The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-02-24

|
and growth. can only be on the condi-
ton of recognizing the wisdom and au-
| thority of the church.
Coming now to speak of the conclu-
| SionS which have been deducted from
| the above opinions we readily believe
there was no thought Of wrong or guile,
yet the things themselves certainly
merit some degree of suspicion. First,
all external guidance is set aside for
| those souls who are striving after
| Christian perfection as being super
| fluuus or. indeed not useful in any sense
the contention being that the holy
spirit pours richer and more abundant
sraces than. formerly upon The souls
of the faithful. so that without human
intervention He teaches and guides
them by some hidden instinct of His
own. Yet it is the sign of no small
oVercnntidence to desire to measure and
determine the mode the divine COM
municatiOn to mankind, since it wholly
depends upon His own good pleasure
and He is most generous dispenser of
His own gifts.
The spirit breatheth whereso he list
enth-John ill.,, IS.
And grace is given us according to
the measure of the giving of Chris
IIph. iv.. IL
And shall any one who recalls the
nascent church, the trials and deaths
of the martyrs, and above all, the oden
times so fruitful in saints, dare to meas
ure our age with those. or affirm that
they received less of the divine out
pouring from the spirit of holiness
Not to dwell upon this point. there is
no one who calls in question the truth
that the holy spirit does not work by
a secret descent into the souls of the
hia hat tijL- hoy oil nv
warnings and impulses. since unless
this We're the case, all outward defense
and authority would be unavailing.
For. if any persuades himself that he
can give assent to saving. that is to
gospel truth when proclaiming. without
any illumination of she holy spirit. who
gives unto all sweetness both to assent
and to hold such an one. is dece<ed by
hertical spirit. From the second coun-
sci of Orange canon, I.
st. Augustine.
Moreover, as experience shows, these
mentions and impulses of the holy
spirit are for the most part felt through
the medium Of the aid and light of an
external teaching authority. To quote
Saint Augustine: He (the holy SPIRIT
co-operates to the fruit gathered from
the good trees, since he externally
waters and cultivates them by the out
ward ministry of men and yet of him
self bestows the inward increasea'-Des
Gratia Christi. chap. 10. - y :
This. indeed, belongs to the ordinary
law of Gods loving providence, that
as He has decreed for the most part
shall be saved by the ministry also of
men, SO has He wished that those
whom He calls to the higher planes Of
loneliness should be led thereto by men:
hence ST {FhrVSrCt Nv
taught of God through the instrument
tally of intentionally l.. =.
OF this a striking example is given us
in the very first days of the church.
Fer though Saul, intent upon blood s<d
slaughter, had heard the voice OF our
Lord Himself and had asked, ~sWhat
dOst thou wish me to do?" vet was he
hidden to enter Damascus and search
for Anaias.-Acts ix.: "Eenter the city
and it shall be there told to thee what
thou must do"
Nor can we leave out of consideration
the truth that those who are striving
after perfection, since by the fact they
walk in no beaten or Well-known path
are the most liable to stray, and hence
have greater need than others of
teacher and guide. Such guidance has
ever obtained in the church; it is the
universal teaching of those who
for wisdom and sanctity-and hence to
reject it would be to commit ones self
to belief at once rash and dangerous.
a thorough consideration of this
point, in the Supposition that no eXter-
ior{ guide IS granted such souls will
make us see the difficulty of locating or
determining the direction and applica-
ton of that most abundant influx of the
holy spirit so greatly extolled by inno-
" To npti
Lutte need of the assistance of the holy
spirit, Vet we find those who are fond
of novelty giving an unwonted import
ance to the natural virtue as though !
they better responded to the customs
and necessities of the times and that
having these as his outfit man becomes
more ready to act and more strenuous
in action. 1t is not easy to understand
how persons possessed of Christian Wis
dom can either prefer natural or SUI
pernatural virtues or attribute to them
a greater efficacy and fruitfulness. Can
it be that nature conjoined with grace
is weaker than when left to herself?
Can it be that those men ilustrious
for sanctity, whom the church dis
tlnguishes and openly pays homage to,
were deficient, came short in the order
OF nature and its endowments. because
they eXcelled in Christian strength?
And although it be allowed at times
to wonder at acts worthy of admira-
ton which are the outcome of nat
ural virtues there any one at all en-
dowed simply with an outfit of nat
ural virtue? Is there any one not tried
by mental anxiety, and this in no light
degree? Yet ever to master such, as
also to preserve in its entirety the law
of natural order requires an assistance
from on high. These simple notable
acts to which we have aIluded will frp-