the
supernatural culture of the soul, or the habitual endeavor of man of
rendering himself more pleasing in the sight of God by the acquisition
of solid Christian virtues, in order thus to reach his last end--his
eternal happiness. It is for this reason that our Saviour tells us:
"What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own
soul? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"--(Matt. xvi.
26.) It is, then, the _supernatural culture_, or the perfection of the
soul, that is to be principally attended to in education.

Now what is the perfection of soul? The perfection of each being in
general, is that which renders the being better and more perfect. It is
clear that inferior beings cannot make superior ones better and more
perfect. Now the soul, being immortal, is superior to all earthly or
perishable things. These, then, cannot make the soul better and more
perfect, but rather worse than she is; for he who seeks what is worse
than himself, makes himself worse than he was before. Therefore the good
of the soul can be only that which is better and more excellent than the
soul herself is. Now God alone is this Good--He being Goodness Itself.
He who possesses God may be said to possess the goodness of all other
things; for whatever goodness they possess, they have from God. In the
sun, for instance, you admire the light; in a flower, beauty; in bread,
the savor; in the earth, its fertility; all these have their being from
God. No doubt God has reserved to Himself far more than He has bestowed
upon creatures; this truth admitted, it necessarily follows that he who
enjoys God possesses in him all other things; and consequently the very
same delight which he would have taken in other things, had he enjoyed
them separately, he enjoys in God, in a far greater measure, and in a
more elevated manner. For this reason, St. Francis of Assisium often
used to exclaim: "My God and my All"--a saying to which he was so
accustomed that he could scarcely think of anything else, and often
spent whole nights in meditating on this truth.

Certainly true contentment is only that which is taken in the Creator,
and not that which is taken in the creature; a contentment which no man
can take from the soul, and in comparison with which all other joy is
sadness, all pleasure sorrow, all sweetness bitter, all beauty ugliness,
all delight affliction. It is most certain that "when face to face we
shall see God as He is