Saint Albert the Great teaches that the highest perfection for the soul is total Union with God. By turning the mind away from worldly things and fixing it on Heaven, the soul grows in pure prayer and contemplation. His wise counsel urges us to seek union with the Divine in this life and the next.
The Danger of Worldly Distraction
In proportion as the mind is absorbed in the thought and care of the things of this world do we lose the fervour of our devotion, and drift away from the things of Heaven.
The Fruit of Turning to Heaven
The greater, on the other hand, our diligence in withdrawing our powers from the memory, love and thought of that which is inferior in order to fix them upon that which is above, the more perfect will be our prayer, the purer our contemplation. The soul cannot give itself perfectly at the same time to two objects as contrary one to another as light to darkness; for he who lives united to God dwells in the light, he who clings to this world lives in darkness.
What Is the Highest Perfection?
The highest perfection, therefore, of man in this life lies in this: that he is so united to God that his soul with all its powers and faculties becomes recollected in Him and is one spirit with Him. Then it remembers naught save God, nor does it relish or understand anything but Him. Then all its affections, united in the delights of love, repose sweetly in the enjoyment of their Creator.
The Soul’s Image of God
The image of God which is imprinted upon the soul is found in the three powers of the reason, memory, and will. But since these do not perfectly bear the Divine likeness, they have not the same resemblance to God as in the first days of man’s creation.
God is the “form” of the soul upon which He must impress His own image, as the seal on the wax or the stamp on the object it marks.
Perfect Union in This Life and the Next
This can only be fully accomplished when the reason is wholly illuminated according to its capacity, by the knowledge of God, the Sovereign Truth; the will entirely devoted to the love of the Supreme Good; the memory absorbed in the contemplation and enjoyment of eternal felicity, and in the sweet repose of so great a happiness.
As the perfect possession of this state constitutes the glory of the Blessed in Heaven, it is clear that in its commencement consists the perfection of this life.
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This article is taken from a chapter in On Union With God by Saint Albert the Great, OP which is available from TAN Books.
