Good evening Father Angelo,

I have a question regarding the relationship between God and the faithful, especially about the role of emotions and sentiments in our relationship with the Lord.

Even you, father, have warned us in some of your answers about the risks of making the mechanical association between a positive feeling of the faithful and the real disposition of God. In other words: feeling good during prayer, during the reading of the Gospel, etc… isn’t indicative of a condition of friendship with God (which is being in a state of grace).

But does this mean they are completely different levels? That the presence of God is something too big to be experienced, even partially, by man? 

Or, if that is not the case, how broad is the overlap of these two levels?

When positive emotions are present, how is it possible to discern between those that come from God from all the others?

Let me share an example with you: a few years ago (it was the night of the Epiphany) I was praying before going to bed. At some point, I had a strong sensation of comfort and fulfillment that had a different quality from similar experiences I had in different moments of my life.

I share this just to say that my question isn’t purely abstract but regards me personally.

That’s all I have to say for now; I thank you in advance for your answer.

The answer from the priest

Dear Federico,

1. The Council of Trent affirmed that “no one can know with a certainty of faith, which cannot be subject to error, that he has obtained the grace of God” (DS 1534).

2. Three hundred years before the Council of Trent, Saint Thomas asked himself that same question and noted that man knows things in three ways: by divine revelation, by himself, or by specific signs. In his own words: “There are three ways of knowing a thing: first, by revelation, and thus anyone may know that he has grace, for God by a special privilege reveals this at times to some, in order that the joy of safety may begin in them even in this life, and that they may carry on toilsome works with greater trust and greater energy, and may bear the evils of this present life, as when it was said to Paul (2 Corinthians 12:9): “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

Secondly, a man may, of himself, know something, and with certainty; and in this way no one can know that he has grace. For certitude about a thing can only be had when we may judge of it by its proper principle. Thus it is by undemonstrable universal principles that certitude is obtained concerning demonstrative conclusions. Now no one can know he has the knowledge of a conclusion if he does not know its principle. But the principle of grace and its object is God, Who by reason of His very excellence is unknown to us, according to Job 36:26: “Behold God is great, exceeding our knowledge.” And hence His presence in us and His absence cannot be known with certainty, according to Job 9:11: “If He come to me, I shall not see Him; if He depart I shall not understand.” And hence man cannot judge with certainty that he has grace, according to 1 Corinthians 4:3-4: “But neither do I judge my own self . . . but He that judgeth me is the Lord.” Thirdly, things are known conjecturally by signs; and thus anyone may know he has grace, when he is conscious of delighting in God, and of despising worldly things, and inasmuch as a man is not conscious of any mortal sin. And thus it is written (Apocalypse 2:17): “To him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna . . . which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it,” because whoever receives it knows, by experiencing a certain sweetness, which he who does not receive it, does not experience. Yet this knowledge is imperfect; hence the Apostle says (1 Corinthians 4:4): “I am not conscious to myself of anything, yet am I not hereby justified,” since, according to Psalm 18:13: “Who can understand sins? From my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord, and from those of others spare Thy servant” (Summa Theologiae, I-II, 112, 5).

3. Saint Thomas said that we can know if we’re in the grace of God “by the effect of the filial love He plants in us” (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, 8-16). In fact “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8, 16).

4. This can be deducted from three signs. The first one is the testimony of the conscience, by which one knows that he loves the Lord and would do anything not to offend Him. The second sign is listening and especially putting into practice the Word of God. The third one is the savoring of divine wisdom, which is a certain delight of future beatitude; therefore we can say with the psalmist: “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 38, 9), that is through His grace in us (Cf. Saint Thomas, Opusc. LX, De Humanitate Christi, 24).

5. In this sense, Saint Bernard wrote that this presence can be perceived ex motu cordis, from the motions of the heart: “You ask then how I knew he was present, when his ways can in no way be traced? He is life and power, and as soon as he enters in, he awakens my slumbering soul; he stirs and soothes and pierces my heart, for before it was hard as stone, and diseased. So he has begun to pluck out and destroy, to build up and to plant, to water dry places and illuminate dark ones; to open what was closed and to warm what was cold; to make the crooked straight and the rough places smooth, so that my soul may bless the Lord, and all that is within me may praise his holy name. So when the Bridegroom came to me, only by the movement of my heart, as I have told, did I perceive his presence” (Sermon 74 on the Song of Songs).

6. However, the latter could derive from actual grace, which can be experienced by anybody, even by those in a state of mortal sin. In this case, it’s a particular gift used by God to prepare for the reception of sanctifying grace.

7. Moreover, it could also be a joy of the spiritual order, like the one you feel when you get a good grade, but nonetheless it is not of a supernatural order. Spiritual joy can be in the order of nature, but supernatural joy is a particular gift from God. These two emotions can permeate each other, therefore making it hard to acknowledge what pertains to the natural and what to the supernatural order.

8. If this joy is accompanied by the two other signs, then there is a moral certainty of being in the Grace of God. But moral certainty means a high probability and not absolute certainty.

9. The joy you experienced on that night of the Epiphany, just because it was related to the feast you were enjoying, might be of that kind.

This is all I have to say; but lastly, I want to wish you steady progress in Christian life. For this reason, I bless you and will remember you in my prayers.

Father Angelo

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