MORAL REGENERATION 103 



gave up His life for the love of men, 14 God justi- 

 fies the individual sinner by infusing sanctifying 

 grace into his soul and forgiving him his sins. 16 

 The first requisite of justification, therefore, is 

 divine grace, and the moral regeneration of 

 the sinner is God's work, — a work more wonder- 

 ful than the creation of heaven and earth, be- 

 cause grace implies a participation of the creature 

 in the divine nature and consequently transcends 

 all natural agencies. 16 



Readings. — St. Thomas, Summa Theologica, ia 2ae, qu. 110- 

 114. — Pohle-Preuss, Grace, Actual and Habitual, 2nd ed., St. 

 Louis 1917, pp. 272 sqq. — A. Rietter, Die Moral des hi. Thomas 

 von Aquin, Munich 1858, pp. 275 sqq. — J. H. Newman, Lectures 

 on the Doctrine of Justification, 8th impression, London 1900. 



l4Cfr. Matth. XX, 28; XXVI, 18 Cfr. Ps. CXLIV, 9.— St. Au- 



28; Mark X, 45; XIV, 24; Luke gustine, Tract, in Ioa., 72, n. 3: 



XXII, 19; Rom. V, 10; 2 Cor. V, "Prorsus mains hoc [opus] esse 



18 sq.; Eph. II, 16; Col. I, 20; 1 dixerim, quam est caelum et terra et 



Tim. II, 6; Tit. II, 14; 1 Pet. I, quaecunque cernuntur in caelo et in 



18 sq.; II, 24. terra. Et caelum enim et terra 



15 Cfr. 1 Cor. VI, 11; Tit. Ill, transibit <Mt. xxiv, 35), praedesti- 



5-7. — Cone. Trident., Sess. VI, c. natorum autem, id est, eorum quos 



7: "Iustificatio . . . non est sola praescivit, salus et iustificatio per- 



peccatorum remissio, sed et sancti- manebit. In Mis tantum opera Dei, 



Hcatio et renovatio interioris ho- in his autem etiam est imago Dei." 



minis."— Can. 11: "Si quis dixerit, (Migne, P. L., XXXV, 1823).— The 



homines iustificari vel sola imputa- Roman Missal contains this oration 



tione iustitiae Christi, vel sola pec- for the tenth Sunday after Pente- 



catorum remissione, exclusa gratia et cost: "Deus, qui omnipotentiam 



caritate, quae in cordibus eorum per tuam parcendo maxime et miserando 



Spiritum Sanctum diffundatur atque manifestos, multiplica super nos mi- 



illis inhaereat, . . . anathema sit." sericordiam tuam," etc. 

 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 799.,, 82 1). 



