Internal Effects of Charity

(Summa Theologica, II-II, qq. 28-33.)

Internal Effects of Charity.—There are three acts of the soul that result from love, viz., joy, peace, mercy. (a) The joy of charity is a repose or delight of the soul in the perfections of God and in the union of self and the neighbor with Him: “The fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy” (Gal., v. 22). (b) The peace of charity is the harmony of man with God, self and the neighbor: “There is much peace to those that love Thy law” (Ps. cxviii. 165). (c) Mercy is an inclination of the will to relieve the misery of another; it follows from charity, for love of the brotherhood “weeps with them that weep” (Rom., xii. 10, 15).

S. Th. II-II, q. 28, 29, 30, 45.

920. There are three internal effects of charity:

The first is joy, which is caused from dilection, either a) on account of this, that good is in the one loved and is preserved in him, and thus we rejoice concerning the immutable goodness of God (the joy of friendship completing the love of complacency), or b) on account of the presence of the one loved, and thus we rejoice fully concerning God in heaven, or even on earth concerning his indwelling in the soul (the joy of concupiscence filling the desire of the one loving). The first joy can have no sadness mixed with it; - likewise the other joy in heaven, where it will be altogether full, because nothing remains to be desired, indeed super-full, because more is given than is desired; but not now on earth, where from it there can also follow sadness concerning those things which are opposed to the perfection of participation of the divine good and which are contrary to the effects of charity in us or in neighbor.

In a similar mode we can rejoice concerning our own goods, and rejoice together concerning the goods of neighbor.

The second is peace, which includes two things: a) concord or union of our will with the will of others: charity makes this insofar as we love neighbors as ourselves; from which it happens that a man wills to fulfill the will of neighbor as of himself, and thus two wills tend into one; b) the union of all our appetites: charity makes this insofar as we love God from the whole heart and refer all things to him; and thus all our appetites tend into one.

The third is mercy, which is defined by St. Augustine, de Civ. Dei, l. 9: "compassion or sadness in our heart over another's misery, by which, indeed, if we are able, we are compelled to give relief." For because one loving regards a friend as himself, he regards his evil as his own, and therefore he grieves over this as over his own, and wills to relieve his misery, as his own.

Joy and peace are secondary acts of charity, naturally and necessarily consequent upon dilection; they have the same object and motive as dilection, whence they are not distinct habits. But mercy is a special virtue because it has a special object, namely, another's misery to be relieved by our aid from compassion, and a special appetite, namely, grief over another's misery, to be moderated by reason. Now misery consists in this, that a man suffers what he does not will, that is, an evil which is in some way involuntary to him; and thus the sin of another is also an object of mercy, insofar as it has certain evils annexed which are contrary to the will of the one sinning, such as the obligation of punishment, infirmity, separation from God, etc.

921. Observation. - Mercy is the greatest of all virtues, if it is considered in itself, because to give to others and to relieve defects belongs most of all to a superior, and therefore it is proper to God, in whom it is not distinguished from gratuitous love or charity, which it includes and extends to others. But if it is considered as regards the man having it, it is not the greatest, because it is greater to be joined to the superior, God, which is done immediately by the theological virtues and mediately by certain others. But among all virtues which pertain to neighbor it is the greatest, because to supply for a defect as such belongs to one better (q. 30, a. 4). Thus it is annexed not only to charity but also to justice, and pertains to liberality, of which it is a species (III Sent., d. 33, q. 3, a. 4, qc. 4).

922. The gift of Wisdom corresponds to charity, as the most perfect among the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom is taken: a) for a natural and acquired intellectual virtue by which man promptly judges concerning all things through the highest causes known by reason; b) for a supernatural and infused gift by which man, through the highest supernatural cause, God, and through divine rules, can judge and order all things from connaturality. Man obtains this judgment through the Holy Spirit (I Cor. II, 15 and 10), and therefore this wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Wisdom resides in the intellect because its act is to judge; but it has its cause in the will, namely, charity by which we are connatural to divine things, since it unites us to God. Hence it belongs to wisdom to judge with savor, taste, sweetness, and delight. Therefore wisdom is not in sinners. Moreover, it not only contemplates divine things but also through divine reasons judges concerning human things; whence it is at once speculative and practical.

From the aforesaid its definition is clear: A divinely infused habit by which the mind is rendered easily movable by the Holy Spirit for contemplating divine things, and for judging concerning them, and concerning human things according to divine reasons.

As charity, according to the threefold state of men, is divided into the charity of beginners, of those progressing, and of the perfect, which is not a specific but a gradual distinction, conformably there is a threefold grade of wisdom.

"All who have charity and grace making one pleasing have the gift of wisdom at least according to this first grade of it. Now this grade of wisdom consists in two things. First, in this, that through it the intellect judges that one must adhere to divine things rather than to created and perishable things, saying that word of the Psalmist: It is good for me to adhere to God. Second, that through it he rightly disposes and regulates his human and external operations according to divine laws, according to divine precepts or counsels...

"The second grade of wisdom belongs to those progressing, consisting in this, that for the sake of perceiving and experiencing the spiritual and most pure sweetness or delight of wisdom, a man should despise and forsake all enticements of the flesh and delights of the world, and should strive with all his powers to stabilize the intellect in clear and savory speculation of divine things, endeavoring to ascend to the brightness of angelic conversation...

"The third grade of wisdom is fitting only to the perfect, and consists in this, that the knowledge of no created thing should be savory, delightful, or pleasing to the intellect except insofar as it contributes to the knowledge of divine things, and thus the mind itself should be totally fixed upon the contemplation of divine things, so that it may be able promptly, sincerely, subtly, and sweetly to behold them, the passions having been so quieted, and the exterior man entirely reformed, ordered, and subjected at the nod of the judgment of reason, as much as the frailty of the present life takes in or sustains..."¹

¹ Dionysius Carthusianus, De donis, tr. II, a. 15.

To the gift of wisdom is attributed the seventh beatitude: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God: 1. as regards merit, for peacemakers are those who make peace either in themselves or in others, which is done by reducing them to due order; but to order belongs to wisdom; therefore to be a peacemaker is fittingly attributed to wisdom; 2. as regards reward, for they will be sons of God by participating the likeness of the only-begotten Son of God, who is uncreated Wisdom itself begotten.

923. Observation. - Let the words of St. Thomas, q. 45, a. 5, be noted: "Some obtain so much of right judgment both in contemplation of divine things and also in the ordering of human things according to divine rules as is necessary for salvation; and this is lacking to no one existing without mortal sin through grace making pleasing... But some perceive the gift of wisdom in a higher grade, both as regards contemplation of divine things, insofar, namely, as they know certain higher mysteries and can manifest them to others; and also as regards direction of human things according to divine rules, insofar as according to them they can order not only themselves but also others; and this grade of wisdom is not common to all having grace making pleasing, but rather pertains to graces freely given, which the Holy Spirit distributes according as he wills, according to that word I Cor. XII, 8: To one..."

Among the chief internal effects of Charity are enumerated Joy, Peace, and Mercy. And indeed, since a man is sometimes made sluggish in the pursuits of devotion and virtue because of weariness of Divine things, it is necessary that he be made eager and agile toward them by the affection of joy, whereby he may take delight in good works and loathe evil. Likewise, since man, being changeable amid many things, is troubled while he wavers on the sea of this world, Charity makes him tranquil and serene with Peace, subjecting the flesh pacified to the Spirit, and the spirit appeased to God. Similarly, from Charity is born Mercy, whereby a man reckons the miseries of others as his own, and either relieves them corporally or compassionates them spiritually; for since Charity is above all unitive, it transfers into itself all things of one's neighbours, whether good or evil, and strives to rejoice in them or to drive them away; wherefore mercy is twofold, as will be said below, in figure of which Solomon made a twofold little door of olive wood at the entrance of the Oracle, as the Seraphic Doctor has it, in Diaeta, tit. 7. cap. 4. But these things must be inquired into further.

First, the Soul, adorned with the stole of Charity, brightens into the affection of Joy; wherefore, before his other effects, joy must above all be treated; and since the kind of gladness is manifold, that Joy which is the true offspring of Charity must be distinguished from the others.

JOY is not taken here for the passion of the sensitive appetite, which is called delight, of which D. Bonaventure treats in 3. dist. 26. quaest. 1. and art. 2. quaest. 1.

JOY is taken rather as it is a diffusion of the mind in some good, and this is true only if it is of the true good, which is God, as the Saintly Doctor says, collat. 75. on John; and that it is an effect of life in the Lord, which is Charity, the Saintly Doctor proves from Philip. 3. Rejoice in the Lord always, and 17. of John, that your Joy may be full; for there, after Christ had prayed the Father that the disciples be one in God, he adds: That your Joy may be full, and that they may have my Joy fulfilled in themselves. He admonishes that this Joy is to be fulfilled, when it is said: Enter into the Joy of thy Lord, where we are not commanded to rejoice, or to receive Joy, but to enter into infinite joy, comprehending us. See the Saintly Doctor on 16. and 17. of John, and sermons 4. and 5. on the Nativity, distinguishing wonderfully concerning all the Joys, but especially concerning Joy as an effect of Charity, where he heaps up very many authorities on all of them from the Scriptures. Therefore this Joy is an act elicited by the virtue of Charity, which is therefore called its fruit, Galat. 5. The fruit of the Spirit is, Joy, etc., as the Saintly Doctor notes, 3. part. Centil. sect. 6., and Lib. 5. Compendii Theol. cap. 57.; and Gregory of Valentia disp. 3. quaest. 6. puncto 1., and Tannerus disp. 2. quaest. 4. dub. 1. num. 17.

That this Joy is perfect in the fatherland, and cannot grow, just as Charity does not grow, S. Bonaventure admonishes in 2. dist. 11. art. 2. quaest. 2. argument 1. for the opposite, with a response.

In this life, however: Joy is to do justice, as is said Proverb. 21., and therefore even the contrite penitent ought to rejoice, because he has found God; yet the Joy that he has lost that good is mixed with bitterness. So D. Bonaventure in 4. dist. 16. part. 2. dub. 10.

It surely has not of itself weariness, because it is born of wisdom. Therefore it is said, Sap. 8. Her conversation has no bitterness, nor her company any weariness, but joy and Joy, according to Ecclesiasticus 1.: He will give pleasantness and Joy, and cap. 5.: He heaped up for him pleasantness and exultation. All of which the Saintly Doctor observes on those words of Sap. 8. He is saddened, therefore, insofar as something occurs repugnant to the participation of the divine good, whether in us or in our neighbours, whom we love as ourselves, as D. Thom. teaches, art. 2.; Tannerus num. 18.

THEREFORE this Joy cannot be fulfilled in this life, the Saintly Doctor concludes on those words of John 15., That my Joy may be in you, and your Joy may be filled, and in nearly that whole chapter. The reason is, because there cannot be perfect rest while there is motion; but in this life we are always in motion, as D. Thom. says, art. 3. Therefore John 16.: A woman, when she gives birth, has sadness; and you therefore now indeed have sadness, and Christ was sad unto death, Luke 22., as the Saintly Doctor observes on those passages.

That it is NOT a virtue, D. Thomas shows in the cited article, from the enumeration of the parts.

It is PROVED from S. Thom., because Joy is not an operative habit, but is an act toward which the habit inclines, which is called Charity. For the same habit inclines to loving, to desiring the beloved, and to rejoicing in him; and therefore the habit of Joy is not distinct from the habit of Charity, because every virtue rejoices in exercising its acts, as D. Bonaventure teaches, 3. dist. 26. quaest. 2. ad 4.; but it agrees especially with Charity, which has for its object the good, insofar as the good delights through the habit.

The state of the MOST PURIFIED mind is Peace; wherefore it is granted to the peaceable more than to others to be the sons of God, as the Seraphic Doctor notes in comp. Theol. lib. 5. cap. 54., because although mercy assimilates a man to God most of all as regards exterior things, yet as regards interior things, he is assimilated more by Peace.

PEACE is described by the Saintly Doctor in the opusc. de septem Donis, on the Gift of fear, cap. 4., from D. Augustine, serm. 167. de tempore: Peace is the serenity of the mind, the tranquillity of the soul, the simplicity of the heart, the bond of love, the fellowship of Charity. By these he shows that peace consists in consent and simplicity, which is the perfect unity of the affections in the true and entire good, as D. Thom. also says, art. 1. But it differs from Concord; because this is the union of hearts and wills in one, as D. Bonav. says, 3. p. centil. sect. 44., and in the opusc. declaring the terms of Theology, near the end. But there can be an evil concord, as D. Bonav. notes in Pharetra, in the place cited.

From the justice of Kings arises the Peace of peoples, as Caesarius of Arles says, homil. 22., on that word of Luke 17., the Kingdom of God is within you, as gathered by D. Bonaventure in the place cited, de septem donis. The reason is, because they are two sisters: Justice and Peace have kissed, Psalm 44.

That THIS is an effect of Charity, the Saintly Doctor shows in Lib. 4. Pharetrae, and D. Greg. in the registry, lib. 7. indic. 11., and lib. 4. indic. 13. cap. 80., and Lib. 7. indic. 2. cap. 27.

He describes it there from D. Augustine, serm. 57. de verbis Domini: Peace is placid to all; it does not seek what is another's, it assigns its own; it teaches to love what it knows not how to hate. It knows not how to be exalted, it knows not how to be inflated. Therefore he who receives it, let him hold it; he who has lost it, let him seek it back; he who has missed it, let him look for it: since he who shall not be found in it is cast off by the Father, disinherited by the Son, and none the less is made a stranger by the Holy Spirit. He continues from D. Augustine, Lib. 1. de civit. cap. 13.: The testament of God, and the inheritance, is peace, that it may be possessed by concordant partners, not divided by litigants; from which he deduces that the opposite of peace is dissension, and therefore the Apostle says it withers away, first Corinth. 14.: God is not of dissension, but of peace.

The Saintly Doctor shows the same there from D. Augustine, lib. 19. de civitate, cap. 12.: Wars are waged with the intention of peace (he says), because those who wish wars wish nothing else than to conquer. But victory is the subjection of those who resist; and when that has been done, there will be peace.

See the Saintly Doctor there, citing other Fathers saying wondrous things.

Hence he shows, on 2. Luke, that peace is not without Charity, from those words: And on earth peace to men of good will, that is, to the just. Because there is no peace for the wicked, as it is said: Isaiah 57. On the contrary, to the just it is said, Philip. 4.: And the Peace of God, which surpasses all sense, keep your hearts. Therefore upon the poor, contrite of heart, and trembling at my words, says the Lord, Isaiah 66.: I will cause to flow upon him a river of peace. See the Seraphic Doctor there, uttering most excellent things. The Saintly Doctor observes there, and on 24. Luke, that it is so precious that Christ was called the Apostle of peace: Coming, he evangelized peace to you, Ephes. 2.; He himself also is called our Peace, who made both one, Ephes. 1.; And pacifying through his blood, whether the things that are on earth, or the things that are in heaven, Coloss. 1. See the Saintly Doctor on 24. Luke on those words: Peace be to you.

But the Saintly Doctor shows in the passages alleged that for peace it is necessary that there be no dissension with others, and with oneself. S. Thom. is of the same mind here, and Tannerus disp. 2. quaest. 4. dub. 1. num. 20., and commonly.

And this S. Augustine seems to have indicated, Lib. 19. de civit. cap. 13., where, describing peace, he says it is the tranquillity of order, because all things are ordered. D. Dionysius indicates the same, cap. 11. de divin. nominibus, saying: Peace is the unitive of all things, and operative of consent. But if he consent with others, not with himself, he will have concord, not peace; since peace indeed includes concord, and adds the consent of the appetitions within the same man himself. Yet broadly peace is called ordered concord, by D. Augustine, Lib. 19. de civitate Dei, cap. 13.

Further (says Valentia, punct. 2.) not every kind of entire consent and union of appetitions is the peace of which we speak; but it must be consent in the true good, as the Saintly Doctor shows in that Isa. 57.: there is no peace for the wicked, Jerem. 6.: Saying peace, peace, and there is no peace.

S. Bonaventure, de gradibus virtutum, cap. 13., enumerates three degrees of the one union, or unity, constituting peace: Another degree of Peace (he says) is when the flesh is subjected to the spirit, or to reason, rendering itself difficult toward all evils to be perpetrated, as it is said: Rom. 6. Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that you obey the concupiscences thereof; and cap. 7.: I myself serve with the mind the Law of God; but with the flesh, the law of sin. A higher, when the flesh is subjected to the spirit, exhibiting itself prompt for the doing of all good: I chastise my body, etc., first Corinth. 9. The highest, when the spirit is subjected to God, observing every ordering in all the powers of the soul thoroughly. This last degree is kept in heaven.

Likewise, a high degree is to spare inferiors if they have exceeded in something, and to console them kindly if they have fallen into any affliction. A higher is to converse kindly with equals, so as to do them the good which he would justly wish done to himself. The highest, to conform one's own will to the will of superiors in all things.

Likewise a high degree is to trouble no one by deeds; a higher, to trouble no one by words, or in any other way, when absent. The highest, to give no one a just occasion of trouble.

Likewise he ascends into the high degree of peace who does not publish the evils of his neighbours. Into a higher degree, he who does not diminish the goods of his neighbours, nor blacken them, nor twist them, but extols them. Into the highest ascends he who compassionates their defects, and congratulates them from the heart upon their progress.

See the same Saintly Doctor, de Donis Spiritus sancti, and de Dono Timoris, cap. 4., recounting the degrees of Peace.

But how peace is an effect of Charity: whether it is an act of it, or a relation following the act of Charity, is a question of a name, as Valentia says. For Cajetan says it is a relation following, which is the union of the appetitions, or tranquillity, as D. Augustine used to say, 19. de civit. cap. 13. But D. Thom., art. 4., seems altogether to will it to be an act, concerning which there is an external precept, Mark 9.: Have peace among you; but in either way Peace seems an effect of Charity, as Valentia says. For it signifies also the foundation of that relation, which is to will the same and not to will the same, which is an act of Charity, as Tannerus admonishes, disp. 2. quaest. 4. dub. 1. num. 23.

Hence you will see what S. Dionysius wills, cap. 11. de Divinis nominibus, teaching that Peace is the unitive of all things, and operative of consent.

But no other virtue is necessary for producing peace than Charity, because, Charity being had, the union of all the affections is easily had entire, since no other difficulty remains on account of which new virtues are necessary.

From these you have that peace is reckoned under diverse reasons, both among the Beatitudes, Matth. 5., and among the fruits of the Spirit, Galat. 5. For it is a kind of beatitude, inasmuch as it is an act of a perfect virtue, for instance of Charity, or the state of that virtue itself, in which there is delight in God without contradiction from the flesh, the world, and the devil; or if there is any, it is ineffectual, as D. Bonaventure teaches, Lib. 5. Compend. Theol. cap. 54. But it is a fruit, inasmuch as it is a certain ultimate good which has pleasantness, or delight, as S. Bonavent. says, loco cit. cap. 57., and D. Thom. art. 4. ad 1., and Valentia disp. 3. quaest. 6. puncto 2. near the end.

It follows also that there is nothing which does not in its own way seek peace, as D. Thom. teaches, art. 2., and D. Augustine shows, Lib. 19. de civitate, cap. 12., as gathered by D. Bonavent. loco cit. Phaeratrae. The reason is, because every thing, in the manner suitable to its nature, seeks the good, and wills to obtain the perfection congruent to itself without any repugnance; and thus with no appetite resisting. That itself is, to have peace. And D. Augustine hints at this reason, saying: As there is no one who does not will to rejoice, so there is no one who does not will to have peace; doubtless because one then rejoices when he possesses the good with quiet and tranquillity, and thus with peace. Therefore Christ, leaving us that precious treasure, and commending it, often repeats, Mark 9. Luke 24. John 14. and 20.

Lastly, it follows that peace is not without cause so greatly commended in the Scriptures, for nothing is more desirable than to possess a good tranquilly. Wherefore the Angels, at the Nativity of Christ, wishing to announce the greatest good to men, announced: Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace to men, as D. Bonaventure elegantly pursues, ad 2. Lucae. For therefore, as I said, Christ himself was made the Apostle, announcer of peace, acquiring it with his blood, as the Apostle says in the places cited above. And our Gospel is the Gospel of peace, as it is said, Isaiah 52.

Hence he taught that form of saluting: Peace be to you, Luke 24. and John 20., as S. Bonaventure elegantly pursues on those passages. Where he also shows at what price he redeemed it: For the discipline of our peace was upon him, Isaiah 53.; thus with his life he acquired this infinite treasure, so that, giving peace, he might take away the greatest evil, which is that of dissension. For it is said, Ephes. 2.: God of peace, not of dissension, as I noted above also.

Further, the Apostle hands down the rule for obtaining peace, Galat. 6.: But far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world; and whosoever shall follow this rule, peace upon them.

S. Bonaventure interprets this rule to be the rule of the Friars Minor, inasmuch as it commands the entire abnegation of self, as he pursues at length in the exposition, in whose Prologue he places the place of these words of the Apostle: But to me, etc., as above.

Further, see the excellent praises of Peace in D. Bonavent. in Diaeta, tit. 7. cap. 6., where he shows it to be the Idiom of heaven, which the Angels, and Christ, used.