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EXCELLENCE OF MENTAL PRAYER

CHAPTER III

THIRD ADVANTAGE OF PRAYER:

It leads to Christian perfection

CHRISTIAN perfection is nothing else but a union of love with God; in other words, it is the unitive life.

In its essence, it consists in the transforma- tion of our will into the divine will, so that we no longer wish for anything but what God wishes, and because He wishes it, in- finitely worthy as He is in Himself of being loved. In order to arrive at this state, the soul must pass through various stages, which we will examine in turn.

First, the soul must not only be purified from deliberate sin, but must also change its irregular inclinations, as far, at least, as human weakness will allow. Indeed, if an earthly prince refuses to enter the unclean hovel of a subject, it is evident that God, the Sovereign Lord of all things, could not visit a soul in order to contract with it the union of love, unless it were previously cleansed of its stains.

The process of cleansing is a great one