"Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"-----1 COR. 3, 16
 

Therefore Our Divine Savior said to the Apostles before His departure: "It is expedient for you that I go, for if I go not the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go I will send Him to you" [John 16, 7].

   Our Divine Savior had to suffer only once in order to redeem us and to acquire the grace of God and the right to Heaven, lost through the fall in paradise. After He had accomplished this work, He could return to His Father Who had sent Him into the world. It is not so with the Holy Ghost. He is obliged to sanctify men not only once, but to continue to do so until the end of the world. For wherever men are born and through their carnal birth inherit Original Sin and its consequences, they must also enter into the Redemption and share in the merits of Christ and eternal life. But in order that they may share in the merits of Christ the Holy Ghost must make each individual soul capable of it, that is, He must sanctify it. This sanctification takes place through sanctifying grace. I will, therefore, today speak of sanctifying grace, its nature, its worth and its consequences for the soul.

   O Jesus, assist us with Thy grace!

   1. Among all the gifts of God, my beloved, sanctifying grace is the first and the most important, because through it the Christian attains to the highest dignity which a mortal is capable of attaining. It is a grace; therefore we have received it from God without any merit of our own, otherwise it would not be a grace but a reward. What merits can we allege, since we have received sanctifying grace in Baptism? Perhaps Original Sin? Or if we have received sanctifying grace again in the Sacrament of Penance as a gift of God, perhaps the sins committed? All the greater, therefore, is the mercy of God and the worth of the merits of the Redeemer. The more marvelous that this grace is in its nature and in its effects, the more must it fill us with reverence and gratitude.

   But sanctifying grace is, in the language of the Church, a supernatural strength and virtue given to the soul of the Christian in Baptism, which as long as the soul remains free from mortal sin constantly remains in the soul and is a participation in the Divine Nature. It is a bond which unites us to God, and inflames our hearts with love for God and sustains them, and this is the highest virtue.

   God lives in us in a twofold manner: through the omnipresence of His Divine Nature, and through His grace. But God is not only in us, but in all creatures, with His Substance, Presence, Providence and Power. He is everywhere and fills everything, so that even the most minute creature could not preserve itself and continue to exist, if God were not in it by His Substance, His Presence and His Power. Therefore God Himself asks by the mouth of the prophet Jeremias: "Am I, think ye, a God at hand, saith the Lord? Do not I fill Heaven and earth, saith the Lord?" [23, 21]. And St. Paul exclaims: "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." God is therefore in each one of us as He is everywhere by His omnipresence.
   But God is, in a most particular manner, in the souls of Christians, who, by Baptism, are free from sin, consequently, are just and holy, and who live without committing mortal sin, and have wiped out all grievous offenses by the Sacrament of Penance. He is in them through sanctifying grace. This grace is a participation in the Divine Nature, that is in the sanctity of God, and this grace is therefore called sanctifying grace, which consequently, truly makes the soul holy. Through this grace, the old sinful life inherited from Adam is destroyed; and there begins a new life, the supernatural life, which originates with God and makes the souls beautiful likenesses of God, and according to the words of St. Peter, participators in the Divine Nature. Thus the soul becomes capable of possessing God wholly in eternal bliss, according to the words of Christ: "He that is not born again of water and the Holy Ghost, cannot enter into the kingdom of Heaven."

   We live, my beloved, two different lives. One life is the natural life common to all men, which we enter upon by our corporal birth; the other is the supernatural life which we receive in the regeneration of Baptism. The natural life springs from the union of soul and body, and the supernatural life originates with God from the union of grace with the soul. From the soul come the understanding, the will, the memory and the other faculties. From grace germinate all Christian virtues and all gifts of the Holy Ghost, as wisdom, piety, fear of the Lord.

   The soul gives to the body life, beauty, strength and dexterity; grace gives to the soul Heavenly beauty and innocence and strength to do good. But this beauty which sanctifying grace gives to the soul is so wonderful that the soul becomes the object of the love and pleasure of God, yes, and is called in Holy Scripture the bride of God and the temple of the Holy Ghost. "Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" [1 Cor. 3, 16]. And Christ Himself says: "If anyone love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make our abode with him" [John 14, 23]. The soul is differentiated from the Angels, only in so far, that it dwells on earth in a mortal body, and can lose grace by sin, whereas the Angels have no bodies, dwell in Heaven, and cannot lose their grace.

    Now we understand better why the soul which possesses this grace is a child of God and an heir of Heaven, and because through this grace it participates in the Divine Nature it is the dwelling place of God, a sanctuary, and as it were Heaven, Thus as God has descended to it in order to dwell in it, so should it also ascend to Him in order to dwell with Him, and after the separation of the body possess completely that which it now in this mortal life possesses only in part. For this reason Christ could say to His Apostles at their return to Him, drunk with joy, because they had performed miracles in His Name, and because even the devils were subject to their commands: "Rejoice not in this, that spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice in this, that your names are written in Heaven" [Luke 10, 20]. And why should we not rejoice? For this grace is the reason why the Son of God calls us His friends. Christ says: " I will not now call you servants . . . but I have called you friends, because whatsoever I have heard from My Father I have made known to you" [John 13, 15]. He not only calls us friends, but even His brothers. St. Paul says: "For both He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all one. For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren" [Heb. 2, 11].

"What you do to the least of these My brethren, that you do to Me." As Christ is the only begotten Son of God, so we are, by sanctifying grace, the adopted children of God. St. John exclaims: "Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be the sons of God" [1 John 3, 1].

   Must not, therefore, my beloved, sanctifying grace have a wonderful value which even surpasses our comprehension, since it makes such insignificant works and acts as eating, drinking, housework, everything that we must do-----since it makes these worthy of an eternal reward! Whence does this all come? It comes from the fact that we are made participators by grace in the Divine Nature, and consequently all our works performed in the state of grace and for the love of God receive a higher, a supernatural consecration. How many new merits does not a Christian in this manner acquire in a day, in a week, in a month, in a year, and throughout a lifetime? How he ascends by every meritorious work in the future reward, and how will the place of his glory and happiness in Heaven become constantly higher!

   The words of Holy Scripture may be applied to sanctifying grace: "Now all good things came to me, together with her, and innumerable riches through her hands" [Wis. 7, 11]. A soul that is adorned with sanctifying grace stands in greater honor and wealth than the queens of this earth. It possesses a treasure which surpasses the treasures of this earth, for these are transitory, while it is Divine and eternal. With it reigns in the soul the peace and joy and justice of the Holy Ghost, and a foretaste of future happiness in the dwelling place of the Saints.

   What enhances the wonderful value of sanctifying grace still more is the circumstance that it can be constantly increased. It is like a capital fund, which grows through interest and compound interest. Every good work, performed in the state of grace, every struggle against sin, every victory over temptation, every act of contrition for former sins committed, whether mortal or venial, long forgiven sins, every worthy reception of the Sacraments, every good Communion, daily prayers, the celebration of Divine worship-----everything done in the state of sanctifying grace increases and multiplies it. The more it is increased, the greater will be the merits of the Christian, the more glorious his future happiness. For this reason, the Saints were so marvelous in their earthly lives, the joy of God, the glory of Jesus Christ, the honor of the Catholic Church, because they increased in the most extraordinary manner sanctifying grace in their souls by their sufferings and struggles, their labors and virtues, by their good works and prayers. Sanctifying grace was the source of their holy life here on earth, it was the cause of their eternal happiness. The greater sanctifying grace in the Christian is, and the more faithfully he preserves it until death, the more glorious will be his bliss and the more glorious his resurrection from the dead, and the glorification of his body. From this are evident the consequences of sanctifying grace for the soul.

   3. As the sun surpasses the light of the moon, and the moon the light of the stars, and the stars themselves in brilliancy and beauty surpass one another, so, too, it is with the Saints of God and with all Christians who are in the state of grace. The greater their grace was on earth, the more they corresponded with it, and the more they increased it by good works, the more wonderful is their happiness. For this reason, the Blessed Virgin Mary surpasses all in glory, because she was full of grace. So also the Apostles, the Martyrs, the confessors, the virgins, surpass others in that great army of the blessed in Heaven, according to the degree of grace which they possessed on earth. And the poorest, the most humble Christian on earth, unknown, persevering in a good life, servants, widows, oppressed laborers, the abandoned sick-----they are more glorious in Heaven, richer and more blessed than powerful princes, kings, great statesmen, and great scientists, if they faithfully persevere in grace.

   Every soul in the state of sanctifying grace is the bride of the Heavenly King, the daughter of the Eternal Father, a temple of the Holy Ghost and a sister of the Angels and Saints. Even if on earth she was crippled, bent, and hateful to the eyes of men and despised she bears within herself a treasure which all the gold of earth can never purchase. Sanctifying grace is, as it were, a precious diamond from which the sunlight sparkles in the most beautiful colors. Thus sparkles the Heavenly light of innocence and grace from the sanctified souls of children. Thus is seen in the eye of all good Christians peace, piety, faith, hope and love, a pure conscience and joy of heart, so long as they remain in the state of sanctifying grace. And even if the struggles and temptations, sufferings and sorrows are many-----they only loosen the soul from the shackles of human passion, and raise it in the glory of sanctifying grace.

   With what feeling did not our Redeemer speak of the soul to the Samaritan woman! "If thou hadst known the gift of God!" [John 4, 10]. This gift which comes down from Heaven through the Holy Ghost into the soul, and raises it so wonderfully above everything that is earthly and mortal to what is Heavenly and supernatural, to God and happiness. Sanctifying grace is the precious pearl of the Gospel, to acquire which the merchant, in fact every intelligent man, is willing to give everything. The holy Martyrs shed their blood in order to preserve it; to preserve it confessors underwent sufferings and struggles, thousands have left all things, honors, titles and goods, and withdrew themselves into monasteries; in order to regain this precious pearl sinners have subjected themselves to severe penances. Sanctifying grace is the honor, the joy, the consolation of all Christians amidst the contradictions and vicissitudes of life.

Sanctifying grace is the bridal robe of which Our Divine Savior speaks in the Gospel, without which no one is permitted to attend the wedding feast which the King prepared for His Son, and everyone found without the bridal garment will be cast into exterior darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Sanctifying grace is the bridal garment of the Christian soul, which she receives from the Holy Ghost in the Sacrament of Baptism, or after having committed mortal sin, she regains in the Sacrament of Penance. Clothed with this bridal garment, she much approach Holy Communion, as the bride when she appears before the altar on the day of her honor. With this bridal robe must every Christian be clothed in the hour of his death, if he wishes to enter into eternal bliss, and without this robe, he will be cast into exterior darkness, into the night of eternal perdition.

   Yes, my beloved, to behold oneself after death in the brilliancy of sanctifying grace, therefore as the child of God, the heir of Heaven and the temple of the Holy Ghost-----that is the first beginning of bliss and unspeakable joy. Even the Angels behold with rapture the Heavenly beauty of such a soul, and ask: "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun?" It is a Christian soul adorned with grace.

   And even if this bridal robe is blemished with venial sins, the flames of Purgatory wipe out these blemishes and stains. As soon as it is thoroughly purified and again in that brilliancy which it had from the Holy Ghost in Baptism, it ascends from Purgatory to the eternal vision of God and is numbered in the circle of the elect. For sanctifying grace is the pledge of bliss, the seal of Redemption and the cause of eternal joy.

  4. May you, therefore, recognize this gift of God, this precious pearl, this source of all faith, of all hope and love, the cause of all good works and all merits, this joy and rest of a good conscience and the best consolation in all the sufferings and vicissitudes of this life. To preserve this grace must be our highest duty; to constantly increase it through good works, through the worthy reception of the holy Sacraments and patience in suffering-----that should be our most zealous care. O rejoice, Christian souls, who have the happiness to be in the state of sanctifying grace, and with it to possess innocence of heart and purity of conscience. God speaks to you through me: "Say to the just man that it is well, for he shall eat the fruit of his doings" [Isaias 3, 10]. As God has now established His dwelling place in you, so should you also enter into His dwelling place as your eternal reward.

   How many poor and abandoned souls there are in the world, who live in poverty and lowliness, but are adorned with sanctifying grace. God knows them; God loves them; and they are precious in His eyes, and are the object of His particular pleasure. Let the worldlings with their money and their titles and distinctions boast. "They have called the people happy that hath these things; but happy is that people whose God is the Lord." And yet whoever amongst us is in the state of mortal sin and has lost this glorious good of the soul-----sanctifying grace-----is fortunate if he seeks this precious pearl, this pledge of Redemption and bliss, and finds it again by a worthy penance. O no tongue can say what it really means to be in possession of sanctifying grace, therefore redeemed, and an heir of Heaven! That is truly the original right of the soul, the true title of nobility as the child of God, the sublime consecration as the temple of the Holy Ghost, and the pledge of eternal happiness. All who are in the state of grace can, on earth, and in Heaven in the circle of the blessed and in the vision of the infinite glory of God, say with king David:

"Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what great things He hath done for my soul" [Ps. 65, 16]. Amen.