De corruptione naturæ, et efficacia gratiæ divinæ.

The Cry for Grace Against Corrupt Nature

The soul acknowledges its creation in God's image yet confesses the law of sin at war within the flesh, crying out for divine grace.

Lord my God, you created me in your image and likeness. Grant me this grace — the grace you've given me, so great and so necessary for salvation — that I may overcome my worst nature, which drags me toward sin and into destruction.^✦¹² For I see in my flesh the law of sin, contradicting the law of my mind, and leading me captive toward obedience to sensuality in many things; nor can I resist its passions unless your most holy grace stands by my heart, poured in with burning power.^✦³⁴⁵

The Ruin of Nature After the Fall

Human nature, corrupted since Adam, retains only a faint spark of goodness and a dim power of judgment, yet left to itself it gravitates toward evil.

You need your grace, and great grace at that, to overcome a nature that has been prone to evil from its earliest years. For through the first man, Adam, nature fell and was corrupted by sin, and the penalty of that stain has passed down to all people — so that the very nature which was created good and right by you is now, on account of the vice and weakness of corrupted nature, set in a place where its own impulse, left to itself, draws it toward evil and what is beneath it.^✦⁶ For the small strength that remains is like a certain spark lying hidden in the ashes. This is our natural flesh itself, surrounded by a great darkness, still possessing the judgment to distinguish good from evil and truth from falsehood — although it may be powerless to carry out all that it approves, and may now enjoy neither the full light of truth nor a healthy state in its own affections.^✦⁷⁸

The Inner War Between Flesh and Spirit

The inner person delights in God's law, yet the flesh serves sin; good resolutions fail because grace is lacking, and corruption weighs the soul down.

This is why, my God, I delight in your law in my inner being, knowing that your commandment is good, just, and holy, and that it exposes every evil and every sin that must be fled.^✦⁹ But in the flesh I serve the law of sin, since I obey my appetites more than my reason.^✦¹⁰ So the desire for the good is close at hand for me, but I don't find myself able to carry it through.^✦¹¹ So I often set many good resolutions before myself, but because grace is lacking to help my weakness, I fall away and give out at the slightest resistance.¹²¹³ So it happens that I recognize the way of the perfect, and I see clearly enough how I ought to act; but weighed down by the burden of my own corruption, I don't rise up to greater things.¹⁴

The All-Sufficiency of Grace

Without grace nothing natural or supernatural avails before God; grace alone makes the soul rich in virtues and worthy of eternal life.

O Lord, how greatly I need your grace — to begin what is good, to make progress, and to reach completion. For without you I can do nothing at all; but with you strengthening me, I can do everything. O truly heavenly grace — without it, our own merits count for nothing, and no natural gifts are worth weighing. No skill, no wealth, no beauty or strength, no talent or eloquence has any weight with you, Lord, without your grace. The goods of nature are shared by the good and the evil alike; but the proper gift of the elect is grace — or love — by which they are marked as worthy of eternal life. This grace stands so far above everything that neither the gift of prophecy, nor the working of signs, nor any lofty speculation whatsoever is worth anything without it. But neither faith, nor hope, nor any other virtues are acceptable to you without charity and grace.

Grace as Strength in Trial

Grace enriches the poor in spirit, sustains the soul in weariness and trial, and proves stronger than all enemies and wiser than all the wise.

O most blessed grace, you make the one who is poor in spirit rich in virtues, and the one who is rich in many goods you render humble in heart.^✦ Come, descend to me, fill me in the morning with your mercy and your consolation, lest my soul fail because of weariness and dryness of mind. I beg you, Lord, that I may find grace in your eyes. For your grace alone is enough for me, even if I obtain none of the other things that nature desires.^✦¹⁵ Even if I am harassed and tested by many trials, I won't fear any evil, as long as your grace is with me.^✦ Grace herself is my strength; she herself brings counsel and help.¹⁶ She is more powerful than all enemies and wiser than all the wise.

Grace, the Soul's Life, and the Closing Prayer

Grace is the teacher, light, comfort, and nurse of devotion; without her the soul is a dry stick, and so the chapter closes with a prayer for grace to accompany every good work.

She is the teacher of truth, the mistress of discipline, the light of the heart, the comfort in hardship, the banisher of sadness, the remover of fear, the nurse of devotion, the one who brings forth tears.¹⁷ What am I without her but a dry stick and a useless log, fit only to be thrown away?¹⁸ Therefore, Lord, may your grace always go before me and follow me, and may it continually keep me intent on good works through Jesus Christ your Son.¹⁹ Amen.

Read the original Latin

Domine Deus meus, qui me creasti ad imaginem et similitudinem tuam: concede mihi hanc gratiam, quam ostendisti mihi tam magnam et necessariam ad salutem, ut vincam pessimam naturam meam trahentem me ad peccata et in perditionem. Sentio enim in carne mea legem peccati, contradicentem legi mentis meæ, et captivum me ducentem ad obediendum sensualitati in multis, nec possum resistere passionibus ejus, nisi assistat tua sanctissima gratia, cordi meo ardenter infusa.

Opus est gratia tua et magna gratia, ut vincatur natura ad malum semper prona ab adolescentia sua. Nam per primum hominem Adam lapsa, et vitiata per peccatum, in omnes homines pœna hujus maculæ descendit, ut ipsa natura, quæ bene et recte a te condita fuit, pro vitio jam et infirmitate corruptæ naturæ ponatur, eo quod motus ejus, sibi relictus, ad malum et inferiora trahit. Nam modica vis, quæ remansit, est tamquam scintilla quædam latens in cinere. Hæc est ipsa caro naturalis, circumfusa magna caligine, adhuc judicium habens boni et mali, veri falsique distantiam, licet impotens sit adimplere omne quod probat, nec pleno jam lumine veritatis, nec sanitate affectionem suarum potiatur.

Hinc est, Deus meus, quod condelector legi tuæ, secundum interiorem hominem, sciens mandatum tuum fore bonum, justum et sanctum, arguens etiam omne malum et peccatum fugiendum. Carni autem servio lege peccati, dum magis sensualitati obedio, quam rationi. Hinc est quod velle bonum mihi adjacet, perficere autem non invenio. Hinc sæpe bona multa propono, sed quia gratia deest ad adjuvandam infirmitatem meam, ex levi resistentia exilio et deficio. Hinc accidit quod viam perfectorum agnosco, et qualiter agere debeam, satis clare video: sed propriæ corruptionis pondere pressus ad perfectiora non assurgo.

O, quam maxime est mihi necessaria gratia tua, Domine, ad inchoandum bonum, ad proficiendum et ad perficiendum. Nam sine te nihil possum facere; omnia autem possum in te, confortante me gratia tua. O, vere cælestis gratia, sine qua nulla sunt propria merita, nulla quoque dona naturaæ ponderanda. Nihil artes, nihil divitiæ, nihil pulchritudo vel fortitudo, nihil ingenium vel eloquentia valent apud te, Domine, sine gratia tua. Nam bona naturaæ bonis et malis sunt communia: Electorum autem proprium donum est gratia, sive dilectio, qua insigniti digni habentur vita æterna. Tantum eminet hæc gratia, ut nec donum prophetiæ, nec signorum operatio, nec quantalibet alta speculatio aliquid æstimetur sine ea. Sed neque fides neque spes neque aliæ virtutes sine charitate et gratia tibi acceptæ sunt.

O, beatissima gratia, quæ pauperem spiritu virtutibus divitem facis, et divitem multis bonis humilem corde reddis. Veni, descende ad me, reple me mane misericordia tua et consolatione tua, ne deficiat præ lassitudine et ariditate mentis anima mea. Obsecro, Domine, ut inveniam gratiam in oculis tuis: sufficit enim mihi gratia cæteris non obtentis quæ desiderat natura. Si fuero vexatus et tentatus tribulationibus multis, non timebo mala, dum fuerit mecum gratia tua. Ipsa fortitudo mea, ipsa consilium confert et auxilium. Cunctis hostibus potentior est et sapientior universis sapientibus.

Magistra est veritatis, doctrix disciplinæ, lumen cordis, solamen pressuræ, fugatrix tristitiæ, ablatrix timoris, nutrix devotionis, productrix lacrymarum. Quid sum sine ea nisi aridum lignum et stips inutilis ad ejiciendum? Tua ergo, Domine, gratia me semper præveniat, et sequatur ac bonis operibus jugiter præstet esse intentum per Jesum Christum Filium tuum. Amen.

Scripture echoes

↩Gen.1.26-Gen.1.27 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen.1.27 — So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
↩Rom.7.23 — But I see another law in my members, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me captive to the law of sin which is in my members.
↩Rom.5.12 — Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and through sin death, and so death spread to all people, because all sinned—
↩Rom.7.15-Rom.7.24 — For I do not understand what I do. For I do not do what I want, but what I hate, that I do. Rom.7.16 — But if what I do not will, this I do, I agree with the law, that it is good. Rom.7.17 — So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 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. Rom.7.19 — For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Rom.7.20 — But if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me. Rom.7.21 — So I find this law at work in me: though I desire to do what is good, evil is right there with me. Rom.7.22 — For I delight in the law of God, according to the inner person. Rom.7.23 — But I see another law in my members, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me captive to the law of sin which is in my members. Rom.7.24 — Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
↩Rom.7.22 — For I delight in the law of God, according to the inner person.
↩Rom.7.25 — Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.
↩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.
↩Matt.5.3 — Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
↩2Cor.12.9 — And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So most gladly I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
↩Ps.23.4 — Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me.

Notes

1 ↩gratia rendered 'grace' per lexeme policy (divine gift/effect).
2 ↩ut at token 24 taken as purpose clause ('that I may overcome') rather than result; the subjunctive vincam supports this reading.
3 ↩legem peccati…legi mentis meæ closely echoes Romans 7:23 ('I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind'). Candidate allusion pending Moses resolution.
4 ↩gratia rendered 'grace'; cordi meo rendered 'my heart' per cor lexeme policy.
5 ↩enim rendered 'For' as explanatory/causal, introducing the reason for the preceding petition.
6 ↩Ponatur rendered 'set in a place' to convey the passive sense of nature being situated or placed under the condition of corruption; the subjunctive carries a result-clause force from the preceding ut.
7 ↩Affectio suarum rendered 'its own affections' — affectio here refers to the disordered inclinations or emotional attachments of fallen nature, not mere feelings. The phrase sanitate affectionem suarum potiatur is rendered 'a healthy state in its own affections' to preserve the medical/spiritual metaphor of health applied to the affections.
8 ↩Distantiam rendered 'to distinguish' (verbal sense) rather than 'the distinction' (nominal) to keep the participial construction natural in English while preserving the cognitive faculty sense.
9 ↩The quoted span echoes Romans 7:22 — 'I delight in the law of God after the inward man' (Vulgate: condelector legi Dei secundum interiorem hominem).
10 ↩autem rendered as 'but' to mark the adversative contrast with the previous sentence's delight in God's law.
11 ↩autem rendered as 'but' to mark the contrast between willing and accomplishing.
12 ↩gratia rendered as 'grace' per approved lexicon policy.
13 ↩sed rendered as 'but'; quia rendered as 'because' — causal force preserved.
14 ↩sed rendered as 'but' — adversative contrast between seeing the way and being unable to rise.
15 ↩enim rendered as 'For' to preserve the explanatory force of the connective. The contrast is between the sufficiency of grace and the insufficiency of natural desires left unfulfilled.
16 ↩ipsa rendered as 'herself' to preserve the personifying emphasis of the Latin, where grace is treated as a personal agent.
17 ↩The feminine pronoun 'she' refers to grace (gratia), understood from the surrounding context. The Latin uses a string of feminine agent-nouns (magistra, doctrix, fugatrix, ablatrix, nutrix, productrix) to personify grace's work.
18 ↩The pronoun 'ea' (her/it) refers back to grace (gratia). The rhetorical question 'Quid…nisi' frames the contrast: without grace, the self is barren wood destined for burning or disposal.
19 ↩ergo ('therefore') draws the inference from the preceding rhetorical question: since I am nothing without grace, grace must precede and accompany me.