Summa Theologiae Moralis, vol. I: De Principiis

S. Th. II-II, q. 28, 29, 30, 45.

920. There are three internal effects of charity:

1st is joy which is caused by love, either a) on account of this that the good is in the loved and is preserved in him, and thus we rejoice in the immutable goodness of God (the joy of friendship completing the love of complacence), or b) on account of the presence of the loved, and thus we rejoice fully in God in heaven, or even on earth in his inhabitation in the soul (the joy of concupiscence fulfilling the desire of the lover).

The first joy cannot have any sadness mingled with it; — likewise the other joy in heaven, where it will be altogether full because nothing remains to be desired, indeed superfull because more is given than is desired; not however now on earth, where from itself there can also follow sadness for those things which are repugnant to the perfection of the participation of the divine good and which are contrary to the effects of charity in us or in our neighbor.

In a similar way we can rejoice in our own goods, and rejoice with our neighbor in his goods.

2nd is peace which includes two things: a) concord or union of our will with the will of others: this charity makes inasmuch as we love our neighbors as ourselves; from which it follows that a man wishes to fulfill the will of his neighbor as of himself, and so two wills tend to one; b) union of all our appetites: this charity makes inasmuch as we love God with our whole heart and refer all things to him; and so all our appetites tend to one.

3rd is mercy which is defined by S. Augustine, de Civ. Dei, l. 9: "a compassion in our heart for another's misery or sadness, by which we are compelled, if we can, to help". For since the lover regards his friend as himself, the evil of him he regards as his own, and therefore he is grieved by it as by his own, and wishes to relieve his misery, as his own.

Joy and peace are secondary acts of charity, naturally and necessarily following dilection; they have the same object and motive as dilection, whence they are not distinct habits. Mercy however is a special virtue because it has a special object, namely another's misery to be relieved by our help out of compassion, and a special appetite, namely sorrow for another's misery, to be moderated by reason; for misery consists in this that a man suffers what he does not wish, i.e. evil which is in some way involuntary for him, and so the sin of another also is an object of mercy, inasmuch as it has certain evils annexed which are against the will of the sinner, such as the obligation of punishment, infirmity, separation from God, etc.

921. Remark. — Mercy is the greatest of all virtues, if considered in itself, because to give to others and to relieve their defects is most of the superior, and therefore is proper to God, in whom it is not distinguished from gratuitous love or charity which it includes and extends to others. But if considered as regards the man having it, it is not the greatest because it is greater to be united to the superior God, which is done immediately by the theological virtues and mediately by certain others; but among all virtues which pertain to the neighbor it is the greatest, because to be suppliant to a defect inasmuch as such is of the better (q. 30, a. 4). Thus it is annexed not only to charity but also to justice, and pertains to liberality of which it is a species (III Sent., d. 33, q. 3, a. 4, qc. 4.).

922. The Gift of Wisdom corresponds to charity, as being among the gifts of the Holy Spirit the most perfect. Wisdom is taken: a) for the natural and acquired intellectual virtue by which a man promptly judges of all things through the highest causes known by reason; b) for the supernatural and infused gift by which a man through the highest supernatural cause, God, and the divine rules, can judge and order all things by connaturality. Which judgment a man obtains through the Holy Spirit (I Cor. II, 15 and 10), and therefore this wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Wisdom resides in the intellect because its act is to judge; but it has its cause in the will, namely charity by which we are connatural to divine things, since it unites us to God: hence it is of wisdom to judge with savor, taste, suavity and delectation. Whence wisdom is not in sinners. Moreover it not only contemplates divine things but also by divine reasons judges of human things; hence it is speculative together with practical.

From the aforesaid its definition is clear: A habit divinely infused, by which the mind is rendered easily moved by the Holy Spirit to contemplate divine things, and to judge of them, and of human things according to divine reasons.

Just as charity according to the threefold state of men is divided into the charity of beginners, and of those progressing, and of the perfect, which is not a specific but a gradual distinction, conformably a threefold degree of wisdom exists.

"All having charity and sanctifying grace have the gift of wisdom at least according to this its first degree. But this degree of wisdom consists in two things. First in this that through it the intellect judges that one must rather adhere to divine things than to created and transitory things, saying that of the Psalmist: To me to adhere to God is good. Second, that through it one rightly disposes and rules one's human and external works according to divine laws, according to divine precepts or counsels...

The second degree of wisdom belongs to those progressing, consisting in this that for the sake of perceiving and experiencing spiritual and most pure suavity or delectation of wisdom, a man despises and forsakes all enticements of the flesh and delights of the world, and strives to fix his intellect with all his strength in the clear and savory speculation of divine things, endeavoring to ascend to the limpidity of angelic conversation...

The third degree of wisdom belongs to the perfect only, and consists in this, that no knowledge of any created thing is savory, delightful or pleasing to the intellect, except inasmuch as it contributes to the knowledge of divine things, and thus the mind itself is totally fixed in the contemplation of divine things; so that it can promptly, sincerely, subtly and sweetly contemplate them, with the passions so calmed, and the exterior man entirely reformed, ordered and subjected to the rule of reason at will, as much as the fragility of the present life admits or sustains..."¹.

To the gift of wisdom is attributed the 7th beatitude: Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God: 1) as to merit, for the peace are those who make peace either in themselves or in others, which is done by bringing them back to the due order; but to order pertains to wisdom; therefore to be peaceable is fittingly attributed to wisdom; 2) as to reward, for they shall be sons of God by participating in the likeness of the only-begotten Son of God who is the very uncreated Wisdom begotten.

923. Remark. — Note the words of S. Thomas, q. 45, a. 5: "Some attain only so much of right judgment both in the contemplation of divine things and also in the ordering of human things according to divine rules, as is necessary for salvation; and this is wanting to many who are in a state of sanctifying grace without mortal sin... Others however perceive the gift of wisdom in a higher degree both as to the contemplation of divine things, inasmuch namely as they know certain higher mysteries and can manifest them to others; and also as to the direction of human things according to divine rules inasmuch as they can according to them order not only themselves but also others; and this degree of wisdom is not common to all having sanctifying grace, but rather pertains to the gratuitous graces which the Holy Spirit distributes as he wills according to that of I Cor. XII, 8: To others..."