The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-02-24

talFty OF men-(f1Om1ly - VI TINS q
striking example is given us in the very
| first days Of the church. For though
Saul, intent upon blood and slaughter,
had heard the voice of Our Lord Him
self and had asked, What dost thou
wish me to do?' yet was he hidden to
enter Damascus and search for Ananias.
Acts TX, Enter the city and it's hall be
there told to thee what thou must do.
Nor can we leave out of conSidera-
ton the truth that those who are striv-
ing after perfection, since by that fact
they walk in no beaten or well-knOwn
path, are the most liable to stray, and
hence have greater need than others of
a teacher and guide. Such guidance
has ever obtained in the church-it is
/ the universal teaching of those who
Throughout the ages have been eminent
tor ssiSu~aa and sanctity-and hence, to
reject 1t would be to commit oneself to
a belief at once rash and dangerous.
"A thorough consideration of this
point, in the superstition 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
innovatOrS. To practice virtue there is
absolute need of the assistance of the
Holy Spirit yet we find those who are
fond of novelty giving an unwarranted
| Importance to the natural virtues, as
though they better responded to the
customs and necessities of the times.
and that having these as his outfit, man
becomes both more ready to act and
more strenuous in action
1T is not easy to understand how
persons possessed of Christian wisdom
can either prefer natural or supernat-
ural 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, illustrious for
sanctity, whom the church distin-
guishes 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 Won
der at acts worthy of admiration which
are the outcome of natural virtues
there anyone at all endowed simply
with an outfit of natural virtue? Is
there anyone not tried by mental
|
Yet, ever to master such, as also to
preserve in it's entirety, the law of the
natural order requires an assistance
from on high.
These single notable acts to which
we have alluded will frequently, upon
a close investigation, be found to ex-
hibit the appearance rather than the
reality of virtue. Grant that it is vlr-
tue, unless we wound run in vain and
| be unmindful of that eternal bliss
which a good God in His mercy has
destined for US. OF what avail are nat
ural virtues unless seconded by the gift
of divine grace? Hence st. Augustine
well says, Wonderful is the strength
/ and swift the course, but outside the
| true path: for as the nature or man,
owing to the primal fault, is inclined
to evil and dishonor, yet by the heip
of grace is raised up, is borne along
with a new greatness and strength. SO,
too. virtue, which is not the product OF
nature alone, but of grace also. is made
fruitful unto everlasting life and takes
| on a more strong and abiding charac-
! ter.
This over-esteem of natural virtue
| finds a method of expression in as
suming to divide all virtues in active
and passive. and it is alleged that
whereas passive virtues found better
place in past times. our age is to be
| characterized by the active. That
such a division and distinction cannot
| be maintained is patent, for there is
not, nor can there be, merely passive
virtue. Virtue says ST. Thomas
| Aouinas, 'designates the perfection OF
some faculty, but the end of such fac
ulty is an act, and an act OF virtue IS
naught else than the good use of free
win' acting, that is to say, under the
grace of God if the act be one of super
natural virtue. He alone could wish
that some Christian virtues be adapted
to certain times, and different ones for
| other times, who is unmindful of the
Apostles words: That those whom He
foreknew, He predestined to be made
! conformable to the image OF His son
| (Romans viii, go.
| .Christ is the teacher and the ex-
emplar of all sanctity, and to His STAN
| dard must all those conform who wish
for eternal life. Nor does Christ know
any change as the ages pass, for He
is yesterday and to-day and the same
forever Cdebrews xiii, -. To the men
of all ages was the precept given,
Learn of Me, because am meek and
| humble of heart (Matt. XII, 29D
| ITO every age has He been made
| manifest to us as obedient even unto
death: in every age the apostles dictum
| has it's force; those who are Christs
have crucified their flesh with it's vices
and consupiscences.' Would to God
! that more nowadays practiced these
virtues in the degree of the saints of
past times, who in humility, obedience
| and self restraint were powerful in
! word and in deed to the great advan-
| tage not only of religion, but of the
| state and the public welfare. From this
disregard of the evangelical virtues,
enormously passive, the step was a
short one to a contempt of the relig
! ious life which has in some degree
| taken hold of minds. That such a value
is generally held by the upholders of
new views, we infer from certain
statements concerning the vows which
! religious orders take.
They say vows are alien to thel spirit
of our times. in that they limit the
bounds of human liberty; that they are
more suitable to weak than to strong
minds; that so far from making for
human perfection and the good of
human organization, they are hurtful
| to both; but that this is as false as
possible from the practice, and the doc
/ trine of the church is clear. since she
has always given the very highest APP
prevail to the religious method of life;
not without good cause, for those who
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