The Dignity of Man

Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier, O.P. (1832–1916)

Editors’ note: Bl. Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier, O.P., was a French Dominican friar who served as novice master, prior, provincial, and the seventy-sixth master of the Order. He worked to revitalize the Order of Preachers, and he founded the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. The original of this translation is from the second edition of L’Instruction des Novices, published in 1905, and has not yet been published in English translation.

Man is a kind of living paradox, for as we have seen, he is filled with all sorts of misery and baseness, yet nevertheless he enjoys great privileges. He possesses a high nobility and surpasses other things around him in glory and in dignity. The explanation of this apparent contradiction is the goodness of God, who deigns to be mindful of us and comes down to us, drawn even to the depth of our nothingness. Let us admire the graces that He provides for us in communicating Himself to us, graces that the innermost gloom of our miseries forces to spring up with a more excellent splendor.

Man Is Made in the Image and Likeness of God

What glory it is for man to be a living likeness, an animated portrait of God, to participate in some way in the dignity and excellence of his sublime exemplar! This likeness entails that God, who is pure spirit, has given man an immortal soul, endowed with both reason and free will. Besides this likeness imprinted in his nature, Adam, our first father, was marked with an even more august likeness—sanctifying grace. Furthermore, he received the different infused virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit. His body was submissive to his soul, his sensitive appetite to his reason, and his reason was entirely submissive to God. If he had persevered in original justice, those of us born after him would have received the same graces, being born in a state of innocence.

O my God, since You have formed me in Your own image and likeness, grant that I may not fall from this nobility to the level of beasts, but make all my efforts directed toward keeping my dignity or recovering it after having fallen due to sin. Give me Your grace that will make me like You, for this grace is a participation in Your divine nature.

Grant also that I may use my soul and its powers well for serving You, for perfecting my likeness of You, already imprinted in my heart. Grant that I may employ my understanding for knowing and loving Your divine perfections, and my will for loving and doing all things that please You. Thus, in conforming myself to Your perfect desires and not to the inclinations of this present age, I shall become more like You, and in loving You with my whole heart, I shall be transformed into You, since love transforms us into the very object that we love.

I ask of You this happy transformation and august likeness, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Man Was Made to Possess God Eternally

Man may be admitted for all eternity to rejoice in the divine essence and in all the richness of the celestial kingdom. Made from the hands of the Creator (the first Principle), man is called to return to this paternal bosom as a center of repose. All inferior ends are unworthy of us and belittle the designs of the uncreated Wisdom. Since we cannot conceive of anything greater than possessing divinity, how can anything be lacking in the dignity of man?

But in destining His creature to possess His eternity, God nevertheless did not permit it to enjoy this heritage immediately. Rulers who are just and wise grant nothing except by merit. This is why God in His infinite wisdom, applying to man the rule that He had applied to the angels, willed that man should render himself worthy of eternal glory through his meritorious works. Thus the Creator’s favored ones will one day have the noble pleasure and lawful glory of possessing heaven as a reward for their services, a crown for their victories.

Because of this wise law, emplaced by God, that the celestial kingdom ought to be for men who have rendered themselves worthy, therein follows that other verdict of justice whereby the man who refuses to do his proper duty ought to be thrown down to hell. He loses his own rights to the possession of God. This was the case with the useless servant who, not having done anything fruitful with his father’s talent, was cast into the exterior darkness.

O my God, it is true that You have chosen me to possess You eternally in heaven. If You keep me here for a certain number of years, it is only to help me better merit Your bliss. Grant me my whole life the grace to practice the good works You expect from me, that I may gain the promised reward as did the good servant, faithful in doing good with the talents of his master. Grant that I may courageously combat the enemies of my salvation, and that I may merit the crown of justice.

As my heart is made to possess You entirely, and as You alone are able to satisfy its great expanse, grant me the grace to look for no one but You and to attach myself to nothing but You. May all my efforts unite themselves to draw You into my heart and to keep You there. But even then, and better yet, may I be able to possess You in heaven throughout all eternity! May that beautiful day come soon, which will endure as long as Yourself! Amen.

The World Was Made for Man

The world, with all that it contains, was made for the service of man. This is why God from the beginning created, adorned, embellished, and filled the universe with all the things that could serve man. When the work was done and the palace prepared, God introduced the monarch: He created man. He established him as the master of the terrestrial animals, the fish in the sea, and the birds of the air. Although this rule of the animals was overturned by original sin, it still remains as a certain principle in us. God was pleased to brazenly restore this to the full extent in various saints, to honor their innocence, which rendered them similar to the first man after creation. It is also for us that God preserves and maintains the universe. And once there are no more sons of Adam on the earth, the world will be completed and will be entirely changed by fire. Man must be so great in the eyes of God for Him to have prepared for him this immense abode, filled with all marvels and admirable in its order, union, harmony, and conformability of all the parts among themselves!

O my God, as You have created the world for me so that I may make it serve the perfection of my body and contribute to the exercise of the faculties of my spirit, I ask You for the grace to use material things according to the design of Your wisdom, with a pure intention and in perfect moderation, avoiding the subjection of them to my sensual and base desires.

I ask You also for the grace to use this world in holy ways, in accord with this manner that I shall keep in mind: I shall consider that any creatures apart from You as as nothing, for they are incapable of rendering me happy if I attach myself to them for their own sake, instead of recalling Your exclusive right to all. But, considered in themselves, they teach me to better adore Your divine perfections, Your power that drew them from nothingness, Your goodness that gave them such excellent properties, Your wisdom that ordered them so admirably, Your beauty that here spread such diverse attractions, Your providence that leads them so happily to their proximate end (the service of man) and their final end (Your glory). The heavens recount well Your glory, O God, and all inanimate creatures teach us to faithfully execute Your orders. Finally all nature, by its continuity of movement, teaches us to avoid idleness and to take advantage of time, which is the viaticum of eternity.

I ask Your pardon, Master, of my nearly continual misuse of this world’s creation. I recall that I have often thereby served myself in order to enjoy my own vices and to offend You. Grant me the grace to renounce the pleasures of this world, to rule my senses, and to not degrade myself in becoming their slave. Remind me that I am in this world to command them in order to submit them with myself to Your sovereign order.

I ask You to accomplish this noble purpose, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Son of God Was Made Man and Shed His Blood to Restore Man’s Loss

Man himself fell through sin. Yet God so loved him and judged him so important that He sent to earth His only Son, who was true God, so that He might become man and make right our fall by spilling His blood. If one can estimate the value of something by its cost, what estimate could be made for man redeemed at such an excessive, inconceivable price?

O my God, as You have restored the loss of the human race by the price of the blood of Your Son Jesus, true God and true man, give me the grace to know the dignity and excellence of my soul, won by such a price. Grant that I may value the true worth of the grace of divine adoption, which admits me to participate in Your eternal richness.

I ask You for the grace to not descend from this dignity and to retain it by holy actions. Forgive me for the times I have forgotten the excellence of my soul and have handed it over to the devil and the world for frivolous pleasures, for false honors, for puerile interests. As this soul is made for You, so for You alone do I reserve it henceforth. Guard this intention of mine. I ask You this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus Christ Made Himself Man’s Food and the Remedy for All His Miseries

It is necessary that man be singularly raised above all creatures of this world because the Son of God gave Himself to man to be his nourishment and the remedy for each of his sorrows during the course of his pilgrimage in the world. To better confer on us this blessing, He remains actually present on our altars and will continue to remain until the consummation of the ages.

In this ineffable mystery of the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is the true nourishment of our souls. When we receive His Body and Blood, His life permeates ours down to the depths of our heart. We remain in Him, and He remains in us, not just in a spiritual manner by grace but substantially and corporeally, to the point of becoming in a sort of way one body and blood with us. After Communion, the Savior furthermore resides in us by His virtue. He animates us, keeps us in the life of grace, fortifies us against the temptations of the devil and the violence of our passions, weakens the ardor of our concupiscence, enlightens our souls, increases the divine love in our hearts, consoles us in all our pains and afflictions, and finally gives a pledge of eternal bliss for our souls and a seed of the resurrection and glorious immortality for our bodies.

O my Jesus, give me the grace to perceive the blessings of the bread of angels descended from heaven for me! For as You deign to be my nourishment, prepare my heart as well, that I may receive You worthily and frequently. Give me a habitual disposition of living faith, firm hope, ardent charity, profound humility, complete confidence, and perfect gratitude. May the benefit of this food serve especially to animate me entirely in Your Spirit, so that I may live no more save for You, by You, and through You. Amen.

 Translated by John Thomas Fisher, O.P.

To download a printable PDF of this Article from
Dominicana Journal, Winter 2015, Vol LVIII, No. 2, CLICK HERE.