CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
AND CONTEMPLATION
ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
AND ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS

BY

THE REV. R. GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE, O.P.

TRANSLATED BY

SISTER Μ. TIMOTHEA DOYLE, O.P.
ROSARY COLLEGE

RIVER FOREST, ILLINOIS

B. HERDER BOOK CO.
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Copyright 1937
B. HERDER BOOK CO.

Reprinted 1958

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To the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God
and mediatrix, who leads the humble to the
intimacy of Christ, as He Himself leads them to
the Father, I offer this very imperfect homage of
profound gratitude and filial obedience

PREFACE
are happy to have an English translation of this book in
which our purpose was to establish, according to the princi­
ples formulated by St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the
Cross, that Christian perfection consists especially in charity
according to the plenitude of the two great precepts: “Thou
shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with
thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind: and thy neighbor as thyself” (Luke 10 · 27). We also
show that infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith,
the mysteries of the Blessed Trinity present in us, of the
redeeming incarnation, of the cross, of the Eucharist, sacra­
ment and sacrifice, is in the normal way of sanctity. This
contemplation proceeds from faith illumined by the gifts
of understanding and wisdom, which are in all the just; that
is, from living faith, which has become penetrating and sweet.
This view of perfection is by no means something novel.
The number of theologians who of late consider it as tradi­
tional has increased notably. This doctrine seems to us the the­
ological commentary of our Savior’s words: “If any man thirst,
let him come to Me, and drink. . . . Out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water” (John 5 : 37 f.). All are invited to
drink from the fountain of living water, as St. Catherine of
Siena says in her Dialogue (chap. 53); the only condition laid
down for reaching the fountain is a true thirst for virtue,
the honor of God, and the salvation of souls.

We

fr.

Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange,

v

O.P.

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE
works and reputation of the great Dominican theolo­
gian, Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, are already well
known to American readers. Two of his outstanding contri­
butions to theological literature have been translated and
published within the last two years.
It is the earnest wish of the translator of this volume on
mystical theology to make accessible to souls eager for instruc­
tion the treasures of light so marvelously organized and syn­
thesized by Father Garrigou-Lagrange, and also to offer them
his encouragement to “seek the things that are above.”
The translator is deeply indebted to the Very Reverend
Peter O’Brien, O.P., and to the Very Reverend Norbert
Georges, O.P., prior and subprior respectively of the Do­
minican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois, who
kindly read the manuscript and gave invaluable assistance.
She wishes also to acknowledge the help of the Reverend
H. J. Schroeder, O.P., and of the members of the Department
of English of Rosary College.
For the courtesy of permission to use quotations from their
publications, she is indebted to the Benedictines of Stanbrook, to Thomas Baker of London, and to Houghton
Mifflin Company. She acknowledges the permission of Burns,
Oates and Washbourne to use quotations from their publica­
tions, especially from the Summa theologica of St. Thomas
Aquinas, and of The Macmillan Company for quotations
from The Imitation of Christ.
The translator will feel amply repaid if this volume opens
up a new perspective and a wider spiritual horizon to even
one soul.
Sister M. Timothea Doyle, O.P.
Rosary College
Feast of St. Catherine of Siena, 1937

The

vii

ARCHBISHOP’S HOUSE
5418 Moeller Avenue
NORWOOD, OHIO

learned author of Perfection chrétienne et contempla­
tion, Father Garrigou-Lagrange, needs no introduction. His
works in philosophy and theology have given him wide re­
nown. Sister Timothea’s translation, Christian Perfection and
Contemplation, makes available to English readers a valuable
treatise on ascetical and mystical theology which is clearly
expounded and is solid in doctrine. The author gives reason­
able attention to the historical and traditional aspects of the
questions treated. He wisely chooses as his guides the great
teachers of ascetical and mystical theology, St. Augustine, St.
Thomas Aquinas, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis de Sales,
and St. Teresa of Avila.
Sister Timothea, while faithfully adhering to the French
text, has given us a smooth, idiomatic translation in which
little, if any, of the clarity and charm of the original is lost.
Everyone is called to advance in the way of perfection ac­
cording to his state of life. Ascetical and mystical theology,
as Father Garrigou-Lagrange remarks, is the application of
moral theology, as expounded by St. Thomas, in directing
souls to an ever closer union with God. Too many imagine
that ascetical and mystical theology is for the select few. They
therefore wrongly think that it is confined to priests, re­
ligious, and a few chosen souls in the world.
The appearance of Father Garrigou-Lagrange’s work in
English should not only aid greatly in dispelling this false
idea but should, we trust, lead many souls to a higher state
ix

The

x

LETTER OF ARCHBISHOP McNICHOLAS

of perfection and to a closer union with God. It should find
a place in the library of every priest and seminarian, in the
libraries of sisters’ convents, and in homes where there is
Catholic reading. May Christian Perfection and Contempla­
tion awaken in many an appreciation of the higher things of
the spiritual life.
John T. McNicholas
Archbishop of Cincinnati

CONTENTS
CHAPTER

I

PAGE

INTRODUCTION

...................................................... i

II THE ACTUAL MYSTICAL PROBLEM ....

12

ARTICLE I

Object and Method of Ascetical and Mystical
Theology................................................................... 12

I. The Meaning
ogy;

of Ascetical and Mystical Theol­
Its Object........................................................ 12

II. The Principles

and Method of Ascetical and
Mystical Theology...................................................... 16

A. Descriptive or inductive method . . . . 16
B. Deductive method........................................... 20
C. Union of the two methods................................ 21
article ii

The Distinction Between Ascetical Theology and
Mystical Theology and the Unity of Spiritual
Doctrine................................................................... 23

I. Traditional Thesis: the Unity of Spiritual Doc­
trine
........................................................................ 23
II. Thesis of Several Modern Authors: Separation
of

Ascetical from Mystical Theology ....

27

III. Return

to the Traditional Thesis: Unity of
Spiritual Doctrine...................................................... 29
ARTICLE HI

Meaning

of the

Terms of the Problem

....

43

III MYSTICAL THEOLOGY AND THE FUNDAMEN­
TAL DOCTRINES OF ST. THOMAS .... 48
xi

CONTENTS

xii

ARTICLE I
CHAPTER

PAGE

Natural Intellectual Life and Supernatural Life

48

I. Error

of the Nominalists on the Supernatural­
ness of Sanctifying Grace and the Theological
Virtues........................................................................... 51

II. The Essential Supernaturalness

of the Grace
of the Virtues and the Gifts Is Superior to That
of a Sensible Miracle and of the Prophecy of
Future Events...........................................................54

III. The Essentially Supernatural

or the Super­
natural QUOAD SUBSTANTIAM, AND THE PRETERNAT­
URAL or the Supernatural quoad modum
■
■■

IV. Outline

of the

Division

of the

Supernatural

57

59

ARTICLE π

Mystical Theology and the Essentially Supernat­
ural Character of Infused Faith...................... 61

I. Essentially Supernatural Character
fused

Virtues, Whether Theological

of the In­
or Moral .

61

II. Capital Importance

of This Doctrine in Re­
gard to Infused Faith...................................................... 64

III. Absolute Certitude of Infused Faith. ... 66
IV. This Doctrine Is the Foundation of Mystical
Theology..................................................................... 71
V. The Acts of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost Are
Doubly Supernatural—as to Their Substance and
as to Their Mode........................................................... 7®
ARTICLE III

Mystical Theology and the Doctrine of St. Thomas
on the Efficacy of Grace....................................... 80

I. Grace Is Efficacious in Itself................................82
II. This Transcendental Efficacy of Grace Pro­
duces in Us and with Us the Free Mode of Our
Acts........................................................................... 88

III. A Good Act Comes Entirely
Cause, and Entirely

from

Man

from God as First
as Second Cause .

92

CONTENTS

xiii
EACE

CHAPTER

IV. The Disorder in an Evil Act Comes Solely from
Man as a Deficient Cause.......................................... 94
ARTICLE IV

The Practical Consequences of the Doctrine of St.
Thomas on Grace...................................................... 95

I. Two Graces: Sufficient and Efficacious ... 96
II. Doctrine Leads to:
1. Humility........................................................... 96
2. Intimate prayer................................................ 98
3. The practice of the theological virtues . . . 101
III. The Same Doctrine Is Taught by The Imitation
AND BY THE GREATEST MASTERS OF THE SPIRITUAL LlFE 109

IV THE FULL PERFECTION OF CHRISTIAN LIFE 114
ARTICLE I

Christian Perfection, or the Beginning of Eternal
Life.......................................................................... 114

I.

Eternal Life in Its Complete Development . .115
1. Beginning of eternal life.................................... 120
2. Life of grace on earth, the same in its essence as
that of heaven.................................................... 121
3. Charity should last forever.............................. 123
4. The indwelling of the Blessed Trinity . . .125
5. The mystical union is the normal, though in­
frequent, prelude to the life of heaven . . .127
article ii

Christian Perfection Consists Especially

I.

in

Charity

129

Erroneous or Incomplete Doctrines on the Es­
sence of Perfection.................................................130

IL True Solution: Perfection Consists Chiefly in
Charity................................................................. 135
III. The Objection of Intellectuals: Why Is Char­
ity Superior to Our Knowledge of God? .
. . 139
IV. Perfection Is a Plenitude.................................... 144

CONTENTS

XIV

ARTICLE III
CHAPTER

PACE

The Full Perfection of Charity Presupposes the
Passive Purification of the Senses and of the Spirit

1.

146

Doctrine of St. John of the Cross on the Perfec­
tion of Charity...................................................... 148
ARTICLE IV

According to Tradition the Full Perfection of
Christian Life Belongs to the Mystical Order .

156
Ways......................................................... 157

I. Three
II. Teaching

of The Imitation on Perfection and
Infused Contemplation......................................... 163

III. Doctrine of St. Catherine of Siena . . . .166
IV. Doctrine of St. Thomas....................................167
V. Doctrine of Dionysius......................................... 171
VI. Doctrine of St. Augustine....................................172
VII. Relative Perfection, Heroism and Sanctity . 176
VIII. “Full Perfection” Means Not Only the Es­
sence of Perfection, but 1rs Normal Integrity . 178
article

Perfection

and the

Precept

v

of the

Love of God .

.178

A. Is the First Precept without Limit? . . . .178
1. Teaching of St. Augustine and St. Thomas on
this point......................................................... 180
2. Objections of Suarez and replies of Passerini . 188
B. Three Consequences of the Precept of the Love
of God.................................................................... 188
1. In the way of perfection, he who does not ad­
vance falls back.................................................189
2. Every Christian, each according to his condi­
tion, must strive for the perfection of charity . 191
3. Actual graces are progressively offered to the
soul proportionate to the end to be attained . 197

V CONTEMPLATION AND ITS DEGREES

199

xv

CONTENTS
ARTICLE I

RAGE

CHAPTER

. .199
I. The Prayer of Petition......................................... 199
II. Common Prayer.................................................... 208
III. How to Attain to a Life of Prayer and Per­
severe in It............................................................ 217

Prayer

in

General

and

Common Prayer .

.

ARTICLE II

Meaning of “Contemplation,” “Ordinary,” “Extraor­
dinary”
................................................................. 221

I. So-called Acquired Contemplation and Infused
Contemplation..........................................................221
II. The Ordinary and the Extraordinary in the
Supernatural Life.................................................... 235
ARTICLE III

Description of Infused Contemplation and Its De­
grees According to St. Teresa................................ 238

I. The Mystical State

in General: Preparation;
General Call and Individual Call; Nature of the
Mystical State..........................................................241

II. The Degrees
Fourth

to the

of the Mystical State; from the
Seventh Mansions.............................. 248
ARTICLE IV

What Infused Contemplation Does Not Essen­
tially Require ..... ................................................. 260

1. It is not always given suddenly......................... 262
2. It is not necessarily accompanied by an abso­
lute impossibility to discourse or to reason . . 262
3. It is a meritorious act................................... 262
4. It does not require consciousness of being in
the state of grace.............................................. 263
5. It does not require the feeling of the presence
of God (night of the spirit).............................. 263
6. It is not a grace gratis data.............................. 264
7. It does not require infused ideas, but an in­
fused light...................................................... 264

CONTENTS

xvi
CHAPTEK

PAGE

8.

It does not require an immediate perception of
God................................................................ 266
article v

The Essential Relation of Infused Contemplation
AND OF THE MYSTICAL LlFE WITH THE GIFTS OF THE

Holy Ghost........................................................... 271

I. The Gifts of the Holy Ghost.............................. 272
II. Are the Gifts of the Holy Ghost Necessary to
Salvation?.................................
278
III. Necessity of an Increasingly Perfect Docil­
ity to the Interior Master..................................... 281
IV. The Special Inspiration of the Holy Ghost and
the Progress of Charity......................................... 283
1. The special inspiration of the Holy Ghost and
common, actual grace.........................................285
2. Growing elevation of the special inspiration
of the Holy Ghost in beginners, proficients, and
the perfect......................................................... 299
article vi

The Essential Character of Infused Contemplation;
How It Proceeds from the Gift of Wisdom and
from Faith........................................................... 310

I. The Spirit of Wisdom in Scripture........................ 311
II. The Gift of Wisdom and Infused Contemplation
According to Theology......................................... 313
III. Progressive Predominance of the Divine Mode
of the Gift of Wisdom in Prayer........................ 324
IV. Whether Contemplation Proceeds Exclusively
from the Gift of Wisdom, or also from Faith
United to Charity................................................... 330

V. The Fruits of the Holy Ghost and the Beati­
tudes
...................................................................... 331

VI THE CALL TO CONTEMPLATION OR TO THE
MYSTICAL LIFE....................................... 337
ARTICLE I

The Different Meanings

of the

Word “Call” .

. 337

xvii

CONTENTS
CHAPTER

PAGE

I. General and Remote Call ....... 338
II. Individual and Proximate Call......................... 338
III. Sufficient Call.................................................... 339
IV. Efficacious Call to the Lower or to the
Higher Degrees of Infused Contemplation
. . 340
ARTICLE π

The General and Remote Call to Mystical Contem­
plation

................................................................. 345

I. The Three Principal Reasons Which Establish
the General and Remote Call........................... 346
A. The basic principle of the mystical life is the
same as that of the common interior life . . . 349
B. In the progress of the interior life the purifi­
cation of the soul is not complete without the
passive purifications, which belong to the mysti­
cal order............................................................... 356
C. The end of the interior life is the same as that
of the mystical life, but the latter prepares the
soul more immediately for it.............................. 36a
article

in

The Individual and Proximate Call to Contempla­
tion

...................................................................... 372

I. The Three Principal Signs of the Proximate
Call.......................................................................... 373
II. Obstacles to This Proximate Call; Its Varieties 377
ARTICLE IV

The Conditions Ordinarily Required for Infused
Contemplation...................................................... 383

I. Do Generous Interior Souls Generally Lack

the

Principal Conditions Ordinarily Required for the
Mystical Life?...................................................... 384

1. Means offered to all by the Church . . . 386
2. Interior dispositions which constitute the chief
conditions ordinarily required for the mystical
life.......................................................................... 388

CONTENTS

xviii
CHAPTER

PAGE

II. Particular Obstacles to Contemplation . . 395
III. What Should Be Thought of Souls That Have
Received only One or Two Talents? .... 398
IV. Is This Doctrine of a Nature to Lead Some
Souls to Presumption and Others to Discourage­
ment?
......................................................................... 401

V. Some Theoretical Difficulties........................ 409
VI. Venial Sin and Imperfection, Obstacles to Di­
vine Union........................................................... 427
ARTICLE V

Extraordinary Graces That Sometimes Accompany
Infused Contemplation.........................................436

I. Graces gratis datae........................................................ 436
1. Divine revelations.......................................... 440
2. Visions.............................................................. 446
3. Supernatural words.........................................450
4. Divine touches............................................... 454
II. Confusions to be Avoided in Expounding the
Traditional Doctrine.............................................. 457
Index.................................................................................... 463

CHAPTER I
Introduction

This work is based on the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas and
of St. John of the Cross. St. Thomas, “Doctor Communis” as he
is called in Pius Xi’s encyclical Studiorum ducem, is pre­
eminent among theologians because he attained to the heights
of acquired and infused wisdom. To explain the secrets of this
twofold wisdom, he received in a very high degree the special
grace which St. Paul calls sermo sapientiae. By acquired wis­
dom he marvelously synthesized the knowledge of the philoso­
pher and that of the theologian, and the gift of wisdom raised
him to the highest degree of infused contemplation. Often ac­
companied by ecstasy and the gift of tears, it taught him what
human language could not express. It was this infused contem­
plation which prevented him from dictating the end of the
Summa theologica; what he could put in words seemed to him
only straw in comparison with what he beheld.1
The encyclical Studiorum ducem, by presenting St. Thomas
to us as the undisputed master of dogmatic and moral theol­
ogy, and also of ascetical and mystical theology, draws par­
ticular attention to a beautiful doctrine, which we have
developed at length in this book (chaps. 4-6), namely, that the
precept of the love of God has no limit and that the perfection
of charity falls under this precept, not, of course, as something
to be realized immediately, but as the end toward which every
Christian must tend according to his condition.2
1 See his Life by Guillaume de Tocco; also the Bollandists, March 7. Ct.
the recent work of Father Petitot, O.P.: Saini Thomas d’Aquin, la vocation,
l'œuvre, la vie spirituelle, 1923.
2 Encyclical Studiorum ducem, June 29, 1923: "Haec igitur a Deo delapsa
seu infusa sapientia, ceteris comitata donis Sancti Spiritus, perpetuum in
1

X

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

St. Francis de Sales taught the same doctrine, which has
often been misunderstood, although it was clearly formulated
by the fathers of the Church, in particular by St Augustine.’
St. Thomas, in his treatise on the infused virtues and the
gifts of the Holy Ghost, sets forth particularly their nature and
properties. St. John of the Cross explains the various phases
of their progress, up to their perfect development. Among
spiritual authors, we have taken him as our guide: (i) He is
certainly one of the greatest Catholic mystics. (2) He is canon­
ized, and his doctrine, which underwent the test of criticism
and was examined by the Church, is perfectly sound. (3) Com­
ing as he did in the sixteenth century, he benefited by all the
earlier tradition, especially by the works of St. Teresa, which
Thoma accepit incrementum, aeque ac caritas, omnium domina et regina
virtutum. Etenim illa huic erat certissima doctrina, amorem Dei numquam
non oportere crescere ‘ex ipsa forma praecepti: Diliges Dominum tuum ex
toto corde tuo; totum enim et perfectum idem sunt. . . . Finis praecepti cari­
tas est, ut Apostolus dicit, I Tim. 1:5; in fine autem non adhibetur aliqua
mensura, sed solum in his quae sunt ad finem' (Ha Hae, q. 184, a.3). Quae
ipsa est causa quare sub praeceptum perfectio caritatis cadet tanquam illud
quo omnes pro sua quisque conditione niti debent. . . . Itaque praeceptum
cie amore Dei quam late pateat, caritas eique adjuncta dona Sancti Spiritus
quomodo crescant, multiplices vitae status, ut perfectionis, ut religiosorum,
ut apostolatus, quid inter se differant et quae cujusque natura visque sit, haec
et talia asceticae mysticaeque theologiae capita si quis pernosse volet, is An­
gelicum in primis Doctorem adeat oportebit."
8 The encyclical written by Pope Pius XI for the third centenary of St.
Francis de Sales. January 26. 1923, calls attention to this doctrine in the fol­
lowing terms: "Christ constituted the Church holy and the source of holiness,
and all those who take her for guide and teacher must, according to the di­
vine will, aim at holiness of life: 'This is the will of God,’ says St. Paul, ‘your
sanctification.’ What type of sanctity is meant? Our Lord Himself explains it
in the following manner: ’Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.’
Let no one think that this invitation is addressed to a small, very select num­
ber and that all others are permitted to remain in a lower degree of virtue.
As is evident, this law obliges absolutely everybody without exception. More­
over, all who reach the summit of Christian perfection, and their name is
legion, of every age and class, according to the testimony of history, all have
experienced the same weaknesses of nature and have known the same dan­
gers. St. Augustine puts the matter clearly when he says: ‘God does not com­
mand the impossible, but in giving the commandment, He admonishes us to
accomplish what we can according to our strength, and to ask aid to accom­
plish whatever exceeds our strength.’ " Concerning this doctrine, see St. Fran­
cis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. Ill, chap. 1.

INTRODUCTION

3
he knew thoroughly and explained by connecting the mystical
states she experienced and described with the supernatural
principles from which they proceeded; especially with the the­
ological virtues and with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which
had attained their full development in her. Thus he goes be­
yond even St. Teresa and as a theologian treats very lofty prob­
lems on which she wrote but little. In so doing, he unites the
data of descriptive mysticism and the speculative theology of
the virtues and gifts. (4) St. John of the Cross, like all Carmel­
ite theologians, is fully in accord with St. Thomas on the great
questions of predestination and grace.4
The doctrine of these teachers is the safe expression of tradi­
tion, as we shall see by comparing it with that of the doctors
who preceded them and of those who followed them.
Our aim is to explain the unitive way, that we may lead
souls to aspire to it, and may encourage them to make gener­
ous efforts to attain it.
Some persons talk about mysticism, but misunderstand it
and abuse it. These persons must be enlightened by the sound
teaching of theology. Others, far greater in number, are alto­
gether ignorant of mysticism and apparently wish to remain
so. They rely only on their own efforts, aided by ordinary
grace; consequently they aim only at common virtues, and do
not tend to perfection which they consider too lofty. Hence
religious and priestly lives, which might be very fruitful, do
not pass beyond a certain mediocrity that is often due, at least
in part, to their early imperfect training and to inexact ideas
about the union with God to which every Christian can and
must aspire.
Some, who should be well acquainted with the writings of
the great saints, rarely consult them, under the pretext that
their teaching on mysticism is beyond reach, that it leads to
divergent interpretations, and that according to several theo* Following the example of St. Thomas, he distinguishes infused contem­
plation from the extraordinary phenomena that sometimes accompany it.

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
4
logians it is not possible as yet to determine in what their
teaching consists, even along broad lines, and in particular on
this fundamental question: Is the contemplation, which they
speak of, in the normal way of sanctity or not?
Consequently in the matter of mystical theology a certain
agnosticism exists, just as there is an agnosticism which main­
tains that true miracles cannot be discerned because not all
the laws of nature are known, and that one cannot rely on the
Scriptures because certain obscure passages of the Old and
New Testaments have not been fully elucidated. We believe
that this agnosticism about mystical theology is false, that it
can do no good, and that it ends disastrously.
The teaching of St. Thomas and of St. John of the Cross on
this problem seems very clear to us. If these great masters had
left this important problem unsolved, the very elements of
mystical theology would still have to be constituted.
Pope Benedict XV congratulated the editor of La vie spirit­
uelle for making this doctrine known, and wrote to him as
follows (September 15, 1921) : ‘‘In our day many neglect the
supernatural life and cultivate in its place an inconsistent and
vague sentimentalism. Hence it is absolutely necessary to re­
call more often what the fathers of the Church, together with
Holy Scripture, have taught us on the subject, and to do so
by taking St. Thomas Aquinas especially as our guide, because
he has so clearly set forth their doctrine on the elevation of
the supernatural life. We must also earnestly draw the atten­
tion of souls to the conditions required for the progress of the
grace of the virtues and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the
perfect development of which is found in the mystical life.
This is exactly what you and your collaborators have under­
taken in your review, in a manner at once learned and solid.”
In the delicate questions that we have had to consider, in
combating an error, it is not always easy to avoid alining one­
self with the contrary error, and to formulate the doctrine
which rises above these opposing deviations and which is a

INTRODUCTION

5

just mean only because it is a summit. If we have inadvert­
ently employed any inexact expressions in this study, we re­
tract them here and now, and declare that we reject all spirit­
uality that deviates ever so little from that of the saints, which
has been approved by Holy Church. That is why, as a rule, we
have quoted only canonized mystics whose teaching is com­
monly received.
Our conclusions may be summed up in the table on the
following page.’
This table gives some idea of the progress of doctrine on
this subject from St. Augustine to St. Teresa, passing as it does
from the general to the particular. St. Augustine made a dis­
tinction between the beginners, the proficients, and the per­
fect, a classification which, according to the terminology of
Dionysius, corresponds to the purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways. St. Thomas several times in his writings noted the
corresponding progress of the virtues and the gifts, which are
the principle of supernatural acts, in particular the degrees of
humility.0 The passive purifications of the senses and of the
spirit indicated by St. Gregory the Great were described by
Tauler and especially by St. John of the Cross. The latter
tells us 7 that in the passive purification of the senses “God
begins to communicate Himself no longer by the senses as
formerly, by means of reasoning . . . but in a manner purely
spiritual, in an act of simple contemplation.” Evidently we
are here considering infused contemplation, as the saint al­
ready declared.8 We can understand why St. John says: “The
proficients are in the illuminative way. It is therein God
nourishes and fortifies the soul by infused contemplation.” ·
5 This table differs slightly from that published by Father Gerest, O.P., in·
his excellent little Memento de la vie spirituelle, 1922, in which he expresses
the ideas which we hold in common, and according to which he revised the
work of Father Meynard, O.P., Traite de la vie intérieure.
eSee Ila Ilae, q.161, a.6.
T The Dark Night of the Soul. Bk. I, chap. 9, 3d sign.
‘The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 13.
» The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 14.

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

6

Beginners

Mansions
of St. Tersea

Prayers

Purifications

Gifts

Virtues

Degrees
Charil

O

Proficients

Perfect

(purgative way)
Ascetical life

(unitive way)
(illuminative way)
Threshold of the mys­ Mystical life
tical life

Initial virtues, first de­
gree of charity, tem­
perance, chastity, pa­
tience, first degrees of
humility.

Solid virtues, second
degree of charity, obe­
dience, more profound
humility; spirit of the
counsels.

Eminent and heroic
virtues, third degree of
charity, perfect humil­
ity. great spirit of faith,
abandonment, almost
unalterable patience.

Gifts of the Holy Ghost
rather latent, inspira­
tions at rare intervals,
slight aptitude as yet
to profit by them,
feeble docility. The
soul is above all con­
scious of its activity.

The gifts of the Holy
Ghost begin to mani­
fest themselves, espe­
cially the three inferior
gifts of fear, knowl­
edge, and piety. The
soul, more docile now,
profits more from in­
spirations and interior
illuminations.

The superior gifts
manifest
themselves
more notably and in a
frequent manner. The
soul is. as it were,
dominated by the Holy
Ghost. Great passivity,
which does not exclude
the activity of the vir­
tues.

Active purification of
the senses and of the
spirit, or exterior and
interior mortification.

Passive purification of
the senses, under the
influence especially of
the gifts of fear and
knowledge. Concomi­
tant trials.

Purification of the
spirit under the influ­
ence especially of the
gift of understanding.
Concomitant trials in
which are manifested
the gifts of fortitude
and of counsel.

Acquired prayer: vocal
prayer,
discursive
prayer, affective prayer,
which becomes more
and more simple, called
the acquired prayer of
recollection.

Initial infused prayer,
isolated acts of infused
contemplation in the
course of the acquired
prayer of recollection;
then, prayer of super­
natural
recollection
and of quiet; manifest
influence of the gift of
piety.

Infused prayers of sim­
ple union, of complete
union (sometimes ec­
static), of transforming
union, under the more
and more marked in­
fluence of the gift of
wisdom. Concomitant
favors.

First and second man­ Third and fourth man­ Fifth, sixth, and sev­
sions.
sions.
enth mansions.

INTRODUCTION

7

lu another place he says: “The passive purification of the
senses is common. It takes place in the greater number of be­
ginners.” 10 It is indeed the threshold of the mystical life, like
the prayer of supernatural recollection described by St.
Teresa.11 This prayer is often preceded by isolated acts of in­
fused contemplation in the course of the acquired prayer of
recollection described by the saint.12 In the illuminative way,
the gifts of fear and of knowledge are clearly manifested (pas­
sive purification of the senses in which one recognizes the emp­
tiness of created things) and also the gift of piety (quiet of the
will in which this gift is found).
In this approximate table, we consider the ideal soul in
an abstract manner. The illuminative and unitive ways are
therein considered, not only in their imperfect form but in
their plenitude, in the same way as they are considered by
St. John of the Cross, who is a faithful echo of tradition.
This lofty perfection is that described by St. Augustine and
St. Gregory; the perfection to which the twelve degrees of
humility enumerated by St. Benedict or the seven degrees
counseled by St. Anselm lead: (i) to acknowledge ourselves
contemptible; (2) to grieve on account of this; (3) to admit that
we are so; (4) to wish our neighbor to believe it; (5) patiently to
endure people saying it; (6) willingly to be treated as a person
worthy of contempt; (7) to love to be treated in this fashion.18
This great conception of Christian perfection and of the
illuminative and unitive ways is the only one which seems to
us to preserve all the grandeur of the Gospel and of the Epis­
tles of St. John and St. Paul.
As we have just said, the precept of love knows no limit.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and
with thy whole soul and with all thy strength and with all thy
10 Ibid., chap. 8.
ïi The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 3.
1’ The Way of Perfection, chap. 28.
1» See the explanation of these degrees of humility in St. Thomas, Ila Ilae,
q.161, a.6.

B

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” 14 Christ adds for all of
us: “Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”;15 and
the whole Sermon on the Mount, which begins with the beati­
tudes, is a sort of commentary on this exhortation. To raise us
to this perfection, “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us, . . . and of His fulness we all have received.” 18 The life
of grace, which has been given to us, is the seed of the life of
heaven, and is the same life in its essence. “Amen, amen I say
unto you: He that believeth in Me, hath everlasting life.” 17
The contemplation of the mysteries of Christ’s life will be
given to those who follow Him faithfully. “He that hath My
commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me.
And he that loveth Me, shall be loved of My Father. And I
will love him, and I will manifest Myself to him.” 18 “I will
ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that
He may abide with you forever. . . . The Paraclete, the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach
you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever
I shall have said to you.” 19
Love of neighbor, too, must go far. “A new commandment
I give unto you: that you love one another, as I have loved
you.” 20 “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay
down his life for his friends.” 21
Our Savior, to make us understand in what the perfection
of charity consists, prayed for us thus: “Holy Father, keep
them in Thy name, whom Thou hast given Me; that they may
be one, as We also are. . . . And the glory which Thou hast
given Me, I have given to them; that they may be one, as We
also are one.” 22
n Luke io: 27.
is Matt. 5: 48·
is John 1: >4> >6·
it John 6: 47; 8: 51.
1» John 14: 21.
10 John 14: 16. 26.
20 John 13: Si­
li John 15: 13·
22 John 17: 11. 22.

INTRODUCTION

9

St. Matthew’s Gospel is not less sublime when it recalls these
words of Christ: “I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones.” 28
Lastly, St. Paul shows us all that the mystical body of Christ
is and should be; how the Christian must be incorporated
into Christ by a progressive sanctification, which gives a very
broad idea of the three phases distinguished later on.
The purgative way. Incorporated in Christ, the faithful
must orient their lives toward heaven and die more and more
to sin. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon
earth . . . stripping yourselves of the old man with his
deeds.” 23
24*"For we are buried together with Him by baptism
unto death. . . . For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His
resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with
Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed to the end that we
may serve sin no longer.” 28 “And they that are Christ’s have
crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences.” 28
Moreover, the Apostles bore in their bodies "the mortification
of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in
their bodies.” 2728
Fie who sacrifices his life, finds it again trans­
figured. “Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground
die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit.” 28
The illuminative way is also indicated by St. Paul, when he
tells us that the Christian, by the light of faith and under the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, must put “on the new, him who
is renewed unto knowledge, according to the image of Him
that created him. . . . Put ye on therefore, as the elect of
23 Matt. 11: 25.
24 Col. 3: 5, 10.
2s Rom. 6: 4-6: 12: 2.
2« Gal. 5: 24.
22 See II Cor. 4: 10.
28 John 12: 24.

10

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, hu­
mility, modesty, patience. . . . But above all these things
have charity, which is the bond of perfection.” 20 We must
imitate Jesus Christ and those who resemble Him; 80 we must
have His sentiments, catch the spirit of His mysteries, of His
passion,31 crucifixion,32 death, burial,33 resurrection,34 and
ascension.33 St. Paul, moreover, suffers the pains of labor until
Christ be formed in the souls of the faithful,3* until they be
perfectly illuminated by the light of life. “Furthermore, I
count all things to be but loss for the excellent knowledge of
Jesus Christ, my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all
tilings, and count them but as dung, that I may gain Christ.” 32
The unitive way is that followed by the supernaturally en­
lightened Christian who lives in a union that is, so to speak,
continual with Christ. “Therefore, if you be risen with Christ,
seek the things that are above; where Christ is sitting at the
right hand of God. Mind the things that are above, not
the things that are upon the earth. For you are dead (to the
world); and your life is hid with Christ in God.” 33 “And let
the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you
are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of
Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom, teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual
canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatso­
ever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by
Him.” 83 Under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, such is
20 Col. 3: 10, 12, 14; cf. Eph. 4: 1-6; Gal. 2: 9.
so Phil. 2: 5; I Cor. 11: 1.
si Rom. 8: 7.
32 Rom. 6: 5.
ss Rom. 6: 4-11.
3< Col. 3: 1.
3’ Ephes. 2: 6.
se Gal. 4: 19.
st Phil. 3: 8.
«s Col. 3: 1-4.
»» Col. 3: 15-17.

INTRODUCTION

ii

indeed union with God, through Christ and the loving and
delightful contemplation of the great mysteries of faith.40 It
is the normal prelude to the beatific vision. “When Christ
shall appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with
Him in glory.” 41
40 See infra, pp. 311 f„ what St. Paul says about the spirit of wisdom.
« Col. 3: 4.

CHAPTER II
The Actual Mystical Problem

ARTICLE I

Object and Method of Ascetical and Mystical Theology
is to be understood by ascetical and mystical theology?
Is it a special science or a part of theology? What is its particu­
lar object? Under what light does it proceed? What are its
principles? What is its method? These questions must be set­
tled before we seek the distinction between asceticism and mys­
ticism, and before we take up the chief problems they must
solve.

What

I. THE MEANING OF ASCETICAL AND MYSTICAL THEOLOGY;
ITS OBJECT

Theology is the science of God. We distinguish between
natural theology or theodicy, which knows God by the sole
light of reason, and supernatural theology, which proceeds
from divine revelation, examines its contents, and deduces the
consequences of the truths of faith.
Supernatural theology is usually divided into two parts,
dogmatic and moral. Dogmatic theology has to do with re­
vealed mysteries, principally the Blessed Trinity, the incar­
nation, the redemption, the Holy Eucharist and the other
sacraments, and the future life. Moral theology treats of hu­
man acts, of revealed precepts and counsels, of grace, of the
Christian virtues, both theological and moral, and of the gifts
of the Holy Ghost, which are principles of action ordained to
the supernatural end made known by revelation.
11

MEANING OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

>3

Modern theologians have often exaggerated the distinction
between moral and dogmatic theology, giving to the latter the
great treatises on grace and on the infused virtues and gifts,
and reducing the former to casuistry, which is the least lofty
of its applications. Moral theology has thus become, in several
theological works, the science of sins to be avoided rather
than the science of virtues to be practiced and to be developed
under the constant action of God in us. In this way it has lost
some of its pre-eminence and is manifestly insufficient for the
direction of souls aspiring to intimate union with God.
On the contrary, moral theology, as expounded in the second
part of the Summa theologica of St. Thomas, keeps all its
grandeur and its efficacy for the direction of souls called to the
highest perfection. St. Thomas does not, in fact, consider dog­
matic and moral theology as two distinct sciences; sacred doc­
trine, in his opinion, is absolutely one and is of such high
perfection that it contains the perfections of both dogmatic and
moral theology. In other words, it is eminently speculative
and practical, as the science of God from which it springs.1
That is why he treats in detail in the moral part of his Summa
not only human acts, precepts, and counsels, but also habitual
and actual grace, the infused virtues in general and in particu­
lar, the gifts of the Holy Ghost, their fruits, the beatitudes,
the active and contemplative life, the degrees of contempla­
tion, graces gratuitously bestowed, such as the gift of miracles,
the gift of tongues, prophecy, and rapture, and likewise the
religious life and its various forms.
Moral theology thus understood evidently contains the
principles necessary for leading souls to the highest sanctity.
Ascetical and mystical theology is nothing but the applica­
tion of this broad moral theology to the direction of souls
toward ever closer union with God. It presupposes what sacred
doctrine teaches about the nature and the properties of the
Christian virtues and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and it
1 Summa theol., la, q. 1, a.», 8.

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
H
studies the laws and conditions of their progress from the
point of view of perfection.
To teach the practice of the highest virtues and perfect
docility to the Holy Ghost and to lead to the life of union with
God, ascetical and mystical theology assembles all the lights
of dogmatic and moral theology, of which it is the most ele­
vated application and the crown.
The cycle formed by the different parts of theology, with
its evident unity, is thus completed. Sacred science proceeds
from revelation contained in Scripture and tradition, pre­
served and explained by the teaching authority of the Church
It arranges in order all revealed truths and their consequences
in a single doctrinal body, in which the precepts and counsels
are set forth as founded on the supernatural mystery of the
divine life, of which grace is a participation. Lastly, it shows
how, by the practice of the virtues and by docility to the Holy
Ghost, the soul not only arrives at belief in the revealed mys­
teries, but also at the enjoyment of them and at a grasp of the
profound meaning of the word of God, source of all super­
natural knowledge, and at a life of continual union with the
Blessed Trinity who dwells in us. Doctrinal mysticism thus ap­
pears as the final crown of all acquired theological knowledge,
and it can direct souls in the ways of experimental mysticism.
This latter is an entirely supernatural and infused loving
knowledge, full of sweetness, which only the Holy Ghost, by
His unction, can give us and which is, as it were, the prelude
of the beatific vision. Such is manifestly the conception of
ascetical and mystical theology which has been formulated by
the great masters of sacred science, especially by St. Thomas
Aquinas.
This conception corresponds perfectly to the current mean­
ing and etymology of the words “ascetical” and “mystical.”
The term “asceticism,” as its Greek origin indicates, means
the exercise of tire virtues. Among the first Christians those
were called ascetics who devoted themselves to the practice of

MEANING OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

15

mortification, exercises of piety, and other Christian virtues.
Therefore asceticism is that part of theology which directs
souls in the struggle against sin and in the progress of virtue.
Mystical theology, as its name indicates, treats of more hid­
den and mysterious things: of the intimate union of the soul
with God; of the transitory phenomena that accompany cer­
tain degrees of union, as ecstasy; and of essentially extraor­
dinary graces, such as visions and private revelations. In fact,
it was under the title of “Mystical Theology” that Dionysius
and many after him dealt with supernatural contemplation
and the intimate union of the soul with God. By so doing,
they pointed out the principal subject of this teaching.2 All
this is equivalent to saying that ascetical and mystical theology,
or spiritual doctrine, is not a special science but a division of
theology. The great body of theologians has always so under­
stood it.
This does not in any way hinder a psychologist, even though
an unbeliever, from studying the outward aspects of ascetical
and mystical phenomena in Christianity or in other religions.
But this study would be only psychological and would in no
way deserve the name of ascetical and mystical theology. It
would be mostly descriptive. If it should try to explain all
these facts by the merely natural powers of the soul, it would
be declared false by all Catholics, because we would see in it
a materialistic explanation of the higher by the lower, similar
to that which the mechanists propose for vital phenomena.
Having stated these considerations, we may easily answer
the question proposed as to what is the object of ascetical and
2 With certain modern authors, we may say that "mystical theology is based
on dogmatic theology, as ascetical theology is based on moral theology," to use
the expression of an anonymous authority quoted by Sauvé in his excellent
treatise Les états mystiques, 6th ed., p. 1. We believe, however, that this man­
ner of speaking gives rise to a less lofty conception of moral theology than that
formulated by St. Thomas Aquinas, and that it would perhaps lead to an exag­
gerated distinction between ascetical and mystical theology, and to a lack of
perception of the continuity of spiritual progress. We shall return to this ques­
tion, on which Sauvé often expresses himself in a precise and traditional man­
ner in the same treatise.

16

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

mystical theology, without as yet making a distinction be­
tween these two branches of spiritual doctrine. It is Christian
perfection, union with God, the contemplation which this pre­
supposes, the ordinary means leading to it, and the extraor­
dinary helps favoring it.
We might now ask what distinguishes ascetical from mys­
tical theology. But as this delicate problem is solved in a some­
what different way according to the method of treating these
matters, it is better to propose at once the question of method.
II. THE PRINCIPLES AND METHOD OF ASCETICAL AND
MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

After what has just been said about the object of this branch
of theology, it is easy to see what principles it must follow to
attain this object.
The light of revelation contained in Scripture and tradi­
tion is explained by the teaching authority of the Church and
commented upon by dogmatic and moral theology. From the
principles of faith theology deduces the conclusions that they
implicitly contain. By the light of these principles the facts of
the ascetical and mystical life must be examined if we wish
to go beyond simple psychology, and by this light the rules of
direction must be formulated that they may be something
more than unmotivated, practical prescriptions.
This much is clear and is admitted by all Catholic writers.
But if we attempt a more exact statement of the question of
method, we find among authors certain divergencies, which
are not without influence on their theories. Some writers,
especially in mystical theology, use almost exclusively the de­
scriptive and inductive method, which proceeds from facts;
others, on the contrary, follow principally the deductive
method, which proceeds from principles.
A. Descriptive or inductive method. The descriptive school,
without scorning the doctrine of the great theologians on the

PRINCIPLES OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

i7

life of grace and on the ordinary or extraordinary helps of
God, undertakes to describe the different spiritual states and
particularly the mystical states by their signs, rather than to
determine their nature theologically and to examine whether
they proceed from the Christian virtues, from the gifts of the
Holy Ghost, or from graces gratuitously bestowed, such as
prophecy and the charisms connected with it.
Recently several works have been written that are instruc­
tive in certain respects. They are especially collections of de­
scriptions of mystical states, followed by practical rules of
direction and by some supplementary material on theoretical
questions, such as the nature of the mystical union.8 These
treatises are analogous, as their authors declare, to manuals
of practical medicine which teach how to make a diagnosis
quickly and how to prescribe suitable remedies without an ex­
tensive examination into the nature of the ailment or into its
relations with the whole organism.
These works, which are very useful from one point of view,
contain only part of the science: the inductive bases or the
facts, and practical conclusions. The light of theological
principles and doctrinal co-ordination, however, are lacking.
Therefore, the rules of direction contained in these books are
generally, in the opinion of theologians, too empirical and
insufficiently classified and justified. Science is the knowledge
of things, not only from their appearances and their signs,
but from their very nature and their causes. And, as action
springs from the nature of things, no one can in a practical
manner tell the interior soul what it must do, if he has not
determined the very nature of the interior life. How can any­
one say whether the soul may and ought without presumption
to desire the mystical union, before determining the nature of
this union and before recognizing whether it is an essentially
» An example of this type of book is Les grâces d’oraison by the learned and
regretted Father A. Pouiain, S.J. This book should be read attentively by all
who wish to treat of these problems.

18

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

extraordinary gift or an eminent grace generally accorded to
the perfect, a grace necessary, at least morally, for high perfec­
tion? If this question is treated merely as an appendix, as a
purely speculative and quasi-insoluble problem, the rules of
direction previously formulated will not have sufficient doc­
trinal foundation.
Certain partisans of the descriptive school, although admit­
ting the truth of the theological doctrine of the gifts of the
Holy Ghost, which are the principles of mystical contempla­
tion, declare that it “has only historical interest,” 4 because,
they say, it does not throw light on the facts or on the practical
questions of direction. Many theologians think, on the con­
trary, that it makes possible the solution of the important
question we have just been speaking of, and also permits a
distinction between what in the spiritual life belongs to the
order of sanctifying grace in its eminent forms, and what per­
tains to gratuitous graces (gratis datae) which are essentially
extraordinary. Perhaps this doctrine alone enables us to de­
termine the culminating point of the normal development of
the life of grace in an interior soul which is perfectly docile
to the Holy Ghost. This problem is, in fact, one of the most
important in the realm of spirituality.
To supply this doctrinal lacuna and absence of directing
principles, authors who adhere too exclusively to the descrip­
tive method sometimes give, at the outset of their treatise on
mysticism, and as it were a priori, a so-called nominal defini­
tion of the mystical state (quiet or union), which declares it as
extraordinary, or almost so, as visions or private revelations.
Such a definition presupposes a whole theory. These partisans
of the method of observation, struck by certain signs of the
mystical state, which are perhaps only accidental signs, precipi­
tately determine its nature, before asking theology what it
thinks about the matter. But this supreme science alone, en­
lightened as it is by revelation, can say whether the state in
« Father Poulain. Les grâces d’oraison, 9th ed., pp. 132, 164.

PRINCIPLES OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

19
question is the full, normal blossoming of the supernatural
life of union with God, or whether it is an extraordinary gift
in no way necessary for the highest sanctity.
The exclusive use of this descriptive method would lead one
to forget that ascetical and mystical theology is a part of
theology, and to consider it as a part of experimental psy­
chology. In other words, whoever neglects to have recourse
to the light of theological principles, will have to be content
with the principles furnished by psychology, as do so many
psychologists who treat of mystical phenomena in the differ­
ent religions. This procedure, however, does not take faith
into consideration at all; it permits a supernatural cause to be
assigned only to facts which are essentially and manifestly
miraculous. Other mystical facts, which are deeper and hence
less apparently supernatural, it declares inexplicable, or it
tries to explain them by placing undue stress on the merely
natural powers of the soul. The same remark applies to biog­
raphies of the saints, and to the history of religious orders and
even of the Church.
The descriptive method, useful and necessary as it may be,
cannot be exclusive. It is inclined not to appreciate the value
of a fundamental theological distinction which can throw
light on all mystical theology: the distinction between the
intrinsically supernatural (supernaturale quoad substantiam),
characteristic of the intimate life of God, of which sanctifying
grace, or “the grace of the virtues and the gifts,” is a partici­
pation, and the extrinsically supernatural or preternatural
(supernaturale quoad modum tantum), which is the character
of the signs or extraordinary phenomena that tire devil can
imitate. St. Thomas 6 and also St. John of the Cross ’ have
often stated that an abyss exists between these two forms of
the supernatural. We have it, for example, between the essen­
tially supernatural life of invisible grace (which even an angel
5 "Sanctifying grace is nobler than gratuitous grace” (la Ilae, q.3, a.5).
« The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chaps. 10, 19, 20, 25.

20

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

cannot know naturally) and the visible resurrection of a dead
person, which is supernatural only by the mode according to
which natural life is restored to the corpse; or again, between
infused faith in the mystery of the Blessed Trinity and the
supernatural knowledge of a future event in the natural or­
der, such as the end of a war.7 This is the difference between
Christian doctrine and life on the one hand and, on the other,
the miracles and prophecies which confirm its divine origin
and which are merely concomitant signs.
This notable distinction between the two forms of the
supernatural dominates all theology, and is quite indispensa­
ble in mystical theology. But the purely descriptive method
pays scarcely any attention to this distinction; it is impressed
especially by the more or less sensible signs of the mystical
states, and not by the fundamental law of the progress of grace.
The essentially supernatural character of the latter is too pro­
found and too elevated to fall within the scope of observation.
Yet this supernatural element is what most interests faith
and theology.
Moreover, the works of purely descriptive mysticism, useful
as they may be, contain hardly anything but the material of
mystical theology. That is why we fully agree with the follow­
ing words of an excellent Thomist who wrote to us, saying:
“Mystical theology as a special science does not exist; there is
only theology, along with certain applications of it that con­
cern the mystical life. To treat mystical theology as a science
with principles of its own is to impoverish and diminish it
all, and to lose its directing light. The mystical life must be
set forth by the great principles of theology. Then all is illu­
minated, and we have a science, not a mere collection of
phenomena.”
B. Deductive method. We must not, however, fall into the
other extreme and employ simply the deductive theological
7 Cf. infra, p. 59.

PRINCIPLES OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

21

method. Some, with a tendency to simplify everything, would
be led to deduce the solution of the most difficult problems of
spirituality by proceeding horn St. Thomas’ doctrine about
the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost (clearly
distinct from the graces gratis datae) without sufficiently con­
sidering the admirable descriptions of the various degrees of
the spiritual life, notably of the mystical union, given by St.
Teresa, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis de Sales, and other
great saints. And since, according to St. Thomas and tradi­
tion, the gifts of the Holy Ghost are in every soul in the state
of grace, some persons might suppose that the mystical state
or infused contemplation is very frequent, and might con­
found with them what is only their prelude, as, for example,
the prayer of simplicity, so well described by Bossuet.8 Hence
the inclination not to take sufficient account of the concomi­
tant or auxiliary phenomena of certain degrees of the mystical
union, such as the suspension of the faculties and ecstasy, and
hence the danger of falling into an extreme opposed to that of
the partisans of the solely descriptive method.
These two extremes should be avoided. They recall the
opposition in philosophy between those who consider only
miracles and prophecies (concomitant signs of revelation) and
those who speak only of the harmony and sublimity of Chris­
tian life and doctrine.
As a result of these two excesses, there are two other ex­
tremes to be avoided in spiritual direction: advising souls to
leave the ascetical way either too soon or too late. We will
return to this point.
Union of the two methods. Evidently these two methods,
the inductive and the deductive, or the analytical and the
synthetical, must be combined.
8 Bossuet, Manière courte et facile de faire l’oraison en foi et de simple pré­
sence de Dieu (a short work addressed to the Visitation Sisters of Meaux). This
prayer may be called contemplation, but if it is compared with even the in­
ferior passive states described by St. Teresa, evidently it does not deserve the
name of essentially mystical contemplation, except perhaps for short moments,
and in its second phase.

2Ï

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

In the light of the principles of theology we must deter­
mine what Christian perfection should be, without in any
way diminishing it; what is the nature of the contemplation
it supposes, the ordinary means leading to it, and the extraor­
dinary helps favoring it. To do this, we must analyze the con­
cepts of Christian life, perfection, and holiness furnished by
the Gospel; and we must also describe the facts of the ascetical
and mystical life by studying the testimony of the saints who
have best experienced them and revealed them. In this de­
scription of facts, accompanied by the analysis of the corre­
sponding theological concepts, we must seek to determine the
nature of these facts or interior states, and to distinguish them
from the concomitant and auxiliary phenomena. The authors
most helpful in this study are those who were both great
theologians and great mystics, as St. Thomas, St. Bonaventure,
Richard of St. Victor, St. John of the Cross, and St. Francis
de Sales.
After analyzing these concepts and facts, we must synthesize
them in the light of the evangelical conception of perfection
or sanctity. We must show: (i) what is essential or conform­
able to Christian perfection, and what is contrary to it; (2)
what is necessary or very useful and desirable to reach it, and
what is essentially extraordinary and not required for the
highest sanctity.
In all this study, a supremely important distinction is that
between the intrinsically extraordinary (the miraculous) and
the extrinsically extraordinary, which is the ordinary or the
normal in the lives of the saints, being at the same time as
rare as sanctity itself. The omission of this distinction is the
source of frequent ambiguities in several modem works,
which do not sufficiently appreciate the great divisions of the
supernatural. Thus, in the light of theological ideas and
principles, we shall be able to discern the facts and to formu­
late rules of direction by motivating them. In our opinion,
this is the true method of ascetical and mystical theology. No

UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

23
other method will serve, since mystical theology is the ap­
plication of theology to the direction of souls toward an ever
closer union with God.
We must now examine the distinction between ascetical and
mystical theology, their relations, and the unity of spiritual
doctrine. This is a delicate question. In its consideration we
must not forget that God calls all interior souls to drink from
the fountain of living water, where they will find life in
abundance, even beyond their desires, “that they may have
life, and may have it more abundantly.” According to the
saints, the soul which, for the love of God, labors to strip it­
self of all that is not God, is soon penetrated with light and so
united to God that it becomes like Him and enters into the
possession of all His goods.

ARTICLE II
The Distinction Between Ascetical Theology and Mystical
Theology and the Unity of Spiritual Doctrine

Ascetical and mystical theology is the application of the­
ology in the direction of souls toward an ever more intimate
union with God. It must use the inductive and deductive meth­
ods, studying the facts of the spiritual life in the light of re­
vealed principles and of the theological doctrines deduced
from these principles. We must now see what distinguishes
ascetical from mystical theology; and whether this distinc­
tion is such as to exclude continuity in the passage from one
to the other, or unity in the spiritual doctrine. Earlier writers
and a number of modern authors are not in agreement on this
point.
I. TRADITIONAL THESIS: THE UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

Until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it was gen­
erally held that mystical theology included not only the
mystical union, infused contemplation, its degrees and the ex-

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
24
traordinary graces that sometimes accompany it (visions and
private revelations), but also Christian perfection in general,
and the first phases of the spiritual life, the normal progress
of which thus seemed directed toward the mystical union as
its culminating point. All these together formed a whole that
was truly one: a spiritual doctrine dominated by a very high
idea of perfection, drawn from the Gospel and the saints, and
unified by the commonly accepted principle that infused or
mystical contemplation 1 is ordinarily granted to the perfect
and proceeds especially from the gift of wisdom, the progress
of which is proportionate to that of charity. In other words,
they agreed in recognizing that an eminent degree of charity,
which is the principle of a very intimate union with God, is
normally accompanied by eminent, confused contemplation,
which is at the same time very penetrating and delightful.
This charity is likewise accompanied by a quasi-experimental
knowledge of the mystery of God who is closer to the soul
than it is to itself, of God who makes Himself felt by it and
who acts constantly on it, in trial as well as in consolation, as
much to destroy what should die as to renovate and build up.
These assertions may be verified by consulting the mys­
tical theologies of Vallgornera (Dominican), of Thomas of
Jesus, Dominic of the Blessed Trinity, Anthony of the Holy
Ghost, Philip of the Blessed Trinity (Carmelites),2 and, farther
in the past, the works of St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa,
Venerable Louis de Blois,’ Venerable Dionysius the Carthu1 This is quite distinct from visions and private revelations.
2 For example, Philip of the Blessed Trinity, Summa theolog. mysticae (1874
ed.), says: “Debent omnes ad supernaturalem contemplationem aspirare: nihil
honestius, utilius, delectabilius” (II, 299). "Debent omnes et maxime Deo
specialiter consecratae animae, ad actualem fruitivam unionem cum Deo as­
pirare et tendere" (III, 43). "Contemplationis supernaturalis gratia aliquando
conceditur imperfectis, aliquando denegatur perfectis” (II, 310). "Aliquando”
indicates the exception rather than the rule. Cf. also Thomas of Jesus, De
contemplatione divina, Bk. I, chap. 9.
5 Louis de Blois sums up the traditional teaching on this point in his In­
stitutio spiritualis, chap. 1: "All men should aspire to union with God”; chap.

UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

25

sian, Tauler, Blessed Henry Suso, Blessed Bartholomew of the
Martyrs, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, St. .Albert
the Great, Dionysius the Mystic, and St. Augustine.
St. Thomas especially showed the relation between what are
today called ascetical theology and mystical theology, by treat­
ing of the mutual relations of action and contemplation. With
St. Augustine and St. Gregory, this is what he teaches: The
active life, to which is attached the exercise of the moral vir­
tues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance,4 and the
outward works of charity, prepares for the contemplative life,
in so far as it regulates the passions that disturb contempla­
tion, and in so far as it makes us grow in the love of God and
of our neighbor.6 Then the contemplation of God, which
is proper to the perfect, leads to action, directs it, and ren­
ders it much more supernatural and fruitful.6 Thus in the
natural order the image precedes the idea and then serves to
express it; the emotion precedes the will and then serves
to execute with greater ardor the thing willed; and so again,
says St. Thomas, our acts engender a habit, then this habit
makes us act more promptly and easily.7 In this way asceticism
does not cease when the contemplative life begins; on the con­
trary, the exercise of the different virtues becomes truly
superior when the soul receives the mystical grace of almost
continual union with God.
Some souls, remarks St. Thomas, by reason of their im­
petuosity are more fitted for the active life; others have by
nature the purity of spirit and the calm which prepare them
more for contemplation; 8 but all can prepare themselves for
12: "How the mystical union with God is brought about in the soul which has
reached perfection: (1) He who perseveres ordinarily obtains the mystical
union; ... (3) Some opinions on this union; (4) Its effects."
* Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 181, a. 1, 2.
» Ibid., q.182, a.3.
« Ibid., a. 4.
r Ibid., ad turn.
• Ibid., ad sum.
fT ' 0 C‘ * /

Fraternitas Sacerdo tails Sancti Tetri

26

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

the contemplative life,’ which is the most perfect and in it­
self tire most meritorious.10 “Love of God is in fact more
meritorious than love of our neighbor.” 11 It is love which
leads us, says St. Augustine, to seek the holy repose of divine
contemplation.12 “And if one of the signs of charity is the
external labor that we impose on ourselves for Christ’s sake,
a far more expressive sign is to put aside all that pertains to
the present life and to find our happiness in giving ourselves
up exclusively to the contemplation of God.” 18 "The more
closely a man unites his own or another’s soul to God, the
more acceptable is his sacrifice to God.” 14
St. John of the Cross insists on this point: supernatural
contemplation, which he speaks of in The Ascent of Mount
Carmel and in The Dark Night, appears there as the full de­
velopment of “the life of faith” and of the spirit of wisdom.
“Faith alone,” he says, “is the proximate and proportionate
means which can unite the soul to God.” 18 “Pure faith, in the
denudation and abnegation of all, inclines far more to divine
love than spiritual visions.” 10
This is true if we do not diminish, as several modem
authors do, the essentially supernatural character of faith, and
if we remember that even when this virtue is obscure and im­
perfect or separated from charity, it is, by reason of its first
object and its motive, infinitely superior to the loftiest natural
knowledge of the angels, or even to the supernatural pre­
vision of natural, contingent futures. It is of the same essen­
tially divine order as the beatific vision. St. Paul says that
infused faith, the gift of God, is “the substance of things to be
hoped for.” Especially when accompanied by the gifts of wis9 Ibid.
10 Ibid., a.±.
H Ibid.
iz City of God, Bk. XIX, sec. ig.
is Summa, Ha Ilae, q. 182, a. 2 ad lum.
1* Ibid., ad gum.
1» The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Π, chaps. 2, 3, 8.
st Ibid., pp. 202 f.

UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

27

dom and understanding in an eminent degree, it is, so to
speak, the beginning of eternal life, inchoatio vitae aternae,
as St. Thomas says in De veritate, q. 14, a. 2.
If we wish to understand all the grandeur of the life of faith
in which every Christian should make progress, we must read
the masters of traditional mysticism. Once we have grasped
their point of view, we will not be surprised that the perfect
mystical life is the culminating point of the normal develop­
ment of the life of grace. Thus the unity of doctrine and of
the spiritual life is maintained in spite of the diversity of
interior states.
II. THESIS OF SEVERAL MODERN AUTHORS: SEPARATION
OF ASCETICAL FROM MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

Since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, several
authors have thought that it was necessary to separate ascetical
from mystical theology, which since then have often become
the subjects of special treatises called “Ascetical Directory”
and “Mystical Directory.”
This division followed upon lively discussions that were
occasioned by abuses springing from a premature and errone­
ous teaching of the mystical ways. From the time of St. Teresa,
these ways seemed to many theologians so suspect that the
writings of St. John of the Cross had to be defended against
the charge of illuminism, and superiors were roused to the
point of forbidding their religious to read the works of Vener­
able John Tauler, Ruysbroeck, Blessed Henry Suso, St. Ger­
trude, and St. Mechtildis. After the condemnation of the
errors of Molinos, the mystical ways were even more suspect.
Since then a rather large number of authors, who are ex­
cellent in many respects, have agreed on making an absolute
distinction between ascetical and mystical theology. Exces­
sively eager to systematize things and to establish a doctrine
to remedy abuses, and consequently led to classify things ma­
terially and objectively, without a sufficiently lofty and pro­

28

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

found knowledge of them, they declared that ascetical theology
should treat of the “ordinary” Christian life according to the
three ways, the purgative, the illuminative, and the unitive.
As for mystical theology, it should treat only of extraordinary
graces, among which they included not only visions and pri­
vate revelations, but also supernatural, confused contempla­
tion, the passive purifications, and the mystical union.
Therefore the mystical union no longer appears in their
arrangement as the culminating point of the normal develop­
ment of sanctifying grace, of the virtues, and of the gifts. Ac­
cording to their view, infused contemplation is not the life of
faith and the spirit of wisdom carried to their perfection, to
their full efflorescence; but it seems rather to be attached to
graces gratis datae, such as prophecy, or at least to an entirely
extraordinary or miraculous mode of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost. Because they place the mystical union and infused con­
templation among the graces gratis datae, these authors coun­
sel already fervent souls against seeking not only visions and
private revelations, but also the mystical union and infused
contemplation, if they would avoid all presumption and would
advance in humility: altiora te ne quaesieris. This seems quite
like the mistake made by those spiritual directors who refused
daily communion to these same souls, alleging that humility
does not permit one to aim so high.
These authors thus distinguish a unitive life called “or­
dinary,” the only one necessary, they say, to perfection, from
a unitive life called “extraordinary,” which, according to
them, is not even required for great sanctity. From this point
of view, asceticism does not lead to mysticism, and the perfec­
tion, or “ordinary” union, to which it leads, is normally an
end and not a disposition to a more intimate and more ele­
vated union. Hence mystical theology is of importance only
to some very rare, privileged souls; we may just as well, then,
almost ignore it in order to avoid presumption and delusion.

UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

29
In their desire to remedy one abuse, are they not falling
into another which is clearly and repeatedly pointed out in
The Ascent of Mount Carmel1T and in The Spiritual Canticle?
Father Lallemant, one of the best spiritual writers of the So­
ciety of Jesus, complains rather bitterly of this conception of
the mystical life as quasi-inaccessible. In his opinion, this con­
ception bars the way to high perfection and intimate union
with God.18 As a result of this teaching, many souls have been
diverted from reading St. John of the Cross, although he is
the master who best fortifies against illusion and the desire for
graces which are essentially extraordinary.18
III. RETURN TO THE TRADITIONAL THESIS: UNITY OF

SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

The question may arise as to whether this absolute distinc­
tion and lack of continuity between ascetical and mystical
theology does not notably diminish the elevation of Christian
perfection which is the end of the normal progress of sanctify­
ing grace and of charity in this life; whether it does not lose
sight of the fact that the progress of the gifts of the Holy Ghost
is proportionate to that of charity, which ought always to
grow; and whether it does not confound strictly extraordinary
graces with eminent and rather uncommon graces granted or­
dinarily to lofty perfection, a state that is rather uncommon
by reason of the very great abnegation which it supposes. In
it "There is no more disturbing or more painful state for the soul than that
of not seeing clearly into itself and of not finding anyone who understands it.
Led by God to the heights of obscure contemplation and of aridity, it will seem
to it that it is going astray: and in the midst of darkness, sufferings, anguish,
and temptations, its director will say to it, as Job’s consolers did to him: 'That
is all melancholy and weakness. Perhaps you are guilty of hidden malice, as
a result of which God leaves you in this abandoned condition' ” (Prologue, p. 5).
>s La doctrine spirituelle, 7th principle, chap. 6, a.3, sec. 11 ; 4th principle,
"Docility to the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost,” chap. 1, a.3: chap. 11, a.a.
Among later Jesuit authors, consult also the works of Father de Caussade and
Father Grou.
1® The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Il, chaps. 10, 11, 16, 17, 20, 28.

30

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

short, does not this distinction confound the extrinsically ex­
traordinary, which is the very elevated ordinary of tire life of
union with God in the saints in this life, and the intrinsically
extraordinary or the miraculous, which, more often than not,
is only a sign or a transitory help inferior in order to the life
of grace?
We may ask whether this teaching does not misunderstand
and lessen the traditional doctrine of the great theologians and
mystics on the essentially supernatural quality 20 of the life
of grace, of faith, of charity, of the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
That life is incomparably above the phenomenon of ecstasy,
which in a certain sense is external, above miracles and
prophecies, since in its perfection it is, as it were, the prelude
to the beatific vision, which a holy soul, already perfectly
purified, normally obtains without passing through purgatory.
During the past few years these questions have led several
writers, such as Father Saudreau, Father Lamballe, and Fa­
ther Arintero, O.P., to reject such an absolute distinction
between ascetical and mystical theology and to note the con­
tinuity existing between them. They appealed to the testi­
mony of St. John of the Cross, who says: “Those, who in the
spiritual life still exercise themselves in meditation, belong
to the state of beginners. When it pleases God to make them
leave it, it is for the purpose of introducing them into the way
of progress, which is that of contemplatives, and of making
them arrive safely and surely by this means at the state of the
perfect, that is to say, divine union.” 21 This last, in the lan­
guage of the author of The Dark Night of the Soul, is mani­
festly in the mystical order. As Father Lamballe22 shows in
various texts taken from St. John of the Cross, it follows that
mystical contemplation is ordinarily granted to the perfect,
20 Supernatural quoad substantiam, says sound theology in contradistinction
to supernatural quoad modum of sensible miracles or of prophetic knowl­
edge of future events.
31 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 1.
22 La Contemplation (1912), pp. 61-71.

UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

31

although certain perfect souls have it only in an imperfect
manner and for short periods of time.28
St. Teresa expresses the same opinion, when she says: "His
mercy is so great that He hinders no one from drinking of the
fountain of life [infused contemplation]. . . . Indeed, He
calls us loudly and publicly to do so. He is so good that He
will not force us to drink of it.” 24 The saint always teaches her
daughters that they must direct all their efforts toward pre­
paring themselves to receive this precious grace, even though
certain souls, in spite of their good will, do not experience its
joys in this life. Contemplation may, in fact, be arid for a
long time, during which one may be a contemplative without
knowing it.25 Pius X, in his letter (March 7, 1914) on the
23 St. John of the Cross (The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 9) cer­
tainly says: "Let it be well understood that God does not lead to perfect con­
templation all who give themselves resolutely to the interior life. Why is that?
God alone knows. Whence it comes that there are souls from whom God
never completely withdraws the power to consider and reason except for a
time." The words “God alone knows,” show that that is not the fundamental
law of spiritual progress; quite the contrary. These words are an allusion to
predestination, which St. John of the Cross understands as St. Thomas does,
for he says, in The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 5: “It is true that
souls, whatever their capacity may be, may have attained union, but all do not
possess it in the same degree. God disposes freely of this degree of union, as He
disposes freely of the degree of the beatific vision.” This is what St. Thomas
says in la, q.23, a.5. The predestination of one soul rather than another does
not directly concern the question proposed in this article: Is the mystical
union in this life the summit of the normal development of the sanctifying
grace of the virtues and of the gifts? The proof of this lies in the fact that, in
all the just, grace is essentially ordained to glory, and yet all are not predestined
to glory; some, in fact, lose grace and die in the state of mortal sin. “Many
are called, but few are chosen.”
The Way of Perfection, chap. 20.
25 Certain restrictions, expressed by St. Teresa in the Way of Perfection
(chap. 17) and in The Interior Castle (fifth mansion, chap. 3), when they are
compared with the general principle which she formulates and develops in
The Way of Perfection (chaps. 18, 20, 25, 29), must be understood in this way.
Consult the harmonizing of the different texts of St. Teresa by Father Arintero.
O.P., Evoluciôn mistica, p. 639 note 2, and Cuestiones misticas, pp. 305 if., as
well as the excellent work of Father Garate, Razôn y Fe, July, 1908, p. 325. It
is certain that the joys of the mystical union are not necessary to perfection,
and that supernatural contemplation is often very arid and painful. In The
Interior Castle (fifth mansion, chap. 1), St. Teresa, speaking of the religious
of her monasteries, says: "There are very few who do not enter this fifth man­

32

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

teaching of St. Teresa, says that the degrees of prayer enu­
merated by the saint are so many steps up toward the summit
of Christian perfection: “Docet enim gradus orationis quot
numerantur, veluti totidem superiores in Christiana perfec­
tione ascensus esse.”
Moreover, according to several contemporary theologians,
whose number is growing daily and who are eager to preserve
the traditional teaching as it is formulated in the great classics
of mystical theology, it is laudable for every interior soul to
desire the grace of mystical contemplation and to prepare for
it with the help of God by increasing fidelity to His holy in­
spirations.2’
According to these theologians, especially Father Arintero,
O.P., the mystical life is characterized by the predominance of
the gifts of the Holy Ghost.27 Ascetical theology, they say,
treats of the Christian life of beginners, and of those who adsion. As there are some who enter more and some less, I say the majority enter.
Certain graces which are found therein, are, I believe, the portion of the few;
but if the others merely reach the door, even that is an immense mercy on the
part of God. for ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’ ”
2e St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Prologue: "In order
to attain the divine light and the perfect union of the love of God, I speak
of what can be realized in this life, the soul must pass through the dark night.
Without a doubt, to explain this night and to make it understood, one should
have deeper learning and greater experience than mine. ... I hope that the
Lord will help me to express useful truths, in order that I may in this wav
assist so many souls who are in urgent need of help. After the first steps in
the path of virtue, when the Lord desires to make these souls enter the dark
night, to lead them to the divine union, there are some who do not go any
farther. Sometimes the desire to do so is lacking, or they are not willing to
be led therein; sometimes it is because of ignorance, or because they seek in
vain a guide capable of leading them to the summit. It is truly heartrending
to see how many souls, favored by the Lord with gifts and exceptional graces
(at times they would need only a little courage to attain high perfection),
are content with inferior relations with God.” The aim of this entire prologue
is to correct many errors in the matter of direction. We know that, in the
judgment of St. John of the Cross, the dark night is a period of mystical con­
templation. In this same prologue he says so: "Led by God to the heights of
obscure contemplation and of aridity, it will seem to the soul that it is going
astray.”
22 These gifts are specifically distinct from the infused virtues (la Ilae.
q.68, a->).

UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

33

vance with the help of grace in the exercise of the Christian
virtues, the mode of which remains a human mode adapted
to that of our faculties. On the other hand, mystical theology
treats especially of the unitive life of the perfect, in which
there is clearly manifest the divine mode of the gifts of the
Holy Ghost, in the exercise of which the soul is more passive
than active, and in which it obtains a “quasi-experimental”
knowledge of God present in it, as St. Thomas explains.28
“These gifts,” the great doctor tells us, “exist in all souls in
the state of grace”; but normally they do not predominate, nor
do they act in a manner both frequent and manifest except in
very humble, mortified souls that are habitually docile to the
Holy Ghost. Some souls excel in the gifts relating to the active
life, such as the gift of fortitude; others in those of the con­
templative life, as understanding and wisdom. The latter espe­
cially enter the “passive ways,” because they no longer direct
themselves, but are habitually directed immediately by God.
He gives to their acts that mode which He alone can com­
municate to them, as, for example, when a master directs his
pupil by holding his hand. These acts are thus doubly super­
natural (reduplicative, as the Scholastics say): by their essence,
as acts of the Christian virtues of the ascetical life; and by this
superior mode, which surpasses the simple exercise of the
Christian virtues aided by actual grace. This is what makes it
possible for St. Teresa to speak of “supernatural prayer”
when the passive ways begin.29 But this divine mode of the
supernatural acts, which spring immediately from the in­
spirations of the Holy Ghost, is not essentially extraordinary,
like a miracle, a vision, a prophecy, but something eminent
and ordinary in the perfect, who live habitually recollected
28 See la Ilae, q.68, and Bk. I of the Sentences, d.14, q.2, a. 2 ad gum.
29 On this point, consult the following Dominican authors: Suso, Mystical
Works; Tauler, Sermons; Piny, L'abandon à la volonté de Dieu. The follow­
ing Jesuit authors should be read: Father Lallemant, La doctrine spirituelle;
Father Grou, Maximes spirituelles (2d maxim); Father de Caussade, L'aban­
don à la Providence. See also St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the
Soul, Part I.

34

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

in adoration of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity present
in them.80
Such, in fact, is the principal subject treated by all the great
mystical theologians from Dionysius to Tauler and St. John
of the Cross, who often uses the single word “faith” to indicate
this virtue and the gift of wisdom in a superior degree.
These masters discuss secondarily the so-called exterior
phenomena, which accompany certain degrees of the mys­
tical union—for example, ecstasy, which disappears with the
transforming union. They always make a sharp distinction
between this very intimate union with God, which is the goal
of their desires and of their entire life, and the extraordinary
graces of inferior order, such as visions, or the prophetic
knowledge of the future; graces which, in their opinion, we
ought not to desire.
From this point of view, interpreters of St. John of the
Cross, such as Father Lamballe and Father Arintero, O.P.,S1
consider that the transforming union or spiritual marriage is
in this life the summit of the normal development of the life
of grace in souls which are entirely faithful to the Holy Ghost,
especially in those consecrated to God and called to the con­
templative life. Some theologians have thought that this
normal goal of spiritual progress does not pass beyond the
prayer of quiet, after which the extraordinary, properly so
called, would begin with union and ecstasy.82 According to
so A miraculous, sensible effect, such as life restored to a dead body, is not
supernatural in its essence, but only in the mode of its production; while the
exercise of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is supernatural both in its essence and
in its mode, quoad substantiam et quoad modum.
si Lamballe, La Contemplation, p. 195. Arintero, Evolution mistica, pp.
460-80; Cuestiones misticas, pp. 60, 571 note: "Explanation of the graces neces­
sary for the transforming union.” Sauvé seems favorably inclined to this thesis
in États mystiques, pp. 85, 90-96, 100-05, 139-41, 1(’2·
szSaudreau, in the first editions of his books, did not clearly affirm that
the transforming union is the summit of the normal development of the life
of grace on earth. It even seemed to us that, in his opinion, this summit did
not reach beyond the prayer of quiet, a thesis which we could not admit. It
is clear, from what he says in the second edition of L'état mystique (pp. 51,
192) and in the third edition of the Vie d’union à Dieu (p. 259), that we agree

UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

35
what St. Teresa says of souls which do not progress beyond the
prayer of quiet, it seems clear, however, that they failed in
fidelity to the Holy Ghost, and that normally they should
have arrived at a closer union with God, which she calls a
“higher degree of perfection.” ” St. John of the Cross teaches
the same doctrine.34
It may well be that ecstasy does not (at least necessarily)
imply anything extraordinary in the real sense of the word. It
seems often to come from the weakness of the organism which
swoons under the divine action. It may be only the reaction
of a profound interior grace, which absorbs all the attention
and all the strength of the soul in God, who is intimately
present to the soul and who makes Himself felt by it. From
this point of view, continuity would exist between all the
degrees of the mystical union, from the prayer of quiet to the
transforming union, in which tire soul no longer experiences
“the weakness of ecstasy,” to use the expression of St. Hildegarde.
completely. In this last reference he says clearly: "With these ordinary super­
natural prayers, the soul may attain even the transforming union, the summit
of the spiritual life, without ever having had an ecstasy or a vision.”
33 St. Teresa, Life, chap. 15: "Many are the souls who attain to this state
(the prayer of quiet), and few are they who go farther." In The Interior Castle,
fourth mansion, chap. 3, and fifth mansion, chap. 1, with regard to entrance
into the fifth mansion (superior to the prayer of quiet), she says: “Even
though all of us . . . are called to contemplation . . . there are few who pre­
pare themselves so that the Lord may reveal to them this precious pearl of
which we are speaking. For although in what concerns the exterior there is
nothing reprehensible in our conduct, this does not suffice to reach so high
a degree of perfection. How necessary it is to banish all negligence.”
sr Particularly when he describes (The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II,
chaps. t8-zo) the ten degrees of charity enumerated by St. Bernard, it is evi­
dent he believes that the inferior degrees should normally lead to the higher
degrees, and to the highest of all. Besides, he adds that the progress of con­
templation is proportionate to that of charity. The entire work of St. John
of the Cross seems to manifest clearly the continuity of the degrees of the
mystical union up to the transforming union. Some writers, it is true, have
thought that St. John of the Cross writes only for a few rare contemplatives. He
himself says, however, at the end of the Prologue of The Ascent of Mount
Carmel, that he proposes “a solid and substantial doctrine which is addressed
to all, on condition that they decide to pass through nudity of the spirit."

36

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

This is the opinion of Father Lamballe, of Father Arintero,
O.P., and of several other contemporary theologians whom
we have consulted. They hold, moreover, that simplified af­
fective prayer, which precedes essentially mystical or passive
prayer, is normally a disposition to receive the latter. Thus
continuity would exist between the ascetical and the mystical
life; the first would be characterized by the human mode of
the Christian virtues, the second by the divine mode of the
gifts of the Holy Ghost, intervening no longer in a latent or
transitory way, but in a manner both manifest and frequent.
Before the mystical or passive state, in a period of transition
(the prayer of simplicity described by Bossuet) there would be
transient mystical acts, which by their nature would dispose
the soul for the true life of union. This would be the adult or
perfect age of the spiritual life, or the life of grace aware of
itself.
If the above is true—as we shall see, the authors cited adduce
weighty reasons for their view—the soul which as yet possesses
nothing of the mystical life has not passed beyond infancy or
the adolescence of spiritual life. Such a soul should recall St.
Paul’s words: “Brethren, do not become children in sense: but
in malice be children, and in sense be perfect.” 35 This soul
has not reached spiritual maturity, the perfect age attainable
in this life. It may have great learning even in theology, may
know how to live, may possess prudence, faith, charity, zeal,
enthusiasm, and a great apostolic activity; but, in spite of its
solid Christian virtues and zeal, it is not sufficiently spiritual­
ized. Its manner of living remains too human, too exterior,
and still too dependent on temperament. It does not give evi­
dence of the entirely supernatural, divine mode of thinking,
of loving God, and of acting, which characterizes those who
are truly dead to themselves and perfectly docile to the Holy
Ghost. Ordinarily the latter alone have, in all circumstances
*· See I Cor. 14: ïo.

UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

37
whether agreeable or painful, “the mind of Christ,” which
enables them to judge soundly of spiritual things and to recon­
cile habitually in their lives virtues apparently contradictory
in nature: the simplicity of the dove and the prudence of the
serpent; heroic fortitude and gentle sweetness; humility of
heart and magnanimity; a faith absolutely unyielding when
principles are at stake and a great mercy for the misguided;
an intense interior life, continual recollection, and a fruitful
apostolate.
This last conception of the connection between ascetical
and mystical theology deserves consideration. Those who have
often read and meditated on the great masters of traditional
mystical theology will be inclined to acquiesce, we believe,
in this interpretation, when they recall the following princi­
ples, which are the certain expression of the teaching of St.
Thomas.
1) Christian perfection consists in union with God, which
supposes in us the full development of charity, of the other
virtues, and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which supply for
the imperfection of these virtues and are in us the immediate
principle of supernatural contemplation.
2) The three theological virtues are supernatural in their
essence (quoad substantiam) because of their formal motive
and their proper object, both of which are unattainable by
reason alone or even by the highest natural knowledge of the
angels. Several theologians, following the inferior teaching of
nominalism, have thought, on the contrary, that acts of faith
and of the other Christian virtues are essentially natural acts,
clothed with a supernatural modality (supernatural in man­
ner only, not by reason of their formal object). They would
thus more closely resemble a supernaturalized natural af­
fection than an affection supernatural in its essence and by its
formal motive. An immense difference exists between these
two conceptions of faith and of the other theological virtues.

38

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Only the former is true,38 and shows clearly why faith in the
mystery of the Blessed Trinity is infinitely superior to the
natural intuitions of genius, and superior in general to graces
gratis datae, even, for example, to the supernatural prevision
of a future event, such as the end of a plague.87
3) The gifts of the Holy Ghost are doubly supernatural,
not only in their essence (as the theological virtues and the
other infused virtues), but in their mode of action. By them
the soul no longer directs itself with the assistance of grace,
but is directed and moved immediately by divine inspiration;
and when, by perfect fidelity to the Holy Ghost, it lives habit­
ually under the régime of the gifts, it is in a passive state.
4) These gifts, rendering us docile to the breath of God,
grow with charity like the infused virtues. Now, charity ought
always to increase in this life by our merits and by holy
communion. Whoever does not advance, falls back, because,
according to the observation of St. Augustine and of St.
Thomas,88 the first precept has no limit and only the saints
fulfil it perfectly. “Thou 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.” 88
5) If we consider, not what actually is, but rather what
ought to be, not the weakness of our nature and the fickleness
of our free will, but rather the very essence of the grace re­
ceived at baptism and of charity, we must admit that normally,
or according to its fundamental law, grace ought never to be
lost (although many Christians fall into mortal sin). Similarly
se We have proved this at length elsewhere: De revelatione, I, 202-17,
458-515. Cf. St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.5, a.i: “In the object of faith, there is
something formal, as it were, namely, the First Truth surpassing all the natural
knowledge of a creature, and something material, namely, the thing to which
we assent while adhering to the First Truth."
st “Whether gratuitous grace is nobler than sanctifying grace" (la Ilae,
q.ii1, a.5).
es Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 3.
so Luke 10: 27.

UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

39
this life of grace, the germ of glory, the beginning of eternal
life, should normally develop to such an extent that the fire
of charity would purify us of all stains before death and per­
mit us to enter heaven without passing through purgatory.
Through their own fault souls are detained in purgatory,
where they no longer have any opportunity to merit. To see
God face to face immediately after death would be in the
radical order; that is why the souls in purgatory suffer so
greatly at being deprived of this vision. Therefore, according
to the fundamental law of the life of grace, the painful
purifications that cleanse the soul of its impurities should
be meritorious and should precede death, as they do in the
saints; they should not follow death. Since all this is true,
why should not the mystical union, accompanied by these
passive purifications, be the normal flowering of the life of
grace, although few souls actually reach it, just as few pre­
serve baptismal innocence? If the mystical union, as a matter
of fact, is not ordinary, why should it not at least be expected
at the end of a very generous interior life? The extraordinary
would then still consist in the bestowal of these eminent
graces from infancy on, as has happened in the lives of several
saints.
Everyone agrees that practically two excesses must be
avoided in the direction of souls: urging souls to leave the
ascetical way too soon or too late. If they leave too soon, they
are exposed to the danger of falling into the idleness of quiet­
ism ora practical semi-quietism; if too late, they are in danger
of abandoning prayer because they no longer find any profit
in discursive meditation, where the director wishes to keep
them, or in danger of not understanding anything about the
obscure, but much more spiritual, way along which the Lord
is beginning to lead them. On this point St. John of the Cross,
in The Ascent of Mount Carmel40 and in The Dark Night, has
<»Bk. II, chaps. 12, 13.

40

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

left us valuable teaching. Among recent works on this subject,
one of tire soundest is Les voies de l’oraison mentale, by Dom
Vital Lehodey.41
What does experience teach? Does it not say that the actual
condition and the normal ideal (that which should be ex­
pected) finally harmonize, at least at the end of a holy life?
All the canonized saints seem to have had the mystical union
often, except some martyrs who may have had it only at the
moment of their torture.42 St. Teresa declares that in her mon­
asteries are many souls that reach the essentially mystical
prayer of quiet; that some, more advanced, habitually enjoy
the prayer of union; and that a number of others enjoy it at
intervals.48
Especially in contemplative religious orders, at times souls
are found that have certainly passed beyond discursive medi­
tation or the prayer of simplicity. These souls experience great
distress when they are obliged to cease their thanksgiving after
holy communion; they are wholly caught up by God, as it were
absorbed in Him, and live by the mysteries of the Blessed
Trinity, the incarnation, and the redemption, in an incom­
parably deeper manner than the most learned theologian,
if the latter is not truly a man of prayer. These lives, although
acquainted with rather uncommon interior joys and suffer­
ings, are not really extraordinary in the true sense of this
word. They alone, on the contrary, are entirely in order. They
even avoid the extraordinary as much as possible, according to
the advice of St. John of the Cross,44 which is their daily sus­
tenance. This great doctor directs them more and more toward
«1 Fifth ed.. pp. 227-36, 409.
« Father Poulain, S.J., concedes this: "Almost all canonized saints have had
the mystical union, and as a rule abundantly" (Les graces d’oraison, 9th ed.,
p. 554). Father Poulain also recognizes the existence of a period of transition
between the ascetical way and the mystical, a period which denotes a certain
continuity between the two. Cf. Les grâces d’oraison, pp. 13, 122.
Life, chap. 15: Foundations, chap. 4; The Interior Castle, fifth mansion,
chap. 1.
« The Aseent af Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chaps. 10, 19, 20. »5.

UNITY OF SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE

41

the Blessed Trinity dwelling in us; they experience great joy
in reading the beautiful pages of St. Augustine and St. Thomas
on this mystery; and they express themselves even on the Fa­
therhood of God, on the infinite value of the merits of Christ,
on the fruit of a fervent communion, with a spontaneity and
freshness quite different from that produced by scholarly
learning obtained from books. To the end that we may live in
this way, these supernatural mysteries have been revealed
to us. Such is Christian life in its full development, the pro­
found reign of God in our hearts.
Grace superabounds in these souls after they have passed
through the painful purifications, which are the veritable dark
night. They have, so to speak, caught a glimpse of the most
pure, holy, and fathomless abyss of God. They overflow with
love and, in their great desire to love God, they long to do
so immeasurably, with the heart of the Word made flesh.
The Spirit of love has penetrated them and, in trial as in joy,
they rest in the charity of the heavenly Father like a child in
the arms of its mother. They see the fulfilment of Christ’s
prayer: “That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me,
and I in Thee.” 45 This is the unitive life, but without any­
thing extraordinary, in the sense of the miraculous. And this
is truly the mystical, contemplative life. This is also the apos­
tolic life; in their profound faith in the superabundance of
the redemption, these souls make an offering of themselves
that the chalice may overflow on sinners. Moreover, they
earnestly desire to leave this land of exile for heaven. This is
the perfection described by St. Thomas when, after speaking
of those who start and of those who advance in the spiritual
life, he says of the perfect: “They tend principally to unite
themselves with God, to enjoy Him, and they desire to die in
order to be with Christ.” 44
« John 27: 21.
«« "Man's third pursuit is to aim chiefly at union with and enjoyment of
God: this belongs to the perfect who desire to be dissolved and 10 be with
Christ” (Ila Ilae, q.24, a.g).

42

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Therefore we find not only a continuity between ascetical
and mystical theology, but also a certain compénétration.
They are not two distinct divisions of theology, but two parts
or two aspects of the same branch, which shows us spiritual
life in its infancy, adolescence, and maturity. Ascetical and
mystical theology or, more simply, spiritual doctrine, is one.
It must begin by setting before us the end attainable in this
life, that is, spiritual perfection toward which spiritual prog­
ress should tend. It ought to show this perfection in all its
elevation and grandeur, according to the testimony of the
Gospel and of the saints. Then it should point out the means
to this end: the struggle against sin, the practice of the virtues,
perfect docility to the Holy Ghost. But the end proposed,
such as we find it, for example, in the eight beatitudes when
their full meaning is accepted, reaches beyond the domain of
simple asceticism.47 Ascetical life, however, does not cease
when the soul enters the mystical union. The practice of the
virtues becomes, on the contrary, much more perfect, as is
shown by the great austerities of the saints, their patience,
and their zeal. Even to the end the soul must remember our
Lord’s words: “If anyone will come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross daily.”48
This brings us back to the statement, based on the teaching
of St. Thomas, which we made at the beginning of this article:
Asceticism prepares the soul for the mystical union, which
then renders the exercise of the virtues and our apostolate
much more supernatural and fruitful. The practice of the
virtues prepares for contemplation and is then directed by it.
When ascetical and mystical theology are separated from
each other, the ascetical lacks vitality, depth, and elevation;
the mystical loses its importance, its gravity, and its depth, and
St. Thomas, Jn Matthaeum (5: 2), speaking of the eight beatitudes, says:
"These merits are either acts of the gifts or acts of the virtues according as
they are perfected by the gifts”; “in a superhuman manner,” as he said a few
lines previously in the same passage.
<8 Luke 9: 23.

TERMS OF THE PROBLEM

43

seems to be solely a luxury in the spirituality of some privi­
leged souls.
Such seems to us the conception of ascetical and mystical
theology, or of the spiritual doctrine, which conforms most
closely to traditional teaching. This is the conception that we
will attempt to formulate in this work.

ARTICLE III
Meaning of the Terms of the Problem

The question of vocabulary presents one of the main diffi­
culties encountered by those who study mystical problems.
Many controversies arise on account of the lack of a previous
agreement as to the meaning of the words used. For instance,
in the question as to whether the mystical life is the normal
crown of the interior life, the word “mystical” is understood
by some in so broad a sense that the mystical life seems almost
identified with a barely fervent Christian life, or with mere
perseverance in the state of grace. Other authors use the word
“mystical” in so limited a sense that there seems to be no
mystical life without ecstasy, visions, and prophetic revela­
tions. Likewise the word “contemplation” has for some a very
broad sense, while for others it can be used only with the exact
meaning of infused and passive contemplation. The same
thing is true of the word “normal.” If used by speculative
theologians, it is applicable only to a general and superior law
of the life of grace, a law which in very diverse ways applies
sooner or later, perfectly or imperfectly, to the development
of generous souls that are called to the contemplative or even
to the active life. And this law exacts many conditions that
may be lacking; it will have difficulty in functioning in the
person who receives the grace, for instance, in an unfavorable
environment, in too absorbing a life of study, or where proper
direction is lacking, or in the case of a person who has an un-

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
44
grateful temperament and certain imperfections, even though
they are involuntary. Despite all these obstacles, this law gov­
erns tire growth of the divine seed, a fact which the theologian
considers and which experience proves. If, on the contrary,
the word “normal” is used by a non-mystical director, seeing
hardly anything but the particular phenomena and those from
without, he gives the term “normal” a more concrete and ma­
terial meaning, which seems to be contrary to fact when ex­
ceptions are noted. These exceptions he does not scrutinize
from within that he may ascertain whether they proceed from
grace itself or from the defects of the person receiving the
grace, from the nature of the seed itself or from the effects of
the barren soil which requires extraordinary labor for its trans­
formation.
The same difficulty arises if we express the problem by ask­
ing whether all interior souls are called to the mystical life.
Some who reply in the negative use the word “called” almost
in the sense of “raised,” “led,” “predestined,” or “chosen”;
and then it is clear that all interior souls are not called to the
mystical life. This view ignores the statement of Scripture,
“Many are called, but few are chosen.” These two words,
“called” and “chosen,” differ greatly. On the other hand, some
authors admit the general call of souls to the mystical life, but
seem to forget the common teaching about the special signs
of the individual call, signs that are not present in every pious
sotd. They are three in number and are enumerated by St.
John of the Cross, and before him by Tauler. We will refer
to them later on.1 The many consequent problems require a
statement of the exact meaning of the word “call,” which may
designate a remote or an immediate call. The same difficulty
occurs in connection with the word “merit” in the question:
Can a soul merit mystical contemplation?
We must try to establish precise meanings for tire terms we
are using. Although we would meet with difficulties in com1 Cf. infra, pp. 338 f.

TERMS OF THE PROBLEM

45
ing to an immediate agreement as to the real definitions,
which express the basis of things and are the fruit of long re­
search, yet we ought at least to have an understanding about
nominal definitions, about the meaning of the principal terms
of mystical theology in use today. Since mystical terminology
was given precision by St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, and
St. Francis de Sales, we should take into account this estab­
lished precision which rests on their authority and is a real
progress. If, for example, since the days of these great masters,
the expression “essentially mystical prayer” means manifestly
passive prayer, we ought henceforth to use the expression only
with this precise meaning, which includes many degrees of
prayer.
With a view to fixing the vocabulary, we wish to propose
some definitions, at least nominal ones,2 which are quite gen­
erally accepted by mystical theologians who follow simul­
taneously the doctrine of St. Thomas and that of St. John of
the Cross, of St. Teresa, and of St. Francis de Sales.8 In the
course of this work, we will show the basic soundness of these
definitions, or their real value.
St. Thomas defines contemplation as a simple intellectual
view of the truth, superior to reasoning and accompanied by
admiration? It may be purely natural, as, for example, in an
artist, a scholar, or a philosopher. Christian contemplation
dwells on revealed truths and presupposes faith. Several theo­
logians admit the existence of an acquired contemplation
which follows upon meditation. They generally define this
acquired contemplation as the loving knowledge of God which
is the fruit of our personal activity aided by grace. On the
contrary, infused contemplation, that which the mystics speak
2 A nominal definition contains confusedly the real definition, and it may
be more or less precise according as it is taken, for example, from an ordinary
vocabulary or from a philosophcial or theological dictionary.
» We mean especially the Carmelites Philip of the Blessed Trinity, Anthony
of the Holy Ghost, and Joseph of the Holy Ghost, the Dominican Vallgornera,
several Jesuit theologians, some Franciscans, and some members of other orders.
< Summa, Ha Ilae, q.180, a. i, 6.

46

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

of, is a loving knowledge of God, which is not the fruit of hu­
man activity aided by grace, but of a special inspiration of the
Holy Ghost; so that it is not producible at will, as is an act of
faith.®
In the supernatural life, we understand by the word “or­
dinary” every grace, every act, every state, which is in the
normal way of sanctity; all that is morally necessary in the
majority of cases for attaining sanctity. And by “sanctity” we
must, at the very least, understand that which is generally
required to enter heaven immediately after death, because a
soul suffers in purgatory only through its own fault. The “or­
dinary” thus defined comprises eminent graces that may be
called extraordinary in point of fact because they are rather
uncommon, but that are ordinary according to the normal
law if they are truly necessary for the attainment of sanctity,
for the full perfection of Christian life, or for the complete
purity of soul which merits immediate entrance into heaven.
Every favor, on the contrary, which is out of the normal
way of sanctity and which is not at all necessary for its at­
tainment, is extraordinary. We classify as such especially the
graces called gratis datae, as miracles, prophecies, visions, and
other phenomena of the same kind.®
As regards tire word “call” or “vocation,” we will attempt
to distinguish in this work the different meanings it may have,
according as it concerns a general and remote call of all just
souls to mystical contemplation or, on the contrary, an in­
dividual and proximate call. As we shall see, this last may be
merely sufficient and remain sterile; or it may be efficacious.
In the latter case it may be an efficacious call either to lower
degrees, or to higher degrees, of the mystical life.
In all these questions we must consider the full, normal
development of the life of grace as such, and then see what it
is in more or less well disposed souls which have received this
» Cf. infra, pp. 221-35.
• Cf. infra, pp. 235-38.

TERMS OF THE PROBLEM

47
germ of eternal life. To do this, we need to recall first of au
the traditional doctrine of grace, such as it has been con­
ceived, following St. Paul and St. Augustine, by the prince of
theologians, St. Thomas Aquinas, and by the great Catholic
mystics.

CHAPTER III
Mystical Theology and the Fundamental
Doctrines of St. Thomas

ARTICLE I
Natural Intellectual Life and Supernatural Life

authors, struck by the difference which they find be­
tween the writings of the great mystical theologians (such as
Dionysius, Richard of St. Victor, St. Bonaventure, Tauler,
St. John of the Cross) and the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas,
are surprised that we should expect to find in St. Thomas’
writings the principles of mystical theology. Some even con­
sider St. Thomas, not a great theologian who from a super­
natural point of view used Aristotle for the defense and
explanation of the divine truths of faith, but rather a phi­
losopher of genius who gave us an interpretation of the Gos­
pel, a Christian Aristotle, as later on Malebranche was a
Christian Plato.
Anyone who accepts this view must lack an intimate knowl­
edge of the writings of St. Thomas, especially his treatises on
the Trinity, the incarnation, the Holy Eucharist, grace, the
theological virtues, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Certainly
such a person never read St. Thomas’ commentaries on St.
Paul, St. John, the Psalms, and the Canticle of Canticles. He
must be ignorant of St. Thomas’ short treatises on piety, his
prayers, his office of the Blessed Sacrament; and he must be
unacquainted with the saint’s life, his nights spent before the
tabernacle, his ecstasies, the eminent gift of contemplation
which made him refer to his Summa as being only straw in
comparison with what he beheld.

Several

48

INTELLECTUAL AND SUPERNATURAL LIFE

4g

In this article we wish to show that this judgment of the
great doctor springs from an entirely material manner of
reading his works. We have a tendency to give a materialistic
interpretation to everything—doctrine, piety, rules of conduct,
action. This is the inclination of our fallen and wounded na­
ture unless it is profoundly regenerated and completely vivi­
fied by grace which heals and elevates, and unless we are free
from domination by our temperament; or if, despite tire state
of grace, we preserve a host of purely natural judgments, quite
unconformable to the spirit of faith.
Influenced by these dispositions, we are unintentionally
prone to interpret the loftiest doctrines materialistically; that
is, we are inclined to note only their material elements which
adapt themselves better to our tastes, and to lose sight of the
spirit which determines their nature and is the soul of the doc­
trinal body. Once more St. Paul’s expression is verified: “For
the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth.” 1 Following this
way, under pretext of reliance on what is tangible, mechani­
cally exact, and incontestably certain even for the incredulous,
we would end by explaining the higher by the lower, by reduc­
ing the first to the second, which is the very essence of ma­
terialism in all its forms. We would be inclined to explain the
soul by the body, much more than the body by the soul; in the
same way, to explain the life of grace by nature, theological
doctrines by the philosophical elements which they have
assimilated, the life of religious orders by the social conditions
in which they had their origin, without thinking sufficiently
of the incessant but invisible work of God, who alone can raise
up great doctors and saints. From this point of view, we would
rapidly dwarf everything and, instead of living supernaturally
according to the true sense of this word, we might, despite cer­
tain appearances, flounder about in what is mediocre and
mean.
This disposition to explain the higher by the lower is found
1 Sec II Cor. 3: 6.

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
5°
in varying degrees, from the gross materialism which explains
spirit by matter up to that which places a materialistic inter­
pretation on spiritual philosophy, theology, exegesis, the his­
tory of the Church, asceticism, and the liturgy, the letter of
which is kept, and not the spirit.
Even with a true desire to learn, we may read St. Thomas
from this point of view. In his theological doctrine numerous
material or philosophical elements are found, which he in­
tends to subordinate to the idea of God, the Author of grace.
If we unduly emphasize these lower elements, which are
within the reach of reason, instead of rising to the summit of
the synthesis, we will find a real opposition between this doc­
trine and that of the great mystical theologians, who have
treated especially of union with God. The trees will prevent
our seeing the forest. Absorbed in the details at the base of
the structure, we shall fail to see the keystone of the arch. At
least we shall be considering only from below the super­
natural principle of this masterpiece of the mind; seeing it
only by its reflection on the lower realities which it regulates,
instead of judging these matters from above, as ought to be
done by the “higher reason,” so greatly prized by St. Augus­
tine, and by theological wisdom, not to speak of the gift of wis­
dom, which is even more elevated. Thus the reading of St.
Thomas' Summa and commenting on it may be only slightly
supernatural and even anti-mystical. This manner of reading it
directs the mind away from the view of the great commenta­
tors (Capreolus, Cajetan, Bannes, John of St. Thomas, the
Carmelites of Salamanca), all of them inferior to the master.
But they understood him better than we do, and lead us after
him toward the same heights.
A delicate instrument of precision is easily injured so that
it is no longer accurate; likewise the doctrine of St. Thomas
is easily distorted. This results if we misplace the emphasis on
what is secondary and material, thus explaining in a banal
manner and without due proportion what is formal and

INTELLECTUAL AND SUPERNATURAL LIFE

51

principal in it. By so doing, we fail to see the glowing sum­
mits that should illumine all the rest.
We note here the chief confusions that would render this
doctrine essentially anti-mystical. They have been made espe­
cially by nominalist theologians, who finally perceived noth­
ing but words in the loftiest spiritual realities, when they did
not see as materially evident that these realities had been
revealed by God.2 Nominalist theology is a considerable dimi­
nution of the science of God. We point out these confusions to
show that the teaching of St. Thomas is, on the contrary,
the same as that which St. John of the Cross and his disciples
developed. We make this point evident by insisting on what
constitutes the grandeur of his teaching, and by manifesting
the supernatural wealth it contains. For one who has read the
Salamanca theologians, evidently the Carmelite doctrine and
that of the Angelic Doctor agree throughout, particularly
with regard to the loftiest questions in the treatise on grace.
Let us consider briefly, in the Thomistic synthesis, the
fundamental doctrines which are most closely allied to the
spiritual life; especially those bearing on our natural, intel­
lectual knowledge; then those bearing on the supernatural
life, on the infused virtues, on the gifts of the Holy Ghost, on
the efficacy of grace, and lastly on the very nature of God.
2 These confusions have also been made, in a certain measure, by theologians
who have undergone the sad influence of nominalism, which is a tendencv
that must end in seeing only words in everything which exceeds the immediate
object of experience, sensible phenomena. For the nominalist there is no longer
any human nature essentially distinguished from grace, but only an aggrega­
tion of human individuals. With greater reason, according to them, spiritual
realities are naturally unknowable. For example, we cannot be certain of the
spirituality and immortality of the soul unless God reveals them to us, and
our intelligence cannot comprehend revealed formulas, because of the in­
sufficiency of its ideas. This doctrine leads finally to a negation of theology
and philosophy, to actual positivism. Occasionally, as a reaction, it has led
certain souls to a mysticism, but a mysticism without doctrinal foundation,
often composed of sentimentality proceeding from the powerlessness of di­
minished reason and from the necessity of finding something to cling to,
rather than from the idea of the infinite grandeur of God. One can be a
nominalist by tendency without knowing it; indeed, this happens frequently.

52

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

In the Thomistic synthesis our intellectual knowledge in
the natural order is based on the first principles of reason:
the principle of contradiction—no being, created or uncre­
ated, can at the same time and under the same aspect be and
not be; the principle of causality—all that has potential non­
existence, whether spirit or matter, has a cause; the principle
of finality—every agent, whether material or spiritual, acts for
an end; the first principle of morality—one must do good and
avoid evil. St. Thomas declares that the intellectual knowl­
edge of these primordial truths springs in a certain way from
the senses, because our intelligence abstracts its ideas from
sensible things. Understanding this doctrine materially, some
people have thought that the intellectual certitude of the
first principles resolves itself essentially or formally into sen­
sation, and that it relies on sensation as on its formal motive.8
This point of view would reduce the higher to the lower, in­
telligence to sense; it would forget that rational principles are
absolutely universal and necessary and that they reach even
the loftiest realities, God Himself, whereas sensation reaches
only sensible, singular, and contingent objects. Were this done,
the absolute universality and necessity of rational first truths
would no longer be explainable; reason would remain the
prisoner of phenomena, like the senses of an animal, and our
liberty, which follows from our intelligence, would disap­
pear. We would not be able to resist the attraction of sensible
goods, because we would not dominate them. Our nature, like
that of animals, would be incapable of receiving grace and of
being raised to the vision of God.
According to St. Thomas, on the other hand, intellectual
3 Sensation has two elements: one material, the action of the nervous system
carrying a stimulus from an exterior object to the brain, an action that fol­
lows laws governing similar actions in the lower order of nature; and one
formal and specific, the rôle of which is to produce a representation of what
disturbs the sense. It is almost always in this latter sense that St. Thomas
uses the word "sensation.” To restrict his use of the term to the material
element is to materialize his doctrine still further. On the real sense of sentient
being, cf. St. Thomas, la, q.14, a.i: q.78, a.3

INTELLECTUAL AND SUPERNATURAL LIFE

53

certitude of rational first principles resolves itself only ma­
terially into the prerequisite sensation; 4 it resolves itself
formally into purely intellectual evidence of the absolute
truth of its principles, which appear as the fundamental laws
not only of phenomena but of being or of all intelligible real­
ity, whether corporal or spiritual. This evidence presupposes
in us a constantly increasing intellectual light of an order in­
finitely superior to sensation or to the most subtle imagina­
tion; an intellectual light which is a distant image of the
divine light and which can illumine nothing without the con­
stant concurrence of God, Sun of spirits, Master of intelli­
gences.5 Although St. Thomas here treats of subjects in the
natural order, he already speaks almost as a mystic: “As any
human doctrine exteriorly proposed instructs us because of
the intellectual light which we have received from God, it fol­
lows that God alone teaches us interiorly and as principal
Cause.” 5
Malebranche and the ontologists exaggerated these words
of St. Thomas and seemed to have a still higher idea of our
natural intelligence by claiming that our intelligence sees
first principles in God Himself. The apparent elevation of
this Christian Platonism is not, however, that of true mystical
theology because it tends to confound the natural order and
that of grace, instead of maintaining the absolute superiority
of the latter.
According to the ontologists, our intellect is capable of
knowing being, because it is capable of knowing God; accord* "It cannot be said that sensible knowledge is the total and perfect cause of
intellectual knowledge, but rather that it is in a way the materia) cause" (la,
q.84, a.6).
s “For the intellectual light itself which is in us, is nothing else than a
participated likeness of the uncreated light, in which are contained the eternal
types” (la, q.84, a.5). "Therefore there must needs be some higher intellect,
by which the soul is helped to understand” (la, q.79, a.4). Cf. la, q.105, a.3.
Some Scholastics seem to consider in this intellectual light only its abstractive
function and not its illuminating function which continues after the abstrac­
tion. Cf. De veritate, q.10, a.6.
« De veritate, q. 11, a. 1.

54

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

ing to St. Thomas, our intellect is capable of knowing God by
grace, because it is first of all capable of knowing being by
nature.7 This teaching places it infinitely above the senses.
In respect to the supernatural life, we know the principle of
St. Thomas: “Grace perfects nature and does not destroy it.” 8
A great spirit of faith is necessary, however, if we are always to
interpret this principle correctly without inclining practically
toward naturalism. Some persons will understand this princi­
ple materially, or will be more attentive to nature which must
be perfected than to grace which should produce this trans­
formation in us. Furthermore, considering nature as it ac­
tually is since original sin, they will not sufficiently distinguish
in nature what is essential and good, what ought to be per­
fected, from what ought to be mortified, egoism under all its
forms gross or subtle. By failing to make this distinction, they
find a real opposition between the doctrine of St. Thomas thus
materialistically interpreted and the famous chapter of the
Imitation (Bk. Ill, chap. 54), “On the Divers Movements of
Nature and Grace.” They forget what the holy doctor teaches
about die wounds consequent upon original sin which remain
in the baptized soul.®
They will forget even more completely what he says about
the infinite distance which separates the most perfect nature,
even that of the most exalted angel, from the slightest degree
of sanctifying grace, which St. Thomas declares “superior to
the natural good of the entire universe” 10 of matter and spirit.
r "Since the created intellect is naturally capable of apprehending the
concrete form, and the concrete being abstractedly, by way of a kind of resolu­
tion of parts; it can by grace be raised up to know separate subsisting sub­
stance, and separate subsisting existence” (Ia, q. 12, a.4 ad gum). “The soul
is naturally capable of grace; since from its having been made to the like­
ness of God. it is fit to receive God by grace, as Augustine says” (la Ilae,
q. 113, a. 10).
s See la, q.t, a.8 ad sum: q.2 ad mm; q.6o, a.5.
<>See la Ilae, q.85, a.3; Illa, q.69, a.3, 4 ad sum; Contra Gentiles, Bk. IV,
chap. 52.
10 See la Ilae, q. 113, a.9 ad sum.

INTELLECTUAL AND SUPERNATURAL LIFE

55

All angelic natures taken together are not equal to the slight­
est movement of charity.
Nominalists have diminished this doctrine to the point of
thinking that grace is not a supernatural reality by its essence,
but that it has only a moral value which gives us a right to
eternal life, as a bank note gives us the right to claim a certain
sum of gold.11 Likewise for them the baptismal and sacerdotal
characters are only extrinsic titles, relations established by
reason without a basis in reality (for example, an adopted
son). Luther, a disciple of the nominalists, went so far as to
say that sanctifying grace is not a reality in us, is not a new
life, but only the pardon of our faults exteriorly granted by
God.
Without going to such extremes, some theologians have
thought that God could create an intelligence for which the
beatific vision would be natural.12 They failed to see the in­
finite distance which necessarily separates the nature of all
created and creatable intelligence from grace, which is a
‘participation in the divine nature.” 18
To grasp what this distance is, we must bear in mind that
grace is really and formally a participation in the divine na­
ture precisely in so far as it is divine, a participation in the
Deity, in that which makes God God, in His intimate life. As
rationality is what makes man a man, the Deity is the con­
stituent essence of God, such as He is Himself. Grace is a mys­
terious participation in this essence, which surpasses all natu11 The nominalists (such as Occam, Gabriel Biel, and Pierre d'Ailly) judged
everything by the facts of experience and not by the formal reasons of things
which alone, however, can render facts intelligible. Unable to discern in human
individuals that which constitutes human nature, they no longer saw what
distinguishes human nature from the gift of grace. In their view this gift was
supernatural only by a contingent institution by God, as metal or paper has
money value only in virtue of a law promulgated by civil authority. Grace
thus conceived is no longer really and formally the seed of glory.
12 They lost sight of the abyss which separates the natural object of the
divine intelligence from that of created intelligence.
'•See la Ilae, q. 110, a.3.

56

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

ral knowledge. Even stones, by the fact of their existence,
have a remote likeness to God in so far as He is being; plants
also distantly resemble Him in so far as he is living; human
souls and angels are by nature made to the image of God and
resemble Him by analogy in so far as He is intelligent; but no
created or creatable nature can resemble God exactly in so
far as He is God. Grace alone can make us participate really
and formally in the Deity, in the intimate life of Him whose
children we are by grace. The Deity, which remains inacces­
sible to all natural created knowledge, is superior to all the
divine perfections naturally knowable, superior to being, to
life, to wisdom, to love. All these divine attributes, diverse as
they appear to be, are one and the same thing in God and with
God. They are in the Deity formally and eminently as so
many notes of a superior harmony, the simplicity of which is
beyond our comprehension.14
Grace makes us participate really and formally in this
Deity, in this eminent and intimate life of God, because grace
is in us the radical principle of essentially divine operations,
that will ultimately consist in seeing God immediately, as He
sees Himself, and in loving Him as He loves Himself. Grace
is the seed of glory. In order to know its essence intimately, we
must first have seen the divine essence of which grace is the
participation. By grace we are veritably “bom of God," as
St. John says. This is what makes Pascal say: “All bodies to­
gether and all spirits together and all their productions are
not equal to the slightest movement of charity, which is of
another and infinitely more elevated order.”
If we clearly understand this doctrine, we know that grace
not only vivifies and spiritualizes us, but also deifies us. “As
1« "All perfections existing in creatures divided and multiplied, pre-exist
in God simply and united" (la, q. 13, a.5). "As regards the object intended by
the name, this name God is more proper than the name ‘He who is,’ as it
is imposed to signify the divine nature" (la, q. 13, a. 11 ad turn). “The formal
reason of the Deity is before all in its being and in all its attributes, for it is
above being and above unity, etc.” (Catejan on la, q.39, a.i, nos. 7, 8).

INTELLECTUAL AND SUPERNATURAL LIFE

57

only fire can render a body incandescent,” says St. Thomas,
“God alone can deify souls.” 15
Hence the slightest degree of sanctifying grace is infinitely
superior to a sensible miracle, which is supernatural only by
reason of its cause, by its mode of production (quoad modum),
not by its intimate reality: the life restored to a corpse is only
the natural life, low, indeed, in comparison with that of grace.
The paralytic, when his sins are forgiven him, receives in­
finitely more than his cure. At Lourdes the greatest blessings
are not those which heal the body, but those which revivify
souls. The “modal” supernatural, or the preternatural, does
not count, so to speak, in comparison with the essentially
supernatural.
The slightest degree of sanctifying grace is, as a result, in­
finitely superior to the phenomenon of ecstasy, to the pro­
phetic vision of future events, or to the natural knowledge of
the loftiest angel.
The natural knowledge of the highest angel could in its
natural order grow indefinitely in intensity, yet it would never
reach the dignity of the supernatural knowledge of infused
faith or of the gift of wisdom. It would never even obscurely
attain the intimate life of God, just as the indefinite progress
of the imagination would never equal the intelligence; as the
indefinite multiplication of the sides of a polygon inscribed
within a circle never equal the latter, for the side, no matter
how small it may be, never becomes a point. While in the state
of probation, the angels, and likewise man, possessed, over
and above the natural knowledge of God, the knowledge
which proceeded from infused faith and from the gifts.
From all this we see the distance separating the essentially
supernatural character of sanctifying grace from the super­
natural character of sensible miracles or even of prophecy.
is “For it is as necessary that God alone should deify, bestowing a partaking
of the divine nature by a participated likeness, as it is impossible that anything
save fire should enkindle” (la Ilae, q.112, a. 1).

58

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

We have elsewhere 18 examined at length the value of this
division of the supernatural, which is generally admitted, and
of its subdivisions. This is an important point in theology,
and a particularly important one in mystical theology. This
fact can be noted in the tabulation on page 59, where the
supernatural quoad substantiam (by its essence) is clearly dis­
tinct from the miraculous quoad substantiam (miracles of tire
first order). In the first we consider the formal cause; in the
second, an extrinsic cause, the efficient cause. Thus sanctify­
ing grace is supernatural by its essence, or formal cause; mir­
acles, even of the first order, are supernatural only because
no created force can produce them. By the resurrection of a
dead person, natural life is supernaturally restored to him.
The problem to be discussed in the present work can be re­
duced to the following terms: Does the mystical life belong to
the category of sanctifying grace, the virtues, and the gifts, or
to the relatively inferior category of miracles and prophecy?
For the solution of the actual mystical problem, the greatest
consideration must be given to the supernatural elevation of
sanctifying grace as it was conceived by St. Thomas.17 No
theologian, as we have shown,18 has been able to make as clear
a distinction as he did between the natural order and the es­
sentially supernatural order. No one has better affirmed the
absolute gratuity of the life of grace, and its elevation in­
finitely surpassing, as it does, every claim and innate desire of
human and angelic nature. Yet no one has better shown how
this gift, gratuitous though it is, is wonderfully suited to our
loftiest aspirations. Nothing is more gratuitous and desirable
than the beatific vision, and in this life nothing is more so than
holy communion.1’
1· De revelatione, I, 197-217.
i’See Ha Hae, q. no, a.3, 4; q.112, a.i.
1« De revelatione, I, 206, 337-403, and especially pp. 395-403: Why there
cannot be in our nature or in that of the angels an innate desire of the super­
natural life or an active obediential power, but only a faint desire and the
passive capacity of being raised to this infinitely superior order.
1» See Illa, q.79, a. 1 ad 2um.

INTELLECTUAL AND SUPERNATURAL LIFE

59

SUPERNATURAL

God in His intimate life,
mystery of the Blessed
Uncreated • Trinity.
Uncreated Person of the
quoad substantiam
Word made flesh.
(in essence)
Light of glory.
Habitual grace of the
Created
virtues and the gifts, and
actual grace.

The natural act of an ac­
By reason
quired virtue, supernatof final
- urally related by charity
causality
toward a supernatural
end.
quoad modum
(in mode)

Miracle quoad substan­
tiam (e. g., glorious res­
urrection) and proph­
ecy.
Miracle quoad subjec­
tum (e. g., resurrection
By reason
without
glory)
and
of efficient .
knowledge of the secrets
causality
of hearts.
Miracle quoad modum
(e. g., sudden cure of an
illness curable in time);
gift of tongues and simi­
lar graces.

6o

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

When we consider the conformity of Christianity with our
natural aspirations, very often we cease to note the absolute
gratuity of the divine gift and thus we incline toward practical
naturalism. On the other hand, whoever fails to see this ad­
mirable conformity is led to conceive a rigid supernaturalness
which is contrary to nature and lacking in simplicity. This
conception would lead to exaltation and the follies of false
mysticism.
St. Thomas maintains the infinite elevation of grace above
our nature and also the harmony between the two. But he
adds that this harmony really appears only after a profound
purification of nature by mortification and the cross, as the
lives of the saints show. He repeatedly tells us that this har­
mony has been fully realized in this world only in our Lord
Jesus Christ. Bossuet says the same thing in speaking of Jesus:
“Who would not admire the condescension with which He
tempers the loftiness of His doctrine? It is milk for children
and, at the same time, bread for the strong. It is full of the se­
crets of God, but it is evident that Jesus is not astonished at
this, as other mortals to whom God communicates Himself.
Our Lord speaks naturally of these matters, as one born in
this secret and in this glory; and what He has without measure
(John 3: 34) He bestows with measure that our weakness may
be able to bear it.” 20
By this marvelous conciliation of qualities so diverse, that
is, of the absolute gratuity and supreme fitness of grace, St.
Thomas directs us toward the loftiest orthodox mystical the­
ology, which is in reality a commentary on our Lord’s expres­
sion: “If thou didst but know the gift of God.”
We shall see this better when we speak of the supernatural­
ness of the infused virtues, both moral and theological, and
of the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
»0 Discours sur l’histoire universelle, Part II, chap. 19.

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF INFUSED FAITH 61
ARTICLE II

Mystical Theology and the Essentially Supernatural Char­
acter of Infused Faith

The doctrine of St. Thomas about our natural intellectual
knowledge and the essence of sanctifying grace directs us
toward the loftiest orthodox mystical theology. The same is
true of his teaching about the supernatural character of the
infused virtues and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. In this
article we will treat especially the supernatural character of
faith. But first we must say a few words about the supernatural
character of the Christian moral virtues.
These moral virtues are tire four cardinal virtues (prudence,
justice, fortitude, and temperance) and the virtues joined with
them, particularly those of religion (or justice in regard to
God), of magnanimity, patience, perseverance (all related to
fortitude), of chastity, gentleness, modesty, and humility.
While reading the part of St. Thomas’ Summa dealing with
these Christian moral virtues, especially prudence, justice,
fortitude, and temperance, many think these are only the nat­
ural virtues described by Aristotle and that they are clothed
with a simple adventitious supernatural modality, springing
from the influence of charity, which should direct all our acts
to God. Some theologians have not gone beyond this concep­
tion.
The thought of St. Thomas is far loftier. According to his
teaching, the Christian moral virtues are infused and, because
of their formal object, essentially distinct from the highest
acquired moral virtues described by the greatest philosophers.
These acquired moral virtues, useful as they may be, could be
continually developed without ever attaining the formal ob­
ject of the Christian virtues. An infinite difference exists
between Aristotelian temperance, governed solely by right

6z

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

reason, and Christian temperance, ruled by divine faith and
supernatural prudence. St. Thomas says: “Evidently the meas­
ure to be imposed on our passions differs essentially according
as it springs from the human rule of reason or from the divine
rule. For example, in the use of food the measure prescribed
by reason has for its end the avoidance of what is harmful to
health and to the exercise of reason itself, while according to
the divine law, as St. Paul says, man must chastise his body and
bring it into subjection by abstinence and other similar aus­
terities.” 1 This measure, which belongs to the supernatural
order, is in fact animated by that which unaided reason is
ignorant of, but which faith teaches us about the results of
original sin and of our personal sins, about the infinite eleva­
tion of our supernatural end, about the obligation of loving
God, the Author of grace, more than ourselves and above all,
and of renouncing self in order to follow our Lord Jesus
Christ.2
St. Thomas is equally insistent on the necessity of a pro­
gressive purification in order that the Christian moral virtues,
aided by the acquired virtues, may reach their perfection. He
shows us what they should become in those who really strive
for divine union. “Then,” he says, “prudence scorns the things
of the world for the contemplation of divine things; it directs
all the thoughts of the soul toward God. Temperance aban­
dons, so far as nature can bear it, what the body demands;
fortitude prevents the soul from becoming frightened in the
face of death and when confronted with the unknown super­
natural. Justice leads the soul finally to enter fully on this en­
tirely divine way.” 8 Loftier still, he says, are the virtues of the
soul that is already purified, those of the blessed and of the
great saints on earth.
1 See la Ilae, q.63, a.4.
2 Cf. B. Froget, De l’habitation du Saint-Esprit dans les âmes justes, Part IV,
chap. 5, no. 3: "The infused moral virtues specifically distinct from the ac­
quired moral virtues.”
» See la Ilae. q.61, a.5.

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF INFUSED FAITH 63

This teaching is not less elevated than that offered by
Tauler in his Sermons, or by St. John of the Cross (The Ascent
of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul) in the
chapters which he devotes to the active and passive purifica­
tion of the soul.
In regard to the theological virtues, some, who read the
Summa theologica in an entirely material manner, reach the
conclusion that our act of faith is a substantially natural act
clothed with a supernatural modality: substantially natural,
because it reposes formally on the natural, historical knowl­
edge of Christ’s preaching and of the miracles which con­
firmed it; clothed with a supernatural modality, so that it may
be useful to salvation. This modality is often said to resemble
a layer of gold applied to copper in order to make plated metal.
We would thus have “plated supernatural” life and not a new,
essentially supernatural life.4
According to this conception, the certitude of our super­
natural faith in the Blessed Trinity, the incarnation, and
other mysteries, would rest formally in the last analysis on the
inferior though morally certain knowledge which our unaided
reason can have of the signs of revelation and of the marks of
the Church. The act of faith would be a sort of reasoning,
formally based on a certitude of inferior order. Often this cer­
titude rests merely on the human testimony of our parents and
of our pastors, for very few of the faithful can make a critical
study of the origins of Christianity. The act of theological
faith thus conceived is no longer infallibly certain, and pre­
serves almost nothing that is supernatural and mysterious. It
is no longer evident why interior grace is absolutely necessary
not only to confirm it but to produce it. This last point was
definitely defined by the Church against the Pelagians and
the semi-Pelagians.
This material conception is simply another case of the re­
duction of the higher to the lower. It is an error analogous to
« Sec la Ilae, q.63, a.4; Ila Ilae, q.6, a. 1.

64

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

that discussed above in relation to rational first principles.
St. Thomas teaches that, just as sensation is only an inferior
knowledge prerequisite to that of principles, a knowledge
which is founded on intellectual evidence, so also the rational
knowledge of the signs of revelation plays only the part of a
preamble to prepare our intellect to receive the influence of
grace, which alone can make us adhere infallibly to the formal
motive of faith, to the authority of God revealing, in an order
infinitely superior to the reasoning that went before.
St. Thomas saw the entire meaning and range of our Lord’s
words: “No man can come to Me, except the Father, who hath
sent Me, draw him. . . . Everyone that hath heard of the
Father, and hath learned, cometh to Me. . . . Amen, amen I
say unto you: He that believeth in Me, hath everlasting life.” ·
“My sheep hear My voice.” ’ “Everyone that is of the truth,
heareth My voice.” 7 St. Paul says the same thing: “Faith is a
gift of God. . . . Faith is the substance of things to be hoped
for,” 8 or the seed, the beginning of eternal life.
And the Council of Trent9 defined as follows: “In justi­
fication man receives, with the remission of sins, the three
virtues of faith, hope, and charity, infused at the same time
into his soul by Jesus Christ, on whom he is grafted.”
Thus, as St. Thomas teaches, faith is substantially super­
natural, specified by a formal motive of the same entirely su­
pernatural order, a motive that faith attains in an absolutely
infallible manner. This is why, rather than call it in question,
we must undergo the worst torments, as the martyrs did.
This absolutely infallible and essentially supernatural cer­
titude resolves itself only materially into our morally certain
knowledge (critical or non-critical) of the signs which con­
firmed Christ’s preaching and also such knowledge of the
» John 6: 44, 45, 47.
« John 10: 27.
7 John 18: 37.
8 Heb. 11:1.
8 Sess. VI, chap. 7.

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF INFUSED FAITH 65

marks of the Church. It is based formally on the authority of
God revealing, on the first revealing uncreated Truth which
reveals itself with the mysteries that it manifests, which is be­
lieved with the mysteries in an order infinitely superior to
rational evidence, just as physical light appears and is seen at
the same time as it makes us see colors.10 As the Thomists
usually say, “The first revealing Truth is at once that which is
believed and that by which one believes, as light is that which
is seen and that by which one sees.” 11 St. Augustine expressed
this idea in his commentary on St. John.12
The question concerns not only belief in God, the Author of
nature and of sensible miracles which reason can know by its
own power; it concerns also belief in God, the Author of
grace, in God considered in His intimate life, in God who
leads us to a supernatural end by giving rise in us to essen­
tially supernatural acts.18
If God had supernaturally revealed only the natural truths
of religion, as, for example, His natural providence, without
10 Cf. St. Thomas, De veritate, q.14, a.8 ad 41ml.
11 Cf. Cajetan, In Ha Ilae, q.i, a.i; and on the same subject, John of St.
Thomas, Bannes, the Salamanca theologians, Billuart, etc. Capreolus expresses
himself in the same manner in his Commentary on the Sentences, III Sent.,
d.24, q. 1, a.3, 4.
12 St. Augustine, In Joan., 8: 14, tr. 35. Migne, XXXV, 1658: "Light gives
testimony of itself . . . and is a witness to itself that the light may be known.
. . . Likewise Wisdom, the Word of God.”
1! "Accordingly if we consider, in faith, the formal aspect of the object,
it is nothing else than the First Truth. For the faith we are speaking of does
not assent to anything, except for the reason that it is revealed by God. Hence
the mean on which faith is based is the divine Truth” (Ha Ilae, q. 1, a.i).
“Now it has been already stated that the object of faith is the First Truth,
as unseen, and whatever we hold on account thereof” (q.4, a.i). "Nevertheless,
we must observe that in the object of faith, there is something formal, as it
were, namely, the First Truth surpassing all the natural knowledge of a créa
ture, and something material, namely, the thing to which we assent while
adhering to the First Truth” (q.5, a. 1).
De veritate, q.14, a.8, corp.: “All created truth is defectible. . . . There­
fore faith, which is set down as a virtue, must make the intellect of man ad­
here to the truth which consists in divine knowledge, by transcending the
truth of his own intellect. And so the faithful soul through simple and un­
changing truth is free from the fickleness of unstable error, as Dionysius says:
De div. nom. c. VII." Cf. Ibid., ad sum, ad gum, ad gum, ad i6um.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

telling us anything about supernatural mysteries (e. g., the
Blessed Trinity), our faith would have been supernatural only
by reason of its origin, by its mode of production, but not at
all by its formal object or by its essence. It would have been
specifically inferior to Christian faith, whatever the semi­
rationalists, who wished to prove the mysteries of Christianity,
may have said about it. On the contrary, our infused faith is
not specifically inferior to that which the angels had before
enjoying the beatific vision, even though our faith expresses
itself in acquired ideas and theirs in infused ideas.
In reality, it is the supernatural mystery of His intimate
life which God has revealed to us. Consequently our faith is
based on the very truth of God, the Author of grace, on the
uncreated knowledge of His intimate life which He possesses:
an entirely supernatural first Truth, to which the infused
light of faith raises us, and to which it makes us adhere in­
fallibly.14 It is eternal first Truth, which is still obscure for us
because transluminous, says Dionysius, and is infinitely su­
perior not only to the evidence of rational principles which
enable us to recognize a miracle, but even to the evidence
which the angels naturally enjoy, and which the demons pre­
serve; “ “the First Truth which interiorly illuminates and
teaches man.” 14
Therefore without the infused light of faith man remains
in the presence of the Gospel like a hearer deprived of musical
1« "A heretic does not hold the other articles of faith about which he does
not err in the same way as one of the faithful does, namely, by adhering simply
to the divine truth, because in order to do so, a man needs the help of the
habit of faith; but he holds the things that are of faith by his own will and
judgment" (Ha Hae, q.5, a.3 ad turn). “For, since man by assenting to mat­
ters of faith, is raised above his nature, this must needs accrue to him from
some supernatural principle moving him inwardly; and this is God” (q.6, a.i).
In Boetium de Trinit., q.3, a.i ad 4um: “The things which are proposed ex­
teriorly relate to the knowledge of faith, as though received through the senses
for the recognition of principles."
is De veritate, q.14, a.9 ad 4um: “To believe is used equivocally of the
faithful and of demons."
1· Quodlibet II, a.6 ad jura.

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF INFUSED FAITH 67

sense who listens to a symphony without really perceiving its
beauty. “But,” says St. Paul, “the sensual man perceiveth not
these things that are of the Spirit of God; for it is foolishness
to him, and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually
examined.” 17
The faithful, on the contrary, understand “the deep things
of God” spoken of by the revelation which is proposed by the
Church. “This school, where God teaches and is understood,
is far removed from the senses,” says St. Augustine. “We see
many men come to the Son of God, since we see many who
believe in Christ; but where and how they have heard and
learned this truth of the Father, that we do not see. This grace
is entirely too intimate and too secret for us to see it.” 18*
St. Thomas says: “Three things lead us to believe in Christ:
“first, natural reason; . . . secondly, the testimony of the law
and the prophets; . . . thirdly, the preaching of the Apostles;
but when thus led we have reached belief; then we can say
that we believe, not for any of the preceding motives, but
solely because of the very truth of God ... to which we ad­
here firmly under the influence of an infused light; because
faith has certitude from light divinely infused.” 18 Elsewhere
St. Thomas says: "God dwells in us by living faith, according
to the expression of St. Paul: 20 ‘Christ dwells in your hearts
by faith.’ ” 21
This lofty doctrine has often been given a materialistic in17 See I Cor. 2: 14. See the commentary of St. Thomas on this text. In the
encyclical Providentissimus, Leo XIII says: “The sense of Holy Scripture can
nowhere be found incorrupt outside the Church, and cannot be expected to
be found in writers who, being without the true faith, only gnaw the bark
of the Sacred Scripture, and never attain its pith.” To discover the literal
meaning of Scripture, it is not always sufficient to have grammar, a dictionary,
and the rules of rational exegesis, but one must also follow positively those
of Christian and Catholic exegesis which proceeds under the divine light of
faith, as is stated in all good treatises on interpretation of Scripture.
is De praedestinatione sanctorum, PL, XLIV, 970. Also PL, XLV, 1019.
is St. Thomas, In Joann., chap. 4, lect. 5, no. 2.
so Eph. 3: 17.
21 In Ep. ad Gal., 3: 11.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

terpretation and has been considerably diminished. The great
commentators of St. Thomas for the last seven centuries have
always defended it and cherished it. To be convinced of this,
we need only read what they have written about the articles of
the Summa relative to the supernatural character of the theo­
logical virtues and especially of faith.22 One should read par­
ticularly the fine writings of the Carmelites of Salamanca on
this point, which they regard as the foundation of the mystical
doctrine of their father, St. John of the Cross.23 Both St. Fran22 On this important point. Capreolus, Cajetan, Cano, Lemos, John of St.
Thomas, and the Carmelites of Salamanca have always energetically opposed
the nominalist conceptions or any that have sprung from nominalism, which
disregard the essential supernaturalness of infused faith and of the motive
which specifies it. Suarez agrees with St. Thomas on this point.
23 Salmanticenses, De gratia, tr. XIV, disp. Ill, dub. 3, no. 40: "The formal
motive of infused faith is the testimony of God, the Author of grace, which
establishes a supernatural certitude. Man by his natural powers can rely on
the testimony of God, the Author of nature (and of naturally knowable mira­
cles), but he cannot without grace rely on the testimony of God, the Author
of grace, on the voice of the heavenly Father, which is the principle of an
essentially supernatural certitude, relative to an object and to an end of the
same order." Cf. Ibid., nos. 28, 40, 42, 45, 60. Sahnant., De fide, disp. I, dub.
5. nos. 163, 193. Divine revelation is that by which we believe mysteries, and
revelation itself is believed by the same act; we adhere to it supernaturally
by faith. Thus we have said with St. Thomas (De veritate, q. 14, a. 18 ad 4um),
light is seen and makes us see colors. These last formulas, as we have noted,
are current among all the great commentators of St. Thomas (Dominicans or
Carmelites), and are also used by Suarez.
Lastly, the same doctrine is well defended by Father G. Mattiussi, S.J., Rivista
di filosofia neo-scolastica, December, 1918, pp. 416-19, “L’atto di fede," and
by Father M. de la Taille, S.J., Recherches de science religieuse, September,
1919, p. 275, “L’oraison contemplative.” Likewise several years ago Father G.
Petazzi, S. J., in an interesting study, Credibilità e fede, rightly contrasted the
faith of the devils, springing from the natural perspicacity by which they
discern miracles (Ila Ilae, q.5, a.2 ad sum) with the infused faith of the
faithful. “The acquired faith of the devils,” he rightly says, “is neither es­
sentially supernatural nor meritorious. It is not supernatural; although the
formal motive of their belief is the authority of God, yet this is not the au­
thority of God as the author of the supernatural order and in relation to a
supernatural end. Consequently it is neither meritorious nor laudable, for the
devils, while admitting the mysteries of faith, do not seek the good of God.
but only their own (it would be stupid for them to deny the divine origin
of a word confirmed by such striking signs). And since the authority of God
as the author of the supernatural order, in relation to a supernatural end,
constitutes a formal motive different from the authority of God considered
simply as First Truth naturally knowable, it follows that the faith of the

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF INFUSED FAITH 69
cis de Sales and Bossuet likewise express the same opinion.*
24*
Among modern theologians, Scheeben, who clearly under­
stood this teaching, wrote as follows: “The formal motive of
faith is purely and immediately divine and therefore abso­
lutely one and simple, firm and subsistent, identical with the
first and immutable source of all truth (First Truth). On the
other hand, faith itself appears as a direct commerce, an in­
timate union with the interior word of God, and consequently
with His interior life. As this interior word not only existed
at the time of the manifestation of the exterior word, but also
subsists in its quality as eternal word of God, in an eternal
present, it elevates our mind to participation in His truth and
immortal life, and makes it rest therein.
“The contrary opinion, according to which the exterior
act of revelation would be a partial motive of faith, rests on a
mechanical conception, in which faith appears as a deductive
process helping us to discover the truth of its contents. It les­
sens the transcendental character of faith, which is essentially
an impulse toward God.” 26
This is what prompted Lacordaire to say: “What takes place
in us when we believe is a phenomenon of intimate and super­
human light. I do not say that exterior things do not act on
devils differs specifically from that of the faithful, as St. Thomas says in De
veritate, q. 14, a.9 ad 4um: ‘Belief is equivocally postulated of the faithful
and of devils; in the latter there is no faith from any infused light of grace,
as there is in the faithful.' "
24 St. Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. II, chap. 14: "The
Almighty, to impart to us the gift of faith, penetrates the soul and speaks
to it: not by reasoning, but by inspiration. He proposes to the understand­
ing the objects of its belief in so gentle and persuasive a manner, that the
will is powerfully inclined to exert its freedom and authority over the under­
standing, and thereby reduce it to acquiesce unhesitatingly and fully in the
truths revealed." Bossuet (Elévations sur les mystères, 18th week, 17th eleva­
tion) says: "Above all, you must believe that those who believe owe all to
God; that they are, as our Savior says, taught by God (John 6: 45): that it is
necessary that He speak within, and that He search out the hearts of those
He wishes especially to make hear Him. Therefore reason no longer: humble
yourself. He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Matt. 11: 15): but let him
know that it is God who gives these ears which hear.”
2’ Scheeben, Dogmatik, I, sec. 40, no. 681.

7O

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

us as rational motives of certitude; but the very act of this su­
preme certitude, which I speak of, affects us directly like a
luminous phenomenon (infused light of faith), like a transluminous phenomenon. . . . We are affected by a transluminous light. . . . Otherwise where would be the proportion
between our adherence, which would be natural and rational,
and an object surpassing nature and reason? ... It is some­
what like a sympathetic intuition that in a single moment
establishes between two men what logic could not do in many
years. Just so a sudden illumination at times enlightens the
intelligence.” 28 Bishop Gay holds the same opinion.27
To make us thus adhere to the supreme, essentially super­
natural Truth, infused faith should therefore also be super­
natural in its essence and not merely by an accidental modal­
ity. It is thus infinitely superior to the light of reason, as the
latter is to the senses.28
2« Lacordaire, Conférences de Notre Dame de Paris, 17th conference.
2’ Les vertus chrétiennes, I, 15g f„ in the chapter on faith: “The senses and
reason can indeed give us a physical or historical knowledge of supernatural,
divine facts. This is their loftiest employment and in this their concurrence is
indispensable. Without them the act of faith would be radically impossible:
they are the soil in which this act germinates and which serves it as a sup­
port. But in regard to the real, commanded, meritorious perception of re­
vealed supernatural truths, the most exquisite senses and the most highly
cultivated reason remain utterly incapable of it. Faith alone can give us this
perception. Faith is necessary to make us adhere to the content of revelation,
that is, to the divine reality expressed in human language; and without grace,
which inaugurates it in us, we could not surrender to the proofs on which it
rests. Without faith the most intelligent and most learned person remains the
purely natural man that St. Paul calls sensual; and the Apostle says that such a
one ‘perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God . . . and he cannot
understand’ (I Cor. 2: 14). Even were the human mind capable of this ad­
herence, there would still be the heart, which of necessity has its part here,
and truly a very large part."
28 If this doctrine is expounded to those who see things in the other way,
some reply: “Those are mere words.” Thus, without wishing to do so, they
confess their unconscious nominalism. This nominalism is bound to lead
them to see only meaningless words in the intimate life of God, inasmuch as
that life underlies the order of the supernatural mysteries, essentially superior
to the order of natural divine mysteries, which reason by itself can know.
For the nominalists this distinction between the two orders was only a con­
tingent distinction depending on the free will of God and not on the infinite
elevation of His intimate life. Ci. De revelatione, 1. 340.

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF INFUSED FAITH 71
When this great doctrine of St. Thomas is not lessened by a
materialistic interpretation, it is, by reason of its loftiness, evi­
dently the foundation of mystical theology, and is in no way
inferior to the most beautiful pages on the life of faith in the
writings of Dionysius,2® Tauler,80 Blessed Henry Suso,’1 or
St. John of the Cross. We shall see that the passive purifications
of the spirit especially, which are described in The Dark Night
of the Soul, can be understood only by what we have just said
about the absolute supernaturalness of the formal motive of
the theological virtues. These painful passive purifications, in
which the gifts of the Holy Ghost have a great share, bring out
strikingly this pure, supernatural motive by freeing it more
and more from every inferior motive accessible to reason.
To show that mystical contemplation is only the plenitude
of the life of faith, the essence of which we have just deter­
mined, we need only quote some characteristic passages from
the writings of St. John of the Cross. In The Ascent of Mount
Carmel82 he writes: “To be prepared for the divine union, the
Others say: "What you are speaking of presupposes an extraordinary mysti­
cal illumination,” whereas we are speaking only of Christian faith, such as that
possessed by a believer even in the state of mortal sin; faith with a value
and grandeur often unknown.
29 Dionysius, De nom. div., chap. 7, no. 4: "The Logos [divine intelligence]
is the simple and really existing truth, around which, as a pure and unerring
knowledge of the whole, the divine Faith, the enduring foundation of the be­
lievers, is that which establishes them in the truth, and the truth in them, by an
unchangeable identity, they having the pure knowledge of the truth of the
things believed.” The contemplative becomes more and more convinced that
God is superior to every conception. "Then,” says Dionysius, "the soul being
freed from the sensible and from the intellectual world enters the transluminous obscurity of a holy ignorance and, renouncing every scientific fact,
is lost in Him who can neither be seen nor understood" (Theol. mystic., chap.
1). See also chap. st.
so Tauler in his Sermons often speaks of entirely pure, naked faith, stripped
of images and rational knowledge. He declares this type of faith very superior
to consolations and revelations. This pure faith is certainly accompanied by
the gifts of understanding and of wisdom in an eminent degree. Tauler's
teaching on this point has been summed up in the Institutions, chapters 8
and 35. This work seems not to have been written by him, but to have been
drawn from his writings.
si Œuvres mystiques (Thiriot ed.), II, 357.
>2 Bk. II, chap. 9.

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
72
understanding must be purified, emptied of all that comes
from the senses, of all that may present itself clearly. It must be
intimately at peace, recollected, and abandoned in faith. This
faith alone is the proximate and proportionate means which
can unite the soul to God, for faith is in such intimate con­
nection with God that what we believe by faith and what we
see by the beatific vision are one and the same thing. God is
infinite; faith proposes the infinite to us. God is one and tri­
une; faith proposes Him to us as one and triune. In the same
way that God is darkness for our mind, faith enlightens our
understanding by blinding it. By this means only does God
manifest Himself to the soul in a divine light which exceeds
all understanding; whence it results that the greater faith is,
the more profound is the union. . . . For under the darkness
of faith, the understanding is united to God; under cover of
this mysterious darkness, God is found hidden.”
Farther on in the same work,83 St. John of the Cross says of
spiritual visions in which creatures are seen: “I do not deny
that the memory of them may give rise to some love of God
and contemplation; but pure faith and detachment in dark­
ness from all this stimulates and raises the soul much more
thereto, without the soul’s knowing how or whence it comes.
If it happens that the soul experiences an anguish of very pure
love of God, and is ignorant of its cause and motive, it is the
effect of faith, which has developed in the night, in nudity and
spiritual poverty, and which is accompanied by a more pro­
found, infused love of God. Whence it follows that the more
eager the soul is for obscurity, for annihilation in regard to
every exterior and interior object which it is capable of pos­
sessing, the more it increases its faith, and also hope and char­
ity, inasmuch as the three theological virtues form a unity.
Often the person favored does not understand this love and
has no feeling of it, since it is not established in the senses by
S3 Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 24.

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF INFUSED FAITH 73

tenderness, but in the soul by a fortitude, courage, and daring
hitherto unknown.”
Previously St. John of the Cross had written: 84 “In order
to be supernaturally transformed, the soul must enter the
darkness (not only in regard to creatures, but in regard to
what reason can know of God). It must remain in the darkness,
like a blind person, relying on obscure faith, taking it as light
and guide. The soul cannot help itself with any of the things
which it understands, tastes, feels, or imagines. . . . Faith
dominates all these ideas, tastes, sentiments, and images. If
the soul does not wish to extinguish its lights by preferring
total obscurity to them, it will not reach what is superior, that
is, what faith teaches. . . . The soul creates great obstacles for
itself in its ascent toward this lofty state of union with God
when it relies on reasoning or is attached to its own judgment
or will.” Elsewhere the saint states that by so doing the soul
mingles with its supernatural acts an act of coarse quality
which does not attain the end?5
And again St. John of the Cross says: s® “To busy oneself
with things which are clear to the mind and of little value is
to forbid onself access to the abyss of faith where God in se­
cret supernaturally instructs the soul, and without its knowl­
edge enriches it with virtues and gifts. . . . The Holy Ghost
enlightens the recollected intellect according to the measure
si Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 4.
Ibid. St. John of the Cross speaks in like manner in The Living Flame of
Love, 3d str., verse 3: “Spiritual directors, who do not know the spiritual
ways and their characteristics, turn souls away from the delicate unctions by
which the Holy Ghost prepares them for divine union. . . . They persist in
not allowing souls—even if the desire of God formally manifests itself—to pass
beyond their principles and methods which are limited to the discursive and
the imaginary. They forbid souls to pass beyond the limits of a natural capacity.
How poor is the fruit which they draw from it.” Does not he who conceives
faith itself as a discursive process, particularly merit these reproaches? If, on
the contrary, we consider the act of faith as a simple act without any reason­
ing, we prepare ourselves by this very consideration to follow the way pointed
out by St. John of the Cross.
30 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 29.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

of its recollection. But the most perfect recollection is that
which takes place in faith, and for this reason the Holy Ghost
does not communicate His liarhts
outside of faith.” In all these
o
texts the saint is concerned with living faith enlightened by a
gift of the Holy Ghost.ST
We find the same teaching for more advanced souls in The
Dark Night of the Soul: “The soul ought then to enter the
second night in order to strip itself perfectly of all perceptions
and savors, whether of sense or of spirit, in order to walk in
the purity of obscure faith. There only can it find the fitting
means by which the soul is united to God, as He Himself de­
clares by the prophet Osee (2: 20); ‘I will espouse thee to Me
in faith.’ ” 88
In The Spiritual Canticle, St. John beautifully sums up this
doctrine and shows its loftiness. He insists on the absolute
supernaturalness of the object which faith attains by the ar­
ticles of the Credo:
“O crystal well!
Oh, that on Thy silvered surface
Thou w’ouldest mirror forth at once
Those eyes desired88
Which are outlined in my heartl”

“By ‘silvery surfaces’ the soul means the propositions or
articles of faith. To understand these verses and those which
follow, we must observe that the articles of faith are repre­
sented by silver as compared to gold, which is the substance of
faith or the truths which it contains considered in themselves.
During our lives we adhere to this substance of faith, although
it is hidden in a silvered envelope. It will appear unveiled
in heaven, and we shall contemplate this pure gold with de«’ Father Poulain, in our opinion, correctly interprets St. John of the Cross
on this point. Cf. Les grâces d’oraison, 9th ed., p. 227.
se Bk. II, Part II, chap. 2; also The Living Flame, 3d str., vers. 3, no. 9.
so That is, as explained farther on, the sight of God of which infused faith
is a faint impression, since this faith is the prelude of the beatific vision.

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF INFUSED FAITH 75

light. . . . Thus faith gives us God even in this life, although
under a veil of silver. This does not hinder us from truly re­
ceiving Him.” 40
St. Thomas holds the same opinion. In correcting Hugh of
St. Victor, he observes that the only contemplation that sur­
passes faith is the beatific vision. According to his opinion, the
contemplation of the angels and that of Adam before the fall
was not superior to faith, but, he says, they received the light
of the gift of wisdom in greater abundance than we do.41 And
he shows that uniform or circular contemplation, of which
Dionysius speaks, presupposes the sacrifice of the senses and
of reasoning, or the multiplicity in which they tarry.42
St. Thomas is not speaking here merely of the contempla­
tion called “ordinary,” and not at all of mystical contem­
plation. If we should thus misunderstand him, we would
confound the latter with its concomitant phenomena and
would forget that the holy doctor recognizes that the superior
degree of uniform or circular contemplation is that called by
Dionysius the great darkness, or the plenitude of faith. St.
Thomas says: “Then we know God through ignorance, by a
union which surpasses the nature of our soul and in which we
are enlightened by the depths of divine wisdom, which we
cannot scrutinize.” 43 St. Albert the Great teaches the same
doctrine.44
10 The Spiritual Canticle, Part I, str. 12. Likewise in Maxims and Spiritual
Counsels, maxim 24 (p. 557): “No perception or supernatural knowledge can
aid us as much to love God as the slightest act of living faith and of hope freed
from all intellectual support.” Likewise maxim 27. See also The Living Flame
of Love, str. 3, vers. 2: The overshadowings of the soul, the shadow of the
divine perfections.
41 See Ila Ilae, q.5, a.i ad mm.
42 "But on the part of the soul, before it arrives at this uniformity, its two­
fold lack of uniformity needs to be removed. First, that which arises from the
variety of external things . . . and secondly, that which arises from the dis­
coursing of reason” (Ila Ilae, q. 180, a.6 ad 2um).
42 St. Thomas, In libr. de divinis nomin., chap. 7, lect. 4. Likewise, I Sent.,
d.8, q. 1, a. 1 ad gum.
44 Comment. in Mysticam theologiam Dionysii, chap. 1. See also De ad­
haerendo Deo, chap. 3, a work which for a long time was attributed to
St. Albert.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

This teaching is confirmed by the testimony of souls ex­
perienced in the mystical ways. “One day,” says Blessed Angela
of Foligno, “I saw God in a darkness and necessarily in a dark­
ness, because He is situated too far above the mind, and no
proportion exists between Him and anything that can become
the object of a thought. It is an ineffable delectation in the
good which contains all. Nothing therein can become the ob­
ject either of a word or a concept. I see nothing, I see all. Cer­
titude is obtained in the darkness. The more profound the
darkness, so much the more does the good exceed all. This is
the reserved mystery. . . . Pay attention. The divine power,
wisdom, and will of which I have had marvelous visions at
other times, seem less than this which I saw. This is a whole;
one would say that the others were parts.” 46 It is the Deity
superior to being, to wisdom, to love, which are identical with
each other in its infinity.
Such is manifestly the full development of infused faith, of
which St. Thomas has so well determined the essential super­
naturalness; it is faith based on a formal motive, inaccessible
to reason and to the natural knowledge of die angels. Contem­
plative souls have found great light in learning the true
thought of the holy doctor on this fundamental point.4®
45 Le livre des visions et instructions de la B. Angèle de Foligno, chap. 26.
40 One of them writes on this subject: "This First Truth gives the soul
great independence toward everything created, as though the soul had re­
ceived shelter in the immutable. It can no longer suffer, as before, from ex­
terior happenings, yet it endures continual suffering. This world, where it
must continue to live, has its material, passing realities from which it cannot
escape, and it sees itself subjected to deception. Everything but the contem­
plation of this First Truth is a heavy burden to it, which it bears without
impatience. It performs all its external occupations with courage, although
without any taste for them, because during the time of trial such is the
will of God. And the will of God is truth. The soul loves it passionately
no matter what suffering it may find therein. Thus the things of heaven and
those of earth, immense happiness and continual suffering, harmonize in peace
under this ray of Truth, which now illumines my life. I say Ό Truth,’ as
others say, Ό Love, O Mercy.’ This is my ejaculatory prayer, my spiritual com­
munion which gives me all my God. This First Truth, this subsistent truth,
is God; it is His Being. This First Truth it is which gives me life and, by
inclining toward me, nothingness and sin, it assumes the name of love and
mercy.

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF INFUSED FAITH 77

In fact, if we are truly convinced of the essential supernat­
uralness of faith, we understand that mystical contemplation
is the normal blossoming of this theological virtue united to
charity and to the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Only the contem­
plative rises to the heights of his faith.
The certitude of his contemplation is based formally on a
secret illumination of the Holy Ghost, while the concomitant
phenomena of suspension of the faculties and of ecstasy are
only effects and signs of a state with a supernatural quality be­
yond the grasp of observation. Here, as also for the natural
knowledge of first principles and for the certitude of faith, we
must distinguish clearly between the entirely spiritual, formal
motive of our adherence and the sensible signs accompany­
ing it.
If, on the other hand, the teaching of St. Thomas on the
supernatural character of faith is interpreted materialistically,
mystical contemplation will be materialized. Too much atten­
tion will be paid to the phenomena that sometimes accompany
it, and it will be declared absolutely extraordinary because
the fundamental law of the continual development “of the
grace of the virtues and of the gifts” will be lost sight of.
What the holy doctor teaches about hope and charity will
also be materialistically interpreted. If anyone should imagine
that reason alone, studying historically the Gospel confirmed
"I well know that I have not seen this Truth, since it is not given to
us to see God while we are in the prison of our body; but my faith possesses
this Truth in this dark light.
“During one of these prayers of great darkness which I sometimes have,
I was permitted to contemplate this essential glory of the Blessed Trinity, in
comparison with which the most magnificent works of His wisdom, even that
of the incarnation, do not count. And it seemed to me that the contemplative
act of faith corresponded to this intimate life of God. I understood then the
truth of that saying of St. John of the Cross, that the smallest act of pure love is
of greater value in the eyes of God and more profitable to the Church than
the greatest works. The desire to give contemplative souls to God and to
His Church was greatly strengthened as a result. And I understood that the
doctrine of St. Thomas on the supernaturalness of faith is intimately bound
up with the contemplative and mystical life, which is none other than the
life of faith par excellence.”

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by miracles, can without grace attain the formal motive which
specifies infused faith, he would be led to think that reason
can in the same way know the formal motive of hope and of
charity. Were this the case, the acts of these virtues would be
substantially natural, and would require only a supernatural
modality in order to be useful to salvation. Our act of charity
would thus resemble a natural and reasonable affection which
had been supernaturalized in order to become meritorious.
In this case we no longer see the infinite distance which sep­
arates, in their very essence and in their essential vitality, the
natural desire to be happy from the act of infused hope, or
again that distance which separates the natural love of the
sovereign Good, which Plato speaks of in The Banquet, from
the divine charity which is mentioned so repeatedly in the
Gospel.
Some theologians, following the nominalists, have seriously
diminished the supernatural character of the Christian vir­
tues, even of the theological virtues; but such diminution is
certainly not found in St. Thomas. In his opinion, these vir­
tues are supernatural in their very essence, which raises in­
finitely the vitality of our intelligence and of our will. They
are specified by a formal object, or a formal motive, which
infinitely surpasses the natural powers of the human soul and
those of the highest angels.
This doctrine of the essentially supernatural, formal motive
of the three theological virtues places the teaching of St.
Thomas on the same level as that of the greatest orthodox
mystics.4’
Finally, we are confronted with the question of the gifts of
the Holy Ghost and of the supernatural inspiration to which
they render us docile, as sails render a ship responsive to the
breath of the wind. Some theologians, who did not see the
necessity of the infused moral virtues, which are superior to
"The species of every habit depends on the formal aspect of the object,
without which the species of the habit cannot remain" (Ila llae. q.5, a.j).

SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF INFUSED FAITH 79
acquired moral virtues, were surprised to learn that in every
soul in the state of grace there are, in addition, gifts of the
Holy Ghost, superior by their divine mode to the infused
moral virtues. They denied this essential superiority because
they failed to recognize the supernatural riches which the mys­
tical life especially manifests to us. Understanding St. Thomas
materially, they confused the inspiration of the Holy Ghost
with the actual grace necessary for the exercise of the virtues
as soon as some special difficulty presents itself.
St. Thomas, on the contrary, teaches explicitly the essential
distinction between the virtues and the gifts, and consequently
he distinguishes exactly the inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
which surpasses the human mode, from the simple actual
grace which is adapted to this mode.48 On this point also, by
declaring the gifts necessary to salvation, St. Thomas agrees
with the greatest mystics. He adds, as they do, that the gifts,
although subordinated to the theological virtues, greatly as
sist in their development. The Holy Ghost communicates His
lights to us in the recollection of faith. Thus the difference is
very great between that supernatural faith which subsists with­
out charity in a soul in the state of mortal sin, and living faith
which is aided by the gifts and profound touches of the Holy
Ghost.
We shall find the same loftiness in the doctrine of St.
Thomas on actual grace, on the mode of God’s presence in
the just soul, and on the eminent and absolute simplicity of
the divine essence.
The humble Thomas Aquinas, who was always inclined to
silence and always recollected, lived this supernatural doc­
trine. His whole heart was given up to the love of God while
he was pondering and solving the most difficult questions.
How could it be otherwise in a great saint destined to re­
main throughout the centuries the light of theology? The
<·Sumina, la Ilae, q.68. See infra, chap. 5, art. 5. “The rôle of the gifts of
the Holy Ghost; their predominance in infused contemplation.”

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

heavenly gift of wisdom illumined his research, directed his
intelligence and will toward an ever deeper possession of di­
vine truth and life, and this it did although he was engaged in
the most diverse studies. Questions seemingly remote from
this supreme end are so only for a soul that has not yet reached
that height where all is lost in God, the beginning and end
of all things. Undoubtedly St. Thomas was raised to the high­
est degrees of mystical contemplation, and certainly his teach­
ing will not hinder souls in their ascent.

ARTICLE III

Mystical Theology and the Doctrine of St. Thomas on the
Efficacy of Grace
Those who are surprised that we seek the principles of
mystical theology in the writings of St. Thomas should con­
sider especially his teaching on the efficacy of grace.
This doctrine, precisely because it is very lofty, is not
generally well understood except by speculative theologians
and souls that have entered the passive ways. The reason for
this is found in the fact that speculative theologians are
accustomed to consider everything in relation to God, the
universal first cause and Author of salvation. Souls in the
passive ways know from experience that in the work of sal­
vation everything comes from God, even our co-operation­
in this sense, that we can distinguish therein no part that is
exclusively ours and that does not come from the Author of
all good.
The expression “no part exclusively ours” occurs fre­
quently in the works of the fathers and in those of St. Thomas.
As we shall see, it clearly expresses his thought; but to grasp
all its loftiness and profundity, we shall, first of all, state the
less lofty conceptions proposed by certain theologians. It will

THE EFFICACY OF GRACE

81

be to our advantage to understand the efficacy of actual grace
which we need for our conversion, then to resist temptation
which at times is violent, so as to merit, to grow in the love of
God, to pass through the crucible of the purifications, and
to persevere in good until death.
Some theologians 1 thought that the grace which is profit­
able to salvation is called efficacious, not at all because of
itself it leads us gently and mightily to consent to good, but
because it is given to us at the moment when God has fore­
seen that by ourselves alone we would choose to accept it
rather than to resist it. The divine prevision of man’s re­
sponse is what distinguishes efficacious grace from grace that
is not efficacious. In other words, this efficacy does not come
from the divine will, but from the human will; the grace is
efficacious, not at all because God wills it so, but because man
accepts it. According to this idea, it may happen that of two
sinners under the same circumstances receiving equal actual
graces, one will be converted and the other will remain in
his sin. Hence this difference of determination between these
two men springs solely from the human will, and not at all
from the difference in the divine help which they received.
The same grace, which was only sufficient and which re­
mained sterile in one, was efficacious in the other because he
himself made it efficacious. If this is the case, evidently the
salutary act is called forth by the divine attraction, but the
initial distinction separating the just from the sinner does
1 St. Thomas did not, as a rule, otherwise designate the theologians whose
opinion he did not share; but he set forth their thought very exactly in their
own words. Charity gained thereby, and the discussion was more serene. We
will follow his example so far as we can. At this point we merely recall the
principal assertions of these theologians of whom we are speaking: "Whether
a sufficient help is efficacious or inefficacious depends on the will of him to
whom it is given. With equal grace one sinner may be converted and an­
other not. One person may arise from sin and that with a lesser help of grace,
when another with greater help will not arise and will remain hardened. Not
that he who accepts a grace accepts it by his liberty alone, but this distinc­
tion arises from liberty alone, and not from a difference of antecedent grace
(auxilium praeveniens).”

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

not come from God; it is exclusively ours. And this concep­
tion of the efficacy of grace is applied not only to the salutary
acts preceding justification, but also to all meritorious acts,
even to the last which crowns the work of salvation.1
Does such a very human explanation of this divine mystery
preserve the grandeur of the mystery? The School of St.
Thomas has never thought so.’ Is not free determination the
most important part of the work of salvation? This deter­
mination is what distinguishes the just from the sinner in the
production of every salutary act; every time he avoids sin in
the course of his life, every time he triumphs over tempta­
tion, or merits and perseveres in good. According to St.
Thomas, we cannot admit that this important distinction
comes exclusively from us and not at all from God, the Au­
thor of salvation. St. Paul says: “For who distinguisheth
thee? Or what hast thou that thou hast not received? And if
thou hast received, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not
received it?” 4 “Without Me,” says our Lord, “you can do
nothing.” ’ In these words the fathers, especially St. Au­
gustine and following him St. Thomas, have seen the affirma­
tion that in the work of our salvation all comes from God,
even our co-operation, even the distinction between the just
and sinners, so that we cannot find therein a part which is
2 In this conception, what depends on the divine good pleasure is that Peter
be placed in circumstances where, according to God’s prevision, he will in­
fallibly be saved, and Judas in another order of circumstances where he will
infallibly be lost. The divine good pleasure might have made the inverse
choice. Setting aside this choice of circumstances, we see that in this theory
such a one is saved without being aided by grace more than another who
is lost. Furthermore, certain elect souls have been less aided by grace than
certain reprobate souls, not only in the course of their life but also at the
last moment.
2 Cf. Salmanticenses, De gratia, tr. XIV, disp. VII, "De gratia efficaci”: a com­
parison of the aforesaid doctrine with that of St. Thomas. The latter is set
forth in this treatise according to the texts in a much more correct manner
than in the article "Grâce” in the Dictionnaire de théologie catholique.
« Sec I Cor. 4: 7.
«John 15:5. St. Thomas says (In Matth. 25: 15): "He who attempts more,
has more grace in fact: but to attempt more, he needs a higher cause,” See also
In Ep. ad Ephes. 4: 7.

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83

exclusively ours.® Moreover, if God were in no way the cause
of our choice, He would not have been able to foresee it
infallibly from all eternity; for He alone is eternal, and our
free acts are future from all eternity 7 only because He de­
cided to produce them in us and with us, or at least to permit
them if they are bad.8
Other modern theologians have sought to correct the doc­
trine which we are examining, by saying that grace, followed
by consent to good, is called efficacious because it is more
adapted (congrua), than simply sufficient grace, to the tem­
perament of the subject who receives it and to the circum­
stances of time and place in which he is. Grace thus urges us
to give our consent, but the free determination of the latter
remains exclusively our work. God’s action inviting us to
good, is analogous to that of a mother who, when she wishes
to do so, can find the best means to persuade her child and
to lead him to conduct himself well.
In spite of this slight modification, we can truly say that
in this second doctrine as in the preceding the efficacy of
grace does not come from the divine will, but from the hu8 St. Cyprian, Ad Quirin., Bk. Ill, chap. 4 (PL, IV, 734): “We should glory
in nothing, because of ourselves we have nothing.” St. Basil, Hom. 22, "De
humilitate”: "Nothing is left to thee, O man, in which thou canst glory.” St.
Chrysostom, Sermones, 2, In Ep. ad Colos. (PG, LXII, 312): "In the business
of salvation all is the gift of God.” St. Augustine, De praedest. sanct., chap. 5.
St. Thomas, la, q.23, a.5: “There is no distinction between what flows from
free will, and what is of predestination; as there is no distinction between
what flows from a secondary cause and a first cause." The first cause and the sec­
ond cause are not, in fact, two partial co-ordinated causes, as two men tugging
a ship, but two total subordinated causes, in such a way that the first applies
or moves the second to act. Cf. la, q. 105, a.5; De pot., q.3, a.4, 7 ad 7um and
ad i3um; Contra Gent., HI, chaps. 66, 14g; De malo, q.3, a.2 ad 4um; Contra
errores Graecorum, chap. 23.
» They are absolutely future or future under certain conditions only by
virtue of a divine decree, because, being of themselves free, future events
are not determined. If they were, they would impose themselves on God Him­
self as a fatality that would be superior to Him. Cf. Ila Ilae, q.171, a.3:
"Things remote from the knowledge of all men, through being in themselves
unknowable: such are future contingencies, the truth of which is indeter­
minate.” Cf. also la, q. 14, a.5, 8, 13; q. 19, a.8: q.22, a.4; q.23, a.4, 5.
s Cf. la, q.16. a. 7 ad sum; q.19, a.4; q.14, a.8; la Ilae, q.79. a 1, 2.

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man will and also from our temperament and circumstances.
In other words, grace, in this doctrine also, solicits our good
consent, but the determination of the latter is exclusively
ours. If this were the case, the most important part of the
work of salvation would not come from the Author of salva­
tion; it would only have been foreseen by Him.®
In reality, according to St. Thomas, the action of God on
the will of a converted sinner is infinitely deeper than that
of a mother on the heart of her child. The mother’s action
could grow forever without ever attaining the action of
God. Of God alone, Holy Scripture says: “For it is God who
worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according
to His good will.”10 He Himself says by the mouth of
Ezechiel: “And I will give you a new heart, and put a new
spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out
of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. And I will
put My spirit in the midst of you; and I will cause you to
walk in My commandments, and to keep My judgments, and
do them.” 11 “As the division of waters, so the heart of the
king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever He will He
shall turn it.”12 And St. Paul asks: “Or who hath first given
to him, and recompense shall be made him?” 18 “So then it is
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of
God that showeth mercy” 14 . . . “but the same God, who
worketh all in all.”15 “For in Him we live and move and
8 Cf. Del Prado, O.P., De gratia et libero arbitrio, III, 364 ff. (1907 ed.). As
this learned author shows, it is inconceivable that God can infallibly foresee
from all eternity a determination which would in no way come from Him.
He alone is eternal; and no act of ours is future (absolutely or conditionally)
from all eternity without being founded on a positive or permissive eternal
decree of God. This is what St. Thomas establishes in the celebrated articles
already cited: la, q. 14, a.5, 8, 13; q.19, a.8; q.23, a.5, which we have ex­
plained elsewhere (God, His Existence and His Nature, II, 71-93)·
10 Phil. 2: 13.
11 Ezech. 36: 26.
12 Prov. 21:1.
1« Rom. 11: 35.
1* Rom. 9: 16.
1’ See I Cor. 12: 6

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85

are.”ie "For of Him and by Him and in Him are all
things.” 17
After quoting two of these texts from Scripture,18 St.
Thomas remarks: “Some, who do not understand how God
can cause in us the movement of our will without prejudice
to liberty, have done their best to wrest a different interpre­
tation from these divine words. For them, they mean that
God causes in us the will and the act, in as far as He gives
us the faculty to will, but not in as far as He makes us will
this or that. Origen has understood it thus {Peri Archon,
Bk. III). . . . To hold this opinion is manifestly to resist the
authority of Holy Scripture. It is said in Isaias (26: 12): Thou
hast wrought all our works for us. It is not, therefore, only
the faculty of will that we have from God, but the very
operation.” 18
The Council of Orange explains these words of Scripture
by saying: “God effects in man several blessings without
man’s co-operation, but man can do no good without the
help of God, who enables him to accomplish all his good
works.20 No one has anything of himself except his deceitful­
ness and sin. Whatever truth and justice we have in us, we
have received from that source whence we should all drink in
this life, if we do not wish to faint on the way.” 21
Following in this the doctrine of St. Augustine, expressed
in the Council of Orange, St. Thomas teaches that grace is
efficacious of itself and not by reason of the consent following
1· Acts 17: 28.
it Rom. 11: 36.
tsprov. 21: 1; Phil. 2: 13.
1» Contra Gentiles, Bk. Ill, chap. 89. See also De veritate, q.22, a.8; "Every
act of the will, in so far as it is an act, is not only from the will as from an
immediate agent, but from God as from a first agent that impresses it more
vehemently; wherefore, just as the will can change its act into another, so
much the more can God.” Ibid., q.22, a.9: “God alone can transfer the in­
clination of the will, which He gave to it, from one thing to another accord­
ing as He wills.”
20 No supernatural good without a supernatural aid; no natural good with­
out the natural aid of God.
21 Denzinger, Enchiridion, pp. 193, 195.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

it. Let us consider what occurs in the innermost depths of the
will of a converted sinner. If God wishes efficaciously that a
certain sinner should be converted at a given moment, “this
divine will,” says St. Thomas, “cannot fail to be accom­
plished”; as St. Augustine observes: “It is by the grace of
God that all who are saved are very surely saved.” “If then,”
continues St. Thomas, “it is in the intention of God, who
moves wills, to convert or to justify a certain sinner, this
sinner will be infallibly justified according to the expression
of Jesus: Everyone that hath heard of the Father and hath
learned cometh to Me.” 22
According to St. Thomas, divine grace, which efficaciously
inclines us to salutary good, is not, therefore, indifferent or
changeable. It is not made efficacious by our foreseen con­
sent; but it moves us surely, powerfully, and gently to follow
the way of good rather than that of evil.28
Thus in the work of salvation man can do nothing without
the help of God, but unfortunately he is sufficient unto him­
self to fall or to sin. And precisely because sin as such is a
deficiency or the privation of a good, it demands for its pro­
duction only a defectible and deficient cause according to
Scripture: “Destruction is thy own, O Israel: thy help is only
in Me.” 24 God permits this failure to occur, or rather does
22 Summa, la Ilae, q.tiï, a.3: "Man's preparation for grace is from God,
as Mover, and from the free will, as moved. Hence the preparation may be
looked at in two ways: first as it is from free will, and thus there is no neces­
sity that it should obtain grace, since the gift of grace exceeds every prepara­
tion of human power. But it may be considered, secondly, as it is from God
the Mover, and thus it has a necessity—not indeed of coercion, but of infalli­
bility—as regards what it is ordained to by God, since God’s intention cannot
fail, according to the saying of Augustine in his book on the predestination
of the saints (De dono persev., XIV) that by God’s good gifts whoever is
liberated, is most certainly liberated. Hence if God intends, while moving,
that the one whose heart He moves should attain to grace, he will infallibly
attain to it, according to John 6: 45: Everyone that hath heard of the Father
and hath learned cometh to Me.”
2s cf. la, q.105, a.4; la Ilae, q.10, a.4 c ad 311m; q.111, a.2 ad sum; q.113
passim; Ha Ilae, q.24, a.11; De malo, q.6, a.i ad 311m; De caritate, a.12;
Rom., 9. lect. 3; Eph., 3, lect. 2: Heb., 12, lect. 3; 13, lect. 3.
2« Osee 13:9.

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87
not prevent it, only because He is sufficiently powerful and
good to draw a greater good from it—the manifestation of
His mercy or justice.28
Accordingly no one who has attained the use of reason is
deprived of the efficacious grace necessary for salvation, ex­
cept for having freely resisted a sufficient grace, a good in­
spiration which recalled the duty to be accomplished. The
sinner thus placed an obstacle in the way of efficacious grace
which had been offered in the sufficient help. For example,
fruit is offered in the flower, but if hail falls on a tree in
blossom, we will never see its fruit. St. Thomas observes:
“Only those are deprived of grace, who place in themselves an
obstacle to grace. Thus when the sun is shining, if someone
closes his eyes and falls over a precipice it is his own fault,
even though sunlight is necessary for him to see. . . . On the
subject of certain sinners, we read in Job (21: 14): Who have
said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of
Thy ways. . . . They were enemies of the light.” 28
God is not obliged to remedy our voluntary faults, espe­
cially when they are repeated. The truth of the matter is that
He often does remedy them, but not always. Therein lies a
mystery.27
In this sense we understand the profound meaning of the
words of the Council of Trent (Sess. VI, chap. 13): "If men
do not resist His grace, as God has begun in them the work
of salvation, He will pursue its accomplishment by working
in them both to will and to accomplish.28 But he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall,28 and let
him with fear and trembling work out his salvation.” 80 In the
same chapter, the Council reminds us that “the grace of final
2» Cf. la Ilae, q.79, a. 1, 2; la, q.2, a.3 ad 111m; q.49, a.2.
2« Contra Gentes, Bk. Ill, chaps. 160, 161; Ila Ilae, q.2, a.5 ad mm.
22 Cf. la, q.23, a.3-5. Of this mystery it is said: "He that is a searcher of
majesty, shall be overwhelmed by glory" (Prov. 25: 27).
28 Phil. 2: 13.
2» See I Cor. 10: 12.
so Phil. 2: 12.

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perseverance can come only from Him who has the power to
sustain those who stand,81 that they may persevere, and to lift
up those who have fallen. No one can be absolutely certain
of obtaining this final grace, although all should constantly
place firm hope in the help of God.”
The Church speaks as follows in her liturgy: “Forestall, we
beseech Thee, O Lord, all our thoughts, words, and actions
by Thy holy inspirations and carry them on by the assistance
of Thy grace, so that every prayer and work of ours may
begin always from Thee and by Thee be happily ended.”
As St. Augustine says, “Free will is of itself sufficient for
evil but, so far as good is concerned, it does nothing unless
aided by all-powerful goodness.” 82 Although our resistance
to sufficient grace is of ourselves alone, we freely give our co­
operation, our consent, to good only in virtue of intrinsically
efficacious grace, a new gift of God which produces in us the
will and the act. “Without Me you can do nothing,” says our
Lord; and, on the other hand, the soul united to God says
with St. Paul: “I can do all things in Him who strengthened!
me”; 88 that is, co-operate in His sanctifying work, labor for
eternity.
Some have thought that this doctrine of intrinsically effica­
cious grace destroys human liberty and contains an absurdity.
Far from being absurd, in the opinion of St. Thomas it ex­
presses a sublime mystery: the mystery of God more inti­
mately present to our free will than our free will is to itself.
Grace does not destroy our liberty by its certain efficacy;
rather by that very efficacy divine grace moves the free will
without doing violence to it. This is the inspired idea of
St. Thomas Aquinas when he interprets revelation. “When a
cause,” he says,84 “is efficacious to act, die effect follows upon
si Rom. 14: 4.
S2D« correptione et gratia, chap. 11.
as Phil. 4: 13.
s« Cf. la, q. 19, a.8, fundamental article of the Summa theologica on this great
problem. Cf. Del Prado, O.P., De gratia et libero arbitrio, Vol. II, chap. 9.

THE EFFICACY OF GRACE

89

the cause, not only as to the substance of the effect, but also
as to its manner of being and of being made; when a cause is
feeble, on the contrary, it does not succeed in giving to its
effect the manner which is in it.” It is not capable of leav­
ing its imprint on the effect. The property of powerful agents
in the physical, intellectual, and moral order is to imprint by
the very force of their action their likeness on their works,
on their children, on their disciples. Artistic geniuses are
aware of it in themselves, great military leaders experience it.
St. Thomas says: “Since the divine will is perfectly efficacious,
it not only follows that things happen that God wills to hap­
pen, but happen also in the way that He wills from all eter­
nity. God wills some things to happen necessarily, some con­
tingently and freely.” 30 With this end in view He has given us
free will. And why should He be unable to produce in us
and through us even the free manner of our acts? As
Sophocles, Dante, and Corneille have their way of touching
us and of stirring up our emotions, just so God has His way
when He moves our will. St. Thomas states: “Free will is
the cause of its own movement, because by his free will man
moves himself to act. But it does not of necessity belong to
liberty that what is free should be the first cause of itself, as
neither for one thing to be cause of another need it be the
first cause. God, therefore, is the first cause, who moves both
natural and voluntary causes. And just as by moving natural
causes He does not prevent their acts being natural, so by
moving voluntary causes He does not deprive their actions
of being voluntary: but rather is He the cause of this very
thing in them; for He operates in each thing according to its
own nature.” 33 Thus a great master communicates to his
disciples not only his knowledge, but his spirit and his man­
ner. Leo XIII says the same thing in the encyclical Libertas.
“God,” adds St. Thomas, “immutably moves our will because85
85 Cf. la. q.83, a.i ad 311m.
88 Cf. ibid.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

of the perfect efficacy of His power, which cannot fail; but
liberty remains because of the nature (and of the unlimited
amplitude) of our will (which is ordered to universal good,
and which is as a result) indifferent in regard to the partic­
ular good which it chooses. Thus in all things Providence
works infallibly, and yet contingent causes produce their
effects in a contingent manner, for God moves all things pro­
portionately to the very manner of the nature of each be­
ing.” 87
Under the impulse of intrinsically efficacious grace, the
will moves itself freely, for it is moved by God in a manner
befitting its nature. By nature it has for its object universal,
limitless good, conceived by the intellect, which is infinitely
superior to the senses; only the attraction of God seen face to
face could invincibly captivate this faculty to will and to
love.88 It enjoys a dominating indifference in regard to every
particular good, judged good under one aspect, but insuf­
ficient under another. The relation of our will to this object
is not necessary; rather our will dominates the attraction of
this good. The act is free because it proceeds, under the in­
difference of judgment, from a will, the universal amplitude
of which projects beyond the particular good toward which it
is inclined.89 By His efficacious motion God does not change,
and even cannot change, this contingent relation of our vol­
untary act with this object, since the act is specified by this
s’ De malo, q.6, a. i ad gum: "Deus movet quidem voluntatem immutabiliter
propter efficaciam virtutis moventis, quae deficere non potest" (St. Thomas
does not say because of the prevision of our consent). The dominating in­
difference which constitutes liberty is potential in the faculty and it becomes
actual in the choice itself. The divine motion, far from destroying, actualizes
it: at the moment when the divine motion desires it, our will, which is directed
toward the universal good, actually dominates the attraction of the particular
good which it chooses.
sscf. la Ifae, q.2, a.8: "Now the object of the will, i. e., of man's appetite,
is the universal good: just as the object of the intellect, is the universal truth.
Hence it is evident that naught can lull man’s will, save the universal good.
This is to be found, not in any creature, but in God alone: because every crea­
ture has goodness by participation.”
»» Cf. la Hae, q-io. a.z; q.2, a.8; q.5. a.3, 8.

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object itself. The divine motion does not do violence to our
will, since it exercises itself interiorly according to the nat­
ural inclination of our will toward the universal good, an
inclination which comes from God and of which He is the
master.40 To say that liberty remains, is not contradictory;
but in all of this we have an infinitely profound mystery
analogous to that of the creative act: the mystery of God
nearer to His creatures, whose existence He preserves, than
they are to themselves.41
God moves our liberty fortiter et suaviter. Power and
gentleness are so intimately united in efficacious grace that
failure to recognize the first is a suppression of the second;
it is a failure to see the infinite abyss separating the divine
influence from the created influences that exert themselves on
our free choice. The beings dearest to us exercise a great
persuasive influence on us. Let us suppose it is continually
on the increase. Then let us consider the influence which the
greatest of the angels can exercise; and let us remember that
God can always create more perfect angels who would exert
over us a still greater influence. But all this will never attain
the efficacy of divine grace.
Does it follow that efforts and willing are useless? Quite
the contrary. Precisely because good will and holy effort are
most important in the work of salvation, they cannot be ex­
clusively our work. Grace is what causes us to make this
choice, what makes us struggle against temptation and over­
come it. As St. Augustine frequently says, God moves us, not
that we should do nothing, but precisely that we should act.
And often, if we demand too little of ourselves, this is because
we do not count sufficiently on grace, because we do not
sufficiently ask for it. If our spiritual life declines to a lower
level, and if we are satisfied with an entirely natural life, this
«0 Cf. la, q. 105, a.4 ad lum.
«1 See la, q.8, a.i; la Ilae, q.10, a.4; q.113, a.3; Contra Gentes, Bk. Ill,
chap. 8g.

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is a consequence of our believing we are alone in acting, for­
getting that God is in us and with us, nearer to us than we
are to ourselves.
We now come to the foundation of the loftiest mystical
theology, that of St. Paul, St. Augustine, Dionysius, St. Ber­
nard,42 St. Thomas, Tauler, Ruysbroeck, the author of the
Imitation, and St. John of the Cross. In the work of salva­
tion, all comes from God, even our co-operation. We cannot
glory in contributing a single part, however small, that would
be exclusively ours. Man of himself is sufficient for evil; but
for good, he can do absolutely nothing without the natural
or supernatural help of God. On the other hand, with God
and through Him he can achieve the greatest actions: he can
co-operate in the salvation of souls, each of which is of more
value than the entire material universe; he can make acts of
charity, the least of which has greater value than all angelic
natures taken together.48 “But they that hope in the Lord
shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles,
they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not
faint.” 44
In conclusion, we simply quote the masterly passage where
Bossuet, in the eighth chapter of his treatise on free will,
sums up this doctrine of St. Thomas. “To reconcile God’s
decree and His omnipotent action with our free will, we
need not attribute to Him a concurrence (in our action)
which is equally ready for anything, and which will become
whatever we choose to make of it. Still less is it necessary for
Him to await the decision of our will, that He might there­
upon form His decree in accordance with our resolutions.
Aside from this weak device, which deforms the whole idea
of first cause, we need merely consider that the divine will,
with its infinite power reaching not only into the essence of
42 St. Bernard, De gratia et libero arbitrio, chap. 14. Cf. Diet, théol., art,
"Saint Bernard,” col. 776.
48 Cf. la Ilae, q. 113, a.9 ad sum.
“ Is. 40: 31.

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93

all things but into their every mode of being, is of itself in
accord with the whole and entire effect, producing in it what­
ever we conceive to be in it, because His will ordains that it
shall come into being endowed with every property that be­
longs to it.”
The same chapter continues: “In the creature there is
nothing that has being, no matter how little of it, but what
has, for that very reason, received from God everything it
possesses. And no one may object that the special property
of the exercise of free will is that it comes solely from free will
itself. This would be true if man’s liberty were a primary
and independent liberty and not a liberty which flows from
a higher source. God, who, as first being, is the cause of all
being, as first mover must be the cause of all action so that
He produces in us the action itself, just as He placed in us
the power to act. And the created action does not cease to be
an action because it was produced by God. On the contrary,
it is action all the more because God has invested it with
being. . . .
“If the power to produce our action in us were attributed
to any other but our Maker, it might well be believed that
He would do violence to our liberty and by moving it would
break so delicate a spring which He had not made. But God
does not have to guard against His action taking anything
out of His work, because He produces everything in it down
to the last detail. Consequently He produces not only our
choice, but also the very freedom that is in our choice. . . .
To put freedom in our action is to cause us to act freely; and
to accomplish this, is to will that the action should exist; for
with God, to accomplish is to will. . . . Thus in order to
understand that God creates our free will in us, we must
understand only that He wills us to be free. But He wills not
only that we should be free in power, but that we should be
free in its exercise. And He wills not only in general that we
should exercise our liberty, but that we should exercise it

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94
in such and such an act. For He, whose knowledge and will
extend to the uttermost detail of things, is not satisfied to will
that they exist in general, but descends to what is called such
and such, that is, to what is most particular; and all of this
is comprised in His decree.
“Thus God from all eternity wills every future exercise of
human liberty in so far as it is good and real. What could be
more absurd than to say that it is not, because God wills it to
be? On the contrary, we must say that it is, because God wills
it; and since it happens that we are free in virtue of the de­
cree which wills that we should be free, the result is that we
act freely in such and such an act in virtue of the decree
which reaches into all this detail.”
Therefore absolutely everything in the world of material
bodies and of spirits, in their being and their actions, comes
from God, with the single exception of evil, which is a priva­
tion and a disorder. Evil is permitted by the supreme good­
ness only because God is powerful enough to draw an even
greater good out of it: the striking manifestation of His
mercy or justice.*’
This doctrine praises the glory of God. Often it is not un­
derstood, because it is at one and the same time too lofty and
too simple. Those who do not attain its loftiness disdain its
simplicity. “But the humble of heart enter the depths of God
without being disturbed and, remote from the world and its
thoughts, they find life in the loftiness of the works of
God.” *“ They do not feel their liberty oppressed by the di­
vine force of grace; rather they find in this power deliverance
and salvation.
St. Thomas and the greatest mystics who have come after
him tell us that this doctrine should lead us to great depths
of humility, continual prayer, practical and sublime faith,
abandonment in hope, thanksgiving, and intimacy of love.
«ο St. Thomas, In Epist. ad Rom., chap. 9, lect. 4: la, q.23, a.5 ad 311m.
<e Bossuet, Élévations sur les mystères, 18th week, 12th elevation.

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ARTICLE IV
The Practical Consequences of the Doctrine of St. Thomas
on Grace
St. Thomas, following St. Augustine and opposing Pelagian
or semi-Pelagian naturalism, grasped the depth and the
height of our Lord’s words: “Without Me you can do noth­
ing," 1 and of St. Paul’s words: “For it is God who worketh
in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to His
good will.” 2 “For who distinguished! thee? Or what hast thou
that thou hast not received?” 3 In the work of salvation we can­
not distinguish any part that is exclusively ours; all comes
from God, even our free co-operation, which efficacious grace
gently and mightily stirs up in us and confirms.
This grace, which is always followed by its effect, is re­
fused to us, as we said, only if we resist the divine, auxilium
praeveniens, sufficient grace, in which the efficacious help is
already offered us, as fruit is in the flower. If we destroy the
flower, we shall never see the fruit, which the influence of the
sun and of the nourishment of the earth would have pro­
duced. Now man is sufficient to himself to fall; drawn from
nothingness, he is by nature defectible. He is sufficiently as­
sisted by God so that he falls only through his own fault,
which thus deprives him of a new help. This is the great
mystery of grace. We have elsewhere explained what St.
Thomas and his best disciples teach about this mystery.*
1 John 15: 5.
2 Phil. 2: 13.
» See I Cor. 4: 7.
4 God, His Existence and His Nature, Π, 365 ff. It is not necessary that our
failure precede the refusal of efficacious grace, in priority of time; priority of
nature is sufficient, in the order of material causality, according to the principle
of the mutual relations of causes explained by St. Thomas (la Ilae, q. 113, a.8
ad turn: cf. la Ilae, q. 109, a. 1, a.8, g, 10). It is God who anticipates us by
His grace when He justifies us, and it is we who are the first to abandon Him
when we lose divine grace: “God will not desert the justified, unless He is
first deserted by them.” Council of Trent, Sess. VI, chap. 2.

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With him and St. Augustine we must submit our intelligence
before this divine obscurity, and as Bossuet says, “confess
these two graces (sufficient and efficacious), one of which
leaves the will without excuse before God, and the other does
not permit the will to glory in itself.” 6 Is this not in con­
formity with what our conscience tells us? According to this
doctrine, all that is good in us, naturally or supematurally,
has its origin in the Author of all good. Sin alone cannot
come from Him, and the Lord allows it to happen only be­
cause He is sufficiently powerful and good to draw from it a
greater good, the manifestation of His mercy or justice.
This teaching of the great doctors of grace lifts our mind
to a lofty contemplation of God’s action in the innermost
depths of our heart. To prove this, we have only to demon­
strate that this doctrine should lead those who understand it
well to profound humility, to almost continual interior
prayer, to the perfection of the theological virtues and of the
corresponding gifts of the Holy Ghost. Besides, we find it in
the writings of all the great masters of the spiritual life. Con­
sidering the importance and the difficulty of the problem, we
shall affirm nothing in this article except according to the
very words of Scripture, as the greatest doctors explain
them.
This doctrine leads first of all to profound humility. Αε­
ί Bossuet, Œuvres complètes, 1845, I, 643. Cf. the general index of Bossuet’s
works for references to "grace” (resistance to grace). See particularly Défense
de la tradition, Bk. XI, chaps. 19-27: Demonstration of the efficacy of grace by
the permission of sins into which God allows the just to fall in order to
humble them. Permission of the triple denial of St. Peter: "Peter was justly
punished for his presumption by the withdrawal of an efficacious help which
would have effectively hindered his denial." Bossuet shows that such is the
doctrine not only of St. Augustine but of St. John Chrysostom, of Origen, of
St. Gregory the Great, and of St. John Damascene, since they say that Peter
was deprived of help, a statement which cannot apply to sufficient grace,
for without this grace he would have been utterly powerless to avoid the sin.
The statement applies to an efficacious help which would have made him effec­
tively avoid this fall. From all of which we see that sufficient grace indeed leaves
our will without excuse before God, and that the efficacious grace wh'ch St.
Peter received later does not permit us to glory in ourselves.

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97
cording to this doctrine man has as his own, as something
coming exclusively from himself, only his sin, as the Council
of Orange declared.® He never performs any natural good act
without the natural aid of God, or any supernatural good act
without a grace which solicits or attracts him, and also effica­
ciously moves him to the salutary act. As St. Paul says: “Not
that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as of
ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God.” 7
Even holy souls that have reached a high degree of charity
are always in need of an actual grace in order to merit, to
advance, to avoid sin, and to persevere in goodness.® They
should say: “For the thoughts of mortal man are fearful, and
our counsels uncertain,” 8 “Thy will be done on earth as it is
in heaven . . . and lead us not into temptation.” After striv­
ing greatly, they should admit: “We are unprofitable serv­
ants,” 10 for the Lord might have chosen others who would
have served Him much better. In all truth we should say,
according to the teaching of St. Thomas, that there is no sin
committed by another man which I might not commit in the
same circumstances by reason of the infirmity of my free will,
and of my own weakness (the Apostle Peter denied his Master
three times). And if actually I have not fallen, if I have per­
severed, this is doubtless because I worked and struggled, but
without divine grace I should have done nothing.11 “Not to
us, O Lord, not to us; but to Thy name give glory”;12 “as
the potter’s clay is in his hand, to fashion and order it . . .
so man is in the hand of Him that made him.” 18 “Thy hands
have made me and formed me”;14 “Thou hast redeemed us
0 Canon 22: “No one has anything of his own except his deccitfulness and
his sin." Denzinger, no. 195.
I See II Cor. 3: 5
s Cf. la Ilae, q. 109, a.2, 8, 9, 10.
0 Wis. 9: 14.
10 Luke 17: 10.
II Cf. Del Prado, O.P., De gratia, III, 151.
12 Ps. 113: 1.
1« Eccles. 33: 13; Jer. 18: 6.
1* Ps. 118: 73.

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98
to God, in Thy blood.” 1S “If I have not perished, it is be­
cause of Thy mercy.” 19 "Into Thy hands I commend my
spirit.” 17 “This,” says St. Augustine, “is what must be be­
lieved and said in all piety and truth, so that our confession
may be humble and suppliant, and that all may be attributed
to God.” 18 Such is true humility. “Or what hast thou that
thou hast not received? And if thou hast received, why dost
thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” 19
The saints, considering their own failures, say to them­
selves that if such and such a criminal had received all the
graces the Lord bestowed on them, he would perhaps have
been less unfaithful than they. The sight of the gratuity of
the divine predilections confirms them in humility. They
recall our Lord’s words: “You have not chosen Me: but I
have chosen you.”
This doctrine leads also to continual intimate prayer, to
profound thanksgiving, to the prayer of contemplation.
It leads to intimate prayer; for this is a very secret grace
that must be asked. We must ask not only the grace which
solicits and excites the soul to good but also that grace which
makes us will it, which makes us persevere, which reaches the
depths of our heart and of our free will; that grace which
moves us in these depths, so that we may be delivered from
the concupiscence of the flesh and the eyes, and from the pride
of life. God alone saves and snatches us from these enemies of
our salvation. At the same time He does not wound our lib­
erty, but establishes it by delivering us from the captivity of
these things of earth.
Thus Scripture teaches us to pray: “Have pity on me, O
Lord, according to Thine infinite mercy. Be propitious to a
sinner. Help my unbelief. Create a clean heart in me, and
to Apoc. 5: 9.
1« Lam. 3: 22.
17 I’s. 30: 6; Luke 23: 46.
i® De dono perseverantiae, chap. 13.
i® See 1 Cor. 4: 7.

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renew a right spirit within me. Convert me, O Lord, make me
return to Thee, and I shall return.20 Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven.” Give me Thy sweet and mighty
grace in order that I may truly accomplish Thy holy will. As
St. Augustine says: “Lord, give what Thou dost command,
and command what Thou pleasest.”
Thus again the Church prays in the Missal: “Lord, direct
toward Thyself our rebellious wills; grant that unbelievers,
who are unwilling to believe, may have a will to believe.
Apply our hearts to good works. Give us good will. Convert
us and draw us strongly to Thyself. Take from us our heart
of stone and give us a heart of flesh, a docile and pure heart.
Change our wills and incline them toward what is good.” 21
Such is the holy confidence of the prayer of the Church
because she is sure that God is not powerless to convert the
most hardened sinners. What should a priest do who cannot
succeed in converting a dying sinner? Persuaded that God
can convert this guilty will, above all the priest will pray.
If, on the contrary, he imagines that God holds this will only
from without, by circumstances, good thoughts, good inspi­
rations, which remain external to the consent to salutary
goodness, will not the priest himself delay too long in the
use of superficial means? Will his prayer possess that holy
boldness which we admire in the saints, and which rests on
their faith in the potent efficacy of grace?
Likewise prayer should be, in a sense, continual, since our
soul needs a new, actual, efficacious grace for every salutary
act, for each new merit. With this in mind, we clearly see the
profound meaning of our Lord’s words: “We ought always
to pray, and not to faint.” 22 This truth is fully realized only
in the mystical life, in which prayer truly becomes, as the fa­
thers say, “the breath of the soul,” which hardly ceases any
so Lam. 5: 2i.
21 On these prayers of the Church, cf. St. Augustine, Epist. ad Vital., 217
(al. 107), and Bossuet, Defense de la tradition, Bk. X, chap. 10.
22 Luke 18: 1.

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more than that of the body. The soul constantly desires grace,
which is like a vivifying breath renewing it and making it
produce constantly new acts of love of God.
Such ought to be the prayer of petition. And we ought
also to thank God for all our good actions, since without
Him we could have done nothing. This is what makes St.
Paul say: “Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you
all.” 23 “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts
to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things, in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and the Father.” 24
This doctrine of the intrinsic efficacy of grace leads also
directly to the prayer of contemplation, which considers
chiefly the profound action of God in us to mortify and to
vivify, and which is expressed by the fiat of perfect abandon­
ment. In contemplation we see realized in the intimate
depths of souls the words of Scripture: “Thou are great, O
Lord, forever. . . . For Thou scourgest, and Thou savest:
Thou leadest down to hell, and bringest up again.” 25 “Thy
word, O Lord, which healeth all things.” 23 To utter a perfect
fiat to this intense and hidden work of grace in us, even
when it crucifies and seems to destroy all, is the most secret
but also the most fruitful co-operation in God’s greatest
work. It is the prayer of J esus in Gethsemane and that of the
Blessed Virgin at the foot of the cross.
Lastly, this doctrine reminds us that even for prayer effica­
cious grace is necessary. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmity. For we know not what we should pray for as
we ought; but the Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeak­
able groanings. And He that searcheth the hearts, knoweth
what the Spirit desireth; because He asketh for the saints
23 See I Thess. 5: 17-18.
2< Ephes. 5: 19-20.
2» Tob. 13: 2.
2« Wis. 16: 12.

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according to God.” 27 This mystery is verified especially in the
mystical union, often obscure and painful, in which the soul
learns by experience what great need we have of grace in
order to pray, as also to do good. But, says St. John of the
Cross,28 souls that have reached a certain degree of union
“obtain from God all that they feel inspired to ask of Him,
according to the words of David, ‘Delight in the Lord, and He
will give thee the request of thy heart’ ” (Ps. 36: 4). More­
over, every humble, confident, persevering prayer by which
we ask what is necessary or useful for our salvation is in­
fallibly efficacious, because our Lord uttered such a promise
and because God Himself caused this petition to well up in
our hearts. Resolved from all eternity to grant us His benefac­
tions, He leads us to ask them of Him.28
This doctrine of the powerful efficacy of grace leads finally
to great heights in the practice of the theological virtues. This
it does because it is intimately bound up with the sublime
mystery of predestination, the grandeur of which it fully
preserves. St. Paul, in the Epistle to the Romans, tells us:
“And we know that to them that love God, all things work
together unto good, to such as, according to His purpose,
are called to be saints. For whom He foreknew, He also pre­
destinated to be made conformable to the image of His Son;
that He might be the first-born amongst many brethren. And
whom He predestinated, them He also called. And whom
He called, them He also justified. And whom He justified,
them He also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who is against us?” 80 St. Paul teaches
the same doctrine in the Epistle to the Ephesians.81
Rom. 8: 26-27.
2» The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 20.
29 Cf. Ila Ilae, q.83, a. 2: St. Augustine, Enchirid., chap. 32; Bossuet, Dé­
fense de la tradition, Bk. XII, chap. 38.
so Rom. 8: 28-31.
»1 St. Paul also says in the Epistle to the Ephesians, 1:3-6, 11-12: “Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
spiritual blessings, in heavenly places, in Christ: as He chose us in Him

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St. Augustine 32 and St. Thomas 33 have explained these
words of St. Paul without lessening their real meaning. Bos­
suet, their disciple, sums them up with his usual mastery by
saying: “I do not deny the goodness of God toward all men,
or the means which in His general providence He offers
them for their eternal salvation. The Lord does not will
that any should perish, but that all should return to pen­
ance.34 But however great His designs may be on everyone,
He fixes a certain particular gaze of preference on a number
that is known to Him. All those on whom He gazes in this
way, weep for their sins and are converted in their time.
That is why Peter burst into tears when our Lord looked at
him benignly. Peter’s repentance was the result of the prayer
which Christ had offered for the stability of his faith; for it
was necessary, first of all, to rekindle his faith, and then to
strengthen it that it might endure to the end. The same is
true of all those whom His Father has given Him in a special
manner. Of these He said: ‘All that the Father giveth to Me
shall come to Me. . . . Now this is the will of the Father
who sent Me: that of all that He hath given Me, I should lose
nothing; but should raise it up again in the last day’ (John
6: 37> 39)·
‘‘And why does He make us penetrate these sublime
truths? Is it to trouble us, to alarm us, to cast us into despair,*
82
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted
in His sight in charity. Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption of chil­
dren through Jesus Christ unto Himself: according to the purpose of His
will: unto the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He hath graced
us in His beloved Son. ... In whom we also are called by lot, being pre­
destinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things accord­
ing to the counsel of His will. That we may be unto the praise of His
glory, we who before hoped in Christ.”
82 De praedestinatione sanctorum, chaps. 3, 6-11, 14, 15, t?>
dono per­
severantiae, chaps. 1, 6, 7, 12, 16-20, 23; De correptione et gratia, chaps. 9,
12, 13, 14. See also on these texts, Del Prado, De gratia et libero arbitrio,
III, 555-564; II, 67-81, 259: and Bossuet, Défense de la tradition, Bk. XII,
chaps. 13-20.
88 In Ep. ad Rom. 8: 28; In Ep. ad Ephes., I, no.5; la, q.23.
»* Cf. II Pet. 3: 9.

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to disturb us and make us question whether or not we are
of the elect? Far be it from us to indulge in such thoughts,
which would make us penetrate the secret counsels of God,
explore, so to speak, even into His bosom, and sound the
profound abyss of His eternal decrees. The design of our
Savior is that, contemplating this secret gaze which He fixes
on those whom He knows and whom His Father has given
Him by a certain choice, and recognizing that He can lead
them to their eternal salvation by means which do not fail,
we should thus learn first of all to ask for these means, to
unite ourselves to His prayer, to say with Him: ‘Deliver us
from evil’ (Matt. 6: 13); or, in the words of the Church: ‘Do
not permit us to be separated from Thee. If our will seeks to
escape, do not permit it to do so; keep it in Thy hands, change
it, and bring it back to Thee.’ ” 88
This prayer assumes its full value in the plenitude of the
life of faith, which is the mystical life; faith, as practical as
sublime, in the wisdom of God, in the holiness of His good
pleasure, in His omnipotence, in His sovereign dominion, in
the infinite value of the merits of Jesus Christ, and in the
infallible efficacy of His prayer.
Faith in the wisdom of God. “O the depth of the riches
of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incompre­
hensible are His judgments, and how unsearchable His ways!
. . . Or who hath first given to Him, and recompense shall
be made him? For of Him, and by Him, and in Him, are all
things: to Him be glory forever. Amen.” 88
Faith in the holiness of the divine good pleasure. “I confess
to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them to little ones. Yea, Father; for so hath it
seemed good in Thy sight.” 87 Jesus spoke in the same man­
s’ Bossuet, Méditations sur [’Évangile, Part II, 72c! day.
se Rom. 11: 33-36.
sr Matt. 11: 25-26.

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ner to the Pharisees: “Murmur not among yourselves. No
man can come to Me, except the Father, who hath sent Me,
draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day.” 88
Faith in the divine omnipotence. God can convert the most
hardened sinners. “The heart of the king is in the hand of
die Lord: whithersoever He will He shall turn it.” 89 “For
it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish,
according to His good will.” 40 “My sheep hear My voice;
and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them life
everlasting; and they shall not perish forever, and no man
shall pluck them out of My hand. That which My Father
hath given Me, is greater than all: and no one can snatch
them out of the hand of My Father. I and the Father are
one.” 41
Faith in the sovereign dominion of the Creator. “Behold
as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hands, O
house of Israel.” 42 “Or hath not the potter power over the
clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honor, and
another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show His
wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much
patience vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction, that He
might show the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy,
which He hath prepared unto glory?” 48
Faith in the infinite value of the merits and of the prayer
of Jesus. “The Father loveth the Son: and He hath given all
things into His hands.” 44 “Amen, amen I say unto you: He
that believeth in Me, hath everlasting life.” 48 “I have mani­
fested Thy name to the men whom Thou hast given Me out
of the world. Thine they were, and to Me Thou gavest them;
88 John 6: 43-44.
88 Prov. 21: 1.
<0 Phil. 2: 13.
41 John 10: 27-30.
42 Jer. 18: 6.
48 Rom. 9: 21-23.
44 John 3: 35.
48 John 6: 47.

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and they have kept Thy word. ... I pray for them. . . .
Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast given
Me; that they may be one, as We also are. . . . While I was
with them, I kept them in Thy name. Those whom Thou
gavest Me have I kept; and none of them is lost, but the son
of perdition, that the Scripture may be fulfilled. ... I pray
not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that
Thou shouldst keep them from evil. . . . And not for them
only do I pray, but for them also who through their word
shall believe in Me. . . . Father, I will that where I am,
they also whom Thou hast given Me may be with Me; that
they may see My glory which Thou hast given Me, because
Thou hast loved Me before the creation of the world.” ia
This act of serene and invincible faith in the infinite mer­
its of Christ ravishes the heart of God, who at times allows
everything to seem ouUvardly lost, that He may give His chil­
dren the opportunity to prove their faith in Him by such
an act.
This doctrine of grace leads us also to an entirely super­
natural hope composed of confidence in the divine mercy and
abandonment to it. The formal motive of hope is, in fact,
the infinitely helpful divine mercy (Deus auxilians). That
this virtue of hope may be divine and theological, we must
hope in God and not in the power of our free will. “He
that trusteth in his own heart is a fool; but he that walketh
wisely, he shall be saved.” 47 Considering our weakness, we
must “with fear and trembling work out our salvation,” 48
and “he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest
he fall.” 49 But, considering God’s infinitely helpful goodness,
we must say to Him: “In Thee, O my God, I put my trust;
let me not be ashamed.” 60 “Into Thy hands I commend my
«β John 17: 6, 9, 11, 12, 15, 20, 24.
4T Prov. 28: 26.
is Phil. 2: 12.
is See I Cor. 10 :i2.
»0 Ps. 24: 2.

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spirit.” 81 “O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet; blessed is
the man that hopeth in Him.” 82 “Preserve me, O Lord, for
I have put my trust in Thee.” 88 “In Thee, O Lord, have I
hoped, let me never be confounded.” 84 “Behold, God is my
savior, I will deal confidently, and will not fear: because the
Lord is my strength, and my praise, and He is become my sal­
vation.” 88 “I can do all things in Him who strengthened!
me.” 88
Such is the abandonment which Christ wishes us to learn.
It has no quietism in it, as Bossuet so well explains. He says:
“We must abandon ourselves to the divine goodness. This
does not mean that we need not act and work, or that, in op­
position to God’s command, we may yield to unconcern or to
rash thoughts. Rather, while acting to the best of our ability,
we must above all abandon ourselves to God alone for time
and for eternity. . . .
“A proud man fears that his salvation will be uncertain
unless he keeps it in his own hand, but he is deceived. Can I
rely on myself? I feel that my will escapes me at every moment.
If Thou, O Lord, didst wish to make me the sole master of my
fate, I should decline a power so dangerous to my weakness.
Let no one tell me that this doctrine of grace and preference
leads good souls to despair. How mad for me to think I can be
reassured by being hurled back on myself and delivered up
to my inconstancyl To this, O my God, I do not consent. I
find assurance only in abandoning myself to Thee. And in this
abandonment I find even greater trust, for those to whom
Thou dost give this confidence in entire abandonment, receive
in this gentle impulse the best mark we can have on earth of
Thy goodness. Increase this desire in me; and by this means
61 Ps. 30: 6.
82 Ps. 33: 9.
»3 PS. 15: 1.
s< Ps. 30: 2.
SS Is. 12: 2.
so Phil. 4: 13.

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107

put into my heart the blessed hope of being at last among the
chosen number. . . . Heal me and I shall be healed; convert
me and I shall be converted.” 57
In the painful, passive purifications of the spirit, souls are
often tempted against hope and are troubled about the mys­
tery of predestination. In this temptation all created helps fail
them, and they must hope heroically against all hope for this
single, pure reason, namely, that God is infinitely helpful and
does not abandon the just unless they desert Him, that He
does not let them be tempted beyond their strength aided by
grace, that He sustains them by His all-powerful goodness, as
He said to St. Paul: “My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is
made perfect in infirmity.” “Gladly, therefore,” says the great
Apostle, “will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may dwell in me. For which cause I please myself in my
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses, for Christ For when I am weak, then am I power­
ful.” os
We ought in great difficulties to think of this formal motive
of hope: God our helper; for He comes efficaciously to our
assistance by the grace that urges us to the practice of good­
ness, and in a gentle and powerful way causes it to be accom­
plished.08 “But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and
He is their protector in the time of trouble. And the Lord will
help them and deliver them: and He will rescue them from
the wicked, and save them, because they have hoped in
Him.” 00
Lastly, this doctrine of the efficacy of grace confirms our
charity toward God and souls. This charity is a friendship
based on God’s communication to us of the divine life through
grace. Therefore the more intimate and efficacious the grace
which is given us, the more we should love God and corre“7 Bossuet, Médit, sur l’Êvangile, Part II, 72c! day.
58 See II Cor. 12: 9, 10.
« Cf. Catechism of the Council of Trent, chap. 45, "On temptation."
*0 Ps. 36: 39 f.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

spond to His love. “Not as though we had loved God, but be­
cause He hath first loved us.” 61 The Master Himself said to
His Apostles: “You have not chosen Me: but I have chosen
you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should
bring forth fruit: and your fruit should remain: that whatso­
ever you shall ask of the Father in My name He may give it
you.” 82 And in the exercise of the apostolate, because he be­
lieved in the potent efficacy of grace, St. Paul wrote: “Who
then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribula­
tion? or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or perse­
cution? or the sword? . . . But in all these things we over­
come, because of Him that hath loved us. For I am sure that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present . . . nor any other creature, shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” 83 Christ said to His heavenly Father: “Those
whom Thou gavest Me have I kept. . . . Father, I will that
where I am, they also whom Thou hast given Me may be with
Me. . . . And I have made known Thy name to them, and
will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved
Me, may be in them, and I in them.” 84
These words of our Lord are fully realized on earth only in
the mystical life, the prelude to the life of heaven. And the
great theology of St. Augustine and St. Thomas on grace thus
reaches the loftiest orthodox mysticism, if care is taken not to
lessen its meaning.
No power is gentler than the infallibly efficacious grace of
God. It diffuses itself gently in the soul which begins to will;
the more the soul wills and the greater its thirst for God, the
more it will be enriched. When God becomes more exacting
and wishes pure crystal where there has been only sin, then He
will give His grace in abundance that the soul may correspond
•i Sec I John 4: 10.
•’John 15: 16.
·’ Rom. 8: 35, 37-39.
••John 17: lï, 14, »6.

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109

to His demands. He Himself said: “I am come that they may
have life, and may have it more abundantly.” 85 The purified
soul ends by praising the power of God: “The right hand of
the Lord hath wrought strength. I shall not die, but live: and
shall declare the works of the Lord.” 68
We are not surprised to find this doctrine in the works of
the greatest masters of the spiritual life.
St. Bernard says: “Grace is necessary to salvation, free will
is equally so; but grace in order to give salvation, free will in
order to receive it. . . . Therefore we should not attribute
part of the good work to grace, and part to free will. It is per­
formed in its entirety by the common and inseparable action
of both; entirely by grace, entirely by free will, but springing
completely from the first in the second.” 87
St. Bonaventure is of the same opinion: “Devout souls do
not seek to attribute to themselves in the work of salvation
some part that does not come from God. They recognize that
all issues from divine grace.” 88
Tauler speaks of the efficacy of grace as St. Thomas does.
In The Imitation of Christ we read: “Never esteem thyself
to be anything because of thy good works. ... Of thyself
thou always tendest to nothing: speedily art thou cast down,
speedily overcome, speedily disordered, speedily undone.
Thou hast not whereof to glory, but many things for which
thou oughtest to account thyself vile; for thou art much
weaker than thou art able to comprehend.” “For I am noth­
ing and I knew it not. If I be left to myself, behold I become
nothing but mere weakness; but if Thou for an instant look
upon me, I am forthwith made strong, and am filled with new
joy.” “From Me, as from a living fountain, the small and the
great, the poor and the rich, do draw the water of life; and
65 John 10: 10.
ee Ps. 117: 17.
De gratia et libero arbitrio, chaps. 1 and 14. Cf. Diet. Thiol, art. “Saint
Bernard," col. 776.
es See II Sent., dist. 26, q.a.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

they that willingly and freely serve Me, shall receive grace for
grace. . . . Thou oughtest, therefore, to ascribe nothing to
thyself, nor attribute goodness unto any man, but give all
unto God, without whom man hath nothing. I have given thee
all, and My will is to have all again. . . . This is the truth
whereby vainglory is put to flight, and if heavenly grace enter
in and true charity, there will be no envy or narrowness of
heart, neither will self-love busy itself. For divine charity
overcometh all things and enlargeth all the powers of tire
soul.” “O most blessed grace, that makest the poor in spirit
rich in virtues. . . . Come Thou down unto me, come and
replenish me early with Thy comfort, lest my soul faint for
weariness and dryness of mind. . . . This alone and by itself
is my strength; this alone giveth advice and help; this is
stronger than all enemies, and wiser than all the wise. . . .
Without this, what am I but a withered branch and an un­
profitable trunk, meet only to be cast away? Let Thy grace,
therefore, O Lord, always go before and follow me, and make
me continually intent on good works.” “I am to be praised
in all My saints; I am to be blessed above all things, and to be
honored in all whom I have thus gloriously exalted and pre­
destined without any merits of their own.” . . . These all
are one through the bond of love. . . . They love Me more
than themselves. . . . For being ravished above self and selflove, they are wholly absorbed in the love of Me, in whom also
they rest with full fruition.” 70
Whenever St. Teresa touches on the question of grace, her
doctrine is similar to that of St. Augustine and St. Thomas.71
«ο We find the same doctrine in St. Thomas, la, q.23, a.5.
to Bk. IV, chap. 4, no. 2; chap. 8, no. 1; chap. 9, no. 2; chap. 55, no. 5;
chap. 58. These passages are from The Imitation of Christ (edited by Brother
Leo, F.S.C., 1926). They are quoted by permission of The Macmillan Company,
publishers.
n The directing thought ot St. Teresa is found in St. Paul’s words, "It is God
who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to His good
will” (Phil. 2: 13). In chapter 21 of her Life she writes: "Why His Majesty doeth
this is, because it is His pleasure, and He doeth it according to His pleasure

EFFICACIOUS GRACE

m

St. John of the Cross always assumes the truth of this doc­
trine.*
72
St. Francis de Sales states this doctrine in the following
terms: “The chains of grace are so powerful, and yet so sweet,
that though they attract our heart, they do not shackle our
freedom. . . . Our yielding to the impulse of grace is much
even if the soul be without the fitting disposition, He disposes it for the recep­
tion of that blessing which He is giving to it." After examining why a certain
soul reaches contemplation and perfection more rapidly than another, she con­
cludes: "In short, the whole matter is as His Majesty wills. He gives His grace
to whom He pleases” (Life, chap. 22). “God bestows His favors when He pleases,
after the manner He pleases, and on whom He pleases. Being Master of His
goods. He can bestow them thus without wronging anyone" (The Interior
Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 1).
In the account of her conversion (Life, chaps. 8, 9), she says: “I used to pray
to our Lord for help; but, as it now seems to me, I must have committed the
fault of not putting my whole trust in His Majesty, and of not thoroughly dis­
trusting myself. . . . There was no one to give me life, and I was not able
to take it. He who could have given it me had good reasons for not coming to
my aid, seeing that He had brought me back to Himself so many times, and
I as often had left Him. ... I implored Him to strengthen me once for all,
so that I might never offend Him any more. ... I had a very great devotion to
the glorious Magdalene. ... I seem to have made greater progress: for I was
now very distrustful of myself, placing all my confidence in God. It seems to
me that I said to Him then that I would not rise up till He granted my petition.
I do certainly believe that this was of great service to me, because I have grown
better ever since" (Life, chap. 9). “Now our Lord set me at liberty, and gave me
strength also to use it” (Life, chap. 24). As someone has well said, in the face of
this formidable mystery, against which so many heresies have arisen, and over
which there have been so many sad controversies, even among true children of
the Church, the Seraphic Virgin bows with serenity and gratitude. “O my
God,” she exclaims, "well is it for me that Thou didst not leave such a wretch
as myself at liberty to fulfil or to frustrate Thy will. Mayest Thou be blessed
forever, and may all creation praise Thee” (The Way of Perfection, chap. 32).
“The more difficult things are to understand, the more devotion they inspire
in me, and this in proportion to their difficulty” (Life, chap. 28).
72 The Spiritual Canticle, Part IV, stanza 38: “On that day of eternity, that is
to say, before creation, and according to His good pleasure, God predestined
the soul to glory, and the degree that it would occupy there. From that moment
this glory became the property of the soul, and that in so absolute a manner
that no vicissitude either temporal or spiritual can radically remove it; for what
God has given gratuitously to the soul cannot fail to remain its property for­
ever." In The Ascent (Bk. II, chap. 5): “God disposes freely of this degree of
union (mystical), as He disposes freely of the degree of the beatific vision.” In
the Prayer of the Inflamed Soul, he says again: “For if Thou dost await my
works, O Lord, in order thus to grant me what I ask, give them to me, perform
them in me, and join thereto the pains Thou art willing to accept from me.”

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more the effect of grace than of our own will, and resistance to
its inspirations is to be attributed to our will alone. ... ‘If
thou didst know the gift of God.’ ” 78
Good spiritual authors, no matter to what theological school
they belong, are led to the same doctrine by the loftiness of the
subjects with which they deal.74
All the difficulties of the mystery of grace are solved prac­
tically by humility. Bossuet says: “Behold a terrible danger
for human pride. Man says in his heart: I have my free will.
God made me free, and I wish to make myself just. ... In
my free will, which I cannot harmonize with this abandon­
ment to grace, I wish to find something to cling to. Proud foe,
do you wish to reconcile these things, or rather to believe that
God reconciles them? He reconciles them in the way He
wishes, without releasing you from your action and without
ceasing to demand that you attribute to Him all the work of
your salvation, for He is the Savior, and He said: ‘I am the
Lord; and there is no savior besides Me’ (Is. 43: 11). Believe
firmly that Jesus Christ is the Savior, and all difficulties will
vanish.” 78
As is evident in the passages quoted from the writings of St.
John of the Cross, this great doctrine of St. Paul, St. Augus­
ts Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. II, chap. 12. The author says in the same
chapter: "Grace is so gracious and so graciously seizes on our hearts to draw
them, that it in no way offends the liberty of our will; it touches powerfully
but yet so delicately the springs of our spirit that our free will suffers no vio­
lence from it.”
14 Father Grou, S.J. (Maximes spirituelles, 2d maxim) writes as do the most
faithful disciples of St. Thomas: "Grace alone can free us from the slavery of
sin and assure us true liberty; whence it follows that the more the will subjects
itself to grace, the more it will do all that depends on it to become absolutely,
fully, and constantly dependent, the more free it will be. . . . Thus for the
will all consists in putting itself in the hands of God, in using its own activity
only to become more dependent on Him. ... Is not our salvation incompara­
bly more certain in God’s hands than in our own? And fundamentally what
can we do to save ourselves except what God enables us to do?” Cf. also Father
de Caussade, S.J., L'abandon à la Providence, Bk. Ill, chaps, t, 2; and Father
Lallemant. S.J.. La doctrine spirituelle, 4th principle, “La docilité au SaintEsprit,” chaps. 1, 2.
’5 Bossuet. Elevations sur les mystères, 18th week, 15th elevation.

EFFICACIOUS GRACE

113

tine, and St. Thomas, manifestly turns souls toward the loftiest
mystical union, which is none other than the fulness of the
life of faith. This truth will become clearer in the two follow­
ing chapters, where we will treat of the nature of Christian
perfection and of what constitutes the essence of mystical con­
templation.

CHAPTER IV
The Full Perfection of Christian Life

ARTICLE I

Christian Perfection, or the Beginning of Eternal Life

Christian perfection, its nature and conditions, be dis­
cussed without in any way lessening its essential sublimity?
Is it possible to reach an understanding of the Master’s words:
“Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is
perfect”? 1 If we ask the Apostle St. John this question, he will
answer us in Christ’s very words, that Christian life, particu­
larly Christian perfection, is the beginning of eternal life.
In the Fourth Gospel, the Savior says on several occasions:
“He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting.” 2 In other
words, not only will he have eternal life later on if he per­
severes; but he who believes has it already in a sense, because
the life of grace, even on earth, is the beginning of eternal
life, as St. Thomas states repeatedly.8 As a seed is defined only
by the plant that springs from it, or the aurora by the day that
it heralds, so we can conceive the life of grace only by con­
sidering, first of all, the life of glory, of which it is the seed.
For the same reason, we cannot determine what Christian per­
fection is without speaking first of eternal life, of which it is
the prelude.
We will consider eternal life in the first part of this article;
in the second part we shall see how the life of grace on earth
Can

» Matt. 5: 48.
2 John 3:36: 5:24. 39: 6:40, 47. Cf. 6:55(1., and the Commentary of St.
Thomas on the Gospel of St. John dealing with these passages.
» Summa, Ila Ilae, q.24, a.3 ad sum. “Grace is nothing else but the beginning
of glory in us." Cf la llae, q.69, a.2; De veritate, q.14, a.2.
114

BEGINNING OF ETERNAL LIFE

1J5

is essentially the same as the life of heaven; the same also
through charity, which will never cease. We shall also see how
the life of grace differs from that of heaven through faith and
hope, which must disappear in order to give way to the posi­
tive possession of God by vision.
In the following articles, with St. Thomas as our teacher,
we will study what in this life principally constitutes Christian
perfection, properly so called; what its relations are with the
gifts and the virtues, and with the precepts and counsels. Thus
we shall see all that Christian perfection requires.
ETERNAL LIFE IN ITS COMPLETE DEVELOPMENT

“Now this is eternal life: that they may know Thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” * St. John
explains this passage by saying: "Dearly beloved, we are now
the sons of God; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be.
We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like to Him:
because we shall see Him as He is.” 5 St. Paul says: “We see
now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face.
Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am
known.” 0 We shall see face to face, that is, immediately, such
as He is in Himself, God “who inhabiteth light inaccessible” T
to all natural, created and creatable knowledge.
The Church teaches us expressly that “the souls of the
blessed in heaven have an intuitive and direct vision of the
divine essence without the intermediary of any previously
known creature. The divine essence manifests itself directly
and openly in perfect clarity. The souls of the blessed enjoy
it continually and will enjoy it forever. Such is eternal life,” ·
to which the “light of glory” 8 must raise us.
* John 17: 3.
0 See I John 3: 2.
o See I Cor. 13: 12.
1 See I Tim. 6: 16.
• Denzinger, Enchiridion, no. 530.
9 Ibid., no. 475.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

We are therefore called to see God not merely by the re­
flection of His perfections in material creatures, or by His
marvelous radiation in the world of pure spirits, but to see
Him without any intermediary, more clearly indeed than we
see here on earth the persons with whom we speak; for God,
being entirely spiritual, will be intimately present in our in­
tellect, which He will illumine at the same time that He gives
it the power to endure His dazzling splendor.10
Between Him and us there will not be even the intermedi­
ary of an idea, for no created idea can represent being as it is
in itself, pure, infinitely perfect act, uncreated, eternally sub­
sistent thought, light of life, and source of all truth.11 And we
shall not be able to express our contemplation by any word,
even by any interior word. This contemplation, superior to
every finite idea, will absorb us in God, and will remain in­
effable, just as in this life we lose the gift of speech when the
sublime ravishes us. The Deity, such as it is in itself, can be
expressed only by the consubstantial Word, which is the
uncreated Word, “the brightness of eternal light, and the un­
spotted mirror of God’s majesty, and image of His good­
ness.” 11
By reason of its object, this face to face vision of God in­
finitely excels the most sublime philosophy, and also the lofti­
est natural knowledge of the angels. We are called to see all
the divine perfections together, identified in their common
source, the Deity; to grasp how the tenderest mercy and the
most inflexible justice proceed from one and the same in­
finitely generous and infinitely holy love, love of the supreme
good. This good, wishing to communicate itself as much as
possible and possessing an incontestable right to be loved
above all, thus wonderfully unites justice and mercy in all the
works of God.13 We are called to see how this love, even in its
10 St. Thomas, la, q. 12, a.5.
11 Cf. la, q. 12, a. 2.
12 Wis. 7: 26.
1· See la, q.21, a.4.

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freest good pleasure, is identical with pure wisdom; how in
this love there is nothing that is not wise, and in this wisdom
nothing that is not converted into love. And we are called to
see how this love is identical with the supreme good, loved
from all eternity; how divine wisdom is identical with the first
truth always known; how all these perfections harmonize and
are but one in the very essence of Him who is.
We are called to contemplate the intimate life of God, the
Deity itself, absolute purity and sanctity; to lose our gaze in its
infinite fecundity, blossoming into the three divine Persons;
to see the eternal generation of the Word, "splendor of the
Father and figure of His substance”; to gaze in endless rapture
upon the ineffable procession of the Holy Ghost, that torrent
of spiritual flame, term of the common love of the Father and
of the Son, the bond uniting Them eternally in the most ab­
solute diffusion of Themselves.
Who can tell the love and joy that will be born in us of this
vision? If we are delighted here below by the reflection of the
divine perfections shared by creatures, by the fairy magic of
the material world, by the harmony of sounds and colors, by
the azure of a cloudless sky above a sunlit sea, which makes
us think of the tranquil ocean of being and of the infinite light
of divine wisdom; if we are lost in wonderment at the splen­
dors of the world of souls revealed to us by the lives of the
saints; what will we feel when we see God, the eternally sub­
sistent flash of wisdom and of love, w’hence proceeds all the
life of creation? We speak of a flash of genius to designate a
sudden illumination of the mind. What shall we say of the
uncreated light of God? For us it remains hidden only because
of its excessive splendor, as too strong a ray of sunlight seems
like darkness to the weak eye of an owl.
The joy bom of such a vision will be that of so strong and
absolute a love of God that nothing will ever destroy it or even
diminish it. This love, necessarily following the beatific vision
of God, the sovereign good, will be absolutely spontaneous,

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but will no longer be free. The infinite Good, by presenting
Himself to us in this way, will quench our insatiable thirst
for happiness, and will fill and satisfy the capacity of our
power to love, “which will necessarily adhere to Him.” 14 Our
will, by reason of its nature, will turn toward Him with all its
inclination and strength. It will no longer have any energy
to suspend its act, which will be ravished from it, in a way, by
the infinite attraction of God seen face to face. In regard to all
finite good, our will remains free; it can even yield or not
yield to the attraction and to the law of God as long as we do
not see His infinite goodness directly. But when His glory
appears to us, our desires will then be gratified and we will no
longer be able not to correspond to His love. "I shall be satis­
fied when Thy glory shall appear.” 15
This love will be composed of admiration, respect, grati­
tude, and especially friendship, with a simplicity and a depth
of intimacy that no human affection can have. It will be a love
by which we will rejoice especially that God is God, infinitely
holy, just, and merciful; a love by which we will adore all the
decrees of His providence in view of His glory, which will radi­
ate in us and through us.
Such must eternal life be in union with all those who died
in charity, and particularly with those whom we have loved in
the Lord.
Eternal life, therefore, consists in knowing God as He knows
Himself, and in loving Him as He loves Himself. But, if we
penetrate more deeply into this matter, we see that this divine
knowledge and love are possible only if God, so to speak, dei­
fies us in our very soul. In the natural order, man is capable
of intellectual knowledge and of an enlightened love superior
to sensible love only because he has a spiritual soul. In like
manner we will be capable of a divine knowledge and of a
supernatural love only if we have received a participation in
i* See la, q.8z, a. a.
1» Ps. 16: 15

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the very nature of God, of the Deity; only if our soul, the prin­
ciple of our intellect and will, has been, in a sense, deified or
transformed into God, as iron plunged into the fire is trans­
formed, so to speak, into fire, without ceasing to be iron.
The blessed in heaven can share in the essentially divine op­
erations only because they participate in the divine nature,
the principle of these operations; only because they have re­
ceived this nature from God, somewhat as a son on earth re­
ceives his nature from his father.
From all eternity God the Father necessarily engenders a
Son equal to Himself, the Word. To Him He communicates
all His nature, without dividing or multiplying it; He gives
Him to be “God of God, light of light.” Out of pure good­
ness, He has willed to have in time other sons, adopted sons,
according to a sonship not only moral and figurative, but
very real, which makes us truly participate in the divine na­
ture, in its intimate life. “This sonship by adoption,” says St.
Thomas, “is thus really a participated likeness of the eternal
sonship of the Word.” 18 St. John exclaims: “Behold what
manner of charity the Father has bestowed upon us, that we
should be called and should be the sons of God.” 17 We are
“born of God”; 18 and St. Peter says that we are “partakers of
the divine nature.” 19 “Whom He foreknew, He also predesti­
nated to be made conformable to the image of His Son; that
He might be the first-born amongst many brethren.” 20
Such is the essence of the glory that God reserves for His
children: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it
entered into the heart of man, what tilings God hath prepared
for them that love Him.” 21
The elect truly belong to the family of God; they enter
1» See Illa, q.3, a.8; in In Ep. ad Rom., 8: 29.
See I John 3: 1.
is John 1: 13.
is See II Pet. 1: 4.
20 Rom. 8: 29.
»1 See I Cor. 2: 9.
it

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heaven in the cycle of the Blessed Trinity who dwells in them.
The Father engenders His Word in them; the Father and the
Son breathe forth love in them. Charity likens them to the
Holy Ghost; the beatific vision makes them like the Word,
who renders them like the Father of whom He is the image.
In each of them the Trinity, known and loved, dwells as in a
living tabernacle; and furthermore, they are in the Trinity,
at the summit of being, of thought, and of love.
Such is the goal of all Christian life, of all spiritual progress.
In it there is no concern for earthly interests, or for the de­
velopment of our personalities (a poor formula, foolishly re­
peated by many Christians who forget the true grandeur of
their vocation). Revelation tells us we must tend infinitely
higher. God has predestined His elect to become conformable
to the image of His Son. The world, in its wisdom, rejects this
doctrine; its philosophers refuse to listen to it. Then the Lord
calls the humble, the poor, the infirm,22 to share in the riches
of His glory: “I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones.” “
BEGINNING OF ETERNAL LIFE

How can we attain so lofty an end as eternal life? Spiritual
progress can tend to this end only because it presupposes in us
the seed of glory, that is, a supernatural life identical in its es­
sence with eternal life. The seed contained in the acorn could
not become an oak unless it had the same nature as the oak,
unless it contained the same life in a latent state. A child
could not become a man unless he had a rational soul, unless
reason were slumbering in him. Similarly a Christian on earth
could not become one of the blessed in heaven unless he had
already received divine life.
22 Luke 14: 21. "Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his serv­
ant: Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither
the poor and the feeble and the blind and the lame."

« Matt. 11: 25.

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121

If we wish to understand the nature of the seed contained
in the acorn, we must consider this nature in its perfect state
in the fully developed oak. In the same way, if we wish to
know the life of grace, we must contemplate it in its supreme
development; in glory which is its consummation.
Fundamentally the life of grace and the life of glory are
the same supernatural life, the same charity, with two differ­
ences. Here on earth, God is known only in the obscurity of
faith, not in the clarity of vision. In addition, we hope to
possess God in an inamissible manner; but as long as we are
on earth, we can lose Him through our own fault.
In spite of these two differences, it is the same life. Our
Lord said to the Samaritan woman: “If thou didst know the
gift of God. . . . Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst
again; but he that shall drink of the water that I will give
him, shall not thirst forever. But the water that I will give
him, shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up
into life everlasting.” 24 In the Temple on the last day of the
Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood and cried in a loud voice:
“If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink. He that
believeth in Me, as the Scripture saith, Out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water.” 28 As St. John adds, He said this of
the Spirit, which they should receive who believe in Him.
On several occasions Jesus repeats: “He that believeth in the
Son, hath life everlasting.” 28 “He that eateth My flesh and
drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him
up in the last day.” 27 “The kingdom of God cometh not with
observation. Neither shall they say: Behold here, or behold
there. For lo, the kingdom of God is within you."28 It is
hidden in you as the grain of mustard seed; as the leaven that
causes the loaf to rise; as the treasure buried in the field.
John 4:10, 13 f.
25 John 7: 37.
20 John 3: 36; 6: 40, 47.
17 John 6: 55.
28 Luke 17: 20 f.

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And how are we to know that we have already received this
life which should last forever? St. John expounds the matter
for us at length.29 “We know that we have passed from death
to life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not,
abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.
And you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in
himself.” 80 “These things I write to you, that you may know
that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the
Son of God.” 81
And in truth, Christ said in His sacerdotal prayer: “Now
this is eternal life: that they may know Thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” 82 Through
supernatural faith this knowledge has its beginning; and
through living faith, or faith vivified by charity, Christ “dwells
in us and we in Him,” 88 a statement that St. John himself ex­
plains by saying: “God hath given to us eternal life. And this
life is in His Son. He that hath the Son, hath life. He that hath
not the Son, hath not life.” 84
Since this is true, what does death become for the true
Christian? A passage from the supernatural life which is as
yet imperfect to the plenitude of this life. In this sense we
must understand our Lord’s words: “Amen, amen I say to
you: If any man keep My word, he shall not see death forever.”
In amazement the Jews answered: “Now we know that Thou
hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and Thou
sayest: If any man keep My word, he shall not taste death
forever. . . . Whom dost Thou make Thyself?” 85 At the
25 This point is well explained in the beautiful exegetical study of Father
J. B. Frey. S.Sp., “Le Concept de ‘Vie’ dans S. Jean," which appeared in the re­
view Biblica, 1920, pp. 38-58, 213-239.
»0 See I John 3: 14 f.
»1 Ibid., 5: 13.
•2 John 17: 3.
»» John 15: 4; 17: 26.
»« See I John 5: 11 f.
»» John 8: 51-53.

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tomb of Lazarus, Christ said: “I am the resurrection and tire
life: he that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live.
And everyone that liveth and believeth in Me, shall not die
forever.” 38 And again to the Jews: “Your fathers did eat
manna in the desert and are dead. This is the bread that came
down from heaven. . . . He that eateth this bread shall live
forever.” 37
The liturgy expresses the same thought in the mass for the
dead: “For Thy faithful, O Lord, life is changed, not lost.” 38
Sanctifying grace, received in the essence of the soul, is,
therefore, by its nature imperishable. It should last forever
and blossom into eternal life.39 Moreover, among the theo­
logical virtues is one, charity, which ought not to disappear.
“Charity never falleth away,” says St. Paul. . . . “And now
there remain faith, hope and charity, these three: but the
greatest of these is charity.” i0 Indeed some saints on earth
have a far greater degree of charity than certain of the blessed
in heaven, but without having as much continuity in the act
of love. St. John while on earth had a degree of charity supe­
rior to that possessed by the soul of a little child who died im­
mediately after baptism.41 The gifts of the Holy Ghost also
se John 11: 25 f. See also John 4: 14; 8: 51; 10: 28; 13: 8.
87 John 6: 49, 59.
ss Preface of the mass for the dead.
s» Cf. the Carmelites of the Salamanca School, De gratia, disp. IV, dub. 6,
nos. 107, 109; dub. 7, no. 141: Sanctifying grace is the same habitus, which, hav­
ing received its final perfection, is called glory or grace consummated.
See I Cor. 13: 8, 13: and St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.67, a.6. Charity differs from
faith and hope in that it does not imply any imperfection, and that it can love
God either in the obscurity of faith or in the clarity of vision.
<1 As the Carmelites of Salamanca show (De caritate, disp. VII, dub. 4, no. 66),
theologians commonly admit that the charity of a just man living on earth
can equal that of one of the blessed in heaven. The reason for this is that the
charity of each of the blessed in heaven has a determined degree beyond which
it will never progress. But this degree can be attained and even surpassed by a
just soul here on earth. It is certain that the Blessed Virgin, while still on earth,
had a charity which far surpassed that of every soul in heaven and that of the
angels. But the charity which an adult possesses on earth is always inferior to
that which he will have in heaven, where nothing will hinder the impulse of
his love. Cf. la, q. 117, a. 2 ad 3um.

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subsist in heaven.42 The life of grace is therefore the same as
that of the blessed in heaven.
True, we do not attain God in the clarity of vision, yet it is
He that our faith attains. The grace of faith makes us adhere
to the uncreated, revealing Truth. We believe in God’s word,
not in that of St. Peter or of St. Paid,48 and this word reveals
to us “the deep things of God.” 44 Our faith is thus "the sub­
stance (or the principle, the seed) of things to be hoped for,” 48
which we shall contemplate in heaven. This faith, in spite of
its obscurity, infinitely surpasses the keenest natural intuitions
and even the most sublime natural knowledge of the loftiest
angel. St. Paul declares: “Though we or an angel from heaven,
preach a gospel to you, besides that which we have preached
to you, let him be anathema.”48
So long as hope has not given place to the definitive pos­
session of God, the supernatural life of grace and charity
can be lost, but solely because we can grow weak and fail to
co-operate. Sanctifying grace, considered in itself, and the
charity which is in us are of themselves incorruptible, like
living water that would always remain pure, unless the vase
containing it should happen to break. “For God who com­
manded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our
hearts. . . . But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that
the excellency may be of the power of God, and not of us.” 47
We can, alas, lose charity, because of the fickleness of our free
will; but, be our weakness what it may, the love of charity
considered in itself “is strong as death, jealousy as hard as
hell, the lamps thereof are fire and flames. Many waters cannot
quench charity, neither can the floods drown it.” 48 It is this
love which daily snatches souls from the demon, from the se« Cf. la Ilae, q.68, a.6.
«« See I Thess. 2: 13.
«< See I Cor. 2: 10.
«» Heb. 11: 1.
«« Gal. 1: 8.
« See II Cor. 4: 6 f.
«s Cant. 8: 6 f.

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125
ductions of the world; it is this love which has triumphed over
persecutions and the most frightful torments. If we allow our­
selves to be penetrated by it, we are invincible.
This love of charity is the same as that which subsists in
heaven. It presupposes that we are bom “not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”; 49
that we are not only the servants of God, but His children and
friends according to an adopted sonship, which is as real as
grace. But the reality of grace differs from that of the flesh,
since grace is given to us to last forever.
We now see clearly why revelation teaches us that the
Blessed Trinity dwells in every soul in the state of grace as in
a temple where it is known and loved. In heaven the Trinity
dwells in the souls of the blessed as in a living tabernacle
where it never ceases to be glorified. But since the life of grace
and of charity is the same in its essence as that of heaven, we
must admit, as revelation teaches us, that even on this earth
the Blessed Trinity dwells in just souls: “If anyone love Me,”
says Christ, “he will keep My word, and My Father will love
him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with
him.” 60 “And he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and
God in him.” 51 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, is come,
He will teach you all truth.” 82 “Know you not,” says St. Paul
to the Corinthians, “that you are the temple of God, and that
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” 83 "Or know you not, that
your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in
you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own?” 84
“For you are the temple of the living God.” 88
This indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in us is attributed to
the Holy Ghost because charity, which will remain in heaven,
■>» John 1: 13.
bo John 14: 23.
61 See I John 4: 16.
62 John 16: 13.
os See I Cor. 3: 16.
ο* Ibid., 6: 19.
55 See II Cor. 6: 16.

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likens us more particularly to the Spirit of love; whereas faith,
which will be replaced by vision, likens us as yet only imper­
fectly to the Word, the figure of the Father and splendor of
His substance. The Blessed Trinity is none the less entirely in
us as the life of our life, the soul of our soul; occasionally it
makes itself felt by us especially by the gift of wisdom,6’ and
thus prepares us in the obscurity of faith for the life of heaven.
“Eternal life begun,” says Bossuet,67 “consists in knowing
by faith (a tender and affectionate knowledge which inclines
the soul to love);68 and eternal life consummated consists in
56 Cf. St. Thomas, la, q.43, a.3: "For God is in all things by His essence,
power, and presence, according to His one common mode, as the cause existing
in the effects which participate in His goodness. Above and beyond this com­
mon mode, however, there is one special mode belonging to the rational crea­
ture wherein God is said to be present as the object known is in the knower,
and the beloved in the lover. And since the rational creature by its own opera­
tion of knowledge and love attains to God Himself, according to this special
mode, God is said not only to exist in the rational creature, but also to dwell
therein as in His own temple. . . . Again, we are said to possess only what we
can freely use or enjoy, but to have the power of enjoying the divine Person
can only be according to sanctifying grace. Moreover, the Holy Ghost is pos­
sessed by man, and dwells within him in the very gift itself of sanctifying grace.
Hence the Holy Ghost Himself is given and sent.”
I Sent., Dist. XIV, q.2, a.2 ad sum: "Any knowledge whatsoever does not
suffice to indicate that there is a mission (and indwelling of the Holy Ghost).
There must be a knowledge which proceeds from a gift attributed to that per­
son, from a gift which unites us to God according to the mode proper to that
person, that is to say, by love. Moreover, this knowledge is quasi-experimental.”
It presupposes, then, the presence of God who thus makes Himself felt by us
as the principle which vivifies us. This explanation, while allowing the mystery
to subsist, is considerably cleared up if we recall that charity is the same virtue
in heaven and on earth; in the quality of perfect friendship charity, even on
earth, demands real union with God, loved above all. God, who is pure spirit,
not being by His nature in one place, is not separated from us by space. He
is in us, as in all things, as first preserving cause. For several Thomists, if, by an
impossibility, He were not already thus present in us, He would become so by
charity. Cf. B. Froget, O.P., De l’habitation du Saint-Esprit dans les âmes
justes, 3d ed., pp. 156-71, and la, q.43, a.3; Ha Ilae, q.27, a.4: see Gonet, Sal·
manticenses, Billuart. John of St. Thomas has a different opinion about this
hypothesis, "by an impossibility" mentioned above. His opinion, however,
seems less probable.
Méditations sur [’Évangile, Part II, 37th day; In Joan., 17; 3; "Now this is
eternal life: that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom Thou hast sent."
ss Ibid.

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127

seeing openly and face to face. Jesus Christ gives us both the
one and the other because He merits this life for us, and is its
principle in all the members whom He animates.”
Such is the life of grace and of charity; it is infinitely supe­
rior to genius, to the gift of miracles, to the knowledge of the
angels.59 In particular such should be Christian perfection, the
true nature and conditions of which we can now more easily
determine without lessening them. We have already seen the
nature of conformity to the only Son of God, a progressive
conformity that should render us like Christ Jesus in His
hidden, apostolic, and suffering life, before making us share
in His glorious life, the seed of which we already possess: ‘‘He
that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting.” 80
We shall now note two important consequences of this
doctrine.
1) Since sanctifying grace is the beginning of eternal life,
and since every just soul enjoys habitual union with the
Blessed Trinity dwelling in it, the mystical union, or the
actual, intimate, and almost continual union with God, such
as is found here on earth in holy souls, appears as the culminat­
ing point on earth of the development of the grace of the
virtues and of the gifts, and as the normal, even though rather
infrequent, prelude to the life of heaven.81 This mystical
union belongs, in fact, to the order of sanctifying grace; it
89 See I Cor. 13: 1 ff.
oo John 3: 36.
•1 Cf. St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 5:
“The greater love is, the more intimate is union: and this means that the con­
formity of the will with God's will is more perfect. The will, wholly conformed,
realizes in its totality union and the supernatural transformation in God.
“This doctrine makes it clear that if the soul is occupied with creatures or
with its faculties, either by attraction or by habitual dispositions, it thereby
lacks preparation for such a union. The reason for this is that the soul does
not offer itself entirely to God, who wishes its supernatural transformation. It
must, therefore, concern itself solely with the rejection of obstacles, natural
dissimilarities, in order that God, who already communicated Himself nat­
urally, according to nature, may communicate Himself supernaturally by
grace.” This teaching confirms the doctrine which we defended earlier in this
work on the relations between ascetical and mystical theology.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

proceeds essentially from “the grace of the virtues and of the
gifts” and not from graces gratis datae, which are transitory
and in a sense exterior (as miracles and prophecy) and which
may accompany it. The mystical life is Christian life, which
has, so to speak, become conscious of itself. It does not give
us the absolute certainty that we are in the state of grace, a
certitude which, according to the Council of Trent, would
presuppose a special revelation, but as St. Paul says: “The
Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the
sons of God.” 62 He makes us know this, observes St. Thomas,
“by the filial love which He produces in us.” es
2) As the life of grace is essentially ordained to that of glory,
the normal, although in fact quite rare, summit of its develop­
ment should be a very perfect disposition to receive the light
of glory immediately after death without passing through
purgatory; for it is only through our own fault that we will
be detained in that place of expiation, where the soul can no
longer merit. Now this very perfect disposition to immediate
glorification can be nothing other than an intense charity
coupled with the ardent desire of the beatific vision, such as
we find them particularly in the transforming union, after
the painful passive purifications which have delivered the soul
from its blemishes. Since nothing unclean can enter heaven,
in principle a soul must undergo these passive purifications at
least in a measure before death while meriting and pro­
gressing, or after death without meriting or progressing.84
»2 Rom. 8: 16.
es In Ep. ad Rom., 8: 16, and la Ilae, q.na, a.5. B. Froget, O.P., De l'habita­
tion du Saint-Esprit dans les âmes justes, p. 183.
84 This does not mean that in fact the transforming union must be reached
before death in order to avoid purgatory. Certainly some souls—for example,
the souls of children who have died immediately after baptism—go directly to
heaven without having attained on earth this degree of intimate union. But
here, considering a question of principle rather than of fact, what we mean
and will explain farther on, is that the transforming union is the normal prel­
ude of the beatific vision; it is a normal summit. The first of these two words
should not make us forget the second; nor the second, the first. Many of those
who die immediately after baptism or religious profession are far from being

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129

These consequences, to which we will return, disclose the
grandeur of the Christian perfection which can be realized on
earth, and they contain the loftiest and most practical teaching.
ARTICLE II

Christian Perfection Consists Especially in Charity

In our treatment of Christian perfection, we have con­
sidered the end toward which it is essentially ordained, and
from this point of view we have defined it as the beginning of
eternal life in our souls, or eternal life begun in the obscurity
of faith. Perfection in this life is the development of grace,
which has been defined as the seed of glory. Of the three theo­
logical virtues that we possess, one, charity, should endure
forever.
With St. Thomas Aquinas as our guide,*1 we must now
consider in what Christian perfection especially and chiefly
consists here on earth; what its relations are with the virtues
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, and with the precepts and the
counsels.
We shall see that Christian perfection consists especially in
charity: primarily in charity toward God; and secondarily in
charity toward our neighbor. We will then study the charity
of the perfect in contrast with that of beginners and of pro­
ficients, and shall see what are the degrees of perfect charity,
even to heroism and sanctity. This will lead us to a considera­
tion of the relations of the charity of the perfect with the
other virtues, with tire passive purifications of the soul, and
with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are the principles of
contemplation. By this method we shall clearly see the diffiperfect. If they had continued to live, they would have committed faults, which
would have required the purification of which we are speaking.
1 Summa, Ha Hae, q. 184. We will follow the order of the articles of this ques­
tion, supplementing them by such articles of the treatise on charity as bear
directly on this subject.

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culty and grandeur of evangelical perfection considered in all
its loftiness, as it is proposed to us by our Lord in the eight
beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.
In tire second place, we will treat of the relations of per­
fection thus defined with the precept of love and with the
counsels; and lastly, we shall see in what varying degrees the
obligation to tend to perfection binds all Christians, whether
clerics, religious, or seculars. This is, with several additions,
the order followed by St. Thomas in his exposition of the
subject.2
ERRONEOUS OR INCOMPLETE DOCTRINES ON THE

ESSENCE OF PERFECTION

To solve the question as to what especially constitutes
Christian perfection, St. Thomas asks, by way of objection,
whether it consists mainly in wisdom, or in fortitude, or in
patience, or in the aggregate of the virtues. Such different
conceptions do, in fact, present themselves more or less ex­
plicitly to the mind.
The Greek thinkers considered that perfection lay espe­
cially in wisdom, so much esteemed by the philosopher; in
that higher view of all things viewed in their first cause and
last end, a view which perceives the harmony of the universe
and should direct our whole life.
Today theosophists make perfection consist in a “conscious­
ness of our divine identity,” in the intuition of our divinity.
Theosophy presupposes pantheism; it is the radical nega­
tion of the supernatural order and of all Christian dogmas,
although it often preserves the terms of Christianity while
giving them an entirely different meaning. It is a very per­
fidious imitation and corruption of our asceticism and mys­
ticism.’
Some Christians would be inclined to say that perfection
i Summa, Ila Hae. q.184.
» Cf. Father Mainage. O.P.. Les principes de la théosophie, 1922.

ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
consists principally in contemplation, which has its origin in
the gift of wisdom. To prove their contention they would cite
St. Paul’s text: “In malice be children, and in sense be per­
fect.” 4 “We speak wisdom among the perfect. . . . The spir­
itual man judgeth all things. . . . We have the mind of
Christ.” 5 Reading these inspired texts in too natural and too
hasty a manner, some will perhaps expect to reach perfection
rapidly by the assiduous perusal of the great mystics without,
however, sufficiently concerning themselves with the practice
of the virtues which these authors recommend, and also with­
out keeping clearly in mind the fact that true contemplation
must be entirely penetrated by supernatural charity and for­
getfulness of self.·
From a lower point of view, some might even think that the
study of theology and of its related sciences is the most im­
portant thing in the life of the priest, of the apostle, because
he must fight against error and illumine minds. One might
thus be led to consider practically as secondary in a sacerdotal
and apostolic life the celebration of mass and union with God;
yet this union is the very soul of the apostolate. Without being
actually aware of it, how many make perfection consist in
what they call the full development of their personality. They
seek it chiefly in a broad, nicely balanced human culture that
is “well informed” on actual problems and careful to grasp
those phases of Christianity which are most attractive to a
lofty nature. But they have only a superficial knowledge of
it, and they are given up to a practical naturalism devoid of
any vivifying influence on souls. Those among them who, in
the course of time, are deeply touched by the grace of God,
perceive their peculiar mistake and understand that to build
« See I Cor. 14: so.
» Ibid., 2: 6. 15 f.
• Perfection does not consist especially in contemplation, which is an intel­
lectual act, as we shall see farther on. Perfection consists in charity. However,
the loving contemplation of God is here below the most efficacious means to
attain the perfection of charity; and it is a means united to the end.

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on the intellect alone is to build on sand, as St. Thomas says
when commenting on our Lord’s expression, “like a foolish
man that built his house upon the sand.” 7 Unless vivified by
the love of God, “knowledge puffeth up,” says St. Paul, “but
charity edifieth.” 8 This it does because it makes us live not
for ourselves, as he does who seeks only the full development
of his own personality, but for God: “Charity, properly speak­
ing, makes us tend to God, by uniting our affections to Him,
so that we live, not for ourselves, but for God.” ’
Another equally imperfect tendency is opposed to this
ultra-intellectualism. Natures inclined to action are by this
very tendency led to make perfection consist chiefly in out­
ward activity, in fortitude, or the courage that must be shown
in such activity, or in patience when circumstances are un­
favorable. For the heroes of antiquity, the perfect man is first
and foremost the strong, the brave man. If this conception is
transposed into the supernatural order, St. James’ words will
be quoted: “Patience hath a perfect work.” 10 This is, in fact,
the great virtue which demonstrates the sanctity of the martyr.
But this patience is inspired and controlled by a higher virtue.
According to an analogous tendency, some might be led
to make perfection consist especially in austerity, fasting,
penitential practices; from this point of view, the most austere
religious orders would be the most perfect. A certain love of
austerity, not unmixed with pride, such as we find in the
Jansenists, might thus be developed, which would then be­
come false zeal and bitterness. Charity would be sacrificed to
it,11 and virtue would be made to consist in what is hard rather
T Matt. 7: ï6.
’ See I Cor. 8: 1.
’St. Thomas, Ha Ilae, q.17, a.6 ad sum.
10 Jas. 1: 4
11 It can aptly be said: “The best thing that one can do with the best of things
is to sacrifice it." on condition, however, that we safeguard the hierarchy Of the
gifts of God and of the virtues, and that we do not sacrifice something superior
to what is inferior.

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133

than in what is good and in the order willed by God.12 This
error would confound the means with the end, or even invert
the order of the means to the end, which is union with God.
Austerity ought to be proportioned to this end; it is not the
end.13 The same must be said of humility, which prostrates
us before God that we may with docility receive His influence,
which should lift us up to Him.14
Others might be led to make perfection consist especially
in the interior and exterior worship due to God, in acts of the
virtue of religion, in the faithful accomplishment of exercises
of piety, and in the devotion which animates them. This
opinion approaches the truth; yet this view does not suf12 St. Thomas says in substance that the reason of greater virtue consists in
the good rather than in the difficult; although the difficulty springing from the
magnitude of the work increases merit. la Ilae, q.114, a.4 ad 2um; Ila Ilae,
q. 155, a.4 ad sum; q. 123, a. 12 ad sum. The principle of merit resides in charity.
Moreover, it is more meritorious to accomplish easy things with great charity
than to perform very difficult acts with less charity. Thus many tepid souls
carry their cross without great merit, whereas the Blessed Virgin merited more
by the easiest acts of charity than all the martyrs together in their torments.
is On this subject, St. Thomas (Ha Ilae, q.188, a. 7 ad turn) says: "This say­
ing of our Lord does not mean that poverty itself is perfection, but that it is
the means of perfection. Indeed, as shown above, it is the least of the three
chief means of perfection, since the vow of continence excels the vow of pov­
erty, and the vow of obedience excels them both. Since, however, the means
are sought, not for their own sake, but for the sake of the end, a thing is better,
not for being a greater instrument, but for being more adapted to the end.
Thus, a physician does not heal the more, the more medicine he gives, but the
more the medicine is adapted to the disease. Accordingly, it does not follow that
a religious order is the more perfect according as the poverty it professes is
more perfect, but according as its poverty is more adapted to the end, both
common and special.”
1* Cf. St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q. 161, a.5 ad sum: “Just as the orderly assembly
of virtues is, by reason of a certain likeness, compared to a building, so again
that which is the first step in the acquisition of virtue is likened to the founda­
tion, which is first laid before the rest of the building. . . . Humility holds the
first place inasmuch as it expels pride, which God resisteth, and makes man
open to receive the influx of divine grace. Hence it is written (Jas. 4: 6): ‘God
resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble." In this sense humility is
said to be the foundation of the spiritual edifice.” But it is, nevertheless, in­
ferior to the virtues which unite us immediately to God; that is, to the theo­
logical virtues and also to the intellectual virtues, such as wisdom, and to legal
justice. Cf. Ibid.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

ficiently discern the superiority of the theological virtues
which, more than the others, unite us to God because they
are immediately specified by Him. The virtue of religion is
inferior to them because it is immediately concerned not with
God Himself but with the worship due Him.15 From this
point of view, one might perhaps be more attentive to wor­
ship and to the liturgy than to God Himself; to the figures
than to the reality; to the manner of reciting an Our Father
or a Gloria than to the sublime meaning of these prayers. The
service of God would take precedence over the love of God.
Others, although few in number, might be tempted to see
perfection in the solitary life, especially if the soul is there
favored with visions and revelations. Aristotle says in the first
book of his Politica: “He who lives in solitude and no longer
communicates with men, is either a beast or a god.” And the
Holy Ghost Himself, by the mouth of the prophet Osee, says
of the chosen people, the figure of the interior soul: “I will
allure her, and will lead her into the wilderness: and I will
speak to her heart.” 18 But does it follow that love of solitude
is the essence of perfection? If this were true, how could
fervent Christians who are detained in the world by their
duties attain perfection? What of the apostles and priests
consecrated to the ministry, who cannot withdraw to a Thebaid? St. Thomas believes that, “solitude, like poverty, is not
the essence of perfection, but a means thereto.” 17
St. Francis de Sales says: “Everyone paints devotion accord­
ing to his own passion and fancy. He that is addicted to fast­
ing, thinks himself very devout if he fasts, though his heart
be at the same time full of rancor. . . . Another accounts
himself devout for reciting daily a multiplicity of prayers,
though he immediately afterwards utters the most disagreei»Cf. Ila Ilae. q.8t. a.5: Why is not the virtue of religion a theological
virtue, but only the first of the moral virtues? Because its object is the worship
due to God and not God Himself.
>e Osee x: 14.
it Summa, Ila Ilae, q.188, a.8.

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135

able, arrogant, and injurious words amongst his domestics and
neighbors. Another cheerfully draws an alms out of his purse
to relieve the poor, but cannot draw meekness out of his heart
to forgive his enemies. Another readily forgives his enemies,
but never satisfies his creditors, but by constraint. These, by
some, are esteemed devout, when, in reality, they are by no
means so.” 18 Each one is inclined to judge according to his
individual aptitude and tastes, and then to seek a justification
of his views.
To avoid this fault, some make perfection consist in the
ensemble of the Christian virtues, and they invoke St. Paul’s
words: “Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able
to stand against the deceits of the devil . . . that you may
be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things
perfect.” 19 It is certain that all the Christian virtues are
necessary for evangelical perfection: faith, hope, charity, and
the moral virtues, among which the most important is the
virtue of religion, which is justice in regard to God. But all
these virtues are regulated like tire functions of an organism.
Is there not one among them which dominates all the others,
which inspires them, commands them, animates or informs
them, and makes their efforts converge toward one supreme
end? And is it not in this directing virtue that perfection
especially consists? Therefore, must not tire other virtues be
subordinated to this directing virtue?
true solution: perfection consists chiefly

IN CHARITY

To solve the question thus proposed, we will consider the
teaching of Scripture, and then that of theology.
St. Paul teaches, and all Christian tradition follows him:
“Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience:
is Introduction to a Devout Life, chap. 1.
10 Eph. 6: 11, 13.

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bearing with one another. . . . But above all these things
have charity, which is the bond of perfection. And let the
peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are
called in one body.” 20 It is this virtue of charity which corre­
sponds to the two greatest precepts, which are the end of all
the others and of the counsels: ‘‘Thou 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: and thy neighbor as
thyself.” 21
St. Paul is so firmly convinced of this superiority of charity
over all the other virtues, over the gifts, and over graces
gratuitously bestowed, that he writes: “If I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am be­
come as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should
have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowl­
edge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have not charity, I am 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.” 22 I do not fulfil the first command­
ment of God; I do not conform my will to His; I remain
turned away from Him.
Moreover, charity in a way implies all the virtues which
are subordinated to it, and which appear as so many modal­
ities or aspects of the love of God. This is what St. Paul says
in the same epistle: “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
the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all
things, endureth all things.” 23 To this we must add with the
great Apostle: “Charity never falleth away: whether prophe20 Col. 3: iï-15.
21 Luke 10: 27.
22 See I Cor. 13: 1 ff.
2s Ibid., 13: 4-7.

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137

cies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge
shall be destroyed. For we know in part, and we prophesy in
part. But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in
part shall be done away. . . . We see now through a glass in
a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part;
but then I shall know even as I am known. And now there
remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest
of these is charity.” 24 It will subsist eternally, when faith and
hope shall have disappeared in order to give way to the vision
and the definitive possession of God. In addition, according
to St. Paul, in the measure with which we love God, we know
Him with that sweet knowledge, which is divine wisdom:
“Being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to
comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth, and
length, and height, and depth: to know also the charity of
Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled
unto all tire fulness of God.” 25*Finally, St. Paul says, on several
occasions, that by charity we become the temples of the Holy
Ghost.
The Apostle St. John teaches the same doctrine: “God is
charity: and he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and
God in him.” 28 “He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for
God is charity.” 27 “We know that we have passed from death
to life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not,
abideth in death.” 2S
St. Peter expresses the same thought: “But before all things
have a constant mutual charity among yourselves: for charity
covereth a multitude of sins.” 20 Our Lord Himself said of
Magdalen: “Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath
loved much.”
24 Ibid., 13: 8-13.
25 Eph. 3: 17—19.
2« See I John 4: 16.
27 Ibid., 4: 8.
2S Ibid., 3: 14.
2s See I Pet. 4: 8.

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The full value of this teaching of Holy Scripture, com­
mented on by the fathers, is brought home to us through the
clarifying light of theology. St. Thomas proves that Christian
perfection consists especially in charity: “A thing is said to
be perfect in so far as it attains its proper end, which is the
ultimate perfection thereof.” 80 Take for example, the soldier
who knows how to fight, the physician who knows how to
heal, the learned teacher who has the art of communicating
his knowledge. We must not, however, confound these par­
ticular ends of the soldier, the doctor, and the teacher with
the universal end of man and of the Christian. “Now,” con­
tinues St. Thomas, “it is charity that unites us to God, who
is the last end of the human mind, since he that abideth in
charity abideth in God, and God in him (I John 4: 16). There­
fore the perfection of the Christian life consists chiefly in
charity.” 81
Farther on, the holy doctor adds: “Perfection is said to
consist in a thing in two ways: in one way, primarily and
essentially; in another, secondarily and accidentally. Primarily
and essentially the perfection of the Christian life consists in
charity; principally as to the love of God, secondarily as to
the love of our neighbor, both of which are the matter of the
chief commandments of the divine law. . . . Now the love
of God and of our neighbor is not commanded according to
a measure, so that what is in excess of the measure be a mat­
ter of counsel.” 82 We shall return later to the question of the
counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but it is clear
even now that they are subordinated to charity. No less cer­
tainly the first object of this theological virtue is God Him­
self. Our neighbor is the secondary object of it, and he must
be loved for the sake of God, whom he is to glorify eternally
with us by participating in His beatitude.
to Summa, Ila Ilae, q.184, a. 1.
·> Ibid.
*2 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.184. a.3.

ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

i39

Charity thus conceived is truly “the bond of perfection,” as
St. Paul says, because if man is rendered perfect by all the
virtues, charity unites them all, inspires them, rules them,
animates them, or informs them, and assures their persever­
ance by making their acts converge toward the last end, toward
God loved above all. Charity not only binds us to God, but,
in a sense, it also binds all tire virtues, and makes them all
one.·8
In addition, because charity thus unites us to our last end,
it cannot co-exist with mortal sin, which turns us away from
that end. Therefore charity is inseparable from the state of
grace, or of divine life, while faith and hope can be found in
a sinful soul in a state of mortal sin. This is the explanation
of St. Paul’s statement: “If I should have all faith, so that I
could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am noth­
ing.” 84 Without charity we abide in death, says St. John. This
also explains St. Peter’s words: “Charity covers a multitude
of sins.”
Lastly, since charity has none of the imperfections of faith
and of hope, it will subsist eternally; even here on earth
charity attains God directly, and that is why it makes us the
temples of the Holy Ghost.85 Hence perfection consists espe­
cially in charity. Not only does it assemble all our powers,
inspire our patience and perseverance, but it also unites souls
and leads them to unity in truth.
THE OBJECTION OF INTELLECTUALS: WHY IS CHARITY
SUPERIOR TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

Some people, especially intellectuals, will offer an objection
to this great traditional doctrine. Is not the intellect, they
will say, man’s first faculty, the one that directs all the others,
88 Cf. St. Thomas, in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Colossians, 3: 14;
Summa, Ila Ilae, q.23, a.6-8.
8‘ See I Cor. 13: 2.
85 Summa, Ila Ilae. q.27, a.4: la. q.43, a.3.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

that primarily distinguishes us from animals? Must we not
conclude that the perfection of man lies especially in the in­
tellectual knowledge he can have of all things considered
in their beginning and their end; and therefore, that the
perfection of man lies in tire knowledge of God, the supreme
rule of human life?
St. Thomas has certainly not failed to recognize this aspect
of the problem of perfection. He himself admits that the in­
tellect is superior to the will which it directs. The intellect
has, in fact, a simpler, more absolute, more universal object,
being in all its universality and consequently all being; the
will, on the other hand, has a more restricted object, the
good, which is a modality of being, and which in everything
is the perfection that renders it desirable. As good supposes
being, the will presupposes the intellect and is directed by it.
It is, then, by the intellect, the highest of his faculties,3’ that
man differs specifically from animals.
St. Thomas also admits that in heaven our blessedness will
consist essentially in the beatific vision, in the intellectual and
immediate vision of the divine essence; for it is chiefly by this
vision that we will take possession of God for eternity. Beatific
love will be only the necessary consequence of this immediate
knowledge of the sovereign good. As the properties of an ob­
ject spring from its essence, our immutable love of God and
the joy of possessing Him will necessarily follow tire beatific
vision, which will thus be the essence of our beatitude.37
The Angelic Doctor could not better affirm the superiority
of the intellect over the will, in principle, and in the perfect
light of heaven. Why does he now tell us that Christian per­
se See la, q.82, a.3.
” "And so it is with an intelligible end. For at first we desire to attain an
intelligible end. We attain it (God) through His being made present to us by
an act of the intellect: and then the delighted will rests in the end when at­
tained. So, therefore, the essence of happiness consists in an act of the intellect:
but the delight that results from happiness pertains to the will. In this sense
St. Augustine says (Conf., X, 23) that happiness is joy in truth, because, to wit,
ioy itself is the consummation of happiness.”

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141

fection in this life consists especially in charity, which is a
virtue of the will, and not in faith, or in the gift of wisdom, or
in contemplation, all of which belong to the intellect?
He himself has given us a profound answer to this ques­
tion, and an answer of prime importance in ascetical and
mystical theology. He tells us in substance 88 that although
one faculty may by its very nature be superior to another, as
sight is to hearing, it is possible that an act of the second may
be superior to an act of the first, as the hearing of a sublime
and very rare symphony is of a higher order than the sight
of an ordinary color. Thus, although the intellect by its very
nature (simpliciter) may be superior to the will which it
directs, because it has a simpler, more absolute, more uni­
versal object, yet in certain circumstances (secundum quid)
and with relation to God, the intellect in this life remains in­
ferior to the will; in other words, here on earth the love of
God is more perfect than the knowledge of God; while it is
better to know inferior things than to love them. A profound
observation on which one cannot meditate too much.
And whence comes this superiority of the love of God over
the knowledge we have of Him on earth? "The action of the
intellect consists in this,” says St. Thomas,89 “that the idea of
the thing understood is in the one who understands; while
the act of the will consists in this—that the will is inclined to
the thing itself as existing in itself. And therefore the Phi­
losopher says (Metaph. VI) that good and evil, which are ob­
jects of the will, are in things, but truth and error, which are
objects of the intellect, are in the mind.” It follows that in
this life our knowledge of God is inferior to the love of God,
since, as the Angelic Doctor says,40 in order to know God we,
in a way, draw Him to us, and in order to represent Him to
ourselves we impose on Him the bounds of our limited ideas.SS
*
SS See la, q.82. a.3.
»» Ibid.
-0 Ibid.

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On the other hand, when we love Him, we raise ourselves
toward Him, such as He is in Himself.
It is better, therefore, to love God than to know Him,
although love always presupposes a certain knowledge and is
directed by it. On the other hand, it is better to know inferior
things than to love them. By knowing them we raise them,
in a way, to our intelligence; whereas by loving them, we
stoop toward them, and we might become subservient to them
as the miser is to his treasure. It is better to know the prop­
erties of gold than to love it. This is one of the principal
doctrines of the tract on man left us by St. Thomas.
The holy doctor repeats this teaching in the tract on
charity 41 when he asks: “Whether God can be loved imme­
diately in this life?” He answers: “Knowledge of God, through
being mediate, is said to be enigmatic, and falls away in
heaven. . . . But charity does not fall away. . . . Therefore
the charity of the way adheres to God immediately. The rea­
son for this is that the act of a cognitive power is completed
by the thing known being in the knower, whereas the act of
an appetitive power consists in the appetite being inclined
toward the thing itself. . . . We must assert that to love,
which is an act of the appetitive power, even in this state of
life, tends to God first, and flows on from Him to other
things, and in this sense charity loves God immediately, and
other things through God." This love should extend to our
neighbor, who should be loved for the love of our common
Father. “For knowledge begins from creatures, tends to God,
and love begins with God as the last end, and passes on to
creatures.” 42
By this we see the superiority of charity as compared with
faith and hope. “But faith and hope attain God indeed in so
far as we derive from Him the knowledge of truth or the
acquisition of good, whereas charity attains God Himself
See Ila Ilae, q.ay, a.4.
** Ibid., ad sum.

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143

that it may rest in Him, but not that something may accrue
to us from Him. Hence charity is more excellent than faith
or hope, and consequently, than all the other virtues, which
have not God directly for their object.” 48 In this way it is
explained that charity, unlike faith and hope, is inseparable
from the state of grace and from the indwelling of the Blessed
Trinity in us: “He that abideth in charity abideth in God,
and God in him.” 44
In virtue of the same principle enunciated by St. Thomas,
we see again that charity is superior to all knowledge in this
life, even to contemplation, which proceeds from the gift of
wisdom. This quasi-experimental knowledge of God also im­
poses on Him, in fact, the limits of our ideas, and it draws its
savor from the very love which inspires it. It is charity that
establishes in us a sympathy with divine tilings, which are
thereby rendered desirable.45 The gifts of the Holy Ghost
thus find their remote rule in the theological virtues; they are
ruled immediately by divine inspirations according to a super­
human mode, and from this point of view they add a new
perfection to the theological virtues. Nevertheless they re­
main subordinated to them by nature,45 and their fruits are
the very fruits of charity—joy and peace.
All this shows us the profound meaning of St. Paul’s ex­
pression, “Charity is the bond of perfection.” Not only does
charity unite us to God more than do the other virtues, but it
unites them all by inspiring them and by ordering all their
acts to a final end which is its own object, to God loved above
all. Therefore it is called the mother of all the virtues. With
this interpretation in mind, St. Augustine could say: “Love,
and do what you will.” And indeed you may, provided you
«s See Ila Ilae, q.23, a. 6.
44 See I John 4: 16.
« See Ila Ilae, q.45, a.2, 4.
4« "The theological virtues are more excellent than the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, and regulate them. Hence . . . the seven gifts never attain perfection
. . . unless all that they do be done in faith, hope, and charity" (la Ilae, q.68,
a. 8).

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
»44
love the Lord in very truth, more than yourself and above all
things. How can we love Him thus unless we observe His
commandments, the first of which, that of love, is the begin­
ning and end of all the others?
We must conclude with all theologians that the perfection
of Christian life consists especially in charity, in an active
charity, which actually unites us to God, and is fruitful in
every type of good work.47 This virtue should, without a
doubt, hold the first place in our souls.
PERFECTION IS A PLENITUDE

From what we have just said, must we conclude that the
other virtues, important as they are, such as faith, hope, the
virtue of religion, prudence, justice, fortitude, patience, tem­
perance, mildness, and humility, do not contribute toward
the essence of perfection, and belong to it only accidentally
as instruments, or secondary means? Some theologians have
thought so.48 We believe, however, with Father Passerini,
O.P., who among Thomists has most profoundly commented
on the article of St. Thomas which we are now explaining,
that such is not the thought of the holy doctor. St. Thomas
himself says: “Primarily and essentially the perfection of the
Christian life consists in charity, principally as to the love of
God, secondarily as to the love of our neighbor, both of
which are the matter of the chief commandments of the divine
47 Some theologians (for example, Suarez) teach that perfection consists for­
mally in the virtue of charity, antecedently and concomitantly in its acts. Fa­
ther Passerini, O.P., we think, states the opinion of the Thomistic school. He
teaches that perfection, to which the state of perfection is ordered, consists
formally in the acts of charity and antecedently in the virtue, as in the princi­
ple of perfect operation. The reason for this is that perfection consists in actual
union with God, mihi adhaerere Deo bonum est. It is found, therefore, in ac­
tive charity or in the activity of charity, which in truly perfect souls should
be morally continual or unceasing. Virtue is ordered to its act as to its per­
fection: and we tend not only to be able to love God perfectly, but to love Him
in fact by avoiding all sin as much as possible. Life consists especially in the
act of living.
44 Cajetan, on Ha Ilae, q. 184, a. 1, and Suarez, on the same article.

ESSENCE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

HS
law. . . . Secondarily and instrumentally, however, perfec­
tion consists in the observance of the counsels. . . . For the
commandments, other than the precepts of charity, are di­
rected to the removal of things contrary to charity, with which,
namely, charity is incompatible, whereas the counsels are di­
rected to the removal of things that hinder the act of charity,
and yet are not contrary to charity." 18 It follows, as Passerini
shows, that perfection consists essentially not in charity alone,
but also in the acts of the other virtues which are of precept
and which are ordered by charity.00 Thus the acts of faith,
hope, religion, and prayer, attendance at mass, and reception
of holy communion, belong to the very essence of perfection,
which is a plenitude. To use St. Paul’s word, charity is the
bond of this plenitude. We can, therefore, truthfully say with
St. Thomas, that perfection consists particularly in charity,01
and principally in the love of God.02 Just so, the body and
soul constitute the very essence of man, although this essence
is chiefly constituted by the rational soul, which distinguishes
man from animals. Such is the place of charity in tire Christian
life. St. Thomas rightly says: “Christian life consists chiefly in
charity, which unites the soul to God.” Unlike faith and hope,
*· See Ila Ilae, q. 184, a.3.
»0 Passerini, Ο. P., De statibus hominum (on Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 1), p. 20, no. 8:
“Actual perfection consists essentially not in the act alone of charity, but also
in the acts of the other virtues ordered by charity according as they are of pre­
cept." Cf. Ibid., pp. 22-27, 49> 54· ‘‘Actual perfection consists chiefly and prin­
cipally in charity alone, because charity perfects simply, and the other virtues
relatively. . . . Furthermore, actual perfection is formally in charity alone,
which is the bond of perfection. . . . Yet other virtues pertain to the essence
of perfection just as matter to the essence of a natural composite" (p. 21, no. 10).
"The acts of the other virtues as they are of counsel, are accidents of perfec­
tion" (p. 23, nos. 20 (I.). By this distinction between what is of counsel and what
is of precept in the virtues inferior to charity, Passerini introduces a precision
which Cajetan had forgotten, and clearly expresses the thought of St. Thomas
which, as we shall see in regard to article 3, was not understood by Suarez.
»1 Particularly (specialiter) is the term used by St. Thomas when he treats
the question ex professo (Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 1), He says elsewhere (De perfectione
vitae spiritualis): "Spiritual life consists principally in charity.”
sa "Principally as to the love of God, secondarily, as to the love of our neigh­
bor” (Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 3).

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

charity absolutely excludes mortal sin, and requires the state
of grace or of life.
Does it follow that every soul in the state of grace is perfect?
As yet it has perfection only in the broad sense of the term
(perfectio substantialis), which excludes mortal sin; but not
for that reason alone has it perfection, properly so called (per­
fectio simpliciter), which ascetical and mystical theology speak
of and which interior souls, especially those consecrated to
God in the religious state, aspire to.
In the following article we shall see in what this perfection,
properly so called, consists—the perfection of charity, or the
charity of the perfect, in contradistinction to that of begin­
ners and to that of proficients. But already we catch a glimpse
of the inexpressible grandeur of charity even in the soul that
has just been snatched from mortal sin, and that is beginning
to walk in the way of perfection. This soul has truly passed
from death to life, to the life which ought never to end.
ARTICLE III

The Full Perfection of Charity Presupposes the Passive
Purification of the Senses and of the Spirit
We have seen that Christian perfection consists chiefly in
charity. Quite evidently, the possession of this virtue, the state
of grace, is not sufficient for the attainment of perfection,
properly so called, which ascetical and mystical theology
speaks of and which all interior souls, particularly those con­
secrated to God in the religious state, aspire to. “Not as though
I had already attained, or were already perfect,” says St. Paul,
“but I follow after, if I may by any means apprehend.” 1 This
perfection consists precisely in the charity of the perfect,
which is superior to the charity of beginners and of souls that
are making progress. In this article we are going to treat of
1 Phil, j: »«.

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147

this charity of the perfect, and we will consider it both in its
essence and in its integrity, or its normal plenitude.
We are here concerned with the summit of charity in its
normal development, the fundamental law of which, quite
different from that of our fallen nature, is the law of grace,
which regenerates us progressively, and the consummation of
which is eternal life.
All spiritual writers admit three phases in this develop­
ment of charity: (1) That of beginners whose main effort is
strife against sin. For this reason, it is called the purgative
way. (2) That of those who are making progress in the virtues
by the light of faith and of contemplation. It is often called
the illuminative way. (3) That of the perfect, who live espe­
cially in union with God through charity. It is called the
unitive way. These three degrees constitute the infancy, ado­
lescence, and adult age of the spiritual life.2
These general terms are commonly accepted, but they have
not exactly the same meaning for all theologians. Beginning
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a number of
authors have admitted two unitive ways; the one ordinary
and ascetical, the other called “extraordinary,” passive, and
mystical, which cannot be reached without a special voca­
tion. From this point of view, souls can generally be perfect,
and even reach the lofty perfection required for beatification,
without having received any mystical grace. Others maintain,
according to the traditional doctrine, that there is only one
unitive way, and that its full, normal development is the per­
fect mystical union, or the transforming union.3 In their opin2 Cf. St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.24. a.9; II Sent., Dist. IX, 2 ad 8um. In the latter
text, St. Thomas, speaking of the purgative, the illuminative, and the uni­
tive ways, observes that all who truly lead souls to perfection, also illumine
them and purify them, but the reverse is not true. He who purifies them from
sin. may not always be able to illumine them and a fortiori may be unable to
lead them to perfection, to divine union.
3 Certain authors merely say rather timidly: "To have an ensemble of the
unitive life, the mystical state must be joined thereto.” Thus Father Meynard, O.P., expresses his opinion in his Traité de la vie intérieure, I, 464 note,
22—58

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

ion, this way belongs in its essential quality to the order of
sanctifying grace, or “the grace of the virtues and of the gifts,”
and not to the lower order of graces gratis datae, such as the
gift of prophecy or that of miracles, which sometimes accom­
pany it. We touched on this question when we discussed the
relations between ascetical and mystical theology.4
The authors of whom we have just spoken appeal to tradi­
tion previous to the seventeenth century, and in particular to
St. John of the Cross. Therefore we must closely examine his
doctrine on this subject, that we may see how it should be in­
terpreted and what its relations are with earlier tradition.
I. DOCTRINE OF ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS ON THE
PERFECTION OF CHARITY

This great saint speaks of the three ways, purgative, illu­
minative, and unitive, in several of his works, notably in The
Ascent of Mount Carmel (Bk. I, chap. 1), The Dark Night of
the Soul (Bk. I, chaps. 1, 14), and The Spiritual Canticle
(stanzas 1, 4, 6, 22, 26). According to him the illuminative
way, or the way of souls that are making progress, begins with
the cessation of meditation and the beginning of infused or
mystical contemplation. Treating of this contemplation, he
says: “Souls begin to enter this dark night (passive) when God
Himself disengages them little by little from the state of be­
ginners, that in which one meditates, and introduces them
into the state of proficients, which is that of contemplatives.
They must pass through this way to become perfect, that is,
to attain the divine union of the soul with God.” e
This ascent is not without suffering, as St. John of the
Cross warns us in The Ascent of Mount Carmel: “To attain
the divine light and the perfect union of the love of God—I
speak of what can be realized in this life—the soul must pass
through the dark night. . . . Ordinarily, when chosen s*»uls
* Ct. supra, chap. 2, art. 2.
» The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 1.

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149
strive to attain this state of perfection, they encounter such
darkness, endure such severe physical and moral sufferings,
that human science is unable to penetrate them, and human
experience to represent them.” 8
Not without difficulty does one succeed in completely con­
quering selfishness, sensuality, laziness, impatience, envy, un­
just judgment, impulses of nature, natural haste, self-love,
foolish pretensions, and also self-seeking in piety, the immod­
erate desire for sensible consolations, intellectual and spiritual
pride; in a word, all that is opposed to the spirit of faith and
confidence in God; 7 that one may succeed in loving God per­
fectly with all one’s heart, soul, strength, and mind, and one’s
neighbor (enemies are included under this title) as oneself; in
short, to remain firm and patient and to persevere in charity,
whatever may happen, when the expression of the Apostle is
verified, that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suf­
fer persecution.” 8
To reach this perfection, the mortification or active puri­
fication of the senses and of the spirit is not all that is
necessary: “In spite of all its generosity, the soul cannot com­
pletely purify itself, so that it will be even slightly fit for
divine union in the perfection of love. God Himself must
put His hand to the work, and purify the soul in this fire that
is hidden from it, according to the mode and manner which
we shall explain in what follows.” 9
First of all, the soul is weaned from sensible consolations,
which at a certain time have their value, but which become
an obstacle when they are sought for their own sake. Hence
the necessity of the passive purification of the senses, which
establishes the soul in sensible aridity and leads it to a spiritual
life which is much more detached from the senses, the im­
agination, and reasoning. By the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the
• The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Prologue.
r The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chaps. 1-7.
e See II Tim. 3: 12.
» The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 3.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

soul at this time receives an intuitive knowledge, which de­
spite a very painful darkness initiates it profoundly into the
things of God. Occasionally it makes the soul penetrate them
more deeply in one instant than months and years of medi­
tation would have done. Resistance to temptations, which
frequently present themselves in this night of the senses, re­
quires heroic acts of chastity and patience.10 This period has
justly been compared to that of teething in children who have
just been weaned. In fact, at this stage the soul is prepared to
receive a stronger food, the spiritual graces which are be­
stowed on it. These are far more precious than the preceding
graces, but they disconcert the soul by giving no satisfaction
to its desire for sensible graces.
After treating of this purification, St. John of the Cross
observes: “The soul has, therefore, gone forth; it has begun
to penetrate into the way of the spirit, which is followed by
proficients and advanced souls, and which is also called the
illuminative way, or the way of infused contemplation.” 11
This text is very important, for St. John here speaks expressly
of infused contemplation and not of acquired contempla­
tion.11
But to reach the perfection of charity, the passive purifica­
tion of the senses does not suffice: “On leaving the state of
JO As St. John of the Cross says, in The Dark Night of the Soul (Bk. I, chap. 8):
"The passive purification of the senses is common. It takes place in the greater
number of beginners.” Consequently we are surprised to see the night of the
senses placed in the last chapter consecrated to the perfect, or to the unitive
way, in a plan of ascetical and mystical theology (published in the Revue
d’ascétique et de mystique, January, 1921. p. 35). According to St. John of the
Cross, the night of the senses ordinarily takes place much earlier.
The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 14.
12 The saint speaks of infused contemplation also in the first text cited (The
Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 1), and even in The Ascent (Bk. II, chap.
13). When he uses the word "contemplation,” he is speaking of contemplation
properly so called, or infused contemplation, which is more or less passive at
the beginning. These correspond to the first supernatural prayers of St. Teresa,
those of passive recollection and of quiet (fourth mansion). She describes the
night of the spirit in the sixth mansion. We mention these texts infra (chap. 5,
art. 3, no. î).

PURIFICATION OF THE SENSES

i5i

beginners, the soul remains more often than not immobile in
the exercises proper to the advanced for an indeterminate
period, which may last for years. Like tire prisoner who has
just left his narrow prison, the soul is more at ease in divine
things and finds more satisfaction in them. . . . Neither the
imagination nor the powers of the soul preserve any longer,
in fact, their formel' attachment to discursive prayer 18 and to
spiritual effort because the soul now tastes without any in­
tellectual effort a very calm and affectionate contemplation
accompanied by spiritual delights. . . . The purification of
the soul is, however, not yet complete and cannot be so, since
the principal one, which is that of the spirit, is still lacking.
. . . The soul has still, therefore, to undergo dryness, dark­
ness, and anguish, often far more severe than the preceding
experiences.” 14 The necessity of this passive purification of
the spirit could not be more clearly affirmed. In one way or
another, it must be undergone for the attainment of perfect
purity of soul.
In this period there are no longer any deliberate venial
sins, but there are still the imperfections peculiar to the ad­
vanced, imperfections that are incompatible with the full per­
fection of charity. “The stains of the old man still remain in
the spirit, though it does not suspect their presence, nor
scarcely perceives them. They must, however, yield to and
be removed by the strong soap and lye of the passive puri­
fication of the spirit, without which the purity required for
union will still be lacking. These proficients suffer also from
dullness of mind and from the natural rudeness which every
man contracts by sin. They are subject to distractions and to
dissipation of mind. . . . The devil often dupes many by
imaginary visions and false prophecies which lead to presump­
tion. . . . This matter is inexhaustible, and these imperfec­
ts Discourse or reasoning is no longer found in the knowledge proceeding
from the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which at this point intervene more and more.
See St. Thomas, Ila Hae, q.8, 45.
14 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 1.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

tions are so much the more incurable because these proficients
consider them spiritual perfections. Therefore he who wishes
to make progress must, of necessity, pass through the puri­
fication of the spiritual night. . . . Therein only can the
soul find suitable and adequate means for uniting itself to
God.” 15
The perfect are, therefore, not only those who have imposed
on themselves exterior and interior mortifications, but who
have passed through the purifications of the senses and of the
spirit. The soul which has not passed through this crucible is
not yet cleansed from its blemishes.
Speaking of the night of the spirit, St. John of the Cross
observes: “How often on this way exaltation and depression
succeed one another, and how often, too, is prosperity enjoyed
for a moment and then followed by storms and trials. . . .
These fluctuations are ordinary in the contemplative state.
Before attaining the state of definitive peace, rest is unknown;
life is a constant succession of ascents and descents. As the
state of perfection consists in the perfect love of God and con­
tempt of self, it cannot be conceived without its two parts,
the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self. From this
we see how necessary it is that the soul have a preliminary
formation in both. This is why God at times lifts the soul up
by making it taste its own greatness, and at times humbles it
by showing it its baseness. This movement of ascent and
descent can, therefore, be stopped only when the perfect habit
of the virtues is acquired, when the soul has reached union
with God.” 18
To resist temptations against the theological virtues which
present themselves rather frequently in the night of the spirit,
the soul must make heroic acts of faith, hope, and charity,
which notably augment the intensity of these virtues. At the
same time the illuminations of the gift of understanding eni· The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. a.
i· The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 18.

PURIFICATION OF THE SENSES

153

lighten the soul on the unknown depths of the mysteries of
faith, on the fathomless perfections of God, on the nothing­
ness of creatures, on the infinite gravity of mortal sin, on the
ineffable abasement of Christ, to such an extent that the in­
carnation and the Eucharist seem absolutely impossible. The
understanding, which is still too feeble, is bewildered and
helpless like a man who does not know how to swim and who,
upon being cast into the open sea, believes himself on the
point of drowning. Therein lies the purifying action of God,
opposed to the temptation of the demon, which is often simul­
taneous and which the Lord makes serve His ends.
Once this passive purification of the spirit is completed,
souls are normally ready to enter heaven immediately after
death: “Because of their perfect purification by love, they are
not obliged to pass through purgatory.” 17 They have had
their purgatory in this life and in a fitting manner; that is,
while meriting; whereas after death souls, which by their
fault must be purified, no longer merit. We will treat more
at length of the nature of these purifications in chapter 6, ar­
ticle 2.
According to St. John of the Cross, the full perfection at­
tainable in this life is found only in the transforming union,
or the spiritual marriage. “Then, in fact, the soul is no longer
disturbed by the demon, nor by the world, nor by the flesh,
nor by the appetites; it can then utter the words of the
Canticle, ‘For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone.
The flowers have appeared in our land.’ ”18 This state rep­
resents the full development of charity; perfect love accepts
it Ibid., chap. 20. There are doubtless souls that avoid purgatory, without
having passed through the passive purifications of the spirit; for example, those
who died immediately after baptism, and religious who died immediately after
their solemn profession; but if these had continued to live, they would have
fallen into many imperfections, which would have necessitated the purifica­
tions mentioned here by St. John of the Cross. He does not consider accidental
cases, but what is ordinarily required to attain a lofty perfection in this life,
and in heaven, a proportionate degree of glory.
is The Spiritual Canticle, Part III, st. 22 to the end.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

any work or suffering whatever for God, and even finds a holy
joy in suffering.18 It does not fear death, but desires it. It
attributes nothing to self, but refers all to God, and is trans­
formed so to speak in Him, according to St. Paul’s expression,
“He who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit.” 20 “It is, in short,
God Himself who communicates Himself to the soul by an
admirable glory and transforms it in Himself. Then there
takes place the perfect union of the soul and God, who are as
intimately united as glass and sunlight, as coal and fire, as
starlight and sunlight. Nevertheless, such a union is neither
as essential nor as complete as that of heaven.” 21
When charity is perfected, all the Christian virtues reach
their perfect development. “They are intertwined, closely
united to each other, which renders their resistance stronger
by reason of their mutual support. From this union there re­
sults a whole which constitutes the complete perfection of the
soul, a compact ensemble, a solidarity, which excludes the
possibility of any weak spot which might facilitate the en­
trance of the devil or things of the world into the soul.” 22
Finally, “the soul possesses the seven gifts of tire Holy Ghost
according to the entire perfection compatible with life here
below.” 28 “The operations of the soul in union come from
the divine Spirit. . . . They alone, as a result, are perfectly
harmonious . . . without ever being untimely. . . . The
Spirit of God reveals to these souls what they should know,
reminds them of what they should remember, . . . causes
them to forget whatever deserves to be forgotten, to love what
is worthy of their love, and to love nothing that is not found
ifl Ibid., st. 24.
20 See I Cor. 6: 17.
21 The Spiritual Canticle, st. 26. This teaching of St. John of the Cross on the
spiritual marriage, the acme of the development of the mystical life, does not
differ from that of the other saints who have commented on the Canticle of
Canticles. These commentaries become truly the light of life only for souls
that are in the way of this perfect union. On this subject, see the last work of
Father Arintero, O.P., Cantar de los Cantares, Exposiciôn mistica.
22 The Spiritual Canticle, st. 24.
as Ibid., st. 26.

PURIFICATION OF THE SENSES

»55
in God. Thus, all the first movements of the powers in such
souls are divine, and we must not be surprised that the move­
ments and operations of these powers are divine because they
are transformed in the divine Being.” 24
According to St. John of the Cross, the illuminative and
the unitive ways belong, therefore, to the mystical life, prop­
erly so called. This is without doubt a very lofty conception
of what the full development of “the grace of the virtues and
of the gifts” ought to be, of what the intimacy of divine union
should normally become in an interior soul after a life spent
in great fidelity to the Holy Ghost.
Needless to say, this conception of the unitive or perfect
life far surpasses what many modern writers on asceticism call
the ordinary unitive way. In their opinion, this way does not
presuppose the painful passive purifications, at least not those
of the spirit, which belong to the mystical states.25 There is a
considerable difference between souls which have valiantly
passed through these great trials and those which have not as
yet undergone them. In the following article we will seek the
source of this divergence between the ascetical teachings of
these modern writers and the doctrine of St. John of the Cross.
The problem is a serious one. Is not the ideal of perfection
notably lessened by maintaining that we can reach the full,
normal development of Christian life without passing under
one form or another through the passive purifications, which
2·» The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Ill, chap. 1. It would be manifestly an
error to believe that The Ascent of Mount Carmel deals only with the ascetical
way, and that the contemplation mentioned therein is not infused or mystical
contemplation. Cf. Bk. II, chap. 13. But in The Ascent the soul learns what it
must do, while in The Dark Night of the Soul it learns how it should allow
itself to be formed by God. Cf. Father Gabriel of Jesus, C.D., "j La Subida del
Monte Carmelo es ascética o es mistica?" in La Vida Sobrenatural, 1923, p. 24.
The author holds the same opinion as we do.
2» For example, Father Naval in his recent Cursus theologiae asceticae et
mysticae, pp. 240-259, demands for the ordinary unitive life only the contem­
plation which is called acquired. According to him, the soul reaches this state
without having undergone the strongest passive purifications of the senses, and
without having experienced those of the spirit.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

belong to the mystical order, and without being raised to
infused contemplation, that dark and secret initiation into the
mystery of God present in us? Are not the impulse and the
great aspirations of the interior life suppressed under the pre­
text of avoiding illusion, of following the common way, the
beaten paths? Is this not equivalent to proposing to souls a
comfortable illuminative and unitive way, which is of a nature
to give them an illusion just the opposite of those which they
wish to avoid? Under pretext of combating one form of pre­
sumption, is this not yielding to another? Is this not leading
souls to believe that they are on the point of attaining per­
fection, that they are already in the unitive life, when perhaps
as yet they are only among the beginners and have only a
faint notion of the true illuminative life, that of the pro­
ficients? Is this not also exposing them to complete divergence
from the right road when the painful passive purifications
come, during which they will think they are retrogressing,
while in truth these trials are the narrow gate leading to true
life? "How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way which
leads to life, and few there are that find it” (Matt. 7: 14). It
would be well to consider the words of St. John of the Cross
on this subject, which we have quoted in the preceding pages.
As yet we have only proposed the question. Finally, it is well
to remember the saying of St. Thomas Aquinas: “The servant
of God ought always to aspire without ceasing to more perfect
and holier things.” 28
ARTICLE IV

According to Tradition the Full Perfection of Christian
Life Belongs to the Mystical Order
According to St. John of the Cross, the full perfection of
Christian life belongs clearly to the mystical order, and is
20 In Ep. ad Hebraeos. 6: i, lea. i.

MYSTICISM AND CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

i57

truly realized only in the transforming union. However, many
modern writers on asceticism hold an entirely different opin­
ion. Whence comes this divergence?
Father Poulain’s explanation is well known. He says: “All
the ascetic writers speak of the three ways, the purgative, the
illuminative, and the unitive, and they make them corre­
spond, approximately at all events, to the terms: way of be­
ginners, of proficients, and of the perfect. Some allow mys­
ticism to play no part here; others at the most, place it only
at the end of the third way. St. John of the Cross also employs
these six terms, but gives them a meaning peculiar to his
teaching. He looks at matters from the special point of view
of mysticism, and places it in the second and third way ... :
‘The way of the spirit, which is that of proficients, is also
called the illuminative way, or the way of infused contempla­
tion’ (The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 14). Certainly
this language is very different from that of other spiritual
authors.” 1
The language of St. John of the Cross, to be sure, differs
notably from that of many modern writers on asceticism.
Some of the latter distinguish not merely three ways, but six;
three ascetical and three mystical.2 Is this not placing a ma­
terialistic interpretation on everything under the pretext of
being more precise? Tradition has always spoken of only three
ways, not six; but materially they appear in an imperfect
manner or in their plenitude, according to the spiritual con­
dition of the subject.3 Although St. John of the Cross clarifies
on several points the language of the great doctors who pre­
ceded him, nevertheless he teaches the same doctrine as
they do.
1 A. Poulain, S.J., The Graces of Interior Prayer, chap. 31, no. 45.
2 In this division there would be the purgative-ascetical way, the illuminativeascetical way, and the unitive-ascetical way below the three corresponding
mystical ways.
s Thus the same doctrine explained to several students is clearly understood
by one of them, less clearly by another.

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
158
Is a less elevated doctrine found in the spiritual works of
the fathers, of St. Augustine, Dionysius, St. Bernard, St.
Bonaventure, St. Thomas, Tauler, Louis de Blois, Dionysius
the Carthusian, the author of The Imitation, St. Francis de
Sales, and, in a general way, in the works of the saints who
have spoken of the perfect life considered in its plenitude? We
cannot find in their works, any more than we can in those of
St. John of the Cross, mention of a twofold unitive life; the
first ordinary, and the second extraordinary by its very nature
and, as such, inaccessible to the majority of interior souls.
How can we, then, explain the divergence which we have
just pointed out? While certain authors are especially con­
cerned with beginners and with souls that have only a relative
perfection in view, St. John of the Cross writes “for those who
are determined to pass through nudity of spirit,” especially
for contemplative souls. He proposes to them the loftiest per­
fection attainable in this life, and the most efficacious and
direct means to reach it. He himself states this fact in the
prologue of The Ascent of Mount Carmel* This explains
the apparent exaggeration of his insistence on mortification.
It explains also his very lofty idea of the illuminative and of
the unitive ways, which he presents to us in their plenitude,
which is found only in the mystical life. Some modem writers
on asceticism give us, on the contrary, only an inferior and a
diminished idea of them; for if these two ways appear in the
course of the ascetical life, it can only be in a manner that is
still very imperfect.
We find here something similar to that which occurs in in­
tellectual culture. For many, adequate theological training is
given by a manual that can be studied in three years, and that
one does not feel impelled to reread, because all it contains is
quickly exhausted. Who can claim that the perfection of theo« "Both groups will find a substantial doctrine in this book, but it is on con­
dition that they decide to pass through nudity of spirit. I confess, however, that
in this treatise I bave had in mind especially some members of our holy order.”

MYSTICISM AND CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

*59
logical culture is found in such a study? Others can satisfy the
demands of their minds only by the profound study of St.
Thomas and of his principal commentators. This study is
neither an extraordinary undertaking nor a luxury for them;
it is necessary for the training of their minds. They realize
that even if they spend all their lives teaching the Summa
theologica, written though it is for novices, they will never
exhaust it, and will never arrive at a complete grasp of its
breadth, height, and depth; to do so, would require an in­
tellect equal to that of the master. “To comprehend is to
equal,” said Raphael. To study the tract on grace, some will
consecrate three months to it and scarcely ever return to it;
others understand that the work of a lifetime would not suffice
to penetrate what the doctors of the Church wished to tell us
about this great mystery.
Thus, from the spiritual point of view, many souls are
quickly, even too quickly, satisfied by a very relative perfec­
tion, which seems altogether insufficient to others. The latter
feel a need for the eminent exercise of charity and of the
gifts of the Holy Ghost. Certain very passionate temperaments
and extremely vigorous intellects seem to find peace only in a
lofty perfection, even that described by St. John of the Cross.
With still greater reason, this is true of souls which received
early in life a superior attraction of grace. They will find rest
only after the painful purifications, in the transforming union,
in which they will no longer be disturbed by the devil, the
flesh, and the world.
Why should we not believe that St. John of the Cross has
preserved in its essentials the true and very lofty traditional
conception of Christian perfection, or of union with God?
Should we not believe, on the contrary, that some modern
writers on asceticism have impoverished tradition by con­
founding the full normal development of the life of grace on
earth with what is only its prelude? This is the opinion of
some contemporary theologians who consider the mystical life

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necessary to full perfection, to that required, for example, for
beatification.5 They add that the other opinion, while claim­
ing to combat presumption, might cause some souls to believe
they have reached the unitive life, when, as a matter of fact,
they are far from it. As a result, the ideal of perfection, the aim
of the religious life, might be lowered and souls deprived of
one of the greatest stimulants to an increasingly fervent and
more generous life in closer union with God.
The true view seems to us to be the latter; namely, that
there are not two unitive ways, the one ordinary and the other
extraordinary by its nature, to which all fervent souls could
not aspire, but only one unitive way, which, by an ever more
perfect docility to the Holy Ghost, leads to a more intimate
mystical union. This way is extraordinary in fact because of
the small number of souls that are completely docile, but it
is not extraordinary in itself or by its nature, like miracles or
prophecy. On the contrary, it is in itself the perfect order, the
full development of charity, actually realized in truly gen­
erous souls, at least at the close of their lives, if they live long
enough. It may well be that, for lack of proper direction or
favorable surroundings, or again by reason of a nature given
to exterior activities, certain generous souls would reach the
mystical life only after a much longer time than the ordinary
span of life.0 But these are accidental circumstances and, how­
ever frequent they may be, they do not affect the fundamental
law of the full development of the life of grace.7 St. John of
the Cross makes this point very clear when, at the begin8 Cf. Father Arintero, O.P., La Ciencia tomista, May, 1919. The expression
"full perfection” shows that we are speaking not only of its essence but of its
integrity. Thus to have five fingers on each hand belongs to the integrity of
the human body, without being of its essence.
e Cf. De la Taille, S.J., L'oraison contemplative, 1921.
’ The same is true in the physical order. A cedar will not attain its normal
height if it is not planted in suitable ground, or if certain exterior circum­
stances are lacking. Similarly, from an intellectual point of view, by reason of a
lack of serious foundation, of favorable environment, or because of an unreceptive temperament, certain laborious minds never attain their full normal
development

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ning of his works, he says they are written “in order to
help the many souls which are in great need of assistance.
After the first steps in the path of virtue, when the Lord
wishes to make them enter the dark night in order to lead
them to divine union, there are some that go no further. Oc­
casionally, it is the desire which is lacking, or they are not
willing to let themselves be led therein. At times, it is because
of ignorance, or because they vainly seek an experienced guide
capable of leading them to the summit.” 8
This summit is not reached without infused contemplation;
and certainly infused contemplation is not the fruit of our
personal effort, for it surpasses the human mode of the Chris­
tian virtues. We do not have it when we wish it; it comes from
a special grace, from an inspiration and illumination to which
the gifts of the Holy Ghost render us docile. Though we do
not have this inspiration when we wish it, we can hold our­
selves ready to receive it; we can ask it, and merit it, at least in
the broad sense of the word “merit.” Every soul in the state of
grace has, in fact, received the gifts of the Holy Ghost which
develop with charity. As a general rule, the Holy Ghost moves
us according to the degree of our habitual docility.8
“The conclusion is clear,” says the holy doctor, “that, as
soon as the soul has succeeded in carefully purifying itself of
sensible forms and images, it will bathe in this pure and
simple light, which will become for it the state of perfection.
In truth, this light is always ready to penetrate us. Its infusion
s The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Prologue.
8 Cf. John of St. Thomas, commentary on la Ilae, q.68, De donis Spiritus
Sancti, disp. XVIII, a. 2, no. 31: "The actual inspiration of the Holy Ghost is
not within our power, but it is within our power to have our heart always
ready to obey, in order that we may be easily moved by the Holy Ghost."
The Carmelite theologians and those of the Dominican school teach that all
souls should aspire to supernatural or infused contemplation, and that this
contemplation can be merited at least de congruo: "All ought to aspire to su­
pernatural contemplation." This thesis is defended by Philip of the Blessed
Trinity, Theol. myst. (1874), II, 299, 311: by Anthony of the Holy Ghost, Di­
rectorium mysticum (1732), p. 99: by Vallgornera, O.P., Theol. mystica (Berihier ed.), I, 428; by Father Meynard, O.P., Traité de la vie intérieure, II, 131.

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is prevented by the forms and veils of creatures, which en­
velop and hamper the soul. Tear aside these veils . . . and
little by little, without delay, rest and divine peace will over­
whelm your soul with admirable and profound views on God,
which are enfolded in divine love.” 10
We shall demonstrate that this doctrine of St. John of the
Cross, while clarifying that of the great doctors who preceded
him, remains perfectly conformable to their teaching, and
that it is contained in the evangelical beatitudes. These pro­
pose to us Christian perfection in all its grandeur, and are
certainly not inferior in elevation to what the author of The
Spiritual Canticle has written.
Thus we begin to see the answer which should be made to
three questions already proposed:
i) What characterizes the mystical life? A special passivity
or the predominance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, having a
superhuman mode specifically distinct from the human mode
of the Christian virtues, without, however, being confounded
with graces gratis datae, such as prophecy. These last are in
no way necessary to the mystical life; they are in a certain
sense exterior, and given especially for the benefit of one’s
neighbor.11
10 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 15. This is true in principle.
However, we must keep in mind predestination, about which St. John of the
Cross writes: "It is true that souls, whatever their capacity may be, can have
attained union, but all do not possess it in the same degree. God disposes freely
of this degree of union as He disposes freely of the degree of the beatific vision”
(The Ascent, Bk. II, chap. 5). From the fact that all the just are not predestined
to glory and do not infallibly attain it, one cannot claim that it is not the nor­
mal consummation of grace as well as of the mystical union in this life. We
must not confound vocation and predestination: “Many are called, but few
are chosen." This difference should, however, be noted: it is through his own
fault only that an adult fails to attain salvation, while he may fail through no
fault of his own to attain contemplation.
11 This doctrine stands out as a happy medium between and a culminating
point above two opinions which are contrary to each other. The first opinion
reduces mystical contemplation to an act of living faith more intense than other
acts of faith, and this because it fails to understand the specific distinction be­
tween the virtues and the gifts, established by St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.68, a. 1-3.
The second opinion seems to elevate the mystical life greatly, though in reality

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2) When does the mystical life begin in the course of the
spiritual life? Normally with the passive purification of the
senses, and the prayer of passive recollection which St. Teresa
speaks of in the fourth mansion.1112
13
3) Is a special vocation necessary to reach the mystical life?
In principle, no. “The grace of the virtues and of the gifts”
suffices in itself by its normal development to dispose us to the
mystical life, and mystical contemplation is necessary for the
full perfection of Christian life.18 But in fact, for lack of cer­
tain conditions which at times are independent of our will,
even generous souls would attain contemplation only after a
longer space of time than the ordinary span of life; just as
some minds, which are capable of a superior intellectual de­
velopment, never reach it for lack of certain conditions. And
lastly, in some who are more fitted for the active life, the gifts
of action dominate.14*
This teaching antedates that of St. John of the Cross. It will
be interesting to recall the chapter of The Imitation on “True
Peace” (Bk. IV, chap. 25). It is certainly not inferior to the
doctrine we have just set forth, and it is addressed to all souls
to show them an ideal of perfection which they may aspire
to without presumption. We quote some passages. “Peace is
what all desire, but all do not care for the things that pertain
to true peace. My peace is with the humble and gentle of
heart; in much patience shall thy peace be. . . . Direct thy
it reduces it, because it does not see clearly enough the profound difference
which exists between the gifts of the Holy Ghost (supernatural by their essence
and their inode, and present in all souls in the state of grace) and the graces
gratis datae, which are not generally supernatural by their very essence, but
only by their mode (quoad modum)·, which do not necessarily presuppose the
state of grace, and which are, so to speak, not only actually but essentially ex­
terior and extraordinary. Cf. la Ilae, q.g, a.5.
12 See supra, chap. 5, art. a.
13 See chap. 6.
It may be conceded that materially and in fact there are two unitive ways,
although formally and in principle there is only one, now perfectly, now im­
perfectly, realized. We must not elevate a material or actual distinction into a
formal or essential distinction.

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whole attention to please Me alone, and neither to desire nor
to seek anything besides Me. . . . The spiritual progress and
perfection of a man consist in these things ... in giving thy­
self up with all thy heart to the divine will, not seeking thine
own interest either in great matters or in small, either in time
or in eternity. So shalt thou keep one and the same demeanor
always giving thanks both in prosperity and adversity, weigh­
ing all things in an equal balance. Be thou so full of courage
and so patient in hope, that when inward comfort is with­
drawn thou mayest prepare thy heart to suffer even greater
things; and do not justify thyself, as though thou oughtest not
to suffer such and so great afflictions, but justify Me in whatso­
ever I appoint, and cease not to praise My holy name. Then
thou walkest in the true and right way of peace, and thou
shalt have a sure hope to see My face again with great delight.
Now, if thou attain to the full contempt of thyself, know that
thou shalt then enjoy abundance of peace, as great as is pos­
sible in this thy state of sojourning.”
This peace is the fruit of an eminent charity and of the
gift of wisdom which makes us see everything, whether agree­
able or painful, in relation to God, the beginning and end of
all things. St. Augustine says that the beatitude of the peace­
makers corresponds to this gift.
And this is why, in the same book of The Imitation?· the
disciple asks for the superior grace of contemplation, saying:
"O Lord, I stand much in need of yet greater grace if it be
Thy will that I should attain to that state where neither man
nor any creature shall be a hindrance to me. . . . He desired
to fly freely that said, ‘Who will give me wings like a dove,
and I will fly and be at rest?’ (Ps. 54: 7.) ... A man ought,
therefore, to mount above all creatures and perfectly renounce
himself, and in ecstasy of mind perceive that Thou, the Cre­
ator of all things, hast nothing amongst creatures like unto
Thee. Unless a man be set free from all creatures, he cannot
is Bk. IV, chap. Ji.

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wholly attend unto divine things and therefore are there so
few contemplative, because few can wholly withdraw them­
selves from things created and perishing. To obtain this there
is need of much grace to elevate the soul and carry it away
above itself, and unless a man be uplifted in spirit and be
freed from all creatures and wholly united unto God, what­
soever he knoweth and whatsoever he hath are of small
account.”
This remarkable chapter18 is not less sublime than the
chapters of St. John of the Cross on the transforming union.
Properly speaking, it belongs to the mystical order, in which
alone the true perfection of the love of God is to be found.17
1· See the commentary on this passage by Father Dumas, S.M., in his excellent
book, L'Imitation de Jésus-Christ: introduction à l’union intime avec Dieu,
pp. 360-370.
it The mistress of novices in a French Carmelite convent recently wrote us
the following letter on this subject: "I have been a religious for many years,
and for a long time mistress of novices. In my opinion, many souls remain at
the door of the true life because they lack instruction and are deluded in be­
lieving that meditation alone is a sure state. Ordinarily when one enters our
monasteries with the required dispositions (and it ought to be the same in all
cloisters), and when one strives seriously to acquire the virtues, the soul is,
in a very short time, subjected by God to aridity and powerlessness, the prelude
of the passive purifications. It is almost impossible to make those who have
been trained according to the method of reasoned meditation believe that this
state is good, and that it is made to lead them to the divine union. They do
not understand the teaching of St. John of the Cross: ‘To apply oneself at this
time to the comprehension and the consideration of particular objects, were
they ever so spiritual, would be to place an obstacle in the way of the general,
subtle, and simple light of the spirit; it would be to overcloud one’s spirit' (The
Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 15).
"The contrary is true of souls that submissively accept these first trials. In a
short time they enjoy peace, and then the knowledge of how to find God in this
darkness. As a result of this knowledge, they make rapid progress. Those who
cling to meditation are still waiting after thirty and more years of religious life
for someone to lift them up and show them what they arc still seeking. They
lead a colorless and dull spiritual life. In the contemplative life the secret of
happiness is in knowing how to live this life under the eye of God.
"May I continue to teach that contemplation, properly so called, in its divers
degrees, always comes from God and that it is infused? One of the reasons, which
has always led me to believe this, is that a soul, after making a little progress in
prayer, is content only when it feels that all it has and all it experiences comes
to it directly from God and not from self. Every soul that is even slightly con­
templative, instinctively seeks to rid itself of everything personal and places no
value on it. I clearly understand acquired contemplation which follows a fasd-

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The saints use such language as this when they speak of
perfect love, of the intimate knowledge of God and of our­
selves which it presupposes, and of the signs by which it may
be recognized.
God Himself used such words as these when speaking to
St. Catherine of Siena: “I must now tell thee the sign that
gives evidence that the soul has reached perfect love. This sign
is the same as that which was seen in the Apostles after they
had received the Holy Ghost. They left the Cenacle and, freed
from all fear, they announced My word and preached the
doctrine of My only Son. Far from fearing suffering, they
gloried in it. . . .
“Those who passionately desire My honor and who hunger
for the salvation of souls hasten to the table of the holy cross.
Their only ambition is to suffer and to bear a thousand fa­
tigues for the service of their neighbor. . . . They bear in
their bodies the wounds of Christ, and the crucified love
which bums them bursts forth in the contempt they feel for
themselves, in the joy they experience in opprobrium, in the
welcome they give to the contradictions and the pains that I
grant them, wherever they may come from, and in whatever
manner I may send them. . . .
“They run ardently in the way of Christ crucified. They
follow His doctrine, and nothing can slacken their course,
neither injuries nor persecutions nor the pleasures which the
world offers them and would wish to give them. With un­
shakable fortitude they pass all this by, equipped as they are
with a perseverance which nothing can trouble, their hearts
transformed by charity, tasting and enjoying this nourishnating study or an interesting book; this is merely admiration called forth by
the discovery of truth. But in prayer the subjects are always practically the
same. How can one then persist for a time and habitually in this undertaking
without the grace of infused contemplation? Is a person not on the road to this
contemplation as soon as he wills to accept the purifications which lead to it?”
The substance of this letter seems to us the same as the doctrine of St. John
of the Cross, who holds that contemplation, properly so called, is infused. See
chap. 5, arts. 2-6.

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ment of the salvation of souls, ready to bear all things for
them. This is the incontestable proof that the soul loves God
perfectly and without any selfish motive. ... If the perfect
love each other, it is for My sake. If they love their neighbor,
it is for Me, in order to give honor and glory to My name.
That is why suffering always finds them strong and persever­
ing. ... In the midst of injuries, patience shines forth and
proclaims its royalty.
“To these souls I give the grace of a consciousness of My
continual presence,18 while to others I give it from time to
time; not that I withdraw My grace from them, but rather
the feeling of My presence. . . . These souls are plunged into
the burning flames of My charity, purified of everything that
is not I, stripped of all self-will and consumed with love of
Me. Who then could withdraw them from Me and from My
grace? . . . They always experience My divine presence in
them, and I never deprive them of this feeling. . . . More­
over, their bodies are frequently raised from the earth by rea­
son of this perfect union. . . . The body remains, as it were,
motionless, broken by the love of the soul to such an extent
that it would die, did not My goodness gird it with strength.
. . . Furthermore, I interrupt tliis union for a time in order
to permit the soul to remain united to the body. St. Paul
complained of this body to which he was enslaved, because it
hindered him from the immediate enjoyment of My divinity.
He groaned because he was among mortals who continually
offend Me, because he was deprived of the sight of Me, de­
prived of seeing Me in My essence.” 19
The sober, theological language of St. Thomas Aquinas is
no less sublime when he treats of the question: “Whether any­
one can be perfect in this life.”
“The divine law,” he answers, “does not prescribe the im18 These words clearly indicate the mystical union, and even the perfect mys­
tical union.
re St. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue, chaps. 74, 78, 79, passim.

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possible. Yet it prescribes perfection, according to Matt. 5: 48,
‘Be you . . . perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.’
“The perfection of the Christian life consists in charity.
Now, perfection implies a certain universality because the
perfect is that which lacks nothing. Hence we may consider a
threefold perfection. . . . Absolute perfection consists in lov­
ing God as much as He is lovable. Such perfection as this is
not possible to any creature; for God alone can love Himself
in this way, that is to say, infinitely. Another perfection con­
sists in loving God to the extent of our power, so that our love
always actually tends to God. Such perfection as this is not
possible in this life, but we shall have it in heaven. Finally,
there is a third perfection which consists in loving God not
as much as He is lovable, nor in always actually tending to
Him, but to the exclusion of whatever is opposed to the love
of Him. ‘The poison which kills charity,’ says St. Augustine,
‘is cupidity or covetousness. When this is destroyed, perfection
exists.’ On earth this perfection can exist, and that in two
ways. Man may exclude from his affection all that is contrary
to charity, and which would destroy it, such as mortal sin.
This is necessary to salvation. Secondly, man may exclude
from his affection not only what is contrary to charity, but also
whatever hinders his love from being directed completely
toward God. Without this perfection, charity can exist, for
instance, in beginners and in proficients.” 20
It is this last perfection which is peculiar to the perfect.
They still commit venial sins through frailty or surprise, but
they avoid deliberate venial sin and also slight, conscious, and
voluntary imperfections. They are very faithful to the in­
spirations of the Holy Ghost, whether these inspirations re­
mind them of a duty, even though quite unimportant, or of
a simple counsel.21 Moreover, instead of being content to
make acts of charity which are comparatively weak for the
20 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.184, a.2.
Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a.2.

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degree of supernatural life to which they have attained (actus
remissi), the perfect frequently make acts which are at least as
intense as their degree of charity. By these acts they merit an
immediate and notable increase of this virtue.22 Having ten
talents, they take good care not to act as if they had only two.
Moreover, they receive communion with great fervor of will;
they hunger for the Eucharist.23 Ever tending toward great
things by reason of the virtue of magnanimity,24 they show a
profound humility in their confessions, as also in their whole
life, and, in their own opinion, they are the least of men.28
They are meek and humble of heart, as well as firm and
strong. In them “prudence scorns the things of the world for
the contemplation of divine things; it directs all the efforts
of their souls toward God. Temperance abandons, in so far
as nature can bear it, whatever the body demands. Fortitude
prevents the soul from becoming frightened in the face of
death and the supernatural. Finally, justice leads the soul to
enter fully on this wholly divine way.” 28 Higher still, accord­
ing to St. Thomas, are the virtues of the soul that has been
completely purified. They are those of the great saints in this
life, and of the blessed in heaven.
In the perfect, the prayer of desire is almost continuous.
They understand our Lord’s saying that we must pray always.
Their faith has become loving contemplation; 27 their hope,
invincible confidence.28
St. Thomas states that, "while beginners strive above all to
flee sin, to resist the movements of concupiscence . . . and
proficients direct their principal efforts toward advancing in
the practice of charity and of the other virtues, . . . the per­
fect tend, above all, to unite themselves with God, to adhere
22 Summa, Ha Ilae, q.24, a.6.
23 Summa, Illa. q.8o, a. 10.
2< Summa, Ila Ilae, q.129, a.3 ad 411m.
«Summa, Ila Ilae, q.161, a.6, On the Degrees of Humility.
2« Summa, la Ilae, q.61. a.5.
2r Summa, Ila Ilae. q.8, a.4. 7; q.45: q. 180, a.6.
28 Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 18. a.4; q.129, a·6·

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to Him, to enjoy Him. They desire to die in order to be with
Christ.” 20
We find that St. Thomas expresses a no less sublime idea of
what the love of one’s neighbor should be in the perfect:
“There are, likewise, three degrees in charity toward one’s
neighbor. In the first degree, our charity, without excluding
anyone, extends positively only to our friends and to those
who are known to us. Then it wishes well to strangers and
does good to them, and finally, to our enemies. The last, says
St. Augustine, is characteristic of the perfect.
“This progress in the extension of charity is accompanied
by like progress in the intensity of this virtue. This growing
intensity displays itself in the things which a man despises for
the sake of his neighbor. He finally reaches a point where he
despises not only exterior goods, but bodily afflictions and
ultimately death itself, according to our Lord’s expression,
‘greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his
life for his friends.’ Last of all, the progress of fraternal charity
is manifested by its effects, so that a man will surrender for
his neighbor not only his temporal but also his spiritual goods,
and even himself, according to the words of St. Paul: ‘But I
most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls;
although loving you more, I be loved less.’ ” 10 St. Bonaven­
ture teaches the same doctrine.81
St. Thomas teaches that to these three degrees of charity
correspond three degrees in the moral virtues,82 and also in
the gifts and in contemplation.38 A more sublime idea of
Christian perfection can hardly be conceived. This conception
2» Summa, Ila Ilae, q.24, a.g.
00 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.184, a.2 ad gum.
si St. Bonaventure, De gradibus virtutum, chap. 1 ; De triplici via vel incen­
dium amoris.
‘■Summa, la Ilae, q.61, a.5. Manifestly the perfection of the virtues of the
purified soul, described by St. Thomas, belongs to the mystical order.
ss Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 180, a.6. Dionysius the Carthusian, De donis, tr. II,
a. 15, has well described these three degrees of the gifts; the third certainly be­
longs to the mystical order.

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excludes everything that would hinder the soul from belong­
ing completely to God. To adhere to Him, to aspire eagerly
to the beatific vision, to love effectively and in particular even
our enemies, to scorn death for the glory of God and for tire
salvation of souls, such is the perfect age of the spiritual life.
An examination of the early doctors, who first spoke of the
three ways (the purgative, the illuminative, and the unitive)
and of the corresponding degrees of charity, shows that they
used these terms in a broad sense, which has been preserved
by St. John of the Cross, and not in the narrow acceptation
of these terms, which has become current among several mod­
ern writers on asceticism. Evidently the distinction of the three
ways owes its origin to the doctrine of Christian contemplation
as formulated by St. Augustine and Dionysius. Pourrat recog­
nizes this fact in his recent work, La spiritualité chrétienne,*1
when he says: “The doctrine of the three stages, the purgative,
the illuminative, and the unitive, . . . was gradually gen­
eralized and applied to the ordinary Christian life”; that is,
in the course of time these expressions were often used in a
diminished sense. At the beginning they were understood in
their loftiest acceptation, which did not designate something
extraordinary in itself, or something miraculous, but some­
thing of eminent degree, the perfect order, or the full de­
velopment of the supernatural life here below.
Dionysius often speaks of these three ways, especially
throughout chapter five of his book, The Ecclesiastical Hier­
archy. “God,” he says, “first purifies the souls in which He
dwells, then He illumines them, and finally leads them to
divine union. ... In the same way, in the Church the power
of purifying belongs to the diaconate, . . . the power of illu­
minating, to the priesthood, and that of perfecting, to the
episcopate.” ss St. Thomas later repeats this doctrine and
makes it his own.”
84 P. 349, no. 1.
” Ibid., no. 7.
” See IV Sent., d.4, q. 1, a.i, q.3, and II Sent., d.g, q. 1, a.s, c. and ad 8um-

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

In his Mystical Theology 31*Dionysius shows more explicitly
what he understands by these words, which he uses so fre­
quently: “As for thee, O well beloved Timothy, in thy desire
to reach mystical contemplation strive without wearying to
detach thyself both from the senses and from the operations of
the understanding, from all that is sensible and intellectual,
and from all that is or is not, in order to raise thyself by un­
knowing, as much as it is possible to do so, to union with Him,
who is above all being and all knowledge; that is to say, to
raise thyself by detachment from self and from all things,
stripped of all and untrammeled, to that supernatural, transluminous way of the divine darkness.” This is exactly the same
doctrine and the terms are the same as those which in a later
age St. John of the Cross often used.
St. Augustine employs tire same language when he discusses
contemplation in the Confessions,3637
*in the Soliloq*uies,33 in
De beata vita, and in De quantitate animae.40 In particular
in this last named work,41 when he is describing the various
degrees of the life of the soul, after considering the vegetative,
the sensitive, and the intellectual life, or the knowledge of
This entire article, which is entitled "Whether one angel purifies another,”
should be read to see how exactly St. Thomas, following Dionysius, takes the
words purgation, illumination, and union. Cf. also the general index of the
works of St. Thomas, called Tabula aurea, under the heading Illustratio. An
idea of what he understands by the illuminative life can be obtained by read­
ing what he says of the gift of understanding, III Sent., d.34, q. 1, a. 1, c: "The
gift of understanding, as Gregory says, illumines the mind in regard to things
that are heard, so that man, even in this life, receives a foretaste of the future
manifestation." This illumination of the gift of understanding gives us a fore­
taste of the beatific vision.
37 Chap. 1, no. 1.
88 Bk. IX, chap. to.
88 Bk. I, chaps. 1, 12, 13.
<0 These works are found in Migne, PL, Vol. XXXII. Pourrat has clearly
brought out these texts in La spiritualité chrétienne, pp. 332-44. Their mean­
ing would be clearer, in our opinion, if they were more closely related to those
quoted in the preceding chapter of the same work, which is entitled “The
Spiritual Doctrine of St. Augustine.” St. Augustine's mysticism is certainly not
separated from his spiritual doctrine. We do not see why Pourrat has dealt
with them separately in two distinct chapters.
De quantitate animae, Bk. 1, chap. 33.

MYSTICISM AND CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

ITS
the sciences, he studies the degrees of the spiritual life: (1) The
struggle against sin, the very difficult work of purification, dur­
ing which entire confidence must be placed in God. This puri­
fication, he says, leads to true virtue, which shows all the
grandeur of the soul, its incomparable superiority over the
world of bodies. (2) The entrance into the light, which is pos­
sible only to those who are purified, for infirm eyes cannot en­
dure the light which a pure and healthy eye desires. (3) Con­
templation and divine union, which permit us to enjoy the
sovereign good: “How shall I describe the joys and the fore­
tastes of eternal serenity which the soul experiences in the in­
tellectual vision and the contemplation of truth? Some great
and incomparable souls have related these marvels. . . . We
know that they have seen them and still see them.” 42
St. Augustine describes this contemplation in the Confes­
sions 48 when he relates his meeting with his mother at Ostia.
In the following phrases he indicates his conception of the
contemplative state: “He who would silence in himself the
tumult of the flesh, who would close his eyes to the spectacles
offered by the earth, the waters, the air, and the firmament,
who would impose silence on his very soul, suppressing self,
. . . he who would no longer hear these creatures . . . and
to whom God alone would speak directly ... in an entirely
spiritual manner. . . . Were this rapture to continue and
this contemplation alone to absorb him who would enjoy it,
. . . would not this state of things be the fulfilment of the
expression found in the Gospel: ‘Enter thou into the joy of
the Lord’?” 44
It is not surprising that, to reach such contemplation and
divine union, the full purification, spoken of by St. John of
the Cross, is necessary. St. Augustine himself insists upon it,
and it would be an error to separate his asceticism from his
«2 Ibid.
<3 Bk. IX, chap. 10.
** Certainly he is speaking here of infused and, indeed, of lofty contemplation.

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mysticism. The first leads to the second, as adolescence does
to maturity. The three ways that he speaks of, in terms quite
similar to those used by later great masters, correspond to the
three degrees of charity which he mentions elsewhere, that of
beginners, of proficients, and of the perfect.45
According to St. Augustine, a soul must, in fact, possess
great charity to be numbered even among the proficients. We
may say that a Christian is not of that number until he has
undergone the trial of criticism and contradiction on the part
of people who cannot bear to have anyone surpass them in
virtue.·"1 The perfect charity, which St. Augustine speaks of
in The Canticle of the Degrees 47 and in the Confessions,48
presupposes that one is ready to die for his brethren, and can­
not be conceived as existing without that intimate and pene­
trating knowledge of God which is mystical contemplation.
The gift of wisdom grows with charity; the supernatural or­
ganism of grace, of the virtues, and of the gifts develops at the
same time.
Therefore we conclude that St. John of the Cross, in his
description of the three ways (the purgative, the illuminative,
and the unitive) and in his account of the three corresponding
degrees of charity, agrees perfectly with St. Augustine, Diony­
sius, St. Thomas Aquinas, and also with St. Bernard, St. Bona­
venture, and the true disciples of these great masters. He
clarifies their teaching on several points, but he does not alter
it. His lofty conception of the illuminative and unitive ways
<5 Cf. St. Augustine, De natura et gratia, chap. 70, nos. 82, 84. Commentary
on the First Canonical Epistle of John (Tract. V, 4) "As soon as charity is born
it takes food . . . , after taking food, it waxes strong . . . and when it has be­
come strong it is perfected. ... If a man be ready even to die for his brethren,
charity is perfect in him." St. Thomas quotes this classic text in Ila Ilae, q.24·
a.<j, sed c.
« Enarr. in psalm., CXIX, no. 3. See Pourrat, La spiritualité chrétienne, p.
S'8·
Enarr. in psalm., LXXXIII, no. 10.
<» Confessions, XIII. 8.

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175

is therefore entirely traditional. He does more than depict
them in an inferior or embryonic form, as do several modern
writers on asceticism. He shows them to us in their plenitude;
thus considered, they belong to the mystical order.
In company with this great master, who is the faithful
echo of tradition, we must hold that the full perfection of
charity in this life cannot exist without mystical contempla­
tion, without the full development of the gifts of understand­
ing and of wisdom, which grow with charity. The entire
supernatural organism should develop at the same time. This
development is not anything extraordinary in itself; it is the
full harmony, the perfect order, of the life of grace which has
attained here on earth the summit of its normal development.
This grace, called by St. Thomas “the grace of the virtues and
of the gifts,” 48 is entirely distinct, as we have seen, from the
graces gratis datae, such as prophecy or the gift of miracles.50
This is what makes St. John of the Cross exclaim: “O souls
created for such glories, and called to them, of what are you
thinking? With what are you occupied? How mediocre are
your aspirations, and how wretched your pretended good!
How sad is the blindness of your soul! You are blind to the
most dazzling light and deaf to the powerful voices which
solicit you. By allowing yourselves to be led on by what you
consider happiness and glory, you do not see that you remain
plunged in your wretchedness and your mediocrity, and you
render yourselves ignorant and unworthy of the treasures
destined for you.” 81
All should say with tire psalmist: “As the hart panteth after
the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after Thee, O God.
My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall
I come and appear before the face of God?” 52
♦» Summa, Ilia, q.62, a.2.
•0 St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.111, a.5.
si The Spiritual Canticle, IV, st. 39.
« Ps. 41: $.

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RELATIVE PERFECTION. HEROISM AND SANCTITY

Mystical theologians 1,3 have remarked that even among the
perfect we should distinguish between those who are begin­
ning to live a perfect life, those who are making progress in
this life by heroism of virtue, and those who reach full per­
fection or sanctity.
Immediately after the passive purification of the senses, the
soul already possesses a relative perfection. It generally avoids
deliberate venial sins and enjoys a very calm and loving con­
templation of God,54 described by St. Teresa in the fourth and
fifth mansions. But it still has many imperfections to remove.
Especially during the passive purifications of the spirit and
their concomitant trials, heroic virtues, particularly those of
faith, hope, and charity, are practiced, as St. John of the Cross
shows,55 and as St. Teresa describes them at the beginning of
the sixth mansion.
Finally, when the soul has passed through and beyond the
passive purifications of the spirit, it reaches the full perfection
of the interior life, described by St. John of the Cross in The
Living Flame and in the third part of The Spiritual Canticle;
by St. Teresa in the seventh mansion; and by St. Bernard in
the higher of the ten degrees of charity which he enumerates.55
Because of this distinction made even among the perfect, we
have in this present work, as a rule, purposely spoken of the
full perfection of Christian life, and not only of that lesser,
relative perfection discussed in several works on asceticism
which do not deal with the mystical life, properly so called.
Is not this full perfection truly the summit of the normal
53 Notably Joseph of the Holy Ghost, in his Cursus theol. scolastico-mysticae,
in which he considers the perfect according to the teaching of St. John of the
Cross.
»·> Cf. St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 1.
»» Ibid.
68 St. John of the Cross explains them: The Dark Night of the Soul (Bk. II,
chap. 20), following a short work attributed to St. Thomas.

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177

development of the life of grace? The word “normal” should
not make us forget the word “summit,” and vice versa. To
understand it clearly, we must remember that Christian life
requires of all souls heroism of virtue (according to the prep­
aration of the mind); that is, in the sense that every Christian
must be ready, with the help of the Holy Ghost, to accomplish
heroic acts when circumstances require them. Martyrdom in
certain cases is of precept and not only of counsel, for we
must all prefer torments and death to abjuration, and we
must love God more than life. Otherwise how should we be
conformed to Christ crucified and sealed with His counte­
nance? 57 Christians who habitually fulfil their duties must
hope that, if they ask with humility, trust, and perseverance,
the Holy Ghost will giant them the strength to remain faith­
ful even in torture, should they have to undergo such a
trial. Our Lord told His disciples not to fear those who kill
the body, and He assured them that the Holy Ghost would
inspire them on occasion with what they should say. Consider­
ing the matter from a purely human point of view, should we
not say that every citizen ought to be ready, if necessary, to
die heroically in defense of his country?
Moreover, every Christian ought to prefer the supernatural
good, the salvation of his neighbor, to his own natural good.
Charity counsels him to assist, even at the risk of his life, a
soul in extreme spiritual need. This obligation is stricter for
a priest who has charge of souls and for a bishop in regard to
his flock. Although the latter is not obliged to have the virtues
in a heroic degree, he must be ready, if the occasion arises, to
give his life for the faithful of his diocese.
Therefore it must be conceded that Christian charity should
in its daily progress tend normally to the heroic degree, which
permits the prompt and even joyful performance of most
st On this point, cf. St. Thomas on the question of martyrdom, Ila Hae,
q.124, a.i ad jum.

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difficult acts for God and our neighbor. Every soul that has
undergone the passive purifications of the spirit feels strongly
inclined to this heroic degree of charity.
These purifications lead finally to true sanctity, which is
perfect purity, immutable union with God,08 and also the in­
timate harmony of all the virtues, even of those which to all
appearances are most opposed: the perfect accord of great
fortitude and unalterable meekness, of rigorous justice and
tender mercy, of the loftiest and simplest wisdom with allembracing prudence. This is truly sanctity before God, al­
though it may not always be manifested by definite signs to
the Church. Only in this sanctity is found the full perfection
of Christian life, a perfection truly superior to the relative
perfection which is mentioned by several authors on asceti­
cism and which is only the entrance into the way of the perfect.
Evidently we are speaking not merely of the essence of per­
fection, but of its normal integrity; as, for example, to have
good eyes belongs, if not to the essence of the human body, at
least to its integrity. Similarly, as will become more and more
evident, infused contemplation belongs, if not to the essence
of Christian perfection, at least to its integrity. This contem­
plation, very manifest in the perfect who are more fitted to
the contemplative life, is diffuse in the other perfect in whom
dominate especially the gifts of the Holy Ghost which relate to
action—the gifts of fear, fortitude, counsel, and knowledge,
united to the gift of piety, under a less visible influence of the
gifts of wisdom and of understanding.09

ARTICLE V

Perfection and the Precept of the Love of God
A. IS THE FIRST PRECEPT WITHOUT LIMIT?

The twofold precept of love is strictly formulated in the
os Summa, Ha Ilae, q.81, a.8.
»» Cf. infra, chap. 5, art. 6.

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179

Gospel of St. Luke: 1 “Thou 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: and thy neighbor as thyself.”
After weighing the meaning of each of these terms and con­
sidering the insistence with which the word “all” is repeated,
we might ask with St. Thomas whether the precept of the love
of God has a limit; and, if it has, whether it follows that be­
yond this limit there is only a counsel of charity in which per­
fection would consist.
Some have drought so and have insisted that even to observe
this precept perfectly, we need not possess a high degree of
charity. Higher perfection, which suppresses deliberate venial
sin and voluntary imperfections, is only of counsel. It is not
included under the precept, but goes beyond it. Perfection
would thus consist especially in the accomplishment of certain
counsels of charity, superior to the first precept itself.2
This may seem true if we consider matters superficially. In
1 Luke 10: 27.
2 This opinion is expressed by Suarez, De statu perfectionis, chap, 11, nos. 15,
16. He admits that St. Thomas and before him St. Augustine seem to teach
clearly that the perfection of Christian life is not only counseled, but com­
manded, by the first precept, as an end toward which one must tend. But he
himself replies in the negative: "Respondeo nihilominus, si proprie et in rigore
loquamur, perfectionem supererogationis non solum non praecipi, ut materiam
in quam obligatio praecepti cadat, verum etiam neque per modum finis in
praeceptis contineri.” Thus he admits above the precept of the love of God,
which in his opinion is limited, counsels of charity superior to those of poverty,
chastity, and obedience. Perfection, according to him, consists essentially in
these counsels of charity, instrumentally in the other three. Cf. ibid., no. 16.
This doctrine of Suarez is criticized at length by the great canonist Passerini,
O.P., who was a profound theologian and most faithful to St. Thomas. Cf. his
De hominum statibus et officiis, on Ha Hae, q.184, a.3, p. 50, no. 70, and p. 57,
no. 106, where he shows that this doctrine of Suarez is opposed to that of St.
Augustine and of St. Thomas, which was accepted by St. Antoninus, Cajetan,
and Valentia. This will be easily understood by reading the article quoted from
the Summa theologica, which we are going to translate. We will then, in a foot­
note, briefly answer the objections of Suarez.
St. Thomas has also occasionally (e. g., In Ep. ad Phil., chap. 3, lect. 2) used
the expression "perfection of supererogation," but in a different sense from
that in which Suarez uses it. Cf. G. Barthier, O.P., Perfection chrétienne et per­
fection religieuse, I, 22g. When St. Thomas uses this phrase, he simply means
that the three counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience are not obligatory.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

stating the problem, St. Thomas carefully notes it in his ob­
jection: “All are obliged to observe the precepts in order to
obtain salvation. If, therefore, the perfection of Christian life
consisted in the precepts, it would follow that perfection
would be necessary to salvation and that all would be obliged
thereto, which is false.” s This is a specious objection. As we
shall see, St. Thomas solves it by showing, as St. Augustine
does, the grandeur of the precept of the love of God, which is
superior to all the counsels. It is surprising to find that mod­
em theologians, and not the least among them, as a result of
their failure to comprehend the doctrine of the greatest mas­
ters on this fundamental point of spirituality, have turned
this objection into a thesis.
Instead of being content with appearances and the material
side of things, we will consider the deep meaning and extent
of the precept. As a basis for this discussion, we will follow as
exactly as possible the text of a little known article of St.
Thomas, “Whether perfection consists in the observance of
the commandments or of the counsels." 4
“It is written in Deuteronomy: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with thy whole heart,’5 and in Leviticus: ‘Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself.’e Our Lord adds: On these two
commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.’7
Now the perfection of charity, according to which Christian
life is perfect, consists precisely in this, that we love God with
all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves. It would seem,
therefore, that perfection consists in the fulfilment of the pre­
cepts. To understand it clearly, it must be observed that per­
fection consists necessarily and essentially in one thing,
secondarily and accidentally in another.
> Summa, Ila Hae, q.184, a.3 ad 211m: “Whether perfection consists in the
observance of the precepts or of the counsels.”
« Summa, Ila Ilae, q.184, a-36 Deut. 6: 5.
• Lev. 19: 18.
’ Matt. 22: 40.

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181

“Necessarily and essentially, the perfection of Christian life
consists in charity; primarily in the love of God, and seconda­
rily in the love of our neighbor. This charity is the object of
the two chief precepts of the divine law. Now it would be a
mistake to imagine that the love of God and of our neighbor
is the object of a law only according to a certain measure, that
is to say, up to a certain degree, after which it would become
the object of a simple counsel. No, the message of the com­
mandment is clear and shows what perfection is: ‘Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart.’ The two expres­
sions all and entire or perfect are synonymous. Similarly, it
is said: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’; and each
one loves himself, so to speak, without limit (maxime).8 This
is so, because, according to the teaching of the Apostle, ‘The
end of the commandment is charity.’8 Now, the end does not
present itself to the will in a fragmentary manner, but in its
totality. In this it differs from the means. Either one wishes it
or one does not wish it. One does not wish it by halves, as
Aristotle observes.10 Does a doctor seek only half the cure of a
sick person? Obviously no. What he measures is the medicine,
but not health, which he wishes without measure. Manifestly,
therefore, perfection consists essentially in the precepts. More­
over, St. Augustine says, in his book De perfectione justitiae:
‘Why, therefore, should this perfection not be prescribed to
man, although he cannot have it (fully) in this life?’ ” 11
This is so much the more true because the end in question
is not an intermediary end, such as health, but the ultimate
end, God Himself, who is infinite good. St. Thomas says: “We
sin this sense, that everyone ought by charity to wish for himself salvation,
eternal life, and not only an inferior degree of glory, but eternal life without
fixing any limit; for we do not know to what degree of glory God wishes to raise
us.
s See I Tim. i: 5.
10 See I Polit., chap. 3.
11 See Ila Ilae, q.184, a-3· St. Augustine means that even the perfection of
heaven falls under the precept of the love of God, not as something to be real­
ized immediately, but as the end toward which one must tend. It is thus that
Cajetan explains it (commentary on Ila Ilae, q.184, a-3)·

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

can never love God as much as He ought to be loved, nor be­
lieve and hope in Him as much as we should.” 12 Moreover,
the theological virtues differ from the moral virtues in that
they do not essentially consist in a happy mean. Their object,
their formal motive, their essential measure, is God Himself,
His infinite truth and goodness. If, from one point of view,
these supreme virtues are a happy mean,18 it is accidental and
on the part of the human subject, not of the divine object. For
example, the proficient can and should love God more than
the beginner, yet without being able to love Him as the per­
fect do, or as the blessed in heaven.14
Finally, another reason why the precept of love has no limit
is that our charity ought always to grow even until death, for
we are travelers on the road to eternity. The way to eternity
is not made to be used as a place of rest and sleep, but rather to
be traveled. The lazy are those who rest along the road in­
stead of pushing on to their goal. The traveler who has not yet
reached the fixed term of his pilgrimage is commanded and
not only counseled to advance, just as the child must grow ac­
cording to the law of nature until he has reached maturity.
Now, when it is a question of walking toward God, it is not
12 Summa, la Ilae, q.64, a.4: Whether the theological virtues observe the
mean.
« For example, faith between infidelity and credulity; and hope between
presumption and despair.
1« Likewise, from this secondary and accidental point of view, on the part of
man, and not of God, hope is found between despair and presumption. The
presumptuous man does not hope too much in God—that is impossible: but he
hopes for a good which exceeds his condition—for example, pardon without
true repentance. In the same way, credulity does not consist in believing too
much in God, but in believing as if revealed by Him, what is only invention or
human imagination (la Ilae, q.64, a.4). On the other hand, the moral virtue
which rules a passion ought essentially to constitute a happy mean between the
excess and the absence of this passion. Thus the virtue of fortitude is essentially
a rational, happy mean, between cowardice and temerity; a happy mean, more­
over, which, by reason of its rationality, stands out as a culminating point above
these irrational forms of human action. To forget, as Epicurus does, that the
rational, happy mean must thus be a summit, and to wish to make the essen­
tially theological virtues consist in a mean as the moral virtues do, is the pecu­
liarity of mediocrity or of tepidity, erected into a system under pretext of
moderation.

PRECEPT OF THE LOVE OF GOD

183

by the movement of our bodies that we advance, but rather by
the steps of love or charity, as St. Thomas says. Therefore we
ought daily in this way to draw nearer to God, without placing
a limit on the progress of our charity. We have no right to
say that we will love God so much and no more. Such a re­
striction of charity would fail to observe the first command­
ment, which is measureless: “Thou shall love the Lord thy
God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with
all thy strength, and with all thy mind.”
Does it follow that perfection in no way consists in the
evangelical counsels? In the passage we have quoted above,
St. Thomas replies: “Secondarily and instrumentally, how­
ever, perfection consists in the observance of the counsels; in
other words, they are only precious instruments to attain it.
In fact, all the counsels, like the commandments, are ordained
to charity, with one difference however. The commandments,
other than the two great precepts of love, are intended to re­
move whatever is contrary to charity, whatever might destroy
it; while the end of the counsels is to remove whatever hinders
or prevents the perfect exercise of charity without, however,
being opposed to it, as for example, marriage, the necessity of
being occupied with secular affairs, and things of this sort.
This is what St. Augustine teaches {Enchiridion, chap. 21):
Precepts . . . and counsels . . . are well observed when one
fulfils them in order to love God, and one’s neighbor for God,
in this world and in the next.’ ”
This is why Abbot Moses says: “Fasts, vigils, meditation on
Holy Scripture, nudity, and the privation of external goods,
are not perfections, but instruments or means of perfection.
It is not in them that perfection consists, but by them that one
attains it.” 10
This is what our Lord had in mind when Fie said to the rich
young man: “If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast,
and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:
·■· ‘"^tierences of the Fathers, Bk. 1. chao. 7.

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and come, follow Me.” 18 As St. Thomas observes (loc. cit.,
ad mm), by these words our Lord indicates, first of all, the
road which leads to perfection: “Go sell what thou hast, and
give to the poor”; then He adds in what this perfection con­
sists: “and follow Me,” in spirit through charity. As St. Am­
brose says,17 “He orders him to follow, not with the steps of the
body, but with devotion of the soul.” The counsels are, there­
fore, instruments or means to attain perfection, but they do
not constitute it essentially. Perfection is found in the fulfil­
ment of the supreme and limitless precept of the love of God
and of our neighbor.
Let us return to the difficulty pointed out at the beginning
of this article. The following objection is raised: “All are
bound to the observance of the commandments, since this is
necessary for salvation. Therefore, if the perfection of Chris­
tian life consists essentially in the commandments, it follows
that perfection is necessary for salvation and that all are
obliged to be perfect, which is manifestly false. Moreover, im­
perfect charity already observes the precepts. It seems, there­
fore, that perfect charity consists essentially in observing the
counsels.”
To these two difficulties St. Thomas {ibid., ad 2um and
gum), following St. Augustine, offers a profound reply show­
ing the sublimity of the precept of love, which only the saints
observe in its fulness: “As St. Augustine says in De perfectione
justitiae,18 the perfection of charity is prescribed to man in this
life because ‘one runs not in the right direction unless one
knows whither to run. And how shall we know this, if no
commandment declares it to us?’ But the matter of the pre­
cept (of love) can be fulfilled in different ways. Moreover, he
who does not fulfil it in the most perfect manner does not for
that reason transgress the precept. To avoid this transgression,
ie Matt. 19: 21.
it In Luc., 5: 27.
is Chap. 8.

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185

it is enough to fulfil the law of charity to a certain extent as
beginners do.
“The perfection of divine love falls entirely within the ob­
ject of the precept; even the perfection of heaven is not ex­
cluded from it, since it is the end toward which one must
tend, as St. Augustine says.19 But one avoids the transgression
of the precept by putting into practice a little love of God.
“Now, the lowest degree of the love of God consists in lov­
ing nothing more than God, or contrary to God, or equally
with God, and he who has not this degree of perfection nowise
fulfils the commandment. There is another degree of charity,
which cannot be realized in this life, and which consists in
loving God with all our strength, in such a way that our love
always tends actually toward Him. This perfection is possible
only in heaven, and therefore the fact that one does not yet
possess it, does not entail a transgression of the commandment.
And in like manner the fact that one has not attained the in­
termediate degrees of perfection, does not entail a transgres­
sion, provided only that one reaches the lowest degree.”
But evidently he who remains in this lowest degree does not
fulfil the supreme commandment in all its perfection. He does
not accomplish fully what the law of love demands: “Thou
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.”
It would, therefore, be a great illusion to think that only
imperfect charity is prescribed, and that the higher degrees of
this virtue are only of counsel. They fall under the precept, if
not as something to be realized immediately, at least as that
toward which we must tend, as tire Thomists say. Even the
charity of heaven is prescribed as the end toward which the
soul in this life must always strive and even run, as St. Paul
says,20 without losing the time granted to it. Purgatory is for
1» Ibid., and De Spiritu et littera, chap. 36.
20 See I Cor. g: 24: "Know you not that they that run in the race, all run in­
deed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain.”

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those who have not well enough employed their time of trial
on earth.21 This great doctrine seems subtle at first glance
merely because of the objection that might embarrass tire
mind. In reality, it is quite conformable to what common
sense in the natural order tells us. “Thus, in fact,” observes St.
Thomas,22 “man, even from birth, has a certain essential per­
fection by which he belongs to the human species, and is quite
superior to the animal; but he has not, as yet, the perfection
of maturity, the full development of the body and of the fac­
ulties of the soul. In like manner, there is a certain perfection
of charity which is none other than its very essence: to love
God above all things, and to love nothing contrary to Him.
But there is also, even in this life, another perfection of char­
ity which one attains only by spiritual progress, analogous to
natural growth. To reach this perfection, the Christian ab­
stains even from lawful things, so as to fulfil more freely his
duties toward God.”
The analogy is evident. To belong to the human race, it is
enough to be a child, but that is not sufficient to be a fully
developed man. Further, by virtue of a necessary law, a child
must grow under pain not of remaining a child but of be­
coming a deformed dwarf. Likewise it suffices to have a very
low degree of charity in order to avoid the transgression of
the precept of love, but that does not suffice for the perfect
fulfilment of this first precept, which is superior to all the
others and to all the counsels. Moreover, if the beginner does
si Cajetan (commentary on Ila Ilae, q.84, a.3) says on this subject: "The
perfection of charity is prescribed as an end. We must will to attain the com­
plete end; but precisely because it is an end, if we are to avoid failing in the
matter of the precepts, it suffices that we be in the state to attain this perfec­
tion some day, even though only in eternity. Whoever possesses even the weak­
est degree of charity, and thus makes progress heavenward, is in the way of
perfect charity, and thereby avoids the transgression of the commandment
which is necessary for salvation." But whoever dies in the state of grace without
having sufficiently utilized the time of life, will have to pass through purgatory
in order to be profoundly purified therein. There he will experience the ardent
desire for the vision of God.
Summa, Ila Ilae, q.184, a.4 ad 3um.

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not grow in charity, he will not remain a beginner, but will
become an abnormal creature and, as it were, a dwarf from
the spiritual point of view. For example, he has faith and
piety which are, so to speak, embryonic, coupled with a
highly developed literary, scientific, or professional culture.
The disproportion is evident; balance is altogether lacking.
Objections arise, disconcert the soul, and put it to rout. For
lack of development, the divine seed which is in the soul
runs the risk of dying, as we learn in the parable of the
sower.23 In the spiritual life these abnormal souls are certainly
not the true mystics and saints, but the retarded and the luke­
warm.
This point of doctrine is evidently of primary importance
in the spiritual life, but, strange to say, it is often misunder­
stood or at least forgotten. The perfection of charity is not
only counseled, it is prescribed as the end toward which every
Christian should tend, if not by the practice of the counsels,
at least by their spirit while continually growing in charity.
Pope Pius XI recalled this doctrine in his encyclical on the
spiritual doctrine of St. Francis de Sales. The rejection of this
doctrine is the suppression of the final cause in the question
we are considering.24
28 Matt. 13: 4-6: “And whilst he soweth some fell by the wayside, and the
birds of the air came and ate them up. And other some fell upon stony ground,
where they had not much earth; and they sprung up immediately, because they
had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched: and
because they had not root, they withered away.”
2* This truth has been clearly stated by Cardinal Mercier in his La vie in­
térieure, appel aux âmes sacerdotales (1919), p. 98. He draws this conclusion:
"We are all called to ascend the summits of perfection, to ascend from that spir­
itual condition in which the fear of losing charity is the ordinary and predom­
inating motive of conduct, to that state in which the soul more willingly allows
itself to be guided by the purpose of progress in virtue; to ascend even higher,
even to complete detachment from created things and to the spirit of union
with God alone for Himself alone. In regard to this ascent, there are in the
world, and at times among the clergy, sad and profound prejudices, which we
ought all to apply ourselves to extirpate. I repeat, everyone is called to the
fulness of evangelical perfection. . . . To all it is said: ‘Be ye therefore perfect
as also your heavenly Father is perfect’ (Matt. 5: 48). ‘To all the faithful,' says
the Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part II. De matrimonii sacramento,

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When a soul, after living for a long time in the state of mor­
tal sin, returns to God, it should do more than simply take
care not to fall again and avoid the occasions of evil; it should
ascend higher. The precept of love has no limit; it does not
stop at a certain degree, beyond which there is only a counsel,
but it commands us to grow continually in charity without
ever stopping. God, who is infinitely good, deserves to be loved
without measure, continually more and more “with all our
heart, and with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all
our mind.” Only the saints perfectly observe this great law,
which is the soul of Christian life.25
B. THREE CONSEQUENCES OF THE PRECEPT OF THE LOVE OF
GOD

Three important consequences result from this lofty doc­
trine of the precept of the love of God which teaches that the
first precept, superior to all the others and to all the counsels,
■pastors must recommend the perfect life . . . the source of the most complete
happiness that man can taste in this life.' The liturgy asks for all souls the
grace 'not to allow themselves to be tossed about by the fluctuations of the
world, but to keep their hearts fixed on Him who alone can render us truly
happy' " (prayer for the fourth Sunday after Easter).
2’ Perhaps some will object that the precept does not impose an act of charity
every minute, and therefore such an act of charity, not being obligatory, is only
a matter of counsel. Passerini answers correctly (op. cit., p. 50, no. 72) that this
act is not obligatory, as something to be fulfilled immediately, but it is obliga­
tory as an intermediary end toward which we must tend.
Some insist that we are not bound by precept to make each act of charity
more intense than the preceding one, for what falls under the precept is the
substance of the act and not its more or less perfect mode. This is of precept,
at least in so far as it is an end which we should try to attain, for man should
aspire to love God ever more and more. St. Thomas explains the matter (la Hae,
q. too, a. 10, ad 211m): “If he who honors his parents is obliged to honor them
by a motive of supernatural charity, this act does not spring from the particular
commandment, 'Honor thy father and thy mother,' but from the supreme com­
mandment, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord with thy whole heart.' ” Thus what falls
under the inferior precept is the substance of the act, but the mode of the act
is commanded by the supreme precept. Cf. Ha Ilae, q.44, a. 1 ad turn. In addi­
tion under the precept of charity falls the mode, which is expressed by the
words "with all thy heart" (Ila Ilae, q.44, a.4 ad mm), and also the order of
charity (ibid., a. 8).

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189

has no limit; that by it the perfection of the Christian life is
not only counseled, but commanded, to all; and that it is
commanded not as something to be realized immediately, but
rather as the end toward which everyone should tend accord­
ing to his condition.
Since the charity of a Christian should increase until death,
any halt in its development is in opposition to the law of the
love of God. This is the explanation of the expression used by
several fathers of the Church: “In the way of salvation, he
who does not advance, goes back.” If life does not ascend, it
descends. The soul cannot live without love. If it fails to make
progress in the love of God, it falls back into self-love. This is
the danger of imperfect acts (actus remissi, as the theologians
say) which proceed from charity, but are inferior in intensity
to our degree of that virtue.
Three points are to be noted in regard to these acts: (1)
These acts are still meritorious but, according to St. Thomas
and the best theologians, they do not immediately obtain an
increase of charity. They will obtain it only when we make a
more fervent act, equal or superior to the degree of our vir­
tue; just as in the natural order a virtuous friendship grows
only through more generous acts.26 (2) Acts of charity rela­
tively too feeble for our degree of virtue show even a deficit,
in this sense that the soul ought always to progress instead of
remaining stationary; just as a child ought always to grow in
order not to be stunted. (3) Lastly, these acts dispose us to
positive retrogression, for by reason of their weakness they per­
mit the rebirth of disordered inclinations, which lead to venial
sin, and may end by overcoming us or leading us to spiritual
death. Does the virtue of charity thus directly diminish? Not
directly in itself; but its radiation, its influence, become weak­
ened as a result of the obstacles that gradually accumulate
28 Cf. St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.24, a.6 ad turn: ibid., ad sum; also la Ilae,
q.114. a.8 ad gum. On this point, consult also the commentators of St. Thomas,
Trad on charity.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

about it, as the light of a lantern which, while keeping its in­
tensity, sheds less and less light in proportion as its chimney
becomes dimmed and soiled with the splashing mud of the
road.27
In the same way, a retarded soul falls back like an intelli­
gent man who ceases to apply his mind to study. If, possessing
five talents, he acts as though he had only two or even four, he
does not sufficiently increase the treasure entrusted to him.
He is thereby guilty of negligence and spiritual laziness, that
hinder him from perfectly observing the precept of love,
the fundamental law of Christian life. From all this, we see
that a meritorious act which is too weak is an imperfection
disposing to venial sin, as the latter disposes to mortal sin.
The proficient who is satisfied to act like a beginner ceases
to make progress and becomes a retarded soul. People do not
give sufficient thought to the fact that the number of these
souls is considerable. Many indeed think of developing their
intellect, of expanding their knowledge, their exterior activ­
ity or that of the group to which they belong (in which there
may be not a little selfishness), and yet scarcely think of
growing in supernatural charity, which ought to have first
place in us, and ought to inspire and vivify our entire life,
and associate us intimately with the great life of the Church
and that of Christ. And many retarded souls end by be­
coming lukewarm, cowardly, and careless, especially when
their natural bent is toward skepticism and raillery. In the
ar Theologians commonly teach, with St. Thomas (Ila Ilae, q.24, a. 10), that
the virtue of charity, although it may be lost by mortal sin, does not directly
diminish in itself by venial sin, or by the cessation of acts. Venial sin is, in fact,
a disorder that has to do with the means, without affecting the final end, which
is the object of charity. And as this virtue is infused, and not acquired by the
repetition of acts, it is not directly increased by them, nor diminished by their
cessation.
But this inactivity and venial sins indirectly diminish charity because they
hinder its application or influence and permit the formation of bad habits,
which are obstacles to the radiation of charity. These obstacles deserve a lessen­
ing of God’s actual, special graces, and they dispose finally to mortal sin.

PRECEPT OF THE LOVE OF GOD

19i

end they may become hardened and, as a result, it is often
more difficult to bring them back to a fervent life than to
bring about the conversion of a great sinner.28
Certain modern writers do not devote enough thought to
the considerable number of retarded souls that are in the socalled category of proficients. They then describe the illumina­
tive way by being too easily satisfied with showing what it is
rather generally in fact, that is, notably inferior to infused
contemplation, which thus appears as an extraordinary grace.
St. John of the Cross, who follows the teaching of the greatest
masters, has, on the contrary, shown what it ought to be if it
is to correspond fully to its great name. Considering the matter
from this higher point of view, we are not surprised that he
makes the illuminative way (that of proficients) begin with
the passive night of the senses or the beginning of infused
contemplation, which then appears in the normal develop­
ment of the interior life.29
This first consequence of the precept of the love of God—
he who does not advance, falls back—shows that the progress
of charity ought to be continual. It thus opens up great per­
spectives.
A second result of the precept of the love of God is that
every Christian, each according to his condition, must strive
for the perfection of charity. For each and every one it is a
general obligation, and is not reserved to religious and clerics.
Because of his vows, a religious must tend to perfection by
28 For a discussion of retarded and lukewarm souls, cf. Saudreau, Degrés de
la vie spirituelle, 5th ed., I, 46, 49.
20 "Souls begin to enter this dark night (passive) when God Himself frees
them little by little from the state of beginners, that division of the spiritual life
in which one meditates, and introduces them into the state of proficients, which
is that of contemplatives. They must pass through this way in order to become
perfect, in other words, to attain the divine union of the soul with God" (The
Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 1). "The soul has therefore gone forth; it
has begun to penetrate into the way of the spirit, followed by the proficients
and the advanced. This way is also called the illuminative way, or the way of
infused contemplation" (ibid., chap. 14).

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practicing the counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience,
and by keeping the rule of his order. This special obligation
places him in the state of perfection without at once making
him perfect. It is identical with that of the observance of the
vows,80 the transgression of which in a grave matter is a mortal
sin. In the way of progress, as marked out for him by his rule,
the religious can never set a limit. He must always aspire to
greater perfection.
Although a secular priest is not in the state of perfection,
nevertheless he must tend to perfection on account of the holy
orders he has received. Even if he has not the care of souls, he
is obliged to a greater inward holiness than that required of
a religious who is not a priest. “By holy orders,” says St.
Thomas, “a man is appointed to the most august ministry of
serving Christ Himself in the sacrament of the altar. This
requires a greater inward holiness than that which is required
for the religious state.” 81
The ordinary Christian must strive for the perfection of
charity according to the general obligation of the first com­
mandment. How shall he do this? By avoiding mortal and
venial sin, by having the spirit of the counsels, without bind­
ing himself to practice those which do not correspond to his
ao Cf. Salamanticences, Theol. moralis, Vol. IV, "De statu religioso.”
si St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.184, a.8. "A man must possess inward perfection in
order to exercise worthily the acts of the priesthood” (ibid., a.6). In a.8: “If one
compares the religious priest who has care of souls with the secular priest who
also has care of souls, they are equal in order and office or function, but the
first is superior to the second in his state of life, since he is in a state of perfec­
tion. If the religious priest has not care of souls, he is more excellent than the
secular priest in state, less excellent in office, and equal in order” (ibid., a.8).
The holy doctor adds that the goodness or perfection of the religious state, in
which one pledges one’s whole life, is more excellent than that of the office of
parish priest, which does not bind for life. As to the difficulty of persevering in
good, it is greater for the priest who lives in the world because of the obstacles
to be found there. In the religious life there is another difficulty, that which
comes from the dignity of the work to be accomplished, the practice of obe­
dience, of poverty, and the austerity of observances. Now, this second difficulty
increases merit, which is not always true of the difficulty springing from exte­
rior obstacles, for it may be that one does not love virtue sufficiently to put
away these obstacles and leave secular life. Cf. ibid., ad 6um.

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193

condition, and by thus growing in charity until death.82 If a
Christian follows this way generously, he will be called not
only in a remote manner, but in a proximate and even effi­
cacious manner, to a very high perfection, to which he can at­
tain though married. All ought, therefore, to grow in charity,
each according to his state in life, whether it be that of a
simple layman, a secular priest, or a religious; in other words,
each according to his condition, whether it be that of be­
ginner, proficient, or perfect.83 It was with this meaning that
our Lord said to all: “Be you therefore perfect, as also your
heavenly Father is perfect.” 84 This call is not merely to the
perfection of the angels, but to that of God Himself, since we
have received a participation not only in the angelic nature
but in the divine nature, and since this participation, sanctify­
ing grace, is the beginning of eternal life, that will develop
into glory in which we shall see God as He sees Himself, and
love Him as He loves Himself.
In the same sense, St. Peter wrote for all the faithful: “As
newborn babes, desire the rational milk without guile, that
thereby you may grow unto salvation; if so be you have tasted
that the Lord is sweet. Unto whom coming, as to a living
stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen and made honor­
able by God: be you also as living stones built up, a spiritual
house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, ac­
ceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 88 “But grow in grace, and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 88 St.
Paul also teaches us: "But doing the truth in charity, we may
in all things grow up in Him who is the head, even Christ.” 87
«2 We read in the Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, chap. 47: “Inasmuch as
the counsels are bound up in the commandments, no one can observe the latter
who does not observe the former, as least in thought, that is to say, that they
possess the riches of the world humbly and without pride.”
s’ Cf. St. Thomas, In Ep. ad Hebr., 10: 25.
Matt. 5: 48.
es See I Pet. 2: 2.
se See II Pet. 3: 18.
st Eph. 4: 15.

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"Therefore, we also . . . cease not to pray for you, and to
beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will, in
all wisdom, and spiritual understanding: that you may walk
worthy of God, in all things pleasing; being fruitful in every
good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God: strength­
ened with all might, according to the power of His glory, in
all patience and long-suffering with joy.” 88 “Wherefore, leav­
ing tire word of the beginning of Christ, let us go on to things
more perfect” (Heb. 6: i).
Commenting on this last text of St. Paul, St. Thomas ob­
serves: “In regard to his judgment of himself, a man ought
not to consider himself perfect, but he ought always to be
like a pilgrim who continues on his way and ever tends
higher, as the Apostle states: *Not as though I had already at­
tained, or were already perfect’ (Phil, 3: 12). In regard to the
progress to be made, man ought always to strive to attain
perfection: ‘Forgetting the things that are behind, and stretch­
ing forth myself to those that are before’ (ibid., 3: 13). As St.
Bernard says, not to advance in the way of salvation is to fall
back. . . . To be sure, this does not mean that all are obliged
to that perfection, in a certain sense exterior, which con­
sists, for example, in voluntary poverty and virginity. . . .
But all ought to strive for the inward perfection of charity
. . . for if a man did not wish to love God more, he would fail
in that which charity requires.” 89 “He who would not always
wish to become better, would not be able to avoid contempt
for that which is worthy of all respect.” "
88 Col. 1: 9-II.
3» St. Thomas, In Ep. ad Hebr., 6: 1.
«0 "As far as exterior acts are concerned, because he is not obliged to the
doubtful good, man is not obliged to the best; but as far as his desire is con­
cerned, he is obliged to the best, whence he who docs not always wish to be bet­
ter, cannot without contempt refrain from wishing it” (St. Thomas, In Matth.,
19: 12). The same idea is expressed in Ila Ilae, q. 186, a.2 ad 211m: “All, both
religious and secular, are bound, in a certain measure, to do whatever good they
can; for to all without exception it is said: ‘Whatsoever thy hand is able to do,
do it earnestly’ (Eccles. 9: 10). Yet there is a way of fulfilling this precept, so as
to avoid sin, namely, if we do what we can as required by the conditions of our

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’95

St. Francis de Sales, quoting these words of Scripture,
teaches the same doctrine: *
41 “ ‘And he that is just, let him be
justified still: and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still.’42
‘But the path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forward and
increaseth even to perfect day.’ 43 ‘So run that you may ob­
tain.’ 44 If you follow Christ, you will always run, for He
never stopped, but continued the course of His love and
obedience ‘unto death, even to the death of the cross.’ ” 45*47
According to this same law, the progress of charity in the
Blessed Virgin, who was preserved from every stain of sin,
was continual in this life. It was not even interrupted by
sleep, for the infused knowledge which she had received kept
the superior part of her soul always on the alert and her
meritorious acts did not cease, any more than did the beating
of her heart.48 The initial plenitude of grace, which she had
received from the instant of her immaculate conception, was
thus multiplied by every act of charity, each one more in­
tense titan the preceding, and incessantly multiplied according
to a marvelous progression which we could never calculate.42
What a prodigious acceleration in the progress of divine
love takes place when there is nothing in the soul to arrest its
growth! Reason is overawed in the presence of this master­
piece of God. Is it credible? Indeed, so much so that if we
look about us, we find even in the material world a semblance
of this wonderful law of the spiritual life; namely, every ma­
state of life; provided there be no contempt of doing better things, which con­
tempt sets the mind against spiritual progress."
41 Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. Ill, chap. 1.
42 Apoc. 22: it.
48 Prov. 4: 18.
44 See I Cor. 9: 24.
48 Phil. 2: 8. On the general obligation of every Christian to strive according
to his condition for more perfect charity, see Passerini, De statibus hominum,
p. 758, no. 13: G. Barthier, O.P., De la perfection chrétienne et de la perfection
religieuse (1907), I, 3'5^73: P· A. Weiss, O.P., Apologie des Christenthums,
Vol. V. Index: “Vollkommenheit.”
4β Cant. 5: 2: “I sleep but my heart watcheth.”
47 Cf. E. Huçon, O-P- Marie mère de la divine grâce, pp. 112-24.

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terial body falling freely in space takes on a uniformly ac­
celerated movement, the speed of which grows in proportion
to the time of the fall.48
This is a particular case of the law of universal gravity,
which is analogously applied in the spiritual order. If bodies
attract each other in the direct ratio of their mass, and in the
inverse ratio of the square of their distance, similarly souls
are so much the more drawn by God as they are nearer to Him
by the intensity of their supernatural charity. Were a soul
always to remain faithful, the progress of the love of God en­
countering no obstacle would thus be uniformly accelerated,
and would be just so much more intense as the initial speed
or the first grace was greater. This gives us a glimpse of what
this progress must have been in the soul of the Blessed Virgin,
in whom the initial grace was superior to that of all the saints
and angels together, as the diamond is worth more than all
other precious stones. Mary was also able to avoid not only
every venial sin, but all taken collectively, and she never
produced acts inferior to her degree of charity; consequently
the progress of the love of God never encountered in her the
slightest obstacle or the least retardation.
St. Thomas, who knew that bodies fall more rapidly as they
approach the earth,48 also noted this acceleration of the
progress of charity in the souls of the saints in the measure in
which they drew nearer to God: “Those,” he says, “who are
in the state of grace ought to grow the more in it as they draw
closer to the end.” 50 This is the way he understood the expres­
sion in the Epistle to the Hebrews: 51 “Comforting one an■»» Thus, in five seconds the initial speed multiplied by the time increases ac­
cording to the following progression: 20, 20 x 2, 20 x 3, 20 x 4, 20 x 5, or 20. 40.
60, 80, too.
■10 In I de Coelo, lect. 17. St. Thomas explains this fact by the Aristotelian
theory of the natural place. See also la Ilae. q.35, a.6, where he says that, con
trary to violent movement, every natural motion is more intense at the end
than at the beginning, for it approaches the end which agrees with the nature
of the motion and which attracts it as an end.
•0 St. Thomas, In Ep. ad Hebraeos, to: 25.
•1 Ibid.

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i97

other, and so much the more as you see the day approaching,”
so much the more as we approach the end of the journey.
There is a third consequence of the precept of the love of
God, namely, since the perfection of charity falls under the
precept as the end toward which one must tend, assuredly
actual graces are progressively offered to us proportionate to
the end to be attained. Knowing this, how is it possible that
we should not hope to attain this end and how can we make it
a matter of humility not to pretend to ascend so high? Our
Lord Jesus Christ continually repeats: "Sursum corda,” and
He adds: “Without Me you can do nothing.” If you ascend,
do not take the glory to yourself. It is I who carry you, who
lift you up, who constantly give you life, and I wish to give
it to you in ever greater abundance so that you may corre­
spond ever more perfectly with the commandment of My
Father. Perfect charity, as it exists in the transforming union,
appears thus more and more as the summit of the normal de­
velopment of the grace of baptism. It seems quite difficult now
to admit possible discussion on this point.52 And to think that
contemplative souls have suffered so greatly because they
willed to doubt God’s munificence on behalf of the baptized
soul! Rightly their hearts protested against the doubts raised
by their souls. In what gentle harmony everything is bound
up and united in God’s truth! How calm must the soul of a
In virtue of the principle set forth in this article, it can be explained why
Thomistic theologians (such as Philip of the Blessed Trinity, Vallgornera, and
Anthony of the Holy Ghost) maintain not only that all may laudably desire
infused contemplation and the union of fruition, but that all should desire it.
At first glance this statement seems exaggerated, and it would be so if they were
speaking of a special obligation (which may exist for a contemplative religious).
They speak only of a general obligation based on the first precept, which makes
it everyone’s duty to tend toward the perfection of heaven and consequently
toward what is normally found even in a very lofty degree on the way to heaven,
toward that which is the normal prelude of the beatific vision. This explains
the theses that these theologians also formulate in their mystical theology in
the chapters on infused contemplation and the union of fruition: “All should
aspire to supernatural contemplation. All. and most especially souls consecrated
to God, should aspire and tend to actual fruitive union with God." These two
theses have already been pointed out and will be referred to again.

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St. Augustine or a St. Thomas have been, living habitually
in the peace-giving contemplation of the being and unity of
God! What love burst forth also from the sweet knowledge of
the supreme precept and of the grace offered to fulfil it ever
more fully! However sublime the degree to which divine
mercy raises a soul in this life, it ought always to say that it
would be its own fault if it did not ascend higher in the time
remaining to it on earth. The same profound mystery exists
in regard to the degree of sanctity and the degree of glory as
in regard to salvation. It is the goodness of God that awakens
our goodness, that saves us and makes us advance. It is a
creature’s own ill will that condemns him, or at least delays
him on the way of eternity: “Destruction is thy own, O Israel;
thy help is only in Me.” 53 The depths of humility open up
for the contemplative soul at the same time as the abyss of the
divine mercy into which it is more and more deeply plunged.
To wretchedness which humbly petitions, infinite mercy from
its height stoops to give us the strength always to fulfil more
perfectly the first precept, which is the generating law of all
our life. This is the burden of Psalm 41: “My soul is troubled
within myself; therefore will I remember Thee. . . . Deep
calleth on deep, at the noise of thy flood-gates. . . . With me
is prayer to the God of my life. . . . Hope thou in God, for I
will still give praise to Him: the salvation of my countenance,
and my God!” 51 The great poetry of the psalms has been re­
vealed to us in order to be understood. To understand it well,
however, and to make it vibrate in the depths of the soul,
should we not have received infused contemplation, which
raises the mind and the heart even to the fountain of living
water and to the light of life? This contemplation and its de­
grees are the subject of the following pages.
03 Osee 13: 9.
“ Ps. 41: 7, 9, lï.

CHAPTER V
Contemplation and Its Degrees
Since we have determined in the light of revelation and also

in that of experience what the full perfection of the Christian
life should be, we must now examine the second part of the
problem and see whether this full perfection truly supposes
infused or mystical contemplation. With this end in view,
after recalling what prayer in general and common prayer
should be, we will consider: (i) tire different meanings of the
words, “contemplation?’ “ordinary,” and “extraordinary”;
(2) the description of mystical contemplation and its degrees
according to the most authoritative saints; (3) what infused
contemplation does not essentially require; (4) what con­
stitutes contemplation and from what principle it proceeds.
From the consideration of these points, we shall see whether
contemplation is extraordinary in itself, as a miraculous favor
is, or whether it belongs to the full, normal development of
the life of grace on earth.

ARTICLE I

Prayer in General and Common Prayer

First of all, we must have a correct idea of prayer in gen­
eral and recall what St. Augustine and St. Thomas teach about
the prayer of petition.1
I. the prayer of petition

We seem at times to believe that prayer is a force, with its
first principle in ourselves, by which we try to bend the will
1 See Ila Ilae, q.83, a.s.

'99

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of God with persuasion. Immediately we are confronted with
this difficulty, often formulated by unbelievers and in par­
ticular by deists, namely, that no one can move or bend the
will of God. God is without doubt goodness which asks only
to give itself, mercy ever ready to come to the help of him who
suffers and implores; but He is also perfectly immutable be­
ing. The will of God is from all eternity as inflexible as it is
merciful. No one can boast of having enlightened God, of
having made Him change His will. “I am the Lord and I do
not change.” The order of the world and the course of hu­
man events are, by His providential decree, mightily and
gently, as well as irrevocably, determined in advance. Must
we conclude that our prayer can accomplish nothing, that it
comes too late, and that, whether we pray or not, what is go­
ing to happen will happen?
We have our Lord's words in the Gospel: “Ask, and it shall
be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened to you.” Prayer is not a force with its first principle in
ourselves; it is not an effort of the human soul trying to do
violence to God to make Him change His providential dis­
positions. At times these human ways of expression are used
metaphorically. In reality, the will of God is absolutely im­
mutable; and precisely in this immutability lies the source
of the infallible efficacy of prayer.
Basically it is very simple. True prayer, by which we ask
for ourselves with humility, confidence, and perseverance, the
gifts necessary for our sanctification, is infallibly efficacious,
because God, who cannot contradict Himself, has decreed that
it should be so, and because our Lord has promised it.2
It is puerile even to conceive of a God who would not have
foreseen and willed from all eternity the prayers we address
to Him, or of a God who would incline before our will and
change His designs. Not only all that happens has been fore­
seen and willed, or at least permitted, in advance by a provi2 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.83, a. 15.

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201

dential decree, but the way things happen, the causes that
produce events, all have been determined from all eternity
by Providence. In all orders, physical, intellectual, and moral,
in view of certain effects, God has prepared the causes that
must produce them. For material harvests, He has prepared
the seed; to make parched soil fertile, He willed abundant
rainfall. He raises up a great military leader to bring about a
victory which will be the salvation of a people. To give the
world a man of genius, He prepares a superior intellect served
by a better brain, by special heredity, by a privileged intel­
lectual environment. To regenerate the world in its most
troubled periods, He decided there should be saints. And to
save humanity, divine Providence prepared from all eternity
the coming of Jesus Christ. In all orders, from the lowest to
the highest, God disposes causes in view of certain effects
which they are to produce. For spiritual as well as material
harvests, He has prepared the seed, without which the harvest
will not be obtained.
Prayer is precisely a cause ordained to produce this effect,
the obtaining of God’s gifts necessary or useful for salvation.
All creatures live by the gifts of God, but only intellectual
creatures take cognizance of this fact. Stones, plants, and ani­
mals receive without knowing that they do so. Man lives by
the gifts of God, and he knows it. If the carnal man forgets
this fact, it is because he does not live as a man. If the proud
will not admit it, that is because pride is the greatest foolish­
ness. Existence, health, strength, the light of understanding,
moral energy, the success of our undertakings, all are the gift
of God; but especially is this true of grace, which leads us to
salutary good, makes us accomplish it, and persevere therein.
Is it surprising that divine Providence wills that man should
ask for alms, since man understands that he lives only oi*
alms? Here as elsewhere, God wills first of all the final effect,
then He ordains the means and the causes which are to produce
it. After deciding to give, He decides that we shall pray in

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order to receive; just as a father, who purposes in advance to
grant a favor to his children, resolves to make them ask for
it. The gift of God is the result; prayer is the cause ordained
to obtain it. It has its place in the life of the soul, that it may
receive the good things necessary or useful for salvation, as
heat and electricity have their place in the physical order.
Jesus, who willed to convert the Samaritan woman, said to
her, for the purpose of leading her to pray: “If thou didst
know the gift of God . . . thou perhaps wouldst have asked
of Him, and He would have given thee living water . . .
springing up into life everlasting.”
From all eternity God foresaw and permitted the falls of
Mary Magdalen, but He had His designs on her and willed to
restore life to that dead soul. He decided, however, that this
life would be restored to her only on condition that she de­
sired it. He also decided to give her a very strong and gentle
actual grace that would make her pray. This is the source of
the efficacy of prayer. Because Magdalen prayed, sanctifying
grace was given to her; but certainly, without prayer she
would have remained in her sin. It is, therefore, as necessary
to pray if we are to obtain God’s assistance which we need for
the observance of the divine law and for perseverance in it, as
it is necessary to sow seed if we are to reap grain.
Consequently we should not say: “Whether we prayed or
not, whatever was going to happen, would happen.” This
would be as silly as to say: “Whether we sow or not, once
summer has come, if we are to have wheat, we shall have it.”
Providence has to do not only with the result, but also with
the means to be employed. It safeguards human liberty by a
grace as sweet as it is strong. “Amen, amen I say to you: if
you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it
you.”
Prayer is not, then, a weak force with its first principle in us.
The source of its efficacy is in God and the infinite merits of
Jesus Christ. It descends from an eternal decree of God; it

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springs from redeeming love, and it reascends to the divine
mercy. A jet of water cannot rise unless the water descends
from an equal height. Likewise, when we pray it is not a
question of persuading God, of inclining Him, of changing
His providential dispositions; it is simply a question of raising
our will to the level of His will so as to will with Him what
He has decided to give us, the good things useful to our
sanctification and salvation. Prayer, instead of tending to
bring down the Most High to us, is an elevation of our soul to
God. Dionysius compares the man who prays to a sailor who,
in order to land, pulls a cable fastened to a rock on the shore.
This rock, which rises above the water, is motionless; to the
man in the boat, however, the rock appears to be advancing;
although in reality, only the boat is moving. Likewise, it
seems to us that the will of God bends when our prayer is
heard and granted; yet it is our will alone that ascends. We
begin to will in time what God has willed for us from all
eternity.
Prayer is not in opposition to the divine government;
rather it thus co-operates with that government. There are
two of us who will, instead of one. When a sinful soul, for
which we have long prayed, is converted, it is God who con­
verts it, but we have been the associates of God in this work.
From all eternity, He decided to produce this salutary effect
in that soul only with our co-operation.
The Church has defined, as a point of doctrine against the
Pelagians and semi-Pelagians, that we cannot form a true
prayer without an actual grace. We ask only for what we de­
sire, and it is a question here of desiring what God wishes for
us in the way in which He wishes it; in other words, it is a
question of making our will conform to His. To do that He
must draw us, and we must allow ourselves to be attracted
by Him. “No man,” says our Lord, “can come to Me, unless
the Father who hath sent Me, draw him,” and St. Paul says:
“Not that we are suffirent to think anything of ourselves, as

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of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God” (II Cor. 3: 5).
A sinner is deprived of sanctifying grace and in that state
is incapable of meriting; but he can pray. An actual grace
suffices; it is offered to all, and only those are deprived of it
who refuse it.3 At the moment this grace is granted him, a
sinner should fall on his knees. If he does not resist, he will
be led from grace to grace, even to conversion and salvation.
With humility, confidence, and perseverance, a Christian
must throughout his life ask God for the supernatural energy
which he needs to obtain heaven.
From all this we see what prayer can obtain for us. Heaven
is the goal of the life of tire soul. To this supreme end God
subordinates whatever He is pleased to grant us, for He gives
us both corporal and spiritual things only for the conquest of a
blessed eternity.
Therefore prayer can obtain for us only the things that help
in the attainment of our last end, eternal life. Beyond that
it can do nothing. It is too lofty to obtain for us temporal
success without regard or relation to our salvation. We must
not expect such a result from it.4
There are two types of goods which advance us on our way
to heaven: spiritual goods, which bring us there directly; and
temporal goods, which can be indirectly useful for salvation in
the measure in which they are subordinated to the first. Spirit­
ual goods are grace, virtues, and merits. Prayer is all-powerful
in obtaining for a sinner the grace of conversion, and for a
just man the actual grace necessary for the accomplishment
of his duties as a Christian. Prayer is supremely efficacious
in obtaining for us a livelier faith, a more confident hope, a
more ardent charity, and a greater fidelity to our vocation.
The first petition in the Lord’s prayer is that the name of
God be sanctified, glorified by a radiant faith; that His king» Man, though in himself he does not suffice to desire and will salutary good,
is sufficient in himself to fail, and to fail freely. God often lifts him up again.
This, however, is not always the case. Therein lies a mystery.
* See Ila Ilae, q.83. a.5. 6.

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205

dom may come is the object of our hope, and that His will
may be done and accomplished with love and a more fervent
charity. Prayer is all-powerful in obtaining our daily bread,
not only the food of the body but that of the soul, the supersubstantial bread of the Eucharist and the dispositions neces­
sary for a good communion. It is efficacious in obtaining for us
the pardon of our faults, with the interior disposition to par­
don our neighbor. Likewise it is efficacious in making us
triumph over temptation; “Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation,” said our Lord. He has also told us that,
to be delivered from evil and from the spirit of evil, we must
pray; “This kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.” 6
Obviously prayer must be sincere. To ask for grace to over­
come a passion without avoiding the occasions of sin, to ask
for tire grace of a happy death without trying to lead a better
life, is not to formulate a true prayer, a true desire; it is
scarcely indeed a vague wish. Prayer must also be humble,
since it is the petition of a beggar. It must be confident, trust­
ing in the mercy of God, never doubting His infinite good­
ness. It must be persevering to show that it springs from a
profound desire of the heart.® Occasionally God seems not to
hear us immediately, that He may try our confidence and the
strength of our good desires, a» Jesus tried the confidence of
tire woman of Canaan by severe words that appeared to be a
refusal: "I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the
house of Israel. ... It is not good to take the bread of the
children, and to cast it to the dogs.” Under divine inspira­
tion, the woman of Canaan answered; “Yea, Lord; for the
whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their
masters. Then Jesus answering, said to her: O woman, great
is thy faith: be it done to thee as thou wilt. And her daughter
was cured from that hour.” T
» Matt. 17: so.
« Summa, Ila Hae, q.83, a. 15 ad turn.
t Matt. 15: ss, 24-28.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

If we have truly prayed with perseverance and if, in spite
of our supplications, God leaves us to grapple with tempta­
tion, we should recall the example of St. Paul, who also asked
repeatedly to be delivered from the sting of the flesh which
tormented him. And he received this reply: “My grace is
sufficient for thee.” With the Apostle, believing that this
struggle is profitable for us, let us not cease to ask for grace,
which alone can keep us from weakening. Let us thus learn
our indigence, that we are really poor and that it is fitting for
a poor man to ask for aid. All his life a Christian must ask
for the supernatural energy necessary to work out his salva­
tion. The human soul cannot attain heaven unless it is pro­
pelled by God.8 Once it is launched on its way, it must fly.
Prayer is like the beating of the wings of a little bird which
has been thrown out of its nest and needs help.
As regards temporal blessings, prayer can obtain for us
everything that in some way or other will assist us on our
voyage to eternity: food, health, strength, prosperity. Prayer
can obtain all, on condition that we ask first and foremost for
grace to love God more: “Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven,
and all these things will be added unto you.” 8 Is prayer in­
efficacious because we have not succeeded in some under­
taking? If we have prayed truly, we have not asked for this
temporal favor in itself, but only in the measure in which it
would be useful to our salvation. If we have not obtained it,
that is because we are to be saved without it. Our prayer is
not lost; we have not obtained this temporal favor which was
useless to us, but we have obtained or will obtain another
more precious grace.
Humble, trusting, persevering prayer, by which we ask for
the things necessary for salvation, is infallibly efficacious by
virtue of our Lord’s promise.10 God indeed commands us to
e Sec la. q.23. a. i.
0 See Ila Ilae. q.83, a.6.
10 See Ila Ilae, q.83. a. 15 ad sum.

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207

work for our salvation. He adds: “Without Me (without My
grace) you can do nothing”; “ask, and you shall receive.” He
promises that if we ask this grace of Him, He will give it to
us. What is more, He causes this prayer to spring up in our
hearts, and inclines us to ask Him for what He wills from all
eternity to grant us. If such a prayer were not infallibly effi­
cacious, salvation would be impossible. God would be com­
manding us to do something impossible of realization, and
contradiction would exist in Him who is supreme truth and
supreme goodness. A simple soul immediately understands
Christ’s words: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.” “And which
of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? or
a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? ... If you then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit
to them that ask Him?” 11 Prayer is the breath of the soul.
Prayer is a more powerful force than all physical energies
taken together, more powerful than money, than learning.
Prayer can accomplish what all material things and all created
spirits cannot do by their own natural powers. According to
Pascal: “All bodies, the firmament and its stars, the earth and
its kingdom, are not equal to the least of spirits. ... By
assembling all material things one could not succeed in pro­
ducing even a small thought. This is impossible and belongs
to another order. . . . All material bodies together and all
spirits, and all that they produce are not worth the slightest
movement of charity, which belongs to an infinitely more
elevated order.” 12 Prayer can obtain grace for us which will
make us produce this act of charity.
Prayer thus plays an infinitely greater rôle in the world
than the most amazing discovery. Who would presume to
compare the influence exercised by an eminent scholar like
11 Matt. 6: 7: Luke 11: g, 11, 13.
12 Pensées (Havet ed.), art. 17, 1.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Pasteur with that exercised through prayer by a St. Paul, a St.
John, a St. Benedict, a St. Dominic, or a St. Francis?
Each immortal soul is worth more than the entire physical
world. It is like a universe, since by its two superior faculties,
intellect and will, it dwells on all things, even the Infinite.
Prayer assures two things to souls striving to attain to God:
supernatural light, which directs them; and divine energy,
which urges them on. Without prayer darkness reigns in souls;
they grow cold and die like extinguished stars. It is essential
to trust in this force which is of divine origin; to keep in mind
whence it comes and whither it goes. It descends to us from
eternity by a decree of infinite goodness, and it is to eternity
that it again ascends.
II. COMMON PRAYER

Prayer is an elevation of the soul to God, by which we will
in time what God from all eternity wills that we should ask
of Him, namely, the different means of salvation, especially
progress in charity. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
justice, and all these things will be added unto you.” But we
feel the need of a more intimate prayer in which our soul, in
deeper recollection, may come into contact with the Blessed
Trinity dwelling in us. This we desire that we may receive
more abundantly from the interior Master that light of life
which alone can make us penetrate and taste the mysteries of
salvation, and reform our character by supernaturalizing it,
by making it conformable to Him who invites us to seek
peace of soul in humility and sweetness. This intimate prayer
is mental prayer. This is the prayer that prepares for infused
contemplation. We will briefly consider how to attain to this
acquired prayer and how to persevere in it.
Our Lord tells us in the Gospel: “And when ye pray, you
shall not be as the hypocrites that love to stand and pray in
the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be

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seen by men. . . . But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into
thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to tliy Father in
secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee.” 14
St. Teresa says simply: “Mental prayer is nothing else, in my
opinion, but being on terms of friendship with God, fre­
quently conversing in secret with Him who, we know, loves
us.” 14 Truly simple Christian souls are acquainted with spon­
taneous, intimate prayer. A certain peasant, questioned by the
Curé of Ars, gave an excellent definition of it. The Curé,
noticing that he remained silent, without even moving his
lips, during long periods of adoration, asked him what he said
to our Lord during those hours of recollection. “Oh, I don’t
say anything to Him,” replied the peasant; “I look at Him,
and He looks at me.” 18 This is that interior prayer which was
30 often the prayer of the Christians of the catacombs and of
all the saints, long before modern treatises on meditation.
What is more simple than prayer? Its spontaneity is some­
times lost by the use of methods that are too complicated.
They may be useful to beginners, but they are apt to provoke
an excessive reaction in many souls. The latter, wearied by
this complexity, sometimes sink into a pious reverie without
any real profit. The truth, here as elsewhere, is above these
two extreme errors and lies in a happy medium. A method is
useful in the beginning, especially as a means of preventing
distractions. But if we are to keep it from becoming an ob­
stacle rather than a help, it must be simple; instead of break­
ing the spontaneity and continuity of prayer, it must simply
describe the elevation of the soul toward God. It must merely
indicate the essential acts which compose this movement.
What are these acts? Evidently prayer is more than an act
of the intellect like a simple study. Speculative souls, curious
about the tilings of God, are not for that reason contemplative
is Matt. 6: 5 f.
1* Life of St. Teresa by Herself, chap. 8.
is It is true that the prayer of this peasant was already contemplation.

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souls or prayerful souls. In their reflections they may experi­
ence a pleasure far surpassing that of the senses; but this
pleasure often comes merely from their knowledge, and not
from charity. They are moved by a love of knowledge much
more than by the love of God. This pleasure sometimes in­
creases their pride and self-love. Study and speculation do not
necessarily suppose the state of grace and charity, and do not
always assist in developing this state. Prayer, on the contrary,
must proceed from the love of God and must end in Him. The
contemplation of God is desired out of love for Him, and the
contemplation of His goodness and beauty increases love.
Moreover, love of God in this life, as we have seen, is more
perfect than the knowledge of God. Charity is more perfect
than faith, because knowledge in a way draws God down to
us and, as it were, reduces Him to the measure of our ideas;
whereas love draws us toward God, elevates us to Him, unites
us to Him. And, as long as we are deprived of the beatific
vision, it is charity especially which unites us to God and
constitutes the bond of perfection. Consequently this virtue
must have the first place in our soul. The soul must lift itself
to God on the wings of the intellect and the will aided by
grace. Therefore prayer is a movement of supernatural knowl­
edge and love.
What are the essential acts of prayer? That it may be the
lifting up of the whole soul to God, prayer must be preceded
by an act of humility and must proceed from the three theo­
logical virtues, which unite us to God, animate the virtue
of religion, and obtain for us the illuminations and inspira­
tions of the Holy Ghost. The soul flies, so to speak, like a bird
by the effort of its wings, but the breath of the Holy Ghost
sustains this effort and often carries the soul higher than it
could go by its own virtues. We will consider these different
acts of prayer. In the perfect they are often simultaneous and
continuous; but, in describing them, we will enumerate them
one after the other as they appear in beginners.

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Prayer should begin with an act of humility, a fundamental
virtue, for every prayer should be humble. When we begin
to converse with God, we should recall what we are. Of our­
selves we can do nothing and less than nothing, since our sins
are a disorder inferior to nothingness itself. The basic virtue
of humility removes pride, which is the chief obstacle to grace.
Humility does not crush us; it leads us to adoration and re­
minds us that in a very fragile vessel we bear an infinitely
precious treasure, sanctifying grace and the Trinity dwelling
in us. We do well to think of this truth at the outset so that
our prayer may not proceed from vain sentimentality, but
from grace itself which is infinitely superior to our emotions.
We should humbly adore the Blessed Trinity who vivifies us
interiorly. Adoration is one of the first acts of the virtue of
religion, which is quite naturally joined to that of humility.18
This act of humility should be followed by an act of faith,
a very simple, wordless, deep, and prolonged act on some
fundamental truth, such as: God, His perfections, His good­
ness; our Lord, the mysteries of His life, passion, and glory;
or again our great duties, sin, our vocation, the duties of our
state in life, our last end. These subjects should recur fre­
quently. On feast days the liturgy suggests the subject. For
this consideration of faith, some words of the Gospel or of
the divine office suffice. St. John of the Cross taught his dis­
ciples to spend very little time on tire representation of figures
formed in the imagination, but to elevate themselves by dis­
cursive acts to the consideration of the mystery itself in the
light of faith: for example, to the consideration of what con­
stitutes the price of Christ’s sufferings, His redeeming love
which is of infinite value. It is not necessary to reason much,
because the simple act of theological faith is superior to rea­
soning. It becomes more and more a simple gaze which ought
to be accompanied by admiration and love. This faith, which
is higher than all philosophical or theological speculation,
1« See Ila Ilae, q.84.

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makes us adhere infallibly and supernaturally to the mysteries
which the elect contemplate in heaven. In this sense it is, as
St. Paul says, “the substance of tilings to be hoped for.” Its
obscurity does not hinder it from being infallibly certain. It
is the first light of our interior life. I believe what God has
revealed, because He has revealed it. This Credo seems at
times to become a Video. We see from afar the fountain of
living water.
This act of faith in the divine truth which is being con­
sidered gives rise naturally to an act of hope. We desire beati­
tude, the peace promised by God to those who follow Jesus
Christ. We see clearly, however, that by our own natural
strength we shall not be able to realize this supernatural ideal.
Then, turning to the infinitely helpful goodness of God, we
ask His grace. This is supplication, the ordinary language of
hope, the formal motive of which is the divine help, Deus
auxiliaris.17 After uttering its Credo, the soul is led spon­
taneously to say; desidero, sitio, spero. Having seen from afar
the fountain of living water, we desire to attain it that we
may drink long draughts from it: “As the hart panteth after
fountains of living water, so doth my soul pant after Thee, O
God.” 18
The act of hope in its turn disposes us to an act of charity;
for confidence in God’s help makes us reflect that He is good
in Himself and not only because of His favors.10 Then spon­
taneously an act of charity arises in us, at first under an affective
form. If in this act our feelings offer us their inferior assist­
ance, we should accept it. It may indeed be useful, on condi­
tion that it remains subordinated; but it is not necessary, since
it disappears in aridity. We are here speaking of a calm but
profound affection which is surer and richer than superficial
emotions. It expresses itself somewhat in this manner: My
it Hope thus leads to the prayer of petition, which is an act of the virtue of
religion. Cf. Ila Ilae, q.83, a.3.
18 Ps. 41: 1.
1» Cf. la Ilae, q.62, a. 4.

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God, I no longer wish to lie by telling Thee that I love Thee.
Grant that I may love Thee and please Thee in all things.
Diligo.
This affective charity should finally become effective
charity. It may take this form of expression: I wish to con­
form my will to Thine, O good God; to break whatever
renders me the slave of sin, of pride, of selfishness, of sensual­
ity. I wish, O Lord, to participate more and more fully in the
divine life Thou dost offer me, for Thou didst come that we
might have life in abundance. Increase my love; Thou dost
ask only to give, and I in turn wish to receive as Thou desirest
me to do, in trial as well as in consolation, whether Thou dost
come to me to associate me with the joyful or the sorrowful
mysteries of Thy earthly life, for all lead to eternal life which
will unite us forever. I resolve today to be faithful to Thee in
this matter which I have so often neglected. Volo.
In this culminating point of prayer, the knowledge of faith
and the love of hope and charity tend under the divine in­
fluence to fuse into a gaze of supernatural love. As we shall
see, this gaze is nascent contemplation, an eminent source of
action; it is Christian contemplation dwelling on God and our
Lord, as an artist’s contemplation dwells on nature, and that
of a mother on the face of her child.
This loving contemplation supposes an inspiration of the
Holy Ghost. His gifts, especially the gift of wisdom, which we
received in baptism and which increases in us with charity,
render us particularly docile to these good inspirations. Thus
the Holy Ghost answers the prayer which He inspired. From
time to time, He makes Himself felt by us as the soul of our
soul, the life of our life; He “asketh for us with unspeakable
groanings,” as St. Paul says. It is He who makes us cry “Abba,
Father” to our Father in heaven and, after letting us taste the
beauty and riches of the mysteries of salvation, gives us a
quasi-experimental knowledge of His presence and leads us
to that fountain of living water which is Himself; there we

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may drink the light of life without the intermediary of hu­
man reasoning, even though it is always in the obscurity of
faith. “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet.” 20 How the Gos­
pel fulfils our aspirations, surpasses them, and elevates them!
The knowledge of truths about the historic life of Christ
which are preserved in our memory is superseded by a living,
and as it were experimental, knowledge of God’s action in
us, of the actual influence of Christ’s humanity which trans­
mits all grace to us, and of the presence of the Blessed Trinity
in our souls.21 Prayer thus introduces us into the intimacy of
love. Nothing is better able to correct our defects of character,
give us a keen desire to resemble our Lord, lead us to imitate
Him in everything, and arouse the highest virtues in us. Some
characters will succeed in reforming themselves only by the
loving contemplation of the divine Master; for we imitate
those whom we love, without being conscious of doing so.
Prayer is "the intercourse of friendship by which the soul
often converses alone with God, knowing that it is loved by
Him.” “My Beloved to me, and I to Him.” The acts of hu­
mility, faith, hope, and charity, and the influx of the gifts of
the Holy Ghost tend, in proportion as the soul grows, to fuse
into a gaze of ardent love. Consequently methods useful at
the beginning must increasingly give place to docility to the
Holy Ghost, who breathes where He will.
Prayer tends to become a prolonged spiritual communion:
“I look at our Lord, and He looks at me.” As the fathers have
said, it is truly the repose of the soul in God, or the respiration
of the soul which breathes in the truth and beauty of God by
faith and breathes out love. What it receives from God under
the form of grace, it returns to Him as adoration. This prayer,
10 Ps. 33: 9.
*1 The Word and the other two Persons of the Blessed Trinity dwell in us: “If
anyone love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We
will come to him, and will make Our abode with him.” The humanity of Jesus
is, as St. Thomas shows (Illa, q.48, a.6), the physical, instrumental cause of all
the graces we receive, after meriting them for us here on earth.

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2>5

as we shall see farther on, is a disposition to contemplation.
For the moment it will suffice to quote St. Teresa: “Those
who are able thus to enclose themselves within the little
heaven where dwells the Creator of both heaven and earth
. . . may feel sure that they are travelling by an excellent
way, and that they will certainly attain to drink of the water
from the fountain, for they will journey far in a short time.
They resemble a man who goes by sea,22 and who, if the
weather is favorable,23 gets in a few days to the end of a voyage
which would have taken far longer by land. These souls may
be said to have already put out to sea.” 24
This method, or rather this very simple manner of making
prayer, by recalling the necessity of the acts of the three theo­
logical virtues, makes it possible to unite the simplicity of
prayer, as described by the ancient writers, with what is useful
in the teaching of more recent masters. It is easy to make acts
of faith, hope, and charity on all subjects. But if no subject
attracts us, and if, on the other hand, we do not feel ourselves
sufficiently united to God to avoid loss of time and to flee dis­
tractions, we will do well to follow St. Teresa’s advice and
meditate as slowly as possible on the Our Father. This is the
greatest of prayers; composed by our Lord, it contains all pos­
sible petitions in a perfect order. We often recite it during the
day, but so rapidly as not to taste all it contains. It is the true
conversation of the soul. Let us say it with Christ who taught
22 This expression shows that this prayer is in our power, at least in its be­
ginning, as the context makes evident.
23 This is the symbol of the breath of the Holy Ghost. Prayer then becomes
infused, as we shall see farther on.
24 The Way of Perfection, chap. 28. When we speak of so-called acquired con­
templation (chap. 5, art. 2), we shall quote at length from this chapter of St.
Teresa in which she treats of the acquired prayer of recollection, which dis­
poses to supernatural recollection and to quiet, which is spoken of in the fourth
mansion, chaps. 1, 3.
The passage from acquired prayer to infused contemplation is well described
in the little work where Bossuet treats of the prayer which he calls the prayer
"of simplicity or of the simple presence of God.” The first phase of this prayer
is acquired; the second infused, as we shall see more clearly farther on.

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it to us. The first three petitions correspond exactly, as St.
Thomas says, to the three acts of faith, hope, and charity,
which we have pointed out.
Our Father who art in heaven. Thou art also in us, for our
souls are a heaven which is still in darkness.
Hallowed be Thy name. Glorified, that is, recognized and
adored (gloria est clara notitia cum laude). May Thy word
be accepted by a living and unshakable faith. Credo.
Thy kingdom come. This is the object of our hope, which
rests especially on Thy infinitely helpful goodness. May this
reign be more and more established in me and round about
me. Sitio, spero.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May our will,
like that of the saints in heaven, be comformable to Thine.
This is the greatest desire of affective and effective charity,
which also asks for the daily bread of the Eucharist, and the
forgiveness of sins. This charity also forgives the offenses com­
mitted by our neighbor, and it makes us ask to be kept from
sin in the future. It is the elevation of the soul to God; in the
morning before work, at night before sleep, and as often as
possible during the day, at least by some short ejaculation.
If at times we are not table to meditate on the Our Father
in this simple manner and cannot succeed in freeing our­
selves from distractions, finding only aridity, it is well for us
to practice affective prayer. This prayer consists simply in will­
ing to be in that condition so as to love our Lord more than
ourselves; willing to remain thus abandoned to His divine
will, accepting our powerlessness and uniting ourselves to
Christ in the abandonment which He experienced while on
earth, in Gethsemane and on the cross, and which He still
experiences in the Blessed Sacrament. This prayer, which
sometimes resembles a purgatory, is not inertia; on the con­
trary, it is distinguished from it by the vigilance of love. It is
very fruitful, since merit has its source in charity, and the end
of prayer is not so much the forming of lofty considerations

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217

as the uniting of our souls to God, in Christ Jesus, in our
sufferings as well as in our joys. Many intimate friends of our
Lord are for many years associated in this manner with the
sufferings of His heart. He makes them share in the sorrowful
life which He led on earth before communicating to them His
glorious life for eternity. A Christian soul is thus led to the
“love of God even to the despising of self,” or at least to for­
getfulness of self and absorption in the glory of God and the
salvation of souls.
III. HOW TO ATTAIN TO A LIFE OF PRAYER AND

PERSEVERE IN IT

We have demonstrated what common prayer, which tends
to become more and more simple, should be. How can one
attain to this prayer and persevere in it? First of all, we must
confess that even common prayer depends chiefly on the grace
of God, and consequently the soul prepares for it less by
mechanical processes than by humility. God gives His grace
to the humble. “Unless you be converted, and become as little
children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” 26
It is the little ones that God is pleased to instruct interiorly;
humble souls like the peasant of Ars. In addition to the cul­
tivation of humility, we must prepare ourselves for a life of
prayer by mortification and detachment from sensible things
and from self. Evidently, if our minds are preoccupied with
worldly affairs and our souls disturbed by too human an
affection, by jealousy, rash judgment, and the memory of
wrongs we have suffered from others, we shall not be able to
converse with our Lord. If in the course of the day we have
criticized our superiors, in the evening we cannot feel united
to God.
It is evident that all inordinate inclinations must be morti­
fied so that charity may take the first place in our souls and
2’ Matt. 18: j.

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rise spontaneously to God. On all occasions, in suffering or
in consolation, we must form the habit of raising our hearts
to God and of blessing the coming hour. Silence must reign
in our souls, and our passions must be suppressed, if we are to
hear the interior Master who speaks in a low voice as friend to
friend. If we are habitually concerned with ourselves, how
shall we taste the sweetness of the Trinity, the incarnation, the
redemption, and the Eucharist?
All this work may be called a remote preparation for
prayer. It is, however, far more important than the immediate
preparation and the choice of a subject. The purpose of the
immediate preparation is merely to stir up the fire of charity,
which ought never to be extinguished in us and which must be
nourished by a continual generosity. In this way very simple
and fervent souls may reduce the immediate preparation to a
minimum and may often during manual labor make fervent
mental prayer of habitual conformity to the will of God.
It is not sufficient to attain to a life of prayer; we must per­
severe in it. By persevering effort the soul is sure to make
great gain; without it, everything may be lost. Perseverance
is not an easy task, for we must struggle against self, against
spiritual laziness, and against the devil who inclines us to dis­
couragement. Even among the far advanced, how many souls
have turned back when deprived of the first consolations they
received. St. Catherine of Genoa, who devoted herself to
prayer from the age of thirteen and made great progress in it,
abandoned the interior life after five years of sufferings. For
five years she neglected the interior life. But one day she felt
keenly the frightful emptiness of her soul, and the desire for
prayer revived in her. God received her back instantly. After
fourteen years of terrible penance, she was granted the assur­
ance that she had fully satisfied the divine justice. “If I should
turn back,” she used to say, “I should wish someone- to tear
out my eyes, and even that would not seem sufficient punish­
ment.”

PRAYER IN GENERAL

sig

Other souls, after struggling for a long time, become dis­
couraged, says St. Teresa, when they are within a few steps
of the fountain of living water. They fall back and, since
without prayer they no longer have the strength to carry the
cross, they lapse into a superficial life in which others might
perhaps be saved, but in which they run the risk of being lost
because their powers will carry them to excesses. The measure­
less love of God permitted and even asked excess of them; but
this same excess, if indulged outside of God, would be their
ruin. For certain souls of a naturally lofty turn, mediocrity is
impossible; either they give themselves wholly to God, or
wholly to themselves in opposition to God. They wish to en­
joy their ego and their abilities and, as a result, run the risk
of setting up self instead of God as their absolute end. The
angels can know only ardent charity or unpardonable mortal
sin. Venial sin, according to St. Thomas, is impossible for
them because “from their very nature they can have no in­
ordinateness in respect of the means, unless at the same time
they have an inordinateness in respect of the end, and this is
a mortal sin.” 28 Angels or devils, very holy or very wicked, for
them there is no other alternative. Certain souls have some­
thing angelic about them; for them it is very dangerous not
to persevere in prayer, or at least to be at prayer only bodily
without any act of true love. This amounts to the abandon­
ment of the interior life, perhaps ruin.
The saints tell us that, if we are to persevere, we must, first
of all, hope in our Lord who calls all devout souls to the
living waters of prayer. On this point we will consider par­
ticularly the testimony of St. Teresa.27 In the second place,
we must humbly allow ourselves to be led along the road
which our Lord has chosen for us.
i) We must hope, with trust in our guide. We fail in this
ze Summa, la Ilae, q.89, a.4.
27 Cf. chap. 5, a.2, 3. We shall see that St. Teresa understands by “drinking
from the fountain of living water" infused contemplation, which is given to us
by the Holy Ghost. He Himself is the fountain.

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confidence when, after the first aridity, we say that prayer is
not for us. We might just as well say with the Jansenists that
frequent communion is not for us, but only for a few great
saints. Our Lord calls all souls to this intercourse of friendship
with Him. As He says, He is the good shepherd who leads His
sheep to the eternal pastures that they may feed on every
word of God. In the midst of these pastures is the fountain of
living waters which Jesus spoke of to the Samaritan woman,
who was, nevertheless, a sinner; “If thou didst know the gift
of God, and who He is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink,
thou perhaps wouldst have asked of Him, and He would have
given thee living water. ... He that shall drink of the water
that I will give him, shall not thirst forever. But the water
that I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water
springing up into life everlasting.” 28 At Jerusalem on a cer­
tain festival day, Jesus stood in the Temple and cried out to
all: "If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink. He
that believeth in Me, as the Scripture saith, Out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water.” 20 Later on our Lord ex­
plains that this fountain of living water is the Holy Ghost, the
Comforter, whom He will send to us and who will make us
penetrate and taste the intimate meaning of the gospel.
According to St. Paul, the Holy Ghost dwells in us by
charity. Therefore He is in every soul in the state of grace.
He dwells in the soul not to remain idle, but rather to make
Himself its interior master by His seven gifts, which develop
in proportion as charity grows in the soul. The growth of
charity should continue until death, without any assigned
limit. Our failure better to understand the holy inspirations
of the interior Master is probably due to the fact that we listen
to ourselves, that we are not humble enough and desirous of
the reign of God in our souls.
2) The second element necessary for perseverance in prayer
28 John 4: 10, 13 f.
20 John 7: 37 f.

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221

is that we allow ourselves to be led by the road that our Lord
has chosen for us. The great highway is the road of humility
and conformity to the divine will. All should pray as the
publican did. Along this road, however, are stony spots and
level stretches, some sections covered with grass, others burned
by the sun, and still others shady. The good Shepherd leads
His sheep as He judges best: some by the way of parables,
others by that of reasoning, before bringing them to simple
intuition in the obscurity of faith. He leaves some souls for a
long time in difficult spots for the purpose of inuring them to
hardships. Our Lord raises Marys to contemplation sooner
than He does Marthas. The former find in contemplation
interior sufferings unknown to the latter; but these, if they
are faithful, will reach the living waters and will quench their
thirst according to their desires.
We will now consider what these living waters are, because
they are the symbol of contemplation.
ARTICLE II

Meaning of “Contemplation," “Ordinary,” "Extraordinary”
I. SO-CALLED ACQUIRED CONTEMPLATION AND INFUSED
CONTEMPLATION

Contemplation in general, such as may exist in a non­
Christian philosopher, for example, in Plato or Aristotle,
is a simple, intellectual view of the truth, superior to rea­
soning and accompanied by admiration, simplex intuitus
veritatis, as St. Thomas says.1 An example of this contempla­
tion is the admiring knowledge of that supreme truth of
philosophy, namely, that at the summit of all composite and
changeable beings there exists absolutely simple and im­
mutable being itself, the principle and end of all things. It
has not received existence; it is of itself existence, truth, wis1 Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 180, a. 1, 6.

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dom, goodness, love, just as, in the physical order, light of
itself is light and has no need to be illumined; just as heat of
itself is heat. Reason by its own strength, with the natural
help of God, may rise to this contemplation.
The contemplation of the faithful is, on the contrary,
founded on divine revelation received through faith. Al­
though faith is an infused gift of God received at baptism,
several theologians admit in the faithful a so-called “acquired”
contemplation. They generally define it as a simple and lov­
ing knowledge of God and of His works which is the fruit of
our personal activity aided by grace. They usually agree that
this so-called “acquired” contemplation exists in a theologian
at the end of his research, in the synthetic view which he
reaches; or in a preacher who sees his entire sermon in one
thought, and in the faithful who listen attentively to this
sermon, grasp its order, admire its unity and, as a result, taste
the great truth of faith which they see in its radiation.
In these cases we have a certain contemplation which is,
with the help of grace, the fruit of human activity, of our
reflection, or of the meditation of the author we are reading
or the preacher we are listening to. Grace and the theological
virtues certainly enter in. Even the gifts of the Holy Ghost
exercise a latent influence. But if well ordered human activity
were lacking, the soul would not reach this contemplation,
which is therefore called “acquired.” A poorly prepared ser­
mon, lacking order, vigor, or unction, will produce the con­
trary effect and will weary most of tire hearers. In an order
quite superior to philosophical speculation, many of the
faithful can by reading and meditation experience the deep
meaning of these words of God: “I am who am . . . God is a
spirit, and they that adore Him, must adore Him in spirit and
in truth. . . . God is charity: and he that abideth in charity,
abideth in God, and God in him.”
Since the loving contemplation of God is not the fruit of
human activity aided by grace, it cannot be called acquired,

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223

but rather must be called infused. For example, in a poorly
arranged, lifeless sermon, that merely tires most of the lis­
teners, the preacher may, however, quote an expression of
our Lord which profoundly seizes a soul, captivates it, and
absorbs it for an hour.2 That is an example of contemplation
which is not the fruit of the preacher’s human activity or of
personal reflection; it springs from a manifest divine in­
spiration. It is called infused. Why? Not only because it
springs from infused virtues; this was the case also with socalled “acquired” contemplation. Nor is it called "infused”
in this sense, that the very act of contemplation is infused or
directly produced by God alone in us; it would then no
longer be a vital, free, and meritorious act. It is called infused
and also passive in this sense, that it is not in our power to
produce this act at will, like an ordinary act of faith. We can
only receive the divine inspiration with docility, and dispose
ourselves to it by pious recollection. “This infused or passive
contemplation is in us without our deliberation, though not
indeed without our consent.” ’
This infused contemplation is also called supernatural be­
cause it is so by its very nature (reduplicative ut sic) not only
as regards the substance of the act, like the act of infused faith,
but as regards the mode, which in this case is the superhuman
mode of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, a mode no longer latent,
but manifest. This essentially infused contemplation begins
with what St. Teresa calls the prayer of passive recollection,4
and what St. John of the Cross calls the passive night of the
senses; in other words, at the beginning of the mystical life,
strictly so called. Whence it follows that essentially mystical
contemplation is that which is manifestly passive, in the sense
2 We suppose that this absorption does not spring from the fact that the soul
has on previous occasions often meditated on these words of our Lord. Infused
contemplation, however, is not always received unexpectedly; we can dispose
ourselves to receive it.
«See what St. Thomas says about operating grace, fa Ilae, q.111, a.s.
< St. Teresa, The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 3.

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we have indicated,5 if it lasts and becomes frequent as in the
mystical state.
All we have just said about the meaning of the words “ac­
quired contemplation” and “infused contemplation” is rather
generally accepted. But the expression “acquired contempla­
tion” is not found in the writings of the great masters. Accord­
ing to them contemplation, properly so called, is infused, and
they simply call it contemplation. St. John of the Cross says:
“Contemplation is a science of love; it is an infused, loving
knowledge of God.” 0 St. Teresa,7 St. Francis de Sales,8 and
St. Jane de Chantal hold the same opinion.
Canon Saudreau 8 observes that Thomas of Jesus (15641627), in his book De contemplatione divina,10 was the first
Carmelite to speak of an acquired contemplation as a degree
of prayer intermediate between affective meditation and in­
fused contemplation. He adds: “The same author, in the
prologue of his first work,11 divided prayer into two classes:
acquired prayer (meditation) and infused prayer (contempla­
tion). This division is correct and entirely conformable to the
doctrine of St. Teresa. This prologue, found in the editions
of 1610, 1613, 1616, and 1623, was suppressed in the later
editions of 1665 and 1725, undoubtedly because the doctrine
exposed therein does not conform to that which recognizes a
non-mystical contemplation.”
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, glosses were
introduced into the works of St. John of the Cross to defend
» Dom Vital Lehodey, Les voies de Voraison mentale, 5th cd., p. 205.
• The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 18. It is infused contemplation
which is discussed at the beginning of The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap,
i, and also in The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Il, chap. 13.
τ The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 1: seventh mansion, chap. 4. The
Way of Perfection, chaps. 17,19. 20, 21, 25. 27. 31·See infra in tllis chapter, art. 3.
s Traité de l’amour de Dieu, Bk. VI, chap. 7.
® Etat mystique, 2d cd., pp. 109, 357.
to Published in 1620.
n Grados de oraciôn, 1609.

MEANING OF "CONTEMPLATION”

225

them against unjust charges of illuminism. These glosses
often attenuated the meaning of the terms.12 Indeed certain
authors maintained that the saint had treated only of ac­
quired contemplation, which is inferior to the infused con­
templation spoken of by St. Teresa. The meaning of these
terms was not clearly fixed at this time.18 Some even claimed
that acquired contemplation is the summit or the term of the
normal development of the interior life, and that infused con­
templation is absolutely extraordinary, like graces gratis datae,
and that consequently it could not be desired without pre­
sumption. This was in particular the teaching of Anthony of
the Annunciation, C.D.; 14 but on this point he was not fol­
lowed by the Carmelite theologians, as may be clearly seen
from what another well-known Discalced Carmelite, Joseph
of the Holy Ghost,10 says of him.
These difficulties and divergences explain the reservations
of certain authors. In their eagerness to preserve St. Teresa’s
teaching, they are reluctant to admit a degree of prayer which
she probably did not mention. And in fact we would be creat­
ing a degree of prayer not referred to by St. Teresa and would
be opposing her explicit teaching, if by acquired contempla­
tion we meant a prayer distinct from simplified affective
prayer, a prayer in which the intelligence would be com­
pletely absorbed by its object, and which the soul would at­
tain by the suppression of all rational activity. As a matter of
fact, the saint repeatedly opposes the total suppression of rea­
is Father Andrew of the Incarnation, C.D., undertook in 1574 to restore the
true text of the saint’s writings, but he did not publish his work. Only recently
Father Girard, C.D., gave us a critical edition which contains 55 corrections in
Book I, 207 in Book II, and 71 in Book III. Several problems of textual criticism
remain to be solved. Cf. La vie spirituelle, March, 1923, p. 154.
13 At this time the expression infused or supernatural contemplation was not
yet clearly understood by all. By these terms some apparently indicated con­
templation united to certain graces gratis datae which St. Teresa received
abundantly and which she often mentioned.
1* Disceptatio mystica, tr. 2, q.4, a.8, no. 34.
is Cursus theol. scol.-mysticae (1721), II, 224, 236.

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soning and thought as long as one has not received infused
contemplation.”
Such is not, however, the Carmelite theologians’ conception
of acquired contemplation. Their detailed descriptions of it
show that the prayer they have in mind corresponds to what
St. Teresa in The Way of Perfection (chap. 28) calls “the
(acquired) prayer of recollection,” a prayer in which intellec­
tual activity is simplified, but not suppressed. These theo­
logians call this prayer contemplation because the act of
simple intellectual intuition is frequent and predominant in
it, and meditation, on the other hand, is reduced. This con­
ception removes the substance of the difficulty, and the ques­
tion becomes one of terminology.
As a rule the Carmelite theologians who admit the existence
of acquired contemplation have been right in refusing to see
in it the normal term of spiritual progress on this earth. Ac­
cording to them, in generous souls truly faithful to the Holy
Ghost, it is a proximate disposition to receive infused con­
templation normally.17 Different opinions have been brought
forward as to the time when infused contemplation begins;
certain authors link quiet, and even spiritual intoxication,
with acquired contemplation. But anyone who reads care­
fully the third chapter of the fourth mansion,18 will see that
contemplation begins with the prayer of supernatural recol­
lection, which we cannot obtain for ourselves by our own
activity aided by grace and which almost always precedes
the supernatural prayer of quiet. This supernatural recol­
lection is quite different from the acquired prayer of recol­
lection, which is the fruit of our activity, and which St. Teresa
18 Life, chap. 12, p. 81; The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 3, pp.
108 f.
φ
17 This is the teaching of Thomas of Jesus, Philip of the Holy Ghost, An­
thony of the Holy Ghost, Dominic of Jesus, and Joseph of the Holy Ghost. They
agreed on this point with the Dominicans, John of St. Thomas (cf. his Cate­
chism) and Vallgornera.
i’ St. Teresa. The Interior Castle.

MEANING OF "CONTEMPLATION”

227

speaks of.1’ It is altogether untenable to say that acquired con­
templation is that in which we can place ourselves by our own
industry, and to include in it supernatural recollection, quiet,
spiritual intoxication, and mystical sleep. And if the expres­
sion “acquired contemplation” is applied to what St. Teresa,
when treating of acquired prayer, calls “the prayer of recol­
lection,” 20 her doctrine is kept without preserving her terms;
because in her writings, as we shall see later on, the word
“contemplation” designates infused contemplation.
It would be difficult to improve on St. Teresa’s description
of the essential difference separating the last acquired prayer
from the first infused prayer, and the passage from one to the
other. Speaking of “the (acquired) prayer of recollection,”
which has often since been called “affective prayer,” she says:
“This kind of prayer has many advantages. It is called ‘recol­
lection,’ because by its means the soul collects together all the
faculties and enters within itself to be with God.21 The divine
Master thus comes more speedily than He otherwise would to
teach it and to grant it the prayer of quiet. . . . Those who
are able thus to enclose themselves within the little heaven
of their souls where dwells the Creator of both heaven and
earth, and who can accustom themselves not to look at any­
thing nor to remain in any place which would preoccupy their
exterior senses, may feel sure that they are travelling by an
excellent way and that they will certainly attain to drink of
the water from the fountain,22 for they will journey far in a
1® The Way of Perfection, chap. 28.
20 Ibid.
21 The words “by its means the soul collects together all the faculties and en­
ters within itself," denote manifestly an acquired prayer. Everyone agrees on
this point.
22 St. Teresa does not mean that, without going beyond this acquired prayer
of recollection, a person will slake his thirst at the fountain of living water,
which she always proposes to her daughters as the goal of their course. For she
has declared clearly in The Way of Perfection (chap. 19): “I do not call prayer
made by thinking over a subject, ‘living water.’ ” From what is said in The
Way of Perfection (chap. 19), evidently the living water is the image of con­
templation, which is given to us by the Holy Ghost.

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short time. They resemble a man who goes by sea and who, if
the weather is favorable,23 gets in a few days to the end of a
voyage which would have taken far longer by land.24 These
souls may be said to have already put out to sea, and though
they have not quite lost sight of terra firma, still they do their
best to get away from it by collecting their faculties." 20
In the following chapter St. Teresa states clearly the nature
of this last acquired prayer and shows in it a disposition to
receive infused contemplation. She says: “I advise whoever
wishes to acquire this habit (which, as I said, we have the
power to gain) not to grow tired of persevering in trying
gradually to obtain the mastery over herself. ... I know
that, with His help, if you practise it for a year, or perhaps for
only six months, you will gain it. Think what a short time
that is for so great an advantage as laying this firm foundation,
so that if our Lord wishes to raise you to a high degree of
prayer, He will find you prepared for it, since you keep close
to Him. May His Majesty never allow us to withdraw from
His presence. Amen.” Speaking of this acquired prayer of
recollection, she says: “You must understand that this is not
a supernatural state, but something which, with the grace of
God, we can desire and obtain for ourselves.20 This ‘grace’ is
always implied whenever I say, in this book, that we are able
to do anything, for without it we can do nothing—nothing—
nor could we, by any strength of our own, think a single
good thought. This is not what is called silence of tire powers;
it is a recollection within the soul itself.” 27
On the contrary, the supernatural recollection described in
The Interior Castle,28 is not in our power with the help of
God, and does not depend on our will. St. Teresa says it is a
23 This is the symbol of the Holy Ghost, who breathes where He will.
24 Symbol of prayer which remains discursive.
25 The Way of Perfection, chap. 28.
2β Father Bafiez noted on the original: “By supernatural she means that
which is not left to our choice with the ordinary grace of God.”
2T The Way of Perfection, chap. 29.
2s Fourth mansion, chap. 3.

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229

prayer which almost always precedes the supernatural prayer
of quiet: “This is a recollection which also seems supernatu­
ral to me. It neither consists in placing oneself in a dark
corner nor in closing one’s eyes; it in no way depends on ex­
terior things. And yet, without wishing to do so, one closes
one’s eyes and desires solitude. Then the palace of prayer of
which I have just spoken is built, so it seems to me, but with­
out the labor of human art. . . . The King, who holds His
court within it, seeing their good will, out of His great mercy
is kind enough to recall them to Him (the senses and the
powers). Like a good Shepherd, He makes them hear His
voice, and He plays so sweetly on His pipe, that they scarcely
hear it. He invites them to desist from their wanderings and
return to their former dwelling. This piping of the Shepherd
has such power over them, that forsaking the exterior things
which captivated them, they re-enter the castle. I think I never
put this matter so clearly before.
"When God bestows this grace, it helps greatly to seek God
in oneself. . . . But do not fancy that this recollection can
be obtained by the work of the understanding, by forcing
yourself to think of God dwelling within you, or by that of
the imagination by picturing Him as present in your soul.
This is a good practice and a very excellent kind of medita­
tion because it is founded on the indisputable truth that God
dwells within us. It is not, however, the prayer of recollection,
for by the divine assistance everyone can practice it. What I
mean is quite a different thing. Sometimes even before they
have begun to think of God, the powers of the soul find them­
selves within the castle. . . . Here this act does not depend
on our will; it takes place only when God sees fit to give us
this grace. In my opinion His Majesty only bestows this favor
on those who have renounced the world. . . . He thus spe­
cially calls them to devote themselves to spiritual things.
Moreover, I am convinced that if they allow Him power to
act freely, He will bestow still greater graces on those whom

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He thus evidently calls to a higher life.” The saint adds that
if God has not yet granted this grace, she cannot well under­
stand “how we are to stop thinking, without doing ourselves
more harm than good.” 20
Supernatural recollection is manifestly a mystical prayer,
the beginning of infused contemplation. It would be difficult
to show more definitely how it differs from the acquired
prayer of recollection, often called simplified affective prayer.
St. Teresa also clearly indicates how the transition is made
from one to the other.80
This transition is also described by Bossuet, but he does
not show so plainly the distinction between the last acquired
prayer and the first infused prayer.81
20 Life, chap. 12. The saint expresses the same opinion in this earlier work.
so La vie spirituelle, October, 1922, contains an excellent article entitled "La
doctrine de sainte Thérèse; les oraisons communes,” by a Carmelite nun. But
in the Études Carmélitaines (1920-22), the author of several articles on acquired
contemplation gives this name to the prayers of supernatural recollection,
quiet, mystical sleep, and spiritual intoxication. Without intending to do
so, he strays from the thought of St. Teresa and forgets that she expressly de­
clared that these supernatural prayers are not within our power; they cannot,
therefore, be called acquired. The saint's text is very clear on this point. If these
prayers are called acquired because they are often preceded by a preparation
which disposes us to receive them, then it would be necessary to admit an ac­
quired rapture, for this grace is often given "at the end of a long mental prayer”
(Life of St. Teresa, chap. 18). To avoid all confusion on this point, it will suffice
to note the difference established by St. Teresa between supernatural recollec­
tion (fourth mansion, chap. 3) and the acquired prayer of recollection (The
Way of Perfection, chap. 28).
si The prayer of simplicity, described by Bossuet in his famous work on the
subject, seems to be acquired in its first phase and infused in its second; it is
clearly the transition from one to the other. “The soul, leaving off reasoning,
makes use of a sweet contemplation which holds it peaceful, attentive, and sus­
ceptible to the divine operations and impressions which the Holy Ghost com­
municates to it. (It is here with this communication that the prayer becomes
infused.) It does little and receives much; its work is sweet and nevertheless
more fruitful. As it more nearly approaches the source of all light, grace, and
virtue, its capacity is greatly increased. . . . God becomes the sole Master of its
interior, and He operates therein more particularly than is usual; the less the
creature works, the more powerfully God operates. Since the operation of God is
a repose, the soul becomes in a certain way like to Him in this prayer, and also
receives marvelous effects from it . . . the divine influences which enrich it
with every virtue. . . . This same light of faith, which keeps us attentive to
God, will cause us to discover our slightest imperfections and to conceive a great

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231

If the phrase “acquired contemplation” is applied to the
last of the acquired prayers, called by St. Teresa “the prayer of
recollection,” 82 the saint’s doctrine is kept, but not her terms;
for, like all great mystics, by the word “contemplation” she
means infused contemplation. We can easily become con­
vinced of this by reading the sections of her works where she
begins to use this word.88 Evidently also St. John of the Cross
is speaking of infused contemplation in The Dark Night of
the Soul84 when he describes God’s action and our passivity.
The contemplation he describes in his earlier work, The
Ascent of Mount Carmel, is not specifically different. In this
study he sets forth the part we can take in it and shows that,
though we cannot procure infused contemplation by our
efforts, we can place obstacles in its way, or, on the contrary,
dispose ourselves for it and favor its exercise. The Discalced
Carmelite, Nicholas of Jesus Mary,86 was quite right in his
opinion that, beginning with Part I, Bk. II, chapter 13, of
The Ascent of Mount Carmel, infused contemplation is
clearly meant.86 St. Francis de Sales,87 the Carmelites, John
of Jesus Mary, C.D.,*
38 and Michael de la Fuente 80 also place
37
34
33
32
sorrow and regret for them." Manière courte et facile pour faire l’oraison en
foi et de simple présence de Dieu.
32 The Way of Perfection, chap. 28.
33 The Way of Perfection, chaps. 18-21, 25, 27, 33. The Interior Castle, fourth
and fifth mansions. These texts will be quoted later in the present chapter
(art. 2).
34 Bk. II, chap. 18: "Contemplation is a science of love; it is an infused loving
knowledge of God.” Cf. Bk. I, chap. 1.
33 Elucidatio phrasium mysticarum operum Joannis a Cruce, Part II, chap. 4.
33 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 15: "In this state God com­
municates himself to the soul remaining passive, as the light to one who keeps
his eyes open and does nothing to receive it. For the soul which thus receives
supernaturally infused light understands all while remaining passive.”
37 Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. VI, chap. 7. Immediately after having
discussed meditation, without speaking of acquired contemplation, St. Francis
de Sales describes the different degrees of infused contemplation, as St. Teresa
does, beginning with supernatural recollection which is not in our power. And
he considers this transition normal: "Contemplation is the term to which all
these means are directed" (Bk. VI, chap. 6).
38 Theologia mystica, chap. 3.
s® Las très vidas, Introduction, and III, 4.

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infused contemplation immediately after meditation, with­
out mentioning acquired contemplation as a special degree
of prayer.
Spiritual writers of the Middle Ages expressed the same
teaching. We find in particular that St. Bonaventure,40 Tauler,
and Louis de Blois41 mean infused contemplation by the
words contemplatio divina, or quite simply contemplatio.
Moreover, authors on all sides who are anxious to return to
traditional terminology think that contemplation, properly
so called, is infused.42
If by the expression “acquired contemplation” something
other than simplified affective prayer, called by St. Teresa the
“(acquired) prayer of recollection,” 48 is meant, and if the
supernatural prayers that are beyond our power (which she
describes in the fourth and fifth mansions) are classed in this
group, then violence is offered to her words and opposition
to the authorities we have just quoted. Moreover, numerous
difficulties, the chief of which we shall point out, would be en­
countered.
i) It is explicable that there may be a certain acquired
contemplation at the end of a captivating study or reading
when the soul is suspended in admiration of the divine truths
which it discovers or which are proposed to it. Thus the phi­
losopher and the theologian have it as the fruit of their study.
It may also exist in a simple Christian while he is listening to
a good sermon, or at the end of meditation. During the
psalmody or during mass and the liturgical chant it may
exist in souls that are accustomed to meditation on divine
things but that have not yet received the grace of infused
contemplation. The variety of the divine office favors a cer­
tain activity of the superior and inferior faculties, inclining
us to taste the word of God. But in the prayer of the simple
<o La tMol. myst. de S. Bonaventure, by Lompré, O.F.M., 1921.
*1 Institutio spiritualis, chap. 12.
42 Saudreau, État mystique (2d ed.), pp. 103, 357.
<2 The Way of Perfection, chap. 28.

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233

presence of God, where the object known is almost always the
same, if the soul is really captivated in its superior faculties,
this state is no longer the fruit of human activity, for one is
not captivated at will. It is the result of a special grace of light
and attraction which is the germ of infused contemplation.
2) It may be said that the soul remains captivated by the
intensity of its love, without anything new in the considera­
tion of the object attracting it. But this intense love normally
supposes a lively and penetrating knowledge of the goodness
of God and is a proximate and immediate disposition to re­
ceive the grace of infused contemplation. This consideration
leads Father Arintero to think that so-called acquired con­
templation is rare in prayer, or at least that it lasts but a short
time in generous souls; for when the soul reaches this stage,
God, finding it disposed to receive the action of the Holy
Ghost, gives it a beginning of infused contemplation.44
3) Acquired contemplation excludes distractions, or ceases
when they begin. This is what happens to a philosopher or
theologian. As the great mystical writers commonly teach,
initial contemplation is often accompanied by distractions of
the imagination, yet it lasts in spite of these ramblings. St.
Teresa explains this at length when she speaks of quiet.48
This initial contemplation is not, therefore, the fruit of the
activity of our intellect directing the imagination, but the ef­
fect of a special inspiration of the Holy Ghost fixing our mind
in spite of the movement of the inferior faculties.
4) Those who admit acquired contemplation as a special
state of prayer between simplified affective prayer and in­
fused contemplation say there is in acquired contemplation an
influence of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, latent as yet, but more
marked than in discursive meditation. It seems difficult to dis­
tinguish this influence from that which produces initial in­
fused contemplation, or incompletely passive prayer, called by
44 Cuestiones mlsticas (2d ed.), pp. 291-311.
45 The Interior Castle, fourth mansion.

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St. Teresa 48 supernatural recollection and quiet. Since the lat­
ter is not in our power, it cannot be called acquired.
5) Finally, St. Teresa observes with great insistence in the
same passage, when speaking of supernatural recollection,
which is the beginning of infused contemplation, that as long
as anyone has not received this gift, he must “be careful not
to check the movement of the mind . . . and to remain there
like a dolt.” 47 If she admitted acquired contemplation as an
intermediate state of prayer between simplified affective medi­
tation 48 and initial infused contemplation, she would grant
that the soul can “stop the deliberation of the mind” before
receiving “supernatural” or passive “recollection.” If anyone
were to do this, in St. Teresa’s opinion he would be guilty
of thrusting himself into the mystical ways, as do the quietists,
who in reality remain there “like dolts.”
To acquired contemplation, which the quietists continually
recommended to everybody, they applied what the saints say
about infused contemplation. This mistake was one of their
principal errors. They presumptuously thrust themselves into
the mystical or passive ways and they “remained there like
dolts,” to use St. Teresa’s expression.49 In the twenty-third
proposition of Molinos, which has been condemned, it is evi­
dent that he applied the term contemplatio acquisita to that
which he continually recommended and which, according to
his teaching, precedes infused contemplation, which he con­
sidered a very special favor. At any rate, he simulated the
passive state before the hour willed by God.
As Father Dudon, S.J., has justly observed,00 Molinos be4β The Interior Castle, fourth mansion.
<7 Idem., fourth mansion, chap. 3.
48 The saint called this the (acquired) prayer of recollection.
48 Cf. Denzinger, no. 1243, 23c’ proposition of Molinos.
so Le quiétisme espagnol, Michel de Molinos, 1921, p. 260: "There is no con­
templation worthy of this name other than passive contemplation . . . and
God in His common providence favors with it those who, by the heroic gener­
osity of their virtue, show that they are worthy to be treated as privileged
friends." "Certain doctors of the twentieth century teach, as Molinos did, a

MEANING OF “CONTEMPLATION"

235

lieved that St. John of the Cross, in The Ascent of Mount
Carmel, spoke only of acquired contemplation. From this con­
templation, wrongly termed acquired, he took the rule of
passivity and made from it an acquired passivity also. By ap­
plying this passivity to a prayer which in reality was ascetical,
he introduced it into all of asceticism, which thereafter was,
so to speak, suppressed.
In consideration of all these reasons, we do not believe that
so-called acquired contemplation is a special state of prayer,
distinct from simplified affective prayer, called by St. Teresa
“the (acquired) prayer of recollection.” 51 What tire great
mystics understand by “contemplation” is undoubtedly in­
fused contemplation.
II. THE ORDINARY AND THE EXTRAORDINARY IN THE
SUPERNATURAL LIFE

In order to learn whether infused or characteristically mys­
tical contemplation is extraordinary or whether it is or­
dinarily granted to the perfect, we must clearly define these
terms.52
In the supernatural life whatever is outside the normal way
of sanctity and not at all necessary to attain it, is, strictly
speaking, essentially, or by its nature, extraordinary.53 For ex­
ample, graces gratis datae, such as the gift of prophecy, of
tongues, of miracles, the gift of expressing the loftiest mys­
teries of religion {sermo sapientiae),M are in no way necessary
contemplation intermediate between meditation and passive contemplation.
. . . One can and must prove this fact without instituting against the writers
in question the slightest prosecution of tendency" (p. 265).
«1 The Way of Perfection, chap. 28.
82 It would be suitable to define ordinary first, if the present difficulties did
not bear· exactly on this word.
83 This is true at least of the holiness generally required for entrance into
heaven immediately after death; for no one goes to purgatory except through
his own fault, by reason of negligences which could have been avoided.
88 This is the meaning which St. Thomas gives to the grace gratis data called
sermo sapientiae, the highest degree of the gift of wisdom. This degree not only
makes one contemplate the loftiest mysteries, but renders the recipient of it

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for personal holiness. They are granted primarily for the
good of others, although they may secondarily help in the
sanctification of him who receives them, if he uses them with
charity. The beatific vision, received in a transitory manner
before death, as St. Paul seems to have received it (according
to the opinion of St. Augustine and St. Thomas), is with even
greater reason essentially extraordinary. A miraculous con­
version, which without any previous preparation instantly
purifies the soul and introduces it immediately into the mys­
tical life, such as the conversion of St. Paul, is also essentially
extraordinary. Likewise the grace of the transforming union
or of the spiritual marriage granted from childhood, that is,
at the age of six or seven, to certain saints, is manifestly ex­
traordinary. Less elevated mystical graces bestowed on souls
still very imperfect, before they have the dispositions ordi­
narily required,55 are extraordinary in a lesser degree.
On the contrary, in the supernatural life whatever belongs
to the normal way of sanctity and in the majority of cases is
absolutely or morally necessary to attain it, is essentially or­
dinary.50 In other words, whatever in the supernatural life is
accomplished in accordance with even the superior laws of its
full development, is ordinary in itself, though these laws are
infinitely more elevated than those of our nature. This is why
the beatific vision after death, although entirely supernatural,
is not an extraordinary gift; it is the normal crowning of the
life of grace, such as God has gratuitously willed it for us all.
But we are not to conclude that the majority of men will
reach this very high end. “Many are called, but few are
capable of manifesting them to others and of directing his neighbor. Cf. Ila
Ilae, q.45, a.5.
os Among extraordinary graces we may place interior words and visions, even
if they are directly ordered to the sanctification of the soul that receives them.
They are not then graces gratis datae, but concomitant phenomena of the mys­
tical life; accessory and passing phenomena which in the majority of cases are
not necessary to reach sanctity.
« This definition is given by Father Arintero in his Cuestiones misticas, ad
ed., p. 45.

MEANING OF “CONTEMPLATION"

237

chosen.” The elect in heaven will evidently be an élite, as
the name indicates, but an élite chosen from men of all classes,
to which we should all eagerly desire to belong.57
Likewise here on earth, the summit in the normal develop­
ment of the life of grace, no matter how elevated, should not
be called essentially extraordinary (per se), although it may be
rare or extraordinary in fact, like the perfect generosity which
it supposes. This summit is called sanctity, even lofty sanctity,
which implies heroic virtues. Before reaching it, we can have
a certain perfection, but it is not yet the full perfection to
which the life of grace is essentially ordained. Just as a dis­
tinction is made between beginners, proficients, and the
perfect, so among the latter a distinction 58 must be drawn be­
tween those who have just entered upon the unitive way, those
who are more advanced in it, and finally those who have
reached the plenitude of perfection, lofty sanctity, which
alone deserves to be called the culminating point in the de­
velopment of the life of grace.
It follows, then, that whatever in the majority of cases is
either absolutely or morally necessary to attain this summit
is not essentially extraordinary. On the contrary, these things
belong to and make up the plenitude of the normal order
willed by God. In studying this point, we must take care not to
confound what is eminently useful for reaching sanctity in the
majority of cases with what is observed in the majority of pious
souls, with what is common among them; for many of them
are still far from the goal. Consequently, without admitting
that the mystical prayers are essentially extraordinary, we can
»7 St. Thomas observes on this subject (la, q.23, a. 7 ad gum): "Since eternal
happiness, consisting in the vision of God, exceeds the common state of nature
and especially in so far as it is deprived of grace through the corruption of
original sin, the fewer will be saved. In this, however, appears the mercy of God
that He has chosen some for salvation, from which very many in accordance
with the common cause and tendency of nature fall short.”
ss This is particularly the teaching of St. John of the Cross, as Joseph of the
Holy Ghost observes several times in his great Cursus theologiae mysticoKolasticae. Cf. supra, chap. 4, art. 4.

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distinguish them from the common forms of prayer, because
the former suppose in fact an eminent or superior grace.08
The passive purifications of the senses and of the spirit (a
mystical state) and infused contemplation, even in its highest
degree, which is realized in the transforming union, are, as St.
John of the Cross teaches,80 generally necessary to the perfect
purification and sanctification of the soul. Therefore they
should not be called essentially extraordinary, although in fact
they may be quite rare because of the common mediocrity of
souls. These passive purifications seem extraordinary to us
because they are so painful and take our nature by surprise;
they are an anticipated purgatory. Very generous souls ought
normally to suffer their purgatory on earth while meriting,
rather than after death without meriting. If we go to purga­
tory after death, it will be our own fault, it will be because
we have neglected graces that were granted us or offered us
during life. Purgatory after death, frequent though it may
be, is not according to the order arranged by God for tire full
development of the supernatural life, since immediately after
death it is radical to the order established by Him that the soul
should possess God by the beatific vision. Hence the precise
reason why the soul suffers so greatly in purgatory is because
it does not see God. We will consider, by a study of the writ­
ings of the saints, what in their opinion is the normal way to
holiness here on earth.
ARTICLE III

Description of Infused Contemplation and its
Degrees According to St. Teresa
We might have borrowed the description of mystical con­
templation and its degrees from authors other than St.
so Cf. Dom Vital Lehodey, Les voies de l’oraison mentale. Cf. also the Treatise
on the Love of God by Father Surin. S.J.
•0 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 3; Bk. II, chap. 1.

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239

Teresa? We have chosen St. Teresa because she clarifies
several points, because her description has become classical,
and also because those who consider infused or mystical
contemplation an essentially extraordinary favor declare that
they base their doctrine on her teaching.
When we read The Life of St. Teresa, written by herself,
or her Interior Castle, we seem at first to come into contact
with an inaccessible spiritual world, quite above what every
interior soul may legitimately desire. True, she often deals
with extraordinary phenomena: visions, which make us antici­
pate even here on earth the life of heaven, and revelations
or interior words, which the majority of devout souls have
never heard. These extraordinary phenomena, which strike
us at the first reading, may, if we give our attention entirely
to them, hide from us instead of manifesting to us what is
most profound and elevated in her life; in other words, the
full development in her of the Christian virtues that we ought
all to have, but that in many souls remain mean, colorless,
and without vigor.
But when St. Teresa’s work is read in an effort to see in it
the perfect development of that spiritual organism which
exists in every just soul, we cannot fail to recognize that
she clearly shows how the grace of the virtues and the gifts
received at baptism ought to develop when obstacles have
been removed. When read with this intention, the more or
less extraordinary exterior manifestations of the supernatural
life fade into the background.
We do not sufficiently grasp the value of the treasure that
every true Christian bears in a fragile vase. Our human eyes
see only the vase. We forget that sanctifying grace, which is
in us, is the beginning of eternal life, semen gloriae, inchoatio
vitae aeternae.2 We forget practically that it is a real and for­
mal participation in the intimate life of God, and that some
1 For example, Dionysius. Richard of St. Victor, St. Bonaventure, Tauler,
Ruysbroeck. Louis de Blois, St. John of the Cross, and St. Francis de Sales.
3 St. Thomas. Ila Ilae, q.24. a-3 ad sum.

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day it absolutely must either die forever in us or flower into
glory by making us see God as He sees Himself, and love
God as He loves Himself. Such is our destiny; for each of
us only one inevitable alternative exists—eternal life or eter­
nal death. Therein lies our wealth and our nobility. By
grace we are of God, born of God,8 and even here on earth
our supernatural life is basically the same as that of heaven,
just as the vegetable life hidden in the acorn is the same as
that of the vigorous oak that springs from it; as the intellec­
tual life slumbering in a child is the same as that of an adult
who has reached the full development of reason.
Sanctifying grace deifies our souls. To elevate our faculties,
it brings forth in them the supernatural virtues, especially
the theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity, the last of
which must endure forever. This entirely supernatural life
is incomparably superior to a miracle perceived by the senses,
which is only a sign.4 It is also superior to the natural life
of created and creatable angels, since it is a participation
in the very life of God.5 With this supernatural treasure which
divinizes all our energies, we receive the Author of grace, the
Holy Ghost who was sent to the Apostles on Pentecost, and
who was given to us by confirmation with the seven gifts,
which dispose us to receive His divine inspirations. Christ
addressed us all when He said: “The Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things,
and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have
» John i: 13.
‘ A miracle (for example, life restored to a dead body) is natural in its essence
and supernatural only in the mode of its production. Hence it is very inferior
to grace, which is essentially supernatural. The same must be said of the pro­
phetic announcement of a future and free occurrence in the natural order.
This is what theologians mean when they say that the life of grace is essentially
supernatural, quoad substantiam, while miracles and prophecies are supernat­
ural only as to the mode of their production, quoad modum, or preternatural.
6 The angels themselves must have received the life of grace to be able to
merit the beatific vision, which infinitely surpasses the powers and claims of
their nature. Cf. St. Thomas, la, q.62, a.2.

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241

said to you . . . He will teach you all truth.” 8 “His unction,”
says St. John, “teacheth you of all things.” 7
This supernatural life remains anemic and weak and is
without radiance in many Christians because they are too
absorbed by worldly things. Instead of living with God, their
divine and interior Guest, their Father and Friend, who is
closer to them than they are to themselves, they scarcely
ever raise their minds and hearts to Him. In the souls of the
saints, on the contrary, this supernatural life appears in all
its vigor, and it is this life especially which we should con­
sider in them more than the extraordinary, miraculous, and
inimitable gifts by which their sanctity is outwardly mani­
fested.
We will therefore consider union with God in the souls of
the saints, which is the basis of their life; in what this union
consists; and what are its degrees. To do this, we will follow
St. Teresa step by step, using her own words; for in our
opinion the best commentary consists in bringing together her
various writings on one subject, and in allowing these texts
to throw light on one another.
I. THE MYSTICAL STATE IN GENERAL: PREPARATION,’
GENERAL CALL AND INDIVIDUAL CALL; NATURE
OF THE MYSTICAL STATE

1) St. Teresa shows that at first the soul, which seeks to unite
itself to God present in it, must ordinarily raise itself above
sensible things by its own efforts aided by grace, by making
frequently acts of humility, faith, hope, and charity, which
are suggested to it by the Our Father.8 To penetrate revealed
truths, it meditates on them, making use of a book if necessary;
e John 14: 26; 16: 13.
7 See I John 2: 27.

»The Way of Perfection, chaps. 21-27: The Interior Castle, second and third
mansions.

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it brings them together and from them draws practical conse­
quences which lead it to turn more and more fully toward
God. This is the human work of the understanding which
rather rapidly becomes simplified, like reading in the case
of a child who no longer needs to spell. Meditation thus be­
comes a very simple, affective prayer, an active recollection
which is a preparation or disposition to receive the grace of
contemplation.8 The soul has so far succeeded in drinking only
“the water of sensible devotion which . . . has run its course
over the earth and always contains a certain amount of
mud.” 10 The divine truth it attains is still mingled with
human considerations.
2) There is, however, a fountain of living water of which
our Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman: great indeed are
“the benefits of drinking of this fountain of living water.” 11
This is the figure of contemplation, which is given to us by
the Holy Ghost. Whatever the obstacles to be found on the
road leading to this source, we must “be courageous and not
grow weary. . . . Remember, our Lord invited ‘Any man.’12
He is truth itself; His word cannot be doubted. If all had not
been included He would not have addressed everybody, nor
would He have said: ‘I will give you to drink.’ He might have
» The Way of Perfection, chap. 28. This important text we here quote in
part, as follows: "This kind of prayer has many advantages. It is called 'recol­
lection’ because by its means the soul collects together all the faculties, and
enters within itself to be with God. The divine Master thus comes more speed­
ily than He otherwise would to teach it and to grant it the prayer of quiet. . . .
Those who are able thus to enclose themselves within the little heaven where
dwells the Creator of both heaven and earth . . . may feel sure that they
are travelling by an excellent way and that they will certainly attain to
drink of the water from the fountain. . . . These souls may be said to have
already put out to sea.” In chapter 29, St. Teresa clearly points out the na­
ture of this active recollection: "You must understand that this is not a
supernatural state, but something which, with the grace of God, we can
desire and obtain for ourselves." Father Bafiez noted on the original: "By
supernatural she means what is not left to our choice with the ordinary grace
of God.”
10 Ibid., chap. 29.
st Ibid., chap. 19.
i2 Matt. 11: 28: "Come to Me all you , .

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said: ‘Let all men come, for they will lose nothing by it, and I
will give to drink to those I think fit for it.’ But as He said,
unconditionally: ‘If any man thirst, let him come to Me,’ I
feel sure that, unless they stop halfway, none will fail to
drink of this living water. May our Lord, who has promised to
grant it us, give us grace to seek it as we ought, for His own
sake.” 18 Tliis is the general and distant call; as yet it is not the
individual and proximate call.14 In other words, if we are
humble, generous, and faithful in the practice of the virtues
and of common prayer, a time will come when the Holy
Ghost, dwelling in us to enlighten and sanctify us, will take
over more fully the direction of our life and ask us to be
entirely docile to His divine inspirations. Then will begin
for us a more intimate uhion with God, called by St. Teresa
supernatural prayer 15 and quite generally today the “mysti­
cal state.”
3) What essentially characterizes this mystical life is an
infused and loving knowledge of God; in other words, it
is an infused light and an infused love coming to us from the
Holy Ghost and from His gifts in order to make us grow in
i’ The Way of Perfection, chap. 19.
i< On this general and distant call of all interior souls to the living waters
of infused contemplation, see also The Way of Perfection, chap. 20: “The
last chapter seems to contradict what I said, when in order to console those
who were not contemplatives, I told them that God had made many ways
of reaching Him. . . . His majesty, being God, knows our weakness and has
provided for us. He did not say: ‘Let some men come to Me by drinking
this water, but let others come by some other means.- His mercy is so great
that He hinders no one from drinking of the fountain of life. May He be
forever praised. . . . Indeed He calls us loudly and publicly to do so. . . .
You see, sisters, there is no fear you will die of drought on the way of
prayer. . . . Take my advice: do not loiter on the road, but struggle man­
fully. until you perish in the attempt." St. Teresa says further (The Way of
Perfection, chap. 21): “I maintain that this is the chief point: in fact, that
everything depends on their having a great and a most resolute determina­
tion never to halt until they reach their journey’s end, happen what may,
whatever the consequences are, cost what it will, let who will blame them
. . . whether the earth itself goes to pieces beneath their feet."
is This superior life is in fact doubly supernatural, not only in its essence,
as common Christian life, but by the divine mode of knowing and loving,
which is inspired by the Holy Ghost

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charity.10 In certain souls it is love which dominates, in others
light. Since we love only what we know, and since we cannot
love ardently what we know but poorly, every soul ought
to be very enlightened if it is to be inflamed with love. In
this state the soul is no longer inclined to meditate by itself,
to reason on the great truths of faith so as to arouse itself to
acts of love of God. It receives “a supernatural recollection”
which it could never acquire by its own efforts and “which
does not depend on our will.” 17 It is no longer the soul
recollecting itself, it is God who recollects it and draws it
toward the inner sanctuary. This is the beginning of con­
templation, properly so called; it is infused since we cannot
procure it for ourselves by our activity aided by grace. St.
Teresa, in opposition to the quietists, says that, if we have not
as yet received this gift, we should be careful not “to stop
the movement of our thoughts . . . and to remain there
like blockheads.” 18 This recollection and the quiet which
18 It will be seen from the texts which follow why we cannot admit that
in St. Teresa’s opinion mystical contemplation is an immediate perception
of God in Himself and not in His effects, or a knowledge by infused ideas
similar to that of the angels, which completely excludes the possibility of
reasoning. Mystical contemplation would thus become not only an eminent
grace, but a miraculous grace; it would be properly speaking extraordinary
and, contrary to what St. Teresa says, all interior souls could not aspire to
it as to the fountain of living water. On this point, consult the following
article in this chapter. St. Teresa’s texts, which we have brought together
here, answer the objections made to our teaching on this subject in the
Revue d'ascétique et de mystique, July, 1922, p. 272.
it The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 3, pp. 104-13.
is The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 3. St. Teresa’s remark con­
cerns the individual, proximate call to infused contemplation. Evidently she
does not admit, after the acquired prayer of recollection (described in The
Way of Perfection, chap. 28, and afterward called simplified, affective prayer)
and before the beginning of infused contemplation which we are here con­
sidering, an intermediate state that e-,η rightly be called acquired con­
templation. If she admitted it, she would grant that the soul ‘‘can stop the
movement of thought” before receiving the grace of supernatural recollec­
tion.
If the term “acquired contemplation” is applied to the last of the ac­
quired prayers, which is simplified, affective prayer, called by St. Teresa
the prayer of (acquired) recollection (The Way of Perfection, chap. 28), the
saint's doctrine is kept, but not her terms: for, like all the great mystics,

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

«45

follow are “a supernatural state to which no effort of our own
can raise us.” 10 “As for disposing oneself to it, that can be
done, and that is without doubt an important point.”20
Psalmody, for instance, disposes the soul to contemplative
prayer and also makes the soul desire it.
During this passive recollection, “when our Lord suspends
the understanding and makes it cease from its acts, He puts
before it that which astonishes and occupies it: so that, with­
out making any reflections, it shall comprehend in a moment
more than we could comprehend in many years with all the
efforts in the world.” 21 In contemplation "the soul under­
stands that the divine Master is teaching it without the sound
of words.” 22 “It was not by way of vision; I believe it was
by contemplation she understands infused contemplation, which we cannot
obtain for ourselves by our own efforts. Cf. The Way of Perfection, chaps.
18-21, 25, 27, 31; The Interior Castle, fourth and fifth mansions.
If, on the contrary, the term “acquired contemplation” is applied to any
other than the acquired prayer of recollection, and if anyone should desire
to introduce it into the category of supernatural prayers described in the
fourth and fifth mansions, he would be doing violence to the words of St.
Teresa and to her doctrine, since she expressly states that we cannot by
our own industry aided by grace place ourselves in the supernatural prayers
of (passive) recollection, quiet, spiritual intoxication, and mystical sleep.
We need not here interpret the saint’s teaching, but merely read what
she has written. If it were necessary to apply “acquired" to these supernat­
ural prayers, which are not in our power, because we can dispose ourselves
to receive them, and if the qualification "infused” or "mystical” were re­
fused them because some preparation is brought to them, then we would
have to refuse this title also to rapture which she speaks of in her Life,
chap. 18. She says: "The truth is that, in the beginning, this almost al­
ways happens after much mental prayer.” To be logical, we would have to
speak of an acquired rapture and even of an acquired transforming union.
Quite in harmony with St. Teresa’s teaching is that of the Carmelites,
John of Jesus Mary (Theol. mystica, chap. 3) and Michael de la Fuente (Las
très vidas, Introduction), who place infused contemplation immediately after
simplified, affective prayer, or the acquired prayer of recollection. St. Francis
de Sales does the same in The Love of God (Bk. VI, chap. 7).
ivThe Way of Perfection, chap. 31.
20 Relation LIV to Father Rodriguez Alvarez, p. 295. See what is said also
on the work of the mind, analogous to that of a noria (water wheel), dis­
posing to the supernatural prayer of quiet which we cannot procure for
ourselves by our personal effort. Cf. Life, chap. 14.
n Life, chap. 12.
22 The Way of Perfection, chap. 25.

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what is called mystical theology. . . The understanding
stands as if amazed at the greatness of the things it under­
stands: for God wills it to understand that it understands
nothing whatever of that which His Majesty places before
it.”28 “The presence of God is frequently felt, particularly
by those who have attained to the prayer of union and of
quiet, when we seem, at the very commencement of our
prayer, to find Him with whom we would converse, and when
we seem to feel that He hears us by the effects and the spiritual
impressions of great love and faith of which we are then
conscious, as well as by the good resolutions, accompanied
by sweetness, which we then make. This is a great grace from
God; and let him to whom He has given it esteem it much,
because it is a very high degree ol prayer; but it is not vision.
God is understood to be present there by the effects.24 He
works in the soul: that is the way His Majesty makes His
presence felt.” 28
Under this infused light, “the sou) is inflamed with love
without comprehending how u loves.” 26 “This very sweet
love of our God enters our soul with an extreme gentleness;
it fills it with pleasure and joy 27 without its being able to
understand how or where this good was introduced into it.” 28
It is therefore clearly an infused love like the light it supposes;
it is, as the Thomists say, the fruit of an operating grace by
which the soul is vitally and freely moved by God without
deliberate movement on its own part.29 “When God will make
you drink this water (of contemplation) . . . you will under23 Life, chap. 10.
2« God is therefore not perceived in Himself or immediately, as certain
interpreters of St. Teresa have claimed. She speaks as St. Thomas does (la,
q.94, a. 1 ad 31ml; Ila Ilae, q.5, a. 1: q-97· a.2 ad 2um).
2s Life, chap. 27, where St. Teresa distinguishes between mystical prayei
and the visions that sometimes accompany it.
23 The Way of Perfection, chap. 25.
27 Nevertheless it continues in the dryness of the dark night.
23 Pensées sur le Cantique, chap. 4.
2» St. Thomas, la Ilae, q. 1x1, a.2.

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stand that the true love of God, when it is in its vigor, that
is to say entirely free from earthly things and soaring above
them, is master of all the elements and of the world itself.” 30
“The prayer of quiet is a little spark of the true love of
Himself, which our Lord begins to enkindle in the soul,” 31
and this fire “purifies the soul of the dross and the wretched­
ness into which its faults have plunged it.” 32 This infused
knowledge and love, which are the superior exercise of the
theological virtues under the influence of the Holy Ghost,
constitute the essential foundations of the mystical life. The
Holy Ghost alone can give us this knowledge and love of
God, which have a superhuman mode exceeding our personal
efforts aided by grace.33 St. John of the Cross expresses
the same doctrine when he says: “Contemplation is a science
of love, an infused and loving knowledge of God.” 34 “This
obscure contemplation ... is mystical theology which the
doctors call secret wisdom, communicated according to the
doctrine of St. Thomas, by the infusion of love into the soul.35
This communication is made secretly . . . our faculties are
incapable of acquiring it; it is the Holy Ghost who pours
so The Way of Perfection, chap. 19.
si Life, chap. 15.
32 The Way of Perfection, chap. 19.
ss In fact. St. Teresa says in her Life (chap. 14) that to make people un­
derstand what a supernatural prayer is she would have to speak of the par­
ticular assistance which the soul sees, in a way, with its own eyes in this
prayer. She does not speak of infused ideas.
34 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 18. By thus defining con­
templation, St. John of the Cross shows that in his opinion contemplation,
properly so called, is infused; it is of this infused contemplation that he
speaks constantly. Moreover, the Carmelite, Nicholas of Jesus Mary, in his
Elucidatio phrasium myst. operum Joannis a Cruce (Part II, chap. 4), is
right in saying that infused contemplation is discussed not only in The
Dark Night of the Soul but also in The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II,
chap. 13. Cf. Etudes Carmélitaines, July, 1912, pp. 263. 270.
ss Cf. Ila Ilae, q.180, a. 1. From this quotation, taken from St. Thomas
by St. John of the Cross, we can clearly see how greatly mistaken people are
who claim today that the Angelic Doctor did not speak of essentially mysti­
cal contemplation in his Summa.

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it into the soul.” 86 Under its influence the three theological
virtues are exercised in the highest degree.87 If this infused
and loving contemplation lasts a certain time, it is called a
state of prayer; a passive state, or at least one that is more pas­
sive than active, in this sense that we cannot produce it, but
only dispose ourselves for it.
II. THE DEGREES OF THE MYSTICAL STATE; FROM
THE FOURTH TO THE SEVENTH MANSIONS

In this section we will consider particularly the growing
intensity of charity, of living faith, and of the corresponding
gifts in the mystical state. St. Thomas studied this intensity
from an abstract and theoretical point of view; 88 St. Teresa
described it from experience and in its loftiest forms. To show
this growing intensity of the mystical state, St. Teresa insists
on its progressive extension to the different faculties of the
soul, which are gradually suspended or captivated by God.
First of all, the will is seized and held, then the intellect and
the imagination; finally in ecstasy, the exercise of the exterior
senses is suspended. St. Teresa knows, however, that the
suspension of the imagination and of the senses is only a
concomitant and accidental phenomenon,89 sign of a greater
3« The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 17; and chap. 5.
s’ The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chaps. 6, 7.
33 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.24.
30 The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 1, p. 120. When St. Teresa be­
gins to discuss the prayer of union, which follows quiet, and which is
sometimes accompanied by a beginning of ecstasy, she says to her daughters:
"The majority may be said at least to gain admittance into these rooms.
I think that certain graces I am about to describe are bestowed on only a
few: but if the rest only arrive at the portal, they receive a great boon from
God, for ‘many are called, but few are chosen.’ ” Farther on in the fifth
mansion, chap. 3, she says: "God has many ways of enriching the soul and
bringing it to these mansions (which means, to the supernatural prayer of
union) besides what might be called a shortcut.” We shall see later on what
she means by this shortcut: not the mystical state as has been believed at
times, but the ecstatic state or a beginning of ecstasy. Moreover, in the fifth
mansion, chap. 3, St. Teresa also speaks of a union of conformity to the
divine will, which is not a degree of prayer but an excellent disposition not

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intensity of knowledge and love of God, since it generally
ceases in the most perfect mystical state, the transforming
union.*40 The mystical state, complete in regard to its exten­
sion, is not therefore necessarily the most intense or the most
elevated.41 St. Teresa does not overlook this fact; but this
extension, which is at first progressive, then restrained and
rather easy to determine and describe, may give some light
on the growing elevation of the mystical state, if it is joined
to another sign which is more profound, one on which St.
John of the Cross strongly insisted. This more profound sign
is found, first of all, in the passive purification of the senses,
then in that of the spirit, both of which denote progress in
to have any self-will, a disposition which one can have without having re­
ceived a beginning of ecstasy.
40 The Interior Castle, seventh mansion, chap. 3.
« This has been clearly explained by Saudreau, État mystique, 2d ed„
p. 89. Precisely because of this we regret to see in the same work (p. 46)
that he applies the term "extraordinary” to the prayers of the fifth and
sixth mansions which are accompanied by ecstasy. They are not extraor­
dinary in their essence, but only in certain concomitant and accidental
phenomena. Saudreau recognizes this (p. 51) when he says as we do: “God
can conduct the soul even to the transforming union without granting it
raptures.” He is certainly right in distinguishing the mystical state from what
he calls the extraordinary phenomena of angelic order (p. 180). The objec­
tions which have been raised against him lately on this point (Revue Apolo­
gétique, June 15, 1922) are not well founded. Father Poulain himself clearly
distinguished the mystical state from the visions which may accompany it.
Father Lallemant, S.J., rightly observes in his Doctrine spirituelle (VII Prin­
cipe, chap. 4, art. 7): “According to some writers the degrees of contempla­
tion are: first, the recollection of all the powers; second, semi-rapture; third,
complete rapture; fourth, ecstasy. This division does not, however, so much
express the essence of contemplation as its accidents; for a soul may some­
times have without rapture a more sublime light, a clearer knowledge, a
more excellent operation of God, than another that is favored with extraor­
dinary raptures and ecstasies. The Blessed Virgin was raised higher in con­
templation than all the angels and saints together, and yet she had no
raptures.” Some of the saints, as Bernadette at the Grotto of Lourdes, have
had them in childhood, and then fewer of them in later years. This ob­
servation contains something analogous to what is ordinarily said about
science: its progress in extension is not a certain sign of its progress in pene­
tration. Several persons have a rather extended knowledge of a science with­
out possessing a profound or elevated knowledge that enables them to grasp
with a glance the whole science in its first principles. Cf. St. Thomas, la Ilae,
q. 52.

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the intensity of the knowledge and love of God. St. Teresa
did not neglect this second sign.
A third and still more decisive indication arises from the
fact that virtue normally increases with prayer. The increas­
ingly intimate action of God must be judged especially by
this sign rather than by the passive purifications. These, in
fact, depend greatly on the obstacles that grace encounters,
and also on the types of temperament and on morbid dis­
positions. Although these passive purifications are inseparable
from the development of the mystical life, they cannot meas­
ure it with as great certainty as can progress in virtue.
Progress in virtue, not as man judges it, but rather as it
appears in the sight of God, the only judge of souls, corre­
sponds to the growing intensity of infused contemplation
and of the love of God. St. Teresa has noted this in an admir­
able manner.·*2 Pope Pius X praised her especially for this,
saying: “The degrees of prayer enumerated by the saint are
so many superior ascents toward the summit of perfection.”
At first, in the prayer of quiet “the will alone is made cap­
tive” 43 by the mysterious light received, which manifests to it
the goodness of God present in it, as a little child enjoys the
milk which is given to it.44 Better still, it is like the gushing
forth of the living water which Jesus spoke of to the Samaritan
woman: “The water flows from the very fountain itself,
which is God, ... it wells up from the most intimate depths
of our being with extreme peace, tranquillity, and sweet42 Besides the texts that we shall quote, see what the saint says in her
Life about the progress of virtue corresponding to the prayers symbolized
by the four manners of watering: second water, the flowers (of the virtues)
are about to appear (chap. 15): third water, the flowers bloom; the virtues
draw from this prayer much greater vigor than from the preceding, which
is that of quiet (chaps. 16 f.); fourth water, “this is the time of resolutions,
of heroic determinations, of the living energy of good desires, of the begin­
ning of hatred of the world, and of the most clear perception of its vanity.
The soul makes greater and higher progress than it ever made before in
the previous states of prayer; and grows in humility more and more" (chap.
■9)« The Way of Perfection, chap. 31, p. 179.
Ibid., p. 183.

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ness. . . . Hardly has this celestial water begun to flow from
its source . . . , when one experiences a great interior dilation
and increase. The soul then receives inexpressible spiritual
benefits and indeed is incapable of understanding what it
receives at that moment.” 45 In this state, however, the under­
standing, memory, and imagination are not captivated by
the divine action. Sometimes they act as the auxiliaries of the
will and engage in its service; at other times their contri­
bution serves only to trouble it. St. Teresa says: “Often dur­
ing this prayer you will not know what to do with your
understanding and memory (which never cease to be agi­
tated). . . . But when the will enjoys this quiet, it should
take no more notice of the understanding than it would of
an idiot.” 48
This quiet is often interrupted by the aridities and trials
of the passive night of the senses 47 and by temptations against
patience and chastity which oblige the soul to a salutary
reaction. This greatly strengthens the moral virtues which
have their seat in the sensitive appetites. The effects of the
prayer of quiet are a greater virtue, especially a greater love
of God and ineffable peace, at least in the superior part of
the soul.48
If the soul is humble and generous,40 it will be raised to a
higher degree. In simple union, God’s action is strong enough
to absorb completely the activity of the interior faculties of
the soul; all this activity is directed toward Him and no longer
goes astray. God seizes and captivates the will, and also the
«s The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 2.
MThe Way of Perfection, chap. 31; The Interior Castle, fourth mansion,
chap. 1.
47 The Way of Perfection, chap. 24, 34, 38. The Interior Castle, third man­
sion, chap. 1; fourth mansion, chap. 1. Cf. St. John of the Cross, The Dark
Night of the Soul, Bk. I.
Life, chap. 15.
The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 1. The saint observes that it
is no longer sufficient to follow one’s rule attentively; besides, one must be
very docile to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, who becomes more exact­
ing in proportion as He gives more and wishes to give more.

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thoughts, memory, and imagination. Furthermore, the soul
is usually no longer troubled by distractions. God suspends
the natural action of the intellect “in order better to impress
on us true wisdom.” 00 The memory and imagination are
likewise arrested in their natural operations and intimately
united to God in a way suitable to them. The soul no longer
seeks with effort to draw the salutary water which refreshes
and purifies it; it receives this water simply, like rain falling
from heaven.5* “God does not leave us any share other than
that of an entire conformity of our will to his.” 52 “How
beautiful is the soul after having been immersed in God’s
grandeur and united closely to Him for but a short time!
Indeed, I do not think it is ever as long as half an hour!” 53
The soul has, so to speak, changed form, by dying entirely
to the world, like the silkworm which becomes a white
butterfly.54
St. Teresa observes that this prayer of union is frequently
incomplete, without suspension of the imagination and mem­
ory, which at times wage a veritable war on the intellect and
will.55 Here, as in the prayer of quiet, no more attention
should be paid to the imagination than to a madman.53 St.
Teresa speaks of this incomplete mystical union in The
Interior Castle 57 when she says: “Is it necessary, in order to
attain to this kind of divine union, for the powers of the
60 Ibid.
ei The first way of watering, by drawing water from a well by main strength,
is a picture of meditation (Life, chap. 11); the second way, with the noria (water
wheel), symbolizes the prayer of quiet in which there is still some activity, even
though this is a supernatural prayer (Life, chap. 14); the third way of watering,
by water flowing from a river or fountain, corresponds to the sleep of the pow­
ers (Life, chap. 16); the fourth water, which is rain, symbolizes the prayer of
union (Life, chap. 18).
62 The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 1.
os ibid., chap. 2.
61 Ibid. It must be observed that by this transformation this insect reaches
adult age; by an analogous transformation the soul reaches the adult age of the
supernatural life.
66 Life, chap. 17.
6β ibid.
6t Fifth mansion, chap. 3.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

I53

soul to be suspended? No. God has many ways of enriching
the soul and bringing it to these mansions besides what might
be called a ‘shortcut.’ ” 68
The effects of the prayer of union are most sanctifying.
The soul experiences a great contrition for its faults, an
ardent desire to praise God, and strength to face every trial
so as to serve Him. It is bitterly grieved at the loss of sinners,
and thus it sees what the sufferings of Christ must have been
during His earthly life.59
At this time, a period of trial generally comes, described
by St. Teresa at the beginning of the sixth mansion, and
called by St. John of the Cross the passive night of the soul.
“There is an outcry raised against such a person by those
amongst whom she lives. . . . They say she wants to pass
for a saint, that she goes to extremes in piety. Persons she
thought were her friends desert her, making the most bitter
remarks of all. . . . She suffers scoffing remarks of all sorts
. . . and the worst of it is, these troubles do not blow over
but last all her life.” But the soul enlightened by God is
“strengthened rather than depressed by its trials; experience
s» This shortcut and the delights found in it have at times been thought to
be infused or mystical contemplation; but it is only the suspension of the im­
agination and memory, or a beginning of ecstasy, which sometimes accompanies
mystical union and greatly facilitates it. Cf. Arintero, O.P., Evoluciôn mistica,
p. 63g, and Cuestiones misticas, pp. 325 If.; Father Garate, S.J., Razôn y le,
July, 1908, p. 325. Saudreau rightly observes in Les degrés de la vie spirituelle
(5th ed.), II, 101: “Apropos of this passage (fifth mansion, chap. 3), the new
translators of St. Teresa say that according to her teaching there are two ways
leading to the state of union, the mystical way and the non-mystical way. St.
Teresa says nothing of the sort; if she did, she would be contradicting her own
constant teaching (cf. The Way of Perfection, chaps. 18-21). She says—and the
new translation shows this to be the original text—merely that the soul enters
this fifth mansion either by union, which is a beginning of ecstasy, or without it.
It may be that the soul has not this ecstatic union, and yet has received very
precious mystical graces." We repeat that the passive prayer of union is not
extraordinary in its basis or in its very essence, even though certain of its acci­
dental or concomitant phenomena may be so. For a discussion of St. Teresa’s
word “shortcut," cf. Philip of the Blessed Trinity, Theol. myst., Ill, 71; An­
thony of the Holy Ghost, Direct, myst., Tract. IV, Disp. I, sec. 4; Vallgornera,
O.P., Theol. myst., II, 137.
se The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 2.

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having taught it the great advantages derived from them. . . .
Moreover, the soul conceives a special tenderness lor these
people who make it suffer." “Our Lord now usually sends
severe illnesses.’0 . . . The rest would seem trifling in com­
parison. if one could relate the interior torments met with
here, but they are impossible to describe. ... A confessor
who dreads and suspects everything. . . . Interior anguish
of the soul at the sight of its own wretchedness. ... It
believes that God permits it to be deceived in punishment
for its sins. This suffering becomes almost unbearable, es­
pecially when such spiritual dryness ensues that the mind
feels as if it had never thought of God nor ever will be able
to do so. When men speak of Him, they seem to be talking
of some person heard of long ago. . . . The understanding
is so obscured that it is incapable of discerning the truth; it
believes all that the imagination puts before it, besides credit­
ing the falsehoods suggested to it by the devil. Our Lord
doubtless gives the devil leave to tempt it, and even to make
it think that God has rejected it. . . . During this tempest,
the soul is incapable of receiving any comfort. The only
remedy is to wait for the mercy of God who, when the soul
least expects it, delivers it from all its sufferings by a single
word addressed to it, or by some unforeseen happening. Then
it seems as if there had never been any trouble and the soul
praises the Lord, for it is He who has fought for it and
rendered it victorious. The soul sees clearly that the conquest
was not its own. . . . Then it recognizes perfectly its weak­
ness and how little we can do of ourselves when the Lord
withdraws His help. It no longer needs to reflect in order
to understand this truth.” 01
eo Ibid.
ei The Interior Castle, sixth mansion, chap. i. St. Teresa understood thus by
experience the great doctrine of St. Augustine and St. Thomas on efficacious
grace, as Dominic Battez expounded it. Generally souls which pass through the
night of the soul can no longer admit any other doctrine, even though pre­
viously they have been inclined toward the contrary opinion, according to
which grace is rendered efficacious by our good consent.

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255

“Since these troubles come from above, no earthly comfort
can avail. This great God wishes us to acknowledge His
sovereignty and our misery. . . . The best means ... to
succeed in bearing this anguish is to perform external works
of charity and to hope for everything from the mercy of God.
He never fails those who hope in Him. . . . The exterior
sufferings caused by the devils are more unusual . . . and all
the sufferings which they may cause are slight in comparison
with those which I have just described.” 82 Farther on, St.
Teresa speaks of a still more painful purification of love
which occurs at the entrance to the seventh mansion, “as
the purification of purgatory introduces the soul into
heaven”; 83 but then the soul, while bearing this suffering,
is aware that it is an eminent favor.
After passing through these interior sufferings, the soul
receives such a knowledge of God’s grandeur that frequently
partial or complete ecstasy follows.81 Union with God is so
perfect that it suspends the operations of the exterior senses;
all the activity of the soul is ravished toward God, and con­
sequently ceases to function in regard to the exterior world.85
If at times a scholar, like Archimedes, is so absorbed by
speculation that he no longer hears words spoken to him,
with greater reason is this true of the contemplative soul
when a very strong grace, making it experience God’s infinite
grandeur, absorbs it in this blessed contemplation.88
62 The Interior Castle, sixth mansion, chap. i.
β’ Ibid., chap. 11.
The Interior Castle, sixth mansion, chap. 5. Father Joret, O.P., showed
clearly (La vie spirituelle, May, 1922, p. 90) that ecstasy, which is a consequence
of infused contemplation, is not properly speaking extraordinary. It is a differ­
ent mattei if it precedes contemplation and prepares the soul for it.
es This is in virtue of the principle often formulated by St. Thomas: "cum
totaliter anima intendat ad actum unius potentiae, abstrahitur homo ab actu
alterius potentiae" (De veritate, q. 13, a.3).
ee God then appears more and more as supreme Truth, and the soul under­
stands the meaning of the psalmist's words: “Every man is a liar." The soul also
sees why the Most High so greatly loves humility. “Because He is the supreme
Truth and humility is the truth. It is most true that we have nothing good of
ourselves, and that misery and nothingness are our portion” (sixth mansion,

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At other times, the soul exults and cannot refrain from
singing the praises of God. This is a very desirable grace:
“May His Majesty frequently grant us such a prayer which
is both safe and advantageous! We cannot acquire it for
ourselves as it is quite supernatural. Sometimes it lasts for
a whole day. . . . This jubilation plunges the soul into such
a forgetfulness of itself and of all things that it is incapable
of thinking or of speaking, except to offer to God praise,
which is, as it were, the natural fruit of its joy.” 67
St. Teresa says, on the contrary, when speaking of visions
impressed directly on the imagination: “It is not at all
fitting ... to desire them”; 68 they are extraordinary favors
quite distinct from the full development of the life of grace
in us. “Know that for having received many favors of this
kind, a soul will not merit more glory. . . . There are many
saints who never knew what it was to receive one such favor,
while others who have received them are not saints at
all. . . . Often for even one of these favors the Lord sends
a great number of tribulations.” 88
Finally the soul is introduced into the seventh mansion,
the transforming union with God, which is immediately
preceded by a last and very painful purification, that of love,
“where the soul dies with the desire to die.” In this mansion
some souls have an intellectual vision of the Blessed Trinity
who dwells in us; but this vision, with a clarity that varies
and is as it were intermittent, is not of the essence of the
transforming union. Indeed it does not seem necessarily to
chap. 10). It would, therefore, be an error to believe that the just man is distin­
guished from the sinner by his liberty alone, and that this difference does not
come from grace. "What distinguisheth thee?" says St. Paul.
er The Interior Castle, sixth mansion, chap. 6.
es ibid., chap. g. In the same sense the Discalced Carmelite, Joseph of the
Holy Ghost, correcting Anthony of the Annunciation, C.D., rightly observes
and proves that “we can keenly desire and humbly petition God for infused
contemplation, but not for ecstasy and other similar favors which sometimes
accompany it.” Cursus theol. mystico-scolasticae (1791), II, 222, 224.
eo The Interior Castle, sixth mansion, chap. 9.

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257

be linked with it.70 Moreover, ecstasies have generally
ceased; 71 and what constitutes the foundation of this eminent
state is in no way miraculous, that is, the superior faculties
are passively drawn to the deepest center of the soul where
the Blessed Trinity dwells. Under the influence of this grace,
the soul cannot doubt that the divine Persons are present
in it; it is, besides, practically never deprived of Their com­
pany. “The soul recognizes by certain secret aspirations that
it is God who gives it life,” and that He is the Life of our life.72
The Christian who has reached this perfect age is morally
one with Him, in the sense in which St. Paul says: “He who
is joined to the Lord, is one spirit.” 73 As far as is possible
on earth, this is the full realization of our Lord’s prayer:
“That they may be one, as We also are one; I in them, and
Thou in Me . . · and that the world may know that Thou
hast sent Me, . . . and hast loved them, as Thou hast also
loved Me.” 74 In the same way, rain falling into a river is so
mingled with the stream that it can no longer be distinguished
from it; or, to use the figure employed by St. John of the
Cross: “It resembles the condition of wood when the fire
has attacked it with its flames, dried it out, and finally pene­
trated it and transformed it into itself.” 75 It is still wood,
70 St. Teresa speaks of it in the seventh mansion (chaps. 1, 2), and describes it
as it was granted to her "in an extraordinary way.” St. John of the Cross, who
discussed at greater length the spiritual marriage in its relation with the theo­
logical virtues, does not say that such a vision is necessarily linked with that
state. He simply points out (Canticle, Part III, and The Living Flame) the fact
that in the transforming union there is a very lofty contemplation of the divine
perfections. Father Poulain recognizes this. Cf. Les grâces d'oraison (9th ed.),
chap. 19, no. 15.
η The Interior Castle, seventh mansion, chap. 3: "From the moment when
the Lord discloses to the soul the wonders of this mansion and gives it entrance
to it, the soul loses this great weakness (of ecstasy) which was so painful to it and
from which nothing could deliver it. Perhaps this comes from the fact that the
Lord has strengthed it, dilated it, and rendered it capable of His operations.”
Thus union with God, being possible without hindering the exercise of the fac­
ulties, becomes almost constant.
72 The Interior Castle, seventh mansion, chap. 2.
73 See I Cor. 6: 17.
’< John 17: 22 f.
70 The Living Flame, st. 1, v. 4.

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but incandescent wood which has taken on the properties of
fire. In the same way, a flame rises almost constantly toward
God from a purified heart.
The effects of the transforming union are those of the per­
fect exercise of the theological virtues and of the gifts, which
have reached their full development. The soul is practically
freed from the disorders of the passions; as long as it is under
the actual grace of the transforming union, it does not com­
mit deliberate venial sins.70 At other times, it still occasionally
commits some venial faults, which are quickly atoned for.
What is outstanding in the soul is a great forgetfulness of
self, a keen desire to suffer in imitation of our Lord, a true
joy in persecution. Aridities and interior sufferings have
ceased as well as the desire to die. These souls, inflamed with
zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of their neighbor,
“desire to live long years in the midst of the most severe trials
in order that the Lord may be ever so little glorified by
them.” 77 This is truly the apostolic life (manifest or hidden),
which flows from the plenitude of contemplation, to use the
expression of St. Thomas.78 It is the full perfection of Chris­
tian life, which our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, and the Apos­
tles have exemplified in the highest degree. “God cannot
bestow upon us a more precious favor than a life conformed
to that of His well-beloved Son. Moreover, . . . these graces
are intended to strengthen our weakness and to make us able
to bear great sufferings in imitation of this divine Son.” 78
The soul is thus truly spiritualized and shares in the very
strength of Christ and in His immense love for God and for
souls. Such is, on earth, the perfect age of the life of grace,
the full realization of the first precept: “Thou 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.” 80
7« The Interior Castle, seventh mansion, chap. 2.
77 Ibid., chap. 3.
7* See Hal lae, q. 188, a. 6.
7« The Interior Castle, seventh mansion, chap. 4.
Luke 10: 27.

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All just souls are called, at least in a general and remote
manner, to this transforming union, which is the normal
prelude to the life of heaven. If they are faithful to this call,
and at the same time humble and generous, they will hear a
more proximate and urgent invitation.81 St. Teresa repeats
this in the Epilogue to The Interior Castle: “In truth you
cannot by your own strength, no matter how great it may
seem to you, enter all the mansions. The Master of the Castle
must Himself admit you. If you encounter any resistance on
His part, I advise you not to try to use violence. You would
so greatly displease Him that He would forever close the doors
to you. He deeply loves humility; if you believe yourself un­
worthy to enter even the third mansion, you will soon obtain
admission to the fifth. You will even be able to frequent it so
assiduously and to serve Him so well, that He will admit
you to the mansion which He has reserved for Himself.” 82
She makes the same statement in her Life.33
In conclusion, let us point out that in St. Teresa’s writings
the normal way of sanctity consists in humility and abnega­
tion, which prepare the soul for infused contemplation, highly
desirable for all, and also for a more and more intimate divine
union, indeed even for the transforming union, the culminat­
ing point in the normal development of the supernatural
life. As for extraordinary facts, such as visions, interior words,
and private revelations, however useful for the sanctification
of the soul, they ought not to be desired. They are accidental,
transient phenomena, whereas infused contemplation con­
tinues. They do not unite us as closely to God as do perfect
ei Cf. the texts from The Way of Perfection, chaps. 18-21, quoted in the first
part of this article.
82 Cf. also St. John of the Cross, The Spiritual Canticle, st. 34.
83 Chap. 40: “Then He said: 'Ah, My daughter, they are few who love Me in
truth; for if men loved Me, I should not hide My secrets from them.’ ” She ob­
serves also (ibid.): “There are many more women than men to whom our Lord
gives these graces.” To show what purity of soul is required for us to enter
heaven, she says (chap. 38): “In all the visions I had, I saw no souls escape pur­
gatory except three." Yet to avoid purgatory is the normal way of sanctity.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

faith and the gift of wisdom which, in varying degrees, exists
in all the just.84
What the interior soul should desire above all else is the
ever deeper reign of God in it, continual growth in charity.
This it should long for because the precept of love is without
limit and obliges us, if not to be saints, at least to tend to sanc­
tity, each one according to his condition,85 and because Christ
said to all: “Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
This is the goal which St. Teresa has shown us. The greatest
tribute that can be given her is that she has marvelously
praised the glory of God by making us see, in her writings and
in her life, God’s great love for the humble, and all that He
wishes to do for “souls determined to follow our Lord and to
journey on, in spite of the cost, even to the fountain of living
water. . . . This is the royal road which leads to heaven.” 88
ARTICLE IV

What Infused Contemplation Does Not Essentially
Require
The different definitions of infused contemplation given
by theologians agree on one fundamental point. Infused con­
templation, they say, is, above reasoning and in the obscurity
of faith, a simple and loving knowledge of God, which cannot
be obtained by our personal activity aided by grace, but
rather demands a manifest, special illumination and inspira­
tion of the Holy Ghost.1 When it lasts for a certain time, this
ei The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chaps. 7, 8.
as Cf. St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q. 184, a.3. The doctrine taught in this article
is forgotten and misunderstood by many great modem theologians.
8β The Way of Perfection, chap. 21.
1 In the ascetical life, the inspiration of the Holy Ghost remains latent; but
in tire mystical life it is generally quite manifest. It may not be so for the soul
receiving it, for in periods of trial this inspiration may remain hidden from the
soul; but it is manifest at least for the spiritual director who sees that the pas­
sive night of the senses and of the spirit have as their principal cause a purify­
ing light of mystical order.

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261

contemplation is a state of passive prayer. Theologians gener­
ally agree on this fundamental point. We believe it is the true
definition, which retains what is essential in the descriptions
given by the most accepted mystics. To understand this defi­
nition well, we will show first what infused contemplation
does not require. Once the ground has been cleared, we shall
more easily see what really constitutes it, by seeking the prin­
ciple from which contemplation proceeds.
There have been theologians who thought that more dis­
tinctive marks should be added to the definition we have
just given. Some have declared that infused contemplation is
given suddenly, unexpectedly, without preparation on our
part, and that it is accompanied by an absolute impossibility
of discursive reasoning.2 Others, confusing it with certain
accidental and concomitant phenomena, have seen in it a
gratuitous grace (gratis data), an extraordinary gift such as
prophecy.’ According to others, it would require infused ideas
similar to those of the angels and would make us see God not
in an image, but as He is in Himself.4 Some have even added
that infused contemplation is not a meritorious act.5 These
2 It is thus that Honoré de Sainte-Marie, C.D., in his work, which in certain
respects is very valuable, Tradition des pères et des auteurs ecclésiastiques sur
la contemplation, 1708, Part III, Diss. 3, a. 1, sec. 2, applies the word "acquired'·
to all contemplative prayer which has been preceded by some work of recollec­
tion. Moreover, he even maintains that acquired contemplation, like infused,
"is accompanied ... by the prayer of quiet, by the sleep of the powers, by
spiritual silence, ecstasy, rapture.” He is, however, obliged to add: “Although
acquired contemplation may sometimes cause ecstasy and rapture, it seems
quite evident that this cannot happen without some influence of the gifts of
the Holy Ghost; and thus acquired contemplation passes into infused." We
read in the same chapter: "In this acquired contemplation, one never attains to
what is called pure contemplation.”
s This is what Anthony of the Annunciation, C.D., taught in his Disceptatio
mystica, tr. 2, q.4, a.8, no. 34. He was later corrected on this point by Joseph of
the Holy Ghost, C.D., Cursus theol. myst.-scol., II. 224.
4 Farges, Les phénomènes mystiques, 1921, pp. 76, 86, 94, 98, 108, 114.
» Bossuet, instruction sur les états d'oraison, Bk. VII: "The mystical state is
like prophecy, or the gift of tongues or of miracles. It resembles the kind of
grace which is called a grace freely bestowed, gratia gratis data. ... If we must
be more explicit, we shall say that the mystical state, consisting principally in
something that God operates in us, without us, and in which consequently

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

confusions may be easily dispelled by an examination of St.
Teresa’s descriptions, quoted in the preceding article. It is a
simple matter to show that the definition which we have given
fully suffices without the addition of other ideas.
1) Infused contemplation is not always given suddenly, un­
expectedly, like rain falling from heaven. More often than not,
it is granted after a certain preparation, when the soul is al­
ready recollected. Thus, according to St. Teresa (The Interior
Castle, fourth mansion), the prayer of quiet is a “supernatural”
prayer which we are incapable of procuring for ourselves by
our own efforts. But she says that the soul prepares itself to re­
ceive this prayer by pious thoughts, by labor of the understand­
ing, as one turns a noria (water wheel) in order to draw water.®
On this point, it is well also to consult St. John of the Cross.7
2) Infused contemplation is not necessarily accompanied
by an absolute impossibility to discourse or to reason, which
would come from the suspension of the imagination. It is
possible for this ligature not to exist, since according to the
saints there are often distractions in the supernatural prayer
of quiet. They also say that some souls, which are in this
state, are wrong in leaving it by being willing to discourse too
much.
3) Another error is to hold that infused contemplation is
not a meritorious act. Although we cannot have it at will like
an act of faith, we can freely consent to be moved in this way
by the Holy Ghost. Consequently the act is vital and free,
without in itself being deliberate and the fruit of our personal
there is not and cannot be any merit." This is a surprising confusion in so great
a soul: it is one which led him to state in the same work (Bk. IX) that St. Francis
de Sales had not experienced quiet. St. Jane de Chantal says the contrary in her
Réponses (2d ed„ 1665), pp. 508 ff. It is true that later on in his last work, in his
letters of direction and pious treatises, after having examined the question
more thoroughly. Bossuet spoke of contemplation and the prayer of the simple
presence of God as St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa did. Cf. p. 230 note 31.
0 Life, chap. 14.
τ The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 12.

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263

effort. In the same way a good student, attentive to the doc­
trine proposed by his teacher, is passive while receiving it, for
he could not have discovered it himself; but he receives it
voluntarily and with facility. In infused contemplation the
soul exercises this docility toward God; this docility is free
and also meritorious because it proceeds from charity, the
source of all merit.
4) Neither the consciousness of being in the state of grace
nor a sense of delight is necessary to infused contemplation,
since neither this consciousness nor this joy is found in the
periods called the passive night of the senses and of the soul;
yet these periods are a mystical state. As we shall see later, in
the night of the senses the gift of knowledge dominates by
showing us especially the vanity of created thing's; 8 and in
the night of the soul the gift of understanding 9 manifests less
the goodness of God than His infinite majesty, and by con­
trast our own wretchedness. Sweetness and peace, the fruit of
the gift of wisdom, are experienced especially between the
two nights, and much more strongly after the second. Al­
though great consolations are to be found in the mystical life,
there are also terrible interior trials lasting for months and
years.
5) For the same reason the feeling of the presence of God
is not essential to the mystical state. This feeling does not
exist at all in the night of the spirit, during which the soul
thinks it is rejected by God, and seems almost to despair of
its salvation. Nevertheless the soul still possesses the loving
and profound knowledge of God’s infinite grandeur but is as
it were crushed by it. “Then,” says St. John of the Cross, puri­
fying “contemplation consists in feeling oneself deprived of
God, chastised, repulsed by Him.” 10 If anyone were to admit
that the essence of the mystical state is the feeling of God’s
S Summa, Ila Ilae, q.9, a.4.
0 Ibid., q.8, a.7.
10 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 6.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

presence, he would be led to maintain, with a recent author,
that the mystical state does not exist in the periods of desola­
tion through which contemplatives pass. This view is utterly
opposed to the entire doctrine set forth by St. John of the Cross
in The Dark Night of the Soul on the infused, purifying light
which gives an impression of great darkness to the soul, which
is still too weak to bear it. This teaching is founded on the
description given to us by the most accepted mystics. We will
now devote our attention to considerations of a more abstract
order.
G) Infused contemplation is certainly not a grace gratis
data, bestowed especially in view of the sanctification of
others, like prophecy or the gift of tongues, because contem­
plation is directly ordained to personal sanctification, and
more often than not is known only to the person receiving it
and to his confessor. Joseph of the Holy Ghost, C.D., is there­
fore quite right in saying that he cannot comprehend why
Anthony of the Annunciation, C.D., in contradiction to tra­
dition, placed infused contemplation among the graces gratis
datae and insisted that it should not be asked of God, except
with the reservations with which one may ask for the grace
of miracles and the gift of prophecy.11
7) Infused contemplation does not require infused ideas
like those of the angels. Infused ideas may indeed be found
in certain mystical states as a concomitant phenomenon, for
example, in intellectual visions and certain revelations. But
prophecy itself, according to St. Thomas,12 does not generally
require these infused ideas; it suffices to have an infused
light, which is quite a different thing, and a new co-ordination
of acquired ideas. We would be greatly in error if we con­
founded the impressio specierum with the impressio luminis;
the material element of knowledge (species or ideas) would no
longer be distinguished from the formal element (the light
11 Joseph of the Holy Ghost, C.D., Cursus theol. myst.-scol. (1721), Vol. II,
Praedicabile II, disp. XI, q.2, pp. 224, 236.
12 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.173, a.2.

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265

which elevates the intellect and gives it the strength to per­
ceive and to judge).18
Moreover, if mystical contemplation required infused
species of angelic order, it would ordinarily require no co­
operation on the part of the imagination. If this were true, all
who are in the mystical state, even simply in quiet, would
operate without the assistance of the brain, and sleep itself
would offer no obstacle. They would contemplate even while
asleep. Experience proves that this is true only in very special
and truly extraordinary states.14 According to St. Thomas,
who follows Dionysius and St. Albert the Great in this matter,
there is in infused contemplation (setting aside certain very
superior intellectual visions) a certain almost imperceptible
contribution on the part of the imagination; although the
soul does not pay attention to images, they are not excluded.15
In the same way, in the ordinary course of life we use a pen
to write, without observing its form; when we read we see
letters, but are attentive only to their meaning. A theologian,
speculating on the Deity, superior to being, to unity, to the
good, has only a verbal image, the word “Deity,” to which he
does not give any heed. At other times we may start with the
image of a body so as to come to the idea of the incorporeal.
St. Thomas clearly states16 that infused contemplation is
more perfect in proportion as it is freed from sensible images.
is Ibid.
1·* Saudreau, Étal mystique, ad ed., p. 356.
« St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.180, a.5 ad sum; De veritate, q.18, a.5. In this ar­
ticle St. Thomas shows that in the state of innocence, Adam, to whom he never­
theless attributes a very lofty mystical contemplation, did not know the angels
by their very essence, in a purely spiritual manner; for he did not obtain
natural knowledge and supernatural knowledge without sensible images, ex­
cept perhaps in extraordinary raptures. Man, in his present state, does not know
things in fact without a certain contribution on the part of the imagination,
and grace perfects the intellect without changing the mode of knowing. St.
Thomas cites in support of this doctrine the following quotation from
Dionysius, who nevertheless had the loftiest conception of infused contempla­
tion (De coelesli hierar., chap. 1): "quod impossibile est nobis aliter lucere
divinum radium, nisi varietate sacrorum velaminum circumvelatum.” Cf. also
De veritate, q. 13, a. 1.
te Summa, lia Ilae, q.15, a.8.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Often it suffices to have the impression of a light in the imagi­
nation, or on the contrary, in the period called the dark night,
the impression of darkness; or again a very confused impres­
sion suggestive of life. In any case, infused ideas, similiar to
those of the angels, are not at all necessary, although they may
sometimes be granted in exceptional favors.17
8) Notwithstanding what has recently been written,18 it is
even truer that infused contemplation does not require an
immediate perception of God, which would make us know
Him as He is. This immediate perception of God does not
exist, in fact, in the great anxieties of the passive nights of the
senses and of the soul, which are, nevertheless, mystical states
and are accompanied by infused contemplation. Does this
perception exist in the other phases of the mystical ascent?
Nothing permits such an affirmation; on the contrary, every­
thing leads us to think that it is impossible. The texts of St.
Thomas, on which this theory claims to be based, cannot have
the meaning attributed to them.18 One writer asserts: “It is
sufficient (in mystical contemplation) to know God as He
shows Himself, partially, in order to know Him as He is.” 20
God, however, being incapable of division, cannot show Him­
self partially in such a way that He would make Himself
seen as He is. The divine attributes exist in Him formaliter
eminenter, and they are only virtually distinct, because they
are really identical in the eminence of the Deity. Consequently
nobody can see one of them as it is, without seeing the others
and without seeing the Deity itself, which, as Dionysius says,
17 This is the common teaching. Cf. Vallgornera, Theol. myst. S. Thomae,
I, 450; Philip of the Blessed Trinity and Anthony of the Holy Ghost.
re Farges, Les phénomènes mystiques, p. 97: "To stun up: God, the super­
natural agent, is immediately perceived in His action received in the soul (in­
fused idea), as the material agent is directly perceived in its action on the
external senses, quasi species (impressa) rei visae."
i» Cf. op. tit., p. 98. A text is cited from the Contra Gentiles, Bk. HI, chap. 54.
But St. Thomas is there speaking of the light of glory necessary for the beatific
vision, and not of an infused idea which would render possible an immediate
perception of God inferior to this vision. The difference is a notable one.
20 Farges, Les phénomènes mystiques, p. 98.

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267

is super ens et super unum. St. Thomas states explicitly and
proves that no vision inferior to the beatific vision can make us
know God as He is in Himself; no created, infused idea can
manifest just as He is, Him who is being itself, who is eternally
subsistent intellection itself.21 In theology the expression sicuti
est has a formal meaning which is fulfilled only in the beatific
vision.22 Neither angels before receiving the light of glory nor
Adam before his sin, knew God as He is. St. Thomas is explicit
on this point.28 He says as clearly as possible: “The vision of the
blessed in heaven differs from that of creatures still in the state
of trial, not as seeing more perfectly and seeing less perfectly,
but as seeing and not seeing. Consequently neither Adam nor
the angels in the state of trial saw the divine essence.” 24
If St. Paul, while on earth, received the beatific vision in a
transitory manner when he was ravished to the third heaven,
as St. Augustine and St. Thomas think he did, he certainly
enjoyed an altogether extraordinary grace far above the
highest mystical state described by St. Teresa.25
According to Farges,20 the immediate perception of God,
which would be essential to mystical contemplation, is none
other than that which the angels naturally possess according
to St. Thomas. But St. Thomas teaches that this natural
knowledge, which an angel has of God, is not immediate. He
21 See la, q. 12, a. 2.
22 The Council of Vienne condemned this error of the Beghards: "The soul
does not need the light of glory in order to see God and to enjoy Him.”
23 See la, q.56, a.3; q.94, a. 1; Ila Ilae, q.5, a. 1; De veritate, q. 18, a. 1.
24 De veritate, loc. cit.
23 Even in such extraordinary graces as intellectual visions of the Blessed
Trinity, of which St. Teresa speaks, intuition remains negative, per via in nega­
tionis, as St. Thomas teaches, De veritate, q. 10, a. 11 ad 1411m: “. . . de visione
intellectuali, qua sancti divinam veritatem in contemplatione intuentur; non
quidem sciendo de ea quid est sed magis quid non est.” In an intellectual vision
of the Blessed Trinity, a vision of angelic order or by means of infused ideas,
the soul sees, especially in regard to the divine essence of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, what they are not, rather than what they are. This vision is very
superior to theological speculation, but it does not take away faith; it does not
give the intrinsic evidence of the mystery, evidence which is given only by the
light of glory.
20 Op. cit., pp. 99. 108.

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does not say,27 as some authors claim he does, that it excludes
the species expressa or verbum mentis, but that it is not ob­
tained through the mirror of creatures exterior to the angels.
The difference is considerable. St. Thomas says: “The angel
knows God naturally, in so far as he is himself (by his angelic
nature) a similitude of God; but he does not see the divine
essence, for no created similitude can represent it. Moreover,
this angelic knowledge is related rather to specular knowl­
edge, for the nature of the angel is like a mirror reflecting
the image of God.”
If, as has been said,28 the immediate intuition of God,
essential to mystical contemplation, “is at one and the same
time the natural gift of the angels and the supernatural gift
of contemplative mystics,” it would follow that mystical con­
templation would be in an order immensely inferior to that of
sanctifying grace and of the theological virtues. It would
not be a participation in the divine nature and life, but only
a participation in the angelic life; there is a great abyss
between these two. And contemplation would not attain
to more than the natural knowledge of God which the devil
preserves, for the fallen angel retains the integrity of his
natural knowledge.20 On the contrary, it is absolutely certain
that infused contemplation, like sanctifying grace or the
grace of the virtues and of the gifts, is essentially supernatural
(quoad substantiam'), as well in the angels in the state of
trial as in man. By this very fact, contemplation is infinitely
superior to the natural knowledge of the greatest human
geniuses, and also to the natural knowledge of the highest
angel, and even of creatable angels.
Evidently this theory of mystical contemplation, which
seems greatly to elevate it by making it an extraordinary,
angelic thing, generally inaccessible to interior souls, lowers
it exceedingly by identifying it with the natural knowledge
2’ Sec la, q.56. a.3.
28 Farges, loc. cit.
20 Sec la. q.64. a. 1.

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which the devil preserves.50 This point of view springs from
the confusion, which we have pointed out several times,
between the essential (quoad substantiam) supernaturalness·
of the grace of the virtues and of the gifts, and the modal
(quoad modum) supernaturalness of miracles, prophecy, and
other extraordinary facts of the same class. The difference is
considerable: the resurrection of a dead person supernat­
urally restores natural life, which is infinitely inferior to·
that of grace; the life restored is not essentially supernatural,
but only so by the mode of its production (quoad modum).
Likewise, if the natural knowledge of the angels is communi­
cated to man by infused ideas, it is supernatural for man by
the manner of its production (quoad modum), but not essen­
tially so. Hence it remains infinitely inferior to the order of
grace, and it could become increasingly perfect in its order
•o The reader will not be astonished that, from this point of view, Bishop
Farges declares that the unitive way branches in two different directions: the
ordinary or active way, and the extraordinary or passive way (op. cit., p. 18).
To support this statement, he appeals to an isolated text from St. Teresa’s
writings, the meaning of which should be determined by comparison with
many other very important texts commonly quoted in favor of the contrary
thesis.
The principal reason, he tells us (op. cit., p. 275), why, according to St. Teresa,
many souls do not pass beyond quiet, is that God does not call them higher.
. . . St. Teresa, on the contrary, expresses this opinion (fifth mansion, chap. 1):
"There are many called, few chosen. . . . Let us beg the Lord to grant us His
grace in order that we may not be frustrated by our own fault: let us ask Him
to show the way and give us the strength to dig continually until we find this
hidden treasure." Cf. St. Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. XII.
chap. 11.
Bishop Farges also appeals (p. 127) to the authority of Father Vallgornera,
O.P., but he seems to forget that this Thomist, faithful to his school, teaches, as
do the Carmelite theologians, that all souls should aspire to infused contem­
plation and that it is ordinarily granted to the perfect. It is, therefore, not
essentially extraordinary (by nature). Cf. Vallgornera, Theol. myst. S. Thomae,
I, 428; likewise Philip of the Blessed Trinity, C.D., and Anthony of the Holy
Ghost, C.D.
He recognizes elsewhere (op. cit., pp. 243, 257) that the passive purifications,
purgatory before death, are necessary to cleanse the soul from all its blemishes.
When we add to this idea the fact that these passive purifications are, as St.
John of the Cross says, a mystical state, must we not conclude that the mystical
state normally leads to the full perfection of Christian life, to the perfect purifi­
cation of the soul immutably united ' o God?

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without ever attaining the dignity of infused faith by which
we believe in the Trinity and in the incarnation.81 Thus
the sides of a polygon inscribed in a circle can be multiplied
infinitely, and the polygon will never coincide with the circle,
for no matter how small each side may be, it will never
become a point.
The theory of the immediate perception of God is like­
wise contrary to the common teaching of the mystics. St. John
of the Cross tells us that even in the spiritual marriage con­
templation takes place in faith. For him, as well as for St.
Thomas,31
3233
faith and immediate, positive perception are mutu­
ally exclusive: the act of vision cannot be an act of faith.
Consequently we can admit here only an obscure, negative
(per viam negationis) intuition. According to St. Thomas,
this intuition shows us better and better what God is not,
that He surpasses all conception; it is to this quasi-unknown
God that infused love unites us.
All mystics tell us that they perceive, not God Himself, as
He is, but the effect of His action on their soids especially
in the sweetness of love which He causes them to experience.
Speaking of what often happens to those who have the super­
natural prayer of union or that of quiet, St. Teresa writes,
as we have already observed: “The presence of God is fre­
quently felt, particularly by those who have attained to the
prayer of union and of quiet, when we seem, at the very
commencement of our prayer, to find Him with whom we
would converse, and when we seem to feel that He hears
us by the effects and the spiritual impressions of great love
and faith of which we are then conscious, as well as by the
good resolutions, accompanied by sweetness, which we then
make. This is a great grace from God; and let him to whom
31 Thus our infused faith, which is exercised by acquired ideas, differs mate­
rially from the infused faith of the angels, which is exercised by infused ideas;
but it does not differ from it formally by the formal motive, or by the infused
light which is likewise supernatural.
33 Summa, Ila Ilae, a-i, a.4.

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271

He has given it esteem it much, because it is a very high
degree of prayer; but it is not vision. God is understood to
be present there by the effects He works in the soul: that is
the way His Majesty makes His presence felt.” 83 We could
quote many similar texts from the greatest masters of mysti­
cism.84 St. Thomas teaches the same doctrine in his explana­
tion of the classic expression of Dionysius: “Not only
learning but also experiencing divine things.” “There is a
twofold knowledge of God’s goodness or will. One is specula­
tive. . . . The other knowledge of God’s will or goodness
is affective or experimental, and thereby a man experiences
in himself the taste of God’s sweetness, and complacency in
God’s will, as Dionysius says of Hierotheos (Div. nom., II),
that he learns divine things through experience of them. It
is in this way that we are told to prove God’s will, and to
taste His sweetness.” 88 This is the way that we know God,
not immediately as He is, but by the effects which He pro­
duces in us.
ARTICLE V
The Essential Relation of Infused Contemplation
and of The Mystical Life with the Gifts of
The Holy Ghost
We have seen what infused contemplation does not essen­
tially require. We must now see what constitutes it formally
and from what principle it proceeds. By so doing, we shall
as Life, chap. 27.
s< Cf. Saudreau, État mystique (2d ed., pp. 320-48), in which he shows that
the texts invoked in favor of the immediate perception of Gori are incomplete
and have not the meaning that some writers attribute to them.
3» Summa, Xia Ilae, q.97, a.2 ad 2um. In the Commentary on the Divine
Names (chap. 2), St. Thomas thus explains this passage: "Not only learning
but also experiencing divine things, that is, not only receiving the knowledge
of divine things in the intellect but also by loving, united to Him by affection."
Likewise De veritate, q.26, a. 3 ad i8um. See farther on (p. 306) for other
texts of St. Thomas and of John of St. Thomas.

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explain the definition given at the beginning of the preceding
article.
According to the common teaching of theologians, infused
contemplation is, above reasoning and in the obscurity of
faith, a simple and loving knowledge of God which cannot
be obtained by our personal activity aided by grace; but, on
the contrary, it requires a special, manifest inspiration and
illumination of the Holy Ghost.1 In other words, whereas
the ascetial life is characterized by the predominance of
the human mode of the Christian virtues, which we exercise
at will, the mystical life has as its distinctive character the
predominance of the superhuman or divine mode of the
gifts of the Holy Ghost; that is, an infused knowledge and
love that cannot be the fruit of our personal effort.2 To
understand this doctrine clearly, we must recall the rôle and
the necessity of the gifts of the Holy Ghost in our super­
natural life, and in particular that of the gift of wisdom,
which theologians commonly consider the superior principle
of infused contemplation. The best means of learning the
traditional teaching on this point is to consult St. Thomas,
who has been generally followed.
I. The gifts of the Holy Ghost. Are they specifically dis­
tinct from the acquired virtues and from the infused virtues?
We have explained (supra, chap. 3, art. 2) the specific dis­
tinction between the infused virtues and the acquired virtues
by their formal object. It is of faith that over and above the
1 This inspiration and illumination are quite manifest, if not for the person
who receives them, at least for the experienced spiritual director to whom the
soul reveals itself. We will explain this later on. The soul may, in fact, be in
the mystical state without knowing it. This is the case with certain very pure
and simple souls who have never heard of the passive state, but who are in it,
as St. Teresa remarked on more than one occasion.
2 St. Teresa says: "Here, indeed, learning would be very much to the pur­
pose, in order to explain the general and particular helps of grace; for there are
many who know nothing about them. Learning would serve to show how our
Lord now will have the soul to see, as it were, with the naked eye, as men speak,
this particular help of grace” (Life, chap. 14). This is a clear statement about
the special inspiration to which the gifts of the Holy Ghost make us docile.

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275

natural virtues, which are acquired and developed by the
frequent repetition of the same acts, we have received with
sanctifying grace the infused virtues of faith, hope, and
charity.8 As for the infused moral virtues, such as Christian
prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, they differ from
the corresponding acquired moral virtues because they have
a superior rule—in other words, not only natural reason, but
reason illumined by faith; they are inspired by much loftier
views.4 It is thus that Christian temperance implies a morti­
fication which purely natural ethics would not know; it is
founded on the revealed doctrines of original sin, of the
gravity of our personal sins, of their results, of our elevation
to a supernatural end, and of the imitation of Jesus crucified.
What a distance there is between the temperance described
by Aristotle and that of which St. Augustine speaks!
The gifts of the Holy Ghost are, moreover, superior to the
infused moral virtues; although they are less elevated than
the theological virtues, nevertheless they bring them, as we
shall see, an added perfection? “In order to differentiate the
gifts from the virtues,” says St. Thomas,® “we must be guided
by the way in which Scripture expresses itself, for we find
there that the term employed is ‘spirit’ rather than ‘gift.’
For thus it is written (Is. 11:2, 3): ‘The spirit ... of wis­
dom and of understanding . . . shall rest upon him . . .’7
From these words we are clearly given to understand that
these seven are there set down as being in us by divine ins Council of Trent, Sess. VI, chap. 7.
4 See la Ilae, q.63, a.4.
‘Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a.8.
8 Ibid., a. 1.
7 In Is. 11:2 f., we read: "And 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 the fear of the Lord.” This text is applied to
the announced Messias, and since Pentecost, also to the living members of the
mystical body of our Lord. It is in this way that the fathers understood it. Cf.
Diet, de lheol. cathol., art. "Dons du Saint-Esprit” by Father Gardeil, O.P.:
"Fondement scripturaire de cette doctrine, et enseignement des Pères,” col.
1728-81.

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spiration. Inspiration denotes motion from without. For it
must be noted that in man there is a twofold principle of
movement, one within him (the reason), the other extrinsic
to him (God), as stated above (q. 9, a. 4, 6), and also by the
Philosopher in the chapter on Good Fortune (Ethic. Eudem.,
VII).
“Now it is evident that whatever is moved must be pro­
portionate to its mover: and the perfection of the mobile as
such, consists in a disposition whereby it is disposed to be
well moved by its mover. Hence the more exalted the mover,
the more perfect must be the disposition whereby the mobile
is made proportionate to its mover: thus we see that a disciple
needs a more perfect disposition in order to receive a higher
teaching from his master. Now it is manifest that human
virtues perfect man according as it is natural for him to be
moved by his reason 8 in his interior and exterior actions.
Consequently, man needs yet higher perfections, whereby to
be disposed to be moved by God. These perfections are called
gifts, not only because they are infused by God, but also be­
cause by them man is disposed to become amenable to the
divine inspiration,” according to Is. 50: 5: ‘The Lord . . .
hath opened my ear, and I do not resist; I have not gone
back.’ Even the Philospher says in the chapter on Good
Fortune (Ethic. Eudem., loc. cit.) that for those who are
moved by divine instinct, there is no need to take counsel
according to human reason, but only to follow their inner
promptings, since they are moved by a principle higher than
human reason. This then is what some say, viz., that the gifts
perfect man for acts which are higher than acts of virtue.’’
From this we see that the gifts of the Holy Ghost are not
acts or actual movements or passing helps of grace, but rather
θ We are concerned here with what happens in the supernatural order of
reason illumined by faith: it is thus in particular that infused prudence directs
the infused moral virtues.
» "Secundum ea homo disponitur, ut efficiatur prompte mobilis ab inspira­
tione divina.”

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275

permanent qualities or habits, conferred on the soul in view
of certain supernatural operations.
Holy Scripture, in the classic text of Isaias,10 represents
them as existing in a stable manner in the just, and it is
said of the Holy Ghost: “He shall abide with you, and shall
be in you.” 11 The Church in her liturgy considers the “seven­
fold gift,” sacrum septenarium, as constituting an organic
whole with habitual or sanctifying grace, which is often
called “the grace of the virtues and of the gifts.” 12 St. Greg­
ory the Great insists on this permanence, saying: “By the
gifts, without which one cannot attain to life, the Holy Ghost
dwells in a stable manner in the elect; while by prophecy,
the gift of miracles, and other gratuitous graces, He does not
fix His dwelling in those to whom He communicates Him­
self.” 18
St. Thomas defines them: “The gifts of the Holy Ghost
are habits (or essentially supernatural, permanent qualities)
whereby man is perfected to obey readily the Holy Ghost.” 14
The word “obey,” used by St. Thomas, does not express a
pure passivity. As the moral virtues subject our appetitive
faculties to the domination of reason and thus dispose them
to act well, so the gifts render us docile to the Holy Ghost,
in order to make us produce those excellent works known as
beatitudes.15 In this sense we can say of the gifts: “They con­
fer at one and the same time pliability and energy, docility
and strength, which render the soul more passive under the
hand of God, and likewise more active in serving Him and in
doing His work.” “
Is. 11: 2.
11 John 14: 17.
12 "Whether sacramental grace confers anything in addition to the grace of
the virtues and gifts” (Illa, q.62. a.2).
is Moral., Bk. II, chap. 56.
1« Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a.3; a.2 ad turn; III Sent., D. XXXIV, q.t, a.i.
is “The beatitudes are none but perfect works and which, by reason of their
perfection, are assigned to the gifts rather than to the virtues” (la Ilae, q.70,
a. 2).
is Bishop Gay, De la vie et des vertus chrétiennes, first treatise.

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According to these principles, the great majority of theo­
logians hold with St. Thomas that the gifts are really and
specifically distinct from the infused virtues, as the principles
which direct them are distinct: that is, the Holy Ghost and
reason illumined by faith. We have here two regulating mo­
tions, two different rules, which constitute different formal
motives. It is a fundamental principle that habits (habitus)
are specified by their object and their formal motive, as sight
is by color and light, and hearing by sound.17 Virtue is a
habit inclining us to follow the rule of right reason, whereby
we lead a good life measured by the rule of reason.18 The gifts
are higher perfections which have divine inspiration as their
rule.10 A virtue and the corresponding gift (for example, for­
titude and the gift of fortitude) have the same material, but
they differ in the rule which serves as a measure for their
acts, and also by their mode of acting; therefore their formal
object is not the same. Reason, even illumined by faith and
infused prudence, directs our acts according to a human
mode; the Holy Ghost, according to a superhuman mode.20
If we confuse the virtues and the gifts, we meet with serious difficulties.
It would not be possible to explain why certain gifts, such as fear, are not
among the number of the virtues, and why Christ possessed the seven gifts, as
Isaias (11:2) teaches us, without having certain infused virtues such as faith,
hope, and penance, which suppose an imperfection.
is Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a. 1 ad gum.
is "Since the gifts are above the human mode in their action, it is fitting that
the operations of the gifts should be measured by a rule other than that of
human virtue, which is the Divinity itself shared by man in his manner, so that
he operates no longer in a human way after the manner of man, but as though
he were made God by participation” (ibid., and ZZZ Sent., D. XXXIV, q. 1, a.3).
20 "The gifts surpass the ordinary perfection of the virtues, not as regards
the kind of works (as the counsels surpass the commandments), but as regards
the manner of working, in respect of man being moved by a higher principle”
(la Ilae, q.68, a.2 ad nun). Likewise ZZZ, D. XXXIV, q. 1, a. 1: "The gifts are
distinguished from the virtues in this that the virtues accomplish acts in a hu­
man manner, but the gifts in a superhuman manner." ZZZ, D. XXXV, q.2, a.3:
“The gift transcends the virtues in this, that it operates above the human
manner.”
This doctrine of St. Thomas in his Commentary on the Sentences does not
differ, in spite of what has been said, from that of the Summa, as can be seen
from the text (la Ilae) quoted at the beginning of this note, and from that in­
dicated in the following note. Moreover, it is clear that when (la Ilae, q 68. a. 1)

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277

Likewise, while faith adheres simply to revealed truths, the
gift of understanding makes us scrutinize their depths. The
theologian points out what is of faith and answers the soph­
isms of heresy by collating texts from Scripture and from the
councils according to a human method of procedure, which
is often very complicated. Simple souls, on the contrary, un­
der a special inspiration of the Holy Ghost answer in a differ­
ent manner, at times with an astonishing and unanswerable
perspicacity which causes the theologian to exclaim: “Mira­
bilis Deus in sanctis suis.”
The same difference exists between prudence and the gift
of counsel. When a grave decision is to be made, prudence,
whether acquired or infused, must take counsel, examine all
the circumstances and consequences of the act to be per­
formed; it deliberates at length, without always reaching cer­
titude, as to what is best to choose. On the contrary, if we
have prayed with humility and trust, sometimes an inspira­
tion of the gift of counsel instantly clarifies the whole prob­
lem.*21 In a difficult situation, where two duties in apparent
opposition must be harmonized, prudence is, as it were, per­
plexed; it hesitates, for example, about what answer to give
so as to avoid a lie and keep a secret. In certain cases, only an
inspiration of the gift of counsel will enable us to find the
proper reply without in any way failing in the truth, and
without having recourse to mental restrictions of dubious
morality.22
he distinguishes the virtues from the gifts by what moves them respectively, it
is a question of the powers which direct and rule (the Holy Ghost and
reason) and not of pure, efficient causes which would give a more or less strong
impulse without direction and formal regulation. It is manifest that the Holy
Ghost directs according to a superhuman mode. The doctrine of the Summa
clearly maintains on this point what had already been written in the Com­
mentary on the Sentences. Likewise Qu. Disp. de caritate, q. unie., a.2 ad yum:
"The gifts perfect the virtues by elevating them above the human manner."
21 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.52, a.2 ad turn.
22 St. Thomas says expressly: "Prudence or eubulia, whether acquired or in­
fused, directs man in the research of counsel according to principles that the
reason can grasp; hence prudence or eubulia makes man take good counsel

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IL Are the gifts of the Holy Ghost necessary to salvation?
The necessity of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, as we have
seen, springs from the imperfect mode of even lofty Chris­
tian virtues in our souls. Consequently the more the soul ad­
vances toward perfection, the more the gifts must intervene;
so much so indeed that their superhuman mode must end by
prevailing, in an order superior not only to the processes of
casuistry, but also to those of asceticism and to methods of
prayer. This is the very foundation of our doctrine.
Here, in imitation of St. Thomas, we must proceed with
measure. Were one to neglect to examine for himself,
when possible, what should be thought, said, and done, un­
der the pretext of abandonment to Providence, he would be
tempting God.23 But we must take into account our insuffi­
ciency with regard to the supernatural end toward which we
should tend.
St. Thomas teaches that the gifts of the Holy Ghost are
necessary to salvation.21 “Of all the gifts,” he says, “wisdom
seems to be the highest, and fear the lowest. Each of these is
necessary to salvation: since of wisdom it is written (Wis.
7: 28): ‘God loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom’;
and of fear (Eccles. 1: 28): ‘He that is without fear cannot be
justified.’ ” Because our Lord knew the profound needs of
our souls, He promised us the Holy Ghost, from whom we
have received the sevenfold gift.
To explain this necessity of the gifts, St. Thomas makes
use of a profound reason: “The gifts are perfections of man,
whereby he is disposed so as to be amenable to the prompteither for himself or for another. Since, however, human reason is unable to
grasp the singular and contingent things which may occur, the result is that the
thoughts of mortal men are fearful, and our counsels uncertain (Wis. 9: 14).
Hence in the research for counsel, man requires to be directed by God who
comprehends all things: and this is done through the gift of counsel whereby
man is directed as though counselled by God” (Ila Ilae, q.52, a.i ad mm).
28 "If man, instead of doing what he can, were to be content with awaiting
God’s assistance, he would seem to tempt God" (Ila Ilae, q.53, a.4 ad mm).
2« Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a. 2.

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ings of God. Wherefore in those matters where the prompting
of reason is not sufficient, and there is need for the prompt­
ing of the Holy Ghost, there is, in consequence, need for a
gift. Now man’s reason is perfected by God in two ways: first,
by its natural perfection, viz., by the natural light of reason
(like the acquired virtue of wisdom); secondly, by a super­
natural perfection, viz., by the theological virtues. And,
though this latter perfection is greater than the former, yet
the former is possessed by man in a more perfect manner
than the latter: because man has the former in his full posses­
sion, whereas he possesses the latter imperfectly, since we love
and know God imperfectly. Now it is evident that anything
that has a nature or a form or a virtue perfectly, can of itself
work according to them: not, however, excluding the opera­
tion of God, who works inwardly in every nature and in
every will. On the other hand, that which has a nature or
form or virtue imperfectly, cannot of itself work, unless it be
moved by another. Thus the sun, which possesses light per­
fectly, can shine by itself; whereas the moon, which has the
nature of light imperfectly, sheds only a borrowed light. Again
a physician, who knows the medical art perfectly, can work by
himself; but his pupil, who is not yet fully instructed, cannot
work by himself, but needs to receive instructions from him.
“Accordingly, as to things subject to human reason, and
subordinate to man’s connatural end, man can do them
through the judgment of his reason (with the ordinary help
that Providence gives to secondary causes). If, however, even
in these things man receive help in the shape of special
promptings from God {instinctum specialem), this will be
out of God’s superabundant goodness (hoc erit superabundantis bonitatis): hence, according to the philosophers, not
everyone that had the acquired moral virtues, had also the
heroic or divine virtues. But in matters directed to the super­
natural end (which absolutely surpasses the forces and exi­
gences of our reasonable nature) to which man’s reason

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moves him, according as it is, in a manner, and imperfectly,
actuated by the theological virtues, the motion of reason does
not suffice, unless it receives in addition the prompting or
motion of the Holy Ghost, according to Rom. 8: 14, 17:
‘Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God . . . and if sons, heirs also’: and Ps. 142: 10: ‘Thy good
Spirit shall lead me into the right land’; because, to wit, none
can receive the inheritance of that land of the blessed, ex­
cept he be moved and led thither by the Holy Ghost.” 25 In
this sense, the gifts are necessary to salvation as habitual dis­
positions to receive divine inspirations, just as sails are nec­
essary on a boat that it may be responsive to the winds.
This does not mean that, without the intervention of the
gifts of the Holy Ghost, a Christian is never capable of a
supernatural act. But, if by mortal sin he has lost these gifts
together with charity, he can still, with an ordinary actual
grace, make a supernatural act of faith; and rather often the
just man also acts in a supernatural manner without a special
inspiration of the Holy Ghost. But, as St. Thomas says, it is
not in the power of reason, even when enlightened by faith
and infused prudence, “to know all things or all possible
things. Consequently it is unable to avoid folly (stultitia) and
other like tilings. . . . God, however, to whose knowledge
and power all things are subject, by His motion safeguards us
from all folly, ignorance, dullness of mind, and hardness of
heart, and the rest. Consequently the gifts of the Holy Ghost,
which make us amenable to His promptings, are said to be
given as remedies to these defects.” 29 “By the theological and
moral virtues, man is not so perfected in respect of his last
end, as not to stand in continual need of being moved by the
yet higher promptings of the Holy Ghost." 27
« Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a.2. Cf. Cajetan’» commentary on this question 68,
and also that of John of St. Thomas.
se Ibid., ad jum.
2’ Ibid., a. 2 ad 2um. Some theologians have wrongly interpreted this text of
St. Thomas and thought he meant to say that man needs always to be moved

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281

III. Necessity of an increasingly perfect docility to the
interior Master.
This special assistance, of which we have spoken, is so
much the more necessary since the soul, in advancing, should
perform more perfect works, and since the Lord wishes to
conduct us to a deeper and more loving knowledge of the
supernatural mysteries.28 The infused moral and theological
virtues, even when they have reached a high degree, with­
out a special help of the Holy Ghost still operate according
to the human mode of the faculties in which they are
received.29
Faith makes us know God in a way which is still too ab­
stract, too exterior, in speculo et in aenigmate, by excessively
narrow formulas that must be multiplied. We should like to
be able to condense them into one that would bring us into
close contact with the living God and that would express for
us the Light of life which more and more He ought to be for
us. Hope and charity, which are directed by faith, share in
this imperfection of faith. These two virtues of the will lack
vitality and keep too much of the human manner as long as
they are directed only by reason illumined by faith.
No matter how circumspect Christian prudence, which
for each salutary act by a special inspiration of the Holy Ghost, even in acts
which are called remissi. They confounded ordinary actual grace with the spe­
cial inspiration which is in question here. St. Thomas did not write: "Quin
indigeat semper moveri," but "Quin semper indigeat moveri.” St. Thomas’ ex­
pression means that man is not perfected to such a degree by the theological
virtues that he never needs to be inspired by the interior Master, as one might
say: "This student of medicine is not so well instructed that he never needs the
assistance of his master for certain operations.” It is quite certain that man can
make a supernatural act of faith with an actual grace, without any assistance on
the part of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. This is certainly the case with a soul
which, being in the state of mortal sin, has lost together with charity the gifts
of the Holy Ghost, and which, nevertheless, still rather frequently makes acts
of supernatural faith. Cf. Gardeil, art. “Dons,” in Diet, thiol., col. 1779; Father
Frojet, O.P., De l'habitation du Saint-Esprit dans les âmes justes, Part IV,
pp. 407-24, clearly expresses the true thought of St. Thomas on this point.
28 Rom. 8: 14. "For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God.”
20 Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a. 2.

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rules the other moral virtues, may be, though it is quite
superior to purely natural prudence, which is described by
the philosophers, it still frequently remains timid, uncer­
tain in its foresight, and too cautious to respond to all the
exigencies of divine love; just as our fortitude and patience
do not suffice in certain trials, or our chastity in the face of
some temptations.30 Because our supernatural virtues must
be adapted to the human mode of our faculties, they leave us
in a state of inferiority with respect to the supernatural end
toward which we should advance with greater eagerness.
With only the virtues, even though they are supernatural,
man is like an apprentice who knows fairly well what he must
do, but who has not the skill to do it in a suitable manner.
Consequently the master who is teaching him must come
from time to time, take his hand, and direct it so that the
work may be presentable. Thus, as long as our prayer is only
the fruit of an assiduous meditation, it remains too human to
taste truly the word of God. In meditation we drink only of
water which has flowed along the ground and is mixed with
mud, as St. Teresa says. That we may drink from the foun­
tain, the Holy Ghost must, like the master of the apprentice,
directly intervene, take possession of our intellect and will,
and communicate to them His manner of thinking and of lov­
ing; a divine manner which alone is worthy of God, who
wishes to be known as a living truth and divinely loved. As
we always remain apprentices toward God, the Holy Ghost
must intervene habitually in our prayer and works that they
may be perfect. That is why, unlike purely gratuitous graces
(gratis datae) such as prophecy, the gifts, which make us
amenable to divine inspirations as the virtues do to the di­
rections of reason, should be permanent in us.31 They are
in our soul what sails are on a boat. Two means can be used
so St. Thomas, III Sent., D. XXXIV, q.t, a. ï.
»1 ''Whether the gifts of the Holy Ghost are habits” (la Ilae, q.68, a.j).

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283

to move a small sailboat through the water: rowing, which is
slow and laborious, and sailing. A soul can make progress and
can advance by the exercise of the virtues; in this it is active;
or by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who breathes where
He wills and when He wills. Here the soul is docile, acting less
than it is acted upon. “The gifts of the Holy Ghost perfect
man ... for he is so acted upon by the Holy Ghost, that he
also acts himself in so far as he has a free will. Therefore he
needs a habit.” 82 From this we see that the soul approaches
perfection only by a great docility to the Holy Ghost, in
which the superhuman mode of the gifts must normally pre­
vail so as more and more to remedy what is essentially im­
perfect in the human mode of the virtues. This is the function
of the gifts.
IV. The special inspiration of the Holy Ghost and the
progress of charity.
No one questions that St. Thomas’ mystical theology is
found especially in his teaching about the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, their relation to charity and to infused contemplation.
But some persons merely read rather hastily in the Summa
(la Ilae, q. 68) the articles devoted to the gifts of the Holy
Ghost in general, and (Ila Ilae, q. 8, 9, 45) the articles that
relate to the gifts of understanding, knowledge, and wisdom,
without considering sufficiently their connection with what
is said (Ila Ilae, q. 24, a. 9) about the three degrees of charity
in beginners, the proficient, and the perfect, and without re­
calling what St. Thomas teaches (la Ilae, q. 111, a. 2) about
operating grace, to which he attaches the special inspiration
of the Holy Ghost. As a result, they fail to see clearly what
is original and very deep in the Thomistic doctrine of the
gifts.
This point is briefly and lucidly set forth in the most
thorough treatment that has been written on the subject of
•2 Ibid., ad sum.

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the gifts. We refer to the article by Father Gardeil, O.P., in
the Dictionnaire de théologie catholique.™ In the historical
part of the article, after showing the sources for the doctrine
of the gifts in Scripture and in the Greek and Latin fathers,
and after mentioning the treatises of the first Scholastic
theologians, Father Gardeil analyzes what has been written
on the gifts by the founders of systematized theology—Alex­
ander of Hales, St. Bonaventure, St. Albert the Great, and
St. Thomas Aquinas. It is interesting to see how these four
great Scholastics reacted against William of "Auxerre and
William of Paris, who denied the specific character of the
gifts and reduced them to the virtues, thus preparing the
ground for the minimist doctrine of the decadent nominal­
ists of the fourteenth century. Father Gardeil says: 84 “These
four great theologians fundamentally consecrated the ancient
doctrine, which distinguished the gifts from the virtues, by
considering them as primi motus in corde . . . but, instead
of identifying the gifts and actual graces, they saw in the
gifts, at least St. Thomas did, subjective dispositions to re­
ceive the most sublime actual graces. With an incomparable
and magnificent synthesis, St. Thomas attached this point of
doctrine to what, both in the philosophy of Aristotle and in
his own theology, is most elevated and most profoundly true
on the pre-eminence of the divine action. He thus brought
this point of doctrine back to absolutely first principles,
which, in philosophy as well as theology, govern questions
about the divine action as such; that is, developing it in con­
formity with the inner law of the divine being. By this sys­
tematization, he assured it the indestructible solidity of every
doctrine which is attached to first principles, evident in
themselves or primarily revealed.” 35
S3 Vol. IV, col. 1728-81.
s·· Loe. cit., col. 1776.
ss Cf. Gardeil, Le donné révélé et la théologie, 1910: A comparison of the
theological systems (pp. 266-86). On the question which occupies our attention,
see also the introduction of the excellent work of the same author. Les dons du
Saint-Esprit dans les Saints Dominicains.

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285

It is our wish: (1) to show how, according to St. Thomas,
the special inspiration of the Holy Ghost, to which the gifts
render us docile, differs from the common, actual grace nec­
essary to the exercise of the infused virtues; (2) to follow the
growing elevation of this special inspiration, in beginners,
the proficient, and the perfect, by considering especially the
gifts of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.
THE SPECIAL INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY GHOST AND COMMON,

ACTUAL GRACE

For a clear understanding of this teaching, as Father del
Prado30 remarks, we must distinguish, as St. Thomas does, the
different ways in which God moves our intellect and our
will, whether in the natural or in the supernatural order. St.
Thomas distinguishes between three principle modes of the
divine motion in the order of nature, and three others pro­
portionately similar in that of grace. They can be expressed
in the following division which we will explain:

in the
natural
order
Our mind
(mens) is
moved by
God

to will beatitude in general.
a certain veritable
to resolve
good.
upon
or an apparent good,
by a special inspiration, for ex­
ample, in the philosophical or
poetic order, etc.

to be converted to God, super­
natural last end.
in the
to resolve upon the use of the
supernatural infused virtues.
.order
by a special inspiration to which
the gifts render us docile.

De gratia et libero arbitrio, 1907, II, 201, 225, 247.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

The first mode of motion is before human deliberation,"
the second is after or with it, the third is above it, and that in
the order of nature as well as in that of grace. St. Thomas
has enumerated them in la Ilae, q. 9, a. 6 ad gum; q. 68, a. 2,
3; q. 109, a. 1, 2, 6, 9; q. 111, a. 2; De veritate, q. 24, a. 15. It
will suffice to translate the first of these texts which—many
seem to ignore the fact—is explained by those that follow, as
we shall see: “God moves man’s will, as the Universal Mover,
to the universal object of the will, which is good. And, with­
out this universal motion, man cannot will anything. But
man determines himself by his reason, to will this or that,
which is true or apparent good. Nevertheless, sometimes God
moves some specially to the willing of something determi­
nate, which is good; as in the case of those whom He moves by
grace, as we shall see later on (q. 109, a. 2; q. 109, a. 6; q. 111,
a. 2).” 38
By the first mode of divine motion in the natural order,
our will is therefore moved, as to its exercise, to will good
in general or beatitude, and this act, by which each one of
us wishes to be happy or desires happiness, is without doubt
a vital act determined upon by the will; but it is not free, in
this sense that we cannot hate beatitude or prefer anything
else to it.38 We always aspire to it, and this aspiration bears
thus confusedly on God, although we do not always judge
that our true beatitude is to be found in Him.40 Every man
87 There is, properly speaking, no deliberation and election on the ultimate
end; cf. la Ilae, q. 13, a.3; Ila Ilae, q.24, a.i ad sum. We will explain this far­
ther on.
as Summa, la Ilae, q.9, a. 6 ad sum. See, on this text and its relation with the
others which we have quoted, Del Prado, De gratia et libero arbitrio, I, 236;
II, 228, 266.
so Ibid., q. 10, a. 1, 2.
«ο "To know that God exists in a general and indefinite way is implanted in
us by nature, inasmuch as God is man's beatitude. For man naturally desires
happiness, and what is naturally desired by man must naturally be known to
him. This, however, is not to know absolutely that God exists; as to know that
someone is approaching is not the same as to know that Peter is approaching,

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287

naturally desires to be happy, “and the source of all good
consists in placing happiness where it should be, and the
source of all evil lies in misplacing it.” *41 This is why our
Lord began His preaching with the evangelical beatitudes,
which tell us, as opposed to the maxims of the world, where
true happiness is to be found.
In this first act of the will, in this natural desire for happi­
ness, there can be no sin, if the act is considered in itself
independently of the acts that may follow it. We do not say
that the will moves itself to this first act; strictly speaking, it
moves itself to an act only in virtue of an anterior act. Thus
it moves itself to choose the means in virtue of the act by
which it wishes the end.42*The question here concerns the
first act in the strict sense; hence in this case the will cannot
sin; it is moved by God without moving itself, although it
produces this act vitally.42
The second mode of divine motion is that in virtue of
which our free will, still in the natural order, determines
upon a true good or an apparent good. This movement of
our will is not only vital but free, and to produce it the will
moves itself in virtue of an anterior act; hence it can sin in
this case.44 But, since God cannot by His motion be equally
the cause of evil and of good, we must say that the motion
by which He moves the free will to determine upon a good
natural act, is not the same as that by which He is the cause
even though it is Peter who is approaching: for many there are who imagine
that man’s perfect good (which is happiness) consists in riches, and others in
pleasures, and others in something else” (la, q.ï, a. 1 ad turn).
41 Bossuet, Méditations sur [’Évangile, first meditation.
■>2 Summa, la Ilae, q.9, a.3: "The intellect, through its knowledge of the
principle, reduces itself from potentiality to act, as to its knowledge of the con­
clusions: and thus it moves itself. And, in like manner, the will, through its
volition of the end, moves itself to will the means.” Ibid., ad turn and la, q.63,
a.5.
Summa., la Ilae, q.9, a.6, third objection and reply.
«* Summa, la, q.63, a. 1 ad 4um; a.5; a.6; la Ilae, q.79, a. 1, ».

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of the physical act of sin and not of its malice.45 The good
act comes entirely from God, as from its first cause, and en­
tirely from us as from its second cause: “What hast thou
that thou hast not received?” 45 On the contrary, the evil
act, considered with respect to what is disordered and evil in
it, does not come from God, but only from our defectible and
evilly disposed free will.47 Just so, the gait of a lame person,
in so far as the action is concerned, springs from his vital
energy, but its defectiveness comes only from the malforma­
tion of his leg.48 As opposed to the divine motion which
moves to good, the motion required for the physical act of
sin is accompanied by the divine permission of the disorder
contained in the sin. God allows this disorder to occur for
very lofty reasons of which He is the judge, but He can in
no way be its cause. Indefectible principle of all good and of
all order. He can no more cause the evil involved in the act
of sin than the eye, seeing the color of a fruit, can perceive
its taste. Moral evil is no more the object of omnipotence
than sounds are the object of sight. Without being obliged
thereto. God often remedies the weaknesses of our free will;
He does not always do it. Therein lies a mystery.
The third mode of divine motion in the natural order is
mentioned by St. Thomas 49 when he quotes the Eudemian
« Otherwise it would follow that God by His motion is no more the cause
of the good act than of the sin, which would be contrary to the definition of the
Council of Trent (Sess. VI, canon 6): "Si quis dixerit mala opera ita ut bona
Deum operari non permissive solum, sed proprie et per se, anathema sit.” If the
divine share were only simultaneous or if it were an indifferent first impulse,
God by this participation would no longer be the cause of the good act any
more than of the sin. The reason why He would not be the cause of the sin, is
that His participation would be only simultaneous and indifferent: for the
same reason He would not, strictly speaking, be the cause of the good act. Cf.
la Ilae, q.79. a.2, and the Thomists on this article.
<e See I Cor. 4: 7. As St. Thomas shows, in a commentary on this Epistle, all
good things come from God, even the good determination of our free will, in
so far as it is distinguished from the evil. Cf. la, q.23, a.5; la Ilae, q. 109, a.2.
*1 Summa, la Ilae, q.79, a.t, 2.
<s Ibid.
*o "Even the Philosopher says in the chapter on Good Fortune (Ethic. Eudem.,
loc. cit.) that for those who are moved by divine instinct, there is no need to

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289

Ethics (Bk. VII, chap. 14). In this work, which is attributed
to Aristotle but was composed under his influence by one of
his platonizing disciples, the author says: “Someone will ask,
perhaps, whether a person’s good fortune makes him desire
what he should when he should. . . . Without reflecting,
deliberating, or taking counsel, it happens that he thinks and
wills what is most suitable. . . . To what is this due, if not
to good fortune? What is good fortune itself and how can it
give such happy inspirations? This is equivalent to asking what
is the superior principle of the movements of the soul. Now,
it is manifest that God, who is the principle of the universe,
is also the principle of the soul. All things are moved by Him
who is present in us. The principle of reason is not reason
but something superior. What is superior to reason and in­
telligence except God? . . . This is why the ancients used
to say: ‘Happy are they who without deliberating are led to
act well.’ This does not come from their own will, but from a
principle present in them which is superior to their intellect
and to their will. . . . Under a divine inspiration, some even
foresee the future.”
In the Nicomachian Ethics, Bk. VII, chap. 1, Aristotle
speaks of heroes, such as Hector, who “because of the excel­
lence of their courage are called divine . . . , for there is
something superior to human virtue in them” or to human
science. Thus it was customary to say “the divine Plato,”
because of the superior inspiration which often animated his
discourse. This inspiration is in the natural order and takes
different forms, philosophical, poetical, musical, and strategic.
These are the various forms of genius.
St. Thomas clearly states that this special inspiration is
not at all necessary to man for the attainment of his natural
take counsel according to human reason, but only to follow their inner prompt­
ings, since they are moved by a principle higher than human reason. This then
is what some say, viz., that the gifts perfect man for acts which are higher than
acts of virtue" (ibid., q.68, a. 1).

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last end. But he maintains that it is otherwise in the order of
grace, where the gifts of the Holy Ghost and the corresponding
inspirations are necessary to salvation.80
These three modes of divine motion, which we have de­
fined, are transposed in the order of grace; in this order the
three are normal.
i) At the moment when a sinner is justified, God as the
Author of grace moves the sinner’s free will to be converted
to his supernatural last end. Under this divine motion and by
it the sinner is made just or is justified, and begins to act no
longer merely in view of happiness naturally desired, but for
God supematurally loved above all things. This supernatural
motion first of all prepares the sinner to receive sanctifying
grace, and justifies him through the infusion of this grace and
of charity by moving him to a free act of faith, charity, and
repentance.61 In this case the free will does not, strictly speak­
ing, move itself to this act of living faith and charity; it is
moved thereto by operating grace.62 In this act there cannot be
»0 "Accordingly, as to things subject to human reason, and subordinate to
man's connatural end, man can do them through the judgment of his reason.
If, however, even in these things man receive help in the shape of special
promptings from God, this will be out of God's superabundant goodness: hence
according to philosophers, not everyone that had the acquired moral virtues,
had also the heroic or divine virtues. But in matters directed to the supernat­
ural end to which man's reason moves him, according as it is, in a manner, and
imperfectly, actuated by the theological virtues, the motion of reason does not
suffice, unless it receives in addition the prompting or motion of the Holy
Ghost, according to Rom. 8: 14: 'Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God’ " (la Ilae, q.68, a.2).
si Summa, la Ilae, q.113, a. 1-3, 4 ad mm; a.5-8. Cf. Del Prado, De gratia
et libero arbitrio, II, 240.
«2 Summa, la Ilae, q. 111, a.2: “First, there is the interior act of the will, and
with regard to this act the will is a thing moved, and God is the mover; and
especially when the will, which hitherto willed evil, begins to will good. Hence,
inasmuch as God moves the human mind to this act, we speak of operating
grace. But there is another, exterior act; and since it is commanded by the will,
as was shown above (q. 17, a. 9), the operation of this act is attributed to the will.
And because God assists us in this act, both by strengthening our will interiorly
so as to attain to the act, and by granting outwardly the capability of operating,
it is with respect to this that we speak of co-operating grace.” In the same ar­
ticle (in reply to the second objection), St. Thomas shows how under operating
grace, although the will does not move itself by virtue of an anterior act, it

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST

29!

sin; on the contrary, there is hatred of sin. This act is freely
produced under the impulse of efficacious grace.*
53 Although
entirely free, this supernatural movement of the will resem­
bles the first natural movement by which we wish happiness.
Strictly speaking, man cannot move himself; that would sup­
pose an efficacious anterior act of the same order. This anterior
act does not exist, since the question here concerns the first
efficacious act of love of the supernatural end.54 This act is
not preceded by personal merit; rather it opens the way of
merit. It is, as it were, the threshold of the order of grace,
or the first step in the execution of divine predestination.
2) The second mode of motion in this order is that by
which God moves a just man to act well supernaturally by
using the infused virtues as he ought. In this movement of
the free will, the will is moved and moves itself by virtue of
an anterior supernatural act. Here there is deliberation, prop­
erly so called, regarding the means in view of the end, and a
human manner of acting under the direction of reason enlight­
ened by faith.5556Moreover, this grace is called co-operating
nevertheless freely consents to be moved: “God does not justify us without our­
selves, because while we are being justified we consent to God’s justification
(justitiae) by a movement of our free will. Nevertheless, this movement is not
the cause of grace, but the effect; hence the whole operation pertains to grace."
53 “Hence if God intends, while moving, that the one whose heart He moves
should attain to grace, he will infallibly attain to it” (ibid., q.113, a.5; q. 112,
a-3)·
01 Summa, Ha Hae, q.24, a. 1 ad 3um. Cf. Del Prado, op. cit., II, 220. "Hie
motus voluntatis (sub gratia operante in instanti justificationis) quamvis liber­
rimus, est etiam ad instar motus naturalis per modum simplicis volitionis; et
homo non valet per rationem se primo determinare ad hujusmodi velle, quod
excedit omnem naturalem facultatem, tam rationis, quam voluntatis. . . . Est
fundamentum omnium sanctarum electionum in ordine gratiae." Cf. ibid.,
p. 223, and I, 226-28, 236, where the author shows that on this point St. Thomas
is followed more faithfully by Lemos than by Didacus Alvarez, Gonet, and
Goudin, who reduce operating grace to a simple exciting grace which does not
go as far as consent.
56 Thus by infused prudence a man delibertates that he may act as is proper
according to the virtues of religion, justice, fortitude, and temperance; and,
when necessary, even to make acts of faith, hope, and charity. Prudence thus
rules per accidens the acts of the theological virtues, although it does not
measure them. Cf. Billuart’s commentary on Ha Ilae, q.81, a.5.

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grace.” When this grace is efficacious, free will can still resist
if it wishes, but it never wills to do so. In fact it cannot happen
that sin is produced in the very use of grace, when man is
moved by efficacious actual grace.” Thus he who is seated
can indeed rise, but he cannot at one and the same time be
seated and standing. Liberty is not destroyed because God,
who is infinitely powerful and closer to us than we are to
ourselves, moves our will according to its natural inclinations
freely to will one thing or another.68
3) Lastly, the third mode of the divine motion in the order
of grace is that by which God especially moves the free will
of a spiritual man, who is disposed to the divine inspiration
by the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Here the just soul is immedi­
ately directed, not by reason enlightened by faith, but by the
Holy Ghost Himself in a superhuman manner.69 This motion
is not only given for the exercise of the act, but for its direction
and specification; consequently it is called illumination and
inspiration.00 It is an eminent mode of operating grace which
thus leads to the highest acts of the virtues and of the gifts:
"But in that effect in which our mind both moves and is moved, the opera­
tion is not only attributed to God, but also to the soul; and it is with reference
to this that we speak of co-operating grace” (fa Hae, q. 111, a.2). The will al­
ready willing the supernatural last end moves itself, under the impulse of co­
operating grace, to will the means ordained to this end. Actual grace is
necessary for every act of infused virtue. Cf. la Ilae, q. 109, a. 9, and Hugon,
De gratia, pp. 281-83.
st "If God moves the will to anything, it is incompossible with this supposi­
tion. that the will be not moved thereto. But it is not impossible simply. Con­
sequently, it does not follow that the will is moved by God necessarily” (la Ilae,
q. 10, a.4 ad 311m).
es “The divine will extends not only to the doing of something by the thing
which He moves, but also to its being done in a way which is fitting to the
nature of that thing. And therefore it would be more repugnant to the divine
motion for the will to be moved of necessity, which is not fitting to its nature,
than for it to be moved freely, which is becoming to its nature” (ibid., ad 111m).
Likewise la, q. 19, a.8; q.83, a.i ad gum; De malo, q.6, a.i ad 3um: "Deus
movet quidem voluntatem immutabiliter propter efficaciam virtutis moventis,
quae deficere non potest, sed propter naturam voluntatis nostrae, quae in­
differenter se habet ad diversa, non inducitur necessitas, sed manet libertas”
(ibid., ad mm).
See Ia Ilae, q.68, a. 1-3.
«0 Ibid.

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«93

faith, illumined by the gift of understanding, becomes much
more penetrating and contemplative; hope, enlightened by
the gift of knowledge as to the vanity of all that is transitory,
becomes perfect confidence and filial abandonment to Provi­
dence; and the illuminations of the gift of wisdom invite
charity to the intimacy of the divine union. As the bee or the
carrier pigeon, directed by instinct, acts with a wonderful
certainty revealing the Intelligence which directs them, just
so, says St. Thomas, “the spiritual man is inclined to act, not
principally through the movement of his own will, but by
the instinct of the Holy Ghost, according to the words of
Isaias (59: 19): ‘When he shall come as a violent stream, which
the Spirit of the Lord driveth on.’ And in St. Luke we find:
‘Jesus . . . was led by the Spirit into the desert.’81 It does
not follow that the spiritual man does not operate by his will
and his free will, but it is the Holy Ghost who causes this
movement of the will and of the free will in him, as St. Paul
says: ‘For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to
accomplish.’ ” 62 These words of St. Thomas are the best
commentary on what he has written about operating grace.88
Again he says: “The sons of God are led by the Holy Ghost in
order that they may pass through this life which is full of
temptations (Job 7: 1) and gain the victory by the grace of
Christ.” 84
Although the illumination of the Holy Ghost dispenses
us from deliberating, nevertheless the act remains free and
meritorious, for we consent to be moved in this way, as a
good student wills to profit from the lesson of his teacher
and as an obedient man is perfectly and freely docile to the
order given him. This third mode of divine motion thus
ei Luke 4: 1.
os Phil. 2: 13: St. Thomas, In Ep. ad Rom., 8: 14: "For whosoever are led by
the spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Likewise, In Comm, in Cantic.,
chap. 1.
See la Ilae, q.m, a.2.
*< In Maith., 4: 1: "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert.’*

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safeguards liberty and harmonizes with the infallibility of
the divine foreknowledge and of the divine decree: “The
Holy Ghost . . . does unfailingly whatever He wills to do.
Hence it is impossible for these two things to be true at the
same time—that the Holy Ghost should will to move a certain
man to an act of charity, and that this man, by sinning, should
lose charity.” 88
Evidently these three modes of motion, in the natural order
and also in that of grace, are distinct, according as they are
before human deliberation,88 after it (or with it), or above
it.87 But the third of these modes is rarely found in the natural
order, in geniuses or heroes, whereas in the order of grace it is
normal, for reason, even enlightened by faith, acts in so human
a manner as not to suffice to direct us toward our supernatural
last end.88
This doctrine of St. Thomas, confirming what he teaches
on “the virtues of the purified soul,” 88 is reiterated exactly
in the writings of St. John of the Cross 70 where he speaks of
these purified souls: “Thus ordinarily the first movements
«’See Ha Ilae, q.24, a.n.
ee We do not actually deliberate for the purpose of desiring happiness, and
if we do so to place our last end in God and not in a creature (la Ilae, q.89, a.6),
it is not deliberation, properly speaking, which bears on the means (cf. la Ilae,
q. 13, a. 3, and Ila Ilae, q.24, a. 1 ad 3um): "Charity, whose object is the last end,
should be described as residing in the will rather than in the free will."
er See la Ilae, q.9, a.6 ad 3um. This is the explanation of that famous ad 3um
which has been the object of so many controversies. Cf. Del Prado, De gratia et
libero arbitrio, I, 236; II, 228, 256.
os See la Ilae, q.68, a.2 ad sum: "Human reason as perfected in its natural
perfection, or as perfected by the theological virtues, . . . does not know all
things, nor all possible things. Consequently it is unable to avoid folly and
other like things . . . ignorance, dullness of mind, and hardness of heart.”
oo “There are the virtues of those who have already attained to the divine
similitude: these are called the perfect virtues. Thus prudence sees nought else
but the things of God; temperance knows no earthly desires; fortitude has no
knowledge of passion; and justice, by imitating the divine mind, is united
thereto by an everlasting covenant. Such are the virtues attributed to the
blessed, or in this life, to some who are at the summit of perfection” (la Ilae,
q.61, a.5).
to The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Ill, chap. 1.

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’95

of the powers in such souls are, as it were, divine. This is not
to be wondered at since these powers are, in a fashion, trans­
formed into the divine Being.71 . . . God moves specially the
powers of these souls ... ; consequently, their works and
prayers are always efficacious. Such were those of the glorious
Mother of God, who from the beginning of her life, was raised
to this high degree of union. There was never in her soul the
impress of any created form whatsoever, capable of distract­
ing her from God, for she was always docile to the motion of
the Holy Ghost.” 72
Therefore every just man has, together with grace and the
infused virtues, the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are
related to charity, perfect the different virtues, and with them
constitute a perfect supernatural organism ready to move
deliberately and also to be moved by the Holy Ghost in a
manner beyond all human consideration. This is why habitual
or sanctifying grace is called “the grace of the virtues and of
the gifts,” from the name of the infused habitus which spring
from it, just as the faculties have their origin in the essence of
the soul.78
This supernatural organism, according to the teaching of
St. Augustine and St. Thomas, we illustrate by the synopsis
on the next page, where we note the correspondence of the
virtues, the gifts, and the beatitudes indicated by these two
great doctors.
In this summary, in which we have brought together the
teaching of Scripture and of tradition on this subject, the
τι This transformation is the effect of a high degree of grace; since grace,
being a participation of the divine nature, deifies us in a way. Cf. la Ilae, q. ns,
a. i : “For it is as necessary that God alone should deify ... as it is impossible
that anything save fire should enkindle."
72 St. Thomas speaks in a like manner of the Blessed Virgin’s holiness (Illa,
q.27, a. 4).
re “The grace of the virtues and gifts perfects the essence and powers of the
soul sufficiently as regards ordinary conduct: but as regards certain special
effects which are necessary in a Christian life, sacramental grace is needed"
(Illa, q.62, a.2 ad turn).

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297

virtues are set down according to the order of their hierarchy,
and the corresponding gifts in like manner.74* The gift of
knowledge is placed opposite hope, inasmuch as it acquaints
us with the vanity of created things and human help,7’ and
thus leads us to desire the possession of God and to hope in
Him. The correspondence of the beatitudes is more clearly
seen if we recall the reward promised to each one.78 The last
one (“Blessed are they who suffer persecution”) is not indi­
cated, even though it is the most perfect, because it contains
all the others in the midst of the greatest difficulties.77
The order of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is clearly seen from
the outline of what St. Thomas says of them,78 as appears in
the synopsis on the next page.
From this outline we see that the gifts of the intellect,
which direct the others, are superior to them.79 They perfect
the intellect in its first two operations: simple apprehension
and penetration of the truth, and judgment. There is no
question of the third, reasoning or discourse, because the acts
dependent on the gifts are not discursive, and are superior to
the human mode of reasoning. The gift of wisdom is superior
to that of understanding, for wisdom judges first principles
themselves by the highest Cause.80 Here we are concerned with
judgment, not only according to the perfect use of speculative
reason, as in acquired wisdom, but by connaturality or sym74 This enumeration of the gifts corresponds to that made by Isaias (11: 2)
except for the gifts of counsel and oi fortitude, which, because of their difficult
matter, are placed by Isaias before those of knowledge and of piety, though
they are simpliciter inferior to them. Cf. la Ilae, q.68, a.7.
ts Summa, Ha Ilae, q.g, a.4.
re See la Ilae, q.6g. a.3 ad gum, and Ila Ilae, q.8, a.7; q.g, a.4; q.45, a.6; q. ig,
a. 12; q. 121, a. 2; q. 13g, a. 2.
77 See la Ilae, q.6g, a.3 ad gum. On the fruits of the Holy Ghost, cf. la Ilae,
q.70, where St. Thomas shows clearly that they proceed from the Holy Ghost,
according as He disposes our souls in regard to God, to our neighbor, and to
inferior things.
7« Ibid., q.68, a.4; Ila Ilae, q.8, a.6.
ra Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a.7.
eo Ibid., q.66. a.5. In the preceding outline, to simplify the arrangement
wisdom was placed after understanding. It should, however, precede it.

2
■&

*9?

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST

299

pathy with divine things; a connaturality founded on charity,
or the supernatural love of God.81
GROWING ELEVATION OF THE SPECIAL INSPIRATION OF THE

HOLY GHOST IN BEGINNERS, PROFICIENTS, AND THE PERFECT

All the gifts are related to charity,82 and as infused habitus
they grow with charity, which ought always to increase until
death.88 Consequently, as we distinguish three degrees of
charity (that of beginners, of proficients, and of the perfect),84
we make the same distinction in regard to the gifts of the
Holy Ghost. This point has been especially developed by
Dionysius the Carthusian in his treatise on the gifts,85 where he
shows that their first degree corresponds to strict obligation,
the second to the practice of the counsels, and the third to
heroic acts. We will briefly indicate these three degrees: first,
in the gift of knowledge and in the gifts subordinated to it;
then, in the more elevated gifts of understanding and wisdom.
The gift of knowledge makes us judge created things supernaturally, either by showing us their nothingness,88 or by
disclosing to us the divine symbolism hidden in them. In the
first degree, it makes us recognize the fact that in themselves
creatures are nothing and that we should not be attached to
them as to our last end, but should use them solely as a means
to bring us to God. In the second degree, it leads us to use
creatures with moderation and with interior detachment; at
si “Wisdom denotes a certain rectitude of judgment according to the eternal
law. Now, rectitude of judgment is twofold: first, on account of perfect use of
reason, secondly, on account of a certain connaturality with the matter about
which one has to judge . . . thus, Dionysius says (Div. Norn., ii) that Hierotheus is perfect in divine things, for he not only learns, but is patient of, divine
things” (Ila Ilae, q.45, a.2).
82 Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a.5.
83 Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 184, a.3.
84 Ibid., q.24, a.9; q.183, a.4.
86 Opera omnia, rgo8, XXXV, 157-260: De donis Spiritus Sancti.
es Summa, Ila Ilae, q.9, a.2, 4. This gift has an important place in the pas­
sive night of the senses; from it proceeds the holy sadness of which Christ speaks
in the beatitude of tears.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

the same time, by the spectacle of nature, it lifts us to God.”
In the third degree, it bestows the spirit of renunciation,
carried even to the heroic practice of the counsels. It makes
us see the value of humiliations and sufferings, which render
us like Christ crucified and which associate us with the great
mystery of the redemption. This knowledge is no longer
superficial and a simple remembrance of pious reading, but
a profound conviction and true participation in the divine
knowledge of created things.88 It consists particularly in the
knowledge of the gravity of sin, and has as its fruit the tears
of contrition. Under the direction of the gift of knowledge,
the gifts of counsel, fear, piety, and fortitude are exercised.
While the gift of knowledge directs us to a general point
of view (detachment from created things), that of counsel,
perfecting prudence, shows us in particular the best means
of attaining the end. Where prudence would hesitate, it shows
us what to do or to avoid, what to say or to suppress, and what
to undertake or to abandon.80 In the first degree, it directs us
in matters of strict obligation; in the second, it inclines us to
the generous practice of the evangelical counsels; and in the
third, it makes us undertake holy works with heroic perfec­
tion.00 It corresponds to the beatitude of the merciful, for
it counsels the works of mercy. Only the merciful really know
how to give afflicted souls good advice that will encourage
them.01
Under the direction of the gift of knowledge, the gift of
fear strengthens temperance and chastity by making us avoid,
st By this gift St. Francis of Assisi trod earthly things under foot and received
such a penetrating intuition of the symbolism of nature that he called all
creatures his brothers and sisters, and through them was lifted to God.
es On these three degrees of the gift of knowledge, cf. Dionysius the Car­
thusian, op. cit., tr. 3. a. 25.
89Summa, Ila Ilae. q.52. a.i. 2. It makes us more surely avoid haste, rash­
ness. inconsiderateness. negligence, and inconstancy. Cf. Ila Ilae, q.53-55.
»0 Cf. Dionysius the Carthusian, op. cit., tr. 3, a.1.
»1 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.52, a.4.

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301

in the sight of God, the mistakes that our corrupted nature
is prone to.82 It corresponds to hope by leading us to a filial
respect toward God.93 In the first degree, it inspires horror of
sin and arms us against temptation.94 In the second, it bestows
deeper filial respect for the divine Majesty, preserves us from
irreverence to holy things, and also from presumption. In the
third, it leads to the practice of perfect renunciation and of
the mortification which St. Paul describes in the following
words: “Always bearing about in our body the mortification
of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in
our body.” 95 Thus we can see how this fear, which has for
its fruit the beatitude of the poor in spirit, is "the beginning
of wisdom,” 96 of a very lofty wisdom.
This holy fear, however, should be accompanied by the
gift of piety, which fills us with a filial affection for God our
Father and makes us accomplish with our whole heart and
with religious eagerness all that has to do with divine worship.
This gift makes us cry: “Abba (Father),” as St. Paul says.97
It corresponds to the beatitude of the meek, since it bestows a
heavenly sweetness and thus leads us to comfort our afflicted
neighbor because it makes us see in him a brother or a suffer­
ing member of Christ.98 In its highest degree, the gift of piety
strongly inclines us to give ourselves entirely to the service of
God, to offer Him all our acts and sufferings as a perfect sacri
fice. This gift makes us realize that communion is a participa
tion in the sacrifice of the cross perpetuated on our altars; a
participation by which our Lord wishes to render our hearts
like His Sacred Heart of priest and victim, and to associate us
with the deepest sentiments He experienced when instituting
»2 ibid., q. 19, a.9. c.; q. 141, a. 1 ad sum.
ss ibid., a. 9 ad mm.
94 Ps. 118: 120: "Pierce Thou my flesh with Thy fear."
See II Cor. 4: 10.
9° Ps. 110: 10.
Rom. 8: 15.
«8 Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 121, a. 1 ad sum; a.».

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

the Holy Eucharist just before He went forth to die for us.” Of
this union with Christ the priest, St. Peter says: “Be you also
as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.” 100
The gift of fortitude, under the same direction of the
gifts of knowledge and counsel, gives us the courage to under­
take great things for God and to bear crushing trials for Him.
It comes to the aid of the virtue of fortitude in very difficult
circumstances. This gift corresponds to the fourth beatitude:
“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice,” and
who, in spite of all obstacles, maintain unshaken confidence in
the help of God. In the perfect, this gift imbues the soul with
an irresistible attraction to the things of God; it leads the
soul to suffer joyfully the most painful torments for God, for
faith, and for justice. This gift enables humble virgins and
weak children to win the crown of martyrdom.101 It also sus­
tains those who pass without weakening through the bitter
crucible of the passive purifications of the soul, and who
experience the truth of the Scriptural expression: “Many
are the afflictions of the just; but out of them all will the
Lord deliver them.” 102 This gift is what made St. Paul ex­
claim: “I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribula­
tion”; 108 and also, “who now rejoice in my sufferings for you,
and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings
8»Summa, Illa, q.79, a.2 ad turn: "Wc must first suffer with Him in order
that we may also be glorified afterward with Him (Rom. 8: 17).” Cf. Officium
SS. Sacramenti. On the three degrees of the gift of piety, see also Dionysius the
Carthusian, op. cit., tr. 3, a.40. To the third degree of this gift, considered in
relation to one's neighbor, Dionysius refers St. Paul's words: “I most gladly
will spend and be spent myself for your soul; although loving you more, I be
loved less” (II Cor. 12: 15).
too See I Pet. 2: 5.
101 Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 139, a.t, and Dionysius the Carthusian, op. cit., tr. 3,
a. 18.
ιοί Ps. 33: 20.
103 See II Cor. 1: 4.

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST

3°3

of Christ in my flesh, for His body which is the Church.” 104
Knowledge, counsel, fear, piety, and fortitude are, as we
have seen, the inferior gifts directed to victory over sin and
to action. The soul, living habitually under the régime of
these gifts, is already in the mystical life, even though mystical
contemplation, which proceeds from the higher gifts, is not
yet clearly discerned in it. This fact is important in practice,
and should be clearly noted so as to maintain, always without
exaggeration, the exact meaning of the doctrine which we
defend, namely, the normal though eminent character of
infused contemplation. Although infused contemplation is
generally granted to the perfect, it is not always clearly char­
acterized in them. But they are already in the mystical life
if they live habitually under the régime of the gifts which
correspond to the beatitudes of the flight from sin and to those
of the active life. This is evident from what St. Thomas says
about the first five beatitudes.105 Thereby the soul is immedi­
ately prepared for infused contemplation, which is chiefly
the fruit of the gifts of understanding and wisdom.
The gift of understanding makes us penetrate the meaning
of revealed truths and discover the spirit beneath the letter.
While faith is a simple assent to the word of God, an assent
that exists in a believing soul even in the state of mortal sin,
this gift, which like the others is found only in the just, implies
a penetrating and progressive understanding of the mysteries
of faith, the precepts, and the counsels. It does not remove
ιοί Col. i: 24. Cf. St. Thomas. In Ep. ad Col. 1: 24. There is nothing lacking
in the passion of Christ in itself. It has a superabundance and infinite value;
there is something lacking only in its radiation in us. This is why St. Paul says:
"I fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh,”
in order to be associated in the great work of the redemption in Christ and
through Him, in order to continue His redeeming work by the application of
His merits. “Heirs indeed of God and joint-heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer
with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him.”
io» Summa, fa Ilae, q.69, a.3, 4. See also what St. Thomas says of the active
life and its relation to the contemplative life and to the mixed or apostolic life
(Ha Ilae, q. 179, 181, 182, 188. a.4, 6).

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

the obscurity of faith or its merit. It never gives us, while
on earth, the evidence of mysteries, properly so called, for
example, those of the Blessed Trinity, the incarnation, the
redemption, and predestination. But it makes us perceive
more and more clearly that the obscurity of these mysteries
is the very opposite to the obscurity of incoherence and
absurdity, and that it comes from a light which is too strong
for our weak eyes. Thus it shows us the emptiness of the
objections raised against faith, and it greatly confirms the
motives of credibility, or signs of revelation.10*
In the first degree, the gift of understanding strengthens the
faith of every good Christian to such an extent that illiterate
persons, who cannot make a study of the motives of credibility,
adhere to the word of God with a firmness which may surpass
that of the faith of learned men. In the second degree, this
gift discloses the consistency and sublimity of revealed mys­
teries. It also contributes greatly to the passive purification
of the soul, by making us glimpse the infinite grandeur of
God, His unfathomable perfections, the annihilations of the
Word made flesh and, on the other hand, the depth of the
wretchedness subsisting in us. It corresponds to the beatitude
of the clean of heart.107 In the third degree, this gift makes
the soul penetrate the hidden depths of the divine mysteries;
it unveils more and more the meaning of the prophecies and
of our Lord’s words, and in a way makes us see God; “by the
gift of understanding, we can, so to speak, see God,” 108 not
by a positive, immediate intuition of the divine presence, but
108 Summa, Ha Ilae, q.8, a. i, 2, 4.
iOT“For cleanness is twofold. One is a preamble and a disposition to seeing
God. and consists in the heart being cleansed of inordinate affections: and this
cleanness of heart is effected by the virtues and gifts belonging to the appetitive
power. The other cleanness of heart ... is the cleanness of the mind that is
purged of phantasms and errors . . . and this cleanness is the result of the
gift of understanding" (ibid., a. 7).
108 “In this life . . . the (mind's) eye being cleansed by the gift of under­
standing, we can, so to speak, see God.” Thus, the reward of each of the eight
beatitudes exists in a certain inchoative manner in Christian life on earth,
which *s eternal life begun, semen gloriae (la Ilae, q.69, a. 2 ad sum).

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST

305

by showing us more and more clearly what God is not, and
how His intimate life infinitely exceeds the natural knowl­
edge of every created and creatable intelligence.109 Evidently
the third degree of the gift of understanding, that which is
normally proper to the perfect, belongs to the mystical life,
strictly so called, as the principle of infused contemplation.
We can easily understand this by reading the description of
the third degree in the work of Dionysius the Carthusian.110
Lastly, whereas the gift of understanding conceives and
penetrates, that of wisdom makes us judge all created things
by the taste, by the affective and sweet knowledge of God,
their beginning and end.111 Although in this life wisdom
remains in the obscurity of faith, without seeing God as He
is (sicuti est), nevertheless it contemplates Him in His inti­
mate life in the measure in which we have an experimental
knowledge of Him as the soul of our soul, the life of our life.
As we take cognizance of our soul in our actions,112 so, in a
certain way, we have a quasi-experimental knowledge of God
by the action He exercises in us and by the spiritual joy and
peace we experience therefrom.113 Thus St. Paul says: “For the
io» Summa, Ila Ilae, q.8, a.7: "Again, the sight of God is twofold. One is
perfect, whereby God’s Essence is seen: the other is imperfect, whereby though
we see not what God is, yet we see what He is not; and whereby, the more per­
fectly do we know in this life, the more we understand that He surpasses all
that the mind comprehends. Each of these visions of God belongs to the gift
of understanding; the first, to the gift of understanding in its state of perfec­
tion, as possessed in heaven; the second, to the gift of understanding in its state
of inchoation, as possessed by wayfarers.”
110 De donis, tr. 2, a.35: "Ad tertium gradum (doni intellectus) id attinet ut
singulorum fidei articulorum proprias rationes ac fundamenta quis purgatis­
sima acie valeat considerare . . . atque certissimo mentis oculo quoeat de­
lectabiliter speculari."
111 Summa, Ha Ilae. q.45, a. 1, 2.
112 "Socrates or Plato perceives that he has an intellectual soul, because he
perceives that he understands” (la, q.87, a. 1).
ns Summa, Ila Ilae, q-45, a.2, 5, and q.97, a.2 ad 211m, where it is stated:
"There is a twofold knowledge of God's goodness or will. One is speculative.
. . . The other knowledge of God's will or goodness is aflectve or experimental,
and thereby a man experiences in himself the taste of God’s sweetness and
complacency in God's will, as Dionysius says of Hierotheos (Div. nom., ii) that
he learns divine things through experience of them.” This does not require

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the
sons of God.” 114 Such is indeed, as St. Thomas and John of
St. Thomas show, die effect of the gift of wisdom. We will
quote in a note the formulas of the Master to which one must
continually revert, as will be seen from what follows.115
The gift of wisdom is thus the most perfect of all; it exerts
the same influence over the other gifts as charity does on the
virtues which are subordinated to it. Wisdom is, at one and the
same time, eminently speculative and practical; 115 it appears
in some souls especially under the first form, and in others
more particularly under the second. Thus, there are saints
called to the active life, like St. Vincent de Paul, who under
a practical form have, nevertheless, a very profound mystical
union with God. It is this which makes them see constantly
in the poor, the sick, and abandoned children, the suffering
infused ideas. St. Thomas says also in la, Dist. 14, q.2, a. 2 ad gum: "This knowl­
edge is quasi-experimental.”
1» Rom. 8: 16.
ns St. Thomas (In Ep. ad Rom. 8: 16) says: “ 'Ipse enim Spiritus testimonium
reddit spiritui nostro quod sumus filii Dei,’ reddit testimonium per effectum
amoris filialis quem in nobis facit.” Likewise in Ia Hae, q. 112, a.5: “Without
special revelation the presence of God in us and His absence cannot be known
with certainty. . . . But things are known conjecturally by signs: and thus
anyone may know that he has grace, when he is conscious of delight in God,
and of despising worldly things, and inasmuch as a man is not conscious of any
mortal sin. And thus it is written (Apoc. 2: 17): ‘To him that overcometh I will
give the hidden manna . . . which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it,’
because whoever receives it knows, by experiencing a certain sweetness, which
he who does not receive it, does not experience.” It is with this meaning, more­
over, that this text of the Apocalypse is generally quoted by mystics.
John of St. Thomas explains this doctrine clearly by saying: “Sicut contactus
animae quo experimentaliter sentitur, etiamsi in sua substantia non videatur,
est informatio et animatio, qua corpus reddit vivum et animatum, ita contactus
Dei quo sentitur experimentaliter, et ut objectum conjunctum, etiam antequam
videatur intuitive in se, est contactus operationis intimae, quo operatur intra
cor. ita ut sentiatur, et experimentaliter manifestetur, eo quod 'unctio ejus
docet nos de omnibus," ut dicitur I Joan. 4. . . .
"Haec cognitio experimentalis datur etiamsi intuitive non videatur in se
sufficit quod per proprios effectus, quasi per tactum et vivificationem sentiatur,
sicut animam nostram experimentaliter cognoscimus, etiamsi intuitive ejus
substantiam non videamus." John of St. Thomas, on Ia, q.43. disp. 17, a.3, nos.
13, 17. Also Vallgornera, Theol. myst. D. Thomae, Vol. II, no. 866.
11® Summa, Ha Hae, q.45, a.3.

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307

members of Christ. It is very important to note these practical
forms of the mystical life if we are to understand clearly the
meaning of the doctrine which we hold as traditional, and
if we do not wish to apply it materially in the same way to all
souls. St. Paul was thinking of this gift when he said: “How­
beit we speak wisdom among the perfect. . . . But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, a wisdom which is hidden.
... So the things also that are of God no man knoweth, but
the Spirit of God. . . . Now we have received . . . the Spirit
that is of God. . . . The spiritual man judgeth all things;
and he himself is judged of no man. . . . But we have the
mind of Christ.” 117 This experience of divine things gives
a certitude which fills the soul with ineffable consolation.118
The gift of wisdom thus corresponds to the beatitude of the
peacemakers,118 who, in the midst of all that might trouble
them, preserve deep peace, the tranquillity of order, so as to
communicate it to others. They are accustomed to contem­
plate all things in God, unforeseen and most painful events,
as well as those that are most consoling.
This gift is bestowed on us according to the measure of
our charity, by virtue of its intimate connection with charity.
Moreover, we can see in it, better than in the other gifts, the
three degrees corresponding to those of charity. In the first
degree, wisdom shows us principally the grandeur of God’s
commandments and gives us an attraction to what is good.
“But it is good for me to adhere to my God.”120 In the
second degree, it makes us see how valuable the counsels are
and how all Christians should have the spirit of the counsels,
even when their condition does not permit the practice of
them. Illumined by the light of contemplation, a sold which
11’ See I Cor. 2: 6-16; and St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.45, a.i.
ns Cf. St. Thomas on Ps. 33: 9: "O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet.”
"The effect of experience is twofold: one is certitude of the intellect, the other
security of the affections."
M Summa, Ila Ilae, q.45, a. 6.
iso Ps. ye: s8.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

passes through the night of the spirit more and more appre­
ciates the cross of Jesus; at times, it even finds therein a
spiritual sweetness and a “peace which surpasses all under­
standing.” In the third degree, the soul is transformed by the
gift of wisdom. In the light of this gift, says St. Thomas, “the
perfect aim chiefly at union with and enjoyment of God, and
desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ.” 121 Like St. Paul
the soul takes pleasure “in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ.” 122 This
is the eighth beatitude, the highest of all.123
Evidently this third degree of the gift of wisdom belongs
to the mystical life, strictly so called, even when this degree
of wisdom appears under a practical form, as it does in the
saints called to the active life. Dionysius the Carthusian,
following the principles of St. Thomas, brings this out in his
description of this third degree. He says: “The spirit no
longer rests in any created thing for itself; it is completely
fixed in the contemplation of divine things, a contemplation,
which is very pure, easy, and sweet, now that the passions
are calmed and the soul purified ... as far as human frailty
permits. This wisdom belongs to those who can say with St.
Paul (II Cor. 3: 18): ‘But we all beholding the glory of the
Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image
from glory to glory as by the spirit of the Lord.’ ” 124 We ought
121 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.24, a.9: “The divers degrees of charity are distin­
guished according to the different pursuits to which man is brought by the
increase of charity (beginners, proficients, and the perfect). . . . Man’s third
pursuit is to aim chiefly at union with and enjoyment of God: this belongs to
the perfect who desire to be dissolved and be with Christ.’’ Likewise In Ep. ad
Phil. 1: 23.
122 See II Cor. 12: 10.
123 Summa, la Ilae, q.69, a.3 ad 511m.
124 De donis, tr. 2, a. 15: "Quod donum sapientiae et virtus caritatis divinae
proportionaliter crescunt simul.” Art. 16: “And I live, now not I: but Christ
liveth in me” (Gal. 2: 20). Dionysius observes here that these three degrees of the
gift of wisdom correspond to the three degrees of the moral virtues explained
by St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.61, a.5, where he divides the virtues into social vir­
tues, perfecting virtues, and perfect virtues. Cf. Dionysius, De fonte lucis, a. 12,
13, 15, and De cont., Bk. I, a.44. In these works we find a similar description of

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309

all to desire this divine wisdom which normally increases with
charity, which ought to grow continually in this life.125
What is extraordinary is supereminent contemplation
which proceeds not only from the gifts of the Holy Ghost,
but from a grace gratis data, like that of prophecy, or that
called by St. Thomas sermo sapientiae. Moreover, after stating
that all the just receive the gift of wisdom in the measure
necessary to their own sanctification, St. Thomas adds: “Some,
however, receive a higher degree of the gift of wisdom, both
as to the contemplation of divine things (by both knowing
more exalted mysteries and being able to impart this knowl­
edge to others) and as to the direction of human affairs accord­
ing to divine rules (by being able to direct not only themselves
but also others according to those rules). This degree of wis­
dom is not common to all that have sanctifying grace, but
belongs rather to the gratuitous graces.” 126 We must also
remark that these graces, like prophecy, are not precisely
necessary for this act of contemplation, but they simply help
to render it more complete and more perfect.127 What would
be even more extraordinary is the beatific vision granted in a
transitory manner in this life, as St. Augustine and St. Thomas
thought that it was granted to Moses and St. Paul.128
the gift of wisdom. In De fonte lucis (a. 12, 15) it is clearly stated that that is
properly the contemplatio unitivae ac mysticae sapientiae which unites us to
God tanquam prorsus ignoto in the transluminous darkness, per supersplendentem caliginem, of which Dionysius the Mystic speaks, and St. Thomas after him
{In lib. de div. nom., chap. 1, lect. 1; chap. 7, lect. 4).
125 Cf. Henry Suso, L'Exemplaire, Part I, chap. 4; Part III, chap. 1; Ruysbroeck, Le royaume des amants, chap. 33.
12e Summa, Ila Ilae, q.45, a.5; and on graces gratis datae, la Ilae, q. 111, a.1.
12’ Cf. Thomas of Jesus, C.D., De contemplatione, Bk. II, chaps. 3-5; De
oratione, Bk. II, chaps. 1, 4; Schram, Theol. myst., 1. 2; chap. 4, sec. 244. "Solum
probatur contemplationem secundum essentiam suam non consistere in his
gratiis, sed per illas juvari accidentaliter et perfici directe in ordine ad alios,
indirecte in ordine ad se. . . . Quia sermo est de contemplatione perfecta,
quae supponit vel facit animam perfectam, haec nequit a solis gratiis gratis
datis procedere, cum sit caritate formata, et elevata donis Spiritus Sancti," Cf.
Meynard, O.P., Traité de la vie intérieure, Vol. Il, nos. 42-46.
SM Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 175, a.3-6.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

This is the Angelic Doctor’s teaching on the special inspira­
tion of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just, and on its
progress, which usually accompanies that of charity. If we
recall that, in his opinion, the perfection of charity is not only
of counsel, but falls under the first precept as the end to
which all must tend, each one according to his condition,128
we shall see more and more clearly that infused contemplation,
proceeding from the gift of wisdom, is truly found in the
normal way of sanctity and that it is generally granted to the
perfect.
We must now make a more profound study of the gift of
wisdom in particular, and of its relation to faith and to
infused contemplation.

ARTICLE VI
The Essential Character of Infused Contemplation;
How it Proceeds from The Gift of Wisdom
and from Faith

For the reasons we have just set forth, theologians com­
monly teach that infused contemplation proceeds formally
from the gifts of the Holy Ghost, particularly from the gift
of wisdom which makes us taste the mysteries of salvation and,
so to speak, see all things in God, just as acquired wisdom
tries to judge everything by the supreme cause and the last
end.1 The gift of understanding also contributes to contem­
plation by making us penetrate these mysteries.2 The gift of
knowledge may also have a share in it by manifesting to us
the emptiness and the vanity of all created things in com­
parison with God, or by revealing to us, in a more striking
Ibid., Ila Ilae, q.184, a.3.
1 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.45, a.I, 2.
’‘Ibid., q.8. By an illumination of this kind, our Lord opened the minds of
the disciples of Emmaus to give them understanding of the Scriptures.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

311

manner than years of meditation could, the infinite gravity
of mortal sin.8
All tradition associates with the inspirations of the gift
of wisdom that loving knowledge of God which is quite
different from speculative knowledge. This loving knowledge
supposes, together with the special illumination of the Holy
Ghost, a living “connaturality with divine things,” 4 based
on infused charity, a wholly supernatural attraction of the soul
for God, who makes Himself felt by it as the life of its life.
This living knowledge is an affective knowledge which be­
comes more lively, penetrating, and sweet because the gift of
wisdom grows with charity and is related to it as the infused
virtues and the other gifts are.
1. THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM IN SCRIPTURE

This doctrine, which is commonly accepted in the Church,
is manifestly founded on what Scripture tells us of the spirit
of wisdom. It was not only of the Messias that Isaias spoke
when he declared: “And 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. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of
the Lord.” 8 The Old Testament applies to all men the follow­
ing words, which we have already quoted: “God loveth none
but him that dwelleth with wisdom”; * “for wisdom will not
enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to
sins.” 7 St. John writes to the faithful: “Let the unction which
» Summa, Ila Ilae, q.g. Thus the gift of knowledge, according to St. Augus­
tine and St. Thomas, corresponds to the gift of tears: “Blessed are those who
mourn” when they see, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the gravity of
their faults as a disease of the soul and offense against God. The other gifts, those
of counsel, piety, fortitude, and fear, do not formally participate in infused con­
templation, but prepare the soul for it. Contemplation may at times be accom­
panied by prophetic light, but it is then an extraordinary favor.
« Summa, Ila Ilae, q.45, a. a, and John of St. Thomas, De donis, art. 4.
5 Is. 11:2.
8 Wis. 7: 28.
t1bid., 1: 4.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

you have received from Him abide in you. . . . His unction
teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie.” 8 St.
Paul, after stating that “the charity of God is poured forth in
our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us,” 9 then
adds: “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again
in fear; but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons,
whereby we cry: Abba (Father).” 10 “Howbeit we speak wis­
dom among the perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world,
neither of the princes of this world that come to nought: but
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, a wisdom which is
hidden, which God ordained before the world, unto our
glory: which none of the princes of the world knew; for if
they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord
of glory. But, as it is written: That eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what
things God hath prepared for them that love Him. But to us
God hath revealed them, by Flis Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him?
So the things also that are of God no man knoweth, but the
Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of this
world, but the Spirit that is of God: that we may know the
things that are given us from God. Which things also we
speak, not in the learned words of human wisdom: but in the
doctrine of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spir­
itual. But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that
are of the Spirit of God: for it is foolishness to him, and he
cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined. But
the spiritual man judgeth all things: and he himself is judged
of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that
he may instruct Flim? But we have the mind of Christ.” 11
These words about the wisdom preached “among the pere See I John 2: 27.
e Rom. 5: 5.
lo/bid., 8: 15.
11 See I Cor. 2: 6-16.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

3*3

feet” are fully lived only by souls raised to mystical contem­
plation; especially to them the unction of the Holy Ghost
“teaches all things.” By Him they cry to God in their prayers;
they scrutinize the deep things of God; they anticipate all
He has prepared for those who love Him; they know experi­
mentally all the riches already received; and they judge all
things, whether painful or pleasurable, by referring them to
the glory of God. Again St. Paul writes for all Christians: “But
we all beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by
the Spirit of the Lord.” 12 Only in infused contemplation is
this transformation of a certainty fully realized on earth.
Without the mystical knowledge of God, how can we
possess the full perfection of Christian life? “Now all good
things came to me together with her.” 18 As the Apostle St.
James says: “But the wisdom, that is from above, first indeed
is chaste, then peaceable, modest, easy to be persuaded, con­
senting to the good, full of mercy and good fruits, without
judging, without dissimulation.” 14
The doctors of the Church, following the lead of St. Augus­
tine and St. Gregory the Great, have interpreted these passages
of Scripture as referring to the gift of wisdom, the principle
of infused contemplation. The liturgy likewise brings this
message to all the faithful in the Veni Creator.™
2. THE GIFT OF WISDOM AND INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

ACCORDING TO THEOLOGY

St. Thomas, in conformity with tradition, teaches that COn12 See II Cor. 3: 18.
is Wisd. 7: 11.
14 Jas. 3: 17.
is Cf. Diet, théol., art. “Dons" by Father Gardeil. O.P., for the doctrine of the
fathers. The Scriptural bases of the teaching of St. Thomas on the gifts are to
be found in his commentaries on the Old and New Testament, on the passages
we have just quoted, and also on the following: Ps. 41: 2: Wis. 7: 7, 22; Eccles.
15: 2; 39: 8; Is. 12: 3; 55: 1; Matt. 5: 1; John 3: 4; 4: 10; 7: 38; 14: 1G-26; 16: 13 f.;
Rom. 8: 26; Eph. 3: 16; 4: 30; Phil., chap. 4; I John, 4: 1-13.

3’4

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

templation is chiefly the fruit of the gift of wisdom. This gift
is an infused disposition (habitus infusus) of the intellect, as
contemplation is an intellectual act,18 requiring an illumina­
tion of the Holy Ghost. But as the gift of wisdom presupposes
charity, contemplation depends essentially also on charity,
which makes us desire to know God better, not for the joy of
knowing, but for God Himself, that we may love Him more.17
In this act the will applies the intellect to the consideration
of divine things in preference to all others (order of exercise),
and also (in the order of specification), from the fact that this
will is fundamentally rectified and elevated by an eminent
charity, these divine things appear to us more and more
conformable to our highest aspirations. By experience we
learn that they fill and surpass these aspirations and never
cease to elevate them. Consequently we live more and more
by God, by His supreme goodness, which makes itself felt by
us as the life of our life. We “taste the sweetness of God’’: "O
taste, and see that the Lord is sweet.” 18
St. Thomas says: “Wisdom denotes a certain rectitude of
judgment according to the Eternal Law. Now rectitude of
judgment is twofold: first, on account of perfect use of reason,
secondly, on account of a certain connaturality with the
matter about which one has to judge. Thus about matters
of chastity, a man after inquiring with his reason forms
a right judgment, if he has learned the science of morals,
while he who has the habit of chastity judges of such matters
by a kind of connaturality. Accordingly, it belongs to the
wisdom that is an intellectual virtue to pronounce right
judgment about divine things, after reason has made its
inquiry; but it belongs to wisdom 19 as a gift of the Holy
io Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 180, a. i.
Ibid.
18 Ps. 33 ■ 9·
18 St. Thomas says in the preceding article: "Now man obtains this judgment
through the Holy Ghost . . . who searcheth all things." In this there might
indeed be a simple affective knowledge through faith united to charity. That
this knowledge may proceed from the gift of wisdom, there must be, moreover.
it

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

3»5

Ghost to judge aright about them on account of connaturality
with them: thus Dionysius says (Div., Nom., ii) that Hierotheus is perfect in divine things, for he not only learns, but
he is patient of divine things. Now this sympathy or connatu­
rality with divine things is the result of charity, which unites
us to God, according to I Cor. 6: 17: He who is joined to the
Lord, is one spirit.” *20
Thus love makes the object loved better known, affectus
transit in conditionem objecti, as John of St. Thomas says,21
“for by it and by affective experience this object appears to us
more and more conformable to our aspirations and intimately
united to us. The intellect is thus directed toward God, as if
it touched Him experimentally. In this way, love moves the un­
derstanding, by applying it to consideration (in genere causae
effectivae'), and also in an objective manner (in genere causae
objectivae), since by this experience the object appears quite
otherwise than without it” and manifests itself as supremely
suitable, as Goodness itself that is felt. This is what made our
Lord say: “If any man will do the will of Him (the Father); he
shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I
speak of Myself.” 22 This love unites us more closely to God
than abstract23 knowledge; and by the experience it gives us,
it makes us more and more keenly desire the intuitive knowl­
edge of the life to come, the beatific vision. This true prag­
an inspiralion of the Holy Ghost: thereby infused contemplation is distin­
guished from the sensible consolations acquired in meditation, as we will
point out later on.
20 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.45, a.st.
21 On la Ilae, q.68, disp. 18, a.4.
22 John 7: 17.
22Summa, la Ilae, q.ï8, a.i ad jum: "Knowledge is perfected by the thing
known being united, through its likeness, to the knower. But the effect of love
is that the thing itself which is loved, is, in a way, united to the lover, as stated
above. Consequently, the union caused by love is closer than that which is
caused by knowledge.”
However, if knowledge is absolutely immediate, if one knows God by His
very essence and no longer by a likeness, as is the case in the beatific vision,
then it is this knowledge which makes us take possession of God rather than
love. Cf. la Ilae, q.3, a.4.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

matism, which scoffs at pragmatism, is born of supernatural
charity, which supposes faith.
A soul might have affective knowledge from the simple
fact that the love of charity is united to the act of faith; this
is what occurs in affective, discursive prayer. But in infused
contemplation there is, in addition, an inspiration and special
illumination of the Holy Ghost. This subject was discussed at
length in article 5 above.
When a distinction is made, as often occurs in the writings
of the fathers and of theologians, between illumination and in­
spiration, special illumination is a grace for the intellect,
inspiration a grace for the will. In this sense we speak of in­
fused knowledge and love that we cannot produce at will.
No one can set a limit to the growing intensity of the illumina­
tion which the gift of wisdom renders us apt to receive. This
illumination, as we shall see, can always grow in intensity in
this life, just as charity can.
This infused contemplation is obscure because it is superior
both to every sensible image and to every distinct idea. This
state of transluminous obscurity is indeed, in so far as the in­
telligence is concerned, what constitutes the foundation of
the mystical state, according to the opinion of Dionysius, St.
John of the Cross, and the other great spiritual teachers. It is
very difficult to describe, for it is entirely supernatural and
surpasses all expression. In it is something akin to a death
of the understanding, which in reality is an incomparably
superior new life, the true prelude of the life of heaven.
St. John of the Cross should be consulted on this point, which
he discusses in The Dark Night of the Soul. He says: “The
imagination is bound, and unable to make any profitable
reflections; the memory is gone; and the understanding, too,
is darkened and unable to comprehend anything.” 24 The
faculties are, as it were, annihilated according to their human
mode; here, there is a deeper and more vital communication
24 Bk. II, chap. 16, sec. 1.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

317

of the divine mode of knowing and loving. St. John of the
Cross 25 quotes St. Thomas (Ila Ilae, q. i8o, a. i) and adds:
‘‘This happens in a secret, hidden way in which the natural
operation of the understanding and the other faculties have
no share. And, therefore, because the faculties of the soul
cannot attain it, and since the Holy Ghost infuses it into the
soul in a way unknown to it, as the Bride declares in the
Canticle, it is called ‘secret.’ And, it is not only the soul
that is ignorant of it, but every one else, even the devil; be­
cause the Master, who now teaches the soul, dwells substanti­
ally within it where neither the devil, nor the understanding,
nor natural reason can penetrate.”
This is why so much difficulty is found in describing psy­
chologically what theology calls the superhuman mode of
the gifts of the Holy Ghost, especially of the gift of wisdom.
Among the best descriptions are the one we have just quoted,
and also the passage where St. Teresa 26 distinguishes the first
infused prayer (supernatural recollection) from the last of the
acquired prayers which preceded it. We quoted this descrip­
tion above (chap. 5, arts. 2, 3).
It is important, however, not to believe with liberal Protes­
tantism and modernistic agnosticism that this transluminous
obscurity of infused contemplation, which brings no distinct
knowledge, can do without a definite Credo, or that it finds
an obstacle in such a Credo.27 On the contrary, this obscurity
is at the opposite extreme from the “unstable wandering of
the soul” with which sentimentality or theosophy is satisfied.
To this it is somewhat opposed, as God, its object, is opposed
to prime matter, which is capable of receiving all forms. In
fact, infused contemplation is what gives ever more clearly
25 Ibid., chap. 17.
The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 3.
zr Every true Catholic mystic is and should be ready to give his life for the
least iota of the Credo. Every formal heresy destroys infused faith in us and
therefore charity; that is, the essential principle from which proceeds the con­
templation we are speaking of.

gi8

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

the spirit of the words, concepts, and formulas of faith. It thus
makes us, in a way, pass beyond the formulas of dogmas in
order to enter into the deep things of God by believing in the
mysteries as they are in Him, without its being granted us to
see them. Thus conceived, this contemplation, far more pro­
foundly than any study or meditation could, enables us to
grasp the evangelical parables, the different mysteries of sal­
vation, the unfathomable perfections of God, the supreme
mystery of the Deity which contains them all, and the ineffable
relations of the divine Persons.
Hence St. Thomas,28 following Dionysius, distinguishes
three principal degrees in this contemplation, according to
the brilliance of the illumination of the Holy Ghost, which
has an unlimited intensive progress.
1) The soul contemplates God in the mirror of sensible
things of which He is the author, or in the mirror of the
evangelical parables, as for instance, infinite mercy in the
story of the prodigal son. The soul rises from a sensible fact
toward God by a straight movement, like that of a lark soar­
ing directly from earth toward heaven. While preaching the
parable, our Lord placed His hearers in this prayer.
2) The soul contemplates God in the mirror of the mys­
teries of salvation, the mysteries of the Word made flesh, the
incarnation, redemption, Holy Eucharist, the life of the
Church; mysteries which the rosary constantly sets before our
eyes to familiarize us with them. In this spiritual mirror the
soul contemplates the goodness of God. It comprehends better
and better the harmony of these mysteries, and passes from
one to another by an oblique movement analogous to that of a
bird which, being already aloft, flies from one point to an­
other, its gaze lost in the azure depths of the sky.
3) The soul contemplates God in Himself, not as the
blessed in heaven do, but in the penumbra of faith. Here the
soul has risen above the multiplicity of sensible images and
Summa, Ila Hae, q. 180, a.6.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

319

ideas. It sees, but a little indistinctly, that God our Father,
who is infinitely good, is superior to every idea we can have of
Him; and it sees that His goodness surpasses everything He
Himself could put into human formulas for us, as the sky
includes all the stars which manifest its depths to us. The
soul not only tells itself these tilings, which every philosopher
can think, even though he be in the state of mortal sin; but,
under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, by a loving and
quasi-experimental knowledge it is wholly united to this
unknown God; holy and sweet ignorance, superior to all
knowledge. This is the pure contemplative movement which
recollects the soul in God alone above all things, as Dionysius
describes it in The Divine Names.20 This prayer has been com­
pared to an eagle’s circular movement high up in the air, or
to the movement of a bird hovering as though suspended
and seeming to be motionless. This immobility is far more
perfect than the varied movement that preceded it. As a cir­
cular movement has neither beginning nor end, there is here
no method, for one does not start from principles in order
to reach conclusions. Under the illumination of the Holy
Ghost, it is truly simplex intuitus veritatis, the simple intu­
ition of divine truths in the obscurity of faith, and the im­
petuosity of love which mysteriously unites us to God.80
Christ’s sacerdotal prayer in the Gospel of St. John 81 gives us
2» Chap. 4.
"Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 180, a.6. This contemplation, compared by Dionysius
to a circular movement, consists, as he says (loc. cit.), "in the soul leaving exterior
things so that it may enter into itself; that it may recall its intellectual faculties
to unity in order that shut up, as it were, in a circle it may not go astray; then
in this release from distractions, in this recollection and simplification of itself,
that it may unite itself to the angels marvelously lost in unity, and allow itself
thus to be led toward the beautiful and the good, toward the Deity itself, supe­
rior to the beautiful and the good." Philip of the Blessed Trinity, C.D., followed
by Vallgornera, O.P., recognizes in his Mystical Theology, II, 66, where he dis­
cusses circular contemplation, that it is generally infused. This is the least that
can be said. This contemplation differs enormously from the acquired specula­
tion of the philosopher or from meditation on the ineffability of the divine
essence.
41 John, chap. ;j.

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the idea of this circular contemplation. An argument with
major, minor, and conclusion must not be sought in it; on
the contrary, it is composed, as it were, of luminous undula­
tions which descend from heaven to us.
This circular contemplation no more resembles medita­
tion or abstract speculation on the divine essence than a
circumference resembles a polygon inscribed within it; in
proportion as the circumference is simple, the other is com­
plex. Very often commentaries on the works of the saints give
the same impression as this polygon; in vain we would mul­
tiply its sides in an attempt to make them identical with the
circle enclosing them.
As can be seen from his Commentary on the Divine Names,31
St. Thomas follows Dionysius. Above symbolical theology,
which speaks of God in métaphores, and above speculative
theology, which is expressed in less unsuitable terms and which
reasons on the divine perfections and mysteries, there is “a
perfect knowledge of God, which is obtained by ignorance
in virtue of an incomprehensible union. This takes place when
the soul, leaving all things and forgetting self, is united to the
splendors of the divine glory and is enlightened in the splen­
did depths of unfathomable wisdom.” 88 Only a person who
has received this grace can clearly understand all that these
words express. St. Thomas adds: “We know God by igno­
rance, by a certain union with the divine which is above the
nature of the mind . . . and thus knowing God, in such a
state of knowledge, the soul is illumined from the very depths
of divine Wisdom, which we cannot scrutinize.” 84
We attain the mysterious ocean of being, which is superior
to substance, to life, and to light, only by the repose of the
superior faculties, not by reasoning or by a sight of God,
82 He says in the Summa (Ila Ilae, q.180, a. 6 ad zum): “Discoursing must be
laid aside and the soul's gaze fixed on the contemplation of the one simple
truth.”
88 The Divine Names, VII, 3.
μ Loe. cit., lect. 4.

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but by a most loving and intimate union, “by a sort of initia­
tion which no master can teach.” 85 Dionysius says: “We de­
sire to enter that transluminous obscurity and to see and
know, by the very fact of not seeing and not knowing, Him
who is above all sight and all knowledge. For the soul truly
sees and knows and supersubstantially praises the supersubstantial when it declares that the supersubstantial is nothing
of that which other beings are.” 88 “The good Being . . .
drives away ignorance and error from all souls in which He
reigns; He dispenses to them all sacred light. . . . First of
all He gives them a little light; then when, having tasted it,
they desire it in greater abundance, He distributes it to them
with greater largess. Because they have loved much, He in­
undates them with this light; and He ever urges them for­
ward in proportion to the zeal they exercise in directing their
faculties toward Him.” 87
The soul cannot by its own efforts reach this infused con­
templation, but it ought to prepare itself to receive it. This
it should do by prayer and mortification,88 and by setting
aside the senses and reasoning: “As for thee, O well beloved
Timothy, exercise thyself unceasingly in mystical contempla­
tion. Put aside the senses and the operations of the under­
standing, all that is material and intellectual, all the things
that exist and those that do not, and by a supernatural flight
unite thyself as intimately as possible with Him who is above
all being and all knowledge. For it is by this sincere, spon­
taneous, and total abandonment of thyself and of all things
that, free and disengaged from all ties, thou wilt cast thyself
into the mysterious splendor of the divine obscurity.” 88
“This intimate union, which surpasses the range of nonmystical minds, is a fusion produced by divine love . . . for
8<s Ep., IX, 1.
se Theol. myst., II.
s’ The Divine Names, IV, 5.
ss Ibid., Ill, 1.
so Theol. myst., I, 1.

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love is a unifying force.” 40 It is the perfection on this earth
of the “deification of the soul.” 41
“Mystical knowledge,” says St. Albert the Great,42 “does
not proceed from the findings of reason, but rather from a
certain divine light. The object seized by the soul (God Him­
self) acts so strongly on the intellect that the soul wishes at
any price to be united to it. Since this object is above the
grasp of the intellect, it does not make itself clearly known to
it; consequently the understanding rests on something which
is not determined.”
This contemplation gives us a foreknowledge of the divine
perfections, which are identical with each other, without ex­
cluding each other, in the eminence of the Deity. It shows us
how infinite justice harmonizes with infinite mercy, without
ceasing to be justice; how sovereign mercy could not exist
without being identical with this justice, in appearance so
contrary to it.48 The soul is introduced into the divine dark­
ness, which Dionysius speaks of and which Blessed Angela of
Foligno so wonderfully praises,44 by a speculative and a quasi<0 The Divnie Names, IV, is.
Hierar. coel., I, 3.
42 In libr. de myst. theol. Dionys. q. proem., ad 1.
42 We have treated this question elsewhere from the speculative point of
view. Cf. Garrigou-Lagrange, God, His Existence and His Nature, Vol. II,
chap. 3, "Reconciliation of the Divine Attributes: Their Formal Existence and
Their Identification in the Eminence of the Deity.” "Absolute perfections are
contained formally and eminently in God, and yet they are only virtually dis­
tinguished from each other. They are contained formally, which means ac­
cording to their formal concept; they are contained eminently, which means
according to a mode infinitely above the created mode. . . . Thus, the abso­
lute perfections are contained formally in God and yet are only virtually dis­
tinguished from one another, or, in other words, according to a reasoned-out
distinction for which there is a foundation, but consequent to the considera­
tion of the mind” (ibid., p. 196).
44 Le livre des visions et instructions de la B. Angèle de Foligno, chap, ϊδ:
"One day my soul was ravished and I saw God in a light superior to every
known light; in a plenitude superior to every plenitude. In the place where
I was, I sought love and I no longer found it. . . . Then I saw God in a
darkness, and necessarily in a darkness because He is too far above the spirit,
and all that can become the object of a thought cannot express Him. . . .
This is an ineffable delectation in the good which contains all, and noth­
ing there can become the object of a word or a concept. I see nothing, I see

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experimental knowledge that God in His intimate life, in
what constitutes Him as such (in His nature as God) is, so to
speak, superior to being, truth, good, wisdom, love, mercy,
and justice; and that nevertheless these divine perfections
are in Him formally in an eminent manner, without any real
distinction.
How can the soul know in this way that Deity, which is
common to the three divine Persons and from which they are
not in reality distinct? Grace alone permits us to know it in
this way, because grace is precisely a real and formal partici­
pation in this Deity, in the divine nature as such. Whereas a
stone resembles God because it has existence; a plant, because
it has life; and the natural man, because he is endowed with
intelligence; grace makes us resemble God precisely inas­
much as He is God, in His Deity, superior to being, life, and
thought. This relationship belongs to an order quite superior
to a sensible miracle and to the prophecies of possible future
events.48 Such is this connaturality, this natural resemblance
with God, the grace of tire virtues and the gifts. It makes the
just soul, as it were, an Aeolian harp which, under the
breathing of the Holy Ghost, gives forth the most harmoni­
ous sounds, the sweetest as well as the most brilliant, the most
piercing as well as the most solemn. As a new leitmotif,
which at first is imperceptible and distant, little by little
rises, approaches, envelops us, and ends by dominating all,
so the mysterious harmony of the gift of wisdom rises in our
soul. Its superhuman mode scarcely appears at first, and then
all. The more profound the darkness is, the more the good exceeds all. This
is the reserved mystery. . . . The divine power, wisdom, and will, which I saw
marvelously elsewhere, seems less than this. This is a whole; the others could
be called parts. ... In the immense darkness I see the Blessed Trinity. . . .
That is the supreme attraction, in comparison with which all is nothing; that
is the incomparable." On the same subject, cf. St. Thomas, In De divinis Nom­
inibus, c. VII, lect. 4; and I Sent, d.8, q.1, a. 1 ad gum. It would be a gross er­
ror to confound this infused contemplation with the philosophical meditation
in which one thinks that the divine essence surpasses all our concepts.
« Summa, la Ilae, q.111, a. 5.

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in rather a negative manner by the disappearance of the
human mode of thinking. As St. John of the Cross says,4®
meditation becomes impossible or impracticable; the soul has
no desire to fix its imagination on any particular interior or
exterior object; it is pleased in prayer to find itself alone with
God, and to fix its attention lovingly on Him. This is the
beginning of the divine intimacy.
Theology, by what it teaches about the gift of wisdom,
makes us know ontologically the spiritual organism of con­
templation; but it leaves to mystics the description of the
psychological signs that correspond to contemplation. It thus
remains a superior science, distinct from the eminent art of
the direction of souls, which is its application. We can see
from this point of view why St. Thomas (Ila Ilae, q. 180)
treats contemplation in a formal manner. He determines its
essence, which is analogically found in both philosophical
and infused contemplation;47 but he does not describe the
different types of the latter according to the psychological
and material signs that manifest it. St. Teresa is essentially
descriptive; St. John of the Cross, both a mystic and a theolo­
gian, takes his place between tire two. A number of authors
make a mistake in wanting to discern which of these three
points of view is the highest. In the great sobriety of his
language, St. Thomas expresses the essence of things; without
writing of mystical theology, he has given us its principles.
III. PROGRESSIVE PREDOMINANCE OF THE DIVINE MODE
OF THE GIFT OF WISDOM IN PRAYER

When we say that spiritual progress normally demands the
progressive predominance of the divine mode of the gifts ol
the Holy Ghost in order to remedy the imperfect mode of the
The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chaps. 11-13; The Dark Night of the
Soul, Bk. I, chap. 9.
*1 Thus he treats of the essence of prudence, which is analogically found in
acquired and in infused prudence, or of the essence of friendship which makes
possible the definition of charity.

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325

infused virtues, and when we add that the mystical life is
precisely characterized by this predominance and by perfect
docility to the interior Master, we do not mean to reserve to
the mystical state the intervention of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, or to exclude the exercise of the virtues from this
state. On the contrary, we have always said that, before the
entrance into the mystical state, the gifts intervene in a man­
ner that may be latent and rather frequent, or that may be
manifest but rare.48 When this intervention becomes fre­
quent and manifest, then the mystical life begins, character­
ized by this predominance of the divine mode of the gifts,48
whereas the ascetical life is characterized by the human mode
of the virtues.
What we do not admit is that the gifts must enter into
play every time the soul receives an actual grace; because an
actual grace is required for even the most imperfect exercise
of the Christian virtues, for remissi acts notably lower than
the degree of charity we possess. In these acts no influence of
the gifts is seen.60 It would be an error to confound actual
grace, at first exciting, then co-operating, which moves us to
deliberate well according to the human mode, to will, and to
act in consequence, with the inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
to which the gifts render us docile, without our having to
deliberate according to the human mode.51 It may well be
‘8 This is what theologians, particularly Thomists, generally teach. Cf.
Joseph of the Holy Ghost, C. D„ Cursus theol. seal.-mysticae, Vol. II, Disp. VII,
q. 1, no. 28.
49 On this point cf. Joseph of the Holy Ghost, ibid.
99 Cf. Gardeil, Diet, théol., art. "Dons," the last part of the article.
51 St. Thomas says (Ila Ilae, q.52, a.2 ad turn): "In the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, the position of the human mind is of one moved rather than of a
mover." He speaks in the same manner of operating grace in order to dis­
tinguish it from co-operating grace (la Ilae, q.111, a.2): “Hence in that effect
in which our mind is moved and does not move, but in which God is the sole
mover, the operation is attributed to God, and it is with reference to this that
we speak of operating grace. But in that effect in which our mind both moves
and is moved, the operation is not only attributed to God, but also to the
soul; and it is with reference to this that we speak of co-operating grace.” The
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, of which we are speaking, is an operating grace

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that a latent inspiration rather often accompanies human de­
liberation and work, just as a breeze facilitates the labor of
a man who is rowing; but the divine mode of acting remains
specifically distinct from the human mode. When the divine
mode predominates in an act or a state to such an extent that
this act and this state cannot be produced by our industry or
human activity aided by the actual grace required for the
exercise of the virtues, then that state is called passive. For
example, when the wind blows with such force that a boat
advances without the necessity of rowing, its progress does
not depend on the activity of the oarsman. There is, there­
fore, more than a difference of degree between the human
mode of the virtues and of the corresponding actual grace
and the divine mode of the gifts of the Holy Ghost; there is
a specific difference. This specific difference would not exist
if the divine motion were only more intense. The difference
arises from the fact that the objective regulation of the act
is formally different, according as it proceeds from reason,
which, enlightened by faith, deliberates in a human manner;
or from the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, superior to all
human deliberations and to every discursive process, whether
it is intrinsic to prudence, or whether it disposes the soul to
make at a desired moment acts of faith, hope, or charity.52
that we receive with docility and that makes us accomplish acts which we
would not succeed in producing by our personal efforts aided by grace. St.
Teresa says, in speaking of the prayer of union (fifth mansion, chap, i): "Here
God does not leave us any other share than that of a fully submissive will.”
Likewise St. Felicitas remarked to one of her jailers when she was suffering
the pains of childbirth: “Today it is I who suffer; but then (during martyr­
dom) there will be another in me who will suffer for me, because I also will
suffer for Him.” This is the difference between the virtue and the gift.
Summa, la Hae, q.68, a.t: "Human virtues perfect man according as it is
natural for him to be moved by his reason in his interior and exterior ac­
tions. Consequently, man needs yet higher perfection, whereby to be moved
by God. . . . Even the Philosopher says in the chapter on Good Fortune
(Ethic. Eudem., loc. cit.) that for those who are moved by divine instinct there
is no need to take counsel according to human reason, but only to follow their
inner conscience, since they are moved by a principle higher than human rea­
son. This then is what some say, viz., that the gifts perfect man for acts which

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327

This difference appears in infused contemplation espe­
cially at its beginning and in its progress. It is helpful to re­
call the ascent described by St. Teresa and St. John of the
Cross. In the aridity of the night of the senses, the gift of
knowledge dominates by acquainting us especially with the
vanity of created things; 63 in the night of the soul, the gift
of understanding 34 shows us not so much the goodness of
God as His infinite majesty, and by contrast our wretched­
ness. Between the two nights and especially after the second,
the superhuman mode of the gift of wisdom is not only
latent, but becomes more and more manifest to an experi­
enced spiritual director. The soul, under the illumination of
the Holy Ghost, thus possesses this quasi-experimental knowl­
edge by connaturality with divine things. This knowledge
can certainly not be had at will; while one can at will, with
an actual grace, make an act of faith even when in the state
of mortal sin.
In some perfect souls, this predominance of the super­
human mode of the gift of wisdom is striking (and at times
even accompanied by graces gratis datae, by prophetic light);
in others it is diffuse, but nevertheless very real. In these souls
the practical gifts of counsel, fortitude, and fear, or those of
piety and knowledge, are more manifest. But they are truly
under the direction of the spirit of wisdom, and its light,
like that diffused in the air, without attracting one’s gaze,
penetrates everything and gives to all life a superior tone, as
appreciable as the difference between day and night.
This grace of infused contemplation, even in the diffuse
are higher than acts of virtue.” Cf. John of St. Thomas on this article. It is
dear that every actual grace does not dispense us from deliberating.
St. Thomas speaks thus (In Rom. 8: 14) on the text: "For whosoever are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God": "Homo spiritualis, non quasi
ex motu proprie voluntatis principaliter, sed ex instinctu Spiritus Sancti in­
clinatur ad aliquid." Cf. Froget, O.P., De l'habitation du Saint-Esprit dans les
âmes justes, Part IV, chap. 6, p. 407.
a Summa, lia Ilae, q.g, a.4.
»* Ibid., q.8, a.7.

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state, certainly differs from the sensible consolations which
sometimes accompany vocal prayer or the meditation of be­
ginners. St. Teresa clearly marks this difference” by show­
ing what distinguishes “spiritual tastes from the consolations
acquired in meditation.” “We secure the latter,” she says, “by
our reflections, by means of considerations on created things,
and by a painful labor of the understanding. And as, after
all, they are the fruit of our efforts, they noisily fill the basin
of our soul with some spiritual profit.” The saint also com­
pares these acquired consolations to water which comes
through pipes from a distance. On the contrary, when speak­
ing symbolically of the consolations of God, which she has
called elsewhere the prayer of quiet, she writes: “In the other
fountain, the water proceeds from the same source, which is
God. Moreover, when it pleases His Majesty to grant us a
spiritual favor, this water flows from the most intimate depths
of our being with extreme peace, tranquillity, and sweetness.
But whence it springs and in what manner, that I do not
know.”
It is possible to have a certain affective knowledge of God
by the simple exercise of faith united to charity. This is the
case with the consolations acquired in meditation, in which
emotion may have a large part.” Infused contemplation, more­
over, requires a special illumination or inspiration of the Holy
Ghost to which precisely, as we have seen, the gift of wisdom
renders us docile.
This gift, like the other six gifts and the infused virtues, is
related to charity and most certainly grows with it. In a truly
docile soul, infused contemplation ought thus normally to
appear and then to develop. Consequently there should
so The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 2.
so See what St. Thomas says about the passions or emotions resultant by
redundance (la Ilae, q.24, a.3 ad turn); of sensible joy, the effect of the de­
votion of the will (Ila Ilae, q.8z, a.4); and of the effects of communion (Illa,
q. 79, a.i ad zum).

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329

normally be a progressive predominance, either striking or
diffuse, of the divine mode of the gift of wisdom over the
human mode of meditation or of acquired prayer. In this
way appears the supernatural prayer of which St. Teresa
speaks. This prayer, which ought always to unite the soul
more closely to God, is sometimes accompanied by ecstasy,
by interior words, or even by visions. Yet these things are
only accidental and transitory phenomena which pass, while
infused contemplation continues. If the light of prophecy
(lumen propheticum) co-operates at times in this contempla­
tion, it is in a concomitant manner. Graces gratis datae be­
long to an order inferior to that of the virtues and gifts.57
With this in mind, we can easily harmonize four recently pro­
posed opinions as to the nature of the mystical state.58 The
first holds that it consists in an infused knowledge of God and
of divine things; the second, in an infused love; the third, in
a special passivity of the soul more acted upon than acting;
and the fourth, in a simple and loving attention to God. The
last cannot, in fact, be prolonged without a rather manifest
intervention of the gifts.58
™ Summa, la Ilae, q.111, a.5. In this article St. Thomas states that sanctify­
ing grace is "nobler than gratuitous grace.” It is helpful to reread the office
for the feast of St. Teresa, particularly the Little Chapter in which only the
gift of wisdom is mentioned: "Wherefore I wished, and understanding was
given me: and I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me"
(Wis. 7: 7).
68 Revue d’ascitique et de mystique, October, 1920. On the question of mysti­
cal contemplation, cf. pp. 333-336.
88 The first two opinions can be reconciled by the principle of the mutual
causality of knowledge and love, "causae ad invicem sunt causae in diverso
genere.” From different points of view, there exists here priority either of
knowledge or of love, as there is, for example, at the end of the deliberation
when the free will determines upon the last practical judgment which directs
its choice. The third opinion mentions the special passivity which is proper,
at one and the same time, to infused knowledge and to infused love, which are
united in the simple and loving attention of which the fourth opinion speaks.
It is not, therefore, very difficult to reach an understanding on this point; the
divergencies in this case may be only verbal.

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IV. WHETHER CONTEMPLATION PROCEEDS EXCLUSIVELY FROM
THE GIFT OF WISDOM, OR ALSO FROM FAITH UNITED TO CHARITY

It would be an error, as we have seen, to declare that the
intervention of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is reserved to the
mystical state. It would assuredly be another mistake to ex­
clude the exercise of the theological virtues from the mystical
state. On the contrary, the mystical state, according to the
great masters, consists in the most perfect exercise of these
virtues, which are the highest of all. How can this assertion
be reconciled with what we have just said about the pre­
dominance of the divine mode of the gifts in this state?
Some writers seem to hold that contemplation is not an
act of faith, but that it presupposes an act of faith, at once
distinct from it and simultaneous with it, as the deduction of
a theological conclusion presupposes the knowledge of the
principles of faith. This conception seems to conform but
slightly to the perfect simplicity of the contemplative act,
which is in no way discursive, and which dwells immediately
on the mysteries of faith, penetrating and tasting them. Be­
sides, the greatest mystics, such as St. John of the Cross, al­
ways declare that infused contemplation is an eminent act of
living faith. Evidently they mean faith united to the gift of
wisdom, and to a superior degree of this gift.00 Therefore,
together with Cajetan,01 Joseph of the Holy Ghost,02 and a
number of other commentators of St. Thomas,03 we think
that there are not two simultaneous acts, but that infused
contemplation is an act which proceeds, in so far as its suboo The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chaps. 2, 5, 8: Faith is the only
proximate and proportionate means which enables the soul to attain to the
divine union; chap. 9: Bk. HI, chaps. 4, 6.
or On Ila Ilae, q.45, a.i.
02 Cursus theol. scol.-mysticae, Vol. II, dist. 13, p. 395, where Suarez is also
quoted as admitting this conclusion.
oaThis seems to be the thought of John of St. Thomas, De donis, d.18, a.4;
a.2, no. 25: ‘‘Dona ad excellentius perficiendum et exercendum virtutes the­
ologicas deserviunt.” Cf. T. Vallgornera, O.P., Theol. myst. S. Thomae, I, 471;
II, 446.

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331

stance is concerned, from infused faith, and with respect to
its superhuman mode, from the gift of wisdom. The perfect
contemplative is he who lives by faith and who, while be­
lieving supernatural mysteries, penetrates them, sounds their
depths, tastes them, and assimilates them, or rather allows
himself to be assimilated by them. It is he who is not content
with believing, but who fully lives his faith (justus ex fide
vivit), and who judges everything according to it, that is, ac­
cording to the very thought of God, as if he saw with the
eye of God. Charity also co-operates in contemplation, since
charity is what moves us to contemplate God that we may
love Him better.64
This would seem to be the meaning of St. Thomas’ state­
ment that: “The gifts perfect the virtues by raising them
above the human mode; as the gift of understanding perfects
the virtue of faith.” 65 “The theological virtues (uniting us
to the Holy Ghost) are superior to the gifts which they regu­
late,” 66 and nevertheless receive a new perfection from them.
“The operation which proceeds from the virtue perfected by
the gift is called a beatitude.” 67
V. THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY GHOST AND THE BEATITUDES

By the gifts of the Holy Ghost the just soul becomes, as it
were, a musical instrument from which the interior Master
may draw marvelous harmonies: “Instrumentum musicum a
Spiritu pulsatum divinamque gloriam et potentiam canens.” 68
The soul thus sings the glory of God, a fact demonstrated by
every page of the lives of the saints.
** Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 180, a. 1.
es Quaest. disp. de caritate, a.2 ad 1711m; HI, d.34, q.i, a.i.
68 "Sicut virtutes intellectuales praeferuntur virtutibus moralibus et regu­
lant eas; ita virtutes theologicae (per quas unimur Spiritui Sancto moventi),
praeteruntur donis Spiritus Sancti et regulant ea." Thus faith is the remote
rule of the intellectual gifts, which can be exercised only on the truths of faith.
Their proximate, immediate rule is the illumination of the Holy Ghost, which
constitutes the formal motive of penetrating or sweet, infused contemplation.
87 St. Thomas, Super Isaiam, chap. 11.
es St. Gregory Nazianzen, Orat. ad popul., XLIII, no. 67.

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Scripture compares a just man to a tree planted near run­
ning water, and giving its fruit in due season.68 “The fruit of
the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, good­
ness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, and
chastity.” 70
In what do these fruits differ from the virtues and the
gifts? As St. Thomas explains,71 they are not habits, but acts
which proceed in us from the influence of the Holy Ghost
and which man delights in. They are thus opposed to what
may be called the fruits of reason.
The beatitudes are still higher. By this term we designate
certain acts of the present life which, by reason of their very
special perfection, are the pledge, the meritorious cause and,
as it were, the first fruits of perfect beatitude.72 “By reason of
their perfection, they are assigned to the gifts rather than to
the virtues.” 78
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.” 74 The virtue of poverty may inspire the detachment
that makes us use the goods of earth with moderation; but
it is the gift of fear that inspires scorn of them in comparison
with superior goods.
“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”
It is the gift of knowledge which shows us the vanity of
transitory good, the gravity of sin as a spiritual evil, as an
offense against God. Happy is he who sheds the tears of a
holy contrition.
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.”
The virtue of meekness makes us completely overcome the
impetuosity of anger; but it is especially the gift of piety that
«» Ps. i: 3.
to Gal. 5: 22 f.
Summa, la Ilae, q.70, a.i, 2.
tt St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.69, a.i; q.70, a.2.
J·/bid., q.70, a.2.
t< Mau. 5: 3.

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533

bestows calmness, serenity, perfect self-possession, and entire
submission to the will of God.
These three are the beatitudes of flight from and deliver­
ance from sin. The next two, as St. Thomas says, are the
beatitudes of the active life of a Christian who, freed from
evil, engages in the pursuit of good with all the ardor of his
heart.
"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for
they shall have their fill.” To desire justice, perfect order, is
the effect of the virtues; but to hunger and thirst after it, to
be tormented by this hunger, is the fruit of a loftier inspira­
tion.
This thirst for justice should not become a bitter zeal with
regard to the guilty; consequently our Lord says: “Blessed
are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Attentive to
the sufferings of others, the merciful are able to give that
counsel which reanimates and encourages. Accordingly the
spirit of counsel corresponds to this beatitude.
This union of justice and mercy is one of the most striking
signs of the presence of God in the soul; for He alone
can intimately harmonize virtues that are apparently so con­
trary.
Lastly we have the beatitudes of the contemplative life.
“Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.” A
truly pure heart is like a limpid fountain where God is re­
flected even in this life. The gift of understanding enables us
to catch a glimpse of the divine beauty, in proportion to the
growing purity of our intention.
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the
children of God.” According to St. Augustine and St. Thomas,
this beatitude corresponds to the gift of wisdom which makes
us see, as it were experimentally, all things in God; for every
good thing comes from Him, and evil occurs only when it is
permitted in view of a greater good. The gift of wisdom thus

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

reveals the admirable order of the providential plan. Now,
peace is the tranquillity of order. A contemplative soul not
only possesses peace; it can communicate it to others. A con­
templative soul does not allow itself to be troubled in its
higher part by painful, unexpected events; it receives all
from the hand of God as a means or an occasion of approach­
ing closer to Him. Wisdom bestows a radiant peace, leading
us to love our enemies. It is the mark of the true children of
God who never for an instant, so to speak, lose the thought
of their heavenly Father. At the beginning of its life, a soul
that was stained with egoism, was often preoccupied with
self, and perhaps referred everything to self; now it is the
thought of God which possesses it, and it refers everything to
Him. This peace, which is the fruit of the gift of wisdom and
which the world cannot give, is found fully on earth only in
the mystical life, which is characterized precisely by this gift,
united to perfect charity and very lively faith. This is what
makes St. Paul say to the Philippians: 75 “Rejoice in the Lord
always; again, I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to
all men. The Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous; but in
everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of
God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Such is the fruit of that wisdom which Scripture praises
in these words: “And I preferred her before kingdoms
and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison of
her. . . . For all gold in comparison of her, is as a little
sand, and silver in respect to her shall be counted as clay. I
loved her above health and beauty, and chose to have her
instead of light: for her light cannot be put out. Now all
good things came to me together with her, and innumerable
riches through her hands. And I rejoiced in all these: for
this wisdom went before me, and I knew not that she was
’» Phil. 4: 4-9.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

335

the mother of them all. Which I have learned without guile,
and communicate without envy, and her riches I hide not.
For she is an infinite treasure to men, which they that use, be­
come the friends of God.” 76 ‘‘And if a man desire much
knowledge: she knoweth things past, and judgeth of things to
come: she knoweth the subtilties of speeches, and the solu­
tions of arguments. ... I purpose therefore to take her to
me to live with me.” 77 . . . ‘‘Lord of mercy, . . . give me
wisdom that sitteth by Thy throne, and cast me not off from
among Thy children. . . . Send her out of Thy holy heaven,
and from the throne of Thy majesty, that she may be with
me, and may labor with me, that I may know what is accept­
able with Thee. . . . For who among men is he that can
know the counsel of God? or who can think what the will of
God is? . . . And who shall know Thy thought except Thou
give wisdom, and send Thy holy Spirit from above.” 78 What
more beautiful prayer could be found by which to ask God
with humility and confidence for the spirit of wisdom, which is
the principle of contemplation and the source of peace?
To the beatitude of the peacemakers is added the last,
which is the confirmation and manifestation of the others:
“Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven." When man is confirmed in
spiritual poverty, meekness, love of justice, and the other
beatitudes, persecution is powerless to detach him from these
goods and to deprive him of interior peace and joy. Thus the
soul is stamped with the likeness of Christ crucified by the
last trials it undergoes to reach sanctity. Then it compre­
hends in a practical way our Lord’s words: “Blessed are ye
when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all
that is evil against you, untruly, for My sake. Be glad and
rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven.” 79 Are not
7« Wis. 7: 8-14.

it Ibid., 8: 8 f.
is Wis., chap. 9.
Τ» Matt. 5: 11.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

these the words that gave birth in the hearts of the saints to
their thirst for suffering and martyrdom?
In this way the gifts of the Holy Ghost which are in every
just soul and which develop normally, as infused habits, with
charity, prepare us progressively for the loftiest and most
heroic acts of the spiritual life. The word “mystical” is rightly
applied to the spiritual life that has reached this degree of'
intimacy with God. In some perfect souls, the gifts of con­
templation especially are manifest; in others, those of action.
But even among the latter, the spirit of wisdom is what
directs their lives and illumines all with its diffuse light.

CHAPTER VI
The Call

to

Contemplation
Mystical Life

or to the

ARTICLE I

The Different Meanings of the Word "Call"
We will consider the general and remote call, the individual

and proximate call, the sufficient call, and the efficacious call.
When the call to mystical contemplation, properly so
named, is discussed, and the question is raised as to whether
this call is general or particular, we need a clear definition
of the word “call” or “vocation,” which may have very differ­
ent acceptations.
First of all, “called to the mystical life” does not mean
raised, conducted, chosen, or predestined to the mystical life.
“For many are called, but few chosen,” are the words used in
the parable of the wedding guests.1
Theologians observe 2 that the vocation may be either ex1 This is the meaning of the words “called” and "chosen," that is, chosen
for glory, in Matt. 20: 16; 22: 14: 24: 24; Mark 13: 20, 22, 27; Luke 18: 7. This is
also the current meaning in theology. However, in the writings of St. Paul
(I Cor. 1: 26 f.) "called" has the same meaning as “chosen,” because he speaks
of the efficacious vocation to faith and to the Christian life, and of election to
grace, not to glory. Cf. Vosté, O.P., Comment, in Ep. I ad Thessal., 1:4. St.
Thomas observes on this subject that the efficacious vocation to the Christian
life and election to the same life are identical; but the word "vocation" is used
in relation to the new life, and "election" in relation to the world whence one
has been drawn and chosen.
2 Cf. St. Thomas, la, d.41, q.t, a.2 ad 311m, and In Epist. ad Rom., chap. 8,
lect. 6; and the Salamanca theologians, De praedestinatione, Disp. IV, dub. 3:
"Quaenam vocationes electorum sunt effectus praedestinationis eorum?” Ac­
cording to these theologians and many other Thomists, even inefficacious
vocations, which the elect resist, are an effect of predestination. Cf. Billuart,
De Deo, Diss. IX, a. 6, 1.
S37

338

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

terior, that is, it may come through the Gospel, preaching,
direction, reading; or interior, by reason of a grace of light
and attraction.8 The exterior call is general when it is
addressed to all without distinction; it becomes individual
when it reaches such or such a one in particular. Thus all
pagans are in a general way called to the Christian life by the
Gospel, before such or such a one is called in an individual
manner.
The vocation may, on the contrary, be special when it is
addressed only to a group of men, such as the vocation to the
priesthood. It may even be very special and unique, as the
vocation of Mary, Mother of God, or that of St. Joseph. It
may be very particular, as that of a founder of a religious
order, or indeed as that to enter a determined order, for
example, the Carthusians.
The interior vocation may be, like sufficient grace, remote
or proximate. Since “the habitual grace of the virtues and
the gifts,” which all the just possess, reaches the plenitude
of its normal development only in the mystical life, properly
so called, all the just are called to this life in a remote man­
ner. This is our opinion, as well as that of the authors who
admit the general call to the mystical life. St. Teresa found
this teaching expressed in several passages in Scripture, two
of which she quotes4 in The Way of Perfection.6
Even in the opinion of these authors, all souls do not
individually receive the proximate vocation to the mystical
life. This vocation exists only when the three signs men­
tioned by St. John of the Cross, and before him by Tauler,
can be proved to exist in the soul: (i) meditation becomes
» Generally the exterior vocation and the interior vocation are united, as
the objective motion (quoad specificationem) and the subjective motion
(quoad exercitium); as preaching and the grace which inclines the soul to ad­
here to it. These two constitute a single vocation.
«Matt. 11:28: “Come to Me all you . .
John 7:37!.: “Jesus stood and
cried, saying: I£ any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink. . . . Out of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
« Chaps. 19, 20.

MEANING OF THE WORD “CALL”

339

impracticable; (2) the soul has no desire to fix its imagination
on any particular interior or exterior object; (3) the soul
takes delight in being alone with God and fixing its loving
attention upon Him.® We will explain these signs farther
on (pp- 372 f·)·
This proximate vocation to the mystical life may itself be
either sufficient or efficacious, as we find in the parable of
the wedding feast. Each of the guests was called individually.
“The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a
marriage for his son. And he sent his servants to call them
that were invited to the marriage; and they would not come.
. . . But they neglected, and went their ways, one to his
farm, and another to his merchandise. . . . Then he saith
to his servants: The marriage indeed is ready; but they that
were invited were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the high­
ways; and as many as you shall find, call to the marriage.” 7
“Efficacious” may, in this case, be understood either in the
Thomistic sense, which is ours, or in the Molinistic sense.
The Thomists find a greater gratuity in the gift of God
because, according to St. Thomas, grace is efficacious of itself,
and leads us sweetly and firmly to the salutary consent which
it produces in us and with us. In Molina’s opinion, grace is
rendered efficacious by our good consent, the free determina­
tion of which, as determination, would come exclusively
from us and not from God.8
« Cf. St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II chaps. 1113, and The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 9. Cf. also the work which
may be considered a summary of Tauler’s teaching, The Institutions, chap. 35.
7 Matt. 22: 2-10.
8 Cf. St. Thomas, De malo, q.6, a. 1 ad 311m: “Deus movet quidem volunta­
tem immutabiliter propter efficaciam virtutis moventis, quae deficere non po­
test; sed propter naturam voluntatis motae, quae indifferenter se habet ad
diversa, non inducitur necessitas, sed manet libertas." It is thus St. Thomas
understands St. Paul’s expression: “For it is God who worketh in you, both
to will and to accomplish, according to His good will” (Phil. 2: 13). Cf. also
la Ilae, q. 112, a.3: "If God intends, while moving, that the one whose heart
He moves should attain to grace, he will infallibly attain to it, according to
John 6: 45: ‘Everyone that hath heard of the Father and hath learned cometh

34°

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Although the Thomists commonly say that the remote call
to the mystical life is general, they in no way diminish the
gratuity of the individual, proximate call. They always pre­
suppose the mystery of predestination, as St. Augustine and
St. Thomas understand it.®
Moreover, the proximate vocation to the mystical life may
be delayed, like that of the laborers of the eleventh hour,
who received as much as those who had been called earlier.
At the end of this parable *10 and that of the wedding feast,
our Lord says: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” 11
A proximate, efficacious vocation to the mystical life is not
necessarily an efficacious vocation to the highest degrees of
the mystical life or to a high perfection; that depends on
predestination in the order of the divine intentions, and on
the fidelity of the soul in the order of execution. “It is true,”
says St. John of the Cross, “that souls, whatever their capac­
ity, may have attained union, but all do not possess it in the
same degree. God disposes freely of this degree of union, as
He disposes freely of the degree of the beatific vision.” 12*St.
Thomas expresses the same opinion when he discusses pre­
destination.18
to Me.”’ Likewise la, q.105, a.4; la Ilae, q.10, a.4, c and ad gum: q.111, a.2
ad 2um; q. 113: De veritate, q.22, a.8, 9. Contrary to what Molina said later,
St. Thomas wrote (In Maith., 25:15): "Qui plus conatur, plus habet de gratia;
sed quod plus conetur, indiget altiori causa." Likewise In Ep. ad Ephes., 4: 7,
and la Ilae, q.112, a.4.
0 See la, q.23, a.5. Modern authors who deny this general call, as if they
fear to impair the gratuity of the proximate, individual call, are mostly Molinists. They are inspired by principles other than those of St. Thomas. They
assume that ordinarily it is we who render divine grace efficacious. Then they
regard as essentially extraordinary the passive states, in which grace seems
efficacious of itself, in which our free determination comes from God who
produces it in us and with us, and in which the soul needs only to commit
itself into the hands of God and to use its own activity merely to make itself
more dependent on Him. Cf. Molina, Concordia (1876 ed.), pp. 230, 459, 565.
10 Matt. 20: 1-16.
11 Cf. infra, p. 37g, and also St. Teresa, The Interior Castle, fifth mansion,
chap. 1.
12 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 5.
t’St. Thomas, la, q.23, a.5 ad gum.

MEANING OF THE WORD “CALL1

341

Such are the different meanings of the word “call.” They
can be seen at a glance in the following synopsis, which
should be read from the bottom up so as to follow the ascend­
ing progress. In it we do not mention the special vocation,
such as that to the priesthood, since we are speaking here
only of the call to the mystical life, which, in our opinion, is
first of all general, then individual; first remote, then proxi­
mate.

'proximate
(3 signs)

sufficient, to which many do
not respond

interior'
Call to the
mystical life

effica­ to superior degrees
cious to inferior degrees

remote

(from the fact of being in the
state of grace)

individual

(for example, by the spiritual
director)

general

(for example, by Scripture)

exterior­

This division should solve several other questions.14
If, therefore, a writer who is accepted as an authority
denies the call of all souls to contemplation, meaning by this
the proximate call, as one can see from the principles of his
teaching and from the context, we need not for this reason
conclude that he denies the remote call.
With the different meanings of the word “vocation” thus
It is thus the sacerdotal vocation is not only exterior (by the bishop), but
also interior (by grace). Canon 1353 of the Code of Canon Law states that
pastors should train in piety and in studies children in whom they find "signs
of an ecclesiastical vocation" in order "to cultivate this germ of vocation in
them.”

342

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

precisely determined, the teaching on the general and remote
call of souls to the mystical life is more easily understood. To
have a clear grasp of this doctrine, we must distinguish, as is
always done in ethics, what belongs to the nature of tilings
(per se) from what is an accidental exception (per accidens).
Theologians, seeking to establish a law, speak formally of the
nature of things, and not of the accidental circumstances that
cause variations in the application of the law. For example, a
certain act is morally good by its very nature, because of itself
it produces a certain effect willed by God; and it remains
morally good even if accidentally it no longer produces that
effect.10 Or again, what is entirely legitimate and salutary in
itself, such as daily communion, may accidentally cease to be
so, if the subject does not fulfil the required conditions. Noth­
ing is more sanctifying in itself than Eucharistic communion,
but accidentally it may become a sacrilege. Corruptio optimi
pessima. Nothing is better than true mysticism, nothing worse
than false mysticism.
Even in the order of vegetable and animal life, for lack of
certain conditions, many laws are applied only in the majority
of cases, ut in pluribus as the Scholastics say; these are ap­
proximative laws, to use the terminology of present-day schol­
ars. Because many acorns do not produce oaks, we cannot
deny the law that the acorn is naturally made to produce an
oak. Even if it is planted with this end in view, favorable
external conditions, required for the development of the
seed that it contains, may be lacking.
Likewise, because the majority of men follow their pasrs Cf. Cajetan, on Ila, Ilae, q. 153, a.3: “Praecepta moralia attendunt ad id
quod secundum naturam est, et non ad id quod per accidens in hac vel com­
plexione, vel aetate invenitur." Cajetan makes this remark frequently against
those who forget that St. Thomas speaks formally of the nature of things,
prescinding from accidental circumstances. “Auctoris sermo et doctrina est
formalis et nihil detrimenti patitur ex his quae sunt per accidens." Thus St.
Thomas himself answers his own question as to whether an oath is licit: It
is in itself, but it may become illicit if bad use is made of it; that is, if one
takes an oath without necessity and the desired precautions; just as Eucha­
ristic communion may become a sacrilege (Ila Ilae, q.89, a.ï).

MEANING OF THE WORD "CALL”

343

sions instead of controlling them, as St. Thomas observes,1·
must we reject the law that man, by his nature as a rational
being, is called to live in a reasonable manner? Because many
men are lost, must we deny that the entire human race was
ordained by God for a supernatural end, the beatific vision?
Because many Christians sin mortally, is it necessary to deny
that the grace received in baptism is by its very nature made
to endure forever and to glow unceasingly until death? Is it
not eternal life begun?
Normally a little child, who from the age of seven receives
communion several times a week, should not cease receiving
the bread of life, and each day he ought to approach the
holy table with better dispositions. If he perseveres in this
way and is generally faithful to the graces he receives, will he
not normally, at least at the end of his life, reach the mystical
life, properly so called? Is this something different from the
plenitude of the life of faith and of the love of God, different
from perfect docility to the Holy Ghost?
After having determined the various meanings of the word
"call,” general or individual, remote or proximate, sufficient
or efficacious, we will examine whether it is true that all souls
in the state of grace are called in a general, remote, and
sufficient manner to the mystical life, and how the individual,
proximate call, whether sufficient or efficacious, is manifested.
These distinctions are necessary if we are to solve this
problem of spirituality, which is so much studied in our day.
It is practical, however, to recall that more attention must
be paid to the perfect practice of the virtues—humility, self­
denial, obedience, patience in trial, the spirit of faith and
confidence in God in prayer despite interior aridities and
obscurities, and fraternal charity—than to the more or less
ieSee la, q.49, a.3 ad 511m: “In man alone does evil appear as in the greater
number; because the good of man as regards the senses is not the good of man
as man—that is, in regard to reason: and more men seek good in regard to the
senses than good according to reason." On this point see the general index to
the works of St. Thomas, Tabula aurea, under the word "Malum.” no. 37.

344

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

mystical form of prayers which may lead thereto. This is so
much the more true because the degree of prayer is not easily
known, especially in those periods called the dark night
where the soul is contemplative without knowing it. This
is the explanation of the fact that in the process of beatifica­
tion the heroic degree of the virtues is examined much more
closely than the form of prayer. The latter is learned only
with difficulty from documents; it suffices, however, to be­
come acquainted with the heroic practice of the theological
virtues in order to know that a soul was very intimately
united to God.17 Moreover, certain souls reach mystical
prayer with greater rapidity than others, which are much
more advanced. Souls are also found which draw greater
profit from these prayers, others less. Some souls are more
virtuous than mystical, and vice versa.
All of this is very important in fact, and should not be
forgotten when insistence is laid, as is done in this article,
on the general law, and on the extremely varied applications
of which we seek the formula and the doctrinal basis accord­
ing to traditional teaching. But conformably to this law,
it is also very useful and practical to know whether or not
souls have passed through the night of the senses and that
of the soul; for without this double passive purification,
souls cannot attain the full perfection of the Christian life.
The way leading to it in the midst of trials is that indicated
by St. Teresa in her well-known Bookmark:

“Let nothing disturb thee;
Nothing affright thee;
All things are passing;
God never changes;
Patient endurance
Attaineth to all things;
ir We could easily point out in the lives of almost all the saints the interior
trials which correspond to the mystical state, called by St. John of the Cross
the passive night of the senses and of the spirit.

GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

345

Who God possesseth
In notiiing is wanting;
Alone God sulficeth.” M
Anyone who is imbued with these dispositions, who has
taken this step and willingly allows himself to be conducted
in his prayer and in all phases of his life by Mary Mediatrix,
who leads us to the intimacy of Christ, and by Christ, who
brings us to the Father, will attain to true humility, which
will draw upon him the grace of contemplation and of divine
union. This happy result will be attained in spite of un­
favorable conditions, by reason of the profound, strong, and
gentle influence of these two mediators, who have been given
us in our weakness.18

ARTICLE II

The General and Remote Call to
Mystical Contemplation
The question we are studying may be formulated exactly
either by considering the life of grace in an abstract manner,
or concretely by studying the souls which have received this
light. In the first case, the intimate law of the superior de­
velopment of the divine seed, semen gloriae, is considered;
in the second case, as in the parable of the sower, the variable
conditions of the soil are considered. Likewise the two fol­
lowing questions are distinct: (i) Is grace by its very essence
the seed of eternal life? (2) Does God give, not only to all
men in general, but to each person individually, sufficient
grace to obtain salvation?
We will, therefore, consider first the general and remote
call of souls in the state of grace to the mystical life; and
18 Translation by Longfellow.
re Cf. Blessed Grignion de Montfort, Traité de la vraie devotion ά Marie,
chap. 4, art. 5. St. Teresa, The Interior Castle, epilogue.

346

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

secondly, the individual and proximate call. In another
article, we will examine the objections that may be raised
against this doctrine.
THE THREE PRINCIPAL REASONS WHICH ESTABLISH
THE GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

The question confronting us is whether the life of grace
can have its full, normal development without the mystical
life, properly so called. This latter, as we have seen, is
characterized by the predominance of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost and of their divine mode, specifically distinct from
the human mode of tire virtues which characterizes the as­
cetical life.1 According to what we have said in the preceding
article, it appears certain to us that the mystical life thus
defined is the adult age of the Christian life. For a clear grasp
of this doctrine, the division of the supernatural should be
recalled (cf. supra, p. 59).
It is evident from this division that the supernatural nature
of a miracle, of prophecy, of the gift of tongues, etc., is in­
ferior to that of sanctifying grace, of the infused virtues, and
of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. As a help in discerning among
these forms of the supernatural, those which are ordinary,
although eminent, and those which are extraordinary, the
classic division of the divine power directed by wisdom
should also be recalled.
Our problem in this question is to examine whether the
essential foundation of the mystical state belongs to the first
iCf. St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.68. The mystical state is identified with the
passive way. It is, consequently, entirely distinct not only from graces gratis
datae, like prophecy, but also from certain special and extraordinary favors,
such as interior words, which may be ordained especially to the sanctification
of the soul receiving them, and sometimes accompany infused contemplation
and the mystical union, without constituting its essence. They are concomi­
tant, accessory, and passing phenomena which may be declared essentially
extraordinary, without impairing the doctrine according to which mystical
contemplation itself is not essentially or intrinsically extraordinary, but only
extrinsically so.

GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

quoad
substantiam

'God in His intimate life,
• mystery of the Trinity.
uncreated Uncreated Person of the
Word made flesh.

created
Super­
natural

347

'Light of glory. Habitual
- grace of the virtues and
gifts, and actual grace.

Natural act of an acquired virtue, supernatuof finality
rally ordained by charity
to the supernatural end.

quoad
modum

Miracle quoad substan­
tiam (ex., glorification of
the body and prophecy).
Miracle quoad subjectum
(ex., non-glorious resurof
rection) and knowledge of
efficiency Ί the secrets of hearts.
Miracle quoad modum
(sudden change of water
into wine), and gift of
tongues
and
similar
graces.

category or to the third; the third, while extraordinary, is
inferior to the first, which alone contains eternal life begun.
Is the mystical life the full normal development of the life
of grace? We are concerned here not only with the collective
sanctity of the Church, which requires even graces gratis

348

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

ordinary
(according
to laws)

super- Γ i: life of grace, sanctity,
natural
eternal life.
natural 2: ex., natural life of the
intellect.

Divine
power
ordained
or
super­ 3:
directed
extraordinary natural
t»y
(outside of
wisdom
•J
ordinary
laws)
natural 4:

ex., extraordinary vi­
sions, private revela­
tions.

ex., miracle in the
physical order.

datae, such as that of the discernment of spirits, but with
what is normally necessary in the majority of cases for a soul
to reach sanctity.2
The reasons for the affirmative answer must be based on the
life of grace considered in its essence, and not only on ex­
terior signs or statistical material. As a matter of fact, it is not
sufficient to say that this call is general because there are
mystical souls in every human condition; among the ignorant
and the learned, priests and laity, religious and seculars, in
the contemplative orders and also in the active orders. This
reason is probable, but is insufficient; for we can just as well
say that artists are to be found among all classes of people,
and yet the artistic vocation in the natural order is not gen­
eral but special. It is a particular gift not granted or promised
to all.
Likewise, to establish that God wishes to save all men, we
must do more than show that He wishes to save men from
every condition of life; Jews and pagans, learned and illiter­
ate, rich and poor.
To prove that all souls in the state of grace are in a general
2 Cf. supra, pp. 235-38, for the meaning of the words “ordinary" and “ex­
traordinary.”

GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

349

and remote manner called to the mystical life, as they are to
that of heaven, the reasons for this call must be based on the
very nature of the life of sanctifying grace, or “grace of the
virtues and the gifts.” This life may be considered chiefly in
three ways: in its principle, grace itself; in its progress, per­
fect purification from sin and imperfection; in its end, the
life of heaven. These three considerations are not accidental,
exterior, or material, but essential and formal. In other
words, to show that the interior life has its full, normal de­
velopment here only in the mystical life, properly so called,
we must demonstrate: (i) that their principle is the same;
(2) that the progress of one is complete only in the other;
(3) that their end is the same, and that only the mystical life
prepares immediately and perfectly for this end. These are,
as we shall see, the principal reasons proving the normal
though eminent character of the mystical life.
A. THE BASIC PRINCIPLE OF THE MYSTICAL LIFE IS THE

SAME AS THAT OF THE COMMON INTERIOR LIFE

The basic principle of the mystical life is sanctifying grace,
or “the grace of the virtues and the gifts.” It manifests itself
in the interior ascetical life according to the human mode of
the virtues; in the mystical life, according to the superhuman
mode of the gifts which predominates in it. These gifts, as
habitual dispositions rendering us docile to the inspirations
of the Holy Ghost, grow, as do the infused virtues, with
charity, which in this life ought always to develop, through
our merits and holy communion, according to the require­
ments of the first precept of love which has no limit.8 There­
fore the soul cannot possess charity in a high degree without
having the gifts, as habitual dispositions, in a corresponding
degree.4 It follows that a truly generous and faithful soul
» Summa, Ila, Ilae, q.184, a. 3.
«Cf. la Ilae, q.66, a.a: All the virtues, as habitus, by reason of their rela­
tion (and the same must be said Cor the gifts which are also connected with

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

will come more and more under the immediate direction of
the Holy Ghost, and the human mode of its activity will be
gradually subordinated to the divine mode of the inspirations
of the interior Master. This mode should end by dominating,
a condition which characterizes the mystical life.
The objection has been raised that if progress is normal,
the virtues and gifts should be perfected pari passu, without
the mode of tire gifts eventually prevailing over the mode of
the virtues. This objection fails to reckon with what St.
Thomas has proved s and with what we have explained in
accordance with his teaching,® namely, that the human mode
of the infused virtues is essentially imperfect in relation to
our supernatural end, for it is that of the human faculty in
which these virtues are received. The purpose of the gifts is
precisely to remedy this imperfection by joining with the
virtues, as occurs especially in infused contemplation.7
Hence the imperfection of the human mode of tire virtues
should be corrected in proportion as the soul approaches per­
fection, so much the more so, as it is a question here not only
of believing the mysteries, but of penetrating them, tasting
them, judging all by them, living by them and that, not in
a transitory, but in an habitual manner. The influence of the
gifts should be exercised more in proportion as the soul needs
to be purified in its inmost depths, where God penetrates, so
as to root out the seeds of death, the existence of which we
ourselves do not suspect. God alone can eradicate them by
them in charity, la Ilae, q.68, a.a, 5) grow together, while keeping their dif­
ference of perfection like the lingers of one’s hands. A man may, however, have
a greater natural inclination to practice one virtue than another, or he may
be more inclined by the grace of God to make acts of that virtue. Likewise
St. Thomas, when speaking of the connection of the gifts, says: "One cannot
be perfect without the others" (la Ilae, q.68, a.5 ad gum). Yet one soul has
greater excellence in the acts of one than of another.
‘Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a.i, 2.
e Cf. supra, pp. 281 If.
’ In fact, it proceeds as to its substance from faith, and as to its mode from
the gift of wisdom.

GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

35χ

applying iron and fire to them. This explains why, in the
normal progress of the life of grace, the superhuman mode
of the gifts should end by dominating and prevailing over
the human mode of the virtues. Habitual facility thus super­
naturalizes us more and more, and eventually the virtues are
no longer exercised without the co-operation of the gifts,
without an almost constant direction on the part of the in­
terior Master, who unites us more and more closely to His
life and His action. This is the prelude of eternal life. “A
thing is perfect so far as it attains to its principle” 8*and is
united to it. Each of our acts is perfect in proportion as God
imprints His manner, His inimitable mark, more deeply
upon it. The sovereign efficacy of His action in us does not
destroy our liberty; it is His action which causes our liberty, by
producing in us and with us even the free mode of our acts.8
He alone can thus penetrate our souls, since He is closer to
us than we are to ourselves. The mystical state with its con­
stant docility is none other than the perfect fruit of efficacious
grace, as conceived by St. Paul, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas.
Only in this way does the soul attain to the living and pro­
found knowledge of God’s infinite grandeur and of its own
wretchedness, of the value of grace and the gravity of sin.
“But, someone will say,” declares St. Teresa in the objec­
tion she raises to her own doctrine,10 “if for long days and
years I considered what a frightful thing it is to offend God,
and how those who are lost are His children and my brethren;
and if 1 were to weigh the perils to which we are exposed in
this world, and how advantageous it would be for us to leave
this wretched life, would that not suffice? No, my daughters,
the pain to which these reflections give rise in us would be
quite different from the torture of which I speak. With the
grace of God and by many considerations we can experience
8St. Thomas la, q. 12, a.i.
0 Ibid., q. 19, a.8.
10 The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 2.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

this grief; but it does not penetrate the very depths of our
being like the other which seems to rend and grind the soul
without its co-operation, and at times even without its wish.
What is this sorrow, then, and whence does it come? I will
tell you. You remember those words of the Bride, which I
quoted to you, but with another meaning: ‘He brought me
into the cellar of wine, He set in order charity in me.’11 In
this quotation you have the explanation of what you asked
me. This soul has so completely abandoned itself into the
hands of God and loves Him so greatly that, as a result, it is
so submissive that it knows and wishes nothing, but that God
should dispose of it according to His good pleasure. In my
opinion, this is a grace which God bestows only on a soul
which He considers entirely His. His will is that, without
knowing how, the soul should issue forth stamped with His
seal. . . . O God of goodness! It is Thou alone who dost
all! Thou dost demand but one thing, that we abandon our
wills to Thee, in other words, that tire wax offer no re­
sistance.”
Attentive reading of this quotation, which expresses the
mystical suffering of the soul at the sight of the greatest evil,
sin, will reveal the full development of the grace of the
virtues and the gifts which we received in baptism—perfect
abandonment, most pure charity, equally lively faith, and
complete docility to the Holy Ghost who impresses His seal
on the faithful soul. This demonstrates that the principle of
the common interior life contains the seed of the mystical
life. It is, therefore, called to develop under this superior
form which is on earth the flower of the supernatural life.12
n Cant, z: 4.
12 Some theologians have taught that the Holy Ghost moves souls in two
ways: (i) according to the common mode which accommodates itself in every­
thing to the human mode and does not exceed the ordinary laws of grace; (2)
according to an extraordinary and preternatural mode of which mystical au­
thors speak. Cf. Billot, De virt. infusis, pp. 173, 188.
These expressions seem to show that for these theologians mystical contem­
pla'ion is essentiallv extraordinarv and not eminent only. If they hold this

GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

353

In some perfect souls the gifts of action will be especially
prominent; but the gift of wisdom will have a diffuse, though
very real, influence.
In virtue of the fact that this principle is common both
to the ordinary interior life and to the mystical life, we must
add that by the progress of charity 13 we can come to merit,
in the strict sense of the word (de condigno, condignly), the
superior degrees of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, considered as
habitual dispositions, connected with charity. Thereby we
merit, at least in the broad sense (saltem de congruo, con­
gruously), the actual inspirations corresponding to these
superior degrees of the gifts; for, as a rule (and the propriety
of this is evident), the Holy Ghost enlightens and inspires
souls according to the degree of their habitual docility,
humility, and love of God.14
opinion, we no longer see how they remain faithful to the teaching of St.
Thomas on the gifts. It is clear that each of the gifts cannot have two distinct
modes, a distinction not only of degree but of nature. There would then be
two habitus specifically distinct; the first would develop in vain, for it would
never attain the second. Moreover, it would be incomprehensible why, above
the acquired virtues and the infused virtues with a human mode, there would
still be necessary an exercise of the gifts according to a human mode, distinct
from their exercise according to their divine mode. The human mode of the
gifts would be identical with that of the infused virtues. The opinions men­
tioned above might, however, be explained in a way not opposed to the
teaching we have set forth according to the principles of St. Thomas. As a
matter of fact, we recognize that the inspirations of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost are exercised at first in a latent manner which is suited to the human
mode, and that later their superhuman inode becomes manifest and frequent.
The latter may even be called extraordinary when it is accompanied by graces
gratis datae, destined for the benefit of one’s neighbor, such as the grace called
sermo sapientiae. This is what St. Thomas means in Ila Ilae, q.45, a.5, as
Cajetan explains, ibid.; John of St. Thomas, De donis, d. 18, a.2, 9; and Joseph
of the Holy Ghost, Cursus theol. myst., II, 236 II. Compare this text (Ila Ilae,
q.45, a.5) with la Ilae, q. 11 x, a.4 ad 4um.
is Cf. la Ilae, q.114, a.8. St. Thomas shows that we can merit condignly the
increase of grace and glory, by quoting this text from the Book of Proverbs,
4: 18: "But the path of the just as a shining light, gocth forward and increaseth even to perfect day.” But what we cannot merit is the very principle of
merit, the grace of justification, and the efficacious grace which preserves us
in statu gratiae, particularly that of final perseverance. Cf. ibid., a.5, 9.
1* Condign merit is based on divine justice; it is a right to a reward. Con­
gruous merit is based on divine friendship, in jure amicabili, or at least on

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

This is the teaching concerning the merit saltern de con­
gruo of Thomistic mystical theologians who follow St.
Thomas, St. John of the Cross, and St. Teresa. Among these
theologians are Philip of the Blessed Trinity, O.C.,1S Vallgornera, O.P.,18 and Meynard, O.P.17 From this teaching on
merit, it is evident that the actual grace of contemplation
can be merited more than that of a happy death, which is,
nevertheless, necessary to salvation.18
The first reason for the remote and general call of souls
in the state of grace to the mystical life rests, therefore, on the
the liberality of God. The first renders us worthy of reward; the second, as
the name indicates, implies only propriety.
is Summa theologiae mysticae (1874), II, gu.
ιβ Mystica theologia D. Thomae (1911). I, 445.
ir Traité de la vie intérieure (1885), II, 128.
is The grace of a happy death or of final perseverance cannot be merited
condignly in the strict sense of the word, nor even strictly congruously. It is,
however, necessary for salvation and we ought certainly to desire it, to dispose
ourselves for it, and to ask for it incessantly, because persevering prayer will
obtain it for us. The same may be said for the grace of conversion or justifica­
tion for a sinner. It cannot be merited, since it is the principle of merit; yet
anyone in the state of mortal sin ought, with the actual grace offered him, to
desire it and ask for it. These are profound mysteries of the efficacy of grace
and of predestination. Cf. la Ilae, q. 114, a.5, 9.
The grace of justification and that of final perseverance are necessary for
salvation, but they cannot be merited condignly. The same is true of effica­
cious graces which keep us in the state of grace.
The grace of infused contemplation is not gratuitous, since one can pro­
gressively merit condignly a very high degree of the gift of wisdom, considered
as a habitus, and since the Holy Ghost generally inspires souls according to
the degree of their habitual docility.
Moreover, we must add to merit the impetrative power of prayer. Since we
ought to ask for the grace of a happy death, which we are unable to merit, a
fervent soul may indeed ask also, with as much confidence as humility, for the
grace of contemplation in order to live the mysteries of salvation more fully,
to know its own wretchedness better, to humble itself on this account, and to
be less indifferent to the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Reduced to
common terms, this is what the soul requests when it recites the Veni Creator
with sincerity. The grace of contemplation is thereby less gratuitous than
graces gratis datae, such as the grace of a miracle or prophecy, which are in no
way necessary to our personal sanctification. After all, the fact remains that
the Holy Ghost breathes where He wills, and when He wills: for we do not
exercise at will the acts which proceed from the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Cf.
infra, pp. 40g ff., "An examination of some theoretical difficulties,” in par­
ticular as to merit.

GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

555

basic principle of this life, that is, the grace of the virtues
and the gifts. This fundamental reason may also be more
concretely expressed and even confirmed thereby in the fol­
lowing terms: there is no sanctity without the heroism of
the infused virtues, connected with charity; that is, without a
high degree of these virtues, described by St. Thomas when
he speaks of the perfecting virtues and especially of the per­
fect virtues.18
The gifts of the Holy Ghost, as habitual dispositions con­
nected with charity, grow with it. The Holy Ghost ordinarily
moves us according to the degree of our habitual docility,
and with greater frequency as we become more docile. Conse­
quently, as a rule,20 there is no sanctity unless the soul is often
moved by the Holy Ghost according to the superior degrees
of the gifts. This constitutes the mystical life in the broad
sense and also in the strict sense, the passive state in which the
human mode of our activity no longer dominates, but rather
the activity of the Holy Ghost, and our completely docile
passivity.21
In relation to this subject, the statement of Benedict XIV
in regard to the heroicity of virtues and their connection
should be read. It is this connection, he says, which was lack­
ing in the heroes of paganism and also in the false martyrs,
who died obstinately persisting in their errors; they did not
pray for their executioners.22 For the proof of heroic virtue,
he lays down four necessary conditions: (i) the matter must
be difficult, above the common strength of man; (2) the acts
must be accomplished promptly, easily; (3) they must be
accomplished joyously; (4) they must be performed not only
once or rarely but often, when the occasion presents itself.
1» Summa, la Ilae, q.6i, a.5; q.68, a. 1 ad turn; In Matth., 5.
20 We do not speak here of any case in particular, but of a general law.
21 Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a.3 ad aum. St. John of the Cross held that the
virtues of the purified soul of which St. Thomas speaks belong to the mystical
life. Cf. Œuvres (2d ed.), II, 42.
22 De Servorum Dei beatificatione, Bk. III. chan. 21, "de virtute heroica.”

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

This supposes a high degree of charity and a proportionate
degree of tire gifts of the Holy Ghost.
This teaching clarifies the meaning and the compass of the
first reason that we invoked: namely, that the basic principle
of the mystical life is identical with that of the common
interior life. Farther on we shall see the objections that may
be raised against this first reason.28 We will now consider
the second, which considers what the progress of the interior
life demands.

B. IN THE PROGRESS OF THE INTERIOR LIFE THE PURIFI­

CATION OF THE SOUL IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT THE

PASSIVE PURIFICATIONS, WHICH BELONG TO THE

MYSTICAL ORDER

This progress should, in fact, be brought about by the
purification from sin, from its results, and from imperfec­
tions. It is twofold: an active purification or mortification
which we impose on ourselves; and a passive purification
which has its origin in the divine action within us.24 Although
exterior trials supernaturally borne contribute greatly to our
purification, yet, according to the great masters, especially
St. John of the Cross, this work is normally completed only
by the passive purifications of the senses and of the soul.
According to these same masters, these painful purifica­
tions, which are a sort of anticipated purgatory, belong to
the mystical order, properly so called. Wholly generous souls
are purified by the Holy Ghost while they are on earth, to
such an extent that they do not, through their own fault, have
to undergo after death the meritless purification of purgatory.
Ordinarily we must pass through this crucible in one way or
as Cf. infra, chap. 5, art. 4; chap. 6, art. 1.
24 It proceeds especially from the gift of understanding. Cf. St. Thomas, Ila
Ilae, q.8, a.7. la Ilae, q.69, a.2 ad gum: "In this life . . . the (mind's) eye
being cleansed by the gift of understanding, we can, so to speak, see God.”

GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

357

another; either in this life while meriting, or in the life to
come without meriting.25
This reason appears decisive to one acquainted with the
reasons given by St. John of the Cross to explain the necessity
of the double, passive purification of the senses and of the
soul.28 We have already (chap. 4, art. 1) given a brief ex­
position of these purifications, and (chap. 5, art. 3) we have
shown how St. Teresa describes the night of the soul at the
beginning of the sixth mansion
According to St. John of the Cross, God almost immedi­
ately bestows the grace of the passive purification of the
senses on persons who are habitually recollected.27 The en­
trance into this purification is indicated by inactivity of the
imagination,28 the human or discursive mode of prayer dis­
appears; the soul must content itself with a loving and peace­
ful attention to God.29 His grace, which is then given to it, is
no longer sensibly manifest; it is entirely spiritual, which
explains why the sensible part is cowardly in regard to action,
but the spirit is generous and strong.80 In the light of the gift
25 \ve say that ordinarily the soul must pass through this crucible. There
are, in fact, exceptions, to mention only that of children who die immediately
after their baptism. They will not, however, have as high a degree of glory
as if they had merited in trial. As for martyrs who before their torture did not
pass through the crucible of which we speak, they did pass through it in their
last sufferings. This explains why St. John of the Cross says of souls which
have undergone the very painful night of the soul: "As a result of their perfect
purification by love, they will not pass through purgatory" (The Dark Night
of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 20).
Likewise Tauler states (Sermon 55) on the subject of beginners, who remain
faithful to the commandments: “It is rather an exception for them to live in
sufficient purity to avoid purgatory, although that may occasionally happen."
It may occur, for example, in the case of a young religious who dies immedi­
ately after profession. If he had lived longer, he would probably have fallen
again into faults which would exact the purification of which we are speaking
either before or after death. In any case, no one goes to purgatory after death
except through his own fault. If he had been more faithful to grace, he could
have avoided it.
so The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 3; Bk. II, chap. 1.
ar Ibid., Bk. I, chap. 8.
!» Ibid., chap. 9.
29 Ibid., chap. 10.
m Ibid., chap. 9.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

of knowledge, the soul sees in itself wretchedness and un­
worthiness which it was ignorant of in the time of its pros­
perity; at times it believes itself abandoned by God. But in
suffering, it is purified of numerous imperfections and ex­
ercised in the virtues that perfectly subject the flesh to the
spirit.31 Thus, interior liberty grows through the twelve
fruits of the Holy Ghost, and the love of God through an
ardent desire to serve Him. St. John of the Cross offers a
good summary of his doctrine when he says: "The night of
sense is common, and the lot of many among beginners. . . .
As the manner in which they behave when they first start out
on the way to God is not noble, and since they become en­
tangled in sensible tastes and self-love, God intervenes to
make them progress by freeing them from their vulgar con­
ception of love. He wishes to lift them up to Himself, to
make them abandon the inferior exercise of sense and reason­
ing, by which they seek God in a petty manner in the midst
of the obstacles which we have pointed out, and to introduce
them into the more profitable exercise of the spirit, which
will permit them to communicate less imperfectly with
God.” 32
This passive night of the senses, which seems to consist
especially in the disappearance of the so-called sensible graces,
marks rather the appearance of spiritual graces; the human
mode of prayer ceases only because the superhuman mode of
the contemplative gifts begins to become frequent and mani­
fest. Corruptio unius, generatio alterius: the grain of wheat,
cast into the earth, dies that the seed which it bears may
develop; just so, the soul must die to its too human manner
of thinking of God and loving Him that it may live in the
divine manner which the Lord wishes to see in it. It is thus
that the soul enters upon the illuminative way.3’
si Ibid., chaps. 11-13.
32 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 8.
μ Ibid., Bk. I, chap. 14: "The soul has gone forth: it has begun to penetrate
the way of the spirit, which the proficient and the advanced follow, and which

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359

Since the object of the passive purification of the senses
is the perfect subjection of the passions to the intellect and
will, the object of the purification of the soul—proceeding
especially from the illumination of the gift of understanding
—is the full subjection of the spirit to God and the purifica­
tion from all alloy not only of the moral virtues, but also
of the theological virtues, which unite us immediately to
God. This purification, granted to souls that have already
made progress, is intended to remove habitual imperfections
of which we are so often unaware, and which are an obstacle
to divine union.34 It marks the entrance into the unitive
way, according to St. John of the Cross. He expresses himself
in the following terms: 35 “The dark night (of the soul) is
a certain inflowing of God into the soul, which cleanses it
of its ignorances and imperfections, habitual, natural, and
spiritual. Contemplatives call it infused contemplation. . . .
But it may be asked: ‘Why does the soul call the divine light,
which enlightens the soul and purges it of its ignorances,
the dark night?’ . . . The first reason is that the divine
wisdom is so high that it transcends the capacity of the soul,
and is, therefore, in that respect, darkness. The second reason
is based on the meanness and impurity of the soul and, in
that respect, the divine wisdom is painful to it, afflictive and
dark also. ... We take for granted a principle of the Phi­
losopher, namely, the more intelligible and evident divine
things are, the darker and more hidden they are to the soul
naturally. Thus the clearer the light, the more it blinds the
eyes of the owl. So the divine light of contemplation, when
it beats on the soul not yet perfectly enlightened, causes
spiritual darkness, because it not only surpasses its strength,
is also called the illuminative way, or the way of infused contemplation.” This
traditional conception of the illuminative way is far superior, as is evident, to
that which has been set forth by several non-mystical writers since the sev­
enteenth century.
Ibid., Bk. II, chap. ï.
«5 Ibid., chap. 5.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

but because it blinds it and deprives it of its natural per­
ceptions. It is for this reason that St. Dionysius and other
mystical theologians call infused contemplation a ray of
darkness, that is, for the unenlightened and unpurified soul
. . . ‘clouds and darkness are round and about him.’88 . . .
God is surrounded by a cloud and darkness. He dwells in
‘light inaccessible.’
“The soul seeing its own impurity distinctly though dimly
in this bright pure light, acknowledges its own unworthiness
before God and all creatures. What pains it still more is a
fear that it never will be worthy and that all its goodness is
gone.” 87 The suffering is such that the soul believes itself
crushed under an immense weight; it is broken and over­
whelmed at the sight of its miseries and feels itself wrapped
in a mortal cloud. “So great are the weakness and impurity
of the soul that the hand of God, which is so soft and so
gentle, is felt to be so heavy and oppressive, though neither
pressing nor resting on it, but merely touching it and that,
too, most mercifully; for He touches the soul not to chastise
it, but to load it with His graces.” 88
The soul cannot, as before, raise its mind and heart to
God; it feels that God has interposed a cloud which cuts off
the way of prayer.88 The light of this purification permits
the soul to see only its sins and miseries.40 In this darkness
it distinguishes, however, better than before between what
is more and what is less perfect.41 To enjoy the fruits of this
purification, the soul must suffer from the impression that it
will never possess God.42 It must pass through this crucible
for “one single, actual, or habitual particular affection is
se Ps. 96: 2.
st The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 5.
as Ibid.
so Ibid., chap. 5.
<o Ibid., chap. 13.
« Ibid., chap. 8.
<2 Ibid., chap. 9.

GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

361

sufficient to prevent the perception, taste, and communica­
tion of the subtle sweetness of the spirit of love which con­
tains all sweetness within itself in an eminent degree.” 48 This
night of purification is also a safe road, “for it holds the
appetites, affections, and passions, lulled, asleep, and morti­
fied. Were they awake and active, they would not fail
to oppose the departure” of the soul toward these higher
regions.44
This passive purification, this refinement of the spirit, is
“indispensable for union with God in glory. After death,
impure souls pass through the fires of purgatory; in this life,
the soul attains to union only by undergoing the fire of
trials, which are more violent for some than for others, and
proportionate in length to the degree of union to which God
intends to raise them and to their need of purification.” 45 From
these trials we can judge the sufferings of purgatory. Its fire
has no effect on those who have no faults to expiate;46 it is
dark and material; that of this life is spiritual and obscure.47
In this life, the soul is purified while meriting; after death,
without meriting.
These purifications are the most efficacious means leading
to divine union, because they alone free humility and the
three theological virtues from all alloy. They alone bring
into powerful relief the entirely supernatural formal motive
of these highest virtues. They oblige us to make extremely
meritorious acts, which thus increase the gifts tenfold by
immediately obtaining for us a great increase of faith, hope,
and charity. They oblige us to believe for the sole motive
that God has said it. Moreover, they make us adhere firmly
to the first revealing Truth, in an order infinitely superior
Ibid.
« Ibid., chap. 15.
<3 The Living Flame of Love, st. II, 5.
«« The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 10.
*1 Ibid., chap. 12.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

to a sensible miracle and to the human reasoning that dis­
cerns it.48 They oblige us to hope against all human hope
for the pure motive that God, who is all powerful and good,
is infinitely helpful, Deus auxilians, and will not abandon
us first. They lead us to love Him, not for the sensible or
spiritual consolations He grants us, but for Himself, because
He is infinite goodness; to love Him above all things and
more than ourselves, because He is infinitely better than we
are.
Happy are those who pass through these painful purifica­
tions, which alone can fully supernaturalize them and con­
duct them to the summit of faith, hope, and charity. Since
these passive purifications belong to the mystical order, we
must conclude that the mystical life is not extraordinary in
its very essence, but is on the normal way of sanctity. Now
that we have studied the means, we will consider the end of
the interior life.
C. THE END OF THE INTERIOR LIFE IS THE SAME AS THAT
OF THE MYSTICAL LIFE, BUT THE LATTER PREPARES
THE SOUL MORE IMMEDIATELY FOR IT

Heaven is the end of the interior life. Although in fact
quite rare, the normal summit of the development of the
life of grace on this earth should be a very perfect disposi­
tion to receive the light of glory immediately after death,
When a soul passing through this night of the spirit is suffering from
temptations against faith, and is at the same time blinded, so to speak, by the
divine light which illumines the depths of mysteries, it would be singularly
strange to advise as a remedy the reading of a good, well-reasoned study on
apologetics. The divine work, which the soul is undergoing, has precisely for
its object to raise the soul above reasoning and to make it adhere in an en­
tirely supernatural manner to the first uncreated and revealing Truth (‘‘Veri­
tas prima in dicendo, auctoritas Dei revelantis”). At such a time the soul
should ask the Lord for the grace of faith, the inspiration and illumination
of the Holy Ghost which elevates our will and intellect even to the uncreated
and eternal Word of God, the Author of grace, in order to make them adhere
to it in spite of the darkness, with a certitude superior to that of the most
evident rational principles. Ha Ilae, q. 1, a.i; q.4, a.8. See supra, pp. 63-77.

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363

without passing through purgatory. As a matter of fact, no
one goes to that place of suffering, where there is no merit,
except through his own fault, because he has neglected graces
received or offered. It is in the radical order to see God
immediately after death; that is why the souls in purgatory
suffer so greatly at not seeing Him.
The perfect disposition to receive the beatific vision im­
mediately after death can be only the intense charity of a
fully purified soul, coupled with the earnest desire to see
God, such as we find them in the mystical union, and more
especially in the transforming union. This last is, therefore,
the summit of the development of the life of grace on earth;
in it alone do we find the full development of the super­
natural life.
It would be easy to show that this third reason, like the
two preceding reasons, has been more or less explicitly for­
mulated by all the great masters of mysticism. Let us merely
recall what St. Thomas says about the superiority of the
contemplative life over the active life.
The contemplation of God is not a means to the moral
virtues and the works of the active life; on the contrary, it
is the end to which they are subordinated as means and dis­
positions.·10 The moral virtues dispose to the contemplative
life by producing peace, quiet in the passions, and purity.60
Prudence serves wisdom, as a guard serves the king.
God is the end and object of the theological virtues and
the corresponding gifts, whereas He is merely the end of
the moral virtues, which have a created object.
The contemplative life, with its beginning and end in
love, is the eminent exercise of the theological virtues. In it
the soul burns to see the beauty of God.61 Contemplation
itself is not perfection; perfection is found essentially in
<0 Summa, Ila Ilae. q. 180, a.2, c and ad sum.
eo Summa, la Ilae, q.58, a.5.
»1 See Ila Ilae, q.180, a. 1, 7.

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charity. But contemplation is the most excellent means
united to the end, since it joins us to God,52 for “the contem­
plative life is directed to the love of God, not of any degree,
but to that which is perfect.” 53 By it man “offers his soul in
sacrifice to God,” 54 and it is, so to speak, a beginning of
perfect beatitude "for it bestows on us a certain inchoate
beatitude, which begins now and will be continued in the
life to come.” 55
Thus the contemplative life is better than the active life.5·
It is proper to man according to his soul’s noblest faculty. It
can be more continuous than the active life. For example,
Mary remains at our Lord’s feet to listen to His words, while
Martha busies herself. Although it contains great trials, the
contemplative life is more delightful and more meritorious,
because the love of God is in itself more meritorious than
love of our neighbor.57 It is sufficient to itself, moreover, and
is not busy about many things. It is loved for itself, while
the active life is ordained to something other titan itself.
This is why the psalmist says: “One thing I have asked of
tire Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house
62 “The contemplative life pertains directly and immediately to the love of
God” (ibid., q. 182, a.a).
s’ Ibid., a.4 ad mm.
"A sacrifice is rendered to God spiritually when something is offered to
Him; and of all of man's goods, God especially accepts that of the human
soul when it is offered to Him in sacrifice. Now a man ought to offer to God,
in the first place his soul; ... in the second place, the souls of others. . . .
And the more closely a man unites his own or another's soul to God, the more
acceptable is his sacrifice to God; wherefore, it is more acceptable to God that
one apply one’s own soul and the souls of others to contemplation than to
action. Consequently, the statement that no sacrifice is more acceptable to
God than zeal for souls, does not mean that the merit of the active life is
preferable to the merit of the contemplative life, but that it is more merito­
rious to offer to God one's own soul and the souls of others, than any other
external gifts” (ibid., a. 2 ad gum).
I» Ibid., q. 180, a.4.
Ibid., q. 182, a. 1.
or "Wherefore, that which pertains more directly to the love of God is
generically more meritorious than that which pertains directly to the love of
our neighbor” (ibid., a. 2).

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365

of the Lord all the days of my life.” 58 The contemplative
life is a sort of holy repose in God {otium sanctum'): “Be
still and see that I am God.” 59 It is occupied with divine
things; the active life, with human affairs: “In the beginning
was the Word; behold Him to whom Mary listened,” says
St. Augustine. “And the Word was made flesh; behold Him
whom Martha served.”80 Moreover, Christ Himself said:
“Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken
away from her.”81 St. Augustine observes: “It is not that
your part, O Martha, is bad, but that Mary’s is better. Why
is it better? Because it will not be taken from her. A day
will come when the burden which necessity imposes on you
will be withdrawn; but the sweetness of truth is eternal.” 82
This contemplative life exists fully only in the mystical
life, which is the true prelude to that of heaven. All, even
those who are engaged in the active life, should strive for it
in virtue of the first precept; prayer is no less necessary to
them. If the conditions of their life render the highest forms
of contemplation less accessible, its substance is not refused
them; on the contrary, our Lord invites us all. “Those who
are more adapted to the active life can prepare themselves
for the contemplative by the practice of the active life,” 88
by fulfilling its duties for the love of God. It would be an
error to think that a person should pray well for the purpose
of accomplishing well the duties of his state: for example, in
order to take good care of the sick or to teach well, as if prayer
and union with God were ordained and subordinated to these
acts which are inferior to them. Rather, the active soul should
accomplish the duties of its state out of love for God, to be
more closely united to our Lord and to make Him loved
»8 PS. 26: 4.
eo Ps. 45: 11.
eo De verbis Domini, serm. 27.
ei Luke io: 42.
«2 De verbis Domini, serm. 27.
ea St. Thomas, Ha Ilae, q. 182, a.4 ad gum.

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more, so that its activity should become as it were the exterior
radiation of its prayer, of its union with God, which is the
most important part of activity. Thus the mystical life, far
from harming action, is its living source.
St. Augustine says: "Holy leisure is longed for by the love
of truth; but it is the necessity of love to undertake requisite
business. If no one imposes this burden upon us, we are free
to sift and contemplate truth; but if it be laid upon us, we
are necessitated for love’s sake to undertake it. And yet not
even in this case are we obliged wholly to relinquish the
sweets of contemplation; for were these to be withdrawn, the
burden might prove more than we could bear.” 84 St. Thomas
says that, when a person is called from the contemplative to
the active life, it should not be by way of subtraction from
the first, but by addition of the second.65 This is why the
apostolate should flow, as he says elsewhere, from "the pleni­
tude of contemplation.” 66 The faithful, the interior souls
who come to listen to the word of God, expect it to be given
to them in a divine manner, which is but the radiation of
contemplation.
The contemplative life, which by its intimacy with the
interior Master and its perfect docility to His inspirations
merits the name of mystical life, or life hidden with Christ
in God, is therefore truly the normal prelude to that of
heaven.
In the preceding pages we have discussed the three prin­
cipal reasons for the remote and general call of just souls to
the mystical life. They are fundamental since they rest: (i)
on the common principle of the interior life and of the
mystical life, and on the law of the progress of the gifts as
habitus, or habitual dispositions, connected with charity; (2)
on the necessity of the passive purifications, which belong
«« City of God, Bk. XIX, chap. 19.
Summa, Ila Ilae, q.182, a.i ad gum.
ee Ibid., q. 188, a.<5.

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367

to the mystical life and are the most efficacious means to
lead the soul to divine union on earth; (3) on the common
end of the interior and of the mystical life, and on the per­
fection normally required to receive the beatific vision im­
mediately after death, and that not in its lowest degree.
These three considerations of the principle of the super­
natural life, of its most efficacious means, and of its end are
not accidental or material; they are essential and formal,
and thus permit us to establish the law of the superior de­
velopment of the divine seed, of the life of grace, semen
gloriae.
Therefore it seems certain that the mystical life, charac­
terized by tire predominance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost,
is required for the full perfection of the Christian life. Is
this likewise true of mystical contemplation, properly so
called? After granting what precedes, certain writers, who
hestitate to answer this question, explain their attitude by
saying that in some souls the dominant gifts of the Holy
Ghost are those relating especially to action; in their prayers
and in the psalmody the dominant gift is piety; yet their
prayer is not properly passive, nor is there any frequent and
manifest intervention of the contemplative gifts of under­
standing and wisdom. Consequently these souls would be in
the mystical life, which is superior to the ascetical, but with­
out having mystical contemplation, properly so called, the
prayer of passive recollection or of quiet.
As we have already stated, the gifts of contemplation may
as yet intervene in these souls only in a diffuse manner; the
mystical life is still imperfect in them. It may be accom­
panied by a great generosity, which merits tire name of per­
fection without, however, being the full perfection of the
Christian life.87 This last, to be truly a plenitude, requires a
er As St. Teresa frequently observes, the delights of contemplation are not
required for perfection, and not even for very high perfection. As a matter
of fact, mystical contemplation is often arid and painful. Cf. Saudreau, La

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complete development of the entire spiritual organism, in­
cluding the superior gifts of understanding and wisdom.”
It is the prelude to the life of heaven, the perfect, immediate
preparation for the beatific vision, which is given only to
entirely purified souls when they desire it keenly.
This seems to us, in conformity with tradition, to be St.
Thomas’ doctrine on the relations of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost with the progress of charity.” In the different reli­
gious orders, it is also the teaching of St. Bonaventure, Tauler,
Ruysbroeck Louis de Blois, Dionysius the Carthusian, St.
Teresa, St. John of the Cross, Father Lallemant, S.J., and
his disciples, Father Surin, S.J., and others as Canon Saudreau proves at length in the third edition of his work on
The Life of Union with God according to the Great Masters
of Spirituality.''0 Father Lamballe holds the same opinion
in his book entitled Contemplation. We agree with these
authors and with Father Arintero, O.P., that the super­
natural life has its full development in this life only in the
transforming union, such as it is described by St. John of
the Cross and by St. Teresa in the seventh mansion. It will
vie d'union <i Dieu, d'après les grands maîtres de la spiritualité (3d ed.), p. 263,
where he quotes several texts from St. Teresa’s writings.
es In other words, the mystical contemplation of the mystery of God present
in us is required for the full perfection of the life of grace, if we take this word
"perfection” not only in the broad sense and from the moral point of view,
but in the strict and metaphysical sense, which in this case expresses the full
development of the supernatural organism.
e» See particularly la Ilae, q.69, a.2: "Whether the rewards assigned to the
beatitudes refer to this life?” They are, he says, granted to the perfect (not
only to some of them) as a prelude to the life of heaven, “by a kind of im­
perfect inchoation of future happiness.” See also Ila Ilae, q.43. “Every Chris­
tian,” says St. Thomas, "should participate in the contemplation of God, for
the precept (Ps. 45: 11) applies to all: ‘Be still and see that I am God’” (Illa,
d.36, q.i, a.3 ad sum). If this is true of every Christian, what must be said
of the Christian who has reached the full perfection of the interior life?
to The third edition is more complete than the former editions and con­
tains (notably p. 290) the result of the research done by Father Colunga, O.P.,
on the struggle between the spirituals and the intellectuals at the time of
Cano.

GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

369

be sufficient to recall here some characteristic texts and also
those which seem opposed to them.
Speaking of the passive purification of the senses, which
belongs to the mystical order, St. John of the Cross says,
as we have seen: “The soul must pass through this dark
night in order to become perfect.” 71 “The soul has set out
and begun to penetrate the way of the spirit, the way of the
proficient and the advanced, which is also called the illumi­
native way, or the way of infused contemplation.” 72 “It is
God alone who must raise the soul to this supernatural state.
What is required of the soul is that, so far as it can, it
should prepare itself for it. This is possible naturally, es­
pecially when we consider the divine help which ordinarily
accompanies effort. As the soul makes progress in rejecting
forms and emptying itself of them, God gives it union. In
this operation the soul is passive.” 73 “In the case of religious,
this change often takes place after a relatively short time,
for having renounced the world they more easily fashion
their senses and spirit according to the will of God.” 74 “As
soon as the soul succeeds in carefully purifying itself of forms
and sensible images, it will bathe in that pure and simple
light which will become for it the state of perfection. As a
matter of fact, this light is always ready to penetrate the soul;
forms and veils of creatures create an obstacle to its in­
fusion.” 75
Farther on, after showing the necessity of the passive puri­
fication of the soul in order to reach full perfection,70 St.
John of the Cross tells us that such perfection is found only
in the transforming union where “the soul is no longer
71 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 1.
22 Ibid., Bk. I, chap. 14.
78 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Ill, chap. 1.
74 The Living Flame of Love, st. Ill, verse 3.
75 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 15.
78 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 1.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

troubled by the devil, or the flesh, or the world, or the ap­
petites. It can now say: ‘Winter is now past, the rain is over
and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land.’ ” ”
St. Teresa expresses the same idea in the beginning of the
fifth mansion: “Thus all we who wear the holy habit of
Carmel are called to prayer and contemplation. This is our
first object . . . and yet I declare to you that very few of us
prepare themselves so that our Lord may reveal to them the
precious pearl of which we are speaking. I admit we are out­
wardly virtuous. But how many things we lack, and what
need we have to banish all negligence in order to acquire
the virtues necessary to attain to contemplation!” 78
In The Way of Perfection, speaking of infused contempla­
tion and the living waters of prayer, St. Teresa enunciates
this general principle, which she later develops (chaps. 20, 21,
23, 25, 29, 33). We have already quoted some of these texts.
“Remember, our Lord invited ‘Any man’: He is truth itself;
His word cannot be doubted. If all had not been included
He would not have addressed everybody, nor would He have
said: ‘I will give you to drink.’ He might have said: ‘Let all
men come, for they will lose nothing by it, and I will give
to drink to those I think fit for it.’ But as He said, uncon­
ditionally: ‘If any man thirst let him come to Me,’ I feel
sure that, unless they stop halfway, none will fail to drink of
this living water.” 79 The saint says in chapter 21: “I main­
tain that this is the chief point; in fact, that everything
depends on their having a great and a most resolute deter­
mination never to halt until they reach their journey’s end,
happen what may, whatever the consequences are, cost what
it will, let who will blame them . . . whether the earth
itself goes to pieces beneath their feet.” The general call of
n The Spiritual Canticle, Part III, st. 22.
τ» The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 1.
ro Chap. 19.

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souls to the mystical life could not be more clearly affirmed.
And yet, St. Teresa, Tarder, and St. John of the Cross
occasionally make reservations. We read, for example, in
The Way of Perfection:80 “It does not follow, because all
the nuns in this convent practise prayer, that they must all
be contemplatives. Such an idea would greatly discourage
those who do not understand the truth that contemplation
is a gift of God.81 . . . Sometimes our Lord comes very late,
and pays as much all at once as He has given to others dur­
ing many years.”
Why does St. Teresa make these reservations, which seem
at first glance to contradict the principle of the general call
of souls to infused contemplation? She herself says: 82 “The
last chapter seems to contradict what I said, when in order
to console those who were not contemplatives I told them that
God had made many ways of reaching Him, just as He has
made ‘many mansions.’ I repeat that His Majesty, being God,
knows our weakness and has provided for us. He did not
say: ‘Let some men come to Me by drinking this water, but let
others come by some other means.’ His mercy is so great
that He hinders no one from drinking of the fountain of
life. . . . Indeed, He calls us loudly and publicly to do so.
He is so good that He will not force us to drink of it, but He
gives it in many ways to those who try to follow Him, so that
none may go away disconsolate or die of thirst. From this
overflowing river spring many rivulets, some large, others
small, while there are little pools for children—by children,
I mean beginners, unformed in virtue. You see, sisters, there
so Chap. 17.
si Even if all souls, and more particularly all Carmelites, are called to con­
templation, it evidently does not follow that all must be contemplatives from
the start. As St. Teresa says in the text which we quote, God often delays
greatly in bestowing this gift. It may even happen that a very generous soul,
which is naturally much inclined to the active life, would attain to infused
contemplation only after a longer period than the ordinary span of life.
82 The Way of Perfection, chap. 20.

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is no fear you will die of drought on the way of prayer. . . .
Then take my advice; do not loiter on the road, but struggle
manfully, until you perish in the attempt.” 88
The restrictions made above by St. Teresa do not, there­
fore, concern the remote general call, but the proximate
individual call, which we shall now consider.
ARTICLE III

The Individual and Proximate Call to Contemplation

The aforementioned reservations made by St. Teresa, St.
John of the Cross, and Tauler, are not, we maintain, directed
toward the general law of the full development of the life
of grace, considered in itself, but toward the ground in which
the divine seed is received, as we read in the parable of the
sower. “And whilst he soweth some fell by the wayside, and
the birds of the air came and ate them up. And other some
fell upon stony ground, where they had not much earth: and
they sprung up immediately, because they had no deepness
of earth. And when the sun was up they were scorched: and
because they had no root, they withered away. And others
fell among thorns: and the thorns grew up and choked them.
And others fell upon good ground: and they brought forth
fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirty­
fold. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” 1 Again, among
trees, the cedar or the palm normally reaches a great height
when the soil and climate are favorable; but it is quite
otherwise in an unfavorable climate. Just so, the question
of the call to the mystical life is complicated and in a way
materialized as soon as the life of grace is no longer con­
sidered in itself, but in the souls that receive it.
Because souls are in tire state of grace, are they thereby
es Ibid.
i Matt. 13: 4-9.

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373

called one and all to the essentially mystical life? First of all,
clearly they are not all predestined to it; for predestination
infallibly produces its effect, without, however, doing vio­
lence to liberty. It is a fact that all souls in the state of grace
do not reach the mystical life. It is also evident that they are
not all individually called to it in a proximate manner; for
the three signs of this call, enumerated by Tauler,2 later on
by St. John of the Cross, and commonly accepted, are certainly
not found in all of them.
1. THE THREE PRINCIPAL SIGNS OF THE PROXIMATE CALL

1) Meditation becomes difficult or even impracticable. “The
imagination remains inert; the taste for this exercise has
disappeared; and the sweetness formerly produced by the
object on which the imagination dwelt, has changed into
dryness. As long as sweetness persists and the soul can in
meditating pass from one thought to another, meditation
must not be abandoned, except when the soul is in peace
and in quiet, of which I shall speak in describing the third
sign.” 8 St. Teresa teaches the same doctrine in the fourth
mansion,4 where she says that if the soul has not yet received
the grace of “supernatural recollection,” we must “take care
not to stop the movement of our thoughts . . . and remain
there like dolts.” From these quotations it is evident that
these two great saints are speaking of the passage from medi­
tation to infused contemplation, and not to an acquired
contemplation, which would be an intermediate state.5
2) A second sign is necessary, for the difficulty or impossibil­
ity of meditating might come from physical illness, from a dis­
traction, from lack of recollection, or from some other
sTauler’s teaching on this subject is summarized by his disciples in the
Institutions, chap. 35.
8 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 13.
* Chap. 3.
» Cf. supra, pp. 221-35.

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similar cause, as happens even to those who preserve a taste
for this exercise. Exactly stated, the second sign is that “the
soul no longer has any inclination to fix the imagination
or the senses on any particular interior or exterior object. I
do not say that the imagination will no longer manifest itself
by the coming and going which is characteristic of it—and
which takes place even in profound recollection—but that
the soul will have no desire to fix it deliberately on these
objects.” · For example, when reading, one feels the need
of closing the book; if praying vocally, one is inclined to
interrupt this prayer in order to give oneself up to the contem­
plation of God. This is due to an interior inspiration. “It is
not, therefore, surprising that such a soul should experience
pain and distaste when, once it has begun to enjoy this peace,
it is forced to resume meditation and to begin again the
work of particular considerations. Its condition is like that
of an infant torn away from its mother’s breast while it was
nursing. ... Or picture to yourself one who, after having
removed the rind from a fruit, is, when tasting it, com­
manded to peel the rind which has already been removed.
He can find no rind and ceases to taste the fruit which he
already had. He is like one who lets go the prize in order
to grasp a shadow.” These explanations from the writings of
St. John of the Cross show clearly that7 in his opinion the
passage from meditation to infused contemplation is normal,
even though we cannot produce contemplation by our own
effort. After peeling the fruit, we taste the substance.
3) A third sign is necessary because the first two are not
decisive. Melancholy or some other indisposition might pro­
duce in us a suspension of our faculties, as it were, during
which the soul would take pleasure in doing nothing and in
remaining inactive. “The third and most decisive sign is this:
The soul delights to be alone with God, fixing its attention
• The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 13.
» Ibid., chap. 14.

INDIVIDUAL AND PROXIMATE CALL

375

lovingly on Him. It does not make any particular considera­
tions, and enjoys interior peace and an impression of repose
and quiet. The powers, memory, understanding, and will,
do not manifest themselves by acts and exercises. I mean that
the soul does not give itself up to discursive acts, which con­
sist in going from one subject to another, but is absorbed in
the knowledge of and attention to God. This knowledge is con­
fused, general, and loving, and does not tarry on any par­
ticular perception.” 8 Just so, a child looks lovingly at its
mother without thinking of anything distinct, but only of
the fact that she is its mother. At the outset this loving gaze of
the soul is so subtle and delicate that it passes almost un­
perceived.0 Here, there is no longer, as there was in medita­
tion, clearly perceptible co-operation on the part of the
imagination. Moreover, at the beginning the soul does not
let itself be satisfied with this love which is given to it; it
seeks love under a more sensible form. “Once the soul,
however, lets itself be introduced into peace, it will not fail
to penetrate farther and farther into it. As the loving thought
of God becomes clear, the soul finds it more attractive than
anything in the world because of the peace, rest, sweetness,
and delight which it draws from it without effort.” 10 The
last words of this sentence help to prove that St. John of the
Cross is really discussing infused contemplation, even in this
first work, The Ascent of Mount Carmel. Chapter 15 makes
the matter clear.11 In The Ascent of Mount Carmel, St. John
describes chiefly the part we can have in this contemplation,
not indeed in producing it, but in preparing ourselves for
it or in favoring its exercise.12 In the following work, The
» Ibid., chap. 1 j.
0 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid., chap. 15: “In this state God communicates Himself to the soul
which remains passive . . . and the soul, when it thus receives the supernaturally infused light, understands all, while remaining passive."
12 Ibid., chap. 14. St. John shows here that God sometimes favors souls by
granting His contemplative love without the intermediate preparation. This

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Dark Night of the Soul, he describes particularly God’s action
and our passivity. These phases do not follow each other
chronologically; instead, they are two subordinate aspects of
the interior life; in this case, the soul is “more passive than
active,” 18 but preserves the liberty of consenting to the su­
perior inspiration which the Holy Ghost gives it to make it
act divinely.
The three signs given in The Ascent of Mount Carmel are
repeated in The Dark Night of the Soul; 14 there they are more
markedly formulated as indications of God’s purifying work
in us, or of purifying aridity: (i) The soul no longer finds
savor or consolation in divine things (known by way of the
senses) or in any created thing—these last words indicate that
this state does not come from tepidity or attachment to
creatures; (2) The soul preserves ordinarily in its remem­
brance of God the fear of not serving Him and of going
backwards, because it no longer experiences sweetness in
divine things—this fear is another sign that this powerlessness
does not come from tepidity; (3) The soul finds difficulty
in meditating, as it did in the past, by having recourse to the
imagination. “The reason for this is that God is beginning to
give Himself no longer by means of reasoning, but by the
simple act of contemplation which He inspires in us.”
Other indications may confirm these three necessary and
classic signs. St. Teresa delights in adding the complete gift
of oneself to God, scorn of all earthly things, a great humility,
and the desire for heaven. Infused contemplation may, how­
ever, be granted to souls that do not as yet possess such high
virtues; often it is contemplation which gives them: “All
good things came to me with her,” 18 as the Book of Wisdom
recalls what St. Teresa says of the water wheel apropos of the supernatural
prayer of quiet, for which the soul usually prepares itself by certain work of
the mind. (Cf. Life, chap. 14.)
is St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.68, a. i, 3; Ila Ilae, q.ga, a.a ad mm.
« Bk. I, chap. 9.
is Wi». 7: 11.

INDIVIDUAL AND PROXIMATE CALL

377

says. It is especially the infused knowledge of the goodness
of God which makes us love Him and practice virtue for love
of Him. These three signs, then, suffice to prove tire proxi­
mate call of a soul to infused contemplation.
II. OBSTACLES TO THIS PROXIMATE CALL; ITS VARIETIES

True, the three signs, which we have just explained, are
not found in all souls in the state of grace. But we believe
that each and every one is called to the mystical life in a re­
mote and sufficient manner, since the grace of the virtues and
gifts, which they have received, contains, by reason of the
intimate law of its development, the seed of the mystical life,
which is the normal prelude to that of heaven.16
What is meant by a remote and sufficient call? It means
that, if all souls were faithful in avoiding, as they ought, not
only mortal but venial sin, if they were, each according to
his condition, generally docile to the Holy Ghost, and if
they lived long enough, a day would come when they would
receive the proximate and efficacious vocation to a high per­
fection and to the mystical life, properly so called. They have,
in fact, received its radical principle. Until that day comes,
however, we may simply say that they are not as yet called
to it; just as we say that infidels, who have never heard the
Gospel preached, are not as yet individually called to the
Christian life, even though all pagans have a general vocation
10 The expression "remote sufficient grace” is current in theology in another
question, which resembles this one and which concerns not only all souls in
the state of grace, but all men: i. e., is it possible for each and every one to be
saved? God has not only prepared in general, but offers and gives to all men.
and each one in particular, in view of his salvation, sufficient help, sufficient
at least in a remote manner, according to the conditions of each one. It is thus
that the proximate sufficient grace to pray is a remote sufficient grace to per­
form the salutary work in view of which one prays. If the soul does not resist
this remote sufficient grace, it will receive the proximate sufficient grace to
act well. If this last grace is not resisted, efficacious grace will be received,
which will make us accomplish the salutary work. Cf. Billuart, De Deo, diss.
7, a.8. This doctrine applies even to infidels and hardened sinners.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

to the Christian life, as the sole way of salvation willed by
God for all men.17
Many souls will not develop enough spiritually to be suit­
ably prepared for the mystical life. This is due especially to
a lack of humility, purity of heart, simplicity of gaze, recol­
lection, and generosity; or also because they are naturally too
much inclined to be outward-minded; or because, being too
much absorbed in study or the cares of administration, they
do not sufficiently love the silent and profound prayer which
leads to union. How easy it is to tarry on the way and to live
a superficial life! Lastly these souls often lack good spiritual
direction or a suitable environment. They will not be called
to the mystical life in a proximate manner. Perhaps, for lack
of certain conditions which do not depend on their will, some
of them, although generous, would reach tire mystical life only
after a longer period than the ordinary span of human exist­
ence.18
Others, who as a rule are more advanced, will be called
to the mystical life in a proximate and sufficient manner, but
all will not respond to this call. Many will become discour­
aged after their first steps in the dark night. This last group
is numerous, and according to St. John of the Cross, in this
difficult passage they are often badly directed by their spirit­
ual guide.18
17 St. Thomas, I Sent., q.41, a.2 ad gum. "Vocatio semper est temporalis,
quia ponit adductionem quamdam ad aliquid. . . . Est quaedam vocatio tem­
poralis ad gratiam, cui respondet et electio temporalis et aeterna; haec autem
vocatio est vel interior per infusionem gratiae, vel exterior per vocem prae­
dicatoris.”
1« This explains several reservations made by Tauler, St. Teresa, and St.
John of the Cross, on the principle of the general call. They have in mind
individual cases which arise from particular obstacles.
is The Living Flame of Love, st. HI, v. 3: "Being ignorant of spiritual ways
and what characterizes them, these directors turn souls away from the deli­
cate unctions by which the Holy Ghost prepares them for divine union. They
content themselves with prescribing contemptible recipes which they have
invented or found by chance in their reading, and which are hardly suitable
for beginners. . . . They persist in not allowing souls to advance—even if
God’s desire manifests itself formally—beyond their principles and methods

INDIVIDUAL AND PROXIMATE CALL

379

Others will be called in a proximate and efficacious manner
to the mystical life, but they will not advance beyond its
lower degrees because of lack of generosity or direction. As
the parable of the sower tells us, there are good souls which
yield thirtyfold; this does not represent the summit of the
normal development; others give sixtyfold; and some yield a
hundredfold. These last will be called in a proximate and
efficacious manner to the higher degrees of the mystical life,
to the transforming union. From this fact, we shall see that
they were predestined to it.
“Many are called, but few are chosen,” St. Teresa remarks
apropos of the fifth mansion.*
20 We should humbly aspire to
be among this élite. As it is of faith, in contradiction to
Jansenistic teaching, that he who does not save his soul, can
do so by means of the sufficient grace given him; we must
also say that an adult who, after neglecting many graces,
reaches only a lower degree of glory, could without being
predestined thereto reach a much higher degree, and he
would have attained it if he had been more faithful.21 Only
the saints, after generously using the time of trial, reach the
plenitude of the perfect age, though not all, however, attain
to great sanctity. In the transforming union, which is in this
life the age of sanctity, there are, to be sure, many degrees
lower than that attained by St. Paul or St. John. Likewise in
a forest, many oaks reach their full normal height and tower
above many others less developed, without reaching the
height of certain giant oaks, which are truly exceptional.
This explains a much controverted text from The Dark
Night of the Soul.22 In this passage, St. John of the Cross
which are limited to discursive acts and those of the imagination. Forbid souls
to pass beyond the limits of their natural capacity, and what poor fruit they
will gather! ”
20 The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 1.
21 On this point, cf. St. Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, Bk.
II, chap. 11.
22 Bk. I, chap. 9.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

states first the general principle: “Once the soul has entered
the purification (i. e., the passive purification of the senses),
inability to discourse only increases. . . . The soul will end
by abandoning (in prayer) all sensible operations, if it is
truly to advance {si es que han de ir adelante).” Then he adds:
“For those who do not go by the way of contemplation
(porque los que no van por camino de contemplaciôri), it is
otherwise; in their case, the night of the senses is often inter­
rupted. In turn, it makes itself felt and then disappears; at
one time discursive meditation is impossible, and at another,
it becomes easy. God keeps them in this way, then, only in
order to try them and humble them; to refine their appetites
in order to turn them away from a vicious gluttony in spirit­
ual matters; and not to lead them to the way of the spirit,
which is that of contemplation, properly so called. God does
not, in fact, raise 23 to contemplation all who desire to attain
it by following the way of the spirit; He does not even take
half of them. Why? He alone knows. These last (whom God
does not raise to contemplation, properly so called)24 never
finish weaning the senses so that they completely abandon
considerations and reasoning. They have this grace only in­
termittently, as we have just said.”
This text does not deny the remote general call of souls
in the state of grace to the mystical life; it only denies the
proximate and efficacious individual call of many to the per­
fection of this life. The good souls mentioned in this text
are those which, in the parable of the sower, yield a thirty­
fold harvest. This does not represent the normal summit of
the life of grace; others will yield sixtyfold and even a hun­
dredfold, as the parable tells us.
St. John of the Cross does not say that the souls of which
23 St. John of the Cross says clearly: “God does not raise" (lleva), and not:
“God does not call." "Many are called, but few are chosen.”
24 The original text says: “These last”—that is, those whom God does not
raise.

INDIVIDUAL AND PROXIMATE CALL

381

we are speaking are called to a high perfection without be­
ing called in a proximate manner to the superior degrees of
the mystical life. He even teaches the contrary. In his opin­
ion, a soul cannot obtain lofty perfection without passing
through the night of the senses and even that of the spirit.25
And if St. John of the Cross is asked why God does not
raise to contemplation, properly so called, all those who de­
sire to attain it by following the way of the spirit and why He
takes only half of them, he will not answer, as certain com­
mentators would have him do, that contemplation, properly
so called, is essentially extraordinary and that it reaches be­
yond the summit of the normal life. On the contrary, he
answers: “God alone knows.” In like manner, St. Augustine
says apropos of the text, “Many are called, but few are
chosen”: “Why God draws one and not another, seek not to
judge, if thou dost not wish to fall into error.” 25 This is the
mystery of predestination,27 of which St. John of the Cross
himself says: “It is true that souls, whatever their capacity,
may have attained union, but all do not possess it in the same
degree. God disposes freely of this degree of union, as He
disposes freely of the degree of the beatific vision.” 28 In this
opinion, St. John of the Cross agrees with Tauler, Louis de
Blois, Ruysbroeck, and the other great mystics.
Finally, St. John of the Cross speaks more clearly on this
subject in The Living Flame of Love:22 “We must explain
here why there are so few who reach this high state of per­
fection and uni>n with God. It is certainly not because God
wishes to limit this grace to a small number of superior souls;
His desire is rather that this high perfection should be com25 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chaps. 3, 14; Bk. II, chap. 1.
2· St. Thomas cpiotcs this text arid expresses the same opinion in la, q.23,
a.5 ad 3um.
27 Father Lainballe, in his La contemplation, pp. 70, 72, gives this explana,
tion of this text from St. John of the Cross.
28 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 5.
2» St. II, v. 5.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

mon to all. It is only too often that He seeks in vain for ves­
sels capable of containing such perfection. He sends light
trials to a soul, and it shows itself weak and immediately flees
all suffering . . . which is intended to refine and to polish
it. Consequently, God does not continue to purify such souls
and to draw them from earthly dust by mortifying them. . . .
O souls who dream of walking in tranquillity and consolation
in the spiritual way, if you but knew how necessary it is for
you to be tried in order to attain this security and consola­
tion!” After the description of the transforming union,30 he
says: “O souls created for such glories, ... of what are you
thinking? What are you doing? How sad your blindness is!
You close your eyes to the most dazzling light and do not
listen to the powerful voices which solicit you!”
Even in the natural order, the greater number of men do
not succeed in disciplining their passions, although they are
all called to do so by their very nature as rational beings.
Likewise, among those who spend many years in the study
of some science (such as mathematics, law, or medicine), only
a small number acquire a profound knowledge of it. Inventors
and extraordinary geniuses are rare. Similarly in the order of
the life of grace, not even half the number of interior souls
are raised to the summit of the normal development of the
supernatural life. “Many are called, but few are chosen,” as
St. Teresa so often remarks. We should, however, humbly
desire to be numbered in this élite, as we should desire to
grow in charity without placing any limit on its progress.
The doctrine that all souls in the state of grace have the
remote and sufficient helps to reach the mystical life offers
no greater difficulties than that other doctrine, which is
certain, namely, that all men, including unfaithful souls and
hardened sinners, have both in general and in particular the
necessary helps to save their souls.
»o The Spiritual Canticle, IV, st. 39, v. 1.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

383

ARTICLE IV
The Conditions Ordinarily Required for Infused
Contemplation
AN EXAMINATION OF THE PRINCIPAL DIFFICULTIES
RELATING TO THE GENERAL CALL

We have given the reasons for our aceptance of a general
and remote call to the mystical life of all souls in the state of
grace, although this call becomes individual and proximate
only when it can be proved that the three classic signs of
the beginning of the mystical life, explained by St. John of the
Cross, exist in the soul. This individual proximate call re­
mains sufficient and inefficacious in those who resist it. In
others it is efficacious in one of two ways: either it leads only
to the inferior degrees of the mystical life, or it leads higher
and even to the transforming union, the summit of the nor­
mal development of the interior life.
The three principal reasons we adduced for affirming the
general and remote call are : (1) The radical principle of the
mystical life is the same as that of the common interior life,
the grace of the virtues and the gifts; (2) In the progress of
the interior life, the purification of the soul cannot be com­
plete without the passive purifications, which belong to the
mystical order; (3) The mystical life is the normal prelude
to the beatific vision, the goal of the life of grace.
This teaching presupposes what we have set forth 1 on suf­
ficient and on efficacious grace. We summed it up in the
masterly words of Bossuet: “Let us learn to bow our intel­
lects before the divine obscurity of this great mystery and
confess two graces, one of which (sufficient grace) leaves the
intellect without any excuse before God, and the other (ef­
ficacious grace) does not let it glory in itself.” 1
1 Cf. chap. 3, arts. 3, 4.
ï Bossuet, Œuvres complètes (1845), L 643.

384

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

It is not surprising that the traditional teaching about the
general and remote call of all just souls to the mystical life
should encounter obscurity or difficulty. These difficulties are
not any greater than those raised against the doctrine com­
monly taught in the Church as to the salvation which is
offered and is possible to all men who have the use of reason,
even to those who have not been able to hear the Gospel
preached. All receive sufficient grace (at least remote) to
reach eternal life.
Since this is so and since the mystical life is the prelude
to eternal life, why not admit the general and remote call
which we maintain? The principal difficulties are three: (1)
It is objected that, even while admitting the principles of
St. Thomas in relation to the increase of the grace of the
virtues and gifts, if things are considered in the concrete
rather than in the abstract, it becomes evident that Christian
souls generally lack the conditions of the mystical life, and
that through no fault of theirs; (2) It must not be forgotten
that some souls have received only one or two talents, and
not five; (3) The doctrine of the general, even though remote,
call seems by its nature to lead some to presumption and il­
lusion, and others to discouragement. We will examine these
different points.
I. DO GENEROUS INTERIOR SOULS GENERALLY LACK THE
PRINCIPAL CONDITIONS ORDINARILY REQUIRED FOR
THE MYSTICAL LIFE?

Some writers tell us that the attainment of mystical con­
templation requires conditions that are impossible of reali­
zation for the majority of souls, no matter how generous
they may be. According to this opinion, a special environment
is necessary, such as a Carthusian or a Carmelite monastery,
where silence, solitude, and long hours of prayer are the
common rule. Without this atmosphere, a special tempera-

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

385

ment inclined to recollection and prolonged prayer is needed.
Lastly, we are told that a soul must have appropriate spirit­
ual guidance, directing it more and more toward the con­
templative life. These conditions are usually wanting in the
lives of the majority of generous interior souls that remain
in the world or that enter active or even mixed religious
orders. The cares of administration which occupy superiors
and the demands which intellectual work makes on a priest
whose principal activity is teaching, also hinder the develop­
ment of the mystical life, properly so called, even in interior
souls much attached to their duties.
We now offer our reply to this objection. Even if the above
mentioned conditions, difficult of realization for many, were
required, we should not, as a result, necessarily conclude
that the mystical life is not the normal summit of the de­
velopment of the life of grace. We should simply have to
say that, for the attainment of this summit, conditions are
demanded which are difficult of realization in the world, or
even in a religious life that is not very fervent. In this case
the soul is like a cedar, which attains the summit of its
normal development only in certain conditions of soil and
climate.
Moreover, the conditions enumerated, though very useful,
are not the chief ones. We recognize the fact that environ­
ment has its importance; also that a calm temperament is
much better disposed to the contemplative life than a rest­
less and agitated spirit.3 It may indeed be that among these
8 St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.i8a, a.4 ad 311m: "He that is prone to yield to his
passions on account of his impulse to action is simply more apt for the active
life by reason of his restless spirit. . . . Others, on the contrary, have the
mind naturally pure and restful, so that they are apt for contemplation. . . .
Those who are more adapted to the active life can prepare themselves for the
contemplative by the practice of the active life; while, none the less, those who
are more adapted to the contemplative life can take upon themselves the
works of the active life so as to become yet more apt for contemplation." Thus
all ought to tend toward contemplation as the normal prelude to the life of
heaven.

386

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

last, some, even though quite generous, would reach the
mystical life only after a period longer than the ordinary
span of life. And it is certain that bad spiritual direction
often allows souls to vegetate or turns them away from
infused contemplation, whereas another type of direction
would definitely turn them toward contemplation.
However important these conditions may be, they remain
superficial compared to others which are the chief ones. Here
again the same rule holds true as in the matter of salvation,
which is possible to all who possess a developed conscience,
even to those not born in a Christian environment, who are
strongly inclined to evil, and who have not had an opportunity
to hear the Gospel preached. If they ordinarily follow the
dictates of their conscience, they will be mysteriously led
from grace to grace, from fidelity to fidelity, to eternal life.
Anyone who wishes to advance in the spiritual life and to
prepare himself for the grace of contemplation must, to the
best of his ability, use the great means which the Church gives
us all. The assiduous reception of the sacraments, daily hear­
ing of mass, frequent communion, love of the Eucharist,
devotion to the Holy Ghost, filial and incessant recourse to
the Sacred Heart of Jesus 4 and to the Blessed Virgin, medi­
atrix of all graces, are evidently necessary.
Contemplation is a fruit of true devotion to the Blessed
Virgin, as explained by Blessed Grignion de Montfort.5 He
says that, without a great love for her, a soul will attain
union with God only with extreme difficulty. “It is necessary
to pass through dark nights, combats, strange agonies, sharp
thorns, and frightful deserts. By the way of Mary, the soul
advances with greater sweetness and tranquillity. Along
this way it encounters many crosses and great difficulties to
« It is fitting to unite ever more closely devotion to the Blessed Sacrament
and that to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in devotion to the Eucharistic Heart
of Jesus, in order to thank our Lord for the act of supreme love by which He
gave us the Holy Eucharist.
5 Traité de la vraie devotion à Marie, chap. 4, art. 5 (1909 ed., p. 119).

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

387

overcome, but our good Mother keeps so close to her faith­
ful servants . . . that, in truth, this virginal road is a path of
roses in spite of the thorns.” It thus leads more easily and surely
to divine union. Mary, wonderful to relate, makes the cross
easier and, at the same time, more meritorious: easier, be­
cause she sustains us with her gentle hand; more meritorious,
because she obtains for us a greater charity, which is the
principle of merit, and because, by offering our acts to our
Lord, she increases their value. By reason of her pre-eminent
charity, Mary merited more while performing the easiest acts
than all the martyrs in their tortures.
Another great means to prepare for the grace of contem­
plation, a means within the reach of all interior souls, is
found in the liturgy, in an ever more intimate union with
the great prayer of the Church. “The graces of prayer and of
the mystical state have their type and source in the hieratic
life of the Church; they reflect in the members the likeness
of Christ which is perfect in the body.” 6 Liturgical prayer
recited with recollection, in union with our Lord and His
mystical body, obtains for us holy lights and inspirations
which illumine and inflame our hearts. Consequently it is
advisable to make mental prayer after the psalmody which
prepares us for it; just as after mass and holy communion,
it is well to prolong our thanksgiving, and if possible devote
an hour to it.
Lastly, the frequent reading of Scripture and the study of
sacred doctrine, undertaken in a truly supernatural manner,
are other excellent means to prepare the soul for contempla­
tion. Thus the ancients7 used to say that divine reading
(lectio divina) by pious study (studium) leads to meditation
(meditatio), then to prayer (oratio), and finally to contempla­
tion (contemplatio).8
e Father Clérissac, O.P., Le mystère de l’Église, p. 102.
r The Rule of St. Benedict, chap. 48.
e See Ila Ilae, q. 180, a.3.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Of course certain interior dispositions are necessary if we
are to make good use of the great means which the Church
proposes to all. These dispositions constitute the chief con­
ditions ordinarily required for the mystical life.8 As a rule
they accompany the proximate individual call to contem­
plation; in very generous souls they may supply for exterior
conditions if these cannot be had.
Spiritual authors group these dispositions as follows: (i)
purity of heart; (2) simplicity of spirit; (3) profound hu­
mility; (4) love of recollection and perseverance in prayer;
(5) fervent charity.10
Who can say that these interior dispositions are beyond
the strength and the graces offered him? St. Jerome writes:
“One man may tell me that he cannot fast; but can he
declare that he cannot love? Another may affirm that he
cannot preserve virginity, or sell all his goods in order to
give the price to the poor; but can he tell me that he cannot
love his enemies? All that is necessary is to look into one’s own
heart . . . , for what God asks of us is not found at a great dis­
tance.’’ 11 On the other hand, if we become even a little neg­
ligent, how easy it is to fail in the interior conditions we
have just enumerated!
The purity of heart mentioned in the beatitude, “Blessed
are the clean of heart: for they shall see God,” is the fruit of
exterior and interior mortification, which is not practiced
without suffering. We must not be attached to sin, must not
condone our faults or make peace with them. The soul
must enter upon the narrow way that leads to true life;
better than ever before, it will understand our Lord’s words,
“Many are called, but few are chosen.” It must also be ready
to pass through the fire of sufferings, for purity of heart
should grow with contemplation through the purifying trials
e They are not, however, always required, for mystical contemplation is
sometimes granted to souls that are still very imperfect.
10 Philip of the Blessed Trinity, O.C.D., Summa theologiae mysticae, Π, 305.
u St. Jerome, Comm, in Matth., chap. 5.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

389

which God sends to those humbly and ardently desiring His
divine intimacy. As Scripture tell us, He is jealous; He re­
moves the persons and the things to which the soul might
become attached and makes it pass through a crucible to
cleanse it of all its blemishes. When inordinate inclinations
and the disorders of sensuality, egoism, self-love, and in­
tellectual and spiritual pride have disappeared, and puri­
fied heart is like a spotless mirror reflecting the beauty of
God. Who can say that he is unable to have a clean heart?
Simplicity of spirit is bom of this cleanness of heart and,
like it, should be keenly desired by everyone. Holy Scrip­
ture often mentions it: “His communication is with the
simple.” 12 “If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be
lightsome.” 18 “Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple
as doves.” 14 Without simplicity it is impossible to have a
high degree of wisdom, which is learned from God without
guile.18 Simplicity of spirit evidently does not consist in un­
ceremoniously telling our every thought and feeling, at the
risk of contradicting ourselves from day to day when circum­
stances and impressions are changed. In spite of appearances,
such conduct is quite the contrary of simplicity; it leads to
confusion, disturbance, incoherence, and rambling. The sim­
plicity of which we are speaking shares in that of God and
consists in seeing in God all things, all events, whether happy
or unhappy, all persons, friends or enemies, and all we have
to do, whether agreeable or painful. It produces unity of
spirit, for he who possesses it sees that everything is willed,
or at least permitted, by God for His glory and that of His
elect. Consequently, that all ought to aspire to this superior
unity and simplicity of spirit, is evident. The presence of
simplicity in the soul indicates that the gift of wisdom is
already well developed, and that the soul possessing it habit12 Prov. 3: 32.
13 Matt. 6: 22.
i< Matt. 10: 16.
1» Wit. 7: 13.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

ually is very close to mystical contemplation, if it does not
already have it.
This simplicity is manifested by a great rectitude of life;
from this point of view, St. Thomas speaks of it when he is
discussing the virtue of truth or veracity as opposed to false­
hood. “Simplicity,” he says, “is contrary to duplicity, by
which a man makes himself out to be something other than
what he is interiorly.” It is a perfect uprightness and even a
certain candor, in the good sense of the word, which leads
us to acknowledge our defects easily because we do not cease
to see the one thing necessary above all others. To have
ordinarily in our relations with our neighbor the undimin­
ished simplicity of the dove together with the prudence of
the serpent evidences a high degree of the light of divine
wisdom. It is a proximate disposition for mystical contempla­
tion. Who can say that this superior simplicity is not, upon the
whole, within the reach of generous souls?
Humility of heart is no less attainable than the preceding
dispositions. In fact, it is born of them at the realization of
the distance separating the infinite perfection of God from
the nothingness of creatures, which of themselves are in­
capable of existing, acting, and directing themselves as they
should. Anyone who already possesses this virtue in a high
degree, who is happy to recognize his nothingness and abjec­
tion before God, who loves to be nothing so that God may
be all, to humble himself before what is divine in every other
soul, is prepared for the grace of contemplation. Our Lord
Himself says: “I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones.” ie “Un­
less you be converted, and become as little children, you shall
not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” 17 If you become
Matt, n: 25.
i’ Matt. 18: 5.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

391

as little children, you shall enter heaven; and by contempla­
tion the soul enters it in a quasi-experimental manner even
in this life. “Take up My yoke upon you, and learn of Me,
because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find
rest to your souls.” 18
This rest for the soul is to be found especially in loving
contemplation. “God resisteth the proud and giveth grace
to the humble.” 18 He makes them humble in order to load
them with His gifts. Humility prepares the soul for contem­
plation, for it already sings the praise of God’s glory. The
Imitation says that contemplatives are few in number be­
cause there are few souls profoundly humble. To receive the
grace of contemplation, ordinarily the soul must have made
a profound act of true humility which colors its whole life.
When a soul has often and practically recognized the fact
that its entire existence depends absolutely on God, that it
continues to exist only by Him, that it acts well only by
reason of His grace, which works in us both to will and to
accomplish, that it directs its energies only by His light, that
it has sinned frequently, and that it is an unprofitable
servant deserving of scorn; then the soul generally obtains
the grace we are speaking of.
Love of recollection, fidelity to the grace of the present
moment, and perseverance in prayer are also dispositions
which should not be lacking in generous souls. These dis­
positions necessitate a reaction against the agitation of what
today is called strenuous life. As a matter of fact, it is not
life, but a fever, a deadly illness; it is materialism in action.
After turning away from God and from the true life of the
soul, it seeks its equivalent in multiplied and increasingly
intense activity, which is often a complete loss; for the finite
can never equal or become the Infinite. To a true contena­
is Matt. 11:29.
12 Jas. 4: 6.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

plative, people who are devoted to an exaggerated intensity
of life must seem like walking corpses; dead men running,
as an old ballad says.
“Is the decay of faith astonishing,” asks a recent translator
of the works of Tauler, “since no one any longer has time to
think of faith? Materialism has snuffed out spirituality. Yet
the desire for God, who is man’s end, still persists in human
hearts, with the result that more than ever before there is
an indefinable uneasiness in the world. Souls are suffering
and dying of this unconscious desire for the Infinite.” 20 The
reaction from this uneasiness should raise up many contem­
plative vocations. This is an important argument for the
doctrine we are defending here, namely, that an unfavorable
environment provokes a salutary reaction in good souls.
Materialism in action extends unfortunately to the things
of the spirit and prevents many souls from believing they are
called to contemplation. It turns them away from recollec­
tion and perseverance in prayer. Even spiritual subjects
have been developed along the lines of a material science
which, instead of giving us a doctrinal judgment founded
on principle, presents us with a jumble of material informa­
tion which is often useless and impossible to classify. Ap­
parently the more there is, the more science grows. In reality,
this entirely material multiplicity puts a great distance be­
tween us and the unification of learning, that higher view
of the whole which deserves to be called wisdom, and to be
called contemplation when it is accompanied by the love of
God.
If the present problem of the general call of souls to the
mystical life were studied according to the methods of this
material science, a doctrinal solution would never be reached;
on the contrary, it would seem that no conclusions can be
reached, a skeptical attitude which is no evidence of superi­
bo Cf. Œuvres de Tauler, translated into French by Father Noël, O.P., IV.
815-16, translator's note.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

395

ority. Were this problem studied in the light of theological
wisdom, in the works of the great masters, and also in the
light of the gift of wisdom, which is particularly important
here, the result would be quite different.
We can scarcely exaggerate the importance of Tauler’s
teaching on the dangers of a completely material study for
a religious who should aspire to contemplation. Speaking
even of religious, the great mystic observes that some of
them are like cisterns receiving water only from drains and
not from the fountain of living water. Without an interior
life, they spend themselves on outward things, and pride is
the result. He says these intellectuals, infatuated with them­
selves and their intellect, which is nourished solely by crea­
tures, are cisterns. Their mental attainments cannot support
them in trials and will be confounded at death.21
In his explanation of the parable of those who refused the
invitation to the feast, Tauler says: “Who could count today
the number of men who act in the same way. . . . Everyone,
I speak not only of lay people, but also of ecclesiastics and
religious, is busy about his affairs. What negotiations and
innumerable occupations continually distract and absorb the
world! The very thought of it all is enough to set one reeling.
We surround ourselves with so many things, whereas a tenth
of them would suffice; for, after all, time on earth is short
and uncertain. We ought to remember that this world is
merely a passage to eternity, and then we would use temporal
things with moderation and be satisfied with the necessities
of life. It would be better to die of hunger on the way than
to let ourselves be encumbered and crucified by so many
occupations.” 22
Tauler is not speaking here of apostolic work which is the
radiation of the interior life, but of countless useless, or at
21 Cf. Tauler, First Sermon on the Ascension (Noël ed.), II, 401.
22 Tauler, Second Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity (Noël ed.),
IV, 215.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

least unsanctified, occupations. If his words were true of his
time, what must be said of ours? With such conditions it is
not astonishing that only a small number of souls attain to
contemplation. These conditions, however, represent essen­
tial disorder, which turns souls away from the recollection
and prayer necessary to any interior life. Keeping this in
mind, we easily understand why our Lord said at the end of
the parable of the wedding feast: “Many are called, but few
are chosen.”
This is not true in a normal Christian life, even in the
world. Without excessive difficulty, generous souls attain by
meditation to a simple and spontaneous affective prayer,
which is an excellent disposition to mystical or infused con­
templation.23
Fervent charity toward God and our neighbor is the last of
the dispositions that we listed as requisite for contemplation.
The love of God for man unites us to Him; and the gifts of
the Holy Ghost, which are the principles of infused contem­
plation, being connected with charity, develop with it. “Wis­
dom as a gift of the Holy Ghost judges aright about them
(divine things) on account of connaturality with them. . . .
This sympathy or connaturality for divine things is the result
of charity, which unites us to God.” 24 Hence it is incon­
ceivable that a soul should reach a high degree of charity
without having a proportionate degree of the gift of wisdom
as an habitual disposition, because the Holy Ghost inspires
and illumines souls, as a general rule, according to the degree
of their habitual docility. These souls not only earnestly
desire and humbly ask for the grace of contemplation, which
will increase their love and adoration, but they cannot re­
s’ Theologians who follow St. Thomas and St. John of the Cross have never
admitted that so-called acquired contemplation is the end of spiritual prog­
ress in this life; rather, they see in it a proximate preparation for infused con­
templation. With Philip of the Blessed Trinity (Summa theol. myst., II, 309),
they agree in saying: “Contemplatio acquisita cum auxilio gratiae comparata,
est optima dispositio ad contemplationem supernaturalem."
2* St. Thomas, Ha Ilae, q.45, a.2.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

395

strain themselves from exclaiming: “God is so beautiful;
everything in Him deserves admiration even to the forget­
fulness of all else. He should indeed be the sole object of
our love. It is painful to see how little He is known and how
few souls admire His infinite grandeur. How many Christians
would love Him if they knew by experience His goodness
and tenderness, which are so different from what these words
usually connote! They would love Him, even to the com­
plete forgetfulness of self and the world, that they might find
again all souls in Him, since these souls are loved by Him.”
This explains why the gift of infused contemplation is
ordinarily granted to the perfect, as many theologians teach.2’
The perfect have, in fact, merited in the strict sense of the
word (condignly) a high degree of the gift of wisdom, con­
sidered as an habitual disposition; and they have thus
merited, at least in the broad sense of the word (congru­
ously),2® the actual superior inspirations commensurate with
this degree of the gift.27
Evidently the principal conditions ordinarily required for
the mystical life are not, as a rule, lacking in generous in­
terior souls, even if they are detained in the world and are
unable to enjoy the silence and solitude of the cloister. Like
St. Catherine of Siena, they can build an interior cell in their
hearts and find God there.
2. PARTICULAR OBSTACLES TO CONTEMPLATION

After reading the preceding section, souls that have not
received the grace of contemplation may question whether
25 Cf. Philip of the Blessed Trinity, C.D., Summa theol. myst., II, 310, and
Anthony of the Holy Ghost, C.D., and Vallgornera, O.P., who express the same
opinion in the same section of their mystical theologies which follow the divi­
sion used in that of Philip.
28 This is the very expression of the theologians we have just quoted. Cf.
Philip, ibid., p. 311.
27 This is the principal reason why we cannot accept the thesis recently up­
held by Farges and Pourrat, who consider mystical contemplation as essen­
tially extraordinary.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

they themselves are setting up some obstacle to contempla­
tion.
The obstacle always comes from an inordinate attach­
ment, from selfishness. In many souls it is in the will; they
choose their own way; in other words, they wish to go to
God by using means of their own selection, and they de­
mand, as it were, that God should come to them according
to their way. They count not a little on their own activity
instead of allowing God to act in them, and they desire to
build up their perfection without His help. No slight ob­
stacle is interposed when a soul wishes to direct itself in
matters that should not be under its direction; it runs the
risk of more or less consciously opposing the superior direc
tion of the Holy Ghost. To want to be a center, to wish that
good be done by us, or at least by our religious family or
convent, and in our way, is an ineffectual preparation for
contemplation, which is characterized precisely by being
God’s way. “I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones.” Occa­
sionally, it is in the poorest little convents, which seem to have
no influence, that the most contemplative and holiest souls
are to be found.
In other souls, the obstacle to contemplation is found in
the mind. They try to analyze everything psychologically,
and to record it in order to evaluate their slight progress. Con­
sequently they turn their gaze upon themselves instead of on
God. True, self-knowledge is always necessary even in the
highest states,28 but this self-scrutiny should not be separated
from the soul’s attention to God. Is not the best examina­
tion of conscience that which questions sincerely what rec28 St. Teresa, The Interior Castle, first mansion, chap. 2: “This knowledge
of self is so necessary, even to souls admitted by God to His own dwelling,
that they should never depart from it no matter how high they may be raised.
Moreover, even though they should wish to do so, they could not do it."

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

397

ord the day has left in the Book of Life? If this is done, the
light of the Holy Ghost will effect what St. Augustine asked
in his prayer: “That I may know Thee, O Lord, and that
I may know myself.” “In my opinion,” says St. Teresa, “we
will never succeed in knowing ourselves well unless we try
to know God; by contemplating His greatness, we will dis­
cover our baseness. ... If, on the contrary, we never rise
above our own miseries, we will reap distinct harm. . . .
Self-knowledge becomes warped if we never take our thoughts
off ourselves, and I am not a bit astonished at that. That is
why I maintain, my daughters, that we should fix our eyes
on Jesus Christ, our treasure, and on the saints; there we shall
leam true humility. By this way, I repeat, our intellect will
be ennobled, and self-knowledge will cease to make us fearful
and cowardly.” 29
Among those who analyze themselves too much, some
leave off their prayer to find out whether it conforms to the
descriptions given by mystical authors, and also to ascertain
what degree they have reached. Others imagine that, in ordei
to live by these things, it is sufficient to know them exteriorly,
and they try of themselves “to eliminate images and to
empty their minds.” By so doing they expose themselves to
every kind of illusion; they confound a simple intellectual
speculation about the Deity, which is superior to the divine
perfections that it contains in its eminence, a speculation
within the reach of every philosopher, even though he is in
the state of mortal sin, with the infused contemplation de­
scribed by Dionysius when he speaks of the great darkness.30
They forget that the principle which leads to Christian con­
templation is to love God for Himself. They lose themselves in
abstract speculations and do not comprehend the love of
20 Ibid.
so This error fails to take cognizance of the fact that infused knowledge is
infused, that it presupposes a special inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and that
it proceeds, not from love of the joys of knowledge, but from love of God.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Christ. With a great amount of unconscious pride, they
might thus go completely astray and end in a theosophical
or Buddhistic contemplation.
Lastly, certain souls appear better prepared in some respects,
since they would willingly allow God to operate in them,
and do not pride themselves on knowing everything; but
their heart seeks in God enjoyment rather than God Himself.
In this they are deceived, for it is a crucified God whom
we must love, and intimacy with Him is often found in
suffering. Undoubtedly joy and unequaled happiness come
later, but this is not what the soul should seek.
Some souls that have opposed all these obstacles to the
grace of God have had the happiness of seeing Him over­
throw them all in order to prove once more that He came
to seek sinners and to save that which was lost. Perhaps the
intimacy of prayer was necessary for their salvation; if they
had not obtained it, they might have wished to enjoy their
faculties for themselves and to find in a forbidden love or
in the satisfactions of pride what exists in divine love alone.
Priceless treasures are often wasted by shutting oneself up in
self. We should invoke God’s help in the following prayer:
“O Lord, take me from myself, and give me strength to give
myself completely to Thee.”

3. WHAT SHOULD BE THOUGHT OF SOULS THAT HAVE
RECEIVED ONLY ONE OR TWO TALENTS?

Is it morally possible for souls that have received only one
or two talents to reach the divine intimacy we are now dis­
cussing? Even though they could do so only with great
difficulty, it would not follow that this divine intimacy is
essentially extraordinary. Not all the oaks in a forest attain
the height of their normal growth; some are stunted. We
find an analogy in the spiritual order. God casts more or

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

399

less beautiful divine seed into souls according to His good
pleasure; and sometimes this seed encounters such obstacles
that it is very difficult for it to attain its complete normal
development.
But we must remember what St. Thomas says: “The very
least grace is sufficient to resist any degree of concupis­
cence”; 81 that is, the very least sufficient grace gives this
power, and the very least efficacious grace makes it become
an act. As Cajetan,82 Gonet,88 and several other Thomists
remark, this is true of the slightest sufficient grace considered
in itself, but perhaps not of this grace when it is in a soul
that is both very weak and much tempted. Thus the heat
of boiling water drives away the cold; but, since water is
not the natural subject of heat, the heat in turn is driven
out by the cold if the fire is not kept up.
It should be remembered, however, that the privilege of
frequent communion is offered to these less favored souls.
If they receive the Holy Eucharist frequently with growing
fervor of will, why should they not, at the end of a long
life, by daily fidelity reach at least the lower degrees of the
mystical life? Perhaps, as the parable of the sower relates,
they will yield a thirtyfold harvest, while others will yield
sixtyfold or a hundredfold.84 We must keep in mind the
parable of the laborers of the eleventh hour, who, out of
gratitude, worked so well that they earned the same reward
as those who had worked since morning. Let us also recall
the good thief and the graces he must have received when
he heard the words of the dying Christ: “Amen, I say to
thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise.” Finally,
it must be remembered that the majority of the elect pass
through purgatory after death by reason of their own fault,
that is, because of negligences that prevented the perfect
si Summa, Illa, q.6a, a.6 ad 311m.
»2 Cajetan, on la Hae, q. 109, a.9, no. 4.
Gonet, Clypeus theol. thorn., de gratia, disp. I, a.6, par. st, no. 305.
»« Cf. supra, p. 345.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

purification they could have reached in this life 88 with the
help of grace.
85 Cf. infra, p. 409. We offer the following explanation of this particular
point. According to Christian tradition, absolute purity is necessary for en­
trance into heaven; all the dust and rust which have encrusted the soul must
be removed before it can be raised to the beatific vision, in other words, before
it can see God as He sees Himself. This purification must therefore affect not
only the sensual part, but also the spiritual part, of the soul. Consequently it
is perfect, as St. John of the Cross shows (The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I,
chap. 3; Bk. II, chap. 1), only when the soul has passed through what he calls
the double passive night of the senses and of the soul. It is not a subject of
wonder, then, that he writes apropos of souls that have passed through the
dark night of the spirit: "Because of their perfect purification by love, they
will not have to pass through purgatory” (op. cit., Bk. II, chap. 20). In note
25 on p. 357, we quoted an almost similar expression of Tauler; and St.
Thomas says (Contra Gentiles, Bk. IV, chap. 91): “Ad visionem Dei creatura
rationalis elevari non potest, nisi totaliter fuerit depurata . . . unde dicitur
de Sapientia quod nihil inquinatum in ea incurrit." St. Thomas also believes
that the pains of purgatory are much greater than the pains of this life. Cf.
St. Catherine of Genoa, Treatise on Purgatory.
Moreover, we stated that to avoid purgatory, where the soul no longer
merits, ordinarily or in principle it must before death, while meriting, pass
through the passive purifications of the senses and of the soul, which alone
assure the perfect and stable purity of the soul in its higher as well as in its
lower part.
Someone may ask what is to be thought of so many Christians for whom the
world of the spiritual life is only an illusion, or for whom the life of prayer
is a snare. What is to be thought of people who have not leisure to study
these things, or minds able to understand them; or of those who are better
endowed, but who lack time and favorable circumstances? After all, God does
not give everyone a temperament that inclines to the heroism necessary for
undergoing the passive purifications of the soul.
The answer to these objections must be:
1) That we affirm, as ordinarily or in principle true, what we said follow­
ing the teaching of St. John of the Cross; that is, that there are exceptions,
and exceptions which prove the rule. We have already listed them; for
example, children who die immediately after baptism, or a religious who dies
immediately after making perpetual profession with great fervor. If these
children or this religious, however, continued to live, they would probably
have fallen into faults and imperfections which would have required the per­
fect purification of which we spoke. In a sense, they die accidentally at a good
moment, before reaching a stable perfection, and they will not have as high
a degree of glory in heaven as if they had continued to live and merit.
2) There are equivalents of the passive purifications, for example, martyr­
dom, or a very intense contrition like that which the good thief, who was so
near the dying Jesus, must have had.
3) Moreover, the pains of purgatory may be either very intense and short,
or longer and less violent, like the passive purifications in this life.
4) Some souls that are naturally rather good, but without fervor of will or

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION
4.

401

IS THIS DOCTRINE OF A NATURE TO LEAD SOME

SOULS TO PRESUMPTION AND OTHERS
TO DISCOURAGEMENT?

The objection may be raised that, if the doctrine of the
general and remote call of all just souls to the mystical life
is accepted, some souls may be inclined to anticipate God’s
time and simulate passive prayer, which would lead them to
quietism or semi-quietism. Others, it may be objected, may
become discouraged if, in spite of their generosity, they do
not have the signs of passive prayer, and they may be led to
think they will never be able to reach the full perfection of
the Christian life.
This objection fails to appreciate the true meaning of the
doctrine we have just set forth, or it considers only the
harmful application which an imprudent director might
make of it.
This is evident from the way St. Thomas answers a similar
objection to the expediency of vows. The objection is phrased
thus: He who makes a vow exposes himself to sin against
this vow; therefore it is not expedient for him to make it.
St. Thomas answers: 38 “When danger arises from the deed
itself, this deed is not expedient—for instance, that one cross
a river by a tottering bridge. But if the danger arise through
man’s failure in the deed, the latter does not cease to be
expedient: thus it is expedient to mount on horseback,
though there be danger of a fall from the horse: else it would
interest in spiritual things, have many defects, to which they do not give
much heed. If they die in this condition, after having merely sufficient con­
trition, they will certainly have much to suffer in order to reach the perfect
purity necessary to enter heaven.
5) Finally, for many persons the passive purifications on earth may be less
painful than those borne by the great saints; for in the case of the latter these
sufferings are in proportion not only to the imperfections that have to be
eradicated, but also to the very high degree of charity, of apostolic and reparatory life, to which God wishes to lead them.
“Summa, Ila, Ilae, q.88, a.4 ad turn.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

behove one to desist from all good things, since they may
become dangerous accidentally. Wherefore it is written
(Eccles. 11: 4) : 'He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and
he that considereth the clouds shall never reap.’ ” Should
people quit using knives because now and then a man cuts
himself? Are the vows an obstacle to perfection, because by
making them a person indirectly exposes himself to trans­
gress them occasionally? And should we fear to lead fervent
souls humbly to desire the true mystical life, simply because
there is a false one? Must a very great good be renounced
through fear of something unbecoming which might ac­
cidently arise?
What does St. Teresa say about those who think it
dangerous to follow the way of prayer and to desire to drink
from the fountain of living water? In The Way of Perfection
she says: “A want of humility, of the virtues, may endanger
you, but prayer—prayer! Never would God permit this. The
devil must have originated these fears and so brought about,
by crafty tricks, the fall of certain souls that practised prayer.
. . . Therefore, sisters, banish these misgivings: take no
notice of public opinion. . . . Cast aside these causeless
fears. . . . Beware, daughters, of a certain kind of humility
suggested by the devil, which is accompanied by great
anxiety about the gravity of our past sins. He disturbs souls
in many ways by this means, until at last he stops them from
receiving holy communion by doubts as to whether they are
in a fit state for it.” 37 Elsewhere, speaking of those who in­
spire such vain fears in souls, she says: “I, also, am acquainted
with these semi-doctors who are always suspicious. They
have cost me quite dear.” 38
The doctrine which we have explained is not at all
dangerous in itself, or when applied by prudent directors.
Joseph of the Holy Ghost, a Carmelite well known for his
»7 The Way of Perfection, chaps. 21, 39.
ss The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 1.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

4°3

work on mystical theology, sums up this doctrine in two
propositions, which he gives exactly as the expression of
traditional teaching: “If it is a question of infused con­
templation, taken in the sense of rapture, ecstasy, and similar
favors, we can neither apply ourselves to it nor ask it of God
nor desire it. But if it is a question of infused contemplation
itself, as an act of contemplation, although we can certainly
not have it through our own activity aided by grace, we can
aspire to it, by desiring it ardently and humbly asking God
for it.” 38 The union of these two words “ardently” and
“humbly” recalls the fortiter et suaviter of Scripture; it
solves the problem by the conciliation of humility and mag­
nanimity. St. Thomas has beautifully explained the harmony
between these two virtues which are apparently so contrary.
Humility, he says, by inclining us profoundly before God,
reminds us of our wretchedness; while magnanimity makes
us aspire to great things, even to the divine intimacy which
God offers us.40 A Christian should keenly aspire to these
great things, and by increasingly perfect fidelity prepare him89 Joseph of the Holy Ghost, Cursus theologiae mystico-scolasticae, Vol. II,
Praed. II, disp. XI, q.2, concl. 2, 3. He says (no. 23) that this last conclusion (that
we can aspire to contemplation, etc.) is admitted by Alvarez de Paz, Philip of
the Blessed Trinity, Anthony of the Holy Ghost, Vallgornera, and commonly
by the mystics, communiter mystici; and that he cannot understand why
Anthony of the Annunciation, another Carmelite, in his Disceptatio mystica,
places infused contemplation among the graces gratis dalae. Joseph of the
Holy Ghost (ibid.., p. 236) says that this is a great mistake, magnam aequivocationem passus est, and a false interpretation of the passage from St. Thomas,
Ila Ilae, q.45, a.5 Cf. la Ilae, q. 111, a.4 ad 4um; and In I Cor. 12: 8.
80 On the reconciliation of the most profound humility and the loftiest
magnanimity, such as it is found in the souls of the saints, cf. St. Thomas,
Ila Ilae, q. 129, a.3 ad 4um: "Magnanimity makes a man deem himself worthy
of great things in consideration of the gifts of God. . . . Humility makes a
man think little of himself in consideration of his own deficiency, and mag­
nanimity makes him despise others in so far as they fall away from God’s
gifts; since he does not think so much of others as to do anything wrong for
their sake. Yet humility makes us honor others and esteem them better than
ourselves in so far as we see some of God's gifts in them," which are always
very superior to what we have of ourselves, that is, our indigence and personal
defects. These two virtues are, therefore, contrary only in appearance, and
not in reality like vice and virtue.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

self for them, and humbly wait for the divine mercy to
bestow them. In the present article, we have insisted particu­
larly on humility, which corrects presumption, and on the
desire of hope and charity, which, united to forgetfulness
of self, corrects discouragement. It is well to keep in mind
that, by reason of the connection of the virtues, profound
humility is impossible without great magnanimity, as the
lives of the saints show. As St. Paul says, we bear an exceed­
ingly precious treasure, grace and tire Blessed Trinity, in a
fragile vase; the greater our knowledge of the fragility of
the vase, the greater also will be our appreciation of the
value of the treasure, and the keener our aspiration to live
intimately by it. This is taught by the passive purifications,
a mystical state which, far from making the soul proud,
humbles it profoundly. Without these purifications, it is
scarcely possible to love to be nothing in order that God
may be all; amare nesciri et pro nihilo reputari.
The doctrine leading to presumption is the teaching that
all interior souls are called to the mystical life, not only in
a general and remote manner, but in a proximate and in­
dividual way. Were this mistake made, the director should
advise souls to practice the repose of passive prayer even
before he had been able to prove the existence in them of
the three signs enumerated by St. John of the Cross, and dis­
cussed in the course of these pages.41 The soul would thus
end in quietism.
The doctrine leading to discouragement is that which
would maintain that interior souls are not generally called,
even in a remote manner, to the divine intimacy of tire
mystical life. Many souls would thus be retained in the lower
forms of the spiritual life and many, in spite of their gener­
osity, would despair of reaching intimate union with God in
this life.
Others, before undergoing the passive purifications of the
•1 Cf. supra, p. 375.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

405

senses and of the soul, might decide, and not without
presumption, that they had reached the ordinary unitive
life, and that it would be enough for them to remain in it,
since the higher degrees are extraordinary, and humility does
not permit one to aspire to them.
To combat the excess of quietism or semi-quietism, care
should be taken not to fall into the opposite extreme, a
sort of practical naturalism which breaks the progress of the
interior life. As usual in these great problems, truth is found
in a happy mean above two extreme errors, which are op­
posed to each other; truth, like a summit, dominates the
ramblings and contradictions of error. Moreover, it rises
above an inconsistent eclecticism which always goes only
halfway, which cannot affirm anything precisely, and which
oscillates from right to left because it fails to see the superior
principles that alone reconcile the most varied aspects of
reality. The apparent antagonisms are resolved by the equi­
librium of their terms carried to the highest degree; on this
summit harmony is reached, for example, between humility
and magnanimity. Every interior soul ought to strive humbly
and ardently for great things. Humility in itself should not
be inferior to magnanimity, for these virtues, in appearance
so contrary, grow together and mutually strengthen each
other; at one and the same time, they preserve the soul from
pride and discouragement. The apparent contradiction be­
tween them is solved by what St. Paul says: “For God . . .
has shined in our hearts . . . but we have this treasure in
earthen vessels.” If we consider the fragility of the vessel,
we can never humble ourselves too greatly; if we consider
the value of the treasure, we can never too greatly desire the
intimate reign of God in our souls and the more and more
perfect fulfilment of the first precept which knows no limit.
“Thou 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,” in order to become truly "an adorer in spirit

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

4o6

and in truth.” We can never too greatly desire to grow in
charity and in divine wisdom which, like all the gifts, grows
with it.
This doctrine does not, therefore, lead good souls either to
discouragement or to presumption, but, like the dogma of
predestination, it makes them aspire to divine union by
instilling in them a holy fear of not being sufficiently gen­
erous and docile to the Holy Ghost. It does not lead to dis­
couragement any more than do the passive purifications,
which are intended to refine the virtue of hope by the
struggle against temptations to despair. These temptations
arise when God Himself reveals more clearly to the soul the
height of the goal to be attained. In this light the soul sees
more and more its own wretchedness, and must then, in
spite of the devil’s suggestions, hope against all hope. This
purification is necessary that the soul may be completely and
forever cured of vain self-complacency, and that the roots of
pride and presumption may be completely extirpated. In­
stead of leading to pride, mystical contemplation destroys
it and teaches humility, as God alone can. “Where humility
is, there also is wisdom”;42 and where profound humility
is, there is also lofty wisdom, that which comes from the
Father of light. As the author of The Imitation says, there
are so few contemplatives because the number of profoundly
humble souls is so small.
This doctrine, therefore, makes it possible to reply to the
difficulties proposed against it; it is thereby newly confirmed
and appears more and more as the true expression of tradi­
tional teaching. To live it, however, we need what many
authors have called “the second conversion.” What this
should be may be determined from what we have just said
about the interior conditions ordinarily required for mys­
tical contemplation or for the virtues which prepare for it.
If there are few perfect souls, this is because there are few
Prov. 11: ».

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407

that follow the direction of the Holy Ghost. His seven gifts
often have little effect in many souls because they are, as it
were, fettered by contrary habits and affections. More or
less deliberate and frequent venial sins exclude the graces
necessary to produce the acts of the gifts.43 But we cannot
doubt their existence, because Scripture, tradition, and the
liturgy speak of them, and, if the obstacles were removed,
we should ordinarily see the gradual realization of what the
Church makes us implore in the Veni Creator:

Creator, Spirit, all divine,
Come visit every soul of Thine,
And fill with Thy celestial flame
The bosoms Thou Thyself didst frame.
The sevenfold mystic gifts are Thine,
Finger of God’s right hand divine;
His gracious promise sent to teach
The tongue a rich and heavenly speech.

Kindle with fire brought from above
Each sense, and fill our hearts with love
And grant our flesh so weak and poor
That strength which lasts forevermore.
This prayer, which should be said by the faithful soul with
an ever increasing fervor of will, reminds us that the life of
grace is eternal life begun; and it ends by asking for the
normal fruit of this "grace of the virtues and of tire gifts,”
the infused contemplation of the Blessed Trinity dwelling
in us:
To us, through Thee, the grace be shown
To know the Father and the Son:
And Spirit of Them both, may we
Forever hold firm trust in Thee.
‘«Father Lallemant, S.J., Doctrine spirituelle, pp. 113, 187 ft., 203.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Consequently the mystical life is the plenitude of faith, hope,
charity, and the gifts which accompany them; in other words,
the normal prelude to the life of heaven.
We must have confidence in the divine promises. Aridity
is not the result of tepidity, when, instead of love of the
world, interest in our spiritual advancement predominates.
We must trust in the Holy Ghost who dwells in us and who
increases His work in us in proportion to our growing fidelity
to the first commandment: “Thou 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” in order to become
“adorers in spirit and in truth.” Our Lord said: “I will not
now call you servants . . . but I have called you friends.”
We should believe in the wholly divine strength of the grace
received in baptism, of the Holy Ghost who was given to us.
We do not see this strength any more than we see the life
hidden in an acorn from which a vigorous oak grows. If the
oak is encircled by a band of iron, the bark will soon grow
over it. Who can measure the supernatural energy contained
in the grace of the virtues and the gifts, which is none other
than eternal life begun? Who can set a limit to the work of
sanctification which the Holy Ghost has begun in us, and pre­
vent souls from reaching even the inner sanctuary where the
Blessed Trinity dwells? “Wherefore I wished, and under­
standing was given me: and I called upon God, and the
spirit of wisdom came upon me.” 44 “I confess to Thee, O
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them to little ones.” 48
« Wis. 7: 7.
« Matt. 11: 25.

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409

SOME THEORETICAL DIFFICULTIES

CAN THE GRACE OF CONTEMPLATION BE MERITED?
ARE THE REQUIRED CONDITIONS NORMAL?

Some objections in the speculative order may be raised
against the doctrine we have expounded. Particularly deserv­
ing of examination is the objection which bears on the ques­
tion as to whether the grace of contemplation can be merited
at least congruously.
The first objection: “The law of the development of grace
in man ought not to be understood only for grace abstractly
considered, but for grace as capable of being shared by human
nature. It is thus St. Thomas (qu. disp, de caritate, a. 10) dis­
tinguishes between: (1) the absolutely perfect charity which
God alone can have; (2) the perfect charity which man can
have only in heaven; and (3) the perfect charity which he
can have in this life. St. Thomas expresses the same opinion
in Ila Ilae, q. 24, a. 8, and Illa, q. 7, a. 10.”
It is easy to answer that, in the question of the general and
remote call,48 we considered the grace of the virtues and the
gifts, not in a purely abstract manner, independent of the
mode according to which it exists in angels or in man, but
as it exists in the human soul even in this life. This quasi­
ideal soul was itself considered as a beginner, a proficient, and
finally as perfect. And we insisted particularly on one point,
namely, that infused contemplation does not require infused
ideas like those of the angels, but that acquired ideas suffice,
as they do for the act of faith. The question is, therefore,
concerned with grace in so far as it can be shared by man in
this life, and not in purgatory or in heaven.
Moreover, in the question of the individual call47 we con­
sidered the life of grace as capable of being shared in and as
participated in by an individual soul, according as it pos48 Cf. supra, pp. 337 f„ 34o, 345 f.
*r Cf. supra, p. 37ï.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

sesses or does not possess the three signs mentioned by Tauler
and later by St. John of the Cross, signs which have become
the classic indications of the beginning of infused contem­
plation. Furthermore, in this second question the distinction
between the merely sufficient call and the efficacious call
(efficacious in the Thomistic sense, whether it be to the lower
degrees of the mystical life or to the higher degrees) safeguards
the gratuity of God’s gift, just as in the case of the grace of
conversion or that of final perseverance.
Therefore it is in entire conformity with the doctrine taught
by St. Thomas (qu. disp. de. caritate, a. 10), since even the
transforming union 48 is included in what St. Thomas calls
caritas perfecta secundum tempus, scilicet quae potest haberi
in hac vita.™
Every soul should be sufficiently purified at the moment of
death to go straight to heaven without passing through purga­
tory, where it will be detained only through its own fault in
neglecting graces that were granted or offered it. It will suffer
so greatly in purgatory from the deprivation of the sight of
God only because it is radical to the order established by God
to see Him immediately after death. The fact that there are
a great many retarded souls should not make us forget the
normal way of sanctity, to which every Christian should
aspire in order to be in the radical order willed by God.
Those who object to our teaching on this subject insist
further. “It seems,” they say, “that a law of grace (of its
growth and perfection) cannot be as rigorously formulated
as a law of nature. Grace, which is a participation in the
divine nature and an absolutely gratuitous gift, has not by
reason of this double title and, as it were, form, any measure
that can regulate its perfection and mode of growth other
than the free love of God for each man in particular.”
Cf. The Interior Castle, seventh mansion.
■*°Cf. Ila Ilae, q.24, a.8; q.184, a.2, which were explained at length supra,
PP- 156-98.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

411

This interesting objection leads us to state definitely an
important point. Certainly, according to the teaching of St.
Thomas50—and St. John of the Cross expresses the same
opinion S1—the degree of glory of each predestined soul and
the corresponding degree of charity at the hour of death de­
pend on God’s good pleasure. In addition, neither the first
grace nor that of final perseverance can be merited; 52 and we
shall see that not even any efficacious help which keeps us in
the state of grace can be merited condignly, or according to
the strict meaning of the word “merit.” 53
Nevertheless, if God gratuitously places a soul in the order
of grace, and maintains it therein, then the laws of this order
apply to that soul. Among these laws of the order of grace,
some are absolutely rigorous and without exception; for
example, there are truths of faith which must, not only of
precept but of necessity, be believed by adults as an indis­
pensable means of salvation. Likewise, it is impossible to
have a supernatural love of God without faith; besides, the
infused virtues are connected with charity, just as the gifts
are.54 This connection presupposes numerous mutual rela­
tions between the infused virtues and the gifts, relations
which are the laws of the supernatural organism. As a result,
in la Ilae and Ila Ilae of the Summa, almost every article
dealing with the relations of the virtues to each other, or of
the gifts to each other, or of the gifts with the virtues, contains
a law belonging to the order of grace.
50 Summa, la, q.23, a.5.
si The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 5.
52 St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.114, a.5, 9.
53 Condign merit is a supernatural and free act, the value of which consti­
tutes a right to a supernatural reward, to the increase of grace, and to eternal
life. It is, therefore, founded on justice. Congruous merit is not merit in the
strict sense but rather in the broad sense of the term. It is not founded on
justice but on friendship, vel in jure amicabili, vel solum in liberalitate et
benignitate praemiantis.
51 Cf. la Ilae, q.65; q.68, a.5. Faith and hope can subsist in a soul in the
state of mortal sin; but then they do not, properly speaking, deserve tIxe name
of virtues. Cf. la Ilae, q.65, a.4 ad turn: “Faith and hope . . . can be without
charity, although they are not virtues without charity."

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

This is the way we can merit condignly (or in the strict
sense, a rigorous law) the increase of charity which is accom­
panied by that of the infused virtues and of the gifts.68 This
is so true that a soul cannot have charity in a heroic degree
without having the other infused virtues and the gifts (as
habitus') in a proportionate degree.80 This law is more rigor­
ous than the law in virtue of which tine five fingers of the
hand develop at the same time. In the sensible order, there
are exceptions, inasmuch as matter sometimes escapes the
domination of the directing form or idea which organizes it.
The infused virtues, which are mutually connected, consid­
ered formally, grow simultaneously without exception:
“Their growth in man is equal, as the fingers . . . glow in
proportion to one another.” 6T The same is true of the gifts
that are connected with them in charity.68
A further objection is offered: “If this point of view were
entirely exact, there would be no need of hesitation in saying
that the mystical state can, at a given moment, be merited
condignly.”
We answer this objection 60 in our frequently reiterated
statement that a distinction must be made between the gifts
themselves, considered as habitual dispositions, and the acts
that proceed from them.
It is true that we can merit condignly the increase of
charity, of the virtues, and of the gifts as habitus, and that
in this life no limit can be placed on this augmentation.80
66 See la Ilae, q. 114, a. 8.
ee Ibid., q.66, a. 2.
57 Ibid., and the Commentary of the Theologians of Salamanca, no. 2.
™Ibid., q.68, a.5. The spiritual organism should develop proportionately
in all its parts so that their harmony may subsist, just as our corporal or­
ganism does. But as in the body a part may hypertrophy to the detriment of
the other parts, so in the spiritual life the harmony of the virtues may be
compromised as a result of certain defects. In some souls, for example, faith
is not developed in proportion to other virtues and to scientific or philosophi­
cal culture. This disorder may reach such a degree that he who suffers from
it becomes a spiritual dwarf.
os Cf. supra, p. 353.
•° Summa, Ila Ilae, q.24, a.7.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

413

The Holy Ghost moves souls as a rule according to the degree
of their infused habitus, of their habitual docility (provided
there is no obstacle, venial sin or imperfection; in case there is,
the meritorious act is weak, remissus, inferior to the degree of
charity). Consequently Thomists 61 usually say that the just
man, who perseveres in fervor, can merit saltem de congruo
(at least in the broad sense of the word “merit”) the grace of
infused contemplation. Why do they say saltem, at least
congruously? Because in the grace of infused contemplation
there is something merited strictly or condignly, that is, a
high degree of the gifts of understanding and wisdom, con­
sidered as habitus; it is an act, and the mystical state is this
act which lasts a certain time. But this act supposes an
efficacious, actual grace. According to Thomists, we cannot
strictly or condignly merit the efficacious help which keeps us
in the state of grace. Why is this? Because the principle of
merit does not fall under merit: that is why neither the first
grace nor the efficacious help which maintains us in the state
of grace nor the gift of final perseverance, though so necessary
to salvation, can be merited condignly.62
Moreover, if a just man could strictly merit efficacious
grace A, by it he would likewise merit efficacious grace B,
and so on to the grace of final perseverance, which would
•1 Vallgornera, Theol. myst. D. Thomae, q.j, disp. 3, a.6, no. 5; Meynard,
Traité de la vie intérieure (1885), II, 128; Philip of the Blessed Trinity, Theol.
myst. (1874), II, 311, and Anthony of the Holy Ghost, Directorium mysticum,
tr. Ill, sec. 6, no. 240.
62 See la Ilae, q.114, a.9. On this article, cf. John of St. Thomas, no. 1:
"Principium meriti non potest cadere sub meritum: sed auxilium et motio
divina, qua aliquis movetur a Deo, ut non succumbat tentationibus, nec gra­
tiam interrumpat per peccatum, tenet se ex parte principii meriti, quia aux­
ilium et motio est principium operandi, et in hoc solum consistit quod moveat
ad opus; igitur non potest cadere sub meritum.” No. 4: "Conservatio est con­
tinuatio primae productionis . . . , unde qui mereretur auxilia continuativa
gratiae, seu perseverantiam, consequenter mereretur ipsam continuationem
principii meriti, quod est gratia secundum quod se tenet ex parte Dei mo­
ventis ad conservandum. . . . Quod probat non posse sub meritum cadere
motionem divinam, non quamcumque, sed quatenus est conservativa gratiae,
quae st principium meriti.” Cf. Salmanticences, ibid., nos. 89-109.

414

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

thus be merited condignly. Whence it follows that many
graces necessary to salvation cannot be the object of strict
merit. It should not surprise us then that the actual effica­
cious grace of infused contemplation cannot be merited con­
dignly, even though it is in the normal way of sanctity. It
can be merited more than the grace of final perseverance,
for it would be an exaggeration to say that this last can be
merited at least congruously.®3 But in one sense the actual
grace of infused contemplation is more gratuitous than that
necessary to the obligatory exercise of the infused virtues, for
we use infused virtues when we wish to do so. The same is
not true of tire gifts, although by our fidelity we can prepare
ourselves to receive the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Indeed,
we ought to prepare ourselves for it; and if we do this
generously, a day will come when the grace of contemplation
will be given to us quite frequently. God ordinarily gives it
to the perfect, provided there are no accidental obstacles;
but He gives it either in aridity and night, or in light and
consolation.®4
The following objection is offered: “What you consider
accidental and what you are a bit inclined to scorn theoreti­
cally because it is material, is perhaps part of that material
causality, which is as indispensable to the essence of the
composite (nature and grace) as formal causality, although
in an inferior rank.”
We must answer this objection by stating that souls receive
grace according to the obediential power which is the same
es Cf. la Ilae, q.114, a.9; also the Commentary of Billuart. He shows that
according to the principles of St. Thomas it seems that final perseverance can­
not be merited by a congruous merit properly so called, but only by a con­
gruous merit improperly so called. While condign merit is founded on justice
(jus ad praemium) and congruous merit, properly so called, on jure amicabili,
secundum leges amicitiae, congruous merit improperly so called is founded
in liberalitate et benignitate Dei.
e« Moreover, by prayer we can obtain the grace of a happy death, which can­
not be merited; in like manner the interior soul ought to ask humbly for the
grace of contemplation. Cf. supra, p. 354 note 18.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

4’5

in all.®5 As for the material causality, which prepares for the
reception and increase of grace, it is itself the effect of an
actual grace of supernatural order. According to St. Thomas,
this is the meaning of the axiom: “If man does what is in him
to do, God will not deny him grace.” 68 The infusion and
increase of grace certainly require an aptness, for no form or
perfection is produced in a subject unless the subject is
disposed for it; but it is God Himself who thus disposes our
souls, or who moves them supernaturally to prepare them­
selves.®7 Grace and charity are not given to us in proportion
to our natural capacities or dispositions, for they surpass them
infinitely.®8 Consequently Thomists teach that it is our super­
es What is more, the obediential power or capacity to receive grace is no
greater in angels than in men. It is according to this capacity that the soul is
the subject of grace.
ee Cf. la Ilae, q.tog, a.6. This article concludes as follows: "Hence it is clear
that man cannot prepare himself to receive the light of grace except by the
gratuitous help of God moving him inwardly.” The reason for this is that the
order of the agents must correspond to the order of the ends, and that only a
supernatural agent can move to a supernatural end. Ibid., ad sum. "Hence
when a man is said to do what is in him to do, this is said to be in his power
according as he is moved by God.” Therefore, to a man doing what is in him
to do (with the help of actual grace), God does not deny (habitual) grace.
87 See la Ilae, q.112, a.a: Taking grace in the first sense (habitual) a certain
preparation of grace is required for it, since a form can only be in disposed
matter. Ibid., ad gum. "So likewise, when God infuses grace into a soul, no
preparation is required which He Himself does not bring about." The same
is true for the increase of charity, Ila Ilae, q.24, a.2, and the following
articles.
es See Ila Ilae, q.24, a.3: “Since charity surpasses the proportion of human
nature ... it depends, not on any natural virtue, but on the sole grace of
the Holy Ghost who infuses charity. Wherefore the quantity of charity de­
pends neither on the condition of nature nor on the capacity of natural vir­
tue, but only on the will of the Holy Ghost who divides His gifts according
as He will.” Ibid., ad 2um: “The form does not surpass the proportion of the
matter; they are both of the same genus. In like manner, grace and glory are
referred to the same genus, for grace is nothing else than a beginning of glory
in us. But charity and nature do not belong to the same genus, so that the
comparison fails.” It is not, therefore, only the mystical graces which are
gratuitous, in this sense that the Holy Ghost gives them when He wills, but
it is also the degree of charity given at the moment of justification to an adult
who is converted with greater fervor than another, under the impulse of a
stronger actual grace. St. Thomas, ibid., ad turn.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

natural acts which not only merit, but physically prepare for
the augmentation of charity.89
We considered these supernatural dispositions for infused
contemplation at considerable length in the preceding chap­
ters.70 That teaching on the subject is classical, and it would
be an unpardonable fault to neglect it. These dispositions,
as we have seen, are chiefly: (i) great purity of heart, “Blessed
are the clean of heart”; (2) great simplicity of mind which
seeks only the truth; (3) profound humility; (4) habitual
recollection; (5) perseverance in prayer; (6) fervent charity.
This last disposition is the most important together with a
profound humility. In the order of material preparation,
humility is fundamental, according to St. Thomas, ut re­
movens prohibens, inasmuch as it removes the principal
obstacle which is pride, intellectual pride so frequent in a
certain type of learning, or spiritual pride.71 This is why
St. Teresa insisted so strongly on this fundamental disposi­
tion in all her works, particularly in the Epilogue to The
Interior Castle. Our Lord Himself taught this to us when He
exclaimed: “I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth because Thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones.” Often,
by reason of humility, the inequality of supernatural con­
ditions or of graces balances marvelously the inequality of
natural conditions or dispositions. In the exposition of tradi­
tional teaching, too much insistence cannot, therefore, be
placed on the supernatural dispositions to contemplation.
And who can answer that he is unable to have this purity
es Cf. Billuart, De caritate, diss. II, a.ï.
το Cf. supra, pp. 388-95.
’iSee Ila Ilae, q.161, a.5: "Humility makes a man a good subject to ordi­
nance of all kinds and in all matters.” Ibid., ad turn: “First, by way of re­
moving obstacles: and thus humility holds the first place, inasmuch as it expels
pride, which God resisteth, and makes man open to receive the influx of di­
vine grace. Hence it is written (Jas. 4: 6): God resisteth the proud, and giveth
grace to the humble. In this sense humility is said to be the foundation of
the spiritual edifice.”

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

4x7

of heart, simplicity of mind, profound humility, spirit of
prayer, and charity? We ought to beg God to give us these
dispositions.
We have, moreover, considered the external conditions
that favor contemplation and union with God. They are: a
certain solitude, silence, sufficient time given to prayer, no
overburdening, no useless reading, no preoccupations foreign
to our vocation. To these external conditions must be added
natural aptitude and also enlightened direction. If many
of these exterior conditions are lacking, it is difficult to reach
contemplation, which no longer has its normal environment,
Profound humility and ardent charity, however, may supply
this lack, especially if joined with great devotion to the
Blessed Virgin and to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.72 He
who habitually begins his prayer with these two mediators,
will be led by them to intimate union with God, since the
object of the Blessed Virgin’s influence is to lead us to her
Son, and that of Christ to lead us to tire Father.
When suitable external conditions are lacking, it may
happen that generous souls will reach contemplation only
after a period of time longer than the usual span of life; but
they tend to it as to the normal prelude of the beatific vision.
And the active life itself, according to St. Thomas, is thus
ordained to the contemplative life, for which it should pre­
pare us.73
To revert to the proposed objection, we have shown in the
preceding chapter74 that we understand “accidental” or
per accidens in the same sense as St. Thomas does. Since
sanctifying grace is, in fact, a beginning of eternal life
"2 Cf. Blessed Grignion de Montfort, Le traité de la vraie dévotion ά Marie,
chap. 4, art. 5, and the summary of this treatise. Le secret de Marie, made by
Blessed Grignion. With a view to mental prayer, it is also well to meditate
often on the office and mass of the Sacred Heart, and also on the office and
mass of the Eucharistic Heart which have been recently approved by the
Church.
is Summa, Ha Ilae, q. 181, a.i ad gum; q.182, a.4.
« Cf. supra, pp. 341-43.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

(inchoatio vitae aeternae, semen gloriae), it is of itself (ratione
sui) inamissible and should continually increase, especially
through daily communion. But we hold this treasure in a
fragile vessel and, because of the subject or of the defectibility of our free will, grace can be lost or may increase very
little. Now this loss or even this check in its development is
opposed to the intrinsic law of the divine seed, which was
created to develop continually until eternal life is reached.
This opposition characterizes sin in its various degrees. Who­
ever does not advance in the spiritual life, retrogresses.”
In view of the three fundamental reasons quoted in the
preceding chapter,” we know that in principle (per se lo­
quendo), infused contemplation is in the normal way of
sanctity, given the above mentioned interior dispositions and
good direction in a favorable environment. But if acciden­
tally good direction, which should be normal in the Church,
is lacking, and with it silence and recollection, and if the
environment opposes contemplation instead of favoring it,
then even generous souls may possibly not attain to infused
contemplation in this life. This is similar to the case of a
good intellect in a milieu that is strongly prejudiced against
the teaching of St. Thomas. In such a situation, a good intel­
lect will find great difficulty in reaching a clear grasp of St.
Thomas’ doctrine. This also represents something acciden­
tal.”
To know what is the normal way of sanctity and the full
development of the grace of the virtues and the gifts, we
must consider how this grace grows in principle (per se) in
suitable and not contrary interior and exterior conditions.
The same rule holds good in the spiritual order as in the
natural order. When we wish to discover what a certain seed
will produce, for example, the seed of a cedar, we plant it in
Cf. supra, pp. 188 f.
7« Cf. supra, pp. 345-67.
it Cf. supra, pp. 341-43.
ts

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

4*9

suitable soil; otherwise it will not reach the summit of its
normal development. We are speaking, therefore, of souls in
a Christian environment which corresponds to the designs
God has on them.
Another difficulty may be stated as follows: “From the sole
concept of grace formally considered, we cannot deduce a
priori that the mystical state is normal, even in the sense
which has just been expressed. The proof should be supple­
mented at least by the observation of facts, or by having
recourse to theological authority, tradition for example.”
This objection is easily answered. The three fundamental
proofs proposed in the preceding chapter 78 are individually,
as well for the major as for the minor and the conclusion,
founded not only on the concept of the grace of the virtues
and the gifts, but on tradition and the experience of the
perfect life, as it has been described especially by St. Teresa
and St. John of the Cross. Moreover, ten to fifteen years’
experience in ministering to contemplative communities, and
even to those of fervent mixed life, suffices to show that the
experience of the perfect life conforms even today with what
the saints have told us about it.
Therefore infused contemplation is in the normal way of
sanctity for the following reasons: (i) It proceeds from the
grace of the virtues and the gifts accorded to every baptized
person, and it appears when the superhuman mode of the
gifts begins to prevail, as is proper for perfection, over the
human and imperfect mode of the virtues.79 This takes place
in the illuminative and especially in the unitive way. (2) In
this life the soul is perfectly purified in the depths of its
faculties only by the passive purifications of the senses and of
the soul, which belong to the mystical order and are accom­
panied by infused contemplation, at least by initial or arid
contemplation. (3) Infused contemplation and the very ar?» Cf. supra, pp. 245-67.
7» Cf. supra, pp. 299, 324-26.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

dent desire to see God are, according to tradition and the
experience of the perfect life, the normal prelude to the
beatific vision. Therefore, since heaven is accessible to all,
as much must be said of what is its ordinary prelude in the
perfect.80
Although eminent, the grace of infused contemplation is
in the normal way of sanctity, even of the sanctity which
every Christian should have before death in order to avoid
purgatory and, immediately after the separation of the soul
from the body, to be in the radical order willed by God, and
not to be painfully deprived of the beatific vision for a
longer or shorter time.
There is a further objection: “No one can question the
fact that the spiritual progress expressed under these three
aspects is in the normal line of the formal development of
grace. But does not human nature in this life (in via) present
in its normal state such resistance to this growth that this
development should be considered an extraordinary favor?
The beatific vision is, indeed, in the order of the formal
development of grace, but it would be essentially extraordi­
nary to receive it here below. Now, between the normal con­
ditions of human life and the exterior and interior conditions
required for the mystical life, almost as great a distance exists
as between life and death.”
Here again we reply with St. Thomas,81 that the beatific
vision cannot take place in this life without rapture, and
that it excludes the co-operation of the imagination. The
case is quite otherwise with infused contemplation, which
we are here considering. It is, therefore, conformable to the
SO The Teresian Congress of Madrid (see El Monte Carmelo of Burgos, May,
1923) approved the following conclusion: “Since the virtues find their ulti­
mate perfection in the gifts, and the gifts reach their perfect actuation in con­
templation, it results that contemplation is the ordinary ‘way’ of sanctity and
of habitually heroic virtue." Theologians are more and more agreed in ac­
cepting this teaching. On this subject, see our “Chronique de théologie mys­
tique" in La vie spirituelle, June, 1923.
er See Ila Ilae, q. 175, a.4; q. 180, a.5.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

421

normal state of man in this life.82 In addition, we should not
forget that there is less distance between a just man on this
earth, even though he is not a mystic, and a saint in heaven,
than between this just man and a sinner deprived of grace;
for nature is not the seed of grace, whereas grace is the seed
of glory, or eternal life begun, inchoatio vitae aeternae. No
great distance separates the normal conditions of a perseveringly fervent Christian life from tire conditions required for
the mystical life.83
The conditions required for the mystical life are found
both in contemplative orders and in fervent communities
devoted both to contemplation and to action, and even in
Christian marriage when it is truly what it ought to be.84
Many experienced directors have found in all these walks of
life, among generous souls habitually faithful to the Holy
Ghost, many that have reached the mystical state. Recently
one of these directors wrote as follows: “Many believe them­
selves to be on the mystical way and qualified to write and
speak about it, who have no true experience of it. . . . On
the other hand, many lead the mystical life unawares and
sometimes are very far advanced in it without suspecting
that God is doing very great tilings in them, or realizing that
theirs is the mystical life. I have found such in all walks of
life, notably among the poor and little children and among
82 See Ila Ilae. q.180, a.5 ad sum: "In the present state of life, human
contemplation is impossible without phantasms, because it is connatural to
man to see the intelligible species in the phantasms, as the Philosopher states
(De anima, iii). Yet intellectual knowledge does not consist in the phantasms
themselves, but in our contemplating in them the purity of the intelligible
truth: and this is not only in natural knowledge, but also in that which we
obtain by revelation. For Dionysius says (Coei. hier., ii) that the divine glory
shows us the angelic hierarchies under certain symbolic figures, and by its
power we are brought back to a single ray of light, i. e., to the simple knowl­
edge of the intelligible truth. It is in this sense that we must understand the
statement of Gregory that contemplatives do not carry along with them the
shadows of things corporeal, since their contemplation is not fixed on them,
but on the consideration of the intelligible truth."
es Cf. supra, pp. 393 f.
«« Cf. supra, p. 384.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

illiterate persons, and even among savage tribes of North
America.” 85 The author of these lines goes so far as to main­
tain that ordinarily a soul does not persevere in fervor,
humility, self-forgetfulness, and generosity, without attaining
to the life of intimate union with God; in other words, to
the essence of the mystical life. This does not prevent him
from writing: “An amazing fact is that a comparatively
enormous number of persons remain beginners all their lives.
Very few, even among religious and clerics and secular per­
sons making a profession of piety, very few indeed are those
who really go beyond the threshold of the mystical life and
who answer the loving, pressing invitation of God: ‘Friend,
go up higher’ (Luke 14: 10).” 88 As we said in the preceding
chapter,87 this explains the fact that conditions necessary for
the mystical life are not generally lacking in the case of
generous interior souls. If we are inclined to hold a contrary
opinion, we should take care not to seek in an unfounded
theory the justification of a certain spiritual mediocrity. We
should not assert that the mystical life is extraordinary, simply
to avoid the obligation of aspiring to it by that despoiling of
self which prepares for it.
We might add that unfavorable surroundings often pro­
voke a salutary reaction in good souls, especially in very
good ones; and the Lord helps them in proportion to the
difficulties to be overcome. For example, the suffering caused
by injustice reveals to us the worth of justice; self-sufficiency
and pride, which become unendurable, demonstrate the
worth of humility. Love of truth, relish for the word of
God, solid piety, all of which are not content with appear­
ances, react by common accord and quite spontaneously
against empty and pretentious learning, which alters every­
thing by its false spirit. The lack of simplicity in life emphass Dom Louismet, The Mystical Life, p. 8.
so Ibid., p. 23.
st Cf. supra, p. 384.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

423

sizes the desirability of that frank cordiality without which
there is no true union of hearts and minds in God. A dis­
cordant note, which violates the order of charity by placing
the love of neighbor above the love of God, startles us and
by contrast recalls the grandeur of the first precept. Falsehood
under its various forms shows us the worth of truth; the
absence of truth in varying degrees is one of the greatest
obstacles to the life of prayer. A soul becomes contemplative
only if it is established in the truth, because infused contem­
plation is simply the immediate effect of the direct operation
of God’s truth on the soul to bring it to a greater love.
Finally, the chief obstacle comes from certain sfibtleties
of intellectual or spiritual pride which, especially when
found in those who direct souls, can have irremediable con­
sequences, at least for a time. In this case, mystical gran­
diloquence is no less to be feared than a certain sterile intel­
lectualism. This explains by contrast why more real contem­
plation and sanctity are sometimes found in poor convents that
are very little known, but are exceedingly dear to our Lord
Jesus Christ. The divine mercy often compensates for the
inequality of natural conditions by great graces. “Blessed are
the poor in spirit.” Deep humility supplies for other condi­
tions in the life of union with God. The two great mediators,
Jesus and Mary, stoop to the humble in order to lead them to
the intimacy of the Father. We have only one life, and on it
our eternity depends. As Tauler says, if we have not entered
the divine intimacy before we are advanced in years, we
run the risk of not entering it in this life, even though it is
the normal prelude to heaven.
Lastly, this objection is offered: “The conditions generally
required for the mystical life, although normal to grace, are
abnormal to human nature, which is not made normally for
these conditions of life. In the habitual mode of acting which
characterizes the mystical state, and in the terrible passive
purifications, there is an annihilation of nature to which

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

nature is not essentially ordained. This annihilation is not
required for simple justification or for the life of grace
according to the human mode of the virtues. . . . Finally,
in this life the normal prelude of the beatific vision is charity,
strictly speaking, and not infused contemplation proceeding
from the gift of wisdom.”
This objection, which devotes more attention to the exi­
gencies of nature than to those of grace, is reminiscent of
the spirit of certain Christian humanists rather than of the
spirit of wisdom mentioned here. It fails to recognize several
essential points that we have expounded at length.
i) It loses sight of the scope of our Lord’s teaching on the
mystery of the cross. In St. Luke’s Gospel (9: 23) we read:
“And He said to all: If any man will come after Me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; for he that shall
lose his life for My sake, shall save it.” From this point of
view, the conditions of the mystical life which seem abnormal
to nature are not so to nature regenerated by grace; they are
not abnormal to Christian life, considered especially in its
full perfection attainable on this earth. A Christian should
imitate Christ crucified. The passive purifications are not
opposed to the harmony of nature and grace. These purifica­
tions, more or less painful according to the faults to be ex­
piated and to the degree of supernatural life to which God
wishes to conduct the soul,88 are, like the cross, necessary,
according to the saints, in order to reach this perfect har­
mony, which on earth finds its complete realization only in
the fully developed unitive life, that is, in the mystical life
and its superhuman mode.80 In it alone the virtues apparently
es Cf. supra, p. 357.
es St. Thomas even says of the theological virtues, independently of the
gifts: "The theological virtues are above man as stated above (q.58, a.3 ad
3um). Hence they should properly be called not human but superhuman or
Godlike” (la Ilae, q.61, a. 1 ad sum). Consequently it is only among the vir­
tues which are properly human that the four cardinal virtues are called

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

425

so contrary harmonize completely: the loftiest wisdom with
prudence, attentive to the slighest detail; strength with meek­
ness; mercy with justice. In the unitive life alone the super­
natural life becomes truly connatural without losing any of
its elevation. It is like a second nature whose acts are spon­
taneous and very simple because the purified soul refers all
to God 00 instead of referring all instinctively to self.
We should not forget, however, that fallen nature rises
again to its natural normal state only by the grace which
heals (gratia sanans), and that without this grace we cannot
observe all the natural laws or love God, the Author of our
nature, above all else, even in a natural way. St. Thomas is
explicit in his teaching on this point. He says: “In the state
of perfect nature, man referred the love of himself and of all
other things to the love of God as to its end; and thus he
loved God more than himself and above all things. But in
the state of corrupt nature, man falls short of this in the
appetite of his rational will, which, unless it is cured by God’s
grace, follows its private good, on account of the corruption
of nature.” 91
2) The objection would, in addition, lead one to maintain,
principal virtues, in spite of the incomparable superiority of the theological
virtues, which are directed toward the last end. Cf. ibid.
»0 Cf. supra, pp. 37, 40 f., 152 ff.
ei Summa, la Ilae, q. 10g, a.3, 4. In the works of St. Thomas, see the refer­
ences to the fomes peccati and the wounds; cf. Tabula aurea under these
words.
That Thomists are faithful to St. Thomas is shown when they teach gen­
erally that man in the state of fallen nature, not as yet regenerated, is weaker
in regard to good than he would have been in the state of pure nature. On
the article quoted, see the Commentaries of Lemos, Alvarez, Billuart, John
of St. Thomas, and especially Salmanticenses, De gratia, tr. XIV, q.109, disp.
2, dub. 2-5, nos. 99, 102, 116, 129, 135. Among modern theologians, this is
the opinion of St. Alphonsus; it is generally the doctrine of spiritual authors,
who echo the writing of the saints. Cf. The Imitation of Christ, Bk. Ill, chaps.
54, 55. Such seems to be also the natural meaning of the texts of the ecclesiasti­
cal magisterium where it speaks of the wounds of fallen nature and of free
will not destroyed but attenuated, weakened, and of the fomes peccati; cf.
Denzinger (10th ed.), nos. 174, 181, 198, 788, 793, 1275, 1616, 1627, 1634 if.,
1643.

426

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

in opposition to what we have set forth about the sublimity
of the first commandment,92 that the majority of just souls
could not by progressive fidelity reach Christian perfection,
that is, the third degree of charity. As we have seen,98 this
degree is normally accompanied by the third degree of the
gifts, which belongs to the mystical order. God is prompt
in giving the grace of contemplation to those who are pre­
pared for it, but man is slow in preparing suitably by perfect
humility and abnegation.
3) It would also follow that for the majority of the elect
purgatory would be inevitable, since they could not be per­
fectly purified in this life. This error fails to take into
account the fact that, in the order willed by God, purification
should be undergone in this life with the resulting merit,
instead of after death without merit.94
4) It is not only charity which in perfect souls is the normal
prelude to the beatific vision, but charity accompanied by
the virtues of the purified soul (purgati animi),95 by the gifts
in the third degree, and by the beatitudes, the reward of
which belongs in a sense to this life.98
The solution of these objections confirms the doctrine we
taught in the preceding chapter on the general and remote
call of just souls to the mystical life, which is in the normal
way of sanctity, on the normal way to heaven, to which all
the just are most certainly called. This explains our summary
of this doctrine in the following outline. Its meaning and
scope can now be better understood. By reading from the
bottom up, the ascending movement of grace in our souls is
followed.
»2 Cf. supra, pp. 191-98, 399.
»3 Cf. supra, pp. 299-310.
8< Cf. supra, pp. 356 f„ 400 ff.
9s Summa, la Ilae, q.61, a.5.
w Ibid., q.69, a. 2, and ad 311m, commentary on "Blessed are the clean of
heart: for they shall see God."

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

Call to
the
mystical
life

4*7

' to the superior de­
grees of the mysti­
cal life.
■proximate
'efficacious
to the inferior de­
(three signs
grees of the mystienumerated
. cal life.
by St. John
(call which many
interior­ of the Cross)
resist. “Many are
.sufficient
called, but few are
chosen”).
.remote
(from the fact of being in the
state of grace; grace is the seed
of glory)individual

e. g., by the director.

general

e. g., by Holy Scripture.

exterior­

VENIAL SIN AND IMPERFECTION, OBSTACLES TO
DIVINE UNION

Too much insistence cannot be placed on the divers obsta­
cles hindering the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Ghost in
our souls. Father Lallemant, S.J., gives a clear exposition of
these hindrances in his beautiful book, The Spiritual Doc­
trine.91 He says: “It has been asked why the majority of
religious and devout persons who lead a lukewarm spiritual
life make so few acts of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, since,
being in the state of grace, they possess them. ... It is sur­
prising to see so many religious who, after living in the state
of grace for forty or fifty years, saying mass daily, and per­
forming all the holy exercises of the religious life, and con­
sequently possessing the gifts of the Holy Ghost in a very
high physical degree, corresponding to that sort of perfection
in grace which theologians call gradual or a physical increase
•T Part IV, chap. 3, art. 3.

428

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

—it is surprising, I repeat, to see that these religious give no
evidence of the gifts of the Holy Ghost in their actions and
conduct. Their life is entirely natural, for when blamed or
disobliged they show their resentment; they are very eager
for praise, esteem, and the applause of the world, and take
great pleasure in these things. They love and seek their ease
and all that flatters self-love.
“This should not be a subject of amazement, for the venial
sins which they commit continually hold the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, as it were, bound 98 in such a way that it is not at all
surprising that they do not show their effect. It is true that
the gifts grow, like charity, habitually and in their physical
being; but not actually, and in that perfection which corre­
sponds to the fervor of charity and which increases our merit,
because venial sins are opposed to the fervor of charity and
consequently hinder the operation of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost. ... It is past all conception, says St. Lawrence
Justinian, how many sins fill our hearts if we do not take
care to purify them constantly. . . . Few people give them­
selves wholly to God, and abandon themselves so completely
to the conduct of the Holy Ghost that He alone lives in them
and is the principle of all their actions.”
Moreover, people often neglect to correct a multitude of
imperfections which are not, at least essentially, venial sins.
St. John of the Cross 99 names many of them, when he speaks
of the imperfections of beginners and of proficients.190
os In the same chapter, Father Lallemant says: “Venial sins, which they
commit in great number, exclude the graces necessary to produce acts o£ the
gifts of the Holy Ghost. God refuses them the help of His graces, because He
foresees that if He gave them these graces in their present disposition, they
would be of no use to them, since their will is bound by a thousand fetters
which would prevent them from consenting.” These bonds are contrary habits
and affections.
os The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. 1, chap. 3; Bk. Π, chap. 2.
100 He makes a distinction between habitual imperfections and actual im­
perfections. Among the habitual imperfections in beginners, he lists the in­
clination to spiritual sensuality and to spiritual pride. Venial sins are often

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

429

In this matter, it is important to see how, according to the
opinion of the best Thomists, imperfection differs from ve­
nial sin. At first glance, this distinction seems contrary to
two principles enunciated by St. Thomas. He teaches 101 that
there are no deliberate individual or concrete acts which are
indifferent, that is, which are neither morally good nor mor­
ally bad. If they are indifferent by reason of their object, as,
for example, taking a walk, they are either good or bad by
reason of the end which the person intends; because man,
when acting deliberately, ought always to do so for a right
end. If he does this, the act is morally good; otherwise, it is
bad. Hence it does not seem that between virtuous acts and
venial sins there can be any place for what is called an imper­
fection.
Elsewhere St. Thomas teaches102 that the perfection of
charity falls under the precept of the love of God, if not as
matter, or something to be accomplished, at least as the end
toward which every Christian, each according to his condi­
tion, should tend. Consequently it seems that when he does
not accomplish all that he can at a given moment, he commits
a venial sin, slight perhaps, but real. Therefore imperfection
does not seem distinct from venial sin.
St. Thomas, nevertheless, often speaks of good acts which
are imperfect. This is the case with acts of charity that are
notably inferior to our degree of charity (actus remissi)·, for
example, when, having five talents, we act as though we had
the result. There are also first movements of impatience, sensuality, and pride
which precede all actual advertence, and sometimes even the advertence pos­
sible in beginners, especially when they are fatigued or drowsy. Cf. St. Thomas,
la Ilae, q.74, a.3 ad sum: "This corruption of the fomes does not hinder
man from using his rational will to check individual, inordinate movements,
if he be presentient of them, for instance, by turning his thoughts to other
things.” Cf. ibid., Salmanticences; also la Ilae, q.17, a.7; q.8o, a.3 ad 311m;
Ila Ilae, q. 154, a.5; De nialo, q.7, a.6 ad 6um.
101 See la Ilae, q.18, a.9.
102 See Ila Ilae, q. 184, a.3.

43°

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

only two.108 Besides, when St. Thomas 104 defines initial fear,
which is intermediate between servile fear (the fear of suffer­
ing) and filial fear (the fear of sin), he says that initial fear
does not differ essentially from filial fear (it is, therefore, not
a venial sin); but that it is something imperfect, for it is
accompanied by a certain amount of servile fear. A man who
as yet possesses only initial fear, says St. Thomas, “is inclined
toward good, not only through love of justice, but also for
fear of punishment; for this fear ceases in a soul that possesses
perfect charity.” As a matter of fact, servile fear diminishes
with the progress of charity, while filial fear increases.
The reason which serves as a basis for the distinction
between venial sin and imperfection has been clearly ex­
pounded in the Thomistic school by the Carmelites of
Salamanca.105 Their doctrine is as follows: Venial sin cannot
be ordained to the end of charity (est irreferibile ad finem
caritatis) for it is a disordered act, in the order of means, as
mortal sin is disordered in relation to the last end from which
it turns us aside.105
On the contrary, what is called “an imperfection” is a
morally good act which can be ordained to the end of charity,
but which lacks a certain perfection suitable to spiritual
progress.
For a clear understanding of this distinction we must, as
the Carmelites of Salamanca say, observe that an imperfect
act (often called an imperfection) is not absolutely identified
with the absence of perfection (or formal imperfection)
which is found in it. This absence of perfection is certainly
io® Summa, Ila Ilae, q.24, a.6 ad mm (and the Thomistic commentators);
also la Ilae, q.114, a.8 ad gum. Cf. supra, pp. 188-98. The progress of the soul
should be uniformly accelerated, and each communion more fervent and fruit­
ful than the preceding, since each ought to increase charity in us and thus
dispose us for a better reception of the Holy Eucharist the next day.
ιοί See Ila Ilae, q.ig, a.8.
105 Cursus theol., De peccatis, tr. ΧΙΠ, disp. 19, dub. 1, nos. 8 and 9. and
De incarnatione (in St. Thomas, Illa, q. 15, a.i. De impeccabilitate Christi),
where it is shown that no venial sin or imperfection was possible in Christ.
loe Summa, la Ilae, q.88, a.2.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

43’

not good. But the imperfect act we are speaking of is morally
good, though it does not possess the degree of perfection
suitable to spiritual progress. It can, therefore, be ordained
to the end of charity.
It is not an indifferent act in individuo, since it is good.
Properly speaking, neither is it opposed to the precept of the
love of God, for the perfection of charity does not fall under
this precept as materia, something to be done sub gravi or
sub levi, but only as the end. Sin is committed only when
there is a transgression of a precept with respect to the
matter of this precept, whether obligatory sub gravi or sub
levi. An imperfect act is opposed only to a counsel, which
in itself does not oblige. As a matter of fact, we must preserve
the distinction between the precepts and the counsels,
whether the latter are contained in the Gospel, or are directly
inspired by God in a certain soul. The Holy Ghost often
makes a soul comprehend that a certain act is better for it,
but that it is not obliged to that act, unless it has made the vow
of doing what is most perfect.
The division of imperfections, analogous to that of venial
sins, has its origin in this definition. Thus, there are imper­
fections: (i) ex genere suo; (2) ex parvitate materiae; (3) ex
indeliberatione.
1) An imperfection ex genere suo, or by its very nature, is
of such a kind that even when deliberate it does not become
a venial sin. To this class belong supernatural and meritori­
ous acts that are imperfect (remissi) relative to our degree of
charity: for example, when a proficient makes an act of
charity proportionate to the virtue of beginners. Likewise
initial fear is imperfect because of servile fear which accom­
panies it and which should diminish with the progress of
charity. To this category may also be linked natural acts
that are not forbidden, but that are not in accord with spir­
itual progress, and that would surprise us in a mortified
person and especially in the saints, unless a special reason

432

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

motivated them: for example, the use of certain needless
things, such as tobacco; certain ways of amusing oneself or
of taking pleasure in scientific or artistic things; in study, an
activity that has been branded as “natural” because it is not
sufficiently supernaturalized by the motive prompting it. We
may place in this class the omission of something which we
think is better for us, and to which at the time, from a
lawful but less perfect motive, we prefer something less good:
for example, when, although we could make a visit to the
Blessed Sacrament, we prefer to spend our time at a useful
philosophical study which could be postponed. This act in
itself is not evil, nor is it so for us unless by a special vow we
are obliged to do what is most perfect. Therefore it is good,
since concretely no deliberate act is indifferent; but it is less
good than the other. We should not stigmatize as evil what
is only less good. But we should keep in mind this imper­
fection in the order of good, remembering that, as venial sin
disposes to mortal sin, imperfection disposes to venial sin.
If we desire to keep to what is strictly obligatory with God,
He, who often gives us much more than what is strictly
necessary, will on His part diminish His graces.
Moreover, in the cases quoted there will, as a matter of
fact, accidentally be venial sin, since the motive for our not
doing what is best for us here and now is frequently negli­
gence or laziness.10’
2) There are imperfections ex levissima materia, because
the matter or object involved is extremely slight, and man is
not obliged to deliberate on these extremely slight things: 108
for example, some little negligence in one’s bearing.
3) Finally, there are imperfections ex imperfectione actus,
ior It is unlawful to omit something which is better for us for the sole mo­
tive that we are not obliged to it, and that we wish to use our liberty. Several
Thomists rightly remark that this is a will without just motive, volitio otiosa
carens pia utilitate aut justa necessitate. Cf. Billuart, De actibus humanis,
diss. IV, a.6, solv. obj. 3.
ros See Ia Ilae, q.14, a.4.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

433

that is, through lack of attention or deliberation. In this
category are ranged acts that are good by reason of their
object, but that are accomplished in a mechanical fashion as
a result of involuntary distraction. These acts are not sins,
although they lack the perfection which comes from atten­
tion.108 To this class belong also the very first disordered
movements of sensuality, which are produced before we can
be aware of them and repress them. They are an imperfection
destined to disappear chiefly as a result of the passive puri­
fications of the senses and of the soul; and they become rare
in a perfect soul. As much must be said of the defective way
in which a perfect soul accomplishes a good act; for example,
in the necessary repression of evil, even the saints sometimes
—and that quite contrary to their intention—mingle some
movement of anger which slightly exceeds the just meas­
ure. 110 Lastly, to this class belongs the purely material trans­
gression of a precept through invincible ignorance.
There are certainly many imperfections which, though not
essentially venial sins, take from our lives the harmony,
peace, and vigor suitable to spiritual progress. They appear
particularly in the common life, especially in acts requiring
a greater perfection: for example, chanting the office too
slowly or too rapidly may annoy our neighbor without our
being aware of it; playing the organ in a certain way may
become a hindrance to prayer rather than an aid. It may be
these acts contain no venial sin, properly so called, but an
imperfection springing from our temperament, from fatigue,
from a defect in our training, or from a certain cast of charloo But, as a matter of fact, in these there is often negligence and, as a
result, venial sin, when one could and should consider and deliberate.
no St. Thomas observes (Illa, q.15, a.9 ad gum), apropos of anger, that
when Christ drove the buyers from the Temple His anger was perfectly holy
and proportioned to the motive which inspired it; while in us anger, even
when commanded and moderated by right reason, slightly disturbs the gaze
of contemplation; for when the operation of one of our faculties is intense,
it often hinders the act of another faculty. "This is the reason why any move­
ment whatsoever of anger, even if it be tempered by reason, dims the mind's
eye of him who contemplates." This disappears gradually in the saints.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

acter inclined either to neglect details or, on the contrary, to
become absorbed in them. A more perfect charity, character­
ized by a greater delicacy toward God and our neighbor,
accompanied by the gifts of the Holy Ghost in a proportion­
ate degree, would cause these imperfections to disappear
gradually.
We have already listed 111 several imperfections that con­
stitute obstacles to contemplation. Especially important are
those indicated by St. John of the Cross in The Dark Night
of the Soul:112 the inclination to seek enjoyment in God
rather than God Himself; the first movements of spiritual
pride; the stains of the old man which persist in the spirit
even after the passive purification of the senses; a certain
dullness of the mind; natural rudeness, the result of sin.
“Proficients themselves are subject to distractions and to
dissipation of mind. . . . Some use their spiritual goods in a
manner that is not very interior. . . . They thus expose them­
selves to delusion by the suggestions of the devil or their own
fancy. . . . This matter is inexhaustible. ... In order to
show the necessity of the night of the soul, we must add that
there is not one among the proficients, however great may
be his efforts, who is exempt from many natural affections
and imperfect habits, which must be purified before divine
union is attained.” 118
This is another argument in favor of the doctrine that
these passive purifications and infused and obscure contem­
plation, which is the principle of the purifications, are truly
in the normal way of sanctity. “This dark night is an inflow­
ing of God into the soul to purify it of its habitual ignorances
and imperfections, both natural and spiritual. Contempla­
tives call it infused contemplation and mystical theology, in
which God instructs the soul secretly in the perfection of
in Cf. supra, pp. 395 if.
112 Bk. I, chap. 3; Bk. II, chap. ».
11» Ibid.

INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

435

love, without any intervention on its part, and without its
understanding in what this infused contemplation consists.
. . . How does it happen that the soul calls the divine light
a dark night? . . . There are two reasons for this. The first
is that the divine wisdom transcends by reason of its elevation
the capacity of the soul, and for that very reason is darkness
for it. The second reason lies in the baseness and impurity
of the soul which makes the light painful, afflictive, and at
the same time dark for it. . . . Although still in darkness,
the soul sees none the less clearly its own impurity by means
of this light. It is persuaded that it is unworthy of God or
of any creature. . . . The divine and obscure light places
clearly before it all its infidelities.” 114 Thereby it learns true
humility, which prepares it to receive an abundance of divine
grace, for “God gives His grace to the humble,” and He
makes them humble in order to load them with His gifts.
Such is the way of true life, the only sure road to eternal
beatitude. “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk
in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that search His
testimonies: that seek Him with their whole heart. ... I
have run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou didst
enlarge my heart,” 118 by divine charity, in the light of life,
which reveals Thy grandeur and omnipotence, and Thy
infinite mercy toward us. The voice of the psalms is that of
contemplation, animating the great prayer of the Church.
To live truly by faith, every believing soul should aspire to
this contemplation. In this aspiration humility and mag­
nanimity, by reason of the connection of the virtues, ought to
be united; and only when they are united, are they genuine.11®
Only a profoundly humble soul can in a fitting manner
aspire to the great things promised by Christ to those who
wish to follow Him; from the very fact that a soul is humble,
m The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 5.
in Ps. 118: 1-2, 32.
ii’ Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 12g, a.3 ad 411m.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

it will be filled to overflowing: Deposuit potentes de sede, et
exaltavit humiles.

ARTICLE V

Extraordinary Graces that Sometimes Accompany
Infused Contemplation
The doctrine we have expounded receives additional con­
firmation from the comparison of infused contemplation with
the extraordinary graces that sometimes accompany it, and
yet are distinct from it. These extraordinary graces generally
belong to the charisms, or graces freely bestowed (gratis
datae), enumerated by St. Paul: “Now there are diversities
of graces, but the same Spirit. . . . And the manifestation
of tire Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To one indeed,
by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom; and to another,
the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to
another, faith in the same Spirit; 1 to another, the grace of
healing in one Spirit: to another, the working of miracles;
to another, prophecy; to another, the discerning of spirits;
to another, diverse kinds of tongues; to another, interpreta­
tion of speeches. But all these things one and the same Spirit
worketh, dividing to everyone according as He will.” 2 St.
Paul places charity far above these gifts: “And if I . . . have
not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” ·
As St. Thomas shows, sanctifying grace and charity are
much more excellent than these charisms; the former unite
us immediately to God, our last end, whereas the charisms
are ordained chiefly for the benefit of our neighbor and
1 This does not mean the theological virtue of faith, since the latter is com­
mon to all Christians; rather St. Paul means a special certitude and security
which God grants especially to theologians or to preachers so that they may
transmit His divine word with a conviction which nothing can shake. Cf.
infra, p. 441 note 29.
2 See I Cor. 12: 4, 7-11; cf. Rom. 12: 6.
2 See I Cor. 13: 3.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

437
only prepare him to be converted, without giving him divine
life.4 As a rule, they are not essentially supernatural like
sanctifying grace, but only preternatural like a miracle and
prophecy.8
St. Thomas shows clearly the nature of these charisms by
his division of them.® This classification is set forth in the
following table:

Graces
gratuitously
given to
instruct
one’s
neighbor
concerning
divine
things

faith or special certitude as to principles.
Graces that
word of wisdom, on the principal
give full
conclusions known through the
knowledgefirst cause.
of divine
word of knowledge, on the exam­
things
ples and effects which manifest
the causes.

gift of healing,
Graces that
by works
gift of miracles.
confirm di­
, ,
f discerning of spirits.
vine reve­ , .
by knowledge J
,
lation
'
° Ί prophecy.

Graces that
aid in
gift of tongues.
preaching
gift of interpretation of speeches.
the word
of God
« Summa, la Ilae, q.iii, a.5: "Now the end is always greater than the means.
But sanctifying grace ordains a man immediately to a union with his last
end, whereas gratuitous grace ordains a man to what is preparatory to the
end; i. e„ by prophecy and miracles, etc., men are induced to unite themselves
to their last end. And hence sanctifying grace is nobler than gratuitous grace.”
la Ilae, q. 111, a. 1 ad gum: "Sanctifying grace adds to the notion of gratuitous
grace something pertaining to the nature of grace, since it makes man pleas­
ing to God. And hence gratuitous grace which does not do this keeps the
common name, as happens in many other cases." As the animal devoid of
reason is simply called “animal," so these graces of inferior order, which in
themselves do not render man agreeable to God, are called “graces gratui­
tously given.”
a See supra, p. 59, for the distinction between the supernatural quoad sub­
stantiam and the supernatural quoad modum.
* See la Ilae, q.i· i. a.a.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

To these charisms may generally be attached the extraor­
dinary favors that sometimes accompany infused contem­
plation; that is, private revelations, visions, and supernatural
words, which St. John of the Cross discusses at length in The
Ascent of Mount Carmel.7 He takes great pains to distinguish
them from infused contemplation, which is attached to the
grace of the virtues and of the gifts, or sanctifying grace.
This teaching of St. John of the Cross rests theologically on
St. Thomas’ treatise on prophecy,8 where six articles9 are
devoted to the rapture which sometimes accompanies pro­
phetic revelation, as it may also accompany infused contem­
plation.
According to St. Thomas, prophetic revelation may be
made in three ways: by a sensible vision; an imaginary vision;
or an intellectual vision; and the prophet may be awake,
asleep, or in ecstasy. Occasionally in fact, a sensible, out­
ward sign appears to the eyes or an exterior voice is heard.10
At other times, to express His thought to us, God co-ordin­
ates certain images that pre-exist in our imagination, or He
imprints new ones on it.11 More rarely He acts directly on
the intellect by co-ordinating our acquired ideas or by im­
printing new ideas, called infused.12 There is always infused
prophetic light, and indeed it alone suffices, for example, to
interpret certain signs, as Joseph interpreted the dreams of
Pharao.13
If the prophet is awake, the vision is more perfect than
if given to him during sleep, because he has the full use
of his faculties.11 Occasionally the so-called imaginary vision
or the intellectual vision is accompanied by ecstasy, or alienaT Bk. II, chaps. 10-31.
8 Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 171-75.
0 Ibid., q. 175.
10Ibid., q. 174, a.i ad sum.
11 Ibid., q.173, a.2 ad lum.
12 Ibid., ad sum.
1»Ibid., q. 173, a.2.
1« Ibid., q. 174, a.3.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

439

tion of the senses.15 A partial or total ecstasy may be a natural
effect of the absorption of the superior faculties in the object
manifested; the soul may no longer be attentive to exterior
things.18 If, on the contrary, ecstasy, so to speak, precedes the
vision or contemplation and prepares for it, it is extraordi­
nary like rapture, properly so called, which carries with it the
idea of a certain violence, by lifting the soul above inferior
things in order to fix it in God.17 Christ and the Blessed
Virgin had all these charisms in an eminent degree, but with­
out losing the use of their senses; from the very beginning
of their lives, they were superior to ecstasy and rapture.18
Following these principles, St. John of the Cross draws a
clear distinction between general and obscure infused con­
templation 18 and different modes of particular and distinct
supernatural knowledge: (i) visions, sensible, imaginary, or
intellectual; 20 (2) revelations; 21 (3) interior words.22 After
enumerating these modes of knowledge, St. John of the Cross
adds: “In regard to obscure and general knowledge, there
is no division; it is contemplation received in faith. This
contemplation is the end to which we should lead the soul;
all other knowledge should be directed toward this, begin­
ning with the first; and the soul should progress by detach­
ing itself from all of them.” 28
i» Ibid., a. 1 ad 311m.
i® Cf. St. Thomas, De veritate, q. 13. a.3: "Cum totaliter anima intendat ad
actum unius potentiae, abstrahitur homo ab actu alterius potentiae." Cf. Ha
Ilae, q.173. a-3- on pania! or total ecstasy. Neither is necessary to prophecy
or contemplation. Cf. ibid.
17 See Ila Ilae, q. 175, a.i and a.2 ad mm: "Rapture adds something to
ecstasy ... a certain violence in addition."
i® Cf. Illa, q. 10, 11.
1» The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chaps. 1-9.
a® Ibid., chaps. 10-24.
81 Ibid., chaps. 25-27.
22 Ibid., chaps. 28-31. St. John of the Cross links with distinct supernatural
knowledge (chaps. 10 and 32) the divine touches received in the will, which
produce spiritual sentiments in it and “react on the intellect.” We will discus*
them at the end of this article.
*· Ibid., Bk. II, chap. ia.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

To bring out clearly what is explicit in the traditional
teaching on this point, we will proceed from the general to
the particular. Consequently, following the example of St.
Thomas,24 we will first discuss revelations, to see the special
modes of their manifestation, that is, either by vision, or by
words. But we should note that visions and locutions are
particular modes of revelation only when they disclose hid­
den things of the future, the present, or the past.
We will also proceed from the lower to the higher by
considering in each of these categories the sensible, imagi­
nary, and intellectual manifestations, according as they pro­
gressively reveal the works of God and God Himself.
Finally, it is also fitting to go from the exterior to the
interior by considering first among these favors those that
are manifestly directed toward the benefit of our neighbor
and are more directly connected with charisms or graces
gratis datae, particularly with prophecy; this is the case
especially with private revelations. Others among these favors
approach the order of sanctifying grace, because they are
directly ordained to the sanctification of the person who
receives them. They prepare the soul for divine union accord­
ing as they make God better known and lead tire soul to love
Him, often amid great trials. This is particularly the case
with various interior words and also with divine touches
received in the will, which St. John discusses last.2’
DIVINE REVELATIONS

Divine revelations are the supernatural manifestation of
a hidden truth by means of a vision, a word, or a prophetic
instinct; they presuppose the gift of prophecy. They are
called public if they have been made by the prophets, Christ,
or the Apostles, and are proposed to all by the Church, which
preserves them in Scripture and tradition. They are called
2« See Ila Ilae, q. 171, 173, 174.
•5 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 3g.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

441

private when they are ordained only for the particular bene­
fit of those who are favored with them. Private revelations,
no matter what their importance, do not belong to the
deposit of Catholic faith.
Those who receive divine revelations, recognized as such,
should after prudent judgment most certainly incline re­
spectfully before this supernatural manifestation.26 Accord­
ing to some theologians, they ought even to believe in them
with divine and theological faith, for, in their opinion, these
revelations contain the formal motive of faith, the authority
of God revealing.27 According to other theologians,28 anyone
who receives a certain private revelation should adhere to
it immediately, not through divine faith but by prophetic
light; 29 and the supernatural certitude should last or, on the
contrary, give way to a moral certitude if the prophetic
illumination disappears.
In approving the revelations made to the saints, the
Church declares simply that they contain nothing contrary
to Scripture and to Catholic teaching, and that they may be
proposed as probable to the pious belief of the faithful.80
Private revelations may not be published without the appro­
ve Benedict XIV, De sera. Dei beat., Bk. Ill, last chap., no. 12. C. de Lugo,
S.J., De fide, disp. I, sec. 11.
2" Card. Gotti, O.P., Theol. schol. dogm., Vol. I, tract. 9, q. 1, dub. 3, no. 2:
"Verius existimo, revelationem privatam, etiam ex parte rei revelatae, esse
credendam ab eo, cui fit, fide divina theologica. . . . Quia ubicumque est
eadem ratio formalis objecti, ibi est idem specie habitus.” When attempts were
made to obtain a denial of her divine mission from St. Joan of Arc, she an­
swered that she had to believe in it as in the mystery of the redemption; and
several times she appealed to the pope in this matter, as supreme judge of
these things.
2s Salmanticenses, De /ide, disp. I, dub. IV, 104 and 111: In favor of this
opinion, they quote St. Thomas and his principal commentators. They observe
in particular that a number of these revelations bearing on temporal things
have not a sufficient bond with the first object of theological faith.
2» It may also proceed from faith, which is mentioned among the gratituous
graces (I Cor. 12: 4-10). According to the Salmanticenses, loc. cit., no. 113, “Prae­
dicta fides confertur ut in plurimum doctoribus Ecclesiae circa articulos fidei
catholicae."
»0 Benedict XIV, op. cit., Bk. II, chap. 32, no. 11.

44»

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

bation of ecclesiastical authority.’1 Even in those approved
as probable by the Church, some error may slip in; for the
saints themselves may attribute to the Spirit of God what
proceeds from the depths of their own soul, or may falsely
interpret the meaning of a truly divine revelation. This is
explained by the fact that there are many degrees in pro­
phetic light, from the simple, supernatural instinct to perfect
revelation. When there is only a prophetic instinct, the mean­
ing of things revealed and even the divine origin of the
revelation 32 may remain unknown. It was in this way that
Caiphas prophesied, without being aware of it, when he
said, “that it was expedient that one man should die for the
people.” 33
The soul receiving a truly divine revelation should with
humility and simplicity communicate it in a few words to its
spiritual director, but should not become attached to it
and should perfectly obey the minister of J esus Christ.34 The
gift of prophecy may, it is true, be found in those who do
not possess these qualities, but such an exception is rare.
Before regulating its conduct by private revelation, a soul
that is truly enlightened by God will always consult its direc­
tor or some other learned and discreet person. St. Teresa
insists particularly on this point.35 This is especially necessary
since the soul may easily go astray in the interpretation of
revelations, either because it considers them too literally, or
because they are sometimes conditional.33 A learned, pru­
dent, and virtuous confessor, however, has graces of state
which make him avoid error, especially when he fervently
prays for these graces.
St. John of the Cross, who so often invites us to desire
Cf. the decree of Urban VIII, March 13, 1625, confirmed by Clement IX,
May 23, 1668.
sa St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q. 173, a.4.
» John 18: 14.
M Cf. Bona, De discretione spirituum, chap. 20.
»’ The Interior Castle, sixth mansion, chap. 3.
»· The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chaps. 19, 20.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

443

ardently and humbly the infused contemplation of the mys­
teries of faith and also divine union, reproves the desire for
revelations in terms even more forcible than those employed
by the other saints. On this point he is in complete accord
with St. Vincent Ferrer,37 and shows that by this curiosity
the soul desiring revelations gives the devil an opportunity
to lead it astray; 38 that this inclination takes away the purity
of faith;39 produces a hindrance for the spirit; 80 certainly
denotes a lack of humility; 41 and exposes it to many errors.42
To ask for revelations shows also a lack of respect toward
Christ, because the fulness of revelation has been given in
the Gospel.43 God sometimes grants these extraordinary fa­
vors to weak souls; 44 but to desire them is at least a venial
sin, even when the soul has a good end in view.45 They are of
value only because of the humility and love of God which
they awaken in the soul.48 This statement in regard to revela­
tions shows clearly the error of imprudent directors who,
impelled by curiosity, are excessively concerned with souls
favored by visions and revelations.47 This attention is likely
to cast the soul into trouble and illusion, and turn it away
from the road of humility through a vain complacency in
extraordinary ways.
Furthermore, the desire for revelations turns the soul from
infused contemplation. St. John of the Cross makes this clear
when he says: “The soul imagines that something great has
taken place, that God Himself has spoken, when in reality
sr St. Vincent Ferrer, Traité de la vie spirituelle, chap. 13.
ss The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 11.
39 [bid.
<0 Ibid., chap. 16.
<1 Ibid., chaps. 16, 17.
42 Ibid., chaps. 21, 27.
4S Ibid., chaps. 19, 22. Under the Old Law it was licit to ask for revelations;
it is not so under the law of the Gospel, for all revelation is found in Christ.
44 Ibid., chap. 21.
48 Ibid.
«« Ibid., Bk. Ill, chaps. 9, 12.
47 Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 22.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

there is very little, or nothing, or less than nothing. In truth,
of what use is that which is void of humility, charity, mortifi­
cation, holy simplicity, silence, etc.? This is why I affirm that
these illusions offer a great obstacle to divine union, for if
the soul makes much of them, this fact alone drives it very
far from the abyss of faith. . . . The Holy Ghost enlightens
the recollected intellect according to the measure of its recol­
lection. The most perfect recollection is that which takes
place in faith. . . . Infused charity is in proportion to the
purity of the soul in a perfect faith: the more intense such
charity is, the more the Holy Ghost enlightens the soul
and communicates His gifts to it.” 48 No words could more
strongly condemn the longing for revelations and make the
soul desire that perfect spirit of faith, which is found in
infused contemplation and which leads to divine union.
Therefore it is a serious and frequent error to confound
the desire for revelations with a desire for infused contem­
plation; the former is blameworthy and also turns the soul
away from infused contemplation, which is highly desirable.
St. John of the Cross thus gives us the best commentary on St.
Thomas’ words: “Sanctifying grace is nobler than gratuitous
grace.” 40 In other words, sanctifying grace (with charity and
the gifts connected with it) is far superior to the charisms,
and even to prophecy, the hightest of all. We thus return to
the teaching of St. Paul on the eminence of charity.50
We must distinguish two kinds of private revelations: (i)
revelations properly so called, disclosing secrets about God
or His works; (2) revelations improperly so called, giving a
greater understanding of supernatural truths already known
by faith.’1
1) Revelations manifesting secrets to us are much more ·
subject to illusions. God sometimes reveals to the living the
« ibid., Bk. II, chap. 29.
«» See la Ilae, q.m, a.4.
so See I Cor., chap. 13.
01 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 25.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

445

time which remains to them on this earth, the trials which
they will undergo, what will happen to a nation, to a certain
person.52 The devil is clever in counterfeiting these things
and, to gain credit for his lies, he begins by nourishing the
spirit with truths and likely things.53 St. John of the Cross
says: “It is almost impossible to escape his wiles if the soul
does not immediately get rid of them, because the spirit of
evil knows well how to assume the appearance of truth and
give this appearance credit.” 54 “In order to be perfect there
is, therefore, no reason to desire these extraordinary super­
natural things. . . . The soul must prudently guard itself
against all these communications if it wishes, in purity and
without illusions, to reach divine union by the night of
faith.” 55 No words could make a clearer distinction between
these extraordinary supernatural things and infused contem­
plation, and more effectively show that infused contemplation
is normal in the perfect.
2) Revelations improperly so called, which give us a greater
understanding of revealed truths, are associated with infused
contemplation, especially if they concern God Himself and
do not stop at particular things, but profoundly penetrate
His omnipotence, wisdom, or infinite goodness. “This pro­
found loving knowledge is, moreover, accessible only to a
soul in union with God; they are this union itself, for they
have their origin precisely in a certain contact of the soul
with the Divinity. Consequently it is God Himself who is
felt and tasted, though He is not perceived manifestly in full
light, as He is in glory; but the touch is so strong and so pro­
found, by reason of the knowledge and attraction, that it
penetrates the substance of the soul. It is impossible for the
devil to interfere in this and to deceive by imitation, for
nothing is comparable to it, or approaches it in enjoyment
« Ibid., chap. «7.
»» Ibid.
e« Ibid.
85 Ibid.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

and delights. These touches savor the divine essence, eternal
life, and the devil cannot counterfeit such lofty things.” 66 We
will treat this subject again at the end of this article when we
speak of divine touches. “In regard to the other perceptions,”
St. John of the Cross adds, “we said that the soul should ab­
stract itself from them, but this duty ceases before these, since
they are the manifestations of that union to which we are
trying to conduct the soul. All that we have taught previously
on the subject of despoliation and of complete detachment
was directed toward this union: and the divine favors which
result from it are the fruit of humility, of the desire to suffer
for the love of God, with resignation and disinterestedness as
to all reward.” 8T
VISIONS

Visions are revelations when they disclose hidden things;
otherwise, they are distinguished from revelations. They are,
as we have said, either sensible, imaginary, or intellectual.
Sensible or corporal visions generally represent our Lord,
the Blessed Virgin, or the saints. They are not signs of great
virtue, for they are sometimes granted beginners to detach
them from worldly things. They are subject to the illusions
of the imagination and of the devil. If the vision is common
to a great number of persons, it is a sign that the apparition is
exterior, without its thereby being certain that it is of divine
origin.68 If it is individual, the dispositions of the witness who
declares that he has had it must be attentively examined and
great circumspection must be exercised.
Those who are favored with these apparitions of our Lord,
the Blessed Virgin, and the saints should render to the per­
sons represented the honors due them, even though the
apparition should be the result of an illusion of the imagina50 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 26.
βτ Ibid.
5» Cf. St. Thomas, la, q.51, a.2.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

447

tion or of the devil, for as St. Teresa says: “Although a
painter may be a wicked man, honor should none the less be
paid to a portrait of Christ done by him.” 58 In this case also,
the director should be consulted, for he will be able to rec­
ognize whether these apparitions are graces of God, by their
conformity to the teaching of the Church and by the good
dispositions toward the practice of virtue which they leave in
the soul. The soul itself should be faithful in reaping the
fruits of sanctity which God proposes by granting it these
favors.80 These apparitions must never be desired or asked
of God.81
Imaginary visions, so called because they are produced in
the imagination by God or by the angels, are granted when
a person is either awake or asleep. According to the Gospel,
St. Joseph was on several occasions supernaturally instructed
in a dream; and the lives of the saints contain many similar
instances. That a dream may be supernatural, it should not
be explicable by the laws of memory and imagination; to be
divine, it should not contain anything contrary to revealed
doctrine or to good morals.82 Although this divine origin may
be hard to discern, ordinarily when the soul seeks God sin­
cerely, He makes Himself felt either by a profound feeling of
peace, or by events that confirm the vision; thus in a dream a
sinner may be warned of the urgent necessity of conversion,
or a just man may be advised of a grave decision to be made.
Imaginary visions are subject to the illusions of the imagi­
nation and of the devil.83 We have three signs by which to
discern whether they are of divine origin: (i) when they can­
not be produced or dismissed at will, but come suddenly and
os The Interior Castle, sixth mansion, chap. 9. Signs of respect should be
given only conditionally if the soul thinks that perhaps the devil wished in
this way to make himself adored under the figure of Christ. Cf. St. Thomas,
Illa, d.9, q.i, a.2: q.6 ad gum.
eoCf. Vallgornera, Theol. myst. D. Thomae, q.3, disp.5, a. 1, no. 13.
•1 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 11.
62 St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.95, a.6; q. 173, a.2.
es The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 16.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

last but a short time; (2) when they leave the soul in great
peace; (3) when they produce fruits of virtue, a very great
humility and perseverence in good.’1
A divine imaginary vision, granted while a person is awake,
is almost always accompanied by at least partial ecstasy so that
the soul may distinguish the interior apparition from ex­
ternal impressions; “ there is ecstasy also because a soul en­
raptured and united to its God loses contact with external
things.” There is no perfect imaginary vision without an in­
tellectual vision, which makes the soul see and penetrate its
mystical meaning.87 For example, the former may concern the
sacred humanity of Christ; the second, His divinity.88
Imaginary visions should not be desired or asked of God
any more than sensible visions; they are in no way necessary
to holiness.” The perfect spirit of faith and obscure contem­
plation are of superior order and prepare the soul more im­
mediately for divine union.70
An intellectual vision is the certain manifestation of an ob­
ject to the intellect without any actual dependence on sensi­
ble images. It is brought about either by acquired ideas
supernaturally co-ordinated or modified, or by infused ideas,
which are sometimes of angelic order.71 It requires an infused
light, that of the gift of wisdom or of prophecy. It may refer
to God, spirits, or material things, like the purely intellectual
knowledge of the angels. The intellectual vision is at times
obscure and indistinct, that is, it manifests with certitude the
presence of the object without any detail as to its intimate
nature. Thus St. Teresa often felt our Lord near her for
•4 Vallgornera, loc. cit., no. 11; St. Teresa, The Interior Castle, sixth man­
sion, chap. 9.
es Summa, Ila Ilae, q.173, a.3.
ee The Interior Castle, loc. cit.
•r St. Thomas. De veritate, q.12, a. 1*.
es st. Teresa, Life, chap. 29.
·» The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chaps. 16, 17; The Interior Castle,
loc. cit. Cf. supra, p. 256.
to The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 8.
η Summa, Ila Ilae, q.173, a-s a<i sum; De veritate, q. 12, a. 12.

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449

several days.72*At other times the intellectual vision is clear
and distinct; it is then more rapid and is a sort of intuition
of divine truths or of created things in God.78 It cannot be
translated into human language.74*
Intellectual visions, especially those caused by infused
ideas, are free from the illusions of the imagination and of
the devil; but at times what is only an over-excitement of the
imagination or a suggestion of the devil78 may be taken for
an intellectual vision. The divine origin of these favors may
be recognized from the effects they produce: deep peace, holy
joy, profound humility, unshakable attachment to virtue.7®
“By the very fact that this knowledge is communicated
suddenly, independently of the will, it is useless for the soul
to desire it ... ; it ought simply to allow God to act when
and how He wills. . . . These favors are not given to a soul
which is attached to any good; they are the effect of a special
love, which God bears toward the soul which strives for Him
in detachment and disinterested love." 77
The loftiest intellectual visions, since they are inferior to
the beatific vision, cannot attain the divine essence sicuti est,
but only by a certain manner of representation due to infused
ideas, “por cierta manera de representation.” 78 In the opin­
ion of a number of authors, the intellectual visions which
frequently accompany the transforming union70 are the
equivalent of a special revelation which gives the soul the
certitude of being in the state of grace and of predestination.
St. John of the Cross even says: “In my opinion, the soul can
never be placed in possession of this state (the transforming
72 St. Teresa, Life, chap. 27.
’· The Interior Castle, sixth mansion, chap. 10; The Ascent of Mount Car­
mel, Bk. II, chaps, 22, 24.
74 The Interior Castle, loc. cit.
76 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 24.
r· Ibid.
rr The Ascent of Mount Carmel, loc. cit.
r» The Interior Castle, seventh mansion, chap. 1.
rt Cf. supra, pp. 256-58.

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union) without at the same time being confirmed in grace.” *
Supernatural words are manifestations of God’s thought
which are heard either by the exterior senses or by the in­
terior senses or directly by the intellect. Hence there is an
analogy between them and visions, which they sometimes ac­
company.
An auricular supernatural word is a vibration formed in
the air by the ministry of angels. For example, St. Luke tells
us 81 that Zachary heard the angel Gabriel speak to him. The
same angel Gabriel said to Mary: ‘‘Hail, full of grace.” 82
Like corporal visions, these locutions are subject to illusions;
the same rule should be applied to them for discerning those
of divine origin.
Imaginary supernatural words are heard by the imagina­
tion, when the person is either awake or asleep. They some­
times seem to come from heaven; at other times from the
depths of one’s heart. They are perfectly distinct, although
not heard with bodily ears.88 They are not easily forgotten;
those especially which contain a prophecy remain graven on
the memory.84 They can be distinguished from those of our
so The Spiritual Canticle, st. 22. Philip of the Blessed Trinity (Theol. myst.
Prooem., a. 8), Scaramelli (Dir. myst., tr. II, chap. 22 no. 258) and several other
authors hold that so sublime a state demands that God reveal to the soul, His
spouse, the indissoluble friendship that exists between them. On this point, see
Meynard, O.P., La vie intérieure, Vol. II, no. 270. In this way certain passages
from the writings of the great orthodox mystics are made to harmonize with
the decree of the Council of Trent, namely, that without a special revelation
no one on earth can have absolute certitude that he is in the state of grace,
and with even greater reason that he will persevere in it until death. Cf. Con­
cilium Tridentinum, Sess. VI, chaps. 9 and 13: canons 13, 14, 16.
Cf. Salmanticenses, De gratia, q. 110, disp. 3, dub. 11, no. 25g, on the ques­
tion of confirmation in grace and its difference from the gift of final persever­
ance. This gift of confirmation in grace is, they say, a certain participation in
the impeccability of the blessed, and needs to be completed by a special pro­
tection on the part of God; for this reason it is superior to the gift of final
perseverance, which all the predestined receive.
si Luke 1: 19.
82 Luke 1: 28.
s’St. Teresa, Life, chap. 25.
»* Ibid,

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

45»

spirit by the fact that they are not heard at will, and that
they are words and works at one and the same time. For
example, when they reprove us for our faults, they suddenly
change our interior dispositions and render us capable of un­
dertaking everything for the service of God.85 Consequently
it is often easy to discern them.88 When it is the devil who
makes these imaginary words heard, they not only do not
produce good effects, but, on the contrary, produce evil ef­
fects. The soul is disturbed troubled, frightened, disgusted;
and if it experiences any sensible pleasure, it is very different
from divine peace.87
Intellectual words are heard directly by the intellect with­
out the intermediary of the senses or imagination, in the way
the angels communicate their thoughts to one another. They
suppose a divine light and the co-ordination of pre-existent
acquired ideas, and at times of infused ideas.88 “It is a word­
less language, which is the tongue of the fatherland.” 88
St. John of the Cross teaches that intellectual words may
be either successive, formal, or substantial.80 Successive in­
tellectual words are produced only in the state of recollec­
tion; they come from our spirit which is enlightened by the
Holy Ghost, and with such facility and new views that the
understanding cannot imagine that they spring from its own
depths.81 These successive words are subject to illusion, for
the spirit, which at the beginning followed only the truth,
may deviate, go astray, and fall into a thousand extrava­
gances, inasmuch as the devil often insinuates himself into
these successive words, especially when people are attached
to them. He acts with even greater reason in this way toward
SO Ibid.
ss Ibid.
st Ibid. Cf. also St. Thomas, la, q. in, a.i, 3; q.114; la Ilae, q.8o, a. 1-3.
ss Cf. St. Thomas, la, q. 107, a. 1; also Cajetan’s commentary.
so St. Teresa, Life, chap. 27.
»0 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chaps. 28-31.
ei Ibid., chap. 29.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

those who are bound to him by a tacit or formal act, with
heretics, and especially with heresiarchs.92
Successive words come from God when they simultaneously
produce in the soul an increase of charity and humility. But
it is often difficult to discern clearly supernatural love from
a certain natural love, and true humility from pusillanimity.
Hence it is difficult to recognize the divine origin of succes­
sive words.93 They should not be desired, for obscure faith
is far superior to them.94
Formal intellectual words are so called “because the soul
knows formally that they are uttered by another, without any
contribution on its part . . . and it can hear them when not
recollected, and even when far from thinking of what is
said.”95 They are, therefore, very different from those we
have discussed, and are at times very precise; for example,
Daniel says that an angel spoke to him.9’ These locutions
ordinarily explain some teaching, clear up some point; this
effect is always produced, even though the soul may expe­
rience repugnance in fulfilling the divine order.97 God allows
this repugnance to subsist that He may preserve the soul from
natural eagerness with regard to great things; if, on the con­
trary, the Lord inspires humiliating things, He gives greater
facility to accomplish them.98
These formal intellectual words are in themselves free
from illusions, since the understanding cannot contribute
anything to them, and the devil cannot act directly on the in»2 Ibid.
os Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 29. Likewise circumspection and reserve must be ex­
ercised in regard to what St. Thomas calls instinctus propheticus (Ila Ilae,
q.171, a.5; q.173, a.4). This instinct or supernatural attraction is an interior
illumination which does not give certitude as to its divine origin. These interior
movements must not be scorned, but, before giving them too much attention
and following them, they must be rightly discerned.
8« The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 29.
»s Ibid., chap. 30.
ο® Dan. 9: 22.
»’ Ex. 3: 11.
The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 30.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

453

tellect.” “The soul ought not, however,” says St. John of the
Cross,100 "to esteem formal words much more than successive
words. If it pays attention to them, it swerves from faith,
which is the proper and immediate means of divine union.
This exposes it to easy deception by the devil, the more so
as in many cases good communications are with difficulty
distinguished from evil communications.101 What they say
should not be immediately translated into action, nor should
they be held in esteem no matter what their origin. It is in­
dispensable to make them known to an experienced confessor
or to a discreet and learned person. ... If an experienced
person is not to be found, the soul should keep whatever is
substantial and sure in these words; disregard the rest; and
speak of it to no one, lest a counselor be found who would
do the soul more harm than good. The soul should not place
itself at the mercy of anyone at all, for it is of prime impor­
tance whether one acts judiciously or is deceived in such
matters.”
Substantial intellectual words are formal locutions which
effect immediately what they announce. We read in The As­
cent of Mount Carmel: “For example, God says formally to a
soul: Be good! and instantly the soul becomes good. Or He
says: Love Me!, and at once the soul possesses and experiences
in itself true love of God. Or again He may say: Fear nothing,
and at that very instant, strength and peace come upon that
soul. . . . Thus, God said to Abraham: ‘Walk before Me, and
be perfect.’ (Gen. 17: 1), and instantly perfection was given to
him, and thenceforth he walked reverently before God. . . .
A single one of these words instantly operates more good than
Cf. St. Thomas, la, q.m, a.i, 3; q.114, a.1-4; la Ilae, q.8o, a.1-3; also
Cajetan, Curiel, and Suarez; cf. Cardinal Bona, De discretione spirituum, chap.
17; and Nicholas of Jesus Mary, C.D., Elucidatio phrasium myst. operum Joannis a Cruce, chap. 5, no. 4.
100 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, loc. cit.
101 Although the devil cannot act directly on man's intellect and will, his
artifices may frequently be taken for words of God, by our confounding what
immediately touches the intellect with what takes place in the imagination.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

the efforts of a lifetime. When the soul receives such locutions,
it has only to abandon itself; it is useless to desire or not to
desire them, for there is nothing to repulse, nothing to fear.
The soul ought not even to seek to effect what is said, for God
never utters substantial words in order that we should trans­
late them into acts; He Himself brings about their effect.
This is what distinguishes them from successive and formal
locutions. . . . Illusion is not to be feared here, for neither
the understanding nor the devil can interfere in this mat­
ter .. . unless the soul has given itself to the devil by a vol­
untary pact; but then the effect is quite different. . . . Every
word of his is as pure nothingness in the presence of God. . . .
Substantial words are, therefore, a powerful means of union
with God. . . . Happy the soul to which God addresses
them.” 102 God’s words are living flames in purified souls.103
There is a fourth kind of favor which frequently 104 accom­
panies infused contemplation, that is, divine touches, which
are imprinted in the will and which “react on the intel­
lect. . . . They give, thus, a very lofty and sweet intellectual
penetration of God.” 10S These touches are thereby attached
to “particular and distinct contemplation.” 100 They do not
depend on the activity of the soul, or on its meditations, al­
though these prepare the soul for them.
These divine touches are occasionally so profound and in­
tense that they seem imprinted “in the very substance of the
soul.” God, in fact, who preserves the very substance of the
soul in existence by a virtual contact, which is creation con­
tinued,107 produces, preserves, and increases sanctifying grace
therein, whence the virtues infused into the faculties108
spring. He also moves these faculties, either by proposing an
102 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 31.
10s The Living Flame of Love, st. 1, 1.
10« The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 3s.
loo Ibid.
loo Ibid.
ιοί Cf. St. Thomas. la, q.8, a. 1-3; q.43, a.3; q.104, a.i, g; q. 105, a.3, 4.
10s St. Thomas. la Ilae, q.uo, a.3, 4.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

455

object to them, or by applying them to the exercise of their
acts, and that from within.100 The divine touch of which we
are speaking is a supernatural motion of this type, but one of
the most profound. It is exercised on the very depths of the
will and of the intellect, where these faculties take root in the
substance of the soul whence they arise.110 In truth, our will
is, in a way, infinite in its profundity; for this reason created
things cannot exercise an invincible attraction on it. It is
free to love them or not to; only God seen face to face infal­
libly attracts it and captivates it, even to the very well-spring
of its energies.111 So-called substantial divine touches 112 affect
this basis of the will and of the intellect. The very substance
of the soul experiences things only through these faculties.11’
But God, who is closer to the soul than it is to itself, inas­
much as He preserves it in existence, can from within touch
and move the very foundation of the faculty by a spiritual
contact which reveals itself as divine. This depth is also
100 Ibid., q.9, a.4; q.10, a.i, 2, 4.
110/bid., q. 113, a.8, and De veritate, q.28, a.3: "Ipse Deus, qui justificat
impium, tangit animam, gratiam in ea causando. . . . Mens autem humana
aliquo modo tangit Deum, eum cognoscendo et amando.” At the moment of
justification, there is a divine action causing the very essence of the soul to pass
from spiritual death to life by producing in it sanctifying grace, which is eter­
nal life begun. The mystical favor of which we are speaking makes us, in a
way, take cognizance of this divine influx into the very depths of our being.
It is often preceded by the passive purification of the spirit, which notably
deepens the work done in us by God at the moment of our conversion (la Ilae,
q. 113, a.8, "De ordine eorum quae ad justificationem concurrunt"). It is as if
the Author of grace deepened anew, but much more profoundly, the furrow
in which the divine seed is to grow.
111 See la Ilae, q. 10, a.2.
112 Cf. Vallgornera, Theol. myst. D. Thomae, q.3, disp.5, a.9, nos. 1, 3, 4.
ns In the opinion of St. Thomas, no created substance can operate, feel,
perceive, or love of itself, but only through its faculties; it has received them
for that purpose. Cf. la, q.54, a.i: “Whether an angel's act of understanding
is his substance?" A.2: "Whether in the angel to understand is to exist?” A.3:
"Whether an angel’s power of intelligence is his essence?” Q.77, a.i: "Whether
the essence of the soul is its power?" A.2: "Whether there are several powers
of the soul?" It is in the light of these articles that, to avoid all error, we should
understand what Tattler, Louis de Blois, and St. John of the Cross say of the
depths of the soul. Cf. Louis de Blois, Institutio spiritualis, chap. 12, where it
is said that the depth of the soul is the origin of the higher faculties, virium
illarum est origo. Cf. infra, p. 458.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

called the summit of the spirit in relation to sensible things,
according as they are considered either as exterior or as in­
ferior to it. With this in mind, we understand what St. John
of the Cross says on this subject: “Nothing is more calculated
to dissipate this delicate knowledge than the intervention of
the natural spirit. Since it is a question of a sweet super­
natural communication, it is useless to try to comprehend it
accurately, for that is impossible; the understanding has only
to accept it. If, on the contrary, the soul seeks to provoke it
or desires it, it may happen that what it conceives comes from
itself, and thereby gives the devil the opportunity of present­
ing counterfeit knowledge. . . . Passive acceptance in hu­
mility is, therefore, incumbent on the soul. God grants these
favors according to His good pleasure, and it is the humble
and thoroughly detached soul that receives God’s preference.
By acting in this way, the progress of the soul suffers no in­
terruption, and such knowledge serves efficaciously to ad­
vance it. These touches are touches of union serving to unite
the soul passively to God.” 114*
St. John of the Cross has described these favors at greater
length in The Dark Night of the Soul114 and in The Living
Flame.116 In his opinion, they are obtained only by the prac­
tice of despoilment and detachment from all creatures. By
one of these touches of love, the soul is rewarded for all its
works and sufferings. The substance of God, which is iden­
tical with His creative, preserving, and sanctifying action,
touches the substance of the soul and makes itself felt as
divine and sovereign. This teaching clarifies the doctrine
that the mystical state is the normal completion of Christian
perfection, provided it is distinguished from certain accessory
facts which sometimes accompany it. But, to establish the
truth of this doctrine, we must guard against several confu­
114 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 3*.
no Bk. II, chap. 23.
11* St. 2, v. 3.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

457

sions which contemporary writers, in their desire to return
to traditional teaching, apparently have not always sufficiently
avoided.
II. CONFUSIONS TO BE AVOIDED IN EXPOUNDING THE
TRADITIONAL DOCTRINE

1) In order to show that infused contemplation is not an ex­
traordinary grace like revelations and visions and that it ought
to be desired and asked for by generous interior souls, we
need not lessen the mystical state or link it too closely with
what it really is not. Affective prayer, or the acquired prayer
of recollection, described by St. Teresa,117 should not be
confounded with the supernatural recollection which she
speaks of.118
2) A chasm should not be interposed between the initial
mystical state (fourth mansion) and what essentially consti­
tutes simple union, complete union, and the transforming
union, described in the fifth, sixth, and seventh mansions.
The summit of the normal development of the grace of the
virtues and of the gifts is, in this life, found only in the
transforming union, which is the normal termination of
the initial mystical state.11’
3) The essence of these supernatural mystical states should
not be confounded with the extraordinary facts which some­
times accompany them. These accessory facts, described by
St. Teresa especially in the fifth and sixth mansions, often
disappear in the seventh.120 In fact, these phenomena accom­
pany chiefly the influence of the Holy Ghost “on the facul­
ties” rather than what “touches the substance of the soul,”
as the mystics say. This wholly intimate action of God on
the depths of the soul is found principally in the trans­ii
ii7 The Way of Perfection, chap. 28.
lie The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. j.
11» Cf. supra, pp. 256 ff.
120 Cf. supra, pp. 251-58.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

forming union, a state in which, as a rule, ecstasies have
disappeared.1’1
It is in the depths of the soul that everything ends, and in
a sense it is there that everything began, without our having
been aware of it. This influence of the Holy Ghost "on the
depths of the soul” in fact precedes, without our knowing it,
the influence which the Holy Ghost exercises more mani­
festly “on the faculties.” The completely purified soul ex­
periences this action in its very depths, when it has at length
entered the sanctuary where God dwells and operates from
the moment of justification or of conversion.122 In the opin­
ion of Tauler, Louis de Blois,123 St. John of the Cross,12·* and
121 Cf. supra, p. 258.
122 Cf. St. Thomas: "Illabi menti convenit soli Deo." Illa, q.8, a.8 ad turn;
q.64, a.i; la Ilae, q. 112, a. 1; In Joan., 13, lect. 4; In I Cor., 2, lect. 2. In De
veritate (q. 10, a. 1) we read: "Mens in anima nostra dicit illud quod est altissimum in virtute ipsius; unde cum secundum id quod est altissimum in nobis
divina imago inveniatur in nobis, imago non pertinebit ad essentiam animae
nisi secundum mentem prout nominat altissimam potentiam ejus; et sic mens,
prout in ea est imago, nominat potentiam animae et non essentiam, vel si nom­
inat essentiam, hoc non est nisi in quantum ab ea fluit talis potentia.” The
thirteen articles of this question De mente in the treatise De veritate should be
read in connection with this point of doctrine.
123 Institutio spiritualis, chap. 12, 2: "The soul becomes fit to contemplate
with calm, simplicity, and delights, without gross images, and without any
intellectual illusions, the abyss of the divinity. It is then that, turned entirely
toward God by pure love, and an incomprehensible light illuminating, so to
speak, the depths of its essence, the eye of the reason and the intellect is, as it
were, dazzled by it. . . . The soul knows then by experience that God is in­
finitely superior to every image, . . . and to all that the intellect can compre­
hend. ... It loses itself in the solitary and obscure immensity of the divinity;
but to lose itself in this way is to find itself again.” All this admirable chapter
is, as it were, a summary of the teaching of Tauler, which Louis de Blois de­
fended.
124 Cf. The Living Flame of Love, st. 1, v. 3: The most profound center of
the soul: "It is in the substance of the soul, inaccessible to the senses and the
devil, that this joy of the Holy Ghost develops. He alone is capable, in the cen­
ter of the soul and in its intimate depths, of making it act and operate without
the intervention of the senses.” The activity of the soul tends toward this cen­
ter, as a stone toward the center of the earth; and it more closely approaches it
in proportion as its charity is more intense.
Cf. The Spiritual Canticle, Part I, st. 1, v. 1: "The Word, the Son of God, to­
gether with the father and the Holy Ghost, is essentially hidden in the inti­
mate being of the soul. Whence it must be concluded that if the soul wishes to
find the Spouse, it must live detached by affection and will from all creatures.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

459

St. Teresa,11’ who have spoken so frequently of this "depth
of the soul,” at the end of the passive purifications of the
spirit the soul experiences, without seeing it, this “substan­
tial” action of God in which everything has its beginning,
at which everything terminates, and beyond which it seems
that there is nothing. This is why what is called the depths of
the soul, in relation to sensible things considered as exterior,
is called the summit of the spirit in relation to these same
things considered as inferior.12·
4) The three traditional ways should, moreover, not be
confused with what is only an imperfect form of them. From
what precedes, it is clear why, according to the tradition pre­
served by St. John of the Cross, the perfect purgative way
requires the passive purifications of mystical order; why he
calls the illuminative way the way of infused contempla­
tion; 121122
*and why the unitive way is normally completed only
in the transforming union, the prelude to heaven. These
three ways are often lessened because writers describe them
merely from the outside. St. John of the Cross gazed upon
them from above, and this is why he penetrated to their
depths. He must have received the gift of wisdom in a very
high degree in order to have discussed with so great mastery
such deep supernatural things, for the light of life illumines
all the pages of his work.
5) Divine touches must not be likened to revelations and
visions, which are, properly speaking, extraordinary and, as
it were, exterior facts. It is true that St. John of the Cross dis­
tinguishes general and obscure infused contemplation from
distinct supernatural knowledge,128 and that he links with
the latter the divine touches impressed on the will, which
enter into profound recollection, and act toward the world as if it did not
exist.”
125 Cf. The Interior Castle, especially the seventh mansion, chap. 2.
ne Cf. supra, pp. 258, 455.
122 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 14.
m The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 10.

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CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

have their reaction on the intellect. But these divine touches,
without being essential to infused contemplation, by their
influence on the will help to constitute union with God 129
and are not to be feared.180 Thereby they differ notably from
events which are properly extraordinary and in a way ex­
terior, like revelations and visions, which the saint declares
are often dangerous.181
It would also be a gross error to confound these divine
touches, this contact which has been called substantial, with
the emotions of the sensitive part; and likewise it would be a
mistake to confuse “the tastes,” which St. Teresa mentions,182
with the consolations acquired by meditation.
6) Since analysis is necessary because of our weakness, it
has, especially in these matters, a drawback that must be cor­
rected by synthesis. The desire to be too precise in this matter
leads to division, and as a result to the materialization of
what is a unit in the reality of the spiritual life. Therefore
in these questions we can keep to the truth only by consider­
ing them in the light of higher principles, as did St. Thomas
and great mystics like St. John of the Cross. Consequently a
material and mechanical exactness, which they do not share,
has been applied to these spiritual matters. Hence many
commentaries on the spiritual works of the great doctors
resemble these works in the same way as a polygon inscribed
within a circle resembles the circle; the complexity of the
former is in proportion to the simplicity of the latter. This
brings about the loss of the strong security with which these
great speculative and mystical teachers dealt with these lofty
questions. By applying the highest principles to them, they
gave in controversies over secondary points only due impor­
tance to them. This attitude alone, which is notably different
from that of many modern writers, placed them on the way of
12» Ibid., chap. 30.
iso Ibid.
isi Ibid., chaps. 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 25, 27.
182 The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 2.

EXTRAORDINARY GRACES

461

truth and enabled them to formulate it with a perfection that
has never since been attained. No one will be able truly to per­
fect their work, unless he has received the same grace as they
received. We should, therefore, become their disciples without
pretending to complete their work immediately. We would
accomplish much if we could even succeed in understanding
them clearly. In order even to comprehend them fully, it
would be necessary to equal them.
Some recent critics have claimed that the mystical life
properly so called cannot be explained by the principles for­
mulated by St. Thomas. In their opinion, probably he did
not have this special form of the interior life in view when he
formulated them. To this we answer with Dom Louismet:
“If such a universal writer as St. Thomas Aquinas does not
speak of mystics as a peculiar class, is it not because for him,
as for the Areopogite, all Christians are de jure mystics? . . .
And if he never mentions a separate body of mystical doc­
trine, is it not because for him there is no mystical doctrine
distinct from the common deposit of faith?” 133 As a matter of
fact, it is faith fully lived in persevering generosity in the love
of God. “By Catholic traditional mysticism I mean the mysti­
cism with which the Epistles of St. Paul and St. John, and
the other canonical epistles, and all the other Scriptures, are
overflowing. It is the mysticism of the everlasting sacrifice of
the Lamb on the cross and on our altars, and of the whole
sacred liturgy around it: the mysticism of the Missal, of the
Ritual, of the Pontifical, of the Ceremonial of Bishops, of the
Breviary, and of the Martyrology.” 134 We do not believe that
this assertion would be contradicted by true mystics who
experience the higher life to which every Christian should
aspire.
iss The Mystical Life, pp. xiii f.
134 Ibid., pp. xi f. We should like, however, to find in the writings of Dom
Louismet a sharper distinction between the mystical life, properly so called,
and fervent Christian life, and to see him accentuate and develop what he has
said on this subject. Ibid., pp. 8, 23.

INDEX
Call (continued)
377-82; proximate, sufficient, ef­
ficacious, 338-40; remote, 338;
signs of, 338 f„ 373.77
Causality (material), effect of an actual
grace, 415
Center of the soul, 458 note 124
Certitude: of contemplation, 77; of
rational first principles, 53
Charity (see also Love)
bond of perfection, 139. 143 f.
consequence of St. Thomas’ teach­
ing on grace, 107 f.
co-operation in contemplation, 331
degree of, and corresponding degree
of glory, 411
degrees of, 147
degrees of perfection of, 168
eminent degree of. 24
full perfection of, 146
growing intensity of, 248-50
implies virtues subordinated to it,
136 f.
increase of, 38
Beatitudes: correspondence with vir­
tues and gifts, 296: defined and
perfection of, falls under precept as
end, 429
enumerated, 332 f., 335
Beginners, 5: defects, 149; definition
possibility of loss of, 124 f.
prelude of beatific vision, 426
of. 30
Blessed Trinity; see Trinity.
should last forever, 123 f.
superior to faith and hope, 142 f.; to
Blessed Virgin: see Mary
Blessings, prayer and temporal, 206
graces gratis gratae, 436 f.; to
knowledge and contemplation,
Call to the mystical life: outline, 427;
•43
synopsis of meanings, 341
Charisms; see Graces gratis datae
Call (exterior) to the mystical life:
Communion, results of frequent, 399
general,
individual,
special, Compénétration between ascetical
and mystical theology, 42
unique, 337 f.; general and re­
mote. 345: nature of the proofs Conclusions, synoptic table, 6
of, 366 f.; principal difficulties, Condign merit, 353
384-408: principal proofs of, 348- Congruous merit, 353
Conscience, examination of, 396 f.
66, 383
Consolations, sensible, 328
Call (interior) to the mystical life:
definition of, 377 f.; obstacles to, Contemplation, a vital, free act, 262
463

Act. contemplation is a vital, flee, 262
Action and contemplation, mutual re­
lations of. 25-27
Acts, deliberate, 429
Acts (direct) of intellect and will. 325
and note 51
Acts (imperfect, remissi), 168 f., 325,
413. 429 t.: danger of. 189; three
points in regard to. 189 f.
Agnosticism in mystical theology, 4
Anger. 433 note 110
Annihilation of nature in passive
purifications, 423 f.
Apostolate. source in contemplation,
366
Aridity, 251: tn contemplation, 414;
not always result of tepidity, 408;
see also Purification (passive) of
the senses
Asceticism, definition of, 14 f.
Attachment, obstacle to contempla­
tion, 395

464

INDEX

Contemplation (continued)
Contemplation (acquired): conception
St. John of the Cross and definition
of Carmelite theologians, 226 t.;
of, 224
definition of, 45, 222; difficulties,
simplicity of contemplative act, 330
if separated from simplified af­
source of the apostolate, 366
fective prayer, 232-35, 261 note 2;
supereminent, 309
simplified affective prayer, 225
superhuman mode from the gift of
Contemplation (infused), 5, 25
wisdom, 331
and action, 25-27
supernatural dispositions for, 416
arid, 30 note 25, 414
Continuity: between ascetical and
basis of certitude of, 77, 161
mystical theology, 30: between
belongs to integrity of Christian
degrees of mystical union, 35 f.
perfection, 178
call to, 370 f.: general and remote, Counsel, gift of: degrees of, 300; differ­
ent from prudence, 277 and note
345; obstacles to proximate, 37722: and mystical life, 303; see also
82; signs of proximate, 373-77
Gifts of the Holy Ghost
can be merited, 413 f.
Counsels, observance of, 183 f.; see also
can be prepared for, 321
Perfection
chiefly fruit of gift of wisdom, 313Cross, mystery of the, 424 f.
29
controverted text on, 379 f.
co-operation of charity in, 331
Darkness, great, 264: according to
definition of, 45 f., 260, 331: accord­
Blessed Angela of Foligno. 76, 322
ing to St. John of the Cross, 224
note 44; plenitude of faith, 75
degrees of, 170, 242-60, 318-20
Death, grace of a happy, 354 note 18
description of, 242-60, 318-20
Defects: of beginners, 149; of profi­
description of ascent in, 327
cients, 151 f., 434
desire for, 32,403
Degrees of charity and of the related
erroneous opinions as to what it
gifts, 156-78, 191-95, 299-309
requires, 261
Delight, sense of, not necessary to in­
external conditions favoring, 417:
fused contemplation, 263
lack of, 417
Depths of the soul, 455 f.: influence of
faith and, 71-77, 330 t.
Holy Ghost on, 458 f.
fruit of devotion to the Blessed Vir­
Devotion: to Mary, 386 f.; sensible,
gin, 386 f.
149; true, 134 f., 357 f.
general and obscure, 439
Direction of souls, two excesses in,
general and remote call to, 345
39 fgives foreknowledge of the divine
Discouragement, doctrine leading to,
perfections, 322-24
404 f.: see also Magnanimity
how it proceeds from the gift of wis­
Dispositions (supernatural) for in­
dom, 310 f.
fused contemplation, 416
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, 213 f.
Distractions, 251 f.
interior dispositions for, 388-95
Doctrine, unity of spiritual, 23
liturgy prepares for, 387
meaning of the term in works of
great mystics, 221-23
Ecstasy, 30, 248 f., 255, 329: cause of,
35; cessation of, 257
in normal way of sanctity, 418-20
Eclecticism, 405
not a grace gratis data, 264
Enjoyment in God, 398
obstacles to, 395-98
Espousals, spiritual, 255-57
perfect, 331
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, devotion
proximate call to, 373-82
to, 417
reason for name, 222-24

INDEX

Extraordinary in the supernatural
life: definition of, 46, 235 f.; extrinsically, 30; intrinsically, 30

Faith, 26 f.
attains God, 124
basis of, 67 ff.
contemplation, eminent act of liv­
ing, 330
description of, 103-5
and mystical doctrine, 461
plenitude of life of, 71-77
St. Thomas Aquinas on, 68-70
Favors, enumeration of extraordinary,
438
Fear: degrees of, 300 f.; filial, initial,
servile, 430: and mystical life, 303:
see also Gifts of the Holy Ghost
Fortitude: degrees of, 302 f.: and mys­
tical life, 303; see also Gifts of the
Holy Ghost
Fruits of the Holy Ghost, 332, 358

Gifts of the Holy Ghost
contemplation and gift of under­
standing, 310 f., 359
correspondence with virtues and be­
atitudes, 296
definition of, 274 f.
degrees of, 70, 299-309: manifesta­
tion of, 6
distinct from acquired and infused
virtues, 272-77
divine mode of, and mystical life,
3*5
fettered by contrary habits and af­
fections, 407
gradual predominance of superhu­
man mode of, 281-83
knowledge, in passive purification of
the senses, 357 f.
and merit, 353
necessary to salvation, 278-80
order of, 298
progress proportionate to that of
charity, 29
relation to charity, 283-311
remedy for imperfection in human
mode of the virtues, 281-83
superior to infused moral virtues,
*73

465

Gifts of the Holy Ghost (continued)
supernatural in essence and mode
of action. 38
understanding, and contemplation,
S'of- 359
wisdom: and contemplation, 310 f.,
313-29; and prayer, 324-28; in
Scripture, 311-13
Glory, life of, 121: degree of, and de­
gree of charity at death, 411
Good, doubtful, 194 note 40
Grace
acceleration of growth of, 195 f.
actual, 415: influence of gifts not
manifest in every, 325; offered to
all, 204; progressively offered pro­
portionate to end to be attained,
>97
amissible, 124t.
conceptions of certain theologians,
80-84
consciousness of being in state of;
see Contemplation
co-operating, 325 and note 51
definition of, 53 f.
efficacious of itself, 85-88, 339
free determination of, 82 f.
gives resemblance to God, 323 f.
gratia sanans, 425
harmony of, and nature, 60
identity with life of glory, 121
impossibility of meriting efficacious
help which keeps soul in state of,
4'3
laws of the order of, 411 f.
mystery of intrinsically efficacious,
88
necessity of, 109-112
normal summit of life of, 128
operating, 325 and note 51
ought never to be lost, 38 f.
power of, 399
of the present moment, fidelity to,
39 >
qualities of efficacy of, 91
received according to obediential
power, 44
sanctifying: basic principle of mys­
tical life, 349-53; beginning of
eternal life, 239-41

466

INDEX

Grace (continued)
sufficient and efficacious, 95 f., 383
superiority of, 57, 329, 436 f.
supernatural quality of the life of,
3θ
Graces gratis datae: classified, 437;
enumerated, 436; inferior to sanc­
tifying grace, 32g; inferior to the­
ological virtues, 37 f.; see also
Contemplation,

Heaven; see Glory; Grace; Life, eter­
nal: Purgatory
Heroism: of charity, 177 f.; conditions
for proof of heroic virtue, 355 f.;
during passive purifications, 176;
required of all, 177
Hope: and doctrine of St. Thomas
Aquinas on grace, 105-107; formal
motive of, 107; result of tempta­
tions against, 406
Humility
in aspiration to contemplation,
435 £corrects presumption, 404
degrees of, 5, 7, 96-98
explanation of St. Thomas Aquinas,
403
false, 402
fundamental preparation for con­
templation, 416
harmony of, with magnanimity,
405 f.
interior disposition for mystical life,
388, 390 f.
learned in passive purifications, 435
solves difficulties of mystery of grace,
112, 259, 361
Illuininism, 27
Illusions; see Visions; Words, super­
natural
Imagination: and contemplation,
265 f.; suspension of, 262
Imperfections
actual, habitual, 428 note 100
definition of, 430
distinct from venial sin, 429-31
divisions of, 431-34
obstacles to contemplation, 434
of proficients, 434

Indwelling of the Blessed Trinity, 125,
25θ-58, 454 £·
Inspiration, definition of, 316
Knowledge, gift of: degrees of, 299 f.;
and mystical life. 303; rôle in pas­
sive purification of senses, 357 f.;
see also Gifts of the Holy Ghost
Knowledge (intellectual) in the natu­
ral order: bases of. 52: mystical
source of, 322; particular and dis­
tinct supernatural, 439
Laziness, 432
Liberty, moved by God, 91 f.
Life, eternal, definition and descrip­
tion of, 115-19
Life, mystical
basis of, 354 f.
beatitudes of, 333 f.
begins with passive purification of
the senses. 163
better than active, 364 f.
call to: principal reasons of general
and remote, 346-49: remote and
sufficient, 377 f.; signs of, 338 f.;
various forms of. 427; see also
Call
characterized by: predominance of
the gifts of the Holy Ghost, 32 f„
162, 325; third degree of gift of
wisdom, 308 f.
defined, 363
distinctive character, 272
duty of striving for, 365 f.
found in all walks of life. 421 f.
harmony of virtues in, 424 f.
interior dispositions for. 388-95
on normal way of sanctity. 362
perfect fruit of efficacious grace, 351
prelude of life of heaven. 365 f.
required for full perfection of
Christian life, 367 f.
sanctifying grace, basic principle of,
849'53
source of action, 365 f.
special vocation to, not necessary in
principle, 163
Light, infused, 264. 321
Liturgy, means to prepare for con­
templation, 387

INDEX

Love

acceleration in progress of, 195-97
of God, superior to knowledge of
God, 141 f.
without limit, 181-88
of neighbor, 8, 170
perfect, according to St. Catherine
of Siena, 166 f.
precept of, 1 f., 7 f., 178-81
three consequences of, 188-98
Luther, teaching on grace, 55

Magnanimity: in aspiration to con­
templation, 435; corrects discour­
agement, 404; harmony of, with
humility, 405 f.: according to St.
Thomas Aquinas, 403
Marriage: Christian, and mystical life,
421: spiritual, 153-55
Mary, Blessed Virgin: contemplation,
fruit of true devotion to, 386 f.;
and external conditions necessary
for contemplation, 417; mediatrix,
423: progress of charity in, 195
Materialism, 49 f., 392: dangers of, 393
Mediocrity in religious and priestly
lives, 3, 422
Meditation (see also Prayer, common)
acts, 209, 213
culminating point of, 213
difficult, 373
disposition to contemplation, 214 f.
impossible, 380
methods, 209
on the Our Father, 215 f„ 241 f.
Merit: of final perseverance, 413 f.;
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, 353;
saltern de congruo, and contem­
plation, 413 f.; of secular and of
religious priests, 192 note 31
Method: deductive, 20 f.; union of de­
scriptive and deductive, 21-23
Mortification. 321, 356
Motion (divine), modes of, 285: in
the natural order, 286-90; in the
order of grace, 290-94
Mysticism: actual problem, 12; defini­
tion of experimental, 14; doc­
trinal, 14; traditional, 461; see
also Life, mystical

467

Naturalism, 54
Negligence, 432
Neighbor, love of, 8, 138, 170
Night, passive
of the senses, 223
of the soul, 152 f.: definition. 359-61;
description, 434 f.; indispensable
for union with God, 361 f.
Nominalism: confusions of, 51; teach­
ing on grace, 55, 70 note 28, 284
Obscurity, transluminous, foundation
of mystical state, 316 f.
Ontologists, 53 f.
"Ordinary," in the supernatural life,
definition of, 46, 236-38

Pain; see Purgatory
Peace: definition of, 334; teaching of
The Imitation of Christ on, 16365
Pelagians and semi-Pelagians, 203
Perception, immediate, of God not re­
quired for contemplation, 266-67:
see also Contemplation
Perfect, The, 5, 30: infused contem­
plation ordinarily granted to,
395; tend to union, 169 f.
Perfection, Christian (see also Purifi­
cation)
beginning of eternal life, 114-29
consists in union with God, 37
erroneous doctrines on essence of,
130-35
especially in charity, 129 f.
full, belongs to the mystical order,
156-75
mystical life necessary for, 367 f.
necessity of passive purifications of
the soul for, 369 f., 381
objection of intellectuals to teach­
ing on essence of, 139-44
obligation of priests to strive for,
192
a plenitude, 144-46
relative, 176
secondarily in the observance of the
counsels, 183 f.
Perfections (divine), foreknowledge of.
322-24; see also Contemplation

468

INDEX

Perseverance: grace of final, cannot be
merited, 411, 415 t.; in prayer,
388, 391
Phenomena, mystical, that may ac­
company contemplation, 436-57
Piety: degrees of. 301 f.; and mystical
life, 303; see also Gifts of the Holy
Ghost
Power: divisions of divine, directed by
wisdom, 348; obediential, in the
angels and in man, 414 f„ 415
note 65
Prayer
acquired, and infused, 6
acts of, 209-13
affective, 216 f.
common, 208-15
continual, 98-101
culminating point of, 213
of desire, 169
difference between last acquired
prayer and first infused prayer,
227-30
disposition to contemplation, 214 t.
meditation on the Our Father, 215 f.
methods of, 209
of passive recollection, 223, 228-30
passive, stale of, 260 f,
of perfect union, 255
of petition, principle of its efficacy,
199-208
power of, 207
qualities of, 205
of quiet, 250 £.
results of, 208
of simple union, 251-55
spiritual communion, 214 £.
for temporal blessings, 206
what it can obtain, 204 f.
Precept of the love of God, 1 f.; see
also Love
Predestination, 340
Presence of God, feeling of, 263; see
also Contemplation
Presumption, doctrine leading to,
404 f.
Preternatural, definition of, 19
Pride, consequences of, 423; see also
Humility
Problem in this work, definition of, 58

Proficients, 5: defects of, 151 f.; in il­
luminative way, 150-52; imperfec­
tions of, 434
Purgatory
absence of merit in, 39, 128, 185 f.
and full development of the super­
natural life, 238, 410
passive purifications, an anticipated,
85® {and perfect purification, 399-401
sufferings of, 361, 363
Purification
active, 356
an anticipated purgatory, 356 f.
efficacious means leading to divine
union, 361 f.
passive (of the senses), 5-7, 148-50,
369: indication of entrance into,
357; object of, 359
passive (of the senses and spirit)
necessary to reach unitive life, 424
in normal way of sanctity, 434 f.
not necessarily extraordinary, 238
ordinarily necessary to avoid pur­
gatory, 400 f.
presupposed in full perfection of
charity, 146-53
should precede death, 39
passive (of the spirit), 6, 152 t.: ob­
ject of, 359
Purity of heart, 388 f.
Quiet, prayer of, 250 f.
Quietism, 401: result of mistake in
spiritual direction, 404
Quietists, 234 f.
Rapture, and beatific vision, 420
Reading: of Scripture, means to pre­
pare for contemplation, 387; use­
less, 417
Recollection: love of, 388, 391-94; su­
pernatural, 7, 228-30; see also
Prayer
Retarded souls, 190 f.
Revelations: conduct to be observed
in regard to, 441 f.; desire for,
442 f.; divine, defined, 440 f.; pri­
vate, 438, 444-46; prophetic, made
in three ways, 438 f.

INDEX
Sanctity: defined, 178; normal way to,
259 !·> 355 f-l an<l transforming
union, 379
Scripture, reading of, means to pre­
pare for contemplation, 387
Selfishness, obstacle to contemplation,
396
Self-knowledge, 396 f.
Sermo sapientiae, in St. Thomas
Aquinas, 1, 309
Simplicity of spirit, 388-90
Sin, venial: distinct from imperfec­
tion, 429-31; holds gifts of the
Holy Ghost bound, 427 f. and note
98: in the perfect, 168, 190 note 27
Solitude, 134, 417
Son, adopted, 119, 125
State, mystical: definition of, 326, 413;
foundation of, 316 f.; signs of
growing elevation of, 248-50; see
also Life, mystical
Summit of the spirit, 455 f.; influence
of the Holy Ghost on, 458 f.; see
also Touches, divine
Supernatural: divisions of, 59, 347;
essentially, of the life of grace, 30;
quoad substantiam and quoad
modum, 19 f.

Table, synoptic, 6
Theodicy, 12
Theology: compénétration between
ascetical and mystical, 42; con­
tinuity between ascetical and mys­
tical, 30; definition of various
branches, 12-23; principles and
method, 16-23
Theosophy, 130
Touches, divine, 454-57: differ from
revelations and visions, 459 f.
Trinity: indwelling of, 125 f„ 256-58,
454 f.; intellectual vision of, 256 f.

Ultra-intellectualism, 131 f.
Understanding, gift of: contribution
to contemplation, 310 f.; degrees
of, 303-05: high degree of, may be
merited condignly, 413; rôle in
passive purification of the soul,
359; see also Gifts of the Holy
Ghost

469

Union, mystical (see also Prayer)
continuity between degrees of, 35 t
definition of, 28
degree of, 340, 381 f.
development of the grace of virtues
and the gifts, 127 f.
helped by divine touches, 460
knowledge of God through, 320-22
ordinary causes of, 422
transforming: age of sanctity, 379:
description of, 256-59; effects of,
258; full perfection in this life
found in, 153-55: and intellectual
visions, 449 f.; summit of life of
grace, 34, 363
Venial sin; see Sin
Virtues (see also Faith; Hope; Charity)
charity should endure forever, 123 f.
Christian moral, infused, 61-63
correspondence with gifts and beati­
tudes, 296
degrees of, 6
degrees of moral, 170
faith: attains God, 124; basis of, 6567; supernaturalness of, 64
harmony of, in mystical life, 424 f.
heroic, 353 f.
perfect development in mystical life,
4
of the purified soul, 294 f.
theological: and doctrine of St.
Thomas on grace, 101-8; ma­
terialistic conception of, 63; ob­
ject of, 182; superior to graces
gratis datae, yj f.
Vision, beatific: normal disposition
for, 363; in the order of the for­
mal development of grace, 420;
prelude of, 426
Visions, 438 f.: impressed on the imag
ination, 256; intellectual, 256 f„
448-50; sensible or corporal, 446 f.;
signs of divine origin of imag­
inary, 447 f.
»
Vocation; see Call

Way, illuminative, 5, 9 f., 28: early
doctors on, 171-74; St. John of the
Cross on, 148, 157

470

INDEX

Way, purgative, 9, 28: early doctors
on, 171-74: St. John of the Cross
on, 148. 157
Ways, imperfect forms of the three
traditional, 459
Will, free: Bossuet's summary of St.
Thomas' doctrine on, 92-94: cause
of its own movement, 89-91; con­
sequences of St. Thomas’ doctrine
on. 94
Wisdom, gift of (see also Gifts of the
Holy Ghost)

Wisdom (continued)
chief source of contemplation, 310 f.,
813-29
degrees of, 305-309
high degree of, may be merited condignly. 413
progressive predominance of, in
prayer, 324-28
proportionate to degree of charity,
394
in Scripture, 311-13
Words, supernatural. 438, 450-54