Before treating of the means of obtaining love for God, it would be well to speak of the fruits and excellence of this love, that those who strive to gain it may know for what a precious jewel they labour and may be encouraged. For when it is won, we shall exclaim with the bride in the Canticles, “ If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing “ (Cant. 8, 7); and like the strong woman in the Proverbs of Solomon, we may taste and see that the traffic is good and be willing to pay what is asked of us. (Prov. 31.)

Let no one suppose- that it is possible to say in a few words all that this virtue deserves for as St. Paul says, “ The end of the commandment is charity “ (Tim. 1,-5); for nothing that has been or might be written could exhaust the ocean of its grandeurs. Therefore we will only write briefly of how it excels all other virtues.

The first excellence of charity is that, speaking theologically, it is the queen of virtues and the greatest of them all. Faith, hope and charity, called the theological virtues, surpass all the rest, for they honour and regard God as the supernatural end of man and regulate his dealings with God though in different ways.