“Let us then, in the first place, be careful of admitting into our souls the notion that there is no truth or health or soundness in any arguments at all; but let us rather say that there is as yet no health in us, and that we must quit ourselves like men and do our best to gain health—you and all other men with a view to the whole of your future life, and I myself with a view to death. For at this moment I am sensible that I have not the temper of a philosopher; like the vulgar I am only a partisan. For the partisan, when he is engaged in a dispute, cares nothing about the rights of the question, but is anxious only to convince his hearers of his own assertions.”

“The soul of a philosopher.... will make herself a calm of passion, and follow reason, and dwell in her, beholding the true and the divine (which is not matter of opinion), and thence derive nourishment. Thus she seeks to live while she lives, and after death she hopes to go to her own kindred and to be freed from human ills.”

Plato, in the dialogue known as The Phaedo, puts these words into the mouth of Socrates, who has been sentenced to death because he will not renounce philosophy and his own mission of encouraging interest in it among the young men of Athens. The Phaedo is a challenge to all who read it to devote themselves to philosophy, Catholic students not excepted.

When Moses saw that the bush was on fire and yet not burnt, and went to look at this marvel, God told him to put off his shoes, for the place on which he stood was holy ground. (Exod. III). This must be done by those who would gaze on God within this lowly bush of our humanity amid the thorns of his wounds and afflictions. For in order to contemplate this sublime Mystery, so far above our power of reason, a man must put off all that is human: his faults, his weaknesses and human affections, with the judgements, surmises and laws of human prudence, in order that he may contemplate this mysteiy with greater purity. For to seek to measure God’s works by the same measure as our own, with the rod of reason, especially his work of the Redemption, which is that of his infinite goodness and charity, with the goodness and charity to be found in men, however perfect and holy, would be utter folly. It would be to cheapen and depreciate the works of this infinite Grandeur and to set them on a level with our pettiness; for as it is certain that his Being infinitely surpasses ours, so do his actions surpass our own. Hence there could be no greater error than for a man to seek to judge and investigate God by what he sees in himself. These, then, are “ the shoes ” he must put off, these the human weaknesses from which we must free ourselves when we wish to consider the works of sovereign Goodness and Charity that shine forth in this Mystery.

The doctrine of original sin shows the need of the remedy of our Saviour's Incarnation and Passion.

The doctrine of original sin and the consequent corruption of human nature it entailed is fundamental for understanding the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God and our need of that remedy. It should be noted that Divine Providence has made use of two remedies for man’s sanctification—one is contained in the law of nature, the other in Holy Scripture; for by the former law the knowledge of good and evil is imprinted in men’s hearts with the decree that they should practice the first and hate the other. He also gave them a natural love and reverence for God resembling that of children for their father. Besides this natural interior inclination there is one that is exterior, for the sun, the moon, the stars, the beauty of the movements of the heavens, the changes of the seasons, the development of things, and finally all creatures say:- “ God made me.” The animals, with the perfection of their bodies and the instincts God bestowed upon them for their preservation, especially incite us to this love and reverence (cf. St. Augustine, Confessions X).

The result of the natural law was that although some men were just and holy, the universal punishment of the flood shows how small was their number compared with that of the wicked.

When beginning to speak in detail of this ineffable Mystery of our Redemption, we must presuppose that it was the remedy and medicine for the universal fall and misery of mankind, and especially of the original sin through which mankind remained perverted and crippled. Since we cannot estimate the efficacy of a medicine unless we realise how serious is the malady, we must consider this first. For this we must understand first principles.

In order to understand this doctrine, we must take as its foundation the immense goodness of our Lord God, which is the principle of all His works and more particularly of this, which for its excellence is called the Work of God. As it is the nature of goodness to communicate its properties, it may be inferred that that supreme Goodness, which is the Divinity, is supremely communicative. Therefore, not content with having bestowed on His creatures their being and all they need to preserve it, His magnificence so surpassed this that, not satisfied with bestowing on them created gifts, He sought to add to them uncreated blessings, that is, communication and participation in his own bliss and glory. With this intention God created two kinds of beings, noble and capable of such great honour, namely, the angels, purely spiritual, and men who are both spiritual and corporeal. The latter, though on a much lower grade than the angels, equal them in the dignity of their final end.

We will say no more of the angels as they do not concern our subject but speak of men who were created by God for this destiny.

The remedy for this disease: Christ’s perfect satisfaction and redemption.

Man being in this miserable state, God, who could have left him in it, did not choose to do so, but the accustomed bounty and mercy which had led Him to create men moved Him to restore them by the most sublime means possible. But we must always pre-suppose that in this, as in all God’s other actions, He did not consider what He could do by His absolute power but what concorded best with the rectitude and laws of His wisdom, bounty and justice, in order that all His works should’ be as perfect as Himself. This applies specially to the work of our Redemption which excels the rest. This is the answer for ignorant men when they ask concerning this Mystery, “Could not God have found some other remedy without so much bloodshed and so dear a cost to Himself?” The answer is easy. “He could have done so, but He never looked at what He could do but at what best befitted His rectitude, wisdom, goodness and justice.”

To understand this we must take for granted that our Lord has n two-fold aim in all His actions; His own glory and man’s welfare. Hence whatever effects these best will be most fitting and worthy of Him. With His favour and help we shall explain how in the Redemption these have been most perfectly carried out. We shall speak first of the glory of God, which is the principal consideration and then of what concerns man’s welfare and shall strive so to treat the subject as to arouse our devotion and love for this most merciful Redeemer.

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.

What love can be compared with this, that Thou, seeing that I was condemned to burn in eternal flames, moved by the compassion of Thy heart, shouldst descend from heaven to the prison of this world and taking the likeness of a sinner, shouldst stand in my place and be sentenced to death for my debts? What plea of charity urged Thee so far, and was to urge Thee much farther, were it needful?

O Jesus, our Redemption, our Love and our whole desire, what was the pity that moved Thee to take such a burden on Thee? How could I not love Him who showed me such clear testimonies of His intense love? He would be more senseless than the beasts, more cruel than tigers, harder than the rocks and iron, who would not let himself be conquered by such love.

Not only our love but our confidence is strengthened by this blessing. For how should I not hope for grace and glory and forgiveness of my sins when I have such payment and such a Paymaster, who came forth from the presence of God for them. If it was just that the innocent should he so punished and the treasure should be so cheapened because He wished to pay the debts of sinners, would it not be just that the guilty, for whom He paid, should be delivered from their evil doings and justified before God? Would it be right for justice to enter the bouse of the saint who owed nothing and execute on him such a terrifying rigour of justice and yet not have the mercy to visit the guilty, release him from his misdeeds and free him from penalties? It is more marvellous that God should be judged, condemned, publicly disgraced, and should die on the cross than that His enemy should be treated as a friend, and the traitor adopted as son after he had repented of his past treachery and turned to God; and since the greater action has been performed there is no reason for doubting of the lesser.

Besides what has been said, in the manner of this remedy the plan of divine wisdom and justice is wonderfully evident, since God ordained that our blessings should come to us in the same manner as our ills, so that as by one man came sin and death, justice and life should come through the sanctity of another man. For it was not reasonable that holiness should have less efficacy as a remedy than guilt had for injury, that mercy should not compete with justice, or that if justice condemned the multitude for one man s sin, mercy should not suffice to save the many by the sanctity of one person.

Nor are there wanting other congruities that show how justly sin was exonerated and man redeemed. For as the pride of the first man, who, though but a man, sought to usurp the semblance of God, condemned his whole race, so the humility of the other Man who, though very God, lowered Himself to take on humanity, and saved us all, so far as lay with Him. For no humility could be found so radically opposed to such pride as this. As the man who by the law of nature was subject to God, exempted himself from this duty by his disobedience, thus injuring us all, so the obedience of the second Man, who by the same law was exempt from all subjection, obtained pardon and justification for us all.

To understand the meaning of the Mystery of the Redemption better we must realize that all our Lord’s works, especially this which is the greatest of all, are ordained with supreme wisdom and care, the principal rule being that the works of nature and grace are regulated in the same manner. Both being our Lord’s actions, and sisters and daughters of the same Father, who is God, it is right that they should resemble one another. This philosophy is followed by the Holy Doctor in all his writings. Therefore we must’ imagine two worlds in this world: the natural one which we see with all that it contains, and the supernatural world which is the Catholic Church, with its mysteries and Sacraments. Let us first examine how our Lord formed the natural world, that we may understand the creation of the supernatural one.

Boetius explains this briefly :

signifying that this most beautiful Lord, the Source of all beauty, traced within His divine intelligence the perfect image of this world, and using it as His model, created it and made it visible. And since in this world, besides Himself, there was to be a chief and ruler upon whom all things depended, He created the first and highest heaven, which is called the first propellor, and placed in it a glorious angel who with incredible swiftness revolved the world completely in the course of each day. This foundation being thus moved causes all the movements, alterations and productions on the earth.

The importance of human life is seen from the end towards which it tends. That which gives a human being his unique value and place in the symphony of creation is his possession of an immortal soul made by God, for God, and whose duty it is to become “worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called,” which is the “lot of the saints in light.” This is the dominant theme interwoven throughout the fiery melody of God’s love for the human soul, and the integrating principle for all human activity. The fecundity of the divine self-contemplation is made manifest in His creative love which has ordained all things so that they form a far away reflection, a passing shadow of those riches of beauty and order whose plenitude is in Him. “For the invisible things of Him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; His eternal power also and divinity.” The social structure, therefore, composed of a community of persons mystically united through charity, one in grace yet diverse in operation, whispers of the Trinity of Persons in God. The very fact that we all partake of the same divine life obliges each, through charity, to serve and participate in the necessary Mass of his brothers sanctification, in order that we may become “a chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation.” And the fundamental unit of this greater unity is the family, natural and supernatural, both motivated by the same principle of love, though differently directed as to the immediate end, and each affording to its members an ideal and natural context for the plenary development of those powers within the person whose need of fulfilment occasions their unity.