St. Anselm on the gratitude we owe God

March 8, 2022 • 1 min

#Exhortation #Morals

From The Sinner’s Guide, page 51
By Venerable Louis of Granada

Tell me, O ye creatures! whether a greater benefit, a more generous favor, a more binding obligation can be conceived. Tell me, O ye celestial choirs! whether God has done for you what He has done for us? Who, then, will refuse to give himself without reserve to the service of such a Master?

“I thrice owe Thee all that I am, O my God!” exclaims St. Anselm. “By my creation I owe Thee all that I am. Thou hast confirmed this debt by redeeming me; and by promising to be my eternal reward, Thou dost compel me to give myself wholly to Thee. Why, then, do I not give myself to One Who has such a just claim to my service? Oh! insupportable ingratitude! Oh! invincible hardness of the human heart, which will not be softened by such benefits! Metals yield to fire; iron is made flexible in the forge; and diamonds are softened by the blood of certain animals. But oh! heart more insensible than stone, harder than iron, more adamant than the diamond, wilt thou not be moved by the fire of hell, or by the benefits of the tenderest of Fathers, or by the Blood of the spotless Lamb immolated for love of thee?”