SOME EXACT THEOLOGICAL STATEMENTS ON THE NATURE OF PERFECTIONThe
scriptural teaching which we have just recalled assumes a more precise
form in the doctrinal body of theology. Relying on the Scriptures, St.
Thomas easily establishes the fact that Christian perfection 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 perfection of the
Christian life consists chiefly in charity." (25)
Infused faith and hope could evidently not be that in which
perfection 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,
recovers charity, it revivifies faith and hope, and renders their acts
not only salutary but meritorious, by ordaining them to God
efficaciously 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 another,
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
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
difference 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
distinguishes us from the animal. Since this is true, they say, should
we not then conclude that the perfection of man lies chiefly in the
intellectual 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 profound
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 important 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. Besides, we
must not confound apparent good with true good, which the intellect
recognizes and judges, and proposes to the will. As the good
presupposes the true and being, the will presupposes the intellect 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 instant 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 hearing, the
audition of a Beethoven symphony is more sought after than the sight
of an ordinary object. Likewise, although the intellect by its very
nature (simpliciter) superior to the will which it directs, here on
earth the love of God is more perfect than the knowledge 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 precious truth. It
could be illustrated by many quotations from Scripture 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 represent 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 Cure 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 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 summus) which we ought to have for
God will thus become more intense, 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 observes (39) 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 permit it.
The perfection possible on earth excludes everything that is
contrary 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, such as
a lesser generosity in the service of God and the habit of acting in
an imperfect manner (remissa) and of receiving the sacraments 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 immediately 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. Thomas (43) 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
My 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
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 being
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,
remembering that above the succession of daily deeds, whether
pleasurable a or painful, foreseen or unforeseen, there is the
parallel series of 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
painful, will become the practical application of the doctrine of the
Gospel, and gradually an almost continual conversation will be
established between Christ and us. This will be the true interior
life, as it were, eternal life begun.
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25. See IIa IIae, q. 184, a. I.
26. Ibid., a.1.
27. John 13:34f.
28. See I John 1:9.
29. Ibid., 3: 14 f.
30. See Ia, q.8:, a. 3. "Wherefore the love of God is better than
the knowledge 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."
31. See Ia IIae. q. 3. a.4; q.5, a.4.
32. See Ia, q.82, a.3. On the contrary, it is better to know
inferior things than to love them.
33. Ibid.
34. Ibid.
35. See IIa IIae, q.27, a.4.
36 lbid., ad 2um.
37. lbid., q.45, a.2, 4.
38. See Col. 1: 9. Thomists generally hold (cf. Passerini, De
statibus hominum, in IIa IIae, 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 continuous 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" (IIa IIae, 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, "velIe operari active est
Deum offendere, qui vult esse ipse solus agens" (d. Denzinger, 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 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 effect 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 prolonged spiritual communion.
39. See IIa IIae, q. 184, a. 2.
40. We treated this question in greater detail in Christian
Perfection and Contemplation, pp. 167-75.
41. See IIa IIae, q.24, a.6.
42. St. Thomas, In Ep. ad Hebr., 10:25.
43. See IIa IIae, q. 184, a.2 ad 3um.
44. John 15:12.
45. Acts 5:41.
46. See II Cor. 12: 15. Cf. also St. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue,
chaps. 74, 78, 79, passim; Perfect love and its signs.
47. The Imitation of Christ, Bk. III, 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. Ia IIae, 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. IIa IIae, q.27, a.5.
See also Tauler, Sermons, for the distinction between the
upright man and the interior or spiritual man, and the description of
the state of the perfect. Cf. Sermons de Tauler (trans. Hugueny.
Thery, 1927). I, 200-4. 218-24, 265-69. 284, 296 ff., 357.
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