Christian Perfection and Contemplation: According to St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the Cross

by Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange

Christian Perfection and Contemplation is an entire treatise on the operation of grace in the spiritual life that clearly and skillfully explains the great principles of the spiritual life according to St. Thomas Aquinas and other sterling Catholic Sources. In fact, the author\'s fascinating and extremely informative footnotes are themselves worth the price of the book. Impr. 470 pgs, PB

Genres: Theology, Catholic, Spirituality, Religion, Nonfiction

496 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2010

About the author

Réginald Marie Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (February 21, 1877, Auch, France – February 15, 1964, Rome) was a Catholic theologian and, among Thomists of the scholastic tradition, is generally thought to be the greatest Catholic Thomist of the 20th century. He taught at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, commonly known as the Angelicum, in Rome from 1909 to 1960.

Father Garrigou-Lagrange initially attracted attention when he wrote against the theological movement later called Modernism. He is also said to be the drafter or "ghostwriter" of Pope Pius XII's 1950 encyclical Humani Generis, subtitled "Concerning Some False Opinions Threatening to Undermine the Foundations of Catholic Doctrine."

He is best known for his spiritual theology. His magnum opus in the field is The Three Ages of the Interior Life, in which he propounded the thesis that infused contemplation and the resulting mystical life are in the normal way of holiness of Christian perfection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald...

Reviews

[John Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this masterpiece of synthetic theology, Garrigou-Lagrange explores how contemplation is essential to Christian perfection. Without contemplation a soul cannot abide with God in the foretaste of heavenly life that grace is meant to achieve. What makes this work brilliant is Garrigou-Lagrange's amazing ability to combine St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the Cross in a way that is accessible and succinct. Anyone who wants to understand the Western approach to prayer better ought to read this great book.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian Perfection and Contemplation is an excellent work that provides a thorough examination on the growth of Charity in the soul, and the mystical and ascetical life. There are many excellent books on the spiritual life and its stages available, but often times they are written with a specific audience in mind, that of Priests who are spiritual directors, seminarians, or religious however, this book (while geared towards people who are familiar with spiritual works) provides an explanation on growth in Christian Perfection that does not direct itself towards a limited audience. Rather it reinforces the idea that infused contemplation and the mystical life is the normative way of life for the baptized.

This book provides answers to questions like: What is the difference between an imperfection and venial sin? Are all people called to the Mystical life, and are all callings the same? When authors use the world contemplation do they mean the same thing? Does God talk to us through dreams? Can one experience contemplation in dry prayer. It would take several pages to explain all the different points that he addresses.

There is no shortage of citations in the text itself, and the footnotes are outstanding (on several pages there are more footnotes than content). Although on the title page it says that these ideas are according to St Thomas and St John of the Cross, Father Garrigou-Lagrange cites numerous doctors, authors, popes, and theologians throughout the text. St Thomas Aquinas and St John of the Cross are two of the more dominant ones cited (as the cover indicated), but at least from my memory it seems that St Teresa of Avila is cited very heavily as well (maybe almost as much as John of the Cross?).

If one regularly needs to cite authorities for homilies, articles or other work there is a good index in the back of the book for different topics. I will be holding onto my copy for future use, and I hope that you consider picking up a copy for yourself as well.