THE THREE AGES
OF

THE INTERIOR LIFE
Prelude of Sternal £ifc

The Rev. R GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE, O.P.

VOLUME

ONE

Translated by SISTER Μ. TIMOTHEA DOYLE, O.P.

Rosary College
Riuer Forest, Illinois

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SANCTAE DEI GENITRICI
IN SIGNUM
GRATITUDINIS ET FILIALIS OBEDIENTLAE

Preface
HIS work represents the summary of a course in ascetical and
mystical theology which we have been giving for twenty years
at the Angelicum in Rome. In this book we take up in a simpler and
higher manner the study of the same subjects that we treated in
two other works: Christian Perfection and Contemplation and
Uamour de Dieu et la croix de Jésus. Complying with a request,
we offer in this volume our preceding research in the form of a
synthesis, in which the different parts mutually balance and illu­
minate each other. In accordance with advice from various groups,
we have eliminated from this exposition discussions to which it is no
longer necessary to return. The book thus conceived is accessible
to all interior souls.
We have not given this study the form of a manual because we
are not seeking to accumulate knowledge, as is too often done in
academic overloading, but to form the mind, to give it the firmness
of principles and the suppleness required for the variety of their
applications, in order that it may thus be capable of judging the
problems which may arise. The humanities were formerly con­
ceived in this fashion, whereas often today minds are transformed
into manuals, into repertories, or even into collections of opinions
and of formulas, whose reasons and profound consequences they
do not seek to know.
Moreover, questions of spirituality, because they are most vital
and at times most hidden, do not easily fall into the framework of
a manual; or to put the matter more clearly, great risk is run of
being superficial in materially classifying things and in substituting
an artificial mechanism for the profound dynamism of the life of
grace, of the infused virtues, and of the gifts. This explains why
the great spiritual writers have not set forth their thought under
this schematic form, which risks giving us a skeleton where we seek
for life.

T

▼

PREFACE

vi

In these questions we have followed particularly three doctors
of the Church who have treated these matters, each from his own
point of view: St. Thomas, St. John of the Cross, and St. Francis
de Sales. In the light of the theological principles of St. Thomas,
we have tried to grasp what is most traditional in the mystical doc­
trine of The Dark Night by St. John of the Cross and in the Treatise
on the Love of God by St. Francis de Sales.
We have thus found a confirmation of what we believe to be the
truth about the infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith,
which seems to us more and more to be in the normal way of sanctity
and to be morally necessary to the full perfection of Christian life.
In certain advanced souls, this infused contemplation does not yet
appear as a habitual state, but from time to time as a transitory act,
which in the interval remains more or less latent, although it throws
its light on their entire life. However, if these souls are generous,
docile to the Holy Ghost, faithful to prayer and to continual interior
recollection, their faith becomes increasingly contemplative, pene­
trating, and full of savor, and it directs their action while making it
ever more fruitful. In this sense, we maintain and we explain what
seems to us the traditional teaching, which is more and more ac­
cepted today: namely, that the normal prelude of the vision of
heaven, the infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith, is, by
docility to the Holy Ghost, prayer, and the cross, accessible to all
fervent interior souls.
We believe also that, according to the doctrine of the greatest
spiritual writers, notably of St. John of the Cross, there is a degree
of perfection that is not obtained without the passive purifications,
properly so called, which are a mystical state. This seems to us
clearly indicated by all the teaching of St. John of the Cross on these
passive purifications, and in particular by these two texts of capital
importance from The Dark Night: “The night of sense is common,
and the lot of many: these are the beginners”; “In the blessed night
of the purgation of sense, the soul began to set out on the way of the
spirit, the way of beginners and proficients, which is also called
the illuminative way, or the way of infused contemplation, wherein
God Himself teaches and refreshes the soul without meditation or
any active efforts that itself may deliberately make.” 1
Wc have never said, moreover, as some have asserted we did, that
1 Bk. I, chaps. H, 14.

PREFACE

vii

“the state of infused contemplation, properly so called, is the only
normal way to reach the perfection of charity.” This infused con­
templation, in fact, generally begins only with the passive purifica­
tion of the senses, or, according to St. John of the Cross, at the
beginning of the full illuminative way such as he describes it. Many
souls are, therefore, in the normal way of sanctity before receiving
infused contemplation, properly so called; but this contemplation,
we say, is in the normal way of sanctity, at the summit of this way.
Without fully agreeing with us, a contemporary theologian, who
is a professor of ascetical and mystical theology in the Gregorian
University, wrote about our book, Christian Perfection and Con­
templation, and that of Father Joret, O.P., La contemplation mys­
tique d'après saint Thomas d’Aquin: “No one could seriously
dispute the fact that this doctrine is remarkably constructed and
superbly arrived at; that it sets forth with beautiful lucidity the
spiritual riches of Dominican theology in the definitive form given
to it in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by the great inter­
preters of St. Thomas, namely, Cajetan, Bafiez, and John of St.
Thomas; that the synthesis thus presented groups in a strong and
harmonious unity a considerable mass of teaching and experience of
Catholic spiritual tradition; and that it allows the full value of many
of the most beautiful pages of our great contemplatives to be
brought out.” 2
The author of these lines adds that everything in this synthesis is
2 J. de Guibert, S.J., Revue d'ascétique et de mystique, July, 1924, p. 294.
See also the same author’s work: Theologia spiritualis ascetica et mystica
(Rome, 1937), pp. 374-89. On page 381 of this work Father de Guibert con­
cedes us a great deal in teaching: “Although generous souls may ordinarily
seem not really to reach perfection unless God grants them some touches of
or brief participations in those graces which constitute infused contempla­
tion, properly so called, the way or state of infused contemplation is, never­
theless, not the only normal way to the perfection of charity; and therefore
souls can ascend to any degree of sanctity if they go by this way in the
habitual manner.”
We do not say that the state of infused contemplation is the only normal
way of sanctity, but that it is at the summit of the normal way of sanctity.
VVc wish to show in the present work that there is a degree of perfection and
also of reparatory life which remains inaccessible as a characterized state
without the passive purifications of the senses and spirit, properly so called.
In this teaching wc differ from Father de Guibert, and we think that we
follow the traditional doctrine of the great spiritual writers, notably St. John
of the Cross, in the passage where he speaks of the necessity of these two
passive purifications for removing the defects of beginners and those of

viii

PREFACE

not of equal value and does not have the same authority. It is certain
that after the truths of faith and the commonly received theological
conclusions, which represent what is surest in the sum of theological
science, what we put forward on the authority of St. Thomas and
of his best commentators does not command our adherence to the
same extent as the principles which are its foundation. Yet it is diffi­
cult to subtract from this synthesis a single important element with­
out compromising its solidity and harmony.
Has not a notable harmony already been realized when we consider
that the most attentive critics recognize the admirable construction
and superb growth of a doctrine?
The Carmelite Congress held at Madrid in 1923, the conclusions
of which were published in the review, El Monte Carmelo (Burgos),
May, 1923, recognized the truth of these two important points on
the subject of infused contemplation (Theme V): “The state of
contemplation is characterized by the growing predominance of the
gifts of the Holy Ghost and by the superhuman mode with which
all good actions are performed. As the virtues find their ultimate
perfection in the gifts, and as the gifts find their perfect actualiza­
tion in contemplation, it follows that contemplation is the ordinary
‘way’ of sanctity and of habitually heroic virtue.”
In his Précis de théologie ascétique et mystique (1928), Father
Tanquerey, the Sulpician, joins also in this teaching, to the extent
that he writes:

When infused contemplation is considered independently of the
extraordinary mystical phenomena that sometimes accompany it, it is
not something miraculous or abnormal, but the result of two causes:
the growth of our supernatural organism, especially of the gifts of the
Holy Ghost, and of an operating grace which is itself in no way
miraculous. . . . This doctrine seems clearly to be the traditional
doctrine such as it is found in the works of mystical authors, from
Clement of Alexandria to St. Francis de Sales. . . . Almost all these
authors treat contemplation as the normal crowning of Christian life.8

proficients (cf. The Dark Night, Bk. I, chaps. 8 f.; Bk. II, chaps. 2 f.). Exterior
sufferings are doubtless also very purifying, but, without the passive purifi­
cations, properly so called, they arc not supported with all the perfection
required. Sr. John of the Cross points out (ibid.) that if these purifications
arc undergone only at intervals, the soul docs not reach the summit which
he speaks of.
• Nos. 1564, 1566.

PREFACE

ix

With the same meaning we can quote what St. Ignatius of Loyola
says in a well-known letter to St. Francis Borgia (Rome, 1548):
“Without these gifts (divine impressions and illuminations), all our
thoughts, words, and works are imperfect, cold, and troubled. We
ought to desire these gifts that by them our works may become
just, ardent, and clear for the greater service of God.” In 1924,
Father Peeters, S.J., in chapter 8 of his interesting study, Vers ΐ union
divine par les exercices de saint Ignace (Museum Lessianum, Bruges),
wrote:

What does the author of the Exercises think of the universal vocation
to the mystical state? It is impossible to admit that he considers it a
quasi-abnormal exception. . . . His optimistic confidence in the divine
liberality is known. “Few men,” said the saint, “suspect what God
would make them if they placed no obstacle to His work.” Such, in
truth, is human weakness that only a singularly generous élite accepts
the formidable exigencies of grace. Heroism never was and never will
be banal, and sanctity cannot be conceived without heroism. . . .
In the entire book of the Exercises, with an insistence revealing his
deep conviction, he offers to his generous disciples the unlimited hope
of the divine communications, the possibility of attaining God, of
tasting the sweetness of the divinity, of entering into immediate com­
munication with God, of aspiring to the divine familiarity. He said:
“The more the soul attaches itself to God and shows itself generous
toward Him, the more apt it becomes to receive graces and spiritual
gifts in abundance.” . . .
This is putting it still too mildly. The graces of prayer seem to him
not only desirable, but hypothetically necessary to eminent sanctity,
especially in apostolic men.4

This is what we wished to show in the present work. Agreement
on these great questions is increasingly acknowledged, and is also
more real than it seems. Some, who are professional theologians as
we ourselves are, consider the life of grace, the seed of glory, in
itself in order to judge what ought to be the full, normal develop­
ment of the infused virtues and of the gifts, the proximate disposi­
tion for receiving the beatific vision without passing through purga­
tory; in other words, their full development in a completely purified
soul that has profited richly by the trials of life on earth and no
4 Father Peeters expresses himself in like manner in the second revised and
augmented edition of this same work (1931), pp. 216-21.

X

PREFACE

infused contemplation is, in principle or in theory, in the normal
way of sanctity, although there are exceptions arising from the in­
dividual temperament or from absorbing occupations or from less
favorable surroundings, and so on.5
Other authors, considering especially the facts, or the individual
souls in which the life of grace exists, declare there are truly gen­
erous interior souls that do not reach this summit, which is, never­
theless, in itself the full, normal development of habitual grace, of
the infused virtues, and of the gifts.
Spiritual theology, like every science, ought to consider the in­
terior life as such, and not in a given individual in the midst of rather
unfavorable given circumstances. Because there are stunted oaks,
it does not follow that the oak is not a tall tree. Spiritual theology,
while noting the exceptions that may arise from the absence of a
given condition, ought especially to establish the higher laws of the
full development of the life of grace as such, and the proximate
disposition to receive the beatific vision immediately in a fully puri­
fied soul.
Purgatory, being a punishment, presupposes a fault that we could
have avoided and that we could have expiated before death by ac­
cepting the trials of the present life with an ever better will. We
are seeking here to determine the normal way of sanctity or of a
5 This distinction explains, we believe, certain apparent contradictions in
the writings of St. Teresa, which she herself has pointed out, saying that
they are not real.
In many texts she speaks of the general call of interior souls to the living
waters of prayer, and in other texts she speaks of particular cases. Thus she
says in chapter 20 of The Way of Perfection: “The last chapter seems to
contradict what I said when, 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.’ ” And she holds as a fact the principle of the general
call, which she explains anew: “1 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 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 (‘Jesus stood and cried, saying: If any man thirst, let him come to
Me, and drink.’ John 7:37). . . . You see, sisters, there 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.” The
restrictions made by St. Teresa do not concern the general and remote call,
but the individual and proximate call, as we have explained. Cf. Christian
Perfection and Contemplation, pp. 345-82.

PREFACE

xi

perfection such that one could enter heaven immediately after
death. From this point of view, we must consider the life of grace
inasmuch as it is the seed of eternal life, and consequently it is the
correct idea of eternal life, the end of our course, which must illu­
minate the entire road to be traveled. Movement is not specified by
its point of departure or by the obstacles it encounters, but by the
end toward which it tends. Thus the life of grace must be defined
by eternal life of which it is the seed; and then the proximate and
perfect disposition to receive the beatific vision immediately is in
the normal way of sanctity.
In the following pages we insist far more on the principles gen­
erally accepted in theology, by showing their value and their radia­
tion, than on the variety of opinions on one particular point or
another proposed by often quite secondary authors. There are some
recent works, already indicated, which mention all these opinions
in detail. We propose another aim, and that is why we quote mostly
from the greatest masters. Constant recourse to the foundations of
their doctrine seems to us what is most necessary for the formation
of the mind, which is more important than erudition. The secondary
ought not make us forget the primary, and the complexity of certain
questions ought not to make us lose sight of the certitude of the
great directive principles that illuminate all spirituality. We ought
particularly not to be content with repeating these principles like
so many platitudes, but to scrutinize them, to probe their depths,
and to revert to them continually that we may better understand
them.
Doubtless such a course of action lays one open to repetition; but
those who seek true theological science over and above contingent
opinions which may be in vogue for several years, know that it is
above all wisdom. They know that it is not so much preoccupied
with deducing new conclusions, but with connecting all the more
or less numerous conclusions with the same higher principles, like
the different sides of a pyramid with the same apex. Then the fact
that in relation to every problem we recall the loftiest principle of
the synthesis is not a repetition but a way of drawing near to cir­
cular contemplation, which, St. Thomas says,6 ever reverts to the
same eminent truth the better to grasp all its potentialities, and which,
like the flight of a bird, describes several times the same circle around
" See Ila, line, q. 180, a.6.

xii

PREFACE

the same point. This center, like the apex of a pyramid, is in its way
a symbol of the single instant of immobile eternity, which corre­
sponds to all the successive instants of time that passes. From this
point of view, our readers will pardon us for repeating several times
the same dominant themes which constitute the charm, the unity,
and the grandeur of spiritual theology.

Translator’s Preface
This translation of Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange’s synthesis
of the spiritual life, Les Trois Ages de la Vie Intérieure, has been
made possible by the interest and encouragement of Mother Mary
Samuel, O.P., Mother General of the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters.
Gratitude is due especially to the Very Reverend Peter O’Brien,
O.P., S.T.Lr., Ph.D., Provincial of the Province of St. Albert the
Great, River Forest, Illinois, for reading the manuscript, to other
Fathers of the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest for
criticisms and helpful suggestions, and to Sister Mary Aquinas
Devlin, O.P., Chairman of the Department of English, Rosary
College, for reading the entire manuscript.
Grateful acknowledgement is also made to the Benedictines of
Stanbrook Abbey for permission to use quotations from their edi­
tions of The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle; to Thomas
Baker for quotations from the Works of St. John of the Cross; to
Benziger Brothers for the many quotations from their English edi­
tion of the Summa Theologica; to Burns, Oates, Washbourne for
quotations from The Dialogue.
This translation is offered to Mary, Queen of the Most Holy
Rosary and Mediatrix of All Graces, and to St. Mary Magdalen,
protectress of the Order of Preachers and patroness of the interior
life, as a prayer that it may lead many souls to the contemplation of
the mysteries of salvation in which they shared so profoundly.
Sister M. Timothea Doyle, O.P.

xlil

Foreword
Sister Mary Timothea Doyle has done us a real service in giving us
this translation of Father R. Garrigou-Lagrange’s classical work Les
Trois Ages de la Vie Intérieure. Doctrinally sound, this work has
been accepted for its clear presentation of the way of perfection or,
as St. Francis de Sales calls it, the life of devotion. The author is pro­
found in his studies without losing that clarity of thought which is
so necessary and helpful in works on the spiritual life. Analyzing
the teaching of the great masters through the centuries, he has suc­
ceeded in giving us a synthesis of their thought which cannot but
be helpful to those who are seeking closer and closer union with
God.
The basic thought of this book is given in the words of Our
Blessed Savior: “Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
We are called in our vocation as sons of God to dare to imitate
divine perfection—to be participators of the divine nature. Our
supernatural birthright, lost to us in Eden, was restored in the blood
of the Savior on Calvary. Indeed human nature is weak, but in the
grace of God it can soar to the heights of perfection and hold be­
fore it as its ideal the very perfection of God. To be in very truth
in the light of Christian doctrine a son of God is the worthiest ambi­
tion of our souls.
The way is love. To be encompassed in the love of God for us
and to seek always supernaturally to return to God love is the
spiritual life of the Christian soul. Now love impels the soul to
union with God, and God in His love gives the soul the capacity
for supernatural union with Him. All the teachings on the spiritual
life are synthesized in this one thought—love. Just how God leads
the soul in divine love and how the soul may exercise itself in the
discipline of love is the subject matter of the great works on the
spiritual life.
XV

xvi

FOREWORD

Sublime indeed is the thought that Christian charity brings to our
minds. We reach up to God, and God reaches down to us, and in
divine love we are made sharers of the Divinity. All things we love
in God, and because we love them in God we seek to realize in our
use of them and relations with them the harmony of the divine will.
Of its very nature charity is not quiescent but operative. The soul
in the pursuit of the way of perfection labors tirelessly according
to its state in life to bring all men to God. Were it to content itself
with its own perfection, it would lose the very thing it seeks. How
can we love God and not love with God? How can we find God
without searching in love for the things which God loves? Cer­
tainly one of the fruits of the spiritual life is peace, but this peace
postulates our conforming our wills with the divine will. All the
noble aspirations of the heart of man, aspirations which so often
seem unrealizable in our condition of human weakness, are answered
in our seeking to be ever more and more perfect in the spiritual life.
Men are talking much these days about realism, and they tell us
that in life idealism must yield to compromise. Yet in every circum­
stance in life we can be sons of God in supernatural union with
Him. This fact is the very basis of true Christian realism. We must
not and dare not be defeatists. What human nature can never do
can be done in the supernatural power of divine grace. It is there­
fore opportune in these times to give us this translation of this classi­
cal work of the spiritual life because it strengthens us in our effort
to work out more perfectly our vocation of sons of God. We can
build a better world. Human weakness is not an impassable barrier.
The Savior died on the cross for us and rose to glorious life. With
the graces of Redemption we are strong enough to labor for the
realization of God’s plan and on our way to heaven to love with an
operative love all those whom we meet on our pilgrimage of life.
We hope that pious souls will read this book, ponder over its
pages, and gain new strength from it. It is a challenge to Christians
to arise and labor unceasingly for the kingdom of Christ—wherein
there is peace and true progress.
Samuel Cardinal Stritch
Archbishop of Chicago

Contents

Preface........................................................................................... FA°v

Translator’s Preface......................................................................xiÿ
Foreword............................................................................................ xv

Introduction........................................................................................... ........

PART I

THE SOURCES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE AND ITS END
Prologue............................................................................................ 28
CHAPTER

I. The Life of Grace, Eternal Life Begun .... 29
A. Eternal Life Promised by the Savior to Men of
Good Will............................................................3o
B. The Seed of Eternal Life in Us........................... 33
C. An Important Consequence................................ 37
II. The Interior Life and Intimate Conversation with
God................................................................................. 40
A. Conversation with Oneself..................................... 40
B. Interior Conversation with God...........................43
III. The Spiritual Organism................................................ 48
ARTICLE I

The Natural Life and the Supernatural Life of
the Soul...................................................................... 48
article

π

The Theological Virtues........................................... 52
ARTICLE HI

The Moral Virtues...................................................... 57

A. The Acquired Moral Virtues................................ 58
B. The Infused Moral Virtues................................ 59
xvii

CONTENTS
C. Relations Between the Infused Moral Virtues and
the Acquired Moral Virtues...................... 62

xviii

ARTICLE IV
PAGE

PTE*

The Seven Giftsof

the

HolyGhost.............................66

A. The Teaching ofScripture................................. 66
B. Tradition................................................................ 66
C. The Gifts of the Holy Ghost According to St.
Thomas................................................................ 70
appendix

The Superhuman Mode of the Gifts of the Holy
Ghost...................................................................... 78

A. In What Sense Can the Gifts Have Two Modes,
That on Earth and That of Heaven? .... 79
B. Whether the Superhuman Mode of the Gifts
Can Be Latent................................................. 81
C. Are There Degrees in Detachment from Crea­
tures? ............................................................ 82
D. Are the Passive Purifications Necessary to Elimi­
nate Moral Defects?.....................................84
article v

Actual Grace and Its DiversForms............................ 88

A. The Necessity of Actual Grace...................... 88
B. The Different Actual Graces............................... 90
C. Fidelity to Grace................................................ 93

IV.

The Blessed Trinity Present in Us, Uncreated
Source of Our Interior Life..................................... 97

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

The Testimony of Scripture............................... 97
The Testimony of Tradition............................... 99
The Theological Explanation of This Mystery . 101
Spiritual Consequences of This Doctrine . . . 105
Our Duties Toward the Divine Guest . . . 106

V. The Influence

of Christ the Redeemer on His
Mystical Body.......................................................109

A. How the Savior Communicates to Us the Graces
Which He Formerly Merited for Us .
. 109
B. The Sanctifying Influence of the Savior Through
the Eucharist................................................. 112
C. Progressive Incorporation in Christ and Sanctity 117

CONTENTS
CHAPTER

xix
FAGS

VI. The Influence OF Mary Mediatrix......................... 119
A. The Meaning of UniversalMediation . . .120
B. Mary Mediatrix by Her Cooperation in the Sacri­
fice of the Cross............................................... 122
C. Mary Obtains and Distributes All Graces . .126
VII. The Growth of the Life of Grace by Merit,
Prayer, and the Sacraments.................................... 129
A. Why the Life of Grace and Charity Should
Grow in Us until Death.................................... 129
B. The Increase of Charity by Our Merits . .
133
C. The Increase of the Life of Grace Through
Prayer................................................................ 138
D. The Increase of the Life of Grace Through the
Sacraments.......................................................... 141
VIII. The True Nature of Christian Perfection . . . 144
A. Erroneous or Incomplete Ideas of Perfection . 144
B. The Essence of Perfection According to St.
Paul’s Interpretation of the Gospel
’49
C. Some Exact Theological Statements on the Na­
ture of Perfection..........................................153
D. The Superiority of Charity to the Knowledge of
God in This Life............................................... 155
E. The Love of Charity Cannot Be Absolutely Con­
tinual on Earth as It Will Be in Heaven . . .159
IX. The Grandeur of Christian Perfection and the
Beatitudes..................................................................... 163
A. The Beatitudes of the Deliverance from Sin . .165
B. The Beatitudes of the Active Life of the Christian 168
C. The Beatitudes of Contemplation and Union
with God.......................................................... 169
X. Perfection and Heroic Virtue.................................... 174
A. Does Perfection Necessarily Require Great
Charity?............................................................... 174
B. Does Perfection Require the Heroic Practice of
the Virtues?.......................................................... 179
XI. Full Christian Perfection and the Passive Purifi­
cations .................................................................. 183
A. Acts of the Other Virtues Required for Perfec­
tion
................................................................ 183

CONTENTS

XX
CHASTE*

PAGE

B. The Purifications Required for the Full Perfec­
tion of Christian Life.................................... 186
C. Full Christian Perfection and Contemplation . 193
XII. Perfection and the Precept of the Love of God . 196
A. Is the First Precept Without Limit? .
.196
B. The Duty of Advancing on the Way to Eternity 202
XIII. Perfection and the Evangelical Counsels .
. 206
A. The Three Evangelical Counsels and the
Wounds of the Soul......................................... 206
B. The Three Evangelical Counsels and the Restora­
tion of Original Harmony.............................. 210
XIV. The Special Obligation of the Priest and the Re­
ligious to Tend to Perfection ....................... 214
A. The Nature of the Special Obligation for Re­
ligious
..................... ................................... 214
B. The Special Obligation of the Priest to Tend to
Perfection......................................................... 218
C. The Ideal of Episcopal Perfection According to
St. Isidore...........................................
· 223
XV. The Three Ages of the Spiritual Life According to
the Fathers and the Great Spiritual Writers .
. 225
A. Statement of the Problem................................... 225
B. The Testimony of Scripture.............................. 228
C. The Testimony of Tradition.............................. 230
D. The Three Ages of the Spiritual Life and Those
of the Corporeal Life......................................... 238
XVI. Spiritual Reading of Scripture, of the Works and
Lives of the Saints....................................................247
A. Holy Scripture and the Life of the Soul . . .247
B. The Spiritual Works of the Saints .... 249
C. The Lives of the Saints......................................... 252
D. Dispositions for Profitable Spiritual Reading . 253
XVII. Spiritual Direction.................................................. 256
A. The Necessity of Direction............................. 256
B. The Direction of Beginners............................. 258
C. The Direction of Proficients and the Perfect . 260
D. The Qualities of the Director and the Duties of
the One Being Directed................................... 261

CONTENTS

xxi

PART II
THE PURIFICATION OF THE SOUL IN BEGINNERS

XVIII. The Spiritual Age of Beginners.............................. 267
A. Self-Knowledge and Knowledge of God . . . 267
B. The Love of God in Its Early Stages .... 268
C. The Generosity Required in Beginners . . .271
XIX. Practical Naturalism and Mortification According
to the Gospel................................................... 275
A. Practical Naturalism: of Action and of Inaction . 275
B. Mortification According to the Gospel .
.281
XX. Mortification According to St. Paul and the Rea­
sons for Its Necessity.................................... 285
A. The Consequences of Original Sin . . . .286
B. The Consequences of Our Personal Sins . . . 290
C. The Infinite Elevation of Our Supernatural End
Demands a Special Mortification or Abnegation 294
D. The Necessity of Imitating Jesus Crucified . . 295

XXI. Sins

to be
sequences

A.
B.
C.
D.

Avoided; Their Roots and Their Con­
......................................................................... *99

The Roots of the Capital Sins...........................
The Consequences of the Seven Capital Sins .
The Examination of Conscience......................
Sins of Ignorance, Frailty, and Malice ....
1. Sins of Ignorance.......................................
2. Sins of Frailty............................................
3. The Sin of Malice.......................................

XXII. The Predominant Fault................................................
A. Definition of the Predominant Fault ....
B. How to Recognize the Predominant Fault .
C. How to Combat the Predominant Fault .
D. Note..................................................................

*99
302
304
3°7
307
309
310

314
314
316
318
320

XXIII. Passions to be Regulated....................................
3*3
A. The Passions from the Psychological Point of
View............................................................
3*3
B. Passion from the Moral Point of View
3*5
C. The Passions from the Ascetical Point of View
326

xxii

XXIV.

CONTENTS
The Active Purification of the Senses or of the
Sensible Appetites..................................... 332

A. The Principles to be Applied.............................. 332
B. The Mortification of Sensuality........................ 334
C. The Mortification of the Irascible Appetite . .338

XXV. The Active Purification of the Imagination and
the Memory.............................................................. 342
A. The Active Purification of the Imagination . . 343
B. The Active Purification of the Memory . . . 345
XXVI. The Active Purification of the Intellect . . .353
A. The Necessity of This Purification: the Defects
of Our Intellect................................
. 353
B. The Principle of the Active Purification of the
Intellect.............................................................. 359
XXVII. The Active Purification of the Will........................ 365
A. The Principal Defect of the Will: Self-Love . 366
B. The Purification of the Will by Progress in the
Love of God..................................................... 372
C. The Spirit of Detachment............................... 374
XXVIII. The Healing of Pride.......................................... 379
A. The True Nature of Pride............................... 379
B. The Different Forms of Pride.......................... 381
C. The Defects Born of Pride............................... 384
D. The Remedy for Pride.................................... 385
XXIX. The Healing of Spiritual Sloth, orAcedia . . . 389
A. The Nature of Spiritual Sloth, orAcedia . . . 389
B. The Gravity of Spiritual Sloth and ItsResults . 393
C. The Cure for Spiritual Sloth.............................. 395
XXX. Sacramental Confession......................................... 397
A. Preparation for Confession................................... 397
B. The Confession Itself........................................ 400
C. The Fruits of Confession................................... 402
XXXI. Assistance at Mass, the Source of Sanctification . 406
A. The Oblation Ever Living in the Heart of Christ 407
B. The Effects of the Sacrifice of the Mass and Our
Interior Dispositions
409
C. I low to Unite Ourselves to the Eucharistic Sacri­
fice
.............................................................. 4u

CONTENTS
CHAPTER

xxiii
PAGE

XXXII. Holy Communion........................................................414
A. The Eucharist, the Living Bread Come Down
from Heaven......................................................... 414
B. Conditions of a Good Communion
. . . 417
C. The Conditions of a FerventCommunion . .417
D. Examination of Conscience: Communions with­
out Thanksgiving .......................................... 421
XXXIII. The Prayer of Petition.......................................... 428
A. The Necessity of a Strong Belief in the Efficacy
of Prayer............................................................... 428
B. The Source of the Efficacy of Prayer .... 430
C. The Particular Petitions We Should Make . . 435
XXXIV. Liturgical Prayer.................................................... 437
A. Deformed Psalmody......................................... 437
B. Contemplative Chant......................................... 439
XXXV. The Mental Prayer of Beginners: Its Progressive
Simplification............................................... 444
A. The Nature of Mental Prayer; Our Attitude
Toward Methods.............................................. 445
B. The Essential Acts of Prayer.............................. 446
C. The Prayer of Simplicity................................... 451
XXXVI. How to Attain to the Life of Prayer and Persevere
in It.............................................................. 454
A. How to Attain toThis Life............................... 454
B. How to Persevere in the Life of Prayer . . . 456
XXXVII. Retarded Souls......................................................... 461
A. The Neglect ofLittle Things................................ 461
B. The Refusal of Sacrifices Asked........................ 463
C. The Tendency to Derision................................... 464
D. The Unhappy Results of This State .... 465
E. The Inclination to Egoism that Remains in Us . 468
F. How to Bring About the Predominance of the
Other Inclination Which Is in the Image of God 469
Bibliography.................................................................................. 471
Index...........................................................................................................

Some Terms Used

in

This Book.................................................................

Introduction

Introduction
E PROPOSE in this book to synthesize two other works,
Christian Perfection and Contemplation, and L'amour de
Dieu et la croix de Jésus. In those two works we studied, in the
light of the principles of St. Thomas, the main problems of the
spiritual life and in particular one which has been stated more ex­
plicitly in recent years, namely: Is the infused contemplation of the
mysteries of faith and the union with God which results therefrom
an intrinsically extraordinary grace, or is it, on the contrary, in the
normal way of sanctity?
We purpose here to consider these questions again in a simpler
and loftier manner, with the perspective needed the better to see
the subordination of all the elements of the interior life in relation
to union with God. With this end in view, we shall consider first
of all the foundations of the interior life, then the elimination of
obstacles, the progress of the soul purified and illuminated by the
light of the Holy Ghost, the docility which it ought to have toward
Him, and finally the union with God which the soul attains by this
docility, by the spirit of prayer, and by the cross borne with pa­
tience, gratitude, and love.
By way of introduction, we shall briefly recall what constitutes
the one thing necessary for every Christian, and we shall also recall
how urgently this question is being raised at the present time.

W

I. THE ONE THING NECESSARY

As everyone can easily understand, the interior life is an elevated
form of intimate conversation which everyone has with himself as
soon as he is alone, even in the tumult of a great city. From the mo­
ment he ceases to converse with his fellow men, man converses
interiorly with himself about what preoccupies him most. This con­
versation varies greatly according to the different ages of life; that
J

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
4
of an old man is not that of a youth. It also varies greatly according
as a man is good or bad.
As soon as a man seriously seeks truth and goodness, this intimate
conversation with himself tends to become conversation with God.
Little by little, instead of seeking himself in everything, instead of
tending more or less consciously to make himself a center, man tends
to seek God in everything, and to substitute for egoism love of
God and of souls in Him. This constitutes the interior life. No
sincere man will have any difficulty in recognizing it. The one thing
necessary which Jesus spoke of to Martha and Mary 1 consists in
hearing the word of God and living by it.
The interior life thus conceived is something far more profound
and more necessary in us than intellectual life or the cultivation of
the sciences, than artistic or literary life, than social or political life.
Unfortunately, some great scholars, mathematicians, physicists, and
astronomers have no interior life, so to speak, but devote themselves
to the study of their science as if God did not exist. In their mo­
ments of solitude they have no intimate conversation with Him.
Their life appears to be in certain respects the search for the true
and the good in a more or less definite and restricted domain, but
it is so tainted with self-love and intellectual pride that we may
legitimately question whether it will bear fruit for eternity. Many
artists, literary men, and statesmen never rise above this level of
purely human activity which is, in short, quite exterior. Do the
depths of their souls live by God? It would seem not.
This shows that the interior life, or the life of the soul with God,
well deserves to be called the one thing necessary, since by it we
tend to our last end and assure our salvation. This last must not be
too widely separated from progressive sanctification, for it is the very
way of salvation.
There are those who seem to think that it is sufficient to be saved
and that it is not necessary to be a saint. It is clearly not necessary to
be a saint who performs miracles and whose sanctity is officially
recognized by the Church. To be saved, we must take the way of
salvation, which is identical with that of sanctity. There will be only
saints in heaven, whether they enter there immediately after death
or after purification in purgatory. No one enters heaven unless he
has that sanctity which consists in perfect purity of soul. Every
1 Luke 10:42.

INTRODUCTION

5

sin, though it should be venial, must be effaced, and the punishment
due to sin must be borne or remitted, in order that a soul may enjoy
forever the vision of God, see Him as He sees Himself, and love Him
as He loves Himself. Should a soul enter heaven before the total re­
mission of its sins, it could not remain there and it would cast itself
into purgatory to be purified.
The interior life of a just man who tends toward God and who
already lives by Him is indeed the one thing necessary. To be a
saint, neither intellectual culture nor great exterior activity is a
requisite; it suffices that we live profoundly by God. This truth
is evident in the saints of the early Church; several of those saints
were poor people, even slaves. It is evident also in St. Francis, St.
Benedict Joseph Labre, in the Curé of Ars, and many others. They
all had a deep understanding of these words of our Savior: “For
what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer
the loss of his own soul? ” 2 If people sacrifice so many things to
save the life of the body, which must ultimately die, what should
we not sacrifice to save the life of our soul, which is to last forever?
Ought not man to love his soul more than his body? “Or what ex­
change shall a man give for his soul?” our Lord adds.3 “One thing is
necessary,” He tells us? To save our soul, one thing alone is neces­
sary: to hear the word of God and to live by it. Therein lies the best
part, which will not be taken away from a faithful soul even though
it should lose everything else.

II. THE QUESTION OF THE ONE THING NECESSARY AT THE

PRESENT TIME

What we have just said is true at all times; but the question of the
interior life is being more sharply raised today than in several periods
less troubled than ours. The explanation of this interest lies in the
fact that many men have separated themselves from God and tried
to organize intellectual and social life without Him. The great prob­
lems that have always preoccupied humanity have taken on a new
and sometimes tragic aspect. To wish to get along without God,
first Cause and last End, leads to an abyss; not only to nothingness,
2 Matt. 16:26.
• Ibid.
* Luke 10:42.

6

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

but also to physical and moral wretchedness that is worse than noth­
ingness. Likewise, great problems grow exasperatingly serious, and
man must finally perceive that all these problems ultimately lead to
the fundamental religious problem; in other words, he will finally
have to declare himself entirely for God or against Him. This is in
its essence the problem of the interior life. Christ Himself says: “He
that is not with Me is against Me.” B
The great modern scientific and social tendencies, in the midst of
the conflicts that arise among them and in spite of the opposition
of those who represent them, converge in this way, whether one
wills it or not, toward the fundamental question of the intimate rela­
tions of man with God. This point is reached after many deviations.
When man will no longer fulfill his great religious duties toward
God who created him and who is his last End, he makes a religion
for himself since he absolutely cannot get along without religion.
To replace the superior ideal which he has abandoned, man may,
for example, place his religion in science or in the cult of social
justice or in some human ideal, which finally he considers in a re­
ligious manner and even in a mystical manner. Thus he turns away
from supreme reality, and there arises a vast number of problems
that will be solved only if he returns to the fundamental problem
of the intimate relations of the soul with God.
It has often been remarked that today science pretends to be a
religion. Likewise socialism and communism claim to be a code of
ethics and present themselves under the guise of a feverish cult of
justice, thereby trying to captivate hearts and minds. As a matter
of fact, the modern scholar seems to have a scrupulous devotion to
the scientific method. He cultivates it to such a degree that he often
seems to prefer the method of research to the truth. If he bestowed
equally serious care on his interior life, he would quickly reach
sanctity. Often, however, this religion of science is directed toward
the apotheosis of man rather than toward the love of God. As much
must be said of social activity, particularly under the form it as­
sumes in socialism and communism. It is inspired by a mysticism
which purposes a transfiguration of man, while at times it denies
in the most absolute manner the rights of God.
This is simply a reiteration of the statement that the religious
problem of the relations of man with God is at the basis of every
•Matt. 12:30.

INTRODUCTION

7
great problem. We must declare ourselves for or against Him; in­
difference is no longer possible, as our times show in a striking
manner. The present world-wide economic crisis demonstrates what
men can do when they seek to get along without God.
Without God, the seriousness of life gets out of focus. If religion
is no longer a grave matter but something to smile at, then the serious
element in life must be sought elsewhere. Some place it, or pretend
to place it, in science or in social activity; they devote themselves
religiously to the search for scientific truth or to the establishment
of justice between classes or peoples. After a while they are forced
to perceive that they have ended in fearful disorder and that the
relations between individuals and nations become more and more
difficult, if not impossible. As St. Augustine and St. Thomas 8 have
said, it is evident that the same material goods, as opposed to those
of the spirit, cannot at one and the same time belong integrally to
several persons. The same house, the same land, cannot simul­
taneously belong wholly to several men, nor the same territory to
several nations. As a result, interests conflict when man feverishly
makes these lesser goods his last end.
St. Augustine, on the other hand, insists on the fact that the same
spiritual goods can belong simultaneously and integrally to all and
to each individual in particular. Without doing harm to another,
we can fully possess the same truth, the same virtue, the same God.
This is why our Lord says to us: “Seek ye therefore first the king­
dom of God and His justice; and all these things shall be added unto
you.” 7 Failure to hearken to this lesson, is to work at one’s destruc­
tion and to verify once more the words of the Psalmist: “Unless the
Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the
Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it.” 8
If the serious element in life is out of focus, if it no longer is con­
cerned with our duties toward God, but with the scientific and social
activities of man; if man continually seeks himself instead of God,
his last End, then events are not slow in showing him that he has
taken an impossible way, which leads nor only to nothingness, but
to unbearable disorder and misery. We must again and again revert
to Christ’s words: “He that is not with Me, is against Me: and he
• Cf. St. Thomas, la llac, q.28, a.4 ad lum; Illa, q.23, a. 1 ad 311m.
’ Matt. 6:33.
• Ps. 126:1.

8

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

that gathereth not with Me, scattereth.” 9 The facts confirm this
declaration.
We conclude logically that religion can give an efficacious and
truly realistic answer to the great modern problems only if it is a
religion that is profoundly lived, not simply a superficial and cheap
religion made up of some vocal prayers and some ceremonies in
which religious art has more place than true piety. As a matter of
fact, no religion that is profoundly lived is without an interior life,
without that intimate and frequent conversation which we have not
only with ourselves but with God.
The last encyclicals of Pope Pius XI make this clear. To respond
to what is good in the general aspirations of nations, aspirations to
justice and charity among individuals, classes, and peoples, the Holy
Father wrote the encyclicals on Christ the King, on His sanctifying
influence in all His mystical body, on the family, on the sanctity of
Christian marriage, on social questions, on the necessity of reparation,
and on the missions. In all these encyclicals he deals with the reign of
Christ over all humanity. The logical conclusion to be drawn is
that religion, the interior life, must be profound, must be a true life
of union with God if it is to keep the pre-eminence it should have
over scientific and social activities. This is a manifest necessity.
in. THE AIM OF THIS WORK

How shall we deal with the interior life? We shall not take up
in a technical manner many questions about sanctifying grace and
the infused virtues that have been treated at length by theologians.
We assume them here, and we shall revert to them only in the
measure necessary for the understanding of what the spiritual life
should be.
Our aim is to invite souls to become more interior and to tend to
union with God. To do so, two very different dangers must be
avoided.
Rather frequently the spirit animating scientific research even in
these matters tarries over details to such an extent that the mind is
turned away from the contemplation of divine things. The majority
of interior souls do not need many of the critical studies indispensa­
ble to the theologian. To understand them, they would need a philo8 Matt, us jo.

INTRODUCTION

9
sophical initiation which they do not possess and which, in a sense,
would hamper them who in an instant and in a different manner go
higher, as in the case of St. Francis of Assisi. He was astonished to
see that in the course of philosophy given to his religious, time was
taken to prove the existence of God. Today, occasionally exag­
gerated specialization in studies produces in many minds a lack of
the general view needed to judge wisely of things, even of those in
which they are especially interested and whose relation with every­
thing else they no longer see. The cult of detail ought not to make
us lose sight of the whole. Instead of becoming spiritual, we would
then become materialistic, and under pretext of exact and detailed
learning, we would turn away from the true interior life and from
lofty Christian wisdom.
On the other hand, many books on religious subjects that are
written in a popular style, and many pious books lack a solid doc­
trinal foundation. Popularization, because the kind of simplification
imposed upon it is material rather than formal, often avoids the ex­
amination of certain fundamental and difficult problems from which,
nevertheless, light would come, and at times the light of life.
To avoid these two opposite dangers, we shall follow the way
pointed out by St. Thomas, who was not a popularizer and who is
still the great classic authority on theology. He rose from the learned
complexity of his first works and of the Quaestiones disputatae to
the superior simplicity of the most beautiful articles of the Summa
theologica. He ascended to this height so well that at the!end of
his life, absorbed in lofty contemplation, he could not dictate the
end of his Summa because he could no longer descend to the com­
plexity of the questions and articles that he still wished to com­
pose.
The cult of detail and that of superficial simplification, each in its
way alienates the soul from Christian contemplation, which rises
above these opposing deviations like a summit toward which all
prayerful souls tend.
IV. THE OBJECT OF ASCETICAL AND MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

One secs from the matter which ascetical and mystical theology
should treat that it is a branch or a part of theology, an application
of rheology to rhe direction of souls, k must, therefore, proceed

io

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

under the light of revelation, which alone gives a knowledge of the
nature of the life of grace and of the supernatural union of the soul
with God.
This part of theology is, above all, a development of the treatise
on the love of God and of that on the gifts of the Holy Ghost, to
show how they are applied or to lead souls to divine union.10 Simi­
larly, casuistry is, in a less elevated domain, an application of moral
theology to the practical discernment of what is obligatory under
pain of mortal or venial sin. Moral theology ought to treat, not only
of sins to be avoided, but of virtues to be practiced, and of docility
in following the inspirations of the Holy Ghost. From this point of
view, its applications are called ascetical and mystical theology.
Ascetical theology treats especially of the mortification of vices
or defects and of the practice of the virtues. Mystical theology treats
principally of docility to the Holy Ghost, of the infused contempla­
tion of the mysteries of faith, of the union with God which proceeds
from it, and also of extraordinary graces, such as visions and revela­
tions, which sometimes accompany infused contemplation.11
We shall examine the question whether ascetical theology is essen­
tially ordained to mystical theology by asking whether the infused
contemplation of the mysteries of faith and the union with God that
results from it is an essentially extraordinary grace, such as visions
and revelations, or whether in the perfect it is not rather the eminent
but normal exercise of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are in
all the just. The answer to this question, which has been discussed
several times in recent years, will form the conclusion of this work.
V. THE METHOD OF ASCETICAL AND MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

We shall limit ourselves here to what is essential in regard to the
method to be followed.12 We must avoid two contrary deviations
10 This explains how St. Francis de Sales could set forth all that concerns
ascetical and mystical theology under the title, Treatise on the Love of God.
11 We are speaking of doctrinal mystical theology. It should be remem­
bered that in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries infused contemplation
itself was sometimes called mystical theology.
12 In Christian Perfection and Contemplation, pp. ΐϊ-47, wc dealt at greater
length with the object and method of ascctical and mystical theology (the
descriptive method, the deductive method, the union of the two), and we
examined the position of the problem relative to the distinction between
ascctical and mystical theology according to the texts of several ancient and
modern writers.

INTRODUCTION

II

that are easily grasped: one would result from the almost exclusive
use of the descriptive or inductive method, the other from a contrary
excess.
The almost exclusive use of the descriptive or inductive method
would lead us to forget that ascetical and mystical theology is a
branch of theology, and we would end by considering it a part of
experimental psychology. We would thus assemble only the ma­
terial of mystical theology. By losing the directing light, all would
be impoverished and diminished. Mystical rheology must be set forth
by the great principles of theology on the life of grace, on the in­
fused virtues, and on the seven gifts; in so doing, light is shed on all
of it, and one is face to face with a science and not a collection of
more or less well described phenomena.
If the descriptive method were used almost exclusively, we would
be struck especially by the more or less sensible signs of the mystical
state and not by the basic law of the progress of grace, whose
essential supernaturalness is of too elevated an order to fall under
the grasp of observation. More attention might then be given to
certain extraordinary and, so to speak, exterior graces, such as
visions, revelations, stigmata, than to the normal and elevated de­
velopment of sanctifying grace, of the infused virtues, and of the
gifts of the Holy Ghost. By so doing, we might be led to confound
with what is essentially extraordinary that which is only extrinsically
so, that is, what is eminent but normal; to confound intimate union
with God in its elevated forms with the extraordinary and relatively
inferior graces which sometimes accompany it.
Lastly, the exclusive use of the descriptive method might give too
much importance to this easily established fact, that intimate union
with God and rhe infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith
are relatively rare. This idea might lead us to think that all interior
and generous souls are not called to it, even in a general and remote
manner.13 This would be to forget the words of our Lord so fre­
quently quoted by the mystics in this connection: “Many are called,
but few are chosen.”
On the other hand, care must be taken to avoid another devia­
tion that would spring from the almost exclusive use of the deductive
theological method. Some souls that are rather inclined to over*’ Wc might also fail to distinguish sufficiently between the general and
remote call and the individual and proximate call.

12

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

simplify things would be led to deduce the solution of the most
difficult problems of spirituality by starting from the accepted doc­
trine in theology about the infused virtues and the gifts, as it is set
forth by St. Thomas, without sufficiently considering the admirable
descriptions given by St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis
de Sales, and other saints, of the various degrees of the spiritual life,
especially of the mystical union. It is to these facts that the principles
must be applied, or rather it is these facts, first of all well under­
stood in themselves, that must be illuminated by the light of princi­
ples, especially to discern what is truly extraordinary in them and
what is eminent but normal.
The excessive use of the deductive method in this case would lead
to a confusion radically opposed to the one indicated above. Since,
according to tradition and St. Thomas, the seven gifts of the Holy
Ghost are in every soul in the state of grace, we might thus be in­
clined to believe that the mystical state or infused contemplation is
very frequent, and we might confound with them what is only
their prelude, as simplified effective prayer.1·1 We would thus be
led not to take sufficiently into account the concomitant phenomena
of certain degrees of the mystical union, such as suspension of the
faculties and ecstasy, and we would fall into the opposite extreme
from that of the partisans of the solely descriptive method.
Practically, as a result of these two excesses two extremes also
are to be avoided in spiritual direction: advising souls to leave the
ascetical way too s’oon or too late. We will discuss this matter at
length in the course of this work.
Obviously the two methods, the inductive and the deductive, or
the analytic and the synthetic, must be combined.
The concepts and the facts of the spiritual life must be analyzed.
First of all, must be analyzed the concepts of the interior life and of
Christian perfection, of sanctity, which the Gospel gives us, in order
that we may see clearly the end proposed by the Savior Himself to
all interior souls, and see this end in all its elevation without in any
way diminishing it. Then must be analyzed the facts: the imperfec­
tions of beginners, the active and passive purifications, the various
M Some authors, by thus proceeding too a priori, have maintained that the
actual influence of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is necessary even for a feeble
act (rewziwwr) of rhe infused virtues; for example, for an act of faith in which
there is as yet no penetration or any relish of the mystery in which one be­
lieves.

INTRODUCTION

13

degrees of union, and so on, to distinguish what is essential in them
and what is accessory.
After this work of analysis, we must make a synthesis and point
out what is necessary or very useful and desirable to reach the full
perfection of Christian life, and what, on the other hand, is properly
extraordinary and in no way required for the highest sanctity.15
Several of these questions are very difficult, either because of the
elevation of the subject treated, or because of the contingencies that
are met with in the application and that depend on the temperament
of the persons to be directed or on the good pleasure of God, who,
for example, sometimes grants the grace of contemplation to be­
ginners and withdraws it temporarily from advanced souls. Because
of these multiple difficulties, the study of ascetical and mystical
theology requires a profound knowledge of theology, especially of
the treatises on grace, on the infused virtues, on the gifts of the Holy
Ghost in their relations with the great mysteries of the Trinity, the
Incarnation, the redemption, and the Blessed Eucharist. It requires
also familiarity with the great spiritual writers, especially those who
have been designated by the Church as guides in these matters.
VI. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN ASCETICAL AND MYSTICAL

THEOLOGY AND THEIR RELATIONS TO EACH OTHER

We must recall here the division between ascetical and mystical
theology that was generally accepted until the eighteenth century,
and then the modification that Scaramelli and those who followed
him introduced at that time. The reader will, therefore, more readily
understand why, with several contemporary theologians, we return
to the division that seems to us truly traditional and conformable
to the principles of the great masters.
Until the eighteenth century, authors generally set forth under16
16 To settle the question whether it is legitimate humbly to desire the in­
fused contemplation of the mysteries of faith and the union with God which
results from it, manifestly it is not sufficient to know this contemplation and
this union from the exterior by signs. We must know their nature, and also
whether they are essentially extraordinary or something eminent but normal.
The practically exclusive use of the descriptive method would lead us to con­
sider this question of nature as almost inexplicable and one about which only
a few words arc written at the end of a treatise. On the contrary, it is an
important question which should be treated ex professo.

I4

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

the title Theologia mystica all the questions that ascetical and mys­
tical theology treats of today. This is evident from the title of the
works written by Blessed Bartholomew of the Martyrs, O.P., Philip
of the Blessed Trinity, O.C.D., Anthony of the Holy Ghost, O.C.D.,
Thomas Vallgornera, O.P., Schram, O.S.B., and others. Under the
title Theologia mystica all these authors treated of the purgative way
of beginners, of the illuminative way of proficients, and of the
unitive way of the perfect. In one or the other of these last two
parts, they spoke of infused contemplation and the extraordinary
graces which sometimes accompany it, that is to say, visions, revela­
tions, and like favors. Moreover, in their introduction these authors
customarily treated of experimental mystical theology, that is, of
infused contemplation itself, for their treatises were directed to it
and to the intimate union with God which results from it.
An example of this division which was generally admitted in
former times may be found in Vallgornera’s Mystica theologia divi
Thomae {1661}. He closely follows the Carmelite, Philip of the
Blessed Trinity, by linking the division Philip gave with that of
earlier authors and with certain characteristic texts from the works
of St. John of the Cross on the period when the passive purifica­
tions of the senses and of the spirit generally appear.16 He divides
his treatise for contemplatives into three parts (the purgative way,
the illuminative way, the unitive way).
i. The purgative way, proper to beginners, in which he treats
of the active purification of the external and internal senses, of the
passions, of the intellect and the will, by mortification, meditation,
and prayer, and finally of the passive purification of the senses,
which is like a second conversion and in which infused contempla­
tion begins. It is the transition to the illuminative way.
This last point is of prime importance in this division, and it con­
forms closely to two of the most important texts from the works
le Philip of the Blessed Trinity sets forth the same ideas in the prologue of
his Summa theologiae mysticae, ed. 1874, p. 17.
We quote Vallgornera rather than Philip of the Blessed Trinity because
the division we are speaking of appears more clearly in the former’s work.
As regards the relative merit of these authors, Philip is notably superior.
Vallgornera often copied from him ad litteram, as he also copied the beauti­
ful pages of John of St. Thomas on the gifts of the Holy Ghost. In this sense,
Vallgornera’s work is superior to Philip’s since Vallgornera copied the select
passages from the best authors.

INTRODUCTION

’5

of St. John of the Cross: “The night of sense is common, and the
lot of many: these are the beginners.” 17 “The soul began to set out
on the way of the spirit, the way of proficients, which is also called
the illuminative way, or the way of infused contemplation, wherein
God Himself teaches and refreshes the soul.” 18 Infused contempla­
tion begins, according to St. John of the Cross, with the passive
purification of the senses, which thus marks the transition from the
way of beginners to that of proficients. Vallgornera clearly preserves
this doctrine in this division as well as in the one that follows.
2. The illuminative way, -proper to proficients, in which, after
a preliminary chapter on the divisions of contemplation, are dis­
cussed the gifts of the Holy Ghost, infused contemplation, which
proceeds especially from the gifts of understanding and wisdom
and which is declared desirable for all interior souls,19 as morally
necessary for the full perfection of Christian life. After several
articles relating to extraordinary graces (visions, revelations, interior
words), this second part of the work closes with a chapter of nine
articles dealing with the passive purification of the spirit, which
marks the passage to the unitive way. This also is what St. John of
the Cross taught.20
3. The unitive way, proper to the perfect, in which is discussed
the initimate union of the contemplative soul with God and its de­
grees up to the transforming union. Vallgornera considers this di­
vision traditional, truly conformable to the doctrine of the fathers,
to the principles of St. Thomas, and to the teaching of the greatest
mystics who have written on the three ages of the spiritual life, not­
ing how the transition from one to the other is generally made.21
In the eighteenth century, Scaramelli (1687-1752), who was
17 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 8.
18 Ibid., chap. 14.
19 Prior to Vallgornera, Philip of the Blessed Trinity had affirmed this idea
in the same terms in that part of his work in which he speaks of infused con­
templation. This is the same teaching that is found also in the works of the
Carmelites, Anthony of the Holy Ghost, Joseph of the Holy Ghost, and of
many others whom we shall quote farther on when discussing this subject.
20 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chaps. 2, 11.
21 Another Dominican, Giovanni Maria di Lauro, in his Theologia mystica
which appeared in Naples in 1743, divides his work in the same way, placing
the passive purification of the senses as the transition to the illuminative way
(p. 113), and the passive purification of rhe spirit as the disposition to the
perfect unitive life (p. 303), according to the teaching of St. John of the Cross.

16

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

followed by many authors of that period, proposed an entirely
different division. First of all, he does not treat of ascetical and mys­
tical theology in the same work but in two separate works, com­
prising four treatises: (i) Christian perfection and the means that
lead to it; (2) Obstacles (or the purgative way); (3) The proximate
dispositions to Christian perfection, consisting in the moral virtues
in the perfect degree (or the way of proficients); (4) The essential
perfection of the Christian, consisting in the theological virtues and
especially in charity (the love of conformity in the perfect). This
ascetical directory does not, so to speak, discuss the gifts of the
Holy Ghost. The high degree of the moral and theological virtues
therein described is, nevertheless, not reached without the gifts,
according to the common teaching of the doctors.
The Direttorio niistico is composed of five treatises: ( 1 ) The in­
troduction, in which are discussed the gifts of the Holy Ghost and
graces gratis datae; (2) Acquired and infused contemplation, for
which the gifts suffice, as Scaramelli recognizes (chap. 14); (3) The
degrees of indistinct infused contemplation, from passive recollec­
tion to the transforming union. In chapter 32, Scaramelli admits that
several authors teach that infused contemplation may be humbly
desired by all interior souls, but he ends by concluding that prac­
tically it is better not to desire it before receiving a special call:
“altiora te ne quaesieris";22 (4) The degrees of distinct infused con­
templation (visions and extraordinary interior words); (5) The
passive purifications of the senses and the spirit.
It is surprising to find only at the end of this mystical directory
the treatise on the passive purification of the senses which, in the
opinion of St. John of the Cross and the authors quoted above, marks
the entrance into the illuminative way.
By a fear of quietism, at times excessive, which cast discredit on
mystical theology, many authors in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries followed Scaramelli, who was most highly esteemed by
them. According to their point of view, ascetical theology treats of
the exercises which lead to perfection according to the ordinary way,
whereas mystical theology treats of the extraordinary way, to which
the infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith would belong.
At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the
present period this tendency appears again clearly marked in the
M Scaramelli, Direttorio mistieo, tr. I, chap. 1, no. 10.

INTRODUCTION

■7

study of mental prayer by Father de Maumigny, S.J.,23 in the writ­
ings of Bishop Farges,24 and in the work of the Sulpician, Father
Pourrat.25 According to these authors, ascctical theology is not only
distinct from mystical theology, but is separated from it; it is not
ordained to it, for mystical theology treats only of extraordinary
graces which are not necessary for the full perfection of Christian
life. Taking this point of view, some writers even maintained that,
since St. Teresa of the Child Jesus did not receive extraordinary
graces, she sanctified herself by the ascetical way and not by the
mystical way. Strange supposition.
In the last thirty years, Father Arintero, O.P.,26 Monsignor Saudreau,27 the Eudist, Father Lamballe,28 Father de la Taille, S.J.,28
Father Gardeil, O.P.,30 Father Joret, O.P.,31 Father Gerest,82 several
Carmelites in France and in Belgium,33 Benedictines such as Dom
Huijben, Dom Louismet, and several others,34 examined attentively
the bases of the position taken by Scaramelli and his successors.
As we have shown at length elsewhere,35 we have been led, as
28 Pratique de l'oraison mentale, 2e traité: Oraison extraordinaire, 8e ed.
Paris: G. Beauchesne, 1911.
24 Les phénomènes mystiques (Traité de théologie mystique). Paris, 1920.
25 La spiritualité chrétienne. Cf. Introduction, pp. vi ff.
28 Evoluciôn mistica. Salamanca, 1908. Cuestiones misticas, 2nd. ed. Sala­
manca, 1920.
27 La vie d'union à Dieu, 3d ed., 1921; Les degrés de la vie spirituelle, 2 vols.,
jth ed., 1920; L'état mystique, sa nature, ses phases, 2nd ed., 1921.
28 La contemplation (principles of mystical theology). Paris, 1912.
28 L'oraison contemplative. Paris: Beauchesne, 1921. See also Louis Peeters,
S.J., Vers l'union divine par les exercises de saint Ignace (Muséum Lessianum), 2nd ed., 1931.
80 La structure de l'âme et l'expérience mystique, 2 vols. Paris, 1927. See also
the posthumous book of the same author: La vraie vie chrétienne. Paris, 1935.
81 La contemplation mystique d'après St. Thomas d’Aquin. Paris, 1923.
82 Mémento de vie spirituelle, 1923.
88 Gabriel of St. Magdalen, O.C.D., “La contemplation acquise chez les
théologiens carmes déchaussés,” an article which appeared in La vie spirit­
uelle.
84 Cf. “The Inquiry” on this point which appeared in the supplement of
La vie spirituelle from September, 1929 to May, 1931. It will be of interest to
read in particular the testimony of Fathers Maréchal, S.J., Alb. Valensin, S.J.,
M. de la Taille, S.J., Cayré, Assumptionist, Jerome of the Mother of God,
Carmelite, and Schryvers, Redemptorist.
Christian Perfection and Contemplation, chaps. 1, 2, 4, a.3, 4; chap. 5,
a. 3-5; chap. 6, a. 1-5. L'amour de Dieu et la croix de Jésus, 1929, Vol. Il,
Parrs IV and V. Les trois conversions et les trois voies, 1932, chap. 4 and
appendix.

18

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

these authors were, to formulate the three following questions
on the subject of the division given by Scaramelli and his succes­
sors:
1. Is this absolute distinction or separation between ascetical and
mystical theology entirely traditional, or is it not rather an innova­
tion made in the eighteenth century? Does it conform to the princi­
ples of St. Thomas and to the doctrine of St. John of the Cross? St.
Thomas teaches that the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, while
specifically distinct from the infused virtues, are, nevertheless, in all
the just, for they are connected with charity.36 He says, moreover,
that they are necessary for salvation, for a just man may find him­
self in difficult circumstances where even the infused virtues would
not suffice and where he needs a special inspiration of the Holy
Ghost to which the gifts render us docile. St. Thomas likewise con­
siders that the gifts intervene rather frequently in ordinary circum­
stances to give to the acts of the virtues in generous interior souls a
perfection; an impulse, and a promptness which would not exist
without the superior intervention of the Holy Ghost.37
On the other hand, St. John of the Cross, as we have said, wrote
these most significant words: “The passive purification of the senses
is common. It takes place in the greater number of beginners.” 38
According to St. John, infused contemplation begins with it. And
again he says: “The soul began to set out on the way of the spirit,
the way of proficients, which is also called the illuminative way, or
the way of infused contemplation, wherein God Himself teaches
and refreshes the soul.” 30 In this text the holy doctor did not wish
to affirm something accidental, but something normal. St. Francis
de Sales expresses the same thought.40 The division proposed by
Scaramelli could not be reconciled with this doctrine because he
speaks of the passive purifications of the senses and the spirit only at
the end of the unitive way, as not only eminent but essentially
extraordinary.
2. It may be asked whether such a distinction or separation be88 See la Ilae, q.68.
87 Ibid., a. i, 2, j.
88 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 8.
89 Ibid., chap. 14.
40 Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. VI, chap. 3. "So it is with prayer; it
is called meditation until it has produced the honey of devotion; after that
it becomes contemplation." Sec the following chapters on contemplation.

INTRODUCTION

19

tween ascetical and mystical theology does not diminish the unity
of the spiritual life. A good division, in order to be necessarily basic
and not superficial and accidental, should rest on the very definition
of the whole to be divided, on the nature of this whole, which in
this case is the life of grace, called by tradition the “grace of the
virtues and the gifts”;41 for the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, being
connected with charity, are part of the spiritual organism and are
necessary for perfection.
3. Does not the sharply marked division between ascetical and
mystical theology, proposed by Scaramelli and several others, also
diminish the elevation of evangelical perfection, when it treats of it
in ascetical theology, taking away from it the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, the infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith, and the
union which results therefrom? Does not this new conception
weaken the motives for practicing mortification and for exercising
the virtues, and does it not do so by losing sight of the divine intimacy
for which this work should prepare us? Does it not lessen the illu­
minative and unitive ways when it speaks of them simply from the
ascetical point of view? Can these two ways normally exist without
the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Ghost proportioned to that of
charity and of the other infused virtues? Finally, does not this new
conception diminish also the importance and the gravity of mystical
theology, which, separated thus from ascetical theology, seems to
become a luxury in the spirituality of some privileged souls, and one
that is not without danger?
Are there six ways (three ascetical and ordinary, and three mystical
and extraordinary, not only in fact but in essence) and not just three
ways, three ages of the spiritual life, as the ancients used to say?
As soon as ascetical treatises on the illuminative and unitive ways
are separated from mystical theology, they contain scarcely more
than abstract considerations first on the moral and then on the
theological virtues. On the other hand, if they treat practically and
concretely of the progress and the perfection of these virtues, as
Scaramelli does in his Direttorio ascetico, this perfection, according
to the teaching of St. John of the Cross, is manifestly unattainable
“ See Illa, q.62, a.2: “Whether sacramental grace confers anything in ad­
dition to the grace of the virtues and gifts.” In this article, St. Thomas states
that habitual or sanctifying grace perfects the essence of the soul, and that
the infused virtues (theological and moral) and the seven gifts of the Holy
Ghost spring from it in the faculties.

20

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

without the passive purifications, at least without that of the senses,
and without the cooperation of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. The
question then arises whether the passive purification of the senses
in which, according to St. John of the Cross, infused contemplation
and the mystical life, properly so called, begins is something essen­
tially extraordinary or, on the contrary, a normal grace, the principle
of a second conversion, which marks the entrance into the illumin­
ative way. Without this passive purification, can a soul reach the
perfection which Scaramelli speaks of in his Direttorio ascetico? Let
us not forget what St. Teresa says: “For instance, they read that we
must not be troubled when men speak ill of us, that we are to be
then more pleased than when they speak well of us; that we must
despise our own good name, be detached from our kindred . . .
with many other tilings of the same kind. The disposition to prac­
tice this must be, in my opinion, the gift of God; for it seems to me
a supernatural good.” 42 By this statement the saint means that they
are due to a special inspiration of the Holy Ghost, like the prayers
which she calls “supernatural” or infused.
For these different reasons the contemporary authors whom we
quoted above reject the absolute distinction and separation between
ascetical and mystical theology that was introduced in the eighteenth
century.
It is important to note here that the division of a science or of one
of the branches of theology is not a matter of slight importance.
This may be seen by the division of moral theology, which is notably
different as it is made according to the distinction of the precepts of
the decalogue, or according to the distinction of the theological
and moral virtues. If moral theology is divided according to the
precepts of the decalogue, several of which are negative, more in­
sistence is placed on sins to be avoided than on virtues to be prac­
ticed more and more perfectly; and often the grandeur of the
supreme precept of the love of God and of one’s neighbor, which
dominates the decalogue and which ought to be as the soul of our
life, no longer stands forth clearly enough. On the contrary, if moral
theology is divided according to the distinction of the virtues, then
all the elevation of the theological virtues will be evident, especially
that of charity over all the moral virtues, which it should inspire
and animate. If this division is made, the quickening impulse of the41
41 St. Teresa, Life, chap. 31, par. 21.

INTRODUCTION

21

theological virtues is felt, especially when they are accompanied by
the special inspirations of the Holy Ghost. Moral theology thus
conceived develops normally into mystical theology, which is, as
we see in the work of St. Francis de Sales, a simple development of
the treatise on the love of God.
What, then, is ascetical theology for the contemporary theologi­
ans who return to the traditional division? According to the princi­
ples of St. Thomas Aquinas, the doctrine of St. John of the Cross and
also of St. Francis de Sales, ascetical theology treats of the purgative
way of beginners who, understanding that they should not remain
retarded and tepid souls, exercise themselves generously in the prac­
tice of the virtues, but still according to the human mode of the vir­
tues, ex industria propria, with the help of ordinary actual grace.
Mystical theology, on the contrary, begins with the illuminative
way, in which proficients, under the illumination of the Holy Ghost,
already act in a rather frequent and manifest manner according to
the superhuman mode of the gifts of the Holy Ghost.43 Under the
special inspiration of the interior Master, they no longer act ex
industria propria, but the superhuman mode of the gifts, latent until
now or only occasionally patent, becomes quite manifest and fre­
quent.
According to these authors, the mystical life is not essentially
extraordinary, like visions and revelations, but something eminent
in the normal way of sanctity. They consider this true even for souls
called to sanctify themselves in the active life, such as a St. Vincent
de Paul. They do not at all doubt that the saints of the active life
have had normally rather frequent infused contemplation of the
mysteries of the redeeming Incarnation, of the Mass, of the mystical
body of Christ, of the value of eternal life, although these saints
differ from pure contemplatives in this respect, that their infused
43 From this point of view, which is ours, mystical theology, properly so
called, begins with the age of proficients when the three signs of the passive
purification of the senses appear, as noted by St. John of the Cross (The
Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 9). Infused contemplation of the mys­
teries of salvation, contemplation which leads to close union with God, be­
gins then in prolonged aridity, accompanied by true generosity. We shall
see that these three signs of the passive purification of the senses are: ( 1 ) pro­
longed sensible aridity; (2) a keen desire for perfection and for God; (3) a
quasi-inability to apply oneself to discursive meditation and the inclination
to consider God by a simple gaze with loving attention. These three signs
must exist together; one alone would not suffice.

22

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

contemplation is more immediately ordained to action, to all the
works of mercy.
It follows that mystical theology is useful not alone for the direc­
tion of some souls led by extraordinary ways, but also for the
direction of all interior souls who do not wish to remain retarded,
who tend generously toward perfection, and who endeavor to
maintain union with God in the midst of the labors and contradic­
tions of everyday life. From this point of view, a spiritual director’s
ignorance of mystical theology may become a serious obstacle for
the souls he directs, as St. John of the Cross remarks in the prologue
of The Ascent of Mount Carmel. If the sadness of the neurasthenic
should not be taken for the passive purification of the senses, neither
should melancholy be diagnosed when the passive purification does
appear.
From what we have just said, it is evident that ascetical theology is
ordained to mystical theology.
In short, for all Catholic authors, mystical theology which does
not presuppose serious asceticism is false. Such was that of the
quietists, who, like Molinos, suppressed ascetical theology by thrust­
ing themselves into the mystical way before receiving that grace,
confounding acquired passivity, which is obtained by the cessation
of acts, of activity, and which turns to somnolence, with infused
passivity, which springs from the special inspiration of the Floly
Ghost to which the gifts render us docile. By this radical confusion,
the quietism of Molinos suppressed asceticism and developed into a
caricature of true mysticism.
Lastly, it is of prime importance to remark that the normal way
of sanctity may be judged from two very different points of view.
We may judge it by taking our nature as a starting point, and then
the position that we defend as traditional will seem exaggerated. We
may also judge it by taking as a starting point the supernatural mys­
teries of the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity, the redeeming In­
carnation, and the Blessed Eucharist. This manner of judging per
altissimam causam is the only one that represents the judgment of
wisdom; the other manner judges by the lowest cause, and we know
how “spiritual folly,” which St. Thomas speaks of, is contrary to
wisdom.4·*
If the Blessed Trinity truly dwells in us, if the Word actually was
44 Sec Ila Ilae, q.46.

INTRODUCTION

23

made flesh, died for us, is really present in the Holy Eucharist, offers
Himself sacramentally for us every day in the Mass, gives Himself
to us as food, if all this is true, then only the saints are fully in
order, for they live by this divine presence through frequent, quasiexperimental knowledge and through an ever-growing love in the
midst of the obscurities and difficulties of life. And the life of
close union with God, far from appearing in its essential quality as
something intrinsically extraordinary, appears alone as fully normal.
Before reaching such a union, we are like people still half-asleep,
who do not truly live sufficiently by the immense treasure given to
us and by the continually new graces granted to those who wish to
follow our Lord generously.
By sanctity we understand close union with God, that is, a great
perfection of the love of God and neighbor, a perfection which
nevertheless always remains in the normal way, for the precept of
love has no limits.45 To be more exact, we shall say that the sanctity
in question here is the normal, immediate prelude of the life of
heaven, a prelude which is realized, either on earth before death,
or in purgatory, and which assumes that the soul is fully purified, is
capable of receiving the beatific vision immediately. This is the mean­
ing of the words “prelude of eternal life” used in the title of this
work.
When we say, in short, that infused contemplation of the mys­
teries of faith is necessary for sanctity, we mean morally necessary;
that is, in the majority of cases a soul could not reach sanctity with­
out it. We shall add that without it a soul will not in reality possess
the full perfection of Christian life, which implies the eminent exer­
cise of the theological virtues and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost
which accompany them. The purpose of this book is to establish
this thesis.
VII. DIVISION OF THIS WORK

Following what we have said, we shall divide this book into five
parts:
/. The sources of the interior life and its end.

The life of grace, the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity, the in­
fluence of Christ the Mediator and of Mary Mediatrix on us. Chris*" See ibid., q. 184, a. 3.

24

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

tian perfection, to which the interior life is ordained, and the
obligation of each individual to tend to it according to his condition.

II. The purification of the soul in beginners.
The removal of obstacles, the struggle against sin and its results,
and against the predominant fault; the active purification of the
senses, of the memory, the will, and the understanding. The use of
the sacraments for the purification of the soul. The prayer of be­
ginners. The second conversion or passive purification of the senses
in order to enter the illuminative way of proficients.

///. The progress of the soul under the light of the Holy Ghost.
The spiritual age of proficients. The progress of the theological
and moral virtues. The gifts of the Holy Ghost in proficients. The
progressive illumination of the soul by the Sacrifice of the Mass and
Holy Communion. The contemplative prayer of proficients. Ques­
tions relating to infused contemplation: its nature, its degrees; the
call to contemplation; the direction of souls in this connection.
IV. The union of perfect souls with God.

The entrance into this way by the passive purification of the soul.
The spiritual age of the perfect. The heroic degree of the theological
and moral virtues. Perfect apostolic life and infused contemplation.
The life of reparation. The transforming union. The perfection of
love in its relation to infused contemplation, to the spiritual espousals
and spiritual marriage.
V. Extraordinary graces.

The graces gratis datae. How they differ from the seven gifts of
the Holy Ghost, according to St. Thomas. Application of this doc­
trine to extraordinary graces, according to the teaching of St. John
of the Cross. Divine revelations: interior words, the stigmata, and
ecstasy.
Conclusion. Reply to the question: Is the infused contemplation
of the mysteries of faith and the union with God which results
from it an essentially extraordinary grace, or is it in the normal way
of sanctity? Is it the normal prelude to eternal life, to the beatific
vision to which all souls are called?
We could discuss here the terminology used by the mystics as

INTRODUCTION

25

compared with that used by theologians. The question is of great
importance. Its meaning and its import will, however, be better
grasped later on, that is, at the beginning of the part of this work
that deals with the illuminative way.
We could also at the end of this introduction set forth in general
terms what the fathers and the great doctors of the Church teach
us in the domain of spirituality. It will, howèver, be more profitable
to do so at the end of the first part of this work when we treat of
the traditional doctrine of the three ways and of the manner in
which it should be understood.
Moreover, we have elsewhere set forth this teaching and that of
different schools of spirituality.4® On this point Monsignor Saudreau’s work, La vie d'union à Dieu et les moyens d'y arriver d'après
les grands maîtres de la spiritualité,47 may be consulted with profit.
It will be well also to read Father Pourrat’s study, La spiritualité
chrétienne. This work is conceived from a point of view opposed to
the book mentioned above, for it considers every essentially mystical
grace as extraordinary. We recommend particularly the excellent
work of Father Cayré, A.A., Précis de patrologie,48 in which he sets
forth with great care and in a very objective manner the spiritual
doctrine of the fathers and of the great doctors of the Church, in­
cluding St. John of the Cross and St. Francis de Sales.49
46 Cf. Perfection chrétienne et contemplation, II, 662-769.
47 Third edition, Paris, Amat, 1921. (Les Pères grecs, les Pères latins, la
doctrine mystique au XIIe, au XIIIe, au XIVe, au XVIe, au XVIIe, siècle et
depuis lors.)
48 Desclée, Paris, 1930, 2 vols. {Histoire et doctrines des Pères et Docteurs
de l’Église. )
48 Ibid. See the analytical table in volumes i and 2 of this work and also
II, chap. 20, p. 3.

PART I

The Sources of the Interior Life and Its End

Prologue

Since the interior life is an increasingly conscious form of the life
of grace in every generous soul, we shall first of all discuss the life
of grace to see its value clearly. We shall then see the nature of the
spiritual organism of the infused virtues and of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, which spring from sanctifying grace in every just soul. We
shall thus be led to speak of the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in
the souls of the just, and also of the continual influence exercised on
them by our Lord Jesus Christ, universal Mediator, and by Mary,
Mediatrix of all graces.
Such are the very elevated sources of the interior life; in their
loftiness they resemble the high mountain sources of great rivers.
Because our interior life descends to us from on high, it can reascend
even to God and lead us to a very close union with Him. After
speaking, in this first part, of the sources of interior life, we shall
treat of its end, that is, of Christian perfection to which it is directed,
and of everyone’s obligation to tend toward it, according to his con­
dition. In all things the end should be considered first; for it is first
in the order of intention, although it may be last in the order of
execution. The end is desired first of all, even though it is last to
be obtained. For this reason our Lord began His preaching by speak­
ing of the beatitudes, and for this reason also moral theology begins
with the treatise on the last end to which all our acts must be directed.

CHAPTER I

The Life of Grace, Eternal Life Begun
HE interior life of a Christian presupposes the state of grace,
which is opposed to the state of mortal sin. In the present plan
of Providence every soul is either in the state of grace or in the
state of mortal sin; in other words, it is either turned toward God,
its supernatural last end, or turned away from Him. No man is in a
purely natural state, for all are called to the supernatural end, which
consists in the immediate vision of God and the love which results
from that vision. From the moment of creation, man was destined
for this supreme end. It is to this end that we are led by Christ who,
after the Fall, offered Himself as a victim for the salvation of all men.
To have a true interior life it is doubtless not sufficient to be in
the state of grace, like a child after baptism or every penitent after
the absolution of his sins. The interior life requires further a strug­
gle against everything that inclines us to fall back into sin, a serious
propensity of the soul toward God. If we had a profound knowledge
of the state of grace, we would see that it is not only the principle
of a true and very holy interior life, but that it is the germ of eternal
life. We think that insistence on this point from the outset is im­
portant, recalling the words of St. Thomas: “The good of grace
in one is greater than the good of nature in the whole universe”;1
for grace is the germ of eternal life, incomparably superior to the
natural life of our soul or to that of the angels.
This fact best shows us the value of sanctifying grace, which we
received in baptism and which absolution restores to us if we have
had the misfortune to lose it.2

T

1 See Ia Ilae, q. 113, a.9 ad zum.
2 At the beginning of a treatise on the interior life, it is important to get
a high idea of sanctifying grace; Protestantism, following several nominalists
of the fourteenth century, has lost the conception of it. In Luther’s opinion,
man is justified not by a new infused life, but by the exterior imputation of
»9

3o

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

The value of a seed can be known only if we have some idea of
what should grow from it; for example, in the order of nature, to
know the value of the seed contained in an acorn, we must have
seen a fully developed oak. In the human order, to know the value
of the rational soul which still slumbers in a little child, we must
know the normal possibilities of the human soul in a man who has
reached his full development. Likewise, we cannot know the value
of sanctifying grace, which is in the soul of every baptized infant
and in all the just, unless we have considered, at least imperfectly,
what the full development of this grace will be in the life of eternity.
Moreover, it should be seen in the very light of the Savior’s words,
for they are “spirit and life” and are more savory than any com­
mentary. The language of the Gospel, the style used by our Lord,
lead us more directly to contemplation than the technical language
of the surest and loftiest theology. Nothing is more salutary than to
breathe the pure air of these heights from which flow down the
living waters of the stream of Christian doctrine.
Eternal Life Promised by the Savior
to Men of Good Will

The expression “eternal life” rarely occurs in the Old Testament,
where the recompense of the just after death is often presented in a
symbolical manner under the figure, for example, of the Promised
Land. The rare occurrence of the expression is more easily under­
stood when we remember that after death the just of the Old Testa­
ment had to wait for the accomplishment of the passion of the Savior
and the sacrifice of the cross to see the gates of heaven opened.
Everything in the Old Testament was directed primarily to the com­
ing of the promised Savior.
In the preaching of Jesus, everything is directed immediately
the merits of Christ, in such a way that he is not interiorly changed and that
it is not necessary for his salvation that he observe the precept of the love
of God above all else. Such an opinion is a radical misconception of the
interior life spoken of in the Gospel. This lamentable doctrine was prepared
by that of the nominalists, who said that grace is a gift which is not essentially
supernatural, but which morally gives a right to eternal life, like paper
money which, though only paper, gives a right, by reason of a legal institu­
tion, to receive money. This doctrine constituted the negation of the essen­
tially supernatural life; it was a failure to recognize the very essence of grace
and of the theological virtues.

THE LIFE OF GRACE

31

toward eternal life. If we are attentive to His words, we shall see
how the life of eternity differs from the future life spoken of by the
best philosophers, such as Plato. The future life they spoke of be­
longed, in their opinion, to the natural order; they thought it “a
fine risk to run,” 3 without having absolute certitude about it. On
the other hand, the Savior speaks with the most absolute assurance
not only of a future life, but of eternal life superior to the past, the
present, and the future; an entirely supernatural life, measured like
the intimate life of God, of which it is the participation, by the
single instant of immobile eternity.
Christ tells us that the way leading to eternal life is narrow,4 and
that to obtain that life we must turn away from sin and keep the
commandments of God.5 On several occasions He says in the Fourth
Gospel: “He who heareth My word and believeth Him that sent
Me, hath life everlasting·,” 8 that is, he who believes in Me, the Son
of God, with a living faith united to charity, to the practice of the
precepts, that man has eternal life begun. Christ also affirms this in
the eight beatitudes as soon as He begins to preach: “Blessed are
the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . . . Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have
their fill. . . . Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see
God.” 7 What is eternal life, then, if not this repletion, this vision of
God in His kingdom? In particular to those who suffer persecution
for justice’ sake is it said: “Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is
very great in heaven.” 8 Before His passion Jesus says even more
clearly, as St. John records: “Father, the hour is come. Glorify Thy
Son that Thy Son may glorify Thee. As Thou hast given Him
power over all flesh, that He may give eternal life to all whom Thou
hast given Him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” 9
St. John the Evangelist himself explains these words of the Savior
when he writes: “Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and
it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when He
8 Even in the Phaedon, the future is thus represented.
4 Matt. 7:14.
8 Ibid., 19:17.
•John 5:24; 6:40, 47, 55.
7 Matt. 3:3-8.
• Ibid., 5:12.
8 John 17:1-3.

32

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

shall appear we shall be like to Him: because we shall see Him as
He is.” 10 We shall see Him as He is, and not only by the reflection
of His perfections in creatures, in sensible nature, or in the souls
of the saints, in their words and their acts; we shall see Him immedi­
ately as He is in Himself.
St. Paul adds: “We see (God) 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.” 11 Observe that St. Paul does not
say that I shall know Him as I know myself, as I know the interior
of my conscience. I certainly know the interior of my soul better
than other men do; but it has secrets from me, for I cannot measure
all the gravity of my directly or indirectly voluntary faults. God
alone knows me thoroughly; the secrets of my heart are perfectly
open only to His gaze.
St. Paul actually says that then I shall know Him even as I am
known by Him. In the same way that God knows the essence of my
soul and my inner life without any intermediary, so I shall see Him
without the intermediary of any creature, and even, theology adds,12
without the intermediary of any created idea. No created idea can,
in fact, represent such as He is in Himself the eternally subsistent,
pure intellectual radiance that is God and His infinite truth. Every
created idea is finite; it is a concept of one or another perfection of
God, of His being, of His truth or His goodness, of His wisdom
or His love, of His mercy or His justice. These divers concepts
of the divine perfections are, however, incapable of making us know
such as it is in itself the supremely simple divine essence, the Deity
or the intimate life of God. These multiple concepts are to the
intimate life of God, to the divine simplicity, somewhat as the
seven colors of the rainbow are to the white light from which they
proceed. On earth we are like men who have seen only the seven
colors and who would like to see the pure light which is their
eminent source. As long as we have not seen the Deity, such as It is
in Itself, we shall not succeed in seeing the intimate harmony of the
divine perfections, in particular that of infinite mercy and infinite
justice. Our created ideas of the divine attributes are like little
squares of mosaic which slightly harden the spiritual physiognomy
of God. When wc think of His justice, it may appear too rigid to
10 See I John 3:2.
11 See I Cor. 13:12.
*· St. Thomas, la, <]. 12, a. 2.

THE LIFE OF GRACE

33

us; when we think of the gratuitous predilections of His mercy, they
may seem arbitrary to us. On reflection, we say to ourselves that in
God justice and mercy are one and the same thing and that there
is no real distinction between them. We affirm with certitude that
this is true, but we do not yet see the intimate harmony of these
divine perfections. To see it, we should have to see immediately the
divine essence, such as it is in itself, without the intermediary of any
created idea.
This vision will constitute eternal life. No one can express the joy
and love that will be born in us of this vision. It will be so strong,
so absolute a love of God that thenceforth nothing will be able to
destroy it or even to diminish it. It will be a love by which we shall
above all rejoice that God is God, infinitely holy, just, and merciful.
We shall adore all the decrees of His providence in view of the
manifestation of His goodness. We shall have entered into His
beatitude, according to Christ’s own words: “Well done, good
and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will place thee over many things. Enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord.” 13 We shall see God as He sees Himself, immediately,
without however exhausting the depth of His being, His love, and
His power, and we shall love Him as He loves Himself. We shall also
see our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Such is eternal beatitude in its essence, not to speak of the acci­
dental joy that we shall experience in seeing and loving the Blessed
Virgin and all the saints, more particularly the souls whom we knew
during our time on earth.
The Seed

of

Eternal Life

in

Us

The immediate vision of God, of which we have just spoken, sur­
passes the natural capacity of every created intellect, whether angelic
or human. Naturally a created intellect may indeed know God by
the reflection of His perfections in the created order, angelic or
human, but it cannot see Him immediately in Himself as He sees
Himself.14 If a created intellect could by its natural powers alone
see God immediately, it would have the same formal object as the
divine intellect; it would then be of the same nature as God. This
” Matt. 25:21,23.
14 St. Thomas, la, q. 12, a. 4.

34

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

would be the pantheistic confusion of a created nature and the
divine nature.
A created intellect can be raised to the immediate vision of the
divine essence only by a gratuitous help, by a grace of God. In the
angel and in us this grace somewhat resembles a graft made on a
wild shrub to enable it to bear good fruit. The angel and the human
soul become capable of a supernatural knowledge of God and a
supernatural love only if they have received this divine graft, habitual
or sanctifying grace, which is a participation in the divine nature
and in the inner life of God. Only this grace, received in the essence
of our soul as a free gift, can render the soul radically capable of
essentially divine operations, can make it capable of seeing God im­
mediately as He sees Himself and of loving Him as He loves Him­
self. In other words, the deification of the intellect and that of the
will presuppose the deification of the soul itself (in its essence),
whence these faculties spring.
When this grace is consummated and inamissible, it is called glory.
From it proceed, in the intellects of the blessed in heaven, the super­
natural light which gives them the strength to see God, and in their
wills the infused charity which makes them love Him without being
able thereafter to turn away from Him.
Through baptism we have already received the seed of eternal
life, for through it we received sanctifying grace which is the
radical principle of that life; and with sanctifying grace we received
infused charity, which ought to last forever.
This is what our Savior told the Samaritan woman, as St. John
recounts: “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. . . . Whoso­
ever 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.” 15 If one should ask whether these
words of our Lord belong to the ascetical or the mystical order, the
question would seem unintelligent; for, if our Lord is speaking here
of the life of heaven, all the more do His words apply to the close
union which prepares the soul for that life.
St. Thomas says: “He who will drink of the living water of grace
18 John 4:10-14.

THE LIFE OF GRACE

35

given by the Savior will no longer desire another, but he will desire
this water more abundantly. . . . Moreover, whereas material water
descends, the spiritual water of grace rises. It is a living water ever
united to its (eminent) source and one that springs up to eternal
life, which it makes us merit.” 16 This living water comes from God,
and that is why it can reascend even to Him.
Likewise, in the temple at Jerusalem on the last day of the feast
of tabernacles, Christ 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.” 17 He who drinks spiritually, believing in the Savior, draws
from the source of living water, and can draw from it not only for
himself but also for other souls to be saved.
On several occasions, as we have already remarked, Jesus repeats:
“He that believeth in Me, hath everlasting life.” 18 Not only will
he have it later on, but in a sense he already possesses it, for the life
of grace is eternal life begun.
It is, in fact, the same life in its essence, just as the seed which
is in an acorn has the same life as the full-grown oak, and as the
spiritual soul of the little child is the same one that will eventually
develop in the mature man.
Fundamentally, the same divine life exists as a germ or a seed
in the Christian on earth and as a fully developed life in the saints
in heaven. It is these who truly live eternal life. This explains why
Christ said also: “He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood,
hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.” 19 “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.” 20 It is hidden there like the mustard seed, like the
leaven which causes the dough to rise, like the treasure buried in
the field.
How do we know that we have already received this life which
should last forever? St. John explains the matter to us at length:
“We know that we have passed from death to life because we love
the brethren. He that loveth not, abideth in death. Whosoever
10 Commentum in Joannem, 4:3 ff.
17 John 7:37 f.
‘«John 3:36; 5:24, 39; 6:40, 47, 55.
10 John 6:55.
80 Luke 17:20 f.

36

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

hateth his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer
hath eternal life abiding in himself.”21 “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.” 22 Jesus had said: “Amen, amen I say
to you: If any man keep My word, he shall not see death forever.” 23
In fact, the liturgy expresses this idea in the preface of the Mass for the
Dead: “For to those who believe in Thee, Lord, life is only changed,
not taken away”; on the contrary, it reaches its full development in
heaven. All tradition declares that the life of grace on earth is in
reality the seed of glory. St. Thomas delights also in saying: “For
grace is nothing else than a beginning of glory in us.” 24 Bossuet
often expresses himself in the same terms.25
This explains why St. Thomas likes to say: “The good of grace
in one is greater than the good of nature in the whole universe.” 28
The slightest degree of sanctifying grace contained in the soul of
an infant after baptism is more precious than the natural good of
the entire universe, all angelic natures taken together included
therein; for the least degree of sanctifying grace belongs to an enor­
mously superior order, to the order of the inner life of God, which
is superior to all miracles and to all the outward signs of divine
revelation.27
The same supernatural life, the same sanctifying grace, is in the
just on earth and in the saints in heaven. This is likewise true of
infused charity, with these two differences: on earth we know God
not in the clarity of vision, but in the obscurity of infused faith;
and besides, though we hope to possess Him in such a way as never
to lose Him, we can lose Him here on earth through our own fault.
In spite of these two differences pertaining to faith and hope, the
life is the same because it is the same sanctifying grace and the same
charity, both of which should last forever. This is exactly what
21 See 1 John 3:14 f.
22 Ibid., 5:13.
23 John 8:51.
24 See Ila Ilae, q. 24, a. 3 ad 2um; la llae, q.69, a.2; De veritate, q. 14, a. 2.
25 Méditations sur l'évangile, Part II, 37th day, in Joan. 17:3.
28 See la Ilae, q. 113, a.9 ad 211m.
27Ibid., q.in, a.j: “Gratia gratum faciens is much more excellent than
gratia gratis data”; in other words, sanctifying grace, which unites us to God
Himself, is very much superior to prophecy, to miracles, and to all the signs
of divine intervention.

THE LIFE OF GRACE

37

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: “If thou didst know the gift of
God . . . thou perhaps wouldst have asked of Him. . . . 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 By the light of this
principle we must judge what our interior life should be and what
should be its full, normal development that it may be the worthy
prelude of the life of eternity. Since sanctifying grace, the infused
virtues, and the gifts are intrinsically ordained to eternal life, are
they not also ordained to the mystical union? Is not this union the
normal prelude of the life of eternity in souls that are in truth
completely generous?
An Important Consequence

From what we have just said, we may at least infer the nonextraordinary character of the infused contemplation of the mys­
teries of faith and of the union with God which results therefrom.
This presumption will be more and more confirmed in what follows
and will become a certitude.
Sanctifying grace and charity, which unite us to God in His
intimate life, are, in fact, very superior to graces gratis datae and
extraordinary, such as prophecy and the gift of tongues, which are
only signs of the divine intervention and which by themselves do
not unite us closely to God. St. Paul affirms this clearly,29 and St.
Thomas explains it quite well.30
Infused contemplation, an act of infused faith illumined by the
gifts of understanding and wisdom, proceeds, as we shall see, from
sanctifying grace, called “the grace of the virtues and the gifts,” 31
received by all in baptism, and not from graces gratis datae and ex­
traordinary. Theologians commonly concede this. We may, there­
fore, even now seriously presume that infused contemplation and
the union with God resulting from it are not intrinsically extraor­
dinary, like prophecy or the gift of tongues. Since they are not
28 John 4:10-14.
” Sec I Cor. 12:28 ff.; 13:1 ff.
80 Cf. la Ilae, q. nr, a. 5: “Gratia gratzmi faciens is much more excellent than
gratia gratis data."
81 Sec Illa, q.62, a. 1.

38

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

essentially extraordinary, are they not in the normal way of sanctity?
A second and even more striking reason springs immediately from
what we have just said: namely, sanctifying grace, being by its very
nature ordained to eternal life, is also essentially ordained, in a
normal manner, to the proximate perfect disposition to receive the
light of glory immediately. This proximate disposition is perfect
charity with the keen desire for the beatific vision, an ardent desire
which is ordinarily found only in the union with God resulting
from the infused contemplation of the mysteries of salvation.
This contemplation is, therefore, not intrinsically extraordinary
like prophecy, but something eminent which already appears in­
deed to be in the normal way of sanctity, although relatively rare
like lofty perfection.
We must likewise add that the ardent desire for the beatific vision
is found according to its full perfection only in the transforming
union, or the higher mystical union, which consequently does not
seem to be outside the normal way of sanctity. To grasp the meaning
and import of this reason, we may remark that, if there is one good
which the Christian ought to desire keenly, it is God seen face to
face and loved above all, without any further possibility of sin.
Evidently there should be proportion between the intensity of the
desire and the value of the good desired; in this case, its value
is infinite. We should all be “pilgrims of the Absolute” “while . . .
we are absent from the Lord.” 32
Finally, as sanctifying grace is essentially ordained to eternal life,
it is also ordained to a proximate disposition for us to receive the
light of glory immediately after death without passing through
purgatory? Purgatory is a punishment which presupposes a sin that
could have been avoided, and an insufficient satisfaction that could
have been completed if we had accepted with better dispositions
the sufferings of the present life. It is certain, in fact, that no
one will be detained in purgatory except for sins he could have
avoided or for negligence in making reparation for them. Normally
purgatory should be spent in this life while meriting, while growing
in love, instead of after death without merit.
The proximate disposition to receive the light of glory imme­
diately after death presupposes a true purification analogous to that
in souls that arc about to leave purgatory and that have an ardent
·’ See 11 Cor. 5:6.

THE LIFE OF GRACE

39

desire for the beatific vision.33 This ardent desire exists ordinarily
in this life only in the union with God which results from the in­
fused contemplation of the mysteries of salvation. Hence contem­
plation stands out clearly even now, not as an extraordinary grace,
but as an eminent grace in the normal way of sanctity.
The keen desire for God, the sovereign Good, which is the
normal proximate disposition to the beatific vision, is admirably
expressed by St. Paul: “Though our outward man is corrupted, yet
the inward man is renewed day by day. . . . For in this also we
groan, desiring to be clothed upon with our habitation that is from
heaven. . . . Now He that maketh us for this very thing, is God,
who hath given us the pledge of the Spirit.” 34
Obviously, that we may treat of questions of ascetical and mys­
tical theology in a fitting manner, we must not lose sight of these
heights as they are made known to us by Holy Scripture explained
by the theology of the great masters. If there is a field in which
men must be considered not only as they are, but as they ought to
be, that field is evidently spirituality. One should be able there to
breathe freely the air of the heights above human conventions.
Blessed are those tried souls who, like St. Paul of the Cross, breathe
freely only in the domain of God and who aspire to Him with all
their strength.
83 St. Thomas gives a good explanation of this keen desire for God which
the souls in purgatory have. (We shall return to this point later on when we
speak of the passive purifications.) Cf. IV Sent., d.21, a. 1 ad quaestionem
jam. “The more a thing is desired, just so much the more is its absence pain­
ful. And because the love, by which the highest good is desired after this
life, is most intense in holy souls, because love is not held back by the
weight of the body, and also, because the time of enjoying the highest Good
has now come, unless something impedes it, for the very same reason they
suffer to a great degree from the delay.” Thus we would suffer greatly from
hunger if deprived of food for more than a day, when it would be in the
radical order of our organism to restore itself. It is radical to the order of
the life of the soul, in the actual economy of salvation, to possess God im­
mediately after death. Far from being essentially extraordinary, this is the
normal way, as we see it in the lives of the saints.
8,1 Sec 11 Cor. 4:16 ff.; 5:1 ff.

CHAPTER II

The Interior Life and Intimate
Conversation with God
“Our conversation is in heaven.”
(Phil. 3:20.)
HE interior life, as we said, presupposes the state of grace, which
is the seed of eternal life. Nevertheless the state of grace, which
exists in every infant after baptism and in every penitent after the
absolution of his sins, does not suffice to constitute what is cus­
tomarily called the interior life of a Christian. In addition there
are required a struggle against what would make us fall back into
sin and a serious tendency of the soul toward God.
From this point of view, to give a clear idea of what the interior
life should be, we shall do well to compare it with the intimate con­
versation that each of us has with himself. If one is faithful, this
intimate conversation tends, under the influence of grace, to become
elevated, to be transformed, and to become a conversation with
God. This remark is elementary; but the most vital and profound
truths are elementary truths about which we have thought for a
long time, by which we have lived, and which finally become the
object of almost continual contemplation.
We shall consider successively these two forms of intimate con­
versation: the one human, the other more and more divine or super­
natural.

T

Conversation

with

Oneself

As soon as a man ceases to be outwardly occupied, to talk with
his fellow men, as soon as he is alone, even in the noisy streets of a
great city, he begins to carry on a conversation with himself. If he
40

INTIMATE CONVERSATION WITH GOD

41
is young, he often thinks of his future; if he is old, he thinks of the
past, and his happy or unhappy experience of life makes him usually
judge persons and events very differently.
If a man is fundamentally egotistical, his intimate conversation
with himself is inspired by sensuality or pride. He converses with
himself about the object of his cupidity, of his envy; finding therein
sadness and death, he tries to flee from himself, to live outside of
himself, to divert himself in order to forget the emptiness and the
nothingness of his life. In this intimate conversation of the egoist
with himself there is a certain very inferior self-knowledge and a no
less inferior self-love.
He is acquainted especially with the sensitive part of his soul,
that part which is common to man and to the animal. Thus he has
sensible joys, sensible sorrows, according as the weather is pleasant
or unpleasant, as he wins money or loses it. He has desires and aver­
sions of the same sensible order; and when he is opposed, he has
moments of impatience and anger prompted by inordinate self-love.
But the egoist knows little about the spiritual part of his soul, that
which is common to the angel and to man. Even if he believes in
the spirituality of the soul and of the higher faculties, intellect and
will, he does not live in this spiritual order. He does not, so to speak,
know experimentally this higher part of himself and he does not
love it sufficiently. If he knew it, he would find in it the image of
God and he would begin to love himself, not in an egotistical manner
for himself, but for God. His thoughts almost always fall back on
what is inferior in him, and though he often shows intelligence and
cleverness which may even become craftiness and cunning, his in­
tellect, instead of rising, always inclines toward what is inferior
to it. It is made to contemplate God, the supreme truth, and it often
dallies in error, sometimes obstinately defending the error by every
means. It has been said that, if fife is not on a level with thought,
thought ends by descending to the level of life. All declines, and
one’s highest convictions gradually grow weaker.
The intimate conversation of the egoist with himself proceeds
thus to death and is therefore not an interior life. His self-love leads
him to wish to make himself the center of everything, to draw every­
thing to himself, both persons and things. Since this is impossible,
he frequently ends in disillusionment and disgust; he becomes un­
bearable to himself and to others, and ends by hating himself because

4Z

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

he wished to love himself excessively. At times he ends by hating
life because he desired too greatly what is inferior in it.1
If a man who is not in the state of grace begins to seek goodness,
his intimate conversation with himself is already quite different.
He converses with himself, for example, about what is necessary to
live becomingly and to support his family. This at times preoccu­
pies him greatly; he feels his weakness and the need of placing his
confidence no longer in himself alone, but in God.
While still in the state of mortal sin, this man may have Christian
faith and hope, which subsist in us even after the loss of charity as
long as we have not sinned mortally by incredulity, despair, or pre­
sumption. When this is so, this man’s intimate conversation with
himself is occasionally illumined by the supernatural light of faith;
now and then he thinks of eternal life and desires it, although this
desire remains weak. He is sometimes led by a special inspiration to
enter a church to pray.
Finally, if this man has at least attrition for his sins and receives
absolution for them, he recovers the state of grace and charity, the
love of God and neighbor. Thenceforth when he is alone, his
intimate conversation with himself changes. He begins to love him­
self in a holy manner, not for himself but for God, and to love his
own for God; he begins to understand that he must pardon his
enemies and love them, and to wish eternal life for them as he does
for himself. Often, however, the intimate conversation of a man
in the state of grace continues to be tainted with egoism, self-love,
sensuality, and pride. These sins are no longer mortal in him, they
are venial; but if they are repeated, they incline him to fall into a
serious sin, that is, to fall back into spiritual death. Should this hap­
pen, this man tends again to flee from himself because what he finds
’See Ila Ilae, q.25, a.7: Whether Sinners Love Themselves. “Since the
wicked do not know themselves aright, they do not love themselves aright,
but love what they think themselves to be. But rhe good know themselves
truly, and therefore truly love themselves ... as to the inward man . . .
and they take pleasure in entering into their own hearts. . . . On the other
hand, the wicked have no wish to be preserved in the integrity of the inward
man, nor do they desire spiritual goods for him, nor do they work for that
end, nor do they take pleasure in their own company by entering into their
own hearts, because whatever they find there, present, past, and future, is
evil and horrible; nor do they agree with themselves, on account of the
gnawings of conscience.”

INTIMATE CONVERSATION WITH GOD

43

in himself is no longer life but death. Instead of making a salutary
reflection on this subject, he may hurl himself back farther into
death by casting himself into pleasure, into the satisfactions of
sensuality or of pride.
In a man’s hours of solitude, this intimate conversation begins
again in spite of everything, as if to prove to him that it cannot
stop. He would like to interrupt it, yet he cannot do so. The center
of the soul has an irrestrainable need which demands satisfaction.
In reality, God alone can answer this need, and the only solution
is straightway to take the road leading to Him. The soul must con­
verse with someone other than itself. Why? Because it is not its
own last end; because its end is the living God, and it cannot rest
entirely except in Him. As St. Augustine puts it: “Our heart is
restless, until it repose in Thee.” 2
Interior Conversation with God

The interior life is precisely an elevation and a transformation
of the intimate conversation that everyone has with himself as soon
as it tends to become a conversation with God.
St. Paul says: “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.” 3
The Spirit of God progressively manifests to souls of good will
what God desires of them and what He wishes to give them. May
we receive with docility all that God wishes to give us! Our Lord
says to those who seek Him: “Thou wouldst not seek Me if thou
hadst not already found Me.”
This progressive manifestation of God to the soul that seeks
I liin is not unaccompanied by a struggle; the soul must free itself
from the bonds which are the results of sin, and gradually there
disappears what St. Paul calls “the old man” and there takes shape
"the new man.”
/ he Confessions, Bk. 1, chap. i. “Our heart is restless, until it repose in
l hec.” This is the proof for the existence of God through natural desire for
true and lasting happiness, which can be found only in the Sovereign Good,
known at least imperfectly and loved above all, and more than ourselves. We
develop this proof in La Providence et la confiance en Dieu, pp. 50-64.
" See 1 Cor. 2:11.

44

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

He writes to the Romans: “I find then a law, that when I have a
will to do good, evil is present with me. For I am delighted with the
law of God, according to the inward man; but I see another law in
my members, fighting against the law of my mind.” 4
What St. Paul calls “the inward man” is what is primary and most
elevated in us: reason illumined by faith and the will, which should
dominate the sensibility, common to man and animals.
St. Paul also says: “For which cause we faint not; but though our
outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed day by
day.” 8 His spiritual youth is continually renewed, like that of the
eagle, by the graces which he receives daily. This is so true that
the priest who ascends the altar can always say, though he be ninety
years old: “I will go in to the altar of God: to God who giveth
joy to my youth.” 6
St. Paul insists on this thought in his epistle to the Colossians:
“Lie not one to another: stripping yourselves of the old man with
his deeds, and putting on the new, him who is renewed unto knowl­
edge, according to the image of Him that created him, where there
is neither Gentile nor Jew . . . nor barbarian nor Scythian, bond
nor free. But Christ is all and in all.” 7 The inward man is renewed
unceasingly in the image of God, who does not grow old. The life
of God is above the past, the present, and the future; it is measured
by the single instant of immobile eternity. Likewise the risen Christ
dies no more and possesses eternal youth. Now He vivifies us by
ever new graces that He may render us like Himself. St. Paul wrote
in a similar strain to the Ephesians: “For this cause I bow my knees
to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . that Fie would grant
you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by
His Spirit with might unto the inward man, that Christ may dwell
by faith in your hearts; that, 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 the fullness of God.” 8
4 Rom. 7:21-23.
s See II Cor. 4:16.
6 Ps. 42:4.
T Col. 3:9-11.
8 Eph. 3:14-19.

INTIMATE CONVERSATION WITH GOD

45

St. Paul clearly depicts in these lines the interior life in its depth,
that life which tends constantly toward the contemplation of the
mystery of God and lives by it in an increasingly closer union with
Him. Pie wrote this letter not for some privileged souls alone, but
to all the Christians of Ephesus as well as those of Corinth.
Furthermore, St. Paul adds: “Be renewed in the spirit of your
mind: and put on the new man, who according to God is created
in justice and holiness of truth. . . . And walk in love, as Christ
also hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us, an oblation
and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness.” 9
In the light of these inspired words, which recall all that Jesus
promised us in the beatitudes and all that He gave us in dying for
us, we can define the interior life as follows: It is a supernatural life
which, by a true spirit of abnegation and prayer, makes us tend to
union with God and leads us to it.
It implies one phase in which purification dominates, another of
progressive illumination in view of union with God, as all tradi­
tion teaches, thus making a distinction between the purgative way
of beginners, the illuminative way of proficients, and the unitive
way of the perfect.
The interior life thus becomes more and more a conversation with
God, in which man gradually frees himself from egoism, self-love,
sensuality, and pride, and in which, by frequent prayer, he asks the
Lord for the ever new graces that he needs.10
As a result, man begins to know experimentally no longer only
the inferior part of his being, but also the highest part. Above all,
he begins to know God in a vital manner; he begins to have ex­
perience of the things of God. Little by little the thought of his
own ego, toward which he made everything converge, gives place
to the habitual thought of God; and egotistical love of self and of
what is less good in him also gives place progressively to the love
" Ibid., 4:23 f.; 5:2.
10 The author of The Imitation of Christ, beginning with the first chapter
of Book I, explains well the nature of the interior life when he says: “The
teaching of Christ surpassed! all the teachings of the saints; and he that hath
I lis Spirit, will find therein a hidden manna. But it happeneth that many,
from the frequent hearing of the Gospel, feel little emotion, because they
have not the Spirit of Christ. But he that would fully and with relish under­
stand the words of Christ must study to conform his whole life to His.”

4ό

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

of God and of souls in God. His interior conversation changes so
much that St. Paul can say: “Our conversation is in heaven.” 11 St.
Thomas often insisted on this point.11
12
Therefore the interior life is in a soul that is in the state of grace,
especially a life of humility, abnegation, faith, hope, and charity,
with the peace given by the progressive subordination of our feel­
ings and wishes to the love of God, who will be the object of our
beatitude.
Hence, to have an interior life, an exceedingly active exterior
apostolate does not suffice, nor does great theological knowledge.
Nor is the latter necessary. A generous beginner, who already has
a genuine spirit of abnegation and prayer, already possesses a true
interior life which ought to continue developing.
In this interior conversation with God, which tends to become
continual, the soul speaks by prayer, oratio, which is speech in its
most excellent form. Such speech would exist if God had created
only a single soul or one angel; for this creature, endowed with in­
tellect and love, would speak with its Creator. Prayer takes the form
now of petition, now of adoration and thanksgiving; it is always
an elevation of the soul toward God. And God answers by recalling
to our minds what has been said to us in the Gospel and what is
useful for the sanctification of the present moment. Did not Christ
say: “But 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”? 13
11 Phil. 3:20.
12 He does so in particular in two important chapters of the Contra Gentes
(IV, 21, 22) on the effects and the signs of the indwelling of the Blessed Trin­
ity in us.
At the beginning of chapter 22 he writes: “To converse with one’s friend
is the highest characteristic of friendship. Moreover, man’s conversation with
God is by contemplation of Him, as the Apostle used to say: Our conversa­
tion is in heaven’ (Phil. 3:20). Therefore, because the Holy Spirit makes us
lovers of God, it follows that by the Holy Spirit we are constituted con­
templatore of God: whence the Apostle says: ‘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’ ” (11 Cor. 3:18).
Those who meditate on chapters 21 and 22 of Book IV of the Contra
Gentes will be able to get a clear idea as to whether or not, in the opinion
of St. Thomas, the infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith is in the
normal way of sanctity.
111 John 14:26.

INTIMATE CONVERSATION WITH GOD

47

Man thus becomes more and more the child of God; he recognizes
more profoundly that God is his Father, and he even becomes more
and more a little child in his relations with God. He understands
what Christ meant when He told Nicodemus that a man must re­
turn to the bosom of God that he may be spiritually reborn, and each
day more intimately so, by that spiritual birth which is a remote
similitude of the eternal birth of the Word.14 The saints truly follow
this way, and then between their souls and God is established that
conversation which does not, so to speak, cease. Thus it was said that
St. Dominic knew how to speak only of God or with God; this
is what made it possible for him to be always charitable toward men
and at the same time prudent, strong, and just.
This conversation with God is established through the influence
of Christ, our Mediator, as the liturgy often says, particularly in
the hymn Jesu dulcis memoria, which is a splendid expression of
the Christian’s interior life:

]esu, spes poenitenti bus,
Quam pius es petentibus!
Quam bonus te quaerentibus!
Sed quid invenientibus!
Nec lingua valet dicere,
Nec littera exprimere,
Expertus potest credere
Quid sit Jesum diligere.

Let us strive to be of the number of those who seek Him, and to
whom it is said: “Thou wouldst not seek Me, if thou hadst not
already found Me.”
14 St. Francis de Sales remarks somewhere in his writings that on the one
hand as a man grows up he should be self-sufficient and depend less and less
on his mother, who becomes less necessary to him when he reaches man­
hood, and especially when he reaches full maturity; on the contrary, as the
interior man grows, he becomes daily more aware of his divine sonship,
which makes him the child of God, and he becomes more and more a child
in regard to God, even to the extent of re-entering, so to speak, the bosom
of God. The blessed in heaven are always in this bosom of God.

CHAPTER III

The Spiritual Organism
HE interior life, which presupposes the state of grace, consists,
as wc have seen, in a generous tendency of the soul toward God,
in which little by little each one’s intimate conversation with him­
self is elevated, is transformed, and becomes an intimate conversa­
tion of the soul with God. It is, we said, eternal life begun in the
obscurity of faith before reaching its full development in the clarity
of that vision which cannot be lost.
Better to comprehend what this seed of eternal life, semen gloriae,
is in us, we must ponder the fact that from sanctifying grace spring
forth in our faculties the infused virtues, both theological and
moral, and also the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost; virtues and gifts
which are like the subordinated functions of one and the same
organism, a spiritual organism, which ought to develop until our
entrance into heaven.

T

ARTICLE I
The Natural Life and the Supernatural Life
of the Soul

We must distinguish clearly in our soul what belongs to its very
nature and what is an entirely gratuitous gift of God. The same dis­
tinction must be made for the angels who also have a nature which,
though entirely spiritual, is very inferior to the gift of grace.
If we carefully consider the human soul in its nature, we see two
quite different regions in it: one belongs to the sensible order, the
other to the suprasensible or intellectual order. The sensitive part
of the soul is that which is common to men and animals; it includes
the external senses and the internal senses, comprising the imag­
ination, the sensible memory, and also sensibility, or the sensitive
4«

THE SPIRITUAL ORGANISM

49

appetite, whence spring the various passions or emotions, which
we call sensible love and hatred, desire and aversion, sensible joy
and sadness, hope and despair, audacity and fear, and anger. All
this sensitive life exists in the animal, whether its passions are mild
like those of the dove or lamb, or whether they are strong like
those of the wolf and the lion.
Above this sensitive part common to men and animals, our nature
likewise possesses an intellectual part, which is common to men and
angels, although it is far more vigorous and beautiful in the angel.
By this intellectual part our soul towers above our body; this is why
we say that the soul is spiritual, that it does not intrinsically depend
on the body and will thus be able to survive the body after death.
From the essence of the soul in this elevated region spring our
two higher faculties, the intellect and the will.1 The intellect knows
not only sensible qualities, colors, and sounds, but also being,
the intelligible reality, of necessary and universal truths, such as
the following: “Nothing happens without a cause, and, in the last
analysis, without a supreme cause. We must do good and avoid evil.
Do what you ought to, come what may.” An animal will never at­
tain to the knowledge of these principles; even if its imagination
were continually growing in perfection, it would never attain to
the intellectual order of necessary and universal truths. Its imagina­
tion does not pass beyond the order of sensible qualities, known here
or there in their contingent singularity.
Since the intellect knows the good in a universal manner, and not
only the delectable or useful good but the upright and reasonable
good (for example: Die rather than become a traitor), it follows
that the will can love this good, will it, and accomplish it. Thereby
the intellect immensely dominates the sensitive part or the emotions
common to men and animals. By his intellect and his will, man re1 To know and to will, the human soul and the angel need two faculties;
in this respect both differ from God. God, who is Being itself. Thought,
Wisdom, and Love, does not need faculties to know and to love. On the
contrary, since the angel and the soul are not being itself, they have only
a nature or an essence capable of receiving existence. Moreover, in them
restricted existence, which is proper to them, is distinct from acts of knowl­
edge and of will which have an object that is not limited; as a result the
essence of the soul or of the angel, which receives the existence that is proper
to them, is distinct from the faculties or powers capable of producing, not
the permanent act of existence, but the successive acts of knowledge and of
will. Cf. St. Thomas, la, q.54, a. 1-3.

5O

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

semblés the angel; although his intellect, in contrast to the angelic
intellect, depends in this present life on the senses, which propose
to it the first objects that it knows.
The two higher faculties, the intellect and the will, can develop
greatly as we see in men of genius and superior men of action. These
faculties could, however, develop forever without ever knowing
and loving the intimate life of God, which is of another order, en­
tirely supernatural, and supernatural alike for angels and men. Man
and the angel can indeed know God naturally from without, by the
reflection of His perfections in creatures; but no created and creat­
able intellect can by its natural powers attain, even confusedly and
obscurely, the essential and formal object of the divine intellect.2
To hold that it could be done would be to maintain that this
created intellect is of the same nature as God, since it would be
specified by the same formal object.3 As St. Paul says: “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.” 4 This order is essentially supernatural.
Sanctifying grace, the seed of glory, introduces us into this
higher order of truth and life. It is an essentially supernatural life, a
participation in the intimate life of God, in the divine nature, since
it even now prepares us to see God some day as He sees Himself and
to love Him as He loves Himself. St. Paul has declared to us: “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 His Spirit. For the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 5
Sanctifying grace, which makes us begin to live in this higher,
supra-angelic order of the intimate life of God, is like a divine graft
received in the very essence of the soul to elevate its vitality and
to make it bear no longer merely natural fruits but supernatural
ones, meritorious acts that merit eternal life for us.
This divine graft of sanctifying grace is, therefore, in us an
2 Thus a peasant who only very confusedly grasps intelligible reality, which
is the object of philosophy, has, nevertheless, an intellect of the same nature
as that of the philosopher; but neither one nor the other can by the sole
natural powers of his reason know the intimate life of God.
8 Suvnna, la, q. 12, a.4.
4 See I Cor. 2:11.
“Ibid., 2:9 f.

THE SPIRITUAL ORGANISM

essentially supernatural life, immensely superior to a sensible miracle
and above the natural life of our spiritual and immortal soul.®
Even now this life of grace develops in us under the form of the
infused virtues and of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. As in the
natural order, our intellectual and sensitive faculties spring from
the very essence of our soul, so in the supernatural order, from sanc­
tifying grace, received in the essence of the soul, spring, in our
superior and inferior faculties, the infused virtues and the gifts which
constitute, with the root from which they proceed, our spiritual or
supernatural organism.7 It was given to us in baptism, and is restored
to us by absolution if we have the misfortune to lose it.
The spiritual organism may be expressed in the following table
of the virtues and the gifts.
theo- charity................ ........... gift of wisdom
faith .................... ........... gift of understanding
loghope .................... ........... gift of knowledge
ical
prudence ............ ........... gift of counsel
justice..................
religion............ ........... gift of piety
penance
obedience
mor­
fortitude.............. ........... gift of fortitude
al
patience
temperance ........ ........... gift of fear
humility
meekness
chastity
In connection with this table it would be well to consult St.
Thomas’ treatise on each of the virtues, where he speaks of the
0 The sensible miracle of the resurrection of a body restores natural life
to this body in a supernatural manner; whereas sanctifying grace, which
resuscitates a soul, is an essentially supernatural life. The miraculous effect
of the corporal resurrection is not supernatural in itself but only by the
mode of its production, “non quoad essentiam, sed quoad modum produc­
tionis suae.” This is why a miracle, although supernatural by reason of its
cause, is naturally knowable, whereas the essentially supernatural life of
grace could not be known naturally. To mark this difference a miracle is
often said to be preternatural rather than supernatural, and the latter word is
reserved to designate the supernatural life.
’ Sec la llae, q.63, a.3.

52

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

corresponding gift.89The gift of fear corresponds both to temper­
ance and to hope,® but this latter virtue is also aided by the gift of
knowledge, which shows us the emptiness of created things and
thereby makes us desire God and depend on Him.10

ARTICLE II
The Theological Virtues

The theological virtues are infused virtues which have for their
object God Himself, our supernatural last end. This is why they
are called theological. By contrast, the moral virtues have for their
object the supernatural means proportioned to our last end. Thus
prudence directs our acts to this end; religion makes us render to
God the worship that is due Him; justice makes us give to every­
one what we owe him; fortitude and temperance regulate the sensi­
ble part of our soul to prevent it from going astray and to make it
cooperate, according to its manner, in our progress toward God.1
Among the theological virtues, infused faith, which makes us
believe all that God has revealed because He is Truth itself, is like
a higher spiritual sense which allows us to hear a divine harmony
that is inaccessible to every other means of knowing. Infused faith
is like a higher sense of hearing for the audition of a spiritual sym­
phony which has God for its composer. This explains why there
is an immense difference between the purely historical study of the
Gospel and of the miracles which confirm it and the supernatural
act of faith by which we believe in the Gospel as in the word of
God. A very learned man who seeks the truth sincerely can make
a historical and critical study of the Gospel and of the miracles
which confirm it without as yet coming to the point where he
believes. He will believe supernaturally only after receiving the
grace of faith, which will introduce him into a higher world,
superior even to the natural life of the angels. “Faith ... is the gift
8 Summa, Ila Ilae.
9 See ibid., q. 141, a. 1 ad jum: “Temperance also has a corresponding gift,
namely, fear, whereby man is withheld from the pleasures of the flesh, ac­
cording to Ps. 118:120: ‘Pierce Thou my flesh with Thy fear? ... It also
corresponds to the virtue of hope.”
10 Sec ibid., q.9, a. 4.
1 See la Ilae, q.6i, a. 1 f.

THE SPIRITUAL ORGANISM

53

of God,” says St. Paul.2 It is the basis of justification, for it makes us
know the supernatural end toward which we must tend.3 The
Church has defined against the Semi-Pelagians that even the begin­
ning of faith is a gift of grace.1 All the great theologians have shown
that infused faith is essentially supernatural, of a supernatural char­
acter very superior to that of the sensible miracle and also to that
of prophecy which announces a contingent future in the natural
order, such as the end of a war.5 Faith makes us, in fact, adhere
supernaturally and infallibly to what God reveals to us about His
intimate life, according as the Church, which is charged with pre­
serving revelation, proposes it to us.
Infused faith belongs thus to an order immensely superior to the
historical and critical study of the Gospel. As Lacordaire rightly
says: “A scholar may study Catholic doctrine, not reject it bitterly,
and may even say repeatedly: ‘You are blessed to have faith; I
should like to have it, but I cannot believe.’ And he tells the truth:
he wishes and he cannot (as yet), for study and good faith do not
always conquer the truth, so that it may be clear that rational certi­
tude is not the first certitude on which Catholic doctrine rests. This
scholar therefore knows Catholic doctrine; he admits its facts; he
feels its power; he agrees that there existed a man named Jesus Christ,
who lived and died in a prodigious manner. He is touched by the
blood of the martyrs, by the constitution of the Church; he will
willingly say that it is the greatest phenomenon that has passed over
the world. He will almost say that it is true. And yet he does not
2 Eph. 2:8.
3 Rom. 4:1-25. Abraham was justified by faith in God, “it was reputed to
him unto justice.” We ourselves will obtain salvation only by faith, which
is a gift of God, by faith in Jesus Christ.
4 Cf. Denzinger, Enchiridion, no. 178.
6 St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.6, a. 1, 2. As the virtues arc specified by their ob­
ject and their formal motive, this essentially supernatural character of in­
fused faith depends on its first object and on its formal motive, which are
inaccessible to all natural knowledge. The first object of faith is, in fact,
God Himself in His intimate life, and the formal motive of infused faith is
the authority of God revealing. Now we can by reason alone know the
authority of God the Author of nature, and even the Author of the sensible
miracle; but we cannot by reason alone adhere to the authority of God the
Author of grace. It is as the Author of grace that God intervenes when He
reveals to us rhe essentially supernatural mysteries of the Trinity, the Incarna­
tion, the redemption, the Eucharist, and eternal life. We have treated this im­
portant point at length in De revelatione, 1, chap. 14, pp. 458-514, and in Chris­
tian Perfection and Contemplation, pp. 61-80.

54

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

conclude; he feels himself oppressed by truth, as one is in a dream
where one sees without seeing. The day comes, however, when
this scholar drops on his knees; feeling the wretchedness of man,
he lifts his hands to heaven and exclaims: Out of the depths I have
cried to Thee, O Lord!’ At this moment something takes place in
him, scales drop from his eyes, a mystery is accomplished, and he is
changed. He is a man, meek and humble of heart; he can die, he has
conquered the truth.” 0
If acquired faith, born of the historical examination of the Gospel
and of the miracles which confirm it, were sufficient to attain the
formal motive of Christian faith, infused faith would be useless, as
would likewise infused hope and infused charity. Natural good will,
spoken of by the Pelagians, would suffice. In the opinion of the
Pelagians, grace and the infused virtues were not absolutely neces­
sary for salvation, but only for the easier accomplishment of the
acts of Christian life.7
Infused faith is like a faculty of supernatural audition, like a
higher musical sense, which permits us to hear the spiritual har­
monies of the kingdom of heaven, to hear, in a way, the voice of God
through the prophets and His Son before we are admitted to see
Him face to face. Between the unbeliever, who studies the Gospel,
and the believer, there is a difference similar to that which exists
between two persons who are listening to a Beethoven symphony, one
of whom has a musical ear and the other has not. Both hear all the
notes of the symphony, but one alone grasps its meaning and its soul.
Similarly, only the believer adheres supernaturally to the Gospel as
to the supernatural word of God; and he adheres to it even though
untutored, while the learned man with all his means of criticism can­
not, without infused faith, adhere to it in this manner. “He that believeth in the Son of God, hath the testimony of God in himself.” 8
This is what prompted Lacordaire to say: “What takes place in
us when we believe is a phenomenon of intimate and superhuman
light. I do not say that exterior things do not act on us as rational
6 H. Lacordaire, Conferences à Notre-Dame de Paris, 17th conference.
7 Cf. Denzinger, Enchiridion, no. 179. Acquired faith exists in the demons
who have lost infused faith, but who believe as it were reluctantly because
of the evidence of miracles and other signs of revelation. Cf. St. Thomas, Ila
llae, q.j, a. 2; De veritate, q. 14, a. 9 ad 4U111.
8 See I John 5:10.

THE SPIRITUAL ORGANISM

55

motives of certitude; but the very act of this supreme certitude,
which I speak of, affects us directly like a luminous phenomenon
(infused light of faith); I would even add, like a transluminous
phenomenon. . . . We are affected by a transluminous light. . . .
Otherwise how could there be proportion between our adherence,
which would be natural and rational, and an object that surpasses
nature and reason? ... 9 Similarly sympathetic intuition between
two men accomplishes in a single moment what logic could not have
brought about in many years. Just so, a sudden illumination some­
times enlightens the genius.
“A convert will tell you: Ί read, reasoned, wished, and I did not
arrive. Then one day, I don’t know how, on the street corner or
at my fireside, I don’t know, but I was no longer the same; I be­
lieved. . . . What took place in me at the moment of final con­
viction is of a totally different nature from what preceded. Re­
member the two disciples who were going to Emmaus.’ ” 10
Fifty years ago, a man who did not yet know radio would have
been surprised to hear it said that the day would come when a sym­
phony that was being played in Vienna could be heard in Rome.
By infused faith we hear a spiritual symphony which originates in
heaven. The perfect chords of this symphony are called the mys­
teries of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the redemption, the Mass,
and eternal life. By this superior sense of hearing man is guided
toward eternity; he ought ever to advance toward the summit from
which this harmony comes.
To tend effectively toward this supernatural end and to reach it,
man has received two helps, hope and charity, which are like two
wings. Without them he could make progress only in the direction
indicated by reason; with them he flies in the direction pointed out
by faith.
Just as our intellect cannot know our supernatural end without
“St. Thomas says the same thing in De veritate, q. 14, a.2: “Eternal life
consists in the full knowledge of God. Hence there should be in us some
beginning of this supernatural knowledge; and this is through faith, which
from an infused light believes things that exceed natural reason.”
Summa, Ila Ilae, q.6, a. 1, 2: Doubtless the light of faith is still obscure,
but it is transluminiously obscure, that is, superior and not inferior to the
evidences of reason.
10 Lacordaire, loc. cit.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

the infused light of faith, so our will cannot tend toward it unless
its powers are augmented, increased more than tenfold, raised to a
higher order. For this the will needs a supernatural love and a new
impulse.
By hope we desire to possess God, and in order to attain Him we
rely, not on our natural powers but on the help that He promised
us. We rely on God Himself who always comes to the assistance
of those who invoke Him.
Charity is a superior and more disinterested love of God. It
makes us love God, not only in order to possess Him some day, but
for Himself and more than ourselves, because of His infinite good­
ness, which is more lovable in itself than all the benefits we receive
from it.11 This virtue makes us love God above all else as a friend
who has first loved us. It ordains to Him the acts of all the other
virtues, which it vivifies and renders meritorious. Charity is our
great supernatural force, the power of love which through centuries
of persecution has surmounted all obstacles, even in weak children,
such as St. Agnes and St. Lucy.
A man illumined by faith thus advances toward God by the two
wings of hope and love. As soon as he sins mortally, however, he
loses sanctifying grace and charity, since he turns away from God,
whom he ceases to love more than himself. But divine mercy pre­
serves infused faith and infused hope in him as long as he does
not sin mortally against these virtues. He still preserves the light
which indicates the road to be followed and he can still entrust
himself to infinite mercy in order to ask of it the grace of conversion.
Of these three theological virtues, charity is the highest, and to­
gether with sanctifying grace, it ought to endure forever. “Charity,”
says St. Paul, “never falleth away. . . . Now there remain faith,
hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.” 12
It will last forever, eternally, when faith will have disappeared to
give place to vision, and when hope will be succeeded by the inamissible possession of God clearly known.
Such are the superior functions of the spiritual organism: the
three theological virtues which grow together, and with them the
infused moral virtues that accompany them.
11 Sec la llac,
11.4.
12 Sec 1 Cor. 13:8, 13.

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57

ARTICLE III
The Moral Virtues

To understand what the action of the spiritual organism should
be, we must clearly distinguish on the level below the theological
virtues, the acquired moral virtues which were described by the
moralists of pagan antiquity and which can exist without the state
of grace, and the infused moral virtues which were unknown to
pagan moralists and which are described in the Gospel. The acquired
moral virtues, as their name indicates, are acquired by the repetition
of acts under the direction of more or less cultivated natural reason.
The infused moral virtues are called infused because God alone
can produce them in us. They are not the result of the repetition of
our acts; we received them in baptism as parts of our spiritual or­
ganism, and absolution restores them to us if we have had the mis­
fortune to lose them. The acquired moral virtues, known by the
pagans, have an object accessible to natural reason; the infused moral
virtues have an essentially supernatural object commensurate with
our supernatural end, an object which would be inaccessible without
the infused light of faith in eternal life, in the gravity of sin, in the
redemptive value of our Savior’s passion, in the value of grace and
of the sacraments.1
In relation to the interior life, we shall discuss first of all the ac­
quired moral virtues, then the infused moral virtues, and finally the
relationship of the first to the second. This subject matter is im­
portant, especially since some souls consecrated to God do not in
their youth give sufficient importance to the moral virtues. Over
and above a rather calm and pure sensibility, they seem to have the
three theological virtues, but they almost lack the moral virtues of
prudence, justice, fortitude, and so on.2 Something like an inter­
mediary stage seems to be lacking in their souls. Yet they have the
infused inoral virtues, but not the corresponding acquired moral
virtues in a sufficient degree. Others, on the contrary, who are older
and have seen the importance of the moral virtues of prudence,
1 See la Ilae, q.63, a.4.
2 Nevcrrhcless these persons, being in the state of grace, do have the in­
fused moral virtues always united to charity, but their attention is not suffi­
ciently focused on them, and they have the corresponding acquired virtues
only in a feeble degree.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

justice, fortitude, and so on, in social life, do not sufficiently value
the theological virtues, which are, however, incomparably higher
since they unite us to God.
THE ACQUIRED MORAL VIRTUES

We shall ascend progressively from the lower degrees of natural
morality to those of supernatural morality. We must, first of all,
observe with St. Thomas that in a man in the state of mortal sin
there are often false virtues, such as the temperance of the miser.
He practices it, not for love of honest and reasonable good, not for
the sake of living according to right reason, but for love of that
useful good, money. Similarly, if he pays his debts, it is rather to
avoid the costs of a lawsuit than for love of justice.
Above these false virtues, true acquired moral virtues may exist
even in a man in the state of mortal sin. Some practice sobriety in
order to live reasonably; for the same motive they pay their debts
and teach some good principles to their children. But as long as a
man remains in the state of mortal sin these true virtues remain in
the state of a somewhat unstable disposition (in statu dispositionis
facile mobilis)·, they are not yet in the state of solid virtue (difficile
mobilis). Why is this? The answer is that, as long as a man is in the
state of mortal sin, his will is habitually turned away from God.
Instead of loving Him above all else, the sinner loves himself more
than God, with the consequent result that he shows great weakness
in accomplishing moral good, even of the natural order.
Moreover, the true acquired virtues which are in a man in the
state of mortal sin lack solidity because they are not connected, be­
cause they are not sufficiently supported by the closely related moral
virtues that are often lacking. We may take as an example a sol­
dier who is naturally inclined to acts of bravery and has often shown
himself courageous, but who is also inclined to become intoxicated.
It may happen that, by reason of intemperance, on certain days he
fails in the acquired virtue of fortitude and neglects his essential
duties as a soldier.3 This man, who is inclined by temperament to
8 See la Ilae, q.65, a. 2. Thomists generally admit this proposition: “With­
out charity there can be true acquired moral virtues, but imperfect ones,
as there were actually in many peoples.” Cf. John of St. Thomas, Cursus theol.,
De proprietate virtutum, disp. XVII, a. 2, nos. 6, 8, 10, 11, 14. Sahnanticcnscs.

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59

be courageous, has not the virtue of fortitude as a virtue. Intemper­
ance makes him fail in prudence, even in the domain of the virtue of
fortitude. Prudence, which ought to direct all the moral virtues,
supposes in fact that our will and our sensible appetites are habitu­
ally rectified as regards the end of these virtues. A man who drives
several horses hitched to a chariot must see to it that each animal
is already broken and docile. Now prudence is like the driver of
all the moral virtues, auriga virtutum, and it ought to have them all
in hand, so to speak. One does not go without the other: they are
connected in prudence, which directs them.
Therefore, that true acquired virtues may not be simply in a
state of unstable disposition, and that they may be in a state of solid
virtue (m statu virtutis}, they must be connected. That this may be
so, a man must no longer be in the state of mortal sin, but his will
must be set straight in regard to his last end. He must love God more
than himself, at least with a real and efficacious love of esteem, if not
with a love that is felt. This love is impossible without the state of
grace and without charity.4 But after justification or conversion,
these true acquired virtues may come to be stable virtues; they may
become connected, relying on each other. Finally, under the influx
of infused charity, they become the principle of acts meritorious
of eternal life. For this reason, some theologians, such as Duns
Scotus, have even thought it not necessary that we should have in­
fused moral virtues.
THE INFUSED MORAL VIRTUES

Are the acquired moral virtues we have just spoken of sufficient,
under the influence of charity, to constitute the spiritual organism
of the virtues in a Christian? Must we receive infused moral virtues?
Cursus theol., De virtutibus, disp. IV, dub. i, no. i; dub. 2, nos. 26, 27. Billuart,
Cursus theol., De passionibus et virtutibus, diss. II, a. 4, par. 3, especially in fine.
We treated this subject at greater length in the Revue Thomiste, July, 1937:
“The instability of the acquired moral virtues in the state of mortal sin.” Con­
sult in particular St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.49, a. 2 ad 3 um; this text is of primary
importance.
■* See la Ilae, q.6j, a. 2. In the present state of humanity, every man is either
in the state of mortal sin or in the state of grace. Since the Fall, man cannot,
in fact, efficaciously love God the Author of his nature more than himself
without healing grace, a grace which is not really distinct from sanctifying
grace which elevates. Cf. St. Thomas, la ilae, q. 109, a. 3.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

In conformity with tradition and with a decision of Pope Clem­
ent V at the Council of Vienne,5 the Catechism of the Council of
Trent (Part II, On baptism and its effects), answers: “The grace
(sanctifying), which baptism confers, is accompanied by the glori­
ous cortege of all the virtues, which, by a special gift of God, pene­
trate the soul simultaneously with it.” This gift is an admirable effect
of the Savior’s passion which is applied to us by the sacrament of
regeneration.
Moreover, in this bestowal of the infused moral virtues, there is
a lofty fitness that has been well set forth by St. Thomas.® The
means, he observes, must be proportioned to the end. By the infused
theological virtues we are raised and directed toward the super­
natural last end. Hence it is highly fitting that we should be raised
and directed by the infused moral virtues in regard to supernatural
means capable of leading us to our supernatural end.
God provides for our needs not less in the order of grace than in
that of nature. Therefore, since in the order of nature He has given
us the capacity to succeed in practicing the acquired moral virtues,
it is highly fitting that in the order of grace He should give us infused
moral virtues.
The acquired moral virtues do not suffice in a Christian to make
him will, as he ought, the supernatural means ordained to eternal
life. St. Thomas says, in fact, that there is an essential difference
between the acquired temperance described by pagan moralists, and
the Christian temperance spoken of in the Gospel.7 The difference
is analogous to that of an octave between two musical notes of the
same name, separated by a complete scale. We often distinguish be­
tween philosophical temperance and Christian temperance, or again
5 Clement V at the Council of Vienne (Denzinger, Enchiridion, no. 483),
thus settled this question, which was formulated under Innocent III (Den­
zinger, no. 410): “Whether faith, charity, and the other virtues are infused
into children in baptism.” He answers: “We, however, considering the gen­
eral efficacy of the death of Christ, which is applied by baptism equally to all
the baptized, think that, with the approval of the sacred Council, we should
choose as more probable and more consonant and harmonious with the
teachings of the saints and of modern doctors of theology, the second opinion,
which declares that informing grace and the virtues arc bestowed in baptism
on infants as well as adults.” By these words, “and the virtues,” Clement V
means not only rhe theological virtues, but the moral virtues, for they also
were involved in the question formulated under Innocent III.
0 Sec la Ilae, q.63, a. j.
’ I hid., a. 4.

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61

between the philosophical poverty of Crates and the evangelical
poverty of the disciples of Christ.
As St. Thomas remarks,8 acquired temperance has a rule and
formal object different from those of infused temperance. Acquired
temperance keeps a just medium in the matter of food in order that
we may live reasonably, that we may not injure our health or the
exercise of our reason. Infused temperance, on the contrary, keeps
a superior happy mean in the use of food in order that we may live
in a Christian manner, as children of God, en route to the wholly
supernatural life of eternity. Infused temperance thus implies a more
severe mortification than is implied by acquired temperance; it re­
quires, as St. Paul says, that man chastise his body and bring it
into subjection,9 that he may become not only a virtuous citizen
of society on earth, but one of the “fellow citizens with the saints,
and the domestics of God.” 10
The same difference exists between the acquired virtue of re­
ligion, which ought to render to God, the Author of nature, the
worship due Him, and the infused virtue of religion, which offers to
God, the Author of grace, the essentially supernatural sacrifice of
the Mass, which perpetuates in substance that of the cross. Between
these two virtues of the same name, there is even more than the
difference of an octave; there is a difference of orders, so that the
acquired virtue of religion or that of temperance could grow for­
ever by the repetition of acts without ever attaining the dignity of
the slightest degree of the infused virtue of the same name. The
tonality is entirely different; the spirit animating the word is no
longer the same. In the case of the acquired virtue, the spirit is simply
that of right reason; in the infused virtue, the spirit is that of faith
which comes from God through grace.
These two formal objects and two motives of action differ greatly.
Acquired prudence is ignorant of the supernatural motives of action;
infused prudence knows them. Proceeding not from reason alone,
but from reason illumined by infused faith, it knows the infinite
elevation of our supernatural last end, God seen face to face. It
knows, consequently, the gravity of mortal sin, the value of sancti­
fying grace and of the actual graces we must ask for every day
* Ibid.
0 Sec I Cor. 9:27.
10 Eph. 2:19.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

in order to persevere, and the value of the sacraments that are to be
received. Acquired prudence is ignorant of all of this, because this
matter belongs to an essentially supernatural order.
What a difference there is between the philosophical modesty
described by Aristotle and Christian humility! The latter presup­
poses the knowledge of two dogmas: that of creation ex nihilo, and
that of the necessity of actual grace for taking the slightest step
forward in the way of salvation. What a distance there is also be­
tween the virginity of the vestal virgin, whose duty it was to keep
up the sacred fire, and that of the Christian virgin who consecrates
her body and heart to God that she may follow our Lord Jesus Christ
more perfectly!
These infused moral virtues are Christian prudence, justice, forti­
tude, temperance, and those which accompany them, such as meek­
ness and humility. They are connected with charity in this sense,
that charity, which sets us aright in regard to our supernatural last
end, cannot exist without them, without this multiple rectification in
regard to the supernatural means of salvation.11 Moreover, he who
loses charity by a mortal sin, loses the infused moral virtues; be­
cause, by turning away from the supernatural end, he loses infused
rectification in regard to the means proportioned to this end. But
it does not follow that he loses faith and hope, or that he loses the
acquired virtues; the latter, however, cease to be stable and con­
nected in him. In fact, a man who is in the state of mortal sin loves
himself more than he does God and tends through egoism to fail in
his duties even in the natural order.
RELATIONS BETWEEN THE INFUSED MORAL VIRTUES AND
THE ACQUIRED MORAL VIRTUES

The relations between these virtues and their subordination are
explained by what we have just said.11
12 First of all, the facility of
virtuous acts is not assured in the same way by the infused moral
virtues as by the acquired moral virtues. The infused virtues give an
intrinsic facility, without always excluding the extrinsic obstacles;
11 Sec la Ilae, q.65, a. 3.
12 Cf. St. Thomas, Quaest. disp.i De virtutibus in communi, a. 10, in corp.,
ad 1 um, ad ijum, ad i6um; also P. Bernard, O.P., La vie spirituelle, January,
1935; suppl., pp. 25-54: "I.a vertu acquise et la vertu infuse.”

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63

whereas these extrinsic obstacles are excluded by the repetition of
acts that engender the acquired virtues.
This is easily understood when by sacramental absolution the
infused moral virtues, united to sanctifying grace and to charity, are
restored to a penitent who, though he has imperfect contrition for
his sins, has not the acquired moral virtues. This happens, for ex­
ample, in the case of a man who is accustomed to becoming intoxi­
cated and who makes his Easter confession with sufficient attrition.
By absolution he receives, together with charity, the infused moral
virtues, including temperance; but he has not yet the acquired vir­
tue of temperance. The infused virtue that he receives gives him a
certain intrinsic facility for the exercise of the obligatory acts of
sobriety; but this infused virtue does not exclude the extrinsic ob­
stacles which would be eliminated by the repetition of the acts that
engender acquired temperance.13 This penitent ought also to watch
seriously over himself in order to avoid the occasions that would
cause him to fall back into his habitual sin. For this reason it is evi­
dent that the acquired virtue of temperance greatly facilitates the
exercise of the infused virtue of the same name.14
How are the virtues exercised? They are exercised simultane­
ously in such a way that the acquired virtue is subordinated to the
infused virtue as a favorable disposition. Thus, in another domain,
the agility of a pianist’s or a harpist’s fingers, which is acquired by a
repetition of acts, favors the exercise of the musical art that is in the
artist’s intellect and not in his fingers. If he completely loses the
nimbleness of his fingers as a result of paralysis, he can no longer exer­
cise his art because of an extrinsic obstacle. His art, however, re­
mains in his practical intellect, as we see in the case of a musical
13 Hence it follows that this penitent has through experience a much greater
knowledge of the obstacles to be conquered than of the infused virtue of
temperance, which he has just received, and which is of too elevated an order
to fall under the scope of sensible experience.
14 Infused temperance can exist without acquired temperance, as in the
case we have just discussed. And inversely, acquired temperance can exist
without the infused virtue, for the latter is lost after every mortal sin, whereas
acquired temperance remains at least in an imperfect state (in statu disposi­
tionis facile inobilis) if it existed before this sin. Thus the sensible memory,
which is at the service of intellectual knowledge, can exist without it; in­
versely, a great scholar, preserving his knowledge in his intellect, can, by
reason of a cerebral lesion, lose his memory which facilitated the exercise
of this knowledge.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

genius who is stricken with paralysis. Normally there ought to be
two subordinated functions that should be exercised together. The
same holds true for the acquired virtue and for the infused virtue of
the same name.15*In like manner the imagination is at the service of
the intellect, and the memory at that of knowledge.
These moral virtues consist in a happy mean between two ex­
tremes, shown by excess on the one hand and deficiency on the other.
Thus the virtue of fortitude inclines us to keep a happy mean be­
tween fear, which flees danger without a reasonable motive, and
temerity, which would lead us into the danger of getting our head
broken without sufficient reason. However, this happy mean may
be misunderstood. Epicureans and the tepid intend to keep a happy
mean not for love of virtue, but for convenience’ sake in order to
flee from the discomforts of the contrary vices. They confuse the
happy mean with mediocrity, which is found not precisely between
two contrary evils, but halfway between good and evil. Mediocrity
or tepidity flees the higher good as an extreme to be avoided. It
hides its laziness under this principle: “The best is sometimes the
enemy of the good”; and it ends by saying: “The best is often, if
not always, the enemy of the good.” It thus ends by confusing the
good with the mediocre.
The right happy medium of true virtue is not only a mean be­
tween two contrary vices; it is also a summit. It rises like a culminat­
ing point between these contrary deviations; thus fortitude is superior
to fear and temerity; true prudence to imprudence and cunning;
magnanimity to pusillanimity and vain and ambitious presump­
tion; liberality to avarice or stinginess and prodigality; true religion
to impiety and superstition.
Moreover, this happy medium, which is at the same time a summit,
15 In the just man, charity commands or inspires the act of acquired temper­
ance by the intermediary of the simultaneous act of infused temperance.
And even outside the production of their acts, since these two virtues are
united in the same faculty, the infused confirms the acquired. Only in those
Christians who live a more supernatural life, does the supernatural motive
most appear as the explicit motive of acting; in others it is a rational motive,
and the supernatural remains somewhat latent (remissus). Similarly, one
pianist may show great technique and a modicum of inspiration, whereas in
another the inverse may be true. The motives of inferior reason, which
touch on health, arc more or less explicit according as a person is more or
less freed from these preoccupations, or according as he is so healthy that
he need not think of his health.

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65

tends to rise without deviating to the right or the left in proportion
as virtue grows. In this sense the mean of the infused virtue is superior
to that of the corresponding acquired virtue, for it depends on a
higher rule and has in view a more elevated object.
We note, lastly, that spiritual authors insist particularly, as the
Gospel does, on certain moral virtues which have a more special
relation with God and an affinity with the theological virtues. They
are religion or solid piety,16 penance,17 which render to God the
worship and the reparation which are due to Him; meekness,18
united to patience, perfect chastity, virginity,19 and humility,20 a
fundamental virtue which excludes pride, the principle of every sin.
By abasing us before God, humility raises us above pusillanimity and
pride and prepares us for the contemplation of divine things, for
union with God. “God giveth grace to the humble,” 21 and He makes
them humble in order to load them with His gifts. Christ delighted
in saying: “Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart.” 22
He alone, who was so well established in truth, could speak of His
humility without losing it.
Such are the infused and acquired moral virtues which, with the
theological virtues to which they are subordinated, constitute our
spiritual organism. This ensemble of functions possesses great har­
mony, although venial sin may more or less frequently introduce dis­
cordant notes in it. All the parts of this spiritual organism grow
together, says St. Thomas, like the five fingers of one hand.23 This
proportionate growth demonstrates that a soul cannot have lofty
charity without profound humility, just as the highest branch of
a tree rises toward heaven in proportion as its roots plunge more
deeply into the soil. We must take care in the interior life that noth­
ing troubles the harmony of this spiritual organism, as happens un­
18 See Ila Ilae, q.81.
17 Sec Illa, q.85.
18 See Ha llae, q. 157.
18 Ibid., q. 151, 152.
20 Ibid., q. 162.
21 Jas. 4:6.
22 Matt. 11:29.
28 See la Ilae, q.66, a. 2. These virtues grow together with charity because
of their connection with this virtue, just as the different parts of our physical
organism grow simultaneously. But the infused moral virtues grow especially
with charity. The acquired virtues may not develop as much if they are
not sufficiently exercised.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

fortunately in those who, while perhaps remaining in the state of
grace, seem more preoccupied with human learning or exterior
relations than with growth in faith, confidence, and the love of
God.
To form a right idea of the spiritual organism, it is not sufficient
to know these virtues. We must consider the seven gifts of the Holy
Ghost, and not ignore the diverse forms under which divine help
is offered.
ARTICLE IV
The Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost

We shall recall what divine revelation, the traditional teaching of
the Church, and the explanation of this teaching given by the­
ologians, especially St. Thomas, teach us about the seven gifts of
the Holy Ghost.
THE TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE

The revealed doctrine on the gifts of the Holy Ghost is contained
principally in the classic text of Isaias (11:2) which the fathers have
often commented upon, saying that it is applied first of all to the
Messias, and then by participation to all the just, to whom Christ
promised to send the Holy Ghost. In this text, Isaias says in ref­
erence to the Messias: “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
Him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of coun­
sel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness, and
He shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord.” 1
In the Book of Wisdom we read also: “Wherefore I wished, and
understanding was given me; and I called upon God, and the spirit
of wisdom came upon me. And I preferred her before kingdoms and
thrones. . . . Silver in respect to her shall be counted as clay. I
loved her above health and beauty. . . . Now all good things came
to me together with her. ... I knew not that she was the mother
1 The Hebrew text does not mention the gift of piety, but the Septuagint
and the Vulgate do. Since the third century, tradition affirms this sevenfold
number. Moreover, in the Hebrew text of Isaias, fear is named a second time
in verse 3, and in the Old Testament the terms "fear of God” and “piety”
have almost the same meaning.

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67

of them all. Which I have learned without guile, and communicate
without envy. . . . For she is an infinite treasure to men, which
they that use, become the friends of God. . . . She reneweth all
things, and through nations conveyeth herself into holy souls, she
maketh the friends of God and prophets. For God loveth none but
him that dwelleth with wisdom.” 2 This passage in itself shows that
wisdom is the highest of the gifts of the Holy Ghost enumerated
by Isaias.
This Old Testament revelation takes on its full meaning in the
light of our Savior’s words: “If you love Me, keep My command­
ments. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another
Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever. The spirit of truth
. . . shall be in you. . . . 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.” 3 To fortify the
faithful against the promoters of heresy, St. John adds: “But you
have the unction from the Holy One. . . . Let the unction, which
you have received from Him, abide in you. And you have no need
that any man teach you; but as His unction teacheth you of all things
and is truth, and is no lie.” 4 Moreover, Scripture contains texts
commonly quoted as relating to each gift in particular.5
TRADITION

In the course of time, the fathers of the Church often commented
on these words of Scripture, and, beginning with the third century,
tradition explicitly affirms that the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost
are in all the just.0 Pope St. Damasus, in 382, speaks of the seven­
fold Spirit which rested on the Messias, and he enumerates the
gifts.7
St. Augustine, especially, explains this doctrine in his commentary
on the Sermon on the Mount.8 He shows the correspondence be2 Wisd. 7:7-28.
8 John 14:15-26.
4 See I John 2:20, 27.
8 St. Thomas quotes these texts when he treats of each of the seven gifts.
8 A. Gardeil, O.P., “Dons du Saint-Esprit,” Dictionnaire de théologie
catholique, IV, 1728-81.
7 Denzinger, Enchiridion, no. 83.
8 De sermone Domini, I, 1-4; De doctrina Christiana, II, 7; Sermo 347.

68

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

tween the evangelical beatitudes and the seven gifts. Fear represents
the first degree of the spiritual life; wisdom is its crown. Between
these two extremes, St. Augustine distinguishes a double period of
purifying preparation for wisdom: a remote preparation, by the
active practice of the moral virtues corresponding to the gifts of
piety, fortitude, knowledge, and counsel; then an immediate prepara­
tion, in which the soul is purified as a result of a more enlightened
faith by the gift of understanding, of a firmer hope sustained by the
gift of fortitude, and of a more ardent charity. The first preparation
is called the active life; the second, the contemplative life,9 because
moral activity is here entirely subordinated to a faith rendered
luminous by contemplation, which, in pacified and docile souls, will
one day culminate in perfect wisdom.10
To know the teaching of the Church on this subject we shall re­
call what the Council of Trent says: “The efficient cause [of our
justification] is the merciful God who washes and sanctifies gratui­
tously (I Cor. 6:11 ), signing and anointing with the Holy Spirit of
promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance (Eph. 1:13 f.).” 11
The Catechism of the Council of Trent fixes this point exactly
by enumerating the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost according to
Isaias (11:2 f.), and by adding: “These gifts of the Holy Ghost are
for us, as it were, a divine source whence we draw the living
knowledge of the precepts of Christian life. Moreover, by them
we can know whether the Holy Ghost dwells in us.” 12 St. Paul
says, in fact: “For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit,
that we are the sons of God.” 13 He gives us this testimony by the
filial love which He inspires in us, and by which He makes Himself,
so to speak, felt by us.14
One of the most beautiful testimonies that tradition offers us on
the seven gifts is found in the liturgy for Pentecost. We read in the
sequence for the Mass of that day:
6 Cf. De Trinitate, I, 12-14.
10 Cf. Fulbert Cayré, A.A., La contemplation augustinienne, chaps. 2 f. He
shows here that contemplation, according to St. Augustine, is a supernatural
wisdom. It has for its principle, together with faith, a superior action of the
Holy Ghost, which makes the soul, so to speak, touch and taste God.
11 Council of Trent, Sess. VI, chap. 7.
12 Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part 1, chap. 9, § 3 : “1 believe in the
Holy Ghost.”
13 Rom. 8:16.
14 Cf. St. Thomas, In Ep. ad Rom., 8:16.

THE SPIRITUAL ORGANISM

<59

Veni sancte Spiritus,
Et emitte coelitus
Lucis tuae radium.
“Come, O Holy Ghost, and send from heaven a ray of Thy light.
Come, Father of the poor. Come, Giver of graces. Come, Light of
hearts, excellent Counselor, sweet Guest of our soul, sweet Refresh­
ment, Rest in labor, Coolness in heat, Comfort in tears.”
O lux beatissima,
Reple cordis intima
Tuorum fidelium.
“O blessed Light, inundate the very depths of the hearts of Thy
faithful. . . . Warm what is cold, straighten what is crooked.”
Da tuis fidelibus,
In te confidentibus,
Sacrum septenarium.
“Give to Thy faithful who trust in Thee, the sacred sevenfold
gift. Give them the merit of virtue. Give them a happy end. Give
them eternal joy.”
In the Veni Creator Spiritus, we read likewise:
Tu septiformis munere. . . .
Accende lumen sensibus,
Inftinde amorem cordibus.
“The sevenfold gift is Thine. . . . Kindle our senses with fire
from above and pour Thy love into our hearts.” 15
Finally, the testimony of tradition is admirably expressed by the
encyclical of Leo XIII on the Holy Ghost, in which the Pope de­
clares that to complete our supernatural life we need the seven gifts
of the Holy Ghost. Fie says:

The just man, that is to say, he who lives the life of divine grace and
acts by the fitting virtues as by means of faculties, has need of those
seven gifts, which are properly attributed to the Holy Ghost. By means
of them the soul is furnished and strengthened so as to be able to obey
more easily and promptly His voice and impulse. Wherefore these gifts
are of such efficacy that they lead the just man to the highest degree of
sanctity; and of such excellence that they continue to exist even in
heaven, though in a more perfect way. By means of these gifts the soul
'"The composer of this beautiful prayer, which will be said until the end
of the world, must have been a great contemplative. It is useless to know his
name; he was a voice of God.

70

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

is excited and encouraged to seek after and attain the evangelical beati­
tudes which, like the flowers that come forth in the springtime, are the
signs and harbingers of eternal beatitude. . . .
These sublime truths, which so clearly show forth the infinite good­
ness of the Holy Ghost towards us, certainly demand that we should
direct towards Him the highest homage of our love and devotion. Chris­
tians may do this most effectually if they will daily strive to know Him,
to love Him, and to implore Him more earnestly. . . . What should be
chiefly dwelt upon and clearly explained is the multitude and greatness
of the benefits which have been bestowed, and are constantly be­
stowed, upon us by this divine Giver. . . . We owe to the Holy Ghost
love, because Fie is God. . . . Fie is also to be loved because He is the
substantial, eternal, primal Love, and nothing is more lovable than love.
... In the second place it will obtain for us a still more abundant sup­
ply of heavenly gifts; for whilst a narrow heart contracts the hand of
the giver, a grateful and mindful heart causes it to expand. . . . Lastly,
we ought confidently and continually to beg of Him to illuminate us
daily more and more with His light and inflame us with His charity:
for, thus inspired with faith and love, we may press onward earnestly
towards our eternal reward, since “He is the pledge of our inherit­
ance.” 18

Such are the principal testimonies of tradition regarding the seven
gifts of the Holy Ghost. We shall recall briefly the exact statements
brought to bear on this point by theology, especially in the doctrine
of St. Thomas. His teaching has been approved in substance by
Leo XIII, who often quoted the Angelic Doctor in the encyclical,
the principal parts of which we have just cited.
THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS 17

The holy doctor shows us three things in particular: that the gifts
are habitual permanent dispositions (habitus) specifically distinct
18 Encyclical Divinum illud munus (May 9, 1897), circa finem. This text
shows: (1) the necessity of the gifts (“has need of”); (2) their nature: they
make us docile to the Holy Ghost; (3) their effects: they can lead us to the
summit of sanctity.
17 Cf. St. Thomas, In 111 Sent., dist. 34 f.; la Ilae, q.68; Ila Ilae, q.8, 9, 19,
45, 52, 121, 139; see his commentators, especially Cajetan and John of
St. Thomas, on la Ilae, q.68.
St. Bonaventure may also he consulted with profit. His doctrine differs on
certain secondary points from that of St. Thomas; cf. Breviloquium, Part V,
chaps. 5 f., and J. Fr. Bonnefoy, Le Saint-Esprit et ses dons scion saint Bona-

THE SPIRITUAL ORGANISM

7’

from the virtues; that the gifts are necessary to salvation; and that
they are connected with charity and grow with it. St. Thomas says:

To differentiate the gifts from the virtues, we must be guided by the
way Scripture expresses itself, for we find there that the term employed
is spirit rather than gift. For thus it is written (Isa. 11:2 f.): “The spirit
... of wisdom and of understanding . . . shall rest upon Him,” and so
on: from which words we are clearly given to understand that these
seven are there set down as being in us by divine inspiration. Now in­
spiration denotes motion from without. For it must be noted that in man
there is a twofold principle of movement, one within him, namely, the
reason; the other extrinsic to him, namely, God, as stated above (la Ilae,
q. 9, a. 4, 6), and also by the Philosopher in the chapter on Good Fortune
(Ethic. Ettdem., vii).
Now it is evident that whatever is moved must be proportionate to
its mover: and the perfection of the thing moved as such consists in a
disposition whereby the thing moved is made proportionate to its mover.
Hence the more exalted the mover, the more perfect must be the disposi­
tion whereby the movable object 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 hu­
man virtues perfect man according as it is natural for him to be moved
by his reason 18 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 inventure (Paris: Vrin, 1929), and also art. “Bonaventure,” Diet, de spiritualité.
See also Dionysius the Carthusian, De donis Spiritus Sancti (an excellent
treatise); J. B. de Saint-Juré, S.J., L'homme spirituel, Part I, chap. 4, “Des sept
dons”; L. Lallemant, S.J., La doctrine spirituelle, 4th principle, “La docilité à
la conduite du Saint-Esprit.” B. Froget, O.P., De l'habitation du Saint-Esprit
dans les âmes justes (Paris, 1900), pp. 378-424. A. Gardeil, O.P., “Dons du
Saint-Esprit,” Diet, de théol. cathol., IV, 1728-81; La structure de l'âme et
l'expérience mystique (Paris, 1927), II, 192-281; Les dons du Saint-Esprit
dans les saint dominicains (the introduction particularly), 1903. See several
other articles on various gifts in particular by the same theologian in La vie
spirituelle, 1932, 1933.
D. Joret, O.P., La contemplation mystique d'après saint Thomas d'Aquin,
1927, pp. 30-62.
We have also treated this important subject at length in Christian Perfec­
tion and Contemplation, chap. 5, a. 5 f., pp. 271-331. See also La vie spirituelle,
November 19, 1932, suppl.: “Les dons ont-ils un mode humain”; ibid., Octo­
ber, 1933, suppl.: “A propos du mode supra-humain des dons du Saint-Esprit,”
reproduced in this book, infra, pp. 78-88.
lH In the supernatural order, it is a question of reason enlightened by faith.
It is thus, in particular, that infused prudence directs the infused moral virtues.

ηι

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

fused by God, but also because by them man is disposed to become
amenable to the divine inspiration,18 according to Isa. 1:5: “The Lord
. . . hath opened my ear, and I do not resist; I have not gone back.”
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 fol­
low their inner promptings, since they are moved by a principle higher
than human reason. This, then, is what some say, that the gifts perfect
man for acts which are higher than acts of virtue.20
Thus we see that the gifts of the Holy Ghost are not acts, or actual
motions, or passing helps of grace, but rather qualities or permanent
infused dispositions {habitus'),21 which render a man promptly
docile to divine inspirations. Leo XIII, in the encyclical Divinum
illud munus, which we quoted at length a few pages back, placed
his approval on this manner of conceiving of the gifts. They dis­
pose man to obey the Holy Ghost promptly, as sails prepare a ship
to follow the impulse of a favorable wind. By this passive docility,
the gifts help us to produce those excellent works known as the
beatitudes.22 From this point of view, the saints are like great sailing
vessels which, under full sail, properly catch the impelling force of
the wind. The art of navigation teaches a mariner how and when
he may most opportunely spread his sails to profit by a favorable
breeze.
This figure is used by our Lord Himself when He says: “The
Spirit breatheth where Fie will; and thou hearest His voice, but thou
knowest not whence He cometh and whither He goeth. So is every­
one that is born of the Spirit” 23 and is docile to His inspiration.
St. Thomas says 24 we do not really know where precisely the wind
that blows was formed, or how far it will make itself felt. In the
same way, we do not know where precisely a divine inspiration be­
gins, or to what degree of perfection it would lead us if we were
18 “Secundum ea homo disponitur, ut efficiatur prompte mobilis ab inspira­
tione divina.”
20 See Ia Hae, q.68, a. 1.
21 Ibid., a. 3, and 111 Sent. D. XXXIV, q. 1, a. 1.
22See Ia Hac, q.68, a.3: “The gifts of the Holy Ghost are habits whereby
man is perfected to obey readily the Holy Ghost.” Cf. ibid., q.70, a. 2: “The
beatitudes are none but perfect works, which, by reason of their perfection,
are assigned to the gifts rather than to the virtues.”
28 John 3:8.
24 St. Thomas, In Joannem, 3:8.

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73

wholly faithful to it. Let us not be like sailing vessels which, because
of neglect in noting a favorable wind, have their sails furled when
they should be spread.
According to these principles, the great majority of theologians
hold with St. Thomas that the gifts are really and specifically dis­
tinct from the infused virtues, just as the principles which direct
them are distinct: that is, the Holy Ghost and reason illumined by
faith. We have here two regulating motions, two different rules
that constitute different formal motives. It is a fundamental princi­
ple that habits are specified by their object and their formal motive,
as sight by color and light, and hearing by sound. The human mode
of acting results from the human rule; the superhuman mode results
from the superhuman or divine rule, from the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost, “modus a mensura causatur.” 25*Thus even infused
prudence proceeds by discursive deliberation, in which it differs
from the gift of counsel, which disposes us to receive a special
inspiration of a superdiscursive order.20 Even infused prudence
hesitates, for example, about what answer to give to an indiscreet
question so as to avoid a lie and keep a secret; while a special in­
spiration of the Holy Ghost will enable us to find a proper reply, as
Christ told His disciples.27
Likewise, while faith adheres simply to revealed truths, the gift
of understanding makes us scrutinize their depths, and that of wis­
dom makes us taste them. The gifts are thus specifically distinct
from the virtues.28
St. Thomas adds in his Summa 29 a statement that he had not made
in his Commentary on the Sentences, namely, that the gifts of the
Holy Ghost are necessary to salvation. The Book of Wisdom (7:28)
tells us in fact that: “God loveth none but him that dwelleth with
25 This principle, contained in the commentary of St. Thomas on the Sen­
tences and in his Summa, marks the continuity of these two works. Cf. Ill,
D. XXXIV, q.2, a. 1, qc.j; q.3, a. 1, qc. 1; and la Ilae, q.68, a. 1, a.2 ad rum. See
also Perfection chrétienne et contemplation, 7th ed., II, [52j-[64].
28 See Ila Ilae, q.52, a. 1 ad mm.
27 Matt. 10:19.
28 Other serious difficulties would follow the negation of the specific dis­
tinction between the virtues and the gifts. We could not explain why certain
gifts, such as fear, arc not numbered among the virtues, or why Christ had
the seven gifts, as Isaias teaches us (11:2 f.), without having certain infused
virtues, such as faith, hope, and penance, which suppose an imperfection.
28 See la Ilae, q.68, a.2.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

wisdom”; and we read in Ecclesiasticus (1:28): “He that is with­
out fear (of God), cannot be justified.” Wisdom is the highest of
the gifts, and fear the lowest.
Moreover, St. Thomas notes that even the infused virtues, both
theological and moral, which are adapted to the human mode of
our faculties, leave us in a state of inferiority in regard to our super­
natural end which should be known in a more lively, more pene­
trating, more delightful manner, and toward which we ought to
advance with greater ardor.30
Even when faith is elevated, it remains essentially imperfect for
three reasons: (1) because of the obscurity of its object, which it
does not attain immediately, but “through a glass in a dark manner”
(I Cor. 13:12); (2) it attains its object only by multiple dogmatic
formulas, whereas God is supremely simple; (3) it attains its object
in an abstract manner, by affirmative and negative propositions
{componendo et dividendo), whereas, on the contrary, the living
God is the light of life, whom we ought to be able to know, not in
an abstract manner but in a quasi-experimental manner.31 Hope
shares the imperfection of faith, and so does charity as long as its
object is proposed by faith.
With even greater reason, prudence, though infused, is imperfect
from the fact that it must have recourse to reasoning, to the search
for reasons for acting in order to direct the moral virtues. It fre­
quently hesitates, for example, about a suitable answer to give to an
indiscreet question so as to keep a secret and avoid a lie. In certain
cases, only a good inspiration would be necessary to do so. The same
thing is true when it is a case of efficaciously resisting certain tempta­
tions, either subtle, or violent and prolonged.
“Human reason,” says St. Thomas, “even when perfected by
the theological virtues, does not know all things, or all possible
things. Consequently it is unable to avoid folly {stultitia) and other
like things. . . . God, however, to whose knowledge and power
all things are subject, by His motion safeguards us from all folly,
ignorance, dullness of mind, hardness of heart, and the rest. Con­
sequently the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which make us docile to His
promptings, are said to be given as remedies for these defects.” 32
80 Ibid.
8t The gift of wisdom makes this possible.
82 Ibid., a. 2 ad 311m.

THE SPIRITUAL ORGANISM

75

In this sense they are necessary to salvation, as sails are on a vessel
that it may be responsive to a favorable wind, although it may ad­
vance also by means of oars. These two ways of advancing are quite
distinct, although they may be united or simultaneous.
“By the theological and moral virtues,” says St. Thomas, “man
is not so perfected in respect of his last end as not to stand in con­
tinual need of being moved by the yet higher promptings of the
Holy Ghost.” 33 This need is permanent in man; for this reason the
gifts are in us a permanent, infused disposition.34
We make use of the gifts somewhat as we do of the virtue of
obedience in order to receive a superior direction with docility and
to act according to this direction; but we do not have this superior
83 Ibid., ad zum. Some theologians, as Abbé Perriot {Ami du clergé, 1892,
p. 391), basing their argument on the text of St. Thomas that we have just
quoted, have thought that in his opinion the gifts intervene in every meri­
torious work. Father Froget, O.P. {De l'habitation du Saint-Esprit dans les
âmes justes, Part IV, chap. 6, pp. 407-24) and Father Gardeil, O.P. {Diet,
théol. cath., art. “Dons,” col. 1779) have shown that this is not at all the true
thought of St. Thomas. To say that the gifts of the Holy Ghost must inter­
vene in every meritorious act, even though it be imperfect {remissus et quan­
tumvis remissus), would be to confound ordinary actual grace with the
special inspiration to which the gifts render us docile. In the text which we
have just quoted, St. Thomas means that man is not perfected to such a de­
gree by the theological virtues that he does not always need to be inspired
by the interior Master {semper not pro-semper), as we say: “I always need
this hat,” not however from morning until night, or from night until morn­
ing. Similarly a medical student is not so well instructed that he does not
always need the assistance of his master for certain operations. The need we
experience is not transitory but permanent; all of which goes to show that
the gifts should be not transitory inspirations, like the grace of prophecy,
but permanent infused dispositions.
Moreover, it is certain that man can make a supernatural act of faith with
an actual grace, without any assistance from the gifts of the Holy Ghost,
without penetrating or tasting the mysteries to which he adheres. This is
the case with the believer who is in the state of mortal sin, and who, on
losing charity, has lost the seven gifts.
But, on the other hand, it is commonly admitted that the gifts of the Holy
Ghost frequently influence us in a latent manner without our being aware of
it, in order to give our meritorious acts a perfection which they would not
have without this influence. In like manner, a favorable breeze facilitates the
work of the rowers.
As St. Thomas teaches, la Ilae, q.68, a.8, the gifts are in this way superior
to the infused moral virtues. Although the gifts are less elevated than the
theological virtues, they bring them an added perfection, that, for example,
of penetrating and delighting in the mysteries of faith.
84 See la Ilae, q.68, a.3.

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three ages of the interior life

inspiration whenever we wish.35 In this sense by means of the gifts
we are passive in regard to the Holy Ghost that we may act under
His influence. This will explain more clearly why, like obedience,
the gifts are a permanent disposition in the just man.3’
This great fitness, and even this necessity of the gifts, is better
seen if we consider the perfection which each of them gives either
to the intellect, or to the will and to the sensible part of the soul, as
St. Thomas points out.3T
The following synopsis explains the statement just made:
gift of_____
for the penetration of truth........... understanding
faith
divine things.................. wisdom
charity
to judge 4 created things................. knowledge

.our actions.................... counsel

relative to worship due to God....piety

hope
prudence

religion

against the fear of danger............... fortitude
against disorderly concupiscences, .fear

temperance

We see that those gifts which direct the others are superior; among
them the gift of wisdom is the highest because it gives us a quasiexperimental knowledge of God, and thereby, a judgment about
divine things which is superior even to the penetration of the gift
of understanding (which belongs rather to first apprehension than
to judgment).
85 John of St. Thomas, De donis, Disp. 18, a. 2, no. 31.
80 St. Thomas (la Ilae, q.68, a. 3) and his commentators, in particular John
of St. Thomas, show clearly that it is highly fitting that the gifts should be
permanent dispositions in us (habitus') in order to render us habitually docile
to the Holy Ghost, who always remains in the just soul, as the moral virtues
are permanent dispositions to render the will and the sensible part of the
soul habitually docile to the direction of right reason.
If it were otherwise, the organism of the life of grace, which is the greatest
of the gifts of God, would remain imperfect. It is not fitting that, according
to the plan of Providence, which disposes all things suaviter et fortiter, the
organism of the supernatural life in the just soul should be in this respect
less perfect than that of the acquired virtues directed by reason. Finally,
according to tradition, habitual grace is called “rhe grace of the virtues and
gifts.” Cf. Sr. Thomas, Illa, q.62, a. 2.
8T Sec la Ilae, q.68, a.4, and Ila Ilae, q.8, a.6.

THE SPIRITUAL, ORGANISM

77

The gift of knowledge corresponds to hope in this sense, that it
makes us see the emptiness of created things and of human help,
and consequently the necessity of placing our confidence in God
in order to attain to the possession of Him. The gift of fear also
perfects hope by preserving us from presumption; but it corresponds
also to temperance to aid us against temptations.38 To these seven
gifts correspond the beatitudes which are their acts, as St. Thomas
so well shows.3®
Finally, from the necessity of the gifts for salvation it follows
that they are connected with charity, according to St. Paul’s words
to the Romans (5:5): “The charity of God is poured forth in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us.” The Holy Ghost does
not come to us without His seven gifts, which thus accompany
charity and which, consequently, are lost with it by mortal sin.
They thus belong to the spiritual organism of sanctifying grace,
which is therefore called “the grace of the virtues and the gifts.” 40
Since all the infused virtues grow together like the five fingers of
the hand,41 the same must be said of the seven gifts. Hence we can­
not conceive of a Christian having that high degree of charity which
is proper to perfection, without at the same time having the gifts
of the Holy Ghost in a proportionate degree, although perhaps in
him the gifts of understanding and of wisdom may be exercised un88 See Ila Ilae, q. 141, a. 1 ad 311m.
39 See la Ilae, q.69, a. 3, c. and ad 311m; Ila Ilae, q.8, a. 7; q.9, a.4; q.45, a.6;
q. 19, a. 12; q. 121, a.2; q. 139, a.2.
Following St. Augustine, St. Thomas shows that the gift of wisdom corre­
sponds to the beatitude of the peacemakers, for it gives peace and allows the
soul possessing it to give it to others, at times even to the most troubled. The
gift of understanding corresponds to the beatitude of the clean of heart; for
those who possess this cleanness of heart begin here on earth, in a certain
way, to see God in all that happens to us. The gift of knowledge, which
shows us the gravity of sin, corresponds to the beatitude of those who weep
for their sins. The gift of counsel, which inclines the soul to mercy, corre­
sponds to the beatitude of the merciful. The gift of piety, which makes us
see in men not rivals, but children of God and our brothers, corresponds to
the beatitude of the meek. The gift of fortitude corresponds to that of those
who hunger and thirst after justice and never become discouraged. Finally,
the gift of fear corresponds to the beatitude of the poor in spirit; they
possess the holy fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.
40 See Illa, q.62, a. 2: “Whether sacramental grace confers anything in addi­
tion to the grace of the virtues and gifts.” Sr. Thomas says here that habitual
grace is so called because from it proceed the infused virtues and the gifts,
as so many functions of the same organism.
41 See la Ilae, q.66, a.2.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

der a less contemplative and more practical form than in others.
This was the case with St. Vincent de Paul and many other saints
who were called to devote themselves to their neighbor in the works
of the active life.42
We shall treat later of docility to the Holy Ghost and of the
conditions it demands,43 but we see even now the value of this spirit­
ual organism, which is eternal life begun in us. This life is more
precious than sight, than physical life, than the use of reason, in
this sense, that the loss of the use of reason does not deprive the just
man of this treasure, which death itself cannot snatch from us. This
grace of the virtues and gifts is also more precious than the gift of
miracles or of tongues or of prophecy; for these charismata are,
so to speak, only exterior, supernatural signs, which can point out
the way that leads to God, but cannot unite us to Him as sanctifying
grace and charity can.44
To see more clearly how the diverse functions of this spiritual
organism should be exercised, we must speak of the actual grace
necessary to the exercise of the virtues and the gifts.45
APPENDIX
The Superhuman Mode of the Gifts
Holy Ghost

of the

Since we have treated this question of the superhuman mode of
the gifts of the Holy Ghost in other works,1 we shall briefly recall
42 Pursuing the comparison we have already used, we note that among sail­
ing vessels equally responsive to the wind, the brig differs from the schooner;
the form and arrangement of the sails vary; in certain places one type of
sail is better than another. Something similar is found in the order of spiritual
navigation toward the port of salvation.
43 Cf. infra, Part Ill, chap. 23.
44 See la Ilae, q. nt, a.j: “Whether gratia gratum faciens is nobler than
gratia gratis data.” St. Thomas answers with St. Paul (I Cor. 13:1) that sancti­
fying grace, which is inseparable from charity, is far more excellent than
graces gratis datae.
45 The theological virtues, which unite us to the Holy Ghost, are superior
to the seven gifts, although they receive a new perfection from the gifts; thus
a tree is more perfect than its fruit. These virtues are the rule of the gifts,
in the sense that the gifts make us penetrate more deeply and taste with
greater delight the mysteries to which we adhere by faith; but the immediate
rule of the act of the gifts is the special inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
1 Cf. Christian Perfection and Contemplation, pp. 272-77,324 ff.

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the exact meaning of what we have previously written on this point
and add some new and exact statements.
IN WHAT SENSE CAN THE GIFTS HAVE TWO MODES,
THAT ON EARTH AND THAT OF HEAVEN?

We have several times recalled this incontestable truth, namely,
that one habitus cannot have acts whose formal object is distinct
from that of the habitus, and we have admitted that in the specifying
object of the habitus two different modes of acting may be found,
as, for example, in the case of the infused virtues and the gifts, their
mode of acting here on earth and their mode in heaven. But we have
emphasized the fact that one and rhe same habitus cannot be the
principle of acts that have distinct modes, such as that of earth and
that of heaven, unless the first mode is ordained to the second and
thus falls under one and the same formal object.
A recent work offering an entirely contrary opinion 2 states that
the gifts of the Holy Ghost would, according to St. Thomas, have
even here on earth two specifically distinct modes, the one ordinary,
the other essentially extraordinary; the latter would be required
for the infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith. Consequently
contemplation would not be in the normal way of sanctity.
We replied to this opinion.3 The essence of our reply, which
should not be overlooked, was as follows: “If there were here on
earth two specifically distinct modes for the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, one of which would be ordinary, and the other not only
eminent, but intrinsically and extrinsically extraordinary, the act
characterized by the human mode would not be ordained to the act
characterized by a superhuman and essentially extraordinary mode.
(It would not be ordained to it any more than to the acts which
suppose graces gratis datae, such as prophecy.) On the contrary, the
act of the gifts exercised on earth is essentially ordained to that of
heaven. They are, as St. Thomas insisted in the Quaestiones dis­
putatae, 'in eadem serie motus,' in the same series of operations, and
the last must be placed, otherwise all that precede fail to attain their
end.
’ P. Chrysogonous, O.C.D., La perfection et la mystique selon les principes
de saint Thomas, Bruges, 1932.
" Cf. I.a vie spirituelle, November, 1932, suppl., pp. [77] ff.

8o

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

“This text from the Quaestiones disputatae 4 in no way contra­
dicts what we have said. It does not state that the seven gifts of the
Holy Ghost have on earth two specifically distinct acts, one or­
dinary, the other essentially extraordinary. It states quite the con­
trary; for it demands that for one and the same habitus the less per­
fect act should be ordained to the second, just as the foundation
of a building is to the superstructure, as Christian life on earth is
to that of heaven.” We even underlined {ibid., p. 76) in the text
of St. Thomas invoked against our opinion, the word ordinetur,
which the writer had neglected to consider.
R. Dalbiez, writing in the Etudes Carmélitaines, April, 1933 (pp.
250 fl.), made the same observation that we did. He placed in
parallel columns the integral text of St. Thomas and the quotation
that Father Chrysogonous had taken from it, although the latter
failed to cite these significant words: “Si autem non accipiatur unum
in ordine ad aliud, tunc non erunt eaedem virtutes, nec secundum
actum nec secundum habitum.” 5 Father Dalbiez adds {ibid.) : “The
passage which I have underlined and which Father Chrysogonous
did not quote is quite unfavorable to his thesis. . . . The idea of
finding in this so-called definitive text the slightest support for the
thesis of the two modes, human and superhuman, of the terrestrial
acts of the gifts of the Floly Ghost must be abandoned.”
P. Périnclle, in the Revue des sciences philosophiques et thé­
ologiques, November, 1932 (p. 692), makes a like observation on
the central argument of the thesis. He adds that Father Chrysogonous
was mistaken in saying that according to St. Thomas there are three
infused intellectual virtues (understanding, knowledge, and wis­
dom) parallel to the gifts of the Floly Ghost, and that it is only
since the Fall that the gifts are necessary.
What most interests us here is that the author did not at all
succeed in proving the principal point that he wished to establish:
namely, that the gifts have here below two specifically distinct
modes of operating, one ordinary, the other essentially extraor­
dinary, which would characterize infused contemplation.
4 Quaestio unica de virtutibus cardinalibus, a. 4: “Utrum virtutes cardinales
maneant in patria.”
8 Quaestio unica de virtutibus cardinalibus, a. 4, in corp.

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81

WHETHER THE SUPERHUMAN MODE OF THE GIFTS
CAN BE LATENT

We have often affirmed that ordinarily the superhuman mode of
the gifts is at first quite hidden, that is, in the ascetical life, and that
this mode becomes more manifest in the mystical life, at least for an
experienced director.6 We may express this teaching more exactly
by stating that in the ascetical life the influence of the gifts is either
latent and quite frequent (it makes one think of the breeze which
only facilitates the work of the rowers), or manifest but rare (in
certain striking circumstances), whereas, on the contrary, in the
mystical life the influence of the gifts is both frequent and manifest.
It is not, however, always striking, as in the case of the great con­
templatives, but occasionally diffuse, very real nevertheless, as is the
case in saints who have an active vocation, such as St. Vincent de
Paul.7
Some may object: “The operation belonging to the superhuman
mode could not remain hidden; the soul necessarily perceives it from
the very fact that this operation deviates from the natural mode of
the subject.” This assertion springs from the preceding one which,
we have seen, has not been proved. It would be true if the gifts had
here on earth two specifically distinct modes, and if the superhuman
mode were extraordinary to the point of requiring infused ideas or
a manifestly supernatural arrangement of our acquired ideas. But
this is not so. Even in the case of prophecy, which is an extraordinary
grace, there may be, says St. Thomas, a prophetic instinct hidden
even from him who receives it; by it he can, like Caiphas, prophesy
without knowing it. “The prophet’s mind is instructed by God in
two ways: in one way by an express revelation, in another way by a
most mysterious instinct ‘to which the human mind is subjected
without knowing it,’ as Augustine says {Gen. ad lit., II, 17).” 8
Since this is true for prophecy, which is an essentially extraor­
dinary grace, with even greater reason is it true of the special in­
spiration of the Holy Ghost, to which the gifts, present in all the
just, should render them docile. All spiritual writers admit that this
0 Cf. Christian Perfection and Contemplation, pp. 282-85; 324 #4 32^·
’ Ibid., pp. 320 ff.
"See Ila llac, <1-171, a.5. Cf. ibid., q. 173, a.4, where St. Thomas gives the
example of Caiphas, who prophesied without knowing that he did so.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

special inspiration, which resembles the breeze that comes up at
the right moment, is ordinarily latent and almost imperceptible at
first, and that, if it is not resisted, it generally becomes stronger and
more urgent. Innumerable passages from Scripture, from the fa­
thers, from St. Thomas, and St. John of the Cross could be quoted
on this point. They make this statement in particular when com­
menting on Christ’s words: “The Spirit breatheth where He will,
and thou hearest His voice; but thou knowest not whence He
cometh and whither He goeth: so is everyone that is born of the
Spirit.” 9 The inspiration, at first latent and obscure, becomes more
manifest, luminous, and compelling if one is faithful.
St. John of the Cross expresses the same idea in The Ascent of
Mount Carmel: “It is indispensable to possess this knowledge proper
to contemplation before leaving discursive meditation. But it is to
be remembered that this general knowledge ... is at times so
subtle and delicate, particularly when most pure, simple, perfect,
spiritual, and interior, that the soul, though in the practice thereof,
is not observant or conscious of it.” 10
The special inspiration which we should receive with docility
through the gifts of the Holy Ghost is undoubtedly often quite
hidden. According to spiritual writers, we must establish ourselves
in silence that we may be attentive to this inspiration, hear it, and
then distinguish between it and one that might lead us astray. This
is the whole question of the discernment of spirits. This admonition
is frequently expressed in The Imitation of Christ: “Consider these
things, O my soul, and close up the doors of thy sensual desires; that
thou mayest hear what the Lord thy God speaketh within thee.” 11
Moreover, there are certainly many degrees of docility to the Holy
Ghost, from our first response to the attraction of our vocation up
to the last moment when we give up our souls to God.
ARE THERE DEGREES IN DETACHMENT FROM CREATURES?

Is detachment from creatures the same for the greatest saints and
for souls that have reached a lesser perfection? To formulate the
question is to solve it; we have never had the slightest doubt on
this point.
One must be possessed of a certain juvenile daring to write: “De“ John 3:8.
10 Bk. II, chap. 14.
11 Bk. Ill, chap. 1; ibid., chaps. 1 f.

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tachment from creatures ought to be the same for all perfect souls:
that is, total, absolute, universal. It is impossible to find a mean
between having and not having defects. Now perfection by its na­
ture excludes all defects, whether directly or indirectly voluntary.
The interior fervor exercised in detaching oneself from everything
will vary in the subject according to the degree of the grace received,
which is the seed of more or less striking victories; but objectively
speaking, the renunciation of everything, no matter how small, which
is opposed to the divine will, must be total and without any ex­
ception.”
The logical formalism which halts at the formula: “It is impossible
to find a mean between having and not having defects,” ought not
to make us forget the concrete order of things, or the great differ­
ence that exists among perfect souls, from the least elevated up to
the holy soul of Christ. In concrete reality, renunciation, even ob­
jectively considered, progresses together with the fervor of will of
the subject in which it exists. In fact, an already perfect soul can un­
deniably still progress, and in that soul detachment from creatures
increases with union with God. These are two aspects of the progress
of the life of grace, which continues in the unitive way. Thus many
indirectly voluntary defects, the result of a practically unheeded
negligence, are progressively eliminated in proportion as the depth
of the soul is purified and more intimately and continually united
to God.
Moreover, it is certain that a just man, even though perfect, can­
not continually avoid all venial sins, although he can avoid each
venal sin in particular. As he grows in charity, he avoids them more
and more, so that in the transforming union, as St. Teresa explains,12
the soul is practically freed from the trouble of the passions; as long
as it is under the actual grace of the transforming union, it does not
commit deliberate venial sins. Outside of these moments, it may still
commit some venial fault, which is quickly atoned for. Though some
perfect souls are confirmed in good, this is not true of all of them.
Finally, we must not forget that detachment from creatures was
far greater in the Blessed Virgin than in the greatest saints, since
she never committed the slightest venial sin. It was even greater still
in the holy soul of Christ, who not only never actually sinned, but
who was, even here on earth, absolutely impeccable. Therefore it
is truly an exaggeration of simplicity to say: “It is impossible to find
” The Interior Castle, seventh mansion, chap. 1.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

a mean between having and not having defects.” What is true, is
that there is no mean between being or not being absolutely im­
peccable, between continually avoiding or not avoiding every venial
sin, between wishing or not wishing to strive henceforth to avoid
them more and more. According to St. Thomas, “man (poenitens)
needs to have the purpose of taking steps to commit fewer venial
sins.” 18 According as this will is more or less intense or fervent, he
will actually avoid them more or less. Detachment from creatures
will increase with the progress of charity or of attachment to God.
Father Chardon strongly insisted on this point in his beautiful book,
La croix de Jésus.
From all evidence, there are many degrees in what St. Thomas
expresses in this manner: “Perfection can be had in this life . . .
by the removal from man’s affections not only of whatever is con­
trary to charity, but also of whatever hinders the mind’s affections
from tending wholly to God.” 14 In this detachment there are many
degrees even in regard to the exclusion of venial sins: “Those who
are perfect in this life arc said to offend in many things with regard
to venial sins, which result from a weakness of the present life.” 15
This statement is not exaggerated in its simplicity; it is rather the
simple expression of Christian good sense.18
ARE THE PASSIVE PURIFICATIONS NECESSARY TO ELIMINATE

MORAL DEFECTS?

Our opponent writes in one of his replies: “We think that the
defects pointed out by St. John of the Cross in The Dark Night
13 Summa, Illa, q.87, a. 1 ad lum.
14 See Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 2.
16 Ibid., ad zum.
16 These last texts quoted from St. Thomas demonstrate, in spite of what
may have been occasionally said on the subject, that he would by no means
condemn the teaching of spiritual writers in regard to the mortification of
activity that is called “natural,” that is, not sanctified, which develops to the
detriment of the life of grace. St. Thomas insists here that in order to reach
perfection one should will to exclude “whatever hinders the mind’s affections
from tending wholly to God.” If a person does not oblige himself by vow
to practice the three evangelical counsels, he ought at least to have the
spirit of these counsels in order to be perfect (Ila llac, q. 184, a.3). To attain
this end, it is thus recommended that a person should not be too much con­
cerned with earthly things, but should use the goods of this world as though
not using them. In this renunciation there is evidently a progress even in those
who are already perfect.

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85

under the name of capital sins, are all voluntary and that conse­
quently the soul can, with the help of ordinary grace, free itself
from them. Does Father Garrigou-Lagrange believe that the soul
cannot purify itself of spiritual gluttony, spiritual laziness, spiritual
pride, and other defects of this type ... by the exercise of asceti­
cism? We repeat here what we wrote elsewhere: that, if it could not
free itself from them, these defects would no longer be voluntary
and consequently would not hinder perfection.”
We answer that St. Thomas avoids this excessively simple and
superficial manner of considering things, when he teaches the neces­
sity of the gifts of the Holy Ghost and of the corresponding inspira­
tions for salvation and perfection.” We have seen in the course of
this study that he by no means admits that the gifts would have
here on earth two specifically distinct modes, one ordinary, the
other essentially extraordinary, such as that of graces gratis datae.
The soul can free itself of certain moral defects only by docility
to the special inspirations of the Holy Ghost. It would be entirely
false to say that if the soul cannot deliver itself from them without
these special inspirations, “these defects are no longer voluntary
and therefore do not hinder perfection.” The gifts of the Holy
Ghost are given to all the just precisely to enable them to receive
with docility these special inspirations, whose superhuman mode,
that is at first latent, grows progressively more manifest if the soul
is docile. St. Thomas says in fitting terms: “Whether we consider
human reason as perfected in its natural perfection, or as perfected
by the theological virtues, it docs not know all things, or all pos­
sible things. Consequently it is unable to avoid folly and other like
things mentioned in the objection. God, however, to whose knowl­
edge and power all things arc 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 for
these defects.” 18
We hold, therefore, that the special inspirations of the Holy
Ghost are necessary that the soul may be purified of a certain rude­
ness or harshness, of dullness, of spiritual folly, and other similar de­
fects, which are not only opposed to a certain psychological purity,
17 See la Ilae, q.68, a. 2.
18 Ibid., ad 311m.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

but to moral purity. Without progressive docility to these special
inspirations of the Holy Ghost, the depth of the soul will not be
purified of its more or less unconscious egoism which mingles, under
the form of indirectly voluntary negligence, in many of our acts
and in many more or less culpable omissions.
To say that the passive purifications are not necessary to perfect
moral purity would be to deny the necessity of the passive puri­
fication of the will, which frees the acts of hope and charity from all
human alloy.18
19 In this connection we may profitably recall what
St. Teresa wrote in her Life: “For instance, they read that we must
not be troubled when men speak ill of us, that we are to be then more
pleased than when they speak well of us; that we must despise our
own good name, be detached from our kindred, . . . with many
other things of the same kind. The disposition to practice this must
be, in my opinion, the gift of God; for it seems to me a supernatural
good.” 20 The meaning which the saint gives to this last expression
is well known. Moreover, she remarks more than once that the
progress of the virtues normally accompanies that of prayer, and
that profound humility is ordinarily the fruit of the infused con­
templation of the infinite grandeur of God and of our own wretch­
edness. This growth in virtue is not something accidental; it is the
normal development of the interior life.
St. John of the Cross clearly holds that the passive purifications
are necessary for the profound purity of the will. It will suffice to
recall what he says of the defects that necessitate the passive puri­
fication of the senses and that of the spirit. In The Dark Night of the
Soul (Bk. I, chaps. 2-9, and Bk. II, chaps. 1 f.) he speaks, especially
in the last two chapters named, of the “stains of the old man” which
still remain in the spirit, like rust which will disappear only under
the action of an intense fire. Among the defects of proficients which
require “the strong lye of the night of the spirit,” he mentions rude­
ness, impatience, secret pride, unconscious egoism which causes
some souls to use spiritual goods in anything but a detached manner,
with the result that they fall into illusions. Evidently they lack not
only psychological but moral purity. Finally, in the opinion of St.
John of the Cross, these passive purifications (which belong to the
18 We treated this subject at considerable length in L'amour de Dieu et la
croix de Jésus, II, 597-632; “The Passive Purification of Hope and of Charity.”
20 Life, chap. 31,821.

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87

mystical order) and infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith
are indubitably in the normal way of sanctity since he wrote the
two following propositions, which are of primary importance in
his work: “The passive purification of the senses is common, it takes
place in the greater number of beginners”; being passive, it belongs
not to the ascetical but to the mystical order.21 “The soul began
to set out on the way of the spirit, the way of proficients, which is
also called the illuminative way, or the way of infused contempla­
tion, wherein God Himself teaches and refreshes the soul.” 22 St.
John of the Cross most certainly wished to note here not something
accidental, but something that is produced normally in the way of
sanctity when a soul that is truly docile to the Holy Ghost does
not recoil in the face of trial.
We maintain, therefore, what we have always taught on this
point. Moreover, the Carmelite theologians have taught the same
doctrine. Philip of the Blessed Trinity 23 and Anthony of the Holy
Ghost24 state very clearly: “All ought to aspire to supernatural
contemplation. All, and especially souls consecrated to God, ought
to aspire and to tend to the actual union of enjoyment with God.”
(These theologians assign the same meaning to the words “super­
natural” and “infused” when they apply them to contemplation.)
Finally, as we have more than once remarked, Joseph of the Holy
Ghost wrote: “If infused contemplation is taken in the sense of rap­
ture, ecstasy, or similar favors, we cannot apply ourselves to it, or
ask it of God, or desire it; but as for infused contemplation in itself,
as an act of contemplation (abstraction being made of ecstasy which
may accidentally accompany it), we can aspire to it, desire it ar­
dently, and humbly ask it of God, although we cannot certainly
endeavor to have it by our own industry or our own activity.” 25
Joseph of the Holy Ghost even says: “God usually raises to infused
contemplation the soul that exercises itself fervently in acquired con­
templation. This is the common teaching.” 26
We have never taught anything else. This is truly the teaching of
21 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 8.
22 Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 14.
23Sttumia theol. myst. (ed. >874), II, 299; III, 43.
24 Directorium mysticum (ed. 1733), tr. Ill, disp. Ill, sect. IV; tr. IV, disp. I,
sect. VI.
23 Cursus theol. scol. myst., II, II Pracd., disp. XI, q. 11, nos. 18, 23.
Ibid., disp. VIII

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

St. John of the Cross, and it conforms fully to that left us by St.
Thomas on the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are connected
with charity and which, as infused habits, grow with charity. The
full perfection of Christian life is inconceivable without them and
without the special inspirations to which they render us docile.

ARTICLE V
Actual Grace and Its Divers Forms

We shall recall here: (i) the necessity of actual grace; (2) its
divers forms; and (3) the general nature of fidelity to grace.
THE NECESSITY OF ACTUAL GRACE

Even in the natural order, no created agent acts or operates with­
out the cooperation of God, first Mover of bodies and spirits. In
this sense, St. Paul says in his discourse on the Areopagus: “Although
He (God) be not far from every one of us; for in Him we live and
move and are.” 1 With even greater reason in the supernatural order,
that we may produce acts of the infused virtues and of the gifts,
we need a divine motion, which is called actual grace. It is a truth
of faith defined against the Pelagians and the Semi-Pelagians,2 that,
without this grace, we can neither dispose ourselves positively to
conversion, nor persevere for a notable time in good, nor above all
persevere until death. Without actual grace, we cannot produce
the slightest salutary act, or, with even greater reason, reach per­
fection. This is what Christ meant when He said to His disciples:
“Without Me you can do nothing.” 3 St. Paul adds with regard to
the order of salvation: “Not that we are sufficient to think anything
of ourselves, as of ourselves,” 4 and that “It is God who worketh in
you both to will and to accomplish,” 5 by actualizing our liberty
without violating it. It is He who gives us to dispose ourselves to
habitual grace and to act meritoriously. When He crowns our merits,
1 Acts 17:27 f.
2Cf. The Council of Orange (Denzinger, Enchiridion, nos. 176-200) and
also St. Thomas, la Ilae, q. 109.
8 John 15:5.
‘ See II Cor. 3:5.
0 Phil. 2:13.

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89

it is still His gifts that He crowns, says St. Augustine. The Church
has often recalled this idea in her councils.®
This explains why we must always pray. The necessity of prayer
is founded on the necessity of actual grace. Except for the first
grace, which is gratuitously given to us without our praying for it,
since it is the very principle of prayer, it is a thoroughly established
truth that prayer is the normal, efficacious, and universal means by
which God wishes that we should obtain all the actual graces we
need. This is why our Lord inculcates so often the necessity of
prayer to obtain grace. He says: “Ask, and it shall be given you:
seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. For
everyone that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to
him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” 7 He recalls this necessity
of prayer to obtain actual grace, especially when temptation is to
be resisted: “Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into tempta­
tion. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 8 In prayer
we ought to recognize that God is the Author of all good; and
therefore all confidence not founded on prayer is presumptuous.9
Therefore the Council of Trent declares in St. Augustine’s own
words: “God never commands the impossible, but in commanding
He tells us to do what we can, to ask for that which we are not
able to do, and He helps us in order that we may be able.” 10 By
His actual grace He even helps us to pray. There are, consequently,
actual graces which we can obtain only by prayer.11
We could not insist too strongly on this point, for many begin­
ners, unwittingly impregnated with practical naturalism, as the
Pelagians and the Semi-Pelagians were, imagine that everything can
be attained with will and energy, even without actual grace. Ex­
perience soon shows them the profound truth of Christ’s words:
“Without Me you can do nothing,” and also that of St. Paul’s state­
ment: “It is God who worketh in you both to will and to accom­
plish.” Therefore we must ask Him for the actual grace ever more
faithfully to keep the commandments, especially the supreme pre­
cept of the love of God and of our neighbor.
0 Denzinger, nos. 182-200 and 141.
’ Matt. 7:7 f.
• Ibid., 26:41.
* Sunnna, Ila Ilac, q.83, a. 2, c. and ad 311m.
10 Session VI, chap. 11 (Denzinger, 804).
11 Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part IV, chap. 1, no. 3.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
THE DIFFERENT ACTUAL GRACES

Actual grace, the necessity of which we have just recalled, presents
itself under many forms which it is highly useful to know in the
spiritual life. It will be well at this point to review the principles as
clearly as possible, without failing to recognize the mystery they
express. It is one of the most remarkable partly clear and partly
obscure mysteries of Christian doctrine.
Actual grace is often given to us as a light or interior illumination.
For example, while reading the Epistle or Gospel of the day at Mass,
an interior light is given to us that we may better grasp its meaning.
We are struck by these words of Christ to the Samaritan woman:
“If thou didst know the gift of God,” 12 or by those of St. Paul:
“The Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself for me,” 18
and we consider that He continues to offer Himself for us in the
Mass and that, if we wish, He will give Himself to us, especially
in Holy Communion. This light constitutes a grace of interior
illumination.11 It is followed by a grace of inspiration and attrac­
tion, for, in thinking of the generous and disinterested love of
the Savior, we feel ourselves strongly led to return Him love for
love. This is an actual grace which acts on the will and leads to
love and to action. At times it even brings one to will to give oneself
fully to God, to suffer, and if need be, to die for Him. Then it is
not only a grace of attraction, but a grace of strength, which, though
often received without our being at all aware of it, makes it possible
for us in aridity to endure and to wait.15
How does actual grace, which moves the will, influence it? It
does this in two ways: either by proposing to it an object which
attracts it, or by a motion or interior impulse which God alone can
12 John 4:10.
13 Gal. 2:20.
14 Sometimes a very elevated luminous grace gives the impression of ob­
scurity: the obscurity is transluminous, like the excessively strong light of the
sun which dazzles the weak eyes of an owl.
15 Many of these graces are not felt at all when received; they are of an
entirely spiritual and supernatural order and consequently surpass our nat­
ural means of knowledge. Some of them are felt by reason of the repercussion
they have on our sensibility, for example, under the form of sensible conso­
lations. Of others, which do not have this repercussion, we may, nevertheless,
be conscious, in rhe sense that God, especially by rhe gift of wisdom, makes
Himself spiritually fclr by us as the principle of the filial love for Him which
He inspires in us. Cf. St. Thomas, hi Ep. aa Rom., 8:16.

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9i

give.18 God can evidently incline our will toward good by pro­
posing an object to it, for example, by the promise of eternal beati­
tude, or of progress in love. Thus a mother inclines the will of her
child to good, either by proposing to him a sensible object which
attracts him, or by persuading him to conduct himself in a becom­
ing manner. Our guardian angels can do this also by suggesting good
thoughts to us. What God alone can do, is to move our will to good
by an interior motion or impulse, for He is closer to us than we are
to ourselves. He preserves in existence our soul and our faculties,
of which He is the Author; and, without doing violence to them, He
can move them from within according to their natural inclination
by giving us a new energy. An example will help to make this
understood: In order to teach her child to walk, a mother takes
hold of him under his arms and helps him not only with her voice by
showing him an object to attain, but by her gesture, by lifting him
up. What the mother does thus in the corporeal order, God can
do in the spiritual order. He can lift up, not only our body but our
will itself, to lead it to good. He is the very Author of our will; He
has given it its fundamental inclination to good, and in consequence
He alone can move it from within according to this inclination. He
acts thus in us, in the very inmost depths of our will, to make us
will and act. The more urgently we ask Him to do this, the more
strongly does He act to increase in us the love that we should have
for Him.
Moreover, actual grace is called prevenient grace when it arouses
a good thought or good feeling in us, when we have done nothing
to excite it in ourselves. If we do not resist this grace, God adds to it
a helping or concomitant grace, which will assist our will to pro­
duce the salutary act demanded and to realize our good designs.
Thus, as St. Paul says: “God works in us both to will and to accom­
plish.”
Finally, we must note that God sometimes moves us to act by
deliberation according to the human mode, and at other times by
special inspiration to act in a superior manner without deliberation
on our part. The following is an example of the first case: I see that
the habitual hour to recite the Rosary has come, and of my own
accord I am led by deliberation to recite it. I do so under the in­
fluence of a common actual grace, called cooperating, for it co­
operates in my action according to the human mode of deliberation.
*· See la, q. 105, a.4; la line, q.9, a.6; q. 10, a.4; q. 109, a.a, 3, 4, 10.

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

The second mode may be illustrated by the following example: It
may happen that in an unexpected way while doing absorbing work,
I receive a special inspiration to say a short prayer, and I imme­
diately do it. This special inspiration is called an operating grace,
for it operates in us without deliberation on our part, not however
without vital, free, and meritorious consent.17 In the first man­
ner, God generally moves us to act according to the human mode
of the virtues; in the second manner, He moves us to act according
to the superhuman mode of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Our ship
then advances no longer solely by dint of rowing, but by the su­
perior impulse of a favorable wind.
All that we have said about the different modes of divine motion
may be summed up in the following table, which should be read
upward.

God
moves
our
mind
and our
wiU

' above deliberation, by special inspira­
tion to which the gifts of the Holy
Ghost render us docile.
in the
after deliberation, to will a definite act
supernatural of a specific infused virtue, for ex­
order
ample, of religion directed by pru­
dence.
before deliberation, to will efficaciously
the supernatural last end.18
above deliberation, by special inspira­
tion, for example, in the poetic
in the
order.
natural
after deliberation, to will a definite act
order
of a specified acquired virtue.
before deliberation, to will good in gen­
eral and happiness.

1T See la Ilae, q. m, a.2. Under cooperating grace, the will moves itself
deliberately in virtue of an anterior act. It is thus that, already willing the
end, it is led to the choice of means; whereas under operating grace it is
moved not by virtue of an anterior act, but of a special inspiration.
18 Here there is certainly deliberation. It is not, however, by virtue of de­
liberation and of an anterior act that the sinner, ar the moment of his conver­
sion, is moved efficaciously to will the supernatural last end, for every anterior
act is inferior to this efficacious will, ami can only dispose to it. Con­
sequently a special operating grace is necessary here. This grace is not re­
quired when, already efficaciously willing the end, we arc led of ourselves
to will the means. Then, only cooperating grace is required.

THE SPIRITUAL ORGANISM

93

Under operating grace, we are more passive than active, and our
activity consists especially in consenting freely to the operation of
God, in allowing ourselves to be led by the Holy Ghost, in promptly
and generously following His inspirations.18 But even under co­
operating grace all our salutary action is from God as from the
First Cause, and it is all from us as from the second cause.
FIDELITY TO GRACE

Fidelity to grace is of the utmost importance, and especially so
is increasing fidelity to the actual grace of the present moment, that
we may correspond to the duty of that moment, which manifests
the will of God in our regard. St. Augustine says: “God who cre­
ated you without yourself, will not sanctify you without your19 We treated this subject at greater length in Christian Perfection and Con­
templation, pp. 285-310; “The special inspiration of the Holy Ghost and com­
mon actual grace.” According to a number of texts from St. Thomas, and fol­
lowing several great Thomists, in particular Father del Prado, we showed in
that article that God moves the will, either before deliberation (when He
leads it to will beatitude in general, or also the supernatural last end), or
after deliberation, or with it (when He moves it to determine by discursive
deliberation to will the means in view of the previously willed end), or
above deliberation (by special inspiration, in particular by that to which
the gifts of the Holy Ghost render us docile).
St. Thomas enumerates these three modes of motion in various passages:
la Ilae, q.9, a.6 ad 3 um; q.68, a.2 f.; q. 109, a. 1, 2, 6, 9; q. 111, a. 2; De veritate,
q.24, a. 15.
It suffices here to quote the classic text of la Ilae, q. 111, a. 2, on the distinc­
tion between operating and cooperating grace: “The operation of an effect
is not attributed to the thing moved but to the mover. 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 {virtute prioris actus), the operation is attributed not
only to God, but also to the soul; and it is with reference to this that we
speak of cooperating grace.” The operating grace may, however, present
itself under several forms: ( 1 ) it may be only exciting, leading to a salutary
good thought, which, as a matter of fact, remains sterile; (2) it may lead even
to a salutary act of faith or hope, without there being the influence of the
gifts of the Holy Ghost, as happens in the believer in the state of mortal
sin; (3) it may lead even to a salutary and meritorious act of the gifts of the
Holy Ghost. In this last case particularly, there is a special inspiration, not
only before deliberation but above it. We can either be moved, or we can
move ourselves to an act of faith (although it may be simple and not dis­
cursive), whereas we cannot of ourselves move ourselves to an act of the
gifts.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

self.” 20 Our consent is needed and likewise our obedience to the
precepts. God’s help is given us, he says again, not that our will
should do nothing, but that it may act in a salutary and meritorious
manner. Actual grace is constantly offered to us for the accom­
plishment of the duty of the present moment, just as air comes con­
stantly into our lungs to permit us to breathe. As we must inhale in
order to draw into our lungs the air which renews our blood, so
we must will to receive with docility the grace which renews our
spiritual energies in the journey toward God. A person who does
not inhale will die of asphyxiation; he who does not receive grace
with docility will eventually die of spiritual asphyxiation. This is
why St. Paul says: “And we helping do exhort you that you re­
ceive not the grace of God in vain.” 21 We must correspond with
it and cooperate generously with it. Were this elementary truth
put into practice daily, it would lead to sanctity.
Without a doubt, God takes the first step toward us by His
prevenient grace, then He helps us to consent to it. He accompanies
us in all our ways and difficulties, even to the moment of death. On
our part, we should not forget that, instead of resisting His pre­
venient graces, we should be faithful to them. How can we do this?
First of all, we can do so by joyfully welcoming the first illumina­
tions of grace, then by following its inspirations with docility in spite
of obstacles, and finally by putting these inspirations into practice
no matter what the cost. Then we shall cooperate in the work
of God, and our action will be the fruit of His grace and of our free
will. It will be entirely from God as First Cause, and entirely from
us as second cause.
The first grace of light, which efficaciously produces a good
thought in us, is sufficient in relation to a voluntary good consent,
in this sense, that it gives us, not this act, but the power to produce
it. However, if we resist this good thought, we deprive ourselves
of the actual grace which would have efficaciously led us to a good
consent. Resistance falls on sufficient grace like hail on a tree in
bloom which promised much fruit; the flowers are destroyed and
the fruit will not form. Efficacious grace is offered us in sufficient
grace, as the fruit is in the flower; moreover, the flower must not
be destroyed if rhe fruit is to be given to us. If we do not resist suf20 Sermon 15, chap. i.
21 See II Cor. 6: i.

THE SPIRITUAL ORGANISM

95

ficient grace, actual efficacious grace is given us, and by it we ad­
vance surely in the way of salvation. Sufficient grace thus leaves us
without excuse before God, and efficacious grace does not allow us
to glory in ourselves; with it we advance humbly and generously.22
We should not resist the divine prevenient graces of Him who
has given us sanctifying grace, the infused virtues, the gifts, and
who daily draws us to Himself. We should not be content with liv­
ing a mediocre life and with producing only imperfect fruits, since
our Savior came that we “may have life, and may have it more
abundantly,” 23 and that from within us “shall flow rivers of living
water,” 24 that we may eternally enjoy His beatitude. God is mag­
nanimous; let us, too, be so.
22 Herein lies the great mystery of grace; its two aspects, which are to
be harmonized, may be expressed in the following manner: this mystery
contains a striking light and shade: the light is expressed in two principles;
the shade is their intimate harmonization. On the one hand, God never
commands the impossible (that would be neither just nor merciful); but out
of love, He makes the duties to be performed really possible for all. No adult
is deprived of the grace necessary for salvation unless he refuses it by resisting
the divine call, as did the bad thief dying beside the Savior. On the other
hand, “since the love of God for us is the cause of all good, no one would
be better than another if he were not more greatly loved by God,” as
St. Thomas says (la, q.20, a.3). In this sense, Christ said: “Without Me you
can do nothing” (John 15:5); and in speaking of the elect. He added: “No
one can snatch them out of the hand of the Father” (John 10:29). St. Paul
also asks: “For who distinguisheth thee? Or what hast thou that thou hast
not received?” (I Cor. 4:7.) What more profound lesson in humility could
be taught?
As a council of the Middle Ages states: “If some are saved, it is by the
gift of the Savior; if others are lost, it is through their own fault.” (Denzinger,
Enchiridion, no. 318.) Resistance to grace is an evil which can come only
from us; non-resistance is a good which springs from the Source of all good.
These formulas reconcile the two aspects of the mystery, and the principles
that we have just recalled are incontestable. Each of these two principles
taken separately is absolutely certain. That salvation is possible to all is a
principle as certain as that “no one would be better than another if he were
not more loved by God.” “What have we that we have not received?” But
how can these two incontestable principles be intimately reconciled? No
created intellect can see this harmony before receiving the beatific vision.
In fact, were we to sec it, we would see how infinite mercy, infinite justice,
and sovereign liberty harmonize in the eminence of the Deity. We explained
this problem in its relations to the spiritual life at greater length in Christian
Perfection and Contemplation, pp. 80-113; Providence (English translation),
pp. 334-40; Predestination (English translation), pp. 221 ff., 335 ff.
28 John 10:10.
18 Ibid., 7:38.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

This fidelity is required, first of all, that we may preserve the life
of grace by avoiding mortal sin. The life of grace is incomparably
more precious than that of the body, than the power to perform mir­
acles; it is of such worth that our Savior delivered Himself up to death
in order to restore it to us. If it were given to us to contemplate un­
veiled the amazing splendor of sanctifying grace, wc should be rav­
ished. Moreover, fidelity is required to merit and obtain the increase
of the life of grace, which ought to grow until our entrance into
heaven, since we are travelers on the road to eternity and since we ad­
vance toward our goal by growing in the love of God. Thence comes
the necessity of sanctifying each and every one of our acts, even the
most ordinary, by accomplishing them with purity of intention, for a
supernatural motive, and in union with our Lord. If we were thus
faithful from morning until evening, each of our days would contain
hundreds of meritorious acts, hundreds of acts of love of God and of
neighbor, made on every pleasant or painful occasion, and when eve­
ning came, our union with God would be more intimate and much
stronger. It has often been said that to sanctify ourselves there is no
more practical and more efficacious means that is more within the
reach of all, than thus to supernaturalize each of our acts by offering
them in union with our Lord, to God for His glory and the good
of souls.25
25 Some have thought that the special inspiration of the Holy Ghost dimin­
ishes the liberty of our act and that the act immediately caused by it, is not
meritorious. This special inspiration no more diminishes our liberty than
the absolute impeccability of Christ diminished His perfect liberty of obe­
dience to the precepts of His Father. He could not disobey; He obeyed in­
fallibly, but freely, the precept to die, for He preserved the indifference of
judgment and of choice in the face of the painful death of the cross, which
did not invincibly attract His will, as did the immediate vision of the divine
goodness. We have explained this at length elsewhere (Le Sauveur, pp. 20418).

CHAPTER IV

The Blessed Trinity Present in Us,
Uncreated Source of Our Interior Life
INCE we have treated of the life of grace, of the spiritual or­
ganism of the infused virtues and the gifts, we may fittingly
consider the uncreated Source of our interior life, that is, the Blessed
Trinity present in all just souls on earth, in purgatory, and in
heaven. We shall see, first of all, what divine revelation, contained
in Scripture, tells us about this consoling mystery. We shall then
briefly consider the testimony of tradition, and finally we shall see
the exact ideas offered by theology, particularly by St. Thomas
Aquinas,1 and the spiritual consequences of this doctrine.

S

The Testimony

of

Scripture

Scripture teaches us that God is present in every creature by a
general presence, often called the presence of immensity. We read
in particular in Ps. 138:7: “Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from Thy face? If I ascend into heaven, Thou
art there; if I descend into hell, Thou art present.” This is what
made St. Paul say, when preaching to the Athenians: “God, who
made the world, . . . being Lord of heaven and earth, . . . though
He be not far from everyone of us: for in Him we live and move
and are.” 2 God, in fact, sees all, preserves all things in existence,
and inclines every creature to the action which is suitable for him.
1 This subject has been well treated by Father Froget, O.P., in De l’habita­
tion du Saint-Esprit dans les âmes justes (3rd ed. Paris: Lethielleux, 1900).
More recently, the subject was treated by Father Gardeil, O.P., La structure
de l’âme et l’expérience mystique (Paris: Gabalda, 1927), II, 6-60. We have
also dealt at length with this subject in L'amour de Dieu et la croix de Jésus,
I, 163-206; II, 657-86.
2 Acts 17:24, 27 f.
97

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

He is like the radiant source from which the life of creation springs,
and also the central force that draws everything to itself: “O God,
sustaining force of creation, remaining in Thyself unmoved.”
Holy Scripture does not, however, speak only of this general
presence of God in all things; it also speaks of a special presence of
God in the just. We read, in fact, even in the Old Testament: “Wis­
dom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject
to sins.” 3 Would only created grace or the created gift of wisdom
dwell in the just soul? Christ’s words bring us a new light and show
us that it is the divine persons Themselves who come and dwell in
us: “If anyone love Me,” He says, “he will keep My word. And
My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make
Our abode with him.” 4 These words should be noted: “We will
come.” Who will come? Would it be only created effects: sanctify­
ing grace, the infused virtues, the gifts? No indeed; Those who come
are Those who love: the divine persons, the Father and the Son, from
whom the Holy Ghost is never separated, that Spirit of Love prom­
ised, moreover, by our Lord and visibly sent on Pentecost. “We will
come to him,” to the just soul who loves God, and “We will come”
not only in a transitory, passing manner, but “We will make our
abode with him,” that is to say, We will dwell in him as long as he
remains just, or in the state of grace, as long as he preserves charity.
Such were our Lord’s own words.
These words are confirmed by those that promise the Holy Ghost:
“I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, that
He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world
cannot receive because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him. But
you shall know Him; because He shall abide with you and shall be
in you. ... He will teach you all things and bring all things to
your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you.” 5 These words
were not only addressed to the apostles; they were verified in them
on Pentecost, which is renewed for us by confirmation. This testi­
mony of our Savior is clear, and it states exactly and in an admira­
ble manner what we read in the Book of Wisdom ( i :4). It is indeed
the three divine persons who come and dwell in the souls of the
just. Thus the apostles understood it. St. John writes: “God is char3 Wisd. 1:4.
* John 14:23.
0 John 14:16 f., 16.

THE BLESSED TRINITY PRESENT IN US

99

ity: and he that abideth in charity, abidcth in God, and God in
him.” 0 He possesses God in his heart; but still more God possesses
him and holds him, preserving not only his natural existence, but
the life of grace and charity in him. St. Paul speaks in like manner:
“The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy
Ghost who is given to us.” T We have received not only created
charity, but the Holy Ghost Himself who has been given to us. St.
Paul speaks of Him especially, because charity likens us more to the
Holy Ghost, who is personal love, than to the Father and to the
Son. They are also in us, according to the testimony of Christ, but
we will be made perfectly like Them only when we receive the
light of glory, which will imprint in us the resemblance to the
\Vord, who is the splendor of the Father. On several different occa­
sions St. Paul refers to this consoling doctrine: “Know you not that
you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you?” 8 “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? For you are bought with a great price.
Glorify and bear God in your body.” 9 Scripture thus teaches ex­
plicitly that the three divine persons dwell in every just soul, in
every soul in the state of grace.
The Testimony of Tradition

Tradition, moreover, shows by the voice of the first martyrs, by
that of the fathers, by the official teaching of the Church, that the
words of Scripture must be understood in this way.10
At the beginning of the second century, St. Ignatius of Antioch
declares in his letters that true Christians bear God in themselves; he
calls them “theophoroi” or God-bearers. This doctrine was wide6 See I John 4:16.
7 Rom. 5:5.
8 See I Cor. 3:16.
8 Ibid., 6:19 f.
10 In the present case, we see clearly the importance of essentially divine
tradition, which transmits to us through the legitimate shepherds of the
Church, an orally revealed doctrine, whether it was later established in Scrip­
ture or not. All the organs of divine tradition may be invoked in the present
case: the solemn teaching authority of the Church, and also its ordinary
teaching authority expressed by the morally unanimous preaching of the
bishops, by the consent of the fathers and of theologians, and by the Christian
sense of the faithful.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

spread in the primitive Church: the martyrs proclaimed it before
their judges. St. Lucy of Syracuse answered Paschasius:
“Words cannot fail those who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in
them.”
“Is the Holy Ghost in you?”
“Yes, all those who lead a chaste and pious life are the temples of
the Holy Ghost.”
Among the Greek fathers, St. Athanasius says that the three divine
persons are in us.11 St. Basil declares that the Holy Ghost, by His
presence, makes us more and more spiritual and like to the image of
the only Son.12 St. Cyril of Alexandria also speaks of this intimate
union between the just soul and the Holy Ghost.13 Among the Latin
fathers, St. Ambrose teaches that we receive Him in baptism and
even more in confirmation.14 St. Augustine shows that, according to
the testimony of the early fathers, not only grace was given us,
but God Himself, the Holy Ghost and His seven gifts.15
This revealed doctrine is finally brought home to us by the official
teaching of the Church. In the Credo of St. Epiphanius, which adults
were obliged to recite before receiving baptism, we read: “The Holy
Spirit who . . . spoke in the apostles and dwells in the saints.” 10
The Council of Trent declares also: “The efficient cause [of our
justification] is the merciful God, who washes and sanctifies gratui­
tously, signing and anointing with the holy Spirit of promise, who
is the pledge of our inheritance” (Eph. i : 13).17
The official teaching of the Church on this point has been stated
even more precisely in our times by Leo XIII in his encyclical on the
Holy Ghost, Divinum illud munus (May 9, 1897), in which the
indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in the souls of the just is thus
described:
It is well to recall the explanation given by the Doctors of the Church
of the words of Holy Scripture. They say that God is present and ex­
ists in all things “by His power in so far as all things are subject to His
power; by His presence, inasmuch as all things are naked and open to
11 Ep. I ad Serap., 31; PG, XXVI, 601.
12 De Spiritu Sancto, chap. 9, nos. 22 ff.; chap. 18, no. 47.
18 Dialog., VII, PG, LXXV, 1085.
14 De Spiritu Sancto, I, chaps. 5-6.
10 De fide et symbolo, chap. 9, and De Trinitate, XV, chap. 27.
10 Denzinger, Enchiridion, no. 13.
17 Council of Trent, Scss. VI, chap. 7; Denzinger, no. 799.

THE BLESSED TRINITY PRESENT IN US

IOI

His eyes; by His essence, inasmuch as He is present to all as the cause
of their being” (St. Thomas, la, q. 8, a. 3). But God is in man, not only
as in inanimate things, but because He is more fully known and loved
by him, since even by nature we spontaneously love, desire, and seek
after the good. Moreover, God by grace resides in the just soul as in a
temple, in a most intimate and peculiar manner. From this proceeds that
union of affection by which the soul adheres most closely to God, more
so than the friend is united to his most loving and beloved friend, and
enjoys God in all fullness and sweetness.
Now this wonderful union, which is properly called “indwelling,”
differing only in degree or state from that with which God beatifies the
saints in heaven, although it is most certainly produced by the presence
of the whole Blessed Trinity—“We will come to him and make Our
abode with him” (John 14:23)—nevertheless is attributed in a peculiar
manner to the Holy Ghost. For, whilst traces of divine power and
wisdom appear even in the wicked man, charity, which, as it were, is
the special mark of the Holy Ghost, is shared in only by the just. . . .
Wherefore the Apostle, when calling us the temple of God, does not
expressly mention the Father, or the Son, but the Holy Ghost: “Know
you not that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is
in you, whom you have from God?” (I Cor. 6:19.)
The fullness of divine gifts is in many ways a consequence of the
indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just. . . . Among these
gifts are those secret warnings and invitations which from time to time
are excited in our minds and hearts by the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost. Without these there is no beginning of a good life, no progress,
no arriving at eternal salvation.
Such is, in substance, the testimony of tradition expressed by the
teaching authority of the Church under its different forms. We shall
now see what theology adds in order to give us, in addition, a cer­
tain understanding of this revealed mystery. We shall follow the
teaching of St. Thomas on this subject.
The Theological Explanation

of

This Mystery

Different explanations of this mystery have been proposed.18
Among these different points of view, that of St. Thomas, preserved
by Leo XIII in his encyclical on the Holy Ghost, seems the truest.
** Wc set forth these explanations elsewhere (L'cmiour de Dieu et la croix
de Jésus, I. 167-205), and we compared that of the Angelic Doctor, as under­
stood by John of St. Thomas, and in more recent years by Father Gardeil,

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

It contains, moreover, in the form of a superior synthesis, all that is
positive in the other explanations.10 Much has been written in re­
cent times on this subject. A return to the very letter of the principal
article of St. Thomas, which has at times been somewhat forgotten,
is essential. Presupposing the general presence of God which pre­
serves all things in existence, the common Doctor of the Church
says, in fact: “The divine Person is fittingly sent, in the sense that He
exists newly in anyone; and He is given as possessed by anyone; and
neither of these is otherwise than by sanctifying grace.”
O.P., with those of Vasquez and Suarez. It will be sufficient here to review
these opinions briefly.
Vasquez reduces every real presence of God in us to the general presence
of immensity, according to which God is present in all things which He pre­
serves in existence. As an object known and loved, God is not really present
in the just soul; He is, as it were, only represented there in the manner of
an absent but very much loved person.
Suarez, on the contrary, maintains that, even if God were not already
present in the just by the general presence of immensity, He would become
really and substantially present in them by reason of the charity which unites
them to Him. This opinion runs counter to the following strong objection:
Although we love the humanity of the Savior and the Blessed Virgin by char­
ity, it does not follow that they are really present in us, that they dwell in
our souls. Of itself, charity constitutes an affective union and makes us desire
real union; but how could it constitute this union?
John of St. Thomas (hi lain, q.43, a.3, disp. XVII, nos. 8-10) and Father
Gardeil (op. cit., II, 7-60) have shown that the thought of St. Thomas towers
above the mutually contradictory conceptions of Vasquez and of Suarez.
According to the Angelic Doctor, contrary to what Suarez says, the special
presence of the Blessed Trinity in the just man presupposes the general pres­
ence of immensity; but (and this is what Vasquez did not see) by sanctifying
grace God is rendered really present in a new manner as an experimentally
knowable object which the just soul can enjoy. He is not there only as a
very much loved person who is absent, but He is really there, and at times
He makes Himself felt by us. If, by an impossibility, God were not already
in the just as the preserving cause of his natural being, He would, as a result,
become specially present in him as the producing and preserving cause of
grace and charity, and as a quasi-experimentally knowable object, and, from
time to time, as an object known and loved.
19 The systems, which do not attain to a superior synthesis, are generally
true in what they affirm, and false in what they deny. What is true in each
one of them is found again in the superior synthesis when the mind has dis­
covered the eminent principle which permits the harmonization of the differ­
ent aspects of the problem. In the present case, Vasquez seems to be wrong
in denying that the special presence is that of an experimentally knowable
object really present; and Suarez seems, indeed, to err in denying that this
special presence presupposes the general presence of immensity by which God
preserves all things in existence.

THE BLESSED TRINITY PRESENT IN US

103

For God is in all things by His essence, power, and presence, accord­
ing to His one common mode, as the cause existing in the effects which
participate in His goodness. Above and beyond this common mode,
however, there is one special mode belonging to the rational nature
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
operation of (supernatural) knowledge and love attains to God Him­
self, 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. So no
other effect can be put down as the reason why the divine Person is in
the rational creature in a new mode, except sanctifying grace. . . .
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.20
Without sanctifying grace and charity, God does not, in fact,
dwell in us. It is not sufficient to know Him by a natural philo­
sophical knowledge, or even by the supernatural knowledge of
imperfect faith united to hope, as the believer in the state of mortal
sin knows Him. (God is, so to speak, distant from a believer who is
turned away from Him.) We must be able to know Him by living
faith and the gifts of the Holy Ghost connected with charity. This
last knowledge, being quasi-experimental, attains God not as a distant
and simply represented reality, but as a present, possessed reality
which we can enjoy even now. This is evidently what St. Thomas
means in the text quoted.21 It is a question, he says, of a knowledge
which attains God Himself, and permits us to possess Him and to
enjoy Him. That the divine persons may dwell in us, we must be
able to know Them in a quasi-experimental and loving manner,
based on infused charity, which gives us a connaturality or sym­
pathy with the intimate life of God.22 That the Blessed Trinity may
dwell in us, this quasi-experimental knowledge need not, however,
20 See la, q.43, a.3.
21 Ibid., a. i, c. and ad 1 uni, 2 urn.
22 St. Thomas had already stated this in his Commentary on the Sentences,
I dist., 14, q.2, a. z ad 3um. “Non qualiscumque cognitio sufficit ad rationem
missionis, sed solum illa quae accipitur ex aliquo dono appropriato personae,
per quod efficitur in nobis conjunctio ad Deum, secundum modum proprium
illius personae, scilicet per amorem, quando Spiritus Sanctus datur, unde cog­
nitio ista est quasi-experimentalis” (ibid., ad zum). This quasi-experimental
knowledge of God, based on charity, which gives us a connaturality with
divine things, proceeds especially from the gift of wisdom, as St. Thomas
says (Ha Ilae, q.45, a. 2).

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

be actual; it suffices that we be able to have it by the grace of the
virtues and gifts. Thus the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity en­
dures in the just man even during sleep and as long as he remains
in the state of grace.23 From time to time, however, God may make
Himself felt by us as the soul of our soul, the life of our life. This is
what St. Paul declares in his epistle to the Romans (8:15 f.): “You
have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba
(Father). For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that
we are the sons of God.” In his commentary on this epistle, St.
Thomas says: “The Holy Spirit gives this testimony to our spirit
by the effect of filial love which He produces in us.” 24 For this
reason the disciples of Emmaus exclaimed after Jesus disappeared:
“Was not our heart burning within us, whilst He spoke in the way
and opened to us the Scriptures?” 25
In giving the explanation we have just quoted, St. Thomas simply
shows us the profound meaning of the words of Christ that we cited
previously: “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.” 26 “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.” 2T According to
this teaching, the Blessed Trinity dwells, in a sense, more perfectly
in the just soul than the body of the Savior does in a consecrated
host. Christ is, indeed, really and substantially present under the
Eucharistic species, but these species of bread do not know and do
not love. The Blessed Trinity dwells in the just soul as in a living
temple which knows and loves in varying degrees. It dwells in the
souls of the blessed who contemplate It unveiled, especially in the
most holy soul of the Savior, to which the Word is personally united.
And even here on earth, in the penumbra of faith, the Blessed Trin­
ity, without our seeing It, dwells in us in order to vivify us more and
23 Thus our soul is always present to itself, as an experimentally knowable
object, without always being actually known: for example, in deep sleep.
24 See la Ilae, q. 112, a. 5: “Whoever receives it (grace) knows, by experi­
encing a certain sweetness, which is not experienced by one who does not
receive it.” It is a sign permitting us to conjecture and to have a moral certi­
tude that we are in the state of grace.
26 Luke 24:32.
20 John 14:23.
” Ibid., 26. ’

THE BLESSED TRINITY PRESENT IN US

105

more, up to the moment of our entrance into glory where It will
appear to us.
This intimate presence of the Blessed Trinity in us does not
dispense us, certainly, from approaching the Eucharistic table or
from praying in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, for the
Blessed Trinity dwells far more intimately in the holy soul of the
Savior, personally united to the Word, than in us. If we draw profit
from approaching a saint who is entirely possessed by God, like a
holy Curé of Ars, how much more will we profit from approaching
our Savior? We can say to Him: “Come, even with Thy cross, and
take more complete possession of us. Grant that the prayer, ‘Thou
in us and we in Thee’ may be more fully realized.” Let us also think
of the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in the soul of the Blessed
Virgin both here on earth and in heaven.
Spiritual Consequences

of

This Doctrine

A consequence of primary importance springs from these con­
siderations. If the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in us cannot be
conceived unless the just man can have a “quasi-experimental knowl­
edge” of God present in him, what follows? That this knowledge,
far from being something essentially extraordinary, like visions,
revelations, or the stigmata, is in the normal way of sanctity.28 This
quasi-experimental knowledge of God present in us springs from
faith illumined by the gifts of wisdom and understanding, which are
connected with charity; whence it follows that this knowledge
ought normally to grow with the progress of charity, either under
a clearly contemplative form, or under a form more directly oriented
toward action. Farther on, we shall also declare that infused con­
templation, in which this quasi-experience develops, begins, ac­
cording to St. John of the Cross, with the illuminative way and
develops in the unitive way.29 This quasi-experimental knowledge
28 Father Gardeil, O.P., holds the same opinion as we do on this subject.
He says (op. cit., II, 89): “In this fourth part, we will devote our best effort
to showing that the mystical experience is the final flowering of the life of
the Christian in the state of grace”; and (p. 368): “Mystical knowledge, su­
preme but normal flowering of the state of grace.”
28 St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 14: “The
way of . . . proficients, which is also called the illuminative way, or the
way of infused contemplation, wherein God Himself teaches and refreshes
the soul.”

io6

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

of God, of His goodness, will grow with the knowledge of our
nothingness and wretchedness, according to the divine words spoken
to St. Catherine of Siena: “I am who am; thou art she who is not.”
It also follows that, when our charity increases notably, the di­
vine persons are sent anew, says St. Thomas,30 for They become
more intimately present in us according to a. new mode or degree
of intimacy. This is true, for example, at the time of the second con­
version, which marks the entrance into the illuminative way.
Finally, They are in us not only as an object of supernatural
knowledge and love, but as principles of supernatural operations.
Christ Himself said: “My Father worketh until now; and I work,”
especially in the intimacy of the heart, in the center of the soul.
We should, moreover, remember in a practical way that or­
dinarily God communicates Himself to His creature only in the
measure of the creature’s dispositions. When these become more
pure, the divine persons also become more intimately present and
active. Then God belongs to us and we to Him, and we desire
above all to make progress in His love. “This doctrine of the in­
visible missions of the divine persons in us is one of the most power­
ful motives for spiritual advancement,” says Father Chardon, “be­
cause it keeps the soul ever on the alert in regard to its progress,
awake to produce incessantly ever stronger and more fervent acts
of all the virtues, that, growing in grace, this new growth may bring
God anew to it . . . for a union . . . which is characterized by
greater intimacy, purity, and vigor.” 31
Our Duties Toward

the

Divine Guest

In Proverbs we read: “My son, give Me thy heart.” 32 And in the
Apocalypse we are told: “Behold, I stand at the gate, and knock.
If any man shall hear My voice and open to Me the door, I will
come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” 33 The soul
of a just man is like a heaven that is still obscure, since the Blessed
Trinity is in him, and some day he will see It there unveiled.
Our duties toward the interior Guest may be summed up in the
following suggestions: that we think often of Him and tell our80 See la, q.43, a.6 ad num.
81 La croix de Jésus, original edition, p. 457; 3rd conference, chap. 4.
82 Prov. 23:26.
88 Apoc. 3:30.

THE BLESSED TRINITY PRESENT IN US

107

selves that God lives in us; that we consecrate our day, our hour,
to the divine persons by saying, “In the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Ghost”; that we remember that the in­
terior Guest is for us the source of light, consolation, and strength;
that we pray to Him as Christ suggests: “Pray to thy Father in secret
(in thy soul) : and thy Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee”;34
that we adore the interior Guest saying: “My soul doth magnify
the Lord”; that we believe in Him; that we trust absolutely in
Him, and love Him with an increasingly pure, generous, and strong
love; that we love Him by imitating Him, especially by goodness,
according to the words of our Savior: “Be you therefore perfect,
as also your heavenly Father is perfect”;35 “That they all may be
one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may
be one in Us.” 36
As we shall see more clearly in the following pages, all this leads
us to think that far from being essentially extraordinary, the mys­
tical life alone, which is characterized by the reality of the quasiexperimental knowledge of God present in us, is completely normal.
Only the saints, all of whom live this sort of life, are fully in order.
Before experiencing this intimate union with God present in us,
we are somewhat like souls still half-asleep, souls not yet spiritually
awakened. Our knowledge of the consoling mystery of the in­
dwelling of the Blessed Trinity is still too superficial and bookish,
and yet overflowing life is offered to us.
Before entering into the intimacy of union with God, our adora­
tion and love of Him are not what they ought to be, and frequently
we consider the “one thing necessary” as if it were not the most
important thing for us. Likewise we have not yet become profoundly
cognizant of the gift that has been given us in the Eucharist, and we
have only a superficial knowledge of the nature of the mystical body
of Christ.
The Floly Ghost is the soul of the mystical body, of which Christ
is the head. As in our body the soul is entirely in the whole body
and entirely in each part, and exercises its superior functions in the
head, so the Holy Ghost is entirely in all the mystical body, entirely
in each just soul, and exercises His highest functions in the holy
•4 Matt. 6:6.
·’ Ibid., 5:48.
••John 17:11.

io8

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

soul of the Savior, and through it on us. The vital principle which
thus constitutes the unity of the mystical body is singularly more
unitive than the soul which unifies our body, than the spirit of a
family or of a nation. The spirit of a family is a certain manner of
seeing, judging, feeling, loving, willing, and acting. The spirit of
the mystical body is infinitely more unifying; it is the Holy Ghost
the Sanctifier, source of all graces, source of living water springing
up into eternal life. The stream of grace, which comes from the
Holy Ghost, unceasingly reascends toward God under the form of
adoration, prayer, merit, and sacrifice; it is the elevation toward
God, the prelude of the life of heaven. Such are the supernatural
realities of which we should become increasingly more conscious.
Only in the mystical life does the soul truly awaken completely,
and have that lively, profound, radiating consciousness of the gift
of God that is necessary if the soul is to correspond fully with the
love of God for us.

CHAPTER V

The Influence of Christ the Redeemei
on His Mystical Body
HE BLESSED TRINITY which dwells in every just soul is, as
we have seen, the uncreated source of our interior life. But our
sanctification depends also on the constant influence of Christ the
Redeemer, who incessantly communicates to us, through the sacra­
ments and outside of them, the graces He merited for us during His
earthly life, and especially during His passion. Therefore it is fit­
ting that we speak here of this sanctifying influence in general, and
that we consider how it is exercised in particular by the greatest of
all sacraments, the Eucharist.1

T

How

Savior Communicates to Us the Graces
Which He Formerly Merited for Us

the

As the living instrument ever united to the divinity, source of all
grace, Christ communicates to us the graces which he formerly
merited for us. St. John says: “Of His fullness we all have received.” 2
Christ Himself tells this to us in a most expressive, symbolical man­
ner: “I am the true vine; you the branches. ... As the branch can­
not bear fruit of itself unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you,
unless you abide in Me. . . . He that abideth in Me, and I in him,
the same beareth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
. . . If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask
1 Cf. Emile Mersch, S.J., Le corps mystique du Christ. Etude de théologie
historique, 1936; Morale et corps mystique, 1937. Ernest Mura, Le corps mys­
tique du Christ, sa nature et sa vie divine d'après saint Paul et la théologie,
2nd ed., 1936.
’John 1:16. Cf. St. Thomas, Illa, q.8: “Of the Grace of Christ, as He Is
the Head of the Church” (in eight articles). Commentum in Joannem, 15:
1-7: “I am the vine; you the branches.”
109

I ΙΟ

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you.” 3 Elsewhere Jesus
likewise says: “Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and His
justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.” 4 By this He
means that, if we ask especially for a living, more intimate, and pro­
found knowledge of Him (which is given by the Holy Ghost) and
for a purer and stronger love of Him, we shall be heard. Who would
dare to say that Christ is not speaking here of the prayer by which
His members ask for the infused contemplation of the mysteries of
salvation? “In this,” He adds, “is My Father glorified; that you
bring forth very much fruit, and become My disciples.”
This beautiful figure of the vine and the branches is most ex­
pressive. St. Paul reverts to it under the form of the olive tree in
which we are ingrafted.® He also gives another that is no less strik­
ing. Christ, he says, is like the head which communicates to the
members the vital influx, which has its principle in the soul. The
Church is the mystical body of Christ; Christians are the members
of this body. He often repeats this statement: “Now you are the
body of Christ, and members of member.” ® “But doing the truth
in charity, we may in all things grow up in Him who is the head,
even Christ: from whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly
joined together by what every joint supplieth . . . maketh increase
of the body, unto the edifying of itself in charity.” 7 “And let the
peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called
in one body.” 8
According to this doctrine, the Savior communicates to us the
vital influx of grace (of which the source is God Himself considered
in His divine nature), as the head communicates to the members the
vital influx, the principle of which is in the soul. Clearly to under­
stand this teaching, we must distinguish between the divinity and
the humanity of Christ. Jesus, as the Word, dwells, as do the Father
and the Holy Ghost, in the center, in the depths of our soul. He is
closer to it than it is to itself; He preserves its natural and its super­
natural life. By operating grace, Fie moves it to the deepest, most
8 John 15: 1-7.
* Matt. 6:33.
6 Rom. 11:17.
• See I Cor. 12:27.
’ Eph. 4:15 f.
8 Col. 3:15.

INFLUENCE OF CHRIST ON HIS MYSTICAL BODY

in

secret acts which it could not produce by itself.® The humanity of
our Savior, says St. Thomas,10 is the instrument ever united to the
divinity through which all graces are communicated to us. Just as
in the sacraments, the water of baptism, for example, and the sacra­
mental formula are the physical, instrumental cause of sacramental
grace, in the sense that God, by making use of this water and this
formula, communicates to them a transitory divine power to pro­
duce this grace, so also the humanity of the Savior and especially
the acts of His holy soul are the physical, instrumental cause of all
the graces we receive, either through the sacraments or outside of
them.11
The sacred humanity of the Savior does not dwell in our soul.
His body could not be in our soul; it is only in heaven (as in its
natural place) and sacramentally in the Eucharist. But, although
the humanity of Christ does not dwell in us, the just soul is con­
tinually under its influence, since by its intermediary every grace
is communicated to us, just as in our body the head communicates
the vital influx to the members. Since at every waiting moment we
have some duty to accomplish, Christ’s humanity communicates to
us from minute to minute the actual grace of the present moment,
as the air we breathe continually enters our lungs. God, the Author
of grace, makes use of Christ’s humanity to communicate grace
to us, as a great artist uses an instrument to transmit his musical
thought to us, or as a great thinker uses his own style, his more or
less rich language, to express himself. Thus the seven sacraments
are like the strings of a lyre from which God alone can, by His
divine touch, draw music. The Savior’s humanity is a conscious,
free, and superior instrument, ever united to the divinity in order
to communicate to us all the graces that we receive and that Christ
merited for us on the cross. Thus every illumination of the intellect,
every grace of attraction, of consolation, or of strength, whether
felt or not, actually come to us from the sacred humanity. For each
of our salutary acts, it is a continual influence far more profound
8 See Ia Hae, q. 111, a. 2.
10 See Illa, q.43, a.2; q.48, a.6.
11 The act of charity ever living in the heart of Christ can always be the
physical, instrumental cause of the graces that we receive. It suffices, more­
over, that the instrument convey the influx of the principal cause, as the
transmitter passes on the human word.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

than that exercised over a child by the best of mothers when she
teaches him to pray.
Outside the sacraments, this activity of the Savior transmits the
lights of faith to unbelievers who do not resist it; to sinners, the
grace of attrition, which invites them to approach the sacrament of
penance. Especially through the Eucharist His influence is exer­
cised, for the Eucharist is the most perfect of the sacraments, con­
taining not only grace but the Author of grace; and it is a sacrifice
of infinite value. This point must be insisted on here in speaking
of the bases or the sources of the interior life.
The Sanctifying Influence of the Savior Through
the Eucharist

The very terms that Christ used in the Gospel to describe this
influence may be fittingly used here.
To draw greater spiritual profit from this influence and to thank
the Lord for it, we may recall how, through love for our souls,
Christ first promised the Eucharist; how Ele gave it to us at the Last
Supper by instituting the priesthood; how He renews it every day
in the Sacrifice of the Mass; how He wishes to remain among us by
assuring the continuity of His real presence; and finally, how He
gives Himself to us in daily Communion, continuing to do so until
we last receive Him as holy viaticum. All these acts of divine gen­
erosity spring from one and the same love and are all ordained to our
progressive sanctification. They deserve a special thanksgiving. Such
is the true meaning of the devotion to the Eucharistic heart of Jesus.
His heart is called “Eucharistic” because it gave us the Eucharist and
still continues to do so. As people say that the air is healthful when
it maintains or restores health, the heart of our Savior is called “Eu­
charistic” because it has given us the greatest of the sacraments, in
which it is itself really and substantially present as the radiant source
of ever new graces.
The words of the promise of the Eucharist, recorded by St. John
(6:26-59), show us best of all what this vivifying influence of the
Savior on us should be, and how we ought to receive it. First of all,
Christ promised a heavenly bread. After the miracle of the multipli­
cation of the loaves, He said: “Labor not for the meat which per-

INFLUENCE OF CHRIST ON HIS MYSTICAL BODY

"3

isheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the
Son of man will give you. . . . My Father giveth you the true
bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which cometh
down from heaven, and giveth life to the world.” 12 Then a number
of those who had eaten their fill after the miracle of the multiplica­
tion of the loaves exclaimed: “Lord, give us always this bread.”
Jesus answered them: “I am the bread of life. ... You also have
seen Me, and you believe not.” 18 The Jews murmured, says St.
John,14 because He had said: “I am the living bread which came
down from heaven.” Jesus replied: “Murmur not among your­
selves. . . . Amen, amen I say unto you: he that believeth in Me,
hath everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat
manna in the desert, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die. I am
the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of
this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give, is My
flesh, for the life of the world. . . . He that eateth My flesh and
drinketh My blood hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in
the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed: and My blood is drink
indeed. . . . The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and
life.” 18 Many did not believe and withdrew. “Then Jesus said to
the twelve: Will you also go away? And Simon Peter answered
Him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life.” 16 This promise of the Eucharist makes us glimpse all that
this sacrament ought to produce in us, whether beginners, pro­
ficients, or the perfect.
The institution of the Eucharist shows us the import of this
promise. It is thus related in St. Matthew, and almost in the same
terms in St. Mark, St. Luke, and the First Epistle to the Corinthians:
“And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed,
and broke: and gave to His disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat.
This is My body. And taking the chalice, He gave thanks, and
gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is My blood
of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission
12 John 6: 27, 32 f.
18 Ibid., 34-36.
14 Ibid., 41.
18 Ibid., 43, 47-52, 55 f., 64.
>« Ibid., 68 f.

114

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

of sins.” 17 The words of the promise are illumined. Peter was re­
warded for having said with faith: “Lord, to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life.” At the Last Supper, Christ’s
word was more efficacious than ever; it was a transubstantiating
word by which He changed the substance of bread into that of His
own body that He might remain sacramentally among us. At the
same moment He instituted the priesthood to perpetuate sacra­
mentally, by means of the Eucharist, the sacrifice of the cross until
the end of time. Christ says, in fact, as St. Luke relates,18 and as
St. Paul states: “This do for the commemoration of Me.” 18 The
apostles then received the power to consecrate, to offer the Eucharis­
tic sacrifice, which perpetuates in substance the sacrifice of the cross
in order to apply its fruits, its merits, and its satisfactions to us until
the end of the world. In the Mass, the principal priest is Christ, who
continues to offer Himself sacramentally. As St. Paul says, He is
“always living to make intercession for us.” 20 He does this especially
in the Holy Sacrifice. By reason of the principal priest and of the
victim offered, of the precious blood sacramentally shed, this sacri­
fice has an infinite value. At the same time, Christ offers to His
Father our adoration, our supplication, our reparation, our thanks­
giving, all the salutary acts of His mystical body.
Christ’s love did not give us the Eucharist only once, but gives
it to us daily. He might have willed that Mass should be celebrated
only once or twice a year in some great sanctuary to which people
would come from afar. On the contrary, not only one Mass, but
numbers of them are celebrated continually, at every minute of the
day, over the surface of the earth. Thus He grants to His Church the
graces it needs at the various moments of its history. In the cata­
combs, later during the great barbarian invasions, in the iron cen­
turies of the Middle Ages, the Mass was the source of ever new
graces; it is still so today that it may give us the strength to resist
the great dangers threatening us.
Moreover, Christ daily returns really and substantially among us,
not only for an hour during the celebration of the Eucharistic sacri­
fice, but to remain continually with us in the tabernacle, to be there
“the companion of our exile, patiently waiting for us, eager to hear
17 Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:15-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-25.
18 Luke 22:19.
18 Sec I Cor. 11:24!.
«° Hcb. 7:25.

INFLUENCE OF CHRIST ON HIS MYSTICAL BODY

115

and grant our prayers” and unceasingly to offer there to His Fa­
ther adoration of infinite value.
Finally, Communion is the consummation of the gift of self.
Goodness is essentially diffusive, it attracts, it gives itself to vivify
us and to enrich us spiritually. This is especially true of the radiating
goodness of God and of His Christ. In Communion, the Savior draws
us and gives Himself, not only to humanity in general, but to each
one of us if we wish it, and in an ever more intimate manner if we
are faithful. He gives Himself, not that we should assimilate Him,
for this would reduce Him to our level; but that we may be made
more like to Him. “The bread, which we break,” says St. Paul, “is
it nor the partaking of the body of the Lord?” 21 It is Life itself that
we receive.
Communion ought to incorporate us more and more into Christ,
by increasing our humility, faith, confidence, and especially our
charity, in order to make our hearts like to that of the Savior who
died out of love for us. In this sense, each of our Communions should
be substantially more fervent than the preceding one, that is, as far
as fervor of the will is concerned; for each Communion ought not
only to preserve but to increase the love of God in us, and thus
dispose us to receive our Lord on the following day with not only
an equal but a greater fervor of will, although it may be otherwise
as regards sensible fervor, which is accidental.22 There should be,
as it were, an accelerated progress toward God, which recalls the
acceleration of bodies as they gravitate toward the center which
attracts them. As a stone falls more rapidly as it approaches the earth
which attracts it, souls should advance more rapidly toward God
as they draw near Him and are more attracted by Him. We find
this idea expressed in many forms in the liturgy, and especially in
the Adoro Te of St. Thomas Aquinas:
Adoro te devote, latens Deitas.
I adore Thee devoutly, O hidden Deity, who art truly hidden
beneath these figures; my heart submits entirely to Thee, and faints
in contemplating Thee.
Fac me tibi semper magis credere,
In te spem habere, te diligere.
21 See 1 Cor. 10: t6.
22 An excellent Communion may be made in great sensible aridity, just as
the prayer of Christ in Gethsemane was excellent.

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Make me believe Thee ever more and more, hope in Thee, and
love Thee.
O memoriale mortis Domini,
Panis vivus, vitam praestans homini:
Praesta meae menti de te vivere,
Et te illi semper dulce sapere.
O memorial of the death of the Lord! Living bread giving life to
man, grant that my soul may live by Thee and ever taste Thee with
delight!
Pie pellicane, Jesu Domine,
Me immundum munda tuo sanguine.
Merciful Pelican, Jesus Lord, unclean I am, cleanse me in Thy
blood, of which a single drop suffices to cleanse the entire world of
all its sin.
fesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio,
Oro fiat illud, quod tam sitio:
Ut te revelata cemens facie,
Visu sim beatus tuae gloriae. Amen.
Jesus, whom 1 now behold beneath these veils, grant, I pray Thee,
what so ardently I desire, that contemplating Thee face to face,
the vision of Thy glory may make me blessed. Amen.
Should a soul thus live daily by the Savior in Mass and Com­
munion, it would certainly arrive at great intimacy with Him, at
the intimacy which is that of the mystical life. The gifts of the
Holy Ghost would grow proportionately in it, and it would attain
to an increasingly more penetrating and delightful contemplation
of the great mystery of our altars, of the infinite value of the Mass,
which is like an eminent spring of ever new graces to which all
succeeding generations must come and drink, that they may have
the strength to arrive at the end of their journey towards eternity.
Thus the prophet Elias, overcome by fatigue, renewed his strength
by eating the loaf that came down from heaven, and was able to
walk even to Horeb, a figure of the summit of perfection.
Christ says to us in Communion, as He said to St. Augustine: “I
am the bread of the strong. . . . Thou wilt not convert Me into
thee, as the food of thy flesh; but thou shalt be converted into Me.” 23
He who truly receives Christ in Holy Communion is more and more
incorporated in Him, living by His thought and by His love. He
Confessions, Bk. VII, chap. io.

INFLUENCE OF CHRIST ON HIS MYSTICAL BODY

u7

can say with St. Paul: “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain,”
for death is the entrance into unending life.
Progressive Incorporation in Christ and Sanctity

The doctrine of progressive incorporation in Christ will mani­
fest its marvelous fecundity to the soul that wishes to live by it.24
First of all, in order to die to sin and its consequences, we will re­
call what St. Paul says: “We are buried together with Him (Christ)
by baptism into death . . . that the body of sin may be de­
stroyed.” 2526
“And they that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh,
with the vices and concupiscences”;20 this is the death to sin through
baptism and penance. Then, in the light of faith and under the in­
spiration of the Holy Ghost, the Christian should put on “the new
(man), him who is renewed unto knowledge, according to the
image of Him that created him. . . . Put ye on therefore, as the
elect of God,” adds St. Paul, “holy, and beloved, the bowels of
mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience. . . . But above all
these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection.” 27 This
is the illuminative way of those who imitate Christ, who adopt His
sentiments, the spirit of His mysteries, His passion,28 His cruci­
fixion,29 His resurrection.30 This is the way of the contemplation of
the Savior’s mysteries which all the saints have lived, even those of
the active life, while recalling these words of the Apostle: “Further­
more, 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
things, and count them but as dung, that I may gain Christ.” 31
This road leads to continual union with the Savior, according to
the sublime words of the Epistle to the Colossians (3:1-3): “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
24 On this point consult the works of Dom Marmion: Christ, the Life of the
Soul; Christ in His Mysteries; Christ, the Ideal of the Monk.
25 Rom. 6:4,6.
26 Gal. 5:24.
27 Col. 3:10, 12, 14.
28 Rom. 8:7.
20 Ibid., 6:5.
80 Col. 3:1.
81 Phil. 3:8.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

world) ; and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Then the peace
of the Savior reigns in the soul that delights in saying to Him:
“Lord, give Thyself to me, and give me to Thyself.” In the saints,
this union is like an almost uninterrupted communion. A glance, a
movement of the soul toward Christ, tell Him our desires, present
to Him our weakness, our good will, our disposition to be faithful
to Him, and the thirst we have for Him. Such is the way of the
loving contemplation of the great mysteries of Christ; it has its
aridities and its joys. Those who experience it, see in it the normal
prelude of the vision of heaven.
Some delude themselves, pretending to reach union with God
without having continual recourse to our Lord. They will scarcely
attain any but an abstract knowledge of God. They will not reach
that delightful, living, quasi-experimental knowledge, as well as an
elevated and practical knowledge, called wisdom, which makes the
soul see God and His providence in the most insignificant things.
The quietists fell into this error, holding that the sacred humanity
of our Savior is a means useful only at the beginning of the spiritual
life.32 St. Teresa reacted especially against this point, reminding us
that we should not of our own accord leave aside in prayer the con­
sideration of Christ’s humanity; it is the road which gently leads
souls to His divinity.33 We ought often to think of the immense
spiritual riches of the holy soul of Christ, of His intellect, of His
will, of His sensibility. By so doing we will come to a better under­
standing of the meaning of His words: “I am the way, the truth,
and the life.” He is the way according to His humanity; as God, He
is the very essence of truth and life.
82Denzinger, Enchiridion, 1255.
83 St. Teresa, The Interior Castle, second mansion, chap. 1; sixth mansion,
chap. 7; Life, chap. 22.

CHAPTER VI

The Influence of Mary Mediatrix
HEN the bases of the interior life are considered, we cannot
discuss the action of Christ, the universal Mediator, on His
mystical body without also speaking of the influence of Mary Media­
trix. As we remarked, many persons delude themselves, maintain­
ing that they reach union with God without having continual
recourse to our Lord, who is the way, the truth, and the life. An­
other error would consist in wishing to go to our Lord without
going first to Mary, whom the Church calls in a special feast the
Mediatrix of all graces. Protestants have fallen into this last error.
Without going as far as this deviation, there are Catholics who do
not see clearly enough the necessity of having recourse to Mary
that they may attain to intimacy with the Savior. Blessed Grignion
de Montfort speaks even of “doctors who know the Mother of God
only in a speculative, dry, sterile, and indifferent manner; who fear
that devotion to the Blessed Virgin is abused, and that injury is
done to our Lord by honoring too greatly His holy Mother. If
they speak of devotion to Mary, it is less to recommend it than to
destroy the abuses that have grown up around it.” 1 They seem to
believe that Mary is a hindrance to reaching divine union. Accord­
ing to Blessed Grignion, we lack humility if we neglect the medi­
ators whom God has given us because of our frailty. Intimacy with
our Lord in prayer will be greatly facilitated by a true and profound
devotion to Mary.
To get a clear idea of this devotion, we shall consider what must
be understood by universal mediation, and also how Mary is the
mediatrix of all graces, as is affirmed by tradition and by the Office

W

’ Blessed Grignion de Montfort, Treatise on the True Devotion to the
Blessed Virgin, chap. 2, a. 1, § 1. Sec also The Secret of Mary, by the same
author. It is a summary of the preceding treatise.
1'9

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and Mass of Mary Mediatrix which are celebrated on May 31. Much
has been written on the subject in recent years. We shall here con­
sider this doctrine in its relation to the interior life.2
The Meaning

of

Universal Mediation

St. Thomas says: “Properly speaking, the office of a mediator is
to join together those between whom he mediates: for extremes are
united by an intermediary. Now to unite men to God perfectly
belongs to Christ, through whom men are reconciled to God, ac­
cording to II Cor. 5:19: ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world
to Himself.’ And, consequently, Christ alone is the perfect Mediator
of God and men, inasmuch as, by His death, He reconciled the
human race to God. Hence the Apostle, after saying, ‘Mediator
of God and man, the man Christ Jesus,’ added: ‘Who gave Himself
a redemption for all.’ However, nothing hinders certain others from
being called mediators, in some respect, between God and man, for­
asmuch as they cooperate in uniting men to God, dispositively, or
ministerially.” 3 In this sense, adds St. Thomas,4 the prophets and
priests of the Old Testament may be called mediators, and also the
priests of the New Testament, as ministers of the true Mediator.
St. Thomas explains further how Christ as man is the Mediator:
“Because, as man, He is distant both from God by nature, and from
man by dignity of both grace and glory. Again, it belongs to Him, as
man, to unite men to God, by communicating to men both precepts
2Cf. St. Bernard, Serm. in Dominic, infra. Oct. Asstimpt., no. 1 (PL,
CLXXXIII, 429). Serm. in Nativ. B. V. Mariae De aquaeductu, nos. 6-7 (PL,
CLXXXIII, 440). Epist. ad Canonicos Lugdunenses de Conceptione S. Mariae,
no. 2 (PL, CLXXXII, 333). St. Albert the Great, Mariale sive Quaestiones
super Evangelium: Missus est (ed. A. Borgnet; Paris, 1890-99, XXXVII, q. 29).
St. Bonaventure, Sermones de B. V. Maria, De Annuntiatione, serm. V
(Quarrachi, 1901, IX, 679). St. Thomas, In Salut, angel. expositio. Bossuet,
Sermon sur la Sainte Vierge. Terrien, S.J., La Mère de Dieu et la Mère des
hommes, III. Hugon, O.P., Marie pleine de grâce. J. Bittremieux, De media­
tione universali B. Mariae V. quoad gratias, 1926, Beyaert, Bruges. Léon
Leloir, La médiation mariale dans la théologie contemporaine, 1933, ibid.
P. R. Bernard, O.P., Le mystère de Marie, Desclée de Brouwer, Paris, 1933.
This excellent book ought to be meditated upon. Sec also P. G. Friethoff,
O.P., De alma Socia Christi mediatoris, Rome, 1936. J. V. Bainvel, S.J., Le
saint cœur de Marie, 1919. P. Jorct, O.P., Le Rosaire de Marie, an annotated
translation of the Encyclicals of Leo XIII on the Rosary, 1933.
8 See Illa, q.26, a. 1.
4 Ibid., ad turn.

INFLUENCE OF MARY MEDIATRIX

121

and gifts, and by offering satisfaction and prayers to God for men.” 5
Christ satisfied and merited as man by a satisfaction and a merit
which drew an infinite value from His divine personality. This medi­
ation is twofold, both descending and ascending. It consists in giv­
ing to men the light and grace of God, and in offering to God, on
behalf of men, the worship and reparation due to Him.
As has been said, there is nothing to prevent there being mediators
below Christ, subordinated to Him as secondary mediators, such as
were the prophets and priests of the Old Law for the chosen people.
It may thus be asked whether Mary is the universal mediatrix for all
men and for the distribution of all graces in general and in par­
ticular. St. Albert the Great speaks of the mediation of Mary as
superior to that of the prophets when he says: “Mary was chosen
by the Lord, not as a minister but to be associated in a very special
and quite intimate manner in the work of the redemption of the
human race: ‘Faciamus ei adjutorium simile sibi.’ ” 0
Is not Mary in her quality as Mother of God completely desig­
nated to be the universal mediatrix? Is she not truly the intermediary
between God and men? She is, indeed, much below God and Christ
because she is a creature, but much above all men by the grace
of her divine maternity, “which makes her attain the very frontiers
of the divinity,” 7 and by the plenitude of grace received at the
moment of her immaculate conception, a plentitude which did not
cease to grow until her death. Not only was Mary thus designated
by her divine maternity for this function of mediatrix, but she re­
ceived it in truth and exercised it. This is shown by tradition,8 which
has given her the title of universal mediatrix in the proper sense of
the word,9 although in a manner subordinated to Christ. This title
is consecrated by the special feast which is celebrated in the universal
Church. To have a clear understanding of the meaning and import
of this title, we shall consider how it is becoming to Mary for two
principal reasons: because she cooperated by satisfaction and merit
in the sacrifice of the cross; and because she does not cease to inter­
cede for us, to obtain for us, and to distribute to us all the graces
that we receive. Such is the double mediation, ascending and de6 Ibid., a. 2.
" Mariale, 42.
’ Cajetan.
• Cf. J. Bittremieux, op. cit.
" Cf. G. Fricthoff, O.P., Angelicttm (October, 1933), pp. 469-77.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

scending, which we ought to ponder in order daily to draw greater
profit from it.
Mary Mediatrix by Her Cooperation
of the Cross

in the

Sacrifice

During the entire course of her earthly life, the Blessed Virgin
cooperated in the sacrifice of her Son. First of all, the free consent
that she gave on Annunciation day was necessary for the accom­
plishment of the mystery of the Incarnation, as if, says St. Thomas,1011
God had waited for the consent of humanity through the voice of
Mary. By this free fiat, she cooperated in the sacrifice of the cross,
since she gave us its Priest and Victim. She cooperated in it also by
offering her Son in the Temple, as a most pure host, at the moment
when the aged Simeon saw by prophetic light that this Child was
the “salvation . . . prepared before the face of all peoples: a light
to the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people
Israel.” 11 More enlightened than Simeon, Mary offered her Son,
and began to suffer deeply with Him when she heard the holy old
man tell her that He would be a sigm which would be contradicted
and that a sword would pierce her soul.
Mary cooperated in the sacrifice of Christ, especially at the foot
of the cross, uniting herself to Him, more closely than can be ex­
pressed, by satisfaction or reparation, and by merit. Some saints, in
particular the stigmatics, have been exceptionally united to the
sufferings and merits of our Savior: for example, St. Francis of
Assisi and St. Catherine of Siena, and yet their share in His suffer­
ing cannot be compared with Mary’s. Flow did Mary offer her
Son? As He offered Himself. By a miracle, Jesus could easily have
prevented the blows of His executioners from causing Flis death;
He offered Himself voluntarily. “No man,” He says, “taketh it
(My life) away from Me: but I lay it down of Myself. And I have
power to lay it down: and I have power to take it up again.” 12
Jesus renounced His right to life; He offered Himself wholly for
our salvation. Of Mary, St. John says: “There stood by the cross
10 See Illa, q. 30, a. 1.
11 Luke 2:30-32.
12 John 10:18.

INFLUENCE OF MARY MEDIATRIX

123

of Jesus, His mother,” 13 surely very closely united to Him in His
suffering and oblation. As Pope Benedict XV says: “She renounced
her rights as a mother over her Son for the salvation of all men.” 14
She accepted the martyrdom of Christ and offered it for us. In the
measure of her love, she felt all the torments that He suffered in
body and soul. More than anyone else, Mary endured the very
suffering of the Savior; she suffered for sin in the degree of her love
for God, whom sin offends; for her Son, whom sin crucified; for
souls, which sin ravishes and kills. The Blessed Virgin’s charity in­
comparably surpassed that of the greatest saints. She thus cooperated
in the sacrifice of the cross by way of satisfaction or reparation, by
offering to God for us, with great sorrow and most ardent love, the
life of her most dear Son, whom she rightly adored and who was
dearer to her than her very life.
In that instant, the Savior satisfied for us in strict justice by His
human acts which drew from His divine personality an infinite value
capable of making reparation for the offense of all mortal sins that
ever had been or would be committed. His love pleased God more
than all sins displease Him.15 Herein lies the essence of the mystery
of the redemption. In union with her Son on Calvary, Mary satisfied
for us by a satisfaction based, not on strict justice, but on the rights
of the infinite friendship or charity which united her to God.1®
At the moment when her Son was about to die on the cross, ap­
parently defeated and abandoned, she did not cease for a moment
to believe that He was the Word made flesh, the Savior of the world,
who would rise in three days as He had predicted. This was the
greatest act of faith and hope ever made; after Christ’s act of love, it
was also the greatest act of love. It made Mary the queen of martyrs,
18 Ibid., 19:23.
14 Litt. Apost., Inter sodalicia, March 22, 1918. (Act. Ap. Sed., 1918, p. 182;
quoted in Denzinger, i6th cd., no. 3034, n.4.)
15 See Illa, q.48, a.2: “He properly atones for an offense who offers some­
thing which the offended one loves not less, or even more, than he detested
the offense. But by suffering out of love and obedience, Christ gave more
to God than was required to compensate for the offense of the whole human
race. . . . First of all, because of the exceeding charity from which He
suffered; secondly, on account of the dignity of His life which He laid down
in atonement, for it was the life of one who was God and man; thirdly, on
account of the extent of the Passion, and the greatness of the grief endured.”
10 “Satisfactio B. M. Virginis fundatur, non in stricta justitia, sed in jure
amicabili." This is the common teaching of theologians.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

for she was a martyr, not only for Christ but with Christ; so much
so, that a single cross sufficed for her Son and for her. She was, in a
sense, nailed to it by her love for Him. She was thus the coredemptrix, as Pope Benedict XV says, in this sense, that with Christ,
through Him, and in Him, she bought back the human race.17
For the same reason, all that Christ merited for us on the cross in
strict justice, Mary merited for us by congruous merit, based on the
charity that united her to God. Christ alone, as head of the human
race, could strictly merit to transmit divine life to us. But Pius X
sanctioned the teaching of theologians when he wrote: “Mary,
united to Christ in the work of salvation, merited de congruo for us
what Christ merited for us de condigno.” 18
This common teaching of theologians, thus sanctioned by the
sovereign pontiffs, has for its principal traditional basis the fact
that Mary is called in all Greek and Latin tradition the new Eve,
Mother of all men in regard to the life of the soul, as Eve was in
regard to the life of the body. It stands to reason that the spiritual
mother of all men ought to give them spiritual life, not as the princi­
pal physical cause (for God alone can be the principal physical
cause of divine grace), but as the moral cause by merit de congruo,
merit de condigno being reserved to Christ.
The Office and Mass proper to Mary Mediatrix assemble the
principal testimonies of tradition on this point with their scriptural
foundations, in particular the clearcut statements of St. Ephrem, the
glory of the Syriac Church, of St. Germanus of Constantinople, of
St. Bernard, and of St. Bernardine of Siena. Even as early as the sec­
ond and third centuries, St. Justin, St. Irenaeus, and Tertullian in­
sisted on the parallel between Eve and Mary, and showed that if
17 Benedict XV, Litt. Apost., citat.: “Ita cum Filio patiente et moriente
passa est et paene commortua, sic materna in Filium jura pro hominum salute
abdicavit placandaeque Dei justitiae, quantum ad se pertinebat, Filium im­
molavit, ut dici merito queat, ipsam cum Christo humanum genus redemisse.'”
Denzinger, Enchiridion, no. 3034, n.4.
18 Cf. Piux X, Encyclical, Ad diem illum, Feb. 2, 1904 (Denzinger, En­
chiridion, 3034): “Quoniam universis sanctitate praestat conjunctioneque cum
Christo atque a Christo ascita in humanae salutis opus, de congruo, ut aiunt,
promeruit nobis, quae Christus de condigno promeruit, estque princeps
largiendarum gratiarum ministra.” It should be remarked that merit de con­
gruo, which is based in jure amicabili seu in caritate is a merit properly so
called, although inferior to merit de cotidigno. The word “merit” is used for
both according to an analogy of proper and not only metaphorical propor­
tionality.

INFLUENCE OF MARY MEDIATRIX

125

the first concurred in our fall, the second collaborated in our re­
demption.19
This teaching of tradition itself rests in part on the words of
Christ, related in the Gospel of the Mass for the feast of Mary
Mediatrix. The Savior was about to die and, seeing “His mother
and the disciple standing whom He loved, He saith to His mother:
Woman, behold thy son. After that, He saith to the disciple: Be­
hold thy mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his
own.” 20 The literal meaning of these words, “Behold thy son,”
points to St. John, but for God, events and persons signify others;21
here St. John represents spiritually all men purchased by the sacri­
fice of the cross. God and His Christ speak not only by the words
They use, but by the events and persons whose masters They are,
and by whom They signify what They wish according to the plan
of Providence. The dying Christ, addressing Mary and John, saw
in John the personification of all men, for whom He was shedding
19 St. Irenaeus, who represents the Churches of Asia where he was trained,
the Church of Rome where he lived, and the Churches of Gaul where he
taught, wrote (Adv. haeres., V, 19, 1): “As Eve, seduced by the discourse of
the (rebellious) angel, turned away from God and betrayed His word, so
Mary heard from the angel the good tidings of the truth. She bore God in
her bosom because she obeyed His word. . . . The human race, enchained
by a virgin, was delivered by a virgin ... ; the prudence of the serpent
yielded to the simplicity of the dove; the bonds which chained us in death
were broken.”
In a prayer used in the second nocturn of the Office of Mary Mediatrix,
St. Ephrem concludes from this parallel between Eve and the Mother of God,
that “Mary is, after Jesus, the mediator par excellence, the mediatrix of the
entire world, and that it is through her that we obtain all spiritual goods (tu
creaturam replesti o?nni genere beneficii caelestibus laetitiam attulisti, ter­
restria salvasti).
St. Germanus of Constantinople (Oratio 9, PG, XCVIII, 377 ff., quoted in
the same nocturn of the Office) even says: “No one is saved except by thee,
O most holy; no one is delivered except through thee, O most immaculate;
no one receives the gifts of God except through thee, O purest.”
St. Bernard says: “O our mediatrix, O our advocate, reconcile us with
thy Son; recommend us to thy Son; present us to thy Son” (Second sermon
In adventu, 5). “It is the will of God that we should have everything through
Mary” (On the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, no. 7). “She is full of
grace; the overflow is poured out on us” (Sermon II on the Assumption,
no. 2).
20 John 19:26 f.
21 Sec la q. 1, a. 10: “The author of Holy Scripture is God, in whose power
it is to signify His meaning, not by words only (as men also can do), but
also by things themselves.”

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

His blood. As this word, so to speak, created in Mary a most pro-,
found maternal affection, which did not cease to envelop the soul
of the beloved disciple, this supernatural affection extended to all
of us and made Mary truly the spiritual mother of all men. In the
eighth century we find Abbot Rupert expressing this same idea, and
after him St. Bernardine of Siena, Bossuet, Blessed Grignion de
Montfort, and many others. It is the logical result of what tradition
tells us about the new Eve, the spiritual mother of all men.
Finally, if we studied theologically all that is required for merit
de congruo, based not on justice, but on charity or supernatural
friendship which unites us to God, we could not find it better
realized than in Mary. Since, in fact, a good Christian mother by
her virtue thus merits graces for her children,22 with how much
greater reason can Mary, who is incomparably more closely united
to God by the plenitude of her charity, merit de congruo for all men.
Such is the ascending mediation of Mary in so far as she offered
the sacrifice of the cross with Christ for us, making reparation and
meriting for us. We shall now consider the descending mediation,
by which she distributes the gifts of God to us.
Mary Obtains

and

Distributes All Graces

That Mary obtains for us and distributes to us all graces is a certain
doctrine, according to what we have just said about the mother
of all men. As mother, she is interested in their salvation, prays for
them, and obtains for them the graces they receive. In the Ave Maris
Stella we read:
Salve vincla reis,
Break the sinner’s fetters,
Profer lumen caecis,
To the blind give day,
Mala nostra pelle,
Ward all evils from us,
Bona cuncta posce.2*
For all blessings pray.
In an encyclical on the Rosary, Leo ΧΙΠ says: “According to the
22 See la Ilae, q. 114, a. 6: “It is clear that no one can merit condignly for
another his first grace, save Christ alone . . . inasmuch as He is the head of
the Church and the author of human salvation. . . . But one may merit the
first grace for another congruously; because a man in grace fulfills God’s will,
and it is congruous and in harmony with friendship that God should fulfill
man’s desire for the salvation of another, although sometimes there may be
an impediment on the part of him whose salvation rhe just man desires.”
28 The Jansenists altered this verse in order not to affirm this universal
mediation of Mary.

INFLUENCE OF MARY MEDIATRIX

127

will of God, nothing is granted to us except through Mary; and, as
no one can go to the Father except through the Son, so generally
no one can draw near to Christ except through Mary.” 24
The Church, in fact, turns to Mary to obtain graces of all kinds,
both temporal and spiritual; among these last, from the grace of
conversion up to that of final perseverance, to say nothing of
those needed by virgins to preserve virginity, by apostles to exer­
cise their apostolate, by martyrs to remain firm in the faith. In the
Litany of Loreto, which has been universally recited in the Church
for many centuries, Mary is for this reason called: “Health of the
sick, refuge of sinners, comforter of the afflicted, help of Christians,
queen of apostles, of martyrs, of confessors, of virgins.” Thus all
kinds of graces are distributed by her, even, in a sense, those of the
sacraments; for she merited them for us in union with Christ on Cal­
vary. In addition, she disposes us, by her prayer, to approach the
sacraments and to receive them well. At times she even sends us a
priest, without whom this sacramental help would not be given
tous.
Finally, not only every kind of grace is distributed to us by Mary,
but every grace in particular. Is this not what the faith of the Church
says in the words of the Hail Mary: “Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen”? This
“now” is said every moment in the Church by thousands of Chris­
tians who thus ask for the grace of the present moment. This grace
is the most individual of graces; it varies with each of us, and for
each one of us at every moment. If we are distracted while saying
this word, Mary, who is not distracted, knows our spiritual needs
of every instant, and prays for us, and obtains for us all the graces
that we receive. This teaching, contained in the faith of the Church
and expressed by the common prayers (lex orandi lex credendi},
is based on Scripture and tradition. Even during her earthly life,
Mary truly appears in Scripture as the distributor of graces. Through
Mary, Jesus sanctified the Precursor when she went to visit her
cousin Elizabeth and sang the Magnificat. Through His mother,
Jesus confirmed the faith of the disciples at Cana, by granting the
miracle that she asked. Through her, He strengthened the faith of
John on Calvary, saying to him: “Behold thy mother.” Lastly, by
M Encyclical on the Rosary, Octobri mense, September 22, 1891 (Denzinger, no. 3033).

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

her the Holy Ghost came down upon the apostles, for she was
praying with them in the cenacle on Pentecost day when the Holy
Ghost descended in the form of tongues of fire.25
With even greater reason after the assumption and her entrance
into glory, Mary is the distributor of all graces. As a beatified mother
knows in heaven the spiritual needs of her children whom she left
on earth, Mary knows the spiritual needs of all men. Since she is an
excellent mother, she prays for them and, since she is all powerful
over the heart of her Son, she obtains for them all the graces that
they receive, all which those receive who do not persist in evil.
She is, it has been said, like an aqueduct of graces and, in the mystical
body, like the virginal neck uniting the head to its members.
When we treat of what the prayer of proficients ought to be, we
shall speak of true devotion to Mary as it was understood by Blessed
Grignion de Montfort. Even now we can see how expedient it is
frequently to use the prayer of mediators, that is, to begin our
prayer by a trusting, filial conversation with Mary, that she may
lead us to the intimacy of her Son, and that the holy soul of the
Savior may then lift us to union with God, since Christ is the way,
the truth, and the life.20
25 Acts 1:14.
26 Several Thomistic theologians admit that, as the humanity of Christ is
the physical instrumental cause of all the graces that we receive (cf.
St. Thomas, Illa, q.43, a.2; q.48, a.6; q.62, a.5), everything leads us to think
that, in a manner subordinated to Christ, Mary is not only the moral but
also the physical instrumental cause of the transmission of these graces.
We do not think that this can be established with true certitude, but the
principles formulated by St. Thomas on this subject in regard to the human­
ity of Christ incline us to think so.

CHAPTER VII

The Growth of the Life of Grace by
Merit, Prayer, and the Sacraments
E CANNOT treat of the bases of the interior life, of its source,
without speaking of the growth of sanctifying grace and of
charity. No one can be saved without this supernatural virtue, the
highest of all, which ought to inspire and animate the others. More­
over, it ought not to remain stationary, but should grow in us even
until death.1 This point of doctrine can and should throw great
light on the spiritual life since it is the basis of every exhortation to
make progress with great humility and generosity by ardently de­
siring the full perfection of charity, intimate union with God, by
striving to obtain it, and humbly asking for it. The virtues of hu­
mility and magnanimity ought always to be united. We shall see,
first of all, why charity ought ever to increase in us until death;
then, how it should grow in three ways: by merit, prayer, and the
sacraments.

W

Why

the

Life

of
in

Grace and Charity Should Grow
Us until Death

We must first point out that no matter how low in degree, true
charity, received in baptism or restored by absolution, already loves
God, the Author of salvation, more than self and above all things,
and one’s neighbor as oneself for the love of God. The slightest de­
gree of infused charity immensely surpasses the natural love that
we can have for God, the Author of nature, and for man. Charity,
no matter of how low a degree, excludes no one, for this exclusion
would be a grave sin which would destroy it. Nevertheless this
1 See Ila Ilae, q.24, a.4-10.

«*9

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

charity of beginners is not victorious over all egoism; far from it.
Beside it we find in our souls an inordinate love of self which, with­
out being gravely culpable, is an obstacle that takes from charity
the freedom of its action or its radiation. Gray stands between black
and white. Between the state of mortal sin and that of perfect and
radiant charity, stands charity of a very low degree, the exercise
of which is often hindered by a troop of habitual venial sins, of
immoderate self-love, of vanity, of laziness, of injustice, and the like.
Undoubtedly, this charity of low degree ought to grow. St. Paul
says to the Ephesians (4:15): “But doing the truth in charity, we
may in all things grow up in Him.” To the Philippians (1:9) he
declares: “I pray that your charity may more and more abound”;
and in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians (3:12 f.): “May the
Lord multiply you, and make you abound in charity towards one
another, and towards all men: as we do also towards you, to con­
firm your hearts without blame, in holiness, before God.” In the
Apocalypse (22:11) we read: “He that is just, let him be justified
still: and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still.” In the Old
Testament, the Book of Proverbs (4:18) tells us: “The path of the
just as a shining light, goeth forward and increaseth even to perfect
day.”
Why should charity thus grow in us? It should grow because the
Christian on earth is a traveler, viator, who is advancing spiritually
toward God. His spiritual advancement is made by more and more
perfect acts of love, “steps of love,” as St. Gregory says. We must
conclude from this that charity on earth can and should always in­
crease, otherwise the Christian would cease in a sense to be a viator;
he would stop before reaching the end of his journey.2 The way is
intended for travelers, not for those who stop en route and sleep.
Moreover, we are told in St. Luke (6:25): “Woe to you that are
filled: for you shall hunger,” but on the other hand, we read in
St. Matthew (5:6): “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
justice, for they shall have their fill.” Christ also declared: “If any
man thirst, let him come to Me and drink. . . . Out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water.” 8
Since every traveler toward eternity should while on earth grow
in charity, not only beginners and proficients, but the perfect ought
2 Ibid., a. 4.
8 John 7:37 f.

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131

always to draw nearer to God. And what is more, these last ought
to advance toward Him so much the more rapidly as they are nearer
to Him and as He draws them more strongly. St. Thomas affirms
this when he comments on the words of St. Paul to the Hebrews
(10:25): “Comforting one another, and so much the more as you
see the day approaching.” St. Thomas writes in his commentary
on this verse of the epistle: “Some one might ask why we should
thus progress in faith and love. The answer is that the natural (or
connatural) movement becomes so much the more rapid as it ap­
proaches its term, while it is the inverse for violent movement.” (As
a matter of fact, we say today that the fall of bodies is uniformly
accelerated, while the inverse movement of a stone tossed into the
air is uniformly retarded.) “Now,” continues St. Thomas, “grace
perfects and inclines to good according to the manner of nature. It
follows that those who are in the state of grace ought so much the
more to grow in charity as they draw near their last end (and are
more attracted by it). This is why St. Paul says here: ‘Not forsaking
our assembly ... ; but comforting one another, and so much the
more as you see the day approaching,’ that is, the end of the journey.
‘The night is past, and the day is at hand’ (Rom. 13:12). ‘But the
path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forward and increaseth even
to perfect day’ ” (Prov. 4:18).4
This remark thus briefly made by St. Thomas, as it were in pass­
ing, has not been as much emphasized by theologians as it deserves.
It is, however, striking that St. Thomas should have noted it in so
simple, so rapid, and so beautiful a manner before the discovery of
the law of universal gravitation and at a time when people knew
only very imperfectly (without having measured it) the accelera­
tion of the fall of bodies. St. Thomas means that in the saints the
spiritual life is more and more intensified; the movement of their
* See St. Thomas, In Ep. ad Hebr., 10:25. See also St. Thomas, I, De coelo,
chap. 8, iect. 17: “Terra (vel corpus grave) velocius movetur quanto magis
descendit.” Cf. Ia Ilae, q.35, a.6: “Every natural movement is more intense
in the end, when a thing approaches the term that is suitable to its nature,
than at the beginning, ... as though nature were more eager in tending to
what is suitable to it than in shunning what is unsuitable.” This growing
rapidity of the natural movement of bodies has been measured by modern
physics and is explained in the law of acceleration of falling bodies, a partic­
ular case of the universal gravitation of bodies, symbol of what the gravitation
of souls toward God should be. We studied this analogy at considerable length
in L'aniour de Dieu et la croix de Jésus (1,150-62).

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

souls rises to the zenith and no longer descends. For them, there
is no twilight; only the body weakens with age.
Such is the law of universal attraction in the spiritual order. As
bodies are attracted in direct ratio to their mass and in inverse ratio
to the square of their distance, that is, they are so much the more
attracted as they draw near each other; in like manner souls are
drawn by God so much the more as they approach Him. Alluding
to the end of His course, Christ said with this meaning: “And I, if 1
be lifted up from the earth (on the cross), will draw all things to
Myself.” s “No man can come to Me, except the Father, who hath
sent Me, draw him.” 0 The higher one rises, the more the efficient
cause, which leads to action, and the final cause, which attracts to
it, tend to become identified. God moves us and draws us to Himself.
He is the beginning and the end of all, sovereign Good, who attracts
love so much the more strongly as one draws nearer to Him. Thus,
in the lives of the saints the progress of love during their last years
is much more rapid than in their earlier life. They advance, not with
an equal but with a quickened step, in spite of the heaviness of old
age and a certain enfeebling of the sensible faculties, such as the
sensible memory. Yet they hear and live the words of the psalm:
“Thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s.” 6
7 Grace and, in par­
ticular, charity continually grow in them.
This increasingly rapid progress existed especially in the life of
the Blessed Virgin for it found no obstacle in her, and it was so much
the more intense as the initial speed, or the first grace, was greater.
There was in her a marvelous acceleration of the love of God, an
acceleration of which that of the fall of bodies is but a remote im­
age.
We see thus why charity ought not only to grow in us until
death, but to increase more and more like a falling body, the speed
of which increases until it reaches its last end.
How, then, does charity grow in us? To be sure, in its lowest
degree charity already loves God above all else with a love of esteem,
and its neighbor in general, without excluding anyone. In this sense
it cannot have a greater extension; but it can grow in intensity, take
6 John 12:32.
8 Ibid., 6:44.
’ Ps. 102:5.

THE GROWTH OF THE LIFE OF GRACE

133

deeper root in our will, more strongly determine its inclination to
turn to God and to flee sin by more generous acts. As a matter of
fact, charity does not grow by addition, like a heap of wheat.8 This
addition would multiply charity without making it more intense.
The increase would be in the order of quantity rather than of qual­
ity, which is quite a different thing.9 In reality, charity increases in
us in so far as it becomes stronger, takes deeper root in our will, or,
speaking without a metaphor, in so far as it inheres more strongly
in our will and determines it more profoundly toward supernatural
good by withdrawing it from evil. As in the scholar learning be­
comes more profound, more penetrating, more certain, without
always reaching out to new conclusions, so charity grows in us by
making us love God more perfectly and more purely for Himself,
and our neighbor for God. If people had a better understanding of
this doctrine, as St. Thomas expounds it, they would see more clearly
the necessity of the passive purifications of the spirit, which St.
John of the Cross speaks of. The purpose of these purifications is
to free the highest virtues of all alloy, and to bring into powerful
relief their formal objects: divine truth and divine goodness. Char­
ity increases, therefore, like a quality, like heat, by becoming more
intense, and that in several ways: by merit, prayer, and the sacra­
ments.
The Increase of Charity by Our Merits

A meritorious act is one which proceeds from charity, or from
an inspired virtue vivified by charity, and which gives a right to a
supernatural reward: first of all, to an increase of grace and of
charity itself.
Meritorious acts do not themselves directly produce the increase
of charity; for charity is not an acquired virtue produced and aug­
mented by the repetition of acts, but it is an infused virtue. It was
given to us by baptism, and as God alone can produce it in us, since
8 See Ila Ilae, q. 24, a. 5.
’ If, in fact, the second degree of charity were thus added to the first, it
would be its equal or superior. If it were equal, charity would only be mul­
tiplied like the grains of wheat in a pile; it would not be rendered more in­
tense. If, on the contrary, the second degree of charity were superior to the
first, the latter would become useless.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

it is a participation in His intimate life, He alone also can increase
it. The growth of charity and the infused virtues, which are united
to it, is like a continuous production. Thus St. Paul says: “I have
planted (by preaching and baptism), Apollo watered, but God gave
the increase. Therefore, neither he that planteth is anything, nor
he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase (is all). . . .
For we are God’s coadjutors: you are God’s husbandry; you are
God’s building.” 1011
“He . . . will . . . increase the growth of the
fruits of your justice.” 11
Although our acts of charity cannot produce the increase of this
virtue, they concur in it in two ways: morally, by meriting it; and
physically, by preparing us to receive it. Merit is a right to a recom­
pense; it does not produce this reward, it obtains it.· By his super­
natural good works the just man merits the increase of charity,12
as the Council of Trent defined.13 While awaiting the reward of
heaven, the Lord gives a just man even here on earth the recompense
of growing in divine love, that is, of having a stronger and purer
love. Quietism, which showed a want of esteem for the divine re­
ward under the pretext of absolute disinterestedness, forgot that the
more disinterested the soul is, the more it desires this recompense:
that is, more purely and more strongly to love its God. This love
is accompanied by an increase of hope, of the other infused virtues,
and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
The acts of charity and of the virtues inspired by it do not merit,
from the moral point of view, solely the increase of charity, but they
dispose the soul physically to receive it, in the sense that, as it were,
they open our faculties that they may receive more. They deepen
them, so to speak, that the divine life may better penetrate them and
elevate them while purifying them.14
This is true especially of intense or very fervent acts of charity.
A very generous act of love of God sometimes decides a whole life
and merits a great increase of charity by disposing us to receive it
immediately. It is as if a person were raised to a higher level, and
10 See I Cor. 3:6-9.
11 See II Cor. 9:10.
12Surnnu, la Ilae, q. 114, a. 8.
18 Sess. VI, can. 24, 32.
14 See Ila Hae, q. 24, a. 7, corp, and ad 211m.

THE GROWTH OF THE LIFE OF GRACE

135

in this ascent he has a new view of the things of God and a new
impulse. He who had two talents thus immediately obtains one or
two more, perhaps an even greater number, and, as St. Thomas says,
the Holy Ghost is then sent anew to us, for He becomes present in
us in a new, more intimate, and more radiating manner.15*
This, however, brings up a difficult problem that has often been
discussed by theologians and that is of great practical importance.
Since it is clear that an intense or fervent act of charity disposes us
to receive immediately an increase of this infused virtue and of all
the others connected with it, it is not at all certain that a weak act
of charity, an act lacking intensity and generosity (remissus), im­
mediately obtains an increase of the life of grace. Does he who has
five talents and acts weakly as if he had only two, obtain at once
by this feeble and imperfect meritorious act an increase of charity?
Several modem theologians, who follow Suarez, think so.1® Such
is not the thought of St. Thomas and of the early theologians in gen­
eral. The holy doctor says: “Every (even imperfect) act of charity
merits an increase of charity; however, this increase does not always
come at once, but only when we strive generously for it.” 17 The
reason is that the increase of sanctifying grace and of charity is con­
ferred by God only according to the disposition of the subject who
is to receive it, just as, at the moment of conversion or justification,
sanctifying grace is given in a more or less elevated degree according
to the fervor of the contrition of him who is converted.18 Evidently
he who has five talents and acts as if he had only two, does not,
in fact, as yet dispose himself to receive a sixth, for the act, although
good, is notably inferior to the degree of virtue from which it pro­
ceeds. In this is a quite manifest analogy between supernatural acts
and natural acts: a very intelligent man who is only slightly studious
makes little progress in learning, whereas another who is less gifted
but very hard working achieves good results. Likewise in the natu­
ral order, a friendship is strengthened only by more generous acts;
very imperfect acts serve only to maintain it, not to make it grow.
Therefore it seems we must conclude with St. Thomas that im15 See la, q.43, a.6 ad ium.
10 Suarez, De gratia, VII I, chap. 2.
17 See Ila Ilae, q. 24, a.6 ad turn; la Ilae, q. 114, a.8 ad jum.
18 See la Ilae, q. 112, a.2; Ila Ilae, q. 24, a.3.

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three ages of the interior life

perfect acts (remissi) of charity, although meritorious, do not at
once obtain the increase of grace which they merit.19
This doctrine should lead us often to make generous acts of char­
ity. We might note, in passing, that particularly on the day of the
10 When do they obtain this increase of grace? It is very difficult to answer
this question on which Thomists themselves are divided.
Some Thomists, Banez, Contenson, and others, thought that imperfect meri­
torious acts obtain the increase of charity as soon as the just man makes a
fervent act which disposes to this increase; but they add that this increase,
which corresponds to this last disposition, would be as great if the imperfect
meritorious acts had not preceded the fervent act. Other Thomists (John of
St. Thomas, the Carmelites of Salamanca, Gonet, Billuart, and others) quite
commonly answer this opinion by stating that then the imperfect meritorious
acts already accomplished would be defrauded of the increase which they
merited. Therefore the merit of these acts would no longer be true, condign
merit in justice. By these imperfect good acts, the just soul would not grow
in charity, an idea contrary to the declaration of the Council of Trent (Sess.
VI, chap, io), that a just man by his good works grows in grace and charity.
If anyone who has ten talents acts for many years as if he had only eight, and
when dying makes an act of charity employing his ten talents, he ought to
have, it seems, a greater essential reward (praemium essentiale) than he who
when dying makes an identical act after having spent his whole life in mortal
sin. Imperfect good acts seem, therefore, truly to merit a special increase of
grace distinct from that due to the fervent act which follows them. But when
does the just man receive this special increase of charity that is due to his
imperfect meritorious acts (which are very frequent in our lives)? We can
hardly admit that it may be here below when one performs a more fervent
act, for then the increase received seems to correspond only to the disposition
realized by this last act (cf. Salmanticenses, De caritate, disp. V, dub. 3, § 2).
Cajetan is sometimes credited with this opinion, that the increase due to
weak acts of charity may be granted at the moment of a fervent Communion,
for grace is granted then according to the dispositions of the subject, dispo­
sitions in which the merits of remissi acts enter. This opinion may be held.
Good Thomists, like John of St. Thomas, the Carmelites of Salamanca,
Gonet, and Billuart, hold that if the just man goes to purgatory, he receives
there this increase of grace when he makes intense acts of charity, which
are no longer meritorious, since the hour of meriting is passed, but which
prepare the soul to receive the increase already merited and not yet obtained
for lack of sufficient dispositions. This opinion is seriously probable.
According to these same theologians, if the just man in question does not
have to go to purgatory, the increase of charity due to his imperfect meri­
torious acts is granted to him at the instant of his entrance into glory, for
in that instant the separated soul, which can no longer merit, makes as intense
an act of love of God as possible. This act corresponds to all the merits of
his past life. This opinion conforms to the general principle that the ultimate
disposition to a form or perfection is realized at the same indivisible instant
as this very perfection itself, as happens in the justification of an adult.
The theology of these very elevated and mysterious matters can scarcely
go beyond these solutions, which arc seriously probable.

THE GROWTH OF THE LIFE OF GRACE

- 137

monthly retreat or the first Friday of the month, we would do well
to multiply generous acts of love of God, not in a mechanical fash­
ion, like counting them, but on every opportune occasion, in order
to preserve the spirit of fervor and to avoid growing tepid. We
should recall also that the Holy Ghost generally moves souls accord­
ing to the degree of their infused virtues and of the seven gifts, or
of their habitual docility. It would be incomprehensible that He
would without reason move the soul to imperfect acts, for in that
case the soul would have received in vain a high degree of infused
virtue and of the gifts. Therefore, if the just man does not place an
obstacle to the divine action, he will normally receive increasingly
elevated graces of light and love that he may generously ascend
toward God.
As good theologians teach,20 God is more glorified by a single act
of charity of ten talents than by ten acts of charity of one talent
each. Likewise a single very perfect just soul pleases God more than
many others who remain in mediocrity or tepidity. Quality is su­
perior to quantity. This is why the plenitude of grace in Mary sur­
passed from the first day of her existence that of all the saints, as a
single diamond is worth more than a quantity of other precious
stones.
Charity, therefore, ought by our merits to grow until death.
With this infused virtue, our aptitude to receive a new increase
grows,21 our spiritual heart dilates more and more, and our divine
capacity is enlarged according to the words of the psalm: “I have
run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou didst enlarge
my heart.” 22 St. Paul also says: “Our heart is enlarged. ... Be
you also enlarged.” 23
We too often forget that we are en route to eternity, and we
try to settle down in the present life as if it were going to last for­
ever. We resemble those travelers who install themselves in one of
20 Cf. Salmanticenses, De caritate, disp. V, dub. 3, § 7, nos. 76, 80, 85, 93,117.
21 See Ila Ilae, q.24, a. 7: “Whenever charity increases, there is a corre­
sponding increased ability to receive a further increase.”
Ibid., ad zum: “The capacity of the rational creature is increased by char­
ity, because the heart is enlarged thereby, according to II Cor. 6:11: Our
heart is enlarged’; so that it still remains capable of receiving a further in­
crease.”
·
22 Ps. 118:32.
” See II Cor. 6:11, 13.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

the great international trains where people sleep and eat as if they
were in a hotel. They sometimes forget that they are on a journey.
Then they look out of the window, see the vanishing countryside,
notice that the train stops and that some people are getting off, and
say to themselves that they also will soon reach their destination.
The present life is like one of these great trains where people for­
get that they are on a journey. Then some persons alight from the
train, that is to say, they die, and we are reminded that we must
alight also. But, although we see many persons die, we do not suc­
ceed in realizing that some day our turn will come. Let us live, on
the contrary, with our eyes fixed on the end of the journey; then
we shall not lose the time that is given us, and it will become more
and more filled with merits for eternity.
The Increase

of the

Life

of

Grace Through Prayer

The growth of charity, of the infused virtues, and of the gifts
which accompany it, is obtained not only by merit, but by prayer.
We ask daily, in fact, to grow in the love of God when we say:
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy king­
dom come (more and more in us), Thy will be done on earth as it
is in heaven (may we observe Thy precepts more perfectly).” The
Council of Trent24 reminds us that this growth of the virtues is
asked by the Church when it prays thus: “Increase, O Lord, our
faith, hope, and charity” (Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost).
We should recall here the difference between the prayer of
petition and merit. The sinner who has lost sanctifying grace can­
not merit in this state, for sanctifying grace is the radical principle
of all supernatural merit. Yet, by an actual transitory grace, the
sinner can pray; he can ask for the grace of conversion; and, if he
asks for it with humility, confidence, and perseverance, he will
obtain it. Whereas merit, which is a right to a reward, is related to
divine justice, prayer is addressed to the mercy of God, which often
restores fallen souls and hears their prayers without any merit on
their part.25 From the depths of the abyss into which it has fallen
and where it can no longer merit, the most wretched soul may utter
that cry to the divine mercy, which is prayer. The abyss of wretched24 Scss. VI, chap. io.
2“ Cf. Ila Ilae, q.8j, a. 16, c. and ad zurn.

THE GROWTH OF THE LIFE OF GRACE

139

ness calls to that of mercy, abysms abyssum invocat, and if the sin­
ner puts his whole heart into this appeal, he will be heard. His soul
will be lifted up, and God will be glorified, as was the case with
Magdalen. The impetrating power of prayer does not presuppose
the state of grace, whereas merit does.
After conversion or justification, we can obtain the increase of
the life of grace both by merit and by prayer. When prayer is hum­
ble, trusting, and persevering, it obtains for us a more lively faith,
a firmer hope, a more ardent charity, all of which we ask for in the
first three petitions of the Our Father.20 The mental prayer of a
just man, who delights in meditating slowly on the Our Father, in
nourishing his soul profoundly with each of its petitions, in re­
maining at times for half an hour in the loving contemplation of one
of them, is at once meritorious and impetrating.27 It gives a right to
an increase of charity, from which it proceeds, and by the impetrat­
ing power of prayer it often obtains more than it merits. Besides,
when mental prayer is truly fervent, it obtains this increase imme­
diately. Thereby we see how fruitful mental prayer can be; how it
draws God strongly toward us that He may give Himself intimately
to us and that we may give ourselves to Him. We should often recite
the beautiful prayer of Blessed Nicholas of Fliie: “Lord Jesus, take
me from myself, and give me to Thyself.” In it is a fervent meritori­
ous act which immediately obtains the increase of charity that it
merits, and a supplication which obtains even more than it merits.
Then one’s heart dilates more and more in order to receive divine
grace more abundantly; the soul empties itself of every creature
and becomes more eager for God, in whom it finds in an eminent
degree all that is worthy of being loved. It would be impossible to
live too deeply by these things in recollection; sometimes it is given
to a soul to live profoundly by them in the absolute silence of the
night when everything is quiet and the soul is completely alone with
its God, with its Savior, Jesus Christ. It then experiences His im­
mense goodness and, by its mental prayer, which is at once meritori­
ous and supplicating, it offers itself entirely to Him and receives
Him in a prolonged spiritual communion that has a savor of eternal
life. This is eternal life begun, as St. Thomas says.28 Often, there” Ibid., a. 2, 9, 15.
” Ibid., a. 16.
a,lbid., q.14, a.j ad jum; la Ilae, q.69, a.2; De veritate, q.14, a.2.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

fore, the impetrating force of prayer is united to merit in order
to obtain an increase of charity, a purer and stronger love of God.
Moreover, the just man may by prayer obtain certain graces which
he could not merit, in particular the gift of final perseverance. This
gift cannot be merited, for it is nothing other than the continua­
tion until death of the state of grace, which is the principle of merit.
Obviously it would be impossible to merit the very principle of
merit.29 However, final perseverance or the grace of a happy death
can be obtained by humble, trusting, daily prayer. For this reason
the Church invites us to say daily with fervor in the second part
of the Hail Mary: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sin­
ners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” Here prayer goes
farther than merit, addressing itself, not to divine justice but to in­
finite mercy.
We can also ask God for the grace to know Him in an ever more
living and intimate manner, by that knowledge which is called
infused contemplation, and which results in a closer and more fruit­
ful union with God. In this sense the Book of Wisdom (7:7-9) says:
“I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me: and I
preferred her before kingdoms and thrones, and esteemed riches
nothing in comparison of her. Neither did I compare unto her any
precious stone: for all gold in comparison of her, is as a little sand,
and silver in respect to her shall be counted as clay.” We find also
in Ps. 54:23: “Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain
thee: He shall not suffer the just to labor forever.” Not only will
He come and sustain us, but He will come and nourish us with
Himself and daily give Himself more profoundly to us. And again
in Ps. 26:4 we read: “One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will
I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life,” that I may daily see a little more clearly that He is
infinitely good to those who seek Him and to those who find Him.
By addressing infinite mercy, prayer manifestly exceeds merit.
The sinner who is still incapable of meriting, may by prayer obtain
the grace of conversion. By prayer, the just man often obtains graces
which could not be merited, such as final perseverance and the
efficacious graces which lead to it.
20 See la Ilae, q. 114, a. 9.

THE GROWTH OF THE LIFE OF GRACE
The Increase

of the
the

Life

of

i4i

Grace through

Sacraments

Lastly, we must recall here that charity and the other infused
virtues, as well as the seven gifts, grow in us through the sacra­
ments. The just man grows thus in the love of God through absolu­
tion and especially by Communion. The merit and prayer of the
just soul obtain the gifts of God ex opere operantis, by reason of
the faith, piety, and charity of him who merits, but the sacraments
produce grace ex opere operato in those who do not place an obstacle
to it; in other words, by themselves they produce grace from the fact
that they were instituted by God to apply the merits of the Savior
to us. They produce grace independently of the prayers and the
merits, either of the minister who confers them or of those who re­
ceive them. This explains why a bad priest, and even an unbeliever,
may validly administer baptism, provided he has the intention of
doing what the Church does in conferring it.
But, although the sacraments of themselves produce grace in those
who do not place an obstacle to it, they produce it more or less
abundantly according to the fervor of him who receives it. The
Council of Trent30 says that each one receives justice “according
to his own measure, which the Holy Ghost distributes to everyone
as He wills and according to each one’s disposition.” In the natural
order, as St. Thomas observes, although an open fire of itself gives
heat, a person benefits more from its influence in proportion as he
draws closer to it. Likewise, in the supernatural order a person
benefits so much the more from the sacraments as he approaches
them with a more lively faith and a greater fervor of will. From this
point of view, St. Thomas and many of the early theologians hold
that, according as the sinner receives absolution with greater or
less repentance, he recovers or does not recover the degree of grace
which he had lost. “Now the intensity of the penitent movement,”
says St. Thomas, “may be proportionate sometimes to a greater grace
than that from which man fell by sinning, sometimes to an equal
grace, sometimes to a lesser. Wherefore the penitent sometimes
arises to greater grace than that which he had before, sometimes to
an equal, sometimes to a lesser grace.” 81 It may be that a Christian
•° Scss. VI, chap. 7.
,l See Illa, q.89, a. 2.

i42

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

who had five talents and who loses them by mortal sin has after­
ward a contrition equal to only two talents; he then recovers grace
in a degree notably inferior to that which he had previously. On
the contrary, he may by reason of profound repentance recover
grace in a more elevated degree, as was doubtless the case with
St. Peter when he wept bitterly immediately after denying Christ.32
This teaching is of great importance in the spiritual life for those
who fall in the middle of their ascent; they can rise immediately
and fervently and continue their ascent from where they left off.
But it is also possible that they may rise only tardily and listlessly;
they then remain midway instead of continuing the ascent.
It follows also from these principles that one fervent Communion
is worth more than many tepid Communions taken together. The
more a person approaches with lively faith, firm hope, ardent love,
and fervor of will, our Lord present in the Eucharist, radiant source
of graces, the more he benefits from our Lord’s influence by graces
of light, love, and strength. The Communion of St. Francis, St.
Dominic, or St. Catherine of Siena was on certain days extremely
fervent and proportionately fruitful; their dilated souls approached
our Savior to receive abundantly and even superabundantly from
Him that they might later in their apostolate give Him to other
souls.
It may happen, on the contrary, that the fruit of Communion is
least when a soul approaches the holy table with dispositions suf­
ficient only not to hinder the effect of the sacrament. This should
make us reflect seriously, if we show no true spiritual advancement
after years of frequent or daily Communion.33 Possibly by reason of
a growing attachment to a certain venial sin, the effect of our daily
32 The merits deprived of life by mortal sin thus revive according to the
measure of the penitent’s fervor. They revive truly with their right to a
special essential reward. For example, if a Christian, who has served the Lord
generously for seventy years, should sin mortally and then before death be
converted with a contrition equal to five talents, he will have in heaven a
higher degree of glory than one who had lived badly all his life and who
before death also had a contrition equal to five talents. The long merits of
the first man’s life revive, and, as they are chiefly a right to eternal life, to
essential beatitude, this right revives with them. We see also in this case
the intervention of infinite mercy. Cf. Billuart, Cursus theol. de poenitentia,
dis. 3, chap. 5, “De reviviscentia meritorum per poenitentiam.”
33 True, we must take into account the fact that the soul which advances
knows its own wretchedness so much the more as it more clearly sees the
grandeur of God.

THE GROWTH OF THE LIFE OF GRACE

143

Communion may be ever weaker, as the movement of a stone thrown
vertically into the air is uniformly retarded until the stone falls
down. God grant that this may never be our condition!
On the contrary, we should have sufficient generosity to permit
the realization in us of that superior law which is verified in the lives
of the saints. In other words, because each of our Communions
ought not only to preserve but to increase charity in us, each Com­
munion should be substantially more fervent and more fruitful than
the preceding one; for each one, by increasing the love of God in
us, ought to dispose us to receive our Lord on the following day
with not only an equal but a superior fervor of will. Often, how­
ever, negligence and tepidity hinder the application of this law, of
which that of the progressive attraction of bodies is only a symbol.
Bodies are attracted to each other in increased ratio as they draw
near to each other. Souls ought to make proportionately more
rapid progress toward God as they draw near to Him and are more
drawn by Him. Thus we see the meaning 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,” 34 the streams of living water
which flow into the infinite ocean that is God, known and loved as
He knows and loves Himself, for all eternity.
8‘ John 7:37 f.

CHAPTER VIII

The True Nature of Christian Perfection
O FAR we have spoken of the sources of the interior life, that
is, of sanctifying grace, the infused virtues, the seven gifts, the
Blessed Trinity which dwells in us, and the influence which Christ
the Redeemer and Mary Mediatrix exert on our souls that we may
grow in the love of God. We must now consider the end of the in­
terior life, not, however, its final end, of which we spoke when we
said that the interior life is, in a sense, eternal life begun;1 but the
end which may be attained on earth, the Christian perfection that
may be realized here below.
We shall see, first of all, the erroneous or incomplete ideas of per­
fection that have been proposed, then the true nature of Christian
perfection. We shall also consider the Christian perfection that is
obtainable on earth, comparing it with that of heaven. Then we
shall see whether it is a duty or only a counsel for all to tend to it.
Next, we shall speak of the different ages of the spiritual life, and
then we shall treat of each one separately. Lastly, we shall inquire
whether the full perfection of Christian life on earth belongs only
to the ascetical order, or whether it truly belongs to the mystical
order.

S

Erroneous or Incomplete Ideas of Perfection

To get an exact idea of the Christian perfection which the Gospel
makes known to us and to see its loftiness, we shall not fail to profit
by first recalling two other ideas of human perfection that have
arisen according as men placed more or less stress on one form or
another of their activity.
We may distinguish three principal ideas of human perfection
’ Cf. supra, chnp. t.
»44

TRUE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

145

which always tend to reappear. In antiquity the barbarians made it
consist principally in fortitude. The majority of the Greek phi­
losophers thought that it lay principally in wisdom. The Gospel
tells us that it is especially in charity, or in the love of God and of
our neighbor in God. These three words, fortitude, wisdom, and
charity, express the dominant note in these three different concep­
tions of life. We shall briefly recall the first two by noting the
forms they assume among us today; we shall thus better see the
loftiness of the third, so much the more so as the first two contain
an element of truth which, under the influence of charity, may take
on great value.
The heroes of barbarian races made the perfection of man con­
sist above all in fortitude, courage, bravery, as their legends, par-·
ticularly those of the Niebelungen, remind us. The national pride
of races would tend at times to bring them back to this ideal. In
it is exalted the virtue of fortitude which has as its object difficult
things that demand great energy and in which man’s life is exposed,
as in combats. An element of truth is contained in this idea, so much
the more so as, in less tragic but painful and rather frequent circum­
stances, patience, constancy, and longanimity are needed. As St.
Thomas, following Aristotle,2 remarks, it is even more difficult thus
to hold out, to endure for a long time, to remain firm in the midst
of difficulties and blows, than it is to attack in a moment of en­
thusiasm. To make human perfection consist above all in fortitude,
is the idea of a warrior, a soldier, an explorer, or an aviator. Often
not a little pride and at times injustice is mingled in it. This idea,
moreover, certainly does not suffice to put man in his true place in
regard to God and his neighbor.
Some ardent souls transpose this notion into the supernatural order
by purifying it, and they conceive of the Christian chiefly as a sol­
dier of Christ, for St. Paul says: “Take unto you the armor of God
that you may be able to resist in the evil day and to stand in all things
perfect. Stand, therefore, . . . having on the breastplate of justice
. . . taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to ex­
tinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.” 3 From this point
of view, all the grandeur of martyrdom may be easily conceived.
’ Sec Ila Ilae, q. 123, a.6: “ I he principal act of fortitude is endurance, that
is, to stand immovable in the midst of dangers rather than to attack them.”
“ Eph. 6:13-16.

ΐ4ό

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

But does its true grandeur come especially from the fact that it is an
act of fortitude? Does it not rather derive, as St. Thomas says,4 from
the fact that martyrdom is the incontestable and striking sign of
great charity? The three centuries of persecution of the early Church
were certainly centuries of courage, of heroic fortitude, but even
more, centuries of love of God. Surely this is what distinguishes the
Christian martyrs from the heroes of paganism.
From a point of view somewhat similar to that we have just dis­
cussed, some persons seem to place perfection especially in austerity,
fasts, vigils, and other difficult things. This evaluation may be un­
derstood in a favorable sense in a religious order particularly vowed
to prayer and immolation, or to reparation, which is a manifest sign
of an ardent love of God, of real zeal. Care must be taken, however,
not to place a value on austerity as such, as if it were, not a means
of advancement and reparation, but an end. Were this true, the most
perfect religious life would be the most austere, the most difficult,
and not that life which would have the best end and the means
most adapted to that end.® Is what is arduous especially the proper
object of virtue? This object is rather the good. Not every difficult
act is morally good; at times it is a rash feat of strength. And if the
good is often difficult, it is not always so. Some acts of love of God
and of our neighbor are acoomplished without difficulty, with a
great supernatural impulse, and are manifestly very meritorious since
they proceed from great charity.
Can fortitude be the highest virtue? For the soldier as such it
may be the most necessary virtue; bravery may be the perfection
of the soldier. But is it the perfection of man as man, and of a
Christian as a Christian? Theology answers that fortitude and pa­
tience are virtues necessary and indispensable to perfection. Above
them, however, there is justice in regard to others; there is prudence,
which directs all the moral virtues; and there are especially the
theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity), which have God as
their immediate object. This explains why martyrdom, which is an
act of the virtue of fortitude, draws its grandeur chiefly from the
fact that it is the sign of a great love, of God.
We cannot, therefore, admit that the perfection of man and of
the Christian consists chiefly in fortitude or in patience, necessary
‘ See Ila Ilae, q. 124, a. 1-3.
'‘Ibid., q. 188, a.7 ad iuni; a.8.

TRUE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

147

as these virtues are. Fortitude is evidently not the perfection of
our intellect in regard to supreme truth, or that of our will in re­
gard to sovereign good; it is merely a virtue that represses fear in
the midst of difficulties and dangers in order that we may follow
right reason.
If perfection does not consist primarily in fortitude, does it con­
sist chiefly in wisdom? The majority of the Greek philosophers
thought so. According to them, man is distinguished from lower
beings by his intellect, and therefore the perfection of man as such
is chiefly the perfection of his intellect, that is, the wisdom or emi­
nent knowledge of all tilings by their supreme cause and last end.
Perfection would thus lie in the knowledge or contemplation of
the sovereign good, and in the love which springs from this knowl­
edge. Plato, among others, even thought that it suffices to know
the sovereign good in order to love it efficaciously above all, and
that virtue is a science. As Aristotle 0 remarks, this opinion did not
take sufficient account of man’s free will, which can deviate in spite
of the knowledge of the duty to be accomplished. Nevertheless
Aristotle himself placed the perfection of man in wisdom accom­
panied by the virtues which are subordinate to it: that is, prudence,
justice, fortitude, and temperance. Wisdom, like prudence which
it dominates, is, of a certainty, indispensable to perfection and to the
conduct of life; but we cannot say that speculative knowledge of
God, the sovereign Good, is necessarily followed by the love of
God. A philosopher with a powerful intellect, though he has a cor­
rect idea of God, First Cause of the universe and Last End, may not
bç a good man, a man of good will. At times he may be even a very
bad man. That which is true is the good of the intellect, but it is not
the good of the entire man, not the whole good of man.7
Learning can exist without the love of God and of one’s neigh­
bor. When it does, as St. Paul says, it produces the inflation of pride
by making us live for ourselves and not for God. The perfection
of a professor or of a doctor, as such, is not the perfection of man as
man, or of a Christian as a Christian. A good professor who teaches
the humanities or the elements of philosophy with distinction is not
"Consult Niconiacbean Ethics, Rk. Ill, chap. 7; Bk. VII, chap. 11, and the
commentary of St. Thomas. See also la Ilae, q.58, a.2.
’ Sec la Ilae, q.57, a. t: “Whether the habits of the speculative intellect are
virtues?”

i48

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

always a good man. We should not confound the perfection of the
speculative intellect with that of the entire man. The latter requires
the profound rectification of the will in regard to our last end. The
will is the faculty that must be directed toward the good of the
entire subect, of the entire man, and not toward the good merely
of the intellect.8 Aristotle made this observation,9 but it was easier
to think it than to live it.
Lastly, is not the love of God here on earth superior to the
knowledge of God? Knowledge draws God, in a sense, toward us
by imposing on Him in a certain manner the limits of our circum­
scribed ideas, whereas the love of God draws us toward Him and
makes us love in Him what we cannot know precisely, for we are
sure that His inner life, which is hidden from us, is infinitely lov­
able.10
The conception of the Greek philosophers, which makes per­
fection consist in wisdom, is found again today mingled with many
errors in those who put intellectual culture above everything else,
and also in the theosophists, for whom perfection lies in “a con­
sciousness of our identity with God,” in the intuition of what is
divine in us.11
Far from putting the creature in his humble place beneath the
Creator, theosophy presupposes pantheism, which is the negation
of the order of grace and of all Christian dogmas, although it often
preserves the terms of Christianity while giving them an entirely
different meaning. (If a man becomes involved in theosophy, he
may find himself enmeshed body and soul.) A most perfidious imi­
tation and corruption of our asceticism and mysticism, theosophy
is a product of the imagination in which God and the world are
confounded, and in which we find, as we do in a novelty store,
all sorts of antiques which attract our curiosity and turn our souls
away from divine truth and eternal life. This heresy reminds us of
8 Ibid., a.4, where St. Thomas shows that prudence, which is a true virtue,
presupposes the rightness of the will with regard to the good of the whole
man, whereas art and the sciences do not presuppose it. The prudent man is
a good man, of whom people simply say that he is good, and not only a
good painter, a good architect, a good physician, a good mathematician.
8 Ethics, Bk. VI, chap. 5: How prudence, which is truly a virtue, is dis­
tinct from art.
10 See la, q.8z, a. 3: “The love of God is better than the knowledge of God.”
11 Cf. P. Mainagc, O.P., Les principes de la théosophie, 1922 (cd. Revue des
jeunes).

TRUE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

149

the bewitching foolishness which darkens the intellect, as the Book
of Wisdom says: “For the bewitching of vanity obscureth good
things.” 12
While keeping themselves free from similar aberrations, some
Christians, who have a quietist tendency, are inclined to think that a
person can rapidly reach perfection by the assiduous reading of the
great mystics, without concerning himself enough about practicing
the virtues which these books recommend, and without remember­
ing sufficiently that true contemplation should be completely pene­
trated by supernatural charity and forgetfulness of self.
Farther on we shall see that contemplation, which is an act of the
intellect, is not what chiefly constitutes perfection. As will be made
evident, perfection lies in union with God through charity. The lov­
ing contemplation of God is, so to speak, a means conjoined to this
end; it disposes us immediately to union with God. The end toward
which we must tend is not contemplation, but God Himself to be
loved above all.
From all that we have just said, it follows that perfection in­
dubitably requires fortitude, patience, abnegation, and also wisdom;
indeed, all the theological and moral virtues accompanied by the
seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are necessary. Does it follow that per­
fection consists in the ensemble of the virtues? In a sense it does,
but on condition that this ensemble be ordered like an organism and
that among the virtues there be one which dominates all the others,
inspires, commands, animates, vivifies them, and makes all their
efforts converge toward the supreme end. Is it not, then, in this su­
preme virtue in which all the other virtues ought to meet, that per­
fection chiefly consists? What is this supreme virtue?
The Essence of Perfection According to St. Paul’s
Interpretation of the Gospel

We shall see what answer Christian revelation gives to the ques­
tion just stated. In the Gospel, on several different occasions and
under the most varied forms, Christ incessantly reminds us that the
supreme precept dominating all others and all the counsels is the
precept of love, which had already been formulated in the Old
Testament: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole
” Wisd. 4:12.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

heart and with thy whole soul and with all thy strength and with
all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself.” 13 This precept is su­
perior to the ideal of the dominating fortitude of heroes and also to
the Greek philosophers’ ideal of speculative wisdom. In Christ’s com­
mand is a fortitude of another order and a wisdom both much more
realistic and far loftier. Sr. Paul explains this doctrine of our Savior
when he writes to the Colossians (3:12-15): “Put ye on therefore,
as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy,
benignity, humility, modesty, patience: bearing with one another,
and forgiving one another . . . even as the Lord hath forgiven you
. . . 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: and be ye thankful.”
Charity is the bond of perfection because it is the highest of the
virtues which unites our soul to God. It ought to last forever, and
it vivifies all the other virtues by rendering their acts meritorious,
ordaining them to the last end, that is, to its object: God loved above
all else. Thus St. Paul is so convinced of this superiority of charity
over all the other virtues, over the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost,
and over the graces gratis datae, such as prophecy, that he writes:
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And
if I shotdd have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all
knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should dis­
tribute 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.” 14
Without charity, the most excellent extraordinary gifts (charis­
mata) are of no avail for eternal life. Why is this? Because if I do
not have charity, I do not fulfill the first commandment of God;
I do not conform my will to His; I am turned away from Him, and
my heart is set in the opposite direction from the heart of God.
Therefore, “if I have not charity, I am nothing” personally in the
order of salvation; I merit nothing, even though by preaching and
miracles I should lead others to save their souls. With this meaning,
St. Augustine says: “Love and do what you wish,” and what you
will do, will merit eternal life for you, if you truly love your God
13 Luke 10:27; Ocut. 6:5.
M Sec I Cor. 13: 1-3.

TRUE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

151

more than yourself. Still more, we must have true charity, for there
is nothing worse than the false, which has nothing in common with
genuine charity except the name.15*
True charity, as opposed to false charity, implies all the virtues
that are subordinate to it and that, from this point of view, appear
as so many modalities or aspects of the love of God and of one’s
neighbor. This is why St. Paul says: “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.” 18
As a matter of fact, if after losing charity, we recover it by absolu­
tion, we receive with it all the infused moral virtues that are sub­
ordinate to it: Christian prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance,
and the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. To this we must add with
St. Paul: “Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be
made void or tongues shall cease or knowledge shall be destroyed.
. . . We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face
to face. . . . And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these
three: but the greatest of these is charity.” 17 Faith will disappear to
give place to vision, hope to possession, but charity will last eternally.
15 There exists, in fact, a false charity, made up of culpable indulgence,
of weakness, such as the meekness of those who never clash with anybody
because they are afraid of everyone. There is also a false charity, made up of
humanitarian sentimentalism, which seeks to have itself approved by true
charity and which, by its contact, often taints the true.
One of the chief conflicts of the present day is that which arises between
true and false charity. The latter reminds us of the false Christs spoken of
in the Gospel; they are more dangerous before they are unmasked than
when they make themselves known as the true enemies of the Church. Optimi
corruptio pessima, the worst of corruptions is that which attacks what is best
in us, the highest of the theological virtues. The apparent good which at­
tracts the sinner is, in fact, so much the more dangerous as it is the counter­
feit of a higher good. Such, for example, is the ideal of the pan-Christians,
who seek the union of the Churches to the detriment of the faith, which this
union presupposes. If, therefore, through stupidity or more or less conscious
cowardice, those who should represent true charity approve here and there
the dicta of the false, an incalculable evil may result. This evil is at times
greater than that done by open persecutors, with whom evidently one can
no longer have anything in common.
1B Sec I Cor. 13:4-7.
1T Ibid., 8, tif.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

By charity we become the temples of the Holy Ghost: “The char­
ity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who
is given to us.” 18 Lastly, the more we love God, the more we know
Him by that entirely supernatural, quasi-experimental knowledge
that is divine wisdom. This is what made St. Paul say to the Ephe­
sians (3:17-19): “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
the fullness of God.”
St. Paul is speaking here not only to privileged souls, but to all the
faithful. After meditating at length on these words in the presence
of God, can we say that the infused contemplation of the mysteries
of faith is not in the normal way of sanctity? Care must be taken
before formulating a negative proposition of this sort, for we must
remember that reality, especially the reality of the interior life such
as it is willed by God, is richer than even the best of all our theories.
Philosophical and theological systems are often true in what they
affirm and false in what they deny. Why is this? Because reality, as
God made it, is far richer than all our limited and narrow concep­
tions.
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.” 19
To deny this would be to lose the meaning of the mystery, which
is identified with contemplation. To deny it would be to impoverish
singularly the words of St. Paul which we have just quoted: “Being
rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend,
with all the saints,” that is, with all Christians who reach perfection,
“what is the breadth and length and height and depth” of the mys­
tery of Christ . . . especially of His love, and “that you may be
filled unto all the fullness of God.” 20
St. John gives us the same doctrine, particularly in his First
Epistle (4:16-21): “God is charity: and he that abideth in charity,
abideth in God, and God in him. . . . And this commandment we
have from God, that he who loveth God love also his brother.”
Likewise St. Peter writes in his First Epistle (4:8): “But before all
things have a constant mutual charity among yourselves: for charity
18 Rom. 5:5.
10 Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, scene 5.
80 Cf. The Commentary of St. Thomas, In Epist. ad Ephes., 3:17.

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153

covereth a multitude of sins.” Christ said of Magdalen: “Many sins
are forgiven her, because she hath loved much.” 21
According to this doctrine, perfection does not consist chiefly in
humility, nor does it consist especially in poverty, nor in acts of
worship or of the virtue of religion, but it lies primarily in the love
of God and of one’s neighbor, which renders the acts of all the
other virtues meritorious. “Poverty itself,” says St. Thomas, “is not
perfection, but the means of perfection. . . . But since 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 be­
ing 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.” 22
As much must be said of humility, which makes us bow before
God that we may with docility receive His influence, which ought
to lift us up to Him.23
The virtue of religion, which renders to God the worship due
Him, is also inferior to the theological virtues; it is meritorious only
by reason of the charity that animates it.24 If we should forget this,
we would perhaps become more attentive to worship, to the liturgy,
than to God Himself, to the figures rather than to the reality, to the
manner in which we ought to say an Our Father or a Credo rather
than to the sublime meaning of these prayers: the service of God
would take precedence over the love of God. Hence our conclusion
is that, according to Christian revelation, charity is “the bond of
perfection.”
Some Exact Theological Statements
Nature of Perfection

on the

The scriptural teaching which we have just recalled assumes a
more precise form in the doctrinal body of theology. Relying on the
21 Luke 7:47.
22 See Ila Ilae, q. 188, a. 7 ad turn.
23 Ibid., q. 161, a.5 ad zum: “Humility holds the first place, inasmuch as it
expels pride (the source of all sin), which God resisteth, and makes man
open to receive the influx of divine grace. . . .In this sense, humility is said
to be the foundation of the spiritual edifice.” (It is inferior to the theological
virtues which unite us to God.)
24 The virtue of religion has for its immediate object, not God Himself but
the worship which is due to (iod. This is why it is not a theological virtue, but
is inferior to the theological virtues. Cf. Stmrma, Ila llae, q.81, a.5.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Scriptures, St. Thomas easily establishes the fact that Christian per­
fection consists especially in charity. “A thing is said to be perfect,”
he says, “in so far as it attains its proper end, which is the ultimate
perfection thereof. Now 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). Therefore the per­
fection of the Christian life consists chiefly in charity.” 25
26
Infused faith and hope could evidently not be that in which per­
fection chiefly consists, for they can exist in the state of mortal sin,
in a man whose will is turned away from God, his last end. They
remain in him like the root of a tree which has been cut down and
can revive. Not every mortal sin, in fact, makes a man lose faith and
hope, but only a mortal sin that is directly contrary to these virtues.
When the sinner who continues to believe and who still hopes, re­
covers charity, it revivifies faith and hope, and renders their acts
not only salutary but meritorious, by ordaining them to God effica­
ciously loved above all else. St. Thomas adds farther on: “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. . . . Secondarily and instrumentally, however,
perfection consists in the observance of the counsels.” 26 The great
sign of the love of God is precisely love of one’s neighbor. Christ
Himself says so, and we cannot insist too strongly on this point:
“A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one an­
other, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this
shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one
for another.” 27 This love of our neighbor is the great sign of the
progress of the love of God in our hearts, so much so that St. John
adds: “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is
in darkness even until now.” 28 “We know that we have passed
from death to life, because we love the brethren. . . . Whosoever
hateth his brother is a murderer.” 29
Farther on we shall speak of the counsels of poverty, chastity, and
25 See Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 1.
20 Ibid., a. 3.
27 John 13:34 f.
28 See I John 2:9.
20 Ibid., 3:14 f.

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155

obedience; but even now it is clear that they are subordinate to
charity, to the love of God and of one’s neighbor in God.
We should like to insist here on two points that show the differ­
ence between Christian perfection on earth and perfection in heaven.
The Superiority of Charity to the Knowledge of
God in This Life

Some intellectuals raise an objection to the traditional doctrine,
based on Scripture, according to which perfection consists primarily
in charity. They ask whether the intellect is not the first faculty of
man, the one which directs the others and which primarily distin­
guishes us from the animal. Since this is true, they say, should we
not then conclude that the perfection of man lies chiefly in the in­
tellectual knowledge that he can have of all things, considered in
their principle and in their end, and therefore in the knowledge of
God, the supreme rule of human life? From this point of view, a
Bossuet may seem to surpass a number of canonized servants of
God who did not particularly excel in intelligence, as for example,
a holy lay brother or a St. Benedict Joseph Labre.
We have already virtually cleared up this objection by pointing
out in one of our previous chapters that speculative and abstract
knowledge of God can exist without being accompanied by pro­
found righteousness of the will. It may exist in a very intelligent
but heartless man, who could not be called “a man of good will” in
the meaning given to this term by the Gospel. For the same reason,
infused faith can remain in a soul that has lost charity and has turned
away from God. Moreover, we said with St. Thomas, that on earth
the love of God is better than the knowledge of God.30 It is im­
portant to insist on this point. St. Thomas clearly recognizes that the
intellect is superior to the will which it directs. The intellect has, in
fact, a more simple, more absolute, more universal object, being
in all its universality, and consequently all beings; the will has a
more restricted object, the good, which is a modality of being, and
which is in everything the perfection that renders it desirable. Be­
sides, we must not confound apparent good with true good, which
80 See la, q.82, a. 3. “Wherefore the love of God is better than the knowl­
edge of God; but, on the contrary, the knowledge of corporeal things is
better than the love thereof. Absolutely, however, the intellect is nobler than
the will.”

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

the intellect recognizes and judges, and proposes to the will. As the
good presupposes the true and being, the will presupposes the intel­
lect and is directed by it. Therefore by the intellect, which is the
first of his faculties, man differs primarily from the animal.
St. Thomas admits also that in heaven our beatitude will consist
essentially in the beatific vision, in the intellectual and immediate
vision of the divine essence, for it is above all by this immediate
vision that we shall take possession of God for eternity. We shall
plunge the gaze of our intellect into the depths of His inner life
seen directly. God will thus give Himself immediately to us, and
we shall give ourselves to Him. We shall possess Him and He will
possess us, because we shall know Him as He knows Himself and
as He knows us. Beatific love will be in us a consequence of this
immediate vision of the divine essence; it will even be a necessary
consequence, for the beatific love of God will no longer be free,
but superfree, above liberty. Our will will be invincibly ravished
by the attraction of God seen face to face. We shall see His infinite
goodness and beauty so clearly that we shall be unable not to love
Him; we shall even be unable to find any pretext of momentarily
interrupting this act of superfree love, which will no longer be
measured by time, but by participated eternity, by the single in­
stant of the immobile duration of God, the instant that never passes.
In heaven the love of God and the joy of possessing Him will
necessarily follow the beatific vision, which will thus be the essence
of our beatitude.31 All this is true. It is difficult to affirm more
strongly than St. Thomas does the superiority of the intellect over
the will in principle and in the perfect life of heaven.
Since this is true, how can the holy doctor maintain that Christian
perfection on earth consists primarily in charity, which is a virtue
of the will, and not in wisdom or contemplation, which belong to
the intellect? To this question he gives a profound answer, which
should be meditated on for the spiritual life. He says in substance:
Although a faculty may by its nature be superior to another, it
may happen that an act of the second is superior to an act of the
first. For example, sight is superior to hearing, it is less painful to
be deaf than blind; nevertheless, although sight is superior to hear­
ing, the audition of a Beethoven symphony is more sought after than
the sight of an ordinary object. Likewise, although rhe intellect
·’ See la Ilae, q.3, a.4; q. 5, a.4.

'I

TRUE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

157

is by its very nature {simpliciter) superior to the will which it di­
rects, here on earth the love of God is more perfect than the knowl­
edge of God.32 Therefore perfection lies chiefly in the love of God.
A saint who has little learning in theological matters but who has
a very great love of God, is certainly more perfect than a theologian
who has a lesser charity. This observation, which is elementary for
every Christian, appears upon serious reflection as a lofty and pre­
cious truth. It could be illustrated by many quotations from Scrip­
ture and from the works of the great spiritual writers, especially
from The Imitation of Christ.
Whence comes this superiority of the love of God over the
knowledge of Him that we have on earth? St. Thomas answers as
follows: “The action of the intellect consists in this, that the idea of
the thing understood is in the one who understands; whereas the act
of the will consists in this, that the will is inclined to the thing as
existing in itself. And therefore the Philosopher says {Metaph., VI)
that good and evil, which are objects of the will, are in things, but
truth and error, which are objects of the intellect, are in the mind.” 33
It follows that on earth our knowledge of God is inferior to the
love of God, since, as St. Thomas further says,34 when we know
God, we draw Him in a way to ourselves, and in order to repre­
sent Him to ourselves, we impose on Him the bounds of our
limited ideas; whereas when we love Him, it is we who are drawn
to Him, lifted up to Him, such as He is in Himself. An act of love
of God made by the Curé of Ars as he taught catechism, was worth
more than a learned theological meditation inspired by a lesser love.
Our knowledge of God draws Him to us, whereas our love of God
draws us to Him. Therefore, as long as we have not the beatific
vision, that is, while we are on earth or in purgatory, the love of
God is more perfect than the knowledge of God. It presupposes
this knowledge, but it surpasses it.
Further, says St. Thomas, even here on earth our love of charity
attains God immediately;35 it adheres immediately to Him, and
from Him it goes on to creatures. “For knowledge begins from
82 See la, q.82, a.3. On the contrary, it is better to know inferior things
than to love them.
88 Ibid.
84 Ibid.
88 Sec Ila llac, q. 17, a.4.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

creatures, tends to God, and love begins with God as the last end,
and passes on to creatures.” 36 Finally, we love in God even that
in Him which is hidden from us because, without seeing it, we are
sure that it is Goodness itself. In this sense we can love God more
than we know Him. We love even more what is most hidden in
Him, for we believe that therein precisely lies His intimate life,
which surpasses all our means of knowing: for example, what is
most hidden in the mystery of the Trinity and in that of predestina­
tion. Therefore the love of God surpasses here on earth the knowl­
edge of God. This is why theologians admire saints, such as St.
Benedict Joseph Labre, who were only meagerly endowed with in­
tellect, but who were consumed with zeal for the love of God and
of souls.
This teaching is extremely beautiful, and shows us the superiority
of charity over faith and hope, over all knowledge here on earth,
even over the act of contemplation which proceeds from faith
illumined by the gifts of understanding and of wisdom. This quasiexperimental knowledge of God still remains, in fact, essentially ob­
scure; it does not grasp Him as He is in Himself, and it draws its
delight from the very love which inspires it.37
We see more clearly why St. Paul says: “Charity is the bond of
perfection.” No other virtue unites us as intimately to God, and all
the other virtues inspired and vivified by it, are ordained by it to
God loved above all. We must, therefore, repeat with all tradition
that the perfection of Christian life consists chiefly in charity, and
in active charity, which unites us actually to God, in aridity as well
as in consolation, and which fructifies in every kind of good work.38
30 Ibid., ad turn.
37 Ibid., q.45, a. 2,4.
38 See Col. 1:9. Thomists generally hold (cf. Passerini, De statibus hominum,
in Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 1 ) that perfection consists formally not in the habitus or
virtue of charity, but in the activity of this virtue, which is morally continu­
ous in the perfect. It is clear, in fact, that the virtue is ordained to its operation
and that perfection is in actual union with God; “It is good for me to adhere
to my God” (Ps. 72:28). St. Thomas says: “Man’s third pursuit is to aim
chiefly at union with and enjoyment of God” (Ila Ilae, q. 24, a.9).
On the contrary, the quietists, inclined to inaction, were disposed to say
that perfection is not in the acts of charity, but in the habitus of charity, for,
in their opinion, “velle operari active esc Deum offendere, qui vult esse ipse
solus agens” (cf. Dcnzinger, no. 1222). They thus reached a pseudo-passive
state, not infused but acquired and, what is more, acquired, not by acts but
by the cessation of every act, by a sort of pious somnolence. Therein were

TRUE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

159

Charity ought, therefore, incontestably to have the first place in
our soul, above that of the love of knowledge and of any kind
of human progress. Moreover, charity will increase tenfold all our
moral and intellectual powers by placing them in the service
of God and of our neighbor. The love of esteem (appretiative sum­
mus} which we ought to have for God will thus become more in­
tense, as it should.
The Love of Charity Cannot Be Absolutely Continual
on Earth as It Will Be in Heaven

In comparing Christian perfection on earth with that of heaven,
St. Thomas observes38 that God alone can love Himself infinitely
as much as He is lovable, as He alone can have a comprehensive
vision of His essence. However, without loving God as much as
He is lovable, the saints in heaven love Him with all their strength
with an ever actual, uninterrupted love. This absolute continuity
in love is not possible on earth; sleep, in particular, does not per­
mit it.
The perfection possible on earth excludes everything that is con­
trary to the love of God, that is, mortal sin, and also all that hinders
our love from being completely directed toward God. Thus those
of the just who are called beginners and proficients tend toward this
union with God, which is the possession of the perfect.40
According to these principles formulated by St. Thomas, the
perfection of charity in the perfect excludes not only mortal sin
and fully deliberate venial sin, but also voluntary imperfections,
two grave errors, which with one stroke of the pen suppressed asceticism
and distorted mysticism.
An opposite excess to quietism would make perfection consist chiefly in
the exterior activity of charity on behalf of one’s neighbor. From this point
of view, one might end by forgetting practically that the love of God is
superior to that of one’s neighbor, and that this second love is only the ef­
fect and sign of the first. One would thus unconsciously invert the order of
charity.
Others, more attentive to the interior life than to its activity, aim too
greatly at multiplying its acts, instead of tending to simplified affective prayer,
which is, so to speak, the continuation of one and the same act, like a pro­
longed spiritual communion.
See Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 2.
‘“We treated this question in greater detail in Christian Perfection and
Contemplation, pp. 167—75.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

such as a lesser generosity in the service of God and the habit of
acting in an imperfect manner (remissa') and of receiving the sacra­
ments with little fervor of will. He who has a charity equal to five
talents and acts as if he had only two talents still performs meritorious
but weak acts. These acts of charity, called remissi, do not imme­
diately obtain the increase of charity that they deserve,41 and are
not proper to the perfect, who ought indeed ever to advance more
rapidly toward God, for the nearer souls approach Him, the more
they are drawn by Him.42
St. Thomas43 points out also that in the perfect, charity toward
one’s neighbor, the great sign of our love of God, extends not only
to all in general, but as soon as the occasion presents itself to each
of those with whom the perfect have relations, not only to friends
but to strangers and even to adversaries. Moreover, this fraternal
charity is intense in them, reaching even to the sacrifice of exterior
goods and of life itself for the salvation of souls, since Christ said:
“This is Aly commandment, that you love one another, as I have
loved you.” 44 We see this charity in the apostles after Pentecost,
when they were “rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to
suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.” 45 This is also what made
St. Paul say: “But I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for
your souls.” 46
Perfect charity demands serious effort, a veritable struggle, a
spirit of abnegation or renunciation, in order that our affection,
ceasing to descend toward the things of earth or to fall back egoistically on ourselves, may always rise more purely and strongly
toward God. For this ascent toward God we need prayer, habitual
recollection, a great docility to the Holy Ghost, and the generous
acceptance of the cross which purifies. As soon as the soul’s life
ceases to descend, it ascends toward God. It cannot remain stationary
on earth; and its law, like that of the flame which symbolizes it, is
not the law of descent, but of ascent. Therefore, without having the
absolute continuity of the love of heaven, the charity of the perfect
41 See Ila Ilae, q.24, a.6.
42 St. Thomas, In Ep. ad Hebr., 10:25.
48 See Ha Ilae, q. 184, a. 2 ad juin.
44 John 15:12.
46 Acts 5:41.
40 See II Cor. 12:15. Cf. also Sr. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue, chaps. 74, 78,
79, passim; Perfect love and its signs.

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161

on earth is characterized by an admirable and almost ceaseless
activity.
The author of The Imitation admirably expresses this thought
when he says: “Because I am as yet weak in love and imperfect
in virtue, therefore do I stand in need of being strengthened and
comforted by Thee. Wherefore do Thou visit me often, and instruct
me in Thy holy discipline. ... A great thing is love, a great good
in every way, which alone lighteneth all that is burdensome and
beareth equally all that is unequal. It carrieth a burden without be­
ing burdened, and maketh all else that is bitter sweet and savory.
The noble love of Jesus impelleth us to do great things, and exciteth
us always to desire that which is the more perfect. Love will tend
upwards and not be detained by things beneath. Love will be at
liberty, and free from all worldly affection that its interior vision
be not hindered; that it suffer itself not to be entangled with any
temporal interest, or cast down by misfortune. Nothing is sweeter
than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing
more pleasant ... for love is born of God, and cannot rest but in
God, above all created things. The lover flieth, runneth, and rejoiceth; he is free, and cannot be restrained. He giveth all for all,
and hath all in all; because he resteth in one sovereign Good above
all, from whom all good floweth and proceedeth. . . . Love often
knoweth no measure, but groweth fervent above all measure. . . .
Love watcheth, and sleeping slumbereth not. When weary it is not
tired; . . . but like a vivid flame and a burning torch, it mounteth
upward and securely passeth through all.” 47
This is truly the life of the saints. We are called to it, for we are
all called to the life of heaven where there will be only saints. In
order to attain it, we must sanctify all the acts of our day, remem­
bering that above the succession of daily deeds, whether pleasurable
or painful, foreseen or unforeseen, there is the parallel series of
47 The Imitation of Christ, Bk. Ill, chap. 5. St. Thomas teaches that we
cannot love God as much as He ought to be loved, or believe in Him or hope
in Him as much as He deserves. Cf. Ta Ilae, q.64, a. 4: “The measure and rule
of theological virtue is God Himself. ... So that never can we love God
as much as He ought to be loved.” Cf. Ila Ilae, 9-27, a.5.
See also Taulcr, Sermons, for the distinction between the upright man and
the interior or spiritigtl man, and rhe description of the state of the perfect.
Cf. Sermons de Tattler (trans. I iugueny, Théry, 1927), I, 200-4, 218-24, 165~
69, 284,296 ff., 357.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

actual graces which are granted to us from moment to moment that
we may draw the best spiritual profit from these daily deeds. If we
think about this, we shall no longer see these acts only from the
point of view of the senses, or from that of our reason which is more
or less led astray by self-love, but from the supernatural point of
view of faith. Then these daily deeds, whether pleasurable or pain­
ful, will become the practical application of the doctrine of the
Gospel, and gradually an almost continual conversation will be estab­
lished between Christ and us. This will be the true interior life, as
it were, eternal life begun.

CHAPTER IX

The Grandeur of Christian Perfection
and the Beatitudes
HRISTIAN perfection, according to the testimony of the
Gospels and Epistles, consists chiefly in charity which unites
us to God.1 This virtue corresponds to the supreme precept of the
love of God. We read also: “He that abideth in charity abideth in
God, and God in him.” 2 “But above all these things have charity,
which is the bond of perfection.” 3
Some theologians have questioned whether for perfection, prop­
erly so called, not that of beginners or of proficients, but that which
characterizes the unitive way, a great charity is necessary, or whether
this perfection can be obtained without a lofty degree of this virtue.
Some authors doubt it.4 They even declare that a high degree of
charity is not necessary to perfection, properly so called, because,
according to the testimony of St. Thomas, “the very least grace is
sufficient to resist any degree of concupiscence.” 6
The majority of theologians answer, on the contrary, that per­
fection, properly so called, is obtained only after long exercise of
the acquired and infused virtues, an exercise by which their in­
tensity increases.® Before reaching the age of perfection, the perfect

C

1 St. Thomas, Ila, Ilae, q. 184, a. 1.
2 See I John 4:16.
8 Col. 3:14.
‘ Among them must be mentioned Suarez, De statu perfectionis, Bk. I, chap.
4, nos. 11, 12, 20. One can see why several of those who do not wish to admit
that Christian perfection requires a great charity and the gifts of the Holy
Ghost in a proportionate degree, refuse also to concede that infused con­
templation, which proceeds from living faith enlightened by the gifts, is
in the normal way of sanctity and, as it were, the normal prelude of the
beatific vision.
“See III Sent., d.ji, q. 1, a.3, and also Illa, q.62, a.6 ad 31101.
"See Ila Ilae, q.24, a.9.
163

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

man must have been a beginner, then a proficient. In the perfect
man, not only can charity conquer many temptations, but it has in
fact triumphed over many, and has thereby notably increased.
Therefore Christian perfection, properly so called, that of the unitive
way, cannot be conceived without a lofty charity.7
If we were to read the contrary in the works of St. John of the
Cross, for example, we would think we were dreaming and that
there was a typographical error. It seems altogether certain that, as
for adult age greater physical strength is needed than for childhood
(although accidentally certain particularly vigorous adolescents
may be stronger than certain adults), likewise for the state of the
perfect a loftier charity is also needed than for that of beginners
(although accidentally certain saints have a greater charity at the
beginning than certain perfect souls already advanced in age).
The common teaching of theologians on this point seems clearly
founded on the very preaching of the Savior, especially that of the
beatitudes found in the fifth chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel. This
page of the Gospel admirably expresses all the elevation of Chris­
tian perfection to which Christ calls all of us. The Sermon on the
Mount is the abridgment of Christian doctrine, the solemn promul­
gation of the New Law, given to perfect the Mosaic Law and to cor­
rect erroneous interpretations of it; and the eight beatitudes given
at its beginning, are the abridgment of this sermon. They thus won­
derfully condense all that constitutes the ideal of the Christian life
and show all its loftiness.
Christ’s first preaching promised happiness and showed the means
to obtain it. Why does He speak first of all of happiness? Because all
men naturally wish to be happy. They pursue this end unceasingly,
whatever they may wish; but they often seek happiness where it is
not, where they will find only wretchedness. Let us listen to our
Lord, who tells us where true and lasting happiness is, where the
end of our life is, and who gives us the means to obtain it.
The end is indicated in each of the eight beatitudes. Under differ­
ent names, it is eternal happiness, whose prelude the just may en­
joy even here on earth; it is the kingdom of heaven, the promised
land, perfect consolation, the full satisfaction of all our holy and
legitimate desires, supreme mercy, the sight of God our Father.
The means are quite the contrary of those suggested by the max’ Ibid., q. 184, a.i.

GRANDEUR OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

165

ims of worldly wisdom, which proposes an entirely different end.
St. Augustine and St. Thomas admirably explain the order of
these eight beatitudes. An ascending order, it is the inverse of that
of the Our Father, which descends from the consideration of the
glory of God to that of our personal needs and of our daily bread.
The first three beatitudes tell the happiness that is found in the flight
from sin and deliverance from it, in poverty accepted for love of
God, in meekness, and in the tears of contrition. The two following
beatitudes are those of a Christian’s active life: they correspond
to the thirst for justice and to mercy exercised toward one’s neigh­
bor. Then come those of the contemplation of the mysteries of
God: the purity of heart which prepares the soul to see God, and
the peace which springs from true wisdom. Finally, the last and most
perfect of the beatitudes unites all the preceding ones in the very
midst of persecution endured for justice’ sake. These are the final
trials, the condition of sanctity.8
We shall follow this ascending order to get a precise idea of
Christian perfection, taking care not to lessen it. We shall see that
Christian perfection goes beyond the limits of asceticism, or of the
exercise of the virtues according to our own activity, and that it
implies the eminent exercise of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. The
superhuman mode of the gifts, when it becomes frequent and mani­
fest, characterizes the mystical life, or the life of docility to the Holy
Ghost.
Following St. Augustine, St. Thomas teaches that the beatitudes
are acts proceeding from the Holy Ghost or from the virtues per­
fected by the gifts.8
The Beatitudes of the Deliverance from Sin

The beatitudes of the deliverance from sin correspond to the
purgative way, which is proper to beginners and which is pro8 In Luke 6:20-22, only four beatitudes are mentioned; but among them
is found the highest, that of those who suffer persecution for justice’ sake. It
follows that of the poor, that of those who hunger after justice, and that of
those who weep.
® See la Ilae, q.69, a. 1. Cf. Commentarium in Mattheum, 5:3: “These merits
(of the beatitudes) are cither acts of the gifts, or acts of the virtues according
as they are perfected by the gifts.” Following St. Augustine, St. Thomas in­
dicates in this commentary on St. Matthew (chap. 5) the gift that corresponds
to each beatitude. He does this also in rhe Sumina, where he speaks of the
seven gifts in particular. We shall summarize this teaching here.

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longed in the way the proficients and the perfect ought to follow.
Whereas the world declares that happiness is in the abundance of
exterior goods, of riches, and in honors, Christ states without any
other preamble, with the calm assurance of absolute truth: “Blessed
are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Each beatitude has many degrees. Happy they who are poor
without murmuring, without impatience, without jealousy, even if
bread should be lacking, and who work while placing their trust
in God. Blessed are they who, though more fortunate, have not the
spirit of riches, pomp, and pride, but are detached from the goods
of earth. More fortunate still are they who will leave all to follow
Christ, who will make themselves voluntarily poor, and who will
truly live according to the spirit of this vocation. They will receive
the hundredfold on earth and eternal life. These poor are they who,
under the inspiration of the gift of fear, follow the road which,
though narrow at first, becomes the royal road to heaven, on which
the soul dilates more and more, whereas the broad road of the
world leads to hell and perdition. Elsewhere Christ declares: “Woe
to you that are filled: for you shall hunger.” 1011
On the other hand,
blessed is that poverty which, as the life of St. Francis of Assisi
shows, opens the kingdom of God that is infinitely superior to all
wealth, to the miserable riches in which the world seeks happiness.
Blessed are the poor, or humble of heart, who do not cling to the
goods of the body, or to those of the spirit, or to reputation, or to
honor, and who seek only the kingdom of God.
The desire of riches divides men, engenders quarrels, lawsuits,
violence, and war among nations; but Christ says: “Blessed are the
meek, for they shall possess the land.” Blessed are they who do not
become irritated against their brethren, who do not seek to take
vengeance on their enemies, to dominate others. “If one strike thee
on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other.” 11 Blessed are the
meek who do not judge rashly, who do not see in their neighbor a
rival to be supplanted but a brother to be helped, a child of the
same heavenly Father. The gift of piety inspires this meekness in us
with a filial affection toward God our common Father. The meek
are not stubbornly attached to their own judgment; they express
10 Luke 6:25.
11 Matt. 5:39.

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themselves quite simply in a straightforward manner, and do not
feel the need to call heaven to witness in trivial matters.12*
To be thus supernaturally meek, even with those who are acri­
monious, demands a great union with Him who said: “Learn of
Me, for I am meek and humble of heart”; with Him who did not
crush the broken reed or extinguish the smoking flax. According
to Bossuet, the broken reed is sometimes our angry neighbor, who
is broken by his own anger. We must not crush him by taking
vengeance on him. Christ has been compared to the lamb which lets
itself be led to the slaughter without uttering a complaint.
The meekness we are discussing is not that which does not offend
anyone because it is afraid of everything; rather, it is a virtue which
presupposes a great love of God and of one’s neighbor, the flower of
charity, as St. Francis de Sales says. This meekness doubles the value
of the service rendered. Moreover, it succeeds in stating the whole
truth, in making counsel and even reproaches acceptable; for he
who receives them feels that they are inspired by a great love.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land, the true, prom­
ised land. Even now they possess spiritually the hearts that trust in
them.
Whereas the world says that happiness lies in pleasures, Christ
declares: “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be com­
forted.” To the evil rich man it was said: “Thou didst receive good
things in thy lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he
is comforted, and thou art tormented.”18 Blessed are they who, like
the beggar Lazarus, suffer patiently without consolation from men,
for their tears are seen by God. More blessed still are those who weep
for their sins, and through an inspiration of the gift of knowl­
edge know experimentally that sin is the greatest of evils, and by
their tears obtain its pardon. Lastly, more blessed, says St. Cather­
ine of Siena,14 are those who weep for love at the sight of the in­
finite mercy, of the goodness of the Savior, of the tenderness of the
good Shepherd, who sacrifices Himself for His sheep. These re­
ceive even here on earth consolation infinitely superior to that which
the world can give.
12 //u'rf., 5:34.
” Luke 16:25.
14 Dialogue, chap. 89.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Such are the beatitudes which are found in the flight and deliver­
ance from sin.
The Beatitudes of

the

Active Life

of the

Christian

There are other holy joys which the just man finds when, freed
from evil, he seeks the good with his whole heart. The man of
action, who allows himself to be carried away by pride, declares
that happy is that man who lives and acts as he pleases, who is not
subject to anyone, and who imposes his will on others. Christ says:
“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they
shall have their fill.” Justice, in the broad sense of the word, con­
sists in rendering to God what is due Him, and then for the love of
God giving also to the creature what is due him. In recompense,
the Lord gives Himself to us. This is the perfect order, in perfect
obedience that is inspired by love which enlarges the heart. Blessed
are they who desire this justice, even to the extent of hungering and
thirsting for it. In a certain sense, they will be filled even in this
life by becoming more just and more holy. This is a blessed thirst,
for Christ says: “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.” 15 That we may keep this thirst
when sensible enthusiasm falls away, and preserve this hunger and
thirst for justice in the midst of contradictions, hindrances, and dis­
illusions, we must receive with docility the inspirations of the gift
of fortitude. This gift prevents us from weakening, from letting
ourselves be disheartened, and it lifts up our courage in the midst
of difficulties. St. Thomas says: “The Lord wishes to see us hunger
and thirst for this justice to such an extent that we can never be
satiated in this life, as the miser never has enough gold.” These
hungering souls “will be satiated only in the eternal vision, and on
this earth in spiritual goods. . . . When men are in the state of sin,
they do not experience this spiritual hunger: when they are free
from all sin, then they experience it.” 16
In a Christian’s action this hunger and thirst for justice should not
be accompanied by a bitter zeal toward the guilty. Therefore Christ
adds: “Blessed arc the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” In our
“John 7:37 f.
“St. Thomas, In Matth, 5:6.

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life, as also in that of God, justice and mercy should be united. We
cannot be perfect without going to the help of the afflicted, of the
sick, as the good Samaritan did. The Lord will give the hundredfold
to those who give a glass of water for love of Him, to those invit­
ing to their table the poor, the crippled, the blind, who are mentioned
in the parable of the guests. The Christian should be happier to give
than to receive. He ought to pardon offenses, that is, to give to those
who have offended him more than is due them; he ought to forget
insults and, before offering his gift at the altar, go and be reconciled
with his brother. The gift of counsel inclines us to mercy, makes
us attentive to the sufferings of others, makes us find the true
remedy, the word that consoles and uplifts.
If our activity were frequently inspired by these two virtues of
justice and mercy and by the gifts corresponding to them, our souls
would find even here on earth a holy joy and would be truly disposed
to enter into the intimacy of God.
The Beatitudes of Contemplation and Union with God

Some philosophers have thought that happiness lies in the knowl­
edge of truth, especially of supreme truth. This was the teaching of
Plato and Aristotle. They were but little preoccupied with purity
of heart, and their lives, on more than one point, were in contradic­
tion with their doctrine. Christ tells us: “Blessed are the clean of
heart: for they shall see God.” He does not say that those are blessed
who have received a powerful intellect, who have the leisure and
means to cultivate it; but rather, blessed are the clean of heart, even
though they may be naturally less endowed than many others. If
they are clean of heart, they shall see God. A truly clean heart is
like the limpid waters of a lake in which the azure of the sky is re­
flected, or like a spiritual mirror in which the image of God is re­
produced.
That the heart may be pure, a generous mortification is pre­
scribed: “If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out. ... If thy
right hand scandalize thee, cut it off.” 17 We must particularly watch
over purity of intention: for example, not giving alms through osten­
tation, not praying to draw upon ourselves the esteem of men, but
seeking only the approbation of “the Father who seeth in secret.”
,T Matt. 5:29 f.

17 o

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Then will be realized the words of the Master: “If thy eye be single,
thy whole body shall be lightsome.” 18
Even here on earth, the Christian will, in a sense, see God in his
neighbor, even in souls that at first seem opposed to God. The Chris­
tian will see God in holy Scripture, in the life of the Church, in the
circumstances of his own life, and even in trials, in which he will
find lessons on the ways of Providence as a practical application of
the Gospel. Under the inspiration of the gift of understanding, this
is the true contemplation which prepares us for that by which, prop­
erly speaking, we shall see God face to face, His goodness, and His
infinite beauty. Then all our desires will be gratified, and we shall
be inebriated with a torrent of spiritual delights.
This contemplation of God ought, even here on earth, to be fruit­
ful. It gives peace, a radiating peace, as the seventh beatitude says:
“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 taste the mys­
teries of salvation and see, so to speak, all things in God. The in­
spirations of the Holy Ghost, to which this gift renders us docile,
gradually manifest to us the wonderful order of the providential plan
even in those things, and at times especially in those things, which
at first disconcerted us, in the painful and unforeseen events permitted
by God for a higher good. One could not thus perceive the designs
of Providence, which directs our lives, without experiencing peace,
which is the tranquillity of order.
That we may not be troubled by painful and unexpected events,
that we may receive all from the hand of God as a means or an
occasion of going to Him, we need great docility to the Holy Ghost,
who wishes to give us progressively the contemplation of divine
things, the requisite for union with God. Hence we received in
baptism the gift of wisdom, which has grown in us by confirma­
tion and frequent Communion. The inspirations of the gift of wis­
dom give us a radiating peace, not only for ourselves but for our
neighbor. They make us peacemakers; they help us to calm troubled
souls, to love our enemies, to find the words of reconciliation which
put an end to strifes. This peace, which the world cannot give, is
the mark of the true children of God, who never lose the thought
18 Ibid., 6:21.

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171

of their Father in heaven. St. Thomas even says of these beatitudes:
“They are a kind of preparation for future happiness.” 19
Lastly, in the eighth beatitude, the most perfect of all, Christ
shows that all He has said is greatly confirmed by affliction borne
with love: “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The final trials especially, the
requisites for sanctity, are indicated here.
Christ’s surprising statement had never been heard before. Not
only does it promise future happiness, but it declares that a soul
should consider itself happy even in the midst of afflictions and per­
secutions suffered for justice. This is an altogether supernatural
beatitude, which is practically understood only by souls enlight­
ened by God. There are, moreover, many spiritual degrees in this
state, from that of the good Christian who begins to suffer for hav­
ing acted well, obeyed, and given good example, up to the martyr
who dies for the faith. This beatitude applies to those who, con­
verted to a better life, encounter only opposition in their surround­
ings. It applies also to the apostle whose action is hindered by the
very people he wishes to save, when they will not pardon him for
having spoken the Gospel truth too clearly. Entire countries some­
times endure this persecution, such as the Vendée during the French
Revolution, Armenia, Poland, Mexico, and Spain.
This beatitude is the most perfect because it is that of those who
are most clearly marked in the image of Jesus crucified. To remain
humble, meek, and merciful in the midst of persecution, even toward
persecutors, and in this torment not only to preserve peace but to
communicate it to others, is truly the full perfection of Christian
life. It is realized especially in the last trials undergone by perfect
souls which God purifies by making them work for the salvation of
their neighbor. All the saints have not been martyrs, but they have,
in varying degrees, suffered persecution for justice’ sake, and they
have known something of that martyrdom of the heart which
made Mary the Mother of Sorrows.
Christ insists on the reward promised to those who thus suffer for
justice: “Blessed arc yc 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.” These
10 See la Ilae, q.69, a. 1.

i7z

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

words of Christ kindled in the souls of the apostles the desire for
martyrdom, a desire which inspired the sublime utterances of St.
Andrew and St. Ignatius of Antioch. These words live again in St.
Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic, and St. Benedict Joseph Labre. In­
spired by these words, these saints were “the salt of the earth,” “the
light of the world,” and they built their houses not on sand but on
rock, houses that have been able to weather all storms and have not
been overthrown.
These beatitudes, which, as St. Thomas says,20 are the superior
acts of the gifts or of the virtues perfected by the gifts, go beyond
simple asceticism and belong to the mystical order. In other words,
the full perfection of Christian life belongs normally to the mystical
order; it is the prelude of the life of heaven, where the Christian
will be “perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect,” seeing Him as
He sees Himself and loving Him as He loves Himself.
St. Teresa writes: “They read that we must not be troubled when
men speak ill of us, that we are to be then more pleased than when
they speak well of us; that we must despise our own good name,
be detached from our kindred . . . with many other things of the
same kind. The disposition to practice this must be, in my opinion,
the gift of God; for it seems to me a supernatural good.” 21 In other
words, this disposition goes beyond simple asceticism or the exer­
cise of the virtues according to our own activity or industry; it is
the fruit of a great docility to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost.
Moreover, the saint says: “If a soul loves honors and temporal goods,
it is in vain that it will have practiced prayer or rather meditation
for many years; it will never advance very much. Perfect prayer,
on the contrary, frees the soul from these defects.” 22 This is equiva­
lent to saying that without perfect prayer a soul will never reach
the full perfection of Christian life.
The author of The Imitation also expresses the same idea when
speaking of true peace: “If thou arrive at an entire contempt of
thyself, know that then thou shalt enjoy an abundance of peace,
as much as is possible in this thy earthly sojourn.” 23 This is why,
in the same book of The Imitation, the disciple asks for the superior
20 Ibid, and In Matth., 5:1 ff.
21 Life, chap. 31, § 21.
22 The Way of Perfection, chap. 12.
22 The Imitation of Christ, Bk. Ill, chap. 25.

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173

grace of contemplation: “I stand much in need of a grace yet greater,
if I must arrive so far that it may not be in the power of any man
nor anything created to hinder me. ... He was desirous to fly
freely to Thee who said, ‘Who will give me wings like a dove, and
I will fly and be at rest?’ (Ps. 44:7.) . . . Unless a man be dis­
engaged from all things created, he cannot freely attend to things
divine. And this is the reason why there are found so few con­
templative persons, because there are few that know how to secure
themselves entirely from perishable creatures. For this a great grace
is required, such as may elevate the soul, and lift it above itself.
And unless a man be elevated in spirit, and free from attachment to
all creatures, and wholly united to God, whatever he knows and
whatever he has is of no great importance.” 24 This chapter of The
Imitation belongs, properly speaking, to the mystical order; it shows
that only therein is the true perfection of the love of God found.
St. Catherine of Siena speaks in the same way in her Dialogue.2*
As we have seen, this is the very teaching given us by Christ in the
beatitudes, especially as St. Augustine 28 and St. Thomas understood
them, that is, as the elevated acts of the gifts of the Holy Ghost
or of the virtues perfected by the gifts. This is truly the full normal
development of the spiritual organism or of “the grace of the virtues
and the gifts.” The beatitudes show it to us, not in an abstract and
theoretical form, but in a concrete, practical, and vital manner.
24 Ibid., chap. 31.
25 The Dialogue, chaps. 44-49.
28 St. Augustine, In sermonem Domini in monte (Matt. 5). De quantitate
animae, I, chap. 33; The Confessions, Bk. IX, chap. 10; Soliloquia, I, chaps. 1,
12 f.

CHAPTER X

Perfection and Heroic Virtue
O COMPLETE what we have said about the grandeur or ele­
vation of Christian perfection, we must see whether it essen­
tially demands great charity and the practice of the virtues even to
a heroic degree.

T

Does Perfection Necessarily Require Great Charity?

Certain theologians, such as Suarez,1 have maintained that one can
be perfect without great charity.2 This proposition would greatly
1 De statu perfectionis, Bk. I, chap. 4, nos. 11 f.
2 Suarez (loc. cit.) says: “Perfection is posited in any suitable disposition
or facility for acting perfectly according to the precepts and counsels of
Christ; this good disposition can be obtained and subsist with greater and
lesser intensity of charity, because it does not spring from intensity only, and
although the intensity of charity helps much, what is lacking from that part
can be easily supplied from another source.” These last words, which would
astonish us greatly if we were to find them in an article written by St. Thomas,
mean, it seems, that the acquired virtues can easily supply for the lack of
intensity of charity. Does this not notably diminish the supernatural character
of Christian perfection?
Suarez adds (ibid., no. 12): “A man can be holier in the sight of God and
yet rather imperfect. . . . Nor is this unfitting, because true sanctity in the
sight of God and the right to eternal beatitude depend on the degree of
charity and grace. Moreover, perfection of this life depends on the disposi­
tion and inclination of a man to act in this life with promptness, ease, and
purity of action.”
A Thomist will say that, with an equal degree of habitual charity, one
person is actually more generous than another who is content with imperfect
(remissi) acts, or who having five talents lives as though he had only three.
Further, with an equal degree of habitual charity and of actual generosity,
one person will have fewer interior and exterior difficulties than another
who easily avoids every misstep because he follows an easier road. But these
are accidental things relative to a given individual, whereas we are treating
here of perfection in itself and in general, and we arc considering whether
it essentially demands a great charity, notably superior to that of beginners
and to that of proficients.
'74

PERFECTION AND HEROIC VIRTUE

*75

astonish us if we were to find it in the works of St. Thomas or of
St. John of the Cross, for it seems little in conformity with their
principles. Yet it has been defended because, it has been said, the
weakest charity can, according to St. Thomas, overcome all tempta­
tions, and because what is lacking in the intensity of charity can
easily be supplied by the acquired virtues. Thus, according to this
opinion, a person may be perfect without having great charity, and
inversely he who has great charity may not be perfect, because he
does not sufficiently govern his passions.
The common teaching is, on the contrary, that Christian perfec­
tion requires great charity. Why is this? The reason lies in the fact
that perfection is obtained only after long exercise of the infused
and the acquired virtues, an exercise by which these virtues increase
more and more. And if at the beginning, “the weakest charity could
overcome all temptations,” 3 as time goes on it triumphs over them
effectively and becomes more and more intense. It is inconceivable,
therefore, that a Christian be perfect, that is, superior to beginners
and proficients, without having great charity.
Nevertheless, perfection does not require a fixed intense degree
of charity, as if mathematically determined and known to God alone.
We do not find here the mathematical precision which is observed
for the point of fusion of such or such bodies. We must judge
spiritual perfection by analogy with maturity, which normally
requires more physical strength than adolescence, without, however,
exacting a mathematically determined degree of strength.
Moreover, this doctrine is based on the fact that charity increases,
properly speaking, intensively rather than extensively.4 In fact, even
the slightest charity ought to extend to God and to all men, at least
vaguely, without excluding anyone. Finally, we have seen that,
according to St. Thomas, the three degrees of charity proper to be­
ginners, proficients, and the perfect, are degrees of the intensity of
this infused virtue, which more and more excludes deliberate venial
sins and detaches us from earthly things in order to unite us more
strongly to God. Thence it follows that Christian perfection essen­
tially requires (per se loquendo et non solum per accidens) great
charity.
But it may happen accidentally that a certain perfect Christian has
“St. Thomas, Illa, q.62, a.6 ad jum.
* See la llac, q.24, a.4 ad nun, mm; a. 5 ad 211m.

i76

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

a lesser degree of charity than a great saint has at the outset. St.
Mary Magdalen could, immediately after her conversion, already
have a higher charity than many perfect souls called to a lesser
sanctity. Likewise in the corporeal order, it may happen accidentally
that a certain especially vigorous youth is stronger than many grown
men. But if it is a question of maturity in general and of perfection
as such, prescinding from a given individual, it must be said that
normally they require powers superior to the preceding age. It
should also be observed that, with the same degree of habitual
charity, one man avoids venial sin more than another, whether it is
because the first has more actual generosity, or because he has fewer
difficulties in his temperament, less work, fewer contradictions from
men. St. Teresa remarks that, when she left her monastery to make
a foundation, it happened that in the midst of unforeseen circum­
stances she committed more venial faults but also acquired more
merits because of the difficulties to be overcome. The same is true
when a man climbs a mountain: he stumbles from time to time, which
he scarcely ever does on a level road, but he has the merit of a
difficult ascent.
All these reasons show that, although accidentally a certain per­
fect soul may have a lesser charity than a certain beginner called to
very high sanctity, perfection essentially requires great charity. It
is obtained only after the conquering of many temptations and the
acquiring of many merits. We read in the Book of Tobias (12:13):
“Because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that tempta­
tion should prove thee.” The Scriptures also say: “The furnace trieth
the potter’s vessels; and the trial of affliction just men.” 5 And our
Lord says at the end of the Sermon on the Mount: “Everyone there­
fore that heareth these My words, and doth them, shall be likened
to a wise man that built his house upon a rock. And the rain fell
and the floods came and the winds blew; and they beat upon that
house. And it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.” * These words
show that, although a weak charity can resist temptations, it is actu­
ally victorious over them only by increasing and becoming stronger
and stronger. Therefore true Christian perfection of itself requires
great charity. This truth is evident from the principles commonly
accepted.
6 Ecclus. 27:6.
’ Matt. 7:24 f.

PERFECTION AND HEROIC VIRTUE

>77
The teaching of St. John of the Cross confirms this doctrine.
In The Ascent of Mount Carmel7 he writes as follows:

Some consider any kind of retirement from the world and any cor­
rection of excesses to be sufficient; others are content with a certain
degree of virtue, persevere in prayer and practice mortification, but
they do not rise to this detachment, and poverty, or self-denial, or spir­
itual pureness. . . . They render themselves spiritually enemies of the
cross of Christ, for true spirituality seeks for bitterness rather than
sweetness in God, inclines to suffering more than to consolation, and to
be in want of everything for God rather than to possess; to dryness and
afflictions rather than to sweet communications, knowing well that this
is to follow Christ and deny self, while the other course is perhaps
nothing but to seek oneself in God, which is the very opposite of love.
. . . Would that I could persuade spiritual persons that the way of
God consisteth not in the multiplicity of meditations, ways of devotion
or sweetness, though these may be necessary for beginners, but in one
necessary thing only, in knowing how to deny themselves in earnest,
inwardly and outwardly, giving themselves up to suffer for Christ’s
sake, and annihilating themselves utterly. He who shall exercise him­
self herein, will then find all this and much more. And if he be deficient
at all in this exercise, which is the sum and root of all virtue, all he may
do will be but beating the air; utterly profitless, notwithstanding great
meditations and communications. . . . And when he [the spiritual
man] shall have been brought to nothing, when his humility is perfect,
then will take place the union of the soul and God, which is the highest
and noblest estate attainable in this life.
Now this state, which is perfection, manifestly requires great charity
together with the perfect humility spoken of in this passage. St.
John of the Cross also says: “The state of perfection . . . consists
in the perfect love of God and contempt of self.” 8
This doctrine, requiring great charity for perfection, is entirely
conformable to what St. Thomas says of the seven degrees of hu­
mility. Following St. Anselm, he enumerates them as follows: (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 its being said; (6) willingly to
be treated as a person worthy of contempt; (7) to love to be treated
’ Bk. II, chap. 7, passim.
• The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. 11, chap. 18.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

in this fashion.6*9 Such humility is truly perfection, or, as St. Thomas
says, “the state of those who aim chiefly at union with and enjoyment
of God: this belongs to the perfect who desire to be dissolved and
to be with Christ,” 10*and who do not recoil before hard things to
be accomplished for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.11
Perfection thus conceived evidently requires great love of God.
Can a person attain to a lofty degree of habitual charity without
great effort and generosity, by long years of daily Communion and
of rather weak meritorious acts, so that, with this lofty charity,
he would remain notably imperfect through lack of generosity in
combating inordinate passions? Some theologians seem inclined to
think so, notably Suarez in the passages we quoted at the beginning
of this chapter. This opinion comes from the fact that, in the
question De augmento caritatis, Suarez holds that imperfect (remissi)
acts of charity at once obtain the increase of charity which they
merit. He is led thereby even to admit that Holy Communion,
though received with little devotion, still obtains a notable increase
of charity, and that by absolution lost merits are restored in the
same degree, even if the attrition of the penitent is barely sufficient.
On all these points, St. Thomas and the ancient theologians con­
sider far more the disposition of fervor of will required in the sub­
ject that there may be a notable increase of grace. In their opinion,
imperfect acts of charity do not immediately obtain the increase
of charity that they merit, but only when there is a serious effort
toward good.12 Likewise Holy Communion received with very
little devotion obtains only a scant increase of charity, just as a per­
son profits from the heat of a fireplace in proportion as he draws
aearer to it instead of remaining at a distance.13 Lastly, according
to St. Thomas, by absolution lost merits are restored in the same
degree only if the penitent has a contrition commensurate with his
sin and with the graces lost.14
From what we have said, we conclude that without great effort
a person cannot reach a high degree of charity by years of daily
Communion and weakly meritorious acts. By such practices he can
6 See Ila Ilae, q. ιόι, a.6.
10 Ibid., q.24, a. 9.
11 See 111 Sent., d.29, a. 8, q. 1.
12 See Ila Ilae, q.24, a.6 ad tum; la Ilae, q. 114, a.8 ad jum.
13 See Illa, q.79, a. 8.
14 Ibid., q.89, a. 2.

PERFECTION AND HEROIC VIRTUE

179

succeed in remaining in the state of grace or in rising rapidly after
having sinned mortally, but certainly he cannot reach a lofty charity
in this way.
Does Perfection Require the Heroic Practice
Virtues?

of the

If patriotism requires heroism when one’s country is in danger,
certainly Christian perfection requires the heroic practice of the
virtues, at least in praeparatione animi, in this sense, that the Chris­
tian must be ready, with the help of God, to endure even martyrdom
if it is a question of choosing between the denial of his faith and
torture. This is necessary even for salvation,15 and with still greater
reason is required for perfection. In other words, a Christian who is
faithful to his daily obligations should expect that in most difficult
circumstances the Lord will give him help proportionate to the
greatness of the duty. We read in the Gospel: “He that is faithful
in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater.” 18
“Fear ye not them that kill the body and are not able to kill the
soul.” 17 “Be not solicitous how or what you shall answer, or what
you shall say. For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour
what you must say.” 18 “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.” 19 We must also love our enemies and
come to their help if they are in grave need.
Moreover, St. Thomas 20 teaches that the gifts of the Holy Ghost
are necessary to salvation in order to prepare us to receive the special
inspiration of the Floly Ghost with promptness and docility, espe­
cially when the acquired virtues and even the infused virtues do
not suffice: that is, in the most difficult circumstances.
Since, according to these principles, every Christian must endure
martyrdom rather than deny his faith or call it into question, what
about the priest who has charge of souls? Even at the peril of his
life he must bring the sacraments to those of the faithful entrusted
to him when they are in grave necessity: for example, he must go
and hear the confession of persons suffering from a contagious
IBSee Ila Ilae, q. 124, a. 1 ad 30m; q. 152, a.3 ad 211m.
19 Luke 16:10.
17 Matt. 10:28.
18 Luke 12:11 f.
”See II Tim. 3:12.
!<1 See la Hac, q.68, a. 2.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

disease. With even greater reason, a bishop is obliged, in certain
circumstances, to give his life for his flock.
Nevertheless, to have heroism of the virtues in praeparatione
animi, in the sense that we have just explained, does not mean that
the soul possesses the virtues in the heroic degree. To prove heroic
virtue, as Benedict XIV 21 explains, four conditions are necessary:
(i) the matter, object of the virtue, must be difficult, above the
common strength of man; (2) the acts must be accomplished
promptly, easily; (3) they must be accomplished joyously, with
the joy of offering a sacrifice to the Lord; (4) they must be per­
formed rather frequently, when the occasion presents itself.
Does Christian perfection require the heroic degree of the vir­
tues? In the following chapter we shall see that St. John of the
Cross teaches that Christian perfection requires the passive puri­
fications of the senses and of the soul, which do away with the
defects of beginners and those of proficients.22 Now, in these puri­
fications or interior trials, the soul must often heroically resist
temptations against chastity and patience, then against faith, hope,
and charity. From this point of view, it seems evident, therefore,
that Christian perfection requires a certain heroism of the virtues
which can and ought, as time goes on, to continue to grow. This
seems to be the opinion of St. Thomas,23 when he describes the per­
fecting virtues and the perfect virtues; both are lofty and are not
inferior to what Benedict XIV calls heroic virtues.24
21 De servorum Dei beatificatione, Bk. Ill, chap. 21.
22 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chaps. 2-10; Bk. II, chaps. 1-5.
St. John of the Cross here describes this purification as it occurs in contem­
platives called to the highest perfection by the most direct route. There is,
however, something similar in others, in whom these interior purifications
are accompanied by the sufferings and difficulties of the apostolate.
23 See la Ilae, q.61, a.5; Illa, q.7, a.2 ad zum.
24 St. Thomas (ibid.) thus describes the perfecting virtues: “Thus prudence,
by contemplating the things of God, counts as nothing all things of the world
and directs all the thoughts of the soul to God alone; temperance, so far as
nature allows, neglects the needs of the body; fortitude prevents the soul
from being afraid of neglecting the body and rising to heavenly things; and
justice consists in the soul’s giving a wholehearted consent to follow the way
thus proposed.”
The perfect virtues (ibid.) arc even loftier and are the distinctive character
of some very perfect servants of God (“some who are at the summit of
perfection in this life”). St. Catherine of Siena expresses the same idea in her
Dialogue (chap. 74), when she enumerates the signs of the charity of the
perfect.

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181

Lastly, it is certain that Christian charity, which is ordained to
our configuration with the Savior crucified for us, ought for that
very reason to tend to the heroic practice of the virtues. This may
be deduced from what precedes: namely, since every Christian
ought, in fact, to have the virtues in a heroic degree in praepara­
tione animi and to be ready, with the help of God, to endure even
martyrdom rather than to deny his faith, this heroic act is not su­
perior to that to which charity, or the love of God above all else,
is ordained. By its very nature, this love prefers God to corporeal
life and ought, therefore, to be disposed to the sacrifice of life, which
is required in certain circumstances.
That Christian charity ought to tend to the heroic practice of
the virtues appears also in the enumeration of the degrees of charity
given by St. Bernard and explained by St. John of the Cross.2’
“Amor Dei facit operari indesinenter et sustinere infatigabiliter.”
This appears especially in the interior and exterior trials which the
servants of God bear both for their personal purification and, fol­
lowing the example of the Savior, for their work for the salvation
of souls.
The objection may be raised that, if this doctrine were true, many
more Christians would reach heroism, for that to which charity
is essentially ordained ought to be found in the majority. Heroism
is rare.2®
The answer to this objection must be that it is also rare for a
person to spend his whole life in the state of grace, without ever
sinning mortally, from the moment that he receives baptism; yet
sanctifying grace, by its very nature, is ordained to eternal life and
therefore to last forever, without ever being destroyed by mortal
sin. But we have received this very precious treasure in a fragile
vessel, and sensuality or pride may make us lose it. Though the
human soul is essentially rational and immortal, and grace ought
25 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. Il, chaps. 19 f.
26 St. Thomas answers a similar objection in regard to the number of the
elect (la, q.23, a. 7 ad jum): “The good that is proportionate to the common
state of nature is to be found in the majority and is wanting in the minority.
The good that exceeds the common state of nature is to be found in the mi­
nority and is wanting in the majority. Thus it is clear that the majority of
men have a sufficient knowledge for guidance of life; . . . but they who at­
tain to a profound knowledge of things intelligible are a very small minority
in respect to the rest.” The human intellect is not incapable of knowing those
things, but as a matter of fact few men reach this knowledge.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

to make it live an essentially divine life (which the state of grace
normally demands), many souls live only a life of sensibility, only
a few live a life of right reason. Likewise, charity, which is in every
Christian, as it is the seed of eternal life, tends by its very nature
to heroism and, if circumstances so require, to the sacrifice of the
present life in order to remain faithful to God. What the love of
country requires in certain circumstances, the love of God and of
souls requires even more.
As far as great sanctity is concerned, it manifests itself especially
by the connection or harmony of even the most dissimilar virtues.
One man may be inclined by nature to fortitude, but not to meekness;
for another, the inverse is true. Nature is, so to speak, determined
ad ummi; it needs to be completed by the different virtues under
the direction of wisdom and prudence. Great sanctity is thus the
eminent union of all the acquired and infused virtues, even of the
most dissimilar ones, which God alone can so intimately unite. It is
the union of great fortitude and perfect meekness, of ardent love
of truth and justice and of great mercy toward souls that have gone
astray. This union indicates a very close union with God, for what
is divided in the kingdom of nature is united in the kingdom of
God, especially in God Himself. Thus sanctity is a beautiful rep­
resentation of the union of the most varied divine perfections, of
infinite justice and infinite mercy in the eminence of the Deity or
of the inner life of God. Christian martyrs manifest at one and
the same time the greatest fortitude in their torments and the greatest
meekness by praying for their executioners.27 They are truly marked
with the image of Jesus crucified.
2T False martyrs, on the contrary, do not pray for their executioners. We
do not see in these martyrs the connection between the most varied virtues;
rather because of pride, their wills resist suffering, instead of abandoning
themselves to God while seeking to save souls.

CHAPTER XI

Full Christian Perfection and the
Passive Purifications
E HAVE seen that Christian perfection consists especially in
charity, which, more than any other virtue, unites us to God
and to our neighbor in God. We must consider how perfection also
requires the acts of the other virtues and of the seven gifts of the
Holy Ghost.1

W

Acts of the Other Virtues Required

for

Perfection

Perfection also necessarily requires the acts of the other virtues
which are of precept and which ought to be inspired, vivified, and
rendered meritorious by charity.2 Thus acts of faith, hope, religion,
1 In this question, as in the preceding one, there are two deviations. The
quietists seriously diminished the importance of the virtues which are dis­
tinct from charity. Quietism, properly so called, suppressed mortification
(which is the exercise of the virtues of penance, temperance, and patience)
and the exercise of the virtues relating to our neighbor. It fell into a false
mysticism, declaring that a person must remain in obscure faith and pure
love, without giving thanks to God, without addressing prayers of petition
to Him, without gaining indulgences, without positively resisting tempta­
tions. Cf. Denzinger, nos. 1232-38, 1241, 1255-75, «3*7·
On the other hand, some authors have insisted on the exercise of the vir­
tue of penance, on the interior and exterior acts of worship and those of
fraternal charity, to the point of not recognizing in a sufficiently practical
way the superiority of the love of God. This misplaced emphasis would lead
either to an almost antimystical asceticism or to an excessively exterior apos­
tolic life. It should not be forgotten that the interior life is the soul of the
apostolatc.
- Cf. Passerini, O.P., De statibus hominum, in Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 1, no. 8: “Ac­
tual perfection consists essentially, not alone in the act of charity, but also
in the acts of the other virtues governed by charity, in so far as they arc of
precept.”
Ibid., no. 10: “Actual perfection consists especially and principally in
183

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

prayer, assistance at Mass, Holy Communion, are of the essence of
perfection. Assuredly, Christian perfection requires also essentially
the acts of prudence, justice, fortitude, patience, temperance, meek­
ness, and humility, at least the acts of these virtues which are of
precept. We shall see that the supreme precept of love demands
that we should always grow in these virtues as in charity.
The effective practice of the three evangelical counsels of
poverty, chastity, and obedience belongs only accidentally to per­
fection, as a precious but not indispensable instrument.*3 They are
very useful means for the more certain and rapid attainment of per­
fection; but they are not indispensable means. A person may reach
sanctity, as Blessed Anna Taigi did, in the married state and while
retaining the right of ownership and the free use of the goods of
this world. Yet a person must have the spirit of the counsels and not
be attached to these earthly goods, but according to the expres­
sion of St. Paul, “use this world as if they used it not.” 4 The three
evangelical counsels invite us to renounce certain licit things, which,
without being contrary to charity, more or less hinder its activity
and its full development.5 If, therefore, the effective practice of
these counsels is not necessary to perfection, one must at least
have their spirit of detachment in order to become more and more
closely united to God.
From what we have said of the spiritual organism of the virtues
and the gifts, we see that the full perfection of Christian life re­
quires all the infused virtues connected with charity and also the
charity alone, in so far as charity perfects simply, the other virtues secundum
quid. . . . Therefore actual perfection is formally in charity alone, which
is the bond of perfection. . . . Nevertheless the other virtues pertain to the
essence of perfection, as matter to the essence of a composite nature.” Ibid.,
p. 23, nos. 20 ff.: “The acts of the other virtures, as they are of counsel, are
accidents of perfection.”
By this distinction between what is of precept and what is of counsel in
the virtues inferior to charity, Passerini brings to bear a precision which
Cajetan had forgotten (in Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 1 ), and clearly states the thought
of St. Thomas. Cajetan was accustomed to say: “Corrigendi videntur codices.”
3 See Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 3: “Primarily and essentially the perfection of the
Christian life consists in charity. . . . Secondarily and instrumentally, how­
ever, perfection consists in the observance of the counsels.”
4 See I Cor. 7:31. Cf. St. Thomas’ Commentary on this Epistle.
s St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q. 184, a.3: “The counsels arc directed to the removal
of things that hinder the act of charity and yet arc not contrary to charity,
such as marriage, the occupation of worldly business, and so forth.”

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185

acquired moral virtues which give the extrinsic facility of produc­
ing supernatural acts by removing the obstacles. It also requires
the seven gifts, which, as we have seen, are connected with charity e
and which consequently grow with it. Hence they are normally
in a degree commensurate with that of this virtue.
We should, moreover, remember that normally the charity of the
perfect ought to be greater and more intense than that of beginners
and proficients, although accidentally a very generous beginner,
called to become a great saint, may have a loftier charity than one of
the perfect. From the natural point of view, there are in the same
way little prodigies. The various ages of the spiritual life must be
judged by what constitutes them as a rule, and not by an exceptional
case. Normally greater vigor is required for adult age than for
childhood; the same is true in the spiritual order.7
Thus we see that perfection is a plenitude which implies the ex­
ercise of all the virtues and also of the seven gifts of the Holy
Ghost, which are in all the just. No one can be perfect without
having, through the gift of understanding, a certain penetration of
the mysteries of faith, and without having the gift of wisdom in a
degree proportionate to charity, although this gift is found in some
saints under a more clearly contemplative form and in others under
a form more directed to action, to the apostolate, and to the works
of mercy, as it was in St. Vincent de Paul who always saw in the
poor the suffering members of our Lord.
Of this plenitude of the virtues and gifts, charity is the bond, to
use the expression of St. Paul, “the bond of perfection.” This en­
semble is like a well-bound sheaf that is offered to God. Moreover,
we can truly say with St. Thomas that perfection consists especially
in charity, and principally in the love of God, although it necessarily
demands also the other virtues and the seven gifts. Thus, although
• St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.68, a. 5.
7 Therefore we are surprised that Suarez (De statu perfectionis, Bk. I, chap.
4, nos. ii, 12, 20) should have maintained that a high degree of charity is
accidentally proper to the perfect and that it may happen that a man who
is holier than another, by reason of the intensity of his charity, may be less
perfect than another. Normally this is not the case, but he who is holier may
accidentally have temperamental or exterior difficulties which the other has
not. Moreover, here it is a question of perfection according to the judgment
of God, not according to the judgment of men, who sometimes characterize
as humble one who is pusillanimous, and as proud one who is magnanimous,
or inversely.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

the human body is of the essence of man, his essence is constituted
especially by the rational soul, which distinguishes man from the
animal.
Evidently the state of grace and the charity of beginners do not
suffice to constitute perfection, properly so called, but only per­
fection in the broad sense, which excludes mortal sin. One must then
grow in charity to reach the spiritual age of the perfect. To attain
it we need abnegation, a great docility to the Holy Ghost through
the exercise of the seven gifts, and the generous acceptance of the
crosses or purifications which should destroy egoism and self-love
and definitely assure the uncontested primacy of the love of God,
of an ever more radiant charity.
The Purifications Required for the Full Perfection
of Christian Life

At this point, we must emphasize the purifications required for
the full perfection of Christian life and speak of them in a general
manner, drawing our inspiration from what St. Paul tells us about
them, and then from St. John of the Cross, a doctor of the Church
who has most profoundly studied this question of the purifications
of the soul. If the Church proposes his teaching to us as that of a
master, it is especially that we may gather from this teaching what
is of primary importance in it. We shall, moreover, find in it a
great light by which to distinguish the three ages of the spiritual
life: that of beginners, that of proficients, and that of the perfect.
We should not forget the loftiness of Christian perfection, con­
sidered in its normal plenitude or its integrity. St. Paul contemplated
it when he wrote to the Philippians: “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 things, and count them but as
dung, that I may gain Christ . . . that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings;
being made comformable to His death, if by any means I may attain
to the resurrection which is from the dead. Not as though I had
already attained, or were already perfect; but I follow after, if I
may by any means apprehend, wherein 1 am also apprehended by
Christ Jesus. ... I do not count myself to have apprehended.

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187

But one thing I do: forgetting the things that are behind and stretch­
ing forth myself to those that are before, I press towards the mark,
to the prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus. Let us
therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded. . . . Let us also
continue in the same rule. ... For many walk, of whom I have
told you often, . . . that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,
. . . who mind earthly things. But our conversation is in heaven.
. . . So stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” 8
St. Paul presents here a perfection that is not merely Platonic or
Aristotelian, but Christian in the full sense of the word. This per­
fection St. Paul proposes not only to himself as the apostle of Christ,
but to the Philippians to whom he writes, and to all of us, to all who
will be nourished by his epistles until the end of the world. Such
perfection evidently requires a great purification of the soul and
an unusual degree of docility to the Holy Ghost.
It has been said that St. Thomas Aquinas wrote little about the
purifications of the soul. Such a statement disregards what he wrote
in his commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul and the Gospel of
St. John, when, carried away by the word of God, he rises toward
the summits of the spiritual life which the great mystics love to de­
scribe. One should read in particular what he wrote on the third
chapter of the Epistle to the Philippians, which we have just quoted,
about the desire to know Christ intimately and to be admitted to
share in His sufferings, at least in order not to lose our crosses, in
order to become comformable to Him, and to save souls with Him.®
One should also read what St. Thomas wrote on these words of
Christ that are recorded by St. John: “I am the true vine; and My
Father is the husbandman. . . . Every branch that beareth fruit,
He will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” 10 St. Thomas
writes on this subject: “In order that the just who bear fruit, may
bear still more, God frequently cuts away in them whatever is
superfluous. He purifies them by sending them tribulations and
permitting temptations in the midst of which they show themselves
8 Phil. 3:8-20; 4: i.
8 The world contains many lost or sterile crosses, such as that of the bad
thief. These crosses could have been fruitful had they been borne with pa­
tience and love in union with our Lord, according to the words of St. Paul
which we have just quoted: “In the fellowship of His sufferings.”
10 John 15: i f.

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more generous and stronger. No one is so pure in this life that he no
longer needs to be more and more purified.” 11 These are the passive
purifications of which St. John of the Cross spoke at great length.
We are concerned here with what is required to attain the summit
of the normal development of charity. When we use the term
“summit,” we must not forget the word “normal”; and inversely,
when we use the word “normal,” we should not forget the word
“summit.” Frequently the term “normal” is applied to the state at
which Christians as a rule actually arrive, and not sufficient attention
is given to inquiring to what state they ought truly to reach if they
were entirely faithful. Because the generality of Christian souls do
not here on earth actually reach the stage of living in an almost
continual union with God, we should not declare that this union is
beyond the summit of the normal development of charity. We
should not confound what ought to be or should be with what
actually is: otherwise we would be led to declare that true virtue
is not possible on earth, for, as a matter of fact, the majority of men
pursue a useful or delectable good, such as money and earthly satis­
factions, rather than virtuous good, the object of virtue.
In a society which is declining and returning to paganism, a num­
ber take as their rule of conduct, not duty, the obligatory good,
which would demand too great effort in an environment where
everything leads one to descend, but the lesser evil. They follow
the current according to the law of the least effort. Not only do
they tolerate this lesser evil, but they do it, and frequently they
support it with their recommendations in order to keep their posi­
tions. They claim that they thus avoid a greater evil which others
would do in their place if, ceasing to please, they should lose their
situation or their command. And so saying, instead of helping others
11 See St. Thomas, In Joannem, 15:1: “‘And everyone that beareth fruit.
He will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit.’ In the life of nature it
happens that a palm tree having many sprouts bears less fruit because of the
diffusion of the sap to all the branches. Thus, in order that it may bear more
fruit, cultivators trim away its superfluous shoots. So it is in man. Now, if
in a man who is well disposed and united to God, his affection inclines to
diverse things, his virtue decreases and he becomes more ineffective in doing
good. And so it is that God, that the man may bring forth fruit, frequently
cuts away impediments of this type and purges him, sending tribulations
and temptations by which he may be made stronger for action. Therefore
He says: ‘He will purge him,' even if he is pure, because nobody is so pure
in this life that he cannot be more and more purified.”

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189

to reascend they assist them in descending, trying only to moderate
the fall. How many statesmen and politicians have come to this pass!
A somewhat similar condition exists in the spiritual life.
At this point we are seeking to learn what should be the full
normal development of charity, and not the level which this virtue
as a general rule actually reaches in good Christians. To achieve our
end, we must remember that the fundamental law of the normal
development of charity is quite different from that of our fallen
nature. While our nature, in so far as it remains wounded even
after baptism, inclines us to weaken and to descend, grace, which
regenerates us progressively, ever leads us to ascend and should
finally “spring forth into eternal life” according to the words of
Christ.
There is in our lives a light and shade that is at times striking.
St. Paul often speaks of it when he opposes the flesh to the spirit,
the light of God to the shades of death which would like to recap­
ture us: “Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the
flesh. For the flesh (which here stands for wounded nature) lusteth
against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh; for these are con­
trary one to another.” 12 “Spirit” in this case means the spirit of
the new man enlightened and fortified by the Holy Ghost.13 Even
in the baptized, concupiscence and many tendencies to sensuality,
to vanity, and to pride remain. The love of God, which is in us, is
still far from being victorious over all egoism, all self-love. A pro­
found purification is then necessary; not only that which we must
impose on ourselves, and which is called mortification, but that which
God imposes when, according to Christ’s expression, He wishes to
prune, to trim the branches of the vine, that they may bring forth
more fruit.
St. John of the Cross has shown this admirably. At the beginning
of the prologue of The Ascent of Mount Carmel he writes: “The
dark night, through which the soul passes on its way to the divine
light of the perfect union of the love of God, so far as it is possible
in this life, requires for its explanation greater experience and light
of knowledge than I possess. For so great are the trials, and so
profound the darkness, spiritual as well as corporal, through which
souls must pass if they will attain to perfection, that no human
12 Gal. 5:16 f.
»· Rom. 8:4.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

learning can explain them, nor experience describe them. He only
who has passed through them can know them.” The branch which
God trims or prunes is not only a living but a conscious branch.
To know the nature of this pruning, which is similar to that of a
tree, one must have experienced it. Each one must carry his cross,
and only after having borne it with love does he know clearly what
the cross is.
Not without suffering indeed, is complete victory obtained over
egoism, sensuality, laziness, impatience, jealousy, envy, injustice in
judgment, self-love, foolish pretensions, and also self-seeking in
piety, the immoderate desire of consolations, intellectual and spirit­
ual pride, all that is opposed to the spirit of faith and to confidence
in God, that a man may succeed in loving the Lord perfectly, with
his whole heart, with his whole soul, with all his strength, and with
all his mind, and his neighbor (enemies included) as himself.14 Great
firmness, patience, and longanimity are also needed to persevere in
charity, whatever may happen, when the words of the Apostle are
verified: “And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution.” 15
We should not, therefore, be surprised that, when St. John of the
Cross describes the road which leads most surely and most rapidly to
the full perfection of Christian life, he declares that a soul could
not reach it without undergoing the passive purification of the senses,
which, in his opinion, marks the entrance into the illuminative way,
and the passive purification of the spirit, which is at the threshold
of the unitive way (if one understands the unitive way not in a
diminished form, but according to its full normal development in
the servants of God whom the Church proposes as models).
To show that the active purification which we impose on our­
selves does not suffice, St. John writes: “For, after all the efforts
of the soul, it cannot by any exertion of its own actively purify itself
so as to be in the slightest degree fit for the divine union of perfec­
tion in the love of God, if God Himself does not take it into His
11 Cf. Luke 10:27. Christ even tells us: “This is My commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). When a person truly
loves, if the occasion should arise of taking vengeance on an enemy, and he
should ask himself: “Is asceticism or mysticism involved here?” the question
would seem ridiculous and marked by an unbearable pedantry desirous, at
any price, of classifying in one category or another what constitutes the very
impulse of life toward God.
“ See II Tim. 3:12.

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own hands, and purify it in the fire, dark to the soul, in the way I am
going to explain.” 10 This statement shows clearly the necessity of
the cross, which is affirmed by the Gospel and by all Christian spirit­
uality. We use here, and do so throughout this work, deliberately
simple but entirely traditional terms, in order to avoid all exaggera­
tion.
The same master says: “Souls begin to enter the dark (passive)
night when God is drawing them out of the state of beginners,
which is that of those who meditate on the spiritual road, and is
leading them into that of proficients, the state of contemplatives,
that, having passed through it, they may arrive at the state of the
perfect, which is that of the divine union with God.” 17
First of all, the soul is weaned from sensible consolations, which
are useful for a time but become an obstacle when sought for them­
selves. Whence the necessity of the passive purification of the senses,
which places the soul in sensible aridity and leads it to a spiritual
life that is much more freed from the senses, the imagination, and
reasoning. At this point the soul receives, through the gifts of the
Holy Ghost, an intuitive knowledge which, despite a painful ob­
scurity, initiates the soul profoundly into the things of God. At
times this knowledge makes us penetrate them more deeply in an
instant than would meditation over a period of months and years.
To resist temptations against chastity or patience—temptations which
present themselves rather frequently in this night of the senses—
there are required at times heroic acts of chastity and patience,
which are, however, extremely fruitful.
In the night of the senses there is a striking light and shade. The
sensible appetites are cast into obscurity and dryness by the disap­
pearance of sensible graces on which the soul dwelt with an egois­
tical complacency. But in the midst of this obscurity, the higher
faculties begin to be illumined by the light of life, which goes be­
yond reasoned meditation and leads to a loving and prolonged gaze
upon God during prayer.
After treating of this purification, St. John of the Cross says: “The
soul began to set out on the way of the spirit, the way of beginners
and proficients, which is also called the illuminative way, or the
way of infused contemplation.” 18 This text is among the most im” The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 3.
1T Ibid., chap. 1.
Ibid., chap. 14: “Via iluminativa o de conrctnplaciôn infusa.”

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three ages of the interior life

portant in all the writings of St. John of the Cross. Farther on we
shall consider it again, and see its meaning and import more clearly.
But even after this purification, that the soul may be freed from
the defects of proficients, from the subtle pride which subsists in
them, another purification, that of the spirit, is needed.18
19 This puri­
fication is found in far more advanced souls which ardently desire
goodness, but which have too strong a desire that good be done by
them or in their way. They must be purified from every human
attachment to their judgment, to their excessively personal manner
of seeing, willing, acting, from every human attachment to the
good works to which they devote themselves. This purification, if
well borne in the midst of temptations against the three theological
virtues, will increase tenfold their faith, their confidence in God,
and their love of God and neighbor.
This purifying trial presents itself under rather varied forms in
the purely contemplative life and in that devoted to the apostolate.
It differs also according as it is intended to lead the soul even here
on earth to lofty perfection, or when it occurs only at the end of
life to help souls to undergo, at least partially, their purgatory be­
fore death while meriting, while growing in love, instead of under­
going it after death without meriting. The dogma of purgatory thus
confirms the necessity of these passive purifications of the senses and
of the spirit.20
18 Ibid., Bk. II, chaps, i and 2: In chapter 2, speaking of the imperfections
of the advanced, St. John says they are “much more incurable than the oth­
ers, because they consider them as more spiritual. ... If that (divine union)
is to be attained, the soul must enter the second night of the spirit. . . . There
it will travel on the road of faith, dark and pure, the proper and adequate
means of union.” Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 18: On the ascending and descending
fluctuations before the soul reaches the state of definitive peace, “the state of
perfection, which consists in the perfect love of God, and contempt of self.”
20 Cf. ibid., chap. 20. Sr. John speaks here of souls which “because of their
perfect purification by God will not have to pass through purgatory.”
According to St. John of the Cross, the full perfection attainable here be­
low, is found only in the transforming union. Cf. The Spiritual Canticle,
Stanza 22: “For in this state, the soul is no longer molested, either by the
devil, or the flesh, or the world, or the desires, seeing that here is fulfilled
what is written in the Canticle (2:11 f.): ‘Winter is now past, the rain is
over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land.’ ” The soul then finds
a holy joy in suffering in union with our Lord (ibid., stanza 24), all the virtues
have reached their perfect development (ibid.) and also the gifts of the Holy
Ghost (cf. ibid., stanza 26, and The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Ill,
chap. 1).

PERFECTION AND THE PASSIVE PURIFICATIONS

193

In this trial there is a light and shade superior to that of the night
of the senses. The soul seems stripped of the lights and the facility
to pray and to act in which it took satisfaction because of a remnant
of self-love and pride. But a superior light appears in this night of
the spirit; in the midst of temptations against faith and hope, appear
little by little in all their relief the formal motives of the three
theological virtues. They are like three stars of first magnitude: the
first revealing truth, the helpful mercy, and the sovereign good­
ness of God. The soul comes to love God very purely with its
whole heart; it becomes an adorer in spirit and in truth.
We shall, farther on, discuss this matter at greater length.21 But
what we have just said was necessary in order not to diminish the
loftiness of the full normal development of Christian life. This sum­
mit, attainable here on earth, is, as we have seen, the one Christ
Himself described at the beginning of His ministry in the evangelical
beatitudes, expressed in the Sermon on the Mount. These beatitudes,
especially the last one, go beyond the order of simple asceticism;
they truly belong to the mystical order, like the passive purifica­
tions of which we have just spoken.22
Full Christian Perfection and Contemplation

This affirmation of St. John of the Cross, that the full perfection
of Christian life requires the passive purifications of the senses and
the spirit, is fraught with consequences. From this assertion it follows
that the infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith is in the
normal way of sanctity, for, as St. John of the Cross 23 shows, it
begins with the passive purification of the senses, in the aridity of
the sensible faculties. It is commonly said that the roots of knowl­
edge are bitter and its fruits sweet. As much must be said of the
roots and fruits of infused contemplation. It would be a gross error
to confound this contemplation with consolations, which do not
always accompany it.
21 Ac the beginning of the third and fourth parts of this work.
22 The passive character of these purifications, as we shall see more clearly
in what follows, belongs to an order superior to simple asceticism or the
exercise of the virtues according to our own activity. We have treated this
question at greater length elsewhere. Cf. Christian Perfection and Contempla­
tion, pp. 146-78, and L'amour de Dieu et la croix de Jésus, II, 458-657.
The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 9: The three signs of the pas­
sive purification of the senses.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

No one any longer maintains that the infused contemplation of
the mysteries of faith is a grace gratis data, like prophecy and the
gift of tongues. In the judgment of all, contemplation is attached
to the order of sanctifying grace or “the grace of the virtues and
gifts,” and proceeds from faith illumined by the gifts of under­
standing and wisdom, from penetrating and savory faith.
Finally, if one cannot merit de condigno the actual efficacious
grace of infused contemplation, it does not follow, as a result, that
contemplation is not in the normal way of sanctity. Neither can
the just man merit the grace of final perseverance (the state of grace
at the moment of death, for this state is the very principle of merit) ;
yet the grace of final perseverance is necessary to obtain eternal
life. Likewise we cannot merit the efficacious grace which pre­
serves us from monal sin and keeps us in the state of grace.2425
But
these gifts, which the just man cannot merit, may be obtained by
humble, trusting, and persevering prayer, for we read in Scripture:
“Wherefore I wished, and understanding was given me: and I called
upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me.” 28
It is clear from what we have already said that the infused con­
templation of the mysteries of faith is morally necessary to full
Christian perfection. Since, according to the Vatican Council
(Denzinger, 1786), the revelation of the totality of the natural truths
of religion is morally necessary that all these truths “may be easily
known by all with firm certitude and without admixture of error,”
likewise very few Christians would reach perfection without in­
fused contemplation, which proceeds from faith enlightened by the
gifts. What is more, they would reach only a diminished perfection,
and not the full Christian perfection which Christ spoke of in the
Sermon on the Mount while preaching the beatitudes. As St. Augus­
tine and St. Thomas say, the beatitudes are, in fact, the highest acts
of the Christian virtues perfected by the gifts.26*The teaching of
St. John of the Cross, which we stated above, thus fully conforms
to what is said of the beatitudes in the Gospel, and to the way St.
Augustine and St. Thomas understood them.
24 We have treated this point at greater length in Christian Perfection and
Contemplation, pp. 409 flf.
25 Wisd. 7:7.
2,1 Hardly any Thomists would wish to deny this proposition: “The full
normal act of the gift of wisdom cannot be had without infused contempla­
tion, which is properly called infused in so far as it cannot exist without the
special inspiration of the Holy Ghost.”

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195

The author of The Imitation likewise says: “There are found so
few contemplative persons because there are few that know how
to separate themselves entirely from perishable creatures.” 27 Here
too, as St. Teresa observes, “Many arc called but few are chosen.” 28
Moreover, we must not confuse the question, “Is contemplation
in the normal way of sanctity?” with the following: “Can all just
souls actually attain to contemplation, no matter what their en­
vironment, their training, and direction?” Likewise, one should not
confuse the question, “Is habitual grace essentially the germ of eter­
nal life?” with this one: “Are all the baptized, at least the majority
of them, saved?” or again with the following question: “Are the
majority of those who have persevered for some years saved?”
Even if interior souls have good will, they may possibly not have
all the generosity necessary to reach full perfection. The expression
“full perfection” designates not only the essence but the integrity
of perfection. That one may attain it, good training and direction
are very useful, although God supplies these for very generous souls.
It should not be forgotten that the call to intimacy with God,
like the call to Christian life, may be either general and remote, or
individual and proximate. This last, in its turn, may be either suf­
ficient or efficacious, and efficacious in regard either to the inferior
degrees or to the highest degrees of union with God.
Lastly, in the works of authors such as St. Teresa and St. John
of the Cross, distinction must be clearly made, as is customary,
between what is a general principle or at least a main conclusion,
and what is only an answer to an accidental difficulty. Otherwise,
one would confuse what ought to be with what actually is ideal
perfection, and what is still far from it.
The loftiness of the end to be attained must not be lessened, but
should be considered as it was set forth for us by Christ when He
preached the beatitudes. As far as the means are concerned, pru­
dence ought to propose them with the moderation that considers
the diverse conditions in which souls find themselves, and accord­
ing as they are among the beginners or the proficients. By so doing,
the loftiness of the end to be attained is safeguarded, and also the
realism of a truly practical direction. The greatness of the end to
be pursued should certainly never be lost sight of.
27 The Imitation of Christ, Bk. Ill, chap. 31.
28 The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 1.

CHAPTER XII

Perfection and the Precept of the
Love of God
E HAVE seen that Christian perfection consists principally
in charity, and that Christ describes it for us in all its lofti­
ness in the eight beatitudes. We must now ask whether Christian
perfection thus conceived is only counseled for all Christians, or
whether the supreme precept makes it their duty to strive for it.
This is equivalent to asking the exact meaning and import of the
double precept of the love of God and of neighbor.

W

Is

the

First Precept Without Limit?

Some have thought that for even the perfect observance of the
supreme precept of the love of God and of neighbor, a high degree
of charity is not necessary. From this point of view the precept
would not be directed toward perfection; rather perfection would
go beyond the precept and would consist in the accomplishment of
certain counsels of charity, which would be superior to the first pre­
cept itself.1 Were this so, the supreme precept would have a limit.
1 This is the opinion expressed by Suarez, De statu perfectionis, chaps, n,
nos. 15,16. He admits that St. Augustine and St. Thomas seem to teach clearly
that perfection is not only counseled, but commanded by the first precept,
as the end toward which all 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 prae­
cepti cadat, verum etiam neque per modum finis in praeceptis contineri.”
Suarez thus 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, virtues which manifestly are inferior to charity. In his opinion,
perfection consists, therefore, essentially in these counsels of charity, and
instrumentally in the other three which are subordinated as means (cf. ibid.,
no. 16).
This doctrine of Suarez is criticized at length by the great canonist Passerini, O.P., who was also a profound theologian and most faithful to
196

PERFECTION AND THE LOVE OF GOD

197
This may seem true if we consider the matter superficially. In
stating this problem, St. Thomas carefully notes this likelihood, re­
marking by way of difficulty or objection: “If, therefore, the per­
fection of the Christian life consists in observing the commandments,
it follows that perfection is necessary for salvation, and that all are
bound thereto; and this is evidently false.” 2 St. Thomas answers this
objection in a manner that is both simple and profound, by declaring
that all are obliged in a general way to tend to perfection, each ac­
cording to his condition, without being obliged to be already per­
fect. It is surprising to find that modern theologians, and not the
least among them, failing to comprehend the doctrine of the greatest
masters on this fundamental point of spirituality, have turned this
objection into their very thesis.
St. Thomas shows plainly that the supreme precept obliges all in
a general way to tend toward the perfection of charity, at least
according to the common way, although the vows of religious oblige
only those who have made them to tend to this perfection according
to the special way of their vocation.
The holy doctor offers the following explanation: “It is written
(Deut. 6:5): ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole
heart,’ and (Lev. 19:18): ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor (Vulg.,
friend) as thyself’; and these are the commandments of which our
Lord said (Matt. 22:40): On these two commandments dependeth
the whole law and the prophets.’ Now, the perfection of charity,
according to which the Christian life is said to be perfect, consists
precisely in loving God with our whole heart, and our neighbor
as ourselves. Therefore it seems that perfection consists in the ob­
servance of the precepts (and not precisely in the fulfillment of
the counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience).
“Perfection is said to consist in a thing in two ways: in one way,
Sr. Thomas. Cf. his De hominum statibus et officiis, in Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 3, nos.
70, 106, where he shows that this doctrine of Suarez is opposed to that of
St. Augustine and of St. Thomas which was preserved by St. Antoninus,
Cajetan, and Valentia. St. Thomas occasionally uses the expression “perfec­
tion of supererogation,” but in a different sense from that in which Suarez
uses it. When St. Thomas uses the phrase, he means that the three evangelical
counsels of poverty, absolute chastity, and obedience are not obligatory.
The sound basis of Passerini’s conclusion will be easily seen by examining
St. Thomas’ article, Ila Ilae, q. 184, a.3, which we arc going to translate.
2 See Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 3,2a obj.; “Whether perfection consists in the observ­
ance of the precepts or of the counsels.”

i98

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

primarily and essentially, in another, secondarily and accidentally.
Primarily and essentially the perfection of the Christian life con­
sists in charity; primarily in the love of God, and secondarily in the
love of our neighbor. This charity is the object of the two chief
precepts of the divine law. Now, the love of God and of our neigh­
bor is not commanded according to a measure, so that what is in
excess of the measure be a matter of counsel. This is evident from
the very form of the commandment, pointing, as it does, to per­
fection, for instance in the words, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with thy whole heart (where is the limit?): since the whole
is the same as the perfect, according to the Philosopher (Phys. Ill,
text. 64), and in the words, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy­
self,’ since everyone loves himself most (maxime) ? The reason for
this is that the ‘end of the commandment is charity’ according to
the Apostle (cf. I Tim. 1:5). 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 a person wills the end, or he does not
will it; he does not will it by halves, as the Philosopher observes
(Polit., 1:6). Thus a physician does not measure the amount of his
healing, but how much medicine or diet he shall employ for the
purpose of healing. Consequently it is evident that perfection con­
sists essentially in the observance of the commandments; wherefore
Augustine says (De perf. justit., VIII): ‘Why, then, should not
this perfection be prescribed to man, although no man has it in this
life?’4
“Secondarily and instrumentally, however, perfection consists in
the observance of the counsels; in other words, they are only pre­
cious instruments to attain it. In fact, all the counsels, like the com­
mandments, are ordained to charity, with one difference, however;
the commandments, other than the two great precepts of love, are
intended to remove whatever is contrary to charity, whatever might
destroy it; while the end of the counsels is to remove whatever
s In fact, everyone ought, through charity, to wish for himself salvation,
eternal life, and not only an inferior degree of glory, but eternal life without
setting any limit; for we do not know to what degree of glory God wishes to
raise us.
4 St. Augustine means that even the perfection of heaven falls under the
precept of the love of God, not as something to be realized immediately, but
as the end toward which one must tend. It is thus that Cajctan explains it
(Commentary on Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. j).

PERFECTION AND THE LOVE OF GOD

199

hinders or prevents the perfect exercise of charity without, how­
ever, being opposed to it, as for example, marriage, the necessity of
being occupied with secular affairs, and things of this sort. This
is what Augustine teaches (Enchir., chap. 21): ‘Precepts . . . and
counsels ... are well observed when one fulfills them in order to
love God and one’s neighbor for God in this world and in the
next.’ ” 5
St. Thomas adds that this is why the abbot Moses says (Confer­
ences of the Fathers, Bk. I, chap. 7): “Fasts, vigils, meditation on
Holy Scripture, penury, and the loss of all one’s wealth are not per­
fection but means to perfection, since not in them does perfection
consist, but by them one attains it” e more rapidly and more surely.7
A man can be voluntarily poor for other than a religious motive,
through philosophical scorn of wealth, for example; likewise one
can be poor for love of God, as St. Francis was, but this is not
indispensable to perfection. Thus a soul may reach sanctity in the
married state without the effective practice of the counsels, but on
condition that it have the spirit of the counsels, which is the spirit
of detachment from worldly goods for love of God.
All this shows that perfection lies principally in the more and
more generous fulfillment of the supreme precept, which has no
limit. No one can find a limit in the statement in Deuteronomy:
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with
thy whole soul and with thy whole strength,” 8 and not by halves.
In other words, all Christians to whom this precept is addressed,
must, unless they already have the perfection of charity, at least
tend toward it, each according to his condition, whether it be in the
married state or in the sacerdotal life or in the religious state. For
all, it is not only better to tend toward this perfection of charity, it
is a duty identical with that of continually advancing toward heaven
where the love of God will reign fully, a love which nothing will
any longer be able to destroy or render tepid.
5 Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 3.
’ Ibid.
7 This is what our Lord had in mind when He 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; and come, follow Me” (Matt. 19:21). As
St. Thomas remarks (loc. cit., ad mm), this is the road which leads to per­
fection; and then he explains that perfection consists in following Jesus
through love.
8 Dcut. 6:5; Luke 10:27.

200

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

The Love

of

God Does Not Consist

in a

Golden Mean

As this heading declares, the doctrine, that the supreme precept
has no limit, is greatly confirmed if we consider that the end in
question here is not an intermediary end, such as health, but the
last end, God Himself, who is infinite good. If a sick person desires
health without limitations, with greater reason we should desire the
love of God, without limiting our desire to a certain degree. We do
not know the degree to which God wishes to lead us and will lead
us if we are faithful and generous. St. Thomas says: “Never can
we love God as much as He ought to be loved, or believe and hope
in Him as much as we should.” 9 In contrast to the moral virtues,
the theological virtues do not consist essentially in a happy mean:
their object, their formal motive, their essential measure is God
Himself, His infinite truth and goodness.
We are far from the aurea mediocritas of which Horace spoke.
As an Epicurean, he even seriously reduced the golden mean of
the moral virtues. The truly golden mean of these virtues is not only
that of selfish calculation, which, without love of virtue, avoids the
disadvantages of vices that are opposed to each other; the truly
golden mean is already a summit, that of right reason and of virtuous
good loved for itself, over and above the useful and the delectable.
But this summit has not an infinite elevation; it is the reasonable
rule determining the measure of our acts in the use of exterior

presence of certain dangers we must be courageous and even not
fear death if our country is in danger; but to expose ourselves to death
without a just motive would not be courage but temerity. More­
over, there are some sacrifices that our country cannot rightly re­
quire of us. Our country is not God, and consequently cannot demand
that we love it above all else, sacrificing to it our Christian faith,
the practice of the true religion, and our eternal salvation. Such a
course of action would be an excessive love of country.
But, over and above the moral virtues, the theological virtues,
which have God immediately as their object and motive, cannot
essentially consist in a golden mean. We cannot love God too much,
believe too greatly in 1 lim, hope too much in Him; we can never
» See la Ilae, q.<$4, a.4: “Whether the theological virtues observe the mean.”

PERFECTION AND THE LOVE OF GOD

201

love Him as much as He should be loved. Thus we see more clearly
that the supreme precept has no limit. It asks us all ever to strive here
on earth for a purer and stronger love of God.
If hope is the mean between despair and presumption, this is not
because the presumptuous man hopes too greatly in God, but be­
cause he displaces the motive of hope by hoping for what God
could not promise, such as pardon without true repentance. Like­
wise, credulity does not consist in believing too greatly in God, but
in believing what is only human invention or imagination as if it
were revealed by Him.1011
We cannot believe too strongly in God, or hope too greatly in
Him, or love Him too much. To forget, as the Epicureans do, that
the rational, golden mean is already a summit, and to wish to make
the theological virtues consist essentially in a golden mean as the
moral virtues do, is characteristic of mediocrity or tepidity, erected
into a system under pretext of moderation. Mediocrity is a mean
between good and evil and, indeed, nearer evil than good. The rea­
sonable, golden mean is already a summit, that is, moral good; the
object of the theological virtues is infinite truth and goodness. This
truth has at times been brought into refief by the comparison be­
tween the mediocre man and the true Christian.11
10 Ibid.: “It is possible to find a mean and extremes in theological virtue,
accidentally (not essentially) and in reference to us” (i.e., faith is per acci­
dens a mean between incredulity and credulity, hope between despair and
presumption).
11 Cf. Ernest Hello, L'homme, Bk. I, chap. 8: “The truly mediocre man ad­
mires everything a little and nothing with warmth. . . . He considers every
affirmation insolent, because every affirmation excludes the contradictory
proposition. But if you are slightly friendly and slightly hostile to all things,
he will consider you wise and reserved. The mediocre man says there is good
and evil in all things, and that we must not be absolute in our judgments. If
you strongly affirm the truth, the mediocre man will say that you have too
much confidence in yourself. The mediocre man regrets that the Christian
religion has dogmas. He would like it to teach only ethics, and if you tell him
that its code of morals comes from its dogmas as the consequence comes from
the principle, he will answer that you exaggerate. ... If the word ‘exaggera­
tion’ did not exist, the mediocre man would invent it.
“The mediocre man appears habitually modest. He cannot be humble, or
he would cease to be mediocre. The humble man scorns all lies, even were
they glorified by the whole earth, and he bows the knee before every truth.
. . . If the naturally mediocre man becomes seriously Christian, he ceases
absolutely to be mediocre. . . . The man who loves is never mediocre.”

202

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
The Duty

of

Advancing

on the

Way to Eternity

Finally, another reason why the precept of love has no limit is
found in the fact that we are travelers on the way to eternity, and
that we advance by growing in the love of God and of our neighbor.
Consequently our charity ought always to grow even to the end
of our journey. Not only is this a counsel, that is, something better,
but an obligation. Moreover, a soul here on earth not desirous
of growing in charity would offend God. The road to eternity is
not made to be used as a place for rest or sleep, but rather to be
traveled. For the traveler who has not yet reached the obligatory
end or term of his pilgrimage, progress is commanded and not only
counseled, just as a child must grow, according to the law of nature,
under pain of becoming a dwarf, a deformed being.12 Now, when
it is a question of advancing toward God, it is not by the movement
of our bodies that we advance, but rather spiritually, by the steps
of love, as St. Gregory the Great says, by growth in charity which
ought to become a purer and stronger love. This is what we ought
especially to ask in prayer; this is the import of the first petitions
of the Our Father.
Does it follow that a person who does not yet fulfill the precept
perfectly, transgresses it? Not at all; for, as St. Thomas says, “To
avoid this transgression, it is enough to fulfill the law of charity to
a certain extent as beginners do.
“The perfection of divine love falls entirely {universaliter) within
the object 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
Augustine says {De perfecti one justitiae, chap. 8; De Spiritu et lit­
tera, chap. 36). But a person 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 loving
nothing more than God or contrary to God or equal with God, and
he who has not this degree of perfection in no wise fulfills the com­
mandment. 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 a person does not yet possess it, entails no transgression of
«See Ha Ilae, q. 184, a.j ad juin.

PERFECTION AND THE LOVE OF GOD

203

the commandment. And, in like manner, the fact that a person has
not attained the intermediate degrees of perfection, entails no trans­
gression, provided only that he reaches the lowest degree.” 13
But evidently he who remains in this lowest degree does not
fulfill the supreme commandment in all its perfection: “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 be an error to think that only imperfect charity is of
precept, and that only the degrees of this virtue superior to the
lowest degree are of counsel. They fall under the precept, if not as
something to be realized immediately, at least as that toward which
we must tend.14 Thus, by virtue of the law of his development, a
child must grow in order to become a man, otherwise he would not
remain a child, but would become a deformed dwarf. The same is
true in the spiritual life.15 The law of growth has serious demands.
If the divine seed, placed in us by baptism, does not develop, it runs
the risk of dying, of being choked out by weeds, as we read in the
parable of the sower. In the spiritual life these abnormal souls are
certainly not the true mystics, but the retarded and the lukewarm.
Perfection is an end toward which all must tend, each according
to his condition. This capital point of spiritual doctrine, forgotten
by some modem theologians, was highlighted in 1923 by Pius XI in
his encyclical Studiorum ducem, in which he presents St. Thomas to
us as the undisputed master not only of dogmatic and moral theology,
but also of ascetical and mystical theology. Pius XI draws particular
attention to the doctrine of the Angelic Doctor, namely, that the
perfection of charity falls under the supreme precept as the end
toward which every Christian must tend according to his condition
in life.16
18 Ibid., ad zum.
14 This is the opinion of Cajetan (Commentary on Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 3) and
also of Passerai, De hominum statibus et officiis, on Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 3, nos.
70, 106.
10 St. Thomas, loc. cit., ad 311m.
10Studiorum ducem, June 29, 1923: “That the love of God ought always
to grow was most certain doctrine. ‘This is evident from the very form of
the commandment, pointing, as it does, to perfection. . . . Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with thy whole heart. . . . The reason of this is that the
end of the commandment is charity, according to the Apostle (I Tim. 1:5);
and the end is not subject to a measure, bur only such things as are directed
to the end' (Ila Ilae, q. 184, a.3), This is why the perfection of charity toward

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

That same year Pius XI, in another encyclical, recalled the fact
that St. Francis de Sales taught the same doctrine.*17
Three consequences, which we shall develop farther on, result
from this doctrine: (i) In the way of salvation, he who does not
advance, goes back. Why is this so? Because it is a law that one must
always advance, under penalty of becoming a retarded soul, just as
a child who does not develop as he should, becomes abnormal. (2)
The progress of charity should indeed be more rapid in proportion
as we approach nearer to God, who draws us more strongly. Thus
the movement of a falling stone is so much the more rapid as the
stone approaches the earth which attracts it. (3) Lastly, since such
is the loftiness of the first precept, assuredly actual graces are pro­
gressively offered to us proportionate to the end to be attained, for
God does not command the impossible. He loves us more than we
think. In return, we must give Him our love.
When we have succeeded in loving Him with all our heart, even
with an affective love, we must love Him with all our soul, with an
effective love, with all our strength, when the hour of trial strikes
for us, and finally, with all our mind, progressively freed from the
fluctuations of the sensible faculties, that, henceforth spiritualized,
we may become truly “adorers in spirit and in truth.”
All this doctrine shows that sanctification must not be too greatly
separated from'salvation, as is done by those who say: “I shall never
which everyone must tend according to his condition, falls under the pre­
cept.”
17 In this encyclical, written for the third centenary of St. Francis de Sales,
January 26, 1923, we read: “Christ constituted the Church holy and the
source of holiness, and all those who take her for guide and teacher must,
according to the divine 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 number and that all others are permitted to remain in
a lower degree of virtue. As is evident, this law obliges absolutely everybody
without exception. Moreover, all who reach the summit of Christian perfec­
tion, and their name is legion, of every age and class, according to the testi­
mony of history, have experienced the same weaknesses of nature and have
known the same dangers. St. Augustine puts the matter clearly when he says:
‘God does not command the impossible, but, in giving the commandment, He
admonishes us to accomplish what we can according to our strength, and to
ask aid to accomplish whatever exceeds our strength.’ ” Concerning this doc­
trine, see St. Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. Ill, chap. 1.

PERFECTION AND THE LOVE OF GOD

205

become a saint; it is enough for me to be saved.” This statement
contains an error of perspective. Progressive sanctification is, in
reality, the way of salvation. In heaven there will be only saints,
and, in this sense of the word, each of us must strive for sanctity.

CHAPTER

XIII

Perfection and the Evangelical Counsels
E HAVE seen that in virtue of the supreme precept all
the faithful must tend to the perfection of charity, each
according to his condition or state in life. In addition, we have seen
that no one can reach Christian perfection without having the spirit
of the evangelical counsels, which is the spirit of detachment spoken
of by St. Paul when he says that we should use the goods of this
world as though not using them: in other words, without fixing
our affections on them, without settling ourselves on this earth as
if we were going to live here forever. We must not forget that we
are all travelers on the road to eternity, and that we must all grow
in charity until we reach the end of our journey. This is a general
obligation springing from the first precept. Moreover, by reason
of a particular vocation, certain souls have a special obligation to
tend toward perfection according to a particular kind of life. This
is the case with the priest, that he may be the worthy minister of
our Lord Jesus Christ. It is also the case with religious who are not
priests, because of their vows or promises not only to live according
to the spirit of the counsels, but effectively to practice the counsels
of poverty, absolute chastity, and obedience. We shall now discuss
the effective practice of these three counsels in relation to Christian
perfection and to the healing of our moral wounds.

W

The Three Evangelical Counsels
of the Soul

and the

Wounds

Christ said to the rich young man mentioned in Sr. Matthew’s
Gospel: “If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast and give to
the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven. And come, follow
206

PERFECTION AND EVANGELICAL COUNSELS

207

A4e.” 1 The Evangelist adds: “When the young man had heard this
word, he went away sad, for he had great possessions.”
The effective practice of the three evangelical counsels is not
obligatory nor is it indispensable to reach the perfection toward
which we must all tend, but it is a most suitable means more surely
and rapidly to reach the end and not run the danger of stopping
halfway. We have said that a soul cannot reach perfection without
having the spirit of the counsels, or the spirit of detachment. Now,
it is difficult truly to have this spirit without the effective practice
of this detachment, which seemed too hard to the rich young man.
Sanctity can be attained in the married state, as we see from the
lives of St. Clotilde, St. Louis, and Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, but
it is more difficult and more rare to reach it by this common road.
It is not easy to have the spirit of detachment in regard to worldly
goods, permitted pleasures, and our own will, if, in reality, we do
not effectively detach ourselves from them. The Christian who
lives in the world is often exposed to excessive absorption and pre­
occupation about a situation to be acquired or maintained for him­
self and his family. He is also in danger of forgetting to some extent
that he must advance toward another life, another fatherland, and
that to reach it, something is needed quite different from the under­
standing of worldly affairs: in other words, the help of God, which
should be sought through prayer, and the fruit of grace, which is
merit. In family life he is also inclined to dwell on affections in which
he finds a legitimate satisfaction for his need of loving. He is also led
to forget that he must above all things love God with his whole heart,
with his whole soul, with all his strength, and with his whole mind.
Frequently charity is not in him a living flame which rises toward
God while vivifying all other affections; instead, it is like a burn­
ing coal which slowly dies out under the ashes. This explains the
ease with which a number of these Christians sin, scarcely reflecting
that their sin is an infidelity to the divine friendship, which should
be the most profound sentiment in their hearts.
Lastly, the Christian living in the world is often exposed to doing
his own will, side by side, so to speak, with the will of God. After
giving a few moments to prayer on Sundays and weekdays, he may
organize his life from rhe simple, natural point of view in accord­
ance with his reason which is more or less deformed by self-love
1 Matt. 19:21.

zo8

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

and the prejudices or conventions of his environment. Then faith
seems at times reduced to a number of sacred truths that have been
memorized, but have not become truths of life. The understanding
is then too much preoccupied with earthly interests, sometimes with
diversions; should difficulties demanding great moral energy arise,
the spirit of faith is often found wanting. The great truths about the
future life, about the helps that come to us from Christ, remain prac­
tically inefficacious, like distant truths that have never been assimi­
lated and are lost in the depths of the heavens. Practical faith is lack­
ing then, a faith that would cause the light of the mysteries of salva­
tion to descend into the midst of the difficulties of daily life.
Such are evidently the dangers which the Christian encounters
when he does not seek to practice effectively the evangelical coun­
sels in the measure possible to him. If he fails in this matter, he will
go astray and fall progressively into three moral maladies radically
opposed to the three counsels. St. John speaks of these evils when
he says: “For all that is in the world (or according to its spirit) is
the concupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes and
the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 2
They are three purulent wounds which ravage souls and bring
death to them by turning them away from God.
These three moral wounds appeared in the world after the sin of
the first man and our repeated personal sins. To understand their
gravity, we should recall the fact that they replace in many souls
the triple harmony that existed in the state of original justice. It is
this triple harmony that Christ wishes precisely to re-establish by
the three evangelical counsels. Originally, on the first day of creation
there was perfect harmony between God and the soul, between the
soul and the body, between the body of man and exterior goods.
Harmony existed between God and the soul, since it is created to
know God, to love Him, to serve Him, and by this means to obtain
eternal life.
The first man, who was created in “the state of sanctity and orig­
inal justice,” was a contemplative who conversed familiarly with
God, as we read in the first chapters of Genesis. His soul found its
principal nourishment in divine things, “a little less than the angels.” 8
a See I John i: t6.
• Ps. 8:6.

PERFECTION AND EVANGELICAL COUNSELS

209

In the light of God, he considered all things, and he obeyed the
Lord.
From this superior harmony came that which existed between the
soul and the body, which was made to serve the soul. Since the soul
was perfectly subordinated to God, it had dominion over its body.
The passions or movements of the sensible appetites followed with
docility the direction of right reason enlightened by faith and the
impelling force of the will vivified by charity.
Finally, there was harmony between the body and exterior goods.
The earth produced its fruits spontaneously without the necessity
of being worked painfully; the animals were docile, or at least did
no harm to man, who had received dominion over them.
Sin disturbed this triple harmony by destroying the highest of
the three; it introduced the triple disorder, called by St. John “the
concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and
the pride of life.”
Man revolted against the law of God; and the human soul, thence­
forth inclined to pride, has often repeated: “I will not serve.” The
soul has ceased to nourish itself with divine truth, and instead con­
ceives its own narrow, false, ever-changing, little ideas. It wished to
make for itself its own truths and principles, and to direct itself alone,
limiting as far as possible the authority of God, instead of receiving
from Him the salutary direction which alone leads to true life.
Refusing to submit to the dominion of God, the soul has lost control
over its body and its passions, which were made to obey the reason
and will. What is more, the soul has often made itself the slave of the
body, of its lower instincts: this is the concupiscence of the flesh.
Many people so far forget their divine destiny as to be occupied
from morning to night with their bodies, which become their idols.
Their passions reign as masters; the soul becomes their slave, for
passions that are antithetic, love, jealousy, anger, hatred, follow
each other in the soul in spite of it. Instead of directing these passions,
the soul is carried away by them as by wild horses which no longer
know the bit.
Finally, the body, instead of making use of exterior goods, be­
comes their slave; it overtaxes itself at times to obtain an abundance
of these exterior goods. It surrounds itself with useless luxury, to the
detriment of the poor who arc hungry. It must have all that glitters

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

and makes a man seem important: this is the concupiscence of the
eyes. After accumulating a fortune, many men are wholly absorbed
in the care of maintaining and increasing it. Slaves to their busi­
ness, they never find time to pray, to read a page of the Gospel, to
feed their souls. They settle down here on earth as if they were
going to stay here always, with hardly any concern for their sal­
vation.
This triple slavery, which replaces the original triple harmony, is
order overthrown. Christ came to restore the order that had been
destroyed; with this end in view, He gave us the three evangelical
counsels.
The Three Evangelical Counsels and the Restoration
of Original Harmony 4

Divine Providence sent our Lord to restore the primitive order.
This restoration appeared first in the very person of Jesus, and
should continue in the Church, which ought to shine with the
splendor of the mark of sanctity. In His humanity Jesus was the
model of all the virtues, the eminent exemplar of all sanctity. His
humanity was consecrated to God in the first instant of His con­
ception by substantial union with the Word, and thus received an
innate, substantial, uncreated sanctity. It is impossible to think of a
more intimate, more indissoluble union with God than the personal,
hypostatic union of the human nature and the divine nature in the
person of the Word made flesh. As a result, the humanity of the
Savior is consecrated to God in all its faculties and acts, to such an
extent that His intellect is infallible and can see things only in the
divine light, to such a degree that His will is absolutely impeccable,
and that His most pure sensibility cannot know any disorder. All
the acts of the holy soul of Christ are of God, come from God, go
to God; nowhere is the sovereign domain of the Most High exer­
cised with so absolute a plenitude.
Because the humanity of Christ is thus radically consecrated to
God, it is separated from the spirit of the world and is given to the
world to save it and deliver it from its spirit of blindness, concu­
piscence, and pride. Christ’s very elevation separates Him from the
spirit of the world, from all that is evil or less good. By this innate
* St. Thomas, Stmrrna, la Ilae, q.u>8, a.4; Ila Ilae, q. 186, a.3, 4, 5, 7.

PERFECTION AND EVANGELICAL COUNSELS

21 I

elevation, Christ is detached from worldly goods, honors, and mun­
dane affairs; the model of poverty, He had not “whereon to rest His
head.” By the elevation of His spirit, Christ is also detached from
the pleasures of the world, free from the demands of a family, that
He may found a universal family, the Church. In this He is the
model of religious chastity, which is the condition of His universal,
spiritual paternity. Finally, by His supernatural elevation, Christ is
detached from all self-will. At the age of twelve Fie declares that
He must be about His Father’s business, and He is “obedient unto
death, even to the death of the cross.”
Because the Savior comes from above, His very elevation separates
Him from all that is inferior. It separates Him thus, not that He may
be isolated but that He may act on the world from a great height,
and that His action may be more universal and more profound. It
is like that of the sun when it reaches its zenith. Because Jesus was
free from all the bonds which attach man to his individual goods, to
his family, to his petty personal ideas, He could act, not only on the
men of one country or one period, but on the entire human race to
which He brings eternal life. The Gospel has not grown old; it is of
the present time, belonging to the very actuality of God. It is a sign
that Jesus was not of the world, but was given to the world to save it.
We see thus in our Lord the restoration of the original harmony,
a restoration so splendid indeed that it considerably surpasses the
perfection of the first man. There “where sin abounded, grace did
more abound.” This restoration of the primitive order should con­
tinue in the Church, which should shine with the splendor of the
mark of sanctity. Christ willed that His Church should be one,
holy, catholic, and apostolic. Its sanctity must be striking and mani­
fest, not only at great intervals in certain heroic souls like the martyrs
and the great canonized saints, but in a permanent manner in re­
ligious institutions and families, where a great number of souls go
for training in sanctity, and make profession to imitate Christ, His
spirit of detachment from the things of the world and of union
with God. Nevertheless, no matter how generous these souls are,
there is a great difference between them and our Lord. He came
from above, and was separated from the spirit of the world by His
very elevation; they come from below, from the region of sin and
falsehood. They must gradually detach themselves from it in order
to consecrate themselves ever more intimately to God.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

To souls which have received this special vocation, Christ proposes
not only that they live according to the spirit of the three evangelical
counsels, but that they practice them effectively, and He promises
them the hundredfold in return. He invites them to a triple separa­
tion in view of a triple consecration which will more and more assure
in them the growth of the highest virtues: of faith, hope, and charity;
in other words, of union with God.
In the use of worldly goods, He counsels restraint that they may
not be led into excess. He invites them to practice poverty, to sepa­
rate themselves from the free use and even from the possession of
exterior goods, and to consecrate these goods to God that they may
no longer be an obstacle, but a means in the journey towards eter­
nity. He invites them to absolute chastity, that is, to renounce com­
pletely the pleasures of the senses, and to consecrate their bodies
and hearts to God that these may no longer be an obstacle, but a
means vivified by grace. He invites them, finally, to holy obedience,
to free themselves from all self-will, so easily capricious and rebel­
lious, in order that their wills may no longer be an obstacle but a
means more and more supernaturalized by charity, with a view to
union with God which will daily grow closer and stronger.
The practice of these three virtues and of the corresponding vows
is not exempt from difficulties, but it suppresses many others. The
bird bears its wings, but still more the wings support the bird. In
like manner, the religious virtues and the three vows impose special
obligations, it is true; but, above all, they bear souls toward the per­
fection of charity over a more rapid and a more sure road.
The three virtues of poverty, chastity, and obedience are called
religious or holy virtues because they are subordinated to the virtue
of religion, which renders to God the worship that is due Him. By
reason of its object, the worship due to the Lord, the virtue of
religion is the first of the moral virtues; it takes its place immediately
after the three theological virtues and infused prudence which di­
rects it. It offers to God the acts of the three religious virtues of
poverty, chastity, and obedience. To make certain of not turning
back, the religious binds himself by the three corresponding vows,
a triple engagement or promise to practice these three virtues, first
for a time, then until death, following the example of Christ, who
was obedient “unto death, even to the death of the cross.” As the
Savior offered I limsclf, the religious offers himself also in union

PERFECTION AND EVANGELICAL COUNSELS

213

with Him, giving his entire life as an oblation or sacrifice. Since the
religious ought to offer everything,—exterior goods, body, heart,
will, personal judgment—this sacrifice, if well made and not revoked
as time goes on, truly deserves the title of holocaust. It ought to be
lived daily in an ever more intimate manner; then it obtains the
hundredfold promised by the Savior, who declared: “Amen, I say
to you, there is no man who hath left house or brethren or sisters or
father or mother or children or lands for My sake and for the gospel,
who shall not receive a hundred times as much, now in this time,
houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions; and in the world to come, life everlasting.” 8
We shall see farther on that faith is the soul of holy obedience
and that the practice of this virtue makes the spirit of faith grow.
We shall likewise see that hope or trust in God is the soul of holy
poverty, which obliges us to rely on the help of God, and that
charity is the soul of holy chastity, which, when practiced in all
its delicacy, makes the love of God and of souls in God flourish in us.
6 Mark 10:29 f.

CHAPTER XIV

The Special Obligation of the Priest and
the Religious to Tend to Perfection
INCE we have spoken of the general obligation by which every
Christian, according to his condition, must tend to perfection in
virtue of the supreme precept of the love of God, it seems fitting
to treat briefly the special obligation which exists on this point for
the religious and for every priest, whether he has made the vows
of religion or not. We must show here especially how the virtue
of religion ought ever to be increasingly under the influence of the
virtue of charity, of a stronger and purer love of God.

S

The Nature

of

This Special Obligation

for

Religious

This obligation is based on religious profession; the grace of re­
ligious profession is not transitory but permanent if the religious is
faithful. As St. Thomas says: “Properly speaking, one is said to be
in the state of perfection, not through making an act of perfect
Ipve, but because he binds himself permanently and with a certain
solemnity to what leads to perfection.” 1 “Both these conditions are
competent to religious and bishops. For religious bind themselves
by vow to refrain from worldly affairs, which they might lawfully
use, in order more freely to give themselves to God. ... In like
manner, bishops bind themselves to things pertaining to perfection,
when they take up the pastoral duty, to which it belongs that a
shepherd ‘lay down his life for his sheep.’ ” 2
Strictly speaking, the religious thus makes “profession to tend
toward perfection.” “Not as though I had already attained,” says
St. Paul, “or were already perfect; but I follow after, if I may by
1 See Ila Ilae, q. 184, a.4.
2 Ibid., a. 5.
114

PERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOUS STATE

215

any means apprehend, wherein I am also apprehended by Christ
Jesus.” 3 As a result, the religious does not commit a sin of hypocrisy
because he is not perfect, but he would commit it if he did not tend
more sincerely to perfection. In his case, this special obligation is
identified with that of observing his three vows and his rule.4 But
this obligation must always be considered in its relation to the gen­
eral obligation based on the great precept of the love of God and
one’s neighbor. When this is done, the religious life keeps all its
loftiness and appears not only under its canonical or juridical aspect,
but with its great spiritual meaning.
From this point of view, we see the true import of this principle,
which must not be understood in a material and mechanical fashion
by multiplying the vows without reason: “It is better and more
meritorious to do one and the same deed with a vow than without.” 6
It does not follow from this statement that vows should always be
multiplied in order to have greater merit; but the religious ought to
observe his three vows better and better by more profoundly pene­
trating the three following reasons given by St. Thomas in the
section where he explains this principle:
i ) The vow is an act of the virtue of religion or of latria which
is superior to the virtues of obedience, chastity, and poverty; the
acts of these virtues it offers as worship to God.
2) By a perpetual vow, especially if it is solemn, man offers to
God not only an isolated act, but the faculty itself. It is better to
give the tree with its fruits than to offer the fruits alone.
3) By the vow, the will fixes itself firmly and irrevocably in the
good. It is more meritorious to act thus, just as, on the other hand,
it is more grave to sin by a will that is obstinate in evil.
When a person lives according to this spirit, he grasps more and
more concretely and vividly what theology teaches: namely, that
by the three vows, which belong to the very essence of the religious
state, the religious, as St. Thomas shows,® separates himself from
what would hinder his affections from being wholly directed toward
God. If he does not take back his offering, he offers himself totally
to the Lord as a holocaust. His state is thus a state of separation from
’ Phil. 3:12.
* Cf. Salmanticenscs, Thcol. woralis, IV, De statu religioso, initio, nos. 20-25.
• Sunnna, Ila line, <[.88, a.6.
e Ibid., q. 186, a. 7.

2Ι0

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

the world, especially from the spirit of the world, and a state of
consecration to God.
Three things especially may hinder his affection from being
completely directed toward God: the concupiscence of the eyes or
the desire of exterior things, the concupiscence of the flesh, and the
pride of life, the love of independence. These he renounces by his
three vows; then he offers to God exterior goods through poverty,
his body and his heart through religious chastity, his will through
obedience. He has nothing more that he can offer and, if in reality
he does not take back what he has given, but practices ever more
perfectly, with a greater love of God and of his neighbor, the three
virtues corresponding to the three vows, he truly offers to God a
perfect sacrifice meriting the name of holocaust. His life is thus,
with the Divine Office, the daily accompaniment of the Sacrifice of
the Mass. His life is an act of worship, and even an act of latria
offered to God by the virtue of religion. This is true especially if
the religious, far from taking back his gift once he has bestowed it,
often renews his promises with greater merit than when he made
them for the first time. In fact, merit grows in him with charity
and the other virtues, and thereby his consecration to God becomes
increasingly intimate and complete.
What is the end of this triple renunciation and triple oblation or
consecration? St. Thomas7 answers that it is union with God, which
ought daily to become more intimate, and, as it were, the prelude
of eternal life. The religious ought to reach it by the imitation of
Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Christ, as man,
was completely separated from the spirit of the world, and as united
to God as is possible. By the grace of personal union with the Word,
His nature was wholly consecrated, His intellect rendered infal­
lible, His will impeccable; in Him all thoughts, every act of the
will, and all the emotions of His sensibility were from God and
were directed to God. The sovereign dominion of God has never
been as completely exercised as in the sacred humanity of the
Savior.
Now, the religious makes profession to follow Him; but, whereas
''Ibid., <3.184, a-5: “For religious bind themselves by vow to refrain from
worldly things which they might lawfully use, in order more freely to give
themselves to God, wherein consists the perfection of the present life."

PERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOUS STATE

217

Christ came from above, the religious comes from below, from
the region of sin, and he must separate himself progressively from
all that is inferior in order to consecrate himself more and more
intimately to God. Then will be realized in him the exhortation of
St. Paul: “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; and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ shall appear, who is your
life, then you also shall appear with Him in glory.” 8*In his com­
mentary on this epistle, St. Thomas says: “Do not taste the things
of the world, for you are dead to the world; your life is hidden with
Christ. He is hidden as far as we are concerned because He is in
the glory of God His Father, and likewise the life which comes to
us from Him is hidden, according to these words of Scripture:
Ό how great is the multitude of Thy sweetness, O Lord, which
Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought
for them that hope in Thee’ (Ps. 30:20). ‘To him that overcometh,
I will give the hidden manna, and will give him ... a new name
written, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it’ ” (Apoc.
2:17).
This spiritual manna, remotely symbolized by the manna of the
desert, is the food of the soul; it is infused contemplation, which
proceeds from living faith illumined by the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Thus, says St. Thomas, the active life (or the exercise of the moral
virtues) disposes to the contemplative life of union with God,® and
especially, “virginity is directed to the good of the soul in respect
of the contemplative life.” 10 As a result, every religious life tends
to the more and more perfect fulfillment of the precept of divine
love and to very close union with God.
Therefore it is advisable always to consider the special obligation
of the religious to tend to perfection in its relation to the general
obligation which is based on the supreme precept of love. The latter
rises far above the three evangelical counsels, since they are only
means or instruments to reach more rapidly and surely the per­
8 Col. 3:1-4.
“See Ila Ilae, q. 182, a.4: “The active life precedes the contemplative life
because it disposes one to it.”
10 Ibid., q. 152, a.4.

2i8

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

fection of charity or close union with God, which radiates on one’s
neighbor in a way that is increasingly fruitful.11
Thus, under the inspiration of the three theological virtues, the
three religious virtues find full exercise. A very close bond is
established between them; so truly, it has been said, that the hope
of eternal beatitude is as the soul of holy poverty, which abandons
earthly goods for those of eternity. Charity is'the soul of religious
chastity, which renounces an inferior love for a much higher one.
Faith is the soul of obedience, which fulfills the orders of superiors
as if they were revealed by God Himself. Thus the religious life
leads truly to contemplation and to close union with God.
The Special Obligation of the Priest
Perfection

to

Tend

to

Since a religious (even a simple lay brother or a sister) has a
special obligation to tend to perfection, with even greater reason
the same obligation holds for a priest, even though he is not a re­
ligious. True, the priest who lives in the midst of the world is not,
properly speaking, in the “state of perfection”; if he became a re­
ligious, he would have an additional merit, that of the vows of
poverty and obedience.12 Nevertheless he ought to tend to perfec­
tion, properly so called, by reason of his ordination and of his holy
functions, which demand a greater interior sanctity than that re­
quired by the religious state 13 in a lay brother or a sister. This special
obligation is not distinct from that of accomplishing holily and
worthily the various duties of the priestly life. In virtue of the su­
preme precept, they must even be fulfilled more and more perfectly
with the progress of charity, which ought to grow until death.
The basis of this obligation is ordination to the priesthood and
the lofty character of the acts for which it is conferred. This or­
dination requires, not only the state of grace and special aptitudes,
but an initial perfection (bonitas vitae) superior to that required
11 Ibid., q. 184, a. 3 : “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 commandment
of the divine law. . . . Secondarily and instrumentally, however, perfection
consists in the observance of the counsels . . . which are directed to the
removal of things that hinder the act of charity.”
12 Ibid., a. 6.
18 Ibid., a. 8.

PERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOUS STATE

219

for entering religion.14 The priest, in fact, ought to enlighten others,
and it would be fitting that he himself should be in the illuminative
way, as it would be fitting that the bishop should be in the unitive
way of the perfect.
In addition, the effects of ordination are the sacerdotal character,
an indelible participation in the priesthood of Christ, and sacra­
mental grace, which makes possible the fulfillment of the priestly
functions in a holy manner, as should be the case in a worthy min­
ister of Christ.15 This sacramental grace is like a modality which
is added to sanctifying grace, and which gives the right to receive
actual helps for the holy, and indeed for the increasingly holy, ac­
complishment of the acts of the priestly life. This grace is like a
feature of the spiritual countenance of the priest, who ought to be­
come a minister ever more conscious of the greatness and the holy
exigencies of his priesthood.
Priestly ordination is certainly superior to religious profession,
and the special obligation of tending to perfection which it estab­
fishes is surely not less. This is why during the ceremony of ordina­
tion the bishop tells the candidate for the priesthood that he must
henceforth “study to live in a holy and religious manner, and to
please God in all things.” If even every one of the faithful, each
according to his condition, must, by reason of the supreme precept
of the love of God, tend to the perfection of charity, with even
greater reason is this true of the priest. We read in St. Matthew:
“For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he shall abound.” 16
Speaking on this subject to the minister of God, the author of
The Imitation of Christ says: “Thou art made a priest and art con­
secrated to celebrate. See now that faithfully and devoutly, in due
time, thou offer up sacrifice to God, and that thou show thyself
blameless. Thou hast not lightened thy burden, but art now bound
by a stricter bond of discipline and obliged to greater perfection
of sanctity. A priest ought to be adorned with all virtues and set
the example of a good life to others. His conversation should not
be with the popular and common ways of man, but with the angels
in heaven, or with perfect men upon earth.” 17
14 Ibid., q.189, a. i ad jum; 184, a. 7 f.; Supplement, q.36, a. 1, 3; q.40, a.4.
18 Ibid., Supplement, q.35, a. 1, 2.
18 Matt. 13:12.
” The Imitation, Bk. IV, chap. y.

220

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

In relation to Christ present in the Eucharist and to His mystical
body, the priestly functions show better than even ordination does,
this special obligation to tend to perfection. When the priest cele­
brates the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, he is like the figure of Him in
whose name he speaks, the figure of Christ who offered Himself for
us. The priest should be a minister conscious of the greatness of his
functions, and he ought to strive for an ever closer union in heart
and soul with the principal Priest who is at the same time the sacred
Victim, sacerdos et hostia. To metunt the altar steps without the firm
will to grow in charity would be hypocrisy, or at least an indirectly
culpable negligence. Daily the minister of Christ ought to say with
greater sanctity: “Hoc est enim corpus meum. . . . Hic est calix
sanguinis mei.” His Communion should be substantially more fervent
each day by reason of a greater promptness of the will in the service
of God, since the sacrament of the Eucharist ought not only to
preserve but to increase charity in us.
Consequently St. Thomas says: “By holy orders a man is ap­
pointed to the most august ministry of serving Christ Himself in the
sacrament of the altar. For this requires a greater inward holiness
than that which is requisite for the religious state.” 18 This is why,
as we read in the same article, other things being equal, the priest
who places an act contrary to holiness sins more grievously than a
religious who is not a priest.
The sanctity becoming to the minister of God at the altar is thus
described in The Imitation of Christ: “The priest, clad in sacred
vestments, is Christ’s vicegerent that he may suppliantly and humbly
pray to God for himself and all the people. He has before and be­
hind him the sign of the cross of our Lord, that he may ever re­
member the passion of Christ. . . . Behind him he is marked with
the cross, that he may learn to suffer meekly for God’s sake all the
evil that men may do him. He wears the cross before him that he
may bewail his own sins; and on his back, that through compassion
he may lament the sins of others, and know that he is placed as
mediator between God and the sinner. . . . When a priest cele­
brates, he honors God, he edifies the Church, he helps the living,
he obtains rest for the departed, and makes himself partaker of all
good things.” 19
18 See Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. 8.
10 The Imitation, Bk. IV, chap. 5.

PERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOUS STATE

221

Likewise he should say the Divine Office with dignity, attention,
and true piety. This great prayer of the Church is like the accom­
paniment of the Sacrifice of the Mass; it precedes it as a prelude,
and it follows it. The Office is the canticle of the spouse of Christ
from dawn until dark, and it is a great honor to take part in it. Dur­
ing its recitation the great intentions of the Church (for example,
the pacification of the world through the extension of the kingdom
of Christ) should be kept in mind.
Lastly, the priest has a special obligation to tend to perfection
that he may accomplish his functions well in relation to the mystical
body of Christ. For the sanctification of souls, he shares in the office
which belongs first of all to the bishop, whose cooperator he should
be. Thus the Council of Trent says: “Nothing leads the faithful
more surely to true piety than the good example of the priest. The
eyes of men rest on him as on a mirror of perfection to be imitated.
So he ought to order his life, his manners, his exterior, his gestures,
and his words in such a way that he may always preserve the gravity,
moderation, and piety that he should have.” 20 The priest who lives
in the midst of the world is not obliged to make the vow of poverty,
but he ought to be free from attachment to worldly things, willingly
bestowing them upon the poor. He ought also to obey his bishop
and to be the servant of the faithful in spite of difficulties and some­
times even of calumnies.
The need of this perfection appears especially for the work of
preaching, of hearing confessions, and in the direction of souls. That
preaching may be living and fruitful, the priest must speak from the
abundance of his heart. St. Thomas even says that preaching should
“proceed from the fullness of contemplation,” 21 from the living,
penetrating, delightful faith in the mystery of Christ, in the in­
finite value of the Mass, in the value of sanctifying grace and of eter­
nal life. The priest should preach like a savior of souls, and he
should work incessantly for the salvation not only of a few, but of
many souls. He should not have received the priesthood in vain.
Likewise for the ministry of confession and direction, the priest
must have a burning and luminous soul, a “hunger and thirst for
the justice of God”; otherwise his ministry may become a danger
to him; instead of saving souls, he himself may fall. If life does
50 Council of Trent, Sess. XXII, chap. 1.
” Stmnna, Ila Hae, q. 188, a.6.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

not ascend, it descends; and that it may not descend, it must rise
like a flame. Especially in the spiritual life, he who does not advance,
falls back. Finally, souls of whom the Lord is asking much, at times
have recourse to the priest, and they should be able to find in him
real help that they may walk truly in the way of sanctity. They
should never have to go away without having, so to speak, received
somethin".
We have been particularly impressed with what has been said
on this subject by a friend of the Curé of Ars, the venerable Father
Chevrier, a priest of Lyons, who accomplished immense good in
that city.22 He used to tell the priests whom he trained that they
should always keep the crib, Calvary, and the tabernacle before
their eyes. The crib, he would say, should remind them of poverty;
a priest should be poor in his dwelling, his clothing, and his food.
He should be humble of spirit and of heart in his relations with God
and man. The greater his poverty in this regard, the more he glori­
fies God and is useful to his neighbor. The priest is a man who is
despoiled.
Calvary should remind him of the necessity of immolation; he
ought to die to his body, to his own mind, his will, his reputation,
his family, and the world. He ought to immolate himself by silence,
prayer, work, penance, suffering, and death. The more a priest dies
to himself, the more life he possesses and gives to others. The true
priest is a crucified man.
The tabernacle should remind him of the charity he ought to
have. He ought to give his body, mind, time, goods, health, and
life. He should give others life by his faith, doctrine, words, prayer,
powers, and example. The priest should be like good bread; he is a
man who is consumed.
This was the teaching of Father Chevrier, who opened a catechism
class in Lyons for the most abandoned children. To gain admission
it sufficed “to possess nothing, to know nothing, to be worth noth­
ing.” His supernatural life was such that he made true Christians
and often great Christians of many of these children. With a mini­
mum of material resources, he thus reaped a truly exceptional super­
natural harvest.
Such is the ideal of the priesthood which every priest ought to
keep before his eyes, at the same time recalling what St. Paul says:
22 Antoine Lcstra, Le Père Chevrier, 1935.

PERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOUS STATE

223

“But I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls;
although loving you more, I be loved less.” 23 He would do well
also to recall the words of Christ: “I have given you an example,
that as I have done to you, so you do also.” 24
The Ideal of Episcopal Perfection
According to St. Isidore 28

“It is necessary that he who will be raised up to teach and in­
struct the people in virtue, should be holy in all things, and in no
way reprehensible. He who convinces another of sin, should himself
be free from sin. First of all, he who seeks to admonish others to live
well ought to correct himself; so that in all things he himself may
furnish an example of living and incite all to good work by teaching
and work. For him a knowledge of Scripture also is necessary; for
if the life of a bishop is so holy, to him alone, thus living, it is profit­
able. Besides, if he shall be learned in doctrine and speech, he can
also instruct others and teach his people, and repulse adversaries
who, unless they can be refuted and convicted, may easily pervert
the hearts of the simple.
“His speech should be pure, simple, open, full of gravity and
honesty, sweetness and grace, treating of the mystery of the law,
of the doctrine of faith, of the virtue of continency, of the dis­
cipline of justice; admonishing by various exhortations each and
every one according to the profession and quality of established
customs . . . whose special office it is to read Scripture, to peruse
the canons, to imitate the examples of the saints, to practice vigils,
fastings, and prayers; to have peace with his brethren, not to tear
to pieces any of those committed to his care; to damn no one unless
he be proved guilty, to excommunicate no one unless he has been
tried. He ought to be outstanding alike in humility and authority, so
that he may not cause the vices of his subjects to grow through ex­
cessive humility. Nor should he exercise the power of severity with­
out moderation, but should be so much the more cautious toward
those committed to his care, as he fears to be more severely ex­
amined by Christ.
18 See II Cor. 12:15.
M John 13:15.
80 Ex libro II Officiorum ad S. Futuentium, chap. 5.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

“He will also have charity which is supereminent among all gifts,
without which all virtue is nothing. Charity is, indeed, the guardian
of chastity. Humility, moreover, is the place where it is kept. He will
likewise have, among all these things, eminent chastity: thus, as his
mind is given to Christ, he should be spotless and free from carnal
impurity. Among these things, it behoves him to take care of the
poor with careful distribution, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked,
receive pilgrims, redeem captives, protect widows and orphans,
show prudent care in all things, provide with careful discretion.
Hospitality should likewise be outstanding in him, that he may
receive all with benignity and charity. If, indeed, all the faithful
would like to hear those words of the Gospel: ‘I was a stranger, and
you took me in,’ how much more, should the bishop, who ought
to be the receiver of all diverse peoples?”
This page shows clearly what should be understood by the com­
monly accepted expression, that bishops are in the state of perfection
(in statu perfectionis exercendae) to be exercised. Hence it is fitting,
as has so often been said, that they should be in the unitive way.
The religious state is one in which man tends to perfection, status
perfectionis acquirendae. To form a proper idea of it, one should
read and meditate on the admirable pages in the Rule of St. Benedict
on religious perfection and union with God, which ought daily to
become more intimate in a life consecrated to the Lord. It would
be profitable to study also what is said from the same comprehensive
point of view about religious perfection by Blessed Humbert of the
Romans, in his Expositio Regulae B. Augustini et super Constitutiones Fratrum Praedicatorum.26 This work is a golden book for the
formation of religious and for their preparation for the different
offices to which obedience may assign them.
28 Ed. Berthier, Rome, 1889.

CHAPTER XV

The Three Ages of the Spiritual Life
According to the Fathers and the
Great Spiritual Writers
E HAVE discussed what constitutes Christian perfection and
the obligation to tend to it, either by the common way or
by the special way of the effective practice of the three evangelical
counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. We must now con­
sider the distinction between the three ages of the spiritual life,
commonly called the age of beginners, that of proficients, and that
of the perfect, or in other terms, the purgative, illuminative, and
unitive ways.
We shall see, first of all, how the problem of the three ages of
the spiritual life is stated, and then the answer found in the testimony
of the fathers and in that of the doctors who followed them.

W

Statement

of the

Problem

One of the greatest problems of spirituality is in what sense we
must understand the traditional division of the “three ways, the
purgative, illuminative, and unitive,” according to the terminology
used by Dionysius, or the states of “beginners, proficients, and the
perfect,” according to an earlier terminology preserved by St.
Thomas.1
As we have already indicated in chapter one (sections 5, 6, and 7),
two notably different interpretations of this traditional division have
been given, according as the infused contemplation of the mysteries
of faith and the union with God which results from it are considered
as belonging to the normal way of sanctity, or as not only extrinsically but intrinsically extraordinary favors.
1 Summa, Ha Ilae, q. 24, a. 9; q. 183, a.4.
MJ

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

This divergence of interpretation appears if one compares the
division of ascetical-mystical theology generally followed until the
second half of the eighteenth century with that given by several
authors who have written since that period. We noted 2 that this
divergence is evident if a comparison is made, for example, between
the treatise of Vallgornera, O.P., Mystica theologia divi Thomae
(1662), and the two works of Scaramelli, S.J., Direttorio ascetico
(1751) and Direttorio mistico. Vallgornera, closely following the
Carmelite, Philip of the Blessed Trinity, connects the latter’s di­
vision with that of earlier authors and with certain characteristic
texts from the works of St. John of the Cross on the period when
the passive purifications of the senses and of the spirit generally
appear.3
The following division made by Vallgornera shows what these
authors considered the characteristics of the three ages of the spiritual
life:
1) The purgative way or stage, proper to beginners, in which it
is a question of the active purification of the external and internal
senses, of the passions, of the intellect, and of the will, by mortifica­
tion, meditation, prayer; and finally, it is a question of the passive
purification of the senses, in which infused contemplation begins
and by means of which the soul is raised to the illuminative way, as
St. John of the Cross says.4
2) The illuminative way or state, proper to proficients, in which,
after a preliminary chapter on the divisions of contemplation, are
discussed the gifts of the Holy Ghost and infused contemplation,
which proceeds principally from the gifts of understanding and
wisdom, and which is declared desirable for all interior souls, as
being morally necessary for the full perfection of Christian life. This
second part of the work, after several articles relating to extraor­
dinary graces (visions, revelations, interior words), ends with a
chapter of nine articles relative to the passive purification of the
spirit, which marks the passage to the unitive way. This again is what
St. John of the Cross taught.5
2 See supra, chap. 1, §§ 5, 6, 7.
8 Philip of the Blessed Trinity sets forth the same ideas in the prologue
of his Summa theologiae mysticae (ed. 1874, p. 17). Many Carmelite theo­
logians think as he does.
* The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chaps. 8, 14.
8 Ibid., Bk, II, chaps. 2, 11.

THE THREE AGES OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

227

3) The unitive life or stage, proper to the perfect, in which it
is a question of the intimate union of the contemplative soul with
God and of its degrees up to the transforming union.
Like Philip of the Blessed Trinity and many others,0 Vallgornera
considers this division traditional, truly conformable to the doc­
trine of the fathers, to the principles of St. Thomas, and to the
teaching of St. John of the Cross and the greatest mystics who have
written on the three ages of the spiritual life. It harmonizes fully
with these two capital texts from the writings of the Carmelite doc­
tor: “The passive purification of the senses is common. It takes place
in the greater number of beginners.” 7 “The soul began to set out on
the way of the spirit, the way of proficients, which is also called the
illuminative way or the way of infused contemplation, wherein God
Himself teaches and refreshes the soul without meditation or any ac­
tive efforts.” 8 From this point of view, the infused contemplation of
the mysteries of faith is manifestly in the normal way of sanctity.
This is not at all surprising, since it proceeds from faith enlightened
by the gifts of understanding and of wisdom, which are found in all
the just.
However, the division given by Scaramelli and those who fol­
lowed him is quite different. In his Direttorio ascetico, Scaramelli
intends to describe the ordinary way which leads to Christian per­
fection. In this work he does not discuss, so to speak, the gifts of
the Holy Ghost or the contemplation which proceeds from them.
In his Direttorio mistico, he treats of infused contemplation as an
extraordinary grace,9 and only at the very end does he speak of the
passive purification of the senses (tr. V); whereas, for St. John of
the Cross, as we have said, this purification is like a second conversion
which marks the entrance into the illuminative way.
The divergence between this new manner of looking at the mat­
ter and the preceding one springs manifestly from the fact that the
early authors, as opposed to the more recent, maintained that all
truly interior souls may humbly ask for and keenly desire the
grace of the infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith, of the
Incarnation, of the passion of Christ, of the Sacrifice of the Mass,
0 This is also the division proposed by another Dominican, Giovanni Maria
di Lauro, in his Theologia mystica, published in Naples in 1743.
’ The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 8.
"Ibid., chap. 14.
“ Direttorio mistico, tr. I, chap. 1, no. 10; tr. Ill, chap. 32.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

of the Blessed Trinity present in us, and of eternal life, mysteries
which are so many manifestations of the infinite goodness of God.
They considered this supernatural and confused contemplation
morally necessary for close union with God, in which the full per­
fection of Christian life consists. It is from this point of view that
they determined the characteristics of each of the three ages of the
spiritual life.
With the above statement in mind, the question may obviously
be put in the following terms: Is the idea generally accepted until
the second half of the eighteenth century true? Has it a basis in
Scripture, in tradition, and in the very principles of theology? We
shall examine these different points.
The Testimony

of

Scripture

We shall cite only some of the more important texts, after the
already numerous ones which we adduced above. We have seen 1011
in the light of the Gospel, according to the eight beatitudes, how
lofty Christian perfection is. We have also seen that it cannot be
obtained without the mortification of all that is inordinate in us,11
without the cross borne with patience,12 without prayer to the Fa­
ther hidden in the secret of our hearts,13 without docility to the
inspirations of the Holy Ghost,14*which should characterize “the
true adorers ... in spirit and in truth.” 18 Is this not, under a
special influence of the Holy Ghost, the loving contemplation of
the mysteries of salvation?
St. Paul tells us also what is normally proper to the spiritual age
of the perfect when he writes: “Howbeit we speak wisdom among
the perfect: ... the wisdom of God in a mystery, a wisdom which
is hidden, which God ordained before the world, unto our glory.
. . . Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into
the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that
love Him. But to us God hath revealed them by His Spirit; for the
10 See supra, chap. 9.
11 Matt. 5:29 ff.
12 Ibid., 10:38.
« Ibid., 6:6.
14 John 3:8; 14:16, 26.
18 John 4:23.

THE THREE AGES OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

229

Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 16 Is this not
what the perfect contemplate?
St. Paul writes likewise to the Ephesians: “I bow my knees to
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity in heaven
and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the
riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit with might
unto the inward man; that Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts;
that, 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 sur­
passed all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of
God.” 17 Is not this what characterizes the age of the perfect: the
infused contemplation of the mystery of Christ and the union with
God which results from it? We shall see that the Greek and Latin
fathers thus understood these inspired words, which they never
tired of repeating.
First of all, let us note, as several writers have observed, that in the
spiritual life of the apostles themselves, who were trained directly
by Christ, there are three distinct phases which correspond to the
three ages of the spiritual life.18
The first phase of their interior life, that of beginners, extends
from their conversion up to the Passion, when they passed through a
profound crisis, during which Peter went so far as to deny his Mas­
ter. Immediately afterwards he repented. This was his second con­
version, which took place in that true passive purification, the dark
night of the Passion. Something similar occurred in the life of the
other apostles when, by the grace of the Savior, they again got con­
trol of themselves after having abandoned Him.
The second phase of their interior life, that of proficients, extends
from the Passion to Pentecost. They were still fearful; their faith
still needed to be enlightened, their hope to be strengthened, their
charity to be endowed with the necessary zeal. This phase was com­
pleted by the great privation of the sensible presence of Christ after
His ascension into heaven. They had to continue their way in naked
18 See I Cor. 2:6-10.
17 Eph. 3:14-19.
18 We developed these observations in Les trois conversions et les trois
voies, pp. 1-112.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

faith, with the prospect of the persecutions which had been an­
nounced to them.
The third phase began with Pentecost, which was for them like a
third conversion, a true passive purification of the spirit and a spirit­
ual transformation which introduced them into the perfect life.
This purification greatly enlightened their souls, and greatly
strengthened their wills to preach everywhere Christ crucified.
This third phase of their interior life was marked by an increas­
ingly closer union with God and deeper self-oblation, even to
martyrdom.
Farther on, we shall return to the subject of these three phases of
the interior life of the apostles, each phase of which began by a con­
version or a transformation of the soul. If a person reflects deeply
on this subject before God in prayer, he will find in it a true light
on the three ages of the spiritual life. These indications given by
Scripture are, moreover, confirmed by what the fathers tell us.
The Testimony

of

Tradition

In recent years special study has been made of the doctrine of
the Greek and Latin fathers on these three periods in the interior
life of every Christian striving for sanctity. We shall recall here
what seems most certain in their teaching.19 We shall consider, first
of all, the testimony of the Greek fathers. Among the apostolic
fathers, St. Ignatius of Antioch often speaks in his letters of the
spiritual and mystical presence of Christ in the Church and in the
faithful. He exhorts the faithful by telling them that they are
Christophores (Christ-bearers) or Theopbores (God-bearers). He
says to them: “Let us perform all our actions with the thought that
God dwells in us. We shall thus be His temples, and He Himself
will be our God, dwelling in us (cf. Eph. 15:3).” St. Ignatius of
Antioch strongly aspires to live more and more intimately with
Christ and to die in order to be definitively united with Him. His
letters are filled with that lofty knowledge of Christ, at once liv­
ing and penetrating, which is nothing else but contemplation and
10 Cf. in particular F. Cayré, A.A., Précis de patrologie, 1927, in which the
spiritual doctrine of the fathers of the Church is set forth ex professo, which
is quite rare in a work of this type. Cf. I, 19-29, 173 f., 177, 192, 207, 417, 582,
584, 683; II, 335-62, 903-6. See also G. Bardy, La vie spirituelle d’après les
pères des trois premiers siècles. 1935.

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which overflows in a most abundant apostolic activity, the fruit of
a great charity. But to reach this very close union with God and the
Savior, we must have contempt for self, for all that is inordinate in
us, for everything that lessens the divine life in us.20 In this period
of persecution, St. Ignatius desires to be ground by the teeth of
beasts in order to become the wheat of Christ, as Christ was ground
to become our Eucharistic bread.
In the second century, St. Irenaeus insists on the fact that man
ought to allow himself to be formed by God like clay in the potter’s
hands. Instead of resisting, of shrinking away from the imprint of
the divine hand, he should be increasingly docile to the Holy Ghost
in prayer and action, and then he will come to judge spiritually of
all things and to live only on the love of God.21
At the end of the second century, Clement of Alexandria (in his
Stromata) 22 describes the spiritual ascent, every phase of which
brings the soul closer to the state of the perfect man that St. Paul
speaks of to the Ephesians.23 Clement conceives of these successive
states through which interior souls pass as spiritual mansions.24 These
states he characterizes as follows: first of all, the fear of God dom­
inates,25 then faith and hope,2® and finally, charity and wisdom.27
Now, the fear of God is the least elevated of the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, and wisdom is the highest of all, according to the descending
enumeration given by Isaias (11:2 f.). The gift of wisdom bestows
peace, which springs also from charity, the highest of the virtues.
According to Clement of Alexandria, the perfect are tranquilized
souls in which charity dominates. According to the expression of
St. Paul, they have attained to the state of the “perfect man, unto
the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).28 They
have received the mysterious and hidden wisdom which St. Paul
preached “among the perfect” (I Cor. 2:6). Clement calls this
wisdom the gnosis. It is a religious contemplation springing from
20 Cf. Epistle to the Romans, 2,4, 5,6,9. Epistle to the Trallians, 4 f.
21 Adv. haeres., IV, 39; V, 9; IV, 33.
22 Stromata, VII, 2; PG, IX, 413.
28 Eph. 4:13.
24 Cf. PG, IX, 416.
28 Stromata, II, 7 f.; PG, VIII, 968-76.
20 Ibid., II, 6; PG, VIII, 960-90.
"Ibid, IV, 5 (PG, VIII, 1233); VI (PG, IX, 292, 325, 328).
"Ibid., VI, 12 (PG, IX, 323); VU, 11 (PG, IX, 496).

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the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in the docile soul and transforming
our interior life, making us friends of God.
Origen, like his master Clement of Alexandria, says that the perfect
man lives especially by charity, and that ordinarily he receives from
the Holy Ghost infused wisdom, intimate knowledge of the di­
vinity of Christ29 and of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity.30
Origen, in his commentary on St. John i:6, even writes: “No one
can grasp the meaning of the Gospel (of St. John, which is con­
secrated to the divinity of Christ) unless he has rested on the breast
of Jesus, and unless he has received from Him, Mary, who becomes
his mother also.” 31 According to Origen, the Word reveals Him­
self to the perfect and trains their souls, as He trained those of the
apostles. In the most beautiful pages of his Commentary on St.
Matthew 12:15-20, Origen admirably describes this training of the
Twelve by the Savior.32
Origen distinguishes three stages:33 that of beginners, in whom
inordinate passions lose their strength; that of proficients, in whom
these passions begin to die out under the abundance of the grace of
the Holy Ghost; finally, that of the perfect. He recommends do­
cility to the Holy Ghost, through whom we can go to Christ, and
through Him rise even to the Father in the contemplation which
solitude favors.
Didymus the Blind and the Cappadocian fathers teach the same
doctrine. Didymus, whose teaching is marked by the depth of his
piety, invites every Christian to close union with Christ, whom he
calls the Spouse of holy souls, an expression taken from the parable
of the wise and foolish virgins.34
St. Basil, who organized monastic life in Cappadocia and Pontus,
set forth the principles of this life and their application in his
Greater Rules and his Lesser Rules.35 His spirituality is firm, solid,
and serious, and prepares souls for contemplation and union with
God. In the preface of his book on the monastic rules, he says:
20 Contra Cels., I, 13; VI, 13; PG, XI, 679, 1309; In Levi/., 5:3; PG, XII,
452; In Psalm., 26:4; PG, XII, 1279.
80 In Joann., 1:9; 2:3; PG, XIV, 36!., 113.
81 Ibid., 1:6; PG, XIV, 32; Comm, in Cant. Cant., prolog.; PG, XIII, 64-75.
82 PG, XIII, 1016-29.
83 In Rom., homil. VI, 14; PG, XIV, 1102.
8‘ Cf. Bardy, Didyme ΓAveugle, 1910, pp. 157-60.
88 PG, XXXI, 889-1051, 1052-1306.

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233

“When the eye of the soul becomes pure and shadowless, it con­
templates divine things, thanks to a light from on high, which fills it
abundantly without satiating it. . . . After undergoing painful com­
bats and succeeding in freeing the spirit, in spite of its close union
with matter, from the mélange of sensible passions, it becomes capa­
ble of conversing with God. . . . He who has reached this state
ought no longer to permit the vapors of vile passions to trouble and
to cover the gaze of his soul with a thick veil, and thus to make
him lose spiritual and divine contemplation.” St. Basil expresses the
same idea in his explanation of Psalms 32 and 44, and in his first
homily on faith. Progressive purification is the condition of union
with God in contemplation.
St. Gregory of Nazianzus likewise says that God is substantial
light,36 which a person can grasp only by himself becoming light,37
and by purifying his soul in order to rise from fear to wisdom,38 that
is, from the lowest of the gifts of the Holy Ghost to the highest.
It will be observed that all these authors use three terms: purifica­
tion, illumination, union.
St. Gregory of Nyssa, in his De vita Moysis,30 in which the life
of Moses serves only as the outward framework for the develop­
ment of the spiritual life, shows that we must detach ourselves from
creatures and live by Christ in order to be “admitted to the contem­
plation of the divine nature” and to union with God. This, says the
saint, constitutes a victory over the enemy, a victory obtained only
by the cross and by the progressive purification of one’s intellect
from all that is sensible and material. In his treatise De virginitate,40
the same father shows that perfection makes the soul the spouse of
Christ, a theme which he also develops in his homilies on the Canticle
of Canticles.41
St. Ephrem, who considered Christian life a spiritual combat, re­
gards contemplation obtained by docility to the Holy Ghost as
the privilege of the perfect life. In his treatise De virtute, chapter
10, he says: “When we have conquered our passions, destroyed
80 Oratio 31, chap. 3.
87 Oratio 40, chaps. 37 f.: “Lumen efficiamur. Illuminemur oculis, ut recte
cernamus.”
88 Oratio 39, chap. 8.
°’ PG, XLIV, 297-430.
40 PG, XLVI, 317-4,6.
81 PG, XLIV, 297-430.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

every inordinate natural affection in ourselves, and emptied our
minds of every preoccupation useless to salvation, then the Holy
Ghost, finding our souls at rest, and communicating a new power
to our intellects, will put light into our hearts, as we light a lamp
that has already been provided with wick and oil. . . . Therefore,
above all things, let us prepare our souls for the reception of the di­
vine light, and so render ourselves worthy of the gifts of God.”
The way of union with God is through purification and the light
which the Holy Ghost gives.
In the fifth century, Diadochus taught this doctrine in his Chap­
ters on Spiritual Perfection,42 and Dionysius the Mystic (the PseudoAreopagite) repeatedly speaks in well-known texts of purification,
illumination, and the unitive or perfect way.43 The unitive way be­
longs to the mystical order; it is the normal prelude of eternal life.
According to Dionysius, purification prepares a lofty knowledge of
God, illumination communicates it, and sanctification makes it ex­
pand completely in the soul.
Among the Greek fathers of the seventh century, St. Maximus
develops this doctrine and distinguishes three degrees of prayer
corresponding to the three degrees of charity: “Simple prayer is
like bread; it comforts beginners. When a little contemplation is
added to prayer, it is like oil with which one refreshes oneself;
pure contemplation is like a wine of exquisite flavor which lifts
those who drink it out of themselves.” 44 “Contemplation proceeds
from an illumination of the Holy Ghost.” 4S “He who is purified
is enlightened and merits to penetrate into the innermost sanc­
tuary and there enjoy the embraces of the Word.” 40 St. Maximus
also noted clearly the severe trials which contemplatives must un­
dergo, the crucible through which they must pass that they may
be fully purified and firmly established in the love of God.47
42 Published by Weis-Liebersdorf, Leipzig, Teubner, 1912. Quoted at
length by Saudreau, Vie d'union d’après les grands maîtres, 3rd ed., 1921, pp.
52 ff.
43 Cf. The Celestial Hierarchy, III, 2 f. The Divine Names, I, 2; IV, 12 f.;
VII, 13. Mystical Theology, I, 3; II. See also Cayré, Précis de patrologie, II,
92-96.
44 PG, XC, 1441. Cf. Cayré, op. cit., II, 308 ff.
45 PG, XC, 1209.
48 Ibid., col. 1089.
47 Ibid., col. 1215. We have assembled elsewhere numerous similar texts

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235

In the eighth century, St. John Damascene says also that infused
contemplation is generally granted to the perfect: “He who has
reached the highest degree of love, going out of himself, so to speak,
discovers Him who cannot be seen. Taking his flight above this
cloud of the senses which arrests the gaze of the spirit and establish­
ing himself in peace, he fixes his gaze on the Sun of justice and en­
joys this spectacle which he can never tire of.” *
48 “To have attained
to the contemplation of the Creator by the generous practice of vir­
tues is a treasure that will not be snatched away.” 49
Therefore, according to the Greek fathers, supernatural con­
templation, proceeding from the gift of wisdom, is in the normal
way of sanctity. It begins with the age of proficients and ordinarily
accompanies the charity of the perfect.
The Latin fathers, in particular St. Augustine and St. Gregory
the Great, present the same teaching. In De quantitate animae
(chap. 33, nos. 70-76), St. Augustine distinguishes several degrees.
He insists on the struggle against sin, the difficult work of purifica­
tion, followed by the entrance into light for those who are purified
and finally by divine union (mansio in luce}. Later, in his com­
mentary on the Sermon on the Mount,50 he describes the ascending
progress of the soul toward God, according to the gradation of the
gifts of the Holy Ghost. The fear of God is the first degree of the
spiritual life; wisdom its summit. Between these two extremes, he
distinguishes a double period of purifying preparation for wisdom:
a remote preparation, called the active life, which is the active prac­
tice of the moral virtues that correspond to the gifts of piety, forti­
tude, knowledge, and counsel; then a proximate preparation, called
the contemplative life,51 which is the eminent exercise of the theo­
logical virtues and of the gifts of understanding and wisdom in souls
established in peace and docile to grace. Faith, enlightened by these
gifts, is then the principle of contemplation, and ardent charity
unites the soul closely to God. Thus the labors of the active life
from St. Maximus and his predecessors: cf. Perfection chrétienne et contem­
plation, II, 668 ff.
48 De Transfigur. Dom., 10.
40 De virtutibus et vitiis; PG, XCV, 85-98.
60 De Sermone Domini, 1, chaps. 1—4; De doctrina Christiana, II, chap. 7;
Serm. 347.
De Trinitate, Bks. XII-X1V.

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prepare for contemplation, in which the purified soul enjoys the
divine light, the pledge of eternal life. This contemplation which
proceeds from the gift of wisdom is, in truth, infused contempla­
tion.52
In the fifth century, Cassian in his Conferences, or lessons in spirit­
uality, especially in the ninth and tenth, shows that the end of the
spiritual life on earth is divine contemplation, which Cassian regards
as the perfect exercise of the love of God. The soul prepares for it
by prayer in order to obtain the pardon of sins committed, by the
practice of the virtues and a lively desire for a greater charity for
itself and its neighbor.53 Then prayer ends by becoming “a prayer
all of fire,” 54 which “is formed by the contemplation of God alone
and by the ardor of a burning charity.” 55 “Thus the soul begins
to taste in an earthen vessel the first fruits of the glory which it hopes
for in heaven.” 56
It is well known that Cassian’s Conferences were over a long
period the current book of spiritual reading. St. Thomas read them
often, and preserved Cassian’s doctrine in speaking of the gift of
wisdom, whose progress accompanies that of charity.
In the sixth century, St. Gregory the Great also admits the di­
vision of the three degrees of the spiritual life: the struggle against
sin,57 then the active life or the practice of the virtues,58 and the con­
templative life, which is that of the perfect,59 and which he declares
necessary for apostles or preachers of the word of God 80 and for
those who wish to attain perfection.01 In this teaching, St. Gregory
shows himself the disciple of St. Augustine. In his opinion all the
52 Father Cayré says quite justly in his Précis de patrologie, 1927 (I, 669), in
treating of the spirituality of St. Augustine: “St. Thomas will truly remain the
disciple of St. Augustine when he presents these graces (of infused contempla­
tion) as the crowning of the entire spiritual organism of the soul, and as
destined to subject the soul wholly to God” (la Ilae, q.68, a. 1 ).
Father Ephrem Longpré, O.F.M., says the same thing about St. Bonaventure
in Archiviimi Franciscanum historicum, 1921, fasc. I, II, “La théologie mys­
tique de saint Bonaventure.”
53 See Ninth Conference, chaps. 8 ff.
51 Ibid., chap. 14.
85 Ibid., chap. 18.
60 Tenth Conference, chap. 6.
82 Morales, XXXI, 87.
89 Ibid., II, 76 ff.
89 Ibid., II, 77; VI, 57; XXV, 15; In Ezech., Bk. Il, VII, 7.
«° Morales, XXX, 8.
81 Ibid., VI, 58 f.

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237

works of the Christian life have their full perfection only if souls
are illumined by the superior lights of contemplation.62 It is the end
of asceticism, the fruit of a special inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the
exercise of the gift of wisdom.63 Clearly meant is an infused con­
templation,64 for which one prepares especially by humility, purity
of heart, and habitual recollection.
St. Gregory also noted the painful passive purifications later
described by Hugh of St. Victor, Tauler, and especially St. John
of the Cross.65 St. Gregory insists on the fact that these purifications
“dry up all sensual affection in us” 66 and thus prepare us for con­
templation and union with God, wherein we find great strength in
trial and ardent charity.
St. Bernard preserves all this teaching, and speaks in his Sermons 67
of the humble and burning desire for contemplation. If these desires
are ardent, they are, in his opinion, heard and granted; but men of
desire are only too rare. St. Bernard often describes the union with
God which results from infused contemplation and the alternate
succession of the presence and absence of the Word, the Spouse
of the soul.68
The same doctrine is also found in Hugh of St. Victor, who insists
on the passive purifications of the soul,69 in Richard of St. Victor,70
in St. Bonaventure,71 who was fond of the terminology, which
Dionysius used habitually, of the purgative, illuminative, and unitive
ways.
St. Thomas, as we shall see, preserves the distinction between
beginners, proficients, and the perfect.72 This distinction is clarified
82 In Ezech., Bk. II, II, 11.
83 Morales, V, yo f.; XXII, 50 f.
84 Ibid., X, 13: “We are inclined toward superior goods when the Spirit
touches us with His breath . . . and then is imprinted in the heart which
receives it the traces, as it were, of God’s footsteps.” Cf. Cayré, op. tit., II,
242-47.
85 Morales, X, 10, no. 17; XXIV, 6, no. 11.
88 In Ezech., Bk. II, horn. II, nos. 2 f.
82 Sermons, IX, 1-3; XXXII, 2; XL1X, 3.
88 Ibid., VIII, 6; XXII, 2; XXIII, 16.
80 Hom. I in Eccl.
70 Benjamin Major, chaps. 1-4, 6.
71 Itinerarium, VIII; De triplici via, chap. 3; De apologia pauperum, chap. 3;
Sermo 1 de Dorn. V post Baseha. Cf. P. Bonncfoi, O.F.M., Le Saint-Esprit et
ses dons selon saint Bonaventure, 1929, p. 217; E. Longpré, O.F.M., art. cit.
72 Sec lia llae, 4.24, a.9.

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by what he says in his Commentary on St. Matthew (chap. 5) about
the beatitudes of the flight from sin, of those of the active life, and ·
of those of the contemplative life. In this commentary he describes
the ascent of the soul as St. Augustine and St. Gregory did.’3
The Three Ages of the Spiritual Life
Those of the Corporeal Life

and

St. Thomas74 compares the three ages of the spiritual life with
those of the corporeal life: childhood, adolescence, and maturity.
We should note this analogy, and in particular the transition from
one period to another.
It is generally admitted that first childhood ceases on the awak­
ening of reason about the seventh year. This period is followed by
a sort of second childhood which lasts until the period of adolescence,
about the fourteenth year. Adolescence extends from the fourteenth
to the twentieth year; then comes maturity, which is divided into
the period which precedes full maturity, and that which, from about
the thirty-fifth year onward, follows before the decline of old age.
Psychologists point out that mentality changes with the trans­
formations of the organism. The child follows chiefly the imagina­
tion and the impulses of the sensible appetites. He does not yet
discern, nor does he organize rationally; even when his reason be­
gins to awaken, it remains extremely dependent on his senses. On
leaving childhood, about the fourteenth year, at the period of
puberty, there is not only an organic, but a psychological, intellec­
tual, and moral transformation. The adolescent is no longer content
to follow his imagination; he begins to reflect on the affairs of
human life, on the necessity of preparing himself for a certain
profession or life-work. This period of transition, called the awk­
ward age, is not without difficulty: then, about the fourteenth
year, the adolescent’s moral personality begins to take shape with
a sense of honor and of good reputation, or he may become perverted
and begin to go wrong, unless he becomes a retarded, unstable, ab­
normal person.
Here the analogy throws light on the spiritual life. We shall see
that the beginner who does not become a proficient, as he should,
turns out badly or remains a retarded, tepid soul, and, as it were,
” Cf. rtipra, chap. 10.
74 Sec Ila Hac, <]. 24, a.9.

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239

a spiritual dwarf. As the fathers, particularly St. Bernard,75 so often
say: “He who does not advance, falls back.” To refuse to become
better, is to fall back, whereas to tend persistently toward perfec­
tion, is, in a sense, already to possess it.7®
To continue the analogy, if the crisis of puberty, which is at
once both physical and moral, is a difficult period through which
to pass, the same is true of another crisis, which may be called that
of first liberty, which introduces the adolescent into maturity at
about the twentieth year. The young man, who is then fully formed
physically, must begin to take his place in the life of society. Some
pass through this period badly, abuse the liberty given them, and,
like the prodigal son, confound liberty with license. On the other
hand, the adult who develops normally and takes the good road
concerns himself with matters of individual, family, and social life
in a manner superior to that of the adolescent. The adult is en­
grossed in more general questions. Unless he has received a higher
vocation from God, he himself founds a home that he may in his
turn become an educator.
Something similar exists in the spiritual life. When the proficient
who is, so to speak, in the period of spiritual adolescence, reaches
the more advanced age of the perfect, his mentality rises as it be­
comes spiritual, and it grows more and more supernatural. He sees
with increasing clearness not only the things that pertain to in­
dividual, family, and social life, but those that have to do with the
reign of God or the life of the Church in their relation to eternal
life.
We should like particularly to emphasize here the differences
which separate the three ages of the spiritual life and to explain how
the transition is made from one to the other. As St. Thomas ob­
serves: “The divers degrees of charity are distinguished according
to the different pursuits {studia) to which man is brought by the
increase of charity. For at first it is incumbent on man to occupy
himself chiefly with avoiding sin and resisting his concupiscences,
which move him in opposition to charity. This concerns beginners,
in whom charity has to be fed or fostered lest it be destroyed. In
the second place, man’s chief pursuit is to aim at progress in good,
and this is the pursuit of the proficient, whose principal aim is to
” Epist., 34, 1; 91, 3; 254,4: “Not to advance, is to fall back.”
’· Ibid.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

strengthen their charity by adding to it: man’s third pursuit is to aim
chiefly at union with God and enjoyment of Him: this belongs to
the perfect who ‘desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ’ (Phil.
1:23)” 77
These are the three stages of progress toward sanctity; but what is
important to add, and has been admirably observed by St. John of
the Cross, is the transition from one spiritual age to another, a transi­
tion analogous to that in the order of corporeal life. As there is the
crisis of puberty between childhood and adolescence, there is a
similar crisis between the purgative life of beginners and the illumi­
native life of proficients. This crisis has been described by several
great spiritual writers, notably by Tauler,78 especially by St. John
of the Cross, under the title of the “passive purification of the
senses,” 79 by Father Lallemant, S.J., under the name of “second
conversion.” 80 As a matter of fact, this crisis recalls the second
conversion of Peter during the dark night of the Passion.
At this point, the generous beginner, who runs the risk of stand­
ing still in many unconscious defects, in particular of dwelling on
sensible consolations in his spiritual exercises, is deprived of these
consolations that he may be introduced into a spiritual way that is
much more detached from the senses, a way in which he finds in
aridity a beginning of contemplation which the Holy Ghost grants
him in order to make him advance. This is St. John’s teaching: “The
first night, or sensual purgation, wherein the soul is purified or de­
tached, will be of the senses, subjecting them to the spirit. . . . The
night of sense is common, and the lot of many: these are the be­
ginners.” 81 They begin to understand clearly that one must be
truly poor in spirit, truly humble, in order to grow in charity. One
must renounce all the more or less gross or subtle follies of vanity,
pride, and spiritual sensuality. The holy doctor adds: “When the
house of sensuality was at rest, that is, when the passions were morti77 See Ila Ilae, q. 24, a.9.
78 Second Sermon for Lent, and Sermon for the Monday before Palm Sun­
day (nos. 3 f.), which, in the Latin translation of Surius, is attributed to the
first Sunday after the octave of the Epiphany.
78 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chaps, çf.: “Characteristic signs of
the night of the senses.” “How they are to conduct themselves who have
entered the dark night.”
30 La doctrine spirituelle (Paris, ed. Gabalda, 1908), 2nd principle, chap.
6, a.2, sec. 2, p. 1:3; cf. pp. 91, 123, 143, 187,301 If.
81 The Dark Night, Bk. 1, chap. 8.

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241

fied, concupiscence quenched, the desires subdued and lulled to
sleep in the blessed night of the purgation of sense, the soul began
to set out on the way of the spirit, the way of proficients, which is
also called the illuminative way, or the way of infused contempla­
tion, wherein God Himself teaches and refreshes the soul without
meditation or any active efforts that itself may deliberately make
(at least quite generally in prayer). . . . Such ... is this night
and purgation of the senses.” 82
The words we have italicized in this text are very significant and
reproduce exactly the original Spanish. Following the example of
St. Augustine, Cajetan, St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas,
Tauler, and others, St. John of the Cross, it should be noted, speaks
of the illuminative way in the full, strong meaning of the term, and
not of an illuminative way that is, so to speak, diminished, such as
exists in those who have only partially profited by the passive puri­
fication of the senses, as the saint points out.83
Finally, farther on when speaking of proficients,84 St. John of the
Cross treats of the imperfections proper to the advanced or pro­
ficients. He declares that there is still in them natural rudeness,
a distraction and dissipation of mind, presumption, and subtle and
secret pride. These defects show the necessity of the passive puri­
fication of the spirit in order to enter the perfect unitive way, that
of those who, as St. Thomas says: “aim chiefly at union with God
and enjoyment of Him . . . and who ‘desire to be dissolved and
to be with Christ.’ ” 85
This trial of the passive purification of the spirit is a crisis analo­
gous to that which occurs in the natural order when the adolescent
becomes an adult and makes use of his liberty, sometimes to his cost.
At this point in the spiritual order, there is, as it were, a third con­
version,80 or better a transformation of soul which recalls what
Pentecost was for the apostles, when, after being deprived of the
presence of Christ, who had ascended into heaven, they were en82 Ibid., chap. 14.
83 Ibid., chap. 9.
81 Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 2.
85 See Ila Ilae, q.24, a.9.
83 Tauler spoke also of this great purification in the Sermon for the Mon­
day before Palm Sunday: no. 7: Trials by which the life of the third degree
begins; no. 8: Reason for these trials; no. 9: Divine union in the superior fac­
ulties.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

lightened and fortified by the Holy Ghost, who thus prepared them
for the severe persecutions they would have to undergo and who
made them perfect ministers of the Savior.87
St. John of the Cross is assuredly describing spiritual progress as
it appears especially among contemplatives, and more particularly
in those who are the most generous in striving to reach union with
God as directly as possible. He thus shows the superior laws of the
life of grace in all their loftiness. But these laws apply also in an
attenuated manner in many others who do not reach such a lofty
perfection, but who, nevertheless, advance generously without turn­
ing back. Attentive reading of the history of the interior life of the
servants of God, reveals, in their interior sufferings and their progress,
this profound purification of the senses and spirit, so that all their
faculties may at length be fully subjected to God present in them in
the depths of their souls.
St. John of the Cross, better than anyone else, noted these two
crises of the transition from one age to another, and he rightly called
them the passive purifications of the senses and the spirit. Mani­
festly they correspond well to the nature of the human soul (to its
two parts, the sensible and the spiritual). They correspond also to
the nature of the divine seed, to sanctifying grace, the germ of eter­
nal life, which ought more and more to vivify our lower and higher
faculties and to inspire all our acts until the depths of our souls are
purified of all egoism, of all more or less conscious self-love, and in
truth belong entirely to God.88
87 We developed these ideas at length in a little treatise. Les trois conver­
sions et les trois voies, pp. 42-50, 123-80.
88 The objection has sometimes been raised that this lofty idea of St. John
of the Cross notably surpasses the common idea of spiritual writers, and, it
has been added, it seems that the beginners who are discussed in The Dark
Night (Bk. I, chap. 8) are not those generally spoken of but those who are
making a beginning, not in the spiritual life but in the mystical ways. To this
objection it is easy to reply that the idea of St. John of the Cross corresponds
admirably to the nature of the soul (sensitive and spiritual), no less than to
that of grace, and that the beginners he speaks of are indeed those to whom
this name is generally given. To be convinced of this, it suffices to see the
defects that St. John finds in them: spiritual gluttony, an inclination to sen­
suality, to anger, to envy, to spiritual laziness, to pride, which leads them to
“go to a stranger to confess their sin, that their usual confessor may think
they are not sinners but good people” (The Dark Night, Bk. I, chap. 2).
Such people are real beginners who nave made no progress in asceticism.
When he speaks of the three ways, the purgative, the illuminative, and the

THE THREE AGES OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

243

Keeping this fact in mind, we can understand that Vallgornera
should have followed this lofty idea of the three ages of the spiritual
life in dividing his work Theologia mystica divi Thomae. In doing
so he concurred, as we said in the beginning of this chapter, with the
Carmelites, Philip of the Blessed Trinity, Anthony of the Holy
Ghost, and many others. Thus is preserved the tradition of the fa­
thers, of Clement of Alexandria, Cajetan, St. Augustine, Dionysius,
St. Bernard, St. Anselm, Hugh, Richard of St. Victor, St. Albert the
Great, St. Bonaventure, and St. Thomas, whose doctrine on the gifts
of the Holy Ghost thus appears in its full development.
To sum up what we have just said, we shall give a table that co­
incides approximately with one agreed on by several of the authors
we have just named.88
In beginners may be noted, with the first degree of charity, the
initial virtues or the first degree of meekness, patience, chastity, and
humility. Interior and exterior mortification makes them more and
more avoid deliberate venial sins, or induces them to rise immediately
from mortal sin should they fall into it. Their prayer is vocal, their
meditation is discursive and tends to be transformed into simpli­
fied affective prayer. In them the gifts of the Holy Ghost begin to
appear, but they are still rather latent. From time to time they have
special inspirations from the Holy Ghost, but as yet little aptitude
to profit by them. Docility to the Holy Ghost remains feeble; the
soul is, above all, conscious of its activity and must frequently recog­
nize its indigence.80
unitive, St. John understands them, not in a diminished sense but in their
normal plenitude.
It should be noted also that, following several other writers, Father Cayré
(Précis de patrologie, histoire et doctrine des pères et docteurs de PEglise, II,
886 ff.) rightly says: “There is certainly no reason to distinguish in the spirit­
uality of St. John of the Cross two parallel ways, the one ascetical and the
other mystical, each leading by its own means to perfection. The active and
the passive ways, spoken of in the two great treatises (The Ascent and The
Dark Night), represent not two distinct states, but two aspects of the one
and only way of sanctity. ... St. John of the Cross considers the transform­
ing union the normal end of the journey toward perfection.” With this in
view, he points out in The Ascent what the soul must do, and in The Dark
Night what it must receive with docility. Several Carmelite theologians have
recently made the same observation.
8“In particular, with the table proposed by Father Cayré, op. cit., II, 811,
834.
80 This stage corresponds to the first and second mansions of St. Teresa.

244

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

The soul experiences its poverty in the crisis of sensible aridity of
the passive purification of the senses, a painful purification more or
less well borne, which marks the transition to the illuminative way,
which has not been diminished and is truly worthy of its name.01
In proficients, with the second degree of charity, appear the solid
virtues which are no longer merely initial virtues; in particular, meek­
ness and patience, a more genuine humility, which leads to benevo­
lence toward one’s neighbor, and the spirit of the three counsels of
poverty, chastity, and filial obedience to God recognized as present
in the superiors placed over us. With these solid virtues, the gifts of
the Holy Ghost begin to manifest themselves, especially the three
less elevated gifts of fear, knowledge, and piety. The soul, more
docile now, profits more from interior inspirations and illuminations.
If the proficient is truly generous, then infused prayer ordinarily
begins by isolated acts of infused contemplation in the course of
the acquired prayer of recollection. Then, if the soul is faithful,
little by little come the prayers of supernatural recollection and of
quiet (arid or consoled), in which may be seen a manifest influence
of the gift of piety, which makes us cry: “Abba, Father,” as St. Paul
says.92 Here, truly, the soul’s intimate conversation with itself be­
comes a conversation with God. Then, if the soul is generous, it sees
in itself faults of subtle pride, of lack of benevolence toward its
neighbor, sometimes of hardness, of lack of zeal for the salvation of
so many souls that are being lost. These defects which did not at first
appear to the soul, require a new passive purification, that of the
spirit.93
In spite of certain, as it were involuntary, imperfections, the per­
fect have, with the third degree of charity, eminent and even heroic
virtues: great meekness, almost unalterable patience, profound hu­
mility which does not fear scorn and loves even humiliations, a great
spirit of faith which leads the soul to see all things as coming from
the hand of God, great confidence in God, magnanimity which
causes the soul to tend to great things in spite of obstacles and re­
buffs, and perfect abandonment to the will of God. The gifts of
understanding and wisdom then manifest themselves more strikingly81
*
81 As we shall see, it is the third mansion of St. Teresa with a beginning of
the arid prayer of quiet.
02 This stage corresponds to rhe fourth mansion of St. Teresa, and in part
to the fifth. In this fifth mansion, we shall see farther on, there arc ex­
traordinary graces that do not belong to the normal way of sanctity.
·· St. Teresa speaks of this purification in the sixth mansion.

THE THREE AGES OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

245

Initial virtues, first
degree of charity,
temperance, chastity,
patience, first de­
grees of humility.

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

Eminent and heroic
virtues, third degree
of charity, perfect
humility, great spirit
of faith, abandon­
ment, almost unal­
terable patience.

Gifts of the Holy
Ghost rather latent,
inspirations at rare
intervals, slight apti­
tude as yet to profit
by them. The soul is
especially conscious
of its activity.

The gifts of the
Holy Ghost begin to
manifest themselves,
especially the three
inferior gifts of fear,
knowledge, and
piety. The soul,
more docile now,
profits more from
inspirations and in­
terior illuminations.

The higher gifts
manifest themselves
more notably and
frequently. The soul
is, as it were, domi­
nated by the Holy
Ghost. Great passiv­
ity in His regard,
which does not ex­
clude the activity of
the virtues.

Gifts

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

Passive purification
of the senses, under
the influence espe­
cially of the gifts of
fear and knowledge.
Concomitant trials.
Entrance into the il­
luminative way.

Purification of the
spirit under the in­
fluence especially of
the gift of under­
standing. Concomi­
tant trials in which
are manifested the
gifts of fortitude and
of counsel. Entrance
into the perfect uni­
tive way.

Purifications

Acquired prayer:
vocal prayer, discur­
sive prayer, affective
prayer, which be­
comes more and
more simple, called
the prayer of active
recollection.

Initial infused prayer,
isolated acts of in­
fused contemplation
in the course of the
acquired prayer of
recollection; then,
prayers of supernat­
ural recollection and
of arid or consoled
quiet. The gift of
piety.

Infused prayers of
simple union, of
complete union
( sometimes ecstatic ),
of transforming
union, under the
more and more
marked influence of
the gift of wisdom.
Concomitant favors.

First and second
mansions

Third and
mansions

The Perfect
(unitive way)
Mystical life

Mansions of
St. Teresa

fourth Fifth, sixth, and sev­
enth mansions

Prayers

Proficients
(illuminative way)
Threshold of the
mystical life

Virtues

Degrees
of charity

Beginners
(purgative way)
Ascetical life

246

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

and frequently. The soul is, as it were, dominated by the Holy Ghost,
who inspires it also to a more perfect practice of the virtues.
Ordinarily at this time, there is the infused prayer of union under
the more and more marked influence of the gift of wisdom.94 The
center of the soul is finally purified, and the higher and lower facul­
ties are fully subject to God intimately present in the inner sanc­
tuary. In the penumbra of faith, this is eternal life begun, or the
normal prelude of beatitude which ought never to end.
This spiritual progress may be expressed by the preceding sum­
mary, which should be read from the bottom up in order better to
see that the passive purifications of the senses and the spirit are
found at the entrance to the illuminative and unitive ways.
84 St. Teresa speaks of the various degrees of the infused prayer of union
in the fifth, sixth, and seventh mansions.

CHAPTER XVI

Spiritual Reading of Scripture, of the
Works and Lives of the Saints
AFTER discussing the sources of the interior life and the end to
/ \ be attained, which is Christian perfection, we should consider
the exterior helps found in the reading of spiritual works and in
spiritual direction.
Among the great means of sanctification offered to all, should be
included spiritual reading, especially that of Holy Scripture, of
the works of the masters of the interior life, and of the lives of the
saints. In this chapter we shall discuss this subject, and point out the
dispositions necessary to draw profit from such reading.
Holy Scripture

and the

Life of the Soul

Error, heresy, and immorality often come from the influence of
evil books, but “the reading of Sacred Letters,” as St. Ambrose says,
“is the life of the soul; Christ Himself declares it when He says: ‘The
words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life’ ” (John 6:64)?
It was this reading that prepared St. Augustine to return to God
when he heard the words: “Take and read.” A passage from St.
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans 2 gave him the decisive light which tore
him away from sin and led him to conversion.
St. Jerome relates in a letter to Eustochium how, at the time when
he was beginning to lead the monastic life near Antioch, he was
led by a very great grace to the assiduous reading of the Scriptures.
The elegance of profane writers still pleased him greatly; by pref­
erence he read the works of Cicero, Virgil, and Plautus. Then he
received the following grace: during sleep he beheld himself, as it
1 Sermon 3 j.
* Rom. 13:13.
M7

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

were, transported before the tribunal of God, who asked him
severely who he was. “I am a Christian,” Jerome replied. “You lie,”
said the sovereign Judge. “You are a Ciceronian; for where your
treasure is, there is your heart also.” And the order was given to
scourge him. “Upon awakening,” writes St. Jerome, “I felt, indeed,
that this had been more than a dream, that it was a reality, since I
bore on my shoulders the marks of the stripes I had received. Since
that time I have read the Sacred Scriptures with greater ardor than
I formerly read profane books.” This experience explains St. Jerome’s
statement to Eustochium in another letter: “Let sleep surprise you
only reading; fall asleep only on Sacred Scripture.”
From what book can we better draw life than from Scripture,
which has God for its Author? Especially the Gospels, the words
of our Savior, the facts of His hidden, His apostolic, and His suffer­
ing life should be the living teaching to which the soul must ever
turn. Christ knows how to make the loftiest and most divine things
accessible to all by the simplicity with which He speaks. His word
does not remain abstract and theoretical; it leads directly to true
humility, to love of God and neighbor. Each word tells us that He
seeks only the glory of Him who sent Him and the good of souls.
The Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew (chaps. 5-7) and the dis­
course after the Last Supper in St. John (chaps. 14-18) should be
read frequently.
If with humility, hope, and love, we read the divine words of
Scripture, which are spirit and life, they contain for us a special
grace that daily inclines us more to imitate the virtues of Christ,
His meekness, patience, and heroic love on the cross. Besides the
Holy Eucharist, the true food of the saints is to be found in the
Scriptures: the word of God, transmitted by Flis only Son, the
Word made flesh. Hidden under the letter is the living thought of
God, which, if we are docile, the gifts of understanding and wis­
dom will make us penetrate and taste more and more.
After the Gospel, nothing is more nourishing than the divinely
inspired commentary on it, the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles.
They are the teachings of Christ lived by His first disciples, who
were given the task of training us. These teachings are explained
and adapted to the needs of the faithful. In the Acts is found the
heroic life of the new-born Church, its diffusion in the midst of the
greatest difficulties, constituting a lesson in confidence, valor, fidelity,

249

SPIRITUAL READING

and abandonment. Where, other than in the Epistles, can we find
more profound and living pages about the person and work of Christ
(Col. i), the splendor of the life of the Church and the immensity
of Christ’s love for it (Eph. 1-3), about justification by faith in
Christ (Rom. 1-11), about the eternal priesthood of Christ? (Heb.,
1-9.)
If the ethical part of the Epistles is considered, where can we
read more pressing exhortations to charity, to the duties of our
state, to perseverance, to heroic patience, to sanctity, and surer rules
of conduct for all,—superiors, equals, inferiors—also for the weak,
for the guilty, and for false teachers? Where can we find a more
vivid exposition of the duties of all Christians in regard to the Church?
(I Pet. 4 f.)
Every Christian should know certain parts of the Old Testament,
in particular the Psalms, which are still the prayer of the Church in
the Divine Office, that prayer of reparative adoration for the con­
trite and humbled sinner, of ardent supplication and thanksgiving.
Interior souls ought to read also the most beautiful pages of the
Prophets, which the liturgy of Advent and Lent places before us,
and in the Sapiential Books, the exhortations of uncreated Wisdom
to the practice of the principal duties toward God and neighbor.
New lights and new strength will be found in the Scriptures,
especially in the Gospels, when they are often reread with respect
and love. God has put inexhaustible virtue in His word. When a per­
son who has read a great deal and is tired of almost all books, ap­
proaches the close of life, he turns again to the Gospel as to the
true prelude of the light which enlightens souls in eternal life.
The Spiritual Works

of the

Saints

Next to the Scriptures, the reading of the spiritual works of the
saints greatly enlightens and warms the soul, because these works,
though not composed under infallible inspiration, were written
with the lights and the unction of the Holy Ghost. We should not
ignore the chief spiritual works of St. Augustine,3 St. Jerome,4 Cas" Confessiones, Soliloquia, De doctrina Christiana, De civitate Dei, Epistola
ill, Enarrationes in Psalmos, In Sermonem Domini in monte (Matt. 5), In
Joannem, etc.
* Epistolae; especially cp. 22, to the virgin Eustochium.

2 5o

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

sian,8 St. Leo,® St. Benedict,7 St. Gregory the Great,8 St. Basil,9 St.
John Chrysostom,10 Dionysius,11 St. Maximus Confessor,12 St. An­
selm,13 and St. Bernard.14 Very useful also is an acquaintance with
what most concerns the interior life in the writings of Richard of
St. Victor,15 Hugh of St. Cher,1® St. Albert the Great,17 St. Thomas
Aquinas,18 St. Bonaventure.19 Profit may always be drawn from
the Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena,20 the works of Tauler,21 and
those of Blessed Henry Suso,22 Blessed Angela of Foligno,23 Blessed
John Ruysbroeck,24 Thomas à Kempis, the probable author of The
Imitation.
5 Collationes.
8 Sermones.
I Rule.
8 Expositio in librum Job, sive moralium libri XXXV; Liber regulae pas­
toralis; Homiliae in Ezechielem.
9 De Spiritu Sancto; Regulae.
10 Homiliae, De sacerdotio.
II De divinis nominibus; De ecclesiastica hierarchia; De mystica theologia.
12 Especially his Commentaries on Dionysius, his Liber asceticus.
13 Cur Deus homo. His meditations and prayers are rich in doctrine and
unction.
14 Sermones de tempore, de sanctis, in Cantica Canticorum; De considera­
tione; De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae; De diligendo Deo.
15 Benjamin minor, seu de preparatione ad contemplationem; Benjamin
major, seu de gratia contemplationis; Expositio in Cantica Canticorum.
18 De vita spirituali; Ex commentariis B. Hugonis de Sancto Charo, O.P.,
super totam bibliam excerpta, Curtante Fr. Dionysio Mésard, O.P., Pustet,
1910. An excellent work divided into four parts: on the purgative life; on
the illuminative life; the unitive life; the spiritual life of priests.
17 Commentarii in S. Scripturam, especially In Joannem; Comm. in Diony­
sium; Mariale; De sacrificio missae.
18 Commentarii in Psalmos, in Job, in Canticum Canticorum, in Matth.;
in Joannem; in Epist. S. Pauli; In Summa theologica, lia Ilae, de virtutibus
theologicis et moralibus nec non de donis in speciali. De perfectione spirituali;
Officium SS. Sacramenti; Expositio in Symbol. Apost. et in Orationem domin­
icam.
18 De triplici via (seu Incendium amoris); Lignum vitae; Vitis mystica, Itin­
erarium mentis ad Deum; Breviloquium.
20 Dialogue; Letters.
21 Sermons; critical edition in German by Vetter, 1910. The Institutions
were not drawn up by Tauler, but contain the summary of his doctrine.
22 Die Schriften der heiligen H. Suso, published by Father Denifle, O.P.
23 Visionum et instructionum liber. This book speaks especially of the divine
transcendence and of Christ’s passion.
24 Œuvres (trans, from the Flemish by the Benedictines of St. Paul at
Wisque). Cf. especially Le miroir du salut eternal; Le livre des sept clôtures;
L’ornement des noces étemelles. Ruysbroeck is certainly one of the greatest
mystics, but he can be comprehended only by advanced souls.

SPIRITUAL READING

251

Among modern spiritual writers, one should read Louis Blosius,
O.S.B.,25 the Franciscan, Francisco de Osuna 28 (whose book served
as a guide to St. Teresa), St. Ignatius Loyola,27 St. Teresa,28 St. John
of the Cross,29 St. Francis de Sales,30 St. John Eudes.31
Finally, one should also read the spiritual writings of Bossuet,32
those of the Dominicans, Louis of Granada,33 Chardon,34 Piny,35
and Massoulié,30 those of the Jesuits, L. Dupont,37 Lallemant,38
25 Cf. especially A Book of Spiritual Instruction (tr. by Bertrand Wilber­
force, O.P.), which contains the substance of his other writings. Louis
Blosius wrote a defense of Tauler’s doctrine, which he explained in a way that
renders it more accessible.
28 Abecedario espiritual, 1528. See especially Vol. Ill, which served as a
guide to St. Teresa.
27 The Spiritual Exercises, a method to reform and transform the soul by
conforming it to the divine Model. See also The Tale of the Pilgrim and the
Letters of St. Ignatius Loyola.
28 Obras de Santa Teresa, editadas y anotadas por el P. Silverio de S. Teresa,
6 vols., Burgos, 1915-20; Letters of St. Teresa. All interior souls can and should
read The Way of Perfection by St. Teresa.
29 Obras de San Juan de la Cruz, edited by P. Silverio, 5 vols., Burgos, 19293’·
In these works, The Ascent of Mount Cannel shows especially the active
purification of the soul which prepares for contemplation and which must
continue with it. The Dark Night describes, together with the defects of be­
ginners, the passive purification of the senses and that of the spirit. The Liv­
ing Flame of Love describes what is lofty in the life of union. A Spiritual
Canticle sums up in a lyrical form the doctrine of the other works.
80 Œuvres published by the Religious of the Visitation of Annecy. The
Introduction to a Devout Life describes the purgative life and shows how
devotion and sanctity may be practiced in all states of life. The Treatise on
the Love of God lifts souls even to the unitive way. Les vrais entretiens spir­
ituels, composed for the Visitandines, do good to all religious souls.
81 Œuvres, 12 vols., Paris, 1905. Disciple of Bérulle and of Condren,
St. John Eudes links up the interior virtues with the devotion to the Sacred
Hearts of Jesus and Mary. One should read La vie et le royaume de Jésus
dans les âmes chrétiennes; Le cœur admirable de la Mère de Dieu; Le mé­
morial de la vie ecclésiastique.
82 Elévations sur les mystères; Méditations sur l’Evangile; Traité de la con­
cupiscence; Lettres de direction; Les états d’oraison.
83 The Sinners' Guide; Memorial of the Christian Life.
84 La croix de Jésus, new ed., 1937; Les méditations sur la Passion.
86 Le plus parfait (abandonment); La présence de Dieu; L'oraison du cœur;
Etat du pur amour; La clef du pur amour; La vie cachée.
80 Traité de la véritable oraison, ed. Rousset (1900); Méditations de saint
Thomas sur les trois voies, ed. Florand (1934).
87 Guide spirituel; De la perfection du chrétien en tous les états; De la
perfection du chrétien dans l’état ecclésiastique; Méditations sur les mystères
de notre foi.
88 La doctrine spirituelle, a very substantial work which shows how, by

252

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Surin,39 De Caussade,40 and Grou,41 the works of the writers of the
French school of the seventeenth century, Bérulle,42 Condren,43
Bourgoing,44 St. Vincent de Paul,45 Olier,46 Venerable Boudon,47
those of Blessed Grignion de .Montfort,48 and St. Alphonsus Liguori.49
We do not speak of more recent writers, whose principal works
are known to all.
The Lives

of the

Saints

To the reading of books of spiritual doctrine should be joined that
of the lives of the saints, which contain alluring examples that are
always admirable and often imitable. Their deeds were often per­
formed in most difficult circumstances by men and women with a
nature like ours, who at the beginning had their weaknesses and
defects, but in whom grace and charity gradually dominated na­
ture by healing it, elevating it, and vivifying it. In them especially,
we see the true meaning and import of the principle, that grace does
not destroy nature (in so far as it is good), but perfects it. In them,
especially at the end of the purgative and illuminative ways, we
purity of heart, docility to the Holy Ghost, the frequent and loving remem­
brance of God present in it, the soul reaches contemplation, an act of living
faith enlightened by the gifts.
88 Les fondements de la vie spirituelle; La guide spirituelle, in which the
doctrine of Father Lallemant is developed; Traité de I'amour de Dieu.
40 Abandon à la divine Providence, an admirable book which has done great
good to many souls; instructions spirituelles sur les divers états d'oraison.
41 Maximes spirituelles; Méditations en forme de retraite sur l’amour de
Dieu; Retraite spirituelle; Manuel des âmes intérieures. The doctrine set forth
in these works is identical with that of Father Lallemant.
42 Œuvres completes, 1657 and 1856. Cf. especially Le discours de l'état et
des grandeurs de Jésus.
48 L'idée du sacerdoce et du sacrifice. Condren completes Bérulle, by show­
ing in Jesus, the adorer of the Father, the principal priest of the sacrifice to
which we ought daily to unite ourselves.
44 Vérités et excellences de Jésus-Christ (meditations).
45 Correspondance; Entretiens, published by Father Coste, 1920.
48 Le catéchisme chrétien pour la vie intérieure (the crucifying virtues, the
way of close union with our Lord); La journée chrétienne; Le traité des
Saints-Ordres; L'introduction à la vie et aux vertus chrétiennes.
47 Le règne de Dieu en l’oraison mentale.
48 Traité de la vraie dévotion à la Sainte Vierge; Le secret de Marie.
48 Opere ascetiche, new cd., Rome, 1933. Various editions in English.

SPIRITUAL READING

253

see what is in the unitive life the true harmony of nature and grace,
the normal prelude of eternal beatitude.
In these lives we must seek especially what is imitable, and in
what is extraordinary we must see a divine sign given to draw us
from our lethargy and make us understand what is most profound
and most lofty in an ordinary Christian life when the soul is truly
docile to the Holy Ghost. The sufferings of the stigmatics thus recall
to us what our Savior’s passion should be for us and how we ought
daily to say with more meaning at the end of the Stations of the
Cross: “Sancta Mater, istud agas, Crucifixi fige plagas cordi meo
valide.” The extraordinary grace which enabled many saints, as
St. Catherine of Siena, to drink deeply from the wound of the heart
of Jesus should recall to us what a fervent Communion should be
for us, and how each of our Communions should be substantially
more fervent than the preceding one in our ascent toward God.
The examples of the saints, their humility, patience, confidence,
overflowing charity, are more efficacious in making us practice virtue
than abstract doctrine is. “Universals do not move.”
We ought to read especially the lives of the saints written by
saints, such as that of St. Francis of Assisi written by St. Bonaven­
ture, that of St. Catherine of Siena by Blessed Raymond of Capua,
her director, and the life of St. Teresa by herself.
Dispositions for Profitable Spiritual Reading

A prayer well said before we begin to read will obtain for us the
actual grace to read Sacred Scripture or spiritual books with a spirit
of faith, avoiding all useless curiosity, intellectual vanity, the tend­
ency to criticize what we read rather than to profit by it. The spirit
of faith will make us seek God Himself in spiritual works.
We must also, with a sincere and keen desire for perfection, apply
to ourselves what we read, instead of being content with a theoretical
knowledge of it. Then, even while reading what has to do with
“the little virtues,” as St. Francis de Sales calls them, we shall reap
great profit, for all the virtues are connected with the highest of all,
charity. It is also well for advanced souls to reread occasionally
what is suitable for beginners; on second reading they will see this
teaching under a superior light and will be astonished at all that is
virtually contained in it, as, for example, in the first lines of the

2 54

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

little catechism on the reason why we were created and placed in
the world: “To know God, to love Him, to serve Him, and thus
to obtain eternal life.”
It is also well for beginners to catch a glimpse of the extreme
loftiness of Christian perfection, without, however, covering the
ground too quickly and trying to go faster than grace. Perfection
should at least be partly seen, because the end to be attained, which
is last in the order of execution, is first in the order of intention or
of desire. One must from the beginning wish to attain sanctity, since
we are all called to that sanctity which would permit us to enter
heaven immediately after death. No one, in fact, will go to purga­
tory except for sins which he might have avoided.
If beginners and the advanced have a keen desire to sanctify them­
selves, they will find what is suitable for them in Holy Scripture
and in the spiritual writings of the saints. While reading, they will
hear the teaching of the interior Master. That this may be so, they
must read slowly and not devour books; they must be penetrated
with what they read. Then spiritual reading will be transformed
little by little into prayer, into intimate conversation with the interior
Guest.60
It is also well after a few years to reread the very good books
which have already done us much good. Life is short: we should be
content to read and read again whatever bears the mark of God, and
not to lose our time on things that are lifeless and of no value. St.
Thomas Aquinas never wearied of rereading the conferences of
Cassian. How many souls have gained greatly by often rereading
The Imitation! To be profoundly penetrated by one such book is
far better than to read all spiritual writers superficially.
Moreover, as St. Bernard says, we should read with piety, seeking
not only to know divine things, but to taste them.51 St. Matthew
(24:15) says: “He that readeth, let him understand.” Let us ask
God for the light to understand clearly. The disciples of Emmaus50
*
50 St. Benedict (Rule, chap. 48) says that reading thus made is the first de­
gree of the ascending series: “Reading, thought, study, meditation, prayer,
contemplation.” Cf. Dorn Delatte, The Rule of St. Benedict (a commentary);
tr. by Dom Justin McCann, 1921.
St. Thomas, who received his first training with the Benedictines, kept
this gradation which ends in contemplation (cf. Ila Ilae, q. 180, a.3).
“l “When reading, let him seek not so much learning as savor.” In spec,
monach.

SPIRITUAL READING

255

did not understand the meaning of the prophecies until Christ opened
their minds. This is why St. Bernard says to us: “Let prayer in­
terrupt reading,” then truly this reading will be a spiritual food and
will prepare the soul for prayer.
Finally, we must begin without delay to put into practice what
we read. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:24, 26),
our Lord declared: “Everyone therefore that heareth these My
words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his
house upon a rock. . . . And everyone that heareth these My
words, and doth them not, shall be like the foolish man that built his
house upon the sand.” “For not the hearers of the law,” says St. Paul,
“are just before God; but the doers of the law shall be justified.” 82
Then reading bears fruit. In the parable of the sower we are told:
“And other some fell upon good ground; and being sprung up,
yielded fruit a hundredfold. . . . But that on the good ground, are
they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and
bring forth fruit in patience.” 03 According to this parable, some
spiritual reading may produce thirtyfold, other sixtyfold, and still
other a hundredfold. Such was, for example, the reading which
Augustine did when he heard the words: “Take and read.” He
opened the epistles of St. Paul, which were lying on the table, and
read these words (Rom. 13:13 f.): “Let us walk honestly, as in the
day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and im­
purities, not in contention and envy. But put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ.” From that moment his heart was changed; he retired for
some time into solitude and asked for baptism. This was truly the
hundredfold, which since then has nourished thousands of souls.
112 Rom. 2:13. Jas. 1:22: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
53 Luke 8:8, 15.

CHAPTER XVII

Spiritual Direction
PIRITUAL direction should be numbered among the exterior
means of sanctification. We shall discuss its necessity in general
and also in the different stages of the spiritual life, and then we shall
recall the desired qualities of a director and the duties of the soul
that is being directed.

S

The Necessity

of

Direction

Though it is not an absolutely necessary means for the sanctifica­
tion of souls, direction is the normal means of spiritual progress. In
constituting the Church, Christ willed that the faithful should be
sanctified by submission to the pope and the bishops with respect
to external jurisdiction, and in matters of conscience to confessors,
who point out the means needed in order not to fall back into sin
and to make progress in virtue.
Pope Leo XIII,1 following Cassian and St. Francis de Sales, re­
calls on this subject the fact that St. Paul himself received a guide
from the Lord. When Paul was converted, Jesus did not at once
reveal LI is designs to him, but sent him to Ananias at Damascus to
learn what he should do.2
St. Basil says: “Employ all diligence and use the greatest circum­
spection in finding a man who may serve you as a very sure guide
in the work of leading a holy life which you wish to undertake.
Choose one who knows how to show souls of good will the straight
road toward God.” 3 He says elsewhere: “To believe that one does
not need counsel is great pride.” 4
1 Testem benevolentiae, January n, 1899.
2 Acts 9:6.
8 Sermo de abd. rer.
* See I Cap. I Isaiae.
156

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

257

St. Jerome writes to Rusticus: “Do not be your own master and
do not set out upon a way that is entirely new for you without a
guide; otherwise you will soon go astray.” St. Augustine also says:
“As a blind man cannot follow the good road without a leader, no
one can walk without a guide.” 5 No one is a good judge in his own
cause by reason of secret pride which may make him deviate from
the right path.
In his conferences, Cassian says that anyone who relies on his
own judgment will never reach perfection and will not be able to
avoid the snares of the devil.6 He concludes that the best means
to triumph over the most dangerous temptations is to make them
known to a wise counselor who has the grace of state to enlighten
us.7 In reality, to manifest them to one who has a right to hear them
often suffices to make them disappear.
St. Bernard says that novices in the religious life should be lead
by a father director who instructs, directs, consoles, and encourages
them.8 In one of his letters he goes so far as to say: “He who con­
stitutes himself his own director, becomes the disciple of a fool.”
And he adds: “As far as I am concerned, I declare that it is easier
and safer for me to command many others than myself alone.” 9
Our self-love leads us less astray, in truth, in conducting others than
in dealing with ourselves, and if we knew well how to apply to our­
selves what we tell others, we would make far greater progress.
In the fourteenth century, St. Vincent Ferrer expressed the same
thought in his De vita spirituali (Part II, chap. i). “Our Lord,” he
says, “without whom we can do nothing, will never grant His grace
to one who, having at his disposition a man capable of instructing
and directing him, neglects this powerful means of sanctification,
believing that he is sufficient to himself and that he can by his own
powers seek and find the things useful to salvation. ... A person
having a director whom he obeys completely and unreservedly will
reach his goal much more easily and rapidly than he could alone,
even with the aid of a very keen intellect and learned books on spirit­
ual matters. ... In general, all who have reached perfection, have
followed this road of obedience, unless, by a privilege and singular
6 Sermo 112 de temp.
• Collationes, II, 14 f., 24.
7 Ibid., II, 2, 5, 7, io.
• De diversis, sermo VIII, 7.
• Epist. 87, no. 7.

258

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

grace, God Himself instructed some souls that had no one to direct
them.”
St. Teresa,10 St. John of the Cross,11 and St. Francis de Sales 12
teach the same doctrine. St. Francis de Sales says that we cannot
judge our own cause impartially by reason of a complacency that
is “so secret and imperceptible as not to be discovered even by those
who are tainted therewith.” 13 Likewise a person who has been in
a closed room for a long time does not notice that the air has be­
come vitiated, whereas one who comes in from outside notices it
immediately.
We understand quite well that we need a guide if we intend to
climb a mountain. He is not less necessary for climbing to the
summit of spiritual perfection, the more so as in this ascent we must
avoid the snares laid by Satan, who wishes to prevent us from ascend­
ing.
St. Alphonsus, in his excellent book, Praxis confessarii (nos.
121-71), indicates the principal object of direction: mortification,
the manner of receiving the sacraments, prayer, the practice of vir­
tues, the sanctification of ordinary actions.
The testimony of all these authorities shows clearly the general
need of direction. We shall obtain a clearer idea of this necessity by
considering the three stages of the interior life, or the spiritual needs
of beginners, of proficients, and of the perfect.
The Direction of Beginners

Beginners need wise, firm, and paternal direction for their forma­
tion. In religious orders, this direction is the special duty of masters
and mistresses of novices.
Later its necessity is felt less, except at difficult periods when
some change takes place, or again when an important decision must
be made.
Beginners must evidently be forewarned against relapses and also
against two contradictory defects. Some, who receive sensible con­
solations in prayer, confound them with graces of a higher order
and presumptuously wish to cover the ground rapidly, and without
Life of St. Teresa by Herself, chap. 13.
11 Sentences et avis spirituels, no. 2 29.
»» Introduction to a Devout Life, Part HI, chap. 28.
2· Ibid.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

259

delay to reach the life of union without passing through the indis­
pensable degrees.14 They must be reminded of the necessity of humil­
ity and be told that progress toward perfection is the work of a life­
time. No one can fly before he has wings, and no one begins the
construction of a church with the spires, but with the foundation.15
If the end to be obtained is first in the order of intention or of de­
sire, it is, in reality, last in achievement, and the most modest means
indispensable for reaching it must not be neglected.
Other beginners take a secret pride in austerity, as the Jansenists
did, and practice such excessive exterior mortifications that they
compromise their health. Then, in their efforts to take care of
themselves, they fall into laxity and go from one extreme to the
other. They need to learn the measure of Christian discretion and
must understand that it is not sufficient to have, over and above a
keen sensibility, the three theological virtues, but that it is necessary
also to have between these two domains the moral virtues of pru­
dence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, so that sensibility may
gradually become disciplined and these superficial and passing im­
pulses may not be confounded with the lofty aspirations of living
faith, hope, and charity.
Direction is particularly necessary in this period of prolonged
aridity, in which meditation becomes difficult, and quite severe
temptations against chastity and patience also arise, accompanied
at times by contradictions from without. According to St. John of
the Cross,16 this trial marks the passage from the purgative way of
14 St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chaps. 1-7: De­
fects of Beginners: inclination to pride, spiritual gluttony, envy, anger, sloth.
16 St. Teresa (The Interior Castle, fourth mansion, chap. 2) teaches us also
clearly to distinguish between the divine tastes produced by infused contem­
plation and the satisfactions or consolations of active prayer. The divine de­
lights come directly from the action of God; consolations, from our activity
aided by grace: “When His Majesty wills to bestow on us any supernatural
favors, we experience the greatest peace, calm, and sweetness in the inmost
depths of our being.” Moreover, the effects are not less different than their
origin. “No sooner has this heavenly water begun to issue from its source . . .
than it seems to expand us and enlarge us internally, and benefit us in an
inexplicable manner; nor does even the soul itself understand what it receives.
It is conscious of what may be described as a certain fragrance, as if within
its inmost depths were a brazier sprinkled with sweet perfumes.” The Lord
wishes thus to make the soul know that He is very close to it. To confound
sensible consolations with these divine delights would be a grievous mistake.
” The Dark Night, Bk. I, chap. 9.

26ο

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

beginners to the illuminative way of proficients, but on condition
that the three signs, which a good director can discern, are found
in it. These three signs, which we shall speak of farther on, are the
following: ( i ) When we find no comfort in the things of God, and
also none in created things. (2) When the memory dwells ordinarily
on God with a keen desire for perfection and the fear of not serv­
ing God. (3) When meditation is not possible and one feels in­
clined to a simple gaze on God. At the time of this crisis, which
should be in the nature of a second conversion, it is well to pay
close attention to a good director in order to traverse this diffi­
cult period generously and not to become a retarded soul. Farther
on we shall discuss this subject at greater length.17
The Direction

of

Proficients

and the

Perfect

The necessity of a guide for certain periods of the spiritual life of
the advanced confirms what we have just said about its necessity for
beginners. We may with profit state this confirmation here.
Direction may customarily be given more rapidly to proficients
because the proficient has a greater knowledge of the spiritual life
and can briefly explain the point on which he needs counsel. The di­
rector then becomes the witness of the soul’s life and progress; he
should be the instrument of the Holy Ghost in order to make sure
that the soul is docile to His inspirations. To do this, the director
should seek to know well the action of the interior Master in given
souls that he may discern in each, as far as is possible, the good and
the bad, the dominant defect to be combated and the special attrac­
tion of grace to be followed.
Recourse should be had to the director especially during the an­
nual retreat in order to discuss with him in all frankness what con­
stitutes the basis of the life of the soul, and to make sure of not falling
into the defects of the advanced—hidden pride and presumption—
which may become the source of great illusions.18
The proficient also experiences periods in which he particularly
17 At the beginning of Part III: Entrance into the Illuminative Way (The
Night of the Senses).
18 Cf. St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 2:
Certain Imperfections of Proficients.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

261

needs a good guide; especially is this the case when he has to pass
through the trials which mark the entrance into the unitive way,
and which St. John calls the passive purification of the spirit. This
purification appears under various forms that are more or less
accentuated. Generally it is a prolonged privation of sensible and
also spiritual consolations. During this period strong temptations
often arise against faith, hope, and fraternal charity, and even against
the love of God. Evidently if a person is to pass through this diffi­
cult period, the help of a good director is highly desirable in order
not to fall back at this time but rather to make progress. And he
who can direct others during such a trial, would not be able to direct
himself, for here there is no longer “any road traced out in advance,”
as St. John of the Cross 19 says; one must follow the inspiration of
the Holy Ghost and not confuse it with something that might re­
semble it. At this time, souls given to prayer have a more special
need of an enlightened and experienced director. St. Teresa felt the
need of opening her soul completely to learned men, versed in the
things of the interior life, to make certain of her docility to the Holy
Ghost.20 The perfect themselves feel the need of this help to dis­
cover the harmony between passivity under the divine action and
the activity which the Lord asks of them in order faithfully to prac­
tice the maxim: “fidelity and abandonment.” They feel the need of
direction that they may with profound humility keep alive in their
hearts the love of the cross.
We have here only touched on the direction of proficients in
order to indicate that, if it is necessary for them, with far greater
reason is it necessary for beginners.21
The Qualities

Director and the Duties of
One Being Directed

of the

the

St. Francis de Sales says on the subject of a director: “He must
be a man of charity, learning, and prudence; if any one of these
10 Cf. the Prologue of The Ascent of Mount Carmel and the sketch placed
by the saint at the beginning of this work.
20 Life, chap. 13: “They who walk in the way of prayer have the greater
need of learning; and the more spiritual they arc, the greater is that need.”
21 Cf. infra, Part IV: The Entrance into the Unitive Way (The Night of
the Spirit).

20ζ

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

three qualities be wanting in him, there is danger.” 22 St. Teresa
expresses the same opinion.23
His charity ought to be disinterested and to incline him, not to
draw hearts to himself but to lead them to God. On this point,
Tauler is exacting and says that certain directors who draw souls
to themselves are like hunting dogs that eat the hare instead of
bringing it back to their master. Whereupon the hunter whips them
soundly. The director’s charitable kindness should not be weak­
ness; it should be firm and fearless in speaking the truth in order
to lead souls effectively to goodness. Neither should he lose his
time in useless conversations or letters, but go straight to the point
for the good of the soul.
In addition, he should have a knowledge of the spiritual life, be
penetrated with the teachings of the great masters of the interior life,
and be a good psychologist.24
That the director may be the instrument of the Holy Ghost, he
ought prudently to discern in souls the dominant defect to be
avoided and the supernatural attraction to be followed. For this pur­
pose, he must pray for light, especially in difficult cases, and, if he
is humble, he will receive the graces of state. He will see that he
must stimulate some and moderate the ardor of others, teaching the
22 Introduction to a Devout Life, Part I, chap. 4.
23 Cf. Life, chap. 13: “It is of great consequence that the director should
be prudent—I mean, of sound understanding—and a man of experience. If,
in addition to this, he is a learned man, it is a very great matter. But if these
three qualities cannot be had together, the first two are the most important,
because learned men may be found with whom we can communicate when
it is necessary. I mean, that for beginners learned men are of little use, if
they arc not men of prayer. I do not say that they are to have nothing to do
with learned men. . . . Learning is a great tiring. . . . From silly devotions,
God deliver us!”
24 The study of psychology is particularly necessary for him when he has
to direct persons affected with hysteria, psychasthenia, or neurasthenia. He
should also know what mental troubles come from certain maladies, such
as Basedow’s disease (hypertrophy of the thyroid glands) and other dis­
orders in the functioning of the endocrine glands, especially at the critical
age. Such disorders may give rise to a chronic and progressive intoxication,
which engenders some mental confusion accompanied by fixed ideas.
Cf. Robert de Sinéty, S.J., Psychopcthologie et direction (Paris, Bcauchesne,
1934). The author mentions also religious psychopathology, the precursory
symptoms of psychopathy, and offers practical advice for the direction of
psychopaths.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

263

latter not to confound sentimentality with love, which proves itself
by works.
When he directs generous souls, his prudence must avoid two
dangers: that of wishing to lead all pious souls indiscriminately and
rapidly to give themselves to contemplative prayer, and that of imag­
ining that it is useless to concern oneself with this question. Here
a person must advance neither too slowly nor too rapidly, but must
examine whether there exist in the soul the three signs which we
have pointed out, following the teaching of St. John of the Cross
and several other great masters, in order to pass from discursive
meditation to contemplation. Before these appear, it is well and
sufficient to remind souls that they must be docile to the inspirations
of the interior Master, as they are manifestly conformable to their
vocation.
The duties of the directed soul spring obviously from what we
have just said; the person who is being directed ought to respect his
director as the representative of God, and to avoid two extremes
opposed to respect for a director: sharp criticisms and excessive
familiarity. This respect should be accompanied by a simple yet en­
tirely spiritual filial affection, which excludes petty jealousy and
the desire to be specially loved.23
The person who is being directed should also have filial confidence
in his director and great openness of heart towards him. As St.
Francis de Sales so well explains it: “Open your heart to him with
all sincerity and fidelity, manifesting clearly and explicitly the state
of your conscience without fiction or dissimulation.” 26
Lastly, he must be very docile in following the counsel given;
otherwise he would be following his own will rather than that of
God. It is not forbidden to explain that there is serious difficulty
in putting such or such advice into practice; but after such explana­
tion, he must subordinate his judgment to that of the director.
Strictly speaking, the director may be mistaken; but the person
under his direction will not be mistaken in obeying him, unless he
advises something contrary to faith and morals. In that event a change
of director is imperative.
Not without grave reason, however, should anyone change his
as Sr. Francis de Sales, Introduction to a Devout Life, Part 1, chap. 4.
a« Ibid.

204

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

director or confessor. The change should certainly not be made
because of inconstancy, pride, false shame, or curiosity. But this may
be done if a person perceives that his director’s views are too natural
and that his affection is excessively sensible, and that he has not the
requisite learning, prudence, and discretion.
Except in these cases, a person should keep as far as possible a cer­
tain continuity in direction that there may truly be continuity in
it and perseverance on the right road. We should not give up a
good guide because he reproves us for our good. It may be well to
recall what St. Louis used to say to his son: “Go to confession fre­
quently; choose virtuous and learned confessors who know how to
instruct you in what you ought to do or avoid, and give your con­
fessors leave to reprove and admonish you freely.” Such a state­
ment gives evidence of good, holy, and strong affection without any
admixture of sentimentality, which is an affectation of sentiment.
Under these conditions, the director will be able to be the in­
strument of the Holy Ghost to control His action in us, and to make
us ever more docile to divine inspirations. Thus we will truly ad­
vance along the narrow way which becomes broader and broader
as we draw near to the infinite goodness of God to which it leads.

PART II

The Purification of the Soul in Beginners

266

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

We have spoken of the principles of the interior life, that is, of
its sources and its end, which is Christian perfection; we must now
treat in particular of each of the three ages of the spiritual life, and
first of all of the purification of the soul in beginners.
We shall see, in this regard, what characterizes this age of the
interior life, and shall speak at some length of the active purification
of the sensitive part and of the intellectual part of the soul, of the
use of the sacraments, of the prayer of beginners, and lastly of the
more or less well-borne passive purification of the senses which marks
the transition to the age of proficients, or the entrance into the
illuminative way. In this connection, we shall have to speak of the
abuse of graces. Beginners who have become retarded and tepid
souls, are the ones that do not reach the higher spiritual age. This
part of spirituality is very significant from a practical point of view,
for many souls remain greatly retarded because they have not put
it into practice, whereas those that really profit by it make great
progress.
At this stage it is not important to read many books, to have many
ideas, but it is important to become penetrated with the fundamental
principles set forth in some substantial book and to put them gen­
erously into practice without turning back. Our Lord Himself stated
this expressly at the end of the Sermon on the Mount: “Everyone
therefore that heareth these My words, and doth them, shall be
likened to a wise man that built his Louse upon a rock. . . . And
everyone that heareth these My words, and doth them not, shall
be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand. And the
rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat
upon that house. And it fell, and great was the fall thereof.” 1
When anyone reads the lives of beatified and canonized servants
of God, in particular of several of those who in recent times have
been proposed to us as models, he is impressed with the fact that
many did not have great culture and had not read many books, but
that they were profoundly penetrated with the Gospel, and had
thus received its spirit, and that they practiced it with admirable
generosity, at times in a very simple form of life which recalls that
of St. Joseph. They thus attained a lofty wisdom, which at times
showed forth in the profound realism of their reflections, and in an
ardent charity that was most fruitful for the salvation of souls.
1 Matt. 7:24-27.

CHAPTER XVIII

The Spiritual Age of Beginners
E HAVE seen that St. Thomas, when speaking of the three
ages of the spiritual life, remarks that “at first it is incumbent
on man to occupy himself chiefly with avoiding sin and resisting
his concupiscences, which move him in opposition to charity.” 1
The Christian in the state of grace, who begins to give himself to
the service of God and to tend toward the perfection of charity
according to the demands of the supreme precept, has a mentality
or state of soul which can be described by observing particularly
knowledge of self and of God, love of self and of God.

W

Self-Knowledge

and

Knowledge of God

Beginners have an initial knowledge of themselves; little by little
they discern the defects they have, the remains of sins that have
already been forgiven, and new failings that are more or less de­
liberate and voluntary. If these beginners are generous, they seek,
not to excuse themselves, but to correct themselves, and the Lord
shows them their wretchedness and poverty, making them un­
derstand, however, that they must consider it only in the light of
divine mercy, which exhorts them to advance. They must daily
examine their consciences and learn to overcome themselves that
they may not follow the unconsidered impulse of their passions.
However, they know themselves as yet only in a superficial way.
They have not discovered what a treasure baptism placed in their
souls, and they arc ignorant of all the self-love and the often un­
conscious egoism still continuing in them and revealing itself from
time to time under a sharp vexation or reproach. Often they have
a clearer perception of this self-love in others than in themselves;
1 Summa, Ila Ilae, <]. 14, a.9.

>67

208

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

they ought to remember Christ’s words: “Why seest thou the mote
that is in thy brother’s eye; and seest not the beam that is in thy
own eye?” 2 The beginner bears in himself a diamond embedded
in a mass of gross material, and he does not yet know the value of
the diamond or all the defects of the other material. God loves him
far more than he believes, but with a strong love that has its exi­
gencies and that demands abnegation if the soul is to reach true
liberty of spirit.
The beginner rises gradually to a certain knowledge of God which
is still very dependent on sensible things. He knows God in the
mirror of the natural world or in that of the parables: for example,
in those of the prodigal son, of the lost sheep, of the good shepherd.
This is the straight movement of elevation toward God, taking its
point of departure from a simple, sensible fact. It is not yet the
spiral movement rising toward God by the consideration of the
various mysteries of salvation, nor is it the circular movement of
contemplation that ever returns to the radiating divine goodness,
as the eagle likes to look at the sun while describing the same circle
several times in the air.8
The beginner is not yet familiar with the mysteries of salvation,
with those of the redeeming Incarnation, of the life of the Church.
He cannot yet feel habitually inclined to see therein the radiation
of the divine goodness. However, he sometimes has this view while
considering our Savior’s passion, but he does not yet penetrate the
depths of the mystery of the redemption. His view of the things of
God is still superficial; he has not reached maturity of spirit.
The Love

of

God in Its Early Stages

In this state there is a proportionate love of God. Truly generous
beginners love the Lord with a holy fear of sin which makes them
flee mortal sin, and even deliberate venial sins, by the mortification
of the senses and of the inordinate passions, or of the threefold con­
cupiscence of the flesh, the eyes, and pride. This sign indicates that
they have the beginning of a deep, voluntary love.
Nevertheless, a number practically neglect necessary mortifica­
tion, and resemble a man who would like to begin climbing a moun2 Matt. 7:3.
8 Cf. Ha Ilae, q. 180, a.6.

THE SPIRITUAL AGE OF BEGINNERS

269

tain, not from the base of the mountain but halfway up the side.
When they do this, they ascend in their imagination only, not in
reality; they travel rapidly, and their first enthusiasm will die out as
quickly as burning straw. They will believe that they have a knowl­
edge of spiritual things and will abandon them after having barely
examined them superficially. This is, alas, frequently the case.
If, on the contrary, the beginner is generous and seriously wishes
to advance, though not wishing to go more quickly than grace or
to practice beyond the bounds of obedience an excessive mortifica­
tion inspired by secret pride, it is not unusual for him to receive as
recompense sensible consolations in prayer or in the study of divine
things. The Lord thus conquers his sensibility, since he still lives
chiefly by it. Sensible grace, so called because it reacts on the sensi­
bility, turns it from dangerous things and draws it toward our Lord
and His holy Mother. At these times, the generous beginner already
loves God with his whole heart, but not yet with his whole soul,
with all his strength, or with all his mind. Spiritual writers often
speak of this “milk of consolation” which is then given. St. Paul
himself says: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as unto
spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto little ones in Christ. I gave you
milk to drink, not meat; for you are not able as yet.” 4
Then what generally happens? Almost all beginners, on receiv­
ing these sensible consolations, take too much complacency in
them, as if they were an end, not a means. They then fall into a
certain spiritual gluttony accompanied by rash haste and curiosity
in the study of divine things, by unconscious pride that makes them
wish to talk about these things as if they were already masters of the
subject. Then, says St. John of the Cross,5*the seven capital sins re­
appear, no longer under their gross form but as they apply to spirit­
ual things.® They are so many obstacles to true and solid piety.
What follows from this? According to the logic of the spiritual
life, it follows that a second conversion is necessary, that described
by St. John of the Cross under the name of the passive purification
of the senses “common to the greater number of beginners” 7 in
4 See I Cor. 3: 1 f.
“ The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chaps. 1-7.
0 In others they reappear in regard to the things of the intellectual life, by
unconscious self-seeking in study.
7 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 8.

27o

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

order to introduce them into “the illuminative way of proficients,
where God nourishes the soul by infused contemplation.” 8
This purification is manifested by a prolonged sensible aridity in
which the beginner is stripped of the sensible consolations wherein
he delighted too greatly. If in this aridity there is a keen desire for
God, for His reign in us, and the fear of offending Him, it is a sign
that a divine purification is taking place. And this is clearer still
if to this keen desire for God is added difficulty in prayer, in making
multiple and reasoned considerations, and tbe inclination to look
simply at God.9 This inclination is the third sign, which indicates
that the second conversion is taking place and that the soul is raised
toward a higher form of life, which is that of the illuminative way
of proficients.
If the soul bears this purification well, its sensibility submits more
and more to the spirit. Often it must then generously repulse temp­
tations against chastity and patience, virtues that have their seat
in the sensitive appetites and that are strengthened by this struggle.
In this crisis the Lord tills the soul, so to speak; He greatly deep­
ens the furrow He traced at the moment of justification or the first
conversion. He extirpates the evil roots or remains of sin. He shows
the vanity of the things of the world, of the quest for honors and
dignities. Gradually a new life begins, as in the natural order when
the child becomes an adolescent.
This crisis is, however, more or less well borne; many persons are
not generous enough and may become retarded souls. Others fol­
low divine inspiration with docility and become proficients.
Such are the chief distinctive marks of the spiritual age of be­
ginners: a knowledge of self still superficial; an initial knowledge of
God as yet very dependent on sensible things; a love of God mani­
festing itself by the struggle to flee sin. If this struggle is generous,
it is as a rule rewarded by sensible consolations, on which one too
often dwells. Then the Lord takes them away and by this spoliation
introduces one into a spiritual life that is more detached from rhe
senses. It is easy to see the logical and vital sequence of the phases
through which the soul must pass. It is not a mechanical juxtaposi­
tion of successive states, but the organic development of the interior
8 Ibid., chap. 14.
0 Ibid., chap. 9: The three signs of the passive purification of the senses,
in which infused contemplation begins.

THE SPIRITUAL AGE OF BEGINNERS

271

life which thus becomes more and more an intimate conversation
of the soul, no longer only with itself but with God.
The Generosity Required in Beginners

Of great importance to note here is the generosity necessary in
the beginner from the very first moment if he is to reach intimate
union with God and the penetrating and sweet contemplation of
divine things.
On this subject we read in The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena:
“You were all invited, generally and in particular, by My Truth,
when He cried in the Temple, saying: ‘Whosoever thirstetb, let him
come to Me and drink, for I am the fountain of the water of life.’
... So that you are invited to the fountain of living water of grace,
and it is right for you, with perseverance, to keep by Him who is
made for you a bridge, not being turned back by any contrary wind
that may arise, either of prosperity or adversity, and to persevere
till you find Me, who am the giver of the water of life, by means of
this sweet and loving Word, Aly only-begotten Son.” 1011
St. Thomas speaks likewise when he comments on the words:
“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall
have their fill.” “The Lord,” he says, “wishes us to thirst after
that justice which consists in rendering to every man and to God
first of all what is His due. He wishes us never to be satiated on earth
. . . but rather that our desire should grow always. . . . Blessed
are they that have this insatiable desire; they will receive eternal
life and here below an abundance of spiritual goods in the accom­
plishment of the precepts, according to the words of the Master: 11
‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, that I may perfect
His work.’ ” 12
The Angelic Doctor says again in his commentary on St. John,
7:37: “All that thirst are invited when our Lord says: ‘If any man
thirst, let him come to Me and drink.’ Isaias had said: ‘All you that
thirst, come to the (living) waters.’13 He calls those who thirst,
for it is they who desire to serve God. God does not accept a forced
10 Dialogue, chap. 53.

11 John 4:34.
li In Matthaeum 5:6.
*’ Isa. 55: i.

27z

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

service, but He ‘loveth a cheerful giver.’14 He calls not only some,
but all who thirst; and He invites them to drink this spiritual bev­
erage which is divine wisdom, capable of satiating our desires. And
once we have found this divine wisdom, we shall wish to give it
to others.15 This is why He says to us: ‘He that believeth in Me, as
the Scripture saith: Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water.’ ” 10
To reach this overflowing spring, one must thirst for virtue and
walk generously along the narrow way of abnegation, in the spirit­
ual way which is narrow for the senses, but which, for the spirit,
becomes immense like God Himself to whom it leads. The road to
perdition, on the other hand, while broad at first for the senses, in
turn becomes narrower and narrower for the spirit and leads to
hell.11
St. Teresa, recalling these same words of the Master: “If any man
thirst, let him come to Me, and drink,” likewise writes: “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: ‘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 In the same chapter the saint says: “When God gives you
this water, sisters, this comparison will please you, and you will
understand, as those do who drink of it, how genuine love of God
that is powerful and freed from earthly dross rises above mortal
things and is sovereign over all the elements of this world. . . . Our
souls are so dear to Him that He prevents their running into danger
while He is bestowing this grace on them. He at once calls them to
His side, and in a single instant shows them more truths and gives
them a clearer knowledge of the nothingness of all things than we
14 See II Cor. 9:7.
15 St. Thomas, In Joannem 7:37: “All this is spiritual refection in the knowl­
edge of divine wisdom and truth; likewise, in the fulfilling of desires. . . .
Moreover, the fruit of this invitation is the overflowing of good on others.”
10 John 7:38.
17 St. Thomas, In Matth. 7:14.
18 The Way of Perfection, chap. 19.

THE SPIRITUAL AGE OF BEGINNERS

273

could gain for ourselves in many years.” In chapter 21, the saint
adds: “Let us return to speak of those who wish to travel by this
path to the very end, and to the fount itself, where they will drink
of the water of life. Although there are books written on the sub­
ject, yet I do not think it will be waste of time to speak of it here.
How must one begin? I maintain that this is the chief point; in fact,
that everything depends on people having a great and a most reso­
lute determination 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 they reach the goal or die on the
road, or lose heart to bear the trials they encounter, or the earth
itself goes to pieces beneath their feet.”
St. John of the Cross expresses himself in like manner in the pro­
logue of The Ascent of Mount Carmel and in The Living Flame of
Love.10
The generosity of which all these great saints speak in the quota­
tions given is none other than the virtue of magnanimity; but it is
no longer only that described by Aristotle; it is infused Christian
magnanimity described by St. Thomas in Ila Ilae, q. 129 of the
Summa.
The magnanimous man, says the saint, seeks great things worthy
of honor, but he considers that honors themselves are practically
nothing.20 He does not let himself be exalted by prosperity or cast
down by difficulties. Is there anything greater on earth than genu­
ine Christian perfection? The magnanimous man dreads neither
obstacles nor critics nor scorn, if they must be borne for a great
cause. He does not allow himself to be at all intimidated by free­
thinkers, and pays no attention to their utterances. He pays far
more attention to truth than to the opinions of men which are often
false. If this generosity is not always understood by those who
wish an easier life, it has, nevertheless, a true value in itself. And
if it is united to humility, it pleases God and cannot fail of a re­
ward.
St. Francis de Sales, in his Fifth Conference, speaks admirably
19 Stanza 2.
20 St. Thomas says (Ila Ilae, q.129, a.4, c. and ad 311m) that magnanimity
leads a man to wish to practice all the virtues with true greatness of soul.
It is thus like the ornament of al) the virtues, and one sees thereby its general
influence, that indeed attributed by spiritual authors to generosity. Ibid.,
q. 134, a.2 ad 311111; and la Ilae, q.66, a.4 ad jum.

274

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

of generosity in its relations with humility, which ought always to
accompany it. He says:

Humility believes it can do nothing, considering the knowledge of
our poverty and weakness ... ; and, on the contrary, generosity makes
us say with St. Paul: “I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me.”
Humility makes us distrust ourselves, and generosity makes us trust in
God. . . . There are people who amuse themselves with a false and
silly humility, which hinders them from seeing in themselves the good
that God has given them. They are very wrong in this; for the goods
that God has placed in us should be recognized . . . that we may glorify
the divine goodness which bestowed them on us. . . . Humility which
does not produce generosity is indubitably false. . . . Generosity relies
on trust in God and courageously undertakes to do all that is com­
manded ... no matter how difficult it may be. . . . What can hinder
me from succeeding, it says, since the Scriptures declare that “He, who
hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ
Jesus”? 21
Such ought to be the generosity of beginners. All the saints hold
the same doctrine. Christ Himself declared: “No man putting his
hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” 22
One must belong to those of whom He said: “Blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill”; here
on earth they will taste, as it were, the prelude of eternal life and
by working for the salvation of others will inspire in them a holy
desire for this life.
21 Phil. i:6.
22 Luke 9:62.

CHAPTER XIX

Practical Naturalism and Mortification
According to the Gospel
E HAVE given a general idea of the spiritual age of begin­
ners; now we shall speak of the principal work imposed on
them that they may avoid falling back into sin. With this end in
view, we must get a just idea of the disorder that sin, under its mul­
tiple forms, really is and also of its roots and consequences which
may continue to exist in us for a long time.
First of all, we must note here two extreme and erroneous tend­
encies: on the one hand, the frequent, practical naturalism into
which the quietists fell; on the other hand, the proud Jansenist
austerity that does not spring from the love of God. Truth rises
like a summit between these two extremes, which represent the op­
posing deviations of error.

W

Practical Naturalism:

of

Action and

of

Inaction

Practical naturalism, which is the negation of the spirit of faith in
the conduct of life, tends to revive under more or less accentuated
forms, as it did some years ago in Americanism and Modernism.
In several works that appeared during that period, mortification and
the vows of religion were disparaged; they were considered not a
deliverance which favors the upward flight of the interior life, but
a hindrance to the apostolate. We were asked: Why speak so much
of mortification, if Christianity is a doctrine of life; of renunciation,
if Christianity ought to assimilate all human activity instead of
destroying it; of obedience, if Christianity is a doctrine of liberty?
These passive virtues, they said, have such importance only for
negative spirits that arc incapable of undertaking anything and th·”
possess only the force of inertia.
>7i

2Ί6

three ages of the interior life

Why, they added, depreciate our natural activity? Is our nature
not good, does it not come from God, is it not inclined to love Him
above all else? Our passions themselves, the movements of our
sensible appetites (desire or aversion, joy or sadness) are neither
good nor bad; they become so according to the intention of our
will. They are forces to be utilized; they must not be mortified,
but regulated and modulated. They said that such is the teaching of
St. Thomas, very different from that of so many spiritual writers,
quite different, too, from Book III, chap. 54, of The Imitation on
“The Different Motions of Nature and Grace.” In thus opposing
the author of The Imitation, they forget the words of our Savior:
“Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth
his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth
it unto life eternal.” 1
They asked, moreover, why one should so greatly combat private
judgment, self-will. To do so is to place oneself in a state of servi­
tude which destroys all initiative and makes a person lose contact
with the world, which one ought not to scorn, but to ameliorate.
Holding this opinion, would one not lose sight of what all true
spiritual men have meant by “self-will,” or a will not conformed to
the will of God?
In this objection formulated by Americanism and taken up again
by Modernism,2 the true is cleverly mingled with the false. Even
the authority of St. Thomas is invoked, and the following principle
of the great doctor is often repeated: “Grace does not destroy na­
ture, but perfects it.” The movements of nature are not as inor­
dinate, they say, as the author of The Imitation maintains; we must
have the full development of nature under grace.
And as they lack the true spirit of faith, they designedly pervert
the principle of St. Thomas which they invoke. He speaks of na­
ture as such, in the philosophical sense of the word, of nature with
its essential and also its good elements; of the work of God, and
not of wounded, fallen nature, as it actually is in consequence of
original sin and of our personal sins, more or less deformed by our
often unconscious egoism, our covetousness, our pride. Likewise,
St. Thomas speaks of the passions or emotions as such, and not as
1 John 12:24 f.
2 Cf. Dcnzingcr, Enchiridion, nos. 1967 if., 2104.

MORTIFICATION ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL

277

inordinate, when he says that they are forces to be utilized; but to
utilize them one must mortify whatever is inordinate in them. Their
inordinatcncss must not simply be veiled or moderated, but put
to death.
All these equivocations were not long in manifesting their
consequences. The tree is judged by its fruit. With too strong a
desire to please the world, these Modernists, apostles of a new type,
let themselves be converted by the world, instead of converting it.
They disregarded the consequences of original sin; to hear them,
one would judge that man was born good, as the Pelagians, and later
Jean Jacques Rousseau, declared.
They forgot the gravity of mortal sin as an offense against God;
and they considered it merely an evil which harms man. Therefore
they failed particularly to recognize the gravity of the intellectual
sins: incredulity, presumption, pride. The most serious offense
seemed to them to be abstention from social works; consequently
the purely contemplative life was considered quite useless, or the
lot of the incapable. God Himself willed to reply to this objection
by the canonization of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus and by the
extraordinary radiation of that contemplative soul.
They also failed to recognize the infinite elevation of our super­
natural end: God, the Author of grace. Instead of speaking of
eternal life, of the beatific vision, they talked about a vague moral
ideal tinted with religion, in which the radical opposition between
heaven and hell disappeared.
Finally, they forgot that the great means taken by Christ to save
the world was the cross.
By all its consequences, the new doctrine gave proof of its princi­
ple: practical naturalism, not the spirit of God but the spirit of
nature, the negation of the supernatural, if not in theory, at least
in the conduct of life. During the period of Modernism this nega­
tion was occasionally formulated by declaring that mortification
does not belong to the essence of Christianity. But we reply: Is
mortification anything else than penance, and is not penance neces­
sary for the Christian? How could St. Paul have written: “Always
bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus, that the life
also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies”? 3
Under another form, practical naturalism appeared among the
" See 11 Cor. 4:10.

278

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

quietists, especially at the time of Molinos, in the seventeenth cen­
tury. This naturalism was not that of action, as it is in Americanism,
but that of inaction. Molinos held that “to wish to act offends God,
who wishes to be the only one to act in us.” 4 By no longer acting,
he said, the soul annihilates itself and returns to its principle; then
God alone lives and reigns in it.5 Practical naturalism is thus reached
by a way contrary to that of Americanism, which exalts natural
activity.
Molinos deduced from his principle that the soul should no longer
produce acts of knowledge or of love of God,6 nor should it think
any more of heaven or of hell, nor any longer reflect on its acts or
on its defects;7 the examination of conscience was thus suppressed.
Molinos added that the soul should no longer desire its own per­
fection or its salvation,8 nor should it ask God for anything positive,9
but it ought to abandon itself to Him so that He may work His
divine will in it, without its cooperation. Finally, he said: “The soul
no longer needs to offer positive resistance to temptations, of which
it no longer has to take account;10 the voluntary cross of mortifica­
tion is a heavy and useless burden which one must get rid of.” 11
He recommended that in prayer one should remain in obscure
faith, in a repose in which one forgets every distinct thought relat­
ing to the humanity of Christ, or even to the divine perfections or
to the Blessed Trinity, and that one should remain in this repose
without producing any act. “That,” he said, “is acquired contem­
plation, in which one must remain all one’s life if God does not raise
the soul to infused contemplation.” 12
In reality the contemplation thus acquired by rhe cessation of
every act was only a pious somnolence, far more somnolent than
pious. Certain quietists did not deign to leave it even to kneel at
the elevation during Mass. They remained seated in their would-be
union with God, which they confounded with an august form of
nothingness. Their state reminds one more of the nirvana of the
4 Denzinger, nos. 1221 f.
5 Ibid., nos. 1224 f.
8 Ibid., no. 1226.
''Ibid., nos. 1227-29, 1232.
8 Ibid., no. 1233 f.
8 Ibid., no. 1234.
10 Ibid., no. 1257.
11 Ibid., no. 1258.
12 Ibid., no. 1243.

MORTIFICATION ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL

279

Buddhists than of the transforming and radiant union of the saints.
This shows that the acquired contemplation, which Molinos ad­
vised for all, was not an infused passivity, but one acquired at will
by the cessation of every operation. He thus attributed to this
would-be acquired contemplation what is true only of infused con­
templation, and with one stroke of the pen he suppressed all asceti­
cism and the practice of the virtues, considered by tradition as the
true disposition for infused contemplation and intimate union with
God. Moreover, he claimed that “the distinction between the three
ways, purgative, illuminative, and unitive, is the greatest absurdity
that has been expressed in mysticism, since,” he says, “there is only
one way for all, the interior way.” 18
This suppression of mortification led to the worst disorders.
Molinos finally reached the point of declaring that the temptations
of the devil are always useful, even when they lead to immodest acts;
that it is not necessary then to make acts of the contrary virtues,
but that one must resign oneself, for such weakness reveals our noth­
ingness.14 But Molinos, instead of thus reaching contempt of self
by the recognition of our culpability, claimed to reach impec­
cability 15 and mystical death; strange impeccability, reconcilable
with all disorders.18
This lamentable doctrine is, of course, a caricature of traditional
mysticism, which is thus radically perverted in all its principles. And
under the pretext of avoiding natural activity, which naturalism of
action exalts, one falls here into the practical naturalism of sloth and
inaction. Under another form, this doctrine amounted to the sup­
pression of asceticism, of the exercise of the virtues, and of morti­
fication.11
18 Ibid., no. 1246.
14 Ibid., nos. 1257-66.
15 Ibid., nos. 1275-86.
18 Cf. Denzinger, no. 1268: “Hujusmodi violentiae (daemonis) sunt me­
dium magis proportionatum ad annihilandam animam et ad eam ad veram
transformationem et unionem perducendam”; no. 1268: “Melius est ea non
confiteri; quia non sunt peccata, nec etiam venialia.”
17 On these aberrations of the quietists, see the work of Father Dudon,
S.J., Michel Molinos. The author makes it clear that one of the principal
errors of the Spanish quietists was to consider the prayer of quiet as acquired
at will (by the suppression of acts), whereas in reality it is infused, as
St. Teresa points out (fifth mansion). They thus simulated infused prayer
before having received it, and they completely disfigured it by suppressing all
asceticism.

28ο

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

The errors of the quietists show that there are two types of natural­
ism: the practical naturalism of those who have lost the interior life,
and the quite different naturalism of those who have never found it.
At the opposite extreme from practical naturalism, there is occa­
sionally the proud austerity of a false supematuralism, such as we
find in Jansenism and, earlier, in different forms of fanaticism, such
as that of the Montanists in the second century and of the flagellants
in the twelfth century. All these sects lost sight of the spirit of
Christian mortification, which is not a spirit of pride, but of love
of God.
In the seventeenth century the Jansenists fell into a pessimism
which is an alteration of the Christian doctrine of penance. Like the
first Protestants, they exaggerated the results of original sin to the
point of saying that man no longer has free will, the liberty of in­
difference, but only spontaneity, and that all the acts of infidels
are sins.18 They taught that “all his life long, a man must do penance
for original sin.” 19 As a result, they retained souls during a whole
lifetime in the purgative way, and kept them away from Holy
Communion, saying that we are not worthy of such a union with
our Lord. According to their doctrine, only those should be ad­
mitted to Holy Communion who have a pure, unalloyed love of
God.20 They forgot that this very pure love of God is precisely the
effect of Communion, when it is accompanied by a generous strug­
gle against all that is inordinate in us. Jansenism never attained to
deliverance and peace.21
Here as elsewhere, two opposing errors must be avoided: prac­
tical naturalism and proud austerity. The truth is to be found be­
tween these two extremes and above them as a summit. We can see it
if we consider, on the one hand, the elevation of our last end and
of charity, and, on the other hand, the gravity of mortal sin and of
its consequences.
18 Cf. Denzinger, nos. 1094, 1291,1298.
10 Ibid., no. 1309: “Homo debet agere tota vita poenitentiam pro peccato
originali.”
20 Ibid., no. 1313: “Arcendi sunt a sacra communione, quibus nondum inest
amor Dei purissimus et omnis mixtionis expers.”
21 It has been said of Pascal that throughout his life he thought of sanctity
without ever attaining it, because he remained in his own presence instead of
in the presence of God.

MORTIFICATION ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL
Mortification According

to the

281

Gospel

To see the true spirit of Christian mortification, we must con­
sider what our Lord says about it in the Gospel and how the saints
understood it and lived it.
The Savior did not come upon earth to carry out a human work
of philanthropy, but a divine work of charity.’ He accomplished it
by speaking more to men of their duties than of their rights, by
telling them the necessity of dying completely to sin in order to
receive an abundant new life, and He willed to show His love for
them even to the point of dying on the cross to redeem them. The
two aspects of death to sin and of higher life are always spoken of
together, with a dominant note which is that of the love of God.
Nothing like this appears in the errors mentioned above.
What does our Lord tell us about mortification? In St. Luke’s Gos­
pel we read: “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 who­
soever will save his life,22 shall lose it; for he that shall lose his life
for My sake, shall save it.23 For what is a man advantaged if he gain
the whole world and lose himself and cast away himself?” 24
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus points out the necessity of
mortification, that is, of the death to sin and its consequences, by
insisting on the elevation of our supernatural end: “Unless your
justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” 25 “Be you therefore
perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.” 20 Why? Because
Christ brings us grace, which is a participation in the inner life of
God, superior to the natural life of the angels, that He may lead us
to union with God, since we are called to see God as He sees Him­
self and to love Him as He loves Himself. This is the meaning of
the words: “Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father
is perfect.” But this precept requires the mortification of all that
22 By wishing, first of all, to enjoy this world, by fleeing purifying suffering
and duty, which at times are painful.
23 “For he that shall lose his life,” by sacrificing it in the accomplishment
of duty out of love for Me, “shall save it.”
24 Luke 9:23-25.
25 Matt. 5:20.
2n Ibid., 48.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

is inordinate in us, of the inordinate movements of concupiscence,
anger, hatred, pride, hypocrisy, and so on. These movements rep­
resent what is inordinate in the different passions. Our Lord is ex­
plicit on this point in the same Sermon on the Mount. Nowhere can
we find a better statement of the interior and exterior mortification
that the Christian must practice and also of the spirit of this morti­
fication. To show this, it will suffice to recall some of the Savior’s
words.
The true Christian ought as far as possible to exclude from his
heart all resentment, all animosity: “If therefore thou offer thy gift
at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath any­
thing against thee; leave there thy offering before the altar, and go
first to be reconciled to thy brother; and then coming thou shalt
offer thy gift.” 27 “Go first to be reconciled to thy brother”; we
must see in him not only an adversary, but a brother, a son of God.
Blessed are the meek. One day a young Israelite, who knew the Our
Father, received the inspiration to pardon his greatest enemy; he
did so, and immediately received the grace to believe in the entire
Gospel and the Church.
Christ preaches also the mortification of concupiscence, of the
evil gaze, of evil desire, by which one would already commit adultery
in his heart: “If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast
it from thee ... ; if thy right hand scandalize thee, cut it off ... ;
for it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish,
rather than that thy whole body go into hell.” 28 Our Lord could
not express Himself in a more energetic manner. This explains why,
for the conquering of certain temptations, the saints advise recourse
to fasts, vigils, and other bodily austerities, which, when practiced
with discretion, obedience, and generosity, keep the body in sub­
jection and assure liberty of spirit.29
The Sermon on the Mount also speaks of the mortification of
every inordinate desire of vengeance: “You have heard that it hath
been said: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you
not to resist evil.” 30 Do not reply to an insult with acrimony in order
to avenge yourself. Unquestionably you must resist even to death
27 Ibid., 23 f.
28 Ibid., 29 f.
28 St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q. 147 (Of fasting).
80 Matt. 5:38 f.

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him who would lead you to evil; but bear offenses patiently, without
hatred or irritation. “If one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to
him also the other. And if a man will contend with thee in judgment
and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him”: 31 that is to
say, be ready to bear injustice with longanimity. This is the patience
that breaks the anger of an adversary and sometimes converts him,
as can be seen in the three centuries of persecution which the early
Church had to endure. The Christian ought to be less preoccupied
with jealously defending his temporal rights than with winning over
to God the soul of his irritated brother. Here we see the height of
Christian justice, which ought always to be united to charity. The
perfect are here admonished that it is not fitting for them to enter
into litigation, unless for the sake of higher interests of which they
have charge.32
In the same chapter, the Savior asks us to mortify egoism, self-love,
which inclines us to flee from him who wishes to ask us for a serv­
ice,33 to mortify rash judgment,34 spiritual pride, and hypocrisy,
which incline men to perform good works or to pray before men
“to be seen by them.” 35
Finally, Christ points out to us what the spirit of mortification
ought to be: death to sin and its consequences out of love for God.
Our Lord’s manner of stating His doctrine is most amiable, as op­
posed to the proud austerity of the Jansenists. In St. Matthew’s
Gospel, He tells us: “When you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad.
For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.
Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But thou, when
thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face; that thou appear
not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father
who seeth in secret, will repay thee.” 30 As the fathers have under­
stood this text, Christ would have us perfume our heads with the
oil of charity, mercy, and spiritual joy: wash our faces, that is,
purify our souls of all spirit of ostentation. When we accomplish
these acts of piety, it is not forbidden us to be seen, but to wish to
be seen, for we would thus lose purity of intention, which ought to
•l Ibid., 39 f.
82 Cf. St. Thomas, In Matth., 3:40.
88 Matt. 5:4: f.
84 Ibid., 7:1.
88 Ibid., 6:1-19.
·· Ibid., 16-18.

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be directed immediately to the Father present in the secret of our
souls.
Such is the spirit of Christian mortification or austerity, which
the Jansenists did not understand; it is the spirit of love of God and
love of neighbor. It is the spirit of love that radiates on souls to save
them; therefore it is the spirit of gentleness, for how can we be meek,
even with those who are ill-tempered, without learning to conquer
ourselves, to possess our souls? It is a spirit which leads us to offer
to God all painful occurrences, so that even these things may help
us to advance toward Him and to save souls, and that all, even the
obstacles that we encounter, may cooperate unto good, as Jesus
made His cross the great means of salvation.
With this idea in mind, we see that, by this spirit of love of God,
Christian mortification rises like a summit above the effeminacy of
practical naturalism and above harsh and proud austerity. This is
the mortification we find in the saints who are stamped with the
image of Jesus crucified, whether saints of the early Church, like
the first martyrs, or those of the Middle Ages, like St. Bernard, St.
Dominic, St. Francis of Assisi, or those of more recent times, like
St. Benedict Joseph Labre, the Curé of Ars, or those more recently
canonized, such as St. John Bosco and St. Joseph Cotolengo. Mira­
bilis Deus in sanctis suis.

CHAPTER XX

Mortification According to St. Paul and
the Reasons for Its Necessity
HE doctrine of the Gospel on the necessity of mortification is
explained at considerable length by St. Paul in his epistles. Fre­
quent quotation is made of his words: “I chastise my body and bring
it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I
myself should become a castaway.” 1 Likewise he says to the Gala­
tians: “They that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh, with the
vices and concupiscences. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk
in the Spirit.” 12
Not only does St. Paul affirm the necessity of mortification, but
he gives reasons for it which may be reduced to four; they are pre­
cisely those which are disregarded by practical naturalism. The
mortification of all that is inordinate in us is necessary: ( i ) because
of the consequences of original sin; (z) because of the results of our
personal sins; (3) because of the infinite elevation of our super­
natural end; (4) because we must imitate our crucified Lord.
Considering these different motives, we shall see what interior
and exterior mortification is for St. Paul. It is attached to many of
the virtues, since each one excludes the contrary vices, and particu­
larly to the virtue of penance, which ought to be inspired by love
of God, and which has for its end the destruction in us of the con­
sequences of sin as an offense against God.3*

T

1 See 1 Cor. 9:27.
2 Gal. 5:24 f.
" St. Thomas, in Illa, q.85, a. 2 f., says that penance is a special virtue which
labors to efface sin and its consequences, inasmuch as sin is an offense against
God. Wherefore penance is a part of justice, and, inspired by charity, it
18,

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
The Consequences of Original Sin

First of all, St. Paul draws a parallel between Christ the Author
of our salvation and Adam the author of our ruin, and notes the
consequences of original sin. To the Romans he says: “By one man
sin entered into this world, and by sin death.” 4 And again: “By
the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners. . . . Where
sin abounded, grace did more abound . . . through Jesus Christ
our Lord.” 5
With infirmities and maladies, death is one of the results of orig­
inal sin, but there is also concupiscence, of which St. Paul speaks
when he says: “Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts
of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit.” 6
According to the Apostle, this is the condition of the “old man,”
that is, of man such as he is born of Adam, with a fallen and
wounded nature. We read in the Epistle to the Ephesians: “You
have heard Him, and have been taught in Him ... to put off, ac­
cording to former conversation, the old man, who is corrupted ac­
cording to the desire of error. And be renewed in the spirit of your
mind: and put on the new man, who according to God is created
in justice and holiness of truth.” 7 St. Paul writes in the same vein
to the Colossians: “Lie not one to another: stripping yourselves of
the old man with his deeds, and putting on the new, him who is
renewed unto knowledge, according to the image of Him that
created him.” 8
Again, he writes to the Romans: “For 1 am delighted with the
law of God, according to the inward man: but I see another law in
my members, fighting against the law of my mind and captivating
commands other subordinate virtues, in particular temperance, as exemplified
in fasting, abstinence, vigils.
A distinction may be made between mortification, properly so called,
which depends on the virtue of penance, and mortification in the broad sense,
which depends on each virtue, inasmuch as each one rejects the vices that
are contrary to it. Correctly speaking, we cannot repent of original sin, but
we should labor to diminish those of its results which incline us to personal
sin.
* Rom. 5:12.
81bid., 19-21.
8 Gal. 5:16 f.
7 Eph. 4:21-24.
8 Col. 3:9 f.

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287

me in the law of sin that is in my members. Unhappy man that I
am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” 0
The old man, such as he is born of Adam, has a certain lack of
balance in his wounded nature. This will be evident if we recall
the nature of original justice. In it there was perfect harmony be­
tween God and the soul, made to know Him, to love Him, and to
serve Him; and also between the soul and the body. In fact, as long
as the soul was subject to God, the passions or sensible emotions
were obedient to right reason enlightened by faith, and to the will
vivified by charity. The body itself shared this harmony by privilege,
in the sense that it was not subject to sickness or death.
Original sin destroyed this harmony. The first man, by his sin,
as the Council of Trent says, “lost for himself and for us sanctity
and original justice,” 8*1011
and transmitted to us a fallen nature, de­
prived of grace and wounded. Without falling into the exaggerations
of the Jansenists, we must admit, with St. Thomas, that we are born
with our will turned away from God, inclined to evil, weak in
regard to the good,11 with our reason prone to error,12 our sensitive
appetites strongly disposed to inordinate pleasure and to anger,
source of every type of injustice.13 Whence come pride, forgetful­
8 Rom. 7:22-24. The meaning is: who will deliver me from the law of sin
which is in my members, and consequently from spiritual or eternal death.
As has often been pointed out, the idea of deliverance by physical death is
foreign to the context.
10 Council of Trent (Denzinger, no. 789): “Adam acceptam a Deo sancti­
tatem et justitiam non sibi soli sed etiam nobis perdidit.”
11 St. Thomas, Ia Ilae, q.83, a.3: “Two things must be considered in the
infection of original sin. First, its inherence to its subject; and in this respect
it regards first the essence of the soul. ... In the second place, we must con­
sider its inclination to act; and in this way it regards the powers of the soul.
It must therefore regard first of all that power in which is seated the first
inclination to commit a sin, and this is the will.” la Ilae, q.85, a.3: “In so far
as the will is deprived of its order to the good, there is the wound of malice.”
Ibid., ad zum: “Malice is not to be taken here as a sin, but as a certain prone­
ness of the will to evil, according to Gen. 8:21: ‘Man’s senses are prone to
evil from his youth.’” (Vulg.: The imagination and thought of man’s heart
are prone to evil from his youth.)
12 Ibid.: “Hence, in so far as the reason is deprived of its order to the true,
there is the wound of ignorance.”
13 Ibid.: “In so far as the irascible (appetite) is deprived of its order to the
arduous, there is the wound of weakness; and in so far as the concupiscible
(appetite) is deprived of its order to rhe delectable, moderated by reason,
there is the wound of concupiscence. Accordingly, these are the four wounds
inflicted on the whole of human nature as a result of our first parent’s sin.”

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

ness of God, egoism under all its forms, often a gross almost un­
conscious egoism, which wishes at any cost to find happiness on
earth without aspiring any higher. In this sense, we can truly say
with the author of The Imitation: “Nature proposes self as her end,
but grace does all things purely out of love for God.” 14 St. Thomas
speaks in the same way: “Inordinate love of self is the cause of
every sin.” 55
The fathers, in particular Venerable Bede, state in their explana­
tion of the parable of the Good Samaritan that fallen man is not
only stripped of grace and of the privileges of the state of original
justice, but is even wounded in his nature. “By the sin of the first
'parent, man was despoiled of grace and wounded in nature.” This
is explained especially by the fact that we are born with our will
turned away from God, directly averted from our supernatural last
end, and indirectly from our natural last end; for every sin against
the supernatural law is indirectly contrary to the natural law which
obliges us to obey whatever God may command.16
This disorder and weakness of the will in fallen man are shown
by the fact that we cannot, without healing grace, love God, the
Author of our nature, efficaciously and more than ourselves.17 There
is also the disorder of concupiscence, which is visible enough for
St. Thomas to see in it “a quite probable sign of original sin,” a sign
which adds its confirmation to what revelation says about the sin of
14 The Imitation, Bk. Ill, chap. 54.
15 See la Ilae, q.77, a.4: “Inordinate love of self is the cause of every sin.”
We explained elsewhere at greater length the Thomistic doctrine of the con­
sequences of original sin in relation to the spiritual life. Cf. Lamour de Dieu
et la croix de Jésus, I, 292 ff.
18 If man had been created in a purely natural state (or of pure nature),
he would be bom with a will not turned away from God, but capable of turn­
ing freely toward Him (Author of our nature and of the natural moral law)
or of turning away from Him. There is, therefore, a notable difference be­
tween this state and that in which man is actually born. As a result of original
sin, our powers to observe the natural moral law are less than they would
have been in a state of pure nature. This is why, without the aid of healing
grace, we cannot succeed in efficaciously loving God, the Author of our
nature, more than ourselves.
”St. Thomas, la Ilae, q. 109, a. 3: “In the state of corrupt nature man falls
short of this (of the efficacious love of God, the Author of nature) 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.” See also, De malo,
q.4, a.2; q.j, a.2; De veritate, q.24, a. 12 ad 2um.

MORTIFICATION ACCORDING TO ST. PAUL

289

the first man.18 In place of the original triple harmony (between
God and the soul, between the soul and the body, between the body
and exterior things), appears the triple disorder which St. John
speaks of when he writes: “For all that is in the world is the con­
cupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes and the
pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 10
Undoubtedly baptism cleanses us from original sin by applying
Christ’s merits to us, by giving us sanctifying grace and the infused
virtues. Thus, by the virtue of faith our reason is supernaturally
enlightened, and by the virtues of hope and charity our will is turned
to God. We also receive the infused virtues which rectify the sensi­
ble appetites. However, there remains in the baptized who continue
in the state of grace an original weakness, wounds in the process
of healing, which sometimes cause us to suffer, and which are left
to us, says St. Thomas, as an occasion for struggle and merit.20
This is what St. Paul says to the Romans: “Our old man is cruci­
fied with Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end
18 St. Thomas, Contra Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 42, no. 3: “Considering divine
providence and the dignity of the superior part of human nature, it can with
sufficient probability be proved that defects of this kind are penalties; and
thus it can be concluded that the human race is somewhat infected by original
sin.”
18 See I John 2:16.
20 Cf. Illa, q.69, a.3 ad 3um: “Original sin spread in this way, that at first
the person infected the nature, and afterward the nature infected the person.
Whereas Christ in reverse order at first repairs what regards the person, and
afterward will simultaneously repair what pertains to the nature in all men.
Consequently, by baptism He takes away from man forthwith the guilt of
original sin and the punishment of being deprived of the heavenly vision.
But the penalties of the present life, such as death, hunger, thirst, and the
like, pertain to the nature, from the principles of which they arise, inasmuch
as it is deprived of original justice. Therefore these defects will not be taken
away until the ultimate restoration of nature through the glorious resurrec­
tion.”
Ibid., in corp. a. 3: “Wherefore a Christian receives grace in baptism, as
to his soul; but he retains a passible body, so that he may suffer for Christ
therein (Rom. 7:11, 17). . . . Secondly, this is suitable for our spiritual train­
ing: namely, in order that, by fighting against concupiscence and other defects
to which he is subject, man may receive the crown of victory” (Rom. 6:6).
The Council of Trent (Denzinger, no. 792) says that baptism remits orig­
inal sin perfectly by giving us habitual grace and the infused virtues, but
that in the baptized the “coal of concupiscence” remains, which is left ad
agon en/ (for the struggle) and which cannot harm those who do not consent
to it and who struggle manfully by the grace of Christ.

29o

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

that we may serve sin no longer. . . . Let not sin therefore reign
in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts thereof.” 21 Not only
must this “old man” be moderated, regulated; he must be mortified
or made to die. Otherwise we shall never succeed in obtaining
the mastery over our passions and we shall remain more or less
their slaves. This will mean opposition, perpetual struggle between
nature and grace. If unmortified souls do not perceive this struggle,
it is because grace is scarcely alive in them; egoistic nature has free
play, with some virtues of temperament, natural happy inclinations
that are judged to be true virtues.
Mortification is, therefore, imposed upon us because of the
consequences of original sin, which remain even in the baptized as
an occasion of struggle, and of struggle indispensable in order not
to fall into actual and personal sin. We do not repent of original
sin, which is a “sin of nature,” which was voluntary only in the
first man; but we must labor to rid ourselves of the withering effects
of original sin, in particular concupiscence, which inclines us to
sin. By so doing, the wounds of which we spoke above are healed
more and more with the increase of the grace which heals and
which, at the same time, raises us up to a new life (gratia sanans et
elevans'). Far from destroying nature by the practice of mortifica­
tion, grace restores it, heals it, and renders it increasingly pliable or
docile in the hands of God.
The Consequences of Our Personal Sins

A second motive that renders mortification necessary is found
in the consequences of our personal sins. St. Paul insists on this point
in the Epistle to the Galatians, by noting especially the effects of
sins against charity: “By charity of the spirit serve one another.
For all the law is fulfilled in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed you
be not consumed one of another. I say then, walk in the spirit (that
is, the spirit of the new man enlightened and fortified by the Holy
Spirit),22 and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. . . . Now
the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, unclean­
ness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, conten21 Rom. 6:6, u.
22 Ibid., 8:4 f.

MORTIFICATION ACCORDING TO ST. PAUL

29«

tions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions. . . . But the fruit
of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness,
longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. . . .
They that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh, with the vices and
concupiscences.” 23
Mortification is clearly imposed on us by reason of the effects of
our personal sins. Renewed actual sin engenders a habitual bad dis­
position which, when grave, is called a vice or at least a defect. These
defects are habitual modes of seeing, judging, willing, and acting,
which combine to form an imperfect mentality, a spirit which is
not that of God. And sometimes they translate themselves to our
exterior, so much so that someone has rightly said that at thirty or
forty years of age every man is responsible for his own countenance,
according as it expresses pride, self-sufficiency, presumption, con­
tempt, or disillusionment. These defects become traits of character,
and little by little God’s image is effaced in us.
When sins are confessed with contrition or sufficient attrition,
absolution obliterates sin, but it leaves certain dispositions, called
the remnants of sin, reliquiae peccati,24 which are, as it were, im­
printed in us, like a furrow in our faculties, in our character and
temperament. Thus the seat of covetousness remains after baptism.
It is certain, for example, that although a man who has fallen into the
vice of drunkenness and who accuses himself of it with sufficient at­
trition receives together with pardon sanctifying grace and the
infused virtue of temperance, he preserves an inclination to this
vice, and, unless he flees from the occasions, he will fall again. This
trying inclination must not only be moderated, it must be mortified,
made to die in order to unfetter both nature and grace.
The same is true of our unreasonable antipathies. They must be
not merely veiled, not only moderated, but mortified, because they
are seeds of death. That from this point of view an idea may be
formed of the necessity of mortification, we must bear in mind the
numerous vices that are born of each of the seven capital sins. For
example, from envy are born hatred, slander, calumny, joy at the
misfortune of another, and sadness at his success. From anger, which
is opposed to meekess, come disputes, fits of passion, insults, abusive
words, and at times blasphemy. From vainglory spring disobedience,
33 Gal. 5:13—24.
34 Cf. St. Thomas, Illa, q.86, a. j.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

boasting, hypocrisy, contention through rivalry, discord, love of
novelties, and stubbornness. St. Thomas lays emphasis on each of
these vices which spring from the capital sins 25*27
and which are some­
times more grave than they. The field of mortification is conse­
quently very wide.
Finally in a spirit of penance, we must mortify ourselves to expiate
past sin that has already been forgiven and to help us avoid sin in
the future. The virtue of penance leads us, in fact, not only to hatred
of sin as an offense against God, but still more to reparation. For
this last, to stop sinning is not sufficient; a satisfaction must be
offered to divine justice, for every sin merits a punishment, as every
act inspired by charity merits a reward.2® Consequently, when sacra­
mental absolution, which remits sin, is given to us, a penance or
satisfaction is imposed upon us that we may thus obtain the remis­
sion of the temporal punishment, which ordinarily remains to be
undergone. This satisfaction is a part of the sacrament of penance
which applies the Savior’s merits to us; and as such, it contributes
to our restoration to grace and to its increase in us.2T
Thus is paid, at least in part, the debt contracted by the sinner in
regard to divine justice. To this end, man must also bear patiently
the sufferings of this life, and if this patient endurance does not suf­
fice to purify him completely, he must pass through purgatory, for
nothing defiled can enter heaven. The dogma of purgatory thus
strongly confirms the necessity of mortification, because it shows
us that we must pay our debt, either in this life while meriting, or
after death without meriting.
A repentance full of love effaces both the sin and the punishment,
as did those blessed tears on which Christ bestowed His benediction,
saying: “Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved
much.” 28
It is important to accuse ourselves especially of sins that are be­
coming habitual and most hinder our union with God. This is
more important than to aim at a complete enumeration of venial
sins.
Since penance is necessary to every Christian, how can the neces25 Cf. la Ilae, q. 77, a.4 f.; q. 84, a.4.
20 See Illa, q.8$, a. 3; la Ilae, q.87, a. 1, j-j.
27 Cf. Illa, q.86, a.4 ad iuni; Suppl., q. 10, a.z ad mm.
28 Luke 7:47.

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293

sity of mortification be denied? Such a denial would be an utter dis­
regard of the gravity of sin and its consequences. He who is op­
posed to mortification comes little by little to drink of iniquity as if
it were water; he reaches the point where he calls what is often truly
venial sin, an imperfection, and what is a mortal sin, a human weak­
ness. Let us remember that Christian temperance differs specifically
from acquired temperance, and that it exacts a mortification un­
known to the pagan philosophers.29
Neither ought we to forget that we have to contend against the
spirit of the world and against the devil, according to St. Paul’s
words to the Ephesians: “Put you on the armor of God, that you
may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our
wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and
powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the
spirits of wickedness in the high places. . . . Stand therefore, hav­
ing your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate
of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace.” 30
To resist the enemy’s temptation, which leads first of all to light
faults and then to graver ones, Christ Himself told us that we must
have recourse to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.31 And then the
temptation will become the occasion of meritorious acts of faith,
confidence in God, and love of God. We shall find ourselves in the
happy necessity of being unable to rest content with imperfect acts
of virtue (actus reimssï) ; we shall have to resort to more intense and
more meritorious acts.
29 Cf. la Ilae, q.63, a.4: “In the consumption of food, the proper measure
is fixed by human reason so that it should not harm the health of the body, and
should not hinder the use of reason: whereas, according to the divine rule, it
behoves man to chastise his body, and bring it into subjection (1 Cor. 9:27)
by abstinence in the matter of food and drink and the like. . . . Those in­
fused moral virtues, whereby men behave well in respect of their being fellow
citizens with the saints, and of the household (Douay, domestics) of God
(Eph. 2:19), differ from the acquired virtues, whereby man behaves well in
respect of human affairs.”
30 Eph. 6:11 f., 14 f.
31 Matt. 17:20: “But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.”
Cf. St. Thomas, Illa, suppl., q. 15, a. 3.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
The Infinite Elevation of Our Supernatural End
Demands a Special Mortification or Abnegation

We saw in the preceding chapter that in the Sermon on the
Mount our Lord demands the mortification of the slightest inor­
dinate interior movements of anger, sensuality, and pride, because
we ought, He says, to be “perfect as also your heavenly Father is
perfect,” 32 since we have received a participation in His intimate
life, and since we are called to see Him immediately as He sees
Himself, and to love Him as He loves Himself.
From the fact that we are called to a supernatural end of infinite
elevation, since it is God Himself in His intimate life, it is not
sufficient for us to live according to right reason, subordinating our
passions to it. We must always act not only as rational beings, but
as children of God, in whom reason is subordinate to faith, and every
action is inspired by charity. This obliges us to detachment in re­
gard to all that belongs only to the earth, or is purely natural, in
regard to all that cannot be a means of drawing nearer to God and
of leading souls to Him. In this sense we must combat the different
forms of natural eagerness, which would absorb our activity to
the detriment of the life of grace.
In virtue of this principle, St. Paul says to us: “Therefore, if you
be risen with Christ (by baptism), 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; and your life is hid with Christ in God. . . . Mortify there­
fore your members which are upon the earth, . . . evil concu­
piscence, and covetousness, . . . anger, indignation.” 33
Likewise he writes to the Ephesians: “For by Him we have access
both in one Spirit to the Father. Now therefore you are no more
strangers and foreigners; but you are fellow citizens with the saints,
and the domestics of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone: in
whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into a
holy temple in the Lord. In whom you also are built together into
a habitation of God in the Spirit.” 82
*84
82 Matt. 5:48.
88 Col. 3:1-3,5,8.
84 Eph. 2:18—22.

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295

Therefore, even if a person does not bind himself to the effective
practice of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedi­
ence, he must have the spirit of the counsels, that is, the spirit of
detachment: “The time is short (for the journey toward eternity).
It remaineth, that they also who have wives be as if they had none;
and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice,
as if they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed
not; and they that use this world, as if they used it not. For the
fashion of this world passeth away.” 35 A man must not try to settle
down in this world if he truly wishes to make progress toward God,
if he wishes to make profitable use of time to advance toward eter­
nity. The infinite loftiness of our supernatural end demands a
special abnegation in regard to whatever is simply human, even
though legitimate, for we might become absorbed in it to the detri­
ment of the life of grace.
This is particularly true for apostles: “No man, being a soldier
to God, entangleth himself with secular businesses; that he may
please Him to whom he hath engaged himself.” 36 Likewise, the
soldier of Christ ought to avoid becoming entangled in the things of
the world; he should use them as though not using them; otherwise
he would become as “a tinkling cymbal,” and would lose the spirit
of Christ. He would be like salt that has lost its savor “and is good
for nothing anymore but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by
men.”
Nothing is more certain. From all that is purely of this earth
the Christian ought to have a detachment, a special abnegation
which is demanded by the infinite loftiness of the eternal goal toward
which he ought to advance every day with greater rapidity; for
the nearer we approach to God, the more we are drawn by Him.
The Neccessity of Imitating Jesus Crucified

A fourth reason obliging us to mortification or abnegation is the
necessity of imitating Jesus crucified. He Himself tells us: “If any
man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross
daily.” 37 St. Paul adds: “For whosoever are led by the Spirit of
God, they are the sons of God. . . . And if sons, heirs also; heirs
88 See I Cor. 7:29-31.
811 See II Tim. 2:4.
8T Luke 9:23; 14:27; Matt. 9:38; Mark 8:34.

29 6

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer with
Him, that we may be also glorified with Him. For I reckon that the
sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
to come, that shall be revealed in us.” 38
Evidently this spirit of detachment is so much the more imposed
on us as we are called to a higher, more abundant, and more radiating
interior life, in which we ought to follow more closely the example
of Christ, who came, not as a philosopher or a sociologist, but as the
Savior, and who out of love willed to die on the cross in order to
redeem us. He came to accomplish, not a human work of philan­
thropy but a divine work of charity, even to complete sacrifice,
which is the great proof of love. Without a doubt this is what St.
Paul means.
The Apostle of the Gentiles completely lived what he taught.
Consequently, while describing his life of hardship and suffering,
he could write: “But we have this treasure (the light of life of the
gospel) in earthen vessels, that the excellency (of the gospel) may
be of the power of God and not of us. In all things we suffer tribula­
tion, but are not distressed; we are straitened, but are not destitute;
we suffer persecution, but are not forsaken (by God); we are cast
down, but we perish not: always bearing about in our body the
mortification of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made mani­
fest in our bodies. ... So then death worketh in us, but life in
you.” 39
In his commentary on II Cor. 4:7, St. Thomas says: “If the apostles
were rich, powerful, noble according to the flesh, everything great
that they accomplished would be attributed to them and not to
God. But because they were poor and despised, what was sublime in
their ministry is attributed to God. This explains why our Lord
willed that they should be exposed to tribulations and to contempt.
. . . And because they trusted in God and hoped in Jesus Christ,
they were not crushed. . . . They bore affliction and the dangers
of death patiently that they might thus attain to the life of glory as
the Savior did: ‘Always bearing about in our body the mortification
of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our
bodies.’ ”
St. Paul says further: “For 1 think that God hath set forth us
88 Rom. 8:14, 17 f.
80 Cf. Il Cor. 4:7-10, ii.

MORTIFICATION ACCORDING TO ST. PAUL

297

apostles, the last. . . . We are reviled; and we bless. We are perse­
cuted; and we suffer it. We are blasphemed; and we entreat. We are
made as the refuse of this world, the offscouring of all, even until
now.” 40 St. Paul here describes the life of the apostles from Pente­
cost until their martyrdom. Thus we read in the Acts of the Apostles
that, after they had been scourged, “they indeed went from the
presence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy
to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.” 41 They truly carried their
cross and were thus stamped in the image of Christ that they might
continue the work of the redemption by the same means as the
Savior Himself had employed.
This spirit of detachment through imitation of Jesus crucified
was singularly striking during the first three centuries of persecu­
tion which followed the founding of the Church. The letters of St.
Ignatius of Antioch and the acts of the martyrs make this clear.
This same spirit of detachment and of configuration to Christ is
found in all the saints, both ancient and modern: in St. Benedict, St.
Bernard, St. Dominic, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Teresa, St. John of
the Cross, and, nearer our day, St. Benedict Joseph Labre, the Curé
of Ars, and, among the most recently canonized, St. John Bosco, and
St. Joseph Cotolengo.
The spirit of detachment, of abnegation, is the condition of a
close union with God, whence supernatural life overflows in a man­
ner ever new, and at times stupendous, for the eternal welfare of
souls. This is evidenced by the lives of all the saints without ex­
ception, and we ought to nourish our souls daily with the examples
of these great servants of God. The world is not so much in need of
philosophers and sociologists, as of saints who are the living image
of the Savior among us.
According to St. Paul, the following reasons show the necessity of
mortification or abnegation: (i) the consequences of original sin
which incline us to evil; (2) the results of our personal sins; (3)
the infinite loftiness of our supernatural end; (4) the necessity of
imitating Jesus crucified. These are precisely the four motives dis­
regarded by practical naturalism which reappeared some years
ago in Americanism and Modernism.
These four motives of mortification can be reduced to two: hatred
40 Cf. I Cor. 4:9, nf.
41 Acts 5:41.

2 98

three ages of the interior life

of sin and love of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. Such is the spirit
of holy realism, and basically of Christian optimism, which ought
to inspire exterior and interior mortification. These remain to be
treated more in detail. The true answer to practical naturalism is
the love of Jesus crucified, which leads us to resemble Him and
to save souls with Him by the same means as He used.
Mortification or abnegation thus understood, far from destroying
nature, liberates it, restores it, heals it. It opens up to us the pro­
found meaning of the maxim: To serve God, is to reign: that is, to
reign over our passions, over the spirit of the world, its false princi­
ples and its example, over the devil and his perversity; to reign with
God by sharing increasingly in His intimate life, in virtue of this
great law, namely, that if life does not descend, it ascends.
Man cannot live without love, and if he renounces every inferior
love which leads to death, he opens his soul ever wider to the love
of God and of souls in God. The Savior Himself declares: “If any
man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink. . . . Out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water” for the eternal good of souls.

CHAPTER XXI

Sins to be Avoided
Their Roots and Their Consequences
E HAVE treated in general of the necessity of mortification
and abnegation because of the consequences both of original
sin and of our personal sins, and also because of the infinite elevation
of our supernatural end and the necessity of imitating Jesus cruci­
fied. We shall consider somewhat in detail the principal sins to be
avoided, their roots, and their consequences. St. Thomas does so in
treating of the seven capital sins.1 With the aid of his work, we can
make a serious and profound examination of conscience, especially
if we ask for the light of the Holy Spirit, in order to see from above
the stains on our souls, a little as the Lord Himself sees them. The
gifts of knowledge and counsel can here greatly fill out what Chris­
tian prudence tells us; with it an increasingly enlightened, upright,
and certain conscience will be developed in us.
We shall consider, first of all, the roots of the capital sins; then we
will speak of their consequences.

W

The Roots

of the

Capital Sins

As shown by St. Gregory the Great2 and, following him in a
more profound manner, also by St. Thomas,3 the capital sins of
pride,4 sloth,5 envy, anger, avarice, gluttony, and luxury are not the
gravest sins of all; they are less grave than heresy, apostasy, despair,
1 Cf. la Ilae, q.77, a.4 f.; q.84, a.4.
2 Moral., Bk. XXXI, chap. 17.
’ See la Ilae, q.77, a.4 f.; q.84, a.4.
♦ For St. Gregory and Sr. Thomas, vainglory is the first of the capital sins.
» St. Gregory and St. Thomas use the term, acedia, that is, evil sadness which
embitters.
199

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

and hatred of God. But the capital sins are those toward which we
are first of all inclined, and which lead to a separation from God and
to still graver sins. Man does not reach complete perversity all of a
sudden; he is led to it progressively, by a gradual descent to evil.
In the first place we must examine the root of the seven capital
sins. As St. Thomas says, they all spring from inordinate self-love
or egoism, which hinders us from loving God above all else and in­
clines us to turn away from Him. St. Augustine says: “Two loves
built two cities: the love of self even to contempt of God built the
city of Babylon, that is, that of the world and of immorality; the
love of God even to contempt of self built the city of God.” 6
Evidently we sin, that is, we turn away from God or become
estranged from Him, only because we desire and will to have a
created good in a manner not conformable to the divine law.7 This
comes about only by reason of an inordinate love of ourselves, which
is thus the source of every sin. This inordinate self-love or egoism
must not only be moderated, but mortified so that an ordered love of
self may prevail in us. This love is the secondary act of charity, by
which the just man loves himself for God in order to glorify God in
time and eternity. Whereas the sinner in the state of mortal sin
loves himself above all else and in practice prefers himself to God,
the just man loves God more than himself and must, in addition,
love himself in God and for God. He must love his body that it
may serve the soul instead of being an obstacle to its higher life;
he must love his soul that it may live eternally with divine life. He
must love his intellect and will that they may live increasingly by
the light and love of God. Such is manifestly the broad meaning of
the mortification of self-love, of self-will, which is opposed to that
of God. Life must be prevented from descending, so that it may rise
toward Him who is the source of every good and of all beatitude.
Nothing is clearer.
Inordinate self-love leads us to death, according to the Savior’s
words: “He that loveth his life (in an egotistical manner) shall lose
it; and he that hateth (or sacrifices) his life in this world, keepeth
it unto life eternal.” 8 In the saints this love of God reaches even
8 The City of God, Bk. XIV, chap. 28.
7 Cf. St. Thomas, loc. cit.
8 John 12:25.

SINS TO BE AVOIDED

3oi

to contempt of self, that is, even to real and effective contempt of all
that is inordinate in us.
From inordinate self-love, the root of every sin, spring the three
concupiscences which St. John speaks of, when he says: “For all
that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh and the con­
cupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life, which is not of the
Father, but is of the world.” 9 These are, in fact, the three great
manifestations of the spirit of the world in regard to the goods of
the body, to exterior goods, and to the goods of the spirit. One is
thus led to confound apparent good and real good in these three
orders.10
St. Thomas observes that the sins of the flesh are more shameful
than those of the spirit, for they lower man to the level of the brute;
but those of the spirit, such as pride, the only ones that exist in the
devil, are more grave for they are more directly opposed to God
and turn us more away from Him.11
The concupiscence of the flesh is the inordinate desire of what is,
or seems to be, useful to the preservation of the individual and of
the species; from this inordinate or sensual love arise gluttony and
lust. Voluptuousness can thus become an idol and blind us more and
more.
The concupiscence of the eyes is the inordinate desire of all that
can please the sight: of luxury, wealth, money which makes it pos­
sible for us to procure worldly goods. From it is bom avarice. The
avaricious man ends by making his hidden treasure his god, adoring
it, and sacrificing everything to it: his time, his strength, his family,
and sometimes his eternity.
The pride of life is the inordinate love of our own excellence, of
all that can emphasize it, no matter how hard or difficult that may
be. Fie who yields more and more to pride ends by becoming his
own god, as Lucifer did. From this vice all sin and perdition may
spring; whence the importance of humility, a fundamental virtue,
just as pride is the source of every sin.
0 Cf. I John 2:16.
10 See la Ilae, q. 77, a. 5.
11 Ibid., q.73, a.5: “Spiritual sins are of greater guilt than carnal sins. . . .
Spiritual sin denotes more a turning from something. . . . Sins of intemper­
ance are most worthy of reproach . . . because by these sins man is, so to
speak, brutalized.”

3O2

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

According to St. Gregory and St. Thomas,12 pride or arrogance
is more than a capital sin; it is the root from which proceed espe­
cially four capital sins: vanity or vainglory, spiritual sloth or wicked
sadness which embitters, envy, and anger. Vanity is the inordinate
love of praise and honors. Spiritual sloth saddens the soul at the
thought of the labor involved in sanctification, and at the thought of
the spiritual good of good works because of the effort and abnega­
tion they require. Envy inclines us to grow sad over another’s good,
in so far as it appears to oppose our own excellence. Anger, when
it is not just indignation but a sin, is an inordinate movement of the
soul which inclines us to repulse violently what displeases us; from
it arise quarrels, insults, and abusive words. These capital vices,
especially spiritual sloth, envy, and anger, engender a wicked sad­
ness that weighs down the soul; they are quite the opposite of
spiritual peace and joy, which are the fruits of charity.
All these seeds of death must not only be moderated, but morti­
fied. The original seed is self-love, from which proceed the three
concupiscences; and from them, the seven capital sins. This is what
made St. Paul say: “If you live according to the flesh, you shall die:
but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall
live.” 13
We see this mortification in the lives of the saints, where grace
finally dominates all the inclinations of fallen nature in order to re­
store our nature, to heal it, and to communicate a higher life to it.
This is clear for the Christian mind, and the generous practice of
such mortification prepares the soul for the more profound puri­
fications that God Himself sends in order to destroy completely
the seeds of death that still subsist in our sensible appetites and higher
faculties.
It is not enough, however, to consider the roots of the seven capi­
tal sins; we must examine their consequences.
The Consequences of the Seven Capital Sins

By the consequences of sin are generally understood the remnants
of sin (reliquiae peccati), the evil inclinations left, so to speak, in
our temperament even after sin has been forgiven, as concupiscence,
12 Cf. ibid., q.84, a.4.
18 Rom. 8:13. Cf. Col. 3:5.

SINS TO BE AVOIDED

503

which is a remnant of original sin, remains after baptism, Eke a
wound in the course of healing. The consequences of the capital
sins may also mean the other sins that spring from them. The capital
sins are so called because they are like the head or the principle of
many others. We are, first of all, inclined toward them, and by them
in turn toward sins that are often more serious.
Thus vainglory or vanity engenders disobedience, boasting, hy­
pocrisy, contention through rivalry, discord, love of novelties, and
stubbornness. It is a vice that may lead to most lamentable falls and
apostasy.
Spiritual sloth, disgust for spiritual things and for the work of
sanctification, because of the effort it demands, is a vice directly op­
posed to the love of God and to the holy joy that results from it.
Sloth engenders malice, rancor or bitterness toward our neighbor,
pusillanimity in the face of duty to be accomplished, discourage­
ment, spiritual torpor, forgetfulness of the precepts, seeking after
forbidden things. Slipping downward on the slope of pride, vain­
glory, and spiritual sloth, many have lost their vocation.
In the same way, envy or willful displeasure at the sight of an­
other’s good, as if it were an evil for us, engenders hatred, slander,
calumny, joy at the misfortune of another, and sadness at his success.
Gluttony and sensuality also produce other vices and may lead
to blindness of spirit, to hardness of heart, to attachment to the
present life even to the loss of hope of eternal life, and to love of
self even to hatred of God, and to final impenitence.
The capital sins are often mortal; they are venial only when the
matter is light or the consent not complete. They may exist under
a very gross form, as happens in many souls in the state of mortal
sin; but they may also exist, as St. John of the Cross points out,14 in
souls in the state of grace, as so many departures from the course
of the spiritual life. It is thus that spiritual pride, spiritual gluttony,
spiritual sensuality, and spiritual sloth are spoken of. Spiritual pride
induces us, for example, to flee from those who reproach us, even
when they have the authority to do so and are acting justly; it may
even induce us to hold a certain rancor against them. As for spiritual
gluttony, it may make us desire sensible consolations in piety, to the
point of seeking ourselves in it more than we seek God. With spirit­
ual pride, it is the origin of false mysticism.
“ The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chaps. 2-8.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Happily, contrary to what is true of the virtues, these vices or
defects are not connected. One may have some without the others;
several indeed are contradictory: for example, one cannot be avari­
cious and prodigal at one and the same time.
But we have to practice numerous virtues, forty or more, if we
count all the virtues annexed to the principal ones. With the excep­
tion of justice, each stands like a summit between two contrary vices:
the one by excess, such as temerity; the other by defect, such as
cowardice.
Moreover, certain defects resemble certain virtues: for instance,
pride is in some ways similar to magnanimity. It is important to have
discretion or Christian prudence to discern clearly the virtue from
the defect which in certain respects resembles it. Otherwise, false
notes may be struck on the keyboard of the virtues: for example,
pusillanimity may be confounded with humility, severity with jus­
tice, weakness with mercy.
The Examination of Conscience

The enumeration of all these ignoble fruits of inordinate selflove should induce us to make a serious examination of conscience.
Moreover, their number shows us that the field of mortification is
very wide if we wish to live the true life in a thoroughgoing way.
The quietists declared the examination of conscience useless, because,
they said, the human heart is inscrutable. They even asserted that
such examination was harmful, as all reflection on self would hinder
us from thinking of God in naked faith.15
Such statements are aberrations easily refuted. Precisely because
it is difficult to know the true nature of our interior feelings, we
must examine them closely. And this examination, far from turning
us away from the thought of God, should keep bringing us back to
it. Moreover, we must ask for divine light to see our soul a little as
God Himself sees it, to see our day or the week that has just ended
somewhat as it is written in the book of life, somewhat as we shall
see it at the last judgment. Thus to see ourselves, we ought every
evening to search out with humility and contrition the faults that we
have committed in thought, word, deed, and omission.
On the other hand, in this examination we should avoid the excess
18 Cf. Dcnzingcr, nos. 1230 f.

SINS TO BE AVOIDED

305

opposed to that of the quietists, that is to say, the minute search for
the slightest faults under their purely material aspect, a search which
sometimes leads to scruples or to forgetfulness of important things.
The examination of conscience aims less at a complete enumeration
of venial faults than at seeing and sincerely acknowledging the princi­
ple which in our case is generally at their root. To cure a skin erup­
tion, an effort is made to purify the blood rather than to treat each
blemish separately. In short, in the examination of conscience the
soul ought not to spend too much time in consideration of self and
cease to turn its gaze toward God. On the contrary, looking fixedly
at God, it should ask itself how the Lord Himself will judge its day,
or the week just spent. In what has it been entirely His? In what en­
tirely its own? In what has it sought God sincerely? In what has it
sought itself? Then, calmly the soul judges itself as it were from on
high, in the light of God, somewhat as it will be judged on the last
day. From this consideration we can understand the nobility of the
Christian conscience and the holy demands it makes; it is far superior
to the conscience of a simple philosopher.
But, as St. Catherine of Siena says in speaking of these holy exac­
tions of conscience, we should not separate the consideration of our
faults from that of God’s infinite mercy. We should see, on the con­
trary, our frailty and wretchedness under the radiation of the help­
ful, infinite Goodness. The examination made in this way, instead
of discouraging us, will increase our confidence in God.
The sight of our faults shows us also by contrast the value of
virtue. It has been said with great truth that the value of justice is
brought home to us especially by the grief which injustice causes
us. The sight of the injustice we have committed and our regret for
having committed it, should make us “hunger and thirst after jus­
tice.” The ugliness of sensuality should reveal to us by contrast all
the value of purity; the disorder of anger and envy should make us
feel the great value of true meekness and true charity; the sight of
the disastrous effects of spiritual sloth should reanimate in us the
desire for generosity and spiritual joy. The aberration of pride should
make us experience to some extent all the wisdom and grandeur
of true humility.
For all these reasons, one of the best ways to make an examina­
tion of conscience is to do so in the light of the Savior’s words:
“Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”

3οό

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Let ns ask the Lord to inspire us with the holy hatred of sin,
which separates us from the infinite goodness of God, from whom
we have received the greatest benefits and who promises us still
more precious gifts if we are faithful. In some respects, the holy
hatred of sin is nothing more than the reverse of the love of God.
To love truth strongly without detesting error, is impossible; it
is likewise impossible to have a strong love for the good and the
sovereign Good, which is God, without hating what turns us away
from God. In the hearts of the humblest and meekest saints, there
is a holy hatred of evil, a hatred that is as strong as their love of
God. In the immaculate heart of Mary there is, by reason of her
ardent charity, a burning hatred of evil, and this hatred renders her
terrible to the devil. According to Blessed Grignion de Montfort,
the devil suffers more from being conquered by the humility and
love of Mary than from being directly crushed by the divine Om­
nipotence. We should ask the immaculate heart of Mary and the
sacred heart of our Savior, burning furnace of charity, for this holy
hatred of evil, this holy hatred of pride, spiritual sloth, envy, un­
just anger, malevolence, and sensuality, in order that true charity,
the love of God and of souls in God, may truly grow ever stronger
in us.
The means of avoiding pride is to think often of the humiliations
of the Savior and to ask God for the virtue of humility. To repress
envy, we should pray for our neighbor and wish him the same good
as we desire for ourselves.
This type of mortification is absolutely indispensable. To advance
seriously toward perfection and sanctity, we should think of the
mortifications of the saints, or, even without going as far as the ex­
amples of the saints, think of those given us by servants of God such
as Father Lacordaire who, fearing that he might fall into pride by
reason of his successes, had recourse to great mortifications. On cer­
tain days while preaching at Notre Dame (Paris), he used to feel
that a strong current of grace was passing through his soul to convert
his hearers, and that, if he yielded to the sin of pride, this current
of grace might be completely stopped and his preaching become
absolutely fruitless. We should meditate on the fact that we also
have our souls to save, that we must do good to those around us,
good which will endure eternally. Let us also remember that we
must work as much as possible for the salvation of other souls, and

SINS TO BE AVOIDED

307

that for this purpose we ought to employ the means that Christ has
pointed out to us: progressive death to sin through progress in the
virtues and especially in the love of God.
Sins

of

Ignorance, Frailty,

and

Malice

We have been told that people in certain milieux are inclined
to think that only the sin of malice is mortal, and that so-called sins
of ignorance and frailty are never mortal. On this point we should
recall the teaching of theology, such as it is profoundly formulated
by St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa.™
The sin of ignorance is that which springs from voluntary and
culpable ignorance, called vincible ignorance. The sin of frailty is
that which arises from a strong passion which diminishes liberty and
impels the will to give its consent. As for the sin of malice, it is
committed with full liberty, quasi de industria, intentionally and
often with premeditation, even without passion or ignorance. We
shall recall what St. Thomas teaches about each of them.
Sins

of

Ignorance

In relation to the will, ignorance may be cither antecedent or
consequent or concomitant. Antecedent ignorance is that which is
in no way voluntary; it is said to be morally invincible. For example,
thinking that he is firing at an animal in the forest, a hunter may
kill a man who had given no sign of his presence and whom the
hunter would never suspect of being there. In this case there is no
voluntary fault, but only a material sin.
Consequent ignorance is that which is voluntary, at least indirectly
so, because of negligence in learning what one can and ought to
know. It is called vincible ignorance because one could free oneself
from it with morally possible application. It is the cause of a formal
sin, at least indirectly willed. For example, a medical student yields
gravely to sloth; nevertheless, as it were by chance, he receives his
medical degree. But he is ignorant of many elementary facts of his
profession which he ought to know, and it happens that he hastens
the death of some of his patients instead of curing them. In this case
there is no directly voluntary sin, but there is certainly an indirectly
,e See la Ilae, q. 76-78.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

voluntary fault, which may be grave and which may even go as far
as homicide through imprudence or grave negligence.
Concomitant ignorance is that which is not voluntary, but which
accompanies sin in such a way that, even if it did not exist, one would
still sin. This is the case of a very vindictive man who, wishing to
kill his enemy, one day, as a matter of fact, unwittingly does kill
him, thinking that he is killing an animal in a thicket. This case is
manifestly different from the two preceding cases.
We may conclude, consequently, that involuntary or invincible
ignorance is not a sin, but that voluntary or vincible ignorance of
what we could and should know is a more or less serious sin accord­
ing to the gravity of the obligations in which we fail. Voluntary or
vincible ignorance cannot completely excuse sin, for there was
negligence; it only diminishes culpability. Absolutely involuntary
or invincible ignorance completely exculpates from sin; it does
away with culpability. As for concomitant ignorance, it does not
excuse from sin, for, even if it did not exist, one would still sin.
Invincible ignorance is called “good faith.” That ignorance
be truly invincible or involuntary, it is necessary that the person
cannot morally free himself from it by a serious effort to know his
duties. It is impossible to be invincibly ignorant of the first precepts
of the natural law: Do good and avoid evil; do not do to others what
you would not wish them to do to you; you shall not kill; you shall
not steal; one God alone you shall adore. At least by the order of the
world, the starry sky, and the whole creation, man can easily obtain a
knowledge of the probability of the existence of God, supreme Ordainer and Legislator. When he has this probability, he must seek to
become more enlightened and must ask for light; otherwise he is not
in genuine good faith or in absolutely involuntary and invincible
ignorance. As much must be said of a Protestant for whom it be­
comes seriously probable that Catholicism is the true religion. He
must clarify his idea by study and ask God for light. Unless he
does this, as St. Alphonsus says, he already sins against faith by not
wishing to take the means necessary to obtain it.
Pious people are often not sufficiently attentive to sins of ig­
norance, which they sometimes commit without considering, as
they can and ought, their religious duties or the duties of their
state, or again the rights and qualities of persons, superiors, equals,
or inferiors with whom they are in relation. We arc responsible

SINS TO BE AVOIDED

309

not only for the inordinate acts that we place, but also for the omission
of all the good that we ought to do, and that we would accomplish
in fact if we had true zeal for the glory of God and the salva­
tion of souls. One of the causes of the present evils of society is
found in the forgetfulness of these words of the Gospel: “The poor
have the gospel preached to them,” in the indifference of those who
possess a superabundance toward those who lack even the neces­
saries of life.
Sins

of

Frailty

A sin of frailty is one which springs from a strong passion, which
impels the will to give its consent. With this meaning, the Psalmist
says: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak.” 17 The spiritual
soul is weak when its will yields to the violence of the movements
of the sensible appetites. It thus loses rectitude of practical judgment
and of voluntary election or choice, by reason of fear, anger, or
concupiscence. Thus, during the Passion, Peter yielded through fear
and denied our Lord three times. When, by reason of a lively emo­
tion or of a passion, we are inclined toward an object, the intellect
is induced to judge that it is suitable for us, and the will to give its
consent contrary to the divine law.18
But we must distinguish here the so-called antecedent passion,
which precedes rhe consent of the will, and that called consequent,
which follows it. Antecedent passion diminishes culpability, for it
diminishes the liberty of judgment and of voluntary choice; it is
particularly apparent in very impressionable people. On the con­
trary, consequent or voluntary passion does not lessen the gravity
of sin, but augments it; or rather it is a sign that the sin is more
voluntary, since the will itself arouses this inordinate movement of
passion, as happens in a man who wishes to become angry the better
to manifest his ill will.19 Just as a good consequent passion, such as
Christ’s holy anger when He was driving the merchants from the
Temple, increases the merit, so an evil consequent passion augments
the demerit.
17 Ps. 6:3.
18 St. Thomas (la Ilae, q.58, a. 5; q.57, a. 5 ad 311m; q.77, a. 2) recalls on
this subject the Aristotelian principle: “Such as a man is, such does the end
seem to him . . . for the virtuous man judges aright of the end of virtue.”
Whence the adage: "I see the better and approve it, I follow the worse.”
,e Cf. ibid., q.77, a.6.

3 io

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

The sin of frailty, of which we are speaking here, is that in which
the will yields to the impulse of an antecedent passion; and thereby
the gravity of the sin is lessened. This does not mean, however,
that it is never a mortal sin. It is truly mortal when the matter is
grievous, and the sinner yields to passion with advertence and full
consent. This is the case of homicide committed under the impulse
of anger.20
A person can resist, especially at the beginning, the inordinate
movement of passion. If he does not resist it at the beginning as he
ought, if he does not pray as he ought to obtain the help of God,
passion is no longer simply antecedent, it becomes voluntary.
The sin of frailty, even when serious and mortal, is more pardon­
able than another, but here “pardonable” is by no means a synonym
for “venial” in the current meaning of this word.21
Even pious people ought to be attentive to this point for they
may have unrepressed movements of jealousy which may lead them
to grave faults: for example, to serious rash judgments and to words
and exterior acts which are the cause of profound breaches, con­
trary both to justice and to charity.
It would be a gross error to think that only the sin of malice can
be mortal because it alone implies the sufficient advertence, the full
consent, together with the serious matter, necessary for the sin
which gives death to the soul and renders it worthy of eternal death.
Such an error would result from a badly formed conscience, and
would contribute to increase this deformity. Let us remember that
we can easily resist the beginning of the inordinate movement of
passion, and that it is a duty for us to do so and also to pray for help,
according to the words of St. Augustine, quoted by the Council of
Trent: “God never commands the impossible, but, in commanding,
He warns us to do what we are able and to ask Him for help to
do that which we cannot.” 22
The Sin

of

Malice

In contradistinction to the sin of ignorance and that of frailty, the
sin of malice is that by which one chooses evil knowingly. In Latin
20 Ibid., a. 8.
21 Ibid., ad mm.
22 Council of Trent, Sess. VI, chap. 11 (Dcnzinger, no. 804), from St. Au­
gustine, De natura et gratia, chap. 42, no. 50.

SINS TO BE AVOIDED

311
it is called a sin de industria, that is, a sin committed with deliberate
calculation, design, and express intention, free from ignorance and
even from antecedent passion. The sin of malice is often premeditated.
This is not equivalent to saying that evil is willed for the sake of
evil; since the adequate object of the will is the good, it can will
evil only under the aspect of an apparent good.
Now he who sins through malice, acting with full knowledge of
the case and through evil will, knowingly wills a spiritual evil (for
example, the loss of charity or divine friendship) in order to possess
a temporal good. It is clear that this sin thus defined differs in the
degree of gravity from the sin of ignorance and that of frailty. But
we must not conclude from this that every sin of malice is a sin
against the Holy Ghost. This last sin is one of the gravest of the
sins of malice. It is produced when a man rejects through contempt
the very thing that would save him or deliver him from evil: for
example, when he combats recognized religious truth, or when by
reason of jealousy, he deliberately grows sad over the graces and
spiritual progress of his neighbor.
The sin of malice often proceeds from a vice engendered by
multiple faults; but it can exist even in the absence of this vice. It is
thus that the first sin of the devil was a sin of malice, not of habitual
malice but of actual malice, of evil will, of an intoxication of pride.
It is clear that the sin of malice is graver than the sins of ignorance
and frailty, although these last are sometimes mortal. This explains
why human laws inflict greater punishment for premeditated mur­
der than for that committed through passion.
The greatest gravity of the sins of malice comes from the fact
that they are more voluntary than the others, from the fact that they
generally proceed from a vice engendered by repeated sins, and from
the fact that by them man knowingly prefers a temporal good to
the divine friendship, without the partial excuse of a certain ig­
norance or of a strong passion.
In these questions one may err in two ways that are contradictory
to each other. Some lean to the opinion that only the sin of malice
can be mortal; they do not see with sufficient clearness the gravity
of certain sins of voluntary ignorance and of certain sins of frailty,
in which, nevertheless, there is serious matter, sufficient advertence,
and full consent.
Others, on the contrary, do nor sec clearly enough the gravity

312

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

of certain sins of malice committed in cold blood, with an affected
moderation and a pretense of good will or of tolerance. Those who
thus combat the true religion and take away from children the bread
of divine truth may be sinning more gravely than he who blasphemes
and kills someone under the impulse of anger.
Sin is so much the more grave as it is more voluntary, as it is
committed with greater light and proceeds from a more inordinate
love of self, which sometimes even goes so far as contempt of God.
On the other hand, a virtuous act is more or less meritorious accord­
ing as it is more voluntary, more free, and as it is inspired by a
greater love of God and neighbor, a love that may even reach holy
contempt of self, as St. Augustine says.
Thus he who prays with too great attachment to sensible consola­
tion merits less than he who perseveres in prayer in a continual and
profound aridity without any consolation. But on emerging from
this trial, his merit does not grow less if his prayer proceeds from
an equal degree of charity which now has a happy reaction on his
sensibility. It is still true that one interior act of pure love is of
greater value in the eyes of God than many exterior works inspired
by a lesser charity.
In all these questions, whether good or evil is involved, particular
attention must be paid to what proceeds from our higher faculties,
the intellect and will: that is, to the act of the will following full
knowledge of the case. And, from this point of view, if an evil act
committed with full deliberation and consent, like a formal pact
with the devil, has formidable consequences, a good act, such as the
oblation of self to God, made with full deliberation and consent and
frequently renewed, can have even greater consequences in the
order of good; for the Holy Ghost is of a certainty infinitely more
powerful than the spirit of evil, and He can do more for our sanc­
tification than the latter can for our ruin. It is well to think of this
in the face of the gravity of certain present-day events. The love of
Christ, dying on the cross for us, pleased God more than all sins
taken together displeased Him; so the Savior is more powerful to
save us than the enemy of good is to destroy us. With this meaning,
Christ said: “Fear ye not them that kill the body and are not able to
kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body
in hell.” 28 Unless we open the door of our hearts to him, the enemy
” Matt. 10:28.

SINS TO BE AVOIDED

313

of good cannot penetrate into the sanctuary of our will, whereas
God is closer to us than we are to ourselves and can lead us strongly
and sweetly to the most profound and elevated meritorious free acts,
to acts that are the prelude of eternal life.

CHAPTER XXII

The Predominant Fault
AFTER treating of the principal sins to be avoided and of their
/“\ roots and consequences to be mortified, it is fitting that we dis­
cuss in a special way the predominant fault that exists in each of us.
That we may proceed with order, we must first see in what this fault
consists, then how to recognize or discern it, and lastly how to com­
bat it.
Definition of the Predominant Fault

The predominant fault is the defect in us that tends to prevail
over the others, and thereby over our manner of feeling, judging,
sympathizing, willing, and acting. It is a defect that has in each of
us an intimate relation to our individual temperament.1 There are
temperaments inclined to effeminacy, indolence, sloth, gluttony, and
sensuality. Others are inclined especially to anger and pride. We
do not all climb the same slope toward the summit of perfection:
those who are effeminate by temperament must by prayer, grace,
and virtue become strong; and those who are naturally strong, to
the point of easily becoming severe, must, by working at themselves
and by grace, become gentle.
Before this progressive transformation of our temperament, the
predominant defect in the soul often makes itself felt. It is our do­
mestic enemy, dwelling in our interior; for, if it develops, it may
succeed in completely ruining the work of grace or the interior
1 Our individual temperament is generally quite determined along one line,
according to the principle, natura determinatur ad unum. This is why it must
be perfected by the different virtues, which will permit us to act in a reason­
able and Christian manner, under different circumstances, in relation to dif­
ferent people: for example, in relation to superiors, inferiors, and equals,
and according to the various situations in which wc are placed.
3'4

THE PREDOMINANT FAULT

315

life. At times it is like a crack in a wall that seems to be solid but is
not so; like a crevice, imperceptible at times but deep, in the beau­
tiful façade of a building, which a vigorous jolt may shake to the
foundations. For example, an antipathy, an instinctive aversion to
someone, may, if it is not watched over and corrected by right
reason, the spirit of faith, and charity, produce disasters in the soul
and lead it to grave injustice. By yielding to such an antipathy, it
does itself far more harm than it does its neighbor, for it is much
more harmful to commit injustice than to be the object of it.
The predominant fault is so much the more dangerous as it often
compromises our principal good point, which is a happy inclina­
tion of our nature that ought to develop and to be increased by
grace. For example, a man is naturally inclined to gentleness; but
if by reason of his predominant fault, which may be effeminacy, his
gentleness degenerates into weakness, into excessive indulgence, he
may even reach the complete loss of energy. Another, on the con­
trary, is naturally inclined to fortitude, but if he gives free rein
to his irascible temperament, fortitude in him degenerates into un­
reasonable violence, the cause of every type of disorder.
In every man there is a mixture of good and bad inclinations; there
is a predominant fault and also a natural quality. If we are in the
state of grace, we have a special attraction of grace, which generally
perfects first of all what is best in our nature, and then radiates over
that which is less good. Some are thus more inclined toward con­
templation, others toward action. Particular care must be taken that
the predominant fault does not snuff out our principal natural qual­
ity or our special attraction of grace. Otherwise our soul would re­
semble a field of wheat invaded by tares or cockle, of which the
Gospel speaks. And we have an adversary, the devil, who seeks to
foster the growth of our predominant fault that he may place us
in conflict with those who work with us in the Lord’s field. Christ
Himself tells us: “The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that
sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy
came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way.” 2
Christ explains that the enemy is the devil,3 who seeks to destroy
the work of God by creating disunion among those who, in a holy
manner, ought to collaborate in the same work for eternity. He is
* Matt. 13:24 f.
■ Ibid., 39.

3 ιό

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

skillful in exaggerating in our eyes the defects of our neighbor, in
transforming a grain of sand into a mountain, in setting up, as it
were, a magnifying glass in our imagination, that we may become
irritated at our brethren instead of working with them. Consider­
ing all this, we can see what evil may spring up in each of us from
our principal fault if we are not most attentive to it. At times it is
like a devouring worm in a beautiful fruit.
How

to

Recognize the Predominant Fault

Evidently it is of primary importance that we recognize our pre­
dominant fault and have no illusions about it. This is so much the
more necessary as our adversary, the enemy of our soul, knows it
quite well and makes use of it to stir up trouble in and about us. In
the citadel of our interior life, which is defended by the different
virtues, the predominant fault is the weak spot, undefended by the
theological and moral virtues. The enemy of souls seeks exactly
this easily vulnerable point in each one, and he finds it without diffi­
culty. Therefore, we must recognize it also.
But how can we discern it? For beginners who are sincere, this is
quite easy. But later the predominant fault is less apparent, for it
tries to hide itself and to put on the appearances of a virtue: pride
clothes itself in the outward appearances of magnanimity, and pusil­
lanimity seeks to cover itself with those of humility. Yet we must
succeed in discerning the predominant fault, for if we do not know
it, we cannot fight it; and if we do not fight it, we have no true in­
terior life.
That we may discern it, we must first of all ask God for light:
“Lord, make me know the obstacles I more or less consciously place
in the way of the working of Thy grace in me .Then give me the
strength to rid myself of them, and, if I am negligent in doing so, do
Thou deign to free me from them, though I should suffer greatly.”
After thus asking sincerely for light, we must make a serious ex­
amination. How? By asking ourselves: “Toward what do my most
ordinary preoccupations tend, in the morning when I awake, or
when I am alone? Where do my thoughts and desires go spon­
taneously?” We should keep in mind that the predominant fault,
which easily commands all our passions, takes on the appearance
of a virtue and, if it is not opposed, it may lead to impenitence. Judas

THE PREDOMINANT FAULT

317

fell into impenitence through avarice, which he did not will to
dominate; it led him to impenitence like a violent wind that hurls’
a ship on the rocks.
A second step in discerning the predominant fault, is to ask our­
selves: “What is generally the cause or source of my sadness and joy?
What is the general motive of my actions, the ordinary origin of
my sins, especially when it is not a question of an accidental sin,
but rather a succession of sins or a state of resistance to grace, notably
when this resistance persists for several days and leads me to omit
my exercises of piety?” Then we must seek sincerely to know the
motive of the soul’s refusal to return to the good.
In addition, we must ask ourselves: “What does my director think
of this? In his opinion, what is my predominant fault? He is a better
judge than I am.” No one, in fact, is a good judge in his own case;
here self-love deceives us. Often our director has discovered this
fault before we have; perhaps he has tried more than once to talk
to us about it. Have we not sought to excuse ourselves? Excuses
come promptly, for the predominant fault easily excites all our
passions: it commands them as a master, and they obey instantly.
Thus, wounded self-love immediately excites irony, anger, impa­
tience. Moreover, when the predominant fault has taken root in us,
it experiences a particular repugnance to being unmasked and fought,
because it wishes to reign in us. This condition sometimes reaches
such a point that, when our neighbor accuses us of this fault, we
reply that we have many bad habits, but truly not the one men­
tioned.4
The predominant fault may also be recognized by the temptations
that our enemy arouses most frequently in us, for he attacks us
especially through this weak point in our soul.
Lastly, in moments of true fervor the inspirations of the Holy
Ghost ask us for the sacrifice of this particular fault.
If we have sincere recourse to these different means of discern­
ment, it will not be too difficult for us to recognize this interior
enemy which we bear within ourselves and which enslaves us:
“Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin,” 15 says our Lord.
4 St. Thomas would see in this an application of the principle formulated by
Aristotle, which the saint quotes often: Qualis unusquisque est, talis finis vide­
tur ei; that is, “Every man judges of what is good according to his good or
evil interior dispositions.”
’ John 8:34.

3i8

three ages of the interior life

It is like an interior prison that we bear about with us wherever we
go. We must earnestly aspire to deliverance.
It would be a great grace for us if we were to meet a saint who
would say: “This is your predominant fault and this your principal
attraction of grace which you must follow generously to reach
union with God.” In this way Christ applied the name, “sons of
thunder” (Boanerges) 6 to the young apostles James and John
who wished to call down fire from heaven on a city that had refused
to receive them. We read in St. Luke: “He rebuked them, saying:
You know not of what spirit you are. The Son of man came not to
destroy souls, but to save.” 7 In the school of the Savior, the Boa­
nerges became such gentle souls that toward the end of his life St.
John the Evangelist could say only one thing: “My little children,
. . . love one another.” 8 When asked why he always repeated the
same exhortation, he used to reply: “This is His commandment.
. . . And he that keepeth His commandments, abideth in Him and
He in him.” John had lost nothing of his ardor, of his thirst for
justice, but it had become spiritualized and was accompanied by
a great gentleness.

How

to

Combat

the

Predominant Fault

Because the predominant fault is our principal interior enemy,
we must combat it. When it is conquered, temptations are no longer
very dangerous, but are rather occasions of progress.
The predominant fault is not conquered, however, as long as
there is no true progress in piety or the interior life, as long as the
soul has not attained to a true and stable fervor of will; in other
words, to that promptness of the will in the service of God which is,
according to St. Thomas, the essence of true devotion.8 In this spirit­
ual warfare, we must have recourse to three principal means: prayer,
examination of conscience, and a sanction.
Our prayer must be sincere: “Lord, show me the principal ob­
stacle to my sanctification, the one that hinders me from profiting
by graces and also by the exterior difficulties that would work to
the good of my soul if I had greater recourse to Thee when they
’ Mark 3:17.
T Luke 9:55 f.
• See 1 John 3:18, 23.
• Cf. Ila Ilae, q.82, a. 1 f.

THE PREDOMINANT FAULT

319

arise.” The saints went so far as to say, as St. Louis Bertrand did:
“Lord, here burn, here cut, and dry up in me all that hinders me
from going to Thee, that Thou mayest spare me in eternity.”
Blessed Nicholas of Fliie used to pray: “Lord, take from me every­
thing that hinders me from going to Thee. Give me all that will
lead me to Thee. Take me from myself and give me to Thyself.”
This prayer does not dispense us from self-examination; on
the contrary, it leads to it. And, as St. Ignatius says, it is especially
suitable for beginners to write down each week the number of
times they have yielded to their predominant fault which seeks to
reign in them like a despot. It is easier to laugh fruitlessly at this
method than to apply it fruitfully. If we keep track of the money
we spend and receive, it is still more useful to know what we lose
and what we gain from the spiritual point of view for eternity.
It is also highly proper to impose a sanction, or penance, on our­
selves each time we fall into this defect. This penance may take the
form of a prayer, a moment of silence, an exterior or an interior
mortification. It makes reparation for the fault and satisfaction for
the penalty due it. At the same time we acquire more circumspection
for the future. Thus many persons have cured themselves of the
habit of cursing by imposing on themselves the obligation of giving
an alms in reparation each time they fail.
Before conquering our predominant fault, our virtues are often,
to speak more properly, natural good inclinations rather than true
and solid virtues that have taken root in us. Prior to victory over
this fault, the fountain of graces is not yet adequately opened on
our soul, for we still seek ourselves too much and do not live suf­
ficiently for God.
In addition, we must overcome pusillanimity, which leads us to
think that our predominant fault cannot be eradicated. With grace
we can overcome it, because, as the Council of Trent says, quot­
ing St. Augustine: “God never commands the impossible; but in
giving us His precepts, He commands us to do what we can, and
to ask for the grace to accomplish what we cannot do.” 10
It has been said that the spiritual combat is in this case more
necessary than victory, for, if we dispense ourselves from this
struggle, we abandon the interior life, we no longer tend toward
perfection. We must not make peace with our faults.
10 Council of Trent, Scss. VI, chap. 2.

320

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Moreover, credence must not be given to our adversary when he
seeks to persuade us that this struggle is suitable only for the saints
that they may reach the highest regions of spirituality. The truth
is that without this persevering and efficacious struggle we cannot
sincerely aspire to Christian perfection, toward which the supreme
precept makes it a duty for all of us to tend. This precept is, in fact,
without 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: and thy neighbor as thyself.” 11
Without this struggle, there is no interior joy or peace, for the
tranquillity of order or peace comes from the spirit of sacrifice. It
alone establishes us interiorly in order by putting to death all that
is inordinate in us.12
Lastly, charity, the love of God and of souls in God, finally pre­
vails completely over the predominant fault; it then truly occupies
the first place in our soul and reigns there effectively. Mortification,
which makes our principal fault disappear, delivers us and assures
the predominance in our soul of our true natural qualities and of
our special attraction of grace. Thus little by little, we grow to be
ourselves, in the broad sense of the word, that is, to be supernaturally
ourselves minus our defects. We do not have to copy in a more or
less servile manner another’s qualities, or enter a uniform mold that
is the same for all. There is a great variety in human personalities,
just as no two leaves or flowers are perfectly similar. But a person’s
temperament must not be crushed; it must be transformed while
keeping whatever is good in it. In our temperament, our character
must be the imprint of the acquired and infused virtues, especially
of the theological virtues. Then, instead of instinctively referring
everything to self, as is the case when the predominant fault reigns,
we will turn everything back to God, think almost continually of
Him, and live for Him alone; at the same time we will lead to Him
those with whom we come into contact.
Note

That we may know ourselves better, we should vary the examina­
tion of conscience, making it at times according to the order of the
11 Luke 10:27.
12 Sloth is one of the predominant faults most difficult to overcome. How­
ever, success is possible with the help of grace.

THE PREDOMINANT FAULT

321

commandments of God and the precepts of the Church; at other
times, following the order of the moral and theological virtues; or
considering the sins opposed to these different virtues, indicated in
the two following outlines:

regard
to
self

'Vainglory, from which come: disobedience,
boasting, hypocrisy, contention through ri­
valry, discord, singularity, stubbornness.
Acedia (sloth), hatred of spiritual things,
whence are born: malice, rancor, pusilla­
nimity, discouragement, spiritual torpor,
forgetfulness of the precepts, seeking after
forbidden things.

in
regard
to one’s
neighbor

Envy, from which spring: hatred, detraction,
calumny, joy at the misfortune of another,
sadness at his success.
Anger, whence come: disputes, fits of passion,
insults, contumely, blasphemy.

Pride

Inordinate
love
of
self

of
the
eyes

Avarice, whence proceed: perfidy, fraud,
■ deceit, perjury, itch to acquire and excessive
anxiety to keep, harshness, hardness of heart.

of
the
flesh

Gluttony, which engenders: improper jokes,
buffoonery, impurity, foolish conversation,
stupidity.
Lust, whence proceed: spiritual blindness,
poor judgment, impetuosity (of decision),
inconstancy, love of self even to hatred of
God, attachment to the present life which
.destroys hope of eternal life.

Concupiscence

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
'toward God, and gift of
wisdom
Charity toward one’s neighbor
and mercy

theo­
logical

Virtues

Hope

confidence, abandon­
ment, and the gift of
fear, opposed to pre­
sumption

disgust for spiritual
things
envy, discord,
scandal

presumption
despair

Faith, and the spirit of faith, and
the gifts of understand­
ing and knowledge

infidelity, blas­
phemy, blindness,
culpable ignorance

Prudence, docility to good coun­
sels and the gift of
counsel

imprudence and
negligence, carnal
prudence, cunning

Justice, and the connected virtues
of religion (gift of
piety), penance, filial
piety, obedience, grati­
tude, veracity, fidelity,
cardinalliberality

injustice, impiety,
superstition,
hypocrisy, lying

Fortitude, and the gift of fortitude,
with magnanimity, pa­
tience and perseverance

rash boldness,
cowardliness, and
pusillanimity

Temperance, sobriety and chas­
tity, with meekness and
humility

intemperance, lust,
anger, pride, and
curiosity

Con­
trary
vices

CHAPTER XXIII

Passions to be Regulated
HERE can be no interior life without a struggle against self
in order to regulate and discipline the passions, to cause the
light of right reason and even that of infused faith and of Christian
prudence to descend into these movements of the sensible appetites.
There is far more than we think in the expression, to discipline one’s
sensible appetite; it should receive discipline like a docile pupil who
is being trained. Consequently it is fitting that we speak of the pas­
sions. To proceed in an orderly fashion, we must consider them from
the psychological, the moral, and the essentially ascetical point of
view. We shall follow the teaching of St. Thomas.1

T

The Passions from the Psychological Point of View

St. Thomas, who follows Aristotle and St. John Damascene, de­
fines passion thus: “A movement of the sensitive appetite when we
imagine good or evil. ... A passion is properly to be found where
there is corporeal transmutation.” 2
When we say that it is a movement of the sensible appetite, com­
mon to man and animal, a distinction is made between passion
and a movement of the spiritual will, called the rational appetite.
Neither must the movement of the sensible appetite be confused
with corporeal movements: for example, with the beating of the
heart that follows it. These movements of the sensitive appetite
which are the passions manifestly exist in the animal: for example,
when it desires its food, and in it passion is now under a mild form,
as in the dove or the lamb, now under a violent form, as in the wolf,
the tiger, or the lion.
1 Cf. la Ilae, q. 22-28.
* Ibid., q.22, a. j.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Following Aristotle, St. Thomas distinguishes and classifies the
different passions in a remarkable manner. He distinguishes first of
all the concupiscible appetite, which inclines one to seek for sensible
and delectable good and to flee injurious evil, and the irascible appe­
tite, which inclines one to resist obstacles and, in spite of them, to
obtain a difficult good. There are animals and men dominated by
the irascible appetite, others dominated by the concupiscible.
In the concupiscible appetite, in regard to sensible good which
attracts, three passions are distinguished: the love of this sensible
good, whether it is present or absent; the desire of this good, if it
is absent; the joy, if it is present. These movements of the sensible
appetite are seen in the animal to which food is brought or from
which it is removed.
On the contrary, in reference to evil to be avoided, we distinguish
in the concupiscible, hatred, aversion, and sadness. Thus the lamb
instinctively flees from the wolf.
In the irascible appetite, in reference to the good difficult to ob­
tain {bonum arduum), there are the two passions of hope and of
despair or dejection, according as this good appears obtainable or
unobtainable. And in this same appetite, with regard to injurious
evil to be repulsed, there is audacity and fear, according as this evil
is easy or difficult to repulse, and also anger, if it is a question of a
present evil to be surmounted or an insult to be avenged.
In the spiritual will there are analogous movements of love, desire,
joy, hope, and so on, but these are of an immaterial order, whereas
the passion is always accompanied by a movement of the organism,
because of the fact that the sensible appetite is united to an organ.
Among all the passions, the first of all, presupposed by all the
others, is sensible love: for example, in the animal, love of the food
that it needs. From this love are born desire, joy, hope, audacity, or
hatred of what is contrary, aversion, sadness, despair, fear, anger.8
From what we have said, it is evident that passion, as it has been
defined, is not always lively, vehement, and dominant. However,
many modern authors apply the term “passion” to a particularly
intense movement of the sensible appetite and reserve “emotion” to
others that are less strong.
8 Cf. Bossuet, De la connaissance de Dieu et de soi-?nê?ne, chap, i, § 6.

PASSIONS TO BE REGULATED

325

Passion from the Moral Point of View

From the moral point of view, the passions have been widely dis­
cussed. The partisans of the morality of pleasure have said that all
passions are good, as the legitimate expansion of our nature. This
justification of the passions is found among both ancient and mod­
ern writers.
The Stoics, on the contrary, condemned the passions, saying that
they are a movement which, opposed to right reason, troubles the
soul. According to them, the wise man must suppress the passions
and reach impassibility.
Aristotle, followed by St. Thomas, states more profoundly that
the passions or emotions, considered as such, are morally neither
good nor bad, but become morally good if they are aroused or
regulated by right reason and the will which utilizes them as powers,
or they become morally bad if they are not conformable to right
reason. Their morality depends on the intention of the will, which
is always either good or bad, according as it bears or does not bear
on a worthy end. Thus, anger may be holy or, on the contrary,
unreasonable. Christ willed to show holy indignation when driv­
ing the vendors from the Temple and overturning their tables.4
Likewise, in Gethsemane Christ, who was about to expiate all our
sins, willed to be sorrowful even unto death to make us understand
the sorrow we should have for our own sins.
Therefore, if the passions or emotions are regulated, moderated
by right reason, they are morally good; they are forces to be used
in the service of virtue: for example, courage, which is a virtue,
makes use of hope and audacity while moderating them. Likewise
modesty, which is a laudable emotion, helps the virtue of chastity,
and that other emotion, known as sensible pity toward the unfortu­
nate, renders easy for us the exercise of the virtue of mercy. The act
of virtue, St. Thomas says,3 is even more meritorious when it makes
good use of the passions in view of a virtuous end.
It is clear, in fact, that God has given us our sensible appetites,
as He has given us our exterior senses and imagination, as He has
given us our two arms, that we may use them in view of a moral
good. Thus utilized, the passions when well regulated are powers.
4 John 1:15.
* Cf. la Ilae, q.24, a. 3.

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

3z6

And whereas the so-called antecedent passion, which precedes judg­
ment, clouds the reason, as happens in the fanatic or the sectarian,
the so-called consequent passion, which follows the judgment of
right reason illumined by faith, increases merit and shows the power
of good will for a great cause. With this meaning, Pascal could say:
“Nothing great is accomplished without passion,” without this flame
of sensibility, which is like the radiation of zeal or the ardor of love
of God and of neighbor. This zeal consumed the hearts of the saints
and showed itself in their courage and endurance.
But the inordinate or undisciplined passions become vices because
of their inordinateness: sensible love becomes gluttony or luxury;
aversion becomes jealousy, envy; audacity becomes temerity; fear
becomes cowardliness or pusillanimity.
When these inordinate passions precede the judgment of reason,
they trouble it and can diminish responsibility, merit, and demerit;
when they follow judgment and are willed, they increase the malice
of the act.8 Then instead of being powers in the service of goodness,
they are in the service of perversity. Whereas in the souls of the
saints, of missioners, and of martyrs, a perfectly ordered passion is
a power that manifests and serves the love of God and neighbor; in
the soul of a criminal, it manifests and serves unbridled self-love.
The Passions

from the

Ascetical Point

of

View

According to the principles we have just recalled, we shall con­
sider the passions from the ascetical point of view in their relation
to the interior life. From these principles it follows that the pas­
sions, being in themselves neither good nor bad, ought not to be
extirpated like vices, but should be moderated, regulated; properly
speaking, they should be disciplined by right reason illumined by
faith, if they are immoderate, they become the roots of vices; if
they are disciplined, they are placed at the service of the virtues. A
man must not be inert and, as it were, made of straw, nor should he
be violent and irascible.
Little by little the light of reason and the superior light of infused
faith must descend into our sensible appetites that they may not be like
those of an animal without reason, but those of a rational being, of
a child of God, who shares in the intimate life of the Most High.
e Cf. ibid.

PASSIONS TO BE REGULATED

327

We should direct our thoughts to Christ’s sensible appetites, which
were pure and strong because of the virtues of virginity, patience,
and constancy even to the death of the cross.7 Let us also think of
the sensibility of Mary, Virgin most pure and Mother of Sorrows,
coredemptress of the human race. We shall thus see how our sensi­
ble appetites ought to be ever more and more subjected to our in­
tellect illumined by faith, to our will vivified by charity, and how
the light and living flame of the spirit ought to radiate over our
emotions to sanctify them and place them at the service of God and
of our neighbor. St. Paul exhorts us, saying: “Rejoice with them
that rejoice; weep with them that weep.” 8 This is characteristic of
the saints; they manifest admirable delicacy of feeling for the
afflicted; at times they alone can find words which uplift and fortify.
From this point of view, the passions must be moderated, not
materially but proportionately to what reason requires in relation
to a more or less lofty given end to be reached in given circum­
stances. Thus, without sinning, a person may experience great sad­
ness, great fear, or lively indignation in certain grave circumstances.
We read in Exodus 9 that Moses, seeing the Israelites adoring the
golden calf, crushed this idol to dust and punished with great sever­
ity those who were most guilty. In the First Book of Kings,10 the
priest Heli is reprimanded for not having become indignant at the
evil conduct of his sons. On the road to perfection, those who are
naturally meek must become strong, and those who are naturally
inclined to be strong-willed must become gentle. Both are climbing
toward the summit by different slopes.
To drive a horse well, now the bit must be used, and now the
whip; the same applies to the governing of the passions. At times they
must be checked, and at other times awakened, jolted, in order to
react against sloth, inertia, timidity, or fear. At times a great effort
is required to break an impetuous horse; the same is true of disciplin­
ing certain temperaments capable of great tilings. How beautiful it
is to see these temperaments transformed by the profound impress
of a Christian character after ten or fifteen years of self-discipline!
With a view to the interior life, one must be particularly attentive,
» Cf. Illa, q. 15, a.4-7,9.
" Rom. 12:15.
v Exod. 32:19.
10 Chap. 2.

328

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

above all at the beginning, to a special point: that is, to be on guard
against precipitation and also against the dominant passion, that it
may not become a predominant fault. As we have already spoken of
the predominant fault, we here insist on precipitation to be avoided
or, as the expression goes, on impulsiveness, which inclines one to
act without sufficient reflection.
With rash haste many beginners, otherwise very good, at times
wish to make too rapid progress, more rapid than their degree of
grace warrants. They desire to travel rapidly because of a certain
unconscious presumption; then, when trial comes, they sometimes
let themselves be cast down at least for a moment. This condition is
similar to what happens also in young students at the beginning
of their curiosity in their work; when it is satisfied or when ap­
plication becomes too painful, negligence and sloth follow. As a mat­
ter of fact, the happy medium of virtue, which is at the same time
a summit above two opposing vices, like strength above temerity
and cowardliness, is not attained immediately.
Properly speaking, what is precipitation? St. Thomas 11 defines it
as a manner of acting by impulsion of the will or of the passion,
without prudence, precaution, or sufficient consideration. It is a sin
directly opposed to prudence and the gift of counsel. It leads to
temerity in judgment and is comparable to the haste of one who
descends a staircase too rapidly and falls, instead of walking com­
posedly.
From the moral point of view, one should descend in a thoughtful
manner from reason, which determines the end to be attained, to
the operations to be accomplished without neglecting the steps that
intervene, that is, the memory of things past, intelligent attention
to present circumstances, shrewdness in foreseeing obstacles that
may arise, docility in following authorized advice. One must take
time to deliberate before acting; “one should deliberate slowly and
without haste,” as Aristotle used to say. Afterward one must some­
times act with great promptness.
If, on the contrary, a person is inclined to action by the impulse
of the will or of the passion, while neglecting the intervening steps
we have just mentioned, the memory of the past, attention to the
present, foresight of the future, and docility, such a person stumbles
and falls. This is inevitable.
11 Sec Ila Ilae, q.53, a.3; q.54, a. 1 ad 211m.

PASSIONS TO BE REGULATED

329

What are the causes of precipitation? As spiritual writers say, this
defect comes from the fact that we substitute our own natural
activity for the divine action. We act with feverish ardor, without
sufficient reflection, without prayer for the light of the Holy Ghost,
without the advice of our spiritual director. At times this natural
haste is the cause of extremely imprudent acts that are very harmful
in their results.
Natural haste often arises from the fact that we consider only
the proximate end to be attained today, without seeing its relation
to the supreme end toward which we must direct our steps. Seeing
only this immediate human end, we direct our efforts toward it by
natural activity, without sufficient recourse to the help of God.
We can see in the training that Christ gave His apostles how
often He warned them against this precipitation or natural haste,
which causes a man to act without sufficient reflection and without
a sufficiently great spirit of faith. Some pages back, we recalled that
James and John on returning from their first apostolate, during
which a town refused to receive their preaching, asked our Lord to
send fire from heaven on this village. With divine irony, Christ then
called them Boanerges,12 or “sons of thunder,” to remind them that
they should be sons of God and, like Him, should also be patient in
awaiting the return of sinners. James and John understood; so well
indeed, that John at the end of his life could only say: “Love one
another, this is the commandment of the Lord.” In Christ’s school,
the Boanerges become gentle; yet they do not lose their ardor or
their zeal, but this zeal becomes patient, gentle, and less fiery, and
bears lasting fruits, the fruits of eternity.
We would do well also to remember how St. Peter, who was
called to a high degree of sanctity, was cured of his rash haste and
presumption. When our Lord announced His passion, Peter said to
Him: “Although all shall be scandalized in Thee, I will never be
scandalized. Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, that in this night
before the cock crow, thou wilt deny Me thrice.” 13 Humbled by
his sin, Peter was cured of his presumption. He no longer counted
on himself, but on divine grace by asking to be faithful to it; and
grace led him to the very heights of sanctity by the way of martyr­
dom.
12 Mark 3:17.
’· Matt. 16:33 f·

330

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

The precipitation we are speaking of sometimes leads young,
generous, and ardent souls to wish to reach the summit of perfection
more rapidly than grace, without any delay en route, without taking
into consideration the intermediary degrees and the mortification
necessary for disciplining the passions, as if they had already reached
divine union. They sometimes read works on mysticism with avidity
and curiosity, and gather from them beautiful flowers before fruit
has time to form. They thus expose themselves to many illusions
and, when disillusionment comes, they expose themselves to the
danger of falling into spiritual sloth and pusillanimity. We should
walk at a good pace, indeed with an ever firmer and more rapid
step in proportion as we draw near to God who attracts us the more,
but we must avoid what St. Augustine calls “great strides off the
right road.”
The effects of this haste and of the self-satisfaction that accom­
pany it, are the loss of interior recollection, perturbation, and
fruitless agitation, which has only the outward appearances of pro­
ductive action, as glass beads counterfeit diamonds.
The remedies for precipitation are easily indicated. Since this de­
fect comes from the fact that we substitute our natural, hasty action
for that of God, the chief remedy is to be found in a complete de­
pendence in regard to God and in the conformity of our will to His.
For this, we must reflect seriously before acting; pray humbly for
the light of the Holy Ghost, and also heed the advice of our spiritual
director, who has the grace of state to guide us. Then gradually
precipitation will be replaced by habitual docility to the action of
God in us. We shall be a little less satisfied with ourselves, and we
shall find greater peace and, from time to time, true joy in God.
To discipline the passions, we must be alert to combat vivacity
of temperament united to presumption, which springs from too great
esteem of self; we must also contend against effeminacy, and against
sloth, which would be even more harmful to the interior life. By
this slow persevering work, on which we should daily examine our­
selves, the ardent, the Boanerges, must become meek without los­
ing true spiritual ardor, which is zeal for the glory of God and the
salvation of souls. And the meek also, who are perhaps inclined by
nature to effeminacy, heedlcssness, and negligence, must become
strong. Both will thus ascend by different slopes toward the summit
of perfection. And they will sec that it is a great thing to know how

PASSIONS TO BE REGULATED

331

to discipline themselves gradually, to conduct themselves well, or
to put it better, to know how to remain habitually faithful to grace,
without which, in the order of salvation, we can do nothing.
Then the passions, no longer inordinate but disciplined, will be­
come powers truly useful for the good of our soul and that of others.
Audacity will be at the service of a fortitude that will dominate
thoughtless fear when, for example, there is a question of coming
promptly to the help of our neighbor in distress. Likewise meekness,
which presupposes a great mastery over self, will repress anger so
that it may never be anything but the holy indignation of zeal, of a
zeal which, without losing any of its ardor, remains patient and
meek and is the sign of sanctity.

CHAPTER XXIV

The Active Purification of the Senses
or of the Sensible Appetites
“If thy right hand scandalize thee,
cut it off, and cast it from thee.”
Matt. 5:29

OW that we have discussed the sins to be avoided, their con­
sequences to be mortified, and the passions to be disciplined,
we must treat of the active purification of the senses and of the
sensible appetites, then of that of the intellect and the will. We shall
then speak of the purification of the soul through the sacraments and
prayer, and finally of the passive purification of the senses, which,
according to St. John of the Cross, is at the threshold of the illumi­
native way.

N

The Principles

to be

Applied

When we treated 1 of mortification in general according to the
Gospel and St. Paul, we saw that it is imposed on us for four princi­
pal motives: ( 1 ) because of the consequences of original sin, espe­
cially of concupiscence; (2) because of the effects of our personal
sins; (3) because of the infinite elevation of our supernatural end
(God seen as He sees Himself), which demands a subjection not
only of the senses to reason, but of reason to the spirit of faith and to
charity; (4) finally, because of the necessity of carrying the cross
in order to follow Christ who died for us.
We must now apply these principles and see, first of all, what the
mortification or active purification of the senses and of the sensible
appetites should be.
1 Cf. supra, chaps. 19 f.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE SENSES

333
St. Thomas treats this subject at length when he discusses the
passions in general and in particular, also the seven capital sins and’
their results, and finally when he speaks of the virtues that have
their seat in the sensible appetites, such as temperance, chastity, forti­
tude, patience, meekness, and so on.
Among the great masters of the spiritual life, St. John of the
Cross deals with this same subject in The Ascent of Mount Carmel2
and at the beginning of The Dark Night,2 where he discusses the
faults of beginners, or the seven capital sins transposed into the
spiritual order: spiritual pride, spiritual gluttony, spiritual sloth, and
so on.
Here we should recall the necessity of observing the precepts,
especially the supreme precepts of love of God and of our neighbor,
consequently of avoiding every mortal sin, and also of guarding
ourselves better against our more or less deliberate venial sins. Al­
though a man cannot, without a very special help which the Blessed
Virgin received, continually avoid all venial sins taken together,
he can avoid each one of them in particular. He should also strive
more and more to suppress imperfection, which is a lesser good, an
act of a lesser degree of generosity in the service of God. The lesser
good is not an evil; but, in the order of good, one should not stop
at the lowest rung of the ladder, at the least degree of light and
warmth. The happy medium of the acquired virtue of temperance,
described by Aristotle, is doubtless already a good, but we should
aspire higher, that is, to the happy mean of infused temperance,
which, moreover, rises in proportion to the growth of this virtue,
united to that of penance, especially when the gifts of the Holy
Spirit, like that of fear, incline us to greater generosity in order
the better to overcome ourselves and advance more rapidly.4 Be­
sides, there are still many degrees in this greater generosity, accord­
ing, for example, as one ascends toward the summit of perfection
2 Cf. Bk. I, chaps. 4-12.
8 Cf. Bk. I, chaps. 11 ff.
4 We treated elsewhere at length of imperfection in so far as it is distinct
from venial sin: cf. L'amour de Dieu et la croix de Jésus, Vol. I, Part II, chap.
6, pp. 360-90: “The lesser good is not an evil, but every man, according to his
condition, must tend toward the perfection of charity.” Cf. Salmanticenses,
Cursus theol., De peccatis, disp. 19, dub. I, nos. 8 f.; De Incarnatione, in Illam
P., S. Thomae, q. 15, a. 1. They show clearly that in our Lord there was
neither venial sin nor imperfection, and they distinguish clearly between
them.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

by the winding road, which is easier, or by the straight road traced
by St. John of the Cross,5 which reaches its goal more rapidly and
leads higher.
To avoid sin and imperfection, we must remember here that the
capital sins dispose to others, which are often more serious, as vain­
glory does to disobedience, anger to blasphemy, avarice to hardness,
gluttony to impurity, luxury to the hatred of God. We could never
beg God too fervently for light to see the gravity of sin and to have
a greater contrition for our faults. With fraternal charity, it is one
of the greatest signs of spiritual progress.
We must also remember that venial sin, especially if it is repeated,
disposes to mortal sin; for he who easily commits venial sin loses
purity of intention, and if the occasion presents itself, he may sin
mortally. Venial sin is thus on a dangerous slope, like a wall which
hinders us from reaching union with God. On the road of perfec­
tion, he who does not advance, falls back.
Likewise imperfection, or an act not wholly generous, disposes
us to venial sin. Acts that do not measure up to our degree of charity
and of the other virtues {actus remissi), although they may still be
meritorious, indirectly dispose us to redescend, for they do not ex­
clude as much as they ought the inordinate inclinations which may
cause us to fall. We shall discuss especially the mortification of
sensuality and of anger.
The Mortification

of

Sensuality

We shall begin our consideration of this topic by recalling Christ’s
exhortation: “If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast
it from thee. For it is expedient for thee that one of thy members
should perish, rather than that thy whole body be cast into hell.” 6
Christian morality explains this text when, on the subject of the
sixth commandment, it teaches that outside of marriage, carnal delec­
tation directly willed with full deliberation is a mortal sin. In this
case there is no light matter. Why? Because such direct consent
disposes one proximately to a sin that is still more grave; it is like
inserting a finger into a gear where the whole arm will be caught.
5 Cf. The Ascent of Mount Carmel. At the beginning of this work, St. John
of the Cross placed a picture which shows the narrow path of perfection,
then, far off, the road of the imperfect spirit and the road of the lost spirit.
• Matt. 5:29.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE SENSES

335

Here one is faced with avoiding a capital sin which leads to incon­
siderateness, inconstancy, blindness of spirit, love of self even to
hatred of God, and to despair.7
Therefore St. Paul strongly recalls the necessity of this mortifica­
tion, of which he gives an example when he writes: “I chastise my
body and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached
to others, I myself should become a castaway.” 8 The consideration
here is the mortification of the senses and of the body in order to
assure the liberty of the spirit, and in order that the body may not
weigh down the soul, but allow it to follow a higher life.9
St. Thomas 10 teaches that lust is avoided rather by flight from
the occasions than by direct resistance, which makes one think too
much of the thing to be fought against. On the contrary, acedia, or
spiritual sloth, is overcome rather by resistance, for, in order to re­
sist it, we think of spiritual goods, and the more we think of them,
the more they attract us.
We should also seek to avoid as far as possible even indirectly vol­
untary movements of sensuality, especially when there is proximate
7 St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q. 153, a. 5.
8 Cf. I Cor. 9:27.
8 With this end in view, the Church prescribes certain days of fast and
abstinence; with the same purpose, the founders of religious orders estab­
lished certain special austerities, such as vigils, the discipline, and perpetual
abstinence from meat. The saints do not deprive themselves of these means
of preserving the perfection of absolute chastity. St. Dominic used to scourge
himself three times every night: once, to expiate his own faults; a second time,
for those of sinners; and a third, for the souls in purgatory. He consecrated
the night to prayer and penance: he slept little, rarely before Matins, and
never went to bed afterward. He used to go from one altar to another in
the church, praying now on his knees, his arms extended or lifted like arrows
above his head, now bowed over or prostrate on the ground. When sleep
overcame him, he would lie down on the flagstones or rest his head against
an altar. In his life this personal immolation was the accompaniment of the
Sacrifice of the Mass, in which our Savior’s immolation is continued in a
sacramental manner.
Doubtless such mortification presupposes exceptional graces; but there are
certain austerities that we can all practice instead of seeking our comfort.
For example, the habit of taking the discipline preserves us from many faults,
keeps alive the love of austerity, expiates many negligences, and helps us to
deliver souls from the bonds they have made for themselves. In a religious
order the observances are a little like what the bark is to the tree: if the
bark is peeled from a vigorous oak, the sap no longer rises, the tree withers
and dies. The saints say: “If you mitigate observances, you relax souls,” which
will no longer have the enthusiasm needed to run in the way of perfection.
10 Cf. Ila Ilae, q. 35, a. 1 nd 411111.

336

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

danger of consent. It is thus expedient for a number of people to
avoid certain reading (works on medicine, for example) which
might become dangerous for them because of their frailty, espe­
cially if they read through curiosity and not through a duty of state.11
From this point of view, we must also watch over certain affec­
tions which may become too sensible and even sensual. The author
of The Imitation 12 tells us that we must avoid excessive familiarity
with persons in order to enjoy our Lord’s, and that certain affections
which are too lively and too sensible cause us to lose peace of heart.
St. Teresa says also in The Way of Perfection 13 that certain par­
ticular friendships are plagues which little by little make the soul
lose fervor, then regularity, and which sometimes give rise to the
most profound divisions in communities and compromise salvation.14
11 However, it is generally admitted that if by reason of a duty of state
certain studies must be made which may produce some inordinate move­
ment of sensuality, they can be made for a virtuous motive though it is fore­
seen that some so to speak material disorder may arise, which one does not
directly wish to experience. Theologians teach in fact: “Carnal delectation,
indirectly voluntary or not voluntary in itself but only in its cause, is not
always a sin. There is often lacking the proximate danger of future consent,
when the act placed is in itself upright and reasonable (as a surgical operation,
or the reading of a book on medicine) from which one foresees but does not
intend any carnal delectation.”
12 Bk. I, chap. 6-8.
13 Cf. chap. 4.
14 St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 4: “Some,
too, form spiritual friendships with others, the source of which is luxury and
not spirituality. We may know it to be so by observing whether the remem­
brance of that affection increases our recollection and love of God, or brings
remorse of conscience.”
St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to a Devout Life, Part III, chap. 21, says
on the subject of frivolous friendships, that radical measures must be taken
to triumph over them: “Cut them, break them, tear them; do not amuse
yourself in unraveling these criminal friendships; you must tear and rend
them asunder; do not untie the knots, but break or cut them.” In order the
better to succeed, a person must divert himself by becoming absorbed in the
duties of his state.
In regard to friendships in which there is a mingling of the natural and the
supernatural, St. Francis de Sales says again (ibid., chap. 20): “They begin
with virtuous love, but if they do not use the utmost discretion, fond love
will begin to mingle itself in it, then sensual love, and afterwards carnal love:
yea, there is even danger in spiritual love, if wc are not extremely upon our
guard; though in this it is more difficult to be imposed upon, because its purity
and whiteness make the spots and stains which Satan seeks to mingle with it
more apparent, and therefore, when he takes this in hand, he docs it more
subtly, and endeavors to introduce impurities by almost insensible degrees.”

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE SENSES

337

At this point the mortification of the heart is no less necessary
than that of the body and the senses.
Finally, care must be taken not to seek sensible consolations for
their own sake in prayer through a sort of spiritual gluttony.*15 He
who loves God not for Himself, but for the sensible consolations he
receives or expects, is not in order. He loves himself first and God in
the second place, as a person loves a product inferior to himself.
This is an inverted order and, consequently, a more or less conscious
perversion. By putting self first, one misuses what is most holy and
exposes oneself to all temptations.
Spiritual enjoyments, sought for themselves, will awaken the
passions dormant in our heart of flesh, and, instead of taking the road
that the saints have followed, we slip insensibly down the slope
along which the false mystics, especially the quietists, let themselves
be drawn. Corruptio optimi pessima, the worst corruption is that
If in a friendship of this kind, the supernatural element dominates, the friend­
ship may be kept through purifying it by the custody and mortification of
the senses and the heart; if, on the contrary, the sensible element predomi­
nates, every particular relation over and above necessary meetings must be
renounced for a considerable time. This is the teaching of all the masters.
15 Since ordinary gluttony leads, as St. Gregory says, to improper pleas­
antries, buffoonery, foolish talking, stupidity, and impurity (cf. St. Thomas,
Ila Ilae, q. 148, a. 5 f.), spiritual gluttony, as St. John of the Cross points out
{The Dark Night, Bk. I. chap. 6), has analogous effects in a less inferior order.
It is, he says, very frequent in beginners: “Many beginners, delighting in the
sweetness and joy of their spiritual occupations, strive after spiritual sweet­
ness rather than after pure and true devotion.” In order to procure sensible
consolations they sometimes take upon themselves, contrary to obedience,
indiscreet penances which ruin their health and wear them out. The devil
deceives them in this. They are afflicted because their director does not
approve of them, and are like children guided by their tastes and sensuality,
and not their reason; they pay little heed to their wretchedness and lose
sight of the fear of God. Consequently, they need to be weaned from these
sensible consolations to which they are too greatly attached; their sensible
appetites must be purged, purified that they may be apt for a true spiritual
life incontestably dominated by the spirit.
True devotion is the promptness of the will in the service of God (cf.
St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.8z, a. 1); sensible devotion is accidental or accessory,
useful only on condition that we do not attribute too much importance to it.
The Lord deprives us of it in order to purify us if we take too great pleasure
in it. "How,” says St. John of the Cross (ibid.), “can one fail to understand
that the least of the blessings of Eucharistic Communion is that which
touches the senses, and that the invisible grace it confers is far greater; for
God frequently withholds the sensible favors from men, that they may
fix the eyes of faith upon I limsclf.”

338

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

which attacks what is best in us, that is, the love of God, in order
to disfigure and pervert it. There is nothing higher on earth than
true mysticism, which is the eminent exercise of the loftiest virtue,
charity, and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost which accompany it; on
the other hand, there is nothing worse than false mysticism, than
the false love of God and of our neighbor, which is true only in
name and which resembles true mysticism as an imitation diamond
does a real one.1® St. John tells us: “Dearly beloved, believe not
every spirit; but try the spirits if they be of God.” 17
To avoid illusion, we need humility and purity of heart here. We
may even say that all Christ’s teaching on the mortification of sen­
suality is summed up in these words: “Blessed are the clean of heart:
for they shall see God.”
But the Gospel insists strongly on another mortification, that of
the irascible appetite, the other form of the inordinateness of the
sensibility, which is divided, as we have seen, into the concupiscible
appetite and the irascible appetite.
The Mortification

of the

Irascible Appetite

We read in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it
was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. . . . But I say to you,
that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the
judgment. ... If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and
there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee;
leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled
to thy brother; and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift. Be at
16 On this subject, St. John of the Cross (The Dark Night, Bk. I, chap. 4)
speaks of what he calls “spiritual luxury,” that is, involuntary impure move­
ments which are produced in beginners during affective prayer or the recep­
tion of the sacraments. Ordinarily these movements come from interior joy
overflowing on the sensibility which is not yet sufficiently under control and
purified. These rebellions, says the saint, also come occasionally from the
devil, who wishes to disturb and trouble the soul in order to make it abandon
spiritual exercises. He adds that fear of the return of these movements may
become their cause, and that very delicate temperaments experience them
under the influence of different emotions.
According to St. John of the Cross, these involuntary movements of sen­
suality are not sins as long as the will, far from consenting to them, resists
them. They are an imperfection of beginners. But they must not be confused
with indirectly voluntary movements of sensuality, which could come, for
example, from too great familiarity that would distort a spiritual friendship.
17 See I John 4:1.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE SENSES

339
agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way
with him.” 18
A little farther on, Christ says: “But I say to you not to resist
evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the
other. And if a man will contend with thee in judgment and take
away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him.” 19 Acting thus, the
Christian does not sharply defend his rights; he thinks more of his
duties than of his rights, and often wins over to God the soul of his
irritated brother, whom he calms by his patience and meekness. The
saints acted in this way and often won to God the violent who op­
posed them.
In the same sermon Christ tells us: “Love your enemies: do good
to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumni­
ate you. . . For if you love them that love you, what reward
shall you have? ... Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly
Father is perfect.” 20
And, to be sure, if we truly acted in this way toward our ad­
versaries (even exteriorly, where there are no superior interests to
safeguard), we would most certainly reach sanctity, that super­
natural perfection which is a participation, not alone of angelic life
but of the inner life of God, a perfection which is of the same order
as that of our Father in heaven.
To reach it we need the mortification of the irascible appetite
which makes us acquire the virtue of meekness, not the effeminacy
of temperament or the supineness of those who let everything go
because they have no energy or because they are afraid to react,
but the virtue of meekness, which is a great power to conquer our­
selves, to possess our souls, to keep them calm, in the hand of God, and
thus to do true good to those very persons who are irritated at us, to
those who are like the broken reed that must not be completely
crushed by answering them in the same irritated tone.
This mortification of the irascible appetite is so much the more
necessary as the results of anger are more serious; for it leads to
other sins, occasionally even to cursing and blasphemy.
On the other hand, meekness is the flower of charity and protects
its fruits, for it makes counsels and even reproaches acceptable. A
18 Matt. 5:21—25.
18 Ibid., 39 f.
*° Ibid., 44-48.

34o

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

reproach given with great kindness is often well received, whereas
when given with sharpness it produces no results. Thus Christ tells
us: “Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart.”
At this point it is expedient to say something about the type of
anger which is the “bitter zeal” mentioned by spiritual writers,
especially St. John of the Cross, when dealing with the defects of
beginners.21
Some, he says, become impatient as soon as they are deprived of
consolations: “For when spiritual things minister to them no more
sweetness and delight, they naturally become peevish, and in that
bitterness of spirit prove a burden to themselves in all they do: trifles
make them angry, and they are at times intolerable to all about
them. . . . Their natural temper is soured and rendered morose.
They are,” says the saint, “like a babe weaned from the breast.” 22
They also occasionally fall into spiritual sloth.
Or perhaps “they are angry with other people for their faults,
with a sort of unquiet zeal, and watch them; they are occasionally
moved to blame them, and even do so in anger, constituting them­
selves guardians of virtue. All this is contrary to spiritual meek­
ness.” And there is pride involved. They see the mote in their neigh­
bor’s eye and do not see the beam in their own.
“Others, again, seeing their own imperfections, become angry
with themselves with an impatience that is not humble. These impa­
tient people show that they expect to be saints in one day.” St. John
of the Cross says: “Many of these make many and grand resolutions,
but, being self-confident and not humble, the more they resolve,
the more they fall, and the more angry they become; not having the
21 The Dark Night, Bk. I, chap. j.
22 Ibid., St. John of the Cross observes: “When this natural feeling of dis­
pleasure is not permitted to grow, there is no sin, but only imperfection,
which will have to be purged away in the severity and aridities of the dark
night.” The Spanish text reads: “No hay culpa, sino imperfecciôn.” This
statement shows, like what was said in chapter 4 of certain involuntary
movements of sensuality, that St. John of the Cross distinguished between
imperfection and venial sin, which supposes at least negligence in repressing
the disorder of the sensible appetites. For this disorder to be a sin, it must
be voluntary, at least in an indirect manner, that is, it is at least necessary
that a person could and should have foreseen it and prevented it. St. Thomas
spoke in the same way (la Ilae, q.8o, a.3 ad jum): “The lusting of the flesh
against the spirit, when the reason actually resists it, is not a sin, but is matter
for the exercise of virtue.” Cf. ibid., Ila Ilae, q. 154, a.5; De malo, q.7, a.6
ad 6um.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE SENSES

34«
patience to wait for God’s time; this is also opposed to spiritual
meekness. There is no perfect remedy for this but in the dark
night,” or the passive purification of the senses, of which w t shall
speak farther on.
Finally, the saint remarks: “There are, however, some people who
are so patient, and who advance so slowly in their spiritual progress,
that God wishes they were not so patient.”
The active purification of the sensible appetites or the mortifica­
tion that we impose on ourselves must cause this double disorder
of sensuality and irritability to disappear; but it cannot completely
suppress it. To finish its work, there is needed a more profound
purification, that which comes directly from God Himself, when he
places the sensibility in a special and prolonged aridity in which He
communicates to us a superior light—that of the gift of knowledge,
knowledge of the vanity of all earthly things—which is not a sensi­
ble grace but an entirely spiritual grace. It is the passive purification
of the senses of which we shall speak farther on. This purification
is one of the forms of the salutary cross we must carry in order to
reach the true life of the spirit, which dominates the senses and
unites us to God.

CHAPTER XXV

The Active Purification of the
Imagination and the Memory
“In all thy works remember thy last
end, and thou shalt never sin.”
Ecclus. 7:40

HAT we have said of the active purification of the senses and
of the sensible appetites has already demonstrated that ex­
terior mortification is not the most important; yet he who neglects
it will also neglect all interior mortification and end by losing com­
pletely the spirit of abnegation.
This loss would occur especially if a person deliberately wished
no longer to trouble himself about mortification. He would thus
fall, as frequently happens, into practical naturalism substituted for
the spirit of faith, and finally he would no longer keep practically
anything of Christ’s precept: “If any man will come after Me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross.” 1
If anyone deliberately wishes to take as food all that is pleasing
and always to be at his ease, without any spirit of Christian temper­
ance, he no longer tends toward perfection and forgets the loftiness
of the supreme 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.” 2 A religious who acts in this manner loses
sight of the special obligation of the religious life.
But the exterior mortification of the body and senses would be
without great result if it were not accompanied by the interior
mortification of the imagination and the memory, of which we are

W

1 Matt. 16:24; Luke 9:23.
1 Luke 10:27.

S4»

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE IMAGINATION

343

going to speak, and by the active purification of the intellect and
will, which we shall treat of next.
The Active Purification

of the

Imagination

The imagination is a faculty that is undeniably very useful to us,
since the soul united to the body cannot think without images;3 an
image always accompanies the idea. This fact explains why Christ
spoke to the multitudes in parables, that He might lift them gently
from the sensible image to the spiritual idea of the kingdom of God;
in like manner, to make the Samaritan woman understand the value
of divine grace, He did not tell her about it in abstract terms, but
used the figure of the “fountain of water, springing up into life
everlasting.”
But, to be useful, the imagination must be directed by right rea­
son illumined by faith; otherwise it may become, as someone has
said “the mad woman in the house.” It diverts us from the considera­
tion of divine things and inclines us toward vain, inconsistent, and
fantastic, or even forbidden things. At the very least, it leads us to
daydreaming that gives rise to sentimentality, which is opposed to
true piety.
It is not always in our power, especially in periods of fatigue, to
dispel at once vain or dangerous images; but, with the help of grace,
we can will not to grant them the attention of the mind, and we
can gradually diminish their number and their attraction. Even per­
fect souls continue to suffer certain involuntary ramblings of the
imagination aroused occasionally by the devil, as St. Teresa points
out in the fifth mansion and even in the sixth.4 But, as the interior
soul advances, it gradually frees itself from these wanderings of the
fancy and ends by contemplating God and His infinite goodness,
scarcely paying any attention to the images which accompany this
act of penetrating and sweet faith. Thus we write with a pen with­
out noticing its form, and frequently we converse with a person
without paying any attention to the shape or color of his garments,
unless there is something strange or unusual about them.
Consequently the imagination ceases little by little to trouble the
exercise of the intellect, and finally is placed positively at its service
• Cf. St. Thomas, In, q.78, a.4; q.84, a. 7.
* The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 4; sixth mansion, chap. 1.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

that it may occasionally express in beautiful images those things
that pertain to the interior life, somewhat as Christ expressed them
in parables or in His conversations with Nicodemus or the Samaritan
woman. These images ought, therefore, to be unimpassioned and dis­
creet in order to draw attention not to themselves, but to the su­
perior idea which they express. Then, as a well-born person wears
a garment that is simple and in good taste without according it any
more attention than is necessary, so the thought makes use of the
figure without dwelling on it. The image is there only for the
thought, and the thought only for the expression of truth.
But such a harmony of our faculties is not realized without true
discipline of the imagination in order that it may cease to be the
mad woman in the house and may truly be placed at the service of
the intellect illumined by faith. In this way alone can we gradually
re-establish the order that existed in the state of original justice, in
which the superior part of the soul retained the direction of the
imagination and the different emotions of the sensibility as long as
it obeyed God whom it contemplated and loved above all.
According to these principles, we must brush aside at once danger­
ous images and memories, put away also useless reading and vain
reveries that would make us lose precious time and might expose
us to all sorts of illusions in which the enemy would make sport of
us in order to ruin us.
To effect this discipline, we must apply ourselves to the duty of
the moment (age quod agis) with a healthy realism, directing the
accomplishment of this duty to God, who should be loved above
all. Thus will our intellect and will gradually dominate our imagina­
tion and sensibility; and our obedient imagination will find in the
beauties of the liturgy food for our interior life.
St. John of the Cross points out that true devotion is concerned
with the spiritual and invisible object, represented by sensible im­
ages, without pausing at these, and that the nearer a soul draws to
divine union, the less it depends on images.5
However, it is important at this point to speak more particularly
of the mortification of the memory, which exposes us to live in the
unreal and which only too often recalls to us what ought to be
forgotten.
5 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Ill, chaps. 12, 34. Cf. St. Thomas, Ila
Ilae, q. 180, a. j ad 2Utn.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE IMAGINATION
The Active Purification

of the

345

Memory

St. John of the Cross discusses this subject at length.® Here we
are concerned at the same time with the sensible memory, which
exists in animals, and the intellectual memory that is common to
men and angels.7 The intellectual memory is not a faculty really
distinct from the intellect; it is the intellect in so far as it retains ideas.8
Why does our memory need to be purified? Because, since orig­
inal sin and as a result of our repeated personal sins, it is full of use­
less and sometimes dangerous memories. In particular, we often
recall the wrongs our neighbor has done us, the harsh words for
which we have not yet completely pardoned him, although he him­
self may have keenly regretted them. We remember less the favors
we have received from our neighbor than what we have had to
suffer from him, and a harsh word often makes us forget all the
kindnesses that have come to us from him in the course of several
years. But the chief defect of our memory is what Scripture calls
the proneness to forget God. Our memory, which is made to recall
to us what is most important, often forgets the one thing necessary,
which is above time and does not pass.
What St. John of the Cross says9 about the necessity of the puri­
fication of the memory may seem exaggerated at first reading; but
our impression changes if we read first of all what the Scriptures say
on the subject.
6 Ibid., Bk. Ill, chaps. 1-15. Chapter 15 sums up the preceding chapters.
7 St. Thomas, la, q.77, a.8; q.78, a.4; q.79, a.6 f.
8 St. Thomas (la, q.79, a.7) explains it well, for he says that the faculties
are specified by their formal object, and that there is no difference between
the formal object of the intellect (specified by intelligible being or the true)
and the intellectual memory which retains ideas and judgment.
In the first objection stated in this seventh article, St. Thomas notes that St.
Augustine (De Trinitate, Bk. X, chaps. 10 f.) “assigns to the soul memory,
understanding, and will” and thereby seems to distinguish between them.
Then he replies that St. Augustine, as is indicated in De Trinitate, Bk. XIV,
chap. 7, understood by memory the soul’s habit of retention; by intelligence,
the act of the intellect; and by will, the act of the will.
In other words, St. Augustine takes the descriptive point of view of experi­
mental psychology, ot of introspection (it is thus that St. John of the Cross
speaks), whereas St. Thomas, as a metaphysician, takes the ontological point
of view of the real distinction of the faculties according to their formal
object. But such a distinction docs not exist between the intellect and the
intellectual memory.
“ Loe. cit.

34<S

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Scripture often speaks of man’s proneness to forget God. Isaias
writes: “Truth hath been forgotten: and he that departed from evil,
lay open to be a prey. And the Lord saw, and it appeared evil in
His eyes, because there is no judgment.” 1011
Jeremias, speaking in the name of God, says: “Will a virgin forget
her ornament? . . . But My people hath forgotten Me days with­
out number.” 11 Recalling the mercies of God in regard to the people
of Israel saved by Him in their passage through the Red Sea, the
Psalmist writes: “They forgot His works. . . . They forgot God,
who saved them, who had done great things.” 12*Several times Scrip­
ture adds that especially in tribulation we should recall the mercies
of God and implore His aid.
If we forget God and do not appreciate His immense benefits,
those of the redemptive Incarnation, the institution of the Holy
Eucharist, daily Mass, we are guilty of ingratitude and lose the time
of the present life which ought to tend toward eternal fife.
Proneness to forget God causes our memory to be as if immersed
in time, whose relation to eternity, to the benefits and promises of
God, it no longer sees. This defect inclines our memory to see all
things horizontally on the line of time that flees, of which the present
alone is real, between the past that is gone and the future that is not
yet. Forgetfulness of God prevents us from seeing that the present
moment is also on a vertical line which attaches it to the single in­
stant of immobile eternity, and that there is a divine manner of liv­
ing the present moment in order that by merit it may enter into
eternity. Whereas forgetfulness of God leaves us in this banal and
horizontal view of things on the line of time which passes, the
contemplation of God is like a vertical view of things which pass
and of their bond with God who does not pass. To be immersed
in time, is to forget the value of time, that is to say, its relation to
eternity.
By what virtue must this great defect of forgetfulness of God be
cured? St. John of the Cross 18 answers that the memory which for­
gets God must be healed by the hope of eternal beatitude, as the
10 Isa. 59:15.
11 Jer. 2:32.
12 Ps. 105:13, 21.
18 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Ill, chaps. 6f. Hope, he says, is so
much the greater as the memory is empty of notions of created things.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE IMAGINATION

347

intellect must be purified by the progress of faith, and the will by
the progress of charity.
This doctrine is based on numerous sayings of Holy Scripture
relative to the remembrance of the benefits of God and His prom­
ises. The Psalmist often says: “In the day of my trouble I sought
God. ... I remembered the works of the Lord.” 14 “I will be
mindful of Thy justice alone.” 18 “The proud did iniquitously alto­
gether: but I declined not from Thy law. I remembered, O Lord,
Thy judgments of old: and I was comforted.” 18 We read in Ec­
clesiasticus also: “In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou
shalt never sin.” 17
Holy Scripture often says also that we must ceaselessly remember
the divine promises, which are the foundation of our hope. The
patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament lived by the promise
of the Messias who was to come; and we should live daily more
profoundly by the promise of eternal beatitude. It is one of the great
recurrent themes in Holy Scripture.
On this point, as on so many others, The Imitation of Christ pre­
serves admirably for us the spirit of St. Augustine, often using his
very words.18 This teaching helps us to understand clearly what St.
John of the Cross wrote later. The author of The Imitation often
treats of the purification of the memory in the passages where he
speaks of the forgetfulness of all creatures in order to find the Cre­
ator,19 of meditation on death,20 of anxiety to be avoided about
one’s affairs,21 of vain and worldly learning,22 of the remembrance
14 Ps. 76:3, 12.
15 Ps. 70:16.
18 Ps. 118:51 f.
17 Ecclus. 7:40.
18 The Imitation seems to have been written by a holy religious who culled
from the works of St. Augustine what is most applicable to the interior life.
It matters little whether we know the name of its author; this book some­
what resembles Melchisedech, a type of the Messias, of whom it is said that
“he had neither father nor mother” because he belonged, so to speak, to a
supratemporal order. Likewise, many sublime hymns of the liturgy bear the
name of no author; the same is true of many famous melodies. Among anony­
mous writings, some are debasing, others sublime. There are two classes of
people who hide themselves: the criminal who flees punishment, and the
saint who through humility wishes to remain unknown.
18 The Imitation of Christ, Bk. Ill, chap. 31.
20 Ibid., Bk. I, chap. 23.
21 Ibid., Bk. Ill, chap. 39.
22 Ibid., chap. 43.

348

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

of the benefits of God,23 of liberty of heart, which is acquired by
prayer rather than by reading.24
We shall quote only the most characteristic passages which show
how the purification of the memory prepares the soul for contem­
plation and union with God.
Of the contempt of everything created in order to find the Creator.

For as long as any thing holds me back, I cannot freely fly to Thee. . . .
And what can be more free than he who desires nothing upon earth?
A man ought, therefore, to soar above everything created, and per­
fectly to forsake himself, and in ecstasy of mind to stand and see that
Thou, the Creator of all, hast nothing like to Thee among creatures.
And unless a man be disengaged from all things created (for their sake
or for himself), he cannot freely attend to things divine. And this is
the reason why there are found so few contemplative persons, because
there are few that know how to sequester themselves entirely from per­
ishable creatures. . . .25
Of the thoughts of death. Oh, the dullness and the hardness of the hu­
man heart, that dwelleth only upon things present, instead rather of pro­
viding for those which are to come! Thou shouldst so order thyself in
every deed and thought as if thou wert immediately to die. . . . Now
is the time very precious, now is the acceptable time, now is the day of
salvation. . . . And man’s life passeth away suddenly like a shadow.
. . . Whilst thou hast time, amass for thyself immortal riches. Think of
nothing but thy salvation; care only for the things of God. Make to thy­
self friends now, by venerating the saints of God and imitating their
actions, that when thou shalt fail in this life they may receive thee into
everlasting dwellings. Keep thyself as a pilgrim and a stranger upon
earth, that hath no concern with the business of the world. Keep thy
heart free and lifted up to God, for thou hast not here a lasting city.28

We should not settle ourselves on earth; people do not settle
themselves on the road, or go to sleep there, but rather use it as a
means of advancing toward a given end.
That a man must not be too anxious about his affairs. Son, commit
thy cause to Me always; I will dispose of it well in its due season. Await

28 Ibid., chap. 22.
24 Ibid., chap. 26.
20 Ibid., chap. 31.
28 Ibid., Bk. I, chap. 23.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE IMAGINATION

349

My appointment, and thence thou shalt experience success there­
from. . . ,27
Against vain and worldly learning. Son, let not the beautiful and subtle
sayings of men affect thee; for the kingdom of God consisteth not in
speech, but in virtue. Attend to My words, which inflame hearts and
enlighten minds, which excite to compunction and afford manifold con­
solations. . . . When thou shalt have read and shalt know many things,
thou must always revert to the one beginning. I am He who teacheth
men knowledge, and who giveth a more clear understanding to little
ones than can be taught by man. He to whom I speak will quickly be
wise and will profit greatly in spirit. Woe to them that inquire after
many curious things of men, and are little curious of the way to serve
Me. The time will come when Christ, the Master of masters, the Lord
of Angels, shall appear to hear the lessons of all men, that is, to examine
the conscience of every one. And then will He search Jerusalem with
lamps, and the hidden things of darkness shall be brought to light, and
the argument of tongues shall be silent. I am He that in an instant elevateth the humble mind to comprehend more reasons of the eternal
truth than if anyone had studied ten years in the schools. I teach with­
out noise of words, without confusion of opinions, without ambition of
honor, without strife of arguments. I am He who teacheth to despise
earthly things, to loathe things present, to seek the things eternal, to
relish the things eternal, to fly honors, to endure scandals, to repose all
hope in Me, to desire nothing out of Me, and above all things ardently to
love Me. ... I within am the Teacher of truth, the Searcher of the
heart, the Understander of thoughts, the Mover of actions, distributing
to everyone as I judge fitting. . . .28
Of the remembrance of the manifold benefits of God. Give me to
understand Thy will, and to commemorate with great reverence and
diligent consideration all Thy benefits, as well in general as in particu­
lar, that so henceforward I may be able worthily to return thanks for
them. . . . All things that we have in soul and body . . . are Thy bene­
fits. . . . He who hath received greater things, cannot glory of his own
merit, nor extol himself above others, nor exult over the lesser. . . .
For Thou, O God, hast chosen the poor and the humble, and those that
are despised by this world, for Thy familiar friends and domestics. . . .20
Of liberty of heart. Lord, this is the work of a perfect man, never to
let the mind slacken from attending to heavenly things, and amidst many
27 Ibid., Bk. Ill, chap.
28 Ibid., chap. 43.
20 Ibid., chap. 22.

39.

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cares to pass on as it were without care; not after the manner of an
indolent person, but by a certain prerogative of a free mind, not cleav­
ing with an inordinate affection to anything created.80
Here we have truly the purification of the memory, which pre­
pares for the infused contemplation of the great mysteries of faith.
On this contemplation of the purified and liberated soul, The Imi­
tation says:

For this a great grace is required, such as may elevate the soul, and
lift it up above itself. And unless a man be elevated in spirit and freed
from attachment to all creatures and wholly united to God, whatever
he knows and whatever he has is of no great importance.81

Is this not equivalent to saying that the infused contemplation of the
mysteries of faith and the union with God resulting from it are in
the normal way of sanctity? The Imitation adds:
Whatsoever is not God is nothing, and ought to be accounted as
nothing. There is a great difference between the wisdom of an illumi­
nated and devout man, and the knowledge of a learned and studious
cleric. Far more noble is that learning which flows from above from the
divine influence than that which is laboriously acquired by the industry
of man. Many are found to desire contemplation, but they are not care­
ful to practice those things which are required for its attainment. . . .
From a pure heart proceedeth the fruit of a good life.32
This teaching on the purification of the memory was particularly
developed by St. John of the Cross, especially in relation to the
remembrance of exceptional and so to speak exterior graces on
which we must not dwell too much. The memory of them, accom­
panied by vain complacency, would turn us away from union with
God. Hope lifts us up more to the love of God than experience of
extraordinary graces. “What we have to do, then,” says the holy
doctor, “in order to live in the simple and perfect hope of God,
whenever these forms, knowledge, and distinct images occur, is,
not to fix our minds upon them but to turn immediately to God,
emptying the memory of all such matters, in loving affection, with80 Ibid., chap. 16.
81 Ibid., chap. 31.
81 Ibid.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE IMAGINATION

351

out regarding or considering them more than suffices to enable us
to understand and perform our obligations, if they have any ref­
erence thereto.” 33
Here we have truly the active purification of the memory which
is too preoccupied with useless or dangerous memories. We should
put this teaching into practice that our memory may no longer be,
so to speak, immersed in ephemeral things, that it may no longer see
them only on the horizontal line of fleeting time, but on the vertical
line which attaches them to the single instant of immobile eternity.
Thus, little by little the soul rises often to the thought of God, re­
calling the great benefits of the redemptive Incarnation and the Holy
83 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Ill, chap. 14. On this subject we must
recall what St. John of the Cross says in The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk.
Ill, chap, i passim: “When the reader observes that I teach the annihilation of
these powers in the matter of their operations, he will perhaps imagine that
I am destroying and not building up the spiritual edifice. This objection
would be valid if my purpose here were to instruct only beginners, who are
to be led onwards by means of these discursive and tangible apprehensions.
But as I am teaching how to advance by contemplation to the divine union,—
for which end all these means, and the sensible exertion of the powers of the
soul must cease and be silent, in order that God in His own way may bring
that union to pass—it is necessary to release the faculties and to empty them,
and to make them renounce their natural jurisdiction and operations, that the
supernatural may fill and enlighten them; seeing that their powers cannot
compass so great a matter, but rather, unless suppressed, prove a difficulty in
the way. . . .
“You will, perhaps, object and say: All this is very well, but the principle
involves the destruction of the natural use and course of our faculties. . . .
Surely God does not destroy nature, but rather perfects it; but its destruction
is the natural issue of this doctrine. . . .
“To this I reply: The more the memory is united to God the more it loses
all distinct knowledge, and at last all such fades utterly away when the state
of perfection is reached. In the beginning, when this is going on, great for­
getfulness ensues, for these forms and knowledge fall into oblivion, men neg­
lect themselves in outward things, forgetting to eat or drink; . . . and all
this because the memory is lost in God. But he who has attained to the
habit of union does not forget in this way that which relates to moral and
natural reason; he performs in much greater perfection all necessary and
befitting actions, though by the ministry of forms and knowledge in the
memory, supplied in a special manner by God. . . . The operations of the
memory, therefore, and of the other powers in this state are, as it were,
divine. . . . Therefore the operations of the soul in the state of union are
the operations of the Holy Ghost, and consequently, divine.” The soul is
then clearly under the regime of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, and the
special inspirations of the Holy Ghost incline it to the superior acts of the
infused virtues which rhe gifts accompany. "The actions and the prayers of
such souls,” says St. John of rhe Cross (ibid.), “always attain their end.”

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Eucharist. Often, on the contrary, we enter a church to ask for
some urgent grace, and we forget to thank God for the measureless
blessing of the Eucharist. Its institution demands a special thanks­
giving; this sacrament reminds us of the promises of eternal life.

CHAPTER XXVI

The Active Purification of the Intellect
“If thy eye be single, thy whole
body shall be lightsome.”
Matt. 6:22

HE superior faculties of man, which he has in common with the
angels, are the intellect and will. They, too, need to be purified
and disciplined, for they suffer from a disorder which is the conse­
quence of original sin and of our personal sins.
The first gaze of the intellect of the baptized infant is simple;
the same is true of a soul that begins to respond generously to a
higher vocation. But it may happen that in time this gaze loses its
simplicity through the complexity of the things it examines with a
heart that is more or less pure. Then a serious purification is needed
in order to recover the first simplicity of the intellect by a profound
view which dominates the details and inevitable griefs, in order to
embrace life as a whole. Happy the old people who after long
experience and many trials reach this superior simplicity of true
wisdom, which they had glimpsed from a distance in their child­
hood! With this meaning it can be said that a beautiful life is a
thought of youth realized in maturity.
We shall discuss here: (1) the necessity of the active purification
of the intellect because of the defects found in it; (2) the active
principle of this purification and what must be put into practice on
this point.

T

The Necessity

This Purification: the Defects
of Our Intellect

of

Since rhe commission of original sin, man’s intellect is wounded.
This wound is called that of ignorance;1 because of it, the intellect,
1 Cf. St. Thomas, la I lac, q.8y, a. 3.
in

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instead of inclining spontaneously toward the true, and especially
toward supreme Truth, has difficulty in attaining it and tends to
become absorbed in the consideration of earthly things without ris­
ing to their cause. It is inclined with curiosity toward ephemeral
things and, on the other hand, it is negligent and slothful in the
search for our true last end and the means leading to it. Consequently
the intellect easily falls into error, lets itself be darkened by the
prejudices which come from inordinate passions. It may finally
reach the state that is called spiritual blindness.
Doubtless, original sin did not render our intellect incapable of
knowing the truth, as the first Protestants and the Jansenists held. By
patient effort, it can even acquire, without the help of revelation,
the knowledge of a certain number of fundamental truths of the
natural order, such as the existence of God, Author of the natural
moral law. But, as the Council of the Vatican declares,2 in the terms
St. Thomas used,3 few men are capable of this labor, and they reach
this result only after a considerable length of time, without succeed­
ing in freeing themselves from all error.
It is also true that this wound of ignorance, the consequence of
original sin, is in the process of healing from the time of baptism,
which regenerates us by giving us sanctifying grace. This wound
may, however, reopen by reason of our personal sins, especially by
reason of curiosity and intellectual pride, of which we must speak
here.
Curiosity is a defect of our mind, says St. Thomas,4 which inclines
us with eagerness and precipitation toward the consideration and
study of less useful subjects, making us neglect the things of God
and of our salvation. This curiosity, says the holy doctor,5 is born
of spiritual sloth in respect to divine things, and makes us lose
precious time. Whereas people who have little learning but are
nourished with the Gospel possess great rectitude of judgment, there
are others who, far from nourishing themselves profoundly with the
great Christian truths, spend a great part of their time carefully stor­
ing up useless, or at least only slightly useful, knowledge which
2Denzinger, no. 1786. It is said here that it is thanks to divine revelation
that the natural truths of religion can be known by all, quickly, with a firm
certitude, and without any admixture of errors.
3 See la, q. 1, a. 1.
4 Cf. Ha Ilae, q. 167, a. 1.
6 Ibid., q. 35, a.4 ad 311m.

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355

does not at all form the judgment. They are afflicted with almost a
mania for collecting. Theirs is an accumulation of knowledge me­
chanically arranged and unorganized, somewhat as if it were in
a dictionary. This type of work, instead of training the mind,
smothers it, as too much wood smothers a fire. Under this jumble of
accumulated knowledge, they can no longer see the light of the
first principles, which alone could bring order out of all this ma­
terial and lift up their souls even to God, the Beginning and End
of all things.®
This heavy and stupid intellectual curiosity, as St. John of the
Cross says, is in this sense the inverse of contemplation, which judges
all things by the supreme cause. Such curiosity could lead to spiritual
folly of which St. Paul often speaks,6
7 to the folly which judges all,
even the highest things, by what is lowest and at times most con­
temptible, by the satisfactions of our concupiscence or of our pride.
Spiritual pride is a more serious disorder than curiosity. It gives
us such confidence in our reason and judgment that we are not very
willing to consult others, especially our superiors, or to enlighten
ourselves by the attentive and benevolent examination of reasons
or facts which may be urged against us. This state of mind leads
to manifest imprudent acts that will have to be painfully expiated. It
leads also to asperity in discussions, to stubbornness in judgment, to
6 St. Thomas, In Epist. I Cor. 8:1, where he discusses the words, “Knowl­
edge puffeth up,” writes: “Here the Apostle does not approve of much
knowledge, if the mode of knowing is ignored. Moreover, the mode of
knowing is that you should know in what order, with what eagerness, to
what end each thing must be known: in what order, that you should know
first that which is more proper for salvation; with what eagerness, that you
should seek with greater ardor that which is more efficacious to inflame love;
to what end, that you should not wish to know anything for vainglory and
curiosity, but for your own and your neighbor’s edification.”
See also Ila Ilae, q. 166, On the Virtue of Studiousness. St. Thomas discusses
here the virtue of studiousness which represses both vain curiosity and intel­
lectual sloth in order to lead people to the study of what should be studied,
in the manner in which this should be done, when it should be done, and for
a moral and supernatural end.
Cf. also, Ila Ilae, q. 188, a.5 ad jum, On the Studies Which Are Suitable for
Religious. They should study sacred science: “It becomes not religious, whose
whole life is devoted to the service of God, to seek for other learning, except
so far as it is referred to the sacred doctrine.”
7 Cf. I Cor. 3:19: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” Cf.
St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.46, On Folly. The saint shows that it is opposed to
the gift of wisdom, that it is a sin, and that it is born especially of lust.

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disparagement which excludes in a cutting tone all that does not fit
in with our manner of seeing things. This pride may lead a person
to refuse to others the liberty he claims for his own opinions, and
also to submit only very imperfectly to the directions of the supreme
Shepherd, and even to attenuate and minimize dogmas under the
pretext of explaining them better than has been done hitherto.8
These defects, especially pride, may finally lead us to spiritual
blindness, which is the direct opposite of the contemplation of di­
vine things. It is necessary to insist on this point, as St. Thomas did,9
after he treated of the gift of understanding.
Holy Scripture often speaks of this spiritual blindness. Christ was
saddened and angered by the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees,1011
and finally said to them: “Woe to you blind guides. . . . You tithe
mint and anise and cummin, and have left the weightier things
of the law: judgment and mercy and faith. . . . Blind guides, who
strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.” 11
In St. John’s Gospel12 we read that this blindness is a punishment
of God, who withdraws light from such as do not wish to receive it.13
There are sinners who, by reason of repeated sins, no longer recog­
nize the signified will of God manifested in a striking manner; they
no longer understand that the evils which befall them are punish­
ments of God, and they do not turn to Him. By natural laws alone,
they explain these misfortunes as things that afflict a number of
people at the moment. They see in them only the result of certain
economic factors, such as the development of machinery and over­
production which results from it. They no longer take into account
8 Cf. Ila Ilae, q. 138, where St. Thomas speaks of the dangers of obstinacy
in a person’s own judgment, when he is no longer willing to listen to author­
ized counsels given to him.
Pertinacity is found sometimes in certain spiritual people who go astray.
They have zeal, but it is a bitter zeal; they are no longer willing to listen to
the wise advice given them, and they wish to impose their judgment on every­
one as if they alone had the Holy Ghost. They are inflated with spiritual
pride, they fail in charity under the pretext of reforming everything about
them; they may become the enemies of peace and provoke profound discord.
St. John of the Cross, deploring these errors, used to say: “Where there is
not enough love, put love there, and you will reap love.”
0 Cf. Ila Ilae, q. 15.
10 Mark 3:5.
11 Matt. 23:16, 23 f.
12 John 12:40.
18 Rom. h:8.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE INTELLECT

357

that these disorders have above all a moral cause and come from
the fact that many men place their last end where it is not; not in
God who would unite us, but in material goods which divide us,
because they cannot belong simultaneously and integrally to a num­
ber.
Spiritual blindness leads the sinner to prefer in everything goods
that are temporal rather than eternal goods. It prevents him from
hearing the voice of God, which the Church recalls in the liturgy
for Advent and for Lent: “Be converted to Me with all your heart.
. . . Turn to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful,
patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil.” 14
Spiritual blindness is a punishment of God which takes away the
divine light because of repeated sins. But there is also a sin by which
we voluntarily turn away from the consideration of divine truth
by preferring to it the knowledge of that which satisfies our con­
cupiscence of our pride.15
We may say of this sin what St. Thomas says of spiritual folly
{stultitia'), that it is opposed to the precepts of the contemplation of
truth.16 It hinders us from seeing the proximity of death and the judg­
ment.17 It takes all penetration away from us and leaves us in a state of
spiritual dullness, which is like the loss of all higher intelligence.18
Then we no longer see the grandeur of the supreme precept of the
love of God and of our neighbor, or the value of our Savior’s blood
shed for us, or the infinite value of the Mass, which substantially per­
petuates on the altar the sacrifice of the cross.
Such a condition is a chastisement, and no heed is paid to it. As
St. Augustine says: “If, when a thief stole money, he lost an eye,
everybody would say that it was a punishment of God; you have
lost the eye of your mind and you think that God has not punished
you.” 18 '
It is surprising at times to find among Christians men who have
great literary, artistic, or scientific culture, but who have merely
a rudimentary and superficial knowledge of the truths of religion, a
14 Joel 2:12 f.
15 Cf. St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q. 15, a. 1.
’•Cf. ibid., q.46, a.2 ad jum: “Folly is opposed to the precepts, which are
given by the contemplation of truth.”
” The Imitation, Bk. 1, chap. 23.
*· Cf. St. Thomas, Ila II ac, q. 15, a. 3.
l® In Pt. ^7.

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knowledge mingled with many prejudices and errors. It is a surpris­
ing disproportion, which makes them, as it were, spiritual dwarfs.
Some others, better instructed in matters of faith, the history of
the Church, and its laws, have a tendency that is, so to speak, anticontemplative, permitting them to see the life of the Church only
from without, as if they were looking at the exterior of the windows
of a cathedral, instead of seeing them from within under the soft
light which should illumine them.
This dullness of mind especially hinders the hearing of the great
preaching of God, who speaks in His own way through great con­
temporary events. At the present time, there are in the world two
radically contradictory universal tendencies, over and above the
nationalism of different groups more or less opposed to one an­
other. On the one hand, we find the universalism of the reign of
Christ who wishes to draw the souls of men of all nations to God,
supreme Truth and Life; on the other hand, we see false universalism,
which is called communism, which draws souls in an inverse sense
toward materialism, sensualism, and pride, in such a manner that the
parable of the prodigal son is verified not only for individuals, but
for whole nations, such as Russia.
The great problem of today is found in the conflict between the
universalism of the reign of Christ and of the Church, which liberates
souls, and communism, which leads them to materialist abjection and
to the oppression of the weak under the pride of demagogues and
leaders.20
20 Jacques Maritain in his book, Le Docteur Angélique ( 1929, p. in), says:
“How can we reconcile two apparently contradictory facts: the fact that
modern history seems to enter on a new Middle Age, in which the unity
and universality of Christian culture will be found again and extended this
time to the entire universe, and the fact that the general trend of modern
civilization seems to draw it toward the universalism of Antichrist and his
rod of iron rather than toward the universalism of Christ and His liberating
law, and in any event to forbid the hope of the unification of the world in
one universal Christian ‘empire’?
“My answer is as follows: I think that two immanent movements cross at
every point in the world’s history and affect each of its momentary com­
plexes. One of these movements draws on high everything in the world
which shares in the divine life of the Church, which is in the world but not
of the world, and follows the attraction of Christ, the head of the human race.
“The other movement draws downward everything in the world which
belongs to the prince of this world, the head of all the wicked. While under­
going these two internal movements, history advances in time. Thus human
affairs arc subjected to an ever stronger distention until the material finally

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE INTELLECT

359

In this conflict we must turn to prayer and penance, no less than
to study and apostolic work. This is what the Blessed Virgin de­
clared at Lourdes: “Pray and do penance.”
Such are the defects of the mind which exist in us in various de­
grees: curiosity, rash haste to learn what is useless, indifference,
negligence in regard to the one thing necessary (i.e., God and our
salvation); spiritual pride, blindness, and spiritual folly, which ends
by judging everything by what is lowest and most petty, whereas
wisdom judges everything by the supreme cause and the last end.
How remedy this disorder, from which we all suffer in a greater
or lesser degree?
The Principle of the Active Purification of the
Intellect

This purification must be made by the progress of the virtue of
faith, as the purification of the memory, immersed in time, is made
by the growth of the hope of eternal beatitude.
St. Thomas tells us: “To detach itself from transient things and
to tend toward God, the rational creature must first of all have faith
in God: faith is the first principle of the purification of the heart
in order to free us from error, and faith quickened by charity per­
fects this purification.” 21 The intellect, which directs the will, must
itself be thus purified;22 otherwise the root of the will would be
corrupted or deflected, mingled with error.
This purification is accomplished by judging more and more ac­
cording to the spirit of faith. As Cajetan 23 remarks, faith leads us
snaps. Thus the cockle grows with the wheat; the capital of sin grows
throughout the course of history and the capital of grace also increases and
superabounds. . . . Christian heroism will one day become the only solution
for the problems of life. Then as God proportions His graces to needs, and
never tempts anyone beyond his strength, a flowering of sanctity will with­
out doubt be seen to coincide with the worst state of human history.” The
Gospel of St. Matthew (24:24) declares: “There shall arise false Christs and
false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to de­
ceive (if possible) even the elect”; and in the Apocalypse (chap. 12) we are
told that the elect will be preserved during the great tribulation. Cf. E. B.
Allo, O.P., L'Apocalypse de saint Jean (Paris, 1921), pp. 145 ff. The greatest
effort of evil seems to have to coincide with the last triumph of Christ, as
happened during His life on earth.
Sec Ila Ilae, q.7, a. 2.
22 Ibid., ad iuiii.
22 hi Ham Ilae, q.45, a. 2, no. 3.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

first of all to adhere to revealed truths because of the authority of
God who reveals them; then it leads us to consider and to judge all
things according to these truths. This is true even of him who, in
the state of mortal sin, has kept faith by which he is preserved from
graver sins, such as theft and murder; and by reason of faith he
judges that he must go to Mass and not refuse to listen to the word
of God. These various judgments may be made without the gifts
of the Holy Ghost, which are not in a man in mortal sin; but with­
out the gifts these judgments do not have all the perfection they
should. In the just man they receive this perfection from the gifts;
then they are produced in a different manner, under the inspiration
of the Holy Ghost. Thus the gift of wisdom leads us to judge ac­
cording to a certain connaturality or sympathy with divine things.
This is the opinion of Cajetan, and many theologians adopt almost
the same terms.
Not only must we adhere firmly to the truths of faith, but ac­
cording to them we must judge what we are to think, say, do, or
avoid in life. Then we judge according to the spirit of faith, and
not according to the spirit of nature or practical naturalism.
St. John of the Cross tells us that obscure faith enlightens us.24 It is
obscure because it makes us adhere to mysteries we do not see; but
these mysteries, which are those of the inner life of God, greatly
illumine our intellect, since they do not cease to express to us the
goodness of God, who created us, raised us to the life of grace, sent
His only Son to redeem us, His Son who gives Himself to us in the
Eucharist in order to lead us to eternal life.
Faith is obscure, but it illumines our intellect in our journey
toward eternity. It is very superior to the senses and to reason; it is
the proximate means of union with God, whom it makes us know
infallibly and supernaturally in obscurity.25
Faith is very superior to all the sensible and intellectual evidences
that can be had on earth. What is evident for our senses, is sensible,
not spiritual; therefore it is not God Himself. What is evident for
our reason, is what is proportioned to it; at times this is a truth
about God, His existence, for example, but it is not the inner life
21 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. n; Faith is a dark night for
the soul.
25 Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 3: The soul must remain in the obscurity of faith which
will guide it to the highest contemplation. Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 9: “Faith is the
sole proximate and proportionate means of the soul’s union with God.”

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE INTELLECT

361

of God, which surpasses our reason and even the natural powers of
the angelic intellect.
To see the intimate life of God, a person would have to die and
receive the beatific vision. Now, faith makes us attain here on earth
this inner life of God in the penumbra, in obscurity. Consequently
a man who would prefer visions to infused faith would deceive him­
self, even if these visions were of divine origin, for he would prefer
what is superficial and exterior, what is accessible to our faculties,
to what surpasses them. He would prefer the figures to the divine
reality. He would lose the meaning of the mystery; he would for­
sake true contemplation by withdrawing from this divine obscurity.20
Obscure faith enlightens us somewhat like the night, which,
though surrounding us with shadows, allows us to see the stars, and
by them the depths of the firmament. There is here a mingling of
light and shade which is extremely beautiful. That we may see the
stars, the sun must hide, night must begin. Amazingly, in the ob­
scurity of night we see to a far greater distance than in the day; we
see even the distant stars, which reveal to us the immense expanse of
the heavens.
In the same way, the senses and reason allow us to see only what
belongs to the natural order, only what is within their reach, whereas
faith, although obscure, opens up to us the supernatural world and
its infinite depths, the kingdom of God, His inner life, which we
shall see unveiled and clearly in eternity.
Sr. John of the Cross reiterates this teaching, which is like a com­
mentary on the definition of faith given by St. Paul,27 a definition
which St. Thomas sums up by saying: “Faith is a habit of the mind
whereby eternal life is begun in us, making the intellect assent to
what is non-apparent,” since it makes us adhere to the mystery of
the inner life of God which we shall see in eternity.28
It follows that, to live by faith, we should consider everything
under its light: God, first of all, then ourselves, others, friends or
strangers, and all agreeable or painful events. We should see them
not only from the sensible, but also from the rational point of view,
20 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 22; chaps. 10,11, 16.
27 Heb. 11 : i : “Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence
of things that appear not.” “Faith gives us the substance, or rather is itself
that of which the reality does not yet appear,” says St. John Chrysostom.
28 See Ha Ilae, η.φ,β.ι; De veritate, q. 14, a.2: “Faith is in us a certain begin­
ning of eternal life."

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from the supernatural point of view of faith, which would be equiva­
lent to considering all things, so to speak, with the eye of God, or
somewhat as God sees them.29 Whence the manifest necessity of
purifying our mind of curiosity, by no longer preferring the study
of the secondary, of the subordinate, and sometimes of what is use­
less to the attentive meditation of the one thing necessary, to the
reading of the Gospel and of all that can truly nourish the soul.30
This necessity of the supernatural point of view shows the im­
portance of spiritual reading together with study and distinct
from it.
Consequently it is of prime importance not to devour books in
order to appear well informed and to be able to talk about them,
but to read what is suitable to the life of the soul, in a spirit of hu­
mility in order to be penetrated with it, to put it into practice, and
to do real good to others.31 We may recall with profit what St. Paul
says (Rom. 12:3): “Fori say, by the grace that is given me, to all that
are among you, not to be more wise than it behooveth to be wise,
but to be wise unto sobriety.” 32
20 Cf. St. Thomas, In Boetium de Trinitate, q. j, a. 1 ad 4.
30 We read in Bk. I, chap. 5 of The Imitation: “All holy Scripture should
be read in the spirit in which it was written. . . . Inquire not who may have
said a thing, but consider what is said. Men pass away, but the truth of the
Lord abideth forever. God speaketh to us in divers ways, without respect of
persons. Our curiosity is often a hindrance to us in reading the Scriptures,
when we wish to understand and to discuss where we ought to pass on in
simplicity. If thou wilt derive profit, read with humility, with simplicity, and
with faith; and never wish to have the name of learning. Be fond of inquiring
and listen in silence to the words of the saints; and let not the parables of
the ancients be displeasing to thee, for they are not uttered without a cause.”
31 Cf. Ila Ilae, q. 167, a. 1. See also ibid., q. 166, on the moral virtue of studi­
ousness or application to study in order to correct the contrary and at times
successive deviations of curiosity and intellectual sloth. Once curiosity is
satisfied, it often gives place to intellectual sloth in a person who has not the
virtue of studiousness, which orders study not only to our personal satisfac­
tion, but to God and to the good of souls.
32 St. Thomas, In Epist. I Cor. 8:1, explains the words of St. Paul, “Knowl­
edge puffeth up; but charity edifieth,” by saying: “Knowledge, if alone and
without charity, puffs one up with pride. Add charity to knowledge, then
knowledge will be useful.” Then he recalls what St. Bernard says: “There
are those who wish to know for the purpose of knowing a great deal, and
this is curiosity; some that they may know, and this is vanity; some that they
may sell their knowledge, and this is base gain; some that they may be edified,
and this is prudence; some that they may edify, and this is charity.”

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363

Therefore we must avoid rash haste in judgment, for this haste is
the source of many errors.33 We must even more avoid tenacity 34
in our own judgment, and correct this defect by docility to the
directions of the Church, to those of our spiritual director, and also
to the Holy Spirit, who wishes to be our interior Master that He may
make us live increasingly the life of faith and give us in it a foretaste
of the life of heaven.
If we followed this rule, the consideration of details would np
longer make us lose sight of the whole, as so often happens, just
as trees seen too near hinder one from seeing the forest. Those who
say that the problem of evil cannot be solved and find in it an occa­
sion of sin, are absorbed in the woeful verification of certain painful
details and lose the general view of the providential plan in which
everything is ordained to the good of those who love the Lord.
The excessively meticulous study of details makes us depreciate
the first global view of things; when the latter is pure, however, it
is already elevated and salutary. Thus when a Christian child sees
the starry sky, he finds in it a splendid sign of the infinite grandeur
of God. Later on, if he becomes absorbed in the scientific study of
the different constellations, he may forget the view of the whole,
to which the intellect must finally return the better to comprehend
its loftiness and profundity. It has been said that if a little learning
withdraws a person from religion, great learning brings him back
to it.35
83 Cf. Ila Ilae, q. 53, a. 3.
34 Ibid., q. 138.
35 Much could be said about the first intellectual gaze and its profound
view, whether in the natural order or in the order of supernatural faith. The
first gaze may lead into error if its object is something accidental and not
the proper object of the intellectual faculty; it is quite otherwise if the object
corresponds to the nature of the intellect. There are two simple beings: the
child who does not yet know evil; and the sanctified old man who has for­
gotten it by dint of conquering it. Therefore the old man loves the child and
is loved by it.
The intelligible being of sensible things and truth in general are the object
of the first natural gaze of the human intellect; without this gaze, all knowl­
edge and all philosophy would be impossible. Metaphysics is the profound
view of intelligible being which permits man to rise in an absolutely certain
manner to God, first Being, supreme Cause, and last End. Likewise all ethics
proceed from this first gaze: “We must do good and avoid evil.”
The first gaze in the order of supernatural faith is that which we see in the
patriarchs of the Old Testament; they believe that God is and that He is

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Likewise the great supernatural facts which are produced by
God to enlighten the simple and to save them, such as the fact of
Lourdes, are rather easily grasped by the clean of heart. They
quickly see the supernatural origin, meaning, and import of these
facts. If this simple, and at the same time superior, point of view is
forgotten because of absorption in the study of details considered
from the material point of view, only an undecipherable enigma
may be found in it, and at times only something impossible to see
through. Then, while learned men discourse endlessly without being
able to reach a conclusion, God does His work in the clean of heart.
Finally, more profound learning, accompanied by humility, leads
back to the original view of the whole in order to confirm it, and
to recognize the action of God and the profound good done to souls.
Thus, after a life consecrated to the study of philosophy and the­
ology, the soul delights in returning to the simplicity of faith of the
patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the words of the psalms,
to the parables of the Gospel. It is the purification of the intellect
which prepares for contemplation.
the supreme rewarder (Heb. 11:6), and in this case God is considered not
only as the Author of nature, but as the Author of salvation.
Likewise the first supernatural gaze, at the time of the coming of our
Savior, after the Sermon on the Mount, is expressed in these words of St. Mat­
thew (7:28 f.): “When Jesus had fully ended these words, the people were
in admiration at His doctrine. For He was teaching them as one having power,
and not as the scribes and Pharisees,” who recapitulated the texts. The first
gaze is again that of a child at Christmas before the Savior’s crib. The pro­
found view is that of a contemplative at the end of his life, that of a St. John,
a St. Augustine, a St. Thomas, a St. John of the Cross.
In the case of a religious also, the first simple and penetrating gaze is that
which he has when he hears the call of God in his youth; this simple gaze
is often more elevated than many of the complications that will come later.
Blessed are they who find it again later on in a profound view, the view of
wisdom on all of life.

CHAPTER XXVII

The Active Purification of the Will
“For Thou art God my strength.”
Ps. 42:2

E HAVE seen that the intellect must be purified not only
from error, ignorance, willfulness, and spiritual blindness,
but also from curiosity, which gives too much importance to what
is secondary and not enough to what is primary, when the work of
the intellect should be directed to God, our last end, and to the
good of souls. We must now speak of the purification and training
of the will.
The will or rational appetite, which is very superior to the sensi­
tive appetite, is a faculty which tends toward the good known
through the intellect; it has for its object the universal good, which
permits it to rise to the love of God, the sovereign Good.1
Whereas each of the other faculties is inclined to its own good—
the sight to what is visible, the intellect to the intelligible true—the
will is inclined to the good of the entire man. This explains why it
applies the other faculties to the exercise of their acts, for example,
the intellect to the search for the true. This is also why, if the will is
fundamentally upright, a man is good; he is not only a good mathe­
matician or a good physician, he is a man of good or, as the Gospel
says, “a man of good will.” On the contrary, if the will has not the
desired rectitude, if it is not inclined toward the true good of the en­
tire man, he may be a good logician, a good painter, or a good musi­
cian, but he is not a man of good; he is an egoist, whose virtues, more
apparent than real, are inspired by pride, ambition, or the fear of
difficulties and vexations.
Thus free will gives not only to its own (or elicited) acts, but also

W

1 Cf. St. Thomas, la, q.8o, a. 1 f.
0J

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

to the acts of the other faculties which it commands (commanded
acts), their liberty and their merit or demerit. Therefore, to regu­
late the will is to regulate the entire man. But in the will there are
defects, deviations, which are the result of original sin and of our
personal sins.
The Principal Defect

of the

Will: Self-Love

The strength of the will to move itself and to incline the other
faculties to act comes from its docility to God, from its conformity
to the divine will, because then, by grace, the divine strength passes
into it. This is the great principle dominating this whole question.
All the meaning and the bearing of this principle are seen when
we recall that, in the state of original justice, as long as the will was
subject to God through love and obedience, it had the strength to
command the passions completely and to reject every disorder of the
sensible faculties; the passions were then totally subjected to the will
vivified by charity.2
Since original sin, we are born without sanctifying grace and
charity, with our wills turned away from God, the supernatural
last end, and weak for the accomplishment of our duties even
in the natural order.3
Without falling into the exaggeration of the first Protestants and
the Jansenists, we must say that we are born with a will inclined to
egoism, to inordinate self-love. This is called the wound of malice;4
it often manifests itself by a gross egoism, against which one should
guard, an egoism that mingles in all man’s acts. It follows that the
will, which has become weak by reason of its lack of docility to God,
no longer has absolute power over the sensible faculties, but only a
sort of moral power or persuasion to lead them to subject them­
selves.5 Doubtless after baptism, which regenerated us by giving
2 Ibid., q.95, a. 2.
8 Cf. la Ilae, q. 109, a. 3 f. The will, which is directly turned away from
the supernatural last end, is indirectly turned away from the natural last end,
for every sin against the supernatural law is indirectly opposed to the natural
law, which obliges us to obey God, whatever He may command.
4 Ibid., q.85, a.3: “In so far as the will is deprived of its order to the good,
there is the wound of malice.”
5 ibid., q. 17, a. 7: “Reason governs the irascible and concupiscible not by a
despotic supremacy, which is that of a master over his slave; but by a politic
and royal supremacy, whereby the free arc governed, who arc not wholly
subject to command.”

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE WILL

367

us sanctifying grace and charity, this wound, like the others, is in
the process of healing; but it also reopens by reason of our personal
sins.
The principal defect of the will is the lack of rectitude, called
self-love or inordinate love of self, which forgets the love due to
God and that which we should have for our neighbor. Self-love or
egoism is manifestly the source of all sins.® From it are born “the
concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the
pride of life.” 1 The sensible appetites, which are no longer firmly
led, incline man to thoughtlessness, feverish eagerness, fruitless agi­
tation, selfish search for all that pleases, flight from all that is pain­
ful, nonchalance, discouragement, in which he sees that his will has
lost its strength, and to all sorts of bad examples.8
It is clear that self-will, which is defined as that which is not con­
formed to the will of God, is the source of every sin. Self-will is
extremely dangerous because it can corrupt everything; even what
is best in one may become evil when self-will enters in, for it takes
itself as its end, instead of subordinating itself to God. If the Lord
perceives this will in a fast or a sacrifice, He rejects them because
He sees therein a divine work accomplished through pride in order
to gain approbation. Now, self-will is born of self-love or egoism;
it is strong self-love that has become imperious.
On the subject of self-love or egoism, we may fall into two op­
posing errors: utilitarianism and quietism. Theoretical or practical
utilitarianism does not see an evil in egoism, but a power that should
be moderated. This doctrine, which reduces virtue to a business
transaction, suppresses all morality; it reduces praiseworthy good
to the useful and the delectable. This good, the object of virtue and
duty, ought to be loved for itself and more than ourselves, independ­
ently of the advantages or the pleasure that may result therefrom:
“Do what you ought, come what may.” Practical utilitarianism
6 Ibid., q.77, a. 4: “Inordinate love of self is the cause of every sin.”
7 Ibid., a. 5.
* These are like diseases of the will, but not diseases properly so called, as
certain materialist doctors believe when they talk about abulia. The will is
a faculty of the spiritual or immaterial order; it is not the seat of diseases like
those which effect our organism, for example, the nervous centers. But cer­
tain diseases of these centers render the exercise of the will much more diffi­
cult, just as others suppress the condition required by the imagination for the
exercise of reason and bring in their wake mental confusion or “fixed ideas”
and madness.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

leads to pride, which inclines a person to make himself the center
of all who live about him; it is the manifest or hidden pride of the
desire to dominate.
On the other hand, quietism 9 condemned all interested love, even
that of our eternal reward, as if there were a disorder in Christian
hope, from the fact that it is less perfect than charity.10 Under the
pretext of absolute disinterestedness, many quietists fell into spirit­
ual sloth, which is indifferent to sanctification and salvation.11
The thought of salvation and eternal beatitude is evidently very
useful that we may strive to put to death inordinate love of self,
which is the principal defect of our will. It is of this love that St.
Augustine wrote: “Two loves have built two cities: the love of
self even to the despising of God, the city of the earth; the love of
God even to the despising of self, the city of God. One glorifies
8 Cf. Denzinger, no. 1226: “The soul ought not to think of a reward, of
paradise, or of hell, or of death, or of eternity, etc. . . .” Cf. ibid., nos. 1232,

10 This teaching constituted a poor understanding of the act of Christian
hope; by it we do not subordinate God to ourselves, but we desire God for
ourselves by subordinating ourselves to Him, for He is the ultimate End
of the act of hope. As Cajetan clearly points out (In Ham Ilae, q. 17, a. 5, no.
6): “I desire God for myself (finaliter), for God’s sake, and not for my own
sake; whereas when it is a question of things inferior to me, such as a fruit,
I desire them for my own and for myself, I subordinate them to myself as
to an end. On the contrary, by the act of hope I already subordinate myself
to God (the last End of this act). This subordination becomes more perfect
through charity, which makes me efficaciously love God formally for Him­
self and more than myself, by making me will His glory and the extension
of His kingdom.”
11 St. Thomas (Ila line, q. 19, a.6) clearly distinguishes between self-love
which is blamable and that which is not. “Self-love,” he says, “may stand in a
threefold relationship to charity. In one way, it is contrary to charity, when
a man places his end in the love of his own good (preferred to God). In
another way, it is included in charity, when a man loves himself for the sake
of God and in God (in order to glorify God here on earth and in eternity).
In a third way, it is indeed distinct from charity, but is not contrary thereto,
as when a man loves himself from the point of view of his own good, yet
not so as to place his end in this his own good”: for example, if we love our­
selves naturally without thereby turning away from God or disobeying His
law.
It must be remembered that, according to St. Thomas (la, q.6o, a.5), every
creature is naturally inclined to love more than himself the Author of his
nature (i.e., God), who keeps it in existence, just as in our organism the hand
spontaneously exposes itself for the sake of the whole. But this natural incli­
nation to love God more than self is attenuated in man by original sin and by
his personal sins.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE WILL

369

itself in self, and the other in the Lord. One seeks its glory from men,
the other places its dearest glory in God, the witness of its con­
science. The one in the pride of its glory walks with head high;
the other says to its God: ‘Thou art my glory, and it is Thou who
dost lift up my head.’ The former in its victories lets itself be con­
quered by its passion to dominate; the latter shows us its citizens
united in charity, mutual servants, tutelary governors, obedient
subjects. The former loves its own strength in its princes; the
latter says to God: ‘Lord, Thou art my only strength, I shall love
Thee.’ ” 12 One would never weary of quoting St. Augustine.
A great purification and Christian training of the will are neces­
sary to obliterate all inordinate self-love; this result is produced in
us by the progress of charity, which “unites man to God so that
he lives not for himself, but for God.” 13
Egoism is like a cancer of the will, which ravages it more and
more, whereas sanctifying grace should be in it like a strong root
which buries itself ever deeper in the soil in order to draw therefrom
nourishing secretions and transform them into fruitful sap. We
should think of the value of habitual grace, called the “grace of the
virtues and the gifts,” because of various proximate principles of
meritorious acts springing from it. We would do well to consider
that our will should possess a high degree of the virtues of justice,
penance, religion, hope, and charity in order that its powers may be
vastly increased.
The author of The Imitation thus describes inordinate self-love
when he has Christ say: “My son, thou must give all for all, and be
nothing of thy own. Know that the love of thyself is more hurtful
to thee than anything of the world. ... If thy love be pure, simple,
12 De civitate Dei, Bk. XIV, chap. 28. Pages like those we have quoted make
one think that in St. Augustine infused contemplation often directed from on
high the reasoning necessary for the written or spoken exposition of divine
truth.
13 St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q. 17, a.6 ad jum. Cf. ibid., q.83, a.9: “Now our end
is God toward whom our affections tend in two ways: first, by our willing
the glory of God, secondly, by our willing to enjoy His glory. The first
belongs to the love whereby we love God in Himself; the second belongs to
the love whereby we love ourselves in God. Wherefore the first petition is
expressed thus: Hallowed be Thy name; and the second thus: Thy kingdom
come, by which we ask to come to the glory of His kingdom.” And by an act
of hope we can desire eternal life as our supreme good; and by an act of
charity, desire it in order to glorify God eternally. Cf. Cajetan, In Ham Ilae,
q.23, a. 1, no. 2.

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and well ordered, thou shalt not be in captivity to anything. Covet
not that which thou mayest not have. Seek not to have that which
may embarrass thee and deprive thee of thy inward liberty. It is won­
derful that thou wilt not, from the very bottom of thy heart, commit
thyself wholly to Me, with all things that thou canst desire or have.
Why dost thou pine away with vain grief? Why art thou so worn
with superfluous cares? Be resigned to My good pleasure, and thou
shalt suffer no loss. If thou seekest this or that, or wouldst be here
or there for thy own interests’ sake, and the more to indulge thy
own will, thou wilt never be at rest or free from solicitude; for in
everything there will be found some defect, and in every place there
will be someone that will cross thee.” 14
The same book of The Imitation describes well the various move­
ments of wounded nature, which remains weakened even after bap­
tism:
Nature is crafty and draweth away many, ensnareth them and deceiveth them, and always proposeth self as her end. ...” Nature is
neither willing to be mortified, restrained, overcome, nor subject, neither
of its own accord to be brought under obedience. . . . Nature laboreth
for its own interest and considereth what gain it may derive from an­
other. ... It willingly receiveth honor and respect, ... is afraid of
shame and contempt; seeketh to have things that are curious and beau­
tiful; . . . hath regard to temporal things, rejoiceth at earthly gains, is
troubled at losses, and is irritated at every slight injurious word. . . .
Nature is covetous, and liketh rather to take than to give, and loveth to
have things exclusive and private. . . . Nature glorieth in noble place
and descent, smileth on them that are in power, flattereth the rich. . . .
It easily complaineth of want and of trouble; it coveteth to know secrets
and to hear news; desireth to appear abroad, longeth to be taken notice
of, and to do those things which may procure praise and admiration. . . .
14 The Imitation, Bk. Ill, chap. 27.
15St. Thomas speaks in like manner (la Ilae, q.109, a.2): “In the state of
corrupt nature, man falls short of what he could do by his nature, so that he
is unable to accomplish this good fully by his own natural powers. . . . But
a man can do some particular good, such as building a house, planting a vine­
yard, and the like.” Ibid., a.3: “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.”
Cf. Illa, q.69, a.3: Even after baptism there remain concupiscence and the
other wounds that arc in the process of healing, thereby furnishing an occa­
sion of struggle and of merit.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE WILL

371

Grace teacheth, therefore, to restrain the senses, to avoid vain com­
placency and ostentation, humbly to hide those things which are worthy
of praise and admiration; and from everything, and in every knowl­
edge, to seek the fruit of utility, and the praise and honor of God. . . .
This grace is a supernatural light and a certain special gift of God, the
proper mark of the elect, and a pledge of eternal salvation, which elevateth a man from earthly things to love such as are heavenly, and from
carnal maketh him spiritual. Wherefore, as nature is the more kept
down and subdued, with so much the greater abundance is grace in­
fused; and every day by new visitations the interior man is reformed
according to the image of God.1®
St. Catherine of Siena, speaking of the effects of self-love, says:
“The soul cannot live without love, but always desires to love some­
thing. . . . So, if the sensual affection desires to love sensual things,
the eye of the intellect sets before itself for its sole object transitory
things, with self-love, displeasure of virtue, and love of vice, whence
it draws pride and impatience, and the memory is filled with noth­
ing but what the affection presents to it. This love so dazzles the
eye of the intellect that it can discern and see nothing but such glit­
tering objects.” 17
We read in the same Dialogue: “Thus is injustice committed
through miserable self-love, which has poisoned the whole world,
and the mystical body of holy Church, and through which the
garden of My spouse has run to seed and given birth to putrid
flowers.” 18 It is self-love that renders man unjust toward God, to
whom he no longer renders the glory that is due Him, and toward
souls to which he no longer gives the true goods without which
they cannot live. Finally, self-love, which overthrows in our will
the order willed by God, leads to trouble, discouragement, discord,
and all dissensions; it brings about the total loss of peace, the tran­
quillity of order, which is truly found only in those who love
God more than themselves and above all.
18 The Imitation, Bk. ΠΙ, chap. 54.
17 The Dialogtie, chap. 51. St. Thomas (la Ilae, q. 58, a. 5) had likewise noted,
following Aristotle, that every man judges of the end that is fitting for him
according to the subjective dispositions of his will and sensible appetites:
“Such as a man is, such does the end seem to him." The proud man indeed
finds what satisfies his pride, the humble man what preserves him in humility.
»· The Dialogue, chap. 122.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

All the passages in Tauler’s works where he speaks of the neces­
sity of purifying the depths of our will should be consulted.19
The Purification
in the

Will by Progress
Love of God

of the

How can we restore to our more or less weakened and vitiated
will its power for good, the real power that makes it conquer spirit­
ual sloth and also pride, which is a weakness hidden under the mask
of energy? To bring about this restoration, we must remember the
harmony existing in the state of original justice in which, as long as
man’s will was docile and conformable to that of God, it had the
grace and strength to dominate the passions, to prevent every fault,
whence spring disorder and discouragement. To renew our spiritual
energies we must, therefore, render our will increasingly docile to
the will of God, who will then give us ever new graces to advance
along the way of perfection.
The training of the will must be made by progress in the virtues
which it ought to possess: the virtue of justice, which renders to
everyone his due; of religion, which renders to God the worship
we owe Him; of penance, which repairs the injury of sin; of obedi­
ence to superiors; of veracity or of loyalty; above all, of charity, of
love of God and neighbor.20
From this higher point of view, the strength of will of a Napoleon
seems insignificant compared to that of the sublime beggar, St. Bene­
dict Joseph Labre, or that of the humble Curé of Ars. In the first
centuries, the strength of will of Christian virgins, like Agnes and
Cecilia, was incomparably superior to that of their executioners.
In the practice of all the virtues, docility to the divine will pre­
supposes abnegation of self-will, that is, of the will not conformed
to that of God. The spirit of sacrifice alone, by putting to death
our inordinate self-love, can assure the first place to the love of God
and give us peace. Profound peace of soul is impossible without the
spirit of sacrifice. Therefore our Lord says: “If any man will come
19 See especially the Theological Introduction by Father Hugueny, O.P.,
in the French translation, I, 71-82.
29 St. Thomas discusses at length each of these virtues and the opposing
vices in Ila Ilae. A profound study on the training of the will might be drawn
from this part of the Summa, since all these virtues, whether acquired or in­
fused, have their scat in that faculty.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE WILL

373

after Me, let him deny himself”;21 and also, “Unless the grain of
wheat falling into the ground die, itself rcmaineth alone. But if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life (selfishly)
shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world (who leads a
sacrificed life) keepeth it unto life eternal.” 22 In the spirit of abne­
gation we must be ready to abandon everything in order to do the
will of God as it shall be manifested to us. We must say with the
Psalmist: “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.” 23 Like
St. Paul at the moment of his conversion, we must daily pray thus:
“Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” 24
Is this purification of the will in order to remove egoism and self­
will, something difficult? By reason of reiterated faults, it is very
difficult in certain persons, and without divine grace it is even im­
possible in everyone. In fact, only the love of God, which is the
fruit of grace, can triumph over self-love and put it to death; but
if the love of God grows in us, what was at first difficult becomes
easy. With this meaning Christ said: “My yoke is sweet and My
burden light.” 25
Mortification of self-will is facilitated in the religious life by the
practice of obedience, which rectifies and considerably strengthens
the will by making it daily more and more conformable to the
divine will, manifested by the rule and the orders of superiors.
To succeed in purifying and strengthening the will, a person
must act according to the profound convictions of Christian faith,
and not according to his own spirit, which is more or less variable,
according to circumstances and the fluctuations of opinion. When
anyone has reflected before God and prayed to obtain His grace,
he must act with decision in the way duty directs or in that which
seems most conformable to the divine will. We have only one life,
and it is short; it must not be wasted in trifles. Moreover, we must
with persevering courage firmly and persistently will what appears
to us to be our duty. In this way we avoid both the fluctuations of
successive inclinations, some opposed to others, and unreasonable
violence. True strength of will is calm; in calmness it is persevering
so that it does not become discouraged by momentary lack of success
21 Matt. 16:24.
22 John 12:24 f.
28 Ps. 107:2.
24 Acts 9:6.
28 Matt. 11:30.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

or by any wounds received. No one is conquered until he has given
up the struggle. And he who works for the Lord puts his confidence
in God and not in himself.
Lastly, the strong will is the one that rests, not on the careening
of obstinate pride, but on God, on His grace, which we ought to
ask for daily with humility and confidence. If with humility, con­
fidence, and perseverance we implore the graces necessary for our
sanctification and salvation, they will infallibly be granted us in
virtue of Christ’s promise: “Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and
you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.” 26 Genuine
strength of will, the effect of divine grace, is drawn from humble,
trusting, and persevering prayer.27 Therein is found the true super­
natural training of the will. Prayer is our strength in our weakness.
Knowledge of its power made St. Paul say: “I can do all things in
Him who strengtheneth me.” 28 This should be the sentiment of
one who sees himself obliged to undergo martyrdom rather than
deny his Christian faith. God never commands the impossible and
gives to those who truly ask it the grace to be faithful in the midst
of the greatest trials. Then the will becomes strong, with that divine
strength of which the Psalmist speaks when he says: Dominus forti­
tudo mea. By divine grace the human will then shares in the power
of God and frees itself from self-love, from the attraction of every­
thing that turns it away from God and hinders it from being wholly
His. Thus abnegation and the spirit of sacrifice are the inevitable
way of divine union, in which the love of God is finally victorious
over self-love or egoism. He who has this holy hatred of his ego,
which is made up of self-love and pride, saves his soul for eternity
and obtains even here on earth a peace and union with God which
are a foretaste of eternal life.
The Spirit

of

Detachment

In The Ascent of Mount Carmel,29 St. John of the Cross sets forth
a profound doctrine on the perfect abnegation of self-will. He in­
dicates the most direct route to reach lofty perfection and shows
28 Matt. 7:7.
27 Cf. Sunnna, Ila Ilae, q.83, a.ï, 16.
28 Phil. 4:13.
28 Bk. Ill, chaps. 15 ff.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE WILL

375

how the austerity of the narrow way leads to the sweetness of di­
vine union. If we recall the elevation of the end he has in view, we
will not consider the abnegation he demands exaggerated. A man
who wishes to climb a mountain does not stop at the first difficulties;
knowing that he needs energy, he urges himself forward. The same
is true of him who truly wishes to make progress toward the summit
of perfection.
We shall sum up the teaching of St. John of the Cross on detach­
ment in respect to exterior goods and in regard to the goods of the
spirit and of the heart, in a word, to all that is not God and His will.
We should detach ourselves from exterior goods, riches and hon­
ors. “If riches abound, set not your heart upon them.” 30 St. Paul
says: “The time is short . . . and they that rejoice, as if they re­
joiced not; . . . and they that use this world, as if they used it
not.” 31 Even those who do not effectively practice the counsel
of evangelical poverty ought to have its spirit if they wish to tend
to perfection.
We must detach ourselves from the goods of the body, from
beauty, from health itself; it would be an aberration to cling to them
more than to union with God. And we cling to health far more
than we think; if it were irremediably taken from us, it would be
a true sacrifice for us, and one that may be asked of us. All these
things will pass away like a flower that withers.
We must avoid all complacency in the virtues we may have.
To entertain any complacency would be vanity and perhaps amount
to scorn of our neighbor. The Christian ought to esteem the virtues,
not inasmuch as they are in him like a personal possession, but inas­
much as they lead the soul to God.
When we receive consolations in prayer, we must not dwell on
them with satisfaction; to do so would be to make of this means of
drawing near to God an obstacle that would hinder us from reaching
Him. It would be the equivalent of pausing in a selfish fashion over
something created and making an end of the means. By so doing,
we would set out on the road of spiritual pride and illusion.32 All
that glitters is not gold; and we must be careful not to confound an
imitation diamond with a real one. We should remind ourselves of
80 Ps. 61:11.
81 See I Cor. 7:29-31.
82 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Ill, chaps. 30, 32.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

our Savior’s words: “Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God
and His justice; and all these things (all that is useful to your soul
and even to your body) shall be added unto you.” 33
Therefore we understand that adversity is good for us in order
to deliver us from illusion and make us find the true road again.
Finally, if a person were to receive extraordinary graces, such as
the gift of prophecy, he should avoid all attachment to this divine
favor and live in holy detachment in its regard, at the same time
recalling the words of St. Paul: “If I speak with the tongues of men
and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass
or a tinkling cymbal.” 34 Christ also says to His apostles: “But yet
rejoice not in this, that spirits are subject unto you (that you drive
out demons); but rejoice in this, that your names are written in
heaven.” 35
On the subject of eloquence, St. John of the Cross says: “For
though it is true that a good style and action, profound learning, and
correct expression have a greater effect when they accompany true
spirituality; still when that is wanting, though the senses be charmed
and the understanding delighted, but little or no substantial warmth
reaches to the will. In general, the will remains dull and weak as
before in good works, though marvelous things have been marvel­
ously told it. . . . Though men may be wonderful preachers, yet
their sermons are soon forgotten if they kindle no fire in the will.” 38
This teaching of St. John of the Cross demonstrates how necessary
it is that the preacher greatly purify his intention that his words
may truly bear life-giving fruit, which will last for eternity. To
effect this purification, his soul must live according to the spirit of
immolation or of sacrifice, which assures the first place in the soul
to the love of God and of souls in God.
The fruit of the purification of the will, which we have just men­
tioned, is peace, the tranquillity of order in which the soul is estab­
lished with respect to God and its neighbor. This peace is not always
joy, but it tends to become more profound and more lofty and to
radiate even on the most troubled souls, giving them the light of
83 Matt. 6:33.
34 Cf. I Cor. 13:1.
85 Luke 10:20.
88 The Ascent of Mount Cannel, Bk. Ill, chap. 44.

ACTIVE PURIFICATION OF THE WILL

377

life. This is what Christ says: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they
shall be called the children of God.” They will make Him known
and loved.
As a practical conclusion, each one ought, in his examination of
conscience, to ask himself whether his spirit of self-abnegation is
increasing or diminishing. If there is no longer the minimum of ex­
terior mortification, it is a sign that interior mortification has disap­
peared, that he no longer tends toward perfection, and that he is
like salt which has lost its savor.
Here it should be remembered that on the journey toward God,
he who does not advance falls back. And what would a religious or
sacerdotal life be in which there is evidence of slower and slower
progress, like the movement of a stone that has been cast into the air
and that will soon fall back? A uniformly retarded progress is fol­
lowed by a recoil. Especially in the religious and sacerdotal life, this
progress should, on the contrary, be so to speak uniformly accel­
erated, like the movement of a stone that tends toward the center of
the earth which attracts it. Souls ought, in fact, to advance more
rapidly toward God, the nearer they approach Him and are more
drawn by Him.37
We should pray as follows: “My God, make me know the ob­
stacles which I more or less consciously place to the working of
grace in my soul. Show these obstacles to me at the moment when I
am about to place them. Give me the strength to remove them, and,
if I am negligent in doing so, do Thou deign to remove them,
though I should suffer greatly. I wish only Thee, Lord, who alone
art necessary. Grant that my life here on earth may be like eternal
life begun.”
He who would say this prayer frequently would make great
progress, which would be written in the book of life. Undoubtedly
he would receive many crosses, but he would be borne by them
more than he would bear them, as a bird is borne by its wings more
than it bears them. This is what The Imitation says: “If thou carry
87 St. Thomas, In Epist. ad Hebr., 10:25: “The natural movement increases
in proportion as it draws near its end. The contrary is true of violent move­
ment (e.g., of a stone cast into the air). Grace likewise moves one according
to the natural mode. Therefore those who are in the state of grace ought to
grow so much the more as they draw nearer the end.” Cf. la Ilae, q. 35, a.6:
“Every natural movement is more intense in the end.”

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

the cross willingly, it will carry thee, and bring thee to thy desired
end, namely, to that place where there will be an end of suffering,
though here there will be no end.” 38 This is the true road by which
one enters the inner courts of the kingdom of God.
88 The Imitation of Christ, Bk. II, chap. 12.

CHAPTER XXVIII

The Healing of Pride
O COMPLETE what we have said about the active purification
of the intellect and will, we must speak particularly of the
healing of two fatal spiritual maladies: pride and spiritual sloth.
First of all, we shall see the general nature of pride in contradis­
tinction to the virtues of humility and of magnanimity; then the vari­
ous forms of pride and the way to heal them.

T

The True Nature of Pride

To know the true nature of pride, we should first note that it
is a spiritual sin, in itself less shameful and less debasing, but more
grievous, says St. Thomas,1 than the sins of the flesh, because it turns
us more away from God. The sins of the flesh could not be in the
demon who was irremediably lost through pride. Scripture on sev­
eral occasions says that “pride is the beginning of all sin,” 2 because
it does away with the humble submission and obedience of the crea­
ture to God. The first sin of the first man was a sin of pride,3 the
desire of the knowledge of good and evil,4 that he might be his own
guide and not have to obey. In the opinion of St. Thomas,5 pride is
more than a capital sin; it is the source of the capital sins, and par­
ticularly of vainglory, which is one of its first effects.
Some are deceived, at least practically, about the true nature of
pride, and as a result, without wishing to do so, may commend false
humility, which is a form of hidden pride more dangerous than that
which displays itself and makes itself ridiculous.
1 See la Ilae, q.73, a. 5.
2 Ecclus. 10:15.
• Cf. la Ilae, 4.84, a.z; q.89, a.3 ad ium; q. 163, a. 1.
‘ Gen. 3:5 f.
11 Cf. Ha Ilae,q. 161,a.8 nd ium.
379

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

In determining exactly the true nature of pride, the difficulty
comes from the fact that it is opposed not only to humility, but also
to magnanimity, which is sometimes confounded with it.® We
should be at pains not to confound practically the magnanimity of
others with pride, and not to mistake our pusillanimity or timidity
for true humility. Sometimes the inspiration of the gift of counsel is
needed to discern these things in a really practical manner, to see
how the truly humble soul must be magnanimous, and how false hu­
mility is distinguished from the true. The Jansenists saw a lack of
humility in the desire for frequent Communion.
St. Thomas, who was exceedingly humble and magnanimous,
established very well the exact definition of these two virtues, which
should be united, and that of the defects opposed to them. He de­
fined pride as the inordinate love of our own excellence. The proud
man wishes, in fact, to appear superior to what he really is: there
is falsity in his life. When this inordinate love of our own excel­
lence is concerned with sensible goods, for example, pride in our
physical strength, it belongs to that part of the sensibility called the
irascible appetite. It is in the will when it is concerned with goods
of the spiritual order, such as intellectual pride and spiritual pride.
This defect of the will presupposes that our intellect considers our
own merits and the insufficiencies of our neighbors more than it
ought, and that it exaggerates in order to raise us above them.
Love of our own excellence is said to be inordinate as it is con­
trary to right reason and divine law. It is directly opposed to the
humble submission of the defectible and deficient creature before
the majesty of God. It differs exceedingly from the legitimate desire
of great things conformable to our vocation: for example, a mag­
nanimous soldier can and ought to desire victory for his country
without pride entering into his wish. Whereas the proud man im­
moderately desires his own excellence, the magnanimous man de­
votes himself to a great cause, superior to himself, and accepts in
advance all humiliations in order to accomplish what is in his esti­
mation a great duty.
Pride is therefore, as St. Augustine says,7 a perverse love of great­
ness; it leads us to imitate God in a wrong way, by not bearing with
• Ibid., a. I.
7 De civitate Dei, Bk. XIV, chap. 13: “Superbia est perversae celsitudinis
appetitus.”

THE HEALING OF PRIDE

38 i

the equality of our fellow men and by wishing to impose our dom­
ination on them, instead of living with them in humble submission
to the divine law.8
Pride is thus more directly opposed to humility than to magnanim­
ity; the inverse holds true for pusillanimity, which is more directly
opposed to nobility of soul. In addition, whereas humility and
magnanimity are connected virtues which complete and balance
each other like the two arches of an ogive, pride and pusillanimity are
contradictory vices, like temerity and cowardice.
What we have said shows that pride is a bandage over the eyes of
the spirit, which hinders us from seeing the truth, especially that
relative to the majesty of God and the excellence of those who
surpass us. It prevents us from wishing to be instructed by them, or it
prompts us not to accept direction without argument. Pride thus
perverts our life as one would bend a spring; it hinders us from ask­
ing light from God, who consequently hides His truth from the
proud. Pride turns us away, therefore, from the affective knowl­
edge of divine truth, from contemplation, to which humility, on
the contrary, disposes us. Therefore Christ says: “I confess to Thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hidden
these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to
little ones.” 9 Spiritual pride is most powerful in turning us away
from the contemplation of divine things. With this meaning, St.
Paul writes: “Knowledge puffeth up; but charity edifieth.” 10
The Different Forms

of

Pride

St. Gregory 11 enumerates several degrees of pride: namely, to
believe that we have through our own efforts what we have re­
ceived from God; to believe that we have merited what we have
gratuitously received; to attribute to ourselves a good we lack, for
example, great learning, when we do not possess it; to wish to be
preferred to others and to depreciate them.
Doubtless it is rare that a man lets himself be led so far astray by
pride as to reject the existence of God, to declare that he will have
“neither God nor master,” even to refuse explicitly to submit him8 Ibid., Bk. XIX, chap. 12.
0 Luke io:zi.
10 Cf. I Cor. 8:1.
11 Morales, Bk. XXIII, chap. 5.

38z

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

self to God as Lucifer did, or to go so far as to reject the authority
of the Church as formal heretics do. We clearly recognize in theory
that God is our first principle, that He alone is great, and that obedi­
ence is due Him; but in practice it happens that we esteem ourselves
inordinately, as if we were the author of the qualities we possess.
We may take complacency in them, forgetting our dependence on
Him who is the Author of all good, whether natural or supernatural.
It is not rare to find a sort of Pelagianism in men who are in no way
Pelagians in theory.
A man exaggerates his personal qualities by closing his eyes to
his own defects; and he even ends by glorying in what is a deviation
of the spirit, as if it were a quality. He may believe, for example,
that he is broadminded because he pays scant attention to the little
duties of daily life; he forgets that to be faithful in great things, he
must begin by being so in little things, for the day is composed of
hours, the hour of minutes, and the minute of seconds. Thus he is
led to prefer himself unjustly to others, to disparage them, to believe
himself better than some who are, nevertheless, really his superiors.
These sins of pride, which are often venial, may become mortal
if they incite us to gravely reprehensible acts.
St. Bernard 12 enumerates also several progressive manifestations
of pride: curiosity, levity of mind, foolish and misplaced joy, boast­
ing, singularity, arrogance, presumption, the refusal to recognize
one’s errors, the dissimulation of one’s sins in confession, rebellion,
unbridled liberty, the habit of sin even to the contempt of God.
The different forms of pride may also be considered in relation
to the different goods, according as a person takes pride in his birth,
wealth, physical qualities, knowledge, his piety or his sham piety.
Intellectual pride leads certain studious men to reject the tradi­
tional interpretation of dogmas, to attenuate them, or to deform
them in order to harmonize them with what they call the exigencies
of the mind. In others, this pride is manifested by a singular attach­
ment to their own judgment, to such a degree that they do not even
wish to listen to reasons sometimes stronger in favor of the adverse
opinion. Some finally, who are theoretically in the truth, are so satis­
fied to be right, so filled with their learning which has cost them so
much, that their souls are, as it were, saturated with it and no longer
12 De gradibus humilitatis, chap. io.

THE HEALING OF PRIDE

383

humbly open to receive the superior light that would come from
God in prayer.
St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “You are now full; you are
now become rich.” 13 On seeing their sufficiency, one would have
said that they had reached the full Messianic royalty to which the
faithful will be associated in eternal beatitude.
If a man is full of himself, how will he receive the superior gifts
which the Lord could and would grant him in order that he might
do great good to souls and save them? We can see, consequently,
why intellectual pride, even in those who are theoretically right, is a
formidable obstacle to the grace of contemplation and to union
with God. It is truly a bandage over the eyes of the spirit.14
Spiritual pride is not a lesser obstacle. Speaking of beginners,
St. John of the Cross remarks:
When beginners become aware of their own fervor and diligence in
their spiritual works and devotional exercises, this prosperity of theirs
gives rise to secret pride—though holy things tend of their own nature
to humility—because of their imperfections; and the issue is that they
conceive a certain satisfaction in the contemplation of their works and
of themselves. From the same source, too, proceeds that empty eager­
ness which they display in speaking of the spiritual life before others,
and sometimes as teachers rather than learners. They condemn others
in their heart when they see that they are not devout in tl eir way.
Sometimes also they say it in words, showing themselves herein to be like
the Pharisee, who in the act of prayer boasted of his own works and
despised the publican (Luke 18:11 f.). . . . They see the mote in the
eye of their brother, but not the beam which is in their own.
Sometimes also when their spiritual masters, such as confessors and
superiors, do not approve of their spirit and conduct . . . they decide
18 Cf. I Cor. 4:8.
14 In her Dialogue, St. Catherine of Siena says that pride obscures the knowl­
edge of the truth, nourishes self-love, and is the enemy of obedience, and that
its pith is impatience. In chapter 128 she writes: “O cursed pride, based on
self-love, how hast thou blinded the eye of their intellect, that while they
seem to love themselves and be tender to themselves, they are in truth cruel.
. . . They are really in the greatest poverty and misery, for they are deprived
of the riches of virtue and have fallen from the heights of grace into the
depths of mortal sin. They seem to see, but are blind for they know neither
themselves nor Me.” Pride is truly like a bandage over the eyes of the spirit.
It is at least like a darkened glass, which lets things be seen only through its
color. Consequently it perverts judgment.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

that they are not understood, and that their superiors are not spiritual
men because they do not approve and sanction their proceedings. . . .
They are occasionally desirous that others should perceive their spiritu­
ality and devotion, and for that end they give outward tokens by move­
ments, sighs, and various ceremonies. . . . Many of them seek to be the
favorites of their confessors, and the result is endless envy and disqui­
etude. Ashamed to confess their sins plainly lest their confessors should
think less of them, they go about palliating them that they may not seem
so bad: which is excusing rather than accusing themselves. Sometimes
they go to a stranger to confess their sins, that their usual confessor may
think they are not sinners, but good people. . . . Some beginners, too,
make light of their faults, and at other times indulge in immoderate grief
when they commit them. They thought themselves already saints, and
so they become angry and impatient with themselves, which is another
great imperfection.18
The Defects Born

of

Pride

The principal defects springing from pride are presumption, am­
bition, and vainglory.
Presumption is the desire and inordinate hope of doing what is
above one’s power.16 The presumptuous man believes himself capa­
ble of studying and solving the most difficult questions; he settles
the most abstruse problems with rash haste. He fancies that he has
sufficient light to guide himself without consulting a director. In­
stead of building his interior life on humility, renunciation, fidelity
to the duty of the present moment even in little things, he speaks
particularly of magnanimity, of apostolic zeal, or indeed aspires to
the immediate attainment of the high degrees of prayer without
passing through the various stages, forgetting that he is still only a
beginner, whose will is still weak and full of egoism. He is still full
of self; a great void must be created in him in order that his soul
may some day be filled with God and able to give Him to others.
From presumption springs ambition, under one form or another.
Because a man presumes too greatly on his powers and judges him­
self superior to others, he wishes to dominate them, to impose on
them his ideas in matters of doctrine, or to govern them. St.
Thomas17 says that a man manifests ambition when he seeks offices
18 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. 1, chap. 2.
10 Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 130, a. 1.
11 Ibid., 4.131, a. i.

THE HEALING OF PRIDE

385

carrying with them honor which he does not merit; when he seeks
honors for himself and not for the glory of God or the profit of
others. How many schemes, secret solicitations, and intrigues am­
bition inspires in all walks of life! 18
Pride leads also to vainglory, that is, the wish to be esteemed for
oneself, without referring this honor to God, the source of all good,
and often a wish to be esteemed for vain things. This is the case of
the pedant who loves to display his knowledge, binding himself and
wishing to bind others to trifles.19
Many defects spring from vainglory: 20 boasting, which easily
makes a person ridiculous; hypocrisy, which under the appearances
of virtue, hides vices; stubbornness, contention or asperity in de­
fending one’s opinion, which engenders discord; and also disobedi­
ence, sharp criticisms of superiors.
Thus we see that pride which is not repressed sometimes pro­
duces disastrous effects. How many discords, hatreds, and wars are
bom of pride! It has been justly said that pride is the great enemy
of perfection because it is the source of numerous sins and deprives
us of many graces and merits. Scripture says: “God resisted! the
proud and giveth grace to the humble.” 21 And Christ says of
the Pharisees, who pray and give alms in order to be seen by men:
“They have received their reward”;22 they cannot expect that of
our heavenly Father, since they have acted for themselves and not
for Him. Lastly, a life dominated by pride is grievously sterile and
presages perdition unless a remedy is promptly applied.
The Remedy for Pride

The great remedy for pride is to recognize practically the majesty
of God. As St. Michael the archangel said: “Who is like to God?”
He alone is great; He is the source of all natural and supernatural
good. “Without Me,” says our Lord, “you can do nothing” in the
order of salvation.23 St. Paul adds: “For who distinguisheth thee?
Or what hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast
18 Cf. Bossuet, Sermon sur l'ambition.
10 See Ila Ilae, q. 132, a. 1-3.
20 Ibid., a. j.
21 Jas. 4:6.
22 Matt. 6:2.
28 John 15:5.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

received, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” 24
“Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of
ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” 25
St. Thomas states also: “Since God’s love is the cause of goodness
in things, ... no one thing would be better than another if God
did not will greater good for one than another.” 26 And then why
should we glory in the natural or supernatural good that is in us,
as if we had not received it, as if it were our very own and not or­
dained to glorify God, the source of all good? “For it is God who
worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to His
good will.” 27
The remedy for pride is to tell ourselves that of ourselves we are
not, that we have been created out of nothing by the gratuitous
love of God, who continues freely to preserve us in existence; other­
wise we would return to nothingness. And if grace is in us, it is
because Jesus Christ redeemed us by His blood.
The remedy for pride is also to tell ourselves that there is in us
something inferior to nothingness itself: the disorder of sin and
its effects. As sinners, we deserve scorn and all humiliations; the
saints have thought so, and they certainly judged better than we.
How can we glory in our merits, as if they came solely from us?
Without habitual grace and actual grace, we would be absolutely
incapable of the least meritorious act. As St. Augustine says: “God
crowns His gifts, when He crowns our merits.”
This conviction, however, must not remain theoretical, but should
be practical and inspire our acts. The Imitation says:
Truly, a lowly rustic that serveth God is better than a proud philoso­
pher who pondereth the courses of the stars, and neglecteth himself. He
that knoweth himself, becometh vile to himself and taketh no delight in
the praises of men. . . . Learned men are very willing to seem wise, and
to be called so. . . . If thou wouldst acquire knowledge and learn any­
thing to the purpose, love to be unknown, and to be esteemed as noth­
ing. ... If thou shouldst see another openly do wrong or commit some
grievous sins, thou needest not think thyself better; for thou knowest not
24 See I Cor. 4:7.
25 Cf. Il Cor. 3:5.
28 Cf. la, q. 20, a. 3. This is the principle of predilection, which contains vir­
tually the whole tract on predestination and that on grace.
27 Phil. 2:13.

THE HEALING OF PRIDE

387

how long thou mayest be able to persevere in well-doing. We are all
frail; but see thou think none more frail than thyself. . . .
Be not ashamed to wait on others for the love of Jesus Christ, and to
be looked upon as poor in this world. . . . Trust not in thine own
knowledge, . . . but rather in the grace of God, who helpeth the
humble and humbleth them that presume upon themselves. . . . Esteem
not thyself better than others, lest perhaps thou be accounted worse in
the sight of God. . . . What pleaseth men, oftentimes displeaseth Him.
. . . Continual peace dwelleth with the humble; but in the heart of the
proud is frequent envy and indignation. . . .
The humble man God protecteth and delivereth; the humble He
loveth and consoleth; to the humble He inclineth Himself; on the humble
He bestoweth bounteous grace, and after he has been brought low, raiseth him up unto glory. To the humble He revealeth His secrets, and
sweetly inviteth and draweth him unto Himself.28

But to reach this humility of mind and heart, a profound purifica­
tion is needed. That which we impose on ourselves is not sufficient;
there must be a passive purification by the light of the gifts of the
Holy Ghost, which causes the bandage of pride to fall away, opens
our eyes, shows us the depth of frailty and wretchedness that exists
in us, the utility of adversity and humiliation, and finally makes us
say to the Lord: “It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me, that
I may learn Thy justifications.” 29 “It is good for us sometimes to
suffer contradictions, and to allow people to think ill of us. . . .
These are often helps to humility, and rid us of vainglory.” 30 It is
in adversity that we can learn what we really are and what great
need we have of God’s help: “What doth he know, that hath not
been tried?” 31
After this purification, pride and its effects will gradually be felt
less. A person, instead of letting himself fall into jealousy toward
those who have more natural or supernatural qualities, tells himself
then that, as St. Paul remarks, the hand ought not be jealous of the
eye, but, on the contrary, it should be happy because it benefits from
what the eye sees. The same is true in the mystical body of Christ;
far from becoming jealous, souls ought to enjoy in a holy manner the
qualities they find in their neighbor. Though they do not possess
28 The Imitation, Bk. I, chaps. 2, 7; Bk. II, chap. 2.
20Ps. 118:71.
80 The Imitation, Bk. I, chap. 12.
81 Ecclus. 34:9.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

them themselves, they benefit by them. They should rejoice over
everything that cooperates in the glory of God and the good of
souls. When this is the case, the bandage of pride falls away and the
soul’s gaze recovers its simplicity and penetration, which make it
enter little by little into the inner life of God.

CHAPTER XXIX

The Healing of Spiritural Sloth,
or Acedia
MONG the capital sins, there is one, spiritual sloth, called also
l acedia, which is directly opposed to the love of God and to the
joy that results from generosity in His service. We must discuss it
in order to complete what we have said about the active purification
of the will and to note exactly the grave confusions made by the
quietists on this point.
We shall see, first of all, the general nature of spiritual sloth, then
the gravity of this evil and the way to cure it.1

A

The Nature of Spiritual Sloth, or Acedia

Sloth in general, pigritia, is a voluntary and culpable repugnance
to work, to effort, and consequently a tendency to idleness, or at
least to negligence, to pusillanimity,2 which is opposed to generosity
or magnanimity.
Sloth is not the languor or torpor in action which comes from
poor health; it is an evil disposition of the will and of the sensible
appetites, by which one fears and refuses effort, wishes to avoid all
trouble, and seeks a dolce farniente. It has often been remarked that
the slothful man is a parasite, who lives at the expense of others, as
tranquil as a woodchuck when he is undisturbed in his idleness, and
ill-humored when an effort is made to oblige him to work. This vice
begins with unconcern and negligence in work, and manifests itself
by a progressive dislike for all serious, physical and mental labor.
When idleness affects the accomplishment of the religious duties
1 Cf. St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.35; De malo, q. 11; St. John of the Cross, The
Dark Night, Bk. I, chap. 7.
* Cf. ibid., q. 133, a.2.
389

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

necessary to sanctification, it is called acedia.3 It is an evil sadness
opposed to spiritual joy, which is the fruit of generosity in the love
of God. Acedia is a disgust for spiritual things, a disgust which leads
one to perform them negligently, to shorten them, or to omit them
under vain pretexts. It is the cause of tepidity.
This sadness, which is radically opposed to that of contrition, de­
presses the soul and weighs it down because it does not react as it
should. Then it reaches a voluntary disgust for spiritual things, be­
cause they demand too much effort and self-discipline. Whereas
devotion, which is the promptness of the will in the service of God,
lifts the soul up, spiritual sloth weighs down and crushes the soul
and ends by causing it to find the yoke of the Lord unbearable and
to flee the divine light, which reminds it of its duties. St. Augustine
says: “Light which is so pleasant to pure eyes, becomes hateful to
infirm eyes which can no longer bear it.”
This depressing sadness, the result of negligence, and this disgust,
which is at least indirectly voluntary, are quite different from the
sensible or spiritual aridity which, in divine trials, is accompanied by
true contrition for our sins, by fear of offending God, by a keen
desire for perfection, by a need of solitude, of recollection, and of
the prayer of simple gaze.
St. John of the Cross, referring to the condition of the spiritual
man in the passive purification of the senses, says:
We find no comfort in the things of God, and none also in created
things . . . but the memory dwells ordinarily upon God with a painful
anxiety and carefulness; the soul thinks it is not serving God, but going
backwards, because it is no longer conscious of any sweetness in the
things of God. In that case it is clear that this weariness of spirit and
aridity are not the results of weakness and lukewarmness; for the peculi­
arity of lukewarmness is the want of earnestness in, and of interior
solicitude for, the tilings of God. There is, therefore, a great difference
between dryness and lukewarmness, for the latter consists in great re­
missness and weakness of will and spirit, in the want of all solicitude
about serving God. The true purgative aridity is accompanied in gen­
eral by a painful anxiety, because the soul thinks that it is not serving
God. . . . For when mere bodily indisposition is the cause, all that it
does is to produce disgust and the ruin of bodily health, without the
8 From acedior, to suffer impatiently, to grieve over one’s sin, because one
fails to make an effort for what is good.

THE HEALING OF SPIRITUAL SLOTH

391

desire of serving God which belongs to the purgative aridity. In this
aridity, though the sensual part of man be greatly depressed, weak and
sluggish in good works, by reason of the little satisfaction they furnish,
the spirit is, nevertheless, ready and strong.4
In other words, this divine trial is the privation of accidental de­
votion alone and not of substantial devotion, which consists in the
will to give oneself generously and promptly to the service of God.5
Spiritual sloth or acedia, on the contrary, is, by reason of culpable
negligence, the privation of substantial devotion itself and at least
indirectly voluntary disgust for spiritual things because of the abne­
gation and effort they demand.
Whereas in the divine trial of which we are speaking, a person
suffers because he has distractions and strives to diminish their num­
ber, in the state of spiritual sloth a man welcomes them, lets himself
glide easily into useless thoughts, and does not react against them.
When such is the case, distractions that are at least indirectly volun­
tary soon invade prayer almost completely; the examination of con­
science, which has become annoying, is suppressed; sins are no longer
accounted for; and the soul descends farther and farther along the
slope of tepidity. It falls into spiritual anaemia in which little by
little, with the defects springing from it, the three concupiscences
awaken.
The confusion of spiritual sloth with the divine trial of aridity
was one of the chief errors of the quietists. For this reason the two
following propositions of Molinos were condemned: “Disgust for
spiritual things is good; by it the soul is purified, freed from selflove.” “When the interior soul feels repugnance for discursive medi­
tation on God, for the virtues, when it remains cold, and does not
experience any fervor, it is a good sign.” 0 These propositions were
condemned as offensive and dangerous in practice. The fact of the
matter is certainly that disgust for spiritual things is not at all good,
that it is an evil and a sin as soon as it is voluntary, whether directly
or indirectly so, by reason of negligence. St. Paul writes to the Ro­
mans: “1 beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto
God. . . . Loving one another with the charity of brotherhood,
4 The Dark Night, Bk. I, chap. 9.
6 Cf. Ila Ilae, q.8i, a. 1.
• Dcnz.ingcr, nos. U48 f.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

with honor preventing one another, in carefulness not slothful, in
spirit fervent, serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribu­
lation, instant in prayer.” 7 How far these words are from the
quietism of Molinos!
The latter confounded spiritual sloth with the aridity and dry­
ness of divine trials, not observing that the soul which bears these
trials well, far from being slothful, has a keen desire for God and
for perfection, and therefore preserves a true, substantial devotion
of the will in the absence of sensible devotion of which it is deprived.
Molinos confounded sensible and absolutely involuntary disgust
for divine things with the disgust which is at least indirectly volun­
tary and culpable because of sloth and negligence.
St. John of the Cross, on the contrary, in The Dark Night gives
an excellent description of spiritual sloth. Writing about the im­
perfections of beginners, he says:
As to spiritual sloth, beginners are wont to find their most spiritual
occupations irksome, and avoid them as repugnant to their taste; for,
being so given to sweetness in spiritual things, they loathe such occupa­
tions when they find no sweetness. If they miss once this sweetness in
prayer which is their joy,—it is expedient that God should deprive them
of it in order to try them—they will not resume it; at other times they
omit it, or return to it with a bad grace. Thus, under the influence of
sloth they neglect the way of perfection—which is the denial of their
will and pleasure for God—for the gratification of their own will, which
they serve rather than the will of God. Many of these will have it that
God should will what they will, and are afflicted when they must will
what He wills, reluctantly submitting their own will to the will of God.
As a result, they often imagine that what is not according to their will
is also not according to the will of God; and, on the other hand, when
they are pleased, they believe that God is pleased. They measure Him by
themselves, and not themselves by Him. . . . They also find it wearisome
to obey when they are commanded to do what they like not; and be­
cause they walk in the way of consolation and spiritual sweetness, they
are too weak for the rough trials of perfection. They are like persons
delicately nurtured who avoid with heavy hearts all that is hard and
rugged, and are offended at the cross wherein the joys of the spirit con­
sist. The more spiritual the work they have to do, the more irksome do
they feel it to be. And because they insist on having their own way and
will in spiritual things, they enter on the “strait way that leadeth unto
’ Rom. 12: i, 10 f.

THE HEALING OF SPIRITUAL SLOTH

393

life” (Matt. 16:25), of which Christ speaks, with repugnance and heavi­
ness of heart.8
Some who abandon prayer say, in order to cloak spiritual sloth:
“The sweetness of prayer must be sacrificed to the austerity of
study” or of work. If a truly generous person made this statement,
it would mean: “One must know how to sacrifice the sweetness
of prayer, especially of sensible devotion, to the austerity of the
study or the work necessary for the salvation of souls.” But if this
statement is made by someone who is losing all true devotion, it does
not make sense; for such a one in no way sacrifices the delights of
prayer, which he does not experience, and he is only seeking to hide
his spiritual sloth under the veil of a relatively exterior work in
which he seeks himself. This man flees interior work because of
spiritual sloth. True contemplation and union with God should, it
is clear, not be sacrificed to study, which is subordinate to them;
to do so would be to sacrifice the end for the means. Moreover,
study not inspired by the love of God and of souls would, from the
spiritual point of view, remain truly fruitless. In short, when a man
says, “The sweetness of prayer must be sacrificed to the austerity of
work,” he wishes to forget that prayer is often dry. This is why
it is more difficult to lead souls to a true life of profound and per­
severing prayer than to induce them to read and talk about books
which appear on the subject. Finally, spiritual sloth not infrequently
grows out of an excessive, unsanctified natural activity in which a
person takes complacence instead of seeking God and the good of
souls in it.
The Gravity

of

Spiritual Sloth and Its Results

Spiritual sloth is gravely sinful when it reaches the point of giving
up the religious duties necessary for our salvation and sanctification:
for example, when it goes so far as to omit the hearing of Mass on
Sunday.9 When it leads us to omit religious acts of lesser importance
without a reason, the sin is only venial; but if we do not struggle
against this negligence, it soon becomes more serious, placing us
8 Bk. 1, chap. 7.
" Of. Ha Hac, q.35, a.3. St. Thomas even says (De malo, q.n, a.3 ad 6um):
“That man should delight in God, falls under the precept, just as that man
should love God, because delight follows love.”

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

in a genuine state of tepidity or spiritual relaxation. This state is a
sort of moral anaemia, in which evil tendencies awaken little by little,
seek to prevail, and manifest themselves by numerous deliberate
venial sins, which dispose us to still graver faults, just as bodily
anaemia prepares the way for the invasion of the germ of a disease,
the beginning of a serious illness.
Spiritual sloth or acedia is even, as St. Gregory1011and St.
Thomas 11 show, a capital sin, the root of many others. Why is this?
Because man seeks material consolations in order to flee from the
sadness and disgust which spiritual things inspire in him on account
of the renunciation and self-discipline which they demand. As
Aristotle says, “No one can long remain in sadness without any
joy,” 12 and then he who deprives himself of all spiritual joy through
his own negligence and sloth, does not delay in seeking inferior
pleasures.
Consequently, disastrous results follow disgust for spiritual things
and for the work of sanctification, a sin which is directly opposed
to the love of God and to the holy joy resulting therefrom. When
life does not rise toward God, it descends or falls into evil sadness
which oppresses the soul. From this evil sadness, says St. Gregory
(Joe. citj, are born malice—and no longer only weakness—rancor
toward one’s neighbor, pusillanimity in the face of duty to be
accomplished, discouragement, spiritual torpor even to the forget­
ting of the precepts, and finally, dissipation of spirit and the seeking
after forbidden things. This seeking after unlawful things manifests
itself by the externalization of life, by curiosity, loquacity, uneasi­
ness, instability, and fruitless agitation.13 Thus a person arrives at
spiritual blindness and the progressive weakening of the will.
Descending this slope, many have lost sight of the grandeur of
the Christian vocation, have forgotten the promises they made to
God, and have taken the descending road, which at first seems broad,
but which grows narrower and narrower, whereas the narrow road,
which leads upward, becomes ever wider, immense as God Himself
to whom it leads.
In The Ascent of Mount Carmel, St. John of the Cross says on this
10 Morales, Bk. XXXI, chap. 17.
11 Cf. Ila Ilae, q. 35, a. 4.
12 Ethics, Bk. VIII, chap. 5.
18 Cf. Ila Ilae, 9.33, a.4 ad 311m.

THE HEALING OF SPIRITUAL SLOTH

395

subject: “Dissipation of the mind engenders in its turn spiritual
sloth and lukewarmness, which grow into weariness and sadness in
divine things, so that in the end we come to hate them.” 14
The Cure for Spiritual Sloth

Cassian 15 declared that experience proves that a person triumphs
over the temptation to spiritual sloth, not by fleeing from it, but by
resisting it. On this subject St. Thomas observes: “Sin is ever to be
shunned, but the assaults of sin should be overcome, sometimes by
flight, sometimes by resistance; by flight, when a continued thought
increases the incentive to sin, as in lust; ... by resistance, when per­
severance in the thought diminishes the incentive to sin, which in­
centive arises from some trivial consideration. This is the case
with sloth, because the more we think about spiritual goods, the
more pleasing they become to us, and forthwith sloth dies away.” 16
We must, therefore, conquer spiritual sloth by real love of God,
by true devotion of the will, which ought to subsist in spite of
sensible aridity. We must revert again and again to the prolonged
consideration of the eternal goods which are promised us.
And to recover the spirit of faith, enthusiasm, and generosity in
the love of God, we must every day courageously impose some
sacrifices on ourselves in those matters in which we are weakest. It
is the first step that costs; but after a week of effort the task becomes
easy: for example, to rise at the appointed hour and to be obliging
to everybody. All spiritual authors say that one of the remedies for
tepidity is frankness with ourselves and with our confessor, a serious
examination of conscience every day in order to rise again, the
assiduous practice of our religious duties coupled with our duties of
state, fidelity to prayer and to the morning offering, which we ought
to make to God of all our actions during the day. And since we
have little to present to God, let us offer Him frequently the precious
blood of Jesus and the interior act of oblation ever living in His
heart. Blessed are they who renew this offering when they hear the
hour strike, and who offer the fleeting hour that it may bear fruits
for eternity, that rhe moment which is passing may remain in the
eternal instant which does not pass.
14 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Ill, chap. 21.
15 De instit. monasteriorum, Bk. X, cap. ult.
14 Cf. Ha Ilae, q. 35, a. 1 ad 4am.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Above all, some daily sacrifices will restore vigor and tone to our
spiritual life. Thus we will gradually recover substantial fervor,
promptness of the will in the service of God, even if sensible devo­
tion is lacking, a privation we should accept in order to make repara­
tion for past offenses.
To conquer spiritual sloth and to avoid spiritual instability, we
should determine the religious employment of our time: for ex­
ample, divide the day by the recitation of the parts of the Divine
Office, or of the Rosary. Some interior souls divide the week ac­
cording to the mysteries of faith, the rule of our life: Sunday is
consecrated to God by special devotion and thanksgiving to the
Blessed Trinity. Monday is consecrated to the mystery of the In­
carnation by recalling the Ecce venio of Christ and the Ecce ancilla
Domini of Mary. Tuesday is devoted to the thought of our Savior’s
hidden life. Wednesday is devoted to His apostolic life. Thursday
recalls the institution of the Eucharist and of the priesthood. Fri­
day is consecrated to living the dolorous Passion, to asking for love
of the cross. Saturday is given over to the thought of the privileges
of Mary, her sorrows, and her role as Mediatrix and Co-redemptrix.
Thus instead of losing time which flees, we recover it and gain
it for eternity. And gradually we recover spiritual joy, that of which
St. Paul speaks when he writes to the Philippians: “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 surpassed! all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” 17
17 Phil. 4:4-7.

CHAPTER XXX

Sacramental Confession

w

“Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose
sins you shall forgive, they are for­
given them.”
John 20:22 f.

E HAVE seen that the purification of the soul is an effect
of the mortification of the senses, of self-will, and of personal
judgment; we shall see also that it is an effect of prayer. Moreover,
God, in His love for us, has placed within our reach other easy and
powerful means to purify us, the sacraments, which operate by them­
selves, ex opere operato, and produce in the soul which has prepared
itself by acts of faith and love a much more abundant grace than
it would obtain by making the same acts without the sacraments.
However, if the sacraments by themselves, by the divine virtue
they contain, have an essential efficacy, the measure of grace pro­
duced by them varies according to the dispositions of those who
receive them; the more perfect they are, the more abundant is the
grace, and the differences between a number of persons receiving
the same sacrament are much greater than one ordinarily imagines.
The sacrament of penance is one of the most precious means of
sanctification; it must be well received, and routine, which would
considerably diminish its effect, should be avoided. It is, therefore,
important for us to see how we should prepare for sacramental con­
fession, how we should make a good confession, and what are its
fruits.
Preparation

for

Confession

To prepare worthily for confession, we should examine our con­
sciences and arouse ourselves to contrition.
397

398

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

The examination of conscience requires more care in proportion
as the penitent falls into more sins and has little knowledge of his in­
terior state. However, those who each evening examine their princi­
pal failings, have no trouble at all in knowing themselves well, and
they are thereby stirred to make serious efforts at amendment.
In the case of spiritual persons who confess frequently and who
are careful to avoid deliberate venial sins, the examination of con­
science, as St. Alphonsus remarks, does not require much time. It
is advisable for such a person to ask himself: What remains of this
week to be written in God, in the book of life? In what have I acted
for God, in what for myself, by yielding to my temperament, my
egoism, my pride? When he thus considers the state of his soul from
above and asks for light, he often obtains the grace of a penetrating
gaze on his own life.
We must distinguish here grave sins, more or less deliberate
venial sins, and the faults of frailty.
If a man who tends towards perfection has the misfortune to
commit mortal sins in a moment of weakness, he must accuse him­
self of them sincerely and clearly at the beginning of his confession,
without seeking to cause them to pass unperceived in the multitude
of venial sins. Fie must indicate their number, kind, and cause, and
especially have a profound contrition for them accompanied by a
firm purpose of avoiding in the future not only the sins themselves,
but their occasions and causes. Even after receiving pardon, he
must also keep alive in his heart the sincere desire to atone, by an
austere life and a generous love, for the evil committed. He should
also remember how the Apostle, St. Peter, wept over his denial,
humbled himself profoundly, thanked infinite Mercy, and con­
tinued on his way even to martyrdom.
An isolated mortal sin, when immediately confessed and atoned
for, leaves scarcely any traces in the soul, which may at once resume
its ascent from the very spot where it fell, without having to retrace
all the road that had already been traveled. Thus he who stumbles
midway in an ascent, may, when he picks himself up, promptly con­
tinue his climb from the spot which he had reached.
Venial sins committed with full deliberation are a serious obstacle
to perfection, especially when they are frequent and the soul is at­
tached to them. They are real maladies, which weaken the Christian
soul. “Do not allow sin to grow old in thee,” Christ said to St. Ger-

SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION

399
trude. Fully deliberate venial sin, when not rejected, is like a poison
that is not vomited forth and that, although it does not cause death
immediately, acts slowly on the organism. For instance, close at­
tention must be paid to avoid keeping voluntarily any petty rancor,
or attachment to one’s own judgment, to self-will, to habits of rash
judgment, of slander, of dangerous natural affections that would be
a fetter, depriving us of liberty of spirit and all spontaneous move­
ment toward God. When we deliberately refuse the Lord these
manifestly demanded sacrifices, we cannot expect from Him the
graces that lead to perfection. Consequently we must plainly accuse
ourselves of fully deliberate venial sins against charity, humility, the
virtue of religion, and so forth, especially those which are most
humiliating. Their cause must be sought with a firm resolution to
avoid them. Otherwise, of course, there is no longer any real and
effective tendency to perfection. This is a point of primary im­
portance.
There are other semi-deliberate venial sins, which are committed
with less reflection and into which there enters a certain amount of
surprise and impulse, but to which the will adheres with a certain
complacency. We must guard against them, especially if they recur
frequently; they show that the soul fights too feebly and is not de­
termined to free itself from all obstacles.
Sins of frailty are those committed inadvertently because of hu­
man weakness; the will has only a small share in them; it yields mo­
mentarily, but promptly disavows its weakness. Sins of this kind
cannot be completely and continually avoided, but their number
should be diminished. They are not a serious obstacle to perfection
because they are quickly atoned for; yet it is well to submit them
to the influence of the sacrament of penance because thereby purity
of soul will become more complete.1
1 An imperfection is distinguished from these sins of frailty because it is
only an act of lesser generosity in the service of God and of slighter esteem
for the evangelical counsels. This is the case with a man who has five talents
and sometimes acts as if he had only two; his act is still meritorious, but weak
(remissus), and he is more or less clearly conscious of this inferiority. What
is less good in itself must not be confused with what is essentially evil; what
is less good for us here and now must not be confused with what would even
now be evil for us. The lesser good is not an evil, as the lesser evil is not a
good. Evidently we must avoid confusing good and evil. Consult our opinion
on this point in L'amour de Dieu et la croix de Jésus, 1, 360-89.
But if it is theoretically easy to draw a distinction, practically and con­

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
The Confession Itself

Confession should be made with a great spirit of faith, remember­
ing that the confessor holds the place of our Lord. He is a judge,
since this sacrament is administered in the form of a judgment: Ego
te absolvo ... ; but he is also a spiritual father and a physician,
who benevolently points out remedies if the penitent clearly re­
veals his suffering. Consequently it is not enough to make a vague
accusation that would tell the confessor nothing, as for example: I
have had distractions in my prayers. It is advisable to say: I have
been especially distracted during such and such an exercise of piety
through negligence, because I began it badly, without recollection,
or because I did not sufficiently combat distractions springing from
a petty rancor or from too sensible an affection or from study. It is
also fitting to recall resolutions taken and to tell whether we have
failed more or less in keeping them. Thus routine and negligence
will be avoided.
We need especially to excite contrition and a firm purpose of
amendment, its indispensable consequence. To do this, we should
think of the genuine motives of contrition, both as regards God and
as regards ourselves. We must ask for the grace to see more clearly
that sin, no matter how slight it may be, is an offense against God,
resistance to His will, resistance which certainly displeases Him;
that it is also ingratitude toward the most loving of Fathers, ingrati­
tude so much the greater as we have received more, and by it we
refuse to give God an “accidental joy” which we ought to give
Him. Our sins have increased the bitterness of the chalice that was
offered to Christ in Gethsemane; He could address to us these words
of the Psalmist: “For if My enemy had reviled Me, I would verily
have borne with it. . . . But thou a man of one mind, My guide and
cretely it is hard to say where lesser generosity ends and where negligence
and sloth begin. Moreover, a soul that wishes truly to tend to perfection
must remember that not only should it not fall back, but that it should not
retard its ascent; indeed, its pace should be accelerated. As a stone falls more
rapidly as it approaches the earth which attracts it, so souls ought to make
more rapid progress toward God as they approach nearer to Him and He
draws them more (Cf. St. Thomas, In Ep. aa Hebr., 10:15).
In addition, imperfection disposes to venial sin, from the fact that one does
not struggle as energetically as one should against the inclinations of egoism.

SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION

401

My familiar, who didst take sweetmeats together with Me.” 2 There
we have indeed the motive for contrition with respect to God.
As regards ourselves, there is another motive: venial sin, though
it does not of itself diminish charity, takes away its fervor, its liberty
of action, and its radiation. Venial sin renders the divine friendship
less intimate and less active. To lose the intimacy of a saint would be
a great loss; but to lose the intimacy of our Savior is a far greater
loss. Moreover, venial sin, especially if deliberate, causes evil in­
clinations to spring up again in us and thereby disposes us to mortal
sin; and in certain matters the attraction to pleasure may easily cause
us rapidly to cross the line which separates venial sin from mortal.
We have here another motive for sincere contrition.
Confession thus practiced will, especially by virtue of absolution
and the counsels of the priest, be a powerful means of purification
and progress. Blessed Angela of Foligno, along with many others,
exemplifies this purification and progress by means of confession.
At the beginning of the book of her visions and instructions, the
saint herself relates that when she first took cognizance of her sins
she was greatly afraid, trembled at the thought of damnation, wept
much, blushed for the first time, put off confessing them; neverthe­
less she went in this state to the holy table. She says:
With my sins I received the body of Jesus Christ. That is why my
conscience did not cease to chide me day or night. I prayed to St. Francis
to make me find the confessor I needed, someone who would be able
to understand and to whom I could talk. ... In the morning I found
a friar who was preaching in the church of St. Felician. After the sermon
I resolved to make my confession to him. I confessed my sins in full, I
received absolution. I did not feel love, only bitterness, shame, and sor­
row.
I persevered in the penance imposed on me; devoid of consolation,
overwhelmed with sorrow, I tried to satisfy justice.
Then I looked for the first time at divine mercy; I made the ac­
quaintance of that mercy which had withdrawn me from hell, which
had given me the grace that I have related. I received its first illumina­
tion: my grief and tears redoubled. I gave myself up to severe pen­
ance. . . .
Thus enlightened, I perceived only defects in myself; I saw with en’ Ps. 54:13 f.

402

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

tire certitude that I had deserved hell. ... I received no consolation
other than that of being able to weep. An illumination made me see the
measure of my sins. Thereupon I understood that, in offending the
Creator, I had offended all creatures. . . . Through the Blessed Virgin
and all the saints I invoked the mercy of God and, knowing that I was
dead, on my knees I begged for life. . . . Suddenly I believed that I felt
the pity of all creatures and of all the saints. And then I received a gift:
a great fire of love and the power to pray as I had never prayed. . . .
I received a profound knowledge of the manner in which Christ died
for my sins. I felt my own sins very cruelly, and I perceived that I was
the author of the crucifixion. But as yet I had no idea of the immensity
of the benefit of the cross. . . .
Then the Lord in His pity appeared to me several times, in sleep or
in vigil, crucified: “Look,” He said to me, “Look at My wounds.” He
counted the blows of the scourging and said to me: “It is for thee, for
thee, for thee.” ... I begged the Blessed Virgin and St. John to obtain
the sufferings of Jesus Christ for me, at least those which were given
to them. They obtained this favor for me, and one day St. John so
loaded me with them that I count that day among the most terrible of
my life. . . . God wrote the Pater Noster in my heart with such an
accentuation of His goodness and of my unworthiness that I lack words
to speak of it.

By this very profound contrition, Blessed Angela entered on
the way of sanctity. These great graces should draw our attention
to the value of the aids which God offers us daily, to matters of im­
port in the ordinary Christian life.
The Fruits

of

Confession

The fruits of confession are those of the virtues of humility and
penance and especially those of sacramental absolution.
What truer and more indispensable act of humility is there than
the sincere confession of sins committed? It is the remedy of the
vice of pride, the root of all sin. Therefore heresy, which is the
fruit of pride, suppressed confession, as we see in Protestantism. In a
humble confession there is a beginning of atonement for sins of
pride.
The act of penance, which is contrition, regrets sin, disavows it
because it displeases God and separates us from Him. By contrition
the soul is converted, turns back to the Lord from whom it had

SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION

403

turned away by mortal sin, or from whom it had strayed by venial
sin. It draws near to Him and with confidence and love throws it­
self, so to speak, into the arms of mercy.
Above all, the blood of the Savior is sacramentally poured out on
our souls by sacramental absolution. The Protestant never experi­
ences, after committing sins that may torment him, the consolation
of hearing the minister of God say to him in the name of the Lord,
speaking in merciful judgment: Ego te absolvo. He has not the con­
solation of thus being able to apply to himself Christ’s words to the
apostles: “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them.” 3
On the contrary, by these words the blood of Christ is sacramentally
poured out on our souls by absolution; it is like a salutary balm
which, adding its power to that of the virtues of humility and
penance, remits sins, greatly assists complete healing, and helps the
soul to recover its lost strength.
“By confession,” says St. Francis de Sales, “you not only receive
absolution from venial sins you confess, but likewise strength to
avoid them, light to discern them well, and grace to repair all the
damage you may have sustained by them.” 4
We must not forget, however, that the effects of absolution are
always in proportion to the excellence of the dispositions with which
the sacrament is received. As St. Thomas says,® if a man who has five
talents and loses them by mortal sin, has only sufficient contrition,
he does not recover the merits lost in the degree that he had before
his fall; he may recover three talents. If he has a more profound
sorrow for his sins, he may again receive the five talents that he lost;
or even, with a superior fervor of contrition, he will receive more,
six, for instance. Such seems to have been the contrition of St. Peter
after his denial of Christ; from that time on he was very generously
faithful to grace, which led him even to martyrdom.
Among twenty people who go to confession, each receives a
different measure of grace, for God discerns in each one’s acts differ8 John 20:23.
* Introduction to a Devout Life, Bk. Π, chap. 19.
®Cf. Illa, q.89, a.2: “Now the intensity of the penitent’s movement may
be proportionate sometimes to a greater grace than that from which man fell
by sinning, sometimes to an equal grace, sometimes to a lesser. Wherefore the
penitent sometimes arises to a greater grace than that which he had before,
sometimes to an equal, sometimes to a lesser grace: and the same applies to
the virtues, which now from grace.”

404

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

ences which no one on earth suspects. There are many different de­
grees of humility, contrition, and love of God, which are more or
less pure and more or less strong. They are as so many degrees of
intensity of a flame.
The same principles apply to sacramental satisfaction, the effect
of which depends on the sacrament, at the same time being propor­
tioned to the fervor with which it is accomplished. Sacramental satis­
faction has thus more value than a satisfaction that is not sacramental,
though the first may be more or less fruitful according to our gen­
erosity. It thus obtains for us in varying degrees the remission of
the punishment due to forgiven sins. This satisfaction or penance
should, therefore, not be put off to a later date, but performed at
once, while we thank God for the grace of absolution. The blood
of Jesus flowed over our soul to purify it; we should pray that He
may grant us to remain in the state of grace and to die in this state.
Only the saints have a profound understanding of the value of the
blood of the Savior; this penetrating illumination on the depths of
the mystery of the redemption is an immense grace.
Finally, it is fitting to accuse ourselves, at least in general, of the
sins of our past life, especially of the most serious sins, in order to
have a greater contrition for them so that the application of the mer­
its of Jesus Christ to these sins, that have already been forgiven,
may diminish the temporal punishment, which almost always re­
mains after absolution. Let us also say with the Psalmist: “From my
secret ones cleanse me, O Lord.” 6 Cleanse me, O Lord, from my
secret sins that are indirectly voluntary by reason of my negligence
to know and to will what I ought to know and will.
Confession made thus with a spirit of faith is manifestly a great
means of sanctification. Our Lord said to St. Veronica Juliani:
“Thou shalt make progress in perfection in proportion to the fruits
which thou shalt draw from this sacrament.”
In a little work on confession, St. Francis de Sales remarks:
“Listen attentively ... in order to hear in spirit the words of
absolution that the Savior Himself pronounces in heaven over your
soul ... at the same time that His priest absolves you in His name
here on earth.” 7
In the same work, he adds: “There is no character so untractable
’Ps. 18:13.
T Pratique de la confession ordinaire, § 4.

SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION

405

which, first of all by the grace of God, then by industry and dili­
gence, cannot be subdued and conquered. For that reason, follow
the orders and guidance of the prudent and zealous director.” 8
To conclude with St. Francis de Sales,9 let us note that the sadness
of true contrition, that is, displeasure with evil and detestation of it,
is never a vexing, fretful sadness which depresses, but, on the con­
trary, it is a holy sadness that makes the soul prompt and diligent,
that uplifts the heart by prayer and hope, that leads it to outbursts
of fervor: “It is a sadness which in the height of its bitterness always
produces the sweetness of an incomparable consolation, according
to the precept of the great St. Augustine: ‘The penitent should ever
grieve and rejoice at his grief.’ ” 10
If this sadness of contrition at the memory of past sins has this
sweetness, it is because it springs from charity. The more a man
grieves for his sins, the more certain it is that he loves God. This
sadness, which is not vexation and melancholy, is good; it is com­
punction or lively sorrow for having sinned, sorrow in which are
found the fruits of the Holy Ghost: namely, charity, joy, peace,
patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty,
continency, and chastity.11
8 Ibid., § 9.
8 Divers avis touchant la confession, demande XXX.
10 De poenitentia, chap. 13, quoted by St. Thomas, Illa, q.84, a.9 ad turn:
“Whether penance can be continuous?”
11 Gal. 5:22 f.

CHAPTER XXXI

Assistance at Mass, the Source
of Sanctification
HE sanctification of our soul is found in a daily more intimate
union with God, a union of faith, confidence, and love. Since
this is true, one of the greatest means of sanctification is the highest
act of the virtue of religion and of Christian worship, participation
in the Sacrifice of the Mass. For every interior soul, the Mass ought
each morning to be the eminent source from which spring the graces
we need in the course of the day, the source of light and of warmth,
similar, in the spiritual order, to the sunrise in the order of nature.
After the night and sleep, which are an image of death, the sun re­
appearing each morning restores, so to speak, life to all that awakens
on the surface of the earth. If we had a profound understanding of
the value of daily Mass, we would see that it is like a spiritual sun­
rise that renews, preserves, and increases in our souls the life of grace,
which is eternal life begun. Too often, however, the habit of assist­
ing at Mass degenerates into routine for want of a spirit of faith, and
then we no longer receive from the Holy Sacrifice all the fruits that
we should. Yet the Mass ought to be the greatest act of each of our
days, and in the life of a Christian, more notably of a religious, all
other daily acts, especially all the other prayers and little sacrifices
that we ought to offer to God in the course of the day, should be
only the accompaniment of that act.
We shall consider here: (i) what constitutes the value of the
Sacrifice of the Mass; (2) the relation of its effects to our interior
dispositions; ( 3 ) the way we should unite ourselves to the Eucharis­
tic sacrifice.

T

ASSISTANCE AT MASS
The Oblation Ever Living

in the

407

Heart of Christ

The excellence of the Sacrifice of the Mass, says the Council of
Trent,1 comes from the fact that it is the same sacrifice in substance
as that of the cross, because it is the same Priest who continues to
offer Himself by His ministers; it is the same Victim, really present
on the altar, who is really offered; only the manner of offering
differs: whereas on the cross there was a bloody immolation, there
is in the Mass, in virtue of the double consecration, a sacramental
immolation through the separation, not physical but sacramental,
of the body and blood of Christ. Thus the blood of Jesus, without
being physically shed, is sacramentally shed.12
This sacramental immolation is a sign 3 of the interior oblation of
Christ, to which we should unite ourselves; it is also the memorial of
the bloody immolation of Calvary. Although it is only sacramental,
this immolation of the Word of God made flesh is more expressive
than the bloody immolation of the paschal lamb and of all the vic­
tims of the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, a sign draws its
value as a sign from the grandeur of the thing signified: the flag,
which reminds us of our country, even though it may be made of
common material, has greater value in our eyes than the particular
flag of a company or the insignia of an officer. Likewise the bloody
immolation of the victims of the Old Testament, a remote figure of
the sacrifice of the cross, expressed only the interior sentiments of
the priests and faithful of the Old Law; whereas the sacramental im­
molation of the Savior on our altars expresses especially the interior
oblation ever living in the heart of Christ “always living to make
intercession for us.” 4
This oblation, which is the soul of the Sacrifice of the Mass, has
an infinite value, which it draws from the divine person of the Word
made flesh, principal Priest and Victim, whose immolation con­
tinues under a sacramental form. St. John Chrysostom writes:
1 Sess. XXII, chaps. 1 f.
2 Likewise the humanity of Christ remains numerically the same, but since
His resurrection it is impassible, whereas before that it was subject to sorrow
and death.
8 “The exterior sacrifice is in the nature of a sign, as a sign of the interior
sacrifice.”
‘ Heb. 7:25.

4o8

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

“When you see the ordained priest at the altar raising the sacred
host toward heaven, do not believe that this man is the true (princi­
pal) priest, but, raising your thoughts above what strikes the senses,
consider the hand of Jesus Christ invisibly extended.” 6 The priest
whom we see with our eyes of flesh cannot penetrate all the depths
of this mystery, but above him there is the intellect and will of
Christ, the principal Priest. If the minister is not always what he
should be, the principal Priest is infinitely holy; if the minister, even
though very good, may be slightly distracted or occupied with the
exterior ceremonies of the sacrifice, without penetrating their in­
most meaning, there is above him One who is not distracted and
who offers to God with full knowledge reparatory adoration of
infinite value, supplication and thanksgiving of limitless power.
This interior oblation ever living in the heart of Christ is there­
fore, so to speak, the soul of the Sacrifice of the Mass. It is the
continuation of that oblation by which Jesus offered Himself as a
victim on His entrance into this world and throughout the course
of His earthly existence, especially on the cross. When Christ was
on earth, this oblation was meritorious; now it continues without
the modality of merit. It continues under the form of reparatory
adoration and of supplication in order to apply to us the past merits
of the cross. Even after the last Mass has been said at the end of the
world, and when there will no longer be any sacrifice, properly so
called, but only its consummation, the interior oblation of Christ
to His Father will endure, no longer under the form of reparation
and intercession, but under that of adoration and thanksgiving. We
are made to foresee this by the Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, which
gives us some idea of the worship of the blessed in eternity.
How great our admiration would be, were it given to us to see
without intermediary the love which inspires this interior oblation
continuing unceasingly in the heart of Christ, “always living to make
intercession for us”!
Blessed Angela of Foligno tells us: “I have not a vague thought,
but the absolute certitude that if a soul saw and contemplated any
of the intimate splendors of the sacrament of the altar, it would take
fire, for it would see divine love. It seems to me that those who offer
the sacrifice, or who take part in it, ought to meditate profoundly
• Homil. LX to the people of Antioch.

ASSISTANCE AT MASS

409

on the deep truth of the thrice holy mystery, in the contemplation
of which we should remain motionless and absorbed.” 6
The Effects of the Sacrifice of the Mass
and Our Interior Dispositions

The interior oblation of Christ Jesus, which is the soul of the
Eucharistic sacrifice, has the same end and the same effects as the
sacrifice of the cross; but among these effects a distinction must be
made between those that relate to God and those that concern us.
The effects of the Mass which relate immediately to God, such as
reparatory adoration and thanksgiving, are always infallibly and
wholly produced with their infinite value, even without our concur­
rence, even if the Mass, provided that it be valid, should be cele­
brated by an unworthy priest. From each Mass there rise thus
toward God adoration and thanksgiving of limitless value, by rea­
son of the dignity of the principal Priest who offers it and of the
value of the Victim offered. This oblation pleases God more than
all sins taken together displease Him; this is what constitutes the very
essence of rhe mystery of the redemption in its aspect as satisfaction.7
The effects of the Mass which relate to us are poured forth on us
only in the measure of our interior dispositions. It is thus that the
Mass, as a propitiatory sacrifice, obtains ex opere operato for sin­
ners who do not resist it the actual grace which leads them to repent
and inspires them to confess their sins.8 The words Agnus Dei, qui
tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis, produce in sinners who oppose
no obstacle sentiments of contrition, as the sacrifice of the cross pro­
duced them in the soul of the good thief. Here we are especially
concerned with sinners who assist at Mass or with those for whom
it is said.
The sacrifice of the Mass, as a sacrifice of satisfaction, also infal­
libly remits to repentant sinners at least a part of the temporal pun­
ishment due to sin. This remission is in proportion to the more or
0 Livre de ses visions et instructions, chap. 67.
7 Cf. St. Thomas, Illa, q.48, a. 2: “He properly atones for an offense who
offers son,ething which the offended one loves equally or even more than he
detested the offense.”
• Cf. Council of Trent, Sess. XXII, chap. 11 : “Hujus quippe oblatione placa­
tus Dominus, gratiam et donum poenitentiae concedens, crimina et peccata
etiam ingentia dimittit.”

4io

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

less perfect dispositions with which they assist at Mass. For this
reason, says the Council of Trent, the Eucharistic sacrifice can also
be offered for the deliverance of the souls in purgatory.9
Finally, as a sacrifice of impétration or supplication, the Mass
obtains for us ex opere operato all the graces we need for our sanc­
tification. It is the great enduring prayer for us of the ever-living
Christ, accompanied by the prayer of the Church, His spouse. The
effect of this double prayer is proportionate to our fervor, and he
who unites himself with it to the best of his ability is sure to obtain
the most abundant graces for himself and those dear to him.
According to St. Thomas and many theologians, the effects of
the Mass which relate to us are limited only by the measure of our
fervor.10 The reason for this is that the influence of a universal cause
is limited only by the capacity of the subjects that receive it. Thus
the sun equally illumines and warms a thousand persons as well as
it does one at one place. Now the Sacrifice of the Mass, being sub­
stantially the same as that of the cross, is, in its aspect as reparation
and prayer, a universal cause of graces of light, attraction, and
strength. Its influence on men is, therefore, limited only by the dis­
positions or the fervor of those who receive it. Thus a single Mass
can be as profitable for a great number of persons as if it were
offered for one alone among them; just as the sacrifice of the cross
was not less profitable to the good thief than if it had been offered
for him alone. If the sun warms a thousand persons at one place as
well as a single one, the influence of the Mass, the source of spiritual
warmth, is certainly not less in its order. The greater the faith, con­
fidence, piety, and love, with which one assists at it, the greater
are the fruits he draws from it.
All that we have said shows us why the saints, in the light of the
gifts of the Holy Ghost, have always so greatly appreciated the
Sacrifice of the Mass. Some, although infirm and ill, dragged them­
9 Ibid.
10 Cf. St. Thomas, Illa, q.79, a. 5, a. 7 ad zum, where he says that there is
no other limit indicated than that of the measure of our devotion: “secundum
quantitatem seu modum devotionis eorum” (i.e., fidelium). Cajetan, In Illam,
q.79, a.$. John of St. Thomas, In Illam, dis. 32, a.3. Gonet, Clypeus ... De
Eucharistia, disp. 11, a.5, no. 100. Salmanticcnses, De Eucharistia, disp. XIII,
dub. 6. We completely disagree with what has been written on this subject
by Father de la Taille, Esquisse du mystère de la foi (Paris, 1924), p. 22.

ASSISTANCE AT MASS

411

selves to Mass because it is worth more than all treasures. On her
way to Chinon, St. Joan of Arc importuned her companions in arms
and, by dint of persistent entreaty, wrung from them a promise to
assist daily at Mass. St. Germaine Cousin was so strongly attracted
toward the church when she heard the bell announcing the Holy
Sacrifice that she would leave her sheep in the care of the angels and
run to assist at Mass: and her flock was always well guarded. The
holy Curé of Ars spoke of the value of the Mass with such convic­
tion that practically all of his parishioners assisted at it. Many other
saints shed tears of love or fell into ecstasy during the Eucharistic
sacrifice; some saw our Lord Himself, the principal Priest, in the
place of the celebrant. Others, at the elevation of the chalice, saw
the precious blood overflow, as if it were going to pour out over the
arms of the priest into the sanctuary, and angels come with golden
chalices to catch it, as if to carry it wherever there are men to be
saved. St. Philip Neri, who received graces of this kind, used to
celebrate Mass with only his server present, because of the raptures
that often seized him at the altar.

How το Unite Ourselves

to the

Eucharistic Sacrifice

What St. Thomas says about attention in vocal prayer may be
applied to assistance at Mass: “There are three kinds of attention
that can be brought to vocal prayer: one which attends to the words,
lest we say them wrong; another which attends to the sense of the
words; and a third which attends to the end of prayer, namely, God,
and to the thing we are praying for. This last kind of attention-is
most necessary, and even uneducated persons are capable of it.
Moreover, this attention, whereby the mind is fixed on God, is
sometimes so strong that the mind forgets everything else.” 11
We may use different ways to assist well at Mass, with faith, con­
fidence, true piety, and love. We can be attentive to the liturgical
prayers, which are generally beautiful and full of unction, eleva­
tion, and simplicity. We can also recall the passion and death of the
Savior, of which the Mass is the memorial, and think of ourselves as
standing at the foot of the cross with Mary, John, and the holy
women. Again, we can apply ourselves to rendering to God, in union
11 Cf. Ila Ilae, q.83, a. 13.

412

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

with Christ, the four duties that are the ends of the sacrifice: adora­
tion, reparation, petition, and thanksgiving.12 Provided we pray,
even while piously saying the Rosary, we assist fruitfully at Mass.
We may, like St. Jane de Chantal and many saints, with great profit
continue our mental prayer during the Mass, especially if we are
inclined to a pure and intense love, somewhat like St. John resting
on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper.
But whatever way we follow the Mass, one important point must
be insisted upon. We must, above all, unite ourselves profoundly
with the oblation of Christ, the principal Priest; with Him we must
offer Him to His Father, remembering that this oblation pleases
God more than all sins displease Him. We should offer ourselves
also more profoundly each day; offer particularly the trials and con­
tradictions that we already have to bear and those that may present
themselves in the course of the day. Thus at the offertory the priest
says: “In spiritu humilitatis et in animo contrito suscipiamur a te,
Domine.”
The author of The Imitation rightly insists on this point. He has
Christ say: “As I willingly offered Myself to God the Father for
thy sins, with My hands stretched out upon the cross, even so oughtest thou willingly to offer thyself to Me daily in the Mass, as in­
timately as thou canst with thy whole energies and affections, for a
pure and holy oblation. . . . Whatsoever thou givest except thy­
self, I regard not; for I seek not the gift but thyself. . . . But if thou
wilt stand upon self, and not offer thyself freely to My will, thy
offering is not complete, nor will there be an entire union be­
tween us.” 13
In the following chapter, the faithful soul replies: “Lord, in the
simplicity of my heart, I offer myself to Thee this day, as Thy serv­
ant for evermore. . . . Receive me with this sacred oblation of Thy
precious body. ... I offer also to Thee all my good works, though
very few and imperfect, that Thou mayest amend and sanctify them.
... I offer to Thee also all the pious desires of devout persons; the
necessities of my parents, friends, brothers, sisters, and all those that
12 The first part of the Mass up to the Offertory inspires us with sentiments
of penance and contrition {Confiteor, Kyrie eleison), of adoration and grati­
tude (Gloria in excelsis), of petition (collect), of living faith (Epistle, Gos­
pel, Credo), in order to prepare us for the offering of the holy Victim, which
is followed by Communion and thanksgiving.
18 The imitation, Bk. IV, chap. 8.

ASSISTANCE AT MASS

413

are dear to me. ... I offer up also to Thee prayers and this sacri­
fice of propitiation for them in particular who have in any way in­
jured me or have inflicted upon me any hurt or injury; and for all
those likewise whom I have at any time grieved, troubled, oppressed,
or scandalized, by words or deeds, knowingly or unknowingly;
that it may please Thee to forgive us all our sins and mutual offenses.
. . . Grant us so to live that we may be worthy to enjoy Thy grace
and that we may attain unto life everlasting.” 14
The Mass thus understood is a fruitful source of sanctification, of
ever new graces; by it Christ’s prayer may be better realized for us
daily: “The glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given to them;
that they may be one, as We also are one: I in them, and Thou in
Me; that they may be made perfect in one: and the world may know
that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast also
loved Me.” 18
Our visit to the Blessed Sacrament should remind us of the morn­
ing’s Mass, and we should call to mind that though there is no
sacrifice, properly so called, for it ceases with the Mass, Christ really
present in the tabernacle continues to adore, to pray, and to give
thanks. At every hour of the day we ought to unite ourselves to our
Savior’s oblation. As the prayer to the Eucharistic heart says: “He
is patient in waiting for us, eager to hear and grant our prayers. He
is the fountain of ever new graces, the refuge of the hidden life, the
master of the secrets of divine union.” In the presence of the taber­
nacle, we ought “to be silent in order to listen to Him, and leave
ourselves in order to lose ourselves in Him.”
14 Ibid., chap. 9.
15 John 17:22 f.

CHAPTER XXXII

Holy Communion
HE soul tending to Christian perfection ought to live more and
more by the Eucharist, not only by assistance at Mass but by fre­
quent and even daily Communion. This is our reason for speaking
of this living bread and of the conditions of a good and then of a
fervent Communion.

T

The Eucharist,

the

Living Bread Come Down
Heaven

from

For the salvation of all of us in general, our Lord could not have
given Himself more than He did on the cross; and He cannot give
Himself to each one of us in particular more than He has done in the
Eucharist. Because He knew our deepest spiritual needs, He said
to us in His promise of the Eucharist: “I am the bread of life. He
that cometh to Me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in Me
shall never thirst. ... I am the living bread which came down
from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and
the bread that I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world. . . .
For My flesh is meat indeed. . . . He that eateth My flesh and
drinketh My blood abideth in Me, and I in him.” 1
The Eucharist is thus the greatest of the sacraments, for it con­
tains not only grace, but the Author of grace. It is the sacrament of
love, because it is the fruit of love that gives itself and because it has
for its principal effect to increase in us the love of God and of souls
in God.
The reception of the Eucharist is called Communion, or the in­
timate union of the heart of God with the heart of man. This union
nourishes the soul and supernaturally vivifies it more and more and,
so to speak, deifies it, by increasing in it sanctifying grace, which is
1 John 6:35, 51 f., 56 f.
4'4

HOLY COMMUNION

4 t5

a participation in the inner life of God: “For My flesh is meat in­
deed.”
All created life needs to be fed: plants draw their nourishment
from the secretions of the earth; animals feed on plants or other
living creatures; man nourishes his body with material and appro­
priate food; he nourishes his mind with truth, especially divine truth;
he should nourish his will with the divine will to be accomplished
daily in order to reach eternal life. In other words, man ought to
find his nourishment especially in faith, hope, and love. The acts of
these virtues obtain for him, through merit, an increase in super­
natural life.
But the Savior offers him still another and more divine food;
He offers Himself as the food of souls. To St. Augustine, Christ said:
“I am the food of the strong; grow and thou shalt feed on Me. But
thou shalt not convert Me into thyself as the nourishment of thy
body, but thou shalt be changed into Me.” 2
In Communion, the Savior has nothing to gain: it is the soul that
receives, that is vivified, supernaturalized; the virtues of Jesus Christ
pass into it; it is, as it were, incorporated in Him and becomes a more
living member of His mystical body.
How is this incorporation and transformation effected? Especially
because Christ, present in the Eucharist, leads the soul to a purer
and stronger love of God.
The effects of this food are well explained by St. Thomas, who
says: “This sacrament works in man the effect which Christ’s pas­
sion wrought in the world.” 3 Then he adds: “This sacrament does
for the spiritual life all that material food does for the bodily life,
namely, by sustaining, giving increase, restoring, and giving de­
light.” 4
First of all, it sustains. He who in the natural order does not take
food or who takes insufficient food, declines; in the spiritual order
the same is true of the man who refuses the Eucharistic bread which
the Lord offers us as the best food for our soul. Why deprive our­
selves, without reason, of this “supersubstantial bread,” B which it;
the daily bread of our souls?
3 Confessions, Bk. VII, chap. io.
’ Cf. Illa, 0.79, a. 1.
« ibid.
’Matt. 6:11.

416

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

As material bread restores the organism by repairing its losses, the
results of labor and fatigue, so the Eucharist repairs the gradual loss
of strength which results from our negligences. As the Council of
Trent says, it frees us from venial sins, restores to us the fervor
which we lost because of these sins, and preserves us from mortal sin.
Moreover, ordinary nourishment increases the life of the body in
a growing child. Now, from the spiritual point of view, we ought
always to grow in the love of God and of our neighbor until death;
thus we advance in our journey toward eternity. That we may grow
in this way, the Eucharistic bread always brings us new graces. Thus
supernatural growth does not stop in the saints as long as they con­
tinue on their way toward God: their faith becomes daily more
enlightened and more lively, their hope more firm, their charity
more pure and ardent. Little by little they advance from resigna­
tion in suffering to the esteem and love of the cross. Through Com­
munion all the infused virtues grow with charity; and through ever
more fervent Communions, they may reach a heroic degree. The
gifts of the Holy Ghost, being permanent, infused dispositions con­
nected with charity, also grow with it.
Lastly, as material bread is pleasant to the taste, the Eucharistic
bread is sweet to the faithful soul, which draws from it a comfort
and sometimes a spiritual well-being that is more or less felt.
The author of The Imitation says: “Confiding, O Lord, in Thy
goodness and in Thy great mercy, I come as a sick man to my Sav­
ior, hungry and thirsty to the fountain of life, needy to the King
of heaven, a servant to my Lord, a creature to my Creator, and one
in desolation to my loving Comforter.” 6 “Give Thyself to me, and
it is enough; for without Thee no comfort is of any avail. Without
Thee I cannot exist; and without Thy visitation I am unable to
live.” 7
St. Thomas admirably expresses the mystery of Communion:

“O res mirabilis, manducat Dominum
Pauper, servus, et humilis!”

Communion is the sublime union of supreme wealth and poverty.
And yer, how sad it is that habit, degenerating into routine, often
prevents us from being attentive to the supernatural splendor of
this infinite gift!
• Bk. IV, chap. j.
* Ibid., chap. 3.

HOLY COMMUNION
Conditions

of a

417

Good Communion

The conditions of a good communion are indicated in the decree
(December 20, 1905) by which Pope Pius X exhorted all the faith­
ful to frequent Communion. This decree recalls first of all this
principle: “The sacraments of the New Law, while acting ex opere
operato, nevertheless produce a greater effect by reason of the more
perfect dispositions of those who receive them. . . . Care must be
taken, therefore, that an attentive preparation precede Holy Com­
munion and that a suitable thanksgiving follow it, taking into con­
sideration the faculties and condition of each person.”
According to the same decree, the first and indispensable condi­
tion for drawing profit from Communion is an upright and pious
intention. On this point His Holiness declared: “Frequent and daily
Communion, greatly desired by Jesus Christ and by the Catholic
Church, should be so accessible to all the faithful of every rank and
condition, that anyone who is in the state of grace and approaches
the holy table with an upright and pious intention, may not be
separated from it by any prohibition. Upright intention consists in
this: that he who approaches the holy table is not influenced by cus­
tom, by vanity, or by any human reason, but desires to satisfy the
good pleasure of God, to be more closely united to Him by charity,
and by means of this divine medicine to remedy his infirmities and
defects.”
Evidently the upright and pious intention mentioned here must
be supernatural, that is, inspired by a motive of faith; it is the desire
to acquire the strength to serve God better and to keep from sin.
If, with this principal intention, a person had a secondary intention
of vanity, such as the desire to be praised, this secondary and non­
determinant motive would not prevent the Communion from being
good and would not render it bad, but it would diminish its fruit.
This fruit is so much the greater as the upright and pious intention
is purer and stronger. These principles are positive. One very fer­
vent Communion is, therefore, more fruitful in itself alone than
many tepid Communions.
The Conditions of a Fervent Communion

In her Dialogue, St. Catherine states the conditions of a fervent
Communion by using a striking figure:

4i8

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

If thou hast a light, and the whole world should come to thee in order
to take light from it, the light itself does not diminish, and yet each
person has it all. It is true that everyone participates more or less in this
light, according to the substance into which each one receives the fire.
Suppose that there are many who bring their candles, one weighing an
ounce, others two or six ounces, or a pound, or even more, and light
them in the flame; in each candle, whether large or small, is the whole
light, that is to say, the heat, the color, and the flame; nevertheless thou
wouldst judge that he whose candle weighs an ounce has less of the light
than he whose candle weighs a pound. Now the same thing happens to
those who receive this sacrament. Each one carries his own candle, that
is, the holy desire with which he receives this sacrament, which of itself
is without light, and lights it by receiving this sacrament.8
How is this desire shown? The holy desire, which is the condition
of a fervent Communion, should manifest itself first in removing
all attachment to venial sin, slander, jealousy, vanity, sensuality, and
so on. This attachment is less reprehensible in poorly enlightened
Christians than in those who have already received much and are
ungrateful. If this negligence and ingratitude were to become accen­
tuated, they would render Communion less and less fruitful.
That Communion may be fervent, attachment to imperfections
must be combated; that is, attachment to an imperfect manner of
acting, such as characterizes the actions of one who, possessing five
talents, acts as if he had only three {modo remisso), and only strug­
gles feebly against his defects. Attachment to imperfections may
also be found in the seeking after permissible but useless natural
satisfactions, such as taking some refreshment which one can get
along without. The sacrifice of these satisfactions would be agreeable
to God; and the soul, by thus evidencing greater generosity, would
receive many more graces in Communion. It ought to remember
that it has as a model Christ Himself, who sacrificed Himself even
to the death of the cross, and that it ought to work for its salvation
and that of its neighbor by means similar to those which the Savior
employed. The removal of venial sin and imperfection is a negative
disposition.
The positive dispositions for a fervent Communion are humility
{Domine, non sum dignus), a profound respect for the Eucharist, a
living faith, an ardent desire to receive our Lord, the bread of life.
8 The Dialogue, chap, i io.

HOLY COMMUNION

419

All these positive conditions may be summed up as hunger for the
Eucharist.
All food is good when we are hungry. A rich man, accidentally
deprived of food and famished, is happy to find black bread; he
thinks it is the best meal of his life and he feels refreshed. If we
hungered for the Eucharist, our Communion would be most fruitful.
We should recall what this hunger was in St. Catherine of Siena;
so great was it that one day when she had been harshly refused Com­
munion, a particle of the large host became detached at the moment
when the priest broke it in two, and was miraculously brought to
the saint in response to the ardor of her desire.
How can we have this hunger for the Eucharist? The answer lies
in our being firmly convinced that the Eucharist is the indispensable
food of our soul and in generously making some sacrifices every day.
For those who are feeble, substantial food is sought which will
restore their health; efforts are also made to raise the morale of the
discouraged. The food par excellence, which renews spiritual
strength, is the Eucharist. Our sensible appetites, inclined to sen­
suality and to sloth, need to be vivified by contact with the virginal
body of Christ, who endured most frightful sufferings for love of
us. We, who are always inclined to pride, to lack of consideration,
to forgetfulness of the greatest truths, to spiritual folly, need to be
illumined by contact with the sovereignly luminous intellect of the
Savior, who is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Our will also has
its deficiencies; it lacks energy, it is cold because it lacks love. This
is the cause of all its weaknesses. Who can restore to it the ardor, the
flame necessary to its life so that it may ascend instead of descending?
The answer is contact with the Eucharistic heart of Jesus, ardent
furnace of charity, immutably fixed in the good, and source of
merits of infinite value. Of its plentitude we must all receive, and
grace for grace. We have great need of this union with the Savior,
which is the principal effect of Communion.
If we were profoundly convinced that the Eucharist is the neces­
sary food of our souls, we would have the spiritual hunger which is
found in the saints.
To recover it, if we have lost it, we must “take exercise,” as they
say to people who are stricken with a languorous illness. Spiritual
exercise in this case consists in daily offering sacrifices to God; in
particular we should give up seeking ourselves in what we do;

420

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

gradually, as egoism disappears, charity will take the first, uncon­
tested place in our souls. We will cease to be preoccupied with
the little nothings that concern us in order to think more of the
glory of God and the salvation of souls. Then the hunger for the
Eucharist will return. To make a good Communion, we should also
ask Mary to make us share in the love with which she herself re­
ceived the Eucharist from the hands of St. John.
The fruits of a fervent Communion are proportionate to the gen­
erosity of our dispositions. We read in Holy Scripture: “He that
hath, to him shall be given, and he shall abound.” 9 In the Office of
the Blessed Sacrament, St. Thomas relates that the prophet Elias,
who was being persecuted, stopped worn out in the desert and lay
down under a juniper tree to await death. He fell asleep; then an
angel of the Lord wakened him, showed him a loaf of bread under
the ashes, and a jug of water. He ate and drank, and with the
strength that this food gave him, he walked for forty days, even to
Mount Horeb, where the Lord was waiting for him. This is a figure
of the effects of fervent Communion.
We should remember that each of our Communions ought to be
substantially more fervent than the preceding one, since each ought
not only to preserve charity in us, but to increase it, and conse­
quently dispose us to receive our Lord on the following day with
an even greater love than on the preceding day. As a stone falls so
much the more rapidly as it approaches the earth which attracts it,
so, says St. Thomas,10 souls ought to advance so much the more
rapidly toward God as they approach nearer to Him and are more
drawn by Him. This law of acceleration, which is at one and the
same time a law of nature and a law of the order of grace, ought to
be verified especially by daily Communion. It would be verified if
some attachment to venial sin or to imperfection placed no ob­
stacle to it. We see it realized in the lives of the saints, who make
much more rapid progress during the last years of their lives than
during the earlier years. This is notably true of the end of St.
“Matt. 13:12.
10 Cf. In Epistolam ad Hebraeos, 10:25: “The natural motion (e.g., of a fall­
ing stone) grows the more (in proportion) as it more nearly approaches its
end. The contrary is true of violent motion (e.g., of a stone cast into the air).
Grace likewise follows the motion of nature. Therefore those who are in the
state of grace ought to grow more in proportion as they draw nearer to their
end.”

HOLY COMMUNION

421

Thomas’ life. Such acceleration in progress toward God was real­
ized above all in Mary, the model of Eucharistic devotion; each of
her Communions was certainly more fervent than the preceding one.
God grant that there may be in us at least a remote resemblance
to this spiritual progress, and that, if sensible fervor is lacking, sub­
stantial fervor, which is the promptness of the will in the service of
God, may not fail.
The author of The Imitation says: “For who, humbly approach­
ing the fountain of sweetness, does not carry thence some little
sweetness? Or who, standing by a great fire, does not derive there­
from some little heat? And Thou art a fountain ever full and over­
flowing; Thou art a fire always burning and never failing.” 11
This source of graces is so lofty and so fruitful that the properties
of refreshing water and the opposite qualities of burning fire may
be compared to it. What is divided in material things is united in
the spiritual life, and especially in the Eucharist, which contains
not only abundant grace, but the very Author of grace.
In our Communions let us think of St. John, who rested his head
on the heart of Christ, and of St. Catherine of Siena, who more than
once drank long draughts from the wound of His heart, which is
ever open in order to show us His love. These extraordinary graces
are given by God from time to time to draw our attention to what
is most intrinsic and fruitful in daily Christian life, to what would
exist in ours if we only knew how to answer God’s call with gen­
erosity.
Examination

of

Conscience

COMMUNIONS WITHOUT THANKSGIVING

“If thou didst know
the gift of God!”
John 4:10

A number of interior souls have told us of the sorrow they feel
when they see, in certain places, almost the entire body of the faith­
ful leave the church immediately after the end of the Mass during
which they have received Holy Communion. Moreover, this cus­
tom is becoming general, even in many Catholic boarding schools
11 Bk. IV, chap. 4

42 2

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

and colleges where formerly the students who had received Com­
munion remained in the chapel for about ten minutes after Mass,
thus acquiring the habit of making a thanksgiving, a habit which
the best among them kept all their lives.
Formerly to show rhe necessity of thanksgiving, people were told
how St. Philip Neri had two altar boys, carrying lighted candles,
accompany a lady who left the church immediately after the end of
the Mass during which she had received Holy Communion. How
many times this well deserved lesson was told, and how often it
bore fruit! But nowadays people have acquired the habit of treat­
ing almost everybody, superiors as well as equals and inferiors, and
even our Lord Himself, with easy familiarity. If this abuse con­
tinues, there will be, as someone has said, many Communions and
few real communicants. If zealous souls do not set to work to stop
this habit of unconcern, it will go on increasing, gradually destroy­
ing all spirit of mortification and of true and solid piety. And yet
Christ Himself is ever the same, and our duty of gratitude toward
Him has not changed.
Is not thanksgiving for a favor received a duty, and ought it not be
proportionate to the value of the favor? When we give something
valuable to a friend, we are rightfully grieved if that person does
not take the trouble to send us a word of thanks. Yet this fault is
frequent today. And if this easy carelessness, which borders on in­
gratitude, wounds us, what must be said of ingratitude toward our
Lord, whose gifts are incomparably more precious than ours?
When, after the miraculous cure of the ten lepers, only one of
them returned to thank our Lord, He asked: “And where are the
other nine?” They had been miraculously healed, but did not return
to express their thanks.
In Communion we receive a gift far superior to the miraculous
cure of a physical disease; we receive the Author of salvation and an
increase of the life of grace, which is the seed of glory, or eternal
life begun. We receive an increase of charity, the highest of the vir­
tues, which vivifies, animates all the others, and is the very principle
of merit.
Christ often gave thanks to His Father for all His benefits, in
particular for that of the redemptive Incarnation; with all His soul
He thanked His Father for having revealed its mystery to little
ones. On the cross He thanked Him while uttering His Consum­

HOLY COMMUNION

423
matum est. In the Sacrifice of the Mass, of which He is the principal
Priest, He does not cease to thank Him. Thanksgiving is one of the
four ends of the sacrifice, always united to adoration, petition, and
reparation. Even after the end of the world, when the last Mass has
been said and when there will no longer be any sacrifice, properly so
called, but only its consummation, when supplication and reparation
have ceased, the worship of adoration and thanksgiving will endure
forever, expressed in the Sanctus, which will be the song of the
elect for all eternity.
With these thoughts in mind, we can easily understand why for
some time many interior souls have been having Masses offered in
thanksgiving, particularly on the second Friday of the month, in
order to make up for the ingratitude of men and of many Christians,
who scarcely know any more how to give thanks, even after receiv­
ing the greatest benefits.
If there is one favor, however, which demands a special act of
thanksgiving, it is the institution of the Eucharist, through which
Christ willed to remain substantially among us that He might con­
tinue in a sacramental manner the oblation of His sacrifice, and that
He might give Himself to us as food to nourish our souls in a bet­
ter and more substantial way than the best of food can nourish our
body. Here it is not a question of feeding our minds on the thought
of a St. Augustine or of a St. Thomas, but of feeding ourselves on
Jesus Christ, on His humanity, on the plenitude of grace in His
holy soul, personally united to the Word and to the Divinity. By
the Eucharist, He gives Himself to us that he may assimilate us to
Himself. Blessed Nicholas of Fliie used to say: “Lord Jesus, take me
from myself and give me to Thyself.” Let us add: “Lord Jesus, give
Thyself to me, that I may belong entirely to Thee.” The Blessed
Eucharist is the greatest gift we can receive; surely it deserves a
special thanksgiving. This is the purpose of the devotion to the
Eucharistic heart.
If an author who offers you a good book is rightly offended when
he receives no expression of thanks from you, much more painful
is the ingratitude of one who fails to return thanks after Communion,
by which Christ gives Himself to us.
Have the faithful who leave the church almost immediately after
receiving I loly Communion forgotten that the Real Presence sub­
sists in them as sacramental species for about a quarter of an hour

424

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

after Communion, and can they not keep their divine Guest com­
pany for this short time? 12 Christ calls us, He gives Himself to us
with infinite love, and yet we have nothing to say to Him and are
not willing to listen to Him for a few moments.
Bossuet used to recall that the saints, in particular St. Teresa, have
often told us that sacramental thanksgiving is the most precious mo­
ment in our spiritual life.13 The essence of the Sacrifice of the Mass
is indeed in the double consecration, but it is by Communion that
we ourselves share in this sacrifice of infinite value. As a result of
our Communion, contact is established between the holy soul of
Jesus, personally united to the Word, and our soul, an intimate union
of His human intellect, illumined by the light of glory, with our
intellect, which is often darkened, clouded, forgetful of our great
duties, in some measure obtuse in regard to divine things. A no less
profound union of the human will of Christ, immutably fixed in
the good, is also established with our wavering, inconstant will;
and finally, a union of His most pure sensibility with ours, which at
times is so troubled. In Christ’s sensibility are the two virtues of
fortitude and virginity, which strengthen and render virginal the
souls that draw near to Him.
But Christ speaks only to those who listen to Him, only to those
who are not voluntarily distracted. We should not only reproach
ourselves for our directly voluntary distractions, but also for those
which are indirectly so, as a result of our negligence in not con­
sidering what we ought to consider, in not willing what we ought
to will, in not doing what we ought to do. This negligence is the
source of a multitude of sins of omission, which pass almost unseen
in our examination of conscience, because they are not something
positive, but rather the absence of what should be. Many persons
who find no sin in themselves, because they have committed no
grievous sins, are full of sins of omission, sins of indirectly volun­
tary and consequently culpable negligence.
12 We are not speaking here of truly pious people who, by reason of some
necessity, must leave the church shortly after Communion in order to fulfill
a real duty.
13 On this point consult the beautiful life of the foundress of the Cenacle,
Mother Marie Thérèse Couderc: Une grande humble, by Father Pcrroy, S.J.,
p. 195: “When I have received Holy Communion,” she said to her superior,
“it is impossible for me to leave the chapel. The time devoted to thanksgiving
by the community seems so short that I must do myself violence to follow the
sisters to the refectory.”

HOLY COMMUNION

425

Let us not neglect the duty of thanksgiving, as is so often done
today. What fruits can be derived from Communions received with
so little respect?
Unfortunately in some countries many priests themselves make,
so to speak, no thanksgiving after their Mass. Others confound their
thanksgiving with the obligatory and more or less recollected reci­
tation of a part of the Office, with the result that they no longer
have enough personal piety to vivify from within the official piety,
as it were, of the minister of God. The results are sad indeed. How
can the priest who no longer sufficiently nourishes the life of his
own soul with the divine life, give it to others? How can he relieve
the profound spiritual needs of souls that are famished, and who,
after having recourse to him, sometimes go away sadder than ever,
asking themselves anxiously where they can find what they require?
Souls that hunger and thirst for God, souls that have received much
and that, in the midst of great difficulties, should give abundantly
to those about them in order to assist souls that are dying spiritually,
are sometimes told: “Do not take so much trouble. You do more
than is necessary." We may well wonder what is to become of zeal,
of the ardor of charity, and how Christ’s words are to be verified:
“I am come to cast fire on the earth: and what will I, but that it be
kindled?” “I am come that they may have life, and may have it
more abundantly.”
A truly pious person who used to reproach himself for not think­
ing sufficiently during the day of Holy Communion which he had
received that morning, once received this reply to his expressed con­
cern: “We do not think of the meal that we had some hours ago.”
That was the reply of practical naturalism, which lost sight of the
immense distance separating the Eucharistic bread from ordinary
bread. The state of mind evinced by such a statement is manifestly
the direct opposite of the contemplation of the mystery of the
Eucharist: it springs from the habitual negligence with which one
receives God’s most precious gifts. In the long run, a person no
longer sees their value, which he knows only in a theoretical manner,
and the counsels that he gives in no way lead souls to intimate union
with God; they do not go beyond the level of casuistry, which is
concerned only with knowing what is obligatory in order to avoid
sin.
This state of soul can lead far; one can thus forget that every

4z6

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Christian, each according to his condition, must tend to the perfec­
tion of charity in virtue of the supreme 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.” 14
Were they to follow this path, the priest and religious would also
forget that they have not only a general, but a special obligation to
tend to perfection in order that they may daily perform their sacred
functions with greater holiness and be more closely united to our
Lord.
In certain periods of the history of monastic orders, some religious,
after celebrating their private Mass, did not go to the conventual
Mass even on feast days, unless it was canonically indisputable that
they were obliged to do so. If they had made their thanksgiving in a
proper manner, would they have reached the point of judging in
this fashion? Casuistry tended to prevail over spirituality, which
was considered a secondary matter. That day on which we con­
sider intimate union with God as something secondary, we no longer
tend to perfection; we lose sight of the meaning and the import
of the supreme 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.” Our judgment is then no longer the judg­
ment of wisdom; it no longer proceeds in any way from the gift of
wisdom; we have begun to descend the slope of spiritual folly. This
is the goal progressively reached through negligence in making a
proper thanksgiving.
Remissness in regard to thanksgiving becomes negligence in adora­
tion, which would end by being only exterior, negligence also in
supplication and in reparation. We would thus more and more lose
sight of the four ends of the sacrifice in order to give ourselves often
to secondary matters which, moreover, lose their true moral and
spiritual value as soon as they are no longer vivified by union with
God.
Every benefit calls for an expression of gratitude; a measureless
benefit demands a proportionate acknowledgment. Since we are not
capable of offering God gratitude proportionate to His gift, we
should ask Mary Mediatrix to come to our help and to obtain for us
a share in the thanksgiving she offered to God after the sacrifice of
the cross, after the Consummatum est, a share in the thanksgiving
14 Luke 10:27.

HOLY COMMUNION

4z7

she made after St. John’s Mass, which truly continued in substance
on the altar the sacrifice of Calvary. Negligence so frequent in
thanksgiving after Communion springs from our insufficient knowl­
edge of the gift of God: “If thou didst know the gift of God!” Let
us ask our Lord humbly but ardently for the grace of a great spirit
of faith, which will permit us daily to realize the value of the Eu­
charist a little better. Let us ask for the grace of the supernatural con­
templation of this mystery of faith, that is, the experimental knowl­
edge which proceeds from the gifts of understanding and wisdom,
and which is the cause of a fervent thanksgiving in the measure in
which we are more conscious of the greatness of the gift received.15
15 We may recall what characterized the thanksgiving of the pilgrim saint,
Benedict Joseph Labre, who was often ravished and transfigured by the con­
templation of Christ present in the Eucharist.

CHAPTER XXXIII

The Prayer of Petition
E HAVE spoken of the purification of the soul by the sacra­
ments, by sacramental confession, assistance at Mass, and fre­
quent Communion. We shall now discuss the purification of the soul
in beginners through prayer. First of all, we shall speak of the efficacy
of the prayer of petition in general, then of liturgical prayer, which is
the psalmody, and of the spirit which ought to animate it, finally of
the mental prayer of beginners. We shall begin with the most gen­
eral principles.

W

The Necessity of a Strong Belief in the Efficacy
of Prayer

The question of the efficacy of prayer interests all souls without
distinction: those who are beginning, those who have made progress,
and even those in the state of mortal sin, for though the sinner who
has lost sanctifying grace cannot merit, he can always pray.
Merit, being a right to a reward, is related to divine justice;1
prayer, on the other hand, is addressed to divine mercy, which
often hears and grants it and lifts up the soul without any merit on
its part; thus it raises up souls that have fallen into the state of spirit­
ual death. The most wretched man, from the depths of the abyss
into which he has fallen, can utter this cry to mercy, which is
prayer. The beggar who possesses nothing but his poverty can pray
in the very name of his wretchedness, and, if he puts his whole
heart into his petition, mercy inclines toward him; the abyss of
wretchedness calls to that of mercy. The soul is raised up, and God
is glorified. We should recall the conversion of Magdalen; let us also
1 Merit de condigno is based on justice; merit de congruo, on the rights of
friendship.
428

THE PRAYER OF PETITION

429

remember the prayer of Daniel for Israel: “Thou hast executed true
judgments in all the things that Thou hast brought upon us . . .
for we have sinned and committed iniquity. . . . Deliver us not
up forever, we beseech Thee, for Thy name’s sake.” 2 The psalms
are filled with these petitions: “But I am needy and poor; O God,
help me. Thou art my helper and my deliverer: O Lord, make no
delay.” 3 “Help us, 0 God, our Savior; and for the glory of Thy
name, O Lord, deliver us: and forgive us our sins for Thy name’s
sake.” 4 “Thou art my helper and my protector: and in Thy word
I have greatly hoped. . . . Uphold me according to Thy word, and
I shall live: and let me not be confounded in my expectation.” 6
Do we believe in the power of prayer? When temptation threat­
ens to make us fall, when light does not shine in us, when the cross
is hard to carry, do we have recourse to prayer, as Christ advised
us to? De we not doubt its efficacy, if not in principle at least in
practice? Yet we know Christ’s promise: “Ask, and it shall be given
you.” 8 We know the common teaching of theologians: that true
prayer, by which we ask for ourselves with humility, confidence,
and perseverance the graces necessary for our salvation, is infallibly
efficacious.7 We know this doctrine, and yet it seems to us at times
that we have truly prayed without being heard.
We believe in, or rather we see, the power of a machine, of an
army, of money, and of knowledge; but we do not believe strongly
enough in the efficacy of prayer. The power of that intellectual force
which is knowledge, we see by its results; there is nothing very
mysterious about it, for we know whence this power comes and
approximately whither it goes. It is acquired by human means and
produces effects that remain within human limits. If, on the con2 Dan. 3:28 f., 34.
’ Ps. 69:6.
* Ps. 78:9.
sPs. 118:114, II6·
e Matt. 7:7.
7 Cf. St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.83, a. 15 ad zum: “Four conditions are laid
down: namely, to ask (1) for ourselves (z) things necessary for salvation (3)
piously, (4) pcrscveringly; when all these four concur, we always obtain what
we ask for.” And likewise of the sinner’s prayer, he says (ibid., a. 16): “God
hears the sinner’s prayer if it proceeds from a good natural desire, not out
of justice, because the sinner does not merit to be heard, but out of pure
mercy, provided, however, he fulfills the four conditions given above, namely,
that he beseech for himself things necessary for salvation, piously and persevcringly.”

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

trary, prayer is in question, we believe too weakly in it, because we
do not know clearly whence it comes and we forget whither it is
going.
Let us recall the source of the efficacy of prayer and the end to
which it is ordained, what it ought to obtain; in other words, its first
principle and its end.
The Source

of the

Efficacy of Prayer

The sources of rivers are high up; the waters of the heavens and
the fountain of the snows feed their streams. A river is first a tor­
rent which descends from the mountains before irrigating the valley
and casting itself into the sea. This is a figure of the loftiness of the
source of the efficacy of prayer.
At times we seem to believe that prayer is a force which should
have its first principle in ourselves, one by which we would try to
bend the will of God by persuasion. Immediately our thought en­
counters the following difficulty, often formulated by unbelievers,
in particular by the deists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centu­
ries: namely, no one can move, no one can bend the will of God.
God is indeed Goodness which asks only to give itself, Mercy ever
ready to come to the help of him who suffers. But God is also per­
fectly immutable Being. The divine will is from all eternity as im­
movable 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
change not.” 8 By the decrees of Providence, the order of tilings and
of events is strongly and gently established from all eternity.9 Must
we conclude from this, with fatalism, that prayer can do nothing,
that it is too late, that whether we pray or not, what is to happen
will happen?
The words of Holy Scripture remain, and the interior life must
ever penetrate them more deeply: “Ask, and it shall be given you:
8 Mai. 3:6.
8 This divine immutability is often affirmed, and in a beautiful manner, in
Holy Scripture: “God is not a man . . . that He should be changed” (Num.
23:19). “The heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish, but
Thou remainest: and all of them shall grow old like a garment, and as a ves­
ture Thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed. But Thou art always
the selfsame, and Thy years shall not fail” (Ps. 101:26-28). “Every best gift,
and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration” (Jas. 1:17).

THE PRAYER OF PETITION

43i

seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.” 10
Prayer is not, in fact, a force having its first principle in us; it is
not an effort of the human soul, trying to do violence to God in
order to make Him change His providential dispositions. Such a
manner of speaking, which is used occasionally, is a metaphorical,
human way of expressing oneself. In reality, the will of God is abso­
lutely immutable, but this superior immutability is precisely the
source of the infallible efficacy of prayer.
Fundamentally it is very simple in spite of the mystery of grace
involved in it. We have here a combination of the clear and the ob­
scure that is most captivating and beautiful. First of all, we shall con­
sider what is clear: true prayer is infallibly efficacious because God,
who cannot contradict Himself, has decreed that it should be.11
This is what the contemplation of the saints examines profoundly.
A God who would not have willed and foreseen from all eternity
the prayers that we address to Him, is a conception as puerile as that
of a God who would change His plans, bowing before our will.
Not only all that happens has been foreseen and willed (or at
least permitted) in advance by a providential decree, but the way
things happen, the causes which produce events; all is fixed from
all eternity by Providence. For material harvests, God prepared the
seed, the rain that must help it to germinate, the sun that will ripen
the fruits of the earth. Likewise for spiritual harvests, He has pre­
pared spiritual seeds, the divine graces necessary for sanctification
and salvation. In all orders, from the lowest to the highest, in view
of certain effects God prepares the causes that must produce them.
Prayer is precisely a cause ordained to produce this effect: the
obtaining of the gifts of God. All creatures exist only by the gifts
of God, but the intellectual creature alone can realize this. Exist­
ence, health, physical strength, the light of the intellect, moral en10 Matt. 7:7; Luke 11:9; Mark 11:24.
11 Cf. St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.83, a.2: “Divine providence disposes not only
what effects shall take place, but also from what causes and in what order
these effects shall proceed. Now, among other causes, human acts are the
causes of certain effects. Wherefore it must be that men do certain actions,
not that thereby they may change the divine disposition, but that by those
actions they may achieve certain effects according to the order of the divine
disposition: and the same is to be said of natural causes. And so is it with
regard to prayer. For wc pray, not that wc may change the divine disposition,
but that wc may impetrate that which God has disposed to be fulfilled by our
prayers."

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

ergy, success in our enterprises, all is the gift of God; but especially
is this true of grace which leads to salutary good, causes it to be
accomplished, and gives strength to persevere. Grace and, even
more, the Holy Ghost who has been sent to us and who is the source
of living water, is the gift par excellence which Christ spoke of to
the Samaritan woman: “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. . . . 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.” 12
The intellectual creature alone is able to realize that it can live
naturally and supernaturally only by the gift of God. Must we, then,
be astonished that divine Providence has willed that man should ask
for alms, since he can understand that he lives only on alms?
Here, as elsewhere, God wills first of all the final effect; then He
ordains the means or the causes which must produce it. After having
decided to give, He decides that we shall pray in order to receive,
as a father, who has resolved in advance to bestow a pleasure on his
children, purposes to make them ask for it. The gift of God is a
result; prayer is the cause ordained to obtain it. St. Gregory the
Great says: “Men ought by prayer to dispose themselves to receive
what Almighty God from eternity has decided to give them.” 13
Thus Christ, wishing to convert the Samaritan woman, led her to
pray by saying to her: “If thou didst know the gift of God!” In the
same way, He granted Magdalen a strong and gentle actual grace
which inclined her to repentance and to prayer. He acted in the
same manner toward Zacheus and the good thief. It is, therefore,
as necessary to pray in order to obtain the help of God, which we
need to do good and to persevere in it, as it is necessary to sow seed
in order to have wheat. To those who say that what was to happen
would happen, whether they prayed or not, the answer must be
made that such a statement is as foolish as to maintain that whether
we sowed seed or not, once the summer came, we would have
wheat. Providence affects not only the results, but the means to be
12 John 4:10, 13 f.
18 Dialogues, Bk. I, chap. 8. This passage is quoted by St. Thomas in Ila
Ilae, q.83, a. z.

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433

employed, and in addition it differs from fatalism in that it safeguards
human liberty by a grace as gentle as it is efficacious, fortiter et
suaviter. Without a doubt, an actual grace is necessary in order
to pray; but this grace is offered to all, and only those who refuse it
are deprived of it.1415
Therefore prayer is necessary to obtain the help of God, as seed
is necessary for the harvest. Even more, though the best seed, for
lack of favorable exterior conditions, can produce nothing, though
thousands of seeds are lost, true, humble, trusting prayer, by which
we ask for ourselves what is necessary for salvation, is never lost.
It is heard in this sense, that it obtains for us the grace to continue
praying.
The efficacy of prayer well made is infallibly assured by Christ:
“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?” 16 To the apostles
He also says: “Amen, amen I say to you: if you ask the Father
anything in My name, He will give it to you. Hitherto you have not
asked anything in My name.” 18 Prayerful souls ought more than all
14 To every adult, though he may be a great sinner, is offered the effica­
cious grace to pray. How? Every man receives from time to time the actual
grace which renders prayer really possible for him. In this sufficient grace is
offered efficacious help, as fruit in the flower. But if man resists this grace,
called sufficient grace, he merits to be deprived of efficacious grace, which
would make him pray effectively. We are face to face here with the mystery
of grace, which can be expressed in the following terms: if resistance to grace,
which is an evil, comes solely from our defectibility, non-resistance, which is
a good, comes first of all from God, the primary source of all good. And as
the love of God for us is the cause of all good, no one would be better than
another if he were not more loved by God. “What hast thou that thou hast
not received?” (I Cor. 4:7.) Cf. St. Thomas, la, q.20, a.3 f.
Christ said (John 15:5): “Without Me you can do nothing” in the order
of salvation. This is an additional reason to beg Him to grant us grace as He
recommends us to do. If, therefore, after sincerely praying with humility,
confidence, and perseverance, we did not obtain the helps necessary to salva­
tion, there would be contradiction in the very heart of God and in His
promises. These immutable promises are the basis of the infallible efficacy of
prayer well made.
15 Luke 11:9-13.
,e John 16:23 f.

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

others to live by this doctrine, which is elementary for every Chris­
tian; by living it, one discovers its depths.
Let us, therefore, have confidence in the efficacy of prayer. It is
not only a human force which has its first principle in us; the source
of its efficacy is in God and in the infinite merits of Christ. It de­
scends from an eternal decree of love, it reascends to divine mercy.
A fountain of water rises only if the water descends from an equal
height. Likewise when we pray, it is not a question of persuading
God, of inclining Him to change His providential dispositions;
rather we have only to lift our will to the height of His in order
to will with Him in time what He has decided from all eternity to
grant us. Far from tending to bring the Most High down toward
us, “prayer is a lifting up of the soul toward God,” as the fathers
say. When we pray and are heard, it seems to us that the will of
God inclines toward us; on the contrary, it is ours which rises; we
begin to will in time what God willed for us from all eternity.
Hence, far from being opposed to the divine governance, prayer
cooperates in it. We are two who will instead of one. And when, for
example, we have prayed much in order to obtain a conversion and
have been heard, we can say that it is certainly God who converted
this soul, but who deigned to associate us with Him and from all
eternity had decided to make us pray that this great grace might be
obtained.
Thus we cooperate in our salvation by asking for ourselves the
graces necessary to attain it; among these graces, some, such as that
of final perseverance, cannot be merited,17 but are obtained by hum­
ble, trusting, and persevering prayer. Likewise, efficacious grace,
which preserves us from mortal sin and keeps us in the state of grace,
is not merited; otherwise we would merit the very principle of
merit (the continued state of grace); but it can be obtained by
prayer. Moreover, the actual and efficacious grace of loving con­
templation, although, properly speaking, not merited de condigno,
is obtained by prayer: “Wherefore I wished, and understanding
was given me: and I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom
came upon me.” 18
17 The grace of final perseverance is, in fact, the state of grace continuing
until death; but the state of grace, being the principle of merit, cannot be
merited. Cf. St. Thomas, Ia Hac, q. 114, a. 9: “Whether a man may merit per­
severance.”
18 Wisd. 7:7.

THE PRAYER OF PETITION

435
Even when we are trying to obtain the grace of conversion for
another, who perhaps resists it, the greater the number of persons
who pray and the more each one perseveres in prayer, the more hope
there is of obtaining this grace of conversion. Prayer thus greatly
cooperates in the divine governance.
The Particular Petitions We Should Make

We have just seen the nature of the first principle of the efficacy
of prayer. We shall now consider the end to which it is ordained by
God, what it can obtain for us.
The end to which Providence has ordained prayer as a means, is
the obtaining of the gifts of God necessary to sanctification and sal­
vation; for prayer is a cause which has its place in the life of souls, as
heat and electricity have their place in the physical order. Now the
end of the life of the soul is eternal life, and the goods which direct
us to it are of two kinds: spiritual goods, which lead us to it directly;
and temporal goods, which can be indirectly useful to salvation in
the measure in which they are subordinated to the first.
Spiritual goods are habitual and actual grace, the virtues, the seven
gifts of the Holy Ghost, and merits, the fruits of the virtues and of
the gifts. According to what we have just said, humble, trusting,
persevering prayer is all-powerful to obtain for the sinner the grace
of conversion and for the just man actual grace that he may per­
severe in the performance of his duties. Prayer, made under the
same conditions, is all-powerful to obtain for us also a more lively
faith, a firmer hope, a more ardent charity, a greater fidelity to our
vocation. The first petition we should make, as the Our Father
points out, is that the name of God may be sanctified, glorified by a
radiating faith; that His kingdom may come is the object of hope;
that His will may be done, fulfilled with love, by an ever purer
and stronger charity.
Moreover, prayer can obtain our daily bread for us in the meas­
ure in which it is necessary or useful for salvation, the supersubstantial bread of the Eucharist and the suitable dispositions to receive it
well. Besides, prayer obtains for us the pardon of our sins and dis­
poses us to pardon our neighbor; it preserves us from temptation or
gives us the strength to triumph over it.
To accomplish all this, prayer must have the indicated condi-

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

tions: it must be sincere, humble (it is a poor man who is asking),
trusting in the infinite goodness, which it must not doubt, per­
severing, in order to be the expression of a profound desire of our
hearts. Such was the prayer of the woman of Canaan, whom the
Gospel mentions and to whom Christ said: “O woman, great is thy
faith. Be it done to thee as thou wilt.” 19
Even if the Lord leaves us contending with great difficulties from
which we have prayed Him to deliver us, we must not believe that
we are not heard. The simple fact that we continue to pray shows
that God is helping us, for without a new actual grace we would
not continue to pray. He leaves us to battle with these difficulties in
order to inure us to warfare. He wishes to show us that the struggle
is profitable for us and that, as He said to St. Paul in similar circum­
stances, the grace granted us suffices to continue a struggle in which
the very strength of the Lord, which is the source of ours, is more
clearly shown: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for power is made
perfect in infirmity.” 20 We see this especially in the passive puri­
fications of the senses and the spirit, which are at times a spiritual
tempest, in which we must continually ask for efficacious grace,
which alone can prevent us from weakening.
In regard to temporal goods, prayer can obtain for us all those
which should, in one way or another, assist us in our journey toward
eternity: our daily bread, health, strength, the success of our enter­
prises. Prayer can obtain everything, on condition that over and
above all else we ask God for greater love of Him: “Seek ye there­
fore first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things
shall be added unto you.” 21 If we do not obtain these temporal
goods, it is because they are not useful to our salvation; if our prayer
is well made, we obtain a more precious grace in place of them.
“The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him.” 22 And the
prayer of petition, if it is truly a lifting up of the soul to God, pre­
pares the soul for a more intimate prayer of adoration, reparation,
and thanksgiving, and for the prayer of union.
10 Matt. 15:28.
20 Cf. II Cor. 12:9.
21 Matt. 6:33.
22 Ps. 144:18.

CHAPTER XXXIV

Liturgical Prayer
NE of the greatest means of union with God for the religious
soul is the psalmody, which in religious orders is the daily ac­
companiment of the Mass. The Mass is the great prayer of Christ; it
will continue until the end of the world, as long as He does not
cease to offer Himself by the ministry of His priests; as long as from
His sacerdotal and Eucharistic heart there rises always the theandric
act of love and oblation, which has infinite value as adoration, repa­
ration, petition, and thanksgiving. The psalmody of the Divine
Office is the great prayer of the Church, the spouse of Christ; a day
and night prayer, which ought never to cease on the surface of the
earth, as the Mass does not.
For those who have the great honor to take part in the chant, the
psalmody should be an admirable school of contemplation, of self­
oblation, of holiness. That it may produce these abundant fruits,
the psalmody should keep what is its very essence; it ought to have
not only a body which is well organized according to harmonious
rules, but also a soul. If it ceases to be the great contemplative prayer,
it gradually loses its soul and, instead of being a soaring, a rising
toward God, and a repose, it becomes a burden, a source of fatigue,
and no longer produces great fruits. Therefore we shall discuss
briefly first of all deformed and materialized chant, then true psal­
mody, which is a deliverance, like the chant of the Church, above all
the noises of earth.

O

Deformed Psalmody

Deformed psalmody is a body without a soul. Generally, it is
marked by unseemly haste, as if undue haste, which, according to
St. Francis de Sales, is the death of devotion, could replace true and
437

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profound life. The words of the Office are badly pronounced with­
out rhythm or measure. The antiphons, which are often beautiful,
are poorly said and become unintelligible, the hymns even more so.
The lessons which are not punctuated as they should be, are read
as one would read the most indifferent or even the most boring
passages, when, as a matter of fact, they are concerned with the
splendors of divine wisdom or what is most beautiful in the lives of
the saints. People wish to save time, four or five minutes which they
will devote to worthless trifles, and they lose the best of the time
given by God. Father de Condren used to say: “If a master spoke
to his servant as a number of people speak to God while saying the
Divine Office, the servant would think that his master was insane to
be jabbering in such fashion.”
As a result of haste, the psalmody of which we are speaking is
mechanical and not organic; just as in a body without a soul, the
members are no longer vitally united, but only placed together. The
Office becomes a series of words following one another. The great
meaning of a psalm is no longer comprehended; to one who is trying
to grasp this meaning and to follow it, this mechanical chant brings
fatigue and is an obstacle to true prayer.
Is this manner of chanting a lifting of the soul toward God? Per­
haps, but it is a uniformly retarded elevation, like the movement of a
stone that has been thrown into the air and tends to fall back; whereas
true prayer ought, like a flame, to tend spontaneously toward heaven.
What remedies can be applied to this evil? The remedy is to be
found in recalling the rules for the chant. But this remedy is not
effective if it alone is applied. The evil is deeper, and we must go to
its roots. In reality, there is only one truly effective remedy that
makes possible the utilization of the others: namely, the restoration
of the spirit of prayer. Similarly, in order to restore functions to a
body without a soul, life would have to be restored to it.
Deformed psalmody shows us that, for a soul which has no per­
sonal life of prayer, the recitation of the Office becomes altogether
material, a wholly exterior worship. Not possessing the habit of
recollection, this soul is assailed by thoughts foreign to the Office;
its work, studies, or business affairs keep returning to its memory,
and at times even thoroughly vain thoughts come. The most in­
terior persons sometimes experience this distress. But in the case of

LITURGICAL PRAYER

439

those we are speaking of, it is a habitual state of negligence, and in
them distraction does not remain in the imagination; it invades the
higher faculties. How can anyone in this state taste the divine
words of the psalms, the prophets, the Epistles, the most beautiful
pages of the fathers and of the lives of the saints which are daily
offered to us in the Divine Office? All these spiritual beauties remain
unperceived like colorless and insipid objects. The great poetry of
the Psalmist and the most profound cries of his heart become spirit­
less and monotonous. One day in choir, St. Bernard saw above each
religious his guardian angel who was writing down the chant. The
manner of writing differed greatly, however: some wrote in letters
of gold, others in silver, while still others wrote with ink or with
colorless water; one angel held his pen poised and wrote nothing.
Routine mummifies the most profoundly living passages and re­
duces them to mechanically recited formulas. This manner of chant­
ing is nothing but practical nominalism, a sort of materialism in
action. The higher faculties do not live in a prayer made thus; they
remain somnolent or scattered. A person may still hear the sym­
phony of the Office, more beautiful than the most famous sym­
phonies of Beethoven, but for lack of an interior feeling, he can
no longer appreciate it. Often the Divine Office is studied from the
historical point of view, or from the canonical point of view of strict
obligations, and these distinctions are held to; but it is especially
from the spiritual point of view that it must be considered and lived.
Contemplative Chant

What should the contemplative chant be? This chant is dis­
tinguished precisely by the spirit of prayer, or at least by the aspira­
tion which inclines us to it, which desires it, seeks it, and at length
obtains it. We are thus shown how much the contemplation of the
mysteries of faith is in the normal way of sanctity: this contempla­
tion alone can give us in liturgical prayer the light, peace, and joy
of the truth tasted and loved, gaudium de veritate.
The spirit of prayer, more intimately drawn from mental prayer,
is lost as soon as one hurries to finish daily prayer, as if it were not
the very respiration of the soul, spiritual contact with God, our
Life. It was in the spirit of prayer that the psalms were conceived:

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THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

without it, we cannot understand them or live by them. “As the hart
panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul panteth after Thee,
O God.” 1
If the psalmody has this spirit, then in place of mechanical haste,
which is a superficial life, we find profound life for which we do
not need continually to recall liturgical rules, for these rules are
merely the expression of its inner inclinations. Then, without ex­
cessive slowness the words are well pronounced, undue haste is
avoided, and the pauses, serving as a vital rest between aspiration
and respiration, are observed. The antiphons are tasted, and the
soul is truly nourished with the substance of the liturgical text. Who­
ever has the duty of reading the lessons, which are often most beau­
tiful, should look them over ahead of time in order not to spoil their
meaning. He who reads the lessons well avoids a too evident ex­
pression of his personal piety, but the great objective meaning of
Scripture explained by the fathers remains intelligible, and here and
there he grasps its splendors in the midst of its divine obscurities.
No effort is made to save four or five minutes, and he ceases to lose
the precious time given by God. He is even led at the end of the
chant to prolong prayer by some moments of mental prayer, like
the religious in bygone days who, at night after Matins and Lauds,
spent some time in profound recollection. Many times in the history
of their lives mention is made of these secret prayers, of this heart
to heart conversation with God in which they often received the
greatest lights, which made them glimpse what they had sought till
then during hours and hours of labor. When this spirit of prayer
prevails, real life begins, and one understands that mental prayer
gives the spirit of the chant; whereas the psalmody furnishes to
mental prayer the best possible food, the very word of God, dis­
tributed and explained in a suitable manner, according to the cycle
of the liturgical year, according to the true time, which coincides
with the single instant of immobile eternity.12
Such prayer is no longer mechanical, but organic; the soul has
returned to vivify the body; prayer is no longer a succession of
words; we are able to seize the vital spirit running through them.
Without effort, even in the most painful hours of life, we can taste
1 Ps. 41:2.
2 Cf. Dom Gréa, La sainte liturgie, chapters on the Divine Office, the chant
of the Church, the spouse of Christ.

LITURGICAL PRAYER

441

the admirable poetry of the psalms and find in them light, rest,
strength, renewal of all energies. Then truly this prayer is a lifting
up of the soul toward God, a lifting up that is not uniformly re­
tarded, but rather accelerated. The soul burns therein and is con­
sumed in a holy manner like the candles on the altar.
St. Thomas Aquinas deeply loved this beautiful chant thus under­
stood. It is told of him that he could not keep back his tears when,
during Compline of Lent, he chanted the antiphon: “In the midst of
life we are in death: whom do we seek as our helper, but Thou, O
Lord, who because of our sins art rightly incensed? Holy God,
strong God, holy and merciful Savior, deliver us not up to a bitter
death; abandon us not in the time of our old age, when our strength
will abandon us.” This beautiful antiphon begs for the grace of final
perseverance, the grace of graces, that of the predestined. How it
should speak to the heart of the contemplative theologian, who has
made a deep study of the tracts on Providence, predestination, and
grace!
The chant, which prepares so admirably for Mass and which fol­
lows it, is one of the greatest means by which the theologian, as well
as others, may rise far above reasoning to contemplation, to the
simple gaze on God and to divine union. The theologian who has
spent a long time over his books in a positive and speculative study
of revelation, in the refutation of numerous errors and the examina­
tion of many opinions relating to the great mysteries of the Trinity,
the Incarnation, the Eucharist, the life of heaven, needs, after such
study, to rise above all this bookish knowledge; he needs profound
recollection, truly divine light, which is superior to reasoning and
gives him the spirit of the letter which he has studied. Otherwise he
grows spiritually anaemic and, because of insufficient contact with
the light of life, he cannot give it adequately to others. His work
remains too mechanical, not sufficiently organized and living, or it
may be that the governing idea of his synthesis has not been drawn
from a high enough source; it lacks amplitude, life, radiation, and
little by little it loses its interest. The theologian needs often to find
the living and splendid expression of the mysteries that he studies
in the very words of God, such as the liturgy makes us taste and
love: “Taste, and see that the Lord is sweet.” 8
The word of God, which is thus daily recalled to us in prayer,
•Ps. 33:9·

442

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

is to its theological commentary what a simple circumference is
to the polygon inscribed in it. We must forget the polygon mo­
mentarily in order to enjoy a little and in a holy manner the beauty
of the circle, which the movement of contemplation follows, as
Dionysius used to say. This is found during the chant, if mechani­
cal haste is not substituted for the profound life which ought to
spring from the fountain. The body of the chant must be truly
vivified by the spirit of prayer.
There is great happiness in hearing the Divine Office thus chanted
in many monasteries of Benedictines, Carthusians, Carmelites, Do­
minicans, and Franciscans. This prayer attracts good vocations,
whereas the other, because it is materialized, drives them away.
When we hear the great contemplative prayer in certain cloisters,
we feel the current of the true life of the Church; it is its chant, both
simple and splendid, which precedes and follows the sublime words
of the Spouse: the Eucharistic consecration. We are made to for­
get all the sorrows of this world, all the more or less false complica­
tions and all the tiresome tasks imposed by human conventions. God
grant that the chant may ever remain thus keenly alive day and
night in our monasteries! It has been noticed that when it ceases at
night in those convents where it should go on, the Lord raises up
nocturnal adoration to replace it, for living prayer ought not to
cease, and prayer during the night, by reason of the profound silence
into which everything is plunged and for many other reasons, has
special graces of contemplation: Oportet semper orare.
The chant thus understood is the holy repose which souls need
after all the fatigues, agitations, and complications of the world. It
is rest in God, rest that is full of life, rest which from afar re­
sembles that of God, who possesses Flis interminable life tota simul,
in the single instant which never passes, and which at the same time
measures supreme action and supreme rest, quies in bono amato.
We may define the mutual relations of mental prayer and the
Divine Office by saying that from mental prayer the Office receives
the habit of recollection and the spirit of prayer. On the other hand,
mental prayer finds in liturgical prayer an abundant source of con­
templation and an objective rule against individual illusions. The
Divine Office cures sentimentality by continually recalling the great
truths in the very language of Scripture; it reminds presumptuous
souls of the greatness and severity of divine justice, and it also re­

LITURGICAL PRAYER

443

minds fearful souls of infinite mercy and the value of the passion
of Christ. It makes sentimental souls live on the heights of true faith
and charity, far above sensibility.
It will suffice here to recall one example among many: the tract
from the Mass for Quadragesima Sunday taken from psalm 90:
“He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the
protection of the God of Jacob. He shall say to the Lord: Thou
art my protector and my refuge: my God, in Him will I trust. For
He hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters and from the
sharp word. He will overshadow thee with His shoulders: and un­
der His wings thou shalt trust. His truth shall compass thee with a
shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow
that flieth in the day ... or of the noonday devil. A thousand
shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it
shall not come nigh thee. . . . For He hath given His angels charge
over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear
thee up lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. . . . He shall cry
to Me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will
deliver him and I will glorify him. I will fill him with length of
days; and I will show him My salvation.”
The liturgy recalls all the ages of the spiritual life by the joyful
mysteries of the childhood of the Savior, by His passion, and by
the glorious mysteries; it thus gives true spiritual joy which enlarges
the heart: “I have run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou
didst enlarge my heart.” 4 It prepares the soul for the more intimate
and silent prayer of meditation.

4 Ps. 118:32.

CHAPTER XXXV

The Mental Prayer of Beginners
Its Progessive Simplification
“Pray to thy Father in se­
cret: and thy Father who
seeth in secret will repay
thee.”
Matt. 6:6
N OUR discussion of the efficacy of prayer in general and of the
Divine Office, we saw that prayer is a lifting up of the soul to
God, by which we will in time what God wills from all eternity
that we should ask of Him: namely, the various means of salvation,
particularly progress in charity: “Seek ye therefore first the king­
dom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto
you.” 1 The prayer of petition should be accompanied by adora­
tion, reparation, and thanksgiving. These are the sentiments we
should have when we say the Divine Office. But we feel the need
of a more intimate prayer, in which our soul, more profoundly
recollected, comes into contact with the Blessed Trinity dwelling in
us, a contact which is necessary that we may receive from the inte­
rior Master that light of life which alone can make us penetrate
deeply and taste the mysteries of salvation: those of the redeeming
Incarnation, of the Sacrifice of the Mass, of eternal life toward
which we are traveling. This light of life is also necessary to reform
our character by spiritualizing and supernaturalizing it, by render­
ing it more conformable to Him who invites us to seek peace of soul
in humility and meekness. This more intimate prayer is mental
prayer.
We shall see, first of all, what the mental prayer of beginners
1 Matt. 6:33.

I

444

THE MENTAL PRAYER OF BEGINNERS

44;

should be. In the following chapter we will explain how to attain
to a life of prayer and persevere in it.
The Nature

Mental Prayer; Our Attitude
Toward Methods

of

In the Gospel, Christ tells us: “And when ye pray, ye shall not
be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues
and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. . . . But
thou, when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber and, having
shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth
in secret will repay thee.” 2
In a statement that is both simple and profound, St. Teresa says:
“Mental prayer is nothing else, in my opinion, but being on terms
of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him
who, as we know, loves us.” 3 Genuinely simple and pure Christian
souls have always been acquainted with this completely spontane­
ous and intimate prayer. A peasant who was questioned by the
Curé of Ars on his manner of prayer, defined it admirably by say­
ing: “I look at our Lord who is in the tabernacle, and He looks at
me.” This is indeed the commerce of friendship, by which the soul
converses alone with God by whom it believes itself loved. This
interior prayer, which was so often that of the first Christians in
the catacombs, has always existed in profoundly humble and re­
ligious souls eager for God. The royal Psalmist was, most certainly,
profoundly acquainted with this prayer when he wrote: “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?” 4
What is simpler than prayer? Its spontaneity is, however, taken
away at times by the use of excessively complicated methods, which
draw too much attention to themselves and not enough to God,
whom the soul should seek. A method is good as a way of finding
the truth, on condition that it can be forgotten and that it lead truly
to the end toward which one tends. To prefer the method to the
truth, or a certain intellectual mechanism to reality that should be
known, would be a manifest aberration, similar to that of the me2 Ibid., 5 f.
8 Life, chap. 8.
4 Ps. 41:1 f.

44<S

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

ticulous man or of the pedant. Moreover, an over-complicated
method provokes a reaction, and even an excessive reaction in some
who, worn out by this complexity, often end up in a vague reverie
that has scarcely any true piety about it except the name.
The truth, here as elsewhere, is to be found in the middle and
above these two extreme, opposite deviations. A method, or to speak
more simply with Bossuet, a manner of making prayer, is useful,
especially at the beginning, to preserve us from mental rambling.
But that it may not by its complexity become an obstacle rather
than a help, it must be simple, and, far from breaking the spon­
taneity and continuity of prayer, it should be content with describ­
ing the ascending movement of the soul toward God. It should be
limited to indicating the essential acts of which this movement is
composed. We should remember especially that prayer depends
principally on the grace of God, and that a person prepares for it far
less by processes that would remain mechanical, so to speak, than
by humility; “God . . . giveth grace to the humble.” B
The Essential Acts of Prayer

What are the essential acts of prayer? First of all, prayer is not
only an act of the intellect, like a simple study or reading. There are
speculative souls who are curious about the things of God, but they
are not for that reason contemplative souls, souls of prayer. If in
their considerations they taste a pleasure which far exceeds that
of the senses, this pleasure comes perhaps more from their knowl­
edge than from their charity; they are moved more by the love of
knowledge, it may be, than by the love of God. St. Thomas, who
distinguishes between these two loves, says that in prayer it is the
second which should lead the intellect to the knowledge of God,
with the purpose of loving Him more.6 In this statement is a holy
6 Jas. 4:6.
e Cf. Ila Ilae, q. 180, a. 1: “Now the appetitive power moves one to observe
things either with the senses or with the intellect, sometimes for love of the
thing seen because, as it is written (Matt. 6:21), ‘where thy treasure is, there
is thy heart also’; sometimes for love of the very knowledge that one acquires
by observation. Wherefore Gregory (Hom. XIV in Ezech.) makes the con­
templative life to consist in the charity of God, since through loving God
we are aflame to gaze on His beauty. And since everyone delights when he
obtains what he loves, it follows that the contemplative life terminates in
delight, which is seated in the affective power, the result being that love
also becomes more intense.”

THE MENTAL PRAYER OF BEGINNERS

447

realism, that which is observed in the knowledge of the servants of
God.
The pleasure which is born, not of the love of God but of the
love of knowledge, often increases pride and makes souls love them­
selves more; they seek themselves without being aware of it. Study
and speculation, even when they do not err, do not necessarily pre­
suppose the state of grace and charity, and do not always cooperate
in increasing it.
Prayer, on the contrary, should proceed from the love of God
and should end in Him. Through love of God, one seeks to contem­
plate Him, and the contemplation of His goodness and His beauty
increases love. We read in The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena:
“Knowledge must precede love, and only when she has attained
love, can she strive to follow and to clothe herself with the truth.” 7
In the same work, we read: “With this (supernatural) light the
souls in the unitive state love Me, because love follows the intellect,
and the more it knows the more it can love. Thus the one feeds
the other.” 8*
Moreover, as St. Thomas says,8 here on earth the love of God
is more perfect than the knowledge of God; charity is more per­
fect than faith. Why is this? Because knowledge, as it were, draws
God down to us and imposes on Him the bounds of our limited ideas,
whereas love draws us toward God, lifts us up toward Him, unites
us to Him.1011
Besides, as long as we are deprived of the beatific vision,
it is chiefly by charity that union with God is made; this is why
perfection consists especially in charity, which ought to have the
uncontested first place in our soul.11 This is equivalent to saying
that in prayer the soul should rise toward God on the two wings of
the intellect and the will, aided by the influence of grace. Prayer
is, therefore, a wholly supernatural movement of knowledge and
love.
7 Chap. i.
8 Chap. 85.
0 Cf. la, q.8z, a. 3: The love of God is better than the knowledge of God;
Ila Ilae, q.27, a.4: “Whether God can be loved immediately in this life.”
“Charity loves God immediately, and other things through God. . . . With
regard to knowledge, it is the reverse."
10 The reason for this is that the good, the object of love, is in things, in
reality exterior to ourselves, in this case in God Himself. On the contrary,
the true formally considered, that is, the conformity of our judgment with
the real, is in ourselves. Cf. St. I 'homns, ibid.
11 Ibid., q. 184, a. 1; lit Ilae, q.6rt, n.6.

448

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Hence we can readily enumerate the essential acts of prayer. To
be this lifting up of the whole soul toward God, prayer must be
prepared for by an act of humility and proceed from the three theo­
logical virtues, which unite us to God, animate the virtue of religion,
and obtain for us the lights and inspirations of the Holy Ghost. The
generous 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 rather often
bears the soul farther aloft than it could go by its own virtues. Not
in vain are the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost found in all the just
without exception.12*
We shall consider these various acts of prayer. In the perfect, they
are often simultaneous and continuous; but to describe them, we
must enumerate them one after the other, as they present them­
selves in beginners.
Normally we should begin our prayer with an act of humility, for
it is fitting that, when about to converse with God, we should re­
call what we are. Let us think of our Lord’s words to St. Catherine
of Siena: “I am who am, thou art she who is not.” Of ourselves we
are nothing, and even less than nothing, because our sins are a dis­
order inferior to nothingness itself. This act of humility is normally
accompanied by an act of repentance and an act of adoration, like
that which prompts the genuflection made on entering a church.
These acts remove pride, the chief obstacle to grace, and this true
humility, far from depressing us, reminds us that in a fragile vessel
we bear a precious treasure, sanctifying grace and the Blessed Trin­
ity dwelling in us. Thus begun, prayer does not proceed from vain
sentimentality, but from the life of grace, which is immensely su­
perior to our sensibility.
After this act of humility, we should make a profound and pro­
longed act of faith in some fundamental truth or other: God, His
perfections, His goodness, or Christ, the mysteries of His life, His
12 Prayer, under the name of discursive meditation, has at times been
transformed into an exercise which seems to be an act of prudence, foreseeing
what must be done, rather than the union of the acts of the three theological
virtues, which find their nourishment in God alone. Doubtless it is fitting in
prayer to give a place to the resolution inspired by faith, which directs pru­
dence from above, but prayer should not be transformed into an examination
of conscience or an exercise in foresight. We must maintain here in a practical
manner the superiority of the rheological virtues, among which charity ex­
cels especially under the form of the love of God, which is superior to love
of neighbor, although the second may be the great indication of the first.

THE MENTAL PRAYER OF BEGINNERS

449

passion, His glory, or again our great duties, our vocation, our last
end, sin, the duties of our state to be accomplished with ever greater
holiness. These subjects should recur. On feast days the liturgy itself
gives us the subject. If the feast commemorates a mystery in the
life of Christ, such as that of His passion, we should consider it
first of all under its sensible aspect, then under its spiritual aspect,
dwell on what makes its infinite value, rest in this gaze of fruitful
faith. For this consideration and adherence of faith, some words
of the Gospel or of the liturgy often suffice. For more advanced
souls, they are like grains of incense on the fire of charity. It is not
necessary to reason much; the simple act of theological faith is
superior to reasoning, and becomes more and more a simple gaze,
which, when accompanied by admiration and love, merits the name
of contemplation. This infused faith, superior to all philosophy and
to the discursive work of theology, makes us adhere infallibly and
supernaturally in obscurity to the mysteries which the elect con­
template openly in heaven. As St. Paul says, it is “the substance of
things to be hoped for.” 13 Its obscurity does not hinder it from be­
ing infallibly sure. It is the first light of our interior life. “Credo in
unum Deum. . .
And at a given moment, this Credo seems
almost to become a video, as if we saw from afar the fountain of liv­
ing water to which our soul aspires.
This gaze of faith on the truth and goodness of God gives spon­
taneous rise to an act of hope. The soul desires beatitude, eternal
life, the peace promised by the heavenly Father to those who follow
Jesus Christ. But we know for a certainty that by our own natural
powers we shall never reach this supernatural end. Then we have
recourse to the infinitely helpful goodness of God and beg Him for
His grace. Petition, inspired by hope, relies on the divine help.14
Having said Credo, the soul spontaneously says: desidero, sitio,
spero, I desire, I thirst, I hope. Having glimpsed from afar the
fountain of living water, the soul desires to reach it that it may there
drink long draughts, “as the hart panteth after the fountains of
water.” 15
But the act of hope, in its turn, disposes us to an act of charity.18
18 Hcb. 11:1.
14 The formal motive of hope is the all powerful and helpful divine good­
ness: Deus auxilims. Cf. Ha I Inc. q. 17, a.4.
»’Ps. 41:1.

450

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

As, indeed, St. Thomas says: “From the fact that man hopes to
obtain a benefit from God, he is led to think that God, his benefactor,
is good in Himself (and better than His gifts). This is why hope
disposes us to love God for Himself.” 18
Thus, the act of charity rises spontaneously in us, at first under
an affective form. If, in these affections, our sensibility offers its help
to the will vivified by charity, it may be useful on condition that it
remain subordinate. But this help is not necessary; it disappears in
aridities. Here we need a calm but profound affection, which is
surer and more fruitful than superficial emotions. It consists in say­
ing: “My God, I no longer wish to lie when I tell Thee that I love
Thee. Grant me to love Thee and to please Thee in all things.”
“Diligo te, Domine, ex toto corde.”
This affective charity should finally become effective: “I wish
to conform my will to the divine will. May Thy will be accom­
plished in me by fidelity to the commandments and to the spirit of
the counsels. I wish to break all that renders me the slave of sin, of
pride, of egoism, and of sensuality. I wish, O Lord, to share more and
more in the divine life that Thou dost offer me. Thou hast come that
we may have life in abundance. Increase my love for Thee. Thou
dost ask only to give; I wish to receive as Thou dost wish that I
should receive, in trial as well as in consolation; whether Thou
comest to associate me with the joyful mysteries of Thy childhood
or the sorrowful mysteries of Thy passion, for they all lead to the
glorious life of eternity. Today I resolve to be faithful on a certain
point that I have often neglected. Volo.” As St. Teresa 17 suggests,
the Pater noster may be slowly meditated in this manner.
Here, in this culminating point of prayer, the fruit of the theo­
logical virtues, the knowledge of faith, the love of hope, and that
of charity tend, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, to fuse in a
gaze of faithful and generous love, which is the beginning of con­
templation: Christian contemplation which bears on God and the
humanity of Christ, as the contemplation of the artist on nature,
and that of a mother on the countenance of her child.
This prayer begins to penetrate and to taste the mysteries of sal­
vation: the nature of the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in our
souls, the mystical body of Christ, and the communion of the saints.18
18 Cf. la Ilae, q.62, a.4.
17 The Way of Perfection, chaps. 27-38.

THE MENTAL PRAYER OF BEGINNERS

451
Gradually it introduces us into the intimacy of Christ, the intimacy
of love. Nothing can better correct our defects of character, give us
a lively desire to resemble Him who said to us: “Learn of Me, be­
cause I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your
souls.” Prayer thus made renders our hearts more and more like the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, for one imitates, even without being aware
of it, those whom one loves truly and deeply. There are difficult
characters who will succeed in reforming themselves only by the
loving contemplation of Christ in prayer.
These ideas should give us a better understanding of St. Teresa’s
definition of prayer, which we quoted at the beginning of the chap­
ter and repeat here: “Mental prayer is nothing else, in my opinion,
but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing
in secret with Him who, as we know, loves us.”
The Prayer

of

Simplicity

In proportion as the soul grows, the acts of humility, faith, hope,
and charity, which we have enumerated, tend, under the influence
of the Holy Ghost, to fuse in a gaze of ardent love. Hence a simple
method, useful at the beginning, should gradually give place to
docility to the Holy Ghost, who breathes where He will. Prayer
thus tends to become a prolonged spiritual communion, as the
peasant of Ars, whom we quoted above, defined it: “I look at our
Lord, and He looks at me.” The prayerful soul says much in a few
words, which he often says over and over without ever repeating
himself. This prolonged spiritual communion is like the breathing of
the soul or its repose in God; by faith and hope it breathes in the
truth and goodness of God, and it breathes out love. What the
soul receives from God under the form of ever new graces, it gives
back to Him under the form of adoration and love.
Consequently, to ask for the grace of Christian contemplation is
to ask that the bandage of pride, which still covers the eyes of the
spirit, may fall away completely in order that we may be able truly
to penetrate and taste the great mysteries of salvation: that of the
sacrifice of the cross perpetuated by the Mass, that of the sacra­
ment of the Eucharist, the food of our soul.
Surely without any danger of quietism, Bossuet invites us to this
simplified affective prayer in his substantial little work, Manière

452

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

courte et facile pour faire Γ oraison en foi, et de simple présence de
Dieu. We shall quote the principal part.

A person must become accustomed to nourish his soul with a simple
and loving gaze on God and on Jesus Christ our Lord; and to this end,
it must be gently separated from reasoning, discourse, and the multitude
of affections, in order to hold it in simplicity, respect, and attention, and
thus to bring it nearer and nearer to God, its unique, sovereign Good,
its first principle and last end.
The perfection of this life consists in union with our sovereign Good;
and the greater the simplicity, the more perfect also is the union. This
is why grace interiorly solicits those who wish to be perfect to become
simple that they may finally be rendered capable of the enjoyment of
the one thing necessary, of eternal unity. . . . Unum mihi est neces­
sarium, Deus meus et omnia! . . .
Meditation is very good in its time and very useful at the beginning
of the spiritual life; but we should not stop there, since the soul, by its
fidelity in mortifying and recollecting itself, ordinarily receives a purer
and more intimate prayer, which may be called the prayer of simplicity.
This prayer consists in a simple view, a gaze on God, on Jesus Christ, or
on one of His mysteries. Therefore, leaving reasoning behind, the soul
makes use of a sweet contemplation which holds it peaceful, attentive,
and susceptible to the divine operations and impressions which the Holy
Ghost communicates to it. It does little and receives much . . . and, as
it draws nearer to the source of all light, grace, and virtue, it is also
proportionately expanded. . . .
We should observe that this true simplicity makes us live in a con­
tinual death and a perfect detachment, because it makes us go to God
with perfect uprightness, without pausing over any creature. However,
this grace of simplicity is not obtained by speculation, but by a great
purity of heart and true mortification and self-contempt; whoever flees
suffering, humiliation, and death to self will never enter it. This is also
the reason why there are so few who advance in it, because hardly any­
one wishes to give up self; arid unless he does so, he experiences great
losses and deprives himself of incomprehensible goods. . . . Fidelity
which makes one die to self prepares ... for this excellent type of
prayer. . . .
The enlightened soul dearly esteems the guidance of God, who allows
it to be exercised by creatures and overwhelmed by temptations and
abandonment. . . . After the purgation of the soul by the purgatory of
sufferings, through which one must necessarily pass, will come illumina­
tion, rest, and joy through intimate union with God.

THE MENTAL PRAYER OF BEGINNERS

453

The purgatory of sufferings, which Bossuet speaks of here as
necessary before illumination, is the passive purification of the senses
which we shall discuss farther on: it is, in fact, at the threshold of
the illuminative way, like a second conversion.

CHAPTER XXXVI

How to Attain to the Life of Prayer
and Persevere in It
E HAVE defined prayer and explained how that of begin­
ners tend to become increasingly simple in order that it may
become the prayer of simplicity described by Bossuet. We shall now
explain how a person can attain to the life of prayer thus conceived
and persevere in it.

W

How

to

Attain

to

This Life

We must remember, first of all, that prayer depends especially on
the grace of God; hence we prepare for it far less by processes,
which might remain mechanical, than by humility, for “God . . .
giveth grace to the humble,” 1 and He makes us humble in order to
load us with His gifts. To remind us of the necessity of humility and
simplicity, or purity of intention, Christ said to his apostles: “Unless
you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven,” 2 especially into the intimacy of the
kingdom, or into the life of prayer. God Himself is pleased to in­
struct immediately those who are truly humble of heart; such was
the peasant of Ars who remained for a long time in silence near the
tabernacle, in intimate and wordless conversation with our Lord.
If we love to be nothing, to accept contempt, and not only accept
it, but end by loving it, we shall make great progress in prayer; we
shall be loaded with gifts far beyond all our desires.
Preparation for the life of prayer depends not only on humility,
but also on mortification, which is the spirit and practice of detach1 Jas. 4:6; I Pet. 5:5; Prov. 3:34.
’ Matt. 18:3.
45+

ATTAINING TO THE LIFE OF PRAYER

455

ment from sensible things and from self. Clearly, if our minds are
preoccupied with worldly interests and affairs, and our souls agitated
by too human an affection, by jealousy, by the memory of wrongs
done us by our neighbor, or by rash judgments, we shall not be
able to converse with our Lord. If in the course of the day we
criticize our superiors or fail in docility toward them, when eve­
ning comes we shall hardly be likely to find the presence of God
in prayer. Therefore all inordinate inclinations must be mortified
so that charity may take the uncontested first place in our soul and
rise spontaneously toward God in distress as well as in consolation.
To attain to the life of prayer, we must, in the course of the day,
often lift our hearts to God, converse with Christ about every­
thing, as with the guide who leads us in our ascent; and then when
we stop for a moment to chat more intimately with our Guide, we
shall have something to say to Him; above all, we shall know how
to listen to His inspirations because we shall be on holy and intimate
terms with Him. To reach this intimacy, young religious are often
taught to “sanctify the hour” when it strikes, that is, to offer it to
the Lord in order to be more united to Him during the following
period of time. It is also advised, especially on certain feast days
or on the first Friday of the month, to multiply from morning until
evening acts of love of God and our neighbor, not in a mechanical
manner, such as counting them, but as the occasion presents itself:
for example, on meeting a person, whether that person be naturally
congenial to us or not. If we are faithful to this practice, we shall
find when evening comes that we are closely united to God.
Finally, we must create silence in our soul; we must quiet our
more or less inordinate passions in order to hear the interior Master,
who speaks in a low voice as a friend to his friend. If we are habitually
preoccupied with ourselves, seek ourselves in our work, in study
and exterior activity, how shall we delight in the sublime harmonies
of the mysteries of the Blessed Trinity present in us, of the re­
demptive Incarnation, and of the Eucharist? The disorder and
clamor of our sensibility must truly cease for the life of prayer.
Therefore the Lord at times so profoundly cultivates the sensible
appetites, especially in the passive night of the senses, that they may
eventually become silent and submit with docility to the mind or to
the superior part of the soul.
All this work of life may be called the remote preparation for

456

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

prayer. It is far more important than the immediate preparation, that
is, than the choice of a subject; for this latter preparation has as its
object only to excite the fire of charity, which ought never to be ex­
tinguished in us and which should be continually fed with a gener­
osity sustained by fidelity to the duty of the present moment.
To further this remote preparation, we must advise what has been
called prayer while working; in other words, choosing about a
quarter of an hour in the middle of the morning or afternoon, in
the very midst of our work, whether intellectual or external, with
the intention, not of interrupting it, but of accomplishing it in a
holier manner under the eye of God. This practice is most profit­
able. By it we reach the point of no longer seeking self in our work,
of renouncing what is too natural and somewhat egotistical in our
activity, so that we may sanctify it and preserve union with God by
placing all our energies at His service, by freeing ourselves from
complacency in personal satisfaction.
Thus generous and simple souls, in the wide sense of the term, will
reach an uninterrupted conformity with the divine will and will
practically always preserve the presence of God, which will render
the immediate preparation for prayer less necessary. They will be
already disposed, inclined to turn to God, as the stone turns toward
the center of the earth as soon as a void is created beside it. They will
thus reach a true life of prayer, which will be for them a kind of
spiritual respiration.

How το Persevere

in the

Life

of

Prayer

With perseverance much can be gained; without it, everything
can be lost. Perseverance is not easy: a struggle must be carried on
against self, against spiritual sloth, against the devil, who inclines us
to discouragement. Many souls, on being deprived of the first con­
solations which they received, turn back; among them are souls that
had made considerable advance. We may cite the case of St. Cath­
erine of Genoa, who from the age of thirteen was drawn by God
to prayer and made great progress in it; after five years of suffering,
she abandoned the interior life, and for the next five years led a com­
pletely exterior life. Ilowever, one day when, on the advice of
her sister, she was going to confession, she experienced with anguish
the profound void in her soul; the desire of God revived in her.

ATTAINING TO THE LIFE OF PRAYER

457

In an instant she was taken back by God in the strongest, most
imperious manner and, after fourteen years of great penance, she
received assurance that she had fully satisfied divine justice. “If I
should turn back,” she said then, “I should wish my eyes to be
torn out, and even that would not seem sufficient.” Such vigorous
words of the saints express concretely what all theologians say
abstractly: that it is better to lose one’s sight than to lose grace, or
even to retrogress on the way to eternity. For anyone who knows
the value of life, the value of time in relation to eternity, this state­
ment is incontestable. It is, therefore, most important to persevere
and to press forward.
Some souls, after struggling for a long time, become discouraged
when they are perhaps only a few steps from the fountain of living
water. Then, without prayer, they no longer have the strength to
carry the cross generously; they let themselves slip into an easy,
superficial life, in which others might perhaps be saved, but in
which they run the risk of being lost. Why is this? Because their
vigorous faculties, which were made to seek God, will incline them,
in their search for the absolute which they desire, to look for it
where it is not. For certain strong souls, mediocrity is not possible;
if they do not give themselves entirely to God on the road of
sanctity, they will belong wholly to themselves. They will wish to
spend their life enjoying their ego; they run the risk of turning
away from God and of placing their last end in the satisfaction of
their pride or of their concupiscences. In this respect, certain souls
somewhat resemble the angels. The angel, says St. Thomas, is either
very holy or very wicked; there is no middle course. The angel
makes a choice either of ardent charity or of irrémissible mortal sin;
venial sin is impossible for a pure spirit, since immediately seeing the
end, its will is completely engaged. Either it becomes holy, forever
established in supernatural good, or it turns away from God for­
ever.3
Some souls absolutely need prayer, intimate and profound prayer;
another form of prayer will not suffice for them. There are very in­
telligent people whose character is difficult, intellectuals who will
dry up in their work, in study, in seeking themselves therein with
pride, unless they lead a life of true prayer, which for them should
be a life of mental prayer. It alone can give them a childlike soul in
• St, Thomas, la llac, q.89, a.4.

4j8

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

regard to God, to the Savior, and to the Blessed Virgin. It alone can
teach them the profound meaning of Christ’s words: “Unless . . .
you become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven.” It is, therefore, important, especially for certain souls,
to persevere in prayer; unless they do so, they are almost certain to
abandon the interior life and perhaps come to ruin.
To persevere in prayer two things are necessary: to have con­
fidence in Christ, who calls all pious souls to the living waters of
prayer, and humbly to allow ourselves to be led by the road He
Himself has chosen for us. First of all, we must have confidence in
Him. We fail in this regard when, after the first slightly prolonged
periods of aridity, we decide that prayer is not for us, nor we for
it. On this score, we might as well say, as the Jansenists did, 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.
He compares Himself to the good shepherd, who leads his sheep to
the eternal pastures, that they may feed on the word of God. In
these pastures is the fountain of living water of which Christ spoke
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.” 4 Likewise at Jerusalem on a
festal day, “Jesus stood and cried, saying: If any man thirst, let him
come to Me, and drink. He that believeth in Ale, as the Scripture
saith: Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now this
He said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in
Him.” 5
The fountain of water (forar vivus) is the Holy Ghost, who has
been sent to us, who is given to us with infused charity which unites
us to Him. Moreover, He has been given to us as interior Master and
Comforter to make us penetrate and taste the inner meaning of the
Gospel: “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.” 6 This was real­
ized for the apostles on Pentecost, and for us, proportionately, on
the day of our confirmation. Therefore St. John writes to the simple
‘.John 4:10.
6 John 7=37-39• John 14:26.

ATTAINING TO THE LIFE OF PRAYER

459

faithful in his First Epistle: “You have the unction from the Holy
One. . . . Let the unction, which you have received from Him,
abide in you. . . . His unction teacheth you of all things” 7 useful
to salvation.
St. Paul says also: “The charity of God is poured forth in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us.” 8 The Holy Ghost
is thus in all the just, in every soul in the state of grace. He, who is
subsistent Love itself, dwells in us, not to remain idle but to operate
in us, to be our interior Master by His seven gifts, which are perma­
nent, infused dispositions given to assure our docility to Him. These
dispositions grow in us with charity. Therefore, if we do not better
hear the holy inspirations of the interior Master, it is because we are
listening too intently to ourselves and are not sufficiently desirous
of the profound reign of God in us. To persevere in prayer, we must,
therefore, have confidence in Christ and in the Holy Ghost whom
He has sent to us.
Finally, we must allow ourselves to be led by the path which our
Lord has chosen for us. There is, to be sure, the common and in­
dispensable way, that of humility and conformity to the divine
will; hence we must all pray as the publican did. But on this common
road, one part is shaded, the other has nothing to protect it from
the burning rays of the sun; one section is flat, followed by long,
steep hills that lead to high plateaus where we may enjoy a mar­
velous view. The good Shepherd leads His sheep as Lie judges best.
Some He guides by the parables, others by the way of reasoning;
to others He gives, in the obscurity of faith, simple and penetrating
intuition, great views of the whole, which are the distinctive char­
acteristic of wisdom. He leaves certain souls for a rather long time
in difficulties in order to inure them to the struggle. For several years
St. Teresa herself had to make use of a book in order to meditate,
and the time seemed very long to her. Our Lord raises the Marys
rather than the Marthas to contemplation, but the former find
therein intimate sufferings unknown to the latter; and if the latter
are faithful, they will reach the living waters and will slake their
thirst according to their desire.
We must, therefore, allow ourselves to be led by the road which
the Lord has chosen for us. If aridity is prolonged, we should know
’ Cf. I John r.io, 17.
• Rom. 5: j.

4όο

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

that it does not spring from lukewarmness, provided that we have no
taste for the things of the world but rather concern for our spiritual
progress. Aridity, on the contrary, is very useful, like fire that must
dry out the wood before setting it ablaze. Aridity is needed precisely
to dry up our too lively, too impetuous, exuberant, and tumultuous
sensibility, so that finally the sensible appetites may be quieted and
become submissive to the spirit; so that, above these passing emo­
tions, there may grow in us the strong and pure love of charity,
which has its seat in the elevated part of the soul.
Then if we are faithful, as St. Thomas teaches,9 we shall gradually
begin to contemplate God in the mirror of sensible things, or in that
of the parables. Our soul will rise from one of these parables to the
thought of infinite mercy, by a straight movement, like that of a
lark soaring directly from earth toward heaven.
At other times we shall contemplate God in the mirror of the
mysteries of salvation, aiding ourselves, for example, by recalling
the mysteries of the Rosary. By a spiral (oblique) movement
analogous to the flight of the swallow, we shall rise from the joyful
to the sorrowful mysteries, and to those which announce the fife
of heaven.
Finally, on certain days we shall contemplate God in Himself,
holding fast in the obscurity of faith to the thought of His in­
finite goodness which communicates to us all the blessings we re­
ceive. By a circular movement similar to that of the eagle high in the
air, we shall repeatedly come back to this thought of the divine
goodness. And, whereas the egoist always thinks of himself and
refers everything to himself, we shall begin to think always of God
dwelling in us, and to refer everything to Him. Then, even when
the most unforeseen and painful events occur, we shall think of the
glory of God and of the manifestation of His goodness, and we shall
glimpse from afar the supreme Good toward which everything, trials
as well as joys, should converge. This is truly the life of prayer,
which allows us to see all things in God; it is the normal prelude of
eternal life.
8 Cf. Ila Ilae, q. i8o, a. 6.

CHAPTER XXXVII

Retarded Souls
T THE beginning of the third part of this work, we shall speak
kof the second conversion through which one passes, with greater
or lesser generosity, from the purgative way of beginners to the
illuminative way of the advanced. Some souls, because of their negli­
gence or spiritual sloth, do not pass from the age of beginners to
that of proficients. These are retarded souls; in the spiritual life
they are like abnormal children, who do not happily pass through
the crisis of adolescence and who, though they do not remain chil­
dren, never reach the full development of maturity. Thus these
retarded souls belong neither among beginners nor among pro­
ficients. Unfortunately they are numerous.
Of these retarded souls, some who formerly served God with
fidelity are now in a state bordering on indifference. Though in the
past they knew true spiritual fervor, we may say without fear of
rash judgment that they seriously misused divine graces. Had it not
been for this misuse, as a matter of fact the Lord would have con­
tinued what He had begun in them, for He does not refuse His help
to those who do what is in their power to obtain it.
How did these souls reach this state of tepidity? As a rule, two
principal causes are indicated: the neglect of little things in the serv­
ice of God and the refusal to make the sacrifices He asks.

A

The Neglect

of

Little Things

The neglect of little things seems slight in itself, but it may be­
come grave in its results. Our daily merit is ordinarily constituted
by little acts of virtue from morning to night. As drops of water
gradually wear away a stone, as drops of rain render the dried-up
earth fertile, so our good acts by their repetition engender a good
461

402

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

habit, an acquired virtue; they preserve it and increase it; and, if they
proceed from a supernatural or infused virtue, they obtain the in­
crease of this virtue.
In the service of God, things which seem small in themselves are
great in their relation to our last end, to God who should be loved
above all else. They are also great by reason of the supernatural spirit
of faith, confidence, and love which should make us accomplish
them. If we acted thus, we would live from morning to night in
the presence of God, which is infinitely precious; and we would
live by Him, by His spirit, instead of living by the natural spirit
in accordance with the inclination of egoism. Little by little there
would grow up in us zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of
souls. Unless we strive in this way, we may end by following the
downward path of practical naturalism, allowing ourselves to be
dominated by the more or less unconscious gross selfishness which
inspires many of our acts.
The neglect of little things in the service of God leads rapidly
to neglect of great things: for example, in the case of a priest or
religious, it leads to the recitation of the Office without true piety,
to scarcely any preparation for Mass, to saying Mass hastily or
assisting at it without the requisite attention, to replacing thanks­
giving by the obligatory recitation of a part of the Office, so that
all personal piety disappears and gradually gives place to piety that
is, in a way, official and exterior. If a priest were to follow this down­
ward path, he would little by little become a mere functionary of
God. He vtfould end by treating holy things with carelessness,
whereas, on the other hand, he would perhaps acquit himself with
the utmost seriousness in those duties which assure his reputation
as a professor, writer, lecturer, or man of affairs. Gradually emphasis
would be shifted from what is of greatest moment in life to what
is secondary. The holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which perpetuates in
substance on our altars the sacrifice of the cross and applies its fruits
to us, is evidently the most serious and greatest thing in life for the
priest and the true Christian. A Mass well celebrated or well heard
with a spirit of faith is far superior to our personal activity; it
orientates this activity toward its true supernatural end and renders
it fruitful. On the contrary, we swerve from this end when we
reach the stage of seeking self in our activity, to the point of for­
getting the salvation of souls and all that it demands on our part.

RETARDED SOULS

463

Neglect of little things in the service of God may lead us to this
forgetfulness, which renders everything unfruitful.
We read, on the contrary, in St. Luke: “He that is faithful in that
which is least is faithful also in that which is greater.” 1 Whoever
is daily faithful to the smallest duties of Christian life, or to those
of the religious life, will receive the grace to be faithful even to
martyrdom, if he should have to bear witness to God in his blood.
Then will be fully accomplished in him the words of the Gospel:
“Well done, good and faithful servant; because thou hast been faith­
ful over a few things, I will place thee over many things. Enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord.” 2 But whoever habitually neglects little
things in the service of God, will end by neglecting great ones. How,
then, will he accomplish the difficult acts that may be required of
him?
The Refusal

of

Sacrifices Asked

A second cause of tepidity in retarded souls is the refusal to
make the sacrifices which the Lord asks. Some persons feel them­
selves called to a more serious, a more perfect life, to true prayer,
to the practice of humility, without which there are no true vir­
tues; but these souls refuse, if not directly at least indirectly, by
seeking diversion. They do not wish to hear the words that recur
daily in the invitatory of Matins: “Today, if you shall hear His
voice, harden not your hearts.” Some, who are preoccupied with
doing something, for example, a book, a work that would let the
world know they exist, say to themselves from time to time: “First
of all, it is essential to become an interior soul; if the soul is empty,
it can give nothing. To do something exterior is unprofitable unless
the soul is united to God.” To become an interior soul, only some
sacrifices of self-love would be necessary; God would have to be
truly sought instead of self. Without these sacrifices, how can any­
one enter on a true interior life? If these sacrifices are refused, the
soul remains retarded; it may stay so permanently.
Then it loses zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of its
neighbor, the fervor of charity. It falls into tepidity, which, with
habitual negligence, is affection for venial sin or the disposition of
the will to commit certain venial sins deliberately when the occa1 Luke i6: to.
’ Matt. 15:23.

464

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

sion presents itself. There is finally, as it were, the firm resolution
to remain in this state.
In addition to the lack of the spirit of sacrifice, other causes may
produce this tepidity of retarded souls: namely, levity of spirit,
the thoughtlessness with which one tells, for example, officious
lies (i.e., lies of expediency) whenever the occasion offers; spirit­
ual sloth, which leads finally to the abandonment of the spirit­
ual war against our defects, against our predominant fault, which
quite frequently tries to pass for a virtue, and gives rise in us to other
more or less inordinate passions. A person thus arrives at careless­
ness and indifference in regard to perfection and no longer truly
tends toward it. The fact that he has perhaps promised to tend
toward it by the way of the counsels is forgotten, as is also the lofti­
ness of the supreme 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.” 8
The Tendency to Derision

Among the causes of tepidity in retarded souls, the tend­
ency to derision should be particularly noted. St. Thomas speaks
of the derider when he discusses the vices opposed to justice: in­
sult, detraction, murmuring against the reputation of our neighbor.
He points out4 that to deride or to ridicule someone, is to show that
we do not esteem him; and derision, says the saint, may become a
mortal sin if it affects persons or things that deserve high esteem.
It is a grievous sin to ridicule the things of God, or our parents, or
superiors, or good persons who lead a virtuous life. Derision may
even become very grievous by reason of its consequences, for it may
turn weak souls forever away from the practice of good. Job re­
plied to his friends: “He that is mocked by his friends as I, shall call
upon God; and He will hear him. For the simplicity of the just man
is laughed to scorn.” 5 But it is also said of deriders: “He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them.” 8 The terrible irony of heaven
will chastise that of earth.
The derider is himself a retarded soul, holding others back and
8 Luke 10:27.
4 Cf. Ila Ilae, q. 75, a. 2.
“Job i2:4.
8 Ps. 2:4.

RETARDED SOULS

465

becoming, often without being aware of it, the instrument of the
spirit of evil. His cast of soul, which is the direct opposite of
evangelical simplicity, is the one most opposed to supernatural con­
templation. The derider, who wishes “to play the rogue,” ridicules
the just man who tends truly to perfection; he emphasizes the lat­
ter’s defects and depreciates his good qualities. Why is this? Because
he feels that he himself has little virtue, and he is unwilling to admit his
inferiority. Then, out of spite, he lessens the real and fundamental
value of his neighbor and the necessity of virtue itself. He may
greatly harm weak souls which he intimidates, and, while working
his own ruin, he may labor at their perdition.
The Unhappy Results of This State

The saints tell us that retarded and tepid souls may reach
such a state of blindness of spirit and hardness of heart that it is
very difficult to reform them. This statement is borne out by St.
Bernard, who says: “You will more easily see a great number of
seculars renounce vice and embrace virtue than a single religious
pass from tepidity to fervor.” 7 The higher a retarded or tepid
soul has been raised, the more deplorable is its fall and also
the more difficult is its conversion; in fact, it reaches the point
where it judges its state to be satisfactory, and no longer has a de­
sire to ascend higher. When the time of the Lord’s visit is disregarded,
He sometimes returns only after long petitions. Retarded souls are
in danger; they should be intrusted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who
alone can bring them back to the Savior and obtain for them the
graces that will rekindle in them the desire for perfection.
On this subject Father Lallemant, S.J., wrote a striking chapter
reminiscent of certain pages from the writings of St. Catherine of
Siena and of Tauler. Lallemant’s beautiful book, The Spiritual Doc­
trine, contains the following statement:

In a community there may be four classes of religious: some perfect;
others wicked, haughty, full of vanity, sensual, enemies of regularity;
others tepid, cowardly, indifferent; and finally, the virtuous who tend to
perfection, although they may perhaps never reach it.
Religious belonging to these four classes may be found in the holiest
religious orders, as well as in those communities which have fallen into a
’ Epist. ad Richard.

466

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

relaxed condition; with this difference, however, that in an order which
has fallen from its first fervor, the larger number belong to the tepid
group, and the remainder is composed of a few wicked souls, of a small
number who work at their perfection, and of a very limited number of
perfect souls. But in an order in which regular observance is still in its
vigor, the bulk of the community is composed of those who tend to
perfection, and the remainder comprises a few perfect souls, a small
number of tepid religious, and very few wicked souls.
We may make a very important observation here: that is, that a re­
ligious order leans toward decadence when the number of the tepid be­
gins to equal that of the fervent. By the fervent, I mean those who strive
from day to day to make fresh progress in prayer, recollection, mortifi­
cation, purity of conscience, and humility. Those who do not make this
effort should be considered tepid, although they may keep from mortal
sin; they corrupt many others, do extreme harm to the whole body, and
are themselves in danger, either of not persevering in their vocation, or
of falling into interior pride or great darkness.
The duty of superiors in religious houses is to act in such a way, as
well by their good example as their exhortations, their individual con­
ferences, and their prayers, that their inferiors may remain in the ranks
of the fervent who tend to perfection; otherwise, the superiors them­
selves will bear the punishment, and a terrible punishment it will be.8

All this is only too true and shows how easy it is to become a
retarded soul, to stray from the road of perfection, by ceasing to
live according to the spirit of faith. Then, evidently, it becomes
difficult to admit that the contemplation of the mysteries of faith
is in the normal way of sanctity; or one may conclude that this doc­
trine seems true in theory, but is little in accord with the facts.
To tell the truth, we should say that, as a matter of fact, many souls
remain retarded; they are not in order; they do not really tend
toward perfection and certainly do not nourish themselves suf­
ficiently with the mysteries of faith, with the mystery of the
Mass, at which, however, they frequently assist, but in a manner
that is not sufficiently interior to assure the progress that should be
made.
Father Lallemant adds:

There are four things prejudicial to the spiritual life, and on them are
based the evil maxims that slip into holy communities: ( i ) the esteem of
purely human talents and qualities; (2) the care to make friends for solely
8 The Spiritual Doctrine, Appendix, chap. 8.

RETARDED SOULS

467

human reasons; (3) a politic conduct directed only by human prudence,
a spirit that is sly and opposed to evangelical simplicity; (4) superfluous
recreations which the soul seeks or conversations and reading which
give a wholly natural satisfaction to the mind.9

These four enemies of the spiritual life give rise, as Father Lalle­
mant points out in this same chapter, to ambition, the desire for
eminent positions or the wish to make a reputation for oneself in the
sciences, and the seeking after one’s ease; all of which are mani­
festly opposed to spiritual progress.
In this discussion of retarded souls, a most important considera­
tion should be noted: namely, that we must be on the alert to
preserve in our souls the subordination of the natural activity of the
mind to the essentially supernatural virtues, especially to the three
theological virtues. These three infused virtues and their acts are
certainly very superior to the natural activity of the mind neces­
sary for the study of the sciences, of philosophy, and of theology.
To deny this truth would be a heresy; but it is not sufficient to
admit it in theory. Otherwise we would end by really preferring the
study of philosophy and theology to the superior life of faith, to
prayer, to the love of God and of souls, to the celebration of the
holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which would be hurriedly celebrated
without any spirit of faith, in order to give more time to a piece
of work, to an intellectual overloading that would remain quite
empty and fruitless, because it would be destitute of the spirit that
ought to animate it. Thus we would fall into an evil intellectualism,
in which there would be something like the hypertrophy of the rea­
soning powers to the detriment of the life of faith, of true piety,
and of the indispensable training of the will. Then charity, the
highest of the theological virtues, would no longer truly hold the
first place in the soul, which might remain forever retarded and in
part fruitless.
To remedy this retardation, we should often recall that God in
His mercy continually offers us the grace to make us daily fulfill
a little better the supreme precept, that is, the duty to tend toward
the perfection of charity: “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.” 10 Let us re• Ibid.
10 Luke to: »7.

468

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

member that in the evening of life we shall be judged on the sincerity
of our love of God.
The Inclination

to

Egoism

that

Remains

in

Us

Tauler in his sermons often speaks of two inclinations in us, the
one good, the other evil. His disciples gathered up his preaching on
this subject in the third chapter of Tide Institutions. At this point
in our study, we must emphasize the essential elements of this
teaching, by noting the indications of the inclination that seeks self,
and by showing how to bring about the predominance of the other
fundamental inclination by means of which we are in the image of
God.
Since all our works draw their value from the intention and love
which produce them, and since all should spring from the love of
God, we ought often to recall the fact that all sins and eternal damna­
tion come from an evil inclination which seeks self and is opposed
to God.
Christ Himself declares: “Unless the grain of wheat falling into
the ground die, itself remaineth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit.” This is equivalent to saying that without the death of
the evil inclination in us our soul will never become rich in merits,
in fruits of life for eternity. If, on the contrary, the evil inclination
dies, then the seed of eternal life will grow in us. The knowledge
of this evil inclination is, therefore, more useful to man than knowl­
edge of the entire universe.
By what traits can this evil inclination be recognized? Simply
by the fact that it continually seeks self rather than God in every­
thing. If at times it gives evidence of love for God and neighbor,
such a manifestation is only a deception and an illusion. This in­
clination fancies that it possesses justice and goodness; it often glories
in its works, but chiefly in such as have some appearance of virtue
and holiness. It takes delight in them, attributes them to itself, and,
although it does not love true virtues, it seeks the praise that is due
them.
This evil inclination considers its sins as trifles. Such an attitude is a
proof that it is destitute of true light and does not know what sin is;
for, if it had a true and clear understanding of what it is to turn

RETARDED SOULS

469

away from God, the sovereign Good, it would doubtless not will­
ingly consent to do so.
This same inclination makes an effort always to appear good,
although it is not. For this reason, some people would not dare to
grieve anyone by a reproof because they could not endure a cross
reply. This inclination at times even imagines that it loves God
fervently, and consequently it reprehends its neighbor for his
sins with extreme asperity. “But,” says Tauler, “if it could see its
own sins, it would completely forget those of others, no matter how
great they might be.” 11
Every time this inclination is reproved, it strives to justify and
defend itself, and cannot bear to be corrected. It tells itself that others
have their defects, but that it has always acted with a good inten­
tion or through ignorance or weakness. This inclination reaches the
point of persuading itself that it seeks God in everything, whereas
in reality it seeks itself always and lives only on appearances and
externals. It prefers appearance to reality. Therefore it seeks itself
even in prayer and the taste for spiritual things, in interior con­
solations turning the gifts of heaven, whether interior or exterior,
and even God Himself, to its own satisfaction. If it happens to lose
an object of its delight, it immediately seeks another, in order to
rest in it and to refer all to self.
How το Bring About

the Predominance of the Other
Inclination, Which Is in the Image of God

To bring about the predominance of the good inclination, man
must be a severe guardian and observer of self, of his exterior and
interior senses. He must not allow his senses to become dissipated,
to run after creatures. “He must,” says Tauler, “build a cell within
his heart, withdraw to it and live in it as far as possible unknown
to the whole world, that he may be less turned away from divine
contemplation. He must not lose sight of the life and passion of
our Savior.” 12 The consideration of Christ’s life and passion will
give birth in him to the desire to resemble Christ by humility of
heart, patience, meekness, true love of God and neighbor.
When a man finds that he is not conformed to the divine model,
11 The Institutioni, chap. 3.
"Ibid.

470

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

he will ask the Holy Ghost to give him the grace better to see the
ugliness of sin and its deadly results. He will abase himself with
sincerity and humility, but with confidence in infinite mercy, beg­
ging it to raise him up again.
The more a man promptly mortifies his evil inclination, the more
living and beautiful the image of God that is in him becomes: the
natural image, that is, the soul itself in so far as by nature it is spiritual
and immortal, and the supernatural image, in other words, sanctify­
ing grace from which spring the infused virtues and the gifts. Then
gradually man begins to think frequently of God instead of thinking
always of himself, and instead of seeking self by referring every­
thing to self, he begins to seek God in everything that happens, to
love Him truly, effectively, practically, and to refer all to Him.
Tauler concludes: “As long as you seek yourself, as you act for
yourself, as you ask for the reward of and the wages for your actions,
and cannot endure being known by others for what you really are,
you dwell in illusion and error worthy of pity. When you despise
another because of his defects, and when you wish to be preferred to
those who do not live according to your maxims, you do not know
yourself, you are still ignorant of the evil inclination that subsists in
you.” 18 It is this inclination that hinders the image of God from
being what it ought to be, so that the soul may truly bear the fruits
of eternal life; therefore the necessity of knowing oneself pro­
foundly in order to know God and to love Him truly.
These reflections on retarded souls lead us to speak of the neces­
sity of the second conversion or passive purification of the senses,
which marks, according to St. John of the Cross, the entrance into
the illuminative way of the advanced. We will discuss this subject
in the second volume of this work.
18 Ibid.

Bibliography

Bibliography
General Historical Works

P. Pourrat. Christian Spirituality. London, 1922.
M. Viller. La spiritualité des premiers siècles chrétiens. Paris, 1930.
F. Vernet. La spiritualité médiévale. Paris, 1929.
G. Bardy. La vie spirituelle d’après les Pères des trois premiers siècles.
Paris, 1935.
Collections

J. de Guibert, S.J. Documenta ecclesiastica Christianae perfectionis
studium spectantia. Rome, 1931.
Rouet de Journel-Dutilleul, S.J. Enchiridion asceticum (2d ed.). St.
Louis: Herder, 1936.
Periodicals
Revue d’ascétique et de mystique. Toulouse, 1920La vie spirituelle. Paris, 1920Vida sobrenatural. Salamanca, 1921Vita cristiana. Fiesole, 1929Etudes carmélitaines. Paris, 1911Zeitschrift für Aszese und Mystik. Innsbruck, 1934—
Dictionnaire de spiritualité. Paris, 1932-

Spiritual Writers
Patristic Period
Greek Patrology

St. Clement. Letter to the Church of Corinth (about the year 95) on
concord, humility, and obedience.
Clement of Alexandria. The Pedagogue (after the year 195), through
asceticism to contemplation; Stromata, notably: VI, 8, 9, 12; V, 11,
12; VII, 7; IV, 3, 13.
St. Athanasius (297-373). Life of St. Anthony, in which he describes
the spirituality of the patriarch of monks and ccnobitcs.
47 J

474

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-86). Catecheses, which contain the portrait
of the true Christian.
St. Basil (330-79). On the Holy Ghost, His influence on the regen­
erated soul; Rules of the monastic discipline of the Orient;
Homilies.

St. Gregory of Nyssa (335-95). Life of Moses, in which he treats of
the ascent of the soul toward perfection.
St. Gregory of Nazianzus (330-90). Sermons, notably XXXIX, chaps.
8-10.
St. John Chrysostom (344-407). Homilies; On the Priesthood.
St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444). Thesaurus; Homilies; Commentary on
the Gospel of St. John, particularly Bk. IV on the Eucharist, and
Bk. V on the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in souls.
Pseudo-Dionysius (sir. 500). The Divine Names; Mystical Theology;
The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy; Letters.

St. John Climachus (d. 649). Scala paradisi, a summary of asceticism
and mysticism for the monks of the Orient.
Diadochus (bishop of Photike). De perfectione.
St. Maximus Confessor (580-662). Scolia on Dionysius and his Liber
asceticus. He explains the doctrine of Dionysius on contemplation.
St. John Damascene (675-749). Lie virtutibus et vitiis; Sacra parallela;
De Nativitate Domini.

St. Ephrem (fourth century), in Syriac literature, wrote works that
are essentially mystical by their lofty inspiration. Cf. J. Lamy,
S. Ephraem syri Hymni et sermones, 4 vols., 1882-1902.
Latin Patrology

St. Cyprian (200-58). De habitu virginum; De dominica oratione; De
bono patientiae; De zelo et livore.

St. Ambrose (337-97). De officiis ministrorum; De virginibus; De vir­
ginitate; De viduis; De Isaac et anima, chaps. 3, 8; In Ps. 118,
sermo 6.

St. Augustine (354-430). Confessiones, IX, 10; X, 40; Soliloquia; De
doctrina Christiana; De civitate Dei; Epist. 211; De quantitate
animae, chap. 33; De Sermone Domini in monte, Bk. I, chaps. 3
and 4; Enarr. in ps., 33:5.
Cassian (360-435). Collationes; cf. especially Conferences qf.
St. Leo the Great (d. 461). Sermones.
St. Benedict (480-543). Regula, critical edition by Butler, 1912; a rule
which is full of discretion and which became that of almost all
the monks of the West up to the thirteenth century.
St. Gregory the Great (540-604). Expositio in librum Job, sive
Moralium libri XXX V; Liber regulae pastoralis; Homiliae in
Ezechielem, especially Bk. II, horn. 2, 3, 5.
St. Bede the Venerable (673-735).
Lucam.
St. Peter Damian ( 1007-72). On the Perfection of Monks, chaps. 8 and
10.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

475

The Middle Ages
Benedictine and Cistercian Spirituality; Contemplative and Liturgical
Spirituality

St. Anselm (1033-1109). Meditationes; Orationes; Cur Deus homo.
St. Bernard (1090-1153). Sermones de tempore; de sanctis; de diversis;

St.
St.

In Canticum Canticorum; De consideratione; De gradibus humili­
tatis; De conversione, chaps. 12-14; De diligendo Deo. Cf. E. Gil­
son, La théologie mystique de saint Bernard, 1934.
Hildegard (d. 1179). Liber divinorum operum.
Gertrude (1256-1301) and St. Mechtilde (d. cir. 1285). Revelations,

which show a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
St. Bridget (1302-73). Revelations, particularly those on the passion of
our Lord.
Jean de Castel. De adhaerendo Deo, for a long time attributed to Albert
the Great; De lumine increato, 1410.
Garcia de Cisneros (d. 1510). Ejercitatorio de la vida espiritual, a work
which, in a sense, prepares for the Exercises of St. Ignatius.
Dom C. Butler. Benedictine Monachism. New York: Longmans, 1924.
To the above should be added:
St. Lawrence Justinian (1380-1455), reformer of the Canons Regular
in Italy. De humilitate; De perfectionis gradibus; De incendio
divini amoris; De vita solitaria.

The School of St. Victor

Hugh (d. 1141). Homilia I in Eccl.; De anima, Bk. Ill, chap. 49; De
sacramentis Christianae fidei; De vanitate mundi; Soliloquium de
arrha animae; De laude caritatis; De modo orandi; De amore sponsi
ad sponsam; De meditando.
Richard (d. 1173). Benjamin minor, seu de praeparatione ad contem­
plationem; Benjamin major, seu de gratia contemplationis; Expo­
sitio in Cantica Canticorum; De quattuor gradibus violentae cari­
tatis.
Adam (d. 1177). Sequentiae.
Carthusian Spirituality;

Contemplative Spirituality and That of the
Eremitical Life

Dom Guignes II. Scala claustralium (lectio, meditatio, oratio, contem­
platio}; cf. especially chap. 10.
Hugh of Balma (d. 1439)· Theologia mystica.
Ludolph the Carthusian (1300-70). Vie de Notre-Seigneur par mani­
ère de méditation, a book which was very much read in the Middle
Ages.
Dionysius the Carthusian ( 1402-71). De conversione peccatoris; Specu­
lum conversionis; De fonte lucis; De contemplatione; Tractatus de
donis Spiritus Sancti; De discretione spirituum; Commentar. in

47 6

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

(ed. of the Carthusians of Montreuil-sur-Mer, begun
in 1896).
John Lanspergius (d. 1539). Alloquia Christi ad animam fidelem;
Opuscula spiritualia. These works show his great devotion to the
Sacred Heart.
L. Surius (1522-78). De probatis sanctorum historiis. He translated
Tauler’s sermons into Latin.
Molina the Carthusian (1560-1612). Instrucciôn de sacerdotes; Ejerei­
Dionysium

dos espirituales.
Dominican Spirituality

On a strong doctrinal basis, it unites liturgical prayer and contem­
plation with apostolic action, as one sees exemplified in the life of
St. Dominic.
Hugh of Saint-Cher (d. 1263). De vita spirituali; Ex commentariis
Hugonis de Sancto Charo O.P. super totam bibliam excerpta,

under the direction of Father Dionysius Mésard, O.P. (Pustet,
1910). An excellent work, divided by Father Mésard into four
parts: De vita purgativa, de vita illuminativa, de vita unitiva, de
vita spirituali sacerdotum.

Blessed Humbert of Romans (d. 1277), Fifth Master General of the
Friars Preachers. Expositio stiper Regulam S. Augustini et Con­
stitutiones Fr. Praedicatorum (ed. Berthier, Rome, 1889).
St. Albert the Great (1206-80). Commentarii in Joannem, in Diony­
sium; Mariale; De sacrificio Missae.

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74). Commentarii in Psalmos; in lib. Job; in
Canticum canticorum; in Matth.; in Joann.; in Epist. S. Pauli;
Summa theologica, in which he treats at length of the virtues in

general and of each one in particular, of the seven gifts of the
Holy Ghost, of graces gratis datae, of rapture, of the influence
of the good and bad angels; in particular the tract on charity sets
forth the principles of the most solid spirituality. Cf. also his
opuscula: De perfectione spirituali; Expositio in Symbol. Apost;
et in Orat. dominie.; Officium SS. Sacramenti. The saint’s com­
pletely objective doctrine reaches beyond the particular spiritual­
ity of a religious order; here again St. Thomas merits the title
of Doctor communis in the Church.
St. Vincent Ferrer (1346-1419). Treatise on the Spiritual Life (English
translation by D. A. Dixon. Westminster, Maryland: Newman
Bookshop, 1944).
St. Catherine of Siena (1347-80). The Dialogue (English translation by
Algar Thorold. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1925).
Complete works in Italian published by Girolamo Gigli, Siena,
1707 (ed. Tommaseo, Florence, i860).
Tauler (d. 1361). Sermons (critical German edition of Vetter, 1910).
The Institutions were not written by Tauler, but are extracts from
his sermons and contain a summary of his teaching.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

477

Blessed Henry Suso (d. 1365). Die Schriften des Heiligen H. Suso.
Published by Father Denifle, O.P.
Franciscan Spirituality

It leads the soul to live especially by the love of Jesus crucified,
through the practice of abnegation and in particular of evangelical
poverty.
St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). Opuscula (critical ed., Quaracchi,
1904).
St. Bonaventure (1221-74). He treated at length of the virtues and the
gifts of the Holy Ghost in his Commentaries on Ecclesiastes, the
Book of Wisdom, the Gospels of St. John and St. Luke, in those
on the four books of The Sentences, and in the works which are,
strictly speaking, spiritual: De triplice via, Itinerarium mentis ad
Deum, Breviloquium (Quaracchi, Vols. V, VIII). Cf. Diet, de
spirit., art. “S. Bonaventure,” by E. Longpré, O.F.M.
Blessed Angela of Foligno (d. 1309). Book of Visions and Instructions.
St. Catherine of Bologna (1413-63). Treatise on the Seven Spiritual
Weapons.

The Flemish School of Mysticism

Blessed John Ruysbroeck (1293-1381). Œuvres, translated from the
Flemish by the Benedictines of the Abbey of Saint-Paul de
Wisques: The Mirror of a Mystic; De septem gradibus amoris;
The Spiritual Espousals.

Gerhard Groote (d. 1384). He wrote several puscula on spirituality.
Gerlac Peterssen (1378-1411). Soliloquium ignitum.
Thomas a Kempis (1379-1471). Probable author of The Imitation of
Christ.1 He composed various opuscula of great piety; Soliloquium
animae; Vallis liliorum; Cantica; De elevatione mentis (ed. Pohl,
Fribourg, 1902-22).
John Mauburnus (Mombaer). Rosetum exercitiorum spiritualium
(1491), a great compilation in which methods of meditation are
discussed.

Toward the close of the Middle Ages, the following also should be
noted:
Gerson (1363-1429). In spite of absolutely subversive nominalist
theses (nullus est actus intrinsece malus ex objecto), he wrote
some good spiritual works: La prière; La communion; La mon­
W.

tagne "de la contemplation; La théologie mystique spéculative et
pratique; La perfection du cœur; Considérations sur saint Joseph.
Hilton (d. 1396). The Scale of Perfection. Ed. by Evelyn Under­

hill. London: J. M. Watkins, 1923.
Juliana of Norwich (d. 1442). Revelations of Divine Love.
1 Cf. Dorn Huybcn, La vie spirituelle, luppl., 1923-16.

478

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

St. Catherine of Genoa (i447-1510). Dialogues; Treatise on PurgatoryAnonymous English Mystic (14th cent.). The Cloud of Unknowing,
with a commentary by Dom Augustine Baker, O.S.B. (ed. by Dom
Justin McCann. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1924).
The Modern Period

In the modern period, spirituality often takes a more active form
and tends to radiate more beyond the cloister, into the world; new
schools appear, while the older schools continue to show the value of
the traditional teaching.
Benedictine and Cistercian Spirituality

Louis Blosius (1506-66). Institutio spiritualis, an excellent treatise,
which contains the substance of his other works: Œuvres spiritu­
elles (translation by the Benedictines of Saint-Paul de Wisques).
Blosius wrote a defense of Tauler, whom he explains in a way that
makes his teaching more accessible.
Dom Augustine Baker (1575-1641). Sancta Sophia (Holy Wisdom), a
treatise on contemplation. New York: Benziger, 1890.
Cardinal Bona (1609-74). Manuductio ad coelum; Principia et docu­
menta vitae christianae; De sacrificio missae; De discretione spiri­
tuum; Opuscula ascetica selecta. Herder, 1911.
Schram (1658-1720). Institutiones theologiae mysticae. New edition,

1868.
Dom Prosper Guéranger (1805-75). The Liturgical Year (translation
by Dom Laurence Shepherd. London: Burns, Oates, 1890-1904).
Dom Delatte (of Solesmes). Commentaire de la Règle de saint Benoit.
Dom Vital Lehodey (abbot of the Trappist monastery of Notre-Damede-Grace. The Ways of Mental Prayer (translation by a monk of
Mount Melleray. Dublin: Μ. H. Gill, 1930); Le saint abandon.
1919.
Dom Columba Marmion (abbot of Maredsous). Christ, the Life of the
Soul (1923); Christ in His Mysteries (1924); Christ the Ideal of
the Monk (1926). St. Louis: Herder.
Dom E. Vandeur (of Maredsous). Various spiritual works on the Mass.
Dom Anselm Stolz. Théologie der Mystik. Regensburg, 1936. English
translation, The Doctrine of Spiritual Perfection. St. Louis:
Herder, 1938.
Dominican Spirittiality

St. Catherine de Ricci (1522-90). Lettere (ed. Guasti, Florence, 1890).
Luis de Granada (1504-88). Guia de pe cadores; Tratado de la oracion
y meditacion; Memorial de la vida cristiana.

Blessed Bartholomew a Martyribus (archbishop of Braganza). Com­
pendium doctrinae spiritualis. 1582.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

479
John of St. Thomas (1589-1644). De donis Spiritus Sancti.
Thomas de Vallgornera (d. 1665). Theologia mystica S. Thomae. He
draws considerably on the work of the Carmelite, Philip of the
Blessed Trinity, which appeared shortly before his work.
V. Contenson (1641-74). Theologia mentis et cordis.
Louis Chardon (1595-1651). La croix de Jésus (new edition, 1937);
Les méditations sur la passion.

A. Massoulié (1632-1706). Traité de l'amour de Dieu; Traité de la
véritable oraison (ed. Rousset, 1900); Méditations sur les trois
voies (ed. Florand, 1934). In these works, Massoulié, while re­
futing the errors of the quietists, sets forth the doctrine of St.
Thomas.
A. Piny (1640-1709). Le plus parfait (l'abandon)·, L'oraison du cœur;
La clef du pur amour; La présence de Dieu; L'état du pur amour.

Recent editions, Paris: Lethielleux, Téqui.
A. M. Meynard. Traité de la vie intérieure, 1884. Re-edited and adapted
by Father Gerest, 1923. Paris: Lethielleux.
B. Froget. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Souls of the Just.
New York: The Paulist Press, 1921.
H. M. Cormier. Instruction des novices (1905); Retraite ecclésiastique
d'après l'Evangile et la vie des saints (Rome, 1903); Trois retraites
progressives.

M. A. Janvier. Exposition de la morale catholique, Vols. IV, V; La
charité.

J. G. Arintero. La evoluciôn mîstica (Salamanca, 1908); Questiones
mîsticas (2d ed., Salamanca, 1920); Cantar de los cantares (1919).
In 1921 Father Arintero, of sainted memory, founded in Spain the
spiritual magazine, La vida sobrenatural.
V. Bemadot. De l'Eucharistie à la Trinité (1918). In 1919 the author
founded in France La vie spirituelle. Notre-Dame dans ma vie
(>937)·
A. Gardeil. La structure de l'âme et l'expérience mystique (1927); La
viaie vie chrétienne (1935).
G. Gerest. Mémento de vie spirituelle (1923).
F. D. Joret. La contemplation mystique d'après saint Thomas d'Aquin
(1923); Recueillements (1934).
R. Garrigou-Lagrange. Christian Perfection and Contemplation (1923.
English translation by Sister M. Timothea Doyle, O.P. St. Louis:
Herder, 1937); L'amour de Dieu et la croix de Jésus (1929); Les
trois conversions (1932); L'tmione mistica in S. Caterina da Siena
(Fiesolc, 1938); Providence (1932. English translation by Dom
Bede Rose. St. Louis: Herder, 1944).
H. Petitot. Introduction à la sainteté. 1935.
V. Osende. El tesoro escondido. 1924.
H. D. Noble. L'amitié avec Dieu. 1932.
I. Mcnéndez-Rcigada. De direcciôn espiritt/al. 1934.

48o

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

R. Bernard. Le mystère de Marie. 1933.
A. Lemonnyer. Notre vie divine. 1936.
Franciscan Spirituality

Francis de Osuna. Abecedario espiritual (1528), which St. Teresa
used as a guide.
St. Peter of Alcantara (d. 1562), who was one of St. Teresa’s directors.
La oration y meditation.

John of the Angels. Obras misticas (1590). New ed., 1912-17.
Mary of Agrcda. The City of God (1670). (English translation by
Fiscar Marison. Hammond, Indiana: W. B. Conkey Co., 1915.)
Louis-Fr. d’Argentan (d. 1680). Conférence sur les grandeurs de Dieu;
Exercices du chrétien intérieur.

Brancati de Lauria. De oratione Christiana (1687), often quoted by
Benedict XIV.
‘Ambrose de Lombez. Traité de la paix intérieure. 1757.
Ludovic de Besse. La science de la prière (Rome, 1903); La science du
Pater (1904).
Adolph a Denderwindeke, O.M.C. Compendium theologiae asceticae.
1921.
J. Heerinckx. Introductio in theologiam spiritualem. Rome, 1931.
Jestât Spiritual Writers

Theirs is a practical spirituality directed toward the sanctification
of souls in the active and apostolic life.
St. Ignatius (d. 1556). The Spiritual Exercises. Cf. also his Constitu­
tions and Letters.
St. Francis Xavier. Letters.
Alvarez de Paz (1560-1620). De vita spirituali ejusque perfectione.
Lyons, 1602-12.
Suarez (1548-1617). De religione.
St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621). De ascensione mentis in Deum; De

A.

genitu columbae sive de bono lacrymarum; De septem verbis a
Christo in cruce prolatis; De arte bene moriendi.
Le Gaudier (d. 1622). De natura et statibus perfectionis. 1643;

re-edited, Turin, 1903.
Alphonsus Rodriguez (d. 1616). Practice of Christian Perfection, 3
vols. Chicago, 1929.
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez (d. 1617), Jesuit brother, raised to lofty
contemplation. Obras espirituales. Barcelona, 3 vols., 1885.
Luis de Lapuente (Dupont) (d. 1624). Spiritual Directory; The Chris­
tian Life; Meditations on the Mysteries of Our Holy Faith.

Michael Godinez (Wadding) (1591-1644). Practice de la teologia
mtstica. New ed., Lethielleux, 1920.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

481

J. Nouet (d. 1680). L'homme d'oraison (1674), an excellent work.
Ven. Claude de la Colombière (d. 1682). Grande retraite. New ed.,
Desclée, 1897.
F. Guilloré (1615-84). Les secrets de la vie spirituelle. New Ed., 1922.
J. Galliffet. De l’excellence de la dévotion au Cœur adorable de JésusChrist. 1733.
L. Lallemant (d. 1635). La doctrine spirituelle (ed. Pottier, 1936), a
remarkable work which shows how the soul, by purity of heart
and docility to the Holy Ghost, ordinarily receives the grace of
contemplation.
J. Surin (d. 1665). Les fondements de la vie spirituelle; La guide
spirituelle; Questions sur l'amour de Dieu (ed. Pottier, 1930).
V. Huby (d. 1693). Ecrits spirituels. Ed. Bainvel, 1931.
P. de Caussade (d. 1751). Abandonment to Divine Providence (English
translation by E. J. Strickland. St. Louis: Herder, 1921), an ad­
mirable book; Progress in Prayer (adapted and edited by J. McSorley, C.S.P. St. Louis: Herder, 1904).
Scaramelli (1687-1752). Direttorio ascetico; Direttorio mistico. He
tends to show that asceticism is not essentially ordained to mysti­
cism, and that acquired prayer does not normally dispose the soul
to receive infused contemplation.
J. N. Grou (1731-1603). Maximes spirituelles; Méditations en forme
de retraite sur l'amotir de Dieu; Manuel des âmes intérieures.

Father Grou’s doctrine reproduces and develops that of Father
Lallemant.
J. B. Terrien La grâce et la gloire (1901); La mère de Dieu et la mère
des hommes (1900).
R. de Maumigny. Pratique de l’oraison mentale. 8th ed., 1911.
A. Poulain. The Graces of Interior Prayer (English translation by
Leonora Yorke-Smith. St. Louis: Herder, 1911), a treatise on
mysticism written from the point of view of the descriptive
method.
A. Eymieu. Le gouvernement de soi-même. 1911-21.
J. V. Bainvel. La dévotion au Sacré-Cœur de Jésus (4th ed., 1917);
Le saint cœur de Marie, vie intime de la Sainte Vierge (1918).
Raoul Plus. In Christ Jesus (English translation by Peter Addison.
London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1926); God within Us
(ed. by Cowell. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1929);
Progress in Divine Union (English translation by Sister Mary
Bertille and Sister Mary St. Thomas. New York: Pustet, 1941).
P. Charles. La prière de toutes les heures.
P. L. Peeters. Vers l'union divine par les exercices de saint Ignace. 2d.
cd., 1931.
J. de Guibcrt. Etudes de théologie mystique (1930); Theologia spiritu­
alis ascetica et mystica (1937). Since 1920 the Revue d'ascétique

482

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
et de mystique has appeared under his direction; since 1932 Le
dictionnaire de spiritualité has appeared under the direction of

Father M. Viller, S.J.
J. Maréchal. Etudes sur la psychologie des mystiques. Brussels-Paris: I,
1924; II, 1937.
Paul de Jaegher. An Anthology of Mysticism (English translation by­
Donald Attwater and others. London: Burns, Oates and Wash­
bourne, 1935).
J. de Ghellinck. Lectures spirituelles d’après les écrits des Pères. Desclée
de Brouwer, 1931.
R. de Sinety. Psychopathologie et direction. Paris: Beauchesne, 1934.
Carmelite Spirituality

Its center is the life of prayer, union with God through complete
detachment, with the hidden apostolate by means of prayer.
St. Teresa (1515-82). Obras de Santa Teresa, editadas y anotadas por
el P. Silverio de S. Teresa. 6 vols., Burgos, 1915-20. See especially
the excellent English editions, published by the Benedictines of
Stanbrook Abbey, of The Interior Castle (London: Thomas
Baker, 1921) and The Way of Perfection (ibid.).
St. John of the Cross (1543-91). Obras de San Juan de la Cruz ed. del
P. Silverio de S. Teresa. 5 vols., 1929-31. Works of Saint John of
the Cross (English translation by David Lewis. New York: Benziger, 1909).
John of Jesus-Mary (1564-1615). Theologia mystica (re-edited in
1911, Herder); Instructio novitiorum (1883); De virorum
ecclesiasticorum perfectione.

Thomas of Jesus (1568-1627). De contemplatione divina. Cologne,
1684.
Nicholas of Jesus-Mary. Phrasium mysticae theologiae ven. P. Joannis
a Cruce elucidatio.

Philip of the Blessed Trinity (d. 1671). Summa theologiae mysticae
(3 vols., new ed., Brussels, 1874). Thomas de Vallgornera, O.P.,
reproduces almost integrally the doctrine of this work in his Theo­
logia mystica S. Thomae.

Anthony of the Holy.Ghost. Directorium mysticum (\Άηη), a sum­
mary of the work of Philip of the Blessed Trinity.
Joseph of the Holy Ghost. Cursus theologiae mystico-scholasticae.
Seville, 1710-40; new ed., Bruges: Beyaert, 1924-.
St. Theresa of the Child Jesus (1873-97). Lettres; Sœur Thérèse of
Lisieux, the Little Flower of Jesus; a new and complete translation
of L’histoire d'une âme (New York: Kenedy, 1924).
Theodore of St. Joseph. Essai sur l’oraison selon l’école carmélitaine.
Bruges, 1923.
Bruno of Jesus-Mary. St. Jolm of the Cross (New York: Benziger,
*932); Lie d'amour de saint Jean de la Croix (Paris: Desclée de

BIBLIOGRAPHY

483

Brouwer, 1934); Madame Acarie (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer,
1936).
Gabriel of St. Magdalen. La Mistica Teresiana (Fiesole, 1934); S. Gi­
ovanni della Croce (Florence, 1936); Santa Teresa di Gestl,
Maestra di vita spirituale (Milan, 1935); Diet, de spiritualité, art.
“Carmes: Ecole mystique thérésienne.”
Since 1911 Les études carmélitaines has been publishing interesting
works on mystical theology and religious psychology in order to make
the teaching of St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross better understood.
See especially the articles by Father Louis of the Trinity, Father Bruno,
and Father Gabriel of St. Magdalen. See also those of Jacques Maritain
on St. John of the Cross. These articles have been reproduced in his
beautiful book, The Degrees of Knowledge (English translation by
B. Wall and M. Adamson. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1938).
Carmelites of the Old Observance

John of St. Samson (d. 1636), a lay brother who was raised to lofty
contemplation. Œuvres spirituelles (2 vols., 1658); cf. La vie
spirituelle, 1925-26.
St. Magdalen de Pazzi (1566-1607). Estasi e lettere scelte. Critical ed.,
Florence, 1924.
Salesian School

St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). Œuvres published by the Visitation
of Annecy, 1892. St. Francis de Sales shows that union wtih God
is accessible in all states of life. The Introduction to a Devout Life
(1608) describes the purgative way and the beginning of the
illuminative. The Treatise on the Love of God (1616) deals
particularly with the unitive way. His Spiritual Conferences,
written for the Visitandines, are valuable to all religious souls.
Letters.

St. Jane de Chantal. Sa vie et ses œuvres. Paris: Plon, 1877-93.
Mère de Chaugy. Mémoires sur la vie et les vertus de sainte Jeanne
de Chantel. Paris: Plon, 1893.
St. Mary Mary. Œuvres, published by Msgr. Gauthey, Poussielgue.
P. Tissot. L'art d'utiliser ses fautes, d’après S. François de Sales (3d ed.,
1918); La vie intérieure simplifiée (a work written by a Carthu­
sian).
French School of the Seventeenth Century.

The spirituality of this school, founded by Cardinal Bérulle, springs
from the dogma of the Incarnation and of our incorporation in Christ,
with whom, by abnegation and the virtues, we glorify God living in us.
Cardinal Bérulle (1576-1629), founder of the Oratory in France.
Œuvres complètes (cd. 1657; cd. 1856); his principal work is the
Discours de l'état et des grandeurs de Jésus.

484

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Charles de Condren (1588-16.41). Œuvres complètes (ist ed., 1668;
2d ed., 1857). See especially L'idée du sacerdoce et du sacrifice,
on the priesthood of Christ and His holy humiliation of self.
F. Bourgoin (1585-1662). Vérités et excellences de Jésus-Christ. j2d
ed., 1892.
St. Vincent de Paul (1576-1660). Correspondance; Entretiens; Docu­
ments (edited, published, and annotated by Father Coste, 1920).
Cf. Maynard, Vertus et doctrine spirituelle de saint Vincent de
Paul. Paris, 1882.
J. J. Olier (1608-57), founder of the Society of St. Sulpice. Le caté­
chisme chrétien pour la vie intérieure, in which he shows how, by
the practice of mortification and humility, one attains to intimate
union with Jesus; L'introduction à la vie et aux vertus chrétiennes;
La journée chrétienne; Le traité des saints ordres, on union with
our Lord, Priest and Victim.
L. Tronson (1622-1700). Forma cleri; Examens particuliers.
I. A. Emery (1732-1811). L'esprit de sainte Thérèse. 1775.
A. J. M. Hamon (1795-187^. Méditations à l'usage du clergé. 1872.
H. J. Icard (1805-93).
intérieure de la T. Ste Vierge (taken from
the works of M. Olier, 1875 and 1880); Doctrine de M. Olier
(1889 and 1891).
M. J. Ribet. La mystique divine distinguée des contrefaçons diaboliques
et des analogies humaines. 1879.
Charles Sauvé. Dieu intime; Jésus intime.
St. John Eudes (1601-80), disciple of Bérulle and Condren. Œuvres
(re-edited in 12 vols., 1905); La vie et le royaume de Jésus dans les
âmes chrétiennes; Le cœur admirable de la Mère de Dieu; Le
mémorial de la vie ecclésiastique.
P. Le Doré. La dévotion au Sacré-Cœur et le V. Jean Eudes. 1892.
E. Georges. Saint Jean Eudes, sa vie et sa doctrine. 1936.
P. E. Lamballe. La contemplation, or Principes de théologie mystique.

1912.
Blessed Louis Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716). Traité de la vraie
dévotion à la Ste Vierge; Le secret de Marie; Lettre aux amis de
la croix.

St. John Baptist de la Salle (1651-1719), founder of the Brothers of
the Christian Schools. Méditations pour les dimanches et fêtes;
Méditations pour les temps de la retraite.

Ven. Francis Libermann (1803-52). Ecrits sur l'oraison; Lettres.
Ven. Boudon (bishop of Evreux, 1624.-1702). Le règne de Dieu en
l'oraison mentale; Les saintes voies de la croix (1926).
C. Gay (1816-92). De la vie et des vertus chrétiennes.
The Liguorian School

St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787). The Eternal Truths (New York:
Kenedy, 1857); The Glories of Mary (New York: O’Shea, 1889).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

485

The following works were published in New York by Benziger:
The Way of Salvation and Perfection (1886); The Great Means of
Salvation and Perfection: Prayer (1886); The Holy Eucharist
(1889); Dignity and Duties of the Priest, or Selva (1888); The
True Spouse of Christ (1888); The Holy Mass (1889); The Pas­
sion and the Death of Jesus Christ (1892). See also the new edition
of his ascetical works in the course of publication at Rome.
Achille Desurmont (d. 1898). La charité sacerdotale; Le Credo et la
Providence; La vie vraiment chrétienne.

Joseph Schryvers. Les principes de la vie spirituelle (1922); The Gift
of Oneself (English translation by a Carmelite. Bettendorf, Iowa,
1934)·
F. Bouchage. Pratique des vertus; Introduction à la vie sacerdotale
(1916).
Karl Keusch. Die Aszetik des Hl. Alfons Maria von Liguori. Pader­
born, 1926.
Congregation of the Passionists

St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775). Letters (ed. by Father Amedeo,
4 vols., Rome, 1924); cf. Florilegio spirituale (2 vols., 1914-16);
Sa vie, by Blessed V. Strambi (1786); see also Oraison et ascension
mystique de saint Paul de la Croix by Father Cajetan of the Holy
Name of Mary (Louvain, 1930).
Blessed Vincent Strambi, disciple of St. Paul of the Cross (1745-1824).
Dei tesoriche abbiamo in Gesà Cristo.

Father Seraphinus (d. 1879). Principes de théologie mystique. 1873.
A. Devine. A Manual of Ascetical Theology (1902); A Manual of
My Stical Theology (1903).
Additional Writers of No Particular School

L. Scupoli (1530-1610). Le combat spirituel, a work esteemed by
St. Francis de Sales.
Venerable Mother Marie of the Incarnation (1599-1672), an Ursuline
whose life, drawn from her writings, was written by her son,
Dom Claude Martin, 1677. Lettres (1681); new critical edition by
Dom Jamet, Vols. I, II, Ecrits spirituels (1929); Vol. Ill, Corre­
spondance (1935). By the same author: Le témoignage de Marie
de l'incarnation, taken from the preceding work (1932).
Bossuet (1627-1704). Elévations sur les mystères; Méditations sur
l'Evangile; Traité de la concupiscence; Instruction sur les états
d'oraison, second treatise, the common principles of Christian
prayer (1897); Lettres de direction; Opuscules sur l'abandon et
l'oraison de simplicité, collected in La doctrine spirituelle de
Bossuet, taken from his Œuvres (Téoui, 1908).

Fénelon (1651-1715). Pious opuscula collected in Vol. XVIII of his
works (cd. I.cbcl, 1823); Lettres de direction (Cagnac, 1902).

486

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Benedict XIV (Cardinal Lambertini) (1675-1758). De servorum Dei
beatificatione et beatorum canonizatione (1788). On questions of
asceticism and mysticism this work often reproduces De oratione
Christiana (1687) of Brancati di Lauria.
J. H. Newman (1801-90). Meditations and Devotions; Difficulties of
Anglicans.

H. E. Manning (1808-92). The Eternal Priesthood. Baltimore:
Murphy, 1883.
F. W. Faber (1814-63). All for Jesus (London: Bums, Oates and
Washbourne, 1853). The following works were published in Bal­
timore by Murphy: The Blessed Sacrament (1855);
Creator
and the Creature (1857); Bethlehem (i860); The Foot of the
Cross (1897); The Precious Blood; Growth in Holiness.
Cardinal Gibbons. The Ambassador of Christ. 1896.
L. Beaudenom (1840-1916). Pratique progressive de la confession et
de la direction; Formation à l'humilité.

A. Saudreau. Les degrés de la vie spirituelle (6th ed., 1935); La vie
d'union à Dieu (3d ed., 1921); L'état mystique, sa nature, ses
phases, et les faits extraordinaires de la vie spirituelle (2d ed.,
1921).
Msgr. Lejeune. Manuel de théologie mystique. 1897.
Cardinal Mercier. La vie intérieure, appel aux âmes sacerdotales. 1919.
A. Chevrier. Le prêtre selon l'Evangile. Lyons: Vitte, 1922.
Msgr. A. Farges. Les phénomènes mystiques distingués de leurs contre­
façons humaines et diaboliques. 1920.
Robert de Langeac. Conseils aux âmes d'oraison, an excellent book.
Lethielleux, 1929.
A. Tanquerey. The Spiritual Life (English translation by Herman
Brandeis, S.S. Philadelphia: Reilly, 1930). This work, which is
excellent in certain respects, places the passive purification of the
senses very late in the spiritual life, that is, after the entrance into
the unitive way, whereas for St. John of the Cross it marks the
entrance into the illuminative way.
Charles de Foucauld (hermit in the Sahara). Ecrits spirituels. Paris,
1927.

Index
Abnegation, 374-78; see also Mortifica­
tion
Acceleration of charity; see Virtues
Acedia; see Sloth
Activity, necessity of subordination of
natural, 467
Acts, necessity of sanctifying all, 96
Acts, imperfect (remissi) : definition of,
135; not proper to the perfect, 160;
and problem of the increase of char­
ity by, i3Sf.
Acts, meritorious: definition of, 133;
problem of increase of charity by,
133 f.
Acts, result of perfect, 136 ff.
Ages of the spiritual life, three
age of beginners: characteristics of,
243 f., 270 f.; direction of, 258 ff.;
generosity required in, 271-74; hu­
mility in, 274; imagination in morti­
fication of, 342 ff.; intellect and per­
sonal judgment in, 353-64; love of
God in, 268-71; magnanimity in,
273 f.; memory in, 345-52; prayer of,
444-53; self-knowledge and knowl­
edge of God in, 267 f.; the senses
in, 275-84, 332-41; sensible consola­
tions in, 269; spiritual pride of,
383 f.; state of, 240 f.
age of the perfect: characteristics of,
244 ff.
age of proficients: characteristics of,
244; imperfections of, 241
characteristics of, 226 f., 243-46
comparison with ages of corporeal life,
238 f., 241
differences and transition between the,
239-46
distinction between: preserved by St.
Thomas Aquinas, 237 f.
division made by Scaramclli and his
followers, 16, 227
problem of, 225, 228
reasons for divergence in divisions of,
127 f.

Ages of the spiritual life (continued)
in spiritual life of the apostles, 229 f.
synopsis of, 245
traditional division of, 14 f., 225 ff.:
testimony of Greek fathers to, 23035; testimony of Latin fathers and
great spiritual writers to, 235-38
Aim of this work, 8 f.
Ambition; see Pride
Americanism, 275-77
Appetites, passions and die, 49; see also
Mortification, Purification
Aridity (sensible) in divine trials, 390 f.
Arrogance; see Pride
Attraction, law of universal, 131 f.
Austerities, attitude of Church toward,
335 note
Austerity of flagellants, Jansenists, Montanists, 280
Beatitude, 30-33, 156
Beatitudes
of the active life of the Christian: of
the merciful, 168 f.; of those that
hunger and thirst after justice, 168
of contemplation and union with God:
of the clean of heart, 169 f.; of the
peacemakers, 170 f.; of those that
suffer persecution, 177 ff.
definition of, 172
of the deliverance from sin, 165: of the
meek, 166 f.; of the poor in spirit,
166; of those that mourn, 167
grandeur of Christian perfection
shown by, 163-73
order of, 165
relations of: to gifts of the Holy Ghost
and the three ages, 206-13
Beginners; see Ages of the spiritual life
Blessed Trinity; see Trinity, Blessed
Blessed Virgin; see Mary
Boasting; see Pride
Casuistry, definition of, 10; see also Thcohigy
Charity; see Theological
487

488

INDEX

Christ
exemplar of evangelical counsels,
2X0 f.
humanity of: instrument through
which graces are communicated to
souls, 109-12
influence on His mystical body, 109 ff.
as man is Mediator, i2of.
necessity of imitating the crucified,
295 ff.; see also Mortification
our Mediator and conversation with
God, 47
our sanctity and progressive incorpo­
ration in, 117 f.
principal Priest of the Sacrifice of the
Mass, 407 ff.
result of consideration of humanity of,
118
result of hypostatic union on humanity
of, 2101.
sanctifying influence of, 109-18:
through the Eucharist, 112-17
Church, marks of sanctity of, 211
Communion: conditions of a fervent,
417-20; conditions of a good, 417;
consummation of gift of self, 115;
each Communion should be substan­
tially more fervent, 143, 420 f.; ef­
fects of, 115-17; fruits of, 420;
source of sanctification, 414 ff.;
thanksgiving after, 421-27
Concupiscences, three, 209 f., 301; see
also Self-love
Confession: contrition, 400 ff.; fruits of,
402-5; how to make, 400 f.; prepara­
tion for, 397 ff
Conscience, examination of, 304-7:
based on sins opposed to virtues, 321;
based on virtues, 322; on selfabnegation, 377; time required for,
398
Consolations in prayer: in beginners,
269; detachment from, 375 f.; distin­
guished from divine lights, 259 note;
and spiritual gluttony, 337
Contemplation, infused
and the beatitudes, 169-73
desire for, 87
of God: in mirror of mysteries of sal­
vation, 460; in mirror of sensible
things, 460; in obscurity of faith, 460
morally necessary for full perfection,
'94
in normal way of sanctity, 193 ff.
pride removed by, 451
and superhuman mode of gifts, 226

Contention; see Pride
Contrition, sadness of, 405; see also Con­
fession
Counsel; see Gifts of the Holy Ghost
Counsels, evangelical: Christ, exemplar
of, 2iof.; general obligation of,
206; moral maladies opposed to, 208;
nature of, 212 f.; and restoration of
original harmony, 210-13; special
obligation of priests and religious to
observe, 206; spirit of, 206; and theo­
logical virtues, 213; useful but not in­
dispensable means for perfection,
184; and wounds of the soul, 206-10
Criticism of superiors; see Pride
Curiosity, definition of, 354 f.; see also
Pride
Derision, 464 f.
Desire for God, 38 f.; see also Contem­
plation, infused
Detachment: in the Blessed Virgin, 83;
in Christ, 83; degrees in, 82 ff.;
prayer for, 377; according to St.
John of the Cross, 375 f.; spirit of,
374 ADetraction, 464
Devotion, definition of true, 337 note
Direction, spiritual: of beginners, 258 ff.;
duties of directed soul, 263 f.; neces­
sity of, 256 ff.; of proficients and the
perfect, 260 f.
Director, qualities of spiritual, 261 ff.
Discernment of spirits, whole question
of, 82
Disobedience; see Pride
Disorder, triple: introduced by sin, 209 f.
Dispositions, habitual; see Gifts of the
Holy Ghost
Distractions; see Prayer
Duty of the present moment and actual
grace, 93 f.
Egoism, Tauler on, 468 f.; see also Selflove
Egoist: results of bis self-love, 41 f.; sub­
ject of his interior conversation, 41
End, abnegation demanded by supernat­
ural, 294 f.; see also Mortification
Errors, refusal to recognize, 382; see also
Pride
Eucharist, greatest of sacraments, 414;
see also Communion
Examination of conscience; see Con­
science

INDEX
Excellence, inordinate love of one’s; see
Pride

Faith; see Theological
Fault, predominant: definition and de­
scription of, 314^; examination to
discover, 321 f.; how to combat,
318 ff.; how to recognize, 316 ff.
Fear; see Gifts of the Holy Ghost
Fidelity to grace; see Grace
Forgetfulness of God, 345 ff.
Fortitude; see Gifts of the Holy Ghost,
Virtues, moral
Friendship: danger of particular, 336;
frivolous, 336 note; true and super­
natural, 336 f.
Gaze: first intellectual, 363 note; first su­
pernatural, 363 f.
Gifts of the Holy Ghost
in ascetical life, 81 f.
and the beatitudes, 77 note
connected with charity, 77
grow together, 77 f.
habitual dispositions, 71 ff.
necessary to salvation, 73-78, 179
purpose of, 85
according to St. Thomas, 70-78
specifically distinct from virtues, 73
superhuman mode of, 78-82
synoptic table of gifts and correspond­
ing virtues, 76
teaching of Scripture on, 66 f.
teaching of tradition on, 67-70
two modes of, 79 f.
Glory: definition of, 34; proximate per­
fect disposition to receive, 38 f.
Gluttony; see Sins, capital
Gluttony, spiritual; see Consolations
Grace
actual: divine motion and various
forms of, 90 ff.; necessity of, 88 f.;
offered for duty of present moment,
93 f.; see also Motion, divine
efficacious grace to pray offered to
every man, 433 note; see also Prayer
fidelity to, 93-96
life of: develops under form of infused
virtues and gifts, yi f.
mystery of, 95 note
operating: activity under, 93; defini­
tion or, 92
provenient, 91
sanctifying, yi: growth of, 129-43;

489

Grace (.continued')
value of, 29 f.; see also Progress, spir­
itual
state of: seed of eternal life, 29, 34-37

Happiness, true and lasting: definition
of, 164; end of the beatitudes, 164;
means to obtain, 164-73
Harmony
original: restored by Christ, 210
triple: before original sin, 209; dis­
turbed by sin, 209 f.; see also Sin,
original
Heaven, union of enjoyment of, 30-33
Holy Ghost: moves souls according
their habitual docility, 137; soul of
mystical body, 107 f.
Hope; see Theological
Humility: in beginners, 274; false, 379;
necessary for mental prayer, 454;
seven degrees of, 177 f.
Hypocrisy; see Pride

Ignorance: invincible, 308; vincible,
307 f.; see also Sin
Imagination; see Purification, active
Imperfection: definition of, 333, 399
note; distinguished from sins of
frailty, 340 note, 399-400; reasons
for avoiding, 334
Inclination: characteristics of evil,
468 f.; characteristics of good, 469 f.;
see also Egoism
Indwelling of the Blessed Trinity; see
Trinity, Blessed
Inspirations, need of special, 85 f.
Insult; see Justice
Intellect
defects of: curiosity, 354 f.; dullness of
mind, 357 f.; spiritual blindness,
356 f.; spiritual pride, 355 f.
and natural knowledge of God, 50
object of, 49
superior to will, 155 f.
and supernatural knowledge of God,
5°
Intellectualism, evil, 467
Intention, purity of: necessary for men­
tal prayer, 454; value of, 468
Jansenism: austerity of, 280; false super­
naturalism of, 280; pessimism of, 280
Joy, foolish; see Pride
Justice, vices opposed to, 464 f.; see Vir­
tues, moral

490

INDEX

Knowledge; see Gifts of the Holy Ghost
Knowledge, quasi-experimental: and in­
dwelling of Blessed Trinity, 103 f.; in
normal way of sanctity, 105 f.
Levity of mind; see Pride
Levity of spirit; see Tepidity
Liberty, unbridled; see Pride
Life
active: disposes to contemplative, 217
eternal: and vision of God, 31 fl.
interior: and Blessed Trinity, 97-108;
and intimate conversation with God,
40; nature of, 28, 43-48; sources of,
28; speech of, 46 f.; and spiritual
youth, 44; what it requires, 29
Love
of God: more perfect than knowledge
of God, 447; not in golden mean,
200 f.
interested: condemned by quietists,
368
Luxury, spiritual, 337-38 and note 16
Lying; see Tepidity

Magnanimity in beginners, 273 f.
Man: resemblance to angel, 49 f.· St. Paul
on the inward, 44
Martyrdom, sign of charity, 146
Mary, Blessed Virgin
Mediatrix: ascending mediation of,
122-26; descending mediation of,
126-28; influence of, 119; new Eve,
124 f.; universal, 121
progress of charity in, 132
queen of martyrs, 123 f.
Mass
assistance at, source of sanctification,
406-13
different ways of assisting at, 411 ff.
effects of: relating to God, 409; relat­
ing to men, 409 ff.
source of excellence of, 407 ff.
Mean, golden; see Love of God
Mean, happy: in moral virtues, 64 f.; see
Virtues, moral
Mediation, meaning of universal, 120
Mediocrity, 201 and note: not possible
for certain souls, 457
Meekness, 339 f.
Memory; see Purification, active
Merits, restoration of lost, 142, 403
Method: deductive, 12; descriptive, 11;
union of descriptive and deductive,
12 f.
Missions, divine, 106

Modernism, 275-78
Mortification
exterior: not sufficient, 342; results of
neglect of, 342
according to the Gospel, 281-84
of irascible appetite, 338-41
motives of, 285-98, 332: consequences
of original sin, 286-90; consequences
of personal sins, 290-93; infinite ele­
vation of supernatural end, 294 f.;
necessity of imitating Jesus cru­
cified, 295 ff.
of predominant fault, 314-20
according to St. Paul, 285
of sensuality, 334-38
spirit of, 284
Motion, divine: modes of, 90 ff.; table of
different modes of, 92
Murmuring against neighbor’s reputa­
tion, 464; see Justice
Mystical body: Holy Ghost, soul of,
107 f.; sanctifying influence of Christ
on, 107-18

Naturalism, answer to practical, 298

Oblation, Christ’s interior, 407 ff.
One thing necessary: nature of, 3 ff.;
present status of, 5-8
Organism, spiritual: expressed in table of
virtues and gifts, 51

Parable, reason for Christ’s use of, 343
Passion
antecedent, 309; see Sin of frailty
classification according to St. Thomas,
3 24
consequent, 309
defined, 323
from three points of view: ascetical,
326-31; moral, 325 f.; psychological,
323 f.
Peace: fruit of purification of will, 376 f.;
true, 172 f.
Penance, end of virtue of, 285
Penance, sacrament of; see Confession
Perfection
austerity and, 146
basis of special obligation of priest to
tend to, 218 ff.
and charity, 149 f.: according to
Suarez, 174 f., 185 note
in charity, according to St. Thomas,
154, 156 ff.
consists secondarily and instrumentally

INDEX
Perfection (.continued)
in observance of the counsels, 198 f.;
useful means to attain, 184
duty of all to advance in, 202-5
erroneous ideas of: fortitude, barbar­
ians’ idea of, 145 ff.; wisdom, Greek
philosophers’ notion of, 147 ff.
error of quietists in regard to, 183
note
essence of: according to St. Paul, 14953
full: attainable on earth only in trans­
forming union, 192 note; belongs to
mystical order, 172; infused contem­
plation morally necessary for, 194;
never reached without perfect
prayer, 172
ideal of episcopal, 223 f.
in increasingly generous fulfillment of
supreme precept, 199
loftiness of, 186 f.
means to attain, 186
nature of, possible on earth, 159
obligation to tend to: of priest, 218-23;
of religious, 214-18
a plenitude, 185
prayer to advance in, 377
progress in: and confession, 404
requirements for: acts of virtues
which are of precept, 183-86; great
charity, 175-79; heroic practice of
virtues, 179-82; passive purifications,
193; spirit of the counsels, 207
Perseverance, final, 140
Pessimism; see Jansenism
Piety; see Gifts of the Holy Ghost
Prayer
to advance in perfection, 377
difference between prayer of petition
and merit, 138 f.
efficacy of: necessity of belief in,
428 ff.; source of, 430-35
and final perseverance, 140
petitions we should make, 435 f.: for
temporal goods, 436
qualities of fruitful, 139
Prayer, liturgical
contemplative chant, 439-43
deformed psalmody, 437 ff.
distractions in, 438 f.
means of union with God, 437
mutual relations of mental prayer and,
442 f.
Prayer, mental
affective, 450-53
attitude toward methods, 445 f.

491

Prayer, mental (continued)
culminating point of, 450
definition according to St. Teresa, 444,
4SI
dependence on grace of God, 454
essential acts of: charity, 449 ff.; faith,
448; hope, 449; humility, 448
how to persevere in, 456-60
mortification necessary for, 454 f.
movements of contemplation: circular,
460; spiral, 460; straight, 460
nature of, 445
absolutely necessary for some, 457 f.
preparation (immediate), 456; prep­
aration (remote): frequent prayer
during day, 455 f.; grace, 454; humil­
ity, 454; mortification, 454 f.; silence
in soul, 455
purity of intention necessary for, 454
of simplicity according to Bossuet,
451 ff.
Precept, first: obliges all in a general
way, 197 f.; without limit, 196-205
Precipitation: causes of, 329; cure for,
329; definition of, 328; effects of,
33°
Presumption; see Pride
Pride
definition of: according to St. Augus­
tine, 380 f.; according to St. Thomas,
380
of life: definition of, 301; introduced
by sin, 209 f.; necessity of mortifica­
tion of, 302; root of four capital sins,
302; sins may spring from, 301 f.
nature of, 379 ff.
opposed to humility, 381
remedy for, 385-88
St. Catherine of Siena on results of,
383 note
St. Gregory on degrees of, 381
Pride, defects bom of: presumption,
382, 385; vainglory, 385 f.
Pride, forms of, 381-84
Priest: and Divine Office, 221; obligation
to tend to perfection, 218-23; sanc­
tity becoming to, 220
Problem, religious: relations of man with
God, 6 ff
Progress: in religious life, 377; summary
of spiritual, 247; synoptic table of,
»45
Punishment (temporal), the Mass and
remission of, 409 f.
Purgatory, 38: of sufferings necessary
for illumination, 452 f.

INDEX
Purification, active: of the imagination,
343 f.; of the intellect, 353-59; of the
memory, 345-52; principles to be ap­
plied to purification of the senses,
332 ff.; of the will, 365-78
Purifications, passive
crises of transition, 240 ff.; see also
Ages of the spiritual life
necessary: for full perfection, 190-93;
to eliminate moral defects, 84-88
St. Thomas on necessity of, 187 f.
of the senses: nature of, 191; necessary
before illumination, 452 f.
of the spirit: nature of, 192 f.

Quality, principal natural, 315
Quietism: confusion of spiritual sloth
with divine trial of aridity, 391 f.; er­
ror in regard to perfection, 183 note;
examination of conscience useless
according to, 304; naturalism of in­
action, 277 ff.; results of excessive
fear of, 16 f.; and self-love, 368

Reading, spiritual, 247-55: dispositions
for profitable, 253 ff.; fruits of, 254
and note; importance of, 247 f., 362;
of lives of the saints, 252 f.; of Scrip­
ture, 247 ff.; of spiritual works of the
saints, 249-52
Rebellion; see Pride
Rectitude, lack of, 367
Redemption, essence of mystery of, 123
Religion, virtue of, 153

Sacraments: grace produced ex opere
operato by, 141; and measure of
grace, 141 ff., 397
Sacrifice, lack of spirit of; see Tepidity
Sacrifice of the Mass; see Mass
Sanctification in way of salvation, pro­
gressive, 204 f.
Sanctity
of the Church; see Church
definition of, 23, 339
nature of great, 182
normal way of, 22 f.
one way of, 242 f., note 88
Satisfaction, sacramental, 404
Self-knowledge, 267 f.; see also Ages of
the spiritual life
Self-love, 300 ff.
cure for, 368 f., 372 ff.
good and blamable, 368 note

Self-love (continued)
included in charity, 300
and quietism, 368
results of, 208 f., 300 f.
St. Augustine on cure of, 368 f.
source of all sins, 367
and utilitarianism, 367 f.
wound of malice, 366 f.
Self-love, inordinate: St. Catherine of
Siena on, 371; Tauler on, 468 f.; The
Imitation on, 369 ff.; see also Ego­
ism
Self-will: abnegation of, 372 f.; defini­
tion of, 367; mortification of, 373;
source of sin, 367
Sin
definition of, 300
dissimulation of, 382
of frailty, 307, 309, 399
habit of, 382; see also Pride
of ignorance: invincible, 308; vincible,
307 f·
of malice, 307, 310 ff.
mortal: sacramental accusation of, 398
original, consequences of, 286-90; see
also Harmony, triple
personal, consequences of, 290-92
remnants of, 291, 302
Sin, venial
deliberate, a serious obstacle to perfec­
tion, 398 f.
disposes to mortal sin, 334
and imperfection, 333 f.; see also Im­
perfection
impossibility of continually avoiding,
83 f.
need of seeking cause of, 399
Singularity, 382; see also Pride
Sins, capital: consequences of, 302; enu­
merated, 299; roots of, 299-302; in
spiritual order, 333
Sloth, spiritual (see also Quietism, Te­
pidity)
a cause of tepidity, 464
confused with aridity by quietists,
391 f.
cure for, 395 f.
definition and description of, 389-93
gravity and results of, 393 ff.
Soul, human: higher faculties of, 49;
parts of, 48; sensitive part of, 48 f.
Souls, retarded, 461-72; see also Tepidity
Stubbornness; see Pride
Studiousness, virtue of, 355 note, 362 note

Temperance; see Virtues, moral

INDEX
Tenacity in judgment, 363
Tepidity
causes of: levity of spirit, 464; lying,
464; neglect of little things, 461 ff.;
refusal of sacrifices asked, 463 f.;
spiritual sloth, 464; tendency to deri­
sion, 464 f.
definition of, 463 f.
loss of zeal in, 463
remedy for, 467 f.
results of, 465-68
Thanksgiving; see Communion
Theological virtue of charity
activity of: in the perfect, 158 note,
160 f.
bond of perfection, 150
definition of, 56
degrees of, 226, 244
should grow until death, 129
growth of: and life of grace, 132-48;
by merit, 133-38; through prayer,
138 ft,; through sacraments, 141 ff.
high degree of: and perfection, 163
law of acceleration, 131 f.
love of: cannot be continual on earth,
159 ft.; God attained immediately
by. >57
necessity of high degree of: for per­
fection, 164
no one excluded, 129
notable increase of: and divine mis­
sions, 106
perfection of: deliberate sin and vol­
untary imperfections excluded by,
>59 f·
result of generous act of, 134 f.
summary of progress of, 247
superior to knowledge of God on
earth, 155-58
true: all the virtues implied by, 151
weak (retnissus) act of: and increase
of grace, 135 f.
Theological virtue of faith
acquired: source of, 54
infused: basis of justification, 53
definition of, 52 f., 361
essentially imperfect, 74
how to live by, 361 f.
nature of, 53 f.
preserved in state of mortal sin, 56
principle of active purification of in­
tellect, 359
Theological virtue of hope
definition of, 56
preserved in state of mortal sin, 56
shares imperfection of faith, 74

493

Theological virtue of hope (continued)
subordination of self to God by, 368
note
Theology: branches of, 10; method of,
9-13; object of, 9 f.
Theology, ascetical: defined, 21 ; and
mystical theology, 13-24
Theology, mystical: and ascetical theol­
ogy, 13-24; defined, 21
Theosophy, heresy of, 148 f.
Time, religious employment of, 396
Tradition, importance of: essentially di­
vine, 99 note
Trinity, Blessed
duties toward, dwelling in soul, 106 ff.
indwelling of: principle of supernat­
ural operations, 106; official teaching
of Church on, toof.; and quasiexperimental knowledge of God,
103; spiritual consequences of, 105 f.;
testimony of Scripture to, 97 ff.;
testimony of tradition to, 99 ff.;
theological explanation of, 101-5
Two cities according to St. Augustine,
368 f.
Understanding; see Gifts of the Holy
Ghost
Union, hypostatic: result on humanity of
Christ, 210 f.
Universalism, true and false: conflict be­
tween, 358 f.; definition of, 358 f.
Utilitarianism, definition of, 367 f.; see
also Self-love

Vainglory; see Pride
Virtues
acquired moral: under direction of
natural reason, 57; in state of mortal
sin, 58 f.; in state of solid virtue, 59;
in state of unstable dispositions, 58 f.
false, 58
heroic: conditions necessary for, 180
infused moral: necessity of, 59-62; ob­
ject of, 57; produced by God, 57
moral: differences between acquired
and infused, 60 ff.; happy mean of,
64 f.; object of, 52, 57; relations be­
tween infused and acquired, 62-66
theological virtues: object of, 52; see
also Theological
three religious: connection with theo­
logical virtues, 218
Vision (immediate) of God surpasses
natural capacity of created intellect,
3) f.; tec also Life, eternal

494

index

Vows, three: end of, 216 f.; of essence of
religious state, 215 f.; reasons for in­
creasing perfection in observance of,
215; three obstacles to, 216; see also
Counsels

Will
active purification of, 365-78: difficulty
of, 373; by abnegation, detachment,
372-78; fruit of, 376 f.; by progress in
love of God, 372 ff.
definition of, 365
object of, 365

Will (continued)
principal defect of, 366 f.
qualities of true strength of, 373 f.
virtues of, 372
Wisdom; see Gifts of the Holy Ghost
Wound of malice, 366 f.
Wounds of the soul, 306-10

Youth, spiritual: renewed day by day,
44; see also Life, interior
Zeal: bitter, 340 f.; its loss in tepidity,
463

Some Terms Used in This Book
(Added by the Publisher to the 1989 printing.)

Sensible, Sensitive—of the senses. These terms are used in reference either to
the senses proper (external or internal, including the imagination) or to those
movements of the appetites known as passions or emotions.
JUSTICE—1. the state of (Sanctifying) Grace. 2. the moral virtue by which one

gives what is due to God, oneself and one’s neighbor. (It is in the first sense
that the term is usually used in the theology of the spiritual life.)

Justification, Sanctification—entering the state of grace. Sanctification also
refers to the increase of Sanctifying Grace in the soul.
SUPERNATURAL—divine; pertaining to God or to Sanctifying Grace, which is
divine life in the soul. Sanctifying Grace is described as “living water” in the
Scriptures. By Sanctifying Grace the three Divine Persons dwell in the soul.
The following accompany Sanctifying Grace and are likewise supernatural: the
three Theological Virtues—Faith, Hope and Charity; the four infused moral vir­
tues: prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude (these four virtues can also exist
on the natural level); the seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost. All these supernatural
gifts except Faith and Hope are lost by mortal sin; they are all regained through
sacramental absolution.
THE Just—a person in the state of Sanctifying Grace.

The Sinner—a person in the state of mortal sin.

Charity—1) the supernatural virtue by which one loves God for His own sake
and one’s neighbor as oneself for the love of God; this virtue is infused into
the soul in Baptism and also in absolution after sacramental confession of mortal
sin. Charity is the highest virtue; it vivifies, “informs,” or “forms the soul of”
every other supernatural virtue. 2) acts of love of God or neighbor as defined
above. A person in the state of mortal sin cannot exercise the virtue of Charity
because he has lost Charity along with Sanctifying Grace. He can only perform
acts of natural love of God and neighbor; these are not meritorious for salvation
and heavenly reward, though God in His mercy may look upon them as a plea
for the gifts of true repentance and return to Sanctifying Grace.
FAITH—the supernatural virtue by which one believes, on the word of God,
all the truths He has revealed. This virtue is infused into the soul along with
Sanctifying Grace. A person in the state of grace has living faith, because his
faith is "informed” by Charity; a person in the state of mortal sin may still
have faith, but it will be only dead faith.
495

496

THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE

Hope—the supernatural virtue by which one trusts in God’s promises to give
him eternal life and the means to obtain it. This virtue is infused into the soul
along with Sanctifying Grace.
SANCTITY—the possessing of a high degree of Sanctifying Grace, and living by
the supernatural virtues, especially Faith, Hope and, above all, Charity.

MYSTICAL—pertaining to the higher levels of sanctity, in which the soul’s su­
pernatural acts are carried out in a divine mode, in intimate dependence upon
the seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost. Christians who have not attained to this
degree of sanctity perform their supernatural actions in a more human mode;
in them the seven Gifts are relatively dormant. Mystical prayer is called contem­
plation. Phenomena such as visions and revelations, though often found in mys­
tics, arc not of the essence of the mystical life.

Contemplation—the higher of the two forms of mental prayer (the lower be­
ing meditation). Contemplation is an infused loving knowledge of God. In con­
templation, reasoning and discourse are left behind and the mind and will are
fixed on God in a wordless act of love, resulting in close union with Him. Con­
templation is also called mystical or infused prayer. It is a special gift of God
and cannot be acquired by one’s own efforts, even aided by actual grace. Neverthe­
less, one can and should prepare for this gift by humble and persevering efforts
at meditation and by the practice of the virtues.
Meditation—the lower of the two forms of mental prayer. In meditation one
employs his intellect and will in reflections, affections and holy resolutions.

Gifts of the Holy Ghost. The Seven—Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge,
Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear (of the Lord). These Gifts are infused dispositions
which make a man promptly docile to divine inspirations. They have traditional­
ly been compared to the sails of a ship, enabling the ship to be moved by the
wind—which represents the inspirations of the Holy Ghost.

Charisms, or Graces Gratis Datae (“Freely Given”)—extraordinary spiritu­
al gifts of God such as the gifts of miracles, prophecy and tongues. These are
gifts given chiefly for the good of souls other than the recipient; graces gratis
datae are greatly inferior to Sanctifying Grace and the virtue of Charity. The
seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost are not graces gratis datae·, rather, they are in the
normal way of sanctity.
Actual Grace—a supernatural help of God which enlightens the mind and
strengthens the will to do good and to avoid evil. Actual grace is a transient
gift; it does not remain in the soul.

Books by the Author Translated into English
God, His Existence and His Nature: A Thomistic Solution of Certain
Agnostic Antinomies (1914)
Christian Perfection and Contemplation, according to St. Thomas
Aquinas and St. John of the Cross (1923)
The Principles of Catholic Apologetics: A Study of Modernism based
chiefly on the Lectures of Père Garrigou-Lagrangc, O.P.,
Adapted and Arranged (by Thomas Joseph Walshe, 1926)
The Love of God and the Cross of Jesus (1929)
Providence (1932)
Our Savior and His Love for Us (1933)
Predestination (1936)
♦The One God (1938)
The Three Ages of the Interior Life: Prelude of Eternal Life (1938)
The Three Ways of the Spiritual Life (1938)
*The Trinity and God the Creator (1943)
♦Christ the Savior (1945)
The Priesthood and Perfection (1946)
Reality: A Synthesis of Thomistic Thought (1946)
Life Everlasting (1947)
♦Grace (1947)
The Priest in Union with Christ (1948)
The Mother of the Saviour and Our Interior Life (1948)
♦The Theological Virtues—Vol. 1: Faith (1948)
♦Beatitude (moral theology, 1951)
Last Writings (spiritual retreats, 1969)

Books by the Author Not Translated into English
Le sens commun: la philosophie de l’être et les formules dogmatiques (1909)
Saint Thomas et le neomolinisme (booklet, 1917)
De Revelatione per ecclesiam catholicam proposita (1918)
De methodo sancti Thomae speciatim de structura articulorum summae
theologicae (booklet, 1928)
Le réalisme du principe de finalité (1932)
Le sens du mystère et le clair-obscur intellectuel: nature et
surnaturel (1934)
Essenza e attualità del Tomismo
Dieu accessible à tous (booklet, 1941)
♦De Eucharistia: Accedunt de Paenitentia quaestiones dogmaticae (1942)
Les XXIV Theses Thomistes pour le 30e Anniversaire de leur
Approbation (booklet, 1944)
Verite et immutabilité du dogme (booklet, 1947)
De virtutibus theologicis (1948)
★Commentaries on St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica

About the Author
Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (1877-1964) was a philosopher and the­
ologian of great wisdom, learning and holiness, one of the greatest theologians of
the 20th century. Born in Auch, France, as a young man he studied medicine at the
University of Bordeaux before entering the Dominican Order in 1897. He completed
his ecclesiastical studies under the direction of A. Gardeil. From 1909 until 1960 he
taught fundamental, dogmatic and spiritual theology at what is now called the Pontifi­
cal University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome, and he served during
the latter part of his career as a consultor to the Holy Office and other Roman congre­
gations. Beginning around age 27 he wrote more than 500 books and articles, many
of which have been translated from the original French or Latin into other languages.
Father Garrigou-Lagrange was a zealous proponent of the doctrine of St. Thomas
Aquinas as expounded by the classical commentators of the Dominican school —
Cajetan (Tommaso de Vio), Biifiez, John of St. Thomas and Charles Billuart. He com­
bined a great respect for the past with an understanding and appreciation of the in­
tellectual and spiritual needs of his own time. His principal theses are set forth
systematically in his /<> Synthese thomiste (Reality: .4 Synthesis of Thomistic Thought), In
philosophy his first outstanding work was l.e trm commun, la philoiophic de I'flrr et /< >
formules dogmatiqnei sumi d'unr <9ι«Λ’
I·' valeur de la critique moderniste des . ........ thomistes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (Cont’d.)

de 1’existenee de Dieu (1909), a work written against Modernism and its conception of
the evolution of dogma. There he reaffirmed the validity of the philosophy of being,
of moderate realism, and of Aristotclian-Thomistic metaphysics, which is simply the
development of elementary and primordial ideas by natural intelligence. Then turning
to dogmatic formulas, which he did not wish to tie to any philosophical system, he
showed their rational value and stability. Knowledge of dogma and of dogmatic ex­
pressions and formulas can progress, but the dogma remains always immutable in itself.
Father Garrigou-Lagrange’s most important philosophical work was Cod—His Exis­
tence and His Nature: A Thomistic Solution of Certain Agnostic Antinomies; in this work
he laid great stress on the Thomistic doctrine concerning the identity of essence and
existence in God and the real distinction of essence and existence in the creature.
The major part of Father Garrigou-Lagrange’s work, however, was theological. His
classic work entitled De revelatione ab ecclesia proposita (1918, rev. cd. 1932) presented
apologetics as a theological rather than a philosophical science, as a rational defense
of divine revelation made by reason under positive direction by faith. He endeavored
to protect the notion of faith as an essentially supernatural gift that transcends by
far the elaborations of human thought and cannot be the fruit of a rational syllogism,
which can lead the mind no further than to the judgment of credibility; at the same
time he strove to avoid the pitfail of a fideism that would ignore reason and human
study. Father Garrigou-Lagrange’s masterly commentary (7 vol.) on the Summa Theolo­
giae of St. Thomas Aquinas is a comprehensive development and treatment of the truths
of faith according to the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas.
It is probably for his theology of the spiritual life that Father Garrigou-Lagrange
is most well-known; in spiritual theology the principal points of his doctrine were
established in the light of Thomistic teaching. Adopting the position of Father John
Arintero, O.P., he insisted vigorously on the universal call to holiness, and therefore
to infused contemplation and to the mystical life as the normal ways of holiness or
Christian perfection. Among his most fundamental works in this field are Christian
Perfection and Contemplation; Les Trois conversions et les trois voies (The Three Ways of the
Spiritual Life); The Love of God and the Cross ofJesus; The Three Ages of the Interior Life;
De sanctificatione sacerdotum secundum exigentias temporis nostri (The Priesthood and Perfection);
and De unione sacerdotis cum Christo Sacerdote et Victima (The Priest in Union with Christ).
He also wrote a book entitled Mère Françoise de Jésus, fondatrice de la Compagnie de la
Vierge, as well as numerous articles for La Vie Spirituelle and Angelicum.
Other books of Father Garrigou-Lagrange which have been translated into English
(in addition to those whose titles are given above in English) include: Christ the Savior;
The Theological Virtues—vol. 1: Faith; Grace; Life Everlasting; The One God; Our Savior
and His Love for Us; Predestination; Providence; The Trinity and God the Creator; The Mother
of the Saviour and Our Interior Life; Beatitude (moral theology, on human acts and habits),
and his retreat conferences, published posthumously as The Last Writings of Reginald
Garrigou-Lagrange.
The publishers of this present work look forward to publishing other works of Father
Garrigou-Lagrange, in accord with the response received by this one.
(Grateful acknowledgment to The Publishers Guild, publisher of The New Catholic Encyclopedia,
from which most of the above material was taken, with permission.)