BENEVOLENCE, Love of. - The supreme species of love, whose motive is not the advantage of the lover ("love of concupiscence"), but the good of the beloved (Summa Theol., 1ᵃ-2ᵃᵉ, q. 17, a. 6; De malo, q. 1, a. 5). Such love carries with it, on the supernatural plane, a true bond of friendship between God and man (Summ. Theol., 2ᵃ-2ᵃᵉ, q. 23, a. 1) through the bestowal, on God's part, of sanctifying grace, to which there 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 love of benevolence there is a mutual communion of goods (Io. 15:14), an intimacy of presence (Io. 14:23), a life unified in the participation of the divine nature (II Pt. 1:4).
The essential laws of friendship are realized in the love of benevolence: 1) mutual disinterestedness: on God's part, who loves in order to increase perfection in the righteous soul (Sum. Theol., 1ᵃ, q. 20, a. 2 and 4); on man's part, who loves the divine perfection for its own sake, while enjoying legitimate contentment (Verus amor scrips contentus est. Habet praemium, sed id quod amatur [St. Bernard, De diligendo Deo, 7, 17]); 2) equality, at least relative, which is based on the analogical communion of life between God and man; 3) stability, because of the indestructible nature of this spiritual good; apart, of course, from man's weakness and the consequent liability to sin (Sum. Theol., 2ᵃ-2ᵃᵉ, q. 24, a. 12); 4) sufficient manifestation, by unequivocal signs, of this divine friendship, in which the soul can trust (Sum. Theol., 1ᵃ-2ᵃᵉ, q. 112, a. 5). The love of benevolence has various degrees.