HOLINESS. – Separation from the profane, considered in God or in creatures. As an attribute of God, it is the divine essence itself insofar as it is transcendent and an infinite perfection. Theologians distinguish in God an ontological holiness (God as the Supreme Good toward which all things tend) and a moral holiness (God insofar as He loves Himself as the Supreme Good).
Holiness implies the complete absence of fault. A distinction is also made between ontological and moral holiness in creatures. The former is predicated of them with respect to God, insofar as in their being they are consecrated to Him: “holy” is then equivalent to “sacred.” Such are all things or persons set apart from profane uses and dedicated to the Divinity (such as altars, objects of worship, and religious). Moral holiness, on the other hand, pertains only to free beings and consists in their conformity of will with the divine will.
In the supernatural moral order, holiness further implies an interior transformation, produced by the infused habit of sanctifying grace (cf. GRACE), by the virtues and gifts (cf. VIRTUES; GIFTS). The soul is thereby assimilated to God and united to Him as a friend. It possesses the rights of an adopted child and shares in the divine inheritance through a special indwelling (cf. INDWELLING) of the Most Holy Trinity. Such holiness has higher degrees insofar as the perfection (cf. PERFECTION) of the soul increases.
All the faithful are called to holiness, at least in a general way. This truth is attested by Holy Scripture (Mt. 5:48; Lk. 14:25; Phil. 4:8; 1 Cor. 7:29–31; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 3:10; 1 Pt. 1:15; 1 Jn. 2:15; Rev. 22:11), by the holy Fathers (St. Augustine, *Sermo* 96, 7; PL 38, 588; St. Basil, *Sermo de renunciatione saeculi*; PG 31, 628), and by constant tradition (cf. Pius XI: *AAS*, 15 [1922], pp. 49–63). For God cannot but will for all that which is the fullness of goodness, the fulfillment of His will, divine likeness, and the imitation of Christ (cf. O. Zimmermann, *Iesstik*, 2nd ed., Freiburg in Br. 1929, § 48, p. 255). Not all, however, are called to the same degree of holiness; for God does not grant to all the same graces (cf. *Summa Theologiae*, I–II, q. 112, a. 4; F. Suárez, *De Gratia*, I, IX, cap. 6, n. 9), nor do all possess the same dispositions, preparation, and correspondence (cf. Pius XI, *loc. cit.*, p. 55). Yet since all can attain that perfection which God wills for them, the Fathers reprove as a grave temptation the doubt of the possibility of holiness (cf. J. Alvarez, *Opera spiritualia*, I, Lyons 1688, 3, 1; Pseudo-Macarius, *De orat.*, n. 12; PG 34, 861).
The Church, having received from Christ the mandate of teaching, proposes in various ways the surest manner of attaining holiness concretely, especially in particular documents concerning Christian spirituality, in the approval of the Constitutions of religious Orders, in the canonization of saints, and in the condemnation of errors.
From this teaching it follows that holiness consists in practice in the exercise of the virtues in a heroic degree. For this, the faithful must perform many acts of all the Christian virtues (one who sins against one virtue, even if he possesses the others, cannot be a saint) in a degree superior to that commonly found among the good, habitually, even in difficult circumstances, amid obstacles and impediments, and consistently. For how long? Certainly for a sufficiently prolonged period (P. Lambertini [Benedict XIV], *De beatificatione*, etc., I, III, cap. 39, n. 5). Some estimate this, approximately, as ten years. Heroic virtue—and thus holiness—cannot be attained without the practice of mortification (cf. MORTIFICATION), both interior and exterior.
Heroic virtues do not differ from common virtues except in degree. The infused and acquired virtuous habits are indeed the same, and the readiness, facility, and alacrity characteristic of one who acts heroically are not essential differences but qualitative ones (*Summa Theologiae*, III, q. 7, a. 2; F. Suárez, *In 3 divi Th.*, q. 7, a. 2). Infused contemplation is not required for holiness (P. Lambertini, *loc. cit.*, 26, n. 8). In the present condition of humanity, weakened by original sin, holiness does not exclude some falls into venial sins of frailty (Denz.-U., 833). Saints, however, fall into such sins less frequently than others, with less voluntariness, and as they advance in perfection, they grow in purity. This desire for purity leads them to frequent confession. Many saints confessed daily, such as St. Catherine of Siena, Catherine of Sweden, Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Peter Claver, Charles Borromeo, Louis Bertrand, Alfonso de Lugo, and Leonardo da Portomaggiore (cf. B. Saint-Jure, *Connaissance de N.-S. J.-C.*, III, cap. 10, § 9).
Holiness arises from a twofold principle, divine and human. God gives grace, and man cooperates with
II. Since God never fails on His part, to attain holiness there must be the most active human cooperation, contrary to what the Quietists and semi-Quietists taught, which led to an erroneous and pernicious passivity (Denz
U., 471, 1221). One must know how to unite passivity—i.e., docility to the guidance of the Holy Spirit—with activity. A certain method of ascetical life is useful, one that orders the means to be employed for progressively attaining the various virtues.---
SANTISSIMA VERGINE MARIA DI EINSIEDELN
The Virgin of the Hermits. A 15th-century statue, venerated in the holy chapel of the abbatial church at Einsiedeln.
St. Meinrad (Meginrat), a monk of Reichenau near Constance (an abbey dedicated to the Madonna), after teaching for a time in a monastery near Lake Zurich, was driven by a desire for solitude to retire to an alpine valley, where he lived until 861. Later, other hermits gathered around his cell, among them Bishop Benno of Metz. Around 930, Eberhard, formerly provost of Strasbourg, gathered the hermits into a monastery; in 934 he received recognition and substantial donations from the king. In 948, Bishop Conrad of Constance consecrated in honor of the Madonna the first church enclosing Meinrad’s cell, transformed into a chapel and dedicated by Conrad himself on September 14 to the Most Holy Savior. By the 13th century, the people began to make pilgrimages to this chapel and to venerate there a statue of the Most Holy Mary. In the following century, accounts of miracles and the belief that the chapel had been consecrated by the Lord Himself began to spread. The proofs drawn from papal bulls and the monastery’s annals in confirmation of this tradition, however, encounter much criticism. Pilgrimages took place especially when the feast of the “Angelic Consecration” (September 14) fell on a Sunday (cf. DEDICATION, Angelic D.). Accounts speak of crowds of up to two hundred thousand pilgrims in both the 15th and 17th centuries. Even today, collective pilgrimages continue from Switzerland and abroad, in addition to numerous individual pilgrimages. The sacred statue now venerated dates from 1400. The original color of the face and hands has, over the centuries, been blackened by the smoke of votive candles in the small chapel. The principal feasts are those of the Madonna.
---
SANTISSIMA VERGINE MARIA DI EINSIEDELN
Interior of the nave viewed from the choir (first half of the 18th century) – Einsiedeln.
Spiritual theology teaches various methods, according to the diversity of vocations, of the paths that lead to God, and of the different dispositions and stages of spiritual growth in souls. Among the most useful means of attaining holiness, especially at the outset, is the practice of good spiritual direction, which should guide souls toward a life of prayer—that is, an elevation to God in its many forms; toward an intense sacramental life, with careful practice of penance and of the Most Holy Eucharist; and finally, toward a life of mortification and self-denial, by which the faithful are enabled to make the necessary efforts for holiness and to overcome obstacles. Among the means constantly recommended by the saints is the habit of recollection, silence, and withdrawal, along with the avoidance of worldly vanities, which allow for elevation to heavenly things and consideration of eternal values. In general, spiritual masters advise beginning the work of one’s sanctification as early as possible, in the period of youth (F. Charmot, *La direction spirituelle*, Paris 1934, pp. 30–36). Though all are called to holiness and must therefore desire it, religious and clergy are especially bound to it (CIC, can. 124–26). The recent popes have particularly illuminated the nature of priestly holiness, demonstrating that, by virtue of their office and sacred Order, priests must shine before the faithful, free from every fault and adorned with virtues that are not mediocre.
In holiness, the highest good is attained. The individual is made good by it, filled with holy thoughts and desires, holy love, ready for the greatest enterprises, enriched with a superior beauty, already happy on earth by foretasting some of the joys of heaven, with inward rejoicing arising from God’s indwelling, with the possession of true freedom and security, and thus of peace. Holiness then radiates to the benefit of one’s neighbor; for no one aids humanity more than the saints. The saint helps, endures, forgives, and invites others to goodness. The perfect leave in their wake new examples of virtue. By their merits, God is appeased and bestows more graces upon humankind. Finally, holiness achieves a greater glory of God. The saint objectively glorifies God, inasmuch as he is God’s masterpiece—that is, an effect of divine creative and redemptive activity—and subjectively, since his entire being is consumed in praise, service, and love of God. The saint is like a canticle to divine goodness. The seven petitions of the *Pater Noster* find in the saint their fullest realization. Thus holiness, by bringing divine sonship to its highest point, is true and intimate friendship with God, and is praised by Scripture as the precious pearl, the hidden treasure, the Kingdom of God (O. Zimmermann, *op. cit.*, § 52, pp. 276–78).