Caput 25. Quod voluntas humana sine gratia inefficax sit ad bona opera.
The Lesson of Self-Reliance
The soul confesses its past folly of trusting in its own strength, only to fall and learn that human will without grace is powerless.
For as I have already confessed to you, O praise of my life, my God, strength of my salvation: I once hoped in my own strength, which nevertheless was no strength at all. And when I wanted to run that way, where I thought I was standing most securely, there I fell hardest; and I was set farther back, not farther ahead; and what I thought I was gaining drew farther away from me.✦ So, testing my powers through many similar trials, I now know—because you have enlightened me—that where I most believed I could manage on my own, there I was always least able. For I used to say, "I will do this; I will finish that"; and afterward neither this nor that got done.✦ Was the will present? There was no ability.1 Was the ability present? The will was not present; because I was trusting in my own powers.
Confession and Plea for Grace
The soul now confesses that strength comes only from God, and pleads for His merciful will to save.
But now I confess to you, Lord God, Father of heaven and earth, that no one is made strong by their own strength (1 Kings 2:9).2 2:9)—so that the foolish presumption of all flesh may boast before you.3 It isn't in a person's power to will what they can do, or to do what they will, or even to know what they will and can do; rather, a person's steps are directed by you—at least for those who confess that they are directed not by themselves, but by you. So we plead with the depths of your mercy: be willing, Lord, to save what you have made—because if you will it, you can save us; and in your will lies the power of our salvation.4
Read the original Latin
Ut enim jam tibi confessus sum, laus vitae meae, Deus meus, virtus salutis meae, sperabam aliquando in virtute mea, quae tamen non erat virtus. Et cum sic volui currere; ubi magis stare credebam, ibi magis cecidi; factusque sum magis retro, et non ante; et quod credebam consequi, longius elongavit a me. Sic per multa similia vires meas probans cognosco nunc, quia illuminasti me, quoniam ubi magis credidi posse per me, minus semper ibi potui. Dicebam enim, Hoc faciam, illud perficiam; fiebatque post nec hoc, nec illud. Aderat voluntas? non erat facultas. Aderat facultas? non aderat voluntas; quoniam de meis viribus confidebam.
Nunc autem confiteor tibi, Domine Deus, pater coeli et terrae, quia non in fortitudine sua roborabitur vir (I Reg. II, 9), ut glorietur ante te stulta praesumptio omnis carnis. Nec est hominis velle quod possit, aut posse quod velit, vel scire quod velit et possit; sed potius a te gressus hominis diriguntur, illorum, inquam, qui non a se, sed a te dirigi se confitentur. Obsecramus itaque viscera misericordiae tuae, velis, Domine, salvare quod creasti: quoniam si vis, potes nos salvare; et in tua voluntate virtus est nostrae salutis.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Rom.9.16;1Cor.10.12 — So then, it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs, but on God who shows mercy. 1Cor.10.12 — So let the one who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
- ↩Rom.7.18 — For I know that good does not dwell in me—that is, in my flesh. For the willing is present with me, but the working out of the good is not.
Notes
- 1 ↩facultas rendered as 'ability' (capacity/power to act), paired against voluntas ('will') in the following exchange.
- 2 ↩Citation split across s1–s2: Latin '(I Reg.' = Vulgate 1 Kings / modern 1 Samuel; verse completed in s2 as II, 9.
- 3 ↩Latin has positive purpose 'ut glorietur' ('so that [it] may boast'). Near-parallel 1 Cor 1:29 has 'ut non glorietur omnis caro'; a missing 'non' is possible but not assumed in the rendering.
- 4 ↩'viscera misericordiae' rendered as 'depths of your mercy' (biblical 'tender mercies' / 'heart of mercy'), keeping misericordia as mercy.
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