BENEVOLENZA, AMORE of. - The highest form of love, whose motive is not the advantage of the lover (“love of concupiscence”), but the good of the beloved (Summa Theol., 1ᵃ-2ᵃᶜ, q. 17, a. 6; De malo, q. 1, a. 5). On the supernatural plane, such love entails a true bond of friendship between God and man (Summ. Theol., 2ᵃ-2ᵃᶜ, q. 23, a. 1), through God’s bestowal of sanctifying grace, to which corresponds, on man’s part, the act of charity toward God (Prov. 8, 17; I Io. 4, 7 and 16). As in every friendship, in the a. of b. there is a mutual sharing of goods (Io. 15, 14), an intimacy of presence (Io. 14, 23), a life unified through participation in the divine nature (II Pt. 1, 4).
The essential laws of friendship are realized in the a. of b.: 1) mutual disinterestedness: on God’s part, who loves in order to increase perfection in the just soul (Sum. Theol., 1ᵃ, q. 20, a. 2 and 4); on man’s part, who loves divine perfection for its own sake, while enjoying legitimate satisfaction (Verus amor scrips contentus est. Habet praemium, sed id quod amatur [s. Bernardo, De diligendo Deo, 7, 17]); 2) equality, at least relative equality, based on the analogous communion of life between God and man; 3) stability, by reason of the indestructible nature of this spiritual good; apart, of course, from man’s weakness and consequent capacity for sin (Sum. Theol., 2ᵃ-2ᵃᶜ, q. 24, a. 12); 4) sufficient manifestation, by unequivocal signs, of this divine friendship, in which the soul may trust (Sum. Theol., 1ᵃ-2ᵃᶜ, q. 112, a. 5). The a. of b. has various degrees.