God, who is the first and sole cause of all things, is no doubt able to excite in the human imagination phantasms corresponding to the supernatural thoughts produced in the intellect, and to impede or paralyze the rebellious stirrings of concupiscence which resist the grace of the will,—either by infusing contrary dispositions or by allowing spiritual joy to run over into the _appetitus sensitivus_. The existence of such graces (which need not necessarily be supernatural except _quoad modum et finem_) may be inferred with great probability from the fact that man is a compound of body and soul. Aristotle holds that the human mind cannot think without the aid of the imagination.(59) If this is true, every supernatural thought must be preceded by a corresponding phantasm to excite and sustain it. As for the sensitive appetite, it may either assume the form of concupiscence and hinder the work of salvation, or aid it by favorable emotions excited supernaturally. St. Augustine says that the _delectatio victrix_ has for its object “to impart sweetness to that which gave no pleasure.”(60) St. Paul, who thrice besought the Lord to relieve him of the sting of his flesh, was told: “My grace is sufficient for thee.”(61) 4. _The Illuminating Grace of the Mind and the Strengthening Grace of the Will Considered as Vital Acts of the Soul._—If we examine these graces more closely to determine their physical nature, we find that they are simply vital acts of the intellect and the will, and receive the character of divine “graces” from the fact that they are supernaturally excited in the soul by God. a) The Biblical, Patristic, and conciliar terms _cogitatio_, _suasio_, _scientia_, _cognitio_, as well as _delectatio_, _voluptas_, _desiderium_, _caritas_, _bona voluntas_, _cupiditas_, all manifestly point to vital acts of the soul. But even where grace is described as _vocatio_, _illuminatio_, _illustratio_, _excitatio_, _pulsatio_, _inspiratio_, or _tractio_, the reference can only be—if not _formaliter_, at least _virtualiter_—to immanent vital acts of the intellect or will. This is the concurrent teaching of SS. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. The former says: “God calls [us] by [our] innermost thoughts,” and: “See how the Father draws [and] by teaching delights [us].”(62) The latter quotes the Aristotelian axiom: “_Actus moventis in moto est motus._”(63) If the graces of the intellect and of the will are supernaturally inspired acts of the soul, by what process does the mind of man respond to the impulse of illumination and inspiration?