Apprentice and Master

“With only the virtues, even though they be supernatural, man is like an apprentice who knows fairly well what he must do but does not have the skill to do it well. Consequently, the master who is teaching him must come along from time to time, take his hand, and direct it so that the work may be presentable. Thus, as long as our prayer is only the fruit of an assiduous meditation, it remains too human to taste truly the word of God. In meditation we drink only of water that has flowed along the ground and is mixed with mud, as Saint Teresa says. That we may drink from the fountain, the Holy Spirit must, like the master of the apprentice directly intervene, take possession of our intellect and will, and [via his Gifts] communicate to them His manner of thinking and of loving.”
~Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange