io6 



THE MEANS OF GRACE 



after this moral regeneration, 6 man must fight 

 all his life against the enemies of his eternal 

 salvation and endeavor to secure it by obedience 

 to the commandments, by prayer and abstinence, 

 by works of faith, hope, and charity, — in a word, 

 he must strive unremittingly to grow "in the 

 knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect 

 man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness 

 of Christ." 7 Though the struggle may at times 

 seem well nigh hopeless, God's grace makes vic- 

 tory still possible. "In all these things we 

 overcome, because of Him that hath loved us," 

 say the Tridentine Fathers, 8 and add: "God 

 forsakes not those who have been once justified 

 by His grace, unless He be first forsaken by 

 them." 9 



The necessity of cooperating with grace is illustrated 

 in the parable of the man who failed to watch for 



6 Rom. VII, 23; Gal. V, 17; Jas. 

 I, 14; cfr. Cone. Trident., Sess. V, 

 can. 5. 



7 Eph. IV, 13, is; cfr. Matth. X, 

 34 sqq.; XVI, 24; XIX, 17; XXVI, 

 41; Rom. V, 1 sqq.; VII, 18 sqq.; a 

 Pet. I, 10. — Cone. Trident., Sess. 

 VI, cap. 10: "Sic ergo iustificati, 

 et amici Dei ac domestici [Ioa. xv, 

 15; Eph. ii, 19] facti, euntes de 

 virtute in virtutem [Ps. Ixxxiii, 8], 

 renovantur, ut Apostolus inquit de 

 die in diem [2 Cor. iv, 16], hoc est, 

 mortificando membra carnis suae 

 [Col. iii, 5] et exhibendo ea arma 

 iustitiae [Rom. vi, 13, 19] in sane- 

 tificationem : per observationem man- 

 datorum Dei et Ecclcsiae in ipsa 

 iustilia per Christi gratiam acceptd, 



cooperante fide bonis operibus, cres- 

 cunt atque magis iustificantur." 

 (Denzinger-Bannwart, n. 803). 



8 Rom. VIII, 37; cfr. Matth. XI, 

 30; 1 John V, 3. — St. Augustine 

 says in his treatise De Natura et 

 Gratia, c. 43, n. 50: "Nam Deus 

 impossibilia non iubet, sed iubendo 

 monet et facere quod possis, et pe- 

 tere quod non possis." (Migne, 

 P. L., XLIV, 271).— The Council 

 of Trent (Sess. VI, c. 11) quotes 

 these words, and adds: "et adiuzat, 

 ut possis." (Denzinger-Bannwart, 

 n. 804). 



8 "Deus namque sua gratia semel 

 iustificatos non deserit, nisi ab eis 

 prius deseratur." (Ibid.) 



