[DFin 53. 154. 195. 197]
WAY OF ILLUMINATION
[DFin 31. 47. 79. 123. 150. 217] Glory to the Son
Am I saved?
1. There is he who is saved and there is he who is damned: parable of the ten virgins.
2. Who is saved? Whoever does what is said in the parables: of the treasure hidden in the field, of the precious pearl acquired by giving everything.
3. So that Jesus Christ is incarnated in us, we must:
a) place ourselves in the dispositions of innocence and humility of St. Joseph and of Mary;
b) produce during these days worthy fruits of penance, meditating on the life of St. John the Baptist and moving ourselves to sorrow and mortification.
[DFin 46. 49. 50. 150. 151. 153. 158. 169. 170. 182. 183. 189] Incarnation
1. This period must bring in us Jesus Christ: Truth, Way, Life; thereby emerges
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the new man. The supernatural life shall bring about eternal life: coheredes Christi.1
2. Jesus Christ is truth: for the intelligence: whereby follows the need to study the Christian doctrine, especially the Gospel.
Jesus Christ is way: for the will; thereby follows the need to imitate Jesus Christ, take care especially of the Holy Communion.
Jesus Christ is life: for the heart, thereby follows the need to clothe ourselves with sanctifying and actual grace, especially with the Holy Mass.
3. From here: divide the hour of adoration into three parts: a) reading of the Gospel and Christian doctrine thereby we honor Jesus Christ Master; b) compare our life with Jesus Christ model and make the examination of conscience; c) prayer, especially that which prepares for the Holy Mass (Way of the Cross, Sorrowful Mysteries).
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[DFin 46. 49. 98-102. 123. 132-133. 137-143. 149. 152. 165. 166. 168. 169. 173. 176. 178. 219]
To the Divine MasterMaster: your life traces for me the way;
your doctrine confirms and sheds light to my
steps; your grace sustains and supports me in
the journey to heaven. You are the perfect
Master: who gives example, teaches, and comforts the disciple to follow you.
Sic Deus dilexit mundum ut Filium suum
unigenitum daret, ut omnis qui credit in ipsum
non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam.2
A Deo Magister veniet (Io. III, 22-36).3
1. O Master, you have words of eternal life: to my mind, to my thoughts substitute You yourself, O You who enlighten every man and you yourself the truth: I do not want to reason out other than how you teach, nor do I want to judge other than with your judgments, neither to think other than You substantial truth, given by the Father to me: Live in my mind, O Jesus Truth.
2. Your life is precept,
way, the only security, infallible. From the Crib, from Nazareth, from Calvary, everything is a drawing of the divine life: of love to the Father, of infinite purity, of love for soul, to Sacrifice... Make me know it, make me place, each moment, my feet on the footprints of poverty, chastity, obedience: every other way is broad... not yours: Jesus, I ignore and detest every way not marked by You. What
39
You want, I want: establish your will at the place of my will.
3. To my heart, substitute yours: to my love for God, for neighbor, for myself, substitute yours. Let your divine life, most pure, above all nature, substitute my sinful human life. Ego sum vita.4 Thus, in order to place You in me, I shall take all care for Communion, for the Holy Mass, for the Visit to the Most Holy Sacrament, to devotion to the Passion. And may this life manifest itself in works ita ut vita Christi manifestetur in vobis,5 just as how it happened with St. Paul vivit in me Christus.6 Live in me, O Jesus eternal Life, substantial life.
[DFin 24. 46. 51. 114. 155. 171. 185] Jesus Way
1. Jesus is the way to glory, or ultimate end. The way to heaven was lost due to men's doing: while in search for happiness, they were following it in avarice, in pleasure, in vanity: ways that lead to eternal error. Jesus taught us to follow it in humility, in poverty, in mortification. In him alone can we conveniently adore, thank, propitiate, pray to the Father.
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2. Jesus is the way: he affirmed it: ego sum via,
7 discite a me,
8 exemplum dedi vobis,
9 etc. The Heavenly Father proclaimed it: this is my beloved Son
10 that is, he pleases me. His life was most holy that it brought to the greatest glory propter quod Deus exaltavit illum:
11 sedet ad dexteram Patris.
123. Two consequences: Jesus is model for all, easy, divine: summum igitur studium nostrum sit in vita Christi meditari.
13* * ** Notam fac mihi viam qua ambulem (Ps 142).14
Contemplation of the crib:
Became a Baby - homo factus
Circumstances of his birth:
Poverty, humility, mortification are documents for entering the school of Jesus.
* * *Jesus entrusted to Mary Most Holy and to St. Joseph:
Jesus submitted himself entirely.
He let himself be formed.
This is the way: esteem, love, submit oneself to Mary Most Holy.
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[DFin 33] a) with prayers, with imitation, with perfect devotion;
b) make for ourselves and live in a spiritual environment: St. Joseph, the Holy Protectors, the Angels, St. Paul, the Souls in Purgatory.
* * *
Private life:
Takes 30 of 33 years: hence importance 10 against one.
He grew in age, wisdom and grace.
It is a mysterious chain of obedience, of prayer, of sacrifice, of domestic virtues.
* * *
Entrance to public life:
How he leaves behind everything: mother, house, occupations.
With fasting, baptism, overcoming temptations, winning over first the hearts.
He enters it by associating contemplative with active life.
* * *
Public life:15
[DFin 146] Perfect correspondence to his vocation: to teach to the poor the Gospel, to establish the Church, etc.
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Predilection and redemption of sinners, for the Apostles, for the little ones: pauperes evangelizantur.16
Perfect interior and exterior dispositions: the glory of God alone, continuous interior life, love for souls and for bodies, virtues of mortification, of meekness; perfect gentle fortitude, perfectly ardent prudence, perfectly charitable justice, perfectly superior temperance.
[DFin15. 110. 155. 185. 190] Jesus Way for the Youth
1. Youth is the decisive time for life; the period that has the most serious consequences for eternity; and its education, the true secret for the Church and society; the most difficult and easiest period, under different aspects.
2. The Master made himself young for the youth, dedicating to it 30 years of the 33 of his life: as model of the youth in obedience and in complete progress; as way with virtues and sustained sacrifices thus acquiring the graces for such age; as truth, by elevating education, exalting the young,
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threatening scandals: sinite parvulos venire...17 Nisi efficiamini...18 Væ mundo a scandalis...19.
3. Regard highly the youthful years: your sight fixed on the Divine Master: invoke special assistance for the three crises;20 first honor the Master, child, young man, youth.
[DFin 45. 58. 108. 155. 171. 172. 185. 190] Jesus Way of merit
1. Jesus is model in doing the Lord's will. The Divine Will: one kind is as if a signal; another is as if permission. To do the will of God is perfection; to do the will of God is true Love for the Lord; to do the will of God is the most secure way.
2. Thus did Our Lord Jesus Christ: his entire life is a thesis, whose title summarizes the whole: In capite libri scriptum est de me, ut faciam voluntatem eius qui misit me.21 That is, the life of Jesus Christ can be summarized under this title: Life of him who perfectly did the will of God. Cibus meus est ut faciam voluntatem eius qui misit me.22 Quæ placita sunt ei facio semper.23 Consummatum est,24 he said while concluding his mission on the Cross.
3. Maximum principle: just as we ought
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to admit a God distinct from us, so must we admit a divine will in this God that governs us because he is: Creator, Lord, End. Hence let us not have our own will, but let there be the divine will in every thing. Our will has been given to us to choose the Divine will: always, in everything, with full adherence and humility.
[DFin 45. 58. 97. 108. 155] In purity of intentions
1. In order to be acceptable to God, works must be: bonum ex integra causa;25 that is good in themselves, with right intention, with one in the state of grace, undertaken with perfection.
Right intention is that which goes straight to God, without twists and turns: for his glory, in order to accomplish his will! The struggle is always between the I and God; the I that wants to be enthroned as Lucifer beside God. The I of one's own will, the I of counting on ourselves, the I that makes ourselves as the end. On the other hand, we must depend on God; count on God, aim at God.
2. Our Lord Jesus Christ had his gaze fixed only on the Father: not on his own glory. In fact: in his works he encountered numerous humiliations, till the humiliation of the Cross. Life opens as a
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thesis Gloria in excelsis Deo,26 and closes with the bowing of his head to death. Ego non quæro gloriam meam;27 Pater, clarifica teipsum;28 quæro gloriam ejus qui misit me.29
3. Right intention is assumed: a) by condemning a priori every vanity; b) explicitly addressing everything to the Lord; c) expiating for every vain intention.
* * *
[DFin 98-102. 108. 155. 193] 1. Third condition in order that an act is meritorious: state of grace. Grace means friendship, intimacy with God. There is the first grace, the second grace, the thousandth grace, that of the Virgin Mary. It is the greater treasure: the least degree of grace is more than all the material, moral, intellectual goods of the world: it belonging to a superior order. What is totally good is that of living in grace; totally evil, that of falling into disgrace before God.
2. Our Lord Jesus Christ lived in the most intimate union with God. The person of Jesus Christ is the second person of the Most Holy Trinity: and who can speak of the supernatural intimacy between the Father and the Son? Here we are face to face with a contemplation, more than a meditation. The Son who is one
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with the Father: ego et Pater unum sumus.30 He who knows the Son, knows the Father; how deep is the unity! Here the state of grace is overtaken, ennobled to an infinite degree by the Unity in the Trinity of God.
3. a) Grace is always endangered; hence, fear, prayer, vigilance. b) Grace can grow each day till the sublime perfection of the saints. c) The degree of grace marks the degree of eternal glory.
[DFin 45. 58. 108. 155] Perfection
1. The fourth condition: that the work be done well. It means, it is dutifully started, continued and ended. Also Communion, even the Mass, ought to be thus accomplished; otherwise, they are wanting. So it is with studies, apostolate, also the less important activities, all.
2. It was thus that the Divine Master worked: the Holy Gospel leaves no doubt about it: bene omnia fecit;31 we understand that the omnia means: public life, individual, family; it embraces the exterior and interior; his relationships with the Father and with the Holy Spirit and with human beings. In a special manner we can contemplate how he performed the Last Supper according to all the prescriptions,
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how he preached, how he behaved with Judas, how he accomplished the sacrifice on the Cross.
3. How to begin: offer everything to God, accept everything from God's hand, start well, immediately, willingly; continue, under the gaze of God, with gentle application, with energetic constancy; end humbly, completing everything.
Jesus Way
[DFin 111-112. 155. 171. 181. 185] 1) Jesus Christ model-way. With man having lost the way to heaven, the Father sent the Son to mark it for us, with deeds, more than with words. Coepit facere.32 Divine Way, Perfect.
2) We have to model ourselves after him: St. Paul says: quos præscivit et prædestinavit conformes fieri imagini Filii sui.33 The Father says: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui.34 Jesus said: Discite a me.35 Exemplum dedi vobis, ut quemadmodum ego feci, ita et vos faciatis.36 His virtue was perfect.
3) a) to imitate a saint is good; to imitate Our Lord Jesus Christ is an obligation of all, rather, a need for us. Jesus is model for all ages, conditions, times, b) the Gospel ought
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to be the first reading material, the first knowledge of all: thus no other spiritual reading is more important.
[DFin 104. 110. 156. 184] Jesus Truth
1. The divine infancy: what childhood might be and the duties towards it. The need to be little in order to have divine consolation, the wealth of graces, paradise. Et vos debetis alter alterius lavare pedes37 (St. Therese of the Infant Jesus - Gemma Galgani - St. John of the Cross - St. John the Evangelist - St. John the Baptist).
2. The divine role of pain: a) in its origin: to make amends for sin, a necessary trial, co-redemption. b) In the manner of suffering: per ipsum, cum ipso, in ipso.38 c) The doctrine of grace or transformation in Jesus Christ out of which the mystical body comes to be: Qui manet in me... sine me...39 vivit in me Christus.40
[DFin 50. 98-102. 111-112. 156. 173. 174. 175. 184] Jesus Truth
1. I am the truth.41 That is, the truth on the nature of man and of his destiny; on the nature of God and his attributes; on the nature of religion and on our
49
duties. He came to explain to us the natural sciences. He, however, confirmed the truths found out by philosophy; he corrected the ancient errors; many truths he added; many he confirmed.
2. He said it: I am the truth:42 the teaching is not mine, it is of Him who sent me.43 He confirmed it: If you do not want to believe in me, believe in what I do:44 tell John: The blind see, the deaf hear, the dead rise again and the Gospel is preached to the poor.45 The disciples believed in him; the world: Ad quem ibimus? verba vitæ æternæ habes:46 and the disciples call him Master for 28 times, with as well the Father proclaiming him so.
3. We must follow this supreme Master: because he is the only one: Magister vester unus est,47 the others are Masters insofar as they conform with him; because he has the most beautiful method of education, because he is God; and thus we shall have the grace of doing what he teaches and we shall please the Father for the life of the mind. Ex fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos.48
[DFin 111-112. 156. 184] Jesus Truth
Unheard of truths, new to the world, eternal truths.49
Meaning of each one.
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Correct the entire manner of thinking, feeling, life.
* * *
Discourse on the mountain:
The perfections of charity and of the virtues indicated by Jesus on the old law.
The sanctification of the spirit and of the heart.
The essence of the Priesthood.
Two characters: need for salvation; need for humility.
[DFin 25. 27. 33. 50.114. 156. 171. 175. 179] Sacred Science
1. Sacred Science is the complex of truths that regard God's honor and the salvation of souls. It is the complex of doctrines that the Church, its guardian and depository, draws from the Revelation (Sacred Scriptures and Tradition) in order to communicate to us. It is God's wisdom.
2. We must set all our studiousness on it: because it is of universal need, because it is the most certain, because it perfects our mind, because it constitutes the first love of God, because it makes us foresee the occupation of heaven, because we must communicate it with the word and through writing.
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3. It must be the first that all of us must seek: it must be the first criterion, according to which we shall study, judge, regulate life; it must be learned with all humility.
[DFin 26. 33. 47. 111-112. 114. 146. 147. 156. 159. 160. 165. 171. 180. 191. 202]
The Sacred Scriptures
1. The Sacred Scriptures are the Bible, that is the book par excellence and this, because it gathers together, guides, goes beyond knowledge, is concerned about the destinies of man and about the Divinity, excels over other books. It is the first source from where the Church draws her teachings. It is the Epistola Dei ad homines50 in order to invite them to heaven and to teach them the way. It includes 72 books, written in the span of 2000 years, divinely inspired; with a marvelous agreement, divided into two testaments wherein one fulfills the other.
2. It matters: as the principal object of study, as it has God for its author (who has read everything and not this?!); as the most universal and necessary science; as the model for us of books, in substance and in divine method; as that which God wants people to read, the Church proposes it, the saints prefer it.
3. Duties: summary respect, that which God manifested to have and which the Church practices
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assiduous reading done with the spirit with which it was written: make it your guide for thought and of the heart: spread it with zeal among men.
How to read it: faith, humility, charity.
How to spread it: do it well, apply zeal.
[DFin 26. 33. 113. 124-131. 156. 159. 171] Tradition
1. Tradition is the second source from where the Church draws the doctrine she keeps and teaches. The doctrine of the Church in part is tradita-handed down,51 by voice, in the liturgies, in the practice of the life of the Church, in pious traditions, in devotions, in the lives of the Saints, of Doctors, of tried authors, dogmatic theologians, ascetics, moralists, in so many illustrations.
2. Tradition is to be venerated; as that which supports, explains, popularizes many dogmatic truths; as that which shows the practically holy life that is taught to us after the example of the Savior, of the Apostles, of the first Christians; as that which points out the spirit of the Church that is always one and always open for expansion, always holy, always active.
3. Practically we have: to bow our heads to the truths that form the compendium
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of the teachings of the Church, even if not defined; to model our lives after the example of ancient and recent saints that the Church has raised to the altars; to live the liturgical life, learn sacred art and chant, venerate and love the devotions that are among the practices of Saints; to lean on always and to accept with the simplicity of children the institutes, the works the initiatives that already are of the practice and tradition of the Church.
[DFin 67. 68. 82. 137-143. 157. 186] Jesus Life
Passion:52 The kingly way of the Holy Cross:53
In everything: Jesus suffered: as man, as prophet, as holiness, as Savior, King, etc. Kingly way to heaven.
The story of the Passion: for healing every wound: pride, avarice, sensuality, etc., etc.
The fruits of his Passion: participation to his Passion: in the human heart, in the senses, in appetite for food, in the mind, in the hands, etc.; in the life of reparation, of sacrifice: adimpleo in corpore meo ea quæ desunt passionum Christi.54
54
[DFin 47. 157. 186. 192] Jesus Life
1. I am the life:55 the supernatural life (as differentiated from the natural, vegetable, sensitive, rational, angelic life).
The supernatrual life in us is grace. Death is sin: nomen habes quod vivas et mortuus es.56
2. Jesus is grace plenum gratiæ,57 and he communicates it to us in baptism, he strengthens it in confirmation, he nourishes it in us in the Eucharist, he repairs it for us in confession, he purifies it for us in the extreme unction: veni ut vitam habeant.58 I am the vine and you are the branches; he who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit. Sine me nihil potestis facere.59
3. The life of Jesus is lost through sin. It has its own breath, which is prayer; its own food, which is meditation; its own ailments, that are the imperfections and defects; its resources, that is fervor; its joys, that are consolations; its own weakness, that is desolation; the development among Saints, perfect in Mary Most Holy.
[DFin 23. 81. 137-143. 157. 186. 210] Jesus Redeemer
1. Jesus is the Redeemer: man would not have been able to enter heaven, he would not have been able
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to adore, thank, ask forgiveness, beg for graces conveniently. But now he can in Jesus Christ, who is the God of mankind.
2. He adored: non quæro gloriam meam, sed gloriam ejus qui misit me.60 He thanked: gratias agens, gratias tibi ago61 etc.; he made reparations for sins: peccata nostra ipse tulit;62 he asked for graces exauditus est pro sua reverentia.63 He did everything for us and we can do everything in Jesus Christ and thus render honor to God, worthily give thanks, ask pardon satisfactorily, seek graces in the name of Jesus Christ.
3. a) Do everything: in ipso et cum ipso et per ipsum.64 b) In Jesus Christ we are powerful in asking, we have the right for forgiveness, we worthily honor the Lord; outside Jesus Christ we are ridiculous and inept human beings. c) In Him everything acquires supernatural power: separated from Him, however, we are the branch cut off the vine.
[DFin 157. 186] Jesus Life
1. He put sin to death.
The original sin deprived the soul of grace; this is the life of the soul. Jesus
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paid for man, recovered grace, thus gave life again to the soul. Thus he recovered life for man fallen into actual sin.
2. Now the sin-reparation of Jesus Christ was perfect, that is: for all men of all times, for those of all places; regarding the four needs, each one in its own way: knowledge, integrity, impassability, immortality; overabundant: copiosa apud Deum redemptio,65 superabundavit gratia;66 infinite: inasmuch as every action of Jesus Christ is of infinite value.
3. a) This is why God bears with so many of my sins! b) This is why the graces of the Lord in the Church are so vast: Holy Communion, indulgences, the many conversions, absolution until seventy times seven times.
[DFin 17ff. 132-136. 157. 186] Jesus Life
Abundantius habeant67
1. Grace can be first, second, thousandth: from the good thief to the level of the Most Holy Virgin there is an immense distance. In general, one can say that it depends on two elements: that is, our work and God's grace. Our work is the material part;
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grace is the soul that gives being or supernatural value to the work.
2. Our work with the conditions is required. However, whoever works in Jesus Christ is like the branch that shares in His life, that is, in grace: hic fert fructum multum.68 The life of Jesus Christ is infinite: thus therefore merit and grace can grow indefinitely in our heart.
3. a) Will to be saints, soon saints, great saints in Jesus Christ; b) perform numerous good deeds, thereby we become like so many creatures, or persons, or plants of wheat (an immense field) to which Jesus Christ infuses soul-grace; c) what cannot be done in reality is embraced by desire: to be in the heart of all Saints; in the desires of all the angels; in the heart of Jesus Christ who immolates himself on the altars.
[DFin 114. 115-121. 157. 188] The means of Grace
1. Prayer: est elevatio mentis in Deo,69 in general; in particular: petitio decentium a Deo.70
One is vocal, another is mental, another is vital. It also is a state of soul: of him who before the Lord trustfully behaves
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as subject, as poor, as ignorant, as little and as worthless.
2. In the economy of Providence prayer is necessary: considering that without the special divine assistance we cannot exercise certain virtues and fulfill certain duties and win over certain passions and persevere for long in doing good; and on the other hand it is only to him who prays that such help is given. Hence: he who prays is saved, he who does not pray is damned. Prayer is effective, by its being founded on divine promises, on the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ: or it shall obtain what it asks or better as much as it asks.
3. Prayer must be done: with faith; inasmuch as it is heard after the measure of one's faith; with perseverance, inasmuch as oportet semper orare;71 humbly, for the humbled publican was sanctified.72
[DFin 104. 137-143. 157. 186. 188] The effects of Grace
1. Jesus Christ is the author of grace. Sanctifying grace is that which makes the soul beautiful, a daughter of God, friend of Jesus, co-heir of Jesus, heir of Heaven. Actual grace is that which gives value and strength for accomplishing virtuous acts and for fleeing from sin. Sanctifying grace can
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grow each day, each moment; actual grace is obtained through prayer.
2. Actual grace is so necessary that without it the fallen man, with his own efforts, cannot do all the things necessary for his supernatural goal; he cannot do the least thing.
The Holy Spirit, however, by infusing in him the grace, makes him capable of achieving his supernatural end; rather, grace produces in man the most marvelous effects: enlightenment of the mind, holy affection in the heart, inspiration to the will. Furthermore, it works in every period and conditions of life.
3. Contemplation of Pentecost: a) through the praying Mary Most Holy; b) brings about heavenly knowledge, heroic virtue, apostolic zeal.
[DFin 104. 123. 157. 170. 171. 188] Medicinal Grace73
Medicinal grace heals the defects of nature brought about by original sin.
Quoad intellectum,74 heals ignorance, lack of reflection, forgetfulness, hardness of mind, error, prejudice, perversion.
Quoad sentimentalitatem, heals indifference,
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evil inclinations, passions, sentiments, affections.
Quoad voluntatem, heals lack of willpower, lightness and inconstancy, laziness, obstinacy, bad habit.
* * *
Actual grace adiuvat (assists) in the accomplishment of deeds above nature:
of real penance,
of faith, hope, charity,
of Christian life beyond the natural law.
Actual grace still raises such acts, by adding the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ through the infusion of the Holy Spirit in order that they may have eternal value.
Medicinal grace as regards the body:
it extinguishes bad concupiscences,
infuses new and holy concupiscences,
communicates all the new tendencies, comforts, etc., as is seen among saints.
In this life
[DFin 69. 157. 168. 188] Spread of the divine Goodness75
1. God wants to be glorified as Bonus (Good), especially; he, however, bestowed a divine
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effusion of grace in order to show it: a) in the creation of things invisible, of the material things, of man; b) in the elevation to the supernatural order, in bearing with man, in promising and preparing the ages for the Savior; c) in the incarnation, life, death of the Savior: with doctrine, examples, reparation, Church, Sacraments: d) with the effusion of the Holy Spirit in general in the world, the Church; in particular, in every soul.
* * *
2. Praise him: on earth:
Know the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit; embrace the truth, not the appearance of life, of destiny, of our vocation to the task of glorifying God; correspond to the divine effusion of goods.
In heaven:
And that concerns heaven, which is complete glorification, in the contemplation of the divine goodness, loving it perfectly, and enjoying in it.
* * *
3. The struggle is: between the I that wants to adore itself, praising itself, loving itself, serving itself in place of God;
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and God: who wants to win man over by force of love, bind him with the snares of love; communicate himself and absorb man into the Divinity out of love.
[DFin 23. 70. 74. 81. 103. 124-144. 147. 151. 165-166. 187. 203-205] The teaching of St. Paul
CONCLUSION OF THE IIND PART
From passages spread in the revelation of the old and the new Testament, Paul, instructed by Jesus Christ and enlightened in every step by the Holy Spirit, formed the body of doctrine that he called his Gospel,76 and it is, so much dogmatically, as much as morally and liturgically, what we live; better, that the Church lives. This is so because he was the most accomplished and faithful interpreter of the Divine Master, he understood and, elaborated with strong synthesis and tight logic, he gave the whole and applied Gospel, in such a manner that the Gentile humanity found what it was unconsciously looking for. And thus:
His vision penetrated the depth of the original fall; in it he saw man become flesh; sin that imposes its law on the parts of the body and makes them produce the fruits of death; the will, almost always weak to free itself from slavery and entirely powerless to arrive at justification,
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is raised to the divine height. Justice in fact is not limited to the natural law or to natural virtue, but it is itself the divine holiness of Jesus Christ communicated to our souls through the Holy Spirit, thus accomplishing the conformation of our will with the divine will. And from where is this communion with eternal justice derived? From faith described by St. Paul in the letter to the Romans, as that which has a supernatural power. Faith, working through charity, unites us to Jesus Christ in whom is holiness, divine life is incarnated. It does more: it creates in us the new being, animated by the spirit of Jesus Christ. United, abandoned in Him through this life, we can do and we do what he himself has done: we die in Him in the flesh and to sin, in order to be reborn to spiritual life. Speaking more precisely: Christ alone lives, thinks, works, loves, wills, prays, suffers, dies and resurrects in us. Head of the regenerated humanity, He forms, of all the believers, a mystical body whose members are intimately bound by charity that animates the same life, where only one heart beats, the Heart of Jesus Christ.
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[DFin 70. 103. 170] Practice
As practical conclusions, I recall:
1. Jesus is truth:77 the study of the teaching of Jesus Christ; that is the sanctification of the mind, to love the Lord with one's whole mind (Gospel, religious instruction, thoughts and judgments of Jesus Christ), exclusion of everything against, though it might just be a simple learning.78
2. Jesus Christ is way:79 imitation of the life of Jesus Christ, by sanctifying the will, that is love of God with one's whole will.
3. Jesus Christ is life:80 supreme study of the divine grace: Mass, Visit, Communion, habitual union with one's whole heart.
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1 Cf. Rom 8:17: “Coheredes autem Christi - Joint heirs with Christ.”
2 Jn 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
3 The quotation is not to the letter and the text is not precise. Cf. Jn 3:2: “A Deo venisti magister - You are a teacher who has come from God.”
4 Cf. Jn 14:6: “I am the life.”
5 2Cor 4:10: “Ut et vita Iesu in corporibus nostris manifestetur - So that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.” Or else, 2Cor 4:11: “Ut et vita Iesu manifestetur in carne nostra mortali - So that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”
6 Gal 2:20: “Christ lives in me.”
7 Cf. Jn 14:6: “I am the way.”
8 Mt 12:29: “Learn from me.”
9 Cf. Jn 13:15: “I have given you a model.”
10 Mt 3:17.
11 Phil 2:9: “Because of this, God greatly exalted him.”
12 “Is seated at the right hand of the Father.” Words from the Creed. Cf. Heb 1:3.
13 “Therefore our greatest concern has to be that of meditating on the life of Jesus Christ” (Imitation of Christ, book I, chap. I, no. 1). - Take note that in the Latin text, instead in vita Christi, we read in vita Iesu.
14 Ps 143(142):8: “Let me know the way to follow.” Cf. page of DFms, Attachment no. 3, p. 276.
15 Cf. page of DFms, Attachment no. 4, p. 277.
16 Mt 11:5: “And the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.”
17 Mt 19:14: “Let the children come to me.”
18 Mt 18:3: “Unless you turn and become like children...”
19 Mt 18:7: “Woe to the world because of things that cause sin!”
20 Cf. above, DFst 34, note 63.
21 Cf. Heb 10:7 and Jn 5:30. Approximate quote. The complete sentence is: “Ecce venio; in capite libri scriptum est de me, ut faciam, Deus, voluntatem tuam - As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.”
22 Jn 4:34: “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me.”
23 Jn 8:29: “I always do what is pleasing to him.”
24 Jn 19:30: “It is finished.”
25 Philosophical principle. “So that one thing may be good, it must be whole (or perfect) in all its parts (or components)”. “Malum ex quocumque defectu - For one thing to be bad, it's enough that a part is missing,” and that is: that it be wanting of one part only.
26 “Glory to God in the highest” (from the Liturgy, cf. Lk 2:14).
27 Jn 8:50: “I do not seek my own glory.”
28 Cf. Jn 12:28: “Pater clarifica nomen tuum - Father, glorify your name.”
29 Cf. Jn 5:30: “Quæro... voluntatem eius qui misit me - I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”
30 Jn 10:30: “The Father and I are one.”
31 Mk 7:37: “He has done all things well.”
32 “He started doing.” Cf. Acts 1:1: “Quæ coepit Iesus facere et docere - All that Jesus did and taught.”
33 Rom 8:29: “For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
34 Mt 17:5: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
35 Mt 11:29: “Learn from me.”
36 Jn 13:15. The text is: “Exemplum enim dedi vobis, ut quemadmodum ego feci vobis ita et vos faciatis - I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
37 Jn 13:14: “You ought to wash one another's feet.”
38 “Through him, with him, in him.” Final doxology of the Mass (cf. also Rom 11:36).
39 Cf. Jn 15:5: “Whoever remains in me... without me...”
40 Cf. Gal 2:20: “Christ lives in me.”
41 Cf. Jn 14:6.
42 Cf. Ibid.
43 Cf. Jn 7:16.
44 Cf. Jn 14:11.
45 Cf. Lk 7:22.
46 Jn 6:68: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
47 Mt 23:10: “You have but one Master.”
48 Mt 7:20: “So by their fruits you will know them.”
49 Cf. page of DFms, Attachment no. 5, p. 278.
50 The God's letter to mankind.
51 “Tràdita”: from Latin “tràdere”, which means “to transmit,” “to hand down.”
52 Cf. page of DFms, Attachment no. 4, second half of p. 277.
53 The expression “The kingly way of the Holy Cross” (“De regia via Sanctæ Crucis”) is the title of chap. XII of book II of the Imitation of Christ.
54 Col 1:24. The complete sentence is: “Adimpleo ea quæ desunt passionum Christi in carne mea pro corpore eius quod est ecclesia - In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.”
55 Cf. Jn 14:6.
56 Rev 3:1: “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”
57 Jn 1:14. “Full of grace.”
58 Jn 10:10. “I came so that they may have life.”
59 Jn 15:5: “Without me you can do nothing.”
60 “I do not seek my glory but the glory of him who sent me.” Cf. Jn 5:30: “Non quæro voluntatem meam, sed voluntatem eius qui misit me.” In Jn 8:50 we read: “Ego autem non quæro gloriam meam.” As one can see, Fr. Alberione modifies Jn 5:30 by exchanging the word “voluntatem” with “gloriam,” which is instead found in Jn 8:50.
61 Mt 15:36: “Giving thanks.” Cf. Jn 11:41.
62 Is 53:4: “Languores nostros ipse tulit - It was our infirmities that he bore.”
63 Heb 5:7: “He was heard because of his reverence.”
64 “In him, with him, through him.” Formula inspired after the final doxology of the canon of the Mass, but in reverse order.
65 Ps 130(129):7: “For with the Lord is kindness, with him is full redemption.”
66 Rom 5:20: “Grace overflowed the more.”
67 Jn 10:10: “I came so that they may have life and have it more abundantly.”
68 Jn 15:5: “He will bear much fruit.”
69 More exactly: “in Deum” (cf. DFst 78): “It is an elevation of the mind to God.” Definition by St. John Damascene in De Fide Orthodoxa, l. III, c. 24; PG XCIV, 1090.
70 “The request made to God for things good.” St. John Damascene, in Ibid. Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Prayer, in Summa Theologiæ, II-II, q. 83, art. 1.
71 Lk 18:1: “The necessity for them to pray always.”
72 On the need and the conditions of prayer, Fr. Alberione condenses the teaching that St. Alphonsus de' Liguori explains in his booklet - by then much used - Del gran mezzo della preghiera (On the great means of prayer) , many times reprinted in the Society of St. Paul. On the necessity of prayer, see for example chap. I, no. 1: Prayer is necessary for salvation, needed as a means; no. 2: Without prayer it is impossible to resist temptations and to practice the commandments. The entire chap. III speaks on the conditions of prayer. Cf. ST. ALPHONSUS M. DE' LIGUORI, Del gran mezzo della preghiera, in Opere ascetiche, vol. II, pp. 3-178, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, Roma 1982.
73 Cf. F. CHIESA, Lectiones theologiæ dogmaticæ recentiori mentalitati et necessitati accommodatæ, Albæ Pompejæ, Typis Piæ Societatis S. Pauli, vol. III, Tractatus De Deo Spiritu Sancto, MCMXXX, pp. 617-619. Cf. A. F. DA SILVA, Gv 14,6: eredità carismatica per la Famiglia Paolina, in “Spezzate il pane della Parola” , Roma, Casa Generalizia SSP, 1991, p. 53. Cf. page of DFms, Attachment no. 6, p. 279.
74 “Quoad intellectum...”: Regarding the mind... the heart... the will.
75 Cf. F. CHIESA, De bonitate Dei, in VLectiones... , op. cit., vol. II, p. 72ff. Cf. A. TANQUEREY, Compendio di Teologia Ascetica e Mistica, Società di S. Giovanni Evangelista, Desclée e Ci, Roma-Tournai (Belg.)-Parigi, 1928
4 , nos. 437ff.
76 Cf. Rom 16:24; 2Tm 2:8.
77 Cf. Jn 14:6.
78 In the original Italian the word “apprensione” = apprehension instead of “apprendimento” = learning is used.
78 Cf. Jn 14:6.
80 Cf. Ibid.