Everything which comes to pass has been foreseen by God from all eternity, and has been willed or at least permitted by Him. (Rom.8:28)

Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange

“Nothing comes to pass either in the material or in the spiritual world, but God has foreseen it from all eternity; because with Him there is no passing from ignorance to knowledge as with us, and He has nothing to learn from events as they occur. Not only has God foreseen everything that is happening now or will happen in the future, but whatever reality and goodness there is in these things He has willed; and whatever evil or moral disorder is in them, He has merely permitted. Holy Scripture is explicit on this point, and, as the councils have declared, no room is left for doubt in the matter.

The second principle is that nothing can be willed or permitted by God that does not contribute to the end He purposed in creating, which is the manifestation of His goodness and infinite perfections, and the glory of the God-man Jesus Christ, His only Son. As St. Paul says (1 Cor. 2:23), “All are yours. And you are Christ’s. And Christ is God’s.”

In addition to these two principles, there is a third, which St. Paul states thus (Rom. 8:28): “We know that to them that love God all things work together unto good: to such as, according to His purpose, are called to be saints” and persevere in His love. God sees to it that everything contributes to their spiritual welfare, not only the grace He bestows on them, not only those natural qualities He endows them with, but sickness too, and contradictions and reverses; as St. Augustine tells us, even their very sins, which God only permits in order to lead them on to a truer humility and thereby to a purer love. It was thus He permitted the threefold denial of St. Peter, to make the great Apostle more humble, more mistrustful of self, and by this very means become stronger and trust more in the divine mercy.

These first three principles may therefore be summed up in this way:

Nothing comes to pass but God has foreseen it, willed it or at least permitted it. He wills nothing, permits nothing, unless for the manifestation of His goodness and infinite perfections, for the glory of His Son, and the welfare of those that love Him. 

In view of these three principles, it is evident that our trust in Providence cannot be too childlike, too steadfast. Indeed, we may go further and say that this trust in Providence should be blind as is our faith, the object of which is those mysteries that are non-evident and unseen (fides est de non visis [NB: “faith is of things unseen”]) for we are certain beforehand that Providence is directing all things infallibly to a good purpose, and we are more convinced of the rectitude of His designs than we are of the best of our own intentions. 

Therefore, in abandoning ourselves to God, all we have to fear is that our submission will not be wholehearted enough.” [1]
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1. By the gift of fear, hope is prevented from turning to presumption, as magnanimity is prevented by humility from degenerating into pride. […] They are complementary virtues which, by their interconnection, balance and strengthen one another, and thus they increase together.

— Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Providence, trans. by Dom Bede Rose (Rockford, IL: TAN Books, 1998), 215-221.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. 
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 

Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”— Prov. 3:5-8

“We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will” — Eph 1:11, emphasis mine.

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— Thomist Joseph Pieper on the Pseudo-Order and World Dominion of the AntiChrist