The Moral Hedge?

[Rex_Fibula]

Recently, I was asked by a parishioner of mine (I’m a priest) about a moral position allegedly held possibly by St. Alphonsus Ligouri - a Doctor of the Church, (or someone else) regarding what is referred to as “Hedge” or “Moral Hedge” which insinuates that in spite of the infinite merits of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, there still might exist a limit (or hedge) for each individual, since human limitation restricts the amount of graces which flow from all the masses, prayers, acts of virtue, and sacrifices, etc. I remember it being mentioned in seminary, but it was not something the Church embraced. i was wondering if you could provide me with more information on this. I tried the internet, but found nothing.

 

[Hlafdige]

Via Google Books I found an Italian-language discussion in: Il santo del secolo dei lumi: Alfonso de‘Liguori, by Théodule Rey-Mermet/N. Filippi.

quote
– Didn‘t even Alphonsus affirm that, once a certain number of sins has been exceeded, a certain measure of grace left unused, the obstinate sinner begins to be abandoned by God?
– Alphonsus is not speaking of a measure of grace on God‘s part, because God is love and “the measure of love is to love without measure”; but from the sinner‘s perspective on the accumulation of sins, explaining: „If you had a plot of land and had surrounded it with a hedge, had put several years of effort and much expense into cultivating it and had seen that it bore you no fruit, what would you do? You would tear down the hedge and leave it to itself.“ (Alfonso de‘Ligouri, Opere Ascetiche IX p. 222).
unquote

The text goes on to explain that God might at some point no longer provide special, „efficacious“ graces, but merely „sufficient“ grace, at least the grace to pray for God‘s help.

 

[Hlafdige]

P.S.: Recall tha in “The Glories of Mary”, St. Alphonsus went to all possible lengths to emphasize that even the most tentative prayer to Our Lady, on the part of the even the world’s most hardened sinner, would obtain for him grace sufficient for conversion.