Section 1: The Supernatural Principle of Moral Regeneration

The moral order originally established by God was, as we have seen, disturbed by the sin of our first parents and restored by Jesus Christ. The principle of its restoration in general, and of the moral regeneration of each human individual in particular, is supernatural grace.¹ i. We can acquire no supernatural merits without grace. a) Reason enables man to perceive the truths of the natural order. For the knowledge of the supernatural truths, however, he needs a stronger light.² "The human intellect," says St. Thomas, "has a form, namely, intelligent light, which of itself is sufficient for knowing certain intelligible things, namely, those we can come to know through the senses. Higher intelligible things the human intellect cannot know unless it be perfected by a stronger light, viz.: that of faith or prophecy, which is called the light of grace, inasmuch as it is added to nature." ³ Nor is it the intellect alone that depends on God for its operation; but the will also. No man can will or perform a supernaturally good act except by the aid of a higher power; ⁴ nor can any man, without this power (which we call divine grace), love God above all things ⁵ or keep the commandments perfectly,⁶ or attain eternal salvation. ⁷ b) God is the immediate principle of all supernatural operation, including that by which man prepares himself for the reception of grace. Hence divine grace is indispensably necessary for this preparation.⁸ This is all the more evident when it is considered that God alone had it in His power to redeem mankind after the fall, to restore the moral order, and to forgive the eternal punishment incurred by sin.⁹ Even if put in the state of grace man cannot remain therein without continuous help from his Maker. Hence it is quite true to say that man can do nothing towards securing his salvation except by the grace of God.¹⁰ In this sense it has been truly said that the only thing man can do is to sin.¹¹

¹ Cfr. John I, 17; Rom. V, 20 sq.; 2 Cor. V, 19-21; Eph. II, 8-10. Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, Grace, 2nd ed., St. Louis 1917.

² 1 Cor. XIII, 3; 2 Cor. III, 5.

³ Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 1: "The human intellect has a certain form, namely the intelligible light itself, which of itself is sufficient for knowing certain intelligible things, namely those to the knowledge of which we can come through sensible things. But the human intellect cannot know higher intelligible things unless it is perfected by a stronger light, such as the light of faith or prophecy, which is called the light of grace insofar as it is added to nature. Thus it must be said that for the knowledge of any truth man needs divine aid, so that the intellect may be moved by God to its act."

⁴ Cfr. Rom. IX, 16; Phil. I, 13. —St. Augustine, De Corrept. et Grat., c. 2, n. 3: "The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord must be understood, by which alone men are freed from evil and without which they do absolutely no good, whether by thinking, willing and loving, or acting—not only so that by its showing they may know what is to be done, but also so that by its assistance they may do with love what they know." (Migne, P. L., XLIV, 917).—St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 2: "In each state, that of integral nature and of corrupted nature, man needs divine aid so that he may be moved by Him to act well." —Cfr. Prop. Baii Damnat., prop. 37: "He agrees with Pelagius who acknowledges any natural good, that is, any good which takes its origin from the powers of nature alone." —Prop. 65: "No good, or even non-evil, use of free choice can be admitted except by the Pelagian error; and he who thinks and teaches thus does injury to the grace of Christ." (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 917, 945). —Cfr. J. Ernst, Die Werke und Tugenden der Ungläubigen nach St. Augustin, Freiburg 1871, pp. 19 sqq.

⁵ Cfr. Rom. V, 5. —St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 2, n. 3: "In the state of integral nature man did not need a gift of grace added to his natural goods in order to love God naturally above all things, although he needed the help of God moving him to this; but in the state of corrupt nature man needs for this also the help of grace healing nature."

⁶ Cfr. John XV, 4 sq.—St. Augustine, De Haeres., 88: "The Pelagians are enemies of God’s grace to such a degree that they believe man can fulfill all the divine commandments without it." (Migne, P. L., XLII, 47).—St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 4: "The commandments of the law can be fulfilled in two ways. In one way, as regards the substance of the works, insofar as a man performs just and courageous deeds and other works of virtue; in this way man in the state of integral nature could fulfill all the commandments of the law, otherwise man in that state could not have avoided sin, since to sin is nothing other than to transgress the divine commandments. But in the state of corrupt nature man cannot fulfill all the divine commandments without healing grace. In another way, the commandments of the law can be fulfilled not only as regards the substance of the work, but also as regards the manner of acting, namely, that they be done from charity; and thus neither in the state of integral nature nor in the state of corrupt nature can man fulfill the commandments of the law without grace. In both states he needs, in addition, the help of God moving him to fulfill the commandments."

⁷ Cfr. Rom. VI, 23: "The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." —St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 5: “Eternal life is an end exceeding the proportion of human nature; and therefore man through his natural powers cannot produce meritorious works proportionate to eternal life, but for this a higher power is required, which is the power of grace. Therefore without grace man cannot merit eternal life.” —IDEM, Summa contra Gentiles, III, c. 148, n. 2, 3: "A thing of lower nature cannot be brought to that which is proper to a higher nature except by the power of that higher nature; thus the moon, which does not shine of itself, is made luminous by the power and action of the sun, and water, which of itself is not hot, is made hot by the power and action of fire. [And dogs and horses, parrots and monkeys, learn tricks by contact with man, which they never would have learnt in their wild state. And savages are civilized by coming in contact with a culture higher than their own, but for which contact with a higher race they would have remained perennial savages. As man humanizes the brute, and civilizes his savage brother, so does God divinize man. —Jos. Rickaby, S.J., Of God and His Creatures, London 1905, p. 319]. But to see the First Truth itself in itself [in which precisely eternal beatitude consists] so transcends the faculty of human nature that it is proper to God alone. Therefore man needs divine assistance in order to attain that end [i. e., beatitude]. Every thing attains its ultimate end through its operation. But an operation receives its efficacy from the operating principle; hence through the action of seed something is generated in a determinate species, the power of which preexists in the seed. Therefore man cannot through his own operation arrive at his ultimate end, which transcends the faculty of his natural powers, unless his operation receives from divine power efficacy for the aforesaid end."

⁸ John VI, 44; XV, 5.—Cfr. Conc. Trident., Sess. VI, can. 3: "If anyone says that without the prevenient inspiration of the Holy Spirit and His help man can believe, hope, love, or repent as he ought, so that the grace of justification may be conferred upon him, let him be anathema." —St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 6: "To prepare oneself for grace is, as it were, to turn toward God, just as one whose eye is turned away from the light of the sun prepares himself to receive the sunlight by turning his eyes toward the sun. Hence it is evident that man cannot prepare himself to receive the light of grace except through the gratuitous aid of God moving him inwardly."

⁹ Gal. II, 21. —Cfr. Conc. Arausic. II., can. 14: "No wretched man is freed from any misery unless he is first anticipated by the mercy of God." — Can. 19: "Since human nature cannot preserve without God’s grace the salvation it has received, how will it be able without God’s grace to restore what it has lost?" (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 187, 192). —St. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps., 95, n. 5: "Men were able to sell themselves, but they were unable to redeem themselves." (Migne, P. L., XXXVII, 1231).—St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 7: "Man can in no way rise from sin by himself without the help of grace. For since sin, though passing away in act, remains in guilt, rising from sin is not the same as ceasing from the act of sin; rather, to rise from sin is for man to be restored to those things which he lost by sinning. Therefore the help of grace is required for man to rise from sin, both as to the habitual gift and as to the inward motion of God." —Cfr. Seneca, Epist., 52, 2: "Nemo per se satis valet, ut

¹⁰ Phil. II, 13.—Conc. Arausic. II., can. 9: "It is a divine gift when we both think rightly and restrain our feet from falsehood and injustice; for whenever we do good things, God works in us and with us so that we may work. God’s help must always be implored even by the reborn and holy, so that they may arrive at a good end or be able to persevere in a good work." (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 182, 183). Cfr. Conc. Trident., Sess. VI, can. 22 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 832).—St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, qu. 109, art. 8-10.

¹¹ St. Augustine, Contra Duos Epist. Pelagian., III, c. 8, n. 24: "Captive free choice has power only for sin, but it has no power for justice unless divinely liberated and aided." (Migne, P. L., XLIV, 607).—IDEM, De Corrept. et Grat., c. 11, n. 31: "Free choice suffices for evil, but for good it is of little avail unless aided by the omnipotent Good." (P. L., XLIV, 935).—Cfr. St. Thomas, Comment, in Sent., II, dist. 28, qu. i, ad 4: "According to the Catholic faith one must walk in the middle between contrary heresies, so that we say that man can do both good and evil through free choice, yet cannot proceed to a meritorious act without the habit of grace."

2. The process of justification, by which a sinner is restored to the friendship of God, cannot take place without grace. It was in man's power to offend God, but it is not in his power to redeem himself.¹² The omnipotent Creator alone can revive a dead soul.¹³ Reconciled to the human race by the atonement, in which His only Son gave up His life for the love of men,¹⁴ God justifies the individual sinner by infusing sanctifying grace into his soul and forgiving him his sins.¹⁵

¹² St. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps., 95, n. 5: "Men were able to sell themselves, but they were not able to redeem themselves. The Redeemer came and gave the price, poured out His blood, and purchased the world." (Migne, P. L., XXXVII, 1231). —Cfr. the same author's Sermones, 20, n. i (P. L., XXXVIII, 137).

¹³ St. Augustine, Epist., 155 (al. 52), c. 1, n. 2: "Nor does anyone make man blessed except He who made man." (Migne, P. L., XXXIII, 667). —IDEM, Contra lulian., I, c. 105: "From all sins, whether original or moral, whether they exist or are to be prevented, nothing frees except the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom we have been regenerated and from whom we learned to say in prayer not only, Forgive us our debts, that is, because we have sinned, but also, Lead us not into temptation, that is, lest we sin." (P. L., XLV, 1119). —IDEM, Enchirid., c. 48, n. 14: "That one original sin is not loosed and washed away except through the one mediator of God and men, Christ Jesus, who alone could be born in such a way that He had no need to be reborn." (P. L., XL, 255). —Conc. Trident., Sess. VI, can. 1.

¹⁴ Cfr. Matth. XX, 28; XXVI, 28; Mark X, 45; XIV, 24; Luke XXII, 19; Rom. V, 10; 2 Cor. V, 18 sq.; E ph. II, 16; Col. I, 20; 1 Tim. II, 6; Tit. II, 14; 1 Pet. I, 18 sq.; II, 24.

¹⁵ Cfr. 1 Cor. VI, 11; Tit. III, 5-7. —Conc. Trident., Sess. VI, c. 7: "Justification is not merely the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man." —Can. 11: "If anyone says that men are justified either by the imputation of Christ’s justice alone or by the remission of sins alone, to the exclusion of grace and charity, which is poured forth in their hearts through the Holy Spirit and inheres in them, let him be anathema." (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 799, 821).

The first requisite of justification, therefore, is divine grace, and the moral regeneration of the sinner is God's work, —a work more wonderful than the creation of heaven and earth, because grace implies a participation of the creature in the divine nature and consequently transcends all natural agencies.¹⁶

¹⁶ Cfr. Ps. CXLIV, 9-—St. Augustine, Tract, in loa., 72, n. 3: "I would certainly say that this work is greater than heaven and earth and whatever is seen in heaven and on earth. For heaven and earth will pass away, but the salvation and justification of the predestined, that is, of those whom He foreknew, will remain. In the former are only the works of God, but in the latter there is also the image of God." (Migne, P. L., XXXV, 1823).—The Roman Missal contains this oration for the tenth Sunday after Pentecost: "O God, who manifest Your omnipotence chiefly by sparing and showing mercy, multiply Your mercy upon us," etc.

READINGS.—St. Thomas, Summa Theologica, 1a 2ae, qu. 110- 114. —Pohle-Preuss, Grace, Actual and Habitual, 2nd ed., St. Louis 1917, pp. 272 sqq. —A. Rietter, Die Moral des hi Thomas von Aquin, Munich 1858, pp. 275 sqq.—J. H. Newman, Lectures on the Doctrine of Justification, 8th impression, London 1900. —J. M. Capello, S.J., Tract. Canonic o-Moralis de Sacramentis, Vol. I, Turin 1921.