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PART V - ON THE GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

CHAPTER 1 - ON GRACE AS A GIFT OF GOD

NOW that we have studied the incarnation of the Word, origin and fountainhead of every free gift, let us speak of the grace of the Holy Spirit, considering it in turn under each of four aspects: as a gift divinely given; in relation to free will; in relation to the habits of the virtues; in relation to the use of merit.

2. Concerning grace as a gift divinely given, the following must be held. Grace is a gift bestowed and infused directly by God. For truly, together with grace and by means of grace, we receive the Holy Spirit, the uncreated Gift, the good and perfect Gift coming down from the Father of Lights¹⁸¹ through the Word made flesh, as John beheld in the Apocalyptic vision: a river . . . clear as crystal, coming forth from the throne of God and of the Lamb¹⁸².

At the same time, grace is a gift by which the soul is perfected and transformed into the bride of Christ, the daughter of the eternal Father, and the temple of the Holy Spirit: all of which can be brought about only by the ennobling condescension and condescending nobility of the eternal Majesty through the gift of His grace.

Finally, grace is a gift that cleanses, enlightens, and perfects the soul; that vivifies, reforms, and strengthens it; that lifts it up, makes it like to God, and unites it with Him, thus rendering it acceptable to Him; a gift of such a kind that it is rightly and properly called "sanctifying grace."^ccix

3. This should be understood as follows. The first Principle, as Creator, in His supreme benevolence made the rational soul capable of enjoying eternal beatitude; and, as Restorer, repaired that capacity, weakened by sin, for its salvation. Now, eternal beatitude consists in possessing God, the supreme Good, a Good immeasurably surpassing anything man's service could merit. No conceivable man is worthy to attain this supreme Good exceeding in every possible way the limits of human nature, unless he is lifted up above himself through the action of God coming down to him. Not that God would come down in His immutable essence: He does so through an influence that emanates from Him; nor that the soul would rise above itself by physical ascent: it is lifted up through a God-conforming disposition.

If, then, the rational soul is to become worthy of eternal beatitude, it must partake of the God-likening flow. Because this inpouring, rendering the soul deiform, comes from God, conforms to God, and leads to God as an end, it restores our spirit as the image of the most blessed Trinity, affecting it not only as part of the order of creation, but also in terms of the righteousness of the will and of the repose of beatitude,¹⁸³ And since a soul so favored is directly brought back to God and directly conformed to Him, therefore this grace is granted directly by God acting as the Source of grace. Hence, as the image of God comes forth from God directly, so also does the likeness of God, which is the same image but in its God-conformed perfection, and is called, therefore, the image of the second creation.^ccx

4.  Again, to enjoy God means to possess Him. Hence, together with grace which, by its God-conforming nature, leads to the enjoyment¹⁸⁴ of God, there is given to man an uncreated Gift,^ccxi the Holy Spirit, to possess whom is indeed to possess God Himself.

5.  But he who possesses God must be in turn possessed by Him in a special way; and he who possesses and is possessed by God must love and be loved by Him particularly and uniquely, as one spouse loves and is loved by the other; and he who is loved must be adopted as a child entitled to an eternal inheritance. Therefore, sanctifying graces makes the soul the temple of God, the bride of Christ, and the daughter of the eternal Father. And since this cannot be wrought except through a supremely gracious condescension on the part of God, it could not be brought about through some habit NATURALLY implanted, but only through a free gift DIVINELY infused; as clearly appears if we consider what it means to be God's temple and His child, and to be joined to Him as though in wedlock by the bond of love and grace.^ccxii

6. Finally, our soul becomes the likeness of the most blessed Trinity through righteous free will, only by manifesting robust virtue, pure truth, and ardent love; for robust virtue cleanses, strengthens, and elevates the soul, pure truth enlightens and reforms it and conforms it to God, ardent love perfects and vivifies it and unites it with God. When all this is accomplished, man is made pleasing and acceptable to God.

Now, while the divine inpouring is the source of all ten above-mentioned effects, it is named only from the last and most complete: it is called "sanctifying grace" because it makes its recipient holy in God's sight. For not only is it given by God, it also conforms to God and leads to God as an end, since its purpose is to return to Him the work that had issued from Him. In this return, comparable to an intelligible circle, the rational being is brought to its final completion.

CHAPTER 2 - ON GRACE AS A CONDITION OF MERITORIOUS ACTS

1.  Our second consideration regarding the grace of the Holy Spirit is its relation to free will, under two heads: in what way this grace is an aid to meritorious acts, and in what way a remedy against sin.

2.  Concerning the grace of God in so far as it aids the gaining of merit, the following must be held. The word "grace" may be considered in a general, a special, or a proper sense.

Grace, in a general sense, is understood as being the assistance freely and liberally granted by God to creatures performing any of their acts. Without such concurrence, we could do nothing; could not even continue to EXIST.

Grace, in a special sense, is concerned with that particular assistance which helps the soul prepare itself for receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is called "gratuitously given grace."¹⁸⁵ In its absence, no man, try as he might, could ever MAKE HIMSELF WORTHY OF SALVATION.

Grace, in the proper sense, consists in the divinely given assistance toward the actual acquiring of merit. This is the gift of "sanctifying grace," without which no one may ACQUIRE MERIT, ADVANCE IN GOOD, OR ATTAIN ETERNAL SALVATION. This grace, the root of all meriting, precedes any actual merit. Hence it is said to "precede the act of willing in order to move the will, and also to follow the act, lest it remain without fruit."^ccxiii No one has a strict right to such grace, "yet in itself it deserves to be increased by God here on earth, so that, having been increased, it may deserve also to be perfected"^ccxiv in the fatherland and in eternal glory by this same God; for He alone has the power to infuse, augment, and complete our grace in the measure of the co-operation of our will, and in accord with the intent and good pleasure of His eternal decrees.

3. This should be understood as follows. In His omnipotent power and most loving munificence, the first Principle brought all creation into being out of nothingness. Of itself, therefore, the creature is nothing. Whatever it has it is indebted for. Thus it is that the creature, because of its deficiency, always remains dependent upon its Principle; and that this Principle, because of His benignity, never ceases to support the creature.^ccxv

Now, because brought into being from non-being, the rational spirit is deficient in itself; because limited and wanting by nature, it is bent upon itself in the pursuit of its own interest; because utterly contingent upon God, it is totally subject to God. Being deficient, it tends of itself to nothingness; being bent upon itself, it cannot of itself rise to the righteousness of perfect justice; being totally subject to God,¹⁸⁶ and God having no need of anything it can give, it cannot, of itself and through its own power do anything by which God would become its debtor - least of all a debtor of the eternal reward which is God Himself¹⁸⁷- except in virtue of God's condescension.

This is why, in its deficiency, it has need of God's constant presence, clemency, and influence to MAINTAIN IT IN EXISTENCE. Such concurrence, although it applies to all creatures, is called a grace, for it derives, not from any obligation, but from the liberality of divine bounty.

Again, if the rational spirit, bent as it is upon itself, is to PREPARE ITSELF FOR THE GIFT OF SUPERNATURAL GRACE, it requires, particularly in our state of fallen nature, the presence of another gratuitous grace that makes it able to perform good moral acts: meaning acts which, although externally righteous,^ccxvi cannot be called good unless they proceed from a right intention. Such are things we do, not for our own sake, but with the supreme Good in view. This summit is accessible to our naturally self-centered spirit only if we are first moved by God through actual grace.

Nevertheless, the rational spirit, utterly contingent as it is upon God to whom it owes everything, cannot PERFORM ANY ACTION DESERVING OF ETERNAL REWARD without the gift of sanctifying grace. By this grace God condescends to it, accepting [in it] His own image and will before accepting the deed that flows from grace. For, since "the cause is superior to the effect,"^ccxvii no one is able to grow in virtue or to do anything pleasing to God unless he himself first pleases; for God looks to the person before He looks to the gifts. Merit, therefore, is rooted exclusively in sanctifying grace, which alone makes man pleasing to God: hence no one receives it as a matter of absolute right, but only as a well-founded favor.

4. But once sanctifying grace is received, if good use is made of it, it merits its own increase in the present life.

For as regards the influx of grace, God alone is its fontal source; but as regards the increase of grace, God is the source of its growth through infusion, while grace itself is the source of its own growth through merit and worth, and free will is the source of the growth of grace through the co-operating and meriting soul, in that free will, by working with grace, makes what belongs to grace its own.

5. Free will, then, acquires through grace not only a just title to the growth of grace in the present life, but also an absolute right to its perfecting in heaven, and that, for the following reasons: the sublimity of the gift of the Holy Spirit, who helps in the acquisition of merit; the truthfulness of God, who makes the promise; the freedom of the will, that chooses right and perseveres to the end; the hardships of the present state of meriting; the dignity of Christ our Head, who intercedes for us and must be glorified in His members; the bounty of God the Rewarder, with whom it would not consort to give a small prize for faithful obedience; the nobility of a deed born of love, whose value in the eyes of the Judge is measured by the love from which it proceeds: a love that places God above and beyond every creature, and thus deserves to be rewarded with nothing less than God Himself and the supreme Good.

For all these things, providing seven reasons, the sevenfold grace makes [the soul] deserve eternal glory by a merit that acts not only as an appropriate foundation for a favor, but as an absolute right.¹⁸⁸

CHAPTER 3 - ON GRACE CONSIDERED AS A REMEDY FOR SIN

1.  In regard to grace as a remedy for sin, the following must be held. Although free will is "the greatest power next to God,"^ccxviii it is by nature liable to rush headlong into sin, out of which it is completely unable to rise without the divine assistance called sanctifying grace. Such grace, in itself a fully sufficient remedy for sin, is not poured into the soul of an adult person without the consent of his free will. Hence we gather that four things concur for the justification of a sinner: the infusion of grace, the expulsion of sin, contrition, and an act of free will. Sin is expelled by the grace of God, not by free will, and yet not without the consent of free will. While it is gratuitous [actual] grace that turns free will away from evil and prompts it toward good, it is free will itself which must agree or disagree; which, when it agrees, receives [sanctifying] grace; and which, having received it, co-operates with it so as finally to obtain salvation.^ccxix

2.  This should be understood as follows. The first Principle, precisely because first and all-powerful, is the cause of everything that comes about in the universe except sin, which is "a violation of divine law and a revolt against the heavenly commandments."^ccxx The only thing to rise insultingly and offensively against God is sin, which by flouting His word and turning us away from the eternal Good, offends Him, distorts free will, destroys the gift of grace, and imposes the obligation of eternal suffering. Since the defacing of God's image and the destruction of grace are, as it were, an annihilation of moral being and of the life of grace; since the gravity of an offense against God is proportioned to His greatness; and since the guilt deserving of eternal punishment has the character of infinity: therefore it is impossible for man to rise from sin unless he is created anew in the life of grace, iniquity is forgiven, and eternal penalty remitted.

He alone, therefore, who was the Principle of creation is also the Principle of re-creation: He who is the Word of the eternal Father, Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and men;¹⁸⁹ He who creates by Himself alone without intermediary, since He creates all things out of nothingness.

3. What was deformed through the evil of sin, He recreates by reforming it through the habits of grace and righteousness; what was bound to penalty, He re-creates by absolving it through fully adequate satisfaction: indeed, He restores us by sustaining for us the penalty in His assumed nature, and by infusing into us reforming grace which, because it links us with its Source,^ccxxi makes us members of Christ. By these means, He makes the sinful soul, formerly the enemy of God, the den of the devil, and the slave of sin, to become the bride of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the daughter of the eternal Father: all of which is brought about by a free and gracious INFUSION OF THE GIFT OF GRACE.

4. Again, God effects this reformation in such a way as not to impair the laws implanted in nature:^ccxxii granting grace to man's free will, but without forcing it, so that freedom of choice remains. Hence, for the EXPULSION OF SIN, not only must grace be introduced, but free will itself must consent to the expulsion through that detestation of all sin which we call CONTRITION. - This applies to adults; in the case of children, the faith of the Church and the merits of Christ make up for their incapacity to will.^ccxxiii - In addition, free will must consent to the infusion of grace by approving and accepting the divine gift through what we call an act of VOLITION.

These are the four conditions that must concur in the justification of one who has sinned.

5.  Finally, because predisposition toward a perfective form must itself be in the likeness of that form: if free will is to open itself to sanctifying grace, it needs the help of actual grace. And because grace by its very nature does not force free will but solicits it, and also because both grace and will by their very nature pass into act: therefore, in our justification, the acts of free will and grace concur in a harmonious and orderly manner. Actual grace arouses free will, and free will must either give or refuse consent to such arousal. When it consents, it prepares itself for the reception of sanctifying grace, and that is the meaning of "the will doing all that it can." Sanctifying grace is then infused in the will thus prepared, which may choose either to cooperate with this grace and thus attain merit, or to obstruct it by sin and thus incur guilt. If the will co-operates until the end, it earns the reward of eternal salvation.¹⁹⁰

6.  It is true, as Augustine says, that "He who created you without your assistance will not justify you without your consent."^ccxxiv Yet it is also true that there is a question not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God showing mercy.¹⁹¹ Once more, it is true that no man may take pride in his own merits, for God crowns within us nothing but His own gifts:^ccxxv reserving to Himself the generous distribution of the favors of grace, teaching man not to be an ingrate nor to glory in himself as if he had not received, instead of glorying in the Lord.¹⁹² Yet, lastly, it is true that, although free will alone could neither fulfill the law nor create grace in itself, it nevertheless is inexcusable if it does not do what it can; for actual grace is always at hand to give warning, and by its aid the will can exert itself to the full. Which being done, it must obtain sanctifying grace; which being obtained, it can fulfill the law and do the will of God; which being accomplished, it must arrive at last at eternal beatitude because of meritorious works proceeding as absolutely from free will as from grace - even though in the larger measure from grace. For, as Augustine explains, "grace is related to free will as a rider to his mount."^ccxxvi This rider, grace, directs free will and leads it on, to bring it at last to the abode of eternal happiness, by training man, through its own sevenfold gift, in the practice of perfect virtue.

CHAPTER 4 - ON HOW GRACE BRANCHES OUT INTO THE HABITS OF THE VIRTUES

1.  Our third consideration of grace is in its relation to the habits of the virtues.^ccxxvii Here, there are three points to develop: the branching out of the one grace into the habits of the virtues themselves; into the habits of the gifts; and into the habits of the beatitudes.

2.  Concerning the branching out of grace into the habits of the virtues, the following must be held. Although the grace sanctifying the soul is one, there are seven freely given virtues by which human life is ruled. These are the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and the four cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice:^ccxxviii the last-named being a common and general virtue in one sense, and a special and particular virtue in another. These seven virtues are distinct, each possessing its proper excellence; yet they are interrelated and of equal import in the individual soul.^ccxxix All are freely given and are informed by grace; yet, when a [mortal] sin is committed, all - charity excepted¹⁹³ - are reduced to a formless existence. They may, however, be reinformed by penance, upon the return of grace, which is their origin, their end, and their form.

3.  This should be understood as follows. As, in the act of conveying life in the order of nature, the creating Principle, because of His own supreme perfection, conveys this life not only in its first perfection, which is life as such, but also in its second perfection, which is action; so also, of necessity, in the act of conveying life to the spirit in the order of grace, the restoring Principle conveys it both as being and as action. And because in a single person living one primary life there are found many vital operations leading to the full expression of that life; and since acts differ through their different objects, and the different acts require different habits:^ccxxx therefore the one vivifying grace branches out into various habits for the sake of these various activities. Now, some of the moral acts are original, as believing; others are intermediate, as understanding what is believed; others again are final, as attaining the vision of what is understood. Through the first the soul is set aright, through the second it is urged on, through the third it is brought to full perfection. Hence, sanctifying grace branches out into the habits of the VIRTUES, that set the soul aright, those of the GIFTS, that urge it on, and those of the BEATITUDES, that lead it to perfection.^ccxxxi

4. Again, for perfect rectitude, the soul must be set aright in both directions, high and low, that is, in regard to the end as such and to the means that lead to it. In the upward direction, the soul, being the likeness of the eternal Trinity, must be set aright through the three theological virtues. As man, in the first creation, resembled God through a trinity of powers with unity of essence, so in the re-creation, he resembles God through a trinity of habits with unity of grace. Through these, the soul is carried straight up to the supreme Trinity in a way corresponding to the appropriated attributes of the three Persons: faith, through belief and assent, leads to the supreme Truth; hope, through trust and expectation, to the loftiest Height; charity, through desire and love, to the greatest Good.

5.  On the lower level, also, the soul must be set aright, through the four cardinal virtues. Prudence rectifies the rational faculties, fortitude the irascible appetite, temperance the concupiscible appetite,¹⁹⁴ while justice directs all of these powers in their relation to a given person. And because this person may be either one's neighbor or oneself considered as the object of one's own action, or again, God, justice is said to embrace every possible power.^ccxxxii That is why it is called, not only a cardinal virtue, but also a general virtue that comprehends the rectitude of the whole soul; wherefore it may be defined as "rectitude of the will."^ccxxxiii Justice is not limited to those virtues which concern the neighbor alone - for instance, equity and generosity; it applies also to those which concern oneself - for instance, repentance and innocence - and to those which refer to God - for instance, adoration, dutiful love, and obedience.

6.  Finally, the virtues, in that they are gratuitously infused, obtain their rectitude originally and radically from grace; but in that they are means of acquiring merit, their rectitude is proportioned to charity, which, in that respect, is their origin, their form, and their end. Consequently, outside of charity, all virtues dependent upon grace are interrelated as habits and equal in their meriting power. Such habits of the virtues are able to subsist without their form, but charity is not, for charity is the form of the virtues.

When the other virtues subsist without grace or charity, in which their life consists, they are formless. But when grace is poured upon them, they regain their form: they are adorned and become acceptable to God. In the same way, colors are invisible in the dark; but when light falls upon them, they become luminous, beautiful, and pleasing to the eye; whence, in terms of cause, light and colors become one, and one light suffices to make several colors shine. Likewise, in terms of merit and supernatural favors, grace becomes one with the formless virtues, now re-informed; and a single grace suffices to convey form and acceptability to the different virtuous habits.^ccxxxiv

CHAPTER 5 - ON HOW GRACE BRANCHES OUT INTO THE HABITS OF THE GIFTS^ccxxxv

1. Concerning the branching out of grace into the habits of the gifts, the following must be held. Although there are many gratuitously given gifts, and, in a general sense, it would not be wrong to call all divinely infused habits gifts of God, yet in a particular and proper sense, the term "gift" refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Isaia lists and names them when he writes of the flower stemming from the root of Jesse, that is, Christ: The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness [piety]. He shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord¹⁹⁵. Here, Isaia names the gifts from the highest down, and in combination, so as to show at one and the same time their difference, interrelationship, origin, and order.

2. This should be understood as follows. In His supreme bounty, the restoring Principle gives grace to us, both to CORRECT the deviations of the vices through the habits of the virtues, and also to DELIVER US from the difficulties of their after-effects through the habits of the gifts. Hence the infused gifts must be sufficient in number to provide aid for this purpose. Now, because the soul needs help in seven instances, there is a sevenfold reason why seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are required. Indeed, our soul needs help: against the deviations of the vices,¹⁹⁶ in its natural powers, in its superadded virtues, in suffering, in acting, in contemplating, and in the last two ways combined.

3. First, there are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit for the sake of repelling in the best possible way the DEVIATIONS OF THE VICES. Fear helps against pride, piety against envy, knowledge against anger which is a kind of insanity, fortitude against sloth which destroys the soul's power for good, counsel against covetousness, understanding against gluttony, and wisdom against lust.

4. Second, the gifts are properly seven to assist the NATURAL POWERS. The irascible power¹⁹⁷ needs help toward good in both happiness and misfortune: in happiness it is helped by fear, in misfortune by fortitude. The concupiscible power needs help in loving the neighbor, and finds it in piety; in loving God, and finds it in wisdom. The rational power needs help in considering, choosing, and following the truth: understanding is a help in the consideration of the truth, counsel in its election, and knowledge in its fulfillment. It is through this very gift of knowledge, indeed, that we are able to live righteously in the midst of a depraved and perverse generation.¹⁹⁸

5. Third, the gifts are properly seven to help the SEVEN VIRTUES discharge their appointed tasks. Fear leads to temperance, for it restrains the flesh;¹⁹⁹ piety to true justice; knowledge to prudence; fortitude to steadfastness or patience; counsel to hope; understanding to faith; and wisdom to charity. And as "charity is the origin and consummation of every virtue,"^ccxxxvi so is wisdom of every gift. Hence the wise man truthfully says: All good things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her hands.²⁰⁰

6. Fourth, the gifts are seven in all for the sake of helping us to SUFFER in the same spirit as Christ. In accepting His passion, the Saviour was moved by the will of the Father, by the needs of men, and by the force of His own virtue. He was moved by the will of the Father, which He knew through understanding, loved through wisdom, and reverenced through fear; He was moved by our needs, which He understood through knowledge and compassionated through piety; He was moved not least by the force of His own virtue, which counsel rendered capable of fore-sighted choice, and fortitude, of vigorous fulfillment. And so the gifts were properly seven.

7.  Fifth, seven gifts are given by the Holy Spirit to help us ACT EFFECTIVELY. For if we are to act so, we must be helped to turn away from evil, and this is done by fear. Again, we must be helped to progress in good, both in the way of the law and in the way of supererogation. In the way of the law, we are helped by knowledge directing and by piety effecting; in the way of supererogation, by counsel directing and by fortitude effecting. Lastly, we must find our repose in the Most High, both by knowing the true and by loving the good; the first comes about through the gift of understanding, the second through the gift of wisdom, in which is true repose.

8.  Sixth, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are seven in number to help us CONTEMPLATE.²⁰¹ For the hierarchical and contemplative life requires that the soul be cleansed, enlightened, and perfected. We must be cleansed of concupiscence, malice, ignorance, and weakness or impotency: of the first by fear, of the second by piety, of the third by knowledge, and of the fourth by fortitude. We must be enlightened concerning the works of reparation and of the primordial state; counsel gives the first knowledge, understanding the second. Moreover, we must be perfected by attaining the Most High who is Oneness; this is done through the gift of wisdom. Hence the mystery²⁰² of contemplation ends at the top, as it were, in a single cubit.^ccxxxvii203

9. Seventh and last, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are needed to facilitate BOTH ACTION AND CONTEMPLATION. Since the contemplative soul looks to the Trinity, it needs three gifts to assist it: fear, to bow before God's majesty; understanding, to perceive His truth; wisdom, to savor His goodness. And since the active soul is concerned with performing and persevering, it needs the assistance of four gifts: piety, to perform; fortitude, to persevere; and knowledge and counsel to direct both. Thus, because assistance must be guided in order to be effective, there must be a combination of gifts; and because the light of knowledge is a powerful help to guide our feet into the way of peace,²⁰⁴ there are several gifts related to the intellect.

CHAPTER 6 - ON HOW GRACE BRANCHES OUT INTO THE HABITS OF THE BEATITUDES, AND CONSEQUENTLY OF THE FRUITS AND OF THE SPIRITUAL SENSES^ccxxxviii

1.  Concerning the branching out of grace into the habits of the beatitudes, the following must be held. There are seven beatitudes²⁰⁵ listed by the Saviour in the Sermon on the Mount.²⁰⁶ They are: poverty of spirit, meekness, mourning, thirst for justice, mercy, cleanness of heart, and peacefulness. These in turn bring about, as a completion and a fulfillment,²⁰⁷ the twelve fruits of the Spirit and the five spiritual senses, which do not represent new habits, but states of delight and the enjoyment of spiritual perceptions filling and consoling the souls of just men.

2.  This should be understood as follows. The restoring Principle is supremely perfect, achieving perfectly through His gift of grace the works of restoration and reformation. Therefore, the gift of grace which flows from Him must branch out lavishly and abundantly into the habits of the perfections, so closely related to the final end that they are rightly called beatitudes. Their sufficiency, number,^ccxxxix and order are derived from the integrity, the modes, and the preliminary dispositions of perfection [the gifts].

3. First, the INTEGRITY of perfection requires a perfect withdrawal from evil, a perfect progress in good, and a perfect repose in what is the best. Now, evil may stem from the swelling of pride, the rancor of malice, or the weakness due to concupiscence. To effect [the soul's] perfect withdrawal from these three kinds of evil, three beatitudes must concur: poverty of spirit, to deliver it from self- inflation; meekness, to deliver it from rancor; and mourning, to deliver it from lust and the weakness due to concupiscence. Perfect progress in good consists in following the divine example; and since the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth²⁰⁸, there are two beatitudes corresponding to these two ways: thirst or zeal for justice, and the spirit of mercy. Perfect repose in what is best may be achieved either through clear knowledge or through peaceful love. Hence, there are two final beatitudes, namely, cleanness of heart, for the vision of God, and peace of soul, for the perfect enjoyment of Him.

4. Second, the MODES of perfection reveal the need for the seven beatitudes. We may speak of perfection in the religious life, in the holding of offices, and in inner holiness. To reach perfection in the religious life, we must give up our personal goods, seek our neighbor's welfare, and desire the eternal Good. The first is attained through poverty of spirit; the second, through meekness of disposition; the third, through heartfelt mourning. To reach perfection in the holding of offices, two beatitudes are required: thirst for justice, and the spirit of mercy, for mercy and truth preserve the king;²⁰⁹ these two should guide those in authority in the Church Militant. To reach the perfection of inner holiness, we must have a clean conscience [heart] and complete tranquillity of soul through the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding.²¹⁰

5. Third, if we consider the PRELIMINARY DISPOSITIONS of perfection, we see the need for seven beatitudes.

Now, fear makes a man turn away from evil and from its occasions; and since covetousness is the root of all evils²¹¹, fear prepares for poverty of spirit, which combines humility with poverty and delivers the perfect man from the source of all sin: pride and covetousness. That is why poverty of spirit is the foundation of all evangelical perfection. Anyone, therefore, who wishes to attain the summit of perfection should first strive to establish this foundation. As Matthew writes: If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast²¹² - this is perfect poverty that keeps absolutely nothing for itself; and... follow Me - this is humility that makes a man renounce himself, take up his cross, and follow Christ, the very first Foundation of all perfection. Fear, then, prepares for poverty of spirit.

Piety prepares for meekness, for a man who is correctly disposed toward another provokes him not, nor is he provoked by him. Knowledge prepares for mourning, because through knowledge we realize that we have been cast out of the state of happiness into the present vale of wretchedness and tears. Fortitude leads to hunger for justice, because the man possessing it craves justice so avidly that he would be deprived of bodily life rather than of this justice. Counsel prepares for mercy because nothing in the Scriptures is more strongly counseled by God than the acts of mercy which He looks upon as the greatest sacrificial offerings.²¹³ Understanding prepares for cleanness of heart, because the consideration of truth cleanses our heart of all evil thoughts. Finally, wisdom prepares for peace, because wisdom unites us to the supremely True and Good in whom all our rational desires find their end and their repose.

This peace, once attained, is necessarily followed by the overflowing spiritual delight of the twelve fruits that imply the excess of joy. For twelve, the number of abundance,^214ccxl suggests the wealth of spiritual gifts tasted and enjoyed by the holy soul. Then is man apt for contemplation and for the vision and embrace of Spouse and bride which come about through the spiritual senses. The supreme beauty of Christ the Spouse is seen in that He is Resplendence, His supreme harmony heard in that He is the Word, His supreme sweetness tasted in that He is Wisdom comprising both Word and Resplendence, His supreme fragrance inhaled in that He is the Inspired Word within the heart, His supreme delightfulness touched in that He is the Incarnate Word dwelling bodily in our midst,²¹⁵ offering Himself to our touch, our kiss, our embrace,²¹⁶ through ardent love which makes our soul pass, by ecstatic rapture, from this world to the Father.^ccxli217

6. Assuredly, then, the main task of the habits of the virtues is to prepare man for the labors of his active life; that of the habits of the gifts, to prepare him for the repose of contemplation; that of the habits of the beatitudes, to prepare him for the perfection of both. Now, the fruit of the spirit is: charity, joy, peace, patience,²¹⁸ ... longanimity, goodness, benignity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and chastity. They express the delights that come in the wake of perfect deeds, while the spiritual senses express mental perceptions of the Truth being contemplated. Now, this contemplation was given to the prophets through revelation according to the three modes of seeing: the sensorial, the imaginative, and the intellective,^ccxlii while other just men obtain it through speculation, which starts from the senses, reaches the imagination, proceeds from imagination to reason, from reason to the intellect, from the intellect to understanding, and from understanding to wisdom, that ecstatical knowledge which begins in this life to reach fulfillment in eternal glory.^ccxliii

7. Of such successive steps is Jacob's Ladder made,²¹⁹ with its top reaching to heaven;²²⁰ and the throne of Solomon upon which is seated the King most wise, truly peaceful and full of love, the Bridegroom most fair, who is all delight,²²¹ upon whom angels desire to look,²²² toward whom holy souls aspire as the hind longs for running waters²²³. In its burning desire, the soul becomes not only an agile flame swift to rise: it even transcends itself, entering mystical darkness and ecstasy through a certain wise unknowing. Wherefore the soul may not only say with the bride, "We will run after Thee to the odor of Thy ointments,"²²⁴ but also sing with the prophet: Night shall be my light in my pleasures²²⁵. Experience alone can tell the wonder of this obscure, delightful light;^ccxliv divine grace alone can procure such experience; and those alone who strive for it may receive such grace.²²⁶

That is why we must now consider grace in relation to the acquiring of merit.

CHAPTER 7 - ON GRACE APPLIED TO THE OBJECTS OF FAITH

1.  Fourth, we shall consider grace in relation to meritorious practices, and this in four areas: the working of grace as regards what is to be believed, that is, the articles of faith; as regards what is to be loved, determining the ordering of affections; as regards what is to be performed, that is, the precepts of divine law; as regards what is to be prayed for, that is, the petitions laid down in the Lord's Prayer.

2.  Concerning the articles of faith, the following must be held. We are bound to believe by faith many things that exceed our reason. As a general rule, we must believe everything that is contained and expressed in the canon of Holy Scriptures. In a specialized and proper sense, however, the term "article of faith" applies to those truths that are listed in the Apostles' Creed. From one viewpoint - in reference to the authors of the Creed - there are twelve articles of faith;²²⁷ but if we consider the basic tenets that stand as the foundation of all that we must believe, there are fourteen articles of faith.^ccxlv

3.  This should be understood as follows. The first Principle is in Himself supremely true and good. In His work, He is supremely just and merciful. To supreme Truth is due firm assent; to supreme Good, fervent love; to supreme Justice, total submission; to supreme Mercy, trusting prayer. Now, it is the function of grace to order our mind to due worship of the first Principle. Hence, it is grace that directs and guides us toward actions both due and meritorious, in matters of faith, love, obedience, and petition, as required by the supreme truth, goodness, justice, and mercy of the blessed Trinity.

4. Any truth demands belief; a greater truth demands stronger belief, and the greatest of all truths, a supreme belief. Now, the truth of the first Principle is infinitely greater than any created truth, and brighter than the light of our intellect. Hence, if our intellect is to be well ordered in its belief, it must have a deeper faith in the supreme Truth than in itself; it must bring itself to the obedience of Christ²²⁸. It must believe, then, not only what is accessible to reason, but even what exceeds reason and contradicts sense experience;²²⁹ otherwise, it would fail to show due reverence to supreme Truth, preferring its own judgment to the teaching of eternal Light - which necessarily implies the puffing up of pride and of blameworthy conceit.

5. Again, a truth that is above or beyond reason is a truth neither actually seen nor visible, a hidden truth accepted only through an effort of faith. Now, for our faith in such truth to be firm, our soul must be lifted up by the light of truth and strengthened by the testimony of authority. The first is brought about by infused faith, the second by the weight of Scripture. Both faith and Scripture derive from supreme Truth: through Jesus Christ, who is the Brightness [of God's glory]²³⁰ and the Word, and through the Holy Spirit, who shows and teaches the truth, and also leads us to believe it. Authority, then, gives support to faith, and faith gives assent to authority. Because authority is found primarily in Sacred Scriptures, all of which are inspired by the Holy Spirit for the sake of guiding the Catholic faith, true faith may never disagree with the Scriptures, but must accept them with an assent that is fully sincere. 6. Finally, that very truth to which we must assent by faith, and which forms the main content of Sacred Scriptures, is not any kind of truth, but truth divine as it exists either in its own proper nature or in the assumed humanity [of Christ] - the understanding of which constitutes both the reward of the fatherland and the merit of the way.²³¹ Wherefore the articles of faith which are the foundations of belief are concerned either with the Godhead, or with the humanity [of Christ]. Now, the Godhead must be seen in the three Persons: the Father begetting, the Son begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeding; and also in four operations: creation in the order of nature, re-creation in the order of grace, resuscitation for the restoration of life, and beatification through the imparting of glory. That is why the articles dealing with the Godhead are seven in number. Likewise, the humanity of Christ must be seen as conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin, suffering on the cross, descending into hell, rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, and coming at the final judgment. That is why the articles dealing with the humanity of Christ are also seven in number. In all, then, there are fourteen articles,²³² comparable to the seven stars and the seven golden lampstands in the midst of which the Son of Man was seen.^ccxlvi

7.  Because Christ is one in two natures, the divine and the human, and supreme Truth is also one, the single and only, the first and uttermost, the changeless and timeless, basis of our belief: therefore all the articles of the Creed are accepted through one faith in it, a faith that has never changed in the past and cannot change in the present or future, although it has greater clarity and explicitness for those who came into the world after Christ than for those who lived before His coming. The New Testament, in fact, is clearer than the Old, although both contain the same articles of faith.^ccxlvii

8.  Using the twelve apostles as the most reliable witnesses, the Holy Spirit built into a single structure the articles of faith contained in the depths of Sacred Scripture; the several articles were compounded into a single Apostolic Creed. Hence, in parallel with the number of apostles composing them, the articles of faith may be said to be twelve, for each apostle in building the faith laid down one article as a single live stone;²³³ a thing the Holy Spirit had accurately prefigured in the action of the twelve men who took up twelve stones from the bed of the Jordan river to build an altar to the Lord.²³⁴

CHAPTER 8 - ON GRACE APPLIED TO THE OBJECTS OF LOVE^ccxlviii

1. Concerning what is to be loved, the following must be held. While all the works of God are very good,²³⁵ four things only are properly to be loved with charity: God eternal, that which we are, our neighbor, and our body.^ccxlix In loving these, a fitting order and measure must be observed, so that God be loved first, above all else, and for His own sake; that which we are second, less than God and for His sake; our neighbor third, as much as ourselves; our body fourth, less than ourselves and our neighbor, as a lesser good. For the attainment of this end there were given a single habit of charity and a twofold commandment upon which depend the whole Law and the Prophets²³⁶, as regards not only the Old Testament, but also the New.

2. This should be understood as follows. Because the first Principle, being first, is supreme; being supreme, is supremely good; being supremely good, is supremely happy and also supremely delighting; being supremely delighting, is supremely to be enjoyed: therefore, because He is supremely to be enjoyed, we must supremely cleave to Him through love and rest in Him as in our final end.^ccl Since righteous and well-ordered love, called charity, has as its chief object that Good wherein it finds fruition and repose-which Good is the actual reason for loving^ccli - charity, therefore, loves Him above all else as being the very Beatifier, and loves as a consequence all other beings which through Him are made fit for beatitude. Now, our neighbor, together with us, is destined to reach beatitude, and so is our body, which is to be beatified together with the spirit. That is the reason why charity has but four objects: God and our neighbor, our spirit and our body.²³⁷

3.  Again, because God, the supreme Good, is above; our soul, an intrinsic good, within; the neighbor, a kindred good, without; and our body, a lesser good, below: therefore the proper order of loving is to love God first, more than all else and for His own sake; our soul second, less than God but more than any temporal good; the neighbor third, as much as ourselves, as a good of the same degree; our body fourth, less than our soul, as a good of lesser degree. It is here also that we should place our neighbor's body which, like our own, is a lesser good than our soul.

4.  Finally, love, which is the gravitational force of the soul^cclii and the origin of all spiritual attraction, tends toward self with ease, but reaches out to the neighbor with effort, and to God with still greater pain. Hence, while there are FOUR OBJECTS of love, there are but TWO COMMANDMENTS. The first concerns God, the second, the neighbor.

5.  And because all commandments concern either God or the neighbor - that is, the end, or the means toward it-these two contain the sum of all commandments and the fullness of all Scriptures.²³⁸ Now, the root, form, and end of virtue, relating all men to the final end and binding all things to one another simultaneously and in orderly fashion, is charity. Charity, then, is the force of properly ordered attraction and the bond of perfect union. It maintains ORDER as regards the different objects of love, in our desire for them and their effect upon us; yet it possesses ONENESS in its inner disposition as regards the one end and the One most to be loved, upon whom depends our love for all other beings destined to be tied with a bond of love within the one Christ as a body to the Head - a body containing all those to be saved. Such oneness begins on earth, but is consummated in eternal glory, conforming to the prayer of the Lord "that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them and Thou in Me; that they may be perfected in unity."²³⁹ With this unity fully completed through the bond of love, God shall be all in all²⁴⁰ throughout an assured eternity and in perfect peace. Through this bond of mutual charity, all things will be set in order, and interrelated within this order, and forever united within this relationship.

CHAPTER 9 - ON GRACE APPLIED TO THE FULFILLMENT OF THE COMMANDMENTS AND COUNSELS

1. Concerning the commandments of divine law, the following must be held. That in the law of Moses there were judicial, figurative, and moral precepts, the latter being the Ten Commandments of the Decalogue inscribed²⁴¹ upon two tablets by God's own finger; that the Gospels dealt with the judicial precepts by removing them, voided the figurative precepts by fulfilling them, perfected the moral precepts by adding to them, providing instructive lessons, incentive promises, and perfective counsels: the counsels of poverty, obedience, and chastity, to whose fulfillment Christ our Lord invites the seeker of perfection.²⁴²

2.  This should be understood as follows. As the first Principle is supremely good in Himself, so He is supremely just in His works and in the government of the universe. Because it is for the supremely just to be zealous for justice, not only in Himself but also in others, and since justice consists in compliance with the rules of law, therefore divine justice must both impress judicial norms upon the minds of men, and express them, not only through DECLARATIONS of the teaching Truth, but also through DECREES and PRECEPTS of the commanding Will.^ccliii And because it is grace that makes our will conform to the will of God, it is grace also that disposes us to accept and follow the rules of justice imposed by the divinely given law.

3.  Again, because there are two ways of obeying divine commands - through fear of punishment, and through love of justice, the first pertaining to the imperfect, the second to the perfect - God imposed upon man a twofold law, one of fear and the other of love, one bringing forth children unto bondage²⁴³, and the other, unto adoption as sons of God.²⁴⁴

Those who live in a state of fear and imperfection must be impressed by sanctions, guided by signs, and directed by precepts. Hence, the law of Moses - the law of fear-contains judicial, figurative, and moral elements. But the loving and perfect need open teaching of what is written, promises of lofty rewards, and the high perfection of the counsels: hence the law of the Gospels contains all three.

The law of Moses, then, differs from that of the Gospels in that one is a law of figures and the other of truth, one of penalty and the other of grace, one of the letter and the other of the spirit, one of death and the other of life, one of fear and the other of love, one of servitude and the other of freedom, one of burden and the other of relief.^ccliv245

4. Finally, because the rules concerning the requirements of justice are contained within the commandments of God, and justice consists in "rendering everyone his due,"^cclv therefore, among the moral precepts, some rules must refer to God and others to the neighbor, thus conforming with the twofold command of love. This the Holy Spirit willed to show by the symbolism of the two tablets, wherefore they are said to have been inscribed by God's own finger.²⁴⁶

Now, since God is trine - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-He must be adored in His supreme Majesty, confessed in His supreme Truth, and received in His supreme Love; and this, through our irascible, rational, and concupiscible powers, by deeds, words, and affections. Wherefore, in parallel with these three, there are on the first tablet three commandments: concerning submissive worship, truthful oaths, and the sacredness of the sabbath.

5. But because our neighbor is an image of the Trinity, and, as an image of the Father, deserves our respect; as an image of the Son, our truthfulness; and as an image of the Holy Spirit, our love: therefore the commandments of the second tablet are seven in number. Two, indeed, concern piety:²⁴⁷ the first - to honor our parents - imposes filial piety; the second - not to kill - forbids impiety. One concerns truthfulness, which is chiefly a matter of the spoken word - the commandment not to bear false witness. Four concern love, the opposites of which, lust and greed, may be either actual or intentional. These four commandments are: not to commit adultery; not to covet our neighbor's wife; not to steal; and not to covet our neighbor's goods.^cclvi The order of the commandments corresponds to the damage done to justice, going from the greater to the lesser.

That is how the rules concerning the requirements of justice are contained within the commandments of God.

6. Now, because a man attains perfect justice when he has completely forsaken evil, both as a sin and as a cause of sin, and because everything evil arises from one of three roots, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,²⁴⁸ it follows that there are three evangelical counsels that deliver us completely from this threefold root. They are counsels because, in order to turn us away from evil completely, they detach our soul, not only from things forbidden, but also from things legitimate and permissible which might become occasions of sin. The counsels, therefore, contain justice in a measure not only sufficient but overflowing, as befits the perfection of the evangelical law and the works of perfecting grace.

CHAPTER 10 - ON GRACE APPLIED TO THE OBJECTS OF PETITION AND PRAYER

1. Concerning the petitions of the Lord's Prayer, the following must be held. While God is most lavishly generous - readier to give than we are to receive - yet He wills our prayers as so many occasions for bestowing upon us the Holy Spirit's gifts of grace. He wills not only mental prayer, which is "an ascent of the mind toward God," but also oral prayer, which is "an entreaty to God for what is suitable."^cclvii He wills not only personal prayer, but also prayer through the saints as through divinely appointed assistants, in order that we may gain through their intercession what our own merit has not deserved. And lest we

wander astray in our uncertainty,²⁴⁹ not knowing what to ask or what is good for us, God gave us a formal prayer composed by Him, in which are contained, under seven requests, all of the things that should be sought.

2. This should be understood as follows. As the first Principle is supremely true and good in Himself, so also He is supremely just and merciful in His work. And because He is supremely merciful, He reaches down most lovingly to the misery of man through an infusion of His grace. However, being also supremely just,²⁵⁰ He bestows the perfect gift only upon the man who desires it, He gives grace only to the grateful, and mercy only to the one who knows his own wretchedness. Thus, freedom of the will is left unhampered, appreciation of the gift undiminished, and respect for divine honor unimpaired. Because, therefore, prayer consists in seeking divine help, adducing one's own incapacity, and giving thanks for a gratuitous favor: therefore prayer prepares for the reception of the divine gifts, and God wills to be prayed to, in order that He may lavish His bounties.

3. Further, if our desire is to rise aloft effectively in its quest for the divine gifts, our love must be warm, our thoughts collected, and our hope sure and strong. And because our heart is often lukewarm, distracted, and fearful by reason of a guilty conscience which makes it afraid to appear of itself before the divine countenance: therefore God willed that we pray not only MENTALLY but also ORALLY, so that the words may arouse our heart and their meaning help us gather our scattered thoughts.^cclviii

He willed also that we pray through the saints, and that the saints pray for us. This was to give confidence to the fearful, so that those who dare not or cannot ask by themselves may succeed through able intercessors.^cclix Hence, in those who prayed, humility would be preserved; in the interceding saints, dignity would be manifested; and in all the members of Christ, that love and unity would be displayed by which the lower have faithful recourse to the higher while the higher generously condescend to the lower.

4. Finally, the just and merciful God must heed our petitions in those matters only which concern His glory and our salvation; and such are reward in the fatherland and provision along the way. Since there are three of the former and four of the latter, the petitions of the Lord's Prayer teaching us what to ask are seven in number.

The three points dealing with the glory of God and the reward of heaven are: the perception of truth, the worship of majesty, and the conforming of the will. Or, in other words, they consist in: first, the VISION OF SUPREME TRUTH, inaccessible except to the clean and holy - and this is requested when we say, "Hallowed be Thy name," that is, may the knowledge of Thy name be given to the perfect, holy, and clean; second, the STRIVING TOWARD SUPREME HEIGHT which makes kings and through which kingdom is obtained - and this is requested when we say: "Thy kingdom come"; third, the FRUITION OF THE SUPREME GOOD, which is given but to those who have their will conformed to the will of God - and this is requested when we say: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

The points dealing with our passage through the present life concern either the bestowal of helpful good, or the removal of harmful evil. The bestowal of helpful good is requested in terms of bread, both daily and supersubstantial, covering all we need for the sustenance of our present life, in both soul and body. The removal of harmful evil is requested in three petitions at the end: for all evil is either past, future, or present; or again, either of sin, of strife, or of penalty. We pray to be delivered from the first by begging pardon for our sins, from the second, by asking victory over temptations, from the third and last, by asking deliverance from the oppression of evil.

Hence there are altogether seven petitions through which we request comprehensively everything that we ought to ask; and properly so, for the seven petitions correspond to the seven divine charismatic favors²⁵¹ and to the gifts of the sevenfold grace.

5. Wherefore we should note that the Holy Scriptures propose to our consideration a sevenfold series of seven things: the capital sins, the sacraments, the virtues, the gifts, the beatitudes, the petitions, and, as will appear later,²⁵² the endowments of glory - three of the soul and four of the body. First, the seven capital sins, from which we must recede; second, the seven sacraments, through which we must proceed; last, the seven endowments of glory, to which we must aspire; last but one, the seven petitions, whereby we must entreat; as intermediary stages, the seven virtues, gifts, and beatitudes, through which we must progress. Thus, praising the name of the Lord and praying to Him seven times a day²⁵³, we may obtain the sevenfold grace of these virtues, gifts, and beatitudes, and thereby overcome the sevenfold assault of the capital sins and attain the sevenfold crown of the endowments of glory, with the aid of the sevenfold sacramental medicine divinely instituted for the restoration of mankind.

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