The grateful man is one who maintains himself in holy poverty, or, in other words, in a sort of holy monotony in the midst of inevitable distractions and complex occupations; he also maintains himself in a state of holy childhood, keeping blessedly apart from every unhealthy curiosity, from every temptation that both imprisons and pursues. The pious man knows that he lives in exile – but without bitterness and without inGRATITUDE – and he lives both on certainty and hope; and that man alone will go to Paradise who is already in it here-below through his resignation to the will of God, and through the graces that flow from this. Gratitude is a virtue that allows us, not only to be content with little things – this is holy childhood – but also to appreciate or respect little things or big things because they come from God, beginning with the beauty and the gifts of nature; one must be sensitive to the innocence and mystery of the divine works. Worship of the Divine Substance involves respect for the accidents that manifest it; to worship God “in spirit and in truth” is also to respect Him through the veil that is man, which practically amounts to saying that one must respect the potential sanctity that is in every man, in so far as it is reasonably possible for us to do so; in a word, to accept, if not to understand, the transcendence of the Creator is to recognize His immanence in creatures. We owe it to others to show them, as far as is possible, that we do not stop short at their earthly accidence, but that on the contrary we wish to take cognizance of their heavenly substance, and this excludes all triviality in social behaviour. Politeness is a distant manner of helping our neighbour to sanctify himself, or to remember that, being made of sanctity as the image of God, he is thereby made for sanctity. To say respect for one’s neighbour is to say respect for oneself, for what is true for others is also true for us; man is always a virtual saint. Dignity is imposed on us by our deiformity, by our sense of the sacred, by our knowledge and our worship of God; integral nobility is part of faith. The noble man always maintains himself at the center; he never loses sight of the symbol, the spiritual gift of things, the sign of God, a GRATITUDE that is both ascending and radiating. (GTUFS: EsoterismPW, The Virtues in the Way)
Gratitude (towards God): Gratitude towards God is to appreciate the value of what God gives us and of what He has given us from our birth. (GTUFS: EchPW, 60)
Gratitude (towards man): Gratitude towards man is to appreciate the value of what others give us, including surrounding nature; these gifts coincide ultimately with the gifts of God. (GTUFS: EchPW, 60)