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The Beatitudes: Why We Pursue Them

By

Clinton R. LeFort MelatiaeTrade Publishing 2013

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The Beatitudes

The Beatitudes are the heart of the spiritual life. The beatitudes allow the Christian to walk in the atmosphere of the Kingdom of God, They make possible the command of Jesus, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. The Prophet Isaiah referred to the gifts of the Spirit, which are closely associated with the beatitudes, to be characteristic of the Word Incarnate, the Messiah:

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: A spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A spirit of counsel and of strength, A spirit of knowledge and of fear of the

Lord, And his delight shall be the fear of the

Lord. (Isa. 11:2-3a) Jesus lived the life of the beatitudes perfectly. In his example we see the perfect manifestation of the beatitudes and the gifts of the Spirit.

In the following meditations we will consider each of the beatitudes in turn. We will draw upon the sacred scripture as well as the teachings of the Church and the Saints. This is not a

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theological treatise, but it can be seen as a window opening out into the world of the Beatitudes. There is a vast amount of literature from the Saints written about the beatitudes. In these meditations there will only be sufficient reflection to get one started on a lifelong study.

This is a book which I hope you can pick again and again throughout your day or week and find some sentence to carry you along on your spiritual journey. Im hoping it will point you in the right direction and keep you on the right path until the Holy Spirit can teach you in inexpressible groanings. (Rom 8:26)

The last four papers are topics related to the Beatitudes from a theological standpoint. Aquinas on the problem of Evil looks at Evil as an absence of good as opposed to the Beatitudes which bring the fullness of life. St. Augustine on Knowledge introduce the idea that just as the the Beatitudes bring us to a clearer union with Gods will, evil and ignorance or proper understanding of true knowledge is, are a cause of infidelity to Gods will. Aquinas on the Soul looks into the nature of the soul and what are its essential operations in the pursuit of truth; lastly, Aquinas on the Virtues looks at the essence of virtue and what makes it a virtue; that is, why is it a good and whether it is a habit and what kind of habit.

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Fearful of Losing You

Jesus, I can never do anything without you. I do not want to do anything that would harm my relationship with you, but I know that I have in the past done some things that I know are imperfect and selfish. Thank you for keeping me your child, despite these weaknesses. If I knew the answer to the mystery of my life, I would no longer question the things I do. As it is today I know that I can do better. It is not that I want to have a divided heart or give undue attention to passing things, but as you told the disciples, the cares of this world, creep into my life, and the balance of my love for you become unbalanced by the weight of the cares of the world I continue to give to them. When this happens I do not feel as faithful as I should be. Deep inside myself , when I take time to listen, I hear your voice amplified by the Holy Spirit you have given to me, to let go of these cares that weigh me down, so that you can guide me into the light. At moments like this Im grateful that I have such a compassionate and loving savior.

Still, there is a part of myself which still wants to indulge in passing pleasures. Your Spirit gently calls me to yield to the grace of discipline and selflessness, so that I can be more like you. At those moments everything that I believe is clear and I know what I should do. I make the right decision, but I as time goes on and I become involved in many things, it seems I return to my former habits. I do not give up on myself, since I remember your very own love for me. One thing Im sure of is that the compassion at those times I give to myself, is the gift of yourself to me.

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To Call You Father

I want to be perfect. To be perfectly in love with you my God is my happiness. When I look towards you in faith, I see in the mirror of your light what I am, and I humbly accept the truth that I have not arrived at the perfection you ask of us. I know I should be perfect as our you, Heavenly Father are perfect. That would make me very happy. Im happy when I believe that you have chosen me to be yours from all eternity. Im eternally grateful for your promise of love to us. Yes, that you have given us your very love to be with us. This is my hope when your Spirit says, I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go (Ps. 32:8)

I want to call you Father, yet when I look at myself and see my many imperfections it is harder to accept simple and eternal gift of spiritual adoption. When I go to prayer and call you Father, I draw closer to you. It is true you have adopted me as your child, and baptism has made me so for all eternity. For that I am eternally grateful. These gifts will never die, I mean, faith, hope, and love. Grace is incomprehensible. Yes, this grace has produced an eternal bond between you and me. I am sure of this, because the Spirit himself bears witness with my Spirit, that we are your children. Still, I fear in sinning thru pride before you; that is, to attribute some good to myself which I do not have. In your Son, Jesus Christ, you have given me everything. I do not want to sin thru pride, but you, my God are infinitely great, and it is easy to mistake the reflection of your glory in us, with what you alone are. This is true because of the sin of Adam, which I have inherited. Because you ask me to call you Father, I do in fear and in loving obedience.

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All I need

Growing up before you in faith, I have learned to accept the hatred of the world, just as you accepted the hatred of the world when you were here among us. But the world wants to hate something or someone we are not. It cannot hate us in a real way, since it doesnt see us. You told us that the world neither sees nor knows the Holy Spirit. (Jn. 14:17) The world and those of the world see the reflection of their very own separated self from you and it is their own self that they hate, for you my God cannot be hated. It is easier to hate the darkness for not giving light than to hat you who are light. Yet, the world is passing away, while you, my God, are eternal and do not change. I know the world in myself, and you have overcome the world in me, so that I can overcome the hatred that comes to me in the world, which doesnt listen to you. Neither can I boast of anything, since it is all your gift. I cannot comprehend that you have looked on me in love and drawn me here to yourself. At a time when I was far away from you, you spoke to my heart and shone your light in me, so that it would scatter the darkness that I have allowed to take root in me. Then you came as a Good Shepherd and freed me from the darkness that I couldnt see was killing my soul and my life. You allowed the darkness to draw a circle around my life, so that at the time you chose to free me, your light was more easily found and I could learn to rejoice in the good and truth that saves rather than the evil that kills thru lies. You are all I need; you are all that anyone needs, and you are the source of all of our everlasting joy.

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I Listen

When I come to pray to you I open myself up to you, not that you can see what is inside of my heart, for you are the witness of our inmost self. (Wis. 1:6) There is nothing I can tell you that you do not already know, but by sincerely telling you what I alone can tell you of myself, I make known to you what I want you to know about me. In sharing everything about me, I learn how much you are already with me, and that there is nothing inside of myself that is good that is not already the work of your hands. I discover and reveal these tinges to you in my time, which comes and passes and will come, but in you all is one, for you contain all time. Before it could ere happen to me, it must already be as it is in your eternity. So I come away from prayer as a person who finds you in all things and I marvel at all that you do. My heart grown in thanksgiving and I learn to praise you for you are high above all my thoughts and feelings about you. I wish to always remain with you and in you. That is the only way I can be happy in this life and also eternally happy with you in the next life, which in you is One.

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Strength from the Lord

St. Paul writes to the Ephesians, in the early days of the Church, and tells them to draw your strength from the Lord and his mighty power. (Eph. 6:10) His meaning is that the Christian can become exceedingly capable1 to carry out his loyalty to Christ from the same strength which gave Christ his strength to fulfill the Fathers will. St. Paul witnessed to the Last Supper and the consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord. This is the kind of strength we are referring to. If we consider all of the sacraments individually we will come away with the teaching handed down to us. Baptism enables us to live as citizens of heaven, confirmation enables us to be soldiers of Christ, the Eucharist strengthens us against all sin, even venial.2 Sacrament of Reconciliation strengths us to avoid sin and grow in virtuous living. In short, our lives are constantly drawing our strength from the Lord. We humbly accept ourselves as needy servants and come begging for his grace in this time of adoration. Finally, the sacrament of healing, strengthens the soul for the final move home.

The Christian life is the work of God. When we are faithful to God we reflect the very life of God to others. This does not mean that others will treat us well or that we will be ell received, for we know that all of us myst carry our Cross daily. We do obtain that confidence in Christ being with us and to have CHrist friendship is of such great importance that everything the world can offer seems trite in comparison. As the Second Vatican Council said we my be in the world but not of the world. We are to draw our strength form the Lord for this journey. By his strength we

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can overcome the vicissitudes of life and arrive happily in the New Kingdom he established thru his Life, Death and Resurrection.

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I do believe St Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians gives the reason why we have received the Spirit of God as so that we can understand the things freely given us by God. (1 Cor. 2:12) The emphasis is on being able to understand from within the mind of God; that is, thru faith. The gift of understanding allows us to comprehend the meaning of something so that it can be used to do Gods will in our lives. St. Ignatius of Loyola says in the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises that the other things on the face of the earth are created for the human beings, to help them in the pursuit of the end for which they are created.4

In reference to the Blessed Sacrament we have this understanding that Jesus gave it to us to create an eternal bond of love in each of us. St. Paul reveals the mystery of this knowledge given us in Christ, he has made known to us the mystery his willto sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth. (Eph. 1:9) We are before the Word Incarnate from whom all things came to be and without him nothing came to be. (Jn. 1:3) St. Augustine5 commenting on Listen, my daughter, and understand, pay me careful heed, (Ps. 45:1) says that first those who are to be one Spirit in Christ must first hearken in obedient faith, before they see in vision; once they assent in obedience in the darkness of faith, they are given the grace of a clearer understanding. The Old Testament reveals the effect of this understanding upon human consciousness when the Prophet Isaiah says: As high as the heavens are above the earth, o high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts, (Isa. 55:9) Lastly, the man who brought his son to Jesus to be healed, said I do believe, help my

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unbelief! (Mk. 9:24) Jesus, help us to be patient in faith, so that we can arrive at a fuller understanding of your will for us.

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Taste and see

The spiritual senses are the supernatural counterpart of the natural senses; just as we use the natural sense to become knowledgeable of the natural world, so we learn to use the spiritual sense to move about in the spiritual world of the Kingdom of God. The Psalmist referred to this world when he said to the Jewish people, learn to savor how good the Lord is (Ps. 34:9a) Just as the natural tongue distinguishes between the sweet and the sour, the tart and the bland; the will desires the eternal and infinitely good over the temporal and the mutable. Just as we desire unity between our will and Gods will, so the gift of wisdom allows us to savor that union between our wills and Gods friendship. I no longer call you slaves I have called you friends. (Jn. 15:15)

The spiritual sense can be understood by using an analogy. Just as a person who walks into a room without lights can sense the presence of someone in the room, so the soul, thru faith, learns to sense the presence of God in his soul. St. Thomas says that contrary to the natural way of knowing something, sight precedes taste, in the spiritual world, taste comes before sight; in other words, first the soul tastes Gods presence, thru a spiritual relishing. This comes about thru the spiritual Gift of Wisdom, which is an infused gift of the Holy Spirit.6 St. Mary Magdalen experienced this on Easter morning when she met the Risen Lord outside the tomb, at first thinking he was the gardener, yet after he call her by name, she immediately recognized him and said Rabboni.

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The emphasis her is on goodness of the Lord; that is, as St. John of the Cross says, the difference between the goodness of creatures and God is like night and day.7 St. John of the Cross says that faith is the most perfect means to union with God because of its likeness to God. Just as earthly wisdom produces temporal benefits in the soul, so the infused gift of Wisdom draws the soul closer to God in a union of love.

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The Problem Of Evil in Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas disputation De Malo, otherwise knows as On Evil was available in 1275-1280. ( Aquinas 12). The problem of Evil reaches into every aspect of the theologians investigations; therefore, Aquinas disputations were relevant to his teaching career in the Dominican order. In the first article he asks, Is evil an entity? (Aquinas, On Evil 55) In his On the Contrary, Aquinas refers to St. Augustines commentary on the prologue of St. John, Augustines work the City of God. He concludes by saying that Evil cannot be an entity. The argument is characteristic of Aquinas tight and terse logic. According to Augustine that evil is not a nature, but the lack of good took on this ascription (Aquinas, On Evil 57). Secondly, Aquinas uses divine revelation to bolster his argument. He quotes St. John by saying, All things were made by him. But the Word did not cause evil, as Augustine says. Therefore, evil is not an entity. (Aquinas, On Evil 57) In other words because God is pure goodness and evil is a lack of goodness, then God cannot cause a lack of goodness in his creation. If we were to accept the argument that God can cause evil, then we would likewise have to accept that God can do evil or that God is not absolute good. Which is heretical and is condemned by the Church. Aquinas resolves this difficulty by resorting the argument that evil is a privation of a good residing within something created good. In the last part his first argument he concludes: Therefore, everything that is a real thing needs to be a particular good and so, by reason of what exists, cannot be contrary to good. And so we conclude that evil as such is the privation of a particular good, a privation that is associated with a particular good, and not an

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entity (Aquinas, On Evil 58)

The second part of Aquinas argument runs like this: every real thing has an inclination and desire for something that befits itself (Aquinas, On Evil 58). But since everything that is was made in the divine image and likeness, it is unreasonable for a thing to desire something other than what befits itself. To desire something that is not an entity, is to desire a privation of a good. But to desire a non good is to desire something not befitting itself. Therefore, evil cannot be an entity. Here is the full argument: Second, the same conclusion is evident from the fact that every real thing has an inclination and desire for something that befits itself. But everything that has the nature of being desirable has the nature of good. Therefore, every real thing has a conformity with some good, and evil as such is not in harmony with good but contrary to it. Therefore, evil is not an entity. And if evil were a real thing, it would neither desire anything nor be desired by anything, and so have no activity or movement, since nothing acts or moves except because of the desire of an end. (Aquinas, On Evil 58) Aquinas offers the example of a man with a crooked leg. It is not the leg that is crooked per se, but the form of the leg that is crooked; in other words, there is a privation in the form from what is should be. He gives another example by stating that in the production of the species nature acts such that children are born without defects, but nature also allows a monster to be born from time to time. The bottom line is that God is not limited by the privations he allows in our nature, since he is infinite in his providence in bringing good out of these privations. Furthermore, since God is absolutely perfect and he foresaw all things before they were created

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he wouldnt have allowed these privations to take place if he didnt know how to reveal his perfect love thru them. The third and final part of Aquinas argument proves that existing has the nature of the desirable. He made mention earlier in this argument that if evil was an entity nothing could desire it nor could it desire anything: And if evil were a real thing, it would neither desire anything nor be desired by anything, and so have no activity or movement, since nothing acts or moves except because of the desire of an end. (Aquinas, On Evil 58) Every thing desires that which benefits itself, but since evil is a privation of good, that which is not good doesnt benefit good; therefore, evil doesnt benefit itself. If it doesnt benefit itself, neither could anything else benefit from it. Furthermore, since God is absolute being, good and existence, He cannot desire anything that can benefit Himself, since He is infinite perfection. Infinite perfection cannot lack anything, it cannot have a privation. Some being that is mutable can have a privation because it has the nature of the mutable.

Aquinas continues and says: existing itself chiefly has the nature of being desirable, and so we perceive that everything by nature desires to conserve its existing and avoids things destructive of its existing and resists them as far as possible (Aquinas, On Evil 58-59 ) In other words, existing could not exist if it didnt desire its existing. What desires nonexistence is not existence, per se, but it is a privation of existence. Only the coalescence of potency and act, which is mutable being, could have a privation, since that is the nature of a

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mutable good. Mutable good can change toward being or away from being, whereas, infinite being simply is. Aquinas is arguing that if there is a movement away from being, then it is a mutation of what is made by God to exist and to desire the preservation of itself; hence, to preserve its existence and to resists the privation of its being. In short, evil cannot be an entity. Therefore, evil, which is universally contrary to good, is necessarily also contrary to existing. And what is contrary to existing cannot be an entity (Aquinas, On Evil 59 ). In the case of Ivan Karamazov, though he doubts God could create something and allow some evil to overcome it, a privation, he can never doubt that what he doubts about the nature of the reason for the evil, he cannot doubt that the being who is being subjected to evil doesnt exist. To our way of thinking evil is a privation, but we do not see evil as it is used in the infinite mind and will of God. If all things were perfect and we experienced that perfection, we would still be finite and never arrive at the understanding of Gods infinite perfection. It takes faith to see the position Aquinas is dishing out in his disputation on Evil. Without faith it is easy to fall into despair and hopelessness in the face of Evil. Human beings desire existence. Ivan Karamazov has a different view than what Aquinas has, since Ivan cant see that God could allow all the terrible things in the world and still be called God. Consider the Book V , chapter IV called Rebellion. (Dostoyevsky 309) Here Ivan asks this question: Rebellion? I am sorry you call it that, said Ivan earnestly. One can hardly live in rebellion, and I want to live. Tell me yourself, I challenge youanswer. Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creaturethat baby beating its breast with

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its fist, for instanceand to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? (Dostoyevsky 309) Ivan asks the question whether God could have created the entire world while knowing He would allow evil. The answer according to Christian tradition has always been yes, but that doesnt mean that holding a position revealed thru faith is an easy one. Ivan would most probably not agree with Aquinas position, given the fact that he doubts an absolute providential God who can even bring good out of evil.

Given the condition of God allowing a man to have a crooked leg and that he could bring good out of it may be even harder for Ivan Karamazov to understand how Ivan Karamazov would respond to it. I believe that unless Ivan had faith it would be hard to see any suffering as redemptive. It is much like the example of the soldier who was arrested, beaten and flayed because he wouldnt deny his faith. (Dostoyevsky 157) It is undeniable that the man suffered because someone else didnt believe as he did and that he suffered at the hands of those who were opposed to his faith; but that is a choice of free-will. As St. Augustine says, there are many things a person can do unwillingly, but no one can believe unwillingly. Ivan can choose to doubt about Gods revelation is but he cannot deny that he has free-will to do so. An atheist can deny Gods existence, but he cannot deny that he freely chooses to deny. He cannot deny that he knows that he denies and that he thinks what he knows he is denying. And that he remembers he thinks and denies these things. Given the broad scope in which a person can deny evil to exist at all or that evil is a real thing but that there is no control over it, Aquinas has reached a middle ground in his

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argument, since Aquinas gives to God what belong to God and to man what belongs to man. What belongs to God is God and what belongs to man, everything good in man, comes from God. The question is whether man-atheist, faithful, or agnostic-can use the good that comes from God gives as a means to turn against God. According to Aquinas, God can do whatever he wants with the good that he gives, whether it is allowing evil in an imperfect world or creating a world with no imperfections. After all He is Love, or as Aquinas would say, I AM WHO AM (Ex. 3:14).

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The Epistemology of Saint Augustine

Augustine begins his journey into God thru faith and it is there that he remains when he begins speaking of the knowledge of God. Knowledge shall lead to communion with God. Communion with God leads to Him who is Knowledge itself: It is no small part of knowledge to join thyself to Him who is knowledge. He hath the eyes of knowledge; have thou the eyes of a believing mind. That which God sees, be thou ready to believe.8

Not only does all knowledge lead to Him, but one must believe first then you will understand. Knowledge is not for the sake of knowing in itself, but for the sake of loving. Loving Him who is Knowledge itself is a far greater good than loving that which passes away. One could make an argument that reason is a good means to knowledge: Is it not better to believe in order to know, rather than to know in order to believe, or even in order to know? At any rate, St. Augustines own experience taught him that is was better, and he in turn wants to persuade us that it is so.9 To believe is part of the human condition. We grow up in our families and in society immersed in circumstances we need to assent to the authority of another. Children believe their

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parents when they are only beginning life, while new employees believe in those training them in new skills. Every human being must believe others in order to assent to the truth of commerce and social good. Knowledge is of two kinds. First, there is knowledge of what is seen. Secondly, knowledge of what is believed. When it is ourselves who give the testimony it is what we have seen; on the other hand, when others give the testimony, we assent to their knowledge by believing.10 We believe others every day in some way. We allow ourselves to trust in their authority about what they tell us. Augustine, in his work On True Religion, regards authority and reason as the medicine for the soul. We need both reason and authority to arrive at the truth: Authority demands of us faith, and prepares man for reason. Reason leads to perception and cognition, although authority also does not leave reason wholly out of sight, when the question of who may be believed is being considered. And certainly the supreme form of Authority is that of Truth already known and manifest.11 We naturally assent to the authority of others we can see; that is, we believe in their words to us. When it comes to religious faith, it is still an assent to an authority, but now it is the authority of he who is knowledge and truth Itself. Is there any reason why I should not believe in the testimony of truth itself, which comes from those who witness to having seen and heard Jesus Christ?12 Augustine knows that even those who doubt, know that they doubt and even though they still do not know what they wish to know, they cannot deny the truth that they doubt. A person who chooses to doubt also chooses to desire the truth.13 Augustine understood that reason is a gift of God and it is what distinguishes man from the beast. The problem Augustine keeps

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coming back to is that his experience will not allow him to rely totally upon reason, simply because his early life as a follower of the Manicheans helped him realize that that reason alone cannot attain happiness. Reason alone always falls short of its goal. Faith in Jesus Christ, enlightens reason as to its proper object of knowledge. It is only in faith that he can find happiness and true knowledge. The solution Augustine came to was that reason assisted by faith could ask God to heal itself , which was crippled by sin. Man by his freedom fell into sin, but God by his grace liberated man from sin; in the same way that reason without grace cannot find immutable truth, but with the help of grace can be restored to true knowledge in Jesus Christ.14 It is natural for man to believe, but with grace that comes thru Jesus Christ, he being sot believe truly. Man must purify his sight thru faith, so that reason can be guide to a true an unhampered knowledge that comes thru Jesus Christ. For St. Augustine this is Truth and Wisdom; it is Truth because is what man is created for and it is Wisdom to submit ones whole life to that Truth because it leads to eternal happiness. Augustine faced the fact that he must humbly submit to grace to truly know: In its essence, Augustinian faith is both an adherence of the mind to supernatural truth and a humble surrender of the whole man to the grace of Christ. After all, how could these two things be separated? The adherence of the mind to Gods authority implies humility, but humility in turn presupposes a confidence in God, and this in itself is an act of love and charity.15 If we have this faith it will no doubt lead us to a true understanding.16 When Augustine knows that he exists, concomitantly he lives; the two are inseparable. He lives for the truth he contemplates and it is for this eternal contemplation of the eternal Beatitude of God that he finds true happiness. The face to face contemplation of God in eternity is the ultimate knowledge for

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Augustine, but it is a knowledge without end. It is a knowing, and a knowing as you are known.17 It is an eternal seeking and finding Him who is beyond our knowing even in Eternity. Just as Scripture is an introduction to the Mystery of Him who is beyond comprehension, so the contemplation of Him is the eternal joy of beholding Him who is beyond all knowing. Augustine is certain of one thing, as told in De Beata Vita, his thought: You who would know yourself, do you know that you exist? Yes. How do you know this? I do not know. Do you think that you are one or many? I do not know. Do you know that you move? No. Do you know that you think? Yes. Then it is true that you think? Yes.18 How much more is he certain of his faith, since faith is to think with assent. For Augustine he can be certain of his activity of thinking with assent, which is faith, but even with the aid of reason and the fruit of his understanding, it always falls short of its object. Faith and reason are intrinsically bound in the pursuit of God: For even though it is true that faith seeks and understanding finds, still the One it finds is such that even after finding Him it goes on seeking Him.19 We see that Augustine is certain that he exist, that he thinks, and that he lives. Furthermore, he is certain that he believes in the One who is Truth and Knowledge itself, he is certain that he reasons about his understanding and that it remains far off and that he must continue to seek beyond his understanding. Augustines journey of knowledge was always towards that unmovable Truth: Now whosoever supposes that he can know the truth while he is still living iniquitously, is in error. And it si wickedness to love this world, and those things that come into being and pass away, and to lust after these things, and to labour for them in order to acquire them, and to

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rejoice when they are abundant, and to fear lest they perish, and to be saddened when thye perish. Such a life cannot see that pure, and undefiled, and immutable Truth, and cleave to it, to be for evermore unmoved.20 For Augustine, besides the necessity of faith and the rational evidence that leads to acknowledging ones very existence there is another key to his epistemology, the soul and its life. St Augustine sees the soul as a creature just like all of that brought from nothingness into being by God. The soul is infused into the body by God. St. Augustine doesnt give one hypothesis as to when this happens. He understands that the soul is certain about one thing, and that it is mind.21 Because the mind can distinguish itself from the body and it knows it doesnt have extension like the body. The soul, because it hasnt extension cannot be located in three dimensional space, but it vivifies the body. Because the soul is a spiritual faculty it can have contact with the divine ideas, unlike the body.22 The mind knows it has its origins in God and knows it is immutable, since it is a spiritual substance. The souls is eternal only because it is brought into existence by God and sustained in that existence; the souls shares the life of God.23 The truth of our existence is true because our body and soul share in the truth of Gods existence. In the same way, the mind or soul, seeks truth because it is made to seek the truth; there is only One Truth and that is Truth itself. St. Augustine will later call this Truth , the Word. Its very immortal existence, depends upon God himself.24 The souls sees its indestructibility as coming from God: So, being a substance dependent on God and on God alone. The soul knows itself to be an indestructible life through which the order of the Ideas is introduced into the body it animates. But there is soul only where there is knowledge.25

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Sense knowledge comes about thru the sense exposure to the temporal life. Since the body and the soul are two distinct substances, yet united, the soul , being a spiritual faculty, has priority over the body. The body cannot enter the mind, but it is the mind that must subject the senses to the order of the mind. When we speak we say certain sounds, but it is not the sounds themselves that give meaning to our words, but the mind that understands the sounds it hears and applies meaning to them. For each person the meaning will be different, depending upon the experience of the listener. We judge anothers thought referring it to our own selfconsciousness.26 When we assent to its truth, we form a judgment about what we experience, whether true or false. Augustines comparisons of what we experience with the divine ideas is Platonic in character.27 According to Plato, the divine ideas are the eternal ideas of God. For Augustine it is the soul that is the cause of knowledge and not the senses.28 The sense play their part by presenting to the soul what it experiences thru sight, hearing, tasting, smelling and feeling. It is the soul that gives order to our sense experience. It is the souls memory that recollects the experience of the senses and orders the experience towards the ideas of God. The soul bestows meaning upon the sense operation by giving them order towards the Ideas.29 St. Augustine understands that it is the soul giving attention to the corporeal passions of the body that gives meaning to the passions and pains it experiences. The soul cannot ignore the body. The body hunger, the soul acknowledges and gives it food. The body needs sleep and the soul recognizes and gives it a reasonable amount of rest. So on for all the senses. Without the reason guiding the body, the body becomes reckless. The body needs the soul to expose ti to the Ideas of God. In all of our sense activities it is the soul that creates these experiences of the senses:

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Thus we see that a soul is transcendent to the body intervenes even at the lowest level of knowledge.30 On the path to knowledge, there is a natural light and a light from the soul: Thee is one light which we perceive through the eye, another by which the eye itself is enabled to perceive.31 The soul arrives at rational knowledge thru what Augustine calls the inner master.32 The inner master is nothing less than God himself. When two persons are in conversation, each person speaks in concepts and letters to the other person. Anyone listening to the person speak would understand what the other is saying in relation to his own experience, education, and knowledge of the words being used. When the teacher teaches, he speaks concepts and uses examples in order that the student will understand the concepts he uses. It is up to the student, with his own experiences to translate the teachers words into his own meaning. The teacher cannot teach the truth, but only the truth, which is common to both teacher and student can mediate the truth for both of them. The mind cannot produce truth, it sees the truth that is in it. It is God who becomes the mediator of knowledge to the soul: In Augustine therefore, God received the title of inner master because He is the source of agreement between minds.In everything we learn we have but one master, namely the inner truth which presides over the soul, i.e. Christ, the unchangeable power and eternal wisdom of God.33 It is God who mediates the truth between the teacher and the student: When I speak or am spoken to, it is He who reveals one and the same truth to the mind of speaker and hearer alike. This is what the God tells us in the Gospel. One is your Master,

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Christ.34 For Augustine epistemology is a yielding to the Word within, who mediates the truth to the mind and the truth to the soul, to the degree it is inclined towards it. God reveals himself to each soul as it is prepared to receive it. Augustine knows that the Word is the cause of thought, and learning: In Augustines way of thinking, thought (cogitatio) is merely the movement by which the soul gathers, assembles and collects all the hidden knowledge it possesses and has not yet discovered, in order to be able to fix its gaze upon it.35 Augustine has a term for this teaching of the Word in the soul, the inner master; he calls this divine illumination. Divine illumination is another way to say that God is the source of truth to the soul. The Word is our interior master and he not only is present to teach is about created things in the order of nature, but also illumine about the uncreated knowledge of God. He creates in us both the spark of reason and faith.

Divine illumination is not on the order of abstraction from the sensible, but is the Word speaking directly to the soul thru its capacity to receive Him. The souls seeks to accept its lowly state while clinging to the Word in Truth: For when the mind rejoices in itself as if in good belonging to itself, it is proud. But when it perceives itself to be mutable (as is dear from the one fact that from being foolish it may be made wise), and perceives that wisdom is immutable, the mind must at the same time perceive that wisdom is superior to its own nature and that there is more abundant and certain joy in the participation and the illumination of wisdom than in itself. Thus from causing to subside and desisting from boasting and self-conceit, it strives to cling to

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God and to be remade and reformed by Him who is immutable, by Him who it now understands is not only every species of all things with which it comes in contact, whether by the bodily senses or by the faculties of the mind, but also the very capacity of taking form before there is a form, since the formless is defined to be that which can be given a form.36 God establishes knowledge in the soul thru a path which leads thru escaping the obstacles of doubt that truth exists and in its very doubt it finds that its life and existence cannot be doubted. Augustine leads the soul in search for truth thru a path which rejects all that is passing so it can cling to what in itself can never pass, for it is the eternal truth that reveals himself to the soul to the degree that it disposes ti self to the truth. When the soul cleanses its heart and mind from passions and the residue of sin, truth is encountered as the One inner master that never leaves it. The inner master of truth leads the soul to accept itself in its own weakness and surrender to the illumination power of itself thru the mind. This divine illumination cannot be effected by the body since it is the guide for the body and critiques the operations of the senses. The soul gains its knowledge thru recognizing that it cannot know itself or know its immortality without the truth that reveals itself to itself. When the soul accepts its limited knowledge in the face of the infinite truth of the Word is no longer desires the passing pleasures of the temporal satisfactions it is given thru the senses, but ever seeks to remain in an ever uninterrupted union with He who speaks the Truth itself.37

Augustines Epistemology: Gilson or Copleston Gilson and Copleston are in agreement with Augustines theory of divine illumination, which is the heart of Augustines Christian philosophy of knowledge. Gilson presents the

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development of the thinking of Augustine on knowledge a little more carefully and completely, though Copleston presents the entire spectrum of Augustines major themes in his writings a little more fully. For example, Copleston is concerned with Augustines entire world of thought: knowledge, God, the World, moral theory and the state, while Gilson remains glued to Augustines epistemological adventure throughout his work. Gilson ascends from one stage of Augustines epistemological experience to his final arrival at his understanding of divine illumination: step one: faith; step two: rational evidence; step three: the soul and life; step four: sense knowledge;finally, step five: rational knowledge. Thru each step he allows the student of Augustine to meditate and take in small chunks of Augustines advance. This is really helpful for the student. Because of this slow ascent from the easier concepts of Augustines thought to his more advanced thoughts on divine illumination, as a new student to Augustine I found it easier to slowly approach the insights of Augustine thru Gilson rather than Copleston. This has nothing to do with the mastery of Copleston or Gilson, but only with this careful caution that I might miss something if I were to attempt a more speedy ascent to reach an Augustiness understanding of knowledge.

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St. Thomas Aquinas: On the Anima

While asking questions about the nature of man, St. Thomas spends some time reflecting upon the characteristics of the anima38 or soul; he divides his inquiry into seven questions. In these seven questions, he investigates all of the general questions regarding the essence, potencys and relationship of the anima or soul.

Q1

Aquinas first shows that the soul essence is not its substance, since that belongs to God alone. Gods essence and operation are one. Can we speak of the anima as having an essence? Are there potencies in the anima? The anima or soul is still a creature, since all creatures receive their substance from another. The soul is no different from any other creature, yet it is of the highest sense a creature, since it animates the body. If the anima had life actually, it would not depend upon another for its potency; but it actually does receive its potency from another. The anima has life apart from the body. It does not need the body for its existence. The anima is subsistent. Aquinas says that the anima is not the immediate principle of its operation. If its operation were its act, then it would have to be outside of the genus of creature hood; this is impossible, as he mentioned in the first argument. The nature of the anima is not in capacity to an act beyond itself. It is the act of the body. He judges that the nature of the anima is not its potency.39 The anima is a form according to its potency and not its essence. It can be in capacity to another act,

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but not according to its essence; that is, it is not an all-potencyful act, since that would place it outside the genus of creature; since this is impossible, he reverts to his original argument and concludes as before. The animas essence cannot be identical to its potency.

Q2 Can we define only one potency in the anima? Can the anima have several potencies? Aquinas reflects in this way. A few imperfect creatures require many acts to reach a less than perfect existence; other creatures who can reach a new state of perfection require many more acts to reach their state of perfection; there is finally rational man, who require less acts to reach their state of perfection. Lastly, the angels and God require no acts to reach perfection, since they are perfect. Furthermore, Aquinas says that just as a sick person who is ill disposed to health requires many such remedies or medicines to heal him, and the person who is more disposed to health requires fewer such medicines to heal him; lastly, the person who is in perfect health needs no medicine at all. So is the anima of man, who is on the boundaries of the body; that is, a composite being, requires many such acts in disposition to reach the state of perfection; ergo, he needs many such potencys of the anima.40 Q3 How can I distinguish the potencies in my own soul? Is it easy to discern if I have different potencies in my soul? Acts and operations come before the potencys according to purpose; their objects again precede these. Natures potencys are diversified according to the various objects. Acts are either active potencys or passive potencys. The act of an active potency acts as an end, whereas the object of the act of a passive potency acts as a principle or

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moving principle. Just as different potencys of the anima have different objects, that is, the senses have sensual objects and the intellectual has spiritual objects, truth, justice, so different potencys are required as the active or passive principle of their objects.41 Aquinas shows that the anima has potencys according to its essential princples of activities and are directed towards different objects, which diversify its acts, active or passive abilities.42

Q4 Do all of the potencies of my soul act equally to one another? Is one potency more important than another? In de Anima, Aristotle compares parts to figures. Figures have disposition among themselves; ergo, the potencys of the anima have disposition. Whenever there are many things that start from one, there must be disposition in the procession. The anima has many integral parts, such as vegetative, sensual, imaginative and intellectual potencys; ergo, there must be disposition among these potencys. There are two kinds of disposition. The first kind of disposition is the lower subject43 to the higher potencys. This can be seen in the vegetative and sensual potencys subject to the intellectual potency. In addition, the vegetative falls under the command44 of the sensual; lastly, the sensual falls under the command of the generative potency. Ergo, Aquinas concludes that the anima potencys need to have disposition among its specific potencys. Secondly, there is a disposition among the sensual potencys, or potencys, which are similar in nature. Sight is more perfect than hearing, since sight is more spiritual than hearing, since hearing depends upon the movement of the air.45

Q5

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Are all the potencies in my soul necessary or can I speak of them as non-essential?46 Aquinas sees that a few of the potencys of the anima do not require a bodily organ to function, as intellect and will; other potencys of the anima do not act unless they are passively engaged as sight and hearing; that is, they need the influence of a corporal organ. Ergo, a few of the potencys of the anima are spiritual.47 Aquinas begins to explain the various potencys of the anima in this way. He says first that the subjects of the operative potencys are able to operate. Next, he shows that when potency is able to operate, it is the same as the potency that does actually operate, since the potential potency is the same as the actual potency. The person of potency is the person of operation. In other words, I am the same person whether I have the potential potency to see as when I actually do see. My seeing does not change me as a subject, but it is only an expression of the potency of my anima, which sees. It is in this way that, we can understand ourselves to have two kinds of potencies: one dependent upon corporeal potencys, the other depends upon the spiritual potency. For example, it is essential to the definition of man that he acts rational, but not that he tastes or touches. The sense is common qualities shard by both man and animal. To will and understand is essential to the definition of man. This is how Aquinas shows how the different potencys are within man as a person; that is, a few essential and others accidental.48

Q649 Aquinas goes on to show that the potencys of the anima, spiritual and corporeal, arise from its natural form. What flows from the anima essentially? Aquinas concludes that the person of the anima is essentially all the potencys that are naturally part of it and nothing that is

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accidental to it.50 Ergo, the potencys of the anima flow from its essence. It is contradictory to call a few thing accidental which is essential and vice versa: There is a real distinction between the anima and its potencys. The anima belongs to the genus of substance; the potencys belong to the genus of accident. But there is a real distinction betweeen substance and accidnt. Ergo, there is a real dinstinction between the anima and its potencys.51 Ergo, we see that the potencys flow from the anima as its accidents. The operations of the anima are not it essentially, otherwise it would be what it does; but that would make it God, which is absurd, since only Gods operation is equal to his substance. Ergo, the operations of the anima, its potencys, are distinct from its substance.52 The anima is always in act, but the potencys of the anima are not always in act. What is not always in act in the anima are accidental to the act of the anima. The potencys of the anima are not always in act-the anima doesnt always see, since a fewtimes it sleeps; the anima doesnt always understand or will when it sleeps-the anima animates its potencys, which are accidental to the anima. Without the act of the anima which is is its substance, there could be no potencys. The potencys of the anima flow from the essence of the anima. Q7 Do the potencies of my anima grow out of one potency, as the trunk fro a tree root or as a branch or leaves from a limb? The anima has both essential and accidental potencies or spiritual and accidental potencies. All of them flow as from the root of the anima, as being born from its essence. However, since the spiritual potencies are vital to the definition of the anima, the will and

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understanding are as principles of the other potencies of the anima:53 those powers of the soul which precede the others, in the order of perfection and nature, are the principles of the others, after the manner of the end and active principle. Each potency in the anima conditions the activity of those that follow. On the other hand, the potencies that are more united with the corpus, like the sensual and vegetative, follow from those potencies that take precedent over them: the intellect and will.

Q8 Will the potencies I experience in my anima now be with me after I die? Since my body and soul function together as a composite, then what effects one affects the other. Death affects the separation of the soul from the body. In this regard, the potencies that are proper to the corpus or body do not remain after death, but those that are potencies within the soul do, as understanding and will. The potencies of the anima, which function in relation to the body, are the vegetative, sensual, and reproductive. These potencies will not be necessary after death, since they only serve a purpose in the sensual world; however, the spiritual faculties of intelligence and will remain: But some powers belong to the soul alone as their subject; as the intelligence remain in the soul, after the destruction of the body. However, other powers are subjected in the composite; as all the powers of the sensitive... accidents cannot remain after the destruction of the subject.54 Summary In this paper, we have looked at the many ways of generally understanding the soul. The

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soul is a subsistent act, which is not dependent upon the body of its existence. It was necessary for the body and soul to be always united, then the soul could not be separated form the body at death, but the soul is separated from the body at death. The essence of the soul is different from the power of the soul. Whenever a soul operates it, is not its substance that operates but a power that operates. For God he is whatever he does. Even though the act of the soul is separate for its power, the power operates. The power is related to the soul as an accident, whereas the soul is related to the power as its act. The more perfect a being has towards perfection it requires little movement in order to acquire perfection, as the Angles and God. The least disposed a being is towards perfection it can acquire perfection only thru many powers and movement as mankind. When a being has many parts all the parts must be related to one another thru different powers and operations and this is the state of man. The soul requires many powers to unify the many powers and operations. Some powers are more spiritual and others are less spiritual and more related to the body, since the soul must govern both itself and the body. Just as a building cannot be raised up without a foundation, so all the powers of the soul cannot work in harmony with one another without some being principles of activity of others. Therefore, the spiritual powers like understanding and will govern the lower powers of appetite and senses. Even within the powers that rule the body, there is a higher and lower rank as between the vegetative powers and the sensual powers or the sensual powers and the generative powers. Therefore, the powers of the soul are governed within by the acts they perform. Some perform spiritual acts, while others perform temporal acts. Just as there are several power in the soul so there is an order among the powers. The spiritual or less visible governs sensual and corporeal. Just as the entire tree receives its nutrients from its roots, so the many powers of the soul are governed by those powers closest

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to its essence, which is spiritual. A lower power cannot command a higher power, but the sensual power is lower than the intellective power. It stands to reason that those powers in the soul, which are more spiritual and deal with universal truths should govern those powers, which are temporal and deal with more immediate causes. Just as the intellect deals with eternal truth, so the temporal order of the sensual powers is governed by the powers of the soul, which contemplate the eternal principles of universal being. Just as some of the powers of the soul are governed by other powers in the soul, which are more spiritual, so some of the powers of the soul are of the substance of the soul, while others are related to the soul as substance to accident or soul to the body. Since some of the powers of the soul are related more to the body than the essence of the soul, so they are not in their subject. The essence of the soul contains within itself all the lower powers that are beneath it or are governed by it. The vegetative, sensual and intellectual powers are powers contained within the soul. That is why all of these lesser powers are contained within the soul. One thing arises from another thing only if the first thing contains that that thing within it. The soul is such a subsisting since it contains within itself all the other powers, which it expresses. The soul expresses the intellectual, sensual and vegetative powers. This is why Aquinas says that in the soul one power can arise from within another power of the soul. Regarding the last question St. Thomas considers, he teaches that some powers remain in the soul after death, while others do not remain in the soul after death. The reason for this is that some powers are part of the soul essence, while others only exists in the soul because of the souls union with the body. After the soul is disunited with the body after death, it is not necessary that that these powers exist in the separated state of the soul form the body. In other words, the sensual and vegetative powers which function in the soul because of the composite union

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between the soul and body no longer exist after the corruption of the soul, while those powers which exist in the soul from its subsistence as understanding and will continue to exist in the soul after the separation of the soul from the body, since these flow from the soul itself and not the composite relation to the body.

St.Thomas theological consideration on the powers of the soul gives his students a general approach to understanding the powers and essential qualities of the soul, in both the wayfaring state and its state after death. By using the authority of Augustine, Aristotle, Dionysius, Aquinas gives a rationale argument for his belief in the powers and relationships of the powers of the soul. Besides his commentary on De Anima of Aristotle, Q. 77 of the Summa is one of the key texts, which reflect his understanding of the human soul. For a fuller understanding of the human soul and its powers, the student of St. Thomas should refer to Q. 78-79, where he investigates the specific powers of the soul.

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St. Thomas Aquinas on the Essence of the Virtues

Introduction This is an exposition on the theological writing of St. Thomas Aquinas. It follows his treatment of the essence of the virtues in his major treatise called The Summa. This entire question deal with virtue as a good habit. Good because it is what all men desire it; habit because it is something that is learned. The Latin verb for habit is habitus. There are various meanings to the word. The Latin dictionary gives these meanings for its verb form: have, hold, reason, keep.

Q1. First, we need to find out if Virtue is a habit When we think of a power, we think of the potential to do something. In the same way virtue is just not a power to do anything, since if that were the case any power would be virtuous. However, a power used without reason cannot be a virtuous act. If a power used without reason would be virtuous, then it would use its quality of being rational or human and it would not be the good required of man. In other words, it could not be a good. Aquinas explains it by saying that only a perfection of power can be considered a virtuous power. A power without perfection remains a power, but it has not yet been perfected. When it becomes perfected, it becomes a virtuous act. Several repeated virtuous acts form a virtuous habit, and when a habit is formed, a person can freely choose to act virtuously and not haphazardly, irrationally, or sporadically. In other words freely and with deliberation. In other words, a man who does not act for a virtuous end cannot be virtuous. Virtue does not happen without choice or reason. The end for which a person acts makes the powers he uses to be virtuous. For example, two people see an elderly

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woman crossing the street every day. One stops to assist her out of compassion, while the other makes the excuse that he will be late for work and he has not the time to help her. They both have power to help, but one chooses to help. When he helps every day, he not only has the power to be compassionate, but he becomes compassionate. This is what St. Thomas refers to when he says virtue is the continual improvement of a power.55 Aquinas distinguishes a natural virtue from a rational virtue. A natural virtue is a power which naturally achieves a good end, such as seeing, to turn ones neck, to walk. There are other virtues called rational which do not have a determined purpose, but must be chosen. That is why they are called habits because only after a habit is formed with their use do they actually become perfect. As a student has developed good study habits or of a habit of reasoning logically in debates, so that when he is called upon to defend his argument he has a facility to reason logically and scientifically rather than guessing or conjecturing to a conclusion. A habit can be so habitual that it becomes perfected and is no longer in need of growth and St. Thomas treats of these infused virtues at another time. Also, a natural virtue attains an habitual disposition one act at a time; it is thru this continual intensification of its habit that it becomes perfected. For example, in reference to the earlier example of the man who helps the elderly woman cross the street. He later begins to help his coworker at work, then his crippled child at home, his neighbors and even stranger; lastly, he extends his compassionate virtue to even his enemies. He finds ways in every circumstance to apply his compassionate virtue so that it becomes habitual, to the extent that he does nothing without this compassion in mind.

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Q2. Aquinas asks questions about the tendency of virtue to be effective That which has the potential to good is goodness. Virtue is a disposition in a subject which causes the subject to act in a good manner under varying circumstances. Virtue is understood by Aquinas in two ways. There is a way of virtue which makes a being good and that is power; a being has a power to be. Aquinas says that this is related to the substance of a thing to be made. Then there is a virtue of the form of a thing, which makes a thing act. A form actualizes a thing. Just as the natural virtues have a disposition to their acts, so rational virtues, common to the soul, must be disposed toward their act. But the only way an act is disposed to act is thru action or choice and that is the habit of virtue or an operative habit.56 Just as the body is the matter of the soul, so are the natural virtues the matter for the rational virtues, which are governed by the operation of the soul. The operation of the soul is essential to man. An animal cannot be called virtuous, since virtue is associated with free will, which animals do not have. Man does have certain things in common with animals: body and its senses. The two things that constitute the essence of man is understanding and free will and these are spiritual powers. The difference between man and animal is that man can choose between good and evil, whereas the animal has instincts. If a person chooses an evil over a good, then he become un-virtuous; only when he chooses good over evil is someone called virtuous. Picking up the example we have stated earlier about the man compassionately helping the elderly woman across the street. There are three reasons why he acts for this end. He understands that he has to make a deliberate act in order to put into effect his ability to help this woman-he is not hard wired to help her, it has to be a determinate act; he wants to act for a good end-he may even think he is being a little selfish, but he overcomes this tendency by performing a free human act.57 When he finishes helping this

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woman cross the street he knows he has performed an act that will help him draw closer to the end for which he is made, as opposed to stealing, lying or acting shamelessly. This is what Aquinas calls an operative act, since it is integral to what engages his humanity toward a good end. He can choose to act otherwise and this will be a human act, but it may not be a virtuous act depending upon the circumstances in which he acts.

Q 3 Aquinas investigates whether virtue is a desirable habit or not A virtuous habit moves the person closer toward a good end. A good end has both an objective and a subjective goal. The objective end is the true end of this subject who considers it. The subjective good is the truth that it is this subject who considers this end. This is why Aquinas refers calls upon the authority of Aristotle. A subject cannot attempt to pass the limit of his power for good. A man cannot try to be an angel, nor an angel attempt to become a man. A doctor practices healing arts while he practices his profession and not comical arts-otherwise he wold not stay in business for long. It is the same with a virtuous person. He doesnt attempt to pass the limit of his subjective knowledge of his capacity for doing good. He grows in practicing good and when he develops greater habits of good virtues he practices greater acts of virtuous habits. The subject participates more in being to the degree that he determines himself thru good habits, the virtues. Aquinas refers to three authorities in this investigation: Aristotle, Augustine, and Dionysius. First,58 he refers to Aristotle who shows the limit of the power of virtue; secondly he refers to Augustine about the goodness of virtue; lastly, to Dionysius about the opposite of virtue, evil. If virtue is limited by its power it still remains good, since a thing is only good to the degree that is participates in the will of Gods goodness.59 He refers to Augustine because Augustine

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believed that his virtuous actions made him participate in goodness; since there is no limit to this goodness, there is no limit to the degree that a person in this life can practice virtuous acts toward a just end. Lastly, he refers to Dionysius. Dionysius says, following the rule of scripture, that evil can be understood as a weakness. Some people may interpret this saying of Dionysius in a wrong way, but he is not referring to physical weakness-though an evil act of a person could have an effect on the body, as many psychoanalysts teach. Dionysius is referring to the disposition of evil,which replicates itself thru privative acts. Aquinas quoting Augustine in De Malo also says that to the degree that a person practices evil he becomes not only weak but nothing.60 Since the opposite of evil is good, and virtue is a participation in the good, then it is right to call virtue a good habit. The Creator cannot move the creature towards evil, but man with his free will can choose a habit of evil over a good habit. Aquinas is concerned with showing that the disposition toward virtue is what makes virtue a good habit. A virtue could not be called good if it made a man weak. But evil makes a man weak. Therefore, a person who practices only evil cannot will not be able to a good habit. Only the practice of virtue makes a person good. Evil only makes a person the opposite of good. Therefore, a person who only practices evil cannot become the opposite of evil.61

Q.4 Aquinas sets the record straight about the definition of virtue St.Thomas refers again to St. Augustine to resolve this question. Because Augustine has already given a good definition of virtue. Aquinas comments on Augustines definition by using Aristotle. He introduces his commentary on Augustines definition by saying that any good definition bears within it all its causes. Augustiness definition of virtue does this. In order to

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establish the genus in which virtue is found and he difference form other things he says that Augustine refers to this when he says good quality.62 The material cause is what Augustine refers to as of the mind, meaning it is part of the rational part of man and not the natural powers associated with the body. The final cause or object which virtue acts is the it makes us live justly before God and we cant make bad use of virtue. Aquinas is careful to make us realize that though virtue creates an effect of good, habits can be formed for evil. That is why he refers to Augustine saying that virtue causes us to live justly. An in order to make sure that virtue has any other purpose than to serve the good he adds the final determiner that its use is only for good and not for evil; in other words, we cant use it for bad. Conclusion What we have reflected upon in this essay is St. Thomas Aquinas theological reflection on the essence of virtue. The essence of virtue is a good habit and which when practiced or elicited makes its subject good. Virtue shouldnt be confused with natural virtue, but is a good habit which is associated with the rational part of mans reason and understanding and free-will. A subject must freely choose to determine himself to be virtuous as opposed to forced or being virtuous thru chance. The reason virtue makes a person good is because the good of man is good habits as opposed to that which makes him bad, which are bad habits. If man can form good habits is it because his reason and free will guide him to that rational good for which he acts an he freely chooses to act with reason rather than unreasonably and act viciously. Virtue also perfects the spiritual faculties of man, his intellect and will. By acting according to towards his due end, he acts in such a way that the good he chooses is integrated toward the end he chooses. Since the end he chooses is goodness, then it must make him good, just as acting for evil would

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make him evil. Lastly, Aquinas relies upon St. Augustine to show that to live with a good habits of the mind, while aiming to live righteously is to live virtuously. But he says that the infused virtues have one more characteristic that separates the natural virtues from the infused virtues and that is that God works these infused virtues in the subject without the the subject. Both the natural and supernatural virtues cannot be put to a bad use. St. Thomas calls the acquired virtues those which man chooses to determine himself towards and the infused virtues those which God works in man without him to determines man towards man towards God.

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Works Cited

Catholic Biblical Association of America, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and Bishops Committee. The New American Bible. New York: Benziger, 1970. Ignatius. The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius: a Translation and Commentary. St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1992. Augustine. An Augustine Synthesis. New York: Harper & Row, 1958. Poulain, Aug, and J. V Bainvel. The Graces of Interior Prayer (Des Grces Doraison) A Treatise on Mystical Theology. St. Louis: Herder, 1950. John of the Cross. The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross. Washington, D.C.: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1979. Aquinas, St. Thomas. On Evil . Ed. Brian Davies. Trans. Richard Regan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. On the Power of God (De Potentia). Trans. English Dominican Fathers. reprint of 1932 Edition by Newman Press. eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2004. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. Trans. Constance Garnett. New York: The Lowelll Press, n.d. Copelston, S.J., Frederick. A History of Philosophy: Medieval Philosophy. Vol. II. New York: Image Books, Doubleday, 1993. XII vols. Gilson, Etienne. Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine. Trans. L E.M. Lynch. New York: Random House, 1960. Przywara, S.J., Erich. An Augustine Synthesis. Ed. S.J., Erich Przywara. New York:

LeFort 52

Sheed & Ward, 1936. Aquinas, St. Thomas. On Evil . Edited by Brian Davies. Translated by Richard Regan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. . The Virtues as to Their Essence. Translated by English Dominicans. New York, NY: Christian Classics, 1981. Grenier, Henri. Thomistic Philosophy. Translated by J. P.E. O'Hanley. Vols. I-III. Charlottetown: St. Dunstan's University, 1948. Thomas, and English Province. Summa Theologica. New York: Benziger Bros., 1947. Aquinas, St. Thomas. Aristotle's De Anima with the Commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas. Trans. K. Forester and S. Humphries. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951. . Summa Theologiae. Trans. English Dominicans. New York: Christian Classics, 1981. Aquinas, St.. Thomas. Questions on the Anima. Trans. James H. Robb. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1984. Grenier, Henri. Thomistic Philosophy. Trans. J. P.E. O'Hanley. Vols. I-III. Charlottetown: St. Dunstan's University, 1948.

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1. Further references to Eph. 6:10.63

A. Acts 9:22 But Saul grew all the stronger and confounded [the] Jews who lived in Damascus, proving that this is the Messiah. B. Rom. 4:20 He did not doubt Gods promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God. C. Phil. 4:13 I have the strength for everything thru him who empowers me. D. 1 Ti. 1:12 I am grateful to him who has strengthened me,64 Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry. E. 2 Ti. 2:1 So you, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. F. 2 Ti 4:17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and al the Gentiles might hear it.

Comment: this is the same strength that the Eucharistic Lord gives to his faithful who come to spend time with him. He is present in his glorified body, the same body that met the disciples after the resurrection: at the Sea of Tiberias, in the Upper Room, and Mary Magdalen at the empt tomb. The Holy Spirit will confirm in our own lives what he confirmed in the early Churchs life. Notice St. Paul always indicates it is a strength that is for the work of God and not for weightlifting and self-glorification. This strength is always a relation to the Lord whom St. Paul is responsible.

LeFort 54

1 The

same verb, pronounced en-du-na-moo is also used in by St. Paul in Rom. 4:20 and

Phil. 4:13. See Appendix.

2 St. 3 All

Catherine of Siena lived many years of her life only on Holy Communion. of the music on this album was written by the author and is free for you to

download. The songs that are not downloadable have been licensed by Amazon for their use. You can find other of my albums on Amazon.com.
4 St.

Ignatius that God only wants us to praise, reverence and serve him in order to save

our souls. (#23.2-3)

5I

am referencing the New American Bible for practical purposes. The Septuagint version

which Augustine used or the Latin translation used different numbering scheme of the Psalms. In his version it was Ps. 44:11, but in the same verse in the NAB is 45:11.
6 Poulain, Aug,

and J. V Bainvel. The Graces of Interior Prayer (Des Grces Doraison)

A Treatise on Mystical Theology. St. Louis: Herder, 1950, pgs. 88-113.

7 John

of the Cross. The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross. Washington, D.C.:

Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1979, pgs. 125-130.

8 S.J.,

Erich Przywara, An Augustine Synthesis, ed. S.J., Erich Przywara (New York, NY:

Sheed & Ward, 1936, pg. 42).

9 Etienne

Gilson, Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine, trans. L E.M. Lynch (New

York, NY: Random House, 1960, pg.27).

10 ibid., 11 S.J.,

28.

Erich Przywara, An Augustine Synthesis, ed. S.J., Erich Przywara (New York, NY:

Sheed & Ward, 1936),55.

LeFort 55

12 Etienne

Gilson, Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine, trans. L E.M. Lynch (New

York, NY: Random House, 1960), 28.

13 S.J.,

Frederick Copelston, A History of Philosophy: Medieval Philosophy, Vol. II, XII

vols. (New York, NY: Image Books, Doubleday, 1993), 53.

14 Etienne

Gilson, Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine, trans. L E.M. Lynch (New

York, NY: Random House, 1960), 30.

15 Ibid., 16 Ibid., 17 Ibid., 18 Ibid., 19 Ibid., 20 S.J.,

31. 32. 33. 41. 34.

Erich Przywara, An Augustine Synthesis, ed. S.J., Erich Przywara (New York, NY:

Sheed & Ward, 1936), 46-47.

21 Etienne

Gilson, Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine, trans. L E.M. Lynch (New

York: Random House, 1960), 46.

22 Ibid.,49. 23 Ibid.,53. 24 Ibid.,54. 25 Ibid.,55. 26 S.J.,

Frederick Copelston, A History of Philosophy: Medieval Philosophy, Vol. II (New

York: Image Books, Doubleday, 1993), pg. 55, XII vols.

27 Ibid.

57.

LeFort 56

28 Etienne

Gilson, Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine, trans. L E.M. Lynch (New

York: Random House, 1960), 60.

29 Ibid., 30 Ibid., 31 Ibid.,

60. 65. 65.

32 Ibid.,66. 33 Ibid.,74. 34 Ibid.,74. 35 Ibid.,75. 36 S.J.,

Erich Przywara, An Augustine Synthesis, ed. S.J., Erich Przywara (New York:

Sheed & Ward, 1936), 36-37.

37 Etienne

Gilson, Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine, trans. L E.M. Lynch (New

York: Random House, 1960), 94.

38 Anima 39 St.

is latin for soul.

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, trans. English Dominicans (New York:

Christian Classics, 1981), Pt.I,Q 77, a1.

40 ibid. 41 ibid.,

a2 a3. uses the latin word potentia, meaning potency, force, or power. Here it is

42 Aquinas

translated as activity or potency.

43 We 44 The

speak of subject as personhood or subjectivity. senses do not command as the will commands, but retains its influence over the

LeFort 57

vegetative potency of the soul.

45 Ibid. 46 This

a4. is one of the most important questions Aquinas asks because man is a composite

of anima and corpus (body).

47 Spiritual 48 ibid., 49 St.

potencys are only two: will and understanding

a5.

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, trans. English Dominicans (New York:

Christian Classics, 1981), Pt. I, Q. 77, a6.

50 ibid., 51 Henri

a6. Grenier, Thomistic Philosophy, trans. J. P.E. O'Hanley, Vols. I-III (Charlottetown:

St. Dunstan's University, 1948), pg. 393

52 ibid. 53 St.

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, trans. English Dominicans (New York:

Christian Classics, 1981), Pt. I, Q. 77, art. 7.

54 St..

Thomas Aquinas, Questions on the Soul, trans. James H. Robb (Milwaukee, Wis.:

Marquette University Press, 1984).

55 St.

Thomas Aquinas, The Virtues as to Their Essence, trans. English Dominicans (New

York, NY: Christian Classics, 1981), Pt. I-II,Q. 55, art. 1.

56 Ibid., 57 Henri

art. 2. Grenier, Thomistic Philosophy, trans. J. P.E. O'Hanley, Vols. I-III (Charlottetown:

St. Dunstan's University, 1948), Vol. III, # 925.

58 He

use two theologians in the Catholic Church, both Doctors of the Church; the third

LeFort 58

authority is one of the greatest philosopher who has ever lived.

59 St.

Thomas Aquinas, On Evil , ed. Brian Davies, trans. Richard Regan (Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 2003),Q.1.

60 ibid. 61 ibid. 62 St. 63 All

Thomas Aquinas, The Virtues as to Their Essence,1981), art. 4 passages are taken from the New American Bible. St. Pauls conversion, the Lord gave him strength to stop his persecution

64 Remember

and start building up the Church. He is know as the Super Apostle; that is being a real Superman, in a real super-sense. HIs Aposteship came with a great price. St. Paul realized where it all came from, I no longer live, but it is Christ who lives within me.

LeFort 59

Appendix II

Please visit my authors page at Amazon for other titles in this series. Also, I have many albums of religious music available for meditation and reflection here. Here are a few of the titles available:

Titles of Mary II

St. Mary Magdalen

St. Paul the Apostle