Through Grace

“In reading the Epistles, Augustine discovered that the evil from which he was suffering was not peculiar to him; it was found in all men since the sin of Adam. The vain pride in his effort arose from the fact that, being able to fall by himself, he thought himself capable of raising himself by his own resources. Here, too, the remedy consisted in accepting what God offered and what man could not give himself. Plunged in concupiscence and the resulting disorders, Augustine looked with envy upon the serene calm of an Ambrose and the Fathers of the Desert. He then knew its source; it was grace. As faith gives to the intellect the truth that escapes it, so grace gives to the heart the purity it desires. Through grace, not only can man see from a distance the goal he is seeking, he can reach it.”
~Etienne Gilson