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Chapter XIII. The Theological Virtues

  1. 1° St. Paul makes mention of the three theological virtues. He groups them together as three essential elements of the Christian life, and points out their superiority over the moral virtues. Thus he urges the Thessalonians to put on the dreast-plate of fatth and charity and the helmet of hope,2 and he praises in them the work of fatth, the /abor of charity and the enduring of hope.3 As con-

trasted with the chardsims (special gifts), which are of a transitory nature, faith, hope and charity are lasting. ?

  1. 2° Their réle is to wuzte us to God through Jesus Christ, in order to make us sharers in the Divine life. They are, then, at once unifying and transforming virtues.

a) Thus, fazth unites us to God, lufintte Truth, and makes us enter into communion with the adzvzne mind, since it makes us know God as He made Himself known through revelation. Thereby faith prepares us for the Beatific Viston, b) Hope unites us to God, Supreme Beatitude, and makes us love Him for His goodness to us.. By it we firmly and trustfully expect the happiness of Heaven, as well as the means necessary to attain it. Through it we prepare ourselves for the full enjoyment of celestial bliss.

C) Charity unites us to God, /nfinzte Goodness, and makes us love Him as infinitely good and lovable in Himself, and establishes a holy friendship between Himself and us, a friendship which makes us partake even now of His life, because we begin to love Him as He loves Himself.

Here on earth, charity always includes the other two theological virtues. It is, so to speak, their sod, their v7/al principle or life; so much so, that, devoid of charity, faith and hope remain imperfect, inert, dead. Thus, according to St. Paul, faith is not complete unless it bring forth love and action: “Faith that worketh by charity;”?

nor is hope complete until it gives us a forétaste of heavenly bliss through the possession of sanctifying grace and charity.

ART. I. THE VIRTUE OF FAITH 3

Three things must be explained: 1° the zature of faith; 2° its sanctifying power, 3° the progressive growth in the practice of this virtue.

l. The Nature of Faith

We briefly recall here what we have explained more at length in Dogmatic and Moral Theology.

3 Sr. AUGUSTINUS, Enchiridion de Fide, Spe et Caritate; St. THOMAS, II@ II&, q. I-XV1; JOANNES AS, THOMA, De fide; SUAREZ, De fide; J DE LuGo, De vistute fidei divine; SALMANTICENSES, De fide; SCARAMELLI, Guide ascétique, t. IV, art. 1; BILLoT, De virtutibus infusis, thesis 1X-XXIV; Gay, Christian Life and Virtues, Vol. 1, Treat. 111; NEWMAN, Déscourses to Mixed Congregations, X, X1; FINLAY, Divine Faith; BAINVEL. Fath and the Act of Faith; VAUGHAN, Fazth and Folly; Thoughts for All Times, P. 111, C. VI, VII; MCNABB, Ox Faith, MCKENNA, Theology of Fatth; HEDLEY, The Spirit of Faith.

  1. 1° The meaning of faith in Holy Writ. The word fazth signifies, in the most instances, az assent of the mind to truth, which assent, however, is based upon crust. To believe any one, we must have confidence in him.

A) In the O/d Testament, faith is presented as a necessary virtue, on which depends the salvation or the ruin of the nation: “ Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be secure.” * “If you will not believe, you shall not continue.” * This faith is an assent given to the word of God, but accompanied by trust, self-abandonment, and love.

B) In the Vew Testament, faith is so essential that to believe means to profess Christianity, and not to believe is not to be a Christian: “ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.” 3 Faith means the acceptance of the Gospel preached by Jesus Christ and His Apostles; therefore, it presupposes preaching : “ Fazth, then cometh by hearing.” * This faith, then, is not an intuition of the heart, nor a direct vision: “We now see through a glass in a dark manner,” > but it is the acceptance of divine testimony, free and enlightened, since man, on the one hand, can refuse belief, and on the other, he does not arrive at belief without reasons, without an intimate conviction that God has really spoken.® This faith is associated with hope and is perfected by charity: “ Fazth that worketh by charity.” 7

  1. 2° Definition. Faith is a theological virtue that inclines the mind, under the influence of the will and of grace, to yield a firm assent to revealed truths, because of the authority of God.

A) Faith is before all else an act of the zw¢e//ect, since it is question of knowing the truth. But, since this truth is not self-evident our assent cannot be effected without the action of the we//, bidding the mind study the reasons for believing, and, when these are convincing, giving a further command to assent. Because it is question of a supernatural act, gvace must intervene to enlighten the mind, and to aid the will. It is in this way that faith becomes a /ree, supernatural and meritorious act.

B) The material object or the subject-matter of our faith is the sum-total of revealed truths, both those that reason alone could not possibly discover, and those others which reason could come to know, but which faith makes better known.

All these truths refer to God and to Jesus Christ. They refer to God with regard to the Oneness of His Nature and His Trinity of Persons, our first beginning and our last end. They refer to Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer and Mediator, Who is none other than the Eternal Son of God made man in order to save us. Hence, these

1/7 Paral., XX, 20. — ? /sazas, V1, 9. — 3 Mark, XVI, 16. —4 Rom., X 17. 21 Cora wlll, 1299 Prz/,, Vil, 8-10* % Lezer., Vil,-15, —-7 Galazs, N.,,6.

5p? CHAPTER III.

truths refer likewise to the work of Redemption and to whatever is connected therewith. In other words, we believe what we shall one day behold in the glory of Heaven: “ 7his zs eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.*”

  1. C) The formal object or what is generally called the motive of our faith is dévine authority made known through revelation and imparting to us some of the secrets of God. Thus, faith is a virtue entirely supernatural, both as to its object and its motive; it puts us in communion with the divine thought.

D) Ofttimes revealed truth is authentically proposed to us by the Church which Jesus Christ instituted as the official interpreter of His teaching; this teaching is then termed a doctrine of Catholic faith. If there has been no authentic definition of the Church regarding revealed truth, the said teaching is simply called a doctrine of Dzvzne fazth.

E) There is nothing more firm than the assent of faith. Having full confidence in the Divine authority much more than in our own lights, we believe revealed truth with our whole soul. We do so with a far greater sense of security, inasmuch as divine grace comes to facilitate and strengthen our assent. And so it happens that the assent given by faith to revealed truth is more prompt and more firm than that given to natural truth.

Il. The Sanctifying Power of the Virtue of Faith

  1. Faith thus understood cannot but have an important share in our sanctification. By bringing us into communion with divine thought it becomes the fourxdation of our supernatural life and wzz¢es us to God in a most intimate way.

  2. 1° It is the foundation of our supernatural life. We said that humility is looked upon as the foundation of all the virtues, and we explained (n. 1138) in what sense it is so regarded; but faith is itself the foundation of humility (which, as we have said, was unknown to Paganism) and therefore it is in a truer sense the foundation of all the virtues.

The better to understand this fact, we have but to comment on the words of the Council of Trent stating that “faith ts the beginning, the basts and the root of ali justification,” 2 and by that very fact, of sanctification.1

A) It is the degznning of justification, because it is the mysterious means used by God to initiate us into His life, to make us know Him as He knows Himself. On our part, it is the first supernatural disposition for justification, without which we can neither hope nor love. It is, so to speak, the taking possession of God and of divine things. In order to lay hold upon the supernatural and live by it we must first of all come to the knowledge of it: “ Vothing can be willed that ts not foreknown.” Now, we arrive at a knowledge of the supernatural through faith, a new light added to reason, which enables us to look into a new world, the supernatural world. It is like a telescope that enables us to discover far-off things invisible to the naked eye. Still, this is but an imperfect comparison, for a telescope is an outward instrument, whilst faith penetrates into the recesses of the mind and sharpens its power of perception as well as its field of vision.

  1. B) Faith is likewise the foundation of the spiritual life. This simile is intended to show that sanctity is like an edifice, vast and lofty, the basis of which is faith. Now, the deeper the foundations, the higher the edifice may rise without danger to its stability. Hence, it is important to strengthen the faith of devout souls, especially of seminarians and priests, so that upon this solid foundation may rise the temple of Christian perfection.

C) Lastly, faith is the ~oo¢ of sanctity. Roots seek in the soil for the chemicals necessary to nutrition and growth in a tree; so, faith sinking its roots into the furthest recesses of the soul, and feeding there on divine truths, furnishes perfection with a rich, life-giving sap. Roots, if deep, lend solidity to the tree they sustain ; so the soul, imbedded in faith, withstands spiritual storms. Hence, deep faith is of capital importance in order to attain a high degree of perfection.

  1. 2° Faith wzztes us to God, and makes us share in His thought and in His life. This is God’s own knowledge of Himself given in some measure to man. “ By it,” says Mer. Gay, “the light of God becomes our light; His wisdom our wisdom; His knowledge our knowledge; His Spirit our spirit; His life our life.” *

It unites our intellect directly to the Divine Wisdom; but, since the act of faith cannot be performed without the action of the will, this faculty also has a share in the results produced in our soul by faith. One may say, therefore, that faith is a source of /gft to the mind, a source of -

strength and comfort to the will, a source of merzt to the entire soul.

  1. A) It is a light which illumines our intellect, and differentiates the Christian from the philosopher, as reason distinguishes a human being from an animal. There is in us a threefold knowledge: sewse knowledge, attained through the senses; rational knowledge, acquired through the intellect; and sferztual or supernatural knowledge, obtained through faith. The last is by far superior to the other two.

a) It widens the scope of our knowledge of God and the things of God. Reason tells us little of God’s nature and of His inner life, whilst faith teaches us that He is a living God; that from all eternity He has begotten a Son, and that from the mutual love of the Father and the Son proceeds a Third Person, the Holy Ghost; that the Son became man for our salvation and that those who believe in Him become the adopted sons of God; that the Holy Ghost comes to dwell in our souls, to sanctify them and to endow them with a supernatural organism which enables us to perform acts that are Godlike and meritorious. This is but a portion of what has been revealed to us.

b) It gives us a deeper insight into the truths already known by reason. Thus the moral precepts of the Gospel are far more definite, far more perfect than those of mere natural ethics.

To be convinced of this we have but to read the Sermon on the Mount. From the very outset, Our Lord does not hesitate to proclaim blessed the poor, the meek, the persecuted; He requires His disciples to love their enemies, to pray for them and to do good to them. The holiness He preaches is not Jegal or exterior sanctity; it is an inward holiness, based on the love of God and of the neighbor. To arouse our fervor, He proposes to us the most perfect ideal, God and His perfections, and since God seems far removed from us, He sends us His Son from Heaven to be made man, to live our own life, and thus to offer us a concrete example of the perfect life which we must lead on earth. To impart to us the strength and constancy such an undertaking demands, He does not rest satisfied with going before us, but He comes Himself to dwell within us with all His graces and virtues. We cannot, then, plead weakness. He is Himself our strength, as well as our light.

  1. B) That our faith is a source of strength is well brought out in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Faith provides us with deep convictions which greatly strengthen our will: @) It shows us what God has done and what He incessantly does in our behalf, how He lives and acts in our soul to sanctify it,

Elie how Jesus incorporates us into Himself and makes us share in His own life (n. 188-189); then, having our eyes directed towards the author: of our faith, Who preferred the Cross and humiliation to joy and success, “who having joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, »* we feel ourselves strong enough to carry our cross courageously after Jesus.

b) Faith ever keeps before our eyes the eternal reward that will be the rich fruit of the sufferings of a moment: “ That which ts at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory.”2 Then, with St. Paul, we say: “ / reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared wth the glory to come,” 3 and like him we rejoice, even in the midst of tribulations, 4 for each of these, if patiently borne, will earn for us a further degree of God’s vision and of God’s love.

c) If we are at times conscious of our weakness, faith reminds us that, since God is Himself our strength and our support, we have nothing to fear, even when the world and the devil join forces against us: “ And fs ws the victory which overcometh the world : Our faith.”

This is most evident in the wondrous change onan by the Holy Ghost in the Apostles. Armed at His coming with the power of God, they, who up to this time, had been timid and slothful, go courageously to meet all kinds of trials —scourgings, imprisonment, and death itself — glad to undergo suffering in the name of Jesus: “ They went Jorth rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.” °

  1. C) Faith is likewise a source of comfort, not only in the midst of tribulations and of humiliations, but also when we have the misfortune of losing our dear ones. We are not among those who sorrow without hope. We know that death is but a sleep, to be soon followed by the resurrection, and that through death we merely exchange a temporary dwelling for an everlasting mansion.

Our chief consolation is the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. Whilst awaiting the day when we shall be reunited to those that have departed this life, we are even now bound to them by the most intimate ties in Christ Jesus. We pray that their time of trial be shortened and their entrance into Heaven hastened ; they in their turn, now assured of their salvation, ardently pray that we may one day join them.

  1. D) Finally, faith is a source of mantfold merit:

a) The act of fatth itself is highly merttorious, for it subjects to divine authority the best that is in us, our intellect and t Heby., XII, 2. —2 // Cor., 1V, 17. —3 Rom., VIII, 18. — 4 Rom., V, 3-5. 57 John, V, 4. —6 Acts V, 41. :

our will. This faith has all the more merit since in our ‘times it is made the object of more numerous attacks, and since those who make open profession of their faith are, in certain countries, exposed to ridicule and persecution.

b) Furthermore, it is faith that renders meritorious our other acts, since they cannot become so without a supernatural motive and the help of grace (nn. 126, 239); but faith by directing the soul towards God and towards Jesus Christ enables us to act in all things with supernatural intentions. Likewise, by disclosing to us our own _weakness and God’s power, faith makes us pray ardently to obtain His grace.

III. Practice of the Virtue of Faith

  1. Since faith is at once a gzft of God and a free assent of the mind to revealed truth, it is evident that in order to grow in faith, we must rely on prayer and our own personal efforts. Under this twofold influence, faith will become more enlightened, simple, strong and active.

We shall apply this principle to the various stages of the spiritual life.

  1. 1° Beginners should strive to strengthen their. faith.

A) They hank God for this great gift, which is the foundation of all others, and with their whole soul they repeat the words of St. Paul: “Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift” *. They thank Him all the more at the sight of so many unbelievers round about them. They pray therefore for the grace to preserve this gift in spite of all the dangers that beset it, and implore God’s help for the conversion of unbelievers, heretics and apostates.

  1. B) With humble submission and with a firm conviction they make acts of faith, saying with the Apostles: “ Increase our faith” 2, Moreover, to prayer they add study or the reading of books calculated to enlighten and strengthen their faith. Much reading is done in our day, yet how few even among intelligent Christians read serious books on religion and spirituality! What a mistake! Men wish to know all things, save the one thing necessary.

  2. C) They avozd carefully whatever could trouble their faith: a) those dangerous writings, wherein the truths of faith are either attacked, ridiculed or called into question.

Most of the books that appear in our day, not only doctrinal works, but novels and plays as well, contain open or covert attacks against our

faith. Unless we be on our guard, we are liable to drink in little by little the poison of unbelief or, at least, to lose the purity of faith, and a time may come when, shaken by hesitation and doubt, we no longer know how to resist. In this matter we must respect the wise prescriptions of the Church, made known to us in her catalogue of bad or dangerous books, and not make light of them on the plea that we are immune to the danger. In truth we are never immune. Balmes, one of the great defenders of the Church, gifted with a keen mind anda well-balanced judgment, and obliged as he was to read heretical books in order to refute them, used to. say to his friends: “ You know how deeply rooted within me are orthodox sentiments and doctrines. Not:

withstanding, I never read a forbidden book without feeling the need of going to the Bible, the Imitation, or Louis of Granada for strength against unbelief. What will become of our foolish youth, which in its inexperience dares read everything without the necessary safeguards? The mere thought of it fills me with horror.”’ For the same good reason no doubt we must avoid the conversations and discourses of unbelievers.

b) Beginners likewise shun that przde of intellect which seeks to bring all down to its own level and refuses to accept what lies beyond its comprehension, They remember that there is above us all a Spirit whose infinite intelligence sees what our reason cannot understand, and that God greatly honors us by the communication of His thought. Once, therefore, we have ascertained that He has spoken, there is but one rational attitude to take, to welcome gratefully this superadded knowledge. If we bow before the authority of a man of genius, who deigns to impart to us some of his knowledge, with what confidence should we not bow before Infinite Wisdom Itself?

  1. D) With regard to cemptations against faith, a distinction is to be made between those that remain vague and those that definitely center around some particular object.

a) When they are vague, taking such form for instance as: Who knows if all that be true? then we must quietly drive them away.

  1. We are in possession of truth, and we are sure of our title; this is enough for us. 2) Besides, we have seen that our faith rests upon solid grounds; again, this suffices, for we cannot be every day raising doubts over things already proved. In the affairs of every-day life, we do not stop when such doubts, such inane ideas, cross our mind, “but we go on, and certitude reasserts itself. 3) Lastly, others more intelligent than ourselves believe these truths, and are persuaded that they. are well proved; therefore, I submit to their judgment which is far wiser than that of those extremists who take a malicious delight in attracting notice by undermining all the bases of certitude. To these commonsense reasons we should add prayer : “I believe Lord, help thou my unbelief. ” 2 t A. DE BLANCHE-RAFFIN, /. Balmes, p. 44. — ? Wark, IX, 23
  1. b) If the temptations are well-defined, bearing on some particular doctrine, we hold firmly to our belief since we are in possession of the truth. But we seize the first opportunity to clear up the difficulty, either by personal study, if we have the intelligence and the documents required, or by consulting some learned man who may help us to solve the problem more easily. If we add prayer to this earnest and loyal research, a solution, as a rule, will not be long in coming.

However, we must remember that such a solution does not always do away with the difficulty. There are at times historical, critical, exegetical objections that can be cleared away only after long years of study. We must reflect, then, that once we have a good reason to hold something as true, wisdom demands that we continue to give it our assent even while the darkness lasts. The difficulty does not destroy the grounds of belief, it simply shows the deficiency of our minds. ‘Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.” ?

  1. 2° Advanced souls practice not only faith, but the sperit of faith: “ The just man liveth by faith,” 2

A) They read the Gospel with loving attention, happy to follow Jesus step by step, to relish His maxims, to contemplate His examples in order to imitate them. Jesus becomes the center of their thoughts: they seek Him in their readings and in their labor, desiring to know Him better so that they may love Him more.

  1. B) They accustom themselves to see all things, to judge all things from the point of view of faith. 1) They see the Hand of the Creator in all Hzs works, and they hear all creatures repeat the refrain: “ He made us, and not we ourselves.” 3 Hence, it is God Whom they admire everywhere. 2) The persons that surround them are to them so many images of God, children of the same Heavenly Father, brethren in Christ Jesus. 3) Events, which at times are so baffling to unbelievers, are interpreted by them in the light of the great principle that all is ordained in behalf of the elect, and that good and evil are dispensed with a view to our salvation and perfection.

  2. C) Above all, they strive to de Zed in all things according to the principles of faith. 1) Their judgments are based upon the maxims of the Gospel, not upon those of the world; 2) their words are inspired by the Christian spirit, not by the spirit of the world, for they conform their words to their judgments and thus triumph over

human respect; 3) their actions become more and more Christlike for they delight in considering Our Lord as their model, and thus escape being carried away by the examples of worldlings. In short, they live a life of faith,

  1. D) They strive, finally, to spread round about them ¢hzs fazth that is in them: 1) through their prayers, asking God to send apostolic workers to labor for the evangelization of infidels and heretics: “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he may send forth laborers into his harvest;” * 2) through their example, discharging so well their duties of state, that those who witness their life may feel drawn to imitate them; 3) through their words, declaring in all simplicity but without any human respect, that they find in their faith power to do good, and comfort in the midst of their trials; 4) through their works, doing their share by their generous offerings, their sacrifices, and their personal efforts for the moral and religious instruction and education of the neighbor.

3° Perfect souls, by cultivating the gifts of Avowledge and under- standing, perfect their faith still more, as we shall explain when treating of the wnztive way.

ART. II. THE VIRTUE OF HOPE 2

We shall describe: 1° its zature, 2° its sanctifying power ; 3° its practice. I. Nature of Hope

  1. 1° Different significations. A) In the natural order, hope means two things: a fasston and a sentiment.

a) Hope is one of the eleven passions (n. 787). It is, therefore, an tmpulse of the sensitive appetite, that tends towards some adsent good apprehended by the senses, and which is attainable, but not without some difficulty. b) Hope is one of the worthiest sev/zments of the human heart, which tends towards some absent moral good, despite the obstacles that stand in the way of its acquisition. This sentiment plays an important part in human life; it sustains men in their arduous undertakings: the laborer when he sows, the seafarer when he sails, traders and pliers of fortune when they embark on some enterprise.

B) There is also a supernatural hope that sustains the Christian midst the obstacles encountered in the attainment of salvation and perfection. The object of this hope is tT Matth., 1X, 38.

2Sr. Tuomas, I[4 Ilz, Q. XVII-XX; SUAREZ, De Spe; ST. FRANCIS OF SALES, The Love of God, Book II, C. XV-XVII; SCARAMELLI-STOCKMAN, Christian Perfection, P. 1V, Art. 11; Gay, Christian Life and Virtues, Vol. 1, Treat. V; FABER, Growth in Holiness, Il.

eternal life and the means of reaching it. Since this hope is founded upon the power and the goodness of God, it is firm and unshakable.

  1. 2° Its essential elements. If we analyze this virtue, we notice that it comprises three principal elements:

a) The /ove and desire of supernatural good, that is to say, of our supreme happiness, which is God.

The origin and development of this sentiment is as follows. The desire for happiness is universal. Now, faith shows us that God alone can constitute our happiness. We, therefore, love Him as the source of our happiness. This is an zuzterested love, but it is supernatural since it has for object God as known to us through faith. Because this good is difficult to attain, we instinctively experience fear lest we fail to attain it, and to overcome this fear a second element intervenes, namely, the well-founded expectation of obtaining it.

b) Evidently, this expectation is not based upon our own strength which is insufficient of itself to attain such good, but it is based upon God, upon His ad/-powerful help. It is from Him that we expect all the necessary graces to obtain perfection in this life and salvation in the next.

¢) But grace demands our co-operation, and hence there is a third element. This is an earnest efor¢ to tend towards God and make use of the means of salvation placed at our disposal. This effort must be all the more determined and steadfast, the higher the object of our hope.

  1. 3° Definition. From what we have said, we may thus define hope: a@ ¢heological virtue that makes us desire God as our highest good, and expect with a firm confidence eternal bliss and the means of attaining tt, because of God’s goodness and power.

A) The primary and essential Object of our hope is God Himself, inasmuch as He constitutes our happiness; it is God eternally possessed by clear vision and undivided love. Our Lord said that eternal life is the knowledge, the vision of God and of Him Whom He sent: “ Mow this zs eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom thou hast sent.” * Besides, since we cannot attain this object without the help of grace, our hope is, likewise, directed towards all the supernatural aids needed in order to avoid sin, overcome temptation, and acquire Christian virtue; it even extends to temporal goods in the measure in which they are necessary or profitable to our perfection and salvation.

HONG Oy SBOE ey

  1. B) The motive of hope depends upon the point of view from which we consider hope itself. a) If we think, as Scotus did, that its principal act is the deszre or Jove for God inasmuch as He is our happiness, the motive will be God’s goodness towards us. ) If, with St. Thomas, we consider hope as consisting essentially in the expectation of a good difficult to attain, namely, the possession of God, then the motive will be the asszsting omnipotence of God, which elevates our souls, snatches them from the hold of earthly goods and bears them towards Heaven. The Devine promises simply confirm the certainty of such help.

We may, then, say that the adequate motive of hope is both the goodness of God and His power.

Il. Zhe Sanctifying Power of Hope

Hope furthers our sanctification in three principal ways: 1° it uuztes us to God; 2° it imparts efficacy to our prayers; 3° it is a principle of fruztful activity.

  1. 1° It unztes us to God by detaching us from earthly goods. We are drawn by sense-pleasures, the gratification of pride, the fascination of wealth, and lastly by the higher, natural goys of the mind and heart. Hope, based upon a lively faith, shows us that all these earthly joys lack two elements: perfectzon and permanence.

A) None of these goods is perfect enough to satisfy us. Having provided a short period of enjoyment, they soon produce satiety and weariness. Our heart is too great, its aspirations too vast and too high to be satisfied with material goods, which are but means of reaching a far nobler end. Neither do the natural goods of the mind and heart suffice us. Our intellect never rests satisfied but with the understanding of the First Cause, and our heart that seeks a perfect friend does not find him but in God. He alone possesses the plenitude of being, the perfection of beauty and of goodness, the fulness of power. He Who is perfectly self-sufficient is evidently sufficient for our happiness, The one important thing is to reach Him, and it is hope that shows Him to us stooping down in order to give Himself to us. Once we have understood this, our hearts break away from the things of earth to move towards Him, like the iron towards the magnet.

  1. B) Even if the goods of earth could satisfy us, they have their day and cease to be. We know this, and this thought casts its shadow upon our joy even when we possess these goods. God, on the contrary, abides forever, and death that severs us from all earthly things, merely unites us more perfectly to Him; and so despite the natural horror death inspires, we face it with confidence, because of the hope we harbor of being everlastingly united to Him Who alone can constitute our bliss.

  2. 2° It is hope also, that, united to humility, imparts efficacy to our prayers and thereby obtains for us all the graces of which we stand in need.

A) Nothing is more touching than the manner in which the Sacred Writers urge us to place our confidence in God. The Book of Leclestasticus sums up in these words the teaching of the Old Testament concerning hope: “My children, behold the generations of men: and know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord and hath been confounded. For who hath continued in his commandment and hath been forsaken? Or who hath called upon him, and he despised him? For God ts compassionate and merciful, and will forgive sins in the day of tribulation.” *

B) But it is chiefly in the New Testament that the efficacy of confidence is brought out.

Our Lord works His wonders in behalf of those who trust in Him. We have but to recall His attitude towards the centurion;? towards the paralytic who, unable to come near the Master, has himself let down through the roof3; towards the blind men of Jericho+; towards the Chanannean woman 5 who, thrice rebuked, reiterates her request ; towards the sinful woman °; towards the leper who comes to thank Him.’ Besides, how can we lack confidence when Christ Himself authoritatively asserts that all that we shall ask the Father in His name will be granted to us: “* Amen, amen, I say to you: if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give tt you.” * Here lies the secret of our strength. When we pray in the Name of Jesus, that is to say when we trust in His merits and satisfactions, His Blood pleads more eloquently for us than do our own poor prayers.

C) Moreover, nothing so honors God as confidence. Thereby we proclaim His power and His goodness, whilst He, Who lets not His generosity be surpassed, responds to this confidence by a further effusion of graces. We may therefore conclude with the Council of Trent that we must all place the most unhesitating confidence in the help of God. 9

  1. 3° Finally, hope is a prenciple of frurtful activity. a) It begets holy desires, particularly the desire to possess
  • Eeclus., 11, 11-13. —? Matth., 10, 13. —3 Matth., IX, 2. 4 Matth., 1X, 29. —5 Matth., XV, 28. —°© Luke, VII, 50. 7 Luke, XV\1, 19. —® John, XVI, 23. — 9 Trent., sess. V1, C. 13.

God. This gives the soul the impulse, the motion, the necessary yearning to attain the coveted good, and it sustains our efforts until we have reached the goal.

b) It zucreases our energies, through the prospect of a reward that will be far in excess of our efforts. If people in the world labor with such earnestness to acquire perishable riches, if athletes submit to such arduous training, if they make desperate efforts in order to gain a corruptible crown, how much more should we not labor and endure for an eternal crown? “And every one that striveth for the mastery refraineth himself from all things. And they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown: but we an tncorruptible one.”

  1. c) It infuses into us that courage, that endurance that gives us the assurance of success. Just as there is nothing so disheartening as to struggle without any hope of victory, so on the other hand, the certainty of triumph is a singular source of energy. Such certainty hope furnishes. Of ourselves we are weak, but we have powerful allies, God, Jesus Christ, the Most Blessed Virgin, and the Saints (n. 188-189).

Now, ¢f God ts for us, who is against us?? If Jesus, Who overcame the world and Satan, lives within us and communicates to us His Divine energy, are we not sure of triumphing with Him? If the Immaculate Virgin, who crushed the head of the serpent, sustains us by her powerful intercession, shall we lack the needed help? If God’s friends, the Saints, pray in our behalf, will not these many supplications give us absolute security? And being assured of victory, are we to shrink from the few efforts required for gaining eternal possession of God?

II]. Gradual Progress in the Practice of Hope

  1. 1° General Principle. To make progress in the practice of this virtue, we must strengthen its foundations and make it more fruztful.

A) To render our hope more so/zd, it is important that we meditate often on the motives on which it rests: the power of God, His goodness and the glorious promises He has made to us (n. 1193). Should these not be enough to strengthen our confidence, we have but to recall the words of St. Paul: 3 “He that spared not even his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how hath he not also, with him, given us all things? Who shall accuse against the elect of t J Cor., 1X, 25. — 2 Rom., VIII, 31. — 3 Kom., VIII, 32-34.

564 ALE (CHAPTER iil.

God? God that justifieth. Who ts he that shall condemn? Christ Jesus that died. Yea that ts risen also again; who 1s at the right hand of God, who also maketh tntercesston for us.” Thus, on the part of God, our hope is absolutely certain. . However, on our part, we have reason to fear, because we are far from being always faithful to correspond perfectly to the grace of God. All our efforts, then, must tend to render our hope more firm by making it more fruitful.

  1. B) To gain this end, we have to collaborate with God in the work of our sanctification: “Hor we are God's coadjutors.”* God by according us His grace, does not mean to substitute His action for ours; He simply means to supply for our insufficiency. Doubtless, He is the primary and the principal cause, but, far from suppressing our activity, He wants to excite it and render it more effective.

St. Paul understood this well: “ Aut by the grace of God I am what Tam. And his grace in me hath not been void: but I have labored more abundantly than all they. Yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” * He urged others to do what he did himself: “ Aud we helping do exhort you that you receive not the grace of Godin vain.”3 It was especially to his dear disciple Timothy that he addressed the following urgent recommendation : “ Labor as a good soldier of Christ Jesus,” 4 because he was to labor not only for his own sanctification, but for that of others. St. Peter employed the same language. He reminded his disciples that although called to salvation, they were to render certain that calling by the performance of good works: “ Wherefore, brethren, labour the more, that by good works you may make sure of your calling and election.” >

We must, therefore, be fully persuaded that in the work of our sanctification all depends on God; still, we must act as if all depended on ourselves. God never refuses us His grace, and consequently, in actual practice all we have to attend to is our own personal effort.

  1. 2° Application of the general principle to the various degrees of the spiritual life. We can easily see how the principle enuntiated above applies to the different stages of the Christian life.

A) Beginners should be on their guard first of all against the two excesses opposed to hope: presumption and despazr.

a) Presumption consists in expecting from God Heaven and the graces necessary to reach it, without willing to take the means He has ordained. One may presume on the Divine Goodness, by neglecting God’s commandments, persuading oneself that God is too good to

MT Cor., VW) On 2 Le COnG AV pO LAL LLL eG ci4 a 3/7 Cor., VI, 1. —4L/7 Tim., Il, 3. —5 // Peter, I, 10.

sentence one to damnation. This is to forget that if God is good, He is likewise just and holy, and that He hates iniquity. Again, one may through pride presume on one’s own strength, rushing into the midst of dangers and occasions of sin, and forgetting that he that loves danger will perish in it. Our Lord promises us the victory, but on condition that we watch and pray: “ Watch ye: and pray that you enter not into temptation,” and St. Paul, who so trusted in God’s grace, warns us to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. >

_b) Others, on the contrary, are exposed to discouragement and, at times, to despair. Frequently tempted, and at times overcome in the struggle, or tortured by scruples, they lose heart ; imagining they cannot reform, they come to despair of their salvation. This is a dangerous state of mind, against which we must be on our guard. We shall recall how St. Paul, tempted and realizing that of himself he could not stand fast, confidently abandoned himself to the grace of God: “ The grace of God, by Jesus Christ.”+ Following the example of the Apostle, we shall pray and we shall be delivered.

  1. B) After carefully avoiding these dangerous shoals, we must set ourselves to acquire detachment fron the goods of earth, so that our thoughts and desires may frequently soar to Heaven. This St. Paul asks of us: “ Therefore, uf you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ ts sitting at the right hand of God. Mind the things that are above, not the things thal are upon the earth.”s Risen with Christ our leader, we must no longer seek and relish the things of earth, but rather those of Heaven where Jesus awaits us. Heaven is our true country, this earth but an exile. Heaven is our destiny, the true happiness we seek; this earth can yield us nothing but fleeting joys.

  2. 3° Those advanced in the way of perfection not only practice the virtue of hope, but entertain a fi/zal confidence in God, relying on Jesus Who has become the center of their lives.

A) Incorporated into Christ, they await with zzvznceble trust that Heaven where Jesus has prepared a home for them,® and where they already abide, through hope, in the Person of their Saviour: “ For we are saved by hope.” 7 a) They await it, even in the midst of adversttces and of the trials of this life, and with the Psalmist they say: “J will fear no evils, for thou art with me.”® Our Lord living within them comes to comfort them, saying as He did once to the Apostles: “ Peace be to you. Itis [: fear not.” 9.

t Ps. CXVIII, 163. — 2 Mark, XIV, 38. — 3 Pazz., Il, 12. 4 Rom., VII, 24-25. -— 5 Col., Ill, 1-2. — © John, XIV, 2. 7 Rom., VIII, 24. —*® Ps. XXII, 4. —9 Luke, XXIV, 36.

566 CHAPTER JII.

If intrigues and persecution come to trouble them, they recall what St. Vincent de Paul said to his disciples: ‘“‘ Even were the entire world to rise up to destroy us, it could do nothing but what is pleasing to God, in Whom we have placed our hope.”? If they suffer temporal losses, with the same Saint they say to themselves: “All that God does He does for the best ; and therefore we must hope that this loss, since it comes from God, will be profitable to us.”? If they have to face physical or moral sufferings, they look upon them as blessings from on high, destined to procure Heaven in exchange for a few fleeting pains.

  1. b) This confidence teaches them Zo escape the clutches of pleasure and success, more perilous still than the grip of suffering. “When life seems to smile upon our earthly hopes, it is hard to despise these flattering promises that seize upon our emotional nature; it is hard to steal away from the bonds of pleasure, to say to approaching bliss: you cannot satisfy my heart.” 3 But Christian souls remember that worldly joys are deceiving, that they hinder our flight towards God. In order to resist their attraction, they cling to the positive practices of mortification and seek for purer and holier joys in a more intimate friendship with Our Lord: “ To be with Jesus ts a sweet paradise.” 4 c) If it be a sense of their mzserzes and zmperfections that disturbs them, they reflect on these words of St. Vincent de Paul:

“You point out to me your miseries. Alas! and who is there that is not full of them! The only thing is to know them and to love the humiliation arising from them, as you do, without stopping save to lay the strong foundation of confidence in God; for them the house is built upon a rock and when the storm comes it remains firm.”5 Our miseries entitle us to Divine Mercy, when we humbly implore it, and they but fit us all the better for the reception of divine graces. St. Vincent adds that when God begins to do good to a person, He continues to do so to the end, unless that person makes himself unworthy. Thus, God’s past mercies are a pledge of those to come.

  1. B) Hope makes us habitually live, in spirit, zz Fleaven and for Heaven. According to the beautiful prayer that the Church puts on our lips on Ascension Day, we must, even now, “dzve im mind amid heavenly things.” 6 This means that it is for Heaven that we must act and suffer, to heaven that we must turn our hearts and our desires: “¢hat amid the changing things of this world, our hearts may be fixed where true joy 1s found.” 7 And, since

3 MGR D'HULST, Caréme, 1892, p. 201. — 4 /mitation, Bk. II, ch. 8. 5 MAYNARD, Life and Doctrine, p. 10-11.

© Collect of the Mass for Feast of the Ascension.

7 Id. for 4th Sunday after Easter.:2

the joys of Communion are a foretaste of Paradise, we shall, whilst waiting, seek therein the consolations our heart needs.

  1. C) This thought will make us pray often for the gift of final perseverance, the most precious of gifts. We cannot indeed merit it; but we can obtain it of the Divine Mercy. For this, we have but to join in those prayers in which the Church makes us ask for the grace of a happy death, for instance, the Haz/ Mary, which we so often recite and wherein we implore the special protection of the Blessed Virgin at the hour of death.

4° Perfect souls practice trust in God through holy abandonment. This we shall explain when speaking of the wnzti’ve way.

ART. III. THE VIRTUE OF CHARITY!

  1. The virtue of charity supernaturalizes and sanctifies the sentiment of love towards God and towards the neighbor. After a few preliminary remarks on the nature of love we shall speak: 1° of charity cowards God; 2° of charity towards the neighbor; 3° of the Sacred Heurt of Jesus as a model of both.

Preliminary Remarks

  1. 1° Love im general is an impulse, a tendency of the soul towards good. If the good towards which we are drawn is the kind which appeals to our sense-nature and which our imagination apprehends as agreeable, our love is sensible love. If the good is moral good acknowledged by our reason as worthy of esteem, our love is rational love. If the good is a supernatural good perceived by faith, our love is Christian love.

As we can see, love always presupposes knowledge; but, as we shall explain later on, love does not always correspond to that knowledge.

Whatever be the kind of love, four elements can be discerned in it: 1) a sort of sympathy felt for another person because of a certain harmony existing between him and ourselves. Now, this harmony does not imply that both are exactly alike, but rather that the one completes the other. 2) An ¢#fulse of the soul towards the beloved person, to draw close to him and enjoy his presence. 3) A certain union or communion of mind and heart to share in common the goods

'Sr BERNARD, De dzligendo Deo; St. THOMAS, 118 I1®, Q. 23-44; SALMANTI- CENSES ‘Tr. NIX, De carilate theologica; ST. FRANCIS OF SALES, The Love of God; SCARAMELLA StOCKMAN Manual of Christian Perfection, P. 1V, art. IT; REGINALD BUCKLER, Spzritual Perfection. —See Nn. 306 sqq. MWotzon of Christian Perfection.

each possesses. 4) A sense of joy, of pleasure or of happiness experienced in possessing the object of our love.

  1. 2° Christian love is love that is supernaturalized as to its prznciple, its motive and its odject.

a) It is supernaturalized in its prézciple through the infused virtue of charity that resides in the will. This virtue, set into action by actual grace, transforms naturally good love and raises it to a higher level.

b) Then faith furnishes us with @ supernatural motive to sanctify our affections: it directs these, first, towards God, by showing to us the Supreme, Infinite Good, which alone can correspond to our rightful aspirations; then, towards God’s creatures, which it presents to us as reflections of the divine perfections, so much so, that in loving them we love God Himself.

c) The odject of our love becomes supernaturalized in this wise: the God we love is not God known merely by reason, but the Living God known through faith, the Father Who begets a Son from all eternity and adopts us as His children; the Son, equal to the Father, Who by taking flesh becomes our brother; the Holy Ghost, the mutual Love of Father and Son, Who comes to diffuse into our souls divine charity. Men do not appear to us as mere creatures of God, but they are seen in the light of revelation as they truly are, the children of God, Our Common Father, brethren in Christ Jesus, living temples of the Holy Ghost. All, then, is supernatural in Christian love.

According to St. Thomas !, charity adds to love a certain perfection that proceeds from a high esteem for the thing loved. Hence, all charity is love, but not all love is charity.

  1. Charity may be thus defined: @ ¢heological virtue that causes us to love God above all things, for His own sake, in the way in which He loves Himself, and lo love the neighbor for God's sake.

This virtue, then, has a twofold object: God and the nerghbor. These two objects, however, constitute but one, since we love creatures only inasmuch as they are reflections of the divine perfections, and therefore it is God Whom we love in them. We love the neighbor, adds St. Thomas 2, because God ts im him or, at least, 2 order that God may be3 zt him. This is why there is but one and the same virtue of charity. § I. The Love of God

We shall explain : 1° its zalure, 2° its sanctifying power; 3° how to advance in the practice of this virtue.

I. /ts Nature

  1. The first object of charity is God. Since He possesses the plenitude of being, the perfection of beauty and of goodness, He is infinitely lovable. It is God, considered in all the infinite reality of His perfections, and not some particular Divine attribute. The consideration of any given attribute, His mercy, for instance, readily leads us to the consideration of all His perfections; but it is not necessary to know them in detail. Simple souls love Almighty God as faith makes Him known to them, without analyzing His attributes.

To elucidate the notion of the love of God we shall explain the precept that imposes it upon us, the motzve upon which it rests, and the different degrees through which we arrive at pure love.

  1. 1° The Precept. A) Already formulated in the Old Testament, it is reenacted by Our Lord in the New and proclaimed by Him as the sum-total of the Law and of the Prophets: “ Zhou shalt love the Lord Thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind,”* This is equivalent to saying that we must love God above all things and with all the faculties of our soul.

St. Francis de Sales explains this well: “Our love for Him should exceed all other affections, and reign over all the passions. He wishes that it should be the most sincere, that it should proceed from the heart and rule over its affections; He desires that we should consider it the most precious, the most valuable; He requires that it should fill the capacity of our souls; that it should be universal, extending to all our powers; that it should be elevated, and occupy the whole attention of the mind; and, in fine, that it should be generous and unalterable.” ? The Saint ends with a magnificent effusion of love: “Yes, Lord, I belong to Thee alone : I live more in Thee than in myself, therefore, my love should be wholly centered in Thee: I should love Thee as the origin of my being, and as the term of my repose: I should love Thee more than myself, since I only exist in Thee.” 3

  1. B) The precept of charity, then, is very extensive. In ttsedf it has no limits, for the measure of love of God ts to4 love Him without measure. Therefore, it obliges us ¢o tend unceasingly towards perfection, (n. 353-361) and our charity must continue to grow until death. According to the doctrine of St. Thomas, the perfection of charity is commanded as an end to be attained; hence we must want to attain it. Cajetan explains this by saying that “ precisely because it is an evd, it is enough in order not to fail in the precept, to be in a fit condition to attain this perfection some day, even though this be in eternity. Whoever possesses charity, even in the least degree, and thus advances towards Heaven, is in the way of perfect charity and thereby keeps the precept, which is necessary for salvation.”

However, souls azming at perfection are not content with this first degree; they climb ever higher, striving to love God not only with their whole soul, but with all their strength as well.

  1. 2° The motive of charity is not the good one has received from God or that which one expects to receive from Him; it is God’s znxfinite perfection, at least as the predominant motive. Other motives may be joined with this, motives of wholesome fear, of hope, of gratitude, provided that the said motive be truly predominant. Consequently, love of self, in so far as it is subordinated to the love of God, is compatible with charity. Hence, when the Saints so harshly condemn self-love, it is the inordinate love of self they have in mind.

  2. A) The opinion of Bolgeni, however, cannot be admitted. He pretends that the only love of charity possible and obligatory is that which has for motive God’s goodness towards us, since, as he asserts, we cannot love except what we perceive as meeting our needs and aspirations. The author in question mistakes what merely constitutes a necessarily preexisting condition for the real motive of charity. It is, indeed, true that love of itself presupposes that the object loved corresponds with our nature and our aspirations; yet, the sodive for which we love God, is not precisely this harmony, but God’s infinite perfection loved for itself.

Once more, St. Francis de Sales explains well this doctrine in the following lines: “If there could be an infinite good, with which we had no relation, no communication, and, consequently, no prospect of union (which is also impossible) we should still esteem it more than ourselves... This, properly speaking, is not to love, because love tends to union, which in this supposition is impossible. Still less could we be animated with love of charity for such an object, as this love is a real reciprocal friendship, terminating in union. ” ?

t Sum. theol,, 112 We, q. 184, a. 3; Comment. of Cajetan on this article; CARDI- NAL MERCIER, V7e intérzeure, 1919, p. 98; P. GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE, Perfection chrétienne, t. |, p. 217-227.5

  1. B) We may ask ourselves whether the motive of gratitude suffices for perfect charity. Here there is room for distinction: if gratitude does not rise above the benefaction received to the Benefactor Himself, it does not suffice as a motive of charity, since it remains self-centered ; but, if from the love of such benefaction we pass on to the love of the Benefactor, and if this love for Him is based on His infinite goodness, then this motive becomes one with that of charity.

As a matter of fact, gratitude easily leads to pure love, for it is a most worthy sentiment; and so, Holy Writ and the Saints often propose to us God’s benefits as an incentive to the love of God. Thus, St. John, after saying that perfect love banishes fear, exhorts us to love God, “‘ because God first hath loved us.”* Many are the souls that have learned to love God with the purest love whilst pondering the love He has shown us from all eternity, and the love of Jesus for us in His Passion and in the Holy Eucharist.

If we desire a rule whereby to distinguish pure from interested love, we may put it thus: the former consists in loving God because He is good and in wishing zm well; the latter consists in loving God inasmuch as He is good ¢o ws and in desiring our own good.

  1. 3° As to the degrees of love, St. Bernard distinguishes four 2: 1) First, man loves himself for his own sake, since he is flesh, and he cannot have any taste except for things in relation to himself. 2) Then, seeing that he is not able to subsist by himself, he begins to seek God by faith and to love Him as an indispensable aid; in this second degree man loves God, not as yet for God’s sake, but for his own. 3) But soon, by approaching God, living close to Him, and realizing the need of His help, man gradually sees how sweet the Lord is, and begins to love Him for His own sake. 4) Finally, the last degree, attained by few in this life, consists in loving solely for God, and consequently, in loving God exclusively for His own sake.

If we leave aside the first degree, which is nothing but self-love, there remain three degrees of the love of God that correspond to the three stages of perfection which we have already explained in numbers 340, 624-626.

Il. The Sanctifying Power of the Love of God

  1. 1° Charity is of itself the most excellent and the most sanctifying of all virtues. This we have already

572 CHAPTER Til

Sant DSA i a a OA ee proved by showing that it is the very essence of perfection, that is embodies all virtues, and that it imparts to them all a singular perfection, by causing all their acts to converge towards God loved above all (n. 310-319).

This is proclaimed by St. Paul in lyric language: “If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, Iam nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity is patient, is kind : charity envieth not dealeth not perversely ; is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil: rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never falleth away... And now there remain faith, hope and charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity.” *

  1. In its power to wzzfe the soul to God and to transform it, charity far excels all other virtues.

a) It unites to God the whole soul with all its faculties and powers. It unites the zzd to God through the esteem conceived for Him and the frequent thought of Him. It unites the wz//7 by perfect submission to the Divine Will. It unites the Zeart by the subordination of all our affections to the Divine Love. It unites our energzes by dedicating them all to the service of God and of souls.

b) In thus uniting the whole soul to God, charity transforms it. Love takes us away from self, raises us up to God, and inclines us to imitate Him, to reproduce in ourselves the divine perfections. We desire, in truth, to become like the one we love, because we consider him a model worthy of imitation, and we wish, by becoming more like him, to advance further in our intimacy with him.

  1. 2° In its effects, charity contributes most effectively to our sanctification.

a) It establishes between the soul and God a certain fellowship, syspathy, or affinity which causes us to understand and to reltsh better God and divine things. It is this mutual sympathy that makes friends understand one another, and become more and more intimately united. Many a simple, untutored soul, seized by love for God, relishes and lives the great Christian truths far better than the learned. This is an effect of charity.

a ci nn apt

  1. b) It zxcreases our energies for good a hundredfold by communicating to us an indomitable strength to overcome obstacles and to perform the highest acts of virtue, “for love is strong as death.” * How great is the strength a mother derives from love for her child!

Perhaps no one has described better the effects of divine love than the author of the Imitation.* It lightens our sufferings and our burdens: “ For zt carrieth a burden without being burdened, and maketh all else that ts bitter, sweet and savoury.” It lifts us unto God, because it is born of God: “ For love zs born of God, and cannot rest but in God.” It gives us wings to fly with joy unto the doing of the most perfect actions, unto the entire gift of self: “ 7ze lover flieth, runneth, and rejoiceth... he giveth all for ali;” thus, it urges us to do great things and to aim at the highest perfection: “ The noble love of Jesus inipelleth us to do great things, and exciteth us always to desire that which ts the more perfect.” It is ever watchful, uncomplaining of fatigue, untroubled by fear; rather, like a living flame it soars ever higher and passes securely through the midst of dangers: ‘“ Love watcheth... When weary, it ts not tired; when straitened, is not constrained, when frightened, ¢s not disturbed, but, like a vivid flame... zt mounteth upwards, and securely passeth through all.”

  1. ©) Charity, likewise, is productive of great joy and expansion of soul; for it is the initial possession of the Sovereign Good, the beginning of eternal life in us, and such possession fills our soul with joy: “ Gzving true joy of heart.” 3

The /wztation goes on to say: “ Nothing sweeter than love... nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in heaven or on earth.” 4 The cause of such joy is that we begin to be more keenly aware of the presence of Jesus and of the presence of God within us: “¢o de with Jesus ts a sweet paradise.5 When Thou art present, all things yield delight; but when Thou art absent, all things grow loathsome.” °

  1. d) This joy is followed by a profound peace. Once we are convinced that God dwells within us and that He exercises a paternal action, a paternal solicitude over us, we abandon ourselves with sweet trust into His hands, we confide all our interests to His care, and thus we enjoy perfect peace and serenity: “ Zhou makest a tranquil heart, vreat peace, and festive joy.” 7 Now, there is no disposition more favorable for spiritual growth than inward peace: “Tn silence and tn solitude the devout soul maketh progress.” ®

Hence, from whatever point of view we consider charity, in itself or in its effects, it is of all the virtues the most potent to unite us with God and to sanctify us; it is, indeed, the bond of perfection.

3 Hymn for the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.

4 [mizt., Bk. III, C. V. — 5 Zmzt., Bk. II, C. VIII. — © /mzz?, Bk. III, C. XXXIV. 7 Imit., Bk. M11, C. XXXIV. — ® Jmit., Bk. I, C. XX.

cr xs} co6

Footnotes

  1. John, XVII, 3. —? Sess. VI, Cap. 8. ↩

  2. MAYNARD, Life and Doctrine, p. 10. — ? Lbtd., p. 9. ↩

  3. Sum, Theol,, 14 We, q. 31, a. 3. — 2 Qy. disp. de Caritate, a. 4. ↩

  4. Luke, X, 27. — 2 The love of God, Bk. X, C. VI. — 3 /bid., C, X. ↩

  5. Love of God, Bk. X, C. X. ↩

  6. Cant., VIII, 6. — 2 Zmiztation, Book III, C. V. ↩

Chapter 16 of 24