Love

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From Barclay's Guide to the New Testament (2008)

  So, Paul finds the way to righteousness in the way of complete trust and total submission. The only way to a right relationship with God is to take him at his word, and to cast ourselves, just as we are, on his mercy and love. It is the way of faith. It is to know that the important thing is not what we can do for God but what he has done for us. For Paul, the centre of the Christian faith was that we can never earn or deserve the favour of God, nor do we need to. The whole matter is one of grace, and all that we can do is to accept in wondering love and gratitude and trust what God has done for us. That does not free us, however, from obligations or entitle us to do as we like; it means that we must forever try to be worthy of the love which does so much for us. But we are no longer trying to fulfil the demands of stern and austere and condemnatory law; we are no longer like criminals before a judge; we are men and women who give and receive love and who have given all life in love to the one who first loved us. (2) The problem of the Jews was a torturing one. In a real sense, they were God's chosen people; and yet, when his Son had come into the world, they had rejected him. What possible explanation could there be for this heartbreaking fact? The only explanation that Paul could find was that, in the end, it was all God's doing. Somehow the hearts of the Jews had been hardened; but it was not all failure, for there had always been a faithful remnant. Nor was it for nothing, for the very fact that the Jews had rejected Christ opened the door to the Gentiles. Nor was it the end of the matter, for in the end the Gentiles would bring in the Jews and all would be saved. Paul goes further. Every Jew had always claimed to be a member of the chosen people by virtue of being Jewish by birth. It was solely a matter of pure racial descent from Abraham. But Paul insists that the real Jew is not someone whose flesh-and-blood descent can be traced to Abraham but someone who has made the same decision of complete submission to God in loving faith that Abraham made. Therefore, Paul argues, there are many pure-blooded Jews who are not Jews in the real sense of the term at all; and there are many people of other nations who are really Jews in the true meaning of that word. The new Israel was not dependent on race at all; it was composed of those who had the same faith as Abraham had had.

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  " It seems to me," replied Saffredent, " that one can- not do more honour to a woman of whom one desires to have that sort of thing than to take it by force, for there is not the pettiest demoiselle of them all but dearly loves to be long wooed and entreated. There are some who can only be won by dint of presents ; others are so stupid that they are hardly pregnable on any side. With these latter, one must think of nothing but how to hit upon the means of having them. But when one has to do with a dame so wary that one cannot deceive her, and so good that she is not to be come at either by pres- ents or by fair words, is it not allowable to try all pos- sible means of success ? Whenever you hear that a man 1^6 THE HEPTAMERON OF THE \Nffvel \^ has forced a woman, you may be sure that she had left him no other means to accompHsh his ends ; and you ought not to think the worse of a man who has risked his Hfe to satisfy his love." " I have seen in my time," said Geburon, laughing, " places besieged and taken by storm, because there was no means of bringing the governors to terms either by money or threats ; for they say that a fortress which treats is half taken." " One would think," said Ennasuite, " that love is built only upon these follies. There have been many who have loved constantly with other intentions." " If you know one such instance," said Hircan, " tell it us." " I know one," said Ennasuite, " which I will willingly relate." NOVEL XIX. Two lovers, in despair at being hindered from marrjnng, turn monk and nun. In the time of the Marquis of Mantua, who had mar- ried the sister of the Duke of Ferrara, there was in the service of the duchess a demoiselle named Pauline, so much loved by a gentleman who was in the service of the marquis that everyone was surprised at the excess of his passion ; for being poor, but a handsome man, and, moreover, in great favour with the marquis, it was thought that he ought to attach himself to a lady who had wealth enough for them both : but he regarded Pauline as the greatest of all treasures, which he hoped to make his Second day.\ Q UEEN OF NA VA RRE. 1 7 7

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  There were in Paris four girls, two of whom were sisters, so handsome, so young, and so fresh, that they had the choice of all the gallants. The gentleman whom the king then reigning had made provost of Paris, seeing that his master was young, and of an age to desire such company, managed so dexterously with the four, making each of them believe that she was for the king, that they consented to what the provost desired. This was that they should all be present at a banquet to which he in- vited his master, communicating to him his design, which was approved by the king, and by two great lords of the court, who were not sorry to have a finger in the pie. While they were at a loss for a fourth, in came a young iord, a handsome, well-bred man, and younger by ten years than the others. He was at once invited to the treat, and accepted the invitation with a good grace, though in reality he had no mind for it, for two reasons. He had a wife with whom he was very happy, who bore him fine children ; and they lived so tranquilly together that for no consideration would he have given her cause to suspect him. Besides, he loved one of the hand- somest ladies then in France, and esteemed her so much that all others seemed ugly to him in comparison with her ; so that in his early youth, and before he was mar- ried, there was no means of making him see and frequent other women, however fair, for he had more pleasure in seeing his mistress, and loving her perfectly, than he could have had from all he could have obtained of another. 494 THE HEPTAMERON OF THE \N<rvel 63. This young lord went to his wife, told her what the king had in view, and said he would rather die than do what he had jDromised. " As there is no man," he said, " whom I would not dare to attack in anger, so I would rather die than commit a murder in cold blood, unless honour compelled to it. In like manner I would rather die than violate conjugal fidelity at another's caprice, unless extreme love, such as blinds the best, extorted such a violation from me." His wife, seeing in him so much virtue with so much youth, loved him more than ever, and asked him how he could excuse himself, seeing that princes often take it amiss that others do not applaud what they like. " I have heard say," he replied, "that the wise man is always ready at a critical moment with an illness or a journey. So I intend to be sick four or five days beforehand ; and, provided you play the sorrowing wife, I trust I shall get out of the scrape."

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  Perfection Is Understood to Mean Both the Love of God, and the Love of Our NeighbourTHE perfection of the spiritual life may be understood as signifying principally perfection, as it regards charity. Now there are two precepts of charity, one pertaining to the love of God; the other referring to the love of our neighbour. These two precepts bear a certain order to each other, proportioned to the order of charity. That which is chiefly to be loved, by charity, is the Supreme Good, which makes us happy, that is to say, God. In the next place, we are, by charity, to love our neighbour, who is, by certain social bonds, united to us, either by the anticipation of beatitude, or in the enjoyment of it. Hence, we are bound in charity to love our neighbour, in order that, together with him, we may arrive at beatitude. Our Lord establishes this order of charity in the Gospel of St. Matthew (xxii. 37), where He says, “Love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your whole soul and your whole mind. This is the first and greatest commandment; and the second is like to this: love your neighbour as yourself.” Thus, the perfection of the spiritual life consists, primarily and principally, in the love of God. Hence the Lord, speaking to Abraham, says, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be perfect” (Gen. xvii. 1). We walk before God, not with bodily footsteps, but with the affections of the mind. The perfection of the spiritual life consists, secondarily, in the love of our neighbour. Therefore when our Lord had said, “Love your enemies “ (Matt. v. 44), and had added several other precepts regarding charity to our neighbour, He concluded by saying, “Be therefore perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” CHAPTER III The Perfection of Divine Love Which Exists in God AloneIN each of the two divisions of charity there are many degrees. As regards the love of God, the first and supreme degree of perfection of Divine love belongs to God alone. This is the case on account both of the One who is loved, and of the one who loves. It is the case on account of the loved one, because every object is loved in proportion to the qualities which make it lovable. It is the case on account of the lover, because an object is loved in proportion to the whole capacity of the one who loves. Now, as every object is lovable in proportion to its goodness, the goodness of God, which is infinite, must be infinitely lovable. But no creature can love infinitely, because no finite power is able to elicit an infinite act. Therefore, God alone, whose power of loving equals His Goodness, can love Himself perfectly in the first degree of perfection. CHAPTER IV

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  a. Scripture compares the just to spring roses; because, by the strength of their love, they have a ruddy colour like the Blood of Jesus. It is said of our Lord that His hair is like the purple of the king; and this is dyed by the blood of some animal. Now the hair of the head of Jesus is the faithful who honour Him by good lives. They are like the purple of the king, because, being drenched in the Blood of Jesus, they are ruddy as a rose by the strength of their love. b. Scripture compares the just to lilies by the running waters; for they have the whiteness of love, and are well prepared in the heart by the sprinkling of the Precious Blood of our Lord. His eyes are said to be like the eyes of doves, washed in milk. Now His eyes are faithful souls looking onward, and waiting for Him. They are said to be washed in milk because these single-hearted ones are washed and made white and chaste in the Blood of the Lamb, well prepared in the hidden places of the heart. If Israel grow like a lily, it is because the Blood of Jesus is as dew. c. When the winter is past the flowers are seen on the hedge-banks and in the meadows. Then quickly after the cold come violets with their dusky gleam, very beautiful, very fragrant, and hardly seen for their nearness to the earth. They tell us of humble souls that are made, as it were, of dusky hue by thinking of the Blood of Jesus and the anguish of His Passion. Such souls are vile in their own eyes, and despised by the proud. When God says that He will make the stars of Heaven grow dark, it may mean mystically that souls on fire with the Spirit of love, and gleaming with His word of truth, will be dimmed by the Passion of our Lord, so as to become violets with loveliness of dusky sheen by reason of their humility. This dimness of love and sorrow is comeliness of soul. The Bride of Jesus is black, but beautiful. N. In the Lamentations these there kinds of flowers and their colours are spoken of. The Nazarites, that is, flowering ones, are whiter than milk and whiter than snow, for in their purity they are like lilies. They are ruddier than old ivory, for in their love they are like roses. They are lovelier than sapphires, for in their humility they are like violets.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  I answer that, The charity of a wayfarer can increase. For we are called wayfarers by reason of our being on the way to God, Who is the last end of our happiness. In this way we advance as we get nigh to God, Who is approached, “not by steps of the body but by the affections of the soul” [*St. Augustine, Tract. in Joan. xxxii]: and this approach is the result of charity, since it unites man’s mind to God. Consequently it is essential to the charity of a wayfarer that it can increase, for if it could not, all further advance along the way would cease. Hence the Apostle calls charity the way, when he says (1 Cor. 12:31): “I show unto you yet a more excellent way.” Reply to Objection 1: Charity is not subject to dimensive, but only to virtual quantity: and the latter depends not only on the number of objects, namely whether they be in greater number or of greater excellence, but also on the intensity of the act, namely whether a thing is loved more, or less; it is in this way that the virtual quantity of charity increases. Reply to Objection 2: Charity consists in an extreme with regard to its object, in so far as its object is the Supreme Good, and from this it follows that charity is the most excellent of the virtues. Yet not every charity consists in an extreme, as regards the intensity of the act. Reply to Objection 3: Some have said that charity does not increase in its essence, but only as to its radication in its subject, or according to its fervor. But these people did not know what they were talking about. For since charity is an accident, its being is to be in something. So that an essential increase of charity means nothing else but that it is yet more in its subject, which implies a greater radication in its subject. Furthermore, charity is essentially a virtue ordained to act, so that an essential increase of charity implies ability to produce an act of more fervent love. Hence charity increases essentially, not by beginning anew, or ceasing to be in its subject, as the objection imagines, but by beginning to be more and more in its subject. Whether charity increases by addition?Objection 1: It would seem that charity increases by addition. For just as increase may be in respect of bodily quantity, so may it be according to virtual quantity. Now increase in bodily quantity results from addition; for the Philosopher says (De Gener. i, 5) that “increase is addition to pre-existing magnitude.” Therefore the increase of charity which is according to virtual quantity is by addition.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  Reply to Objection 2: Although our bodies are unable to enjoy God by knowing and loving Him, yet by the works which we do through the body, we are able to attain to the perfect knowledge of God. Hence from the enjoyment in the soul there overflows a certain happiness into the body, viz., “the flush of health and incorruption,” as Augustine states (Ep. ad Dioscor. cxviii). Hence, since the body has, in a fashion, a share of happiness, it can be loved with the love of charity. Reply to Objection 3: Mutual love is found in the friendship which is for another, but not in that which a man has for himself, either in respect of his soul, or in respect of his body. Whether we ought to love sinners out of charity?Objection 1: It would seem that we ought not to love sinners out of charity. For it is written (Ps. 118:113): “I have hated the unjust.” But David had perfect charity. Therefore sinners should be hated rather than loved, out of charity. Objection 2: Further, “love is proved by deeds” as Gregory says in a homily for Pentecost (In Evang. xxx). But good men do no works of the unjust: on the contrary, they do such as would appear to be works of hate, according to Ps. 100:8: “In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land”: and God commanded (Ex. 22:18): “Wizards thou shalt not suffer to live.” Therefore sinners should not be loved out of charity. Objection 3: Further, it is part of friendship that one should desire and wish good things for one’s friends. Now the saints, out of charity, desire evil things for the wicked, according to Ps. 9:18: “May the wicked be turned into hell [*Douay and A. V.: ‘The wicked shall be,’ etc. See Reply to this Objection.].” Therefore sinners should not be loved out of charity. Objection 4: Further, it is proper to friends to rejoice in, and will the same things. Now charity does not make us will what sinners will, nor to rejoice in what gives them joy, but rather the contrary. Therefore sinners should not be loved out of charity. Objection 5: Further, it is proper to friends to associate together, according to Ethic. viii. But we ought not to associate with sinners, according to 2 Cor. 6:17: “Go ye out from among them.” Therefore we should not love sinners out of charity. On the contrary, Augustine says (De Doctr. Christ. i, 30) that “when it is said: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor,’ it is evident that we ought to look upon every man as our neighbor.” Now sinners do not cease to be men, for sin does not destroy nature. Therefore we ought to love sinners out of charity.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  AUGUSTINE. (Tract. cxxiii) He who denied and loved, died in perfect love for Him, for Whom he had promised to die with wrong haste. It was necessary that Christ should first die for Peter’s salvation, and then Peter die for Christ’s Gospel. 21:19–2319. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. 20. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? 21. Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 22. Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. 23. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? AUGUSTINE. (Tract. cxxiv) Our Lord having foretold to Peter by what death he should glorify God, bids him follow Him. And when He had spoken this, He saith unto him, Follow Me. Why does He say, Follow Me, to Peter, and not to the others who were present, who as disciples were following their Master? Or if we understand it of his martyrdom, was Peter the only one who died for the Christian truth? Was not James put to death by Herod? Some one will say that James was not crucified, and that this was fitly addressed to Peter, because he not only died, but suffered the death of the cross, as Christ did. THEOPHYLACT. Peter hearing that he was to suffer death for Christ, asks whether John was to die: Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on His breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth Thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? AUGUSTINE. (Tract. cxxiv) He calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved, because Jesus had a greater and more familiar love for him, than for the rest; so that He made him lie on His breast at supper. In this way John the more commends the divine excellency of that Gospel which he preached. Some think, and they no contemptible commentators upon Scripture, that the reason why John was loved more than the rest, was, because he had lived in perfect chastity from his youth up. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? THEOPHYLACT. i. e. Shall he not die?

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  " You may thank your own bad thoughts for having fared badly," said Longarine, " for where is the woman with a proper sense of decorum who would have you for a lover after what you have just said.'' " " There are those," he retorted, " who did not think me intolerable, and who would not have exchanged their own sense of decorum for yours. But let us say no more about it, in order that my anger may shock no one, and may not shock myself. Let us think to whom Dagoucin will give his voice." " I give it to Parlamente," he replied at once, " per- suaded as I am that she must know better than anyone what is honourable and perfect friendship." " Since you elect me to tell a story," said Parlamente, " I will relate to you one which occurred to a lady who had always been one of my good friends, and who has never concealed anything from me." Second day. \ Q UEEN OF NA VARRE. 1 23 NOVEL XIII. The captain of a galley, under pretence of devotion, fell in love with a demoiselle. What happened in consequence. There was in the household of the regent, mother of King Francis, a very devout lady, married to a gentle- man of the same character. Though her husband was old, and she young and fair, nevertheless she served him and loved him as though he had been the handsomest young man in the world. To leave him no cause of uneasiness, she made it her care to live with him like a woman of his own age, shunning all company, all magnif- icence in dress, all dances and diversions such as women are usually fond of, and making the service of God her sole pleasure and recreation. One day her husband told her that from his youth upwards he had longed to make the journey to Jerusalem, and he asked her what she thought of the matter. She, whose only thought was how to please him, replied : " Since God has deprived us of children, my dear, and has given us wealth enough, I should be strongly inclined to spend a part of it in perform- ing that sacred journey ; for, whether you go to Jerusalem or elsewhere, I am resolved to accompany, and never forsake you." The good man was so pleased with this reply that he fancied himself already standing on Mount Calvary. Just at this time there arrived at court a gentleman who had served long against the Turks, and who was come to obtain the king's approval for a projected enterprise against a fortress belonging to the Ottomans, the success of which was likely to be very advantageous to Chris- 124 THE HEPTAMERON OF THE iNovel \l

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  Others there are, however, who make a complete sacrifice of their own will, for the love of God, submitting themselves to another by the vow of obedience, of which virtue Christ has given us a sublime example. For, as we read in the Epistle to the Romans (5:19), “As by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners; so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made just.” Now this obedience consists in the abnegation of our own will. Hence, Our Lord said, “Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39). Again He said (John 6:38), “I came down from Heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” By these words He shows us, that, as He renounced His own will, submitting it to the Divine will, so we ought wholly to subject our will to God, and to those whom He has set over us as His ministers. To quote the words of St. Paul, “obey your prelates and be subject to them” (Heb. 13:17). CHAPTER XI THE THREE MEANS OF PERFECTION, OF WHICH WE HAVE HITHERTO BEEN SPEAKING, BELONG, PECULIARLY, TO THE RELIGIOUS STATEWE find the three ways to perfection in religious life, embodied in the three vows of perpetual poverty, chastity, and obedience. Religious follow the first road to perfection by the vow of poverty, whereby they renounce all property. By the vow of chastity, whereby they renounce marriage, they enter on the second road to perfection. They set forth on the third road to perfection, by the vow of obedience, whereby they sacrifice their own will. Now these three vows well beseem the religious life. For, as St. Augustine says (lib. 10. de Civitate Dei), “The word religion means, not any sort of worship, but the worship of God.” And Tully says, in his Rhetorica, that “religion is a virtue, paying worship and reverence to a certain higher nature which men term the Divine nature.” Now the worship which is due to God alone, consists in the offering of sacrifice. Such sacrifices may consist in external things, when they are given for the love of God. Thus, St. Paul says, (Hebrews 13:3), “Do not forget to do good and to impart; for by such sacrifices God’s favour is obtained.” We also offer to God the sacrifice of our own bodies, when, as St. Paul says (Gal. 5:24), “we crucify the flesh with its vices and concupiscences,” or, when we obey his exhortation to the Romans (12:1), “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing, unto God.” There is, again, a third and most agreeable sacrifice to God, spoken of in the 50th Psalm (v. 19), “a sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit.”

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  1. First, it is proved by reason. When the Body of Jesus is eaten, it is not changed, like other food, into the eater; but, on the contrary, he who truly eats it is changed into it spiritually. If any one feed upon Him, Jesus makes him a member of His mystical Body, and, incorporating him into that Body which He took of the Blessed Virgin, makes him also, in a certain sense, one thing with Himself. St. Augustin says, ‘In this Sacrament Christ has given us His Body and His Blood, which He has also made us, for we have been made His Body.’ Our flesh united to His Body, and incorporated into it, is made one thing with Him; for Osee says that the faithful live by wheat, that is, by this most Holy Sacrament. It is called our Lord’s Shadow; for He gives Himself there, not in His own Light, but under a veil, in order that the eaters may be converted, because they will be changed into His Body. This, then, is clear: if many of the faithful eat the Body of Christ and are changed into it, being made His members, then His Body is increased while eaten. 2. Next, it is proved by a likeness of human knowledge; for the more that a man communicates his knowledge to others, the more it increases. So it was with the talents of which Jesus speaks. Boetius says, ‘Knowledge is a noble possession of the mind, and it scorneth the greedy owner. If it be not made known, it glides away; but spread abroad, it is increased.’ Thus the Incarnate Wisdom of God, being given to many for food, makes them wise, and in a sense changes them into itself; and so being eaten is not lessened but increased. When God is said to have created wisdom in the Holy Ghost, it means that the Word, the Wisdom of God, was incarnate. In this the Wisdom of God increases, while He makes many increase in wisdom. Let us try to grow in all goodness, by faith, hope, and charity, that in deed and in truth we may be the mystical Body of our Lord, and know more and more of His wisdom and His love. The Voice of the Holy Ghost (1) About His Body when eaten not being lessened; 1. Daily consecration; Thou shalt make a table also of setim-wood … and thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold; and thou shalt make to it a golden ledge round about; and to the ledge itself a polished crown.… Thou shalt prepare also four golden rings.… Thou shalt set upon the table loaves of proposition in My sight always. Ex. 25:23–26, 30.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  (3) The third thing to be considered about this way of eating is the manner in which worthy eaters are said to eat and be eaten. This mystery is thus explained. When the Body of our Lord is worthily eaten by the faithful, that Body is not, like other food, changed into the eater, but, on the contrary, he who rightly eats it is changed spiritually into it. For our Lord makes him who eats Him a member of His Body; incorporates him with Himself by love, and thus unites him in the closest way with Himself, making him like an image of His own goodness. Now, that our Lord is not changed into us when we eat His Body, but that we are changed into Him, is proved by a threefold likeness: a. The first likeness is taken from the power of our love. For such is the strength of love, that the heart of the lover is changed into the heart of the loved one, that is, is made like the loved one in happiness and sorrow. Hugo says, ‘The might of love is so great that you cannot help being such as that is which you love, and to which you are joined by affection. You are in a sense changed into its likeness by a communion of love. Thus the Bride of Jesus longs to be a seal on the Heart of the Divine Bridegroom. Like wax, warm, pure, soft, she will receive an impression of that Heart. On the heart that is thus warm with the love of God, pure in its own cleanness, soft with the love of its neighbour, the Body of Jesus is laid as a seal; not that it should be changed into us, for it is unchangeable; but that we may be transfigured into the image of its goodness.’ b. The second likeness is taken from the power of that which is greater than something else. For if you let fall a drop of water into a large vessel of wine, the water is altogether changed into wine because of the greatness of the wine; but the virtue of the Body of our Lord is of unspeakable greatness, and we, in comparison with it, are less than can be said. The greatness therefore of the might and sweetness of Jesus being poured into our hearts, which are very little and poor, absorbs them, and, making them fail from themselves, changes them into itself. We are then no longer like worldly men, nor even like ourselves; but we are like Jesus in will and word and holy lives.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  3. Again, Dionysius says (4 Div. Nom, lect. 12): “ Love is a power which unites and binds. ” But there is no place for this in God, since God is simple. It follows that love is not in God. On the other hand: it is said in I John 4:16: “ God is love. ” I answer: we are bound to say that there is love in God, because the first movement of the will, and indeed of any appetitive power, is love. An act of will or of any appetitive power seeks both good and evil as its proper object, but good is the object of will or appetite more fundamentally and essentially. Evil is its object secondarily and derivatively, that is, in so far as it is opposed to good. Hence actions of will or appetite which refer to good are bound to be naturally prior to those which refer to evil, as joy is prior to sadness, and love prior to hate. Again, that which is more universal is naturally prior. Thus the intellect is related to universal truth before it is related to any particular truths. Now some actions of will and appetite refer to the good under some special circumstance. Joy and delight, for example, refer to good which is present and possessed, while desire and hope refer to good which is not yet possessed. Love, on the other hand, refers to the good universally, whether it be possessed or not possessed, and is therefore naturally the first action of the will and of the appetite. Hence all other appetitive movements presuppose love, as their first root. No one desires anything except as a good which is loved. Neither does anyone rejoice except in a good which is loved. Neither is there hatred, except of that which is opposed to what is loved. It is likewise obvious that sadness and other such feelings depend on love as their first principle. There must therefore be love in whomsoever there is will, or appetite, since if that which is first is removed, the rest is removed. Now it was proved in Q. 19, Art. 1, that there is will in God. We are therefore bound to say that there is love in God.

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  ipated me, and have said to me what I have long re- solved to say to you. Ever since I have known you, now two years, not a moment has passed in which I have not thought over all the arguments that could be adduced in your favour and against you ; but at last, having resolved to engage in matrimony, it is time that I should make a beginning, and choose the man with whom I think I can pass my life with most quiet and satisfaction. I have had as suitors men of good figure, wealthy, and of high birth ; but you are the only one with whom it seems to me that my heart and mind can best agree. I know that in marrying you I do not of- fend God, but that, on the contrary, I do what he com- mands. As for my father, he has so much neglected the duty of establishing me, and has rejected so many opportunities, that the law empowers me to marry with- out his having a right to disinherit me ; but even should I have nothing but what belongs to myself, I shall esteem myself the happiest woman in the world in having such a husband as you. As for the queen, my mistress, I need make no scruple of disobeying her to obey God, since she has not scrupled to frustrate all the advantages that offered themselves to me dur- ing my youth. But to prove to you that my love for you is founded on honour and virtue, I require your promise that, in case I consent to the marriage you propose, you will not ask to consummate it until after the death of my father, or until I shall have found means to obtain his consent." The bastard having promised this with alacrity, they gave each other a ring in pledge of marriage, and ex- changed kisses in the church before God, whom they called to witness their mutual promise ; and never after- wards was there anything between them of a more inti- 198 THE HEPTAMERON OF THE \Nmjel 2\

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  a. In the law there was a cleansing from uncleanness by blood, and no remission of sin without it, that there might ever be a prophecy of the Blood of the Lamb. b. When one man shed the blood of another, there was no expiation but by the shedding of his blood, that it might be understood how needful was the shedding of the Blood of Jesus, our Elder Brother. We are saved from the wound and debt of eternal death by the price of blood. c. St. Bernard says, ‘The Son of God is bidden to be slain, that by the balsam of His Blood our wounds may be healed. See, O soul, how deep are those wounds for which our Lord Jesus Christ must in turn be wounded. Truly, if we had not been wounded to eternal death, the Son of God would never have died for us. 2. The next reason for so great a price is the proof of the strength of His love. The spirit which He breathed from His Body, the water which flowed from His side, and the Blood which He poured from His Heart are the witnesses of His very great love. St. Bernard says, ‘Copious in truth is the redemption of Christ, for lavishly through five wounds of His Body He poured the stream of Blood, when one drop of that Blood would have been enough for the redemption of all our race; but it was thus given abundantly that the value of the lover might be known by the greatness of the gift. For, that He might show thee how He loved thee, He chose to save thee from death in no other way but by dying for thee.’ St. Augustin says, ‘O my soul most precious, not redeemed by gold nor by riches, but by the Blood of a sinless Lamb; see what thou art worth, think of that which was given for thee. Do not give up to destruction thyself, for whom Christ shed His Precious Blood.’ 3. The third reason for giving so great a price is the buying back again the lost good; and this is threefold: a, freedom from the slavery of the devil; b, an entrance to the kingdom of Heaven; c, the heritage of the sons of God. a. They who feel the sinfulness of their own hearts, their poverty and weakness and nakedness before God, will know how to thank Jesus for giving them the freedom of God.

• From Speak, Memory (1966)

  Seen through the carefully wiped lenses of time, the beauty of her face is as near and as glowing as ever. She was short and a trifle on the plump side but very graceful, with her slim ankles and supple waist. A drop of Tatar or Circassian blood might have accounted for the slight slant of her merry dark eye and the duskiness of her blooming cheek. A light down, akin to that found on fruit of the almond group, lined her profile with a fine rim of radiance. She accused her rich-brown hair of being unruly and oppressive and threatened to have it bobbed, and did have it bobbed a year later, but I always recall it as it looked first, fiercely braided into a thick plait that was looped up at the back of her head and tied there with a big bow of black silk. Her lovely neck was always bare, even in winter in St. Petersburg, for she had managed to obtain permission to eschew the stifling collar of a Russian schoolgirl’s uniform. Whenever she made a funny remark or produced a jingle from her vast store of minor poetry, she had a most winning way of dilating her nostrils with a little snort of amusement. Still, I was never quite sure when she was serious and when she was not. The rippling of her ready laughter, her rapid speech, the roll of her very uvular r, the tender, moist gleam on her lower eyelid—indeed, all her features were ecstatically fascinating to me, but somehow or other, instead of divulging her person, they tended to form a brilliant veil in which I got entangled every time I tried to learn more about her. When I used to tell her we would marry in the last days of 1917, as soon as I had finished school, she would quietly call me a fool. I visualized her home but vaguely. Her mother’s first name and patronymic (which were all I knew of the woman) had merchant-class or clerical connotations. Her father, who, I gathered, took hardly any interest in his family, was the steward of a large estate somewhere in the south.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  How beautiful art thou, My love, how beautiful art thou.… Thou art all fair, O My love.… Thou hast wounded My Heart, My sister, My spouse.… A garden enclosed is My sister, My spouse, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed. Cantic. 4:1, 7, 9, 12. How beautiful are thy steps in shoes, O prince’s daughter.… How beautiful art thou, and how comely my dearest in delights.… I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine.… In our gates are all fruits: the new and the old, my Beloved, I have kept for Thee. Cantic. 7:1, 6, 10, 13. 3. Eternal life; If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. St. Matt. 19:17. They shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. St. John 10:16. I will raise him up in the last day. St. John 6:55. Prayer O Blessed Trinity, Three Persons and One God, I am seeking now for the Living Bread that came down from Heaven. O the depths of the riches of Thy knowledge; O Thy incomprehensible judgments; O Thy unsearchable ways! I bless Thee, O Father, and Thee, O Son, and Thee, O Holy Ghost. I praise Thee, O Blessed Trinity, and magnify Thee for ever and ever. In the confession of a true faith I acknowledge Thy glory, Eternal Trinity; and in the power of Thy majesty I adore Thy unity. In this faith I draw near to Thee and kneel before Thy Altar, that Jesus may come to me in His most Holy Sacrament and dwell in me, and give me the fulness of His grace. Thou art the One God, Unity in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Be present with me now, Thou Almighty One, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; be present with me and help me; for Thou art the Lord, the God of Israel, my God, who alone doest great wonders, and alone dwellest in the inaccessible light. O, let all the earth be filled with Thy majesty, and let all souls be satisfied with Thy goodness. Have mercy on me, O my God, and bless me and feed me. Thou art my hope and my salvation, O Blessed Trinity. Free me and save me, and give me life, O Blessed Trinity. O most Blessed God, fill my soul with love and light as I draw near to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. His throne is high and lifted up, and His glory fills the Temple. Before Him are the Seraphim. O Blessed Trinity, give me love, confidence, holy fear, faith, humility, cleanness of heart, forgivingness of spirit, that now I may receive Jesus with great joy. O Blessed Trinity: O Blessed Trinity. Thanksgiving

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  3. In God will and intellect differ not in nature but only logically: and consequently procession by nature, by intellect and by will differ but logically in God. Therefore if the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinguished through the one proceeding naturally and the other by the will, they will be but logically distinct: and they will not be two persons, since plurality of persons implies a real distinction. 4. The persons in God are distinct by relations of origin only. Now two relations suffice to indicate origin, namely one from whom is another, and one who is from another. Therefore there are but two persons in God. 5. Every relation requires two extremes. Since then in God the persons are not distinct save by the relations; it follows that in God there are either two relations, and consequently four persons; or one relation, and therefore only two persons. On the contrary it is manifest that there are but three persons in God from 1 Jo. v, 7, There are three who bear witness in heaven: and if we ask “three what?” the Church replies: “Three persons,” as Augustine says (De Trin. vii, 4). Therefore there are three persons in God. Moreover for the perfection of divine goodness, happiness and glory there must be true and perfect charity in God: for nothing is better or more perfect than charity, as Richard says (De Trin. iii, 2). Now there is no happiness without enjoyment, and this arises chiefly from charity: for as we read (ibid. 5), “Nothing is sweeter than charity, nothing more enjoyable, the intellectual life affords no sweeter experience, or delight more exquisite.” And the perfection of glory consists in the splendour of perfect communication, which is effected by charity. And true and perfect charity requires the trinity of persons in God. For the love whereby a person loves himself is selfish love and is not true charity. But God cannot love supremely another who is not supremely lovable; and none is supremely lovable that is not supremely good. Hence it is evident that true charity cannot be supreme in God if there be but one person in him. Nor can it be perfect if there be but two persons: since perfect charity demands that the lover wish that what he loves himself be equally loved by another. For it is a sign of great imperfection to be unwilling to share one’s love, whereas to be willing to share it is a sign of great perfection: “The more one is pleased to receive a thing the greater our longing in seeking for it,” as Richard says (ibid.). In God therefore, since there is perfection of goodness, happiness and glory, there must be a trinity of persons.

• From The Hours (1998)

  At this moment she could devour him, not ravenously but adoringly, infinitely gently, the way she used to take the Host into her mouth before she married and converted (her mother will never forgive her, never). She is full of a love so strong, so unambiguous, it resembles appetite. “You’re such a good, smart boy,” she says. Richie grins; he looks ardently into her face. She looks back at him. They pause, motionless, watching each other, and for a moment she is precisely what she appears to be: a pregnant woman kneeling in a kitchen with her three-year-old son, who knows the number four. She is herself and she is the perfect picture of herself; there is no difference. She is going to produce a birthday cake—only a cake—but in her mind at this moment the cake is glossy and resplendent as any photograph in any magazine; it is better, even, than the photographs of cakes in magazines. She imagines making, out of the humblest materials, a cake with all the balance and authority of an urn or a house. The cake will speak of bounty and delight the way a good house speaks of comfort and safety. This, she thinks, is how artists or architects must feel (it’s an awfully grand comparison, she knows, maybe even a little foolish, but still), faced with canvas, with stone, with oil or wet cement. Wasn’t a book like Mrs. Dalloway once just empty paper and a pot of ink? It’s only a cake, she tells herself. But still. There are cakes and then there are cakes. At this moment, holding a bowl full of sifted flour in an orderly house under the California sky, she hopes to be as satisfied and as filled with anticipation as a writer putting down the first sentence, a builder beginning to draw the plans. “Okeydoke,” she says to Richie. “You do the first one.” She hands him a bright aluminum cup measure. It is the first time he’s been entrusted with a job like this. Laura sets a second bowl, empty, on the floor for him. He holds the measuring cup in both hands. “Here goes,” she says. Guiding Richie’s hands with her own, she helps him dip the cup into the flour. The cup goes in easily, and through its thin wall he can feel the silkiness and slight grit of the sifted flour. A tiny cloud rises in the cup’s wake. Mother and son bring it up again, heaped with flour.

• From Heptaméron (1559)

  " Ah, madam," said he, " it is impossible to love your honour more than I have done. As long as you were un- married I so well mastered my passion that you never were aware of it ; but now that you are married and your honour is shielded, what wrong do I do you in asking of you what belongs to me .■• For have I not won you by the force of my love "> The first who had your heart has .so little coveted your body that he deserved to lose both. He who possesses your body is unworthy to have your heart, and consequently your body even does not belong to him. But I have taken such pains for your sake during the last five or six years that you cannot but be aware, madam, that to me alone belong your body and your heart, for which I have forgotten my own. If you think to excuse yourself on the ground of conscience, doubt not that when love forces the body and the heart, sin is never imputed. Those even who are so infuriated as to kill themselves cannot sin ; for passion leaves no room for reason. And if the passion of love is the most in- tolerable of all others, and that which most blinds all the First day:\ Q UEEN OF NA VARRE. 9 1