them in the preparation of some course of instructions, or interest them in some special question, one does them a signal service; for if they have no such program, they are liable to waste precious time, whilst with it, they bring to their task a greater enthusiasm and more perseverance.

4° ARDENT LOVE FOR JESUS AND His BLESSED MOTHER

  1. If work preserves the mind from dangerous thoughts, love for God shields the heart from sentimental affections, and thus spares us many a temptation. Man’s heart is made for love. Priestly ordination or religious profession do not change this affective part of our nature, but they help us raise our affections to a supernatural plane. If we love God with our whole soul, if we love Jesus Christ above all things, we shall be less inclined to give our affections to creatures. St. John Climacus remarks: “He is truly virtuous upon whose spirit heavenly beauty is so engraved, that he deigns not to cast a look upon earthly beauty, and thus feels not the burning of that fire which consumes the hearts of other men.” ?

  2. But in order that love for Jesus may produce these effects, it must be intense, generous, and absorbing. Then it will bring us a threefold blessing : 1) It will so fill the mind and the heart that we no longer give a thought to human affections. If at times they make their way to our heart, we turn them aside, repeating these words of St. Agnes: “ 7 am espoused to Him Whom the Angels serve, at Whose beauty the very sun and moon stand in awe.” It is easy to understand how all creatures vanish and lose their charm in the presence of Him Who is the fulness of beauty, of goodness and of power. 2) Should we unfortunately become entangled in any ill-ordered affections, Jesus Who cannot suffér strange gods in our heart, will reproach us severely and thus make us all the stronger for the fight against them. 3) Lastly, He will Himseif protect with jealous care the hearts of those who give themselves to Him. He will come to our aid at the time of temptation and will strengthen us against the seductions of creatures.

This generous love for Jesus we draw from prayer, from the reception of Holy Communion, from silent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and we render it habitual and permanent through that intimate union with Our Lord which we described above, in number 153.

  1. To this we add a great devotion to Mary, the Virgin Undefiled. Her name breathes forth purity, and, it seems, no sooner do we confidently invoke Her, than temptation is put to flight. If we consecrate ourselves15 entirely to this Good Mother (n. 170-176), She will watch over us as Her very own, and help us to repel successfully the most harassing temptations. Let us, then, delight in the recitation of the prayer, O Domina mea, so powerful against impure suggestions, and the Ave Maris Stella, especially the following strophe:

Virgin of all virgins,

Thee our queen we seek;

Fire with love our bosoms, Make us chaste and meek.

And if we are ever worsted in the struggle, we must not forget that the Immaculate Heart of Mary is also the sure refuge of sinners, that through the invocation of Her Name we shall find the grace of repentance, followed by the grace of absolution. Who could better ensure our perseverance than the Virgin most Faithful?

§ Il. Humility:

This virtue could in some respects be connected with the virtue of justice, since it inclines us to mete out to ourselves what are our just deserts. However, it is generally related to the virtue of temperance, because it moderates the sense we have of our own worth. We shall explain: | 1° its mature, 2° its various degrees, 3° its excellence; 4° the means Zo practice it.

I. Nature of Humility

  1. 1° Humility is a virtue that was unknown to the Pagans. For them humility connoted something vile, abject, servile or ignoble. It was not so with the Jews. Enlightened by faith, the best among them, conscious of their own nothingness and of their wretchedness, patiently accepted trials as a means of expiation. God, on His part stooped down to help them; He delighted in the prayer of the humble, and pardoned the contrite and humbled sinner. Therefore, when Our Lord came to preach humility and meekness, the Jews were able to understand Him. As for us, we understand Him even better, after reflecting on the examples of humility He has given us in His hidden life, during His public ministry, and in His passion, nay, gives us still in His Eucharistic life.

Humility may be defined as a supernatural virtue, which, through the self-knowledge it imparts, inclines us to reckon

7 See references, N° 818, under Pride, ourselves at our true worth and to seek self-effacement and contempt. More succinctly, St. Bernard! defines it as “a virtue whereby man, through a true knowledge of himself, becomes despicable in his own eyes.” This definition will be better understood after we have explained the basis of humility.

  1. The Basis of this virtue. Humility has a twofold basis: truth and justice. Truth causes us to know ourselves just as we are; justice inclines us to act upon that knowledge.

A) To attain self-knowledge, says St. Thomas, we must see what in us belongs to God, and what to ourselves. Now, whatever there is in us of good, comes from God and belongs to Him; whatever there is of evil, proceeds from ourselves: “Jz man two things may be considered: what there ts of God, and what there is of man. Of man there ts whatever points to defect; but of God, all that makes for salvation and perfection.”16

Justice, then, absolutely demands that we render to God, and to Him alone, all the honor and all the glory: “ Zo the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory...3 Benediction and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honor and power and strength, to our God.” 4

Undoubtedly, there is some good in us—our natural being and especially our supernatural privileges. Humility allows us to see and admire this good, but in such wise only that when we contemplate the gifts and graces of God in us, it is Him, and not ourselves that we admire, just as when we admire a work of art we give credit to the artist, not to the canvas.

  1. B) Besides, the fact of being sinners condemns us to humiliation. In a certain sense, of ourselves we are but sim, since born in sin, we keep within us concupiscence, which leads to sin.

a) Upon our entrance into the world, we are already tainted by orzginal sin, from which only the mercy. of God can cleanse us. b) How many actual sins have we not committed from the dawn of reason! If we have committed even one mortal sin, then on that score we deserve eternal humiliations. Even if we have fallen into but vental sins, we must remember that the least sin constitutes t De Gradibus humil., C. I, n. 2. 2 [Ja Ile, q. 161, a. 3. —3 7 Tim., 1, 17.. — 4 Agoc., VII, 12:

an offence against God, a wilful violation of His law, an act of rebellion whereby we prefer our will to His. A whole lifetime of penance and humiliation would not suffice to atone for this. ¢) Furthermore, even after our regeneration, we still keep within ourselves strong tendencies to all kinds of sin, so much so that, according to St. Augustine, it is due to God’s grace that we have not committed every sin in the world.? In justice, then, we must love humiliations and accept all reproaches. If we are told that we are miserly, dishonest, proud, we must acknowledge it, since we have within us the inclination to each of these defects. Father Olier rightly comes to the conclusion that “in sickness, in persecution, in contempt, and any other affliction we must take God’s part against ourselves and acknowledge that we justly deserve all that and more; that He has a perfect right to use evéry creature for our punishment, and that we must adore the great mercy He uses towards us, knowing full well that according to His justice we would fare far worse.” ?

Such is the twofold basis of humility. Being xothzng of ourselves, we must love oblivion and self-effacement : Zo be unknown, to be reckoned as nothing. As sinners we deserve every kind of humiliation.

Il. Zhe Various Degrees of Humility

There are different classifications of the degrees of this virtue according to the various points of view taken. We shall note the principal ones, which can be reduced to three : that of Sz. Benedict, that of St Lgnatius and that of Father Oler,

  1. 1° The Twelve Degrees of St. Benedict.3 Cassian discerned ten different degrees in the practice of humility. St. Benedict completed this division, adding two others. To understand this arrangement, we must know that St. Benedict conceived humility as “an habitual attitude of soul which regulates the entire range of a monk’s relations with God, as a sinful creature and as an adopted son,” This concept is founded upon reverence towards the Almighty and comprises besides humility properly so-called, obedience, patience and modesty. Of these twelve degrees, seven refer to zzzertor and five to exterior actions.

« “J realize that it is Thy grace that has prevented me from doing whatever evil I have not done; for what evil is there that I could not have done, being given that I could take pleasure in doing wrong just for the pleasure of doing it? And I confess to Thee, my God, that Thou hast pardoned all my sins, those which I freely committed, and those which because of Thy guidance I did not commit.” (OCCA, WW (On eh I2E 26. ORI, Ei).17

  1. Among the zzterzor acts he places:

  1. The fear of God ever present to the mind and causing us to keep the commandments. This fear is, in the first place, fear of punishment, then reverential fear, which terminates in adoration: “ Zhe fear of the Lord is holy, enduring forever and ever.” *

  2. Obedience, or the submission of our will to God's, For if we fear and reverence God, we shall do His will in all things. This obedience is, indeed, an act of humility, since it is the expression of our dependence upon God.

  3. Obedience to Superiors out of love for God. It is more difficult to submit to Superiors than to God Himself, More faith is needed to see God in the person of one’s Superiors; likewise a more perfect self-denial is needed because this obedience extends to many more things.

  4. Patient obedience even in the most difficult things, bearing injuries without murmer, even and above all, when humiliation comes from Superiors. To succeed in this, one must consider the heavenly recompense awaiting us and the sufferings and humiliations of Jesus.

  5. The avowal of secret faults, thoughts included, to the Superior, 2 apart from sacramental confession. This act of humility is a powerful check. The prospect of having to lay bare the most secret faults halts one on the brink of the abyss.

  6. The willing acceptance of all privations, of menial offices, considering oneself unworthy of even such tasks.

  7. To consider oneself in all sincerity as the lowest of men. This is a degree of humility rarely found. The Saints attain it by saying to themselves that if others had received as many graces as they, they would have made much better use of these divine gifts.

  1. These interior acts manifest themselves in exterior actions, the principal ones being:
  1. Avoidance of singularity; to do nothing out of the ordinary, Bai to be satisfied with what is sanctioned by the common rule, the examples

2 According to the Code of Canon Law (can. 530) religious Superiors can no longer in any way seek to induce their subjects to disclose to them their, conscience ; but the Code adds: ‘‘it is profitable for religious to approach their Superiors with filial confidence and manifest to them, if the Superiors be priests, their doubts and troubles of conscience.

of our seniors, and accepted customs. To wish to be singular is a sign of pride.

  1. Silence: to know how to remain silent as long as conversation is not addressed to us, or as long as there is no good reason to speak. There is a great deal of vanity behind our readiness to talk.

  2. Moderation of laughter : St. Benedict does not condemn laughter in so far as it is an expression of spiritual joy, but only laughter of a vulgar kind, uncouth laughter, sneering laughter, or the habitual disposition to laugh boisterously, and upon the least provocation, all of which shows little regard for God’s presence and little humility.

  3. Reserve in speech : when one speaks, it must be done quietly and humbly, with all the gravity and propriety of the wise man.

  4. Modesty of behavior: to walk, sit, and hold oneself erect; to practice modesty of the eyes without affectation, to keep one’s thou ghts fixed on God, reflecting that one is not worthy of raising one’s eyes to heaven : Lord, L am not worthy, a sinful man, to raise my eyes to heaven.

After explaining the various degrees of humility, St. Benedict adds that they lead to the love of God, that perfect love that excludes fear: “ Therefore, after having ascended all these degrees of humulity, the monk soon reaches the love of God, that perfect love that casteth out fear.” This, then, is the goal whither humility leads. The way is rough, but the heights to which it leads us are those of Divine Love.

  1. 2° The Three Degrees of St. Ignatius. Towards the end of the Second Week of the Exercises, before the Rules for Election, St. Ignatius proposes three degrees of humility, which are at bottom three degrees of selfabnegation.

  1. The jivst degree consists “in perfect submission to the law of God, so that we should be ready to refuse the empire of the whole world, or even to sacrifice our lives, rather than transgress any precept which obliges us under pain of mortal sin. This degree is essential for every Christian who wants to remain in the state of grace.

  2. The second is more perfect. “It consists in the indifference of the soul towards riches or poverty, honor or shame, health or sickness, provided the glory of God and the salvation of souls are equally secured; further, that no consideration of interest or temporal disgrace, not even the consideration of immediate death, should be capable of drawing us into deliberate venial sin.” ‘This is a disposition already implying great perfection, and few souls attain it.

  3. “ The ¢hzrd is most perfect. It embodies the first two, and it goes further, preferring, for the sole love of Jesus Christ and from the wish to resemble Him the more, poverty to riches, shame to honors, etc..., even though our salvation and the glory of God would be assured by either” This is the degree of perfect souls; it is the love of the Cross and the love of humiliation, in union with Christ and out of love for Him, When a soul has arrived thus far, it is already on the highroad to sanctity.

  1. 3° The Three Degrees of Humility according to Father Olier. After having explained in his “Catechism for an Interior Life” the necessity of humility and the way to combat pride, Father Olier in his Introduction to Christian Life and Virtues, goes on to explain the three degrees of interior humility proper to fervent souls.

a) The first degree is to veyoece in the knowledge of self, the knowledge of one’s vileness, of one’s nothingness, of one’s defects, of one’s sins. The mere knowledge of these miseries does not constitute humility; there are some who discover their faults, but who are saddened at the sight of them, and strive to find in themselves something good that will spare them the confusion they experience. This is an effect of pride. However, when one is pleased at the knowledge of one’s wretchedness, when one loves one’s own vile and abject condition one is truly humble.

If one has the misfortune of falling into sin, one must, of courses detest it, but at the same time be pleased at the humiliation. To rejoice in one’s infirmities, one must remember that such a sentiment redounds to God’s glory, by the very fact that one’s littleness makes manifest God’s greatness, and one’s sins His holiness. In this way the soul acknowledges that it has no worth whatever, that of itself it is incapable of any good, and that all has its origin in God, that all depends on Him, and that all must be done through Him, . b) The second degree is that of wanting to be known as vile, as base, as being nothing but sin, and to be considered as such by all men. In fact, if knowing our misery and being pleased at it we should still wish to be esteemed by men, we should be hypocrites, wanting to seem better than we really are.

Alas! such is our tendency! Hence the chagrin we experience when our imperfections are discovered, the concern we have for the success of our undertakings, for gaining the esteem of men. To covet this: esteem is to be a thief wishing to make his what belongs to the Sovereign Being. The humble soul, on the contrary, is unconcerned about the regard in which it is held. It is pained when praised, and would prefer a thousand injuries to a word of praise, since the former is based on truth, the latter on falsehood.

c) The third degree is to want not merely to be known as a vile thing, but Zo de treated as such, as a base and contemptible being; it is to accept joyfully all the scorn and all the humiliation possible; in a word, it is to want to be treated according to our deserts. And what contempt is not due to nothingness, and above all, to sin, which removes us from the One Who is our true good, God?

Thus, when God deigns to send us aridity of soul, interior desolations and reversals, we must take God’s part against ourselves, and acknowledge that He is right in rebuking us and our works. Likewise, if we are ill-treated by our superiors, our equals, and even our inferiors, we must rejoice at this as being most just, most profitable to us and, most in accord with the desires of Jesus Christ. We must not even aspire to a high place in Heaven from a motive of pride. Indeed, we must love God as much as He wishes to be loved, and be faithful so’ that we mary attain to the degree of glory and bliss that He prepares. for us; but with regard to our place in Heaven we must leave that, entirely in God’s hands.

“ Then we attain complete self-effacement, and God alone lives and reigns within us, ”

  1. Conclusion. Each of these points of view concerning the degrees of humility as explained by St. Benedict, St. Ignatius, and Father Olier, has its foundation in fact. It is the duty of a spiritual director to advise the one which best harmonizes with his penitents state of soul.

Ill. The Excellence of Humulity

To be able to understand the language of the Saints on this subject we must differentiate between humility 2 ztsed/, and humility as the fouxdation of the other virtues.

  1. 1° Considered 72% ztself, says St. Thomas, ! humility is znfertor to the theological virtues, which have God Himself as their direct object; it is even inferior to certain moral virtues; for instance, prudence, religion, and legal justice which refers to the common good; however, (with the possible exception of obedience) humility is superior to all the other moral virtues, because of its universal character, and because it subordinates us to the divine order in all things,

  2. 2° But, if we consider humility as being the sey that opens the treasures of grace and as the foundation of all virtues, it is, as the Saints say, one of the most excellent of virtues,

A) It is the key that lays open the riches of grace: “ But to the humble He giveth grace.”? a) God knows that the humble soul does not take complacency in the graces He

  • Ila Il®, q. 161, a, 4. —?/ Peter, V, 5 bestows, that it is not puffed up with vanity because of them, but rather that it refers all the glory to Him. Almighty God can therefore pour upon that soul the abundance of His favors, since His own glory will be thereby increased. On the other hand, He sees Himself obliged to withdraw His grace from the proud — “God resisteth the proud,” 1— since they would appropriate it to their own ends and would glory therein. This God cannot suffer: “J wll not give my glory to another.” 2 b) Besides, humility empties the soul of self-love and vain-glory, and thus creates there a vast capacity for grace, which God is ready to fiJl; for as St. Bernard says there is a close affinity between grace and humility: “ 7he virtue of humility ts always found closely associated with Divine grace.” 3
  1. B) Humility is likewise the foundation of all the virtues. If not the mother of all, it is at least their fostermother, and this from a twofold point of view: first in the sense that wzthout zt there is no solid virtue, and then that with z¢ all other virtues grow in depth and perfection.

  1. As pride is the great stumbling-block to faz/Z, humility renders our faith more active, more ready, more firm, and even more enlightened : ‘‘ Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to little ones.”* Wow much easier it is to subject the intellect to the authority of faith, if we are conscious of our dependence upon God! “ Bringing into captivity every understanaing, unto the obedience of Christ.” Faith in turn,® revealing to us the infinite perfection of God and our own nothingness, grounds us in: humility.

  2. The same occurs in the case of Zope. The proud man trusts in himself and presumes overmuch in his own strength. He hardly thinks of imploring divine aid. The humble man, on the contrary, places all his hope in God, because he distrusts himself. Hope, in its turn, makes us more humble, because it shows us that the joys of heaven are so utterly beyond our powers that without the help of grace we could never attain them.

  3. The enemy of the love of God, of charity, is the love of self. It is, then, by the “emptying of self” that the love of God grows, which in turn deepens humility, for we delight in effacing ourselves before Him Whom we love. Therefore, St. Augustine rightly said that there is nothing more sublime than charity, and that only the humble practice it : “‘ Zhere 7s no higher road than that of charity, and none but the humble walk therein.”°® There is likewise no surer way to practice charity towards the neighbor than that of humility, which throws a veil over his defects and makes us sympathize with his infirmities, instead of becoming impatient with him.18

    1. Religion is all the better practiced the clearer we perceive that all must be offered in holocaust and sacrificed to God.

  1. Prudence demands humility. The humble are fond of reflecting and taking counsel before acting.

  2. Justice cannot be practiced without humility, for the proud man exaggerates his own rights to the detriment of those of the neighbor.

  3. Christian fortitude, proceeding as it does, not from self but from God, is not found except in those who, conscious of their weakness, find support in Him Who alone can strengthen them.

  4. Temperance and chastity, as we have seen, presuppose humility.

  5. Meekness and patience are never well practiced until we learn to accept humiliation.

And so, it can be said that without humility there is no solid and lasting virtue, and that, on the other hand, through humility, all virtues grow and take deeper root in the soul. We may well conclude with the words of St. Augustine : “ Dost thou wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that shall pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundations on humility.” * The loftier the building, the deeper must be its foundations.

IV. The Practice of Humility

  1. Beginners, as we have said (n. 838-844), wage war against pride; souls advanced in the spiritual life direct their efforts to the imitation of Our Lord’s humility.

  2. 1° They strive to draw to themselves the humble dispositions of the soul of Christ. This is what St. Paul urges us to do: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought zt not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself...” 2 We must, then, meditate frequently upon and strive to imitate the examples of humility given us by Our Lord in His hidden and public life, in His Passton, and in His Eucharistic life.

A) During His Azdden life He practices humility chiefly under the form of self-effacement. a) He practices this self-effacement before Hrs birth by hiding Himself for nine months in the virginal womb of Mary, where He conceals completely His Divine Attributes : “ He emptied himself,;” 3 by submitting Himself to Caesar’s edict : “ There went out a decree from Cesar Augustus ;” + by suffering uncomplainingly the rude refusals His Mother had to face: “ There was no room for them in the tun,” 5 above all, by being the object

  • Sermon ro on the Words of the Lord. —* Phil., U1, 5. —3 lbid., 7. 4 Luke, Il, 1. —5 /did., 7.

of the ingratitude of men, who thought not of making ready a place for Him in their hearts: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”* ) He likewise practices self-effacement at Hzs b’rth : He appears as a poor infant, bound in swaddling clothes, placed in a manger, and laid upon a bit of straw: “ You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.” 2 And this little Child is the Son of God, coequal with the Father, Uncreated Wisdom!

¢) He practices humility also in all the circumstances that follow fits birth : like any ordinary child he is circumcised; He is obliged to flee into Egypt to escape the persecuting hand of Herod, whom with but one word He could reduce to dust. d) His life at Nazareth is but continued self-effacement. Hidden away ina small Galilean village, He at first helps His Mother in her household duties, then becomes an apprentice, a workman, and spends thirty years in obedience to two human beings. He, the Lord of the world, “ was subject io them.” 3 We can well understand the words of Bossuet : 4 “* My God! I stand aghast once more! Come, ye proud ones, behold this spectacle! Jesus, a carpenter’s son! Jesus, Himself a carpenter! Jesus, known only as a carpenter and as the son of a carpenter, and nothing more!”

  1. B) During the course of His public life Jesus does not cease to practice this forgetfulness of self to the extent compatible with His mission. He is, no doubt, obliged to proclaim both by word and deed that He is the Son of God; yet, He does so in a discreet, measured way, sufficiently clear to reach the minds of men of good will, but not with such evidence as to force assent. His humility appears in everything He does.

a) He surrounds Himself with Apostles, ignorant and uncouth, and therefore little esteemed, eleven fishermen and a publican. He shows a marked preference for those whom the world despises: the poor, sinners, the afflicted, little children, those disowned by the world. He lives by alms and has no place that He can call His home. b) His teaching is plain and simple, within the reach of all, and His similitudes like His parables are taken from ordinary, every-day life. He does not seek to excite the admiration of men, but to instruct them and to touch their hearts. @) His mzracles are of rare occurrence, and when He does perform them He often charges His beneficiaries to speak of them tono man. There is no studied austerity in His life: He eats like every one else, He attends a wedding-feast at Cana, and some banquets to which He is invited. He shuns popularity; He does not hesitate when necessary to displease His disciples: “This is a hard saying,” 5 and He takes to flight when the people would make Him king. 4) If we look into the zazmermost sentiments of His soul, we see how He wishes to live in dependence upon God.® He speaks only to give expression to the doctrine of Him Who sent Him: “J speak not t John, 1, 11. — * Luke, II, 12, — 3 Luke, Il, 51. 4 John, VI, 61. — 5 Elévations, XX Semaine, 8¢ Elév. — © John, VIII, 15-16.

of myself...°* “ My doctrine ts not mine, but his that sent me;”? He does nothing of Himself but only in deference to His Father: “ 7 cannot of myself do anything... But the Father who abideth in me, he doth the works.” 3 Thus it is not His own glory that He seeks, but that of the Father, and for this cause only He lives on earth: “J seek not my own glory..”+ “Ihave glorified thee on the earth.” ’ Nay more, He, the Lord of Creation, becomes the servant of men: “ Zhe Son of man ts not come to be ministered unto, but to minister.”*® Ina word, oblivious of self, He continually immolates Himself for God and men.

  1. (C) This is all even more apparent in His Passzon where He practices adject humility.

He, Holiness itself, wills to bear the weight of our iniquities and suffer the penalty, as if He were guilty: “ Am, who knew no sin, he hath made sin for us.”? 2) Hence proceed that sorrow, that dejection, that weariness, which He feels at Gethsemane at seeing Himself loaded with our sins: “ And he began to fear and to be heavy... My soul ts sorrowful even unto death.” ® b) He bears the outrages heaped upon Him: betrayed by Judas, He has for him only friendly words: “ Frzend, whereto art thou come?”9 Deserted by His Apostles, He does not cease to love them. Arrested, bound like a common criminal, He heals Malchus wounded by the hand of Peter. Delivered to the rabble, He suffers their affronts in silence. Calumniated, He does not justify Himself, and utters not a word except to make answer to the abjuration of the high-priest in whom He respects the authority of God. He knows full well that His answer will bring upon Him the penalty of death, still He speaks the truth. Treated like a fool by Herod, He holds His peace; He speaks not a single word nor works a single miracle to vindicate His honor. The people to whom He had done so much good choose Barabbas instead of Him, and still Jesus ceases not to suffer for their conversion. Unjustly condemned by Pilate, He keeps silence, He lets Himself be scourged, crowned with thorns, vilified like a mock-king on the stage; He accepts without murmur the heavy cross that is laid upon His shoulders and allows Himself to be crucified without a word of complaint. Insulted and sneered at by His enemies, He prays for them and excuses them before His Father. Deprived of all heavenly comfort, deserted by His disciples, His dignity as man, His reputation, His honor, all set at naught, He suffers it seems every species of humiliation that the mind of man can conceive, and He can say with far greater truth than the Psalmist: “/ am a worm and no man: the reproach of men and the outcast of the people.” It is for us sinners, it is in our stead, that He endures so heroically all those outrages without a murmur: “ Who, when He was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not, but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly.”** How then can we, who are so full of guilt, ever complain, even should we be at times unjustly accused ?

  1. D) His Eucharistic life in the tabernacle reproduces these different examples of humility.

7 IL Cor.,V, 21. —® Mark, XIV, 33, 34. —9 Matth., XXVI, 50. 10° Ps, XXI, 7. —™ J Peter, Il, 23.

a) Therein the Divinity of Jesus Christ is veiled to a greater extent than it was in the Crib and on Calvary : “ Ox the Cross was veiled Thy Godheaa’s splendor. Here Thy Manhood lieth hidden too.”* And yet, from the recesses of the tabernacle, it is He Who is the first and principal cause of all the good done in the world, He the One that inspires, strengthens and comforts all apostles, martyrs and virgins. And He chooses to be hidden, Zo be unknown, to be accounted as nothing.

b) How many insults, how many affronts does He not receive in the Sacrament of His love, not only from unbelievers who refuse to acknowledge His Presence, from the impious who profane His Sacred Body, but also from Christians, who either out of weakness or shame make sacriligious communions, even from souls consecrated to His service who at times forget Him and leave Him alone in His tabernacle: “ Could you not watch one hour with me?”? Instead of complaining He says to us incessantly : “Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy burdened, and I will refresh you.” 3

Truly, we have here all the examples that we need to sustain and strengthen us in the practice of every form of the virtue of humility. And when we reflect further that at the same time Christ has also merited for us the grace of imitating these examples, how can we hesitate to follow Him?

  1. 2° We shall now examine the manner in which we can, after Our Lord’s example, practice humility towards God, towards our nezghbor and with regard to ourselves.

A) Towards God, humility is manifested chiefly in three ways: a) By the spirit of ve/zgzon, whereby we honor God as the plenitude of being and perfection. This we do by lovingly and joyfully acknowledging our nothingness and our sinfulness, glad to proclaim in this way the self-sufficiency that is God’s and the perfection of His holiness. Thence spring those sentiments of adoration, of praise, of filial fear and filial love; thence comes the heart’s cry: Thou alone art holy, Thou alone art Lord, Thou alone art most high, These sentiments issue forth from our hearts not only when we pray, but also when we contemplate God’s work: His zatural works wherein are mirrored the perfections of the Maker, His supernatural works wherein the eyes of faith perceive a real likeness, a participation in the Divine life.

  1. b) By a spirit of thankfulness, which sees in God the source of all the natural and supernatural gifts we contemplate in ourselves and in others. Then, like the Blessed Virgin, and in union with her, we glorify God for all the t Hymn ‘' Adoro te” of St. Thomas. — 2 Matth., XXVI, 40. — 3 Matth., XI, 28.

good He has bestowed upon us: “ My soul doth magnify the Lord... He that ts mighty hath done great things to me,and holy ts His name.” * Thus, instead of priding ourselves upon such gifts, we refer to God all the honor that comes from them and acknowledge that we have often misused them. ,

  1. ¢) By a spirit of dependence, which makes us confess our inability to do any good of ourselves. Convinced of this fact, we never begin any action without first placing ourselves under the influence of the Holy Ghost, without imploring His grace, which alone can supply for our deficiency. This should be practiced especially by spiritual directors, who in the exercise of their ministry must not glory in the confidence which their penitents show them, but candidly avow their insufficiency, and consult the Almighty before dispensing any advice.

  2. B) As to the manner of practicing humility with regard to the zezghbor, the principle that must guide us is the following : we must see in him all the good, natural and supernatural, which God has placed in him, and admire it without either envy or jealousy. On the other hand, we must throw a veil over his defects and overlook them, at least as long as it is not our duty to correct them.

In accordance with this principle: @) we rejoice at the virtues and successes of others, for all these redound to God’s glory: “ So that by all means... Christ be preached.” ? Of course, we may wish to possess their virtues, but then we invoke the Holy Ghost that He may deign to give us a share therein, and thus a worthy emulation ensues: “ Azd let us consider one another, to provoke unto charity and to good works.” 3 b) If we see our neighbor commit some fault, instead of becoming indignant, we pray for his conversion, and frankly acknowledge that, were it not for God’s grace, we should ourselves be guilty of greater sins (n. 1129).

  1. c) This is the attitude of mind that really enables us to consider ourselves zxfertor to others: “In humility, let each esteem others better than themselves.” 4 We may well reflect especially, if not exclusively, upon the good there is in others and the evil there is in ourselves.

The following is the advice of St. Vincent de Paul to his disciples :5 “Tf, then, we study to know ourselves thoroughly, we shall find in all

  • Luke I, 46, 49. — 2 Phil., 1, 18. —3 Hebrews, X, 24. — 4 Phil. ll, Bs 5 MAYNARD, Virtues and Spiritual Doctrine of St. Vincent de Paul, P. 202, 203.

we think, in all we say, in all we do regarding either the substance or the circumstances, that we are fully and completely surrounded with cause for shame and confusion; and if we do not flatter ourselves, we shall perceive that we are not only worse than other men, but even, in a certain sense, more wicked than the demons in hell. For, if these unfortunate spirits had had the graces that have been given to us, they would have made a thousand times better use of them. ”

One may ask how one can arrive at such a conclusion, since it does not always correspond objectively to the truth. Let us note, first of all, that this conviction is found in all the Saints, and, therefore, it must rest upon some solid foundation. The foundation is this: every man can and should judge himself; and when he knows himself intimately, he sees clearly that he is indeed guilty, and further, that there exist in him evil tendencies. From this he concludes that he must hold himself in contempt. Others, however, he should not and cannot judge, since he does not know their motives, which are essential elements for the appraisal of conduct. Neither does he know the measure of grace God has given to others, which grace, however, he must take into account in order to form a just appreciation of their actions. By judging self severely and not judging others, except leniently, one comes to the practical conclusion that one must assign to oneself a place below all others.

  1. C) In the practice of humility with regard to ourselves, the following principle will guide us: while recognizing all the good that is in us in order to give thanks to God for it, we must consider above all what is defective: our nothingness, our helplessness, our sinfulness, so as ever to keep alive within us a sense of humiliation and shame. With the help of this principle it becomes easier to practice humility, which must extend to the whole man, to mznd, heart and outward conduct.

a) Humility of mznd comprises chiefly four things :

  1. A proper distrust of self, that prevents us from overrating our ability, and disposes us to feel humiliated at the ill-use we have made of the gifts of God. Such is the counsel of the Wise Man: “ Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and search not into things above thy ability.”* This is what St. Paul recommended to the Christians of Rome: “ By the grace that is given me, to all that are among you, not to be more wise than tt behoveth to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety and according as God hath divided to every one the measure Of faith?

  2. In the use we make of our talents, we must not seek to make a display or to be praised, but to be useful and to do good.

St. Vincent de Paul recommended this to his missionaries : 3 “To do otherwise would be to preach self, not Jesus Christ. And he, who preaches for applause, for praise, for esteem, to have his name on everybody’s tongue, what does he do? What does such a preacher do? He commits a sacrilege. Yes, a sacrilege! To make the word of God

544 CHARTER II, and things divine the means of acquiring a reputation! Yes, it is a sacrilege!”

    1. We must practice tellectual docility, not only by submitting to the official decisions of the Church, but by heartily accepting pontifical directions even when they have not the character of infallibility, reflecting that there is in them greater wisdom than in our own judgments.
  1. This docility will prevent ods¢zxacy in controverted questions. No doubt, it is our right to adopt whatever system appears to us as best founded, in questions where free discussion is in order, but is it not just and fair to allow the same freedom to others? i
  1. b) Humility of heart requires that instead of wishing for and seeking glory or honors, we be satisfied with our situation and prefer a hidden life to an exalted position: Love to be unknown and to be reputed as nothing. This humbleness of heart goes even further; it hides whatever could cause us to be loved and esteemed and it wishes for the last place not only in rank but also in the esteem of men: “ Sz¢ down in the lowest place.” * Indeed, at times it goes so far as to make us wish that our memory perish from the earth.

Let us listen to St. Vincent de Paul: ? “ We should never turn or fix our eyes on what is good in us, but rather strive to know what is bad and defective; this is a great means of preserving humility. We ought not to dwell on the gift of converting souls nor on whatever other exterior talents we may have, for they are not ours; we are only the bearers of them, and even with these gifts we can lose our souls. For this reason, no one should flatter himself, nor take any complacency in himself, nor conceive any self-esteem because God works great things through him; he should rather humble himself and acknowledge that he is but a poor instrument which God deigns to employ. ”

  1. ¢) External humility should simply be the outward manifestation of our interior sentiments, still it may be said that exterior acts of humility react upon our interior dispositions to solidify and intensify them. Therefore, they must not be neglected. However, to them we must join real sentiments of humility, that is to say, the soul must be humbled together with the body.

  1. Poor lodgings, plain clothes, even worn and patched, as long as they be clean, foster humility. Fine lodgings and expensive attire easily inspire sentiments contrary to this virtue.

  2. A humble and unassuming posture, gait and behavior, devoid of affectation, help in the practice of humility ;* humble occupations

X Luke, XIV, 10. —? MAYNARD, kirtues and Doctrine, p. 213. _3 This is well explained by MGR. Gay in Christian Life and Virtues, Vol. 1, On Humility, p. 370, ‘‘ There is a habit of exterior humility in which the soul that19 such as manual labor, mending one’s clothes, etc., produce the same result.

  1. The same may be said of the condescension, the marks of deference, the acts of courtesy shown to others.

  2. In our conversations, humility prompts us to let others talk about what is of interest to them and to speak little ourselves. Above all, it prevents us from speaking of ourselves and of whatever concerns us. It takes a saint to speak ill of self and mean it;* and to speak well of self is boasting. We must not, under the pretext of humility go to any extremes. St. Francis de Sales? says that “if some great servants of God have pretended to be fools, to render themselves more abject in the eyes of the world, we must admire, but not imitate them; for having had peculiar and extraordinary motives that induced them to this excess, no one ought thence to draw any consequence for himself.”

Humility is, then, a most practical and sanctifying virtue; it extends to the whole man, and aids us in the practice of all the other virtues. § III. Meekness20

  1. Our Lord rightly associates meekness with humility, since the former cannot be practiced without the latter. We shall treat: 1° of its mature, 2° of its excellence, 3° of its practice.

I. Mature of the Virtue of Meekness

  1. 1° Its Constituent Elements. Meekness is a complex virtue which comprises three principal elements : a) acertain se//-mastery, which forestalls and checks impulses of anger; from this point of view it is related to temperance; b) tolerance of the facings of others, which demands patience and, therefore, the virtue of fortitude; €) forgzveness is truly humble always maintains the body. There is, exteriorly, a self-restraint, a reserve, a calm which gives to the whole physiognomy that charm which we express by the word ‘‘modesty’’. The look is modest, the voice is modest, the laugh is modest, and every movement is modest... Nothing is further from affectation than true modesty. St. Paul says: Let your modesty be known to all men, the Lord is nigh! There, in fact, is the secret of this ravishing and holy attitude. God is nigh to this soul, and this soul never forgets it: it lives in His Presence, and acts under His Eye, in the company of the good Angels. ”

t ‘* We often confess ourselves to be nothing, nay, misery itself, and the refuse of the world; but we would be very sorry that any one should believe us, or tell others that we are really such miserable wretches. On the contrary, we pretend to retire, and hide ourselves, so that the world may run after us, and seek us out. We feign to wish ourselves considered as the last in the company, and sit down at the lowest end of the table; but it is with a view that we may be desired to pass to the upper end. True humility never makes a show of herself, nor uses many humble words.” (ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, Devout Life, 111 Part, C. V).21

of injuries, and denevolence towards all, even our enemies; in this respect it is inclusive of charity. From this we see that it is a combination of virtues, rather than a distinct virtue.

  1. 2° Meekness may be defined as a@ supernatural, moral virtue, by which we prevent and restrain anger, bear with the neighbor in spite of hts defects, and treat him with kindliness.

Meekness is not that weakness of character which conceals deep resentment behind a suave demeanor. It is an interior virtue, existing both in the will and in the emotions, in order to make peace reign therein; but it is also outwardly manifested in word and gesture, by affability of manner.* It is exercised not only toward the neighbor, but also with regard to self and all beings animate or inanimate.

Il. /ts Excellence

Meekness is excellent both zz z¢se/f and in its effects.

  1. 1°In itself, it is, as Father Olier 2 puts it, “the completeness of perfection in the Christian, for it presupposes in him absolute self-effacement and the death of all self-interest. ”

Hence, he adds: “‘True meekness is hardly found outside those innocent souls within which Jesus Christ has continually dwelt from the moment of their regeneration.” Pemdztent souls rarely possess it in all its perfection, because few of them labor with sufficient energy and constancy to destroy the faults they have contracted. Thus Bossuet tells us that “the true mark of innocence whether preserved from the beginning or recovered, is meekness. ” 3

  1. 2° The great denefit meekness brings us is the reign of peace in the soul, peace with God, peace with the neighbor, peace with ourselves.

a) Peace with God, because it makes us accept all events, even the most adverse, with calm and serenity, as means of growing in virtue, and especially in the love of God : “ And we know,” says St. Paul, “that to them that love God, all things work together unto good.” 4 b) Peace with our xezghdor, for, in preventing and repressing the impulses of anger, meekness makes us bear with

  • St. Jerome gives an excellent description of this virtue in his Commentary on Galatians, V. 20: ‘‘ Meekness is a mild virtue, it is kindly, serene, gentle in speech, gracious in manner, it is a delicate blending cf all the virtues. Kindness is akin tc it, for, like meekness, it seeks to please; still it differs from the latter in that it is not as winsome and seems more rigid, for though equally prompt to accomplish good and render service, it lacks that charm, that gentleness that wins all hearts.

2 Introduction, C, X. — 3 Méditations sur l'Evangile, — 4 Romans, VIII, 28.

our neighbor’s faults and enables us to keep on good terms with others, or at least, to remain inwardly unruffled if others be provoked at us.

C) Peace with ourselves. If we happen to commit a fault, or make a blunder, we do not become impatient or lose our temper; but we reproach ourselves quietly and kindly, and learn by the experience to be more on our guard. Thus we avoid the mistake of those who, “ being overcome by anger, are angry for having been angry, and vexed to see themselves vexed.” Thus, we preserve our peace, which is one of the greatest blessings.

Ill. The Practice of the Virtue of Meekness.

  1. 1° Beginners exercise themselves in this virtue by fighting anger and the desire for revenge, as well as every impulse of passion stirring in the soul (n. 861-863).

  2. 2° Souls advanced in the way of perfection strive to attract to themselves the meekness of Jesus, which He teaches so admirably by word and example. 2

A) Our Lord attaches such great importance to this virtue, that He had it announced by the prophets as one of the marks of the promised Messias, and had the fulfilment of this prophecy pointed out by the Evangelists. 3

  1. B) He offers Himself as a model of that meekness and invites us to become His disciples, because He is meek and humble of heart. 4 a) He fulfils perfectly the ideal of meekness described by the prophets. When He announces the Gospel, it is not with violence, animosity and bitterness, but with calm and serenity.

He utters no shouts, no useless cries, no angry words; noise dies out and does no good. His manner is so mild that He does not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax, that is, the spark of faith and love that still remain in the sinner’s soul. To draw men to Himself, He is neither melancholy nor impetuous. He is kindness and meekness itself, and He invites those who labor and are heavily laden to come and seek repose in Him.

  1. b) Towards His Apostles: 1) His conduct is full of meekness: He bears with their faults, their ignorance, their rudeness; He proceeds tactfully with them, revealing

1ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, Devout Life, Part III, C. 1X. 2 P. CHEVRIER, Le Disciple, p. 345-354. 3 Jsazas, XLU, 1-4; Matth., XI, 17-21. — 4 Matth., XI, 29.

548 CHAPTER II. —- THE MORAL VIRTUES.:

to them the truth only by degrees and in the measure in which they can stand it, leaving to the Holy Ghost the care of finishing His work.

He defends them against the unjust accusations of the Pharisees who reproached them with not observing the fasts. He reprimands them when they fail in meekness towards the children that gather round about Him, and when they would wish to bring down fire from Heaven on a village of Samaria. When Peter strikes Malchus with the sword, He upraids him; but He forgives him his threefold denial and makes him atone for it with a threefold profession of love.

  1. Furthermore, He fveaches meekness to the apostolic workers : they must have the simplicity of the dove as well as the cunning of the serpent. They must be as lambs in the midst of wolves; they must not resist evil, but proffer the left cheek to him who strikes them on the right; they must yield their cloak rather than appear before the bar of justice, and they must pray for them that persecute them.
  1. c) He readily forgives senners, even the most guilty, as soon as Le sees in them the least indication of repentance.

It is with no small degree of delicacy that He elicits the avowals of the Samaritan woman and effects her conversion; that He pardons the adulteress and the penitent thief, for He is come to call, not the just, but sinners to repentance. Like the good shepherd, He goes in search of His stray sheep and brings it back to the fold upon His shoulders. He even gives His life tor His sheep. If at times He speaks severelk to the Scribes and the Pharisees, it 1s precisely because they impose upon others unbearable burdens and thus hinder them from entering into the kingdom of God.

ad) Even with His enemies He is meek: Judas after his sin of treason hears himself called by the sweet name of friend. Upon the Cross He prays for His executioners and asks His Father to take account of their ignorance and pardon them.

  1. C) /nx order to imitate Our Lord we must: a) avoid quarrels, harsh or hurtful words and actions, so as not to frighten away the timid. We must strive never to render evil for evil, to avoid all abruptness of manner, and never to speak while in an angry mood.

b) We must try to treat with due regard all those that approach us; to present to all a pleasant and affable mien, even if they be a cause of fatigue or boredom to us; to be especially kind to the poor, the afflicted, the sick, sinners, the timid, children; to soothe with a few kind words the sting which the reprimands we are called upon to administer may leave; to be ever ready to render service, at times to do even more than we are asked and, above all, to do so with good grace. We must, if need be, be ready to bear affronts, and to turn the left cheek to him who strikes us on the right.

  1. 3° Perfect souls strive to imitate the very meekness of God, as Father Olier* remarks: “He is meekness

CHAPTER III. — THE THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES. 549 itself, and when He wishes to share it with a soul, He makes His abode therein in such a way that nothing of the flesh remains in it, but is all absorbed in God, in His being, His substance, His perfections, so that all that it does is done in meekness, and even when moved by zeal, it is always in a meek manner, because bitterness and harshness no longer have any part in it, just as they can have no part in God Himself.”

  1. Conclusion. Not to be too long, we end here the explanation of the cardinal virtues. a) They discipline, school and perfect all our faculties by subjecting them to the dominion of reason and will. Thus, the original order that once prevailed in the soul, that is, the submission of the body to the soul, and the subjection of the lower faculties to the will, is gradually restored.

b) The cardinal virtues do even more: not only do they eliminate the obstacles which impede our union with God, but they zzz¢zafe that union. For the prudence we acquire is a participation in God’s wisdom, and our justice a participation in His justice; our fortetude proceeds from Him and unites us to Him; our ¢emperance makes us share in the wondrous poise and harmony that exist in Him. When we yield obedience to our Superiors, it is He Whom we obey. Chastity is but a means of approaching the perfection of His purity. Ausnzl/ty creates a void in our soul solely that it may be filled with God, and our meekness is but a participation in the meekness of God.

Thus, our union with God, begun by the practice of the moral virtues, will be perfected by the theological virtues, the object of which is God Himself.22

Footnotes

  1. Sr, THOMAS, I4 Ile, q. 62-63; SUAREZ, De passionibus et habitibus, diss. 111; J. A St. THOMA, of. cit., disp. XVI; L. BILLOT, De virt. infusis; P. JANVIER, Caréme 1900; P. GARRIGOQU-LAGRANGE, Perfect, chrét. et contemplation, p. 62-75. ↩

  2. Op. cit., p. 64. ↩

  3. CASSIAN, Conferences, 11; St. JOHN CLIMACUS, Scala, XXVI; ST. THOMAS, Il@ IIx, q. 47-56; CH. DE SMEDT, Notre vie surnaturelle, t. II, p. 1-33; P. JAN- VIER, Caréme 1977. — ? Rom., VILI, 6-8. ↩

  4. Not to return repeatedly to the same virtues, we shall indicate here the degree of each corresponding to the different stages of Christian perfection. ↩

  5. James, \I1, 13-18. ↩

  6. Hebr., V, 1. —? Hebr., V, 7. ↩

  7. Ps, CXVIUII, or. ↩

  8. St. Luke, Il, 51. — 2 Serm, de diversts, XXXV, 4. — 3 Letter CXX.: ↩

  9. Matth., V, 18. —2 ST. FR. DE SALES, Spiritual eat XI, p. 191. 3 LL Core, x, 7. —4 Sum. Theol., 114 1#, q. 104 5ST. GREGORY, Moral., 1. XXV, c. Io. erie, XXil, 42. ↩

  10. St. THOMAS, II@ Ila, q. 123-140; his commentators, particularly Cajefan and John of St. Thomas; JANVIER, Lenten Conferences of 1920; RIBET, Vertus, ch. XXXVII-XLII; CH. DE SMEDT, Notre vie surnat., t. 11, p. 210-267. ↩

  11. Luke, XXII, 43. —? Luke, XXIII, 46. ↩

  12. 7] Cor., V, 14. —? Rom., VIII, 38-39. — 3 Rom., VIII, 35. — 4 Ps. XLII, 2. ↩

  13. Epist. LI, ad Nepotian. P. LZ. XXII, 531-532: ‘‘ Trust not in your former chastity: you are not holier than David, nor can you be holier than Solomon. Always remember that a woman evicted the tenant of paradise from his possession. " ↩

  14. Leclestasticus, XXXII, 29. 2 “* Love the knowledge of Scripture, and you will no longer love the sins of the ↩

  15. Ladder of Paradise, Degree XV, 7. ↩

  16. Catech, for an Int. Life, P. 1, Lesson XVIII. ↩

  17. BUTLER, Benedictine Monachism, p. 51. ↩

  18. / Peter, V, 5. — 2 Isaéas, XLII, 8. — 3 Super Missus est, Homil. IV, 9. 4 Matth., X1, 25. —5// Cor, X, 5. — OP narkateini ess © Nee. ↩

  19. Lcclestasticus, 111, 22. — 2 Romans, XII, 3. 3 MAYNARD, Virtues and Doctrine, p. 209. ↩

  20. St, JOHN Ciimacus, The Ladder of Paradise, XX\V; ST. FRANCIS OF SALES, Devout Life, P. III, C. VIII-IX; OLIER, /ntvoduction, C. X; CARD. BONA, Manuductio, C. XXXII; RiBet, Ascétigue; VEN. A. CHEVRIER, Le Véritable Disciple, p. 345-354. — See references under Anger, N° 853 and Fraternal Charity, N° 1236. ↩

  21. [bid. ↩

  22. Introduction, C, X. ↩

Chapter 15 of 24