Half-Hours With The Saints and Servants of God/Part 1: 13. On the Actual Grace of God
13.— On the Grace of God.
" We do exhort you, that you receive not the grace of God in vain." — 2 Corinthians vi. 1.
[St. Aelred. — This great saint was born in the year 1169, in the north of England. Descended from a noble family, and having received an excellent education, he soon obtained a valuable appointment in the court of David I., king of Scotland. The seeds of virtue having been planted within him by a pious mother, he was enabled to battle against the corruptions of the world; and even before he determined to withdraw himself from the temptations, of a courtier's life, he ever preserved that favourite virtue of our Saviour's, namely, humility. In addition to this, he possessed an unalterable meekness, which, according to the Gospel, is inseparable from humility.
In order to detach himself from the world, he quitted Scotland and went to Rieval, in the county of York. Here he entered the Cistercian order, and placed himself under the guidance of William, a disciple of the glorious St. Bernard.
In 1142, he was elected Abbot of Revesby, in the county of Lincoln. He died in the year 1166, aged 57, having been abbot for the space of twenty- two years. Benedict XIV., in approving of the martyrology of the Cistercian order, calls attention to the learning, innocence, and humility of St. AElred. The same Pope adds, that God crowned the virtues of His servant, with the gifts of prophecy and miracles.]
St. AElred describes the state of his soul before he resolved to leave the world, its pomps, and vanities. In the Life of the Saint by Godescard, the saint says: —
Those who looked only at the external grandeur which surrounded me — those who judged of my position in the world — knew not what was passing within me, and yet they cried out, Oh, how envious is the lot of that man! how happy he must be!
But they did not see my dejection of mind; they did not know of the insupportable anguish of a heart weighed down by sin.
It was then, O my God, that I knew of the unutterable joy I felt when I found myself supported by Thy grace, and that I tasted of that peace which is now my inseparable companion.
The operations of grace in the conversion of a sinner are not always the same.
At one time it is a sharp and piercing ray, which, darting from the bosom of the Eternal Father, enlightens, strikes, humbles, and overcomes those upon whom it descends; at another time, it is a more subdued brightness, which has its progression and succession, which seems to battle for victory over the dark clouds which it wishes to disperse, and after a thousand attacks, succeeded by as many repulses, it remains for some time doubtful which shall carry off the palm.
Now, it is a powerful God who overthrows the cedars of Lebanon; then it is the God most patient, who wrestles with His servant Jacob, and holds him fast in order to make him enter the right path wherein He invites him.
It is thus, O my God! that You act as the instructor, the master of all hearts.
First proof of grace: To conquer a guilty and rebellious soul, which alone would prevent its conversion, God even makes use of its guilty passion. He seeks to excite it in those very places in which the sinner sought for pleasure and amusement. Saul in his fury runs to Damascus in order to persecute the Church, and on his road he is struck to the ground and becomes an apostle. The centurion rides up to Mount Calvary to complete the barbarous outrages of the executioners of Jesus Christ, and a ray of light descends upon him, and he confesses that He was truly the Son of God.
A soul experiences trouble and remorse in the very places wherein it vainly sought for pleasure and satisfaction.
Grace awaits, so to speak, at the gates of sin and crime; and disgust, perfidy, bitterness of soul, disgrace, and other frightful consequences, are the punishments of the mercy of God, and the sinner often finds treasures of justice in the very place where he sought for his eternal loss.
Grace triumphs, when it wishes, over the greatest obstacles, because that heavenly unction changes at will our troubles into consolations, so that by means of this grace that which was our delight, and which was to us a deadly poison, becomes a hidden manna, which feeds and strengthens us.
The Holy Spirit of God can, if He will, change the weakest of men into one so strong and powerful that nought can make him swerve from his fidelity, no danger can shake his firmness, no seductive pleasure can corrupt him; in one word it is this, that grace, far stronger than nature, surmounts every obstacle, and attracts all hearts gently and sweetly which He wishes to convert.
Grace is, par excellence, the gift of God. It is this that infinitely surpasses every gift of nature; it is the only source of our happiness, without which we can do nothing, and with which, we can do everything.
It is this gift which comes from on high, and flows direct from the Father of Light; which converts us, and makes us new men; it is that gift by which we are as we are, if, however, we are something before God, as the Apostle says, w By the grace of God I am what I am."
Yet, nevertheless (so strange it is), it. is this same gift which, through our stubborn ignorance, we know not of, and which, through our unbearable ingratitude, we receive every day in vain.
Alas! of what use is it to acknowledge its greatness and merit if we abuse it nearly every moment of our life.
It is for that, that our Saviour, speaking to the Samaritan woman, chided her ignorance by saying, * Ah! woman, if you had known the nature and excellence of the gift of God."
Grace triumphant must, so to speak, be subject to us. Be not shocked at this term, for it derogates nothing from the dignity of grace. It must be so subject to us as to well-nigh weary the patience of God, who waits for us for years without interfering with our free-will. It selects the place and time; it seizes the most favourable opportunity to win us; it is the first to warn us, and, far from taking something away from us by force or violence, it entreats us with prayers and mild remonstrances, it accommodates itself to our weaknesses, adjusts itself to our humour, and if at last it makes us realise the blessings of heaven and the contempt for earthly joys, it is only after having convinced us by innumerable trials of the solidity of the one and the frailty of the other.