I. TO LEAD TO PERFECTION
Canon law commends those of the faithful who join the associations which the Church has either founded or approved (Canon 684, 1917 CIC).
These associations are of different kinds, according to the object which they have in view. If they have been instituted to further particular pious practices or works of charity they are generally described as "pious associations" or "sodalities" and some of them are entitled to call themselves "confraternities" (Canon 707, 1917 CIC). So we get such organizations as the Association for the Propagation of the Faith, the Confraternities of the Rosary and of the Blessed Sacrament.
Above these associations, in a completely separate category, the Church places the secular Third Orders. "Secular Tertiaries," she states, "are those faithful who, living in the world under the direction of a religious order and according to its spirit, strive to attain to Christian perfection in the secular life through following rules approved for them by the Holy See" (Canon 702, 1917 CIC).
The difference is obvious at once. In this case it is no longer simply a question of devoting oneself to some charitable or pious work – of furthering by alms and prayers the propagation of the Faith, of reciting the rosary once a week, of adoring the Blessed Sacrament at certain times. These are all laudable works in which a Tertiary also may take part, but the motive for his entrance into a Third Order is desire for perfection. He hopes by that means to strive more effectually to attain to Christian perfection.
A person remains in the world. One day, maybe, he will be able to leave it to enter a religious order where the attainment of Christian perfection will be made easier for him: that is his aspiration. Possibly, however, hindrances of some sort, such as chronic ill-health or "insuperable obligations," will definitely and finally preclude him from ever realizing his ambition.
Sometimes that aspiration is wholly lacking, and all that is desired is to be attached to some special Order, to follow its direction and to imbibe its spirit whilst continuing to lead a secular life in the world. Candidates for a Third Order may, and indeed do, differ widely in these and many other respects, but they must be at one in regarding it as their chief object in life to become perfect.
The (1923) Rule of the Brothers and Sisters of the secular Third Order of St. Dominic sets forth that aim in the very first paragraph. It returns to it with more detail in the second. "The object of the Third Order is the sanctification of its members or the practice of a more perfect form of Christian life." Before anyone can be admitted into a Fraternity or Chapter, it must be proved and established "in the prudent judgment of the Director" that the postulant is sincerely desirous of striving after perfection (II. 8).
If, however, it should come to pass that someone is admitted into the Third Order for some less worthy reason, in a wave of enthusiasm or under the influence of a feeling of sympathy, all hope is not lost for him and for those who have charge of his soul. Such souls may derive encouragement from what St. Catherine of Siena writes in her Dialogue (1) about those who have thus entered religion.
"The important point," she remarks, "is for them to practise virtue and to persevere until death in so doing. (Yes, what is important is not so much to begin well as to end well.) . . . Not a few there are who have presented themselves after having kept the commandments perfectly, but who have subsequently looked back or have remained in the Order without advancing in the way of perfection. The circumstances or the dispositions with which they took passage in the ship are prepared and willed by Me who have called them in divers ways." (God is speaking.) But it is not from these preliminary conditions, be it said once more, that one can judge of their perfection: that depends entirely upon the interior spirit with which they persevere in real obedience, once they are within the Order.
We are, all of us, very imperfect beings, lacking in many things, and we are confronted with the life-long task of completing and perfecting ourselves.
Exterior works, such as discovery and development of the world about us by means of the sciences, the arts and crafts, are all very well. It is also good for us to understand, maintain and improve that physical matter which is so closely joined to us as to form one body with us: our health is important. Sports may be encouraged and the laws of hygiene should always be respected. But before any of these things, I am entrusted by God with the paramount duty of developing myself morally, and of bringing to its appointed end the being that I intrinsically am, my own true self. By constant and progressive effort I ought to be fashioning myself "in such wise that at length eternity may change me into myself."
This, then, is to be my aim, my only aim, to become perfect and eventually to blossom forth into that of which I am at present only a germ. Left in the hands of my own counsel with this object in view, I have it in my power to deviate from my right course. If I do so, I shall be nothing but a failure: I shall have failed to fulfil my destiny.
God conceived my being and set it in the world willing that it should fulfil itself, that it should even surpass itself in supernatural beauty. Reason and grace, whereby I personally participate in the idea and will of my Creator, urge me to realize this perfection in spite of all opposing tendencies which tempt me to evil. The deep voice of my conscience enjoins what is right. Be what you are!
We shall see presently what it is that constitutes this perfection; but for the moment let us grasp the one great principle which underlies and dominates everything in our Tertiary life, as indeed in every truly moral life.
It is not a matter of adding other practices to those we already have, and of making out for ourselves a list of meticulous observances. No, dear Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order, what is all-important is to gain a clearer and stronger conception of our final goal, to have a greater anxiety for perfection.
II. WHERE IS PERFECTION TO BE FOUND?
Let us now consider what we mean by perfection. For although, absolutely speaking, there is only one perfection, there are a great many relative perfections, even in the moral and spiritual order.
A man is described as being perfect in his manners, as having, perfection in his art: he may be lauded for the perfection of his science, or he may be proclaimed the perfect theologian. What is implied is that on such and such a point he is deficient in nothing, he is accomplished, he has reached the limit of possible development as far as courtesy, art or some branch of science is concerned.
But what does all that amount to, if we contrast it with the absolute perfection which is the consummation of what constitutes our essential self? Everything else, even to being an excellent artist, a man of great learning, an eminent theologian, is mere child's play compared to that perfection which alone deserves to be called perfection pure and simple.
Of that perfection it is important to form a correct notion. We Christians ought not to speak as if it meant only the realization of a purely imaginary ideal which the greatest and most enlightened men have conceived for others. This view is not entirely false, and we shall return to it by and by. But let us fully apprehend and boldly affirm that the end we have to pursue is not a mere ideal. Our goal is a concrete Being Who existed before us, from Whom we proceed and to Whom we must return. Our supreme end is identical with our first cause. Someone exists Who made us entirely and claims us entirely. "It is God Who has created me," said Blessed Osanna of Mantua, "and to Him only I must belong." (2)
We cannot possibly complete ourselves unless we return to Him Who is the source of our being. Mihi autem adhaerere Deo bonum est. It is good for me to cleave to God. I shall be perfect when I attain to that.
Now it is charity which unites us to God, the charity whereby we love God with all our being and above all things. That is where perfection lies. Apart from that, there is nothing as far as the spiritual life is concerned. Other perfections count for naught. (3) "If I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all knowledge . . . and have not charity I am nothing," says St. Paul. (4)
It is indeed through charity, and through charity alone, at least actually, that we cleave to that Pure Spirit, to that Being of infinite perfection. The day will come when it will be by our intelligence that we shall see Him and shall possess Him for all eternity. The result will be an immense love which will finally establish us in beatitude. But here below, so long as we are without the light which reveals the divine beauty, our heart goes further than our mind, our love already lays hold of that God of Whom we can only form a limited conception. Thanks to charity we possess within us our God, together with the assurance that we shall see Him when the right time comes. "He that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in him." (5)
What has been said above respecting the arts and sciences holds good also with regard to moral virtues: they only give us relative perfection. Yet here, at any rate, these relative perfections are none the less requisite, since it is not permissible for a child of God to be intemperate, profligate, treacherous, etc. It is also desirable for him to have, as far as possible, some artistic and scientific culture. It is a good thing for him to develop himself physically. But even the still more relative and secondary perfections of which these things admit can be derived, in due order, from the charity in which dwells absolute perfection. Charity is the first principle of that harmonious blossoming forth of our whole being. It implies all the other virtues which together form the Christian and human ideal, and which appear as so many manifestations of its profound life. "Charity is patient, is kind," says St. Paul, "charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely ; is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth with the truth: beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." (6)
Elsewhere the same apostle, after enumerating sundry virtues, such as mercy, benignity, humility, etc., concludes by saying: "But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection." (7) It binds all the other virtues into a perfect unity. (8)
Still more true would it be to say that charity is the mother of the other virtues. There is not one of them which is not generated in her womb by the desire to act aright for God Who enjoins them all, each one in its particular sphere.
And that is why St. Augustine could write: "Love— and do as you will." "Peter, lovest thou Me ?" That is the only question Jesus put to St. Peter, and if He interrogated him a second and a third time, it was only to repeat the same query.
"Dearly beloved brothers," said St. Dominic as he lay dying, "this is the inheritance which I leave to you as my true children—have charity."
III. THE DUTY OF REALIZING PERFECT CHARITY
The anxiety for perfection which must inspire us will lead us on to charity, because in charity dwells the essence of spiritual perfection. We ought then to take pains fully to realize charity in ourselves. We are all the more bound to do this because God has made it the subject of His great precept: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God." To love God as much as He is lovable is beyond our power. That is a perfection to which God alone can attain, for He alone is capable of infinite love. The only perfection which is within the reach of a creature is to love God with all the power with which God has endowed him. In telling us how that should be done, Holy Scripture enumerates our various faculties. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, with thy whole mind and with thy whole strength." It piles up the words which express our powers to let us know that not one of these powers is exempt from the obligation to love God. Moreover, each one must be wholly employed in this duty, and no part of any one is entitled to shirk it. In short, everything in us must be consecrated to divine love. There is no exception: there is no measure.
As regards the goal at which we are aiming and which dominates and directs all our interests, how could there be any measure? The physician does not put any limit to the health which he is attempting to restore to his patient. He certainly limits his remedies and he measures them with a view to the cure he is hoping for. But it is an absolute cure that he purposes. If any element of compromise enters in, that is because he is not solely a physician; the ordering of health does hot monopolize the whole field of his conscience. Health is not the supreme end. Where it is only a subordinate end, it becomes just a means. That is why Blanche of Castile, who loved her son with all a mother's love, nevertheless said to him: "I would rather see you dead than guilty of a mortal sin." Mortal sin is the ruin of charity: it is renunciation of the supreme end. Anything rather than that! To live in charity is our absolute duty. We will strive to do it without measure or limitation.
The anxiety for perfection which must inspire us will lead us on to charity, because in charity dwells the essence of spiritual perfection. We ought then to take pains fully to realize charity in ourselves. We are all the more bound to do this because God has made it the subject of His great precept: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God." To love God as much as He is lovable is beyond our power. That is a perfection to which God alone can attain, for He alone is capable of infinite love. The only perfection which is within the reach of a creature is to love God with all the power with which God has endowed him. In telling us how that should be done, Holy Scripture enumerates our various faculties. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, with thy whole mind and with thy whole strength." It piles up the words which express our powers to let us know that not one of these powers is exempt from the obligation to love God. Moreover, each one must be wholly employed in this duty, and no part of any one is entitled to shirk it. In short, everything in us must be consecrated to divine love. There is no exception: there is no measure.
As regards the goal at which we are aiming and which dominates and directs all our interests, how could there be any measure? The physician does not put any limit to the health which he is attempting to restore to his patient. He certainly limits his remedies and he measures them with a view to the cure he is hoping for. But it is an absolute cure that he purposes. If any element of compromise enters in, that is because he is not solely a physician; the ordering of health does hot monopolize the whole field of his conscience. Health is not the supreme end. Where it is only a subordinate end, it becomes just a means. That is why Blanche of Castile, who loved her son with all a mother's love, nevertheless said to him: "I would rather see you dead than guilty of a mortal sin." Mortal sin is the ruin of charity: it is renunciation of the supreme end. Anything rather than that! To live in charity is our absolute duty. We will strive to do it without measure or limitation.
Does that mean that we ought to give God our love so completely that we shall be uninterruptedly occupied with Him alone? Well, yes ! the precept goes as far as that, but it does not oblige us to succeed forthwith. Actually that will be possible only in Heaven. Nevertheless, our duty is to strive after it henceforward and keep ourselves in the way which leads us to that goal.
We must, at the very least, refuse to take pleasure in anything which is absolutely repugnant to God. The greater part of the divine injunctions which are appended to the great commandment is directed to a prohibition of all sins which destroy charity. But if one can say that this is, strictly speaking, sufficient, it is only on condition that whilst we are realizing this elementary form of perfection we are still straining towards that total perfection which will be consummated in heaven.
Total perfection does not come simply at the finish like a gift which will be presented to us without our having to give it any thought. It is the object which we must be always striving for and towards which all our life must be directed. The end and object of life must not be confused with its mere termination. That is the mistake made by those people whose whole spiritual life is negative, and who think that all they need do, to keep themselves in a state of grace to the end, is to avoid all the mortal sins. As though all we had to do to make our way home was to avoid falling into precipices! The object must be constantly before us as a focus of attraction, like a magnet. We must not be indifferent to it: we have to will it quite positively.
This positive determination must and does express itself through action. We must advance actively towards the goal. No one is free from that duty. But as to the exact manner in which it is to be done, no cut and dried general direction can be given. The programme changes according to the individual, and even for the individual it may change from one day to the next. The negative precepts we have recently dealt with are clearly defined, they are the same for all and are always the same. But the great positive commandment of charity ever retains its flexibility, and is diversified in its exactions. It says to each soul: "Thou shalt love as much as thou canst in thy present state." (9) But that state varies.
It varies externally according to the conditions in which we find ourselves providentially placed. The marriage to which we are pledged; the sacred orders we have received; the charge of souls we may have assumed; the religious vows we have taken; the Profession we have made to follow the Rule of the Third Order: these and countless other less important circumstances differentiate our state of life and thereby diversify the positive schedule of our duties. In addition to the duty which is incumbent on all the human race, there are particular differences according to the different states of life in which men are placed. Dominican Tertiaries, for instance, constitute one of these states.
And in each state, however lowly it may be, there are still as many differences as there are individuals – differences which arise primarily from the interior condition of each one. In every soul, when grace reaches a certain level, and when love attains a certain strength, they tend by virtue of their actual vitality to produce acts corresponding to their power. If I fail to perform these acts when the occasion presents itself and I have no reasonable motive to justify their omission, I am to that extent escaping from the pursuit of the supreme goal, I am withdrawing a little of my life from the attraction of the great end, I am ceasing to concentrate upon it as I ought. Even if the act set before me is to be regarded as of counsel rather than of precept, I must not disregard it, once my conscience shows me that it is right for me in the state in which I am at the present time. "Quench not the Spirit," says St. Paul.
Individual duty may be modified from one day to another. An omission which was formerly justifiable, and was consequently not a venial sin, might be culpable today because my heart has grown larger. I am like a traveller who started out on his journey when he was still a child. Naturally enough, he covers more ground when he has grown to manhood. He advances in proportion to the length of his legs. I must love God with all my heart. And if my heart is more capable of love than in the past, it ought to love more and give evidence of that increased love. Of course, the stain of sin does not attach to every act not inspired by the fulness of the love of which we are capable. Progression increasing with perfect regularity is practically impossible. Moreover, acts which fall short of our capacity for loving do sometimes mysteriously prepare the way for a future more perfect act which will lead to an increase of power. Nevertheless, it happens only too often that these acts remain on a lower plane through our negligence, and of that we are guilty.
Let us be high-spirited souls who keep on rising under the inspiration of the great goal. "Oh, dear Jesus," said Blessed Osanna of Mantua at the close of a very beautiful prayer, "enable me to grow increasingly in Thy love, to advance in it with firm and steady steps: so that my heart may be inebriated and inundated by it. Ah! far from fearing to be submerged in it, I long for it with all my might, and my one wish is to be engulfed in the depths of the abyss."
When Sister Adelaide of Rheinfelden was praying one night after Matins at Unterlinden, a soft voice whispered in the ears of her soul: "I am thy last end," and she understood the words to mean: "I have so attracted thee, thyself, thy whole life and the impulses of thy heart, I have so effectually and irrevocably welded thee to Myself, I have made thy will so conformed to My own that very soon, thy earthly trial over, thou shalt be united to Me, thy eternal end, without delay, without hindrance, immediately and for ever."...
Notes:
(1) Dialogue, Ch. CLVIII.
(2) M. C. de Ganay, Les Bienheureuses Dominicaines. Other quotations are taken from this book and from the great Annie Dominicaine which has been re-edited by the Fathers of the Province of Lyons and contains in twelve volumes notices of all the saints, and of the blessed or venerable persons who have adorned our Order from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. It must not be confused with the monthly review of the same name which appears in Paris and to which I shall also have occasion to refer.
(3) St. Thomas, De perfectione spiritual^ Ch. I.
(4) i Cor. xiii. 2
(5) i John iv. 16
(6) i Cor. xiii. 4-7
(7) Col. iii. 14
(8) St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q. 184, a. i, sed contra
(9) St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q; 186, a. 2, ad 2
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