Sunday, November 15, 2020

Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, "The Fullness of Created Grace"

Outside the papacy and the Filioque clause, one of the most important differences between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy is that of whether sanctifying grace is created or uncreated. To paraphrase Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, pp. 254-56 (on the ontological and theological definitions of “Sanctifying [i.e. “saving”] Grace”):

 

  1. Sanctifying Grace is a created supernatural gift really distinct from God.
  2. Sanctifying Grace is a supernatural state of being which is infused by God, and which permanently inheres in the soul.
  3. Sanctifying grace is not a substance, but a real accident, which inheres in the soul-substance.
  4. Sanctifying grace is really distinct from charity.
  5. Supernatural grace is a participation in the divine nature.

 

Eastern Orthodox theologians argue that created graces results in a contradiction with the concept of being “partakers in the divine nature” (theosis) as the divine nature of God is uncreated, not created.

 

One was reminded of this debate while reading the following from Dominican theologian Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange:

 

The Fullness of Created Grace

 

From His substantial and uncreated sanctity our Lord derived created sanctifying grace, and this He received in its fullness. And from grace derive the supernatural virtues and the gifts of charity, wisdom, piety, humility, patience, meekness in a proportionate degree, which is far superior to that of the saints and to that which was realized within the soul of Mary.

 

Was it possible that the soul of the Savior, which was united in the highest degree possible to God, the source of all grace, should not have been full of grace? Was it possible that His soul, which was to make us participants of all the supernatural gifts, should not itself have been adorned with all of them (cf. St. Thomas, [Summa Theologica] IIIa, q.7, a.9)?

 

Created grace is a participation in divine nature which, like a second nature, increases the stature of our souls to produce connaturally (that is to say: as if it were naturally) supernatural and meritorious acts. It is like a divine graft in us which elevates us to a superior life. The soul of Jesus received this grace in its absolute plenitude. That is what St. John meant when he wrote: “And we saw His glory, . . . full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). A few great saints, such as St. Stephen the first martyr, and above all, Mary, received a relative plenitude of grace, proportioned to their mission in the Church. That the archangel Gabriel sad to Mary: “Hail, full of grace” (Luke 1:28). Jesus, however, received grace in its absolute fullness, that is to say, in its supreme degree.

 

According to the actual plan of Providence, this grace cannot be any loftier, for it is morally proportioned to the highest dignity, that of the person of the Word made flesh (St. Thomas, IIIa, q.7, a. 9 ad 3; a.12 ad 2). Furthermore, in the soul of Jesus this grace cooperates in supernatural and meritorious acts which are, by reason of the personality of the Word, of infinite value.

 

Finally, this grace possesses the maximum of extension, for it corresponds to the most universal of all missions, that of the Savior of all men. It extends to all supernatural effects, and it contains within itself in an eminent degree, as a superior well-spring, all the graces necessary to the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, and the virgins of all lands and of all times. As St. Thomas tells us (Ibid., a.9-12), the soul of Jesus received habitual grace just as the sun receives light, with the greatest intensity and radiance. And since there is probably in the physical world a center of light of even greater intensity and radiance than the sun, let us use it as a feeble symbol of the fullness of created grace within the soul of our Savior. This is to say that the habitual grace within the soul of Jesus surpasses in intensity and splendor that of all the saints and angels together, as the light of the sun excels that of the planets and their satellites. (Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Our Savior and His Love for Us [trans. A. Bouchard; London: B. Herder Book Co., 1951], 137-38)

 

Some LDS readers will note some parallels between the above and D&C 93, particularly vv. 11-13. On this, see:


Nicholas J. Frederick on the Christology of D&C 93:11-13


Blake Ostler on Christology and Christification in Mosiah 15 and D&C 93