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My Morning Prayers.
(Page 182)
I. The law of progress which rules the spiritual as well as the material world requires that the servants of God should for ever advance in the supereminent virtue of Charity. That virtue, as we are told, is the sum of the goodness and grace by which our souls are made holy and pleasing in the sight of God; it is the source and the sum of all obedience, all virtue, all supernatural actions; it is the one out of the theological virtues which will never fail but abide for ever in a degree of consummate perfection. The progress of our lives may then be summed up as an advance in Charity. The Old Testament says: "The path of the just, like a shining light, goeth forwards and increaseth even to perfect day" (Prov. iv. 18). The Apostle expresses the same doctrine when he says: "This I pray, that your charity may more and more abound" (Phil. i. 9). Charity may be increased in us,
1. in the sense that God infuses into us a larger amount of that grace equally with sanctifying grace;
2. in the sense that our sentiment of love for God rises to a greater intensity, or that it extends to a greater number of objects, either men or angels;
3. in the sense that the facility of producing actions of Charity becomes greater as a result of more frequent exercise. The increase of Charity in each of these ways is effected primarily by the action of God upon the soul, and secondarily by the Sacraments, which are the channels of God's grace. Strive to advance every day and every hour of your life from virtue to virtue, till you attain that degree of perfection which God has appointed for you.
II. The immanent habit of Charity, which accompanies sanctifying grace, and which conveys the facility for performing actions of Charity, is from God. Our share in the operation and progress of Charity is to produce the fruits of the immanent habit, to acquire the habit of action which comes (Page 183) from frequent repetition, and so to increase our merit here, and the intensity of our future life of perfect Charity. The chief exercises of divine Charity are these,
1. The preference of God before all other things in heaven and on earth, readiness to sacrifice all that pertains to bodily, social and intellectual life, rather than to risk our possession of the supreme supernatural life.
2. Obedience to the whole law, which is both an effect and a cause of charity.
3. Submission to the will of God in all that He lays upon us in the way of action or endurance.
4. The reference of all our activity to God, as the goal to which it should all tend.
5. Frequent mental aspirations of affection, desire, and joy in God. Consider each of these exercises separately: examine yourself upon them; see whether you are deficient in any one of them; resolve to practise them better in future.
III. In the spiritual progress of the soul to God, which is also a progress in Charity, there are three definite grades through which we must pass.
1. The Purgative Way. We begin as sinners full of vices, bad habits, evil tendencies, which are enough to arrest all progress. We must first clear these away, like the weeds and trees and stumps from a virgin soil, by means of contrition, penance, mortification, and the acquirement of self-restraint.
2. The Illuminative Way. In this we are illuminated by the vivifying rays of grace that proceed from Jesus Christ as the Sun of justice, and by the example of perfect manhood in Him; and we have to plant and nurture the flowers of all His virtues.
3. The Unitive Way. This is the final stage of Charity in this world; it unites us in likeness, in affection, in community of sentiment with Our Lord and His heavenly Father. We live in continual communication with God; We become capable of heroic virtues; we enjoy the prelude, and even some slight foretaste of the conditions of the heavenly life. Begin at the lowest step and be ready to obey the call of God when He says to you, "Friend, go up higher" (Luke xiv. 10).
