A Treatise on the Ineffable Mystery of our Redemption

Extract

Explains in greater detail the immensity of Christ’s love for souls.

What, then, must have been the Lord’s delight at the glorious sight of this vast number of souls beautified by the abundance of gifts and graces he would merit for them by the Sacrifice of his Passion! Saint Chrysostom says that there is no man in the world so enamoured of a woman, even though he is bewitched by her, whose love is so strong as Christ’s for a pure, humble soul, dead to the world and living only for God. Then, if this Lord feels such an affection for a single soul, what must he feel for the numberless souls who are perfect and holy and possess every virtue and sanctity? When in the beginning God created each thing, he “saw that it was good “, but when creation was accomplished “God saw all the things that he had made” and He saw that they were not merely good, but “very good”. Therefore if he cherishes one pure soul so tenderly, what must Christ’s love be for many such souls if not stronger in proportion for each soul? How joyfully would he have offered his life, and a thousand lives if he had had them, that he might sanctify and beautify so many! Classical writers extol the beauty of Queen Helen, for whom Troy was lost, and say that the Princes of Troy and King Priam himself were not acting unworthily in fighting the Greeks for so many years for this beautiful queen.