OUR SAVIOR and HIS LOVE FOR US BY REGINALD GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE, OP. TRANSLATED BY A. BOUCHARD B. HERDER BOOK CO. 4s & 17 SOUTH BROADWAY, ST. LOUIS 2, MO. D 45 QUEEN SQUARE, LONDON, W. C.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Printed in US.AL NIMIL OBSTAT Innocentiut Sevoboda, O.F-M. Censor Librorim IMPRIMATUR He Joseph E, Ritter Archicpivcopes Sti, Ludovic, die +3 August, 1952 Copyright r951 1B. HERDER BOOK CO. Reprinted 1958 Library of Congres Catalog Card Number: 51-7708 Yet-Batou Prose, Ine, Binghamton and New Tork TRANSLATOR’S NOTE Excerpts from St. Thomas’ Summa theologica are taken from the translation published by Ben- ziger Brothers, 1947.PREFACE N an earlier work, Providence, we sought to explain, according to revelation and theology, the nature of divine Providence, its ex- tension and infallibility, and the way we must confidently abandon ourselves to it by fulfilling our duties a little better each day. We have also shown in that work how conformity with Gods signified will permit us to abandon ourselves to His will of good pleasure even before it has been manifested to us. Thus, “fidelity and aban- donment” is a maxim that preserves the equilibrium of the interior life in the face of two opposing deviations, namely, restless, sterile agitation, and lazy, quietistic indifference. “This book on the Savior is in a sense the sequel to the one men- tioned above. Who, indeed, if not the Savior has made the correct notion of Providence, so often expressed in the Old Testament, pre- vail over the notion of destiny or of an unknown and irresistible Link- age of events and causes? Who has liberated men from the clutches of blind fate, spoken of by the Greek poets? Who has enabled us to free ourselves from the bonds of fatality, of chance or ill fortune, of life's countless worries, of slavery to the passions? Who, if not He whom we call the Savior? ‘The greatest Greek philosophers sought deliverance in contempla- tion of the Sovereign Good, which they conceived variously, depend- ing on whether they were more or less idealistic, But they admitted that this contemplation of the Sovereign Good was accessible to only avery few men, They themselves attained to it only for a few fleeting moments; and if they spoke of the life to come, it was in terms of a beautiful possibility. Even Plato expressed himself thus in the Phaedo, 1s did Seneca in one of his Letters 10 Lucilius (102). ‘The problem of men’s individual destinies remained obscure, and the necessity resulting from the very nature of things weighed heavily on men’s souls, There was nothing to do but to be resignedvi PREFACE to it, (The philosophers do not free us from it. Quite the contrary, they buttress by their doctrines the stern necessity of universal laws.” ‘According to the Stoics, fate leads those who submit to her, but carries along in spite of themselves those who resist. The determinist doc- trines from the Orient added still more to the weight of destiny. “The Savior came not only to deliver us from the stranglehold of fate, from the irresistible chain of known and unknown causes, and from the blows of misfortune; He came also to deliver us from sin, from injustice with respect to God and men. He came to justify us and to promise us, no longer as a beautiful possibility but as an abso- Jute certainty, not only future life in the natural order, but eternal life in the supernatural order, participation in the intimate life of God: a life in which we shall see Him as He sees Himself and love Him as He loves Himself. ‘Belief in destiny has been superseded by faith in God’s love for ws and faith in Providence: “God so loved the world, as to give conly-begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” * The weight of destiny hras been lifted, and our individual destinies are brighter. The Savior brings deliverance to all who do not through lust or pride resist the Tight and the grace of God. It is from this point of view that we shall consider the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation. ‘On several occasions we have explained to theological students ‘St, Thomas) treatise on the Incarnation, making use of his principal commentators, We judge it useful for our present purpose to extract certain portions of this treatise that bear directly on the personality of the Savior, His interior life, and His love for us, and to present this material in 2 form accessible to all interior souls, In our presenta- tion we shall go back as much as possible from theology to faith itself since the latter is far superior to the former. ; ‘Theology helps us to discover the innermost meaning of the Gos- pel. The farther it advances the more, in a sense, it must hide itself, For, like St. John the Baptist, it must somehow disappear after an- 1 Seneca, Bp. t075 105 Volentem ducunt fate, nolentem trabunt CA. A. J. Fetugitre, OP Liidial Religieux des Gracs et VEvangile (1932) Be 195+ John 3:16. PREFACE A nouncing the coming of our Lord, It makes known the structure of the body of doctrine, but as is fitting it must express itself as much as possible in the terms of Scripture, that is, in God’s own words, Thus theology tends upward toward faith, its source. ‘We frequently speak of the intimate life of God, which is espe- cially the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, Likewise the interior life of the sacred soul of the Savior derives from the mystery of the In- carnation. We shall therefore consider the Savior’s interior life first with relation to the mystery of the Incarnation, and then with rela- tion to the mystery of the Redemption. In Part One we shall seek to explain Christ's personality according to His own testimony and that of the apostles, His intimate life as it was and is eternally with relation to the fittingness and motives for the Incarnation. We shall consider Christ’s sanctity, the fullness of grace that enriched His sacred soul from the first moment of His conception, and that radiates through all His faculties: His intelli- gence, His will, and His passions. In Part Two we shall deal with the mystery of the Redemption and of the Savior’s love for us, dwelling on His humility, His prayer, His merits, His priesthood, the sacrifice of the Cross and that of the Mass. By thus contemplating at close range the intimate life of Jesus on earth, in heaven, and in the Eucharist, we shall learn how we must {go about entering into His close friendship and how the mystery of Christ is bound up with the mystery of our own individual destinies. We have set out to write neither a treatise on technical theology nor a popularization, Our purpose isto invite interior souls to the con- templation of the mystery of Christ. To this end, two different pitfalls are to be avoided. Often, even ‘on this subject, the spirit of technical research, when it succeeds in avoiding pedantry, turns the mind to minutiae, and this result is al- ways detrimental to contemplation. Even apart from any defect in theological exposition, a good manual of theology on the solution of the difficulties concerning the communication of idioms, transubstan- tiation, or the Eucharistic accidents will be of less help in preparing us for contemplation than Bossuet’s Elévations sur les mystdres or his Méditations sur PEvangile, The majority of interior souls do notvill PREFACE need to undertake much of the research which is indispensable to theologians. In fact, to understand these matters they would require 1 philosophical background that they do not possess and that in a fense would encumber them. For, even at the start—in a different sway, of course—these theologically untrained souls are ona higher Jevel. This truth was well understood by the great classical theologians ‘who must ever be our models. ‘On the other hand, many popularizations, and many pious books as well, lack a solid doctrinal foundation, Yet, far from being separated br merely juxtaposed, sacred doctrine and piety ought to be closely tunited, the latter springing spontaneously from the former. Tnasmuch as popularizations are characterized by excessive simpli- fication, they often fail to examine certain fundamental and difficult problems from which, however, light would burst forth, perhaps even the light of life. (On the contrary, we have purposely laid emphasis on several of these problems, notably the personality of Christ (wherein it is formally constituted), the motive for the Incarnation, considered in terms of the predestination of Christ, the first of the predestined souls, We have also dealt at considerable length with the mystery of the reconciliation of Christ's liberty with His absolute impeccability, as ‘well as several other difficult questions of this nature, These ques- tions, which because of their difficulty are neglected in many works, are rone the less important not only for the theologian but for the contemplative who wishes to live by his faith, “That is why at the end of this work we shall discuss Jesus in His relation to different forms of sanctity. In this regard we have made a special study of a problem much tunder discussion at the present time: the grace of Christ and the non-Christian mystics. Tn an effort to enlighten interior souls desirous of becoming more closely united to the Savior, we have sought to explain the doctrine of the Church on the Word made flesh, according to St. Thomas “Aquinas, not in the often technical language of his commentators but in words that can be understood by all. We have tried to do this with~ cout succumbing to a superficial oversimplification, but in order to attain the superior simplicity of divine revelation as itis expressed in PREFACE ie the Gospels, above all in the Gospel of St. John and in the Epistles. St. Thomas, who was never a popularizer but will remain the great classic of theology, progressed from the learned complexity of the disputed questions to the superior simplicity of the beautiful articles of the Summa theologica, a simplicity that possesses a high value which often escapes those who are unaware of the learned complexity that prepared the way for it. This simplicity lights our way even if we donee always know at what price it was achieved. he Common Doctor of the Church shows us the path and he followed lwo well Baelt Chdeas the end 3 i ieee unable to dictate the conclusion of the Summa. He could no longer Berend to the complexity of the questions and articles that he still wished to compose, because he had risen to a contemplati that touched the things of the kingdom of God in a ae Wane way, above the letter and in the Superficial oversimplification and finicky concern with minutiae are two enemies of contemplation very different in nature. Contem- plation rises between and above these two opposing deviations like a summit which is the goal of prayerful souls, If we follow closely the doctrine of St. Thomas on all that relates to the intimate life of the Savior we shall see, as if enlightened from above, that our own spiritual life—allowing for inevitable differ- ‘ences—must be an imitation of our divine Model. Indeed, this is well shown in the masterpiece known to all, the Imitation of Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless these pages and make them fruitful for the ex- tension of His kingdom and for the salvation of souls!u, mL wv. vi. vu. vill. 1X. xL. xu, xl. xiv. xv. XVI. CONTENTS HaMen (Oe cote Paper Ome neg me ‘THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION AND THE PERSONALITY OF THE SAVIOR ‘Te Lerexion Lure ap rue Myerery or Cunsr 2 5. Jess, Tm Son of Goo acconpmse to THz Fnsr Turse Gores (Our Savion, Hx AUTHOR oF Lire, acconpixo To Tue Finer Sexqowe oF Sr, Pevsn axp ov Tur Avostu.xs . ‘Tue Mrereny of rite Incanxarion acconpinc 0 Sr. Paut ‘Tie Wor Mane Fist acconpmic 70 Sr. Joun. 2. . ‘Tue Paopuertc ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SavIOR 2 ‘Tue Divowe Prnsoxanrry oF Jesus Bc i ‘Tue Frrrivexns op THe Icanwavion ano Our Iwrenion Lire ‘Tus Motive or mux Incarxamion ax rine Iwrimare Lire ey Jeanie we err Cow eae aie ‘Tum Prsvesrinavion of Cumer 2 2 0. - 6 ‘Tux Saverire or Jews. 6 se ee ela Tue Hosta Iereniicexce of Tue Savion ano His Cox- ‘Tus Human Witt or Our Savion . OUR SAVIOR'S LOVE FOR US AND THE MYSTERY OF REDEMPTION ‘Tue Tesrmowy or Jesus on tae Mysreny or Tue Reprscrrion ‘Tux Repearrion Acconpine To Sr. Paut Goo’s Love von His Son 1x tute Msrany oF TH RepEmrrion x 3 Py 28 37 46 56 7B .ur . 120 135 143 “172 183 + 195, 204.‘XVI. CONTENTS Cunsr’s Reoeurrive Love We vale ea aaa | Jesu? Hounnsrr aso Hi Maowammere 5. 5 +++ 328 (Own Savion’s Praven Ei ebay oi ate Panam 3 Asie: Basseeabuns oy Cassie A) aig (a a age in > |. Tun Inenrrs Manrrs or Cums. 5 + ome ‘Tur Laer Suresx axo rue Fucuaneric Heart or Mes! ee | Spe Paidecae Jadot vonmmo Hin Basen. + fe 7 269 ;, Jesus, Passer ano Vicrit ow THe Cross CE ean a aa ~ Cuumisr’s Vicrony oven Dzatt ELIS HG. eat | "Tie Princrrat, Parser oF THe SACRIFICE oF THE MAS 298 | Tar Inrniere Vanvr or Eacn Mass Orrrnsn ur px Oux Lonp 311 | Sovenzion Rueurrion axp Ins Faors 1 Many. + «32! Tie Iemmacr or Cuntsr 2 Ah iaa - Qun Parriciexrion 1x me Musreniss ov Our Lono’s Lire. 341 | Ta Grace or Cunist axp THe Mystics Ourswe tz CHURCH 355 Ewocus, Te Trnse Brerus or Taz Won. = 385 Re a ce pe ie alpen Riese ar PART ONE HE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION. AND THE PERSONALITY OF THE SAVIORele HE INTERIOR LIFE AND THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST “For to me, to live is Christ” Phil. ra 'N ORDER first of all to understand the importance of the mystery of Christ for each one of us at every stage of our interior life, even the lowest, let us inquire what is meant by the interior life in the more general meaning of the term, and then in the more specific and deeper sense. ‘The Intimate Conversation of Every Man with Himself and the Basic Tendencies of the Will The words “interior life” at once call forth a mental picture of a state of relatively profound recollection that may seem inaccessible to most of us who live in the world, engrossed in our affairs from which at times we seek recreation in amusements of one sort or an- other. This commonplace impression contains both truth and error. The interior life, as its name indicates, presupposes a certain recollec- tion in God, but this recollection is not as out of reach as may at first appear, Every man, whether good or evil, holds a more or less serious conversation with himself at certain hours of the day whenever he is alone and often enough even amid the throngs of a bustling city. On his way home from work in the streetcar a laborer, when he is not joking or talking with his fellow workers, may appear pensive: he is holding an interior conversation with himself, What is he think- ing of? Perhaps that within a week he will be out of a job. How, then, will he provide for his wife and his children? The tenor of his 14 ‘OUR SAVIOR interior conversation varies with his age. When he is young, he thinks of the future, When he is old, he carries within himself the accumu- lated experience of some sixty years which tends to be translated ite an over-all judgment on lifes and this judgment will vary widely, depending On whether a man’s life has been good or bad and on whether he is or is not a Christian. f | “The interior life is an elevated form of the interior conversation of every man, when this conversation becomes or tends to become @ tion with God. : von this intimate discourse which each man has with himself, the life of the senses, of the imagination, of the sense memory, and of the emotions all take part, as is the case with animals. In addition, there is participation by the mind, the intelligence, which passes judg- ment on life. There is also a more or less latent act of the will, which js created to love and to desire what is good. In this interior state there is a fundamental love, a basic tendency of the will, that differs i yng men.* es will judge diferently about the ultimate goal to be pr ued, according as the basic tendency of his willis or is not rectified, rood or evil All men scek happiness. Some seek it where it isto be found, in the true good; others seek it where it is not, in satisfying Jr sensuality or their pride. Wecce vrithowt being willing to admit it, love themselves above all else, aad more or less consciously make everything con- verge upon themselves as if they were the center of the universe, ‘Along with this self-love, and as it were on the side, they also have a somewhat ineffectual love for their family or their country. Such men Go not have an interior life, for their interior conversation with them- Dat neh STi a eam art ee nt 5 irtuous oF not, he will judge differently as to ‘Thi Mae iple, the portion of treth in the philosophy of action, we shave stressed else- ‘THE INTERIOR LIFE selves is of death rather than of life, Instead of elevating them, it lowers them. According to the Gospel, these souls are in a state of spiritual death or of mortal sin. The basic tendency of their will is turned away from the true good, away from the Sovereign Good which is the principle of all others. What they are really secking is not truth and the true good of man, of their family, of their children, of their country. On the contrary, they are seeking perpetual pleasure and the money needed to procure it. According to Christian philosophy they live by the quest of pleasurable good and of the useful, without rising to really desire moral good conceived by right reason as the object of virtue. Their fundamental will is directed toward death, not toward life. They have no interior life. What they discover deep within them- selves is death; and hence they seck to escape from themselves, to externalize themselves in study, in science, in art, or in social and political activity, or to live by their imagination and their senses and thus forget their sad evaluation of life which would lead them to discouragement and pessimism, In this regard Pascal says that the man who would escape from himself by taking up hunting, for instance, prefers the pursuit of the hare to the hare, and in.a more elevated order of activity prefers the search for truth to truth itself, He is ever in need of something new. This is the reverse of changeless contemplation of attained truth. Such a man seeks to escape from himself to avoid boredom, empti- ness, discouragement. But sometimes the hour of discouragement can become by the grace of God the moment of conversion. This has happened many times: a despairing man about to seek death remem- bers the name of God, invokes it, and, perceiving the grandeur of the mystery of Christ and of our Redemption, is converted and thence- forth gives himself wholly to the service of God and to the salvation of souls. On a lower level and without going that far, souls in the state of mortal sin may at moments entertain some such noble thoughts as these: “Honor is the poetry of duty”; “a beautiful life is a thought of youth realized in maturity.” Sometimes an actual grace may il-6 OUR SAVIOR fuminate one of these noble maxims and lead souls to seek higher things. ‘When the basic tendencies of a man’s will are directed toward the moral good, the object of virtue, when this man desires the good itself or duty, efficaciously and not merely as a fancy, more than he desires pleasure and what is useful to obtain it, then it can be said of hhim that he already has an interior life. If such are the basic tenden- cies of his will, then the interior conversation that he holds with himself in hours of solitude or in crowded streets is a conversation that is directed toward life. In reality this man who genuinely and effcaciously loves the good more than himself is beginning to con- verse interiorly with God and no longer with himself. St. Thomas * says that when a child, even one who has not been baptized, attains to the full age of reason, he must choose the path of goodness and duty in preference to the path of pleasure. He must ‘ffcaciously desire the true good and from that instant on orient his entire life toward it. For one wishes the end, even if it is only dimly understood, before wishing the means. But to desire efficaciously the true good more than self s already to love more than oneself the Sov- ereign Good, God, the Author of our nature. Fallen man is not capable of such an efficacious love without being regenerated through grace, which cures him of original sin. That is why St. Thomas does not hesitate to teach that a child—even one who has not been baptized— ‘who after he has reached the full age of reason efficaciously loves the good more than self, is justified by the baptism of desire, because this Tove, which s already the efficacious love of God, is not possible to man in his present state without regenerative grace.* ‘Doubtless if this child is not in a Christian environment he will find it most difficult to persevere; but if he does persevere, he will receive fever richer gracesand will besaved. Ina Christian environment he will naturally receive mauch more help. That is why itis such a great grace to have been born in the Church. ‘We cannot overemphasize this point: the moment the fundamental will of a man is efficaciously directed toward the true good, the man is justified, he isin the state of grace, he possesses within himself the Summa deol, TaThne g.t9, 0.6, Cf St Thoma Ta Ta, 4,309, 83+ THE INTERIOR LIFE i" seed of eternal life. He already has a certain interior life which is truly alive, evenifitis not yet as recollected as might be desirable, . ‘The man who has persevered in the state of grace for a considerable tinrie’obrnes ty Baave copetielly in ttinments‘ofenlitude, inthe tilence of achurch, or in the midst of a crowd, an interior conversation with him- self which is no longer one of egoism and self-love, but which is al- ready Suieen epee onlnrcharson ntti Gaal As we ride in a crowded bus of an evening we can sometimes, even without havidg the gift of the discernment of spirits; resognize thoes men‘audl Spo men thie aie guneleatray-tn mbioondick-ahi aval thede spair of their families—if they have any—and those who on the con- trary live by the thought of the good and gropingly by the thought of God, by a faith that may indeed need to be enlightened but that is nevertheless the pupil of their mind’s eye. These persons offer up a short prayer from time to time; and when they are not praying, their interior conversation does not separate them from God. They nets living proofs of the truth of Christ’s consoling words to His apostles: “For he that is not against you, is for you.” * Often they seem happy to mest pretend sometimes ak him to pray fr them and for hi arclies ‘They are good at heart, God is hidden in the depth of their hearts, and He draws them to Himself by lights and graces proportioned to their condition. In their own way these men are treading the path to- ward eternal life. Are there many of them of an evening in a crowded bus? God knows who they are, In any case we should remember that itis never by chance that two spiritual and immortal souls meet, wherever itinay be, in'a train or! elsewhere, eapeciillly if one of them in the state of grace, even more sof one is very closely united to God and ca through prayer call down on the other the light of life. What bas just been stid gives us a distant glimpse ofthe interior life, what it must become in a truly Christian soul that is destined to tend ever more rapidly toward God. Asa stone falls faster when ap- proaching the earth that attracts it, so must souls tend more rapidly toward God in the measure that they come closer to Him and that He draws them to Himself with increasing force, Their fundamental will * ask 9395 take 9508 ‘OUR SAVIOR ust tend with ever-increasing efficacy toward God. They must there- fore, especially in moments of solitude whether in a church or ina crowded street, converse ever more intimately, not in a selfish manner with themselves, but generously with God who dwells within them, ‘Their fundamental will thus rectified and supernaturalized must be more and more victorious over selfishness in all its forms. They must reach out heyond themselves, and instead of seeking to relate everything to themselves they must try to relate everything to God. ‘Their fundamental will must become zeal for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls, Then they will have an interior life that is truly fruitful for themselves and for their neighbor. Clearly, the interior life is all that really matters for each one of us, Its much more indispensable than what we speak of as the intel- Jectual life, For without a true interior life man is the prey to selfish- ness and pride and can have no wholesome, lasting, and profound influence on society. ‘This true interior life is realized in its fullness by the saints, but especially by the Saint par excellence, our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence the necessity of reflecting, and reflecting with love, upon the interior life of Jesus and of not being contented with knowing Him from the outside in a purely historical manner, as the speculative theologian may do when he does not strive hard enough to live what he teaches. ‘What Christ Must Be to Us ‘Theneed of reflecting on the interior life of the Savior is particularly greatin the present period of general confusion, when individuals and entire peoples misunderstand the ultimate end of human life and for- get the profound difference between perishable, material goods and immutable, spiritual goods. Material goods divide us in the measure that we eagerly seek them; for they cannot belong at one and the same time to everyone as a whole and to each one in particular. A given house and lot cannot belong integrally and simultaneously to several men any more than the same territory can belong to several nations. (On the other hand, as St. Thomas, following St. Augustine,” has Ch 8. Thomas Ta Ta, g.2% a4 aay Ta, g.25) 81 40: ‘THE INTERIOR LIFE A often remarked: spiritual goods can belong at the same time and in plenitude to all and to each; and they unite us the more in the measure that we seek them. Thus, each one of us can live by the same truth, by the same virtue, by the same God, by the same Christ our. ey Every Christian should ultimately be able to say, as did St. Paul: “To me, to live is Christ.” * i i As St. Thomas remarks in explaining these words,* a man’s life is what interests him most. It is by living that his faculties reach fulfill- ment. It is to life that his existence is dedicated. For example, the Angelic Doctor adds, for some, to live is to hunt; for others, it is study, intellectual activity; for others still, to live consists in exterior activity. For a soldier, to live is to engage in military service. Finally, to the Chufstian, to five—once he has become Folly conscious of the grandeur of his destiny—is Christ. This is particularly true of the Pret he apostle, whose mission it is to reveal to others the mystery Indeed, itis not enough for us to understand Christ's message. We must also put it into practice. Jesus Himself has told us in the conclu- sion of His Sermon on the Mount: “Everyone therefore that heareth these My words and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not for it was founded on a rock, And everyone that heareth these My words and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof.” * In his commentary on St. Matthew, St. Thomas remarks: The rock ‘on which we must build signifies Christ Himself: as St. Paul tells us, th spiritual rock is Christ."° . . . But there are those who listen S Chiist’s message only in order to know it (without putting it into practice) ; they build on the intelligence only, and that isto build upon the sand. « Others listen to His message in order to put it into practice and to love God and their neighbor; these build on rock . . . * In Bpistolam ad Philipp, 1:21. 191 Cor. 1034.10 ‘OUR SAVIOR and they can ask with St. Paul: “Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ’? ” ** “These words, written by a man of learning like St, Thomas, are significant." For to St. Thomas, to live was not only to study: To live twas Chri, to whom he had consecrated all his labors and his entire life. Certainly, both intellectual and exterior activity are necessary. But the Christian must love his work not only for the natural satisfaction and the profit he derives from it, but for Christ who must be known and loved, “that a man may live not to himself, but to God.” * In this way his powers are increased tenfold, even a hundredfold. He is no Tonger giving only himself, he is giving Christ for the salvation of souls. ‘To live more and more by Christ we must die to ourselves, that is, to the life of egoism, sensuality, and pride. “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” We must stop making ourselves the center of existence, and unconsciously relating everything to ourselves. On the contrary, we must relate everything to God. This is the precious fruit of the spirit of sacrifice, which progressively causes to die within tus all that is disorderly. The spirit of sacrifice gives us peace and the tranquillity of order by making us give first place in our souls to charity, to the love of God and of souls, love that is ultimately vic~ torious over all egoism and all disorderly love of self. 'As we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, man since his fall is inclined consciously or unconsciously to relate everything to himself, to think continually of himself, and to love himself in prefer- 2 Rom. 835 eee own words areas follows (Ix Madhacum, 7:26): “Pundamentom et ued saper gud pont sigui intertionem mam. Quidam enio,aedint ot ent eB regis one intellect: et hace et selicatio super srenam, » - . Quidam autem rear crn ax diigay et bie acdifcat sper petam, quia super firmum et sable, « qua cotn fandamentam xt upereaitatrn. Qu nos separabit a arta Ch Se ansarttn Tee crs 4.6 a3. in bin commentary on the Epinle to the Gala- ian se oe Tomas nao myer stom quantum ad ilud dicear wiver, in quo prin perk Boman som fect, cin quo maze dleator, Unde et homins qui in dio se ik enaionibor maxine decanter, dicnt hoe eorum vitem Let Gutman privaviet querene tant quod wuum et all sbi viet ero quaerit bona liorum, dciur etiam {lis vivere” Un ths vense St. Paul co ine, to live is Chat.” ‘THE INTERIOR LIFE t ence toall else. If, however; he listens to Christ's message and puts it into practice, the day will come when, instead of thinking continually of himself and of relating everything to himself, he will live ie Carin al Cite vad WAM Gale lbaoeh sheraye GE Gad, oe SapretaniDruthsand| Coates nad bec willlnelatas ayerythine: tem, ‘Then will the fundamental will of his soul be truly rectified and supernaturalized; his interior life will be founded in the image of oe ena Word, the expression of the thought of the Fa- er, produces Love by spirati i the as by sain and makes all things converge to- | Te is from this point of view that we must meditate upon St T homas? treatise on the Incarnation. When, during the last days of his life, the saintly doctor was'so absorbed in superior contemplation that. he, could no.donger dictate the last pages of his! Garam, he thought that the mysteries hidden in Christ are inexhaustible and ‘that the doctors had discovered only a minute portion of them, ; St. John of the Cross tells us the same thing in the Spiritual Can- sicle,'* in, which he calls these mysteries “caverns” to symbolize their uals cee ‘May the Lord deign to give us a deep and keen inderstanding of these my i understig pee rey so that we may the better see the Stanza az.