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diff --git a/22295.txt b/22295.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1e1de2a --- /dev/null +++ b/22295.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9814 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of On Prayer and The Contemplative Life, by +St. Thomas Aquinas + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: On Prayer and The Contemplative Life + +Author: St. Thomas Aquinas + +Translator: Hugh Pope + +Release Date: August 10, 2007 [EBook #22295] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON PRAYER *** + + + + +Produced by Charlene Taylor, Ted Garvin, David King, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +ON PRAYER AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE + +BY + +S. THOMAS AQUINAS + +BY THE + +VERY REV. HUGH POPE, O.P., S.T.M. + +AUTHOR OF "THE CATHOLIC STUDENT'S 'AIDS' TO THE BIBLE," ETC. + +WITH A PREFACE BY + +VERY REV. VINCENT McNABB, O.P., S.T.L. + +R. & T. WASHBOURNE, LTD. +PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON +AND AT MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, AND GLASGOW + +1914 _All rights reserved_ + + +Nihil Obstat. + J.P. ARENDZEN, D.D., + Censor Deputatus. + +Imprimatur. + EDM. CAN. SURMONT, + Vicarius Generalis. + +Westmonasterii, + _Die 20 Septembris, 1913._ + + + "Te Trina Deitas unaque poscimus + Sic nos Tu visita, sicut Te colimus: + Per Tuas semitas duc nos quo tendimus, + Ad lucem, quam inhabitas!" + + S. Thomas's Hymn for Matins on the + _Feast of Corpus Christi_. + + + + +PREFACE + + +The present generation in the fervour of its repentance is like to cast +off too much. So many false principles and hasty deductions have been +offered to its parents and grandparents in the name of science that it +is becoming unduly suspicious of the scientific method. + +A century ago men's minds were sick unto death from too much science and +too little mysticism. To-day the danger is that even the drawing-rooms +are scented with a mysticism that anathematizes science. + +At no time since the days of S. Thomas was the saint's scientific method +more lacking. Everywhere there is need for a mystic doctrine, which in +itself is neither hypnotism nor hysteria, and in its expression is +neither superlative nor apostrophic, lest the hungered minds of men die +of surfeit following on starvation. + +The message and method of S. Thomas are part of that strange rigidity of +the thirteenth century which is one of the startling paradoxes of the +ages of faith. It is surely a consolation that these ages of a faith +which moved mountains, or at least essayed to remove the Turk, were +minded to express their beliefs in the coat of mail of human reason! The +giants of those days, who in the sphere of literature were rediscovering +verse and inventing rhyme, and who in every sphere of knowledge were +bringing forth the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, were not so +blinded by the white light of vision as to disown the Greeks. They made +the _Ethics_ of Aristotle the four-square walls of the city of God; they +expressed the mysteries of the Undivided Three in terms of the +Syllogism. Thus they refused to cut themselves off from the aristocracy +of human genius. They laid hands--but not violent hands--on the heritage +of the ages. No philosophers have ever equalled their bold and +lowly-minded profession of faith in the solidarity of human reason. For +this cause S. Thomas, who is their spokesman, has now become an absolute +necessity of thought. Unless the great Dumb Ox is given a hearing, our +mysticism will fill, not the churches, but the asylums and the little +self-authorized Bethels where every man is his own precursor and +messiah. + +That S. Thomas is to be accepted as a master of mysticism may be judged +from the following facts in the life of a mystic of the mystics, S. John +of the Cross: + +"It has been recorded that during his studies he particularly relished +psychology; this is amply borne out by his writings. S. John was not +what one could term a scholar. He was, however, intimately acquainted +with the _Summa_ of S. Thomas Aquinas, as almost every page of his works +proves.... He does not seem to have ever applied himself to the study of +the Fathers.... As has already been stated, the whole work (_The Ascent +of Mount Carmel_) is based upon the view S. Thomas Aquinas takes of the +essence and operations of the senses and of the faculties of the soul, +and upon his treatise on the virtues."[1] + +S. Thomas hardly needs an imprimatur after six centuries of full trust. +But in the hard matters of mysticism, which he has treated as a scholar +should, it is reassuring to know that he has the approval, not only of +the scholars, but of the mystics. + +VINCENT McNABB, O.P. + + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + +QUESTION LXXXI +OF THE VIRTUE OF RELIGION + +QUESTION LXXXII +OF DEVOTION + +QUESTION LXXXIII +OF PRAYER + +SUPPLEMENT--QUESTION LXXII +OF THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS WHO ARE IN HEAVEN + +QUESTION CLXXIX +OF THE DIVISION OF LIFE INTO THE ACTIVE AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE + +QUESTION CLXXX +OF THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE + +QUESTION CLXXXI +OF THE ACTIVE LIFE + +QUESTION CLXXXII +OF THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ACTIVE AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE + +QUESTION CLXXXVI +ON THE RELIGIOUS STATE + +INDEX + +INDEX OF TEXTS QUOTED OR EXPLAINED + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The pages which follow call for little introduction. S. Thomas has left +us no formal treatise on Mystical Theology, though his teachings on this +subject have been collected from his various works and combined to form +such a treatise. Especially noteworthy is the work of the Spanish +Dominican Valgornera.[2] No such synthesis has been attempted here. We +have simply taken from the _Summa Theologica_ the treatises on +_Religion_, on _Devotion_, _Prayer_, and the _Contemplative Life_, and +presented them in an English dress. When occasion offered we have added +to each portion appropriate passages from S. Augustine, S. Thomas's +master, and more rarely from the _Commentary_ on the _Summa_ by the +illustrious Cardinal Cajetan. + +And we have been led to do this for several reasons. The Mystical life +is the life of union with God, and it is based essentially on Prayer and +Contemplation. But prayer and contemplation, though simple in +themselves, are yet fraught with difficulties and dangers unless we be +wisely guided. And as Father Faber shrewdly says: when we ask for +instruction in these things, let us by all means make appeal to those +whose names begin with S--let us, in other words, go to God's Saints. +And the reason is simple: these Saints are no mere idle sign-posts who +point the way but stand still themselves; they themselves have been +where they would have us go; they speak from no mere theoretical +knowledge; they themselves have tasted and seen that the Lord is sweet! + +Further, it would have been easy to cull from S. Thomas's writings the +salient points of his teaching on these points, and to have presented +them in an attractive form. But had we done so the teachings of the +Saint would have lost much of their force, and readers might well have +doubted at times whether they really had before them the mind of S. +Thomas or that of the translator. It is preferable to read the Bible +than what men have said about the Bible. Unfortunately, it is the +fashion nowadays to consider S. Thomas's writings "out of date"! If the +perusal of these pages shall have induced some few at least to go to the +original and study it for themselves they will have more than fulfilled +the translator's desires. + +Another reason which has weighed much with the translator and encouraged +him to undertake this task has been the suddenly awakened interest in +Mysticism and Mystical studies during the last decade. It has become the +fashion to talk about Mysticism, even to pose as Mystics, and--need it +be said?--those who talk the most on such subjects are those who know +the least. For those who have entered into the secret of the King are +ever the most reticent on such matters. At the same time we may welcome +this recent development, if only as a set-off against the Spiritualism +and occultism which have played such havoc with souls during a space of +over fifty years. The human soul, "naturally Christian," as Tertullian +would say, is also naturally Divine in the sense that, as S. Augustine +so often insists, no rest is possible for it save in God. Now those who +are familiar with the _Summa Theologica_ are aware that _Union with God_ +is its keynote, or rather is the dominant note which rings out clear +again and again with its ever-repeated _Sursum Corda_! It is this that +gives such special value to the treatises here presented on Prayer and +the Contemplative Life. They flow from the pen of one who was literally +steeped in God and Divine things, and who is speaking to us of things +which he had himself tasted and seen. It is this that gives such +simplicity and charm to the whole of his teaching. He is not +experimenting; he is not speaking of theories; he is portraying to us +what was his everyday life. + +Perhaps one of the commonest errors regarding the Spiritual life is the +confusion between the ordinary and the extraordinary ways of God. For +how many does not the Contemplative Life mean the life of ecstasy and +vision with which we are familiar in the lives of the Saints? For S. +Thomas, on the contrary, the Contemplative Life is but the natural life +of a man who is serving God and who devotes a certain portion of his +time to the study and contemplation of Divine things. Ecstasy and vision +he treats of in another place. They occupy a sphere apart. They belong +to God's extraordinary dealings with favoured souls, and while they +presuppose prayer and contemplation on the part of those so visited they +themselves form no integral part of the Contemplative Life; indeed, they +are the exception. Hence in these pages we shall find nought touching +Supernatural manifestations, such as visions, ecstasies, and +revelations; but we shall find what is of far greater use to us--a +Catechism on Devotion, Prayer, and Contemplation. + + * * * * * + +The main features of the Life of S. Thomas of Aquin are known to most of +those who are likely to read this book. His life at first sight seems of +such an even tenor that there is but little to record. Yet when we +penetrate beneath the surface we realize that he lived in stirring days, +and that his short span of fifty years was passed in the full light of +the world of the thirteenth century. Thomas was born in the beginning of +the year 1225 in the castle of Rocca-Secca, the ancestral home of the +Counts of Aquino, in the kingdom of Sicily. His future glory was +foretold to his mother, the Countess Theodora, by a hermit of that +neighbourhood who also foretold that his parents would endeavour to make +him a monk in the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino, but that God had +other designs for him, since he was to be a Friar Preacher, a member of +the Order of the great S. Dominic who had just gone to his reward. The +prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. At the early age of five years he +was sent to the Abbey to be educated among the young nobles of the day, +as was then the custom. Even thus early he showed a remarkable maturity +of character, and his biographer, William of Tocco, dwells with delight +on the calm reserve of his childish days and on that eager seeking after +God which was to be his future glory.[3] + +From Monte Cassino Thomas passed to Naples to complete his studies. Here +he became conscious of his vocation, and offered himself to the +Dominicans. The Prior of the convent at Naples at that time was Father +John of S. Julian, who later became Patriarch of Jerusalem[4]; he gave +the habit of the Order to Thomas, who was then but fourteen years of +age. His parents were indignant at this step, and did all in their power +to shake his determination. Fearing their recourse to the violent +methods then so common, the Dominicans sent Thomas to the convent of +Santa Sabina at Rome. But S. Thomas's brothers, at their mother's +bidding, seized upon the young man and carried him off in his religious +habit to his mother who kept him imprisoned for nearly two years.[5] +During this time of anxiety nothing disturbed the Saint's equanimity, +and he made good use of his time by studying the Bible, the _Book of the +Sentences_--the Theological Manual of those days--and also Aristotle's +philosophical treatises. It was at this time that the diabolical attempt +upon his virtue was made--an attempt which the Saint resisted +effectually; in reward for his constancy he was miraculously girded with +a cincture by two Angels from Heaven.[6] Failing in their attempt to +shake his determination, his brothers permitted him to escape, and he +returned to the convent at Naples in 1245. Thence he was sent by his +superiors to Rome, and shortly afterwards to Paris and Cologne to study +under Blessed Albert the Great. At Cologne he led the life of a simple +student, a life of recollection, prayer, and study. But his +extraordinary talents could not long remain hid. The post of Bachelor in +the famous House of Studies at Paris was vacant, and at the suggestion +of Cardinal Hugo a S. Caro, himself a Dominican, S. Thomas was appointed +by the Master-General of the Order to the vacant post. This was a blow +to the Saint's humility, but he accepted it under obedience. The +impression made by his teaching was extraordinary, and the words of +William of Tocco on this point are worth transcribing: "Erat enim novos +in sua lectione movens articulos, novum modum et clarum determinandi +inveniens, et novas reducens in determinationibus rationes: ut nemo qui +ipsum audisset nova docere, et novis rationibus dubia definire +dubitaret, quod eum Deus novi luminis radiis illustrasset, qui statim +tam certi c[oe]pisset esse judicii, ut non dubitaret novas opiniones +docere et scribere, quas Deus dignatus esset noviter inspirare." This +novelty in method was evidently remarkable, but, while provoking the +attacks of some, it attracted an immense crowd to his lectures, and this +not simply by reason of the novelty which characterized them, but by +reason of the supereminent sanctity of the teacher. "Dilectus Deo!" +cries out his biographer. "Qui scientiam tribuit; et acceptus hominibus, +quibus quasi novis radiis veritatis illuxit."[7] + +In 1253 or 1254 Thomas was, again much against his will, created Master +in Sacred Theology, and the remaining twenty years of his life were +wholly devoted to teaching, studying, and preaching, whether at Paris or +at Naples. Dignities and honours were frequently offered him, but he +succeeded in avoiding them all. He felt that his vocation was to study +and teach. And since his teaching was to be of things Divine, he felt +that he must needs be absorbed in such things, and that his life must be +wholly spent with God. This feature of his life is insisted on by his +biographers: "Men ever saw him of joyful mien, gentle and sweet, not +occupying himself with worldly affairs, but ever given to study, to +reading, to writing, and to prayer for the enlightening of the +faithful."[8] Thus we are told that when Brother Reginald, who had been +Blessed Thomas's companion, returned from Fossa Nuova to Naples after +the Master's death to resume the lectures he had been giving there, he +burst into tears as he stood before the Brethren, and said: "Brothers, I +was forbidden by my Master to reveal during his life the marvels I had +seen. One of those marvels was that his knowledge, which so wondrously +surpassed that of other men, was not due to any human skill, but to the +merits of his prayers. For whenever he would study, or dispute, or read, +or write, or dictate, he would first betake himself to prayer in secret, +and there with many tears would implore light wherewith to search +rightly into the secret things of God. And by the merits of such prayer +it came to pass that, whereas previous to his prayer he had been in +doubt about the subject of his study, he always returned from it +illumined. And when any doubtful point occurred to him before he had had +recourse to prayer, he went to pray, and what had previously been +obscure was then Divinely made clear to him."[9] + +Truly characteristic of our Saint are those three petitions he was wont +to make: that he might never learn to love things of earth; that he +might never change his state of life; that God would reveal to him the +state of his brother Reginald, who had been put to death, unjustly, as +Thomas thought, by the Emperor Frederic. All three petitions were +granted, two of them, as he himself told Brother Reginald on his +deathbed, by the Blessed Virgin herself. "She appeared to him," says +William of Tocco, "and assured him regarding his life and his knowledge, +promised him, too, that God would grant him whatsoever he should ask +through her intercession, and told him, moreover, that he would never +change his state of life."[10] + +The following story is well known, but is too illustrative of the +Saint's character to be omitted: A dispute had arisen in the University +of Paris regarding the Accidents of the Holy Eucharist, and the Doctors +of the University decided to leave the decision with S. Thomas. The +responsibility was great, but the Saint according to his custom betook +himself to prayer and then wrote his answer to the difficulty. "But +since he would not dare," says William of Tocco, "to expound his opinion +in the Schools before the Masters of the University without first +consulting Him of Whom he was treating and to Whom he had prayed that he +might teach correctly, he came to the altar and there spread out the +pages he had written before Him; then, lifting up his hands to the +Crucifix, he prayed and said: 'O Lord Jesus Christ, Who art most truly +contained in this wondrous Sacrament and Who as Supreme Artificer ever +wondrously workest, I seek to understand Thee in this Sacrament and to +teach truly concerning Thee. Wherefore I humbly pray Thee that if what I +have written spring from Thee, and be true concerning Thee, then Thou +wouldest enable me to declare it and clearly expound it. But if I have +written ought which is not in harmony with Thy Faith and which accords +not with the Mysteries of this Sacrament, then I pray Thee that nought +may proceed from my mouth which deviates from the Catholic Faith.' Then +those who watched saw on a sudden Christ standing before the Saint and +on the paper he had written, and they heard Him say: 'Well hast thou +written of Me in this Sacrament of My Body, and well and truly hast thou +answered the question put to thee, as far, that is, as it can be +understood by man in this life, or expressed in human words.'"[11] + +And it was ever the same throughout his life: in God he sought God. +Hence his incessant meditation on the Holy Scriptures; hence his +diligent study of the writings of the Fathers of the Church. "Master," +said a band of his students to him as they looked on Paris spread before +them--"Master, see what a lovely city Paris is! Would you not like to be +its owner?" And with a Saint's simplicity he replied: "Far rather would +I have the Homilies of Chrysostom on S. Matthew! For if this city were +mine then the task of governing it would take me away from the +contemplation of things Divine and deprive my soul of its +consolations!"[12] + +And his companion Reginald has told us how he studied to know the things +of God. For he tells us that when the Saint was occupied with his +Commentary on Isaias and could not arrive at any satisfactory +explanation of a certain passage he gave himself up to fasting and +prayer. Then one night Reginald heard voices in the Saint's cell, and +whilst he wondered what this might mean at that hour, S. Thomas came to +him and said: "Reginald, get up, light a candle, and take the book in +which you have been writing upon Isaias and make ready to write once +more." Then Reginald wrote whilst the Saint dictated as though he were +reading out of a book, with such facility did he speak. And then, at +Reginald's insistent petition, he said to him: "My son, you have seen +the affliction under which I have been of late owing to this passage of +Isaias which I have just been expounding, and you know how I besought +God with tears that I might understand it. God, then, this very night +had pity upon me, and sent His Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul whom I +had prayed to intercede for me, and they have most fully explained it +all!"[13] How gladly would one know what passage of Isaias it was which +was thus Divinely interpreted! + +And so this truly marvellous life went on till the end drew near. Day by +day he ascended the steps of the altar, his face bathed in tears; day by +day he returned to his work more and more illumined regarding the +_Mysterium Fidei_, and with his soul still more closely knit to its +Maker. His ecstasies became more frequent, and in one of these he was +told that the close of his life was at hand. For it was at San Severino, +not far from Salerno, that he fell into so prolonged an ecstasy that his +sister who was present appealed to Reginald to know what had happened to +her brother. Even Reginald was astonished. "He is frequently rapt in +spirit," he said, "but never before have I seen him thus abstracted!" +"Then," says William of Tocco, "Master Reginald went to him, and, +plucking him by the cloak, roused him from this deep sleep of +contemplation. But he sighed and said: 'My son Reginald, I tell thee in +secret, and I forbid thee to reveal it to anyone during my life, the +close of my writing has come; for such things have been revealed to me +that all I have written and taught seems to me of small account. Hence I +hope in my God that as there is an end to my writing, so too will +speedily come the end of my life.'"[14] + +And S. Thomas was ready for the end, for not long previously, when he +was in the convent at Naples and was praying in the Church, there +appeared to him Brother Romanus, whom he had left teaching at Paris. +Brother Thomas said to him: "Welcome! Whence dost thou come?" But +Romanus said to him: "I have passed from this life, and I am allowed to +come to thee by reason of thy merits." Then Brother Thomas, summoning up +his courage, for he had been much disturbed by the sudden apparition, +said to him: "If it be pleasing to God, I adjure you by God to answer my +questions. First: How does it stand with me? and are my works pleasing +to God?" And the other answered: "Thou art in a good state, and thy +works are pleasing to God." Then the Master continued: "And what of +thyself?" And Romanus answered: "I am in Eternal Life, but I was in +Purgatory sixteen days because of some negligence of which I was guilty +in the affair of a will which the Bishop of Paris entrusted to me for +speedy execution; but I, through mine own fault, was tardy in executing +it." Lastly S. Thomas asked: "What about that question we have so often +discussed together: Do the habits we have acquired here abide with us +when we are in our Fatherland?" But the other replied: "Brother Thomas, +I see God, and you must ask me nought further on that question." But +Thomas at once said: "Since you see God, tell me whether you see Him +with or without any intermediate image?" But Romanus replied: "_As we +have heard, so we have seen in the City of our God_,"[15] and forthwith +disappeared. But the Master remained astonished at that marvellous and +unwonted apparition, and filled with joy at his favourable replies. "O +Blessed Teacher!" ejaculates William of Tocco, who has left us this +account, "to whom Heaven's secrets were thus familiar, to whom Heaven's +citizens came with such sweet familiarity to lead him to those heavenly +shores!"[16] + +Nor was this the only warning. For just as in earlier years at Paris he +had received Divine commendation for his writings, so now again at +Naples. For Brother Dominic of Caserta tells us that at Naples he +watched S. Thomas praying at night. He saw him, he says, absorbed in +prayer, and then lifted up into the air about the height of two cubits +from the ground. And whilst for a long space he marvelled at this, he +suddenly heard this voice from the Crucifix: "Thomas, well hast thou +written of Me! What reward wilt thou have from Me for all thy labour?" +But he replied: "Lord, none save Thyself!" At that time the Saint was +engaged upon the _Third Part_ of the _Summa_, and was treating of the +Passion and Resurrection of Christ. But after arriving at that point he +wrote but little more by reason of the marvels that God had wondrously +revealed to him.[17] + +Since his soul, then, was thus united to God it is small wonder the +Brethren saw him rapt in ecstasy and with his face bathed in tears as he +stood in choir and sang the _Antiphon_ wont to be sung according to the +Dominican Office for Compline during Lent: "_Ne projicias nos in tempore +senectutis: cum defecerit virtus nostra, ne derelinquas nos +Domine_."[18] + +In the year 1274 the Saint was summoned by Pope Gregory X. to the +Council about to be held at Lyons. He set out, taking with him his +_Treatise against the Errors of the Greek Schismatics_, for the great +question which the Pope had at heart was the settlement of the Schism +between the East and the West. But the Council was never to see Thomas, +for he fell ill when traversing the Campagna, and though he was able to +reach the Cistercian Abbey of Fossa Nuova he reached it only to die. +"_This is my rest for ever and ever_," he said as he entered the gates. +"_Here will I dwell, for I have chosen it._" And here, as he lay dying, +he expounded to the monks who stood round that most sublime of all the +Books of the Bible, the _Canticle of Canticles_: "_Behold, my Beloved +speaketh to me: Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, +and come.... I sleep, and my heart watcheth; the voice of my Beloved Who +is knocking!... My Beloved to me and I to Him Who feedeth among the +lilies: till the Day break and the shadows retire!_" + +As the time of his summons drew on he asked for the Holy Viaticum. And, +in the words of William of Tocco, "when It was brought with devout +reverence by the Abbot and the monks, he prostrated himself on the +ground, weak indeed in body but mighty in spirit, and so came to meet +his Lord with tears." + +And when the priest asked him--as it is the custom to ask all Christians +at death touching their faith in this mighty Sacrament--whether he +believed that That Consecrated Host was the True Son of God, Who came +forth from the Virgin's womb, Who hung upon the tree of the Cross, Who +died for us and rose again on the third day:--with clear voice, with +full attention, and with tears, he replied: "If fuller knowledge than +that of faith could be had in this life touching this Sacrament, in that +knowledge I reply that I believe it to be true, and that I know for +certain that This is True God and Man, the Son of God the Father and of +the Virgin Mother: so I believe in my heart and so I confess in word." +After some other devout expressions he received the Sacred Host, and +then said: "I receive Thee, the Price of my soul's redemption, for love +of Whom I have studied, watched, and toiled; Thee have I preached and +taught; nought contrary to Thee have I ever said, neither do I +obstinately hold to any opinion of mine own. If, however, I have said +ought wrongly concerning this Sacrament, I submit it all to the +correction of the Holy Roman Church in Whose obedience I now pass from +this life!" "O Blessed Teacher! who ran so swiftly in the race, who +fought so manfully in the strife, who could so well say with the +Apostle: '_I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have +kept the faith; as for the rest there is laid up for me a crown of +justice_'; and such indeed had he truly won by his study of inspired +doctrine."[19] + + O Sancte Thoma! + Scholarum Patrone, + Fidem invictam, + Charitatem fervidam, + Vitam castissimam, + Scientiam veram, + A Deo nobis obtine. + Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. + + * * * * * + +No one who is at all familiar with the writings of S. Thomas can be +surprised to find many extracts from S. Augustine in the following +pages. For Augustine and Thomas are one. Their respective styles are +different, but their thoughts and teachings are the same on the great +essential points of theological teaching. Cardinal Aguirre has well +said: "Owing to the clearness and acuteness of his angelic mind S. +Thomas sheds a flood of light on many most obscure matters, and brings +out very clearly even the most profound teachings contained in the works +of the Fathers, especially in those of S. Augustine. I speak simply from +my own experience, but I am certain that many another has felt the same: +in controverted matters, if we look merely at the text of S. Augustine, +we are brought face to face with a flood of difficulties which seem +well-nigh insoluble; but the difficulty disappears and the solution +becomes clear the moment we set to work to find out what was S. Thomas's +teaching on the question; for he is the surest and the easiest +interpreter of S. Augustine."[20] + +And indeed Augustine is a deep well! "_Man shall come to a deep heart!_" +he was fond of saying, and those words of the Psalmist might stand for a +motto at the head of his works. Traditionary art represents him with his +heart in his hand, and the sentiment is true, for "great-hearted" is the +epithet which best suits him, and those who use these pages for +meditation or spiritual reading will find that whereas S. Thomas teaches +how we ought to pray, S. Augustine makes us pray; not in vain had he +studied and taught rhetoric for so many years! + +This likeness between the two great Saints forms the theme of one of the +_Responsories_ for the Office for S. Thomas in the Dominican Breviary. +It is based on a famous vision. "There appeared to me as I watched in +prayer," said Brother Albert of Brescia in his deposition, "two revered +personages clothed in wondrous splendour. One of them wore a mitre on +his head, the other was clad in the habit of the Friars Preachers. And +this latter bore on his head a golden crown; round his neck he wore two +rings, one of silver, the other of gold; and on his breast he had an +immense precious stone, which filled the church with light. His cloak, +too, was sewn with precious stones, and his tunic and his hood were of +snowy white. And the one who wore the mitre said to me: 'Brother Albert, +why art thou thus filled with wonder? Thy prayers are heard; +for--listen: I am Augustine, the Doctor of the Church, and I am sent to +thee to tell thee of the doctrine and of the glory of Brother Thomas of +Aquin who is here with me. For he is my son; he in all things has +followed my doctrine and that of the Apostles, and by his teaching he +has illumined the Church of God. This is signified by the precious +stones which you see, and especially by the one he carries on his +breast, for it signifies the upright intention which he ever had in view +in his defence of the faith and which he showed in his words. These +precious stones, then, and especially that great one, signify the many +books and works that he wrote, and they show that he is equal to me in +glory save only that in the aureola of Virginity he surpasseth me.'"[21] + +Cardinal Cajetan, from whose famous Commentary on the _Summa_ we have +occasionally quoted, is unfortunately too little known. Born in 1469, +and dying in 1534, he was the contemporary of Luther and the Reformers, +and, as was to be expected, their most formidable opponent. A great +student, a man of prayer as well as a man of action, his was the +striking figure of the early portion of the sixteenth century. But his +was a bold and independent mind, and he was not afraid to advance views +which, though now commonly accepted, brought his works into a certain +disfavour. This is especially to be regretted in the case of his +Commentaries on the Bible. A thorough Greek scholar, possessing no mean +acquaintance with Hebrew, he deserves, by reason of the clearness and +precision of his thought, the title of "Prince of Commentators." Here, +however, we are concerned with the devotional rather than with the +critical aspect of his writings, and the reader will gain from some of +Cajetan's terse and pithy comments a very great deal of instruction. + +In conclusion, a few words may be desirable regarding the method of S. +Thomas. + +S. Thomas divides his _Summa Theologica_ into three main parts. The +_First Part_ treats of _God, the Exemplar_.[22] The _Second_, of _man +made to the image of God_;[23] the _Third_, of _God Incarnate_, of His +_Sacraments_ by which we attain to union with Him in this life, and of +_Eternal Life_ to which we attain ultimately by our resurrection. Here +we are solely concerned with the _Second part_.[24] It is subdivided +into two portions, known as the _Prima Secundae_ and the _Secunda +Secundae_ respectively, or as the _First_ and _Second_ portions of the +_Second part_. In the _Prima Secundae_ the Saint treats of the +_principles of Morals_--namely, of man's ultimate end and of the habits, +acts, and principles by which he attains it. In the _Secunda Secundae_, +after having laid in the _Prima Secundae_ the foundations of Moral +Theology, he proceeds to treat of the _individual virtues_, firstly of +the Theological Virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity; then of the Cardinal +Virtues, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. Under each of +these heads he treats of the _Gifts_ corresponding to each Virtue, of +the _vices_ opposed to them, and of the _Precepts_ regarding them.[25] +Apropos of the Cardinal Virtue of Justice, he treats of the Moral Virtue +of _Religion_, which is comprised under Justice, since Religion may be +defined as the offering to God the worship which is His due, _Question_ +LXXXI. He then treats of _Devotion_, _Question_ LXXXII., and then of +_Prayer_, _Question_ LXXXIII. These three _Questions_ we here present in +an English dress. + +After these Treatises on individual virtues, he passes to the +consideration of those virtues which concern, not men as a whole, but +only _certain classes of men_.[26] And first of all he treats of those +_Gifts_ which are bestowed upon certain men not so much for their own +benefit as for the good of others--viz., of Prophecy, of Ecstasy, of the +Gift of Tongues, and of the Gift of Miracles. He then discusses the two +kinds of _operations_ or "lives"--the _active_, namely, and the +_contemplative_--which find a place in the Mystical Body of Christ, +which is the Church. These treatises in reality constitute a commentary +on 1 Cor. xii. 4-11. _Question_ CLXXIX., _On the Division of Life into +the Active and the Contemplative_, is here given; as also _Question_ +CLXXX., _On the Contemplative Life_; _Question_ CLXXXI., _On the Active +Life_; _Question_ CLXXXII., _On the Comparison of the Active with the +Contemplative Life_. + +S. Thomas then proceeds to treat of _various states of life_--viz., of +the state of perfection, of the Episcopal and of the Religious state. +Only one question raised in this connection concerns us here: _Whether_, +namely, _Contemplative Religious Orders are superior to Active Orders?_ +(_Question_ CLXXXVIII. 6). + +Each _Question_ is, as will be seen from the _Table of Contents_, +divided into _Articles_. + +The framework of what is termed an "article" of the _Summa_ is familiar +to those who use that work, but it may not be amiss to explain S. +Thomas's method in brief fashion. Each "article" is couched in the form +of a question, thus: _Has contemplation its joys?_ And the Saint at once +sets forth in succession three, sometimes more, arguments which seem to +militate against the view he himself holds. These are commonly known as +the _objections_. He then gives us a short paragraph opening with the +words: _Sed contra_, or _But on the contrary_; and in this paragraph he +gives some authority, generally that of Holy Scripture or one of the +Fathers, for the view he is going to hold. This paragraph is generally +known from its opening words as the _Sed contra_; there is no argument +in it save from authority. He then proceeds to discuss the question from +the standpoint of pure reason. This portion is known as the _Corpus +articuli_, or _Body of the Article_, and in it the Saint presents his +reasoning in clear, precise fashion. It will be apparent, of course, +that many questions cannot be answered with a categoric _yes_ or _no_, +but the precise sense in which certain terms in the discussion are to be +used has to be clearly ascertained; according to the diverse ways in +which they may be understood the answer will be affirmative or negative. +It is important for those not familiar with S. Thomas' works to grasp +this point; they must not, for instance, presume that because the +opening "objections" seem to uphold one point of view S. Thomas is +therefore going to hold the precise opposite. A good example of this +will be found in the Article: _Ought we to pray to God alone?_ + +In the Treatises here presented the argument, though clear and precise, +is hardly what we should call subtle, and this for the simple reason +that the subject-matter does not call for subtle treatment. But what +cannot fail to strike the most cursory reader is the tone of submission +to authority and to the teachings of the Fathers which characterizes +every page: "_Summe veneratus est sacros Doctores_," says Cajetan, +"_ideo intellectum omnium quodammodo sortitus est_."[27] And the natural +corollary of this is the complete self-effacement of the Saint. The +first person is conspicuous by its absence all through the _Summa_, +though the reader of the following pages will find one exception to this +rule. + +And the more we study these Articles of S. Thomas the more we marvel; +the thought is so concentrated and yet so limpid in its expression, that +as we read it it seems as though no one could ever have thought +otherwise. But read it, and then try to reformulate the line of argument +which you have been following with such ease--and your mind halts, your +tongue stammers! It is one thing to understand the thought when +expressed, quite another to think such thoughts and express them. Hence +the declaration made by Pope John XXII. when the question of the holy +Doctor's canonization was brought forward: "Such teaching," he +exclaimed, "could only have been due to miracle!" And on the following +day in the Consistory: "He has brought greater light to the Church than +all other Doctors; by one year's study of his writings a man may make +greater profit than if he spend his whole life studying the writings of +others!"[28] + +The reader will sometimes feel inclined to smile at the quaint +etymologies which occur now and again. But he must remember that these +are given by the Saint for what they are worth. It was not a +philological age, and S. Thomas made use of the _Book of Etymologies_ +drawn up in the seventh century by S. Isidore of Seville. + +Besides the writings of S. Augustine, two Patristic works are cited with +considerable frequency by S. Thomas in these pages: the _Opus +Imperfectum_ of S. Chrysostom on S. Matthew's Gospel, and the works of +Denis the Areopagite. The former is almost certainly not the work of S. +Chrysostom, but rather of an Arian writer towards the close of the sixth +century.[29] The writer known as Denis the Areopagite, owing to his +being traditionally identified with S. Paul's convert at Athens, +probably wrote about the close of the fifth century. Few works of +Mystical Theology exercised a greater influence on the writers of the +Middle Ages.[30] A word must also be said about the _Gloss_ to which S. +Thomas so often refers, and which he quotes as an authority. The term +"Gloss" was applied to the brief running commentaries on the Bible which +were in vogue in the Middle Ages. These brief paraphrases were also +known as _Postillae_, and they were frequently written in between the +lines of the text of the Bible, whence the name _Interlinear Gloss_; or +in the margins, whence the name _Marginal Gloss_. The _Glossa +Ordinaria_, as it is called, is the best known of these commentaries. It +is usually attributed to Walafrid Strabo, a monk of the Abbey of S. +Gall, who died in 849; but it is probable that Strabo took down his +Commentary from the lips of Rabanus Maurus, a monk of the Abbey of +Fulda, and afterwards its abbot. Rabanus was a most prolific writer, and +has left Commentaries on nearly all the Books of the Bible. Even when +Abbot he reserved to himself the Chair of Scripture;[31] he had had the +great advantage of living for a time in Palestine. Another Biblical +scholar to whom the _Glossa Ordinaria_ of S. Thomas's time apparently +owed much, was Hugo a S. Caro, the Dominican Provincial in France, and +afterwards Cardinal-Priest of S. Sabina. It was under his direction that +the first Concordance of the Bible was formed, in which task he is said +to have had the assistance of five hundred Friars.[32] He owes his title +of Glossator to his well-known _Postillae_, or Brief Commentaries on the +whole Bible. The _Glossa Interlinearis_ is due to Anselm, a Canon of +Laudun, who died in 1117. Another famous Glossator was Nicolas de Lyra, +a Franciscan who died in 1340--some sixty-six years, that is, subsequent +to S. Thomas. Lastly, we should mention Peter the Lombard, commonly +known as _The Master of the Sentences_, from his four books of +_Sentences_, in which he presented the theological teaching of the +Fathers in Scholastic fashion. This treatise became the Scholastic +manual of the age. To him is due a Gloss on the Psalter and on Job, as +well as a series of brief notes on the Epistles of S. Paul taken from +the writings of the chief Fathers, S. Ambrose, S. Jerome, S. Augustine, +etc. And the authority accorded to these Glosses in general is due to +the fact that they constituted a running Commentary taken from the +writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. + + THE BREVIARY HYMN TO S. AUGUSTINE. + + Magne Pater Augustine + Preces nostras suscipe, + Et per eas Conditori + Nos placare satage, + Atque rege gregem tuum + Summum decus praesulum. + + Amatorem paupertatis + Te collaudant pauperes: + Assertorem veritatis + Amant veri judices: + Frangis nobis favos mellis, + De Scripturis disserens. + + Quae obscura prius erant + Nobis plana faciens, + Tu de verbis Salvatoris + Dulcem panem conficis, + Et propinas potum vitae + De Psalmorum nectare. + + Tu de vita clericorum + Sanctam scribis Regulam, + Quam qui amant et sequuntur + Viam tenent regiam, + Atque tuo sancto ductu + Redeunt ad Patriam. + + Regi regum salus, vita, + Decus et imperium: + Trinitati laus et honor + Sit per omne saeculum: + Qui concives nos adscribat + Supernorum civium. Amen. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _The Ascent of Mount Carmel by S. John of the Cross._ Prefatory +Essay on the Development of Mysticism in the Carmelite Order, by +Benedict Zimmerman, O.C.D., pp. 13-17. (London: Thomas Baker, 1906.) + +[2] Valgornera, O.P., _Mystica Theologia D. Thomae_, ed. Berthier. 2 +Vols. Turin, 1890-91. + +[3] "In aetate tam tenera et scibilium nescia, qui necdum se scire +poterat, miro modo Deum adhuc nesciens, divino ductus instinctu scire +quaerebat. De quo futurum erat, ut, dum sic anxius maturius Deum prae +aliis quaereret, clarius prae ceteris, quae scire futurus erat, scriberet, +quae de Deo, ipso donante, studiosius et citius inveniret" (William of +Tocco, _Vita B. Thomae_ in the _Bollandists_, March 7, No. 5). This +William of Tocco had seen and heard S. Thomas, and in 1319 took a +prominent part in the Saint's canonization (see _Bollandists_, p. 653). + +[4] Bernard Guidonis, _Boll._, No. 7, p. 659, note. + +[5] _Boll._, Nos. 12 and 76. + +[6] _Ibid._, No. 11. + +[7] _Boll._, p. 661. + +[8] _Ibid._, p. 662. + +[9] _Boll._, p. 668. + +[10] _Boll._, pp. 668 and 710. + +[11] _Boll._, No. 53. + +[12] _Ibid._, p. 671. + +[13] _Boll._, p. 668. + +[14] _Boll._, p. 672. + +[15] Ps. xlvii. + +[16] _Boll._, p. 672. + +[17] _Boll._, p. 669. + +[18] _Ibid._, p. 667; _cp._ Ps. lxx, 20. + +[19] _Boll._, p. 675. + +[20] Touron, _Vie de S. Thomas d'Aquin_, Paris, 1740, p. 353. + +[21] _Boll._, p. 706; _cp._ p. 665. + +[22] _Prol._ to Ia., IIdae. + +[23] _Prol._ to III. _Pars._ + +[24] _Prol._ to IIa., IIdae. + +[25] _Prol._ to IIa. IIdae. + +[26] _Prol._ to _Qu._ CLXXI. of the IIda., IIdae. + +[27] _Comment._ on IIa., IIae., cxlviii. 4. + +[28] _Boll._, p. 680. + +[29] See Bardenhewer, _Patrologie_, i. 319. + +[30] Smith and Wace, _Dict. of Christian Biography_, i. 847. + +[31] Fabricius, _Bibliotheca Latina_, _s.v._ Walafridus and Rabanus. + +[32] _Ibid._, _s.v._ Hugo a S. Caro. + + + + +QUESTION LXXXI + +OF THE VIRTUE OF RELIGION + + I. Does the Virtue of Religion Direct a Man To God Alone? + S. Augustine, _sermon_, cccxxxiv. 3 + " _on Psalm_ lxxvi. 32 + _sermon_, cccxi. 14-15 + II. Is Religion a Virtue? + III. Is Religion One Virtue? + IV. Is Religion a Special Virtue Distinct From Others? + V. Is Religion One of the Theological Virtues? + VI. Is Religion To Be Preferred To the Other Moral Virtues? + VII. Has Religion, Or Latria, Any External Acts? + S. Augustine, _of Care for the Dead_, V. +VIII. Is Religion the Same As Sanctity? + Cardinal Cajetan, on the Distinction Between + Sanctity and Religion + + +I + +Does the Virtue of Religion direct a Man to God Alone? + +Cicero says[33]: "Religion offers internal and external reverence to +that Superior Nature which we term the Divine." + +S. Isidore says[34]: "A religious man is, as Cicero remarks, so called +from _religion_, for he is occupied with and, as it were, reads through +again and again (_relegit_) the things that concern Divine worship." +Thus religion seems to be so called from reading again (_religendo_) +things concerning Divine worship; for such things are to be repeatedly +revolved in the mind, according to those words of Proverbs iii. 6: _In +all thy ways think on Him._ At the same time _religion_ might be said to +be so called because "we ought to choose again (_re-eligere_) those +things which through our negligence we have lost," as S. Augustine has +noted.[35] Or perhaps it is better derived from "binding again" +(_religando_); thus S. Augustine says[36]: "Let religion bind us once +more to the One Almighty God." + +But whether religion be so called from frequent _reading_, or from +_fresh election_ of Him Whom we have negligently lost, or from +_rebinding_, it properly implies a certain relation to God. For it is He +to Whom we ought to be especially _bound_ as our indefectible principle; +to Him must we assiduously direct our _choice_ as our ultimate end; He +it is Whom we negligently lose by sin and Whom we must regain by +believing in Him and by professing our faith in Him. + +But some deny that religion directs a man to God alone, thus: + +1. S. James says[37]: _Religion clean and undefiled before God and the +Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation; +and to keep oneself unspotted from this world._ But _to visit the +fatherless and widows_ indicates relation to our neighbour, and _to keep +oneself unspotted from this world_ refers to ourselves. Hence religion +is not confined to our relationship with God. + + But religion has two sorts of acts. Some belong to it properly + and immediately, those acts, namely, which it elicits and by + which man is directed to God alone, as, for instance, to offer + Him sacrifice, to adore Him, etc. + + But there are other acts which religion produces through the + medium of the virtues which it controls, directing them, that + is, towards reverence to God; for that virtue which is concerned + with the end directs those virtues which have to do with the + means to the end. And in this sense _to visit the fatherless and + widows in their tribulation_ is said to be an act of religion + because commanded by it, though actually elicited by the virtue + of mercy. Similarly _to keep oneself unspotted from this world_ + is an act commanded by religion, though elicited by temperance + or some other virtue. + +2. S. Augustine says[38]: "Since according to the genius of the Latin +speech--and that not merely of the unlearned, but even of the most +learned--religion is said to be shown towards our human relatives and +connexions and intimates, this word 'religion' cannot be used without +some ambiguity when applied to the worship of God; hence we cannot say +with absolute confidence that religion is nought else but the worship of +God." Religion, then, is not limited to our relation to God, but +embraces, our neighbour as well. + + But it is only by an extension of the name "religion" that it is + made to embrace our relations towards our human kin, it is not + according to the proper signification of the word. Hence S. + Augustine prefaced the words quoted from him above with the + remark: "Religion, strictly speaking, seems to mean, not any + kind of worship, but only that of God." + +3. Further, _latria_ seems to come under religion. But S. Augustine +says[39]: "_Latria_ is interpreted as service." But we ought to serve +not God only, but our neighbour as well: _By charity of the spirit serve +one another._[40] Religion, then, implies relation to our neighbour. + + But since a slave implies a master, it follows that where there + exists a peculiar and special title of dominion there also will + be found a peculiar and special ratio of servitude. It is clear, + however, that dominion belongs to God in a peculiar and special + fashion, since He it is Who has made all things and Who holds + the chief rule over all things. Consequently a special kind of + service is due to Him. And this service is by the Greeks + designated _latria_, which is, in consequence, properly + comprised under "religion." + +4. Again, reverence comes under religion. But man has to reverence, not +only God, but his neighbour as well; as Cato says: "Reverence parents." +Hence religion establishes a relation between ourselves and our +neighbour as well as between ourselves and God. + + But we are said to reverence those men whom we honour or + remember, or to whose presence we resort. So, too, even things + which are subject to us are said to be "cultivated" by us + (_coli_); thus husbandmen (_agricolae_) are so called because + they "cultivate" the fields; the inhabitants of a place, too + (_incolae_), are so called because they "cultivate" the spots + where they dwell. But since special honour is due to God as the + First Principle of all, a special kind of "cultus"[41] or + "reverence" is His due, and this the Greeks call _eusebia_ or + _theosebia_, as S. Augustine says.[42] + +5. Lastly, all who are in a state of salvation are subject to God. But +not all who are in a state of salvation are called "religious," but +those only who bind themselves by certain vows and observances and who +undertake to obey certain men. Hence religion does not seem to mean the +relationship of subjection of man to God. + + But although, generally speaking, all those who worship God can + be termed "religious," yet those are specially so called who + dedicate their whole lives to the Divine worship and cut + themselves off from worldly occupations. + + Thus those are not termed "contemplatives" who merely + contemplate, but they who devote their lives to contemplation. + And such men do not subject themselves to men for man's sake, + but for God's, as the Apostle says: _You received me as an Angel + of God, even as Christ Jesus._[43] + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine_: We are to abide in Christ! How then shall That not be +now our possession Where we are then to abide and Whence we are to draw +Life? Let Holy Scripture speak for us lest we should seem in mere +conjecture to be saying things contrary to the teaching of the Word of +God. Hear the words of one who knew: _If God be for us who is against +us?_[44] _The Lord_, he says, _is the portion of my inheritance._[45] He +saith not: Lord, what wilt Thou give me for mine inheritance? All that +Thou canst give me is worthless! Be Thou mine inheritance! Thee do I +love! Thee do I wholly love! With all my heart, with all my soul, with +all my mind do I love Thee! What, then, shall be my lot? What wilt Thou +give me save Thyself? This is to love God freely. This is to hope for +God from God. This is to hasten to be filled with God, to be sated with +Him. For He is sufficient for thee; apart from Him nought can suffice +thee! (_Sermon_, cccxxxiv. 3). + +_S. Augustine_: I cried to the Lord with my voice.[46] Many cry to the +Lord that they may win riches, that they may avoid losses; they cry that +their family may be established, they ask for temporal happiness, for +worldly dignities; and, lastly, they cry for bodily health, which is the +patrimony of the poor. For these and suchlike things many cry to the +Lord; hardly one cries for the Lord Himself! How easy it is for a man to +desire all manner of things from the Lord and yet not desire the Lord +Himself! As though the gift could be sweeter than the Giver! (_on Ps._ +lxxvi.). + +_S. Augustine:_ Picture God as saying to you--He Who re-created you and +adopted you: "My son, why is it that day by day you rise and pray, and +genuflect, and even strike the ground with your forehead, nay, sometimes +even shed tears, while you say to Me: 'My Father, my God! give me +wealth!' If I were to give it to you, you would think yourself of some +importance, you would fancy you had gained something very great. Yet +because you asked for it you have it. But take care to make good use of +it. Before you had it you were humble; now that you have begun to be +rich you despise the poor! What kind of a good is that which only makes +you worse? For worse you are, since you were bad already. And that it +would make you worse you knew not, hence you asked it of Me. I gave it +to you and I proved you; you have found--and you are found out! You were +hidden when you had nothing. Correct thyself! Vomit up this cupidity! +Take a draught of charity!... Ask of Me better things than these, +greater things than these. Ask of Me spiritual things. Ask of Me +Myself!" (_Sermon_, cccxi. 14-15). + + +II + +Is Religion a Virtue? + +A virtue is that which both renders its possessor, as also his work, +good. Hence we must say that every good act comes under virtue. And it +is clear that to render to another what is his due has the character of +a good act; for by the fact that a man renders to another his due there +is established a certain fitting proportion and order between them. But +order comes under the ratio of good, just as do measure and species, as +S. Augustine establishes.[47] Since, then, it belongs to religion to +render to some one, namely, God, the honour which is His due, it is +clear that religion is a virtue. + +Some, however, deny this, thus: + +1. It belongs to religion to show reverence to God. But reverence is an +act of fear, and fear is a gift.[48] Religion, then, is a gift, not a +virtue. + + To reverence God is indeed an act of the gift of fear. But to + religion it belongs to do certain things by reason of our + reverence for God. Hence it does not follow that religion is the + same thing as the gift of fear, but it is related to it as to a + higher principle. For the gifts are superior to the moral + virtues. + +2. All virtue consists in the free-will, and hence virtue is called an +elective or voluntary habit. But _latria_ belongs to religion, and +_latria_ implies a certain servitude. Hence religion is not a virtue. + + But even a servant can freely give to his master the service + that is his due and thus "make a virtue of necessity"[49] by + voluntarily paying his debt. And similarly the payment of due + service to God can be an act of virtue according as a man does + it voluntarily. + +3. Lastly, as is said in Aristotle's _Ethics_,[50] the aptitude for the +virtues is implanted in us by nature; hence those things which come +under the virtues arise from the dictates of natural reason; but it +belongs to religion to offer external reverence to the Divine Nature. +Ceremonial, however, or external reverence, is not due to the dictates +of natural reason. Hence religion is not a virtue. + + But it is due to the dictates of natural reason that a man does + certain things in order to show reverence to God. That he should + do precisely this or that, however, does not come from the + dictates of natural reason, but from Divine or human positive + law. + + +III + +Is Religion One Virtue? + +S. Paul says to the Ephesians[51]: _One God, one faith._ But true +religion maintains faith in one God. Consequently religion is one +virtue. + +Habits are distinguished according to the divers objects with which they +are concerned. But it belongs to religion to show reverence for the One +God for one particular reason, inasmuch, namely, as He is the First +Principle, the Creator and Governor of all things; hence we read in +Malachi[52]: _If I am a Father, where is my honour?_ for it is the +father that produces and governs. Hence it is clear that religion is but +one virtue. + +But some maintain that religion is not one virtue, thus: + +1. By religion we are ordained[53] to God. But in God there are Three +Persons, and, moreover, divers attributes which are at least +distinguishable from one another by reason. But the diverse character of +the objects on which they fall suffices to differentiate the virtues. +Hence religion is not one virtue. + + But the Three Divine Persons are but One Principle as concerns + the creation and the government of things. And consequently They + are to be served by one religion. And the divers attributes all + concur in the First Principle, for God produces all and governs + all by His Wisdom, His Will, and the power of His Goodness. + Hence religion is but one virtue. + +2. One virtue can have but one act; for habits are differentiated +according to their acts. But religion has many acts, _e.g._, to worship, +to serve, to make vows, to pray, to make sacrifices, and many other +similar things. Consequently religion is not one virtue. + + But by one and the same act does man serve God and worship Him; + for worship is referred to God's excellence, to which is due + reverence: service regards man's subjection, for by reason of + his condition he is bound to show reverence to God. And under + these two heads are comprised all the acts which are attributed + to religion; for by them all man makes protestation of the + Divine excellence and of his subjection of himself to God, + either by offering Him something, or, again, by taking upon + himself something Divine. + +3. Further, adoration belongs to religion. But adoration is paid to +images for one reason and to God for another. But since diversity of +"reason" serves to differentiate the virtues, it seems that religion is +not one virtue. + + But religious worship is not paid to images considered in + themselves as entities, but precisely as images bringing God + Incarnate to our mind. Further, regarding an image precisely as + an image of some one, we do not stop at it; it carries us on to + that which it represents. Hence the fact that religious + veneration is paid to images of Christ in no sense means that + there are various kinds of _latria_, nor different virtues of + religion. + + +IV + +Is Religion a Special Virtue Distinct From Others? + +Religion is regarded as a part of Justice, and is distinct from the +other parts of Justice. + +Since virtue is ordained to what is good, where there exists some +special ratio of good there must be some special corresponding virtue. +But the particular good towards which religion is ordained is the +showing due honour to God. Honour, however, is due by reason of some +excellency. And to God belongs pre-eminent excellence, since He in every +possible way infinitely transcends all things. Hence special honour is +due to Him; just as we note that in human concerns varying honours are +due to the varying excellencies of persons; one is the honour of a +father, another that of a king, and so on. Hence it is manifest that +religion is a special virtue. + +Some, however, maintain that religion is not a special virtue distinct +from others, thus: + +1. S. Augustine says[54]: "True sacrifice is every work undertaken in +order that we may be joined to God in holy fellowship." But sacrifice +comes under religion. Every work of virtue therefore comes under +religion. And consequently it is not a special virtue. + + But every work of virtue is said to be a sacrifice in so far as + it is directed to showing God reverence. It does not thence + follow that religion is a general virtue, but that it commands + all the other virtues. + +2. The Apostle says to the Corinthians[55]: _Do all to the glory of +God._ But it belongs to religion to do some things for the glory of God. +Hence religion is not a special virtue. + + But all kinds of acts, in so far as they are done for the glory + of God, come under religion; not, however, as though it elicited + them, but inasmuch as it controls them. Those acts, however, + come under religion as eliciting them which, by their own + specific character, pertain to the service of God. + +3. Lastly, the charity whereby we love God is not distinct from the +charity by which we love our neighbour. But in the _Ethics_[56] it is +said: "To be honoured is akin to being loved." Hence religion by which +God is honoured is not a specifically distinct virtue from those +observances, whether _dulia_ or piety, whereby we honour our neighbour. +Hence it is not a special virtue. + + But the object of love is a _good_ thing; whereas the object of + honour or reverence is what is _excellent_. But it is God's + Goodness that is communicated to His creatures, not the + excellence of His Goodness. Hence while the charity wherewith we + love God is not a distinct virtue from the charity wherewith we + love our neighbour, yet the religion whereby we honour God is + distinct from the virtues whereby we honour our neighbour. + + +V + +Is Religion One of the Theological Virtues? + +Religion is considered a part of Justice, and this is a moral virtue. + +Religion is the virtue whereby we offer to God His due honour. Two +things have therefore to be considered in religion. First we have to +consider what religion offers God, namely, worship: this may be regarded +as the material and the object with which religion is concerned. +Secondly, we have to consider Him to Whom it is offered, namely, God +Himself. Now, when worship is offered to God it is not as though our +worshipful acts touched God, though this is the case when we believe +God, for by believing in God we touch Him (and we have therefore said +elsewhere[57] that God is the object of our faith not simply inasmuch as +we believe in God, but inasmuch as we believe God). Due worship, +however, is offered to God in that certain acts whereby we worship Him +are performed as homage to Him, the offering sacrifice, for instance, +and so forth. From all which it is evident that God does not stand to +the virtue of religion as its object or as the material with which it is +concerned, but as its goal. And consequently religion is not a +theological virtue, for the object of these latter is the ultimate end; +but religion is a moral virtue, and the moral virtues are concerned with +the means to the end. + +But some regard religion as a theological virtue, thus: + +1. S. Augustine says[58]: "God is worshipped by faith, hope, and +charity," and these are theological virtues. But to offer worship to God +comes under religion. Therefore religion is a theological virtue. + + But it is always the case that a faculty or a virtue whose + object is a certain end, controls--by commanding--those + faculties or virtues which have to do with those things which + are means to that end. But the theological virtues--_i.e._, + faith, hope, and charity--are directly concerned with God as + their proper object. And hence they are the cause--by commanding + it--of the act of the virtue of religion which does certain + things having relation to God. It is in this sense that S. + Augustine says that "God is worshipped by faith, hope, and + charity." + +2. Those are called theological virtues which have God for their object. +But religion has God for its object, for it directs us to God alone. +Therefore it is a theological virtue. + + But religion directs man to God, not indeed as towards its + object, but as towards its goal. + +3. Lastly, every virtue is either theological or intellectual or moral. +But religion is not an intellectual virtue, for its perfection does not +consist in the consideration of the truth. Neither is it a moral virtue, +for the property of the moral virtues is to steer a middle course +betwixt what is superfluous and what is below the requisite; whereas no +one can worship God to excess, according to the words of +Ecclesiasticus[59]: _For He is above all praise._ Religion, then, can +only be a theological virtue. + + But religion is neither an intellectual nor a theological + virtue, but a moral virtue, for it is part of justice. And the + _via media_ in religion lies, not between the passions, but in a + certain harmony which it establishes in the acts which are + directed towards God. I say "a certain," not an absolute + harmony, for we can never show to God all the worship that is + His due; I mean, then, the harmony arising from the + consideration of our human powers and of the Divine acceptance + of what we offer. Moreover, there can be excess in those things + which have to do with the Divine worship; not indeed as regards + quantity, but in certain other circumstances, as, for example, + when Divine worship is offered to whom it should not, or at + times when it should not, or in other unfitting circumstances. + + +VI + +Is Religion to be preferred to the Other Moral Virtues? + +In Exodus[60] the commandments which concern religion are put first, as +though they were of primary importance. But the order of the +commandments is proportioned to the order of the virtues; for the +commandments of the Law fall upon the acts of the virtues. Hence +religion is chief among the moral virtues. + +The means to an end derive their goodness from their relation to that +end; hence the more nigh they are to the end the better they are. But +the moral virtues are concerned with those things which are ordained to +God as their goal. And religion approaches more nearly to God than do +the other moral virtues, inasmuch as it is occupied with those things +which are directly and immediately ordained to the Divine honour. Hence +religion is the chief of the moral virtues. + +Some, however, deny that religion is pre-eminent among the moral +virtues, thus: + +1. The perfection of a moral virtue lies in this, that it keeps the due +medium.[61] But religion fails to attain the medium of justice, for it +does not render to God anything absolutely equal to Him. Hence religion +is not better than the other moral virtues. + + But the praiseworthiness of a virtue lies in the will, not in + the power. Hence to fall short of equality--which is the midpath + of justice--for lack of power, does not make virtue less + praiseworthy, provided the deficiency is not due to the will. + +2. Again, in our service of men a thing seems to be praiseworthy in +proportion to the need of him whom we assist; hence it is said in +Isaias:[62] _Deal thy bread to the hungry._ But God needs nothing that +we can offer Him, according to the Psalmist: _I have said: Thou art my +God, for Thou hast no need of my goods._[63] Hence religion seems to be +less praiseworthy than the other virtues, for by them man is succoured. + + But in the service we render to another for his profit, that is + the more praiseworthy which is rendered to the most needy, + because it is of greater profit to him. But no service is + rendered to God for His profit--for His glory, indeed, but for + our profit. + +3. Lastly, the greater the necessity for doing a thing the less worthy +it is of praise, according to the words: _For if I preach the Gospel, it +is no glory to me, for a necessity lieth upon me._[64] But the greater +the debt the greater the necessity. Since, then, the service which man +offers to God is the greatest of debts, it would appear that religion is +the least praiseworthy of all human virtues. + + Where necessity comes in the glory of supererogation is + non-existent; but the merit of the virtue is not thereby + excluded, provided the will be present. Consequently the + argument does not follow. + + +VII + +Has Religion, That is _Latria_,[65] any External Acts? + +In Ps. lxxxiii. 3 it is said: _My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in +the living God._ Now interior acts belong to the heart, and in the same +way exterior acts are referred to the members of the body. It appears, +then, that God is to be worshipped by exterior as well as by interior +acts. + +We do not show reverence and honour to God for His own sake--for He in +Himself is filled with glory to which nought can be added by any created +thing--but for our own sakes. For by the fact that we reverence and +honour God our minds are subjected to Him, and in that their perfection +lies; for all things are perfected according as they are subjected to +that which is superior to them--the body, for instance, when vivified by +the soul, the air when illumined by the sun. Now the human mind +needs--if it would be united to God--the guidance of the things of +sense; for, as the Apostle says to the Romans[66]: _The invisible things +of Him are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made_. +Hence in the Divine worship it is necessary to make use of certain +corporal acts, so that by their means, as by certain signs, man's mind +may be stirred up to those spiritual acts whereby it is knit to God. +Consequently religion has certain interior acts which are its chief ones +and which essentially belong to it; but it has also external acts which +are secondary and which are subordinated to the interior acts. + + * * * * * + +Some deny, however, that exterior acts belong to religion or _latria_, +thus: + +1. In S. John iv. 24 we read: _For God is a Spirit, and they that adore +Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth._ External acts belong, +however, rather to the body than to the spirit. Consequently religion, +which comprises adoration, has no exterior acts, but only interior. + + But here the Lord speaks only of that which is chiefest and + which is essentially intended in Divine worship. + +2. The end of religion is to show reverence and honour to God. But it is +not reverent to offer to a superexcellent person what properly belongs +to inferiors. Since, then, what a man offers by bodily acts seems more +in accordance with men's needs and with that respect which we owe to +inferior created beings, it does not appear that it can fittingly be +made use of in order to show reverence to God. + + But such external acts are not offered to God as though He + needed them, as He says in the Psalm: _Shall I eat the flesh of + bullocks? Or shall I drink the blood of goats?_[67] But such + acts are offered to God as signs of those interior and spiritual + works which God accepts for their own sakes. Hence S. Augustine + says: "The visible sacrifice is the sacrament--that is, the + visible sign--of the invisible sacrifice."[68] + +3. Lastly, S. Augustine praises Seneca[69] for his condemnation of those +men who offered to their idols what they were wont to offer to men: on +the ground, namely, that what belongs to mortal men is not fittingly +offered to the immortals. Still less, then, can such things be fittingly +offered to the True God Who is _above all gods_.[70] Therefore to +worship God by means of bodily acts seems to be reprehensible. And +consequently religion does not include bodily acts. + + But idolaters are so called because they offer to their idols + things belonging to men, and this not as outward signs which may + excite in them spiritual affections, but as being acceptable by + those idols for their own sake. And especially because they + offered them empty and vile things. + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ When men pray, they, as becomes suppliants, make use of +their bodily members, for they bend the knee, they stretch forth their +hands, they even prostrate on the ground and perform other visible acts. +Yet all the while their invisible will and their heart's intention are +known to God. He needs not these signs for the human soul to be laid +bare before Him. But man by so doing stirs himself up to pray and groan +with greater humility and fervour. I know not how it is that whereas +such bodily movements can only be produced by reason of some preceding +act on the part of the soul, yet when they are thus visibly performed +the interior invisible movement which gave them birth is thereby itself +increased, and the heart's affections--which must have preceded, else +such acts would not have been performed--are thereby themselves +increased. + +Yet none the less, if a man be in some sort hindered so that he is not +at liberty to make use of such external acts, the interior man does not +therefore cease to pray; in the secret chamber of his heart, where lies +compunction, he lies prostrate before the eyes of God (_Of Care for the +Dead_, v.). + + +VIII + +Is Religion the Same as Sanctity? + +In S. Luke's Gospel[71] we read: _Let us serve Him in holiness and +justice._ But to serve God comes under religion. Hence religion is the +same as sanctity. + +The word "sanctity" seems to imply two things. First, it seems to imply +_cleanness_; and this is in accordance with the Greek word for it, for +in Greek it is _hagios_,[72] as though meaning "without earth." +Secondly, it implies _stability_, and thus among the ancients those +things were termed _sancta_ which were so hedged about with laws that +they were safe from violation; similarly a thing is said to be +_sancitum_ because established by law. And even according to the Latins +the word _sanctus_ may mean "cleanness," as derived from _sanguine +tinctus_, for of old those who were to be purified were sprinkled with +the blood of a victim, as says S. Isidore in his _Etymologies_.[73] + +And both meanings allow us to attribute sanctity to things which are +used in the Divine worship; so that not men only, but also temples and +vessels and other similar things are said to be sanctified by reason of +their use in Divine worship. _Cleanness_ indeed is necessary if a man's +mind is to be applied to God. For the mind of man is stained by being +immersed in inferior things, as indeed all things are cheapened by +admixture with things inferior to them--silver, for instance, when mixed +with lead. And for our minds to be knit to the Supreme Being they must +needs be withdrawn from inferior things. Without cleanness, then, the +mind cannot be applied to God. Hence in the Epistle to the Hebrews[74] +it is said: _Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no +man shall see God._ + +_Stability_ is also required if the mind is to be applied to God. For +the mind is applied to Him as to the Ultimate End and First Principle, +and consequently must be immovable. Hence the Apostle says: _For I am +sure that neither death nor life shall separate me from the love of +God._[75] + +Sanctity, then, is said to be that whereby man's mind and its acts are +applied to God. Hence sanctity does not differ from religion +essentially, but in idea only. For by religion we mean that a man offers +God due service in those things which specially pertain to the Divine +worship--sacrifices, for example, and oblations, etc.; but by sanctity +we mean that a man not only offers these things, but also refers to God +the works of the other virtues, and also that a man disposes himself by +good works for the Divine worship. + + * * * * * + +Some, however, deny the identity of religion and sanctity, thus: + +1. Religion is a certain special virtue. But sanctity is called a +general virtue, for according to Andronicus,[76] sanctity is that which +"makes men faithful observers of what is justly due to God." Hence +sanctity is not the same as religion. + + But sanctity is in its essence a special virtue, and as such is, + in a sort, the same as religion. It has, however, a certain + general aspect in that, by its commands, it directs all the acts + of the virtues to the Divine Good. In the same way legal justice + is termed a general virtue in that it directs the acts of all + the virtues to the common good. + +2. Sanctity seems to imply cleanness, for S. Denis says[77]: "Sanctity +is freedom from all impurity; it is perfect and stainless cleanness." +Cleanness, however, seems to come under temperance, for this it is which +precludes bodily defilement. Since, then, religion comes under justice, +sanctity cannot be identified with religion. + + Temperance indeed worketh cleanness, but this has not the ratio + of sanctity except it be referred to God. Hence S. Augustine + says of virginity itself that "not because it is virginity is it + held in honour, but because it is consecrated to God."[78] + +3. Lastly, things that are contradistinguished are not identical. But in +all enumerations of the parts of justice sanctity is set against +religion. + + But sanctity is set against religion because of the difference + aforesaid; they differ indeed in idea, not in substance. + + * * * * * + +_Cajetan:_ Religion is directly concerned with those things which +specially pertain to the Divine worship--ceremonies, for example, +sacrifices, oblations, etc. Whereas sanctity directly regards the mind, +and through the mind the other virtuous works, including those of +religion ... for it makes use of them so as thereby to apply the +mind--and by consequence all acts that proceed from the human mind--to +God. Thus we see that many religious people are not saints, whereas all +saints are religious. For people who devote themselves to ceremonies, +sacrifices, etc., can be termed religious; but they can only be called +saints in so far as by means of these things they give themselves +interiorly to God (_on_ 2. 2. 81. 8). + +FOOTNOTES: + +[33] _De invent. Rhetor._, ii. 53. + +[34] _Etymolog._, x. _sub litt._ R. + +[35] _Of the City of God_, x. 3. + +[36] _Of the True Religion_, lv. + +[37] St. Jas. i. 27. + +[38] _Of the City of God_, x. 1. + +[39] _Of the City of God_, x. 1. + +[40] Gal. v. 13. + +[41] The objection and its solution turn upon the Latin words _cultus_ +and _colere_, which cannot be consistently rendered in English; +"reverence" is perhaps the most appropriate translation here. + +[42] _Of the City of God_, x. 1. + +[43] Gal. iv. 14. + +[44] Rom. viii. 31. + +[45] Ps. xv. 5. + +[46] Ps. lxxvi. 1. + +[47] _Of the Nature of Good_, iii. + +[48] _Fear_ is one of the "Gifts" of the Holy Ghost. + +[49] S. Jerome, _Ep._ LIV., _alias_ X., _ad Furiam_. + +[50] II., vi. 15. + +[51] iv. 5-6. + +[52] i. 6. + +[53] The Latin word _ordinare_ means "to set in due order"; there is no +precise English equivalent which can be consistently employed. + +[54] _Of the City of God_, x. 6. + +[55] II. x. 31. + +[56] VIII. viii. 1. + +[57] 2. 2. Qu. II., Art. 2. + +[58] _Enchiridion_, iii. + +[59] xliii. 33. + +[60] xx. 1-17. + +[61] _Ethics_, II. vi. + +[62] lviii. 7. + +[63] Ps. xv. 2. + +[64] 1 Cor. ix. 16. + +[65] See p. 30. + +[66] i. 20. + +[67] Ps. xlix. 13. + +[68] _Of the City of God_, x. 5. + +[69] _Ibid._, vi. 10. + +[70] Ps. xciv. 3. + +[71] i. 74-75. + +[72] Thus Origen, _Hom._ XI, i. _in Leviticum_, where, however, he is +not really giving an etymology. + +[73] X., _sub litt._ S. + +[74] xii. 14. + +[75] Rom. viii. 38-39. + +[76] _De Affectibus_. + +[77] _Of the Divine Names_, xii. + +[78] _Of Virginity_, viii. + + + + +QUESTION LXXXII + +OF DEVOTION + + I. Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act? + Cardinal Cajetan, On the Meaning of the Term "Devotion" + S. Augustine, _Confessions_, XIII. viii. 2 + II. Is Devotion an Act of the Virtue of Religion? +III. Is Contemplation, that is Meditation, the Cause of Devotion? + Cardinal Cajetan, On the Causes of Devotion + " " On the Devotion of Women + IV. Is Joy an Effect of Devotion? + Cardinal Cajetan, On Melancholy + S. Augustine, _Confessions_, II. x. + + +I + +Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act? + +It is by our acts that we merit. But devotion has a peculiarly +meritorious character. Consequently devotion is a special kind of act. + +Devotion is so termed from "devoting" oneself. Hence the "devout" are so +named because they "devote" themselves to God and thus proclaim their +complete subjection to Him. Thus, too, among the heathen of old those +were termed "devout" who for the army's sake "devoted" themselves to +their idols unto death, as Livy[79] tells us was the case with the two +Decii. Hence devotion seems to mean nothing else than "the will to give +oneself promptly to those things which pertain to God's service"; thus +it is said in Exodus[80]: _The multitude of the children of Israel ... +offered first-fruits to the Lord with a most ready and devout mind._ It +is clear, however, that a wish to do _readily_ what belongs to God's +service is a special act. Hence devotion is a special act of the will. + +But some argue that devotion is not a special kind of act, thus: + +1. That which serves to qualify other acts cannot be itself a special +act. But devotion appears to qualify certain other acts; thus it is said +that _all the multitude offered victims, and praises, and holocausts +with a devout mind_.[81] + + But that which moves another gives a certain measure to the + latter's movement. The will, however, moves the other faculties + of the soul to their respective acts; and, moreover, the will, + as aiming at an end in view, moves itself to the means towards + that end. Consequently, since devotion is the act of a man who + offers himself to serve Him Who is the Ultimate End, it follows + that devotion gives a certain measure to human acts--whether + they be the acts of the will itself with regard to the means to + an end, or the acts of the other faculties as moved by the will. + + +2. Again, no act which finds a place in different kinds of acts can be +itself a special kind of act. But devotion is to be found in acts of +different kinds, both in corporal acts, for example, and in spiritual; +thus a man is said to meditate devoutly, for instance, or to genuflect +devoutly. + + But devotion does not find a place in different kinds of acts as + though it were a _species_ coming under different _genera_, but + in the same sense as the motive power of a moving principle is + virtually discoverable in the movements of the things it sets in + motion. + +3. Lastly, all special kinds of acts belong either to the appetitive or +to the cognoscitive faculties. But devotion comes under neither of +these--as will be evident to anyone who will reflect upon the various +acts of these faculties respectively. + + But devotion is an act of the appetitive powers of the soul, and + is, as we have said above, a movement of the will. + +_Cajetan:_ With regard to the proper meaning of the term _devotion_, +note that since _devotion_ is clearly derived from _devoting_, and since +_to devote_--derived in its turn from _to vow_--means to promise +something spontaneously to God: it follows that the principle in all +such promises is the will; and further, not the will simply as such, but +the will so affected as to be prompt. Hence in Latin those are said to +be _devoted_ to some superior whose will is so affected towards him as +to make them prompt in his regard. And this seems to refer especially to +God and to those who in a sense stand in His place, as, for instance, +our rulers, our fatherland, and our principles of action. Hence in the +Church's usage the term _devotion_ is especially applied to those who +are so affected towards God as to be prompt in His regard and in all +that concerns Him. And so _devotion_ is here taken to signify the act of +a will so disposed, the act by which a man shows himself prompt in the +Divine service.... Thus, then, _devotion_, the principal act of the +virtue of religion, implies first of all the prompt desire of the Divine +honour in our exercise of Divine worship; and hence comes the prompt +choice of appropriate means to this end, and also the prompt carrying +out of what we see to be suitable to that end. And the proof of +possession of such _devotion_ is that truly devout souls, the moment +they perceive that some particular thing (or other) ought to be done for +the service of God, are so promptly moved towards it that they rejoice +in having to do or in actually doing it (_on_ 2. 2. 82. 1). + +_S. Augustine:_ Give me, O Lord, Thyself; grant Thyself to me! For Thee +do I love, and if my love be but weak, then would I love Thee more. For +I cannot measure it so as to know how much my love falls short of that +love which shall make my life run to Thy embraces nor ever turn away +from Thee till I be hid in the hiding-place of Thy countenance. This +only do I know: that it fares ill with me when away from Thee; and this +not merely externally, but within me; for all abundance which is not my +God is but penury for me! (_Confessions_, XIII. viii. 2). + + +II + +Is Devotion an Act of the Virtue of Religion? + +Devotion is derived from "devoting oneself" or making vows. But a vow is +an act of the virtue of religion. Consequently devotion also is an act +of the virtue of religion. + +It belongs to the same virtue to wish to do a thing and to have a prompt +will to do it, for the object of each of these acts is the same. For +this reason the Philosopher says[82]: "Justice is that by which men will +and perform just deeds." And it is clear that to perform those things +which pertain to the Divine worship or service comes under the virtue of +religion. Consequently it belongs to the same virtue of religion to have +a prompt will to carry out these things--in other words, to be devout. +Whence it follows that devotion is an act of the virtue of religion. + +But some argue that devotion is not an act of the virtue of religion, +thus: + +1. Devotion means that a man gives himself to God. But this belongs to +the virtue of charity, for, as S. Denis says[83]: "Divine love causes +ecstasy since it permits not that those who love should belong any more +to themselves, but to those things which they love." Whence devotion +would seem to be rather an act of charity than of the virtue of +religion. + + It is indeed through charity that a man gives himself to God, + clinging to Him by a certain union of soul; but that a man + should give himself to God and occupy himself with the Divine + service, is due directly to the virtue of religion, though + indirectly it is due to the virtue of charity, which is the + principle of the virtue of religion. + +2. Again, charity precedes the virtue of religion. But devotion seems to +precede charity; for charity is signified in Scripture by fire, and +devotion by the fat of the sacrifices--the material on which the fire +feeds. Consequently devotion is not an act of the virtue of religion. + + But while the fat of the body is generated by the natural + digestive heat, that natural heat finds its nourishment in that + same fat. Similarly charity both causes devotion--since it is by + love that a man becomes prompt to serve his friend--and at the + same time charity is fed by devotion; just as all friendship is + preserved and increased by the practice of friendly acts and by + meditating upon them. + +3. Lastly, by the virtue of religion a man turns to God alone. But +devotion extends to men as well; people, for instance, are said to be +devoted to certain Saints, and servants are said to be devoted to their +masters, as S. Leo says of the Jews,[84] that being devoted to the Roman +laws, they said: _We have no king but Caesar._[85] Consequently devotion +is not an act of the virtue of religion. + + But the devotion which we have to the Saints of God, whether + living or dead, does not stop at them, but passes on to God, + since we venerate God in God's ministers. And the devotion which + subjects have to their temporal masters is of a different kind + altogether, just as the service of temporal masters differs from + the service of the Divine Master. + + +III + +Is Contemplation, that is Meditation, the Cause of Devotion? + +In Ps. xxxviii. 4 it is said: _And in my meditation a fire shall flame +out._ But spiritual fire causes devotion. Therefore meditation causes +devotion. + +The extrinsic and principal cause of devotion is God Himself; thus S. +Ambrose says[86]: "God calls those whom He deigns to call; and whom He +wills to make religious He makes religious; and had He willed it He +would have made the Samaritans devout instead of indevout." + +But the intrinsic cause of devotion on our part is meditation or +contemplation. For, as we have said, devotion is a certain act of the +will by which a man gives himself promptly to the Divine service. All +acts of the will, however, proceed from consideration, since the will's +object is good understood. Hence S. Augustine says[87]: "The will starts +from the understanding." Meditation must, then, be the cause of devotion +inasmuch as it is from meditation that a man conceives the idea of +giving himself up to God. + +And two considerations lead a man to do this: one is the consideration +of the Divine Goodness and of His benefits, whence the words of the +Psalmist: _But for me it is good to cling close to my God, to put my +hope in the Lord God._[88] And this consideration begets love, which is +the proximate cause of devotion. And the second is man's consideration +of his own defects which compel him to lean upon God, according to the +words: _I have lifted up mine eyes to the mountains, from whence help +shall come to me; my help is from the Lord Who made Heaven and +earth._[89] This latter consideration excludes all presumption which, by +making him lean upon himself, might prevent a man from submitting +himself to God. + +Some, however, argue that contemplation or meditation is not the cause +of devotion, thus: + +1. No cause hinders its own effect. But subtle intellectual meditations +often hinder devotion. + + But it is the consideration of those things which naturally tend + to excite love of God which begets devotion; consideration of + things which do not come under this head, but rather distract + the mind from it, are a hindrance to devotion. + +2. Again, if contemplation were the real cause of devotion, it should +follow that the higher the matter of our contemplation the greater the +devotion it begot. But the opposite is the case. For it frequently +happens that greater devotion is aroused by the contemplation of the +Passion of Christ and of the other mysteries of His Sacred Humanity than +by meditation upon the Divine excellences. + + It is true that things which concern the Godhead are of + themselves more calculated to excite in us love, and + consequently devotion, since God is to be loved above all + things; yet it is due to the weakness of the human mind that + just as it needs to be led by the hand to the knowledge of + Divine things, so also must it be lead to Divine love by means + of the things of sense already known to it; and the chief of + these things is the Humanity of Christ, as is said in the + _Preface_ of the Mass: _So that knowing God visibly in the + flesh, we may thereby be carried away to the love of things + invisible._ Consequently the things that have to do with + Christ's Humanity lead us, as it were, by the hand and are thus + especially suited to stir up devotion in us; though, none the + less, devotion is principally concerned with the Divinity. + +3. Lastly, if contemplation were the real cause of devotion, it ought to +follow that those who are the more fitted for contemplation are also the +more fitted for devotion; whereas the contrary is the case, for greater +devotion is often found among simple folk and in the female sex, where +contemplation is wanting. + + But knowledge, as indeed anything which renders a person great, + occasions a man to trust in Himself, and hence he does not + wholly give himself to God. It is for this reason that knowledge + and suchlike things are sometimes a hindrance to a man's + devotion, whereas among women and simple folk devotion abounds + by the suppression of all elation. But if a man will only + perfectly subject to God his knowledge and any other perfection + he may have, then his devotion will increase. + + * * * * * + +_Cajetan:_ Note these two intrinsic causes of devotion: one, namely, +which arises from meditation upon God and His benefits, the other from +meditation on our own defects. Under the first head I must consider +God's goodness, mercy, and kindness towards mankind and towards myself; +the benefits, for instance, of creation according to His own Likeness, +of Redemption, of Baptism, of His inspirations, of His invitations-- +whether directly or through the medium of others; His patient waiting +till I do penance; His Holy Eucharist; His preserving me from so many +perils both of body and soul; His care of me by means of His Angels; and +His other individual benefits. Under the second head come all my faults +and the punishments due to me, whether in the past or now in the +present; my proneness to sin; my misuse of my own powers by habituating +my thoughts and desires--as well as the inclinations of my other various +faculties--to evil; my sojourning in a region far away from His +Friendship and from His Divine conversation[90]; my perverted affections +which make me think far more of temporal than of spiritual advantages or +disadvantages; my utter lack of virtue; the wounds of my ignorance, of +my malice, of my weakness, of my concupiscence; the shackles on my hands +and feet, on my good works, that is; the shackles, too, on my +affections, so that I dwell amidst darkness and rottenness and +bitterness, and shrink not from it! My deafness, too, to the inner voice +of my Shepherd; and, what is far worse, that I have chosen God for my +enemy and my adversary as often as I have chosen mortal sin, and that I +have thus offered Him the grievous insult of refusing to have Him for my +God, and choosing instead my belly, or money, or false delights--and +called them my God! + +Meditations such as these should be in daily use among spiritual and +religious people, and for their sake they should put aside the +"much-speaking" of vocal prayer, however much it may appeal to them. And +it is of such meditations that devotion and, by consequence, other +virtues, are begotten. And they who do not give themselves to this form +of prayer at least once in the day cannot be called religious men or +women, nor even spiritual people. There can be no effect without a +cause, no end without means to it, no gaining the harbour on the island +save by a voyage in a ship; and so there can be no real religion without +repeated acts regarding its causes, the means to it, and the vehicle +that is to bring us thither (_on_ 2. 2. 82. 3). + +_Cajetan:_ Just as he who removes an obstacle is the occasion of the +resulting effect--a man, for instance, who pulls down a pillar is the +occasion of the resulting fall of what it supported, and a man who +removes a water-dam is the occasion of the consequent flood--so in the +same way have women and simple folk a cause of devotion within +themselves, for they have not that obstacle which consists in +self-confidence. And because God bestows His grace on those who put no +obstacle to it, the Church therefore calls the female sex "devout." +Hence we are not to find fault with the learned for their knowledge, nor +are we to praise women for womanly weakness; but that abuse of knowledge +which consists in self-exaltation is blameworthy, just as the right use +of women's weakness in not being uplifted is praiseworthy (_on_ 2. 2. +82. 3). + + +IV + +Is Joy an Effect of Devotion? + +In the Church's _Collect_ for the Thursday after the Fourth Sunday of +Lent we say: _May holy devotion fill with joy those whom the fast they +have undertaken chastises._ + +Of itself indeed, and primarily, devotion brings about a spiritual joy +of the mind; but as an accidental result it causes sorrow. For, as we +have said above, devotion arises from two considerations. Primarily it +arises from the consideration of the Divine Goodness, and from this +thought there necessarily follows gladness, in accordance with the +words: _I remembered God and was delighted._[91] Yet, as it were +accidentally, this consideration begets a certain sadness in those who +do not as yet fully enjoy God: _My soul hath thirsted after the strong +living God_,[92] and he immediately adds: _My tears have been my bread._ + +Secondarily, however, devotion arises from the consideration of our own +defects, for we thus reflect upon that from which a man, by devout acts +of the will, turns away, so as no longer to dwell in himself, but to +subject himself to God. + +And this consideration is the converse of the former: for of itself it +tends to cause sadness since it makes us dwell upon our defects; +accidentally, however, it causes joy, for it makes us think of the hope +we have of God's assistance. + +Hence joy of heart primarily and of itself follows from devotion; but +secondarily and accidentally there results a sadness which is unto God. + +Some, however, argue that joy is not an effect of devotion, thus: + +1. Christ's Passion, as said before, is especially calculated to cause +devotion. But from dwelling on it there follows a certain affliction of +soul: _Remember my poverty ... the wormwood and the gall_[93]--that is, +the Sacred Passion; and then follows: _I will be mindful, and remember, +and my soul shall languish within me._ + + In meditation on the Passion of Christ there is food for + sadness--viz., the thought of the sins of men, and to take these + away Christ had need to suffer. But there is also food for + joy--viz., the thought of God's merciful kindness towards us in + providing us such a deliverance. + +2. Again, devotion principally consists in the interior sacrifice of the +heart: _A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit_;[94] consequently +affliction, rather than pleasure or joy, is the outcome of devotion. + + But the soul which is on the one hand saddened because of its + shortcomings in this present life, is on the other hand + delighted at the thought of the goodness of God and of the hope + of Divine assistance. + +3. Lastly, S. Gregory of Nyssa says[95]: "Just as laughter proceeds from +joy, so are sorrow and groaning signs of sadness." But out of devotion +some burst into tears. + + Yet tears spring not from sadness alone, but also from a certain + tenderness of feeling: and especially is this the case when we + reflect on something that, while pleasant, has in it a certain + admixture of sadness; thus men are wont to weep from loving + affection when they recover their children or others dear to + them whom they had thought lost. And it is in this sense that + tears spring from devotion. + + * * * * * + +_Cajetan:_ Notice the proof here afforded that those are not devout +persons who are habitually sad and gloomy, and who cannot mingle with +others without getting into difficulties or dissolving into tears. For +devout folk are cheerful, and are full of joy in their souls; and this +not solely by reason of the principal cause, as is stated in the text, +but also by reason of a secondary cause--the thought, namely, of their +own failings. For the sadness of devout folk is _according to God_, and +joy accompanies it; whence S. Augustine's remark: "Let a man grieve, but +let him rejoice at his grief."[96] Therefore it is that we read of the +Saints that they were joyful and bright; and rightly so, for they had +begun upon earth their "heavenly conversation"[97] (_on_ 2. 2. 82. 4). + +_S. Augustine:_ For Thee do I yearn, Justice and Innocence, Beautiful +and Fair in Thy beauteous light that satisfies and yet never sates! For +with Thee is repose exceedingly and life without disquiet! He that +enters into Thee enters into the joy of his Lord; he shall know no fear, +and in the Best shall be best. But I have deserted Thee and have +wandered away, O Lord, my God! Too far have I wandered from Thee, the +Steadfast One, in my youth, and I have become to myself a very land of +want! (_Confessions_, II. x.). + +FOOTNOTES: + +[79] VIII. 9 and X. 29. + +[80] xxxv. 20-21. + +[81] 2 Paral. xxix. 31. + +[82] _Ethics_, V. i. 3. + +[83] _Of the Divine Names_, chap. iv., part i., lect. 10. + +[84] _Sermon VIII.: On the Passion of Our Lord._ + +[85] S. John xix. 15. + +[86] _Commentary on S. Luke_ ix. 55. + +[87] _De Trinitate_, ix. 12; xv. 23. + +[88] Ps. lxxii. 28. + +[89] Ps. cxx. 1, 2. + +[90] S. Luke xv. 13, 16. + +[91] Ps. lxxvi. 4. + +[92] Ps. xli. 3. + +[93] Lam. iii. 19. + +[94] Ps. i. 19. + +[95] _De Homine_, xii. + +[96] _De Vera et Falsa Poenitentia_, xiii. + +[97] Phil. iii. 20. + + + + +QUESTION LXXXIII + +OF PRAYER + + I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? + Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friendship + II. Is it Fitting to Pray? + Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause + S. Augustine, _On the Sermon on the Mount_, II. iii. 14 + " _On the Gift of Perseverance_, vii. 15 +III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? + Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer + S. Augustine, _On Psalm_ cii. 10 + " _Of the Gift of Perseverance_, xvi. 39 + IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone? + S. Augustine, _Sermon_, cxxvii. 2 + V. Should We in our Prayers ask for anything Definite from God? + S. Augustine, _De Catechizandis Rudibus_, xxv. 47 + " _Confessions_, X. xxix. + " _Confessions_, XI. ii. 2 + VI. Ought We in our Prayers to ask for Temporal Things from God? + S. Augustine, _On Psalm_ xxxvii. 10 + " _Confessions_, I. xx. 2 + " _Confessions_, IX. iv. 12 + S. Thomas is miraculously relieved from Toothache + S. Augustine, _Sermon_, lxxx. 7 + " _Sermon_, cccliv. 8 + VII. Ought We to Pray for Others? +VIII. Ought We to Pray for our Enemies? + S. Augustine, _Sermon_, xv., on _Psalm_ xxv. 8 + IX. On the Seven Petitions of the Lord's Prayer + Cardinal Cajetan, On the Grouping of these Petitions + S. Augustine, _Confessions_, VII. x. 2 + " _Sermon_, lvii., _on S. Matt._ vi. 7 + " _Sermon_, lvi. 9, _on S. Matt._ vi. + " _Sermon_, lvi. 8, _on S. Matt._ vi. + " _Of the City of God_, xix. 27 + S. Thomas's Rhythm, _Adoro Te Devote_ + X. Is Prayer Peculiar to Rational Creatures? + XI. Do the Saints in Heaven Pray for Us? + Cardinal Cajetan, On the Saints in Limbo + XII. Should Prayer be Vocal? + Cardinal Cajetan, On the Conditions of Vocal Prayer + S. Augustine, _Confessions_, IX. iv. 8 + " _Confessions_, X. xxxiii. 50 + " _On Psalm_ cxviii., _Sermon_ xxix. 1 +XIII. Must Prayer necessarily be Attentive? + Cardinal Cajetan, On the Varieties of Attention at Prayer + S. Augustine, _On Psalm_ lxxxv. 7 + " _On Psalm_ cxlv. 1 + S. Thomas, _On Distractions, Com. on 1 Cor._ xiv. 14 + XIV. Should our Prayers be Long? + XV. Is Prayer Meritorious? + S. Augustine, _On Psalm_ xxvi. + " _Ep._ cxxx. _ad Probam._ + XVI. Do Sinners gain Anything from God by their Prayers? +XVII. Can We rightly term "Supplications," "Prayers," + "Intercessions," and "Thanksgivings," parts of Prayer? + Cardinal Cajetan, On the Prayer of the Consecration + S. Augustine, _Of Divers Questions_, iv. + + +I + +Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? + +S. Isidore says[98]: "To pray is the same thing as to speak." Speaking, +however, belongs to the intellect. Hence prayer is not an act of the +appetitive, but of the intellectual faculties. + +According to Cassiodorus, on those words of the Psalmist: _Hear my +prayer, O Lord, and my supplication, give ear to my tears_,[99] prayer +means "the lips' reasoning." Now there is this difference between the +speculative and the practical reason, that the speculative reason merely +apprehends things, while the practical reason not only apprehends +things, but actually causes them. But one thing is the cause of another +in two ways: in one way, perfectly--namely, as inducing a necessity--as +happens when the effect comes entirely under the power of a cause; in +another way, imperfectly--namely, by merely disposing to it--as happens +when an effect is not entirely under the power of a cause. + +And so, too, reason is in two ways the cause of certain things: in one +way as imposing a necessity; and in this way it belongs to the reason to +command not merely the lower faculties and the bodily members, but even +men who are subject to us, and this is done by giving commands. In +another way as inducing, and in some sort disposing to, an effect; and +in this way the reason asks for something to be done by those who are +subject to it, whether they be equals or superiors. + +But both of these--namely, to command something, or to ask or beg for +something to be done--imply a certain arrangement--as when a man +arranges for something to be done by somebody else. And in this respect +both of these acts come under the reason whose office it is to arrange. +Hence the Philosopher says[100]: "Reason asks for the best things." + +Here, then, we speak of prayer as implying a certain asking or petition, +for, as S. Augustine says[101]: "Prayer is a certain kind of petition"; +so, too, S. John Damascene says[102]: "Prayer is the asking of fitting +things from God." + +Hence it is clear that the prayer of which we are here speaking is an +act of the reason. + +Some, however, think that prayer is an act of the appetitive powers, +thus: + +1. The whole object of prayer is to be heard, and the Psalmist says that +it is our desires which are heard: _The Lord hath heard the desire of +the poor._[103] Prayer, then, is desire; but desire is an act of the +appetitive powers. + + But the Lord is said to hear the desires of the poor either + because their desire is the reason why they ask--since our + petitions are in a certain sense the outward expression of our + desires; or this may be said in order to show the swiftness with + which He hears them--even while things are only existing in the + poor man's desire; God hears them even before they are expressed + in prayer. And this accords with the words of Isaias: _And it + shall come to pass that before they shall call I will hear, as + they are yet speaking I will hear._[104] + +2. Again, Denis the Areopagite says: "But before all things it is good +to begin with prayer, as thereby giving ourselves up to and uniting +ourselves with God."[105] But union with God comes through love, and +love belongs to the appetitive powers; therefore prayer, too, would seem +to belong to the appetitive powers. + + But the will moves the reason to its end or object. Hence there + is nothing to prevent the reason, under the direction of the + will, from tending to the goal of charity, which is union with + God. Prayer, however, tends towards God--moved, that is, by the + will, which itself is motived by charity--in two ways: in one + way by reason of that which is asked for, since in prayer we + have particularly to ask that we may be united with God, + according to those words: _One thing I have asked of the Lord, + this will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the + Lord all the days of my life._[106] And in another way prayer + tends towards God--by reason, namely, of the petitioner himself; + for such a one must approach him from whom he asks something, + and this either bodily, as when he draws nigh to a man, or + mentally, as when he draws nigh to God. + + Hence the same Denis says: "When we invoke God in prayer we are + before Him with our minds laid bare." In the same sense S. John + Damascene says: "Prayer is the ascent of the mind towards God." + + +_Cajetan:_ Prayer demands of the petitioner a twofold union with God: +the one is general--the union, that is, of friendship--and is produced +by charity, so that further on[107] we shall find the friendship arising +from charity enumerated among the conditions for infallibly efficacious +prayer. The second kind of union may be termed substantial union; it is +the effect of prayer itself. It is that union of application by which +the mind offers itself and all it has to God in service--viz., by devout +affections, by meditations, and by external acts. By such union as this +a man who prays is inseparable from God in his worship and service, just +as when one man serves another he is inseparable from him in his service +(_on_ 2. 2. 83. 1). + + "And now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, and we are clay: and Thou + art our Maker, and we are all the works of Thy hands. Be not + very angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity: behold, + see we are all Thy people."[108] + + +II + +Is It Fitting To Pray? + +In S. Luke's Gospel we read: _We ought always to pray and not to +faint._[109] + +A threefold error regarding prayer existed amongst the ancients; for +some maintained that human affairs were not directed by Divine +Providence; whence it followed that it was altogether vain to pray or to +worship God; of such we read: _You have said, he laboureth in vain that +serveth God_.[110] A second opinion was that all things, even human +affairs, happened of necessity--whether from the immutability of Divine +Providence, or from a necessity imposed by the stars, or from the +connection of causes; and this opinion, of course, excluded all utility +from prayer. A third opinion was that human affairs were indeed directed +by Divine Providence, and that human affairs did not happen of +necessity, but that Divine Providence was changeable, and that +consequently its dispositions were changed by our prayers and by other +acts of religious worship. These views, however, have elsewhere been +shown to be wrong. + +Consequently we have so to set forth the utility of prayer as neither to +make things happen of necessity because subject to Divine Providence, +nor to suggest that the arrangements of Divine Providence are subject to +change. + +To bring this out clearly we must consider that Divine Providence not +merely arranges what effects shall take place, but also from what causes +they shall proceed, and in what order. + +But amongst other causes human acts are causes of certain effects. Hence +men must do certain things, not so that their acts may change the Divine +arrangement, but that by their acts they may bring about certain effects +according to the order arranged by God; and it is the same with natural +causes. It is the same, too, in the case of prayer. For we do not pray +in order to change the Divine arrangements, but in order to win that +which God arranged should be fulfilled by means of prayers; or, in S. +Gregory's words: "Men by petitioning may merit to receive what Almighty +God arranged before the ages to give them."[111] + +Some, however, maintain that prayer is futile, thus: + +1. Prayer seems to be necessary in order that we may bring our wants to +the notice of Him to Whom we make the petition. But our Lord says: _Your +Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things._[112] + + But it is not necessary for us to set forth our petitions before + God in order to make known to Him our needs or desires, but + rather that we ourselves may realize that in these things it is + needful to have recourse to the Divine assistance. + +2. Again, by prayer the mind of him to whom it is made is prevailed upon +to grant what is asked of him; but the mind of God is unchangeable and +inflexible: _The Triumpher in Israel will not spare, and will not be +moved to repentance; for He is not a man that He should repent._[113] +Consequently it is unavailing to pray to God. + + But our prayers do not aim at changing the Divine arrangements, + but at obtaining by our prayers what God has arranged to give + us. + +3. Lastly, it is more generous to give to one who does not ask than to +one who asks, for, as Seneca remarks: "Nothing is bought at a dearer +price than what is bought with prayers."[114] Whereas God is most +generous. + + God, indeed, bestows on us many things out of His generosity, + even things for which we do not ask; but He wishes to grant us + some things on the supposition that we ask for them. And this is + for our advantage, for it is intended to beget in us a certain + confidence in having recourse to God, as well as to make us + recognize that He is the Author of all good to us. Hence S. + Chrysostom says: "Reflect what great happiness is bestowed upon + you, what glory is given you, namely, to converse in your + prayers with God, to join in colloquy with Christ, and to beg + for what you wish or desire."[115] + +_Cajetan:_ Notice how foolish are some Christians who, when desirous of +reaching certain ends attainable by nature or art, are most careful to +apply such means, and would rightly regard their hopes as vain unless +they applied them; and yet at the same time they have quite false +notions of the fruits to be derived from prayer: as though prayer were +no cause at all, or at least but a remote one! Whence it comes to pass +that, having false ideas about the causes, they fail to reap any fruit +(_on_ 2. 2. 83. 2). + +_S. Augustine:_ But some may say: It is not so much a question whether +we are to pray by words or deeds as whether we are to pray at all if God +already knows what is needful for us. Yet the very giving ourselves to +prayer has the effect of soothing our minds and purifying them; it makes +us more fit to receive the Divine gifts which are spiritually poured out +upon us. For God does not hear us because of a display of prayer on our +part; He is always ready, indeed, to give us His light, not, indeed, His +visible light, but the light of the intellect and the spirit. It is we +who are not always prepared to receive it, and this because we are +preoccupied with other things and swallowed up in the darkness resulting +from desire of the things of earth. When we pray, then, our hearts must +turn to God, Who is ever ready to give if only we will take what He +gives. And in so turning to Him we must purify the eye of our mind by +shutting out all thought for the things of time, that so--with +single-minded gaze--we may be able to bear that simple light that shines +divinely, and neither sets nor changes. And not merely to bear it, but +even to abide in it; and this not simply without strain, but with a +certain unspeakable joy. In this joy the life of the Blessed is truly +and really perfected (_On the Sermon on the Mount_, II. iii. 14). + +_S. Augustine:_ He could have bestowed these things on us even without +our prayers; but He wished that by our prayers we should be taught from +Whom these benefits come. For from whom do we receive them if not from +Him from Whom we are bidden to ask them? Assuredly in this matter the +Church does not demand laborious disputations; but note Her daily +prayers: She prays that unbelievers may believe: God then brings them to +the Faith. She prays that the faithful may persevere: God gives them +perseverance to the end. And God foreknew that He would do these things. +For this is the predestination of the Saints whom _He chose in Christ +before the foundation of the world_[116] (_Of the Gift of Perseverance_, +vii. 15). + + "Thou hast taught me, O God, from my youth; and till now I will + declare Thy wonderful works. And unto old age and grey hairs, O + God, forsake me not, until I shew forth Thy arm to all the + generation that is to come."[117] + + +III + +Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? + +In Ps. cxl. 2 we read: _Let my prayer be directed as incense in Thy +sight_, and on these words the Gloss remarks: "According to this figure, +in the Old Law incense was said to be offered as an odour of sweetness +to the Lord." And this comes under the virtue of religion. Therefore +prayer is an act of religion. + +It properly belongs to the virtue of religion to give due reverence and +honour to God, and hence all those things by which such reverence is +shown to God come under religion. By prayer, however, a man shows +reverence to God inasmuch as he submits himself to Him and, by praying, +acknowledges that he needs God as the Author of all his good. Whence it +is clear that prayer is properly an act of religion. + +Some, however, maintain that prayer is not an act of the virtue of +religion, thus: + +1. Prayer is rather the exercise of the Gift of Understanding than of +the virtue of religion. For the virtue of religion comes under Justice; +it is therefore resident in the will. But prayer belongs to the +intellectual faculties, as we have shown above. + + But we must remember that the will moves the other faculties of + the soul to their objects or ends, and that consequently the + virtue of religion, which is in the will, directs the acts of + the other faculties in the reverence they show towards God. Now + amongst these other faculties of the soul the intellect is the + noblest and the most nigh to the will; consequently, next to + devotion, which belongs to the will itself, prayer, which + belongs to the intellective part, is the chief act of religion, + for by it religion moves a man's understanding towards God. + +2. Again, acts of worship fall under precept, whereas prayer seems to +fall under no precept, but to proceed simply from the mere wish to pray; +for prayer is merely asking for what we want; consequently prayer is not +an act of the virtue of religion. + + Yet not only to ask for what we desire, but to desire rightly, + falls under precept; to desire, indeed, falls under the precept + of charity, but to ask falls under the precept of religion--the + precept which is laid down in the words: _Ask and ye shall + receive_.[118] + +3. Lastly, the virtue of religion embraces due worship and ceremonial +offered to the Divinity; prayer, however, offers God nothing, but only +seeks to obtain things from Him. + + In prayer a man offers to God his mind, which he subjects to Him + in reverence, and which he, in some sort, lays bare before + Him--as we have just seen in S. Denis's words. Hence, since the + human mind is superior to all the other exterior or bodily + members, and also to all exterior things which have place in the + Divine worship, it follows that prayer, too, is pre-eminent + among the acts of the virtue of religion. + +_Cajetan:_ In prayer or petition there are three things to be +considered: the thing petitioned for, the actual petition, and the +petitioner. As far, then, as the thing petitioned for is concerned, we +give nothing to God when we pray; rather we ask Him to give us +something. But if we consider the actual petition, then we do offer +something to God when we pray. For the very act of petitioning is an act +of subjection; it is an acknowledgment of God's power. And the proof of +this is that proud men would prefer to submit to want rather than humble +themselves by asking anything of others. Further, the petitioner, by the +very fact that he petitions, acknowledges that he whom he petitions has +the power to assist him, and is merciful, or just, or provident; it is +for this reason that he hopes to be heard. Hence petition or prayer is +regarded as an act of the virtue of religion, the object of which is to +give honour to God. For we honour God by asking things of Him, and this +by so much the more as--whether from our manner of asking or from the +nature of what we ask for--we acknowledge Him to be above all things, to +be our Creator, our Provider, our Redeemer, etc. And this is what S. +Thomas points out in the body of the Article. But if we consider the +petitioner: then, since man petitions with his mind--for petition is an +act of the mind--and since the mind is the noblest thing in man, it +follows that by petitioning we submit to God that which is noblest in +us, since we use it to ask things of Him, and thereby do Him honour. +Thus by prayer we offer our minds in sacrifice to God; so, too, by +bending the knee to Him we offer to Him and sacrifice to Him our knees, +by using them to His honour (_on_ 2. 2. 83. 3). + +_S. Augustine:_ I stand as a beggar at the gate, He sleepeth not on Whom +I call! Oh, may He give me those three loaves! For you remember the +Gospel? Ah! see how good a thing it is to know God's word; those of you +who have read it are stirred within yourselves! For you remember how a +needy man came to his friend's house and asked for three loaves. And He +says that he sleepily replied to him: "I am resting, and my children are +with me asleep." But he persevered in his request, and wrung from him by +his importunity what his deserts could not get. But God wishes to give; +yet only to those who ask--lest He should give to those who understand +not. He does not wish to be stirred up by your weariness! For when you +pray you are not being troublesome to one who sleeps; _He slumbereth not +nor sleeps that keepeth Israel._[119] ... He, then, sleeps not; see you +that your faith sleeps not! (_Enarr. in Ps._ cii. 10). + +_S. Augustine:_ Some there are who either do not pray at all, or pray +but tepidly; and this because, forsooth, they have learnt from the Lord +Himself[120] that God knows, even before we ask Him, what is necessary +for us. But because of such folk are we to say that these words are not +true and therefore to be blotted out of the Gospel? Nay, rather, since +it is clear that God gives some things even to those who do not ask--as, +for instance, the beginnings of faith--and has prepared other things for +those only who pray for them--as, for instance, final perseverance--it +is evident that he who fancies he has this latter of himself does not +pray to have it (_Of the Gift of Perseverance_, xvi. 39). + + "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise + to my God while I have my being. Let my speech be acceptable to + Him; but I will take delight in the Lord."[121] + + +IV + +Ought We To Pray To God Alone? + +In Job v. 1 we read: _Call, now, if there be any that will answer thee, +and turn to some of the Saints._ + +Prayer is addressed to a person in two ways: in one way as a petition to +be granted by him; in another way as a petition to be forwarded by him. +In the former way we only pray to God, for all our prayers ought to be +directed to the attaining of grace and glory, and these God alone gives: +_The Lord will give grace and glory._[122] But in the latter way we set +forth our prayers both to the holy Angels and to men; and this, not that +through their intervention God may know our petitions, but rather that +by their prayers and merits our petitions may gain their end. Hence it +is said in the Apocalypse: _And the smoke of the incense of the prayers +of the Saints ascended up before God from the hand of the Angel._[123] +And this is clearly shown, too, from the style adopted by the Church in +her prayers: for of the Holy Trinity we pray that mercy may be shown us; +but of all the Saints, whomsoever they may be, we pray that they may +intercede for us. + +Some, however, maintain that we ought to pray to God alone, thus: + +1. Prayer is an act of the virtue of religion. But only God is to be +worshipped by the virtue of religion. Consequently it is to Him alone +that we should pray. + + But in our prayers we only show religious worship to Him from + Whom we hope to obtain what we ask, for by so doing we confess + Him to be the Author of all our goods; but we do not show + religious worship to those whom we seek to have as intercessors + with us before God. + +2. Again, prayer to those who cannot know what we pray for is idle. But +God alone can know our prayers, and this because prayer is frequently a +purely interior act of which God alone is cognizant, as the Apostle +says: _I will pray with the spirit. I will pray also with the +understanding_;[124] and also because, as S. Augustine says[125]: The +dead know not, not even the Saints, what the living--not even excepting +their own children--are doing. + + It is true that the dead, if we consider only their natural + condition, do not know what is done on earth, and especially do + they not know the interior movements of the heart. But to the + Blessed, as S. Gregory says,[126] manifestation is made in the + Divine Word of those things which it is fitting that they should + know as taking place in our regard, even the interior movements + of the heart. And, indeed, it is most befitting their state of + excellence that they should be cognizant of petitions addressed + to them, whether vocally or mentally. Hence through God's + revelation they are cognizant of the petitions which we address + them. + +3. Lastly, some say: if we do address prayers to any of the Saints, the +sole reason for doing so lies in the fact that they are closely united +to God. But we do not address prayers to people who, while still living +in this world, are closely knit to God, nor to those who are in +Purgatory and are united to Him. There seems, then, to be no reason why +we should address prayers to the Saints in Paradise. + + But they who are still in the world or in Purgatory do not as + yet enjoy the vision of the Divine Word so as to be able to know + what we think or say, hence we do not implore their help when we + pray; though when talking with living people we do ask them to + help us. + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ It is no great thing to live long, nor even to live for +ever; but it is indeed a great thing to live well. Oh, let us love +eternal life! And we realize how earnestly we ought to strive for that +eternal life when we note how men who love this present temporal life so +work for it--though it is to pass away--that, when the fear of death +comes, they strive all they can, not, indeed, to do away with death, but +to put death off! How men labour when death approaches! They flee from +it; they hide from it; they give all they have; they try to buy +themselves off; they work and strive; they put up with tortures and +inconveniences; they call in physicians; they do everything that lies +within their power! Yet even if they spend all their toil and their +substance, they can only secure that they may live a little longer, not +that they may live for ever! If, then, men spend such toil, such +endeavour, so much money, so much anxiety, watchfulness, and care, in +order to live only a little longer, what ought we not to do that we may +live for ever? And if we call them prudent who take every possible +precaution to stave off death, to live but a few days more, to save just +a few days, then how foolish are they who so pass their days as to lose +the Day of Eternity! (_Sermon_, cxxvii. 2). + + "May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may He cause the light + of His countenance to shine upon us, and may He have mercy on + us. That we may know Thy way upon earth: Thy salvation in all + nations. Let people confess to Thee, O God: let all people give + praise to Thee. Let the nations be glad and rejoice: for Thou + judgest the people with justice, and directest the nations upon + earth. Let the people, O God, confess to Thee: let all the + people give praise to Thee: the earth hath yielded her fruit. + May God, our God bless us, may God bless us: and all the ends of + the earth fear Him."[127] + + +V + +Should We in our Prayers ask for Anything Definite from God? + +Our Lord taught the disciples to ask definitely for the things which are +contained in the petitions of the Lord's Prayer: _Thus shalt thou +pray._[128] + +Maximus Valerius tells of Socrates[129] that he "maintained that nothing +further should be asked of the immortal gods save that they should give +us good things; and this on the ground that they knew well what was best +for each individual, whereas we often ask in our prayers for things +which it would be better not to have asked for." And this opinion has +some truth in it as regards those things which can turn out ill, or +which a man can use well or ill, as, for example, riches which, as the +same Socrates says, "have been to the destruction of many; or honours +which have ruined many; or the possession of kingdoms, the issues of +which are so often ill-fated; or splendid matrimonial alliances, which +have sometimes proved the ruin of families." But there are certain good +things of which a man cannot make a bad use--those, namely, which cannot +have a bad issue. And these are the things by which we are rendered +blessed and by which we merit beatitude; these are the things for which +the Saints pray unconditionally: _Show us Thy Face and we shall be +saved_;[130] and again: _Lead me along the path of Thy +commandments_.[131] + +Some, however, say that we ought not in our prayers to ask for definite +things from God, thus: + +1. S. John Damascene defines prayer as "asking from God things that are +fitting";[132] consequently prayer for things which are not expedient is +of no efficacy, as S. James says: _You ask and receive not, because you +ask amiss_.[133] Moreover, S. Paul says: _We know not what we should +pray for as we ought_.[134] + + But it is also true that though a man cannot of himself know + what he ought to pray for, yet, as the Apostle says in the same + place: _In this the Spirit helpeth our infirmity_--namely, in + that, by inspiring us with holy desires, He makes us ask aright. + Hence Our Lord says that the true adorers _must adore in spirit + and in truth_.[135] + +2. Further, he who asks from another some definite thing strives to bend +that other's will to do what the petitioner wants. But we ought not to +direct our prayers towards making God will what we will, but rather we +should will what He wills--as the Gloss says on the words of Ps. xxxii. +1: _Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just!_ It would seem, therefore, that we +ought not to ask for definite things from God when we pray. + + Yet when in our prayers we ask for things which appertain to our + salvation, we are conforming our will to the will of God, for of + His will it is said: _He will have all men to be saved_.[136] + +3. Lastly, evil things cannot be asked from God; and He Himself invites +us to receive good things. But it is idle for a person to ask for what +he is invited to receive. + + God, it is true, invites us to receive good things; but He + wishes us to come to them--not, indeed, by the footsteps of the + body--but by pious desires and devout prayers. + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ Fly, then, by unwavering faith and holy habits, fly, +brethren, from those torments where the torturers never desist, and +where the tortured never die; whose death is unending, and where in +their anguish they cannot die. But burn with love for and desire of the +eternal life of the Saints where there is no longer the life of toil nor +yet wearisome repose. For the praises of God will beget no disgust, +neither will they ever cease. There will there be no weariness of the +soul, no bodily fatigue; there will there be no wants: neither wants of +your own which will call for succour, nor wants of your neighbour +demanding your speedy help. God will be all your delight; there will ye +find the abundance of that Holy City that from Him draws life and +happily and wisely lives in Him. For there, according to that promise of +His for which we hope and wait, we shall be made equal to the Angels of +God; and equally with them shall we then enjoy that vision of the Holy +Trinity in which we now but walk by faith. For we now believe what we do +not see, that so by the merits of that same faith we then may merit to +see what we believe, and may so hold fast to it that the Equality of +Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and the Unity of the Trinity, may no longer +come to us under the garb of faith, nor be the subject of contentious +talk, but may rather be what we may drink in in purest and deepest +contemplation amid the silence of Eternity (_De Catechizandis Rudibus_, +xxv. 47). + +_S. Augustine:_ O Lord, my God, give me what Thou biddest and then bid +what Thou wilt! Thou biddest us be continent. _And I knew_, as a certain +one says, _that I could not otherwise be continent save God gave it, and +this also was a point of wisdom to know Whose gift it was_. Now by +continence we are knit together and brought back into union with that +One from Whom we have wandered away after many things. For he loves Thee +but little who loves other things with Thee, and loves them not for +Thee! O Love that ever burnest and wilt never be extinguished! O +Charity! O Lord, my God, set me on fire! Thou dost bid continence? Then +give me what Thou biddest and bid what Thou wilt! (_Confessions_, X. +xxix.). + +_S. Augustine:_ O Lord, my God, listen to my prayer and mercifully hear +my desire! For my desire burns not for myself alone, but fraternal +charity bids it be of use. And Thou seest in my heart that it is so; for +I would offer to Thee in sacrifice the service of my thoughts and of my +tongue. Grant me then what I may offer to Thee. For I am needy and poor, +and Thou art rich towards all that call upon Thee; for in peace and +tranquillity hast Thou care for us. Circumcise, then, my lips, within +and without, from all rashness and all untruthfulness. May Thy +Scriptures be my chaste delight; may I never be deceived in them nor +deceive others out of them. Attend, O Lord, and have mercy upon me, O +Lord, my God. Thou art the Light of the blind, the Strength of the weak, +and so, too, art Thou the Light of them that see and the Strength of +them that are strong. Look, then, on my soul, and hear me when I cry +from out the depths! (_Confessions_, XI. ii. 2). + + "Look down from Heaven, and behold from Thy holy habitation and + the place of Thy glory: where is Thy zeal, and Thy strength, the + multitude of Thy bowels, and of Thy mercies? they have held back + themselves from me. For Thou art our Father, and Abraham hath + not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us: Thou, O Lord, + art our Father, our Redeemer, from everlasting is Thy + Name."[137] + + +VI + +Ought We in our Prayers to ask for Temporal Things from God? + +We have the authority of the Book of Proverbs for answering in the +affirmative, for there we read[138]: _Give me only the necessaries of +life_. + +S. Augustine says to Proba[139]: "It is lawful to pray for what it is +lawful to desire." But it is lawful to desire temporal things, not +indeed as our principal aim or as something which we make our end, but +rather as props and stays which may be of assistance to us in our +striving for the possession of God; for by such things our bodily life +is sustained, and such things, as the Philosopher says, co-operate +organically to the production of virtuous acts.[140] Consequently it is +lawful to pray for temporal things. And this is what S. Augustine means +when he says to Proba: "Not unfittingly does a person desire sufficiency +for this life when he desires it and nothing more; for such sufficiency +is not sought for its own sake but for the body's health, and for a mode +of life suitable to a man's position so that he may not be a source of +inconvenience to those with whom he lives. When, then, we have these +things we must pray that we may retain them, and when we have not got +them we must pray that we may have them."[141] + +Some, however, argue that we ought not to pray for temporal things, +thus: + +1. What we pray for we seek. But we are forbidden to seek for temporal +things, for it is said: _Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and +His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you_,[142] those +temporal things, namely, which He says are not to be sought but which +are to be added to the things which we seek. + + But temporal things are to be sought secondarily not primarily. + Hence S. Augustine[143]: "When He says the former is _to be + sought first_ (namely the kingdom of God), He means that the + latter (namely temporal good things) are to be sought + afterwards; not _afterwards_ in point of time, but _afterwards_ + in point of importance; the former as our good, the latter as + our need." + +2. Again, we only ask for things about which we are solicitous. But we +are not allowed to be solicitous about temporal concerns: _Be not +solicitous for your life, what ye shall eat_[144].... + + But not all solicitude about temporal affairs is forbidden, only + such as is superfluous and out of due order. + +3. Further, we ought in prayer to uplift our minds to God. But by asking +for temporal things in prayer our mind descends to things beneath it, +and this is contrary to the teaching of the Apostle: _While we look not +at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For +the things which are seen are temporal: but the things which are not +seen are eternal._[145] + + When our mind is occupied with temporal affairs so as to set up + its rest in them then it remains in them, and is depressed by + them; but when the mind turns to them as a means of attaining to + eternal life it is not depressed by them, but rather uplifted by + them. + +4. Lastly, men ought not to pray except for things useful and good. But +temporal possessions are at times hurtful, and this not merely +spiritually but even temporally; hence a man ought not to ask them of +God. + + But it is clear that since we do not seek temporal things + primarily or for their own sake, but with reference to something + else, we consequently only ask them of God according as they may + be expedient for our salvation. + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine: Lord, all my desire is before Thee, and my groaning is +not hid from Thee!_[146] It is not before men who cannot see the heart, +but _before Thee is all my desire_! And let your desires, too, be before +Him, and your Father Who seeth in secret will repay thee. For your very +desire is a prayer, and if your desire is continual your prayer, too, is +continual. Not without reason did the Apostle say: _Pray without +ceasing_.[147] Yet can we genuflect without ceasing? Can we prostrate +without ceasing? Can we lift up our hands without ceasing? How, then, +does he say: _Pray without ceasing_? If by _prayer_ he meant such things +as these then I think we could not pray without ceasing. But there is +another prayer, an interior prayer, which is without ceasing--_desire_. +Whatever else you do, if only you desire that _rest_[148] you cease not +to pray. If you wish to pray without ceasing then desire without +ceasing. Your continual desire is your continual voice; but you will be +silent if you cease to love (_Enarr. in Ps._ xxxvii. 10). + +_S. Augustine:_ But all these things are the gifts of my God; I did not +give them to myself; they are good, and all these things am I. He then +is good Who made me; nay, He Himself is my Good, and in Him do I rejoice +for all the good things which I had even as a boy! But in this did I sin +that, not in Him but in His creatures did I seek myself and other +pleasures, high thoughts and truths. Thus it was that I fell into +sorrow, confusion, and error. Thanks be to Thee, my Sweetness, my Honour +and my Trust, O my God! Thanks be to Thee for Thy gifts! But do Thou +keep them for me! For so doing Thou wilt be keeping me, and those things +which Thou hast given me will be increased and perfected, and I myself +shall be with Thee, for even that I should be at all is Thy gift to me! +(_Confessions_, I. xx. 2). + +_S. Augustine:_ But I forget not, neither will I keep silence regarding +the severity of Thy scourge and the wondrous swiftness of Thy mercy. +Thou didst torture me with toothache; and when the pain had become so +great that I could not even speak, it came into my mind to tell all my +friends who were there to pray to Thee for me, to Thee the God of all +manner of succour. And I wrote my request on a wax tablet and I gave it +them to read. And hardly had we bent the knee in humble prayer than the +pain fled! But what a pain it was! And how did it disappear? I was +terrified, I confess it, O Lord my God! Never in all my life had I felt +anything like it! (_Confessions_, IX. iv. 12). + +It is narrated of S. Thomas that when at Paris it happened that having +to lecture at the University on a subject which he had commenced the day +before, he rose at night to pray as was his wont, but discovered that a +tooth had suddenly pushed its way through his gums in such a way that he +could not speak. His companion suggested that since it was an +inopportune time for procuring assistance a message should be sent to +the University stating what had happened and pointing out that the +lecture could not be given till the tooth had been removed by a surgeon. +But S. Thomas, reflecting upon the difficulty in which the University +would be placed, considering also the danger which might arise from the +removal of the tooth in the way suggested, said to his companion: I see +no remedy save to trust to God's Providence. He then betook himself to +his accustomed place of prayer, and for a long space besought God with +tears to grant him this favour, leaving himself entirely in His hands. +And when he had thus prayed he took the tooth between his fingers, and +it came out at once without the slightest pain or wrench, and he found +himself freed from the impediment to his speech which it had caused. +This tooth he carried about with him for a long time as a reminder of an +act of Divine loving-kindness such as he was anxious not to forget, for +forgetfulness is the mother of ingratitude; he wished it, too, to move +him to still greater confidence in the power of prayer which had on that +occasion been so quickly heard (see _Vita S. Thomae_, Bollandists, March +7, vol. i., 1865, pp. 673, 704, 712). + +_S. Augustine:_ But temporal things are sometimes for our profit, +sometimes for our hurt. For many poverty was good, wealth did them harm. +For many a hidden life was best, high station did them harm. And on the +other hand money was good for some, and dignities, too, were good for +them--good, that is, for those who used them well; but such things did +harm when not taken away from those who used them ill. Consequently, +brethren, let us ask for these temporal things with moderation, being +sure that if we do receive them, He gives them Who knoweth what is best +suited to us. You have asked for something, then, and what you asked for +has not been given you? Believe in your Father Who would give it you if +it were expedient for you (_Sermon_, lxxx. 7). + +_S. Augustine:_ Sometimes God in His wrath grants what you ask; at other +times in His mercy He refuses what you ask. When, then, you ask of Him +things which He praises, which He commands, things which He has promised +us in the next world, then ask in confidence and be instant in prayer as +far as in you lies, that so you may receive what you ask. For such +things as these are granted by the God of mercy; they flow not from His +wrath but from His compassion. But when you ask for temporal things, +then ask with moderation, ask with fear; leave all to Him so that if +they be for your profit He may give them you, if they be to your hurt He +may refuse them. For what is for our good and what is to our hurt the +Physician knoweth, not the patient (_Sermon_, cccliv. 8). + + "Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee; He + shall not suffer the just to waver for ever."[149] + + +VII + +Ought We To Pray for Others? + +S. James, in his Epistle, says[150]: _Pray for one another that ye may +be saved_. + +As we said above, we ought in prayer to ask for those things which we +ought to desire. But we ought to desire good things not for ourselves +only but also for others, for this belongs to that charity which we +ought to exercise towards our neighbour. Hence charity demands that we +pray for others. In accordance with this S. Chrysostom says[151]: +"Necessity compels us to pray for ourselves, fraternal charity urges us +to pray for others. But that prayer is more pleasing before God which +arises not so much from our needs as from the demands of fraternal +charity." + +Some, however, urge that we ought not to pray for others, thus: + +1. We are bound in our prayer to follow the norm which our Lord +delivered to us; but in the _Lord's Prayer_ we pray for ourselves and +not for others, for we say: _Give us this day our daily bread_, etc. + + But S. Cyprian says:[152] "We do not say _my_ Father, but _our_ + Father, neither do we say Give _me_, but give _us_; and this + because the Teacher of Unity did not wish prayer to be made + privately, viz., that each should pray for himself alone; for He + wished one to pray for all since He in His single Person had + borne all." + +2. Again, we pray in order to be heard; but one of the conditions for +our prayer to be heard is that a man should pray for himself. Thus on +the words: _If ye ask the Father anything in My Name He will give it +you_,[153] S. Augustine says:[154] "All are heard for themselves, but +not for all in general, hence He does not say simply: _He will give it_, +but _He will give it you_." + + But to pray for oneself is a condition attaching to prayer; not + indeed a condition affecting its merit, but a condition which is + necessary if we would ensure the attainment of what we ask. For + it sometimes happens that prayer made for another does not avail + even though it be devout and persevering and for things + pertaining to a man's salvation; and this is because of the + existence of some hindrance on the part of him for whom we pray, + as we read in Jeremias[155]: _If Moses and Samuel shall stand + before Me, My soul is not towards this people_. None the less, + such prayer will be meritorious on the part of him who prays, + for he prays out of charity; thus on the words, _And my prayer + shall be turned into my bosom_,[156] the Interlinear Gloss has: + "That is, and even though it avail not for them, yet shall I not + be without my reward." + +3. Lastly, we are forbidden to pray for others if they are wicked, +according to the words: _Do not thou pray for this people ... and do not +withstand Me, for I will not hear thee_.[157] And, on the other hand, we +ought not to pray for them if they are good, for in that case they will +be heard when they pray for themselves. + + But we have to pray even for sinners, that they may be + converted, and for the good, that they may persevere and make + progress. Our prayers for sinners, however, are not heard for + all, but for some. For they are heard for those who are + predestined, not for those who are foreknown as reprobate; just + in the same way as when we correct our brethren, such + corrections avail among the predestinate but not among the + reprobate, according to the words: _No man can correct whom He + hath despised._[158] Wherefore also it is said: _He that knoweth + his brother to sin a sin that is not unto death, let him ask, + and life shall be given to him who sinneth not to death._[159] + But just as we can refuse to no one, as long as he liveth on + this earth, the benefit of correction--for we cannot distinguish + between the predestinate and the reprobate, as S. Augustine + says[160]--so neither can we refuse to anyone the suffrage of + our prayers. + +And for good men we have to pray, and this for a threefold reason: +firstly, because the prayers of many are more easily heard; thus on the +words: _I beseech ye therefore, help me in your prayers for me_,[161] +the Ordinary Gloss of S. Ambrose says: "Well does the Apostle ask his +inferiors to pray for him; for even the very least become great when +many in number, and when gathered together with one mind; and it is +impossible that the prayers of many should not avail" to obtain, that +is, what is obtainable. And secondly, that thanks may be returned by +many for the benefits conferred by God upon the just, for these same +benefits tend to the profit of many--as is evident from the Apostle's +words to the Corinthians.[162] And thirdly, that those who are greater +may not therefore be proud, but may realize that they need the suffrages +of their inferiors. + + "Father, I will that where I am they also whom Thou hast given + Me may be with Me; that they may see My glory, which Thou hast + given Me: because Thou hast loved Me before the foundation of + the world."[163] + + +VIII + +Ought We To Pray for Our Enemies? + +_But I say to you ... pray for them that persecute and calumniate +you._[164] + +To pray for others is a work of charity, as we have said above. Hence we +are bound to pray for our enemies in the same way as we are bound to +love them. We have already explained, in the _Treatise on Charity_, in +what sense we are bound to love our enemies; namely, that we are bound +to love their nature, not their fault; and that to love our enemies in +general is of precept; to love them, however, individually, is not of +precept save in the sense of being prepared to do so; a man, for +instance, is bound to be ready to love an individual enemy and to help +him in case of necessity, or if he comes to seek his pardon. But +absolutely to love our individual enemies, and to assist them, belongs +to perfection. + +In the same way, then, it is necessary that in our general prayers for +others we should not exclude our enemies. But to make special prayer for +them belongs to perfection and is not necessary, save in some particular +cases. + +Some, however, argue that we ought not to pray for our enemies, thus: + +1. It is said in the Epistle to the Romans[165]: _What things soever +were written were written for our learning_. But in Holy Scripture we +find many imprecations against enemies; thus, for instance[166]: _Let +all my enemies be ashamed, let them be turned back and be ashamed very +speedily_. From which it would rather seem that we ought to pray against +our enemies than for them. + + But the imprecations which find place in Holy Scripture can be + understood in four different ways: first of all according as the + Prophets are wont "to predict the future under the figure of + imprecations," as S. Augustine says[167]; secondly, in that + certain temporal evils are sometimes sent by God upon sinners + for their amendment; thirdly, these denunciations may be + understood, not as demanding the punishment of men themselves, + but as directed against the kingdom of sin, in the sense that by + men being corrected sin may be destroyed; fourthly, in that the + Prophets conform their wills to the Divine Justice with regard + to the damnation of sinners who persevere in their sin. + +2. Further, to be revenged upon our enemies means evil for our enemies. +But the Saints seek to be avenged upon their enemies: _How long, O Lord, +dost Thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that dwell on the +earth?_[168] And in accordance with this we find them rejoicing in the +vengeance taken upon sinners: _The just shall rejoice when he shall see +the revenge._[169] It would seem, then, that we ought rather to pray +against our enemies than for them. + + But, on the contrary, as S. Augustine says:[170] "The vengeance + of the martyrs is the overthrow of the empire of sin under whose + dominion they suffered so much"; or, as he says elsewhere[171]: + "They demand vengeance, not by word of mouth, but by very + reason, just as the blood of Abel cried out from the earth." + Moreover, they rejoice in this vengeance, not for its own sake, + but because of the Divine Justice. + +3. Lastly, a man's deeds and his prayers cannot be in opposition. But +men sometimes quite lawfully attack their enemies, else all wars would +be illegal. Hence we ought not to pray for our enemies. + + But it is lawful to assail our enemies that so they may be + hindered from sin; and this is for their good and for that of + others. In the same way, then, it is lawful to pray for temporal + evils for our enemies to the end that they may be corrected. In + this sense our deeds and our prayers are not in opposition. + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ If there were no wicked folk, then for whom could we be +supposed to pray when we are told: _Pray for your enemies_? Perhaps you +would like to have good enemies. Yet how could that be? For unless you +yourself are bad you will not have good people for enemies; and if, on +the contrary, you are good, then no one will be your enemy save the +wicked folk (_Sermon_, xv., _on Ps._ xxv. 8). + + "Have mercy upon us, O God of all, and behold us, and shew us + the light of Thy mercies: And send Thy fear upon the nations, + that have not sought after Thee: that they may know that there + is no God beside Thee, and that they may shew forth Thy wonders. + Lift up Thy hand over the strange nations, that they may see Thy + power."[172] + + +On the Seven Petitions of the _lord's Prayer_. + +The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of all prayers, for, as S. +Augustine says to Proba[173]: "If we pray rightly and fittingly we can +say nothing else but what is set down in the _Lord's Prayer_." And since +prayer is, in a sort, the interpreter of our desires before God, we can +only rightly ask in prayer for those things which we can rightly desire. +But in the _Lord's Prayer_ not only do we have petitions for all those +things which we can rightly desire, but they are set forth in the order +in which they are to be desired. Hence this prayer not only teaches us +how to pray, but serves as the norm of all our dispositions of mind. + +For it is clear that we desire first the end and then the means to the +attainment of that end. But our end is God, towards Whom our desires +tend in two ways: first, in that we desire God's glory; secondly, in +that we desire to enjoy that glory ourselves. The former of these +pertains to that love wherewith we love God in Himself, the latter to +that charity wherewith we love ourselves in God. Hence the first +petition runs: _Hallowed be Thy Name_, wherein we pray for God's glory; +and the second runs: _Thy kingdom come_, wherein we pray that we may +come to the glory of His kingdom. + +But to this said end things lead us in two ways: viz., either +_essentially_ or _accidentally_. Things which are useful for the +attainment of that end _essentially_ lead us to it. But a thing may be +useful as regards that end which is the possession of God in two ways: +namely, _directly and principally_, that is, according to the merits by +which we merit the possession of God by obeying Him; and in accordance +with this runs the petition: _Thy Will be done on earth as it is in +Heaven_; also _instrumentally_ as assisting us to merit, whence the +petition: _Give us this day our daily bread_. And this is true whether +we understand by this "bread" that Sacramental Bread, the daily use of +Which profits man, and in Which are comprised all the other Sacraments; +or whether we understand it of material bread so that "bread" here means +all that is sufficient for the support of life--as S. Augustine explains +it to Proba.[174] For both the Holy Eucharist is the chief of +Sacraments, and bread is the chief of foods, whence in the Gospel of S. +Matthew we have the term "super-substantial" or "special" applied to it, +as S. Jerome explains it.[175] + +And we are lead, as it were, _accidentally_ to the possession of God by +the removal of impediments from our path. Now there are three things +which impede us in our efforts after the possession of God. The first of +these is sin, which directly excludes us from the kingdom: _Neither +fornicators, nor idolaters, ... etc., shall possess the kingdom of +God_;[176] hence the petition: _Forgive us our trespasses_.... And the +second impediment is temptation which hinders us from obeying the Divine +Will; whence the petition: _And lead us not into temptation_; in which +petition we do not pray that we may not be tempted, but that we may not +be overcome by temptation, for this is the meaning of being led into +temptation. And the third hindrance lies in our present penal state +which prevents us from having "the sufficiency of life"; and for this +reason we say: _Deliver us from evil_. + +Some, however, argue that these seven petitions are not very +appropriate, thus: + +1. It seems idle to pray that that may be hallowed which is already +hallowed or holy. But the Name of God is holy: _And holy is His +Name_.[177] Similarly, His kingdom is everlasting: _Thy kingdom_, O +Lord, _is a kingdom of all ages_.[178] God's Will, too, is always +fulfilled: _And all My Will shall be done_.[179] Hence it is idle to +pray that God's Name may be hallowed, that His kingdom may come, and +that His Will may be done. + + But, as S. Augustine says,[180] when we say, _Hallowed be Thy + Name_, we do not make this petition as though God's Name were + not holy, but that It may be held holy by men; in other words, + that God's glory may be propagated amongst men. And when we say, + _Thy kingdom come_, it is not as though we meant that God did + not reign, but, as S. Augustine says to Proba[181]: "We stir up + our desires for that kingdom, that it may come upon us and that + we may reign in it." Lastly, when we say, _Thy Will be done_, + this is rightly understood to mean: May Thy precepts be obeyed + _on earth as in Heaven_--that is, as by Angels, so by men. These + three petitions, then, will receive their perfect fulfilment in + the life to come; but the remaining four, as S. Augustine says, + refer to the necessities of the present life.[182] + +2. But further, to depart from evil must precede the pursuit of what is +good. Hence it hardly seems appropriate to place those petitions which +are concerned with the pursuit of what is good before those which refer +to the departing from evil. + + Yet since prayer is the interpreter of our desires the order of + these petitions does not correspond to the order of attainment + but of desire or intention; in this order, however, the end + precedes the means to the end, the pursuit of good comes before + the departure from evil. + +3. But once more, we ask for something in order that it may be given us. +But the chief gift of God is the Holy Spirit and those things which are +given us through Him. Hence these petitions do not seem to be very +appropriate since they do not correspond to the Gifts of the Holy +Spirit. + + S. Augustine[183], however, adapts these seven petitions to the + Gifts of the Holy Spirit and to the Beatitudes; he says: "If we + have the _fear of God_ by which the poor in spirit are blessed, + we pray that God's Name may be hallowed among men by chaste + fear. If we have _piety_, by which the meek are blessed, we pray + that His kingdom may come, that we may be meek, and that we may + not withstand It. If we have _knowledge_, by which they that + mourn are blessed, we pray that His will may be done, and that + so we may not mourn. If we have _fortitude_, by which they that + hunger are blessed, we pray that our daily bread may be given + us. If we have _counsel_, by which they that are merciful are + blessed, let us forgive our debtors that we ourselves may be + forgiven. If we have _understanding_, by which the clean of + heart are blessed, let us pray that we may not have a double + heart that pursues after temporal things whence temptations come + to us. If we have _wisdom_, whence the peace-makers are + blessed--for they shall be called the sons of God--let us pray + that we may be delivered from evil, for that very deliverance + will make us the free sons of God." + +4. Again, according to S. Luke,[184] there are only five petitions in +the Lord's Prayer. Hence it would seem superfluous to have seven in S. +Matthew. + + But, as S. Augustine says[185]: "S. Luke only includes five + petitions and not seven in the Lord's Prayer, for he shows that + the third petition is, in a sense, only a repetition of the two + preceding ones; by omitting it he makes us see that God's will + is more especially concerned with our knowledge of His sanctity + and with our reigning with Him. But Luke has omitted Matthew's + last petition, _Deliver us from evil_, in order to show us that + we are delivered from evil just precisely as we are not led into + temptation." + +5. And lastly, it seems idle to try to stir up the benevolence of one +who is beforehand with his benevolence. But God does forestall us with +His benevolence, for _He hath first loved us_.[186] Consequently it +seems superfluous to preface our petitions with the words _Our Father +Who art in Heaven_, words which seem intended to stir up God's +benevolence. + + But we must remember that prayer is not directed to God in order + to prevail upon Him, but in order to excite ourselves to + confidence in our petitions. And this confidence is especially + excited in us by consideration of His love towards us whereby He + wishes us well, wherefore we say, _Our Father_; and of His + pre-eminent power whereby He is able to assist us, whence we + say, _Who art in Heaven_. + + * * * * * + +_Cajetan:_ The first three petitions of the _Lord's Prayer_ can also be +referred to that which we principally desire, so that all three regard +mainly that love wherewith we love God in Himself, and secondarily that +love wherewith we love ourselves in God. And the proof of this is that +in each of the first three we have the pronoun _Thine_, but in the last +four the pronoun _our_. Thus the first petition asks for the effective +and enduring praise of God's Name; the second, that He--and not the +devil, nor the world, nor the flesh, nor sin--may reign effectively; the +third, that His Will may be effectively fulfilled. For these things are +not now absolutely so with God, and this by reason of the multitude of +sins, and also because the mode of their present fulfilment is hidden. +And the word _effectively_ is introduced into each clause by reason of +the subjoined qualification _on earth as it is in Heaven_, for this +qualifies each of the foregoing clauses. Hence rightly do our desires +first of all aim at, wish for, and pray that--even as something good for +God Himself--He may be sanctified in His Name; that He may be +permanently uplifted above all things--on earth as in Heaven; that +He--not sin--may reign--on earth as in Heaven; that His Will--none +other--may be done--on earth as in Heaven (_on_ 2. 2. 83. 9). + +_S. Augustine:_ O Eternal Truth, True Love and lovable Eternity! Thou +art my God; for Thee do I sigh night and day! And when I first knew Thee +Thou didst snatch me up so that I saw that That really was Which I saw, +and that I who saw was really not--as yet. And Thou didst beat back my +weak gaze, pouring out Thy light upon me in its intensity; and I +trembled with love and with horror. For I found myself to be far away +from Thee in a land that was unlike Thee; it was as though I heard Thy +Voice from on high, saying: "I am the Food of grown men, grow, and thou +shalt eat Me, but thou shalt not be changed into Me" (_Confessions_, +VII. x. 2). + +_S. Augustine:_ And the faithful are well aware of that Spiritual Food +Which you, too, will soon know and Which you are to receive from God's +altar. It will be your food, nay, your daily food, needful for this +life. For are we not about to receive the Eucharist wherein we come to +Christ Himself, and begin to reign with Him for ever? The Eucharist is +our daily Bread. But let us so receive it as to be thereby refreshed, +not in body merely but in mind. For the power which we know to be +therein is the power of Unity whereby we are brought into union with His +Body and become His members. Let us be What we receive; for then It will +be truly our daily bread. + +Again, what I set before you is your daily bread; and what you hear read +day by day in the church is your daily bread; and the hymns you hear and +which you sing--they are your daily bread. For these things we need for +our pilgrimage. But when we get There are we going to hear a book read? +Nay, we are going to hear the Word Himself; we are going to see the Word +Himself; we are going to eat Him, to drink Him, even as the Angels do +already. Do the Angels need books, or disputations, or readers? Nay, not +so. But by seeing they read, for they see the Truth Itself and are sated +from that Fount whence we receive but the sprinkling of the dew +(_Sermon_, lvii., _on S. Matt._ vi. 7). + +_S. Augustine:_ When ye say _Give us this day our daily bread_, ye +profess yourselves God's beggars. Yet blush not at it! The richest man +on earth is God's beggar. The beggar stands at the rich man's door. But +the rich man in his turn stands at the door of one richer than he. He is +begged from, and he, too, has to beg. If he were not in need he would +not beseech God in prayer. But what can the rich man need? I dare to say +it: he needs even his daily bread! For how is it that he abounds with +all things, save that God gave them to him? And what will they have if +God but withdraw His hand? (_Sermon_, lvi. 9, _on S. Matt._ vi.). + +_S. Augustine:_ Think not that you have no need to say _Forgive us our +trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us_.... He who looks +with pleasure at what he should not--sins. Yet who can control the +glance of the eye? Indeed, some say that the eye is so called from its +swiftness (_oculus a velocitate_). Who can control his eyes or his ears? +You can close your eyes when you like, but how quickly they open again! +You can shut your ears with an effort; put up your hand, and you can +touch them. But if someone holds your hands your ears remain open, and +you cannot then shut out cursing words, impure words, flattering and +deceitful words. When you hear something which you should not--do you +not sin with your ears? What when you hear some evil thing with +pleasure? And the death-dealing tongue! How many sins it commits! +(_Sermon_, lvi. 8). + +_S. Augustine:_ Indeed, our whole righteousness--true righteousness +though it be, by reason of the True Good to Whom it is referred, +consists rather, as long as we are in this life, in the remission of our +sins than in the perfection of our virtues. And the proof of this is the +Prayer of the whole City of God which is in pilgrimage on this earth. +For by all Its members It cries to God: _Forgive us our trespasses as we +forgive them the trespass against us_! And this Prayer is of no avail +for those whose faith is without works--dead; but only for those whose +faith worketh through charity. For though our reason is indeed subject +to God, yet in this our mortal condition, in this corruptible body which +weigheth down the soul, our reason does not perfectly control our vices, +and hence such prayer as this is needful for the righteous (_Of the City +of God_, xix. 27). + + "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may + glorify Thee. As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that + He may give life everlasting to all whom Thou hast given Him. + And this is life everlasting, that they may know Thee, the only + true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent."[187] + + +Rhythm in Honour of the Blessed Sacrament, said to have been composed by +S. Thomas on his Death-Bed.[188] + + Adoro Te devote, latens Deitas, + Quae sub his figuris vere latitas; + Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit, + Quia Te contemplans totum deficit. + + Visus, tactus gustus, in Te fallitur, + Sed auditu solo tuto creditur; + Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius, + Nil hoc verbo veritatis verius. + + In cruce latebat sola Deitas, + At hic latet simul et humanitas; + Ambo tamen credens atque confitens, + Peto quod petivit latro poenitens. + + Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor, + Deum tamen meum Te confiteor; + Fac me Tibi semper magis credere, + In Te spem habere, Te diligere. + + O memoriale mortis Domini, + Panis vivus, vitam praestans homini, + Praesta meae menti de Te vivero, + Et Te illi semper dulce sapere. + + Pie Pellicane Jesu Domine, + Me immundum munda Tuo Sanguine, + Cujus una stilla salvum facere + Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere. + + Jesu Quem velatum nunc aspicio, + Oro fiat illud quod tam sitio, + Ut Te revelata cernens facie, + Visu sim beatus Tuae gloriae! + +(An Indulgence of 100 days for the recitation of this rhythm. _S. Congr. +of Indulgences_, December 20, 1884.) + + +X + +Is Prayer Peculiar to Rational Creatures? + +Prayer is an act of the reason, as we have shown above. And rational +creatures are so termed because of the possession of reason. +Consequently prayer is peculiar to them. + +As we have said above, prayer is an act of the reason by which a person +pleads with his superior, just in the same way as a command is an act of +the reason by which an inferior is directed to do something. Prayer, +then, properly pertains to one who has the use of reason and who also +has a superior with whom he can plead. The Persons of the Trinity have +no superior; the brute animals have no reason. Hence prayer belongs +neither to the Divine Persons nor to the brute creation, but is peculiar +to rational creatures. + +Some, however, argue that prayer cannot be peculiar to rational +creatures, thus: + +1. To ask and to receive belong to the same person. But the Divine +Persons receive: the Son, namely, and the Holy Spirit. Consequently They +can also pray; indeed it is the Son Himself Who says, _I will ask the +Father_,[189] and the Apostle says of the Holy Spirit, _The Spirit +Himself asketh for us_.[190] + + But it belongs to the Divine Persons to receive by Their nature, + whereas to pray belongs to one who receives through grace. The + Son is said to ask or pray according to the nature He took upon + Himself--that is according to His Human, and not according to + His Divine, Nature; the Holy Spirit, too, is said to petition + because He makes us petition. + +2. But further, the Angels are superior to the rational creation since +they are intellectual substances; but it belongs to the Angels to pray, +for it is said in the Psalm[191]: _Adore Him, all ye His Angels_. + + But the intellect and the reason are not different faculties in + us, though they do differ in the sense that one is more perfect + than the other. Consequently the intellectual creation, such as + are the Angels, is sometimes distinguished from the rational + creation, but at other times both are embraced under the one + term "rational." And it is in this latter sense of the term + "rational" that prayer is said to be peculiar to the rational + creation. + +3. Lastly, he prays who calls upon God; for it is chiefly by prayer that +we call upon God. But the brute animals also call upon God, for the +Psalmist says: _Who giveth to beasts their food, and to the young ravens +that call upon Him._[192] + + But the young ravens are said to call upon God by reason of + those natural desires by which all things, each in their own + fashion, desire to obtain the Divine goodness. In the same way + brute animals are said to obey God by reason of the natural + instinct by which they are moved by God. + + "Reward them that patiently wait for Thee, that Thy Prophets may + be found faithful: and hear the prayers of Thy servants. + According to the blessing of Aaron over Thy people, and direct + us into the way of justice, and let all know that dwell upon the + earth, that Thou art God the beholder of all ages."[193] + + +XI + +Do the Saints in Heaven Pray for Us? + +_This is he who prayeth much for the people and for all the holy city, +Jeremias the Prophet of God._[194] + +As S. Jerome says,[195] Vigilantius's error lay in maintaining that +"while we live we can mutually pray for one another; but after we are +dead no one's prayer for another is heard, and this is especially clear +in the case of the Martyrs who were unable to obtain by their prayers +vengeance for their blood." + +But this is altogether false; for since prayer for others springs from +charity, the more perfect the charity of those who are in Heaven the +more they pray for those wayfarers on earth who can be helped by their +prayers. And the more knit they are to God the more efficacious are +their prayers; for the Divine harmony demands that the superabundance of +those who are in the higher position should redound upon those who are +lower, just as the brightness of the sun renders the atmosphere itself +luminous. Whence Christ Himself is said to be _Approaching of Himself to +God to intercede for us_.[196] Whence, too, S. Jerome's reply to +Vigilantius: "If the Apostles and Martyrs, when they were still in the +body, and had still to be solicitous on their own account, prayed for +others, how much more when they have won the crown, when they have +gained the victory and the triumph?" + +Yet some maintain that the Blessed in Heaven do not pray for us, thus: + +1. A man's acts are more meritorious for himself than for another. But +the Saints who are in Heaven neither merit for themselves nor pray for +themselves, for they have already attained the goal of their desires. +Hence neither do they pray for us. + + But the Saints who are in our Fatherland lack no + Blessedness--since they are Blessed--save the glory of the body, + and for this they pray. But they pray for us who still lack the + ultimate perfection of Blessedness; and their prayers are + efficacious by reason of their previous merits and of the Divine + acceptation of their prayers. + +2. But once more: the Saints are perfectly conformed to the Will of God, +and consequently will nothing but what He wills. But what God wills is +always fulfilled. Hence it is idle for the Saints to pray for us. + + But the Saints obtain that which God wills should come about + through the medium of their prayers; and they ask for what they + think is, by God's Will, to be fulfilled through their prayers. + +3. And yet again: just as the Saints in Heaven are superior to us so +also are they who are in Purgatory--for they cannot sin. Those, however, +who are in Purgatory do not pray for us, but rather we for them. It +follows, then, that neither can the Saints in Heaven pray for us. + + But though those who are in Purgatory are superior to us in that + they cannot sin, yet are they our inferiors as regards the + penalties they suffer; hence they are not in a state to pray for + us, but rather we for them. + +4. Once more: if the Saints in Heaven could pray for us it would follow +that the prayers of the holiest Saints would be the most efficacious, +and that consequently we ought not to ask the inferior Saints to pray +for us, but only the greatest ones. + + But God desires inferior things to be helped by all that are + superior, and consequently we have to implore the aid of not + only the chief Saints but also of the lesser; else it would + follow that we ought to implore mercy from God alone. And it may + sometimes happen that the petition made to a lesser Saint is + more efficacious, either because we ask him more devoutly, or + because God wishes thus to show forth his sanctity. + +5. Lastly, Peter's soul is not Peter. Consequently if the souls of the +Saints could pray for us, we ought--as long as their souls are separated +from their bodies--to appeal, not to Peter to help us, but to Peter's +soul; whereas the Church does the contrary. From which it would seem +that the Saints, at all events previous to the Resurrection, do not pray +for us. + + But since the Saints merited when alive that they should pray + for us, we therefore call upon them by the names they bore when + here below, and by which they are best known to us; and we do + this, too, in order to show our faith in the Resurrection, in + accordance with the words _I am the God of Abraham_.[197] + + * * * * * + +_Cajetan:_ The question arises: how could Jeremias, who in the days of +the Maccabees was not yet in our Fatherland but still in the Limbo of +the Fathers, pray for Jerusalem? + +But if we carefully consider what it is at root which makes the prayers +of the Saints in the Fatherland avail for us, we shall find that the +same reason holds for the Saints who were in Limbo as for those who +enjoy the Beatific Vision. For it is their charity in their state of +absolute superiority to us which is the reason for their praying for us. +Hence, in the reply to the third difficulty, those who are in Purgatory +are excluded from the number of those who pray for us because they are +not altogether our superiors, but by reason of their sufferings are +inferior to us, and need our prayers. + +But the Fathers in Limbo were, it is clear, confirmed in charity and +were incapable of sin, neither were they liable to any peculiar or fresh +suffering. For while the pain of loss was common to them and to the +sojourners on earth, the former were free from all pain of sense, hence +they could pray for us. There is, however, this difference to be noted +between them and the Saints in the Fatherland--viz., that whereas the +former had it in common with the latter to pray for those sojourning on +earth, it is given only to the Saints in the Fatherland to see the +prayers of us sojourners addressed to them. Hence Jeremias is here said +to pray, he is not said to have heard their prayers or supplications +(_on_ 2. 2. 83. 11). + + +XII + +Should Prayer be Vocal? + +_I cried to the Lord with my voice, with my voice I made supplication to +the Lord._[198] + +Prayer is of two kinds: public and private. _Public_ or common prayer is +that which is offered to God by the Church's ministers in the person of +the whole body of the faithful. And it is necessary that such prayer +should be known to the body of the faithful for whom it is offered; +this, however, could not be unless it were vocal; consequently it is +reasonably enacted that the Church's ministers should pronounce such +prayers in a loud voice so as to reach the ears of all. + +_Private_ prayer, on the contrary, is that which is offered by private +individuals, whether for themselves or for others; and its nature does +not demand that it should be vocal. At the same time, we can use our +voices in this kind of prayer, and this for three reasons: Firstly, in +order to excite interior devotion whereby our minds may, when we pray, +be lifted up to God; for men's minds are moved by external +signs--whether words or acts--to understand, and, by consequence, also +to feel. Wherefore S. Augustine says to Proba[199]: "By words and other +signs we vehemently stir ourselves up so as to increase our holy +desires." Hence in private prayer we must make such use of words and +other signs as shall avail to rouse our minds interiorly. But if, on the +other hand, such things only serve to distract the mind, or prove in any +way a hindrance, then we must cease from them; this is especially the +case with those whose minds are sufficiently prepared for devotion +without such incentives. Thus the Psalmist says: _My heart hath said to +Thee, My face hath sought Thee[200];_ and of Anna we are told that _she +spoke within her heart_.[201] + +And secondly, we make use of vocal prayer in payment, as it were, of a +just debt--in order, that is, to serve God with the entirety of what we +have received from Him; consequently not with our mind alone but with +our body as well; and this, as the Prophet Osee says, is especially +suitable to prayer considered as a satisfaction for our sins: _Take away +all iniquity and receive the good, and we will render the calves of our +lips_.[202] + +And thirdly, we sometimes make use of vocal prayer because the soul +overflows, as it were, on to the body by reason of the vehemence of our +feelings, as it is written: _My heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath +rejoiced_.[203] + +But it seems to some that prayer should not be vocal, thus: + +1. Prayer is, as we have said, principally directed to God, and God +knows the heart's speech. Consequently to add vocal prayer is idle. + + But vocal prayer is not employed in order to manifest to God + something which He did not know, but to stir up the mind of him + who prays, and of others, too, towards God. + +2. Again, man's mind is meant to rise by prayer towards God; but words, +and other things pertaining to the senses, keep back a man from the +ascent of contemplation. + + Words appertaining to other things than God do indeed distract + the mind and hinder the devotion of him who prays; but + devotional words stir up the mind, especially if it be less + devout. + +3. Lastly, prayer ought to be offered to God in secret, according to the +words: _But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and +having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret_;[204] whereas to +pray vocally means to publish it abroad. + + But, as S. Chrysostom says[205]: "The Lord forbade us to pray in + public with a view to being seen by the public. Consequently, + when we pray we should do nothing novel to attract men's + attention, whether by uttering cries which may be heard by them, + or by openly beating our breasts, or by spreading out our hands, + for the crowd to see us." While, on the other hand, as S. + Augustine remarks[206]: "To be seen by men is not wrong, but to + do things to be seen by men." + + * * * * * + +_Cajetan:_ Note carefully, ye who murmur at the Church's services, these +three points: the different kinds of vocal prayer, its necessity, and +the conditions attaching to it. For vocal prayer is divided into that +which is in common and that which is private or individual. + +The general necessity of vocal prayer arises from the fact that it is +offered in the person of the Church. For since the Church is composed of +created beings dependent on the senses, prayer made through the medium +of the senses--_i.e._, vocal prayer--must needs be offered by its +ministers; else we should not know whether the worship of prayer was +being offered by God's ministers, nor should we be conscious of the gift +to God which was being offered by them in prayer; for the Church only +judges from the things that appear externally. + +Our individual need of vocal prayer arises from the necessity of +stirring up our own devotion, and preserving it. + +The conditions of prayer in common are twofold: it must be vocal, and it +must be out loud. Hence those who say private Masses in such a low +tone--and that consciously--as to be unintelligible to their hearers, +appear to act unreasonably and are inexcusable, unless it should happen +by accident that no one is present; in this case it is sufficient if +they can be heard by the server who is close at hand. This will also +show us what use we are to make of chant, or of recitation without +chant, in prayer in common: it must be governed by our common devotion. +And in whatever fashion such prayer may be made this rule must always be +observed: it must be said so intelligibly that the meaning of the words +may be distinctly perceived both by the reciters and by others, that so +the Church's devotion may be aroused. + +And reason tells us what conditions attach to our private prayer: viz., +our own private devotion. This shews, too, the error of those who, in +order to complete the tale of a large number of private vocal prayers +each day, lay aside meditation and mental prayer. They neglect the end +for the means (_on_ 2. 2. 83. 12). + +_S. Augustine:_ Oh! How I lifted up my voice to Thee, O Lord, when I +sang the Psalms of David, those songs full of faith, those strains full +of piety which soothed my swelling spirit! And I was then but +uninstructed in Thy true love; a catechumen spending my leisure with +Alypius, another catechumen. And my mother stayed with us: clad indeed +in woman's garb, but with a man's faith, with a matron's calm, with a +mother's love, with a Christian's piety. Oh! How I lifted up my voice in +those Psalms! How they inflamed my heart! How I yearned to recite them, +if I could, to the whole world--as an answer to the pride of the human +race! Though, indeed, they are sung throughout the world, and none can +hide himself from Thy heat! (_Confess._, IX. iv. 8). + +_S. Augustine:_ Sometimes, indeed, through immoderate fear of this +mistake I err by excessive severity; nay, sometimes, though it is but +rarely, I could almost wish to shut out from my ears and even from the +Church itself all those sweet-sounding melodies used in the +accompaniment of David's Psalms. Sometimes it seems to me as though it +would be safer to do as I have often heard that Athanasius, the Bishop +of Alexandria, did, for he made the reader of the Psalms so modulate his +voice that he came to be rather speaking than singing. Yet, on the other +hand, when I remember the tears which I shed when I heard the Church's +chant in the early days of my regaining the faith, and when I notice +that even now I am stirred--not so much by the chant as by the things +that are chanted--when, that is, they are chanted with clear intonation +and suitable modulation, then once more I recognize the great value of +this appointed fashion (_Confess._, X. xxxiii. 50). + +_S. Augustine: I have cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord!_[207] +Who can question but that when men pray their cry to the Lord is vain if +it be nought but the sound of the corporeal voice and their heart be not +intent upon God? But if their prayer come from the heart, then, even +though the voice of the body be silent, it may be hidden from all men, +yet not from God. Whether, then, we pray to God with our voice--at times +when such prayer is necessary--or whether we pray in silence, it is our +heart that must send forth the cry. But the heart's cry is the earnest +application of our minds. And when this accompanies our prayer it +expresses the deep affections of him who yearns and asks and so despairs +not of his request. And further, a man cries _with his whole heart_ when +he has no other thought. Such prayers with many are rare; with few are +they frequent; I know not whether anyone's prayers are always so +(_Enarr. in Ps._ cxviii., _Sermon_, xxix. 1). + + "Incline Thy ear, O Lord, and hear me; for I am needy and poor. + Preserve my soul, for I am holy: save Thy servant, O my God, + that trusteth in Thee. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have + cried to Thee all the day. Give joy to the soul of Thy servant, + for to Thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul. For Thou, O Lord, + art sweet and mild; and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon + Thee."[208] + + +XIII + +Must Prayer necessarily be Attentive? + +That even holy men sometimes suffer distraction of mind when at prayer +is clear from the words: _My heart hath forsaken me!_[209] + +This question particularly concerns vocal prayer. And for its solution +we must know that a thing is said to be necessary in two senses: +firstly, in the sense that by it a certain end is _more readily_ +attained, and in this sense attention is absolutely requisite in prayer. +But a thing is said to be necessary also because without it a certain +thing cannot attain its object _at all_. Now the effect or object of +prayer is threefold. Its first effect--an effect, indeed, which is +common to all acts springing from charity--is _merit_; but to secure +this effect it is not necessarily required that attention should be kept +up throughout the prayer, but the initial intention with which a man +comes to prayer renders the whole prayer meritorious, as, indeed, is the +case in all other meritorious acts. + +The second effect of prayer is peculiar to it, and that is to _obtain +favours_; and for this, too, the primary intention suffices, and to it +God principally looks. But if the primary intention is wanting, prayer +is not meritorious, neither can it win favours; for, as S. Gregory says, +God hears not the prayer of a man who when he prays does not give heed +to God.[210] + +The third effect of prayer is that which it immediately and actually +brings about, namely, the _spiritual refreshment of the soul_; and to +attain this end attention is necessarily required in prayer. Whence it +is said, _If I pray in a tongue my understanding is without fruit_.[211] + +At the same time, we must remember that there is a threefold species of +attention which may find place in our vocal prayer: one by which a man +attends to the words he recites, and is careful to make no mistake in +them; another by which he attends to the meaning of the words; and a +third by which he attends to the end of all prayer--namely, God +Himself--and to the object for which he is praying. And this species of +attention is the most necessary of all, and one which even uninstructed +folk can have; sometimes, indeed, the intensity with which the mind is +borne towards God is, as says Hugh of S. Victor, so overwhelming that +the mind is oblivious of all else.[212] + +Some, however, argue that prayer must of necessity be attentive, thus: + +1. It is said in S. John's Gospel[213]: _God is a spirit, and they that +adore Him must adore Him in spirit and truth_. But inattentive prayer is +not _in spirit_. + + But he prays _in spirit and in truth_ who comes to pray moved by + the impulse of the Spirit, even though, owing to human + infirmity, his mind afterwards wanders. + +2. But again, prayer is "the ascent of the mind towards God." But when +prayer is inattentive the mind does not ascend towards God. + + But the human mind cannot, owing to Nature's weakness, long + remain on high, for the soul is dragged down to lower things by + the weight of human infirmity; and hence it happens that when + the mind of one who prays ascends towards God in contemplation + it suddenly wanders away from Him owing to his infirmity. + +3. Lastly, prayer must needs be without sin. But not without sin does a +man suffer distraction of mind when he prays, for he seems to mock God, +just as if one were to speak with his fellow-man and not attend to what +he said. Consequently S. Basil says[214]: "The Divine assistance is to +be implored, not remissly, nor with a mind that wanders here and there; +for such a one not only will not obtain what he asks, but will rather be +mocking God." + + Of course, if a man purposely allowed his mind to wander in + prayer, he would commit a sin and hinder the fruit of his + prayer. Against such S. Augustine says in his _Rule_[215]: "When + you pray to God in Psalms and hymns, entertain your heart with + what your lips are reciting." But that distraction of mind which + is unintentional does not destroy the fruit of prayer. + + Hence S. Basil also says: "But if through the weakness of sinful + nature you cannot pray with attention, restrain your imagination + as far as you can, and God will pardon you, inasmuch as it is + not from negligence but from weakness that you are unable to + occupy yourself with Him as you should." + + * * * * * + +_Cajetan:_ Does a man satisfy the precept of the Church if, being bound +to the recitation of the Divine Office, he sets out with the intention +of meditating upon the Divine Goodness or upon the Passion of Christ, +and thus keeping his mind firmly fixed upon God? Clearly a man who +strives to keep his mind occupied during the whole of the Divine Office +with contemplation of and devout affections towards God and Divine +things fully satisfies his obligation. So, too, a man who aims at +meditation on the Passion of Christ and devout affections on it during +the whole Office, undoubtedly satisfies his obligation, for he is making +use of a better means for keeping in touch with the Divinity than if he +merely dwelt upon the meaning of the words. At the same time, he must be +ready to lay this aside if in the course of the Office he finds himself +uplifted to Divine things, for at this he must primarily aim. One who so +prays, then, must make the Passion of Christ a means and not an end; he +must, that is, be prepared to ascend thereby, if God grants it, to +Divine things. In short, we may make use of any one of the species of +attention enumerated above provided we do not exclude the higher forms. +Thus, for example, if a man feels that it is more suited to his small +capacity to aim simply at making no mistakes, and habitually makes use +of this form of attention, he must still use it as a means only; he +must, that is, be at God's disposition, for God may have mercy upon him +and grant him, by reason of his dispositions, some better form of +attention. + +Again, when a person prays for things needful for his support in life he +must not be so occupied with the thought of these things as to appear to +subordinate Divine things to human, as though prayer was but a means and +his daily living the end. We must bear in mind the doctrine laid down +above[216]--viz., that _all our prayers should tend to the attainment of +grace and glory_. We must occupy ourselves with the thought of eternal +glory, or of the glory of the adoption of sons during this life, or with +the virtues as means to arriving at our eternal home, and as the +adornment of the inhabitants of heaven, and the commencement here of +heavenly "conversation"; such things as these must be counted as the +highest forms of attention (_on_ 2. 2. 83. 13). + +_S. Augustine: Give joy to the soul of Thy servant, for to Thee, O Lord, +I have lifted up my soul. For Thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild._[217] It +seems to me that he calls God "mild" because He endures all our +vagaries, and only awaits our prayers that He may perfect us. And when +we offer Him our prayers He accepts them gratefully and hears them. +Neither does He reflect on the careless way in which we pour them out, +He even accepts prayers of which we are hardly conscious! For, Brethren, +what man is there who would put up with it if a friend of his began a +conversation with him, and yet, just when he was ready to reply to what +his friend said, should discover that he was paying no attention to him +but was saying something to someone else? Or supposing you were to +appeal to a judge and were to appoint a place for him to hear your +appeal, and then suddenly, while you were talking with him, were to put +him aside and begin to gossip with a friend! How long would he put up +with you? And yet God puts up with the hearts of so many who pray to Him +and who yet are thinking of other things, even evil things, even wicked +things, things hateful to God; for even to think of unnecessary things +is an insult to Him with Whom you have begun to talk. For your prayer is +a conversation with God. When you read, God speaks to you; when you +pray, you speak to God.... And you may picture God saying to you: "You +forget how often you have stood before Me and have thought of such idle +and superfluous things and have so rarely poured out to Me an attentive +and definite prayer!" But _Thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild_! Thou art +sweet, bearing with me! It is from weakness that I slip away! Heal me +and I shall stand; strengthen me and I shall be firm! But until Thou +dost so, bear with me, for _Thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild_ (_Enarr. +in Ps._ lxxxv. 7). + +_S. Augustine: Praise the Lord, O my soul!_[218] What mean these words, +Brethren? Do we not praise the Lord? Do we not sing hymns day by day? Do +not our mouths, each according to their measure, sound forth day by day +the praises of God? And what is it we praise? It is a great Thing that +we praise, but that wherewith we praise is weak as yet. When does the +singer fill up the praises of Him Whom he sings? A man stands and sings +before God, often for a long space; but oftentimes, whilst his lips move +to frame the words of his song, his thoughts fly away to I know not what +desires! And so, too, our mind has sometimes been fixed on praising God +in a definite manner, but our soul has flitted away, led hither and +thither by divers desires and anxious cares. And then our mind, as +though from up above, has looked down upon the soul as it flitted to and +fro, and has seemed to turn to it and address its uneasy +wanderings--saying to it: _Praise the Lord, O my soul!_ Why art thou +anxious about other things than Him? Why busy thyself with the mortal +things of earth? And then our soul, as though weighed down and unable to +stand firm as it should, replies to our mind: _I will praise the Lord in +my life!_ Why does it say _in my life_? Why? Because now I am in my +death! + +Rouse yourself, then, and say: _Praise the Lord, O my soul!_ And your +soul will reply to you: "I praise Him as much as I can, though it is but +weakly, in small measure, and with little strength." But why so? Because +_while we are in the body we are absent from the Lord_.[219] And why do +you thus praise the Lord so imperfectly and with so little fixity of +attention? Ask Holy Scripture: _The corruptible body weigheth down the +soul, and the earthly_ _habitation presseth down the mind that museth +upon many things._[220] O take away, then, my body which weigheth down +the soul, and then will I praise the Lord! Take away my earthly +habitation which presseth down the mind that museth upon many things, so +that, instead of many things I may be occupied with One Thing alone, and +may praise the Lord! But as long as I am as I am, I cannot, for I am +weighed down! What then? Wilt thou be silent? Wilt thou never perfectly +praise the Lord? _I will praise the Lord in my life!_ (_Enarr in Ps._ +cxlv. 1). + + "My spirit is in anguish within me; my heart within me is + troubled. I remembered the days of old, I meditated on all Thy + works; I meditated upon the works of Thy hands. I stretched + forth my hands to Thee; my soul is as earth without water unto + Thee. Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit hath fainted + away."[221] + +_S. Thomas:_ The fruits of prayer are twofold. For first there is the +merit which thereby accrues to a man; and, secondly, there is the +spiritual consolation and devotion which is begotten of prayer. And he +who does not attend to, or does not understand his prayer, loses that +fruit which is spiritual consolation; but we cannot say that he loses +that fruit which is merit, for then we should have to say that very many +prayers were without merit since a man can hardly say the _Lord's +Prayer_ without some distraction of mind. Hence we must rather say that +when a person is praying and is sometimes distracted from what he is +saying, or--more generally--when a person is occupied with some +meritorious work and does not continuously and at every moment reflect +that he is doing it for God, his work does not cease to be meritorious. +And the reason is that in meritorious acts directed to a right end it is +not requisite that our intention should be referred to that end at every +moment, but the influence of the intention with which we begun persists +throughout even though we now and again be distracted in some particular +point; and the influence of this initial intention renders the whole +body of what we do meritorious unless it be broken off by reason of some +contrary affection intruding itself and diverting us from the end we had +first in view to some other end contrary to it. + +And it must be remembered that there are three kinds of attention. The +first is attention to the words we are actually saying; and sometimes +this is harmful, for it may hinder devotion. The second is attention to +the meaning of the words, and this, too, may be harmful, though not +gravely so. The third is attention to the goal of our prayer, and this +better and almost necessary (_Commentary on 1 Cor._ xiv. 14). + + +XIV + +Should our Prayers be Long? + +It would seem that we ought to pray continuously, for our Lord said: _We +ought always to pray and not to faint[222];_ so also S. Paul: _Pray +without ceasing_.[223] + +But we must notice that when we speak of prayer we can mean either +prayer _considered in itself_ or the _cause of prayer_. Now the _cause +of prayer_ is the desire of the love of God; and all prayer ought to +spring from this desire which is, indeed, continuous in us, whether +actually or virtually, since this desire virtually remains in everything +which we do from charity. But we ought to do all things for the glory of +God: _whether you eat or whether you drink, or whatsoever else you do, +do all to the glory of God_.[224] In this sense, then, prayer ought to +be continual. Hence S. Augustine says to Proba: "Therefore by our faith, +by our hope, and by our charity, we are always praying, for our desire +is continued." + +But _prayer considered in itself_ cannot be so continuous; for we must +needs be occupied with other things. Hence S. Augustine says in the same +place: "At certain intervals, at divers hours and times, we pray to God +in words so that by these outward signs of things we may admonish +ourselves, and may learn what progress we have made in this same desire, +and may stir ourselves up to increase it." + +But the quantity of a thing has to be determined by its purpose, just as +a draught has to be proportioned to the health of the man who takes it. +Consequently it is fitting that prayer should only last so long as it +avails to stir up in us this fervour of interior desire. And when it +exceeds this measure, and its prolongation only results in weariness, it +must not be prolonged further. Hence S. Augustine also says to Proba: +"The Brethren in Egypt are said to have had frequent prayers; but they +were exceedingly brief, hardly more than eager ejaculations; and they +adopted this method lest, if they prolonged their prayer, that vigilant +attention which is requisite for prayer should lose its keen edge and +become dulled. And thus they clearly show that this same attention, just +as it is not to be forced if it fails to last, so neither is it to be +quickly broken off if it does last." + +And just as we have to pay attention to this in our private prayers, and +have to be guided by our powers of attention, so must we observe the +same principles in public prayer where we have to be governed by the +people's devotion. + +Some, however, argue that our prayers ought not to be continual, thus: + +1. Our Lord said[225]: _And when you are praying speak not much_. But it +is not easy to see how a man can pray long without "speaking much"; more +especially if it is a question of vocal prayer. + + But S. Augustine says to Proba: "To prolong our prayer does not + involve 'much-speaking.' 'Much-speaking' is one thing; the + unceasing desire of the heart is another. Indeed we are told of + the Lord Himself that _He passed the whole night in the prayer + of God_[226]; and, again, that _being in an agony He prayed the + longer_,[227] and this that He might afford us an example." And + Augustine adds a little later: "Much speaking in prayer is to be + avoided, but not much petition, if fervent attention lasts. For + 'much-speaking' in prayer means the use of superfluous words + when we pray for something necessary; but much petition means + that with unceasing and devout stirrings of the heart we knock + at His door to Whom we pray; and this is often a matter rather + of groans than of words, of weeping than of speaking." + +2. Further, prayer is but the unfolding of our desires. But our desires +are holy in proportion as they are confined to one thing, in accordance +with those words of the Psalmist[228]: _One thing I have asked of the +Lord, this will I seek after._ Whence it would seem to follow that our +prayers are acceptable to God just in proportion to their brevity. + + But to prolong our prayer does not mean that we ask for many + things, but that our hearts are continuously set upon one object + for which we yearn. + +3. Once more, it is unlawful for a man to transgress the limits which +God Himself has fixed, especially in matters which touch the Divine +worship, according to the words: _Charge the people lest they should +have a mind to pass the limits to see the Lord, and a very great +multitude of them should perish_.[229] But God Himself has assigned +limits to our prayer by instituting the _Lord's Prayer_, as is evident +from the words: _Thus shalt thou pray_.[230] Hence we ought not to +extend our prayer beyond these limits. + + But our Lord did not institute this prayer with a view to tying + us down exclusively to these words when we pray, but to show us + that the scope of our prayer should be limited to asking only + for the things contained in it, whatever form of words we may + use or whatever may be our thoughts. + +4. And lastly, with regard to the words of our Lord _that we ought +always to pray and not to faint_,[231] and those of S. Paul, _Pray +without ceasing_,[232] we must remark that a man prays without ceasing, +either because of the unceasing nature of his desire, as we have above +explained; or because he does not fail to pray at the appointed times; +or because of the effect which his prayer has, whether upon +himself--since even when he has finished praying he still remains +devout--or upon others, as, for instance, when a man by some kind action +induces another to pray for him whereas he himself desists from his +prayer. + + "Our soul waiteth for the Lord; for He is our helper and + protector. For in Him our hearts shall rejoice; and in His Holy + Name we have trusted. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we + have hoped in Thee."[233] + + +XV + +Is Prayer Meritorious? + +On the words of the Psalmist, _My prayer shall be turned into my +bosom_,[234] the interlinear Gloss has: "And if it is of no profit to +them (for whom it is offered), at least I myself shall not lose my +reward." A reward, however, can only be due to merit. Prayer, then, is +meritorious. + + * * * * * + +As we have said above, prayer has, besides the effect of spiritual +consolation which it brings with it, a twofold power regarding the +future: the power, namely, of meriting, and that of winning favours. But +prayer, as indeed every other virtuous act, derives its power of +meriting from that root which is charity, and the true and proper object +of charity is that Eternal Good, the enjoyment of Which we merit. Now +prayer proceeds from charity by means of the virtue of religion whose +proper act is prayer; there accompany it, however, certain other virtues +which are requisite for a good prayer--namely, faith and humility. For +it belongs to the virtue of religion to offer our prayers to God; while +to charity belongs the desire of that the attainment of which we seek in +prayer. And faith is necessary as regards God to Whom we pray; for we +must, of course, believe that from Him we can obtain what we ask. +Humility, too, is called for on the part of the petitioner, for he must +acknowledge his own needs. And devotion also is necessary; though this +comes under religion of which it is the first act, it conditions all +subsequent effects. + +And its power of obtaining favours prayer owes to the grace of God to +Whom we pray, and Who, indeed, induces us to pray. Hence S. Augustine +says[235]: "He would not urge us to ask unless He were ready to give"; +and S. Chrysostom says: "He never refuses His mercies to them who pray, +since it is He Who in His loving-kindness stirs them up so that they +weary not in prayer." + + * * * * * + +But some say that prayer cannot be meritorious, thus: + +1. Merit proceeds from grace, but prayer precedes grace, since it is +precisely by prayer that we win grace: _Your Father from Heaven will +give the Good Spirit to them that ask Him_.[236] + + But prayer, like any other virtuous act, cannot be meritorious + without that grace which makes us pleasing to God. Yet even that + prayer which wins for us the grace which renders us pleasing to + God must proceed from some grace--that is, from some gratuitous + gift; for, as S. Augustine says, to pray at all is a gift of + God.[237] + +2. Again, prayer cannot be meritorious, for if it were so it would seem +natural that prayer should especially merit that for which we actually +pray. Yet this is not always the case, for even the prayers of the +Saints are often not heard; S. Paul, for example, was not heard when he +prayed that the sting of the flesh might be taken away from him.[238] + + But we must notice that the merit of our prayers sometimes lies + in something quite different from what we beg for. For whereas + merit is to be especially referred to the possession of God, our + petitions in our prayers at times refer directly to other + things, as we have pointed out above. Consequently, if what a + man asks for will not tend to his ultimate attainment of God, he + does not merit it by his prayer; sometimes, indeed, by asking + and desiring such a thing he may lose all merit, as, for + example, if a man were to ask of God something which was sinful + and which he could not reverently ask for. Sometimes, however, + what he asks for is not necessary for his salvation, nor yet is + it clearly opposed to his salvation; and when a man so prays he + may by his prayer merit eternal life, but he does not merit to + obtain what he actually asks for. Hence S. Augustine says[239]: + "He who asks of God in faith things needful for this life is + sometimes mercifully heard and sometimes mercifully not heard. + For the physician knows better than the patient what will avail + for the sick man." It was for this reason that Paul was not + heard when he asked that the sting of the flesh might be taken + away--it was not expedient. But if what a man asks for will help + him to the attainment of God, as being something conducive to + his salvation, he will merit it, and that not only by praying + for it but also by doing other good works; hence, too, he + undoubtedly will obtain what he asks for, but when it is fitting + that he should obtain it: "for some things are not refused to us + but are deferred, to be given at a fitting time," as S. + Augustine says.[240] Yet even here hindrance may arise if a man + does not persevere in asking; hence S. Basil says[241]: "When + then you ask and do not receive, this is either because you + asked for what you ought not, or because you asked without + lively faith, or carelessly, or for what would not profit you, + or because you ceased to ask." And since a man cannot, + absolutely speaking, merit eternal life for another, nor, in + consequence, those things which belong to eternal life, it + follows that a man is not always heard when he prays for + another. For a man, then, always to obtain what he asks, four + conditions must concur: he must ask for himself, for things + necessary for salvation; he must ask piously and perseveringly. + +3. Lastly, prayer essentially reposes upon faith, as S. James says: _But +let him ask in faith, nothing wavering_.[242] But faith is not +sufficient for merit, as is evident in the case of those who have faith +without charity. Therefore prayer is not meritorious. + + But while it is true that prayer rests principally upon faith, + this is not for its power of meriting--for as regards this it + rests principally on charity--but for its power of winning + favours; for through faith man knows of the Divine Omnipotence + and Mercy whence prayer obtains what it asks. + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ Men, then, love different things, and when each one +seemeth to have what he loves, he is called happy. But a man is truly +happy, not if he has what he loves, but if he loves what ought to be +loved. For many become more wretched through having what they love than +they were when they lacked it. Miserable enough through loving harmful +things, more miserable through having them. And our Merciful God, when +we love amiss, denies us what we love; but sometimes in His anger He +grants a man what he loves amiss!... But when we love what God wishes us +to love, then, doubtless, He will give it us. This is That One Thing +Which ought to be loved: that we may dwell in the House of the Lord all +the days of our life! (_Enarr. in Ps._ xxvi.). + +_S. Augustine:_ In those tribulations, then, which can both profit us +and harm us, we know not what we should pray for as we ought. Yet none +the less since they are hard, since they are vexatious, since, too, they +are opposed to our sense of our own weakness, mankind with one consent +prays that they may be removed from us. But we owe this much devotion to +the Lord our God that, if He refuses to remove them, we should not +therefore fancy that we are neglected by Him, but, while bearing these +woes with devout patience, we should hope for some greater good, for +thus is power perfected in infirmity. Yet to some in their impatience +the Lord God grants in anger what they ask, just as in His mercy He +refused it to the Apostle (_Ep._ cxxx. _ad Probam_). + + "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication; give ear to my + tears. Be not silent: for I am a stranger with Thee, and a + sojourner as all my fathers were. O forgive me, that I may be + refreshed; before I go hence, and be no more."[243] + + +XVI + +Do Sinners gain Anything From God by their Prayers? + +S. Augustine says[244]: "If God did not hear sinners, in vain would the +publican have said, _God be merciful to me a sinner_"; and S. Chrysostom +says[245]: "_Every one that asketh receiveth_--that is, whether he be +just man or sinner." Hence the prayers of sinners do win something from +God. + +In a sinner we have to consider two things: his nature, which God loves; +his fault, which God hates. If, then, a sinner asks something of God +formally as a sinner--that is, according to his sinful desires--God, out +of His mercy, does not hear him, though sometimes He does hear him in +His vengeance, as when He permits a sinner to fall still farther into +sin. For God "in mercy refuses some things which in anger He concedes," +as S. Augustine says.[246] But that prayer of a sinner which proceeds +from the good desire of his nature God hears, not, indeed, as bound in +justice to do so, for that the sinner cannot merit, but out of His pure +mercy, and on condition, too, that the four above-mentioned conditions +are observed--namely, that he prays for himself, for things needful for +his salvation, that he prays devoutly and perseveringly. + +Some, however, maintain that sinners do not by their prayers win +anything from God, thus: + +1. It is said in the Gospel,[247] _Now we know that God doth not hear +sinners_; and this accords with those words of _Proverbs[248]; He that +turneth away his ears from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an +abomination_. But a prayer which is "an abomination" cannot win anything +from God. + + But, as S. Augustine remarks,[249] the words first quoted are + due to the blind man as yet unanointed--viz., not yet perfectly + illumined--and hence they are not valid; though they might be + true if understood of a sinner precisely as such, and in this + sense, too, his prayer is said to be "an abomination." + +2. Again, just men obtain from God what they merit, as we have said +above. Sinners, however, can merit nothing, since they are without +grace, and even without charity which, according to the Gloss[250] on +the words, _Having an appearance of piety, but denying the power +thereof_, is "the _power_ of piety." And hence they cannot pray piously, +which, as we have said above, is requisite if prayer is to gain what it +asks for. + + But though a sinner cannot pray piously in the sense that his + prayer springs from the habit of virtue, yet his prayer can be + pious in the sense that he asks for something conducive to + piety, just as a man who has not got the habit of justice can + yet wish for some just thing, as we have pointed out above. And + though such a man's prayer is not meritorious, it may yet have + the power of winning favours; for while merit reposes upon + justice, the power of winning favours reposes upon grace. + +3. Lastly, S. Chrysostom says[251]: "The Father does not readily hear +prayers not dictated by the Son." But in the prayer which Christ +dictated it is said: _Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our +debtors_, which sinners do not. Hence sinners either lie when they say +this prayer, and so do not deserve to be heard, or, if they do not say +it, then they are not heard because they do not make use of the form of +prayer instituted by Christ. + + But, as we have explained above, the _Lord's Prayer_ is spoken + in the name of the whole Church. Consequently, if a man--while + unwilling to forgive his neighbour his debts--yet says this + prayer, he does not lie; for while what he says is not true as + regards himself, it yet remains true as regards the Person of + the Church outside of which he deservedly is, and he loses, in + consequence, the fruit of his prayer. Sometimes, however, + sinners are ready to forgive their debtors, and consequently + their prayers are heard, in accordance with those words of + Ecclesiasticus[252]: _Forgive thy neighbour if he hath hurt + thee, and then shall thy sins be forgiven to thee when thou + prayest._ + + "With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed, and he + shall like well his way. When he shall fall, he shall not be + bruised, for the Lord putteth His hand under him. I have been + young, and now am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, + nor his seed seeking bread."[253] + + +XVII + +Can We rightly term Supplications," "Prayers," "Intercessions," and +"Thanksgivings," parts of Prayer? + +The Apostle says to Timothy[254]: _I desire therefore first of all that +supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made by all +men._ + +For prayer three things are required: first of all, that he who prays +come nigh to God; and this is signified by the name _prayer_, for prayer +is "the uplifting of the mind towards God." Secondly, petition is +required, and is signified by the word _postulation_; now a petition may +be set forth in definite terms--and this some term _postulation_, +properly so called; or it may be set forth in no express terms, as when +a man asks for God's help, and this some call _supplication_; or, again, +the fact in question may be simply narrated, as in S. John[255]: _He +whom Thou lovest is sick_, and this some call _insinuation_. And +thirdly, there is required a reason for asking for what we pray for, and +this reason may be either on the part of God or on the part of the +petitioner. The reason for asking on the part of God is His holiness, by +reason of which we ask to be heard: _Incline Thine ear and hear ... for +Thine own sake, O my God_;[256] to this belongs _obsecration_--namely, +an appeal to sacred things, as when we say: _By Thy Nativity, deliver +us, O Lord_! But the reason for asking on the part of the petitioner is +thankfulness, for by giving thanks for benefits already received we +merit to receive still greater ones, as is set forth in the Church's +_Collect_.[257] Hence the Gloss[258] says that in the Mass +"_Obsecrations_ are the prayers which precede the Consecration," for in +them we commemorate certain sacred things; "in the Consecration itself +we have _prayers_," for then the mind is especially uplifted towards +God; "but in the subsequent petitions we have _postulations_, and at the +close _thanksgivings_." These four parts of prayer may be noticed in +many of the Church's _Collects_: thus in the _Collect_ for Trinity +Sunday, the words _Almighty and Everlasting God_ signify the uplifting +of the soul in prayer to God; the words: _Who hast granted to Thy +servants to acknowledge in their profession of the true faith the glory +of the Eternal Trinity, and in the Power of Its Majesty to adore Its +Unity_, signify giving of thanks; the words: _Grant, we beseech Thee, +that by perseverance in this same faith we may be ever defended from all +adversities_, signify postulation; while the closing words: _Through our +Lord Jesus Christ_, etc., signify obsecration. + +In the _Conferences of the Fathers_, however,[259] we read: +"_Obsecration_ is imploring pardon for sin; _prayer_ is when we make +vows to God; _postulation_ is when we make petition for others; _giving +of thanks_, those ineffable outpourings by which the mind renders thanks +to God." But the former explanation is preferable. + +Some, however, object to these divisions of prayer, thus: + +1. _Obsecration_ is apparently _to swear by someone_, whereas Origen +remarks[260]: "A man who desires to live in accordance with the Gospel +must not swear by anyone, for if it is not allowed to swear, neither is +it allowed to swear by anyone." + + But it is sufficient to remark that _obsecration_ is not a + swearing by, or adjuring of God, as though to compel Him, for + this is forbidden, but to implore His mercy. + +2. Again, S. John Damascene says[261] that prayer is "the asking God for +things that are fitting." Hence it is not exact to distinguish _prayers_ +from _postulations_. + + But prayer, generally considered, embraces all the + above-mentioned parts; when, however, we distinguish one part + against another, _prayer_, properly speaking, means the + uplifting of the mind to God. + +3. Lastly, giving of thanks refers to the past, whereas the other parts +of prayer refer to the future. Hence giving of thanks should not be +placed after the rest. + + But whereas in things which are different from one another the + past precedes the future, in one and the same thing the future + precedes the past. Hence giving of thanks for benefits already + received precedes petition; yet those same benefits were first + asked for, and then, when they had been received, thanks were + offered for them. Prayer, however, precedes petition, for by it + we draw nigh to God to Whom we make petition. And _obsecration_ + precedes _prayer_, for it is from dwelling upon the Divine + Goodness that we venture to approach to Him. + + * * * * * + +_Cajetan:_ We might be asked how the mind can be especially elevated to +God at the moment of consecration. For in the consecration the priest +has to express distinctly the words of consecration, and consequently +cannot have his mind uplifted towards God at that moment. Indeed, the +more his mind is uplifted to God, the less he thinks of inferior things, +words, and so forth. + +But in the consecration of the Holy Eucharist--in which the priest in a +sense brings God down upon earth--the very greatness of our uplifting of +mind towards the Divine Goodness Which has thus deigned to come amongst +us is the very reason for our attention to the words in the act of +consecration, and makes the priest pronounce them distinctly and +reverently. Some scrupulous folk, however, concentrate their whole +attention on being intent and attentive; but this is really a +distraction, and not attention, for its object is precisely the being +attentive. The uplifting, then, of our minds to God in the consecration +has indeed to be the very greatest, not, indeed, intensively and by +abstraction from the things of sense, but objectively and +concentrated--though always within the limits compatible with +attention--on the endeavour to say the words as they should be said +(_on_ 2. 2. 83. 17.) + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine: And David went in and sat before the Lord[262]; and +Elias, casting himself down upon the earth, put his face between his +knees._[263] By examples such as these we are taught that there is no +prescribed position of the body in prayer provided the soul states its +intention in the presence of God. For we pray standing, as it is +written: _The Publican standing afar off_. We pray, too, on our knees, +as we read in the Acts of the Apostles;[264] and we pray sitting, as in +the case of David and Elias. And unless it were lawful to pray lying +down, it would not be said in the Psalms[265]: _Every night I will wash +my bed, I will water my couch with my tears_. When, then, a man desires +to pray, he settles himself in any position that serves at the time for +the stirring up of his soul. When, on the other hand, we have no +definite intention of praying, but the wish to pray suddenly occurs to +us--when, that is, there comes of a sudden into our mind something which +rouses the desire to pray "with unspeakable groanings"--then, in +whatsoever position such a feeling may find us, we are not to put off +our prayer; we are not to look about for some place whither we can +withdraw, for some place in which to stand or in which to make +prostration. For the very intention of the mind begets a solitude, and +we often forget to which quarter of the heavens we were looking, or in +what bodily position the occasion found us (_Of Divers Questions_, iv.). + + "Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication; be + attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise; and am + troubled at the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of + the sinner. For they have cast iniquities upon me, and in wrath + they were troublesome to me. My heart is troubled within me, and + the fear of death is fallen upon me. Fear and trembling are come + upon me, and darkness hath covered me. And I said: Who will give + me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest?"[266] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[98] _Etymologies_, x., _sub litt._ O. + +[99] Ps. xxxviii. 13. + +[100] _Ethics_, I. xiii. 15. + +[101] Rabanus Maurus, _De Universis_, vi. 14. + +[102] _On the Orthodox Faith_, iii. 24. + +[103] Ps. x. 17. + +[104] Isa. lxv. 24. + +[105] _Of the Divine Names_, vi. 1. + +[106] Ps. xxvi. 4. + +[107] Art. XV. + +[108] Isa. lxiv. 8, 9. + +[109] xviii. 1. + +[110] Mal. iii. 14. + +[111] _Dialogue_, i. 8. + +[112] S. Matt. vi. 32. + +[113] 1 Kings xv. 29. + +[114] _Of Good Deeds_, ii. 1. + +[115] _Hom._ II., _On Prayer_; also _Hom._ XXX., _On Genesis_. + +[116] Eph. i. 4. + +[117] Ps. lxx. 17, 18. + +[118] S. Matt. vii. 7. + +[119] Ps. cxx. 4. + +[120] S. Matt. vi. 8. + +[121] Ps. ciii. 33, 34. + +[122] Ps. lxxxiii. 12. + +[123] viii. 4. + +[124] 1 Cor. xiv. 15. + +[125] _On Care for the Dead_, chaps, xiii., xv., xvi. + +[126] _Moralia in Job_, xii. 14. + +[127] Ps. lxvi. + +[128] S. Matt. vi. 9-13; S. Luke xi. 2-4. + +[129] _Of Socrates the Philosopher_, vii. 21. + +[130] Ps. lxxix. 4. + +[131] Ps. cxviii. 35. + +[132] _On the Orthodox Faith_, iii. 24. + +[133] iv. 3. + +[134] Rom. viii. 26. + +[135] S. John iv. 24. + +[136] 1 Tim. ii. 4. + +[137] Isa. lxiii. 15, 16. + +[138] xxx. 8. + +[139] _Ep._, CXXX., chap. xii. + +[140] _Ethics_, I. vii. 15. + +[141] _Ep._, CXXX., chap. vi. + +[142] S. Matt. vi. 33. + +[143] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, II. x. 1. + +[144] S. Matt. vi. 25. + +[145] 2 Cor. iv. 18. + +[146] Ps. xxxvii. 10. + +[147] 1 Thess. v. 17. + +[148] Heb. iv. 3. + +[149] Ps. liv. 23. + +[150] v. 16. + +[151] _Opus Imperf. in Matthaeum, Hom._ XIV. + +[152] _On the Lord's Prayer._ + +[153] S. John xvi. 23. + +[154] _Tractatus in Joannem_, 102. + +[155] xv. 1. + +[156] Ps. xxxiv. 13. + +[157] Jer. vii. 16. + +[158] Eccles. vii. 14. + +[159] 1 John v. 16. + +[160] _De Correptionibus et Gratia_, cap. xv. + +[161] Rom. xv. 30. + +[162] 1 Cor. i. 11. + +[163] S. John xxii. 24. + +[164] S. Matt. v. 44. + +[165] xv. 4. + +[166] Ps. vi. 11. + +[167] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, i. 21. + +[168] Apoc. vi. 10. + +[169] Ps. lvii. 11. + +[170] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, i. 22, and _Questions on the +Gospels_, II., xlv. + +[171] _Questions on the Old and New Testament, Qu._ lxviii. + +[172] Ecclus. xxxvi. 1-3. + +[173] _Ep._ cxxx. 12. + +[174] _Ep._ cxxx. 11. + +[175] _Comment. on S. Matthew_, vi. + +[176] 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. + +[177] S. Luke i. 49. + +[178] Ps. cxliv. 13. + +[179] Isa. xlvi. 10. + +[180] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, ii. 5. + +[181] _Ep._ cxxx. 11. + +[182] _Enchiridion_, 115. + +[183] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, ii. 11. + +[184] xi. 2-4. + +[185] _Enchiridion_, 116. + +[186] 1 John iv. 19. + +[187] S. John xvii. 1-3. + +[188] See Touron, O.P., _Vie de S. Thomas d'Aquin_, p. 254; Paris, 1740. + +[189] S. John xiv. 16. + +[190] Rom. viii. 26. + +[191] xcvi. 7. + +[192] Ps. cxlvi. 9. + +[193] Ecclus. xxxvi. 18, 19. + +[194] 2 Macc. xv. 14. + +[195] _Contra Vigilantium_, vi. + +[196] _Heb._ vii. 25. S. Thomas is quoting from memory. + +[197] Exod. iii. 6. + +[198] Ps. cxli. 1. + +[199] _Ep._ cxxx. 9. + +[200] Ps. xxvi. 8. + +[201] 1 Kings i. 13. + +[202] Osee xiv. 3. + +[203] Ps. xv. 9. + +[204] S. Matt. vi. 6. + +[205] _Opus Imperf. Hom. XIII. in Matt._ + +[206] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, ii. 3. + +[207] Ps. cxviii. 145. + +[208] Ps. lxxxv. 1-5. + +[209] Ps. xxxix. 13. + +[210] Implicitly, _Moralia in Job_, xxii. 13; but see Hugh of S. Victor, +_Exposition of the Rule of S. Augustine_, iii. + +[211] 1 Cor. xiv. 14. + +[212] _Of the Manner of Prayer_, ii. + +[213] iv. 24. + +[214] _On the Monastic Constitutions_, chap. i. + +[215] _Ep._ cxxi. + +[216] Art. IV. + +[217] Ps. lxxv. 4, 5. + +[218] Ps. cxlv. 1. + +[219] 2 Cor. v. 6. + +[220] Wisd. ix. 15. + +[221] Ps. cxlii. 4-7. + +[222] S. Luke xviii. 1. + +[223] 1 Thess. v. 17. + +[224] 1 Cor. x. 31. + +[225] S. Matt. vi. 7. + +[226] S. Luke vi. 12. + +[227] S. Luke xxii. 43. + +[228] Ps. xxvi. 4. + +[229] Exod. xix. 21. + +[230] S. Matt. vi. 9. + +[231] S. Luke xviii. 1. + +[232] 1 Thess. v. 17. + +[233] Ps. xxxii. 20-22. + +[234] Ps. xxxiv. 13. + +[235] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, Sermon CV. i. + +[236] St. Luke vi. 13. + +[237] _On Perseverance_, chap. xxiii. + +[238] 2 Cor. xii. 7-9. + +[239] S. Prosper, _The Book of Sentences gleaned from S. Augustine_, +Sent. 212. + +[240] _Tractatus in Joannem_, 102. + +[241] _Monastic Constitutions_, chap, i. + +[242] i. 6. + +[243] Ps. xxxviii. 13, 14. + +[244] _Tractatus in Joannem_, 44. + +[245] _Opus Imperf. in Matt., Hom._ XVIII. + +[246] _Tractatus in Joannem_, 73; and _De Verbis Domini_, Sermon cccliv. +7. + +[247] S. John ix. 31. + +[248] xxviii. 8. + +[249] _Tractatus in Joannem_, 44. + +[250] Implicitly in the old interlinear Gloss on 2 Tim. iii. 5. + +[251] _Opus Imperf. in Matt., Hom._ XIV. + +[252] xxviii. 2. + +[253] Ps. xxxvi. 23-25. + +[254] 1 Tim. ii. 1. + +[255] xi. 3. + +[256] Dan. ix. 18, 19. + +[257] Friday in the September Ember days. + +[258] The Ordinary Gloss on the words _obsecrations_, _prayers_, etc., +in 1 Tim. ii. 1. + +[259] _Collat._, IX., chaps. xi-xiii. + +[260] _Tractatus_ xxxv. _in Matt._ + +[261] _De Orthodoxa Fide_, iii. 24. + +[262] 2 Kings vii. 18. + +[263] 3 Kings xviii. 42. + +[264] vii. 59; xx. 36. + +[265] vi. 7. + +[266] Ps. liv. 1-7. + + + + +FROM THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE SUMMA--QUESTION LXXII + +OF THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS WHO ARE IN HEAVEN + + I. Are the Saints cognizant of our Prayers? + II. Ought we to appeal to the Saints to intercede for us? +III. Are the Saints' Prayers to God for us always heard? + + +I + +Are the Saints cognizant of our Prayers? + +On those words of Job,[267] _Whether his children come to honour or +dishonour, he shall not understand_, S. Gregory says: "This is not to be +understood of the souls of the Saints, for they see from within the +glory of Almighty God, it is in nowise credible that there should be +anything without of which they are ignorant."[268] + +And he says also: "To the soul that sees its Creator all created things +are but trifling; for, however little of the Creator's light he sees, +all that is created becomes of small import to him."[269] Yet the +greatest difficulty in saying that the souls of the Saints know our +prayers and other things which concern us, is their distance from us. +But since, according to the authority just quoted, this distance does +not preclude such knowledge, it appears that the souls of the Saints do +know our prayers and other things which concern us. + +Further, if they did not know what concerned us, neither would they pray +for us, since they would not know our deficiencies. But this was the +error of Vigilantius, as S. Jerome says in his Epistle against him.[270] +The Saints, then, know what concerns us. + + * * * * * + +The Divine Essence, then, is a sufficient medium for knowing all things, +as, indeed, is evident from the fact that God in seeing His own essence +sees all things. Yet it does not follow that whoever sees the Essence of +God therefore sees all things, but those only who _comprehend_ the +Essence of God; just in the same way as it does not follow that because +we know a principle we therefore know all that that principle contains, +for that would only be the case if we _comprehended_ the whole power of +the principle. Since, then, the souls of the Saints do not comprehend +the Divine Essence, it does not follow that they know everything which +could be known through the medium of that Divine Essence. Hence the +inferior Angels are taught certain things by the higher Angels, though +all see the Divine Essence. But each person in possession of the +Beatific Vision only sees in the Divine Essence as much of other things +as is necessitated by the degree of perfection of his beatitude; and for +the perfection of beatitude it is required that a man "should have +whatever he wants, and should desire nothing in an inordinate +fashion."[271] Each one, however, rightly desires to know those things +which concern himself. Hence, since no rectitude is lacking to the +Saints, they wish to know those things which concern themselves, and +consequently they must know them in the Word. But it belongs to their +glory that they should be able to help on the salvation of those who +need it, for it is thus that they are made co-workers with God--"than +which there is nought more Divine," as Denis says.[272] It is clear, +then, that the Saints have a knowledge of those things which are +requisite for this end. And so, too, it is manifest that they know in +the Word the desires, the devout acts and the prayers, of men who fly to +them for help. + +Some, however, maintain that the Saints do not know our prayers, thus: + +1. On the words of Isaias,[273] _Thou art our Father, and Abraham hath +not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us_, the Interlinear +Gloss has: "For the Saints who are dead know not what the living do, +even their own children." This is taken from S. Augustine's treatise _On +Care for the Dead_, xiii., where he quotes these words, and adds: "If +these great Patriarchs were ignorant of what concerned those whom they +had begotten, how can the dead be concerned with knowing and assisting +the affairs and the deeds of the living?" Hence it would seem that the +Saints are not cognizant of our prayers. + + But these words of S. Augustine are to be understood of the + natural knowledge of the souls separated (from this world); and + this knowledge is not obscured in holy men as it is in sinners. + Moreover, S. Augustine is not talking of that knowledge which is + in the Word, a knowledge which it is clear that Abraham had not + at the time that Isaias said these things; for anterior to + Christ's Passion no one had attained to the Vision of God. + +2. In 4 Kings xxii. 20, it is said to Josias the king: +_Therefore_--because, that is, thou didst weep before Me--_I will gather +thee to thy fathers ... that thy eyes may not see all the evils which I +will bring upon this place_. But the death of Josias would have been no +relief to him if he was to know after death what was going to happen to +his nation. The Saints, then, who are dead, do not know our acts, and +consequently cannot understand our prayers. + + But although after this life the Saints know the things which + are done here below, we are not therefore to suppose that they + are filled with grief at the knowledge of the afflictions of + those whom they loved in the world. For they are so filled with + the joy of their beatitude that sorrow finds no place in them. + Hence, if they know after death the evil plight of those dear to + them, it is none the less a relief to their sorrow if they are + withdrawn from this world before those woes come on. + + At the same time it is possible that souls not yet in glory + would feel a certain grief if they were made aware of the + sorrows of those dear to them. And since the soul of Josias was + not immediately glorified on its quitting the body, S. Augustine + endeavours to argue that the souls of the dead have no knowledge + of the deeds of the living.[274] + +3. Again, the more a person is perfected in charity the more ready he is +to succour his neighbour in peril. But the Saints while still in the +flesh had a care for their neighbours, and especially for their +relatives, when in peril. Since, then, they are after death far more +perfected in charity, if they were cognizant of our deeds, they would +have now a much greater care for those dear to them or related to them, +and would help them much more in their necessities; but this does not +seem to be the case. Whence it would seem that they are not cognizant of +our actions nor of our prayers. + + But the souls of the Saints have their will perfectly conformed + to the Will of God, even in what they would will. Consequently, + while retaining their feelings of charity towards their + neighbour, they afford them no other assistance than that which + they see is arranged for them in accordance with Divine Justice. + Yet at the same time we must believe that they help their + neighbours very much indeed by interceding for them with God. + +4. Further, just as the Saints after death see the Word, so also do the +Angels, for of them it is said: _Their Angels in Heaven always see the +face of My Father Who is in Heaven_.[275] But the Angels, though seeing +the Word, do not therefore know all things, for the inferior Angels are +purified of their ignorance by the superior Angels, as is evident from +Denis.[276] Consequently, neither do the Saints, although they see the +Word, know in It our prayers and other things which concern us. + + But although it is not necessary that those who see the Word + should see all things in the Word, they none the less see those + things which belong to the perfection of their beatitude, as we + have said above. + +5. Lastly, God alone is the Searcher of hearts. But prayer is +essentially an affair of the heart. Consequently God alone knows our +prayers. + + But God alone knows of Himself the thoughts of the heart; others + know them according as they are revealed to them either in their + vision of the Word or in any other way. + + +II + +Ought we to appeal to the Saints to intercede for us? + +In the Book of Job,[277] it is said: _Call now, if there be any that +will answer thee; and turn to some of the Saints_. And on this S. +Gregory says: "It is our business to call, and to beseech God in humble +prayer."[278] When, then, we desire to pray to God, we ought to turn to +the Saints that they may pray for us. + +Further, the Saints who are in the Fatherland are more acceptable in the +sight of God than they were when upon earth. But we ought to ask the +Saints even when on earth to be our intercessors with God, as the +Apostle shows us by his example when he says: _I beseech you, therefore, +brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of the Holy +Ghost, that you help me in your prayers for me to God_.[279] Much more, +then, should we ask the Saints who are in our Fatherland to help us by +their prayers to God. + +Moreover, the common custom of the Church confirms this, since in her +Litanies she asks the prayers of the Saints. + + * * * * * + +In the words of Denis,[280] "there is this Divinely established harmony +in things--that they which hold the lowest place should be brought to +God through them that come between them and God." Since, then, the +Saints who are in our Fatherland are most nigh to God, the harmony of +the Divine Government demands that we who, abiding in the body, are +"absent from the Lord," should be led to Him by the Saints who stand +midway; and this is secured when through their means the Divine Goodness +pours out Its effects upon us. And since our return to God ought to +correspond to the orderly way in which His goodnesses flow upon us--for +His benefits flow out upon us through the intervention of the Saints' +suffrages for us--so also ought we to be brought back to God through the +intervention of the Saints, and thus once more receive His benefits. +Whence it is that we make them our intercessors for us with God--and, as +it were, mediators--by begging them to pray for us. + + * * * * * + +But some say that we should not ask the Saints to pray for us, thus: + +1. No one asks a man's friends to intercede for him except in so far as +he thinks that he can obtain a favour more easily through them. But God +is infinitely more merciful than any Saint, and consequently His Will is +more readily inclined to hear us than is the will of any Saint. Whence +it would seem superfluous to make the Saints mediators between ourselves +and God, and so ask them to intercede for us. + + But just as it is not by reason of any deficiency on the part of + the Divine Power that It works through the mediumship of + secondary causes, whereas it rather tends to the fulfilment of + the harmony of the universe that His Goodness should be more + copiously diffused upon things, so that things not only receive + from Him their own peculiar goodness, but themselves become a + source of goodness to other things as well; so in the same way + it is not by reason of any lack of mercy on His part that appeal + to His mercy by means of the prayers of the Saints is fitting; + but this is done in order that the aforesaid harmony may be + preserved. + +2. If we ought to ask the Saints to pray for us, it can only be because +we know that their prayers are acceptable to God. But the more saintly +is a Saint, the more acceptable is his prayer to God. Consequently we +ought always to make the greater Saints our intercessors with God, and +never the lesser ones. + + Yet although the greater Saints are more acceptable to God than + are the lesser ones, it is still useful to pray sometimes to the + lesser Saints. And this for five reasons: Firstly, because a man + sometimes has a greater devotion to some lesser Saint than to + one who is greater; and the efficacy of our prayers depends very + much on our devotion. Secondly, in order to avoid weariness; for + unremitting application to one thing begets distaste; but when + we pray to various Saints fresh devotional fervour is stirred up + in practically each case. Thirdly, because certain Saints are + appointed the patrons of certain particular cases, so S. Antony + for the avoidance of hell-fire. Fourthly, that so we may show + due honour to them all. Fifthly, because sometimes a favour may + be gained at the prayer of many which would not be gained at the + prayer of one alone. + +3. Christ, even as man, is termed _the Saint of Saints_;[281] and it +belongs to Him, as man, to pray. Yet we never ask Christ to pray for us. +Hence it is superfluous to make the Saints our intercessors with God. + + But prayer is an act. And acts belong to individual beings. + Consequently, if we were to say, _Christ, pray for us_, we + should appear, unless we added something, to be referring this + to Christ's Person, and thus we might seem to fall into the + error of Nestorius who regarded the Person of the Son of Man as + distinct in Christ from the Person of the Son of God; or + perhaps, too, into the error of Arius who regarded the Person of + the Son as less than the Father. In order, then, to avoid these + errors, the Church does not say, _Christ, pray for us_, but + _Christ, hear us_, or _Christ, have mercy on us_. + +4. Once more, when one is asked to intercede for another, he presents +the latter's prayers to him with whom he has to intercede. But it is +superfluous to present anything to Him to Whom all things are present. +Hence it is superfluous to make the Saints our intercessors with God. + + But the Saints are not said to present our prayers to God as + though they were manifesting to Him something which He did not + know, but in the sense that they ask that these prayers may be + heard by God, or that they consult the Divine Truth concerning + them, so as to know what, according to His providence, ought to + be done. + +5. Lastly, that must be held superfluous which is done for the sake of +something which, whether the former were done or not, would yet take +place--or not take place--all the same. But similarly, the Saints would +pray for us or not pray for us whether we asked them to do so or not. +For if we deserve that they should pray for us, they would pray for us, +even though we did not ask them to do so; if, on the other hand, we are +not deserving that they should pray for us, then they do not pray for +us--even though we ask them to do so. Hence to ask them to pray for us +seems altogether superfluous. + + But a man becomes deserving that some Saint should pray for him + from the very fact that with pure-hearted devotion he has + recourse to him in his needs. Hence it is not superfluous to + pray to the Saints. + + +III + +Are the Saints' Prayers to God for us always heard? + +In 2 Maccabees xv. 14 it is said: _This is he that prayeth much for the +people, and for all the Holy City, Jeremias the prophet of God_; and +that his prayer was heard is evident from what follows, for _Jeremias +stretched forth his right hand and gave to Judas a sword of gold, +saying: Take this holy sword, a gift from God_, etc. + +Further, S. Jerome says[282]: "You say in your book that while we live +we can pray for one another, but that after we are dead no one's prayer +for others will be heard"; and S. Jerome condemns this statement thus: +"If the Apostles and Martyrs while still in the body could pray for +others while as yet solicitous for themselves, how much more when they +have won their crown, completed the victory, and gained their triumph?" + +Moreover, the Church's custom confirms this, for she frequently asks to +be helped by the prayers of the Saints. + + * * * * * + +The Saints are said to pray for us in two ways: firstly, by express +prayer, when they by their ardent desires appeal to the ears of the +Divine Mercy for us; secondly, by interpretative prayer--namely, by +their merits which, standing as the Saints do in the sight of God, not +only tend to their own glory but are, as it were, suffrages--and even +prayers--for us; just as the Blood of Christ, shed for us, is said to +ask pardon for us. And in both ways the prayers of the Saints are, as +far as in them lies, efficacious in obtaining what they ask for. But +that we do not obtain the fruit of their prayers may be due to defects +on our part, according, that is, as they are said to pray for us in the +sense that their merits avail for us. But according as they actually do +pray for us--that is, ask something for us by their desires--they are +always heard. For the Saints only wish what God wishes, and they only +ask for what they wish should be done; what God, however, wishes is +always done--unless, indeed, we are speaking of the _antecedent_ will of +God, according to which _He wills all men to be saved_: this will is not +always fulfilled. Hence it is not to be wondered at if what the Saints +also will according to this kind of will is not always fulfilled. + +But some maintain that the Saints' prayers for us are not always heard, +thus: + +1. If the Saints' prayers were always heard, they would be especially +heard when they pray for those things which affect themselves. Yet they +are not always heard as regards these things, for to the Martyrs who +prayed for vengeance upon the inhabitants of the earth it was said _that +they should rest for a little time till_ the number of _their brethren +should be filled up_.[283] Much less, then, are their prayers heard for +things that do not concern them. + + But this prayer of the Martyrs is nothing more than their desire + to obtain the garment of the body and the society of the Saints + who are to be saved; it expresses their agreement with the + Divine Justice which punishes the wicked. Hence on those words + of the Apocalypse,[284] _How long, O Lord_, the Ordinary Gloss + says: "They yearn for a greater joy, and for the companionship + of the Saints, and they agree with the justice of God." + +2. It is said in Jeremias[285]: _If Moses and Samuel shall stand before +Me, My soul is not towards this people_. The Saints, then, are not +always heard when they pray for us to God. + + But God here speaks of Moses and Samuel according as they were + in this life, for they are said to have prayed for the people + and thus withstood the wrath of God. Yet none the less, had they + lived in Jeremias' time they would not have been able to appease + by their prayers God's wrath upon the people, so great was the + latter's wickedness. This is the meaning of that passage. + +3. The Saints in our Fatherland are said to be the equals of the +Angels.[286] But the Angels are not always heard in their prayers to +God, as is evident from Daniel[287]: _I am come for thy words. But the +Prince of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me one and twenty days._ +But the Angel who spoke had not come to Daniel's assistance without +asking his freedom from God; yet none the less the fulfilment of his +prayer was hindered. In the same way, then, neither are the prayers of +other Saints to God for us always heard. + + But this contest of the good Angels is not to be understood in + the sense that they put forth contrary prayers before God, but + that they set before the Divine scrutiny conflicting merits on + either hand, and awaited the Divine decision. Thus S. Gregory, + expounding the above words of Daniel, says: "These sublime + Spirits who rule over the nations in no sense strive for those + who do evil, but they scrutinize their deeds and judge justly; + hence, when the faults or the merits of any nation are submitted + to the Council of the Supreme Court, he who is set over that + particular nation is described as either losing or failing in + the contest. But the sole victory for all of them is the supreme + will of his Creator above him; and since they ever look towards + that Will, they never desire what they cannot obtain,"[288] and + hence never ask for it. Whence it is clear that their prayers + are always heard. + +4. Whoever obtains something by prayer in a certain sense merits it. But +the Saints who are in our Fatherland are no longer capable of meriting. +Therefore they cannot obtain anything for us from God by their prayers. + + But although the Saints when once they are in our Fatherland are + not capable of meriting for themselves, they are still capable + of meriting for others, or rather of helping others by reason of + their own previous merits. For when alive they merited from God + that their prayers should be heard after death. Or we might say + that in prayer merit and the power to obtain what we ask do not + rest on the same basis. For merit consists in a certain + correspondence between an act and the end towards which it is + directed and which is given to it as its reward; but the + impetratory power of prayer rests upon the generosity of him + from whom we ask something. Consequently prayer sometimes wins + from the generosity of him to whom it is made what perhaps was + not merited either by him who asked nor by him for whom he + asked. And thus, though the Saints are no longer capable of + meriting, it does not follow that they are incapable of winning + things from God. + +5. Again, the Saints conform their will in all things to the Divine +Will. Therefore they can only will what they know God wills. But no one +prays save for what he wishes. Consequently they only pray for what they +know God wills. But what God wills would take place whether they prayed +or not. Consequently their prayers have no power to obtain things. + + But, as is evident from the passage of S. Gregory quoted above + in reply to the third difficulty, neither the Saints nor the + Angels will anything save what they see in the Divine Will. And + consequently they ask for nothing else save this. But it does + not follow that their prayers are without fruit, for, as S. + Augustine says in his treatise, _On the Predestination of the + Saints_,[289] and S. Gregory in his _Dialogues_,[290] the + prayers of the Saints avail for the predestinate, because + perhaps it was pre-ordained that they should be saved by the + prayers of those who interceded for them. And so, too, God wills + that by the prayers of the Saints should be fulfilled what the + Saints see that He wills. + +6. Lastly, the prayers of the entire Court of Heaven should, if they can +gain anything at all, be far more efficacious than all the suffrages of +the Church on earth. But if all the suffrages of the Church on earth +were to be accumulated upon one soul in Purgatory, it would be entirely +freed from punishment. Since, then, the Saints who are in our Fatherland +have the same reason for praying for the souls in Purgatory as they have +for praying for us, they would by their prayers, if they could obtain +anything for us, wholly deliver from suffering those who are in +Purgatory. But this is false, for if it were true, then the suffrages of +the Church for the dead would be superfluous. + + But the suffrages of the Church for the dead are, as it were, + satisfactions offered by the living in place of the dead, and + thus they free the dead from that debt of punishment which they + have not paid. But the Saints who are in our Fatherland are not + capable of making satisfaction. And thus there is no parity + between their prayers and the Church's suffrages. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[267] xiv. 21. + +[268] _Moralia in Job_, xii. 14. + +[269] _Dialogue_, li. 35. + +[270] _Contra Vigilant._, vi. + +[271] S. Augustine: _Of the Trinity_, xiii. 5. + +[272] _Of the Heavenly Hierarchy_, iii. + +[273] lxiii. 16. + +[274] _De Cura Mortuorum_, 13, 14, 15. + +[275] S. Matt, xviii. 10. + +[276] _Of the Heavenly Hierarchy_, vii.; and _Of the Ecclesiastical +Hierarchy_, vi. + +[277] v. 1. + +[278] _Moralia in Job_, v. 30. + +[279] Rom. xv. 30. + +[280] _Of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy_, v. + +[281] Dan. ix. 14. + +[282] _Ep. contra Vigilantium_, vi. + +[283] Apoc. vi. 11. + +[284] vi. 10. + +[285] xv. 1. + +[286] S. Matt. xxii. 30. + +[287] x. 12-13. + +[288] _Moralia on Job_, xvii. 12. + +[289] _De Dono Perseverantiae_, xxii. + +[290] i. 8. + + + + +QUESTION CLXXIX + +OF THE DIVISION OF LIFE INTO THE ACTIVE AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE + + I. May Life be fittingly divided into the Active and + the Contemplative? + S. Augustine, _De Consensu Evangelistarum_, I., iv. 8 + " _Tractatus, cxxiv. 5, in Joannem_ +II. Is this division of Life into the Active and the + Contemplative a sufficient one? + S. Augustine, _Of the Trinity_, I., viii. 17 + + +I + +May Life be fittingly divided into the Active and the Contemplative? + +S. Gregory the Great says[291]: "There are two kinds of lives in which +Almighty God instructs us by His Sacred Word--namely, the active and the +contemplative." + +Those things are properly said to live which move or work from within +themselves. But what especially accords with the innermost nature of a +thing is that which is proper to it and towards which it is especially +inclined; consequently every living thing shows that it is living by +those very acts which are especially befitting it and towards which it +is especially inclined. Thus the life of plants is said to consist in +their growing and in their producing seed; the life of animals in their +feeling and moving; while that of man consists in his understanding and +in his acting according to reason. + +Hence among men themselves each man's life appears to be that in which +he takes special pleasure, that with which he is particularly occupied, +that, in fine, in which each one wishes to live with a friend, as is +said in the _Ethics of Aristotle_.[292] + +Since, then, some men are especially occupied with the contemplation of +the truth while others are especially-occupied with external things, +man's life may be conveniently divided into the active and the +contemplative. + + * * * * * + +Some, however, repudiate this division, thus: + +1. The soul is by its essence the principle of life; thus the +Philosopher says[293]: "For living things, to live is to be." But the +same soul with its faculties is the principle both of action and of +contemplation. Hence it would seem that life cannot be suitably divided +into the active and the contemplative. + + But the peculiar nature of every individual thing--that which + makes it actually be--is the principle of its own proper action; + consequently _to live_ is said to be the very _being_ of living + things, and this because living things--by the very fact that + they exist through such a nature--act in such a way. + +2. Again, when one thing precedes another it is unfitting to divide the +former by differences which find place in the latter. But action and +contemplation, like speculation and practice, are distinctions in the +intellect, as is laid down by the Philosopher.[294] But we live before +we understand; for life is primarily in living things by their +vegetative soul, as also the Philosopher says.[295] Therefore life is +not fittingly divided according to contemplation and action. + + But we do not say that life universally considered is divided + into the active and the contemplative, but that man's life is so + divided. For man derives his species from his intellect, hence + the same divisions hold good for human life as hold good for the + intellect. + +3. Lastly, the word "life" implies motion, as is clear from Denis the +Areopagite.[296] But contemplation more especially consists in repose, +according to the words: _When I go into my house I shall repose myself +with her (Wisdom)_.[297] + + But while contemplation implies a certain repose from external + occupations, it is still a certain motion of the intellect in + the sense that every operation is a motion; in this sense the + Philosopher says that to feel and to understand are certain + motions in the sense that motion is said to be the act of a + perfect thing.[298] It is in this sense, too, that Denis[299] + assigns three movements to the soul in contemplation: the + direct, the circular, and the oblique.[300] + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ Two virtues are set before the human soul, the one +active, the other contemplative; the former shows the path, the latter +shows the goal; in the one we toil that so the heart may be purified for +the Vision of God, in the other we repose and we see God; the one is +spent in the practice of the precepts of this temporal life, the other +is occupied with the teachings of the life that is eternal. Hence it is +that the one is a life of toil and the other a life of rest; for the +former is engaged in purging away its sins, the latter already stands in +the light of the purified. Hence, too, during this mortal life the +former is occupied with the works of a good life, whereas the latter +rather stands in faith, and, in the case of some few, sees _through a +mirror in a dark manner_, and enjoys _in part_ a certain glimpse of the +Unchangeable Truth (_De Consensu Evangelistarum_, I., iv. 8). + + "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; it is + Thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me. The lines are + fallen unto me in goodly places; for my inheritance is goodly to + me."[301] + +_S. Augustine:_ There is another life, the life of immortality, and in +it there are no ills; there we shall see face to face what we now see +_through a glass and in a dark manner_ even when we have made great +advance in our study of the Truth. The Church, then, knows of two kinds +of life Divinely set before Her and commended to Her; in the one we walk +by faith, in the other by sight; the one is the pilgrimage of time, the +other is the mansion of eternity; the one is a life of toil, the other +of repose; in the one we are on the way, in the other in Our Father's +Home; the one is spent in the toil of action, the other in the reward of +contemplation; the one _turneth away from evil and doth good_, the other +hath no evil from which to turn away, but rather a Great Good Which it +enjoys; the one is in conflict with the foe, the other reigns--conscious +that there is no foe; the one is strong in adversity, the other knows of +no adversity; the one bridles the lusts of the flesh, the other is given +up to the joys of the Spirit; the one is anxious to overcome, the other +is tranquil in the peace of victory; the one is helped in temptations, +the other, without temptation, rejoices in its Helper; the one succours +the needy, the other dwells where none are needy; the one condones the +sins of others that thereby its own sins may be condoned, the other +suffers naught that it can pardon nor does ought that calls for pardon; +the one is afflicted in sufferings lest it should be uplifted in good +things, the other is steeped in such fulness of grace as to be free from +all evil that so, without temptation to pride, it may cling to the +Supreme Good; the one distinguishes between good and evil, the other +sees naught save what is good; the one therefore is good--yet still in +miseries, the other is better--and in Blessedness (_Tractatus_, cxxiv. +5, _in Joannem_). + + "Jesu nostra Redemptio + Amor et Desiderium! + Deus Creator omnium, + Homo in fine temporum!" + + +II + +Is this division of Life into the Active and the Contemplative a +sufficient one? + +These two kinds of life are signified by the two wives of Jacob--namely, +the active life by Lia, the contemplative by Rachel. They are also +signified by those two women who afforded hospitality to the Lord: the +contemplative, namely, by Mary, the active by Martha, as S. Gregory +says.[302] But if there were more than two kinds of life, these +significations would not be fitting. + +As we have said above, the division in question concerns human life +regarded as intellectual. And the intellect itself is divided into the +contemplative and the active, for the aim of intellectual knowledge is +either the actual knowledge of the truth--and this belongs to the +contemplative intellect, or it is some external action--and this +concerns the practical or active intellect. Hence life is quite +sufficiently divided into the active and the contemplative. + +But some argue that this division is not a sufficient one, thus: + +1. The Philosopher[303] says that there are three specially excellent +kinds of life: the pleasurable, the civil--which seems to be identified +with the active--and the contemplative. + + But the pleasurable life makes its end consist in the pleasures + of that body which we have in common with the brute creation. + Hence, as the Philosopher says in the same place, this is a + bestial life. Consequently it is not comprised in our division + of life into the active and the contemplative. + +2. Again, S. Augustine[304] speaks of three different kinds of life: the +life of leisure, which is referred to the contemplative; the busy life, +which is referred to the active life; and he adds a third composed of +these two. + + But things which hold a middle course are compounded of the + extremes, and hence are virtually contained in them, as the + tepid in the hot and the cold, the pallid in the white and the + black. And similarly, under the active and the contemplative + lives is comprised that kind of life which is compounded of them + both. But just as in every mixture one of the simple elements + predominates, so in this mixed kind of life now the + contemplative, now the active predominates. + +3. Lastly, men's lives are diversified according to their various +occupations. But there are more than two classes of human occupations. + + But all classes of human occupations are, if they are concerned + with the necessities of this present life, and in accordance + with right reason, comprised under the active life which, by + properly regulated acts, takes heed for the needs of the present + life. But if these actions minister to our concupiscences, then + they fall under the voluptuous life which is not comprised in + the active life. But human occupations which are directed to the + consideration of the truth are comprised under the contemplative + life. + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine: Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ shall +appear, Who is your life, then you also shall appear with Him in +glory_;[305] but until that shall come to pass _we see now through a +glass in a dark manner_--that is, in images as it were--_but then face +to face_.[306] This, indeed, is the contemplation that is promised to +us, the goal of all our actions, the eternal perfection of all our joys. +For _we are the sons of God, and it hath not yet appeared what we shall +be; we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall +see Him as He is_.[307] And as He said to His servant Moses: _I am Who +am ... thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: He Who is hath +sent me to you_,[308] even that shall we contemplate when we live in +eternity. Thus, too, He says: _This is eternal life, that they may know +Thee, the only True God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent_.[309] And +this shall be when the Lord shall come and _bring to light the hidden +things of darkness_,[310] when the gloom of our mortal corruption shall +have passed away. Then will be our "morning," that "morning" of which +the Psalmist says: _In the morning I will stand before Thee and I will +see_.[311] ... Then, too, will come to pass that which is written: _Thou +shall fill me with joy with Thy countenance_.[312] Beyond that joy we +shall seek for nothing, for there is naught further to be sought. The +Father will be shown to us, and that will suffice for us. Well did +Philip understand this when he said to the Lord: _Show us the Father, +and it is enough for us!_[313] ... Such contemplation, indeed, is the +reward of faith, and for this reward's sake are our hearts purified by +faith, as it is written: _Purifying their hearts by faith_[314] (_De +Trinitate_, I., viii. 17). + + "Remember, O Lord, Thy bowels of compassion; and Thy mercies + that are from the beginning of the world. The sins of my youth + and my ignorances do not remember. According to Thy mercy + remember Thou me; for Thy goodness' sake, O Lord. The Lord is + sweet and righteous; therefore He will give a law to sinners in + the way. He will guide the mild in judgment; He will teach the + meek His ways. All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth to + them that seek after His covenant and His testimonies. For Thy + Name's sake, O Lord, Thou wilt pardon my sin; for it is + great."[315] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[291] Hom. XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[292] IX., xii. 21. + +[293] _De Anima_, II., iv. 4. + +[294] _De Anima_, III., x. 2. + +[295] _Ibid._, II., iv. 2. + +[296] _Of the Divine Names_, vi. + +[297] Wisd. viii. 16. + +[298] _De Anima_, III., vii. 1. + +[299] _Of the Divine Names_, IV., i. 7. + +[300] For a commentary on this passage of S. Denis, see Qu. CLXXX., Art. +6, pp. 203-210. + +[301] Ps. xv. 5-6. + +[302] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 18; and _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[303] _Ethics_, I., v. 21. + +[304] _Of the City of God_, xix. 2 and 19. + +[305] Col. iii. 3-4. + +[306] 1 Cor. xiii. 12. + +[307] 1 John iii. 2. + +[308] Exod. iii. 14. + +[309] S. John xvii. 3. + +[310] 1 Cor. iv. 5. + +[311] Ps. v. 5. + +[312] Ps. xv. 11. + +[313] S. John xiv. 8. + +[314] Acts xv. 9. + +[315] Ps. xxiv. 6-11. + + + + +QUESTION CLXXX + +OF THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE + + I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, + or does the Will enter into it? + S. Thomas, _On the Beatific Vision_, I., xii. 7 + _ad 3m_ + II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? + S. Augustine, _Of the City of God_, xix. 19 + III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? + S. Augustine, _Of the Perfection of Human + Righteousness_, viii. 18 + " _Ep._, cxxx. _ad probam_ + IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the + Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration + of other Truths as well? + S. Augustine, _Sermon_, CLXIX., xiv. 17 + " _Ep._, cxxx. _ad probam_ + V. Can the Contemplative Life attain, according to the State of + this Present Life, to the Contemplation + of the Divine Essence? + S. Augustine, _Of the Sermon on the Mount_, II., + ix. 35 + VI. Is the Act of Contemplation rightly distinguished according + to the three kinds of Motion--Circular, Direct, + and Oblique? + VII. Has Contemplation its Joys? +VIII. Is the Contemplative Life lasting? + S. Augustine, _Sermon_, cclix., _On Low Sunday_ + + +I + +Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the +Will enter into it? + +S. Gregory the Great says[316]: "The contemplative life means keeping of +charity towards God and our neighbour, and fixing all our desires on our +Creator." But desire and love belong to the affective or appetitive +powers; consequently the contemplative life is not confined to the +intellect. + + * * * * * + +When men's thoughts are principally directed towards the contemplation +of the truth, their life is said to be "contemplative." But to "intend" +or direct is an act of the will, since "intention" or direction is +concerned with the end in view, and the end is the proper object of the +will. Hence contemplation, having regard to the actual essence of it, is +an act of the intellect; but if we consider that which moves us to the +exercise of such an act, then contemplation is an act of the will; for +it is the will which moves all the other faculties, including the +intellect, to the exercise of their appropriate acts. + +But the appetitive faculty--the will, that is--moves us to consider some +point either sensibly or intellectually, that is, sometimes out of love +for the thing itself--for _Where thy treasure is there is thy heart +also_,--and sometimes out of love of that very knowledge which follows +from its consideration. For this reason S. Gregory[317] makes the +contemplative life consist in the love of God, since from love of God a +man yearns to look upon His beauty. And since we are delighted when we +obtain what we love, the contemplative life consequently results in +delight, and this resides in the affective powers, from which, too, love +took its rise. + + * * * * * + +Some, however, urge that the contemplative life lies wholly in the +intellect, thus: + +1. The Philosopher says[318]: "The end of contemplation is truth." But +truth belongs wholly to the intellect. + + But from the very fact that truth is the goal of contemplation + it derives its character of a desirable and lovable and pleasing + good, and in this sense it comes under the appetitive powers. + +2. Again, S. Gregory says[319]: "Rachel, whose name is interpreted 'the +Beginning seen,' signifies the contemplative life." But the vision of a +principle, or beginning, belongs to the intellect. + + But it is love of God which excites in us desire of the vision + of the First Principle of all--viz., God Himself--and hence S. + Gregory says[320]: "The contemplative life, trampling underfoot + all cares, ardently yearns to look upon the face of the + Creator." + +3. S. Gregory says[321]: "It belongs to the contemplative life to rest +from all exterior action." But the affective or appetitive powers tend +towards external action. Hence it would seem that the contemplative life +does not come under them. + + But the appetitive powers not only move the bodily members to + the performance of external acts, but the intellect, too, is + moved by them to the exercise of contemplation. + + "Hear, you that are far off, what I have done, and you that are + near, know My strength. The sinners in Sion are afraid, + trembling hath seized upon the hypocrites. Which of you can + dwell with devouring fire? which of you shall dwell with + everlasting burnings? He that walketh in justices, and speaketh + truth, that casteth away avarice by oppression, and shaketh his + hands from all bribes, that stoppeth his ears lest he hear + blood, and shutteth his eyes that he may see no evil. He shall + dwell on high, the fortifications of rocks shall be his + highness: bread is given him, his waters are sure. His eyes + shall see the King in His beauty, they shall see the land far + off."[322] + + * * * * * + +_S. Thomas:_ We do not enjoy all the things that we have; and this is +either because they do not afford us delight, or because they are not +the ultimate goal of our desires, and so are incapable of satisfying our +yearnings or affording us repose. But these three things the Blessed +have in God: for they see Him, and seeing Him they hold Him ever present +to them, for they have it in their power always to see Him; and holding +Him, they enjoy Him, satisfying their yearnings with That Which is The +Ultimate End (_Summa Theologica_, I., xii. 7, _ad 3m_). + + "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? My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is + said to me daily: Where is thy God? These things I remembered, + and poured out my soul in me; for I shall go over into the place + of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God. With the + voice of joy and praise; the noise of one feasting. Why art thou + sad, O my soul? and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in God, for I + will still give praise to Him: the salvation of my countenance, + and my God."[323] + + +II + +Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? + +The moral virtues are directed towards external actions, and S. Gregory +says[324]: "It belongs to the contemplative life to abstain from all +external action." Hence the moral virtues do not pertain to the +contemplative life. + +A thing may pertain to the contemplative life either essentially or by +way of disposition towards it. Essentially, then, the moral virtues do +not pertain to the contemplative life; for the goal of the contemplative +life is the consideration of truth. "Knowledge," says the Philosopher, +"which pertains to the consideration of truth, has little to do with the +moral virtues."[325] Hence he also says[326] that moral virtues pertain +to active, not to contemplative happiness. + +But dispositively the moral virtues do belong to the contemplative life. +For actual contemplation, in which the contemplative life essentially +consists, is impeded both by the vehemence of the passions which +distract the soul from occupation with the things of the intellect, and +divert it to the things of sense, and also by external disturbances. The +moral virtues, however, keep down the vehemence of the passions, and +check the disturbance that might arise from external occupations. + +Consequently the moral virtues do pertain to the contemplative life, but +by way of disposition thereto. + + * * * * * + +But some maintain that the moral virtues do pertain to the contemplative +life, thus: + +1. S. Gregory says[327]: "The contemplative life means keeping charity +towards God and our neighbour with our whole soul." But all the moral +virtues--acts of which fall under precept--are reduced to love of God +and of our neighbour; for _Love is the fulfilling of the Law_.[328] +Consequently it would seem that the moral virtues do pertain to the +contemplative life. + + But, as we have already said, the contemplative life is motived + by the affective faculties, and consequently love of God and of + our neighbour are required for the contemplative life. Impelling + causes, however, do not enter into the essence of a thing, but + prepare for it and perfect it. Hence it does not follow that the + moral virtues essentially pertain to the contemplative life. + +2. Again; the contemplative life is especially directed towards the +contemplation of God, as S. Gregory says: "The soul, trampling all cares +underfoot, ardently yearns to see its Creator's face." But no one can +attain to this without that cleanness of heart which the moral virtues +procure: _Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God_,[329] +and again: _Follow peace with all men with holiness, without which no +man shall see God_.[330] + + But holiness--that is, cleanness of heart--is produced by those + virtues which have to do with those passions which hinder the + purity of the reason. And peace is produced by justice--the + moral virtue which is concerned with our works: _The work of + justice shall be peace_[331] inasmuch, that is, as a man, by + refraining from injuring others, removes occasions of strife and + disturbance. + +3. Lastly, S. Gregory says[332]: "The contemplative life is something +beautiful in the soul," and it is for this reason that it is said to be +typified by Rachel, for _She was well-favoured and of a beautiful +countenance_.[333] But the beauty of the soul, as S. Ambrose remarks, +depends upon the moral virtues and especially on that of +temperance.[334] + + But beauty consists in a certain splendour combined with a + becoming harmony. Both of these points are radically to be + referred to the reason, for to it belongs both the light which + manifests beauty, and the establishment of due proportion in + others. Consequently in the contemplative life--which consists + in the act of the reason--beauty is necessarily and essentially + to be found; thus of the contemplation of Wisdom it is said: + _And I became a lover of her beauty_.[335] But in the moral + virtues beauty is only found by a certain participation--in + proportion, namely, as they share in the harmony of reason; and + this is especially the case with the virtue of temperance whose + function it is to repress those desires which particularly + obscure the light of reason. Hence it is, too, that the virtue + of chastity especially renders a man fit for contemplation, for + venereal pleasures are precisely those which, as S. Augustine + points out, most drag down the mind to the things of sense.[336] + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ While it is true that any one of these three kinds of +life--the leisurely, the busy, and the life commingled of them both--may +be embraced by anybody without prejudice to his faith, and may be the +means of leading him to his eternal reward, it is yet important that a +man should take note of what it is that he holds to through love of the +truth, and should reflect on the nature of the work to which he devotes +himself at the demand of charity. For no man should be so addicted to +leisure as for its sake to neglect his neighbour's profit; neither +should any man be so devoted to the active life as to forget the thought +of God. For in our leisured life we are not to find delight in mere idle +repose, but the seeking and finding of the truth must be our aim; each +must strive to advance in that, to hold fast what he finds, and yet not +to grudge it to his neighbour. Similarly, in the life of action: we must +not love honour in this life, nor power; for _all things are vain under +the sun_. But we must love the toil itself which comes to us together +with such honour or power if it be rightly and profitably used--as +tending, that is, to the salvation under God of those under us.... Love +of truth, then, seeks for a holy leisure; the calls of charity compel us +to undertake the labours of justice. If no one lays on us this burden, +then must we devote our leisure to the search after and the study of the +truth; but if such burden be imposed upon us, we must shoulder it at the +call of charity; yet withal we must not wholly abandon the delights of +the truth, lest while the latter's sweetness is withdrawn from us, the +burden we have taken up overwhelm us (_Of the City of God_, xix. 19). + + "O expectation of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of + trouble: why wilt Thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a + wayfaring man turning in to lodge? Why wilt Thou be as a + wandering man, as a mighty man that cannot save? but Thou, O + Lord, art among us, and Thy Name is called upon us, forsake us + not."[337] + + +III + +Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? + +By "life" is here meant any work to which a man principally devotes +himself. Hence if there were many acts or works in the contemplative +life, it would not be one life, but several. + +It must be understood that we are speaking of the contemplative life as +it concerns man. And between men and Angels there is, as S. Denis +says,[338] this difference--that whereas an Angel knows the truth by one +simple act of intelligence, man, on the contrary, only arrives at a +knowledge of the simple truth by arguing from many premises. Hence the +contemplative life has only a single act in which it finds its final +perfection--namely, the contemplation of the truth--and from this one +act it derives its oneness. But at the same time it has many acts by +means of which it arrives at this final act. Of these various acts, some +are concerned with the establishment of principles from which the mind +proceeds to the contemplation of truth; others, again, are concerned +with deducing from these principles that truth the knowledge of which is +sought. But the ultimate act, the complement of the foregoing, is the +contemplation of truth. + +Some, however, maintain that many acts pertain to the contemplative +life, thus: + +1. Richard of S. Victor[339] distinguishes between contemplation, +meditation, and thought. But these all seem to belong to the +contemplative life. + + But _thought_, according to Richard of S. Victor, seems to + signify the consideration of many things from which a man + intends to gather some single truth. Consequently, under the + term _thought_ may be comprised perceptions by the senses, + whereby we know certain effects--imaginations, too, as well as + investigation of different phenomena by the reason; in a word, + all those things which conduce to a knowledge of the truth we + are in search of. At the same time, according to S. + Augustine,[340] every operation of the intellect may be termed + _thought_. _Meditation_, again, seems to refer to the process of + reasoning from principles which have to do with the truth we + desire to contemplate. And _contemplation_, according to S. + Bernard,[341] means the same thing, although, according to the + Philosopher,[342] every operation of the intellect may be termed + "consideration." But _contemplation_ is concerned with the + simple dwelling upon the truth itself. Hence Richard of S. + Victor says[343]: "_Contemplation_ is the soul's clear, free, + and attentive dwelling upon the truth to be perceived; + _meditation_ is the outlook of the soul occupied in searching + for the truth; _thought _ is the soul's glance, ever prone to + distraction." + +2. Further, the Apostle says: _But we all, beholding the glory of the +Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to +glory._[344] But this refers to the contemplative life; therefore, +besides the three things already mentioned--namely, contemplation, +meditation and thought,--_speculation_, too, enters into the +contemplative life. + + But _speculation_, as S. Augustine's Gloss has it,[345] "is + derived from _speculum_, a 'mirror,' not from _specula_, a + 'watch-tower.'" To see a thing in a mirror, however, is to see a + cause by an effect in which its likeness is shown; thus + _speculation_ seems reducible to _meditation_. + +3. Again, S. Bernard says[346]: "The first and chiefest contemplation is +the marvelling at God's Majesty." But to "marvel" is, according to S. +John Damascene,[347] a species of fear. Consequently it seems that many +acts belong to contemplation. + + But wonderment is a species of fear arising from our learning + something which it is beyond our powers to understand. Hence + wonderment is an act subsequent to the contemplation of sublime + truth, whereas contemplation reaches its goal in the affective + powers. + +4. Lastly, prayer, reading, and meditation seem to belong to the +contemplative life. Devout hearing, too, belongs to it, for it is said +of Mary, who is the type of the contemplative life, that _sitting at the +Lord's feet, she heard His word_.[348] + + Man, however, arrives at the knowledge of truth in two ways: + first of all, by receiving things from others; as regards, then, + the things a man receives from God: prayer is necessary, + according to the words: _I called upon God, and the spirit of + Wisdom came upon me_.[349] And as for the things he receives + from men: hearing is necessary if he receive them from one who + speaks, reading is necessary if it be question of what is handed + down in Holy Scripture. And secondly, a man arrives at the + knowledge of truth by his own personal study, and for this is + required meditation. + + + "Uni trinoque Domino + Sit sempiterna gloria! + Qui vitam sine termino + Nobis donet in Patria!" + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ As long, then, as _we are absent from the Lord, we walk +by faith and not by sight_,[350] whence it is said: _The just man shall +live in his faith._[351] And this is our justice as long as we are on +our pilgrimage--namely, that here now by the uprightness and perfection +with which we walk we strive after that perfection and fulness of +justice where, in all the glory of its beauty, will be full and perfect +charity. Here we chastise our body and bring it into subjection; here we +give alms by conferring benefits and forgiving offences against +ourselves; and we do this with joy and from the heart, and are ever +instant in prayer; and all this we do in the light of that sound +doctrine by which is built up right faith, solid hope, and pure charity. +This, then, is our present justice whereby we run hungering and +thirsting after the perfection and fulness of justice, so that hereafter +we may be filled therewith (_De Perfectione justitiae Hominis_, viii. +18). + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ You know, then, I think, not only how you ought to pray, +but what you ought to pray for; and this not because I teach you, but +because He teaches you Who has deigned to teach us all. The Life of +Beatitude is what we have to seek; this we have to ask for from the Lord +God. And what Beatitude means is, with many, a source of much dispute. +But why should we appeal to the many and their many opinions? For +pithily and truly it is said in God's Scripture: _Happy is that people +whose God is the Lord!_[352] Oh, that we may be counted amongst _that +people_! Oh, that we may be enabled to contemplate Him, and may come one +day to live with Him unendingly! _The end of the commandment is charity +from a pure heart and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith._[353] +And among these three, hope stands for _a good conscience_. Faith, +therefore, with hope and charity, leads to God the man who prays--that +is, the man who believes, who hopes, and who desires, and who in the +_Lord's Prayer_ meditates what he should ask from the Lord (_Ep._ cxxx. +_ad probam_). + + "For my heart hath been inflamed, and my reins have been + changed: and I am brought to nothing, and I knew not. I am + become as a beast before Thee; and I am always with Thee. Thou + hast held me by my right hand; and by Thy will Thou hast + conducted me; and with glory Thou hast received me. For what + have I in Heaven? and besides Thee what do I desire upon earth? + For Thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away; Thou art the + God of my heart; and the God that is my portion for ever. For + behold they that go far from Thee shall perish; Thou hast + destroyed all them that are disloyal to Thee. But it is good for + me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God: that I + may declare all Thy praises, in the gates of the daughter of + Sion."[354] + + +IV + +Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, +or in the Consideration of other Truths as well? + +S. Gregory says[355]: "In contemplation it is the Principle--namely, +God--which is sought." + +A thing may come under the contemplative life in two ways: either +primarily, or secondarily--that is, dispositively. Now primarily the +contemplation of Divine Truth belongs to the contemplative life, since +such contemplation is the goal of all human life. Hence S. Augustine +says[356]: "The contemplation of God is promised to us as the goal of +all our acts and the eternal consummation of all our joys." And this +will be perfect in the future life when we shall see God face to +face--when, consequently, it will render us perfectly blessed. But in +our present state the contemplation of Divine Truth belongs to us only +imperfectly--namely, _through a glass and in a dark manner_; it causes +in us now a certain commencement of beatitude, which begins here, to be +continued in the future. Hence even the Philosopher[357] makes the +ultimate happiness of man consist in the contemplation of the highest +intelligible truths. + +But since we are led to a contemplation of God by the consideration of +His Divine works--_The invisible things of God ... are clearly seen, +being understood by the things that are made_[358]--it follows also that +the contemplation of the Divine works belongs in a secondary sense to +the contemplative life--according, namely, as by it we are led to the +knowledge of God. For this reason S. Augustine says[359]: "In the study +of created things we must not exercise a mere idle and passing +curiosity, but must make them a stepping-stone to things that are +immortal and that abide for ever." + +Thus from what we have said it is clear that four things belong, and +that in a certain sequence, to the contemplative life: firstly, the +moral virtues; secondly, other acts apart from that of contemplation; +thirdly, the contemplation of the Divine works; and fourthly--and this +is the crown of them all--the actual contemplation of the Divine Truth. + +Some, however, say that the contemplative life is not merely confined to +the contemplation of God but is extended to the consideration of any +truth whatsoever, thus: + +1. In Ps. cxxxviii. 14 we read: _Wonderful are Thy works! My soul +knoweth right well!_ But the knowledge of the works of God is derived +from a certain contemplation of the truth. Whence it would seem that it +belongs to the contemplative life to contemplate not only the Divine +Truth, but also any other truth we please. + + But David sought the knowledge of God's works that he might + thereby be led to God Himself, as he says elsewhere: _I + meditated on all Thy works, I mused upon the works of Thy hands; + I stretched forth my hands to Thee._[360] + +2. Again, S. Bernard says[361]: "The first point in contemplation is to +marvel at God's majesty; the second, at His judgments; the third, at His +benefits; the fourth, at His promises." But of these only the first +comes under the Divine Truth--the rest are effects of it. + + But from the consideration of the Divine judgments a man is led + to the contemplation of the Divine justice; and from a + consideration of the Divine benefits and promises a man is led + to a knowledge of the Divine mercy and goodness, as it were by + effects either already shown or to be shown. + +3. Once more, Richard of S. Victor[362] distinguishes six kinds of +contemplation; the first is according to the imagination simply, when, +namely, we consider corporeal things; the second is in the imagination +directed by the reason, as when we consider the harmony and arrangement +of the things of the senses; the third is in the reason, but based on +the imagination, as when by the consideration of visible things we are +uplifted to the invisible; the fourth is in the reason working on the +things of the reason, as when the soul occupies itself with invisible +things unknown to the imagination; the fifth is above the reason, but +not beyond its grasp, when, for instance, we know by Divine Revelation +things which cannot be comprehended by the human reason; and the sixth +is above the reason and beyond its grasp, as when by Divine illumination +we know things which are apparently repugnant to human reason--for +example, the things we are told concerning the mystery of the Holy +Trinity. + +And only the last named of these seems to come under Divine Truth; +consequently contemplation of the truth is not limited to Divine Truth, +but extends also to those truths which we consider in created things. + + But by these six are signified the steps by which we ascend + through created things to the contemplation of God. For in the + first we have the perception of the things of sense; in the + second, the progress from the things of sense to the things of + the intellect; in the third judgment upon the things of sense + according to intellectual principles; in the fourth, the simple + consideration of intellectual truths at which we have arrived by + means of the things of sense; in the fifth, the contemplation of + intellectual truths to which we could not attain by the things + of sense, but which can be grasped by reason; in the sixth, the + contemplation of intellectual truths such as the reason can + neither find nor grasp--truths, namely, which belong to the + sublime contemplation of the Divine Truth, in which + contemplation is finally perfected. + +4. Lastly, in the contemplative life the contemplation of truth is +sought as being man's perfection. But any truth whatsoever is a +perfection of the human intellect. Consequently the contemplative life +consists in the contemplation of any kind of truth whatsoever. + + But the ultimate perfection of the human intellect is the Divine + Truth; other truths perfect the intellect by way of preparation + for the Divine Truth. + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ Martha, Martha, thou hast chosen a good part, but Mary +hath chosen the better. Yours is good--for it is good to busy oneself +with waiting on the Saints--but hers is better. What you have chosen +will pass away at length. You minister to the hungry, you minister to +the thirsty, you make the beds for them that would sleep, you find +house-room for them that need it--but all these things will pass away! +For there will come a time when none will hunger, when none will thirst, +when none will sleep. And then thy care will be taken from thee. But +Mary hath chosen the better part, which shall never be taken from her! +It shall not be taken away, for she chose to live the life of +contemplation, she chose to live by the Word. What kind of life will +that be that flows from the Word without spoken word? Here on earth she +drew life from the Word, but through the medium of the spoken word. Then +will be life, from the Word indeed, but with no spoken word. For the +Word Himself is life. _We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He +is_[363] (_Sermon_, CLXIX., xiv. 17). + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek +after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my +life!_[364] + +Whosoever asks for This One Thing and seeks after It prays with sure and +certain confidence; nor need he fear lest, when he shall have obtained +It, he shall find It disagreeable to him, for without It naught that he +prays for as he ought, and obtains, is of any avail. For this is the +one, true, and only Blessed Life--to contemplate the delights of the +Lord for eternity, in immortality and incorruptibility of body as well +as soul. For the sake of This One Thing are all other things to be +sought after, and only thus our petitions for them are rendered not +unbecoming. Whosoever hath this One Thing will have all that he wishes +for, nor indeed will he be able to wish there for anything which is +unfitting. For there is the Fountain of Life, for which we must now +thirst in prayer as long as we live by hope--as long, too, as we see not +What we hope for. For we dwell 'neath the shadow of His wings before +Whom is all our desire, that so we _may be inebriated with the plenty +of_ His _house, and may drink of the torrent of_ His _pleasure: for +with_ Him _is the Fountain of Life, and in_ His _light we shall see +light._[365] Then shall our desire be sated with all good things, then +will there be naught for us to seek for with groanings, but only What we +shall cling to with joy. Yet none the less, since this is _the peace +that surpasseth all understanding_, even when praying for it _we know +not what we should pray for as we ought_[366] (_Ep._ cxxx. _ad probam_). + + "He shall cast death down headlong for ever: and the Lord God + shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of His + people He shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord + hath spoken it. And they shall say in that day: Lo, this is our + God, we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the + Lord, we have patiently waited for Him, we shall rejoice and be + joyful in His salvation."[367] + + +V + +Can the Contemplative Life attain, according to the State of this +Present Life, to the Contemplation of the Divine Essence? + +S. Gregory says[368]: "As long as we live in this mortal flesh none of +us can make such progress in the virtue of contemplation as to fix his +mind's gaze on that Infinite Light." + +S. Augustine also says[369]: "No one who looks on God lives with that +life with which we mortals live in the bodily senses; but unless he be +in some sort dead to this life, whether as having wholly departed from +the body, or as rapt away from the bodily senses, he is not uplifted to +that vision." + +A man, then, can be "in this life" in two ways: he can be in it +actually--that is, as actually using his bodily senses--and when he is +thus "in the body" no contemplation such as belongs to this present life +can attain to the vision of the Essence of God; or a man may be "in this +life" potentially, and not actually; that is, his soul may be joined to +his body as its informing principle, but in such fashion that it neither +makes use of the bodily senses nor even of the imagination, and this is +what takes place when a man is rapt in ecstasy: in this sense +contemplation such as belongs to this life can attain to the vision of +the Divine Essence. + +Consequently the highest degree of contemplation which is compatible +with the present life is that which S. Paul had when he was rapt in +ecstasy and stood midway between the state of this present life and the +next. + +Some, however, say that the contemplative life can, even according to +our present state of life, attain to the vision of the Divine Essence, +thus: + +1. Jacob said: _I have seen God face to face, and my soul hath been +saved._[370] But the vision of the face of God is the vision of the +Divine Essence. Whence it would seem that a man may by contemplation +actually reach, even during this present life, to the vision of the +Essence of God. + + But S. Denis says[371]: "If anyone saw God and understood what + he saw, then it was not God he saw, but something belonging to + Him." And similarly S. Gregory says[372]: "Almighty God is never + seen in His Glory, but the soul gazes at something derived from + It, and thus refreshed, makes advance, and so ultimately arrives + at the glory of vision." Hence when Jacob said, _I saw God face + to face_, we are not to understand that he saw the Essence of + God, but that he saw some appearance--that is, some imaginary + appearance--in which God spoke to him; or, as the Gloss of S. + Gregory[373] has it, "Since we know people by the face, Jacob + called knowledge of God His face." + +2. Further, S. Gregory says[374]: "Contemplative men turn back within +upon themselves in that they search into spiritual things, and do not +carry with them the shadows of things corporeal; or if perchance they +touch them, they drive them away with discreet hands. But when they +would look upon the Infinite Light, they put aside all images which +limit It, and in striving to arrive at a height superior to themselves, +they become conquerors of their nature." But a man is only withheld from +the vision of the Divine Essence, which is Infinite Light, by the +necessity he is under of turning to corporeal images. From this it would +seem that contemplation can, even in this present life, arrive at the +sight of the Infinite Essential Light. + + But human contemplation according to this present state cannot + exist without recourse to the imagination, for it is in + accordance with man's nature that he should see intelligible + forms through the medium of pictures in the imagination, as also + the Philosopher teaches.[375] Yet intellectual knowledge does + not consist in such images, rather does the intellect + contemplate in them the purity of intelligible truth; and this + is not merely the case in natural knowledge, but also in those + things which we know by revelation. For S. Denis says: "The + Divine Light manifests to us the Angelic hierarchies by means of + symbolical figures by force of which we are restored to the + simple ray," that is, to the simple knowledge of intelligible + truth. It is thus that we ought to understand S. Gregory's words + when he says: "In contemplation men do not carry with them the + shadows of things corporeal," for their contemplation does not + abide in these things but rather in the consideration of + intelligible truth. + +3. Lastly, S. Gregory says[376]: "To the soul that looks upon its +Creator all created things are but narrow. Consequently the man of +God--namely, the Blessed Benedict--who saw in a tower a fiery globe and +the Angels mounting up to Heaven, was doubtless only able to see these +things by the light of God." But the Blessed Benedict was then still in +this life. Consequently contemplation, even in this present life, can +attain to the vision of the Essence of God. + + But we are not to understand from S. Gregory's words that the + Blessed Benedict saw the Essence of God in that vision; S. + Gregory wishes to show that since "to him who looks upon his + Creator all created things are but as nothing," it follows that + certain things can easily be seen by the illumination afforded + by the Divine Light. Hence he adds: "For, however little of the + Creator's Light he sees, all created things become of small + account." + + + Veni Sancte Spiritus + Et emitte coelitus + Lucis Tuae radium! + + O Lux Beatissima + Reple cordis intima + Tuorum fidelium! + + +_S. Augustine:_ And thus, the remaining burden of this mortal life being +laid aside at death, man's happiness will, in God's own time, be +perfected from every point of view--that happiness which is begun in +this life, and to the attainment and securing of which at some future +time our every effort must now tend (_Of the Sermon on the Mount_, II., +ix. 35). + + "The old error is passed away; Thou wilt keep peace: peace, + because we have hoped in Thee. You have hoped in the Lord for + evermore, in the Lord God mighty for ever. And in the way of Thy + judgments, O Lord, we have patiently waited for Thee: Thy Name, + and Thy remembrance are the desire of the soul. My soul hath + desired Thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in + the morning early I will watch to Thee."[377] + + +VI + +Is the Act of Contemplation Rightly Distinguished According to the Three +Kinds of Motion--Circular, Direct, and Oblique? + +S. Denis the Areopagite[378] does so distinguish the acts of +contemplation. + +The operation of the intellect in which contemplation essentially +consists is termed "motion" in the sense that motion is the act of a +perfect thing, according to the Philosopher.[379] And since we arrive at +a knowledge of intelligible things through the medium of the things of +sense, and the operations of the senses do not take place without +motion, it follows that the operations also of the intellect are +correctly described as a species of motion, and are differentiated +according to the analogy of divers motions. But the more perfect and the +chiefest of bodily motions are local motions, as is proved by the +Philosopher.[380] Consequently the chief intellectual motions are +described according to the analogy of these latter. + +Now, there are three species of local motion: one is circular, according +as a thing is moved uniformly about the same centre; another is direct, +according as a thing proceeds from one point to another; and a third is +oblique, compounded as it were from the two foregoing. + +Hence in intelligible operations, that which simply has uniformity is +attributed to circular motion; that intellectual motion by which a man +proceeds from one thing to another is attributed to direct motion; while +that intellectual operation which has a certain uniformity combined with +progress towards different points, is attributed to oblique motion. + +All, however, do not agree with this division, thus: + +1. Contemplation means a state of repose, as is said in _Wisdom_[381]: +_When I go into my house I shall repose myself with Her._ And motion is +opposed to repose. Consequently the operations of the contemplative life +cannot be designated according to these different species of motion. + + But whereas external bodily movements are opposed to that repose + of contemplation which is understood to be rest from external + occupations, the motion of intellectual operations belongs + precisely to the repose of contemplation. + +2. Again, the action of the contemplative life pertains to the intellect +wherein man is at one with the Angels. But S. Denis does not apply these +motions to the Angels in the same way as he does to the soul; for he +says that the _circular_ motion of the Angels "corresponds to the +illumination of the beautiful and the good." But of the _circular_ +motion of the soul he gives several definitions, of which the first is +"the return of the soul upon itself as opposed to external things"; the +second is "a certain wrapping together of the powers of the soul whereby +it is freed from error and from external occupation"; and the third is +"the union of the soul with things superior to it." Similarly, he speaks +in different terms of the _direct_ motion of the soul as compared with +that of the Angels. For he says that the _direct_ motion of an Angel is +"according as he proceeds to the care of the things subject to him"; +while the _direct_ motion of the soul is made to consist in two things: +first of all "that it proceeds to those things which are around it"; +secondly, that "from external things it is uplifted to simple +contemplation." And lastly, he explains the _oblique_ motion differently +in each case. For he makes the _oblique_ motion of the Angels consist in +this that, "while providing for those that have less than themselves, +they remain in the same attitude towards God"; but the _oblique_ motion +of the soul he explains as meaning that "the soul is illumined by Divine +knowledge rationally and diffusely." + +Consequently it does not appear that the operations of contemplation are +fittingly distinguished according to the aforesaid species of motion. + + But while man's intellect is generally the same with that of the + Angels, the intellectual powers of the latter are far higher + than in man. It was therefore necessary to assign the aforesaid + motions to human souls and to the Angels in different fashion in + proportion as their intellectual powers are not uniform. For the + Angelic intellect has uniform knowledge in two respects: + firstly, because the Angels do not acquire intelligible truth + from the variety of compound things; and secondly, because they + do not understand intelligible truth discursively, but by simple + intuition. Whereas the intellect of the human soul, on the + contrary, acquires intelligible truth from the things of sense, + and understands it by the discursive action of the reason. + + Hence S. Denis assigns to the Angels circular motion in that + they uniformly and unceasingly, without beginning or end, gaze + upon God; just as circular motion, which has neither beginning + nor end, is uniformly maintained round the same central point. + But in the case of the human soul, its twofold lack of + uniformity must be removed before it can attain to the + above-mentioned uniformity. For there must first be removed that + lack of uniformity which arises from the diversity of external + things: that is, the soul must quit external things. And this S. + Denis expresses first of all in his definition of the circular + motion of the soul when he speaks of "the return of the soul + upon itself as opposed to external things." And there must be + removed in the second place that second lack of uniformity which + arises from the discursive action of the reason. And this takes + place when all the operations of the soul are reduced to the + simple contemplation of intelligible truth. This forms the + second part of S. Denis's definition of this circular + motion--namely, when he speaks of the necessity of "a certain + wrapping together of the powers of the soul," with the result + that, when discursive action thus ceases, the soul's gaze is + fixed on the contemplation of the one simple truth. And in this + operation of the soul there is no room for error, just as there + is no room for error in our understanding of first principles + which we know by simple intuition. + + Then, when these first two steps have been taken, S. Denis puts + in the third place that uniformity, like to that of the Angels, + by which the soul, laying aside all else, persists in the simple + contemplation of God. And this he expresses when he says: "Then, + as now made uniform, it, as a whole"--that is, as conformed (to + God)--"is, with all its powers unified, led by the hand to the + Beautiful and the Good." + + But the _direct_ motion in the Angels cannot be understood in + the sense that, by considering, they proceed from one point to + another; but solely according to the order of their providential + care for others--according, namely, as the superior Angels + illumine the inferior through those who stand between. And this + is what S. Denis means when he says that the _direct_ motion of + an Angel is "according as he proceeds to the care of the things + subject to him, taking in his course all things that are direct" + following--that is, those things which are disposed in direct + order. But to the human soul S. Denis assigns _direct_ motion in + the sense that it proceeds from the exterior things of sense to + the knowledge of intelligible things. + + And he assigns _oblique_ motion to the Angels--a motion, that + is, compounded of the _direct_ and the _circular_--inasmuch as + an Angel, according to his contemplation of God, provides for + those inferior to him. To the human soul, on the contrary, he + assigns this same _oblique_ motion, similarly compounded of the + _direct_ and the _circular_ motions, inasmuch as in its + reasonings it makes use of the Divine illuminations. + +3. Lastly, Richard of S. Victor[382] gives many other and different +kinds of motion. For, following the analogy of the birds of the air, he +says of these latter that "some at one time ascend on high, at another +swoop down to earth, and they do this again and again; others turn now +to the right, now to the left, and this repeatedly; others go in +advance, others fall behind; some sail round and round in circles, now +narrower and now wider; while others again remain almost immovably +suspended in one place." From all which it would seem that there are not +merely three movements in contemplation. + + But all these diversities of motion which are expressed by, up + and down, to right and left, backwards and forwards, and in + varying circles, are reducible either to _direct_ or to + _oblique_ motion, for they all signify the discursive action of + the reason. For if this discursive action be from the genus to + the species or from the whole to the part, it will be, as + Richard of S. Victor himself explains, motion upwards and + downwards. If, again, it means argumentation from one thing to + its opposite, it will come under motion to right and left. Or if + it be deduction from cause to effect, then it will be motion + backwards and forwards. And finally, if it mean arguing from the + accidents which surround a thing, whether nearly or remotely, it + will be circuitous motion. But the discursive action of the + reason arguing from the things of sense to intelligible things + according to the orderly progress of the natural reason, belongs + to _direct_ motion. When, however, it arises from Divine + illuminations, it comes under _oblique_ motion, as we have + already said (in the reply to the second argument). Lastly, only + the immobility which he mentions will come under _circular_ + motion. + + Whence it appears that S. Denis has quite sufficiently, and with + exceeding subtlety, described the movements of contemplation. + + "For behold my witness is in Heaven, and He that knoweth my + conscience is on high. For behold short years pass away, and I + am walking in a path by which I shall not return."[383] + + +VII + +Has Contemplation its Joys? + +In Wisdom viii. 16 we read: _Her conversation hath no bitterness, nor +Her company any tediousness, but joy and gladness._ And S. Gregory +says[384]: "The contemplative life means a truly lovable sweetness." + +There are two sources of pleasure in contemplation; for, firstly, there +is the very act of contemplating, and everyone finds a certain pleasure +in the performance of acts which are appropriate to his nature or to his +habits. And the contemplation of truth is natural to man as a rational +animal; hence it is that "all men naturally desire to know," and +consequently find a pleasure in the knowledge of truth. And this +pleasure is enhanced according as a man has habits of wisdom and +knowledge which enable him to indulge in contemplation without +difficulty. + +Secondly, contemplation is pleasurable owing to the object which we +contemplate, as when a man looks at something which he loves. And this +holds good of even bodily vision, for not only is the mere exercise of +the visual faculties pleasurable, but the seeing people whom we love is +pleasurable. + +Since, then, the contemplative life especially consists in the +contemplation of God, to which contemplation we are moved by charity, it +follows that the contemplative life is not merely pleasurable by reason +of the simple act of contemplating, but also by reason of Divine Love +Itself. And in both these respects the delights of contemplation exceed +all other human delights. For on the one hand spiritual delights are +superior to carnal delights; and on the other hand, the love of Divine +charity wherewith we love God exceeds all other love; whence it is said +in the Psalm: _Taste and see that the Lord is sweet._[385] + +Some maintain, however, that contemplation is not pleasurable, thus: + +1. Pleasure belongs to the appetitive powers, whereas contemplation is +mainly in the intellect. + + But while the contemplative life mainly consists in the + intellect, it derives its principle from the affective powers, + since a man is moved to contemplation by love of God. And since + the end corresponds to the principle, it follows that the goal + and term of the contemplative life is in the affective powers, + in the sense, namely, that a man finds a pleasure in the sight + of a thing which he loves, and this very pleasure stirs up in + him a yet greater love. Hence S. Gregory says[386]: "When a man + sees one whom he loves his love is yet more enkindled." And in + this lies the full perfection of the contemplative life: that + the Divine Truth should not only be seen but loved. + +2. Again, strife and contention hinder delight. But in contemplation +there is strife and contention, for S. Gregory says[387]: "The soul, +when it strives after the contemplation of God, finds itself engaged in +a species of combat; at one time it seems to prevail, for by +understanding and by feeling it tastes somewhat of the Infinite Light; +at other times it is overwhelmed, for when it has tasted it faints." + + It is true indeed that contest and strife arising from the + opposition presented by external things prevent us from finding + pleasure in those same things. For no man finds a pleasure in + the things against which he fights. But he does find a pleasure, + other things being equal, in the actual attainment of a thing + for which he has striven; thus S. Augustine says[388]: "The + greater the danger in the battle, the greater the joy in the + triumph." And in contemplation the strife and the combat do not + arise from any opposition on the part of the truth which we + contemplate, but from our deficient understanding and from the + corruptible nature of our bodies which ever draw us down to + things beneath us: _The corruptible body is a load upon the + soul, and the earthly habitation presseth down the mind that + museth upon many things._[389] Hence it is that when a man + attains to the contemplation of truth he loves it still more + ardently; but at the same time he more than ever hates his own + defects and the sluggishness of his corruptible body, so that + with the Apostle he cries out: _Unhappy man that I am! Who shall + deliver me from the body of this death?_[390] Hence, too, S. + Gregory says: "When God is known by our desires and our + understanding, He causes all pleasures of the flesh to wither up + within us."[391] + +3. But again, delight follows upon a perfect work.[392] But +contemplation on this earth is imperfect, according to the words of the +Apostle: _We see now through a glass in a dark manner._[393] Hence it +would seem that the contemplative life does not afford delight. + + It is indeed true that the contemplation of God during this life + is imperfect compared with our contemplation of Him in our + eternal home; and in the same way it is true that the delights + of contemplation here on earth are imperfect compared with the + delights of contemplation in that home, of which latter joys the + Psalmist says: _Thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of Thy + pleasure._[394] Yet, none the less, the contemplation of Divine + things here on earth is, although imperfect, far more perfect + than any other subject of contemplation howsoever perfect it may + be, and this by reason of the excellence of what we contemplate. + Whence the Philosopher says[395]: "It may indeed be the case + that with regard to such noble existences and Divine substances + we have to be content with insignificant theories, yet even + though we but barely touch upon them, none the less so ennobling + is such knowledge that it affords us greater delight than any + other which is accessible to us." Hence, too, S. Gregory says: + "The contemplative life has its most desirable sweetness which + uplifts the soul above itself, opens the way to heavenly things, + and makes spiritual things plain to the eyes of the soul." + +4. Lastly, bodily injuries are a hindrance to delight. But contemplation +is productive of bodily injuries, for we read in Genesis[396] that +Jacob, after saying _I have seen God face to face, ... halted on his +foot ... because He touched the sinew of his thigh and it shrank_. +Whence it would seem that the contemplative life is not pleasurable. + + But after that contemplation Jacob halted on one foot because, + as S. Gregory says, "it must needs be that as the love of this + world grows weaker, so a man grows stronger in his love of God," + and consequently, "when once we have known the sweetness of God, + one of our feet remains sound while the other halts; for a man + who halts with one foot leans only on the one that is + sound."[397] + + + "Tu esto nostrum gaudium + Qui es futurus Praemium. + Sit nostra in Te gloria + Per cuncta semper saecula!" + + * * * * * + +_S. Gregory:_ Between the delights of the body and those of the heart +there is ever this difference that the delights of the body are wont, +when we have them not, to beget a keen yearning for them; but when we +have them and eat our fill, they straightway beget disgust for them, for +we are sated therewith. Spiritual joys, on the contrary, when we have +them not are a weariness, but when we have them we desire them still +more, and the more we feed upon them the more we hunger after them. In +the case of the former, the yearning for them was a pleasure, trial of +them brought disgust. In the case of the latter, in desire we held them +cheap, trial of them proved a source of pleasure. For spiritual joys +increase the soul's desire of them even while they sate us, for the more +their savour is perceived, the more we know what it is we ought eagerly +to love. Whence it comes to pass that when we have them not we cannot +love them, for their savour is unknown to us. For how can a man love +what he is ignorant of? Wherefore the Psalmist admonishes us, saying: _O +taste and see that the Lord is sweet!_[398] As though he would say to us +in plain terms: You know not His sweetness if ye have never tasted it; +touch, then, the Food of Life with the palate of your soul that so, +making proof of Its sweetness, ye may be able to love It. + +These joys man lost when he sinned in Paradise; he went out when he +closed his mouth to the Food of Eternal Sweetness. Whence we too, who +are born amidst the toils of this pilgrimage, come without relish to +this Food; we know not what we ought to desire, and the sickness of our +disgust grows the more the further our souls keep away from feeding upon +that Sweetness; and less and less does our soul desire those interior +joys the longer it has grown accustomed to do without them. We sicken, +then, by reason of our very disgust, and we are wearied by the +long-drawn sickness of our hunger (_Hom._ XXXVI., _On the Gospels_). + + +VIII + +Is the Contemplative Life lasting? + +The Lord said _Mary hath chosen the best part which shall not be taken +away from her_[399] because, as S. Gregory says: "Contemplation begins +here below that it may be perfected in our heavenly home." + +A thing may be termed "lasting" in two ways: from its very nature, or as +far as we are concerned. As far as its nature is concerned, the +contemplative life is lasting in two ways: for first of all it is +concerned with incorruptible and unchangeable things, and in the second +place there is nothing which is its contrary: for, as Aristotle +says[400]: "To the pleasure which is derived from thought there is no +contrary." + +And also as far as we are concerned the contemplative life is lasting; +and this both because it comes under the action of the incorruptible +portion of our soul--namely, our intellect--and so can last after this +life; and also because in the work of the contemplative life there is no +bodily toil, and we can consequently apply ourselves more continuously +to such work, as also the Philosopher remarks.[401] + +Some, however, argue that the contemplative life is not lasting, thus: + +1. The contemplative life essentially concerns the intellect. But all +the intellectual perfections of this life will be _made void_, as we +read: _Whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or +knowledge shall be destroyed._[402] + + But the fashion of contemplation here and in our Father's home + is not the same; and the contemplative life is said "to last" by + reason of charity, which is both its principle and its end; + wherefore S. Gregory says: "The contemplative life begins here + below that it may be perfected in our heavenly home, for the + fire of love which begins to burn here below, when it sees Him + Whom it loves, burns yet more strongly with love of Him." + +2. Again, men but taste the sweetness of contemplation here, snatching +at it, as it were, and in passing: whence S. Augustine says: "Thou +introducest me to a most unwonted affection within me, to an unspeakable +sweetness; yet I fall back again as though dragged down by a grievous +weight!"[403] And S. Gregory, expounding those words of Job, _When a +spirit passed before me_, says: "The mind does not long remain +steadfastly occupied with the sweetness of intimate contemplation, for +it is recalled to itself, stricken back by the immensity of that Light." +The contemplative life, then, is not lasting. + + It is true indeed that no action can remain long at the pitch of + its intensity. And the goal of contemplation is to attain to the + uniformity of Divine contemplation, as Denis the Areopagite + says.[404] Hence, although in this sense contemplation cannot + last long, yet it can last long as regards its other acts. + +3. Lastly, what is not natural to a man cannot be lasting. "But the +contemplative life," as the Philosopher says, "is beyond man."[405] + + But the Philosopher says that the contemplative life is "beyond + man" in the sense that it belongs to us according to what is + Divine in us--namely, our intellect; for our intellect is + incorruptible and impassible in itself, and consequently its + action can be more lasting. + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ This day sets before us the great mystery of our eternal +beatitude. For that life which this day signifies will not pass away as +to-day is to pass away. Wherefore, brethren, we exhort and beseech you +by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ by Whom our sins are forgiven, by +Him Who willed that His Blood should be our ransom, by Him Who has +deigned that we who are not deserving to be called His slaves should yet +be called His brethren--we beseech you that your entire aim, that which +gives you your very name of "Christian," and by reason of which you bear +His Name upon your foreheads and in your hearts, may be directed solely +to that life which we are to share with the Angels; that life where is +to be unending repose, everlasting joy, unfailing happiness, rest +without disturbance, joy without sadness, no death. What that life is +none can know save those who have made trial of it; and none can make +trial of it save those who have faith (_Sermon_, CCLIX., _On Low +Sunday_). + + "And thou shalt say in that day: I will give thanks to Thee, O + Lord, for Thou wast angry with me: Thy wrath is turned away, and + Thou hast comforted me. Behold, God is my Saviour. I will deal + confidently, and will not fear: because the Lord is my strength, + and my praise, and He is become my salvation. You shall draw + waters with joy out of the Saviour's fountains: And you shall + say in that day: Praise ye the Lord, and call upon His Name: + make His works known among the people: remember that His Name is + high. Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath done great things: shew + this forth in all the earth. Rejoice, and praise, O thou + habitation of Sion: for great is He that is in the midst of + thee, the holy One of Israel."[406] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[316] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 18. + +[317] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[318] _Metaphysics_, ii. 3. + +[319] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 18; and _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[320] _On Ezechiel, loc. cit._ + +[321] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[322] Isa. xxxiii. 13-17. + +[323] Ps. xli. 1-6. + +[324] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 18. + +[325] _Ethics_, II., iv. 3. + +[326] _Ibid._, X., viii. 1. + +[327] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[328] Rom. xiii. 10. + +[329] S. Matt. v. 8. + +[330] Heb. xii. 14. + +[331] Isa. xxxii. 17. + +[332] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[333] Gen. xxix. 17. + +[334] _De Officiis_, i. 43, 45, 46. + +[335] Wisd. viii. 2. + +[336] _Soliloquies_, i. 10. + +[337] Jer. xiv. 8, 9. + +[338] _Of the Divine Names_, vii. 2. + +[339] _On Contemplation_, i. 3 and 4. + +[340] _De Trinitate_, xiv. 7. + +[341] _De Consideratione_, ii. 2. + +[342] _De Anima_, II., i. 2. + +[343] _Loc. cit._, i. 4. + +[344] 2 Cor. iii. 18. + +[345] _De Trinitate_, xv. 8. + +[346] _De Consideratione_, v. 14. + +[347] _De Fide Orthodoxa_, ii. 15. + +[348] S. Luke x. 39. + +[349] Wisd. vii. 7. + +[350] 2 Cor. v. 6-7. + +[351] Hab. ii. 4. + +[352] Ps. cxliii. 15. + +[353] 1 Tim. i. 5. + +[354] Ps. lxxii. 21-28. + +[355] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 28. + +[356] _On the Trinity_, i. 8. + +[357] _Ethics_, X., vii. 2. + +[358] Rom. i. 20. + +[359] _De Vera Religione_, xxix. + +[360] Ps. cxlii. 5, 6. + +[361] _De Consideratione_, v. 14. + +[362] _Of Contemplation_, i. 6. + +[363] 1 John iii. 2. + +[364] Ps. xxvi. 4. + +[365] Ps. xxxv. 9, 10. + +[366] Phil. iv. 7; Rom. viii. 26. + +[367] Isa. xxv. 8, 9. + +[368] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[369] _De Genesi ad Litt._, xii. 27. + +[370] Gen. xxxii. 30. + +[371] _Epistola I., to Caius the Monk._ + +[372] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[373] The _Glossa Ordinaria_, taken from S. Gregory's _Moralia in Job_, +xxiv. 5. + +[374] _Moralia_, vi. 27. + +[375] _De Anima_, III., vii. 3. + +[376] _Dialogues_, ii. 35. + +[377] Isa. xxvi. 3, 4, 8, 9. + +[378] _Of the Divine Names_, IV., i. 7. + +[379] _De Anima_, III., vii. 1 and 2. + +[380] _Physica_, VIII., vii. 2. + +[381] viii. 16. + +[382] _Of Contemplation_, i. 5. + +[383] Job xvi. 20, 23. + +[384] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[385] Ps. xxxiii. 9. + +[386] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[387] _Ibid._ + +[388] _Conf._, viii. 3. + +[389] Wisd. ix. 15. + +[390] Rom. vii. 24. + +[391] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[392] _Ethics_, X., iv. 6. + +[393] 1 Cor. xiii, 12. + +[394] Ps. xxxv. 9. + +[395] _De Partibus Animalium_, i. 5. + +[396] xxxii. 30-32. + +[397] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[398] Ps. xxxiii. 9. + +[399] S. Luke x. 42. + +[400] _Topics_, I., xiii. 5. + +[401] _Ethics_, X., vii. 2. + +[402] 1 Cor. xiii. 8. + +[403] _Conf._, x. 40. + +[404] _Of the Divine Names_, IV., i. 7; and _Of the Heavenly Hierarchy_, +iii. + +[405] _Ethics_, X., vii. 8. + +[406] Isa. xii. 1-6. + + + + +QUESTION CLXXXI + +OF THE ACTIVE LIFE + + I. Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the Active Life? + II. Does Prudence pertain to the Active Life? +III. Does Teaching belong to the Active or to the Contemplative + Life? + IV. Does the Active Life continue after this Life? + + +I + +Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the Active Life? + +S. Isidore says[407]: "In the active life all the vices are first of all +to be removed by the practice of good works, so that in the +contemplative life a man may, with now purified mental gaze, pass to the +contemplation of the Divine Light." But all the vices can only be +removed by the acts of the moral virtues. Consequently the acts of the +moral virtues belong to the active life. + +As we have said already,[408] the active and the contemplative lives are +distinguished by the different occupations of men who are aiming at +different ends, one being the consideration of Truth--the goal of the +contemplative life; the other external works with which the active life +is occupied. But it is clear that the moral virtues are not especially +concerned with the contemplation of truth but with action; thus the +Philosopher says[409]: "For virtue, knowledge is of little or no avail." +It is therefore manifest that the moral virtues essentially belong to +the active life; and in accordance with this the Philosopher[410] refers +the moral virtues to active happiness. + +Some, however, maintain that all the acts of the moral virtues do not +belong to the active life, thus: + +1. The active life seems to consist solely in those things which have to +do with our neighbour; for S. Gregory says[411]: "The active life means +breaking bread to the hungry;" and at the close, after enumerating many +things which have to do with our neighbour, he adds: "And to provide for +each according as they have need." But not by all the acts of the moral +virtues are we brought into contact with others, but only by justice and +its divisions. Consequently all the acts of the moral virtues do not +belong to the active life. + + But the chief of the moral virtues is justice, and by it a man + is brought into contact with his neighbour, as the Philosopher + proves.[412] We describe, then, the active life by those things + by means of which we are brought into contact with our + neighbour; yet we do not thereby mean that the active life + consists solely in these things, but chiefly in them. + +2. Again, S. Gregory says[413]: "By Lia, who was blear-eyed but +fruitful, is signified the active life which sees less clearly, since +occupied with works; but when, now by word, now by example, it arouses +its neighbour to imitation, it brings forth many children in good +works." But all this seems rather to come under charity, by which we +love our neighbour, than under the moral virtues. Consequently the acts +of the moral virtues seem not to belong to the active life. + + But a man can, by acts of all the moral virtues, lead his + neighbour to good works by his example; and this S. Gregory here + attributes to the active life. + +3. Lastly, the moral virtues dispose us to the contemplative life. But +disposition to a thing and the perfect attainment of that thing come +under the same head. Consequently the moral virtues do not belong to the +active life. + + But just as a virtue which is directed towards the end of + another virtue passes over, in some sort, into the species of + that latter virtue, so also when a man uses those things which + belong to the active life precisely as disposing him to + contemplation, then those things which he so uses are comprised + under the contemplative life. But for those who devote + themselves to the works of the moral virtues as being good in + themselves and not as dispositive towards the contemplative + life, the moral virtues belong to the active life. Although at + the same time it might be said that the active life is a + disposition to the contemplative life. + + "O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that + hath peace in his possessions, to a man that is at rest, and + whose ways are prosperous in all things, and that is yet able to + take meat! O death, thy sentence is welcome to the man that is + in need, and to him whose strength faileth, who is in a decrepit + age, and that is in care about all things, and to the + distrustful that loseth patience! Fear not the sentence of + death. Remember what things have been before thee, and what + shall come after thee: this sentence is from the Lord upon all + flesh. And what shall come upon thee by the good pleasure of the + Most High whether ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years."[414] + + +II + +Does Prudence pertain to the Active Life? + +The Philosopher says[415] that prudence pertains to active happiness, +and to this pertain the moral virtues. + +As we have said above, when one thing is directed towards the attainment +of another thing as its end, it--and this especially holds good in +morals--is, so to speak, drawn into the species of that towards which it +is thus directed, thus: "He who commits adultery in order to steal" says +the Philosopher,[416] "is rather a thief than an adulterer." Now it is +clear that that knowledge which is prudence is directed to the acts of +the moral virtues as its end, for prudence is "the right mode of +procedure in our actions;"[417] hence, too, the ends of the moral +virtues are the principles of prudence, as the Philosopher also says in +the same work.[418] In the same way, then, as we said above that in the +case of a man who directs them to the repose of contemplation, the moral +virtues pertain to the contemplative life, so also the knowledge which +is prudence, and which is by its very nature directed to the operations +of the moral virtues, directly pertains to the active life--that is, of +course, on the supposition that prudence is understood in the strict +sense in which the Philosopher speaks of it. + +If, however, prudence be understood in a broad sense--namely, as +embracing all kinds of human knowledge--then prudence pertains, at least +in certain of its aspects, to the contemplative life; thus Cicero +says[419]: "The man who can see a truth the most clearly and quickly, +and explain the reason of it, is rightly regarded as most prudent and +most wise." + +But some maintain that prudence does not pertain to the active life, +thus: + +1. Just as the contemplative life pertains to the cognoscitive powers, +so does the active life pertain to the appetitive powers. But prudence +does not pertain to the appetitive powers but rather to the +cognoscitive. Consequently it does not pertain to the active life. + + But moral acts derive their character from the end towards which + they are directed; consequently to the contemplative life + belongs that kind of knowledge which makes its end consist in + the very knowledge of truth. But the knowledge which is + prudence, and which is rather directed to the acts of the + appetitive powers, pertains to the active life. + +2. Again, S. Gregory says[420] "The active life, occupied as it is with +works, sees less clearly," and hence is typified by Lia, who was +blear-eyed. But prudence demands clear vision, so that a man may judge +what is to be done. Whence it would seem that prudence does not pertain +to the active life. + + But occupation with external things only makes a man see less + clearly those intelligible truths which are not connected with + the things of sense; the external occupations of the active + life, however, make a man see more clearly in his judgment on a + course of action--and this is a question of prudence--for he has + experience, and his mind is attentive: "When you are attentive," + says Sallust,[421] "then mental acumen avails." + +3. Lastly, prudence comes midway betwixt the moral and the intellectual +virtues. But just as the moral virtues pertain to the active life, so do +the intellectual virtues pertain to the contemplative. Hence it would +seem that prudence belongs neither to the active nor to the +contemplative life, but, as S. Augustine says, to a kind of life which +is betwixt and between.[422] + + But prudence is said to come betwixt the intellectual and the + moral virtues in the sense that, whereas it has the same subject + as the intellectual virtues, it yet coincides as regards its + object with the moral virtues. And that third species of life + comes betwixt and between the active and the contemplative life + as regards the things with which it is concerned, for at one + time it is occupied with the contemplation of truth, at another + time with external matters. + + "For what shall I do when God shall rise to judge? and when He + shall examine, what shall I answer Him? For I have always feared + God as waves swelling over me, and His weight I was not able to + bear."[423] + + +III + +Does Teaching Belong to the Active or to the Contemplative Life? + +S. Gregory says[424]: "The active life means breaking bread to the +hungry; teaching words of wisdom to them that know them not." + +The act of teaching has a twofold object: for teaching is by speaking, +and speaking is the audible sign of an interior mental concept. One +object, therefore, of our teaching is the matter to be taught, the +object, that is, of our interior concepts; and in this sense teaching +sometimes belongs to the active, sometimes to the contemplative life. It +belongs to the active life if a man forms interiorly some concept of a +truth with a view to thus directing his external acts; but it belongs to +the contemplative life if a man interiorly conceives some intelligible +truth and delights in the thought of it and the love of it. Whence S. +Augustine says[425]: "Let them choose for themselves the better +part--that, namely, of the contemplative life; let them devote +themselves to the Word of God; let them yearn for the sweetness of +teaching; let them occupy themselves with the knowledge that leads to +salvation"--where he clearly says that teaching belongs to the +contemplative life. + +The second object of teaching arises from the fact that teaching is +given through the medium of audible speech and thus the hearer himself +is the object of the teaching; and from this point of view all teaching +belongs to the active life to which pertain all external actions. + +Some, however, regard teaching as rather belonging to the contemplative +than to the active life, thus: + +1. S. Gregory says[426]: "Perfect men declare to their brethren those +good things of Heaven which they themselves have been able to +contemplate at least 'through a glass,' and they thus kindle in their +hearts the love of that hidden beauty." Yet what is this but teaching? +To teach, therefore, is an act of the contemplative life. + + But S. Gregory expressly speaks here of teaching from the point + of view of the matter that is presented--that is, of teaching as + it is concerned with the consideration of and love of the truth. + +2. Again, acts and habits seem to belong to the same kind of life. But +to teach is an act of wisdom, for the Philosopher says: "The proof that +a man knows is that he is able to teach."[427] Since, then, wisdom--that +is, knowledge--pertains to the contemplative life, it would seem that +teaching also must pertain to the contemplative life. + + But habits and acts agree in their object, and consequently the + argument just given is based upon the material of the interior + concept. For the capacity for teaching is possessed by a wise or + learned man just in proportion as he can express in outward + words the concepts of his mind and so be able to bring home a + truth to someone else. + +3. Lastly, prayer is an act of the contemplative life just in the same +way as is contemplation itself. But prayer, even when one man prays for +another, belongs to the contemplative life. Hence it would seem that +when one man brings to the knowledge of another some truth upon which he +has meditated, such an act pertains to the contemplative life. + + But he who prays for another in no way acts upon him for whom he + prays; his acts are directed towards God alone, the Intelligible + Truth. But he who teaches another does act upon him by some + external action. Hence there is no parallel between the two + cases. + + +IV + +Does the Active Life continue after this Life? + +S. Gregory says[428]: "The active life passes away with this present +world; the contemplative life begins here so as to be perfected in our +heavenly home." + +As already said, the active life makes its end consist in external +actions, and these, if they are directed towards the repose of +contemplation, already belong to the contemplative life. But in the +future life of the blessed all occupation with external things will +cease; or if there are any external acts they will be directed towards +that end which is contemplation. Hence S. Augustine says, at the close +of his _Of the City of God_: "There we shall be at rest from toil, we +shall gaze, we shall love, we shall praise." And he had just previously +said: "There will God be seen unendingly, be loved without wearying, be +praised without fatigue; this duty, this disposition of soul, this act, +will be the lot of all."[429] + +Some, however, maintain that the active life will be continued after +this life, thus: + +1. To the active life belong the acts of the moral virtues. But the +moral virtues remain after death, as S. Augustine says.[430] + + But the acts of the moral virtues which are concerned with the + means to the end will not remain after death, but only those + which have to do with the end itself. Yet it is precisely these + latter which go to form the repose of contemplation to which S. + Augustine alludes in the above-quoted passage where he speaks of + being "at rest from toil"; and this "rest" is not to be + understood of freedom from merely external disturbances, but + also from the internal conflict of the passions. + +2. Again, to teach others pertains to the active life. But in the next +life--where we shall be as the Angels--there can be teaching; for we see +it in the case of the Angels of whom one illumines, clarifies, and +perfects another, all of which refer to their reception of knowledge, as +is clear from Denis the Areopagite.[431] Hence it seems that the active +life is to be continued after this life. + + But the contemplative life especially consists in the + contemplation of God; and as regards this no Angel teaches + another, for it is said of the Angels of _the little + ones_[432]--Angels who are of an inferior choir--that _they + always see the face of the Father_. And similarly in the future + life: there no man will teach another about God, for we shall + all _see Him as He is_.[433] And this agrees with the words of + Jeremias[434]: _And they shall teach no more every man his + neighbour ... saying: Know the Lord; for all shall know Me from + the least of them even to the greatest._ + + But when it is question of dispensing the mysteries of God, then + one Angel can teach another by clarifying, illumining, and + perfecting. And in this sense the Angels do in some sort share + in the active life as long as this world lasts, for they are + occupied with ministering to the inferior creation. This is what + was signified by Jacob's vision of the Angels ascending the + ladder--whereby was meant the contemplative life--and descending + the ladder--whereby was meant the active life. At the same time, + as S. Gregory says[435]: "Not that they so went out from the + Divine Vision as to be deprived of the joys of contemplation." + And thus in their case the active life is not distinguished from + the contemplative as it is in us who find the works of the + active life an impediment to the contemplative life. Moreover, + we are not promised a likeness to the Angels in their work of + administering to the inferior creation, for this does not belong + to us according to our nature, as is the case with the Angels, + but according to our vision of God. + +3. Lastly, the more durable a thing is the more capable it seems of +lasting after this life. But the active life is more durable than the +contemplative, for S. Gregory says[436]: "We can remain steadfast in the +active life, but in nowise can we maintain the mind's fixed gaze in the +contemplative life." Consequently the active life is much more capable +of continuing after death than is the contemplative life. + + But in our present state the durability of the active life as + compared with the contemplative life does not arise from any + feature of either of these kinds of life considered in + themselves, but from a defect on our part; for we are dragged + down from the heights of contemplation by the body's burden. And + thus S. Gregory goes on to say that, "thrust back by its very + weakness from those vast heights, the soul relapses into + itself." + + "O bless our God, ye Gentiles: and make the voice of His praise + to be heard. Who hath set my soul to live: and hath not suffered + my feet to be moved. For Thou, O God, hast proved us; Thou hast + tried us by fire, as silver is tried. Thou hast brought us into + a net, Thou hast laid afflictions on our back; Thou hast set men + over our heads. We have passed through fire and water, and Thou + hast brought us out into a refreshment."[437] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[407] _Of the Supreme Good_, III., xv. + +[408] _Qu._ CLXXIX. 1. + +[409] _Ethics_, II., iv. 3. + +[410] _Ibid._, X., viii. 1. + +[411] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[412] _Ethics_, V., i. 15. + +[413] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[414] Ecclus. xli. 1-6. + +[415] _Ethics._, X., viii. 2. + +[416] _Ibid._, V., ii. 4. + +[417] _Ethics_, VI., v. 4. + +[418] _Ibid._, X., viii. 2. + +[419] _De Officiis_, I., v. + +[420] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[421] _Conjuratio Catilinae_, li. + +[422] _Of the City of God_, xix. 2, 3, and 19. + +[423] Job xxxi. 14, 23. + +[424] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[425] _On the Words of the Lord, Sermon_ civ., _alias_ xxvii. 1. + +[426] _Hom._ V., _On Ezechiel_. + +[427] _Metaphysics_, I., i. 9. + +[428] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[429] xxii. 30. + +[430] _On the Trinity_, xiv. 9. + +[431] _Of the Heavenly Hierarchy_, vii. + +[432] S. Matt. xviii. 10. + +[433] 1 John iii. 2. + +[434] xxxi. 34. + +[435] _Moralia in Job_, ii. 2. + +[436] _Hom._ V., _On Ezechiel_. + +[437] Ps. lxv. 8-12. + + + + +QUESTION CLXXXII + +OF THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ACTIVE AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE + + I. Is the Active Life preferable to the Contemplative? + Cardinal Cajetan, On Preparation for the Contemplative Life + S. Augustine, _Confessions_, X., xliii. 70 + " _On Psalm_ xxvi. + II. Is the Active Life more Meritorious than the Contemplative? +III. Is the Active Life a Hindrance to the Contemplative Life? + Cardinal Cajetan, On the True Interior Life + S. Augustine, _Sermon_, CCLVI., v. 6 + IV. Does the Active Life precede the Contemplative? + + +I + +Is the Active Life preferable to the Contemplative? + +The Lord said: _Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken +away from her._[438] And by Mary is signified the contemplative life, +which is consequently to be preferred to the active. + +There is no reason why one thing should not be in itself more excellent +than another while yet this latter is, for certain reasons, preferable +to it. Absolutely speaking, then, the contemplative life is better than +the active. And the Philosopher[439] alleges eight proofs of this. +Firstly, that the contemplative life pertains to that which is best in a +man, namely his intellect and its proper objects, _i.e._ intelligible +truths, whereas the active life is concerned with external things. Hence +Rachel, who typifies the contemplative life, is interpreted as meaning +"the Beginning seen"; while Lia, who was blear-eyed, typifies, according +to S. Gregory, the active life.[440] + +Secondly, because the contemplative life can be more continuous, even +though we cannot maintain our contemplation at its highest pitch; thus +Mary, who is typical of the contemplative life, is depicted as sitting +ever at the Lord's feet. + +Thirdly, because the delights of the contemplative life surpass those of +the active life; whence S. Augustine says[441]: "Martha was troubled, +but Mary feasted." + +Fourthly, because in the contemplative life a man is more independent, +since for this kind of life he needs less; whence we read: _Martha, +Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things._[442] + +Fifthly, because the contemplative life is loved rather for its own +sake, whereas the active life is directed towards an end other than +itself; whence it is said in Ps. xxvi. 4: _One thing I have asked of the +Lord, this will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord +all the days of my life._ + +Sixthly, because the contemplative life consists in a certain stillness +and repose, as is said in Ps. xlv. 11: _Be still, and see that I am +God._ + +Seventhly, because the contemplative life is occupied with Divine things +whereas the active life is occupied with human things; whence S. +Augustine says[443]: "In the beginning was the Word: see What Mary +heard! The Word was made Flesh; see to What Martha ministered!" + +Eighthly, because the contemplative life pertains to that which is more +peculiar to man--namely, his intellect--whereas in the works of the +active life our inferior powers--those, namely, which we share with the +brute creation--have a part; whence, in Ps. xxxv. 7, after saying: +_Beasts and men Thou wilt preserve, O Lord_, the Psalmist adds what +belongs to men alone: _In Thy light we shall see light._ + +And the Lord Himself gives a ninth reason when He says: _Mary hath +chosen the best part which shall not be taken away from her_,[444] words +which S. Augustine thus expounds: "Not that thou, Martha, hast chosen +badly, but that Mary hath chosen better; and see in what sense she hath +chosen better: because it _shall not be taken away from her_; for from +thee shall one day be taken away the burden of necessity; but eternal is +the sweetness of truth."[445] + +But in a certain sense, and in certain cases, the active life is to be +chosen in preference to the contemplative, and this by reason of the +needs of this present life; as also the Philosopher says: "To practise +philosophy is better than to become rich; but to become rich is better +for one who suffers need."[446] + +Some, however, think that the active life is preferable to the +contemplative, thus: + +1. "The lot which falls to the better people seems to be the more +honourable and better," as the Philosopher says.[447] But the active +life is the lot of those who are in the higher position--of prelates, +for instance, who are placed in honourable and powerful positions; thus +S. Augustine says[448]: "In the life of action we must not love the +honour which belongs to this life, nor its power." Whence it would seem +that the active life is preferable to the contemplative. + + But it is not the active life only which belongs to prelates, + they must needs excel in the contemplative life; whence S. + Gregory says in his _Pastoral Rule_[449]: "Let the superior be + foremost in action, but before all let him be uplifted in + contemplation." + +2. Again, in all acts and habits the control belongs to the more +important: the soldier, for instance--as being higher placed--directs +the saddle-maker. But it is the active life which directs and controls +the contemplative, as is clear from the words addressed to Moses: _Go +down and charge the people, lest they should have a mind to pass the +limits to see the Lord._[450] The active life is therefore more +important than the contemplative. + + But the contemplative life consists in a certain liberty of + spirit; for S. Gregory says[451]: "The contemplative life means + passing over to a certain liberty of spirit since in it a man + thinks not of temporal but of eternal things." Similarly + Boethius says[452]: "The human soul must needs be free when + occupied with the thought of the Divine Mind; not so when + distracted with the things of the body." From all this it is + clear that the active life does not directly guide the + contemplative, but by preparing the way for it it does direct + certain works pertaining to the contemplative life, and in this + sense the active life is rather the servant than the master of + the contemplative. And this S. Gregory expresses when he says: + "The active life is termed a service, the contemplative life + freedom."[453] + +3. Lastly, no one should be withdrawn from what is greater in order to +apply himself to what is less; thus the Apostle says: _Be zealous for +the better gifts._[454] But some are withdrawn from the contemplative +state of life and are made to busy themselves with the affairs of the +active life; this is the case, for instance, with those who are placed +in positions of authority. Whence it seems that the active life is of +more importance than the contemplative. + + But though a man may happen to be called away from contemplation + to the works of the active life owing to the needs of the + present life, yet he is not thereby compelled completely to + relinquish his contemplation. Hence S. Augustine says:[455] "The + love of truth asks for a holy leisure; the demands of charity + undertake honest toil--that, namely, of the active life. And if + no one imposes this latter burden on us, then we must devote + ourselves to the study and contemplation of the truth; if, + however, such a burden is imposed upon us, then must we + undertake it because of the demands of charity. Yet not even + then are we altogether to resign the joys flowing from the + contemplation of truth, lest the sweetness of such contemplation + be withdrawn from us and the burden we have assumed crush us." + + Whence it appears that when a man is called from the + contemplative to the active life it is not so much that + something is withdrawn from him, but that an additional burden + is imposed upon him. + + "As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the Lord of + Hosts, in the city of our God: God hath founded it for ever. We + have received Thy mercy, O God, in the midst of Thy temple. For + this is God, our God unto eternity, and for ever and ever: He + shall rule us for evermore."[456] + +_Cajetan:_ Those whose duty it is to instruct others in spiritual +progress should note that they are bound to take great pains to exercise +them in the active life before they urge them to ascend the heights of +contemplation. For they must learn to subdue their passions by acquiring +habits of meekness, patience, generosity, humility, and tranquillity of +soul, before they ascend to the contemplative life. Through lack of +this, many, not so much walking in the way of God as leaping along it, +find themselves--after they have spent the greater portion of their life +in contemplation--devoid of virtue, impatient, irascible, and proud, if +one but so much as touch them on this point! Such people have neither +the active nor the contemplative life, nor even a mixture of the two; +they have built upon sand! And would that such cases were rare! (_on_ 2. +182. 1 2.). + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine:_ Terrified by my sins and my weight of misery I was +disturbed within my soul and meditated flight into solitude. But Thou +didst forbid it and didst strengthen me and say: _Christ died for all, +that they also who live may not now live to themselves, but unto Him Who +died for them and rose again._[457] Behold, O Lord, I cast my care upon +Thee so that I may live, and I will meditate on the wondrous things of +Thy law. Thou knowest my lack of skill and my weakness; teach me and +heal me! He--Thine Only-Begotten Son--in Whom lie hid all the treasures +of wisdom and knowledge, He redeemed me with His blood. _Let not the +proud calumniate me!_ When I think of my Ransom then I eat and I drink, +and I pray, and in my poverty I yearn to be filled with Him, to be among +those who _eat and are filled_ and they _praise the Lord who seek Him_ +(_Conf._, X., xliii. 70). + + * * * * * + +_S. Augustine: He hath hid me in His tabernacle in the day of +evils._[458] + +Wherefore without any arrogance have I sought for That One Thing, +neither doth my soul reproach me, saying: Why do you seek after It? From +whom do you seek It? Do you, a sinner, wickedly dare to ask something of +God? Do you, weak man, of unclean heart, dare to hope that you will one +day attain to the contemplation of God? I dare! Not indeed of myself, +but because of His pleasure in me; not out of presumptuous trust in +myself, but from confidence in His promise. For will He Who gave such a +pledge to the pilgrim desert him when he comes to Him? _For He hath hid +me in His tabernacle in the day of evils_ (_Enarr. in Ps._ xxvi.). + + +II + +Is the Active Life more Meritorious than the Contemplative? + +S. Gregory says[459]: "Great are the merits of the active life, but they +are surpassed by those of the contemplative life." + +The source of merit is charity. Charity, however, consists in the love +of God and of our neighbour; and to love God is, in itself, more +meritorious than to love our neighbour. Consequently that which more +directly pertains to the love of God is more meritorious in its nature +than something that directly pertains to the love of our neighbour for +God's sake. The contemplative life, however, directly and immediately +pertains to the love of God, as S. Augustine says[460]: "The love of +truth asks for a holy leisure; that is the contemplative life," and this +truth is the Divine Truth on Which the contemplative life is centred. +The active life, on the other hand, is more immediately concerned with +the love of our neighbour, it is _busy about much serving_.[461] Hence +of its very nature the contemplative life is more meritorious than the +active, as is well expressed by S. Gregory[462] when he says: "The +contemplative life is more meritorious than the active, for the latter +toils in the wear and tear of present work by which it must needs help +its neighbour; whereas the former, by a certain inward savour, already +has a foretaste of the repose to come"--that is, in the contemplation of +God. + +It may, however, chance that one man derives greater merit from the +works of the active life than another does from his contemplative life; +as, for example, when, from the superabundance of the Divine love, in +order to fulfil God's will, and for His greater glory, a man is content +to be separated for a space from the sweetness of Divine contemplation, +as the Apostle says: _I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ for +my brethren._[463] On these words S. Chrysostom[464] comments thus: "The +love of Christ had so completely taken possession of his heart that he +could even despise that which he desired beyond all things--namely, to +be with Christ--and that because it was pleasing to Christ." + +Yet some maintain that the active life is more meritorious than the +contemplative, thus: + +1. A thing is said to be meritorious because of the reward. But reward +is due to work, as S. Paul says: _And every man shall receive his own +reward according to his own labour._[465] Labour, however, belongs to +the active life, repose to the contemplative, as S. Gregory says[466]: +"Everyone who is converted to God must needs first labour in toil; he +must take Lia--that is, that so he may arrive at 'the vision of the +Beginning'--that is, the embraces of Rachel." Whence it seems as though +the active life was more meritorious than the contemplative. + + But while external toil makes for an increase of accidental + reward, the increase of merit as regards essential reward + consists mainly in charity, one proof of which is external toil + undertaken for Christ's sake; but a much greater proof of this + is given when a man puts aside all that pertains to this life + and delights in giving himself up solely to Divine + contemplation. + +2. Again, contemplative life is in some sort the commencement of future +bliss; and consequently the words of S. John: _So will I have him to +remain till I come_, S. Augustine comments as follows: "This might be +more fully expressed thus: May perfect actions, modelled on the example +of My Passion, follow Me; but may contemplation begun here on earth +remain till I come, to be perfected when I come"[467]; and similarly S. +Gregory says[468]: "The contemplative life begins here below to be +perfected in our heavenly home." But in that future life we shall not +merit, but shall receive the reward of our merits. Consequently the +contemplative life seems to have less of the ratio of merit than has the +active life; but it has more of the ratio of reward. + + But in the state of future bliss a man has arrived at his + perfection and consequently there is no room left for merit; but + if there were room left his merits would be more efficacious + owing to the pre-eminence of his charity. The contemplation of + this present life, however, has some accompanying imperfection, + and consequently there is room for improvement; hence such + contemplation does not destroy the idea of meriting but makes + increase of merit in proportion as Divine charity is more and + more exercised. + +3. Lastly, S. Gregory says[469]: "No sacrifice is more acceptable to God +than zeal for souls." But zeal for souls means that a man gives himself +up to the works of the active life. Whence it seems that the +contemplative life is not more meritorious than the active. + + But a sacrifice is spiritually offered to God when anything is + presented to Him; and of all man's good things God specially + accepts that of the human soul when offered to Him in sacrifice. + But a man ought to offer to God first of all his own soul, + according to the words of Ecclesiasticus[470]: _Have pity on + thine own soul, pleasing God_; secondly, the souls of others, + according to the words: _And he that heareth let him say: + Come._[471] But the more closely a man knits his own soul, or + his neighbour's soul, to God, the more acceptable to God is his + sacrifice; consequently it is more pleasing to God that a man + should give his soul, and the souls of others, to contemplation + than to action. When, then, S. Gregory says: "No sacrifice is + more acceptable to God than zeal for souls," he does not mean + that the merit of the active life is greater than that of the + contemplative, but that it is more meritorious that a man should + offer to God his own soul and the soul of others than that he + should offer any other external gift whatsoever. + + "But thou, our God, art gracious and true, patient, and ordering + all things in mercy. For if we sin, we are Thine, knowing Thy + greatness: and if we sin not, we know that we are counted with + Thee. For to know Thee is perfect justice: and to know Thy + justice, and Thy power, is the root of immortality."[472] + + +III + +Is the Active Life a Hindrance to the Contemplative Life? + +S. Gregory says[473]: "They who would hold the citadel of contemplation +must first needs exercise themselves on the battle-field of toil." + +We may consider the active life from two points of view. For we may +first of all consider the actual occupation with, and practice of, +external works; and from this point of view it is clear that the active +life is a hindrance to the contemplative, for it is impossible for a man +to be simultaneously occupied with external works, and yet at leisure +for Divine contemplation. + +But we may also consider the active life from the standpoint of the +harmony and order which it introduces into the interior passions of the +soul; and from this point of view the active life is an assistance to +contemplation since this latter is hindered by the disturbance arising +from the passions. Thus S. Gregory says[474]: "They who would hold the +citadel of contemplation must first needs exercise themselves on the +battle-field of toil; they must learn, forsooth, whether they still do +harm to their neighbours, whether they bear with equanimity the harm +their neighbours may do them; whether, when temporal good things are set +before them, their minds are overwhelmed with joy; whether when such +things are withdrawn they are over much grieved. And lastly, they must +ask themselves whether, when they withdraw within upon themselves and +search into the things of the spirit, they do not carry with them the +shadows of things corporeal, or whether, if perchance they have touched +upon them, they discreetly repel them." + +Thus, then, the exercises of the active life are conducive to +contemplation, for they still those interior passions whence arise those +imaginations which serve as a hindrance to contemplation. + +Some, however, maintain that the active life is a hindrance to the +contemplative, thus: + +1. A certain stillness of mind is needful for contemplation, as the +Psalmist says: _Be still and see that I am God._[475] But the active +life implies anxiety: _Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art +troubled about many things._[476] + +2. Again, a certain clearness of vision is called for in the +contemplative life. But the active life hinders this clearness of +vision, for S. Gregory says[477]: "Lia was blear-eyed and fruitful, for +the active life, since occupied with toil, sees less clearly." + +3. And lastly, things that are contrary hinder one another. But the +active and the contemplative life are contrary to one another; for the +active life is occupied with many things, whereas the contemplative life +dwells upon one object of contemplation; they are, then, in opposite +camps. + + But all these arguments insist upon the occupation with external + affairs which is but one feature in the active life, not upon + its other feature--namely, its power to repress the passions. + + * * * * * + +_Cajetan: But the five foolish virgins, having taken their lamps, did +not take oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with the +lamps._[478] + +By this oil is signified testimony to a man's goodness or love of God. +For there is this difference between people who perform good works, that +the only testimony which some men have to their goodness is +without--namely, in the works themselves; within, however, they do not +feel that they love God with their whole heart, that they repent of +their sins because they are hateful to God, or that they love their +neighbour for God's sake. But there are others who so perform good works +that both their works that shine before men bear witness without to the +good soul within, and also within their own conscience the Holy Spirit +Himself testifies to their spirit that they are the sons of God; for +such men feel that they love God with their whole heart, that they +repent of their sins for God's sake, and that they love their neighbour +and themselves for God's sake: in brief, they feel that God is the sole +reason why they love, why they hope, fear, rejoice, or are sad: in a +word, why they work both within and without: this is to have oil in +one's own vessels (_On S. Matt._ xxv. 3, 4). + +_S. Augustine:_ See the life that Mary chose! Yet was she but a type of +that life, she as yet possessed it not. For there are two kinds of life: +one means delight; the other means a burden. And the burdensome one is +toilsome, while the delightsome one is pleasurable. But enter thou +within; seek not that delight without, lest ye swell with it and find +yourself unable to enter by the narrow gate! See how Mary saw the Lord +in the Flesh and heard the Lord by the voice of the Flesh--as ye have +heard when the Epistle to the Hebrews has been read--as it were through +a veil. (_A new and living way which He hath dedicated to us through the +veil, that is to say, His Flesh_.[479]) But when we shall see Him face +to Face there will be no "veil." Mary, then, sat--that is, she rested +from toil--and she listened and she praised; but Martha was anxious +about much serving. And the Lord said to her: _Martha, Martha, thou art +careful and art troubled about many things; but one thing is +necessary[480]_ (_Sermon_, CCLVI., v. 6). + + "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless + His holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all + He hath done for thee. Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: Who + healeth all thy diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from + destruction: Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion. Who + satisfieth thy desire with good things: thy youth shall be + renewed like the eagle's. The Lord doth mercies, and judgment + for all that suffer wrong. He hath made His ways known to Moses: + His wills to the children of Israel. The Lord is compassionate + and merciful: long suffering and plenteous in mercy. He will not + always be angry: nor will He threaten for ever. He hath not + dealt with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us according + to our iniquities. For according to the height of the Heaven + above the earth: He hath strengthened His mercy towards them + that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath + He removed our iniquities from us. As a father hath compassion + on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear + Him: for He knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust: + man's days are as grass, as the flower of the field so shall he + flourish."[481] + + +IV + +Does the Active Life precede the Contemplative? + +S. Gregory says[482]: "The active life precedes the contemplative in the +order of time, for from good works a man passes to contemplation." + +One thing may precede another in two ways: firstly by its very nature; +and in this sense the contemplative life precedes the active in that it +is occupied with chiefer and better things, and hence it both moves and +directs the active life. For, as S. Augustine says,[483] the higher +reason, which is destined for contemplation, is compared to the lower +reason, which is destined for action, as man is compared to woman--she +is to be governed by him. + +But secondly, one thing may be prior to another as far as we are +concerned, it may, that is, precede it in the way of generation. And in +this sense the active life precedes the contemplative, for it conduces +to it, as we have already said. In the order of generation disposition +to a nature precedes that nature, though that nature is, simply speaking +and considered in itself, prior to the disposition to it. + +But some maintain that the active life does not precede the +contemplative, thus: + +1. The contemplative life is directly concerned with the love of God, +the active life with the love of our neighbour. But love of God precedes +love of our neighbour, for we have to love our neighbour for God's sake. + + But the contemplative life is not concerned with merely any kind + of love of God, but with the perfect love of Him; the active + life, on the contrary, is necessary for any kind of love of our + neighbour, for S. Gregory says[484]: "Without the contemplative + life men can gain admittance to their heavenly home if they have + not neglected the good works they could have done; but they + cannot enter without the active life, if they neglect the good + works they could do." Whence it appears that the active life + precedes the contemplative in the sense that that which is + common to everybody precedes in the order of generation that + which is peculiar to the perfect. + +2. Again, S. Gregory says[485]: "You must know that just as the right +procedure is for a man to pass from the active to the contemplative +life; so, too, it is often profitable to the soul to return to the +active life." Consequently the active life is not absolutely speaking +prior to the contemplative. + + But while we proceed from the active life to the contemplative + by way of generation, we return from the contemplative to the + active by way of direction, in order, that is, that our active + life may be directed by the contemplative; just in the same way + as habits are generated by acts and then, as is said in the + _Ethics_, when the habit is formed we act still more + perfectly.[486] + +3. Lastly, things which accord with different characters do not seem to +be necessarily related. But the active and contemplative life are suited +to different characters; thus S. Gregory says[487]: "It often happens +that men who could have given themselves to peaceful contemplation of +God have been burdened with external occupations and so have made +shipwreck; while, on the contrary, men who could have lived well had +they been occupied with human concerns, have been slain by the sword of +their life of repose." Consequently the active life does not seem to +precede the contemplative. + + But those who are subject to the influx of their passions + because of their natural eagerness in action, are for that very + reason more suited for the active life, and this because of the + restlessness of their temperament. Hence S. Gregory says[488]: + "Some are so restless that if they desist from work they suffer + grievously, for the more free they are to think the worse + interior tumults they have to endure." Some, on the contrary, + have a natural purity of soul and a reposefulness which renders + them fit for the contemplative life; if such men were to be + applied wholly to the active life they would incur great loss. + Hence S. Gregory says[489]: "Some men are of so slothful a + disposition that if they undertake any work they succumb at the + very outset." But he adds: "Yet often love stirs up even + slothful souls to work, and fear exercises a restraining + influence on souls which suffer a disturbing influence in their + contemplation." Hence even those who are more suited for the + active life, may, by the exercise of it, be prepared for the + contemplative; and, on the contrary, those who are more suited + for the contemplative life may profitably undertake the labours + proper to the active life, that so they may be rendered still + more fit for contemplation. + + "I have cried to Thee, for Thou, O God, hast heard me: O incline + Thy ear unto me, and hear my words. Show forth Thy wonderful + mercies; Thou Who savest them that trust in Thee. From them that + resist Thy right hand keep me, as the apple of Thy eye. Protect + me under the shadow of Thy wings."[490] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[438] S. Luke x. 42. + +[439] _Ethics_, x. 7 and 8. + +[440] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 18. + +[441] _Of the Words of the Lord, Sermon_ ciii., _alias_ xxvi. 2. + +[442] S. Luke x. 41. + +[443] _Of the Words of the Lord, Sermon_ civ., _alias_ xxvii. 2. + +[444] S. Luke x. 42. + +[445] _Sermon_ ciii., _alias_ xxvi. 4. + +[446] _Topica_, III., ii. 21. + +[447] _Ibid._, III., i. 12. + +[448] _Of the City of God_, xix. 19. + +[449] ii. 1. + +[450] Exod. xix. 21. + +[451] _Hom._ III., _On Ezechiel_. + +[452] _Of Consolation_, v. 2. + +[453] _Hom._ III., _On Ezechiel_. + +[454] 1 Cor. xii. 31. + +[455] _Of the City of God_, xix. 19. + +[456] Ps. xlvii. 9, 10, 15. + +[457] 2 Cor. v. 15. + +[458] Ps. xxvi. 5. + +[459] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 18. + +[460] _Of the City of God_, xix. 19. + +[461] S. Luke x. 40. + +[462] _Hom._ III., _On Ezechiel_. + +[463] Rom. ix. 3. + +[464] _Of Compunction_, i. 7. + +[465] 1 Cor. iii. 8. + +[466] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[467] _Tractat._, 124, _On St. John_, xxi. 22. + +[468] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[469] _Hom._ XII., _On Ezechiel_. + +[470] xxx. 24. + +[471] Apoc. xxii. 17. + +[472] Wisd. xv. 1-3. + +[473] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 17. + +[474] _Ibid._ + +[475] Ps. xlv. 11. + +[476] S. Luke x. 41. + +[477] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[478] S. Matt. xxv. 3, 4. + +[479] Heb. x. 20. + +[480] S. Luke x. 41, 42. + +[481] Ps. cii. 1-15. + +[482] _Hom._ III., _On Ezechiel_. + +[483] _On the Trinity_, xii. 12. + +[484] _Hom._ III., _On Ezechiel_. + +[485] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_. + +[486] ii. 1, 2. + +[487] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 17. + +[488] _Moralia_, vi. 17. + +[489] _Ibid._, vi. 37. + +[490] Ps. xvi. 6-9. + + + + +QUESTION CLXXXVI + +ON THE RELIGIOUS STATE + + Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders? + + +Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders? + +The Lord declared that Mary's was _the best part_, and she is the type +of the contemplative life.[491] + +Religious Orders differ from one another primarily according to the ends +they have in view, but secondarily according to the works they practise. +And since one thing cannot be said to be superior to another save by +reason of the differences between them, it will follow that the +superiority of one Religious Order to another must depend primarily upon +their respective ends, secondarily upon the works they practise. + +And these two grounds of comparison are not of equal value; for the +comparison between them from the point of view of their respective ends +is an absolute one, since an end is sought for its own sake; whereas the +comparison arising from their respective works is a relative one, since +works are not done for their own sake but for the sake of the end to be +gained. + +Consequently one Religious Order is superior to another if its end is +absolutely a superior one, either as being in itself a greater good, or +as being of wider scope. On the supposition, however, that the ends of +any two Orders are the same, then the superiority of one to the other +can be gauged, not by the quantity of works they undertake, but by the +proportion these bear to the end in view. Thus it is that we find +introduced into the _Conferences of the Fathers_[492] the opinion of S. +Antony, who preferred that discretion by which a man moderates all +things to fasts and watchings and similar observances. + +The works, then, of the active life are twofold. There is one which +springs from the fulness of contemplation: teaching, for example, and +preaching. Whence S. Gregory says[493]: "It is said of perfect men that +on their return from contemplation: _They shall pour forth the memory of +Thy sweetness._" And this is preferable to simple contemplation. For +just as it is a greater thing to shed light than to be full of light, so +is it a greater thing to spread abroad the fruits of our contemplation +than merely to contemplate. And the second work of the active life is +that which wholly consists in external occupation, such as giving alms, +receiving guests, etc. And such works are inferior to the works of +contemplation, except it be in some case of necessity. + +Consequently, then, those Religious Orders are in the highest rank which +are devoted to teaching and preaching. And these, too, approach most +nearly to the perfection of the Episcopate; just as in other things, +too, the ends of those in the first place are, as S. Denis says, close +knit to the principles of those in the second place.[494] The second +rank is occupied by those Orders which are devoted to contemplation. And +the third with those devoted to external works. + +And in each of these grades there is a certain superiority according as +one Order aims at acts of a higher order than does another, though of +the same class. Thus in the works of the active life it is a greater +thing to redeem captives than to receive guests; in the contemplative +life, too, it is a greater thing to pray than to study. There may also +be a certain superiority in this that one is occupied with more of such +works than another; or again, that the rules of one are better adapted +to the attainment of their end than are those of another. + +Some, however, maintain that the contemplative Orders are not superior +to the active Orders, thus: + +1. In the Canon Law[495] it is said: "Since the greater good is to be +preferred to the less, so, too, the common gain is to be preferred to +private gain; and in this sense teaching is rightly preferred to +silence, anxious care for others to contemplation, and toil to repose." +But that Religious Order is the better which is directed to the +attainment of the greater good. Hence it seems that Orders which are +devoted to an active life are superior to those which aim solely at +contemplation. + + But this Decretal speaks of the active life as concerned with + the salvation of souls. + +2. All Religious Orders aim at the perfection of charity. But on those +words in the Epistle to the Hebrews,[496] _Ye have not yet resisted unto +blood_, the Gloss has: "There is no more perfect charity in this life +than that to which the holy Martyrs attained, for they strove against +sin even _unto blood_." But to strive _unto blood_ belongs to the +Military Religious Orders, and they lead an active life. It would seem, +then, that these latter are the highest form of Religious Order. + + But these Military Orders are more concerned with shedding the + blood of their enemies than with shedding their own, which is + the feature of the Martyrs. At the same time, there is nothing + to preclude these Religious from at times winning the crown of + martyrdom and thus attaining to a greater height than other + Religious; just as in some cases active works are to be + preferred to contemplation. + +3. Lastly, the stricter an Order the more perfect it seems to be. But +there is nothing to preclude active Orders from being stricter in their +observance than some contemplative Orders. + +But strictness of observance is not that which is especially commendable +in Religious life, as S. Antony has already told us, and as is also said +in Isaias[497]: _Is this such a fast as I have chosen, for a man to +afflict his soul for a day?_ Strictness of observance is, however, made +use of in Religious Orders for the subjection of the flesh; but if such +strictness is carried out without discretion there is danger lest it +should come to naught, as S. Antony says. Hence one Religious Order is +not superior to another because its observances are stricter, but +because its observances are directed to the end of that Order with +greater discretion. Thus, for example, abstinence from food and drink, +which means hunger and thirst, are more efficacious means for preserving +chastity than wearing less clothing, which means cold and nakedness; +more efficacious, too, than bodily labour. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[491] S. Luke x. 42. + +[492] _Conf._, ii. 2. + +[493] _Hom._ V., _On Ezechiel_. + +[494] _Of the Divine Names_, vii. + +[495] _Extrav. Of Regulars and of those who pass to the Religious +Orders_, cap. _Licet_. + +[496] xii. 4. + +[497] lviii. 5. + + + + +INDEX + + +Abiding in Christ, 32 + +Abraham in Limbo, 155 + +Accidents of the Holy Eucharist, 9 + +Active Life, the: its meaning, 170, 174, 176, 221, 229; + typified in Jacob's Vision, 231; + typified by Lia, 174, 222, 225, 234, 242, 246; + two features of the Active Life, 221, 241, 247; + in what sense it is distinct from the Contemplative Life, 220; + how less meritorious than the Contemplative Life, 240-244; + not preferable to the Contemplative Life, 233-240; + it involves less sacrifice than the Contemplative Life, 244; + in what sense it precedes the Contemplative Life, 223, 237, 245, + 249-252; + how far it is necessary, 186, 221, 239, 245, 250; + contrasted with the Contemplative Life, 172, 173; + how far it is more stable than the Contemplative Life, 232; + its dangers, 136, 147, 186; + it is a burden super-imposed upon the Contemplative Life, 238; + all are not meant for it, 186, 251, 252; + it will not persist after this life, 229-232; + the Active Life of the Angels, 231; + how far the Active Life is inferior to the Contemplative, 233-240; + occasions when it must be embraced, 186, 235, 239; + the part which the Moral Virtues play in it, 191, 220-223; + it is a preparation for the Contemplative Life, 176, 177, 220, 237, + 245; + prudence is requisite for it, 186, 223-226; + how far the teaching life pertains to the Active Life, 226-229, 230; + it will pass away, 177, 191, 229-232; + it is the Purgative way, 220; + Prelates and the Active Life, 236 + +Active Religious Orders, they are inferior to the Contemplative, 253-257 + +Adjure God, in what sense we are said to do so in our prayers, 148 + +Adoration of the Cross, 37 + +_Adoro Te Devote_, the rhythm of St. Thomas in honour of the Holy + Eucharist, 112 + +Albert of Brescia, O.P., 18 + +Albert the Great, Blessed, 6 + +Alypius, St. Augustine's friend, 123 + +Ambrose, St.: on God as the cause of devotion, 57; + that the beauty of the soul depends on the Moral Virtues, 184 + +Andronicus on the meaning of sanctity, 49 + +Angels, the: how they are differentiated from men, 113, 114, 187, 206; + the knowledge of the Angels, 157, 187, 205, 208, 230; + the Beatific Vision of the Angels, 231; + the intelligence of the Angels, 187, 230; + the intercession of the Angels, 165; + their conformity to the will of God, 165, 167; + the Angelic Hierarchies, 201, 230; + the teaching of the Angels 230, 231; + the Active Life of the Angels, 231; + we shall be like to the Angels, how, 230, 231; + Angels gird St. Thomas, 6 + +Anselm of Laudun, 25 + +Antony, St.: a patron against Hell-fire, 160; + on discretion, 154, 157 + +Areopagite. _Cf. s.v._ Denis the Areopagite + +Aristotle: on the aptitude for virtue, 35; + on honour, 39; + that the perfection of the moral virtues lies in their mean, 43; + on Justice, 55, 221; + that "reason asks for the best things," 69; + on the need of temporal things, 89; + that "each man's life is that which he would wish to share with his + friend," 170; + that "to live is to be," 170; + on action and contemplation as distinctions in the intellectual life, + 171; + that life is primarily in the vegetative soul, 171; + on three kinds of lives, 175; + that knowledge has little to do with the moral virtues, 182, 221; + that every act of the intellect may be termed "consideration," 188; + that the ultimate happiness of man consists in the contemplation of + the highest truth, 193; + of man's dependence on the imagination, 201; + that motion is the act of a perfect thing, 203; + on local motion as the chief of bodily motions, 204; + that delight follows upon a perfect work, 213; + on the nobility of science, 214; + that there is no pleasure contrary to that derived from thought, 217; + on application to the Contemplative Life, 217; + that the Contemplative Life is "beyond man," 218; + that prudence pertains to active happiness, 223; + that he who commits adultery to steal is more a thief than an + adulterer, 223; + that prudence is the right mode of procedure in our actions, 224; + that the ends of the moral virtues are the principles of prudence, + 224; + that the proof of the possession of wisdom is the power to teach, 228; + eight proofs that the Contemplative Life is superior to the Active, + 234, 235; + on the better lot, 236; + that habits produce perfect acts, 251 + +Arius, his error regarding the Person of Christ, 161 + +Athanasius, St., on the chanting of the Psalms, 123 + +Attention: mental, 225; + in prayer, 125-133; + three kinds of, 128, 129, 133 + +Attitudes in prayer, 150, 151 + +Augustine, St.: St. Thomas's kinship with him in doctrine, 17-19; + they are seen in a vision together, 18; + the Breviary Hymn to, 26; + definition of religion, 28, 29, 30; + on _Latvia_, 30; + on _Eusebeia_, 31; + on abiding in Christ, 32; + on the desire of God, 32; + on prayer for wealth, 33; + on sacrifice, 32, 46; + of true worship, 40; + of idolatry, 46; + on the value of external acts in prayer, 46; + of virginity, 50; + on "God alone," 54, 92, 108, 142, 197, 189, 203, 219; + on the will and the understanding, 57; + on true grief, 65; + prayer defined, 69; + why we should pray, 75; + on the prayers of the Church, 76; + when we pray we are God's beggars, 79, 110; + of those who say "He knows already; why then pray?" 80; + of the knowledge the dead have of our affairs, 82; + on shrinking from death, 83; + on avoidance of Hell, 86; + of the Beatific Vision, 87, 229; + a prayer for continence, 87; + and for the knowledge of Holy Scripture, 88; + it is lawful to pray for what it is lawful to desire, 89; + on prayer for "sufficiency of life," 89; + on "seeking first the Kingdom of God," 90; + on prayer "without ceasing," 91; + of the prayer of desire, 92, 134; + his prayer for deliverance from toothache, 92; + why temporal favours are sometimes not granted, 94, 95; + on prayer for others, 96; + that we cannot here distinguish between the predestinate and the + reprobate, 97; + on the imprecations in Holy Scripture, 100, 101; + on prayer for the wicked, 101; + on the Lord's Prayer, that it is the most perfect form of prayer, 102; + on "our Daily Bread," 103, 109; + "hallowed be Thy Name," 104; + "Thy kingdom come," 105; + "Thy will be done," 105; + "forgive us our trespasses," 110, 111; + of the Lord's Prayer and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, 106; + of the two versions of the Lord's Prayer in St. Matthew and St. Luke, + 107; + on true righteousness, 111; + on exterior religion, 119; + on the chanting of the Psalter, 123; + on the prayer of the heart, 124; + on distractions, 129-131; + on prayer at definite times, 134; + on the brief prayers of the hermits of old, 134; + on "much speaking" in prayer, 135; + that God urges us to pray, 138, 139; + that prayer is a gift of God, 139; + on unheard prayers, 140, 142; + on prayers heard in anger, 142, 143; + in what sense the prayers of sinners are heard, 143, 144; + on the attitudes to be adopted in and of the time and place for + prayer, 127, 150, 151; + of the knowledge of the Saints in Limbo, 154-156; + why the prayers of the Saints are heard, 167; + the Contemplative contrasted with the Active Life, 172-174, 186; + the three "lives," 175, 185; + the "mixed" life, 226; + of the final possession and vision of God, 176, 177, 191, 203; + on the use of leisure, 186; + the claims of the two lives, the Active and the Contemplative, 186, + 248; + of the Active Life, 236; + of the Active Life as opposed to the Contemplative, 238; + that every operation of the intellect may be termed "thought," 188; + of the derivation of the term "speculation," 189; + of our present perfection, 190, 191; + on the pleasures of sense, 185; + that the contemplation of God is the goal of all our acts, 193; + that we must use created things as stepping-stones to the things that + abide for ever, 193; + on Mary's "better part," 196, 197; + on Martha and Mary, 234, 235, 248; + that in contemplation we do not see God Himself, 199; + the greater the danger in the battle, the greater the joy in the + triumph, 212; + on the transitory nature of our present contemplation, 218; + on the beauty of the teaching life, 227; + how the moral virtues remain after death, 230; + of the repose of Contemplation, 230, 241; + of his desire for solitude, yet he feels that he must work for others, + 239; + he dare hope for the Contemplative Life, 240; + of the higher reason, 249 + +Basil, St.: on distractions, 127, 128; + on unheard prayers, 141 + +Beatific Vision, the, 87, 153, 172, 176, 177, 180, 181, 193, 198-203, + 217 + +Beatitude, in what it consists, 172, 176, 177, 181, 191, 198, 218, 219, + 229 + +Beatitude, a prayer for, 192 + +Beauty, definition of, 185 + +Benedict, St., the vision of, 202 + +Bernard, St.: on the meaning of contemplation, 188, 189; + of the steps in contemplation, 194 + +Bestial Life, the, 175 + +Birds, the movements of, 209 + +Blood of Christ, the, 163 + +Boethius, on the liberty needful for contemplation, 237 + + +Cajetan, O.P., Cardinal, 19, 20; + on the meaning of Religion, 50; + on the meaning of devotion, 53, 54; + on its causes, 60; + on devotion as opposed to gloom, 64; + of the "devout female sex," 62; + of the need of meditation, 61; + of prayer as the cause of union with God, 71; + of prayer as a real cause, 74; + on three points to be considered in prayer, 78; + on prayer as a sacrifice, 79; + of the divisions of the Lord's Prayer, 107, 108; + how those in Limbo can hear prayers, 118; + on vocal prayer, 121, 123; + on the tone to be employed in saying Mass, 122; + the function of ecclesiastical chant, 122, 124; + on attention in recitation of Divine Office, 128; + on attention to the words of Consecration, 149, 150; + of the need of the moral virtues in the Contemplative Life, 239; + the Parable of the Ten Virgins, 247; + on the real object of prayer, 129 + +Canticle of Canticles, the, 14 + +Cassian, the Conferences of: on St. Antony and discretion, 254, 257; + on different kinds of prayer, 148 + +Cassiodorus on Ps. xxxviii. 13, 68 + +Cato on respect for parents, 30 + +Ceremonial, the value of, 35 + +Chant of the Church, the Public, 122, 123 + +Charity as the principle of religion, 56. + _Cf. s.v._ Theological virtues + +"Christ, pray for us," why we do not say, 160, 161 + +Christ, the Name of, on the foreheads of Christians, 219 + +Chrysostom, St.: the _Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum_ falsely attributed + to him, 24; + on prayer as a conversation with God, 74; + on prayer for others, 95; + in public, 121; + on prayer for sinners, 143; + on prayer through Jesus Christ, 145; + on the zeal of S. Paul, 242 + +Church customs, 158, 163 + +Church, the prayers of the, 81 + +Cicero, on religion, 27; + on prudence and intellectual quickness, 224 + +Circular movement of the soul, 172, 203-210 + +Cleanness, 47, 184 + +_Colere_, 31 + +Collect for Friday in September Ember Week, 147; + for Trinity Sunday, 147, 148 + +Compline, St. Thomas's devotion at, 14 + +Communion of Saints, 158, 164 + +Conformity to the will of God, 86 + +Consecration, the Prayer of the, 147, 149, 150 + +Contemplation and the Contemplative Life: the meaning of + _contemplation_, 188, 189, 196, 201, 202, 211, 230, 234, 235, 237; + it is something beautiful in the soul, 184; + not purely an affair of the intellect, 179-182, 189; + its relation to the affective powers, 211; + the place which reason occupies in contemplation, 195, 210, 211, 225, + 226, 249; + the place occupied by the imagination, 195; + in what sense contemplation involves many acts, 187-192; + how far contemplation may be described according to the three species + of motion--circular, direct, and oblique, 172, 203-210; + contemplation is natural to man, 210; + it is pleasurable, 211; + it is primarily concerned with God, 180, 241, 250; + it does not, in this present life, fall on the Divine Essence as such, + 199-203; + its ultimate goal, 180, 184, 187, 193, 194, 196, 198, 203, 229; + its ultimate goal in this life, 212, 220; + how it is distinguished from meditation and thought, 188; + and from speculation, 189; + four integral parts of contemplation, 193, 194; + four phases in it, 194; + six steps in it, 195, 196; + the contemplation of this present life, 193, 213, 214; + not on earth as in Heaven, 176, 177, 217, 243; + it is "beyond man," 218; + a busy life does not exclude it, 238; + it is lawful to desire it, 240; + contemplation and ecstasy, 200; + four subjects of contemplation, 194; + the repose of contemplation, in what it consists, 204, 205, 234, 235, + 246 + +_The Contemplative Life_: its meaning, 184, 186, 237, 250; + how it is distinguished from the Active Life, 169, 173, 220, 234, 235; + it is superior to the Active Life, 233-240; + it is more meritorious than it, 240-244; + its great merit, 242; + it is prepared for in the Active Life, 239, 245-249; + the Active Life precedes it, 249-252; + the Contemplative Life directs the Active, 251; + the relation of the Contemplative Life to the Theological virtues, + 192; + and to the Moral virtues, 182-186, 221, 222, 239; + it demands temperance, 184, 185; + and chastity, which it in turn fosters, 184, 185; + it calls for the subjection of the passions, 184, 185; + it results in the subjugation of the passions, 213; + it involves a certain liberty of spirit, 234, 237; + it is often distasteful, 215, 216; + it means the sacrifice of our own soul, 244; + its joys, 177, 197, 210-216, 234, 248; + its combats, 212, 213; + it is imperfect here on earth, 243; + it is not incompatible with Prelacy, 236; + its relation to the office of teaching, 236-239; + it is not meant for all, 235, 236, 239, 241, 251, 252; + reading is sometimes necessary for it, 190; + how far it refrains from all external actions, 182; + it is typified by Rachel, 174, 180, 184, 234, 242; + also by Mary of Bethany, 174, 190, 197, 234, 235, 248; + it is foreshown in Jacob's Vision, 231 + +Contemplative Religious Orders: in what sense they are the best, 253-257 + +Contemplatives, 32 + +Continence, a prayer for, 87 + +Conversation, sins of, 110 + +Correction, fraternal, 97 + +Created things must serve as stepping-stones, 193 + +Cross, Adoration of the, 37 + +_Cultus_, 31 + +Cyprian, St., on _Our_ Father, not _My_ Father, 96 + + +Damascene, St. John: on Wonderment, 189; + definitions of prayer, 69, 71, 85, 142, 148 + +Dead, Prayers for the, 167, 168 + +Death, fear of, 83 + +Decii, the, 52 + +Defects, the thought of our, causes devotion, 63, 64 + +Delights, earthly, as opposed to heavenly, 215, 216 + +Denis the Areopagite, 24; + on sanctity, 49; + on ecstasy, 55; + on beginning all with prayer, 70; + on being co-workers with God, 154; + of the knowledge of the Angels, 157; + of the harmony in Divine things, 158; + that life implies motion, 171; + on the three movements of the soul, 172, 203-210; + of the difference between the Angelic and the human intellect, 186; + that the goal of contemplation is to attain to the uniformity of the + Divine contemplation, 218; + that in contemplation here on earth we do not see the Divine Essence, + 200; + on the illumination of the Angels, 230; + of the Divine harmony, 255 + +Desires, their function and necessity, 77, 91, 105 + +Devotion: defined, 51, 53, 55, 57, 64; + is a special act, 51; + is due to an act of the will, 53, 57; + is an act of the virtue of Religion, 57; + is the principal act of the virtue of Religion, 54; + involves sacrifice of the heart, 64; + it gives a certain measure to human acts, 52; + it means promptitude, 53, 55, 56, 57; + two causes of it, 57, 62, 63; + caused by meditation, 57; + especially by meditation on the Sacred Passion, 59, 63; + on the goodness of God, 58, 60; + on our own defects, 58, 60; + obstacles to it, 62; + how far it may be hindered by learning, 60; + it is productive of sorrow, 62-64; + but is not therefore to be confounded with gloominess, 64, 65; + it produces joy, 62, 63; + devotion to the Saints, 57; + the devotion of women, 59, 62; + the "devout female sex," 62 + +Direct movement of the soul, the, 172, 210-213 + +Discretion, St. Antony on, 254, 257 + +Distractions, 127. _Cf. s.v._ Prayer, distractions in + +Divine Office, attention in the recitation of, 128 + +_Dulia_, 39 + + +Ecstasy, 4; + Denis the Areopagite on, 55; + that of St. Paul, 199, 200 + +Ejaculatory prayers, 134, 135 + +Enemies, prayer for, 99; + love of our, 99 + +Eternity: the "repose" of, 86, 87, 92; + the "silence" of, 87 + +Etymologies, those of St. Thomas and St. Isidore, 24 + +Eucharist, the Holy: the Accidents of, 9; + St. Thomas's reception of It as Viaticum, 15; + the "Chief" of the Sacraments, 103; + our "Daily Bread," 103, 109; + the rhythm, _Adoro Te Devote_, 112 + +_Eusebeia_, 31 + +Example, the force of, 222 + +Exterior religion, 45 + +External actions, 182, 183 + +Extraordinary ways of God, the, 3 + + +Faber, Father, 2 + +Faith, 191, 192 + +Faith and Vision, 87 + +Fasting, 63 + +Fear, 189; + the gift of fear, 34; + fear of death, 23; + of Hell, 36 + +Female sex, the "devout," 62 + +"Forgive us our trespasses," 110, 111 + +Fossa Nuova, 14 + +Frederic, the Emperor, 8 + +Friendship, 56 + + +Gifts of God, 92; + of the Holy Spirit, 105, 106 + +Gloom, not a characteristic of the Saints, 64, 65 + +Gloss, the, on Holy Scripture, 24, 25 + +God: God alone, 92, 247; + in what sense we "adjure" Him in our prayers, 148; + by prayer we become His beggars, 79, 110; + He is not changed by our prayers, 86, 107; + does not need our external acts of religion, 43, 46; + His foreknowledge involves no compulsion, 72; + His goodness is a reason for prayer, 107, 149; + His Holiness is a reason for prayer, 147; + the harmony of Divine things, 158, 159; + He knows beforehand what we seek, 80, 161; + He knows the heart, 157; + the majesty of God, 189; + the Patience of God, 130; + we do not pray to Him alone, 80-84; + He does not always hear our prayers, 142, 143; + why He wishes us to pray, 74, 86, 107, 138; + He does not profit by our service, 43; + on seeking after God, 54, 134, 179, 180, 183, 192; + He is the First Principle, 180; + the Ultimate End, 182; + ultimate union with Him, 109, 191; + union with Him, 69, 208; + we can hope for it, 240; + hindrances to it, 103, 104; + the Vision of God, 153, 155, 163, 172, 177, 180, 181. + _Cf. s.v._ Beatific Vision; the Antecedent Will of God, 163 + +_Greeks, On the Errors of the_, St. Thomas's treatise on, 14 + +Gregory the Great, St.: on Lia as the type of the Active Life, 222, 225, + 234, 242, 246; + of Martha and Mary as types of the Active and the Contemplative Life + respectively, 174; + on attention at prayer, 126; + on the intercession of the Angels, 165; + on the conformity of the Angels to God's Will, 167; + how the prayers of the Saints avail, 167; + that the Contemplative Life is occupied with God alone, 180, 184, 192; + that contemplation in this life does not attain to the Divine Essence, + 199, 200; + that contemplation excludes all images, 201; + of St. Benedict's vision, 202; + on the true sweetness of contemplation, 210; + contemplation springs from and leads to love of God, 212; + on the combats of the Contemplative Life, 212; + that knowledge of God brings about the death of all carnal desires, + 213; + of the joys of the spiritual life, 215, 216; + on disgust for spiritual things 215, 216; + of the Active Life, 221, 225; + on teaching as falling under the Active Life, 226; + as due to contemplation, 227; + that the Active Life passes away, not so the Contemplative Life, 229; + of the Contemplation of the Angels, 231; + on the instability of our present contemplation, 232, 243; + of the merits of the Contemplative Life, 240, 241; + that those who are Superiors can still practise the Contemplative + Life, 236; + that the Active Life precedes the Contemplative, 224, 245, 249; + of zeal for souls, 243, 244; + of the necessity of the Active Life, 250; + _contemplata aliis tradere_, 254; + that the Blessed in Heaven know our needs, 82; + not all are called to the Contemplative Life, 251, 252 + +Gregory of Nyssa, St., of joys and sorrows, 64 + +Gregory X., Pope, 14 + +Guidonis, Bernard, 6 + + +Habits, 35, 251 + +Harmony of Divine things, 158, 159 + +Harmony of reason, the, 183 + +Heaven: there will be no books in, 111; + it is our "Fatherland," 166-168, 173 + +Holiness, 184 + +Hope, 191, 192 + +Hugo a St. Caro, 6, 25 + +Hugh of St. Victor's: on attention at prayer, 126; + on intensity, 126 + + +Idolatry, 46 + +Images, veneration of, 37 + +Imagination, its function, 195, 201 + +Imprecations in Holy Scripture, 100 + +Indulgences, 168 + +Ingratitude, 94 + +"Insinuation" in prayer, 141 + +Intelligence, quickness of, 224 + +Intellect, the noblest part of man, 79, 80 + +Intention, 133 + +"Intercession" as a part of prayer, 146 + +Intercession of the Saints, 161 + +Interior Spirit, the true, 247 + +Interpretive prayer, 163 + +Isaias, St. Thomas's Commentary on, 10 + +Isidore of Seville, St.: his etymologies, 24; + on religion, 27; + on the word _sanctus_, 48; + on prayer, 68 + + +Jacob's Vision, 231 + +Jeremias prays for the people, though he is in Limbo, 115, 118, 162 + +Jerome, St.: on the error of Vigilantius, who said the prayers of the + Martyrs were not heard, 115, 162; + on making "a virtue of necessity," 35; + on the term "super-substantial" Bread, 103 + +John of St. Julian, O.P., 5 + +John XXII., Pope, 23 + +Josias, King of Juda, in Limbo, 155 + +Joy as an effect of devotion, 62 + +Joys of Contemplation, the, 210-216 + +Justice, the chief of the Moral Virtues, 37, 55, 221 + + +Knowledge, its relation to the Moral Virtues, 182 + + +_Latria_, 30, 34, 44 + +Leo the Great, St., on the Jews, 56 + +Lia, the type of the Active Life, 222, 225, 234, 242, 246 + +Liberty of Spirit, 237 + +Life: definitions of, 169, 170, 171, 187; + considered as intellectual, life may be divided into the Active and + the Contemplative, 171, 174; + _cf. s.v._ Contemplative Life and Active Life; + the Active and Contemplative Life compared, 233-257; + the two Lives distinguished, 169-177; + their relative order, 249-252; + the "mixed" life, 175, 185; + the Life of Beatitude, 191; + the bestial life, 175; + the busy life, 175; + the civil life, 175; + the leisurely life, 175, 185; + the pleasurable life, 175; + the life of repose, 172, 173; + the life of toil, 172, 173; + the voluptuous life, 176 + +Limbo, 118, 154-156 + +Litany of the Saints, 158 + +Living for Eternity, on, 83 + +Livy on the Decii, 51 + +Lombard, Peter, 25 + +Lord's Prayer, the: the seven petitions of, 105-111; + the most perfect form of prayer, 105; + distractions in saying it, 132; + why we say _Our_ Father, and not _My_ Father, 96; + this prayer is recited in the name of the whole Church, 145; + in what sense we are tied to this restricted form of prayer, 136, 137; + the Lord's Prayer as a subject of meditation, 192 + +Lyons, the Council of, St. Thomas summoned to it, 14 + +Lyra, Nicolas de, his Gloss, 25 + + +Martyrs: the prayers of the, 162-164; + merits of the Martyrs, 256 + +Marvel, what it is to, 189 + +Mass, the: to be said distinctly, 122; + the Prayers of, 147; + the Prayer of the Consecration in the Mass, 149, 150 + +Maximus Valerius, _On Socrates_, 84 + +Meditation, 188, 190; + causes devotion, 57; + produces sadness as well as joy, 62-65; + the need of it, 61; + not to be neglected for vocal prayer, 123; + fruitful subjects for, 60; + meditation on the Sacred Passion, 59; + on choosing subtle subjects for meditation, 58, 60, 61 + +Melancholy, no fruit of devotion, 64, 65 + +Merit: + definition of, 166; + source of, 240; + merits and rewards, 242; + none in Heaven, 166, 243; + of the Active and Contemplative Life, 240-244; + the merit of prayer, 141; + those of the Saints, 163; + how we can merit for others, 141 + +Military Religious Orders, 256 + +Monica, St., 123 + +Monte Cassino, 4 + +Moral Acts, their nature, 225 + +Moral Virtues, the: + Justice is the chief of the moral virtues, 221; + requisites for the moral virtues, 41; + their place in the Contemplative Life 182-186; + their function, 41, 43, 183-185; + their part in the Active Life, 220-226; + how far they remain after death, 230 + +Movements of the soul, the three, 172, 203-210 + +Mysticism, 1-3 + + +Necessity, to make a virtue of, 35, 44 + +Nestorius's error concerning the Person of Christ, 161 + +Novelty of St. Thomas's teaching, 6, 7 + + +"Obsecration" as a part of prayer, 147-149 + +Observance, strictness of, 257 + +Occultism, 3 + +Office, attention at the Divine, 128 + +Origen on sanctity, 47; + on not swearing, 148 + + +Passion, Meditation on the Sacred, 59, 63, 128 + +Perfection, 44 + +Peter Lombard, 25 + +Philosophy is better than riches, 236 + +_Postillae_, 24 + +Prayer to St. Thomas before study, A, 16 + +Prayer: _defined_, 68, 69, 76, 78, 85, 102, 1O5, 127, 136, 148; + it is an act, 161; + not an act of the appetitive powers, 68, 71, 77; + it is an act of the virtue of religion, 76-80, 161; + after devotion, prayer is the highest act of the virtue of religion, + 77; + it is a conversation with God, 74; + by it we become God's beggars, 110; + it is peculiar to the rational creation, 112-114; + in what sense the brute creatures pray, 114; + prayer is a gift from God, 139; + three requisites for prayer, 146; + four requisites for prayer, 138; + the real meaning of "petition," 78, 79; + the prayer of desire, 92, 105; + in what sense desire is not prayer, 77, 78; + prayer is a real cause, 72, 74, 166 + _Why we should pray:_ + prayer is reasonable, 71-76, 107, 120, 147; + the merit of prayer, 125, 137-143; + the effects of prayer, 71, 120, 125, 132, 138; + prayer causes union with God, 70, 71 + _Errors concerning prayer:_ + in general, 72; + it is not an adjuring of God, 148; + it never wearies God, 79, 80; + "much speaking" in prayer, 135; + it cannot change God's decrees, 72, 73, 86, 107, 161; + it does not "bend" His will, 86; + God knows beforehand what we would pray for, 73, 75, 80, 86, 120 + _Of prayers heard and unheard:_ + the condition necessary if our prayers are to be heard, 89, 96, 141, + 144; + of prayers heard in anger, 142, 143; + in what sense the prayers of sinners are heard, 143-146; + the prayers of the poor are speedily heard, 69; + how the prayers of the Saints are heard, 162, 168; + the prayers of the Martyrs and Apostles, 162, 163; + why prayers are not heard, 142; + of unheard prayers, 140; + why our prayers for others are sometimes not heard, 96; + in what sense the prayers of sinners are heard, 143-146 + _How we should pray:_ + at regular intervals, 134; + our attitude in prayer, 150, 151; + beginning occupations with prayer, 70; + prayer "without ceasing," 91, 137; + attention at prayer, 125; + three kinds of attention, 120, 133; + distractions, 121, 127-133; + the length of our prayers, 133-137; + hindrances to prayer, 75; + the recitation of Psalms, 123; + prayer "in spirit and in truth," 126; + weariness in prayer, 134 + _What we should pray for:_ + the impetratory value of prayer, 138, 141; + what we should pray for in general, 129, 142; + for Beatitude, 85-87; + prayer for definite things, 84-88; + for "sufficiency of life," 89; + against death, 83; + for continence, 87; + for knowledge of Holy Scripture, 88; + for deliverance from toothache, 92, 94; + for others, 95, 97, 98, 229; + for the wicked, 97; + for the good, 98; + for our inferiors, 98; + for temporal blessings, 89-95; + for the predestinate, 167; + for our enemies, 99-102; + the Saints in Heaven pray for the resurrection of their bodies, 116 + _To whom we should pray:_ + not to God alone, 80-84; + to the Angels, 81; + to the Saints, 157-161; + to the lesser Saints, 117 + _Who pray for us, and how:_ + the Angels pray for us, how, 114; + in what sense the Son and the Holy Spirit are said to pray, 113, 115; + how the Holy Spirit helps our prayers, 85; + the Saints pray for us, 115-118; + how, 156, 163, 166, 167; + how we merit the prayers of the Saints, 162; + how our prayers are known to the Saints, 152-157; + those in Limbo prayed for those on earth, 118; + those in Purgatory cannot pray for us, 117 + _Divers forms of prayer:_ + vocal prayer, 119-125; + ejaculatory prayer, 134, 135; + prayer in secret, 121; + prayer of the heart, 124; + thanksgiving as a part of prayer, 149; + postulations as a part of prayer, 146-148 + _The Lord's Prayer:_ + we say not "my Father," but "our Father," 96; + the seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer, 102-111; + the Lord's Prayer not said without distractions, 132; + in what sense we are tied to the Lord's Prayer as a formula, 136, 137 + _The Church's prayers:_ + in general, 76, 147, 158; + public and private prayers, 119, 121, 122, 135; + how the prayer "of many" avails, 98; + the prayer of the Consecration at Mass, 149, 150 + +Prelates and Contemplative Life, 236 + +Prosper, St., the _Book of Sentences Gleaned from St. Augustine_, 140 + +Prudence: its relation to the other Moral Virtues, 224; + it is requisite for the Active Life, 223-226 + +Purity of soul, 252 + +Purgatory: why the suffrages of the Church do not empty it at once, 167, + 168; + the souls in Purgatory do not know our needs, 83; + neither do they pray for us, 83, 116, 118; + Brother Romanus passed sixteen days in Purgatory, 12 + +Rabanus Maurus: his Gloss, 25; + on Prayer, 69 + +Rachel, a type of the Contemplative Life, 163, 174, 180, 184, 234, 242 + +Reading necessary for prayer, 190 + +Reason: its function, 206; + the higher and the lower, 249; + the speculative and the practical, 68 + +Religion: the virtue of, 27-50; + that it is a virtue, 34; + definition of, 27-31, 39, 49; + its principle is charity, 56; + it is one virtue, 35; + and a Moral Virtue, 40; + and a special virtue, 37-39; + not a Theological Virtue, 39; + the _via media_ in, 41; + the harmony of, 42; + is superior to the other Moral Virtues, 42; + is not for God's profit, but for ours, 43; + demands external acts, 44; + how far it is identified with sanctity, 47-50 + +Religious Orders, the Active and Contemplative compared, 253-257 + +Religious people, 31, 50, 61; + they are not always Saints, 50 + +Reposeful characters, 252 + +Romanus, Brother, appears to St. Thomas, 12 + + +Sacrifice, the real nature of, 38, 46, 244 + +Saints, the: what it is to be a Saint, 50; + they are not gloomy, 64, 65; + their knowledge of our needs, 82, 152-157; + their prayers for us, 115-118; + they feel no grief for us on earth, 155; + their wills are perfectly conformed to that of God, 116, 156, 163, + 165, 167; + the Communion of Saints, 158, 164; + we ought to pray to them, 157-161; + of devotion to the Saints, 57; + to the lesser Saints, 117, 160; + they are co-workers with God, 154; + in what sense their prayers are always heard, 158, 162-168; + their merits, 163, 166; + how they pray for us, 163, 167 + +"Saint of Saints, The," 160 + +Scripture, prayer for knowledge of Holy, 88 + +Seneca: on petitions, 74; + on idolatry, 46 + +Sentences, the Book of, 6, 25 + +Sinners, prayer for: 97; + the prayers of sinners, 143-146 + +Sins of conversation, 110 + +Socrates on prayer, 84 + +Solicitude, how far it is forbidden, 90 + +Sorrow, as an effect of devotion, 62, 64 + +Speculation, 189 + +Spirit, the Holy, how He helps us to pray, 85 + +"Spirit and truth," prayer in, 126, 127 + +Spiritualism, 3 + +Stability implied in the notion of sanctity, 49 + +Strabo, Walafrid, his Gloss, 24 + +Strictness of life not an end in itself, 257 + +"Sufficiency of life," prayer for, 89 + +Suffrages for the Dead, 167, 168 + +_Summa Theologica_: the broad divisions of, 19, 20; + the method employed in, 21, 22; + the _Tertia Pars_, 13 + +Superiors and Contemplation, 238 + +Supererogation, works of, 44 + +Superstition, 42 + +Supersubstantial Bread, 103 + +Supplications as a part of prayer, 146 + +Swearing, Origen on, 148 + + +Teaching: in what it consists, 227, 228; + due to Contemplation, 227; + how far it belongs to the Active Life, 226-229; + the beauty of the teaching life, 227; + how the Angels teach, 231 + +Temperance: a necessity for the Contemplative Life, 184, 185; + how far it is identical with sanctity, 50 + +Temporal things: the part they play in our life, 89; + they are "stepping-stones" to Heaven, 91; + how far they may be asked for, 89-95 + +Thanksgivings as part of prayer, 147 + +Theological Virtues, the, 39-41, 191, 192 + +_Theosebeia_, 31 + +Thomas Aquinas, St.: born at Rocca Secca, 4; + his early occupation with Divine things, 5; + goes to Monte Cassino, 4; + to Naples University, 5; + receives the habit of the Friars Preachers, 5; + is sent to Santa Sabina, 5; + is imprisoned, and studies the Bible, the _Sentences_, and the + Philosophy of Aristotle, 6; + is created Bachelor in Theology, 6; + the novelty of his teaching, 7, 8; + created Master in Theology, 7; + says he would prefer to possess St. Chrysostom's Commentaries on the + Gospel according to St. Matthew to the possession of the city of + Paris, 10; + hears from Our Lord's lips, _Bene scripsisti de Me, Thoma_, 10; + his three petitions, 8; + his prayer before study, 8-11; + is visited by St. Peter and St. Paul, who explain to him a passage of + Isaias, 11; + Brother Romanus appears to him, 12; + his approaching end is revealed to him, 12, 13; + the Crucifix speaks to him, 13; + he ceases to write, 14; + his emotion on hearing the words, _Ne projicias nos_, sung, 14; + is summoned to the Council of Lyons, 14; + his faith in the Holy Eucharist, 9, 15; + his dying words, 15; + his rhythm, _Adoro Te Devote_, 112; + the method of his teaching, 19; + his teaching is regarded as miraculous, 23; + his use of the works of the Fathers, 16, 18, 23; + his teaching and that of St. Augustine, 16-18; + his self-effacement, 23 + +Tocco, William of, biographer of St. Thomas, 5 _note_, 6, 8, 9, 11, 15 + +Toothache: St. Thomas's deliverance from it, 93; + St. Augustine's deliverance from it, 93 + +Trinity, the Holy: how to pray to, 81; + the _Collect_ for Trinity Sunday, 147 + + +Union with God, 3, 197, 198. +_Cf. s.v._ God + + +Valgornera, _Theologia Mystica_, 1 + +_Via media_ in religion, 41 + +Vigilantius's errors regarding prayer, 117, 162 + +Virginity, 50 + +Virgins, the five wise and the five foolish, 247 + +Virtue: definition of, 34; + its praiseworthy character, 43; + it lies in the will, 43 + + +Walafrid Strabo, his Gloss, 24 + +Will: the object of the, 57; + its functions, 52, 70; + the part it plays in the Contemplative Life, 179-181 + +Women, the natural devotion of, 59 + +Worship: in what it consists, 41 + + +Zeal for souls, 243, 244 + + + + +INDEX OF TEXTS QUOTED OR EXPLAINED + + +Genesis. +xxix. 17; 184 +xxxii. 30-32; 200, 214 + +Exodus. +iii. 6; 117 +iii. 14; 176 +xiii. 6; 117 +xix. 21; 136, 237 +xx. 1-17; 42 +xxxv. 20, 21; 52 + +1 Kings. +i. 18; 120 +xv. 19; 73 + +2 Kings. +vii. 18; 150 + +3 Kings. +xviii. 42; 150 + +4 Kings. +xxii. 50; 155 + +2 Paralipomenon. +xxix. 31; 52 + +Job. +v. 1; 80, 157 +xiv. 21; 152 +xvi. 20-23; 210 +xxxi. 14; 226 +xxxi. 23; 236 + +Psalms. +v. 5; 177 +vi. 7; 151 +vi. 11; 99 +x. 17; 69 +xv. 2; 43 +xv. 5; 32 +xv. 5, 6; 172 +xv. 9; 120 +xv. 11; 177 +xvi. 6-9; 252 +xxiv. 6-11; 177 +xxvi. 4; 70, 136, 197 +xxvi. 5; 240 +xxvi. 8; 120 +xxxii. 20, 21; 137 +xxxiii. 9; 211, 216 +xxxiv. 13; 97, 137 +xxxv. 7; 235 +xxxvi. 23-25; 146 +xxxvii. 10; 91 +xxxviii. 4; 57 +xxxviii. 13; 68, 143 +xxxix. 13; 120 +xli. 3; 63 +xli. 1-6; 182 +xlv. 11; 235, 246 +xlvii. 9; 13 +xlvii. 9, 10, 15; 238 +xlix. 13; 46 +l. 19; 64 +liv. 1-7; 150 +liv. 23; 95 +lvii. 11; 100 +lviii. 7; 43 +lxv. 8-12; 232 +lxvi.; 84 +lxx. 17, 18; 76 +lxx. 20; 14 +lxxii. 21-28; 192 +lxxii. 28; 58 +lxxv. 4, 5; 129 +lxxvi. 1; 32 +lxxvi. 4; 62 +lxxix. 4; 85 +lxxxiii. 3; 44 +lxxxiii. 12; 81 +lxxxv. 1-5; 125 +xciv. 3; 46 +xcvi. 7; 113 +cii. 1-15; 249 +ciii. 33, 34; 80 +cxviii. 35; 85 +cxviii. 145; 124 +cxx. 1, 2; 58 +cxx. 4; 80 +cxxxviii. 14; 194 +cxl. 2; 76 +cxli. 1; 119 +cxlii. 4-7; 132 +cxlii. 5, 6; 194 +cxliii. 15; 191 +cxliv. 13; 104 +cxlv. 1; 130 +cxlvi. 9; 114 + +Proverbs. +xxviii. 8; 144 +xxx. 8; 89 + +Ecclesiastes. +vii. 14; 97 + +Wisdom. +vii. 7; 190 +viii. 2; 185 +viii. 16; 171, 204, 210 +ix. 15; 132, 213 +xv. 1-3; 244 + +Ecclesiasticus. +xxviii. 2; 146 +xxx. 24; 244 +xxxvi. 1-3; 102 +xxxvi. 16-19; 114 +xli. 1-6; 223 +xliii. 33; 41 + +Isaias. +xii. 1-6; 219 +xxv. 8, 9; 198 +xxvi. 3,4,8,9; 201 +xxxii. 17; 184 +xxxiii. 13-17; 181 +xlvi. 10; 104 +lviii. 5; 256 +lxiii. 15, 16; 88, 154 +lxiv. 8, 9; 71 +lxv. 24; 70 + +Jeremias. +vii. 16; 97 +xiv. 8,9; 186 +xv. 1; 96, 164 +xxxi. 34; 231 + +Lamentations. +iii. 19; 63 + +Daniel. +ix. 14; 160 +ix. 18, 19; 147 +x. 12, 13; 165 + +Osee. +xiv. 3; 120 + +Habacuc. +ii. 4; 190 + +Malachi. +i. 6; 36 +iii. 14; 72 + +2 Maccabees +xv. 14; 115, 162 + +St. Matthew. +v. 8; 184 +v. 44; 99 +vi. 6; 121 +vi. 7; 135 +vi. 8; 80 +vi. 9; 136 +vi. 9-13; 84 +vi. 25; 90 +vi. 32; 73 +vi. 33; 90 +vii. 7; 78 +xviii. 10; 157, 231 +xxii. 30; 165 +xxv. 3, 4; 247 + +St. Luke. +i. 49; 104 +i. 74, 75; 47 +vi. 12; 135 +vi. 13; 139 +ix. 55; 57 +x. 39; 190 +x. 40; 241 +x. 41; 234, 248 +x. 42; 216, 233, 248, 253 +x. 43; 235 +xi. 2-4; 84, 106 +xv. 13-16; 61 +xviii. 1; 71, 133, 137 +xxii. 43; 135 + +St. John. +iv. 24; 45, 85, 126 +v. 16; 95 +ix. 31; 144 +xi. 3; 146 +xiv. 8; 177 +xiv. 16; 113 +xvi. 23; 96 +xvii. 1-5; 111, 177 +xvii. 24; 98 +xix. 1-5; 56 +xxi. 22; 243 + +Acts. +vii. 59; 151 +xv. 9; 177 +xx. 36; 151 + +Romans. +i. 20; 45, 193 +vii. 24; 213 +viii. 26; 85, 113, 198 +viii. 31; 32 +viii. 38, 39; 48 +ix. 3; 241 +xiii. 10; 183 +xv. 4; 99 +xv. 30; 98, 158 + +1 Corinthians. +i. 11; 98 +iii. 8; 242 +iv. 5; 177 +vi. 9, 10; 104 +ix. 16; 44 +x. 31; 134 +xii. 31; 237 +xiii. 8; 217 +xiii. 12; 176, 213 +xiv. 14; 126 +xiv. 15; 82 + +2 Corinthians. +iii. 18; 189 +iv. 18; 90 +v. 6; 131 +v. 6, 7; 190 +v. 15; 239 +x. 31; 38 +xii. 7-9; 139 + +Galatians. +iv. 14; 32 +v. 13; 30 + +Ephesians. +i. 4; 76 +iv. 5, 6; 35 + +Philippians. +iii. 20; 65 +iv. 7; 198 + +Colossians. +iii. 3, 4; 176 + +1 Thessalonians. +v. 17; 91, 133, 137 + +1 Timothy. +i. 5; 191 +ii. 1; 146, 147 +ii. 4; 86 + +2 Timothy. +iii. 5; 144 + +Hebrews. +iii., iv., v.; 92 +vii. 25; 115 +x. 20; 248 +xii. 4; 256 +xii. 14; 48, 184 + +St. James. +i. 6; 141 +i. 27; 28 +iv. 3; 85 +v. 16; 95 + +1 St. John. +iii. 2; 176, 197, 231 +iv. 19; 107 +v. 16; 97 + +Apocalypse. +vi. 10; 100, 164 +vi. 11; 164 +viii. 4; 81 +xv. 1; 164 +xxii. 17; 244 + + +THE END + +_Printed in England_ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On Prayer and The Contemplative Life, by +St. Thomas Aquinas + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON PRAYER *** + +***** This file should be named 22295.txt or 22295.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/2/9/22295/ + +Produced by Charlene Taylor, Ted Garvin, David King, and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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