religion. Consequently it belongs to the same virtue of religion to have
a prompt will to carry out these things--in other words, to be devout.
Whence it follows that devotion is an act of the virtue of religion.

But some argue that devotion is not an act of the virtue of religion,
thus:

1. Devotion means that a man gives himself to God. But this belongs to
the virtue of charity, for, as S. Denis says[83]: "Divine love causes
ecstasy since it permits not that those who love should belong any more
to themselves, but to those things which they love." Whence devotion
would seem to be rather an act of charity than of the virtue of
religion.

It is indeed through charity that a man gives himself to God,
clinging to Him by a certain union of soul; but that a man
should give himself to God and occupy himself with the Divine
service, is due directly to the virtue of religion, though
indirectly it is due to the virtue of charity, which is the
principle of the virtue of religion.

2. Again, charity precedes the virtue of religion. But devotion seems to
precede charity; for charity is signified in Scripture by fire, and
devotion by the fat of the sacrifices--the material on which the fire
feeds. Consequently devotion is not an act of the virtue of religion.

But while the fat of the body is generated by the natural
digestive heat, that natural heat finds its nourishment in that
same fat. Similarly charity both causes devotion--since it is by
love that a man becomes prompt to serve his friend--and at the
same time charity is fed by devotion; just as all friendship is
preserved and increased by the practice of friendly acts and by
meditating upon them.

3. Lastly, by the virtue of religion a man turns to God alone. But
devotion extends to men as well; people, for instance, are said to be
devoted to certain Saints, and servants are said to be devoted to their
masters, as S. Leo says of the Jews,[84] that being devoted to the Roman
laws, they said: _We have no king but Caesar._[85] Consequently devotion
is not an act of the virtue of religion.

But the devotion which we have to the Saints of God, whether
living or dead, does not stop at them, but passes on to God,
since we venerate God in God's ministers. And the devotion which
subjects have to their temporal masters is of a different kind
altogether, just as the service of temporal masters differs fro