«Nescit homo pretium eius» — "Man does not know its price" (Job 28:13).
Point I
The Lord says: «Si separaveris pretiosum a vili, quasi os meum eris» — "If you separate the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth" (Jer. 15:19). He who knows how to separate precious things from vile things makes himself like God, who knows how to reject evil and choose good. Let us see what a good the grace of God is, and what an evil the disgrace of God. Men do not understand the value of divine grace: «Nescit homo pretium eius» — "Man does not know its price." And so they exchange it for nothing — for a puff of smoke, for a bit of earth, for a beastly pleasure; yet it is an infinite treasure, which makes us worthy of the friendship of God: «Infinitus enim thesaurus est hominibus, quo qui usi sunt, participes facti sunt amicitiae Dei» — "For it is an infinite treasure to men, which they who use it become partakers of the friendship of God" (Wis. 7:14). So that a soul in grace is a friend of God. The Gentiles, who were deprived of the light of faith, deemed it impossible that a creature could have friendship with God; and, speaking according to the light of nature, they rightly said so, because friendship (as St. Jerome says) makes friends equal: «Amicitia pares aut accipit, aut facit» — "Friendship either finds equals or makes them." But God has declared to us in many places that through His grace we become His friends by the observance of His law: «Vos amici mei estis, si feceritis quae praecipio vobis» — "You are My friends, if you do the things that I command you" (John 15:14). «Iam non dicam vos servos... vos autem dixi amicos» — "I will no longer call you servants... but you I have called friends" (John 15:15). Hence St. Gregory exclaims: O goodness of God! we do not deserve to be called even His servants, and He deigns to call us friends: «Oh mira divinae bonitatis dignatio! Servi non sumus digni nominari, et amici vocamur» — "O marvelous condescension of the divine goodness! We are not worthy to be named servants, and we are called friends."
How fortunate would a man think himself, who had the lot of having his king for a friend! But it would be rashness in a vassal to aspire to friendship with his prince; yet it is not rashness for a soul to aspire to be the friend of its God. St. Augustine relates that two courtiers, finding themselves in a monastery of solitaries, one of them began to read there the life of St. Anthony the Abbot. «Legebat (writes the saint) et exuebatur mundo cor eius» — "He read, and as he read, his heart was gradually stripped of the affections of the world." Then, turning to his companion, he spoke to him thus: «Quid quaerimus? Maior ne esse potest spes nostra, quam quod amici imperatoris simus? Et per quot pericula ad maius periculum pervenitur? et quandiu hoc erit?» — "Friend, he said to him, what are we madmen seeking? Can we hope for more, by serving the emperor, than to become his friends? And if we were to reach that point, we would place ourselves in a greater danger to our eternal salvation. But no — we shall hardly ever succeed in having Caesar for a friend." «Amicus autem Dei (so he concluded) si voluero, ecce nunc fio» — "But if I wish, he said, to be a friend of God, behold, I can become one now."
Whoever stands, then, in the grace of God becomes a friend of God. More than that, he becomes a son: «Ecce Dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes» — "Behold, you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High" (Ps. 3:6). This is the great lot that divine love has obtained for us through Jesus Christ.
«Videte qualem caritatem dedit nobis Pater, ut filii Dei nominemur, et simus» — "Behold what manner of charity the Father has given us, that we should be called and should be the sons of God" (1 John 3:1). More than that, the soul in grace becomes a spouse of God: «Sponsabo te mihi in fide» — "I will espouse you to Me in faith" (Hos. 2:20). And therefore the father of the prodigal son, receiving him back into his grace, ordered that a ring be given him as a sign of the espousal: «Date annulum in manum eius» — "Put a ring on his hand" (Luke 15:22). I say more: it becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit. Sister Mary Dognes saw a devil go out of a child who was receiving baptism, and the Holy Spirit enter into him with a crown of angels.
Affections and Prayers
So then, my God, my soul, when it happily stood in Your grace, was Your friend and daughter, Your spouse and temple; but then, by sinning, it lost everything and became Your enemy and a slave of hell. But I thank You that You still give me time to recover Your grace, O my God. I repent, above every other evil, of having offended You, O infinite goodness. And I love You above all things. Ah, receive me once more into Your friendship; for pity's sake, do not disdain me. I know well that I would deserve to be driven away by You; but Jesus Christ deserves that You receive me back repentant, for love of the sacrifice that He made of Himself to You on Calvary. «Adveniat regnum tuum» — "Your kingdom come." My Father — so Your Son has taught me to call You — my Father, come with Your grace to reign in my heart; make it serve You alone, live for You alone, love You alone. «Et ne nos inducas in tentationem» — "And lead us not into temptation." Ah, do not permit the enemies to tempt me in such a way that I am overcome by them. «Sed libera nos a malo» — "But deliver us from evil." Deliver me from hell, but first deliver me from sin, which alone can lead me to hell.
O Mary, pray for me, and deliver me from this great evil — that I should see myself in sin and deprived of the grace of Your God and mine.
Point II
St. Thomas Aquinas says that the gift of grace exceeds every gift that a creature can receive, since grace is a participation in the very nature of God: «Donum gratiae excedit omnem facultatem naturae creatae, cum sit participatio divinae naturae» — "The gift of grace exceeds every faculty of created nature, since it is a participation in the divine nature." And St. Peter had already said it before: «Ut per haec efficiamini divinae consortes naturae» — "That by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4). So much has Jesus Christ merited for us by His Passion: He has communicated to us the same splendor that He received from God: «Et ego claritatem, quam dedisti mihi, dedi eis» — "And the glory that You have given Me, I have given to them" (John 17:22). In short, he who stands in the grace of God becomes one thing with God: «Qui adhaeret Domino, unus spiritus est» — "He who adheres to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17). And the Redeemer said that into a soul that loves God the whole Most Holy Trinity comes to dwell: «Si quis diligit me, Pater meus diliget eum... et ad eum veniemus, et mansionem apud eum faciemus» — "If anyone loves Me, My Father will love him... and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him" (John 14:23).
So beautiful in the eyes of God is a soul in grace that God Himself praises it: «Quam pulchra es, amica mea! quam pulchra es!» — "How beautiful you are, my beloved, how beautiful you are!" (Song 4:1). From a soul that loves Him, the Lord seems unable to turn away His eyes or His ears from all that it asks of Him. «Oculi Domini super iustos, et aures eius in preces eorum» — "The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and His ears are open to their prayers" (Ps. 33:16). St. Bridget used to say that a man could not behold the beauty of a soul in the grace of God without dying of joy. And St. Catherine of Siena, once seeing a soul in grace, said that she would gladly have given her life so that that soul might not lose so great a beauty; and for this reason the saint kissed the ground where priests had passed, thinking that through them souls are restored to the grace of God.
What great gains of merit, then, can a soul in grace make! At every moment it can acquire an eternal glory. St. Thomas Aquinas says that every act of love made by a soul merits a paradise of its own: «Quilibet actus caritatis meretur vitam aeternam» — "Every act of charity merits eternal life." Why, then, do we stand envying the great ones of the world? If we remain in the grace of God, we can continually acquire far greater greatness in heaven. A certain lay brother of the Society of Jesus, as Father Patrignani writes in his Menologies, appeared after death and said that he was saved together with Philip II, king of Spain; and that both already enjoyed glory, but that as much as he had been less than Philip on earth, so much greater was he in paradise. Moreover, only one who experiences it can understand the peace that a soul in the grace of God enjoys even on this earth. «Gustate, et videte, quam suavis est Dominus» — "Taste and see how sweet the Lord is" (Ps. 33). The words of the Lord cannot fail: «Pax multa diligentibus legem tuam» — "Great peace have they who love Your law" (Ps. 118:165). The peace of one who is united with God surpasses all the pleasures that the senses and the world can give. «Pax Dei, quae exsuperat omnem sensum» — "The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding" (Phil. 4:7).
Affections and Prayers
O my Jesus, You are that good shepherd who let Yourself be killed to give life to us, Your sheep. When I was fleeing from You, You did not cease to come after me, seeking me; receive me now that I seek You and return repentant to Your feet. Give me once again Your grace, which I have miserably lost through my own fault. I repent of it with all my heart; I would wish to die of sorrow, thinking that I have turned my back on You so many times. Forgive me through the merits of that bitter death You suffered for me on the cross. Bind me with the sweet chains of Your love, and do not permit me to flee from You again. Give me strength to suffer with patience all the crosses You send me, since I have deserved the eternal pains of hell. Make me embrace with love the contempt I shall receive from men, since I have deserved to be under the feet of the devils eternally. In short, make me obey Your inspirations in everything, and overcome all human respect for love of You. I am resolved from this day forward to serve You alone; let others say what they will, I want to love only You, O my most lovable God. You alone do I wish to please; but give me Your help, without which I can do nothing. I love You, my Jesus, with all my heart, and I trust in Your blood.
Mary, my hope, help me with Your prayers. I glory in being Your servant; and You glory in saving the sinners who have recourse to You; help me and save me.
Point III
Let us now see the misery of a soul that is in disgrace with God. It is separated from its supreme good, which is God. «Peccata vestra diviserunt inter vos, et Deum vestrum» — "Your sins have divided between you and your God" (Isa. 59:2). So that it no longer belongs to God, and God is no longer its own: «Vos non populus meus, et ego non ero vester» — "You are not my people, and I will not be yours" (Hos. 1:9). Not only is He no longer its own, but He hates it and condemns it to hell. The Lord hates none of His creatures, not even wild beasts, vipers, or toads: «Diligis omnia quae fecisti, et nihil odisti eorum quae fecisti» — "You love all things that You have made, and You hate nothing of what You have made" (Wis. 11:25). But God cannot help hating sinners. «Odisti omnes qui operantur iniquitatem» — "You hate all who work iniquity" (Ps. 5:7). Yes, because God cannot but hate sin, which is that enemy wholly contrary to His will; and therefore, hating sin, He must necessarily also hate the sinner who is united with sin. «Similiter autem odio sunt Deo impius, et impietas eius» — "The impious man and his impiety are alike hateful to God" (Wis. 14:9).
O God, if a man has a prince of the earth for an enemy, he can never sleep peacefully, rightly fearing death at every moment. And he who has God for an enemy, how can he have peace? Someone may escape the wrath of the prince by hiding in a forest, or by going far away to another kingdom; but who can escape the hands of God? Lord (David said), if I ascend to heaven, if I hide myself in hell, wherever I go, Your hand can reach me: «Si ascendero in coelum, tu illic es, si descendero in infernum, ades. Etenim illuc manus tua deducet me» — "If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I descend into hell, You are present. There Your hand shall lead me" (Ps. 138:8).
Poor sinners! They are cursed by God, cursed by the angels, cursed by the Saints, cursed even on earth every day by all the priests and religious who proclaim their curse in reciting the divine office: «Maledicti qui declinant a mandatis tuis» — "Cursed are they who turn aside from Your commandments." Moreover, the disgrace of God carries with it the loss of all merits. Let a man have merited as much as a St. Paul the Hermit, who lived 98 years in a cave; as much as a St. Francis Xavier, who won ten million souls for God; as much as a St. Paul the Apostle, who gained more merits (as St. Jerome says) than all the other apostles—if such a man commits a single mortal sin, he loses everything. «Omnes iustitiae eius, quas fecerat, non recordabuntur» — "All his just deeds which he has done shall not be remembered" (Ezek. 18). And behold the ruin that the disgrace of God brings: from a child of God it makes him become a slave of Lucifer; from a beloved friend it makes him become a most hated enemy; from an heir of paradise it makes him become one condemned to hell. St. Francis de Sales used to say that if the angels could weep, on seeing the misery of a soul that commits a mortal sin and loses the divine grace, the angels would begin to weep out of compassion.
But the greatest misery is that the angels would weep, if they were capable of weeping, and the sinner does not weep. St. Augustine says: A man loses a little beast, a little sheep—he does not eat, does not sleep, and weeps; then he loses the grace of God, and he eats, sleeps, and does not weep.
Affections and Prayers
Behold the miserable state to which I have reduced myself, O my Redeemer. You, to make me worthy of Your grace, spent 33 years of toil and pain; and I, for a moment of poisoned pleasure, despised it and lost it for nothing. I thank Your mercy, which still gives me time to recover it, if I will. Yes, I will do all I can to regain it. Tell me what I must do to receive pardon from You. Do You will that I repent? Yes, my Jesus, I repent with all my heart of having offended Your infinite goodness. Do You will that I love You? I love You above all things. In the past I have too ill employed my heart in loving creatures and vanities. From this day forward I wish to live for You alone; I wish to love only You, my God, my treasure, my hope, and my strength. «Diligam te, Deus, fortitudo mea» — "I will love You, O God, my strength." Your merits, Your wounds, O my Jesus, must be my hope and my strength. From You I hope for the strength to be faithful to You. Receive me then into Your grace, O my Savior, and do not permit me ever to leave You again. Detach me from worldly affections, and inflame my heart with Your holy love. «Tui amoris in eo ignem accende» — "Kindle in it the fire of Your love."
Mary, my mother, make me burn with love for God, as You always burned.