On prayer and the contemplative life · Aquinas, Saint Thomas
1. S. Gregory says: "The contemplative life means keeping charity
Chapter 69 of 107 · 1 min read
towards God and our neighbour with our whole soul." But all the moral virtues—acts of which fall under precept—are reduced to love of God and of our neighbour; for Love is the fulfilling of the Law. Consequently it would seem that the moral virtues do pertain to the contemplative life.
But, as we have already said, the contemplative life is motived by the affective faculties, and consequently love of God and of our neighbour are required for the contemplative life. Impelling causes, however, do not enter into the essence of a thing, but prepare for it and perfect it. Hence it does not follow that the moral virtues essentially pertain to the contemplative life.
