Gathering Quotations on Merit

'Scripture speaks of faith as "the substance of things hoped for" (Heb. 11:1), and describes as "worthless" those who do not know the indwelling of Jesus (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).'

St. Mark the Ascetic

'Without faith it is impossible to please God.'

Hebrews 11:6

'The majority of souls appear before the Judgment empty-handed. They did nothing good for eternity.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda

'My children, there are again people who give great alms, that they may be well thought of -- that will not do. These people will reap no fruit from their good works. On the contrary, their alms will turn into sins.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

'O what then! I merit not in caring for my husband and my child, who are God's creatures? No, for thou dost merit naught, if thou intend not above all the pleasing of God. If thy intention be towards God so that thou dost that whcih thou doest to his praise and glory, then everything doth profit thee. And hence thou mayest ever merit if thou thyself care for thy household, and thy children, and thy house; having above all intention towards God and that what thou dot may be to his honour and glory, straightway thou dost merit.'

St. Bernardine of Siena

'You will say, that the damned are in utter despair, hating both God and man, cursing everything and every creature, and bearing good will to none — how then could Dives have wished that his brethren might escape the torments of hell? I answer —

1. The damned do not wish to cause anything good, i.e. any act of natural or supernatural virtue, nor have they the power do so on account of their despair, and intense hatred of God and all good, but they are able to desire some natural good, for example, that it may be well with their parents or brethren. For this reason S. Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Theophylact, think that the rich man, influenced by the ties of kindred and by family affection, really was anxious for the welfare of his brethren, for nature remains the same even in the damned. The action of Dives therefore was one of nature and not of virtue, and had regard, not to actual good, but to natural good only, as the action of animals in nourishing their young.

2. The rich man was anxious for himself more than for his brethren, for he considered their evil his own, inasmuch as their condemnation would increase his torments, because he was the occasion and the cause of their evil lives.

Thus S. Gregory, Lyranus, and others, Cajetan adds, "Dives asked this out of the pride which fills the hearts of the damned, that if not in his own person, at least in the person of his brethren he might be blessed and exalted."

Hence S. Ambrose says, "This rich man too late begins to be a master, for he had neither time for learning nor teaching."

- The Great Commentary, Cornelius a Lapide