Practical devotion of the day: the gift of the intellect

Knowledge of the world

God condemns neither study nor science; everything is holy before him, indeed it is a gift from him: Omne donum perfectum. Study also, for state duty or for inclination of mind; but if from science you do not ascend to the supreme Author, to know him, to adore him, to serve him, to love him, what does it help you? The name of scientist can fill you with satisfaction, but it is useless before God, if earned for purely earthly ends or vainglory! Why do you read? Why are you studying?

The heavenly mysteries

Each leaf reveals God; each fruit says the power, the love of him; the earth, the sun, the stars: our own organism in its admirable cellular constitution: every smallest atom that reveals in its structure a wonderful order and energy; everything in the world speaks of the wisdom and power of God. It is the gift of the Intellect that clears these mysteries. Do you own it? How many times a day do you raise yourself to God with your mind and heart?

How you get that gift

St. Felix Capuchin and other Saints, although fasting on human science, spoke of God, of Jesus, of the soul, better than the philosophers. Where did they learn it? Neither ingenuity nor study are enough; that this intuition is a supernatural gift. At the feet of God it enters 1 ° with prayer: Give me the intellect, and I will understand your commands, said David, (Ps. Cxvm); at the feet of Jesus, St. Rose of Lima, St. Francis of Assisi had it; 2nd with humility: God reveals himself to the little ones, that is, to the humble.

PRACTICE. - From everything created, raise yourselves from the heart to God; blindness the Veni Creator.