Part 17
contemplative life is more meritorious than the active, for the latter toils in the wear and tear of present work by which it must needs help its neighbour; whereas the former, by a certain inward savour, already has a foretaste of the repose to come"--that is, in the contemplation of God.
It may, however, chance that one man derives greater merit from the works of the active life than another does from his contemplative life; as, for example, when, from the superabundance of the Divine love, in order to fulfil God's will, and for His greater glory, a man is content to be separated for a space from the sweetness of Divine contemplation, as the Apostle says: _I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ for my brethren._[463] On these words S. Chrysostom[464] comments thus: "The love of Christ had so completely taken possession of his heart that he could even despise that which he desired beyond all things--namely, to be with Christ--and that because it was pleasing to Christ."
Yet some maintain that the active life is more meritorious than the contemplative, thus:
1. A thing is said to be meritorious because of the reward. But reward is due to work, as S. Paul says: _And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour._[465] Labour, however, belongs to the active life, repose to the contemplative, as S. Gregory says[466]: "Everyone who is converted to God must needs first labour in toil; he must take Lia--that is, that so he may arrive at 'the vision of the Beginning'--that is, the embraces of Rachel." Whence it seems as though the active life was more meritorious than the contemplative.
But while external toil makes for an increase of accidental reward, the increase of merit as regards essential reward consists mainly in charity, one proof of which is external toil undertaken for Christ's sake; but a much greater proof of this is given when a man puts aside all that pertains to this life and delights in giving himself up solely to Divine contemplation.
2. Again, contemplative life is in some sort the commencement of future bliss; and consequently the words of S. John: _So will I have him to remain till I come_, S. Augustine comments as follows: "This might be more fully expressed thus: May perfect actions, modelled on the example of My Passion, follow Me; but may contemplation begun here on earth remain till I come, to be perfected when I come"[467]; and similarly S. Gregory says[468]: "The contemplative life begins here below to be perfected in our heavenly home." But in that future life we shall not merit, but shall receive the reward of our merits. Consequently the contemplative life seems to have less of the ratio of merit than has the
## active life; but it has more of the ratio of reward.
But in the state of future bliss a man has arrived at his perfection and consequently there is no room left for merit; but if there were room left his merits would be more efficacious owing to the pre-eminence of his charity. The contemplation of this present life, however, has some accompanying imperfection, and consequently there is room for improvement; hence such contemplation does not destroy the idea of meriting but makes increase of merit in proportion as Divine charity is more and more exercised.
3. Lastly, S. Gregory says[469]: "No sacrifice is more acceptable to God than zeal for souls." But zeal for souls means that a man gives himself up to the works of the active life. Whence it seems that the contemplative life is not more meritorious than the active.
But a sacrifice is spiritually offered to God when anything is presented to Him; and of all man's good things God specially accepts that of the human soul when offered to Him in sacrifice. But a man ought to offer to God first of all his own soul, according to the words of Ecclesiasticus[470]: _Have pity on thine own soul, pleasing God_; secondly, the souls of others, according to the words: _And he that heareth let him say: Come._[471] But the more closely a man knits his own soul, or his neighbour's soul, to God, the more acceptable to God is his sacrifice; consequently it is more pleasing to God that a man should give his soul, and the souls of others, to contemplation than to action. When, then, S. Gregory says: "No sacrifice is more acceptable to God than zeal for souls," he does not mean that the merit of the active life is greater than that of the contemplative, but that it is more meritorious that a man should offer to God his own soul and the soul of others than that he should offer any other external gift whatsoever.
"But thou, our God, art gracious and true, patient, and ordering all things in mercy. For if we sin, we are Thine, knowing Thy greatness: and if we sin not, we know that we are counted with Thee. For to know Thee is perfect justice: and to know Thy justice, and Thy power, is the root of immortality."[472]
III
Is the Active Life a Hindrance to the Contemplative Life?
S. Gregory says[473]: "They who would hold the citadel of contemplation must first needs exercise themselves on the battle-field of toil."
We may consider the active life from two points of view. For we may first of all consider the actual occupation with, and practice of, external works; and from this point of view it is clear that the active life is a hindrance to the contemplative, for it is impossible for a man to be simultaneously occupied with external works, and yet at leisure for Divine contemplation.
But we may also consider the active life from the standpoint of the harmony and order which it introduces into the interior passions of the soul; and from this point of view the active life is an assistance to contemplation since this latter is hindered by the disturbance arising from the passions. Thus S. Gregory says[474]: "They who would hold the citadel of contemplation must first needs exercise themselves on the battle-field of toil; they must learn, forsooth, whether they still do harm to their neighbours, whether they bear with equanimity the harm their neighbours may do them; whether, when temporal good things are set before them, their minds are overwhelmed with joy; whether when such things are withdrawn they are over much grieved. And lastly, they must ask themselves whether, when they withdraw within upon themselves and search into the things of the spirit, they do not carry with them the shadows of things corporeal, or whether, if perchance they have touched upon them, they discreetly repel them."
Thus, then, the exercises of the active life are conducive to contemplation, for they still those interior passions whence arise those imaginations which serve as a hindrance to contemplation.
Some, however, maintain that the active life is a hindrance to the contemplative, thus:
1. A certain stillness of mind is needful for contemplation, as the Psalmist says: _Be still and see that I am God._[475] But the active life implies anxiety: _Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things._[476]
2. Again, a certain clearness of vision is called for in the contemplative life. But the active life hinders this clearness of vision, for S. Gregory says[477]: "Lia was blear-eyed and fruitful, for the active life, since occupied with toil, sees less clearly."
3. And lastly, things that are contrary hinder one another. But the
## active and the contemplative life are contrary to one another; for the
## active life is occupied with many things, whereas the contemplative life
dwells upon one object of contemplation; they are, then, in opposite camps.
But all these arguments insist upon the occupation with external affairs which is but one feature in the active life, not upon its other feature--namely, its power to repress the passions.
* * * * *
_Cajetan: But the five foolish virgins, having taken their lamps, did not take oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps._[478]
By this oil is signified testimony to a man's goodness or love of God. For there is this difference between people who perform good works, that the only testimony which some men have to their goodness is without--namely, in the works themselves; within, however, they do not feel that they love God with their whole heart, that they repent of their sins because they are hateful to God, or that they love their neighbour for God's sake. But there are others who so perform good works that both their works that shine before men bear witness without to the good soul within, and also within their own conscience the Holy Spirit Himself testifies to their spirit that they are the sons of God; for such men feel that they love God with their whole heart, that they repent of their sins for God's sake, and that they love their neighbour and themselves for God's sake: in brief, they feel that God is the sole reason why they love, why they hope, fear, rejoice, or are sad: in a word, why they work both within and without: this is to have oil in one's own vessels (_On S. Matt._ xxv. 3, 4).
_S. Augustine:_ See the life that Mary chose! Yet was she but a type of that life, she as yet possessed it not. For there are two kinds of life: one means delight; the other means a burden. And the burdensome one is toilsome, while the delightsome one is pleasurable. But enter thou within; seek not that delight without, lest ye swell with it and find yourself unable to enter by the narrow gate! See how Mary saw the Lord in the Flesh and heard the Lord by the voice of the Flesh--as ye have heard when the Epistle to the Hebrews has been read--as it were through a veil. (_A new and living way which He hath dedicated to us through the veil, that is to say, His Flesh_.[479]) But when we shall see Him face to Face there will be no "veil." Mary, then, sat--that is, she rested from toil--and she listened and she praised; but Martha was anxious about much serving. And the Lord said to her: _Martha, Martha, thou art careful and art troubled about many things; but one thing is necessary[480]_ (_Sermon_, CCLVI., v. 6).
"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless His holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all He hath done for thee. Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: Who healeth all thy diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction: Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion. Who satisfieth thy desire with good things: thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's. The Lord doth mercies, and judgment for all that suffer wrong. He hath made His ways known to Moses: His wills to the children of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and merciful: long suffering and plenteous in mercy. He will not always be angry: nor will He threaten for ever. He hath not dealt with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For according to the height of the Heaven above the earth: He hath strengthened His mercy towards them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our iniquities from us. As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear Him: for He knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust: man's days are as grass, as the flower of the field so shall he flourish."[481]
IV
Does the Active Life precede the Contemplative?
S. Gregory says[482]: "The active life precedes the contemplative in the order of time, for from good works a man passes to contemplation."
One thing may precede another in two ways: firstly by its very nature; and in this sense the contemplative life precedes the active in that it is occupied with chiefer and better things, and hence it both moves and directs the active life. For, as S. Augustine says,[483] the higher reason, which is destined for contemplation, is compared to the lower reason, which is destined for action, as man is compared to woman--she is to be governed by him.
But secondly, one thing may be prior to another as far as we are concerned, it may, that is, precede it in the way of generation. And in this sense the active life precedes the contemplative, for it conduces to it, as we have already said. In the order of generation disposition to a nature precedes that nature, though that nature is, simply speaking and considered in itself, prior to the disposition to it.
But some maintain that the active life does not precede the contemplative, thus:
1. The contemplative life is directly concerned with the love of God, the active life with the love of our neighbour. But love of God precedes love of our neighbour, for we have to love our neighbour for God's sake.
But the contemplative life is not concerned with merely any kind of love of God, but with the perfect love of Him; the active life, on the contrary, is necessary for any kind of love of our neighbour, for S. Gregory says[484]: "Without the contemplative life men can gain admittance to their heavenly home if they have not neglected the good works they could have done; but they cannot enter without the active life, if they neglect the good works they could do." Whence it appears that the active life precedes the contemplative in the sense that that which is common to everybody precedes in the order of generation that which is peculiar to the perfect.
2. Again, S. Gregory says[485]: "You must know that just as the right procedure is for a man to pass from the active to the contemplative life; so, too, it is often profitable to the soul to return to the
## active life." Consequently the active life is not absolutely speaking
prior to the contemplative.
But while we proceed from the active life to the contemplative by way of generation, we return from the contemplative to the
## active by way of direction, in order, that is, that our active
life may be directed by the contemplative; just in the same way as habits are generated by acts and then, as is said in the _Ethics_, when the habit is formed we act still more perfectly.[486]
3. Lastly, things which accord with different characters do not seem to be necessarily related. But the active and contemplative life are suited to different characters; thus S. Gregory says[487]: "It often happens that men who could have given themselves to peaceful contemplation of God have been burdened with external occupations and so have made shipwreck; while, on the contrary, men who could have lived well had they been occupied with human concerns, have been slain by the sword of their life of repose." Consequently the active life does not seem to precede the contemplative.
But those who are subject to the influx of their passions because of their natural eagerness in action, are for that very reason more suited for the active life, and this because of the restlessness of their temperament. Hence S. Gregory says[488]: "Some are so restless that if they desist from work they suffer grievously, for the more free they are to think the worse interior tumults they have to endure." Some, on the contrary, have a natural purity of soul and a reposefulness which renders them fit for the contemplative life; if such men were to be applied wholly to the active life they would incur great loss. Hence S. Gregory says[489]: "Some men are of so slothful a disposition that if they undertake any work they succumb at the very outset." But he adds: "Yet often love stirs up even slothful souls to work, and fear exercises a restraining influence on souls which suffer a disturbing influence in their contemplation." Hence even those who are more suited for the
## active life, may, by the exercise of it, be prepared for the
contemplative; and, on the contrary, those who are more suited for the contemplative life may profitably undertake the labours proper to the active life, that so they may be rendered still more fit for contemplation.
"I have cried to Thee, for Thou, O God, hast heard me: O incline Thy ear unto me, and hear my words. Show forth Thy wonderful mercies; Thou Who savest them that trust in Thee. From them that resist Thy right hand keep me, as the apple of Thy eye. Protect me under the shadow of Thy wings."[490]
FOOTNOTES:
[438] S. Luke x. 42.
[439] _Ethics_, x. 7 and 8.
[440] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 18.
[441] _Of the Words of the Lord, Sermon_ ciii., _alias_ xxvi. 2.
[442] S. Luke x. 41.
[443] _Of the Words of the Lord, Sermon_ civ., _alias_ xxvii. 2.
[444] S. Luke x. 42.
[445] _Sermon_ ciii., _alias_ xxvi. 4.
[446] _Topica_, III., ii. 21.
[447] _Ibid._, III., i. 12.
[448] _Of the City of God_, xix. 19.
[449] ii. 1.
[450] Exod. xix. 21.
[451] _Hom._ III., _On Ezechiel_.
[452] _Of Consolation_, v. 2.
[453] _Hom._ III., _On Ezechiel_.
[454] 1 Cor. xii. 31.
[455] _Of the City of God_, xix. 19.
[456] Ps. xlvii. 9, 10, 15.
[457] 2 Cor. v. 15.
[458] Ps. xxvi. 5.
[459] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 18.
[460] _Of the City of God_, xix. 19.
[461] S. Luke x. 40.
[462] _Hom._ III., _On Ezechiel_.
[463] Rom. ix. 3.
[464] _Of Compunction_, i. 7.
[465] 1 Cor. iii. 8.
[466] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_.
[467] _Tractat._, 124, _On St. John_, xxi. 22.
[468] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_.
[469] _Hom._ XII., _On Ezechiel_.
[470] xxx. 24.
[471] Apoc. xxii. 17.
[472] Wisd. xv. 1-3.
[473] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 17.
[474] _Ibid._
[475] Ps. xlv. 11.
[476] S. Luke x. 41.
[477] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_.
[478] S. Matt. xxv. 3, 4.
[479] Heb. x. 20.
[480] S. Luke x. 41, 42.
[481] Ps. cii. 1-15.
[482] _Hom._ III., _On Ezechiel_.
[483] _On the Trinity_, xii. 12.
[484] _Hom._ III., _On Ezechiel_.
[485] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_.
[486] ii. 1, 2.
[487] _Moralia in Job_, vi. 17.
[488] _Moralia_, vi. 17.
[489] _Ibid._, vi. 37.
[490] Ps. xvi. 6-9.
QUESTION CLXXXVI
ON THE RELIGIOUS STATE
Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders?
Are Contemplative Orders superior to Active Orders?
The Lord declared that Mary's was _the best part_, and she is the type of the contemplative life.[491]
Religious Orders differ from one another primarily according to the ends they have in view, but secondarily according to the works they practise. And since one thing cannot be said to be superior to another save by reason of the differences between them, it will follow that the superiority of one Religious Order to another must depend primarily upon their respective ends, secondarily upon the works they practise.
And these two grounds of comparison are not of equal value; for the comparison between them from the point of view of their respective ends is an absolute one, since an end is sought for its own sake; whereas the comparison arising from their respective works is a relative one, since works are not done for their own sake but for the sake of the end to be gained.
Consequently one Religious Order is superior to another if its end is absolutely a superior one, either as being in itself a greater good, or as being of wider scope. On the supposition, however, that the ends of any two Orders are the same, then the superiority of one to the other can be gauged, not by the quantity of works they undertake, but by the proportion these bear to the end in view. Thus it is that we find introduced into the _Conferences of the Fathers_[492] the opinion of S. Antony, who preferred that discretion by which a man moderates all things to fasts and watchings and similar observances.
The works, then, of the active life are twofold. There is one which springs from the fulness of contemplation: teaching, for example, and preaching. Whence S. Gregory says[493]: "It is said of perfect men that on their return from contemplation: _They shall pour forth the memory of Thy sweetness._" And this is preferable to simple contemplation. For just as it is a greater thing to shed light than to be full of light, so is it a greater thing to spread abroad the fruits of our contemplation than merely to contemplate. And the second work of the active life is that which wholly consists in external occupation, such as giving alms, receiving guests, etc. And such works are inferior to the works of contemplation, except it be in some case of necessity.
Consequently, then, those Religious Orders are in the highest rank which are devoted to teaching and preaching. And these, too, approach most nearly to the perfection of the Episcopate; just as in other things, too, the ends of those in the first place are, as S. Denis says, close knit to the principles of those in the second place.[494] The second rank is occupied by those Orders which are devoted to contemplation. And the third with those devoted to external works.
And in each of these grades there is a certain superiority according as one Order aims at acts of a higher order than does another, though of the same class. Thus in the works of the active life it is a greater thing to redeem captives than to receive guests; in the contemplative life, too, it is a greater thing to pray than to study. There may also be a certain superiority in this that one is occupied with more of such works than another; or again, that the rules of one are better adapted to the attainment of their end than are those of another.
Some, however, maintain that the contemplative Orders are not superior to the active Orders, thus:
1. In the Canon Law[495] it is said: "Since the greater good is to be preferred to the less, so, too, the common gain is to be preferred to private gain; and in this sense teaching is rightly preferred to silence, anxious care for others to contemplation, and toil to repose." But that Religious Order is the better which is directed to the attainment of the greater good. Hence it seems that Orders which are devoted to an active life are superior to those which aim solely at contemplation.
But this Decretal speaks of the active life as concerned with the salvation of souls.
2. All Religious Orders aim at the perfection of charity. But on those words in the Epistle to the Hebrews,[496] _Ye have not yet resisted unto blood_, the Gloss has: "There is no more perfect charity in this life than that to which the holy Martyrs attained, for they strove against sin even _unto blood_." But to strive _unto blood_ belongs to the Military Religious Orders, and they lead an active life. It would seem, then, that these latter are the highest form of Religious Order.
But these Military Orders are more concerned with shedding the blood of their enemies than with shedding their own, which is the feature of the Martyrs. At the same time, there is nothing to preclude these Religious from at times winning the crown of martyrdom and thus attaining to a greater height than other Religious; just as in some cases active works are to be preferred to contemplation.