“Perfection is one … All men are obliged to tend to perfection, to the one and the same kind of Christian perfection, but each one according to his vocation, state in life, grace of God, personal fervour”. The unity in diversity of the spiritual life could not be stated more forcefully than in this quotation from the new book by the American scholar Pascal P. Parente Divine grace, the foundation and sap of the spiritual life, is one—but men are different, and as grace does not destroy, but perfects, nature, its workings will differ according to the different individuals on which it acts. Yet, the Divine Author of nature and grace never works haphazardly. His creation is ruled by Law, a law which has nothing to do with the modern passion for planning, coercion, and equality, but which is an organic order, in which each being is governed according to its nature. Therefore the spiritual life is governed by its own laws. These are, however, more difficult to discover, especially as they, also, have their exceptions, which are always more striking than the normal developments. The subject becomes even more complicated if we consider that, in the spiritual life, the normal term of development, viz., heroic sanctity, is so comparatively rare that it appears almost abnormal. Yet our Lord Himself has made perfection the aim to which all ought to tend: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect!” From this tremendous command—and it is a command, addressed to all, not a counsel, envisaging only the few—there is no escape.
