Response to Questions XLV-XLIX concerning hope and charity

§ II.

Response to Questions XLV, XLVI, XLVII, XLVIII and XLIX concerning hope and charity.

In order to respond to the things objected concerning her charity, and similarly to the things objected concerning hope, we note beforehand that three things are required so that the charity of a wayfarer may be perfected for this, that it pass over into the charity of comprehensors in the subject of charity. The first is purification; the second is collection into itself; the third is elevation. Therefore first there must be a separation from contrary dispositions in the subject, which through contrary inclinations impede the perfection of the habit of charity. Now there are three things from which one must be purged and separated, namely fault, punishment, and corpulence. Through all these three the perfection of charity in wayfarers in this state is impeded. Through the second state the fathers in limbo alone were impeded. Through the third Adam alone was impeded in paradise. And concerning these three it is said in the book of Wisdom 9:15: The body that is corrupted weighs down the soul. And body, as corpulence; corruption, as fault; weighing down, as punishment, stands opposed, which was in the Lord Jesus. Yet corpulence does not stand opposed where there was fruition, and there was punishment, because the union to the divine nature conquered and took away these impediments.

The second thing required for the perfection of charity is the collection of the subject into itself, through which three impediments also are posited. For the soul, insofar as it is by nature a certain form of a natural body and is bound to bodily images and species, is bound to diverse passions of the body and is divided into diverse operations. Concerning the binding to bodily images, Augustine says in book X On the Trinity: "So great is the force of love that the things which the mind has long thought upon with love, and to which it has clung by the glue of care, it draws with itself even when it in some way returns to thinking of itself ¹." And below: "The mind errs when it joins itself to these images with such great love that it judges even itself to be something of this kind ²." After this he says that from this there were diverse errors of the Philosophers and of others, some positing that it is fire, others atoms, and so concerning the others ³. And there it is added thus: "From this the disgrace of error arises for it, while it cannot separate from itself the images of sensible things so as to see itself alone. For they have adhered wonderfully by the glue of love, and this is its uncleanness, because while it strives to think of itself alone, it thinks itself to be that without which it cannot think of itself. Therefore when it is commanded to know itself, let it not seek itself as if it had been taken away from itself, but let it take away what it has added to itself ⁴." This is the first collection, namely withdrawal from bodily images.

Concerning the binding to bodily passions, Augustine says in the book On Spirit and Soul: "By certain affections and a certain friendship the soul is joined to the body, according to which friendship no one ever hated his own flesh. For being associated with it, although it is weighed down by its association, nevertheless by an ineffable condition it loves it, loves its prison, and therefore cannot be free. It is vehemently affected by its pains. It fears destruction, though it cannot die. It fears deficiency, though by nature it cannot fail. It feeds on the sight of eyes, is delighted by the hearing of sounds, is pleased by the sweetest smells, is refreshed by a large feast. And although the soul itself in no way uses these things, nevertheless it is afflicted with heavy grief if they are taken away ⁵."

The third impediment is division toward operations, concerning which Augustine says in the book On Spirit and Soul: "According to the office of its work, the soul is named by various names. For it is called soul when it gives life; spirit when it contemplates; sense when it senses; animus when it is wise; mind when it understands; reason when it discerns; memory when it remembers; will when it wills ⁶." Therefore from these three the soul is gathered into itself: through abstraction from bodily imaginations, through cessation of the passions of the body, and through union of operations. Concerning the union of acts Augustine says: "Sense is turned into imagination, imagination into reason, reason into intellect, intellect into intelligence, intelligence into God." Concerning abstraction from passions, Augustine says in the book of Soliloquies: "While the soul is in this body, even if it most fully sees, that is, understands God, nevertheless because the senses of the body also use their own operation, though they have indeed no power to deceive, they nevertheless are not powerless to produce uncertainty ⁷." And it can still be called faith by which these things are resisted and that is believed rather to be true. Likewise, because in this life, although when God has been understood the soul is already blessed, nevertheless because it sustains many troubles of the body, one must hope for it that after death all these inconveniences will not exist. Therefore hope does not desert the soul while it is in this life. But when after this life it has wholly gathered itself into God, charity remains by which it is held there. Likewise, Augustine says in the book On Spirit and Soul: "The good of the soul is God, with the outpouring of his sweetness. The good of the flesh is the world, with the pleasantness of the soul. But this world is exterior; God, however, is interior. For nothing is more inward than God, nothing more present than he. He is interior to every thing, because all things are in him; he is exterior to every thing, because he is above all things. Therefore, returning from this world to God, and as if ascending upward from below, we must pass through ourselves. For to ascend to God is to enter into oneself, and not only to enter into oneself, but, by a certain ineffable mode of entering in the inmost parts, to pass beyond oneself. For he who, entering inwardly and penetrating intrinsically, transcends himself, truly ascends to God. Therefore let us gather our heart from the distractions of this world and call it back to inward joys. And if we cannot hold our heart, let us at least restrain it from unlawful and vain thoughts, so that at some time we may be able to fix ourselves in the light of divine contemplation. For this is the rest of our heart, when it is fixed by desire in the love of God. This is the life of our heart, when it contemplates its God and is sweetly refreshed by its own contemplation. And it is sweet to it always to consider what is always sweet to love and praise. For nothing seems more excellent for the blessed life than, as if with the bodily senses closed, to be turned outside the flesh and the affection of the world between oneself, and, as an effect alien to mortal desires, to speak to oneself alone and to God ⁸." Concerning this threefold collection together, namely of acts and affections, Augustine says in the book On the Quantity of the Soul: "The mind is purged from the filth of sin, from the darkening of errors, from the phantastic imagining of things, from the deceptive proportion of natural things, from the vain delight of temporal things."

The third thing required for the perfection of charity is elevation, which happens through three things: for it happens with nature striving, grace lifting up, and God attracting. Concerning the striving of nature it was said above about Zacchaeus, who was small in stature; and concerning the lifting up into God, that he climbed into a tree ⁹. But because neither the striving of nature nor the lifting up of grace without the attraction of divinity suffices for conjunction, which exists in the perfection of charity, therefore the bride cries out: Draw me after you ¹⁰, and so forth. And the Lord says in the Gospel: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him ¹¹, and so forth. The stimulations of present miseries, knowledge of one's own defectibility, and appetite for the highest natural perfection dispose toward the striving of nature. Sacramental graces and virtues dispose inchoatively toward that elevation: graces by healing from the evil of fault and punishment, virtues by adding toward the good. Progressively, gifts and fruits dispose: gifts by helping toward more excellent acts, fruits by refreshing those who labor. But completively, according to the state of the way, the beatitudes dispose; according to the state of the homeland, the dowries.

Concerning attraction, note that in natural things the motion is greater the greater the approach to its end is. And approach alone is not the cause of increase, but also likeness and fittingness to its place. For example, the more a stone is moved downward, the more its motion is intensified; and similarly fire upward. And so in natural things natural motion suffices to change the relation of the movable thing to its place, and through this alone it becomes near. But in voluntary things motion does not suffice to change the situation of the natural power itself toward its place, which is God. And this is because in natural things there is only a place, so that the place is only a mover; but in voluntary things the place itself is the mover and cooperator, and so through that toward which the motion is, and which moves through itself, the motion has it that approach comes about. But the terminus of that approach itself is the perfect conformity of the divine and human will, deiform effectively.

For this attraction and approach and conformity, three things especially dispose and precede on the way: works of instruction or edification, works of patience and suffering, and works of supererogation. Concerning works of instruction, Augustine says: "This is the law of divine providence, that no one is helped except by superiors toward knowing and participating in grace." Hence in John it is also read concerning Caiaphas that, since he was pontiff of that year, he prophesied ¹². In this the Lord showed that even to evil men, by reason of prelacy for the usefulness of others, he grants gifts. Hence concerning Saul it is read that after the anointing the Spirit of the Lord leapt upon the king and he prophesied ¹³. Concerning works of patience and suffering, the Apostle says: For virtue is perfected in weakness ¹⁴. This is also figured in Job, who after perfect victory through his patience received all his goods double ¹⁵. Concerning works of supererogation, Mark 10:29 and 30 says: Amen I say to you, there is no one who has left, and so forth, who will not receive a hundredfold, and so forth, and in the age to come eternal life. Therefore this perfection of charity passing from the state of the way into the state of the homeland consists in full purification, and all-mannered collection, and most perfect elevation.

Therefore it is clear that the perfection of charity to be transformed from the state of the way into the state of the homeland comes about without substantial addition, through perfect collection of itself into itself, through extension of act, through improvement and nobility of act and habit, and through the highest conjunction with the highest good. Hence we believe that as the body is glorified in its own mode, so the soul is glorified in its own mode. But it is manifest that the body is glorified through purification and elevation and nobility without extrinsic addition. For a body constituted from the four elements and from the fifth essence is ordered according to two states, namely the state of corruption and the state of incorruption. For since the four elements are bodily according to parts, and the fifth essence is incorporeal, as long as elemental qualities dominate and operate in the human body, and are active and formal, and according to them the body is ruled and administered, the properties of the fifth essence are lulled, as it were without action. Therefore the body must be subject to penality, passibility, corruption, and finally to be dissolved, because of the continual battle of contraries fighting against one another; and of these one must finally conquer the other, and so the other be expelled, the harmony be destroyed, the soul be separated, and the body be dissolved, according to that saying of the Philosopher: "When the soul goes out, the body breathes out and withers." But since nature always intends its own continuation, and the perpetuation and sublimation of its own being, insofar as it can, it would be unfitting that in a body composed of an incorporeal nature, as from the nature of light, and corruptible natural things, such as the elements are, there should always be formal and active properties of less noble and corruptible natures, and that the body should never be ruled and administered according to an incorruptible and better nature. Therefore necessarily there will be a transition from the properties of corruptible natures to the property of incorruptible nature, and from the actions of corruptible natures to the action of incorruptible nature. But this happens when this corruptible thing puts on incorruption. In that state, indeed, the elements will remain according to their substances, lulled and ceasing from material actions, with the dominion of the nature of the fifth body existing and exercising all actions. And thus the natures formerly acting are then lulled, and those formerly lulled then work all operations in the body.

In a similar way the glorification of the soul seems to happen by this mode. For since now the soul has certain operations according to acquired natural properties, and certain operations according to gratuitous properties, and the operations that happen according to natural qualities are strong and evident and frequent, but gratuitous operations are weak and rare and slight and not manifest, it is unfitting that a rational substance, having more and less noble operations, should always exercise the less noble ones with evidence and excellence and frequency, and never exercise the more noble ones with evidence and excellence. Therefore necessarily there will be another state of the soul, in which the nobler operations will be excellent and evident and perfective of the soul, but the natural and material properties will be lulled and without action. But this will be when they will neither hunger nor thirst any more, as to the nutritive power; when they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, as to the generative power; and when sense will be turned into imagination, and imagination into reason, as was said above, as to sensitive works. And thus in that state the soul will exist only according to the operative powers turned toward God through actions informed by gratuitous qualities; and this is the glorification of the soul according to itself. But since even the gratuitous properties or qualities themselves are partly imperfect, partly joined with imperfect things, and what is imperfect in itself or joined to imperfection could not be fully perfect, since those properties become the soul's highest perfection, the imperfect must be emptied out and the perfect separated from it. But charity alone is perfect, which is the bond of perfection ¹⁶. Therefore all other virtues must be emptied out or lulled from actions, while charity alone dominates and exercises all operations. And then what has been commanded will be fully fulfilled: You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart ¹⁷. This will be fulfilled when every natural habit ceases as to act, and the habit of every other virtue will be lulled as to act, and the soul with its whole being will be filled with the noblest habit, and nothing except charity in the soul will go forth into act, when all things pass away except loving God. Then what is written will happen: Whether prophecies, they will be made void; whether tongues, they will cease; whether knowledge, it will be destroyed ¹⁸. For knowledge itself is the matter of affection and the way into delight. Hence the act of knowledge, insofar as it is a movement toward affection, will be destroyed, charity alone occupying the whole. And this is the glorification of charity, which generates glorified joy, concerning which Peter says: Believing, you will exult with joy unspeakable and glorified, carrying back the end of your faith, the salvation of souls ¹⁹.

Therefore gather from the things said before that, just as the glorification of the body happens without extrinsic addition, so the glorification of charity happens without extrinsic addition, and that the charity of the way and the charity of the homeland are the same substance.

Therefore, just as the charity of the most blessed Virgin now in the state of the homeland is greater than the charity of every pure creature, both as to substance and as to act, so also the same charity in the state of the way was greater than every charity of a pure creature according to substance, but not as to act. For the charity of the most blessed Virgin was greater than the charity of all Angels as to substance, but not as to act; indeed as to act it was less than the charity of the least Angel. That it is greater in substance but less in act is caused by the condition of the subject, the conjunction of the contrary, and the lesser attraction of the mover; yet that attraction would always be in act if something did not stand in the way on the part of the attractable thing, either by reason of itself or of something joined to it. But we understand this thus: if God were to create an Angel anew and infuse into him that charity which the most blessed Virgin had on the way, that Angel would love God as much as the most blessed Virgin now loves him in the homeland.

Note also that although the charity of the most blessed Virgin was less than the charity of some Angel as to act, nevertheless it was greater as to substance or effect. For the charity of an Angel is not in the state of meriting as to substantial reward; but every act of charity in the most blessed Virgin was meritorious of eternal life, and of a blessedness transcending the blessedness of the Angels.

The most blessed Virgin also had charity toward neighbor as toward God, as was clear in objecting, and this not only as to interior act, but as to the showing of work, so that she was greatest in effect. Nor does it stand in the way that it is said that she did not lay down her own soul for her neighbor; for indeed she laid down the soul of her Son and her Son himself for her neighbor, whom she loved more than her own soul. And her own soul, if it had been necessary, she would have offered to suffering by her own will, and in the passion of her Son she crucified it with her Son; and thus she offered two souls and so doubled the effect of love. And this is what is said: A sword shall pierce your own soul ²⁰.

We also believe, without prejudice to a better opinion, that in the conception of the Son of God the blessed Virgin received the charity of the Son, such and so great as could be perceived by a pure creature in the state of the way, and of a nobler condition than charity that is augmentable and possible to that charity in the highest increase according to the state of the way.

We also grant that the most blessed Virgin had a middle state between the state of a simple comprehensor, namely a state according to which she was a simple wayfarer and a simple comprehender.