Chapter V.
On the fullness of Christ's grace with respect to the charisms in the affections.
After the Incarnate Word has been made known to us with respect to the union of natures, we must consider it with respect to the fullness of spiritual charisms. Concerning which, first the fullness of grace in the affections must be considered, then the fullness of wisdom in the intellect, and lastly the fullness of merit in work or effect.
Concerning the fullness of grace in the affections in Christ, therefore, these things must be held: that in Christ from His conception there was the fullness of all grace with respect to the grace of a singular person and with respect to the grace of the Head and with respect to the grace of union; so that through the grace of a singular person He had immunity from all fault both with respect to act and with respect to possibility, because He neither sinned nor was able to have sin. — Through the grace of union, however, He is worthy not only of the happiness of glory, but also of the adoration of latria, which is the worship of reverence due to God alone. — Through the grace of the Head, He pours forth motion and sense into all who approach Him either through right faith or through the Sacraments of faith, whether they preceded His coming or followed after it. For both those who went before and those who followed cried out: Hosanna to the Son of David .
The reason for understanding the aforesaid is this: because restoration is an operation of the first principle, such that it flows from Him according to liberality and leads back to Him according to conformity; therefore it must come about through grace and deiformity. For grace both flows from God liberally and renders man deiform. Since therefore the restorative principle restores through grace, and every thing is more fully and more perfectly in its font and origin than elsewhere, it is necessary that in our restorative principle, namely Christ the Lord, there was the fullness of all grace. And since the restorative principle in restoring holds the character not only of a principle, but also of a mean and of an extreme — of an extreme indeed in making satisfaction, of a mean in reconciling, and of a principle in pouring forth from above — therefore it is necessary that in Christ there was the fullness of grace by reason of the extreme that makes satisfaction, of the mean that reconciles, and of the principle that pours forth from above. Since therefore the extreme fit for making satisfaction must be pleasing to God, and through this perfectly immune from all sin; and this cannot be except through the gift of divine grace in some man: it was necessary to posit in Christ a grace sanctifying and confirming Him, which we call the grace of a singular person.
Again, since a mean for reconciling is not suitable unless he has in himself both natures, namely the superior and the inferior, the adorable and the adoring; and this can in no way come about except through a supremely condescending and gratuitous union; therefore it is necessary to posit in Christ a grace above every grace, to be venerated with every manner of reverence, which we call the grace of union, by reason of which Christ as man is God blessed above all things, and therefore to be venerated with the worship of latria.
Finally, since a principle for influencing is not efficacious unless it has in itself a fontal and original fullness, which is not only a fullness of sufficiency but also of superabundance; therefore it is necessary that the incarnate Word be full of grace and truth, so that from his fullness all the just may receive, just as all the members receive from the head the influx of motion and sense. And on this account this grace is called the grace of the Head, because, just as the head has in itself the fullness of the senses and is conformed to the other members and presides over the others and bestows upon the others the benefit of its influx, which are connected to the head itself: so Christ, having in himself a superabundance of grace and being like us in nature, holy and just above all others, bestows upon the others who approach him the benefit of grace and spirit, through which sense and motion in spiritual things come about.
And since to approach him is through faith, or through the Sacrament of faith; and the faith of Christ is the same in past, present, and future: therefore the ground of influencing is posited in Christ with respect to all, past as well as present as well as future, who believe in Christ and are reborn in Christ, who through faith are joined to Christ and through inflowing grace become members of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit, and thereby children of God the Father, connected to one another through the indivisible bond of charity. Which just as it is not divided by distance of places, so neither is it separated by length of times; and thereby all the just, wherever they may be and whenever they may have been, constitute one mystical body of Christ, receiving sense and motion from the one influencing head, according to the fontal, radical, and original fullness of all grace dwelling in Christ as in a fountain.