r-°'oef».>t fw...

Ily
Abu sqija

Blueprint for Holiness

j
(tynitficut' TfterifalCty

by

Denis Mooney, O.F.M.

s4 tytail PcdMccattott

St. Meinrad, Indiana





FOR

REVIEW/,

please!

BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

Christian Mentality

by Denis Mooney, O.F.M.

Price 50<.

We would appreciate two copies

of qour review of this title. Please

send it to:

Publicity Director

GRAIL PUBLICATIONS

St. Meinrad, Indiana





/

Blueprint for Holiness

*

7
y

6e (tyntetiatt VtleitfaCitef

by

Denis Mooney O.F.M.

Pw£ Fifty Cents

St. Meinrad, Indiana



By the same author:

THE MASS IN MY LIFE 35£

THE ROSARY AND THE GRAIN OF WHEAT 25£
Meditations on the Rosary

Order from:

Grail Publications

St. Meinrad, Indiana

NIHIL OBSTAT:

Hyacinth M. Faccio, O.F.M.

Custos Terrae Sanctae

Jerusalem, March 1, 1953

IMPRIMATUR:

Louis Escoula, S.J.

Apostolic Administrator

Beirut, March 13, 1953

Copyright 1955 by

St. Meinrad Archabbey, Inc.

GRAIL PUBLICATIONS

St. Meinrad, Indiana, U.S.A.



CONTENTS

THE CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 1

COOPERATION WITH GRACE 3

THE NATURAL MENTALITY IS THE CAUSE OF SIN . 7

THE CHRISTIAN MENTALITY ISSUES IN VIRTUE .... 13

APPLICATION TO THE CHRISTIAN MENTALITY .... 26

THE TRAINING OF THE YOUNG 46

WRONG NOTIONS THAT PARALYZE GROWTH 49



I

'

’

I

jiJi



THE CHRISTIAN MENTALITY

Ei VERY living creature tends to grow towards its perfection,

for life as we know it, is characterized by growth. Thus par-

ents, having given life to a child, look for it to develop in body

and mind, and should the child be retarded, they are grieved.

By Baptism, a Christian receives from God a new life—the
divine life of Grace. This life, too, is given precisely that it

may grow and God watches for His children to develop in grace

and holiness. Any signs of arrested spiritual growth are dis-

pleasing to Him.

For a Christian, then, advance in age should also find some

growth in holiness, some progress in love for God. But the

question presents itself : How shall a person know if he is grow-

ing spiritually? Physical growth can be seen, and intellectual

growth, though unseen, can be known by one’s ability and ac-

complishments. But what are the indications of spiritual de-

velopment ?

St. Paul comes to our aid and enumerates the signs of growth

in love for God. "Charity,”
1
he says, "is patient, is kind, does

not envy . . . endures all things” (I Cor. 13: 4-7). In this way

1 By Charity St. Paul here means the soul’s subjective, personal love

for God. He does not mean sanctifying grace as such. In The Confra-

ternity of Christian Doctrine version of the New Testament a footnote

to this text says: "Charity is the will’s choice of God based on the

knowledge of God.”

1



2 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

St. Paul brings the lofty question of holiness down to the level

of ordinary, every day virtues and tells us we may know whether

we are growing in holiness or love for God by asking ourselves

the simple, practical question: Am I more patient, more kind,

more humble NOW than I used to be?
If we must admit from the evidence of our habitual conduct,

that the passing of time has brought no appreciable improve-

ment in these ordinary virtues, then the most important task of

our life is to look for the CAUSE of our spiritual backward-

ness; to find and apply the REMEDY.

If, on the other hand, we feel that there has been some im-

provement in virtue, this need not be an occasion for pride,

anymore than to see that we have developed physically and in-

tellectually should injure humility. We are supposed to grow!
But we should profit by a study of the analysis suggested by

St. Paul to make greater progress.

It is not to be taken for granted that frequent recitation of

prayers and reception of Holy Communion should somehow

guarantee spiritual progress, for some may detect no appreciable

improvement in virtue after years of daily Mass, Holy Com-

munion and other religious practices. Spiritual growth results

rather from the will’s cooperation with grace, whereby we so

dispose the mind and heart as to allow the divine energy of

grace to act unimpeded by self-will.

This subjective disposition, which is to be formed by our own

efforts aided by grace, is the habit of acting-to-please-God. The

infusion of grace into the soul at Baptism does not of itself

change nature’s inborn tendency of acting-to-please-self. Our

spiritual task is to work for this inner transformation. Failure

to do so is a failure in charity and is the cause of continued

faults—the chief reason far a lack of spiritual growth.



COOPERATION WITH GRACE

We may illustrate the state of the soul before and after

Baptism by the following simple diagram of two concentric

circles.

The outer circle represents a human nature, body and soul,

in the actual condition in which human life comes into exist-

ence after the Fall of our first parents, that is, deprived of

grace, weakened and "prone to evil” (Gen. 8:21). At the mo-

ment of baptism, a new life is introduced; it is the divine life

of grace restored, but only in its initial, undeveloped or, we

might say, embryonic state (the inner circle).

Infused with grace are the three divine virtues of faith, hope

and charity (the arrows). It is the will of God that by the

exercise of these three virtues grace should "expand” or grow

in us unto maturity: "to perfect manhood, to the mature meas-

ure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). The inner circle

should increase until it correspond to the outer circle, so that

3



4 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

all the powers of human nature are freely willed over to the

purifying and perfecting influence of grace.

SELF MUST DECREASE

By reason of our first birth we have the disposition to act

under the influence of our nature, that is, to please ourselves;

but by reason of our second birth in Baptism we are obliged

to change that disposition and form a new habit of acting under

the influence of grace, that is, to please God. "We ought not

to please ourselves,” say St. Paul, "for Christ did not please

Himself” (Rom. 15:1). As self is made to recede, the love of

God can grow in us.

When St. John the Baptist was told that Christ had begun

His ministry in the world, he exclaimed, "He must increase, but

I must decrease” (John 3:30). So when we become conscious

of Christ’s presence in the soul, we must give place to Him;

we must "die to ourselves,” that we may "live to Christ.” Our

Savior said to St. Margaret of Cortona, "Every soul in a state

of grace loses ground if she does not incessantly endeavor to

develop that grace within her.”

It is evident that the degree of spiritual development differs

with each soul. Some, by earnest endeavor in the practice of

purity of intention, may have gone far in overcoming their

natural disposition of self-seeking, so that, though still imper-

fect, the habit of pleasing God predominates in their lives. A

saint is one who, through self-annihilation, has allowed grace

(the inner circle) to grow until it corresponds with nature (the

outer circle), thereby fulfilling the Commandment to love God

with the whole heart. Others may have made but little progress

in this interior transformation, so that the tendency to please

self continues to predominate in their activity. Still others may



COOPERATION WITH GRACE 5

have made no progress at all, and grace, thus hemmed in by

self-love, is easily and often stifled by grievous sin.

The varying degrees of progress in grace may be graphically

represented as follows:

o
Nature, although substantially sound and good, is neverthe-

less weakened, tainted, wounded, or infected with selfishness,

through original and actual sin. In the diagram this condition

is indicated by the shaded area of the outer circle. It is obvious

that the more one acts under the influence of nature, that is,

to please self, the more weakened the disposition becomes;

hence the shading is in inverse proportion to the growth of

grace. Conversely, the more one acts under the influence of

grace, or to please God, the more nature is purified.

THE SOURCE OF ACTIVITY

The normal round of our routine actions proceeds from our

habitual disposition. We do not, and in fact we could not, ad-
vert to every action in order to apply to it a supernatural and

purifying motive; nor are we conscious, as a rule, of the selfish-

ness that may be motivating our actions. Our ordinary and

habitual actions proceed from our subjective disposition or

mentality, in the way that pails of water are drawn from a well.

If the water in the well is clear, the water in the pails is clear;

in the degree that the water in the well is muddy, the water in

the pails is muddy. Our actions for the most part, even when



6 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

good in themselves, are muddied with self-love. Whatever vir-

tue is found in them has its source in grace, the divine life, the

charity in us; whatever selfishness infects our good actions, and,

of course, whatever sins we commit, take their rise in our self-

seeking disposition, our natural mentality.

From the diagrams it should be clear that one increases in

virtuous actions in proportion as one increases in the subjective

disposition of charity, or what may be called "the Christian

Mentality.”

The diagram of the two concentric circles illustrates the inner

cause of virtues and faults.



THE NATURAL MENTALITY IS THE CAUSE OF SIN

By developing this simple diagram we may now demonstrate

how the natural mentality, the habit of pleasing self, is the

cause of all our sins. But first let us see where the cause is

NOT.

Suppose that on seeing a friend impatient you should ask the

reason. In all probability he would put the blame on some

annoying person or some troublesome incident. But the cause

must, in fact, be sought elsewhere. That person or incident was

only the occasion of the anger, and should have been, accord-

ing to God’s plan for sanctifying souls, the occasion for an act

of virtue—the virtue of patience. If trying persons or incidents
were the CAUSE of impatience, then Our Lord should have

been impatient very frequently. But, on the contrary, the dif-

ficulties and hardships; the injustice, malice and cruelty of peo-

ple around Him, were for Him occasions to manifest virtue.

The only true answer to the question is this (but how many of

us would admit it?): I am impatient because 1 want my own

way and I cannot have it. In this contradiction I ought to see

and accept the will of God, Who ordains or permits it for my

sanctification.

7



8 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

TWO TYPES OF SIN

We may divide sins into two classes, namely sins of rebellion

and sins of excess or indulgence. The CAUSE of all the faults

in both categories is this: We desire to have our own way;

we want persons and events to conform in all things to our

own good pleasure. When this natural mentality encounters

something disagreeable to self, the normal result is a sin of re-

bellion—impatience, unkindness, disobedience, complaint. When
this natural mentality on the other hand meets with some cir-

cumstance that is agreeable to self, there is the probability of

a sin of excess—pride, greed, lust, sloth.
To illustrate this reaction, let us again make use of the circle,

to represent the mentality. As already explained, our mentality

is usually a mixture of the two influences of grace and nature,

of love for God and love for self—like water that is in some
‘degree muddy. For the purpose, however, of demonstrating

and of studying the different reactions of nature and grace
2

we must separate the two mentalities, as represented by the

two circles.

Our mentality or interior disposition is not something that

we take off and put on and change like a suit. Whether at

home, at school, at work, in church or at play, our mentality

is with us—it IS us—and spontaneously, even if unconsciously,

2 See Imitation of Christ, Bk. Ill, chap. 54, "The Diverse Motions of

Nature and Grace.”



NATURAL MENTALITY IS CAUSE OF SIN 9

it provides the motive for what we do. The "path” of daily

life along which our mentality travels with us we shall repre-

sent by two parallel lines.

As we follow the path of daily life we meet continuously

with changing circumstances. For the most part these circum-

stances are routine or neutral* and therefore elicit no special

reaction from us. But from time to time, and usually many

times a day, we meet with circumstances that are not neutral to

us, but are either disagreeable or agreeable, and which are like-

ly to call forth reactions that are morally good or morally bad.

Let us represent these circumstances by a rectangular block

across our path. First we shall consider a natural mentality

"crossed” by some disagreeable circumstance.

Here we have a graphic representation of a mentality, pre-

dominantly disposed to please self, meeting with a circum-

stance which is displeasing to it. The scene is set for a "col-

lision”; for an unfavorable reaction, or, as we have called it,

a sin of rebellion. The specific kind of sin depends on the na-

ture of the disagreeable circumstance, but the cause of the sin

is the same in every case—it is the natural mentality. When,
for example, the circumstance is some annoyance, the result is



10 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

impatience; when it is a difficult or "unreasonable” command,

the reaction is disobedience; when it is the unkindness of an-

other, the reaction is to repay with unkindness. These and all

such sins of rebellion are the EFFECTS produced from the

CAUSE of the natural mentality meeting the CONDITION of

a disagreeable circumstance. Here is the situation in graphic

form.

In order to change the effects, that is, to overcome our sins,

it is necessary to change the cause. It is usually not in our pow-

er to change or to control the condition—the circumstance we
meet. Whatever happens to us outside of our own will or re-

sponsibility represents for us the will of God and has its place

in God’s plan for our sanctification. We cannot change that.

But we can by degrees change our minds and hearts, and God



NATURAL MENTALITY IS CAUSE OF SIN 11

expects us to, so that we shall recognise His will and meet

it with a favorable reaction—an act of virtue. "Be transformed
in the newness of your mind,” says St. Paul, "that you may

discern what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of

God” (Rom. 12:2).

DIG OUT THE ROOTS!

Spiritual writers liken the soul to a garden in which God

seeks the flowers of virtue, while He despises the weeds of sin.

The same soil will nourish either flowers or weeds. The differ-

nce depends on the roots. The roots are the CAUSE; the soil

is the CONDITION; the flowers or the weeds are the EF-

FECTS. If a man is cultivating a flower garden and finds it

becoming choked with weeds, he must dig out the roots of the

weeds. It would be useless for him to change the soil, even

if he could; and it is equally futile to cut off the offensive

weeds at the surface, leaving the roots in the ground. They will

grow again, since the same CAUSE (the roots) remains in the

same CONDITION (the soil) and therefore the same EFFECTS

(the weeds) will reappear.

If an examination of conscience reveals that the garden of

our soul is overgrown with faults, we must attack the cause,

which, as we have seen, is our natural mentality. It is useless

to try to "change the soil,” that is, to escape from our circum-

stances, for the same or similar ones will occur again. The

Will of God will always surround us to sanctify us. Neither

does it solve the problem merely to "cut down the weeds” of

sin in the Sacrament of Penance. With proper contrition the

sins are forgiven in Confession, but unless there is an effort

to "pull out the roots,” to remove the CAUSE of our sins, the

sins will simply reappear week after week, month after month.



12 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

Just as weeds grow more abundantly by being cut, so perhaps

our faults, with their roots left undisturbed, will be even greater

and more numerous with the passing of time. We may have

wondered at this phenomenon in our own lives, but not know-

ing the cause we have regarded as inevitable the continued

repetition of our faults.

We must set to work to root out the tendency to self-seek-

ing, the habit of wanting our own way, of pleasing ourselves,

or what we have called the natural mentality, and learn to be

"rooted in Christ" (Col. 2:7), that is, to put on the "mind of

Christ"—to acquire a Christian Mentality. "If the root is holy,"
says St. Paul, "so also are the branches" (Rom. 11:16).



THE CHRISTIAN MENTALITY ISSUES IN VIRTUE

In the preceding diagram the circle represented the natural

mentality. Now we shall substitute the inner circle, represent-

ing the Christian mentality or the subjective disposition of love,

which is the acquired habit of acting under the influence of

grace. In so far as we develop this mentality we shall remove

the cause of our sins and cooperate in the growth of grace, the

source of all virtue.

The habitual motive of the Christian mentality is "to please

God.” We now indicate the reactions of this mentality as it

meets the same disagreeable circumstances. Trained to live by

faith, it recognizes that every disagreeable event is a purifying

cross—God’s holy will cutting down across man’s unholy will,
as shown in the diagram. Desiring habitually to please God, it

sees and accepts the cross as an opportunity to do so; it does

not regard it as an obstacle to pleasing self, as it appeared

to the natural mentality. Seen as the will of God, the cross

of a displeasing incident is turned and "carried on the shoulder”

of the Christian mentality, evoking spontaneously the favorable

effect of an act of virtue, or, to use the other metaphor, the

roots of love for God nourished in the soil of trials produce

the flowers of Christ-like deeds.

13



14 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

The change from the faults enumerated in the preceding dia-

gram to their contrary virtues shown in the following diagram

is brought about only by a change of the CAUSE, the uprooting

of self-love, of the natural mentality, and the substitution of

the roots of love-for-God—the Christian Mentality.

CAUSE CONDITION EFFECT

To complete this diagram we shall now deal with the opposite

reactions of the natural and supernatural mentalities when con-

fronted by the other set of circumstances, which we call "agree-

able.” We have spoken of both these sets of circumstances as

manifesting the will of God in our regard, for, as the author

of the Imitation of Christ explains, God’s will is made known

to us in tribulations (disagreeable circumstances) and consola-

tions (agreeable circumstances).

The natural mentality, habitually intent on pleasing self, when

confronted with something pleasing to the senses, welcomes

and accepts it as an opportunity to enjoy itself, and then unre-



CHRISTIAN MENTALITY ISSUES IN VIRTUE 15

strained nature, "prone to evil from its youth” (Gen. 3:21),

is in danger of sinful indulgence.

This analysis throws some light on the psychology of sin, on

the mental process that precedes sin, and therefore suggests the

right approach to conversion from sin—the formation of the
Christian mentality. Sin is an offense against God, and is likened

to crucifying Christ again. A sinner, however, unless he is a

diabolical one, does not want to offend God or to crucify Christ;

he simply wants pleasure or self-satisfaction. Because his re-

sistance is weakened by habitual indulgence in pleasures that

are lawful he easily succumbs to pleasures that are unlawful,

perhaps genuinely regretting that he cannot have the pleasures

without offending God.

An appeal to human sympathy for the sufferings of Christ,

or to fear of the Justice of God, may well inspire repentance

in the sinner, but will hardly touch the source of the trouble,

namely, his habitual hunger for pleasure and aversion for self-

denial. It is the natural mentality of the sinner, nourished and

strengthened by pleasure, which carries him by its momentum

over the borderline of temperance in the excesses of vanity,

covetousness, lust, sloth, spiritual avarice,
3

etc., as represented

in the following diagram.

To overcome these faults of excess, it does not suffice to con-

fess them, nor is it possible, as a rule, to avoid the circumstances.

We must attack the root and cause, that is, we must cooperate

with grace to put on a new heart, a new spirit, the Christian

mentality. Then, in virtue of the habit of acting to please God,

we shall become spontaneously alert to the danger of misusing

pleasure. We shall apply the brake, as it were, to our nature

3 Spiritual Avarice: a fault of attachment to spiritual consolations. It

betrays the presence, in some degree, of the natural mentality.



16 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

by the practice of self-denial, using pleasure according to Chris-

tian moderation, with the motive of love for God. Then, in

the same agreeable circumstances, virtues will begin to replace

our faults, as illustrated in the following diagram.



CHRISTIAN MENTALITY ISSUES IN VIRTUE 17

LOVE IS THE WHOLE LAW

What is represented in the diagram by the circle, namely,

the heart, spirit, disposition or mentality, is the realm or sphere

of the Great Commandment of Love, by which God would

have us love Him with our "whole heart, whole soul, and whole

mind.” It is there that the transformation must take place.

We must allow the love of God, introduced into the soul by
the grace of Baptism, to come to full growth, by withdrawing

the obstacle of self-seeking.

What is represented in the diagram by the "boxes,” that is,

the effects or reactions to circumstances, are the realm or sphere

of the Ten Commandments. The diagram illustrates the prin-

ciple that the observance of the Ten Commandments depends

on the observance of the Great Commandment, just as flowers

depend on the roots from which they grow. Thus, Our Lord

said that on the Commandment of Love "depends the whole

law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:40). He expressed the same

thought many times in different words: "He who has My

commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me” (John

14:21), and "If you love Me keep My commandments” (John

14:15). Sometimes these words are invoked to support the

wrong notion that a Christian need only try to avoid breaking

the Ten Commandments, and that supernatural motivation and

progressive purity of intention are not necessary. But it is a self-

evident contradiction to say that we shall try to avoid sin while

at the same time we keep and nourish the very root and cause

of sin, namely, the infected natural mentality, the habitual

motive of pleasing self. We shall make little progress in keep-
ing the Ten Commandments, with all their implications, unless

we are making progress in fulfilling the Great Commandment.



18 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

THE REVELATION OF HEARTS

Love is not an action, but a disposition. An action, whether

of thought, word, or deed, can be recognized and known for

what it is, but a disposition cannot. We cannot read our hearts

to see whether love for God or love for self predominates in

them, But God can. He is "the Searcher of Hearts” (Ps. 7:10).

He sees the roots of selfishness hidden in our hearts before they

issue into the noxious weeds of sin. God wants us to know

that they are there, and that they need to be eradicated, and so

He allows us to be tried by our circumstances. These are the

soil in which the roots of love are nourished, and our reactions

reveal whether love for God or love for self prevails in our

lives, just as flowers or weeds reveal the kind of roots in the

soil. The following text from St. Paul seems to express this

thought: "I press on towards the goal (of love for God).

Let us then ... be of this mind (the Christian mentality)
;
and

if in any point you are minded otherwise (the natural mental-

ity), this also God (by your circumstances) will reveal to you

(by the effects, your sins)” (Phil. 3:14-15).

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

In the light of the foregoing diagrams, the significance of

the following texts is perhaps more evident.

a) Regarding the Natural Mentality.

"Out of the heart (natural mentality) come evil thoughts,

murders, adulteries, immortality, thefts, false witness, blasphem-

ies .. .” (Matt. 15:19).

"The bad tree (natural mentality) bears bad fruit” (Matt.

7:17 )-

"As they have resolved against possessing the knowledge of

God (Christian Mentality), God has given them up to a repro-

bate sense (natural mentality), so that they do what is not



CHRISTIAN MENTALITY ISSUES IN VIRTUE 19

fitting; being filled with all iniquity, malice, immorality, avarice

... proud ... disobedient (Rom. 1:28-29).

"Now the works of the flesh (natural mentality) are mani-

fest, which are immorality . . . enmities, contentions, jealousies,

anger ... and suchlike” (Gal. 5:19).

"Men will be lovers of self (natural mentality), covetous,

haughty, proud, disobedient . . . unkind . . . loving pleasure more

than God; having a semblance indeed of piety, but disowning

its power (Christian mentality)” (II Tim. 3:2-5).

b) Regarding the Christian Mentality.

"I have run the way of thy commandments when thou didst

enlarge my heart” (Ps. 118:32).

"Thou hast proved my heart (by circumstances) ... and

iniquity has not been found in me” (Ps. 16:3).

"The good tree (Christian mentality) cannot bear bad fruit”

(Matt. 7:18).

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The

good man from his good treasure (Christian mentality) brings

forth good things (acts of virtue)” (Matt. 12:34-35).

"If the root (Christian mentality) is holy, so also are the

branches” (Rom. 11:16).

"Charity (Christian mentality) is patient, is kind, does not

envy . . .” (I Cor. 13:4).

"Put on therefore ... a heart (Christian mentality) of mercy*

kindness, humility, meekness, patience...” (Col. 3:13).

"But the fruit of the spirit (Christian mentality) is: charity,

joy, peace, patience, kindness...” (Gal. 5:22-23).

LOVE UNIFIES SPIRITUAL EFFORT

The preceding diagrams serve also to demonstrate the in-

effectiveness of striving to acquire virtues separately (as is



20 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

recommended, for example, in the Particular Examen of Con-

science) without first laying the foundation—the Christian Men-
tality. The virtues grow with and from charity or love for

God, and they grow together, like the fingers of the hand. The

words of Our Lord, "I do always the things that are pleasing

to him” (John 8:29), implicitly include all the virtues.

When the spiritual life is regarded from the aspect of acquir-

ing numerous virtues one at a time, it appears very complicated

and discouraging, as indeed it is. Without the solid foundation

of the Christian Mentality, when attention is turned to build-

ing another wall of virtue, the wall raised by previous efforts

easily collapses under the pressure of trials.

The formation of the habit of acting to please God unifies

and simplifies spiritual effort. This simplification is illustrated

by the foregoing diagrams. Imagine that the circle, with its

extension of two parallel lines, represents a piece of rope

—

a single unit, yet made of numerous strands woven together.

Regarded as a piece of rope, it is a unit and a simple thing, but

when unraveled into its component strands (the various virtues)

it is very complex. We complicate the spiritual life when we ig-
nore its unifying principle. "As the many branches on the tree all

spring from the same root,” writes St. Gregory the Great, "so

from the love of God do all other virtues spring.” We must sim-
plify spiritual development by striving to acquire that super-

natural habit of mind and heart from which the virtues will issue

more or less spontaneously in the varying circumstances of daily

life. We must put on what St. Paul calls "a heart of mercy,
kindness, humility, meekness, patience” (Col. 312).

Before studying a method of cultivating this habit of pleasing

God, let us first consider the nature of a habit and the steps in-

volved in its formation.



CHRISTIAN MENTALITY ISSUES IN VIRTUE 21

THE NATURE OF HABIT

A habit may be defined as: a practical facility of doing some-

thing; or: a disposition to act made easy by repetition. We have

formed many habits during life, physical, intellectual and moral.

We have learned to walk, to talk, to be polite, etc. We may

have learned to typewrite, to play a musical instrument, or to

drive a car. All these are examples of acquired habits. An

analysis of the process involved in forming such habits will

aid us in forming the spiritual habit of acting to please God.

These are three distinguishable steps or stages in the forma-

tion of a habit, namely, the Intention, the Practice and the

Foundation.

1. The Intention. No good habit is ever acquired unless one

intends and decides to form it. Bad habits are easily acquired

because fallen human nature is prone to evil rather than to good.

2. The Practice. This is the deliberate doing of something

repeatedly and systematically.

3. The Foundation. This is the first degree of facility, by

which one may be said to have acquired the habit. It is imper-

fect, but it is at least the beginning or basis of the perfection of

the habit.

To illustrate these three steps we may use the example of

learning to play the piano. The first step is to make the intention

and decide to learn; without this one would never begin. Then

one enters upon a period of methodical and painstaking prac-

tice, and with perseverance, arrives after some time at the stage

when one may honestly and humbly claim to be able to play

the piano, meaning that one has achieved a certain facility which

is, however, only the beginning of one’s career as a pianist, It

is the necessary, though elementary, foundation of future de-

velopment towards perfection of the acquired art.



22 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

We may also use the example of learning to drive a car.

This is more apt, because it involves progressive movement to-

wards a destination, like the soul’s progress in holiness towards

heaven. Suppose I go to a driving school and ask for lessons.

An instructor gives me a manual explaining the essential

mechanism of the car and the rules of the road, and tells me to

study it. Soon after, I return to the instructor, able to recite

the rules perfectly, whereupon he congratulates me, tells me I

am now qualified to drive, and sends me off on the road! True,

I have all the rules in my mind, but I do not know how to drive,

because I have not yet had the practice needed to form the

habit. If I attempt to drive in traffic I shall meet with diffi-

culties and accidents at every turn, even though my head is

filled with rules and regulations.

HOW TO AVOID SPIRITUAL ACCIDENTS

Now let us apply the analogy. The Christian life is a journey

on the path of love for God. God has given me the "car,”

that is, my body and soul with all its powers of nature and

grace. My book of rules is the Catechism, and the Sacraments

supply the "fuel and servicing.” All that God asks of me is

that I practice and learn how to drive the car according to the

rules, and so make progress on my spiritual journey.

(Might we not find in this analogy the reason why some

people see no need of receiving the Sacraments frequently? A

person who is not going anywhere cannot be persuaded to buy

fuel for his car. But one who is about to make a long journey

realizes the need of supplying his car with sufficient fuel, and

of stopping for a periodic check of the motor. Only one who is

intent on making progress in holiness will realize the need of

frequent Confession and Holy Communion.)



CHRISTIAN MENTALITY ISSUES IN VIRTUE 23

In order to make progress on the way, to avoid collisions with

disagreeable circumstances, and to apply the brake of restraint

in temptations, it is not enough that I study the "rules” of reli-

gion—the Ten Commandments and the Liturgy. I might know
the Catechism by heart from cover to cover, but that knowledge

of itself would not qualify me to meet life’s circumstances with

the proper supernatural attitude, any more than the knowledge

of the traffic rules would qualify me to drive a car in such a

manner as to avoid accidents and violations of the law. Unless

I form by practice the habit of living for God, I shall continue

in my native habit of living for myself, with its progeny of

faults, notwithstanding all my religious knowledge and my

church-going. Such a manner of life is what is known as reli-

gious externalism or pious naturalism. Even though afterwards

I recognize my faults, realizing it was wrong to rebel against

circumstances that were disagreeable to me, and wrong to cross

the line of moderation when things were agreeable. Sorrow

afterwards, always and only afterwards provides no remedy. If

I am truly sorry I shall try to remove the cause of the trouble.

The judge in a traffic court does not acquit a man accused of

traffic violations who pleads that he knows all the rules per-

fectly, who promises he will apologize after every accident, but

who shows no intention of learning to drive properly!

SIGNPOSTS POINTING TO HEAVEN

Let us exploit the example further. For the benefit of drivers

and to help them to reach their destination, the government

erects signposts at road-forks for direction, and traffic lights

at crossroads for safety. To one who knows how to drive, these

are most helpful, but to one attempting to drive without hav-



24 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

mg learned, they are hazards rather than helps, obstacles on

the path of an ill-controlled car.

In order to direct us on the path of holiness to heaven, God

places the "signposts” of His will in the conditions which sur-

round us. The "cross” of some disagreeable person or event

will read "Patience!” or "Kindness!” or "Obedience!” and point

the way to greater love and to heaven; but to one who loves

self rather than God, these manifestations of His will are only

obstacles in his way, and he "collides” with them by impatience,

unkindness, disobedience, blaming the person or event as the

cause of his fault. How absurd it would be for a man whose

car had collided with a signpost because he did not know how

to drive, to blame the signpost for "being in his way!” It is

equally unreasonable for us to lay the blame for our faults on

our circumstances.

DANGER SIGNALS

When a driver approaches a stop-light he must react spon-

taneously and promptly. It is too late then to look for the brake

and the clutch and try to recall what the book of rules says

about them. If he has not the habit of reacting promptly, the

rules in his mind, as yet uncoordinated with his feet and hands,

will not help him, and he will pass the red light. So when

temptation arises it is of little help simply to know that con-

science or the catechism says it is sinful not to resist. If one

has not built up a certain spontaneity in recognizing the oppor-

tunity to please God by preferring Him to the "agreeable cir-

cumstance” of temptation, the habitual impulse of pleasing self

will be the momentum to carry one past the "red light” into

some sin of indulgence.



CHRISTIAN MENTALITY ISSUES IN VIRTUE 25

Even a good driver might sometimes have an accident, through

momentary inadvertence, perhaps even a serious one—but not
frequently or continuously. St. Peter sinned seriously, in a mo-

ment of fear and confusion, but it was surely not through lack

of a disposition of love for Our Lord. And it is unlikely that

he ever offended again.



APPLICATION TO THE CHRISTIAN MENTALITY

Let us now apply the process of forming a habit to the spirit-

ual habit of living to please God; of acquiring the disposition

of acting habitually under the influence of grace rather than

of nature; of "putting on the mind of Christ,” as St. Paul ex-

presses it, or of forming what we here call "the Christian men-

tality.”

THE THREE STAGES

1. THE INTENTION

We shall never form the Christian mentality unless we first

determine to do so. The first and essential step for every Chris-

tian, therefore, is to decide to love God with his whole heart,

whole mind, and whole soul. He must make the intention of

cooperating with grace so as to acquire the habit of doing all

things to please God. This is a principle of primary importance.

A person is free to choose whether or not he will learn to

play the piano, or to form any such physical or mental habit,

but no Christian is free to choose whether or not he will learn

to love God with his whole heart. This is a commandment,

"the greatest and the first Commandment,” on which all other

26



APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 27

commandments depend. So it is evident that EVERY CHRIS-

TIAN IS BOUND TO HAVE THE INTENTION TO

STRIVE FOR PERFECTION, TO BECOME A SAINT, no

matter what his state of life. Although this obligation is clearly

expressed in the Gospel, and by the Saints and spiritual writers,

it would seem that many Christians are not aware of it. They

labor under the false impression that only the effort to avoid

sin is required of them. The obligation of forming and per-

fecting the habit of love for God (without which, as we have

seen before, it is a virtual impossibility to avoid sin) may never

have entered their mind. Any practical exhortation to sanctity

they dismiss as applying only to priests, nuns and the like. To

remove the popular misconception regarding this obligation,

and to convince all Christians of its necessity, the Church has

spoken in unmistakable terms. Here are the words of Pope

Pius XI:

"Christ has constituted the Church holy and the source of

sanctity, and all those who take her for guide and teacher

must by the Divine Will tend to holiness of life. 'This is the

will of God, your sanctification,’ says St. Paul. What kind of

sanctity? The Lord Himself declared it when He said: 'You,

therefore, are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.’

Let no one think that this is addressed to a select few and that

others are permitted to remain in an inferior degree of virtue.

The law obliges, as is clear, absolutely everyone in the world

without exception.” (Encyclical on The Third Centenary of

the Death of St. Francis de Sales.')

In the light of this explicit declaration, a Catholic should

ask himself: Have I the intention to love God with my whole

heart; to strive in all things to please God; to become perfect;

to be a saint

?

A sincere answer to this soul-searching question

might be very revealing! This does not mean, of course, that a



28 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

person is expected to be perfect here and now, any more than

one is an accomplished and finished pianist as soon as he makes

up his mind to play; nor does it mean that actual perfection

will be attained. Nevertheless the sincere intention is the neces-

sary preliminary step. The execution of the intention follows

gradually, just as a plant takes time to grow. If we sincerely

wish and effectively strive for perfection, God will help us

now, and in the end will accept our imperfect achievement; but

if we refuse or neglect to aim at the goal of perfection which

He has set for us, what help may we expect during life and

what excuse shall we make at the Judgment?

2. THE PRACTICE

The second stage in the formation of any good habit is the

actual and deliberate doing of something repeatedly and in a

systematic way. The effort is necessarily a conscious one until

such time as it comes spontaneously from the habit.

To put into execution the intention to learn to play the piano,

one must determine to devote sufficient time to practice, and

preferably to choose some method to follow. Various methods

may be recommended by different teachers; each method may

have its own particular merits, but the important thing is that

some method be followed, and, as is usually the case, under the

guidance of a teacher.

The question now presents itself: How much practice is

necessary to make progress in forming a habit? There may be

too little, and also there may be too much. To practice the

piano for two minutes each day would be useless; and to prac-

tice twelve hours a day would overtax both mind and muscles.

The answer is: Sufficient drill or exercise is required that some

impression remain from one practice to the next. Obviously,



APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 29

the greater the impression made, within reasonable limits, the

more will remain, and the sooner the habit will be formed.

The purpose of each session of practice is to make an ever-

increasing impression on the faculties. In the case of piano

practice, it is to coordinate more and more the mind and the

muscular response. Some of the impression or coordination is

lost between practices because the former condition reasserts

itself. If the session of practice is insufficient to build up enough

facility, or to leave enough impression, so that something re-

mains for the next practice, then no progress can be made.

One would always be beginning and never progressing.

This analysis of the forming of a habit is important in its

application to the necessary spiritual habit of living to please

God; to the acquiring of a Christian mentality, as we shall see.

First let us use a diagram to illustrate the idea. Suppose that

each step in the following diagram represents the impression

left by each practice (for example, two hours’ daily practice at

the piano). During the course of the day, until the subsequent

practice, some of the ability acquired, of the lesson learned, or

ADEQUATE PRACTICE

IMPRESSION

FROM

DAILY

PRACTICE

loss

9



30 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

the impression made, is lost. When, however, the practice is

long enough that some of the impression survives the inevitable

loss, then the next practice has something on which to build,

and each practice contributes to progress. The greater the sur-

viving impression, the greater the progress.

If the time and application to the practice does not develop

enough ability, nor make sufficient impression to survive, then

there is no progress. (Let us keep in mind that we are con-

cerned in this treatise precisely with the phenomenon of the

lack of progress in the spiritual habit of the love of God, and

with the search for its cause and remedy.)

Let us suppose that a pianoforte teacher, disappointed that

a pupil showed no sign of progress since the previous lesson,

inquired about the practice. But the pupil insisted that he had

practiced every day as he was told. Then, on further question-

ing, the teacher learned that the "daily practice” lasted only

two minutes! That would explain why, in spite of the daily

practice, there was no progress whatever. Graphically the case

may be illustrated by the following diagram, showing that the

slight impression made by the very brief practice was dissipated

in the course of the ensuing twenty-four hours.

INADEQUATE PRACTICE

DAILY rr—

_

impression 1 'Joss --^ \Los,r--- i/acr---.

The same principle applies to the formation of the spiritual

habit of love for God; of doing all things to please God. There

must be sufficient practice to ensure definite progress. It is im-

portant to understand this point in relation to the Morning

Offering. The Morning Offering, of itself, merely as an up-

ward and momentary glance to God, unapplied to the reality



APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 31

of the day's actions, no matter what merit may derive from it,

is as inadequate for progress in forming the Christian mentality,

as the pupil’s two-minute daily practice was insufficient for

learning to play the piano. The existing natural disposition,

unless progressively evicted from the mind and heart by sub-

stituting supernatural motivation in one’s actions, will assert

itself against the morning intention and dissipate its slight im-

pression. The value and significance of the Morning Offering

will be discussed in more detail when we consider some of the

faulty notions which hinder spiritual development.

A SUGGESTED METHOD OF PRACTICE

We have said that the practice, which is the second stage in

the formation of a habit, should be systematic, that is, there

should be some method adopted and followed perseveringly

until the foundation of the habit, the Christian mentality, is

established. Very often, sincere resolutions and energetic efforts

are made towards acquiring virtue, but from lack of method,

the efforts are haphazard and ineffective, or at least, less effective

than they might be if coordinated and directed into a definite

plan. A person might conceivably learn to play the piano with-

out following any method or engaging any teacher, and make

some progress by persevering practice; but we may presume

that he would do far better by adhering to systematic direction.

This is equally true of the formation of the Christian mentality,

and for this reason various spiritual authors suggest some

method of practice. Frequent renewal of the intention is recom-

mended by all, because the natural habit innate in us, prompting

us to seek our own interests rather than God’s good pleasure,

will reassert itself in our actions repeatedly until the habit of



32 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

self-seeking is more or less supplanted by the habit of living

for God.

St. Alphonsus and others recommend the renewal of the in-

tention before the principal actions of the day, namely, prayer,

meals, work and recreation, suggesting that we say always, at

least mentally, "Lord, in this action I intend not my own pleas-

ure, but only the accomplishment of Thy will.” We shall now
examine and exploit this method to see how helpful it can be.

THE INTENTION JOINED TO REALITY

The offering of an action to God has important and practical

implications which must be recognized and included in the

offering if it is to be something more than a pious formula. The

offering means that the circumstances surrounding the ensuing

action are accepted in advance as representing God’s will and

providing opportunities or tests by which the sincerity of the

offering may be proved. For example, to say grace before eat-

ing, which means that one intends to eat for the glory of God,

and then to grumble and complain because there is no flavor

to the soup, suggests that the relationship has not been seen

between the good intention and the acceptance of the very trials

that would prove the practical value of the offering.

It does not suffice that an intention be a mere upward glance

to God unrelated to the circumstances of the action offered.

It must be a forward glance embracing in anticipation the will

of God in whatever form it may manifest itself during the course

of the action. With the intention thus brought down from the

stratosphere of pious theory to the ground-level of reality, we

begin to recognize and gradually to cooperate with the will of

God in all our circumstances.

It is evident that an intention made just prior to an action



APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 33

and projected over it, is more likely to retain some of its power

to see God’s will in the circumstances of that action than is an

isolated, distant and practically unrelated Morning Offering.

Moreover, such an intention repeated over a period of time is

the practice needed to form the habit of love for God; of ac-

cepting His will and practicing the virtues implied in the love

of God.

THE REWARD OF EFFORT

Because the practice of any worthwhile habit requires special

concentration, and application to elementary exercises, it is usual-

ly rather repugnant to nature; but the repugnance must be over-

come by perseverance. How many accomplished artists look

back with gratitude to parents and teachers who once seemed

heartless and tyrannical in their insistence on the tiresome repeti-

tion of seemingly trifling exercises! Until some facility is ac-

quired, any practice may be unpleasant, but as the results appear

we are encouraged to continue. The facility of action means

that what was outside of us has by repetition been built up in

us, and may now be produced from within.

Since the habit of living to please God is neither in us by

nature nor infused into us with grace, it has to be established

in us by practice. Then the acquired habit, under the influence

of grace, will prompt us to act for God.

THE NEED OF EXTERNAL REMINDERS

In order to ensure the renewal of the intention before the

principal actions of the day, it is important to use something

to remind us. Since the reminder does not yet come from with-

in, some external stimulus is needed—something deliberately
placed to attract our attention. The more striking the reminder,

the better. It is to tell us to offer the action to God and there-



34 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

fore to accept His will in the accompanying circumstances, what-

ever they may be. In material affairs when we wish to re-

member something we use external reminders, even to the

proverbial "string around the finger.” Should we not be equally

practical in spiritual matters?

THE FOUR PRINCIPAL ACTIONS

1 . Prayer.

Prayer is the first, and of course the most important, action

of the day. For even so good an action we need to make the

intention of performing it for the glory of God and of accept-

ing His will during the course of it. A few examples of un-

favorable but common reactions to circumstances, will serve to

show that the acceptance of God’s will is not to be taken for

granted simply because the action, like prayer, is religious in

character. Detailed examples would depend on one’s state of

life, but simply to illustrate the point let us consider the act of

assisting at Mass. Certain inconveniences or annoyance are often

associated with it. Perhaps a fellow-worshipper continually

coughs, or mutters his prayers aloud, or rattles his rosary (an

example mentioned by The Little Flower). The reaction to

such trifling annoyances is all too often quite unfavorable. Even

a holy person might fail in patience now and then, but when

annoyance is felt and manifested habitually and as a matter of

course by religious-minded people, it suggests that they are un-

aware of the relation between the intention of living for God

and the actual fulfillment of the intention by accepting the

crosses which surround the action.

Circumstances which are outside our responsibility or con-

trol, such as those mentioned above, represent for us the will

of God. How else shall we prove that we act for God’s glory



APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 35

except by recognizing and taking up such daily crosses by pa-

tience, obedience and the other virtues? How can a student

prove that he has studied his lessons unless he is able to pass

a given test ? These crosses are frequent tests given us by God

to remind us of His presence; of His plan for our sanctification,

and also to give us occasions to prove our love for Him.

Prayer has also its agreeable circumstances. Participation in

functions and ceremonies can become an occasion for self-

exaltation. May processions, for example, those beautiful tributes

to the humble Virgin, can be occasions for a display of vanity

—if the glory of God is forgotten.
God sometimes gives spiritual consolations in prayer. The

natural mind has a tendency to "spiritual avarice,” that is, to

seek these consolations and to complain, or even abandon prac-

tices of prayer, if they are withdrawn and the soul left in aridity.

The Christian mentality, seeking to please God and not self,

prays independently of the circumstance of consolation or of

dryness, and practices abandonment to God’s good pleasure.

2. Work.

St. Alphonsus mentions work as the next principal action of

the day, and St. Paul exhorts us, "Whatever you do in word or

in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17).

It is an encouraging thought that our work, no matter what its

nature, if it be honest labor, can and should give glory to. God,

by being offered to Him. "An action of the most trivial kind,

as far as human estimation goes,” writes Fr. Edward Leen, "may

be wonderfully pleasing in God’s eyes if it proceeds from a

soul in which charity is great” (In the Likeness of Christ'). But,

as we have seen, charity according to St. Paul, "is patient, is

kind, is not puffed up. ...” Our work, therefore, is pleasing to



36 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

God if we recognize the circumstances which surround it as

means of expressing charity through patience, kindness, humil-

ity, etc. Countless annoyances from persons and events may

arise in our work. What great spiritual loss—to be blinded by
natural mentality to such numerous opportunities of growing

in grace! It is like walking through a gold mine and coming

out empty-handed.

Work, too, is not without its agreeable aspects. There is the

satisfaction of seeing one’s work well done, the compliments

and praise of others—things which can lead to pride. There is
the pursuit of gain, which may lead to covetousness and avarice

and neglect of duty. Only the Christian mentality will turn

these things to the glory of God. To develop this mentality by

the method suggested, we should use some external reminder

to renew the intention to do this work for the glory of God,

and to be on the alert to see and accept His will in whatever

disagreeable or agreeable incidents arise during the course of it.

Suggestions might be made, but since types and places of work

are so varied, it is better left to the individual to choose his

own reminders.

3 . Meals.

The vital necessity of taking food makes eating one of the

principal actions of the day, and St. Paul indicates its importance

when he says, "Whether you eat or drink or do anything else,

do all for the glory of God” (I Cor. 10:31). How many faults

are committed in this necessary action! How much complain-

ing there is in families about food, especially by children, who

"do not like this” and "will not eat that!” In institutions how

much grumbling about the food that is served! Usually it is

not a question of the substantial quality or quantity of the food,



APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 37

but of personal fads and fancies. The complaints are made

simply because something is not quite suited to the taste. Our

Lord surely reproved such complaining when He said, "Do not

be anxious for ... what you shall eat” (Matt. 6:25). These

"lost opportunities” manifest the astonishing discrepancy be-

tween our intentions and our actions. We propose to eat for

the glory of God, not merely to please ourselves, yet we fail

to pass the tests that God gives occasionally to see whether we

mean what we say. The cause of the failure is the natural men-

tality which remains entrenched in us despite our good inten-

tions, until we apply ourselves to forming a Christian mental-

ity, and view things supernaturally.

Since the act of eating is, generally speaking, agreeable to

nature, it can easily be the occasion of sins of excess or indul-

gence. This was indicated graphically in the diagram showing

how the natural mentality, when confronted by agreeable cir-

cumstances, is prone to excess. We know how true this is re-
garding food. The cause of intemperance, of lack of abstemious-

ness at table, of unwillingness to practice mortification, is not

that food is pleasing to the taste; the cause is the habitual de-

sire of pleasing self. To the Christian mentality, the good

things of the table, after supplying the needs of the body, pro-

vide opportunities to offer gifts of love to God. Thus, St.

Thomas, explaining the Cardinal Virtues, says, "Temperance

abandons, as far as nature can bear it, what the body demands”

(la, Ilae, q. 61, a. 5).

To follow the suggested method of practice, some external

reminder is probably necessary to evoke before meals the in-

tention of eating to please God, and therefore to be ready for

opportunities of expressing love for God in acts of virtue, for:

"charity is patient ... is not self-seeking and bears with all



38 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

things.” The grace said before meals should be the reminder,

but perhaps it has become routine.

4 . Recreation.

The last of the four principal actions of the day mentioned

by St. Alphonsus is recreation. Recreation being of its nature

a pleasant occupation, the probability is that the agreeable cir-

cumstances will far outnumber the disagreeable, so that the

dangers surrounding it are chiefly sins of excess—vanity, greed,
intemperance, immodesty, sloth, etc.

Recreation is a good and necessary thing, but it is to be taken

for the glory of God, and not loved and enjoyed merely for the

sake of pleasure. We are not excused from the Great Com-
mandment of love for God during the time of play.

If there does not yet exist in us the abiding habit of doing

all things to please God, there is real danger of misusing our

recreations. The vanity, intemperance and squandering of time,

not to mention grosser offenses, which so often accompany the

taking of recreation, are simply the evil fruit of the natural

mentality. It seeks habitually to please self and is carried to

excesses by the very momentum of its desires. The supernatural

motive of pleasing God must be the rule for a Christian’s amuse-

ments as for all his other actions. A little reflection will show

how effectively this motive would regulate recreation; indeed

it is the only bulwark against that vanity and worldliness which

has invaded the Christian life under cover of the false maxim

which ignores the obligation of doing all to please God and

says: "Enjoy yourself, but keep out of sin!”

Recreation is not spared its disagreeable circumstances—de-
lays occasioned by people, events, the weather; disappointments

in expected joys; errors and defeats in games. One wonders



APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 39

how many Christians realize that these are tests—opportunities
of proving that one takes his recreation for the glory of God.

A Christian mentality profits by these "opportunities” and at the

same time gives spiritual value to all our amusements, pre-

serves us from attachment to them and protects us from the

dangers which surround them.

As with the other three principal actions, an external reminder

is especially necessary before recreation, to adjust the mind to

the glory of God.

THE SUGGESTED METHOD IN GRAPHIC FORM

Let us now illustrate this method of practice by means of a

diagram showing a day’s activity divided into the four principal

actions mentioned above. Since these are our main occupations,

if we can learn by means of them to form the habit of pleasing

God, then the numerous incidental and less significant details

of daily life will also be brought under the influence of the

intenior habit so formed. Each day is a life in miniature, so

that to live for God, as we are bound to do, means to perform

our daily actions for Him. Until the supernatural disposition is

formed, our mentality remains more or less on the natural

M.O

SUPER-

NATURAL

LEVEL

NATURAL

LEVEL
PRAYER WORK MEALS

--+T+ + 4- 5a + 4- ik

PLAY



40 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

level, with our actions infested by the selfishness of fallen na-

ture. The diagram begins, therefore, with the actions of the

day on the natural plane, and illustrates how they may be raised

to the supernatural plane and sustained there.

MEANING OF SYMBOLS USED

1) The Arrows represent the renewal of the intention. The

first and heaviest arrow is for the Morning Offering. The other

four arrows indicate the renewal of intention before the prin-

cipal actions. The projection over each action embraces the

Will of God in whatever circumstances may accompany the

action.

2) The Crosses signify the various disagreeable circumstances

which may, and usually do, arise during the course of any

action.

3) The Stars represent the agreeable circumstances.

INTERPRETATION OF THE DIAGRAM.

a) The Morning Offering. Every Christian should make the

Morning Offering in some form or other.
4

Whatever form is

used, the meaning is substantially the same, namely, that one

offers to God the activity of the new day, intending to live for

His glory. The broken line extended over the entire day signi-

fies that the Morning Offering is not merely an upward and

isolated thought, but a forward glance which takes in the whole

day’s activity.

b) The Renewals. The repetition of the intention before the

principal actions of the day serves to break up the Morning

Offering into workable sections, and to apply it to the concrete

deeds of the day. It provides us with a method of practice

4 The most common form is that recommended by The Apostleship

of Prayer.



APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 41

adequate to form the habit of pleasing God, for as we saw in

the psychological analysis of the habit, it cannot be formed

without such repetition as is sufficient to make and to deepen

an impression on the faculties. The intention need not be

formulated in words, but, to serve its purpose, it must be an

actual advertance to the desire of performing the ensuing action

to please God.

The arrows in the diagram represent also the external re-

minders employed for the period of practice. These are un-

doubtedly needed until the foundation of the habit is laid. Then

the "reminders” will begin to come from the inside—the
promptings of the interior disposition. A lover finds no diffi-

culty on thinking of his beloved; on the contrary! So the Saints

had an abiding consciousness of the presence of God; and we,

too, the more we practice, the more we shall become aware of

the need of pleasing God in all things and of seeing His will

in our circumstances.

Even an intention so closely allied to an action, and projected

over it, may soon be forgotten and fail us in the moment of

trial, especially at the beginning of the period of practice; never-

theless, in a particular instance, it is more likely to adjust and

prepare the mind to recognize God’s will than is the remote

Morning Offering. The extensions of the four arows show how

the actions of the day may gradually be linked up by the uni-

fying principle of charity, the habit of pleasing God.

c) The Circumstances. The purpose of the method suggested

by the diagram is to cooperate with grace so that our actions

may be elevated to the supernatural level, and eventually main-

tained on that level. The repetition of the intention, represented

by the arrows, is our part; but God also does His part. All the

disagreeable and agreeable circumstances, represented by the



42 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

other two symbols, are very effective "reminders” sent or per-

mitted by God, and serve as added supports for the intention.

Gradually, by such practice, our activity is sustained more or

less on the higher level. The diagram shows graphically how

we may cooperate with grace and learn to live a supernatural

life.

THE USE OF THE EXAMEN

In the formation of any habit, a periodic check on one’s ef-

forts and progress is helpful. In the practice of the method

here suggested, this check might well be made during the daily

examination of conscience, which, according to our prayer

books and to Catholic tradition, should be made not only by

religious but by every Catholic.

Religious usually have two examens a day, the particular and

the general. For others the one examen, usually made during

night prayers, might be divided into two parts, and used in

the following manner. The first part, or particular examen,

should be concerned with the arrows in our scheme, and the

second part, or general examen, with the crosses and stars.

It is customary to use the particular examen to concentrate

on the faults committed against one particular virtue, but since

we are concerned for the present with the formation of that

disposition which is the foundation of all virtue, it is preferable

to use the particular examen during the period of practice to

find out whether we have renewed the intention in the morning

and before the principal actions. On finding that we have

failed sometimes, we should determine to use some more ef-

fective reminders.

The general examination of conscience (or the second part)

should be a review of the day, not so much from the negative



APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 43

aspect of sins committed, as from the positive aspect of oppor-

tunities lost. This will reveal any descrepancies between the

intention to please God and the actual fulfillment or non-ful-

filment of that intention in the face of daily trials and joys. A

show of impatience, for example, or of disobedience, was an

opportunity lost. The same or similar circumstances will prob-

ably occur tomorrow and every day; therefore the resolution

of the examen should be a determination not to lose the oppor-

tunity again, but to be ready for it, and to react favorably when

the will of God manifests itself again under like circumstances.

Any faults of greediness, of sloth, of impurity, etc., were like-

wise failures in the test of love for God, because of the self-

seeking natural mentality. Such opportunities will come again,

and we must pray for the grace to see such trials and tempta-

tions as so many means of making acts of love and preference

for God.

Human nature being so weak, failures are sure to be frequent

for most of us, but we need to preserve the ideal, the goal of

perfection, which God sets before us, and with His grace to

improve gradually by seeing and cooperating with His plan

for our sanctification.

Father Edward Leen recommends the same positive approach

in the use of the examen. He says:

"Making the love of God the sole object of the Christian en-

deavor, we should have as the matter of our examen of con-

science our real attitude or disposition of soul with regard to

the demands of Divine Charity. Our vigilance over ourselves

should he directed towards eliminating from our actions all the

elements that tend to supplant, to corrupt, or to diminish the

charity in them. When seeking to purify our conscience, we

should ask ourselves if our manner of living responds to the

essential requirements of a real undivided love for God, Our



44 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

watchfulness over our interior, over our dispositions, our de-

cisions, our judgments, should have as its aim not merely the

flight from sin and its occasions—the obstacles to sanctity—but
rather the direction of all our energies towards the develop-

ment of the love of God in our souls.” (Ibid.)

APPLICATION TO THE MASS

There is a definite relationship between the method here sug-

gested and the Sacrifice of the Mass. The Mass is ”our sacri-

fice,” as the priest says at the Orate Fratres. We, therefore,

must bring our offering to the Mass. This offering is drawn

from the treasury of the crosses and joys of daily life, or what

we have called the disagreeable and agreeable circumstances. To

the Christian mentality these are opportunities of making gifts

of love to God. Only the crosses accepted and the pleasures

renounced (either directly by giving them up, or indirectly by

using them for the glory of God) can be united with the offer-

ing of Christ in the Mass. We cannot offer the crosses which

self-love has cast away, nor the pleasures we have consumed

merely for pleasure’s sake. As progress is made in developing

the Christian mentality, the offering will become richer, our

participation in the Mass more complete, and God’s gift of

Himself in Holy Communion will be proportionately greater .
5

3. THE FOUNDATION

Persevering and systematic practice sooner or later creates

a certain facility of action by which one may be said to have

formed a habit. There is, of course, no precise line which marks

off the second phase of practice from the third phase of the

5 This subject has been treated in a booklet. The Mass in My Life,

by Denis Mooney, O.F.M., Grail Publications, St. Meinrad, Ind. Price 350.



APPLICATION TO CHRISTIAN MENTALITY 45

foundation, yet this third stage has a certain character. For ex-

ample, a girl who graduates from a Commercial Course in

Typewriting will be classified as a typist, but usually she is by

no means an expert. She has the foundation, and will improve

with the experience of using her ability. So with the super-

natural habit. By the practice of renewing the intention one be-

gins to be alert to the will of God, conscious, as a rule, that the

crosses and joys of life are opportunities of pleasing God, even

though through human frailty one may often fail to make use

of the opportunities. At such a stage, despite many faults, one

may be said to have a Christian mentality or outlook—the
foundation for real spiritual progress by cooperating with grace

in the actual experiences of life.

The Christian mentality promotes interior joy, by making

one a spiritual optimist, ever on the watch for opportunities to

express one’s love for God. It also opens the soul to the sun-

light of divine love to dispel the clouds of anxiety and scrup-

ulosity which sometimes distress souls preoccupied with avoid-

ing sin rather than with loving God.



THE TRAINING OF THE YOUNG

The education of children consists in directing and encour-

aging them to form good physical, intellectual and moral habits,

and this is attained only by constant repetition. They learn to

play by playing, to write by writing, etc., and methods are most

carefully worked out and followed. Progress in these habits is

tested and measured by contests and examinations. The most

important habit for a Christian child is the spiritual habit of

love for God, of learning to do only what pleases God. Progress

in this habit can be measured, too, because it is tested every

day by the circumstances a child meets with in school, at home,

and wherever he is.

Let us ask the question: Do the tests of daily circumstances

show that the average child, receiving a Christian education, is

making as noticeable progress in the habit of love for God,

as he is making in the other branches of study? Is the child

becoming more patient, more kind, more obedient, as an in-

dication that his Christian training is taking effect and that he

is growing in charity, as God expects? Or let us put the ques-

tion another way: Are scientific methods and detailed systems

46



THE TRAINING OF THE YOUNG 47

worked out and followed as precisely for the formation of this

habit as for the other arts and sciences?

Children are obliged to learn the art of pleasing God in

everything. They should therefore be trained in the repetition

of the intention to please God, and of accepting His will in all

things. But are they so trained? Today, undoubtedly, children

are taught Catechism by the most efficient methods developed

by the science of pedagogy; they learn many prayers; they are

able to follow intelligently the liturgy of the Mass, and are

urged to receive the Sacraments frequently. All this is excellent

and necessary, but while it aids and fosters, it does not sub-

stitute for, the formation and development of the psychological

habit of praying, working, eating and playing to please God;

of seeing and accepting His will in the ever changing pattern

of activities. This spiritual habit, like any other, is formed and

developed by the actual practice of praying, working, eating

and playing with the supernatural motive of pleasing God, and

it is far more easily formed in the young.

The Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on The Christian Education

of Youth, expressing the Church’s official attitude on the sub-

ject, says:

"In none of his actions . . . may a Christian neglect the good

which is above nature; indeed he must direct all things to the

highest good as to their last end, according to the prescriptions

of Christian wisdom.”

And again:

The specific and immediate purpose of Christian education

is to cooperate with divine grace in forming the true and per-

fect Christian; to express and form Christ Himself in those

who have been regenerated by Baptism, according to the words

of St. Paul: 'My little children, of whom I am in labor again,



48 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

until Christ be formed in you.’ The true Christian has to live

a supernatural life in Christ and display that life in everything

that he does.” (Italics added)

Parents and teachers, responsible for the growth in charity

of the children committed to their charge, should use the ut-

most ingenuity’ in devising methods of practice and training to

achieve "the specific and immediate purpose of Christian edu-

cation,” namely, the forming of Christ or the Christian mentality

in the baptized child, so that all his actions will be "above na-

ture,” and he display the supernatural life "in everything that

he does.”

Graduates from Catholic schools should, after their many

years of training, be well-informed in charity, have a thoroughly

supernatural outlook, and be fully aware that whatever they

do in word, or work, or play, should be stripped of selfish-

ness and worldliness, and worthy to be offered to God. If this

supernatural habit has not been formed during the years of

Christian education, then by all means it ought to be pursued

when its absence is realized—for, as Christians, we are bound
to strive for the fulfillment of the commandment to love God

with our whole heart.



WRONG NOTIONS THAT PARALYZE GROWTH

In view of the clear teaching of the Gospel, of the Church

and of the Saints, no one can deny that growth in holiness is

normal and necessary to the Christian; but principles that are

accepted in theory are sometimes impeded in their practical pur-

suit and realization by thoughtless adherence to notions and

maxims which have the appearance of truth, but under scrutiny

are found to be defective and to paralyze progress. Such harm-

ful notions or "half-truths” are not uncommon in spiritual mat-

ters; they unhappily account for much of the spiritual medi-

ocrity, the arrested growth of grace and charity, the spiritual

dwarfdom of Christian souls, which our spiritual guardians de-

plore. Pope Pius XI lamented this sad condition with the words:

“The habit of life which can be called really Christian has in

great measure disappeared” (Ubi Arcano Dei).

“THE STATE OF GRACE SUFFICES”

First among these harmful notions is that which prompts us

always to think and speak of the state of grace, to the neglect

of the necessary growth of grace in the soul. Because of this

wrong emphasis some Christians strive only to avoid losing the

49



50 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

state of grace, and, when they do lose it by mortal sin, to have

it restored through Confession. They give little or no thought

to the necessity of making progress in grace and love for God.

Most would not admit that they live by such a negative and

pagan rule of life as the mere effort to avoid sin, but an examina-

tion of their practical judgments might reveal that the positive

and Christian rule of love for God is not the practical guide

of their life. They will insist, for example, that one may use

any legitimate pleasure as long as he avoids excess. No thought

is given to the motive for using such pleasure; to the possibility

of an attachment; to a love for pleasure for its own sake. They

attribute no spiritual significance to selfish motivation. Their

criterion is the avoidance of excessive use; but—the excessive
use of any pleasure, no matter how lawful in itself, is in some

degree sinful. The rule, therefore, of merely avoiding sin, which

they disclaim in theory, they would seem to follow in practice.

ALL ATTACHMENTS ARE INORDINATE

As to the spiritual significance of attachments, the Saints

speak very clearly; and they do not mean "inordinate attach-

ments” in the sense of excessive, exaggerated and sinful use of

pleasure. Every attachment to a created thing, in the terminology

of the Saints, is inordinate, since an attachment is a natural love

for a created thing instead of a supernatural love as it should

be. This means that the use of the creature is directed to one’s

selfish desire for pleasure instead of being "ordinated” or direct-

ed to God. The word "inordinate” applied to an attachment

is redundant, and moreover, quite misleading when it gives the

impression, as it usually does, that an attachment is permissable

when not inordinate (
!
)

,

that is, when not excessive or exagger-

ated, or in plain words—when it is not sinful.



WRONG NOTIONS THAT PARALYZE GROWTH 51

From among the Saints
6 who speak of "attachment,” and that

without any qualification, we quote St. Francis de Sales:

"Although it is lawful to amuse yourself, to dance, dress, hear

good plays, and join in society, yet to be attached to such

things, is contrary to devotion and extremely hurtful and

dangerous."

Again:

"Especially avoid attaching yourself to them (games, music

and such innocent amusements), for however allowable such

things are as amusements, they become evils as soon as they

absorb the heart." (Introduction to a Devout Life)

DETACHMENT FOR ALL

To be concerned only with preserving the life of grace in

the soul, opens the way to any and every attachment, since at-

tachments are not directly opposed to the state of grace. The

harm is that they prevent its growth and endanger its presence.

St. John of the Cross says:

"It is sad to see certain souls in this plight (having attachment

to something); like rich vessels, they are laden with wealth

and good works and spiritual exercises, but because they have

not the courage to break with some whim or attachment or

affection (which are all the same) they never make prog-

ress. ... (The Ascent of Mount Carmel)

Dom Aelred Graham writes:

"Detachment is a condition sine qua non of advance in the

love of God." (The Love of God)

The conclusion is evident. Since every Christian is bound to

progress in love of God, every Christian is bound also to strive

6 Others: St. Alphonsus di Liguori, St. Bonaventure, St. John of the

Cross, St. Teresa, St. Louis Marie de Montfort, St. Margaret Mary, et aL



52 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

for complete detachment from created things, so as to use and

enjoy them only in accordance with God’s plan, that is, for

His glory, not becoming solicitous for them, much less becom-

ing slaves to them. In our pleasure-loving age this doctrine be-

comes all the more significant. It is also more difficult to ac-

cept and practice, but it is none the less true.

HOW IS YOUR HEALTH

?

An example from the physical order will help us to under-

stand the fallacy and harmfulness of thinking only of preserv-

ing grace rather than of growing in grace. We may liken the

state of grace to physical life, and growth in grace to physical

health. Our constant physical concern is with our health; we

seldom think in terms of our life, for we know that if we take

care of our health our life will, as we say, take care of itself.

When we greet a friend we inquire about his health, not his

life! In reflecting on our spiritual state we should likewise be

concerned about its health, not merely about its life. What a

precarious physical existence we should live if we took no pre-

cautions to safeguard and promote health, but only to avoid

the stroke of death! Death would soon overtake us as the in-

evitable result of physical debility from the neglect of our health.

Is not this paralleled by the precarious spiritual existence of

those Catholics who wish indeed to preserve the life of grace,

but failing to promote their spiritual health, frequently find

themselves overtaken by spiritual death, through falls into

grievous sin.

Physically, we are not satisfied merely to be alive; we take

every means to promote vigorous and robust health. One might

be able to remain alive for years on a small quantity of bread

and water, but such life without health and strength is not our



WRONG NOTIONS THAT PARALYZE GROWTH 53

ideal. A newborn infant has life, but nobody would wish to

remain an infant, with a life so weak and undeveloped; yet, in

the spiritual order, some would seem content to remain spiritual

weaklings or dwarfs, making no progress in charity. A cancer

patient on the brink of the grave has life, but on one would

be satisfied with such poor health; yet Christians who make no

effort to destroy the cancer of self-love live on the brink of

spiritual death.

A doctor’s interest in his patient goes beyond the effort to

preserve the patient’s life. He uses his skill and medicines to

promote the best health possible. If called to a patient suffer-

ing from a serious malady, the doctor diagnoses the illness from

the manifest symptoms, and then attacks the cause of the malady.

How absurd it would be if the doctor, after an examination,

would announce to the family: "Yes, the patient is seriously

ill, but he is still alive; that is all that matters!” It seems equal-

ly absurd in the spiritual order for us to be concerned only with

maintaining the state of grace, or restoring it through Con-

fession, while ignoring the necessity of promoting our spiritual

health; of destroying the germs of selfish motives; of removing

the infection of our natural mentality, so that grace might en-

joy vigorous growth.

MINIMIZED CHRISTIANITY

Catholics who imagine that their faith demands of them only

the State of Grace, naturally tend to reduce their religious prac-

tices also to a minimum; but, as we have seen, such an atti-

tude, although apparently very common, is vain and illusory,

and finds no sanction in the teaching of the Church. Speaking

to the students of the Roman University, His Holiness Pope

Pius XII said:



54 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

"If therefore someone deemed it sufficient for his religious

life to dedicate to the worship of God the small half-hour

of Sunday Mass, how could he hope to avoid the decay and

drying-up of his religious life?”
(
Allocutio

,

15 June, 1952)

“THE MORNING OFFERING SUFFICES”

Another wrong notion that may paralyze the life of grace

and impede real growth in charity concerns the Morning Offer-

ing. One cannot praise sufficiently the practice of making the

Morning Offering; yet, on the other hand, one must not thought-

lessly attribute to it a power which it does not possess. It is

an excellent start for the Christian’s day, but it is only that

—

a start, for, being but an intention, it still has to be lived and

carried out as one comes to grips with the realities of the day’s

activities. One has still to bear the day’s crosses, and to be un-

selfish in its joys—all for the glory of God. One who SAYS
he intends to live for God, but makes no effort to put the in-

tention into practice, is like a lover who presents his beloved

with a box of chocolates, but eats them all himself!

We are not concerned here with the merits which derive

from the intention formulated by the Morning Offering, but

only with its relationship to the formation of the necessary habit

of love for God—the Christian mentality. For one who had
already established such a supernatural disposition, the Morn-

ing Offering would suffice, no doubt, to keep the mind adjusted

to God. Most of us, however, if we may judge from our selfish

reactions to God’s will in the crosses and joys of each day, are

still under the influence of fallen nature rather than of grace.
7

7 "Nature is still strong in you. ... You must now make over your

natural powers as slaves to right doing, till all is sanctified” (Rom.

6:19-21—Knox translation).



WRONG NOTIONS THAT PARALYZE GROWTH 55

In studying the psychological analysis of a habit, we saw that

if progress is to be made in forming a habit sufficient practice

is required. It is, therefore, unrealistic and wrong to think

that one isolated intention formulated before even entering into

the rough and tumble of the day, is all that is necessary in the

way of supernatural motivation, and that the need of forming

the habit of acting for God may be ignored.

When speaking of the necessity of having a supernatural in-

tention in our actions, one sometimes hears it said: "The Morn-

ing Offering is sufficient.” But what it is sufficient for is not

always clear. If it is properly made with attention, no doubt it

is sufficient to gain some merit for the worthy actions of the

day; but it is obviously not sufficient to form the important

habit of love for God, the abiding disposition of seeing and co-

operating with God’s will during the day. One who would

neglect to form this necessary habit of love, and would think

only of gaining some merit, would be like a man putting his

money into a bank which is gradually becoming insolvent—or
pouring water into a pail that leaks! The natural disposition

leads to sin, and unless it is checked, and the life of grace al-

lowed to grow, sin will lead to more sin; and what good would

be some "merit” previously gained, if the "law of the mem:

bers” follows its course to "the law of sin” and one dies in

his sins!

-

:
I

THE QUALITY OF THE MORNING OFFERING

To clarify the relationship between the Morning Offering

and the Christian mentality, let us see what quality the Morn-

ing Offering may have and what it should have.

1) The saying of the Morning Offering, whether alone or in

common with others, might conceivably be no more than a



56 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

mere mechanical or routine formula of words, recited in total

distraction and without any advertance to or reflection on the

meaning of the words. We must be honest and practical enough

to admit that this is sometimes, if not often, the case. The less

supernatural the disposition, the more likely is it to be the

case.

2) The Morning Offering may be a real act of advertance,

an upward and devoted glance to God. This is very good and

meritorious, but being a single act of the will, it has little in-

fluence on the existing habit of the mind.

3 )
The Morning Offering can and should be the initial super-

natural act of the day, pointing the direction which the mind

intends to take as it comes to grips with life’s joys and sorrows.

It should be a determination to live for God and not for one-

self—a FORWARD glance accepting in advance the will of
God as expressed through the events of the day.

In view of these three possible qualities, let us now see what

the Morning Offering is sufficient for.

Having the first quality, that of a routine or mechanical for-

mula, it is sufficient for nothing at all—not even for any merit.
Having the second quality, of real even though momentary

advertance, the Morning Offering is good, and by virtue of it

any unselfish actions performed in the state of grace gain some

merit. As an isolated offering, however, associated only remote-

ly with the day’s activities, it scarcely helps at all to "reform

the spirit of the mind,” or to "put off the old man and put on

the new.” The progressive formation of the habit of pleasing

God in everything requires sufficient practice of the intentional

direction of activity—but one isolated daily intention is ob-
viously not sufficient to form the habit.

The Morning Offering made in the third manner, namely as



WRONG NOTIONS THAT PARALYZE GROWTH 57

a supernatural beginning, a FORWARD glance over the day,

intended to be joined with the reality of the day's activity and

carried out in practice by frequent renewal if necessary, is not

only meritorious, but is an essential element in forming the

habit of love which will be as a " solvent bank" and a "sound

receptacle" for all the merits gained.

Fr. Tissot, in his spiritual classic The Interior Life, has this

to say on the subject of the Morning Offering:

"Do I not rectify my intention every morning by directing my

actions to God’s glory?—no doubt; and that is all very good.
But what I thus do in the morning is an act. Now, an act

does not destroy a habit; it may interrupt it momentarily, and

produce some effect, until the habit regains the upper hand.

This act does not destroy the habit I have formed of judging

everything from my own point of view. And this all the more,

because it is an act of the will, and an act of the will is not

directly contrary to a habit of the mind. If I had no contrary

habit, the morning intention would normally cover the whole

of my day’s doings with its virtue. But the habit of self-

seeking is there, and in possession; and it is only momentarily

interrupted by right acts, as long as the habit of piety has not

succeeded in supplanting it.

"The fact remains that, in spite of this good morning intention,

I continue habitually to look at my own interest primarily; the

thought that practically inspires and directs my conduct is

always too much that of my own interest, and so far the good

intention has hardly corrected it; and it was all the less capable

of correcting it, in that I did not see clearly enough the chief

seat of the evil."

The "chief seat of the evil" is the natural mentality, and to

eradicate the evil it is necessary to form, by constant repetition,

a new mental habit. To this end the foregoing METHOD is
suggested as a help. The intention needs to be supported on



58 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

the supernatural level until it becomes "second nature” to think

and act to please God. Even though we wish and INTEND

to live supernaturally, the downward drag of our fallen nature

will soon overpower and cancel the good intention, unless and

until a new habit is formed to counteract the downward pull.

THE REALISTIC VIEW

The two contrary tendencies of nature and grace have an

explanatory counterpart in two physical laws, the Law of Gravi-

tation and the Law of Inertia. The tendency of our nature to

seek its own interest is like the Law of Gravitation by which

all objects are drawn down to earth. The "tendency” of grace,

by which God would have us act always on the supernatural

level, is like the Law of Inertia, in virtue of which an object

once set in motion continues moving always in the same direc-

tion until impeded by some other force.

Now suppose a man stands on the highest mountain and

throws a stone horkontally. Theoretically, according to the Law

of Inertia, the stone would continue in motion in the same direc-

tion around the world. In reality, however, there is another

law to be reckoned with, the Law of Gravitation, which draws

the stone to the earth about fifty yards away.

In spiritual matters we must be realistic, and take into ac-

count both of the impulses which influence our conduct—Na-
ture and Grace. To expect the intention of doing all things to

please God, made at the first moment of the day, to persevere

and actually make every action pleasing to God, is to regard

only the "Law of Inertia” and to ignore the "Law of Gravita-

tion,” called by St. Paul the "Law of the Members,” which

will in reality draw our actions down to the natural level, just

as a stone is drawn to earth. This downward pull is a fact of



WRONG NOTIONS THAT PARALYZE GROWTH 59

our existence, and unless it is counteracted by the force of a

supernatural disposition it will bring our actions down to the

selfish level in spite of the Morning Offering. An airplane over-

comes the Law of Gravitation and stays aloft by the power of

its engines; if the engines stop, it plunges to earth.

The drastic consequences of being unrealistic are not so evi-

dent to us in spiritual as in physical matters, but if we have

a proper sense of values, a little reflection on our own experi-

ence will convince us that the Morning Offering, of itself, does

little to prevent us from a "fall to earth” many times a day by

impatience, unkindness and—worse!

THE HAND TO THE HELM

Many illustrations or examples might be given to prove this

point. Suppose the captain of a ship sailing from New York

to London, should set the helm due east each morning, and

then leave the steering apparatus unattended for the rest of

the day. Theoretically he should continue in the direction of

England, but in reality he may soon be headed for the Cape

of Good Hope! The ship, in the first place, being a human

product, is not perfectly balanced; moreover it is influenced

by currents and winds, and buffeted at times by storms, and so

it would soon be carried off its course. To keep the ship on

its course the captain (or the mate) remains on the bridge. He

has learned by study and practice how to meet such conditions,

and with a touch of his experienced hand, he keeps the prow to

the east.

So might we set our intention towards God at the beginning

of each day, but our nature is not perfectly balanced; it is

"prone to evil”; we are subject to the currents and winds of the

spirit of the world and our own passions, and at times we are



60 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

buffeted by the storms of trial and temptation. Thus we are

soon thrown off our course, unless we form the habit of keep-

ing the prow of our activity directed towards God. This is

what is meant by the Christian mentality.

"BE TRANSFORMED IN MIND’’

Another example . . . Suppose I have a cast or mold of Aris-

totle from which I have produced a number of images of the

great pagan philosopher. Then I take the notion that instead

of figures of Aristotle I should like to produce statues of Christ

from the same mold. Thereupon I "make the intention” that

henceforth the cast shall produce statues of the Savior. I pour

plaster into the mold, I let it set, and what do I take out?

—

another image of Aristotle! How could it be otherwise, unless

I first refashion the mold? I must take in hand the proper in-

struments and begin the delicate work of transforming the cast.

If, after some remodeling, I produce a sample image, I shall

find that it is losing resemblance to the Philosopher and begin-

ning to resemble Christ. The more I work at the image the

more will the former likeness disappear, and the more will the

new statues take on the form of Christ. Finally I shall be able

to produce any number of statues of the Savior from the same

transformed cast.

It is an axiom in Psychology that "we act as we think,” that

is, our actions take the form or cast of our mentality. Being in-

clined to self-seeking by nature, if I retain my natural mentality,

my normal round of actions will be predominantly selfish ac-

tions—like images from the mold of Aristotle. If I become
aware of the necessity of living for God and not for myself,

and then determine that my actions henceforth shall be super-

natural in character (like statues from the mold of Christ), it



WRONG NOTIONS THAT PARALYZE GROWTH 6l

will not suffice merely to SAY that my actions will be different;

I must set to work to refashion my disposition after the model

of Christ in the Gospel, to reform the source of my actions.

The special "instrument” for this task consists in the application

of the intention to the actual doings of the day. The more I

persevere in purifying my intention, the more will my actions

lose their selfish character and the more will they resemble the

actions of Christ. "Be not conformed to this world,” says St.

Paul, "but be transformed in the newness of your mind” (Rom.

12 : 2 ).

On this subject Fr. Edward Leen has this to say:

"Unless the motive of the love of God, or the desire to fulfill

His good pleasure really influences the act of our will that we

are at the moment eliciting, this act will not have the super-

natural vitality that it ought to have. The act is vital only if

it springs from charity—if it does not do so, it has no vitality
as far as the supernatural life is concerned. It is not the out-

come of life and it cannot minister to life. No previous mechan-

ical formulation of a right intention can rectify this. To secure

ourselves against the continual waste of our existence on earth

we must bring the thought of God to bear on the details of

our life as they develop themselves hour by hour. This ideal

is not beyond us by God’s grace. To live so that every act

of ours is done under the influence of Charity it is not needed

that the thought of God be always actually before us. It suf-

ficies that we have developed the spirit in which all our life

is suspended to the Divine Will. This attitude abides in its

effects even when we are not consciously adverting to it."

(In the Likeness of Christ )

WE MERIT FROM CHARITY

Sometimes one hears it said that if we are in the state of

grace and make the Morning Offering, then all our actions of



62 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

the day that are not bad, are meritorious. In reply to this one

might ask: "But what if I forget to make the Morning Offer-

ing, or what if I make it mechanically? Is there then no merit

for my actions?” Some of us would fare badly if such were the

conditions for merit. Surely we merit from our good actions

in the degree that they spring from charity, and the Morning

Offering fervently made as a special supernatural act contributes

to charity. "Acts of patience and fortitude,” says St. Thomas

Aquinas, "are not meritorious unless a man does them out of

charity acording to I Cor. 13:3, 'If I deliver my body to be

burned, yet do not have charity, it profits me nothing” (la Ilae,

q. 114, a. 4).

To confine the intentional direction of our actions to the

Morning Offering could become a smokescreen behind which

"self” could continue undisturbed on its natural course, and

retain and indulge all its attachments "for the love of God.” ( !)

But the Morning Offering is no such magic wand that it will

turn the dross of selfish actions unto golden acts of virtue.

“THIS CALLS FOR AN ACTUAL INTENTION”

Another wrong impression that deters some souls from striv-

ing to grow in charity is expressed in such words as, "One

cannot be thinking of God all the time.” This, of course, is

true. In speaking of the necessity of a Christian mentality it is

in no way implied that one must be conscious of God at every

moment, or make an actual intention before every action. We

are concerned here with forming the habit of acting to please

God, a subjective disposition of love for God. It is an attitude

of soul which when established by grace and practice, and nour-

ished by prayer and the Sacraments, spontaneously provides a

certain awareness of God, which comes to the fore especially



WRONG NOTIONS THAT PARALYZE GROWTH 63

when God’s interests are involved in any action, as in the pres-

ence of any disagreeable or agreeable circumstance.

A person who has formed the habit of driving a car, as we

have seen, does not need to concentrate on the position of the

clutch and the brake, but whenever the necessity arises he spon-

taneously applies them. While he was still in the process of

learning, it was necessary for him to keep his attention on the

mechanism, but as the habit formed, the needed stimulus was

supplied by the facility he had acquired by practice.

In this regard Fr. Tissot observes:

"Is it necessary to think ACTUALLY of God’s glory in each

one of my actions?" By no means; it is no more necessary

than actually to see my own interest in everything in order to

seek myself habitually nevertheless. Is it not true that, from

the very fact of habit, I consider, love and seek my own interest

with hardly any thought of it, unconsciously, as it were, and

instinctively? It goes on its own accord. It is the property of

any habit which is definitely set up in the soul to produce

action without the soul’s noticing its influence in any definite

manner. ... It is just such a strong habit that must be formed

within me on behalf of God’s glory. . . . The impulse of grace

must take the place, the function, and the sway, now possessed

by the impulse of nature; the divine must work within me in

the same conditions as the human does now." (Ibid.)

Hb *

If, in answer to the question proposed at the beginning of

this booklet, we must acknowledge that, with the passing of

time, we are not becoming more patient, more kind, more hum-

ble, more pure, then this analysis suggests the cause and the

remedy. The cause is that we have not ''put on the mind of



64 BLUEPRINT FOR HOLINESS

Christ,” nor the "heart of mercy, kindness, patience ...” We
have not developed that habit of charity which "is patient, is

kind, does not envy ...” We have regarded our Catholic faith

more or less exclusively in terms of the Holy Mass, the Sacra-

ments, devotions and good works, neglecting to strive for that

purification of motives and affections which would allow God’s

grace in the soul to effect our inner renewal. We have clung to
our natural mentality, the innate tendency to please self, the

desire to have our own way. We have not "put off the old
man,” and thus we have kept and nourished the roots of our

sins, and we have failed to grow in virtue.

The remedy is: to be "renewed in the spirit of our mind,”

to form a Chirstian mentality by systematic and persevering

practice in living for God. It was for this that God gave us

the grace of Baptism, and it is for this He continues to give us

the help of the Sacraments, that we might cooperate with grace

to conform our mind and heart to our supernatural state, recipro-

cating His love for us by acquiring the habit of love for Him.