Graces

“ The graces of God's Spirit in the hearts of believers are exceedingly precious in themselves and pleasing to Christ, and his presence in ordinances draws them out into act and exercise. If he withdraw, graces wither and languish, as plants in the absence of the sun; if he approach, the face of the soul is renewed, as of the earth in the spring; and then it is time to bestir ourselves, that we may not lose the gleam, not lose the gale; for nothing is done acceptably but what grace does, Heb. ”

“ To what category of the supernatural belong the salutary acts which man performs by the aid of grace? Undoubtedly there are actual graces which are entitatively natural, e.g. the purely mediate grace of illumination,287 the natural graces conferred in the pure state of nature, the actual graces of the sensitive sphere,288 and the so-called cogitatio congrua of Vasquez.289 The problem therefore narrows itself down to the immediate graces of intellect and will. ”

“ First, we have growth in the 'grace' of Christ. Grace, of course, means, first, the undeserved love and favour which God in Jesus Christ bears to us sinful and inferior creatures; and then it means the consequence of that love and favour in the manifold spiritual endowments which in us become 'graces,' beauties, and excellences of Christian character. So then, if you are a Christian, you ought to be continually realising a deeper and more blessed consciousness of Christ's love and favour as yours. ”

“ Who will set bounds to the goodness of our Lord?--especially when these graces are given, not for merit, nor because one is stronger; on the contrary, they are given to one because he is weaker; and as they do not make one more holy, they are not always given to the most holy. ”

“ They are propriety; the Graces should attend, in order to complete them; the Graces enable us to do, genteelly and pleasingly, what ‘les bienseances’ require to be done at all. The latter are an obligation upon every man; the former are an infinite advantage and ornament to any man. ”

“ The Scotists hold that the distinction between gratia Dei and gratia Christi is purely logical. They regard [pg 011] the God-man as the predestined centre of the universe and the source of all graces.15 The Thomists, on the other hand, regard the grace of the angels, and that wherewith our first parents were endowed in Paradise, purely as gratia Dei ”

“ The Lord's people are kings and priests unto God, heirs of a crown, and inheritors of heaven, whether they dwell in a palace, or lie in a poorhouse ward.
Secondly, Grace was wrong in doubting for one moment the loving care of her God, because He was trying her faith in the heated furnace of affliction. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." Grace had been an earnest and active Christian; but she had little knowledge of the weakness and sin of her own heart, till affliction stirred up the quiet waters, and showed her what evil lay below. ”

“ And when the sermon came, and the preacher began to talk in thrilling words of that saving health which the Great Healer of souls had died to bring to all nations, Grace felt the reality of those unseen, eternal things of which he spoke as she had never done before. Then there were interspersed with those faithful, burning words for God beautiful illustrations from nature, which fascinated the little girl's imagination, as she sat gazing, not at the gilded cherubs to-night, but on the benignant, earnest face of the speaker. ”

“ But we may well by grace keep us from the sins which would lead us to [Pg 125] endless pains, as Holy Church teacheth us; and eschew venial [ones] reasonably up to our might. And if we by our blindness and our wretchedness any time fall, we should readily rise, knowing the sweet touching of grace, and with all our will amend us upon the teaching of Holy Church, according as the sin is grievous, and go forthwith to God in love; and neither, on the one side, fall over low, inclining to despair, nor, on the other side, be over-reckless, as if we made no matter of it [4] ”

“ Grace's constancy throughout, whether your Highness can be content to take of God's hands as well things displeasant as pleasant. And if He find in your most noble heart such an obedience unto his will, that your Grace, without murmuration and over-much heaviness, do accept all adversities, not less thanking Him than when all things succeed after your Grace's [Pg 460] will and pleasure, then I suppose your Grace did never thing more acceptable unto Him since your first governance of this your realm. ”

“ As the self pushes out towards Reality, so does Reality rush in on it. “Grace and the will,” says one of the greatest of living writers on religion, “rise and fall together.” “Grace” is, of course, the theological term for that inflow of spiritual vitality which is the response made by the divine order to the human motions of adoration, supplication, and love; and according to the energy and intensity with which our efforts are made—the degree in which we concentrate our attention upon this high and difficult business of prayer—will be the amount of new life that we receive. ”

“ And though, as if by Providence of Grace, in some people the latter precede the former, so that love covers love, in the usual order of Providence the common sequence is otherwise. So thou hast to keep the common order. If Grace in thee comes first, it is for its own sake. If it does not, then, along the way that every man goes by tradition, ascend the spiritual tower. ”

“ Ah, beloved reader, we can never estimate the debt we owe to the unbounded grace of God. Grace means unmerited favor. Grace is God’s infinite love in active working for the salvation of man. And, the source of our sanctification, just as of our justification, and indeed of every gospel blessing provided for us, is the grace of God. ”

“ They shall descend, but their glory, that which they called and counted their glory, and gloried in, shall not descend after them to lessen the disgrace of death and the grave, to bring them off in the judgment, or abate the torments of hell. Grace is glory that will ascend with us, but no earthly glory will descend after us. ”

“ Except our soul be watered by Grace, it is as barren as the desert, but be of good cheer, for some day the “desert shall blossom like the rose.” “Watch and pray” and desire, for sin is but the flagging of the desire for holiness. Grace will change your present fluctuating motions towards holiness into an adamant of desire that neither the tools of earth can break nor the chemistry of Hell resolve. ”

“ They willingly multiply prayers and exterior practices of piety, which flatter natural inclinations; they frequent the Sacraments, and this furnishes them the occasion and means of producing those lively and tender sentiments upon which the heart loves to feast.
Their doleful condition is rendered still more deplorable by the use of the most sacred things to nourish their self-love and sensibility. Grace, according to their views of the spiritual life, is only a means to render natural sensibility more delicate and refined. ”

“ Yet with the bounties of thy grace
Thou load'st the rolling year.
5 'Tis sovereign mercy finds us food,
And we are cloth d with love;
While grace stands pointing out the road
That leads our souls above.
6 His goodness runs an endless round;
All glory to the Lord:
His mercy never knows a bound,
And be his Name ador'd!
7 Thus we begin the lasting song,
And when we close our eyes,
Let the next age thy praise prolong
Till time and nature dies. ”

“ O Holy Ghost, Who didst prepare the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by the infusion of sanctity, to be a worthy habitation of the body of the divine Infant Jesus, prostrate before Thee I beg that Thy grace may also render my soul and body worthy to receive the body of Christ, that I may receive Him with purity and faith, and may through the reception lay a foundation of sanctity, which will entitle me to enter the glorious kingdom of heaven. ”

“ For I beheld the property of mercy, and I beheld the property of grace: which have two manners of working in one love. Mercy is a pitiful property which belongeth to the Motherhood in tender love; and grace is a worshipful property which belongeth to the royal Lordship in the same love. Mercy worketh: keeping, suffering, quickening, and healing; and all is tenderness of love. ”

“ In execution whereof, and also of the laws of the Church for repression of sin, and also for reformation of mislivers, it hath been to our great comfort that your Grace hath herein of your goodness, assisted and aided us in this behalf for the zeal and love which your Grace beareth to God's Church and to His ministers; specially in defence of His faith whereof your Grace only and most worthily amongst all Christian princes beareth the title and name. ”

“ Grace inheres in the substance of the soul, while charity has its seat in one of its several faculties. Inhering in the very substance of the soul, grace, by a physical or moral power, produces the three theological virtues—faith, hope, and love. ”

“ Then I rejoice in deep distress,
Leaning on all-sufficient Grace.
2 I glory in infirmity,
That Christ's own power may rest on me;
When I am weak, then am I strong,
Grace is my shield, and Christ my song. ”

“ Surely contentment, wisdom, peace, and a sweet sense of the Saviour's presence, are rich golden grains gleaned here of that harvest of light which has been sown for the children of light, which they will enjoy in perfection when the Church, the Heavenly Bride, is raised from grace to glory! Only gleanings, indeed, yet precious gleanings, and to be gathered by those who are ready, like Ruth, to stoop, to labour, and to endure. ”

“ This Grace is a supernatural light, and a certain special gift of God, and the proper mark of the elect, and the pledge of eternal salvation; it exalteth a man from earthly things to love those that are heavenly; and it maketh the carnal man spiritual. So far therefore as Nature is utterly pressed down and overcome, so far is greater Grace bestowed and the inner man is daily created anew by fresh visitations, after the image of God. ”

“ It is characteristic of spiritual progress that each step is gained through suffering, through penetrating faithful endeavours, through grievous incomprehensible turmoils and discords of the spirit, worked frequently by means of the everyday commonplace happenings and responsibilities of our daily life; and finally as each new step is gained we are by Grace carried to it in a flood of divine happiness to crown our woes. Grace is God's magnetic power acting directly and immediately upon us and is altogether independent of place, time, services, sacraments, or ceremonies. ”

“ Grace kindles the lamp of hope amidst the darkest experiences of life, supplies the clue which unravels the most tangled mysteries, presses the nectar of consolation into the bitterest cup, implants in the soul its holiest motives and opens up its noblest career, strengthens the dying saint when he traverses the lonely borderland of the unknown, and tunes and perpetuates the celestial harmonies of the everlasting song. ”

“ I am firmly resolved, with the help of Thy grace, to amend my life, and to strive more earnestly than ever after perfection in the following of Christ and in the imitation of the saints. Accept, O Lord, my good will; grant me Thy blessing, that I may do Thy holy will and please Thee this day in all my thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings, which I offer and consecrate to Thee, for Thy greater glory, in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the immaculate Heart of Mary. ”

“ Virgin most obedient, at thy Presentation in the Temple thou didst willingly offer the accustomed sacrifice of women ; enable us so to follow thy example, that we may make ourselves a living sacrifice to God, by practising every virtue. Hail Mary.
3. Virgin most pure, thou didst despise the reproach of men whilst observing the precept of the law ; ask for us grace always to keep our hearts pure, whatever the world may think us. Hail Mary. ”

“ Considering the subjects on which divine grace has to act, and the opposition which it has to encounter, this, its work in the saints, may well be called the most wonderful of all works, and its triumph the grandest of all triumphs. Unseen and unheeded though it may be, that divine work is ever silently but surely and steadily progressing in the spiritual world over which grace rules. We can see it in its development, if not in its actual operation, and if so minded, can estimate its magnitude by examining its results in the annals of the saints. ”

“ Now, this was grace—unqualified grace—free, unconditional, perfect grace—the grace of God. The Lord God gives His Son to be, as "the Seed of the woman," bruised for man's redemption—to be slain to furnish a robe of divine righteousness for a naked sinner. ”

“ For the first time in our lives, perhaps, we were in near concord with the Christian concept of Grace. A greater force than convention had pronounced upon us; not we upon ourselves, or either on the other. ”

“ But Grace was the one of the party whose personal appearance would be most likely to attract attention. Her face beamed with sensibility and feeling, being one of those countenances on which nature sometimes delights to impress the mingled radiance, sweetness, truth and sentiment, that men ascribe to angels. ”

“ He tried to stop his railing and blaspheming, and bring him to a better mind. ‘Does not you fear God’, he says, ‘seeing you are in the same condemnation?’ There is no surer mark of grace than this! Grace shakes a man out of his selfishness, and makes him feel for the souls of others. ”

“ Moreover, we understand by Grace as a Qualification to a Minister, not the mere Measure of Light, as it is given to reprove and call him to Righteousness; All have God’s Grace, which calls to Righteousness, but all are not so leavened into its Nature as to bring forth Fruits, of a blameless holy Life.but we understand Grace as it hath converted the Soul, and operateth powerfully in it, as hereafter, concerning the Work of Ministers, will further appear. So we understand not Men simply as having Grace in them as a Seed, which we indeed affirm all have in a Measure ”