& Contemplation
and St. John of the Cross
Dedication & Preface
To the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and mediatrix, who leads the humble to the intimacy of Christ, as He Himself leads them to the Father, I offer this very imperfect homage of profound gratitude and filial obedience.
Preface of the Author
We are happy to have an English translation of this book in which our purpose was to establish, according to the principles formulated by St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the Cross, that Christian perfection consists especially in charity according to the plenitude of the two great precepts: "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself" (Luke 10:27). We also show that infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith, the mysteries of the Blessed Trinity present in us, of the redeeming incarnation, of the cross, of the Eucharist, sacrament and sacrifice, is in the normal way of sanctity. This contemplation proceeds from faith illumined by the gifts of understanding and wisdom, which are in all the just; that is, from living faith, which has become penetrating and sweet.
This view of perfection is by no means something novel. The number of theologians who of late consider it as traditional has increased notably. This doctrine seems to us the theological commentary of our Savior's words: "If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink. . . . Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 5:37 f.). All are invited to drink from the fountain of living water, as St. Catherine of Siena says in her Dialogue (chap. 53); the only condition laid down for reaching the fountain is a true thirst for virtue, the honor of God, and the salvation of souls.
Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.
Translator's Preface
The works and reputation of the great Dominican theologian, Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, are already well known to American readers. Two of his outstanding contributions to theological literature have been translated and published within the last two years. It is the earnest wish of the translator of this volume on mystical theology to make accessible to souls eager for instruction the treasures of light so marvelously organized and synthesized by Father Garrigou-Lagrange, and also to offer them his encouragement to "seek the things that are above."
The translator is deeply indebted to the Very Reverend Peter O'Brien, O.P., and to the Very Reverend Norbert Georges, O.P., prior and subprior respectively of the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois, who kindly read the manuscript and gave invaluable assistance. The translator will feel amply repaid if this volume opens up a new perspective and a wider spiritual horizon to even one soul.
Sister M. Timothea Doyle, O.P.
Rosary College
Feast of St. Catherine of Siena, 1937
Archbishop's Commendation
The learned author of Perfection chrétienne et contemplation, Father Garrigou-Lagrange, needs no introduction. His works in philosophy and theology have given him wide renown. Sister Timothea's translation, Christian Perfection and Contemplation, makes available to English readers a valuable treatise on ascetical and mystical theology which is clearly expounded and is solid in doctrine. The author gives reasonable attention to the historical and traditional aspects of the questions treated. He wisely chooses as his guides the great teachers of ascetical and mystical theology, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Teresa of Avila.
Everyone is called to advance in the way of perfection according to his state of life. Ascetical and mystical theology, as Father Garrigou-Lagrange remarks, is the application of moral theology, as expounded by St. Thomas, in directing souls to an ever closer union with God. Too many imagine that ascetical and mystical theology is for the select few. They therefore wrongly think that it is confined to priests, religious, and a few chosen souls in the world.
The appearance of Father Garrigou-Lagrange's work in English should not only aid greatly in dispelling this false idea but should, we trust, lead many souls to a higher state of perfection and to a closer union with God. It should find a place in the library of every priest and seminarian, in the libraries of sisters' convents, and in homes where there is Catholic reading. May Christian Perfection and Contemplation awaken in many an appreciation of the higher things of the spiritual life.
John T. McNicholas
Archbishop of Cincinnati
Introduction
This work is based on the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas and of St. John of the Cross. St. Thomas, "Doctor Communis" as he is called in Pius XI's encyclical Studiorum ducem, is preeminent among theologians because he attained to the heights of acquired and infused wisdom. To explain the secrets of this twofold wisdom, he received in a very high degree the special grace which St. Paul calls sermo sapientiae. By acquired wisdom he marvelously synthesized the knowledge of the philosopher and that of the theologian, and the gift of wisdom raised him to the highest degree of infused contemplation. Often accompanied by ecstasy and the gift of tears, it taught him what human language could not express. It was this infused contemplation which prevented him from dictating the end of the Summa theologica; what he could put in words seemed to him only straw in comparison with what he beheld.
The encyclical Studiorum ducem, by presenting St. Thomas to us as the undisputed master of dogmatic and moral theology, and also of ascetical and mystical theology, draws particular attention to a beautiful doctrine, which we have developed at length in this book, namely, that the precept of the love of God has no limit and that the perfection of charity falls under this precept, not, of course, as something to be realized immediately, but as the end toward which every Christian must tend according to his condition. St. Francis de Sales taught the same doctrine, which has often been misunderstood, although it was clearly formulated by the fathers of the Church, in particular by St. Augustine.
St. Thomas, in his treatise on the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, sets forth particularly their nature and properties. St. John of the Cross explains the various phases of their progress, up to their perfect development. Among spiritual authors, we have taken him as our guide: (1) He is certainly one of the greatest Catholic mystics. (2) He is canonized, and his doctrine, which underwent the test of criticism and was examined by the Church, is perfectly sound. (3) Coming as he did in the sixteenth century, he benefited by all the earlier tradition, especially by the works of St. Teresa, which he knew thoroughly and explained by connecting the mystical states she experienced and described with the supernatural principles from which they proceeded; especially with the theological virtues and with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which had attained their full development in her. Thus he goes beyond even St. Teresa and as a theologian treats very lofty problems on which she wrote but little. In so doing, he unites the data of descriptive mysticism and the speculative theology of the virtues and gifts. (4) St. John of the Cross, like all Carmelite theologians, is fully in accord with St. Thomas on the great questions of predestination and grace.
The doctrine of these teachers is the safe expression of tradition, as we shall see by comparing it with that of the doctors who preceded them and of those who followed them. Our aim is to explain the unitive way, that we may lead souls to aspire to it, and may encourage them to make generous efforts to attain it.
The Problem of Mystical Agnosticism
Some persons talk about mysticism, but misunderstand it and abuse it. These persons must be enlightened by the sound teaching of theology. Others, far greater in number, are altogether ignorant of mysticism and apparently wish to remain so. They rely only on their own efforts, aided by ordinary grace; consequently they aim only at common virtues, and do not tend to perfection which they consider too lofty. Hence religious and priestly lives, which might be very fruitful, do not pass beyond a certain mediocrity that is often due, at least in part, to their early imperfect training and to inexact ideas about the union with God to which every Christian can and must aspire.
Some, who should be well acquainted with the writings of the great saints, rarely consult them, under the pretext that their teaching on mysticism is beyond reach, that it leads to divergent interpretations, and that according to several theologians it is not possible as yet to determine in what their teaching consists, even along broad lines, and in particular on this fundamental question: Is the contemplation, which they speak of, in the normal way of sanctity or not?
Consequently in the matter of mystical theology a certain agnosticism exists, just as there is an agnosticism which maintains that true miracles cannot be discerned because not all the laws of nature are known, and that one cannot rely on the Scriptures because certain obscure passages of the Old and New Testaments have not been fully elucidated. We believe that this agnosticism about mystical theology is false, that it can do no good, and that it ends disastrously.
"In our day many neglect the supernatural life and cultivate in its place an inconsistent and vague sentimentalism. Hence it is absolutely necessary to recall more often what the fathers of the Church, together with Holy Scripture, have taught us on the subject, and to do so by taking St. Thomas Aquinas especially as our guide, because he has so clearly set forth their doctrine on the elevation of the supernatural life. We must also earnestly draw the attention of souls to the conditions required for the progress of the grace of the virtues and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the perfect development of which is found in the mystical life."
— Pope Benedict XV, September 15, 1921
The teaching of St. Thomas and of St. John of the Cross on this problem seems very clear to us. If these great masters had left this important problem unsolved, the very elements of mystical theology would still have to be constituted. In the delicate questions that we have had to consider, in combating an error, it is not always easy to avoid alining oneself with the contrary error, and to formulate the doctrine which rises above these opposing deviations and which is a just mean only because it is a summit.
The Three Ways in St. Paul
The purgative way: Incorporated in Christ, the faithful must orient their lives toward heaven and die more and more to sin. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon earth, stripping yourselves of the old man with his deeds." "For we are buried together with Him by baptism unto death. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed to the end that we may serve sin no longer." "And they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences." Moreover, the Apostles bore in their bodies "the mortification of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in their bodies." He who sacrifices his life, finds it again transfigured. "Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
The illuminative way is also indicated by St. Paul, when he tells us that the Christian, by the light of faith and under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, must put "on the new, him who is renewed unto knowledge, according to the image of Him that created him. Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection." We must imitate Jesus Christ and those who resemble Him; we must have His sentiments, catch the spirit of His mysteries, of His passion, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. "Furthermore, I count all things to be but loss for the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ, my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but as dung, that I may gain Christ."
The unitive way is that followed by the supernaturally enlightened Christian who lives in a union that is, so to speak, continual with Christ. "Therefore, if you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above; where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. For you are dead to the world; and your life is hid with Christ in God." "And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." Under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, such is indeed union with God, through Christ and the loving and delightful contemplation of the great mysteries of faith. It is the normal prelude to the beatific vision. "When Christ shall appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with Him in glory."
Object & Method
What is to be understood by ascetical and mystical theology? Is it a special science or a part of theology? What is its particular object? Under what light does it proceed? What are its principles? What is its method? These questions must be settled before we seek the distinction between asceticism and mysticism, and before we take up the chief problems they must solve.
Theology is the science of God. We distinguish between natural theology or theodicy, which knows God by the sole light of reason, and supernatural theology, which proceeds from divine revelation, examines its contents, and deduces the consequences of the truths of faith. Supernatural theology is usually divided into two parts, dogmatic and moral. Dogmatic theology has to do with revealed mysteries, principally the Blessed Trinity, the incarnation, the redemption, the Holy Eucharist and the other sacraments, and the future life. Moral theology treats of human acts, of revealed precepts and counsels, of grace, of the Christian virtues, both theological and moral, and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are principles of action ordained to the supernatural end made known by revelation.
Modern theologians have often exaggerated the distinction between moral and dogmatic theology, giving to the latter the great treatises on grace and on the infused virtues and gifts, and reducing the former to casuistry, which is the least lofty of its applications. Moral theology has thus become, in several theological works, the science of sins to be avoided rather than the science of virtues to be practiced and to be developed under the constant action of God in us. In this way it has lost some of its pre-eminence and is manifestly insufficient for the direction of souls aspiring to intimate union with God.
On the contrary, moral theology, as expounded in the second part of the Summa theologica of St. Thomas, keeps all its grandeur and its efficacy for the direction of souls called to the highest perfection. St. Thomas does not, in fact, consider dogmatic and moral theology as two distinct sciences; sacred doctrine, in his opinion, is absolutely one and is of such high perfection that it contains the perfections of both dogmatic and moral theology. In other words, it is eminently speculative and practical, as the science of God from which it springs. That is why he treats in detail in the moral part of his Summa not only human acts, precepts, and counsels, but also habitual and actual grace, the infused virtues in general and in particular, the gifts of the Holy Ghost, their fruits, the beatitudes, the active and contemplative life, the degrees of contemplation, graces gratuitously bestowed, such as the gift of miracles, the gift of tongues, prophecy, and rapture, and likewise the religious life and its various forms.
Moral theology thus understood evidently contains the principles necessary for leading souls to the highest sanctity. Ascetical and mystical theology is nothing but the application of this broad moral theology to the direction of souls toward ever closer union with God. It presupposes what sacred doctrine teaches about the nature and the properties of the Christian virtues and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and it studies the laws and conditions of their progress from the point of view of perfection.
To teach the practice of the highest virtues and perfect docility to the Holy Ghost and to lead to the life of union with God, ascetical and mystical theology assembles all the lights of dogmatic and moral theology, of which it is the most elevated application and the crown. The cycle formed by the different parts of theology, with its evident unity, is thus completed. Sacred science proceeds from revelation contained in Scripture and tradition, preserved and explained by the teaching authority of the Church. It arranges in order all revealed truths and their consequences in a single doctrinal body, in which the precepts and counsels are set forth as founded on the supernatural mystery of the divine life, of which grace is a participation.
The Descriptive Method
The descriptive school, without scorning the doctrine of the great theologians on the life of grace, undertakes to describe the different spiritual states and particularly the mystical states by their signs, rather than to determine their nature theologically and to examine whether they proceed from the Christian virtues, from the gifts of the Holy Ghost, or from graces gratuitously bestowed, such as prophecy and the charisms connected with it. These treatises are analogous to manuals of practical medicine which teach how to make a diagnosis quickly and how to prescribe suitable remedies without an extensive examination into the nature of the ailment or into its relations with the whole organism.
These works, which are very useful from one point of view, contain only part of the science: the inductive bases or the facts, and practical conclusions. The light of theological principles and doctrinal co-ordination, however, are lacking. Therefore, the rules of direction contained in these books are generally, in the opinion of theologians, too empirical and insufficiently classified and justified. Science is the knowledge of things, not only from their appearances and their signs, but from their very nature and their causes. And, as action springs from the nature of things, no one can in a practical manner tell the interior soul what it must do, if he has not determined the very nature of the interior life.
The Deductive Method
We must not, however, fall into the other extreme and employ simply the deductive theological method. Some, with a tendency to simplify everything, would be led to deduce the solution of the most difficult problems of spirituality by proceeding from St. Thomas' doctrine about the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost without sufficiently considering the admirable descriptions of the various degrees of the spiritual life, notably of the mystical union, given by St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis de Sales, and other great saints.
The Union of Both Methods
Evidently these two methods, the inductive and the deductive, must be combined. In the light of the principles of theology we must determine what Christian perfection should be, without in any way diminishing it; what is the nature of the contemplation it supposes, the ordinary means leading to it, and the extraordinary helps favoring it. The authors most helpful in this study are those who were both great theologians and great mystics, as St. Thomas, St. Bonaventure, Richard of St. Victor, St. John of the Cross, and St. Francis de Sales.
In all this study, a supremely important distinction is that between the intrinsically extraordinary (the miraculous) and the extrinsically extraordinary, which is the ordinary or the normal in the lives of the saints, being at the same time as rare as sanctity itself. The omission of this distinction is the source of frequent ambiguities in several modern works, which do not sufficiently appreciate the great divisions of the supernatural. Thus, in the light of theological ideas and principles, we shall be able to discern the facts and to formulate rules of direction by motivating them.
The Unity of Spiritual Doctrine
Until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it was generally held that mystical theology included not only the mystical union, infused contemplation, its degrees and the extraordinary graces that sometimes accompany it (visions and private revelations), but also Christian perfection in general, and the first phases of the spiritual life, the normal progress of which thus seemed directed toward the mystical union as its culminating point. All these together formed a whole that was truly one: a spiritual doctrine dominated by a very high idea of perfection, drawn from the Gospel and the saints, and unified by the commonly accepted principle that infused or mystical contemplation is ordinarily granted to the perfect and proceeds especially from the gift of wisdom, the progress of which is proportionate to that of charity.
In other words, they agreed in recognizing that an eminent degree of charity, which is the principle of a very intimate union with God, is normally accompanied by eminent, confused contemplation, which is at the same time very penetrating and delightful. This charity is likewise accompanied by a quasi-experimental knowledge of the mystery of God who is closer to the soul than it is to itself, of God who makes Himself felt by it and who acts constantly on it, in trial as well as in consolation, as much to destroy what should die as to renovate and build up.
The Modern Separation
Since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, several authors have thought that it was necessary to separate ascetical from mystical theology, which since then have often become the subjects of special treatises. This division followed upon lively discussions that were occasioned by abuses springing from a premature and erroneous teaching of the mystical ways. From the time of St. Teresa, these ways seemed to many theologians so suspect that the writings of St. John of the Cross had to be defended against the charge of illuminism, and superiors were roused to the point of forbidding their religious to read the works of Venerable John Tauler, Ruysbroeck, Blessed Henry Suso, St. Gertrude, and St. Mechtildis.
Since then a rather large number of authors have agreed on making an absolute distinction between ascetical and mystical theology. Excessively eager to systematize things, they declared that ascetical theology should treat of the "ordinary" Christian life according to the three ways, while mystical theology should treat only of extraordinary graces, among which they included not only visions and private revelations, but also supernatural, confused contemplation, the passive purifications, and the mystical union. Therefore the mystical union no longer appears in their arrangement as the culminating point of the normal development of sanctifying grace, of the virtues, and of the gifts.
"Those, who in the spiritual life still exercise themselves in meditation, belong to the state of beginners. When it pleases God to make them leave it, it is for the purpose of introducing them into the way of progress, which is that of contemplatives, and of making them arrive safely and surely by this means at the state of the perfect, that is to say, divine union."
— St. John of the Cross
Return to the Traditional Thesis
The question may arise as to whether this absolute distinction and lack of continuity between ascetical and mystical theology does not notably diminish the elevation of Christian perfection which is the end of the normal progress of sanctifying grace and of charity in this life; whether it does not lose sight of the fact that the progress of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is proportionate to that of charity, which ought always to grow; and whether it does not confound strictly extraordinary graces with eminent and rather uncommon graces granted ordinarily to lofty perfection.
According to these theologians, the mystical life is characterized by the predominance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Ascetical theology treats of the Christian life of beginners in the exercise of the Christian virtues, the mode of which remains a human mode adapted to that of our faculties. Mystical theology treats especially of the unitive life of the perfect, in which there is clearly manifest the divine mode of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, in the exercise of which the soul is more passive than active, and in which it obtains a quasi-experimental knowledge of God present in it, as St. Thomas explains.
"These gifts," the great doctor tells us, "exist in all souls in the state of grace"; but normally they do not predominate, nor do they act in a manner both frequent and manifest except in very humble, mortified souls that are habitually docile to the Holy Ghost. This divine mode of the supernatural acts, which spring immediately from the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, is not essentially extraordinary, like a miracle, a vision, a prophecy, but something eminent and ordinary in the perfect, who live habitually recollected in adoration of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity present in them.
St. Teresa expresses the same opinion, when she says: "His mercy is so great that He hinders no one from drinking of the fountain of life. Indeed, He calls us loudly and publicly to do so. He is so good that He will not force us to drink of it." The saint always teaches her daughters that they must direct all their efforts toward preparing themselves to receive this precious grace, even though certain souls, in spite of their good will, do not experience its joys in this life.
Christian Perfection Consists Especially in Charity
Perfection consists chiefly in charity. This is the unanimous teaching of tradition based on the Gospel and the Epistles. St. Paul declares: "If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have the gift of 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 distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." I do not fulfil the first commandment of God; I do not conform my will to His; I remain turned away from Him.
Moreover, charity in a way implies all the virtues which are subordinated to it, and which appear as so many modalities or aspects of the love of God. This is what St. Paul says in the same epistle: "Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." To this we must add with the great Apostle: "Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away."
According to St. Paul, in the measure with which we love God, we know Him with that sweet knowledge, which is divine wisdom: "Being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth: to know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God." Finally, St. Paul says, on several occasions, that by charity we become the temples of the Holy Ghost. The Apostle St. John teaches the same doctrine: "God is charity: and he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him." "He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is charity." "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not, abideth in death."
St. Thomas proves that Christian perfection consists especially in charity: "A thing is said to be perfect in so far as it attains its proper end, which is the ultimate perfection thereof." Take for example, the soldier who knows how to fight, the physician who knows how to heal, the learned teacher who has the art of communicating his knowledge. We must not, however, confound these particular ends of the soldier, the doctor, and the teacher with the universal end of man and of the Christian. "Now," continues St. Thomas, "it is charity that unites us to God, who is the last end of the human mind, since he that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in him. Therefore the perfection of the Christian life consists chiefly in charity."
Farther on, the holy doctor adds: "Perfection is said to consist in a thing in two ways: in one way, primarily and essentially; in another, secondarily and accidentally. Primarily and essentially the perfection of the Christian life consists in charity; principally as to the love of God, secondarily as to the love of our neighbor, both of which are the matter of the chief commandments of the divine law. Now the love of God and of our neighbor is not commanded according to a measure, so that what is in excess of the measure be a matter of counsel."
Why Charity Surpasses Knowledge
Some people, especially intellectuals, will offer an objection to this great traditional doctrine. Is not the intellect, they will say, man's first faculty, the one that directs all the others, that primarily distinguishes us from animals? Must we not conclude that the perfection of man lies especially in the intellectual knowledge he can have of all things considered in their beginning and their end; and therefore, that the perfection of man lies in the knowledge of God, the supreme rule of human life?
St. Thomas has certainly not failed to recognize this aspect of the problem of perfection. He himself admits that the intellect is superior to the will which it directs. The intellect has, in fact, a simpler, more absolute, more universal object, being in all its universality. St. Thomas also admits that in heaven our blessedness will consist essentially in the beatific vision, in the intellectual and immediate vision of the divine essence. Beatific love will be only the necessary consequence of this immediate knowledge of the sovereign good.
He himself has given us a profound answer to this question, and an answer of prime importance in ascetical and mystical theology. He tells us in substance that although one faculty may by its very nature be superior to another, as sight is to hearing, it is possible that an act of the second may be superior to an act of the first, as the hearing of a sublime and very rare symphony is of a higher order than the sight of an ordinary color. Thus, although the intellect by its very nature may be superior to the will which it directs, yet in certain circumstances and with relation to God, the intellect in this life remains inferior to the will; in other words, here on earth the love of God is more perfect than the knowledge of God.
"The action of the intellect consists in this," says St. Thomas, "that the idea of the thing understood is in the one who understands; while the act of the will consists in this—that the will is inclined to the thing itself as existing in itself." It follows that in this life our knowledge of God is inferior to the love of God, since in order to know God we, in a way, draw Him to us, and impose on Him the bounds of our limited ideas. On the other hand, when we love Him, we raise ourselves toward Him, such as He is in Himself.
— St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
It is better, therefore, to love God than to know Him, although love always presupposes a certain knowledge and is directed by it. On the other hand, it is better to know inferior things than to love them. By knowing them we raise them, in a way, to our intelligence; whereas by loving them, we stoop toward them, and we might become subservient to them as the miser is to his treasure. It is better to know the properties of gold than to love it.
Perfection Is a Plenitude
Charity thus conceived is truly "the bond of perfection," as St. Paul says, because if man is rendered perfect by all the virtues, charity unites them all, inspires them, rules them, animates them, or informs them, and assures their perseverance by making their acts converge toward the last end, toward God loved above all. Charity not only binds us to God, but, in a sense, it also binds all the virtues, and makes them all one. In addition, because charity thus unites us to our last end, it cannot co-exist with mortal sin, which turns us away from that end. Therefore charity is inseparable from the state of grace, or of divine life, while faith and hope can be found in a sinful soul in a state of mortal sin.
Perfection consists essentially not in charity alone, but also in the acts of the other virtues which are of precept and which are ordered by charity. Thus the acts of faith, hope, religion, and prayer, attendance at mass, and reception of holy communion, belong to the very essence of perfection, which is a plenitude. To use St. Paul's word, charity is the bond of this plenitude. We can, therefore, truthfully say with St. Thomas, that perfection consists particularly in charity, and principally in the love of God. Just so, the body and soul constitute the very essence of man, although this essence is chiefly constituted by the rational soul. St. Thomas rightly says: "Christian life consists chiefly in charity, which unites the soul to God." Unlike faith and hope, charity absolutely excludes mortal sin, and requires the state of grace or of life.
The Three Ways
All spiritual writers admit three phases in the development of charity: (1) That of beginners whose main effort is strife against sin. For this reason, it is called the purgative way. (2) That of those who are making progress in the virtues by the light of faith and of contemplation. It is often called the illuminative way. (3) That of the perfect, who live especially in union with God through charity. It is called the unitive way. These three degrees constitute the infancy, adolescence, and adult age of the spiritual life.
St. Augustine made a distinction between the beginners, the proficients, and the perfect, a classification which, according to the terminology of Dionysius, corresponds to the purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways. St. Thomas several times in his writings noted the corresponding progress of the virtues and the gifts, which are the principle of supernatural acts, in particular the degrees of humility. The passive purifications of the senses and of the spirit indicated by St. Gregory the Great were described by Tauler and especially by St. John of the Cross. The latter tells us that in the passive purification of the senses "God begins to communicate Himself no longer by the senses as formerly, by means of reasoning, but in a manner purely spiritual, in an act of simple contemplation."
This lofty perfection is that described by St. Augustine and St. Gregory; the perfection to which the twelve degrees of humility enumerated by St. Benedict or the seven degrees counseled by St. Anselm lead: (1) to acknowledge ourselves contemptible; (2) to grieve on account of this; (3) to admit that we are so; (4) to wish our neighbor to believe it; (5) patiently to endure people saying it; (6) willingly to be treated as a person worthy of contempt; (7) to love to be treated in this fashion. This great conception of Christian perfection and of the illuminative and unitive ways is the only one which seems to preserve all the grandeur of the Gospel and of the Epistles of St. John and St. Paul.
The Full Perfection Belongs to the Mystical Order
According to St. John of the Cross, the full perfection of Christian life belongs clearly to the mystical order, and is truly realized only in the transforming union. While certain authors are especially concerned with beginners and with souls that have only a relative perfection in view, St. John of the Cross writes "for those who are determined to pass through nudity of spirit," especially for contemplative souls. He proposes to them the loftiest perfection attainable in this life, and the most efficacious and direct means to reach it.
"O souls created for such glories, and called to them, of what are you thinking? With what are you occupied? How mediocre are your aspirations, and how wretched your pretended good! How sad is the blindness of your soul! You are blind to the most dazzling light and deaf to the powerful voices which solicit you. By allowing yourselves to be led on by what you consider happiness and glory, you do not see that you remain plunged in your wretchedness and your mediocrity, and you render yourselves ignorant and unworthy of the treasures destined for you."
— St. John of the Cross, The Spiritual Canticle
From the spiritual point of view, many souls are quickly, even too quickly, satisfied by a very relative perfection, which seems altogether insufficient to others. The latter feel a need for the eminent exercise of charity and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Certain very passionate temperaments and extremely vigorous intellects seem to find peace only in a lofty perfection. With still greater reason, this is true of souls which received early in life a superior attraction of grace. They will find rest only after the painful purifications, in the transforming union, in which they will no longer be disturbed by the devil, the flesh, and the world.
The true view seems to us to be that there are not two unitive ways, the one ordinary and the other extraordinary by its nature, but only one unitive way, which, by an ever more perfect docility to the Holy Ghost, leads to a more intimate mystical union. This way is extraordinary in fact because of the small number of souls that are completely docile, but it is not extraordinary in itself or by its nature, like miracles or prophecy. On the contrary, it is in itself the perfect order, the full development of charity, actually realized in truly generous souls, at least at the close of their lives, if they live long enough.
The Doctrine of St. Thomas on the Three Degrees
The sober, theological language of St. Thomas Aquinas is no less sublime when he treats of the question: "Whether anyone can be perfect in this life." "The divine law," he answers, "does not prescribe the impossible. Yet it prescribes perfection, according to Matthew 5:48, 'Be you perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.' The perfection of the Christian life consists in charity. Absolute perfection consists in loving God as much as He is lovable. Such perfection as this is not possible to any creature; for God alone can love Himself in this way, that is to say, infinitely. Another perfection consists in loving God to the extent of our power, so that our love always actually tends to God. Such perfection as this is not possible in this life, but we shall have it in heaven. Finally, there is a third perfection which consists in loving God to the exclusion of whatever is opposed to the love of Him."
It is this last perfection which is peculiar to the perfect. They still commit venial sins through frailty or surprise, but they avoid deliberate venial sin and also slight, conscious, and voluntary imperfections. They are very faithful to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost. Moreover, instead of being content to make acts of charity which are comparatively weak, the perfect frequently make acts which are at least as intense as their degree of charity. Ever tending toward great things by reason of the virtue of magnanimity, they show a profound humility in their confessions, as also in their whole life, and, in their own opinion, they are the least of men. They are meek and humble of heart, as well as firm and strong.
St. Thomas states that, "while beginners strive above all to flee sin, to resist the movements of concupiscence, and proficients direct their principal efforts toward advancing in the practice of charity and of the other virtues, the perfect tend, above all, to unite themselves with God, to adhere to Him, to enjoy Him. They desire to die in order to be with Christ." There are, likewise, three degrees in charity toward one's neighbor. In the first degree, our charity extends positively only to our friends and to those who are known to us. Then it wishes well to strangers and does good to them, and finally, to our enemies. The last, says St. Augustine, is characteristic of the perfect.
All should say with the psalmist: "As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after Thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?"
The Passive Purifications
We have seen that Christian perfection consists chiefly in charity. Quite evidently, the possession of this virtue, the state of grace, is not sufficient for the attainment of perfection, properly so called, which ascetical and mystical theology speaks of and which all interior souls, particularly those consecrated to God in the religious state, aspire to. "Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect," says St. Paul, "but I follow after, if I may by any means apprehend." This perfection consists precisely in the charity of the perfect, which is superior to the charity of beginners and of souls that are making progress.
We are here concerned with the summit of charity in its normal development, the fundamental law of which, quite different from that of our fallen nature, is the law of grace, which regenerates us progressively, and the consummation of which is eternal life. St. John of the Cross speaks of the three ways in several of his works. According to him the illuminative way, or the way of souls that are making progress, begins with the cessation of meditation and the beginning of infused or mystical contemplation: "Souls begin to enter this dark night when God Himself disengages them little by little from the state of beginners, that in which one meditates, and introduces them into the state of proficients, which is that of contemplatives. They must pass through this way to become perfect, that is, to attain the divine union of the soul with God."
The Night of the Senses
Not without difficulty does one succeed in completely conquering selfishness, sensuality, laziness, impatience, envy, unjust judgment, impulses of nature, natural haste, self-love, foolish pretensions, and also self-seeking in piety, the immoderate desire for sensible consolations, intellectual and spiritual pride; in a word, all that is opposed to the spirit of faith and confidence in God; that one may succeed in loving God perfectly with all one's heart, soul, strength, and mind, and one's neighbor as oneself. To reach this perfection, the mortification or active purification of the senses and of the spirit is not all that is necessary: "In spite of all its generosity, the soul cannot completely purify itself, so that it will be even slightly fit for divine union in the perfection of love. God Himself must put His hand to the work, and purify the soul in this fire that is hidden from it."
First of all, the soul is weaned from sensible consolations, which at a certain time have their value, but which become an obstacle when they are sought for their own sake. Hence the necessity of the passive purification of the senses, which establishes the soul in sensible aridity and leads it to a spiritual life which is much more detached from the senses, the imagination, and reasoning. By the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the soul at this time receives an intuitive knowledge, which despite a very painful darkness initiates it profoundly into the things of God. Occasionally it makes the soul penetrate them more deeply in one instant than months and years of meditation would have done. Resistance to temptations, which frequently present themselves in this night of the senses, requires heroic acts of chastity and patience.
This period has justly been compared to that of teething in children who have just been weaned. In fact, at this stage the soul is prepared to receive a stronger food, the spiritual graces which are bestowed on it. These are far more precious than the preceding graces, but they disconcert the soul by giving no satisfaction to its desire for sensible graces. After treating of this purification, St. John of the Cross observes: "The soul has, therefore, gone forth; it has begun to penetrate into the way of the spirit, which is followed by proficients and advanced souls, and which is also called the illuminative way, or the way of infused contemplation." This text is very important, for St. John here speaks expressly of infused contemplation and not of acquired contemplation.
The Night of the Spirit
But to reach the perfection of charity, the passive purification of the senses does not suffice: "On leaving the state of beginners, the soul remains more often than not immobile in the exercises proper to the advanced for an indeterminate period, which may last for years. Like the prisoner who has just left his narrow prison, the soul is more at ease in divine things and finds more satisfaction in them. Neither the imagination nor the powers of the soul preserve any longer, in fact, their former attachment to discursive prayer and to spiritual effort because the soul now tastes without any intellectual effort a very calm and affectionate contemplation accompanied by spiritual delights. The purification of the soul is, however, not yet complete and cannot be so, since the principal one, which is that of the spirit, is still lacking. The soul has still, therefore, to undergo dryness, darkness, and anguish, often far more severe than the preceding experiences."
"The stains of the old man still remain in the spirit, though it does not suspect their presence, nor scarcely perceives them. They must, however, yield to and be removed by the strong soap and lye of the passive purification of the spirit, without which the purity required for union will still be lacking. These proficients suffer also from dullness of mind and from the natural rudeness which every man contracts by sin. They are subject to distractions and to dissipation of mind. The devil often dupes many by imaginary visions and false prophecies which lead to presumption. This matter is inexhaustible, and these imperfections are so much the more incurable because these proficients consider them spiritual perfections. Therefore he who wishes to make progress must, of necessity, pass through the purification of the spiritual night. Therein only can the soul find suitable and adequate means for uniting itself to God."
— St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night
"How often on this way exaltation and depression succeed one another, and how often, too, is prosperity enjoyed for a moment and then followed by storms and trials. These fluctuations are ordinary in the contemplative state. Before attaining the state of definitive peace, rest is unknown; life is a constant succession of ascents and descents. As the state of perfection consists in the perfect love of God and contempt of self, it cannot be conceived without its two parts, the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self. From this we see how necessary it is that the soul have a preliminary formation in both. This is why God at times lifts the soul up by making it taste its own greatness, and at times humbles it by showing it its baseness. This movement of ascent and descent can, therefore, be stopped only when the perfect habit of the virtues is acquired, when the soul has reached union with God."
To resist temptations against the theological virtues which present themselves rather frequently in the night of the spirit, the soul must make heroic acts of faith, hope, and charity, which notably augment the intensity of these virtues. At the same time the illuminations of the gift of understanding enlighten the soul on the unknown depths of the mysteries of faith, on the fathomless perfections of God, on the nothingness of creatures, on the infinite gravity of mortal sin, on the ineffable abasement of Christ, to such an extent that the incarnation and the Eucharist seem absolutely impossible. The understanding, which is still too feeble, is bewildered and helpless like a man who does not know how to swim and who, upon being cast into the open sea, believes himself on the point of drowning.
Once this passive purification of the spirit is completed, souls are normally ready to enter heaven immediately after death: "Because of their perfect purification by love, they are not obliged to pass through purgatory." They have had their purgatory in this life and in a fitting manner; that is, while meriting; whereas after death souls, which by their fault must be purified, no longer merit. Very generous souls ought normally to suffer their purgatory on earth while meriting, rather than after death without meriting. If we go to purgatory after death, it will be our own fault, it will be because we have neglected graces that were granted us or offered us during life.
Contemplation & Its Degrees
Contemplation in general, such as may exist in a non-Christian philosopher, for example, in Plato or Aristotle, is a simple, intellectual view of the truth, superior to reasoning and accompanied by admiration, simplex intuitus veritatis, as St. Thomas says. An example of this contemplation is the admiring knowledge of that supreme truth of philosophy, namely, that at the summit of all composite and changeable beings there exists absolutely simple and immutable being itself, the principle and end of all things. It has not received existence; it is of itself existence, truth, wisdom, goodness, love, just as, in the physical order, light of itself is light and has no need to be illumined.
The contemplation of the faithful is, on the contrary, founded on divine revelation received through faith. Although faith is an infused gift of God received at baptism, several theologians admit in the faithful a so-called "acquired" contemplation. They generally define it as a simple and loving knowledge of God and of His works which is the fruit of our personal activity aided by grace. But since the loving contemplation of God is not the fruit of human activity alone, it cannot be called acquired but rather must be called infused.
For example, in a poorly arranged, lifeless sermon, that merely tires most of the listeners, the preacher may, however, quote an expression of our Lord which profoundly seizes a soul, captivates it, and absorbs it for an hour. That is an example of contemplation which is not the fruit of the preacher's human activity or of personal reflection; it springs from a manifest divine inspiration. It is called infused. It is called infused and also passive in this sense, that it is not in our power to produce this act at will, like an ordinary act of faith. We can only receive the divine inspiration with docility, and dispose ourselves to it by pious recollection. "This infused or passive contemplation is in us without our deliberation, though not indeed without our consent."
Faith as the Proximate Means of Union
St. John of the Cross teaches that faith is the proximate and proportionate means which can unite the soul to God, for faith is in such intimate connection with God that what we believe by faith and what we see by the beatific vision are one and the same thing. God is infinite; faith proposes the infinite to us. God is one and triune; faith proposes Him to us as one and triune. In the same way that God is darkness for our mind, faith enlightens our understanding by blinding it. By this means only does God manifest Himself to the soul in a divine light which exceeds all understanding; whence it results that the greater faith is, the more profound is the union. "For under the darkness of faith, the understanding is united to God; under cover of this mysterious darkness, God is found hidden."
"Pure faith, in the denudation and abnegation of all, inclines far more to divine love than spiritual visions. If it happens that the soul experiences an anguish of very pure love of God, and is ignorant of its cause and motive, it is the effect of faith, which has developed in the night, in nudity and spiritual poverty, and which is accompanied by a more profound, infused love of God. Whence it follows that the more eager the soul is for obscurity, for annihilation in regard to every exterior and interior object which it is capable of possessing, the more it increases its faith, and also hope and charity, inasmuch as the three theological virtues form a unity."
— St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel
"In order to be supernaturally transformed, the soul must enter the darkness (not only in regard to creatures, but in regard to what reason can know of God). It must remain in the darkness, like a blind person, relying on obscure faith, taking it as light and guide. The soul cannot help itself with any of the things which it understands, tastes, feels, or imagines. Faith dominates all these ideas, tastes, sentiments, and images. If the soul does not wish to extinguish its lights by preferring total obscurity to them, it will not reach what is superior, that is, what faith teaches."
In The Spiritual Canticle, St. John beautifully sums up this doctrine and shows its loftiness: "By 'silvery surfaces' the soul means the propositions or articles of faith. The articles of faith are represented by silver as compared to gold, which is the substance of faith or the truths which it contains considered in themselves. During our lives we adhere to this substance of faith, although it is hidden in a silvered envelope. It will appear unveiled in heaven, and we shall contemplate this pure gold with delight. Thus faith gives us God even in this life, although under a veil of silver. This does not hinder us from truly receiving Him."
The Great Darkness
St. Thomas says: "Then we know God through ignorance, by a union which surpasses the nature of our soul and in which we are enlightened by the depths of divine wisdom, which we cannot scrutinize." This teaching is confirmed by the testimony of souls experienced in the mystical ways. "One day," says Blessed Angela of Foligno, "I saw God in a darkness and necessarily in a darkness, because He is situated too far above the mind, and no proportion exists between Him and anything that can become the object of a thought. It is an ineffable delectation in the good which contains all. Nothing therein can become the object either of a word or a concept. I see nothing, I see all. Certitude is obtained in the darkness. The more profound the darkness, so much the more does the good exceed all. This is the reserved mystery."
The Degrees According to St. Teresa
When we read The Life of St. Teresa or her Interior Castle, we seem at first to come into contact with an inaccessible spiritual world, quite above what every interior soul may legitimately desire. These extraordinary phenomena may, if we give our attention entirely to them, hide from us instead of manifesting to us what is most profound and elevated in her life; in other words, the full development in her of the Christian virtues that we ought all to have, but that in many souls remain mean, colorless, and without vigor.
What essentially characterizes the mystical life is an infused and loving knowledge of God; in other words, it is an infused light and an infused love coming to us from the Holy Ghost and from His gifts in order to make us grow in charity. In this state the soul is no longer inclined to meditate by itself. It receives a supernatural recollection which it could never acquire by its own efforts and which does not depend on our will. It is no longer the soul recollecting itself, it is God who recollects it and draws it toward the inner sanctuary. During this passive recollection, "when our Lord suspends the understanding and makes it cease from its acts, He puts before it that which astonishes and occupies it: so that, without making any reflections, it shall comprehend in a moment more than we could comprehend in many years with all the efforts in the world."
At first, in the prayer of quiet "the will alone is made captive" by the mysterious light received, which manifests to it the goodness of God present in it. "The water flows from the very fountain itself, which is God; it wells up from the most intimate depths of our being with extreme peace, tranquillity, and sweetness." In simple union, God's action is strong enough to absorb completely the activity of the interior faculties. God suspends the natural action of the intellect "in order better to impress on us true wisdom." Then ecstasy follows, where union with God is so perfect that it suspends the operations of the exterior senses. Finally the soul is introduced into the seventh mansion, the transforming union with God.
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost
The mystical life is characterized by the predominance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Ascetical theology treats of the Christian life of beginners, and of those who advance with the help of grace in the exercise of the Christian virtues, the mode of which remains a human mode adapted to that of our faculties. On the other hand, mystical theology treats especially of the unitive life of the perfect, in which there is clearly manifest the divine mode of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, in the exercise of which the soul is more passive than active, and in which it obtains a "quasi-experimental" knowledge of God present in it, as St. Thomas explains. "These gifts," the great doctor tells us, "exist in all souls in the state of grace"; but normally they do not predominate, nor do they act in a manner both frequent and manifest except in very humble, mortified souls that are habitually docile to the Holy Ghost.
Some souls excel in the gifts relating to the active life, such as the gift of fortitude; others in those of the contemplative life, as understanding and wisdom. The latter especially enter the "passive ways," because they no longer direct themselves, but are habitually directed immediately by God. He gives to their acts that mode which He alone can communicate to them, as, for example, when a master directs his pupil by holding his hand. These acts are thus doubly supernatural: by their essence, as acts of the Christian virtues of the ascetical life; and by this superior mode, which surpasses the simple exercise of the Christian virtues aided by actual grace. This is what makes it possible for St. Teresa to speak of "supernatural prayer" when the passive ways begin.
The Seven Gifts Enumerated
The gift of Wisdom is the highest of the seven gifts, granting a quasi-experimental knowledge of God and divine things, proceeding from charity and the connaturality of love. Through this gift, the soul contemplates all things in their relation to God, the first cause and last end of all. The gift of Understanding penetrates into the depths of the mysteries of faith, illuminating the fathomless perfections of God and the nothingness of creatures. The gift of Counsel provides divine guidance in particular and difficult circumstances, making the soul docile to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost in practical matters.
The gift of Fortitude bestows supernatural strength to endure trials, temptations, and persecutions with patience and perseverance beyond natural capacity. The gift of Knowledge enables the soul to recognize the emptiness of created things and to judge them rightly in relation to God. The gift of Piety inspires filial affection toward God as Father, bringing quiet of the will and tender devotion in worship. The gift of Fear of the Lord preserves the soul from sin through reverential awe before the infinite majesty of God, inspiring profound humility.
St. Thomas teaches explicitly the essential distinction between the virtues and the gifts, and consequently he distinguishes exactly the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, which surpasses the human mode, from the simple actual grace which is adapted to this mode. On this point also, by declaring the gifts necessary to salvation, St. Thomas agrees with the greatest mystics. He adds, as they do, that the gifts, although subordinated to the theological virtues, greatly assist in their development. The Holy Ghost communicates His lights to us in the recollection of faith. Thus the difference is very great between that supernatural faith which subsists without charity in a soul in the state of mortal sin, and living faith which is aided by the gifts and profound touches of the Holy Ghost.
The Fruits and Beatitudes
When charity is perfected, all the Christian virtues reach their perfect development. "They are intertwined, closely united to each other, which renders their resistance stronger by reason of their mutual support. From this union there results a whole which constitutes the complete perfection of the soul, a compact ensemble, a solidarity, which excludes the possibility of any weak spot which might facilitate the entrance of the devil or things of the world into the soul." Finally, "the soul possesses the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost according to the entire perfection compatible with life here below."
This divine mode of the supernatural acts, which spring immediately from the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, is not essentially extraordinary, like a miracle, a vision, a prophecy, but something eminent and ordinary in the perfect, who live habitually recollected in adoration of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity present in them. Such, in fact, is the principal subject treated by all the great mystical theologians from Dionysius to Tauler and St. John of the Cross, who often uses the single word "faith" to indicate this virtue and the gift of wisdom in a superior degree.
The Efficacy of Divine Grace
Those who are surprised that we seek the principles of mystical theology in the writings of St. Thomas should consider especially his teaching on the efficacy of grace. This doctrine, precisely because it is very lofty, is not generally well understood except by speculative theologians and souls that have entered the passive ways. The reason for this is found in the fact that speculative theologians are accustomed to consider everything in relation to God, the universal first cause and Author of salvation. Souls in the passive ways know from experience that in the work of salvation everything comes from God, even our co-operation—in this sense, that we can distinguish therein no part that is exclusively ours and that does not come from the Author of all good.
In these words the fathers, especially St. Augustine and following him St. Thomas, have seen the affirmation that in the work of our salvation all comes from God, even our co-operation, even the distinction between the just and sinners, so that we cannot find therein a part which is exclusively ours. Moreover, if God were in no way the cause of our choice, He would not have been able to foresee it infallibly from all eternity; for He alone is eternal, and our free acts are future from all eternity only because He decided to produce them in us and with us, or at least to permit them if they are bad.
According to St. Thomas, divine grace, which efficaciously inclines us to salutary good, is not indifferent or changeable. It is not made efficacious by our foreseen consent; but it moves us surely, powerfully, and gently to follow the way of good rather than that of evil. "For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to His good will." He Himself says by the mouth of Ezechiel: "And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit in the midst of you; and I will cause you to walk in My commandments, and to keep My judgments, and do them." "As the division of waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever He will He shall turn it."
Grace and Human Liberty
Some have thought that this doctrine of intrinsically efficacious grace destroys human liberty and contains an absurdity. Far from being absurd, in the opinion of St. Thomas it expresses a sublime mystery: the mystery of God more intimately present to our free will than our free will is to itself. Grace does not destroy our liberty by its certain efficacy; rather by that very efficacy divine grace moves the free will without doing violence to it. This is the inspired idea of St. Thomas Aquinas when he interprets revelation.
"When a cause is efficacious to act, the effect follows upon the cause, not only as to the substance of the effect, but also as to its manner of being and of being made. Since the divine will is perfectly efficacious, it not only follows that things happen that God wills to happen, but happen also in the way that He wills from all eternity. God wills some things to happen necessarily, some contingently and freely." With this end in view He has given us free will.
— St. Thomas Aquinas
"Free will is the cause of its own movement, because by his free will man moves himself to act. But it does not of necessity belong to liberty that what is free should be the first cause of itself, as neither for one thing to be cause of another need it be the first cause. God, therefore, is the first cause, who moves both natural and voluntary causes. And just as by moving natural causes He does not prevent their acts being natural, so by moving voluntary causes He does not deprive their actions of being voluntary: but rather is He the cause of this very thing in them; for He operates in each thing according to its own nature." Thus a great master communicates to his disciples not only his knowledge, but his spirit and his manner.
God moves our liberty fortiter et suaviter. Power and gentleness are so intimately united in efficacious grace that failure to recognize the first is a suppression of the second; it is a failure to see the infinite abyss separating the divine influence from the created influences that exert themselves on our free choice. Does it follow that efforts and willing are useless? Quite the contrary. Precisely because good will and holy effort are most important in the work of salvation, they cannot be exclusively our work. Grace is what causes us to make this choice, what makes us struggle against temptation and overcome it. As St. Augustine frequently says, God moves us, not that we should do nothing, but precisely that we should act.
The Foundation of the Loftiest Mystical Theology
We now come to the foundation of the loftiest mystical theology, that of St. Paul, St. Augustine, Dionysius, St. Bernard, St. Thomas, Tauler, Ruysbroeck, the author of the Imitation, and St. John of the Cross. In the work of salvation, all comes from God, even our co-operation. We cannot glory in contributing a single part, however small, that would be exclusively ours. Man of himself is sufficient for evil; but for good, he can do absolutely nothing without the natural or supernatural help of God. On the other hand, with God and through Him he can achieve the greatest actions: he can co-operate in the salvation of souls, each of which is of more value than the entire material universe; he can make acts of charity, the least of which has greater value than all angelic natures taken together.
"To reconcile God's decree and His omnipotent action with our free will, we need not attribute to Him a concurrence which is equally ready for anything, and which will become whatever we choose to make of it. Still less is it necessary for Him to await the decision of our will. Aside from this weak device, which deforms the whole idea of first cause, we need merely consider that the divine will, with its infinite power reaching not only into the essence of all things but into their every mode of being, is of itself in accord with the whole and entire effect, producing in it whatever we conceive to be in it."
— Bossuet, Treatise on Free Will, Ch. VIII
"But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
The Transforming Union
According to St. John of the Cross, the full perfection attainable in this life is found only in the transforming union, or the spiritual marriage. "Then, in fact, the soul is no longer disturbed by the demon, nor by the world, nor by the flesh, nor by the appetites; it can then utter the words of the Canticle, 'For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land.'" This state represents the full development of charity; perfect love accepts any work or suffering whatever for God, and even finds a holy joy in suffering. It does not fear death, but desires it. It attributes nothing to self, but refers all to God, and is transformed so to speak in Him, according to St. Paul's expression, "He who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit."
When charity is perfected, all the Christian virtues reach their perfect development. "They are intertwined, closely united to each other, which renders their resistance stronger by reason of their mutual support. From this union there results a whole which constitutes the complete perfection of the soul, a compact ensemble, a solidarity, which excludes the possibility of any weak spot." The soul possesses the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost according to the entire perfection compatible with life here below.
The Testimony of St. Catherine of Siena
God Himself used such words as these when speaking to St. Catherine of Siena: "I must now tell thee the sign that gives evidence that the soul has reached perfect love. This sign is the same as that which was seen in the Apostles after they had received the Holy Ghost. They left the Cenacle and, freed from all fear, they announced My word and preached the doctrine of My only Son. Far from fearing suffering, they gloried in it.
"Those who passionately desire My honor and who hunger for the salvation of souls hasten to the table of the holy cross. Their only ambition is to suffer and to bear a thousand fatigues for the service of their neighbor. They bear in their bodies the wounds of Christ, and the crucified love which burns them bursts forth in the contempt they feel for themselves, in the joy they experience in opprobrium, in the welcome they give to the contradictions and the pains that I grant them, wherever they may come from, and in whatever manner I may send them.
"They run ardently in the way of Christ crucified. They follow His doctrine, and nothing can slacken their course, neither injuries nor persecutions nor the pleasures which the world offers them. With unshakable fortitude they pass all this by, equipped as they are with a perseverance which nothing can trouble, their hearts transformed by charity, tasting and enjoying this nourishment of the salvation of souls, ready to bear all things for them."
The Seventh Mansion
Finally the soul is introduced into the seventh mansion, the transforming union with God. Under the influence of this grace, the soul cannot doubt that the divine Persons are present in it; it is, besides, practically never deprived of Their company. "The soul recognizes by certain secret aspirations that it is God who gives it life," and that He is the Life of our life. The Christian who has reached this perfect age is morally one with Him, in the sense in which St. Paul says: "He who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit." As far as is possible on earth, this is the full realization of our Lord's prayer: "That they may be one, as We also are one; I in them, and Thou in Me."
The effects of the transforming union are those of the perfect exercise of the theological virtues and of the gifts. The soul is practically freed from the disorders of the passions. What is outstanding in the soul is a great forgetfulness of self, a keen desire to suffer in imitation of our Lord, a true joy in persecution. These souls, inflamed with zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of their neighbor, "desire to live long years in the midst of the most severe trials in order that the Lord may be ever so little glorified by them." This is truly the apostolic life, which flows from the plenitude of contemplation. "God cannot bestow upon us a more precious favor than a life conformed to that of His well-beloved Son."
All just souls are called, at least in a general and remote manner, to this transforming union, which is the normal prelude to the life of heaven. If they are faithful to this call, and at the same time humble and generous, they will hear a more proximate and urgent invitation. St. Teresa repeats this in the Epilogue to The Interior Castle: "In truth you cannot by your own strength, no matter how great it may seem to you, enter all the mansions. The Master of the Castle must Himself admit you. If you encounter any resistance on His part, I advise you not to try to use violence. He deeply loves humility; if you believe yourself unworthy to enter even the third mansion, you will soon obtain admission to the fifth."
The interior soul should desire above all else the ever deeper reign of God in it, continual growth in charity. This it should long for because the precept of love is without limit and obliges us, if not to be saints, at least to tend to sanctity, each one according to his condition, and because Christ said to all: "Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." This is the royal road which leads to heaven.
The Life of Prayer
We must confess that even common prayer depends chiefly on the grace of God, and consequently the soul prepares for it less by mechanical processes than by humility. God gives His grace to the humble. "Unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." It is the little ones that God is pleased to instruct interiorly; humble souls like the peasant of Ars. In addition to the cultivation of humility, we must prepare ourselves for a life of prayer by mortification and detachment from sensible things and from self.
Evidently, if our minds are preoccupied with worldly affairs and our souls disturbed by too human an affection, by jealousy, rash judgment, and the memory of wrongs we have suffered from others, we shall not be able to converse with our Lord. If in the course of the day we have criticized our superiors, in the evening we cannot feel united to God. It is evident that all inordinate inclinations must be mortified so that charity may take the first place in our souls and rise spontaneously to God. On all occasions, in suffering or in consolation, we must form the habit of raising our hearts to God and of blessing the coming hour. Silence must reign in our souls, and our passions must be suppressed, if we are to hear the interior Master who speaks in a low voice as friend to friend. If we are habitually concerned with ourselves, how shall we taste the sweetness of the Trinity, the incarnation, the redemption, and the Eucharist?
Perseverance in Prayer
It is not sufficient to attain to a life of prayer; we must persevere in it. By persevering effort the soul is sure to make great gain; without it, everything may be lost. Perseverance is not an easy task, for we must struggle against self, against spiritual laziness, and against the devil who inclines us to discouragement. Even among the far advanced, how many souls have turned back when deprived of the first consolations they received.
Other souls, after struggling for a long time, become discouraged, says St. Teresa, when they are within a few steps of the fountain of living water. They fall back and, since without prayer they no longer have the strength to carry the cross, they lapse into a superficial life in which others might perhaps be saved, but in which they run the risk of being lost because their powers will carry them to excesses. For certain souls of a naturally lofty turn, mediocrity is impossible; either they give themselves wholly to God, or wholly to themselves in opposition to God.
Later on our Lord explains that this fountain of living water is the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, whom He will send to us and who will make us penetrate and taste the intimate meaning of the gospel. According to St. Paul, the Holy Ghost dwells in us by charity. Therefore He is in every soul in the state of grace. He dwells in the soul not to remain idle, but rather to make Himself its interior master by His seven gifts, which develop in proportion as charity grows in the soul. The growth of charity should continue until death, without any assigned limit. Our failure better to understand the holy inspirations of the interior Master is probably due to the fact that we listen to ourselves, that we are not humble enough and desirous of the reign of God in our souls.
Hope and Humility
We must hope, with trust in our guide. We fail in this confidence when, after the first aridity, we say that prayer is not for us. We might just as well say with the Jansenists that frequent communion is not for us, but only for a few great saints. Our Lord calls all souls to this intercourse of friendship with Him. As He says, He is the good shepherd who leads His sheep to the eternal pastures that they may feed on every word of God. In the midst of these pastures is the fountain of living waters.
The second element necessary for perseverance in prayer is that we allow ourselves to be led by the road that our Lord has chosen for us. The great highway is the road of humility and conformity to the divine will. All should pray as the publican did. Along this road, however, are stony spots and level stretches, some sections covered with grass, others burned by the sun, and still others shady. The good Shepherd leads His sheep as He judges best: some by the way of parables, others by that of reasoning, before bringing them to simple intuition in the obscurity of faith. He leaves some souls for a long time in difficult spots for the purpose of inuring them to hardships. Our Lord raises Marys to contemplation sooner than He does Marthas.
The Precept of Love Knows No Limit
The precept of love knows no limit. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." Christ adds for all of us: "Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect"; and the whole Sermon on the Mount, which begins with the beatitudes, is a sort of commentary on this exhortation. To raise us to this perfection, "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and of His fulness we all have received."
Love of neighbor, too, must go far. "A new commandment I give unto you: that you love one another, as I have loved you." "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Our Savior, to make us understand in what the perfection of charity consists, prayed for us thus: "Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, whom Thou hast given Me; that they may be one, as We also are. And the glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given to them; that they may be one, as We also are one."
Everyone is called to advance in the way of perfection according to his state of life. Ascetical and mystical theology is the application of moral theology, as expounded by St. Thomas, in directing souls to an ever closer union with God. Too many imagine that ascetical and mystical theology is for the select few. They therefore wrongly think that it is confined to priests, religious, and a few chosen souls in the world. May Christian Perfection and Contemplation awaken in many an appreciation of the higher things of the spiritual life.
"Peace is what all desire, but all do not care for the things that pertain to true peace. My peace is with the humble and gentle of heart; in much patience shall thy peace be. Direct thy whole attention to please Me alone, and neither to desire nor to seek anything besides Me. The spiritual progress and perfection of a man consist in these things: in giving thyself up with all thy heart to the divine will, not seeking thine own interest either in great matters or in small, either in time or in eternity. So shalt thou keep one and the same demeanor always giving thanks both in prosperity and adversity, weighing all things in an equal balance."
— The Imitation of Christ, Book IV, Ch. 25
"Now, if thou attain to the full contempt of thyself, know that thou shalt then enjoy abundance of peace, as great as is possible in this thy state of sojourning." This peace is the fruit of an eminent charity and of the gift of wisdom which makes us see everything, whether agreeable or painful, in relation to God, the beginning and end of all things.
A. M. D. G.
"To the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and mediatrix, who leads the humble to the intimacy of Christ, as He Himself leads them to the Father."
Based upon Christian Perfection and Contemplation by Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.
Translated by Sister M. Timothea Doyle, O.P. · Rosary College · Feast of St. Catherine of Siena, 1937
✦ Laus Deo ✦