St. Augustine on the Ordo Amoris
It was St. Augustine who first provided the first reasoned statement about the ordo amoris in his treatise On Christian Doctrine. There the Doctor of Grace attempted to explain how we can love other things (chiefly our neighbors and ourselves) while we love God with all our hearts, and souls, and minds, and strength. It may appear that Augustine’s ascending account would have us pass over what is right in front of us (especially our neighbor). On the contrary, however, everything is loved in the “whole current” of love for God, since God is the one in whom everything can find its rest.
