fLI8RARY))
The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
in the Souls of the Just
ACCORDING TO THE TEACHING
OF ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
9,
REV. FATHER BARTHELEMY FROGET
faster in Theology, of the Order of Preachers
Translated from the Third
French Edition
'^y REV. SYDNEY A. RAEMERS, M.A.
"^4
THE NEWMAN PRESS
Westminster, Maryland
1952
Second Printing j 1952
Imprimatut :
Fr. Jos. Ambrosius Labors, Ord. Pr/ED..
Prior Provincialis, Prov. Liigd.
Imprimatut:
Parisiis, li Februarius, 1900.
E. Thomas, V.G.
MAY 1 8 1954
nibil •totat:
ARTHUR J. SCANLAN. &T.D.
Censor Lihrorum
fmpctmatur:
+ PATRICK J. HAYES, D. D.
ArMishop of New York
N«w Yock, OetoUr y, tpa.
All riahtt reterved
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
APPROBATION OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS
We, the undersigned, have examined, by appointment of
the Very Reverend Father Provincial, the book, already pub-
lished under the title: The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in
the Souls of the Just, by the Very Rev. Father Master,
Brother Barthelemy Froget, of the Order of the Preaching
Brothers. This work being very praiseworthy on account
of the solidity of its doctrine and by its conformity with the
teachings of St. Thomas, has won the attention of theo-
logians. Having thus advanced the progress of sacred
science, it may furthermore contribute to the increase of
piety in men's souls. It has seemed to us worthy to be re-
published, and we affirm our approval of the new impres-
sion, with the additions and changes which the author has
judged proper to introduce.
Father Marie-Joseph, O.P.,
Master in Sacred Theology.
Father Denys Mezard, O.P.
Lyons, the Feast of St. Raymond de Pennafort,
the 23d of January, 1900.
ill
LETTER OF HIS EMINENCE THE CARDINAL
ARCHBISHOP OF LYONS
Archbishop's Residence,
Lyons, July 16, 1899.
Dear Father Froget ;
I congratulate you upon having treated in your book one
of the most interesting and consoling doctrines of the Chris-
tian faith : the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Souls of
the Just.
In the Gospels and in the Epistles there are passages upon
this subject which we too often read without penetrating
their deeper meaning; and yet these inspired words reveal
to us, if deeply pondered, the real grandeur of the Christian
soul which is in the state of grace, and its wonderful rela-
tions with the Persons of the Holy Trinity.
In our day we study natural psychology with minute care,
but we neglect what may be called supernatural psychology,
namely, the energies, the actions, and the beauties of the
soul which the Holy Spirit sanctifies by His indwelling and
His mysterious activities. The Apostle, St. Paul, has traced
the great outlines of this admirable science; the holy Fathers,
particularly St. Augustine, have developed it by their learned
commentaries.
These truths you have presented with the exactness born
of your profound knowledge of the theology of St. Thomas
Aquinas, and with such remarkable clarity, that your work
will be appreciated not only by ecclesiastics, but also by
those members of the laity who are eager for a better knowl-
edge of our holy religion.
Therefore, I am glad to recommend your book to all
classes of the faithful; and, whilst expressing to you my
sentiments of respect and devotedness, I beg Our Saviour
to bestow His blessing upon your labors and upon your
apostolic ministry.
+PIERRE CARD. COULLIE,
Archbishop of Lyons and Vienne.
iv
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
The Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII., in his admirable Ency-
clical, Divinum illud munus, addressed to the entire Cath-
olic world under date of May 9, 1897, expresses his ardent
desire to see faith in the august ministry of the Trinity
revived in men's souls, and piety towards the Holy Ghost in-
creased in their hearts. To this end he drew the attention
of the Faithful to the presence of the Holy Spirit, His won-
derful power, as well as His activity, throughout the Church;
and also in the soul of each of the Faithful, imparting the
abundance of His celestial Gifts. Furthermore, the Vicar
of Jesus Christ reminded Catholic preachers and others who
have charge of souls, of the duty incumbent on them to ex-
plain carefully, and with clearness and completeness, all
that relates to the Holy Spirit, avoiding difficult and subtle
controversies, and taking special pains to treat of the in-
numerable benefits we have received from Him and do
constantly receive; so that, as the Holy Father added, ignor-
ance and error about these sublime things may be expelled
from the minds of the faithful, who are so rightly called
"the children of light" (Ephesians v. 8).
Words as wise as they are opportune. As a matter of fact,
how many Christians of our day have any notion, however
vague and imperfect, about the Holy Spirit, His Gifts, His
wondrous works in the souls of men, the spiritual riches
and joys which He lavishes upon whomsoever shows himself
docile to His inspirations? "Perhaps," insists Leo XIII.,
"it would not be impossible even in this our era, to come
across Catholic Christians, who, if questioned, as were the
proselytes of old by the Apostle, whether or not they had
vi Preface to the Second Edition
received the Holy Ghost, would answer in the same words:
*We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy
Ghost' " (Acts xix. 2). At any rate, there are many who are
either entirely ignorant or have but a very superficial
knowledge about Him, and thereby, to a certain extent, fall
short of the fruits of their religion, lacking the knowledge
of that truth so beautiful and so consoling — His invisible
sending and His indwelling in souls in the state of grace.
And yet what can be more worthy of their deepest attention?
Is not this God's supreme Gift, the chief Gift and the crown-
ing Gift of all — God Himself coming within us, giving Him-
self to us, making Himself our Guest infinitely sweet, our
Friend, our Consoler, the active principle of our sancti-
fication, and the pledge of our eternal happiness, nay, its
very origin? Is this not the supremely important subject of
a reasonable being's thought, the object of his most passion-
ate devotion?
After having raised to the true God a splendid temple full
of golden glory, King Solomon cried to heaven in accents of
living faith and deepest wonder: "Is it then to be thought
that God should indeed dwell upon earth? for if heaven and
the heavens of heavens cannot contain Thee, how much less
this house which I have built?" (3 Kings viii. 27.) If such
was the amazement of the wisest of mankind at God's en-
trance into a material temple, what should be the sentiments
of a man in whose very soul God makes His abode as in a
living temple — the infinite Majesty of the Deity, the Creator
of heaven and earth, the Master of the universe I Now, it
is not merely a pious opinion, an affirmation more or less
open to discussion, but it is a truth wholly beyond dispute,
that God, by His grace dwells veritably — His actual sub-
stantial self — in the unity of His Nature and the Trinity of
His Persons, in each and every just soul, and that a bond of
love unites the soul to its Creator more intimately than it
can ever be joined here below to its dearest friend; and
thus it begins, even in this life, to enjoy God with the inef-
Preface to the Second Edition vii
fable sweetness of eternal bliss. Leo XIII., in the Encyclical
already quoted, goes so far as even to say that "this mar-
velous union, which is termed indwelling, differs in no wise
from the union with God which awaits us in paradise,
except in those things which are incidental to our state and
condition in our earthly sojourn."
To establish by incontestable arguments drawn from
Divine revelation, the actual fact of this special presence of
God in righteous souls; clearly to explain its nature, its
mode and manner, especially our deification by grace and
the adoptive sonship which is its consequence; to give
thereby a more perfect comprehension of the dignity of the
Christian and of his high destiny; to inspire a more pro-
found appreciation of the supremely precious benefits be-
stowed on that account upon the just soul at its departure
from this life, thus generating a more lively longing for its
incomparable heritage reserved in the bliss of heaven;
finally, to give a picture of the rich and complex super-
natural organism installed by the Holy Ghost in the souls
in whom He dwells, permitting them to collaborate with
Him and under His guidance in the great work of their
sanctification — such is the magnificent programme which we
have undertaken to carry out in the present work.
Our first edition has been received with such a welcome
as to make us believe that God has deigned to bless our
labors, for its success has certainly far transcended our ex-
pectations.
This second edition is the exact reproduction of the first,
excepting some slight changes, not of matter, but only of
arrangement. We have relegated to the end of the volume,
in an appendix, some discussions more suitable to theo-
logians than to the general public, suppressing in the inter-
ests of peace all polemical matter; and we have added some-
thing more about the Gifts of the Holy Ghost the better to
impart the thoughts of St. Thomas on that subject.
May the Spirit of God condescend to bless these humble
viii Preface to the Second Edition
pages, written wholly for His glory, and to bring forth fruit
unto edification. We shall be amply rewarded for our
labors if our book shall have helped to spread the knowl-
edge and the love of the Divine Gifts, and shall have served
to increase in souls devotion to the Holy Ghost the Sanc-
tifler, and to deepen confidence in Him; that thereby our
readers may attain to the realization, in some degree at
least, of the will of the common Father of the faithful —
their entire sanctification.
INTRODUCTION
An inexhaustible source of study and contemplation,
a truth embodying, as it were, the very marrow of Chris-
tianity, one frequently alluded to in Holy Writ, yet too
rarely touched upon by modern preachers, even when
addressing chosen souls whose only desire is to delve
deeper and deeper into the mysteries of the kingdom of
God, is the sweet and consoling dogma of the indwelling
of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just. This beau-
tiful doctrine, so loved by the Fathers and so often on
their lips, in homilies to the faithful and in contro-
versies with opponents of the divinity of the Word and
of the Holy Ghost, was reverently treated by the theo-
logians of the Middle Ages, and especially by the great-
est among them, that prince of Scholasticism, the An-
gelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas, so to
speak, made this doctrine his own, and marked it with
his seal, by setting it forth with all the precision of
theological terminology.
Later, eminent writers, like Gomet, John of St.
Thomas, Suarez, the Theologians of Salamanca and
other great representatives of ecclesiastical science, set
themselves the task of expounding the same doctrine,
and fulfilled that task with a love and devotion that
lends warmth to the cold letter of their writings. The
topic appears in their works like a delightful oasis, in
which the reader, somewhat fatigued by the aridity of
theological discussions, willingly stops to rest. Petavius
and Thomasin adorned it with the treasures of their
erudition, citing some of the most striking passages of
the F'athers relative to it. In our own day the doctrine
ix
X Introduction
has not been forgotten; on the contrary, it has been
restored to prominence by some well-known writers.
Cardinals Franzelin and Mazzella, in their learned
treatises, Mgr. Gay, in his remarkable conferences on
La Vie et les Vertus Chrdtiennes, and many others have
treated the subject with unquestionable talent and vary-
ing degrees of success.
Why, then, is this doctrine so little known and so
slightly appreciated even by many ministers of the
altar? True, they know vaguely, from having heard it
enunciated, or from having read it in Holy Writ, that
the Holy Ghost, or rather the Three Persons of the Most
Holy Trinity, dwell in the souls of those whose blessed
fortune it is to be in the state of grace, but in what
does this indwelling consist? What differentiates it
from the Divine omnipresence? What benefits does it
confer on the receiver? What are its effects and conse-
quences? These things they do not know, and it is
important that they should know them, else the belief
in this point of doctrine, like the faint and uncertain
light of a far-distant planet, will be too vague and too
obscure to lay hold upon the mind and leave a lasting
impression; it will fail to bring forth in the soul those
salutary fruits of joy and consolation it is calculated
to produce.
Is this truth to be inaccessible to the ordinary reader,
a closed book which only a few privileged souls may
peruse, since they alone possess the secret of decipher-
ing its characters? Not at all; we hope, with God's
grace, to offer an exposition of this doctrine within the
reach of all readers. Can anyone say that this is,
indeed, a very beautiful teaching, but devoid of practical
influence on the conduct of our lives? This certainly is
not true; for, though, at first sight, this study may seem
to be speculative, it is in reality rich in practical instruc-
Introduction xi
tions, and offers to those who fear not to enter upon it,
an abundance of real spiritual joys, and powerful incen-
tives to sanctification.
Our purpose, therefore, in publishing these pages, is
to place within the reach of men of good will, who,
although not versed in theological speculation yet hun-
ger after truth, and are anxious to rise superior to
spiritual commonplace, a doctrine which contains our
greatest title to glory and nobility. We shall endeavor
to conduct this study with all the clearness required by
such a lofty subject, taking for our master and guide
the great St. Thomas Aquinas, whom the venerable
Pontiff, Pope Leo XIII., urges all to study and whose
disciple we are proud to acknowledge ourselves. On
this question, as upon so many others, the Angelic
Doctor has cast the rays of his genius; not that he has
treated it with the abundance of detail and fullness of
development that we might wish, but he has laid down
the principles, in those concise but pregnant sentences
which, at almost every step, crystallize his thought in
the Summa Theologica. With the firm, clear and noble
style characteristic of him, he has expressed in com-
paratively few words, all that need be said to make him-
self understood, leaving to others the task of opening
up his doctrine and placing it by suitable development
within the grasp of all minds. This last is the purpose
we have in view.
Our task, therefore, will be to place in relief the
thought of St. Thomas, and to translate it into a lan-
guage understood by all.
We shall also take from Holy Writ and the writings
of the Fathers many testimonies, which have the double
advantage of throwing light upon our teaching and re-
cnforcing it, besides showing the solid foundations on
which it rests.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Approbation of the Order of Preachers and of the
Ordinary iii
Letter of the Cardinal Archbishop of Lyons . . iv
Preface to the Second Edition . .... v
Introduction ix
PART FIRST
THE ORDINARY PRESENCE OF GOD IN ALL
CREATURES
Chapter I
The Presence of God in All Creatures as Their Active
Principle or Efficient Cause 1
Chapter II
How This Common and Ordinary Presence Is Intimate,
Profound and Universal. Its Different Degrees 13
PART SECOND
GOD'S SPECIAL PRESENCE, OR THE INDWELLING OF
THE HOLY GHOST IN THE SOULS OF THE JUST
Chapter I
The Fact of God's Special Presence in the Just. The
Sending and the Bestowal of God the Holy Ghost;
His Indwelling in the Soul 20
Chapter II
The Nature of This Sanctifying Presence ... 41
Chapter III
The Mode or Manner of This Presence of the Holy
Ghost. God Is Present in the Souls of the Just, Not
Only as Efficient Cause, But Also as Guest, Friend,
and as an Object of Knowledge and Love ... 55
xiii
xiv Table of Contents
Chapter IV
PAflB
Explanation of the Mode or Manner of Presence With
Which God Honors the Just on Earth and the Saints
in Heaven. How God Is Present By His Substance to
the Understanding and Will of the Blessed in Heaven
as First Truth and Sovereign Good .... 69
Chapter V
Explanation of the Special Mode or Manner of Presence
With Which God Honors the Just on Earth and the
Saints in Heaven (Continued). How Grace Produces
in the Souls of the Just on Earth a Divine Presence
Analogous to That Enjoyed By the Saints in Heaven 80
PART THIRD
THIS DIVINE INDWELLING BY GRACE IS NOT PROPER
TO THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ALONE, BUT
IS THE COMMON PREROGATIVE OF THE WHOLE
BLESSED TRINITY. IT IS THE PRIVILEGE
OF ALL THE JUST BOTH OF THE OLD
AND THE NEW TESTAMENT
Chapter I
Although Usually Attributed to the Holy Spirit, the
Divine Indwelling By Grace Is Not His Exclusive Pre-
rogative, But Is Common to All Three Persons of the
Trinity 104
Chapter II
The Indwelling of God in Men's Souls Is Not the Ex-
clusive Privilege of the Just of the New Law, But Is
the Common Endowment of the Just of All Times 114
Table of Contents xv
PART FOURTH
PURPOSE AND EFFECT OF THE INVISIBLE AND INTE-
RIOR MISSION OF THE HOLY GHOST; AND OF
HIS INDWELLING IN MEN'S SOULS
Chapter I
PAOB
Purpose of the Invisible Mission of the Holy Ghost and
of His Entrance Into Souls: Sanctiflcation of the Soul;
Namely, the Forgiveness of Sins and Justification . 123
Chapter II
Our Justification By Grace Is a Veritable Deification.
How Sanctifying Grace Grants an Actual and Formal
Participation in the Divine Nature 138
Chapter III
Our Divine Adoptive Sonship. Resemblances and Dif-
ferences Between Divine and Human Adoption. In-
comparability and Dignity of the Christian . . 157
Chapter IV
Our Right to the Divine Inheritance a Consequence of
Our Adoption. What Is This Inheritance? . .170
Chapter V l^
Eff'ects of the Indwelling of the Holy Ghost. The In-
fused Virtues, Theological and Moral .... 188 /
Chapter VI
Effects of the Indwelling of the Holy Ghost (Continued) . .
V The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 203
V
Chapter VII
\y Final Effects of the Indwelling of the Holy Ghost. The 1
Fruits of the Holy Spirit, and the Beatitudes . . 229 _,^
The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in
the Souls of the Just
PART FIRST
THE ORDINARY PRESENCE OF GOD IN ALL
CREATURES
CHAPTER I
The Presence of God in All Creatures as Their
Active Principle or Efficient Cause
Before broaching the interesting yet difficult ques-
tion of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of
the just, and of the mysterious union He thus effects
with them; before going into the proofs of the presence
both substantial and extraordinary of the three Divine
persons in the just soul which thus becomes a living
temple wherein the adorable Trinity finds delight, it
will be useful, and, to a certain extent, even necessary,
to grasp a few preliminary notions on the ordinary
way in which God is present in all things. Nothing, in-
deed, could be more unreasonable than to expound the
doctrine of the extraordinary or special presence of God
in the souls of the just, before we know quite clearly
what is His ordinary presence in all creation.
To be in a fit position to speak in precise terms of
these two kinds of presence, and to distinguish one
2 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
from the other, we must first of all become acquainted
with their respective characteristics, and see in what
they agree and in what they differ. This may be
achieved by carefully examining, defining and compar-
ing their natures. Were we to follow a different course
of action, plunging at once into a more or less scientific
explanation of the indwelling of God in the soul by the
life of grace, without having, at the outset, firmly estab-
lished and clearly explained that such an indwelling is
to be found nowhere else in nature, we should be in
danger of imparting very incomplete notions, and of
leaving the reader in a state of vagueness that could not
but be regrettable. On the other hand, it will not be
necessary to dwell at length on the proofs for the divine
omnipresence, since all Catholics believe in it; we shall,
however, insist on the way in which it is to be under-
stood in order to convey an exact idea of God's im-
mensity, and so to prepare the way for a clear under-
standing of the special presence of God in the souls of
the just.
I
It is a dogma of faith, as well as a truth of reason,
that God is everywhere — in heaven, on earth, in all
things and in all places: that He is present in a very
intimate manner in everything created. This truth is
known to all, not only to the philosopher and theo-
logian, but even to the little child whose intelligence is
but awakening; it is one of the first lessons it receives
at its mother's knee — one of the first truths it learns
from any Christian teacher.
This doctrine, which the simplest Christian holds at
the beginning of his moral life, and which he continues
to hold without always understanding its full bearing,
nor suspecting what deep truths it expresses, was
The Presence of God in All Creatures 3
preached long ago by the Apostle St. Paul, before the
most illustrious audience in the world. He was ad-
dressing, not an ignorant populace, but the official rep-
resentatives of human wisdom, the members of the
Areopagus of Athens, when, referring to the existence
of God in every creature, the Apostle exclaimed : "That
they should seek God, if haply they may feel after Him
or find Him, although He be not far from every one of
us ; for in Him we live, and move, and are." ^
Centuries before, the Psalmist had made this same
divine omnipresence the theme of his song: "Behold,
Lord, Thou hast known all things, the latest and
those of old; Thou hast formed me, and hast laid Thy
hand upon me. Thy knowledge has become wonderful
to me; it is high, and I cannot reach to it. Whither
shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I fly from
Thy face? If I ascend into heaven. Thou art there; if
1 descend into hell. Thou art present. If I take my
wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea, even there also shall Thy hand lead
me, and Thy right hand shall hold me." ^
Finally, in order fully to convince us that we cannot
escape His ever-vigilant eye, God Himself, using our
weak human language, with infinite condeseension, says
to us through the mouth of His prophet : "Shall a man
be hid in secret places, and I not see him, saith the
Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?" *
It is not necessary to cite other testimonies in proof
of a point of doctrine admitted by all who believe in the
existence of an infinite Being, the Author of all things;
yet, on account of its extreme importance, we should
like to set down here the philosophical proof of the
omnipresence of God, given by St. Thomas. God, he
says, "is present in all things, not as part of their es-
sence, or as an accidental element, but as the active
*Acto TvU. 27. 28. * Psalm cxxxviU. 5-12. * Jeremiah zxlU. 24.
4 The Indwelling of the Hohj Spirit
principle is present to the thing on which it acts;
for it is essential that the efficient cause be united with
the object upon which it exercises an immediate activ-
ity, and that it comes into contact with this object, if
not bodily, then, at least, by the exercise of its power
and energies." *
We may compare God's action with that of the sun.
Although vastly distant from our planet, it still comes
into contact with it through its rays, else how could it
give light and heat to the earth? But God works in
every created thing, not only through the medium of
secondary causes as the sun acts upon the earth, but also
in a direct and immediate way, by Himself bringing into
existence and preserving in things that which is most
intimate and deep-rooted in them, namely, their very
being. For, as the characteristic effect of fire is to burn,
so the characteristic effect of God, Who is Being itself,
is to cause the being of creatures. "And so God is inti-
mately present to all things as their eflQcient cause — as
causing the being of all things." ^
God, then, is not present to the world like the artisan
or the artist; he is external to his work, and does not
often touch it in a direct way, but rather through his
instruments, or is present to his work when he pro-
duces it, but later on withdraws from it without en-
dangering its existence. God is so intimately united to
the works of His hands that if, after calling a created
thing into being. He should withdraw from it and cease
to sustain it, it would immediately fall into the nothing-
ness out of which it was made.
And if you question the Angelic Doctor as to how
God, an immaterial, unextended and indivisible sub-
stance, can be present in all places, and in the inner
depths of beings occupying material space, he will an-
swer you with a comparison borrowed from nature and
«5uinina Theologica. I., q. vili., a. 1. * Ibid., I., q. Till., a. 1.
The Presence of God in All Creatures 5
already employed by the Fathers, namely: He is present
in three ways : "By His power, by His presence, and by
His essence. By His power, because all things are sub-
ject to His sovereign command: He is present every-
where like a king who, while residing in his palace, is
by a fiction deemed present in all the parts of his king-
dom where he exercises authority. By His presence,
that is to say most intimately, because He knows all
things and sees all things; and nothing, however hidden
it may be, can escape His attention; all things are pres-
ent to Him as objects are said to be in our presence, al-
though they may be situated at a slight distance from
our person. Finally by His essence, for He is as really
and in His very substance present to all created things
as a monarch is present in person to the throne on
which he is seated." "
The reason for this substantial presence of God in
His creatures is that not one of them could dispense
with the divine action preserving its existence and actu-
ating its operations; and since substance and action are
not really distinct in God, it follows that "He is sub-
stantially — in His actual reality — present wherever He
works, I. e., in all things and in all places." ^
In his commentary on Peter Lombard's first book of
Sentences, St. Thomas explains this threefold presence
in slightly different words. Not that it excludes the
explanation we have just given, nor that it is in contra-
diction with it, but it brings out better the thought of
the Angelic Doctor relative to the substantial presence
of God in His capacity of eflBcient cause. Here are his
words : / "God is in created things by His presence, inas-
much as He is there in action, for the worker must in
some manner be present with his work; and, further-
more, because the Divine operation cannot be separated
from the active force from which it flows, it must be
" Siimma Theologica, I., q. viii., si. ,1. ' Ibid., I., q. vlil., a. 1.
6 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
held that God is present in all things by His power;
finally, since the force or the power of God is identical
with His essence, it follows that God is in all things by
His essence." » These words are highly significant.
II
There are some theologians who explain the divine
omnipresence by saying that God is present everywhere
by His essence, because the divine substance, being
infinite, fills the heavens and the earth. To them, the
immensity of God is a property by which the divine
essence is, so to speak, distributed ad infinitum in all
existing and possible spaces; that is to say, God's omni-
presence is the actual diffusion of the divine being, pene-
trating all real things and places without blending with
them. According to this opinion, the divine immensity
might be compared to a sea without shores, capable of
containing an infinite number of beings of every nature
and dimension. Within this sea is a sponge which the
waters interpenetrate and then flow over on all sides : a
figure of this world, that God's immensity pervades and
then flows over on all sides; with this difference, how-
ever, that God is wholly in the world and wholly in each
of its parts, whereas each portion of the water of the sea
occupies a distinct place.
St. Augustine conceived a similar picture of the divine
immensity in his early days before his conversion: "So
also I thought of Thee, O God, O Life of my life," he
says in his Confessions, "so also I thought of Thee, as
stretched out through infinite spaces, interpenetrating
the whole mass of the world, reaching out beyond in all
directions to immensity without end, so that sea, sky,
all things are full of Thee, limited in Thee, while Thou
art not limited at all. As the body of the air above the
earth does not bar the passage of the light of the sun,
* St. Thomas, Sententia, dist. XXXVII.. q. i., a. 2.
The Presence of God in All Creatures 7
but the light penetrates the air, not bursting or dividing
it, but filling it — in the same way, I thought, the body of
heaven, and air, and sea, and even of earth was all
pervious to Thee, penetrable in all its parts great or
small, so that it can admit the hidden interjection of
Thy presence, which from within or from without
orders all things that Thou hast created. This was my
fancy, for I could shape no other; yet it was false. For
in that way a greater part of the earth would contain a
greater part of Thee, a less part a less. All things would
be full of Thee in such a sense that there would be more
of thee in the elephant than in the sparrow, inasmuch
as one is larger than the other, and fills a wider space.
And thus Thou wouldst unite Thy limbs piecemeal with
the limbs of the world, the great with the great, the
small with the small. This is not Thy nature, but as
yet Thou hadst not lightened my darkness." »
Further on, speaking on the same subject, he adds:
"I marshaled before the sight of my spirit all creation,
all that we see, earth, and sea, and air, and stars, and
trees, and animals ; all that we do not see, the firmament
of the sky above, and all angels, and all spiritual things ;
for these also, as if they were bodies, did my imagination
arrange in this place or in that. I pictured to myself
Thy creation as one vast mass, composed of various
kinds of bodies, some real bodies, some those which I
imagined in place of spirits. I pictured this mass as
vast, not indeed in its true dimensions, for these I could
not know, but as large as I chose to think, only finite on
every side. And Thee, O Lord, I conceived as lapping it
round and interpenetrating it everywhere, but as being
infinite in every direction; as if there were sea every-
where, and everywhere through measureless space noth-
ing but illimitable sea, and within this a sponge, huge,
but yet finite; the sponge would be pervaded through all
• St. Augustine, Confessions, I., vil., c. 1. Bigg's translation.
8 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
its particles by the infinite sea. In this way, I pictured
Thy finite creation, as filled with Thy infinity.""
After his conversion and accession to the episcopal
see of Hippo, Augustine's language is entirely different :
"When we say that God is everywhere we must with-
draw from our mind every grossness of thought, and
disengage ourselves from sensible images, lest we should
imagine God as diffused everjrwhere, like some great-
ness spreading itself in space, as does the earth, the sea,
the air or light; for all such things are less in one of
their parts than in the whole; but we rather should
conceive God's greatness as we think of great wisdom
in a man who happens to be of small stature.""
The notion of the diffusion and expansion of God's
being, was entirely disapproved by St. Augustine, and
dealt with by him as a carnal conception to be rejected.
The advocates of such a theory do not, it is true, fall
into Augustine's error whilst he was a Manichean, of
supposing that a greater part of the earth can contain
a greater part of the divine substance; for they know
and teach that a pure spirit being indivisible and with-
out parts does not occupy space like earthly bodies, but
can be wholly in the whole being and wholly in each and
every part of that being. They do, however, seem to
share the ideas of Augustine's pre-conversion days, but
which he reformed later, in the general trend of their
argument and in the manner in which they conceive of
the divine ubiquity.
Far more spiritual, and therefore much more in ac-
cordance with the divine nature, is the notion of God's
immensity given by St. Thomas. Instead of admitting,
with the advocates of the theory we are now refuting, a
kind of diffusion of the divine substance, so that God
" Ibid.. I., vii., c. 5.
" St. Augustliir, lib. dc Prar.tenlid Dei, xeu lipisl. ad IJardanum, 187,
c. iv.. n. 11.
The Presence of God in All Creatures 9
would still he in His most real substance present to
created things scattered through space, even though by
an impossibility His action exercised no influence upon
them, the Angelic Doctor teaches that the formal reason
of God's presence in all created things is none other than
His infinite activity and operation, just as the reason of
His immensity is His omnipotence.
The Divine substance occupies no determined space,
either great or small; it does not need space to display
itself, and enters into no relation of proximity or re-
moteness with beings that exist in space. If we speak
of a relation of the Divine substance with these beings,
we mean only a relation of power and operation; i. e.,
God is intimately present to all things because He pro-
duces and preserves the being of all things : "God is not
determined to space great or small by the necessity of
His essence, as if He need be present in any place, since
He is from all eternity before all place; but by the im-
mensity of His power He reaches into all things which
are in place, because He is the universal cause of being,
Thus He is wholly wheresoever He is, because by His
simple power He reaches into all things."" If then God
is present in all places and in all creatures, it is because
no actual space and no created being can escape His
direct and immediate influence, for His power, and con-
sequently His substance, reaches out to them all."
Ill
Theologians, as we have seen, often explain God's om-
nipresence by saying that He is present everywhere be-
cause of His immensity. St. Thomas uses a different
term. According to him, God is present everywhere in
the capacity of efficient cause, per modum causae.^* Such
*»St. Thomas. L., HI., Contra Gent. Ixvll!.
" Summu Theologica. la., q. cxil., a. 1. ** n>i<l., I., q. vlll., n. 3.
10 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
an expression is profound and full of meaning, for it
banishes from the mind any idea of a diffusion or ex-
pansion of the Divine substance, at the same time mark-
ing out the Divine operation as the basis of the relations
existing between God and His creatures. Yet the ex-
pression was not a new one, and St. Thomas is not giv-
ing a purely personal opinion; here as ever he shows
himself to be the faithful echo of tradition.
And, as we have already noticed, St. Augustine de-
clared that God was in the world as the eflBcient cause
of the world, "as the presence of the One by Whom the
world was created; as the artisan is present to the work
he handles." ^^ If, therefore, God fills the heavens and
the earth, it is by the presence and exercise of His power
and not by the necessity of His nature," for God's
greatness is one of power and not of bulk. St.
Thomas seems manifestly to have taken his inspiration
from these different passages.*^
St. Fulgentius, a disciple of St. Augustine, speaks in
much the same terms as his master.^* Likewise, St.
Gregory of Nyssa.*"
That the basis for the presence of God by very sub-
stance in all created things is the divine activity, can be
clearly seen from all these passages, and from many
others we could easily adduce. An earthly body is
present in the place it occupies neither by its action nor
even directly by its substance, but by its dimensions, by
the contact of its parts with the parts of the body sur-
rounding and containing it; since, therefore, it is quan-
tity that gives parts and dimensions to a body and en-
ables it to come into contact with another body and to
occupy a determined part of space, such or such a body
" St. Augustine, In Evang. Joan., tract 2, n. 10.
'• Ibid.. De Civit. Dei, 1, vii., c. xxx.
" St. Thomas, Contra Gent., 1, UI., c. Ixvlil.
" St. Fulgentius, I. il., ad Trasinu, c. xl.
"St Gregory of Nyssn, lib. De Anima.
The Presence of God in All Creatures 11
is, properly speaking, present in space by its quantity:
per quantitatem dimensivam.
Far different is the way in which a spirit is present
in space. As it is a simple, that is to say, an indivisible
substance and without parts, it cannot of itself occupy
any space, either great or small, and does not need space
to display itself. If, however, a spirit wishes to enter
into relation with a place or with the things present in
that place, it can do so by the exercise of its activities
and its energies. Hence the proposition, looked upon as
an axiom by all Scholastics : spirits are present in space
by contact of power — per contactum virtutis.^°
What, therefore, quantity is to bodies — i. e., a prop-
erty distinct from their substance and extending it
through space — active power is to spirits, which it
places in contact with space and the things situated in
space.2^
This is why St. Thomas, when asking the question
whether ubiquity is a property becoming God from all
eternity, utrum esse ubique conveniat Deo ab aeterno,
instead of answering, like some theologians, that God
is not, of course, present from all eternity to things
which did not as yet exist, but that His substance is,
nevertheless, really and eternally present in the spaces
which the different created beings are to occupy in time,
answers "that the Divinity is present only temporarily
in created things according as by His creative act He is
present by His power during their temporary exist-
ence.""
And if you question the Fathers as to where God was
before the creation of the world, instead of answering
that He was in these incommensurable spaces occupied
by the present universe, spaces which thousands of
••St. Thomas, Contra Gent., 1, IH., c. Ixvlil.
" Ibtd., Summa Theologica, I., q, viii., a. 2, ad. 1.
**lbid., Sententim, 1, I., dist. xxxvli., q. II., n. .3.
12 The Indwelling of the Hohj Spirit
other worlds far greater than ours could not fill, they
will answer you differently, saying through the mouth
of St. Bernard: "We need not trouble to ask where He
was, for besides Him nothing existed, and He was then
in Himself alone." 23
Hence, to summarize, in the mind of St. Thomas and
the Fathers of the Church, the basic reason, the true
ground, the definitive "why" of the presence of God in
creatures is the divine operation, formally immanent,
since it neither issues forth from, nor is even distinct
from, the principle whence it emanates, yet producing
outward created effects and, therefore, called "virtually
transitive," virtualiter transiens.
w St. Bernard, De Consider., 1, V., cap. vl.
CHAPTER II
How This Common and Ordinary Presence is
Intimate, Profound and Universal. Its
Different Degrees
It is difficult for us to conceive and far more difficult
to express, how intimate, profound and universal is the
common and ordinary presence of God in all things.
We know directly and immediately only created causes;
and however efficacious their action, it is always limited.
The created cause modifies and transforms the object
upon which it exercises its activity, operatur trans-
mutando; it never creates. Hence there is something
which it leaves untouched in the depths of the being it
works upon, which it does not bring forth and conse-
quently to which it has not been present. A sculptor,
for example, may be able to carve from a rough block
of wood or marble a masterpiece, which will be an ob-
ject for the admiration not only of his contemporaries,
but also of remotest posterity; yet however powerful
and creative his genius, before he can give outward ex-
pression to the ideal conceived in the secret of his mind,
he will require a material substance upon which to
exercise his chisel, a substance whose existence he takes
for granted, but does not produce. The soul itself sup-
poses the existence of the body, which is the matter it
informs, and which is extraneous to it, notwithstanding
the fact that the soul is so very intimately united with
the body in the capacity of its substantial form. It
communicates to the body its life, sensation and action,
13
14 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
and forms with it one single substance, yet the body by
no means comes from it by creation.
Such barriers are unknown to the Divine causality;
it is universal and reaches out to every place and thing :
substances, faculties, habits, operations, everything that
is real and positive comes from it, is its work — all ex-
cept evil and sin. Without the Divine causality nothing
can come into existence; without it, nothing can con-
tinue to exist, without God, of Whom it is said that He
upholdeth "all things by the word of His power." ^
Again, without His actual and immediate influence, no
created agent can act: "Lord, Thou hast wrought all
our works for us;"^ even our free will cannot escape
His almighty action: "For it is God Who worketh in
you both to will and to accomplish, according to His
good will." 3 God then is present everywhere as the
First Cause — in the centre, in the radius^ and in the
circumference of every being.
Whatever be the nature of the effect produced; what-
ever be the order to which this effect belongs; be it an
inanimate or animate being, a soul to be created, to be
presetved, to be justified, a natural or supernatural gift
to be conferred, a faculty to be set in action; in a word,
as soon as we have anywhere an effect of the Divine
causality, there we are sure to find God in His very self
in the capacity of active principle.*
• This mode of the presence of God, common to every
being and the same everywhere substantially, has,
nevertheless, many degrees, according to the number
and the excellence of the effects produced, or, rather,
according to the varying measure in which each creature
shares in the Divine perfection. Thus as efficient cause
God is present in a more perfect and complete way in
the world of spirits than in that of bodies; He is more
> Hebrews i. 3. * Isalas xxvl. 12. • Phllippians 11. 13.
* St Thomas, Contra Gent, \, IV., c. xxl.
The Intimate Presence of God 15
present to the angels than to men; to rational and liv-
ing beings than to irrational ones, and those deprived
of life; to the just than to sinners.
This is the clear teaching of Pope St. Gregory the
Great: "God is everywhere, and whole and entire
everywhere, for He is in contact with all things, even
though He has for different things a different contact.
With insensible creatures it is a contact which gives
being without life; with animals His contact gives being,
life and sensation, without intelligence; with human
and angelic natures, His contact is such as to give at
once being, life, sensation and intelligence; and thus,
although He is always the self-same God, yet He is in
contact divinely with creatures mutually unlike one
another." °
St. Fulgentius says: "God is not similarly present
in all things; for although He is present everywhere by
His power. He is by no means present everywhere by
His grace." « And St. Bernard : "God Who is every-
where, and equally so by His simple substance, is not-
withstanding present with reasonable creatures differ-
ently than with others; He is also present in the good,
differently than in the bad. So also He is present in
unintelligent creatures in such a manner, that they do
not attain to possess Him, as reasonable beings may by
their knowledge; but only good ones may possess Him
by love, in whom alone He is present by union of will." '
II
How can we arrive at an idea of these different grades
of God's presence? If the Divine substance were ex-
tended and divisible, we might understand how it could
•St. Gregory, In Ezech., lib. I., Horn, vili., n. 16.
*Ad Trasim., I., II., c. vlli.
* St. Bernard, Horn, ill., super Evang., Missus est.
16 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
be present in this and that object, in proportions vary-
ing as do the things themselves, to a greater degree in
larger beings, and to a lesser in smaller ones. St.
Thomas furnishes us with a solution of this problem,
when he says: "There is one common and ordinary
mode of presence, according to which God is present in
all things by His essence. His power and His presence,
namely, as the cause is present in the effects which
participate in His goodness." » To understand the
meaning and- the force of these words, we must recall
a beautiful doctrine borrowed by the Angel of the
Schools from the Greek Fathers, particularly from St.
Dionysius, who had himself taken it from the writings
of Plato.
According to Plato's teachings, and they coincide on
this point with the teachings of Faith, every created
being is a participation in the Divine being, and every
created perfection is in some manner a participation in
infinite perfection. Thus our nature is a participation
in the Divine perfection; ° the light of our intelligence is
a participation in the uncreated intelligence; our life,
a participation in the life of God. Briefly, every particle
of goodness, of perfection, of being in any creature
whatsoever, is a participation in the being and good-
ness of God.^°
We must not conceive this communication of God to
His creatures as a division of the Divine essence, just
as one divides and distributes the parts of a fruit; rather,
the Divine essence preserves its unity and fullness.
Nor should we regard it as an emanation properly so-
called, or a flowing out, an effusion of the Divine sub-
stance as rivulets flow from a single source, or as a
warm body sheds its rays and heat upon everything
* St Thoutas, Summa Theologica, I., q. xllil., n. 3.
■ Ibid., Snmma Theologica, h, q. xiv., a. 6.
^* Ibid., Summa Theologica, I., q. xli., u. 11, ad. 3; and I., q. vl., a. 4.
The Intimate Presence of God 17
that is near. The Divine goodness externizes itself by
producing beings like unto itself, yet without any
diminution of the Divine substance; ^* for only its like-
ness is imparted to creatures. The process is akin to
the impression of the seal on the wax, without any com-
munication of the former's substance to the latter,
s/ Hence this participation of creatures in the Divine
goodness is not any community of being and perfection.
Such a doctrine is pantheistic. Creatures have their
own being, and their own goodness, which is at once
the intrinsic and the formal cause, making them what
they are. They are related to God inasmuch as God is
their extrinsic cause, and this in a threefold sense,
namely, the ideal according to which they have been
created; the efficient cause; and the final and ultimate
cause of their creation.*^
Not without reason then did the Fathers, and, under
their influence, St. Thomas, speak of creatures as be-
ings by participation, entia per participationem, and of
their perfections as participated perfections. In so
speaking they had a twofold purpose; first, clearly to
establish the profound difference between the Creator
and creature, or rather the abyss which separates them;
second, to impress upon men the fact, that every created
being essentially depends on God as upon its exemplar
and its efficient cause of existence. Indeed, the very
words, participated being, signify a being that is finite,
limited, restricted; for participation in anythng, a fam-
ily heritage, for example, means to take a part and not
have entire possession. The same words further im-
ply a borrowed being, a contingent being, a being pro-
ceeding from another being, and essentially depending
upon some extrinsic cause. From the very fact that a
thing is not being itself in all its plenitude — the ocean
" St. Thoinns, Cotninent in lib. dt divinls Norn., c. II., lect. C.
'" Ibid., Sumina Theologica, I., q. vl., a. 4.
18 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
of being — but a mere rivulet or stream, it follows that
what it possesses of being is not its own in virtue even
of its essence, but comes to it from without, just as
every tiny stream supposes a generating spring or
fountain.
In speaking of creatures, then, as entities participat-
ing of the deity, we wish to assert two truths: first,
creatures do not possess being in all its fullness, but
have merely a part of it, varying among themselves in
quantity if you will, but essentially limited and re-
stricted; secondly, this limited and restricted being does
not accrue to them in any essential manner, even in
virtue of their nature, but has been communicated to
them by an extrinsic cause — God. In much the same
way to the glowing steel has been imparted warmth
and brilliancy by the operation of an outside agency,
not because its nature demands it, but because it is
igneous only by participation.
The Divine being, on the contrary, is not a borrowed
being, a being proceeding from another. God holds His
being from no one, for He has it by virtue of His nature.
"He is, then, self-existent being Ens per se, Jbeing by
essence. Ens per essentiam, in opposition to being that
is contingent and dependent on another — Ens ab alio,
ens per participationem. He is also preeminent being,
self-subsistent, ipsum esse per se subsistens, and conse-
quently He is infinite being, the very plenitude of being,
ipsa plenitudo essendi. And if He is being in all its
fullness, nothing can exist beyond Him, which is not
traceable to Him as to its source, and which is not pres-
ent in Him in a supercminent manner. Thus whatever
being is outside of Him cannot be called simply being
(ipsum esse simpUciter ) , rather Ihey are beings — that
is to say, participations in and imitations of being,
entia per participationem" "
'*St. Thomas, Contra Gent., 1. II.. c. xt.
The Intimate Presence of God 19
What we have said of being should be applied to all
the other perfections as well. All that God is, He is by
Himself, by His essence, and consequently without
measure. Hence He is not merely intelligent, wise,
good, loving, powerful; He is intelligence and wisdom
itself, infinite goodness and love and power, the source
of all understanding and goodness. On the contrary,
the creature can well be intelligent, wise, good and
powerful, but is not intelligence itself, nor wisdom, nor
love. Its perfections do not constitute its essence, but
are simply either its powers, or properties, or opera-
tions, distinct from its essence, and limited as is the
latter. In a word, these are participated perfections.
HI
After the foregoing explanation it will not be diffi-
cult to understand the Angelic Doctor, when he says
that God is in all things, as the cause is in the effects
which participate in the causal goodness. This is but
another way of saying that God is present to creatures
as efficient cause, first, by His operation, for it is req-
uisite that every principle or cause of action shall enjoy
immediate contact with the object of its action; and
then by reason of His benefits, which constitute the pur-
pose of His operation; namely, by the created, finite
contingent, communicated perfection which He com-
municates to creatures of this world as so many remote
imitations, imperfect copies or analogical participations
in the Divine Essence. Indeed, it is the peculiar qual-
ity of an efficient cause to communicate more or less
of the perfection of its own self with its efi"ects, and to
be not only in forceful contact with them at the first
moment and during the continuance of its operation,
but even to transmit to them its own similitude. It is
even natural to an efficient cause to produce something
20 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
which resembles itself, and the perfection of the effect
is none other than a reproduction of and participation
in and resemblance to the perfection of the cause.
"That which is in God perfectly, is found in other things
by a certain deficient participation." ^*
God, then, is the universal Cause of all existence, for
all the beings of the world are the effects of His power.
"All, then, must possess something of God within them-
selves, not any portion of His substance, but a likeness
of and participation in His goodness," after the manner
of a foot-print or image.^^ Moveover, since the effects
of the Divine activity are different in different crea-
tures, and the Divine benefits are far from being equally
distributed — whether we consider the order of nature
or of grace — it follows that those which have a greater
share in the blessings of the Creator are by that very
fact nearer and more united to God and richer in their
possession of Him. In turn, "God as active principle,
exists more perfectly in those creatures which are more
indebted to His munificence, for as He is present directly
and immediately by virtue of His activity. He is conse-
quently more closely united to the beings in whom He
has worked the greatest things." " If God's substance,
so simple and single and indivisible, knowing neither
separation nor division, cannot be anywhere unless it
be there entirely, it is not the same with His operation
and His all-embracing power, which, while free to
realize itself externally in the measure it judges right,
is brought by a multitude of ways into contact with
different creatures.
Our own soul may furnish an analogy. While it is
in its substance entirely present in the whole body and
in each part, it is nevertheless more specially and fully
" St. Thomns, Contra Gent., 1, I., ch. xxlx.
'•/b<»/., /n Fpi.tt. ad Colos., c. Ji., Icct. 2.
*" Ibid., Opiisc. 2 (alias 3) ad cantorem Antioch, c. vi.
The Intimate Presence of God 21
and perfectly united to the head, the seat of all the
senses, than to the rest of the organism. This is easily
explained. In order to perform the functions of the
many faculties with which it is endowed, the soul needs
a variety of organs, all of which are not met with
throughout all the body, but are found united only in
the head. In all truth, we can say that, although "the
soul is present entirely and substantially in the whole
body, and in each part, it is, however, by its power,
more chiefly and excellently present in the brain," as
St. Bernard has said.^^
It can now be understood how, notwithstanding His
perfectly indivisible simplicity, God can be here more
than there; and how His presence as an efScient cause,
though formally and specifically the same everywhere,
can, when considered in its extension, vary, so to say,
infinitely according to the very measure of the Divine
activity. In this sense His presence is more complete,
more excellent, and more perfect where the results of
His activity are more multiplied and of a higher nature,
while it decreases in the same measure as the effects of
His Divine power are more remote from the perfection
of the cause which produced them. This accounts for
the saying, that some beings are near to God while
others are far from Him. Here it is question not of a
material or local relation, but of a likeness or unlike-
ness of nature or of grace. Thus, the angels — bright-
est mirrors of the Divinity, mundissima Divinitatis
specula, as St. Dionysius calls them — dwell, as it were,
in the very vestibule of the adorable Trinity, because,
being the most perfect of creatures, they are nearer to
God." Material beings, on the contrary, are relegated
to the lowest grade of creation, and thus are further
away from God because of the unlikeness of their na-
*' St. Bernard, sermon 1 in Ps. Qui habitat.
** St. Dionysius, De diotn. nomtn., cb. v.
22 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
ture to His. Man, being made of both spirit and mat-
ter, holds the middle place between these two classes
of beings. Although less united to God than the pure
spirits, he having a soul, is incomparably nearer to Him
than are irrational creatures who have not the power
to lift themselves up to their Creator by knowledge and
love. This is why it is said that man was created to
the image and likeness of God," whereas only a vestige
of the Divinity is to be found in animals, plants, and
inorganic beings.
Still further below the material world is the place
occupied by the sinner, because of his moral unlikeness
to God. Of him alone does Holy Writ speak when it
says that the Lord is far from the wicked. =*" St. Augus-
tine, speaking of his sinful life, says of his own previous
state of sinfulness : "I was then far off in the region of
unlikeness." 21 Such words have become current in
Christian speech. Talking about a person, who, for a
long time has been neglectful of his religious duties,
and who wallows in sin, we say: "He lives far from
God." But let him begin to show better dispositions,
and then we say: "He is drawing nearer to God."
These expressions are most appropriate; for, according
to St. Prosper : "It is not in passing over space that we
come nearer to God or go farther from Him, but it is
by similarity or dissimilarity to Him." "
IV
Although, therefore, God is everywhere and wholly
\ present in every place. He is not equally present every-
\ where. There are certain places where He dwells in
such a particular manner that one might call these places
the home or dwelling house of God. It is in these
>• Genesis i. 26. *• Proverbs xv. 29.
1 St. Augustine, Confettiont 1, VH., ch. x.
" St. Prosper, Sentent. 123,
The Intimate Presence of God 23
privileged spots, according to St. John Damascene, that
the Divine operation is most manifest.*" Such was the
spot, in days of yore, where Jehovah was pleased to
reveal himself to Jacob in wondrous visions, and called
by him "the house of God and the gate of heaven." **
Again, at the sight of the miracles performed in his
favor, and of the mystical ladder between earth and
heaven which he beheld in a dream, as well as in the
marvelous promises made to him by the God of his
fathers, the holy patriarch recognized a special pres-
ence of the Divinity even in the heart of the desert.
Under the old law, God dwelt in a special way in the
tabernacle built by Moses, and later in the temple of
Jerusalem, where His presence was made manifest
under the form of a mysterious cloud.
Finally, how can we fail to recognize a special pres-
ence of the Divinity (were it only as the efficient Cause),
in the prophets to whose minds the Holy Ghost un-
veiled the future, and in the other inspired writers, as
well as in the Apostles whom He assisted and enlight-
ened; in the saints, who receive more abundant graces;
in the Church, which He safeguards from error, sancti-
fies and defends against her enemies : in a word, where-
soever His operation is more plainly felt, wheresoever
His favors are distributed more lavishly, in the natural
order as well as in the order of grace. And because it
is in heaven that God's action displays itself with the
greatest splendor, because it is there that His Divine
bounty becomes, as it were, forgetful of all limitation —
it is there, according to St. Bernard, that God is present
in so special a manner, that by comparison in other
places He is not present at all. This is why we pray in
the Lord's prayer : "Our Father, Who art in heaven." ^s
** St. John Damascene, De ftdo orthod., 1, I., ch. xvi.
"Genesis xxvIU. 17.
" St. Bernard, in Ps. Qui habitat, sermon I., n. 4.
24 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
What are we to conclude from all this, save that God
is present in all beings and in all places, not as the
liquid in the vessel that contains it, since God cannot
be contained by creatures, but rather that it is He Who
contains them by preserving them; nor as a constituent
element of these creatures as the soul is present to the
body, for this would be Pantheism; but as the cause
and as the active principle is present to the object upon
which it exerts an immediate influence. He is present
everywhere, not directly and immediately by His sub-
stance, although there is no space from which the latter
is absent, but rather by His operation and the contact
of His power; for the Divine substance being absolute
needs no relation with beings existing in time, and be-
ing simple and without parts, it, in order to be present
any and everywhere, does not have to extend itself
through space. Yet since operation, operative power,
and substance are not really distinct one from another
in God, we must a£Qrm that wherever there is an imme-
diate effect due to the Divine causality, there God is
really and substantially present.'" And as there is not
a single creature on which Grod does not exert His activ-
ity to preserve and to move it, it follows that God is
present everywhere, not only by His action or power,
I)ut also by His essence.
When, therefore, Scripture speaks of Ciod as filling
heaven and earth: "Do not I fill heaven and earth,
saith the Lord?" " these words are not to be taken in
their literal meaning any more than the other an-
thropomorphisms found so plentifully in Holy Writ.
God's immensity, as we have often insisted, must not
be understood in the sense of extension, and we cannot
liken it to a boundless ocean containing in its depths
all existing things, interpenetrating each portion of the
created world and overflowing on all sides. It is to
**St. Thomas, Contra GenUi, 1, IV., ch. xxi. "Jeremiah xxlll. 24.
The Intimate Presence of God 25
commentators and to theologians that we must appeal
for the true meaning hidden under the expressions the
Holy Spirit has employed in order that He might be
understood by all. Such was the attitude of St. Thomas
toward the above text.'*'
And since being and the other perfections are com-
municated to creatures in degrees that vary amazingly
— from the grain of sand up to that highest of heavenly
spirits — the presence of God as eflBcient cause has also
innumerable degrees, according to the measure in which
each creature shares in the Divine perfection."
** St. Thomas, Summa Theologtca, I., q. vlU., a. 2.
» Ibid., Summa Theologica, I., q. xliii., a. 3.
PART SECOND
GOD'S SPECIAL PRESENCE OR THE INDWELLING
OF THE HOLY GHOST IN THE SOULS
OF THE JUST
CHAPTER I
The Fact of God's Special Presence in the Just.
The Sending and the Bestowal of God the
Holy Ghost; His Indwelling
IN THE Soul
"^ "Over and above the ordinary and common manner
in which God is present in all things (namely, by His
essence, His power, and His presence, as the cause is
present in the effects which are a participation in His
goodness), there is another and a special presence
which is appropriate to rational nature, a presence by
which God is said to be present as that which is known
is present to the being who knows, and as that which is
loved is present to the being who loves. And because
a rational and a loving creature by its operation in
knowing and loving is placed in contact with God Him-
self, for that reason it is said that God by this special
manner of presence is not only in a rational creature,
but also that He dwells in it as in His temple. No other
effect than sanctifying grace can be the reason why
of this new manner of presence of the Divine Person.
It is therefore solely by sanctifying grace that the Divine
Person is thus sent forth and proceeds temporarily.
26
The Sending of God the Holy Ghost 27
. . . And always, together with grace, one receives
also the Holy Spirit Himself, Who is thus given and
sent." 1
Despite their brevity, these words of St. Thomas
contain a wonderful summary of the question we are
studying. Here we find clear mention of, first, the
fact of this special presence of God in the soul which
is in the state of grace; second, the nature of this pres-
ence; it is a substantial, that is to say, a most real pres-
ence; God is present not merely by His favors, but in
Person; third, the mode of this presence: He is there
no longer in the capacity of an active or efficient cause,
but as a Guest and a Friend, as an object of knowledge
and love; fourth, the subjects who alone can benefit by
such a gift, must be rational beings; fifth, the condi-
tion for this presence is the state of grace.
To be well understood, these considerations should
each be deeply pondered; they shall receive a treat-
ment proportioned to the difficulties each may present,
and to the degree of their importance. We shall de-
vote our attention first to the fact of this special pres-
ence of God in the souls of the just.
I
There is perhaps no truth more frequently alluded
to in the Gospel and in the Epistles of St. Paul than
that of the mission, that is to say, the giving, the in-
dwelling of the Divine Persons in the souls of the just.
When about to leave this earth to return to His
heavenly Father, Our Lord promised to send the
Paraclete to His Apostles, wishing thereby to comfort
them, and to lessen somewhat the sorrow caused by
His departure: "I tell you the truth; it is expedient
to you that I go; for if I go not the Paraclete will not
* St. Thomas, Suiiima Theologica, I., q. xliii., a. 3.
28 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." =
"When the Paraclete cometh, Whom I will send you
from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who proceeds from
the Father, He will give testimony of Me, and you also
will give testimony of Me, because you have been with
Me from the beginning." '
Again He said to them: "If you love Me, keep My
Commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He
will give you another Paraclete, that He may abide
with you forever; the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world
cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth
Him; but you shall know Him, because He shall abide
with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you
orphans, I will come to you." * This new Comforter
Whom Jesus promises to His Apostles, is no other than
the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, as He calls Him,
i. c, the Spirit of the Son, Who Himself is the sub-
stantial and essential Truth : "I am the truth." » As
long as He dwelt among them, Jesus Himself com-
forted His disciples; now that His departure will un-
avoidably expose them to tribulations of all kinds. He
promises them another comforter, the Holy Ghost,
Whom He will send from the Father.
This mission of the Holy Ghost, this giving of the
Paraclete, Whom Jesus promised to His chosen ones,
was not, however, to be the exclusive privilege of the
Apostles; it was intended also as the privilege of all
those who> through grace, are made the children of
God. This is why St. Paul, writing to the Galatians,
says to them: "Because you are sons, God hath sent
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba
(Father)."" "You have not received the spirit of
bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit
of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba (Father)." ^
> John XYl. 7. • John xv. 20, 27. * John xlv. 15-18.
'John xlv. 6. * Galatians It. 8. * Romans vlii. l.'>.
The Sending of God the Holy Ghost 29
"Because the charity of God is poured forth in our
hearts, by the Holy Ghost, Who is given to us." "
Yet it is not only the Holy Ghost we receive through
grace and with grace, but all Three Persons of the
Holy Trinity. Our Lord says explicitly in the Gos-
pel of St. John: "If anyone love Me, he will keep My
word, and My Father will love him, and We will come
to Him, and will make Our abode with Him." » This
is why the Apostle, in his exhortations to the early
Christians, on the necessity of shunning all sin, of
preserving pure and without spot the sanctuary of
their soul, could find no more powerful appeal, no
more urgent reason, no more persuasive argument,
than the fact that they were the temple of God: "Know
you not that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you? But if any man violate the
temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple
of God is holy, which you are." "
We must pause here, lest we multiply excessively
the Scripture texts that prove the fact of a mission, a
giving of the Divine Persons, an indwelling of the
Holy Spirit in the just soul. Our present task will
be to gather together the teachings contained in these
passages and set them forth in concise language.
What first strikes the reader in all these texts, taken
in their natural and obvious meaning, and that shines
forth with the clearest evidence, is the fact of a special
presence of God in souls in the state of grace. In truth,
if the Holy Ghost is sent to these souls, is it not in order
that He be present to them otherwise than He is present
elsewhere, for if He be present to them in the common
ordinary way, what does this second mission mean, and
what new thing does it give to the soul?
On the other hand, if the Holy Ghost is given to souls
with and through grace, the obvious reason seems to
Romans v. 5. •John xlv. 23. >• 1 Corinthians 111. 16, 17.
30 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
be that these souls may possess Him and enjoy His
presence freely. Now rational beings alone are cap-
able of possessing God by knowledge and love; they
alone can enjoy His presence; for them, therefore, is
reserved a special presence of the Divinity which is be-
yond the reach of beings of a lower order. Further on
we shall see that not every rational being can possess
God in this way, nor participate in the fruition — begun
or consummated — of the Sovereign Good. Certain pre-
liminary dispositions are requisite for such a possession
or fruition, viz., either sanctifying grace or the lumen
glorise, the light of glory in heaven. However, let us
not anticipate. For the moment we may confine our-
selves to a theological analysis of the concepts of mis-
sion, giving, and indwelling, and examine whether these
terms necessarily imply a special mode of presence of
the Divine persons in those souls to whom they are sent
or given, and in whom they come to dwell.
H
In the ordinary sense of the term, "the word mission
suggests the idea of a commission, intrusted to a person
with the obligation of departing from the sender and
proceeding to the terminus of his mission. It is in this
way, for instance, that the head of a State sends this or
that representative of his on an ordinary or extraor-
dinary mission to some foreign power, either to repre-
sent him there as an ambassador or to negotiate for
him some particular important business. However, a
mission is not always instituted through a command, as
is the case where a superior delegates an inferior.
Frequently enough it is given through advice, as, for
instance, when a prime minister sends the king or the
emperor to war." There may even be a mission by
virtue of a mere going forth from a source or origin, as,
for instance, when the sun sends us its rays. Yet, what-
The Sending of God the Holy Ghost 31
ever be the way in which it is accomplished, a mission
always involves a twofold relationship: a relationship
which the person holds to the one who sends him, and
then his relation to the place or person he is sent to: a
person is sent by another person to a third determined
person or to some definite place.^^
In the Divine mission of the Holy Spirit, there is no
sending by command; for in God the Three Persons
have the same nature and the same degree of power,
and therefore no one of them has authority over the
other, no one of them issues commands to the other.
On the other hand, as they are also perfectly equal in
wisdom and knowledge, they neither advise nor guide
one another. "The mission of the Divine Persons,
therefore, is given neither through command or advice;
in the above texts the word sent conveys merely the
idea of origin or of procession, which is wholly accord-
ing to the equality of the Divine Persons." ^^
The second relationship in a mission is that which
exists between the person sent and the place to which
he is sent. It means that the messenger must proceed
to the place whither he is sent — if he be not there al-
ready — so as to be properly placed to fulfill the charge
intrusted to him.
In missions between created beings, the ambassador,
after having taken leave of his master, starts on his
journey and proceeds to the court of the ruler or nation
to which he is accredited; here then we have a change
of place. It is not impossible, however, that one who
is already resident in a foreign country shall receive
from his own proper master a special mission to the
ruler in whose lands he resides. In the latter case, the
ambassador has not to proceed to the terminus of his
mission, since he is already there, yet, on account of
" St Thomas, Summa Theologtea, I., q. xllU., a. 1.
" Ibid.. I., q. zUli., a. 1. ad. 1.
32 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
the command issued to him, he becomes present in the
country of his sojourning in a new capacity, namely, no
longer as a simple individual, but as the official repre-
sentative of his master. v'But in the Divine mission,
there is neither change of place nor separation. God,
being everywhere, can find no place where He is not
already present; nor can the person sent be separated
from the sender, for the Three Persons of the adorable
Trinity, having one and the same nature, are necessarily
inseparable. By virtue of this relationship, where one
of the Three Persons is present, there also are the other
two.^'
However, to have a mission in the true sense of the
term, it is necessary for a Divine Person to begin to
be present in a new manner in the place to which He is
sent. When, for instance, the Son of God was sent into
the world on the business of our redemption. He did not
leave the bosom of His Father to come amongst men.
He was already in the world, as the primal cause of the
world, preserving what He had created: "He was in
the world, and the world was made by Him." " Yet He
entered into the world anew, inasmuch as He appeared
there clothed with our humanity.
Now what we have said touching the visible mission
of the Word applies also to the invisible mission of the
Holy Ghost. When the Third Person of the Trinity is
sent by the Father and the Son for the sanctification of
mankind, this involves neither change nor separation
for Him. All the change takes place in the creature,
who, through grace, enters into a new relationship with
the Divinity by becoming both the friend and the
sanctuary of God.
Only two things, therefore, are implied in a Divine
mission: a procession of origin, and a new mode of
presence. In other words, the Person sent proceeds
"Summa Theologica, I., q. xllii., a. 1, ad. 2. >*John 1. 10.
The Sending of God the Hohj Ghost 33
from the Person who sends him, and He becomes pres-
ent in a new way at the terminus of His mission. And
as the Son proceeds from the Father alone, He can be
sent only by the Father; whereas the Holy Ghost, pro-
ceeding, as He does from both the Father and the Son,
can be sent by both Father and Son. As to the Father,
He proceeds from no one — by reason of His innasci-
bility. He, therefore, can never be sent. Neverthe-
less, of His own accord. He accompanies the two other
Persons into the soul of the just.
Ill
Is there any difference between the mission of the
Holy Ghost, and His being given? Yes, there is this
difference: the word mission expresses a relationship
of origin of the Holy Ghost with the Father and the
Son, as well as a special mode of His presence in the
creature He sanctifies; but so far we have not touched
upon the nature of this presence; whereas the word
giving already indicates, though vaguely, something of
the special character of the union which rational beings
contract through grace with the Divine Person that is
given to them. /To describe a giving of the Holy Ghost
it is not sufficient only to say that a new relation is
established between the Holy Ghost and the soul. This
soul must possess Him Whom the Church so rightly
calls the gift of God; for what is given to a person be-
comes his property, his possession, and to possess some-
thing means to have the faculty of freely enjoying it
and disposing of it.^^ "Now rational beings alone are
capable of possessing and enjoying God, either in a
perfect manner like the elect in heaven, or in an initial
and imperfect way, like the just and the saints here
below." "
" St. Thomas, Summa Theologica, I., q. xxxvlil., a. 1.
^Ibid., Sententiee, 1, I., dlst xIt., q. 11., a. 2, ad. 2.
34 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Irrational beings may receive the motion, the impulse,
the action of God; they cannot enjoy His presence nor
dispose freely of His favors. Again, they may partici-
pate after a fashion, that is, remotely and analogically,
in the Divine perfection; but they are utterly incapable
of possessing the Divine substance and of enjoying the
Sovereign Good. The reason is simple; for one can
possess God and enjoy His presence only through
knowledge and love, and intelligent beings alone are
capable of eliciting such acts. Even intelligent beings,
however, must be raised above their natural condition
to possess and enjoy God in this way: they must receive
a grace from on high which will transform them and
make them share in the Divinity of the Word and in the
Love which springs as from one fountain, from the
Father and the Son." The giving of a Divine Person
therefore involves a special presence of the Divinity in
the soul, a presence absolutely distinct from that by
which God is present in all things as their efficient
cause.
The differentiations of these two modes of presence
are very numerous. For instance, the presence of God,
as efficient cause, ^^ is common to all beings without ex-
ception. His presence as an object of knowledge and
love, on the contrary, must necessarily be restricted
to rational beings. Again, the first presence is uni-
versal; it is found realized wherever there is any efiFect
of the Divine power; neither can it cease so long as the
created being remains in existence, for God must be
there to preserve it in existence. The second presence,
that of knowledge and of love — a presence not merely
substantial and objective — is the exclusive privilege of
the just soul. As, too, it is the result of the free will
of God, it comes with grace and is lost with grace. The
" St Thomas, Summa Theologica, L, q. xxxvlil., a. 1.
^Ihid., Summa Theologica, I., q. Till., a. 3.
The Sending of God the Hohj Ghost 35
first of these presences, that of eflBcient cause (even in
a rational being), brings to its object neither joy nor
consolation: frequently he is unaware of it, or he
ignores it. How many rational beings, capable of
knowing God's presence, and who often do know of it,
desire in their malice to rid themselves of it by banish-
ing from their heart Him Whom they rightly know as
the reproachful witness of their evil conduct and the
avenger of their crimes? The second of these pres-
ences, that of both knowledge and love, on the other
hand, overflow the rational being with sweetness and
fragrance ; it is a union of fruition beginning or consum-
mated. Who, then, could confound these two pres-
ences, so different one from the other? ^By the one,
God is present in us merely as an active force; by the
other, as a Divine Protector and Friend.
IV
God, then, is present in the souls of the just in a very
special manner. According to the Scriptural expres-
sion, He dwells in them. For however strange it may
seem, it is allowable to say that God does not dwell
wherever He is. He is really and substantially present
to innumerable creatures only as their efficient cause.
He exerts His activity in them and produces in them
this or that effect; but He does not dwell in them all
in the sense Scripture gives to this word. This is easy
to understand, for in every language the house of God
has a special name, God's temple. Now we do not give
the name temple to any ordinary abode or one erected
for profane uses. The temple is a place dedicated and
consecrated to the worship of God, Who is pleased to
dwell therein and receive the homages of those who
come to adore Him, "having a sort of sacramental holi-
ness. . ." "But in the souls of the faithful of Christ
36 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
there is the holiness of grace which they have received
by baptism, to whom the Apostle speaks: 'You are
washed, you are sanctified.' " "
For temples built of earthly materials this consecra-
tion is performed by the bishop. There is a rite made
up of many prayers, anointings and ceremonies, the
purpose of which is to teach Christians that henceforth
this spot and this building is holy, and that their bear-
ing when present in it must be one of most profound
reverence for the Sovereign Majesty of God Who dwells
there. But for the spiritual temples of our souls this
consecration has been, as already said, given by the
grace we receive in holy baptism; and if we have the
misfortune to profane this inner sanctuary by sin, the
Divine mercy holds out to us in the Sacrament of Pen-
ance, a means whereby our soul may be consecrated
anew.
The desecration of anything consecrated to God is a
sacrilege; and it may draw down God's wrath upon him
who commits it. This is why the Apostle St. Paul, in
order to explain to the Corinthians the gravity of such
a profanation and the terrible consequences that may
result, wrote to them: V"If anyone violate the temple
of God, him shall God destroy." ^o The reason he gave
was that "the temple of God is holy."
Some might be tempted to believe that God dwells
also in the souls of sinners although this is painful and
repugnant to Him; but Scripture is explicit in denying
it. We read, indeed, that wisdom (we may understand
by this word Uncreated Wisdom, namely^ the Word),
"will not enter into a malicious soul nor dwell in a body
subject to sins." ^^ The sacred text adds that the Holy
Ghost also, Who is a Spirit of Discipline, "will flee from
the deceitful," and that "He will withdraw Himself from
'■ St. Thomas, Comment, in 1 Corinthians vi. 11.
>* 1 Corinthians iU. 17. » Wisdom 1. 4.
The Sending of God the Holy Ghost 37
thoughts deceitful, nor abide where iniquity cometh
in." ** Then, to ward off all error and forestall all il-
lusion, it further affirms that not only does God not
dwell in the souls of sinners, but that "the Lord is far
from the wicked." "
It is interesting to listen to what St. Augustine has
to say on this point. In his book, On the Presence of
God, addressed to Dardanus and containing an ex pro-
fesso treatment of the question of the Divine indwelling,
the saint first explains how God is present everywhere,
wholly in each being and in each part of that being. He
then adds : "God, Who is everywhere, yet dwells not in all
men. . . And even though He dwells in all sanctified
souls, yet not equally so in all but more fully in some
than in others." After adverting to the fact that He
does not dwell at all by His loving presence (which is
the presence of sanctifying grace) in evil souls, but only
in those whom He has drawn to Him and who have be-
come like Him by a pious and holy life, the saint adds,
that even those who are not perfectly good are not de-
prived of His indwelling full and entire, though they do
not enjoy His indwelling in that higher degree of love
enjoyed by more saintly ones: "In all souls who are
in His friendship God dwells by His goodness and His
grace as in a temple most dear to Him, possessing Him,
some in a greater and others in a less degree of love,
according to their different capacity." ^*
Thus, according to St. Augustine, God dwells in a soul
only on condition He is embraced and possessed by that l/^
soul. This is effected through knowledge and love, for
to possess God is to know Him, as the saint explains
further on: "The knowledge requisite in a soul to be
fitted for God's dwelling place, is not that of a proud
philosopher who knows God, but not with knowledge
« wisdom 1. 5. " Proverbs xv. 29.
**De Prasentia Dei, ch. v. and vi., n. 16-19.
38 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
accompanied by love, glorifying Him and giving Him
thanks." Strange as it may seem, it is furthermore
certain, that God dwells in the souls of some who have
not as yet attained to knowledge of Him, but have re-
ceived His grace and love in baptism; such are baptized
infants. Whereas He does not dwell in others who
have knowledge of Him without love.
To become the temple and the dwelling of the Divin-
ity, it is necessary to have both grace and charity. This
is a condition sine qua non. Therefore not only are
they who know God without loving Him deprived of the
presence of this Divine Guest, but those also who — as
sometimes has been the case — are given power even to
perform miracles without being in the state of grace;
for these things are wrought by God either in virtue of
His ordinary presence or through the ministry of the
holy angels. So far St. Augustine, who has won in the
schools the title of Doctor of Grace.
The Doctor of Grace is thus very explicit, as we have
just seen, in affirming the fact of a special presence or
indwelling of the Divinity in the souls of the just, al-
though he is not so clear in his explanation as to just
how this presence is to be understood. His faithful
disciple and interpreter, the Angelic Doctor, has filled
this want, by bringing out the doctrine into full light.
This is how St. Thomas expresses himself in his com-
mentary on the words of the Apostle: 'Tou are the
temple of the living God:" "^ "Although God be in all
things by His presence. His power, and His essence,
nevertheless He is not said to dwell in them, but only in
those who are sanctified by grace. For God is indeed
in all things by His action inasmuch as He joins Him-
self to them by giving them existence and preserving
The Sending of God the Holy Ghost 39
them in it; but as to those who are sanctified, it is
by their own action that they are joined to Him, and in
a certain manner hold and contain Him, which is to
love and to know Him. For whosoever loves and knows
is to be said to have in himself that which he knows and
loves." "
Commenting on that other text of the same Apostle :
"Know you not that you are the temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwelleth within you," St. Thomas
had already made the following remarks: "God
dwells in men by faith, which works by love, according
to the words of the Apostle to the Ephesians: That
Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts, you being
rooted and founded in charity' (iii. 17). And to prove
that the faithful are the temple of God, St. Paul again
insists that 'the Spirit of God dwelleth in you' (1 Cor.
iii. 16). ... As God fills the heavens and the earth by
His ordinary presence (Jer. xxiii. 24), so does He
spiritually dwell in the faithful soul as a father dwells
in his very home and amid his family, and this in pro-
portion to the soul's knowledge and love of Him. . . For
knowledge must not lack love as its accompaniment,
as St. John teaches: 'God is charity; and he that
abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in him' (1
John iv. 16)." 2«
It is therefore an incontestable truth that God dwells
in a special way in the souls of the just. Scripture,
tradition, and the teaching of theologians affirm the
fact of a special presence of the Divinity in those souls
to whom the Holy Ghost is sent or given, and who,
through grace, have become the temple and the abode
of the adorable Trinity. God is no longer present
merely by His operation, that is to say, as merely effi-
cient Cause; He is there as a Guest, as a Friend, as the
"St Thomas, in 2 Corinthians, c. t1. 16; lect. 3.
^Ibid., In 1 Corinthians HI. 16, lect. 3.
40 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Sovereign Good, and souls can begin even here below
to enjoy Him as such, though the completion of that
joy is reserved for eternity.
This new mode of presence, which does not exclude
the others, but is superadded to them, involves no
change in God, since He is immutable. It does how-
ever suppose a modification in the creature, and the
production of a new effect that will become the prin-
ciple of a new relationship between God and the soul."
Henceforward the soul will be related to God no longer
merely as the effect is to its cause, but as the owner to
the object of which he has assumed possession and that
is to be henceforth for him a source of enjoyment.
God, on His side, enters into the relation of both the
possessor and the thing possessed, a relation between
Himself and the soul that far exceeds the preexisting
one of mere causality. He becomes the soul's Good, its
Friend, and its Spouse — the Divine object of its knowl-
edge and love.
This new effect, which establishes between God and
the just soul relations so different from those otherwise
existing between any creature and its Creator, is no
other than that which is known as sanctifying grace.
Neither natural endowments, however noble and
magnificent we might suppose them to be, nor graces
of a miraculous kind, called gratis datse, such as the
power of miracles or of prophecy, nor faith itself, nor
hope, apart from charity, suffice to effectuate such rela-
tions between the soul and God, nor to establish so
sweet and yet so close a union as this "of sanctifying
grace, this new mode of union between the Divine Per-
son and the rational creature." "
" St. Thomas, Samma Theologtca, I., q. xllll., a. 2.
" Ibid., I., q. xlUl., a. 3.
CHAPTER II
The Nature of This Sanctifying Presence
I
How are we to understand the words of Scripture,
when they speak of the Holy Ghost as being sent to us;
given to us for the sanctification of our souls; and of
the three Divine Persons as dwelling in our souls
through grace? Are these words to be taken in their
natural and obvious meaning, and must we therefore
understand that there is a real coming of the Holy
Spirit, a true, and as it were, physical and substantial
presence of the adorable Trinity in the just soul? Or
must we take these expressions in a metaphorical sense,
viewing them as so many figures of speech — such as are
frequent in human language — which attribute to the
effect the name of its cause? In other words, is it really
the Holy Ghost in Person Who is given to us through
and with grace, and Who enters with His endowments
into our hearts; or do we receive in reality only the
created favors of grace and the infused virtues which
are their inseparable accompaniment?
It might seem at first sight that by the mission or
the giving of a Divine Person we should understand
the presence of this Person in the soul only by His ef-
fects and His favors, by the communication of some
perfection that is appropriated by this Person and that
manifests Him, and that it is not the real coming of the
Person Himself. God, some might argue, is every-
41
42 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
where; therefore, how is it possible for Him to be pres-
ent anywhere otherwise than by His efiFects?
This was one of the tenets of the Arians and the Mace-
donians, heretics who were so persistent in their denial
of the Divinity of the Word and of the Holy Ghost in
the fourth century. The followers of these sects re-
fused absolutely to see in the texts of Holy Scripture
referring to the invisible missions of the Son and of the
Holy Ghost, anything but the outpouring of created
graces. From their point of view they were logical in
maintaining such a belief, for it was hardly possible
for them to admit that it was really the Holy Ghost in
Person Whom Our Lord promised to send, and Whom
He did send to His Apostles, without professing belief, at
the same time, in the Divinity of the Saviour. Only
God can send forth a Divine Person; and if the Spirit
of Truth promised by Jesus Christ, the Spirit Who, in
pouring forth into our hearts grace and charity, makes
us the adopted sons of God, is truly a person. He can
only be a Divine Person, for God alone can deify a soul
by communicating to it His nature.
At the Council of Florence, in the fifteenth century,
the Greek schismatics maintained also that the prom-
ises made by Our Lord Jesus Christ to His Apostles
relative to the sending of the Holy Ghost, were to be
understood of the sevenfold Gifts, and other favors, and
not of the very Person of the Holy Ghost. Their purpose
in doing this was to escape the necessity of professing
with the Catholics the procession of the Holy Ghost
from both the Father and the Son. To support their
pretention, they endeavored to found it upon texts
drawn from Holy Writ, appealing to certain passages
of the Scriptures in which the benefits conferred by the
Holy Ghost are designated under His name. For ex-
ample, they quoted the text of Isaias, in which the
Prophet, speaking of the Messias Who was to come.
The Nature of This Sanctifying Presence 43
says : "The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him : the
spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of
counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and
of godliness, and He shall be filled with the spirit of
the fear of the Lord." ^
Some Catholic theologians — but only a few — have in-
clined to an opinion liable to be interpreted as favoring
that of these ancient schismatics. But St. Thomas,
who is always so temperate in his criticisms, does not
fear to qualify as erroneous the opinion that "teaches
that the Holy Spirit is not given, but His graces only." *
He goes farther, and he teaches as a positive theolog-
ical truth, that "with and through grace we receive also
the Holy Ghost Who thus becomes the Guest of our
soul." *
As a matter of fact, innumerable passages of Scrip-
ture are so explicit on this point that it seems impos-
sible, without distorting the text of Holy Writ, not to
admit the full reality of this indwelling presence. St.
Paul, writing to the faithful of Corinth and of Rome,
exclaims: "Know you not that you are the temple of
God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth within you?" *
"Know you not that your members are the temple of
the Holy Ghost, Who is in you, Whom you have from
God, and that you are not your own?" " "Now if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. . . .
And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the
dead, dwell in you : He that raised up Jesus Christ from
the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because
of His Spirit that dwelleth in you." * Is it possible, we
ask, for an unprejudiced mind not to recognize in the
living members of Jesus Christ the real, effective and
personal presence of the Holy Ghost — who can fail to
' Isaias xl. a, 3. * Samma Theologtca, I., q. xUli., a. 3, ObJ. la.
*lbtd., in eorp. art. M Corinthians ili. IG.
•1 Corinthians vl. 19. 'Romans vlll. 9-11.
44 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
see in this Spirit, Who is in us, Who is sent by God, and
Who dwells in our souls as in His temple, something
more divine than created gifts of that Spirit?
And if the Apostle had really purposed to affirm that
the Holy Ghost is in His very Divine substance present
in the souls of the just, could he have expressed himself
in more explicit terms? Then, on the other hand, how
strange his words would seem if, when declaring that
we are "the temple of the Holy Ghost," "Who is in us,"
"Who dwells in us," "Whom we have from God," he in-
tended his readers to understand only that God has
placed in the soul no more than the created gift of
grace! We raise a temple to God Himself and not to
His gifts. Does a creature become the house of God
because it is adorned with Divine gifts, or even because
God acts in it, and not rather because it has been conse-
crated truly to be the abode of the Divinity?
Since, then, nothing can oblige us to distort the words
of Scripture and to give them a figurative meaning
(which indeed everything precludes), it would be dis-
regarding the most elementary rules of sacred exegesis
not to maintain the natural and obvious meaning of
these various expressions, which point to the real pres-
ence of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just.
We may parallel here the words of Our Lord prom-
ising to His Apostles "another Paraclete," ^ "the Spirit
of Truth, Who proceedeth from the Father," » and Who
shall give testimony of Christ.' Can we take these
words, too, in a metaphorical sense, and see in them only
the promise of Divine grace. Grace is not a Paraclete;
it cannot give its own living testimony of anyone; it
does not proceed from the Father, but is a boon from
all the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity.
Finally, when, after His resurrection, Jesus appeared
to His Apostles and breathed on them, saying: "Re-
Mohn xlT. 16. •John xt. 2«. * Ibid.
The Nature of This Sanctifying Presence 45
ceive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive,
they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain,
they are retained," ^^ are we again to see in this only
figurative language?
In order to forestall such a minimizing interpretation
of the Scriptures, and to give us a more exact notion of
His invisible mission, the Holy Ghost took the precau-
tion to say, through the mouth of the Apostle, that in
the work of our justification. He not only pours forth
grace and a created charity into our hearts, but He
comes there Himself in Person: "The charity of God
is spread abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, Who
is given to us." ^^
We can make no mistake here; the created gift is
clearly distinguished from the Giver; charity is poured
forth into our hearts, and the Holy Ghost is given to us;
both are communicated to us. St. Paul speaks on sev-
eral occasions of the Holy Ghost as a seal stamped upon
our souls, the pledge of eternal glory, and, as it were, its
first installment.^2
Therefore does St. Augustine make this remark:
"What kind of thing is this pledge? Really, instead
of a pledge, it is rather part payment of eternal life.
For a pledge or token is taken up when the thing it
stands for is given." The very thing itself, eternal life,
is therefore bestowed in its first installment by the en-
trance of the Holy Ghost into our souls with grace.^'
Again St. Augustine in thus commenting on Scripture
is not less positive nor less explicit in teaching that the
mission or sending, properly so-called, of a Divine Per-
son — we speak of the invisible mission — requires, be-
sides the bestowal of a created gift, the effective and
substantial presence of that Person. Speaking of the
•• John XX. 22, 23. " Romans v. 5.
''Ephesians 1. 13, 14; 2 Corinthians i. 21, 22.
^ IJe Verbis Apostoli, Sermo xiii.
46 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
outpouring of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost day, he says :
"The Holy Ghost therefore came that day to the souls
of His faithful, no longer by simple activity or a grace
of visitation, but even by the presence of His veritable
Divine majesty; and it was not only His sacred frag-
rance — the sacred ointment of His grace — ^but His very
substance which was poured into their hearts." **
Could one wish for more formal and, at the same time,
more graceful affirmation of the indwelling of God in
our souls?
In their controversies with the Arians and the Mace-
donians, the Fathers of the Church frequently advanced
this indwelling of the Son and the Holy Ghost in souls
as a manifest proof of Their Divinity; and very rightly
so, for to abide in a soul, to produce and preserve in
that soul sanctifying grace, one must penetrate into its
very essence, and this the Divinity alone can do : "God
alone works the interior effect of a sacrament, as well
because God alone comes down upon the soul in which
the effect of the sacrament exists (for nothing can im-
mediately work in a place where it does not exist) ; and
also because grace, which is the interior effect of the
sacrament, is from God alone." "
This is the way Didymus the Blind, the Alexandrine
doctor, whose vision in the things of God was so keen,
expounds this argument in his treatise, once so famous,
On the Holy Ghost, whence, according to St. Jerome, the
Latins have borrowed everything they have said on this
subject: "It would be impious to rank the Holy Spirit
among created things. One creature cannot dwell in
another. Arts and sciences, virtues and vices, in some
manner dwell in us, but it is as accidental qualities, and
not as substances. . . . Now it is the proper substance
of the Holy Ghost which dwells in the just and which
" St. Augustine, Senno clxxxv., de Temp.
••St. Thomas, Summa Theologtca, HI., q; Ixiv., a. 1.
The Nature of This Sanctifying Presence 47
sanctifies them, and it belongs only to the Three Persons
of the Holy Trinity, to be able, by their substance, to
penetrate into souls." ^'
Then, foreseeing the objection some might raise
against this doctrine by citing the passage of the Gos-
pel where it is said that Satan entered into the heart of
Judas," he answers, that Satan entered not in substance
— this being the privilege of God alone — but by his oper-
ation, I. e., by his treacherous suggestions and his mali-
cious, wicked deceptions.^^ ^.nd the Angelic Doctor, as
we have seen, holds the same doctrine.*^ It is triie that
the devil can enter into our bodies, move our members
against our will, and act upon our senses; and also upon
our imagination, and even indirectly upon our will, as
is seen in the case of demoniacs; but he cannot invade
the very depths of our being, nor penetrate, at least,
directly into the sanctuary of our understanding and
will. If, then, he enters into the heart of any man, it
is not in his own substance that he enters, nor does he
enter into ours; but only by the effects of his malice —
by the bad thoughts he addresses to us and the criminal
acts he suggests, and only too often succeeds in making
us commit.^"
It is an exclusive and inalienable privilege of God, the
natural consequence of His act of creation and of con-
servation, as also of His absolute sovereignty over
created spirits, to be able to penetrate in His very sub-
stance into the very depths of their being in order to
maintain them in existence, and into the innermost
sanctuary of their will to make this faculty act accord-
ing to His good pleasure, and to influence it directly and
immediately to perform this or that act, although, ac-
**Didymus, De Spiritu Saneto, n. 25. "John xlU. 27.
>* Dldymus, De Spiritu Saneto, n. 61.
" St Thomas, Contra Gent., lib. Iv., c. xvU.
»• Jft W.,* Contra Gent., lib. Iv., c. xviil.
48 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
cording to the words of Sacred Scripture, God never ac-
tually forces this faculty.
St. Cyril of Alexandria devotes a whole Dialogue to
prove that the Holy Ghost actually dwells in us and
makes us, by His union with our soul, partakers of the
nature of God. Questioning Hermias, his interlocutor,
he asks: "Do we not say that man is made in the
image of God?" "Without doubt," answers Hermias.
Cyril: "Now who impresses that image on us, if not
the Holy Ghost?" Hermias: "Yes; but not purely as
God, but simply as the dispenser of grace." Cyril:
"Then it is not He Who imprints Himself as a seal upon
our soul, and He deems it sufficient only to engrave His
grace there?" Hermias: "It seems so to me." Cyril:
"Well, then, if such be the case, we must call man the
image of grace, and not the image of God." "
We should never finish were we to give a summary
of the innumerable passages, in which the Fathers prove
the fact of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in our souls :
the comparisons they use to illustrate this point are as
beautiful as they are varied. According to them, the
Holy Ghost is a perfume (the Church says, in one of her
hymns, a spiritual unction, spiritalis unctio), whence
sweet and penetrating fragrance steals into our souls
to impregnate, transform and deify them, and to render
them capable of diffusing around them the good odor of
Christ."
He is also called a seal which marks us with the
image of God, restoring this image in the soul when it
has been elTaced by sin, as a stamp leaves its imprint
on the soft wax." Or, again, as a man leaves his char-
acter and his ideas in everything he puts his hand to,
so the Holy Ghost, the seal of God, stamps Himself upon
-' St. Cyril of Alcxandrin, Dial. 7, tie Trinil.
" 2 Corinthians 11. 15.
^St. Cyril, Thesaurus, asscrtio xxxiv.
The Nature of This Sanctifying Presence 49
our souls; with this difference, however, that the Divine
character communicated to us is living and makes us
living images of the Divine substance. 2* He is a fire
which penetrates us through and through, as natural
fire heats metal to its very depths and imparts to it its
own properties — brilliancy, heat, radiancy — without
changng its nature. 2'
He is the purest gold, says St. Cyril of Alexandria, in
the Dialogue already quoted, which, so to speak, gilds
our souls and makes them glow with beauty in the
sight of God and His angels.
He is a light whose rays are cast upon chaste souls as
sunbeams upon a clear crystal, making them brilliant
centres from which spread out grace and charity.^^
He is the sweet Guest of our soul, dulcis hospes
animx, as the Church sings. Who enters our soul to re-
joice it by His presence. Who speaks familiarly with us,
rouses us to good deeds, comforts us in our afflictions,
and enriches us with His treasures. Being God, how-
ever. He must have a proper abode; so He consecrates
our soul by His grace that it may become for Him a fit
abode." See also St. Epiphanius.^s ^/Finally, He is God,
clothing our soul with a Divine form, becoming the life
of our soul as the soul is the life of our body; not that
the Holy Ghost is the formal principle of our super-
natural life, but He is its efficient and interior cause.=**
And also St. Augustine.^"
II
When face to face with so "great a cloud of wit-
nesses," *^ all of them so weighty in authority and so
explicit, could anyone still contest the fact of a true, real
and substantial presence of the Holy Spirit in souls in
»♦ St. Basil, lib. V., Contra Eunom. » Ibid., lib. HI.
- St. Basil, De Spr. Sane, c. ix., n. 23.
" St. Cyril of Alexandria, in Evang. John. 1. 9.
**HKreses. 74, n. 13.
» St. Basil. De Sptritu Sancto, c. xxvi.. n. 61.
•• Sermo 156, c. vl.. n. 6. " Hebrews xil. 1,
50 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
the state of sanctifying grace? To form an idea of the
love with which the early Christians clung to this con-
soling and precious truth, and of the confidence and
fearlessness with which they Confessed it when ques-
tioned before the pagan tribunals, we have only to read
the touching account of St. Lucy's martyrdom.
This noble virgin of Syracuse, had just distributed
among the poor the magnificent dowry her mother had
laid by for her future marriage; but meantime she had
vowed to Christ to remain a virgin. Informed of this
and fired with anger, the young nobleman who had
asked her hand and to whom Lucy had been betrothed
against her will, denounced her to Paschasius, the Ro-
man prsetor. Lucy was at once arrested and sum-
moned before Paschasius, who used all means to induce
her to give up the Christian religion — ^which he termed
a vain superstition — and to offer sacrifice to the gods.
Lucy answered:
"The only sacrifice we are called upon to offer is to
visit the widows and orphans and to assist the poor in
their needs. For three years I have been offering 'this
sacrifice to the living God, and it remains for me only to
sacrifice myself as a victim due to His Divine Majesty."
"Tell that to the Christians," replied Paschasius, *and
not to me, who am obliged to carry out the edicts of the
Emperors, my masters."
Then Lucy spoke these words with marvelous
constancy :
"Thou observest the laws of these princes, I, the laws
of God; thou fearest the Emperors of the earth, I, the
King of heaven; thou tremblest lest thou shouldst of-
fend a man, I fear the immortal King; thou seekest to
please thy masters, I, my Creator. Do not think that
thou shalt be able to separate me from the love of Jesus
Christ."
"These discourses will finally cease," replied the
The Nature of This Sanctifying Presence 51
Praetor, growing impatient, "when we begin to apply
the tortures."
"Words," retorted the intrepid virgin, "cannot fail
those to whom Jesus Christ has said: 'And when you
shall be brought before governors, and before kings,
take no thought how or what to speak, for it shall be
given you in that hour what to speak. For it is not you
that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh
in you.' " "
"Thou believest, then, that thy God is in thee?"
"Those who live pious and chaste lives are the
temples of Grod the Holy Ghost."
"Well," replied Paschasius, "I shall have thee con-
ducted to an infamous place, there the Holy Ghost will
abandon thee."
"External violence upon the body cannot touch the
purity of the soul; and, if thou causest me to be out-
raged, I shall have two crowns in heaven instead of
one."
All are acquainted with the rest of the holy narrative,
and how God in the place of shame, performed a miracle
to preserve the honor of His virgin spouse.
Another fact, not less touching, is related by the his-
torian, Eusebius. In the second century Leonidas, the
father of Origen, and who later suffered death for the
Faith, used to kneel by the bedside of his sleeping son
and reverently uncovering the child's breast, kiss it de-
voutly as the sanctuary wherein dwelt the Holy Ghost.
May we not conclude, then, by saying with theolo-
gians and saints, that a soul in the state of grace is not
only enriched with the created and sovereignly pre-
cious gift of grace, which makes it a partaker of the
Divine nature, but that it possesses also within it the
presence of the Holy Ghost Himself? The soul enters
into the possession of this twofold treasure at one and
** Matthew x. 20.
52 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
the same moment; however we may distinguish, as does
St. Thomas, a twofold logical priority between the be-
stowal of the created gift and that of the Uncreated One,
distinguishing between them according to the way in
which we view the question of their causality. If we
consider grace as a preliminary disposition, as a neces-
sary preparation for the Divine Guest, then it is grace
which is communicated to us first, for the disposition
naturally precedes the forma or the perfection for which
it is to prepare. On the other hand, if we consider the
Holy Ghost as the Author of grace and the end for which
grace is given, then He it is Who enters the soul first.
And this, remarks St. Thomas, is what is strictly speak-
ing precedence : "Et hoc est simpliciter esse prius." "
^The crowning of all God's liberalities, however, con-
sists in this : it is not only once in our life, at the solemn
hour of our justification, that we thus receive the floly
Ghost, but there is moreover a hidden mission and a
repeated giving of this Divine Person at each new and
extraordinary advance we make in virtue and a fresh
increase of grace and charity in our hearts. For in-
stance, when one receives the sacraments with very spe-
cial dispositions; or performs under the influence of
actual grace some fervent act of charity; when enter-
ing, as it were, into a new state of grace; or when one
faces martyrdom in defence of his faith; or advances
into the power of working miracles, or of prophesying;
or renounces for the love of God what he possesses of
this world's goods; or undertakes any arduous work for
God's sake.'*
O Holy Spirit, how many times hast Thou not entered
my soul; With what incomprehensible love hast Thou
not been pleased to fix therein Thine abode! Alas! I
have been ignorant of all this; or, at least, I have
**St. Thonuis, Sentenller. lib. I., dist, 11, q. 11., :i. I.
** Ibid., Sumina Theologica, I., q. xliii., n. I>, ;id 2.
The Nature of This Sanctifying Presence 53
grasped that adorable truth but feebly and as in a
dream. As a result, how coldly I have received Thee!
And yet Thou didst not abandon me. Vouchsafe me,
then, the understanding of Thy Divine bounty; give me
a pure and filial heart so that my soul may welcome
Thee at each of Thy visits, and count it a supernal joy
to receive Thee and converse with Thee. May I forget
all created goods to think only of Thee, O kindest of
visitors, the Friend and Comforter of my soul — await-
ing the day when Thou shalt be its eternal happiness in
heaven.
"There is, indeed, a final mission of the Holy Ghost.
This will take place at the moment of our entry into
heaven, when, at length, we take possession of our
Sovereign Good.'= The Holy Spirit will then enter our
soul not in shadow and in mystery, but in the full light
of perfect vision. He will give Himself to our soul in a
perfect and consummate way; He will take up His defin-
itive abode therein, to be, with the Father and the Son,
its everlasting bliss.
Ill
How are we more clearly and in detail to understand
and explain this special Divine presence, as well as this
repeated entrance of the Holy Ghost into the souls of the
just? The answer to this question will be the object of
a later chapter; for the moment it sufBces to have ascer-
tained and outlined the fact of the coming and the in-
dwelling of the Holy Spirit.
A last question before bringing to a close this present
chapter. What name are we to give to the union estab-
lished by grace between the soul and the Holy Ghost?
Is it a substantial union, like that between the body and
the soul; or merely an accidental or incidental union,
analogous to that between the horseman and his beast;
the vase and the liquid it contains?
** St. Thomas. Samma Theologiea, I., q. sllil., a. 6, ad S.
54 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
A few theologians have not feared to call this union
a substantial one. Their motive was good, since they
desired in tjiis way to sweep aside more thoroughly the
error of those who identify the mission of a Divine Per-
son with the bestowal upon the soul of certain created
gifts — graces. Such a mode of speech, however, must
be absolutely rejected as inexact, and apt to convey
false notions. If the choice of exact terms, faithfully
reproducing our thought, must in all circumstances be
the object of serious attention, it is especially so in ques-
tions as difficult and delicate as the present one, where
everything has its own importance, and where we must
avoid with the greatest care all untrue or equivocal ex-
pressions. Now a substantial union is, strictly speak-
ing, one which terminates in a unity of substance,
whether we take the word substance to mean a substan-
tial nature or a person, a suppositum."
We have an example of this twofold substantial unity
in man: the union of the soul with the body results in
one nature and one person. And in Jesus Christ there
are two natures and one person, because these two na-
tures have only one subsistence or basis, namely, that
of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Word.
The Word seizes upon the human nature of Christ and
unites it to Itself substantially. Nothing like this takes
place between our soul and the Holy Ghost. J This union
suppresses neither duality of natures nor distinction of
persons. We must refrain, therefore, from calling it a
substantial union and use exclusively the terms sub-
stantial, presence, true and real indwelling, which em-
body exactly the doctrine of Scripture and the teach-
ing of theology; these expressions express the whole
truth without exposing the reader to dangerous mis-
interpretations.
** St. Thomas, Summa Theologlca, HI., q. li., a. 6, ad 3.
CHAPTER III
The Mode or Manner of This Presence of the
Holy Ghost
God Is Present in the Souls of the Just Not Only as
Efficient Cause, but Also as Guest, Friend, and
as an Object of Knowledge and Love
We have seen that it is an incontestable truth, plainly
taught by Holy Scripture, the Fathers and theologians,
that when the Holy Ghost pours His grace into our soul.
He at the same time comes there in His own Person,
and there makes His home. It remains to determine
the mode of this special presence in the just, and to
show how it is that God is in them, not only as an
efficient cause, but also in another and entirely distinct
capacity.
We now approach the most delicate and abstruse part
of the question which we have proposed to treat; and it
is here particularly that a reliable and experienced guide
is indispensable. Fortunately, we do not have to search
far, since we possess such a one in the Angelic Doctor,
St. Thomas, in whom are united the most penetrating
genius and the highest sanctity, and who is acknowl-
edged to be the spokesman of all that is best and holiest
in the Catholic Schools. But we must follow him closely
and never leave him if we would not go astray. This
we would infallibly do. like so many others, if we either
fell short of the truth, giving only a defective and insuf-
ficient explanation, or else if we overshot our mark,
falling into exaggeration by making the indwelling of
55
56 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
the Holy Ghost a sort of hypostatic union with the soul :
two dangers which, in our opinion, some writers have
not escaped.
No one will be surprised to meet a certain diversity of
opinion among Catholic theologians, on this question of
the union of our soul with God, and particularly on the
way in which it is to be conceived. The contrary, rather,
would be remarkable in such a difficult subject, on
which revelation throws only a feeble and indirect light.
It is true the majority of theologians have ranged them-
selves with St. Thomas. But some have done so by in-
terpreting their master's thought inexactly. Others
have thought to free themselves from a guidance which
seemed to them to be a constraint, while it was really
only a condition of security. They have tried, to their
detriment, to blaze a new trail of their own.
As we proceed, we shall examine the arguments of
both these parties. We have an excellent criterion, an
easy and sure norm, taken from the very nature of the
subject. To be acceptable, an explanation of the special
presence of God in the just must realize what the mis-
sion, gift and indwelling of the Holy Ghost promises and
contains. And we at once see that it must involve a
Divine presence at once substantial and special. If
either of these conditions is lacking — if, for example, a
certain theologian understands the indwelling of the
Holy Ghost in the soul of the just in such a way as to
suppose, indeed, a substantial presence of this Divine
Person, but only as an efficient cause — then, by this
very fact, the explanation given is proved unsound and
is to be rejected without further examination. For we
do not find there this special presence which the invis-
ible mission of the Holy Ghost presupposes. In like
manner, if the proposed explanation involves indeed a
special presence of the Divine Guest, but one purely
ideal, this also is plainly insufficient. For the indwell-
Manner of Presence of the Holy Ghost 57
ing of God in us supposes not an ideal, but an effective
and real presence of God.
I
Of the more or less imperfect opinions concerning this
indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the just,
the well known theory of Petavius deserves attention.
He taught that the Divine indwelling by grace is proper
to the Person of the Holy Ghost, differing in this from
the almost universal opinion of theologians who make
this presence common to all Three Persons of the
Blessed Trinity and ascribe it only by attribution or
appropriation to the Third Person. This, however, shall
be treated as a separate question later on.
The theory of Petavius was not welcomed when it
first appeared, and it is generally rejected by the theo-
logical schools of today. Recently, however, it has found
favor with a few scholars in France and Germany, and
notably, it has had as its defender and sponsor a French
Jesuit, Rev. Father Rami^re, prematurely taken from
the Order he honored by his talents, and from the
Church he was edifying by his zeal. The following is
a brief summary, given by Father Rami^re himself, of
the explanation he offers in his work, Les espirances
de VEglise: "We must necessarily admit, that between
the just soul and the Holy Spirit there is a union which
does not extend to the other Persons of the Blessed Trin-
ity in the same manner as it does to the Third Person."*
Let us affirm with this distinguished author, that it
is not without reason that the invisible mission whose
purpose is the sanctification of souls and their union
with God by charity is attributed in a special manner
to the Holy Ghost. The motive for this attribution, as
we shall explain in a later chapter, is the striking anal-
ogy which exists between the character of goodness and
* Appendix, xii., note.
58 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
love peculiar to the Third Person, and the Divine in-
dwelling of God by grace, which is nothing more than a
wondrous outpouring of love and goodness. This is
why this wonderful union of the creature with its
Creator is attributed in a special manner to the Holy
Ghost, although it is most certainly produced by the
presence of all Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity.
And rightly so, remarks Leo XIIL, since this marvelous
union, whose very name is indwelling, is (although
effected most truly by the presence of the deity of the
entire Trinity), 'We will come to Him and make our
abode with Him* (John xiv. 23), nevertheless, predicated
as peculiar to the Holy Spirit." ^
For, as Leo XIII. adds, "whilst traces of Divine power
and wisdom appear even in wicked men, charity, which,
as it were, is the special mark of the Holy Ghost, is
shared in only by the just. In harmony with this, the
same Spirit is called Holy, for He, the first and supreme
Love, moves souls and leads them to sanctity, which
ultimately consists in the love of God. Wherefore, the
Apostle, when calling us the temple of God, does not
expressly mention the Father or the Son, but the Holy
Ghost : 'Know ye not that youY members are the temple
of the Holy Ghost, Who is in you. Whom you have from
God?'"'
When, therefore, we read in Scripture or in the writ-
ings of the Fathers, of the Holy Ghost being the Guest
of our souls, we are to understand merely a special ap-
propriation of terms, based on the custom prevalent in
the Church of attributing to the Holy Spirit all Divine
works in which predominates the characteristic of love.
But it is an error to maintain that these words signify
a union between the Holy Ghost and the soul, particular
and peculiar to the Third Person of the Trinity, and in
•Encyclical on the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, 1897.
* 1 Corinthians vl. 19.
Manner of Presence of the Holy Ghost 59
which the other Persons do not participate in like man-
ner. And it is worse to attribute exclusively to the Holy
Ghost any kind of effect produced in creatures; to pre-
tend that "if in the mission there is no special function
reserved to the Holy Ghost, and if He does nothing more
than what the Father and the Son do, He cannot be said
to be really sent" — to say such a thing as this is to give
a strange meaning to the words of Scripture and Tra-
dition; it is introducing division into the unity of opera-
tion in God, contrary to Catholic dogma; which teaches
that all works external to the Trinity — ab extrinseco —
are common to all Three Divine Persons because of
Their unity of nature. Where there is but one nature
there can be but one force and one operation.*
n
With the exception of Petavius' opinion — which is
the most improbable one — all the fruitless attempts to
explain the way in which the Holy Ghost is present in
the just soul invariably resolve themselves into one or
the other of the two following hypotheses: either God
is substantially present in the souls of the just, but only
as their eflBcient cause — a presence common to all crea-
tures and differing only accidentally in saints, in sin-
ners, and even in inanimate things; or there is a special
presence of God in creatures gifted with reason and in
the state of grace. We will now expound the real man-
ner of this substantial and special presence of the Holy
Ghost which grace merits for the soul. We shall re-
frain from sacrificing either of the two conditions above
named. To accomplish this we shall have only to set
forth the opinion of St. Thomas, not indeed as this or
that critic has understood it, but as it stands in the very
words of this holy Doctor.
< St. Thomas, HI., q. xxiiJ., a. 2.
60 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
According to the teaching of the Angelic Doctor, God
can be substantially present to creatures in three dif-
ferent ways: as their efficient cause — the way in which
He is present to all things without exception; as the
object of their knowledge and love — the way in which
He is present to the just on earth and the saints in
heaven; and, finally, by the hypostatic union — the way
in which the Word of God was united with our human-
ity in the person of Our Lord."
The first of these presences is universal; it is to be
found in all places where there exists an effect, natural
or supernatural, of God's power. The reason for this
is that all created things are essentially dependent upon
God, and, therefore, can neither come into existence
nor maintain themselves there independently of God's
immediate action, independently of the intimate pres-
ence of their Creator. We have already sufficiently ex-
plained this mode of presence in a preceding chapter,
so there is no need of enlarging further upon it.
The presence of God as the object of knowledge and
love, is the privilege only of creatures gifted with reason,
who alone are capable of knowing and loving Him. This
second mode of presence, however, can assume a two-
fold form, that we must carefully distinguish, if we wish
to avoid error, and to forestall an objection that we have
already met and that is frequently used against the doc-
trine of St. Thomas. Either, indeed, it is question of a
purely moral presence, or of an effective and real one.
In the former hypothesis, all those who know and love
God, would enjoy a certain kind of presence even were
their knowledge and love of Him purely natural; for
God is present in their intelligence by His image, His
idea, as we may call it, His intellectual likeness; and in
their will by an attractive force which draws them to-
wards Him, and by a bond of affection which unites
■St. Tliomas., I., q. vlii., a. 3.
Manner of Presence of the Holy Ghost 61
them to Him. Yet this is not in every sense a true and
real presence lacking, as it does, the quality called sub-
stantise. For if it were possible for God to dwell exclu-
sively in heaven and nowhere else, He would, neverthe-
less, be present in this ideal way to all those who make
the Divinity the object of their reflection and affection,
as is the case with mere philosophers. But when it is
question of a most real and substantial presence, not
only are mere natural knowledge and love incapable of
drawing God into a soul, but supernatural knowledge,
obtained through faith and through the love of desire
which is engendered by hope — neither can these obtain
such a result. Sanctifying grace and charity are alone
capable of producing this effect, generating a love of
God suflBciently pure and strong to do so.*
The third mode of presence is to be found in Christ
alone — that effected by the hypostatic union, an inef-
fable and incomprehensible union between God and
man, authorizing us to attribute to the Divine Son of
God all that His human nature does or suffers; a won-
derful union, indeed, since it places on each and every
action and suffering of the God-Man an infinite value,
thus enabling Him to satisfy in an adequate way the sin-
outraged justice of God.
All three of these presences, as is plain, are found
realized in Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. God is
present in Him, as in all beings, as efficient cause, pre-
serving the sacred Humanity which He created and
united to the Word. The Word is with Him, too, by
sanctifying grace, as He is present to the just and to the
saints. For the human soul of Christ knows and loves
God with supernatural purity and force from the very
first moment of its existence; that human soul knows
God, not through the shadows of faith, but in the
radiant light of the beatific vision; it possesses Him as
* St. Thomas, I., q. viii., a. 3, ad 4in.
62 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
perfectly as any creature can possess Him; the Man
Christ loves Him with a love of joy (or complaisance,
as it is termed) that is complete; the human soul of
Christ is happy in the fullest sense of the term.
Finally, as a crowning perfection added to this union
already so perfect, comes the hypostatic union by which
the Word communicates to the human nature He has
assumed in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, His own
substance, so that the Apostle could say that in Him
"dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead corporally," ''
since this fullness of indwelling is granted not only to
His soul, but also to His body.^
And let no one assert that the indwelling of God by
grace is absolutely useless, not to say impossible, to a
soul already so perfectly united to the Person of the
Word as is the soul of Our Lord. The hypostatic union,
indeed, without the possession of God by the acts of the
intellect and the will, would not suffice of itself to
beatify that soul. To be sovereignly happy, therefore,
the soul of Christ must possess, above and beyond its
union with the Word, that union with God by operation,
which consists in the direct and beatific contemplation
of God's essence and the enjoyment resulting therefrom.
And to obtain this. His soul must be endowed with sanc-
tifying grace, which can inform it and render it capable
of eliciting supernatural acts, i. e., acts that transcend
all natural human powers, acts that are proper by
nature to God alone.**
Ill
This doctrine of St. Thomas on the threefold way in
which God can be substantially present to things, he
repeats, almost verbatim, when he treats the question of
T Colosslans 11. 9. * St. Thomas, III., q. 11., a. 10, ad 2.
* Ibid., Dtaput. de VeritaL, q. xxlx., a. 1.
Manner of Presence of the Holy Ghost 63
the various Divine missions." The Angelic Doctor adds,
however, one characteristic of great importance : he says
that by its operation, viz., by the acts of the intellect and
will, a rational being reaches out and attains to God
Himself, Sua operatione attingit ad ipsum Deum. We
shall indicate later on the signification and bearing of
these words.
We cannot, however, omit mention of a masterly
Article in which the Angelic Doctor gives wider scope
to his thought, with explanations that bring it more
within the reach of our intelligence. St. Thomas did
not think it expedient to embody this Article in the
works of his more mature age, which embody his doc-
trine. In the place at present referred to, whilst broach-
ing the question as to whether God is in all things by His
power, presence and essence — in the just by His grace,
and in Christ by the Divine Being Itself, he answers as
follows :
"The distinctions between these modes of pres-
ence comes in part from the creature and in part from
God. . . . The creature is united to God in three ways:
first, simply by likeness, for every created being pos-
sesses in itself a participation in the Divine goodness,
without attaining meanwhile to possess the very sub-
stance of God; this is the ordinary mode of union, for
the reason that God is in all things by His essence. His
presence, and His power.
"The second mode of union between God and the crea-
ture is no longer by mere likeness, but the creature at-
tains to God Himself, by means of his own operation;
this takes place when he adheres by his faith to the
primordial and Sovereign Truth, and to the Sovereign
Goodness by charity. This is the second mode of union,
according to which God exists in a special manner in
the just in virtue of sanctifying grace.
"St. Thomas, I., q. xlill,, a. 3.
64 The Indwelling of the Hohj Spirit
"In the third mode of union, namely, that of Christ's
humanity with the divinity, the creature attains to God
no longer by its operation; but also in and by its very
being ... by a hypostatic or personal union." "
Such are, according to St. Thomas, the three ways in
which God can be substantially present in a creature,
the three kinds of union that can exist between the Cre-
ator and the work of His hand. On the part of God:
first, union with every one of His creatures as their
efficient cause, to preserve them and move them in each
and every act; second, union with the reasonable and
sanctified creature as the object of its knowledge and
love; third, personal union with the very nature of man,
effected when the Word assumed our human nature and
raised it to the dignity of a Divine Person, thus forming
that marvelous "compositum," or joining together, we
call the God-Man.
On the part of the creature: union of mere likeness
with God, that is to say, by a participation in the created
gifts which leave on the creature, as it were, the impress
of the Divine goodness; union by operation, namely, by
the acts of the intellect and will that enable the creature
to lift itself, to God the First Truth and Highest Good,
to attain to Him and possess Him, and to begin here
below enjoying His presence, awaiting the moment when
this enjoyment shall be consummated in heaven;
finally, union in the unity of person with God, realized,
as faith teaches us, in Our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose
human nature holds its existence or subsistence from
the very subsistence of the Word which has been com-
municated to it.
These modes of presence and of union are absolutely
distinct one from the other, and there exists between
them not merely a difference of degree or an incidental
difference, but a difference essential and specific. It is
" St Thomas, Sententiee. lib. I., dlst xxxvll., q. 1., a. 2.
Manner of Presence of the Holy Ghost 65
quite different, indeed, to have God present in us merely
as an eJBBcient cause, and to possess Him in heart and
mind as our last end and the object of our supreme
happiness, and a fortiori, to form but one person with
Him as in Christ Our Lord. But man endowed with
grace, really possesses God in the depths of his soul;
attains to the IJivine substance by the exercise of his
intellect and will and enjoys the possession of God.
We have dwelt at some length on these fundamental
notions, for the explanations we have given were abso-
lutely necessary to prepare the way and light our path
towards the goal we have in view. He who knows that
a question clearly put and its terms fully explained, is
already half answered, will readily grant that what has
been said is neither superfluous nor anywise useless, but
the necessary preparation for further advance in the
understanding of this lofty subject.
IV
Before we resume our journey, let us glance back for
a moment along the road we have traveled, in order to
make sure of our progress.
Acting as the interpreter of Scripture and Tradition,
St. Thomas declares that God is present in the just in a
new and special manner, dwelling in the sanctuary of
their soul. This does not mean that He is present to
preserve in them sanctifying grace and to move them in
their supernatural action; most assuredly God is present
in this way and for this purpose, but this is only the
Divinity's common and ordinary mode of presence.
Neither does it mean that He is united to the just soul
simply in close bonds of a special friendship, lavishing
attentions upon it, and dealing with it as the constant
object of His thought and care; if we restrict the union
of God with the just merely to this, we shall be led,
66 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
willing or no, into a denial of a real indwelling of the
Holy Ghost in them, and shall substitute for His real
presence a merely moral union, which is as incapable of
meeting the exigencies of a perfect Divine friendship
as it is of satisfying fully the clear promises of the
Saviour, Who affirms, that if anj'one love Him, His
Father will love him and all Three Divine Persons "will
come to him and will make their abode with him." "
To characterize plainly this real union of the just
with God, St. Thomas declares that God is present in
them as the object of their knowledge and love. This
means that through their own operations these souls can
attain to the Divine substance, and commence even here
below to enjoy the Sovereign Good : "God is not only said
to be in the rational creature by this mode of union, but
also to dwell in it as in His temple. . . . The rational
soul thus sanctified does not only use the created gift
[of grace], but also enjoys the Divine Person Him-
self." "
Does it suffice, however, that in order to have this
special presence established one may know and love God
with any kind of supernatural knowledge and love? By
no means. The soul in mortal sin knows God not only
through the light of his reason, but also through that of
faith. In the same way he loves Him not only with a
sort of natural love, but even with a sort of supernatural
love, a love springing from the theological virtue of
hope; he may even possess the germ of love enumerated
by the Council of Trent among the dispositions prepara-
tory for justification." Yet God does not dwell in his
soul: He is merely preparing to enter therein; He is
knocking at the gate demanding entrance." We have
already quoted St. Thomas as saying that if even the
supernatural knowledge of God, that of Divine faith, be
»« John xlv. 23. «» St. Thomas, I., q. xUU., a. 3, ad 1.
*« Trid. Sess. YI., c. yl. <• Apolcalypse 111. 20.
Manner of Presence of the Holy Ghost 67
not accompanied by Divine charity, it is insuflScient to
draw the Holy Trinity into a soul. This is why he re-
peatedly declares that sanctifying grace alone, and no
other perfection, produces this special presence of God
in the soul as the object of knowledge and love.^^ Con-
sequently, neither the supernatural virtues of faith and
hope, nor the acts they prompt us to elicit, nor actual
graces, nor graces gratis datse like the gift of prophecy
or of miracles, nor, a fortiori, any natural endowments,
suffice to entice God into a soul in this Divine reality of
presence.
That there be in the soul a real indwelling of the Holy
Ghost, something more is necessary, according to St.
Thomas, than the mere action of God producing or con-
serving grace; something more than supernatural habits
and the actions which result from them; something
more than a special Providence ruling the soul exter-
nally, however solicitous we might suppose it to be. We
must have the true, real and substantial presence of the
Holy Ghost, as the object of the soul's knowledge and
love. The soul must enter into the intimate possession
and fruition, at least initial, of the Supreme Good, to
which it has attained through the operation of its intel-
ligence and will under the spell of Divine grace; there
must be an initiation into that blessed union of our
spirit and God's Spirit (one day to be consummated in
heaven) which is a foretaste of the eternal bliss above.
But is this not another enigma? And who will inter-
pret it for us? Call it a precious formula if you will, yet
it must be hard to understand, judging by the different
interpretations that have been placed upon it. And
where others have made mistakes, shall we be more
fortunate? Where they have failed, can we boast of our
ability to find the truth? If to understand and explain
a dogma of so high an order, we were left to our own
»• St. Thomas, I., q. vlll., a. 3, ad 4.
68 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
meagre intelligence; if to penetrate into the depths of a
mystery so far beyond our reach, we had to depend on
our own unaided resources, we should certainly tremble
at the words of the Holy Spirit: "Seek not the things
that are too high for thee, and search not into things
above thy ability." " Here we are face to face with that
which is greatest, holiest and most profound in the
mystical life of the soul ; we are at the very heart of the
supernatural order. This is why we hope and trust that
St. Thomas, whose teachings, so far, we have in all
sincerity endeavored merely to follow and to expound,
will aid us from heaven, and obtain for us from God the
light of which we stand in need. Relying upon his
brotherly assistance and confidently imploring his inter-
cession, we will humbly proceed, fortified with a new
courage.
" Eccleslastlcus ill. 22.
CHAPTER IV
Explanation of the Mode or Manner of Presence
With Which God Honors the Just on Earth
and the Saints in Heaven
/. How God Is Present by His Substance to the Under-
standing and Will of the Blessed in Heaven
as First Truth and as Sovereign Good
I
In his enumeration of the different ways in which
God can be substantially present in creatures, St.
Thomas, as we have seen, counts only three: presence
as efficient cause, presence as the object of knowledge
and love, and presence by the hypostatic union in Jesus
Christ. Did the Angelic Doctor forget a fourth way,
viz., that which is proper to the elect in heaven? ^ In-
deed, it would seem that if God is to be united with
certain creatures in an effective and intimate manner,
it is surely with those blessed spirits who have been ad-
mitted to contemplation of Him face to face, and who
have found in possessing Him their supreme happiness.
But no ! The Angelic Doctor has forgotten nothing, and
> Should he not also have added that marvelous mode of God's
presence In the soul, the Eucharist? We think not That presence is,
doubtless, most real, for the Eucharist contains truly, really, and sub-
stantially, the body, the blood, the soul, and the Divinity of our
Saviour {Trid Seas. XIII., c. i., et can. 1). But our Saviour's body and
blood and soul are united to His Divinity in the Eucharist by reason
of their hypostatic union with that very Divinity, as being integral
parts of His humanity; and that hypostatic union of the Divinity and
humanity, as it were, enchains His body and blood and soul indis-
solubly to His Godhead.
69
70 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
the enumeration he has given us is quite complete.
For the union of the Divinity with the just on earth is
not absolutely different in nature from that which the
saints enjoy in heaven. According to the explicit declar-
ation of Pope Leo XIII., "this wonderful union, which is
properly called 'indwelling,* differs only in degree or
state from that with which God beatifies the saints in
heaven." ^ It differs only as the beginning of a work
differs from its completion, or as the seed differs from
the ripened fruit. Grace is the seed of glory; it inaugu-
rates here below, though imperfectly, the life we are
one day to have in heaven.
Now eternal life consists in knowing "the only true
God, and Jesus Christ Whom He hath sent." ^ By this
we mean not the intermediate, abstract and obscure
knowledge of God in this life, for that we must seek in
God's works* and in revelation; but the direct and im-
mediate vision of God which is proper to heaven; clear,
intuitive and face to face contemplation of the Divine
essence; possession and fruition of the Sovereign Good.
In other words, a real and substantial presence of God
in the mind and heart of the beatified, as the immediate
object of their knowledge and love: "as known in the
one who knows and loved in the one who loves."
If, therefore, we wish to obtain an exact idea of this
mode of presence, we must consider it not as it exists in
its germinal and rudimentary stage in the souls of the
just here on earth, but as it is in the saints in heaven,
where it has reached its development. When, for ex-
ample, we wish to know something of the nature of
man, his faculties, operations, we do not study him in
the embryonic or foetus stage, during the first months
of his existence in his mother's womb, but rather at the
age of maturity when he has attained the prime of man-
* Encyclical, 1807, Dtvtnum illud munua.
•John xvll. 3. ♦Romans 1. 19, 20.
' LIBRARY)
God's Presence in Just Souls 71
hood. So let us seek to know how the Divinity is
united to those blessed souls who have completed their
earthly pilgrimage and are now with God.
It is a truth of our faith that the elect in heaven see
God in the unity of His essence and the Trinity of His
Persons, face to face, openly, clearly, intuitively and
without intermediary. In this clear vision ^ and in the
resultant happiness consists the crown of justice prom-
ised as the reward of our meritorious actions.* The
question, however, is: how does such a vision, which
belongs, and can naturally belong, only to God, become
possible to a creature, and how will it really take place?
According to the teachings of Scholastic Philosophy,
a created intellect is not and cannot be the total and
exclusive efficient cause of its cognitive act. Our intel-
lect is a passive, as well as an active, faculty. The neces-
sity under which it labors of receiving is as great as its
power to produce acts; and although it is capable of
knowing each and everything, yet of itself it is indeter-
mined and indifferent in its attitude towards this or
that particular object of knowledge. Hence, the created
intellect remains inactive ' as long as it is not actuated
and impregnated by something coming to it from with-
out, an external form, which, uniting itself to the intel-
lect in the closest of unions, perfects and determines its
activity, renders it capable of eliciting the cognitive act,
and becomes with it the co-principle of the mental word
in and through which the faculty of knowing actually
does know. This form, this determination to mental
action, this actuation of the intelligence, is nothing else
than the intellectual image or representation of the
object that is to be known, the latter being, with few
exceptions, incapable by itself of uniting directly and
per se with the cognitive faculty. Whence the axiom,
•Ex Const. Benedictus Deus, Benedict XII., an. 1336.
• 2 Timothy Iv. 8. ' Cf. St. Thomas, I., q. IvI., a. 1.
72 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
borrowed from St. Augustine, 'that knowledge is the
product of a twofold factor, the object and the faculty
itself.8
The angel, perfect by nature and not passing through
stages of development, receives this necessary comple-
ment to its intellect immediately from God, Who im-
parted to it at the moment of its creation its being and
infused into it the ideal images of all things. Man, on
the contrary, forced to pass through the preliminary
stages of infancy, adolescence and early manhood before
he attains to the perfect age in which his physical and
intellectual faculties reach the apex of their develop-
ment, receives this indispensable complement of his in-
telligence through the senses. This is what is known in
Scholastic philosophy as the species impressa or the in-
telligible form of the object that is known. We may re-
mark, however, in passing, that despite the extrinsic
origin of this second element, the intellectual act does
not cease to be called and to be in reality a vital act, an
immanent motion, a motion from within, since the in-
tellectual form, or the mind's image of the object
known, unites with our faculty of knowing as its form
in order to actuate, perfect and specify it by deter-
mining its attitude to this particular object of knowl-
edge for the moment to no other.
Now that we have laid down the principles, we may
inquire into the nature of the species impressa or intel-
ligible form that will unite with our intellect in the
beatific vision in heaven, and render it capable of seeing
God as He is in Himself.
II
St. Thomas brings up this subject in many passages
of his works, and each time his teaching is the same.
He declares that no image, no created intelligible form,
•St. Augustine. De Trin.. lib. IX., c. xii., n. 18.
God's Presence in Just Souls 73
is capable of adequately representing the Divine es-
sence, it being taken for granted that the latter, is in-
finite, and that all created beings, substances or acci-
dentals never receive from the Divine creative act, more
than a restricted and finite nature, limited in each
mental movement to imaging one genus and one species.
Hence, the radical incapacity on the part of created
beings mentally to represent in real actuality Him Who
is the plenitude of being; and hence, too, the necessity
for the Divine essence itself to play the part of the intel-
ligible form, and to unite its own very Self with the
intellect of a soul in the blessedness of heaven.^ Ac-
cording to the Angelic Doctor, one who would pretend
that God is seen by means of a mental image, a created
representation or species impressa, would thereby deny
the intuitive and real vision of God by the elect in
heaven." A further question, however, arises, namely,
as to the possibility of this union of the Divine essence
with the created intelligence. Our answer is affirma-
tive; for God is Truth in Himself, as much as He is
Being in Himself; and truth is the perfection of the
intellect of man." A preliminary condition, however,
is requisite, viz., that the created intellect be prepared
and disposed for this union by a supernatural force —
a superadded perfection that will lift it above its natural
condition. Before beginning, for example, to instruct
a pupil in some higher study, let us say theology, or
infinitesimal calculus, suitable preparation is essential
to enable him to understand this teaching. Now, this
force, this supernatural quality, which elevates, attunes
and strengthens the soul for the blissful union in heaven,
is none other than what is termed the light of glory,
lumen gloriae.
* St. Thomas, Comp. Theol., Opusc. lU., cap. cv.
^* Summa Theologlca, I., q. xll., a. 2.
** St Thomas, Comp. Theologica, cap. ct.
74 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Thus, according to St. Thomas, two things are neces-
sary that the soul may see God intuitively: the lumen
glorise, which strengthens, expands, and deepens the
powers of the created faculty of understanding; and the
direct and immediate union of the Divine essence with
the intelligence of the creature destined to contem-
plate It.
To avoid all mistake, St. Thomas declares explicitly
that in the beatific vision the Divine essence supplies for
the intelligible image, the species impressa, without
becoming, properly speaking, the form of the created
intellect."
There is, no doubt, then, that the Divine essence does
unite directly with the intellect of the beatified soul in
heaven, to form with it the co-principle of its beatific
vision of the deity; and since it is the Divine essence
such a soul contemplates, this essence is at the same
time the terminus and the object of this vision. The
Divine essence, therefore, is at once the alpha and the
omega, the principle and terminus of the vital operation
constituting the happiness of the saints in heaven.
How then can we fail to recognize between the Divin-
ity and the elect in heaven a real and true union, since
God can be seen and possessed only on condition that
He be present to the minds of the elect Himself and not
merely by His image, per suam essentiam et nan per
speciem essentiae repraesentativam; a special union
altogether distinct from that which He can and does
make with other creatures, since He is present to the
elect not merely as an efficient cause of action, but also
and especially as the object of their knowledge and
love, that is to say of their intuitive knowledge and
beatific love; finally, a union which, although not re-
sulting in a unity of substance, but safeguarding the
twofold personality of God and the creature, neverthe-
" St. Thomas, Qq. disp.. de vertt, q. viil., a. 1.
God's Presence in Just Souls 75
less establishes such intimate relations between them
that one becomes the beatitude and supreme perfection
of the other.
What will be this vision of God and this contempla-
tion of the infinite Beauty, what joy, what sweetness,
what delights it will bring to the soul — no one knows
except Him Who bestows it and him who receives it.^^
Inspired writers, to whom the Holy Ghost revealed some-
thing of its splendor, tell us that it will be the complete
fulfillment of all our desires," a torrent of delights that
will not only fill our hearts, but will flood them to over-
flowing." It will certainly not be a dry, cold knowl-
edge like the feeble ray of a winter's sun, but an ardent,
ecstatic knowledge, that will beget in the will an im-
mense, irresistible and uninterrupted love, and a happi-
ness limited only by the capacity of our heart.
Ill
And, of course, God could not be substantially present
to the intelligence of the elect and yet absent from their
will. Does not that which takes place in one faculty
react upon the other? Or, in other words, does not that
which takes place in the order of knowledge necessarily
find its echo in the order of love and is it not perfect and
irresistible in heaven? ^^ Love naturally follows knowl-
edge, and union is the usual consequence of love. Since,
then, the Saints see God face to face, they find them-
selves in the happy necessity of loving Him.
All this is perfectly true; for how could the Saints
stay the irresistible inclination their will experiences to
soar up to Him Whom their intellect so clearly beholds
and presents to the will as the Sovereign Good? And
since they possess Him without fear of ever losing Him,
how could they fail to find in God the source of their
" Apocalypse li. 17. " Psalm ell. 5. " Psalm xxv. 9.
■* St. Thomas, Summa Theologica, I., q. Ixxx., a. 1.
76 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
supreme happiness? And we cannot feel joy if the
object loved be not really present. Therefore, if God
really unites with the intellect of the saints as the object
of knowledge. He must also, and a fortiori, really and
effectively unite with their will as the object of love,
for "Love is more unitive than knowledge." ^"^ Besides,
a mere union of affection would be absolutely insuf-
ficient to produce perfect, consummate happiness such
as the beatitude of heaven supposes.
Not that the union of affection does not exist — since
the blessed love God and are loved by Him, and that
love consists formally in the moral bond which draws
together and unites two hearts. But love tends to real
union, and attains to this union in the measure of fully
realizing all its possibility. Then again, according as
the union is actual, or only merely affective, we have
two different kinds of love: the first a love of gratifica-
tion, the other a love of desire. Now the love of grati-
fication alone reigns in heaven, since all desire there
finds fulfillment. There we shall see Him in Whom we
have believed; we shall possess Him in Whom we have
hoped and Whom we sought after while in this world;
we shall at last enjoy fully, without fear of loss, and for
all eternity. Him Who is the supreme Good. Then will
the work of our deification be complete; then shall we
be perfectly like unto God, imbued through and through
with Him— divinized.
Even here below we possess a certain likeness with
God, having within us that most excellent boon of grace
which makes us formal "partakers of the Divine
nature," " we are already His sons by adoption, and
possessing a right to our Father's inheritance. Yet the
last word on our destiny has not been spoken in this
life, and "it hath not appeared what we shall be." *•
" St. Tbomns. I., II., q. xxviil., n. 1, ai 3. '• 2 Peter I. 4.
>•! John Hi. 2.
God's Presence in Just Souls T7
When God shall reveal Himself to us fully, sweeping
away every shadow and drawing every veil; when we
shall see Him unobscured, face to face; when He will
appear to us as He is; then shall we be made fully like
unto Him. We shall live of His life, knowing and loving
Him — although in a finite and limited manner — as He
knows and loves Himself: "We see now through a glass,
in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in
part ; but then I shall know even as I am known." ^o
F'or the intimate life of God consists in the knowledge
and love He has of His own Being and His own infinite
perfections, and in that life it shall be our privilege to
share.
Once this end shall have been reached, our desire to
know will be fully satisfied, our thirst after happiness
completely appeased; for the Divine essence, united with
our intellect, will be a principle competent to enable
us to know all truth; and possessing the very source of
all goodness and bounty we shall have nothing more to
desire. St. Thomas, therefore, says: "We shall know
God in the manner and mode in which He knows Him-
self, namely, by and through His essence: even though
we cannot comprehend Him as He comprehends Him-
self : not that we shall fail to know any part of Him, for
He has no parts; but that we shall not know Him as
perfectly as He is knowable." ^i
Then will receive its complete fulfillment that prayer
which Our Lord, on the eve of His death, put up for His
disciples and for all those who were to believe in Him
in the course of ages: "Holy Father, keep them in Thy
name, whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one,
as We also are. . . . That they all may be one, as Thou,
Father, in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be
one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast
sent Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me, I
>* 1 Corinthians ziii. 12. " St. Thomas, Comp. Theologica, ch. cvi.
78 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
have given to them that they may be one as We also are
one; I in them, and Thou in Me; that they may be made
perfect in one." 22 Union, therefore — union of all with
God, union of all in God, union at last consummated in
glory — this is the supreme wish of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, a wish that even in this life shall have received,
through grace and charity, its first fulfillment.
Will anyone now affirm that a real, substantial pres-
ence of God in the soul can exist without God's being the
object of knowledge and love? And those who failed to
understand why this presence should be real and effec-
tive and not limited to a merely objective and moral
union — will they be more satisfied now? We venture
to believe that the difficulties so often raised have now
vanished as by enchantment, and that the reader who
has been patient enough to follow us thus far, is now in
a position to understand the meaning and full bearing
of the words of St. Thomas: "By the operation of the
creature's reason, that is to say of his knowledge and
love, he reaches the very substance of God; and that is
why, that instead of saying that God is in the soul only
by mode of a special presence, we also say that He
dwells there as in His temple." 23
One will understand, too, why the Angelic Doctor re-
peatedly asserts in this place and elsewhere, that sanc-
tifying grace alone can produce this special mode of
presence. The obvious reason is that the mere natural
knowledge we have of God, is indirect and abstractive,
and therefore does not render God veritably present to
our soul. Without sanctifying grace He is present only
by the concept we form of Him and, therefore, in a
purely ideal and objective way and not in a strictly real
and effective way.
Through faith, it is true, we come to know God more
perfectly than through reason, for faith introduces us
** John XTli. 11-23. M St. Thomas, I., q. xlUi., a. 3.
God's Presence in Just Souls 79
even into the secrets of His intimate life, but yet in an
obscure and partial manner. Yet faith without charity
does not suflBce to render God truly and every way pres-
ent to our intellect, nor make Him dwell within us.
What the sinner who still retains faith possesses, is not
God Himself but only the idea of God, that is to say the
concept which represents God. Sanctifying grace alone
(and especially when it has reached its zenith and its
fullest development, as is the case with the saints in
heaven), claims, demands, produces the real, true, sub-
stantial presence of God in the soul of the blessed as
the term of its knowledge and love; that is to say the
presence of the Divine essence in its intelligence, to fit it
to see God as He is; the presence of the supreme Good
in the will, that it may enjoy God and delight in His
possession.
CHAPTER V
Explanation of the Special Mode or Manner of Pres-
ence With Which God Honors the Just on
Earth and the Saints in Heaven
(Continued)
How Grace Produces in the Souls of the Just on Earth a
Divine Presence Analogous to That Enjoyed
by the Saints in Heaven
I
The question to be answered in this chapter is: Can
we rightly apply to the just here on earth what we
predicate of the saints in heaven, and afBrm that grace
produces in them a real and special presence of God as
the object of their knowledge and love? Is it not mani-
fest that there is a fundamental difference between these
two states, and therefore is it not manifest that the
Divine essence does not directly and immediately unite
with the intellect of souls who are still on the road to
God — as we have stated it does for those who now
comprehend Him in heaven — to be the principle and the
terminus of an intuitive knowledge? And if the case
were otherwise, would we not see God now face to face,
and would not faith have given place to perfect and
beatific vision?
In answer we have to claim, that although we admit
80
God's Presence in Just Souls 81
with the Apostle that our actual knowledge of God here
below is essentially obscure, and that we see Him only,
as it were, "through a glass and in a dark manner," ^
yet we must not and we do not conclude from this that
God does not truly honor us, even in this life, with a
special and substantial presence, such as is indicated by
Holy Scripture and Tradition as the privilege of all souls
in the state of grace. To deny this privilege to God's
friends on earth, would be to disregard altogether the
loftiness of our vocation, and the inestimable treasures
God bestows, even in this life, on His adopted children
by sending them His Holy Spirit. In what, then, does
this union of God with our souls in this present life con-
sist? This is the question we must now endeavor to
answer, although we have already to some extent
treated of it.
According to a teaching borrowed from the Holy
Scriptures by the Angelic Doctor, grace is nothing else
than the commencement in us of the future glory of
heaven.2 Consequently, we have already received ger-
minally and in an initial way what will one day consti-
tute our eternal happiness. And since eternal happi-
ness consists in the act by which the rational creature
enters into possession and enjoyment of the Sovereign
Good, the just soul, also, must even in this life ati^m to
the Divine substance, and through its own responsive
operation come into real contact with the Divinity
through knowledge and love, and here on earth begin to
enjoy God as do the blessed in heaven. This is what is
effected by that experimental and sensible knowicuge
which is the fruit of the Gift of Wisdom, but especially
by the love which is supernatural charity. Such knowl-
edge and love, however, do not suppose what is properly
called vision; nor integral and complete enjoyment; yet
1 1 Corinthians xlU. 12.
* St. Thomas, II., II., q. xxiv., a. 3, ad 2.
82 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
it is truly the real and sensible presence of the Divine
object known and loved.
This, it is true, is to the soul's gaze but. a luminous
point in space, its light is very faint; and the rank and
file of devout Christians barely perceive it. Yet if the
forester who plants an acorn does not comprehend and
appreciate that it is the product of a stately oak and
contains a living principle of reproduction, how can he
be expected, by simply looking at it, to forecast what a
marvelous tree it will one day become. Now, accord-
ing to St. Peter, grace is a seed : "Being born again not
of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of
God, Who liveth and remaineth forever * — a precious
and incorruptible germ of Divine life, destined to bloom
forth in the sun of eternity, although now it possesses
only in a rudimentary way the rich fruitage it is des-
tined to yield. The indwelling of the Holy Ghost, which
is the necessary consequence of grace in our souls, is
called a germ of future glory by St. John also : "Dearly
beloved, we are now the sons of God, and it hath not yet
appeared what we shall be." * This explains why St.
Paul, in speaking of the glory that is to come, almost
without exception uses the word revelation: "The
glory to come, that shall be revealed in us." » One day
the darkness that now closes in around us will be dis-
pelled, the clouds that hide from our eyes the mysteries
of the supernatural life will be brushed aside, and we
shall then know fully, and with sentiments of inexpress-
ible admiration and ineffable gratitude, the treasure that,
nevertheless, even now lies unsuspected in the depths
of our heart.
In the meantime, we have the torch of faith and the
light of revelation to guide us through the darkness of
the present night, and we must not lose sight of them,
according to the recommendation of St. Peter: "And
• 1 Peter 1. 23. « 1 John 111. 2. • Romans vlli. 18.
God's Presence in Just Souls 83
we have the more firm prophetical word ; whereunto you
do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark
place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your
hearts." "
It is thus the word of God itself which teaches us and
certifies unto us, that with and through sanctifying
grace the Holy Ghost is sent to us and is given to us;
that He dwells in us and wills to remain always with
u;^ so that we may commence here below and imme-
diately to enjoy His Divine Person. But enjoyment
supposes a real presence of the object loved, according
to the saying of St. Bonaventure: "By sanctifying
grace the created soul is perfected to that degree, that
not only it freely enjoys the created gift of grace, but
also the Divine Person Himself; to that end the presence
of that object must be real and effective."^ Therefore
at the moment of our justification we receive a twofold
charity: the one created, the other uncreated; the one
through which we love God, the other through which we
are loved by Him; the one which belongs to the three
theological virtues, the other which is the very Person
of the Holy Ghost Himself.
God is therefore really and substantially present to
the Christian in the state of grace. His presence is not
merely a presence, but a real possession, which already
begins to bear fruit of enjoyment. It is a union far
superior to that which binds unsanctified beings to their
Creator; our union is surpassed only by the union of the
two natures in the Person of the Incarnate Word; a
union which, when fervently cultivated, is so blissful
as to be in the true sense of the word a foretaste of
heaven's joys, a prelude to happiness eternal. St.
Thomas is not afraid, therefore, to assert that there is
an imperfect inception in this life itself, of the future
• 2 Peter I. 19.
' St. Bonaventure, Comp. Theologlca verit. I. 1, c. ix.
84 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
happiness of the saints, and he compares it to the buds
which are the promise and the earnest of the coming
harvest.8 In speaking this way he probably expresses
what he himself and the other great servants of God
who speak a similar language have experienced. One
has only to read the works of St. Teresa, especially the
Interior Castle, to be convinced that this noble mistress
of mystical science shared completely the opinion of the
Angelic Doctor. Such is the Divine mystery every
Christian in the state of grace carries in his bosom, and
which is the very foundation of the Christian life. Let
us endeavor to delve a little more deeply into this con-
soling truth.
II
According to St. Thomas, sanctifying grace estab-
lishes between God and the soul of the just a true and
perfect friendship by means of charity.
,^As a matter of fact, three things are necessary to
establish friendship between two beings. Firsl, the
affection which unites them must be true charity,
namely, the love of well-wishing, called that of benev-
olence, stimulating each to wish, to desire, and to do
well to the other, and to seek not one's own personal
advantage, but only the well-being of the person loved.
Secondly, such love must be mutual; and, finally, it
must be founded on a certain common possession of
good things, for example, based on a likeness of char-
acter or of condition of life. Indeed, union presupposes
resemblance, the latter being in the moral order what
affinity is in the physical. Whence the adage, that
friendship either supposes or produces a certain like-
ness between those whom it binds together: Amicitia,
aut pares invenit aut facii. And in so far as the good
• St. Thomas, I., II., q. Ixlx., a. 2.
God's Presence in Just Souls 85
things which we possess are held in common with
others, so are the different kinds of friendship distin-
guished one from another; fraternal love rising from
blood kinship, conjugal love founded on common life
and mutually common rights, the love of patriotism
based on having a common motherland.
Whosoever, then, possesses supernatural charity,
which is the inseparable companion of sanctifying
grace, loves God for His own sake with a love supreme,
and is in turn loved by God : "I love them who love." »
What an astonishing thing it is, this mutual love of
Creator and creature! What more natural or more
conformable to Divine law and to the motions of our
heart, than that we should love God — infinite beauty
that He is, inexhaustible goodness, veritable ocean of all
perfections. But for this infinite Being to value our
love, not merely permitting us to love Him, but inviting
us in words overflowing with tenderness — as when He
said : "My son, give Me thy heart," " and again : "My
delights are to be with the children of men" " — aye, for
God to bind us to love Him by the first of all His Com-
mandments, the one which sums up all the rest, and
along with this to promise us an infinite reward — this
indeed ought to be enough to overpower us with amaze-
ment. Job could not understand it, and he cries out to
God: "What is man that Thou shouldst magnify him,
and the son of man that Thou shouldst set Thy heart
upon him!"" And the great bishop of Hippo: "O
Lord, what am I in Thy eyes that Thou shouldst com-
mand me to love Thee, that Thy anger should be en-
flamed against me, and that Thou shouldst threaten me
with frightful torments if I refuse Thee my love — as if
it were not misery enough if I did not love Thee." "
We can well understand how God requires our adora-
• Proverbs vlll. 17. "Proverbs xxlil. 26. »> Proverbs viil. 31.
"Job vll. 17. »»St. Augustine, Confesxiona, lib. I., c. v.
^ The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
tion and homage, as something due to a being of su-
preme perfection. So, too, the privilege of serving Him
is sufficiently explained, on one hand by His infinite
condescension in accepting our service, and on the other
by the very fact that we are His creatures. But is it not
an inordinate ambition, of the wildest dream, or the
vaguest myth, to believe that God shall draw us to Him-
self by the bands of closest familiarity, the links of en-
tire intimacy; in a word, by the strong ties of perfect
friendship? If in the society of men friendship, prop-
erly speaking, between master and servant finds no
place on account of the lack of equality, how can it be-
come possible between the Master of masters and us
His miserable creatures? Is there not a saying now
come to be a proverb, that majesty and love never go
hand in hand and are never seated upon the same
throne? Majesty bids one stay at a distance while love
beckons and draws one near; majesty inspires us with
awe and fear, while love banishes fear, inviting and pro-
moting familiarity and unconstraint. How, therefore,
are we to reconcile things which are so unlike that they
seem incompatible one with the other, except by the
mystery of our transformation by the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit.
Then again, what can God find in us to love, and what
is there in us that makes Him seek after our love?
What need has He of us, and what can He gain in lov-
ing us? Can we su^/pose that the creature is indispen-
sable to God, to satisfy that longing of the heart and
provide for that sweet and much coveted pleasure of
loving and of knowing that one is loved? Anyone rash
enough to suppose all this, to him the Psalmist would
reply: "I have said to the Lord Thou art my God, be-
cause Thou hast no need of my goods." ^* And in all
truth God is fully sufficient unto Himself, in Him is all
'*Pialm XT. a.
God's Presence in Just Souls 87
good, beauty, joy and happiness. The Father loves the
Son Whom He hath begotten with an infinite love; the
Son loves the Father with an equal love; and the result
of this twofold love is the very Person of the Holy
Ghost, Who is Infinite Love divinely subsistent. Before
the world was, before the angels, first creatures of God's
hand, had begun their canticle of praise in honor of the
Most High, when God was alone, He saw, contemplated
and divinely uttered Himself in His Word Whom He
begot by communicating to Him His own nature. Then
transported at the sight of their common ineffable
beauty. He rested with infinite complacency in this
Word, embracing Him with a peaceful, ardent and
divinely living embrace, namely, the Holy Ghost. Thus
God was in Himself and of Himself sovereignly, in-
effably and infinitely blessed.^^
It is not out of need of love, therefore, that God exacts
of man the tribute of his heart, neither is it to increase,
and still less, to procure His own bliss, that God loves us
and demands that we love Him in return. He acts in
this way solely out of His infinite bounty, to make mani-
fest His perfections by communicating them to crea-
tures, and to secure His glory through their happiness.
For just as the sun bestows the rays of its light, and the
flower gives forth the breath of its fragrance without
any advantage resulting to them therefrom, but to the
great benefit of those who receive them, so God, by na-
ture eminently generous and communicative, wishes
only to distribute His gifts to others, and make them
share in His happiness. If, therefore, He demands that
we love Him, it is not because He secures thereby some
advantage for Himself, but because, in thus acting con-
formably to the order and nature of things, we obtain
untold benefits. His intention, therefore, is that, whilst
serving and loving Him, we shall store up for ourselves
"Cone. Vatic, Const Dei Filius, c. 1.
88 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
treasures of merit, and become daily more and more
worthy of one day sharing in His own eternal beatitude.
And yet, granted that God loves us and wishes us to
love Him; that this mutual love is not only possible, but
actually does exist between the Godhead and the soul in
the state of grace, where are we to find the third element
of friendship, namely, this community of goods, this
likeness of state or life, this equality which friendship
presupposes and demands? Is there anything com-
mon between the Creator and the creature? Are they
not infinitely distant one from the other, and separated
by an impassable abyss? All this is true, for God is
great, immense, infinite; and His creature is puny, in-
significant and almost bordering on nothingness. And
yet, O marvel of Divine wisdom! God has discovered a
means of drawing together terms that are so far apart;
and what wisdom conceived, love hath put into effect.
That we might become His friends, God was pleased
to humble Himself — the Apostle says, "to empty Him-
self" — stooping down to raise us up to Him. By His In-
carnation, He was "made in the likeness of man, and in
habit found as a man." " He took upon Himself our
poverty and our miseries; that "through His poverty we
might be rich." " He communicated to us most great
and precious promises, that by these we might be made
"partakers of the Divine nature," " bestowing upon us
the title and rank of adopted children," with a right to
Our Father's eternal inheritance.
This is why Holy Church, unable to contain her
admiration at the sight of such condescending bounty,
exclaims with the accents of fervent enthusiasm in the
Divine Office for the feast of the Circumcision: "O
wonderful exchange! The Creator of the human race
has deigned to take to Himself a body and a soul, and of
>• Phillppians 11. 6, 7. " 2 Corinthians viii. 9.
»2 Poter i. 4. "1 John 111. 1.
God's Presence in Just Souls 89
a Virgin mother to be born a man without human seed,
bestowing upon us His own Divinity."
We read in the Old Testament of King Alexander
wishing to honor the son of Mathathias with his friend-
ship. He began by making him a high priest of the
nation, sending him a purple robe and a crown of gold
with these words : "Thou art fit to be our friend." ^o
In like manner, God is able, without detracting from His
own dignity, to unite Himself with us through the ties
of friendship, ever since by the most unexpected mys-
tery of the Divine condescension, He has made us
"fellow-citizens with the saints, and the domestics of
God." " Yea, "for we are also His offspring." "
III
In supernatural charity therefore, we find realized all
the conditions requisite for true and perfect friendship
between God and man; what is here meant by charity
is that love peculiarly termed benevolence; it is mutual
love; it is a love based upon community of nature; and
it is a love that is the pledge of that community of
beatitude that will one day be shared with God's own in
heaven.
Since this charity then is friendship in the full sense
of the term, it should have the prerogatives of friend-
ship and answer all its needs. Now what does friend-
ship require? What kind of union does it exact be-
tween those whom it draws together? Is it satisfied
with mere identity of thoughts and wishes, community
of earthly possessions and some kind of bond of affec-
tion? Is this the object of its aims and the final term
of all its aspirations? Most surely not; what friend-
ship desires and demands, what it tends towards with
all its strength, and what it actually brings about within
I he limits of possibility, is real and intimate union, life
'■• Machabces x. 19. » Epheslans 11. 19. " Acts xvll. 28.
90 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
in a common and mutual enjoyment of the persons who
love.
And since, according to the judicious remark of St.
Thomas, love as defined by St. Dionysius is a unitive
force, it is therefore of the very essence of love to tend
towards union; and hence again, the more perfect the
love, the more perfect the union. Now two kinds of
union can exist between friends; the one purely affec-
tive and moral, consisting in an habitual inclination or
attraction by which we are drawn towards the person
beloved, which constantly reminds us of him and causes
us to experience joy and delight in thinking of him;
the other is effective, and it is more real. It is when
those who love are actually present one to the other
and can live and converse together.
In human friendships, real union, life in common, can
be desired, coveted and eagerly sought after; but these
conditions are not often realized. The duties of one's
state, business, health and the thousand other neces-
sities of life often impose a painful and more or less
prolonged separation upon those whose hearts are
closely united; and such persons are glad if only from
time to time they can see and converse with one another.
With God, on the contrary, nothing is impossible, and
neither time nor distance nor anything else is an ob-
stacle for Him. Since therefore His sovereignly effica-
cious love can effect without difficulty whatever it de-
sires, are we not justified in concluding that the love
God bears for the just soul places Him, so to speak,
under the obligation of entering in Person into that soul,
of taking up His abode within it, and of always granting
it the consolation of His presence?
Is this not what the beloved disciple meant when he
exclaimed: "He that abideth in charity abideth in
God." *• Is it not also what Our Saviour promised
*• 1 John It. 16.
God's Presence in Just Souls 91
when He said: "If any man love Me, he will keep My
Commandments, and My Father will love him, and We
will come to him, and make Our abode with him." ^*
How then can it still be objected that this effective
and actual presence of the Beloved One does not belong
to this land of exile, but is reserved for the moment we
enter our eternal and blissful home; that in the mean-
time simply a moral presence, a union of heart and
affection suffices to answer the exigencies of friendship
here below; just as a loving and tenderly beloved
mother is always present to her son as the object of his
knowledge and love, although physically she may be
separated far from him; present to his memory by her
sweet image; present to his heart by an indefinable com-
placency which fills him with delight; an invincible
charm which draws him towards her? Of course, all
this is true of our thoughts about God; He does not suf-
fer Himself to be separated from anyone who possesses
charity, but is at once the constant object of this per-
son's thoughts and the centre of his affections. The
pious soul can find no sweeter pleasure than to love
Him, speak to Him, and express his love, and converse
familiarly with Him, for "His conversation hath no bit-
terness, nor His company any tediousness, but joy and
gladness." ^^ Too much praise cannot be given to the
joys of this moral presence. Not being able to give any-
thing to the One it loves, since He is the fullness of
being and of all perfection, the soul makes amends for
its utter inability by delighting in the happiness of its
Beloved, rejoicing at the thought that He possesses all
things, that He is the Sovereign Good, that He is God.
The soul then identifies itself, as it were, with God,
espouses His interests with even more zeal than if they
were its own, labors with all its might to extend and ad-
vance His kingdom, to see that His holy will is done and
"John xlv. 23. "Wisdom viil. 16.
92 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
His glory secured. It rejoices when it beholds Him
honored, served and loved, it is grieved when His Su-
preme Majesty is offended, it is sensitive to everything
relating to Him.
Then in return what zeal, devotedness and tenderness
does not God display as the true Friend of the just soul?
He enlightens it in its doubts and difficulties, sustains
it in its moments of weakness, encourages it in its good
efforts, defends it against its enemies, and comforts it
in its sorrow and distress, oftentimes conducting it to
those mysterious chambers where it may drink deep of
the generous wine of holy charity. iJb is there that the
soul, flooded with purest delights, cries out with the
spouse of the Canticles : "I found Him Whom my soul
loveth; I held Him, and will not let Him go." ="
What more than this merely moral presence could a
person desire in this world? Accordingly, St. Paul asks
us to rejoice not simply and solely in the effective and
literal possession of the Sovereign Good, but to be happy
in the mere hope of one day attaining it: "Rejoicing in
hope." "
Thus also the Angelic Doctor: "Herein is seen how
appropriate is mutual converse to the union between
friend and friend. But the converse of man with God is
by contemplating Him, and so teaches the Apostle: 'Our
conversation is in heaven* (Philippians iii. 20). The
Spirit having made us lovers of God, it follows that
thereby, and by the same Holy Spirit, we are constituted
contemplators of God." ^^
Surely such moral union with God, through contem-
plating Him and loving Him, is a treasure we could
never have dreamed of possessing.
And yet God was not content with this, and His love
led Him to do still greater things.
'• Canticles Iii. 4. » Romaiiii xil. 12.
" St. Tlioinas. Contra Gent., IV., c. xxU.
God's Presence in Just Souls 93
IV
If charity were like the virtues of faith and hope,
which by their very nature suppose an object that is
absent and far-removed — the object of faith being that
which is not seen and the object of hope that which is
not possessed — we should have to be reconciled to our
fate and patiently await the real possession of God until
the day of our entrance into heaven. But the charity
bestowed by sanctifying grace, far from supposing its
principal object absent and removed, implies by its very
existence the presence and possession of this object,
since such a charity can be nothing less than the love of
what is already possessed. This is why it is the great-
est of the theological virtues: "Now there remaineth
faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the greater of
these is charity," ^o not because its object is superior to
that of the other two, since all three are directed
towards God, but because it brings us into essentially
closer union with Him.
No doubt all our spiritual wealth in this life will ap-
pear as poverty, and our union with God, however inti-
mate, as estrangement and exile, if compared with the
full possession of God and the supreme felicity that is to
be our lot for all eternity. This is what caused the
Apostle to exclaim, in mournful accents: "Knowing
that while we are in the body, we are absent from the
Lord;" 3° this is also the reason why he desired "to be
dissolved and to be with Christ." ^^ It is not less true,
however, that even during this time of our probation,
the grace of charity unites us directly and immediately
with God, since even here below God "is truly present to
those who love Him by the indwelling of His grace." "
There is nothing strange about all this, for is not the
** 1 Corinthians xiii. 13. *> 2 Corinthians v. 6. " Philippians I. 23.
" St. Thomas, Summa Theologica, II., II., 9, xxvlil., n. 1, ad 1.
94 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
charity of this life the same in all reality as that which
will exist in heaven? Faith will one day disappear be-
fore the bright rays of perfect vision, just as dawn is
banished by the rising sun; hope with its longings will
yield to the final possession of our last end, for we no
longer hope for what we possess and enjoy; ^' we speak,
of course, of the knowledge and the hope such as we
are able to acquire in this world. This knowledge and
hope is necessarily imperfect. All that we know about
God and all our trust in Him at this present moment,
and all that it ever will become here below, is infinitely
less than what He is really worthy of and really is:
"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part." "*
When the solemn moment of the great revelation
shall have come, when the veil which conceals the Divin-
ity from our view shall have been lifted, when we shall
have attained to the perfect state, all this imperfect and
incomplete knowledge shall suddenly vanish away. It
will be sudden exchange of infancy for manhood : "But
when that which is perfect hath come, that which is in
part shall be made void." " But "Charity never falleth
away." ^^ Its flame will then shine brightly in presence
of the Sovereign Good, its fervor will burn vsrith im-
mense increase, its nature will undergo no change.
Charity will then mean true, perfect and consummate
union of the creature's will with the Sovereign Good.
Is it not quite natural, therefore, that even here below
it should require the real and substantial presence of
the Holy Ghost in the soul as the object of its joy and
love, since it is for this very reason that He is now given
to us?
Whosoever realizes that, although the knowledge we
have of God in this life (which is but the way to heaven),
does not essentially difi'er from that to be ours finally in
*•! Corinthians xlU. 8. •*! Corinthians xiil. 9.
MS Corinthians xlil. 9. ••Ibid., 8.
God's Presence in Just Souls 95
heaven, must also realize that there is no such difference
between the charity of heaven and that of earth; there is
only a difference of degree. We must inevitably draw
that conclusion. And though we are here below incap-
able of knowing God in His essence and as He is, yet we
can love Him in Himself directly and immediately. Nay,
it is not impossible to find here on earth certain souls
who, though encompassed by the shadows of faith, are,
as theologians teach, yet possessed of an habitual char-
ity greater than that of many angels in heaven. This
must be the case; since after their death such holy souls
are to be raised above several of the angelic choirs, some
even being placed by God among the seraphim them-
selves. Nevertheless, however perfect their habitual
charity may be on earth, it has less intensity than that
of the latest saint admitted to the face-to-face contem-
plation of God.
Since this is the case, who will be surprised to hear
St. Thomas affirm that "the saints enjoy even in this life
an imperfect commencement of the beatitude of
heaven." ^^ And if this be true, the Holy Ghost must be
united to such souls as their Guest, their Friend and
their tender Spouse. He must truly dwell in their heart
as in a living temple, to receive their homage and adora-
tion, and He must surrender His very self to them in
all reality, to become the source of their joy and happi-
ness. Thus the exactitude of the expression employed
by St. Thomas is practically verified, when, to char-
acterize this special presence of God in the souls in the
state of grace, he declares that the Holy Spirit dwells in
them "as the actual object of their love."
St. Thomas teaches, as we have seen, that not every
kind of knowledge, even though it be supernatural,
shows the effective presence of the Holy Ghost. Thus
the knowledge of God we obtain through faith does not
** St. Thomas, I., n., q. Ixix., a. 2.
i)6 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
suffice to have Him dwell in all reality in our souls.
That there be a supernal transmission, a donation, and
consequently an indwelling of the Three Divine Per-
sons in a soul, no ordinary and wholly theoretical knowl-
edge suffices. For this indwelling, our knowledge must
emanate from a Gift appropriate to the Person Who is
sent to us, binding us to this Person and rendering us
like unto Him. It must be a sort of experimental
knowledge acquired only through an intimate and lov-
ing union with God. And this knowledge is the fruit
of the Gift of Wisdom, concerning which we shall have
more to say later on.
We can know, for instance, theoretically, or from
hearsay, the approximate taste of a certain fruit, with-
out ever having eaten of it or perhaps without ever hav-
ing seen it; we cannot, however, be said to know it ex-
perimentally until we have really tasted it for ourselves
In like manner, so long as it is question of knowing
God in a speculative way, His real and actual presence
is not necessary. His image alone suffices. As soon,
however, as we wish to know Him experimentally, that
is, to taste, relish and delight in His Divine sweetness,
the purely ideal presence of His Person no longer suf-
fices, but a real, true and substantial presence becomes
indispensable. Now it is precisely in order that we may
delight in the possession of their Divine Persons that
the Son and the Holy Ghost are sent and given to us,
and that the Father comes to us with them. "We can
have the Three Divine Persons within us," says St.
Thomas, "so that we may enjoy their presence in two
ways; either in an absolutely perfect manner — and that
is what constitutes eternal glory — or in an imperfect
way, and that is the fruit of sanctifying grace." ^^
In giving themselves to and in imprinting themselves
upon our souls, the Three Divine Persons bestow on us
" St Thomas, Sententiee, I., dlst. xiv., q. 11., a. 2, ad 2.
God's Presence in Just Sonls 97
certain Gifts which are the formal or formative prin-
ciples of the gratification we experience in possessing
God. We have already mentioned Charity and the Gift
of Wisdom : Charity makes us like unto the Holy Spirit,
Who is love uncreated; Wisdom gives us a certain re-
semblance with the Word of God, by means of which
we are able to know God after a manner similar to that
by which He knows Himself, namely, through a knowl-
edge which blossoms into love. The Word of God,
which is the term or end of the Paternal knowledge, is
not any kind of a word, but a Word that is productive
of love, spirans amorem.
Here is an analogy that will help us to understand in
what our experimental knowledge of God (the Gift and
consequence of grace) consists. Our soul in its present
condition of union with the body, cannot know itself
directly and intuitively, since it does not see its own sub-
stance. It can, however, argue to its existence from the
acts which flow from it as from their principle and
source.
Nevertheless there is a great difference between the
way in which the soul knows itself, and the way in
which it knows other souls. If we wish to prove the
existence of our neighbor's soul, we have only to argue
from the external acts we behold him perform: vital
movements, acts of understanding and will, etc.; and
our conclusion is that our fellow-man is possessed of a
living, intellectual, and free principle, the source and
root of all his activities. When it is question, on the
other hand, of proving the existence of our own soul,
the process is an entirely different one. Not being able
to reach our soul directly, we must again, of course, fol-
low the deductive method ; but then instead of taking as
the sole basis of our argument the external manifesta-
tions of our principle of life, we may rely upon data of
conscience and other facts of the internal order of life.
98 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
since here we do not merely behold life, but feel it
within us, being conscious of our thoughts, our desires,
and all those movements of which we are at once the
witness and the author. In this way we acquire a kind
of experimental knowledge of the principle of these
acts, knowledge which is indirect, obscure and deduc-
tive, if you will, but which differs singularly from the
exclusively theoretical knowledge we obtain of the
existence of the soul of our neighbor. Hence the words
of St. Thomas, "the soul knows itself through its
presence." '^
Now the same may be said, in due proportion, of the
manner in which we know that God is present in the
depths of our heart. We not only know theoretically
that God dwells in the souls of the just, but through
the Gift of Wisdom we taste the very sweetness of this
presence. And although no one can, without a spe-
cial revelation, have absolute certitude that the Holy
Ghost dwells within him — "since no one knows with the
certitude of faith which does not admit of error, whether
or not he is in the state of grace" *° — nevertheless we
are not condemned to complete ignorance touching this
question. Does not the Apostle teach that "the Spirit
Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the
sons of God?" *^ not that the Holy Ghost speaks to us
in human speech, but, as St. Thomas remarks. He com-
municates with us "through the existence of the filial
love which He has produced within our souls." **
We do not behold the Guest of our soul; an imper-
vious veil conceals the splendor of His presence from
our gaze, and we are separated from the Beloved One
by the dividing wall of our flesh. This is why the crea-
ture groans within us "yearning for the adoption of
■* St. Thomas, Summa Theologlea, I., q. Ixxxvil., a. 1.
*• Council of Trent, session VIII., ch, Ix.
*' Ronuuw 'vUl. 10. ** St. Thomas, In Epitt. ad Rom» Till., lect 3.
God's Presence in Jusl Souls 99
sons." " But yet it is not so much a wall or partition
as it is a lattice through ^hich He looks upon us : "Be-
hold [Our Beloved] standeth behind our wall, looking
through the windows, looking through the lattices." **
And when, in His infinite goodness. He spiritually ex-
tends to us His hand and makes us feel more intimately
the reality of His presence, our hearts are transported
with joy.
In an endeavor to make clearer this truth, St. Teresa
uses a very ingenious comparison. She is speaking of
one who has been favored with a very vivid sense of the
Divine presence in a high state of contemplation and
presently is dropped into an ordinary spiritual condi-
tion: "It is with such a soul as with a person shut up
in a well-lighted room with some others, and suddenly
all the lights are extinguished; he can no longer see his
associates. But he is none the less certain that he has
seen them and that they are present. Let me add that
such a soul cannot fail of an ordinary feeling that God
is with him interiorly, and just as strongly as during
His very supernatural manifestations." *^
If you ask by what signs the presence and action of
the Holy Spirit may be recognized, St. Bernard, speaking
from experience, answers thus : "By the stirring of my
heart have I known His presence; by the rising tide of
my hatred of vice and of carnal affections ; by the sting-
ing reproaches addressed to my innermost soul about
even my most hidden faults; by the amendment of my
life; and by the renovation of my interior man. . . .
How can I recognize the presence of Him Whose ways
are unsearchable? As soon as He enters He awakens
my sleeping soul; He touches and softens and wounds
my heart, though it be hard as a stone; He begins to
tear out what is evil in me — He destroys and builds up
and plants; He waters and fertilizes what is dry and
*• Romans vlll. 23. " Canticles ▼. 9. «• Interior Cattle, ch. i
100 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
barren; He lights up what is encompassed with dark-
ness; He unlocks what is bolted against Him: thus it is
that I recognize the Spouse as He enters my soul." "
St. Thomas declares that, apart from private revela-
tions, which are purely a gratuitous privilege, there are
three signs by which we can know whether or not God
is actively present in the depths of our heart : the testi-
mony of one's conscience, when one truly feels that he
loves God and is ready, with the help of His grace, to
suffer and to sacrifice all things rather than offend Him ;
and eagerness to listen to, and especially to put into
practice, the teachings of the Word of God: "He that
is of God heareth the Word of God;" *'' finally, I know
God by that interior delight in the Divine Wisdom,
which is, as it were, a foretaste of the happiness of
heaven.
The soul who exclaimed: "O, how good and sweet
is Thy Spirit, O Lord, in all things!" *» must have tasted
this Divine sweetness; and St. Augustine, who could ap-
preciate these spiritual delights, could not refrain from
crying out: "Who will grant me, O my God, this boon
that Thou wilt come into my heart, and inebriate it, so
that I may forget evil things, and embrace Thee the
one only Good!" *»
VI
God is therefore really and substantially present in
every soul endowed with grace and charity, as its Guest,
Friend, Spouse and Sovereign Good. He enters into a
very special union with these souls — the exclusive privi-
lege of the just, for sanctifying grace alone enables man
thus to attain God by operation of his mind as his last
end and the fountain of his beatitude.
*• St Bernard, Mrmon 74, In Cant. " John vill. 47.
*• wisdom zli. 1. «• St. Augustine, Confesaions, lib. I., c. v.
God's Presence in Just Souls 101
This union, however, is of different kinds. For the
saints in heaven, this union with God is always actual.
They never cease and never can cease to see and love
God ; hence they live in one continual and uninterrupted
act of that Divine contemplation which constitutes their
happiness. For children who have received the grace
of baptism, but whose intelligence has not yet awakened,
this union with God is undeveloped and is called latent
or suspended. Again this union with God is suspended
in all of us when we sleep, and when we are busied with
the thousand occupations of the day which absorb our
complete attention; it becomes actual, however, when
we turn our mind and heart to God reflectively, en-
deavoring to know and to love Him, to walk in His pres-
ence and live in His intimacy.
Only in heaven shall we be able to effect a complete,
perfect and inseparable union with God as our last end.
Nevertheless we should strive even here below to tend
towards this blissful state, to desire and to pray for it,
developing all our energies to render it actual to the
limits of possibility, and carefully avoiding whatever is
opposed to it. The first of these obstacles is sin, which
has the power either utterly to destroy this union by
turning us into the enemies of God, or, if venial sin, to
weaken it by decreasing Divine charity in our hearts.
The second hindrance is attachment to creatures and to
the goods and pleasures of this world; these are just so
many chains which fetter the soul and prevent its flight
towards the Sovereign Good. The third and last ob-
stacle is mental dissipation, which turns our thoughts
and affections away from the One in Whom they should
all be centred.
And since beatitude is an active force — our intellec-
tual act uniting through contemplation and love with
the First Truth and the Sovereign Good Who alone can
beatify us — it is evident that if we know where our true
102 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
interests lie, and if we desire to advance more and more
in the paths of perfection and gain a foretaste of the
eternal bliss, we must labor to strengthen the bands
which unite us to God ; devote much time to the study of
the Divine perfections and favors; and, above all, to
multiply our acts of charity, both exterior and interior,
since "charity it is which unites us immediately with
God, and binds us to Him in spiritual union." ^^ Rising
far above knowledge, charity enters in with all confi-
dence whilst knowledge remains at the gate. Hence
the maxim so often on the pen of spiritual writers, that
the perfection of the Christian life consists in the love
of God; and that our progress in holiness must be meas-
ured not by the advance we make in knowledge, but by
the increase of charity in our hearts. This is what led
St. Paul to say: "Above all, these things have charity,
which is the bond of perfection." '^
To love much, it is not necessary to know much, for
if knowledge is the initiation of love, it is not its meas-
ure. St. Thomas remarks that "we often meet with
very simple people whose hearts are overflowing with
the love of God, and whose minds are not capable of
understanding what Divine Wisdom is." We can
therefore love God with all our heart and yet have very
little knowledge of the Divine nature and its attributes;
just as it is possible to have fathomed all the secrets of
theology, and yet remain cold and indifferent about
Divine things. On the other hand, when our knowl-
edge is inspired and perfected by charity, it adds new
fuel to the flames of our love.
Let us therefore imitate the example of the Spouse in
the Canticle of Canticles, and strive, in a spirit of wis-
dom chastened by love, to become better and better ac-
quainted with the beauty, the loveworthiness and the
perfection of our Beloved One. Let us cling to Him
•* St. Thomas. " Colosslans ill. 14.
God's Presence in Just Souls
103
with all our might, crying out with the Psalmist: "It
is good for me to cleave to my God." ** Let ^g ijve in
His love, let us live of His love, enjoying the nearness of
His Divine presence and His intimacy; and let our con-
versation, like that of the Apostle, be in heaven-f^' In
this way we shall fulfill the word of the beloved Apostle
and the desire of aU true friendship : "He that abideth
in charity, abideth in God, and God in Him." "
Union with God, actual union, should be the object
of our most ardent wishes, the aim of all our efiforts, the
goal towards which we should direct our entire spiritual
life. This blessed union alone constitutes the perfec-
tion of the way to heaven, as it will one day constitute
its perfection and beatitude.
■> Psalm Ixxil. 28.
Philipplans iil. 20.
•♦ 1 John Iv. 16.
PART THIRD
THIS DIVINE INDWELLING BY GRACE IS NOT
PROPER TO THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
ALONE, BUT IS THE COMMON PREROGATIVE
OF THE WHOLE BLESSED TRINITY. IT IS
THE PRIVILEGE OF ALL THE JUST, BOTH
OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT
CHAPTER I
Although Usually Attributed to the Holy Ghost,
THE Divine Indwelling by Grace Is Not His
Exclusive Prerogative, But Is Common to
All Three Persons of the Trinity
So far we have spoken almost indiscriminately
either of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, or that of
the whole Blessed Trinity in the souls of the just, thus
conforming ourselves to the language of Scripture,
which attributes this presence now to one, now to an-
other of the Three Divine Persons. The Apostle had
written to the faithful at Corinth: "Know you not that
you are the temple of God, and the habitation of the
Holy Spirit?" * And he also taught the Christians of
Ephesus: "Christ dwelleth within you by faith;" * and
Our Lord Himself said to His disciples: "If any man
loveth Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will
love him, and We will come to him, and We will make
our abode with him." '
> 1 Corinthians ill. 16. ' Ephesians ill. 17. • John xlv. 23.
104
Grace and the Trinity 105
But we cannot doubt that this indwelling is more
often attributed to the Holy Ghost alone. Only on one
occasion does Scripture speak of the Father and Son as
dwelling in the soul, whereas it often refers to the
coming of and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit
as the Guest of our hearts. He is represented to us as
the Gift of God by excellence; the essence of all gifts;
the Source of the supernatural life; the Author of our
sanctification ; the Pledge of our eternal happiness. He
it is Who infuses grace and charity into our hearts,
makes of us children of God, and distributes to every
one the Divine favors as He will. He enlightens our
understanding, teaching us all truth; He softens our
hearts and gently, yet firmly, persuades us to walk in
the commandments of God. He comforts us in our
afflictions; counsels us in our doubts; teaches us how to
pray and what to ask for; nay, He Himself asks for us
with unspeakable groanings. He awakens us from our
lethargy and incites us to righteousness.*
The Fathers of the Church speak in exactly the same
terms. The Holy Spirit is the great Gift of God and the
Guest of our soul. In giving Himself to us. He makes
us share in the Divine nature and constitutes us the
children of God, saints. Divine beings. He is spoken of
as the sanctifying Spirit, the principle of celestial and
Divine life; some even go so far as to call Him the form
of our holiness, the soul of our soul, the bond uniting
us to the Father and the Son, as that One of the Divine
persons by Whom the other two dwell in us.
If Scripture and the Fathers lay so much stress upon
the fact that this indwelling by grace, like the work of
our sanctification and adoption, are the particular work
♦Acts vUi. 20; John vll. 38, 39; 2 Corinthians 1. 21, 22; Romans ▼.
5 and vlll. 15; 1 Corinthians xil. 11; John xvi. 13; Ezechiel xxxvl. 27;
Romans viii. 20 and viii. 14; Psalm cxlli. 12,
106 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
of the Holy Ghost, is this not a sure sign, and a strong
proof that the Holy Spirit has special relations with our
soul and a mode of union which, in some true sense,
He does not share with the two other persons? For if
His presence in us is absolutely the same, and in the
same mode, as that of the Father and of the Son, why
unceasingly represent Him in preference to the two
other Persons as the Guest of our soul ; and why attrib-
ute to Him a presence and operation which are shared
in every possible manner by all Three Persons of the
Blessed Trinity? Such considerations have given rise to
the teaching of the indwelling which is proper and
peculiar to the Holy Ghost.
The immense majority of theologians of every con-
ceivable school are convinced that the terms appro-
priated and attributed, as applied to the Holy Spirit's in-
dwelling, fully explain the texts of Scripture and those
of the holy Fathers, which indicate that the special
presence of God in the just is proper and peculiar to the
Holy Spirit. None the less they have constantly main-
tained also that all Three Persons of the Blessed Trin-
ity dwell in us through grace, and that our union with
the Holy Spirit is not more real nor more immediate
than that with the Father and the Son. However they
concede, that although this presence is common to all
Three Persons, it is attributed by appropriation spe-
cially to the Holy Ghost, by reason of His personal char-
acter of Divine Love, which is the bond of union between
God and man.
We have seen that the terms appropriation and at-
tribution, as applied to the Holy Spirit's indwelling,
mean a perfection and an operation of the Third Person
which, though common to the other two Divine Persons,
Grace and the Trinity 107
are yet none the less descriptive of the Divine Spirit^s
peculiar office in one or other works of our sanctifica-
tion. An example of a special operation in the Blessed
Trinity appropriated and attributed to one of the Divine
Persons, is found in the first article of the Apostles'
Creed: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator
of heaven and earth." Here we attribute to the First
Person of the Blessed Trinity omnipotence and creative
power, although these belong equally to all Three Per-
sons. It is also by appropriation that we attribute to the
Holy Ghost the conception of Jesus Christ in the womb
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when we say: "I believe in
Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, Our Lord, Who was
conceived by the Holy Ghost."
Why are all these attributions and appropriations
found so frequently in Holy Writ, in the writings of the
Fathers, the creeds, and the liturgies? St. Thomas' re-
ply is : "For the manifestation of the faith." It is quite
fitting, adds the Angelic Doctor, to appropriate such
essential attributes now to one and again to another of
the Divine Persons, for in this way we can the better
instruct the faithful, and lead them by means of terms
and expressions within the reach of their understanding
to the knowledge of what the Apostle calls the mystery
of God's intimate life, and the distinctive characteristics
of the three persons.* The Trinity is indeed so sublime
a truth that we can never hope to understand or explain
it with the sole light of our reason. Even after it has
been revealed to us by Almighty God, it remains hidden
behind an impenetrable veil and wrapped up in obscur-
ity, as long as we direct our steps away from the Lord.
We can, however, focus the beams of a number of strong
searchlights — as we may call them — on this mystery of
our faith, by studying it through other truths we more
fully understand. The result will be a more compre-
■St. Thomas I., q. xxxlx., a. 7; 1 Corinthians II. 10.
108 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
hensive and profitable knowledge of this wonderful
mystery. To achieve this we can do no better than to
seek out either the mirrorings of the Blessed Trinity
found in the works of the Creator — and these may be
either the Divine footsteps or images — or by showing
the analogy which exists between the properties special
to this or that Person and the essential attributes we
appropriate to Him.«
Thus, in order to make known the Father we attrib-
ute to Him power, eternity and unity, because these
perfections, although common to all Three Persons,
bear a certain peculiar kinship with the special proper-
ties of the Father. Power is a principle and a source of
action, hence it befits well the First Person of the Trin-
ity, Who is Himself the principle, the origin, the source
of the Divine being. It is becoming to Him, too, since
the term power brings out well the difference between
our heavenly Father and our fathers in this life. The
latter grow more feeble as they advance in years,
whereas our true Father remains forever and ever al-
mighty. In the same way, eternity is rightly attributed
to the First Person, because, like Him, it is without
origin or beginning. Finally, unity is a term designating
an entity entirely absolute and lacking in nothing;
hence unity is fittingly attributed to the Divine Father,
since He is what He is without generation or procession
from either or both of the other Persons.
The titles, wisdom, beauty and equality are attrib-
uted to the Son; wisdom, because the Son coming forth
from the Father by way of intelligence, is the term of
the Father's knowledge, or, in other words, is wisdom
divinely begotten; beauty, because in His begetting the
Son is the perfect image of the Father, and the splendor
of His substance; equality, finally, because as the
Father's Word, the Son is consubstantial with the
* Vatican Council, Const. Dei Filius.
Grace and the Trinity 109
Father, being the infinitely adequate expression of His
knowledge.
To the Holy Spirit we attribute love, goodness and
happiness; love, because the Holy Ghost proceeds from
the Father and the Son through the relationship of
infinite love, being the substantial term of their mutual
afi'ection; goodness, because goodness, being the cause
and the object of love, presents a striking analogy with
the character of the Third Person of the Trinity; hap-
piness, because the Holy Ghost is the joy and happiness
of both the Father and the Son, since by virtue of His
procession from both He is the blissful fruit of their
mutual and infinite love.
What we have said touching the inner attributes of God
applies also to the Divine external works of the Blessed
Trinity. Although the latter belong to all Three Per-
sons of the Trinity — since the force which produces
them is as common to all Three as the Divine nature
itself — yet there are attributed at times to one Person, at
times to another. This is done in order to make that Per-
son better known by bringing out the likeness which exists
betv^een the operation in question and the distinctive
character of the Person to Whom it is attributed. Thus
we appropriate to the Father creation and all the works
which bear the stamp of omnipotence, or prime mover,
primus motor. To the Son we attribute the enlight-
enment of men's intellects and the other works of wis-
dom. To the Holy Ghost, the works of goodness and
love, inspirations, good impulses, the life of grace, the
sevenfold spiritual Gifts, the remission of sins, the sanc-
tification of Souls, adoptive sonship, and the indwelling
of God in our souls.
"The Church," says Leo XHI., "is accustomed most
fittingly to attribute to the Father those works of the
Divinity in which power excels, to the Son those in
which wisdom excels, and those in which love excels
110 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
to the Holy Ghost. Not that all perfections and external
operations are not common to the Three Divine Per-
sons; for 'the operations of the Trinity are indivisible,
even as the essence of the Trinity is indivisible (St.
Augustine, de Trin., I., i., ch. 4, 5) ; because as the Three
Divine Persons are inseparable, so do they act insepar-
ably.' But by a certain comparison, and a kind of af-
finity between the operations and the properties of the
Persons, these operations are attributed or, as it is said,
'appropriated' to one Person rather than to the others." ^
II
We are not justified, therefore, in claiming that a per-
fection, function, or operation is proper or to be appro-
priated to this or that Person of the Trinity merely
because we find it frequently so attributed in Sacred Scrip-
ture or in the writings of the Fathers. It is the task of
theologians to distinguish what is truly and absolutely
proper and personal from what is merely appropriated
(as a convenient form of speech) to each Person; and
in making such distinctions they must rely on the
teachings of faith and the principles of theology relat-
ing to the unity of the Divine essence and the distinc-
tion of persons. Now with very few exceptions the
entire body of theologians teach, that the abiding pres-
ence of God in the souls of the just as the object of their
knowledge and love, is not, strictly speaking and in
every meaning, a property of the Holy Ghost, for it is
a work common to all Three Persons; yet, for very good
reasons, it is appropriated to this One of the Three.
To be justified in calling this union the exclusive prop-
erty of the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Ghost
alone would have to be either the efficient cause of grace
and charity, or at least the direct and immediate term
< Encyclical, Divlnium lllud munus.
Grace and the Trinity 111
of that experimental knowledge and that love in bliss-
ful joy possessed by the saints in a perfect manner in
heaven, and by just souls in an imperfect way on earth.
Whether we consider it, therefore, in its efficient
cause or in its eflfects (that is in the relation of intimate
union, which as a perfect friendship, it establishes be-
tween God and the soul) sanctifying grace creates no
ties between our souls and the Holy Ghost which are not
bonds of the union of our soul to all Three Persons of
the Trinity. Notwithstanding this, the abiding presence
of God in the soul, being a work of love and a conse-
quence or a fruit of love,- it is quite naturally attributed
to that Divine Person Who is subsistent and essential
Love in the being of God; as is well explained in the
Catechism of the Council of Trent: "Although the ex-
trinsic works of the most Holy Trinity are common to
the Three Persons, yet many of them are attributed
specially to the Holy Ghost; giving us to understand that
they originate from the boundless love of God towards
us; for as the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Divine will,
inflamed, as it were, with love, we can comprehend that
those effects which are referred particularly to the Holy
Ghost, are the result of the boundless love of God to-
wards us." *
Nothing could, indeed, be more fitting than to at-
tribute such effects of love as grace, charity and the
abiding presence of God in our souls to Him Who is the
mutual love of the Father and the Son. True, all these
Persons of the Blessed Trinity are the efficient cause of
the virtue of charity; true, too, that the exemplar ac-
cording to which this virtue fashions us is primarily the
essential love common to all Three Persons; or, in other
words, that God is charity par excellence. And yet, if
we examine the special characteristic traits of each one
of the Divine Persons, no one will deny that there
*Catech. Rom., p. I., a. viil., n. 8.
112 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
exists, to our perceptions, a more striking analogy be-
tween charity and the Holy Spirit than between charity
and the Father or the Son.
What is charity, indeed, if not a strong and tender
bond uniting us to God, an habitual inclination by which
we are drawn to Him. Now this is what constitutes its
likeness with that Divine Person, Who, by virtue of
His procession from the two other Persons, is the love
of the Father and the Son, and the bond of union be-
tween the two. We can now understand the Apostle
when he exclaims : "The charity of God is spread abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, Who is given to us." "
This entire doctrine has been admirably crystaUJzed
by St. Thomas in a few remarkable sentences, which de-
serve to be cited here: "We must realize that the good
things which come to us from God are due to His being
their efficient cause and their exemplar cause; as to His
being their efficient cause, it is by reason of His Divine
power, and He is their exemplar cause by reason of their
resembling, in a certain degree, the Divine perfections.
Therefore, inasmuch as the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost have but one and the same power, one the
same essence, it follows that all that God does in us
comes from the Three Persons as from one efficient
cause. Nevertheless, the knowledge which God gives
us by His gift of Wisdom is properly representative of
the Son; and, in like manner, the love with which we
love God is properly representative of the Holy Spirit.
And thus the charity of God which is in us, although effi-
ciently caused by the P'ather and the Son and the Holy
Ghost, is, nevertheless, with a special reason said to be
in us through the Holy Ghost." '°
i Such is the teaching of all the Scholastics, and such is
the interpretation they have always placed upon the
texfs of Scripture cited by the advocates of an indwell-
* Romans v. 5. "St. Thomas, Contra Gent., 1, IV., c. xxi.
Grace and the Trinity 113
ing proper to the Holy Ghost. All declare that the
union of our soul with the Holy Ghost is not more real
nor more immediate than our union with the Father
and with the Son; and the Sovereign PontifT, Pope Leo
XIII., mingling his voice with that of the most author-
ized representatives of theological science, by adopting
the common view of the Schools, has, as it were, canon-
ized it. This is how he expresses himself in his En-
cyclical, Divinum illud munus: "Although this wonder-
ful union, which is properly called indwelling, is most
certainly produced by the presence of the whole Blessed
Trinity (John xiv. 23), nevertheless, it is attributed in
a peculiar manner to the Holy Ghost, de Spirtu Sancto
tamquam peculiaris prxdicatur." This indwelling of
the Third Person is, therefore, not in every sense proper
or personal to the Holy Ghost, but is only appropriated
to and predicated of Him.
After such a declaration, it would be very rash still to
maintain that the indwelling of God in our souls, so
frequently mentioned in Holy Writ, is in every meaning
the property of the Third Person and not the common
prerogative of all Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity.
CHAPTER II
The Indwelling of God in Men's Souls Is Not the
Exclusive Privilege of the Just of the New
Law, but is the Common Endowment of
the Just of All Times
I
If we except St. Cyril of Alexandria, concerning whose
true thought there might be question, the Fathers are
unanimous in teaching, that if a difference does exist
between the saints of the Old and the New Testament
relative to the Divine indwelling by grace, it is only a
difference in degree and in external manifestation.
Listen to the words of St. Leo the Great speaking of
the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost: "All the
patriarchs and prophets and priests, as well as all the
just who had lived in preceding ages, had been nour-
ished by the same sanctiflcation of the Holy Spirit." ^
And St. Athanasius says: "It is the very same Holy
Spirit Who under the Law and under the Gospel sancti-
fies and consoles those who receive Him." *
Scripture is quite as explicit as the Fathers. Therein
we read of holy men living under the Old Covenant, and
yet filled with the Holy Ghost. Thus it is said of St.
John the Baptist: "He shall be great before the Lord
. . . and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost from his
mother's womb." " Elizabeth, loo, was filled with the
Holy Ghost the day of her cousin's visit.* Finally, the
evangelist, St. Luke, narrates of the venerable man
* St Leo M., de Pentec. scrmo 11, c. 3.
* St. Athanasius, Orat. 5, contra Arlan, n. 25, 26.
•Luke i. 15. «Luke 1. 41.
114
God in the Just of All Times 115
Simeon, that the "Holy Ghost was in him." ' And yet
all this took place long before the day of Pentecost.
Basing his argument, therefore, on the firm rock of
the revealed word, the Sovereign Pontiff has declared
that : "It is therefore true that in those of the just who
lived before Christ, the Holy Ghost resided by grace, as
we read in the Scriptures concerning the prophets, and
Zachary, John the Baptist, Simeon, and Anna." ^ But
if all this is true, then what interpretation are we to
place on the words of St. John about the lack of certain
manifestations of grace, "that the Spirit was not given
because Jesus was not yet glorified?" ^ According to
St. Augustine, St. Jerome and St. Athanasius, the words
do not mean that "He had not really been given before
that moment, but that He had not been given in the
same manner. If in fact He had not been given at all,
then with what Spirit had the prophets been filled when
they prophesied? For Holy Writ says plainly and in
many places, that it was by the Holy Ghost that they
spoke." * St. Thomas explains the text in the same
way.^
II
This is why, in his ex professo treatment of the ques-
tion of Divine missions, St. Thomas inquiring whether
the invisible mission of the Holy Ghost is shared by all
those who are in the state of grace, consequently by the
just of all times, answers without hesitation in the
aflBrmative. Therefore, he concludes, even the pa-
triarchs of the Old Testament received the invisible mis-
sion of the Holy Spirit.
The purpose of the invisible mission of the Holy
Ghost is the sanctification of rational beings. This mis-
■Luke li. 25. * EncycUcal, Divinum illud munus.
» John vll. 39. • St. Augustine, de Trin.. lib. FV., c. xx., n. 29.
* St. Thomas in Rom., c. i., lect. 3; and Summa Theologlca, I.,
q. xUii., a. 6, ad. 1.
116 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
sion takes place whenever sanctifying grace is bestowed
upon or increased in a soul, i. e., every time charity, or
love — the inseparable consort of grace — transforms a
person and makes him the friend of God, and, united
with the gift of wisdom, renders him capable of attain-
ing and possessing the Sovereign Good by knowledge
and love. Now the just of the Old Law were, like our-
selves, the friends of God. Scripture says explicitly:
"Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him
unto righteousness, and he was called the friend of
God." " Therefore, like ourselves, the friends of God
in the older dispensation were capable of uniting with
the Divinity by the operations of their intellect and will.
Nothing was lacking, therefore, for them to become
truly the temple and the abode of the Holy Spirit by His
coming to them.
No one can express astonishment at this conclusion,
if he reflect that the patriarchs were endowed with the
same kind of holiness as the Christian of today. The
grace by which they were justified made them children
of God and heirs of eternal life, for the Council of Trent
teaches, that "justification does not consist only in the
remission of sins, but also in the renewal of the inner
man by the reception of the grace and the Gifts of God,
in such a manner that from being unjust he becomes
just; so that he is made heir according to hope of life
eternal. . . Whence in justification itself, together with
the remission of his sins, he at the same time receives,
through Jesus Christ, in Whom he is ingrafted, faith,
hope and love." " They received, therefore, the for-
giveness of their sins, sanctifying grace and the whole
train of attendant virtues and supernatural Gifts of the
Holy Ghost.
However, according to learned doctors, in the older
dispensation, the invisible mission of the Holy Ghost
••James ii. 23. " Tridtwm, srsx. VI., c. vll.
God in the Just of All Times 117
was not yet to be accompanied by a visible mission
through the Incarnation because the latter would then
have come out of due time, it being necessary that the
visible mission of the Divine Son precede that of the
Holy Ghost. It was quite fitting, that before the Third
Person of the Blessed Trinity revealed His presence out-
wardly (thus giving to men a clearer knowledge of His
Person), the plenitude of time resolved upon by the
Wisdom of God for the Incarnation of the Word and His
appearance amongst us, should have arrived.
Moreover, before revealing the dogma of the Trinity
to a people so prone to idolatry as the Jews, it was nec-
essary first to impress deeply upon their minds the
fundamental truth of the unity of God. This truth, the
direct antithesis of polytheism, is constantly recalled in
the books of the Old Testament: "Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God, is one." ^- On the other hand, we meet
with only a few obscure allusions to the Trinity of Per-
sons. Sometimes it is question indeed of the Word of
God and His spirit, but they are spoken of in such vague
terms, that it is very problematical whether the Jewish
teachers had a notion that they were Three distinct
Persons.
Under the New Law, on the contrary, after the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, the mystery of the
Blessed Trinity was fully revealed and preached to the
world, as a truth which all were to know and in which
all were to profess belief. The faint light of the old
covenant adjusted to the weakness of this childlike peo-
ple, was eclipsed by the brilliant rays of the Christian
revelation, and the moment was come for some external
and clear manifestation of the Three Divine Persons,
according to the very judicious remark of St. Gregory
of Nazianzen.^3
"Deuteronomy vl. 4. "St Gregory, Nu.. orat. xli., n. 11.
118 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
III
The necessary consequence of all this, and the con-
clusion of all who study Holy Scripture and the Fathers
without bias for any particular school of thought, is that
the soul of every person, no matter when he lived or
what degree of holiness he acquired, whether he at-
tained to the very heights of perfection or whether he
was but entering upon the road of righteousness,
whether an adult or an infant is united with God
through grace, and entertains the Holy Spirit as his
Guest. True, this union can be more or less perfect, it
V can admit of degrees which vary ad infinitum, but the
mystical union is everywhere and always essentially the
same.
To summarize: Before the appearance of the Word
made flesh upon this earth, therefore, the Holy Ghost
had already been sent and given to the souls of the just.
This however was never accompanied by the Spirit's
external and visible mission, so frequent in the first
centuries of the Christian era, when the faithful needed
to be strengthened in their belief in the mystery of the
Blessed Trinity. Moreover, even though we do claim
that the Holy Ghost was present in the just under the
Old Law, not only by His operation but also by His
substance, He was not present with that plenitude, that
abundance, that profusion, so characteristic of the law
of the Gospel.
This difference is sufficiently explained by the very
nature of the two laws. The Mosaic law was essentially
figurative and provisional; of itself, imperfect and in-
efficacious, and bringing no holiness to perfection. It
prefigured and announced the grace that was to come,
hut by its ordinances it did not communicate it. It
formulated Divine precepts, established certain whole-
some prohibitions, and fully pointed out what was sin-
God in the Just of All Times 119
ful; but of itself it had no power to cleanse from sin.
The sanctification it effected by its own means was
purely external and carnal — "a cleansing of the flesh;" **
a person was merely declared fit to take part in the
Divine worship, but no internal change or renovation
was produced by its external rites.
Under the Old Law there already existed, as we have
seen, over and above outer and legal justice, a real inner
justice which cleansed the sinner from his sins and
made him acceptable in the eyes of God. However, this
supernatural justice did not emanate from the Law it-
self, neither was it granted to the works of the Law, but
to faith, and on account of the merits of the Saviour
Who was to come. True holiness, i. e., that which was
to cleanse from sin and transform man into a Divine
being, was to be the characteristic effect of The law of
the Gospel, called for this reason the law of grace.
This is why St. Thomas does not scruple to say
that the just of the Old Law who possessed charity
and the grace of the Holy Spirit, and who were not con-
tent with the earthly promises attached to the faithful
observance of legal practices, but who fixed their
thoughts upon and awaited principally the spiritual and
eternal promises made them, already belonged in this
respect to the New Law.**
However, notwithstanding the fact that the just of
the Old Law possessed a justice and a holiness of the
same nature as ours, and that they were as much the
adopted sons of God by grace as ourselves, yet their
condition of life was not every way that of sons, but
rather it was that of servants. To cite the comparison
used by St. Paul, they were like those children of noble
parentage, who, although the heirs of their father's for-
tune and the lords of all, yet differ in nothing from
servants, but are under tutors and governors until the
" Hebrews ix. 13. " Summa Theologica, la., lie., q. evil., a. 1, ad. 2.
120 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
time appointed by their father. As they were not able
to enter into the full possession of the heavenly inher-
itance, they were subjected to the thousand and one en-
slaving observances of the Law, which was their ped-
agogue in Christ."
But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
His Son that He might redeem those who were under
the Law, and that men might receive in a perfect man-
ner the adoption of sons. And because we are sons,
God hath sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, cry-
ing: Abba, Father. Thus was the fullness of the
Divine mission reserved to the law of the Gospel."
IV
Does it follow that the just who lived under the Old
Covenant: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Josue,
David and Jeremias, and countless others, whose faith,
zeal, loyalty, meekness and other virtues are celebrated
in such magnificent language by Holy Scripture, were
inferior in personal holiness to the saints of the New
Law and possessed neither grace nor the Holy Ghost in
the same degree as the latter?
Generally speaking, this seems to have been the case,
since the means of sanctification within the reach of the
human race before the Incarnation of the Word were
infinitely less powerful, than those actually at our dis-
posal under the new dispensation. The sacrifices of
the Old Law were only a shadow of the things that were
to come. They were offered continually year after year;
but they could never make those who observed them
perfect, nor even, by their own efficacy, purify their
conscience from sin. Jesus Christ, on the contrary, by
one oblation, hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified, if these will but cooperate. Unlike the sacra-
"Galatlans Iv. 1-3, "Ibid.. 6. 7.
God in the Just of All Times 121
ments of the New Law, which are efficacious causes of
grace, the sacraments of the Mosaic law were merely
signs and symbols. They did not produce grace, but
only prefigured the grace which was to be given through
the passion and death of Christ. This is why the
Apostle calls them "weak and needy elements," ^*
"weak," says St. Thomas, "because they were empty and
did not contain grace." "
Another consideration of the Angelic Doctor, which
was later on appropriated by the Council of Trent, will
enable us to understand why the level of holiness is
higher under the New Law than it was under the Law
of Moses. "Those who are better prepared to receive
grace," says St. Thomas, "receive it with greater abun-
dance." Now, since the coming of Christ and because
of His coming, mankind has been better disposed and
more prepared than before to receive the Divine Gifts,
either because the price of our ransom has been paid
and the devil vanquished, or because we have come to a
better knowledge of Divine things through the doctrine
of Christ.
In another passage the Holy Doctor adds, that before
the Incarnation grace was granted less abundantly than
after the accomplishment of this mystery, since the
merits and satisfactions of the Redeemer did not yet
presently exist. As the invisible and interior mission
of the Holy Ghost does not take place without a preced-
ing bestowal or increase of grace, we can claim that this
mission is effected, as a general rule, with a far larger
fullness after the Incarnation than before.
But if in place of considering the general state of man-
kind, we reflect upon the particular conditions of cer-
tain ancient personages taken individually, there is noth-
ing to prevent us from believing that they were so espe-
cially favored that they received the invisible mission
" GaUtlant It. 0. " Suwma Theologica. I., II., q. ciii., n. 2.
122 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
of the Holy Ghost with such fullness, that they attained
to the real perfection of virtue. And if we parallel the
personal grace of some of the saints of the Old Testa-
ment with that of some of those of the New, we must
admit, with St. Thomas, that by their strong faith in the
Mediator to come, many of the just who lived under the
Old Law received the fullness of grace as abundantly
as some who lived under the New Law, nay, that they
received it in greater abundance than certain just Chris-
tians under the new dispensation.
There was a grace, however, for which even the holi-
est patriarchs were to sigh for many ages without being
able to obtain it before the coming of the Messias — a
certain interior mission of the Holy Ghost reserved to
those who would live under the New Covenant: it was
the grace of being admitted at death to a face-to-face
vision of God; it was the final mission which is effected
the moment the just soul enters into eternal glory.
None of the saints of the Old Law entered heaven until
Our Saviour's Ascension.
PART FOURTH
PURPOSE AND EFFECTS OF THE INVISIBLE AND
INTERIOR MISSION OF THE HOLY GHOST; AND
OF HIS INDWELLING IN MEN'S SOULS
CHAPTER I
Purpose of the Invisible Mission of the Holy Ghost
AND OF His Entrance Into Souls: Sanctification
OF the Soul; Namely, the Forgiveness
of Sin and Justification
The fact of the presence of God in our souls, at once
substantial and special, having been established, and
the mode of that presence — so frequently designated in
Scripture as the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and yet
not exclusively proper to the Third Person, but only at-
tributed to Him — having been explained, it remains for
us to study more closely by the light of revelation, the
purpose of this indvsrelling and the manifold effects
which result — we might even say necessarily, flow —
from the presence of this Divine Person in our souls.
If any subject should be of interest to us it is as-
suredly the present one; none touches us more closely,
none is of such great value; none is more important.
The study of this question is necessary at all times for
Christians who are not content to remain in ignorance
regarding the things of the supernatural life; it is in-
deed indispensable in our present day, when naturalism
is so unrestrained, and when men seem to set value only
on the goods of nature and of fortune. This will help
to bring about a reaction against these fatal tendencies;
it will lift the minds and hearts of men upward, and in-
123
124 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
spire them with lofty ideas of God's grace and a pro-
found esteem for so great a gift. In entering upon this
subject, we shall not be distressed with dry and tedious
investigations. This study will plunge our souls into
an abyss of gratitude, admiration, confldence and love
towards God.
St. Paul earnestly desired that the early Christians
might obtain this knowledge of spiritual things: "I
cease not to give thanks for you, making commemora-
tion of you in my prayers, that the God of Our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
Spirit of wisdom and of revelation, in the knowledge of
Him." »
The difficult yet sweet task which now lies before us,
is to present to the reader as complete a summary as
possible of the Gifts which are infused into our hearts
with the coming of the Holy Ghost, and to outline the
secret operations of this Divine Guest, and the many
favors of which He is the pledge and the first-fruits.
This will serve as the crown of the work we have
undertaken.
I
We have already established as an incontestable truth
the consoling doctrine of the internal mission of the
Holy Ghost, by which He is sent and given to souls to-
gether with sanctifying grace, establishing in them His
temple. His throne. His abode, and His consolations.
The question we are now to discuss is: Why this in-
ternal mission? Towards what does this giving of the
Holy Spirit tend? What is the purpose, the end, the
reason of this indwelling? If in the political world
only great personages are chosen for diplomatic mis-
sions of the highest importance, and the missions in-
trusted to their charge are estimated by the importance
' Bpbeifant 1. l«-ia.
Sanctification of the Soul 125
of the persons chosen for them, how important indeed
must be this mission intrusted to one of the Three
Divine Persons?
The thought that God in His desire to save the human
race, lost through the sin of Adam, should have vouch-
safed to send His own Son into the world on the work
of our redemption caused Our Saviour Himself to ex-
claim: "God hath so loved the world as to give His
Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him,
shall not perish, but shall have life everlasting." * And
yet, wonderful as this mission may be, it can be ac-
counted for to a certain extent, if we reflect on the im-
portance of the universal work that was to be achieved,
the redemption of the human race. On the other hand,
when it is question of a little child who is baptized, a
sinner who repents, a just soul who grows in holiness —
where now is the great work which calls for the mission
of the Holy Ghost; where is the supreme interest which
demands His presence; and not only a temporary pres-
ence, a passing mission, a short visit, but a permanent
stay; for once the Holy Ghost enters a soul. He fixes His
abode there until sin compels Him to leave: "The
Father and I will come to him, and We will make our
abode with him." »
Again, what brings the Holy Ghost into a soul, and
why does He come? Can it be merely in order to re-
ceive in this holy and living temple our praise, adora-
tion, prayers and thanksgiving? Or does He wish to
encourage us by His presence to be valiant in our every-
day struggles? Certainly not. The Holy Ghost comes
to act, God being essentially active, or as theologians
phrase it. Pure Act.
Far from being unfruitful, the presence of this sancti-
fying Spirit of our soul bears abundant fruit. The pur-
pose of His mission, the great work He comes to per-
Wohn UI. ie. •John zly. 23.
126 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
form, and which He will succeed in performing if we
are docile to His inspirations and do not refuse Him
our cooperation without which nothing can be done, is
to wrest us from the empire of darkness and translate
us into the kingdom of light; to create a new being
within us and transform our entire soul by clothing it
with justice and holiness; to infuse into us together
with His grace, a life infinitely superior to the natural
life; to render us partakers of the Divine nature; chil-
dren of God and heirs of His kingdom; to strengthen
our native powers by endowing us with new energies;
to bestow upon us His Gifts; and to render us capable
of performing acts that will be meritorious of eternal
life. In a word. His mission consists in laboring effica-
ciously, incessantly and lovingly, in the work of our
sanctification.
We must, however, enter into a more detailed study
of this subject, and view separately each one of the
wondrous effects this presence of the Holy Ghost brings
in its train. This is the only effective way to become
thoroughly acquainted with them all.
n
The first effect of the invisible mission of the Holy
Ghost, the first-fruit of His entry into a soul wherein He
had not yet dwelt, the first boon that He bestows, is a
complete and generous forgiveness of sins. On account
of the fall of our first parents, in every soul He enters
for the first time — though this soul be that of a little
child upon whose forehead the priest is pouring the
sacred waters of baptism — He is confronted with sin.
He meets with a child of wrath: "We were by nature
children of wrath." *
To understand fully this first effect of grace, it would
be necessary to have a perfect knowledge of what sin
«^bcslans 11. 3.
Sanctification of the Soul 127
is, to see its heinousness, and to realize the terrible
consequences it involves for the guilty one, in this life
first of all, but especially in eternity. How can we ever
hope to fathom this abyss with the light of our poor
understanding? Sin is an offence against God; it is
contempt of God, revolt against God. How describe a
God Who has been outraged, scorned, exasperated?
What are the consequences of His wrath, what the ef-
fects of His vengeance? True, we cannot speak of the
passions of God in the ordinary meaning of that word;
and when we say : the wrath of God, or the Divine venge-
ance, it is clear we mean to exclude all inordinate move-
ments, emotions, and the like. And yet what true,
sacred, and terrible realities lie hidden under these ex-
pressions, so frequently applied to God in Scripture!
God would not be infinite goodness were He not to de-
clare Himself the implacable enemy of sin; neither
would He be all justice and holiness, were He to allow
an act, the malice of which is in some respects infinite
because directed against infinite goodness, to remain un-
punished. If God is great in the works of His mercy,
He is not less great in the manifestations of His justice;
and if He rewards bounteously any action performed for
His glory. He visits terrible revenge upon outrages
against His sacred Majesty. Whether He rewards vir-
tue or whether He punishes crime. He always acts as
God. What a perspective this single consideration
opens up to the observant mind. The holy man, Job,
was penetrated with such deep reverence for the justice
of God that he exclaimed; "I have always feared God
as waves swelling over me, and His weight I have not
been able to bear." " And the great Apostle declared
that: "It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of
the living God." « To fall into the hands of a powerful
and cruel enemy is the worst fate we can imagine. Yet
•Job zxxl. 23. 'Hebrews z. 31.
128 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
what can a mortal creature do in comparison with Him
Who holds the world in His hand and Whose justice no
sinner can escape? And so Our Lord warns His dis-
ciples: "Fear not them that kill the body, and after
that have nothing more that they can do. But I will
show you whom you shall fear; fear ye Him, Who, after
he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell." '
God does not always await the future life to visit His
punishments on those who transgress His holy law and
scorn His adorable majesty; the sinner is chastised even
in this life; and though the punishment, at least as a
rule, be merely interior and consequently invisible, it
is none the less real and fearful. When a person com-
mits mortal sin, the friendship between God and his
soul is at once broken. God no longer considers him as
His beloved child. He ceases to lavish His attentions
and His love upon him, but regards him with an angry
eye and henceforth treats him as His enemy; for "to
God the wicked man and his wickedness are alike hate-
ful." * As a first result of this hatred, God withdraws all
the supernatural goods He had bestowed upon the soul :
first, sanctifying grace, that pearl of the Gospel which
Our Lord had gained for us at the price of His blood,
for the preservation of which we ought to be ready to
sacrifice everything; next, holy charity, which makes
man the object of the Divine complacency and gives to
his actions all their value. Further, God withdraws
from the sinner the infused virtues and the Gifts of the
Holy Ghost, which He had placed in his soul as so many
Divine germs demanding but to blossom forth into the
flowers and to mature into the fruits of sanctiflcation ;
thus leaving him only faith and hope as a last plank of
salvation, as a last earnest of His mercy.
Behold this unfortunate soul despoiled of all! The
child of God has become the slave of Satan, the vessel
t Luke xll. 4, 6. * Wisdom zlv. 9
Sanctification of the Soul 129
of honor has been changed into a vessel of ignominy,
the heir of heaven can expect from Him Who has ceased
to be his Father — ^but Who remains his Judge — only
vengeance and punishment eternal.
Have you ever attended the degradation of a traitor-
ous military officer? The culprit is led forth into the
public square, and there in sight of his comrades he is
stripped one by one of all the insignia of his rank. His
decorations, if he have any, are the first to be torn off,
because with his honor forfeited, he has lost the right to
bear the seals of honor. Then his sword, once his pride
and his pledge to defend his country, is broken before
his very eyes, and the pieces are cast away, for it is a
traitor's sword. His epaulettes, his entire uniform, dis-
appear; and then thus stripped and covered with ig-
nominy he faces the firing squad. Yet all this, after
all, is but a shadowy image of the spiritual degradation
inflicted on the sinner even in this life.
Externally, it is true, there is no evidence of the fright-
ful transformation of the soul of a traitor to God. He
comes and goes, attends to business, and seeing his
health as vigorous as before, his fortune intact, his repu-
tation safe, he may perhaps be tempted, in his blindness,
to believe that sin is not such an enormity after all. He
may go even further, and scorning the inner reproach of
the Holy Ghost, dare to say: "I have sinned, and what
harm hath befallen me?" •
What harm hath befallen him? How different his
language would be, could he but witness the appalling
ravages wreaked upon his soul by a single mortal sin.
Once so beautiful before God and His angels, that soul at
one suicidal stroke has lost all its loveliness. Only the
frightfulness of a face deformed by leprosy remains.
But a little while ago that soul was refulgent with the
bright light of grace, redolent of the fragrance of virtue.
* Eecleslaatient t. 4.
130 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Now, ghastly shadows encircle it, and round about it
hangs thick the stench of a rotting corpse. It is dead in
the sight of God, as dead and as corrupted as a corpse in
the grave. And yet it is not dead to the natural life —
for it is immortal; but it is dead to a higher life, incom-
parably more precious, the life of grace.
With grace, the sinner has lost all: God's friendship,
his eternal birthright, his preceding merits, nay, even
the possibility of again acquiring them while he lacks
Divine charity. All has perished, all has gone down in
the wreck.
But what fills the sinner's cup of calamity to the
brim is the loss of God. The soul, filled with grace, is
the temple of the Holy Ghost, the mansion of the Three
Divine Persons, who abide in it in a special manner;
and even in this life of exile they become its joy and
impart a foretaste of paradise. Scarcely has mortal sin
been committed, however, when the Divine Guests de-
part, saying again and again those fearful words that
rang out from the temple of Jerusalem when the day
of its ruin had come: "Let us go hence! Let us go
hence!" The soul thus abandoned by God and His
angels becomes the den of demons and the haunt of
those venomous creatures that are none other than its
malignant passions.
Do you realize now the extent of the favor God grants
to the sinner in forgiving him his sins? Were he left
to his own resources, he could never hope to rise out of
the awful condition in which his sins had plunged him,
but God "Whose very nature it is to be merciful and to
forgive" — according to the beautiful words of Mother
Church — stretches forth His hand and lifts him from
the abyss. Although He has been so bitterly offended,
He takes the initiative and willingly makes the offer of
reconciliation. He exhorts the sinner to repentance by
inspiring him with a secret terror of everlasting doom,
Sanctification of the Soul 181
enlightening his mind as to the consequences of his
crimes, and enticing him by His grace. God lies in wait
for the sinful soul, arousing his attention and drawing
him, never ceasing to knock at the door of his heart.
Then, as soon as the soul responds to the solicitations
of His love, and casts itself at His feet, repeating with
the prodigal: "Father, I have sinned, I am no longer
worthy to be called Thy son," He mercifully stoops to
it, clasps it in His arms, and restores to it His Holy
Spirit, Who hastens again to take possession of His
temple, bringing in His train, as a token of His happy
return, grace and peace. All is now forgiven, the record
of crime is effaced, all is forgotten. The old relations
of love are again restored; and in His joy at having
found the lost sheep, the Good Shepherd compensates
Himself for the evil memories of the soul's past wicked-
ness by lavishing upon it even more than His former
tenderness.
Ill
Were the result of the coming, or of the return of
the Holy Ghost into a soul merely the bestowal of the
grace ol" pardon, this would be an inestimable boon; and
yet our heavenly Guest is not content with forgetting
the affronts and injuries of the sinner and remitting
his debt to the Divine justice. He furthermore totally
cleanses him from his sins, heals his wounds, and
clothes him with the robe of innocence. He casts down
the wall which sin had raised between the soul and its
God, breaks his chains, delivers him from the powers of
darkness, and translates him into the kingdom of light.
The reconciliation between the soul and the Holy Spirit
is made complete; all the treasures of merit that had
been lost by sin are restored, and with them the personal
love of the Holy Ghost and sanctifying grace. Pardon
and justification are so closely knit, they are one and
132 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
the same thing, or, if you will, they are the twofold
aspect or effect of one single boon, of one supernatural
and abiding benefit bestowed upon the soul and known
as sanctifying grace, which cleanses us from our sins
and makes us holy — saints and friends of God.
Protestants have not understood things in this light.
For them, grace is an extrinsic something, a mere ex-
ternal favor God grants to men. It communicates noth-
ing real to the very soul itself, no positive element, no
element of true and actual and intrinsic sanctiflcation.
It implies neither essential change nor renovation of
the spirit; so that the justification of the sinner consists,
according to Protestant doctrine, exclusively in the re-
mission of the penalty due to his sins. Thus it is a
kind of amnesty; for although no real change is effected
in the individual or in his moral qualities, the punish-
ment he has incurred is remitted, and he is authorized
to take a place in the Christian society, and enjoy all
his former rights with the full hope that he will not
again he tormented by the remembrance of his crimes.
Such is, or originally was, the doctrine of Protestant-
ism. In the minds of the pseudo-reformers, sins which
are forgiven are not really blotted out but only covered
over. Through faith, the repentant sinner appropriates
to himself the justice of Jesus Christ, and covers him-
self over with it as with a rich mantle, so that his hid-
eous wounds are concealed and screened off from the
eyes of God. The Divine Majesty has been appeased
by the voluntary oblation of the Son of God and has ac-
cepted the price of our ransom; He has resolved there-
fore not to avenge Himself for the crimes perpetrated
against His Person, and the sinner is declared just and
sent away absolved.
The Catholic view of justification is entirely different.
Instead of regarding it as a mere condoning of punish-
ment and a non-imputation of sin, the Church teaches
Sanctification of the Soul 133
that the justification of the sinner includes the real re-
mission, destruction and annihilation of his sins, and
the real sanctification and the interior renovation of
man through the willing reception of Divine grace and
the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. This teaching was sol-
emnly defined as an article of faith in the sixth session
of the Council of Trent.
Indeed, it is hard to conceive how it could be other-
wise. We can readily understand that a judge who
does not see into the recesses of the human conscience,
but has to rely on external evidence, will release a
prisoner whose guilt cannot be established; because he
must not run the risk of condemning an innocent per-
son. We can understand, too, that a ruler, wishing to
restore peace to his kingdom and do away with all trace
of internal commotion, or obliged to deal with powerful
enemies and wishing to avoid all cause for disturbance,
will find it good policy to consent to pardon offenders
who have been condemned and yet who do not repent
of their crimes. But that God, Who, according to Holy
Writ, "is the searcher of reins and of hearts;"" and
"to Whose eyes all things are naked and open" " — that
God, essentially the vindicator of order and right, should
allow crime to go unpunished; that He should permit
justice to be violated and disorder to prevail undis-
turbed; that He should consent to pardon the unre-
pentant sinner and shut His eyes to the constant perpe-
tration of wicked deeds; that He should declare just,
and regard as such, a person who in reality is defiled
by sin — this is what reason and common sense, much
less faith, will never concede. It is an hypothesis which
every one of the Divine attributes contradicts; it is
against the sovereignty, the holiness and the justice of
God; for after sin there is a debt to be paid, an offence
to be amended, and a grievance to be redressed. As
'* PsAlm vil. 10. ** Hebrews Iv. 13.
134 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
long as God remains God, He must require some repara-
tion from the sinner; never can He send him away ab-
solved and yet not reformed.
If conditions were otherwise, our justice would re-
semble that of the Scribes and Pharisees, whom Our
Lord condemned in such vehement language : "Woe to
you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites . . . who out-
wardly appear to men just, but inwardly you are full of
hypocrisy and iniquity." "
Therefore, if the sinner wishes to obtain God's par-
don, he can do so only through repentance; if he does
not want his crimes to be imputed to him, it is indispen-
sable that they be blotted out by the intimate infusion of
sanctifying grace. This is the true notion of justifica-
tion, such as the Church has always understood and
taught it, a doctrine to be easily learned by an attentive
study of Holy Scripture and the writings of the Fathers
of the Church.
IV
It is not by a passing reference, nor in vague and mys-
terious terms, that Scripture speaks of this dogma.
Holy Writ abounds in expressions, as clear as they are
varied, enforcing this truth. We are told that sin is
taken away, blotted out, washed away, purged — St.
Paul, reminding the Corinthians of their former crimes
having been washed away by the waters of baptism, tells
them that once they were filthy with sin, "but now you
are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified
in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of
our God." " The Apostle insists that this cleansing is
so complete that the sinner is made whiter than snow.
If instead of clinging to one or two texts in Scripture
where it is said that our sins are covered over and not
imputed to us, our separated brethren had studied the
"Matthew xxUl. 27, 28. " 1 Corinthians vl. 11.
Sanctification of the Soul 135
aggregate of texts relating to this truth, they would
have met with an overwhelming number attesting that
sins once forgiven no longer exist, that they melt away
as the ice in the summer's sun. They would have
hearkened to the Psalmist : "As far as the east is from
the west, so far has He removed our iniquities from
us." " They would have learned from another prophet
that God "casts all our sins into the bottom of the sea." "
The Holy Ghost surely wishes us to understand by these
words that sins once forgiven are forgotten and disap-
pear forever. Finally they would have read in the book
of Isaias the words which the Lord addressed to His
people : "I am, I am He that blot out thy iniquities for
My own sake, and I will not remember thy sins." "
Now it would be an outrage against the majesty of God,
as Bossuet remarks, to persist in believing that what
God has removed from us, still remains; that what He
has blotted out, destroyed, annihilated, is still in exist-
ence, and that the stains He has washed away have not
disappeared. Taken in its obvious sense, the word "to
wash" does not mean "to cover," but to "purify." Is its
signiAcation diminished because it is God Himself Who
washes us, not with the blood of goats and of oxen, but
with the blood of His own Divine Son? If in former
days the blood of animals "could sanctify such as were
defiled, how much more shall the blood of Christ cleanse
our conscience from dead works; to serve the living
God." " Let us conclude, therefore, that, for God to
justify a person means not merely to declare him just
and to regard him as such, but effectively to render him
just; that for Him to pardon sins, means not only to
take away the punishment, but also to abolish the guilt
and remove the stain of them; and that to "cover" sins
means to do away with them altogether.
" Psalm cU. 12. " Mlcheas vH. 1».
*• iMlai xllU. 25. " Hebrews Iz. 14.
136 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
St. Augustine remarks very aptly, that there are two
ways of covering k wound. We can cover a wound
either to heal it or to hide it. The surgeon covers a
wound to protect it from injurious influences and the
contact of the air; the patient covers a wound out of
false modesty or for fear of a painful operation. The
former covers the wound with a healing substance, the
latter by covering it, prevents it from closing.^'
We find in St. Thomas a theological reason in sup-
port of this doctrine of justification, a reason as beauti-
ful as it is profound. The Angelic Doctor remarks first,
that in justification God reinstates the sinner in His
grace and friendship. This, of course, presupposes the
granting of some Gift which will again render the per-
son who is justified worthy of God's love. To be con-
vinced of this, one has only to recall the principal dif-
ference which exists between the love of God and that
of men, between the grace of God and the good favor of
creatures. We love because of some beauty, good qual-
ities or perfections that we see in the object we love.
Later on, it is true, this love can be fostered by the
transfer of gifts, but primarily it is based on some
preexisting good we see in others. The love of God, on
the contrary, infuses and creates goodness in things,
and according to the nature of this goodness we distin-
guish in God a twofold love. The first is a very general
love reaching out to everything that exists and produc-
ing the very being of things; the second is a special love
and of a higher order, for God raises the creature above
its natural condition and invites it to a share in His own
infinite happiness.
It is always the latter love that is referred to when
we simply say that someone is loved by God, because
then God wishes to communicate to this soul the Sov-
ereign and Eternal Good which is no other than Him-
>• St. Augustine, in Psalm xxxl., n. 12.
Sanctification of the Soul 137
self. When, therefore, we speak of a person as being
in the favor and friendship of God, this does not mean
that God is favorably disposed towards him, or has con-
ferred some outward gift upon him on account of some
good quality he possesses. It signifies that God has
communicated to him a supernatural Gift which has
transformed him in a miraculous way, and has ren-
dered him worthy of becoming the object of the Divine
complacency.^^
No pen can describe adequately, therefore, the won-
drous change effected in a soul by sanctifying grace.
Sin had brought in its train death, grace brings life.
Sin had changed the soul into a criminal, a slave of
Satan, a branch destined to be cut off and cast into the
fire ; grace confers righteousness and sanctity, as well as
the title of child of God and the right to the inheritance
of heaven. The soul was polluted, disfigured and
plunged into darkness; with the return of grace its for-
mer beauty is restored, and it becomes pure and radiant
with light. Happy would we be were we permitted to
contemplate a soul in the state of grace. Such a vision
is the delight of angels; it can even rejoice the heart of
God, Who is Himself joy personified.
** St Thomas, I., II., q. ex., a. 1.
CHAPTER II
Our Justification By Grace Is a Veritable Deifica-
tion. How Sanctifying Grace Grants an Actual
AND Formal Participation in the
Divine Nature
I
Another effect of the inner mission of the Holy Ghost
and of His presence in us, is our deification by grace.
"You shall be as gods," said the infernal serpent to
tempt our first parents to eat the forbidden fruit; "in
the day in which you shall eat of this fruit your eyes
shall be opened and you shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil." ^ And yielding to an insane pride, they
tasted the fatal fruit; and their eyes were opened in-
deed, but only to behold in dismay the abyss into which
their disobedience had plunged them. Instead of hold-
ing universal knowledge and realizing the Divine prom-
ises, they lost, for themselves and for all their posterity,
the original justice in which they were constituted, as
well as the magnificent prerogatives which it secured to
them.
Since this awful downfall of the race's common
father, man comes into the world a sinner. Before he
has had the chance to commit even one personal sin, he
is, by the fact of his descent from Adam, an enemy of
God and a child of wrath, so that we inherit death from
him who gives us our corporal life; for he can trans-
mit to us only a dethroned and diminished nature, be-
reft of sanctifying grace, which is the soul's very life.
•Genesis 111. 5.
138
Justification by Grace 139
Add to this the other consequences of original sin —
ignorance, concupiscence, suffering and death, and you
will have an idea of the sad lot we fall heir to at our
entry into this world.
But, O miracle of Divine Goodness ! That deification,
the promise of which was a snare on the lips of Satan,
is offered us anew, this time by God Himself, not only
as something to which we can rightly aspire, but as an
end which it is our duty to achieve. It is to make pos-
sible for us this supreme exaltation, to merit for us this
signal blessing, that the Son of God has deigned to
humble Himself to us, and to clothe Himself with our
humanity: "So that the Lord being clothed with our
body and become man, it has come to pass that we,
through the Word of God, have been deified." ^ "He is
come down that we may ascend upward, and whilst re-
maining in His own nature He is made to partake of
our nature, we meantime remaining in our nature are
to be made partakers even of His nature; with this dif-
ference: that His participation in our nature does not
lessen His Divine nature, but our participation in His
nature marvelously betters our nature." ^ "^
If, however, dazzled by such grandeur, anyone cannot
bear the thought that a lowly creature should be called
by God to so high a destiny, we say to him with St. John
Chrysostom that which we have already quoted from
that Holy Father: "If you hesitate to believe that so
great a boon should be bestowed on you, realize that the
abasement of the Divine Word in the Incarnation is a
marvel far greater than your elevation." *
Surprising as this doctrine of our supernatural eleva-
tion may seem, it is no less a truth of faith, set forth by
the Prince of the Apostles, in such clear, formal and
* St. Athanasius, serm. IV., contra Arianos.
■ St. Augustine, Epistle cxl., ad Honoratum.
«St John Chrysostom, Homil. n. In Matthew, n. 2.
140 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
concise terms that they leave no room for doubt: "By
Whom He hath given us most great and precious prom-
ises; that by these you may be made partajcers of the
Divine nature." ^ This participation in the nature and
in the life of God is nothing else than sanctifying grace,
so that the same gift at once justifies us and deifies us,
and justification becomes a true deification.
This is what the great Bishop of Hippo declares with-
out ambiguity. Commenting on the words of the Psalm-
ist, "ye are Gods, and sons of the Most High," » he says :
"He Who justifies is the very same Who deifies, because
in justifying us He makes us children of God. . . . Now,
if we are children of God, by that very fact we are gods,
doubtless not by a natural generation, but by a grace of
adoption. One only, indeed, is the Son of God by na-
ture, the one only God with the Father, Our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. . . . The others who become gods
so become by His grace; they are not born of His sub-
stance so as to become what He is, but they attain to a
Divine sonship by the favor of His generosity, in order
that they may be made co-heirs of Christ." '
No one will be astonished at hearing the Holy Doctors
declare that justification is the masterwork of Divine
power. St. Thomas, always so careful in his criticisms,
does not fear to affirm that it is even superior to the
work of creation itself, if not in manner of action, at
least in the effect it produces; for the creative act, al-
though exclusively Divine by its nature, results in noth-
ing more wonderful than the coming into existence of a
being subject to change; while justification issues in
that being's participation of the Divine nature, and
makes of a sinful creature a Divine being, a son of God,
an heir of eternal bliss.^ In speaking thus, the Angelic
* 2 Peter 1. 4. * Pialm Ixxxl. 6.
^ St Augustine, In Psalm xUx., n. 2.
•St. Thomas. I.. H., q. cxllt., a. 9.
Justification by Grace 141
Doctor but reproduces the thought voiced by St. Augus-
tine eight centuries before: "To justify a sinner is a
work greater than to create heaven and earth; for
heaven and earth shall pass away, but the justification
and salvation of the predestined soul shall abide." ■
II
Let us try to penetrate more deeply into these won-
drous secrets, and to fathom, in so far at least as is pos-
sible here below, the mystery of our deification by
grace.
And first, how does this deification take place? By
what marvelous process does a rational creature be-
come inoculated with the life of God? It is brought
about regularly by baptism, and constitutes a real gen-
eration resulting in a real birth.
This is that new generation of which the holy Epistles
make such frequent mention; it is that second birth so
much lauded by the Fathers, and ever kept before our
minds by the sacred liturgy of our holy religion — a gen-
eration incomparably greater than our first and merely
human generation, since it transmits to us, instead of a
natural and human life, a life supernatural and Divine;
it is a wonderful birth that transforms each one of us
into that "new man" of which the Apostle speaks, "ac-
cording to God, created in justice and holiness of
truth" " — a generation wholly spiritual yet none the
less real, the principle of which is neither flesh, nor
blood, nor the will of man, but the gratuitous will of
God;" " a mysterious birth which springs not from seed
subject to corruption, but from seed incorruptible by the
word of God;"" a generation and a birth as indispen-
sable for living a life of grace as are carnal generation
and birth for natural life. For it is Truth itself Who
* St Augustine, In John, tract Ixxii., n. 3.
'•Epheslans Iv. 24. "James i. 18. •* 1 Peter 1. 23.
k42 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
has said: "Unless a man be born again of water and
the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom Qf
God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit." " And the Coun-
cil of Trent says: "Unless [men] are born again in
Christ they can never be justified; it is only by that re-
birth through the merit of His passion, that the grace
of justification is bestowed upon them." "
But what at bottom is the nature of this Divine and
regenerating element which baptism gives to our souls,
and which makes us godlike? What constitutes this
root principle of supernatural life which a sacrament
confers on us and which other sacred ordinances are
destined to preserve, to increase, and, should we be so
unhappy as to lose it, to revive within us? And since
this precious gift, the formative cause of our justifica-
tion and of our deification, is nothing else but sanctify-
ing grace, then what is this grace which sanctifies us?
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ deigned one day
to explain Himself on this matter for the benefit of a
sinner whom He wished to convert. We refer to the
Samaritan woman. Only, in place of a learned defini-
tion which would necessarily have remained uncom-
prehended, the good Master availed Himself of the
simple circumstances of His meeting with this woman,
who had come to fetch water from the well of Jacob,
to speak to her of grace under the figure of a mystical
water, possessed of divinely wonderful properties. He
began by asking her for a drink of water, for, says the
sacred text. He was tired from His journey and it was
the time of day when the heat is most oppressive. Then,
seeing the woman's surprise at the unusual request, for
the Jews were not in the habit of speaking with the
Samaritans, He added: "If thou hadst known the gift
of God, and Who it is that says to thee, give Me to drink,
'* John ill. 5, 6. '< Triduum, session vl., c. 3.
Justification by Grace 143
thou perhaps wouldst have asked of Him, and He would
have given thee living water." "
Donum Dei, the gift of God. Here, indeed, we have
the true notion of grace. It is a gift, consequently
something gratuitous, something accorded us through
no right or merit of our own. True, all that we have,
all that we are — our body, soul, faculties, actions, and
our external goods — everything comes to us from God
and can be called a gift of His bounty, according to the
words of the Apostle : "What hast thou that thou hast
not received?" " But if each thing, each perfection, is,
in a true sense, a gift of God, it is not the gift of God.
God's paramount gift, that beside which those other
gifts fade into nothingness, is grace. It is grace: the
most precious, the most magnificent, the most neces-
sary, the most gratuitous of all gifts.
But why does Jesus compare grace to water? Be-
cause grace does in the spiritual order all that water
does in the material order. Water purifies, refreshes,
quenches thirst, and renders sterility fruitful. It puri-
fies what is soiled and restores its cleanliness, its lustre,
its first beauty; it is a symbol of the interior purifica-
tion wrought by grace, which not only removes the
stain^ of mortal sin and gives back to the soul its pris-
tine brightness, but adds to this beauty an incompar-
able charm, which delights the heart of God and draws
from Him these words : "Thou art all fair, O my love,
and there is no spot in thee." "
Water tempers the heat, and cools the atmosphere
which a burning sun has made furnace-hot, soothes the
tired limbs: symbolic of grace, which is a heavenly
dew, subduing the fires of passion and lessening, little
by little, and without permanently and completely
quenching it here below, the fever of concupiscence.
Water assuages and allays thirst: an image of grace,
"John Iv. 10. »•! Corinthians Iv. 7. "Canticles iv. 7.
^
144 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
which slakes the inextinguishable thirst of the human
heart. Created for happiness, man tends towards it
with an insatiable eagerness, and there is nothing he
will not do to attain it. But too often, alas, he seeks
happiness in the perishable goods of this world; in
sensible pleasures, which only sharpen his thirst instead
of appeasing it. This is what Our Lord wishes to make
the Samaritan woman understand when, pointing to
the water, a figure of the passing good things of earth,
He said to her: "Whosoever drinketh of this water
shall thirst again; but he that shall drink of the water
that I will give, shall not thirst forever." "
But what is the meaning of the expression "living
water," aquam vivam, which Our Saviour uses as a fig-
ure for grace? " Ordinarily, says St. Augustine, we ap-
ply the expression "living water," in opposition to the
stagnant water of cisterns or marshes — to that which
bubbles up from the earth, flows along and then sweeps
seaward, always in communication with its source and
preserving the evidence of life. If this water, although
fresh from the spring, is caught in a reservoir, if its flow
is interrupted, if it is cut ofl" from its source, it can no
longer bear the name of living water. 2*> Now what is
the source of grace if not the Holy Ghost? If then grace
is called "living water," it is because it is not sundered
from its principle, the Holy Ghost, Who by grace dwells
in the heart of the truly sanctified man.^^
A final property of water, and one which we cannot
pass over in silence, is its power of imparting fruitful-
ness. When water is plentiful, the earth is clothed with
rich vegetation, seeds germinate, flowers open as by en-
chantment, fruits ripen in abundance, harvest follows
harvest in rich and varied succession. Where drought
u John It. is. "John It. 10.
**St Augustine, In John, tract xt., n. 12.
** St. Thomas, In John, vll., lect. 5,
Justification by Grace 145
holds sway, all is parched, drooping, dead; it is a desert
of arid sands, a land of dreary monotony. The indis-
pensable element of all physical life, water is an ad-
mirable figure of grace, by means of which our soul
yields a bountiful harvest of virtues and of merits, but
without which the soul, left to its own resources, is
radically incapable of producing any fruit of salvation,
remaining always barren and unproductive for heaven.
It is not that this same fallen nature is unable, by its
own powers, to produce some good of the purely nat-
ural order; but these purely human actions, these vir-
tues of a lower plane, like the streams in a dark chasm,
have no power to lift themselves to the open day of
heaven. Only Christian works and virtues, which
spring from grace under the impulse of the Holy Spirit,
can raise the soul to the heights of the heavenly Jeru-
salem. Coming down, as they do, from the eternal
mountains, they ascend back again, by a strength, now
become their own, to their starting point above. Here
we see why Our Lord says of grace : "The water which
I will give him, will become in him a fountain of living
water, springing up into life eternal." "
St. Teresa tells us: "I love that part of the Gospel!
From my earliest childhood, without understanding as
I do now the precious worth of what I asked of God, I
very often pleaded with the Divine Master to give me
that wonderful water, and wheresoever I might be, I
had with me a picture which represented that scene at
the well, with these words written underneath: Lord,
give me to drink of that water." "
To purify, to cool, to quench thirst — this is the prop-
erty of what is called medicinal grace. "Grace which
cures nature," as St. Thomas calls it. But the higher
grace is, strictly speaking, sanctifying grace, which
elevates our faculties and our actions above the needs
**Jo)m ir. U. ^ Atttobtographv of St. Teresa, ch. xxx.
146 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
and the powers of nature, renders our works merito-
rious of eternal life, and becomes in us the principle of
a higher and a Divine life — all this is the fruit of super-
natural grace properly so-called — "elevating grace."
In the state of original justice, grace did not have to
produce the first class of effects, those termed medicinal;
for purification supposes stain, the need of cooling is
indicative of excessive heat, and thirst, when it is acute,
can cause the keenest suffering. And in the state of
original innocence, there was neither stain, excess, nor
pain. Grace had not yet to heal a nature that was in
no way diseased, to restore an equilibrium that was not
broken, to repair ruins which did not yet exist. Its
function in that order of things was limited to that of
prevention. But after the Fall, grace is as well a balm
to heal our wounds and a salutary byith in which we
should cleanse ourselves of stains, as it is a strong
draught that gives to the soul the moral strength of
which sin has deprived it. In the two states, the pres-
ent one of weakness as also that of original innocence,
sanctifying grace is the true formative principle of
sanctity, the cause of our deification, the principle of
supernatural and Divine life — in a word, it is that source
of living water which springs up to eternity.^*
Ill
To explain the nature of grace by its effects, is, if not
the most profound, at least the most popular, let us say
the only popular method of instruction, because it is the
key to all minds. This is why Our Lord had recourse
to this method on the occasion of which we have just
been speaking. No one, however, will find it wrong for
Christians of the scholarly class, and theologians, to
seek to penetrate more deeply into the heart of this sub-
ject. To those who, not out of vain curiosity, but from
••John Iv. 14.
Justification by Grace 147
the laudable desire to understand more thoroughly the
blessings of God, ask us what in itself is sanctifying
grace, we answer with the Scholastics, that it is a super-pC
natural and abiding gift, dwelling in our soul, a partici-
pation in the Divine nature and life, which sanctifies
man and makes him a child of God.
It is a supernatural gift; that is to say, so much above
and beyond any knowledge or aspiration of nature, that
it could not belong naturally to any created being, either
as a constituent and integral part of its essence, or as a
normal development of its faculties. Grace is, there-
fore, something essentially gratuitous, a Divine in-
crement by which nature becomes strengthened and
perfected in its own proper sphere, and at the same time
ennobled and elevated to a higher and a Divine one.
Moreover, it is an abiding gift. Unlike actual grace,
which is a passing help to virtue, an enlightening of
the intellect, a prompting of the will, in brief a transient
motion intended to make us produce an act superior to
the powers of nature, grace proper, i. e., sanctifying
grace, is a stable and abiding gift which, received into
the very essence of the soul, becomes in it, as it were, a
second nature of a transcendent order, a principle of
supernatural life, the firm root of meritorious acts, un-
less violently expelled by mortal sins. Indeed, it was
not fitting, as the Angelic Doctor remarks, that we
should be less well equipped in the order of grace than
in the order of nature, and that in the latter there should
exist a steadfast principle of operation, a supernatural
force always ready for action; whereas in the case of
actual graces we should be content to depend upon a
transient help uplifting our faculties and determining
this or that good action, and then passing out of exist-
ence once the action has been performed.
It remains then that grace, to quote the words of the
Catechism of the Council of Trent, is "a Divine quality
148 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
inherent in the soul, and, as it were, a brilliant light that
effaces all those evil stains which obscure the lustre of
the soul, and invests it with increased brightness and
beauty." " Hence the remark of St. Thomas : "That
holiness which exists in God essentially and substan-
tially is by grace given to our soul as a gift and a boon;
we are thus to share in a goodness essentially Divine."
This was but expressing in other words what the head
of the Apostolic college had already said, when he af-
firmed that by grace we are made partakers of the Divine
nature."
In what does this participation consist? Is it a
purely moral participation, as some would have it, con-
sisting in mere uprightness of will inclining man to
shun evil, keep the Commandments of God and lead a
faithful and holy life?
If such were the case, our deification would exist only
in name, and we would be the children of God in a
purely metaphorical sense, somewhat after the manner
of the children of Abraham, who are called by this
name, though not of the Chosen People, but because
they partake of and imitate the faith of this holy pa-
triarch; or again, as the wicked are called the sons of
Satan, because they are his worthy fellow-workers.
Wherefore other theologians — and they are by far the
more numerous, and are the more commendable both
for their science and their virtue — profess belief in a
real and formative communication of the Divine nature
to man. These theologians are led to embrace such a
view by a twofold consideration. They remark first,
that unlike a man who often exalts in most magnificent
terms gifts that are of no value, God, on the contrary,
neither overrates His gifts nor speaks of them in terms
of exaggeration, but what He says in praise of them al-
ways remains far below the reality. Secondly, these
*• CateehtMin of the Romans, part U., c. il., n. 50. >• 2 Peter i. 4.
Justification by Grace 140
teachers call to mind the numerous testimonies in Holy
Scripture, such as that in which the Holy Spirit declares,
as by the lips of St. Peter, that grace is a very great and
precious gift by which we are made partakers of the
Divine nature; or by the mouth of St. John, that we are
called and really are the sons of God, being born of God.
And so these theologians conclude that this communica-
tion of God's nature is real, actual and specific. Not,
of course, that it is in any way identical with the com-
munication by which God the Father transmits His own
substance to His Divine Son, but that it is a communica-
tion of the Divine virtue in an analogical sense, inas-
much as there exists a vital resemblance between the
generation of the Son ajid the imparting of grace; this
communication consisting in the granting of a created
gift which is distinct from the Divine nature and yet
the living image of it.
Such is also the teaching of the Fathers, for example,
St. Cyril of Alexandria: "It is untrue to say that we
cannot be one with God except by union of will. For
above that union there is another union more sublime
and far superior, which is wrought by the communica-
tion of the Divinity to man, who, whilst keeping his own
nature, is, so to speak, transformed into God, just as
iron plunged into fire becomes fiery, and whilst remain-
ing iron seems changed into fire. . . . Union with God
cannot exist otherwise than by participation with the
Holy Spirit, diffusing in us the sanctification proper to
Himself, imprinting and engraving on our souls the
Divine likeness." "
This comparison of the incandescent piece of iron
vested with all the properties of fire, and that of the
crystal struck by the rays of the sun and thus suddenly
transformed into a focus of light which dazzles our eyes,
is to be found frequently in the writings of the Fathers,
" St. Cyiil or Alexandria. In John 1. 9.
150 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
when they expound to the faithful the mystery of our
supernatural deification by grace. Their purpose in all
this is to give us to understand, that grace makes us
really godlike, that it operates changes and transforma-
tions in the soul that are not less profound and marvel-
ous than those in the material order which take place in
bodies under the direct action of fire and light; but they
do not wish us to infer that the mode of operation is
identical in both cases. In the case of flre and the piece
of iron, the former communicates to the latter part of its
heat and light, whereas God communicates neither His
substance nor His perfections to creatures by division
of Himself any more in the supernatural order by grace
and love than in the natural order by presence and
power.
IV
Need we further inquire into the mode of this partici-
pation in the Divine nature? For a perfect understand-
ing of it, we must first refer the reader to what we said
in a preceding chapter about created beings and created
perfections in reference to this same question. Every
created being, we explained, is a participation in the
Divine and uncreated being, and every created perfec-
tion a participation in the inflnite perfection of God.
They are not an emanation from God's being and which
would thus by His creative act become partially external
to Him, but a reproduction by similitude or an image of
what exists in God. Since therefore grace is a real and
actual entity, and not a mere name or external favor, as
is claimed by Protestants — an error that was condemned
by the Council of Trent — it follows that grace is like any
other true perfection, viz., a real participation, or to put
the thing clearer, a veritable yet finite imitation of an
infinite perfection of God.
Let us say more. It is even a formal or specific par-
Justification by Grace 151
ticipation. To understand fully the meaning of this
expression, we must recall the manner in which created
perfections exist in God. Because there can be nothing
good in an effect which is not found in its cause, and
since God is the universal eflScient cause of everything
that exists, it is clear that the perfections of creatures
must all preexist in God. However, all these perfec-
tions are not found in God in the same manner.
There are certain excellencies or perfections which
do not admit of any defects. Such are science, which
is the exact knowledge of things through their causes;
and justice, which is the rendering to each one accord-
ing to his due, etc. There are others, on the contrary,
like organic life, the reasoning faculty, which neces-
sarily involve some imperfections. Thus it is a most
excellent thing to possess within one's self the principle
of one's own movements, and yet it is a serious incon-
venience, and consequently imperfection, to have to de-
pend upon matter in the exercise of one's mental activ-
ity. Again it is an inestimable privilege for rational
beings to be able to attain truth, and yet it is a sign of
imperfection to be able to do so only in a roundabout
way and by means of the tiresome processes of deduc-
tion. Angels are beings of a higher nature than man,
hence they do not have to reason out things but perceive
in its very principle each and every conclusion that can
be drawn therefrom. A fortiori does this apply to God.
This second category of perfections called by philos-
ophers "mixed perfections," could never exist formally,
I. e., according to their specific nature, in God, but only
in a supereminent degree. Thus reason does not exist
in God as a discursive faculty, but only in the more per-
fect state of a pure intelligence.
Grace is supernatural to us, but natural and proper
to Him Who is superior to any existing or possible crea-
ture. And when given to us, it is a participation in or
152 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
imitation of that primary and fundamental perfection
which we regard as the root, the source, the principle
of the Divine operations and attributes, i. c, the very
nature of God Himself.
This must be the case, as may be seen from the fol-
lowing. If it is necessary, says St. Thomas, relying on
the authority of St. Dionysius, to be endowed with a
spiritual nature in order to perform spiritual opera-
tions; and if, to speak in general terms, we cannot per-
form the operations of a nature without sharing in that
nature, how are we to act in a Divine way unless we be-
come partakers of the Divine nature? Now the purpose
of grace is precisely to lift the soul to the height of a
Divine being. Who will render it capable of performing
functions that are proper to God; functions which con-
sist in knowing God Himself, contemplating Him as
He is, and loving Him with a beatific love.
If then God wills in His infinite goodness to fit us to
perform such functions as may be termed connatural to
His own, and if it is His desire that we shall see- and
love Him one day as He sees and loves Himself, that we
shall possess and enjoy Him and find in this possession
and enjoyment our supreme happiness. He must com-
municate to us a share in His Divine nature. Hence the
words of St. Cyril: "If we have the same connatural
activity with God, it is necessary that we have the same
nature." "
Sanctifying grace therefore is a real and actual shar-
ing in the very nature of God; it is His own intimate
life gratuitously communicated to creatures; it is "the
dawn of eternal life within our souls." " in uttering
these words, St. Thomas was only echoing those other
words of the great Apostle Paul: "The grace of God
life everlasting." 3°
••St. Cyril of Alexandria. Theaaur., I.. II.. c. 11.
•* St Thomas, II., II., q. xxlv., a. 3, nd. 2. •* Romans vi. 23.
Justification by Grace 153
This seed may be small, this da-wn sombre, it is none
the less certain that sanctifying grace virtually contains
in this life all the happiness of heaven, and communi-
cates to us the substance of the goods we hope for; in a
word, that it brings what in reality is heaven into our
hearts. The state of glory alone will not differ sub-
stantially from the state of grace here below, it will only
be its perfection, its consummation, its full develop-
ment. "It will be," says Mgr. Gay, "the oak develop-
ing from the acorn, the harvest resulting from the seed,
noonday succeeding to dawn." " The work of our
deification has already begun, and with the Holy Spirit
we possess the earnest of our future happiness.
If we only knew the gift of God ! If we only realized
the value of grace! With what ardent supplications
would we not cry out with the Samaritan woman:
"Lord, give me that water!" " And with what care we
would avoid any action that might lead to the loss of
grace, knowing that we "carry this treasure in earthen
vessels," ^a and that one false step suffices to imperil it!
How we would hasten to recover it, if we had had the
misfortune to lose it; how we would endeavor to in-
crease it in our souls. The words of the Angelic Doctor
are simple, plain and full of meaning when he afBrms
that the smallest atom of grace is worth more than the
whole universe.
And yet we have not said all that can be saM regard-
ing this question, for who is capable of this task? We
have barely touched upon what the Apostle calls the
"unsearchable riches of Christ." s* For this grace,
which shines forth as something worthy in itself of all
our efforts, is but a means to an end; for when God
'^Sermons d'Avent. •'John It. 15.
•»2 Corinthians It. 7. *« Ephetlans 111. 8.
154 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
pours this miraculous gift into the Christian soul to
cleanse and to justify it and to transform it into a new
creature, a Divine being, the object of the Divine com-
placency. He is only fitting it for the reception of a far
greater gift and for a more complete deification.
^Grace is something sublime, something supereminent;
it is not, however, the final term of the Divine love here
below, nor the greatest effusion of the heart of God. It
is a mere preparation for a higher good, a stepping-stone
to the more excellent gift. It is a disposition prepara-
tory to the communication of the Holy Ghost, Who
comes at the same moment in Person into the just soul
together with the Father and the Son, and Who unite
with it in an ineffable way a" the object of its knowl-
edge and love. The final purpose of grace is to place
us in the actual possession of God, possession which is
real, although obscure, here on earth, and which will
end in a face-to-face contemplation in heaven. This is
Arhat constitutes the real value of grace.
The work of our deification comprises therefore a
twofold element; one a created condition, which acts as
a bond of union between God and the soul and disposes
the soul for the reception of the Three Divine Persons;
this is the function of grace. The other is an uncreated
condition, which is, as it were, the crowning of our per-
fection, the term of our aspirations, the foretaste of the
bliss of heaven; and this is God Himself, Who gives
Himself to us, unites Himself with us, dwells in our
hearts according to those words of Our Lord: "If any-
one love Me . . . My Father will love him, and We
will come to him, and We will make Our abode with
him." "
This is why theologians distinguish a twofold partici-
pation in the Divine nature, the first being analog-
ical, by which God communicates to man a share in His
**John zIt. 23.
Justification by Grace 155
Divine nature by means of a certain participation by
way of resemblance, and which is introductory; the sec-
ond which is the term and the goal of the former, and
which consists in an intimate union of our very souls
with God. St. Dionysius has condensed this teaching
in a short formula which is full of meaning: "Our
deification," he says, "consists in as perfect an assimi-
lation and union with God as is possible." '*
In Holy Scripture this union is compared to that of
the husband and wife, and mystical writers speak of it
as a spiritual espousal or marriage. This shows how
intimate, sweet and fruitful it is.
It is indeed a close, intimate and profound union far
greater than that which exists between man and woman,
for nature at its best is but the shadow of grace. In
marriage we have bodily union, here we have the com-
penetration of the soul by God. And if it is true to say
of married persons that they are two in one flesh, the
Apostle declares that "he who is joined to the Lord is
one spirit." "
How sweet and chaste is this union. When placed
side by side with it the marriage union seems cold and
full of sorrows. The joys of the marriage state are
fleeting, the pleasures in themselves of the lower grade;
here everything is noble, lofty and lasting; glory, purity,
love and other ineffable delights, which bailie all descrip-
tion and which fill the human heart to overflowing.
Finally this is a fruitful union, whence are born holy
thoughts, generous affections, bold and daring enter-
prises, and that whole series of works of perfection
known as Beatitudes and Fruits of the Holy Ghost.
This blessed union, begun on earth, will be consum-
mated only in heaven. Although, as St. Paul remarks,
the soul is already betrothed to Christ; she is al-
•• St. Dionysius, Hierareh Eecles., c. 1., n. 3.
- 1 Corinthians ▼!. 17.
156 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
ready the spouse of the Holy Ghost. The Third Per-
son of the Trinity has already given to the soul its faith
and troth, as it were, the wedding ring of the union.
He has clothed her with the gold-embroidered robes of
grace and charity; He has adorned her with the pre-
cious stones of His gifts and of the infused virtues; and
He has given Himself to her, although in an obscure
manner, as the pledge of the eternal bliss of heaven.
Yet this Divine Spirit must complete His work in par-
adise by granting to the soul that rich dowry known as
vision, as comprehension, and as fruition: vision, which
is to take the place of faith; comprehension, which will
enable the soul to grasp the Sovereign Good, the object
of its constant desires here below, and fruition, which
will perfect and consummate its happiness.
The work of supernatural transformation which is
going on all throughout the Christian's life, will then
come to an end, for our assimilation with God Will be
henceforth perfect. Already deified on earth in its es-
sence by grace, it will in heaven be deified in its in-
telligence by the light of glory, and in its will by perfect
charity; the soul in heaven will be admitted to a face-
to-face contemplation of God, and will possess in the
fullness of joy Him Who is Sovereign, subsistent Truth
and Sovereign Good. At this moment God will appear
before us ?n all the splendor of His glory: "We know,
that when He shall appear, we shall be like unto Him:
because we shall see Him as He is." '^ We shall live of
His life, we shall share in His bliss, for God's life con-
sists in self-knowledge and self-love, and His happiness
in possessing Himself. Then will be realized the desire
formulated by the Apostle in his Epistle to the Ephe-
sians: "That we may be filled with all the fullness of
God." "
**1 John lU. a. **Ephesian8 Hi. 19.
CHAPTER III
Our Divine Adoptive Sonship. Resemblances and
Differences Between Divine and Human Adop-
tion. Incomparability and Dignity of
the Christian
I
Through grace we are "made partakers of the Divine
nature;" ^ through the same grace we are raised to the
incomparable dignity of adopted sons of God, with a
right to our Father's inheritance. This truth, which
every Christian should have constantly before his eyes,
and which he cannot too often make the object of his
study, since it contains all our titles of nobility for this
life and the pledge of our future bliss, is to be found on
almost every page of the New Testament: "God sent
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that
He might redeem them that were under the law, that we
might receive the adoption of Sons. And because you
are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying: Abba, Father!" ^ And again: "For the
Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are
the sons of God." ^
To convince us that it is question here not of a purely
external or honorary title, but of a true and real son-
ship, which is a participation in the sonship of Jesus
Christ, St. John does not hesitate in saying: "Behold
what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed on
us, that we should be called and should be the sons of
God." * Then, carried away by admiration at the sight
' 2 Peter i. 4. * Galatlans It. 4-S.
• Ronuuu TlU. 16. * 1 Jobn Hi. 1.
157
158 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
of such grandeur, he exclaims: "Dearly beloved, we
are now the sons of God, and it hath not yet appeared
what we shall be. We know, that when He shall ap-
pear, we shall be like to Him; because we shall see Him
as He is. And everyone that hath this hope in Him,
sanctifieth himself, as He also is holy." *
The Fathers rival one another in their praises of this
our glorious title of the sons of God ; they exalt its many
prerogatives, and proclaim with faith and love the pre-
cious advantages that are derived from it. Listen to
the words of the great St. Augustine: "Consider the
joy of a man a total stranger in this life, with not the
least knowledge of his parents or family, sunk in misery
and overwhelmed with unceasing toil, suddenly to learn
that his father is now to meet him, a man of high estate
and vast wealth. Such shall be the joy, only infinitely
greater, of a Christian, when at the end of this miser-
able existence he is called to meet his eternal Father and
be introduced into the glories of heaven." «
St. Leo the Great contends that no gift can compare
with that by which we are made sons of God, "by which
title God addresses each of us as My Son; and so must
we address Him as My Father." ^ And we might cite
many other Fathers of the Church to the same effect.
In order to illustrate more fully what we mean by
Divine adoption, it will not be out of place here to com-
pare it with human adoption, as it is regulated and prac-
tised by our laws. To adopt a child means to give him
a place and standing in a family, to confer upon him
gratuitously the title and prerogatives of son, which
he did not possess by virtue of his birth; and especially
to give him a right to the inheritance of his adopted
father. Adoption, therefore, as it is practised by men,
implies three things, viz., that the child to be adopted
■ Ibid., 2, 3. * St Augustine, Enarr., In Psalm Ixxxlv., n. 9.
' St. Leo, M., serms. vl., de Nattv,
Our Divine Adoptive Sonship 159
is not already the son of but a stranger to the family
which is adopting him; that the new relationship is en-
tered upon entirely at the free choice of the person
adopting; that the child becomes the legal heir to the
inheritance of the adopting father.
It is easy to see that each and all of these conditions
must be realized. First, it is perfectly evident that the
one to be adopted has no claim of sonship. Otherwise
how could we say that he was given a place gratuitously
in a family to which he did not belong by birth. It is
true that a son may forfeit his rights and afterwards re-
cover them; he may be expelled from his father's house
on account of misbehavior, and be legally cut off from
all hereditary rights; yet even if this prodigal son has
learned his lesson and repents and is allowed to resume
his place in the family of his father, we cannot say of
him that he is adopted. The ties of kindred are inde-
structible, and there will always be a profound differ-
ence between a son by nature, whatever be his mis-
doings, and him who is freely adopted into a family to
which by nature he is a stranger.
Adoption is essentially voluntary and gratuitous:
voluntary on the part of the person who adopts and on
the part of him who is adopted ; gratuitous, because it is
founded neither on a natural nor on an acquired right.
It is a contract entered upon by two naturally inde-
pendent persons who agree the first, to make over his
name and his fortune; the second, his own personality.
The parent confers upon his beneficiary all the rights
of a legitimate son, and the latter agrees to respect the
authority of the father in whose inheritance he is made
to share.
11
If, therefore, our adoption by grace is not an empty
word, we must find fulfilled in it all the conditions
ICO The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
which by reason of the very nature of the case enter
necessarily into any true adoption.
First, it is strangers whom God adopts when He com-
municates to natural beings sanctifying grace, and so
gives them a share in His own nature and life. It is
true, that if we consider even natural man endowed with
the natural gifts alone, he is not in every way estranged
from God, since he is indebted to Him for everything he
possesses. He is, however, estranged supernaturally,
by the absence of grace and of glory, and it is precisely
in this sense that we say he is adopted.* Natural man,
therefore, i. e., man lacking grace, cannot be regarded
as belonging to the number of those of whom it has been
said: "You are God's, and sons of the Most High.""
He is not a member of the Divine family, he holds no
title to the possession of those goods which belong essen-
tially to God; he is a stranger to God in a true sense of
the term. There exist no other relations between him
and his Creator than those which exist between an ef-
fect and its cause, a piece of work and the workman
who produces it. The relation of the father to the son
does not exist, since he is created not generated, made
out of nothing and not brought forth from the very
bosom of the eternal Father. And if, like all effects, he
bears a certain resemblance with his cause, he does not
share in the nature of his cause; though he was made
to the image and likeness of God, he does not live the
Divine life, for he has nothing truly Divine in him
neither by essence nor by participation.
Yet it must be said that God can be called our Father
in a very broad sense even in the natural order, just as
any artisan is said to be the father of the work of his
hand. In the same sense we may call all creatures, but
especially rational creatures, which bear a more strik-
ing resemblance with the Divinity, sons of God. Strictly
■ St. Thomas, UI.. q. xxlil., a. 1, ad 1. * Psalm Ixxxi. 6.
Our Divine Adoptive Sonship 161
speaking, however, they are not sons of God, on account
of that absence of similitude of nature which must exist
between the father and his children.
Catholic tradition, therefore, has always regarded
Divine adoption as an invitation extended by God to be-
ings by nature placed apart from Him, and who in conse-
quence of their native condition are His servants and
not His children. This is the explanation of St. Cyril of
Alexandria : "We, who by nature are only creatures of
God's making and of servile condition, obtain by grace
and not on account of any natural requirement, the dig-
nity of children of God." ^° St. Athanasius expresses
the same thought."
The Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XHI., therefore, simply
echoed the traditional teaching of the Church when he
wrote in his beautiful Encyclical on the Holy Ghost:
"Human nature is by necessity the servant of God:
'The creature is a servant ; we are the servants of God by
nature' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Thesaur., lib. v., c. 5).
On account, however, of original sin, our whole nature
had fallen into such guilt and dishonor, that we had be-
come enemies of God. 'We were by nature the children
of wi:ath' (Ephesians ii. 3). There was no power which
could raise us and deliver us from this ruin and eternal
destruction. But God, the Creator of mankind and in-
finitely merciful, did this through His Only-begotten
Son, by Whose favor it was brought about that man was
restored to that rank and dignity whence he had fallen,
and was adorned with still more abundant graces. No
one can express the greatness of this work of Divine
grace in the souls of men. Wherefore, both in Holy
Scripture and in the writings of the Fathers, men are
styled regenerated, new creatures, partakers of the
Divine Nature, children of God, god-like, and similar
epithets are employed." ^-
^*St Cyril of Alexandria, In John, lib. 1.
» St. Athanasius, Orat. 2, contra Artanos. "Divinum illud muniia.
162 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
The very moment grace enters our soul, a wondrous
change is wrought in us. We were the servants of God
by creation and suddenly we become His children; we
were sons of the first Adam, heirs of his nature and of
his sin, and we are made brothers of the second Adam,
Jesus Christ Our Saviour, Who is not ashamed to call
us His brothers. Then do we hear the Apostle address
us these words: "Now therefore you are no more
strangers and foreigners; but you are fellow-citizens
with the saints, and the domestics of God." "
Meantime God is not content with removing the blem-
ish of our first origin; He communicates to us a new
being, a new life, a new nature. He engenders us in a
spiritual sense, not indeed as He engenders His Only-
begotten Son, but in a certain sense in an analogous
way. The Son is consubstantial with the Father, Who
communicates to Him His own nature in all its fullness.
We have only a finite share in and an analogous imita-
tion of this same nature. The Son is God, we are
merely deified; His generation is necessary and eternal,
ours is gratuitous and free and wrought in time : "For
by His own will hath He begotten us by the word of
truth." " In short, the Word is the Son of God by na-
ture; we are the sons of God by bounty and adoption,
having been deified by grace without being born of the
Divine substance: "Man hath He called gods, deified
by grace, born not of His substance." ^° Although we
are only the adopted sons of God, nevertheless we have
a right to the inheritance of our heavenly Father : "But
if sons, heirs; heirs indeed of God and co-heirs of
Christ." "
This right to the inheritance of our Father constitutes
what is most essential in the idea of adoption. It is the
purpose and end of adoption just as love is the principle.
>*Ephe8ianB 11. 19. ^ Junes i. 18.
••St Autfustliie In Psalm xUx., n. a. '•Romans Till. 17.
Our Divine Adoptive Sonship 163
By the very fact that God in His infinite goodness invites
mankind to a share in His own happiness, He may be
said to adopt them.^^ Great and sublime vocation!
priceless boon ! which caused St. Paul to cry out in trans-
ports of love and gratitude: "Blessed be the God and
Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us
with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ.
As He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and unspotted in His
sight, in charity. Who hath predestinated us unto the
adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto Himself:
according to the purpose of His will : unto the praise of
the glory of His grace, in which He hath graced us in His
beloved Son." "
ni
Grace then fulfills all the conditions of true adoption,
since by it strangers to God are made the children of
God and the heirs of His inheritance. Divine adoption,
however, differs considerably from human adoption;
and if there exist certain resemblances between the two,
nevertheless the differences are great and very pro-
nounced.
Persons of this world usually adopt children because
they have no children of their own. A married couple
who have not been blessed with a child, may fear to
see the family name die out. Immediately they will fix
their choice upon one who is a stranger to their blood,
and they will introduce him into their home and treat
him as their own son, giving him their own name and
constituting him their legal heir; and by this means
they will be comforted by the thought that they will not,
so to speak, die completely. If, however, they have
been blessed with a child of their own, they will not
think of introducing other heirs into the home and thus
" St Thomas, m., q. xxlll., a. 1. '* Ephesiana 1. 3-0.
164 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
diminish his patrimony. "This is the way men act,"
says St. Augustine, "but God acts otherwise."
For God does not adopt us because He has no son of
His own : He adopts us out of a pure motive of love, and
in order to pour forth on others the abundance of His
perfections. He has a Son Who is equal to Himself,
perfect, immortal, and "Whom He hath appointed heir
of all things;" ^» nevertheless in His infinite goodness
He wishes to. increase the members of the Divine fam-
ily, and so He condescends to invite creatures to a share
in goods to which they had no right, and to confer upon
them a Divine sonship akin to that of the Word; just as
by creation He had communicated to all creatures a
likeness of His perfection, according to the words of
the Apostle: "Whom He foreknew, them He predes-
tinated to be made conformable to His Son." "
Before adopting us, however, it was indispensable
that God should make us share in His nature by gen-
erating us spiritually. Conformity of nature must exist
between the person who adopts and him who is adopted,
so much so that no man would dream of adopting any
other being than a human being. Adoption as prac-
tised among men presupposes this community of nature
as already existing; Divine adoption, on the other hand,
must create it; for divinity belongs to God alone. Man
may choose among his fellow creatures him whom he
wishes to adopt; God can adopt a human being only on
condition that He first of all deify him by giving him a
share in His nature.
Furthermore, in human adoption, a stranger has
within him the capability to inherit. If he has no such
claim by right of his birth, he can obtain it through a
mere judicial decision, which will place him in posses-
sion of the goods bequeathed to him. In Divine adop-
tion it is otherwise. Not only must God mark out the
'•Hebrews t. 1. >* Romans vUl. M.
Our Divine Adoptive Sonship 165
person whom He wishes to constitute heir to the in-
heritance of heaven, but He must create in the one
whom He chooses the capacity that will enable him to
take possession of the Divine goods. No created being
left to its own resources is capable of attaining to such
heights; it must be lifted to it by Divine grace and glory.
Doubtless by the fact that man was created to the
image and likeness of God, and that he is endowed with
an intelligent nature, he has the innate capability of
being raised to the beatific vision and to a share in the
Divine happiness, which consists in the fruition of God.
However, if he wishes to obtain the actual possession of
this supreme happiness, he must be assisted by super-
natural forces, the function of which is to perfect his
intelligence and enlarge his heart.
Human adoption is a purely external act, a legal fic-
tion which has the power of modifying the social stand-
ard of an individual, of inspiring him with new feelings,
and of establishing between him and his adopting par-
ent relations of intimacy and affection, but which can-
not transform his inner nature. A father surrenders
indeed everything he is capable of surrendering, when
he transmits to his adopted child his name, fortune and
affection. The new bearer of the family name, how-
ever, remains in his nature an alien to the race into
which he is adopted. If he has a noble and grateful
heart, he will espouse all the feelings, thoughts and
traditions of his adopted family, and will pledge to its
members his obedience and love; but this sonship will
have something artificial and conventional about it, and
there will always be lacking the bond of origin and the
voice of blood. Such is not the case in the Divine adop-
tion. The day in which we are initiated into the Chris-
tian religion, we are not only given the name of Chris-
tians, we are not only incorporated into the family of
Jesus Christ and bound over to His teaching, but we
166 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
receive upon and within our souls a mark of resem-
blance, an indelible character, "the spirit of adoption of
sons, whereby we cry : Abba, Father." ^^ Finally,
through the sacramental action of baptism and the
other Divine symbols, and, better still, through the pre-
cious banquet of the Holy Eucharist, we imbibe the very
blood of Him in Whom we are adopted. In this way
we are authentically and really made the members of
His race : "For we are also His offspring." ** Ai^j bg.
cause we are of the race of God, and because our son-
ship is not purely nominal, but absolutely true and real,
we become heirs in the strictest sense of the term, of
the Father we have in common with Jesus Christ, and
consequently joint heirs with the first-born of our
race."
IV
How can the most pretentious titles which men in
their vanity love and boast of, compare with the title of
children of God and brothers of Christ! What is a
prince of this world, a president, a king, however power-
ful he may be, when compared with an heir of the king-
dom of heaven? St. Louis, King of France, realized
this, and preferred to be called simply Louis of Poissy
— the village in which he had received the sacrament of
regeneration — rather than to be saluted with the title
of King of France.
Let others, if they will, boast of their noble origin, of
the extent and profoundness of their learning, of their
immense fortune, or their glorious civic titles; in the
eyes of Faith, and consequently before God, all
these things are as naught compared with the dignity
of a Christian who is in the state of grace. This just
soul may be that of a rough workman who toils the live
long day to earn his living; it may be that of a poor
" Romans rUU 15. » Acts xTii. 28, 29. " Romans vill. 17.
Our Divine Adoptive Sonship 167
woman whom everyone totally ignores; or again, that
of a beggar who has only a few wretched rags where-
with to cover his naked frame, and who is spurned and
despised by men. Yet while the rich of this world pass
him by, and cast not a glance upon his misery, all the
inhabitants of heaven have their gaze fixed upon him,
and the Almighty embraces him in His loving regard,
speaking again the words He had pronounced so sol-
emnly in praise of His Son Jesus Christ: "This is My
beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." '* The
angels gather around him in religious reverence, and
cover him with their protection, for they see in him a
brother of their own, and a joint-heir with them of the
glory of heaven.
This is what we should strive to impress upon the
mind of this present generation, who are so cold and in-
different with regard to the things of salvation, so un-
grateful towards their Creator, and so scornful of His
graces. Many Christians there are who set little value
on their Divine title, many who are ashamed to own to
it before the children of this world. These we must
remind of the splendor of their spiritual birth, the dig-
nity of their baptism, the incomparable greatness of
their destiny; these we are to instruct not to be ashamed
of that in which they should glory. Does a young man
belonging to a distinguished family blush at the men-
tion of the name of his ancestors? We who have been
baptized — we belong to the noblest of races; our race is
the race of God Himself; we are His children, and in this
wonderful dignity alone must we glory.
"Learn," wrote St. Jerome to the virgin Eustochium,
"to cherish a holy pride, disdaining the company of
those women who are puffed up with the wealth and
state of their families, for as a Christian thou belongest
to a higher condition of life than they." " Christian
»* Matthew xvil. 5. "St Jerome, Epistle ix.
168 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
humility is becoming to us as creatures and especially
as sinners, but we cannot have too high an idea of things
pertaining to the supernatural life. On the contrary,
we can be justly proud of possessing such Divine endow-
ments; this is one way of showing how highly we value
them. Let persons who do not profess our faith set
their hearts on goods and advantages of the natural or-
der, let them speak in extravagant praise of the advance-
ments of science, and such like things. We can under-
stand their attitude since, according to St. Paul: "The
sensual man perceiveth not those things which are of
the Spirit of God." ^s The Christian, however, although
he values and cultivates the natural sciences as much as
anyone — for grace does not destroy but perfects nature
— professes belief in a higher and more essential science,
the science of salvation.
Listen to the noble words of St. Cyprian in answer
to those whose lips in his day were constantly vaunting
the words progress, civilization, new discoveries; the
same class who in our own times are not satisfied with
kneeling in ecstasy before what they term masterpieces
of thought and conquests of science, but who would im-
pose their admiration of them upon others: "He who
realizes that he is a son of God will never admire the
works of men. Whosoever is a son of God feels that he
abdicates his dignity when he admires anything after
knowing his relation to God." " The same holy Bishop
can find no more powerful incentive in urging his flock
to repel the temptations of the evil one, than to suggest
to them the thought of their Divine sonship: "When
the flesh would lure thee to shameful pleasures, make
this answer: I am a child of God; I am called to too
high a destiny to make myself the slave of vile passions.
When the world solicits thee, answer thus: I am a
child of God; heaven's riches are laid up for me; it is
*« 1 Corinthians ii. 14. " St. Cyprian, lib. de Spectac. n. ix.
Our Divine Adoptive Sonship 169
beneath my honor to set value on a clod of this earth.
When the demon would offer thee the high places of
this world, answer him: Begone, Satan; cease to de-
file with thy suggestions a child of God." " ^jj^ gj^
Leo the Great exhorts us in like manner: "O Christian
soul, appreciate thy dignity, and realize that thou hast
been made so close an associate of the Divine nature;
and never again sink back into thy former vile
behavior." "
" St. Cyprian, lib. de Spectac, ii. Ix.
» St. Leo, M., Sena, de Nativitati Dom'i.
CHAPTER IV
Our Right to the Divine Inheritance a Consequence
or Our Adoption. What Is This Inheritance?
I
By grace we are constituted not only the children of
God, but also the heirs of His eternal kingdom: "If
sons, also heirs." This is the Apostle's conclusion; and
it is the necessary consequence of our adoption, for if
the adopted son is not placed in possession of a true
right to the inheritance of the person who adopts him,
adoption has no meaning. As a rule it is only when
there is no legitimate son, that upon the death of the
testator, a stranger is called upon to accept an inher-
itance as the adopted son. Now God cannot die, and
furthermore He possesses an only Son, "Whom He hath
appointed heir of all things," ^ to Whom He hath de-
livered all things, and to Whom all things belong in
heaven and on earth. And yet, remarks St. Augustine:
"So great is the love of that Divine heir, that He has
willed to have co-heirs. What avaricious man would
do that? — to join other heirs with himself. If there
should happen to be such a one, he would only divide
the heritage and retain for himself at least half of it.
But the heritage which we have jointly with Christ is
not made less to us than it is to Him, it is not lessened
by however great a number of co-heirs there may be as-
sociated with Him. It is as great among many as among
few, as much to every single one as to all." *
We cannot speak of spiritual goods as we do of nat-
ural goods. The latter cannot integrally belong to sev-
'■ Hebrews i. 2. * St Augustine, In Psalm xllx., n. 2.
170
Our Right to Divine Inheritance 171
eral possessors at the same time, and therefore their
actual possessor cannot invite another to share with
him his patrimony without divesting himself of some
part or of all that he possesses. Spiritual goods, on the
contrary, can be possessed simultaneously by a number
of persons with no division whatsoever. Would it be
correct to say that the teacher divests himself of all the
knowledge he has acquired, when he imparts it to the
group of students who gather about him? In the same
manner Christ can invite us to receive with Him the in-
heritance of our common Father, without fear of im-
poverishing Himself and without causing any detriment
to Himself or to His heavenly Father.
And what is meant by an inheritance? All will agree
that the inheritance of a person is that which constitutes
his fortune; it is his wealth. To fully deserve the title
of heir, therefore, it is not enough to receive any kind
of legacy or even an important present; it is the major
part, if not the totality, of the testator's possessions, i. e.,
what substantially constitutes his fortune. Now God's
wealth consists not, like that of man, in external goods
— gold, silver, products of the earth, fields, edifices, etc. ;
all these things evidently belong to Him, for nothing in
the universe can escape His sovereign dominion : "The
earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof." • "His is
the sea, for He hath made it." * Yet all these material
goods, so ardently coveted by the creature, because it
sees in them the means to provide for its needs and
satisfy its pleasure, cannot be looked upon as the wealth
of the Creator. This is why He abandons them with-
out distinction to the good and to the bad, nay, often-
times sinners seem to be more favored than others.
God's goods properly so-called are, on the contrary, the
exclusive privilege of His children by adoption, so that
the words of Scripture find good their application here:
• Psalm xxHI. 1. ♦ Pialm xclv. 5.
172 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
"Cast out the bondwoman, and her son, for the son of
the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the
freewoman." '^ The goods of God, His wealth, is Him-
self, His own Divine perfection; since He is the infinite
God, the principle and exemplar of all good, He is fully
sufficient unto Himself, and finds in the possession and
enjoyment of Himself perfect happiness.
God, however, in His infinite goodness, did not wish
to be alone in the enjoyment of His happiness. With
no other purpose in view, therefore, than to make others
happy. He was pleased to offer rational beings a share
in these Divine goods which far surpass anything the
intelligence of men or even of angels is capable of con-
ceiving; for: "Eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard,
nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive,
what God hath prepared for those who love Him." " In
calling us to the supernatural order, He confers upon
us the means to reach this supreme happiness of pos-
sessing Himself; in adopting us through grace. He gives
us that favor as a real right.
Thus the vision of God's infinite beauty, the love and
enjoyment of the Supreme Good, the participation in
God's own happiness — these are what constitute the pre-
cious heritage, the incomparable patrimony of His
adopted children. How can we not sing with the
Psalmist: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance
and of my cup. . . The lines are fallen unto me in
goodly places, for my inheritance is goodly to me." ^
n
St. Paul was right, then, in speaking of "the riches
of the glory of his heritage among the saints." * Who
could conceive of the extent of these riches, since it is
the good things of the Lord we are going to enjoy? "I
• Galatlans iv. 30. * 1 Corinthians 11. 19-
^ Psalm XV, 5, 6. • Epheslans 1. 18.
Our Right to Divine Inheritance 173
believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in
the land of the living." »
We are told in Holy Writ that Moses, to whom the
Lord was wont to speak as to His friend, one day in an
outburst of confidence, gave utterance to the following
prayer: "If I have found favor in Thy sight, show me
Thy face that I may know Thee . . . show me Thy
glory." And the Lord, answering his prayer in part,
said to him : "I will show thee all good. . . Thou canst
not see My face; for no man shall see Me and live. . .
Behold there is a place with Me, and thou shalt stand
upon the rock, and when My glory shall pass, I will set
thee in a hole of the rock, and protect thee with My right
hand till I pass. And I will take away My hand, and
thou shalt see My hinder parts; but My face thou canst
not see." "
Now this God, Whom Moses desired so ardently to
contemplate. Who is naturally invisible, and "Who
dwelleth in light inaccessible. Whom no man seeth nor
can see," " will one day show Himself as He is; for it is
in His knowledge and vision that eternal life consists:
"This is eternal life: that they may know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast
sent." "
The elect will one day see the eternal King of ages in
all the splendor of His glory and majesty; " they will
behold Him no longer in the mirror of created things,
through a veil or in the obscurity of faith; they will see
no longer only "His hinder parts," like Moses, but face
to face, directly, immediately, and as He is, as He sees
and knows Himself." For all eternity they will con-
template with an eager, yet always satiated, gaze His
infinity. His beauty, the fruitful source and perfect ideal
• Psalm xxvl. 13. »• Exodus xxxUl. 13-23.
» 1 Timothy vl. 16. «' John XTli. 3.
•• Isaias xxxlil. 17. " 1 CoiinUilans xJll. 12.
174 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
of all beauty, goodness and perfection. And since God
is an Infinite Good, the Universal Good, to use the ex-
pression of St. Thomas, the Good of all good, the full-
ness, the ocean of goodness. He will truly show the elect
all goodness when He shows them Himself.
And if the three Apostles, who beheld upon Mount
Thabor the glory of the spotless soul of Jesus radiating
through His mortal frame, exclaimed in a holy trans-
port of both fear and joy without knowing what they
were saying : "Lord, it is good for us to be here," "
what will be our sentiments, when, strengthened by the
light of glory, our souls shall be admitted to contem-
plate at leisure, not only the transfigured Humanity of
the Word made flesh, but the Divinity Itself unveiled in
all Its splendor, and when, embracing in one glance all
and every one of God's perfections which here below
we are forced to study one by one, we shall see them
fused into one pure infinite perfection — a rapturous and
ineffable sight, of which nothing in all creation can give
us an idea! Again, what will be our sentiments when
our gaze becomes stronger and more piercing than that
of the eagle, so that we shall be able to comprehend the
mysteries of God's intimate life, fathom the depths of
His wisdom and justice, consider the marvelous riches
of His love, the abundance of His mercy, the profundity
of His decrees, the wonderful operations of His grace, to
discover the secret ways by which He leads each one of
us to the term of our destiny!
There, our intelligence, so hungry for knowledge and
so thirsty for truth, will find in the clear vision of the
Word its complete satisfaction: "I will appear before
Thy sight in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when
Thy glory shall appear." " For the Divine Word is not
partial or fragmentary truth, but full, total, substantial
Irulh. And as St. Gregory remarks: "What can we
>■ MatUiew xvll. 4. ** Pudm xtI. 15.
Our Right to Divine Inheritance 175
not know when we know Him Who knows all things,
and by Whom all things exist." " There our will, that
is to say our power of loving, which nothing here can
satisfy, even were it the possession of the entire world,
will find in the possession of the Supreme Good the per-
fect satisfaction of all its desires : "Who satisfieth thy
desire with good things." " There our heart, always
restless in this life, because God, when He made it for
Himself and capable of possessing Him, created depths
which He alone can fill — there at last it will find its per-
fect rest.
Ill
Shall we attempt a more profound study of the nature
of our Divine inheritance? Would it not be rash to at-
tempt to describe what St. Paul acknowledged himself
incapable of describing, he who was caught up to the
third heaven? It would certainly be an intolerable pre-
sumption for us to speak on a subject so far above
earthly conceptions, were we reduced to the light of our
own poor understanding. But the Spirit "Who
searcheth all things, even the deep things of God," " has
supplied us with some precious knowledge that we can-
not afford to leave unnoticed.
To help our minds to form some kind of idea of the
ineffable delights of heaven, the Holy Ghost has repre-
sented it to us under divers names and figures. It is
God's kingdom; the house of our heavenly Father; the
true native land of souls. Again it is a banquet and a
feast; a torrent of pleasures. Finally it is rest; peace
and life — life without end, eternal life. Let us dwell a
moment on these various appellations and endeavor to
discover something of their meaning.
Heaven is represented to us as a kingdom, the king-
" St Gregory, M., Dial. 6, Iv„ n. 24.
>• Psalm cU. 5. >• 1 Corinthians 11. 10.
176 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
dom promised by God "to those who love Him." -° And
at the last day Our Saviour will say to His elect : "Come
ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world." ^^
To say kingdom is to say riches, power, honors, glory
and abundance of all good things. Such is heaven,''^
as said the prophet Isaias; the place in which are gath-
ered together all possible goods of body and mind.
"What happiness!" exclaims St. Augustine, "when all
evil is passed away, and all good comes forth to us;
where we shall be wholly absorbed in praising God, Who
shall have become all in all to us. There shall be true
glory, given us not blindly nor obtained by false-hearted
adulation. Every merit shall be crowned with honor.
There we shall enjoy truest peace, both with ourselves
and all others. The Author and Source of all virtue
will reward with perfect recompense every virtuous
act or thought or word, and that recompense shall be
the bestowal of His own very self. 'I will be their God,
and they will be My people' (Leviticus xxvi. 12) ; so that
•God may be all in all' (1 Corinthians xv. 28)." ^^
If in this valley of tears, God not only causes His sun
to shine on all men, just and unjust alike, but also shows
forth a marvelous multiplicity of most wonderful works,
bringing forth flowers and fruits, giving freshness to the
valleys, fertility to the plains, majesty to the moun-
tains, harmony to the heavens — what marvelous things
has He still in store for the saints in heaven, since the
prophet says that only there is the Lord magnificent.-*
And if He displays in the natural order such liberality,
and magnificence, opening His hand and filling with
blessing every living creature^' what will He not ac-
complish on the great day of reward, for those who shall
>* James ti. 5. "Matthew xxt. 34. " Isnlas xxNiii. 20.
>* St. Augustine, De Civii. Det, 1, XXII., cap. xxx.. n. 1.
" Isaias xxxlU. 21. ** Psalm cxUt. 18.
Our Right to Divine Inheritance 177
have served Him faithfully and loved Him persever-
ingly here below — for those beloved sons who, after hav-
ing been humiliated, scorned and persecuted on account
of His Name, at length, with outspread hands full of
good deeds will appear before Him to receive their
recompense? With what tenderness will He not receive
them with His caresses? With what joy will He not
introduce them into His kingdom, and cause them to be
enthroned beside Him to reign there eternally? ^^
Heaven is in very truth our native country, the fam-
ily mansion, the rendezvous of all of the children of
God. Our native country! What a sweet name, even
in this life of exile! How our hearts beat at even the
mention of our home land! How glad we are to go
back after a long absence ! Within its borders dwell all
those we have ever loved, all those we still cherish:
parents, friends, acquaintances; the paternal roof; the
ashes of our forefathers. There we breathe a purer air,
the sun beams more brightly, the landscape seems more
pleasant, the flowers are more beautiful, the fruit more
delicious than elsewhere. There, instead of being alone,
unknown, forgotten, we are surrounded by those who
love us; we feel their love and we are happy.
And yet what we here call our native land is in reality
but a stopping place; it is the wayside inn where we
take shelter for the night and which we leave behind us
on the morrow; the tent which the wanderer in the
desert raises at evening and folds at daybreak to resume
his journey. Our real native country is the land the
ancient patriarchs beheld from afar off, considering it
their duty to seek after it and confessing that they were
pilgrims: "We have not here a lasting city, but we
look for a future one." " What family and kindred
can compare with this company of God and His angels
and saints?
'•Apocalypse xx». 5. "Hebrews xiii. 14.
178 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
There we shall find the First-Born of our race, Who
was pleased to adopt us as His brothers, and invite us
to share His heritage. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, "upon Whom the angels desire to look." ^s We
shall be privileged to contemplate at leisure that ador-
able Face, Whose features mirror forth such serene
majesty, to rest our head upon the Heart that has so
loved men, and to press our lips to the thrice holy
wounds inflicted by sin upon Our Redeemer's hands and
feet. Like the Apostles upon Mount Thabor, we shall
listen to Our Lord recalling the pains which His love
led him to undergo for men — sufferings and humilia-
tions patiently borne during His sacred Passion, indeed
during His whole life; His excess of mercy, which led
Him to pardon our ever-recurring sinfulness; a charity
that nothing could weary, neither forgetfulness, nor in-
gratitude, nor even betrayal. Our soul will melt with
gratitude and love at the account of the wonders
wrought by our sweet Saviour for our sakes, and of the
many inventions of His love to bring us back to Him,
and to secure for us the grace of final perseverance.
There we shall see, love and praise the most sweet,
the most pure, the most holy Mother of God, the Blessed
Virgin Mary, that gracious Queen whose virginal beauty
will be the delight of the saints, that loving Mother so
worthy of our filial love, whose tender tokens of affec-
tion will enrapture our hearts to overflowing.
There we shall rejoice in the company of the angels
and look with ecstasy on those celestial hierarchies
which form a world so far superior in majesty and in
beauty to our own material and sensible one.
There, finally, we shall be admitted into the society
of all the noble, holy, and heroic souls who have ever
lived on this earth. The patriarchs, prophets, apostles,
martyrs, confessors, virgins will constitute but one
*• 1 Peter 1. 12.
Our Right to Divine Inheritance 179
immense family whose members will be united by one
bond of affection, congratulating one another on their
happiness, and rejoicing together for all eternity. All
discordant notes will be excluded from this place; there
only joy shall reign, a spirit of content without alloy.
The sinners and the unworthy are banished from this
kingdom; only the saints who with a common voice
sing the praises of their Creator and Redeemer are
there. Oh glorious heaven, our eternal home, when
shall it be given us to see thee? "Glorious things are
said of thee, O city of God!" 29
IV
Heaven is also a banquet, a feast prepared by the
Father of the family for the myriad of children who
gather around Him. On certain solemn occasions, all
the members of a family are invited to meet under the
paternal roof, and, if they are able to take their seats at
the same table and converse together for a short space
of time, these gatherings of a day are remembered as
among the happiest moments of a lifetime. And what
are the topics of these family conversations; what is the
spirit of the gatherings held there? The different mem-
bers of the family speak of their fears, their joys, their
troubles — yes, their troubles especially, for such are the
things that most abound in this land of exile. How
frequently, too, there is present some member of the
family whose misconduct or unhappiness strikes a note
of grief in the hearts of the others! Then again, how
many vacant places! How many absent members will
never appear there again ! And after a few short hours
of happiness, not unmixed with sadness, the members
must again part and each go his own way. Now the
great gathering of the children of God will be held in
»• Psalm Ixxxvl. 3.
180 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
heaven. Not one of the guests will be absent, no one
'will cause sorrow or affliction to the others, and the
knowledge of an approaching separation will never cast
its gloom upon the joys of that reunion.
Of all feasts, the most splendid and the most solemn
and at the same time the most replete with joy is a fam-
ily nuptial feast. Now the happiness of heaven is essen-
tially centred in the nuptial feast of the beatified soul
and the Lamb.^" And even in this life, Our Lord has
prepared a sumptuous repast for His faithful followers.
It is the Eucharistic Table, where He distributes a living
and life-giving Bread, a Bread come down from heaven
and delicious in a sovereign degree.'^ Yet if He is
pleased to give Himself thus to us in this life, it is only
in an imperfect way; and if He becomes the food of our
souls. He does not fully satisfy their hunger. "I possess
the Divine Word," says St. Bernard, "but yet I am in the
flesh; I banquet on truth, but it is in the Sacrament.
An angel is nourished by the fat of the wheat and its
very substance; and I must be content with the shell of
the grain; the sound of the letter of truth; the veil of
faith." «
This is why Our Saviour, before ascending into
heaven, announced to His apostles that He was going to
prepare them another banquet in His kingdom whither
they were all invited to sit at His table: "And I dispose
to you, as My Father hath to Me, a kingdom; that you
may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom." '» It is
unnecessary to say that the Divine Master was not
speaking of food for the body, since in heaven our bodies
will no longer need nourishment. When, therefore, it
is said of the elect that in heaven they eat and drink at
the table of God, it is meant that they share in the very
happiness of God, seeing Him as He sees Himself. This
** Apocalypse xlx. 9. *' John vi. 41.
•* St Bernard, in Canticles, serm. xxxiil., n. 7. •• Luke xxU. 29, 30.
Our Right to Divine Inheritance 181
is the rich banquet of Crod to which all the elect are
invited.'*
Then we shall no longer partake of the Body and
Blood of Christ, but the Divinity itself will become our
food. What a reward to see God, to be with God, to live
of and by God ! Then will be consummated that blessed
union between God and the soul, inaugurated here below
by grace; for since we shall possess God in a perfect
manner as the highest Truth and the Sovereign Good,
we shall be joined to Him in an ineffable union.'* To
all the heavenly Spouse addresses these words: "Eat,
My friends, and drink, and be inebriated. My dearly
beloved." " Unlike a precious beverage confined to a
vessel and soon consumed, the beatitude of heaven is a
river which will never cease to flow; it is of a torrent
of delights, of glory and of peace, at which the elect will
forever drink.^^ Let no one take exception to such ex-
pressions, dictated as they are by the Holy Ghost Him-
self; for if there is a shameful inebriation, unworthy of
a rational being, there is as well a lawful and a holy one,
the inebriation of joy and of love. Was not St. Mary
Magdalen of Pazzi inebriated with the Divine love, when
she used to give vent to the passionate words which re-
echoed throughout the walls of her convent: "Love is
not known, love is not loved?" And St. Francis Xavier,
was not he also beside himself with delight, when in the
midst of his apostolic labors, and whilst overwhelmed,
we might say, by the celestial consolations which flooded
his soul, he would cry out: "Enough, O Lord, enough;
spare my poor heart, I can bear no more !" If man can
taste such joys in this land of exile, what shall be his
bliss, we ask, in our native land, heaven?
■* Apocalypse xlx. 17. ••Apocalypse xix. 9.
" Canticle:, v. 1. " Ptalm xxxr. 9.
182 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Heaven is called by yet other names, all of them
rich in promise and replete with mysteries. Their
study will be a source of edification for us, telling of the
greatness of our future felicity, the inheritance set apart
for the saints. Heaven is rest, peace and life; rest after
work, peace after war, life eternal after death. Who
does not desire rest, who does not cherish life? Yet rest
is usually earned by hard work, peace is often won only
through war, and St. Paul tells us of our stern privilege
of "always bearing about with us in our mortal body the
mortification of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be
made manifest in our bodies." ^^
The present life is the time for work, fruitful work;
and also the seedtime of other good works. Like the
farmer who bears the burden and heat of the day, faces
the inclemency of the seasons, and wearies his sturdy
arms in furrowing the soil before intrusting to it the
seed which is the germ of the future harvest, so the
Christian must attend, without ever tiring, to the good
works which constitute his every day task. He must
devote himself to prayer, yield to obedience, bow his
shoulders to the yoke of the cross, and bear without
complaint the burden of weariness, of sorrows, and of
tribulations which form the daily bread of an exile.
Add to this the privations, sufferings, poverty, contra-
dictions, painful disputes, ingratitudes, many hidden
pangs in the heart, and many secret hurts — all the more
bitter and difficult to bear, in that they must remain
often without expression or witness or comforter. In a
word, the Christian should hearken to our Sacred Books:
"Going, they went and wept, casting their seeds." »»
Then, as if all this were not enough for his feeble
frame to bear, still other trials await the Christian.
»• 2 Corinthians It. 10. " Psalm cxxv. 6.
Our Right to Divine Inheritance 183
Now it is sickness which steals upon him; or it is death
ruthlessly mowing down those who are dearest to him;
again it is the sight of injustice triumphant, or of perse-
cution inflicted on those who strive to be faithful to
their duty. Now he is beset by temptations, and must
incessantly meet.the attacks of the enemies of his salva-
tion; he must begin over and over again the strife
against the bad instincts of his nature and maintain a
daily fight against his passions, so desperate and so
terrible a combat that the Apostle himself was forced
to cry out: "Who shall deliver me from the body of
this death?" «
But what joy and gladness, what rapture, when, once
freed from the prison of the body, shielded forever
against the attacks of the enemy and entirely purified,
the Christian soul will be introduced into heaven, there
to behold Our Lord hastening towards him. His counte-
nance smiling. His arms extended, rtis lips addressing
him: "Arise, make haste. My love. My dove. My beau-
tiful one, and come;" "the winter is now past" — thy sea-
son of sorrow and suffering; "the rain," that is to say,
the time of tears — "is over and gone;" "the flowers have
appeared in our land" — tokens of eternal fruits of joy
and love; "the voice of the turtle is heard" — the sweet
welcome of My Mother and My angels; "come and re-
ceive the crown," *^
. Then, according to the promise of Holy Writ: "God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and death
shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow
shall be any more, for the former things are passed
away." *2 The sacred writer does not merely say that
their tears will be dried, or that the elect themselves
will wipe away the tears from their own eyes, but that
God in Person will perform this office; as He said of old:
*• Romans vli. 24. «> Canticles 11. 11, et seq,
** Apocalypse xxl. 4.
184 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
"I, I Myself will comfort you;" ♦» and again: "As one
whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you, and
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem." ** If it is sweet
and soothing for a sick person to feel a friendly hand,
that of a mother or a spouse, drying the sweat or the
tears from his face, what joy will it be to feel upon our
brow the hand of God, a thousand times more sweet and
tender than that of a mother?
This is what strengthens the just in this life in the
midst of their trials, and comforts them in their afflic-
tions. They know, with certainty, that their sufferings
will last only for a time, while the reward will be eter-
nal. This is why they are comforted by the words of
the Apostle: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this
time, are not worthy to be compared with- the glory to
come, that shall be revealed in us." *' And again :
"For that which is at present momentary and light of
our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceed-
ingly an eternal weight of glory." " And far from al-
lowing themselves to be discouraged by the miseries of
this life, good Christians rather rejoice, convinced as
they are, that if they suffer with Jesus Christ, they will
also be glorified with Him,*^ and that after sharing in
His sufferings they will be admitted to share in His rest.
What will be the nature of this rest? Will it be in-
action, immobility, a sort of sweet eternal sleep? Cer-
tainly not. The promised rest is an animated and fruit-
ful rest, according to the words of the prophet: "And
My people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the
tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest." ** It is
a rest in which the most wonderful activities abound,
causing no fatigue, interrupted by no necessity, and pro-
ductive of ineffable joys. It is the generous, unceasing,
continual activity of a soul that has reached its term,
«* Isaias II. 12. ** Itaia* Ixvi. 13. « Romani viii. 18.
- 2 Corinthians Iv. 17. " Romans vlll. 17. " Isaias xxxii. 18.
Our Right to Divine Inheritance 185
and reposes in God as God reposes in it: "Now there
remaineth a rest for the people of God. For whosoever
hath entered into his rest, the same also hath rested
from his works, as God did from. His." ♦» In ceasing to
create, God does not cease to act : "My Father worketh
even until now, and I work." '° His activity displays it-
self chiefly within His own being; He contemplates Him-
self, loves Himself, and is rejoiced in His own self; He
is happy; He is ever renewed beatitude. And since in
heaven we shall be like unto Him, seeing and loving
Him as He sees and loves Himself, we shall share in His
happiness and live of His life.
Nothing will arise to trouble or interrupt our contem-
plation of God; neither the material occupations which
now take up so much of our time, nor the works of
mercy, which will have no place in a state where misery
and affliction are unknown; nor, finally, sleep, which is
so necessary on earth. Interior struggles as well as all
external battles against the enemies of our salvation,
will have ceased; for henceforth all the frontiers of our
soul will be protected against their invasions. Peace,
glorious and unchangeable, will be our lot. Oh! sweet
repose! Oh! happy holidays, wholly given to the most
beautiful ^ectacle ever vouchsafed to a rational crea-
ture, since this contemplation of Divine things consti-
tutes God's own happiness.
The intellect, the noblest of our faculties, will play its
part in this contemplation; but the heart, too, will also
have a great share, for vision begets love. It is only in
heaven that the precept of love will be truly fulfilled,
for we shall love God "with our whole heart, with our
whole soul, with all our strength, and with all our
mind." " We shall love Him without respite, inter-
ruption, hesitancy; without those perpetual changes
from ardor to coldness so humiliating for holy souls, to
«• Hebrews Iv. 9, 10. •• John Y. 17. » Luke x. 27.
186 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
whom indeed they are a cause of desolation of spirit.
We shall love Him; and love will overflow our hearts,
and, rising to our lips, will break forth in praise and
thanksgiving: "There we shall rest and we shall see;
there we shall see and we shall love; there we shall love
and we shall praise." " "Blessed are they that dwell in
Thy house, O Lord; they shall praise Thee forever and
ever." ^^ Instead of translating itself, as love does here
below, into desires, bewailings, weariness, it will pour
itself out in canticles of joy and songs of gladness.
But is it not to be feared that rest will grow tiresome
and that continual praise will at length prove distaste-
ful? St. Augustine answers: "If thou ceasest to love,
thou Shalt cease to praise. But since the object of thy
love can never cease to satisfy thee, thy praise can never
cease to be a joy to thee." " If one ray of Divine beauty,
falling on the forehead of a creature, transforms this
creature into a saint, and renders it so amiable that it
captivates all hearts; if the more we contemplate this
creature the more we are charmed; what invincible
charm shall not the clear vision and the continuous con-
templation of God's infinite beauty exert upon the minds
and hearts of the elect? And if it is so sweet to love and
to be loved by a simple creature like one of ourselves,
what joy will not that soul experience which feels itself
unceasingly loved with the strength of the most Holy
Trinity? What more could such a soul desire, unless it
be the prolongation of this happiness ! And as the soul
knows it to be eternal, how could it not be fully
satisfied? ^^
This is, so far as we have been able to express it, what
the inheritance of the children of God consists in; this
is the beatitude promised by Our Lord, under the name
•« St. Augustine, De Civlt. Dei. " Psalm IxxxiU.
•* St. Augustine, In Psalm Ixxxv., n. 24.
-De Civit. Del, 1, XXII., c. xxx., n. 1.
Our Right to Divine Inheritance 187
of eternal life, to those whom He calls His sheep : "My
sheep hear My voice . . . and they follow Me ; and I give
them eternal life;" =« that is to say, the direct and imme-
diate contemplation of God's infinite beauty, a perpetual
ecstasy of love, and praise without end. If in the mind
of the Psalmist, or rather in that of the Holy Ghost
Who inspired his words: "One day in Thy courts is
better than thousands," " what then are we to think,
what are we to say of the life that awaits us in heaven;
so full, so holy, so overflowing with gladness, life im-
mune from the changes of day and night and from the
vicissitudes of sorrow and joy; especially when we re-
member that it will have no end? It is not enough,
however, to say that it will be without end; like the
eternity of God, of which it is a participation, this life
knows neither change, nor succession, past nor future.
It consists in an indivisible and immutable present, in
the entire, perfect and undiminishing possession of the
Sovereign Good.
Meditating on the grandeur of this happiness, how
could the just soul, still exiled on this earth, not ex-
claim with the spouse of the Canticle of Canticles: "O
Thou Whom my soul loveth, show me where Thou feed-
est, where Thou liest in the mid-day." '® St. Bernard
comments on this passage as follows : "Here below the
soul's light is not clear, its refection is not perfect, its
abiding place is not stable. But show me where Thou
feedest, where Thou restest at noon-day. O truest mid-
day, O fullness of warmth and light, O sun that never
sets, driving away every shadow, drying up every foul
humor and expelling every infectious vapor! . . . Show
me Thy place of rest, of light, and of peace, O Lord,
where I may contemplate Thee in all Thy sweetness
and beauty forever." "
••John X. 28. "Psalm IxxxiH. 11. "Canticles 1. «.
"> St. Bernard, in Canticles, Serm. xxxiil., 6, 7.
CHAPTER V
Effects of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The Infused Virtues, Theological and Moral
I
If the beatitude of heaven were given to us merely
by reason of our rights as heirs, no effort could be re-
quired of us to merit it by our good works. All we
should need would be to possess with and through
sanctifying grace the title and character of adopted sons
of God. As a matter of fact, this is all that is required
of baptized children until they have reached the age of
reason. For adults, however, it is otherwise. Accord-
ing to the words of St. Augustine : "He Who created
thee without thee, will not justify thee without thee." ^
The least we can say is that after being deified, raised
through the communication of the most wondrous favor
unto a share in the very being and life of God, it was
altogether congruous that man should be expected to
act in a Divine manner, exercising the privileges of his
new life by becoming a cooperator with God, and thereby
the secondary instrument of his own salvation. This
is why the Council of Trent, infallibly interpreting re-
vealed truth, declares explicitly that: "It behooved
that eternal life should be offered to those who are justi-
fied not only as a grace mercifully promised by Our
Saviour to God's children, but also as the recompense
of their own good works and the reward of their merits,
' St. AufusUne, De Verbis ApoaL, sermo XV., cap. xi.
188
The Infused Virtues 189
as a crown of justice which the just Judge reserves for
whomsoever hath lawfully striven for it." *
This also is the reason why St. Paul exhorts us to
abound in every good work, firmly convinced that our
labor will not be in vain in the Lord, but on the con-
trary will receive a great reward.' To stimulate our
zeal and arouse our indolence, he then reminds us that
"we are saved through hope;"* and that since we are
always in danger of losing the grace we have received,
we should "work out our salvation with fear and
trembling." ^
Uniting his voice with that of St. Paul, the head of the
Apostolic College stirs us with these words: "Where-
fore, brethren, labor the more, that by good works you
may make sure your calling and election. For doing
these things you shall not sin at any time. For so an
entrance shall be ministered you abundantly into the
everlasting kingdom of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ." «
However, that we may merit, that we may elicit acts
in harmony with our supernatural elevation, and thus
progress towards the higher end to which the Divine
mercy has destined us, and which nature, left to its own
forces, could never attain — in a word, that we may act
in a God-like manner, the bestowal of additional* forces,
powers, energies and special helps is indispensable.
God has not refused these; He proffers them in such
abundance and variety as is truly astonishing. Just as
we are endowed in the natural order with a whole sys-
tem of intellectual and sensible faculties, which are
rooted in the essence of the soul, constituting so many
proximate principles of action, so also in the supernat-
ural order, from grace itself there flows into the powers
*Cone. Trid., less. VI., c. xyI.
■1 Corlnthiani xt. 68; Hebrews z. 86. * Romans vlil. 24.
•Phllippians 11. 12. '2 Peter 1. 10, 11.
190 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
of the soul certain forces by which those powers are
moved into action, perfecting, exalting and elevating our
faculties above their natural level, and rendering them
capable of eliciting supernatural acts.
Actual grace (i. e., the supernatural aid given for
every particular good act) would suflBce us, it is true,
to perform this kind of operation; and as a matter of
fact God uses these temporary helps — actual graces —
to assist the sinner who has not yet been justified to
perform acts preparatory to his justification. However,
when the supernatural life has reached the perfect state
in a soul, when this life has been communicated in a
definitive way, God no longer has recourse to these pass-
ing graces to help the soul to exercise the functions of
its new and higher life. Instead, He infuses into the
soul certain principles of activity proportioned to the
operations this soul is to accomplish, certain forces, abid-
ing supernatural qualities, or, in one word, certain
spiritual habits, the purpose of which is to enable it to
perform, as if naturally — "connaturaliter" — supernat-
ural works. These habits are known as the infused
virtues and the Gifts of the Holy Ghost.
The whole supernatural organism has been so admir-
ably described by Mgr. Gay, that we gladly give our
readers some paragraphs: "The Divine action in a just
soul is exceedingly admirable, both as to its enlighten-
ment and its strength. Above all else is the fact that God
shines and works in the soul's very essence. It is into
its depths that He pours the root-grace which we call
sanctifying, and which is at once the condition and the
primary eff'ect of His supernatural presence. Super-
natural grace becomes at once both our title to all other
benefits and, as it were, the open door to their introduc-
tion, giving the entire soul up to the active operation of
every Divine influence, as a matter of right, of power,
dnd of principle. It is by sanctifying grace that the in-
The Infused Virtues 191
dwelling Deity sets the soul free from sin, makes it guile-
less, gives it a new, a youthful and a purified life, open
and receptive to all the influences to which He submits
it, and docile to all the Divine impulses He will impart
to it. It is by sanctifying grace that He holds, as it
were, in His Divine grasp the roots of that soul's virtue,
qnd, engrafting them upon His own being, causes the
soul to drink in and absorb the thrice holy sap of His
love, and be made capable of projecting a Divine force
into all of those wondrous powers by which it extends
and enlarges itself as does a tree by means of its
branches." ^
Thus our natural powers, numerous, varied and ad-
mirable as they are in themselves, are by this interior
influence Divinely perfected, each according to its order,
its function and its end. Whilst receiving qualities es-
sentially new, superior and supernatural, the soul is
made supple to obey and energetic to utilize the Divine
intimations, being made the more passive under the
touch of God's hand, and at the same time the more alert
and active in His service.
That service consists essentially in the practise of
those sovereign virtues which are called theological or
Divine because they concern God directly, namely, faith,
hope and love. These are the leading virtues which are
known as infused, being penetrated through and through
by the infusion of sanctifying grace. "Thus sanctifying
grace," says the author just quoted, "is like sunlight,
which though in itself absolutely one, yet beams forth
in several colors, but principally in three." These three
great virtues, faith, hope and charity, thus infused with
supernatural life, are the immediate and primary effects
of sanctifying grace in the soul and life of the just man.
But there are other virtues subsidiary to them which
are also called and which are infused virtues, though of
T HonsigQor Gay, De la Vie et des Vertua Chrittenne$, L
192 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
a lower order than faith, hope and charity, from which
they are derived; they are the so-called moral virtues,
the chief ones being prudence, justice, fortitude and
temperance — known as the cardinal or hinge virtues.
Grouped with them are several other moral virtues, such
as humility, obedience, chastity, self-denial, etc. All of
these virtues, including the cardinal and the others, are,
as already said, called the moral virtues, and they are
likewise infused virtues, being, as it were, saturated
with sanctifying grace and elevated thereby as to motive
and by merit to the supernatural order, their excellence
and dignity being derived through the theological vir-
tues. The Sevenfold Gifts of the Holy Ghost, as well as
His Twelve Fruits — about which we shall soon treat in
detail — follow on after the infused theological and
moral virtues.
Although it is certain that the Sacrament of Confirma-
tion has for its proper office the imparting of the fullness
of all of these Divine favors, nevertheless merely to be
in the state of grace, as is a little child after Baptism,
is to possess all supernatural virtues in root and essence,
only awaiting the full use of reason for their develop-
ment according to the will of God in each particular
case.
II
Thus we are made acquainted with the Divine ele-
ments which go to make up the supernatural life of the
soul of a just man: sanctifying grace, sometimes called
habitual grace; the infused theological and moral vir-
tues; and the Gifts and the Fruits of the Holy Ghost.
Of these last two we shall treat more fully later on. At
present we shall briefly resume the office of grace and
of the virtues infused by it.
Let us recall, that to fit man to elicit such aids as
will finally lead him to the beatific vision, God first
pours into his soul sanctifying grace, which functions
The Infused Virtues 193
in the supernatural order as the human soul in the nat-
ural order. Just as the soul by uniting with the body
transforms a vile and inert mass into a living human
being, so grace, the true form of a far superior order of
life, communicates to him who receives it a new being,
spiritual and Divine, which makes him a Christian and a
child of God. And because being is the proper perfec-
tion of essence, just as operation is the proper perfec-
tion of the faculties, grace it is that is communicated
to the very essence of the soul, which it makes par-
ticipate in the Divine nature; whereas the virtues which
accompany grace have their seat in the different human
faculties, which they elevate and perfect by adding to
their natural forces a higher and more powerful energy,
which is supernatural.
No wonder then that, like the soul, which does not act
directly through its own substance, but only through
the intermediary of its faculties, so sanctifying grace
does not operate immediately of itself, but through the
agency of the infused virtues and the Gifts of the Holy
Ghost, all of which act as its faculties. Sanctifying
grace is, it is true, a principle of life and of operation;
yet it is a remote or indirect and not an immediate or
proximate principle. Grace is the root or trunk of the
tree; the supernatural virtues are the branches; and as
everyone knows, it is the branches that blossom and
bear fruit.
We have just mentioned the supernatural infused
virtues. They are called supernatural because they are
beyond the reach of nature; and are also called infused,
because, contrariwise to the merely natural or humanly
acquired virtues — which result from man's activity and
are acquired through the repetition of the same devout
acts — the infused virtues can proceed only from God
direct. Who Himself infuses them into the soul without
our effective cooperation, although not without our con-
194 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
sent. They are sometimes known as the Christian vir-
tues, because they belong exclusively to one who is truly
Christian, i. e., to a living member of Jesus Christ.
They come with grace, grow and develop with grace, and
are lost with grace; with the exception, however, of
faith and hope; for these virtues continue in the sinner
until he banishes them from his soul by deliberate act
in direct opposition to belief in God's truth or trust in
His goodness. The infused virtues are therefore planted
in the soul to lift up and transform our natural energies
that they may be capable of performing actions beyond
nature's powers and meritorious for eternal life. They
are grafted on to the soul like scions or grafts of a better
and nobler tree grafted upon a wild stock. In passing
through the graft the natural sap is purified of its de-
fects, so that the tree which before bore sour and wild
fruits now yields sweet and delicious fruits.
We have also seen that in the first rank of the infused
virtues must be placed the three theological virtues,
faith, hope and love, called theological because they have
God as their immediate object, because He alone can
infuse them into the soul, and because it is to His reve-
lation alone that we are indebted for the knowledge of
them. It would be impossible to doubt for a moment
the existence of these virtues, since St. Paul makes such
an explicit mention of them in his first Epistle to the
Corinthians: "Now there remain faith, hope, charity;
these three; but the greater of these is charity." * The
Council of Trent is not less formal in teaching that : "In
justification man receives faith, hope and charity, to-
gether with the remission of his sins; these virtues are
infused at the same time into his soul by Jesus Christ
upon Whom he is grafted." "
These proofs from authority will appear even more
convincing, if we consider the purpose towards which
•1 Corinthians xiil. 13. *Conc. Trid., sess. ▼!. c. 7.
The Infused Virtues 195
our actions must tend. Were this end nothing more
than a natural beatitude, we should need only our nat-
ural forces plus the Divine help. Since, however, God
has been pleased in His infinite goodness to call us to a
supernatural end, i. e., to a share in the happiness
proper and natural to Himself, and to the possession of
goods far beyond the reach of our natural faculties, it
becomes necessary for Him to add to our natural forces
other and far more powerful principles of action, ener-
gies of a Divine order proportioned to the end we are
seeking. These principles of a superior order are, to
begin with, the three theological virtues of faith, hope
and charity, which direct us to our final end, God.
What, let us ask, is necessary in order that a rational
being shall be made capable of tending in a correct and
regular way towards any determined end? He needs
knowledge and desire. Knowledge, or he would not
know what goal to seek; desire, or he would never
trouble to seek it. Hence the significance of the virtue
of faith. Efficacious desire of some good, however, pre-
supposes a certain assurance that we can obtain this
good, for a wise man does not set out towards a goal he
knows is beyond his reach. Hence the significance of
the virtue of hope. It also presupposes love, for we de-
sire only what we love. Thus we learn the necessity of
all three of the theological virtues to dispose our soul to
advance, and to render it capable of advancing freely,
towards its supernatural destiny. Faith is necessary,
for it reveals to us the sublime end to which we are
called, viz., the vision and possession of God as He sees
and possesses Himself; hope, because, depending on the
helps which have been promised us, we confidently
await from the hand of our heavenly Father the eternal
beatitude and the necessary or useful means to attain
it; charity, because this virtue enables us to love above
all things Him Who is infinite goodness.
196 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
These are the three principal virtues that are to give
the true orientation to our lives and exercise over our
entire conduct a most salutary influence. Faith, called
by the Council of Trent: "The beginning of salvation,
the foundation and root of all justification; without
which it is impossible to please God and to attain to
the company of His children." " Hope, that strong
anchor of trust which we cast out towards heaven, that
the storms and tempests of this present life may not
separate us from God nor cause our fragile vessel to
drift away from the port of salvation. Finally charity
or love, that incomparable queen of virtues, which gives
to the others their form and their final touch of per-
fection by directing them straight towards God, the
Supreme Good and the one object of charity, so that the
actions we elicit under the influence of any and all other
virtues may be made meritorious unto eternal life.
Ill
And yet, however excellent and valuable the theolog-
ical virtues may be, they are not sufficient of themselves
to govern the life of a Christian; other virtues must con-
cur in this complex work. We refer to what are
called the moral virtues.
The first and most indispensable condition for salva-
tion consists, as we have seen, in being rightly directed
to our final end. However, this right disposition must
be had not only in reference to the end, but also in
reference to the means by which we are to reach it.
Furthermore, we have duties to perform not only
towards God, but also towards our neighbor, as well as
towards ourselves. If, therefore, we feel the need of the
theological virtues to incline our intellect to cling to
God as Truth par excellence, to dispose our will to tend
lovingly and trustfully towards Him as the object of our
The Infused Virtues 197
supreme happiness, to love Him as the infinite Good-
ness, other virtues, as we have seen, are equally im-
perative. These provide for the faithful and easy per-
formance of our moral obligations: prudence, to direct
and guide our usual and daily conduct and to teach us
what we are to do and what we are to avoid; justice, to
enable us to render to God and man their due; fortitude,
to assist us in overcoming the difficulties we are sure to
meet with in the performance of our duties; and tem-
perance, to curb the pleasures of the senses and keep
them within the limits of reason.
With these four principal virtues, commonly known
ds cardinal virtues, because they are as the hinges upon
which our whole moral life turns, are connected several
secondary and dependent moral virtues, each with its
own proper object and purpose, and contributing in its
own sphere to the right ordering and sanctification of
earthly existence, even in its minutest particulars.
Yet, are these moral virtues, thus being forms of and
connected with prudence, justice, fortitude and tem-
perance, like the virtues of faith, hope and charity?
Are they infused by God into the soul to become the
organs and instruments of our supernatural life; or
must we acquire them by repeated acts? Are they Gifts
of the Holy Spirit, or products of nature? In a word,
must we admit of the existence in the just soul, besides
the natural moral virtues which make an upright man,
and are acquired by the frequent repetition of the same
acts, another set of virtues, analogous but of a higher
order. Christian or supernatural moral virtues which
God would produce directly in the soul with grace, and
which would be the exclusive property of the adopted
children of God?
The great majority of theologians have always taught
as being more probable, the opinion that the moral vir-
tues are infused. We are unable, it is true, to adduce
198 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
in support of this opinion, as we did above for the theo-
logical virtues, the authority of the Council of Trent,
for no mention was made there of the moral virtues.
However, it would be a strange mistake to base upon
this silence an attack on the common teachings of the
theological schools. If the Council does not speak of
the infused moral virtues, the reason is simple: the
Fathers of the Council wished to remain faithful to the
programme which they had decided upon from the very
beginning, viz., to concentrate all their efforts upon the
truths denied by heretics.
And in order that no one might mistake its real in-
tent, the official Catechism of the Council of Trent,
drawn up under the order of the Council and approved
by that great Pope, St. Pius V., enumerates among the
effects of Baptism : The most splendid train of all the
virtues which accompany the progress of grace in the
soul." " Such expressions would sound very odd were
it question only of the three theological virtues.
This is not the only occasion on which the Church has
manifested her opinion. Already in the twelfth cen-
tury, when controversy arose touching the effects of
Baptism in children, some theologians contended that
the sacrament merely remits original sin without con-
fering either grace or the infused virtues, since the child
was in no need of these virtues until he was capable of
eliciting the acts they inspired, and others held the en-
tirely coatrary opinion. The illustrious Pontiff, Pope
Innocent III., without settling the matter disputed, re-
marked that the assertion made by those who pretended
that "neither faith, nor charity, nor the other virtues are
infused in the souls of little children, since they cannot
give their consent," was an opinion not admitted by the
greater number of theologians.^^
" Catech. Cone, part 2, de Bap., n. 51.
** Innocent lU., c. "Majores, de Baptiiino."
The Infused Virtues 199
The majority of theologians, therefore, were of the
opinion that grace and the virtues were infused as habits
of mind not only in the souls of adults, but also in those
of little children. But of what virtues was there ques-
tion? Undoubtedly of the theological virtues; but also
of the other virtues, according to the expression of Inno-
cent III. himself. Had he meant to speak only of the
theological virtues, why would he have not done the
simple and most natural thing and completed his enu-
meration by naming the virtue of hope with those of
faith and charity? Else why this expression, "the other
virtues," to designate only one virtue?
IV
A century later, at the ecumenical Council of Vienne
in 1312, another sovereign Pontiff, Pope Clement V., re-
suming the same question, always a subject of debate
between Scotists and Thomists, made a clear pronounce-
ment in favor of the opinion of St. Thomas, without
making it a definition of faith. With the approbation
of the Council he declared it to be the more probable
opinion, and the one more in accordance with the teach-
ing of the saints and of modern theologians, that forma-
tive grace and the virtues are conferred in Baptism as
well upon infants as upon grown persons."
In presence of such authority, theologians have since
generally come over to the opinion which admits that
the moral virtues are also infused virtues. Both Scrip-
ture and Tradition seem to support the same opinion.
Indeed, Holy Writ speaks of the cardinal virtues as not
the result of human effort, but the fruit of Divine wis-
dom: "For Wisdom teacheth temperance and pru-
dence, and justice, and fortitude, which are such things
as men can. have nothing more profitable in life." ** St.
" Qement V., In Cone. Vienn., De Summa Trinit., et Cathol. Fide.
"• Wisdom Till. 7.
200 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Augustine also declares that: "The virtues which
should guide us through life are four in number, accord-
ing to the teaching of the wise and of Scripture. The
first is called prudence, which causes us to discriminate
between good and evil. The second is justice, by means
of which we render to everyone whatsoever is due to
him. The third is temperance, by which we put a
bridle upon our passions; the fourth is fortitude, which
makes us capable of bearing all that is painful. These
virtues are given us by God together with His grace in
this valley of tears." ^^
A very weighty theological reason is furnished by St.
Thomas in support of the same doctrine. Effects, he
says, must be proportionate to their cause. Now all vir-
tues, whether intellectual or moral, which we are able to
acquire through our actions, proceed from certain prin-
ciples placed by nature in the depths of our being to
meet certain natural '^eeds of which they are the off-
shoots. In the order of grace God has substituted for
these principles the theological virtues, which set us in
order towards our supernatural end. To have harmony,
therefore, in the Divine plan, we must be granted other
supernatural habits to correspond to these Divinely in-
fused theological virtues, having the same origin and
belonging to the same order, namely, the supernatural-
izing of our whole moral life, and of rendering its ac-
tions meritorious for heaven; habits which will be to the
theological virtues what the human, intellectual or
moral virtues ar6 to the natural principles from which
they proceed.^^
But we must not deceive ourselves; moral virtues are
not at all comparable with the theological virtues. Act-
ing, as they do, from natural tendencies, their activities
can never extend beyond the bounds of nature. But
'•St. Augustine, in Psalm Ixxxiii., n. 11.
»«St. Thomas, I., H.. q. 1x111., a. 3.
The Infused Virtues 201
under the influence and dominion of Divine charity they
can, of course, produce meritorious actions.
The Christian, therefore, can possess two sets of
moral virtues specifically different one from the other.
The first will be natural and acquired, the second super-
natural and infused; a natural prudence and a super-
natural prudence; a natural justice and a supernatural
justice, etc., quite distinct one from another. Thus,
while the mere natural virtue of temperance makes us
use a moderation dictated by reason and consisting in
the avoidance of all excesses calculated to harm the
health of our bodies or the full exercise of our mental
faculties, on the other hand, the infused or Christian
virtue of temperance rises higher, and disposes us, under
the direction of faith, to chastise our bodies and bring
them into subjection by fasting and abstinence, vigils
and the other mortifications. The same is true of the
other virtues which differ according as they are a prod-
uct of nature or of the infusion of grace. The natural
virtues may even be found in a sinner; the supernatural
are the exclusive privilege of the just.
Whence then the difficulties and reluctancies expe-
rienced in the practice of certain virtues, even by souls
who have already been justified, and who, therefore, it
seems, should possess all these virtues? Is not the most
authentic sign of the presence of a habit of mind and
heart the facility, and even the pleasure, which the pos-
sessor experiences in performing its necessary acts?
We have taken this objection from St. Thomas; he
will furnish us also with the answer: "It not seldom
happens that one has a virtuous habit of mind or of
heart — intellectual or moral — and yet finds difficulty in
eliciting its acts, finding no satisfaction or pleasure in it
on account of certain external obstacles. Thus is a man
of learning hindered by sleep, or by some other diflft-
culty. It is thus, too, that one who possesses moral
202 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
virtues may be hindered from practising them in cer-
tain particulars by bad tendencies contracted previously
to his acquiring his virtuous habits — bad tendencies
which do not expel the good habits because they are not
absolutely and willfully contrary to them. But solid vir-
tues are not thus hindered, for they are incessantly re-
newed and as incessantly act towards the destruction of
the vicious tendencies opposing them." "
And we must add that it is not universally true that
the justified sinner, experiences after a sincere and gen-
erous conversion, the same reluctance towards the prac-
tice of virtue as he did before. How many difiSculties
which at first sight seemed insurmountable are suddenly
removed, under the action of grace, and disappear as by
enchantment. Witness St. Augustine, who writes of
himself : "How sweet did it seem to me in a moment to
taste no more the sweetness of folly; it was a joy to cast
away what I had feared to lose. For Thou did cast it
out. Thou true and sovereign sweetness. Thou didst
cast it out and fill its place ; Thou Who art sweeter than
any pleasure, though not to flesh and blood. . . Hence-
forth my soul was delivered from the gnawing anxieties
of ambition and gain, from wallowing in the mud of
lust; and I prattled in my joy like a child to Thee, O
Lord, my Light, my Wealth, my Salvation." ^^
" St. Thomas, la.. lie., q. xv., a. 3, ad. 2.
" St. Augustine, Conf.. lib. IX., c. 1.
CHAPTER VI
Effects of the Indwelling of the Holy Ghost
(Continued)
The Gifts of the Hohj Ghost
I
The Holy Ghost brings not only grace and the Chris-
tian virtues to the soul in which He makes His abode,
but also various endowments called the Seven Gifts of
iJie Holy Ghost — with a special meaning the word Gifts
— the sacrum septenarium, as the Church calls them.
What are we to understand by these Gifts? What is
their purpose and their function in the supernatural
life? Are they really distinct from the infused virtues,
and are they to be looked upon as necessary for salva-
tion? These are questions which must be answered.
First, then, what is precisely the nature of the Gifts
of the Holy Ghost? Primarily, they are gratuitous
favors, as their name indicates; and in this they are like
the other gifts of grace. However, the generic term,
"Gift," has come to have in Christian language a very
precise meaning, and is determined and restricted to
certain exalted perfections which God communicates
gratuitously to the just soul, with the purpose of ren-
dering it docile to His Divine inspirations.
Like sanctifying grace, and like the infused virtues to
which they bear more than one resemblance, Jthie Gifts
of the Holy Ghost are habits or dispositions towards
good, which exist in the soul as determined and con-
203
^04 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
iin\\€}\\!^ qiifllitjps. Therefore, they are .JBUiL^acls, but
prirmipln nf actinn; nor are they actual molions, or
passing helps of grace destined to set our faculties to
functioning, but qualities, forces imparted to the soul in
view of certain supernatural operations.
In speaking of these Gifts, the Scriptures themselves
depict them to us as existing in a stable manner, as re-
maining in the soul of the just man. Referring to the
Word made flesh, Isaias says: "The Spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon him; the Spirit of wisdom, and of
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of fortitude,
the Spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall
be filled with the Spirit of the fear of the Lord." » The
doctors of the Church have applied these words to the
living members of the mystical body of Our Lord, which
share in the privileges of their Head. St. Gregory the
Great tells us, that "in these Gifts, without which no one
can attain to eternal life, the Holy Spirit dwells in all
His elect; in others He dwells, but not in a stable man-
ner." 2
With the Angelic Doctor, we could define the Gifts of
the Holy Ghost as spiritual habits, or abiding and essen-
tially supernatural qualities, the purpose of which is
to perfect man's nature, and to dispose him to respond
promptly to the motions of the Holy Spirit." We must
not conclude, however, from these words that the Gifts
of the Holy Ghost are merely passive dispositions, a kind
of spiritual unction, the purpose of which is to make
pliant our faculties that they may offer no resistance
to the action of Divine grace. They render the soul both
docile to God's call and positively energetic in action.
(^ The moral virtues, as we have said, are intended to
Jsubject man's appetitive faculties to the control of right
treason and render them docile to its demands, although
• iMias xl. 2. 3. * St. Gregory. M.. I. H., Moral., cap. zxTlll.
• St Thomas, I., n., q. IxtIU.. a. 3.
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 205
they are, at the same time, sources of activity. In like
manner the Gifts are at once supernatural energies and
principles of supernatural action. We have proof of
this in those great qualities known as Beatitudes, which,
by the very reason of their perfection, must be attrib-
uted to the Gifts rather than to the virtues, and which
proceed from the Gifts as an action proceeds from a
habit.
Yet, if this be the case, it may be asked, in what do
the Gifts differ from the infused virtues? A few theo-
logians are of the opinion that they are not really dis-
tinct, and that Gifts and virtues are meant to designate
one and the same thing. If, these theologians tell us,
you consider the supernatural habits as gratuitous
favors we receive from the Divine goodness, these favors
are called Gifts; if you view them as principles of action,
they are called virtues.
This explanation seems very simple, yet it is hardly
reconcilable with certain incontestable truths. For, if
the Gifts of the Holy Ghost are identical with the vir-
tues, how is it that Our Lord, Who possessed all the
Gifts, did not possess all the infused virtues; not faith,
since the presence of this virtue in His soul was incom-
patible with the direct vision of the Divine Essence
which Our Saviour never failed to enjoy; not hope,
since the perfection of His comprehensive possession of
all beatitude excluded it altogether; not penance, since
He was innocence itself, and impeccable? Furthermore,
if the Gifts and the virtues are not things really distinct,
we would have to explain why certain Gifts, like the
fear of God, are not mentioned in the enumeration of
the virtues; and, vice versa, why certain virtues find no
place in the list of the Gifts. For these and other
reasons, the great majority of theologians hold with St.
Thomas to a real distinction between the Gifts and the
virtues, basing the distinction upon the diversity of
206 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
motive-forces to which man yields, and which he obeys
in the practice of good.
If, says the Angelic Doctor, we wish to make a clear
distinction between the Gifts and the virtues, we must
hold firm to the language of Scripture, which speaks of
the Gifts not as gifts, but as spirits: the "Spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and
fortitude," etc. By the use of these terms. Holy Writ
., gives us to understand that the aim and end of these
\ Gifts, coming as they do from without and being poured
oT^ y into our soul with sanctifying grace, is to render our
v^ \. faculties supple to grace, and to dispose them to obey
r^ / promptly the Divine inspirations. Now the meaning '6T
inspiration is a motion from without in contradistinc-
tion to a motion produced under the influence of reason
from within.
There is in man a twofold principle of activity which
moves him to the performance of such acts as will lead
him, under grace, to salvation. The first of these mo-
tions is interior, viz., reason; the second is exterior —
God. Two kinds of perfections are necessary to fit man
for the reception of this twofold motion: the more
lowly of these two is the infused virtues, the purpose of
which is to dispose man to follow without resistance the
guidance of right reason in all his interior and exterior
actions; the nobler kind, and, consequently, absolutely
distinct from the preceding one, is the Gifts, the purpose
of which is to render man's faculties flexible and recep-
tive beneath the inspirations of the Holy Ghost.
Let us set this forth more plainly. First, it is evident
that man possesses in his reason alone, whether it be
left to its own power or enlightened by faith, a principle
of activity under the influence of which he is moved or
determined to this or that action. Since he is an intel-
ligent and free agent, and, therefore, master of his own
actions, he can in his own sphere determine himself of
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 207
his own free choice to this or that operation. However,
in order that those human faculties, capable of eliciting
moral acts, be habitually inclined towards good and
disposed to accomplish it with facility, promptness and
perseverance, they need to be perfected by certain qual-
ities or habits, the purpose of which is to bring these
faculties under the government of right reason. For
acts in the natural order, this function belongs to the
human or acquired virtues; for acts in the supernatural
order, to the Christian or infused virtues. When man is
equipped in this manner, he is in a position to act, to
do good, to accomplish things that merit and are con-
ducive to salvation, at least those which do not surpass
the common and ordinary level of Christian virtue.
But when there is question of salvation, reason is not
the sole motive-force nor the single determining prin-
ciple of our actions; it is merely a subordinate and
secondary one. The first and principal mover towards
eternal life is outside of us, and it is no other than God.
Now it is a truth warranted by everyday experience,
that the higher the motive-force, the more perfect must
be the dispositions which are to dispose the subject to
receive its action. Thus, whilst a child is easily and
quickly able to understand and follow the lessons of a
teacher of elementary grammar, a long period of study
— which is not even within the reach of some matured
intelligences — is necessary to fit a cultured adult to fol-
low the courses of a professor of higher education.
If then, our appetitive faculties are in need of a whole
set of habits, acquired or infused accordingly as the
good we seek to perform is natural or supernatural, to
dispose them to obey promptly the injunctions of reason
enlightened by its own light or by that of faith, how can
we but conclude with St. Thomas, that to place us in
condition to receive with fruit and follow with docility
the inspirations and direction of the Holy Ghost — a
208 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
mover so far above our reason even when habitually en-
lightened by faith — other perfections, other habits
superior to the moral virtues, acquired or infused, are
absolutely indispensable. These perfections are the
Gifts of the Holy Ghost. The infused moral virtues dis-
pose the appetitive faculties to obey reason promptly;
the Gifts make man docile to the inspirations of the
Holy Spirit.
H
Let us allow St. Thomas to explain, in his usual clear
way, what is to be understood by the human mode of
action characteristic of the virtues, and what constitutes
the superhuman, or, so to speak. Divine mode charac-
teristic of the Gifts. The Angelic Doctor finds no way
of bringing this out better than by comparing the vir-
tue of faith with its parallel, the Gift of understanding;
and he shows by an example, which he himself declares
evident, the difference in their workings. The natural
mode by which we know spiritual and Divine things,
he says, consists in raising ourselves above this material
visible world to the invisible world through the mirror
of creatures and by means of analogies, i. e., by means
of concepts borrowed from the sensible order of things,
and, therefore, necessarily imperfect; and this is why
faith, which is an infused virtue, has recourse to these
very same sensible notions in order to initiate us into
the knowledge of supernatural truths.* He continues:
faith broadens the circle of our concepts, enables us to
penetrate into the very sanctuary of the Divinity, and
reveals to us certain mysteries to the knowledge of
which w^ would never have attained through viewing
the spectacle of the universe around us; it does not,
however, change our natural mode of knowing, and this
is why faith is essentially obscure. Then comes the
* St Thomas, lU.. Sent., diat. XXXIV., q. i., a. 1.
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 209
Gift of Understanding, and instead of that mere assent
to revealed dogmas which faith implies, it commun-
icates to us a more certain perception of the truth,
makes us see clearly into Divine things, lifts us above
our natural mode of knowing, and without brushing
aside all veils, gives us, even in this life, a foretaste of
the future manifestations of heaven.
What a deep understanding of the truths of our faith
do we not meet with from time to time in some men,
yea, even in little children, uncultured and unedu-
cated, yet docile to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit!
What perspicacity, too, in detecting the poison of error !
Perhaps, they are incapable of refuting by the methods
of logic the sophisms of heresy and unbelief; yet they
are so intimately penetrated with the truth of Catholic
teaching, and they clearly understand how they must
not stray from it in the least degree. How account for
such a certitude about the things of faith? Is it due to
natural means of knowledge at man's disposition —
study, reflection, etc.? Certainly not; it is due to the
Divine Gift of Understanding.
Ill
If now, passing to practice, we ask the Angelic Doc-
tor in what consists the human mode of action proper
to the virtues as distinguished from the Gifts. In what
does prudence, for example, differ from the superhuman
mode of mental activity characteristic of the corre-
sponding Gift of Counsel. His answer is clear and
precise. Let it be question of the choice of a state of
life or of any other important determination one must
take, this is how prudence proceeds. It first inquires
into the means available to reach the end in view, deter-
mines those which are the best, and prescribes their ap-
plication, examining all things with the light of reason,
as well as with that of faith, weighing the pros and cons.
210 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
studying one's own qualifications, tendencies and dis-
positions, foreseeing what may happen in the future by
judging from what has taken place under similar cir-
cumstances in the past, seeking the advice of prudent
men, praying for Divine guidance. "The soul is acting
wisely, but after a human fashion, finding things out by
inquiry and conjecture," etc." Then comes thi^ deter-
mining of the better means, and finally the decision it-
self, which is the principal act of the virtue of prudence.
It happens not unfrequently, however, that on ac-
count of exceptional or particularly difficult circum-
stances, human prudence is found to be insufficient. It
is in vain that we reflect, seek advice and study the
question from every angle, we cannot succeed in clari-
fying matters, nor in taking any kind of a firm and pre-
cise resolution. What is one to do in such conjunc-
tures, when prudence is silenced and reason baffled?
We must follow the example of the holy King Josaphat,
who, face to face with the combined army of the Am-
monites, Moabites and Syrians, and knowing not what
course to take, turned his eyes towards Heaven and
addressed to God this prayer: "O our God, we have not
strength enough to be able to resist this multitude,
which cometh violently upon us. But as we know not
what to do, we can only turn our eyes to Thee." « And
behold the Spirit of the Lord came of a sudden upon a
prophet, who went to the king and to his people with
this message from Jehovah: "Fear ye not, and be ye not
dismayed at this multitude, for the battle is not yours,
but God's. ... It shall not be you that shall fight." ^
If, then, a Christian, in similar circumstances, has
recourse to Him Who never refuses His help for things
necessary or useful to salvation, and thereupon receives
an impression from on high — call it an inspiration —
• St Thomas, m.. Sent, dist XXXTV., q. 1.. a. 2.
• 2 Parallpomenon xx. 12. ' Ibid., xv., 16-17.
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 211
which puts an end to all his perplexities, and thus is
possessed with a kind of certitude pointing out what
he must do — this is what is above the human mode, this
is the effect of the Gift of Counsel.*
In things which do not surpass the reach of reason,
it is acquired or infused prudence which is to direct
man in the choice and use of means. Therefore, to
neglect to examine with the light of one's own reason
what it is best to say or to do in all grave matters, with
the pretext that we abandon ourselves to Divine Prov-
idence, is tempting God. However, because human
reason alone is incapable of understanding every par-
ticular case and all the circumstances that may arise:
"For the thoughts of mortal man are fearful, and our
counsels uncertain," » therefore in cases touching sal-
vation, where prudence no longer suffices man needs
to be guided and directed by Him Who knows all things.
Just as in human affairs, when one lacks sufficient in-
formation in some affair, one has recourse to persons
who are more expert.
This superior order of guidance in high spiritual
affairs is obtained through the intermediary of the Gift
of Counsel; hence the words of the Psalmist: "The Lord
ruleth me, and I shall lack for nothing." ^° In this case,
then, man has not to examine, nor to decide on the best
line of conduct. The Holy Ghost takes over this task,
and man has only to listen with docility to His inspira-
tions, for, as St. Thomas says, it is the mover and not
the instrument who judges and commands. Now when
it is question of the need and the use of the Gifts, it is
the Holy Ghost and not human reason who is the mover,
the latter being passive rather than active, the instru-
ment, and not the principal cause. Nevertheless, man
is not to be looked upon as an utterly passive instru-
• St. Thomas, IH., Sent, dist XXXIV., q. 1., a. 2.
•Sap. ix. 14. "Psalm xxli. 1.
212 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
ment, for he has a certain activity, and he is free. He
is active in so far as he is free and freely cooperates
with the Divine motion.
The difference in mode of action, which we have just
pointed out, between the virtue of prudence and the
gift of counsel, is to be found also between the other
virtues and the other Gifts. To each virtue corresponds
a special Gift, the purpose of which is to perfect this
virtue by helping it to operate under certain circum-
stances in a superhuman way. This is what notably
takes place in the relation of the virtue of fortitude to
the Gift which bears the same name.
The peculiar quality of the virtue of fortitude is to
strengthen the soul by helping it to overcome, in spite
of all dangers, yea, even of death itself, all the obstacles
that are to be met with in the performance of good
works. And if you ask what is its particular mode of
action as a yirtue, we answer you with St. Thomas, that
it consists in facing and overcoming difficulties within
reach of the human powers. To go beyond this point
and undertake of one's own accord, works which exceed
one's natural strength, would no longer be virtue, but
rashness, just as it would be a sign of pusillanimity to
shrink from the task through lack of courage. How-
ever, that man under some special circumstances and
urged on by a higher instinct, should take as the meas-
ure of his acts, not his own resources, but the power of
God; that he should direct his native energies to the
performance of actions which exceed them and should
face dangers which he has not the power to overcome,
placing his entire confidence in God's help — this is what
is above the human mode of action; and when it is
done, it is the effect of the Gift of Fortitude.
It would be easy to push this comparison, and to
show in detail what is the human mode of action proper
to other virtues, and in what it differs from the mode of
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 213
action special to the Gifts. Perhaps, it will be better,
however, if we limit ourselves merely to pointing out in
a general way, what constitutes the divergence of pro-
cedure between these two influences.
In the performance of actions which emanate from
the virtues, whether naturally acquired or due to in-
fused grace, man acts in accordance with his human
condition, i. e., of his own accord and by his own init-
iative. After mature reflection, and, if need be, after
seeking another's advice, he directs his energies to the
performance of some particular good action of his own
free choice and determination — which does not mean,
of course, that God's ordinary motion, which acts as
primary cause in every free or natural agent, is ex-
cluded. If, on the other hand, man acts under the in-
fluence of the Gifts, he is no longer acting of his own
accord, but an interior and omnipotent impulse (with
which, however, he freely cooperates), urges him to do
this or that thing which has been suddenly suggested to
him. In this case, man is rather passive than active,
although his personal activity, in the form of free con-
sent and free cooperation, is not absent, for God moves
each being in a manner conformable to its nature.
St. Augustine, commenting upon the words of the
Apostle, "Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God," " has given us an excellent
description of this second mode of action. He bids us
observe that the Holy Ghost "moves them so as to make
them act — and not to remain simply passive and
inert."" Hence, they do act; yet, to bring out the
special impulse which causes them to act, St. Paul says
they are moved by the Spirit of God. Now "to be
moved or set in action, is more than simply to be con-
ducted or guided; for though he who is guided does
something, and that correctly just because he is guided,
" Romans vlli. 14. ^ St. Augustine, De eorrept. et grat., e. U., n. 4.
214 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
yet he who is moved or set acting, seems scarcely to
do anything of himself; and meantime the grace of the
Saviour acts so efficaciously on our will that the Apostle
fears not to say that those who 'are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God.' And our will can
make no better use of its liberty than to abandon it to
the impulse of Him Who can do no wrong." "
Holy Scripture and the lives of the Saints abound in
passages, where we read of men acting under the in-
fluence of this Divine impulse. Thus it is said in the
Gospel according to St. Luke that Jesus "was driven
by the Spirit into the desert." ^* In the same way, the
holy man, Simeon, who had received from the Holy
Ghost the promise that he should not die before seeing
Christ the Lord, "came in the Spirit into the temple," "
at the very moment when Mary and Joseph presented
themselves in the Temple to fulfill the prescriptions of
the Law in the person of the Child Jesus.
An incident which will show us in a striking way the
difference in mode of action between the virtuej; and the
Gifts is the following: Under the persecution of Sep-
timius Severus, a young slave woman, named Felicitas,
was condemned to the wild beasts with several other
Christians. She was about to give birth to a child, and
as the day fixed for her death was fast approaching,
Felicitas was deeply grieved at the thought that her
present condition would be the cause of delaying her exe-
cution, since the law forbade the execution of a woman
with child. The other martyrs who were imprisoned
with her shared in her grief, and were unwilling to
leave her behind. Three days before the date fixed for
their appearance in the amphitheatre, all began to pray
to obtain Felicitas' immediate delivery of her child.
They had barely ceased when she was seized with the
"St. Augustine, De Gestis Pelag., c. Hi., n. 6.
»* Luke Iv. 1. •• L"ke li. 27.
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 215
pains of childbirth, and, as she was uttering groans, one
of the jailors said to her: "If you cannot bear with this
suffering now, what will become of you when you will
be torn by the wild beasts? You would have done much
better by sacrificing to the gods." To this the noble
woman answered: "Today it is I who suffer; tomorrow
Another will suffer in me for me, because I also suffer
for Him."
IV
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost are distinct from the
virtues not only by their mode of action, but also by the
rule which measures their acts.
The rule governing the acquired natural virtues is
human reason perfected by natural prudence; that gov-
erning the same virtues when infused, is reason en-
lightened by faith and directed by supernatural pru-
dence. As to the Gifts of the Holy Ghost — those higher
perfections which God communicates to us in view of
the special impulse and motion He is to bestow on us —
their acts have no other rule or measure than the Divine
inspiration, and the wisdom of Him Who is the Spirit
of Truth.
And be it remembered that it is not only on rare occa-
sions that the Divine inspiration moves man to the per-
formance of works which transcend the ordinary
bounds of reason, even of reason enlightened by faith.
These works possess a superior goodness; they are not
performed with rashness, since they have God as their
counselor and mainstay; and their performance is jus-
tifiable for the very superior condition that God, in act-
ing in this way, is not bound to restrict Himself within
the narrow limits of human reason, even sanctified by
grace of an ordinary kind. Works done under the spell
of a Gift of the Holy Spirit go beyond what the rules of
prudence would exact. Ordinary, and even Christian,
prudence would not authorize any one to undertake
216 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
then or advise them. But it is particularly in these
worKs that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost come into action.
When St. Dorothea, on her way to martyrdom, was
addressed by a lawyer named Theophilus, who, having
heard her speak of the paradise of her Spouse, said to
her scoflBngly: "Very well, spouse of Christ, send me
from the paradise of your Spouse some flowers." She
answered promptly: "Certainly, I will." We might ask
whence came such an assurance? Would she have
spoken in this way had she followed the laws of Chris-
tian prudence? Was she not exposing herself either to
tempt God in expecting a miracle He was not at all
bound to perform, or to throw discredit on the Christian
religion should the promise never be realized? And yet
the young girl answers without the slightest hesitation :
"Certainly, I will." And the event'justified her promise.
We can explain it only by saying that it was the Holy
Ghost who suggested this answer, and that she had
obeyed with docility and without hesitation or reflec-
tion the Divine inspiration according to the words of
the prophet: "The Lord hath opened my ear, and I do
not resist." "
In the same way when the blessed Henry Suso, of the
Order of St. Dominic, traced in deep characters the
name of Jesus on his breast, and macerated his body in
a way revolting to our self-indulgence. Again, when St.
Apollonia, threatened by the pagans with being burnt
alive if she did not renounce Christ Jesus, forestalled
their plans and cast herself into the flames, when the
Stylites, and so many other saints embraced a state of
life, which seemed to be a perpetual challenge to nature,
can we say that they acted according to the rules of
Christian prudence? Certainly not; yet countless mir-
acles attest their holiness, proving that in acting in this
manner they were obeying a Divine impulse. All those
MlMias 1. 5.
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost. 217
heroisms of faith, meekness, fortitude, patience and
charity, so plentiful in the lives of the Saints; all those
extraordinary works undertaken for the glory of God
and the salvation of our neighbor — the highest mani-
festations of the spiritual life — are nothing else than
effects of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. Emanating as
they do from a principle superior to that of even the
infused virtues, why should we wonder that they so far
surpass the latter in brilliancy and edification?
This is the reason why some theologians claim that
the Gifts are perfections which dispose men to acts
which are of more noble degree, and are more excellent
than are usually the acts of the virtues. Far from dis-
approving of this opinion, St. Thomas declares that it is
the one which seems to him the most in conformity with
truth.
But do we mean to infer that the Gifts have a purpose
distinct from that of the virtues, and that they function
only in the case of heroic or extraordinary actions? If
this were the case, the Gifts would be given only to great
saints, as the Apostles, martyrs and other generous
souls, ever anxious to meet any sacrifice that will ad-
vance them in the way of perfection. The Gifts would
be of little use to the immense majority of Christians,
who lead virtuous lives without ever performing any
remarkable actions. How many persons there are who
are saved simply by keeping the commandments and
performing the ordinary duties of a Christian life! Of
what use, then, are the Gifts, if they enter into play, but
rarely and in exceptional cases? But it is the universal
teaching of the Doctors, and of the masters of the spir-
itual life, that the Gifts of the Holy Ghost are the her-
itage common to all the just, not excepting even the low-
est of God's servants; and St. Thomas teaches further
that they are necessary for salvation. Acts of heroism
and of the more eminent works of holiness do not con-
218 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
stitute the principal field of action of the Gifts of the
Holy Ghost, and cannot be considered the principal ob-
ject and the ordinary field of their influence. Hence,
whilst St. Thomas concedes that "the Gifts do surpass
tiie ordinary perfection of the virtues," yet he would
have us note that this is not to be understood as a dis-
tinction as to the kind of works done — as, for example,
the counsels are higher than the precepts — but of the
mode of action of the Gifts, inasmuch as they dispose
man to receive the impulse of a superior agent."
It is impossible, therefore, without straying from the
teaching of the prince of theologians, to assign to the
virtues and to the Gifts, fields of action completely dis-
tinct one from the other, reserving to the latter special
works surpassing in perfection the aim and object of
the former. On the contrary, there is no virtuous ac-
tivity upon which one or other of the Gifts may not
exert its superior mode of activity. As, indeed, there are
no human forces or faculties capable of becoming the
principle of human acts which are not susceptible of
being actuated by the Holy Ghost and perfected by His
Gifts. In a word, the field of action of the Gifts and of
the virtues is coterminous; both have the same object
in view, but they diff"er from one another by their mode
of action and by the rule which governs their action;
and it is in this respect that they are not the same.
V
To summarize, we can now clearly perceive the re-
spective functions in the supernatural life, of the virtues
and the Gifts. According to the Angelic Doctor, the
function of the virtues is to fit our appetitive faculties
to follow promptly the dictates of right reason, while
that of the Gifts is to dispose the just soul to follow with
docility the inspirations of the Holy Ghost."
" St Thomas. I., I., q. Ixvlil., a. 2, ad 1.
» St Thomas, I., II., q. IxvlU., a. 3.
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 219
The Angelic Doctor holds that by the very fact that a
man is well disposed to follow sound reason, he is
equally well disposed to follow God's inspirations. As
to the Gifts, their function is to prepare him who pos-
sesses them to receive in a very intimate and connatural
way, not any kind of Divine impulse, but certain special
impulses, known as inspirations or instincts of the Holy
Spirit, and to help man to elicit actions which extend
beyond his ordinary scope, if not by their object, at
least by their particular mode of production and by the
norm or standard which governs them.
In order to set forth this truth in its fullest light, it
will not be out of place here to remind ourselves that
there is a threefold Divine motion or impulse. The
first is the motion proportioned to nature, and given in
view of natural operations; this is the motion by which
God operates in every free agent, as its first cause; its
necessity is proved by St. Thomas in his Summa Theo-
logical^
The second is the motion of the supernatural order
and proportioned by grace; it is communicated to us by
God to help us perform actions that will lead us to sal-
vation. For, however perfect one might suppose a crea-
ture to be, even were it to possess sanctifying grace and
the infused virtues to a high degree, it is incapable of
passing from potency to act without the help of a
Divine motion. But in the present case this motion is
distinct from actual grace, namely, that which moves
one to this or that particular act.
The third motion bears a very special character, and
under its influence man is rather passive than active,
according to the words of the Apostle: "Whosoever are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." "
With reference to this text, St. Thomas remarks, that to
be "led by the Spirit of God is to be set in movement by
" I., q. cv., a. 5. ** Romans vlil. 14.
220 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
a certain superior instinct. This is why it is said of
animals, not that they act, as if they were moved of
their own free movement, but that they are impelled by
instinct. Something similar to this takes place in the
spiritual man who is disposed towards certain actions,
not primarily by the movement of his own free will, but
by the Holy Ghost." 21
Fearing that some would misuse this comparison, the
Angelic Doctor hastens to add, that this motion of the
Holy Ghost does not at all exclude spontaneity in the
souls of the just, nay, even the liberty of their actions,
but that it simply indicates that the free movement of
their will itself and their free choice is caused by the
Holy Spirit, according to the Apostle's saying: "It is
God Who worketh in you both to will and to accom-
plish, according to His good will." 22
The first kind of Divine motion moves our patural
forces, when acting alone or perfected by the acquired
virtues; and it becomes with them the principle of
morally good acts. The second Divine motion sets to
work the infused virtues, and leads us to perform super-
natural acts, at least those in which our natural mode
of action is still preserved. The third motion is charac-
teristic of the Gifts alone, and is always a special im-
pulse, the terminus of which is a work supereminent in
some way or other, one of those works in which the
human soul acts as the instrument of the Holy Ghost,
and, hence, is itself rather passive than active.
In the first two, the Divine motion conceals itself, as
it were, behind our faculties, urging them on to action,
while respecting their normal natural play; in the happy
expression of Pope Pius VI. in the Bull, Auctorem fidei,
it induces us to perform actions we freely determine
to perform; the Divine influence "works that we may
* St. Thomas, in Romans Till., 14, lect 3.
"PhlUpplans U. 13.
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 221
work." This is the common and ordinary motion under
the influence of which are performed acts emanating
from the virtues.
Very different is the motion characteristic of the Gifts.
As a matter of fact, the latter anticipates our delibera-
tions, forestalls our judgments, and leads us in a kind
of instinctive way to perform works of which we had
not dreamt, and which we are justified in calling super-
human, whether because they exceed our natural
powers, or because they are accomplished outside the
ordinary modes and procedures of nature and of or-
dinary grace. This motion is an impulse coming from
God as from a superior agent, which, to be well received,
demands certain very special dispositions on the part
of the soul.
It is certainly evident that in order to dispose the soul
to obey promptly these extraordinary impulses — by
which the Holy Spirit leads men to perform actions
which belong principally to His own intimate dominion
and are produced apart from the ordinary rules — cer-
tain special perfections superior to those of the virtues
(in other words, the Gifts), are absolutely indispensable.
For must not the soul thus extraordinarily moved be
harmoniously related to its mover? On the other hand,
when it is question of common, ordinary good works
which man can perform by his own resources, whether
natural or ordinary graces, we can readily see with St.
Thomas, that the same influence which disposes the will
to follow the impulse of right reason, disposes it also
to receive the ordinary motion of Divine grace. The
natural virtue of fortitude or of temperance, for ex-
ample, which bends our will to the yoke of right reason,
renders this same will docile to that Divine motion
which God imparts for strengthening natural virtue.
This is why it is true that not only the soul who pos-
sesses the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, but even the sinner.
222 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
I. e., one who having lost charity has preserved the
virtues of faith and hope — can perform acts of the
natural virtues when he wills to do so, and be helped by
ordinary grace, even in the absence of the Gifts.
Let us conclude that God moves us both by the vir-
tues and by the Gifts, although in diverse ways: in a
way conformable to our nature by the virtues, in a
superior manner by the Gifts. As long as it is question
of doing good conformably to the ordinary activities of
nature and grace, the help of the Gifts is not necessary;
and the virtues suffice — namely, the acquired virtues —
for good works of the natural order; but the Christian
or infused virtues are needed for actions meritorious of
salvation. And it is only in circumstances in which
man must act in a superior way; when he finds himself
in particularly difficult situations; when he must prac-
tise virtue in something like an heroic degree; when he
must correspond freely, and yet with docility, with one
or other of those unusual impulses God sometimes gives
— it is only in such cases that the Gifts become indis-
pensable.
VI
If such is the role of these Gifts, if their proper and
special end is to prepare us to follow submissively the
Divine inspiration — the particular and extraordinary
impulses of the Holy Spirit in the things in which the
guide of reason is insufficient — why claim that they arc
necessary for salvation? Why affirm that the faithful,
who are usually satisfied with the practice of ordinary
virtue, need these gifts, to attain their end? It would
seem that, with the theological virtues of faith, hope and
charity, which make them well disposed with regard to
Divine things, and with the infused moral virtues,
which produce a like effect in regard to human duties
and relationships, they possess all that is required to
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 223
attain salvation. They know the term towards which
they ought to direct their life, they have the super-
natural powers to tend to it; what more is necessary?
We answer that it is necessary to have a special motion
and direction of Him of Whom the Psalmist speaks
when he says: "Thy good Spirit shall lead me into the
right land." ^s Nq Q^e can come to the celestial inher-
itance except he be directed and led thither directly by
the Holy Ghost.^*
If man had no other end save that which answers to
the needs of his nature he would be able with his native
energies and the ordinary helps, which Providence never
refuses, to proceed of himself to the term of his destiny,
as far as it is no more than merely human.
But because God has called us to an end which abso-
lutely surpasses the powers and the needs of nature,
and that reason itself even perfected by faith and the
other theological virtues, is incapable of leading us to
this blessed term, He grants us a direction more light-
some, an assistance more powerful, namely, the Divine
Gifts, whose end is precisely to render us supple and
docile to inspirations from on high. This is a mark and
an effect of His truly overflowing goodness, is granted
quite gratuitously, and is in a certain sense wholly above
what is strictly necessary. But whence arises that lack
of docility to the inspirations from on high. It arises
from the imperfect possession of the theological vir-
tues, which is characteristic of the state of men jour-
neying to eternity; and also of the insufficiency of the
moral virtues to resist in every occurrence the onsets
of the devil, the world and the flesh, which are at times
so sudden and so vehement.
St. Thomas remarks, that whosoever possesses per-
fectly a nature, a form, a virtue, in short, any principle
of operation, can, with the ordinary motion of God
» Psalm cxili. 10. ** St. Thomas, I., II., q. xlvUl., a. 2.
224 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
(Who works interiorly in every free agent), act by him-
self in that sphere; but he who possesses only imper-
fectly a fountain of activity, does not find resources in
himself to act adequately, but has need of an external
help, of a direction, and of a special motion. Thus
with the medical student who is an interne in the hos-
pital, who is not yet fully instructed; if he be prudent,
he does not risk undertaking alone and without the
assistance of his preceptor an operation that is delicate
and fraught with serious consequences; while an expe-
rienced surgeon, being well versed in his profession, can
operate by himself, having no need of direction. A ship
captain, voyaging in unknown seas, does not risk enter-
ing a port difficult of access, but he hires the services
of an experienced pilot.
Now such is precisely the actual condition of a just
man in reference to his ultimate supernatural end. Pos-
sessing only imperfectly the principles of supernatural
operations, that is to say the Christian virtues and par-
ticularly the three theological virtues — since we know
and love God only imperfectly — therefore, he is power-
less to arrive at the port of salvation without a special
help, that is to say withoi^t a particular impulse and
assistance of the Holy Ghost. And since that Divine im-
pulse is necessary, necessary also in consequence are the
Gifts of the Holy Ghost which dispose us to receive it.
We do not mean that man whilst in the order of
grace is incapable of acting efficaciously of himself and
of his own initiative in all circumstances. In so far as
he is informed by the theological virtues — although in
an imperfect way — he can accomplish, with the or-
dinary help of grace, some meritorious acts ; and he can
begin to advance and push forward toward the eternal
shores. But because he is powerless either to know all
that it is important to know, or to accomplish all that
it will be useful or necessary to do; and because, also,
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 225
he has not the possession of the acquired or the infused
virtues in sujfficient volume to furnish remedy against
the ignorance, the stupidity, the hardness of heart and
the other miseries of our nature — for all these reasons
he is unequal to the task of overcoming all the diflScul-
ties which may present themselves and to proceed se-
curely to heaven, without a special assistance, and,
therefore, without the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
How many times in the course of his life, does a
Christian find himself in the presence of certain serious
crises, of important resolutions to be taken (even of a
choice of a state of life to be made), of adopting a line
of conduct to be followed in such or such grave circum-
stances, in a word in need of knowing exactly what is
expedient for his eternity! It is, therefore, necessary
that we be now and again specially directed and pro-
tected by Him Who knows all. Who can direct all.
Salvation demands at times works that are equal to
perfection. Often it is a government official who can-
not fulfill his religious duties without being on bad
terms with his superiors and exposing himself to fall
into their disfavor. If he were a single man he could
confront the danger more courageously; but he has a
family, and his position is his only means of their sup-
port. Or it is a case of married persons, who, in order
not to float adrift and be carried along by the stream of
evil tendency, as happens to so many others, need heroic
energy to remain faithful to the grave duties marriage
imposes upon them. Even were we to suppose that
these Christians possess with grace, the former the vir-
tue of fortitude, the latter conjugal chastity, yet fre-
quently their motive would be weak and their fortitude
wavering. Whence shall come the special help, the
immense increase of energy necessary in such critical
circumstances, if not in unceasing prayer and the Gifts
of the Holy Ghost? The Gift of Fortitude is to perfect
226 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
the natural virtue which bears its name, and the Gift
of Fear will be a very fitting help to conjugal chastity
by inspiring married persons with a holy horror of sin.
This is why St. Thomas remarks, with St. Gregory the
^' Great, that the purpose of the Gifts is to assist the
virtues.
y Although inferior in quality to the theological virtues
"^ — which unite us to God directly — the Gifts lend them a
necessary cooperation: they enliven our faith, hearten
our hope, inflame our charity, give us the savor of God
and of Divine things. But, above all, they are the
precious auxiliaries of the natural and moral virtues,
whose action they perfect, supplying, when need be,
for their inadequacy. Prudence receives from the Gift
of Counsel indispensable lights for its guidance; Justice
gains strength to render to each one his due; the soul
often is perfected by the Gift of Piety, which inspires
us with sentiments of filial tenderness towards God and
bowels of mercy towards our brethren. The Gift of
Fortitude, as already said, makes us surmount bravely
all the obstacles which deter us from good, strengthens
us against the dread of difficulties, and inspires us with
the necessary courage to undertake the more formid-
able kind of tasks. In fine, the Gift of Fear strengthens
the virtue of temperance against the rude assaults of
the rebellious flesh. A more energetic action, more
heroic efforts in the practice of virtue — such are the
effects of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. By them the soul
easily mounts to much greater heights of perfection, the
infused virtues having placed it already in the posses-
sion of ordinary holiness, and rendered it capable of ac-
complishing the ordinary works of the Christian life."
The masters of the spiritual life have compared the Gifts
to the wings of a bird, and again to the sails of a ship;
the bird flies much more swiftly than it walks; and
*• St Thomat, "De CharlU," q. unlc, a. 2, ad 17.
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost 227
while the boat equipped only with simple oars advances
with much labor and slowly, one whose sails are swelled
with the wind is fleet upon the waves.
It appears clearly evident that the Gifts of the Holy
Ghost are truly necessary, wherever the action of our
native reason, though it be helped by the infused vir-
tues, is yet insufficient; and that, therefore, a special
Divine impulse becomes imperative. Even with the as-
sistance of the Christian infused virtues, human reason
is incapable of surely leading us to our last end, and of
enabling us to surmount all the obstacles encountered
upon the way, if it is not roused and aided by a partic-
ular inspiration from on high, a kind of superior in-
stinct of the Holy Ghost, namely His Gifts.
We have need of that special Divine impulse, and
consequently of the Gifts, not indeed constantly, but
from time to time, in the course of our life, more or
less frequently according to the difficulties which pre-
sent themselves, or when lofty acts of virtue must be
accomplished, a high degree of perfection achieved,
according to the good pleasure of the Master of these
Gifts Who dispenses them as He pleases. There is no
period of life, no state, no human condition that can
dispense with the Gifts and their Divine influence.
They are not, however, necessary for each and every
one of the supernatural acts, but only for the works
emanating from a just soul under the special influence
of the Holy Ghost. "Under the influence of the Gifts
of the Holy Spirit, the human mind is not so much
moving as it is being moved." "«
MSt. Thomas. U., U., q. HI., a. 2, ad. 1.
CHAPTER VII
Final Effects of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit and
the Beatitudes.
We now understand, if not in every detail, at least in
a sort of symposium, how the Holy Ghost acts upon the
souls of the just. It is a magnificent and complex or-
ganism of holiness, which a Father of the Church de-
scribes as making of men a living instrument of music
admirably suited to sound forth the Divine glory and
the Divine power. Having prepared all things in order,
as a consummate artist, the Holy Spirit seats Himself
at the keyboard of this spiritual instrument. Provided
that He meeU with no opposition. He elicits from it
exquisite chords which delight the heart of God, and
attract the world's unwilling attention.
At one time it is the sweet and chaste Agnes, with full
hearted ease beginning here on earth to intone the
canticle of virgins, which she shall continue through
eternity in heaven: "I love Christ, into Whose nuptials
I shall enter. Whose mother is a virgin, Whose father
knew not woman. ... I am espoused to Him Whom
the angels serve. Whose beauty the sun and the moon
admire." At another, it is Ignatius the martyr, about
to be exposed in the amphitheatre to wild beasts. Hear-
ing the roarings of the lions, in his longing for suffering
he cried, "I am the wheat of Christ, and I must be
ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may become truly
pure bread." At another time, it is the great Apostle,
Paul, hurling at his enemies this defiant challenge:
228
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit 229
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation? or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or
dangers? or persecution? or the sword? . . . For I am
sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor prin-
cipalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any crea-
ture shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus Our Lord."*
Again it is the countless multitude of saints and holy
souls scattered throughout the entire world, a grand
concert indeed, where each plays his own part and
extols in a particular strain the triumph of grace over
nature: a ravishing symphony, too, where all voices
blend and marvelously harmonize. It is the voice of
children and old men, of maidens and youths, of men
and of women, ascending from earth to heaven; the
voice of innocence never lost or of righteousness re-
gained. Now it is the voice of merciful charity appeal-
ing through the lips of Vincent de Paul to the entire
race to come to the aid of every form of wretchedness.
Now the voice of faith triumphing in the person of
Peter of Verona, who, struck down by heretics and on
the point of death, yet finds strength enough to trace
upon the ground with the purple of his blood this sub-
lime word: Credo, I believe. Now the voice of humility
in John of the Cross, in words more beautiful and more
heroic than human lips can utter unaided by grace.
For, on being asked by Christ what recompense he
desired for his great labors, his only reply was: "Lord,
to suffer and to be despised for Thy sake."
What admirable flowers of virtue the breath of the
Holy Spirit causes to bloom in souls docile to His
action! Or rather how delicious and how varied are
the fruits He produces there! It is of these souls Our
Lord speaks when He says to His Apostles: "I have
i Romans vlli. 35-39.
230 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
chosen you ; and have appointed you that you should go
and should bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should
remain." * The just soul is compared in Holy Writ to
a tree planted on the bank of a stream, bringing forth
its fruit in due season.^
What are these Fruits? The Apostle, St. Paul, enu-
merates them for us beautifully, in the fifth chapter of
the Epistle to the Galatians : "But the fruit of the Spirit
is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness,
longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chas-
tity."* What are we to understand by these Fruits of
the Holy Ghost? Why are they so named? How do
they diflfer from the virtues and the Gifts? What of
their number?
I
In the first place, what is meant by the Fruits of the
Holy Ghost? By them are meant, says St. Thomas, all
the acts of virtue which have reached a certain degree
of perfection and in which man finds his delight.<^ We
call them Fruits, says St. Ambrose, because they feed
the soul with pure and holy joy.
Taken in its very natural signification, "fruit" desig-
nates the final, nourishing product of a plant or of a
tree come to the perfection of its kind. It is the term
or purpose of vegetation, the definite result of the won-
derfully intricate processes of growth in plant life.
Fruits are as -varied as are the trees from which they
are gathered; however, they have this in common, that
they are the final product of the plant, each one when
fully ripened having a certain specific and peculiar
savor. Though they are pleasing to the eye by reason
of their lustre and the splendor of their color, and
though the sweetness and delicacy of their fragrance
> John XV. 16. * Psalm I. 3. * Galatians v. 22, 23.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit 231
makes them delightful to the smell, yet neither foliage
nor flowers can be called fruits, for they are not the
final product of the tree.
The fruit is not only the ornament and the perfection
of the tree, it is the very reason of its existence, its pur-
pose and its end. It is this which gives to the tree its
value, which adequately compensates for the care be-
stowed upon its cultivation. This is why Our Saviour,
in the parable of the fig tree, which had not produced
fruit for several years, says: "Therefore cut it down;
wherefore doth it cumber the earth?" «
A good lesson is this for the Christian, that under
pain of being lopped off as a worthless branch and
thrown into the fire, he should not leave inactive the
Divine energies conferred upon him. For these are as
so many germs destined to shoot forth and to blossom
beneath the breath of the Spirit of God, and to produce
those works worthy of life eternal called in Holy Writ
the fruits of the Holy Ghost. It is by analogy, that in
the spiritual order the final products of grace in the
soul are called Fruits. This name is given, if not to all
acts of virtue indiscriminately, at least to those acts
which have a higher degree of perfection.
The Fruits of the Holy Ghost are not then habits, or
permanent qualities, but distinct acts. They are not to
be compared with the infused virtues and to the Gifts,
but are to be distinguished from them as the effect is
distinguished from its cause, and as the stream from its
fountain. And although St. Paul has enumerated
among these Fruits charity, patience, etc., yet these
expressions are not to be understood as those very high
qualities themselves, but rather as their operations; for
however perfect they might be, they should not be con-
sidered as the last and most perfect product of grace.
However, to merit the name of fruits, a certain savor
•Luke zlU. 7.
232 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
and fragrance must accompany these acts. At the
start, acts are not performed except with something
like pain; they demand effort, and some even are re-
pugnant to nature and taste like unripe fruit. But, as a
pious author observes, "when a person exercises him-
self for a long time in the fervent practice of virtues,
he acquires facility in producing their acts. He no
longer feels the repugnance he experienced at the out-
set, nor has he to combat any longer, or to do himself
violence. He does now with pleasure what had hitherto
cost him pain. Then takes place in the virtues what
takes place in the tree; for as the tree yields fruits sweet
and agreeable to the taste once they have ripened, so
when the acts of virtue are come to maturity and are,
as it were, ripened, they are performed with pleasure
and found to have a delicious relish." *
The world comprehends nothing of these delights.
As St. Bernard says, it sees the cross, but not its unction.
The anguish of the flesh, the mortification of the senses,
the works of penance, these do not attract its attention,
except painfully; and looking upon them all in horror,
it misses the consolations of the Holy Spirit. Pious
souls, on the contrary, gladly cry out with the spouse
in the Canticle : "I sat down in the shade of Him Whom
I have desired, and His fruit is sweet to my palate." '
How many Fruits of the Holy Ghost are there? As
we have just seen, St. Paul counts twelve. Why
twelve? It would seem that we should admit as many
Fruits as there are acts of virtue. This is really the
conclusion of St. Thomas: "The Fruits," he says, "are
all the acts of virtue in which man finds delight." The
Apostle then would have been able, had he so wished,
to include in his enumeration a number much larger,
but he had no purpose of stating them all. He stops
at the number twelve because in the style of the sacred
■< LaHemant, Spiritual Doctrine. * CanUcles 11. 3.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit 233
writings this number designates universality; and also
because all the acts of virtue can be assorted and sum-
marized under the twelve mentioned by the Apostle,
since they embrace the entire Christian life.
We have spoken of Fruits; we could just as well have
called them flowers, if, in lieu of considering our good
works as the final products of grace here below, we
were to view them in the light of life eternal, or which
they are the sign and the pledge. For as when the
flower appears in its gorgeous array we cherish the
hope in due season of plucking the fruit, so do we in
the practice of holy and meritorious works, give promise
of coming to life and beatitude eternal.
II
At the summit of the spiritual life, and consequently
above the acts of ordinary virtue, and even above the
Fruits of the Holy Spirit, we find the Beatitudes. These
are the very crowning of the Divine work in us, the last
and most sublime effect of the presence of Him Whom
the Father has condescended to give us for our sancti-
fication, and Who is Himself the foretaste of celestial
happiness.
What are the Beatitudes? How many are they? Are
they distinct from the Fruits, the virtues and the Gifts?
By the Beatitudes are meant certain acts of this pres-
ent life which, because of their particular perfection,
lead directly and surely to eternal happiness. Here the
figure of metonymy is used, these acts being called
Beatitudes because they are at once the pledge, the mer-
itorious cause, and, to a certain extent, the foretaste of
true and perfect beatitude.
Beatitude, properly so-called, is essentially one, and
consists in the possession of God. It is clear that God
is the Sovereign, infinite Good, alone capable of satis-
fying all desires — nor is anyone happy except in the
234 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
measure in which he possesses God. In this world, it
is true, we possess Him by grace and but imperfectly;
we bear Him within us, but He is dimmed to our per-
ceptions; we love and enjoy Him, but always with the
possibility of losing Him: "As to beatitude here below,
plainly we can but mean a beatitude imperfect, hoped
for, merited, and at best only begun." »
The Beatitudes mentioned in the Gospel and the sub-
ject of our present remarks, do not therefore designate
absolute happiness, felicity properly so-called. Is it not
manifest that poverty, tears, hunger and thirst (even
after righteousness), suffering persecution for God's
sake, is it not plain that these do not constitute true
and perfect beatitude? And yet Our Lord affirms that
they are the means, the stages, the ascents to absolute
beatitude. They are means so powerful, so efficacious,
so sure, that whosoever employs them perseveringly,
can repeat after the Apostle "I am saved through
hope."" Is it not said that a man has come to the
term of his desires, when he has reached well grounded
hopes of attaining them — constantly and regularly pro-
gressing towards their fulfillment, and especially when
he is beginning to taste their sweetness? Therefore,
when we behold a Christian docile to the inspirations
of the Holy Ghost, advancing every day in the path of
righteousness by acts of the virtues and of the Gifts,
and gradually making those wonderful ascents, the
blessedness of which the Psalmist speaks: "Blessed is
the man whose help is from Thee, in his heart he hath
disposed to ascend by steps in the vale of tears, in the
place he hath set" " — when we behold such a one, how
can we feel otherwise than confident that he will end
his journey in the haven of eternal blessedness?
But just what are these means leading so surely to
•Monsignor Gay, "Sermons d' A vent." '• Romani ▼HI. 24.
" Psalm Ixxxili. 6.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit 235
eternal blessedness, what are the acts so full of sweet-
ness that one may consider them the beginning of
beatitude?
Our Saviour makes them known to us in the famous
Sermon on the Mount, the prelude of His entire public
life: "Blessed are those who love poverty and detach-
ment of spirit from all transitory things ; blessed are the
meek and the kindly; the sorrowing and the afflicted;
they who hunger and thirst after holiness; they who
are merciful; they whose hearts are clean; they who
are apostles of peace; they who suffer for justice'
sake."" Eight times does He repeat the word
"Blessed," no matter how varied the other parts of this
Divine litany. So does He proclaim before an as-
tounded world what Christian language has termed the
Eight Beatitudes. Eight they are; let us repeat them:
poverty of spirit, meekness, tears, hunger and thirst for
righteousness, mercy, purity of heart, love of peace, suf-
fering persecution for God's sake. The eighth is the
confirmation and the exhibition of all the others. In-
deed, at the very moment a man has poverty of spirit,
meekness and the other virtues firmly rooted in his
soul, persecution is powerless to tear him away from
these celestial and eternal goods.
The Beatitudes are neither the virtues nor the Gifts
of the Holy Ghost. They are the acts which are pro-
duced under the influence of these habits of grace.
However, because of their excellence and perfection,
the Beatitudes ought to be considered rather as a pro-
duct of the Gifts, than as an emanation from the vir-
tues. The virtue of poverty may well prompt one to
that detachment which makes him use with moderation
the goods of this world; but it is the Gift of Fear which
inspires him with contempt for them. The virtue of
meekness gives a man the necessary energy to check
«» Matthew v.
236 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
the impetuosity of anger, and to k6ep it within the
bounds of right reason; but it is the Gift of Piety that
assures him absolute tranquillity of temper and serenity
of soul, perfect self-possession and submission to God's
will. "Blessed are they that mourn:" the virtue of tem-
perance places a bridle on desire of earthly joys, and
keeps them within just bounds; but it is the Gift of
Knowledge that raises the soul much higher, making
it see clearly the frailty, the vanity, and the transitory
nature of these joys, leads it to reject them entirely
even when lawful, if this is found to be God's will, and
to embrace voluntarily grief and tears.
The Beatitudes, thus distinct from the virtues, are
likewise distinct from the Fruits of the Holy Ghost.
For although they produce joy as do the Fruits, they
have furthermore the advantages of perfecting him
who possesses them. They are Fruits, if you will; but
of the more excellent kind, the more beautiful, more
exquisite. The Beatitudes are Fruits which have re-
ceived the finishing touches of the Divine Sun, kissed
by it unto perfect maturity. They are Fruits in which
are wondrously hidden such perfect sweetness as gives
a foretaste of celestial felicity. And thus it is that the
series of marvels, which the Holy Ghost accomplishes in
the souls in which He has fixed His abode, is crowned
by these perfect works, bright harbingers of beatitude
and of the full possession of God in paradise.
HI
Before closing this study, already quite lengthy, let
us take a last brief survey of the truths upon which we
have dwelt; just as before crossing the threshold of an
edifice we have visited, and have examined in detail,
we cast a glance at the whole to take in its most prom-
inent features, to admire the harmonious arrangement
of its parts, and fix it more firmly in our memory.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit 237
God is everywhere, in every being and in every place
as the immediate cause of everything outside Himself.
But He unites Himself and is present to the souls of
the just in a very particular way, that is to say — as the
object of their knowledge and love. It is not only
by His image imprinted on the mind and by His
memory, or by His favors bestowed that He is present
to the justified. He comes to them veritably in Person,
inaugurating here below that life of union and beatitude
which is to be consummated in heaven. It is simply
a matter of fact, that as soon as the sinner returns to
the friendship of God, He Who is Subsistent personal-
ized Love in God, i. c, the Holy Ghost, is sent to seal, as
it were, by His presence the covenant of reconciliation,
to cooperate in the great work of sanctification, and to
become in the just soul the active principle of a new
life, a life incomparably superior to the life of man's
nature. Nor does the Holy Spirit make merely a pass-
ing visit, precious as that might be; but He comes to
establish Himself in the soul with the Father and the
Son, and fixes His abode there, there to remain whilst
the soul's love for God remains.
Entering into the soul, the Spirit of God gives Him-
self to it, and this is His great favor. Then begins the
work of beautifying and adorning the living temple in
which He is pleased to dwell. To this end He pours
into it that grace of infinite value called sanctifying, the
effect of which is to purify from every stain, to efface
sin, to justify, to transform, yea, to deify the recipient,
to make him a child of God and the object of His com-
placency, with a right to the celestial and eternal in-
heritance. Nor is this all; for grace never comes alone.
Rather it is always accompanied by a whole throng of
virtues and supereminent qualities, which are at once
an adornment of our faculties and a source of their
supernatural activity. These are the theological vir-
238 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
tues of Faith, Hope and Charity; furthermore, the in-
fused moral virtues; and also the Gifts of the Holy
Ghost; all of these being living germs of the Fruits God
wishes to harvest in us; divine energies, the sources of
those admirable acts called Beatitudes, because they are
the meritorious cause and, as it were, a foretaste of the
felicity we await in eternity.
Thus endowed, we are able to go forward, having
need of naught else to steer our barque directly and
surely towards the eternal shores, unless it be these
impulses of the Holy Spirit, which are the constantly
renewed portion of the children of God. Nor have we
long to wait for these. From the depths of the soul
where He dwells, that Divine Spirit enlightens our in-
telligence, inflames our heart, quickens us and incites
us to good. Who will count all the holy thoughts He
arouses in us, the good impulses He imparts, the sal-
utary inspirations of which He is the source? Why is
it that obstacles too frequently come to more or less
paralyze His beneficent activity and to hinder His pur-
poses? This is why so many Christians in the posses-
sion of habitual grace and of the Divine energies which
accompany it, remain, nevertheless, so feeble and so
sluggish in God's service, so little zealous for their per-
fection, so inclined to earth, so forgetful of the things
of heaven, so easily fascinated by evil? This is why
the Apostle exhorts us "to grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemp-
tion," *• and, above all, "to extinguish not the Spirit." "
There is another reason which finally explains why a
seed so prolific of holiness produces oftentimes so sorry
a harvest. It is this: that knowing but very imper-
fectly the treasure of which they are the guardians, a
number of Christians form only a faint estimate of it,
and put themselves to little pains to make it yield fruit.
** Ephesians iv. 30. '* 1 Tbessalonians v. 19.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit 239
ITet what power, what generosity, what respect for self,
what watchfulness and what consolation and joy, would
lot this thought, if constantly held before the mind and
piously meditated upon, inspire: The Holy Ghost dwells
In my heart! He is there, a Powerful Protector, always
ready to defend me against my enemies, to sustain me
in my combats, to assure me the victory. A Faithful
Friend, He is always disposed to give me a hearing, and,
far from being a source of sadness and weariness, His
conversation brings gladness and joy; it "hath no bit-
terness nor His company any tediousness, but joy and
gladness."^' He is there the ever present witness of
my efforts and sacrifices, counting every one of my steps
in order to reward them some day, following my whole
course, forgetful of nothing that I do for His love and
His glory.
The Holy Spirit dwells in my heart! I am His temple,
essentially the temple of holiness; I must, therefore,
sanctify myself, since the first characteristic of God*s
house is holiness: "Holiness becometh Thy house, O
Lord, unto length of days." " I will, therefore, pro-
claim again with the Psalmist, more by my conduct
than by my words : "I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of
Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth." "
What is more efficacious than these reflections, to
move us to live according to the word of St. Paul : "That
you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing;
being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in
the knowledge of God." " Let us labor, therefore, thus
to grow in the knowledge of God, applying ourselves
every day to understand better the Divine favors lav-
ished upon us, in order to appreciate them the more.
Let us love, honor, and often invoke the Holy Ghost;
let us be docile to His inspirations; and determined
" Wisdom viU. 16. ** Psalm xell. 5.
" Psalm xxT. 8. ** Colosslans 1. 10.
240 The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
finally to occupy the throne of glory which is prepared
for us in heaven, let us commence by glorifying here
below in our body and in our soul that Holy Trinity
Whose abiding place and temple we are: "For you are
bought with a great price. Glorify and bear God in
your body." ^»
^•1 Corinthians vl. 20.
