Preface: As with some of the previous Catholic Apologetic articles, this article is largely based on the work of Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange in The Three Ages of the Interior Life.
The True Nature of Christian Perfection
In times past, pagan cultures have posited different models for human excellence. The barbarians believed human perfection consisted primarily of fortitude, the Greeks thought it primarily of wisdom, and the Romans valued practicality and stoicism (the endurance of pain or hardship without complaint). Yet, it is only Christian revelation which discloses the ideal, and means, of true human perfection.
Human perfection is Christian perfection. Above all, this perfection consists of divine charity. For it was not the bravery of the martyrs that won them a crown of glory but rather their love of God in offering their lives. And there are some who view perfection itself as patience, as it is for those who believe perfection consists of austerity, fasts, and vigils. While they are good, they are merely means to the end. They are certainly very useful and very effective, but they are still just means to the goal. Not every difficult act is morally good and not all good is difficult. And for the Greeks who placed wisdom as perfection, they failed to understand that learning can exist without the love of God or of one’s neighbor. Speculative knowledge of God is not necessarily followed by the love of God. On the contrary, true perfection lies in union with God through supernatural charity. The contemplation of God is a means joined to this end. But contemplation is not the end, God is the end.
The Essence of Christian Perfection
It is unfortunate that in our English language the word ‘charity’ is often used to mean something very different than what we are presently discussing. In common parlance, charity is seen as help rendered to one suffering from unfortunate circumstances. You often hear people say, “I don’t need your charity.” Charity also generally means kindness or generosity. In rarer occasions, charity is seen as a kind of human love. Yet all of these are merely natural human realities. When we speak of charity in terms of the faith, we refer to a supernatural gift which only God can give. Without God’s sanctifying grace, this charity is simply not possible. It is His divine love shared with man.
Charity is the bond of perfection because it is the highest of the virtues which unites our soul to God. Charity, in fact, vivifies all other virtues by rendering their acts meritorious. Without charity, the most excellent extraordinary gifts are of no avail for eternal life, because without charity we do not fulfill the first commandment of God. By charity, we become temples of the Holy Ghost; and the more we love God, the more we know Him by the supernatural knowledge that is divine wisdom. According to this doctrine, perfection consists chiefly in neither humility, nor in poverty, nor in the virtue of religion, but rather it lies primarily in the love of God and of neighbor. The others are merely means to the end.
Why Charity Should Grow in Us until Death
The slightest degree of infused charity immensely surpasses the natural love that we can have for God. Between the state of mortal sin and that of perfect and radiant charity stands charity of a very low degree, the exercise of which is often hindered by a troop of habitual venial sins, of immoderate self-love, of vanity, of laziness, of injustice, and the like.
During one’s life on earth, charity in the soul can and should increase; otherwise, the charity of the Christian would cease before reaching the end of his journey. To the soul in grace which possesses charity, it cannot grow in extension, but it can grow in intensity. Charity should grow in us in quality rather than quantity; it should make us love God more perfectly and more purely for Himself and our neighbor for God. And in our souls, charity becomes more intense by merit, prayer, and the Sacraments.
The Increase of Charity by Our Merits
Since charity is not an acquired virtue gained through repetition but rather an infused virtue given in Baptism and restored through absolution, charity is not directly increased by meritorious acts. Charity, though, can coincide by us both meriting it and being prepared to receive it.
The Council of Trent defined that by his supernatural good works, the just man merits the increase of charity. An intense or fervent act of charity disposes us to receive immediately an increase of charity and all other virtues connected with it. Imperfect acts of charity – though meritorious – do not obtain at once the increase of grace which they merit. When is the increase for these imperfect acts received? Theologians are divided on that issue. But we must continue to make generous acts of charity and thus store up these merits as treasures in Heaven where each will receive his record according to his merits.
The Increase of the Life of Grace Through Prayer
By addressing itself directly to Infinite Mercy [i.e. God], prayer exceeds merit. The sinner who is incapable of meriting an increase in divine charity may by prayer obtain the grace of conversion. By prayer, the just man often obtains graces which could not be merited, such as final perseverance and the efficacious graces which lead to it.
The Increase of the Life of Grace Through the Sacraments
The Sacraments produce grace independently of the prayers or merits of either the minister who confers them or of those who receive them, since they were instituted by God to apply the merits of the Savior to us. Yet, the Sacraments’ graces operate more or less abundantly according to the fervor of those who dispense and receive it. For this reason, a person often experiences greater graces in their life from a priest like Padre Pio or John Vianney than Teilhard de Chardin or Hans Küng. Similarly, some such as Blessed Imelda Lambertini may experience more grace from Holy Communion than you or I.
Likewise, a sinner who receives absolution with greater or lesser repentance receives his previous merits back sometimes to greater grace, sometimes to equal, and sometimes to lesser grace – all in proportion to his contrition.
And because Communions ought not only to preserve but to increase charity in us, each Communion should be substantially more fervent and more fruitful than the preceding one.
For those who desire to reach true Christian perfection, imitate Our Lord, frequently read the Scriptures,[1] stay close to the Traditional Catholic Faith, live a life rooted in the Sacraments and prayer, and above all, do all things to increase in charity and, one day, die in the state of grace.
ENDNOTES
[1] According to St. Ambrose, the reading of sacred letters is the life of the soul. If we read the divine words of Scripture with humility, hope, and love, it will inspire us more and more each day to imitate the virtues of Christ. Besides the Holy Eucharist, the true food of the saints is to be found in the Scriptures. Next to the Scriptures, the reading of the words of the saints greatly enlightens and warms the soul since they were written by the light of the Holy Ghost, even though they are not infallible. To the reading of the books of spiritual doctrine should be joined that of the lives of the saints, which contain alluring examples that are always admirable and often imitable. The examples of the saints are more efficacious than abstract doctrine in making us practice virtue