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This is a new release of the original 1924 edition.
This is a new release of the original 1924 edition.
If we had remained in the state of innocence, meditation on divine
things would have been easy. It would have been a constant delight
to walk in the presence of God and to excite in the heart acts of
faith, hope, charity, thanksgiving, humility, reverence, obedience
and the like. In that happy state man enjoyed a very special
assistance, which enabled him to know his Creator and to fulfil
with the greatest joy all the duties that the various virtues
enjoined. But when that blissful condition ceased in consequence of
sin, this help was withdrawn, and our natural weakness made the
contemplation of divine things irksome and the practice of virtue
difficult. Earthly and material things now appeal to us powerfully
and we readily give days to discuss and examine them. The wars and
battles of history or fiction fascinate us, but we have to force
ourselves to contemplate the things of heaven. The perfections or
attributes of God are particularly difficult, and yet there is
nothing more helpful to salvation, nor more agreeable and consoling
when once we have made a little progress; none are more efficacious
for the acquisition of virtue nor better calculated to clarify the
mind and to throw light on all the duties of life. For the Holy
Scripture says: "To know Thee is perfect justice and to know Thy
justice and Thy power is the root of immortality. (Wis. xv.) Hence
following the example of St. Denis the Areopagite whose works have
for fifty years exercised on me a most marvellous charm, I have
resolved to explain very briefly the divine perfections or
attributes ascribed to God by the Holy Books. In this short
exposition I omitted designedly the testimony of the Scriptures and
the Fathers and also all theological proofs in order that the
reader may more readily form a clear idea of these divine
attributes, excite in his heart affections worthy of such sublime
considerations and by this exercise, as St. Denis says, make his
soul like unto God.
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger
Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain
imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed
pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we
have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting,
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Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and
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This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the
original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as
marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe
this work is culturally important, we have made it available as
part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting
the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions
that are true to the original work.
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