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[1] The Sermons of Tauler, translated by Hugueny, 1935, 1, 76 ff., 201-3; III, 52.
[2] Ia Iae. q. 30. a.4.
[3] This depth of human sensibility is less noticeable in
the order of good, because in this order it disposes us
to love a spiritual good which is not accessible except
to the spiritual will. We have illustration of this in
the love of family and of fatherland, if this love is
fastened on the common good which is above all a matter
of justice and equity.
On the contrary, the sensibility of a depraved person
looks for the infinite in sense goods. He asks of them
what they cannot give. As a result he falls into
disillusion and disgust, since nothing can longer
please him.
[4] Ia IIae, q 30, a. 4.
[5] 2 Ibid., q. 2, a. 8.
[6] The beatitude of man cannot be found in any created
good, for beatitude is a perfect good, something that
totally satisfies the appetite. Otherwise it would not
be the last end and there would still be something to
desire. Now the object of the will, which is the human
appetite, is universal good, just as the object of the
intellect is universal truth. Hence it is clear that
nothing can satisfy the will of man except universal
good. Now this universal good cannot be found in
anything created, but only in God, because creatures
have nothing but a share in goodness. Therefore God
alone can fill the will of man. Ia IIae, q.2, a. 8.
[7] Ia IIae, q.31, a.5; q.32, a.2; q.33, a.2.
[8] Ia IIae, q. 28, a.4 ad 2; IIIa, q. 23, a. I ad 3.
[9] Ps. 16:15.
[10] Ia IIae, q. 10, a.2.
[11] Ibid., q.4, a.4.
[12] Ia, q.105, a.4.
[13] Here we have a case of reciprocal causality, between
the intellect which guides and the will which consents.
We have here, as it were, a marriage which is not
concluded except when the will has said yes.
[14] See Ia IIae, q. 10, a. 2 ad 2.
[15] John 10:18; 15:10; 14:31; Phil. 2:8. We have
developed this doctrine else where in The Savior and
His Love for Us. The Savior's sinless liberty is a pure
image of the sinless liberty of God Himself.
[16] Ia IIae, q.18, a.9.
[17] 1 John 2:16.
[18] City of God, Bk. XIV, chap. 28.
[19] Acts 4:16.
[20] Judith 8:22.
[21] Wisd. 7:27.
[22] 6 John 15:15.
[23] IIa IIae, q. 24, a. 7.
[24] "I have walked in the way of Thy commandments, since
Thou hast widened my heart." Ps. 118:32.
[25] 1 Cor. 13:8.
[26] John 3:36; 5:24; 6:40, 47.
[27] 1 Cor. 4:7.
[28] Ps. 126:1.
[29] Eph. 4:13.
[30] Matt. 13:8.
[31] Insitutio spiritualis, chap. 12. See also The
Sermons of Tauler chap. 1, pp. 74-82, 105-20.
[32] Ia, q.54, a.1; q.77, a.1, 2.
[33] Ibid.
[34] The Ascent of Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 30. St. John of
the Cross, like Tauler, speaks the concrete and
descriptive language of experimental psychology, not
the ontological and abstract language of rational
psychology.
[35] Consolationes ad Stagir., Bk. III.
[36] Prov. 3:11; Heb. 12:6.
[37] 1 John 15:2.
[38] 1 Cor. 4:12.
[39] The Dark Night, Bk. I, chap. 3.
[40] Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 2.
[41] Ibid., Bk. II, chap. 2.
[42] Life of St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus, chap. 9
(toward the end).
[43] Deut. 6:5; Luke 10:27.
[44] Acts 5:14.
[45] IIIa, q.84, a.5; q.85.
[46] Bossuet, Defense of Tradition, Bk. XI, chaps. 4-8
[47] IIa IIae, q. 14.
[48] Ibid., q109, a.8.
[49] Ecclus. 18:21.
[50] Luke 3:3.
[51] Mark 1:15.
[52] Luke 13:5.
[53] Rome 2:5.
[54] Apoc. 2:16.
[55] Ia IIae, q.76-78; IIa IIae, q.15, a.1. Dict. Theol.
Cath., "Impenitence".
[56] St. John Bosco came to the bed of a dying Freemason.
This Freemason said to him: "Don't speak to me of
religion. Otherwise here is a revolver whose bullet is
for you and another one whose bullet is for me." "Well,
then" said the saint, "let us speak of something else."
Then Bosco spoke to him of Voltaire, relating the
latter's life. Toward the end of his account, Bosco
aid: "Some say that Voltaire never repented and had a
bad death. This I do not say, because I do not know."
"You mean," said the Freemason, "that even Voltaire
could repent?" "Oh, certainly." "Then I, too, could
repent." Thus this man who was in despair seems to have
had a good death.
A prison chaplain, a holy priest, while assisting a
condemned criminal who would not go to confession,
ended his words as follows: "Well, then, if you wish to
be lost, just be lost." When beatification was in
question, this chaplain, by reason of this word, was
judged unworthy of beatification, since he seemed to
doubt the mercy and possibility of return to God.
[57] Cf. St. Ambrose, De poenitentia, chaps. 10-12; St.
Jerome, Epist. 147, ad Sabinianum; St. Augustine,
Sermons 351, 352; St. John Chrysostom, Nine Homilies on
Penitence, P.G., XLIX, 277 ff.; St. Bernard, De
conversione ad clericos; Bossuet, Sermon for the First
Sunday of advent.
[58] Isa. 5:20-21.
[59] Ezech. 33:11, 14, 16.
[60] 1 Tim. 2:4
[61] Denz., no. 804.
[62] Luke 10:27.
[63] IIa IIae, q. 13, a.4; IIIa, q. 86; a. 1; Contra
Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 89.
[64] Easter Retreat at Notre Dame, 1888, 3rd instruction.
[65] Let us not forget that attrition, which disposes us
to receive the sacrament of penance and justifies with
that sacrament, must always be supernatural. According
to the Council of Trent, attrition presupposes the
grace of faith and of hope, and must detest sin as an
offense against God. Denz., no. 798. Now this
presupposes, probably, as in the baptism of adults, an
initial love of God as the source of all justice.
Denz., no. 798. We cannot detest a lie without loving
the truth, we cannot detest injustice without beginning
to love justice and Him who is the source of all
justice.
[66] St. Augustine, De dono perseverantiae, chaps. 13,
14, 17; St. Thomas, Ia IIae, q.109, a. 1, 2, 4, 9, 10;
q.114, a.9; IIa IIae, q. 137, a.2. See the commentaries
of Cajetan, John of St. Thomas, the Salmanticenses,
Gonet, Billuart, and Hugon. See also Dict. theol.
cath., "Perseverance finale," by A. Michel.
[67] Wis. 4:11-13.
[68] 1 Pet 5:10.
[69] Phil. 1:6.
[70] Rom 8:28-33.
[71] Rom 9:14.
[72] De dono perseverantiae, chaps. 13, 14,17.
[73] Ibid., chap. 13.
[74] Ibid., chap. 6, no. 10 (Suppliciter emereri potest).
[75] Ia IIae, q.114, a.9.
[76] IIIa IIae, q. 137, a.4.
[77] Denz., 806, 826, 832.
[78] Rom. 14:4.
[79] See Dict. theol. cath., "Coeur-sacre," by Father
Jean Bainvel, S.J.: "The promise is absolute, supposing
that the Communions have been well made. That which is
promised is final perseverance, which brings with it
contrition and the last sacraments in the necessary
measure." See ibid., the original text of this great
promise of the Sacred Heart.
[80] Tob. 14:10.
[81] Ecclus. 33:7-15.
[82] Ibid., 35:11-17.
[83] Rom 8:16.
[84] Heb 7:25.
[85] Opuscule sur la preparation a la morte.
[86] Phil. 3:20, 4:7.
[87] Cf. St. Thomas, Contra Gentes, Bk. IV, chaps. 91,
92, 94, 95 (Commentary of Ferrariensis); De veritate,
q. 24, a. 11; la, q. 64, a. 2 (Commentary of Cajetan);
Salmanticenses, De gratia, de merito, Disp. 1, dub. 4,
no. 36; Billot, De novissimis, 1921, p. 33; Dict.
theol. cath., "Mort."
[88] Ecclus. 11:12.
[89] Ecclus. 9:10.
[90] Matt. 25:13; Luke 13:22; John 5:29.
[91] Luke 16:19-31.
[92] Ibid., 23:43.
[93] Matt. 25:13; Mark 13:33.
[94] II Cor. 5:10.
[95] Ibid., 6:2.
[96] Gal. 6:10.
[97] Phil 1:23.
[98] Heb 3:13.
[99] Ibid., 9:27.
[100] John 9:4.
[101] Cf. A. de Journel, Enchiridion patristicum, Index
theologicus, no. 584.
[102] Denz., no. 464.
[103] Ibid., no. 693.
[104] Ibid., no. 531.
[105] Ibid., no. 778.
[106] II Cor. 5:10.
[107] Mansi, Concil., LIII, 175.
[108] Cf. Scotus, II Sent., dist. 7; Suarez, De angelis,
Bk. III; chap. 10; Bk. VIII, chap. 10.
[109] The souls in purgatory, so these authors say, are
preserved from sin by a special protection of
Providence.
[110] Ia, q.64, a.2, no. 18.
[111] Thus Suarez and many others.
[112] Thus speak in particular Ferrariensis, Contra
Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 95, and the Salmanticenses.
Cursus theol., De gratia, de merito, disp. 1, dub. 4,
no. 36.
[113] John 9:4.
[114] Ferrariensis, In Contra Gentes, 4, 95.
[115] Cf. Contra Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 95, and De
veritate, q. 24, a. 11.
[116] Eccles. 11:3.
[117] John 8:34.
[118] Contra Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 95.
[119] In illustration, we may point to a congenital
illness which remains throughout life, or the
dispositions on entering into a permanent form of life.
If a man enters rightly into marriage, the good
disposition with which he does so becomes fixed for
life. If he enters with an evil disposition, this
disposition, alas, generally persists and becomes a
habitual evil. In the motive on entering religion we
find the same difference. See, further on, the chapter
on the knowledge of the separated soul, where the
doctrine we are now proposing will be confirmed.
[120] Supplementum, q. 98, a.2.
[121] Ibid.
[122] Ia, q.63, a.3.
[123] When we point to the miracles of Christ, of modern
saints, of those at Lourdes, they reply: "Yes, but
anyone can claim miracles." They do not wish to see
with what seriousness these miracles are examined by
physicians and theologians, and what severity is shown
by the Sacred Congregation, which rejects many probable
miracles and retains only those that are certain.
[124] Joseph Maisonneuve: life written by a former
superior of the Diocesan Missionaries of Tulle, 1935.
[125] In the actual economy of salvation, every man is
necessarily either in the state of grace or in the
state of sin, that is, he is turned toward God or away
from Him. Matt. 12:30.
[126] Mark 9:39.
[127] Ezech. 33:11.
[128] This lack could arise only from divine negligence.
Now divine negligence is a contradiction in terms. Even
if it happened only once, God would no longer be God,
because he would not be wise. Providence would be an
empty word. These negations are a very evident
blasphemy, which manifests in its own manner, by
contrast, the chiaroscuro of the divine mystery which
we are now speaking of.
[129] Cf. St. Thomas, IIIa, q. 59, a.4 ad 1; a. 5;
Supplementum, a. 69, a. 2; q. 88, a. l ad 1; Contra
Gentes, Bk. IV, chaps. 9l, 95.
[130] 'Monsignor Auguste Saudreau, L'ldeal de l'ame
fervente, 1920, chap. 3 The Particular Judgment of the
Perfect Soul, pp. 49-52.
[131] Denz. nos. 54, 86, 87, 429, 693.
[132] Dict. theol. cath., "Judgement".
[133] The reason for this is that the Old Testament is
subordinated to the New, that is, to the coming of the
Savior, whereas the New Testament is immediately
subordinated to eternal life. Hence the New Testament
often speaks much more explicitly than the Old
Testament.
[134] Eccles. 1l:9.
[135] Isa. 66:15-24.
[136] Dan. 12:1,2.
[137] Joel 3:2.
[138] This denomination is symbolic. The word "Josaphat"
means "Jahve is Judge." The word can be applied to any
place where God chooses to execute the general
judgment.
[139] Wisd. 5:15. (Second century before Christ).
[140] Ibid. 6:6 and 15:8.
[141] II Mach. 7:9, 36.
[142] Matt. 11:21, 23.
[143] Ibid., 12:41.
[144] Luke 10:12-14; 11:31.32; Matt. 16:27.
[145] Matt. 25:31-46.
[146] Ibid., 25:31; Mark 13:27; Luke 21:27.
[147] Matt. 26:64.
[148] John 12:48.
[149] Ibid., 6:40-44; 40:44, 55.
[150] Ibid., 11:25; 5:29.
[151] Acts 10:43.
[152] II Cor. 5:10.
[153] I Cor. 15:26.
[154] Rom. 2:11-16.
[155] Ibid., 14:12; II Cor. 11:15; II Tim 4:14.
[156] Apoc. 20:12.
[157] De civitate Dei, Bk. XX, chap. 20, no. 33.
[158] Mark 13:32.
[159] Ibid., 13:7-33.
[160] II Thess. 2:3.
[161] The apostasy of which St. Paul speaks is that
referred to by St. Matthew, 24:11, 13,:2-25, by St.
Luke, l8:8 and 2l:28. It is the apostasy of peoples
after charity has become cold.
[162] II Pet. 3 :12.
[163] Isa. 65:17.
[164] Rom. 8:19.
[165] Apoc. 21:1.
[166] Supplementum, q.91, De qualitate mundi post
iudicium.
[167] IIIa, q.59, a.5; Supplementum, q.88, a.1 ad 1; a,
3; q.91, a.2.
[168] Luke 2:35.
[169] Catechism, First Part, chap. 8.
[170] Supplementum, q.91, a.2.
[171] Bk. 1, chap. 24.
[172] Ibid., Bk. III, chap. 14.
[173] We may note that peoples who are Christians and
Catholic often undergo sacrifice, as for instance,
Poland. It seems that for many of these children the
Savior has said: "I have promised thee happiness, not
in this life, but in the other life."
[174] See above, chap 9.
[175] Many who are to be saved have done some great act
which was never withdrawn, and many of those who are to
be lost have done some act which is particularly evil.
[176] Ia, q. 89, a.4-6.
[177] Ibid., a.1.
[178] Ibid., a.2.
[179] Ibid., a.4, 7.
[180] Ibid., a.8.
[181] Ia, q.10, a.4, 6 (Cajetan, John of St. Thomas,
Gonet).
[182] Commentary of psalm 91.
[183] Gen. 37:35; Num. 16:30.
[184] Matt. 5:22, 29; 23:15, 33; also Mark and Luke.
[185] Dict. theol. cath., s.v. "L'Enfer."
[186] Eccles. 12:13 and 14.
[187] Eccl. 11:9.
[188] Isa. 66:15-24.
[189] Mark 9:43.
[190] Luke 3:17.
[191] Dan. 12:1-2.
[192] Wisd. 5:16.
[193] Ibid., 6:6.
[194] Ibid., 15:8.
[195] Ecclus. 7:17.
[196] II Mach. 7:9-36.
[197] Matt. 3:7.
[198] Luke 3:7-17.
[199] Mark 3:29; Matt. 12:32; John 8:20-24, 35.
[200] Matt. 5:22, 29, 30.
[201] The phrase occurs six times in St. Matthew. We find
it also in St. Luke 13:28.
[202] Matt., 10:28.
[203] Mark 9:42-48; Matt. 18:8, 9.
[204] Matt. 23:15.
[205] Ibid., 23:13-33.
[206] Ibid., 25:33-46.
[207] De civ. Dei, Bk. XXI, chap. 23.
[208] John 3:36.
[209] Ibid., 8:24.
[210] Ibid., 8:34.
[211] Ibid., 15:6.
[212] Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5; I Cor. 6:9, 10.
[213] II Cor. 2:15, 16; 4:3; 13:5.
[214] II Cor. 6:14-18.
[215] I Tim. 5:6, 11-15; II Tim. 2:12-20.
[216] Heb. 10:31.
[217] II Pet. 2:1-4; 12, 14; 3:7.
[218] Jude 6:13.
[219] Jas. 2:13.
[220] Ibid., 4:4-8; 5:3.
[221] Apoc. 21:8.
[222] Ibid., 21:27; 22:15.
[223] Ibid., 13:18; 14:10, 11; 20:6, 4.
[224] Isa. 66:15-24.
[225] Enchir. patrist., Index theologicus, no. 594.
[226] Ibid., cf. Dict. theol. cath., "L'Enfer."
[227] Denz., no. 211.
[228] Matt. 25:41-46.
[229] De civ. Dei, Bk. XXI, chap. 23.
[230] St. Thomas has treated this question in many
places. Note especially Ia IIae, q.87, a. 1,, 3-7;
IIIa, q.86, a.4; Supplementum, q.99, a.1; Contra
Gentes, Bk. III, chaps. 144, 145; Bk. IV, chap. 95.
[231] II Pet. 3:9.
[232] Ecclus. 16:15; Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6.
[233] Ia IIae, q.87, a.1.
[234] Ibid., a. 3, 4.
[235] Ia IIae, q. 87, a.4; IIIa, q.1, a.2 ad 2;
Supplementum, q.99, a.1.
[236] It cannot be thus in its intensity, because the
creature is not capable of such infinity.
[237] Conferences in Notre Dame, 1889, Conference 98.
[238] Rom. 9:22.
[239] Supplementum, q. 99, a.1 ad 1.
[240] Ia IIae, q. 87, a. 3, 5, 6. Note the replies to the
objections.
[241] Supplementum, q. 99, a. 1 ad 6.
[242] Conferences in Notre Dame, 72nd conference.
[243] Supplementum, q. 99, a. 2 ad 1.
[244] Ia, q. 21, a.4.
[245] Supplementum, q. 99, a.1 ad 3 et 4.
[246] IIa IIae, q. 19, a. 7. "Servile fear is like an
external principle of wisdom, because fear of
punishment keeps us from sin. Filial fear is the
beginning of wisdom, because it is the first effect of
wisdom." Cf. Ia IIae, q. 87, a.3 ad 2.
[247] Supplementum, loc. cit., ad 5.
[248] Ibid., ad 4.
[249] Rom. 9:22.
[250] Cf. Ia, q.23, a.5 ad 3.
[251] Inferno, canto 3.
[252] Conferences in Notre Dame, 72nd conference, in
fine.
[253] Cf. Ia IIae, q. 87, a.4; Supplementum, q. 97, a.2;
q.99, a. 1. Cf. Dict. theol. cath., "Enfer et Dam".
[254] Denz., no. 693.
[255] Matt. 24:41.
[256] Cf. Ps. 6:9; Matt. 7:23; Luke 13:27.
[257] Matt. 25:12.
[258] Matt. 23:14, 15, 25, 29.
[259] Conferences in Notre Dame, 1889, 99th Conference.
[260] Ia, a. 60, a. 5; IIa IIae, q. 26, a. 3.
[261] Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; Luke 13:18.
[262] Dict. theol. cath., "L'Enfer."
[263] Wisd. 5:1-16.
[264] Ia IIae, q. 85, a. 2 ad 3. "Even in the reprobate
there remains the natural inclination to virtue.
Otherwise they would not have remorse of conscience."
[265] St. Thomas thus explains the gnawing worm of
Scripture (Mark 9:42) and tradition. Cf. Contra Gentes,
Bk. IV, chap. 89; De veritate, q. 16, a. 3. "Synderesis
is not extinguished. It is impossible that the judgment
of synderesis be entirely extinguished, but in one or
the other particular deed it is extinguished, whenever
man chooses what is sinful."
[266] Supplementum, q. 98, a. 2.
[267] Conferences in Notre Dame, 72nd Conference.
[268] In the works of Father Cormier, who was general of
the Dominicans and died in the odor of sanctity, we
read the following reflections on the religious who has
missed the goal of his life. He calls it "the hell of
the religious." "This unfortunate man had acquired and
kept a capacity, an inclination, greater than ordinary
Christians have, of possessing God. God had put into
his nature certain aptitudes, in view of his foreseen
religious vocation. Now these aptitudes in the
condemned religious turn necessarily and implacably
against God. His heart feels an emptiness deeper than
others, an emptiness that torments him inexorably What
a devouring hunger, which nothing can satisfy!
"He recalls the days and years of fervor, which were a
foretaste of heaven. What contrasts! What regrets! He
must say: 'Beautiful heaven, of which I was sure, thou
art now lost to me.'
"He will feel more shame than other reprobates, but he
will not be able to hide his degradation by lies and
sacrileges. His duplicity will appear in a most
striking fashion.
"In regard to God he will have more terrible hate than
others. For the heart that is most carried on to love
is also the most capable of hate, since hate is only
love turned to its contrary, to aversion. This hate
will be expressed by blasphemy against everything which
he formerly loved."
This terrible contrast shows the price of salvation.
[269] Supplementum, q. 98, a. 4.
[270] Matt. 26:24.
[271] Ps. 111:10.
[272] Ibid., 73:23.
[273] Heb. 10:31.
[274] De civ. Dei. Bk. XIII, chap. 4.
[275] Supplementum, q. 98, a.6 ad 3.
[276] St. Thomas, IV Sent., dist. 44, q. 3, a. 3; Contra
Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 90; De anima, q. 2, a. 21; De
veritate, q. 26, a.1; Supplementum, q. 70., a.3; q. 97,
a.5; Tabula aurea (Anima, no. 140); John of St. Thomas,
De angelis, disp. 24, a. 3. Cf. Gonet, Billuart, Dict.
theol. cath., "Feu de l'Enfer."
[277] Matt. 5:29; 10:28; 18:19; Mark 9:42, 46; Luke 12:5.
[278] Ia IIae, q. 87, a. 4.
[279] II Pet. 2:4, 6; 3:7.
[280] Apoc. 20:14.
[281] Matt. 22:13.
[282] Ibid., 5:22; 18:9, 40, 50. Further Matt. 18:8; Mark
9:42.
[283] Dict. theol. cath., "Feu de l'Enfer".
[284] Matt. 25:41.
[285] Ibid., 10:28.
[286] Mark 9:42-48; Matt. 5:22; 18:9.
[287] II Thess. 1:8; Jas. 3:6; Jude 7:23.
[288] II Pet. 2:6; Jude 7.
[289] Enchir. patrist., Index theologicus, nos. 592 ff.
[290] Dict. theol. cath., col 2207.
[291] Supplementum. q. 97, a. 5, 6.
[292] St. Catherine de Ricci was allowed, in the place of
one who had died, to suffer the fire of purgatory for
forty days. No one could see this externally, but a
novice, touching her hand, said to her: "But, mother,
you are burning." "Yes, my daughter," she replied.
[293] Contra Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 90; Supplementum,
q.70, a.3.
[294] Jude 6: II Pet. 2:4; Apoc. 20:2.
[295] Dan. 12:2; Matt. 18:8, 9; Mark 9:29, 49.
[296] Contra Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 89; De potentia, q. 5,
a. 8.
[297] These sufferings arise from their relation to the
object of sense, independent of alteration on the part
of the subject.
[298] La vie spirituelle, December, 1941, p. 435. The
author, Father Thomas Dehau, is commenting on the words
of the rich man, "I am tortured in this flame" (Luke
16:24). "The wicked rich man at the bottom of hell is,
we may say, crucified to the world of heaven. This
world of beatitude and peace is for him inaccessible.
This idea of crucifixion in hell is found expressed in
the Divine Comedy. Dante, passing through the shades,
perceives Caiphas, crucified on the ground by three
nails, and enveloped with flames. There you have the
picture of the soul in hell crucified in this flame.
And this fire is at the same time ice, because the
reprobate have no love. Satan, at the very bottom of
hell, is buried in ice. He is the one who has no love.
At the other pole of the world we find the Sacred Heart
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Infinitely removed from the
scenes we have been describing, at the height of the
regions there beyond, this heart too appears enveloped
in flames, crowned with thorns; down below tears of
blood and on high the Hame; always the flame: "I am
crucified in this flame." Our Lord, from the moment
when he entered the world, had this flame in the midst
of His heart, the flame and the wound of love."
Thus this mysterious word, Crucior in hac flamma, which
resounds at the bottom of hell from the reprobate, is
pronounced in a sense directly opposite by the adorable
heart of our Lord. He no longer suffers, but all
perfection which His love and His suffering had on
earth continues to exist eminently in heaven.
[299] Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6.
[300] Ibid., 10:15.
[301] Ibid., 11:21-24.
[302] Luke 12:47, 48.
[303] Apoc., 18:7.
[304] Wisd. 6:6.
[305] Supplementum, q. 69, a. 5.
[306] IV Sent., dist. 23, q. 1, a. 1 ad 5.
[307] Ia, q. 21, a. 4 ad 1.
[308] II Pet. 3:9.
[309] Father Lacordaire, Conferences in Notre Dame, 72nd
conference; Dict. theol.. cath., "L'Enfer".
[310] Dict. theol.. cath., "Coeur-sacre de Jesus."
[311] Vie et oeuvres, II, 159; lettre 83, p. 176.
[312] Dict. theol.. cath., "L'Enfer."
[313] Ibid., col. 119.
[314] Autobiography, chap. 32.
[315] Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, chaps. 38-40.
[316] The pain here spoken of is that of not possessing
the supreme Good, source of joy; a pain that is more
severe because the soul has already lost other joys.
[317] We refer to a recent book: Un appel a l'amour,
Toulouse, Apostolate of Prayer, 1944. As is shown by
Father Vinard, S.J., in the introduction to this book,
and by Father Charmot, S.J., in its conclusion, the
visions of hell and purgatory reported in this book are
in harmony with the teachings of theology. The
diabolical nature of these sufferings may frighten the
imagination, but does not destroy poise and peace in
the souls of God's servants; it rather gives them new
zeal to suffer for the salvation of souls.
[318] The Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Paris, 1903, p. 60.
[319] Ibid.
[320] Zach. 1:3; Isa. 45:22; Lament. 5:21.
[321] IIa IIae, q. 19.
[322] Matt. 10:28.
[323] Luke 9:26.
[324] Servile fear is in its essence good, but its mode
is bad, since it fears the chastisements of God more
than sin and separation from God. The soul loves itself
more than God. It retains affection for mortal sin,
which it would commit if it did not fear eternal
punishment.
[325] Dialogue, chap. 94.
[326] This fear is called initial fear. It is still
united with servile fear, until charity has grown
strong enough to expel all servility. Ps. 118:120.
[327] Ia IIae, q. 61, a. 2.
[328] Ps. 18:10.
[329] Luke 5:8.
[330] The position here described is that of Kant. The
rationalists gave great importance to his doctrine,
since it includes the negation of revealed truth. But
if we take the standpoint of revelation, many who are
ordinarily called great philosophers appear as strong
spirits, but false, who have special ingenuity in
presenting error. They are great Sophists. Many of them
are like intellectual monsters, false in fundamental
conceptions of God, of man, of our destiny. This is
particularly true in the case of Spinoza, Hume, and
Hegel. The thought of the Catholic theologian agrees
with what St. Augustine said of the great Sophists:
"Magni passus sel extra viam" ("Long steps but aside
from the road") . We shall see this clearly in
eternity, when the horizontal view, where error seems
to be on the same level as truth, yields to the
vertical view. The vertical view judges everything from
on high in the manner of God, the supreme cause and the
last end. Perspectives given us by histories of
philosophy will then be wonderfully changed.
Superficial judgments will emphasize the value of
definitive judgments.
[331] Gifts of the Holy Spirit, 1903, p. 60.
[332] Imitation of Christ, Bk. III, chap. 5.
[333] Denz., nos. 464, 693, 840, 983.
[334] Ibid., nos. 744, 777, 778, 780.
[335] Ibid., nos. 777, 3047.
[336] Ibid., no. 778.
[337] Ibid., 779.
[338] Ibid., nos. 3047, 3050.
[339] Dict. theol. cath., "Purgatoire."
[340] Denz., no. 758.
[341] Gal. 6:12; Col. 1:24.
[342] Institutiones Christianae, Bk. III, chap. 4, no. 6.
[343] Opera, thesis ann. 1523, th. 57.
[344] Denz., no. 840.
[345] Ibid., no. 807.
[346] Apoc. 2:5.
[347] II cor. 7:10.
[348] Matt. 3:2; 4:17.
[349] Ibid., 3:8.
[350] II Mach. 12:43-46.
[351] IV Sent., dist. 21, q. 1, a. 1, and Appendix to the
Supplementum, De purgatorio, a. 1.
[352] Matt. 12:32.
[353] I Cor. 3:10-15.
[354] Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians.
[355] Ecclus,. 2:5 and 27:6; Wisd. 3:6; Ps. 96:3.
[356] In his Commentary on the First Epistle to the
Corinthians Father Allo speaks thus: "Jesus has spoken
in Luke 17:22 of one of the days of the Son of man (a
day whereon He will exercise judgment), as if there
could be many such days. Thus we may believe with St.
Thomas that in this verse there is question of a triple
judgment of God." Ibid., p. 66. "We have interpreted
the fire in the widest sense, as including the ensemble
of the judgments and of the trials to which Christ will
submit the worth of those who have labored or intended
to do so. But (v. 15) He shows that it is not only the
work taken by itself, but also the workman who will be
reached by the flame, although he is destined to
salvation. As nothing indicates that these trials must
all have place during this present life, we must
recognize that St. Paul envisages, also for the elect
soul that has left this world, the possibility of a
debt still to be paid to God. When shall this debt be
claimed? We can see no moment except that wherein they
will appear before the tribunal of Christ (11 Cor.
5:10; Rom. 14:10). The Epistle to the Hebrews speaks
thus: 'It is reserved for men once to die and after
that the judgment.' " Heb. 9:27.
[357] The Theology of St. Paul, I, 112.
[358] Praelectiones theologicae, IX, no. 590.
[359] De corona, chap. 4. Cf. de Journel, Enchir.
patrist., no. 382.
[360] Journel, no. 741.
[361] Ibid., nos. 852, 853, 1109, 1206.
[362] Cf. Martigny, Dict. des antiquites chretiennes,
"Purgatoire"; cf. also Didascalia apostolorum, Bk. VI,
chap. 22, no. 2. "Offer without ceasing prayers to God,
offer the Eucharist you have accepted, offer it for
those who sleep." Similarly in the Liturgy of St. Basil
and of St. John Chrysostom.
[363] Cf. Marucchi, Elements of Christian Archeology, I,
19l. In the catacombs we find inscriptions like the
following: Victoria, may thy spirit find refreshment in
good. Calemira, may God refresh thy spirit, together
with that of thy sister, Hilaria. Eternal light be to
thee, Timothea, in Christ.
[364] Journel, no. 382.
[365] Ibid., no. 741.
[366] Ibid., no. 1061.
[367] Ibid., Index. theol., no. 584.
[368] Ibid., no. 587.
[369] Ibid., no. 588.
[370] Ibid., no. 589.
[371] Enchiridion, chaps. 69, 109 ff. Also in the
Commentary on Psalm 37.
[372] Daesarius of Arles, Sermons 105, no. 5.
[373] Dialogues, 593, 4, 39. Cf. Journel, op. cit., 1467,
1544, 2233, 2321.
[374] Denz., nos. 494, 693, 983.
[375] Imitation of Christ, Bk. III, chap. 47.
[376] Gorgias, 522 ff.
[377] Phaedo, 113 ff.
[378] Sentences, Bk. IV, dist. 21, q.1, a.1; subquestion
1.
[379] In certain edition of the Summa this Appendix is
found in the Supplement after question 72, where it
comprises only two articles. But in the better
editions, like the Leonine (Rome, 1906), the Appendix
is put at the end of the Supplement and contains eight
articles. In this latter case it contains all that is
said on the subject in the Commentary on the Sentences.
For the sake of simplicity we shall cite the Supplement
under the name of "Appendix Complete" or "Supplement."
[380] II Mach. 12:45.
[381] Dict. theol. cath., "Purgatoire," col. 1179 ff.,
1285. This theological reasoning has been preserved by
Suarez in his treatise De purgatorio, XXII, 879. It has
been too little considered by recent theologians.
[382] Denz., no. 904.
[383] Ibid., canons 12 and 15, nos. 922, 925.
[384] Ibid., no. 904.
[385] Catechism of the Council of Trent, Bk. I, chap. 24,
11, Necessity of Satisfaction.
[386] Wisd. 10:1.
[387] Gen. 3:17.
[388] Num. 20:11; Deut. 34:4.
[389] II Kings 12:14.
[390] II Cor. 6:5.
[391] Matt. 3:8; cf. Council of Trent, Denz., nos. 806,
807.
[392] Tob. 4:11; 12:9; Ecclus. 3:33; Dan. 4:24; Luke
11:41.
[393] Supplementum, q. 14, a. 2.
[394] Ia IIae, q. 87, a.6. Also Appendix of the
Supplement, a.7.
[395] Bellarmine, De purgatorio, chap. 14.
[396] Col. 1:24.
[397] Conferences in Notre Dame, 1889, 97th conference,
pp. 30, 35.
[398] Appendix of the Supplement, a.6; also De malo, q.
7, a. 11.
[399] De malo. loc. cit. ad. 4.
[400] Supplementum, q. 30, a. 1 ad 2.
[401] Imitation of Christ, Bk. I, chap. 24.
[402] IV Sent., dist. 21, q 1, a. 3; also Appendix of the
Supplement, a. 3.
[403] Comment on Ps. 37:3. Journel, no. 1476.
[404] De ordine creatur., chap 14, no. 12.
[405] IV Sent., dist. 21, q. 4; also dist. 20, a. 2, q.
2.
[406] Dict. theol. cathol., cols. 1240, 1292.
[407] De purgatorio, chap 14, p. 121.
[408] Disputatio 46, section 1, nos. 2, 5, 6.
[409] Treatise on Purgatory, chap. 14; chaps. 2 and 3.
[410] Contra Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 91, no. 2. "By the
very fact that the soul is separated from the body it
becomes capable of the divine vision for which it was
unable while united to the corruptible body. Hence
immediately after death souls gain either punishment or
reward, if there be no impediment."
[411] Ia, q. 12, a.1.
[412] Phil. 1:23.
[413] St. Catherine of Genoa received very early great
graces of consolation during five years, but during the
next five years she suffered great aridity, became
discouraged and during five further years neglected her
religious duties. One day her sister said to her:
"Tomorrow is a great feast. I hope you will go to
confession." She did go and in the confessional
received a very great grace of contrition. She
commenced from that hour a life of heroic penance,
until the Lord let her understand that she had
satisfied divine justice. Then she said: "If now I
would turn back I would wish someone to tear out my
eyes in punishment. Even this I feel were not enough."
[414] All for Jesus, p. 388. See Dict. theol. cath.,
"Dam" (the Pain of Loss in Purgatory), cols. 17 ff.;
also Monsabre, Conferences at Notre Dame, 97th
Conference, Purgatory; and Monsignor Gay, Life and
Christian Virtues, chap. 17, On the Suffering Church.
[415] Amos 8:11.
[416] Matt. 5:6.
[417] John 7:37.
[418] Ps. 41:3.
[419] Ibid., 62:1.
[420] Imitation of Christ, Bk. III, chap. 13, no. 3.
[421] What a world separates the true idea of heaven from
heaven as conceived by naturalism, by pantheism, a
heaven which would be married to hell beyond good and
bad, a heaven where without renouncing anything men
would find supreme beatitude. This is the heaven
defended by the secret doctrines of the counter-Church
which begins with the Gnostics of old and continues in
present day occult doctrines that produce universal
confusion. In the second part of Faust, Goethe is
inspired by this naturalism, so distant from Christian
faith.
[422] Dict. theol. cath., "Purgatoire."
[423] Ibid., cols. 2258-2261; Denz. 3047, 3050.
[424] Ibid., col. 2260; Hugon, O.P., Tractatus logmatici,
de novissimis, 1927, p. 824.
[425] 4 Dialogues, Bk. IV, chaps. 39 and 45.
[426] Enchir., chap. 69; De civ. Dei, XXI, 26.
[427] I Cor. 3 :13-15.
[428] See above, chap. 16.
[429] Contra Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 90; IIIa Supplementum,
q.70, a.3.
[430] Appendix to the Supplement, a.4.
[431] Ibid., a. 5.
[432] Dict. theol. cath., "Purgatoire," col 1295.
[433] See above, chap. 12.
[434] Ia, a. 10, a. 5 et ad 1.
[435] Dict. theol. cath., "Purgatoire," col 1289.
[436] Denz., nos. 464, 693, 3035, 3047, 3050.
[437] Matt. 25:46.
[438] Ibid., 24:24.
[439] Ibid., v. 22.
[440] IV Sent., dist. 21, q. 1, a. 3; Appendix of the
Supplement, a. 8.
[441] In IV Sent., dist. 19, q. 3, a. 2.
[442] 21 De gemitu colombae, Bk. II, chap. 9.
[443] See above, chaps. 10 and 12.
[444] IIa IIae, q.18, a.4. "Hope tends with certainty
toward its goal, with a certitude that participates in
the certitude of faith."
[445] Denz. nos. 805, 826, 806.
[446] Ibid., no. 779.
[447] Ia, q.64, a. 2. "The angel apprehends unchangeably
by his intellect, just as we apprehend unchangeably
first principles, and the will of the angel adheres
fixed and unchangeably, after it has chosen." We have
here a reflex of the immutability of the free decrees
of God. Cf. also De veritate, q.24, a. II ad 4; also
Contra Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 9.
[448] Ia, q. 10, a. 5 ad 1.
[449] IV Sent., dist. 21, q. 1, a.3; Appendix of the
Supplement, a.6; De malo, q.7, a. l1.
[450] Disputatio XI, sect. 4.
[451] Dict. theol. cath., "Purgatoire," col. 1294; Hugon,
Tractatus dogmatici de novissimis, p. 825.
[452] IIIa. a.86, a. 5.
[453] Cf. Hugon, op. cit., p. 826, and Dict. theol.
cath., "Purgatoire," col. 1298.
[454] IV Sent., dist. 21, q. 1, a.3.
[455] Treatise on Purgatory, chap. 2.
[456] The saint is speaking from her own experience.
[457] IIIa, q.86, a. 5.
[458] Ia IIae, q.87, a.6.
[459] Appendix to the Supplement, De purgatorio, articles
4, 7, 8.
[460] Monsignor Gay (De la vie et les vertus Chret., 11,
570 ff.) speaks thus: "After death it is no longer God
who keeps the creature at a distance. On the contrary,
He waits for it, calls for it, draws it. The soul knows
this although it does not see Him. It feels it. All
that is in the soul attempts to rush toward God with a
necessity that remains unchangeable. Their helplessness
is the source of this immobility. Like the paralytic
beside the pond, they are unable to help themselves.
They cannot do penance, cannot merit, cannot satisfy,
cannot gain indulgences. They are deprived of the
sacraments. In one sense the souls love these chains
which bind them to their present state. But their love,
although it is more ardent, finds itself the more
unable to help itself.
How small on earth is the number of those who in
reality are seized by the idea of divine justice! In
purgatory the souls have an inexpressible devotion to
divine sanctity, and this is the most fundamental
characteristic of their state."
[461] Cf. La vie spirituelle, December 1, 1942. Father
Dehau, O.P.; Les deux flammes, pp. 434 ff.
[462] De paenitentia, chap. 13.
[463] Ps. 84:11.
[464] Love of God, Bk. IX, chap. 7.
[465] Ps. 118:137
[466] Treatise on Purgatory, chap. 1.
[467] De novissimis, II, nos. 2, 3.
[468] De summo bono, Bk. 11, chap. 29; cf. Dict. theol.
cath., "Purgatoire," col. 1298.
[469] Supplementum, q.71, a. 12; Quodlibet II, q. 7, a.
2; Quodlibet VIII, q. 5 a. 2.
[470] IIa IIae, q. 24, a. 6 ad 1.
[471] John of St. Thomas, Gonet, Billuart, De caritate,
diss. II, a.3, dico 40.
[472] Denz., no. 692.
[473] Ia IIae, q. 112, a. 2 ad 1; q. 113, a. 6-8; IIIa,
q. 7, a. 13 ad 2. Cf. Billuart, De gratia, diss, VII,
a.4, #4.
[474] Eph. 4:7.
[475] Ibid., 4:13.
[476] Treatise on Purgatory. Cf. Dict. de spiritualite,
"St. Catherine of Genoa," cols. 304 ff.
[477] St. Catherine of Genoa, born in 1447, of the
illustrious family of the Fieschi received great graces
at a very early age. At the age of eight she began to
sleep on straw, placing her head on a piece of hard
wood. At twelve years she received the gift of prayer.
At thirteen, feeling a strong vocation for the
religious life, she attempted to enter among the
Canonesses of the Lateran, in the convent where her
sister Limbania had already been received. She was
rejected on account of her youth, although her
confessor interceded for her. At the age of sixteen,
yielding to the will of her parents, she married Julian
Adorno. The choice was unhappy. He was a violent man,
of bad morals, whereas she was pious and recollected.
During five years of deep aridity Catherine suffered
sadness without remedy. In the meantime her husband
dissipated her patrimony and brought the family into
financial distress. She who was called to be a great
saint began to feel discouragement. To forget this
discouragement she gave herself to exterior affairs,
and began to take pleasure in the delights and vanities
of the world. It is probable that she never sinned
mortally, but a great tepidity ruled her heart.
One day in great dejection, after praying to St.
Benedict in the church which bears his name, she
listened to her religious sister, and went to
confession. This confession became her conversion.
Paulo de Savone relates the manner of this conversion.
As she knelt down in the confessional. she received
suddenly a wound in her heart, the wound of an immense
love of God, with deep insight into her own misery, but
also into God's goodness. In sentiments of contrition,
love, recognition, she was purified, nearly fell to
earth, had to suspend her confession, which she
finished on the morrow. Jesus appeared to her carrying
His cross. She did heroic penance, until God revealed
to her that she had satisfied divine justice. She then
spoke these words: "If I should go back, I would wish
in punishment to have someone tear out my eyes, and
this itself would be too small a punishment, because to
turn back would be to lose the eyes of my soul,
incomparably more precious than those of the body." She
obtained the conversion of her husband and gave herself
with him to care for the sick in the chief hospital of
Genoa. She led at that time a life of intense union
with God, and suffered much for the deliverance of
souls from purgatory. A fire, mysterious and
supernatural, tortured her frame and made her feel a
hunger and thirst quite abnormal. During this time she
had ecstasies of pain, during which she dictated her
treatise on purgatory, which is as pithy as it is
brief.
[478] The Divine Crucible of Purgatory, by Mother Mary of
St. Austin, Helper of the Poor Souls, New York, 1940,
p. 61.
[479] L'Ideal de l'ame fervente, 1920, p. 53.
[480] Deut. 3:23 ff.
[481] See note 37.
[482] Rom 8:28.
[483] See also the Visions of Purgatory, described in the
book already cited, Un Appel a l'Amour.
[484] IV Sent., dist. 25, q. 2, a. l; Supplementum, q.
71, a. l.
[485] This merit of congruity is founded not on justice
but on charity. God by reason of our charity grants
relief to those whom we love. Ia IIae, q.114, a.6.
[486] La Reverende Mere Marie de Providence, p. 7.
[487] Ibid., p. 14.
[488] All for Jesus, chap. 9.
[489] Supplementum, q. 71, a. 10.
[490] Ibid., q. 72.
[491] IV Sent., dist. 45, q. 2, a. 4; Supplementum, q.
71, a. 13.
[492] Ibid., dist. 45, q. 2, a. 4.
[493] IIIa, q. 79, a. 5.
[494] Ibid.
[495] Likewise the pope often asks that priests celebrate
Mass to pay those debts, very numerous, which have been
established by legacies and foundations, of which after
a revolution there remains no trace.
[496] Hugon, Vol. IV, de novissimis, p. 828.
[497] IIa IIae, q. 83, a. 11 ad 3; Cf. Dict. theol.
cath., "Purgatoire," cols. 1315-18.
[498] Matt. 5:7.
[499] Denz., no. 530.
[500] Ibid., no. 693.
[501] Dict. theol. cath., "Ciel", and "Intuitive" (A.
Michel).
[502] Gen. 25:9. Also 26:24; 46:1-3; Exodus 3:6; 4:5.
[503] Deut. 32:39; I Kings 2:6; IV Kings 5:7.
[504] Deut. 30:11, 50.
[505] Isa. 65:17; 30:10.
[506] Dan. 2:44.
[507] Ibid., 7:18.
[508] Ibid., 7:27.
[509] Wis. 3:1-9.
[510] Ps. 10:7.
[511] Ibid., 15:11.
[512] Ibid., 16:15.
[513] Ibid., 48:16.
[514] Matt. 5:3, 8, 12; 16:27; 12:30; 18:10, 43; 25:24;
Mark 12:25; Luke 16:22-25; 19:12-27.
[515] Acts 1:2, 9, 11; Heb 7:26.
[516] I Cor. 13:8-12.
[517] Ibid., 2:9.
[518] II Cor. 5:6-8.
[519] I Cor. 3:8.
[520] John 17:3.
[521] I John 3:2.
[522] Apoc. 22:1-4.
[523] Dict. theol. cath., "Ciel", cols. 2478-2503. Also
"Intuitive", cols. 2369 ff. De Journel, Enchir.
patrist., Index theologicus, nos. 606-12.
[524] Rom. 2:2, 4:1, 6:2. Eph. 10:1. Smyrn., 9:2.
[525] Phil. 2:1; 5:2; 9:2.
[526] The millenarians believed that Christ would reign a
thousand years on earth, either before or after the
last judgment. This view is contrary to one entire
chapter (25) of St. Matthew and to chapter 16 verse 27
in St. Matthew. These two texts say that the second
coming of Christ will take place just before the last
judgment. Now after this event there is no place for a
reign of a thousand years on earth. The millenarian
error was refuted by Origen, St. Jerome, St. Augustine,
and the Scholastics.
[527] Adversus haereses, Bk. IV, 20, 5 (Journel, no.
236). Cf. Ibid. Bk. V, 31, 2, and Bk. III, 12, 3.
[528] Stromata, Bk. V, 1.
[529] De principiis, Bk. II, chap. 11.
[530] Ep. V, ad Theodorum lapsum, chap. 7.
[531] Ep. LVI, ad Thibaritanos, 10 (Journel, no. 579).
[532] De civ. Dei, Bk. XX, chap. 9, note. Cf. also
Enarrationes in psalmos, in psalmum 30, sermo III, 8,
also Ep. 112.
[533] Denz., no. 475.
[534] Ibid., nos 475, 530.
[535] Ibid., nos. 1001-4; 1021-24.
[536] Ibid., no. 1816.
[537] Cf. our work, De Deo uno, 1938, pp. 264-69.
[538] Ia, q. 12, a. 1.
[539] Ia IIae, q. 3, a. 8.
[540] Contra Gentes, Bk. III, chap. 50.
[541] Cf. our work. De revelatione, 1925, I, 384-403.
[542] Banquet, chap. 29 (211, c).
[543] John 3:36; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 20:31.
[544] I Cor. 13:8.
[545] Matt. 7:7; Lk. 11:9.
[546] Confessions, Bk. I, chap. 1.
[547] Denz. no. 530.
[548] Dict. theol. cath., "Beatitude."
[549] Perfect good is that which quiets and satiates the
appetite. Ia IIae, q. 2, a.8.
[550] Only God is the universal good, not as predicate,
but as being and as cause.
[551] Confessions, Bk. V, chap. 4.
[552] Matt. 25:21.
[553] De civ. Dei, Bk. II, chap. 30, no. 1. This is one
of the most beautiful definitions of heaven and
beatitude that was ever pronounced. We know none that
is more perfect. Cf. Sermo 362, 29: "Insatiably thou
wilt be satiated with truth."
[554] Ia IIae, q.3, a.4.
[555] The will is carried toward its end, by desiring it
when it is absent, by enjoying it when it is present.
But it is clear that the desire of that end is not the
attainment of that end. Delight comes to the will by
the fact that the end is already present. But the
converse is not true, namely, that something becomes
present because the will delights in it. Hence God
becomes present to us by the act of intellect, that is,
by vision, and then, as a consequence, the will rests
with joy in the end already attained.
[556] Matt. 5:5.
[557] John 17:3.
[558] John 3:2.
[559] I Cor. 13:12.
[560] Ia, q. 82, a. 3.
[561] Cf. Janvier, Conferences de Notre Dame, Lent of
1903, pp. 122, 123. See also Dict. theol. cath.,
"Gloire de Dieu".
[562] Denz., no. 530.
[563] Confessions, Bk. IX, chap. 25.
[564] St. Thomas, Ia, q 12. See also the Commentaries of
Cajetan, John of St. Thomas, etc. See also Dict. theol.
cath., "Intuitive."
[565] Denz., no 530.
[566] Ia, q. 12, a. 2.
[567] Sometimes, during a storm at night, we may see a
flash from one extremity of the heavens to the other.
Now let us imagine a flash of lightning, not sensible
but intellectual, similar to a lightning flash of
genius, but one which subsists eternally, which would
be Truth itself and Wisdom itself, and which at the
same time would be a vivid flame of Love itself. This
imagination will give us some idea of God
[568] Ia, q. 12, a. 2, and the commentaries of Cajetan,
John of St. Thomas, Gonet, the Salmanticenses,
Billuart. The divine essence itself takes the place,
both of the impressed species and of the expressed
species, that is, of the mental word. Theologians often
compare this intimate union in the order of knowledge
to the union in the order of being brought about by the
hypostatic union, the humanity of Jesus and the person
of the Word, where the Word terminates and possesses
the humanity. If this second union is not impossible,
then the first, with still greater reason, must also be
possible.
[569] Ia, q. 12, a. 6, 7. God, so say the theologians, is
seen in His entirety, but He is not totally seen in
that entirety.
[570] Ia, q. 12, a. 4, 5.
[571] Denz., no. 475.
[572] Ibid., no. 693.
[573] Ia, q. 12 a. 10. That which the blessed see in God
they do not see successively but simultaneously. The
beatific vision, measured by participated eternity,
does not tolerate succession. Things which the blessed
see successively they see extra Verbum, by a knowledge
inferior to the beatific vision and hence called the
vision of evening whereas the beatific vision itself is
like an eternal morning. Cf. Dict. theol. cath.,
"Intuitive," cols. 2387 ff.
[574] De immortalitate, chap. 25.
[575] I Cor. 13:8.
[576] IIa IIae, q.3, a.1. Charity is identified with
friendship.
[577] Ia IIae, q.28, a.3. "Extasis" is an effect of love:
"In the love of friendship affection, simply speaking,
goes outside itself, because it wills and does good for
a friend."
[578] Matt. 25:21.
[579] Ibid., 25:34.
[580] Ps. 113:11.
[581] IIa IIae, q. 184, a. 2.
[582] Sermon 362, no. 29. Cf. also Bossuet, Sermon 4, on
All Saints.
[583] Nicomachean Ethics, Bk. X, chaps. 4, 5, 8.
"Pleasure follows acts as maturity follows youth."
Further above he had said that the highest joy is the
joy that results from the most elevated act of the most
elevated faculty, that is, the intellectual knowledge
of God united to the love of the supreme Good.
[584] Ia IIae, q. 2, a. 1 ad 3; IIa IIae, q. 20, a.4.
[585] Imitation of Christ, Bk. III chap. 21.
[586] There will no longer be indifference. This
indifference exist in regard to any object which seems
good under one aspect, but not good or insufficiently
good under another aspect. Cf. Ia IIae, q. 10, a. 2.
[587] Ia, q. 105, a.4. "The will can be moved by any good
object, but cannot be sufficiently and efficaciously
moved except by God. God alone is universal good. Hence
He alone can fill the will and sufficiently move it as
object." Cf. Ia IIae, q.4, a.4. "Ultimate beatitude
consists in the vision of the divine essence, and thus
the will of him who sees God loves of necessity
whatever he does love in relation to God, just as the
will of him who does not see can love necessarily only
under the common viewpoint of the good which it knows."
Thomists thus comment on this passage: "Upon the
beatific vision there follows the happy necessity of
loving its object, a necessity also as regards
exercise. The will of the blessed is completely filled,
is adequated, conquered by the supreme Good now clearly
seen."
[588] Ia IIae, q.4, a.4. Commentaries of Cajetan, John of
St. Thomas, Gonet, Billuart.
[589] Matt. 25:46.
[590] I Pet. 5:4.
[591] I Cor. 9:25.
[592] II Cor. 4:17.
[593] Denz., no. 430.
[594] Ia IIae, q. 5, a. 4.
[595] The First Part, chap. 13, no. 3.
[596] John 14:1.
[597] II Cor. 9:6. Cf. Supplementum, q.93, a.3.
[598] I Cor. 2:9.
[599] Cf. Bossuet, Meditations on the Gospels, Second
Part, 75th and 76th day.
[600] On the contrary, vision extra-Verbum, and with much
more reason the sense-vision of Christ and of Mary
belong to accidental beatitude. There is a great
difference between these two kinds of knowledge. The
highest is called by Augustine the knowledge of
morning, the other, the knowledge of evening, because
the latter knows creatures, not by the divine light,
but by the created light which is like that of
twilight. We may better understand this difference if
we think of two kinds of knowledge which we may have of
souls on earth. We may consider them in themselves by
what they say and write, studying them as would a
psychologist, or we may consider them in God, as was
done, for example, by the holy Cure of Ars, when he was
hearing confessions. He was the supernatural genius of
the confessional, because he heard those souls in God,
while he himself remained in prayer. Thus he gave
supernatural replies, replies not only true, but
immediately suited to the question. Penitents went to
him because his soul was full of God.
[601] Apoc. 5:12.
[602] Ibid., 5:9; 21:23; 21:27.
[603] Meditations on the Gospel, Second Part, 72nd day.
[604] Ibid., 75th day.
[605] John 17:26.
[606] Father de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine
Providence.
[607] IIa IIae, q. 26, a. 13.
[608] St. Joseph, though he is the highest of all saints
after Mary, is often named after the prophets, the
patriarchs, and the Precursor, since he belongs to the
New Testament. The Precursor forms the transition from
the Old to the New.
[609] Life and Christian Virtue, chap. 17.
[610] Imitation of Christ, Bk. III, chap. 49, no. 6.
[611] Ibid., chap. 58, no. 3.
[612] John 15:19.
[613] Apoc. 4:10; 5:8, 14.
[614] Between these two kinds of knowledge, as we have
said, we find a great difference, just as we find a
similar difference between the knowledge of a
psychologist based on words and writings and the other
kind of knowledge possessed by a holy director, like
St. Francis de Sales.
[615] Ps. 138:17.
[616] Dan. 12:3.
[617] Supplementum q. 96, a. 5.
[618] Ibid., 75-86.
[619] Catechism of the Council of Trent, First Part,
chap. 12; IV Council of the Lateran., Denz. no. 429.
[620] Thus Durandus, who is followed by some modern
authors.
[621] Supplementum, q. 79, a. 1, 2, 3. From the Four
Books of Sentences, dist. 44, q. 1, a. 1: "If the soul
does not resume the same body, we could not speak of
resurrection; we would speak rather of the assumption
of a new body." A. 2. "Numerically the same man must
rise; and this comes to pass, since it is one and the
same individual soul which is united to one and the
same numerical body. Otherwise we would not have
resurrection." Cf. ibid., a. 3. Also Contra Gentes, Bk.
IV, chap. 80; also Tabula aurea, "Resurrectio," nos.
11, 12. Also Hugon, Tractatus dogmatici, De novissimis,
p. 470. Nevertheless, just as our organism without
losing its identity is renewed by assimilation and
disassimilation, it seems sufficient that any part of
the matter which once belonged to our body would be
reanimated in the risen body. Hence St. Thomas (Contra
Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 81) replies to the ordinary
objections on this point. Cannibals do eat human flesh,
but human flesh is not their only food. Plants in a
cemetery do assimilate matter taken from corpses, but
the matter of these plants does not come exclusively
from corpses. Cf. Herve, Manuale theologiae dogmaticae,
IV, no. 636. Nor is it impossible for infinite wisdom
and omnipotence to recover the matter of a body which
has disappeared. Cf. Monsabre, Conferences de Notre
Dame, La resurrection (1889), pp. 218 ff.
[622] I Cor. 15:53.
[623] Part I, chap. 12.
[624] Job. 19:25, 27.
[625] Isa. 26:19.
[626] Dan 12:2.
[627] II Mach. 7:9.
[628] Matt. 5:29-30; 10:28.
[629] Ibid., 22:23-32.
[630] John 5:29.
[631] Ibid., 6:54.
[632] I Cor. 15:17.
[633] Ibid., 15:21-27.
[634] Acts 17:31-32.
[635] Ibid., 24:15, 21.
[636] I Thess. 4:17.
[637] Athenagoras, Theophilus of Antioch, and Tertullian
speak at length on this point. Also St. John
Chrysostom, St. Augustine, and St. Gregory. See Enchir.
patr. Index theologicus, nos. 598-600. "The dead will
rise, all the dead, each with the body they had on
earth."
[638] Ruinart, Acta martyrum, p. 70.
[639] Our intelligence, the lowest of all intelligences,
has as proper object intelligible truth known as in a
mirror in sense things. Hence normally it has need of
the imagination, and the imagination cannot exist
actually without a corporeal organ.
[640] Contra Gentes, Bk. IV, chap. 79.
[641] What we are here saying refutes metempsychosis,
according to which the human soul would pass from one
body to another, either into the body of a beast or
into another human body. This is impossible because the
human soul has an essential relation to this individual
human body and not to the body of a beast. Thus the
separated souls remain individual, each by its relation
to its own body.
[642] Homilies, 49, 50.
[643] Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part 1, chap.
12.
[644] Isa. 25 :8.
[645] Osee 13:14.
[646] I Cor. 15:26.
[647] Apoc. 21:4.
[648] Heb. 2:14.
[649] I Cor. 15:42.
[650] Supplementum, q. 83, a. 1, q. 84, 85.
[651] De civ, Dei, Bk. XI, chap. 10.
[652] Commentary on Isaias, chap. 40.
[653] Supplementum, q. 83.
[654] Matt. 13:43.
[655] Ibid., 17:12.
[656] Phil. 3:21.
[657] Exod. 34:20.
[658] Supplementum, q. 85, a. 1.
[659] I Cor. 15:41.
[660] Isa. 65:17 announces a new heaven and a new earth.
The Apocalypse 21:1 repeats the same truth. The second
epistle of St. Peter 3:10 explains the phrase: "The day
of the Lord will come like a thief. In these days the
heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements
will be dissolved, and the earth will be consumed with
all the works which it encloses. We expect, according
to the promise, a new heaven and a new earth where
justice dwells." Cf. Monsabre, Conferences de Notre
Dame, no. 101.
[661] Matt. 11:26.
[662] Job 19 :26.
[663] Heretics, wishing to kill St. Dominic, waited for
him on a road where he was to pass. But when he came
near, such a brilliant light illuminated his features
that they did not dare to touch him. This light was the
sensible radiation of the contemplation which united
him to God. With him was saved also the order which he
intended to found.
[664] Dict. theol. cath., "Elus."
[665] II Tim. 2:19.
[666] God alone knows the number of the elect.
[667] Ia, q. 23, a. 7.
[668] Apoc. 7:4-9.
[669] Ia, q. 63, a. 9. I Book of Sentences, dist. 39, q.
2, a. 2 ad 4.
[670] Dan. 1:10.
[671] Ia, q.63, a. 9 ad 1.
[672] Matt. 20:16; 22:14.
[673] Ibid., 7:14.
[674] Conferences de Notre Dame, no. 102.
[675] John 12 32.
[676] Matt. 16:18.
[677] Ibid., 25:46.
[678] Luke 13:24.
[679] Denz., no. 1677. Cf. St. Augustine, De nature et
gratia chap. 43, no. 50.
[680] Children who die without baptism go to limbo. They
do not suffer, since they do not know that they have
been called to see God face to face. They know Him with
a natural knowledge and have a certain natural
beatitude, though they cannot, by reason of original
sin, attain an efficacious love of God, author of
nature. This truth shows indirectly the glory and the
grandeur of baptism.
[681] De natura et gratia, chap. 43, no. 50.
[682] Denz., no. 804.
[683] 1 John 2:2; 4:10.
[684] John 1:29.
[685] Heb 4 16.
[686] On this point Bossuet says: "Why does Jesus wish us
to enter into these sublime truths? Is it in order to
trouble us, to alarm us, to ask the question, am I of
the elect or not? Far be from us so unworthy a thought!
God does not intend that we penetrate His secret
counsels and eternal decrees. The purpose of our Savior
is this: He has given to His elect a certain choice of
means by which they approach eternal salvation. The
first of these is that we unite ourselves to His prayer
and say to Him: 'Deliver us from evil.' Then to pray
with the Church: 'Permit us not to be separated from
Thee; if our will would go astray, permit it not.'
Jesus teaches us to abandon ourselves perfectly to His
goodness, to work with our whole heart for our
salvation, to give ourselves to Him entirely for time
and for eternity.
[687] Denz. nos. 805, 826.
[688] See chap. 18.
[689] John 15:5.
[690] 1 Cor. 4:7.
[691] Rom. 8:17.
[692] Cf. Oeuvres le Donoso Cortes (Paris: 1862),
especially the letter of thirty pages written in 1852
to be presented to Pius IX.
[693] IIa IIae, q.81, a.8.
[694] John 8:12.
[695] IIIa, q. 9, a. 2, q. 10.
[696] Matt. 5:14.
[697] Ibid., 16:18-19; 18:18.
[698] Ibid. 28:19.
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