On Prayer and The Contemplative Life Part 4

VII

Has Religion, That is _Latria_,[65] any External Acts?

In Ps. lx.x.xiii. 3 it is said: _My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living G.o.d._ Now interior acts belong to the heart, and in the same way exterior acts are referred to the members of the body. It appears, then, that G.o.d is to be worshipped by exterior as well as by interior acts.

We do not show reverence and honour to G.o.d for His own sake--for He in Himself is filled with glory to which nought can be added by any created thing--but for our own sakes. For by the fact that we reverence and honour G.o.d our minds are subjected to Him, and in that their perfection lies; for all things are perfected according as they are subjected to that which is superior to them--the body, for instance, when vivified by the soul, the air when illumined by the sun. Now the human mind needs--if it would be united to G.o.d--the guidance of the things of sense; for, as the Apostle says to the Romans[66]: _The invisible things of Him are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made_.

Hence in the Divine worship it is necessary to make use of certain corporal acts, so that by their means, as by certain signs, man's mind may be stirred up to those spiritual acts whereby it is knit to G.o.d.

Consequently religion has certain interior acts which are its chief ones and which essentially belong to it; but it has also external acts which are secondary and which are subordinated to the interior acts.

Some deny, however, that exterior acts belong to religion or _latria_, thus:

1. In S. John iv. 24 we read: _For G.o.d is a Spirit, and they that adore Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth._ External acts belong, however, rather to the body than to the spirit. Consequently religion, which comprises adoration, has no exterior acts, but only interior.

But here the Lord speaks only of that which is chiefest and which is essentially intended in Divine worship.

2. The end of religion is to show reverence and honour to G.o.d. But it is not reverent to offer to a superexcellent person what properly belongs to inferiors. Since, then, what a man offers by bodily acts seems more in accordance with men's needs and with that respect which we owe to inferior created beings, it does not appear that it can fittingly be made use of in order to show reverence to G.o.d.

But such external acts are not offered to G.o.d as though He needed them, as He says in the Psalm: _Shall I eat the flesh of bullocks? Or shall I drink the blood of goats?_[67] But such acts are offered to G.o.d as signs of those interior and spiritual works which G.o.d accepts for their own sakes. Hence S. Augustine says: "The visible sacrifice is the sacrament--that is, the visible sign--of the invisible sacrifice."[68]

3. Lastly, S. Augustine praises Seneca[69] for his condemnation of those men who offered to their idols what they were wont to offer to men: on the ground, namely, that what belongs to mortal men is not fittingly offered to the immortals. Still less, then, can such things be fittingly offered to the True G.o.d Who is _above all G.o.ds_.[70] Therefore to worship G.o.d by means of bodily acts seems to be reprehensible. And consequently religion does not include bodily acts.

But idolaters are so called because they offer to their idols things belonging to men, and this not as outward signs which may excite in them spiritual affections, but as being acceptable by those idols for their own sake. And especially because they offered them empty and vile things.

_S. Augustine:_ When men pray, they, as becomes suppliants, make use of their bodily members, for they bend the knee, they stretch forth their hands, they even prostrate on the ground and perform other visible acts.

Yet all the while their invisible will and their heart's intention are known to G.o.d. He needs not these signs for the human soul to be laid bare before Him. But man by so doing stirs himself up to pray and groan with greater humility and fervour. I know not how it is that whereas such bodily movements can only be produced by reason of some preceding act on the part of the soul, yet when they are thus visibly performed the interior invisible movement which gave them birth is thereby itself increased, and the heart's affections--which must have preceded, else such acts would not have been performed--are thereby themselves increased.

Yet none the less, if a man be in some sort hindered so that he is not at liberty to make use of such external acts, the interior man does not therefore cease to pray; in the secret chamber of his heart, where lies compunction, he lies prostrate before the eyes of G.o.d (_Of Care for the Dead_, v.).

VIII

Is Religion the Same as Sanct.i.ty?

In S. Luke's Gospel[71] we read: _Let us serve Him in holiness and justice._ But to serve G.o.d comes under religion. Hence religion is the same as sanct.i.ty.

The word "sanct.i.ty" seems to imply two things. First, it seems to imply _cleanness_; and this is in accordance with the Greek word for it, for in Greek it is _hagios_,[72] as though meaning "without earth."

Secondly, it implies _stability_, and thus among the ancients those things were termed _sancta_ which were so hedged about with laws that they were safe from violation; similarly a thing is said to be _sancitum_ because established by law. And even according to the Latins the word _sanctus_ may mean "cleanness," as derived from _sanguine tinctus_, for of old those who were to be purified were sprinkled with the blood of a victim, as says S. Isidore in his _Etymologies_.[73]

And both meanings allow us to attribute sanct.i.ty to things which are used in the Divine worship; so that not men only, but also temples and vessels and other similar things are said to be sanctified by reason of their use in Divine worship. _Cleanness_ indeed is necessary if a man's mind is to be applied to G.o.d. For the mind of man is stained by being immersed in inferior things, as indeed all things are cheapened by admixture with things inferior to them--silver, for instance, when mixed with lead. And for our minds to be knit to the Supreme Being they must needs be withdrawn from inferior things. Without cleanness, then, the mind cannot be applied to G.o.d. Hence in the Epistle to the Hebrews[74]

it is said: _Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see G.o.d._

_Stability_ is also required if the mind is to be applied to G.o.d. For the mind is applied to Him as to the Ultimate End and First Principle, and consequently must be immovable. Hence the Apostle says: _For I am sure that neither death nor life shall separate me from the love of G.o.d._[75]

Sanct.i.ty, then, is said to be that whereby man's mind and its acts are applied to G.o.d. Hence sanct.i.ty does not differ from religion essentially, but in idea only. For by religion we mean that a man offers G.o.d due service in those things which specially pertain to the Divine worship--sacrifices, for example, and oblations, etc.; but by sanct.i.ty we mean that a man not only offers these things, but also refers to G.o.d the works of the other virtues, and also that a man disposes himself by good works for the Divine worship.

Some, however, deny the ident.i.ty of religion and sanct.i.ty, thus:

1. Religion is a certain special virtue. But sanct.i.ty is called a general virtue, for according to Andronicus,[76] sanct.i.ty is that which "makes men faithful observers of what is justly due to G.o.d." Hence sanct.i.ty is not the same as religion.

But sanct.i.ty is in its essence a special virtue, and as such is, in a sort, the same as religion. It has, however, a certain general aspect in that, by its commands, it directs all the acts of the virtues to the Divine Good. In the same way legal justice is termed a general virtue in that it directs the acts of all the virtues to the common good.

2. Sanct.i.ty seems to imply cleanness, for S. Denis says[77]: "Sanct.i.ty is freedom from all impurity; it is perfect and stainless cleanness."

Cleanness, however, seems to come under temperance, for this it is which precludes bodily defilement. Since, then, religion comes under justice, sanct.i.ty cannot be identified with religion.

Temperance indeed worketh cleanness, but this has not the ratio of sanct.i.ty except it be referred to G.o.d. Hence S. Augustine says of virginity itself that "not because it is virginity is it held in honour, but because it is consecrated to G.o.d."[78]

3. Lastly, things that are contradistinguished are not identical. But in all enumerations of the parts of justice sanct.i.ty is set against religion.

But sanct.i.ty is set against religion because of the difference aforesaid; they differ indeed in idea, not in substance.

_Cajetan:_ Religion is directly concerned with those things which specially pertain to the Divine worship--ceremonies, for example, sacrifices, oblations, etc. Whereas sanct.i.ty directly regards the mind, and through the mind the other virtuous works, including those of religion ... for it makes use of them so as thereby to apply the mind--and by consequence all acts that proceed from the human mind--to G.o.d. Thus we see that many religious people are not saints, whereas all saints are religious. For people who devote themselves to ceremonies, sacrifices, etc., can be termed religious; but they can only be called saints in so far as by means of these things they give themselves interiorly to G.o.d (_on_ 2. 2. 81. 8).

FOOTNOTES:

[33] _De invent. Rhetor._, ii. 53.

[34] _Etymolog._, x. _sub litt._ R.

[35] _Of the City of G.o.d_, x. 3.

[36] _Of the True Religion_, lv.

[37] St. Jas. i. 27.

[38] _Of the City of G.o.d_, x. 1.

[39] _Of the City of G.o.d_, x. 1.

[40] Gal. v. 13.

[41] The objection and its solution turn upon the Latin words _cultus_ and _colere_, which cannot be consistently rendered in English; "reverence" is perhaps the most appropriate translation here.

[42] _Of the City of G.o.d_, x. 1.

[43] Gal. iv. 14.

[44] Rom. viii. 31.

[45] Ps. xv. 5.

[46] Ps. lxxvi. 1.